Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World

Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World (An eighteen-year-old with a borrowed name, Antony and Cleopatra. Three victors divide the world after Caesar, but only one will win. What does a man do when he already has everything?) — lesson 4 of the course: 6 parts, about 26 min of reading.

After the Ides of March, Rome belongs to someone Caesar never expected. An eighteen-year-old heir with a borrowed name and Caesar’s officer split the world between them, and then fight over all the rest, with the queen of Egypt in the background: from the list of the condemned with Cicero on it, through Philippi and the barge at Tarsus, to Actium and the tomb in Alexandria. The episode ends on the threshold of the first emperor’s reign.

Films

• From Apollonia to Rome: An Eighteen-Year-Old Accepts His Inheritance — Caesar’s Heir: Apollonia, Brundisium, Rome (44 BC)
• Philippi: Two Battles and the Division of the World — Philippi 42 BC: two battles and the division of the world.
• Actium: September 2, 31 BC — Actium, September 2, 31 BC: the flight of Cleopatra and Antony.
• Alexandria: The Tomb, the Window and the Ropes — Alexandria 30 BC: the tomb, the window and the ropes.

Articles

• Someone Else’s Name — Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World — Rome, March 44 BC. Caesar lies dead, and Antony, his fellow consul, disguises himself as a slave and vanishes.
• An Island in the River — Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World — Three days, a small island in the middle of a river, three men. They divide the world like a family inheritance, as Plutarch puts it.
• Two Battles — Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World — Two armies face each other at Philippi. Antony fights opposite Cassius, Octavian opposite Brutus.
• The Barge at Tarsus — Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World — Tarsus in Cilicia, 41 BC. Antony summons the queen of Egypt to explain why her people helped Caesar’s killers.
• The War Against Cleopatra — Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World — Octavian has a problem: the Romans have had enough of civil wars. According to scholars, this war has to look like something else.
• Alexandria — Octavian, Antony and Cleopatra: The War for the World — Alexandria, 30 BC. Antony positions his infantry on the hills before the city and watches his ships sail out.