After Fulvia felt ill and died, Antony was forced to prove his loyalty to Octavian by marrying Octavian's half-sister Octavia in a diplomatic marriage. Under Cleopatra's rule, Egypt prospered, and Antony visited with her again in 37 B.C. to gather funding for his long-delayed military campaign against the Kingdom of Parthia. He agreed to surrender most of Egypt's eastern empire, including Cyprus, Crete, Cyrenaica (Libya), Jericho, and significant parts of Syria and Lebanon, in exchange. The rekindled their romance, and in 36 B.C, Cleopatra gave birth to another son, Ptolemy Philadelphos. Antony publicly refused his wife Octavia's effort to rejoin him after a humiliating defeat in Parthia, and instead returned to Egypt and Cleopatra. Antony recognized Caesarion as Caesar's son and lawful successor (as opposed to his adopted son, Octavian) and donated property to each of his children with Cleopatra in a public celebration known as the "Donations of Alexandria"in 34 B.C. This sparked a propaganda battle between him and Octavian, who claimed Antony was completely under Cleopatra's influence and that he would depart Antony of all his titles in late 32 B.C, and Octavian launched a war on Cleopatra.
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THE LEGENDARY CLEOPATRA
Historical FictionCleopatra VII Philopator was the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt. A member of Ptolemy dynasty, she was a descendant of it's founder Ptolemy I Soter, a Macedonian Greek general and companion of Alexander the Great.
