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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) - - - - - - -</pre> - - -<h1>CLEOPATRA</h1> - -<hr /> -<p class="newpage p4 center wspace large">HENRY HOUSSAYE</p> - -<p class="p2 center xxlarge gesperrt">CLEOPATRA</p> -<p class="p2 center larger">A STUDY</p> - -<p class="p2 center vspace wspace">TRANSLATED FROM THE FRENCH BY<br /> -<span class="xlarge">A. F. D.</span></p> - -<div id="if_i_000" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 1.3125em;"> - <img src="images/i_000.jpg" width="21" height="21" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="p1 center wspace">AUTHORIZED EDITION</p> - -<div id="if_i_000a" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 14.5em;"> - <img src="images/i_000a.jpg" width="232" height="286" alt="" /></div> - -<p class="p1 center vspace">NEW-YORK<br /> -DUPRAT & CO.<br /> -<span class="smaller">1890</span> -</p> - -<hr /> - -<p class="newpage p4 center"> -<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1890, by Duprat & Co.</span></p> - -<p class="p2 center xsmall">THE DE VINNE PRESS.</p> - -<hr /> - -<div xml:lang="fr" lang="fr"> -<p class="newpage p4 in0"> -<span class="smcap">Calmann Lévy</span>, Editeur,<br /> -<span class="in4">3, rue Auber, 3.</span></p> - -<p class="sigright"><span class="smcap">Paris</span>, le 21 Août, 1890.</p> - -<p class="in0"><i>Messieurs et Chers Confrères</i>:</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Agréez, Messieurs et chers confrères, mes salutations -empressées.</p> - -<p class="sigright"><span class="smcap">Paul Calmann Lévy.</span></p> - -<p class="in0"> -<span class="smcap">MM. Duprat & Co.</span>,<br /> -<span class="in4">New-York.</span></p> -</div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_9">9</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> -<h2 id="CONTENTS">CONTENTS</h2> -</div> - -<table id="toc" summary="Contents"> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">I</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_I">9</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">II</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_II">16</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">III</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_III">28</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">IV</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_IV">37</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">V</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_V">53</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VI</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_VI">68</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VII</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_VII">77</a></td></tr> - <tr> - <td class="tdr">VIII</td> - <td class="tdr"><a href="#chap_VIII">85</a></td></tr> -</table> - -<hr /> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_I" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 31.4375em;"> - <img src="images/i_009.jpg" width="503" height="115" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 class="nobreak"><span class="large">CLEOPATRA.</span></h2> -</div> - -<h2 class="nobreak p2">I.</h2> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_009a.jpg" width="61" height="54" alt="A" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">After</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_10">10</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_11">11</span> -tithes, import and export duties cast annually into the -royal treasury twelve thousand five hundred talents—sixty-eight -millions of francs.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_12">12</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_13">13</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_14">14</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_15">15</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div id="ip_15" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 5.3125em;"> - <img src="images/i_015.jpg" width="85" height="167" alt="" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_16">16</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_II" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 31.125em;"> - <img src="images/i_016.jpg" width="498" height="87" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="II" class="nobreak">II.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_016a.jpg" width="61" height="54" alt="A" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">Alexandria</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_17">17</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Ptolemy XI. (Auletes) died in July, 51 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_18">18</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_19">19</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_20">20</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>But his refusals, his counsels, his implied menaces -availed nought against the will of Cæsar. His prayers -exhausted, he commands. Pothinus is ordered formally<span class="pagenum" id="Page_21">21</span> -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.</p> - -<p>The queen was waiting impatiently for news from -Cæsar. On the receipt of his first message, but<span class="pagenum" id="Page_22">22</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_23">23</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_24">24</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_25">25</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_26">26</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_27">27</span> -sea. The war was carried on without any decided advantage -till the beginning of the spring of 47 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> -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 <em>War of Cleopatra</em>, 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.</p> - -<div id="ip_27" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 5.3125em;"> - <img src="images/i_027.jpg" width="85" height="85" alt="" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_28">28</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_III" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 15.5625em;"> - <img src="images/i_028.jpg" width="249" height="45" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="III" class="nobreak">III.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_028e.jpg" width="64" height="54" alt="E" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">Eighteen</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_29">29</span> -brother, and his partner on the throne; in reality she -reigned solely, and continued the mistress of Cæsar.</p> - -<p>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;<a id="FNanchor_1" href="#Footnote_1" class="fnanchor">1</a> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_30">30</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_31">31</span> -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.</p> - -<p>During the campaigns of Cæsar in Armenia and -Africa (from July, 47, to June, 46, <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>) 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_32">32</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_33">33</span> -“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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_34">34</span> -some idea may be formed of the impression made on -the Roman people by the intrigue of Cæsar and Cleopatra.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_35">35</span> -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 <em>to arm his assassins against him</em> (to -furnish the dagger to slay him).<a id="FNanchor_2" href="#Footnote_2" class="fnanchor">2</a> 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-<span class="pagenum" id="Page_36">36</span>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_37">37</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_IV" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 31.0625em;"> - <img src="images/i_037.jpg" width="497" height="87" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="IV" class="nobreak">IV.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_037c.jpg" width="63" height="54" alt="C" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">Cleopatra</span> 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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_38">38</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Soon after the departure of the legions, 43 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, 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.</p> - -<p>Stationed at Cyprus was an Egytian fleet. Cassius -sent orders direct to the navarch Sarapion, who commanded<span class="pagenum" id="Page_39">39</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_40">40</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_41">41</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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”—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">Desultor bellorum civilium</i>. 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_42">42</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_43">43</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_44">44</span> -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,<a id="FNanchor_3" href="#Footnote_3" class="fnanchor">3</a> 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.</p> - -<p>The first advantage Cleopatra took of her power was -to have her son, by Cæsar, Ptolemy-Cæsarion, recognized<span class="pagenum" id="Page_45">45</span> -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 <span class="smcap smaller">A. U. C.</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_46">46</span> -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 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Οι Αχιμητοδιοι: “Those whose life is inimitable.” -This, moreover, was the name assumed by Antony and -Cleopatra and the intimate companions of their pleasures.<a id="FNanchor_4" href="#Footnote_4" class="fnanchor">4</a> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_47">47</span> -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.<a id="FNanchor_5" href="#Footnote_5" class="fnanchor">5</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_48">48</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_49">49</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_50">50</span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_51">51</span> -quite willing to renew their adventures. The secret, -however, escaped, and thenceforth the royal pair were -handled more cautiously, without being entirely -spared.<a id="FNanchor_6" href="#Footnote_6" class="fnanchor">6</a></p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_52">52</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_53">53</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_V" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29.6875em;"> - <img src="images/i_053.jpg" width="475" height="90" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="V" class="nobreak">V.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_053i.jpg" width="57" height="54" alt="I" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap1"><span class="smcap large">In</span> the winter of 39 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_54">54</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Antony remained at Rome during nearly the whole -year 39 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_55">55</span> -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 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, forgetting -not only the Parthians (leaving his lieutenant Ventidius -to conduct the war against them), but Alexandria, -the “Life Inimitable,” and Cleopatra herself.<a id="FNanchor_7" href="#Footnote_7" class="fnanchor">7</a> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_56">56</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_57">57</span> -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.</p> - -<p>From the winter of 39 to the summer of 36 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_58">58</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.<a id="FNanchor_8" href="#Footnote_8" class="fnanchor">8</a> 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.</p> - -<p>Did the queen seek to play the indifferent by leaving<span class="pagenum" id="Page_59">59</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_60">60</span> -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 <em>Roman -people</em>; 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.”<a id="FNanchor_9" href="#Footnote_9" class="fnanchor">9</a></p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_61">61</span> -that moment he would incur the terrible vengeance of -Antony.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_62">62</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,<a id="FNanchor_10" href="#Footnote_10" class="fnanchor">10</a> the -reorganization of the army, and the collection of contributions -compelled Antony to remain some time<span class="pagenum" id="Page_63">63</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_64">64</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_65">65</span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_66">66</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_67">67</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_68">68</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_VI" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29.25em;"> - <img src="images/i_068.jpg" width="468" height="86" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="VI" class="nobreak">VI.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_068b.jpg" width="61" height="54" alt="B" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">By</span> 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.”<a id="FNanchor_11" href="#Footnote_11" class="fnanchor">11</a></p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_69">69</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_70">70</span> -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.</p> - -<p>Octavius, who took for his motto: “That which is -well done is done quickly enough,” <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">sat celeriter feri -quidquid fiat satis bene</i>, 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_71">71</span> -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—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">monstrum illud</i>—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—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">meretrix regina</i>—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).”<a id="FNanchor_12" href="#Footnote_12" class="fnanchor">12</a></p> - -<p>Domitius Ænobarbus and C. Sossius were elected -consuls 32 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_72">72</span> -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).</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_73">73</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_74">74</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_75">75</span> -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 <i xml:lang="la" lang="la">senatus-consultum</i> -(a judgment of the Senate), by which Antony was deposed -from the consular dignity, and the same day, -January 1, 31 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, 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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Antony and Cleopatra passed at Athens the autumn -of 32 and part of the winter of 31 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> Whilst their<span class="pagenum" id="Page_76">76</span> -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.<a id="FNanchor_13" href="#Footnote_13" class="fnanchor">13</a></p> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_77">77</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_VII" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29.25em;"> - <img src="images/i_077.jpg" width="468" height="85" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="VII" class="nobreak">VII.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_077a.jpg" width="61" height="54" alt="A" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">Antony</span> 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 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_78">78</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_79">79</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_80">80</span> -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 -<i>Antoniad</i>, 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 <i>Antoniad</i> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_81">81</span> -now that neither means nor opportunities to slay you -would fail me if I could live without you!”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_82">82</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_83">83</span> -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 <i>Antoniad</i> 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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_84">84</span> -“pale with her approaching death”—<i xml:lang="la" lang="la">pallens morte futura</i>—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 <i>Antoniad</i> 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 <i>Antoniad</i> 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 <em>die</em> without seeing Cleopatra -once more! he cannot do it. A fatal power drags him -after this woman. He reaches the <i>Antoniad</i>, 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.</p> - -<div id="ip_84" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 7em;"> - <img src="images/i_084.jpg" width="112" height="84" alt="" /></div> - -<hr /> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_85">85</span></p> - -<div class="chapter"> - -<div id="chap_VIII" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 29.1875em"> - <img src="images/i_085.jpg" width="467" height="59" alt="" /></div> - -<h2 id="VIII" class="nobreak">VIII.</h2> -</div> - -<div> -<img class="drop-cap" src="images/i_085t.jpg" width="62" height="54" alt="T" /> -</div> - -<p class="drop-cap"><span class="smcap large">The</span> 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!</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_86">86</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_87">87</span> -Asia or Africa, there to renew her existence of lust and -pleasure.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_88">88</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_89">89</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.<span class="pagenum" id="Page_90">90</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_91">91</span> -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,<span class="pagenum" id="Page_92">92</span> -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.</p> - -<p>About the middle of the spring of 30 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> 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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_93">93</span> -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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_94">94</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_95">95</span> -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: “<em>Comminus! Comminus!</em>” (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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_96">96</span> -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.<a id="FNanchor_14" href="#Footnote_14" class="fnanchor">14</a></p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_97">97</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_98">98</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_99">99</span> -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.”</p> - -<p>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).</p> - -<p><span class="pagenum" id="Page_100">100</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_101">101</span> -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?</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_102">102</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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!”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_103">103</span> -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.”<a id="FNanchor_15" href="#Footnote_15" class="fnanchor">15</a></p> - -<p>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.”</p> - -<p>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<span class="pagenum" id="Page_104">104</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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!”</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>By her suicide, Cleopatra escaped contributing to the -triumph of Octavius,<a id="FNanchor_16" href="#Footnote_16" class="fnanchor">16</a> but failing her person he had<span class="pagenum" id="Page_105">105</span> -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?</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<p>Knowing herself weak, without genius and without -mental force, she reckoned wholly on her lovers for the<span class="pagenum" id="Page_106">106</span> -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.</p> - -<p>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.</p> - -<div id="ip_106" class="figcenter" style="max-width: 10.375em;"> - <img src="images/i_106.jpg" width="166" height="84" alt="" /></div> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="footnotes"> -<h2 id="FOOTNOTES" class="nobreak p1">FOOTNOTES</h2> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_1" href="#FNanchor_1" class="fnanchor">1</a>Cicero to Atticus.—In this letter, dated from Brundusium, -June 14, 706 <span class="smcap smaller">A. U. C.</span>, 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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_2" href="#FNanchor_2" class="fnanchor">2</a>If this were true, Cleopatra would have been as fatal to Cæsar -as she afterwards became to Antony.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_3" href="#FNanchor_3" class="fnanchor">3</a>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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_4" href="#FNanchor_4" class="fnanchor">4</a>A curious inscription, discovered in Alexandria by M. C. -Vescher, is as follows: “Antony the Great, the Inimitable.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_5" href="#FNanchor_5" class="fnanchor">5</a>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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_6" href="#FNanchor_6" class="fnanchor">6</a>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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_7" href="#FNanchor_7" class="fnanchor">7</a>Appian says positively that Antony was in love with Octavia.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_8" href="#FNanchor_8" class="fnanchor">8</a>Like all the Ptolemies, the last of the Lagidæ was a great -builder.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn1"><a id="Footnote_9" href="#FNanchor_9" class="fnanchor">9</a>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.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_10" href="#FNanchor_10" class="fnanchor">10</a>Thirty-five drachmæ were given to each legionary, and a less -sum to every soldier.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_11" href="#FNanchor_11" class="fnanchor">11</a>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.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_12" href="#FNanchor_12" class="fnanchor">12</a>These verses were written after the battle of Actium, 31 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span>, -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.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_13" href="#FNanchor_13" class="fnanchor">13</a>It therefore seems probable that it was in the autumn of 32 -<span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span> that Antony must have married Cleopatra.</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_14" href="#FNanchor_14" class="fnanchor">14</a>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 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span></p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_15" href="#FNanchor_15" class="fnanchor">15</a>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.”</p></div> - -<div class="footnote"> - -<p class="fn2"><a id="Footnote_16" href="#FNanchor_16" class="fnanchor">16</a>Cleopatra died the 15th of August, 30 <span class="smcap smaller">B. C.</span></p></div> -</div></div> - -<div class="chapter"><div class="transnote"> -<h2 id="Transcribers_Notes" class="nobreak p1">Transcriber’s Notes</h2> - -<p>Punctuation and spelling were made consistent when a predominant -preference was found in this book; otherwise they were not changed.</p> - -<p>Simple typographical errors were corrected.</p> - -<p>Ambiguous hyphens at the ends of lines were retained.</p> - -<p>Table of Contents added by Transcriber and placed into the -Public Domain.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_53">53</a>: “the war of Persia” was printed that way.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_65">65</a>: “ἐρω.μένην” was printed with the period.</p> - -<p>Page <a href="#Page_103">103</a>: “Οἰ θριαμβεúσομαι” was printed that way.</p> -</div></div> - - - - - - - - -<pre> - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Cleopatra, by Henry Houssaye - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK CLEOPATRA *** - -***** This file should be named 56049-h.htm or 56049-h.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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