Duane W. Roller

CHAPTER six
The Peak Years
(40–34 b.c.)
it is probable that when cleopatra learned of the marriage of
Antonius and Octavia, she believed that the triumvir would no longer
be a part of her life. Antonius had assisted her in many of her goals,
expanding her kingdom and increasing her number of heirs to three. Yet
he seemed fi rmly committed to his new life. By summer 39 b.c. Octavia
had the fi rst of their children, Antonia, who would be the grandmother
of the emperor Nero, and the family moved to Athens, Antonius’s headquarters
for the next two years. 1 Soon Octavia was pregnant again, and
in 36 b.c. she bore a second and more famous Antonia, who would
become the mother of the emperor Claudius. Th ere seemed to be no
room in Antonius’s personal life for Cleopatra, and whether he would
continue to fulfi ll her political needs remained to be seen. Cleopatra’s
own world was stable, as her largest potential problem, Herod, was
having diffi culties claiming the kingdom that the Romans had given
him. A civil war was raging in Judaea, which lasted until 37 b.c. and
was only ended through extensive Roman military assistance ordered
by Antonius and provided by C. Sosius, governor of Syria. 2 Signifi cantly,
Cleopatra off ered Herod no help.
Whether or not it can be believed that Antonius had spent the years
since he had seen Cleopatra languishing for her—a detail not necessarily
at odds with the picture of him as a happy family man 3 —an
opportunity presented itself in 37 b.c. for a renewal of their relationship.
Th at summer Octavia and Antonius returned to Italy, largely because
the triumvirate had expired the previous 1 January, and the relationship
between him and Octavian needed to be redefi ned. At a meeting