Cleopatra: A Life

* Sextus Pompey complicated the picture from many angles. He enjoyed warm relations with several monarchs considered to be deadly enemies of Rome and Cleopatra was well disposed toward him, given their fathers’ relationship. (He in fact made overtures to Cleopatra, which Antony discouraged. He was wise enough to see he should not be in league both with a foreign queen and a swaggering compatriot who—despite popular support at home—behaved like a pirate. Antony’s instincts were correct; ever the adventurer, Sextus had simultaneously offered up his services to the Parthians, behind Antony’s back.) According to Appian, Antony refused to sign the order for Sextus’s execution. He was ashamed to do so personally, as he knew the death would displease Cleopatra and did not want her to hold him responsible. Appian likewise suggests that sentence was desirable; better to eliminate Sextus, lest that talented naval commander and Cleopatra league together to “disturb the auspicious respect which Antony and Octavian had for each other.”