Octavian’s Propaganda Against Antony and Cleopatra

He granted them kingdoms from Armenia to Cyrene. This act, seen in Rome as

the surrender of Roman lands to a foreign queen, gave Octavian the perfect pretext

to turn public opinion against them. He portrayed Cleopatra not as a legitimate ruler,

but as a dangerous foreign enchantress who had ensnared a once-noble Roman. Octavian’s propaganda

even forged letters allegedly from Antony bequeathing Roman territories to Cleopatra, and circulated rumors

that he intended to move the capital of the Republic to Alexandria. The final rupture

came in 32 BCE, when Antony divorced Octavian’s sister, Octavia, to formalize his

union with Cleopatra.