In 41 B.C. Marcus Antonius summoned Cleopatra to Asia Minor. This meeting spawned history's most celebrated Pearl legend documented in Pliny’s ‘Naturalis Historia’: "There have been two Pearls that were the largest in the whole of history; both were owned by Cleopatra, the last Queen of Egypt… they had come down to her through the hands of the Kings of the East...”

The story goes that Marcus Antonius had spared no expense to entertain Cleopatra, providing her with lavish surroundings and sumptuous delicacies. But much to Antonius’s surprise, Cleopatra had scoffed at his banquets and wagered that she would lay on the most expensive banquet he had ever attended costing the tidy sum of 10,000,000 sesterces ($500,000 at the time). Marcus Antonius agreed to the wager, and the next day he attended the banquet on her royal barge. But as the meal progressed Antonius was struck by the meagerness of the food and laughed at Cleopatra’s claim. However Cleopatra had saved the best for last, Pliny continues:

“...the servants placed in front of her a vessel containing vinegar, the strong rough quality, which can melt Pearls. Antonius was curios to see what in the world she was going to do. She took one earring off and dropped the Pearl in the vinegar, and when it was melted, swallowed it...”

Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius were married in secret, had three children together and loved each other till death did them apart. Eventually, the Roman Empire in Europe fell in to the hands of the invading barbarian hoards of the Huns and Goths, and Europe fell into darkness. But in the Eastern lands of the Empire Rome’s influence remained strong. The Byzantine period in Asia Minor marked the end of Rome’s reign but the continuation of the world’s love affair with Pearls.