ANTONIUS, ANTONY1. Marcus Antonius (c. 82-30 B.C.), one of Rome's greatest generals, ruined his career through his affair with Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. Octavius Caesar, his rival for power in the Roman world, turned Antony's infatuation to his advantage and defeated him at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C. (Suetonius, The Deified Augustus).
The death of Antonius appears on the walls of Mars's temple, KnT 2031-2039. This short passage, like MLT 197-203, is a reworking of a passage in Bernard Silvester's Megacosmos. Antonius is a senator sent by Rome to conquer towns and kingdoms in The Legend of Cleopatra. He falsely leaves his wife, Cesar's sister, and makes Cleopataras his wife. This action causes Octavian's war against Antony, who loses the war and stabs himself through the heart in despair. Boccaccio's Antonius is a pawn in Cleopatra's games of love and conquest; he gives her kingdoms in return for her love, De claris mulieribus, LXXXVI. Chaucer may have also used Vincent of Beauvais as a source for the story of Antony's death. [Cesar2: Cleopataras: Octavyen]
Antonius appears once initially, LGW 629; twice in medial positions, LGW 588, 684; and once in final rhyming position, KnT 2032. Antony appears once initially, LGW 652; three times in medial positions, LGW 625, 657, 701, never in final rhyming position.