S8 Ep623: 8. The Tragic End of the Ptolemies and the Roman Conquest After their defeat at the Battle of Actium, the saga of Antony and Cleopatra reached its tragic conclusion in Alexandria. Mark Antony died in Cleopatra's arms after being mortally wounded, a scene

The John Batchelor Show

John Batchelor

Books, Society & Culture, Arts, News

4.5 • 2.8K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2026

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

8. The Tragic End of the Ptolemies and the Roman Conquest After their defeat at the Battle of Actium, the saga of Antony and Cleopatra reached its tragic conclusion in Alexandria. Mark Antony died in Cleopatra's arms after being mortally wounded, a scene confirmed by historical records. Realizing Octavian could not be seduced and refusing to be paraded as a captive in Rome, Cleopatra took her own life. Her death marked the end of the Ptolemaic dynasty. Octavian, dismissive of Egyptian traditions, transformed the kingdom into a conquered province. Egypt became the essential "breadbasket" of the Roman Empire, its vast grain reserves used to feed and pacify the Roman populace. (8)
CARTHAGE

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hiring isn't just about finding someone willing to take the job.
0:03.5	You need the right person with the right background who can move your business forward.
0:07.4	If you want candidates who match what you're looking for, trust Indeed sponsored jobs.
0:12.3	And listeners of the show will get a 100-pound sponsored job credit to help get your job the premium status it deserves at Indeed.com slash broadcast. Just go to
0:22.3	Indeed.com slash broadcast right now and support this show by saying you heard about Indeed on
0:27.6	this podcast. Indeed.com slash broadcast. Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, do it the right way
0:34.4	with Indeed.
0:40.8	I'm John Bachelor.
0:42.1	A great pleasure to visit with Professor Toby Wilkinson.
0:45.4	The professor and I first talked many years ago when he did me the favor of marching me through the kingdoms of the pharaohs.
0:53.2	Now he's done me the additional favor of connecting Egypt
0:56.2	to my favorite topic was the Roman Empire, how they did it. Well, now I know that a deal of how they did it
1:03.8	had to do with the riches of Egypt, but they had to conquer Egypt or they had to assume Egypt.
1:09.8	And how they did that was, well, messy melodrama.
1:13.6	What happens now is that Antony and Cleopatra are, well, they're not exactly domestically happy,
1:21.3	but they certainly do spend a lot of time together. And we need to make a note here,
1:26.9	not all is war and ruin.
1:29.4	They have a club.
1:30.7	What is it called the immeasurables?
1:33.0	What do they call their club, professor?
1:35.0	Yeah, the inimitable livers.
1:36.8	So the people who live in a way that is quite extraordinary,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from John Batchelor, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of John Batchelor and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.