"She shall be buried by her Antony.” So Shakespeare has the victorious Octavianus Caesar decree in his Antony and Cleopatra, developing information in Plutarch’s Life of Antony, the main source for the Bard.

There is no ancient evidence to corroborate Plutarch’s, and hence Shakespeare’s, account of a joint burial. So we have to assess whether the calculating Octavian, whose propaganda machine had smeared the degenerate Antony and his foreign paramour, would have paid them such respect.

Honorific burial for Antony is not problematic, since Octavian needed to consolidate the loyalty of Antony’s supporters, including many distinguished Romans who might have been affronted if their former leader had been dishonoured.

But, since Antony’s subservience to Cleopatra had been a significant factor in undermining the loyalties of these Romans, there would have been less support for similar respect for her corpse.

It is not absolutely impossible that the corpses of Antony and Cleopatra could have been preserved. The suggestion is very romantic and would be a massive boost to tourism, as well as an argument for further funding for the excavations.

That said, the evidence cited from the investigations at the temple to Isis is inconclusive. If the 22 coins were found in close association with the ten mummies, this would provide a late 1st-century BC context for the burials, but no more.

Michael Whitby is Professor of Classics and Ancient History at the University of Warwick

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