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More than 5000 entries on the history, culture and life of Britain (published in 1993 by Macmillan, now out of print)
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Antony and Cleopatra
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(c.1607) Tragedy by *Shakespeare, based on the relationship in the 1st century BC between the Roman general, *Mark Antony, and *Cleopatra, queen of Egypt. The Roman is diverted from his duty not only by the charms of the queen but by the luxurious appeal of the east, expressed in the play's most famous speech when Enobarbus describe's Antony's first glimpse of Cleopatra: The barge she sat in, like a burnish'd throne, Burnt on the water: the poop was beaten gold. Defeated in battle, Antony falls on his sword and dies in Cleopatra's arms. She commits suicide by snake-bite, applying an asp to her breast.
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