History Thing 007 - Mark Antony, BAMF

[queerlyobscure]

Aaaand in the hopes that I'm over the last of my life/health issues for the moment, the return of HISTORY THINGS :D

Today, we're going to talk about Mark Antony.

Comments

[lil_1337]

That is too funny about the fishing.

[queerlyobscure]

I love the fishing story. It's kind of exactly why I love Lives, because it's full of odd little stories like that about Serious people. Plutarch is very entertaining.

[tyreling]

Another fascinating historical corner. Anndddd "Cleopatra mistress". That really did it for me.

The fishing story, of course, was very amusing. XDD

[queerlyobscure]

I a convinced that the only person who was a bigger badass than Antony at the time was actually Cleopatra. She was made of awesome and naturally, would not lower herself to being some jumped-up Roman general's mistress. But she would completely keep him as a pet.

I have so much love for that story. See above point re: Cleopatra's awesomeness :D

[engarian]

Somewhere along the line he married Curio's widow, Fulvia, which is creepy in a way that only Romans can pull off.

Lovely sentence that holds so much chutzpa. And, in its own rather sad way, exemplifies the problems of the Roman Empire in general around that time.

Of course I love the fishing story. Cleo was a VERY sharp lady who ran, very successfully I might add, the richest nation in the world and ran it well.

- Erulisse (one L)

[queerlyobscure]

Rome was a big, beautiful mess, from beginning to end. It was glorious and horribly wrong at times but in a lot of ways, surprisingly enlightened about a lot of things. Like any civilisation, I guess, it's complicated.

Cleopatra was probably the smartest person in power anywhere in the world at the time. She was one helluva leader.

[thymelady]

I used to see Richard Burton before me, but since Rome, Marc Antony will only ever be a stark naked James Purefoy and I'm sure you agree. ;-)

That relatively boring marriage to Octavia Minor lead to the daughters Antonia Major and Antonia Minor, who were more or less mothers to EVERYONE. Yes indeed, he was definitely responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire!

The Romans might be patronising asses who didn't bother giving their daughters their own names, but history got back on them by assuring that the emperors of that dynasty couldn't produce male heirs in a straight line and in the end were totally reliable on the female lines and adopting. HA! That's my feminist headcanon and I'm sticking with it. ;-)

And now I want to reread I, Claudius by Robert Graves for the uptenth time. I fear that I might like Empress Livia more and more... And I'd pay good money to see Marc Antony during Lupercalia. *hit me, Marc*

There should be a novel there, yes.

[queerlyobscure]

Oh yes. James Purefoy will forever be Mark Antony in my head :D (Stark bollock naked, indeed!)

I do think it is a particularly fun irony that Antony did effectively manage to father most of the leadership of the Roman world for the next couple of hundred years, yes. I am also all for feminist readings of Roman history ;)

I would completely and totally have been lined up during Lupercalia as well. :D

[apinchofcyanide]

Yay, another history thing. I missed them. XD

[queerlyobscure]

:D - well, I'll try not to go so long before the next one, then!