Antony and Cleopatra (16 page)

At no point will we need to consider Antony's appearance at similar length and this should remind us that the obsession with Cleopatra's looks is unusual, and not entirely healthy. Not only is there no good evidence, but also there is something disturbing about the desire to base our understanding of her first and foremost on her appearance. Cleopatra was not another Helen of Troy, a mythical figure about whom the most important thing was her beauty. She was no mere passive object of desire, but a very active political player in her own kingdom and beyond.

Cleopatra was born and raised in the real and very dangerous world of the Ptolemaic court in the first century
BC.
When her father died early in 51
BC
, she became a queen. Auletes had planned for his son and daughter to rule jointly. Cleopatra had other ideas.

When Mark Antony returned to Rome in 50
BC
his first goal was to enter the priesthood by becoming an augur. This was not from a sudden outbreak of piety, but another step up the political ladder. There were fifteen members of the college of augurs, and along with the pontiffs they were the most prestigious of Rome's priests. They were always from senatorial families and, once elected, the post was held for life. This meant that vacancies were rare and hotly contested when they did occur.

In this case the appointment was prompted by the death of Quintus Hortensius Hortalus, consul in 69
BC
and Cicero's rival as the greatest orator of the age. The other members of the college had to choose two nominees. It was common to select men from families who had held the priesthood before, but this was not compulsory. Being selected was a sign of prominence and the ability to call in political favours. Pompey was an augur, and Julius Caesar the senior pontiff or
Pontifex Maximus
— a title now preserved by the pope. The choice between the two candidates was then made by a special assembly consisting of seventeen tribes chosen by lot out of the thirty-five. As in any election, all means from canvassing to outright bribery were pursued to convince the voters. Caesar himself decided to go to Cisalpine Gaul to ‘speak in the towns and colonies … and support his bid for the priesthood. For he was happy to use his influence in favour of a man who was very close to him … and especially against the small, but powerful faction, who hoped through the defeat of Mark Antony …' to weaken Caesar's own prestige.
¹

The main priesthoods at Rome were not associated with any particular deities. Augurs had a special role in interpreting messages sent by the gods to show their attitude towards a planned course of action. This might take the form of examining a sacrifice or often simply observing the skies and interpreting the future on the basis of the flights of birds. Cicero was an augur, and although he wrote a book dismissing divination in general, he made an exception in the case of his own college. However, there is absolutely no indication that candidates were judged at all on their knowledge of such things.
²

Antony was picked as one of the candidates and ran against Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, an ancestor of Emperor Nero. The latter was older and much more experienced, having been consul in 54
BC
when he had tried and failed to replace Caesar as governor of Gaul. Domitius was also Cato's brother-in-law, which was another reason for him to dislike Caesar and anyone associated with him. Well connected, and from a successful and distinguished family, he could expect to win against his much more junior rival. In the event, Caesar's influence and Caesar's money were lavished through intermediaries to give the victory to Antony. The news of this success reached Cisalpine Gaul before the proconsul had arrived there and begun to canvass. Instead, Caesar toured the communities thanking them for supporting his former quaestor and encouraging them to back Antony in the autumn's election for the tribunate.
³

There were ten tribunes of the plebs each year and it was a post that a man of Antony's age and experience could reasonably expect to win at this stage in his career. The tribunate was not compulsory and its duties were restricted to Rome itself and never extended to service in the provinces. Yet its powers were considerable. Actively, a tribune could summon the
Concilium Plebis
and propose a bill that the Assembly could then make into a law. The tribunate had been created to protect citizens from the abuse of power by senior magistrates and especially patricians. They possessed the right of veto – literally, ‘I forbid' – which allowed them to block any decision or action in the Senate or an assembly. This was not a collective thing and the veto of just one tribune was enough to stop a motion in its tracks.
⁴

Caesar's money and backing helped again and Antony was comfortably elected as tribune for 49
BC
. Amongst his colleagues were several other men from well-established families. Not all of the candidates Caesar backed were so fortunate. One of his former legates, Servius Sulpicius Galba, tried and failed to win the consulship.
⁵

Caesar was coming to the end of his tenure in Gaul. Since 58
BC
he had expanded Roman territory on a grand scale, defeating tribes most Romans considered as traditional enemies. His victories were celebrated by a succession of public thanksgivings and plans were under way to commemorate them by rebuilding on a grand scale the
saepta
voting area on the Campus Martius at Rome. Caesar had been voted his initial command and its five-year extension in bills proposed by tribunes and passed in the Popular Assembly. This was legal, since the People could legislate on anything. In the past, Pompey had benefited in the same way, but it broke the tradition that provinces should be first allocated and then renewed or reassigned by the Senate.

There had been worries about what Pompey would do when he returned to Italy from his eastern campaigns and widespread fear that the successful commander would seize control of the state by force. In the event he had disbanded his army and entered politics as a private citizen in the proper way, which allowed other senators to block him, until in frustration he allied with Crassus and Caesar. Crassus had died in Parthia in 53
BC
, unbalancing the alliance. Another very personal connection between Pompey and Caesar had also been removed a year before. In 59
BC
Pompey had married Caesar's daughter Julia, his only legitimate child. Caesar's new son-in-law was six years older than he was and yet the marriage proved genuinely happy. Pompey craved adoration, whether from his soldiers, the wider population or a wife, and Julia seems to have been as charming as her father.
⁶

Then, in August 54
BC
, Julia died in childbirth, and the baby followed her a few days later. Caesar had searched around for another female relation to renew the alliance, but instead Pompey had married into a well-established senatorial family, wedding the daughter of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio Nasica. This man's lengthy name was the product of successive adoptions, which had combined the fortunes of several famous lines. His daughter was simply Cornelia, the feminine form of his name before his own adoption. Scipio himself never gave any evidence of sharing the talent of his famous ancestors, but he was extremely well connected. This encouraged Pompey to marry his daughter and make Scipio his colleague in the consulship of 52
BC
. Cornelia was also a remarkable woman and, once again, the marriage to a bride at least thirty years his junior proved extremely happy.
⁷

Pompey did not need Caesar as much as he had done in 59
BC
. With Crassus gone, there was now no single senator who could match his wealth and importance. In spite of Caesar's new-found glory and great fortune from the conquest of Gaul, Pompey did not yet consider him to be his equal. From at least 52
BC
many senators sensed that the two men were becoming much less close. In that year Pompey was made sole consul – dictator in all but name – and his command of the Spanish provinces was renewed. Although he never had any intention of going to the Iberian Peninsula, the provinces gave Pompey control of an army and the immunity from prosecution of a serving magistrate. Once Caesar's command expired in Gaul, then he would have neither of these things. Back in 59
BC
he had forced measures through against stubborn opposition. The Roman system allowed acts in the past to be attacked even when they were legal at the time.

Caesar had charisma, which he displayed in his courting of other senators and his frequent seduction of their wives. Anyone who felt that he had seen past this charm tended to loathe him with a hatred that was almost visceral. Cato was one of his bitterest opponents, but there were other men who resented being overshadowed by Caesar's glory and achievements. Several boasted that as soon as Caesar returned home he would be put on trial in a court surrounded by soldiers and condemned.
⁸

Simply being brought to trial was a major blow to a senator's prestige, even if he was not condemned. No one had ever thought of prosecuting Crassus, or indeed of charging Pompey with anything. Caesar refused to risk such an insult to his
auctoritas.
He was equally reluctant to trust for his defence to the friendship of Pompey, both because this would have admitted that the latter was the more important man and because his past record of supporting friends was patchy. Instead, Caesar wanted to go straight from his command into a second consulship in 48
BC
, which would give him immunity from prosecution during that year and then the option of taking a province. All ten tribunes of 52
BC
were persuaded to pass a law permitting him to stand for election without actually leaving his province and returning to Rome.
⁹

The question of how Caesar would return home from Gaul overshadowed public life for more than two years, although this was not to the exclusion of everything else. Individual senators still pursued their own ambitions and agendas, joining in the struggle over this when it suited them. The men who knew themselves as the
boni
(the good) or even the
optimates
(the best) were almost all hostile to Caesar and determined that he should come to Rome as a vulnerable private citizen. They were all from well-established families, who were reluctant to see so much fame, honour and profit from service to the Republic go to someone other than themselves. Many, including Scipio, were heavily in debt and desperately in need of lucrative provincial commands to restore their fortunes. Most had in the past been deeply hostile to Pompey, but now came to believe that they could use him against Caesar.

The dominance of a few old families was well illustrated by consecutive consulships of three men called Claudius Marcellus – two brothers and a cousin. All of them attacked Caesar's position, encouraged by the shift in Pompey's attitude, who had backed the tribunes' law in 52
BC
, but over time seemed first ambiguous and then increasingly unsympathetic towards his former son-in-law and ally. One suggestion was to recall Caesar, since after suppressing the rebellion of 52
BC
the war in Gaul was clearly over. Pompey did not support this, but wanted the Gallic command to end as soon as the full term expired. There was a divide over precisely when this was and whether the five years granted to him in 55
BC
had begun immediately or was in addition to the original five-year term. Pompey was repeatedly questioned over this. In October 51
BC
. Cicero's correspondent Caelius Rufus reported the following exchange: ‘“What if,” someone else said, “he wants to be consul and still retain his army?” To this Pompey responded mildly, “What if my son wants to attack me with a stick?” These words have made people suspect that Pompey is having a row with Caesar.'
¹⁰

Caesar could not legally leave his province without laying down his command, so was unable to talk to Pompey or represent his own interests directly. Instead, he had to work through others, and the profits of conquest were again freely spent to win allies. A massive gift to Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, one of the consuls in 50
BC
, secured his support. He was busy restoring the Basilica Aemilia et Lepida on the edge of the Forum and needed money to pay for the renewal of this monument to his ancestors. In the past he had not been close to Caesar, but had good reason to dislike Pompey, who had executed his father after his unsuccessful coup in 78
BC
. It was rumoured that he received 9 million denarii from Caesar.

Another newly purchased ally at first kept the association secret. This was Curio, Antony's friend from youth and now tribune for 50
BC
. His open criticism of the triumvirate in 59
BC
had been followed by periodic attacks since then, which had often been popular. Everyone expected his tribunate to see more hostility towards them, especially against Caesar. Yet this time there was little enthusiasm outside the self-styled
boni
for attacking Caesar and this would not be the road to popularity.
¹¹

Curio's father had died some years before, removing one, albeit limited, restraining influence on his son, who marked the event with spectacular funeral games. These included two semi-circular wooden theatres, which were able to rotate and join together forming a single amphitheatre to stage gladiatorial fights. In this period such extremely popular shows could only be staged as part of a funeral. The cost of all this was enormous, adding to the already huge debts that came from Curio's extravagant lifestyle. It was a fragile position. His creditors gambled on his future success, just as they did with other up and coming men, and as with them this gave a desperate edge to his need to reach the very top of public life or face utter ruin.

Caesar is said to have paid Curio 2.5 million denarii by one source, and no less than 15 million by another. The money was vital, but it was not the whole story. Curio had clearly decided that he had other things to gain by allying with Caesar. There was no particular advantage for him in backing Caesar's opponents, since the most ardent of these were as likely to block his own legislation. Curio had married Clodius' widow Fulvia and in other respects was doing his best to cultivate the dead man's former followers. Just like Clodius, Curio was an independent senator with aims of his own and not simply Caesar's puppet. However, Clodius' older brother Appius Claudius Pulcher was tied by marriage to Cato and was now one of Caesar's more enthusiastic critics. Not all members of a family necessarily followed the same line in politics.