outlines of acts, scenes of Antony and Cleopatra, chapters of Are we Rome?

[o]

I.i, in which Roman soldiers complain about Antony’s behavior while he
plays with Cleopatra and ignores a messenger from Octavius Caesar;

I.ii, in which Cleopatra’s women consult a soothsayer; Cleopatra
whines about and teases Antony over his returning to Rome; Antony
discusses leaving Egypt with his soldier Enobarbus;

I.iii, in which Antony and Cleopatra part;

I.iv, in which Octavius complains about Antony’s behavior and his own
need of Antony against Pompey;

I.v, in which Cleopatra daydreams of the absent Antony;

II.i, in which Pompey hopes Octavius and Antony will fight each other,
not join together against him;

II.ii, in which Caesar and Antony reconcile and agree that Antony will
marry Octavia, Octavius’ sister;

II.iii, in which Antony and Octavia part;

II.iv, in which Lepidus and other soldiers part;

II.v, in which Cleopatra learns of Antony’s marriage;

II.vi, in which Caesar, Antony, Lepidus, and Pompey make peace;

II.vii, in which Caesar, Antony, Lepidus, and Pompey drunkenly
celebrate their peace;

III.i, in which Roman soldiers discuss success under Antony and
Octavius’ united leadership;

III.ii, in which Antony, Octavia, and Octavius part;

III.iii, in which Cleopatra learns more of Antony’s marriage;

III.iv, in which Octavia asks Antony not to fight Octavius;

III.v, in which Anotny’s soldiers Enobarbus and Eros discuss Lepidus’
arrest by Caesar and the pending conflict between Caesar and Antony;

III.vi, in which Caesar lists formal complaints against Antony and
comforts his sister with her private complaints;

III.vii, in which Antony sides with Cleopatra on battle at sea against
his soldiers' protest for land battle;

III.viii, in which Caesar prepares for battle at sea;

III.ix, in which Antony prepares for battle at sea;

III.x, in which Enobarbus and others complain of rout after Antony
leaves the battle, chasing Celopatra, who panicked and fled;

III.xi, in which Antony bemoans his situation;

III.xii, in which Antony receives Caesar's messenger, Thidias;

III.xiii, in which Thidias attempts to negotiate with Cleopatra, but
Antony has
him whipped and sent back with a single combat challenge to Caesar;

IV.i, in which Caesar, irritated but patient, dismisses Antony's
challenge and
plans the next battle;

IV.ii, in which Antony orders a party before the next day's battle;

IV.iii, in which Roman soldiers discuss their prospects in the next
day's battle;

IV.iv, in which Antony and Cleopatra part for battle;

IV.v, in which, upon hearing Enobarbus has left him for Caesar, Antony
sends his former soldier's loot after him;

IV.vi, in which Caesar orders Antony's defectors sent first against
him, but
Enobarbus, after receiving his loot from Antony, seeks a ditch
instead;

IV.vii, in which Antony surveys a victory with his soldiers;

IV.viii, in which Antony and Cleopatra celebrate the day's success;

IV.ix, in which Enobarbus finds the ditch he seeks;

IV.x, in which Antony prepares again the next day for battle--on
land;

IV.xi, in which Caesar prepares again the next day for battle--on
land;

IV.xii, in which Antony rages that Cleopatra has betrayed him after
his fleet yields to Caesar;

IV.xiii, in which Cleopatra cries and sends rumor of her death to
Antony;

IV.xiv, in which, upon hearing the (false) report of Cleopatra's
death, Antony falls on his sword and fatally wounds himself but
doesn't die immediately; then, after hearing her death was only a
rumor, he has his dying self delivered to Cleopatra;

IV.xv, in which Antony and Cleopatra say goodbye;

V.i, in which Caesar approaches Cleopatra;

V.ii, in which Caesar and Cleopatra meet; then, despite Caesar's
suicide watch orders over the queen, she receives an asp; Caesar
investigates then departs for Rome.

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Ch1, Capitals
As the Founding Fathers found value in studying the positive model of
Republican Rome to build the successful USA, we today can find value
in studying the negative model of Imperial Rome to avoid its
failures.

• Rome fell, and many varied arguments have attempted to explain why,
generally focusing on internal and/or external challenges;

• Washington the general and first President, Jefferson the author,
and Franklin the practical politician each studied aspects of the
Roman Republic;

• Republican Rome didn't plan to slide into a failed empire, but it
happened, so we can now check symptoms of imperial hubris for
cathartic benefits.


Ch 2, Legions
Armies on the march and encamped, Alexandrine, US, or Roman, operate
under many similar logistic, bureaucratic, and cultural conditions.

• Logistically, it's difficult to supply the best-equipped and trained
forces anywhere, anytime;

• Politically, it's difficult to organize, finance, and implement
constant expansion, as it requires more and more time, effort, and %
of GNP;

• Culturally, it's difficult to manage the growing split between the
dual demands for working-class enlisted troops (who become more and
more new immigrants and rented foreigners) and professional/management-
class (who tend more and more to be experienced citizens in privatized
para-military service).


Ch 3, Fixers
The shifts in meaning of the Latin word suffragium and today's English
word franchise metaphorically represent the corrupt aspects of
privatization: nepotism, plutocracy, and expensive inefficiency.

• Rome gave and now the US is in danger of giving its great public
institutions away, and giving everything away is impractical—Rome fell
into feudalism and too many of the great US institutions are becoming
aspects of global-corporate economics;

• Contracting out government functions may or may not be patriotic or
efficient, as case by case analysis will conclude, but some functions
are particularly sensitive and privatizing them is particularly
hazardous, for example, [military operations, as discussed in ch 2, as
well as] secret intelligence and defense functions.


Ch 4, Outsiders
Although qualifications on the comparisons are necessary, the US and
Rome share arrogant, superior views of self and ignorant, inferior
views of the rest of the world, views that together lead at times to
clumsy, if not catastrophic, foreign policy, as much as corporate fast
food culture for the masses and elite luxury for the ultra-rich may
seem uniformly successful worldwide.

• The XVII, XVIII, and XIX Legions were lost at Teutoberg due to
underestimating the opponent, but Rome/Augustus didn't blame
themselves collectively, only Varius [the comparison to the US is
implied: fill in here _____];

• Under Crassus (against the Parthians), Varro—and others (against
Hannibal), and Valens (against Goths), Rome tended to blame failure on
individuals rather than arrogant overestimation of self and ignorant
underestimation of opponents [the comparison to the US is implied:
fill in here _____];

• Caricatures and stereotypes of self and others abound in both Rome
and US;

• US knows little geography, language, or culture of the rest of the
world but rather sees itself as an exporter of language and culture;


Ch 5, Borders
Roman borders fluctuated greatly over centuries for a variety of
reasons, but Rome grew into the cultural force still recognized by
assimilating many other peoples, and the US has benefited, is
benefiting, and will continue to benefit from diverse individuals and
families immigrating (but not from foreign armies or corporations
granted autonomy).

• Hadrian's wall exemplifies Roman boundaries as impermanent and
intentionally controlled but porous, not mutually exclusive;

• Border, for both Rome and the US, is much more than a line on a map—
politically, philosophically, culturally, linguistically, etc.;

• Multinational corporations in some ways now supercede nationalism
and divide the very wealthy of all countries from the lower classes
(if not the rest);

• Even though some panic and worry that barbarian hordes threaten the
US, Rome wasn't destroyed by immigrants seeking better lives, and
neither will the US be.


Epilogue
As this chapter includes two components—the 6th Rome-US comparison of
complexity and a conclusion to the text in general—here are two thesis/
argument outlines:

Complexity
Complexity causes problems, and more complexity (such as that faced by
any growing empire or organization) causes more problems.

• Rome found governance a constant challenge, and it may have expanded
beyond its ability to manage;

• Contemporary economists [as well as game theory mathematics and
computer programming] offer support;

• Trying to privatize governance is sometimes effective and efficient,
but not always, and it can be hazardous, especially if the US allows
multinational corporations to become autonomous foreign armies;

• Rome didn't fall in a day for one reason; although the US may
officially define one point of independence from England, we shouldn't
allow the lack of one single, simple looming collapse to permit the
indulgence of ignoring all criticism

Conclusion
Although many qualifications to the comparisons are necessary, Rome
and the US can be usefully compared on the six qualities of view of
self, military, corruption, view of the rest of the world, borders,
and complexity, and these comparisons yield recommendations specific
to each quality or group of qualities.

• view of self, view of the rest of the world, and borders: learn more
of the world's language, culture, history, and geography; assimilate
more immigrants in the American dream of life, liberty, and the
pursuit of happiness

• military: beware the ever increasing percentage of the GDP being
devoted to militarism; use other methods to manage good relations with
the rest of the world—see above;

• corruption and complexity: republican checks and balances offer good
models; the US needs at least a practical and effective balance
between public works/service and privatization if not completely
honest leadership towards our highest ideals; what will not work is
collapse through fraudulent, selfish use of public resources.

[o]

Link to chart used in class comparing Antony and Cleopatra to our
world today:
http://www.snorko.org/Comparisons-A&C-today.pdf

[o]

study guide for Antony and Cleopatra created by students:
http://www.snorko.org/AntonyCleo2.pdf