Dryden’s Revision of Antony and Cleopatra

Dryden sets his play in the aftermath of Actium. Antony has withdrawn into the temple of Isis, shunning all company, including Cleopatra’s; Octavius is encamped at the gates of Alexandria, yet there is stalemate: Maecenas and Agrippa, who can most With Caesar, are his foes. His wife Octavia, Driven from his house, solicits her revenge; And Dolabella, who was once his friend, Upon some private grudge now seeks his ruin: Yet still war seems on either side to sleep. ❑ (Act 1 lines 52–7)