The exact birth year of Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony) is unknown. Three dates, 86, 83, and 81 B.C. are the closest historians have been able to come. Even the ancient authors were uncertain of is exact age at his death in 30 B.C. It is known, however that he was born in the city of Rome in Italy. His parents were Julia (Caesaris) Antonius and Marcus Antonius (Creticus). His birthday was January 14, its significance becoming apparent after Antony’s defeat at Actium. Octavian renamed Antony’s birthday nefastus, a Latin word meaning wicked and irreligious. The day was made unlucky and unholy, and for a period of time it was a day in which no business interactions took place. Mark Antony was born into the ancient Antonii family, an ancient family …show more content…
In 97 B.C., after his time as consul, he served as one of the two censors, a position under consul whose jobs include taking the census and overseeing the morals of the public. He was killed during the cleansing of the senators by Marius and Sulla in 87 B.C., and his head was put on display at the Rostra, where he had delivered his orations. During the cleansing, Lucius Julius Caesar was also killed, leaving Marcus Antonius with no living grandfathers at the time of his birth. Marcus Antonius’ sons, and eventually grandson, were ensured high respect and spots in political offices because of his prominence. His abilities at oratory, military and political leadership, and overall adaptability mostly skipped his son’s generation, but reappeared as apparent as ever in his …show more content…
He was ineffectual in his campaigns of political and military leadership. Cicero explained the reasons for Anthony receiving so much power despite his ineffectiveness by saying that those is charge and with more power than him knew that he didn’t have the capacity to use the power to anywhere near its potential, also removing the potential for him to abuse the power. He assumed the position of praetor of the military in 74 B.C. In 71 B.C. he was assigned a mission to attack the pirates at the island of Crete. After unsuccessful attempts to gain any ground against the pirates he was given the nickname “Creticus”. Normally a nickname given to those who enjoyed military successes, it was used to poke fun at his failure. He was defeated and killed in the same