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Mark Antony (character of Rome)
Encyclopedia
Mark Antony is a historical figure who features as a character in the HBO
/BBC2 original television series Rome
, played by James Purefoy
. Like the real Mark Antony
he was a Roman general and politician and a close supporter of Julius Caesar
.
in Gaul
. Elected as tribune
by Caesar's influence, Antony becomes Caesar's main political representative in Rome during the crucial period leading up to the Crossing of the Rubicon. When a measure is passed in the senate to require Caesar to abandon his army and his imperium
, which would leave him open to prosecution for treason
by his political enemies, Antony attempts to veto
it, as the Pompeian faction actually wish him to, not wanting to be seen as the instigators of a civil war. However, a brawl breaks out and Antony's veto is not noted.
Antony, guarded by members of the Legio XIII including Pullo
and Vorenus
, attempts to return to the Senate to veto the measure, but is prevented from doing so when Pullo is attacked by the friend of a man he had recently killed in a bar fight. The attack is wrongly interpreted as an assassination attempt on Antony, who flees Rome to re-unite with Caesar in his march on Rome
. When Caesar leaves Rome to pursue the Optimates
to Greece, Antony remains behind with the XIII, much to his chagrin.
When the war in Greece turns against Caesar, he sends for Antony. Antony considers ignoring the summons, and is urged to do so both by Pompey
's emissaries and by his longtime paramour (and Caesar's niece) Atia of the Julii
, who also proposes that the two marry. Antony rejects both the proposition and the proposal, and proceeds to Greece in time to be present for the Battle of Pharsalus
.
After the Battle, Antony returns to Rome and continues to run it in Caesar's absence. He seems to be effective in this, intimidating Cicero into abandoning his attempts to plot against Caesar. He also reestablishes his relationship with Atia after previously spurning her. At the time of Caesar's assassination, Antony is distracted. Upon seeing Caesar's corpse, Antony appears genuinely grief-stricken, and backs out of the Senate without speaking.
," Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt
comes to Rome after Caesar's death. Antony dismisses her request for public acknowledgement of Caesar's son Caesarion with derision. Caesar's heir (and Atia's son) Octavian begins making demands for his inheritance; Antony rebuffs him. Not to be underestimated, Octavian makes a public announcement that he will pay Caesar's legacy to the common people. He and a furious Antony have a violent fight during which Octavian is nearly killed; the boy leaves Rome to Marcus Agrippa
. Soon he has raised an army to challenge Antony's dominance over Rome.
Antony and Octavian's war escalates; a peace is finally brokered by Atia. Hoping to finally marry Antony, she suggests a public gesture of unity between their families. Atia is shocked and devastated when her son marries Antony to Atia's daughter Octavia of the Julii
instead. But soon Antony and Atia are back in each other's beds, and Octavia resumes her secret affair with Agrippa. Concerned about how his family's behavior reflects on his own honor, Octavian forces Antony to relocate to Egypt in "A Necessary Fiction
," leaving Atia and Octavia in Rome. Arriving at the Egyptian palace, Antony looks at an alluring Cleopatra with new eyes.
Years later in the next episode, "Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus
," Antony and Cleopatra are in love in Egypt raising their own twins, Helios and Selene; she urges him to declare war on Rome to free himself once and for all from Octavian's tyranny. Antony is hesitant, knowing that an attack on Rome would strip him of the people's devotion, the one thing that Octavian does not have. When Antony refuses Octavian's request for increased grain supplies for a starving Rome, Octavian sends his sister Octavia and mother Atia to intervene. Antony insists to a jealous Cleopatra that he no longer loves Atia, but Cleopatra intends to publicly flaunt their love in front of the Roman women or kill them; trying to prevent Atia's humiliation or murder, Antony has his wife and former lover sent away without seeing them. He soon descends into a drunken and opium
-induced self-indulgent stupor.
In the series finale "De Patre Vostro
," Antony has neglected his legions, and his military might begins to slowly fail. Octavian receives what is purportedly a copy of Antony's last will and testament from Posca; the document states that Antony will leave all of his land and titles to his children by Cleopatra. This, as Octavian guesses it will, turns the Roman people against Antony; allowing Octavian to declare him a traitor and go to war against him. Antony loses the Battle of Actium
to Octavian, who seeks Antony's personal surrender or he will burn the palace to the ground with everyone inside. Cleopatra hopes for some alternate solution, but to Antony the only way out of the situation is suicide. Octavian makes a secret offer to Cleopatra: she can keep her life and her crown in exchange for allowing his men into the palace to take Antony. She is genuinely torn between her love for Antony, her duty as queen and her personal honor. She and Antony agree to die by their own hands, but with the help of her servant and advisor Charmian, Cleopatra later fakes her own suicide, prompting Antony to kill himself with the assistance of Lucius Vorenus. Out of respect, Vorenus dresses Antony's corpse in armor and seats it on the throne of Alexandria, where it is found by Octavian.
comes from Plutarch
's Parallel Lives
, and his personality in Rome
appears to be essentially consistent with what Plutarch wrote of him. Antony is portrayed as a soldier's soldier, a lover of women, and unfailingly devoted to Caesar
. Rome also depicts him as truly despising politics, and lacking tact or subtlety in political matters, which Caesar uses to his advantage.
The antipathy Antony shows for Cicero in, for example, the episode Caesarion is historically attested. The historical Mark Antony held Cicero
responsible for the execution of Antony's stepfather, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, as part of the Catiline
conspiracy.
There is no evidence that Mark Antony was romantically involved with Atia Balba Caesonia (basis for Atia of the Julii
) as is depicted in the series. The Mark Antony of Rome is also notably lacking family; the historical Antony had two younger brothers, Lucius
and Gaius
, both of whom played roles in the events of the time. Additionally, it is not mentioned in the series that Antony was a blood relative of Caesar
's through his mother, Julia Antonia
, Caesar's cousin.
Further, the Mark Antony of Rome is initially unmarried; the historical Mark Antony was married three times prior to his union with Octavia Minor
(to Fadia, Antonia Hybrida and, most notably, Fulvia
). Antony would have married Fulvia at some point during the events of Season 1. The historical Antony had seven children: two sons, Marcus Antonius Antyllus
and Iullus Antonius Creticus
, by Fulvia; two daughters, Antonia Major
and Antonia Minor
, by Octavia Minor; and a daughter and two sons, Cleopatra Selene
, Alexander Helios
and Ptolemy Philadelphus
by Cleopatra VII. Only Antonia Major and Cleopatra's twins Selene and Helios are noted in the series.
The historical timeline has also been manipulated. Antony fathered his first two children with Cleopatra before marrying Octavia; when he later left Rome, he settled in Athens
, Greece with Octavia, and they had their daughters. He ultimately left his wife in Greece and reunited with Cleopatra in Egypt
; he and Cleopatra subsequently had their third child. In the series, Antony marries Octavia and is then forced by Octavian
to relocate to Egypt; he leaves Octavia in Rome pregnant with Antonia Major (who, it is heavily implied, is in fact the child of Marcus Agrippa). In Egypt, Antony reconnects with Cleopatra; they have met before but never had a romantic relationship. They later have the twins Helios and Selene.
In the series, Antony's position on the Senate is named both "Tribune of the People" and "Tribune of the Plebs." The latter is the usual usage.
Home Box Office
HBO, short for Home Box Office, is an American premium cable television network, owned by Time Warner. , HBO's programming reaches 28.2 million subscribers in the United States, making it the second largest premium network in America . In addition to its U.S...
/BBC2 original television series Rome
Rome (TV series)
Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
, played by James Purefoy
James Purefoy
James Brian Mark Purefoy is an English actor best known for portraying Mark Antony in the HBO series Rome.-Early life and work:...
. Like the real Mark Antony
Mark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
he was a Roman general and politician and a close supporter of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
.
Season 1
As Rome begins, Antony serves with Julius CaesarGaius Julius Caesar (character of Rome)
Gaius Julius Caesar is a historical figure who features as a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds...
in Gaul
Gaul
Gaul was a region of Western Europe during the Iron Age and Roman era, encompassing present day France, Luxembourg and Belgium, most of Switzerland, the western part of Northern Italy, as well as the parts of the Netherlands and Germany on the left bank of the Rhine. The Gauls were the speakers of...
. Elected as tribune
Tribune
Tribune was a title shared by elected officials in the Roman Republic. Tribunes had the power to convene the Plebeian Council and to act as its president, which also gave them the right to propose legislation before it. They were sacrosanct, in the sense that any assault on their person was...
by Caesar's influence, Antony becomes Caesar's main political representative in Rome during the crucial period leading up to the Crossing of the Rubicon. When a measure is passed in the senate to require Caesar to abandon his army and his imperium
Imperium
Imperium is a Latin word which, in a broad sense, translates roughly as 'power to command'. In ancient Rome, different kinds of power or authority were distinguished by different terms. Imperium, referred to the sovereignty of the state over the individual...
, which would leave him open to prosecution for treason
Treason
In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's sovereign or nation. Historically, treason also covered the murder of specific social superiors, such as the murder of a husband by his wife. Treason against the king was known as high treason and treason against a...
by his political enemies, Antony attempts to veto
Veto
A veto, Latin for "I forbid", is the power of an officer of the state to unilaterally stop an official action, especially enactment of a piece of legislation...
it, as the Pompeian faction actually wish him to, not wanting to be seen as the instigators of a civil war. However, a brawl breaks out and Antony's veto is not noted.
Antony, guarded by members of the Legio XIII including Pullo
Titus Pullo (character of Rome)
Titus Pullo is a fictional character from the HBO/BBC original television series Rome, played by Ray Stevenson. He is depicted as a hedonistic, devil-may-care soldier who discovers hidden ideals and integrity within himself...
and Vorenus
Lucius Vorenus (character of Rome)
Lucius Vorenus is a semi-fictional character in the British-Italian-American historical drama television series Rome, a show about the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. Played by Scottish actor Kevin McKidd in the series, Lucius Vorenus is introduced as a main character...
, attempts to return to the Senate to veto the measure, but is prevented from doing so when Pullo is attacked by the friend of a man he had recently killed in a bar fight. The attack is wrongly interpreted as an assassination attempt on Antony, who flees Rome to re-unite with Caesar in his march on Rome
Caesar's civil war
The Great Roman Civil War , also known as Caesar's Civil War, was one of the last politico-military conflicts in the Roman Republic before the establishment of the Roman Empire...
. When Caesar leaves Rome to pursue the Optimates
Optimates
The optimates were the traditionalist majority of the late Roman Republic. They wished to limit the power of the popular assemblies and the Tribunes of the Plebs, and to extend the power of the Senate, which was viewed as more dedicated to the interests of the aristocrats who held the reins of power...
to Greece, Antony remains behind with the XIII, much to his chagrin.
When the war in Greece turns against Caesar, he sends for Antony. Antony considers ignoring the summons, and is urged to do so both by Pompey
Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (character of Rome)
Gnaeus Pompey Magnus is a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Kenneth Cranham. He is depicted as a legendary general, past the days of his prime, who tries to recapture the glories of his youth as much as to do what is right for the Republic...
's emissaries and by his longtime paramour (and Caesar's niece) Atia of the Julii
Atia of the Julii
Atia of the Julii is a fictional character from the HBO/BBC/RAI original television series Rome, played by Polly Walker. The niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavian/Augustus and Octavia, she is depicted as a cheerfully amoral and opportunistic manipulator...
, who also proposes that the two marry. Antony rejects both the proposition and the proposal, and proceeds to Greece in time to be present for the Battle of Pharsalus
Battle of Pharsalus
The Battle of Pharsalus was a decisive battle of Caesar's Civil War. On 9 August 48 BC at Pharsalus in central Greece, Gaius Julius Caesar and his allies formed up opposite the army of the republic under the command of Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus...
.
After the Battle, Antony returns to Rome and continues to run it in Caesar's absence. He seems to be effective in this, intimidating Cicero into abandoning his attempts to plot against Caesar. He also reestablishes his relationship with Atia after previously spurning her. At the time of Caesar's assassination, Antony is distracted. Upon seeing Caesar's corpse, Antony appears genuinely grief-stricken, and backs out of the Senate without speaking.
Season 2
After being chased by Quintus' men outside the Senate house, he goes to Brutus' house and explains to him that despite killing Caesar they are now at Antony's mercy due to his influence with the people, and so they agree to a temporary alliance. On his way out of the house he goes to embrace his enemy Quintus but quickly cuts his throat. Later at Caesar's funeral he spurs the mob of Rome into a riot against Brutus and his supporters forcing them to leave Rome. He soon falls comfortably into the position of de facto ruler of Rome. In "Son of HadesSon of Hades
"Son of Hades" is the second episode of the second season of the television series Rome.-Plot summary:With Erastes Fulmen gone, the Aventine is up for grabs, and rival gangs have taken to the streets in a struggle for control, stabbing each other in the open markets.Having surrendered to his grief,...
," Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt
Cleopatra (character of Rome)
Cleopatra is a character from the HBO/BBC original television series Rome, played by Lyndsey Marshal from October 16, 2005 through March 25, 2007. The basis for this character is the famous historical Egyptian Queen Cleopatra VII.-Personality:...
comes to Rome after Caesar's death. Antony dismisses her request for public acknowledgement of Caesar's son Caesarion with derision. Caesar's heir (and Atia's son) Octavian begins making demands for his inheritance; Antony rebuffs him. Not to be underestimated, Octavian makes a public announcement that he will pay Caesar's legacy to the common people. He and a furious Antony have a violent fight during which Octavian is nearly killed; the boy leaves Rome to Marcus Agrippa
Marcus Agrippa (Rome character)
Marcus Agrippa is a character in the HBO/BBC/RAI original television series Rome, played by Allen Leech. He is portrayed as an earnest, loyal and understanding young man who Gaius Octavian values highly despite being so humble...
. Soon he has raised an army to challenge Antony's dominance over Rome.
Antony and Octavian's war escalates; a peace is finally brokered by Atia. Hoping to finally marry Antony, she suggests a public gesture of unity between their families. Atia is shocked and devastated when her son marries Antony to Atia's daughter Octavia of the Julii
Octavia of the Julii
Octavia of the Julii is a fictional character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Irish actress Kerry Condon. The character is based on the Roman matron Octavia Thurina Minor, sister of Roman Emperor Augustus.-Season One:...
instead. But soon Antony and Atia are back in each other's beds, and Octavia resumes her secret affair with Agrippa. Concerned about how his family's behavior reflects on his own honor, Octavian forces Antony to relocate to Egypt in "A Necessary Fiction
A Necessary Fiction
"A Necessary Fiction" is the eighth episode of the second season of the television series Rome. The air date is March 11, 2007.-Plot summary:...
," leaving Atia and Octavia in Rome. Arriving at the Egyptian palace, Antony looks at an alluring Cleopatra with new eyes.
Years later in the next episode, "Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus
Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus (No God Can Stop a Hungry Man)
"Deus Impeditio Esuritori Nullus" is the ninth episode of the second season of the television series Rome. The air date is March 18, 2007...
," Antony and Cleopatra are in love in Egypt raising their own twins, Helios and Selene; she urges him to declare war on Rome to free himself once and for all from Octavian's tyranny. Antony is hesitant, knowing that an attack on Rome would strip him of the people's devotion, the one thing that Octavian does not have. When Antony refuses Octavian's request for increased grain supplies for a starving Rome, Octavian sends his sister Octavia and mother Atia to intervene. Antony insists to a jealous Cleopatra that he no longer loves Atia, but Cleopatra intends to publicly flaunt their love in front of the Roman women or kill them; trying to prevent Atia's humiliation or murder, Antony has his wife and former lover sent away without seeing them. He soon descends into a drunken and opium
Opium
Opium is the dried latex obtained from the opium poppy . Opium contains up to 12% morphine, an alkaloid, which is frequently processed chemically to produce heroin for the illegal drug trade. The latex also includes codeine and non-narcotic alkaloids such as papaverine, thebaine and noscapine...
-induced self-indulgent stupor.
In the series finale "De Patre Vostro
De Patre Vostro (About Your Father)
"De Patre Vostro" is the tenth and final episode of the second season of the television series Rome. It originally aired on March 25, 2007....
," Antony has neglected his legions, and his military might begins to slowly fail. Octavian receives what is purportedly a copy of Antony's last will and testament from Posca; the document states that Antony will leave all of his land and titles to his children by Cleopatra. This, as Octavian guesses it will, turns the Roman people against Antony; allowing Octavian to declare him a traitor and go to war against him. Antony loses the Battle of Actium
Battle of Actium
The Battle of Actium was the decisive confrontation of the Final War of the Roman Republic. It was fought between the forces of Octavian and the combined forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC, on the Ionian Sea near the city of Actium, at the Roman...
to Octavian, who seeks Antony's personal surrender or he will burn the palace to the ground with everyone inside. Cleopatra hopes for some alternate solution, but to Antony the only way out of the situation is suicide. Octavian makes a secret offer to Cleopatra: she can keep her life and her crown in exchange for allowing his men into the palace to take Antony. She is genuinely torn between her love for Antony, her duty as queen and her personal honor. She and Antony agree to die by their own hands, but with the help of her servant and advisor Charmian, Cleopatra later fakes her own suicide, prompting Antony to kill himself with the assistance of Lucius Vorenus. Out of respect, Vorenus dresses Antony's corpse in armor and seats it on the throne of Alexandria, where it is found by Octavian.
Comparison with the historical Mark Antony
Most of what we know about the historical Mark AntonyMark Antony
Marcus Antonius , known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. As a military commander and administrator, he was an important supporter and loyal friend of his mother's cousin Julius Caesar...
comes from Plutarch
Plutarch
Plutarch then named, on his becoming a Roman citizen, Lucius Mestrius Plutarchus , c. 46 – 120 AD, was a Greek historian, biographer, essayist, and Middle Platonist known primarily for his Parallel Lives and Moralia...
's Parallel Lives
Parallel Lives
Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans, commonly called Parallel Lives or Plutarch's Lives, is a series of biographies of famous men, arranged in tandem to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, written in the late 1st century...
, and his personality in Rome
Rome (TV series)
Rome is a British-American–Italian historical drama television series created by Bruno Heller, John Milius and William J. MacDonald. The show's two seasons premiered in 2005 and 2007, and were later released on DVD. Rome is set in the 1st century BC, during Ancient Rome's transition from Republic...
appears to be essentially consistent with what Plutarch wrote of him. Antony is portrayed as a soldier's soldier, a lover of women, and unfailingly devoted to Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar (character of Rome)
Gaius Julius Caesar is a historical figure who features as a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Irish actor Ciarán Hinds...
. Rome also depicts him as truly despising politics, and lacking tact or subtlety in political matters, which Caesar uses to his advantage.
The antipathy Antony shows for Cicero in, for example, the episode Caesarion is historically attested. The historical Mark Antony held Cicero
Cicero
Marcus Tullius Cicero , was a Roman philosopher, statesman, lawyer, political theorist, and Roman constitutionalist. He came from a wealthy municipal family of the equestrian order, and is widely considered one of Rome's greatest orators and prose stylists.He introduced the Romans to the chief...
responsible for the execution of Antony's stepfather, Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura, as part of the Catiline
Catiline
Lucius Sergius Catilina , known in English as Catiline, was a Roman politician of the 1st century BC who is best known for the Catiline conspiracy, an attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic, and in particular the power of the aristocratic Senate.-Family background:Catiline was born in 108 BC to...
conspiracy.
There is no evidence that Mark Antony was romantically involved with Atia Balba Caesonia (basis for Atia of the Julii
Atia of the Julii
Atia of the Julii is a fictional character from the HBO/BBC/RAI original television series Rome, played by Polly Walker. The niece of Julius Caesar and mother of Octavian/Augustus and Octavia, she is depicted as a cheerfully amoral and opportunistic manipulator...
) as is depicted in the series. The Mark Antony of Rome is also notably lacking family; the historical Antony had two younger brothers, Lucius
Lucius Antonius (brother of Mark Antony)
Lucius Antonius was the younger brother and supporter of Mark Antony, a Roman politician.Lucius was son of Marcus Antonius Creticus, son of the rhetorician Marcus Antonius Orator executed by Gaius Marius' supporters in 86 BC, and Julia Antonia, a cousin of Julius Caesar...
and Gaius
Gaius Antonius
Gaius Antonius was the second son of Marcus Antonius Creticus and Julia Antonia, and thus, younger brother of Mark Antony, triumvir and enemy of Caesar Augustus.-Early life:...
, both of whom played roles in the events of the time. Additionally, it is not mentioned in the series that Antony was a blood relative of Caesar
Julius Caesar
Gaius Julius Caesar was a Roman general and statesman and a distinguished writer of Latin prose. He played a critical role in the gradual transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire....
's through his mother, Julia Antonia
Julia Antonia
Julia Caesaris or Julia Antonia was a daughter to consul Lucius Julius Caesar III and mother to the future triumvir and deputy of Caesar, Mark Antony. She was a sister to consul Lucius Julius Caesar IV. Her mother is unknown. She was born and raised in Rome...
, Caesar's cousin.
Further, the Mark Antony of Rome is initially unmarried; the historical Mark Antony was married three times prior to his union with Octavia Minor
Octavia Minor
Octavia the Younger , also known as Octavia Minor or simply Octavia, was the sister of the first Roman Emperor, Augustus , half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and fourth wife of Mark Antony...
(to Fadia, Antonia Hybrida and, most notably, Fulvia
Fulvia
Fulvia Flacca Bambula , commonly referred to as simply Fulvia, was an aristocratic Roman woman who lived during the Late Roman Republic. Through her marriage to three of the most promising Roman men of her generation, Publius Clodius Pulcher, Gaius Scribonius Curio and Mark Antony, she gained...
). Antony would have married Fulvia at some point during the events of Season 1. The historical Antony had seven children: two sons, Marcus Antonius Antyllus
Marcus Antonius Antyllus
Marcus Antonius Antyllus was known as Marcus Antonius Minor to distinguish him from his famous father, the Roman Triumvir Marc Antony . He was also called Antyllus — a nickname given to him by his father...
and Iullus Antonius Creticus
Iullus Antonius
Iullus Antonius , also known as Iulus, Julus or Jullus, was the second son of Mark Antony and his third wife Fulvia. He is best known for being the famous lover of Julia the Elder...
, by Fulvia; two daughters, Antonia Major
Antonia Major
Antonia Major , also known as Antonia the Elder, was a daughter of Mark Antony and Octavia Minor and a relative of the first Roman Emperors of the Julio-Claudian dynasty...
and Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor
Antonia Minor , also known as Antonia the Younger or simply Antonia was the younger of two daughters of Roman politician Mark Antony and Octavia Minor. Tacitus Ann. 4.44.2 and 12.54.2 may have confused the two Antonia sisters...
, by Octavia Minor; and a daughter and two sons, Cleopatra Selene
Cleopatra Selene (II)
Cleopatra Selene II , also known as Cleopatra VIII of Egypt or Cleopatra VIII was a Ptolemaic Princess and was the only daughter to Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. She was the fraternal twin of Ptolemaic prince Alexander Helios...
, Alexander Helios
Alexander Helios
Alexander Helios was a Ptolemaic prince and was the eldest son of Greek Ptolemaic queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony. His twin was Cleopatra Selene II. He was of Greek and Roman heritage. Cleopatra named him Alexander in honour of her Macedonian heritage, and after her...
and Ptolemy Philadelphus
Ptolemy Philadelphus (Cleopatra)
Ptolemy Philadelphus was a Ptolemaic prince and was the youngest and fourth child of Greek Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and her third with Roman Triumvir Mark Antony. Ptolemy was of Greek and Roman heritage. He was born in Antioch, Syria...
by Cleopatra VII. Only Antonia Major and Cleopatra's twins Selene and Helios are noted in the series.
The historical timeline has also been manipulated. Antony fathered his first two children with Cleopatra before marrying Octavia; when he later left Rome, he settled in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece with Octavia, and they had their daughters. He ultimately left his wife in Greece and reunited with Cleopatra in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
; he and Cleopatra subsequently had their third child. In the series, Antony marries Octavia and is then forced by Octavian
Gaius Octavian (character of Rome)
Gaius Octavian is a character in the HBO/BBC2 original television series Rome, played by Max Pirkis as a child in season one and the beginning of season two, and in the rest of the second season he is played by Simon Woods. He is portrayed as a shrewd, if somewhat cold, young man, with an...
to relocate to Egypt; he leaves Octavia in Rome pregnant with Antonia Major (who, it is heavily implied, is in fact the child of Marcus Agrippa). In Egypt, Antony reconnects with Cleopatra; they have met before but never had a romantic relationship. They later have the twins Helios and Selene.
In the series, Antony's position on the Senate is named both "Tribune of the People" and "Tribune of the Plebs." The latter is the usual usage.