The term 'CAESAR and Cleopatra' refers to two of the most famous figures in ancient history. Julius CAESAR was a Roman general, statesman, and dictator who played a major role in the fall of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. He was assassinated in 44 BC. Mark ANTONY was a Roman politician and general who was an ally of Julius CAESAR and later became one of the three rulers of the Roman Republic. He was famously involved in a love affair with Cleopatra, the last active ruler of the Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt.