by the spring of 40 bc, troubles in syria forced mark antony to end his vacation in egypt with cleopatra. his governor lucius decidius saxa had been killed and his army taken by quintus labienus, a former officer under cassius who now served the parthian empire. cleopatra provided antony with 200 ships for his campaign and as payment for her newly acquired territories. she would not see him again until 37 bc, but she maintained correspondence and evidence suggests she kept a spy in his camp. by the end of 40 bc cleopatra gave birth to twins, a boy named alexander helios and a girl named cleopatra selene ii, both of whom antony acknowledged as his children. "helios" (), the sun, and "selene" (), the moon, were symbolic of a new era of societal rejuvenation, as well as sign that cleopatra hoped antony would repeat the exploits of alexander the great by conquering persia.