9. She Kept Mark Antony Flattered, Charmed, and Entertained
Sure, they had sex, but Cleopatra and Antony did other things together, too. She lured him to Alexandria with promises of gambling and debauchery (so said the Roman Plutarch). Antony had a supper club called the Inimitable Livers, and “every day they feasted one another, making their expenditures of incredible profusion.” The royal chef had to make a lot of meals!
Cleopatra was always keeping Antony entertained, “ever contributing some fresh delight and charm to Antony’s hours of seriousness or mirth, kept him in constant tutelage,” according to Plutarch. They played dice games, got drunk, hunted together, she watched him work out, and when he went out drinking, she went with him, dressed up as a commoner.
Once, when he went fishing, Antony couldn’t catch anything, so he ordered someone to hook a pre-caught fish to his line. Cleopatra was clued in and brought a crowd the next day, so when he hooked a “salted Pontic herring,” he was terribly embarrassed. She mocked him lovingly, saying he should give up his fishing rod. His sport, she said, was “the hunting of cities, realms, and continents.”
Add Comment