Editing Mark Antony (section)

===Activities in the East===
{{further|Early life of Cleopatra VII|Reign of Cleopatra VII}}
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Antony spent the winter of 42 BC in [[Athens]], where he ruled generously towards the Greek cities. A proclaimed ''[[philhellene]]'' ("Friend of all things Greek"), Antony supported Greek culture to win the loyalty of the inhabitants of the Greek East. He attended religious festivals and ceremonies, including initiation into the [[Eleusinian Mysteries]],<ref>Hinard 2000, p. 854</ref> a secret cult dedicated to the worship of the goddesses [[Demeter]] and [[Persephone]]. Beginning in 41 BC, he traveled across the [[Aegean Sea]] to [[Anatolia]], leaving his friend [[Lucius Marcius Censorinus (consul 39 BC)|Lucius Marcius Censorius]] as governor of [[Roman Macedonia|Macedonia]] and [[Achaea (Roman province)|Achaea]]. Upon his arrival in [[Ephesus]] in Asia, Antony was worshiped as the god [[Dionysus]] born anew.<ref>Lepelley, 1998, p. 435</ref> He demanded heavy taxes from the Hellenic cities in return for his pro-Greek culture policies, but exempted those cities which had remained loyal to Caesar during the [[Caesar's Civil War|civil war]] and compensated those cities which had suffered under [[Liberators' civil war|Caesar's assassins]], including [[Rhodes]], [[Lycia et Pamphylia|Lycia]], and [[Tarsus, Mersin|Tarsus]]. He granted pardons to all Roman nobles living in the East who had supported Pompey, except for Caesar's assassins.

[[File:Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema - The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra.jpg|thumb|400px|''Antony and Cleopatra'' (1883) by [[Lawrence Alma-Tadema]] depicting Antony's meeting with Cleopatra in 41 BC.]]Ruling from Ephesus, Antony consolidated Rome's hegemony in the East, receiving envoys from Rome's client kingdoms and intervening in their dynastic affairs, extracting enormous financial "gifts" from them in the process. Though King [[Deiotarus]] of [[Galatia]] supported Brutus and Cassius following Caesar's assassination, Antony allowed him to retain his position. He also confirmed [[Ariarathes X of Cappadocia|Ariarathes X]] as king of [[Cappadocia]] after the execution of his brother [[Ariobarzanes III of Cappadocia]] by Cassius before the [[Battle of Philippi]]. In [[Hasmonean Judea]], several [[Israelite]] delegations complained to Antony of the harsh rule of [[Phasael]] and [[Herod the Great|Herod]], the sons of Rome's assassinated chief minister in the territory of [[Judaea]], who was an [[Edom]]ite called [[Antipater the Idumaean]]. After Herod offered him a large financial gift, Antony confirmed the brothers in their positions. Subsequently, influenced by the beauty and charms of [[Glaphyra (hetaera)|Glaphyra]], the widow of [[Archelaus (father of Archelaus of Cappadocia)|Archelaüs]] (formerly the high priest of [[Comana (Cappadocia)|Comana]]), Antony deposed Ariarathes X, and appointed Glaphyra's son, [[Archelaus of Cappadocia|Archelaüs]], to rule Cappadocia.<ref>[[Cassius Dio]], ''Roman History'', 49.32; [[Appian]], ''Civil Wars'', 5.7; ''[[Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology]]'', [https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofgre01smituoft#page/262/mode/2up vol. I, p. 263] ("Archelaus", Nos. 3, 4), [https://archive.org/stream/dictionaryofgree02smituoft#page/272/mode/2up vol. II, p. 272] ("Glaphyra").</ref>

In October 41, Antony requested Rome's chief eastern vassal, the queen of Ptolemaic Egypt [[Cleopatra]], meet him at Tarsus in Cilicia. Antony had first met a young Cleopatra while campaigning in Egypt in 55 BC and again in 48 BC when Caesar had backed her as queen of Egypt over the claims of her half-sister [[Arsinoe IV of Egypt|Arsinoe]]. Cleopatra would bear Caesar a son, [[Caesarion]], in 47 BC and the two were living in Rome as Caesar's guests until his assassination in 44 BC. After Caesar's assassination, Cleopatra and Caesarion returned to Egypt, where she named the child as her co-ruler. In 42 BC, the Triumvirate, in recognition for Cleopatra's help towards [[Publius Cornelius Dolabella (consul 44 BC)|Publius Cornelius Dolabella]] in opposition to the Liberators, granted official recognition to Caesarion's position as king of Egypt. Arriving in Tarsus aboard her magnificent ship, Cleopatra invited Antony to a grand banquet to solidify their alliance.{{#tag:ref |Ancient writers (e.g. Appian, ''Civil Wars'' 5.8.1) place the beginning of their famous romance at this meeting with Antony totally surrendering to Cleopatra's beauty but modern historians reject this notion as retrospective historical propaganda on the part of [[Augustus]].|group="note"}} As the most powerful of Rome's eastern vassals, Egypt was indispensable in Rome's planned military invasion of the [[Parthian Empire]]. At Cleopatra's request, Antony ordered the execution of Arsinoe, who, though marched in Caesar's [[Roman triumph|triumphal parade]] in 46 BC,<ref>Dio, 43.19.2–3; Appian, 2.101.420</ref> had been granted sanctuary at the [[temple of Artemis]] in Ephesus. Antony and Cleopatra then spent the winter of 41 BC together in [[Alexandria]]. Cleopatra bore Antony twin children, [[Alexander Helios]] and [[Cleopatra Selene II]], in 40 BC, and a third, Ptolemy Philadelphus, in 36 BC. Antony also granted formal control over Cyprus, which had been under Egyptian control since 47 BC during the turmoil of [[Caesar's civil war]], to Cleopatra in 40 BC as a gift for her loyalty to Rome.<ref>Mitford, pp. 1289–1297.</ref>

Antony, in his first months in the East, raised money, reorganized his troops, and secured the alliance of Rome's client kingdoms. He also promoted himself as Hellenistic ruler, which won him the affection of the Greek peoples of the East but also made him the target of Octavian's propaganda in Rome. According to some ancient authors, Antony led a carefree life of luxury in Alexandria.<ref>Plutarch, Antony, 28–30</ref><ref>Cassius Dio, ''Roman History'', l. 48.</ref> Upon learning the [[Parthian Empire]] had invaded Rome's territory in early 40 BC, Antony left Egypt for Syria to confront the invasion. However, after a short stay in [[Tyre, Lebanon|Tyre]], he was forced to sail with his army to Italy to confront Octavian due to [[Perusine War|Octavian's war against Antony's wife and brother]].