Life of Antony

Before the text

Editor's Prelude

The opening pages

Chapter 1

1 Antony's grandfather was the orator Antonius, who joined the party of Sulla and was put to death by Marius;⁠ his father was Antonius surnamed Creticus, a man of no great repute in public life, nor illustrious, but kindly and honest, and particularly a liberal giver, as one may see from a single instance. 2 He had not much property himself, and therefore was prevented by his wife from indulging his kindly feelings. When, accordingly, one of his intimates came to him with a request for money, money he had not, but he ordered a young slave to put water into a silver bowl and bring it to him, and when it was brought, he moistened his chin, as though about to shave. 3 The slave was then sent away on another errand improvised for the occasion, whereupon Antonius gave the bowl to his friend and bade him dispose of it. Later, when a careful search was made for it among the slaves, seeing that his wife was angry and proposed to put them to the torture one by one, Antonius confessed what he had done, and by his entreaties gained her pardon.

Chapter 2

1 His wife was Julia, of the house of the Caesars, and she could vie with the noblest and most discreet women of her time. By this mother her son Antony was reared, after the death of whose father she married Cornelius Lentulus, whom Cicero put to death for joining the conspiracy of Catiline.⁠ This would seem to have been the origin and ground of the violent hatred which Antony felt towards Cicero. 2 At any rate, Antony says that not even the dead body of Lentulus was given up to them until his mother had begged it from the wife of Cicero. This, however, is admittedly false; for no one of those who were punished at that time by Cicero was deprived of burial. 3 Antony gave brilliant promise in his youth, they say, until his intimate friendship with Curio fell upon him like a pest. For Curio himself was unrestrained in his pleasures, and in order to make Antony more manageable, engaged him in drinking bouts, and with women, and in immoderate and extravagant expenditures. This involved Antony in a heavy debt and one that was excessive for his years—a debt of two hundred and fifty talents.⁠ 4 For this whole sum Curio went surety, but his father heard of it and banished Antony from his house. Then Antony allied himself for a short time with Clodius, the most audacious and low-lived demagogue of his time, in the violent courses which were convulsing the state; but he soon became sated with that miscreant's madness, and fearing the party which was forming against him, left Italy for Greece, where he spent some time in military exercises and the study of oratory. 5 He adopted what was called the Asiatic style of oratory, which was at the height of its popularity in those days and bore a strong resemblance to his own life, which was swashbuckling and boastful, full of empty exultation and distorted ambition.

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Chapter guides · 6

1. Chapter 12

   Courage and the use of favor

   Antony’s generosity and physical courage win soldiers’ affection, while the same freedom from restraint unsettles public life.

   A soldier people will follow

   The Egyptian campaign shows Antony acting boldly and preventing Ptolemy from massacring prisoners at Pelusium. His care for a fallen friend and his easy fellowship with soldiers help explain his appeal. Plutarch gives real force to these virtues alongside stories of debt and excess.

   Different audiences, different judgments

   Antony’s conviviality binds the army to him, but his conduct in Italy makes Caesar’s administration odious to others. Command demands more than popularity among comrades. Plutarch also rejects Cicero’s claim that Antony caused the civil war: Caesar already desired supremacy, and Antony’s flight supplied a pretext.

   The diadem in the forum

   At the Lupercalia, Antony repeatedly offers Caesar a royal diadem; the crowd applauds Caesar’s refusals. Plutarch sees a people willing to accept kinglike power while recoiling from the name. Antony’s display makes the unsettled relationship between office, personal command and liberty publicly visible. When tribunes tear down a wreath hung on one of Caesar’s statues, Caesar strips them of office despite the crowd’s approval of their action.

2. Chapter 25

   From accommodation to the spoils of power

   Antony helps settle the immediate crisis after Caesar’s murder, then competes for authority amid reprisals, military loyalty and provincial exactions.

   The settlement gives way

   Antony first supports an amnesty and safeguards Caesar’s acts. His funeral speech then turns the crowd against the assassins. Control of Caesar’s papers lets him advance decisions in the dead man’s name, while the arrival of Caesar’s young heir introduces a rival whom he initially underestimates.

   Loyalty and its betrayal

   Defeat reveals Antony’s endurance and restores his bond with the soldiers. The later agreement with Octavian and Lepidus has a different moral character: each bargains away friends or relatives to reach enemies. Plutarch condemns this exchange without qualification. Antony’s mother, by protecting Lucius Caesar, resists the logic of the bargain.

   The cost of largesse

   After Philippi, payments promised to soldiers drive demands on the eastern provinces. Antony’s entertainments and gifts coexist with confiscation and suffering. Hybreas’s protest brings him to recognize abuses, but his trust in flattering companions keeps judgment vulnerable. Cleopatra prepares to answer his summons, with Dellius encouraging her confidence in the encounter.

3. Chapter 37

   Alliance, attraction and divided command

   Cleopatra’s presence, Octavia’s mediation and the achievements of Antony’s generals draw private relationships into the contest for public power.

4. Chapter 50

   An army kept alive at terrible cost

   The Parthian expedition becomes a retreat in which tactical endurance cannot recover the losses caused by haste, isolation and scarcity.

5. Chapter 62

   The struggle over Rome’s allegiance

   Preparations for civil war combine territorial claims, demands on subjects, family loyalties and competing representations of Antony’s rule.

6. Chapter 75

   A commander separated from his army

   Actium breaks Antony’s command before it extinguishes his soldiers’ loyalty, and the return to Egypt leaves ever fewer courses open.

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Questions readers ask

How long does it take to read Life of Antony?

About 2 hr 15 min in total.

How difficult is Life of Antony?

Advanced. A mid-length biography; about 2 hours of reading.

Which translation is this?

The Bernadotte Perrin translation from the Ancient Greek. The text follows The Life of Antony, in Plutarch's Lives, Loeb Classical Library, Volume IX (1920).

Can I read Life of Antony for free?

Life of Antony is part of Nexus Premium, so reading it needs an account and a Premium subscription. The opening above and two chapter guides on this page are free to read.

How many chapter guides are there?

6 chapter guides, written by the Nexus editors. Two open in full here; the rest show their opening line.

About Plutarch

Plutarch was a Greek biographer, essayist, and moral philosopher whose Parallel Lives shaped how later generations understood Greek and Roman greatness. His biographies compare character, ambition, virtue, vice, and the moral meaning of public action.

“What does power reveal about a person's character?”

Plutarch is one of the great source engines for Nexus. He gives conquerors, statesmen, and republics a moral frame.

Source text: public domain. Chapter guides: original Nexus writing. Life of Antony is part of The Nexus Archive, guided Quests through the great works.

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