Antony and Cleopatra is one of Shakespeare's best known later tragedies. The most geographically sweeping of the Bard's plays, its setting is the entire Roman Empire, and its backdrop, the well-documented history of Octavius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra.

William Shakespeare, perhaps the greatest English playwright ever, was born in 1564. By 1592 he was sufficiently established as a playwright to be criticized in print. He was a leading member of the Lord Chamberlain's Company, which became the King's Men on the accession of James I in 1603. He died in April 1616 and is buried in Holy Trinity Church, Stratford-upon-Avon.