Marcus Antonius

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"Leaders must do what it takes to allow their people to survive."

―Marcus Antonius to Aya, 44 BCE.

Marcus Antonius (83 BCE – 30 BCE), commonly referred to in English as Marc Anthony or Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general. A supporter and loyal friend of Gaius Julius Caesar, he formed a political alliance with Octavian to eliminate the Hidden Ones responsible for Caesar's assassination.

Antonius later entered a romantic relationship with the last pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra, but this ostracized him from his fellow Romans. Fueled by disagreements with Antonius over possession of the Sword of Damokles, Octavian seized the opportunity to increase his own political power and led his army to fight against those of Antonius and Cleopatra, the last remaining opposition to his complete control over the Roman Republic.

Faced with certain defeat, Antonius faked his death and attempted to escape with Cleopatra's and Caesar's son Caesarion and the Sword of Damokles to India, but was ultimately killed by the Hidden Ones under Amunet.

Biography

Meeting Aya

Antonius meeting Aya

In 44 BCE, while in Rome, Antonius approached the Roman Hidden Ones' Mentor Aya, introducing himself to her and explaining that they had a mutual friend in Cleopatra, who was considered to hold Aya in high regard. Aya refuted that Cleopatra held only herself in high regard, like many leaders in the world. Antonius explained that leaders, like Julius Caesar himself, had to do what it took to ensure their subjects survived, though Aya disagreed, believing that a leader should never sacrifice the lives of innocent people.

A few days later, Antonius was present at the Theatre of Pompey to witness the assassination of Caesar. Meeting with Aya again, he warned her that Brutus had seriously miscalculated the consequences of Caesar's death. He claimed that the people of Rome would not see Brutus as a liberator who killed a tyrant, but as the murderer of their beloved general.

Pursuing the Hidden Ones

Antonius: "Many thanks."

Aya: "I merely want the bloodshed to end. What version of Rome do you wish to create, Mark Antony?"

—Antonius and Aya, after she stopped Brutus from killing him, 44 BCE.

Aya threatening Antonius

Three hours after Caesar's murder, Antonius used his considerable influence to turn the Roman citizens against Caesar's killers. He claimed that the Liberatores responsible for Caesar's death had acted without their consent, and made them fear for their own safety. As an angry mob formed around him, several citizens brought forward a Roman senator they accused of being one of the conspirators involved in Caesar's assassination. Before the man could speak and defend himself, the mob began savagely beating him to death.

Aya intervened and put the man out of his misery with an arrow before fleeing from the mob. Meanwhile, Antonius returned to the Theatre of Pompey, knowing Aya would arrive there as well shortly since it was the last place people would expect her to go to. When the Hidden One confronted him and aimed her bow at him, Antonius insisted that his death would not bring peace to Rome as the citizens wanted Brutus' head. He then implored Aya to bring Brutus to the people so that Rome could be at peace, and watched as another angry mob arrived and chased the Hidden One away.

Sometime later, Antonius' men captured Aya, and the general went to speak with her in her prison cell. He brought her food and tried to reason with her, promising to do his best to secure her release if she told him where Brutus and Cassius were hiding. When Aya refused to betray her fellow Hidden Ones, an irritated Antonius ordered that she be bound and thrown into a large submerged arena filled with hippopotamuses. However, Aya survived the ordeal and managed to escape with the help of Brutus and Cassius.

Antonius defeated by Aya, Brutus, and Cassius

As the three Hidden Ones tried to flee through an underwater tunnel, Antonius and his men waited for them on the other side. A fight broke out, which saw the Hidden Ones emerging victorious and killing all of Antonius' guards, leaving the general at their mercy. A furious Brutus almost killed Antonius, disgusted at his use of the Roman citizens' fear to manipulate them, but ultimately spared him at Aya's urging. Antonius thanked Aya for saving him, but she responded that she only did it to end the bloodshed before the general took his leave.

Roman Civil War

Despite his defeat by the Hidden Ones in Rome, Antonius refused to renounce his pursuit of Brutus and Cassius and allied with Caesar's adopted son and heir Octavian to bring the Liberatores to justice. A civil war followed, with the armies of Brutus and Cassius facing those of Antonius and Octavian. In 42 BCE, the two sides clashed at the Battle of Philippi in Macedonia. Ultimately, Brutus and Cassius both took their lives in the face of defeat, and the Roman Republic stood victorious.

Out of respect for Brutus, Antonius sent his most expensive purple mantle to Brutus' comrades for his body to be wrapped in it. The Assassins initially tried wrapping the body in the Shroud of Eden in an attempt to revive him, but were only partially successful. The Assassins considered their attempt a failure, and Brutus' corpse was then wrapped in Antonius' mantle.

In 41 BCE, Antonius started a political and romantic relationship with Cleopatra, the pharaoh of Egypt and Caesar's former mistress. In the winter of that year, Antonius was given a boat tour of Egypt by Cleopatra, who was eager to show her country's wealth to her new lover and ally. Antonius' relationship with the Egyptian pharaoh left the Roman Senate most displeased, so to calm spirits in Rome, he married Octavian's sister Octavia.

While he remained legally married to Octavia, Antonius spent most of his time in Egypt with Cleopatra, who gave birth to their children, and helped her expand the Ptolemaic Kingdom with the goal of eventually turning it into an empire. However, in doing so, Antonius failed to realize the growing threat of Octavian, who began to cement his own power back in Rome.

In 38 BCE, Aya—by now known as Amunet—informed her fellow Hidden One and ex-husband Bayek of Siwa that Antonius and Cleopatra were becoming a problem, noting that the Roman had "the same stench of tyranny that Caesar did". Around the same time, Antonius sent Gaius Julius Rufio, a former general under Caesar, a letter to reprimand him after the general had apparently disrespected Cleopatra.

War with Octavian and death

By the late 30s BCE, Antonius and Octavian's once powerful alliance had fallen apart due to their own political ambitions. After Antonius repudiated his Roman wife for the Egyptian queen, Octavian orchestrated a propaganda campaign to ruin his rival's reputation. The campaign succeeded and the Roman people came to despise both Antonius and Cleopatra, allowing Octavian to declare war on Egypt with the backing of the Roman Senate.

In 31 BCE, Antonius' forces aided the Egyptian fleet in battling the Roman fleet commanded by Octavian at Actium. However, Antonius and Cleopatra's forces were ultimately routed, allowing Octavian to march on Alexandria. Faced with certain defeat, Antonius faked his death and went into hiding with the Sword of Damokles, a Piece of Eden formerly owned by Caesar, seeking to keep it out of Octavian's hands.

On 12 August 30 BCE, while Antonius was hiding out in Cleopatra's palace in Alexandria, Amunet made her way inside and met with her old friend Cleopatra, convincing her to give up resistance for the sake of peace. The queen committed suicide with a vial of poison provided by Amunet, and in the aftermath, the Hidden Ones proceeded to look for traces of Antonius, eventually tracking him to Caesarion's room. Armed with the Sword of Damokles, Antonius faced his opponents but was ultimately defeated. In his final moments, he implored the Hidden Ones to protect Caesarion from falling into Octavian's hands.

Following Antonius' death, a rumor spread that he took his own life following his army's defeat by Octavian's forces. According to one legend, the dying Antonius was then brought to Cleopatra so the couple could spend his final moments together.

Behind the scenes

Marcus Antonius is a historical figure and character who was mentioned several times throughout the Assassin's Creed franchise before making his physical debut in Assassin's Creed: Origins, the 2018 comic miniseries serving as a sequel to the game of the same name.

In Legacy of the Brotherhood, the second of three books comprising the Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game, the memory "Echoes of Betrayal" has Antonius faking his death and being killed by the Hidden Ones shortly after Cleopatra's suicide. While this series of events does not outright contradict the 2018 comic, the memory describes Antonius as a "servant of the Order of the Ancients", implying Antonius was a member of the Order. However, in the comic Antonius is never shown to be aware of the Order's existence, and he only opposed the Hidden Ones because of their assassination of Caesar. Furthermore, Antonius' opposition to Octavian, who became the Order's leader, makes it impossible for him to have been affiliated with the group, though it is still possible the Order somehow influenced him without his knowledge.

Gallery

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  Marcus Antonius beim Festmahl der Kleopatra by Gerard Hoet
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  Antonius speaking to an imprisoned Aya
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  Aya persuading Brutus to spare Antonius

Appearances

• Assassin's Creed: Project Legacy (first mentioned)
• Assassin's Creed: Initiates (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Origins – The Hidden Ones (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed: Origins comic (first appearance)
• Discovery Tour: Ancient Egypt (mentioned only)
• Echoes of History (mentioned only)
• Assassin's Creed Roleplaying Game – Legacy of the Brotherhood