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diff --git a/old/56049-0.txt b/old/56049-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index d47227c..0000000 --- a/old/56049-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,2936 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by Henry Houssaye - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms of -the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Cleopatra - a Study - -Author: Henry Houssaye - -Translator: D. A. F. - -Release Date: November 25, 2017 [EBook #56049] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA *** - - - - -Produced by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - - - - - - - - - -CLEOPATRA - - HENRY HOUSSAYE - - CLEOPATRA - A STUDY - - TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY - A. F. D. - - [Illustration] - - AUTHORIZED EDITION - - [Illustration] - - NEW-YORK - DUPRAT & CO. - 1890 - - - - - COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY DUPRAT & CO. - - THE DE VINNE PRESS. - - - - - CALMANN LÉVY, Editeur, - 3, rue Auber, 3. - - PARIS, le 21 Août, 1890. - -_Messieurs et Chers Confrères_: - -Nous venons de recevoir votre chèque, et nous vous envoyons en échange, -par la présente lettre, tant en notre nom qu’au nom de l’auteur, -l’autorisation exclusive de publier aux Etats-Unis, une traduction de -l’étude de Mr. Henry Houssaye sur Cléopâtre. - -Nous saisissons avec empressement cette occasion de rendre hommage à -la parfaite correction de vos procédés. Vous donnez un exemple qui -vous honore fort, et dont nous vous savons d’autant plus gré, que nous -aimons à croire qu’il sera suivi. - -Agréez, Messieurs et chers confrères, mes salutations empressées. - - PAUL CALMANN LÉVY. - - MM. DUPRAT & CO., - New-York. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - I 9 - - II 16 - - III 28 - - IV 37 - - V 53 - - VI 68 - - VII 77 - - VIII 85 - - - - -[Illustration] - -CLEOPATRA. - - -I. - - -After an existence of forty or fifty centuries, the empire of Egypt -was expiring under the “evil eye” of the Romans. The Greek dynasty, -which had given to the country a new strength and reviving brilliancy, -had exhausted itself in debauchery, crimes, and civil wars. It was now -sustained only by the good-will of Rome, whose fatal protection was -bought at a high price, and who still designed to tolerate, for a time, -at least, the independence of Egypt. Freed from nearly all military -service by the introduction of Hellenic and Gallic mercenaries the -Egyptians had lost their warlike habits. They had suffered so many -invasions and submitted to so many foreign dominations that all that -remained for patriotism was the religion of their ancestors. Little -mattered it to them, born servile and used to despotism, whether they -were governed by a Greek king or a Roman pro-consul—they would give not -an ear of corn less, nor receive a blow the more. - -Her glory eclipsed and her power decayed, Egypt still possessed her -marvelous wealth. Agriculture, manufactures, and commerce poured into -Alexandria a triple wave of gold. Egypt had erewhile supplied Greece -and Asia Minor with corn; it remained the inexhaustible granery of the -Mediterranean basin. But the fertile valley of the Nile—“so fertile,” -says Herodotus, “that there was no need of the plough,” produced not -corn only. Barley, maize, flax, cotton, indigo, the papyrus, henna, -with which the women tinted their finger nails, clover sufficient for -countless herds of cattle and sheep, onions and radishes, supplied -to the laborers employed in building the great pyramid of Cheops to -the amount of eight millions of drachms, grapes, dates, figs, and -that delicious fruit of the lotus, which, according to Homer, “made -one forget his native land,” were other sources of wealth. Native -industry produced paper, furniture of wood, ivory, and metal; weapons, -carpets, mats, fabrics of linen, wool, and silk; cloths, embroidered -and painted; glazed pottery, glass-ware, vases of bronze and alabaster, -enamels, jewels of gold and settings of gems. Finally commerce, which -had its factories beyond the Aromatic Cape, which sent its caravans -across Arabia and the Lybian Desert, and whose countless ships ploughed -the seas from the Pillars of Hercules to the mouth of the Indus, had -made Alexandria the emporium of the three continents. Under Ptolemy -XI., the father of Cleopatra, the taxes, tithes, import and export -duties cast annually into the royal treasury twelve thousand five -hundred talents—sixty-eight millions of francs. - -The capital of the Ptolemies, Alexandria, made Achilles Tatius exclaim, -“We are conquered,” and the probability is that he saw this city only -after the ruin of many of its fine edifices. But what at all times was -most striking to the stranger was less the number and magnificence -of the buildings than the noble order and symmetrical arrangement -of the city. Two great avenues, bordered with colonnades of marble -and crossing at right angles, traverse Alexandria—the longitudinal -avenue, more than thirty stadia (four thousand eight hundred meters) -in length, and thirty-five meters in width, ran from east to west, -beginning at the gate of the Necropolis and terminating at the Canopic -gate. The transverse avenue extended for a length of seventeen stadia, -from the southern enclosure to the great port. All the other streets -and avenues, alike paved with heavy blocks of stone and provided -with sidewalks, all crossing at right angles, met the two chief -thoroughfares. This regularity, this noble appearance, and endless -perspectives gave to Alexandria a character peculiar to itself. One -felt that, unlike other cities which grow by degrees, by successive -additions, Alexandria had been created at one stroke, on a fixed plan; -and in truth this city had, so to speak, risen from the sand at the -will of Alexander. It was Alexander who determined the position of the -city; it was Alexander who had given it the form of the Macedonian -chlamys; it was Alexander who, with his architect Dinarchus, had -traced this network of streets and avenues, marked out the dykes to -be raised for the new port, and appointed the sites for the principal -edifices. Afterwards the Ptolemies adorned the city; they built -innumerable monuments, created wonderful gardens; populous suburbs -arose, both east and west; but as a whole Alexandria remained as it was -conceived by Alexander. - -It was from the Paneum, an artificial elevation in the heart of -the city thirty-five meters in height, that a complete panorama of -Alexandria could be seen. On the south, thousands of houses and private -palaces stretched away to the circumference which, owing to the -perspective, seemed to bathe in the shining waters of Lake Maratis. -Humble cottages, rough-coated with lime, pierced irregularly with -little windows, having wooden gratings, and terraced roofs surrounded -by ventilators, serving as sleeping-places in the hot summer nights, -alternated with vast residences rising amidst courts and gardens, -concealing from the view of the outside world by lofty walls, turreted -like ramparts, their white façades and sculptured porticos with rows -of painted columns and cornices decorated with many colored bands. The -grand Serapium overlooked this whole portion. This colossal edifice was -reached by a winding staircase of a hundred steps; columns of syenite -of the Corinthian order, thirty-two meters in height, supported the -cupola. - -Looking towards the sea the view embraced the northern portions, the -old port and the new separated from each other by a gigantic mole seven -stadia in extent which united the island of Pharos with the city. At -the eastern extremity of this island rose the lighthouse, an immense -octagon tower of two stories, one hundred and eleven meters in height, -and built wholly of white marble. Around the vast port, from Cape -Lochias to the Heptastadium, extended a noble line of piers along which -arose palaces and temples. Edifices of pure Greek style stood side -by side with Egyptian buildings and other magnificent ones in which -both styles of architecture had combined their elements, relieving the -utter plainness of Semitic art by ornaments of the Hellenic order, -alternating Corinthian columns with campaniform, and uniting the -acanthus leaf with the papyrus flower. Perspectives of cloisters ended -in apses of marble exedræ; at the extremity of long avenues of sphinxes -gigantic pylons raised their pyramidal masses, where painted on white -screens filed on processions of figures, and the entablature of which -bore the emblematic disk with the great wings unfolded. Here a Greek -temple presented a pediment sculptured in Parian marble; there an -Egyptian temple, vast, squat, mysterious, showed its granite mass whose -quadrangular pillars bore on the four faces of their cubic capitals -the head of the god Hathor. On terraces covered with beds of roses, -and shaded by sycamores, mimosas, and palms, rose palaces surrounded -by porticos supported by columns of lotus form, alleys of pylons, -pavilions in the form of conic towers, open kiosks, tribunes supported -by caryatides. In the squares, at the junction of the streets, before -the great edifices arose sculptured heads of Mercury, Osirian colossi, -statues of the Greek gods, altars, heroums, dominated at intervals by -lofty obelisks and tall masts fixed in the ground whose many colored -flags fluttered in the breeze. - -Among these endless monuments would first be noticed, at the extremity -of the cape, the temple of Isis Lochias, and a noble royal villa; then -before the Closed Port of the Kings the shipyards and the arsenal -buildings. There began the Bruchium. Enclosed by lofty walls and -hanging gardens the Bruchium was a city within the city—the City of the -Ptolemies. Each of the Lagidæ had built a palace, erected a temple, -opened gushing fountains, planted groves of acacias and sycamores, -created ponds where bloomed water-lilies, and the blue lotus flower. -Strabo applied to the monuments of the Bruchium the line of the -Odyssey: “One produces the other.” Near the various palaces of the -kings and their vast appurtenances arose the temple of Chronos, the -temple of Isis Pelusia, the lesser Serapium, the temple of Poseidon -[Neptune], the gymnasium with its porticos of a stadium in extent, the -theater, the covered gallery, the library containing seven hundred -thousand volumes. - -Finally the Soma, the immense mausoleum in which Alexander’s body -rested in a coffin of solid gold, afterwards replaced by one of glass. -One other edifice of the Bruchium attracted the eye by its vast -proportions and its epistyle crowned by a dome. It was the celebrated -museum of Alexandria, at once a school, a monastery, and an academy. - -Grammarians, poets, philosophers, and astronomers lived there together -at the expense of the Ptolemies, and it was maliciously called the -Cage of the Muses,—a splendid cage, however, in which sang Theocritus, -Callimachus, Apollonius, and whence arose the noble voice of the -Alexandrian philosophy. - -Beyond the temple of Poseidon the quays inflected in a broken line -towards the southwest. There also edifice succeeded to edifice—the -exchange, the temple of Bendis, the temple of Arsinoë, and the immense -Apostasia in which was gathered the merchandise of the whole world. -Beyond the Heptastadium was the old port with its great shipbuilding -yards, and farther to the west, outside the walls, the suburb of the -Necropolis, the funeral quarter of the embalmers. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -II. - - -Alexandria was a cosmopolitan city. Whilst the cities of Upper Egypt -and Heptanomis had preserved the national character, in the Delta the -Hellenic civilization had been grafted on the Egyptian, or rather they -went side by side. The laws and decrees were written in both languages; -the priesthood, the government, the police, the tribunals, the whole -administration belonged equally to both; the army was composed of Greek -and Gallic mercenaries, of Cilician robbers, of fugitive Roman slaves. -In Alexandria, where for more than two centuries unnumbered colonies -had settled, the native race dwelt together in the ancient Egyptian -city of Rhakotis, but they composed at the most only one-third of the -population. The Jews, who inhabited a distinct quarter where they had -their ethnarch and their Sanhedrim, were in the proportion of one to -three. From the Pharos to the Serapium, from the gate of the Necropolis -to the Canopic gate were seen as many foreigners as Egyptians. They -composed a noisy and variegated crowd of Greeks, Jews, Syrians, -Italians, Arabs, Illyrians, Persians, and Phenicians. In the streets -and on the wharves every language was spoken, in the temples every god -was worshiped. Into this Babel each race brought its own passions. The -population of Alexandria, which amounted to three hundred and twenty -thousand exclusive of the slaves, was as turbulent as that of the other -Egyptian cities was tranquil and resigned, and during the reigns of the -latter Lagidæ the Alexandrian populace always seconded the revolutions -of the palace, hoping under new sovereigns to find more liberty and -less taxes. - -Ptolemy XI. (Auletes) died in July, 51 B. C. He left four children. -By his will he appointed to succeed him on the throne his eldest -daughter Cleopatra and his eldest son Ptolemy, and according to the -custom of Egypt the brother was to marry the sister. At her father’s -death Cleopatra was sixteen and Ptolemy thirteen years old. The -tutor of young Ptolemy, the eunuch Pothinus, was an ambitious man, -and, being complete master of the mind of his pupil, he calculated -to rule Egypt under the new reign; but he soon found that Cleopatra -would permit neither him nor Ptolemy to govern the kingdom. Proud and -headstrong, Cleopatra was likewise skillful, intelligent, and very -learned; she spoke eight or ten languages, among them Egyptian, Greek, -Latin, Hebrew, Arabic, and Syriac. How is it possible to think that -this woman, so haughty and so gifted, would abandon her share of the -sovereignty in favor of a child governed by a eunuch? Either she would -get rid of her brother, or if she consented to live with the young -king she would soon acquire an absolute supremacy over him. Pothinus -realized this, and he devoted all his energies to accomplish the ruin -of the queen. He began by provoking jealousies among the ministers -and the high officers of the crown; then, when the dissension between -the partisans of the king and those of Cleopatra was at its height he -aroused the people of Alexandria against the young queen. He accused -her of desiring to reign alone, even should she have to call in the -armed intervention of the Romans. He declared that she had made this -plan in conjunction with the eldest son of the great Pompey, Cn. -Pompey, who, on his way through Alexandria in 49, had then become -her lover. The riot reached even to the gates of the palace, and -the connivance of Pothinus and the young king could not escape the -perspicacity of Cleopatra. She quitted Alexandria, accompanied by a -few faithful attendants. The fugitive, however, did not regard herself -as vanquished; she would not so easily renounce that crown which she -had already worn for three years. It was soon known that Cleopatra had -raised an army on the confines of Egypt and Arabia, and that she was -marching on Pelusium. The young king collected his forces and advanced -to meet her. - -The brother and sister, the husband and wife, were face to face with -their armies in the neighborhood of Pelusium when the illustrious -victim of Pharsalia came to seek an asylum in Egypt. Pompey supposed -he might reckon on the gratitude of the children of Ptolemy Auletes, -for it was at his instigation that seven years previously Gabienus, -pro-consul of Syria, had replaced that king on his throne. It is true -that after the battle of Pharsalia Pompey was helpless and Cæsar -all-powerful, and in assisting a fugitive from whom nothing more could -be hoped for, the anger of Cæsar might be provoked. Pothinus and the -other ministers of the young king did not hesitate; they welcomed -Pompey; but it was to murder him as soon as he set foot on Egyptian -territory. His head, embalmed with the learned art of the Egyptians, -was presented to Cæsar when the latter, who was pursuing Pompey, landed -at Alexandria. Cæsar turned his eyes from the ghastly trophy, and -warmly reproached Pothinus and Achillas with their crime. Doubtless the -two wretches cared but little for his reproaches; they considered that -they had done Cæsar a great service in ridding him of his most powerful -adversary, and they knew enough of mankind to understand that, Pompey -being dead, it was easy for Cæsar to be magnanimous. - -Cæsar soon learned the contentions of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, the -flight of the latter in consequence of the threats of the populace, -and the battle about to take place between the two armies assembled -at Pelusium. It had always been the Roman policy to intermeddle in -the private dissensions of nations. This policy of intervention was -still more in order for Cæsar with regard to Egypt, because during -his first consulate Ptolemy Auletes had been declared the ally of -Rome, and in his will had conjured the Roman people to have his last -wishes executed. Another motive, which he does not mention in his -“Commentaries,” induced Cæsar to intermeddle in the affairs of Egypt. -With little expense he had made himself the creditor of the late king, -and he had to call upon the heirs for a large amount. This was no less -than seven millions fifty thousand sesterces which remained due of the -thirty-three thousand talents which Ptolemy had promised to pay Cæsar -and Pompey if by the assistance of the Romans he should recover his -crown. - -Pothinus, however, thought he had done enough for Cæsar in offering -him the head of Pompey. He urged him, therefore, to reëmbark and to go -whither he was called by much more important matters than the disputes -of Ptolemy and Cleopatra: to Pontus, whence Pharnaces was driving his -lieutenant Domitius, to Rome where Cœlius was exciting the plebeians. -To the claims of Cæsar, he replied that the treasury was empty; to his -offers of arbitration between the heirs of Ptolemy, he objected that -it was not proper for a foreigner to interfere in this quarrel, that -such an interference would rouse all Egypt. In support of his words, -he reminded him that the people of Alexandria, regarding the fasces -borne before Cæsar as an outrage on the royal dignity, were enraged -at it; that daily new riots arose, that every night Roman soldiers -were assassinated, that the Alexandrian population was very numerous, -and that the army of Cæsar (numbering only three thousand two hundred -legionaries and eight hundred cavalry) was very small. - -But his refusals, his counsels, his implied menaces availed nought -against the will of Cæsar. His prayers exhausted, he commands. Pothinus -is ordered formally to invite in his name Ptolemy and Cleopatra to -disband their armies and to present themselves before his consular -tribunal to settle their differences. The eunuch was forced to yield, -but, as cunning as Cæsar was persistent, he hoped to turn this -intervention, which he at first dreaded, to secure the success of -his designs. With this purpose he sent to Cleopatra Cæsar’s command -to disband her troops, but without telling her she was expected at -Alexandria, and he wrote to Ptolemy to repair at once to Cæsar but -still to keep his soldiers under arms. Pothinus calculated by these -means to free himself from Cleopatra’s army and to secure to the young -king the favor of Cæsar, since Ptolemy alone of the two heirs of -Auletes summoned by the consul paid due attention to his invitation. -A few days after, Ptolemy actually arrived in Alexandria. He offered -to Cæsar the warmest protestations of friendship, in which he was -joined by Pothinus, Achillas, and the other ministers; he explained -the disputes between himself and Cleopatra, laying all the blame on -her. Cæsar, however, was not so easily duped. Pothinus had supposed -that the absence of Cleopatra would irritate Cæsar against her, but -Cæsar could not believe that the young queen had, through contempt, -declined his invitation to repair to Alexandria. He thought it more -probable that some machination of Pothinus had prevented her coming. In -order to satisfy himself of this he secretly despatched a messenger to -Cleopatra, whom he knew to be still at Pelusium. - -The queen was waiting impatiently for news from Cæsar. On the receipt -of his first message, but partially transmitted by Pothinus, she had -hastened to disband her army. She already felt full confidence in the -favor of the great leader who was called “the husband of all women,” -but she knew that she must see Cæsar, or rather that Cæsar must see -her. But the days passed and the invitation to Alexandria did not -arrive. Finally the second message reached her, and she learned that -Cæsar had already sent for her to go to him, but that Pothinus had -taken measures to prevent her knowing it. The thing was plain enough; -her enemies were not willing that she should have an interview with -Cæsar, and now that their trick was discovered they would employ force; -no doubt they were on their guard and laid their plans accordingly. -If Cleopatra sought to reach Alexandria by land she would be taken by -the outposts of the Egyptian army encamped before Pelusium; by sea, -her royal trireme could not escape the vessels of Ptolemy cruising -about the entrance to the port. Even should she succeed in reaching -Alexandria she would run the risk of being torn to pieces by the -populace, incited by Pothinus. Even in the king’s palace, where Cæsar -resided as the guest of Ptolemy, that is to say with an Egyptian guard -of honor, she might be seized and slain by the sentinels. - -Cleopatra, abandoning the idea of entering Alexandria with the -trappings of a queen, bethought herself of a plan to do so not merely -under a disguise, but as a bale of goods. Accompanied by a single -devoted attendant, Apollodorus, the Sicilian, she embarked from near -Pelusium in a decked bark which, in the middle of the night, entered -the port of Alexandria. They landed at a pier before one of the lesser -gates of the palace. Cleopatra enveloped herself in a great sack of -coarse cloth of many colors, such as were used by travelers to pack up -mats and mattresses, and Apollodorus bound it round with a strap, then -taking the sack upon his shoulders, entered the gate of the palace, -went straight to the apartments of Cæsar, and laid his precious burden -at his feet. - -Aphrodite rose radiant from the sea: Cleopatra less pretendingly from -a sack; but Cæsar was none the less moved at the surprise and ravished -with the apparition. Cleopatra, who was then nineteen, was in the -flower of her marvelous and seductive beauty. Dion Cassius calls the -queen of Egypt the most beautiful of women, but Plutarch finds one -epithet insufficient to depict her, and expresses himself thus: “There -was nothing so incomparable in her beauty as to compel admiration; -but by the charm of her physiognomy, the grace of her whole person, -the fascination of her presence, Cleopatra left a sting in the soul.” -This is her veritable portrait. Cleopatra did not possess supreme -beauty, she possessed supreme seductiveness. As Victor Hugo said of a -celebrated theatrical character, “She is not pretty, she is worse,” -which suggestive expression may well apply to Cleopatra. Plutarch -adds, and his testimony is confirmed by Dion, that Cleopatra spoke -in a melodious voice and with infinite sweetness. This information -is valuable in a psychological point of view. Certes, this charm of -voice, divine gift so rarely bestowed, this pure and winning caress, -this ever new delight was not one of the least attractions of the Siren -of the Nile. - -This first interview between Cæsar and Cleopatra probably extended -far into the night. It is certain that, with the earliest dawn, Cæsar -sent for Ptolemy, and told him he must be reconciled to his sister and -associate her in the government. “In one night,” says Dion Cassius, -“Cæsar had become the advocate of her of whom he had erewhile thought -himself the judge.” Ptolemy was resisting the thinly disguised commands -of the consul, when Cleopatra appearing, the young king, mad with rage, -cast his crown at the feet of Cæsar and rushed from the palace uttering -the cry: “Treason! treason! to arms!” The mob, excited by his cries, -rose and marched on the palace. Cæsar feeling himself too weak to -resist (he had but a handful of legionaries about him) ascended one of -the terraces and harangued the multitude from a distance. He succeeded -in restoring a calm by his promises of satisfying the Egyptians in -their demands. Just at this time his legionaries arrived from the camp, -surrounded the young prince, separated him from his partisans, and -with every mark of respect reinstated him willy-nilly in the palace -where he might serve as a hostage for Cæsar. The next day the people -were assembled in the public square, and Cæsar, accompanied by Ptolemy -and Cleopatra, went thither in great state with his escort of lictors. -Every Roman was under arms, ready to suppress the first symptom of -sedition. Cæsar read aloud the testament of Ptolemy Auletes, and -declared solemnly in the name of the Roman people that he would insist -on carrying out the last will of the late king. By this the two elder -of his children were to reign conjointly over Egypt. As for the other -two children of the king, he, Cæsar, made them a gift of the island of -Cyprus, and handed over to them the sovereignty of it. - -This scene overawed the Egyptians; nevertheless, Cæsar, fearing an -insurrection, hastened to summon to Alexandria the new legions which -he had formed in Asia Minor of the wrecks of Pompey’s army. But long -before these reënforcements could reach him, the Egyptian army from -Pelusium, on secret orders from Pothinus, entered the city to drive out -the Romans. At the same time, Arsinoë, the young sister of Cleopatra, -assisted by the eunuch Ganymede, made her escape from the palace, -and in default of Ptolemy, still Cæsar’s prisoner, was received with -acclamations both by the army and people as the daughter of the Lagidæ. -This army, commanded by Achillas, amounted to eighteen thousand foot -and two thousand horse, and the people of Alexandria made with it -common cause against the foreigner. - -Cæsar had but four thousand soldiers and the crews of his triremes. He -was in extreme peril; occupying with this handful of men the palaces of -the Bruchium, he was attacked from the city by the troops of Achillas -and the armed populace, and his fleet, which was at anchor in the -greater harbor, was virtually captive, since the enemy held the passes -of Taurus and Heptastadium. He even feared that this inactive fleet -might fall into the hands of the Alexandrians, who would have made use -of it to intercept his supplies of men and munitions. Cæsar averted -this danger by setting fire to his vessels. The immense conflagration -reached the quays and destroyed many houses and edifices, among others -the arsenal, the library, and the grain emporium. The Egyptians, -exasperated, rushed to the attack, but the legionaries, as good diggers -as brave soldiers, had transformed the Bruchium into an impregnable -entrenched camp. On all sides were embankments, barricades, lines of -earthworks; the theater had become a citadel. The Romans sustained -twenty assaults without losing an inch of ground. Cæsar even succeeded -in seizing the island of Pharos, which gave him the command of the -great harbor. - -The Egyptians imagined that victory would be theirs if, instead -of a woman, they could have Ptolemy to lead them. They therefore -sent word to Cæsar that they made war on him only because he kept -their king a prisoner, and that as soon as he should be restored -to liberty hostilities would cease. Cæsar, who knew the fickleness -of the Alexandrians, yielded—he gave them back Ptolemy. As for his -accustomed counsellor Pothinus, Cæsar had intercepted letters from him -to Achillas, and had delivered him over to the lictors. No sooner had -Ptolemy rejoined the Egyptian army than the war, far from ceasing, -was renewed with increased vigor. Just then the first reënforcement, -the thirty-seventh legion, reached Cæsar by sea. The war was carried -on without any decided advantage till the beginning of the spring -of 47 B. C. Then it was learned that Pelusium had been taken by -assault by an army that was coming to the relief of Cæsar; it was a -body of auxiliaries from Syria, led by Mithridates of Pergamos. The -Egyptians, fearing to be shut in between two enemies if they remained -in Alexandria to await the coming of Mithridates, marched to meet him. -The first battle, which was indecisive, took place near Memphis; but, -a few days later, Cæsar, who had also quitted Alexandria, succeeded -in joining the troops of Mithridates and a second battle was fought. -The Egyptians were broken and cut to pieces, and King Ptolemy drowned -himself in the Nile. Cæsar returned with his victorious army to -Alexandria, now humbled; the turbulent populace of the great city, -henceforth, knowing the power of the Roman steel, received the consul -with loud acclaims. Thus ended the War of Alexandria, which should -rather be styled the _War of Cleopatra_, since this war, adding nothing -to Cæsar’s fame, injurious to his interests, useless to his country, -and to which he nearly sacrificed both his life and his glory, had been -maintained by him for the love of Cleopatra. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -III. - - -Eighteen years previous to these events, Cæsar, being ædile, had -endeavored to have voted by a plebiscit the execution of the will of -Alexander II., who had bequeathed Egypt to the Roman people. Now, Egypt -was subjugated and Cæsar had but to say the word for this vast and -rich country to become a Roman province. But in the year 63 Cleopatra -was only just born; in the year 65 Cæsar had not felt the bite of the -“Serpent of the Nile,” as Shakspeare calls her—the consul took good -care not to remember the propositions of the ædile. The first act of -Cæsar on reëntering Alexandria was solemnly to recognize Cleopatra as -Queen of Egypt. In order, however, to humor the ideas of the Egyptians -he determined that she should espouse her second brother, Ptolemy -Neoteras, and share the sovereignty with him. As, however, Dion -remarks, this union and this sharing were equally visionary; the young -prince, who was only fifteen, could be neither king nor even husband to -the queen; apparently Cleopatra was the wife of her brother, and his -partner on the throne; in reality she reigned solely, and continued the -mistress of Cæsar. - -During the eight months of the Alexandrian struggle Cæsar, shut up in -the palace, had scarcely quitted Cleopatra, except for the fight, and -this long honeymoon had seemed short to him. He loved the beautiful -queen as fondly, and perhaps more so, than in the early days, and he -could not resolve to leave her. In vain the gravest interests called -him to Rome, where disorder reigned and blood was flowing, and where, -since the December of the preceding year, not a letter had been -received from him;[1] in vain, in Asia, Pharnaces, the conquerer of -the royal allies of Rome and of the legions of Domitius, has seized -on Pontus, Cappadocia, and Armenia; in vain, in Africa, Cato and -the last adherents of Pompey have concentrated at Utica an immense -army—fourteen legions, ten thousand Numidian horsemen, and one hundred -and twenty elephants of war; in vain, in Spain, all minds are excited -and revolt is brewing. Duty, interest, ambition, danger—Cæsar forgets -everything in the arms of Cleopatra. Truly he is preparing to leave -Alexandria, but it is to accompany the beautiful queen on a pleasure -excursion up the Nile. By the orders of Cleopatra, one of those immense -flat-bottomed pleasure vessels has been prepared, such as were used by -the Lagidæ for sailing on the river, and called thalamegos (pleasure -pinnace). It was a veritable floating palace, half a stadium long and -forty cubits high above the water-line. The stories rose one above -the other, surrounded by porticos and open galleries, and surmounted -by belvederes sheltered from the sun by purple awnings. Within were -numerous apartments, furnished with every convenience and every -luxurious refinement of Greco-Egyptian civilization, vast saloons -surrounded by colonnades, a banqueting-hall provided with thirteen -couches, with a ceiling arched like a grotto, and sparkling with a -rock-work of jasper, lapis lazuli, cornelian, alabaster, amethyst, -aquamarine, and topaz. The vessel was built of cedar and cypress, the -sails were of byssus, the ropes were dyed purple. Throughout, carved -by skillful hands, were the opening chalices of the lotus, wound the -volutes of the acanthus, twined garlands of bean-leaves and flowers of -the date palm. On all sides shone facings of marble, of thyia, ivory, -onyx, capitals and architraves of bronze. Mimes, acrobats, troops of -dancing-girls, and flutists were on board to cheer the austere solitude -of the Thebaīd with the diversions and luxuries of Alexandria. - -Cæsar and Cleopatra anticipate with rapture this voyage of -enchantments; they will carry their young loves amid the old cities of -Egypt, along the “Golden Nile,” which they will ascend as far as the -mysterious land of Ethiopia. But on the very eve of their departure the -legionaries become indignant, they murmur, they rebel; their officers -cry aloud to the consul, and Cæsar returns to reason. For an instant -he contemplates carrying Cleopatra away with him to Rome, but that -project must be deferred. It is in Armenia that the danger is most -pressing; it is to Armenia that he will first repair. He leaves two -legions with Cleopatra—a faithful and formidable guard, which will -secure the tranquility of Alexandria, and sets sail for Antioch. - -During the campaigns of Cæsar in Armenia and Africa (from July, 47, to -June, 46, B. C.) Cleopatra remained in Alexandria, where a few months -after the departure of the dictator she gave birth to a son. She named -him Ptolemy-Cæsarion, thus proclaiming her intimate relations with -Cæsar, which, however, were no secret to the Alexandrians. - -When Cæsar, the army of Cato under Thapsus being crushed, was about -to return to Rome, he wrote to Cleopatra to meet him there. Probably -she arrived there about midsummer of the year 46, at the period of -the celebration of Cæsar’s four triumphs. In the second, the triumph -of Egypt, Cleopatra must have beheld, at the head of the train of -captives, her sister Arsinoë, who at the breaking out of the war of -Alexandria had joined her enemies. The queen had brought with her her -son Cæsarion, her pseudo-husband the young Ptolemy, and a numerous -train of courtiers and officers. Cæsar gave up his superb villa on the -right bank of the Tiber as a residence for Cleopatra and her court. - -Officially, if we may thus use this very new word to express a very -old thing, Cleopatra was well received in Rome. She was the queen of -a great country, the ally of the Republic, and she was the guest of -Cæsar, then all-powerful; but, beneath the homage offered, lurked -contempt and hatred. Not that Roman society took offence at her -intrigue with Cæsar; for more than half a century, republican Rome -had strangely changed its chaste morals and severe principles. Public -morality, private morality,—were utterly transformed. Electors sold -their votes, and the elected made use of their offices to re-imburse -themselves for their election expenses and to provide means for -their reëlection; they sold alliances, prevaricated, plundered, took -ransoms, having an understanding with the publicans (tax-gatherers) to -grind down the provinces. In the latter times of the Republic in Rome -politics became the school of crime; the theater, where, contrary to -the custom of the Greeks, women might take part in the comedies and in -the obscene games of the mimes and mountebanks, became the school of -debauchery. The favorite poet is the licentious Catullus; the mold of -fashion, and at the same time the pupil, client, and friend of Cicero -is Cœlius, a man of unscrupulous ambition and unbridled libertinism. -Assassination became a means of government, poison a way to an -inheritance. From the time of the proscriptions of Sylla, the hold on -life seemed very precarious; one must make the most of it. “Let us -live and love,” says Catullus. “Suns may set and rise again, but we, -when our brief day is ended, must sleep a night that has no morrow.” -The time was past when the Roman matron lived quietly at home and spun -with her maidens. She sought adventures, plotted, gave or sold herself. -Greek libertinism and Oriental voluptuousness had reached Rome and been -transformed into a gross sensuality. The multiplicity of divorces -“annihilated the sacredness of the family”; the love of luxury, -ambition, and extravagant passions ruined its honor, and the noblest -of the patrician ladies were the foremost in this race of debauchery. -Among them were Valeria, the sister of Hortensius; Sempronia, wife of -Junius Brutus; Claudia, wife of Lucullus, and the other Claudia, wife -of Quintus Metellus Celer. Again there was Junia, the wife of Lepidus; -Posthumia, the wife of Sulpicius; Lollia, the wife of Gabinius; -Tertullia, the wife of Crassus; Mucia, the wife of the great Pompey; -Servilia, the mother of Brutus, and many others. - -In so dissolute and adulterous a city, it could shock no one that Cæsar -should be false to his wife with one mistress or even with several; -but in the midst of her debaucheries, and even though Rome had lost -many of her ancient virtues, she still preserved the pride of the -Roman name. These conquerors of the world looked upon other nations as -of servile race and inferior humanity. Little did they care for the -transient loves of Cæsar and Ennoah, queen of Mauritania, nor would -they have cared any more had Cleopatra served merely to beguile his -leisure during the war of Alexandria; but in bringing this woman to -the seven-hilled city, in publicly acknowledging her as his mistress, -in forcing on all the spectacle of a Roman citizen, five times consul -and thrice dictator, as the lover of an Egyptian woman, Cæsar seemed, -according to the ideas of the time, to insult all Rome. As Merivale -justly observes: “If one can imagine the effect that would have been -produced in the fifteenth century by the marriage of a peer of England -or of a grandee of Spain with a Jewess some idea may be formed of -the impression made on the Roman people by the intrigue of Cæsar and -Cleopatra.” - -Cæsar had received supreme power and had been deified. He was -created dictator for ten years, and in the city his statue bore this -inscription: “Cæsari semideo”—To Cæsar the demigod. He might believe -himself sufficiently powerful to despise Roman prejudices; for the -rest, during the last two years of his life, Cæsar, till then so -prudent, so cautious in humoring the sentiments of the plebeians, so -skillful in using them for his own designs, pretended in his public -life to despise and brave public opinion. It was the same in his -private life; far from dismissing Cleopatra, he visited her more -frequently than ever at the villa on the Tiber, talked incessantly of -the queen, and allowed her publicly to call her son Cæsarion. - -He went further still; he erected in the temple of Venus the golden -statue of Cleopatra, thus adding to the insult to the Roman people the -outrage to the Roman gods. It was not enough that Cæsar for love of -Cleopatra had not reduced Egypt to a Roman province; not enough that -he had installed this foreigner in Rome, in his villa on the banks of -the Tiber, and that he lavished on her every mark of honor and every -testimony of love;—now he dedicated, in the temple of a national -divinity, the statue of this prostitute of Alexandria, this barbarous -queen of the land of magicians, of thaumaturgy [wonder-working], of -eunuchs, of servile dwellers by the Nile, these worshipers of stuffed -birds and gods with the heads of beasts. Men asked each other where -the infatuation of Cæsar would end. It was reported that the dictator -was preparing to propose, by the tribune Helvius Cinna, a law which -would permit him to espouse as many wives as he desired in order to -beget children by them. It was said that he was about to recognize -the son of Cleopatra as his heir, and still further, that after -having exhausted Italy in levies of men and money he would leave the -government of Rome in the hands of his creatures and transfer the seat -of empire to Alexandria. These rumors aroused all minds against Cæsar, -and, if we may credit Dion, tended _to arm his assassins against him_ -(to furnish the dagger to slay him).[2] Notwithstanding this hostility, -Cleopatra was not deserted in the villa on the Tiber. To please -the divine Julius, to approach him more intimately, the Cæsarians -controlled their antipathy and frequently visited the beautiful -queen. To this court of Egypt transported to the banks of the Tiber -came Mark Antony, Dolabella, Lepidus, then general-of-horse; Oppius -Curio, Cornelius Balbus, Helvius Cinna, Matius, the prætor Vendidius, -Trebonius, and others. Side by side with the partisans of Cæsar were -also some of his secret enemies, such as Atticus, a celebrated silver -merchant with great interests in Egypt, and others whom he had won -over, like Cicero. The latter while making his peace with Cæsar did -not forget his master-passion, love of books and of curiosities. An -insatiable collector, he thought to enrich his library at Tusculum -without loosing his purse-strings, and requested Cleopatra to send -for him to Alexandria, where such treasures abounded, for a few Greek -manuscripts and Egyptian antiquities. The queen promised willingly, and -one of her officers, Aumonius, who, formerly an ambassador of Ptolemy -Auletes to Rome, had there known Cicero, undertook the commission; but -whether through forgetfulness or negligence the promised gifts came -not, and Cicero preserved so deep an enmity to the queen in consequence -that he afterwards wrote to Atticus, “I hate the queen (odi reginam),” -giving as his only reason for this aversion the failure of the royal -promise. The former consul had also received an affront from Sarapion, -one of Cleopatra’s officers. This man had gone to his house, and -when Cicero asked him what he wished he had replied rudely: “I seek -Atticus,” and at once departed. How often does the ill-conduct of upper -servants create a prejudice against the great. - -The assassination of Cæsar, which struck Cleopatra like a thunderbolt, -would have been the destruction of all her hopes if one could lose hope -at twenty-five. Cæsar dead, there was nothing to detain her in Rome, -and she did not feel safe in this hostile city amid the bloody scenes -of the parricidal days. She prepared to depart, but Antony having -entertained for a moment the weak desire of opposing to Octavius as -Cæsar’s heir the little Cæsarion, Cleopatra remained in Rome until -the middle of April. When the queen perceived that this project was -finally abandoned, she hastened to depart from the city where she had -experienced so much contempt and which she quitted with rage in her -heart. - - - - -[Illustration] - -IV. - - -Cleopatra reëntered Alexandria without opposition, but the civil war -which threatened between the adherents of Cæsar and the republicans -made her situation difficult and her crown precarious. The ally of the -Roman people, she could not remain neutral in the struggle; but at -the risk of the victors’, whoever they might be, making her pay the -penalty of her desertion by annexing Egypt to the empire, she inclined -to the Triumvirs; for the partisans of Cæsar had been less inimical -to her while in Rome, and Antony, through policy indeed, rather than -friendship, had spoken in favor of her son’s succession. On the other -hand, if the Triumvirs possessed the West, their adversaries were -almost the masters of the East, and directly threatened Egypt. At -the very commencement of hostilities Cassius, who with eight legions -occupied Syria, called upon Cleopatra to send him reënforcements, and -almost at the same time one of the lieutenants of Antony, Dolabella, -besieged in Laodicea, addressed the same demand to her. - -Cassius was seemingly victorious, Dolabella the reverse; prudence -would have advised to side with the former, nevertheless Cleopatra -remained faithful to her tacit alliance with the Cæsarians. Four -Roman legions, two left by Cæsar and two composed of the veterans of -Gabinius, were stationed at Alexandria. The queen commanded them to -set out for Laodicea, but the envoy of Dolabella, Allienus, who had -taken the command of these troops, came upon the army of Cassius in -Syria. Whether from pusillanimity or premeditated treachery, Allienus -united his legions with those of the enemy against whom he was leading -them, and only a single Egyptian squadron, which Cleopatra had also -despatched to Laodicea, reached Antony. - -Soon after the departure of the legions, 43 B. C., the young king -Ptolemy died suddenly. Cleopatra was accused of having him poisoned. -This crime, which is far from being authenticated, is by no means -improbable. It may be that when Cleopatra by the departure of the Roman -soldiers found herself without any reliable troops, she dreaded either -a conspiracy in the palace or an insurrection which would drive her -from the throne to place on it her brother. Six years previously the -same circumstance had resulted to the advantage of her other brother, -and Cleopatra had nearly fallen a victim. Immediately on the death of -Ptolemy XIII., the queen took as the sharer of the throne her young son -Ptolemy-Cæsarion, then four years of age. - -Stationed at Cyprus was an Egytian fleet. Cassius sent orders direct to -the navarch Sarapion, who commanded it, to unite with the republican -fleet, and the latter obeyed without even referring to his sovereign. -Not satisfied with the four legions and the squadron which he had -already received from Cleopatra, much against her will, indeed, Cassius -again sent her word to furnish him new supplies of troops, ships, -provisions, and money. The queen, who feared an invasion, which she was -without forces to repel, sought to temporize. She expressed her regrets -to Cassius that she could not at once send him aid, Egypt being ruined -by famine and pestilence. Famine indeed reigned there by reason of an -insufficient inundation of the Nile, but Egypt was not ruined for all -that, and whilst Cleopatra was evading the demands of Cassius she was -preparing a new fleet to assist the Triumvirs. Cassius was not deceived -by the diplomacy of Cleopatra’s envoy. He determined to invade Egypt. -He had already set out on his march when Brutus, on the approach of the -army of Antony, summoned him into Macedonia. Then Cleopatra sent her -fleet to join the party of the Cæsarians, but on the way this fleet was -dispersed and almost utterly destroyed by a tempest. Throughout this -war ill-fortune seemed to pursue Cleopatra—with the best will to second -the Triumvirs she had been able to give them almost no assistance; on -the contrary, she had furnished reënforcements to the republicans, -who, well knowing that these reënforcements had been most unwillingly -supplied, desired to take vengeance for her reluctance. - -The battle of Philippi freed Cleopatra from her anxiety on the score of -the republicans; but she had still to fear the penalty of her apparent -desertion of the Triumvirs. After his victory over Brutus, Antony -overran Greece and Asia Minor for the purpose of levying tribute, and -was everywhere received as a conqueror. Cities and kings vied with -each other in adulation, heaped up honors and lavished gifts on him -to secure immunity for the succor they had afforded, willingly or by -force, to the vanquished party. At Athens, Megara, Ephesus, Magnesia, -and Tarsus embassies and royal visits followed each other. To preserve -to their kingdoms a quasi-autonomy, every petty sovereign of Asia -hastened to obtain from the powerful triumvir a new investiture of his -crown. Cleopatra alone, whether from queenly pride or womanly art, -remained in Egypt and sent no ambassador; she seemed to pretend to -ignore that the victory at Philippi had rendered Antony the master of -the East. - -The silence of Cleopatra surprised and irritated Antony. Perhaps -wounded pride was not the only sentiment in the soul of the triumvir. -When he was commanding the cavalry of Gabinius he had seen Cleopatra, -then fifteen years old; he had seen her again at Rome, the year of -Cæsar’s death. Without agreeing wholly with Appian, that Antony was -already in love with the queen of Egypt, it may be credited that her -beauty and her attractions had made on him a deep impression. He -remembered the “Siren of the Nile,” and amid the visits of so many -kings and powers it was, above all, hers that he awaited, but awaited -in vain. In the position of Antony, however, to speak was to be obeyed. -He commanded Cleopatra to repair to Tarsus, to vindicate before his -tribunal her ambiguous conduct during the civil war. Antony enjoyed in -advance this deliciously cruel pleasure: the beautiful Cleopatra, the -haughty queen of Egypt, the woman at whose feet he had seen the divine -Julius, coming to him as a suppliant. - -Quintus Dellius, a creature of Antony’s, was appointed to bear the -message to Cleopatra. This Dellius, an unscrupulous intriguer and -agreeable man of pleasure, had by turns betrayed all men and all -parties. He was called “The Hunter of the Civil Wars”—_Desultor -bellorum civilium_. He was destined to die the friend of Horace, who -dedicated an ode to him, and the friend of Augustus who enriched him. -In the meanwhile he was going to make use of Cleopatra to enable him to -attain still higher favor with Antony. At the first audience granted -him by the beautiful queen, he understood the passion of Cæsar and -foresaw that of Antony. Feeling that Cleopatra would captivate the -triumvir at the first glance, he saw at once the advantage to be gained -in the near future from the patronage of the Egyptian queen; and from -the envoy of Antony he suddenly became the courtier of Cleopatra, -and from an ambassador an intermeddler. He exhorted the queen to -hasten into Cilicia, assuring her that, despite his appearance and -manners suitable to the amphitheater, the rough soldier of Pharsalia -and Philippi was not so ferocious as he seemed. “Never,” said he, -“will Antony call tears to eyes so beautiful, and far from causing -you the least pain he will fulfil your every wish.” Dellius found no -difficulty in persuading Cleopatra: she saw, shining through his words, -the dawn of a new fortune equal to that which she had dreamed of as -the mistress of Cæsar. According to a somewhat doubtful tradition, -Dellius might have succeeded in more than securing the attention of -Cleopatra: he might have made himself beloved by her. Be this as it -may, the queen, yielding to his counsels, determined to set out for -Tarsus, but in order to enhance the value of the proceeding and to make -it more effective she was careful not to precipitate it, and under -various pretexts she often delayed her departure, notwithstanding -the entreaties of Dellius and the messages constantly increasing in -earnestness despatched by Antony. - -On a day when the triumvir on his judgment-seat was giving public -audience in the midst of the agora of Tarsus, a great uproar arose on -the banks of the Cydnus. Antony inquired what it meant. Flatterers as -all Greeks are, the Cilicians replied that it was Aphrodite herself -who, for the happiness of Asia, was coming to visit Bacchus. Antony -liked to assume the name of Bacchus. The crowd which thronged the -public square rushed in a body to the shore. Antony was left alone -with his lictors in the deserted agora—his dignity kept him there, but -he fidgets in his curule chair, till finally curiosity gains the day. -Unaccustomed to self-control, he, also, descends to the strand. The -sight is worth the trouble—a vision divine which carries one back to -the dawn of mythologic times. Cleopatra is entering Tarsus, ascending -the Cydnus on a vessel plated with gold over which float sails of -Tyrian purple. The silver oars rise and fall in measured cadence to -the music of Greek lyres and Egyptian harps. The queen, the goddess -Cleopatra, lying beneath an awning of cloth of gold which shades the -deck, appears as the painters usually represent Aphrodite, surrounded -by rosy children like the Loves, beautiful young girls scarcely clad -with lightest drapery as Graces and sea-nymphs, bearing garlands of -roses and the lotus-flower and waving great fans of the feathers of -the ibis. On the prow of the vessel other Nereides form groups worthy -the brush of Apelles; Loves suspended to the yards and rigging seem -descending from the skies. Incense and spikenard kept burning by slaves -surround the vessel with a light and odorous vapor which sends its -perfume to both banks of the stream. - -Antony at once despatched one of his favorites to Cleopatra to request -her to sup with him that same night. Cleopatra, availing herself -doubtless of her title of goddess rather than of that of queen—a queen -of Egypt was nobody in comparison with a triumvir—made response that it -was she who invited Antony to supper, and the Roman did not decline the -invitation. He went at the hour appointed to the palace, which several -days previously Cleopatra had had secretly prepared with gorgeous -magnificence. The banquet-hall, sumptuously adorned, shone with the -brilliancy of chandeliers, candelabra, and a multitude of golden -sconces arranged symmetrically in circles, lozenges, etc. The feast, -worthy of its decorations, abounded in nectarean wines served in vases -of solid gold, and in rare and artistic viands prepared by a master -hand. Antony was a great gastronomist, and three months before this had -given his cook a house for a dish that pleased him. He would have given -a whole town to the cook of Cleopatra. As for the beautiful Egyptian, -the triumvir was already willing to give her the whole world. The next -day Antony gave a supper to the queen. He hoped to surpass, by means -of money, the magnificence of his reception, but he was the first to -recognize his inability to rival her as an Amphitryon, and, clever man -that he was,[3] he jested gaily in Cleopatra’s presence at his meanness -and coarse taste. Probably in these two entertainments there was no -mention of the grievances, real or pretended, with which Rome charged -Cleopatra. Antony had no longer any thought of summoning her before his -tribunal as a suppliant—the suppliant would have been Antony himself -if Cleopatra had rejected his advances. Henceforth it was the queen -that commanded; the all-powerful triumvir had become the “slave of the -Egyptian woman,” as Dion Cassius indignantly exclaims. - -The first advantage Cleopatra took of her power was to have her son, by -Cæsar, Ptolemy-Cæsarion, recognized as legitimate heir to the crown of -Egypt. At Antony’s request the decree was immediately ratified by his -colleagues, Octavius and Lepidus. Antony alleged as a pretext for this -favor to Cleopatra, the services she rendered to the Romans during the -civil war. After having satisfied her ambition, Antony became without -difficulty the executor of her revenge. Like most women the beautiful -queen was vindictive, and like Dionysius the Tyrant, she carried her -prudence to the extent of crime. Her sister Arsinoë had escaped from -Rome, where she had contributed to Cæsar’s triumph; she had found -an asylum at Miletus. Whether Cleopatra feared that, ambitious and -intriguing as she had already shown herself in the War of Alexandria, -she might again create trouble in Egypt, or simply to avenge herself -for Arsinoë’s former conduct, the queen besought Antony to have her put -to death. One crime more or less weighed but little on the conscience -of the proscriber of the year 711 A. U. C. The unfortunate Arsinoë was -murdered in the temple of Artemis Leucophryne, where she had sought -refuge from the hired assassins of Antony. An Egyptian, also a refugee -in Asia Minor where he passed himself off as Ptolemy XII., drowned as -was well-known in the Nile, was also put to death. Cleopatra bore an -ill-will, the cause of which is not known, also to Megabyses, of the -great temple of Ephesus. He was arrested by Antony’s order, and his -life was saved only by the interference of the magistrates of the city, -speaking in the name of the people, who rose in insurrection to rescue -him. At the same time, Sarapion, the former commander of the Egyptian -squadron at Cyprus, was beheaded by the order of Antony, thus avenging -Cleopatra for the defection of her officer and Antony for the aid given -to Cassius. When Cleopatra arrived at Tarsus in the summer of 41 B. C., -Antony was preparing to march against the Parthians. At the end of a -month the concentration of his troops was accomplished, the fleets -ready, and no obstacle remained to the departure of the army. But this -month had been passed with Cleopatra, and Antony had found it very -short. Listening only to his passion, he put off the expedition till -the spring and followed the queen into Egypt. - -Then began that mad life of pleasure and debauchery, that long and -sumptuous orgy, which even in the third century of our era, and after -the excesses of Nero and Heliogabalus, was still quoted in the Roman -world, though then slaves to every corruption and exhausted in efforts -of magnificence, as an inimitable model. - -Οι Αχιμητοδιοι: “Those whose life is inimitable.” This, moreover, was -the name assumed by Antony and Cleopatra and the intimate companions of -their pleasures.[4] Plutarch and Dion relate that festival succeeded -to festival, entertainment to entertainment, and hunting parties to -excursions on the Nile. Cleopatra quitted Antony neither day nor night. -She drank with him, she gambled with him, hunted with him, she was -even present at his military exercises when by chance this man of war, -remembering that he was a soldier, took a fancy to review his legions. -It is further related that Cleopatra was incessantly inventing some -new diversion, some unexpected pleasure. But this list is very brief, -this sketch a very modest and faint description to give an idea of -the superb orgies, the unrestrained voluptuousness, and the nameless -prodigalities of the “Inimitables.” Pliny alone of the ancient writers -has summed them up, perhaps unknown to himself, in the legend, more or -less symbolic, of the Pearl. One day, says this writer, when Antony was -extolling the luxuriousness and profusion of a certain entertainment, -he exclaimed that no other could surpass it. Cleopatra, who always -affected to put no limit to the possible, replied that the present -feast was a wretched affair, and she laid a wager that the next day -she would give one on which she would expend ten millions of sesterces -(two millions one hundred thousand francs). Antony took the bet. The -next day the feast, magnificent as it was, had nothing to distinguish -it from the preceding, and Antony did not fail to rally Cleopatra. “Per -Bacchus,” cried he, “this would never cost ten millions of sesterces!” -“I know that,” replied the queen, “but you see only the accessories. I -myself will drink alone the ten millions,” and at once detaching from -her ear a single pearl—the largest and most perfect ever seen—she threw -it into a golden cup, in which it was dissolved in the vinegar there -prepared, and swallowed at one draught the acid beverage. She was about -to sacrifice the second pearl when L. Plancus, the umpire of the wager, -arrested her hand by declaring that she had won.[5] - -Picture to yourself the most costly materials, marbles, breccia, -granites, ebony and cedar woods, porphyry, basalt, agate, onyx, -lapis-lazuli, bronze, silver, ivory, and gold; conceive the most -imposing Egyptian, the most beautiful Grecian architecture, imagine -the Parthenon and the temple of Jupiter Olympus, the Pavilion of -Rameses, and the ruins of Apollinopolis Magna; recreate the royal -palaces of Alexandria, which, with their dependencies, their gardens, -their terraces, rising one above another, made up a third of the -city: reconstruct the massive enclosures—those double pylons into -which opened avenues bordered with sphinxes; those obelisks, those -magnificent propylæa, those saloons three hundred feet long and a -hundred and fifty wide, supported by vast columns, in which rise -double rows of pillars ten meters in circumference and twenty meters -in height, bursting into lotus blossoms at their summits; those -sanctuaries with their screens enameled in gold and tortoiseshell, -and studded with gems; those long picture galleries adorned with -the paintings of Zeuxis, Apelles, and Protogenes; those magnificent -thermæ with their calidaria, their basins of hot and cold water, their -retiring-rooms with walls of red porphyry, their porticos adorned -with statues; those gymnasia, theaters, hippodromes, those stages -covered with saffron powder, those triclinia where the couches of -embossed silver rested on Babylonian carpets; those atria with their -uncovered roofs, sustained by Corinthian columns with capitals of -golden bronze, by day shaded by purple awnings, the silk of which -was worth its weight in gold, and at night open to the starry sky. -See, at all seasons, blooming in the gardens roses and violets, and -scatter the pavements of onyx and mosaics four times a day with fresh -flowers; people this scenery with crowds of slaves, pipers, players -of the harp and psaltery, dancers, actors, Atellans [of the drama, -as at Atellan, of lascivious character, Atellanæ], acrobats, mimes, -gymnasts, ballet-dancers, and serpent-charmers. Load these tables with -oysters from Tarentum, lampreys dressed with garum, bonitos cooked -in fig-leaves, pink ousels, quails, pheasants, swans, geese livers, -stews made of the brains of birds, hares cooked rare and dusted with -coriander seeds, truffles as large as the fist which were assumed to -fall from the sky like aërolites, cakes of honey and wheat flour, and -the most delicious fruits of the Mediterranean basin. In the kitchens, -roasting before the fires on immense hearths, for the entertainment of -fifteen guests, twelve wild boars, spitted successively at intervals -of three minutes, so that, according to the duration of the feast, -one of these animals might be exactly cooked at the very moment it -was required to be served. Cool in snow the old Cæcuban wine, the -Falernian ripened for twenty years, the wines of Phlemtes, Chios, -Issa, the imperial wine of Lesbos, the ripe wine of Rhodes, the sweet -wine of Mitylene, the Saprian, smelling of violets, and the Thasos, -said to “rekindle failing love.” Light up the lamps, the torches, and -the chandeliers, wind the pillars with streamers of fire; open the -mouths of the bronze colossi that the icy water may flow and cool the -atmosphere, and the breasts of Isis that the sweet waters may perfume -it; call in the choirs of singing women with their harps and cythera, -and the females who dance nude with castanets of gold in their hands; -add to them representations of comedies, the farces of mimes, the -tricks of jugglers, and the phantasmagorias of the magicians; offer -mock engagements in the harbor, and in the hippodrome chariot races -and combats between lions; summon the masqueraders and witness the -processions where cluster, around the golden car of Bacchus and the -Cyprian, fifteen hundred satyrs, a thousand cupids, and eight hundred -beautiful slaves as nymphs and mimes. Finally, imagine all that Asiatic -pomp, Egyptian state, and Grecian refinement and depravity, and Roman -power and licentiousness blended in a single form—a sensual and -splendid woman, delighting in pleasure and sumptuousness—can achieve -with such elements and you will have some idea, though very vague and -feeble, of the “Life Inimitable.” - -Sometimes Antony and Cleopatra indulged in more vulgar pleasures. -Disguised, she as a barmaid, and he as a porter or a sailor, they -ran, by night, about the streets of Alexandria, knocking at the doors -of houses, abusing belated pedestrians, entering low lodging-houses, -and quarreling with drunken men. To the great delight of Antony these -frolics usually ended in fights. Despite his strength and skill, the -Roman did not always win, and Cleopatra was sometimes well splashed -with mud; but victors or vanquished, the lovers returned happy to the -palace, quite willing to renew their adventures. The secret, however, -escaped, and thenceforth the royal pair were handled more cautiously, -without being entirely spared.[6] - -These follies did not turn the Alexandrians against the triumvir as -much as might have been supposed. If they had little esteem for him, -they liked him for his good humor, and the ease with which he was -approached. They delighted to say: “Antony wears for the Romans a -tragic mask, but here he lays it aside, and assumes for us the mask of -comedy.” His intimate companions and his officers, who shared without -scruple his voluptuous and unbridled excesses, were still less inclined -to resent them, for, like himself, they yielded to the bewitching charm -of Cleopatra. They loved, they admired her, they bore cheerfully her -snubs and sarcasms, and were not shocked, even if in the midst of a -feast, at a sign from Antony, she quitted the banquet hall with him, -and returning after a short absence resumed her position on the couch -of the triclinium. They studied to please and divert her, each strove -to be the vilest toady to the queen—“humillimus assentator reginæ”—for -a smile of Cleopatra they sacrificed all dignity. Once, L. Plancus, a -man of consular dignity, crowned with rushes, a fish’s tail attached to -his loins, and his naked body painted blue, actually performed in her -presence the dance of Glaukos. - -With Cæsar, Cleopatra had instinctively played the part of a crowned -Aspasia, ever bewitching, but uniting dignity with grace, concealing -the courtesan beneath the robe of a queen, ever equable in mood, -expressing herself in the choicest language, talking politics, art, -literature, her marvelous faculties rising without effort to the level -of the lofty intelligence of the dictator: with Antony, Cleopatra, at -first through policy, afterwards through love, played the part of a -Laïs born by chance to a throne. Seeing at once that the inclinations -of Antony were coarse and low, that his wit was commonplace and his -language very loose, she immediately set herself to the same tone. She -kept pace with this great drinker, remaining even till dawn with the -foaming flagons and goblets continually replenished; she accompanied -him by night into the suspicious streets of Rhakotis, the old portion -of Alexandria; she jested cynically, sang amatory songs, recited -licentious poems; she quarreled with him, provoking and returning -both abuse and blows. Nothing delighted Antony like the sight of that -ravishing little hand threatening and beating him, or to hear from -those divine lips, fit for the choruses of Sophocles or the odes of -Sappho, the same words that he had heard bandied among the guard of the -Esquiline gate and in the unmentionable dens of the Suburra. - - - - -[Illustration] - -V. - - -In the winter of 39 B. C. the war of Persia recalled Antony into -Italy. Through ambition or resentment against Octavius, and also, says -Plutarch, through jealousy, Fulvia his wife had fomented this war. She -hoped that these disturbances would compel Antony to leave Cleopatra, -in order to defend his power threatened in Rome. Fulvia had succeeded -but too well. Antony, it is true, was sailing towards Brundusium with -two hundred sail, but the victorious Octavius was all-powerful in -Italy, his adversaries dispersed or proscribed; she herself had fled -and was dying, without a hope of again seeing her husband. Antony heard -of her death while touching at a port in Sicily. This, in the end, made -a peace easy. Antony had taken no part in the war of Persia; Fulvia -alone, aided by her father-in-law, had excited it; her death rendered -an accommodation possible between Antony and Octavius. Cocceius Nerva, -Pollio, and Mecænas contrived an interview at Brundusium. They were -reconciled and made a new division of the empire: Octavius took the -West, as far as the Adriatic; Antony, the East; and Lepidus had to be -content with the Roman possessions in Africa. - -The treaty of Brundusium gave great satisfaction at Rome, where, -after so much dissension and bloodshed, peace was ardently desired. -To secure the fulfilment of it, the friends of the Triumvirs sought -to unite them by family ties, and they proposed a marriage between -Antony, who had just lost his wife, and Octavia, sister of Octavius, -the widow of Marcellus. This noble woman, who to the rarest qualities -added great beauty of person, could not fail, they thought, to secure -and fix the love of Antony; she would thus maintain harmony between -the brothers-in-law, to the great advantage of both and the good of -the state. Octavius gladly accepted the project, and notwithstanding -the passion he still entertained for Cleopatra, Antony, in view of the -political advantages of this union, took good care not to refuse. The -marriage was forthwith celebrated. The law forbade widows to marry -before the tenth month, but the senate granted a dispensation to the -sister of Octavius. - -Antony remained at Rome during nearly the whole year 39 B. C. He lived -in perfect accord with Octavius and shared with him the government of -the empire; but although he had an equal part in authority and honors -he felt that he was only second in Rome. In his justifiable pride as -an old soldier, an accomplished warrior, the lieutenant of Cæsar at -Pharsalia, and commander-in-chief at Philippi, he was indignant when -he thought of the supremacy, acknowledged by all, of this almost -beardless youth. A famous Egyptian soothsayer, whom probably Cleopatra -herself had despatched to Rome, encouraged Antony in these ideas by -his predictions and horoscopes. “Your tutelar genius dreads that of -Octavius,” said he constantly. “Proud and lofty when alone, he loses -power when you are with Octavius. Here your star is eclipsed; it is -only away from Rome—it is in the East that it shines in full luster.” -A new revolt of the Parthians gave Antony a pretext for leaving Rome. -He set out with Octavia, and touched first at Athens. There he remained -during the winter of 39–38 B. C., forgetting not only the Parthians -(leaving his lieutenant Ventidius to conduct the war against them), but -Alexandria, the “Life Inimitable,” and Cleopatra herself.[7] Doubtless -he did not love his new wife, the beautiful Octavia, as ardently as he -had loved Cleopatra, or in the same way, but assuredly he did love her. -As feeble in will as powerful in body, Antony, the slave of woman, was -easily dominated. Erewhile Fulvia had enslaved him, then Cleopatra had -bewitched him, now he yielded to the quiet charm of Octavia. - -At the close of the winter he undertook a brief campaign into Syria -against Antiochus of Commagene, and soon after returned to Athens, -where he remained two years. In 36, a new difficulty occurring between -him and Octavius on the subject of the naval expedition against the -pirates, in which he had refused to second the latter, civil war -again became imminent. Antony planned a descent upon Italy, with three -hundred vessels; Octavius, on his side, collected his legions; if -blood did not yet flow, swords were half unsheathed. In the hope of -preventing this unnatural war, Octavia entreated Antony to take her -with him into Italy. The port of Brundusium having refused entrance to -Antony’s fleet, his vessels moored before Tarentum. Informed of this, -Octavius was leading his troops by forced marches against that city. -Octavia desired to land alone. She went to meet Octavius on the way to -Venosa; passing through the outposts and sentinels, she approached her -brother, who was attended by Agrippa and Mecænas. She warmly pleaded -the cause of Antony, and especially conjured Octavius not to reduce her -from the happiest of women to the most miserable. “At this moment,” -said she, “the eyes of the world are upon me, the wife of one of the -rulers of Rome, and the sister of the other. Should the counsel of -wrath prevail, should war be declared, it may be doubtful to which of -you two Fate may give the victory, but it is certain to whichever it -inclines I shall be in grief and desolation.” The ambitious Octavius -was already coveting universal dominion, but he was a temporizer. He -yielded to the prayers of Octavia, and for the second time this woman, -who was the good genius of Antony, maintained the peace of the Roman -world. The two triumvirs met on the shores of the Gulf of Tarentum, and -after having lavished on each other various marks of affection they -agreed to renew the triumvirate for five years. Octavius gave Antony -two legions to reënforce his army of the East, and in return Antony -gave up one hundred triremes with brazen rostra and twenty Liburnian -galleys for his Mediterranean fleet. These were the vessels that were -to conquer at Actium! From Tarentum, Octavia returned alone to Rome -with the two children she had borne to Antony; he himself embarked for -Asia Minor, whither he was summoned by the war with the Parthians. The -pair agreed to meet again, the expedition over, either at Athens or at -Rome, when Antony hoped to receive the honors of a triumph. - -From the winter of 39 to the summer of 36 B. C., for three long years, -Cleopatra remained thus parted from Antony. She was queen of Egypt and -Cyprus, she had borne one son to Cæsar and two to Antony, she possessed -immense revenues and treasures inexhaustible, but she suffered in her -pride and in her love from the desertion of the triumvir. Cleopatra -at twenty years of age had in all probability not loved Cæsar, who -was over fifty. She loved Antony. In fact, though she had at first -given herself to the triumvir through policy, yet she soon felt for -this rough soldier, handsome with the beauty of Hercules, master of -the East, surrounded by glory and power, the same passion that she -had inspired in him. If, indeed, the ancient authors do not state in -words that Cleopatra loved Antony, the scenes which they depict can -scarcely permit a doubt of it. There is a logic of circumstances. With -his martial air, his lofty stature and broad chest, his mane of black -hair and eyes of gloom, his aquiline nose and harshly cut features, -Antony certainly possessed manly attractions. His first wife, Fulvia, -loved him passionately; his second wife, Octavia, loved him supremely; -the haughty Cleopatra gave him love for love. Besides, Shakspeare tells -us this, and the word of this great painter of the human heart, of this -marvelously comprehensive genius, may well make up for the silence on -this point of a Dion Cassius or a Paul Orose. - -Great as might have been the suffering of this other Dido, one can -scarcely imagine her enveloped in habiliments of woe and sighing in -the retirement of her palace. In all probability Cleopatra continued -her gay life of pompous show, giving to pleasure all the time that was -left from official ceremonies, public audiences and other duties of the -government, and her conferences with architects and engineers.[8] The -Typhonium, at Denderah, dates from the reign of Cleopatra. As is shown -by its cartouches, she also labored at the great temple of Denderah, at -those of Edfou, Heminthis, and Coptos, as well as at the monuments of -Thebes situated on the left bank of the Nile. At Alexandria, besides -the Cæsarium, which it appears was begun by Cleopatra, she had many -fine buildings erected; but as with many other more ancient palaces and -temples, there remains of them not a vestige on that surface which the -ruins of centuries have in so many places raised to a height of fully -ten meters. - -Did the queen seek to play the indifferent by leaving Antony without -tidings, or, as Plutarch insinuates and Shakspeare declares, did -she, during these three years, overwhelm him with dolorous appeals -and burning messages of love? According to Josephus, her voluptuous -temperament was ever leading her into transient amours. Besides Cneius -Pompey, Cæsar, Dellius, Antony, and Herod, king of the Jews, the five -lovers who are accredited or attributed to her, the queen of Egypt had -many flirtations and anonymous entanglements. Is this calumny? It is -rather a slander. Be this as it may, the accusation is no proof that -Cleopatra no longer loved Antony. These riddles of the heart and the -senses are, after all, no enigma. - -As for Antony, it seems that he had indeed forgotten Cleopatra. -Not only during the three years that he had passed with Octavia at -Athens and Rome; not only on his return from the expedition against -Antiochus of Commagene had he not visited Egypt, but even on his way -from Tarentum to Laodicea he had not touched at Alexandria, which -was almost directly in his course. He sailed straight for Syria. By -a singular fatality, scarcely had he set foot in Asia when he felt -his passion rekindle with the utmost violence. He established himself -at Laodicea, and at once despatched his friend Fonteius Capito into -Egypt to conduct Cleopatra to Syria. The queen, enchanted, had no -thought of delaying her departure in order to make herself the more -desired, as she had done five years before. She embarked at once, and -was received at Laodicea by her lover with transports of joy. To prove -otherwise than by caresses his unspeakable happiness at seeing her -again, he gave her, not jewels, but kingdoms: Chalcedon, Phœnicia, -Cœolo-Syria, a great part of Cilicia, Genesereth in Judea, noted for -its balm, and Nabathae in Arabia. Antony had no right to dispose of -these territories, which belonged to the _Roman people_; but mad with -pride as much as with love he declared that “The glory of Rome was -displayed much less in her conquests and possessions than in the gifts -she bestowed.”[9] - -A few days after they were again compelled to part, with the promise, -however, of meeting again in the spring at Alexandria. Antony passed -with his army into Armenia; Cleopatra returned to Egypt, passing -through Apamea, Damascus, and Petrea. She desired to settle with the -kings of Judea and Arabia the amount of the tribute which these rulers -were to pay yearly for the portions of territory which Antony had -bestowed. The king of Arabia promised three hundred talents (sixteen -hundred and sixty thousand francs); the tribute of the king of the Jews -was greater. This king was Herod, whom the protection of Antony had -a few years before placed on the throne. He went to Damascus to meet -Cleopatra. According to Josephus, Herod, who was remarkably handsome, -repulsed the shameless advances of the queen, even proposing to put -her to death whilst she was in his power in order to deliver Antony -from her fatal influence; but his counselors dissuaded him from this -crime, telling him that from that moment he would incur the terrible -vengeance of Antony. - -Cleopatra had not been long in Alexandria when she received a message -from Antony, dated at Leucocoma, a city on the seaboard of Syria. He -entreated her to join him at once with money, stores, and clothing -for his soldiers, who were destitute of everything. The war had been -unsuccessful. By his too eager desire to rejoin Cleopatra in the -spring, Antony had compromised the success of the campaign. When he -reached Armenia, after a forced march of eight thousand stadia, he -should have gone into winter quarters and not opened the campaign -till the spring, with troops rested and refreshed, and at a favorable -season. Too impatient to submit to this long delay, he entered Upper -Media, and that his march might be more rapid he left behind all his -siege machinery under the guard of one detachment. Chariots, towers, -catapults, battering-rams eighty feet long—all were destroyed by the -Parthian cavalry. Through the want of these batteries Antony failed -in the attack on the city of Phraata. Threatened by an overwhelming -force, he was compelled to retreat. It was midwinter, the legionaries -had to march through the snow amid freezing squalls. Every morning many -were found frozen to death. Provisions failed, they lost their way, -and the formidable Parthian cavalry harassed the exhausted columns. -In this terrible retreat, the remembrance of which may have occurred -to Napoleon before crossing the Niemen, Antony recovered his energy -and his qualities as a general; insensible to fatigue and hunger he -was everywhere present; he was both imperator and centurion. Ever -at the point where danger threatened most, in twenty-seven days he -fought eighteen battles. Victor at night, the next day the struggle -was renewed against fresh and ever-increasing forces. When Antony -reached the coast of Syria his army was reduced from seventy thousand -to thirty-eight thousand men. More fortunate than Crassus, however, the -Romans brought back their eagles. - -Cleopatra in vain used all despatch; she did not reach Antony as soon -as he had hoped, and his impatience became agony. He imagined that the -queen would not comply with the appeal of a conquered man. Overcome -by despair he fell into a sort of stupor. Then he sought distraction -in drinking, but the pleasures of the table, of which he had been so -utterly deprived during the campaign of Media, had no power to relieve -his anxiety. At the very height of an orgy he would suddenly rise from -the table, leave his companions, and hasten to the seashore, where he -would remain whole hours with his eyes fixed on the horizon in the -direction whence he expected Cleopatra to appear. - -At length the long-desired queen arrived with provisions and clothing, -and about two hundred and forty talents of silver. The paying of the -legionaries,[10] the reorganization of the army, and the collection -of contributions compelled Antony to remain some time longer at -Leucocoma, and Cleopatra remained with him. Meanwhile, the news of the -disastrous expedition having reached Rome, Octavia, still devoted to -her husband despite the efforts of Octavius, who had had the cruelty to -inform her of the reunion of Antony and Cleopatra, determined to embark -for Asia. She entreated Octavius to furnish her with ships, soldiers, -and money. Report had informed Octavius of the renewed passion of -Antony. He yielded to the request of Octavia in the hope that the -insulting reception she was likely to receive from her husband might -detach her from him forever and rouse the indignation of the Romans. -Not to risk a meeting with Cleopatra, Octavia landed at Athens, whence -she sent word to Antony of her arrival. But the triumvir would not -dismiss his mistress; he wrote to Octavia to remain at Athens, offering -her as a pretext his intention of undertaking a new expedition against -the Parthians. In fact, the king of Media, incessantly a prey to these -wild hordes, had proposed to Antony an alliance against them. Without -resenting Antony’s refusal to receive her, of which refusal she did -not deceive herself as to the cause, Octavia wrote again to Antony. -This letter contained no reproaches; the young wife asked the triumvir -simply whither she should send the reënforcements and the munitions -she had brought for him. These included, besides military clothing -and arms, machines of war and a large amount of money, three thousand -chosen men as splendidly armed as the prætorian cohorts. Octavia had -sacrificed a portion of her private fortune to add this quota to the -supplies. Niger was charged with the delivery of this letter. Often -interviewed by Antony, who held him in great esteem, he mildly pointed -out the wrongs of Octavia, reminded him of the rare virtues of this -admirable woman, and exhorted him in the name of his own interests so -seriously involved, and of his renown so sadly compromised, to abandon -Cleopatra. - -Much shaken, Antony hesitated. He thought he would go to Media. By -this means he could send Cleopatra back to Egypt, leave Octavia in -Greece, and delay, until his return from the campaign, the decision -which he could not resolve now to make; but Cleopatra, with the -penetration of a woman who loves, read the heart of Antony. She saw -herself a second time in danger of losing her lover; moreover, she had -the advantage over Octavia of being near Antony. She redoubled her -smiles and caresses, purposely exaggerating the passion already very -warm and unfeigned which possessed her. Then, at the first broaching -of his departure for Media, she pretended a mortal sorrow. She would -neither eat nor sleep, she passed her days and nights in tears; her -pale face, her haggard features and sunken eyes, her stony look and -pallid lips struck all who approached her. Her women, her friends, the -intimates of the triumvir whom she had won over by her flatteries and -promises, reproached Antony with his want of feeling. They accused him -of allowing to die of grief the most adorable of women, who breathed -only for him. “Octavia,” said they, “is bound to you merely by her -brother’s interest; she enjoys all the advantages of a wife’s title, -while Cleopatra, the queen of so many peoples, is called only the -mistress of Antony, ἐρω.μένην Ἀντωνíου. She refuses not this name, -she does not feel humiliated by it—she glories in it: her sole bliss, -her only ambition, is to live with thee!” Antony yielded, overcome by -such speeches and by the fear that Cleopatra, who possessed his whole -heart, and whom only his reason urged him to resist, would die of grief -or take poison. He therefore postponed his expedition into Media, and -returned with Cleopatra to Alexandria, where they resumed the “Life -Inimitable.” - -At the commencement of the year 34, Antony joined his legions in Asia. -In a few days he defeated the Armenians, made prisoner the king and all -his family, and reduced the country to subjection. After this glorious -campaign Antony was to enjoy a triumph at Rome, but through love and -devotion to Cleopatra, whom he wished to share his honors, the ceremony -was given at Alexandria. For the first time a Roman received the reward -of a triumph outside of Rome. It was an insult to the city, which thus -seemed discrowned; it was an offense to the senate and the people, from -whom alone the honor of a triumph could be received. - -This scandalous triumph was of the utmost magnificence. Through -Alexandria, decorated with the richest ornaments and massed with -flowers, filed to the sound of horns and trumpets, the legionaries, the -auxiliary cavalry, the priests, the censer-bearers, and the deputies -from different cities, wearing crowns of gold, chariots filled with -trophies, and thousands of captives. Before the triumphal chariot, -drawn by four white horses, walked the king Artavasdes, his wife, and -two sons, bound in chains of gold. When the chariot arrived before -Cleopatra, who, seated on a throne of gold and ivory, presided at the -triumph, Antony stayed his quadriga, and presented to the queen his -royal captives. After the procession and the sacrifices, he gave a -mammoth banquet to the citizens of Alexandria. Enormous tables were -spread in the gardens of the palace and in the public squares. The -feast over, Antony seated Cleopatra on her throne of gold and ivory -[chryselephantine], and placed himself on a similar one; the trumpets -sounded, the soldiers presented arms, and the whole people collected -in crowds around the two lovers. Then Antony proclaimed that from -that time Cleopatra should be called the Queen of Kings, and her son, -Cæsarion, the heir of Julius, the divine, the King of Kings; and he -renewed to them the sovereignty of Egypt and Cyprus. Next he publicly -settled the state of the three children borne him by Cleopatra. He gave -to the eldest, Alexander, called by him Helios, Armenia, Media, and the -country of the Parthians; to his twin-sister Cleopatra, whom he called -Selene, the kingdom of Lybia; to Ptolemy, Phœnicia, Syria, and Cilicia. -At each proclamation of the triumvir, heralds repeated his words and -the trumpets sounded. The same day the youthful (infant) sovereigns -were presented by Antony to the army and the people. Alexander appeared -in the robes of the Mede with the cidaris (sash) of the kings of -Persia, and a platoon of Armenians as a guard of honor. Ptolemy had an -escort of Macedonian mercenaries armed with lances eighteen feet long; -he wore the long purple mantle, the sandals embroidered with gold, and -the crown of precious stones of the successors of Alexander. - -Cleopatra had already set the example of such masquerades. Two years -before, on her return from Laodicea, when Antony had added to her -dominions Phœnicia, Chalcedon, Cœlo-Syria and many other countries she -had opened a new era and had assumed the name of the New Isis, or New -Goddess. It was in the narrow garment of Isis, and on her head the -covering of Isis (the golden horns, between which rested the vulture -head), with the lotoform scepter in her hand, that she presided at -public ceremonies or gave state audiences. - -Submissive to these caprices Antony allowed himself to be represented -in paintings and groups of statuary under the figures of Osiris and -Bacchus, seated beside Cleopatra Isis and Cleopatra Selene. It seemed -that bewitched by his mistress he renounced his country for her. He -accepted the office of grand-gymnasiarch of Alexandria. He commanded -that the effigy of the Egyptian queen should be engraved on the back of -his imperial coins; he even dared to inscribe the name of Cleopatra on -the shields of his legionaries. He permitted, by a shameless inversion -of parts, that the queen should go about Alexandria seated in a curule -chair, whilst he, carrying a scimeter and wearing a purple robe with -jeweled clasps, accompanied her on foot surrounded by Egyptian officers -and the base troop of eunuchs. - - - - -[Illustration] - -VI. - - -By deposing Lepidus, Octavius had changed the triumvirate into a -duumvirate, and the empire became divided between himself and Antony. -But the domination of the East satisfied the pride of Antony no -better than the domination of the West sufficed for the ambition of -Octavius. Though twice deferred, the civil war remained inevitable. -In his extreme caution, Octavius would still have delayed it; in his -folly, Antony precipitated it. He despised Octavius as a general; his -flatterers and his soldiers, who adored him, predicted victory to his -arms; Cleopatra, who retained the angry recollection of the insolent -reception by the Romans, burned to avenge it, and confiding in the -sword of Antony, she already swore “By the justice which she would soon -dispense at the Capitol.”[11] - -Antony began by overwhelming Octavius with reproaches and dark threats. -His clients, who were numerous in Rome, his friends, his emissaries -sent from Egypt, made themselves busy in enhancing with the people his -grievances, real and supposed. Octavius, said they, has robbed Sextus -Pompey of Sicily without dividing the spoils with his colleague: he -has not even restored the hundred and twenty triremes borrowed for -that war; he has deposed Lepidus and retained for himself alone the -provinces, the legions, and the ships of war that had been assigned -to that triumvir; he has distributed to his own soldiers nearly all -the public lands of Italy, without keeping any for the veterans of -Antony. Every act of the government of Octavius was criticized and -incriminated. The people were reminded that he was crushing Italy under -the weight of taxes; he was accused of aiming at sovereign power. -They even went the length of saying that the true heir of Cæsar was -not Octavius, his nephew, but Cæsar’s own son Cæsarion, and that a -second will of the Dictator would some day be forthcoming. According -to Dion Cassius, Antony, by his formal recognition of Cæsarion as the -legitimate son of Cæsar, had raised to a climax the uneasiness and -anger of Octavius. - -Meanwhile Octavius bided his time; his preparations for war were not -complete, and Antony was still popular in Rome, where he maintained -very many clients, protected by Octavia his wife. She, in spite of -the insult inflicted by Antony, was still wholly devoted to him; in -vain, on her return from Greece, had Octavius besought her to forget -her husband and to quit his dwelling; she had utterly refused to do -so. She continued to reside in that famous mansion, once the property -of the great Pompey, there educating with equal care and tenderness -her own children by Antony and those of his first wife. The clients of -Antony and the friends he sent from Alexandria were sure of finding -support and assistance from Octavia; she even obtained favors for them -from Octavius, irritated though he might be; finally she incessantly -assumed in his presence the defense of Antony, excusing both faults -and follies, and declaring that it was a hateful thing for two great -emperors to incite Romans to slay each other, the one to avenge -personal wrongs, the other for the love of a foreign woman. - -Octavius, who took for his motto: “That which is well done is done -quickly enough,” _sat celeriter feri quidquid fiat satis bene_, -appeared to give way to the prayers of Octavia; but if he made no -haste to declare war he was preparing it slowly, and preparing also -public opinion. He made the most of Antony’s disgraceful life in -Egypt—his enslavement by Cleopatra. It was said in the senate, in the -army, among the people, “Antony is no longer a Roman; he is the slave -of the queen of Egypt, the incestuous daughter of the Lagidæ: his -country is Alexandria and thither he would transfer the capital of the -empire; his gods are Knouph with the ram’s head, Ra of the vulture -beak, the dog-headed Anubis—latrans Anubis; his counselors are the -eunuch Mardion, Charmion, and Iras, the tire-woman of that Cleopatra -on whom he has promised to bestow Rome.” These idle tales inspired the -Romans with a sentiment of horror which still survives in the verses -of the poets of that period: “Among our eagles,” says Horace, “the sun -beholds, O infamy, the base standard of an Egyptian woman.... Romans -sold to a woman blush not to bear arms for her.... In the intoxication -of her success and the madness of her hopes, this monster—_monstrum -illud_—dreams the fall of the Capitol, and is preparing with her -troops of despicable slaves and eunuchs the funeral rites of the -empire.” “Thus,” writes Propertius, “this royal prostitute—_meretrix -regina_—eternal disgrace of the blood of Philip, would force the Tiber -to endure the menaces of the Nile, and thrust aside the Roman trumpets -to make way for the shrieking sistra (Egyptian timbrels).”[12] - -Domitius Ænobarbus and C. Sossius were elected consuls 32 B. C. Both -were partisans of Antony, and made vain attempts to save him by -unmasking Octavius to the senate, but the majority declared against -them. Dreading the anger of the implacable Perusian lover of justice -they went into exile with several of the senators. They could not at -once join Antony, who was in Armenia, negotiating the marriage of his -very youthful son, Alexander, with Jotapa, daughter of the king of -Media. They announced to him by letter that Octavius was hastening -his preparations, and that immediate hostilities might be expected. -Antony, like a good general, determined, in order to get the start of -his enemy, to carry the war into Italy. He immediately sent Canidius -with sixteen legions to the sea-coast of Asia Minor, and himself -proceeded to Ephesus, where all his allies were directed to unite -their contingents. Cleopatra was the first to arrive, with two hundred -vessels of from three to ten banks of oars, and a war subsidy of twenty -thousand talents (one hundred thousand francs). - -It would have been better for Antony had this fleet remained in -Egyptian waters, this money in the treasury of the Lagidæ, and -Cleopatra herself in Alexandria. This bewitching but fatal being -brought to the Roman camp her gorgeous licentiousness and her unbridled -desire of pleasure. At Ephesus where she landed, at Samos whither they -afterwards proceeded, the mad follies of Alexandria were renewed. The -constant arrivals of kings, governors, deputations from cities bringing -to Antony troops and vessels served as a pretext for magnificent feasts -and innumerable dramatic representations. A thousand comedians and -rope-dancers were collected, and whilst the whole world, says Plutarch, -echoed with the noise of arms and the groans of men, at Samos nothing -was heard but laughter and the music of flutes and citharæ. Time passed -quickly in these pleasures, and there was not an hour to lose if the -offensive were to be taken. Until then the friends and captains of -Antony, Dellius, Marcus Silanus, Titius, Plancus, all equally yielding -to the seductions of Cleopatra, had made no effort to separate their -leader from this fatal woman. Now the great game was to be played, and -in this game they staked, as it were, their lives against the dominion -of the world. They appealed to Antony. Ænobarbus, the only one of the -Antonites who had never hailed Cleopatra as queen, was spokesman, and -declared plainly that the Egyptian must be sent back to Alexandria till -the close of the war. Antony promised to send her. Unfortunately for -him, Cleopatra heard of this proceeding. Now less than ever would she -leave Antony alone, exposed to the final appeals of Octavia her former -successful rival; she knew too well the vacillating mind and weak soul -of Antony. Would he have strength to refuse a reconciliation so much -desired in the camp as well as at Rome, which would consolidate its -threatened power and secure peace to the empire? Cleopatra won over -Canidius, after Ænobarbus the most noted captain of the army of the -East; and by dint of prayers, coquetry, and money, it is said, she -persuaded him to espouse her cause. He represented to Antony that it -was neither just nor wise to send away an ally who furnished to the war -supplies so considerable; that he would thus alienate the Egyptians, -whose ships formed the main strength of the fleet. He added that -Cleopatra was, in the council, inferior to none of the kings who were -to fight under the orders of Antony; she, who had so long governed -alone so great an empire, and who, since they had been associated -together, had acquired still greater experience in affairs. He talked -against reason, but he spoke in accordance with the heart of Antony, -and Cleopatra remained with the army. - -Meanwhile the friends that still remained to Antony in Rome despatched -one of their number, Geminius, to make a last attempt to free him from -his mistress. Geminius for days tried in vain to see Antony alone. -Cleopatra, who suspected the Roman of working in the interests of -Octavia, never left her lover for an instant. At length, at the close -of a supper, Antony, half-drunk, called upon Geminius to declare -instantly the object of his coming. “The matters of which I have to -speak,” replied Geminius angrily, “cannot be discussed after drinking; -but what I can tell you as well drunk as sober is that all would be -well if Cleopatra returned to Egypt.” In a rage, the queen exclaimed: -“You do well to speak before the torture compels it.” Antony was no -less enraged. The next day Geminius, feeling by no means in safety, -reëmbarked for Italy. - -The vindictive Egyptian also bore malice against the friends of Antony -who had joined with Ænobarbus to procure her departure. Sarcasms, -offenses, insults, and ill offices were all employed by her so -effectually that Silanus, Dellius (her former lover, it is said), and -Plancus and Titius, both persons of consular dignity, abandoned the -party of Antony. - -As much to revenge themselves on their former leader as to conciliate -their new master, Plancus and Titius on their return to Rome revealed -to Octavius certain clauses in the will of Antony, the divulging of -which would complete his ruin in the minds of the people. Antony, -recognizing Cæsarion as the son of Cæsar, was dividing the Roman East -among his other children and the queen of Egypt, and willed that even -should he die in Rome, his body should be transported to Alexandria and -delivered to Cleopatra. The two officers added that they were positive -as to these dispositions, as, at the desire of Antony, they themselves -had read the will, had affixed their seal, and had deposited it in -the college of the Vestals. Octavius demanded the will. The Vestals -declared that they would not give it up, but that if he would come and -take it himself they could not prevent him. Octavius felt no scruple in -doing so; he took the will and read it before the Senate. The Conscript -Fathers, it must be confessed, were no less indignant at the violation -of the will of Antony than at the contents of the document itself. -Octavius, however, had the excuse of acting for the good of the people. -The skillful and patient politician was about to attain his end. He -procured also a _senatus-consultum_ (a judgment of the Senate), by -which Antony was deposed from the consular dignity, and the same day, -January 1, 31 B. C., he declared war, not on Antony, but on the queen -of Egypt. This was a last tribute to public opinion—Cæsar would not -risk the odium of arming Roman against Roman. - -He knew well that Antony would not desert Cleopatra, and therefore by -conducting his legions against the detested Egyptian, he would throw on -Antony the responsibility of the civil war. - -Antony and Cleopatra passed at Athens the autumn of 32 and part of -the winter of 31 B. C. Whilst their soldiers were exhausting all -the cities of Greece by enormous requisitions, and completing their -crews by means of the press-gang, dragging sons from their mothers, -and husbands from their wives, the lovers continued to lead their gay -life. Spectacles, public games, interminable feasts, and mad orgies -incessantly succeeded each other. Jealous of the memory which Octavia -had left in Athens, where her beauty was still talked of, Cleopatra -would fain have effaced it by her pomp, her flatteries, and her -largesses to the people. The Athenians, setting little value on honors, -even now somewhat obsolete, which it was in their power to bestow, -determined to offer Cleopatra the “Freedom of the City,” and decreed -that a statue should be erected to her. The decree was presented to -her by deputies, among whom figured Antony as an Athenian citizen. The -document was read to the queen, after which her virtues and merits -were eulogized in an eloquent address. The vanity of Cleopatra was -gratified, but her hatred unappeased. She exacted from Antony his -repudiation of Octavia, and that from Athens itself, that city where -the couple had spent three happy years, he should send to Rome his -command for her to depart from his house. Octavia quitted it, clad in -mourning and weeping, and leading with her the two children of Antony. -The unhappy woman loved him still.[13] - - - - -[Illustration] - -VII. - - -Antony had not abandoned his original design of preventing the -combining of the forces of Octavius by carrying the war into Italy; but -he had lost much time. In the spring of 31 B. C., his army and fleet -being concentrated at Actium, at the mouth of the Gulf of Ambracia, he -was preparing to join them when he learned that some Roman vessels were -coasting the shores of Epirus. It was but the vanguard of Agrippa’s -fleet, but the presence of this vanguard showed that the preparations -of Octavius were in a very advanced state, if not complete. The time -for surprising him was past. Antony decided, before forming new plans, -to wait till the Romans should have defined their plan of the campaign. -The fleet and the army, therefore, remained at Actium, but as the place -was unwholesome and a stay there wearisome, Antony went to Patras with -Cleopatra. Early in August he received the important news that the -Roman fleet had just anchored off the coast of Epirus, that the troops -were landing, and that Octavius was already at Toryne. Antony at once -set out for Actium, much excited and very ill pleased that the enemy so -quickly and so easily had taken up its position. Cleopatra jested with -his uneasiness: “What a misfortune,” said she, “that Octavius should be -sitting upon a dipper!”—in Greek Toryne means a dipper. - -The army of Antony, consisting of nineteen legions and twelve -thousand cavalry, and numerous auxiliaries, Cilicians, Paphlagonians, -Cappadocians, Jews, Medes, Arabs, amounted to one hundred and ten -thousand men. His fleet numbered nearly five hundred vessels of three, -five, eight, and ten banks of oars. These last, built in Egypt, were -veritable floating fortresses, surmounted with towers and furnished -with powerful war-engines. Octavius had eighty thousand foot soldiers -recruited in Italy, Sicily, Spain, and Gaul, ten thousand horse, and -but two hundred and fifty vessels, triremes with rostra and light -Liburnian galleys in about equal numbers. If the land forces were about -of equal effective strength the disproportion between the naval forces -was immense; but the ships of Octavius made up for their inferiority of -numbers by their superiority of manœuvring, and the excellence of their -crews, who had all been with Agrippa during the long Sicilian war. On -the contrary, Antony’s sailors were comparatively few, and most of them -were going into battle for the first time; his heavy ships were clumsy -in their evolutions,—as the hyperbolical Florus expressed it: “The sea -groaned under their weight, and the wind exhausted itself in moving -them.” - -The army of Antony occupied the northern point of Acarnania, with a -strong detachment on the coast of Epirus, which was directly opposite. -Firmly entrenched within defenses raised during the winter, he -commanded the narrow passage into the Gulf of Ambracia in which his -fleet was moored. Octavius had pitched his camp in Epirus, at a short -distance from the advanced posts of Antony. Antony held an excellent -position for defense, which enabled him to resist successfully the -attacks of the Romans: for the Pass of Actium could not be forced; but -he was blockaded on the side of the sea whence almost all his stores -and munitions must reach him. - -For several days the two armies were face to face. Octavius, desirous -to engage, endeavored by every feint to draw his adversary into action -either on land or sea. Antony, uneasy, anxious, hesitating, could -not decide what step to take. He embarked the greater portion of his -troops and transferred them to the coast of Epirus, as if to attack the -Roman camp; then he changed his mind and recrossed into Acarnania. The -officers of Antony, auguring ill of the manœuvring qualities of his -huge vessels, and, at the same time, full of confidence in the valor -of the legionaries, counseled him to fight the battle on land. This -was also the desire of the army. At a review he was accosted by an old -centurion all seamed with scars: “Oh, Emperor, dost thou distrust these -wounds and this sword, that thou puttest thy hope in rotten wood? Let -the men of Egypt and Phœnicia fight on the sea, but to us, give us -the land where we are used to hold our own, and where we know how to -conquer or to die.” But Antony was disturbed by sinister omens. In many -places his statues and those of Cleopatra had been struck by lightning; -at Alba a marble statue, erected in honor of the triumvir, had been -found covered with sweat. “A sign still more alarming,” says Plutarch, -“some swallows, having built their nests under the stern of the -_Antoniad_, Cleopatra’s flagship, other swallows came, drove the first -away, and killed their young ones.” Frequent defeats in the skirmishes -around Actium, the desertion of Domitius Ænobarbus, who suddenly passed -over to the enemy, the defection of two of the allied kings, who, with -their forces, abandoned the army, confirmed these evil omens in the -superstitious soul of Antony. He suspected everything and everybody—his -fortune, his soldiers, his friends, Cleopatra herself. Seeing her sad, -discouraged, a prey to gloomy thoughts—for she, too, dwelt on the omens -of the swallows of the _Antoniad_ and the shattered statues—he fancied -that she wished to poison him, that by this crime she might secure the -favor of Octavius. For days he would take neither food nor drink that -she had not first tasted. Out of pity for her lover, Cleopatra lent -herself willingly to this caprice. One night, however, at the close of -the supper, she took a rose from her crown and lightly dipped it into -a cup of wine which she handed smilingly to Antony. He put it to his -lips, when she arrested his hand and gave the poisoned wine to a slave -to drink, who immediately fell to the floor writhing in mortal agony. -“O Antony!” exclaimed Cleopatra, “what a woman you suspect. See now -that neither means nor opportunities to slay you would fail me if I -could live without you!” - -The anxiety and depression reached the army, encamped in an unwholesome -situation, and with reduced supplies. One day, Canidius himself, -hitherto so eager for battle, counseled the abandonment of the -fleet, and to carry the war into Thrace, where Dikome, king of the -Getæ, promised to send reënforcements. But what need was there of -reënforcements, since they were already superior in numbers to the -enemy? Cleopatra offered another opinion, if no less shameful, at any -rate more sensible. Flight against flight, it would be better to go to -Egypt than to Thrace. She proposed to leave part of the army in Greece, -to garrison the fortified towns; to embark the rest, and set sail for -Egypt, passing through the fleet of Octavius. After fresh hesitation, -Antony adopted this plan, though assuredly it was bitter to flee from -an army whose leader he despised. All tends to the belief, besides, -that Antony hoped to destroy the Roman fleet in the naval engagement -that must ensue on issuing from the narrow passage of Actium. If he -gained the victory he would be able to regain his position and attack -the demoralized army of Octavius; if the victory remained doubtful—for -with so powerful a fleet he could not admit the supposition of a -defeat—he would sail for Egypt. The retreat would be but a last -resource. - -Desertion and disease had greatly reduced the crews of the galleys. -Antony decided to burn one hundred and forty of them in order to fill -up with their crews the remainder of the fleet. Twenty-two thousand -legionaries, auxiliaries, and slingers were put on board the ships. -Not to discourage the soldiers and sailors, it was concealed from -them that these preparations for battle were indeed preparations for -retreat. The secret was so well kept, that it was a surprise to the -pilots when they received orders to carry the sails with them. They -recollected that in battle the vessels were worked with oars only. -Antony had it reported that the sails were carried the better to pursue -the enemy after the victory. - -On the morning of September 2d the vessels of Antony formed in four -grand divisions, crossed the channel of Actium, and, issuing thence, -were disposed in battle array opposite the fleet of Octavius, who was -awaiting them at eight or ten stadia from the land. On the side of -Antony, he himself, with Publicola, commanded the right wing; Marcus -Justus and Marcus Octavius the center, and Cœlius the left wing. -Cleopatra commanded the reserve with sixty Egyptian vessels. On the -side of the Romans, Octavius commanded the right wing, Agrippa the -left, and Arruntius the center. About noon the battle began. The troops -on land, who were under arms and motionless near the shore, saw not, -as is usual in sea-fights, the galleys rush at each other seeking to -strike with their rostra or beaks of steel. On account of their slow -rate of speed, the heavy vessels of Antony could not strike with that -impetuosity which gives force to the shock, and the light galleys of -the Romans feared to break their rostra against those enormous ships, -constructed of strong beams joined with iron. The battle was like a -succession of sieges, a combat of moving citadels with moving towers. -Three or four Roman galleys would unite to attack one of Antony’s -vessels, so huge, says Virgil, that they looked like the Cyclades -sailing on the waters. The soldiers cast grappling-irons, fired burning -arrows on the decks, attached fire-ships to the keels, and rushed to -board them, while the powerful batteries placed at the summit of the -towers of the beleaguered ship showered down on the assailants a hail -of stones and arrows. At the very first the Roman right wing, commanded -by Octavius, gave way before the attack of the division under Cœlius. -At the other extremity Agrippa, having designed a movement to surround -Antony and Publicola, these turned on their right and thus uncovered -the center of the line of battle. The swift Liburnian galleys improved -the opportunity to attack the vessels of the two Marcuses, in the rear -of which was the reserve under Cleopatra. Success and reverse went -hand in hand; the two sides fought with equal fury, and the victory -was doubtful, but the nervousness of Cleopatra was to be the ruin of -Antony’s cause. For hours she had suffered a fever of agony. From the -deck of the _Antoniad_ she anxiously watched the movements of the -fleets. In the beginning she had hoped for victory; now, terrified by -the clamor and tumult, her only desire was to escape. She awaited with -ever-increasing impatience the signal for retreat. Suddenly she noticed -the right wing moving towards the coast of Epirus, the left putting to -sea, and the center, which protected her, attacked, separated, broken, -penetrated by the Roman Liburnians. Then, “pale with her approaching -death”—_pallens morte futura_—listening only to her terror, she ordered -the sails to be hoisted, and with her sixty vessels she passed through -the midst of the combatants and fled towards the open sea. In the midst -of the battle Antony perceived the motion of the Egyptian squadron, and -recognized the _Antoniad_ by its purple sails; Cleopatra was fleeing, -robbing him at the decisive moment of his powerful reserve; but the -queen could not order the retreat, he alone could give the signal -for that. There is some mistake—a feint, perhaps a panic. Antony in -his turn hoists the sails of his galley, and rushes in the wake of -Cleopatra. He will bring back the Egyptian vessels and restore the -chances of the battle. But before overtaking the _Antoniad_ the unhappy -man has time to think. Cleopatra has deserted him either through -cowardice or treason; he can bring back to Actium neither her nor her -fleet. Next he thinks he will return to the combat, which is now only a -rout, to die with his soldiers—to _die_ without seeing Cleopatra once -more! he cannot do it. A fatal power drags him after this woman. He -reaches the _Antoniad_, but then he is overcome with his disgrace. He -refuses to see the queen. He seats himself on the prow of the vessel, -his head on his hands, and remains thus for three days and three nights. - -[Illustration] - - - - -[Illustration] - -VIII. - - -The Egyptian fleet and some other vessels which had followed the -fugitives put into the port of Cænopolis, near Cape Tenarum. Often -repulsed by the obstinate silence of Antony, Cleopatra’s women finally -succeeded in bringing about an interview between the lovers. They -supped and passed the night together. O, wretched human weakness! - -Some of his friends who had escaped from Actium brought them news. The -fleet had made an obstinate resistance, but all the vessels which were -not sunk or burned were now in possession of Octavius. The army still -maintained its position, and appeared to be faithful. Antony at once -sent messengers and despatched Canidius with orders to recall those -troops, and himself embarked for Cyrenaica, where he still had several -legions. One of his vessels bore his jewels, his valuables, and all the -services of gold and silver which he had used at his entertainments of -the kings, his allies. Before departing from Cænopolis, Antony divided -all this wealth among a few of his friends, whom he constrained to -seek an asylum in Greece, refusing to allow them any longer to follow -his fatal fortunes. When parting from them he talked in the kindest -manner, seeking to console them and regarding their tears with a sad -but kindly smile. - -Cleopatra had sailed from Greece some days before Antony. She was in -haste to return to Egypt, fearing that the news of the disaster of -Actium might provoke a revolution. To mislead the people for a few -days, and thus gain time to take her measures, she entered the port of -Alexandria with all the parade of a triumph. Her ships, their prows -adorned with crowns, resounded with the songs of victory and the music -of flutes and sistra. No sooner was she reinstalled in the palace than -she put to death many whose intrigues she feared. These executions, -which benefited the royal treasury, for death involved the confiscation -of the wealth of the real or pretended guilty, delivered Cleopatra -from all fear of an immediate revolution, but she none the less felt -a mortal terror about the future. She still suffered from the horror -of Actium;—at times haunted by the idea of suicide, she contemplated a -death as pompous as had been her life, and she erected at the extremity -of Cape Lochias an immense tomb, in which to consume herself and her -treasures. At other times she thought of flight, and by her orders a -number of her largest ships were transported with great reënforcements -of men, engines, and beasts of burden across the isthmus to the Red -Sea. She had a vision of embarking with all her wealth for some unknown -country of Asia or Africa, there to renew her existence of lust and -pleasure. - -Antony soon returned to Alexandria. He was in a state of gloomy -discouragement; his army in Acarnania, deserted by Canidius, who had -taken flight, had surrendered to Octavius after a week of hesitation; -in Cyrenaica he could not even obtain a meeting with his lieutenant -Scarpus, who, having taken sides with the Cæsarians, had threatened -his life; Herod, his creature, whom he had made king of the Jews, had -offered his allegiance to the conqueror of Actium; defection on all -sides with his allies as with his legions. Antony reached the point -of doubting even Cleopatra; he would scarcely see her. Exasperated -at the cruelty of the gods, and still more so at the perfidy of men, -he resolved to pass in solitude the wretched days that his enemies -might yet permit him to live. The story of Timon, the misanthrope of -Athens, which he had heard in happier days, recurred to his memory, -and, determined to live like Timon, he settled in the barren mole -of Poseidon, and busied himself there in erecting a tower which he -intended to call the Timonion. - -Cleopatra yielded less submissively to fate. Attacked in the crisis of -danger by a fainting courage to which Antony was an utter stranger, the -immediate danger past she recovered all her powers. With her exalted -imagination she could not despair either wholly or even for very long. -She learned that the vessels she had had transported to the Red Sea had -been burned by the Arabs, and thus her flight prevented. She at once -prepared for determined resistance. Whilst Antony was losing his time -playing the misanthrope, the queen raised fresh forces, furnished new -vessels, formed new alliances, repaired the fortifications of Pelusium -and Alexandria, distributed arms to the people, and to encourage the -Alexandrians to the determined defense of their city, she inscribed the -name of her son, Cæsarion, in the rolls of the militia. Antony could -not but admire the courage and energy of Cleopatra, and, entreated -by his friends besides being weary of his solitude, he resumed his -residence at the palace. The queen received him as in the happy days of -his return from Cilicia or Armenia. They again enjoyed with the friends -of the last hour banquets, festivals, orgies—only “The Inimitables” -changed their appellation, and called themselves “The Inseparables in -Death”: οἱ συναποθανουμéνοι. - -The choice of this funereal name, assumed as much from resignation as -bravado, sufficiently reveals the state of mind of the lovers. Antony, -it seems, had lost all hope; Cleopatra still hoped, but with intervals -of gloomy discouragement. At such times she would descend to the crypts -of the palace, near the prisons of the condemned; slaves would drag -them, a few at a time, from their cells to test on them the effects of -different poisons. Cleopatra watched with a curiosity, more painful -even than cruel, the dying agonies of the victims. The experiments were -frequently repeated, for the queen could not discover the poison of her -dreams—a poison that slays instantly without pain and without shock. -She noticed that violent poisons killed swiftly but with frightful -torture, and that less active ones inflicted lingering agonies; -then she studied the bites of serpents, and after new experiments -she discovered that the venom of an Egyptian viper, called in Greek -“Aspis,” caused neither convulsion nor any painful sensation, and led -by a constantly increasing drowsiness to a gentle death, like a sleep. -As for Antony, like Cato and Brutus, he had his sword. - -In the midst of these preparations for defense and for death the -vanquished of Actium sought to negotiate with their conqueror. -Octavius, recalled to Rome by a threatened sedition of the veterans, -had in the course of the winter gone to Syria, where he was -concentrating his forces. Antony wrote to him; he reminded him of -his former friendship, recalled his services, made excuses for the -wrongs he had done, and ended by promising to lay down his arms on -condition of being allowed to live as a private citizen at Alexandria. -Octavius deigned no reply, nor did he reply to a second letter in which -he offered to kill himself, provided that Cleopatra might continue -to reign over Egypt. The queen on her side, and unknown to Antony, -despatched an envoy to Octavius with rich gifts. Less generous than her -lover, who had offered his life to secure her crown, she separated his -cause from her own. The Egyptian envoy represented to Octavius that his -hatred of Antony ought not to include the queen, who had had no part -in the late events. It was Rome, said he, that declared war on Egypt, -to bring matters to a close with Antony. Was not Cleopatra compelled -to arm in her own defense? But now that Antony is overcome, compelled -to exile or suicide, the Romans may safely show mercy to Cleopatra and -leave her on the throne. That is far more to their interest than to -force this powerful queen to a desperate struggle. - -Octavius already considered himself the master of Egypt—and of -the world. He feared but little the broken sword in the hand of -Antony, still less the shattered remains of the army of Cleopatra -and the wrecks of her navy. But there were two things still beyond -his power—all-powerful emperor as he was—the immense treasures of -Cleopatra, on which he had reckoned to pay his legionaries, and -Cleopatra herself, whom he wished to grace his triumph; she might -escape the Roman by death and her treasure by fire. Traitors and spies -were not lacking in Alexandria; and Octavius knew, through their -reports, of the queen’s experiments in poisons as well as that she -had collected all her treasures in her future tomb. He was compelled -to employ cunning with the Egyptian, and, believing himself justified -by the words of her ambassador to propose such a step, he declared -that if the queen would compass Antony’s death she should preserve -her sovereignty. Some days after, fearful that this somewhat savage -diplomacy might not prevail with Cleopatra, he despatched to her -Thyreus, his freedman. In Egypt, Thyreus talked openly before the court -and Antony of the resentment of Octavius and of his severe decrees, -but having obtained without difficulty a secret audience of Cleopatra -he told her that he had been charged by his master to repeat his -assurances that she had nothing to fear. To satisfy her of this, he -pretended to confide to her that she was beloved by Octavius as of old -by Cæsar and Antony. Cleopatra had many interviews with Thyreus and -publicly showed him much friendliness. Antony took the alarm, and, -suspicious of Cleopatra whether as woman or queen, he made use of what -power was left him to avenge himself on Thyreus, and in spite of his -character as ambassador he had him beaten with rods and sent him back -bleeding to his master. The anger of Antony proves that Cleopatra had -not listened with inattentive ears to the communications of Thyreus. A -woman readily believes this sort of declaration, especially when she -has been much beloved. It is true that Cleopatra was then thirty-seven -years old, but had she any less confidence in her ever-victorious -charms? It is also true that Octavius had never seen her, unless, -perhaps, thirteen years before, at Rome, after the death of Cæsar; -but did not the universal fame of her attractions suffice to inspire, -if not exactly love, at least a vague desire and an ardent and eager -curiosity? Cleopatra had loved Antony passionately, but this love -had been aroused, strengthened, and exalted as much by the glory and -power of the triumvir as by his manly beauty and strength. Now Antony -was conquered, a fugitive, betrayed by his friends, deserted by his -legions; himself hopeless and dispirited he seemed to bow to his fate. -His absurd retreat to the Timonion after the battle of Actium, while -she, seized with a feverish activity, was preparing everything for a -final effort, had inspired more scorn than pity in the heart of the -queen. Women neither understand nor can they forgive those perilous -moments of depression which at certain times overcome the bravest. -Little as was the love she still bore Antony, and anxious as she might -be about the revelations made by Thyreus, Cleopatra never thought for -a moment of having Antony slain, or of giving him up to Octavius; but -what, perhaps, she could not help hoping was, that Antony, his life -threatened in Alexandria, forsaken by his last legionaries, and having -no other than Egyptian troops of doubtful fidelity, would flee into -Numidia or Spain and thus deliver her from her embarrassments. - -About the middle of the spring of 30 B. C. news reached Alexandria -that a Roman army had crossed the western frontier of Egypt. Antony -collected a few troops and marched to meet the enemy. A battle was -fought beneath the walls of the strong city of Prætonium, which was -already in the hands of the Romans. Antony, with his handful of men, -was repulsed. When he returned to Alexandria Octavius was within two -days’ march of the city. Whilst his lieutenant, Cornelius Gallus, was -penetrating into Egypt by Cyrenaica he himself had entered through -Syria and had taken Pelusium, after a real or feigned resistance, -in either case a very brief one. After the surrender of Pelusium, -the last of the Romans who had remained faithful to Antony cried out -treason, declaring that Seleucus had surrendered the city by the -orders of Cleopatra herself. Is it true that the queen had given such -instructions? It may be doubted; nevertheless, Cleopatra’s trouble -of mind and her secret hopes give a color to these suspicions. To -vindicate herself she gave up to Antony the wife and children of -Seleucus, and proposed that he should put them to death. This was but -a very doubtful proof of her innocence, but Antony had to be satisfied -with it. His anger subsided before her protestations and tears, true or -false; now was not the time for recriminations: he must fight. Octavius -had pitched his camp on the heights about twenty stadia east of -Alexandria. Antony, having led in person a strong reconnoitering body -of cavalry in that direction, fell in, not far from the Hippodrome, -with the whole body of the Roman cavalry. A furious battle was fought -in which, notwithstanding their great superiority of numbers, the -Romans were broken and utterly routed. Antony pursued them to their -entrenchments; then he returned to the city, strengthened by this -victory, of little importance indeed, but brilliant and of good augury. -He sprang from his horse before the palace, and, without taking time -to lay aside his armor, rushed, still wearing helmet and cuirass, and -covered with the blood and sweat of the fight, to embrace Cleopatra. -She, deceiving herself as to the importance of this skirmish, felt her -love and her hopes at the same time revive. She had again found her -Antony, her emperor, her god of war. She threw herself passionately on -his neck, wounding her breasts against his cuirass. At this moment of -sincere feeling she must have reproached herself grievously (if she -had committed it) with the treason of Pelusium; and the confidences -which she had accepted from the envoy of Octavius must have recurred to -her as a bitter remorse. Cleopatra desired to review the troops. She -made them a speech, and, having had the bravest of them pointed out to -her, she gave him a complete armor of solid gold. - -Antony, restored to hope, no longer contemplated negotiating, and -the same day sent a herald to Octavius to invite him to decide their -quarrel by single combat in sight of the two armies. Octavius replied -disdainfully that there was more than one other way for Antony to seek -death. This speech, that marked so great assurance in his enemy, struck -Antony as a fatal omen. Suddenly, dashed from his chimerical hopes, he -felt his situation in all its gloomy reality. Resolved, nevertheless, -the next day to fight one last battle, he ordered a sumptuous feast. -“To-morrow,” said he, “it will, perhaps, be too late!” The supper was -sad as a funeral banquet; the few friends that were faithful to him -maintained a gloomy silence, some even wept. Antony, simulating a -confidence which he did not feel, said to them to revive their sinking -spirits: “Think not that to-morrow I shall only seek a glorious death; -I shall fight for life and victory.” At daybreak, while the troops -were taking up their position before the Roman camp, and the Egyptian -fleet, which was to support the action by attacking that of Octavius, -was doubling Cape Lochias, Antony posted himself on an eminence whence -he commanded both the plain and the sea. The Egyptian vessels advanced -in battle array against the Roman Liburnians, but, when within two -arrow-flights, the rowers raised high in air their long oars in salute. -The salute was returned by the Romans, and immediately the two fleets, -mingling and making now but one, sailed into the port together. Almost -at the same moment Antony sees his cavalry,—that cavalry which the day -previous had fought with such intrepidity,—move without orders and pass -over to Octavius. In the Roman lines the trumpets sounded the onset; -the legions dashed forward with their accustomed war-cry: “_Comminus! -Comminus!_” (Hand-to-hand!) The infantry of Antony did not wait the -shock—it broke and rushed towards the city, dragging their leader -in the midst of the rout. Antony, mad with rage, uttering threats -and curses, striking the fugitives indifferently with the blade and -the flat of his sword, re-entered Alexandria exclaiming that he was -betrayed by Cleopatra, given up by this woman to those with whom he had -fought solely for love of her. - -Cleopatra had no longer the power either to betray or to save Antony; -for she, the “New Goddess,” the “Queen of Kings,” she, too, was -abandoned by her people, as he, the great captain, was deserted by his -army. Their cause was lost, who would be faithful to it? During the -preceding day and night, Octavius’s emissaries had worked upon the -legionaries and the Egyptians, promising to the former amnesty, to the -latter safety. The valiant soldier on whom Cleopatra the day before had -bestowed the golden suit of armor had not even waited for the morning -to pass into the Roman camp; that very night he had deserted! At the -sight of the fugitives rushing like a torrent into the city, Cleopatra -is overcome with terror. She is aware of the suspicions of Antony, -she knows his terrible fits of rage. Already she is familiar with the -idea of death, but she desires a more easy death, a death the sister -of sleep. She shudders and revolts at the thought of Antony’s sword; -she has a vision of hideous wounds in her person, her breast, perhaps -her face. As for attempting to calm his fury, she has neither strength -nor courage for that. Desperate, she quits the palace with Iras and -Charmion, and withdraws to her tomb, of which she has the door closed; -and, to prevent Antony’s attempting to force this refuge, she gives -orders to tell him she is no more.[14] - -Antony, rushing like a madman about the deserted apartments of the -palace, learns the news. His anger dissolves in tears: “What more have -you to expect, Antony?” exclaimed he, “Fortune robs you of the only -blessing which made life dear.” He commands his freedman Eros to slay -him; then, unfastening his cuirass, he addresses this last adieu to -Cleopatra: “O, Cleopatra! I do not complain that thou art taken from -me, since in a moment I shall rejoin thee.” Eros, meanwhile, has drawn -his sword, but instead of striking Antony, he stabs himself. “Brave -Eros,” said Antony, seeing him fall dead at his feet, “you set me the -example!” and, thrusting the sword into his breast, he sinks fainting -upon a couch. - -In a few minutes he recovers consciousness. He calls and entreats the -slaves, the soldiers, to put an end to him, but none dare to comply, -and he is left alone, howling and struggling on the couch. Meanwhile -the queen has been informed of the fact. Her grief is bitter and -profound—the more bitter that it is mingled with remorse. She must see -Antony again; she commands that he be brought, dead or alive. Diomedes, -her secretary, hastens to the palace. Antony is at the last gasp, but -the joy at hearing that the queen is not dead revives him, and “he -rises,” says Dion Cassius, “as if he might still live!” Slaves bear him -in their arms, and, to hasten their movements, he utters entreaties, -invectives, threats, which mingle with the death-rattle. They reach -the tomb; the queen leans from a window of the upper story; fearing -a surprise, she will not have the portcullis raised, but she throws -down some ropes, and commands them to be fastened round Antony. Then, -aided by Iras and Charmion, the only ones she has allowed to enter -the mausoleum, she begins to drag him up. “It was not easy,” says -Plutarch, “for women thus to lift a man of Antony’s size.” Never, say -those who witnessed it, was a sadder or more pitiful sight. Cleopatra, -with arms stiff and brow contracted, dragged painfully at the ropes, -whilst Antony, bleeding and dying, raised himself as much as possible, -extending towards her his dying hands. - -At last he reached her, and they laid him on a bed, where she long -held him in a close embrace. Her grief spent itself in tears, in sobs, -in despairing kisses. She called him her husband, her master, her -emperor; she struck her breast, tore it with her nails, then again -casting herself upon him, she kissed his wound, wiping off on her face -the blood that flowed from it. Antony endeavored to calm and console -her, and entreated her to care for her own safety. Burning with fever, -he begged for a drink, and swallowed a cup of wine. Death was rapidly -approaching. Cleopatra renewed her lamentations. “Do not grieve,” -said he, “for this last misfortune; rather congratulate me for the -blessings I have enjoyed in my life, and the happiness that has been -mine in being the most powerful and illustrious of men; congratulate me -on this, that, being a Roman, none but a Roman has conquered me.” He -expired in the arms of Cleopatra, dying, as Shakspeare says, where he -had wished to live. - -When Octavius heard of Antony’s death, he despatched Proculeius and -Gallus with orders to seize Cleopatra before she could have time to -kill herself. Their calls attracted the attention of the queen; she -descended and began to parley with them from behind the portcullis. -Deaf to the promises and protestations of the two Romans, Cleopatra -declared that she would only surrender if Octavius would agree by oath -to maintain her or her son on the throne of Egypt; otherwise Cæsar -should have but her dead body. Proculeius, espying the window which had -admitted Antony, left his companion to converse alone with the queen, -and, finding a ladder, placed it against the thick wall, and thus -entering the tomb, he descended the staircase within and sprang upon -Cleopatra. Charmion, turning at the noise, exclaimed: “Unhappy queen, -thou art taken alive!” Cleopatra snatched from her girdle a dagger -which for some time she had carried in order to kill herself, but -Proculeius seized her wrist and only allowed her to free herself after -being assured that she had no other weapon and no suspicious phial -about her. He then resumed the respectful attitude demanded by the rank -and misfortunes of the royal captive. He assured her she had nothing to -fear from Octavius. “O, Queen,” said he, “you are unjust towards Cæsar, -whom you would rob of the noblest opportunity of exercising clemency.” - -Her treasures and her person in the power of the Romans, Cleopatra felt -herself without the means of defense. What availed it that Cæsar left -her her life, since henceforth she desired only to die? The only favor -she asked was to be allowed to pay funeral honors to Antony. Although -the same request had already been made by the captains of his army who -had served under Antony, Octavius, touched with compassion, granted the -prayer of the Egyptian. Cleopatra bathed the body of her lover, adorned -and armed it as for a last battle, then she laid it in the tomb which -she had built for herself and in which she had vainly sought death. -After the obsequies the queen was conducted, by order of Octavius, to -the palace of the Lagidæ. There she was treated with every attention, -but she was, so to speak, never lost sight of (a prisoner forever -watched). - -The terrible emotions through which Cleopatra had passed, the intense -grief which overwhelmed her, above all the wounds she had inflicted on -herself during the death-struggle of Antony, brought on an inflammation -of the chest, attended by a burning fever. In this illness she saw the -hoped-for death, and to hasten her deliverance she refused for many -days all medical treatment and all food. Octavius was informed of this, -and he sent her word that she must have forgotten that he held her four -children as hostages, and that their lives should answer for hers. This -horrid threat overcame the resolution of Cleopatra, who then consented -to be properly cared for. - -Octavius meanwhile felt he had cause for disquiet. What if the pride -of the queen overpowered her motherly instincts? what if the horror -of gracing as a captive his approaching triumph should decide her -to a self-inflicted death? Doubtless she was well guarded, but what -negligence or what treason might he not fear? Besides, though without -arms or poison, might she not induce the faithful Charmion to strangle -her? “Now Octavius,” so says Dion Cassius, “conceived that the death of -Cleopatra would have robbed him of his glory.” He resolved, therefore, -to see her. He knew he possessed sufficient self-control not to become -entangled, and believed himself sufficiently skillful to keep the queen -uncertain of the fate to which he destined her. - -Cleopatra was no longer deceived as to the pretended sentiments of love -with which, according to Thyreus, she had inspired Octavius; of this -we are assured by Plutarch. Since the emperor’s arrival in Alexandria -he had not even expressed the intention of seeing her, and the harsh -treatment, the rigorous seclusion, and the savage threats which she -had to endure from him did not certainly indicate a man in love. Can -it be said, however, that the prospect of the unexpected visit of -Octavius aroused in Cleopatra, desperate as she was, no glimpse of -hope, no fugitive vision of a throne, no last enthusiasm? that from her -beautiful eyes shot no ray of half-seen triumph? - -The queen, scarcely convalescent, was in bed when Octavius entered. -She sprang from the couch, though wearing only a tunic, and knelt -before him. At the sight of this woman, worn out by fever, emaciated, -dreadfully pale, with drawn features, eyes sunken and red with tears, -bearing on her face and breast the marks made by her own hands, -Octavius found it hard to believe that this was the enchantress that -had captivated Cæsar and enslaved Mark Antony; but had Cleopatra -been more beautiful than Venus he would not have been her lover. -Continence was not among his virtues, but he was too prudent and too -clever ever to sacrifice his interests to his passions. He urged the -queen to return to her couch, and seated himself near her. Cleopatra -began to vindicate herself, referring all that had passed to the force -of circumstances and the fear she felt of Antony. She often ceased -speaking, interrupted by her choking sobs; then, in the hope of moving -Octavius to pity (of seducing him, some say), she drew from her bosom -some of Cæsar’s letters, kissed them, and exclaimed: “Wouldst thou know -how thy father loved me, read these letters.... Oh! Cæsar! why did I -not die before thee!... but for me you live again in this man!” and -through her tears she essayed to smile at Octavius. Lamentable scene of -coquetry, which the wretched woman no longer could or knew how to play. - -To her sighs, her moans, the emperor made no reply, even avoiding -looking at her and keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. He spoke only -to reply, one by one, to all the arguments by which the queen sought -to justify herself. Chilled by the impassibility of this man, who, -without being at all moved by her misfortunes and her sufferings, was -arguing with her like a schoolmaster, Cleopatra felt that she had -nothing to hope. Again death appeared as the only liberator. Then she -ceased her pleas, dried her tears, and, in order completely to deceive -Octavius, she pretended to be resigned to everything, provided her life -was spared. She handed him the list of her treasures, and entreated -him to permit her to retain certain jewels that she might present them -herself to Livia and Octavia in order to secure their protection. “Take -courage, O woman!” said the emperor as he left her. “Be hopeful; no -harm shall happen to you!” - -Deceived by the pretended resignation of Cleopatra, Octavius no longer -doubted that he would be able to exhibit to the Roman rabble the -haughty queen of Egypt walking in chains before his triumphal car. -He had not heard, as he left her, the last word uttered by Cleopatra, -that word which, since the taking of Alexandria, she had incessantly -repeated: Οἰ θριαμβεúσομαι! “I will not contribute to his triumph.”[15] - -A few days after this interview, an intimate companion of Octavius, -taking pity on such dire reverses, secretly revealed to Cleopatra that -the next day she would be embarked for Rome. She asked to be allowed -to go with her women to offer libations at the tomb of Antony. She was -borne thither in a litter, being still too weak to walk. After pouring -the wine and adjusting the crowns she kissed for the last time the -sepulchral stone, saying: “O, beloved Antony, if thy gods have any -power—for mine have betrayed me—do not abandon thy living wife. Do not -let thyself be triumphed over, by making her at Rome take part in a -disgraceful show. Hide me with thee under this earth of Egypt.” - -On her return, Cleopatra went to the bath; her women arrayed her in her -most magnificent robes, dressed her hair with care, and adjusted her -royal crown. Cleopatra had ordered a splendid repast; her toilet ended, -she was placed at the table. A countryman entered, carrying a basket. -A soldier of the guard desiring to see the contents, the man opened it -and showed some figs; and, the guard exclaiming at the beauty of them, -he offered them some to taste. His good nature lulled all suspicion; -he was allowed to pass. Cleopatra received the basket, sent to Octavius -a letter she had written in the morning, and was then left alone with -Iras and Charmion. She opened the basket and separated the figs, hoping -to be stung unawares but the reptile was asleep. Cleopatra discovered -it beneath the figs. “There it is, then!” cried she, and began to rouse -it with a golden pin. The asp bit her on the arm. - -Warned by the letter of Cleopatra, Octavius sent in haste to the -apartments. His officers found the guards at their post, ignorant of -what had occurred. They forced the door and beheld Cleopatra, clad in -her royal robes, lying lifeless on her golden couch, and at her feet -the corpse of Iras. Charmion was still alive; leaning over Cleopatra, -she was arranging with her dying hands the diadem around the head of -the queen. A soldier exclaimed in a voice of wrath: “Is this well done, -Charmion?” “Yes,” said the dying Charmion, “it is well done, and worthy -of a queen, the descendants of so many kings!” - -Octavius put to death Cæsarion, the son of Cæsar and Cleopatra, but -he was merciful to the dead body of the queen. Granting the mournful -prayer she had made to him in her last letter, he permitted her to be -buried beside Antony. He also granted honorable burial to the faithful -slaves, Charmion and Iras, who had accompanied their mistress to the -world of shadows. - -By her suicide, Cleopatra escaped contributing to the triumph of -Octavius,[16] but failing her person he had her effigy, and the -statue of Cleopatra with a serpent wound about her arm was borne in -the triumphal procession. Does it not seem that the statue of this -illustrious queen, who had subdued the greatest of the Romans, who had -made Rome tremble, and who preferred death to assisting at her own -humiliation, had by her death triumphed over her conqueror, and still -defied the senate and the people on the way to the Capitol? - -We can easily conceive of Cleopatra as a great queen, the rival of the -mythic Semiramis, and the elder sister of the Zenobias, the Isabellas, -the Maria-Theresas, and the Catharines; but, in truth, only those -queens are great who possess manly virtues, who rule nations and compel -events as a great king might do. Cleopatra was too essentially a woman -to be reckoned among these glorious androgynuses. If for twenty years -she preserved her throne and maintained the independence of Egypt, it -was done by mere womanly means—intrigue, gallantry, grace, and weakness -which is also a grace. Her sole method of governing was, in reality, -by becoming the mistress of Cæsar and the mistress of Mark Antony. -It was the Roman sword that sustained the throne of the Lagidæ. When -by the fault of Cleopatra the weapon was broken, the throne tottered -and fell. Ambition, her only royal virtue, would have been limited to -the exercise of her hereditary government if circumstances had not -developed and exalted it. - -Knowing herself weak, without genius and without mental force, she -reckoned wholly on her lovers for the accomplishment of her designs, -and it too often happened to this woman, fatal to others as to herself, -to retard the execution of these, dominated, as she ever was, by the -imperious desire of some entertainment or some pleasure. This queen -had the recklessness of the courtesan; women of gallantry might have -considered her their august and tragic ancestress. She only lived for -love, pomp, and magnificence; wherefore, when her lover was slain, her -beauty marred, her wealth lost, and her crown shattered, she found, to -face death, the masculine courage which had failed her in life. - -No, Cleopatra was not a great queen. But for her connection with -Antony, she would be forgotten with Arsinoë or Berenice. If her renown -is immortal, it is because she is the heroine of the most dramatic -love-story of antiquity. - -[Illustration] - - - - -FOOTNOTES - - -[1] Cicero to Atticus.—In this letter, dated from Brundusium, June 14, -706 A. U. C., Cicero speaks of the long sojourn of Cæsar at Alexandria. -There is thought to be much trouble there, “valde esse impedimentum.” -This “impedimentum,” of which Cæsar makes no complaint, was Cleopatra. - -[2] If this were true, Cleopatra would have been as fatal to Cæsar as -she afterwards became to Antony. - -[3] We must not judge Antony wholly by the passionate attacks of -Cicero. Plutarch quotes a number of clever retorts of this brave and -excellent soldier; and, in another order of ideas, his letter to -Octavius and Hirtius, from which we find long extracts in the “Third -Philippic,” is the work of a skillful politician as well as a model of -wit. - -[4] A curious inscription, discovered in Alexandria by M. C. Vescher, -is as follows: “Antony the Great, the Inimitable.” - -[5] Pliny, IX. 35. The legend is not so much of a myth as it appears. -Pliny relates that Octavius, having found the second pearl in the -treasury of Cleopatra, had it cut in two, and with it adorned the ears -of the Pantheon Venus. - -[6] Another incident, also related by Plutarch, says that Antony -sometimes sought relaxation from the excesses of the “Life Inimitable” -in more tranquil pleasures, such as angling. Vain even in trifles, and -mortified if he caught nothing, he had fishes attached to his hook by -a diver. The trick did not escape Cleopatra. The next day she had a -salted fish fastened to his hook, which the triumvir drew gravely from -the water amid shouts of laughter. From this time Antony renounced -angling. - -[7] Appian says positively that Antony was in love with Octavia. - -[8] Like all the Ptolemies, the last of the Lagidæ was a great builder. - -[9] Antony also made a gift to Cleopatra of the 300,000 manuscripts of -the library of Pergamos, to replace a part of the volumes burned at -Alexandria. - -[10] Thirty-five drachmæ were given to each legionary, and a less sum -to every soldier. - -[11] The Egyptian, says Florus forcibly, demanded as the price of her -favors, the Roman Empire from a drunken emperor: “Mulier ægyptia ab -ebrio imperatore pretium libidinum Romanum Imperium petit.” - -[12] These verses were written after the battle of Actium, 31 B. C., -but they no less indicate the sentiments of the Romans at the -commencement of the war. If this indignation and hatred obtained with -such violence after the victory, what must they have been in the very -hour of danger? Lucan says: “This woman, the reproach of Egypt, the -fatal Erinys of Latium, incestuous daughter of the Ptolemies; who made -the Capitol tremble with her sistra.” - -[13] It therefore seems probable that it was in the autumn of 32 B. C. -that Antony must have married Cleopatra. - -[14] Dion says that Cleopatra betrayed Antony at Alexandria, as at -Pelusium, and that she sent him word of her death that he might be -urged to commit suicide, and his body given up to Octavius. Once for -all, we take for authority Plutarch, who seems much more worthy of -credit. The taking of Alexandria was on August 1, 30 B. C. - -[15] The peculiar force of this verb in the passive form cannot be -fitly rendered in a translation. It is, word for word, “I will not be -triumphed.” - -[16] Cleopatra died the 15th of August, 30 B. C. - - - - -Transcriber’s Notes - - -Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed. - -Simple typographical errors were corrected. - -Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained. - -Table of Contents added by Transcriber and placed into the Public -Domain. - -The illustrations are decorative; the ones at the beginning of each -chapter are headpieces. - -Page 53: “the war of Persia” was printed that way. - -Page 65: “ἐρω.μένην” was printed with the period. - -Page 103: “Οἰ θριαμβεúσομαι” was printed that way. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by Henry Houssaye - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA *** - -***** This file should be named 56049-0.txt or 56049-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/6/0/4/56049/ - -Produced by Turgut Dincer, Charlie Howard, and the Online -Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This -file was produced from images generously made available -by The Internet Archive) - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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