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A listener note, this episode contains references to suicide. Listener discretion

is advised. Welcome to Legacy and the third episode of our series on Cleopatra.

It's 39 BCE.

It's been a few years since the notorious assassination of Julius Caesar, a vital ally of

Cleopatra and the father of her son, Caesarian.

Cleopatra is now 30 years old.

And in the years since Caesar's death, she's installed herself and Caesarian as joint rulers of Egypt,

and she is presiding over a country that is still wealthy with gold and a fleet of ships, fertile lands fed by the Nile,

much regarded as the breadbasket of the Mediterranean, but an Egypt that others covet.

Without any protection from Caesar now that he's been killed and the ongoing power

struggles in Rome, Cleopatra is in need of a plan to keep her throne safe, her country

prosperous and her position intact.

And the way that story is told is it not just that she needs a plan, but that she needs a man.

And we can decide whether that's the answer to all of the problems, but the man that she focuses

on is Mark Antony. And he's a successful general. He's incredibly well connected. He's powerful.

He's a shrewd operator. He is a real man's man adored by the Roman soldiers. He used to be an ally and served

with Julius Caesar. Cleopatra is going to need to work out how to triangulate him to keep her

independence, to keep Egypt strong, keep herself on the throne, so we could be on the brink of a new

...