Octavian’s exposure of Antony’s alleged will was likely a forged propaganda weapon

Evidence

In a final blow, Octavian claimed to have gained access to a document that contained Mark Antony’s final will, which supposedly said that Antony intended to leave his legacy to his children with Cleopatra and that he wanted to be buried with Cleopatra in Egypt. These wishes were so offensive to Romans that Octavian could make a convincing case to the Senate that Antony needed to be stripped of his military power. Interestingly, whether or not the claims surroundi ng Antony’s final will constituted ‘fake news’ is hotly debated. Some scholars believe it is authentic, as neither Mark nor his followers ever publicly refuted it; others maintain that because the document was so detrimental to Antony’s reputation, Octavian likely completely or partially forged it. — Sander van der Linden, Foolproof, 310

Categorization

• CANDY: A forged-will power play decided the Roman civil war — neat dinner-table fact about ancient ‘fake news’.
• XREF: connects to: Pseudo-Methodius used forged authorship to lend authority to anti-Islamic prophecy — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 318

Broader Connections

• Pseudo-Methodius used forged authorship to lend authority to anti-Islamic prophecy #expands (0.72) — John V. Tolan, Saracens, 318