Queen Cleopatra (2023) s01e03 Episode Script

[ominous music]
[narrator] Destiny can be shaped
by an encounter between two people.
[panting]
If their paths never crossed,
how different would history be?
[suspenseful music]
But brought together by the fates
and driven by fierce ambition,
determination, and love,
empires can be built
or shaken to their very core.
[yelps, sighs]
[Mark Antony] Got you.
You cheat.
- How did I cheat?
- [exhales]
You cheated.
[laughs]
[narrator] Together, Mark Antony
and Cleopatra will do both
blazing their own unforgettable trail
through history.
What?
I'm pregnant.
[gasps]
[theme music]
[insects chirping]
After Cleopatra entertains
Mark Antony in Tarsus,
she invites him back to Alexandria.
[upbeat music]
[laughs]
[pants]
The relationship
between Cleopatra and Mark Antony
definitely begins
as a pragmatic political arrangement.
But it seems to quickly develop
into something more
where there really is love between them.
While Mark Antony is in Alexandria,
he's having a great time there.
But he's also gonna be uneasy
because in Rome,
there is an agreement now
that power is being shared.
[Islam] Octavian pretty much
holds the West.
Mark Antony, the East.
[Islam] They both have ambitions
to get the other person
out of the picture.
[ominous music]
Where have you gone to?
I am here.
[Mark Antony] Nothing is wrong.
Don't do that.
- [Mark Antony] Do what?
- Lie to me.
I'm not.
You can't share my bed and lie to me.
[sighing]
It's Octavian.
[sighs]
There are rumors he's threatening
to break the alliances,
making moves of his own.
[ominous music]
What sort of moves?
It isn't clear yet.
Then why are you waiting?
Mark, you should be in Rome right now
finding out for yourself.
I'll not give him the satisfaction.
How dare he try to upset an alliance
that you made possible?
No, Mark, you need to go back to Rome
and put that little bird back in his cage
before he grows wings
and tries to destroy
everything you've fought for.
[instrumental music]
[Shelley] Mark Antony stays away too long.
He isn't doing Roman business.
[soft upbeat music]
That leaves Octavian in Rome,
in the seat of power, close to the Senate.
[Shelley] All they hear back in Rome
is about the extravagant banquets.
[insects chirping]
Go, my love.
We will be here waiting for you
when you get back.
[chuckles]
[inhales deeply]
[ominous music]
[Shelley] Octavian is beginning
to undermine
Mark Antony's reputation in Rome,
hinting that the same thing that happened
to Julius Caesar with Cleopatra
is now happening to him.
[Shelley] Cleopatra persuades him.
"Go back to Rome.
Make sure Octavian is under your thumb
instead of the other way around."
- [rattling]
- [horses snort]
When Mark Antony leaves Egypt
and goes back to Rome
to repair his relationship with Octavian,
Cleopatra is pregnant.
[soft music]
[Islam] Mark Antony may have been
infatuated with Cleopatra,
but when it comes to marriage,
he picks what he thinks
is the most politically sound person.
[soft music]
[in Latin]
When you are Gaius, then I am Gaia.
[in Latin]
When you are Gaius, then I am Gaia.
Mark Antony marries
Octavian's sister, Octavia.
[yelling]
[Cleopatra yelling continues]
[murmuring]
[panting]
[Islam] It's somebody
who's related directly to Octavian.
It's someone who ensures, or so he thinks,
that Octavian will be on his side.
[applause]
[crowd cheering]
[yelling]
[Debora] In ancient Egypt,
when she was having a child,
that was considered
a very dangerous time for a woman.
Not only is she at risk
of losing the baby and losing her life,
but the country itself
is at risk of losing its ruler.
[prolonged yelling]
No!
- [laughter]
- [cries]
[laughter]
[Shelley] Cleopatra gives birth to twins.
It was seen as something divine.
It was seen as a gift from from the gods.
And it cemented Cleopatra's image as Isis.
[dramatic music]
Cleopatra knows the Roman tradition
of political marriages.
She understands
why Mark Antony had to do this.
[Sally-Ann] Mark Antony marries Octavia
for political reasons,
to appease her brother Octavian.
It's, again, a strategic move.
[cries]
In Cleopatra's mind, it's fine.
Go ahead, take a Roman wife. Sure.
But he doesn't come back for three years.
What's that? What's that? Yeah.
[Shelley] Caesar had a Roman wife.
He still wrote to her,
took an interest in their child.
Mark Antony, not a word.
Not a word.
Even after Cleopatra delivers twins.
Not a word.
[horses neighing]
Essentially, he ghosts her. He's gone.
[dramatic music]
[Islam] But during that time,
Cleopatra turns Egypt's fortunes around.
She's increased taxes a bit,
but she's also increased exports.
She's increased employment.
And suddenly, Egypt's situation
is looking very prosperous.
[Shelley] The sources on Rome
don't have any details about
what Cleopatra did during the three years.
But from Arabic accounts,
Egypt was thriving.
The economy was, like, booming.
The people loved Cleopatra.
She was seen as an effective leader.
[crowd applauding]
- [horse neighs]
- [fighting grunts]
[soldiers yelling]
[Colleen] During those three years
that Mark Antony stays away
from Cleopatra,
he's busy building an Eastern Empire
and waging war against Parthia,
a major power
in what is now modern-day Iran.
[tense music]
[Jacquelyn] Mark Antony wants to be able
to gain control of the Parthians
because this will elevate
his own standing within the Roman Empire
and establish him
as a significant power player
in association with Octavian.
[Jacquelyn] The Romans have been trying
to conquer the Parthians for a while
and haven't been successful,
and so, that would be
an important establishment for him.
[Islam] He thought he was going to be
supported by Octavian,
but Octavian doesn't really help him
in the way that Antony expected.
He needs military support.
He needs money.
[Colleen] Mark Antony has the expectation
that by marrying Octavia,
Octavian's sister,
he's going to get
what he needs from Octavian
for the Parthian campaign.
However, Octavian only provides him
with two legions,
and so he still requires more forces
if he's going to have
a successful invasion of the East.
[soldiers yelling]
[Colleen] As conflict intensifies,
Mark Antony knows
that now he needs to seek alliances,
and Cleopatra has to be top on his list.
[Islam] Mark Antony summons Cleopatra.
He can't rely on Octavian,
and he's realized
that he does need Cleopatra.
[Colleen]
After Mark Antony summons Cleopatra,
she travels to Antioch in Syria.
[Islam] At this stage,
Cleopatra does have the upper hand,
and she's the one who can make demands.
[wind gusting]
[Islam]
She wants old Ptolemaic territories,
and she wants to ensure
that these territories
can return to her kingdom.
Those territories being Cyprus
and Crete, especially.
[tense music]
Please clear the room.
- Cleopatra
- No.
You don't get to explain.
You had three years.
Not a word.
Not to me
or the children.
The children, did you bring them?
[scoffs]
Did I bring them?
To you?
I know the reason you summoned me here.
I know
about your sorry little dance
with Octavian.
I have spies of my own.
I know you need my help.
Why should I give it to you?
[Mark Antony] You're right.
You're absolutely right.
What we're seeing
are two power players coming together
to try to figure out how to best promote,
uh, each other's mutual interests.
And so Mark Antony needs Cleopatra
for his ongoing structuring
of the Eastern Roman Empire.
He doesn't have enough men.
He doesn't have enough supplies.
She needs him
for her associations with Rome.
[Shelley] She gives him a list of demands.
And it's basically,
"I want everything back
that Julius Caesar took away."
[Shelley] She wants Mark Antony
to claim the twins as his
and also be given territories
to be in charge of.
And also Caesarion, she wants recognized
as the son of Julius Caesar.
That's still important.
[insects chirping]
[Cleopatra] I want it.
I want it all.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony
spend an entire winter
in Antioch, Syria, negotiating.
What Cleopatra wants
is to restore the glory
of the Ptolemaic Kingdom.
So, I thought about your demands,
about everything you want.
Everything I deserve.
Everything Egypt deserves.
Well, it's still an enormous price.
For an enormous ask
which only Egypt can provide.
I'm not here to argue with you, Pharoah.
Why are you here then?
Why am I here?
[sighs]
[breathes deeply]
[sighs]
I'm here because you win.
I win what?
Everything.
Why?
Because of us.
Can I really trust you?
I can't share your bed
and lie to you, now can I?
Your rules.
This means that Cleopatra
is more powerful than ever.
She's now restored
the Ptolemaic Kingdom to its former glory.
And in return, Mark Antony
gets the military manpower that he needs
for his Parthian campaign.
[Jacquelyn] Egypt regaining control
of these territories
allowed Egypt to prosper
in truly remarkable ways.
The more a nation owns land,
the wealthier the core
of that empire becomes.
So, these lands would have added
substantial power, wealth,
and security to Cleopatra,
which are key elements
that she always wants,
that every Ptolemaic King wants.
[birds chirping]
[Shelley] And it's at this point,
Mark Antony meets for the first time
his children by Cleopatra.
My little god. Hello.
Hello to you.
- Are you gonna come here too?
- Yeah. That's it.
[Mark Antony] My perfect little gods.
Look at you both.
Look at you both.
[Shelley] And from all accounts,
he is absolutely besotted with them.
[gasps]
[Colleen] He does name his twins
the Sun and the Moon.
Alexander Helios and Cleopatra Selene.
[laughter]
Mark Antony and Cleopatra
are elevating their children
to, literally, the sun and moon
in the heavens.
They are setting them up
to be the inheritors
of a massive Eastern Empire
that Mark Antony and Cleopatra
are creating together.
We bow too. Yes.
- My lord.
- Aw.
[Colleen] Although Mark Antony
is preparing to invade Parthia,
these are months
where Mark Antony and Cleopatra
have a chance to rekindle their romance
and time together as a family.
And she becomes pregnant
with their third child.
Then life got in the way.
And life for them
is kind of, like, very serious.
Politics, strategy, wars,
trying to stop the Parthians
from, uh, invading his territory.
[soldiers yelling]
[soldiers continues yelling]
[Colleen] Despite Cleopatra's
financial support,
Mark Antony's Parthian invasion fails.
Much of this is because his former ally,
the King of Armenia, betrays him.
[soldiers yell]
[Islam] The Parthians
essentially defeat Mark Antony.
It's it's a disastrous campaign
for Mark Antony.
He loses thousands of men.
Huge damage to his supplies.
And it's a perfect opportunity
for Octavian to make use of that.
But now he has this tangible evidence
that Mark Antony
is an inefficient commander.
[tense music]
[Colleen] At this point,
Cleopatra is back in Egypt.
She's not able to accompany
Mark Antony on the campaign
because she's giving birth
to their third child together
- [crying]
- Ptolemy.
[baby Ptolemy coos]
- [Charmion clears throat]
- What?
His campaign is not going
exactly according to plan.
And Octavian grows in confidence
with each of Antony's defeats.
And this last battle, Antony is
It annoys me when you stop like that.
Pharaoh, right now, these are just rumors.
[Charmion] We should know more
from our trusted official channels soon.
How soon?
In a few weeks or
That isn't good enough.
If we're hearing these rumors,
you can be sure Octavian
is hearing them as well.
[Charmion]
I will push for a faster response.
Hm.
[Charmion] In the interim,
how else would you like to proceed?
Find out where Antony is.
[tense music]
Cleopatra is concerned
about Mark Antony's losses,
and so she goes to visit him
in Antioch, Syria,
where he has retreated with his troops.
[ominous music]
[breathing heavily]
I said do not disturb me!
[yells]
[clatters]
Cleopatra.
[shaky breathing]
[exhales]
Nothing is working.
[breathing heavily]
That hairless little prick
is trumping my every move, all of them.
Then make new moves.
I have. A dozen times.
[inhales sharply]
It's as if he can read my mind.
[breathing heavily]
[Cleopatra] Enough.
No matter what I do, he is there.
How could he possibly read your mind?
Have you forgotten who you are?
You are a better man
than Octavian will ever be.
You're stronger. You are a better soldier.
A better fighter.
And you can do it.
You have all of Egypt behind you.
You must go out there
and act like you know what you are.
What am I, Cleopatra? What am I?
You are a warrior.
You are my warrior.
[breathing heavily]
- Remember that.
- Yes.
- Okay?
- Yes.
Okay.
Act like you know you've already won.
I already won.
I won.
And I love you.
[Islam] Cleopatra is in quite deep now
with Mark Antony.
Also, three kids involved.
And Mark Antony
has not just promised her support,
he's also promised
to take care of her kids
by giving them different territories
around the region.
[Islam] Mark Antony needs
her financial support.
Cleopatra is the one calling the shots.
To cement their relationship
and to give it a divine validity,
Cleopatra marries Mark Antony.
[dramatic music]
[Colleen] Mark Antony's marriage
to Cleopatra is frowned upon in Rome.
He is already married to Octavia,
Octavian's sister.
In Egypt, it's a different story.
Kings often had multiple wives,
and Cleopatra is only married
to one person at this point in time.
Mark Antony.
[ominous music]
There's a big ceremony
that follows the marriage.
[Shelley] The Donations of Alexandria.
[crowd cheering]
[crowd whistling]
Your Isis greets you.
I pity enemies of Egypt.
I pity them more
when Egypt and Rome are united.
These vipers underestimate
our divine union,
our wisdom,
our wealth,
our numbers,
the favor of our gods.
[crowd cheering]
Today, I stand here.
We stand here before you
with our divine future thriving before us.
[Sally-Ann]
The ceremony was extremely lavish.
We have the children dressed in costume,
we have Cleopatra dressed as Isis.
And Mark Antony is essentially giving
the territories of Rome to the family.
And I promise you,
anyone who dares
to threaten our divine union
will regret the day they were born!
[crowd cheering]
At the Donation of Alexandria,
Mark Antony stands up and proclaims
that Caesarion
is, is Julius Caesar's heir.
[Shelley] Mark Antony formally hands over
all of the territories
that Cleopatra wanted.
[Colleen] The Donations of Alexandria
not only recreate the Ptolemaic Empire
at its greatest extent,
but it actually gives to Egypt
more territory than the Ptolemaic Empire
had ever controlled before.
[crowd cheering]
In addition to giving away
the Roman territories, um,
Mark Antony now divorces, um,
Octavian's sister.
So, to add insult to injury,
uh, Mark Antony almost seems
as if he's cutting his ties with Rome.
You know that emoji
where the head explodes?
[shaky exhale]
[Shelley] That's Octavian when he hears
about the Donations of Alexandria.
"What is Mark Antony doing?
He's lost his mind.
He doesn't have the power to do this."
But at the same time, this gives Octavian
the perfect piece of propaganda.
Look at Mark Antony
behaving like an eastern king.
Look at Mark Antony not acting the part
of a true and proper Roman.
It's very easy then for Octavian
to cast the Donations of Alexandria
as an anti-Roman plot.
[dark tense music]
Mark Antony gives Octavian
the excuse for war.
But not against Mark Antony
because the Roman people
cannot endure another civil war.
[Shelley] Who's the scapegoat then?
Cleopatra.
"It's that witch."
"It's that witch."
And that's the beginning.
That's the beginning of the propaganda
against Cleopatra by Octavian.
And it's the beginning of the unraveling
of Mark Antony's reputation in Rome.
[ominous music]
- Mm.
- [laughs]
So
[kisses]
Octavian thinks you've bewitched me
and put all of Rome in danger.
Hm.
Good.
Octavian is very angry and offended.
He's released
this vicious propaganda against Cleopatra.
So, even though Mark Antony was the one
who was unfaithful to his sister,
uh, Cleopatra is framed
as this great seductress,
and she's done these,
these things to trap him.
Little angry men often make big mistakes.
Octavian's mistake
is how much he underestimates us.
I think we should destroy him.
Hm.
[both breathe heavily]
At this particular point, um
Octavian has declared war on Cleopatra.
[suspenseful music]
[Colleen] In 31 BCE,
Cleopatra and Mark Antony go head-to-head
in all-out naval warfare with Octavian
in what is known as the Battle of Actium.
[thrilling music]
[Colleen] This is the climax
of a decade of rivalry.
[tense music]
[soldiers grunting]
[Islam] She goes with many ships,
thousands of soldiers,
and they head towards Greece.
Cleopatra is very actively involved
in military life.
She wants to know the details,
she wants to know the tactics,
she wants to play a part in them.
And she she's not a leader
who's in the palace.
She's very much on the front line.
[tense music]
[Islam] This is gonna be a showdown
that's gonna change
the history of Rome
and change the history of Egypt.
Cleopatra and Mark Antony
plan their naval strategy together.
She's supplying 200 of their 800 ships
and nearly all of the financing.
But this doesn't sit well
with all of Antony's generals,
some of whom don't want
to take orders from a woman.
[officer] With all due respect,
our allegiance is to the General, not a
You will do well to remember
what I bring to the table.
- Oh, you dare to talk to me like
- Enough!
- What she suggests goes against
- She?
What I think you meant to say was,
"Thank you, Isis,
for providing us with the world's
most invincible naval fleet,
which we will deploy immediately,
with a force so mighty
that Octavian won't know what's hit him."
Am I correct?
Yes, General.
Thank you.
But I had it.
Mark Antony's Roman allies
become increasingly suspicious
of Cleopatra.
She represents an absolute monarchy.
She represents an eastern empire.
And she's a woman.
[Colleen] Mark Antony needs to be
a strong Roman general,
and his alliance with Cleopatra
threatens that identity
in the eyes of his Roman allies.
They are worried that he is acting less
like a Roman general
and more like an eastern king.
And because of that,
many of Mark Antony's commanders defect
and join Octavian's army.
[dramatic music]
[Colleen] Once the battle begins,
Mark Antony and Cleopatra
are on separate ships.
Mark Antony leading the fleet at the front
and Cleopatra behind.
On the morning of September 2nd,
Mark Antony and Cleopatra attempt
to punch through the blockade
that Octavian has at the Bay of Actium.
Now, Mark Antony and Cleopatra combined
have fewer ships than Octavian.
The other major difference
between the two navies
is that Mark Antony's ships
are much larger.
They have more firepower,
but they also are way less maneuverable
than Octavian's lighter ships.
[Jacquelyn]
Cleopatra and Mark Antony both made
a series of problematic battle decisions,
which is sort of surprising,
due to the fact
that they're both pretty savvy.
But they strung out their fleet, uh,
and allowed themselves to become trapped.
Octavian's lighter
and more maneuverable ships
managed to nearly surround the forces
of Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
[Sally-Ann] We're told by the Roman
sources that Cleopatra,
when she realized
that Mark Antony was being defeated,
turned her ships around
and decided to sail back to Alexandria.
[Cleopatra] Row!
Row! Faster! Harder!
[Cleopatra] Row!
[Sally-Ann]
She doesn't want to be captured.
There would have been no point
at all in her staying
in a battle
that they were effectively losing.
Her primary goal remains
the safety of her own kingdom.
The safety of Egypt.
[Colleen] She has no choice
but to try to make it back to Egypt
with as many of her ships as possible.
If she loses all of her navy
at the Battle of Actium,
Egypt will be defenseless.
Her ships' gone.
General, all of them.
She did what?
It's easy to see
from the Roman perspective
that Cleopatra taking her fleet
and leaving Actium is an act of treachery.
What did you do? Did you try to stop her?
- No.
- Did you try to stop her?
It might have actually been
the best decision even for Mark Antony,
at least keeping part of the Navy intact
in order to fight Octavian another day.
[Colleen] Mark Antony,
knowing the battle is all but lost,
flees and manages to catch up
to Cleopatra's fleet.
[thunder crackling]
What have you done?
- I couldn't risk my fleets.
- Ours!
And you should have asked me first.
I'm the General, not you.
Useless without my army.
How dare you?
How dare you?
Mark Antony is the commander
of the forces,
so he is the one
that's going to make the final decision.
But it is interesting
that when things go wrong,
Cleopatra is the one that gets the blame.
If you're going to give me an army,
let me govern it.
It was the right decision.
But you cut me out.
I did what I had to do.
But you did it without asking me.
I did what I had to do
to protect what is mine.
Ours, Cleopatra!
Not yours! Ours!
It's not something that your average Roman
would have done at the point of a battle.
Um, but actually, Cleopatra's thinking
about herself and her own power.
She's putting herself
and her family first.
Who do you think you are, Cleopatra?
The Pharoah! That is who!
Watch who you are speaking to.
[breathing shakily]
[Mark Antony]
They can hear all of this up there.
My men, my loyal men are laughing at me.
I'm not responsible for you
and how you feel.
I made a decision and I stand by it.
All I want
is your trust.
The Battle of Actium is a disaster
for Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
They have lost their one opportunity
to meet and beat Octavian
outside of Egypt's borders.
Now they have no choice
but to fall back to Egypt
and simply defend their territory.
[Islam] Octavian, with this victory,
he's proven his power against Mark Antony,
against the Ptolemies.
This puts him in a great position,
and he, he already had a great position
because he was in Caesar's will.
But now he's proven it.
It's tangible. It's undeniable.
[Shelley] After the Battle of Actium,
Cleopatra takes control.
She writes to Octavian.
"If you allow me and Mark Antony to live,
we will go anywhere.
And you can have Egypt."
Mark, no one, can ever know. Please.
She doesn't quite try to appeal to him
in the, in the same way
that she did to Caesar
and to Antony in the past,
but she is pragmatic.
At this stage, she probably knows
that she will be exiled,
but she still wants her children
to have rule at least over Egypt.
She also asks Octavian for Antony to live.
[Colleen] Cleopatra needs to cut a deal
with Octavian just to survive.
Her fate, that of her family
and her kingdom,
are entirely in Octavian's hands.
[birds squawking]
My lord, Octavian, thanks Pharoah
for your message
and instructs me, as his ambassador,
to inform you
he's willing to grant your request.
[whispers]
Okay.
[Thyrsus] On one condition.
A simple request.
Kill Antony.
His life for yours.
And your children's, of course.
[tense music]
[closing theme music]