Why does Antony and Cleopatra's relationship cause so much harm?

Antony and Cleopatra's relationship - when considered as a relationship between two individuals - is somewhat harmless. It's signficance in the play and in the time at which it isset, however, magnifies the significance of their affiliation to one another. Indeed, their relationship is so abhorrent to the Roman Generals because Cleopatra is a symbol of the ostentatious and luxurious threat from Egypt. Antony and Cleopatra's relationship is represented as a fight between the East and the West, with the lovers on opposing sides of the antithetical divide.