Soldier. His career was marked by bravery and devotion to his kinsman Julius Caesar, but most famously by his passionate love affair (and alliance) with Cleopatra, the Greek Queen of Egypt. The traditional account holds that when Cleopatra fled with her ships from the naval battle of Actium, Antony foolishly followed her, thereby assuring the triumph of Octavian, later Augustus Caesar. An alternative possibility is that Cleopatra had her entire treasure on board and fled by prearrangement when the battle went poorly. In any case, Octavian pursued, and first Antony and then Cleopatra dramatically committed suicide. Antony has thus come to represent the heights of heroism and loyalty along with the perils of passion.