Mark Gagnon

And this leads to March 15th, 44 BC, better known as the Ides of March.

Caesar is assassinated in the Roman Senate, causing Cleopatra to then flee back to Egypt with her son, Caesarian, but her position is now incredibly dangerous, right?

She's just lost this amazing alliance she had with the future emperor of Rome.

Now, Caesar's death creates a power vacuum in Rome, and everyone knows Egypt is the prize that will fund whoever wins coming out of this struggle for power.

Now, after Caesar's death, the Roman world splits between Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, who later becomes Augustus Caesar, and Caesar's top general, Mark Antony.

Remember that name.

Antony gets control of the eastern Mediterranean, which happens to also control Egypt, while Octavian takes control of the western world.

That's like Italy, Spain, Gaul, aka France.

And in 41 BC, Mark Antony summons Cleopatra to meet him in Tarsus to...

have a diplomatic meeting about Egypt and its future.

And this is where Cleopatra stages her second legendary entrance.

Again, Cleopatra was able to impress Julius Caesar, showing up in the bag, popping out, what's good.

So she's like, maybe I can do the same thing with old Mark Antony.

So she sails to meet him dressed as Aphrodite, arriving on a gold barge with these massive purple sails and like these clouds of incense.

And it's like this whole performance that is designed this specific way because Antony likes to present himself as the god Dionysus.

Now, in the Greek faith, in the Greek religion, these gods represent different forces.

And Aphrodite, you probably know, is like the goddess of love or whatever, but it's more than that.

She rules desire and attraction and persuasion and the loss of self through passion.

So when Aphrodite shows up in different myths, people stop thinking rationally and start acting on just pure emotional impulse.

Dionysus, on the other hand,