Antony & Cleopatra

By: Adrian Goldsworthy

Narrated by: Steven Crossley

Length: 17 hrs and 13 mins

Publisher's Summary

In this remarkable dual biography of the two great lovers of the ancient world, Adrian Goldsworthy goes beyond myth and romance to create a nuanced and historically acute portrayal of his subjects, set against the political backdrop of their time. A history of lives lived intensely at a time when the world was changing profoundly, this audiobook takes listeners on a journey that crosses cultures and boundaries, from ancient Greece and ancient Egypt to the Roman Empire.

Drawing on his prodigious knowledge of the ancient world and his keen sense of the period's military and political history, Goldsworthy creates a singular portrait of the iconic lovers. "Antony and Cleopatra were first and foremost political animals," explains Goldsworthy, who places politics and ideology at the heart of their storied romance.

Undertaking a close analysis of ancient sources and archaeological evidence, Goldsworthy bridges the gaps of current scholarship and dispels misconceptions that have entered the popular consciousness. He explains why Cleopatra was consistently portrayed by Hollywood as an Egyptian, even though she was really Greek, and argues that Antony had far less military experience than anyone would suspect from reading Shakespeare and other literature. In addition Goldsworthy makes an important case for understanding Antony as a powerful Roman senator and political force in his own right.

©2010 Adrian Goldsworthy (P)2015 Tantor

Critic Reviews

"Unlike many competing authors, Goldsworthy never disguises the scanty evidence for many historical events." ( Publishers Weekly)

Very good

While I throughly enjoyed Antony and Cleopatra, I was disappointed in how little is actually known and so a book entitled about these two lovers ends up being more about Roman history ( no fault of the author since the solid proven facts are just not there ) with some hours devoted to A and C, basically telling us that
" little is known " !! But, it still was a very interesting listening experience and I just love Steven Crossley reading anything!!!

Great detail- learned a lot!

The first 1/3 of the book is really dry, laying the background on Roman politics and family histories... hard to follow at times. But the reasoning for the detail makes sense once the main 7-8 characters come to the fore... it helps make the cause/effect of political and warring decisions make a lot of sense in context. It’s a great read overall- my best measuring stick of this is that I now have about 6 other related topics to go learn about (Augustus, Battle of Philippi, Actium, and of course, Julius Caesar). Fortunately, this author has several books on these, of which I’m sure I will buy a few.

Not a Bad Book but...

So after finishing Goldsworthy's Caesar I started right into this book. If you've just finished that book you will like this book but probably not 'as much'. I still haven't finished Antony & Cleopatra, I have a few hours left. I finished Caesar in like 2 days. A flaw I didn't think I would hate was how little information we know about the two in this book. I read a lot of other reviews talking about the lack of solid facts that are known and that really is a running theme. With Caesar we have documentation from himself, from historians just after or around his time, a narrative created by Augustus about his uncle. With Antony and Cleopatra we have very little about them other than propaganda pieces created against them by Augustus and even less about their early lives. While it is a good book that I will finish eventually I'm not as into it as I was the book Caesar. I wish I was. I'm glad he doesn't fill it with the modern 20th century image of Antony and Cleopatra but it's kinda tedious when you're just listening to "We don't know" for the millionth time.

Too Cool

Excellent history...juicy story...master storyteller ... all by the master historian of the ancient roman world....Adrian Goldsworthy....you can't get any better.... Don't look to the left or right.... just get it. Very exceptional work.... also dont miss Julius Caesar... and How Rome Fell... and also Agustus....Goldsworthy shines...his work rocks. ..
Anthony and Cleopatra. ... just spend your credit and soak it in. ...

A balanced and well executed biography.

There's a reason why Adrian Goldsworthy is one of the big historical writers of our time. This was a wonderfully balanced dual-account of two extraordinary individuals. He highlights the strengths and weakness of both characters and the actual history is more riveting than many fictional retellings.

wonderfull history

loved it. top popular history by a top historian. great for anyone interested in Cleopatra.

Fresh insights on an old story

Any additional comments?

Again and again pleasantly surprised by thorough research, careful speculation, and fresh insights into the lives and times of Antony and Cleopatra.

Inbetween falls the shadow...

If you could sum up Antony & Cleopatra in three words, what would they be?

If I could sum up Antony and Cleopatra in three words those three words would be: 1) Antony; 2) and; and 3) Cleopatra.

Everyone recognizes the names - especially when you put them together. This is a book about them. What other words could I need?

What other book might you compare Antony & Cleopatra to and why?

This is a terrible question.

I would probably compare it to other books by Adrian Goldsworthy.