Thomas May

CLEOPATRA, QUEEN OF EGYPT
[Note: the text of this play comes from that edited by Denzell S. Smith (Garland Publishing: New York and London, 1979). For the historical background the following have been used: Dio Cassius's Roman History, in the Loeb ed. by E. Cary, and a selection of Plutarch's Lives, in the Loeb by Bernadotte Perrin, with the edition of the Antony by C.R. Pelling.]

1626

a synoptic, alphabetical character list

ACHOREUS
Priest of Osiris, taken by May from Lucan's Civil War, Book X, where, in May's own translation, he is called "The linen-vested grave Achoreus." In the play, he is snubbed after the Battle of Tarentum by Caesar, who responds to his offered showing of the gods: "Most willingly Achoreus I would see/ Godds but not oxen".

MARCUS AGRIPPA
Agrippa is the right-hand man of Caesar, whom he warns, after the Battle of Actium, how difficult it will be to get Cleopatra into a triumph. Historically, this was Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

ALCIBIADES
Name taken by Aristocrates in his attempt to help Antonius, who, temporarily beside himself after his defeat at Actium, insists that he is no longer Antonius but Timon, the famous Athenian misanthrope. (Alcibiades was a famously charismatic and destructive Athenian general, said to have been favoured by Timon for the damage he could do the Athenian people.)

MARCUS ANTONIUS
The hero of the play; famous Roman general now dangerously besotted with the exotic Cleopatra and outmaneuvered by his younger rival, Caesar. May makes his besotted state much softer than does Shakespeare: talked into agreeing to her participation in the Battle of Actium, he never reproaches her with its disastrous outcome, but instead retreats into generalized melancholia and assumes the identity of Timon the misanthrope (a Plutarchan scene that Shakespeare omits). He makes little objection to her meetings with Thyreus, the messenger of Caesar, and does not blame her (as in Plutarch and Shakespeare) for his final defeat at Tarentum. After this, he fails to persuade his freedman Eros to kill him, and succeeds, with some difficulty, in killing himself; May omits Plutarch's scene between Cleopatra and the dying Antonius, so the relationship, never very emphatic in this play, fades away in silence.

ARISTOCRATES
A Greek, called by Plutarch a "rhetorician"; along with Lucilius the only person admitted by Antony in his alienated state after the Battle of Actium. As Antonius claims that he is the misanthrope Timon, Aristocrates takes on the character of Alcibiades, and the two rant generally against the world–including Antonius's own earlier behavior during the period of the proscriptions in Rome. Aristocrates and Lucilius try to open Antonius's eyes to the treacherous dealings of Cleopatra with Caesar, but without much success. Faithful to the end, they bring the news of his suicide to Caesar, and then accept the latter's offer of employment.

ARTAVASDES
A "ghost character." King of Armenia, beheaded by order of Cleopatra. (Artavasdes is mentioned at III ii.)

ARIUS
Greek philosopher, native of Alexandria, honored by Caesar on the latter's triumphant entry to the city after Actium. Arius is maneuvered by the philosopher Fergusius into pleading with Caesar for Fergusius's life; a plea which is granted before Arius can get past the first three words.

CAESAR AUGUSTUS
Caesar, heir of the dead Julius Caesar and rival of Antonius for control of the Roman world, enters the play as a conqueror after the Battle of Actium. He shows himself clement, sparing the citizens of Alexandria (even the philosopher Fergusius), but most of his activity consists of a contest in double-bluff with the equally crafty Cleopatra After Actium, he sends Thyreus to her with a declaration of fervent love, hoping to persuade her to betray Antonius; she, for her own purposes, responds with equal enthusiasm. When he finally visits her himself, after Antonius's death, he is for a moment almost tempted in earnest, but he quickly recalls himself; perhaps because of this momentary confusion, he speaks to her more harshly than he had intended. As a result, Cleopatra, seeing through his protestations of affection, decides to commit suicide rather than trust herself to him, and thus escapes his secret plan to display her in a Roman triumph. The Psylls try to revive her, but in vain; and Caesar takes it well, vowing to erect a proud monument to her and Antonius.

CALVISIUS
A "ghost character." Roman senator, opposed to Antonius: mentioned in I ii. Historically, this was Caius Calvisius Sabinus.

CAIUS CANIDIUS CRASSUS
General of Antonius. At the beginning of the play, he jocularly defends Antonius's relationship with Cleopatra against the muttering of Plancus and Titius, and supports her bid to participate in the Battle of Actium. He flees from this battle, but remains loyal to Antonius, encouraging him up to his own last appearance in the play (just before the disastrous Battle of Tarentum). May seems to have worked up this character from a very brief hint in Plutarch; he serves a small part of the purpose served in Shakespeare by Enobarbus. Historically, this was Caius Publius Canidius Crassus.

CHARMIO
Maidservant, along with Eira, to Cleopatra. She appears once early on in the play with Glaucus, but otherwise is absent until the last scene, when she and Eira, in the tomb with Cleopatra, listen to their mistress's grand resolve to go to the dead Antonius, and commit suicide with her. Cleopatra, and perhaps also Eira, die from the asp's poison; Charmio stabs herself, and dies last.

CLEOPATRA
Queen of Egypt, lover of Antonius, heroine of the play. She first appears, as in Shakespeare, conducting a public flirtation with her lover– though the scene is considerably statelier than Shakespeare's. May's Cleopatra not only statelier but much more explicitly calculating. She induces Canidius to persuade Antonius to let her fight with him against Caesar at Actium; her reason, as she explains in a soliloquy, is that she wants to prevent Octavia from reconciling Antonius and Caesar, which would destroy her own powerful position. She quickly deserts the battle, followed by Antonius, who thus loses it; wasting no time, she sends a humble message to Caesar, offering him a store of treasure (kept secret from Antonius) in return for her own freedom. At the same time, she is secretly experimenting (just in case) with fast-acting poisons trying out the asp-bite on a prisoner who has been condemned to death. Her caution is justified: Caesar, an equally devious character, wants Cleopatra to display in a triumph at Rome. Concealing his true intentions, he sends her a messenger, Thyreus, who assures her of his master's love for her. Cleopatra receives Thyreus, twice, with every show of favor; she indignantly denies this, however, when caught in the act by Antonius, and he is so besotted that he quickly accepts her denial. As the two sides prepare for another battle, Cleopatra is in a rather awkward position: she muses in a soliloquy that, if Antonius wins, he may find out about her dealings with Caesar, and, if Caesar wins, he may not really love her at all. With this in mind, she withdraws to her tomb, from which news comes to Antonius–who has lost the battle–that she is dead. He decides on death, and stabs himself, but does it so badly that he is still alive when Mardio tells him that Cleopatra is still alive too. We are told by Epaphroditus that he dies in her arms, though there is no final scene between them. After Antonius's death, Cleopatra quickly works out that Caesar is planning no good for her, and makes the best of the situation by staging a grand self-immolation in the tomb, preparing herself in robes of state and applying the asp to her breast.

DELLIUS
A "ghost character." Roman who defects from Antonius to Caesar, mentioned at IV i. Historically, this was Quintus Dellius.

TITUS DOMITIUS
Like Sossius, Domitius leaves Rome in the middle of his consulship to support Antonius against Caesar. Discouraged by Antonius's behavior and lack of success, he later deserts to Caesar. [For the name of this character, May was misled by Suetonius in his Life of Augustus; his real name was Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus–Shakespeare's Enobarbus. The historical character died shortly after his defection to Caesar; May does not include this detail, but it explains why he does not appear at the end of the play with the other apostates.]

EIRA
Maidservant to Cleopatra; Shakespeare's Iras. Cf. Charmio.

EPAPHRODITUS
A freedman of Caesar; he tries to reassure Cleopatra after the death of Antonius of his master's kind intentions towards her.

EROS
A slave of Antonius; he brings his master, after the defeat at Tarentum, the false news that Cleopatra is dead. Antonius orders Eros to kill him; rather than do so, Eros kills himself.

EUPHRONIUS
Servant of Cleopatra [her children's teacher], who carries her message of capitulation to Caesar after Actium. He informs Caesar that the defeated Antonius has taken himself off to live like the misanthrope Timon.

FERGUSIUS
A philosopher; condemned to death by Caesar, he cleverly saves his own life by publicly reminding Arius, another philosopher highly favoured by Caesar, that a truly wise man saves the life of another. Caesar, amused, grants his pardon for Arius's sake. [The name of this character is a puzzle in the play. He and his story come directly from Plutarch, who gives him the unexceptionable Greek name "Philostratus"; "Fergusius," which is not a Classical name, appears to be May's own idea. Possibly a concealed satire on a contemporary.]

FULVIA
A "ghost character." First wife of Antonius, mentioned twice by Cleopatra.

CORNELIUS GALLUS
Follower of Caesar; he welcomes the defecting Pinnarius after Actium to Caesar's side, and narrates the full story of the defeat of Antonius. Later, he gives Caesar an account of Antonius's death. At the end of the play, Caesar appoints him governor of Egypt. Historically, this was Caius Cornelius Gallus.

GEMINIUS
A "ghost character." Roman senator who, early on in the play sends a letter to Antonius which the latter puts off reading. (According to Plutarch, Antonius's friend Geminius was one of those alienated from him by the behavior of Cleopatra.) Possibly Caius Geminius is meant.

GLAUCUS
Servant of Cleopatra; physician. He procures the asps for her as a sure and painless means of suicide. `

HIPPARCHUS
A freedman who brings Antonius letters from Rome in I ii.

MARCUS [AEMILIUS] LEPIDUS
A "ghost character." Formerly one of the three masters of the Roman world, along with Antonius and Caesar. Like his historical opponent Sextus Pompeius, he is mentioned in II i. as "ruined." Historically, this was MARCUS AEMILIUS LEPIDUS.

LIVIA
A "ghost character." Wife of Caesar. He speaks her name in an aside as he tries to pull himself together against the charms of Cleopatra.

LUCILIUS
Supporter of Antonius; along with Aristocrates, the only person admitted by Antonius in his fit of melancholic depression after Actium. With Aristocrates, Lucilius tries to warn Antonius about the duplicity of Cleopatra. After Antonius's death, he surrenders to Caesar

MARDIO
Eunuch slave of Cleopatra. After Actium, he brings the melancholic Antonius the news that Cleopatra (in fact engaged in negotiations with Caesar at the time) is desperate to see him. At the end, when Antonius is dying, Mardio informs him that Cleopatra, contrary her previous false report, is still alive, and wants him to come to her. Like Glaucus, Mardio accompanies Cleopatra to her refuge in the tomb, but she sends him away for her suicide (which is attended only by her maids, Charmio and Eira).

OCTAVIA
A "ghost character." Wife of Antonius and sister of Caesar, mentioned a couple of times by Cleopatra.

PINNARIUS SCARPUS
General of Antonius who defects to Caesar after the Battle of Actium. Historically, this was Lucius Pinnarius Scarpus.

MUNATIUS PLANCUS
Follower of Antonius, but, like Titius, disaffected from the very start through disapproval of Antonius's infatuation with Cleopatra. He defects to Caesar even before Antonius's defeat at Actium. Historically, this was Lucius Munatius Plancus.

SEXTUS POMPEIUS
A "ghost character." Son of Pompey the Great; a threat to the triumvirate of Antonius, Caesar, and Lepidus. Like Lepidus, he is mentioned in II i. as "ruined" by the time the play's action starts.

PRISONERS
The Prisoners, both already condemned to death, are used by Cleopatra to test the asp's poison recommended to her by Glaucus. The second Prisoner draws the short straw and submits to the asp; he reports that he feels sleepy, and dies almost immediately. Pleased with the result of this experiment, Cleopatra grants the first Prisoner his life.

PROCULEIUS
Follower of Caesar. Along with Gallus, he is sent by Agrippa, after the Battle of Tarentum, to Cleopatra's tomb to persuade her of Caesar's love for her. Historically, this was CAIUS PROCULEIUS.

PSYLLS
The two Libyan Psylls (or Snake Charmers; May took the Greek word from Dio) are hired by Caesar, who suspects that Cleopatra may planning to poison herself after the death of Antonius. They are supposed to have the power to suck out poison and revive those dying of snake-bite. But they are unable to revive Cleopatra.

SELEUCUS
A "ghost character." A lieutenant of Cleopatra; after Actium, she promises Thyreus that she will order Seleucus to surrender the town of Pelusium to Caesar.

SELEUCUS
Servant of Cleopatra, who appears in a couple of early scenes with Glaucus, discussing the forthcoming hostilities between Antonius and Caesar.

MARCUS SILANUS
A "ghost character." Roman who defects from Antonius to Caesar; mentioned at IV i. Historically, this was Marcus Junius Silanus.

CAIUS SOSSIUS
Like Domitius, Sossius is a Roman consul banished from Rome for favoring Antonius. Sossius comes to Egypt to visit Antonius, and urges him to seize the moment to attack Caesar. [The character, also spelled Sosius, disappears early on, and May does not say what happens to him. Unlike Domitius and so many others, the historical character stayed loyal to Antonius; Dio says that he went into hiding after Antonius's death, but was pardoned by Caesar.]

THYREUS
Thyreus (so spelled in May and Sir Thomas North's translations of Plutarch; modern editions read "Thyrsus") is a messenger from Caesar to Cleopatra, conveying disingenuous messages of love after Caesar's victory at Actium. Going behind the back of her lover Antonius, Cleopatra appears very responsive to these messages. Antonius's friends Aristocrates and Lucilius warn him what is happening, and engineer a situation in which he finds Thyreus with Cleopatra; but Cleopatra soon talks her way out of this, and Thyreus escapes, suffering no more than a brief threat. [Plutarch's Thyrsus, like Shakespeare's Thidias, is beaten by Antonius.]

TIMON
Name taken by Antonius in a fit of crazy depression after his defeat at the Battle of Actium. Timon was a famous Athenian misanthrope of the 5th century BC. Antonius is visited by Aristocrates and Lucilius; Aristocrates tries to help Antonius by playing along with his new identity, introducing himself as Alcibiades, the destructive general favoured by the historical Timon.

MARCUS TITIUS
Follower of Antonius, but, like Plancus, disaffected from the very start through disapproval of Antonius's infatuation with Cleopatra. He defects to Caesar even before Antonius's defeat at Actium.