Marc Antony (World Leaders Past and Present)

ea. vol: 111p. diags. illus. maps. photogs. reprods. bibliog. chron. index. (World Leaders Past & Present Series). CIP. Chelsea House. 1987. PLB $15.95. Grade 7-12 The lack of thorough docu mentation from classical times presents a challenge to the biographer. We can only expect, therefore, to have incom plete portraits of even the most widely known ancient personages. With this caveat in mind, these books achieve their goal of presenting a memorable portrait of the men and the times that shaped them, while maintaining high standards of literary quality. Pericles is as much a recounting of the achieve ments of Athens in its short and glori ous Golden Age as of the man whose name has become synonymous with that flowering of art, culture, and de mocracy. The heavy emphasis on Peri cles' public accomplishments is to be expected, since very little is known about his personal life. His long-term relationship with the brilliant and beau tiful courtesan Aspasia, for example, is given very little space, in spite of the fact that she has often been credited with influencing him greatly. While Marc Antony presents a more fully real ized portrait of its subject than Pericles, it is, again, the political and social intri cacies of the times which take center stage. Antony emerged as a leader dur ing the period when the Roman Repub lic was in its death throes and, ever the opportunist, he spent liberally to pur chase votes in his campaign for public office. A brave and resourceful military man, he is portrayed as creating his own downfall by succumbing to his un controllable passion for Cleopatra. These contrasting records of the best and worst of human characteristics are a sobering lesson in how power and leadership can corrupt or ennoble. David N. Pauli, Northern Waters Li brary Service, Ashland, Wis.
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