Antony and Cleopatra: The Story of Antiquity's Most Famous Lovers

The truth about the couple is as fascinating as the myth. The story of Antony and Cleopatra is one of a clash of cultures, of ambition and cruelty—and also of passion. Adrian Goldsworthy reveals the dual biography in minute detail with great skill and narrative power, based exclusively on ancient sources and archaeological evidence. Antony was the most powerful man in the Roman world until he was defeated by the young and coldly calculating Caesar Augustus, who later became Rome's first emperor. Cleopatra was the intelligent, ambitious, and beautiful queen of an Egyptian monarchy. The clash of cultures, the power dynamics, and the passion between the two proved irresistible to storytellers. Together, they lived in sumptuous splendor, fought for an empire, and lost, before taking their own lives.