Donations of Alexandria — Antony and Cleopatra
By 34 BCE Mark Antony had consolidated Roman power in the East through a successful Armenian campaign. The victory celebration he held in Alexandria was not a Roman triumph — it was a Hellenistic royal pageant in the Ptolemaic style, held in a gymnasium rather than on the Capitoline Hill. Antony and Cleopatra sat on golden thrones, dressed as Egyptian deities. Antony declared Cleopatra 'Queen of Kings' and recognised their children as rulers of vast Roman-controlled territories. Most provocatively, Antony declared Caesarion — Cleopatra's son by Julius Caesar — the legitimate heir of Caesar, which directly threatened Octavian's claim as Caesar's adopted son. Octavian's response was a masterpiece of political warfare. He read Antony's will in the senate, revealing that Antony wished to be buried in Alexandria alongside Cleopatra. Roman opinion swung hard against Antony. Octavian framed the coming war not as civil war against a fellow Roman but as a patriotic war against a foreign queen who had enslaved a Roman general.
- Year: 34 BCE
- Category: Political
