Summary

The novel’s fifth chapter begins with an angry letter from Marcus Antonius to Octavius Caesar, written in 39 B.C. Antonius asks what exactly Octavius would have him do to please Octavius, as he has already given up so much. Antonius now resides in Athens, Greece, and he questions Octavius’s criticism of him “playing the Greek” (95). Antonius has also grown close to Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, whom he already had a connection with two years prior. Cleopatra has presented Antonius with a set of twins to raise as his own, although it is not clear whether or not they are his by birth.

The following letter is written from Antonius to Gaius Sentius Tavus in 38 B.C. Antonius states that Octavius’s divorce from Scribonia signifies the end of Rome’s understanding with the pirate Sextus Pompeius. Furthermore, Antonius is wary...