What would the world be like today if the armies of Rome were defeated by Mark Antony and the forces of Egypt's army, who then turned around and conquered Rome?
What would the world be like today if the armies of Rome were defeated by Mark Antony and the forces of Egypt's army, who then turned around and conquered Rome?
He would implement a despotic monarchy, Ptolemäic Diadochi style ? What would the fate of Ceasarion be in such a timeline ?
What would the world be like today if the armies of Rome were defeated by Mark Antony and the forces of Egypt's army, who then turned around and conquered Rome?
I doubt he would be crazy enough to do it. The Roman oligarchy had just killed Julius Caesar for trying something far less wide-ranging, and no matter how much money and grain Egypt can put into his hands, Antony depends on the military resources of Rome. He can't simply ignore the Senate and People, so he needs to find some role into which he can fit in that context.
The main thing is, he might play the Greco-Egyptian God-King in Alexandria, but the majority of Mark Antony's military power and all of his standfing in the provinces depends entirely on his Roman persona as triumvir and holder of extraordinary imperium. He cannot afford to relinquish that, not least because the core of his fighting forces are Caesarian legions and officers. The armies that faced each other at Actium were very similar, for all the Augustan propaganda that painted them as eastern hordes. A legionary can cheer when his commander screws an Egyptian queen, dresses up as a God and has locals bow to him. But things will look very different when he is told that he is expected to take this seriously. Not to mention that he can forget about his retirement settlement and will never see his family again. Antony has to fight for Rome, not against Rome.
THe way I read the man, he will overreach. Dictator perpetuus, savage proscriptions, a few very nasty years for everyone who opposed him, and then an attempt at peace so he can go east and do his thing again. Maybe another lost war against the Parthians. At some point, it will become too much. He'd need a very good brain to play the Senate the way Octavian did. His bnest case svenario is to follow closely in Casear's footsteps and try the famous clemency thing. Given the mutual exhaustion of all sides, it might be enough to end the war with a compromise dictatorship.
Caesarion is unlikely to have a long life either way, IMO. Unless Antony is really serious about dynastic loyalty, he's just a potential rival.