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for future campaigns. Early in 34 bc, Antony marched East, conquered
Armenia, and punished King Artavasdes for his earlier betrayal by hauling
him back to Alexandria in a spectacular triumph. Shortly thereafter, in a
ceremony known as the Donations of Alexandria, Antony granted additional
territories to Cleopatra and her children, and recognized her as
supreme overlord of all eastern client kingdoms. Antony also declared the
13-year-old Caesarion the rightful heir of Julius Caesar, which was not
legally true, but posed an overt challenge to Octavian’s claim of authority
over the Roman world.
These proclamations indicate the extent of Antony and Cleopatra’s
aspirations: first to annex the vast eastern realms to Ptolemaic Egypt, and
from there to govern both East and West, including Rome. The breach
between Antony and Octavian instantly widened and rival factions solidified
behind each man. The following year, in 33 bc, Antony and Cleopatra
moved to Ephesus in Asia Minor to prepare their legions and fleets for
war against Octavian. All year long, the men exchanged venomous propaganda
attacks and in spring of 32 bc Antony formally divorced Octavia.
That spring, Antony’s supporters, including 300 senators, left an increasingly
hostile city of Rome to join Antony in Ephesus. While they took his
side in the rivalry with Octavian, they were alarmed by the implications of
the Donations and objected to Cleopatra’s presence at the war council.
The queen refused to leave, insisting she controlled the fleet of 500 warships.
Knowing they could not strike Octavian on Italian soil, Antony and
Cleopatra sailed to western Greece and established their camp at Actium,
intending to wait for Octavian to make the first move.
In Rome, a deserter from Antony’s camp informed Octavian that
Antony’s last will and testament had been deposited with the Vestal
Virgins. Octavian illegally extracted the will and read it to the Senate,
allegedly confirming Antony’s legacies to the children of Cleopatra, and
directing that he be buried beside her in the Ptolemaic mausoleum at
Alexandria (Suetonius, Life of Augustus 17). Whether genuine or a forgery,
the will verified Octavian’s claim of Cleopatra’s ascendancy over Antony
and gave Octavian his greatest propaganda victory. Capitalizing on popular
outrage against Antony, but wanting to avoid the appearance of starting
another civil war, in the winter of 32 bc Octavian declared war on
Cleopatra. The following spring, Octavian’s second in command, the brilliant
admiral Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, set up a blockade at Cleopatra’s
bases along the southern Greek coast, cutting off her supply ships from
Egypt. When Octavian landed with his army to the north, Antony and
Cleopatra were trapped in the gulf of Ambracia.
134 CLEOPATRA (1963)