History's Great Love Story: Cleopatra and Mark Antony

Cleopatra

Alexander the Great (356 BC-323 BC) king of Macedonia conquered the Persian Empire. His victorious military campaigns created the biggest empire known to the ancient world. His untimely death in 323 BC made his generals fight among themselves for the piece of the empire that he had left behind. Ptolemy (367 BC-283 BC) one of his generals whom he made governor of Egypt, secured for himself Egypt and made himself its king or Pharaoh.

Ptolemy made Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander, as his capital. He and his descendants created a dynasty of Macedonian/Greek kings and queens that ruled Egypt for about three centuries. Under the Ptolemaic dynasty Alexandria was a cosmopolitan city that had Greek, Jewish and indigenous Egyptian population with Greek as the lingua franca. In its heyday the city rivaled Athens as the intellectual and cultural capital of the ancient world.

Like Alexander the Great, the Macedonian Ptolemaic kings adopted the native Egyptian costume, traditions and observation of religious holidays to gain the native Egyptians’ loyalty. They also followed Egyptian royal practices such as marriage between siblings to confine power within the ruling family. Although the Ptolemies attained a measure of success in dealing with their native Egyptian subjects, rebellion was not uncommon. During the Hellenistic Ptolemaic era a growing power, the Roman, loomed in the horizon and was set to replace the Hellenistic kingdoms as the leading power of the ancient world.

Elizabeth Taylor as Cleopatra in a movie

Cleopatra VII (69 BC-30 BC), a queen from the Ptolemaic dynasty, was the daughter of Ptolemy XI I (112 BC-51 BC). When he died in 51 BC she became a queen or pharaoh of Egypt. But following Egyptian royal tradition she would co-rule with her younger brother Ptolemy XIII. Also in line with royal tradition Cleopatra should marry him.

The shaky arrangement of sharing power with another member of a family created problem in unity of leadership since Ptolemy XIII wanted to exercise power all by himself and drove his sister into exile in Syria. She gathered an army of men to reclaim her share of the Egyptian throne, but her effort and her strength were not enough to overcome Ptolemy XIII.

Roman consul Julius Caesar, who was in a military campaign, and Cleopatra came across each other in Syria. Eventually, they became lovers. Caesar sympathized with her cause and pledged to help her. In 47 BC Caesar launched a campaign in Egypt against Ptolemy XIII and killed him in battle. Caesar then reinstated Cleopatra as the queen or pharaoh of Egypt.

Again, following tradition, Cleopatra had to marry another younger brother Ptolemy XIV (59 BC-44 BC) as her co-ruler. After stabilizing the situation in Egypt she went to Rome to live as mistress of Caesar. She then bore him a child named Caesarion who would later become Ptolemy XV.

Mark Antony

In 44 BC Julius Caesar was assassinated. The vacancy in leadership and power had to be filled up with the three of the most powerful personalities in the Roman world namely Mark Antony (83 BC-30 BC), Gaius Octavius or Octavian (67 BC-14 AD) and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (89 BC-12 BC); thus, the second triumvirate emerged. Mark Antony used the assassination of Caesar to turn the Romans against the conspirators which gave him a time for power in Rome. His greatest rival was Octavian, the grand nephew of Caesar and his designated heir. In 42 BC the triumvirate crushed the forces led by two assassins of Caesar, the Roman statesman Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, who sought the restoration of the Roman republic. 

Octavian        

After defeating the assassins of Caesar, the triumvirate met in Italy in 40 BC to arrange for the division of the Roman territories that they would control and govern and to avoid conflict with each other. Antony was given the Eastern portion which extended from the Adriatic Sea to the Euphrates River.

In the midst of the turmoil in Rome Cleopatra returned to Egypt with her child Caesarion. She did not involve herself in the war to help the triumvirate. To have a sole power in Egypt she caused the poisoning of Ptolemy XIV. 

                                                                                         

Mark Antony who now controlled the Eastern part of the Roman territories summoned Cleopatra to Tarsus in Cilicia to explain her conduct during the civil war. However, in their meeting Mark Antony was captivated with her charm and beauty so that he felt in love with her. And they become lovers. His love absolved her of the shortcomings that she had made. He later accompanied her in her return to Egypt.

To secure his position in the east, Mark Antony must have goodwill with his strongest rival in the triumvirate, Octavian, the heir designate of Julius Caesar. Lepidus, the other triumvir was the weakest and the most submissive. To cement his political relation with Octavian, Mark Antony married the latter’s sister Octavia. After his marriage Mark Antony returned to Egypt to continue his life with Cleopatra. She gave birth to two children by him.

Mark Antony’s affairs with Cleopatra came to Octavian’s notice. This together with the former’s defeat in his campaign against the Parthians in 36 BC was used by him to excite the Romans against Mark Antony. Octavian’s rhetoric against his arch rival deepened Romans’ dissatisfaction to Mark Anthony. And it’s only a matter of time that the forces of the two triumvirs would clash for supremacy and another civil war would ensue. A victory against Mark Antony would give Octavian the opportunity to eliminate his closest and strongest rival. Octavian declared a war against Mark Antony in 32 BC. Upon knowing it, Mark Antony divorced Octavia.

The battle line was drawn. Octavian’s forces were pitted against those of Mark Antony and the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. They finally met in 31 BC in Actium. Mark Antony fared badly against the forces of Octavian in the naval battle. Cleopatra, realizing the futility of further engagement withdrew her Egyptian fleet. Mark Antony followed her, and they fled to Alexandria.

The death of Cleopatra

The following year, as the troops of Octavian was marching toward Alexandria, Antony was deceived with a false report that Cleopatra had died. The information devastated Mark Antony. He reacted by killing himself with his sword. The unfortunate turn of events was a big blow to the Egyptian queen. This was aggravated by rumors that Octavian would display her body in Rome. Realizing that her end was now inevitable Cleopatra decided to end her life by poisoning herself. Traditions had it that she had her hand bitten by an asp.  

Caesarion or Ptolemy XV the son of Cleopatra by Julius Caesar and the last king of the Ptolemaic dynasty was put to death by Octavian. That act effectively put an end to Egypt’s Ptolemaic dynasty.  Octavian later became first Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. He annexed Egypt as a Roman Province.

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Amazing Fulfillment of Biblical Prophecies on Alexander the Great https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2014/03/amazing-fulfillment-of-biblical.html

Alexandria, Egypt, the Eternal City of Alexander the Great https://lapasan-myblognoel145.blogspot.com/2015/03/alexandria-egypt-eternal-city-of.html

Constantine the Great, the First Christian Roman Emperor

Flavius Valerius Constantinus Augustus who was also called Constantine I was a Roman Emperor from 306 to 337 AD. He was born at about 277 AD in Nis, a town in what is now Serbia. He was the son of Saint Helena and Constantius Chlorus a Roman emperor at about 305-6 AD in the western part of the Roman Empire.  

Shortly before his father’s death in 306, Constantine was made emperor and successor to his father in the west which included such territories as Great Britain, Gaul, the Germanic provinces, Iberia and parts of Italy. At that time, the Roman Empire was a tetrarchy, a system in which there were two co-emperors with each having a subordinate emperor under them.

Constantine’s greatest rival and co-emperor was Maxentius who ruled the East. Maxentius’ differences and his power struggle with Constantine made the conflict between them inevitable.

It was said that Constantine had a dream of Jesus Christ. He had the vision of overlapped first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek which were “chi” and “rho” or “x” and “p” and telling him that he would become victorious with those symbols. The next day during the armed conflict against Maxintius, Constantine reportedly saw a figure of the cross superimposed on the sun and the words “In hoc signo vinces” which in English means “In this sign you will conquer”.

Instead of preparing for a siege, Maxentius decided to meet the forces of Constantine at the Milvian Bridge over the Tiber River in Rome. Maxentius’ troops, with their backs facing the river, met Constantine's troops whose shields and banners were inscribed with symbols that Constantine saw in his dream.  During the battle the cavalries and infantry of Maxentius were overwhelmed by the forces of Constantine forcing them to withdraw toward Rome by crossing the bridge. The mass of troops and horses caused the bridge to collapse bringing down with it Maxentius and some of his troops.

The defeat of Maxentius gave Constantine and Licinius the undisputed powers in the Roman Empire as co-emperors. The realm of Constantine was in the west while that of Licinius was in the east. The marriage of Licinius to Constantine’s sister Constantia strengthened the bond of the two rulers. They jointly defeated the forces of Maximinus Daia who tried to take away from Licinius the Eastern Roman Empire.

As co-emperors Constantine and Licinius jointly issued the Edict of Milan in 313 AD giving the Christians and other religious groups the free exercise of their religion in the Roman Empire. The edict also mandated the return of properties of the Christians which were confiscated by the previous emperors from them.

The unwieldy system of having an empire ruled by more than one ruler at the same time, have in the long run reared its ugly head in the struggle for power between Constantine and Licinius. As a result of it there were civil wars. Constantine proved to be the better military commander beating Licinius in battles. In the third civil war Licinius was again defeated. He was later captured and executed at the order of Constantine. With the elimination of Licinius the tetrarchy ended and Constantine became the undisputed ruler of the Roman Empire.

As a sole emperor, Constantine instituted reforms. He reorganized the army, separated civil and military authorities, gave back power to the senate, and issued new coins which became the standard of exchange for centuries. Constantine also built churches in the Holy land. His mother, Saint Helena, devoted much of her life to pilgrimage to that place and founded the Church of Holy Sepulcher and the Church of Nativity. She supposedly found in Palestine the true cross on which Jesus was crucified.                                                                                                                                            

Drifting towards Christianity, the new religion in the empire, Constantine involved himself in ecclesiastical affairs to achieve unity among Christians. In 325 AD Emperor Constantine called and presided over the First Council of Nicaea to settle dispute about the nature and divinity of Christ. The council came up with the Nicene Creed which defined the Son or Jesus Christ as consubstantial with God the Father. The declaration was adopted as the official position of the Church regarding the divinity and nature of Christ.  

During his reign Constantine moved his capital from Rome to the ancient Greek City called Byzantium which was along the strait of Bosporus. He developed the city which he founded by giving it Roman institution, and built structures that were beautified with Greek works of art. The city later became known as Constantinople. Years after the reign of Constantine, the eastern half of the Roman Empire became known as the Byzantine Empire with Constantinople as its capital.

 Although Constantine still observed some pagan practices after the Battle of the Milvian Bridge, he however, was undoubtedly sympathetic to the Christian cause which implied that he converted to the faith. He was baptized shortly before his death on May 22, 337.                                                                                                                           

The idea on Christianity which was first suppressed, but later allowed an unhampered growth during the reign of Constantine I. the first Christian emperor, greatly influenced and changed the way the inhabitants of the Roman Empire lived their lives. Some of the old and absurd beliefs and practices were discarded and replaced with new ones.  As the Old Roman Empire collapsed, its former territories notably in the west such as Spain, France, Portugal, Great Britain also became imperial powers of their own and brought along with them their Judeo-Christian culture as they went. The expansion of their territories from Europe to other lands made Christianity as the largest religion in the world. Perhaps Constantine the Great was one of the instruments of God to spread His words across the world through the Holy Bible.

Related topic:
Christianity and Islam, the Religions That Shape the Course of History

Christianity and Islam, the Religions That Shape the Course of History

The belief of an almighty creator is an inherent nature of man. To cater to that belief, some people established religions that attracted large number of people. These religions even survive long after the death of their founders. By following a religion, a man has to suit his lifestyle in a way that his religion requires him. People’s collective adherence to a belief will somehow create a distinctive culture in a community. Indeed, religion has a profound impact on the social, political and cultural aspects of our lives. Since time immemorial many religions have been created and their struggle for expansion and dominance have resulted to the demise of empires, the change of the ethnic composition of a territory, the eruption of armed conflicts and the boom and decline of trade and commerce. Christianity and Islam are the two religions that in one way or the other affected the way many people live their lives in the past and present.

Jesus Christ and Christianity

The largest religion on earth was founded by a man named Jesus who was born in Bethlehem in Judea at around 6 AD during the reign of Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar. Little was known about his life in his younger age. He started his public ministry at the age of 30. With the help of his 12 disciples he preached to the people and healed the physically and spiritually sick. He told of the imminent coming of the Kingdom of God and of salvation. The Jewish high priests did not see Jesus’ activities in good light. For them he was a violator of the Jewish customs and traditions, and his claim to be the Messiah, the king of the Jews and the Son of God was highly blasphemous that called for a death penalty. The high priests plotted against him and put pressure on Pontius Pilate, the Roman governor, to have him executed. To appease the Jews and to prevent them from rioting, Pontius Pilate had Jesus crucified.

Contrary to what the Jewish high priests and Roman authorities expected, the death of Jesus did not end the movement that he founded.  His disciples and other followers who denied and abandoned him when he was tried and executed became fearless even to the point of death to vouch for him. Many of them claimed to have seen the resurrected Jesus before his ascension to heaven. For Jesus disciples and followers he was what he claimed to be.

Christianity is a religion that believes that spiritual salvation can only be obtained through Jesus. Christians also believe that Jesus is God’s promise Messiah whose life, death and resurrection fulfilled the prophecies of the Holy Bible. Different Christian denominations however are in constant disagreement as to the nature and or divinity of Jesus.

The early Christians were persecuted by the Jews and Romans and were falsely accused of having caused the disasters and other unfavorable things that happened in their community. However, despite the hardships and difficulties, they continued to spread the teachings of Christ.

Things started to change for the better for the Christians during the reign of Roman Emperor Constantine I. He allowed freedom of worship in the empire. It was said that he saw a vision of the cross against the sun at the Battle of the Melvian Bridge in 312 AD, and that the sign would give him victory. Constantine later defeated his rivals and became the sole Roman emperor. The conversion of Constantine to Christianity which he made as the official religion of the empire enabled it to spread like wildfire within its territories. The Romans’ acceptance of Christianity also effectively eradicated their old polytheistic pagan belief.

During his reign Constantine transferred his capital from Rome to Byzantium, which was later called Constantinople in 330 AD. His move divided the empire into east and west, and the east became known as the Byzantine Empire.

Muhammad and Islam

Muhammad was born in 570 AD in Mecca. He became an orphan in his early childhood and at age 25 he married a rich widow named Khadija. Becoming a merchant, he traveled to Syria where he came into contact with Jews and Christians. At age 40 Muhammad had a vision of the Angel Gabriel in a cave which ordered him to go forth and preach. At first Muhammad was so afraid of the vision that he even believed that it was a malevolent spirit. However, his wife convinced him that it was from God.

Muhammad was later convinced that he was indeed a messenger of God. He started to preach, but was able only to get few converts. His activities put him in a collision course with the religious leaders of Mecca, who plotted for his life. Muhammad and his followers fled to Medina in 622 AD.  His departure was referred by Muslims as Hegira. Muhammad established an Islamic community in Medina and gained religious as well as political prominence. He was victorious in the Battle of Badr and Uhud and captured Mecca with little bloodshed. He then cleansed the Kaaba of idols and converted the people there of his new religion.                                                                                                                                                                          

During his lifetime Muhammad was able to convert all of Arabia to his new religion which is called Islam or submission. In the centuries after his death in 632 AD Muslim armies spread the faith by conquest and conversion and forged an Arab empire that stretched from Spain to India.                                                                                                                                                         

Islam is a monotheistic religion that has some component of Judaism and Christianity. Muslims live by abiding with the five pillars of their faith. They are: shahada- professing that  Allah is the only God and Muhammad is His prophet; salat- praying 5 times a day; zakat- giving alms to the poor; sawm of Ramadan- fasting during the holy month and haj- the pilgrimage to Mecca. Islam’s holy book is called the Koran which Muslims believe as the literal words of Allah. Muslims governs their action based on the Sharia, a legal system that is adopted from the Koran.

Muslims and Christian Conflicts

After Muhammad’s death, his armies conquered the Zoroastrians in Persia and the Pagans of Arabia and the Jews and the Christians in Egypt, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Palestine and in the process replacing the original dominant religions with Islam.

Having conquered much of the east, the Muslims trained their eyes on Europe. The Moors and the Arabs crossed into the Iberian Peninsula and occupied Spain. Advancing toward the north, they crossed the Pyrenees Mountains but were halted by Charles Martel who defeated them at the Battle of Tours in 732 AD and forced them to retreat back to Spain where they stayed and established their own dynasty. 

In Anatolia the Turks posed a grave threat to the Byzantine Empire. The Turks were nomadic people from central Asia who migrated to the Middle East and to Asia Minor. They were converted to Islam and championed the religion. Overtime, they became the power to be reckoned with in those areas. The Turks defeated the Byzantine forces at the Battle of Manzikert in 1071 in which Emperor Romanus IV was captured by Turkish leader Alp Arslan. Their capture of Jerusalem made it difficult for Christian pilgrims to visit their holy places.

To eliminate the threat of the Turks on the Byzantine Empire and to free Palestine from them, Pope Urban organized the crusades to deal with the situation. The crusaders were composed of troops from different European nationalities. There were eight crusades that were launched from 1095 to 1270. But these military campaigns ended mostly in failures because of the mutual distrust among their leaders and the primary cause of the crusades was obscured by their selfish political and economic interests. The fourth crusade in 1204 was diverted to Constantinople and sacked the city and replaced the rulers there with Latin emperors, an action that alienated the Byzantine subjects from their Christian allies.

Victories and Defeats

The marriage of King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella I of Castile strengthened their Christians kingdoms in Spain.  Their combined forces defeated the last Moorish kingdom of Granada in 1492, and the Moors were expelled from Spain. At first the Muslims and the Jews who opted to stay in the country were treated fairly. But later, the inquisitions made many of them leave Spain.

The Ottoman Turks were able to take over large area of Asia Minor and conquered some countries in the Balkan Peninsula thereby surrounding the city of Constantinople the seat of the Byzantine Empire and Christendom’s second most important city after Rome. It was just a matter of time before the moribund Byzantine Empire with its capital city would fall to the Muslim Turks. Finally, on May 29, 1453, forces under Sultan Muhammad II laid siege to the city and successfully captured it. The fall of Constantinople marked the end of the Byzantine Empire which was supplanted by the Ottoman Empire which made Constantinople as its capital. The Ottomans wanted to take Europe for Islam. Led by Suleiman the Magnificent, they attempted to cross Western Europe through Vienna in 1529. However, they were driven back by the city’s defending troops.

Alternative Trade Routes to the Sea and the Age of Exploration

The control of important traditional trade routes by the Muslims made it difficult and expensive for goods such as spices from Asia to reach Europe. To get around the trade routes that were in the hands of the Arabs and Turks, Christian European kingdoms particularly Spain and Portugal looked to the sea to reach India where those goods were said to come from. Early explorers thought that the source of spices in the east could be reached through the sea by sailing westward, and around the Cape of Good Hope. Queen Isabella sponsored and financed the expedition of Christopher Columbus into the Indies in 1492. He was not able to reach India although he discovered a vast unexplored land that was later named the America.

Columbus exploration paved the way to the settlement of new lands that were at that time unknown to Europe. Other European powers such as Britain, France and Netherlands joined Spain and Portugal in the exploration of the New World. As a result, colonies were established which later became independent countries. New countries such as United States, Mexico, and Brazil among others were born. Their people are composed of indigenous inhabitants and settlers of divergent nationalities around the world.  Some countries such as the United States and Canada even became richer and greater than their former mother countries.

The discovery of new lands during the Age of Explorations enabled the European powers to extend their territories beyond the sea. It provided them economic benefit and enabled them to propagate their traditions, language, culture and religion in those lands. Somehow, the Age of Exploration has paved the way for the spread Christianity outside of Europe and the Middle East. Although many people believe in God and adhere to a religious belief, there are others who consider religion as absurdity. But it is an undeniable fact that religion is one of the factors that shaped the courses of events in history.

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