i'm reading this at the moment, and loving it.
you may already know, but i didn't, that shakespeare based the play on the events set out by plutarch in his account of the grecians and romans.
the first part of the play, particularly the first couple of acts, includes lots of references to historical events.

the one i love the most is plutarch's account of the moment when cleopatra completely knocks antony out, when she finally condescends to meet him, and sails up the river cydnus to meet him on her 'barge ... the poop whereof was of gold, the sails of purple, and the oars of silver, which kept stroke in rowing after the sound of the music of flutes, hautboys, citherns, viols ... And ... she was laid under a pavilion of cloth of gold of tissue, apparelled and attired like the goddess venus.... and hard by her, on either hand of her, pretty fair boys apparrelled as painters do set forth god cupid, with fans in their hands, with the which they fanned wind upon her.  Her ladies and gentlewomen also, the fairest of them were apparelled like the nymphs ... (which are the mermaids of the waters) ... tending the tackle and ropes of the barge, out of the which there came a wonderful passing sweet savour of perfumes that perfumed the wharf's side ..."

not surprisingly, everyone in the city ran down to the water's edge to see this spectacle.
this meant that poor old antony - one of the three great world leaders - was left more or less on his own, sitting on his throne in the market square.
when she landed, he sent down an invitation to supper.  but cleopatra suggested he would do better by coming round to her place.
which he did, and was completely knocked out by the magnificence of it all.

that's what i call style!

if i could travel back in time to one moment, it would be very tempting to be there to see cleopatra's arrival... and maybe get an invitation to supper.