Which ancient biographer wrote a Life of Antony that discusses Cleopatra? Plutarch wrote it.
Plutarch was a Greek author and biographer who lived in the first and early second centuries CE, roughly a century after Cleopatra’s death. His Life of Antony forms part of Parallel Lives, a collection pairing notable Greek and Roman figures. Although it is not a biography of Cleopatra, it contains the fullest surviving ancient narrative of her relationship with Mark Antony and her final conflict with Octavian.
Plutarch drew on several earlier sources, including testimony connected with Alexandria and Antony’s circle. He describes Cleopatra’s meeting with Antony, the Battle of Actium, Antony’s suicide, and Cleopatra’s death. His account also includes vivid anecdotes, so it is both historically valuable and shaped by biography’s interest in character and moral judgment.
A common mix-up is to choose Suetonius, who wrote imperial biographies such as The Twelve Caesars. Livy and Tacitus were major Roman historians, but neither wrote the Life of Antony. Plutarch’s work is especially important because many earlier accounts of Cleopatra survive only in fragments or brief references.