The tragedy opens in Alexandria, where Mark Antony neglects his vast imperial responsibilities in Rome, utterly captivated by the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Urged by urgent state affairs and the death of his wife Fulvia, Antony finally tears himself away from Egypt to reconcile with his fellow triumvir, Octavius Caesar, and Sextus Pompey.
To cement a fragile political alliance in Rome, Antony agrees to marry Caesar's sister, Octavia. Yet this marriage of state proves powerless to anchor his desires. Haunted by soothsayers who warn him that his fortune will always wither when matched against Caesar's, Antony soon abandons Rome and returns to Alexandria and Cleopatra.
Furious at Antony's public alienation of his sister and his extravagant elevation of Cleopatra and her children in the East, Octavius Caesar declares war. The decisive conflict is fought at sea near Actium, where Cleopatra panics and flees with her fleet, and a lovesick Antony follows her in blind devotion, effectively destroying their military strength.
Following the catastrophic naval defeat, Antony's grip on reality frays as his remaining allies desert him, including his loyal friend Enobarbus, who dies of a broken heart after betraying him. Though Antony experiences a brief resurgence of military glory during a subsequent land battle, the final confrontation outside Alexandria sees his remaining fleet surrender to Caesar.
Believing Cleopatra has betrayed him to the enemy, a despairing Antony attempts suicide by falling on his sword. Learning he is still alive, he is hauled up into the monument where Cleopatra has taken refuge, dying in her arms after urging her to seek her safety and honour through Caesar.
Refusing to be led in chains through the streets of Rome as Caesar's captive, Cleopatra orchestrates her own majestic end. Smuggled a poisonous asp inside a basket of figs, she applies the snake to her breast and dies with regal defiance, joining Antony in death and achieving a legendary union that eluded them in life.
