golden words

Mosaic floor with head of Medusa, Roman, 115-150 AD

Mark Antony was a lover of life, he enjoyed life to the fullest. Yet he never neglated his duties to the state. Here is a story of his fun loving nature and dedication to his duties:

Antony had a friend who was an actor by profession called Hippias. He despite the ongoing civil war, was living large in the city of Rome. Antony allegedly brought many actors like Hippias into his inner circle during his administration of the Roman capital, and he used his war-wrought wealth to live the luxurious high-life with the prominent entertainers. But Antony was not the only host of the parties and when Hippias happened to get married during the course of the Roman Civil War, the wedding celebration thrown for the occasion must have been epic. Mark Antony, of course, was invited to the feast, and he partied with the other guests long into the night. In fact, as the story goes, the party lasted throughout the dark hours and seamlessly continued into the morning. Although it must have been great fun, the length of the party posed a problem—the quite drunk and hungover Antony realised he had to go see to his administrative duties in the Roman Forum. He did go to work, even if he was feeling very ill, for he managed to sway and stumble his way to the forum in a timely fashion. Yet, just as Antony hurled himself into the public meeting place, he realised that his night of partying had caught up with him. The unsightly scene that reportedly unfolded was recorded by the Greek-Roman scholar, Plutarch, who wrote,

“it is said that he was a guest at the wedding of the actor Hippias, where he drank all night long, and then the next morning, when the people of Rome summoned him to the forum, he presented himself while he was still suffering from overindulgence and vomited into the cloak one of his friends held out for him. ”

Silver bracelet uncovered near Saint Genis, France, 2nd-3rd century AD

We don't know if Cleopatra had any best friends but we do know that Antony had some of them.

Some of his well-known best friends are Ventidius, Canidius and Lucilius.

Ventidius served with Antony in Caesar’s army. They became friends from then on. Antony trusted him very much. He fought for Antony in several battles including the Parthians. He was highly honoured and granted a triumph in Rome by Antony before his retirement. Ventidius was 5-6 years older than him.

Canidius was also one of Antony's colleagues who serves in Caesar’s army. They became life long friends from then on. Canidius remained with Antony until the very end. He commanded Antony's land forces at the battle of Actium. When his entire army deserted to Octavian Canidius was one of the few who returned to Antony in Alexandria and helped him get out of depression. He and Canidius fought together in the final battle of their lives near Alexandria. Canidius was executed by Octavian after Antony's suicide. They both likely died on the same day.

Gold earrings with sapphires, Roman, 2nd century AD