Rosi

Marcus 'Big Dick' Antonius was just being himself when he married Octavia whilst being in "love" with Cleopatra. It was actually Augustus' idea, the Antony-Octavia alliance. Augustus thought antonoy would leave octavia or cheat on her sooner or later, and that would give him bad press with ppl in italia as Octavia was very popular with them. And thats what Octavianus wanted. Also, he sensed that Octavia always had a thing for Antonoy, so he wasnt really sacrificing his sister, whom he claimed to love a lot, to the boor. I guess a respite from the pirate Sextus Pompeius or whatever his name was was also a motive. Sextus regularly blocked/looted the incoming shipments of grain from north africa to italia which led to civil unrest there. As you woud know, at this time italia was under Augustus while Antony ruled over some bits in the east. Augustus thought with Antony oh his side (so to speak), he would be able to tame Sextus a bit. Various motives at work here.

Rosi

Not really... he had had his dalliances with Cleopatra before that.

Political alliance yes, not sure about the other bit but dont have the time to elaborate.

chiyeung

Many marriages in ancient times weren't for love, they were for alliances and connections. They were made so that certain kings can keep peace with another nation.

juliaainscow100

well i would say because all romans ever did was marry for status. Egypt being a very wealthy country, would be a fantastic ally wouldnt it...

bodmin

What I have read is that he spent time with Octavia when he was playing the respectable citizen of Rome. Turning native with Cleopatra was definitely not the done thing. Maybe in the end Antony thought Egypt held his best chance for power.

I should think Sex and Power and himself is what Antony Loved not People.

juliaainscow100

i think it was part of his orders to get involved with cleopatra too....
it was normal for men like that to have affairs and all that stuff

Bobby

One can never know for sure whether love had anything to do with either relationship. The fact is Octavians star was rising and Antony's was falling. Egypt was loaded with Riches and Cleo lured Antony out of Rome with an offer which implied kingship. They even had a ceremony where Antony was honored as a King. Octavian immediately launched an attack an Antony left the battle prematurely and returned with Cleo to Egypt there to commit suicide. Was it love? Or a power grab. I'm inclined to believe th epower grab thing.

DesertPilot

Unlike modern men and women, who would never.. ever... marry for money or status?

Pop quiz: you're in a vaguely satisfying but not particularly advantageous marriage, with no particular prospects for the future. You have an opportunity to marry the Wealthiest Person in the Whole World -- the ancient equivalent of Bill Gates -- who also happens to be fairly hot, and is coming on like a freight train. What would you do?

Really?

Are you absolutely entirely 100% sure?

Isn't this a horrible question?

I've always suspected that one reason Augustus was so down on Marc Antony was jealousy. When one reads between the lines of Suetonius Lives of the Twelve Caesers, it could be one of those 'nerd doesn't get the girl, nerd raises legions, nerd wins the resulting civil war, nerd founds an empire that lasts more than five centuries' kind of deals.