Cleopatra knew how to enchant the Roman general Mark Antony. She appeared before him in the guise of the goddess Aphrodite accompanied by Nereids and Charites. Antony fell madly in love and followed her to Egypt, where the couple had three children. Blinded by his lust, the competent general lost his judgment again and again. People claimed that he was so out of touch that it was better if he sent someone else in battle rather than going himself. Following their defeat in Actium, Antony and Cleopatra returned to Alexandria, where they committed suicide. Their three children were paraded as trophies by Octavian in Rome, but then came under the protection of Octavia, the Roman wife of the deceased Antony.