Drusilla ’ s paternal grandmother, the Queen of Mauretania Cleopatra Selene II, was a daughter of the Ptolemaic Greek Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt and Roman triumvir Mark Antony.

She became Caesar ’ s mistress, and nine months after their first meeting, in 47 BC, Cleopatra gave birth to their son, Ptolemy Caesar, nicknamed Caesarion, which means " little Caesar.

Although Cleopatra was 21 years old when they met and Caesar was 52, they became lovers during Caesar ’ s stay in Egypt between 48 BC and 47 BC.

Cassius tried to blockade Cleopatra ’ s route to the Caesarians.

It seems that in reality Antony wanted Cleopatra ’ s promise to support his intended war against the Parthians.

Many critics have noted the strong influence of Virgil ’ s first century Roman epic poem, the Aeneid, on Shakespeare ’ s Antony and Cleopatra.

Moreover, as is well-known, the historical Antony and Cleopatra were the prototypes and antitypes for Virgil ’ s Dido and Aeneas: Dido, ruler of the north African city of Carthage, tempts Aeneas, the legendary exemplar of Roman pietas, to forego his task of founding Rome after the fall of Troy.

The fictional Aeneas dutifully resists Dido ’ s temptation and abandons her to forge on to Italy, placing political destiny before romantic love, in stark contrast to his historical counterpart Antony, who puts passionate love of his own African queen, Cleopatra, before duty to Rome.

Given the well-established traditional connections between the fictional Dido and Aeneas and the historical Antony and Cleopatra, it is no surprise that Shakespeare includes numerous allusions to Virgil ’ s epic in his historical tragedy.

As Janet Adelman observes, “ almost all the central elements in Antony and Cleopatra are to be found in the Aeneid: the opposing values of Rome and a foreign passion ; the political necessity of a passionless Roman marriage ; the concept of an afterlife in which the passionate lovers meet .” However, as Heather James argues, Shakespeare ’ s allusions to Virgil ’ s Dido and Aeneas are far from slavish imitations.

James emphasizes the various ways in which Shakespeare ’ s play subverts the ideology of the Virgilian tradition ; one such instance of this subversion is Cleopatra ’ s dream of Antony in Act 5 (“ I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony ” ).

James argues that in her extended description of this dream, Cleopatra “ reconstructs the heroic masculinity of an Antony whose identity has been fragmented and scattered by Roman opinion .” This politically charged dream vision is just one example of the way that Shakespeare ’ s version of the historical tragedy of Antony and Cleopatra destabilizes and potentially critiques the imperialist Roman ideology inherited from Virgil ’ s epic and embodied in the mythic Roman ancestor Aeneas.

Eliot ’ s take on Cleopatra.

In similar fashion, the isolation and examination of the stage image of Cleopatra becomes an attempt to improve the understanding of the theatrical power of her infinite variety and the cultural treatment of that power .” So, as a microcosm, Cleopatra can be understood within a postmodern context, as long as one understands that the purpose for the examination of this microcosm is to further one ’ s own interpretation of the work as a whole.

He states specifically, " Almost all critical approaches to this play have been coloured by the sexist assumptions the critics have brought with them to their reading .” One seemingly anti-sexist viewpoint comes from Donald C. Freeman ’ s articulations of the meaning and significance of the deaths of both Antony and Cleopatra at the end of the play.

These constant shifts in the perception of Cleopatra are well represented in a review of Estelle Parsons ’ adaptation of Shakespeare ’ s Antony and Cleopatra at the Interart Theatre in New York City.

* In 27 BC, following his defeat of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, the Roman Senate voted him new titles, officially becoming Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus.

Octavian complained that Antony had no authority for being in Egypt ; that his execution of Sextus Pompeius was illegal ; that his treachery to the king of Armenia disgraced the Roman name ; that he had not sent half the proceeds of the spoils to Rome according to his agreement ; that his connection with Cleopatra and the acknowledgment of Caesarion as a legitimate son of Julius Caesar were a degradation of his office and a menace to himself.

Caesar and Cleopatra never married, as Roman law recognized marriages only between two Roman citizens.

Caesar continued his relationship with Cleopatra throughout his last marriage, which lasted fourteen years – in Roman eyes, this did not constitute adultery – and may have fathered a son called Caesarion.

Through his daughter by Cleopatra, Antony would become ancestor to the royal family of Mauretania, another Roman client kingdom, while through his sole surviving son Iullus, he would be ancestor to several famous Roman statesmen.

The most famous member of the line was the last queen, Cleopatra VII, known for her role in the Roman political battles between Julius Caesar and Pompey, and later between Octavian and Mark Antony.

* 31 BC – Final War of the Roman Republic: Battle of Actium – off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.

Alma-Tadema's meticulous archaeological research, including research into Roman architecture ( which was so thorough that every building featured in his canvases could have been built using Roman tools and methods ) led to his paintings being used as source material by Hollywood directors in their vision of the ancient world for films such as D. W. Griffith's Intolerance ( 1916 ), Ben Hur ( 1926 ), Cleopatra ( 1934 ), and most notably of all, Cecil B. DeMille's epic remake of The Ten Commandments ( 1956 ).

* September 2 – Roman Civil War: Battle of Actium: Off the western coast of Greece, Octavian Caesar defeats the naval forces under Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII.

* 31 BC: Roman Civil War: Battle of Actium — Off the western coast of Greece, forces of Octavian defeat troops under Mark Antony and Cleopatra.

Marc Anthony gave the island to Cleopatra VII of Egypt and her sister Arsinoe IV, but it became a Roman province again after his defeat at the Battle of Actium ( 31 BC ) in 30 BC.

* February – Roman general Julius Caesar and his ally Cleopatra VII of Egypt defeat the forces of the rival Egyptian Queen Arsinoe IV in the Battle of the Nile.

It is one of several Roman plays that Shakespeare wrote, based on true events from Roman history, which also include Coriolanus and Antony and Cleopatra.

There is then a small hint at the friction between Mark Antony and Octavius which will characterise another of Shakespeare's Roman plays, Antony and Cleopatra.

* July – The Roman Senate declares war upon Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII.

The story of Titus Andronicus is fictional, not historical, unlike Shakespeare's other Roman plays, Julius Caesar, Antony and Cleopatra and Coriolanus, all of which are based on real historical events and people.

In 50 BC Cleopatra came into a serious conflict with the Gabiniani, powerful Roman troops of Aulus Gabinius who had left them in Egypt to protect Ptolemy XII after his restoration to the throne in 55 BC.

While Cleopatra was in exile, Pompey became embroiled in the Roman civil war.

The relationship between Cleopatra and Caesar was obvious to the Roman people and it was a scandal because the Roman dictator was already married to Calpurnia Pisonis.

Feminist theory, in respect to Antony and Cleopatra, often looks at Shakespeare ’ s use of language when describing Rome and Egypt.

Through his language, he tends to characterize Rome as “ masculine ” and Egypt as “ feminine .” According to Gayle Greene, “ the ‘ feminine ’ world of love and personal relationships is secondary to the ‘ masculine ’ world of war and politics, has kept us from realizing that Cleopatra is the play ’ s protagonist, and so skewed our perceptions of character, theme, and structure .” The highlighting of these starkly contrasting qualities of the two backdrops of Antony and Cleopatra, in both Shakespeare ’ s language and the words of critics, brings attention to the characterization of the title characters, since their respective countries are meant to represent and emphasize their attributes.

Cleopatra uses language to undermine Antony ’ s assumed authority over her.

Antony ’ s language suggests his struggle for power against Cleopatra ’ s dominion.

Antony ’ s “ obsessive language concerned with structure, organization, and maintenance for the self and empire in repeated references to ‘ measure ,’ ‘ property ,’ and ‘ rule ’ express unconscious anxieties about boundary integrity and violation .” ( Hooks 38 ) Furthermore, Antony struggles with his infatuation with Cleopatra and this paired with Cleopatra ’ s desire for power over him causes his eventual downfall.

Yachnin ’ s article focuses on Cleopatra ’ s usurping of Antony ’ s authority through her own and his language, while Hooks ’ article gives weight to Antony ’ s attempts to assert his authority through rhetoric.

Cleopatra even learned the ancient Egyptian language, which never had been used by these rulers.