Antony and Cleopatra

by Adrian Goldsworthy

Overview

The acclaimed historian reveals the truth behind the myths of antiquity’s legendary lovers in “this thoughtful, deeply satisfying” dual biography (Publishers Weekly, starred review).
 
In Antony and Cleopatra, preeminent historian Adrian Goldsworthy goes beyond the romantic narratives of Shakespeare and Hollywood to create a nuanced and historically acute portrayal of his subjects. Set against the political backdrop of their time, he presents two lives lived at the center of profound social change. It is a narrative that crosses cultures and boundaries from ancient Greece and ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire.

Drawing on his prodigious knowledge of the ancient world, and especially the period’s military and political history, Goldsworthy creates a singular portrait of two iconic lovers who were, in his words, “first and foremost political animals.” With a close analysis of ancient sources and archaeological evidence, Goldsworthy explains why Cleopatra was often portrayed as an Egyptian, even though she was Greek, and argues that Antony had far less military experience than popular legend suggests. At the same time, Goldsworthy makes a persuasive case that Antony was a powerful Roman senator and political force in his own right.

A story of love, politics, and ambition, Goldsworthy’s Antony and Cleopatra delivers a compelling reassessment of a major episode in ancient history.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780300167009
Publisher:	Yale University Press
Publication date:	08/11/2020
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	480
Sales rank:	258,814
File size:	3 MB

About the Author

Adrian Goldsworthy has a doctorate in ancient history from Oxford University. His first book, The Roman Army at War, was recognized by Sir John Keegan as an exceptionally impressive work, original in treatment and impressive in style. He has gone on to write several other books, which have sold more than a quarter of a million copies and been translated into more than a dozen languages. A full-time author, he regularly contributes to TV documentaries on Roman themes.Steven Crossley, a graduate of the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London, has built a career on both sides of the Atlantic as an actor and audiobook narrator, for which he has won more than a dozen AudioFile Earphones Awards and been a nominee for the prestigious Audie Award. He is a member of the internationally renowned theater company Complicite and has appeared in numerous theater, television, film, and radio dramas.

What People are Saying About This

Guy MacLean Rogers

Goldsworthy reveals that Antony and Cleopatra were far more complex, interesting, and ultimately human figures, than ancient propagandists or modern theorists have made them out to be. My guess is that they would approve, and so will readers.”—Guy MacLean Rogers, Wellesley College

Sir John Keeagn

Adrian Goldsworthy is one of our most promising young military historians today.(Sir John Keegan, author of The Iraq War)

Simon Sebag Montefiore

Outstanding: filled with fascinating details of personality, power, sex and death. This is the best book I've read on Antony and Cleopatra—gripping and flamboyant yet scholarly and magesterial.—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Young Stalin and Jerusalem: The Biography

Editorial Reviews

Readers who recognize Goldsworthy (How Rome Fell) as Britain's most prolific and perhaps finest popular historian of Roman times will find him once again at his best. Shakespeare and Hollywood portray Antony and Cleopatra as star-crossed lovers, but historians understand that Antony (83–30 B.C.E.) was Julius Caesar's right-hand man, ruthless and ambitious. Cleopatra (69–30 B.C.E.) was not Egyptian but Greek, descended from Ptolemy, whose family had ruled Egypt for three centuries. She became Caesar's mistress in 48 B.C.E. In the Roman civil war that followed Caesar's assassination four years later, Antony shared power with Caesar's adopted son, Octavian (later emperor Augustus), until they quarreled. Antony and Cleopatra first met in 41 B.C.E. and ruled Egypt together for three years until Octavian's invading armies approached, at which point they both committed suicide. Unlike many competing authors, Goldsworthy never disguises the scanty evidence for many historical events. Some of his best passages review surviving documents, discuss their biases, draw parallels from his vast knowledge of Roman history, and recount what probably happened unless, as he often admits in this thoughtful, deeply satisfying work, even speculation is impossible. Maps. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

After providing a clear, succinct background to events, Goldsworthy's tactic is to weave the two stories into a single thread by moving seamlessly back and forth from Rome to Egypt. It works beautifully. His mastery of the sources is commendable, his historical judgement sure-footed and, as ever, he brings a winning lucidity to the description of often quite complex situations - the perfect accompaniment to any, especially Mediterranean, holiday—Peter Jones, The Tablet

Goldsworthy is excellent at tracing the often-bewildering succession of Ptolemys and Cleopatras as they murder, marry and spawn one another. His talent for narrative is also showcased by the skill with which he handles the twin strands of his biography, coiling the lives of Antony and Cleopatra around one another, until finally they become fused—Tom Holland, Mail on Sunday

Goldsworthy has a more constructive approach to the absence of evidence. He puts Cleopatra back together with Mark Antony, about whom we know more, from a wider range of ancient writing. This gives him a good starting point for some even more ambitious debunking. He is excellent in puncturing the myths of Antony as a great Roman military tactician and an experienced soldier ... He is also refreshingly frank about the unimportance of Cleopatra herself—Mary Beard, Financial Times

Readers who recognize Goldsworthy as Britain's most prolific and perhaps finest popular historian of Roman times will find him once again at his best ... Unlike many competing authors, Goldsworthy never disguises the scanty evidence for many historical events. Some of his best passages review surviving documents, discuss their biases, draw parallels from his vast knowledge of Roman history, and recount what probably happened ... in this thoughtful, deeply satisfying work —Yale University Press

Goldsworthy tells this story of this dynasty with huge skill, successfully navigating the narratival rapids posed by the fact that almost every member of it was called Ptolemy, Cleopatra, or Arsinoe ... In all, it is an exotic family story of incest, greed and assassination, whose collective impact is to prompt further surprise: that Cleopatra was not only beautiful but obviously smart. Why, after 250 years of sustained in-breeding, she didn't dribble and have six fingers is completely beyond me—Peter Heather, BBC History Magazine

He does a splendid job of putting their lives in context and forcefully reminding us of the most salient aspects of their story while dispersing the romantic fog that has clung to them—Christopher Silvester, Daily Express

Goldsworthy's strengths as a military historian are on full display—Times Literary Supplement

From the outset he makes the point that Cleopatra and Mark Antony were neither particularly likeable nor particularly successful ... Yet together, as this well-written biography shows, the two failures have become more than a sum of their parts. They have been transformed into the world's most famous lovers—History Today

Plenty of intrigue —Catholic Herald

Marc Antony, the soldier and strategist, and Cleopatra, the Greek queen of Egypt, could not have wanted for a more capable biographer—Good Book Guide

Goldsworthy shows a real enthusiasm for making history accessible to all—Big Issue in the North

Mr Goldsworthy is a rising star on the historical scene —Washington Times

Above all Goldsworthy understands military matters—Anthony Everitt, Independent

From the Publisher

"Adrian Goldsworthy is one of our most promising young military historians today."—Sir John Keegan, author of The Iraq War

Sir John Keeagn

"[Goldsworthy] tells the story of [Cleopatra's] dynasty with huge skill. . . . Carefully interweaved into this extraordinary tale is another: the rise of Rome from tatty city state to Mediterranean domination."—Peter Heather, BBC History Magazine

BBC History Magazine - Peter Heather

"Goldsworthy's strengths as a military historian are on full display."—Times Literary Supplement

Times Literary Supplement

The book has considerable advantage over most of the other ‘Antony and Cleopatra’ histories on the shelves, providing a very detailed political and military account of the development of the two most important centers of the ancient world.”—The National Interest

The National Interest

"Outstanding: filled with fascinating details of personality, power, sex and death. This is the best book I've read on Antony and Cleopatra—gripping and flamboyant yet scholarly and magesterial."—Simon Sebag Montefiore, author of Young Stalin and Jerusalem: The Biography

Simon Sebag Montefiore

"Goldsworthy admirably succeeds in highlighting the 'lost years' of Antony's life, and in offering an appraisal of the extant sources on Cleopatra that provides much of interest both to students and scholars. . . . Goldsworthy's history should be considered essential reading for anyone interested in the rise of Octavian and the birth of the principate. . . . Goldsworhty's book has most use for the undergraduate and graduate students of Roman history."—Lee Fratantuono, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Bryn Mawr Classical Review - Lee Fratantuono

"[Goldsworthy] is excellent in puncturing the myth of Antony as a great Roman military tactician. . . . He is also refreshingly frank about the unimportance of Cleopatra herself. This was a world in which the power of Rome ruled."—Mary Beard, Financial Times

Financial Times - Mary Beard

"Highly recommended."—H. Chang, Choice

Choice - H. Chang

"[The] distinguished biographer of Julius Caesar . . . reproduces the claustrophobia of a brutal culture dependent on slavery and enslaved to ambition."—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker

The New Yorker

"Goldsworthy is a rising star on the historical scene and has a number of well-regarded books to his credit. This will likely add to his growing reputation . . . [as] a first-class historian."—Washington Times

Washington Times

Goldsworthy reveals that Antony and Cleopatra were far more complex, interesting, and ultimately human figures, than ancient propagandists or modern theorists have made them out to be. My guess is that they would approve, and so will readers.”—Guy MacLean Rogers, Wellesley College

Guy MacLean Rogers

"Essential reading. . . . Goldsworthy's book is written in engaging prose that flows with charm and flair. . . . Goldsworthy has almost created a new genre of classics/ancient history titles: works that comfortably inhabit a middle ground between the unscholarly and the hyper-scholarly."—Bryn Mawr Classical Review

Bryn Mawr Classical Review

"[Goldsworthy] does a splendid job of putting their lives in context and forcefully reminding us of the most salient aspects of their story while dispersing the romantic fog that has clung to them."—Christopher Silvester, The Express (London)

The Express (London) - Christopher Silvester

"[The] distinguished biographer of Julius Caesar . . . reproduces the claustrophobia of a brutal culture dependent on slavery and enslaved to ambition."—Judith Thurman, The New Yorker

The New Yorker

Highly recommended.—H. Chang, Choice

— H. Chang

Choice

[Goldsworthy] does a splendid job of putting their lives in context and forcefully reminding us of the most salient aspects of their story while dispersing the romantic fog that has clung to them.—Christopher Silvester, The Express (London)

— Christopher Silvester

The Express (London)

[Goldsworthy] is excellent in puncturing the myth of Antony as a great Roman military tactician. . . . He is also refreshingly frank about the unimportance of Cleopatra herself. This was a world in which the power of Rome ruled.—Mary Beard, Financial Times

— Mary Beard

Financial Times

[Goldsworthy] tells the story of [Cleopatra's] dynasty with huge skill. . . . Carefully interweaved into this extraordinary tale is another: the rise of Rome from tatty city state to Mediterranean domination.—Peter Heather, BBC History Magazine

— Peter Heather

BBC History Magazine

"[Goldsworthy] set[s] out simply and lucidly . . . [not just] the story of their affair . . . but also a portrait of the political and military world in which it took place."--Sam Leith, The Times (London)

— Sam Leith

The Times (London)

In the read-around world more is always a good option and Goldsworthy and Schiff share a similar desire to recast myth. In elegant and fluid prose, Goldsworthy presents a dual history of Cleopatra and Antony that deftly acknowledges the lack of primary sources and reliable secondary sources for research yet still manages to craft a careful and persuasive portrait of the reign of Cleopatra. Goldsworthy's focus is decidedly political as he frames the Antony/Cleopatra relationship as one of dual necessity. Like Schiff's book, Goldworthy's work is also a biography of the times and takes readers through the back history that led to the rise of Antony and Cleopatra and the cultures and ideologies that gave birth to their driving ambitions. Other notable biographies to consider include Joyce Tyldesley's Cleopatra: Last Queen of Egypt (Basic Books), Duane Roller's Cleopatra: A Biography (Oxford), and Diana Preston's Cleopatra and Antony: Power, Love, and Politics in the Ancient World (Walker & Co.). Neal Wyatt, "RA Crossroads", Booksmack!, 11/4/10

Library Journal - BookSmack!

Goldsworthy follows up his admirable life of Julius Caesar (Caesar: Life of a Colossus) with a joint biography of two of Caesar's protégés. The record shows that Cleopatra, queen of Egypt, and Mark Antony, the Roman triumvir, didn't meet till 41 B.C.E., well into their busy lives, when she was 28 and he 43, although some (this reviewer included) may suspect that they encountered each other earlier during Cleopatra's visits to Caesar in Rome. Both from elite, cosmopolitan families of the Mediterranean world, Antony and Cleopatra made an ill-fated alliance, political and romantic, against the forces of Caesar's heir Octavian/Augustus. Goldsworthy credits the eventual victory of the unsoldierly Octavian to his PR savvy and his general, Agrippa, who outclassed Antony as a military leader. VERDICT Because Goldsworthy must retell the history of the civil wars of the first century B.C.E., his book could easily be called Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra. With limited source material, he constructs a plausible portrait of two practical romantics whose storied love followed the path of political advantage. Unlike Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra, Goldsworthy's book is not packaged to attract readers of bodice rippers, but these two titles are probably more alike than different: good serious books, though not necessarily for scholars or specialists.—Stewart Desmond, New York

Library Journal