CLAS202 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Cleopatra, Tyrant, Pontifex Maximus

• School: University of Waterloo
• Department: Classical Studies
• Course: CLAS202
• Professor: Daniel Hutter

Document Summary

The day julius caesar was murdered (by brutus and cassius and 60 senators) Seen as the death of a tyrant = restoration of the republic. Those that murdered caesar were killed (brutus, etc) by the 2nd triumvirate. 2nd triumvirate no longer has a common enemy so begins to disintegrate. The end of cleopatra and antony (their suicide) Octavian shifts the blame to cleopatra knowing antony would side with her (prevents a. Civil war) after antony asks for a divorce for octavia. Octavian defeats them forcing them to flee to egypt where antony hears cleopatra commited suicide so he does, but in reality she had not. When cleopatra hears that antony committed suicide, she also decides to because she doesn"t want to be humiliated by rome. Octavian has caesarion put to death saying we don"t need another caesar but in reality, he wants to make sure that the throne remains his claiming he is the son of caesar.