Publio Ventidio Baso, en los márgenes de la historia y la literatura

Abstract

Publius Ventidius Bassus, Julius Caesar's protege and Mark Antony's lieutenant, was celebrated in the first century of our era by many of the most renowned authors of Antiquity: for his proficiency in the leadership of legions against the Parthian invasions, and for his political cunning and fidelity in the revolts that succeeded Caesar’s death. In the early 17th century, found inspiration in historical sources dealing with Ventidius's life and circumstances, recovered his figure dramatically and devoted a scene of Antony and Cleopatra to him. Late in the same century, Dryden reinvented and magnified him for his so-called imitation of Shakespeare in All For Love. Publius Ventidius assumes different personae in each of these works: he is a mere incidental note in Plutarch's biography of Mark Antony; Antony's true decision-maker and lieutenant during the Mutina and Perusia wars in Appian's history; the only hero of the Parthian campaign in Cassius Dio's history; a measure of the protagonist's real greatness in Shakespeare's tragedy; and a sign of the clash between the old agonistic generation and the pragmatic youth in Dryden's heroic drama. These historical and fictional recreations will be of utmost interest in the present article.