Marcus Antonius was Not a Great Man

Marcus Antonius, born c. 83 and died in 30 BCE , was 1 of the separate known Ro human leaders, likely because of his romance with Cleopatra and Shakespeares fictionaliseing of his tale. As the son of General Marcus Antonius and Julia, he was the second first first first cousin of Julius Caesar and and so became a compelling man. Antony participated in many host campaigns in his life age, and upon Caesars death he became one of two principal(prenominal) contesters of the throne. His life came to an end when his rival Octavian discomfited him in difference at Actium and he committed suicide with his buff Cleopatra.         Marc Antony was an classic man, solely his affinity with Caesar was what truly manoeuvre to his make full tide into function, and his altogether life was directed by rasets give way of his control. Marc Antony was a return of his age and family, nonhing much.         One of the cracking(p)er factors of Anton ys approach path into power was his argumentation relations, particularly that with Caesar. Marc Antonys mother Julia was the cousin of Julius Caesar, making him the second cousin. In a time when short letter relations and family lineage were so important, this obviously meant Antony was destined from exonerate to be in a point of power. He did non rise up finished the ranks and earn his complete status, on the nose rather was granted most of it by Caesar, as Plutarch wrote in his book Antony: And the run which he gained with the peopleby the cash which was supplied by Caesar, enabled him to get to Antony, first, tribune of the people, and then, augur. And Antonys accession to office was at one time of the sterling(prenominal) advantage to Caesar.                                                      --Antony by Plutarch         In the above retell Plutarch mentions that Antonys accession was advantageous to Caesa! r, which makes one pose the activate: If Caesar had non wished it so and granted Antony the requi wild funds, would Antony feed flat so been capable of rising to office? One can non consecrate for sure enough what wouldve happened, plainly in hindsight, its rather clear that Antony was incapable(p) of accomplishing such a task with turn out(p) the reassert of powerful men.         The events in the life of another of Antonys blood relatives provides immense certainty that Antony did not direct storey, but rather took up with the kind team manifestly to make a predict for himself. His granddaddy was a famous orator who had support red valerian , who was a ruthless leader with whom Pompey allied himself with. Pompey was Caesars greatest nemesis, and Sulla had even intended to execute Caesar and would have through and through so had Caesar not left capital of Italy in time. Although his grandad had been supported Sulla, Antony saw Caesars growing p ower and machine-accessible himself to the benignant billet. He was not a driving puff of history, but rather traveled easily a tail in greater mens wake.         Because of his aligning himself with the lordly side and his family connections, Antony blush quite high in power. So high, in fact, that when Caesar died, Antony took over. When it came time for Antony to make his own history, he failed miserably without someone it pass along him by the good deal. He was so reliant on others that he sought out Cleopatras love or more than precisely her support to stay in power, and it was his relationship with her that is the last(a) major evidence that Antony was not a major influence on history but in fact was simply guided along by other people and events out of his control.         Antony was in a position of great power, but it would have taken a man greater than he was to make something of that position and mold history to his liking. Howev er, Antony was unable to cope with having autonomous! power, and because of this he sought out (or perhaps was sought and snared by) Cleopatra.

The lawfulness about whether or not she truly cared for him died with her, but it is more than reasonable to assume a major part of their relationship was her trying to further overdraw her power and bring Rome and Egypt together. Antony was more than happy to be led by the hand by a woman, as Plutarch mentions in his book Antony: So that Cleopatra had great obligations to her for having taught Antony to be so good a servant, he coming to her hands castigate and broken into entire faithfulness to the commands of a mistress. Plutarch, Antony. The wo man that Cleopatra was cause to was Antonys first married woman Fulvia, whom had also enwrapped Antony around her finger, bending him to his will.         If Antony had not let Cleopatra direct the events of his subsequently years than perhaps he force have turn up to be a good leader, or perhaps he would not have lasted as long alongside Octavian as he had. As it was, though, it was her manipulations which he so willingly succumbed to that was his downfall, and ultimate proof that his life was guided by others choices, not his own. It was more or less her meddling that led to the two of them, even with Cleopatras and Antonys united armies, creation decisively defeated by Octavian and Agrippa at Actium.         At this point, Antony could not have changed the fall of history even if he was doubly the man. His death is the concluding proof that he was simply a tool of Cleopatra in his later years; upon hearing assumed reports of her committing suicide, he killed himself, wise to(p) full-well he ! was postcode without someone to direct the flow of his life. Antony was not a great leader. His power and great deeds came from connections through family and friends, the fact that he changed to the winning side to continue having power and wealth given to him, and Cleopatra=s great influence on him. The stage was set for him before he was even born, and he was led by the hand through his life by others, simply dragged through his time by the flow of history, nothing more If you want to get a full essay, ordination it on our website: BestEssayCheap.com

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