ornia

 
 ot HMstorg 
 
 Cleopatra 
 
 BY JACOB ABBOTT 
 
 WITH ENGRAVINGS 
 
 NEW YORK AND LONDON 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS 
 
 1904
 
 Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand 
 eight hundred and fifty-one, by 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, 
 
 in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District 
 of New York. 
 
 Copyright, 1879, by JACOB ABBOTT.
 
 PREFACE, 
 
 IN selecting the subjects for the successive 
 volumes of this series it has been the object of 
 the author to look for the names of those great 
 personages whose histories constitute use- 
 ful, and not merely entertaining, knowledge. 
 There are certain names which are familiar, 
 as names, to all mankind ; and every person 
 who seeks for any degree of mental cultiva- 
 tion feels desirous of informing himself of the 
 leading outlines of their history, that he may 
 know, in brief, what it was in their characters 
 or their doings which has given them so wide- 
 ly-extended a fame. This knowledge, which 
 it seems incumbent on every one to obtain in 
 respect to such personages as Hannibal, Alex- 
 ander, Caesar, Cleopatra, Darius, Xerxes, Al- 
 fred, William the Conqueror, Queen Eliza- 
 beth, and Mary, queen of Scots, it is the 
 design and object of these volumes to com- 
 municate, in a faithful, and, at the same time, 
 if possible, in an attractive manner. Conse-
 
 viii PREFACE. 
 
 quently, great historical names alone are se- 
 lected ; and it has been the writer's aim to 
 present the prominent and leading traits in 
 their characters, and all the important events 
 in their lives, in a bold and free manner, and 
 yet in the plain and simple language which is 
 so obviously required in works which aim at 
 permanent and practical usefulness.
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Chapter Page 
 
 I. THE VALLEY OF THE NILE 13 
 
 II. THE PTOLEMIES 35 
 
 III. ALEXANDRIA S. 61 
 
 iv. CLEOPATRA'S FATHER 87 
 
 V. ACCESSION TO THE THRONE 112 
 
 VI. CLEOPATRA AND C.ffiSAR 132 
 
 VII. THE ALEXANDRINE WAR 157 
 
 VIII. CLEOPATRA A QUEEN 181 
 
 IX. THE BATTLE OFPHILIPPI 200 
 
 X. CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY 225 
 
 XI. THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM 256 
 
 XII. THE END OF CLEOPATRA . . . 286
 
 ENGRAVINGS, 
 
 Pago 
 MAP, SCENE OF CLEOPATRA'S HISTORY Frontispiece. 
 
 MAP, THE RAINLESS REGION 21 
 
 MAP, THE DELTA OF THE NILE 29 
 
 THE BIRTH-DAY PRESENT 50 
 
 ANTONY CROSSING THE DESERT 107 
 
 CLEOPATRA ENTERING THE PALACE OF CAESAR 135 
 
 VIEW OF ALEXANDRIA 162 
 
 CLEOPATRA'S SISTER IN THE TRIUMPHAL PROCES- 
 SION 190 
 
 THE ENTERTAINMENTS AT TARSUS 242 
 
 THE RAISING OF ANTONY TO THE UPPER WINDOW 
 
 OF THE TOMB .. . 303
 
 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 
 
 The parentage and birth of Cleopatra. 
 
 fllHE story of Cleopatra is a story of crime, 
 -*- It is a narrative of the course and the con- 
 sequences of unlawful love. In her strange and 
 romantic history we see this passion portrayed 
 with the most complete and graphic fidelity in 
 all its influences and effects ; its uncontrollable 
 impulses, its intoxicating joys, its reckless and 
 mad career, and the dreadful remorse and ulti- 
 mate despair and ruin in which it always and 
 inevitably ends. 
 
 Cleopatra was by birth an Egyptian ; by r D 
 cestry and descent she was a Greek. Th if- 
 while Alexandria and the delta of the Nile fo t 
 ed the scene of the most important events ana 
 incidents of her history, it was the blood of 
 Maoedon which flowed in her veins. Her char- 
 acter and action are marked by the genius, the
 
 14 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Cleopatrt'i reddenee in Kgypt Phjdml Mpwt c* *fyp 
 
 onrage, the originality, and the impulsiveness 
 pertaining to the stock from which she sprung 
 The events of her history, on the other hand, 
 and the peculiar character of her adventures, 
 her sufferings, and her sins, were determined by 
 the circumstances with which she was sur- 
 rounded, and the influences which were brought 
 to bear upon her in the soft and voluptuous 
 clime where the scenes of her early life were 
 laid. 
 
 Egypt has always been considered as physio- 
 ally the most remarkable country on the globe. 
 It is a long and narrow valley of verdure and 
 fruitralness, completely insulated from the rest 
 of the habitable world. It is more completely 
 insulated, in fact, than any literal island could 
 be, inasmuch as deserts are more impassable 
 than seas. The very existence of Egypt is a 
 most extraordinary phenomenon. If we could 
 but soar with the wings of an eagle into the air, 
 and look down upon the scene, so as to observe 
 the operation of that grand and yet simple pro- 
 cess by which this long and wonderful valley, 
 teeming so profusely with animal and vegetable 
 afe, has been formed, and is annually revivified 
 and renewed, in the midst of surrounding wastes 
 of silence, desolation, and death, we should gaze
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 15 
 
 The eagle'i wings and science. 
 
 upon it with never-ceasing admiration and pleas- 
 ure. We have not the wings of the eagle, but 
 the generalizations of soienoe furnish us with 
 a sort of substitute for them. The long series 
 of patient, careful, and sagacious observations, 
 which have been continued now for two thou- 
 sand years, bring us results, by means of which, 
 through our powers of mental conception, we 
 may take a comprehensive survey of the whole 
 scene, analogous, in some respects, to that which 
 direct and actual vision would afford us, if we 
 could look down upon it from the eagle's point 
 of view. It is, however, somewhat humiliating 
 to our pride of intellect to reflect that long-con- 
 tinued philosophical investigations and learned 
 ^scientific research are, in such a case as this, 
 ^ after all, in some sense, only a sort of substitute 
 > for wings. A human mind connected with a 
 pair of eagle's wings would have solved the mys- 
 tery of Egypt in a week ; whereas science, phi- 
 losophy, and research, confined to the surface of 
 the ground, have been occupied for twenty oen- 
 turies in accomplishing the undertaking. 
 
 It is found at last that both the existence of 
 Egypt itself, and its strange insulation in the 
 midst of boundless tracts of dry and barren sand, 
 Spend upon certain remarKable result* of the
 
 10 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Phyrioal peellrlde of Egypt onnertud wtth tfaa Uwt of rafr. 
 
 genera, laws of rain. The water which is taken 
 up by the atmosphere from the surface of th* 
 sea and of the land by evaporation, falls again, 
 under certain circumstances, in showers of rain, 
 the frequency and copiousness of which vary 
 very much in different portions of the earth. 
 As a general pririciple, rains are much more fre- 
 quent and abundant near the equator than in 
 temperate climes, and they grow less and less 
 so as we approach the poles. This might nat? 
 urally have been expected ; for, under the burn- 
 ing sun of the equator, the evaporation of water 
 must necessarily go on with immensely greater 
 rapidity than in the colder zones, and all the 
 water which is taken up must, of course, again 
 come down. 
 
 It is not, however, wholly by the- latitude of 
 the region in which the evaporation takes place 
 that the quantity of rain which falls from the 
 atmosphere is determined ; for the condition on 
 which the falling back, in rain, of the water 
 which has been taken up by evaporation mainly 
 depends, is the cooling of the atmospheric stra- 
 tum which contains it ; and this effect is pro- 
 duced in very various ways, and many different 
 causes operate to modify it. Sometimes the 
 stratum is coded by being wafted over ranget
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NILB. 17 
 
 General la wi of raiu. 
 
 of mountains ; sometimes by encountering and 
 becoming mingled with cooler currents of air ; 
 and sometimes, again, by being driven in winds 
 toward a higher, and, consequently, cooler lati- 
 tude. If, on the other hand, air moves from 
 cold mountains toward warm and sunny plains, 
 or from higher latitudes to lower, or if, among 
 the various currents into which it falls, it be- 
 comes mixed with air warmer than itself, its 
 capacity for containing vapor in solution is in- 
 creased, and, consequently, instead of releasing 
 its hold upon the waters which it has already 
 in possession, it becomes thirsty for more. It 
 moves over a country, under these circumstan- 
 ces, as a warm and drying wind. Under a re- 
 verse of circumstances it would have formed 
 drifting mists, or, perhaps, even copious showers 
 of rain. 
 
 It will be evident, from these considerations, 
 that the frequency of the showers, and the quan- 
 tity of the rain which will fall, in the various 
 regions respectively which the surface of the 
 earth presents, must depend on the combined 
 influence of many causes, such as the warmth 
 of the climate, the proximity and the direction 
 of mountains and of seas, the character of the 
 prevailing winds, and the reflecting qualities of 
 lft-2
 
 18 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Cauiei which modify the quantity of rain. 
 
 the soil. These and other similar causes, it if 
 found, do, in fact, produce a vast difference in 
 the quantity of rain which falls in different re- 
 gions. In the northern part of South America, 
 where the land is bordered on every hand by 
 vast tropical seas, which load the hot and thirsty 
 air with vapor, and where the mighty Cordillera 
 of the Andes rears its icy summits to chill and 
 precipitate the vapors again, a quantity of rain 
 amounting to more than ten feet in perpendic- 
 ular height falls in a year. At St. Petersburg, 
 on the other hand, the quantity thus falling in 
 a year is but little more than one foot. The 
 immense deluge which pours down from the 
 clouds in South America would, if the water 
 were to remain where it fell, wholly submerge 
 and inundate the country. As it is, in flowing 
 off through the valleys to the sea, the united 
 torrents form the greatest river on the globe- 
 the Amazon ; and the vegetation, stimulated by 
 the heat, and nourished by the abundant and 
 incessant supplies of moisture, becomes so rank 
 and loads the earth with such an entangled and 
 matted mass of trunks, and stems, and twining 
 wreaths and vines, that man is almost excluded 
 from the scene. The boundless forests beoom* 
 a vast and almost impenetrable jungle, a ban-
 
 THE VALLEY OP THE NILE. 19 
 
 Striking contracts. RainleM region* 
 
 doned to wild beasts, noxious reptiles, and huge 
 and ferocious birds of prey. 
 
 Of course, the district of St. Petersburg, with 
 its icy winter, its low and powerless sun, and 
 its twelve inches of annual rain, must necessa- 
 rily present, in all its phenomena of vegetable 
 and animal life, a striking contrast to the exu- 
 berant prolificness of New Grenada. It is, how- 
 ever, after all, not absolutely the opposite ex- 
 treme. There are certain regions on the sui 
 face of the earth that are actually rainless ; and 
 it is these which present us with the true and 
 real contrast to the luxuriant vegetation and 
 teeming life of the country of the Amazon. In 
 these rainless regions all is necessarily silence, 
 desolation, and death. No plant can grow ; no 
 animal can live. Man, too, is forever and hope- 
 lessly excluded. If the exuberant abundance 
 of animal and vegetable life shut him out, in 
 some measure, from regions which an excess of 
 heat and moisture render too prolific, the total 
 absence of them still more effectually forbids him 
 a home in these. They become, therefore, vast 
 wastes of dry and barren sands in which no 
 root can find nourishment, and of dreary rooks 
 to which not even a lichen can cling. 
 
 The most extensive and remarkable rai*Je
 
 20 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Great ralnleM region of Asia and Africa. 
 
 region on the earth is a vast tract extending 
 through the interior and northern part of Af- 
 rica, and the southwestern part of Asia. The 
 Red Sea penetrates into this tract from the 
 south, and thus breaks the outline and contirm- 
 'ty of its form, without, however, altering, or 
 essentially modifying its character. It divides 
 it, however, and to the different portions which 
 this division forms, different names have been 
 given. The Asiatic portion is called Arabia 
 Deserta; the African tract has received the 
 name of Sahara*; while between these two, in 
 the neighborhood of Egypt, the barren region is 
 called simply the desert. The whole tract is 
 marked, however, throughout, with one all-per- 
 vading character : the absence of vegetable, and, 
 consequently, of animal life, on account of the 
 absence of rain. The rising of a range of loftj 
 mountains in the center of it, to produce a pro 
 eipitation of moisture from the air, would prob- 
 ably transform the whole of the vast waste into 
 as verdant, and fertile, and populous a region 
 UP any on the globe. 
 
 As it is, there are no such mountains. The 
 whole tract is nearly level, and so little eleva- 
 ted above the sea, that, at the distance of many 
 hundred mile* in the interior, the land rises onU
 
 THE VALLBY OF THE NILK 
 
 Map of the rainleM refkra 
 
 to the height of a few hundred feet above the 
 surface of the Mediterranean ; whereas in New 
 Grenada, at less than one hundred miles' from 
 the sea, the chain of the Andes rises to eleva- 
 tions of from ten to fifteen thousand feet. Such 
 an ascent as that of a few hundred feet in hund- 
 reds of miles would be wholly imperceptible to 
 any ordinary mode of observation ; and the great 
 rainless region, accordingly, of Africa and Asia 
 
 ^^-^^m 
 
 is, as it appears to the traveler, one vast plain, 
 a thousand miles wide and five thousand miles
 
 33 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 TWtey <** NQa. Ttw Art 8e* 
 
 long, with only one considerable interruption to 
 the dead monotony which reigns, with that ex- 
 ception, every where over the immense expanse 
 of silence and solitude. The single interval of 
 fruitmlness and life is the valley of the Nile. 
 
 There are, however, in fact, three interrup- 
 tions to the continuity of this plain, though only 
 cne of them constitutes any considerable inter- 
 ruption to its barrenness. They are all of them 
 valleys, extending from north to south, and ly- 
 ing side by side. The most easterly of these 
 valleys is so deep that the waters of the ocean 
 flow into it from the south, forming a long and 
 narrow inlet called the Red Sea. As this inlet 
 communicates freely with the ocean, it is al- 
 ways nearly of the same level, and as the evap- 
 oration from it is not sufficient to produce rain, 
 it does not even fertilize its own shores. Its 
 presence varies the dreary scenery of the land- 
 scape, it is true, by giving us surging waters to 
 look upon instead of driving sands ; but this is 
 all. With the exception of the spectacle of an 
 English steamer passing, at weary intervals, 
 over its dreary expanse, and some moldering re- 
 mains of ancient cities on its eastern shore, it 
 affords scarcely any indications of life. It does 
 very little, therefore, to relieve the monotonous
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 2 
 
 The ouei. HI wet 
 
 aspect of solitude and desolation which reign* 
 over the region into which it has intruded. 
 
 The most westerly of the three valleys to 
 which we have alluded is only a slight depres- 
 sion of the surface of the land marked by a line 
 of oases. The depression is not sufficient to 
 admit the waters of the Mediterranean, nor are 
 there any rains over any portion of the valley 
 which it forms sufficient to make it the bed of 
 a stream. Springs issue, however, here and 
 there, in several places, from the ground, and, 
 percolating through the sands along the valley, 
 give fertility to little dells, long and narrow, 
 which, by the contrast that they form with the 
 surrounding desolation, seem to the traveler to 
 possess the verdure and beauty of Paradise. 
 There is a line of these oases extending along 
 this westerly depression, and some of them are 
 of considerable extent. The oasis of Siweh, on 
 which stood the far-famed temple of Jupiter 
 Ammon, was many miles in extent, and was 
 said to have contained in ancient times a popu- 
 lation of eight thousand souls. Thus, while the 
 most easterly of the three valleys which we 
 have named was sunk so low as to admit the 
 ocean to flow freely into it, the most westerly 
 was so slightly depressed that it gained only a,
 
 24 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Mountain* of the Moon. The Riror Ml 
 
 oiroumsoribed and limited fertility through tlU 
 springs, which, in the lowest portions of it, oozed 
 from the ground. The third valley the cen- 
 tral one remains now to be described. 
 
 The reader will observe, by referring once 
 more to the map, that south of the great rain- 
 icss region of which we are speaking, there lie 
 groups and ranges of mountains in Abyssinia, 
 called the Mountains of the Moon. These 
 mountains are near the equator, and the rela- 
 tion which they sustain to the surrounding seas, 
 and to currents of wind which blow in that quar- 
 ter of the world, is such, that they bring down 
 from the atmosphere, especially in certain sea- 
 sons of the year, vast and continual torrents d 
 rain. The water which thus falls drenches the 
 mountain sides and deluges the valleys. There 
 is a great portion of it which can not flow to 
 the southward or eastward toward the sea, as 
 the whole country consists, in those directions, 
 of continuous tracts of elevated land. The rush 
 of water thus turns to the northward, and, press- 
 ing on across the desert through the great cea- 
 tral valley which we have referred to above, it 
 finds an outlet, at last, in the Mediterranean, 
 at a point two thousand miles distant from the 
 place where the immense condenser drew it
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 25 
 
 incessant raina. Inundation of the Nile 
 
 from the skies The river thus created is the 
 Nile. It is formed, in a word, by the surplus 
 waters of a district inundated with rains, in their 
 progress across a rainless desert, seeking the sea 
 If the surplus of water upon the Abyssinian 
 mountains had been constant and uniform, the 
 stream, in its passage across the desert, would 
 have communicated very little fertility to the 
 barren sands which it traversed. The imme- 
 diate banks of the river would have, perhaps, 
 been fringed with verdure, but the influence of 
 the irrigation would have extended no further 
 than the water itself could have reached, by 'per- 
 colation through the sand. But the flow of the 
 water is not thus uniform and steady. In a 
 certain season of the year the rains are inces- 
 sant, and they descend with such abundance 
 and profusion as almost to inundate the districts 
 where they fall. Immense torrents stream down 
 the mountain sides; the valleys are deluged; 
 plains turn into morasses, and morasses into 
 lakes. In a word, the country becomes half 
 submerged, and the accumulated mass of wa- 
 ters wou.d rush with great force and violence 
 down the central valley of the desert, which 
 forms their only outlet, if the passage were nar- 
 row, and if it made any considerable descent in
 
 26 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Conn* of the rirw. Subsidence of the wmtan 
 
 its course to the sea. It is, however, not nar- 
 row, and the descent is very small. The de- 
 pression in the surface of the desert, through 
 which the water flows, is from five to ten mile? 
 wide, and, though it is nearly two thousand 
 miles from the rainy district across the desert 
 to the sea, the country for the whole distance 
 is almost level. There is only sufficient de- 
 scent, especially for the last thousand miles, to 
 determine a very gentle current to the north- 
 ward in the waters of the stream. 
 
 Under these circumstances, the immense 
 quantity of water which falls in the rainy dis- 
 trict in these inundating tropical showers, ex- 
 pands over the whole valley, and forms for a 
 time an immense lake, extending in length 
 across the whole breadth of the desert. This 
 lake is, of course, from five to ten miles wide, 
 and a thousand miles long. The water in it is 
 shallow and turbid, and it has a gentle current 
 toward the north. The rains, at length, in a 
 great measure cease ; but it requires some 
 months for the water to run off and leave the 
 valley dry. As soon as it is gone, there springs 
 up from the whole surface of the ground which 
 has been thus submerged a most rank and lux- 
 uriant vegetation.
 
 THH VALLKV OF THE NILE. 27 
 
 Lr1aat Togetation. Absence of' forartt 
 
 This vegetation, now wholly regulated and 
 controlled by the hand of man, must have been, 
 in its original and primeval state, of a very pe- 
 auliar character. It must have consisted of 
 such plants only as could exist under the condi- 
 tion of having the soil in which they grew laid, 
 for a quarter of the year, wholly under water. 
 This circumstance, probably, prevented the val- 
 ley of the Nile from having been, like other fer- 
 tile tracts of land, encumbered, in its native 
 state, with forests. For the same reason, wild 
 beasts could never have haunted it. There were 
 no forests to shelter them, and no refuge or re- 
 treat for them but the dry and barren desert, 
 during the period of the annual inundations. 
 This most extraordinary valley seems thus to 
 have been formed and preserved by Nature her- 
 self for the special possession of man. She her- 
 self seems to have held it in reserve for him from 
 the very morning of creation, refusing admis- 
 sion into it to every plant and every animal thai 
 might hinder or disturb his occupancy and con- 
 trol. And if he were to abandon it now for a 
 thousand years, and then return to it once more, 
 he would find it just as he left it, ready for his 
 immediate possession. There would be no wild 
 beasts that he must first expel, and no tangled
 
 38 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Oral Mriqmi^nf Cerpt Bar moo 
 
 forests would havo sprung up, that his ax 
 first remove. Nature is the husbandman who 
 keeps this garden of the world in order, and the 
 means and machinery by which she operates 
 aie the grand evaporating surfaces of the seas, 
 the beams of the tropical sun, the lofty summits 
 of the Abyssinian mountains, and, as the prod- 
 act and result of all this instrumentality, great 
 periodical inundations of summer rain. 
 
 For these or some other reasons Egypt has 
 been occupied by man from the most remote an- 
 tiquity. The oldest records of the human race, 
 made three thousand years ago, speak of Egypt 
 as ancient then, when they were written. Not 
 only is Tradition silent, but even Fable herself 
 does not attempt to tell the story of the origin 
 of her population. Here stand the oldest and 
 most enduring monuments that human power 
 has ever been able to raise. It is, however, 
 somewhat humiliating to the pride of the race 
 to reflect that the loftiest and proudest, as well 
 as the most permanent and stable of all the 
 works which man has ever accomplished, are 
 but the incidents and adjuncts of a thin stra- 
 tum of alluvial fertility, left upon the sands by 
 the subsiding waters of summer showers. 
 
 The most important portion of the alluvion
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 
 
 The Delta of the Nile. 
 
 of the Nile is the northern portion, where the 
 valley widens and opens toward the sea, form- 
 ing a triangular plain of about one hundred 
 miles in length on each of the sides, over which 
 the waters of the river flow in a great number 
 ef separate creeks and channels. The whole 
 area forms a vast meadow, intersected every 
 where with slow-flowing streams of water, and 
 presenting on its surface the most enchanting 
 pictures of fertility, abundance, and beauty 
 This region is called the Delta of the Nile
 
 30 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 The Delfo i teen from the i 
 
 The sea upon thj coast is shallow, and the fer- 
 tile country formed by the deposits of the river 
 seems to have projected somewhat beyond the 
 line of the coast ; although, as the land has not 
 advanced perceptibly for the last eighteen hund- 
 red years, it may be somewhat doubtful wheth- 
 er the whole of the apparent protrusion is not 
 due to the natural conformation of the coast, 
 rather than to any changes made by the action 
 of the river. 
 
 The Delta of the Nile is so level itself, and so 
 little raised above the level of the Mediterra- 
 nean, that the land seems almost a continuation 
 of the same surface with the sea, only, instead 
 of blue waters topped with white-crested waves, 
 we have broad tracts of waving grain, and gen- 
 tle swells of land crowned with hamlets and 
 villages. In approaching the coast, the navi- 
 gator has no distant view of all this verdure and 
 beauty. It lies so low that it continues be- 
 neath the horizon until the ship is close upon 
 the shore. The first landmarks, in fact, which 
 the seaman makes, are the tops of trees grow- 
 ing apparently out of the water, or the sum- 
 mit of an obelisk, or the capital of a pillar, 
 marking the site of some ancient and dilapida- 
 ted oity.
 
 THE VALLEY OF THE NTLE. 31 
 
 mnuth of the Nl). The Canopif mouth 
 
 The most easterly of the channels by which 
 the waters of the river find their way through 
 the Delta to the sea, is called, as it will be seen 
 marked upon the map, the Pelusiao branch. It 
 forms almost the boundary of the fertile region 
 of the Delta on the eastern side. There was an 
 ancient city named Pelusium near the mouth 
 of it. This was, of course, the first Egyptian 
 city reached by those who arrived by land from 
 the eastward, traveling along the shores of the 
 Mediterranean Sea. On account of its thus 
 marking the eastern frontier of the country, it 
 became a point of great importance, and is often 
 mentioned in the histories of ancient times. 
 
 The westernmost mouth of the Nile, on the 
 other hand, was called the Canopio mouth. The 
 distance along the coast from the Canopic mouth 
 to Pelusium was about a hundred miles. The 
 outline of the coast was formerly, as it still con 
 tinues to be, very irregular, and the water shal- 
 low Extended banks of sand protruded into 
 the sea, and the sea itself, as if in retaliation, 
 formed innumerable creeks, and inlets, and la- 
 goons in the land. Along this irregular and un- 
 certain boundary the waters of the Nile and the 
 surges of the Mediterranean kept up an eternal 
 war, with energies so nearly equal, that now,
 
 82 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Ancient Egypt Toe Pjrrunldi 
 
 after the lapse of eighteen hundred years since 
 the state of the contest began to be recorded, 
 neither side has been found to have gained any 
 perceptible advantage over the other. The rivef 
 brings the sands down, and the sea drives them 
 incessantly back, keeping the whole line of the 
 shore in such a condition as to make it extreme- 
 ly dangerous and difficult of access to man. 
 
 It will be obvious, from this description of the 
 valley of the Nile, that it formed a country which 
 was in ancient times isolated and secluded, in 
 a very striking manner, from all the rest of the 
 world. It was wholly shut in by deserts, on 
 every side, by land ; and the shoals, and sand- 
 bars, and other dangers of navigation which 
 marked the line of the coast, seemed to forbid 
 approach by sea. Here it remained for many 
 ages, under the rule of its own native ancient 
 kings. Its population was peaceful and indus- 
 trious. Its scholars were famed throughout the 
 world for theii learning, their science, and their 
 vhLosophy. It was in these ages, before other 
 nations had intruded upon its peaceful seclu- 
 sion, that the Pyramids were built, and the 
 enormous monoliths carved, and those vast tern* 
 pies reared whose ruined columns are now the 
 wonder of mankind. During these remote ages.
 
 B.C.323.J THE VALLEY OF THE NILE. 33 
 
 Conquests of the Persians and Macedonians. The Ptolemie* 
 
 too, Egypt was, as now, the land of perpetual 
 fertility and abundance. There would always 
 be corn in Egypt, wherever else famine might 
 rage. The neighboring nations and tribes in 
 Arabia, Palestine, and Syria, found their way 
 to it, accordingly, across the deserts on the east- 
 ern side, when driven by want, and thus opened 
 a way of communication. At length the Per- 
 sian monarchs, after extending their empire 
 westward to the Mediterranean, found access 
 by the same road to Pelusium, and thence over- 
 ran and conquered the country. At last, about 
 two hundred and fifty years before the time of 
 Cleopatra, Alexander the Great, when he sub- 
 verted the Persian empire, took possession of 
 Egypt, and annexed it, among the other Per- 
 sian provinces, to his own dominions. At tha 
 division of Alexander's empire, after his death, 
 Egypt fell to one of his generals, named Ptol- 
 emy. Ptolemy made it his kingdom, and left 
 it, at his death, to his heirs. A long line of sov- 
 ereigns succeeded him, known in history as the 
 dynasty of the Ptolemies Greek princes, reign- 
 ing over an Egyptian realm. Cleopatra was 
 the daughter of the eleventh in the line. 
 
 The capital of the Ptolemies was Alexandria 
 Until the time of Alexander's conquest, 
 
 163
 
 84 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 323 
 
 Founding of Alexandria. The Pharos. 
 
 had no sea-port. There were several landing- 
 places along the coast, but no proper harbor. 
 In fact Egypt had then so little commercial in- 
 tercourse with the rest of the world, that she 
 Bcarcely needed any. Alexander's engineers, 
 however, in exploring the shore, found a point 
 not far from the Canopic mouth of the Nile 
 where the water was deep, and where there was 
 an anchorage ground protected by an island. 
 Alexander founded a city there,which he called 
 by his own name. He perfected the harbor by 
 artificial excavations and embankments. A 
 lofty light-house was reared, which formed a 
 landmark by day, and exhibited a blazing star 
 by night to guide the galleys of the Mediterra- 
 nean in. A canal was made to connect the port 
 with the Nile, and warehouses were erected tc 
 contain the stores of merchandise. In a word, 
 Alexandria became at once a great commercial 
 capital. It was the seat, for several centuries, 
 of the magnificent government of the Ptolemies ; 
 and so well was its situation chosen for the pur- 
 poses intended, that it still continues, after the 
 lapse of twenty centuries of revolution and 
 change, one of the principal emporiums of the 
 commerce of the East.
 
 B.C.358.] THE PTOLEMIES. 85 
 
 The dymuty of (he Ptolomie* to ftmndot 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 THE PTOLEMIES. 
 
 rilHE founder of the dynasty of the Ptole- 
 -* mies the ruler into whose hands the king- 
 dom of Egypt fell, as has already been stated, 
 at the death of Alexander the Great was a 
 Macedonian general in Alexander's army. The 
 circumstances of his birth, and the events which 
 led to his entering into the service of Alexander, 
 were somewhat peculiar. His mother, whose 
 name was Arsinoe, was a personal favorite and 
 companion of Philip, king of Macedon, the fa- 
 ther of Alexander. Philip at length gave Arsi- 
 noe in marriage to a certain man of his court 
 named Lagus. A very short time after the 
 marriage, Ptolemy was born. Philip treated 
 the child with the same consideration and favor 
 that he had evinced toward the mother. The 
 boy was called the son of Lagus, but his posi- 
 tion ir the royal court of Maoedon was as high 
 and honorable, and the attentions which he re- 
 ceived were as great, as he could have expected 
 to enjoy if he had been in reality a son of the
 
 36 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 356 
 
 PWlip of Macodon. Alexnde> 
 
 king. As he grew np, he attained to official sta- 
 tions of considerable responsibility and power. 
 
 In the course of time, a certain transaction 
 occurred, by means of which Ptolemy involved 
 himself in serious difficulty with Philip, though 
 by the same means he made Alexander very 
 strongly his friend. - There was a province of 
 the Persian empire called Caria, situated in the 
 southwestern part of Asia Minor. The govern- 
 or of this province had offered his daughter -> 
 Philip as the wife of one of his sons named 
 AridsBUS, the half brother of Alexander. Alex- 
 ander's mother, who was not the mother of Ari- 
 daeus, was jealous of this proposed marriage. 
 She thought that it was part of a scheme for 
 bringing Aridasus forward into public notice, and 
 finally making him the heir to Philip's throne ; 
 whereas she was very earnest that this splendid 
 inheritance should be reserved for her own son. 
 Accordingly, she proposed to Alexander that 
 they should send a secret embassage to the 
 Persian governor, and represent to him that it 
 would be much better, both for him and for his 
 daughter, that she should have Alexander in- 
 stead of AridsBUS for a husband, and induce 
 him, if possible, to demand of Philip that ha 
 should make the change.
 
 B.C. 336.] THE PTOLEMIES. 37 
 
 Tke intrigue discovered. Ptolemy banished. 
 
 Alexander entered readily into this scheme, 
 and various courtiers, Ptolemy among the rest, 
 undertook to aid him in the accomplishment of 
 it. The embassy was sent. The governor of 
 Caria was very much pleased with the change 
 which they proposed to him. In fact, the whole 
 plan seemed to be going on very successfully 
 toward its accomplishment, when, by some 
 means or other, Philip discovered the intrigue. 
 He went immediately into Alexander's apart- 
 ment, highly excited with resentment and an- 
 ger. He had never intended to make Aridseus, 
 whose birth on the mother's side was obscure 
 and ignoble, the heir to his throne, and he re- 
 proached Alexander in the bitterest terms for 
 being of so debased and degenerate a spirit as 
 to desire to marry the daughter of a Persian 
 governor ; a man who was, in fact, the mere 
 lave, as he said, of a barbarian king. 
 
 Alexander's scheme was thus totally defeat- 
 ed ; and so displeased was his father with the 
 officers who had undertaken to aid him in the 
 execution of it, that he banished them all from 
 the kingdom. Ptolemy, in consequence of this 
 decree, wandered about an exile from his coun- 
 try for some years, until at length the death of 
 Philip enabled Alexander to recall him. Alex-
 
 38 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 336 
 
 Accession of Alexander. Ptolemy's elevation. 
 
 andor succeeded his father as King of Maoedon^ 
 and immediately made Ptolemy one of his prin- 
 cipal generals. Ptolemy rose, in fact, to a very 
 high command in the Macedonian army, and 
 distinguished himself very greatly in all the 
 celebrated conqueror's subsequent campaigns. 
 In the Persian invasion, Ptolemy commanded 
 one of the three grand divisions of the army, 
 and he rendered repeatedly the most signal 
 services to the cause of his master He was 
 employed on the most distant and dangerous 
 enterprises, and was often intrusted with the 
 management of affairs of the utmost import- 
 ance. He was very successful in all his under- 
 takings. He conquered armies, reduced fort- 
 resses, negotiated treaties, and evinced, in a 
 word, the highest degree of military energy 
 and skilL He once saved Alexander's life by 
 discovering and revealing a dangerous conspir- 
 acy which had been formed against the king. 
 Alexander had the opportunity to requite this 
 favor, through a divine interposition vouchsafed 
 to him, it was said, for the express purpose of 
 enabling him to evince his gratitude. Ptolemy 
 had been wounded by a poisoned arrow, and 
 when all the remedies and antidotes of the 
 physicians had failed, and the patient was ap
 
 B.C. 323.] THE PTOLEMIES. 39 
 
 Death of Alexander. Ptolemy becomes King of Egypt. 
 
 parently about to die, an effectual means of 
 cure was revealed to Alexander in a dream, 
 and Ptolemy, in his turn, was saved. 
 
 At the great rejoicings at Susa, when Alex- 
 ander's conquests were completed, Ptolemy was 
 honored with a golden crown, and he was mar- 
 ried, with great pomp and ceremony, to Arta- 
 cama, the daughter of one of the most distin- 
 guished Persian generals. 
 
 At length Alexander died suddenly, after a 
 night of drinking and carousal at Babylon. He 
 had no son old enough to succeed him, and his 
 immense empire was divided among his gener- 
 als. Ptolemy obtained Egypt for his share. He 
 repaired immediately to Alexandria, with a 
 great army, and a great number of Greek at- 
 tendants and followers, and there commenced a 
 reign which continued, in great prosperity and 
 splendor, for forty years. The native Egyp- 
 tians were reduced, of course, to subjection and 
 bondage. All the offices in the army, and alJ 
 stations of trust and responsibility in civil life, 
 were filled by Greeks. Alexandria was a Greek 
 city, and it became at once one of the most im- 
 portant commercial centers in all those seas. 
 Greek and Roman travelers found now a lan- 
 guage spoken in Egypt which they could un-
 
 40 CLEOPATRA. | B.C. 323 
 
 Character of Ptolemy*! reign. The Alexandrian library 
 
 derstand, and philosophers and scholars could 
 gratify the curiosity which they had so long 
 felt, in respect to the institutions, and monu- 
 ments, and wonderful physical characteristics 
 of the country, with safety and pleasure. In a 
 word, the organization of a Greek government 
 over the ancient kingdom, and the establishment 
 of the great commercial relations of the city of 
 Alexandria, conspired to bring Egypt out from 
 its concealment and seclusion, and to open it in 
 some measure to the intercourse, as well as to 
 bring it more fully under the observation, of 
 the rest of mankind. 
 
 Ptolemy, in fact, made it a special object of 
 his policy to accomplish these ends. He invit- 
 ed Greek scholars, philosophers, poets, and art- 
 ists, in great numbers, to come to Alexandria, 
 and to make his capital thnir abode. He col- 
 lected an immense library, which subsequently, 
 under the name of the Alexandrian library, be- 
 came one of the most celebrated collections of 
 books and manuscripts th+ was ever made. 
 We shall have occasion to rafer more particu- 
 larly to this library in the next chapter. 
 
 Besides prosecuting these splendid schemes 
 for the aggrandizement of Egypt, King Ptole- 
 my was engaged, during p*"rt the whole pe-
 
 B.C. 283.J THE PTOLEMIES. 4i 
 
 Abdication of Ptolemy. Ptolemy PhQadelphua 
 
 riod of his reign, in waging incessant wars with 
 the surrounding nations. He engaged in these 
 wars, in part, for the purpose of extending the 
 boundaries of his empire, and in part for self- 
 defense against the aggressions and encroach- 
 ments of other powers. He finally succeeded 
 in establishing his kingdom on the most stable 
 and permanent basis, and then, when he was 
 drawing toward the close of his life, being in 
 fact over eighty years of age, he abdicated his 
 throne in favor of his youngest son, whose name 
 was also Ptolemy. Ptolemy the father, the 
 founder of the dynasty, is known commonly in 
 history by the name of Ptolemy Soter. Hia 
 son is called Ptolemy Philadelphus. This son 
 though the youngest, was preferred to his broth 
 ers as heir to the throne on account of his being 
 the son of the most favored and beloved of the 
 monarch's wives. The determination of Soter 
 to abdicate the throne himself arose from his 
 wish to put this favorite son in secure possession 
 of it before his death, in order to prevent the 
 older brothers from disputing the succession. 
 The coronation of Philadelphus was made one 
 of the most magnificent and imposing ceremo- 
 nies that royal pomp and parade ever arranged 
 Two years afterward Ptolemy the father died,
 
 CLEOPATRA, [B.C. 
 
 Death of Ptolemy. Subsequent degeneracy of the Ptolemii* 
 
 and was buried by his son with a magnificence 
 almost equal to that of his own coronation. His 
 body was deposited in a splendid mausoleum, 
 which had been built for the remains of Alex- 
 tnder ; and so high was the veneration which 
 was felt by mankind for the greatness of his ex- 
 ploits and the splendor of his reign, that divine 
 honors were paid to his memory. Such was 
 the origin of the great dynasty of the Ptolemies. 
 Some of the early sovereigns of the line fol 
 lowed in some degree the honorable example set 
 them by the distinguished founder of it ; but 
 this example was soon lost, and was succeeded 
 by the most extreme degeneracy and debase- 
 ment. The successive sovereigns began soon 
 to live and to reign solely for the gratification 
 of their own sensual propensities and passions. 
 Sensuality begins sometimes with kindness, but 
 it ends always in the most reckless and intoler- 
 able cruelty. The Ptolemies became, in the 
 end, the most abominable and terrible tyrants 
 that the principle of absolute and irresponsible 
 power ever produced. There was one vice in 
 particular, a vice which they seem to have 
 adopted from the Asiatic nations of the Persian 
 empire, that resulted in the most awful oonae 
 quences. ThU vice wJP in
 
 B.C. 170.] THK PTOLEMIES. 43 
 
 Incestuous marriage* of the Ptolemy family. 
 
 The law of God, proclaimed not only in th<; 
 Scriptures, but in the native instincts of the hu- 
 man soul, forbids intermarriages among those 
 connected by close ties oi consanguinity. The 
 necessity for such a law rests on considerations 
 which can not here be fully explained. They 
 are > considerations, however,* which arise from 
 causes inherent in the very nature of man as a 
 social being, and which are of universal, per- 
 petual, and insurmountable force. To guard 
 his creatures against the deplorable consequen 
 ces, both physical and moral, which result from 
 the practice of such marriages, the great Au- 
 thor of Nature has implanted in every mind 
 an instinctive sense of their criminality, pow- 
 erful enough to give effectual warning of the 
 danger, and so universal as to cause a distinct 
 condemnation of them to be recorded in almost 
 every code of written law that has ever been 
 promulgated among mankind. The Persian 
 sovereigns were, however, above all law, and 
 every species of incestuous marriage was prac- 
 ticed by them without shame. The Ptolemies 
 foLuwed their example. 
 
 One of the most striking exhibitions of the 
 nature of incestuous domestic life which is af- 
 forded by the whole dismal panorama of pagan
 
 44 CLEOPATRA [B.C. 170 
 
 Ptotawy PhfMOBu Origin of hi* nun 
 
 vice and crime, is presented in the history of 
 the great-grandfather of the Cleopatra who ia 
 the principal subject of this narrative. He was 
 Ptolemy Physcon, the seventh in the line. It 
 it is necessary to give some particulars of his 
 history and that of his family, in order to ex- 
 plain the circumstances under which Cleopatra 
 herself came upon the stage. The name Phys- 
 oon, which afterward became his historical des- 
 ignation, was originally given him in contempt 
 and derision. He was very small of stature in 
 respect to height, but his gluttony and sensual- 
 ity had made him immensely corpulent in body, 
 so that he looked more like a monster than a 
 man. The term Physcon was a Greek word, 
 which denoted opprobiously the ridiculous fig- 
 are that he made. 
 
 The circumstances of Ptolemy Physoon's ac- 
 cession to the throne afford not only a striking 
 illustration of his character, but a very faithful 
 though terrible picture of the manners and mor- 
 als of the times. He had been engaged in a 
 long and cruel war with his brother, who was 
 king before him, in which war he had perpe- 
 trated all imaginable atrocities, when at length 
 his brother died, leaving as his survivors his 
 wife, who was also his sister, and a son wh
 
 B.C. 170.J THE PTOLEMIES. 45 
 
 Ctnjonutancei of Phy scon's accewion. Cleopatm 
 
 was yet a child. This son was properly the 
 heir to the crown. Physcon himself, being u 
 brother, had no claim, as against a son. The 
 name of the queen was Cleopatra. This was, 
 in fact, a very common name among the prin- 
 cesses of the Ptolemaic line. Cleopatra, be- 
 sides her son, had a daughter, who was at this 
 time a young and beautiful girl. Her name 
 was also Cleopatra. She was, of course, the 
 niece, as her mother was the sister, of Physcon. 
 The plan of Cleopatra the mother, after her 
 husband's death, was to make her son the king 
 of Egypt, and to govern herself, as regent, un- 
 til he should become of age. The friends and 
 adherents of Physcon, however, formed a strong 
 party in his favor. They sent for him to come 
 to Alexandria to assert his claims to the throne. 
 He came, and a new civil war was on the point 
 of breaking out between the brother and sister, 
 when at length the dispute was settled by a 
 treaty, in which it was stipulated that Phys- 
 oon should marry Cleopatra, and be king ; but 
 that he should make the son of Cleopatra by 
 her former husband his heir. This treaty was 
 carried into effect so far as the celebration of 
 the marriage with the mother was concerned, 
 ad the establishment of Phyaoon upon the
 
 46 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 17(X 
 
 Phyoon' bratal perfidy Be marries bU wife'i daughter 
 
 throne. But the perfidious monster, instead of 
 keeping his faith in respect to the boy, determ 
 ined to murder him; and so open and brutai 
 were his habits of violence and cruelty, that he 
 undertook to perpetrate the deed himself, in 
 open day. The boy fled shrieking to the moth- 
 er's arms for protection, and Physcon stabbed 
 and killed him there, exhibiting the spectacle 
 of a newly-married husband murdering the son 
 of his wife in her very arms ! 
 
 It is easy to conceive what sort of affection 
 would exist between a husband and a wife after 
 such transactions as these. In fact, there had 
 been no love between them from the beginning 
 The marriage had been solely a political arrange- 
 ment. Physcon hated his wife, and had mur 
 dered her son, and then, as if to complete the 
 exhibition of the brutal lawlessness and capri- 
 oiousness of his passions, he ended with falling 
 in love with her daughter. The beautiful girl 
 looked upon this heartless monster, as ugly and 
 deformed in body as he was in mind, with ab- 
 solute horror. But she was wholly in his power 
 He compelled her, by violence, to submit to hit 
 will. He repudiated the mother, and forced 
 the daughter to become his wife. 
 
 Physcon displayed the same qualities of bra
 
 B.C. 170.J THE PTOLEMIES. 47 
 
 Atrocities of Phyacon. HI* flight 
 
 tal tyranny and cruelty in the treatment of hia 
 subjects that he manifested in his own domestic 
 relations. The particulars we can not here give > 
 but can only say that his atrocities became at 
 length absolutely intolerable, and a revolt so 
 formidable broke out, that he fled from the 
 country. In fact, he barely escaped with his 
 life, as the mob had surrounded the palace and 
 were setting it on fire, intending to burn the 
 tyrant himself and all the accomplices of his 
 crimes together. Physcon, however, contrivei 
 to make his escape. He fled to the island of 
 Cyprus, taking with him a certain beautifu 
 boy, his son by the Cleopatra whom he had di- 
 vorced ; for they had been married long enough, 
 before the divorce, to have a son. The name 
 of this boy was Memphitis. His mother was 
 very tenderly attached to him, and Physcon 
 took him away on this very account, to keep 
 him as a hostage for his mother's good behav- 
 ior. He fancied that, when he was gone, she 
 might possibly attempt to resume possession of 
 the throne. 
 
 His expectations in this respect were realized. 
 The people of Alexandria rallied around Cleo- 
 patra, and called upon her to take the crown 
 She did so, feeling, perhaps, some misgivings in
 
 48 CLEOPATRA [B.C. 130 
 
 GVaopatn ame* the gOTernnMat Bar btrtb-da y 
 
 respect to the danger which such a step might 
 possibly bring upon her absent boy. She quiet- 
 ed herself, however, by the thought that he was 
 in the hands of his own father, and that he 
 eould not possibly come to harm. 
 
 After some little time had elapsed, and Cle- 
 opatra was beginning to be well established k 
 her possession of the supreme power at Alex- 
 andria, her birth-day approached, and arrange- 
 ments were made for celebrating it in the most 
 magnificent manner. When the day arrived, 
 the whole city was given up to festivities and 
 rejoicing. Grand entertainments were given in 
 the palace, and games, spectacles, and plays in 
 every variety , were exhibited and performed in 
 all quarters of the city. Cleopatra herself was 
 enjoying a magnificent entertainment, given to 
 the lords and ladies of the court and the officers 
 of her army, in one of the royal palaces. 
 
 In the midst of this scene of festivity and 
 pleasure, it was announced to the queen that a 
 large box had arrived for her. The bcx wa 
 brought into the apartment. It had the appear- 
 ance of containing some magnificent present, 
 sent in at that time by some friend in honor of 
 the occasion. The curiosity of the queen was 
 excited to know what the mysterious coffer
 
 B.C. 130.] THE PTOLEMIES. 51 
 
 Barbarity of Physcon. Grief of Cleopatra 
 
 might contain. She ordered it to be opened; 
 and the guests gathered around, each eager to 
 obtain the first glimpse of the contents. The 
 lil was removed, and a cloth beneath it waa 
 raised, when, to the unutterable horror of aL 
 who witnessed the spectacle, there was seen the 
 head and hands of Cleopatra's beautiful boy, 
 ;ying among masses of human flesh, which con- 
 sisted of the rest of his body cut into pieces. 
 The head had been left entire, that the wretch- 
 ed mother might recognize in the pale and life- 
 less features the countenance of her son. Phys- 
 con had sent the box to Alexandria, with orders 
 that it should be retained until the evening of 
 the birth-day, and then presented publicly to 
 Cleopatra in the midst of the festivities of the 
 icene. The shrieks and cries with which she 
 filled the apartments of the palace at the first 
 sight of the dreadful spectacle, and the agony 
 of long-continued and inconsolable grief which 
 followed, showed how well the cruel contrivance 
 of the tyrant was fitted to accomplish its end. 
 
 It gives us no pleasure to write, and we are 
 sure it can give our readers no pleasure to pe. 
 ruse, such shocking stories of bloody cruelty ae 
 these. It is necessary, however, to a just ap- 
 r^ciation of the character of the great subject
 
 52 CLEOPATRA [B.C. 117 
 
 (Jenerml character of th* Ptolemy family. 
 
 of this history, that we should understand the 
 nature of the domestic influences that re'gned 
 in the family from which she sprung. In fact, 
 it is due, as a matter of simple justice to her, 
 that we should know what these influences 
 were, and what were the examples set before 
 her in her early life ;- since the privileges and 
 advantages which the young enjoy in their ear 
 ly years, and, on the other hand, the evil influ 
 ences under which they suffer, are to be taken 
 very seriously into the account when we are 
 oassing judgment upon the follies and sins into 
 which they subsequently fall. 
 
 The monster Physcon lived, it is true, two or 
 three generations before the great Cleopatra; 
 but the character of the intermediate genera- 
 tions, until the time of her birth, continued 
 much the same. In fact, the cruelty, corrup- 
 tion, and vice which reigned in every branch of 
 the royal family increased rather than dimin- 
 ished. The beautiful niece of Physcon, who, at 
 the time of her compulsory marriage with iim^ 
 evinced such an aversion to the monster, hai 
 become, at the period of her husband's death, as 
 great a monster of ambition, selfishness, and 
 cruelty as he. She had two sons, Lathyrus and 
 Alexander Phvscon, when he died, loft th*
 
 B.C. 117.] THE PTOLEMIES. 5b 
 
 Lathyru*. Torrible qunrrela with his mother 
 
 kingdom of Egypt to her by will, authorizing 
 her to associate with her in the government 
 whichever of these two sons she might choose. 
 The oldest was best entitled to this privilege, 
 by his priority of birth ; but she preferred the 
 youngest, as she thought that her own power 
 would be more absolute in reigning in conjunc- 
 tion with him, since he would be more com- 
 pletely under her control. The leading powers, 
 however, in Alexandria, resisted this plan, and 
 insisted on Cleopatra's associating her oldest 
 son, Lathyrus, with her in the government of 
 the realm. They compelled her to recall Lath- 
 yrus from the banishment into which she had 
 sent him, and to put him nominally upon the 
 throne. Cleopatra yielded to this necessity, but 
 she forced her son to repudiate his wife, and to 
 take, instead, another woman, whom she fancied 
 she could make more subservient to her will. 
 The mother and the son went on together for a 
 time, Lathyrus being nominally king, though 
 her determination that she would rule, and his 
 struggles to resist her intolerable tyranny, made 
 their wretched household the scene of terrible 
 and perpetual quarrels. At last Cleopatra seiz- 
 ed a number of Lathyrus's servants, the eu- 
 auohs who were employed in various offices
 
 54 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. M7 
 
 Cruelties of Cleopatra. Alexander kill* bee 
 
 about the palace, and after wounding and mu 
 tilating them in a horrible manner, she exhib- 
 ited them to the populace, saying that it was 
 Lathyras that had inflicted the cruel injuries 
 upon the sufferers, and calling upon them to 
 arise and punish him for his crimes. In this 
 and in other similar ways she awakened among 
 the people of the court and of the city such an 
 animosity against Lathyrus, that they expelled 
 him from the country. There followed a long 
 series of cruel and bloody wars between the 
 mother and the son, in the course of which each 
 party perpetrated against the other almost ev- 
 ery imaginable deed of atrocity and crime. Al- 
 exander, the youngest son, was so afraid of his 
 terrible mother, that he did not dare to remain 
 in Alexandria with her, but went into a sort of 
 banishment of his own accord. He, however, 
 finally returned to Egypt. His mother imme- 
 diately supposed that he was intending to dis- 
 turb her possession of power, and resolved to de- 
 stroy him. He became acquainted with her 
 designs, and, grown desperate by the long-con- 
 tinued pressure of her intolerable tyranny, he 
 resolved to bring the anxiety and terror in which 
 he lived to an end by killing her. This he did, 
 and then fled the country Lathyrus, his broth*
 
 B.C.I17.I THE PTOLEMIES. 60 
 
 Cleopatra a type of the family. Her two daughter* 
 
 er, then returned, and reigned for the rest of 
 bis day? in a tolerable degree of quietness and 
 peace. At length Lathyrus died, and left the 
 kingdom to his son, Ptolemy Auletes, who was 
 the great Cleopatra's father. 
 
 We can not soften the picture which is ex- 
 hibited to our view in the history of this cele- 
 brated family, by regarding the mother of Au- 
 letes, in the masculine and merciless traits and 
 principles which she displayed so energetically 
 throughout her terrible career, as an exception 
 to the general character of the princesses who 
 appeared from time to time in the line. In am- 
 bition, selfishness, unnatural and reckless cru- 
 elty, and utter disregard of every virtuous prin- 
 ciple and of every domestic tie, she was but the 
 type and representative of all the rest. 
 
 She had two daughters, for example, who wert, 
 the consistent and worthy followers of such a 
 mother. A passage in the lives of these sisters 
 illustrates very forcibly the kind of sisterly af- 
 fection which prevailed in the family of the 
 Ptolemies. The case was this : 
 
 There were two princes of Syria, a country 
 lying northeast of the Mediterranean Sea, and 
 so not very far from Egypt, who, though they 
 wer others, were in a state of most deadly
 
 5(> CLEOPXTRA. (B.C. 101 
 
 Unnatural war. Tryphena'i hatred of her ilrteE 
 
 hostility to each other. One had attempted to 
 poison the other, and afterward a war had bro- 
 cen out between them, and all Syria was suf- 
 fering from the ravages of their armies. One 
 of the sisters, of whom we have been speaking, 
 married one of these princes. Her name was 
 Tryphena. After some time, but yet while the 
 unnatural war was still raging between the two 
 brothers, Cleopatra, the other sister the same 
 Cleopatra, in fact, that had been divorced from 
 Lathyrus at the instance of his mother- es- 
 poused the other brother. Tryphena was ex- 
 ceedingly incensed against Cleopatra for mar- 
 rying her husband's mortal foe, and the implac- 
 able hostility and hate of the sisters was thence- 
 forth added to that which the brothers had be- 
 fore exhibited, to complete the display of unnat- 
 ural and parricidal passion which this shameful 
 contest presented to the world. 
 
 In fact, Tryphena from this time seemed to 
 feel a new and highly-excited interest in the 
 contest, from her eager desire to revenge her- 
 self on her sister. She watched the progress 
 of it, and took an active part in pressing for- 
 ward the active prosecution of the war. The 
 party of her husband, either from this or som 
 other causes, seemed to be gaining the day
 
 B.C. 101.] THE PTOLEMIES. 57 
 
 Taking of Antioch. Cleopatra flees to a temple 
 
 The husband of Cleopatra was driven from one 
 part of the country to another, and at length, 
 in order to provide for the security of his wife, 
 he left her in Antioch, a large and strongly 
 fortified city, where he supposed that she would 
 be safe, while he himself was engaged in prose- 
 cuting the war in other quarters where his pres- 
 ence seemed to be required. 
 
 On learning that her sister was at Antiooh, 
 Tryphena urged her husband to attack the place. 
 He accordingly advanced with a strong detach- 
 ment of the army, and besieged and took the 
 city. Cleopatra would, of course, have fallen 
 into his hands as a captive ; but, to escape this 
 fate, she fled to a temple for refuge. A temple 
 was considered, in those days, an inviolable sano 
 tuary. The soldiers accordingly left her there. 
 Tryphena, however, made a request that her 
 husband would deliver the unhappy fugitive 
 into her hands. She was determined, she said, 
 to kill her. Her husband remonstrated with 
 her against this atrocious proposal. " It would 
 be a wholly useless act of cruelty," said he, " to 
 destroy her life. She can do us no possible harm 
 in the future progress of the war, while to mur- 
 der her under these circumstances will only ex- 
 asperate her husband and her friends, and nsrve
 
 58 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 101 
 
 Jealousy of Trjrphena. Her resentment increwe* 
 
 them with new strength for the remainder of 
 the contest. And then, besides, she has taken 
 refuge in a temple ; and if we violate that sanc- 
 tuary, we shall incur, by such an act of sacri- 
 lege, the implacable displeasure of heaven. Con- 
 sider, too, that she is your sister, and for you to 
 kill her would be to, commit an unnatural and 
 wholly inexcusable crime." 
 
 So saying, he commanded Tryphena to say 
 no more upon the subject, for he would on no 
 account consent that Cleopatra should suffer 
 any injury whatever. 
 
 This refusal on the part of her husband to 
 comply with her request only inflamed Try- 
 phena's insane resentment and anger the more. 
 In fact, the earnestness with which he espoused 
 her sister's cause, and the interest which he 
 seemed to feel in her fate, aroused Tryphena's 
 jealousy. She believed, or pretended to believe, 
 that her husband was influenced by a sentiment 
 of love in so warmly defending her. The ob- 
 ject of her hate, from being simply an enemy, 
 became now, in her view, a rival, and she re- 
 solved that, at all hazards, she should be de- 
 stroyed. She accordingly ordered a body of 
 desperate soldiers to break into the temple and 
 seize her. Cleopatra fled in terror to the altar.
 
 BC.90.J THE PTOLEMIES. 59 
 
 Cruel and lacrilegioni murder. 
 
 and clung to it with such convulsive force that 
 the soldiers cut her hands off before they could 
 tear her away, and then, maddened by her re- 
 sistance and the sight of blood, they stabbed her 
 again and again upon the floor of the temple, 
 where she fell. The appalling shrieks with 
 which the wretched victim filled the air in the 
 first moments of her flight and her terror, sub- 
 sided, as her life ebbed away, into the most 
 awful imprecations of the judgments of heaven 
 upon the head of the unnatural sister whose 
 implacable hate had destroyed her. 
 
 Notwithstanding the specimens that we have 
 thus given of the character and action of this 
 extraordinary family, the government of this dy- 
 nasty, extending, as it did, through the reigns of 
 thirteen sovereigns and over a period of nearly 
 three hundred years, has always been considered 
 one of the most liberal, enlightened, and pros- 
 perous of all the governments of ancient times 
 We shall have something to say in the next 
 chapter in respect to the internal condition of 
 the country while these violent men were upon 
 the throne. In the mean time, we will here only 
 add, that whoever is inclined, in observing the 
 ambition, the selfishness, the party spirit, the
 
 60 CLEOPATRA. [RC.90 
 
 The moral mdi tlon of mankind not degenerating . 
 
 anworthy intrigues, and the irregularities of 
 moral conduct, which modern rulers and states- 
 men sometimes exhibit to mankind in their per- 
 sonal and political career, to believe in a retro- 
 gression and degeneracy of national character 
 as the world advances in age, will be very ef- 
 fectually undeceived by reading attentively a 
 full history of this celebrated dynasty, and re- 
 flecting, as he reads, that the narrative presents, 
 on the whole, a fair and honest exhibition of the 
 general character of the men by whom, in an- 
 cient times, the world was governed.
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 61 
 
 Internal dmlnlstration of the Ptolamle*. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 TT must not be imagined by the reader that 
 *- the scenes of vicious indulgence, and reck- 
 less cruelty and crime, which were exhibited 
 with such dreadful frequency, and carried to 
 such an enormous excess in the palaces of the 
 Egyptian kings, .prevailed to the same extent 
 throughout the mass of the community during 
 the period of their reign. The internal admin- 
 istration of government, and the institutions by 
 which the industrial pursuits of the mass of the 
 people were regulated, and peace and order pre- 
 served, and justice enforced between man and 
 man, were all this time in the hands of men 
 well qualified, on the whole, for the trusts com- 
 mitted to their charge, and in a good degree 
 faithful in the performance of their duties ; and 
 thus the ordinary affairs of government, and the 
 general routine of domestic and social life, went 
 on, notwithstanding the profligacy of the kings, 
 in a course of very tolerable peace, prosperity, 
 and happiness. Daring every one of the three
 
 62 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 tadnjtty of the people. It* happy effort* 
 
 hundred years over which the history of th 
 Ptolemies extends, the whole length and breadth 
 of the land of Egypt exhibited, with compara 
 tively few interruptions, one wide-spread scene 
 of busy industry. The inundations came at 
 their appointed season, and then regularly re- 
 tired. The boundless fields which the waters 
 had fertilized were then every where tilled. 
 The lands were plowed ; the seed was sown ; 
 the canals and water-courses, which ramified 
 from the river in every direction over the 
 ground, were opened or closed, as the case re- 
 quired, to regulate the irrigation. The inhab- 
 tants were busy, and, consequently, they were 
 virtuous. And as the sky of Egypt is seldom 
 or never darkened by clouds and storms, the 
 scene presented to the eye the same unchang- 
 ing aspect of smiling verdure and beauty, day 
 after day, and month after month, until the rip- 
 ened grain was gathered into the store-houses, 
 and the land was cleared for another inundation 
 We say that the people were virtuous be- 
 cause they were busy ; for there is no principle 
 of political economy more fully established than 
 that vice in the social state is the incident and 
 symptom of idleness. It prevails always in thosa 
 slasees of every great population who are eithe
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 Idleness the parent of vice. An Idle aristocracy generally viclou* 
 
 released by the possession of fixed and un 
 changeable wealth from the necessity, or ex- 
 eluded by their poverty and degradation from 
 the advantage, of useful employment. Wealth 
 that is free, and subject to its possessor's con- 
 trol, so that he can, if he will, occupy himself in 
 the management of it, while it sometimes may 
 make individuals vicious, does not generally 
 corrupt classes of men, for it does not make 
 them idle. But wherever the institutions of a 
 country are such as to create an aristocratic 
 class, whose incomes depend on entailed estates , 
 or on fixed and permanent annuities, so that the 
 capital on which they live can not afford them 
 any mental occupation, they are doomed neces- 
 sarily to inaction and idleness. Vicious pleas- 
 ures and indulgences are, with such a class as 
 a whole, the inevitable result ; for the innocent 
 enjoyments of man are planned and designed by 
 the Author of nature only for the intervals of 
 rest and repose in a life of activity. They are 
 always found wholly insufficient to satisfy one 
 who makes pleasure the whole end and aim of 
 fcis being. 
 
 In the same manner, if, either from the influ- 
 ence of the social institutions of a country, or 
 from the operation of natural causes which hu-
 
 04 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Degradation and rice. Employment a cure for both 
 
 man power is unable to control, there is a class 
 of men too low, and degraded, and miserable tc 
 be reached by the ordinary inducements to daily 
 toil, so certain are they to grow corrupt and de- 
 praved, that degradation has become in all lan- 
 guages a term almost synonymous with vice. 
 There are many exceptions, it is true, to these 
 general laws. Many active men are very wick- 
 ed ; and there have been frequent instances of 
 the most exalted virtue among nobles and kings. 
 Still, as a general law, it is unquestionably true 
 that vice is the incident of idleness ; and the 
 sphere of vice, therefore, is at the top and at the 
 bottom of society those being the regions in 
 which idleness reigns. The great remedy, too, 
 for vice is employment. To make a commu- 
 nity virtuous, it is essential that all ranks and 
 gradations of it, from the highest to the lowest, 
 should have something to do. 
 
 In accordance with these principles, we ob- 
 erve that, while the most extreme and abom- 
 inable wickedness seemed to hold continual and 
 absolute sway in the palaces of the Ptolemies, 
 and among the nobles of their courts, the work- 
 ing ministers of state, and the men on whom 
 the actual governmental functions devolved, dis- 
 charged their duties with wisdom and fidelity,
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 65 
 
 OreatneM of Alexandria. Situation of It* port 
 
 and throughout all the ordinary ranks and gra- 
 dations of society there prevailed generally a 
 very considerable degree of industry, prosperity, 
 and happiness. This prosperity prevailed not 
 only in the rural districts of the Delta and along 
 the valley of the Nile, but also among the mer- 
 chants, and navigators, and artisans of Alex- 
 andria. 
 
 Alexandria became, in fact, very soon after 
 it was founded, a very great and busy city 
 Many things conspired to make it at once a 
 great commercial emporium. In the first place, 
 it was the depot of export for all the surplus 
 grain and other agricultural produce which was 
 raised in such abundance along the Egyptian 
 valley. This produce was brought down in 
 boats to the upper point of the Delta, where the 
 branches of the river divided, and thence down 
 the Canopio branch to the city. The city was 
 lot, in fact, situated directly upon this branch, 
 but upon a narrow tongue of land, at a little 
 distance from it, near the sea. It was not easy 
 to enter the channel directly, on account of the 
 bars and sand-banks at its mouth, produced by 
 the eternal conflict between the waters of the 
 river and the surges of the sea. The water 
 was deep, however, as Alexander's engineers 
 16-5
 
 60 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 WarchotJBOi an 1 granaries. BlulnnM of the pun. 
 
 had discovered, at the place where the city wa 
 built, and, by establishing the port there, and 
 then cutting a canal across to the Nile, thei 
 were enabled to bring the rivei and the sea at 
 once into easy communication. 
 
 The produce of the valley was thus brought 
 down the river and, through the canal to the 
 city. Here immense warehouses and granaries 
 were erected for its reception, that it might be 
 safely preserved until the ships that came into 
 tb'^ port were ready to take it away. These 
 ships came from Syria, from all the coasts of 
 Asia Minor, from Greece, and from Rome 
 They brought the agricultural productions of 
 their own countries, as well as articles of man- 
 ufacture of various kinds ; these they sold to 
 the merchants of Alexandria, and purchased 
 the productions of Egypt in return. 
 
 The port of Alexandria presented thus a con- 
 s tant picture of life and animation. Merchant 
 ships were continually coming and going, or 
 lying at anchor in the roadstead. Seamen were 
 hoisting sails, or raising anchors, or rowing their 
 capacious galleys through the water, singing, aa 
 they pulled, to the motion of the oars. Within 
 the city there was the same ceaseless activity. 
 Hare groups of men were unloading the canal
 
 ALEXANDRIA. t>? 
 
 8ceae within the city. The natives protected in their Indottry 
 
 boats which had arrived from the river. There 
 porters were transporting bales of merchandise 
 or sacks of giain from a warehouse to a pier, 
 or from one landing to another. The occasion- 
 al parading of the king's guards, or the arrival 
 and departure of ships of war to land or to take 
 away bodies of armed men, were occurrences' 
 that sometimes intervened to interrupt, or as 
 perhaps the people then would have said, to 
 adorn this scene of useful industry ; and now 
 and then, for a brief period, these peaceful avo- 
 cations would be wholly suspended and set aside 
 by a revolt or by a civil war, waged by rival 
 brothers against each other, or instigated by the 
 conflicting claims of a mother and son. These 
 interruptions, however, were comparatively few, 
 and, in ordinary cases, not of long continuance. 
 It was for the interest of all branches of the 
 royal line to do as little injury as possible to the 
 commercial and agricultural operations of the 
 realm. In fact, it was on the prosperity of those 
 operations that the revenues depended. The 
 rulers were well aware of this, and so, however 
 implacably two rival princes may have hated 
 one another, and however desperately each party 
 may have struggled to destroy all active com- 
 batants whom they should find in arms gain*t
 
 68 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Pmbllc edifice*. Th tight-boa* 
 
 them, they were both under every possible in 
 duoement to spare the private property and the 
 lives of the peaceful population. This popula- 
 tion, in fact, engaged thus in profitable indus- 
 try, constituted, with the avails of their labors, 
 the very estate for which the combatants were 
 contending. 
 
 Seeing the subject in this light, the Egyptian 
 sovereigns, especially Alexander and the earlier 
 Ptolemies, made every effort in their power to 
 promote the commercial greatness of Alex an- 
 dria. They built palaces, it is true, but they 
 also built warehouses. One of the most expen- 
 sive and celebrated of all the edifices that they 
 reared was the light-house which has been al- 
 ready alluded to. This light-house was a lofty 
 tower, built of white marble. It was situated 
 upon the island of Pharos, opposite to the city, 
 and at some distance from it. There was a 
 sort of isthmus of shoals and sand-bars connect* 
 ing the island with the shore. Over these shal- 
 iows a pier or causeway was built, which final- 
 ly became a broad and inhabited neck. The 
 principal part of the ancient city, ho ?ever, was 
 on the main land.* 
 
 * See Map of the Delta of the Nile, page 39 , tlao the Viow 
 f Alexandria, page 162.
 
 B.C. 28U.] ALEXANDRIA. 69 
 
 Puna of the lighthouse. Its conspicuous poalOon 
 
 The curvature of the earth requires that a 
 light-house on a coast should have a consider- 
 able elevation, otherwise its summit would not 
 appear above the horizon, unless the mariner 
 were very near. To attain this elevation, the 
 architects usually take advantage of some hill or 
 cliff, or rocky eminence near the shore. There 
 was, however, no opportunity to do this at Pha- 
 ros ; for the island was, like the main land, level 
 and low. The requisite elevation could only be 
 attained, therefore, by the masonry of an edi- 
 fice, and the blocks of marble necessary for the 
 work had to be brought from a great distance. 
 The Alexandrian light-house was reared in the 
 time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, the second mon- 
 arch in the line. No pains or expense were 
 spared in its construction. The edifice, when 
 completed, was considered one of the seven won- 
 ders of the world. It was indebted for its fame, 
 however, in some degree, undoubtedly to tho 
 conspicuousness of its situation, rising, as it did, 
 at the entrance of the greatest commercial em- 
 porium of its time, and standing there, like a 
 pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, to 
 attract the welcome gaze of every wandering 
 mariner whose ship came within its horizon, 
 and to awaken his gratitude by tendering him 
 its guidance and dispelling hia fears
 
 70 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 283 
 
 Modtt of lighting the tower. Modern method. 
 
 The light at the top of the tower was pro 
 duced by a fire, made of such combustibles &t 
 would emit the brightest flame. This fire 
 burned slowly through the day, and then WM 
 kindled up anew when the sun went down, and 
 was continually replenished through the night 
 with fresh supplies of fuel. In modern times, 
 a much more convenient and economical mode 
 is adopted to produce the requisite illumina- 
 tion. A great blazing lamp burns brilliantly 
 in the center of the lantern of the tower, and 
 all that part of the radiation from the flame 
 which would naturally have beamed upward, 
 or downward, or laterally, or back toward the 
 land, is so turned by a curious system of re- 
 flectors and polyzonal lenses, most ingeniously 
 contrived and very exactly adjusted, as to be 
 thrown forward in one broad and thin, but brill- 
 iant sheet of light, which shoots out where its 
 radiance is needed, over the surface of the sea. 
 Before these inventions were perfected> far the 
 largest portion of the light emitted by the illu- 
 mination of light-house towers streamed away 
 wastefully in landward directions, or was lost 
 among the stars. 
 
 Of course, the glory of erecting such an edi 
 fico as the Pharos of Alexandria, and of main*
 
 B.C. 283.J ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 The architect of the Pharos. HI* Ingenious stratagem 
 
 taining it in the performance of its functions, 
 was very great ; the question might, however, 
 very naturally arise whether this glory was 
 justly due to the architect through whose scien- 
 tific skill the work was actually accomplished, 
 or to the monarch by whose power and resour- 
 ces the architect was sustained. The name of 
 the architect was Sostratus. He was a Greek. 
 The monarch was, as has already been stated, 
 the second Ptolemy, called commonly Ptolemy 
 Philadelphus. Ptolemy ordered that, in com- 
 pleting the tower, a marble tablet should be 
 built into the wall, at a suitable place near the 
 summit, and that a proper inscription should 
 be carved upon it, with his name as the builder 
 of the edifice conspicuous thereon. Sostratus 
 preferred inserting his own name. He accord 
 ingly made the tablet and set it in its place. 
 He cut the inscription upon the face of it, in 
 Greek characters, with his own name as the 
 Author of the work. He did this secretly, and 
 then covered the face of the tablet with an ar- 
 tificial composition, made with lime, to imitate 
 the natural surface of the stone. On this outer 
 surface he out a new inscription, in which he 
 inserted the name of the king. In process of 
 the lime moldered away, the king's in-
 
 72 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 283. 
 
 Rnini of tba Pharoa, The Alexandrian library 
 
 aoription disappeared, and his own, which thence- 
 forward continued as long as the building en- 
 dured, came out to view. 
 
 The Pharos was said to have been four hund 
 rod feet high. It was famed throughout the 
 world for many centuries ; nothing, however, 
 remains of it now but a heap of useless and 
 unmeaning ruins. 
 
 Besides the light that beamed from the sum- 
 mit of this lofty tower, there was another cen- 
 ter of radiance and illumination in ancient Al- 
 exandria, which was in some respects still more 
 conspicuous and renowned, namely, an im- 
 mense library and museum established and 
 maintained by the Ptolemies. The Museum, 
 which was first established, was not, as its name 
 might now imply, a collection of curiosities, but 
 an institution of learning, consisting of a body 
 of learned men, who devoted their time to phil- 
 osophical and scientific pursuits. The institu- 
 tion was richly endowed, and magnificent build- 
 ings were erected for its use. The king who 
 established it began immediately to make a col- 
 lection of books for the use of the members of 
 the institution. This was attended with groat 
 expense, as every book that was added to the 
 collection required to be transcribed with a pen
 
 ALEXANDRIA 73 
 
 Immense magnitude of the library. The Berapion 
 
 on parchment or papyrus, with infinite labor and 
 care Great numbers of scribes were constant* 
 iy employed upon this work at the Museum, 
 The kings who were most interested in forming 
 this library would seize the books that were pos- 
 sessed by individual scholars, or that were de- 
 posited in the various cities of their dominions, 
 and then, causing beautiful copies of them to be 
 made by the scribes of the Museum, they would 
 retain the originals for the great Alexandrian 
 Library, and give the copies to the men or the 
 cities that had been thus despoiled. In the 
 same manner they would borrow, as thev called 
 it, from all travelers who visited Egypt, any 
 valuable books which they might have in their 
 possession, and, retaining the originals, give 
 them back copies instead. 
 
 In process of time the library increased to 
 four hundred thousand volumes. There was 
 then no longer any room in the buildings of the 
 Museum for further additions. There was, 
 however, in another part of the city, a great 
 temple called the Serapion. This temple was 
 a very magnificent edifice, or, rather, group of 
 edifices, dedicated to the god Serapis. The or- 
 igin and history of this temple were very re- 
 markable The legend was this :
 
 74 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 The Sermplt of Egypt The SarapU of Grecca 
 
 It seems that one of the ancient and long 
 venerated gods of the Egyptians was a deity 
 named Serapis. He had been, among other di 
 vinities, the object of Egyptian adoration agea 
 tefore Alexandria was built or the Ptolemies 
 reigned. There was also, by a curious coinci- 
 dence, a statue of th'e same name at a great 
 commercial town named Sinope, which was 
 built upon the extremity of a promontory which 
 projected from Asia Minor into the Euxine 
 Sea.* Sinope was, in some sense, the Alexan- 
 dria of the north, being the center and seat of a 
 great portion of the commerce of that quarter 
 of the world. 
 
 The Serapis of Sinope was considered as the 
 protecting deity of seamen, and the navigators 
 who came and went to and from the city made 
 sacrifices to him, and offered him oblations and 
 prayers, believing that they were, in a groat 
 measure, dependent upon som<j mysterious and 
 inscrutable power which he exercised for theii 
 safety in storms. They carried the knowledge 
 df his name, and tales of his imaginary inter- 
 positions, to all the places that they visited ; 
 and thus the fame of the god became extended 
 first, to all the coasts of the Euxine Sea, and 
 
 See map; fr mtispiece.
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 75 
 
 Ptolemy'* dream. Importance of the gtatna 
 
 subsequently to distant provinces and kingdoms. 
 The Serapis of Sinope began to be considered 
 sv^ry where as the tutelar god of seamen. 
 
 Accordingly, when the first of the Ptolemies 
 was forming his various plans for adorning and 
 aggrandizing Alexandria, he received, he said, 
 one night, a divine intimation in a dream that 
 he was to obtain the statue of Serapis from Si- 
 nope, and set it up in Alexandria, in a suitable 
 temple which he was in the mean time to erect 
 in honor of the god. It is obvious that very 
 great advantages to the city would result from 
 the accomplishment of this design. In the first 
 place, a temple to the god Serapis would be a 
 new distinction for it in the minds of the rural 
 population, who would undoubtedly suppose that 
 the deity honored by it was their own ancient 
 god. Then the whole maritime and nautical 
 interest of the world, which had been accustom- 
 ed to adore the god of Sinope, would turn to Al- 
 exandria as the great center of religious attrac- 
 tion, if their venerated idol could be carried and 
 placed in a new and magnificent temple built 
 expressly for him there. Alexandria could nev- 
 er be the chief naval port and station of the 
 tvorld, unless it contained the sanctuary and 
 shrine of the god of seamen
 
 70 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Ptolon ?* proposal to the King of Staope. Hi* * nooe** 
 
 Ptolemy sent accordingly to the King of Si- 
 nope and proposed to purchase the idol. The 
 embassage was, however, unsuccessful. The 
 king refused to give up the god. The negotia- 
 tions were continued for two years, but all in 
 vain. At length, on account of some failure in 
 the regular course of the seasons on that coast, 
 there was a famine there, which became finally 
 so severe that the people of the city were induc- 
 ed to consent to give up their deity to the Egyp- 
 tians in exchange for a supply of corn. Ptole- 
 my sent the corn and received the idol. He 
 then built the temple, which, when finished, 
 surpassed in grandeur and magnificence almost 
 every sacred structure in the world. 
 
 It was in this temple that the successive ad 
 ditions to the Alexandrian library were depos- 
 ited, when the apartments at the Museum be- 
 came full. In the end there were four hundred 
 thousand rolls or volumes in the Museum, and 
 three hundred thousand in the Serapion. The 
 former was called the parent library, and the 
 latter, being, as it were, the offspring of the first, 
 was called the daughter 
 
 Ptolemy Philadelphus, who interested him- 
 self very greatly in collecting this library, wished 
 to make it a oorrplete collection oi all the bookf
 
 ALEXANDRIA.. 77 
 
 Mode of obtaining book*. The JewUh Scripture* 
 
 in the world. He employed scholars to read 
 and study, and travelers to make extensive 
 tours, for the purpose of learning what books 
 existed among all the surrounding nations ; and, 
 when he learned of their existence, he spared 
 no pains or expense in attempting to procure 
 either the originals themselves, or the most per- 
 fect and authentic copies of them. He sent to 
 Athens and obtained the works of the most cel- 
 ebrated Greek historians, and then causing, as 
 in other cases, most beautiful transcripts to be 
 made, he sent the transcripts back to Athens, 
 and a very large sum of money with them as 
 an equivalent for the difference of value between 
 originals and copies in such an exchange. 
 
 In the course of the inquiries which Ptolemy 
 made into the literature of the surrounding na- 
 tions, in his search for accessions to his library, 
 he heard that the Jews had certain sacred writ- 
 ings in their temple at Jerusalem, comprising 
 a minute and extremely interesting history of 
 
 heir nation from the earliest periods, and also 
 many other books of sacred prophecy and poe- 
 try. These books, which were, in fact, the He- 
 brew Scriptures of the Old Testament, were 
 then wholly unknown to all nations except tha 
 
 Jews, and among the Jews were known onl^
 
 78 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Seclnalon of the Jews. Interett felt In their Scripture* 
 
 to priests and scholars. They were kept saorea 
 at Jerusalem. The Jews would have consid- 
 ered them as profaned in being exhibited to the 
 view of pagan nations. In fact, the learned 
 men of other countries would not have been 
 able to read them ; for the Jews secluded them- 
 selves so closely from the rest of mankind, that 
 their language was, in that age, scarcely ever 
 heard beyond the confines of Judea and Galilee. 
 Ptolemy very naturally thought that a copy 
 of these sacred books would be a great acquisi- 
 tion to his library. They constituted, in fact, 
 the whole literature of a nation which was, in 
 some respects, the most extraordinary that ever 
 existed on the globe. Ptolemy conceived the 
 idea, also, of not only adding to his library a 
 copy of these writings in the original Hebrew, 
 but of causing a translation of them to be made 
 into Greek, so that they might easily be read 
 by the Greek and Roman scholars who were 
 drawn in great numbers to his capital by the 
 libraries and the learned institutions which he 
 had established there. Thr first thing to be ef- 
 fected, however, in accomplishing either of these 
 plans, was to obtain the consent of the Jewish 
 authorities. They would probably object to giv- 
 ing up any copy of their sacred writings at all
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 79 
 
 Jewish slaves In Egypt Ptolemy's designs 
 
 There was one circumstance which led Ptol- 
 emy to imagine that, the Jews would, at that 
 time particularly, be averse to granting any re* 
 quest of such a nature coming from an Egyp- 
 tian king, and that was, that during certain 
 wars which had taken place in previous reigns, 
 a considerable number of prisoners had been ta- 
 ken by the Egyptians, and had been brought to 
 Egypt as captives, where they had been sold to 
 the inhabitants, and were now scattered over 
 the land as slaves. They were employed as 
 servile laborers in tilling the fields, or in turn- 
 ing enormous wheels to pump up water from 
 the Nile. The masters of these hapless bond- 
 men conceived, like other slave-holders, that they 
 had a right of property in their slaves. This 
 was in some respects true, since they had bought 
 them of the government at the close of the war 
 for a consideration ; and though they obviously 
 derived from this circumstance no valid propri- 
 etary right or claim as against the men person* 
 ally, it certainly would seem that it gave them 
 a just claim against the government of whom 
 they bought, in case of subsequent nannmi* 
 lion. 
 
 Ptolemy or his minister, for it can not no^ 
 6 known who was the real actor in these trans-
 
 80 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Ptolemy liberate* the laTOt. Their rrnntom pnl<i 
 
 actions, determined on liberating these slaves 
 and sending them back to their native land, as 
 a means of propitiating the Jews and inclining 
 them to listen favorably to the request which 
 he was about to prefer for a copy of their sacred 
 writings. He, however, paid to those who held 
 the captives a very liberal sum for ransom. The 
 ancient historians, who never allow the interest 
 of their narratives to suffer for want of a proper 
 amplification on their part of the scale on which 
 the deeds which they record were performed, 
 say that the number of slaves liberated on this 
 occasion was a hundred and twenty thousand, 
 and the sum paid for them, as compensation to 
 the owners, was six hundred talents, equal to 
 six hundred thousand dollars.* And yet this 
 was only a preliminary expense to pave the 
 way for the acquisition of a single series of 
 books, to add to the variety of the immense 
 collection. 
 
 Alter the liberation and return of the cap- 
 
 * It will be sufficiently accurate for the general reader at 
 oistnry to consider the Greek talent, referred to in such trans- 
 actions as these, as equal in English money to two hundred 
 tad fifty pounds, in American to a thousand dollars. It it 
 curious to observe that, large as the total was that was paid 
 for the liberation of these slaves, the amount paid for each in 
 dividual w M, after all, only a sum equal to about five dollars
 
 B.C. 298-285.J ALEXANDRIA. 8i 
 
 Ptolemy' i luccesr The SepUaftol 
 
 tives, Ptolemy sent a splendid embassage to 
 Jerusalem, with very respectful letters to the 
 high priest, and with very magnificent pres- 
 ents. The embassadors were received with the 
 highest honors. The request of Ptolemy that 
 he should be allowed to take a copy of the sa- 
 :red books for his library was very readily 
 granted. 
 
 The priests caused copies to be made of all 
 the sacred writings. These copies were executed 
 in the most magnificent style, and were splen- 
 didly illuminated with letters of gold. The 
 Jewish government also, at Ptolemy's request, 
 designated a company of Hebrew scholars, six 
 from each tribe men learned in both the Greek 
 and Hebrew languages to proceed to Alexan- 
 dria, and there, at the Museum, to make a care- 
 ful translation of the Hebrew books into Greek. 
 A.S there were twelve tribes, and six translators 
 chosen from each, there were seventy-two trans- 
 lators in all. They made their translation, and 
 it was called the Septuag-int, from the Latin 
 Kptuaginta duo, which means seventy-two. 
 
 Although out of Judea there was no feeling of 
 reverence for these Hebrew Scriptures as books 
 }f divine authority, there was still a strong in- 
 terest felt in them as very entertaining and cu- 
 1& 6
 
 82 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 298-285. 
 
 Itrty oophw of the 8eptngtnt. Present oopie* 
 
 rious works of history, by all the Greek and 
 Roman scholars who frequented Alexandria ta 
 study at the Museum. Copies were accord- 
 ingly made of the Septuagint translation, and 
 were taken to other countries; and there, in 
 process of time, copies of the copies were made, 
 until at length the 'work became extensively 
 circulated throughout the whole learned world. 
 When, finally, Christianity became extended 
 over the Roman empire, the priests and monkr 
 looked with even a stronger interest than th< 
 ancient scholars had felt upon this early trans 
 lation of so important a portion of the sacred 
 Scriptures. They made new copies for abbeys, 
 monasteries, and colleges ; and when, at length, 
 the art of printing was discovered, this work 
 was one of the first on which the magic powei 
 of typography was tried. The original manu- 
 script made by the scribes of the seventy two, 
 and all the early transcripts which were mad* 
 from it, have long since been lost or destroyed ; 
 but, instead of them, we have now hundred* of 
 thousands of copies in compact printed volumes, 
 scattered among the public and private libraries 
 of Christendom. In fact, now, after the lapse 
 of two thousand years, a copy of Ptolemy's Sep- 
 tuagint may be obtained of any considorabi
 
 B.C. 29S-285.J ALEXANDRIA 
 
 Variou other plans of the Ptolemle*. Meani of raUlng mooor 
 
 bookseller in any country of the civilized world ; 
 and though it required a national embassage, 
 and an expenditure, if the accounts are true, 
 of more than a million of dollars, originally to 
 obtain it, it may be procured without difficult} 
 now by two days' wages of an ordinary laborer. 
 
 Besides the building of the Pharos, the Mu- 
 seum, and the Temple of Serapis, the early 
 Ptolemies formed and executed a great many 
 other plans tending to the same ends which the 
 erection of these splendid edifices was designed 
 to secure, namely, to concentrate in Alexan- 
 dria all possible means of attraction, commer- 
 cial, literary, and religious, so as to make the 
 city the great center of interest, and the com- 
 mon resort for all mankind. They raised im- 
 mense revenues for these and other purposes by 
 taxing heavily the whole agricultural produce 
 of the valley of the Nile. The inundations, by 
 the boundless fertility which they annually pro- 
 duced, supplied the royal treasuries. Thus the 
 Abyssinian rains at the sources of the Nile built 
 the Pharos at its mouth, and endowed the Al- 
 exandrian library. 
 
 The taxes laid upon the people of Egypt to 
 supply the Ptolemies with funds were, in fact, 
 no heavy, that only the bare means of subsist-
 
 84 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Heary texet. Poverty of the peopl* 
 
 enco were left to the mass of the agricultural 
 population. In admiring tne greatness and glo- 
 Ty of the city, therefore, we must remembei 
 *.hat there was a gloomy counterpart to ita 
 splendor in the very extended destitution and 
 poverty to which the mass of the people were 
 >very where doomed, They lived in hamlets 
 of wretched hute along the banks of the river, 
 in order that the capital might be splendidly 
 adorned with temples and palaces. They pass- 
 ed their lives in darkness and ignorance, that 
 seven hundred thousand volumes of expensive 
 manuscripts might be enrolled at the Museum 
 for the use of foreign philosophers and scholars. 
 The policy of tho Ptolemies was, perhaps, on 
 the whole, the best, for the general advance- 
 ment and ultimate welfare of mankind, which 
 could have been pursued in the age in which 
 they lived and acted ; but, in applauding the re- 
 sults which they attained, we must not wholly 
 forget the cost which they incurred in attaining 
 them. At the same cost, we could, at the pres- 
 3nt day, far surpass them. If the people of the 
 L'ni ted m States will surrender the comforts and 
 conveniences which they individually enjoy if 
 the farmers scattered in their comfortable homes 
 on the hill-sides and plains throughout the land
 
 ALEXANDRIA. 85 
 
 Ancient and modern capitals. Liberality if the Ptolemlai. 
 
 will give up their houses, their furniture, theii 
 carpets, their books, and the privileges of their 
 children, and then withholding from the pro- 
 duce of their annual toil only a sufficient reser 
 vationto sustain them and their families through 
 the year, in a life like that of a beast of burden, 
 spent in some miserable and naked hovel send 
 the rest to some hereditary sovereign residing 
 upon the Atlantic sea-board, that he may build 
 with the proceeds a splendid capital, they may 
 have an Alexandria now that will infinitely ex- 
 ceed the ancient city of the Ptolemies in splen- 
 dor and renown. The nation, too, would, in 
 such a case, pay for its metropolis the same 
 price, precisely, that the ancient Egyptians paid 
 for theirs. 
 
 The Ptolemies expended the revenues which 
 they raised by this taxation mainly in a ver^ 
 liberal and enlightened manner, for the accom- 
 plishment of the purposes which they had in 
 view. The building of the Pharos, the removal 
 of the statue of Serapis, and the endowment of 
 the Museum and the library were great concep- 
 tions, and they were carried into effect in the 
 most complete and perfect manner. All the 
 other operations which they devised and exe- 
 ontd for the extension and aggrandizement cf
 
 86 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 9piaodr and renown of Alexandria. Her great rlrtt 
 
 the city were conceived and executed in tha 
 same spirit of scientific and enlightened liberal- 
 ity. Streets were opened ; the most splendid 
 palaces were built; docks, piers, and breakwa- 
 ters were constructed, and fortresses and towers 
 were armed and garrisoned. Then every means 
 was employed to attract to the city a great con- 
 course from all the most highly-civilized nations 
 then existing. The highest inducements were 
 offered to merchants, mechanics, and artisans 
 to make the city their abode. Poets, painters, 
 sculptors, and scholars of every nation and de- 
 gree were made welcome, and every facility 
 was afforded them for the prosecution of their 
 various pursuits. These plans were all emi 
 nently successful. Alexandria rose rapidly to 
 the highest consideration and importance ; and, 
 at the time when Cleopatra born to preside 
 over this scene of magnificence and splendor 
 oamo upon the stage, the city had but one riva 
 in the world. That rival was Rome.
 
 B.C. 80.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 
 
 one the riral of Alexandria. Extent of their rwte 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 
 
 V\/ r HEN the time was approaching in which 
 ' Cleopatra appeared upon the stage, Rome 
 was perhaps the only city that could be consid- 
 ered as the rival of Alexandria, in the estima- 
 tion of mankind, in respect to interest and at- 
 tractiveness as a capital. In one respect, Rome 
 was vastly superior to the Egyptian metropolis, 
 and that was in the magnitude and extent of 
 the military power which it wielded among the 
 nations of the earth. Alexandria ruled over 
 Egypt, and over a few of the neighboring coasts 
 and islands ; but in the course of the three cen 
 turies during which she had been acquiring her 
 greatness and fame, the Roman empire had ex- 
 tended itself over almost the whole civilized 
 world. Egypt had been, thus far, too remote 
 to be directly reached ; but the affairs of Egypt 
 itself became involved at length with the opera- 
 tions of the Roman power, about the time of 
 Cleopatra's birth, in a very striking and pecu- 
 liar manner ; and as the consequences of thf
 
 88 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 80 
 
 Extent ion of the Roman empire. Cleoptrm'i fathm 
 
 transaction were the means of turning the whole 
 course of the queen's subsequent history, a nar- 
 ration of it is necessary to a proper understand- 
 ing of the circumstances under which she com- 
 menced her career. In fact, it was the exten- 
 sion of the Roman empire to the limits of 
 Egypt, and the connections which thence arose 
 between the leading Roman generals and the 
 Egyptian sovereign, which have made the story 
 of this particular queen so much more conspic- 
 uous, as an object of interest and attention to 
 mankind, than that of any other one of the ten 
 Cleopatras who rose successively in the same 
 royal line. 
 
 Ptolemy Auletes, Cleopatra's father, was per- 
 haps, in personal character, the most dissipated 
 degraded, and corrupt of all the sovereigns in 
 the dynasty. He spent his whole time in vice 
 and debauchery. The only honest accomplish- 
 ment that he seemed to possess was his skill in 
 playing upon the flute ; of this he was very vain. 
 He instituted musical contests, in which the 
 musical performers of Alexandria played foi 
 prizes and crowns ; and he himself was accus- 
 tomed to enter the lists with the rest as a com- 
 petitor. The people of Alexandria, and the 
 world in general, considered such pursuits at
 
 B.C. 58.J CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 89 
 
 Ptolemy's ignoble birth. CBMT and Pompey 
 
 these wholly unworthy the attention of the rep. 
 resentative of so illustrious a line of sovereigns 
 and the abhorrence which they felt for the mon. 
 arch's vices and crimes was mingled with a feel- 
 ing of contempt for the meanness of his ambi- 
 tion. 
 
 There was a doubt in respect to his title to 
 the crown, for his birth, on the mother's side, 
 was irregular and ignoble. Instead, however, 
 of attempting to confirm and secure his posses- 
 sion of power by a vigorous and prosperous ad- 
 ministration of the government, he wholly aban- 
 doned all concern in respect to the course of 
 public affairs ; and then, to guard against the 
 danger of being deposed, he conceived the plan 
 of getting himself recognized at Rome as one 
 of the allies of the Roman people. If this were 
 once done, he supposed that the Roman govern- 
 ment would feel under an obligation to su stair 
 him on his throne in the event of any threat 
 ened danger. 
 
 The Roman government was a sort of repub- 
 lic, and the two most powerful men in the state 
 at this time were Pompey and Caesar. Ctesar 
 was in the ascendency at Rome at the time 
 that Ptolemy made his application fur an alli- 
 ance. Pompey was absent in Asia Minor, be-
 
 00 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 53 
 
 Ptolemy pvrehMM the alliance of Rome. Taxe* to rake the 
 
 ing engaged in prosecuting a war with Mith- 
 radates, a very powerful monarch, who was at 
 that time resisting the Roman power. Caesar 
 was very deeply involved in debt, and was, more 
 over, very much in need of money, not only foi 
 relief from existing embarrassments, but as a 
 moans of subsequent expenditure, to enable him 
 to accomplish certain great political schemes' 
 which he was entertaining. After many nego- 
 tiations and delays, it was agreed that Caesar 
 would exert his influence to secure an alliance 
 between the Roman people and Ptolemy, on con- 
 dition that Ptolemy paid him the sum of six 
 thousand talents, equal to about six millions of 
 dollars. A part of the money, Ceesar said, was 
 for Pompey. 
 
 The title of ally was conferred, and Ptolemy 
 undertook to raise the money which he had 
 promised by increasing the taxes of his kingdom. 
 The measures, however, which he thus adopt 
 cd for the purpose of making himself the more 
 secure in his possession of the throne, proved 
 to be the means of overthrowing him. The dis- 
 content and disaffection of his people, which had 
 been strong and universal before, though sup- 
 pressed and concealed, broke out now into open 
 violence. That there should be laid upon them.
 
 B.C C8.J CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 91 
 
 H*olt M Alexandria. Ptolemy 1 ! flight 
 
 in addition to all their other burdens, these new 
 oppressions, heavier than those which they had 
 endured before, and exacted for such a purpose 
 too, was not to be endured. To be compelled 
 to see their country sold on any terms to the 
 Roman people was sufficiently hard to bear ; but 
 to be forced to raise, themselves, and pay the 
 price of the transfer, was absolutely intolerable. 
 Alexandria commenced a revolt. Ptolemy was 
 not a man to act decidedly against such a dem- 
 onstration, or, in fact, to evince either calmness 
 01 courage in any emergency whatever. His 
 first thought was to escape from Alexandria to 
 save his life. His second, to make the best of 
 his way to Rome, to call upon the Roman peo- 
 ple to come to the succor of their ally ! 
 
 Ptolemy left five children behind him in his 
 flight. The eldest was the Princess Berenice, 
 who had already reached maturity. The sec- 
 ond was the great Cleopatra, the subject of this 
 history. Cleopatra was, at this time, about 
 eleven years old. There were also two sons, 
 but they were very young. One of them was 
 named Ptolemy. 
 
 The Alexandrians determined on raising Ber- 
 enice to the throne in her father's place, as soon 
 %.i his flight was known. They thought that
 
 i CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 58 
 
 Berenice Oat marring* with Solencui 
 
 the sons were too young to attempt to reign in 
 such an emergency, as it was very probable 
 that Auletes, the father, would attempt to re- 
 cover his kingdom. Berenice very readily ac- 
 cepted the honor and power which were offered 
 to her. She established herself in her father's 
 palace, and began her reign in great magnifi- 
 cence and splendor. In process of time she 
 thought that her position would be strengthened 
 by a marriage with a royal prince from some 
 neighboring realm. She first sent embassadors 
 to make proposals to a prince of Syria named 
 Antiochus. The embassadors came back, bring- 
 ing word that Antiochus was dead, but that he 
 had a brother named Seleucus, upon whom the 
 succession fell. Berenice then sent them back 
 to make the same offers to him. He accepted 
 the proposals, came to Egypt, and he and Ber- 
 enice were married. After trying him for a 
 while, Berenice found that, for some reason or 
 other, she did not like him as a husband, and, 
 accordingly, she caused him to be strangled. 
 
 At length, after various other intrigues and 
 much secret management, Berenice succeeded 
 in a second negotiation, and married a prince, 
 or a pretended prince, from some country of 
 Asia Minor, whose name was Archelaus. Sht
 
 B.C 58.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 
 
 Cleopatra's early life. Ptolemy aa object of contempt. 
 
 was better pleased with this second husband 
 than she had been with the first, and she began, 
 at last, to feel somewhat settled and establish- 
 ed on her throne, and to be prepared, as she 
 thought, to offer effectual resistance to her fa- 
 ther in case he should ever attempt to re- 
 turn. 
 
 It was in the midst of the scenes, and sur- 
 rounded by the influences which might be ex- 
 pected to prevail in the families of such a father 
 and such a sister, that Cleopatra spent those 
 years of life in which the character is formed. 
 During all these revolutions, and exposed to all 
 these exhibitions of licentious wickedness, and 
 of unnatural cruelty and crime, she was grow- 
 ing up in the royal palaces a spirited and beau- 
 tiful, but indulged and neglected child. 
 fci the mean time, Auletes, the father, went 
 on toward Rome. So far as his character and 
 his story were known among the surrounding 
 nations, he was the object of universal obloquy, 
 both on account of his previous career of de- 
 grading vice, and now, still more, for this igno- 
 ble flight from the difficulties in which his vice* 
 and crimes had involved him. 
 
 lie stopped, <r>n the way, at the island of 
 Rhodes. It happened that Cato, the great
 
 94 CLKOPATRA. [B.C. 58 
 
 Ptolemy' i Snterrtew with Oto. CharmcUw of Cat* 
 
 man philosopher and general, was at Rhodes at 
 this time. Cato was a man of stern, unbend- 
 ing virtue, and of great influence at that period 
 in public affairs. Ptolemy sent a messenger to 
 nform Cato of his arrival, supposing, of course, 
 that the Roman general would hasten, on hear- 
 ing of the fact, to pay his respects to so great a 
 personage as he, a king of Egypt a Ptolemy 
 though suffering under a temporary reverse 
 of fortune. Ca'to directed the messenger to re- 
 ply that, so far as he was aware, he had no par- 
 ticular business with Ptolemy. " Say, how- 
 ever, to the king," he added, " that, if he has 
 any business with me, he may call and see me, 
 if he pleases." 
 
 Ptolemy was obliged to suppress his resent- 
 ment and submit. He thought it very essen- 
 tial to the success of his plans that he should 
 see Cato, and secure, if possible, his interest and 
 co-operation ; and he consequently made prepa- 
 rations for paying, instead of receiving, the vis 
 it, intending to go in the greatest royal state 
 that he could command. He accordingly ap- 
 peared at Cato's lodgings on the following day, 
 magnificently dressed, and accompanied by 
 many attendants. Cato, who was dressed in 
 *he plainest and most simple manner, and whose
 
 B.C 58.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 95 
 
 tctemy'i reception. Cato adrloa to him. 
 
 apartment was furnished in a style correspond- 
 ing with the severity of his character, did not 
 even rise when the king entered the room. He 
 imply pointed with his hand, and bade the via- 
 itor take a seat. 
 
 Ptolemy began to make a statement of his 
 case, with a view to obtaining Cato's influence 
 with the Roman people to induce them to in- 
 terpose in his behalf. Cato, however, far from 
 evincing any disposition to espouse his visitor's 
 cause, censured him, in the plainest terms, for 
 having abandoned his proper position in his own 
 kingdom, to go and make himself a victim and 
 a prey for the insatiable avarice of the Roman 
 leaders. "You can do nothing at Rome," he 
 said, " but by the influence of bribes ; and ai* 
 the resources of Egypt will not be enough it 
 satisfy the Roman greediness for money." He 
 concluded by recommending him to go back tc 
 Alexandria, and rely for his hopes of extrication 
 from the difficulties which surrounded him on 
 the exercise of his own energy and resolution 
 there. 
 
 Ptolemy was greatly abashed at this reouff, 
 but, on consultation with his attendants and 
 followers, it was decided to be too late now to 
 return. The wholn party accordingly re-em-
 
 96 CLEOPATRA. lB.C.5b 
 
 Ptolemy rriret at Rome. HI* application to Pompey 
 
 barked on board their galleys, and pursued theii 
 way to Rome. 
 
 Ptolemy found, on his arrival at the city, that 
 Caesar was absent in Gaul, while Pompey, on 
 the other hand, who had returned victorious 
 from his campaigns against Mithradates, was 
 now the great leadef of influence and power at 
 the Capitol. This change of circumstances was 
 not, however, particularly unfavorable ; for Ptol- 
 emy was on friendly terms with Pompey, as ho 
 had been with Ceesar. He had assisted him in 
 his wars with Mithradates by sending him a 
 squadron of horse, in pursuance of his policy of 
 cultivating friendly relations with the Roman 
 people by every means in his power. Besides, 
 Pompey had received a part of the money which 
 Ptolemy had paid to Csesar as the price of the 
 Roman alliance, and was to receive his share 
 of the rest in case Ptolemy should ever bo re- 
 stored. Pompey was accordingly interested in 
 favoring the royal fugitive's cause. He re- 
 oeived him in his palace, entertained him in 
 magnificent style, and took immediate meas- 
 ures for bringing his cause before the Roman 
 enate, urging upon that body the adoption of 
 immediate and vigorous measures far effecting 
 i restoration, as an ally whom they wer*
 
 B.C.58.J CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 97 
 
 Aotiwi of the Roman tenata Plant for restoring Ptolemj 
 
 bound to protect against his rebellious sub- 
 jects. 
 
 There was at first some opposition in the 
 Roman senate against espousing the cause of 
 such a man, but it was soon put down, being 
 overpowered in part by Pompey's authority, 
 and in part silenced by Ptolemy's promises and 
 bribes. The senate determined to restore the 
 king to his throne, and began to make arrange- 
 ments for carrying the measure into effect. 
 
 The Roman provinces nearest to Egypt were 
 Cilicia and Syria, countries situated on the east- 
 ern and northeastern coast of the Mediterranean 
 Sea, north of Judea. The forces stationed in 
 these provinces would be, of course, the most 
 convenient for furnishing the necessary troops 
 for the expedition. The province of Cilicia was 
 under the command of the consul Lentulus. 
 Lentulus was at this time at Rome ; he had 
 repaired to the capital for some temporary pur- 
 pose, leaving his province and the troops sta- 
 tioned there under the command, for the time, 
 af a sort of lieutenant general named Gabinius. 
 It was concluded that this Lentulus, with his 
 Syrian forces, should undertake the task of re- 
 instating Ptolemy on his throne. 
 
 While these ulans and arrangements were 
 
 J8 7
 
 98 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 57. 
 
 Meiuore* of Berenice. Her enu>Migu o Roma 
 
 yet immature, a circumstance occurred which 
 threatened, for a time, wholly to defeat them. 
 It seems that when Cleopatra's father first left 
 Egypt, he had caused a report to be circulated 
 tuere that he had been killed in the revolt 
 The object of this stratagem was to cover and 
 conceal his flight. The government of Berenice 
 soon discovered the truth, and learned that the 
 fugitive had gone in the direction of Rome 
 They immediately inferred that he was going 
 to appeal to the Roman people for aid, and they 
 determined that, if that wore the case, the Ro- 
 man people, before deciding in his favor, should 
 have the opportunity to hear their side of the 
 story as well as his. They accordingly made 
 preparations at once for sending a very impos- 
 ing embassage to Rome. The deputation con- 
 sisted of more than a hundred persons. The 
 object of Berenice's government hi sending so 
 large a number was not only to evince their 
 respect for the Roman people, and their sense 
 of the magnitude of the question at issue, but 
 aiso to guard against any efforts that Ptolemy 
 might make to intercept the embassage on the 
 way, or to buy off the members of it by bribes. 
 The number, however, large a* it was, proved 
 insufficient to accomplish this purpose. Thf
 
 B.C. 57.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. yy 
 
 Ptolemy'i trfaohory. IU consequence* 
 
 whole Roman world was at this time in such a 
 condition of disorder and violence, in the hands 
 of the desperate and reckless military leaders 
 who then bore sway, that there were every where 
 abundant facilities for the commission of any 
 conceivable crime. Ptolemy contrived, with the 
 assistance of the fierce partisans who had es- 
 poused his cause, and who were deeply interest- 
 ed in his success on account of the rewards 
 which were promised them, to waylay and de- 
 stroy a large proportion of this company before 
 they reached Rome. Some were assassinated ; 
 some were poisoned ; some were tampered with 
 and bought off by bribes. A small remnant 
 reached Rome; but they were so intimidated 
 by the dangers which surrounded them, that 
 they did not dare to take any public action in 
 respect to the business which had been com- 
 mitted to their charge, Ptolemy began to con' 
 gratulate himself on having completely circum- 
 rented his daughter hi her efforts to protect 
 herself against his designs. 
 
 Instead of that, however, it soon proved tliat 
 the effect of this atrocious treachery was exact- 
 ly the contrary of what its perpetrators had ox- 
 pected The knowledge of the facts beotme 
 Sfraduallv extended among the people of Rome
 
 100 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 57 
 
 Opposition to Ptolemy. The prophecy 
 
 and it awakened a universal indignation. The 
 party who had been originally opposed to Ptol- 
 emy's cause seized the opportunity to renew 
 their opposition ; and they gained so much 
 strength from the general odium which Ptol- 
 emy's crimes had awakened, that Pompey found 
 it almost impossible to sustain his cause. 
 
 At length the party opposed to Ptolemy 
 found, or pretended to find, in certain sacred 
 books, called the Sibylline Oracles, which were 
 kept in the custody of the priests, and were sup- 
 posed to contain prophetic intimations of the 
 will of Heaven in respect to the conduct of pub 
 lie affairs, the following passage : 
 
 * If a king of Egypt should apply to you 
 for aid, treat him in a friendly manner , but do 
 not furnish him with troops ; for if you do, you 
 will incur great danger." 
 
 This made new difficulty for Ptolemy's 
 friends. They attempted, at first, to evade this 
 inspired injunction by denying the reality of it 
 There was no such passage to be found, they 
 aid. It was all an invention of their enemies. 
 This point seems to have been overruled, and 
 then they attempted to give the passage some 
 other than the obvious interpretation. Finally 
 they maintained that, although it prohibited
 
 B.C. 55.] CLBOPATRI'S FATHER, 101 
 
 Attempt* to evade the oracle. GabLoltu undertake* the OMK 
 
 their furnishing Ptolemy himself with troops, it 
 did not forbid their sending an armed force into 
 Egypt under leaders of their own. That they 
 could certainly do ; and then, when the rebell- 
 ion was suppressed, and Berenice's government 
 overthrown, they could invite Ptolemy to return 
 to his kingdom and resume his crown in a 
 peaceful manner. This, they alleged, would not 
 be "furnishing him with troops," and, of course, 
 would not be disobeying the oracle. 
 
 These attempts to evade the direction of the 
 oracle on the part of Ptolemy's friends, only 
 made the debates and dissensions between them 
 and his enemies more violent than ever. Pom- 
 pey made every effort in his power to aid Ptol- 
 emy's cause ; but Lentulus, after long hesita- 
 tion and delay, decided that it would not be safe 
 for him to embark in it. At length, however, 
 Gabinius, the lieutenant who commanded in 
 Syria, was induced to undertake the enterprise 
 On certain promises which he received from 
 Ptolemy, to be performed in case he succeeded, 
 and with a certain encouragement, not very le- 
 gal or regular, which Pompey gave him, in re* 
 spect to the employment of the Roman troops 
 tmdor his command, he resolved to march to 
 Egypt. His route, of cciurse, would lav along
 
 ICtt CLKOPATRA. [B.C. 3* 
 
 ** Antooj. Hit hlitory and character 
 
 the shores of the Mediterranean Sea, and 
 through the desert, to Pelusium, which has al- 
 ready been mentioned as the frontier town on 
 this side of Egypt. From Pelusium he was to 
 march through the heart of the Delta to Alex- 
 andria, and, if successful in his invasion, over- 
 throw the government of Berenice and Arohe- 
 lans, and then, inviting Ptolemy to return, re- 
 instate him on the throne. 
 
 In the prosecution of this dangerous enter- 
 prise, Gabinius relied strongly on the assist- 
 ance of a very remarkable man, then his second 
 in command, who afterward acted a very im- 
 portant part in the subsequent history of Cleo- 
 patra. His name was Mark Antony. Antony 
 was born in Rome, of a very distinguished fam- 
 ily, but his father died when he was very young, 
 and being left subsequently much to himself, he 
 hecame a very wild and dissolute young man. 
 He wasted the property which his father had 
 'eft him in folly and vice; and then going on 
 desperately in the same career, he soon incurred 
 snormous debts, and involved himself, in conse- 
 quence, in inextricable difficulties. His cred- 
 itors continually harassed him with importuni- 
 ties for money, and with suits at law to compe( 
 payments whiob ire had no means of making
 
 B.C.55.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 
 
 Intony In f Jreece. lie joins Gablniui 
 
 He was likewise incessantly pursued by the 
 hostility of the many enemies that he had made 
 in the city by his violence and his crimes. At 
 length he absconded, and went to Greece. 
 
 Here Gabinius, when on his way to Syria, 
 met him, and invited him to join his army 
 rather than to remain where he was in idleness 
 and destitution Antony, who was as proud 
 and lofty in spirit as he was degraded in mor- 
 als and condition, refused to do this unless Ga- 
 binius would give him a command. Gabinius 
 saw in the daring and reckless energy which 
 Antony manifested the indications of the class 
 of qualities which in those days made a suc- 
 cessful soldier, and acceded to his terms. He 
 gave him the command of his cavalry. Antony 
 distinguished himself in the Syrian campaigns 
 that followed, and was now full of eagerness to 
 engage in this Egyptian enterprise. In fact, it 
 was mainly his zeal and enthusiasm to embark 
 in the undertaking which was the means of de 
 ciding Gabinius to consent to Ptolemy's pro- 
 oosals. 
 
 The danger and difficulty which they con- 
 sidered as most to be apprehended in the whole 
 expedition was the getting across the desert tc 
 Pelusium. In fact, the great protection of
 
 .04 CLEOPATRA. 'B.C. 35 
 
 Danger of crowing the deterU. Annie* dMtroyed 
 
 Egypt had always been her isolation. The 
 trackless and desolate sands, being wholly des- 
 titute of water, and utterly void, could be trav- 
 ersed, even by a caravan of peaceful travelers, 
 only with great difficulty and danger. For at 
 army to attempt to cross them, exposed, as the 
 troops would necessarily be, to the assaults of 
 enemies who might advance to meet them on 
 the way, and sure of encountering a terrible 
 opposition from fresh and vigorous bands when 
 they should arrive way worn and exhausted by 
 the physical hardships of the way at the bor- 
 ders of the inhabited country, was a desperate 
 undertaking. Many instances occurred in an- 
 cient times in which vast bodies of troops, in 
 attempting marches over the deserts by which 
 Egypt was surrounded, were wholly destroyed 
 by famine or thirst, or overwhelmed by storms 
 of sand.* 
 
 These difficulties and dangers, however, did 
 not at all intimidate Mark Antony. The an- 
 ticipation, in fact, of the glory of surmounting 
 them was one of the main inducements which 
 led him to embark in the enterprise. The per- 
 ils of the desert constituted one of the charmi 
 
 For an account of one of these disaiton, with an 
 in? illustrative of the scene tee the HIITORT or Cmus
 
 B.C 58.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 106 
 
 Mark Antony's character HU pencnal ^ppoaruce. 
 
 which made the expedition so attractive. He 
 placed himself, therefore, at the head of his 
 troop of cavalry, and set off across the sands in 
 advance of Gabinins, to take Pelusium, in or- 
 der thus to open a way for the main body of the 
 army into Egypt. Ptolemy accompanied An- 
 tony. Gabinius was to follow. 
 
 With all his faults, to call them by no se- 
 verer name, Mark Antony possessed certain 
 great excellences of character. He was ardent, 
 but then he was cool, collected, and sagacious ; 
 and there was a certain frank and manly gener- 
 osity continually evincing itself in his conduct 
 and character which made him a great favorite 
 among his men. He was at this time about 
 twenty-eight years old, of a tall and manly 
 form, and of an expressive and intellectual cast 
 of countenance. His forehead was high, his 
 nose aquiline, and his eyes full of vivacity and 
 life. He was accustomed to dress in a very 
 plain and careless manner, and he assumed an 
 air of the utmost familiarity and freedom in his 
 intercourse with his soldiers. He would join 
 them in their sports, joke with them, and good- 
 naturedly receive their jokes hi return; and 
 take his meals, standing with them around 
 their rude tables, in the open field. Such hab-
 
 106 CLKOPATKA. [B.C.55 
 
 lf*rch Boron the deaert Peliutnm tafcrn 
 
 its of intercourse with his men in a commander 
 of ordinary character would have been fatal to 
 his ascendency over them; but in Mark An- 
 tony's case, these frank and familiar manners 
 seemed only to make the military genius and the 
 intellectual power which he possessed the more 
 conspicuous and the-more universally admired. 
 Antony conducted his troop of horsemen 
 across the desert in a very safe and speedy 
 manner, and arrived before Pelusium. The 
 city was not prepared to resist him. It surren- 
 dered at once, and the whole garrison fall into 
 his hands as prisoners of war. Ptolemy de- 
 manded that they should all be immediately 
 killed. They were rebels, he said, and, as such, 
 ought to be put to death. Antony, however, 
 as might have been expected from his charac- 
 ter, absolutely refused to allow of any such bar- 
 barity. Ptolemy, since the poorer was not yet 
 in his hands, was compelled to submit, and to 
 postpone gratifying the spirit of vengeance which 
 had so long been slumbering in his breast to a 
 future day. He could the more patiently sub- 
 mit to this necessity, since it appeared that the 
 day of his complete and final triumph over hig 
 daughter and all ho* adherent* was now very 
 -igh at hand.
 
 B.C. 55.] CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. 109 
 
 March acrou the Delta. Success of the Roman* 
 
 In fact, Berenice and her government, when 
 they heard of the arrival of Antony and Ptol- 
 emy at Pelusium, of the fall of that city, and 
 of the approach of Gabinius with an over- 
 whelming force of Roman soldiers, were struck 
 with dismay. Archelaus, the husband of Bere- 
 nice, had been, in former years, a personal friend 
 of Antony's. Antony considered, in fact, that 
 they were friends still, though required by what 
 the historian calls their duty to fight each other 
 for the possession of the kingdom. The govern- 
 ment of Berenice raised an army. Archelaus 
 took command of it, and advanced to meet the 
 enemy. In the mean time, Gabinius arrived 
 with the main body of the Roman troops, and 
 commenced his march, in conjunction with An- 
 tony, toward the capital. As they were obliged 
 to make a circuit to the southward, in order to 
 avoid the inlets and lagoons which, on the north- 
 ern coast of Egypt, penetrate for some distance 
 into the land, their course led them through the 
 heart of the Delta. Many battles were fought, 
 the Romans every where gaining the victory. 
 The Egyptian soldiers were, in fact, discon- 
 tented and mutinous, perhaps, in part, because 
 they considered the government on the side of 
 *rhieh they were compelled to engage as, after
 
 110 CuiorATRA. [B.C. 53 
 
 Berenice a prisoner. fate of ArchelaiM 
 
 all, a usurpation. At length a great final bat- 
 tle was fought, which settled the controversy. 
 Arohelaus was slain upon the field, and Bere- 
 nice was taken prisoner ; their government wa 
 wholly overthrown, and the way was opened 
 for the march of the Roman armies to Alexan- 
 dria. 
 
 Mark Antony, when judged by our standards, 
 was certainly, as well as Ptolemy, a depraved 
 and vicious man ; but his depravity was of a 
 very different type from that of Cleopatra's fa- 
 ther. The difference in the men, in one re- 
 spect, was very clearly evinced by the objects 
 toward which their interest and attention were 
 respectively turned after this great battle. 
 While the contest had been going on, the king 
 and queen of Egypt, Archelaus and Berenice, 
 were, of course, in the view both of Antony and 
 Ptolemy, the two most conspicuous personage 
 in the army of their enemies; and while An 
 tony would naturally watch with the greatest 
 interest the fate of his friend, the king, Ptole- 
 my, would as naturally follow with the highest 
 concern the destiny of his daughter. Accord- 
 ingly, when the battle was over, while the mind 
 of Ptolemy might, as we should naturally ex- 
 pect, be chiefly occupied by the fact that hi*
 
 B.C. 55. 1 CLEOPATRA'S FATHER. Ill 
 
 Griof of Antony. Unnatural joy of Ptolemy 
 
 daughter was made a captive, Antony's, we 
 might suppose, would be engrossed by the tid- 
 ings that his friend had been slain. 
 
 The one rejoiced and the other mourned 
 Antony sought for the body of his friend on the 
 field of battle, and when it was found, he gave 
 himself wholly to the work of providing for it a 
 .nost magnificent burial. He seemed, at the fu- 
 neral, to lament the death of his ancient com- 
 rade with real and unaffected grief. Ptolemy, 
 on the other hand, was overwhelmed with joy 
 at finding his daughter his captive. The long- 
 wished-for hour for the gratification of his re- 
 venge had come at last, and the first use which 
 he made of his power when he w*s put in pos- 
 session of it at Alexandria wrf to order his 
 daughter to be beheaded
 
 112 CLKOPATEA. [B.C. 60. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 ACCESSION TO THE THRONE. 
 
 A T the time when the unnatural quarrel be- 
 ^^- tween Cleopatra's father and her sister 
 was working its way toward its dreadful term- 
 ination, as related in the last, chapter, she her- 
 self was residing at the royal palace in Alexan- 
 dria, a bloorningrand beautiful^ girl of about fif- 
 teen. JFortunately for her, she was too young 
 to take any active part personally in the con- 
 tention. Her two brothers were still younger 
 than herself. They all three remained, there- 
 fore, in the royal palaces, quiet spectators of the 
 revolution, without being either benefited or in- 
 jured by it. It is singular that the name of 
 both the boys was Ptolemy. 
 
 The excitement in the city of Alexandria was 
 intense and universal when the Roman army 
 entered it to reinstate Cleopatra's father upon 
 his throne. A very large portion of the inhabit 
 ants were pleased with having the former king 
 restored. In fact, it appears, by a retrospect of 
 the history of kings, that when a legitimate hn
 
 B.C.55.] THE ACCESSION. 113 
 
 rtolemy reetored. Acquiescence of the people. 
 
 reditary sovereign or dynasty is deposed and ex- 
 pelled by a rebellious population, no matter how 
 intolerable may have been the tyranny, or how 
 atrocious the crimes by which the patience of 
 the subject was exhausted, the lapse of a very 
 few years is ordinarily sufficient to produce a 
 very general readiness to acquiesce in a restora- 
 tion ; and in this particular instance there had 
 been no such superiority in the government of 
 Berenice, during the period while her power 
 continued, over that of her father, which she 
 had displaced, as to make this case an excep- 
 tion to the general rule. The mass of the peo- 
 ple, therefore all those, especially, who had tak 
 en no active part in Berenice's government 
 were ready to welcome Ptolemy back to his cap- 
 ital. Those who had taken such a part were 
 all summarily executed by Ptolemy's orders. 
 
 There was, of course, a great excitement 
 throughout the city on the arrival of the Roman 
 army. All the foreign influence and power 
 which had been exercised in Egypt thus far, 
 and almost all the officers, whether civil or mil- 
 itary, had been Greek. The coming of the Ro- 
 mans was the introduction of a new element of 
 interest to add to the endless variety of excite- 
 ments which animated the capital. 
 
 168
 
 114 CLEOPATKJL. [B.C.5S 
 
 r*tivitifi Popnlvlty of Antovy 
 
 The restoration of Ptolemy was celebrated 
 with games, spectacles, and festivities of every 
 kind, and, of course, next to the king himself, 
 the chief center of interest and attraction in all 
 these public rejoicings would be the distin- 
 guished foreign generals by whose instrument- 
 ality the end had been gained. 
 
 Mark Antony was a special object of public 
 regard and admiration at the time. His eccen- 
 tric manners, his frank and honest air, his Ro- 
 man simplicity of dress and demeanor, made 
 him conspicuous ; and his interposition to save 
 the lives of the captured garrison of Pelusium, 
 and the interest which he took in rendering 
 such distinguished funeral honors to the enemy 
 whom his army had slain in battle, impressed 
 tne people with the idea of a certain nobleness 
 and magnanimity in his character, which, in 
 spite of his faults, made him an object of gen- 
 eral admiration and applause. The very faults 
 oT such a man assume often, in the eyes of the 
 world, the guise and semblance of virtues. For 
 example, it is related of Antony that, at one 
 time in the course of his life, having a desire to 
 make a present of some kind to a certain per- 
 son, in requital for a favor which he had re- 
 ceived from him, he ordered his treasurer tr send
 
 B.C. 55.] THE ACCESSION. 115 
 
 iatony'i gcMrodty. Aaeedot*. 
 
 ft sum of money to his friend and named for th 
 sum to be sent an amount considerably greater 
 than was really required under the circum- 
 stances of the case acting thus, as he often 
 did, under the influence of a blind and unoal- 
 oulating generosity. The treasurer, more pru- 
 dent than his master, wished to reduce the 
 amount, but he did not dare directly to propose 
 a reduction ; so he counted out the money, and 
 laid it in a pile in a place where Antony was 
 to pass, thinking that when Antony saw the 
 amount, he would perceive that it was too great. 
 Antony, in passing by, asked what money that 
 was. The treasurer said that it was the sum 
 that he had ordered to be sent as a present to 
 such a person, naming the individual intended. 
 Antony was quick to perceive the object of the 
 treasurer's maneuver. He immediately replied, 
 " Ah ! is that all ? I thought the sum I named 
 would make a better appearance than that ; 
 end him double the amount." 
 
 To determine, under such circumstances as 
 these, to double an extravag inoe merely for the 
 purpose of thwarting the honest attempt of a 
 faithful servant to dimmish it, made, too, in so 
 cautious and delicate a way, is most certainly 
 a fault But it is one of those faults for which
 
 116 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.55 
 
 Alton? and Cleopatra. Antony return* to RT>*M 
 
 the world, in all ages, will persist in admiring 
 and praising the perpetrator. 
 
 In a word, Antony became the object of gen- 
 eral attention and favor during his continuance 
 at Alexandria. Whether he particularly at- 
 tracted Cleopatra V attention at this time or not 
 does not appear. She, however, strongly at- 
 tracted his. He admired her blooming beauty, 
 her sprightliness and wit, and her various ac- 
 complishments. She was still, however, so 
 young being but fifteen years of age, while 
 Antony was nearly thirty that she probably 
 made no very serious impression upon him. A 
 short time after this, Antony went back to 
 Rome, and did not see Cleopatra again for 
 many years. 
 
 When the two Roman generals went away 
 from Alexandria, they left a considerable por- 
 tion of the army behind them, under Pi olemy's 
 command, to aid him in keeping possession of 
 his throne. Antony returned to Rome. He 
 had acquired great renown by his march across 
 the desert, and by the successful accomplish- 
 ment of the invasion of Egypt and the restora- 
 tion of Ptolemy. His funds, too, were replen- 
 ished by the vast sums paid to him and to Ga- 
 binius by Ptolemy. The amount which Ptol-
 
 B.O. 55,] THE ACCESSION. 117 
 
 rtokxny't mutton. Pompey and Caaar 
 
 emy is said to have agreed to pay as the price 
 of his restoration was two thousand talents- 
 equal to ten millions of dollars a sum which 
 shows on how great a scale the operations of 4 
 this celebrated campaign were conducted. Ptol- 
 emy raised a large portion of the money re 
 quired for his payments by confiscating the es- 
 tates belonging to those friends of Berenice's 
 government whom he ordered to be slain. It 
 was said, in fact, that the numbers were very 
 much increased of those that were condemned 
 to die, by Ptolemy's standing in such urgent 
 need of their property to meet his obligations. 
 
 Antony, through the results of this campaign, 
 found himself suddenly raised from the position 
 of a disgraced and homeless fugitive to that of 
 one of the most wealthy and renowned, and, 
 consequently, one of the most powerful person- 
 ages in Rome. The great civil war broke out 
 about this time between Csesar and Pompey. 
 Antony espoused the cause of CsBsar. 
 
 In the mean time, while the civil war be- 
 tween Caesar and Pompey was raging, Ptolemy 
 succeeded in maintaining his seat on the throne, 
 by the aid of the Roman soldiers whom Antony 
 and Gabinius had left him, for about three 
 years. When he found himself drawing toward
 
 118 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 51 
 
 CloM of Ptolemy ' reign. Settlement of the tuoeeMio* 
 
 the close of life, the question arose to his mind 
 to whom he should leave his kingdom. Cleo- 
 patra was the oldest child, and she was a prin- 
 cess of great promise, both in respect to mental 
 endowments and personal charms. Her broth- 
 ers were considerably younger than she. The 
 claim of a son, though younger, seemed to be 
 naturally stronger than that of a daughter ; but 
 the commanding talents and rising influence of 
 Cleopatra appeared to make it doubtful whether 
 it would be safe to pass her by. The father 
 settled the question in the way in which such 
 difficulties were usually surmounted in the Ptol- 
 emy family. He ordained that Cleopatra should 
 marry the oldest of her brothers, and that they 
 two should jointly occupy the throne. Adher- 
 ing also, still, to the idea of the alliance of 
 Egypt with Rome, which had been the leading 
 principle of the whole policy of his reign, he sol- 
 emnly committed the execution of his will and 
 the guardianship of his children, by a provision 
 of the instrument itself, to the Roman senate. 
 The senate accepted the appointment, and ap- 
 pointed Pompey as the agent, on their part, to 
 perform the duties of the trust. The attention 
 of Pompey was, immediately after that time, 
 too much engrossed by the civil war waged bo
 
 BO. 51-48.] THE ACCESSION. 119 
 
 AcMsMion or Cleopatra. She U married to her brother 
 
 tween himself and Caesar, to take any active 
 steps in respect to the duties of his appointment. 
 It seemed, however, that none were necessary, 
 for all parties in Alexandria appeared disposed, 
 after the death of the king, to acquiesce in the 
 arrangements which he had made, and to join 
 in carrying them into effect. Cleopatra was 
 married to her brother yet, it is true, only a 
 boy. He was about ten years old. She was 
 herself about eighteen. They were both too 
 young to govern ; they could only reign. The 
 affairs of the kingdom were, accordingly, con- 
 ducted by two ministers whom their father had 
 designated. These ministers were Pothinus, a 
 eunuch, who was a sort of secretary of state, 
 and Achillas, the commander-in-chief of the ar- 
 mies. 
 
 Thus, though Cleopatra, by these events, be- 
 came nominally a queen, her real accession to 
 the throne was not yet accomplished. There 
 were still many difficulties and dangers to b6 
 passed through, before the period arrived when 
 she became really a sovereign. She did not, 
 herself, make any immediate attempt to hasten 
 this period, but seems to have acquiesced, on 
 the other hand, very quietly, for a time, in th 
 arrangements which her father had made.
 
 120 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 43 
 
 Pothlnni the eunuch. Hli character and jorenimeat 
 
 Pothinus was a eunuch. He had been, for a 
 long time, an officer of government under Ptol- 
 emy, the father. He was a proud, ambitious, 
 and domineering man, determined to rule, and 
 very unscrupulous in respeot to the means 
 which he adopted to accomplish his ends. He 
 had been accustomed to regard Cleopatra as a 
 mere child. Now that she was queen, he was 
 *ery unwilling that the real power should pass 
 into her hands The jealousy and ill will which 
 he felt toward her increased rapidly as he found, 
 in the course of the first two or three years aft- 
 er her father's death, that she was advancing 
 rapidly in strength of character, and in the in- 
 fluence and ascendency which she was acquir- 
 ing over all around her. Her beauty, her ao- 
 oomplishments, and a certain indescribable 
 charm which pervaded all her demeanor, com- 
 bined to give her great personal power. But, 
 while these things awakened in other minds 
 feelings of interest in Cleopatra and attachment 
 to her, they only increased the jealousy and envy 
 of Pothinus. Cleopatra was becoming his ri- 
 val. He endeavored to thwart and circumvent 
 her. He acted toward her in a haughty and 
 overbearing manner, in order to keep her down 
 to what he considered her proper place as hii
 
 B.C. 43.] THE ACCESSION. 121 
 
 Machination* of Pothinu*. Cleop*tr* U expelled 
 
 ward ; for he was yet the guardian both of Cle- 
 opatra and her husband, and the regent of the 
 realm. 
 
 Cleopatra had a great deal of what is some- 
 times called spirit, and her resentment was 
 aroused by this treatment. Pothinus took pains 
 to enlist her young husband, Ptolemy, on his 
 side, as the quarrel advanced. Ptolemy was 
 younger, and of a character much less marked 
 and decided than Cleopatra. Pothinus saw that 
 he could maintain control over him much more 
 easily and for a much longer time than over 
 Cleopatra. He contrived to awaken the young 
 Ptolemy's jealousy of his wife's rising influence, 
 and to induce him to join in efforts to thwart 
 and counteract it. These attempts to turn her 
 husband against her only aroused Cleopatra's 
 resentment the more. Hers was not a spirit to 
 be coerced. The palace was filled with the dis- 
 sensions of the rivals. Pothinus and Ptolemy 
 began to take measures for securing the army 
 on their side. An open rupture finally ensued, 
 and Cleopatra was expelled from the kingdom. 
 
 She went to Syria. Syria was the nearest 
 place of refuge, and then, besides, it was the 
 country from which the aid had been furnished 
 by which her father had been restored to the
 
 122 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 43 
 
 deopntrm'i army. Appnwchinf contact 
 
 throne when he had been expelled, in a similar 
 manner, many years before. Her father, it is 
 true, had gone first to Rome ; but the succors 
 which be had negotiated for had been sent fiom 
 Syria Cleopatra hoped to obtain the same as- 
 sistance by going directly there. 
 
 Nor was she disappointed. She obtained an 
 army, and commenced her march toward Egypt, 
 following the same track which Antony and 
 Gabinius had pursued in coming to reinstate 
 her father. Pothinus raised an army and went 
 forth to meet her. He took Achillas as the 
 commander of the troops, and the young Ptole- 
 my as the nominal sovereign ; while he, as the 
 young king's guardian and prime minister, ex- 
 ercised the real power. The troops of Pothinus 
 advanced to Pelusium. Here they met the 
 forces of Cleopatra coming from the east. The 
 armies encamped not very far from each other, 
 and both sides began to prepare for battle. 
 
 The battle, however, was not fought. It wag 
 prevented by the occurrence of certain great 
 and unforeseen events which at this crisis sud- 
 denly burst upon the scene of Egyptian history, 
 and turned the whole current of affairs into new 
 and unexpected channels. The breaking out of 
 the civil war between the great Roman gener
 
 B.C. 43. THE ACCESSION 123 
 
 "war and Ponrpey. Battle of Pharsalla 
 
 als Caesar and Pompey, and their respective par- 
 tisans, has already been mentioned as having 
 occurred soon after the death of Cleopatra's fa- 
 jher, and as having prevented Pompey from 
 undertaking the office of executor of the wiJL 
 This war had been raging ever since that time 
 with terrible fury. Its distant thundering had 
 been heard even in Egypt, but it was too re- 
 mote to awaken there any special alarm. The 
 immense armies of these two mighty conquer- 
 ors had moved slowly like two ferocious birds 
 of prey, flying through the air, and fighting as 
 they fly across Italy into Greece, and from 
 Greece, through Macedon, into Thessaly, con- 
 tending in dreadful struggles with each other as 
 they advanced, and trampling down and de 
 stroying every thing in their way. At length 
 a great final battle had been fought at Pharsa- 
 lia. Pompey had been totally defeated. He 
 had fled to the sea-shore, and there, with a few 
 ships and a small number of followers, he had 
 pushed out upon the Mediterranean, not know- 
 ing whither to fly, and overwhelmed with 
 wretchedness and despair. Caesar followed him 
 in eager pursuit. He had a small fleet of ga.- 
 leys with him, on board of which he had em- 
 barked two or three thousand men. This was
 
 124 CLEOPATRA \B.C.4& 
 
 Pompey it Peluilum. Treachery of Pothimi 
 
 a foror suitable, perhaps, for the pursuit of a 
 fugitive, but wholly insufficient for any other 
 
 Pompey thought of Ptolemy. He remember- 
 xl the efforts which he himself had made for the 
 cause of Ptolemy Auletes, at Rome, and the 
 success of those efforts in securing that mon- 
 arch's restoration an event through which 
 alone the young Ptolemy had been enabled to 
 attain the crown. He came, therefore, to Pe- 
 lusium, and, anchoring his little fleet off the 
 shore, sent to the land to ask Ptolemy to receive 
 and protect him. Pothinus, who was really the 
 commander in Ptolemy's army, made answer 
 to this application that Pompey should be re- 
 ceived and protected, and that he would send 
 out a boat to bring him to the shore. Pompey 
 felt some misgivings in respect to this proffered 
 hospitality, but he finally concluded to go to the 
 shore in the boat which Pothinus sent for him. 
 As soon as he landed, the Egyptians, by Pothi- 
 nns's orders, stabbed and beheaded him on the 
 sand. Pothinus and his council had decided 
 that this would be the safest course. If they 
 were to receive Pompey, they reasoned, Cacsai 
 would be made their enemy ; if they refused to 
 receive him. Pompey himself would be offend-
 
 B.C 43.) THE ACCESSION 126 
 
 Cffitar's pursuit of Pcmpey. HI* danger. 
 
 ed, and they did not know which of the two it 
 would be safe to displease; for they did not 
 know in what way, if both the generals were 
 to be allowed to live, the war would ultimately 
 end. " But by killing Pompey," they said, " we 
 shall be sure to please Csesar, and Pompey him- 
 elf will lie still." 
 
 In the mean time, Csesar, not knowing to 
 what part of Egypt Pompey had fled, pressed 
 on directly to Alexandria. He exposed himself 
 to great danger in so doing, for the forces under 
 his command were not sufficient to protect him 
 in case of his becoming involved in difficulties 
 with the authorities there. Nor could he, when 
 once arrived on the Egyptian coast, easily go 
 away again ; for, at the season of the year in 
 which these events occurred, there was a peri- 
 odical wind which blew steadily toward that 
 part of the coast, and, while it made it very easy 
 for a fleet of ships to go to Alexandria, rendered 
 it almost impossible for them to return. 
 
 Ceesar was very little accustomed to shrink 
 &om danger in any of his enterprises and plans, 
 though still he was usually prudent and cir- 
 cumspect. In this instance, however, his ar- 
 dent interest in the pursuit of Pompey over- 
 ruled ail consideration* of personal safety. Ha
 
 125 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.4& 
 
 CM*r at Alexandria. AitonUhment of the EgyptiruM 
 
 arrived at Alexandria, but he found that Pom 
 pey was not there. He anchored his vessels ur 
 the port, landed his troops, and established him- 
 self in the city. These two events, the assas- 
 sination of one of the great Roman generals on 
 the eastern extremity cf the coast, and the ar- 
 rival of the other, at the same moment, at Al- 
 exandria, on the western, burst suddenly upon 
 Egypt together, like simultaneous claps of 
 thunder. The tidings struck the whole coun- 
 try with astonishment, and immediately en- 
 grossed universal attention. At the camps both 
 of Cleopatra and Ptolemy, at Pelusium, all was 
 excitement and wonder. Instead of thinking of 
 a battle, both parties were wholly occupied in 
 speculating on the results which were likely to 
 accrue, to one side or to the other, under the 
 totally new and unexpected aspect which pub- 
 lic affairs had assumed. 
 
 Of course the thoughts of all were turned to 
 ward Alexandria. Pothinus immediately pro 
 seeded to the city, taking with him the young 
 king. Aohiilas, too, either accompanied them, 
 or followed soon afterward. They carried with 
 them the head of Pompey, which they had cut 
 off on the shore where they had killed him, and 
 also a seal which thev took from his finger
 
 B.C. 43.1 THE ACCESSION. 127 
 
 Cs-iar presented with Pompcy'i head. Pompey'* M*l 
 
 When they arrived at Alexandria, they sent th 
 head, wrapped up in a cloth, and also the seal, 
 as presents to Ceesar. Accustomed as they 
 were to the brutal deeds and heartless cruelties 
 of the Ptolemies, they supposed that Caesar 
 would exult at the spectacle of the dissevered 
 and ghastly head of his great rival and enemy. 
 Instead of this, he was shocked and displeased, 
 and ordered the head to be buried with the most 
 solemn and imposing funeral ceremonies. He, 
 however, accepted and kept the seal. The de- 
 vice engraved upon it was a lion holding a 
 sword in his paw a fit emblem of the charac- 
 ters of the men, who, though in many respects 
 magnanimous and just, had filled the whole 
 world with the terror of their quarrels. 
 
 The army of Ptolemy, while he himself and 
 his immediate counselors went to Alexandria, 
 was left at Pelusium, under the command of 
 other officers, to watch Cleopatra. Cleopatra 
 herself would have been pleased, also, to repair 
 to Alexandria and appeal to Ctesar, if it had 
 been in her power to do so; but she was be- 
 yond the confines of the country, with a power- 
 ful army of her enemies ready to intercept hei 
 on any attempt to enter or pass through it. 
 She remained, therefore, at Pelusium, uncer 
 tain what to do.
 
 128 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.43 
 
 Situation of OMtf. HI* dama&ds 
 
 In the mean time, Caesar soon found himself 
 in a somewhat embarrassing situation at Alex- 
 andria. He had been accustomed, for many 
 years, to the possession and the exercise of the 
 most absolute and despotic power, wherever he 
 might be ; and now that Pompey, his great ri- 
 val, was dead, he considered himself the mon- 
 arch and master of the world. He had not, 
 however, at Alexandria, any means sufficient 
 to maintain and enforce such pretensions, and 
 yet he was not of a spirit to abate, on that ac- 
 count, in the slightest degree, the advancing of 
 them. He established himself in the palaces of 
 Alexandria as if he were himself the king. He 
 moved, in state, through the streets of the city, 
 at the head of his guards, and displaying the 
 customary emblems of supreme authority used 
 at Rome. He claimed the six thousand talents 
 which Ptolemy Auletes had formerly promisee 
 him for procuring a treaty of alliance with 
 Rome, and he called upon Pothinus to pay the 
 balance due. He said, moreover, that by the 
 will of Auletes the Roman people had been 
 made the executor ; and that it devolved upon 
 him as the Roman consul, and, consequently, 
 the representative of the Roman people, to as- 
 sume that trust, and in the discharge of it to
 
 B.C. 43.] THE ACCESSION. 12 
 
 Conduct of Pothtau. Quarrel* 
 
 settle the dispute between Ptolemy and Cleo- 
 patra ; and he called upon Ptolemy to prepare 
 and lay before him a statement of his claims, 
 and the grounds on which he maintained his 
 right to the throne to the exclusion of Cleopatra. 
 On the other hand, Pothinus, who had been 
 as little accustomed to acknowledge a superior 
 as Caesar, though his supremacy and domina- 
 tion had been exercised on a somewhat hum- 
 bler scale, was obstinate and pertinacious in re- 
 sisting all these demands, though the means 
 and methods which he resorted to were of a 
 character corresponding to his weak and igno- 
 ble mind. lie fomented quarrels in the streets 
 between the Alexandrian populace and Caesar's 
 soldiers. He thought that, as the number of 
 troops under Caesar's command in the city, and 
 of vessels in the port, was small, he could tease 
 and worry the Romans with impunity, though 
 he had not the courage openly to attack them 
 He pretended to be a friend, or, at least, not an 
 enemy, and yet he conducted toward them in 
 an overbearing and insolent manner. He had 
 agreed to make arrangements for supplying 
 them with food, and he did this by procuring 
 damaged provisions of a most wretched quality ; 
 and when the soldiers remonstrated, he said tu 
 
 3*5
 
 130 CLEOPATRA [B.C.43. 
 
 Pohcy of Pothlnui. Contcntioni 
 
 them, that they who lived at other people's cost 
 had no right to complain of their faro. He 
 caused wooden and earthen vessels to be used 
 in the palace, and said, in explanation, that he 
 had been compelled to sell all the gold and silver 
 plate of the royal household to meet the exac- 
 tions of Caesar He busied himself, too, about 
 the city, in endeavoring to excite odium against 
 Caesar's proposal to hear and decide the ques- 
 tion at issue between Cleopatra and Ptolemy. 
 Ptolemy was a sovereign, he said, and was not 
 amenable to any foreign power whatever. Thus, 
 without the courage or the energy to attempt 
 any open, manly, and effectual system of hos- 
 tility, he contented himself with making all the 
 difficulty in his power, by urging an incessant 
 pressure of potty, vexatious, and provoking, but 
 useless annoyances. Caesar's demands may 
 have been unjust, but they were bold, manly, 
 and undisguised. The eunuch may have been 
 right in resisting them ; but the mode was so 
 mean and contemptible, that mankind have al- 
 ways taken part with Csssar in the sentiments 
 which they have formed as spectators of the 
 contest. 
 
 With the very small force which CaEsar had 
 kt his command, and shut up as he was in th
 
 B.C. 43.] THE ACCESSION. 131 
 
 Cesar sends to Syria for additional troops. 
 
 midst of a very great and powerful city, in 
 which both the garrison and the population were 
 growing more and more hostile to him every 
 day, he soon found his situation "was beginning 
 to be attended with very serious danger. He 
 oould not retire from the scene. He probably 
 would not have retired if he could have done so. 
 He remained, therefore, in the city, conducting 
 all the time with prudence and circumspection, 
 but yet maintaining, as at first, the same air of 
 confident self-possession and superiority which 
 always characterized his demeanor. He, how- 
 ever, dispatched a messenger forthwith into 
 Syria, the nearest country under the Roman 
 sway, with orders that several legions which 
 were posted there should be embarked and for^ 
 warded to Alexandria with the utmost possible 
 celerity.
 
 132 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.4* 
 
 CleojMtin'i perplexity. Bb recolrM to go to Ala 
 
 I 
 
 CMAPTBR VI. 
 CLEOPATRA AND C.KSAR. 
 
 >N the mean time, while the events related in 
 the last chapter were taking place at Alex- 
 andria, Cleopatra remained anxious and uneasy 
 in her camp, quite uncertain, for a time, what 
 it was best for her to do. She wished to be at 
 Alexandria. She knew very well that Cffisar's 
 power in controlling the course of affairs in 
 Egypt would necessarily be supreme. She was, 
 of course, very earnest in her desire to be able 
 to present her cause before him. As it was, 
 Ptolemy and Pothinus were in communication 
 with the arbiter, and, for aught she knew, as- 
 siduously cultivating his favor, while she wa 
 far away, her cause unheard, her wrongs un- 
 known, and perhaps even her existence forgot- 
 ten. Of course, under such circumstances, she 
 was very earnest to get to Alexandria 
 
 But how to accomplish this purpose was a 
 source of great perplexity. She could net march 
 thither at the head of an army, for the army of 
 the king was strongly intrenched at Pelunum*
 
 U.C.48.] CLEOPATRA AND CJBSAR. 
 
 Cleopatra's metMge to Cwr. Cntnr'i rf ply 
 
 and effectually barred the way. She could not 
 attempt to pass alone, or with few attendants, 
 through the country, for every town and village 
 was occupied with garrisons and officers under 
 the orders of Pothinus, and she would be cer- 
 tainly intercepted. She had no fleet, and could 
 not, therefore, make the passage by sea. Be- 
 sides, even if she could by any means reach the 
 gates of Alexandria, how was she to pass safely 
 through the streets of the city to the palace 
 where Caesar resided, since the city, except in 
 Caesar's quarters, was wholly in the hands of 
 Pothinus's government ? The difficulties in the 
 way of accomplishing her object seemed thus 
 almost insurmountable. 
 
 She was, however, resolved to make the at- 
 tempt. She sent a message to Caesar, asking 
 permission to appear before him and plead her 
 own cause. Caesar replied, urging her by all 
 means to come. She took a single boat, and 
 with the smallest number of attendants possi- 
 ble, made her way along the coast to Alexan- 
 Iria. The man on whom she principally relied 
 in this hazardous expedition was a domestic 
 named Apollodorus. She had, however, gome 
 other attendants besides. When the party reaoh- 
 vl Alexandria, they waited until night, and then
 
 134 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 38 
 
 ipoUodonii'i stratagem. Cleopatra and CaMar. 
 
 advanced to the foot of the walls of the citadel. 
 Here Apollodorus rolled the queen up in a piece 
 of carpeting, and, covering the whole package 
 with a cloth, he tied it with a thong, so as to 
 give it the appearance of a bale of ordinary mer- 
 chandise, and then throwing the load across his 
 shoulder, he advanced into the city. Cleopatra 
 was at this time about twenty -one years of age, 
 but she was of a slender and graceful form, and 
 the burden was, consequently, not very heavy. 
 Apollodorus came to the gates of the palace 
 where Ccesar was residing. The guards at the 
 gates asked him what it was that he was car- 
 rying. He said that it was a present for Cse- 
 sar. So they allowed him to pass, and' the pre- 
 tended porter carried his package safely in. 
 
 When it was unrolled, and Cleopatra came 
 out to view, Caesar was perfectly charmed with 
 the spectacle. In fact, the various conflicting 
 emotions which she could not but feel under 
 such circumstances as these, imparted a double 
 interest to her beautiful and expressive face, 
 and to her naturally bewitching manners. She 
 was excited by the adventure through which 
 she had passed, and yet pleased with her nar- 
 row escape from its dangers. The curiosity 
 and interest which she felt on the one hand, in
 
 B.C.48.J CLEOPATRA AND CJSSAR. 137 
 
 First impreMion*. Owiar'i attachment 
 
 respect to the great personage into whose pres- 
 ence she had been thus strangely ushered, was 
 very strong; but then, on the other, it wa 
 chastened and subdued by that feeling of timid- 
 ity which, in new and unexpected situations 
 like these, and under a consciousness of being 
 the object of eager observation to the other sex, 
 is inseparable from the nature ofjgoman. - 
 
 The conversation which Ceesar held with Cle- 
 opatra deepened the impression which hei first 
 appearance had made apon him. Her intelli- 
 gence and animation, the originality of her ideas, 
 and the point and pertinency of her mode of ex- 
 pressing them, made her, independently of her 
 personal charms, an exceedingly entertaining 
 and agreeable companion. She, in fact, com- 
 pletely won the great conqueror's heart; and, 
 through the strong attachment to her which hei 
 immediately formed, he became wholly disqual- i 
 ified to act impartially between her and her 
 brother in regard to their respective rights to 
 the crown. We call Ptolemy Cleopatra's broth- 
 er ; for, though he was also, in fact, her husband, 
 fitill, as he was only ten or twelvs years of age 
 at the time of Cleopatra's expulsion from Alex- 
 andria, the marriage had been probably regard- 
 ed, thus far, only as a mere matter of form.
 
 CLEOPATRA. (B.C. 48 
 
 Cmfur'f wife. Hit fondneM for Cleopatra. 
 
 Caesar was now about fifty-two. He had a 
 wife, named Calpurnia, to whom he had been 
 married about ten years. She was living, at 
 this time, in an unostentatious and quiet man 
 ner at Rome. She was a lady of an amiable 
 and gentle character, devotedly attached to her 
 husband, patient and forbearing in respect to 
 his faults, and often anxious and unhappy at 
 the thought of the difficulties and dangers in 
 which his ardent and unbounded ambition so 
 often involved him. 
 
 CcBsar immediately began to take a very 
 strong interest in Cleopatra's cause. He treat- 
 ed her personally with the fondest attention, 
 and it was impossible for her not to reciprocate 
 in some degree the kind feeling with which he 
 regarded her. It was, in fact, something alto- 
 gether new to her to have a warm and devoted 
 friend, espousing her cause, tendering her p w o- 
 tection, and seeking in every way to promote 
 her happiness. Her father had all his life neg- 
 lected her. Her brother, of years and under- 
 standing totally inferior to hers, whom she had 
 been compelled to make her husband, had be- 
 come her mortal enemy. It is true that, in de- 
 priving her of her inheritance and expelling hei 
 from her native land, he had been only the tool
 
 B.C. 48.1 CLEOPATRA AMD CJSSAR 
 
 Cleopatra's foe*. She commits her cause to Cwcar 
 
 and instrument of more designing men. This, 
 ho we \rer, far from improving the point of view 
 fror*" which she regarded him, made him appear 
 not only hateful, but contemptible too. All the 
 officeis of government, also, in the Alexandrian 
 court had turned against her, because they had 
 supposed that they could control her brother 
 more easily if she were away. Thus she had 
 always been surrounded by selfish, mercenary, 
 and implacable foes. Now, for the first time, 
 she seemed to have a friend. A protector had 
 suddenly arisen to support and defend her a 
 man of very alluring person and manners, of a 
 very noble and generous spirit, and of the very 
 highest station. He loved her, and she could 
 not refrain from loving him in return. She 
 committed her cause entirely into his hands, 
 confided to him all her interests, and gave her- 
 self up wholly into his power. 
 
 Nor was the unbounded confidence which she 
 reposed in him undeserved, so far as related to 
 his efforts to restore her to her throne. The le 
 gions which Caesar had sent for into Syria had 
 act yet arrived, and his situation in Alexandria 
 was still very defenseless and very precarious. 
 He did not, however, on this account, abate in 
 the least degree the loftiness and self-confidence
 
 140 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 48 
 
 CJMU-I preteniioni. lie ieodj for Ptolemy. 
 
 of the position which he had assumed, but ha 
 commenced immediately the work of securing 
 Cleopatra's restoration. This quiet assumption 
 of the right and power to arbitrate and decide 
 such a question as that of the claim to the 
 throne, in a country where he had accidentally 
 landed and found rival claimants disputing for 
 the succession, while he was still wholly desti- 
 tute of the means of enforcing the superiority 
 which he so coolly assumed, marks the im- 
 mense ascendency which the Roman power had 
 attained at this tune in the estimation of man 
 kind, and is, besides, specially characteristic ot 
 the genius and disposition of Caesar. 
 
 Very soon after Cleopatra had come to him, 
 Caesar sent for the young Ptolemy, and urged 
 upon him the duty and expediency of restoring 
 Cleopatra. Ptolemy was beginning now to at- 
 tain an age at which he might be supposed to 
 have some opinion of his own on such a ques- 
 tion. He declared himself utterly opposed to 
 any such design. In the course of the conver- 
 sation he learned that Cleopatra had arrived at 
 Alexandria, and that she was then concealed in 
 Caesar's palace. This intelligence awakened in 
 his mind the greatest excitement and indigna- 
 tion. Ho went away from Caesar's presence ia
 
 B.C. 48. J CLEOPATRA AND CJGSAR. 141 
 
 Ptolemy*! Indignation. Hi* complaints against Owtar 
 
 a rage. He tore the diadem which he was ac- 
 customed to wear from his head in the streets, 
 threw it down, and trampled it under his feet 
 He declared to the people that he was betrayed, 
 and displayed the most violent indications of 
 vexation and chagrin. The chief subject of his 
 complaint, in the attempts which he made to 
 awaken the popular indignation against Csesar 
 and the Romans, was the disgraceful impropri- 
 ety of the position which his sister had assumed 
 in surrendering herself as she had done to Cae- 
 sar. It is most probable, however, unless his 
 character was very different from that of every 
 other Ptolemy in the line, that what really awak- 
 ened his jealousy and anger was fear of the 
 commanding influence and power to which Cle- 
 opatra wao likely to attain through the agency 
 of so distinguished a protector, rather than any 
 other consequences of his friendship, or any real 
 considerations of delicacy in respect to his sis- 
 ter's good name or his own marital honor. 
 
 However this may be, Ptolemy, togethei 
 with Pothinus and Achillas, and all his other 
 friends and adherents, who joined him in the ter- 
 rible outcry that he made against the coalition 
 which he had discovered between Cleopatra and 
 Cwsar, succeeded in producing a very general
 
 142 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.48 
 
 Great tnmult In the city. Excitement rf ttte popolac* 
 
 and violent tumult throughout the city. The 
 populace were aroused, and began to assemble 
 in great crowds, and full of indignation and an- 
 ger. Some knew the facts, and acted under 
 something like an understanding of the cause 
 of their anger. Others only knew that the aim 
 of this sudden outbreak was to assault the Ro- 
 mans, and were ready, on any pretext, known 
 or unknown, to join in any deeds of violence 
 directed against these foreign intruders. There 
 were others still, and these, probably, far the 
 larger portion, who knew nothing and under- 
 stood nothing but that there was to be tumult 
 and a riot in and around the palaces, and were, 
 accordingly, eager to be there. 
 
 Ptolemy and his officers had no large body of 
 troops in Alexandria ; for the events which had 
 thus far occurred since Csesar's arrival had suc- 
 ceeded each other so rapidly, that a very short 
 time had yet elapsed, and the main army re- 
 mained still at Pelusium. The main force, 
 therefore, by which Caesar was now attacked, 
 consisted of the population of the city, headed, 
 perhaps, by the few guards which the young 
 king had at his command. 
 
 Ceesar, on his part, had but a small portion 
 f his forces at the palace where he was attack
 
 B.C. 48.] CLEOPATRA AND CJZSAR. 143 
 
 Cswar'i torcoi. Ptolemy made prUooa 
 
 ed. The rest were scattered about the city. 
 He, however, seems to have felt no alarm. He 
 did not even confine himself to acting on the de- 
 fensive. He sent out a detachment of his sol- 
 liers with orders to seize Ptolemy and bring 
 him in a prisoner. Soldiers trained, disciplined, 
 and armed as the Roman veterans were, and 
 nerved by the ardor and enthusiasm which 
 seemed always to animate troops which were 
 under Caesar's personal command, could accom- 
 plish almost any undertaking against a mere 
 populace, however numerous or however furi- 
 ously excited they might be. The soldiers sal- 
 jed out, seized Ptolemy, and brought him in. 
 
 The populace were at first astounded at the 
 daring presumption of this deed, and then ex- 
 asperated at the indignity of it, considered as a 
 violation of the person of their sovereign. The 
 tumult would have greatly increased, had it not 
 been that Ccesar who had now attained all 
 his ends in thus having brought Cleopatra and 
 Ptolemy both within his power thought it 
 most expedient to allay it. He accordingly as- 
 cended to the window of a tower, or of some 
 other elevated portion of his palace, so high that 
 missiles from the mob below could not reach 
 him, and began to make signals expressive of 
 his wish to address * u em.
 
 144 CLEO?ATRA. [B.C.4S 
 
 C M.K . MidraM to the people. IM effect*. 
 
 When silence was obtained, he made them a 
 speech well calculated to quiet the excitement. 
 He told them that he did not pretend to anj 
 right to judge between Cleopatra and Ptolemy 
 as their superior, but only in the performance 
 of the duty solemnly assigned by Ptolemy Au- 
 letes, the father, to the Roman people, whose 
 representative he was. Other than this he 
 claimed no jurisdiction in the case; and his 
 only wish, in the discharge of the duty which 
 devolved upon him to consider the cause, was tc 
 settle the question in a manner just and equi- 
 table to all the parties concerned, and thus ar- 
 rest the progress of the civil war, which, if not 
 arrested, threatened to involve the country in 
 the most terrible calamities. He counseled 
 them, therefore, to disperse, and no longer dis- 
 turb the peace of the city. He would imme- 
 diately take measures for trying the question 
 between Cleopatra and Ptolemy, and he did not 
 doubt but that they would all be satisfied with 
 his decision. 
 
 This speech; made, as it was, in the eloquent 
 and persuasive, and yet dignified and imposing 
 manner for which Ccesar's harangues to turbu- 
 lent assemblies like these were so famed, oro- 
 duced a great effect. Some were convinced.
 
 B.C. 43.J CLEOPATRA AND CJBSAR. 145 
 
 The mob dispersed. Cesar conrenei an assembly 
 
 others were silenced ; and those whose resent- 
 ment and anger were not appeased, found them- 
 selves deprived of their power by the pacifica- 
 tion of the rest. The mob was dispersed, and 
 Ptolemy remained with Cleopatra in Ceesar's 
 custody. 
 
 The next day, Caesar, according to his prom 
 ise, convened an assembly of the principal peo- 
 ple of Alexandria and officers of state, and then 
 brought out Ptolemy and Cleopatra, that he 
 might decide their cause. The original will 
 which Ptolemy Auletes had executed had been 
 deposited in the public archives of Alexandria, 
 and carefully preserved there. An authentic 
 copy of it had been sent to Rome. Ceesar caus- 
 ed the original will to be brought out and read 
 to the assembly. The provisions of it were per- 
 fectly explicit and clear. It required that Cle- 
 opatra and Ptolemy should be married, and then 
 settled the sovereign power upon them jointly, 
 as king and queen. It recognized the Roman 
 commonwealth as the ally of Egypt, and con- 
 stituted the Roman government the exeoutoi 
 of the will, and the guardian of the king and 
 queen. In fact, so clear and explicit was this 
 document, that the simple reading of it seemed 
 
 to be of itself a decision of the question. When, 
 
 1610
 
 i4<5 CLEOPATRA. JB.C.48 
 
 'i decUion. SatUftictlon of the 
 
 therefore, Caesar announced that, in his judg- 
 ment, Cleopatra was entitled to share the su- 
 preme power with Ptolemy, and that it was hie 
 duty, as the representative of the Roman power 
 and the executor of the will, to protect both the 
 king and the queen in their respective rights, 
 there seemed to be nothing that could b? said 
 against his decision. 
 
 Besides Cleopatra and Ptolemy, there were 
 two other children of Ptolemy Auletes in the 
 royal family at this time. One was a girl, 
 named Arsinoe. The other, a boy, was, singu- 
 larly enough, named, like his brother, Ptolemy. 
 These children were quite young, but Caesar 
 thought that it would perhaps gratify the Alex 
 andrians, and lead them to acquiesce more read 
 ily in his decision, if he were to make aomt 
 royal provision for them. He accordingly pro 
 posed to assign the island of Cyprus as a realn 
 for them. ' This was literally a gift, for Cyprtu 
 was at this time a Roman possession.* 
 
 The whole assembly seemed satisfied with 
 this decision except Pothinus. He had been 90 
 determined and inveterate an enemy to Cleopa- 
 tra, that, as he was well aware, her restoration 
 
 " For the position of this island in respect to Egypt and 
 tto neighboring countries, et> map,
 
 B.C. 48.] CLEOPATKA AND C.ESAR. 147 
 
 Festivals and rejoicings. * Potbiuus and Achillas. 
 
 must end in his downfall and ruin. He went 
 away from the assembly moodily determining 
 that he would not submit to the decision, but 
 would immediately adopt efficient measures to 
 prevent its being carried into effect. 
 
 Caesar made arrangements for a series of fes- 
 tivals and celebrations, to commemorate and 
 confirm the re-establishment of a good under- 
 standing between the king and the queen, and 
 the consequent termination of the war. Suck 
 celebrations, he judged, would have great influ- 
 ence in removing any remaining animosities 
 from the minds of the people, and restore the 
 dominion of a kind and friendly feeling through- 
 out the city. The people fell in with these 
 measures, and cordially co-operated- to give 
 them effect ; but Pothinus and Achillas, though 
 they suppressed all outward expressions of dis- 
 content, made incessant efforts in secret to or- 
 ganize a party, and to form plans for overthrow- 
 ing the influence of Csesar, and making Ptole- 
 my again the sole and exclusive sovereign. 
 
 Pothinus represented to all whom he could 
 induce to listen to him that Caesar's real design 
 was to make Cleopatra queen alone, and to de- 
 pose Ptolemy, and urged them to combine with 
 him to resist a policy which would end in bring-
 
 148 CLropATRA. [B.C. 48 
 
 Flo* of Pothlnuj and Achilla*. Ecp of Achilla* 
 
 ing Egypt under the dominion of a woman. 
 He also formed a plan, in connection with Achil- 
 las, for ordering the army back from Pelusium. 
 The army consisted of thirty thousand men. 
 If that army could be brought to Alexandria 
 and kept under Pothinus's orders, Caesar and his 
 three thousand Roman soldiers would be, they 
 thought, wholly at their mercy. 
 
 There was, however, one danger to be guard- 
 ed against in ordering the army to march to- 
 ward the capital, and that was, that Ptolemy, 
 while under Caesar's influence, might open com- 
 munications with the officers, and so obtain 
 command of its movements, and thwart all the 
 conspirators' designs. To prevent this, it was 
 arranged between Pothinus and Achillas that 
 the latter should make his escape from Alexan- 
 dria, proceed immediately to the camp at Pelu- 
 sium, resume the command of the troops there, 
 and conduct them himself to the capital ; and 
 that in all these operations, and also subse- 
 quently on his arrival, he should obey no or- 
 ders unless they came to him through Pothinua 
 aimself. 
 
 Although sentinels and guards wore probably 
 itationed at the gates and avenues leading from 
 tiw oity, Achillas contrived to effect his esoap
 
 B.C. 48.] CLEOPATRA AND CJJSAR. 149 
 
 March of the Egyptian army. Measures of Cniar 
 
 and to join the army. He placed himself at the 
 head of the forces, and commenced his march 
 toward the capital. Pothinus remained all the 
 time within the city as a spy, pretending to 
 acquiesce in Ceesar's decision, and to be on 
 friendly terms with him, but really plotting for 
 his overthrow, and obtaining all the information 
 which his position enabled him to command, in 
 order that he might co-operate with the army 
 and Achillas when they should arrive. 
 
 All these things were done with the utmost 
 secrecy, and so cunning and adroit were the 
 conspirators in forming and executing their 
 plots, that Caesar seems to have had no knowl- 
 edge of the measures which his enemies were 
 taking, until he suddenly heard that the main 
 body of Ptolemy's army was approaching the 
 city, at least twenty thousand strong. In the 
 mean time, however, the forces which he had 
 sent for from Syria had not arrived, and no al- 
 ternative was left but to defend the capital and 
 himself as well as he could with the very small 
 force which he had at his disposal. 
 
 He determined, however, first, to try the ef- 
 fect of orders sent out in Ptolemy's name to for 
 bid the approach of the army to the city. Two 
 officers were accordingly intrusted with thew
 
 150 CLEOPATRA [B.C. 48 
 
 Harder of the BMMengen. Intention* of AchfflM 
 
 orders, and sent out to communicate them to 
 Achillas. The names of these officers were Di- 
 oecorides and Serapion. 
 
 I*, shows in a very striking point of view to 
 what, an incredible exaltation the authority and 
 consequence of a sovereign king rose in those 
 ancient days, in the minds of men, that Achil- 
 las, at the moment when these men made their 
 appearance in the camp, bearing evidently some 
 command from Ptolemy in the city, considered 
 it more prudent to kill them at once, without 
 hearing their message, rather than to allow the 
 orders to be delivered and then take the respon- 
 sibility of disobeying them. If he could suc- 
 ceed in marching to Alexandria and in taking 
 possession of the city, and then in expelling 
 Caesar and Cleopatra and restoring Ptolemy to 
 the exclusive possession of the throne, he knew 
 very well that the king would rejoice in the re- 
 sult, and would overlook all irregularities on his 
 part in the means by which he had accomplish- 
 ed it, short of absolute disobedience of a known 
 command. Whatever might be the commands 
 that these messengers were bringing him, he 
 supposed that they doubtless originated, not in 
 Ptolemy's own free will, but that they were dic- 
 tated by the authority of Caesar. Still, they
 
 B.C. 48 j CLEOPATRA AND CJESAR. 151 
 
 Cold-blooded Biasminatkra. Advance of Ar.h'ul** 
 
 would be commands coming in Ptolemy's name , 
 and the universal experience of officers serving 
 under the military despots of those ancient days 
 showed that, rather than to take the responsi- 
 bility of directly disobeying a royal order once 
 received, it was safer to avoid receiving it by 
 murdering the messengers. 
 
 Achillas therefore directed the officers to be 
 seized and slain. They were accordingly tak- 
 en off and speared by the soldiers, and then the 
 bodies were borne away. The soldiers, how- 
 ever, it was found, had not done their work ef- 
 fectually. There was no interest for them in 
 such a cold-blooded assassination, and perhaps 
 something like a sentiment of compassion re- 
 strained their hands. At any rate, though both 
 the men were desperately wounded, one only 
 died. . The other lived and recovered. 
 
 Achillas continued to advance toward the 
 city. Caesar, finding that the crisis which was 
 approaching was becoming very serious in its 
 character, took, himself, the whole command 
 within the capital, and began to make the best 
 arrangements possible under the circumstances 
 of the case to defend himself there. His num- 
 bers were altogether too small to defend the 
 whole city against the overwhelming force which
 
 152 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 4$ 
 
 C*MT*S arrangement* for defence. Cleopatra and Ptolmy 
 
 was advancing to assail it. He accordingly in- 
 trenched his troops in the palaces and in the 
 citadel, and in such other parts of the city as it 
 eemed practicable to defend. He barricaded 
 all the streets and avenues leading to thes 
 points, and fortified the gates. Nor did he, 
 while thus doing all in his power to employ the 
 insufficient means of defense already in his 
 hands to the best advantage, neglect the proper 
 exertions for obtaining succor from abroad. He 
 sent off galleys to Syria, to Cyprus, to Rhodes, 
 and to every other point accessible from Alex- 
 andria where Roman troops might be expected 
 to be found, urging the authorities there to for- 
 ward re-enforcements to him with the utmost 
 possible dispatch. 
 
 During all this time Cleopatra and Ptolemy 
 remained in the palace with Caesar, both osten- 
 sibly co-operating with him in his councils and 
 measures for defending the city from Achillas. 
 Cleopatra, of course, was sincere and in earnest 
 in this co-operation ; but Ptolemy's adhesion to 
 the common cause was very little to be relied 
 upon. Although, situated as he was, he wai 
 compelled to seem to be on Caesar's side, ho 
 must have secretly desired that Achillas should 
 nooeed and Caesar's plans be overthrown P<v
 
 B.C. 48.] CLEOPATRA AND CAESAR. 153 
 
 Double dealing of Pothimu. He 1* detected 
 
 thinus was more active, though not less cau- 
 tious in his hostility to them. He opened a se- 
 cret communication with Achillas, sending him 
 information, from time to time, of what took 
 place within the walls, and of the arrangements 
 made there for the defense of the city against 
 him, and gave him also directions how to pro- 
 ceed. He was very wary and sagacious in all 
 these movements, feigning all the time to be on 
 Caesar's side. He pretended to be very zealous- 
 ly employed in aiding Caesar to secure more ef- 
 fectually the various points where attacks were 
 to be expected, and hi maturing and completing 
 the arrangements for defense. 
 
 But, notwithstanding all his cunning, he was 
 detected in his double dealing, and his career 
 was suddenly brought to a close, before the great 
 final conflict came on. There was a barber in 
 Caesar's household, who, for some cause or oth- 
 er, began to suspect Pothinus ; and, having lit- 
 tle else to do, he employed himself in watching 
 the eunuch's movements and reporting them to 
 Caesar Caesar directed the barber to continue 
 his observations. He did so; his suspicions 
 were soon confirmed, and at length a letter, 
 which Pothinus had written to Achillas, was 
 intercepted ana brought to Caesar. This mi
 
 104 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.48 
 
 Fothlnnj beheaded. Ardnol and Outymada 
 
 nished the necessary proof of what they called 
 his guilt, and Caesar ordered him to be be- 
 headed 
 
 This circumstance produced, of course, a 
 great excitement within the palace, for Pothi- 
 nus had been for many years the great ruling 
 minister of state the king, in fact, in all but 
 in name. His "execution alarmed a great man) 
 others, who, though in Caesar's power, were se 
 oretly wishing that Achillas might prevail 
 Among those most disturbed by these fears wa. 
 a man named Ganymede. He was the officer 
 who had charge of Arsinoe, Cleopatra's sister. 
 The arrangement which Caesar had proposed for 
 dstablishing her in conjunction with her brother 
 Ptolemy over the island of Cyprus had not gone 
 into effect ; for, immediately after the decision 
 of Caesar, the attention of all concerned had 
 been wholly engrossed by the tidings of the ad- 
 vance of the army, and by the busy prepara- 
 tions which were required on all hands for the 
 impending contest. Arsinoe, therefore, with her 
 governor Ganymede, remained in the palace. 
 Ganymede had joined Pothinus in his plots; 
 tnd when Pothinus was beheaded, he concluded 
 that it would be safest for him to fly. 
 
 He accordingly resolved to make his escape
 
 B.C. 48.] CLEOPATRA AND CAESAR. 155 
 
 Flight of Antnot. She U proclaimed queen by the army 
 
 from the city, taking Arsinue with him. It wa* 
 a very hazardous attempt, but he succeeded ir 
 accomplishing it. Arsinoe was very willing tc 
 go, for she was now beginning to be old enough 
 to feel the impulse of that insatiable and reck- 
 less ambition which seemed to form such an es- 
 sential element in the character of every son 
 and daughter in the whole Ptolemaic line. She 
 was insignificant and powerless where she was, 
 but at the head of the army she might become 
 immediately a queen. 
 
 It resulted, in the first instance, as she had 
 anticipated. Achillas and his army received 
 her with acclamations. Under Ganymede's in- 
 fluence they decided that, as all the other mem- 
 bers of the royal family were in durance, being 
 held captive by a foreign general, who had by 
 chance obtained possession of the capital, and 
 were thus incapacitated for exercising the royal 
 power, the crown devolved upon Arsinoe ; and 
 they accordingly proclaimed her queen. 
 
 Every thing was now- prepared for a despe- 
 rate and determined contest for the crown be- 
 tween Cleopatra, with Csesar for her ministei 
 and general, on the one side, and Arsinoe, with 
 Ganymede and Achillas for her chief officer*, 
 on the other. The young Ptolemy, in the mer i
 
 166 CLECPATRA. [B.C. 48 
 
 Perplexity of the young Ptolemy. 
 
 time, remained Ccesar's prisoner, confused with 
 the intricacies in which the quarrel had become 
 involved, and scarcely knowing now what to 
 wish in respect to the issue of the contest. It 
 was very difficult to foresee whether it would 
 be best for him that Cleopatra or that Arsinoe 
 should succeed.
 
 B.C. 47.J THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 157 
 
 Tb* Alexandrine war. Force* of C war 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 
 
 fin HE war which ensued as the result of tht 
 -* intrigues and maneuvers described in the 
 last chapter is known in the history of Rome 
 and Julius Caesar as the Alexandrine war. The 
 events which occurred during the progress of it, 
 and its termination at last in the triumph of 
 Caesar and Cleopatra, will form the subject of 
 this chapter. 
 
 Achillas had greatly the advantage over Cae- 
 sar at the outset of the contest, in respect to 
 the strength of the forces under his command. 
 Caesar, in fact, had with him only a detachment 
 of three or four thousand men, a small body of 
 troops which he had hastily put on board a little 
 squadron of Rhodian galleys for pursuing Pom- 
 pey across the Mediterranean. When he set 
 sail from tl.d European shores with this incon- 
 siderable fleet, it is probable that he had no ex- 
 pectation even of landing in Egypt at all, and 
 much less of being involved in great military 
 vidertaking* there. Achillas, on the oth<*
 
 158 CLEOPATRA [B.C.47 
 
 The Egyptian army. Fugitive tlarM 
 
 hand, was at the head of a force of twenty thou- 
 sand effective men. His troops were, it is true, 
 of a somewhat miscellaneous character, but 
 they were all veteran soldiers, inured to the cli- 
 mate of Egypt, and skilled in all the modes of 
 warfare which were suited to the character of 
 the country. Some- of them were Roman sol- 
 diers, men who had come with the army of 
 Mark Antony from Syria when Ptolemy Au- 
 letes, Cleopatra's father, was reinstated on the 
 throne, and had been left in Egypt, in Ptole- 
 my's service, when Antony returned to Rome 
 Some were native Egyptians. There was also 
 in the army of Achillas a large number of fu- 
 gitive slaves refugees who had made their es- 
 cape from various points along the shores of the 
 Mediterranean, at different periods, and had 
 been from time to time incorporated into the 
 Egyptian army. These fugitives were all men 
 of the most determined and desperate character 
 Achillas had also in his command a force of 
 two thousand horse. Such a body of cavalry 
 made him, of course, perfect master of all the 
 open country outside the city walls. At the 
 head of these troops Achillas gradually advanced 
 tj the very gates of Alexandria, in\ested the 
 ity on every side, and shut Caesar closely in.
 
 B.C. 47.] THE ALEXANDRINE W m. 
 
 Dangerous tituation of Caoiar. Presence of CteME, 
 
 The danger of the situation in which Csesar 
 was placed was extreme ; but he had been so 
 accustomed to succeed in extricating himself 
 from the most imminent perils, that neither he 
 himself nor his army seem to have experienced 
 any concern in respect to the result. Caesar 
 personally felt a special pride and pleasure in 
 encountering the difficulties and dangers which 
 now beset him, because Cleopatra was with him 
 to witness his demeanor, to admire his energy 
 and courage, and to reward by her love the ef- 
 forts and sacrifices which he was making in es- 
 pousing her cause. She confided every thing 
 to him, but she watched all the proceedings 
 with the most eager interest, elated with hope 
 in respect to the result, and proud of the cham- 
 pion who had thus volunteered to defend her 
 In a word, her heart was full of gratitude, ad- 
 miration, and love. 
 
 The immediate effect, too, of the emotions 
 which she felt so strongly was greatly to height* 
 en her natural charms. The native force and j 
 energy of her character were softened and sub- J 
 dued. Her voice, which always possessed a cer- 
 tain inexpressible charm, was endued with new 
 sweetness through the influence of affection 
 Her countenance beamed with ire ti animation
 
 160 CLBOPATRA. [B.C.47 
 
 Influence of Cleopatra. Flrit meainrei of C*ar 
 
 and beauty, and the sprightliness and vivacity 
 of her character, which became at later period* 
 of her life boldness and eccentricity, now being 
 softened and restrained within proper limits by 
 the respectful regard with which she looked 
 upon Caesar, made her an enchanting compan- 
 ion.. Caesar was, in, fact, entirely intoxicated 
 with the fascinations which she unconsciously 
 display el. 
 
 Under other circumstances than these, a per- 
 sonal attachment so strong, formed by a mili- 
 tary commander while engaged in active serv- 
 ice, might have been expected to interfere in 
 some degree with the discharge of his duties ; 
 but in this case, since it was for Cleopatra's 
 sake and in her behalf that the operations which 
 Caesar had undertaken were to be prosecuted, 
 his love for her only stimulated the spirit and 
 energy with which he engaged in them. 
 
 The first measure to be adopted was, as 
 Caesar plainly perceived, to concentrate and 
 strengthen his position in the city, so that he 
 might be able to defend himself there against 
 Achillas until he should receive re-enforcement* 
 from abroad. For this purpose he selected a 
 certain group of palaces and citadels which lay 
 together near the head of the long pie* or cause-
 
 B.C. 47.J THB ALEXANDRINE WAR. 16J 
 
 Omar's stores. Military engine* 
 
 way which led to the Pharos, and, withdrawing 
 his troops from all other parts of the city, estab- 
 lished them there. The quarter which he thus 
 occupied contained the great city arsenals and 
 public granaries. Csesar brought together all 
 the arms and munitions of war which he could 
 find in other parts of the city, and also all the 
 corn and other provisions which were contained 
 either in the public depots or in private ware- 
 houses, and stored the whole within his lines. 
 He then inclosed the whole quarter with strong 
 defenses. The avenues leading to it were bar- 
 ricaded with walls of stone. Houses in the vi- 
 cinity which might have afforded shelter to an 
 enemy were demolished, and the materials used 
 in constructing walls wherever they were need- 
 ed, or in strengthening the barricades. Prodi- 
 gious military engines, made to throw heavy 
 stones, and beams of wood, and other ponderous 
 missiles, were set up within his lines, and open- 
 ings were made in the walls and other defenses 
 of the citadel, wherever necessary, to facilitate 
 the action of these machines* 
 
 There was a strong fortress situated at th 
 head of the pier or mole leading to the island of 
 Pharos, which was without Caesar's lines, and 
 till in the nands of the Egyptian authorities. 
 
 1611
 
 Kid 
 
 The mole. 
 
 CLEOPATRA. 
 
 [B.C. 47 
 
 View of Alexandria 
 
 The Egyptians thus commanded the entrance 
 to the mole. The island itself, also, with the 
 fortress at the other end of the pier, was still in 
 the possession of the Egyptian authorities, who 
 seemed disposed to hold it for Achillas. The 
 mole was very long, as the island was nearly a 
 mile from the shore. There was quite u little 
 town upon the island itself, besides the fortress 
 
 VIEW OF ALEXANDRIA. 
 
 or castle built there to defend the place. The 
 garrison of this castle was strong, and the in- 
 habitants of the town, too, constituted a some-
 
 B.C.47.] THE ALEXANDBINE WAR. 163 
 
 Necessity of taking possession of the mole. Egyptian fleet. 
 
 what formidable population, as they consisted 
 of fishermen,, sailors, wreckers, arid such other 
 desperate characters as usually congregate about 
 such a spot. Cleopatra and Csesar, from the 
 windows of their palace within the city, looked 
 out upon this island, with the tall light-house 
 rising in the center of it and the castle at its 
 base, and upon the long and narrow isthmus 
 connecting it with the main land, and conclud- 
 ed that it was very essential that they should 
 get possession of the post, commanding, as it 
 did, the entrance to the harbor. 
 
 In the harbor, too, which, as will be seen from 
 the engraving, was on the south side of the 
 mole, and, consequently, on the side opposite to 
 that from which Achillas was advancing toward 
 the city, there were lying a large number of 
 Egyptian vessels, some dismantled, and others 
 manned and armed more or less effectively. 
 These vessels had not yet come into Achillas'a 
 hands, but it would be certain that he would 
 take possession of them as soon as he should 
 gain admittance to those parts of the city which 
 Csesar had abandoned. This it was extremely 
 important to prevent ; for, if Achillas held this 
 fleet, especially if he continued to command the 
 island of Pharos, he would be perfect master of
 
 lt>4 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 47. 
 
 CSMV burn* the hipping. The fort ttfcea 
 
 ail the approaches to the oity on the side of the 
 sea. He could then not only receive re-enforoe- 
 ments and supplies himself from that quarter, 
 but he could also effectually out off the Roman 
 army from all possibility of receiving any. It 
 became, therefore, as Caesar thought, imperi- 
 ously necessary that he should protect himself 
 from this danger. This he did by sending out 
 an expedition to burn all the shipping in the 
 harbor, and, at the same time, to take possession 
 of a certain fort upon the island of Pharos which 
 commanded the entrance to the port. Thia 
 undertaking was abundantly successful. The 
 troops burned the shipping, took the fort, ex- 
 pelled the Egyptian soldiers from it, and put a 
 Roman garrison into it instead, and then re- 
 turned in safety within Caesar's lines. Cleopa- 
 tra witnessed these exploits from her palace 
 windows with feelings of the highest admira- 
 tion for the energy and valor which her Roman 
 protectors displayed. 
 
 The burning of the Egyptian ships in this ao- 
 tion, however fortunate for Cleopatra and Cae- 
 sar, was attended with a catastrophe which hat 
 ever since been lamented by the whole civilized 
 world. Some of the burning ships were driven 
 by the wind to the shore. whre they set fire if
 
 ii.(J.47.J THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. ]65 
 
 Burning of Alexandria. AchillaB behe&ded. 
 
 the buildings which were contiguous to tha 
 water. The flames spread and produced an 
 extensive conflagration, in the course of which 
 the largest part of the great library was de- 
 stroyed. This library was the only general col- 
 lection of the ancient writings that ever had 
 been made, and the loss of it was never repaired. 
 
 The destruction of the Egyptian fleet result- 
 ed also in the downfall and ruin of Achillas. 
 From the time of Arsinoe's arrival in the camp 
 there had been a constant rivalry and jealousy 
 between himself and Ganymede, the eunuch 
 who had accompanied Arsinoe in her flight. 
 Two parties had been formed in the army, some 
 declaring for Achillas and some for Ganymede. 
 Arsinoe advocated Ganymede's interests, and 
 when, at length, the fleet was burned, she 
 charged Achillas with having been, by his neg- 
 lect or incapacity, the cause of the loss. Achil- 
 las was tried, condemned, and beheaded. From 
 that time Ganymede assumed the administra- 
 tion of Arsinoe's government as her minister of 
 state and the commander-in-chief of her armies 
 
 About the time rkat these occurrences took 
 place, the Egypii*; army advanced into those 
 parts of the city from which Caesar had with- 
 drawn, producing those terrible scenes of oania
 
 i6fi CLBOPATEA. [BC.47 
 
 rtaMof Ow7*te. BU vtformu BMMWM 
 
 and confusion which always attend a sudden 
 and violent change of military possession within 
 tho precincts of a city. Ganymede brought up 
 his troops on every side to the walls of Cesar's 
 citadels and intrench ments, and hemmed him 
 closely in. He out off all avenues of approach 
 to Caesar's lines by land, and commenced vigor- 
 ous preparations for an assault. He construct- 
 ed engines for battering down the walls. He 
 opened shops and established forges in every 
 part of the city for the manufacture of darts, 
 spears, pikes, and all kinds of military machin- 
 ery. He built towers supported upon huge 
 wheels, with the design of filling them with 
 armed men when finally ready to make his as- 
 sault upon Cajsar'a lines, and moving them up 
 to the walls of the citadels and palaces, so as 
 to give to his soldiers the advantage of a lofty 
 elevation in making their attacks. He levied 
 contributions on the rich citizens for the neces- 
 sary funds, and provided himself with men by 
 pressing all the artisans, laborers, and men ca- 
 pable of bearing arms into his service. He sent 
 messengers back into the interior of the coun- 
 try, in every direction, summoning the people 
 to arms, and calling for contributions }f monej 
 and military stores
 
 B.C. 47.] THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 167 
 
 MeMpnger* of Ganymede. Their instruction*. 
 
 These messengers were instructed to urge 
 upon the people that, unless Caesar and his army 
 were at once expelled from Alexandria, there 
 *a? imminent danger that the national inde- 
 pendence of Egypt would be forever destroyed. 
 The Romans, they were to say, had extended 
 their conquests over almost all the rest of the 
 world. They had sent one army into Egypt 
 before, under the command of Mark Antony, 
 under the pretense of restoring Ptolemy Auletes 
 to the throne. Now another commander, with 
 another force, had come, offering some other 
 pretexts for interfering in their affairs. These 
 Roman encroachments, the messengers were to 
 say, would end in the complete subjugation of 
 Egypt to a foreign power, unless the people of 
 the country aroused themselves to meet the 
 danger manfully, and to expel the intruders. 
 
 As Csesar had possession of the island of 
 Pharos and of the harbor, Ganymede could not 
 cut him off from receiving such re-enforoementa 
 of men and arms as he might make arrange- 
 ments for obtaining beyond the sea ; nor could 
 he curtail his supply of food, as the granaries 
 and magazines within Caesar's quarter of the 
 city contained almost inexhaustible stores of 
 corn. There was one remaining point essential
 
 lt>8 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 47 
 
 Ganymede euti off CMMT'S mpply of water. Panic of the toldim 
 
 to the subsistence of an army besieged, and that 
 was an abundant supply of water. The palaces 
 and citadels which Caesar occupied were sup. 
 plied with water by means of numerous sub- 
 terranean aqueducts, which conveyed the wa- 
 ter from the Nile to vast cisterns built under 
 ground, whence it was raised by buckets and 
 hydraulic engines for use. In reflecting upon 
 this circumstance, G anymede conceived the de- 
 sign of secretly digging a canal, so as to turn 
 *he waters of the sea by means of it into these 
 aqueducts. This plan he carried into effect 
 The consequence was, that the water in the 
 cisterns was gradually changed. It became 
 first brackish, then more and more salt and bit- 
 ter, until, at length, it was wholly impossible 
 to use it. For some time the army within 
 could not understand these changes ; and when, 
 at length, they discovered the cause, the soldiers 
 were panic-stricken at the thought that they 
 were now apparently wholly at the mercy of 
 their enemies, since, without supplies of water, 
 they must all immediately perish. They cn- 
 idered it hopeless to attempt any longer to hold 
 out, and urged Caesar to evacuate the city, 
 embark on board his galleys, and proceed to sea 
 Instead of doing this, however, Ctcsar, order
 
 B.C.47.J THE ALEXANDRINE WAR 169 
 
 CBMT'I wells. Arrival of the transport* 
 
 ing all other operations to be suspended, em- 
 ployed the whole laboring force of his command, 
 under the direction of the captains of the sev- 
 eral companies, in digging wells in every part 
 of his quarter of the city. Fresh water, he said, 
 was almost invariably found, at a moderate 
 depth, upon sea-coasts, even upon ground lying 
 in very close proximity with the sea. The dig- 
 gings were successful. Fresh water, in great 
 abundance, was found. Thus this danger was 
 passed, and the men's fears effectually relieved. 
 A short time after these transactions occur- 
 red, there came into the harbor one day, from 
 along the shore west of the city, a small sloop, 
 bringing the intelligence that .a squadron of 
 transports had arrived upon the coast to the 
 westward of Alexandria, and had anchored 
 there, being unable to come up to the city on 
 account of an easterly wind which prevailed at 
 that season of the year. This squadron was 
 one which hajl been sent across the Mediter- 
 ranean with arms, ammunition, and military 
 stores for Cscsar, in answer to requisitions which 
 he had made immediately after he had landed. 
 The transports being thus wind-bound on the 
 ooast, and having nearly exhausted their sup- 
 plies of water, were in distress ; and they ac-
 
 170 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 47 
 
 The traniporU in dtotraM. LewneM oi UM eout 
 
 oordingly sent forward the sloop, which WM 
 probably propelled by oars, to make known their 
 situation to Caesar, and to ask for succor. CtE- 
 gar immediately went, himself, on board of one 
 of his galleys, and ordering the remainder of his 
 little fleet to follow him, he set sail out of the 
 harbor, and then turned to the westward, with 
 a view of proceeding along the coast to the place 
 where the transports were lying. 
 
 All this was done secretly. The land is so 
 low in the vicinity of Alexandria that boats or 
 galleys are out of sight from it at a very short 
 distance from the shore. In fact, travelers say 
 that, in coming upon the coast, the illusion pro- 
 duced by the spherical form of the surface of 
 the water and the low and level character of the 
 coast is such that one seems actually to descend 
 from the sea to the land. Caesar might there- 
 fore have easily kept his expedition a secret, 
 had it not been that, in order to be provided 
 with a supply of water for the transports imme- 
 diately on reaching them, he stopped at a soli- 
 tary part of the coast, at some distance from 
 Alexandria, and sent a party a little way into 
 the interior in search for water. This party 
 were discovered by the country people, and were 
 intercepted by a troop of horsa and made ri
 
 B.C. 47.] THE ALKXANDRINE WAR. 171 
 
 A oomtM*. Car snoceufol 
 
 oners. From these prise ners the Egyptians 
 learned that Csesar himself was on the coast 
 with a small squadron of galleys. The tidings 
 spread in all directions. The people flocked to- 
 gether from every quarter. They hastily col- 
 lected all the boats and vessels which could be 
 obtained at the villages in that region and from 
 the various branches of the Nile. In the mean 
 time, Csesar had gone on to the anchorage 
 ground of the squadron, and had taken the tran- 
 sports in tow to bring them to the city ; for the 
 galleys, being propelled by oars, were in a meas- 
 ure independent of the wind. On his return, 
 he found quite a formidable naval armament 
 assembled to dispute the passage. 
 
 A severe conflict ensued, but Caesar was vic- 
 torious. The navy which the Egyptians had 
 so suddenly got together was as suddenly de- 
 stroyed. Some of the vessels were burned, oth- 
 ers sunk, and others captured ; and Csesar re- 
 turned in triumph to the port with his trans- 
 ports and stores. He was welcomed with the 
 acclamations of his soldiers, and, still more 
 warmly, by the joy and gratitude of Cleopatra, 
 who had been waiting during his absence in 
 great anxiety and suspens-e to know the result 
 of the expedition, aware as she was that hea
 
 173 CLSOVATRA. [B.C. 47 
 
 Sanyroede equip* fleet A uril con flirt 
 
 hero was exposing himself in it to the most im- 
 minent personal danger. 
 
 The arrival of these re-enforcements greatly 
 improved Caesar's condition, and the circum- 
 stance of their coming forced upon the mind of 
 Ganymede a sense of the absolute necessity that 
 he should gain possession of the harbor if he in- 
 tended to keep Caesar in check. He according- 
 ly determined to take immediate measures for 
 forming a naval force. He sent along the coast, 
 and ordered every ship and galley that could be 
 found in all the ports to be sent immediately to 
 Alexandria. He employed as many men as 
 possible in and around the city in building more 
 He unroofed some of the most magnificent edi- 
 fices to procure timber as a material for making 
 benches and oars. When all was ready, he 
 made a grand attack upon Caesar in the port, 
 and a terrible contest ensued for the possession 
 of the harbor, the mole, the island, and the cit- 
 adels and fortresses commanding the entrances 
 from the sea. Caesar well knew that this ccn- 
 test would be a decisive one in respect to the 
 final result of the war, and he accordingly went 
 forth himself to take an active and personal part 
 in the conflict. He felt doubtless, too, a strong 
 emotion of pride and pleasure in exhibiting his
 
 B.C. 47.] THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 173 
 
 Osar In danger. Another rictory 
 
 prowess in the sight of Cleopatra, who could 
 watch the progress of the battla from the palace 
 windows, full of excitement at the dangers 
 which he incurred, and of admiration at the 
 feats of strength and valor which he performed. 
 During this battle the life of the great conquer 
 or was several times in the most imminent dan- 
 ger. He wore a habit or mantle of the impe- 
 rial purple, which made him a conspicuous mark 
 for his enemies ; and, of course, wherever he 
 went, in that place was the hottest of the fight. 
 Once, in the midst of a scene of most dreadful 
 confusion and din, he leaped from an overloaded 
 boat into the water and swam for his life, hold- 
 ing his cloak between his teeth and drawing it 
 through the water after him, that it might not 
 fall into the hands of his enemies. He carried, 
 at the same time, as he swam, certain valuable 
 papers which he wished to save, holding them 
 above his head with one hand, while he pro- 
 pelled himself through the water with the 
 other. 
 
 The result of this aontest was another deci- 
 sive victory for Caesar Not only were the ships 
 which the Egyptians had collected defeated and 
 destroyed, but the mole, with the fortresses at 
 aoh extremity of it, and the island, with th
 
 174 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 47. 
 
 The Egyptians discouraged. Secret messengers. 
 
 light-house and the town of Pharos, all fell into 
 Caesar's hands. 
 
 The Egyptians now began to be discouraged. 
 The army and the people, judging, as mankind 
 always do, of the virtue of their military com- 
 manders solely by the criterion of success, be- 
 gan to be tired of the rule of Ganymede and 
 Arsinoe. They sent secret messengers to Cae- 
 sar avowing their discontent, and saying that, 
 if he would liberate Ptolemy who, it will be 
 recollected, had been all this time held as a sort 
 of prisoner of state in Caesar's palaces they 
 thought that the people generally would receive 
 him as their sovereign, and that then an ar- 
 rangement might easily be made for an amica- 
 ble adjustment of the whole controversy. Cae- 
 sar was strongly inclined to accede to this pro- 
 posal. 
 
 He accordingly called Ptolemy into his pres- 
 ence, and, taking him kindly by the hand, in- 
 formed him of the wishes of the people of Egypt, 
 and gave him permission to go. Ptolemy, how- 
 ever, begged not to be sent away. He profess- 
 ed the strongest attachment to Caesar, and the 
 utmost confidence in him, and he very much 
 preferred, he said, to remain under his protec- 
 tion. Caesar rej?' : ,ed that, if those were his sen-
 
 8.C 47.] THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 175 
 
 DiMimuhtion of Ptolemy. Arrival of Mithrtdata*. 
 
 timerts, the separation would not be a lasting 
 one. " If we part as friends," he said, " we 
 shall soon meet again." By these and similar 
 assurances he endeavored to encourage th 
 young prince, and then sent him away. Ptol 
 emy wa.-* received by the Egyptians with great 
 joy, and was immediately placed at the head of 
 the government. Instead, however, of endeav- 
 oring to promote a settlement of the quarrel 
 with Caesar, he seemed to enter into it now him- 
 self, personally, with the utmost ardor, and be 
 gan at once to make the most extensive prepa- 
 rations both by sea and land for a vigorous pros- 
 ecution of the war. What the result of these 
 operations would have been can now not be 
 known, for the general aspect of affairs was, 
 soon after these transactions, totally changed 
 by the occurrence of a new and very important 
 event which suddenly intervened, and which 
 turned the attention of all parties, both Egyp- 
 tians and Romans, to the eastern quarter of 
 the kingdom The tidings arrived that a large 
 army, under the command of a general named 
 Mithradates, whom Caesar had dispatched into 
 Asia for this purpose, had suddenly appeared at 
 Pelusiurn. had captured that city, and were 
 now ready to T.* rch to Alexandria.
 
 176 CLEOPATRA. [B.U 47 
 
 Defeat of Ptolemy. Terror and confaitua 
 
 The Egyptian army immediately broke uj, 
 its encampments in the neighborhood of Alex- 
 andria, and marched to the eastward to meet 
 these new invaders. Caesar followed them with 
 all the forces that he could safely take away 
 from the city. He left the city in th~ night 
 and unobserved, and, moved across the country 
 with such celerity that he joined Mithradates 
 before the forces of Ptolemy had arrived. After 
 various marches and maneuvers, the armies met, 
 and a great battle was fought. The Egyptians 
 were defeated. Ptolemy's camp was taken. 
 As the Roman army burst in upon one side of 
 it, the guards and attendants of Ptolemy fled 
 upon the other, clambering over the ramparts 
 in the utmost terror and confusion. The fore- 
 most fell headlong into the ditch below, which 
 was thus soon filled to the brim with the dead 
 and the dying; while those who came behind 
 pressed on over the bridge thus formed, tramp, 
 ling remorselessly, as they fled, on the bodies of 
 their comrades, who lay writhing, struggling, 
 and shrieking beneath their feet. Those who 
 escaped reached the river. They crowded to- 
 gether into a boat which lay at the bank and 
 poshed off from the shore. The boat was over- 
 loaded, and it sank as soon as it left the land
 
 B.C.47.J THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 177 
 
 Dtwth of Ptolemy. Clnopatra queen 
 
 The Romans drew the bodies which floated tc 
 the shore up upon the bank again, and they 
 found among them one, which, by the royal 
 cuirass which was upon it, the customary badge 
 and armor of the Egyptian kings, they knew to 
 be the body of Ptolemy. 
 
 The victory which Csesar obtained in this 
 battle and the death of Ptolemy ended the war. 
 Nothing now remained but for him to place 
 himself at the head of the combined forces and 
 march back to Alexandria. The Egyptian 
 forces which had been left there made no resist- 
 ance, and he entered the city in triumph. He 
 took Arsinoe prisoner. He decreed that Cleo- 
 patra should reign as queen, and that she should 
 marry her youngest brother, the other Ptolemy 
 a boy at this time about eleven years of age 
 A marriage with one so young was, of course, 
 a mere form. Cleopatra remained, as before, 
 the companion of Caesar. 
 
 Csesar had, in the mean time, incurred great 
 censure at Rome, and throughout the whole 
 Roman world, for having thus turned aside from 
 his own proper duties as the Roman consul, and 
 tho commander-m-chief of the armies of the 
 r ipire, to embroil himself in the quarrels of a 
 
 tmote and secluded kingdom, with which the 
 1& 12
 
 178 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 47 
 
 General disapprobation of CM* 
 
 interests of the Roman commonwealth were 
 so little connected. His friends and the au- 
 thorities at Rome were continually urging him 
 to return. They were especially indignant at 
 his proti acted neglect of his own proper duties, 
 from knowing that he was held in Egypt by a 
 guilty attachment to the queen thus not only 
 violating his obligations to the state, but like- 
 wise inflicting upon his wife Calpurnia, and his 
 family at Rome, an intolerable wrong. But 
 Caesar was so fascinated by Cleopatra's charms, 
 and by the mysterious and unaccountable in- 
 fluence which she exercised over him, that he 
 paid no heed to any of these remonstrancea 
 Even after the war was ended he remained 
 some months in Egypt to enjoy his favorite's 
 society. He would spend whole nights in her 
 company, in feasting and revelry. He made a 
 splendid royal progress with her through Egypt 
 after the war was over, attended by a numer- 
 ous train of Roman guards. He formed a plan 
 for taking her to Rome, and marrying her there; 
 and he took measures for having the laws ( f th 
 city altered so as to enable him to do so, the ugh 
 he was already married. 
 
 A\\ these things produced great discontent 
 and disaffection among Caesar's friend* %d
 
 B.C. 4/.J THE ALEXANDRINE WAR. 179 
 
 Cleopatra's Kin Cwsaricm. Public opinion of her rondnct 
 
 throughout the Roman army. The Egyptian* 
 too, strongly censured the conduct of Cleopatra 
 A son was born to her about this time, whom 
 the Alexandrians named, from his father, Csesa- 
 rion. Cleopatra was regarded in the new re- 
 lation of mother, which she now sustained, not 
 with interest and sympathy, but with feelings 
 of reproach and condemnation. 
 
 Cleopatra was all this time growing more and 
 more accomplished and more and more beauti- 
 ful ; but her vivacity and spirit, which had been 
 so charming while it was simple and childlike, 
 now began to appear more forward and bold. 
 It is the characteristic of pure and lawful love 
 to soften and subdue the heart, and infuse a 
 gentle and quiet spirit into all its action ; while 
 that which breaks over the barriers that God 
 and nature have marked out for it, tends to 
 make woman masculine and bold, to indurate 
 all her sensibilities, and to destroy that gentle- 
 ness and timidity of demeanor which have so 
 great an influence in heightening her charma 
 Cleopatra was beginning to experience these ef- 
 fects. She was indifferent to the opinions of her 
 subjects, and was only anxious to maintain as 
 long as possible her guilty ascendency ove?
 
 180 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 47 
 
 CMW depute for Rom*. H Uke* ArilnoS with kim. 
 
 Caesar, however, finally determined to set out 
 on his return to the capital. Leaving Cleopa 
 tra, accordingly, a sufficient force to secure the 
 continuance of her power, he embarked the re- 
 mainder of his forces in his transports and gal- 
 leys, and sailed away. He took the unhappy 
 A-rsinoe with him, intending to exhibit her as a 
 trophy of his Egyptian victories on his arrival 
 at Rome.
 
 B.C. 47.] CLEOPATRA A QUEEN. 181 
 
 The Ataxuidrtne war rery ihort . Iti axtent 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 CLEOPATRA A QUEEN. 
 
 FT1HE war by which Csesar reinstated Cleo 
 -*- patra upon the throne was not one of very 
 long duration. Csesar arrived in Egypt in pur- 
 suit of Pompey about the 1st of August ; the 
 war was ended and Cleopatra established in se- 
 cure possession by the end of January ; so that 
 the conflict, violent as it was while it continued, 
 was very brief, the peaceful and commercial 
 pursuits of the Alexandrians having been inter- 
 rupted by it only for a few months. 
 
 Nor did either the war itself, or the derange- 
 ments consequent upon it, extend very far into 
 the interior of the country. The city of Alex- 
 andria itself and the neighboring coasts were 
 the chief scenes of the contest until Mithrada- 
 tes arrived at Pelusium. He, it is true, march- 
 ed across the Delta, and the final battle wa* 
 fought in the interior of the country. It waa, 
 however, after all, but a very small portion of 
 the Egyptian territory that was directly affect- 
 ed by the war. The great mass of the people,
 
 182 CLBOPATRA. [B.C. 47 
 
 RTtmi of Egypt The cftjr reptrf*J 
 
 occupying the lich and fertile tracts which bor- 
 dered the various branches of the Nile, and the 
 long and verdant valley which extended so far 
 into the heart of the continent, knew nothing 
 f the conflict but by vague and distant rumors. 
 The pursuits of the agricultural population 
 went on, all the time, as steadily and prosper- 
 ously as ever ; so that when the conflict was 
 ended, and Cleopatra entered upon the quiet 
 and peaceful possession of her power, she found 
 that the resources of her empire were very little 
 impaired. 
 
 She availed herself, accordingly, of the reve- 
 nues which poured in very abundantly upon 
 her, to enter upon a career of the greatest lux- 
 ury, magnificence, and splendor. The injuries 
 which had been done to the palaces and other 
 public edifices of Alexandria by the fire, and by 
 the military operations of the siege, were re- 
 paired. The bridges which had been broken 
 down were rebuilt. The canals which had been 
 obstructed were opened again. The sea-water 
 was shut off from the palace cisterns; the rub- 
 bish of demolished houses was removed ; thf 
 barricades were cleared from the streets; and 
 the injuries which the palaces had suffered, ei- 
 ther from the violence of military engines or thf
 
 B.C. 47.] CLEOPATRA A QUEEN. 183 
 
 rh library rebuilt A new collection of manuscript* 
 
 rough occupation of the Roman soldiery, were 
 repaired. In a word, the city was speedily re- 
 stored once more, so far as was possible, to its 
 former order and beauty. The five hundred 
 thousand manuscripts of the Alexandrian libra- 
 ry, which had been burned, could not, indeed, 
 be restored ; but, in all other respects, the city 
 soon resumed in appearance all its former splen- 
 dor. Even in respect to the library, Cleopatra 
 made an effort to retrieve the loss. She repair- 
 ed the ruined buildings, and afterward, in the 
 course of her life, she brought together, it was 
 said, in a manner hereafter to be described, one 
 or two hundred thousand rolls of manuscripts, 
 as the commencement of a new collection. The 
 new library, however, never acquired the fame 
 and distinction that had pertained to the old. 
 
 The former sovereigns of Egypt, Cleopatra's 
 ancestors, had generally, as has already been 
 shown, devoted the immense revenues which 
 they extorted from the agriculturalists of the 
 valley of the Nile to purposes of amb : tion. 
 Cleopatra seemed now disposed to expend them 
 in luxury and pleasure. They, the Ptolemies, 
 had employed their resources in erecting vast 
 structures, or founding magnificent institutions 
 at Alexandria, to add to the glory of the city,
 
 184 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 45 
 
 Luxury and rpleador. DeteriontloB of Cleopatra'i character 
 
 and to widen and extend their own fame. Cle- 
 opatra, on the other hand, as was, perhaps, nat- 
 urally to be expected of a young, beautiful, and 
 impulsive woman, suddenly raised to so conspic- 
 uous a position, and to the possession of such 
 unbounded wealth and power, expended her 
 royal revenues in plans of personal display, and 
 in scenes of festivity, gayety, and enjoyment. 
 She adorned her palaces, built magnificent 
 barges for pleasure excursions on the Nile, and 
 expended enormous sums for dress, for equipa- 
 ges, and for sumptuous entertainments. In 
 fact, so lavish were her expenditures for these 
 and similar purposes during the early years of 
 her reign, that she is considered as having car- 
 ried the extravagance of sensual luxury and 
 personal display and splendor beyond the limits 
 that had ever before or have ever since been 
 attained 
 
 Whatever of simplicity of character, and of 
 gentleness and kindness of spirit she might 
 have possessed in her earlier years, of course 
 gradually disappeared under the influences of 
 guoh a course of life as she now was leading. 
 She was beautiful and fascinating still, but she 
 began to grow selfish, heartless, and designing. 
 Her little brother he wa but eleven years o/
 
 8.C.45.] CLEOPATRA A QUEEN. 185 
 
 rhe young Ptolemy. Cleopatra assassinates him. 
 
 age, it will be reoollected, when Caesar arranged 
 the marriage between them was an object of 
 jealousy to her. He was now, of course, too 
 young to take any actual share in the exercise 
 of the royal power, or. to interfere at all in his 
 sister's plans or pleasures. But then he was 
 growing older. In a few years he would be 
 fifteen which was the period of life fixed upon 
 by Caesar's arrangements, and, in fact, by the 
 laws and usages of the Egyptian kingdom 
 when he was to come into possession of power 
 as king, and as the husband of Cleopatra. Cle- 
 opatra was extremely unwilling that the change 
 in her relations to him and to the government, 
 which this period was to bring, should take 
 place. Accordingly, just before the time ar- 
 rived, she caused him to be poisoned. His 
 death released her, as she had intended, from 
 all restraints, and thereafter she continued 
 to reign alone. During the remainder of her 
 life, so far as the enjoyment of wealth and 
 power, and of all other elements of external 
 prosperity could go, Cleopatra's career was one 
 f uninterrupted success. She had no consci- 
 entious scruples to interfere with the most full 
 and unrestrained indulgence of every propensity 
 f her heart, and the means of indulgence were
 
 L86 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.4& 
 
 Queer of CaMU. HU rapid ooone of conqve* 
 
 before her in the most unlimited profusion. The 
 only bar to her happiness was the impossibility 
 of satisfying the impulses and passions of the 
 human soul, when they once break over th* 
 bounds which the laws both of God and of na 
 nire ordain for restraining them. 
 
 In the mean time, while Cleopatra was spend 
 ing the early years of her reign in all this lux- 
 ury and splendor, Caesar was pursuing his ca- 
 reer, as the conqueror of the world, in the most 
 successful manner. On the death of Pompey, 
 he would naturally have succeeded at once to 
 the enjoyment of the supreme power ; but his 
 delay in Egypt, and the extent to which it was 
 known that he was entangled with Cleopatra, 
 encouraged and strengthened his enemies in 
 various parts of the world. In fact, a revolt 
 which broke out in Asia Minor, and which it 
 was absolutely necessary that he should proceed 
 at once to quell, was the immediate cause of 
 his leaving Egypt at last. Other plans for 
 making head against Csssar's power were formed 
 tn Spain, in Africa, and in Italy. His military 
 akill and energy, however, were so great, and 
 the ascendency which he exercised over the 
 minds of men by his personal presence was so 
 unbounded, and so astonishing, moreover, w*a
 
 B.C. 45.1 CLBOFATRA A QUEEN 187 
 
 Cleopatra dntermlnM to go to Ron*. FecUi gs of the Roman* 
 
 the celerity with which he moved from conti- 
 nent to continent, and from kingdom to king- 
 dom, that in a very short period from the time 
 of his leaving Egypt, he had conducted most 
 brilliant and successful campaigns in all the 
 three quarters of the world then known, had put 
 down effectually all opposition to his power, and 
 then had returned to Rome the acknowledged 
 master of the world. Cleopatra, who had, of 
 course, watched his career during all this time 
 with great pride and pleasure, concluded, at 
 last, to go to Rome and make a visit to him 
 there. 
 
 The people of Rome were, however, not pre- 
 pared to receive her very cordially. It was an 
 age in which vice of every kind was regarded 
 with great indulgence, but the moral instincts 
 of mankind were too "strong to be wholly blind- 
 ed to the true character of so conspicuous an 
 example of wickedness as this. Arsinoe was 
 at Rome, too, during this period of Caesar's life. 
 lie had brought her there, it will be recollected, 
 on his return from Egypt, as a prisoner, and as 
 a trophy of his victory. His design was, in fact, 
 to reserve her as a captive to grace his tnumph. 
 
 A triumph, according to the usages of the an- 
 cient Romans, was a grand celebration decreed
 
 188 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 45 
 
 few triumph*. Nature of triumphal procesMont 
 
 by the senate to great military comniander* 
 of the highest rank, when they returned from 
 distant campaigns in which they had made 
 great conquests or gained extraordinary victo- 
 ries. Ceesar concentrated all his triumphs into 
 one. They were celebrated on his return to 
 Rome for the last time, after having completed 
 the conquest of the world. The processions of 
 this triumph occupied four days. In fact, there 
 were four triumphs, one on each day for the four 
 days. The wars and conquests which these 
 ovations were intended to celebrate were those 
 of Gaul, of Egypt, of Asia, and of Africa ; and 
 the processions on the several days consisted of 
 endless trains of prisoners, trophies, arms, ban- 
 ners, pictures, images, convoys of wagons load- 
 ed with plunder, captive princes and princesses, 
 animals, wild and tame, and every thing else 
 which the conqueror had been able to bring 
 home with him from his campaigns, to excite 
 the curiosity or the admiration of the people of 
 the city, and illustrate the magnitude of his ex- 
 ploits. Of course, the Roman generals, when 
 engaged in distant foreign wars, were ambitious 
 of bringing back as many distinguished oaptivet 
 and as much public plunder as they were able 
 to obtain, in order to add to the variety and
 
 B.C. 45.] CLEOPATRA A C^UEEN. 191 
 
 Artinoft. Sympathy of the Roman people 
 
 splendor of the triumphal procession by which 
 their victories were to be honored on their re- 
 turn. It was with this view that Ceesar brought 
 Arsinoe from Egypt ; and he had retained her 
 as his captive at Rome until his conquests were 
 completed and the time for his triumph ar- 
 rived. She, of course, formed a part of the 
 triumphal train on the Egyptian day. She 
 walked immediately before the chariot in which 
 Caesar rode. She was in chains, like any other 
 captive, though her chains, in honor of her lofty 
 rank, were made of gold. 
 
 The effect, however, upon the Roman popu- 
 lation of seeing the unhappy princess, over- 
 whelmed as she was with sorrow and chagrin, 
 as she moved slowly along in the train, among 
 the other emblems and trophies of violence and 
 plunder, proved to be by no means favorable tc 
 Csesar. The populace were inclined to pity her, 
 and to sympathize with her in her sufferings. 
 Th ; sight of her distress recalled, too, to their 
 minds the dereliction from duty of which Csesar 
 had been guilty of in his yielding to the entice- 
 ments of Cleopatra, and remaining so long in 
 Rgypt to che neglect of his proper duties as a 
 Roman minister of state. In a word, the tide 
 of admiration forCsGsar's military exploits whiob
 
 192 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 45 
 
 Cdv o erects hi* pert. Feuta and fitlT3i 
 
 aad been setting so strongly in his favor, seem 
 ed inclined to turn, and the city was filled with 
 cnurrnurs against him even in the midst of hi* 
 triumphs 
 
 In fact, the pride and vainglory which led 
 >8Bsar to make his triumphs more splendid and 
 mposing than any former conqueror had evei 
 mjoyed, caused him to overact his part so as tc 
 VNroduce effects the reverse of his intentions 
 The case of Arsinoe was one example of this 
 Instead of impressing the people with a sense of 
 the greatness of his exploits in Egypt, in depos- 
 ing one queen and bringing her captive to Rome, 
 in order that he might place another upon the 
 throne in her stead, it only reproduced anew the 
 censures and criminations which he had deserv- 
 ed by his actions there, but which, had it not 
 been for the pitiable spectacle of Arsinoe in the 
 train, might have been forgotten. 
 
 There were other examples of a similar char 
 acter. There were the feasts, for instance 
 From the plunder which Csesar had obtained 
 in his various campaigns, he expended the most 
 enormous sums in making feasts and spectacles 
 for the populace at the time of his triumph. A 
 large portion of the populace was pleased, it i 
 true, with the boundless indulgences thus offer*
 
 B.C. 45.] CLEOPATRA A QUEEN. 193 
 
 41ot and debauchery. Public combats. 
 
 ?d to them ; but the better part of the Roman 
 people were indignant at the waste and extrav- 
 agance which were every where displayed. For 
 many days the whole city of Rome presented to 
 the view nothing but one wide-spread scene of 
 riot and debauchery. The people, instead of 
 being pleased with this abundance, said that 
 Csesar must have practiced the most extreme 
 and lawless extortion to have obtained the vast 
 amount of money necessary to enable him to 
 supply such unbounded and reckless waste. 
 
 There was another way, too, by which Caesar 
 turned public opinion strmgly against himself, 
 by the very means which he adopted for creat- 
 ing a sentiment in his favor. The Romans, 
 among the other barbarous amusements which 
 were practiced in the city, were specially fond 
 of combats. These combats were of various 
 kinds. They were fought sometimes between 
 ferocious beasts of the same or of different spe- 
 cies, as dogs against each other, or against bulls, 
 lions, or tigers. Any animals, in fact, were em 
 ployed for this purpose, that could be teased or 
 goaded into anger and ferocity in a fight 
 Sometimes men were employed in these com- 
 batscaptive soldiers, that had been taken in 
 
 war, and brought to Rome to fight in the am- 
 1613
 
 194 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.45. 
 
 The artificial lake. C >mbat upon It 
 
 phitheaters there as gladiators. These men 
 were compelled to contend sometimes with wild 
 beasts, and sometimes with one another. Cap- 
 ar ; knowing how highly the Roman assemblies 
 enjo ;ed such scenes, determined to afford them 
 the indulgence on a most magnificent scale, 
 supposing, of course, that the greater and the 
 more dreadful the fight, the higher would be the 
 pleasure which the spectators would enjoy in 
 witnessing it. Accordingly, in making prepa- 
 rations for the festivities attending his triumph, 
 he caused a large artificial lake to be formed 
 at a convenient place in the vicinity of Rome, 
 where it could be surrounded by the populace 
 of the city, and there he made arrangements 
 for a naval battle. A great number of galleys 
 were introduced into the lake. They were of 
 the usual size employed in war. These galleys 
 were manned with numerous soldiers. Tyrian 
 captives were put upon one side, and Egyptian 
 upon the other ; and when all was ready, the 
 two squadrons were ordered to approach and 
 6ght a real naval battle for the amusement of 
 the enormous throngs of spectators that were 
 assembled around. As the nations from which 
 the combatants in this conflict were respective- 
 ly taken were hostile to each other, and as the
 
 B.C. 45.] CLEOPATRA A Q.UEEN. 195 
 
 Land combmtt. Tho people shocked 
 
 men fought, of course, for their lives, the en- 
 gagement was attended with the usual horrors 
 of a desperate naval encounter. Hundreds were 
 slain. The dead bodies of the combatants fell 
 from the galleys into the lake, and the waters 
 of it were dyed with their blood. 
 
 There were land combats, too, on the same 
 grand scale. In one of them five hundred foot 
 soldiers, twenty elephants, and a troop of thirty 
 horse were engaged on each side. This com- 
 bat, therefore, was an action greater, in respect 
 to the number of the combatants, than the fa- 
 mous battle of Lexington, which marked the 
 commencement of the American war ; and in 
 respect to the slaughter which took place, it was 
 very probably ten times greater. The horror 
 >f these scenes proved to be too much even for 
 the populace, fierce and merciless as it was, 
 which they were intended to amuse. Caesar, 
 in his eagerness to outdo all former exhibitions 
 and shows, went beyond the limits within which 
 the seeing of men butchered in bloody combats 
 and dying hi agony and despair would serve for 
 a pleasure and a pastime. The people were 
 shocked ; and condemnations of Caesar's cruelty 
 were added to the other suppressed reproaches 
 and arimi nation* which every vrhere arose.
 
 196 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 45 
 
 Ctoopatra'e rUit. Cetti't plans for making himself Ung 
 
 Cleopatra, during her visit to Rome, lived 
 openly with Caesar at his residence, and this 
 excited very general displeasure. In fact, while 
 the people pitied Arsinoe, Cleopatra, notwith- 
 standing her beauty and her thousand persona, 
 accomplishments and charms, was an object ol 
 general displeasure, so far as public attention 
 was turned toward her at all. The public mind 
 was, however, much engrossed by the great po- 
 litical movements made by Caesar and the ends 
 toward which he seemed to be aiming. Men 
 accused him of designing to be made a king 
 Parties were formed for and against him ; and 
 though men did not dare openly to utter their 
 sentiments, their passions became the more vio- 
 lent in proportion to the external force by which 
 they were suppressed. Mark Antony was at 
 Rome at this time. He warmly espoused Cae- 
 sar's cause, and encouraged his design of mak- 
 ing himself king. He once, in fact, offered to 
 place a royal diadem upon Caesar's head at 
 tome public celebration ; but the marks of pub- 
 lic disapprobation which the act elicited caused 
 him to desist. 
 
 ( At length, however, the time arrived when 
 Caesar determined to cause himself to be pro- 
 olaimed king. He took advantage of a certain
 
 B.C. 44.] CLEOPATRA A Q.UEEN. 197 
 
 Conspiracy against Cesar. He la asiassiDated 
 
 remarkable conjuncture of public affairs, which 
 can not here be particularly described, but which 
 seemed to him specially to favor his designs, 
 and arrangements were made for having him 
 Invested with the regal power by the senate. 
 The murmurs and the discontent of the people 
 at the indications that the time for the realiza- 
 tion of their fears was drawing nigh, became 
 more and more audible, and at length a con- 
 spiracy was formed to put an end to the danger 
 by destroying the ambitious aspirant's life. 
 Two stern and determined men, Brutus and 
 Cassius, were the leaders of this conspiracy. 
 They matured their plans, organized their band 
 of associates, provided themselves secretly with 
 arms, and when the senate convened, on the 
 day in which the decisive vote was to have been 
 passed, Csesar himself preriding, they came up 
 boldly around him in his presidential chair, and 
 murdered him with their daggers. 
 
 Antony, from whom the plans of the conspir- 
 ators had been kept profoundly secret, stood by, 
 looking on stupefied and confounded while the 
 deed was done, but utterly unable to render his 
 friend any protection. 
 
 Cleopatra immediately fled from the city and 
 returned to
 
 198 CLBOPATRA. [B.C. 44 
 
 Antno* releMed. CalpnrnU raonrni her huibmd'i deatk 
 
 Arsinoe had gone away before. Caesar, ei- 
 ther taking pity on her misfortunes, or impel- 
 led, perhaps, by the force of public sentiment, 
 which seemed inclined to take part with hei 
 against him, set her at liberty immediately aftei 
 the ceremonies of his triumph were over. He 
 would not, however, allow her to return into 
 Egypt, for feat, probably, that she might in 
 some way or other be the means of disturbing 
 the government of Cleopatra. She proceeded, 
 accordingly, into Syria, no longer as a captive, 
 but still as an exile from her native land. We 
 shall hereafter learn what became of her there. 
 
 Calpurnia mourned the death of her husband 
 with sincere and unaffected grief. She bore the 
 wrongs which she suffered as a wife with a very 
 patient and unrepining spirit, and loved her hus- 
 band with the most devoted attachment to the 
 end. Nothing can be more affecting than the 
 proofs of her tender and anxious regard on the 
 night immediately preceding the assassination 
 There were certain slight and obscure indica- 
 tions of danger which her watchful devotion tc 
 her husband led her to observe, though they 
 eluded the notice of all Caesar's otherVriends, 
 and they filled her with apprehension and anx- 
 >ty ; and when at length the bloody body was
 
 RC.44.] CLEOPATRA JL QUEEN. 199 
 
 Calpurnia looks to Mark Antony as her protector. 
 
 brought home to her from the senate-house, she 
 was overwhelmed with grief and despair. 
 
 She had no children. She accordingly look* 
 ed upon Mark Antony as her nearest friend and 
 protector, and in the confusion and terror which 
 prevailed the next day in the city, she hastily 
 packed together the money and other valuables 
 contained in the house, and all her husband's 
 books and papers, and sent them to Antony foi 
 safe keeping.
 
 200 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.44 
 
 Consternation at Rome C attar' wtt 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 
 
 WHEN the tidings of the assassination of 
 Caesar were first announced to the peopU 
 of Rome, all ranks and classes of men wer 
 struck with amazement and consternation. No 
 one knew what to say or do. A very large and 
 influential portion of the community had been 
 Caesar's friends. It was equally certain that 
 there was a very powerful interest opposed to 
 hirn. No one could foresee which of these two 
 parties would now carry the day, and, of course, 
 for a time, all was uncertainty and indecision. 
 Mark Antony came forward at once, and as- 
 sumed the position of Caesar's representative 
 and the leader of the party on that side. A 
 will was found among Caesar's effects, and when 
 the will was opened it appeared that large sums 
 of money were left to the Roman people, and 
 other large amounts to a nephew of the deceased, 
 named Octavius, who will be more particularly 
 spoken of hereafter. Antony was named in the 
 will as the executor of it. This and other oir-
 
 B.C. 44.] THE BATTLE OF f HILIPPI. 201 
 
 Brutus and Casaius. Parties formed. 
 
 cumstances seemed to authorize him to come 
 forward as the head and the leader of the Cse- 
 sar party. Brutus and Cassius, who remained 
 openly in the city after their desperate deed had 
 been performed, were the acknowledged leaders 
 of the other party ; while the mass of the people 
 were at first so astounded at the magnitude 
 and suddenness of the revolution which the open 
 and public assassination of a Roman emperor 
 by a Roman senate denoted, that they knew not 
 what to say or do. In fact, the killing of Juliiw 
 Caesar, considering the exalted position which 
 he occupied, the rank and station of the men 
 who perpetrated the deed, and the very extra- 
 ordinary publicity of the scene in which the act 
 was performed, was, doubtless, the most con- 
 spicuous and most appalling case of assassina- 
 tion that has ever occurred. The whole popu- 
 lation of Rome seemed for some days to be 
 amazed and stupefied by the tidings. At length, 
 however, parties began to be more distinctly 
 formed. The lines of demarkation between 
 ^hem were gradually drawn, and men began to 
 arrange themselves more and more unequivo- 
 cally on the opposite sides. 
 
 For a short time the supremacy of Antony 
 ver the Ceesar party was readily acquiesced in
 
 203 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.44 
 
 Octarltu ind Lepldu*. Character of Octartas 
 
 and allowed. At length, however, and before 
 his arrangements were finally matured, he found 
 that he had two formidable competitors upon his 
 own side. These were Octavius and Lepidus. 
 Octavius, who was the nephew of Caesar, al- 
 -eady alluded to, was a very accomplished and 
 slegant young man, now about nineteen years 
 of ago. He was the son of Julius Caesar's niece.* 
 He had always been a great favorite with his 
 ancle. Every possible attention had been paid 
 to his education, and he had been advanced by 
 Caesar, already, to positions of high importance 
 in public life. Caesar, in fact, adopted him as 
 his son, and made him his heir. At the time 
 of Caesar's death he was at Apollonia, a city of 
 Illyrioum, north of Greece. The troops under 
 his command there offered to march at once 
 with him, if he wished it, to Rome, and avenge 
 his uncle's death. Octavius, after some hesita- 
 tion, concluded that it would be most prudent 
 for him to proceed thither first himself, alone, 
 as a private person, and demand his rights as 
 
 * This Octavius on his subsequent elevation to imperia 
 power, received the name of Augustus Ca-sar, and it is by 
 this name that he is generally known in history. He was, 
 however, called Octavkis at the commencement of his career, 
 and, to avoid confusion, we shall continue to designate him by 
 tfau name to the end of our narrative.
 
 B.C.44.J THE BATTLB OF PHILIPPL 5J03 
 
 OcUvius proceed* to Rom*. He claim* hi* right* M heir. 
 
 his uncle's heir, according to the provisions of 
 the will. He accordingly did so. He found, 
 on his arrival, that the will, the property, the 
 books and parchments, and tne substantial 
 power of the government, were ail in Antony's 
 hands. Antony, instead of putting Octavius 
 into possession of his property and rights, found 
 various pretexts for evasion and delay. Octa- 
 vius was too young yet, he said, to assume such 
 weighty responsibilities. He was himself also 
 too much pressed with the urgency of public af- 
 fairs to attend to the business of the will. With 
 these and similar excuses as his justification, 
 Antony seemed inclined to pay no regard what- 
 ever to Octavius's claims. 
 
 Octavius, young as he was, possessed a char- 
 acter that was marked with great intelligence, 
 spirit, and resolution. He soon made many 
 powerful friends in the city of Rome and among 
 the Roman senate. It became a serious ques- 
 tion whether he or Antony would gain the great- 
 est ascendency in the party of Caesar's friends. 
 The contest for this ascendency was, in fact, 
 protracted for two or three years, and led to a 
 vast complication of intrigues, and maneuvers, 
 and civil wars, which can not, however, be here 
 particularly detailed.
 
 04 CLEOPATRA. (B.C. 44 
 
 Lptdtu Ucei command of tbe nny. THs triuravirau 
 
 The other competitor which Antony had to 
 contend with was a distinguished Roman gen- 
 eral named Lepidus. Lepidus was an officer 
 of the army, in very high command at the time 
 of Caesar's death. He was present in the senate 
 chamber on the day of the assassination. He 
 stole secretly away when he saw that the deed 
 was done, and repaired to the camp of the army 
 without the city and immediately assumed the 
 oommand of the forces. This gave him great 
 power, ajid in the course of the contests which 
 subsequently ensued between Antony and Oc- 
 tavius, he took an active part, and held in some 
 measure the balance between them. At length 
 the contest was finally closed by a coalition of 
 the three rivals. Finding that they could not 
 either of them gain a decided victory over the 
 others, they combined together, and formed the 
 celebrated triumvirate, which continued after 
 ward for some time to wield the supreme com- 
 mand hi the Roman world. In forming this 
 league of reconciliation, the three rivals held 
 their conference on an island situated in one of 
 the branches of the Po, in the north of Italy. 
 They manifested extreme jealousy and suspicion 
 of each other 'n coming to this interview. Two 
 bridges ware built leading to the island, on
 
 B.C. 43 I THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 205 
 
 Conference between Octarlu*, Leptdnm, and Antony. 
 
 from each bank of the stream. The army of 
 Antony was drawn up upon one side of the river, 
 and that of Octavius upon the other. Lepidm 
 went first to the island by one of the bridges. 
 After examining the ground carefully, to make 
 himself sure that it contained no ambuscade, 
 he made a signal to the other generals, who then 
 oarne over, each advancing by his own bridge, 
 and accompanied by three hundred guards, who 
 remained upon the bridge to secure a retreat 
 for their master in case of treachery. The con- 
 ference lasted three days, at the expiration of 
 which time the articles were all agreed upon 
 and signed. 
 
 This league being formed, the three confed- 
 erates turned their united force against the par- 
 ty of the conspirators. Of this party Brutua 
 and Cassius were still at the head. 
 
 The scene of the contests between Octavius, 
 Antony, and Lepidus had been chiefly Italy and 
 the other central countries of Europe. Brutus 
 and Cassius, on the other hand, had gone across 
 the Adriatic Sea into the East immediately 
 after Caesar's assassination. They were now in 
 Asia Minor, and were employed in concentrat- 
 ing their forces, forming alliances with the va 
 rious Eastern powers, raising troops, bringing
 
 06 CLEOPATKA [B.C. 41. 
 
 Kmbaiaage to Cleopatra. Her dacteta* 
 
 over to their side the Roman legions which were 
 itationed in that quarter of the world, seizing 
 magazines, and exacting contributions from all 
 who could to induced to favor their cause. 
 A.mong other embassages which they sent, one 
 went to Egypt to demand aid from Cleopatra, 
 Cleopatra, however, -was resolved to join the 
 other side in the contest. It was natural that 
 she should feel grateful to Caesar for his efforts 
 and sacrifices in her behalf, and that she should 
 be inclined to favor the cause of his friends. 
 Accordingly, instead of sending troops to aid 
 Brutus and Cassius, as they had desired her to 
 do, she immediately fitted out an expedition to 
 proceed to the coast of Asia, with a view of ren- 
 dering all the aid in her power to Antony's 
 cause. 
 
 Cassius, on his part, finding that Cleopatra 
 was determined on joining his enemies, imme- 
 diately resolved on proceeding at once to Egypt 
 and taking possession of the country. He also 
 stationed a military force atTsenarus, the south- 
 am promontory of Greece, to watch for and in- 
 tercept the fleet of Cleopatra as soon as it should 
 appear on the European shores. All these 
 plans, however both those which Cleopatra 
 formed against Cassius, and those which
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 207 
 
 Cuiiua abandons hi* design*. Approach of the triumvir* 
 
 sius formed against her failed of accomplish- 
 ment. Cleopatra's fleet encountered a terrible 
 storm, which dispersed and destroyed it. A 
 email remnant was driven upon the coast of 
 Africa, but nothing could be saved which could 
 be made available for the purpose intended AJB 
 for Cassius's intended expedition to Egypc, it 
 was not carried into effect. The dangers which 
 began now to threaten him from the direction 
 of Italy and Rome were so imminent, that, at 
 Brutus's urgent request, he gave up the Egyp- 
 tian plan, and the two generals concentrated 
 their forces to meet the armies of the triumvi- 
 rate which were now rapidly advancing to at- 
 tack them. They passed for this purpose across 
 the Hellespont from Sestos to Abydos, and en- 
 tered Thrace.* 
 
 After various marches and countermarches, 
 and a long succession of those maneuvers by 
 which two powerful armies, approaching a con- 
 test, endeavor each to gain some position of ad- 
 vantage against the other, the various bodies of 
 troops belonging, respectively, to the two pow- 
 ers, came into the vicinity of each other near 
 Philippi. Brutus and Cassius arrived here first. 
 There was a plain in the neighborhood of the 
 
 * Se map, at the frontiBpiec.
 
 08 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 Th* rmle* meet at Phlllppl. IHttarmt of Oetartv* 
 
 city, with a rising ground in a certain portion 
 of it. Bruto took possession of this elevation, 
 and intrenched himself there. Cassius posted 
 his forces about three miles distant, near the 
 sea. There was a line of intrenchments be- 
 tween the two camps, which formed a chain of 
 communication by .which the positions of the 
 two commanders were connected. The armies 
 were thus very advantageously posted. They 
 b%d the River Stryrnon and a marsh on the left 
 of the ground that they occupied, while the 
 plain was before them, and the sea behind. 
 Here they awaited the arrival of their foes. 
 
 Antony, who was at this time at Amphipolis, 
 a city not far distant from Philippi, learning 
 that Brutus and Cassius had taken their posi- 
 tions in anticipation of an attack, advanced im- 
 mediately and encamped upon the plain. Oo- 
 tavius was detained by sickness at the city of 
 Dyrrachium, not very far distant. Antony 
 waited for him. It was ten days before he 
 oame. At length he arrived, though in coming 
 be had to be borne upon a litter, being still too 
 iok to travel in any other way. Antony ap- 
 proached, and established his camp opposite to 
 that of Cassius, near the sea, while Ootavius 
 took post opposite to Brutus. The four armies
 
 B.C. 41.] THI, BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 209 
 
 Difference of opinion between Brutus and CaMliu. Council of war. 
 
 then paused, contemplating the probable result* 
 of the engagement that was about to ensue 
 
 The forces on the two sides were nearly 
 equal ; but on the Republican side, that is, on 
 the part of Brutus and Cassius, there was great 
 inconvenience and suffering for want of a suffi- 
 cient supply of provisions and stores. There 
 was some difference of opinion between Brutus 
 and Cassius in respect to what it was best for 
 them to do. Brutus was inclined to give the 
 enemy battle. Cassius was reluctant to do so, 
 since, under the circumstances in which they 
 were placed, he considered it unwise to hazard, 
 as they necessarily must do, the whole success 
 of their cause to the chances of a single battle 
 A. council of war was convened, and the various 
 officers were asked to give their opinions. In 
 this conference, one of the officers having rec- 
 ommended to postpone the conflict to the next 
 winter, Brutus asked him what advantage he 
 hoped to attain by such delay " If I gain noth- 
 ing else,** replied the officer, "I shall live so 
 much the longer." This answer touched Cas- 
 ius's pride and military sense of honor. Rath- 
 er than concur hi a counsel which was thus, on 
 the part of one of its advocates at least, dictated 
 
 by what he considered an inglorious love of life. 
 1614
 
 filO CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 Dwiitoo of the council. Brnfcu grewtljr etatnd 
 
 he preferred to retract his opinion. Tt was 
 agreed by the council that the army should 
 maintain its ground and give the enemy battle. 
 The officers then repaired to their respective 
 cam pa. 
 
 Brutus was greatly pleased at this decision. 
 To fight the battle had been his original desire, 
 and as his counsels had prevailed, he was, of 
 course, gratified with the prospect for the mor- 
 row. He arranged a sumptuous entertainment 
 in his tent, and invited all the officers of his di- 
 vision of the army to sup with him. The party 
 spent the night in convivial pleasures, and in 
 mutual congratulations at the prospect of the 
 victory which, as they believed, awaited them 
 on the morrow. Brutus entertained his guests 
 with brilliant conversation all the evening, and 
 inspired them with his own confident anticim- 
 tions of success in the conflict which was to 
 ensue. 
 
 Cassias, on the other hand, in his camp o> 
 the sea, was silent and desponding. He supped 
 privately with a few intimate friends. On ris- 
 ing from the table, he took one of his officer* 
 aside, and, pressing his hand, said to him that 
 he felt great misgivings in respect to the result 
 f the contest. " It is against my judgment*
 
 B.C.41.] THE BITTLE OF PHILIPPI. 211 
 
 Despondency of Caseiu*. Preparation* for bettl* 
 
 said he, " that we thus hazard the liberty of 
 Rome on the event of one battle, fought under 
 such circumstances as these. Whatever is the 
 result, I wish you to bear me witness hereafter 
 that I was forced into this measure by ciroum 
 stances that I could not control. I suppose, 
 however, that I ought to take courage, notwith- 
 standing the reasons that I have for these 
 gloomy forebodings. Let us, therefore, hope for 
 the best ; and come and sup with me again to- 
 morrow night. To-morrow is ray birth-day." 
 
 The next morning, the scarlet mantle the 
 customary signal displayed in Roman camps on 
 the morning of a day of battle was seen at the 
 tops of the tents of the two commanding gen- 
 erals, waving there in the air like a banner. 
 While the troops, in obedience to this signal, 
 were preparing themselves for the conflict, the 
 two generals went to meet each other at a point 
 midway between their two encampments, for a 
 final consultation and agreement in respect to 
 the arrangements of the day. When this busi- 
 ness was concluded, and they were about to 
 separate, in order to proceed each to his own 
 sphere of duty, Cassius asked Brutus what he 
 intended to do in case the day should go against 
 them. " We hope for the best," said' he, " and
 
 CLEOPAIRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 Resolution of Brutu to die. Similar retolre of Cuutuj 
 
 pray that the gods may grant us the victory in 
 this most momentous crisis. But we must re- 
 member that it is the greatest and the most 
 momentous of human affairs that are always 
 the most uncertain, and we can not foresee what 
 is to-day to be the result of the battle. If it 
 goes against us, what do you intend to do ? Do 
 you intend to escape, or to die ?" 
 
 " When I was a young man," said Brutus, 
 in reply, " and looked at this subject only as a 
 question of theory, I thought it wrong for a man 
 ever to take his own life. However great the 
 evils that threatened him, and however despe- 
 rate his condition, I considered it his duty to 
 live, and to wait patiently for better times. But 
 now, placed in the position in which I am, I see 
 the subject in a different light. If we do not 
 gain the battle this day, I shall consider all hope 
 and possibility of saving our country forever 
 gone, and I shall not leave the field of battle 
 alive." 
 
 Cassius, in his despondency, had made the 
 same resolution for himself before, and he was 
 rejoiced to hear Brutus utter these sentiments. 
 He grasped his colleague's hand with a coun- 
 tenance expressive of the greatest animation 
 *nd pleasure, and bade him farewell, sayirg
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPL 213 
 
 Omen*. Their Influence upon Canto* 
 
 " We will go out boldly to face the enemy. For 
 we are certain either that we shall conquer them^ 
 9t that we shall have nothing to fear from their 
 victory over us." 
 
 Cassius's dejection, and the tendency of his 
 mind to take a despairing view of the prospects 
 of the cause in which he was engaged, were 
 owing, in some measure, to certain unfavorable 
 omens which he had observed. These omens, 
 though really frivolous and wholly unworthy of 
 attention, seem to have had great influence upon 
 him, notwithstanding his general intelligence, 
 and the remarkable strength and energy of his 
 character. They were as follows : 
 
 In offering certain sacrifices, he was to wear, 
 according to the usage prescribed on such oc- 
 casions, a garland of flowers, and it happened 
 that the officer who brought the garland, by 
 mistake or accident, presented it wrong side 
 before. Again, in some procession which was 
 formed, and in which a certain image of gold, 
 made in honor of him, was borne, the bearer of 
 it stumbled and fell, and the image was thrown 
 upon the ground. This was a very dark pre- 
 sage of impending calamity. Then a great 
 number of vultures and other birds of prey were 
 teen, for a number of days before the battle,
 
 214 CLEOPATRA. (RC.41 
 
 Tkr wiau of be. Warning! reoejred by Brutu* 
 
 hovering over the Roman army; and several 
 swarms of bees were found within the precincts 
 of the camp. So alarming was this last indi- 
 cation, that the officers altered the line of the 
 intrenchments so as to shut out the ill-omened 
 spot from the camp. These and other such 
 things had great influence upon the mind of 
 Cassias, in convincing him that some great dis 
 aster was impending over him. . 
 
 Nor was Brutus himself without warnings of 
 this character, though they seem to have had 
 leas power to produce any serious impression 
 upon his mind than in the case of Cassius. The 
 most extraordinary warning which Brutus re- 
 ceived, according to the story of his ancient his- 
 torians, was by a supernatural apparition which 
 he saw, some time before, while he was in Asia 
 Minor. He was encamped near the city of Sar- 
 die at that time. He was always accustomed 
 to sleep very little, and would often, it was said 
 when all his officers had retired, and the camp 
 was still, sit alone in his tent, sometimes read- 
 ing, and sometimes revolving the anxious cares 
 which were always pressing upon his mind 
 One night he was thus alone in his tent, with 
 a small lamp burning before him, sitting lost 
 in thought, when he suddenly heard a n>
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OP PHILIPPI. 215 
 
 The spirit teen by Brutvu Hit conYnrgation witk it 
 
 ment a.s of some one entering the tent. He 
 looked up, and saw a strange, unearthly, arid 
 monstrous shape, which appeared to have just 
 entered the door and was coming toward him. 
 The spirit gazed upon him as it advanced, but 
 it did not speak. 
 
 Brutus, who was not much accustomed to 
 fear, boldly demanded of the apparition who and 
 what it was, and what had brought it there. 
 u I am your evil spirit," said the apparition. 
 " I shall meet you at Philippi." " Then, it 
 seems," said Brutus, " that, at any rate, I shall 
 see you again." The spirit made no reply to 
 this, but immediately vanished. 
 
 Brutus arose, went to the door of his tent, 
 summoned the sentinels, and awakened the sol- 
 diers that were sleeping near. The sentinels 
 had seen nothing ; and, after the most diligent 
 search, no trace of the mysterious visitor could 
 be found. 
 
 The next morning Brutus related to Cassia* 
 the occurrence which he had witnessed. Cas- 
 sias, though very sensitive, it seems, to the in- 
 fluence of omens affecting himself, was quite 
 philosophical in his views in respect to those of 
 other mn. He argued very rationally with 
 Brutus to convince him that the vision whicb
 
 216 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.4i 
 
 Btttle of Phlllppt Defeat of Oetartu 
 
 he had seen was only a phantom of sleep, tak 
 ing its form and character from the ideas and 
 images which the situation in which Brutus 
 was then placed, and the fatigue and anxiety 
 which he had endured, would naturally impress 
 upon his mind. 
 
 But to return to the battle. Brutus fought 
 against Octavius ; while Cassius, two or three 
 miles distant, encountered Antony, that hav- 
 ing been, as will be recollected, the disposition 
 of the respective armies and their encampments 
 upon the plain. Brutus was triumphantly suc- 
 cessful in his part of the field. His troops de- 
 feated the army of Octavius, and got possession 
 of his camp. The men forced their way into 
 Octavius's tent, and pierced the litter in which 
 they supposed that the sick general was lying 
 through and through with their spears. But 
 the object of their desperate hostility was not 
 there. He had been borne away by his guards 
 a few minutes before, and no one knew what 
 bad become of him. 
 
 The result of the battle was, however, unfoi 
 tunately for those whose adventures we are now 
 more particularly following, very different in 
 Cassius's part of the field. When Brutus, after 
 completing the conquest of his own immediate
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 217 
 
 Defeat of Cuahu. Brutus goes to hi* aid 
 
 foes, returned to his elevated camp, he looked 
 toward the camp of Cassius, and was surprised 
 to find that the tents had disappeared. Some 
 of the officers around perceived weapons glan* 
 cing and glittering in the sun in the place where 
 Cassius's tents ought to appear. Brutus now 
 suspected the truth, which was, that Cassius 
 had been defeated, and his camp had fallen into 
 the hands of the enemy. He immediately col- 
 lected together as large a force as he could com- 
 mand, and marched to the relief of his col- 
 league. He found him, at last, posted with a 
 small body of guards and attendants upon the 
 top of a small elevation to which he had fled 
 for safety. Cassius saw the troop of horsemen 
 which Brutus sent forward coming toward him, 
 and supposed that it was a detachment from 
 Antony's army advancing to capture him. He, 
 however, sent a messenger forward to meet 
 them, and ascertain whether they were friends 
 or foes. The messenger, whose name was Ti- 
 tinius, rode down. The horsemen recognized 
 Titinius, and, riding up eagerly around him, 
 they dismounted from their horses to congrat- 
 ulate him on his safety, and to press him with 
 inquiries in respect to the result of the battl* 
 *nd the fate of his master.
 
 218 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 Death of CMi tu. Ortef of Hru tiu. 
 
 Cassius, seeing all this, but not seeing it very 
 distinctly, supposed that the troop of horsemen 
 were enemies, and that they had surrounded 
 Tit.inius, and had out him down or made him 
 prisoner. He considered it certain, therefore, 
 that all was now finally lost. Accordingly, in 
 execution of a plan which he had previously 
 formed, he called a servant, named Pindarus, 
 whom he directed to follow him, and went into 
 a tent which was near. When Brutus and 
 his horsemen came up, they entered the tent. 
 They found no living person within ; but the 
 dead body of Cassius was there, the head being 
 totally dissevered from it. Pindarus was never 
 afterward to be found. 
 
 Brutus was overwhelmed with grief at th 
 death of his colleague ; he was also oppressed 
 by it with a double burden of responsibility and 
 care, since now the whole conduct of affairs de- 
 volved upon him alone. He found himself sur- 
 rounded with difficulties which became more 
 and more embarrassing every day. At length 
 he was compelled to fight a second battle. The 
 details of the contest itself we can not give, but 
 the result of it was, that, notwithstanding the 
 most unparalleled and desperate exertions made 
 by Brutus to keep his men to the work, and to
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OP PHILIPPI. 219 
 
 Defeat of Brutui. Hit retreat 
 
 maintain his ground, his troops were borne down 
 and overwhelmed by the irresistible onsets of 
 his enemies, and his cause was irretrievably and 
 hopelessly ruined. 
 
 When Brutus found that all was lost, he al- 
 lowed himself to be conducted off the field by a 
 small body of guards, who, in their retreat, 
 broke through the ranks of the enemy on a side 
 where they saw that they should meet with the 
 least resistance. They were, however, pursued 
 by a squadron of horse, the horsemen being 
 eager to make Brutus a prisoner. In this emer- 
 gency, one of Brutus's friends, named Lucilius, 
 conceived the design of pretending to be Brutus, 
 and, as such, surrendering himself a prisoner 
 This plan he carried into effect. When the 
 troop came up, he called out for quarter, said 
 that he was Brutus, and begged them to spare 
 his life, and to take him to Antony. The men 
 did so, rejoiced at having, as they imagined, se- 
 cured so invaluable a prize. 
 
 In the mean time, the real Brutus pressed 
 oa to make his escape. He crossed a brook 
 which came in his way, and entered into a little 
 dell, which promised to afford a hiding-place, 
 since it was encumbered with precipitous rock* 
 and shaded with trees. A few friends and <\f&
 
 220 CLEOPATRA [B.C.41 
 
 8ttnHon of Brato* in the glen. The helmet of watet 
 
 oers accompanied Brutus in his flight. Night 
 soon came on, and he lay down in a little recess 
 under a shelving rock, exhausted with fatigue 
 and suffering. Then, raising his eyes to heaven, 
 he imprecated, in lines quoted from a Greek 
 poet, the just judgment of God upon the foes 
 who were at that hour triumphing in what he 
 considered the ruin of his country. 
 
 He then, in his anguish and despair, enumer- 
 ated by name the several friends and compan- 
 ions whom he had seen fall that day in battle, 
 mourning the loss of each with bitter grief. In 
 the mean time, night was coming on, and the 
 party, concealed thus in the wild dell, were des- 
 titute and unsheltered. Hungry and thirsty, 
 and spent with fatigue as they were, there 
 seemed to be no prospect for them of either rest 
 or refreshment. Finally they sent one of their 
 number to steal softly back to the livulet which 
 they had crossed in their retreat, to bring them 
 some water. The soldier took his helmet to 
 bring the water in, for want of any other vessel. 
 While Brutus was drinking the water which 
 they brought, a noise was heard in the opposite 
 direction. Two of the officers were sent to &- 
 certain the cause. They came back soon, re- 
 porting that there was a party of the enemy in
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 221 
 
 Brutus surrounded. Proposal of Statiliui 
 
 that quarter. They asked where the water was 
 which had been brought. Brutus told them 
 that it had all been drank, but that he would 
 send immediately for more. The messenger 
 went accordingly to the brook again, but he 
 came back very soon, wounded and bleeding, 
 and reported that the enemy was close upon 
 them on that side too, and that he had narrowly 
 escaped with his life. The apprehensions of 
 Brutus's party were greatly increased by these 
 tidings : it was evident that all hope of being 
 able to remain long concealed where they were 
 must fast disappear. 
 
 One of the officers, named Statilius, then pro- 
 posed to make the attempt to find his way out 
 of .the snare in which they had become involved. 
 He would go, he said, as cautiously as possible, 
 avoiding all parties of the enemy, and being 
 favored by the darkness of the night, he hoped 
 to find some way of retreat. If he succeeded, 
 he would display a torch on a distant elevation 
 which he designated, so that the party in the 
 glen, on seeing the light, might be assured of 
 his safety. He would then return and guide 
 them all through the danger, by the way which 
 ae should have discovered. 
 
 This plan was approved, and Statilius ao
 
 222 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 Anxiety and fiupetxe. Resolution of Brutal 
 
 eordingly departed. In due time the light was 
 seen burning at the place which had been point 
 ed out, and indicating that Statilius had accom- 
 plished his undertaking. Brutus and his party 
 were greatly cheered by the new hope which 
 this result awakened. They began to watch 
 and listen for their messenger's return. They 
 watched and waited long, but he did not come. 
 On the way back he was intercepted and slain. 
 When at length all hope that he would re- 
 turn was finally abandoned, some of the party, 
 in the course of the despairing consultations 
 which the unhappy fugitives held with one an- 
 other, said that they must not remain any longer 
 where they were, but must make their escape 
 from that spot at all hazards. " Yes," said 
 Brutus, " we must indeed make our escape 
 from our present situation, but we must do it 
 with our hands, and not with our feet" lie 
 meant by this that the only means now left to 
 them to evade their enemies was self-destruc- 
 tion. When his friends understood that this 
 was his meaning, and that he was resolved to 
 put this design into execution in his own case, 
 they were overwhelmed with sorrow. Brutus 
 took them, one by one, by the hand and bade 
 them farewell. He thanked them for their fklel-
 
 B.C. 41.] THE BATTLE OF PHILIPPI. 223 
 
 Brutua'i farewell to hit friends. The latt aty 
 
 ity in adhering to his cause to the last, and said 
 that it was a source of great comfort and satis- 
 faction to him that all his friends had proved so 
 faithful and true. " I do not complain of my 
 hard fate," he added, " so far as I myself am 
 concerned I mourn only for my unhappy coun- 
 try. As to myself, I think that my condition 
 even now is better than that of my enemies; 
 f or, though I die, posterity will do me justice, 
 and I shall enjoy forever the honor which virtue 
 and integrity deserve ; while they, though they 
 live, live only to reap the bitter fruits of injus- 
 tice and of tyranny. 
 
 " After I am gone," he continued, addressing 
 his friends, as before, " think no longer of me, 
 but take care of yourselves. Antony, I am sure, 
 will be satisfied with Cassius's death and mine. 
 He will not be disposed to pursue you vindic- 
 tively any longer. Make peace with him on 
 the best terms that you can." 
 
 Brutus then asked first one and then an- 
 other of his friends to aid him in the last duty, 
 as he seems to have considered it, of destroying 
 his life ; but one after another declared that 
 they could not do any thing to assist him in 
 carrying into effect so dreadful a determination. 
 Finally, he tool with him an old and long-tried
 
 224 CLEjrxTRA. -B.C. 41 
 
 Dth of Brutau. Situation of Antony 
 
 friend named Strato, and went away a little, 
 apart from the rest. Here he solicited onoc 
 more the favor which had been refused him bo- 
 forebegging that Strato would hold out his 
 eword. Strato still refused. Brutus then called 
 one of his slaves. Upon this Strato declared 
 that he would do any thing rather than that 
 Brutus should die by the hand of a slave. He 
 took the sword, and with his right hand held it 
 extended in the air. With the left hand he 
 covered his eyes, that he might not witness the 
 horrible spectacle. Brutus rushed upon the 
 point of the weapon with such fatal force that 
 he fell and immediately expired. 
 
 Thus ended the great and famous battle of 
 Philippi, celebrated in history as marking the 
 termination of the great conflict between the 
 friends and the enemies of Caesar, which agita- 
 ted the world so deeply after the conqueror's 
 death. This battle established the ascendencj 
 of Antony, and made him for a time the most 
 conspicuous man, as Cleopatia was the mort 
 conspicuous woman, in the world.
 
 B.C. 11.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 
 
 Ctoopaw* MpooM* Antony's cauM. Her motives. 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 
 
 HOW far Cleopatra was influenced, in her 
 determination to espouse the cause of An- 
 tony rather than that of Brutus and Cassius, in 
 the civil war described in the last chapter, by 
 gratitude to Caesar, and how far, on the other 
 hand, by personal interest in Antony, the read- 
 er must judge. Cleopatra had seen Antony, it 
 will be recollected, some years before, during 
 his visit to Egypt, when she was a young girl. 
 She was doubtless well acquainted with his 
 character. It was a character peculiarly fitted, 
 in some respects, to captivate the imagination 
 of a woman so ardent, and impulsive, and bold 
 as Cleopatra was fast becoming. 
 
 Antony had, in fact, made himself an object 
 of universal interest throughout the world, by 
 his wild and eccentric manners and recklesj 
 conduct, and by the very extraordinary vicissi- 
 tudes which had marked his career. In moral 
 character he was as utterly abandoned and de- 
 praved as it was possible to be. In early life- 
 1615
 
 226 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 Antony's early life. Hii character 
 
 as has already been stated, he plunged into such 
 a course of dissipation and extravagance that 
 he became utterly and hopelessly ruined ; or, 
 rather, he would have been so, had he not, by 
 the influence of that magic power of fascination 
 which such characters often possess, succeeded 
 in gaining a great -ascendency over a young 
 man of immense fortune, named Curio, who for 
 a time upheld him by becoming surety for his 
 debts. This resource, however, soon failed, and 
 Antony was compelled to abandon Rome, and 
 to live for some years as a fugitive and exile, in 
 dissolute wretchedness and want. During all 
 the subsequent vicissitudes through which he 
 passed in the course of his career, the same 
 habits of lavish expenditure continued, when- 
 ever he had funds at his command. This trait 
 in his character took the form sometimes of a 
 noble generosity. In his campaigns, the plun- 
 der which he acquired he usually divided among 
 his sokliers, reserving nothing for himself. Thia 
 made his men enthusiastically devoted to him, 
 and led them to consider his prodigality as a 
 virtue, even when they did not themselves de- 
 rive any direct advantage from it. A thousand 
 stories were always in circulation in camp of 
 acts on his part illustrating his reckless Jisre-
 
 B.C. 41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 227 
 
 Personal habit* of Antony Hl drou and mnnnr 
 
 gard of the value of money, some ludicrous, and 
 all eccentric and strange. 
 
 In his personal habits, too, he was as differ- 
 ent as possible from other men. He prided him- 
 self on being descended from Hercules, and he 
 affected a style of dress and a general air and 
 manner in accordance with the savage charac 
 ter of this his pretended ancestor. His features 
 were sharp, his nose was arched and prominent, 
 and he wore his hair and beard very long as 
 ong, in fact, as he could make them grow. 
 These peculiarities imparted to his countenance 
 a very wild and ferocious expression. He adopt- 
 ed a style of dress, too, which, judged of with 
 reference to the prevailing fashions of the time, 
 gave to his whole appearance a rough, savage, 
 and reckless air His manner and demeanor 
 corresponded with his dress and appearance. 
 He lived in habits of the most unreserved fa- 
 miliarity with his soldiers. He associated free- 
 ly with them, ate and drank with them in the 
 open air, and joined in their noisy mirth and 
 rude and boisterous hilarity. His commanding 
 poweis of mind, and the desperate recklessness 
 of his courage, enabled him to do all this with- 
 out danger. These qualities inspired in the 
 minds of the soldiers a feeling of profound re-
 
 228 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 Vldoiu Indulgence* of Antony. Public condemnation. 
 
 speot for their commander ; and this good opin- 
 ion he was enabled to retain, notwithstanding 
 such habits of familiarity with his inferiors as 
 would have been fatal to the influence of an or- 
 dinary man. 
 
 In the most prosperous portion of Antony's 
 career for example,' during the period imme- 
 diately preceding the death of Caesar he ad- 
 dicted himself to vicious indulgences of the most 
 open, public, and shameless character. He had 
 around him a sort of court, formed of jesters, 
 tumblers, mountebanks, play-actors, and other 
 similar characters of the lowest and most dis- 
 reputable class. Many of these companions 
 were singing and dancing girls, very beautiful, 
 and very highly accomplished in the arts of 
 their respective professions, but all totally cor- 
 rupt and depraved. Public sentiment, even in 
 that age and nation, strongly condemned this 
 conduct. The people were pagans, it is true, 
 but it is a mistake to suppose that the forma- 
 tion of a moral sentiment in the community 
 against such vices as these is a work which 
 Christianity alone can perform. There is a law 
 of nature, in the form of an instinct universal 
 in the race, imperiously enjoining that the con- 
 nection of the sexes shall consist of thi union
 
 B.C. 41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 22'J 
 Vices of the great Candidates for office 
 
 of one man with one woman, and that woman 
 his wife, and very sternly prohibiting every oth- 
 er. So that there has probably never been a 
 community in the world so corrupt, that a man 
 could practice in it such vices as those of An- 
 tony, without not only violating his own sense 
 of right and wrong, but also bringing upon him- 
 self the general condemnation of those around 
 him. 
 
 Still, the world are prone to be very tolerant 
 in respect to the vices cf the great. Such ex- 
 alted personages as Antony seem to be judged 
 by a different standard from common men. 
 Even in the countries where those who occupy 
 high stations of trust or of power are actually 
 selected, for the purpose of being placed there, 
 by the voices of their fellow-men, all inquiry 
 into the personal character of a candidate 19 
 often suppressed, such inquiry being condemned 
 as wholly irrelevant and improper, and they 
 who succeed in attaining to power enjoy im- 
 munities in their elevation which are denied 
 to common men. 
 
 But, notwithstanding the influence of An. 
 tony's rank and power in shielding him from 
 public censure, he carried his excesses to such 
 an extreme that his conduit was very loudly
 
 230 CLBOPATRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 exceMM HU luxury and extraragBno* 
 
 and very generally condemned. He would 
 spend all the night in carousals, and then, the 
 aext day, would appear in public, staggering in 
 the streets. Sometimes he would enter the tri- 
 bunals for the transaction of business when he 
 was so intoxicated that it would be necessary 
 for friends to come to his assistance to conduct 
 him away. In some of his journeys in the 
 neighborhood of Rome, he would take a troop 
 of companions with him of the worst possible 
 character, and travel with them openly and 
 without shame. There was a certain actress, 
 named Cytheride, whom he made his compan- 
 ion on one such occasion. She was borne upon 
 a litter in his train, and he carried about with 
 him a vast collection of gold and silver plate, 
 and of splendid table furniture, together with 
 an endless supply of luxurious articles of food 
 and of wine, to provide for the entertainments 
 and banquets which he was to celebrate with 
 her on the journey. He would sometimes stop 
 by the road side, pitch his tents, establish his 
 kitchens, set his cooks at work to prepare a 
 feast, spread his tables, and make a sumptuous 
 banquet of the most costly, complete, and cer- 
 emonious character all to make men wonder 
 at the abundance and perfection of the means
 
 B.C. 41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTON?. 231 
 
 Antony's energy. His powers of endurance. 
 
 of luxury which he could carry with him wher- 
 ever he might go. In fact, he always seemed 
 to feel a special pleasure in doing strange ind 
 extraordinary things in order to excite surprise. 
 Once on a journey he had lions harnessed to his 
 carts to draw his baggage, in order to create a 
 sensation. 
 
 Notwithstanding the heedlessness with which 
 Antony abandoned himself to these luxurious 
 pleasures when at Rome, no man could endure 
 exposure and hardship better when in camp or 
 on the field. In fact, he rushed with as much 
 headlong precipitation into difficulty and danger 
 when abroad, as into expense and dissipation 
 when at home. During his contests with Oo- 
 tavius and Lepidus, after Caesar's death, he once 
 had occasion to pass the Alps, which, with his 
 customary recklessness, he attempted to trav- 
 erse without any proper supplies of stores or 
 means of transportation. He was reduced, on 
 the passage, together with the troops under his 
 command, to the most extreme destitution and 
 distress. They had to feed on roots and herbs, 
 and finally on the bark of trees ; and they barely 
 preserved themselves, by these means, from ac- 
 tual starvation. Antony seomed, however, to 
 care nothing for all this, but pressed on through
 
 232 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.4i 
 
 Antony's vicissitude*. He Inveigle* away the troop* of Lpldn 
 
 the difficulty and danger, manifesting the same 
 daring and determined unconcern to the end. 
 In the same campaign he found himself at one 
 time reduced to extreme destitution in respect 
 to men. His troops had been gradually wasted 
 away until his situation had become very des- 
 perate. He conceived, under these circum- 
 stances, the most extraordinary idea of going 
 over alone to the camp of Lepidus and enticing 
 away his rival's troops from under the very eyes 
 or' their commander. This bold design was suc- 
 cessfully executed. Antony advanced aloae, 
 clothed in wretched garments, and with hi** 
 matted hair and beard hanging about his breast 
 and shoulders, up to Lepidus's lines. The men, 
 who knew him well, received him with accla- 
 mations ; and pitying the sad condition to which 
 they saw that he was reduced, began to listen 
 to what he had to say. Lepidus, who could 
 not attack him, since he and Antony were not 
 at that time in open hostility to each other, but 
 were only rival commanders in the same army, 
 rdered the trumpeters to sound, in order to 
 make a noise which should prevent the words 
 of Antony from being heard. This interrupted 
 the negotiation; but the men immediately dis- 
 guised two of their number in female apper J
 
 B.C.41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTON*. 233 
 
 Antony'* marriage. Kulvia's charnctei 
 
 and sent them to Antony to make arrange- 
 ments with him for putting themselves under 
 his command, and offering, at the same time, 
 to murder Lepidus, if he would but speak the 
 word. Antony charged them to do Lepidus no 
 injury. He, however, went over and took pos- 
 session of the camp, and assumed the command 
 of the army. He treated Lepidus himself, per- 
 sonally, with extreme politeness, and retained 
 him as a subordinate under his command. 
 
 Not far from the time of Caesar's death, An- 
 tony was married. The name of the lady was 
 Fulvia. She was a widow at the time of her 
 marriage with Antony, and was a woman of 
 very marked and decided character. She had 
 led a wild and irregular life previous to thii 
 ime, but she conceived a very strong attach- 
 ment to her new husband, and devoted herself 
 to him from the time of her marriage with the 
 most constant fidelity. She soon acquired a 
 very great ascendency over him, a^d was the 
 means of effecting a very considerable reform in 
 his conduct and character. She was an ambi- 
 tious and aspiring woman, and made many very 
 efficient and successful efforts to promote the 
 elevation and aggrandizement of her husband. 
 She appeared, also, to take a great pride and
 
 234 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 Fulrla'l Influence orer Antony. The sudden return. 
 
 pleasure in exercising over him, herself, a great 
 personal control. She succeeded in these at- 
 tempts in a manner that surprised every body. 
 It seemed astonishing to all mankind that such 
 a tiger as he had been could be subdued by any 
 human power. Nor, was it by gentleness and 
 mildness that Fulvia gained such power over 
 her husband. She was of a very stern and 
 masculine character, and she seems to have 
 mastered Antony by surpassing him in the use 
 of h is own weapons. In fact, instead of attempt 
 ing to soothe and mollify him, she reduced him, 
 it seems, to the necessity of resorting to various 
 contrivances to soften and propitiate her. Once, 
 for example, on his return from a campaign in 
 which he had been exposed to great dangers, 
 he disguised himself and came home at night 
 in the garb of a courier bearing dispatches. He 
 caused himself to be ushered, muffled and dis- 
 guised as he was, into Fulvia's apartments, 
 where he handed her some pretended letters, 
 which, he said, were from her husband ; and 
 while Fulvia was opening them in great ex- 
 citement and trepidation, he threw off his dis- 
 guise, and revealed himself to her by clasping 
 her in his arms an i kissing her in the midst of 
 her amazement
 
 B.C. 41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 235 
 
 Change In Antony' i character. ED* gencrculty 
 
 Antony's marriage with Fulvia, besides being 
 the means of reforming his morals in some de- 
 gree, softened and civilized him in reepeot to 
 bis manners. His dress and appearance now 
 assumed a different character. In fact, his po- 
 litical elevation after Caesar's death soon became 
 very exalted, and the various democratic arts 
 by which he had sought to raise himself to it, 
 being now no longer necessary, were, as usual 
 in such case? gradually discarded. He lived 
 in great style and splendor when at Rome, and 
 when absent from home, on his military cam- 
 paigns, he began to exhibit the same pomp and 
 parade in his equipage and in his arrangements 
 as were usual in the camps of other Roman 
 generals. 
 
 After the battle of Philippi, described in the 
 last chapter, Antony who, with all his faults, 
 was sometimes a very generous foe as soon as 
 the tidings of Brutus's death were brought to 
 him, repaired immediately to the spot, and ap- 
 peared to be quite shocked and concerned at 
 the sight of the body. He took off his own mil- 
 itary cloak or mantle which was a very mag- 
 nificent and costly garment, being enriched with 
 many expensive ornaments and spread it over 
 the corpse. He then gave directions to one of
 
 236 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 Funeral ceremonies of Brntu. Antony** movement* 
 
 the officers of his household to make arrange- 
 ments for funeral ceremonies of a very impooing 
 character, as a testimony of his respect for the 
 memory of the deceased. In these ceremonies 
 it was the duty of the officer to have burned 
 the military cloak which Antony had appropri- 
 ated to the purpose of a pall, with the body 
 He did not, however, do so. The cloak being 
 very valuable, he reserved it ; and he withheld, 
 also, a considerable part of the money which 
 had been given him for the expenses of the fu- 
 neral. He supposed that Antony would proba- 
 bly not inquire very closely into the details of 
 the arrangements made for the funeral of his 
 most inveterate enemy. Antony, however, did 
 inquire into them, and when he learned what 
 the officer had done, he ordered him to be killed. 
 The various political changes which occur- 
 red, and the movements which took place among 
 the several armies after the battle of Philippi, 
 can not be here detailed. It is sufficient to say 
 that Antony proceeded to the eastward through 
 Asia Minor, and in the course of the following 
 year came into Cilicia. From this place he 
 sent a messenger to Egypt to Cleopatra, sum- 
 moning her to appear befrre him. There were 
 charges, he said, against her, of haring aided
 
 B.C. 41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 23"J 
 
 Antony's summons to Cleopatra. The messenger Dellina 
 
 Cassius and Brutus in the late war instead of 
 rendering assistance to him. Whether there 
 really were any such charges, or whether they 
 were only fabricated by Antony as pretexts for 
 seeing Cleopatra, the fame of whose beauty was 
 very widely extended, does not certainly appear. 
 However this may be, he sent to summon the 
 queen to come to him. The name of the mes- 
 senger whom Antony dispatched on this errand 
 was Dellius. Fulvia, Antony's wife, was not 
 with him at this time. She had been left be- 
 hind at Rome. 
 
 Dellius proceeded to Egypt and appeared at 
 Cleopatra's court. The queen was at this time 
 about twenty-eight years old, but more beauti- 
 ful, as was said, than ever before. Dellius was 
 very much struck with her beauty, and with a 
 certain fascination in her voice and conversation, 
 of which her ancient biographers often speak as 
 one of the most irresistible of her charms. He 
 told her that she need have no fear of Antony. 
 It was of no consequence, he said, what charg- 
 es there might be against her. She would find 
 *Jiat. in a very few days after she had entered 
 into Antony's presence, she would be in great 
 favor. She might rely, in fact, he said, on gain- 
 ing, very speedily, an unbounded ascendonoj
 
 238 ULKOPATRA [B.C.41 
 
 Cleopatra roiolve* U> go to Antony. Hnr preparation* 
 
 over the general. He advised her, therefore, to 
 proceed to Cilioia without fear, and to present 
 herself before Antony in as much pomp and 
 magnificence as she could command. He would 
 answer, he said, for the result. 
 
 Cleopatra determined to follow this advice. 
 In fact, her ardent 'and impulsive imagination 
 was' fired with the idea of making, a second 
 time, the conquest of the greatest general and 
 highest potentate in the world. She began im- 
 mediately to make provision for the voyage. 
 She employed all the resources of her kingdom 
 in procuring for herself the most magnificent 
 means of display, such as expensive and splen- 
 did dresses, rich services of plate, ornaments of 
 precious stones and of gold, and presents in 
 grnat variety and of the most costly description 
 for Antony. She appointed, also, a numerous 
 retinue of attendants to accompany her, and, in 
 a word, made a 1 the arrangements complete for 
 an expedition ot the most imposing and mag- 
 nificent character. While these preparations 
 were going forward, she received new and fre- 
 quent communications from Antony, urging her 
 to hasten her departure ; but she paid very lit- 
 tle attention to them. It was evident that she 
 felt quite independent, and was intending tt 
 ike br own time.
 
 B.C. 41.] CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY. 239 
 
 Cleopatra enters the Cydnui. Her splendid barge. 
 
 At length, however, all was ready, and Cle- 
 opatra set sail. She crossed the Mediterranean 
 Sea, and entered the mouth of the River Cyd- 
 nus. Antony was at Tarsus, a city upon the 
 Cydnus, a small distance above its mouth. 
 When Cleopatra's fleet had entered the river, 
 she embarked on board a most magnificent 
 barge which she had constructed for the occa- 
 sion, and had brought with her across the sea. 
 This barge was the most magnificent and high- 
 ly-ornamented vessel that had ever been built. 
 It was adorned with carvings and decorations 
 of the finest workmanship, and elaborately gild- 
 ed. The sails were of purple, and the oars 
 were inlaid and tipped with silver. Upon the 
 deck of this barge Queen Cleopatra appeared, 
 under a canopy of cloth of gold. She was dressed 
 very magnificently in the costume in which Ve- 
 nus, the goddess of Beauty, was then generally 
 represented. She was surrounded by a compa- 
 ny of beautiful boys, who attended upon her in 
 the form of Cupids, and fanned her with thmr 
 wings, and by a group of young girls represent' 
 ing the Nymphs and the Graces. There was 
 a band of musicians stationed upon the deck. 
 This musio guided the oarsmen, as they kept 
 timo to it in their rowing ; and, soft as the ml-
 
 240 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 A Mene of enchantment Antony's Invitation refuted 
 
 ody was, the strains were heard far and wide 
 over the water and along the shores, as the 
 beautiful vessel advanced on its way. The 
 performers were provided with flutes, lyres, vi- 
 ols, and all the other instruments customarily 
 used in those times to produce music of a gen- 
 tle and voluptuous Jcind. 
 
 In fact, the whole spectacle seemed like a 
 vision of enchantment. Tidings of the approach 
 of the barge spread rapidly around, and the 
 people of the country came down in crowds to 
 the shores of the river to gaze upon it in admi- 
 ration as it glided slowly along. At the time 
 of its arrival at Tarsus, Antony was engaged 
 in giving a public audience at some tribunal in 
 his palace, but every body ran to see Cleopatra 
 and the barge, and the great triumvir was left 
 consequently alone, or, at least, with only a 
 few official attendants near him. Cleopatra, 
 on arriving at the city, landed, and began to 
 pitch her tents on the shores. Antony sent a 
 messenger to bid her welcome, and to invite her 
 to come and sup with him. She declined the 
 invitation, saying that it was more proper .nat 
 he should come and sup with her. She wou.d 
 accordingly expect him to come, she said, and 
 her tents would be ready at the proper- hour
 
 B.C. 41-1 ANTONT AND CLEOPATRA. 24S 
 
 Clwpatra'i reception of Antony. Antony oatdon* 
 
 Antony complied with her proposal, and came 
 to her entertainment. He was received with a 
 magnificence and splendor which amazed him. 
 Tne tents and pavilions where the entertain- 
 ment was made were illuminated with an im- 
 mense number of lamps. These lamps were 
 arranged in a very ingenious and beautiful 
 manner, so as to produce an illumination of the 
 most surprising brilliancy and beauty. The 
 immense number and variety, too, of the meats 
 and wines, and of the vessels of gold and silver, 
 with which the tables were loaded, and the 
 magnificence and splendor of the dresses worn 
 by Cleopatra and her attendants, combined to 
 render the whole scene one of bewildering en 
 ohantment. 
 
 The next day, Antony invited Cleopatra to 
 oome and return his visit ; but, though he made 
 every possible effort to provide a banquet as 
 sumptuous and as sumptuouslv served as hers, 
 he failed entirely in this attempt, and acknowl- 
 edged himself completely outdone. Antony 
 was, moreover, at these interviews, perfectly 
 fascinated with Cleopatra's charms. Her beau- 
 ty, her wit, her thousand accomplishments, and, 
 above all, the tact, and adroitness, and self-pos- 
 tession which she displayed in assuming at onoe
 
 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 41 
 
 M order of Artlno*. Cleopatra' manner of ilfe at Tar* u 
 
 so boldly, and carrying out so adroitly, the idea 
 of her social superiority over him, that he yield- 
 ed his heart almost immediately to her undis- 
 puted sway. 
 
 The first use which Cleopatra made of her 
 power was to ask Antony, for her sake, to or- 
 der her sister Arsinoe to be slain. Arsinoe 
 had gone, it will be recollected, to Rome, tc 
 grace Caesar's triumph there, and had afteiward 
 retired to Asia, where she was now living an 
 exile. Cleopatra, either from a sentiment of 
 past revenge, or else from some apprehensions 
 of future danger, now desired that her sister 
 should die. Antony readily acceded to her re- 
 quest. He sent an officer in search of the un- 
 happy princess. The officer slew her where he 
 found her, within the precincts of a temple to 
 which she had fled, supposing it a sanctuary 
 which uo degree of hostility, however extreme, 
 would have dared to violate. 
 
 Cleopatra remained at Tarsus for some time, 
 revolving in an incessant round of gayety and 
 pleasure, and living in habits of unrestrained 
 intimacy with Antony. She was accustomed 
 to spend whole days and nights with him in 
 feasting and revelry. The immense magnifi- 
 cence of these entertainments, especially on
 
 B.C. 41.] ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 245 
 
 Cleopatra's munificence. Btory of the pearl* 
 
 Cleopatra's part, were the wonder of the world 
 She seems to have taken special pleasure in ex- 
 citing Antony's surprise by the display of her 
 wealth and the boundless extravagance in which 
 she indulged. At one of her banquets, Antony 
 was expressing his astonishment at the vast 
 number of gold cups, enriched with jewels, that 
 were displayed on all sides. "Oh," said she, 
 " they are nothing ; if you like them, you shall 
 have them all." So saying, she ordered her 
 servants to carry them to Antony's house. The 
 next day she invited Antony again, with a large 
 number of the chief officers of his army and 
 court. The table was spread with a new serv- 
 ice of gold and silver vessels, more extensive 
 and splendid than that of the preceding day ; 
 and at the close of the supper, when the com- 
 pany was about to depart, Cleopatra distribu- 
 ted all these treasures among the guests that 
 lad been present at the entertainment. At an- 
 ther of these feasts, she carried her ostentation 
 and display to the astonishing extreme of tak- 
 ing off from one of her ear-rings a pearl of im 
 mense value and dissolving it in a cup of vine- 
 gar,* which she afterward made into a drink, 
 
 * Pearls, being of the nature of thell in their composition 
 tnd tructure, are soluble in certain acids.
 
 246 CLEOPATRA. B.C. 41 
 
 Po1 tl >n Oi Polvia. Her anxi.-ty and dlitregt 
 
 such as was customarily used in those days-, 
 and then drank it. She was proceeding to do 
 the same with the other pearl, when some of 
 the company arrested the proceeding, and took 
 the remaining pearl away. 
 
 In the mean time, while Antony was thus 
 wasting his time in luxury and pleasure with 
 Cleopatra, his public duties were neglected, and 
 every thing was getting into confusion. Fulvia 
 remained in Italy. Her position and her char- 
 acter gave her a commanding political influence, 
 and she exerted herself in a very energetic man- 
 ner to sustain, in that quarter of the world, the 
 interests of her husband's cause. She was sur- 
 rounded with difficulties and dangers, the de- 
 tails of which can not, however, be here partic- 
 ularly described. She wrote continually to An- 
 tony, urgently entreating him to come to Rome, 
 and displaying in her letters all those marks of 
 agitation and distress which a wife would natu- 
 rally feel under the circumstances in which she 
 was placed. The thought that her husband 
 had been so completely drawn away from her 
 by the guilty arts of such a woman, and led by 
 her to abandon his wife and his family, and 
 iea^e in neglect and confusion concerns of such 
 momentous nragnitude as thos*i wl^h demand
 
 B.C. 41. J ANTONY AND CIEOPATRA. 247 
 
 tatnny propose* to go to Rome. His plan* frustrated by Cleopatra 
 
 ed his attention at home, produced an excite- 
 ment in her mind bordering upon phrensy An- 
 tony was at length so far influenced by the ur- 
 gency of the case that he determined to return. 
 He broke up his quarters at Tarsus and moved 
 south toward Tyre, which was a great naval 
 port and station in those days. Cleopatra went 
 with him. They were to separate at Tyre 
 She was to embark there for Egypt, and he for 
 Rome. 
 
 At least that was Antony's plan, but it was 
 not Cleopatra's. , She had determined that An- 
 tony should go with her to Alexandria. As 
 might have been expected, when the time came 
 for the decision, the woman gained the day 
 Her flatteries, her arts, her caresses, her tears, 
 prevailed. After a brief struggle between the 
 sentiment of love on the one hand and those of 
 ambition and of duty combined on the other, 
 Antony gave up the contest. Abandoning 
 every thing else, he surrendered himself wholly 
 to Cleopatra's control, and went with her to 
 Alexandria. He spent the winter there, giving 
 himself up with her to every species of sensual 
 indulgence that the most remorseless license 
 oould tolerate, and the most unbounded wealth 
 procure.
 
 248 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.4L 
 
 Infatuation. Feasting and iTlry 
 
 There seemed, in fact, to be no bounds to the 
 extravagance and infatuation which Antony dis- 
 played during the winter in Alexandria. Cleo- 
 patra devoted herself to him incessantly, day and 
 night, filling up every moment of time with some 
 new form of pleasure, in order that he might 
 have no time to think of his absent wife, or to 
 listen to the reproaches of his conscience. An- 
 tony, on his part, surrendered himself a willing 
 victim to these wiles, and entered with all his 
 heart into the thousand plans of gayety and 
 merry-making which Cleopatra devised. They 
 had each a separate establishment in the city, 
 which was maintained at an enormous cost, and 
 they made a regular arrangement by which each 
 was the guest of the other on alternate days. 
 These visits were spent in games, sports, spec- 
 tacles, feasting, drinking, and in every species 
 of riot, irregularity, and excess. 
 
 A curious instance is afforded of the acci- 
 dental manner in which intelligence in respect 
 to the scenes and incidents of private life in 
 those ancient days is sometimes obtained, in a 
 circumstance which occurred at this time at 
 Antony's court. It seems that there was a 
 young medical student at Alexandria that win- 
 ter, named Philotas, who happened, in some
 
 B.C. 41.] ANTONY AND CLEOPATRA. 249 
 
 PhllotM. The itory of the eight boart 
 
 way or other, to have formed an acquaintance 
 with one of Antony's domestics, a cook. Under 
 the guidance of this cook, Philotas went one day 
 into the palace to see what was to be seen. The 
 eook took his friend into the kitchens, where, 
 to Philotas's great surprise, he saw, among an 
 infinite number and variety of other prepara- 
 tions, eight wild boars roasting before the fires, 
 tome being more and some less advanced in the 
 process. Philotas asked what great company 
 was to dine there that day. The cook smiled 
 at this question, and replied that there was to 
 be no company at all, other than Antony's ordi- 
 nary party. " But," said the cook, in explana- 
 tion, "we are obliged always to prepare several 
 suppers, and to have them ready in succession 
 at different hours, for no one can tell at what 
 time they will order the entertainment to be 
 served. Sometimes, when the supper has been 
 actually carried in, Antony and Cleopatra will 
 get engaged in some new turn of their diver- 
 sions, and conclude not to sit down just then to 
 the table, and so ,ve have to take the supper 
 away, and presently bring in another." 
 
 Antony had a stn with him at Alexandria at 
 this time, the child of his wife Fulvia. The 
 D*me of the son, as well as that of the father,
 
 250 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 Antony 1 ! MB. The gwrulou* guert 
 
 was Antony. He was old enough to feel some 
 sense of shame at his father's dereliction from 
 duty, and to manifest some respectful regard 
 for the rights and the honor of his mother. In- 
 stead of this, however, he imitated his father's 
 example, and, in his own way, was as reckless 
 and as extravagant as he. The same Philotas 
 who is above referred to was, after a time, ap- 
 pointed to some office or other in the young 
 Ante -*y's household, so that he was accustomed 
 to sit at his table and share in his convivial en- 
 joyments. He relates that once, while they 
 were feasting together, there was a guest pres- 
 ent, a physician, who was a very vain and con- 
 ceited man, and so talkative that no one else 
 had any opportunity to speak. All the pleas- 
 ure of conversation was spoiled by his excessive 
 garrulity. Philotas, however, at length puz- 
 zled him so completely with a question of logic 
 -of a kind similar to those often discussed with 
 groat interest in ancient days as to silence nim 
 for a time ; and young Antony was so much 
 delighted with this feat, that he gave Philotas 
 all the gold and silver plate that there was upon 
 the table, and sent all the articles home to him, 
 after the entertainment was over, telling him to 
 put his mark and stamp upon them, and look 
 up.
 
 B.C.41.] CLEOPATRA AMD ANTONY. 251 
 
 The puzxln. Th gold and *flver plate returned 
 
 The question with which Philotas puzzled 
 the self-conceited physician was this. It must 
 be premised, however, that in those days it was 
 considered that cold water in an intermittent 
 fever was extremely dangerous, except in some 
 peculiar cases, and in those the effect was good. 
 Philotas then argued as follows : "In cases of 
 a certain kind it is best to give water to a pa 
 tient in an ague. All cases of ague are cases 
 of a certain kind. Therefore it is best in all 
 cases to give the patient water." Philotas hav- 
 ing propounded his argument in this way, chal- 
 lenged the physician to point out the fallacy of 
 it; and while the physician sat perplexed and 
 puzzled in his attempts to unravel the intricacy 
 of it, the company enjoyed a temporary respite 
 from his excessive loquacity. 
 
 Philotas adds, in his account of this affaii, 
 that he sent the gold and silver plate back to 
 young Antony again, being afraid to keep them 
 Antony said that perhaps it was as well that 
 this should be done, since many of the vessels 
 were of great value on account of their rare and 
 antique workmanship, and his father might pos- 
 iibly miss them and wish to know what had 
 become of them. 
 
 Aa there were no limits, on the one hand, tc
 
 252 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.41 
 
 Debating pleuurrw. Antony and Clecpatra In dUgal** 
 
 the loftiness and grandeur of the pleasures to 
 which Antony and Cleopatra addicted them- 
 selves, so there were none to the low and de- 
 basing tendencies which characterized them on 
 the other. Sometimes, at midnight, after hav- 
 ing been spending- many hours in mirth and 
 revelry in the palace, Antony would disguise 
 himself in the dress of a slave, and sally forth 
 into the streets, excited with wine, in search of 
 adventures. In many cases, Cleopatra herself, 
 similarly disguised, would go out with him. On 
 these excursions Antony would take pleasure in 
 involving himself in all sorts of difficulties and 
 dangers in street riots, drunken brawls, and 
 desperate quarrels with the populace all for 
 Cleopatra's amusement and his own. Stories 
 of these adventures would circulate afterward 
 among the people, some of whom would admire 
 the free and jovial character of their eccentric 
 visitor, and others would despise him as a prince 
 degrading himself to the level of a brute. 
 
 Some of the amusements and pleasures which 
 Antony and Cleopatra pursued were innocent 
 in themselves, though wholly unworthy to be 
 made the serious business of life by personages 
 en whom such exalted duties rightfully devolv- 
 ed. They made various excursions uocn th"
 
 B.C.4L] CLEOPATRA AND ANTOJIY. 253 
 
 Fljhing excursion*. Stratagem*. 
 
 Nile, and arranged parties of pleasure to go out 
 on the water in the harbor, and to various rural 
 retreats in the environs of the city. Once they 
 went out on a fishing-party, in boats, in the 
 port. Antony was unsuccessful; and feeling 
 chagrined that Cleopatra should witness his ill 
 luok, he made a secret arrangement with some 
 of the fishermen to dive down, where they could 
 do so unobserved, and fasten fishes to his hook 
 under the water. By this plan he caught very 
 large and fine fish very fast. Cleopatra, how- 
 ever, was too wary to be easily deceived by such 
 a stratagem as this. She observed the maneu- 
 ver, but pretended not to observe it ; she ex- 
 pressed, on the other hand, the greatest sur- 
 prise and delight at Antony's good luck, and 
 the extraordinary skill which it indicated. 
 
 The next day she wished to go a fishing 
 again, and a party was accordingly made as on 
 the day before. She had, however, secretly in- 
 structed another fisherman to procure a dried 
 and salted fish from the market, and, watching 
 his opportunity, to get down into the water un- 
 der the boats and attach it to the hook, before 
 Antony's divers could get there. This plan 
 succeeded, and Antony, in the midst of a large 
 nd gay party that were looking on, pulled out
 
 254 CLEOPATRA. /B.C. 41 
 
 Pnlrl' plant for compelling Antony to return. 
 
 an excellent fish, cured and dried, such as wat 
 Known to every one as an imported article, 
 bought in the market. It was a fish of a kind 
 that was brought originally from Asia Minor. 
 The boats, and the water all around them, re- 
 sounded with the shouts of merriment and 
 laughter which this incident occasioned. 
 
 In the mean time, while Antony was thus 
 spending his time in low and ignoble pursuits 
 and in guilty pleasures at Alexandria, his wife 
 Fulvia, after exhausting all other means of in 
 ducing her husband to return to her, became 
 desperate, and took measures for fomenting an 
 open war, which she thought would compel him 
 to return. The extraordinary energy, influ- 
 ence, and talent which Fulvia possessed, ena- 
 bled her to do this in an effectual manner 
 She organized an army, formed a camp, placed 
 herself at the head of the troops, and sent such 
 tidings to Antony of the dangers which threat- 
 ened his cause as greatly alarmed him. At the 
 same time news came of great disasters hi Asia 
 Minor, and of alarming insurrections among 
 the provinces which had been committed to hi 
 charge there. Antony saw that he must arouse 
 himself from the spell which had enchanted
 
 B.C. 41. J CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY 255 
 
 Departure of Antony. Chagrin of Cleopatra, 
 
 him and break away from Cleopatra, or that he 
 would be wholly and irretrievably ruined. Ho 
 made, accordingly, a desperate effort to get free. 
 He bade the queen farewell, embarked hastily 
 in a Meet of galleys, and sailed away to Tyre, 
 leaving Cleopatra in her palace, vexed, disap- 
 pointed, and chagrined.
 
 256 CLJZOPATRA [B.C 31 
 
 Perplexity of Atony . HU nxirttef with rmJn 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 THE BATTLE OP ACTIUM. 
 
 /CLEOPATRA', in parting with Antony as 
 V^ described in the last chapter, lost him foi 
 two or three years. During this time Antony 
 himself was involved in a great variety of diffi- 
 culties and dangers, and passed through many 
 eventful scenes, which, however, can not here 
 be described in detail. His life, during thi* 
 period, was full of vicissitude and excitement, 
 and was spent probably in alternations of re- 
 morse for the past and anxiety for the future. 
 On landing at Tyre, he was at first extremely 
 perplexed whether to go to Asia Minor or to 
 Rome. His presence was imperiously demand- 
 ed in both places. The war which Fulvia had 
 fomented was caused, in part, by the rivalry 
 of Octavius, and the collision of his interests 
 with those of her husband. Antony was very 
 angry with her for having managed his affairs 
 in such a way as to bring about a war. After 
 a time Antony and Fulvia met at Athens. Ful- 
 Yia had retreated to that city, and was very
 
 B.C. 31.] THE BATTLB OF ACTIUM. 257 
 
 Meeting of Antony and Kn! via. Reconciliation of Antony and Ocurln* 
 
 ieriously sick there, either from bodily disease, 
 or from the influence of long-continued anxiety, 
 vexation, and distress. They had a stormy 
 meeting. Neither party was disposed to exer- 
 cise any mercy toward the other. Antony left 
 his wife rudely and roughly, after loading her 
 with reproaches. A short time afterward, she 
 sank down in sorrow to the grave. 
 
 The death of Fulvia was an event which 
 proved to be of advantage to Antony. It opened 
 the way to a reconciliation between him and 
 Octavius. Fulvia had been extremely active 
 in opposing Octavius's designs, and in organi- 
 zing plans for resisting him. He felt, therefore, 
 a special hostility against her, and, through her, 
 against Antony. Now, however, that she was 
 dead, the way seemed to be in some sense open- 
 ed for a reconciliation. 
 
 Ootavius had a sister, Octavia, who had been 
 the wife of a Roman general named Marcellus. 
 She was a very beautiful and a very accom- 
 plished woman, and of a spirit very different 
 from that of Fulvia. She was gentle, affec- 
 tionate, and kind, a lover of peace and harmony, 
 and not at all disposed, like Fulvia, to assert 
 and maintain her influence over others by an 
 
 verbearinp and violent demeanor. Octavia't 
 
 16 11
 
 258 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.31. 
 
 OctavU Her marriage to Anton/ 
 
 husband died about this time, and, in the course 
 of the movements and negotiations between An. 
 tony and Octavius, the plan was proposed of a 
 marriage between Antony and Ootavia, which, 
 it was thought, would ratify and confirm the 
 reconciliation. This proposal was finally agreed 
 upon. Antony was glad to find so easy a mode 
 of settling his difficulties. The people of Rome, 
 too, and the authorities there, knowing that the 
 peace of the world depended upon the terms on 
 which these two men stood with regard to each 
 other, were extremely desirous that this ar- 
 rangement should be carried into effect. There 
 was a law of the commonwealth forbidding the 
 marriage of a widow within a specified period 
 after the death of her husband. That period 
 had not, in Octavia's case, yet expired. There 
 was, however, so strong a desire that no ob- 
 stacle should be allowed to prevent this proposed 
 union, or even to occasion delay, that the law 
 was altered expressly for this case, and Antony 
 and Ootavia were married. The empire waa 
 divided between Octavius and Antony, Octa- 
 vius receiving the western portion as his share, 
 while the eastern was assigned to Antony. 
 
 It is not probable that Antony folt any very 
 strong affection for his new wife, beautiful and
 
 B.C. 31.] THE BATTLE OP ACTIUM: 
 
 Octuvla's Influence orer her huiband and her brother 
 
 gentle as she was. A man, in fact, who had 
 led such a life as his had been, must have be 
 come by this time incapable of any strong and 
 pure attachment. He, however, was pleased 
 with the novelty of his acquisition, and seemed 
 to forget for a time the loss, of Cleopatra. He 
 remained with Octavia a year. After that he 
 went away on certain military enterprises which 
 kept him some time from her. He returned 
 again, and again he went away. All this time 
 Octavia's influence over him and over her 
 brother was of the most salutary anu excel- 
 lent character. She soot'-ed their animosities, 
 quieted their suspicions and jealousies, and at 
 one time, when they were on the brink of open 
 war, she effected a reconciliation between them 
 by the most courageous and energetic, and at 
 the same time, gentle and unassuming efforts. 
 At the time of this danger she was with her 
 husband in Greece ; but she persuaded him to 
 send her to her brother at Rome, saying that 
 she was confident that she could arrange a set- 
 tlement of the difficulties impending. Antony 
 allowed her to go She proceeded to Rome, and 
 procured an interview with hr t brother in th 
 presence of his two principal officer* of state. 
 Here she pleaded her husband's cause with
 
 260 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 31 
 
 Octarf a plead* for Anttny Difflo*ltie ettlw) 
 
 tears in her eyes ; she defended his conduct, ex- 
 plained what seemed to be against him, and en- 
 treated her brother not to take such a course 
 as should cast her down from being the hap- 
 piest of women to being the most miserable. 
 "Consider the circusmtances of my case," said 
 she. " The eyes of the world are upon me. Of 
 the two most powerful men in the world, I am 
 the wife of one and the sister of another. If 
 you allow rash counsels to go on and war to 
 ensue, I am hopelessly ruined ; for, whichever is 
 conquered, my husband or my brother, mv own 
 happiness will be for ever gone." 
 
 Octavius sincerely loved his sister, and he 
 was so far softened by her entreaties that he 
 consented to appoint an interview with Antony 
 in order to see if their difficulties could be set- 
 tled. This interview was accordingly held. 
 The two generals came to a river, where, at the 
 opposite banks, each embarked in a boat, and, 
 being rowed out toward each other, they met in 
 the middle of the stream. A conference ensued, 
 at which all the questions at issue were, for a 
 time at least, very happily arranged. 
 
 Antony, however, after a time, began to be- 
 oome tired of his wife, and to sigh for Cleopatra 
 ouoe more. He left Octavia at Rome and pro-
 
 B.C.31.] THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 261 
 
 Antony tired of hit wife. He goes to Egypt 
 
 oeeded to the eastward, under pretense of at 
 tending to the affairs of that portion of the em- 
 pire ; but, instead of doing this, he went to Al- 
 exandria, and there renewed again his former 
 intimacy with the Egyptian queen. 
 
 Ootavius was very indignant at this. His 
 former hostility to Antony, which had been in 
 a measure appeased by the kind influence of 
 Octavia, now broke forth anew, and was height- 
 ened by the feeling of resentment naturally 
 awakened by his sister's wrongs. Public sen- 
 timent in Rome, too, was setting very strong- 
 ly against Antony. Lampoons were written 
 against him to ridicule him and Cleopatra, and 
 the most decided censures were passed upon his 
 conduct. Octavia was universally beloved, and 
 the sympathy whioh was every where felt for 
 her increased and heightened very much the 
 popular indignation which was felt against th* 
 man who could wrong so deeply such sweetness, 
 and gentleness, and affectionate fidelity as hers. 
 
 After remaining for some time in Alexandria, 
 and renewing his connection and intimacy with 
 Cleopatra, Antony went away again, crossing 
 the sea into Asia, with the intention of pros- 
 ecuting certain military undertakings there 
 which impei iously demanded his attention
 
 262 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 31 
 
 Aatony if*!* with Ctoopctrm. Effect on hi* character 
 
 His plan was to return as soon as possible t* 
 Egypt after the object of his expedition should 
 oe accomplished. He found, however, that he 
 could not bear even a temporary absence from 
 Cleopatra. His mind dwelled so much upon 
 her, and upon the -pleasures which he had en- 
 joyed with her in Egypt, and he longed so 
 much to see her again, that he was wholly un- 
 fit for the discharge of his duties in the camp. 
 He became timid, inefficient, and remiss, and 
 almost every thing that he undertook ended 
 disastrously. The army, who understood per- 
 fectly well the reason of their commander's re* 
 missness and consequent ill fortune, were ex- 
 tremely indignant at his conduct, and the camp 
 was filled with suppressed murmurs and com- 
 plaints. Antony, however, like other persona 
 in his situation, was blind to all these indica- 
 tions of dissatisfaction ; probably he would have 
 disregarded them if he had observed them. At 
 length, finding that he could bear his absence 
 from his mistress no longer, he set out to march 
 across the country, in the depth of the winter, 
 to the sea-shore, to a point where he had sent 
 for Cleopatra to come to join him. The army 
 endured incredible hardships and exposures in 
 this march. When Antony had once com
 
 B.C.31.J THE BATTLE OP ACTIUM. 263 
 
 The march to Sldon. Buffering of the troop*. 
 
 menoed the journey, he was so impatient to get 
 forward that he compelled his troops to advance 
 vrith a rapidity greater than their strength 
 would bear. They were, besides, not provided 
 with proper tents or with proper supplies of pro- 
 vision. They were often obliged, therefore, aft- 
 er a long and fatiguing march during the day, 
 to bivouac at night in the open air among the 
 mountains, with scanty means of appeasing 
 their hunger, and very little shelter from the 
 cold rain, or from the storms of driving snow 
 Eight thousand men died on this march, from 
 cold, fatigue, and exposure ; a greater sacrifice, 
 perhaps, than had ever been made before to the 
 mere ardor and impatience of a lover. 
 
 When Antony reached the shore, he advanced 
 to a certain sea-port, near Sidon, where Cleopa- 
 tra was to land. At the time of his arrival but 
 a small part of his army was left, and the few 
 men that survived were in a miserably desti- 
 tute condition. Antony's eagerness to see Cle- 
 opatra became more and more excited as the 
 time drew nigh. She did not come so soon as 
 he had expected, and during the delay he seem- 
 ed to pine away under the influence of love and 
 sorrow. He was silent, absent-minded, and 
 ad He had 10 thoughts for any thing but th
 
 264 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 81 
 
 ArrlTnl of Cleopatra. She brings supplle* for the army 
 
 coming of Cleopatra, and felt no interest in any 
 other plans. He watched for her incessantly, 
 and would sometimes leave his place at the ta- 
 ble, in the midst of the supper, and go down 
 alone to the shore, where he would stand gaz- 
 ing out upon the sea, and saying mournfully to 
 himself, " Why does not she come ?" The ani- 
 mosity and the ridicule which these things 
 awakened against him, on the part of the army, 
 were extreme ; but he was so utterly infatuated 
 that he disregarded all the manifestations of 
 public sentiment around him, and continued to 
 allow his mind to be wholly engrossed with the 
 single idea of Cleopatra's coming. 
 
 She arrived at last. She brought a great 
 supply of clothes and other necessaries for the 
 use of Antony's army, so that her coming not 
 Dnly gratified his love, but afforded him, also, a 
 very essential relief, in respect to the military 
 difficulties in which he was involved. 
 
 After some time spent in the enjoyment of 
 the pleasure which being thus reunited to Cle- 
 opatra afforded him, Antony began again to 
 think of the affairs of his government, which 
 every month more and more imperiously de- 
 manded his attention. He began to receive ur- 
 gent calls from various quarters, urging him tc
 
 B.C. 31.1 TUB BATTLE OF ACIIUM. 265 
 
 Octavia intercedes for Antony. She bring! him re-enforcement* 
 
 action. In the mean time, Octavia who had 
 been all this while waiting in distress and anx- 
 iety at Rome, hearing continually the mosl 
 gloomy accounts of her husband's affairs, and 
 the most humiliating tidings in respect to his 
 infatuated devotion to Cleopatra resolved to 
 make one more effort to save him. She inter- 
 ceded with her brother to allow her to raise 
 troops and to collect supplies, and then proceed 
 to the eastward to re-enforce him. Octavius 
 consented to this. He, in fact, assisted Octavia 
 in making her preparations. It is said, how- 
 ever, that he was influenced in this plan by his 
 confident belief that this noble attempt of his 
 sister to reclaim her husband would fail, and 
 that, by the failure of it, Antony would be put 
 in the wrong, in the estimation of the Roman 
 people, more absolutely and hopelessly than 
 ever, and that the way would thus be prepared 
 for his complete and final destruction. 
 
 Octavia was rejoiced to obtain her brother's 
 aid to her undertaking, whatever the motive 
 might be which induced him to afford it. She 
 accordingly levied a considerable body of troops, 
 raised a large sum of money, provided clothes, 
 and tents, and military stores for the army ; and 
 when all was ready, she loft Italy and put to
 
 266 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 31 
 
 CWptr' tlarm. Her art 
 
 sea, having previously dispatched a messenger 
 to her husband to inform him that she wai 
 coming. 
 
 Cleopatra began now to be afraid that she 
 was to lose Antony again, and she at onoe be- 
 gan to resort to the usual artifices employed in 
 such oases, in order to retain her power over 
 him. She said nothing, out assumed the ap- 
 pearance of one pining under the influence of 
 some secret suffering or sorrow. She contrived 
 to be often surprised in tears. In such cases 
 she would hastily brush her tears away, and as- 
 sume a countenance of smiles and good humor, 
 as if making every effort to be happy, though 
 really oppressed with a heavy burden of anxiety 
 and grief. When Antony was near her sho 
 would seem overjoyed at his presence, and gaze 
 upon him with an expression of the most de- 
 voted fondness. When absent from him, she 
 spent her time alone, always silent and deject- 
 ed, and often in tears ; and she took care that 
 the secret sorrows and sufferings that she en- 
 dured should be duly made known to Antony, 
 and that he should understand that they were 
 all occasioned by her love for him, and by the 
 danger which she apprehended that he WM 
 bout to leave her.
 
 B.C.31.] THE BATTLB OP ACTIUM. 267 
 
 Cleopatra't leoret agent*. Their representation* to Antony 
 
 The friends and secret agents of Cleopatra, 
 who reported these things to Antony, made, 
 moreover, direct representations to him, for the 
 purpose of inclining his mind in her favor. They 
 had, in fact, the astonishing audacity to argue 
 that Cleopatra's claims upon Antony for a con- 
 tinuance of his love were paramount to those 
 of Octavia. She, that is, Ootavia, had been his 
 wife, they said, only for a very short time. Cle- 
 opatra had been most devotedly attached to him 
 for many years. Octavia was married to him, 
 they alleged, not under the impulse of love, but 
 from political considerations alone, to please 
 her brother, and to ratify and confirm a politi- 
 cal league made with him. Cleopatra, on the 
 other hand, had given herself up to him in the 
 most absolute and unconditional manner, under 
 the influence solely of a personal affection which 
 ahe could not control. She had surrendered 
 and sacrificed every thing to him. For him she 
 had lost her good name, alienated the affection* 
 of her subjects, made herself the object of re- 
 proach and censure to all mankind, and now 
 she had left her native land to come and join 
 him in his adverse fortunes. Considering how 
 much she had done, and suffered, and sacrificed 
 for his sake, it would be extreme and unjusti
 
 268 CLEOFATRA. [B.C. 31. 
 
 Cleopatra's raooew. Antony'* message to Octarla. 
 
 fiable cruelty in him to forsake her now. She 
 never would survive such an abandonment. 
 Her whole soul was so wrapped up in him, that 
 she would pine away and die if he were now to 
 forsake her. 
 
 Antony was distressed and agitated beyond 
 measure by the entanglements in which he 
 found that he was involved. His duty, his in- 
 clination perhaps, certainly his ambition, and 
 every dictate of prudence and policy, required 
 that he should break away from these snares at 
 once and go to meet Octavia. But the spell 
 that bound him was too mighty to be dissolved. 
 He yielded to Cleopatra's sorrows and tears 
 He dispatched a messenger to Octavia, who had 
 by this time reached Athens, in Greece, direct- 
 ing her not to come any farther. Octavia, who 
 seemed incapable of resentment or anger against 
 her husband, sent back to ask what she should 
 do with the troops, and money, and the military 
 stores which she was bringing. Antony direct- 
 ed her to leave them in Greece. Octavia did 
 so, and mournfully returned to her home. 
 
 As soon as she arrived at Rome, Octavius, 
 her brother, whose indignation was now thor- 
 oughly aroused at the baseness of Antony, sent 
 to hi sister to say that she must taave Antony's
 
 B.C.31.] THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 269 
 
 Derotton of Octarla. Indignation against Antony 
 
 house and come to him. A proper self-respect, 
 he said, forbade her remaining any longer under 
 the roof of such a man. Ootavia replied that 
 ghe would not leave her husband's house. That 
 house was her post of duty, whatever her hus- 
 band might d>, and there she would remain. 
 She accordingly retired within the precincts of 
 her old home, and devoted herself in patient and 
 uncomplaining sorrow to the care of the family 
 and the children. Among these children was 
 one young son of Antony's, born during his 
 marriage with her predecessor Fulvia. In the 
 mean time, while Octavia was thus faithfully 
 though mournfully fulfilling her duties as wife 
 and mother, in her husband's house at Rome, 
 Antony himself had gone with Cleopatra to 
 Alexandria, and was abandoning himself once 
 more to a life of guilty pleasure there. The 
 greatness of mind which this beautiful and de- 
 voted wife thus displayed, attracted the admi- 
 ration of all mankind. It produced, however, 
 ne othei effect, which Ootavia must have great- 
 / deprecated. It aroused a strong and univer- 
 sal feeling of indignation against the unworthy 
 object toward whom this extraordinary magna- 
 nimity was displayed. 
 
 In the mean time, Antony gave himself up
 
 270 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 31 
 
 MeMoro* of Antony. Accusation* gvinat him, 
 
 wholly to Cleopatra's influence and control, and 
 managed all the affairs of the Roman empire 
 in the East in the way best fitted to promote 
 her aggrandizement and honor. He made Alex 
 andria his capital, celebrated triumphs there, 
 arranged ostentatious expeditions into Asia and 
 Syria with Cleopatra and her train, gave her 
 whole provinces as presents, and exalted her 
 two sons, Alexander and Ptolemy, children born 
 during the period of his first acquaintance with 
 her, to positions of the highest rank and station, 
 as his own acknowledged sons. The conse- 
 qnences of these and similar measures at Rome 
 were fatal to Antony's character and standing. 
 Ootavius reported every thing to the Roman 
 senate and people, and made Antony's misgov- 
 ernment and his various misdemeanors the 
 ground of the heaviest accusations against him. 
 Antony, hearing of these things, sent his agents 
 to Rome and made accusations against Octa- 
 vius ; but these counter accusations were of no 
 avail. Public sentiment was very strong and 
 decided against him at the capital, and Octa- 
 vius began to preoare for war. 
 
 Antony percehed that he must prepare to 
 defend himself. Cleopatra entered into tho 
 plan? which he formed for this purpose with
 
 B.C. 31.] THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 271 
 
 Antony's preparations. AMUtance of Cleopatra. 
 
 great ardor. Antony began to levy troops, and 
 collect and equip galleys and ships of war, and 
 to make requisitions of money and military 
 gtores from all the eastern provinces and king- 
 doms. Cleopatra put all the resources of Egypt 
 at his disposal. She furnished him with im 
 ntiense sums of money, and with an inexhaust- 
 ible supply of corn, which she procured for this 
 purpose from her dominions in the valley o f the 
 Nile. The various divisions of the immense ar- 
 mament which was thus provided for were or- 
 dered to rendezvous at Ephesus, where Antony 
 and Cleopatra were awaiting to receive them, 
 having proceeded there when their arrange- 
 ments in Egypt were completed, and they were 
 ready to commence the campaign. 
 
 When all was ready for the expedition to set 
 sail from Ephesus, it was Antony's judgment 
 that it would be best for Cleopatra to return to 
 Egypt, and leave him to go forth with the fleet 
 to meet Octavius alone. Cleopatra was, how- 
 ever, determined not to go away. She did not 
 dare to leave Antony at all to himself, for feai 
 that in some way or other a peace would be 
 effected between himself and Octavius, whiob 
 would result in his returning to Octavia and 
 abandoning her. She accordingly contrived i
 
 272 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 31 
 
 Cmidiw bribed. HI* advice In regard to Cleopatra 
 
 persuade Antony to retain her with him, by 
 bribing his chief counselor to advise him to do 
 so. His counselor's name was Canidius. Ca- 
 nidius, having received Cleopatra's money., 
 while yet he pretended to be wholly disinter- 
 ested in his advice, represented to Antony that 
 it would not be reasonable to send Cleopatra 
 away, and deprive her of all participation in the 
 glory of the war, when she was defraying so 
 large a part of the expense of it. Besides, a 
 large portion of the army consisted of Egyptian 
 troops, who would feel discouraged and disheart- 
 ened if Cleopatra were to leave them, and would 
 probably act far less efficiently in the conflict 
 than they would do if animated by the presence 
 of their queen. Then, moreover, such a woman 
 as Cleopatra was not to be considered, as many 
 women would be, an embarrassment and a 
 source of care to a military expedition which 
 she might join, but a very efficient counselor 
 and aid to it. She was, he said, a very saga- 
 oions, energetic, and powerful queen, accus- 
 tomed to the command of armies and to the 
 management of affairs of state, and her aid in 
 the conduct of the expedition might be expected 
 to conduce very materially to its success. 
 Antony was easily won by such persuasion*
 
 B.C.3L] THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 273 
 
 The fleet at Sarao*. Antony's Infatuation. 
 
 as these, and it was at length decided that Cle- 
 opatra should accompany him. 
 
 Antony then ordered the fleet to move for- 
 ward to the island of Samos.* Here it was 
 brought to anchor and remained for some time, 
 waiting for the coming in of new re-enforce- 
 ments, and for the completion of the other ar- 
 rangements. Antony, as if becoming more and 
 more infatuated as he approached the brink of 
 his ruin, spent his time while the expedition 
 remained at Samos, not in maturing his plans 
 and perfecting his arrangements for the tremen- 
 dous conflict which was approaching, but in fes- 
 tivities, games, revelings, and every species of 
 riot and dissolute excess. This, however, is not 
 surprising. Men almost always, when in a sit- 
 uation analogous to his, fly to similar means of 
 protecting themselves, in some small degree, 
 from the pangs of remorse, and from the fore- 
 bodings which stand ready to terrify and tor- 
 ment them at every instant in which these 
 gloomy specters are not driven away by intoxi- 
 cation and revelry. At least Antony found it 
 so. Accordingly, an immense company of play- 
 ers, tumblers, fools, jesters, and mountebank* 
 were ordered to assemble at Samos, and to de- 
 
 * See map for the s ; tuatiou of Ephesus and of Bamo* 
 1618
 
 274 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 31 
 
 Riot and revelry. Antony and Cleopatra at Athent 
 
 vote themselves with all zeal to the amusement 
 of Antony's court. The island was one uni- 
 versal scene of riot and revelry. People were 
 astomsned at such celebrations and displays, 
 wholly unsuitable, as they considered them, to 
 the occasion. If such are the rejoicings, said 
 they, which Antony celebrates before going into 
 the battle, what festivities will he contrive on 
 his return, joyous enough to express his pleas- 
 ure if he shall gain the victory ? 
 
 After a time, Antony and Cleopatra, with a 
 magnificent train of attendants, left Samos, 
 and, passing across the ^Egean Sea, landed in 
 Greece, and advanced to Athens; while the 
 fleet, proceeding westward from Samos, passed 
 around Tsenarus, the southern promontory of 
 Greece, and then moved northward along the 
 western coast of the peninsula. Cleopatra wish- 
 ed to go to Athens for a special reason. It was 
 there that Octavia had stopped on her journey 
 toward her husband with re-enforcements and 
 aid; and while she was there, the people of 
 Athens, pitying her sad condition, and admir- 
 ing the noble spirit of mind which she displayed 
 in her misfortunes, had paid her great attention, 
 and during her stay among them had bestowed 
 upon her many honors. Cleopatra now wished
 
 B.C. 41.] THE .BATTLE or ACTIUM. 275 
 
 Orientation of Cleopatra. Honors bestowed on her 
 
 to go to the same place, and to triumph over 
 her rival there, by making so great a lisplay of 
 her wealth and magnificence, and of her*asoend 
 ency over the mind of Antony, as should en- 
 tirely transcend and outshine the more unas- 
 suming pretensions of Octavia. She was not 
 willing, it seems, to leave to the unhappy wife 
 whom she had so cruelly wronged even the pos- 
 session of a place in the hearts of the people of 
 this foreign city, but must go and enviously 
 strive to efface the impression which injured 
 innocence had made, by an ostentatious exhibi- 
 tion of the triumphant prosperity of her own 
 shameless wickedness. She succeeded well in 
 her plans. The people of Athens were amazed 
 and bewildered at the immense magnificence 
 that Cleopatra exhibited before them. She dis- 
 tributed vast sums of money among the people. 
 The ''-- in return, decreed to her the most ex- 
 alted honors. They sent a solemn embassy to 
 her to present her with these decrees. Antony 
 himself, in the character of a citizen of Athens, 
 was one of the embassadors. Cleopatra receiv- 
 ed the deputation at her palace. The reception 
 was attended with the most splendid and im- 
 posing ceremonies. 
 
 One would have supposed that Cleopatra's
 
 276 CLEOPATJIA. [B.C.31 
 
 Bien> of Antony. Approach of Octarta* 
 
 cruel and unnatural hostility to Ootavia might 
 now have been satisfied ; but it was not. An 
 tony, while he was at Athens, and doubtless a i 
 Cleopatra's instigation, sent a messenger to 
 Rome with a notice of divorcement to Ootavia, 
 and with an order that she should leave his 
 house. Octavia obeyed. She went forth from 
 her home, taking the children with her, and bit 
 terly lamenting her cruel destiny. 
 
 In the mean time, while all these events had 
 been transpiring in the East, Octavius had been 
 making his preparations for the coming crisis, 
 and was now advancing with a powerful fleet 
 across the sea. He was armed with authority 
 from the Roman senate and people, for he had 
 obtained from them a decree deposing Antony 
 from his power. The charges made against 
 him all related to misdemeanors and offenses 
 arising out of his connection with Cleopatra. 
 Ootavius contrived to get possession of a will 
 which Antony had written before leaving Rome, 
 and which he had placed there in what he sup- 
 posed a very sacred place of deposit. The cus- 
 todians who had it in charge replied to Oota- 
 vius, when he demanded it, that they would not 
 gire it to him, but if he wished to take it they 
 would not hinder him Ootavins then took t h#
 
 B.C. 31.] THE BATTLE OF ACTIVM. 277 
 
 Antony 'I will. Charges againit Urn 
 
 will, and read it to the Roman senate. It pro- 
 vided, among other things, that at his death, if 
 his death should happen at Rome, his body 
 should be sent to Alexandria to be given to Cle- 
 opatra ; and it evinced in other ways a degree 
 of subserviency and devotedness to the Egyp- 
 tian queen which was considered wholly un- 
 worthy of a Roman chief magistrate. Antony 
 was accused, too, of having plundered cities and 
 provinces to make presents to Cleopatra ; of 
 having sent a library of two hundred thousand 
 volumes to her from Pergamus, to replace the 
 one which Julius Ceesar had accidentally burn- 
 ed ; of having raised her sons, ignoble as their 
 birth was, to high places of trust and power in 
 the Roman government, and of having in many 
 ways compromised the dignity of a Roman offi- 
 cer by his unworthy conduct in reference to her. 
 He used, for example, when presiding at a ju- 
 dicial tribunal, to receive love-letters sent him 
 from Cleopatra, and then at once turn off his 
 attention from the proceedings going forward 
 before him to read the letters.* Sometimes he 
 
 * These letters, in accordance with the scale of expense 
 and extravagance on which Cleopatra determined that every 
 thing relating to herself and Antony should be done, went 
 engraved on tablets made of onyx, or crystal, or ether hard 
 toad precious stones.
 
 278 CLBOPATRA [13 C. 31 
 
 Antony'netoctofhUdatie.. 
 
 did this when sitting in the chair of state, giv- 
 ing audience to embassadors and princes. Cle 
 patra probably sent these letters in at each 
 times under the influence of a wanton disposi 
 tion to show her power. At one time, as Oo- 
 tavius said in his ^arguments before the Roman 
 senate, Antony was hearing a cause of the great- 
 v est importance, and during a time in the prog- 
 ress of the cause when one of the principal or- 
 ators of the city was addressing him, Cleopatra 
 came passing by, when Antony suddenly arose, 
 and, leaving the court without any ceremony, 
 ran out to follow her. These and a thousand 
 similar tales exhibited Antony in so odious a 
 light, that his friends forsook his cause, and his 
 enemies gained a complete triumph. The de- 
 cree was passed against him, and Ootavius was 
 authorized to carry it into effect ; and accord- 
 ingly, while Antony, with his fleet and army, 
 was moving westward from Samos and the 
 ^3gean Sea, Octavius was coming eastward 
 and southward down the Adriatic to meet him. 
 In process of time, after various maneuvers 
 and delays, the two armaments came into the 
 vicinity of each other at a place called Actium, 
 which will be found upon the map on the west- 
 ern coast cf Epims, north of Greece. Both o*
 
 B.C. 31., THE BATTLE OP ACTIUM. 279 
 
 Opinion* at the council Cleopatra's wishes. 
 
 the commanders had powerful fleets at sea, and 
 both had great armies upon the land. Antony 
 was strongest in land troops, but his fleet was 
 inferior to that of Octavius, and he was him- 
 self inclined to remain on the land and fight the 
 principal battle there. But Cleopatra would 
 not consent to this. She urged him to give 
 Octavius battle at sea. The motive which in- 
 duced her to do this has been supposed to be 
 her wish to provide a more sure way of escape 
 in case of an unfavorable issue to the conflict. 
 She thought that in her galleys she could make 
 sail at once across the sea to Alexandria in 
 case of defeat, whereas she knew not what 
 would become of her if beaten at the head of an 
 army on the land. The ablest counselors and 
 chief officers in the army urged Antony very 
 strongly not to trust himself to the sea. To all 
 their arguments and remonstrances, however, 
 Antony turned a deaf ear. Cleopatra must be 
 allowed to have her way. 
 
 On the morning of the battle, when the ships 
 were drawn up in array, Cleopatra held the 
 command of a division of fifty or sixty Egyp- 
 tian vessels, which were all completely manned, 
 and well equipped with masts and sails. She 
 took good oare to have every thing in perfect
 
 280 CLEOPATRA. [B.I'. 31 
 
 Battle of Action. Flight of Cleopatra 
 
 order for flight, in case flight should prove V i b 
 necessary. "With these ships she took a station 
 in reserve, and for a time remained there a 
 quiet witness of the battle. The ships of Oo- 
 tavius advanced to the attack of those of Anto- 
 ny, and the men fought from deck to deck with 
 spears, boarding-pikes, flaming darts, and ever} 
 other destructive missile which the military art 
 had then devised. Antony's ships had to con- 
 tend against great disadvantages. They were 
 not only outnumbered by those of Octavius, 
 but were far surpassed by them in the efficien- 
 cy with which they were manned and armed. 
 Still, it was a very obstinate conflict. Cleopa- 
 tra, however, did not wait to see how it was to 
 be finally decided. As Antony's forces did not '"""] 
 immediately gain the victory, she soon began to / 
 yield to her fears in respect to the result, and, / 
 finally, fell into a panic and resolved to fly^J 
 She ordered the oars to be manned and the sails 
 to be hoisted, and then forcing her way through 
 a portion of the fleet that was engaged in the 
 contest, and throwing the vessels into confusion 
 as she passed, she succeeded in getting to sea, 
 and then pressed on, under full sail, down the 
 coast to the southward. Antony, as soon as he 
 perceived that she was going, abandoning every
 
 B.C.31.] THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 281 
 
 Anton)' followi Cleopatra. He galni her galley 
 
 other thought, and impelled by his insane de- 
 votedness to her, hastily called up a galley of 
 five hanks of oars, and, leaping on board of it, 
 ordered the oarsmen to pull with all their force 
 alter Cleopatra's flying squadron. 
 
 Cleopatra, looking back from the deck of hei 
 vessel, saw this swift galley pressing on toward 
 her. She raised a signal at the stern of the 
 vessel which she was in, that Antony might 
 know for which of the fifty flying ships he was 
 to steer. Guided by the signal, Antony came 
 up to the vessel, and the sailors hoisted him up 
 the side and helped him in. Cleopatra had 
 however, disappeared. Overcome with shama 
 and confusion, she did not dare, it seems, to 
 meet the look of the wretched victim of her arts 
 whom she had now irretrievably ruined. An- 
 tony did not seek her. He did not speak a 
 word. He went forward to the prow of the ship, 
 and, throwing himself down there alone, press 
 ed his head between his hands, and seemed stun- 
 ned and stupefied, and utterly overwhelmed 
 with horror and despair. 
 
 He was, however, soon aroused from his stu- 
 por by an alarm raised on board his galley that 
 they were pursued. He rose from his seat, 
 seized a spear, and, on ascending to the quarter-
 
 282 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 3L 
 
 Antony pursued. A tevere conflict 
 
 deck, saw that there were a number of small 
 light boats, full of men and of arms, coming up 
 behind them, and gaining rapidly upon his gal- 
 ley. Antony, now free for a moment from hia 
 enchantress's sway, and acting under the im- 
 pulse of his own indomitable boldness and de- 
 cision, instead of urging the oarsmen to press 
 forward more rapidly in order to make good 
 their escape, ordered the helm to be put about, 
 and thus, turning the galley around, he faced 
 BIS pursuers, and drove his ship into the midst 
 of them. A violent conflict ensued, the din and 
 confusion of which was increased by the shocks 
 and collisions between the boats and the galley. 
 In the end, the boats were beaten off, all ex- 
 cepting one : that one kept still hovering near, 
 and the commander of it, who stood upon the 
 deck, poising his spear with an aim at Antony, 
 and seeking eagerly an opportunity to throw it, 
 seemed by his attitude and the expression of 
 his countenance to be animated by some pecu- 
 liarly bitter feeling of hostility and hate. An- 
 tony asked him who he was, that dared so 
 fiercely to threaten him. The man replied by 
 giving his name, and saying that he came to 
 avenge the death of his father. It proved that 
 he was the son of a man whom Antonv had at
 
 B.C.31.] THE BATTLE OF ACTIUM. 283 
 
 The tyenger of a father. Antony 1 * angnlmh, 
 
 a previous time, on some account or other, 
 caused to be beheaded. 
 
 There followed an obstinate contest between 
 Antony and this fierce assailant, in the end of 
 which the latter was beaten off. The boats 
 then, having succeeded in making some prizes 
 from Antony's fleet, though they had failed in 
 capturing Antony himself, gave up the pursuit 
 and returned. Antony then went back to his 
 place, sat down in the prow, buried his face in 
 his hands, and sank into the same condition of 
 hopeless distress and anguish as before. 
 
 When husband and wife are overwhelmed 
 with misfortune and, suffering, each instinct- 
 ively seeks a refuge in the sympathy and sup- 
 port of the other. It is, however, far otherwise 
 with such connections as that of Antony and 
 Cleopatra. Conscience, which remains calm 
 and quiet in prosperity and sunshine, rises up 
 with sudden and unexpected violence as soon 
 as the hour of calamity comes ; and thus, in- 
 stead of mutual comfort and help, each finds in 
 the thoughts of the other only the means of 
 adding the horrors of remorse to the anguish of 
 disappointment and despair. So extreme was 
 Antony's distress, that for three days he and 
 Cleopatra neither saw nor spoke to each other
 
 284 CLEOPATRA. [E.G. 31. 
 
 Antony and Cleopatra ehun each other. Arrival at TMMTU 
 
 She was overwhelmed with confusion and cha- 
 grin, and he was in such a condition of mental 
 excitement that she did not dare to approach 
 him. In a word, reason seemed to have wholly 
 lost its sway his mind, in the alternations of 
 his insanity, rising sometimes to fearful excite- 
 ment, in paroxysms of uncontrollable rage, and 
 then sinking again for a time into the stupor 
 of despair. 
 
 In the mean time, the ships were passing 
 down as rapidly as possible on the western coast 
 of Greece. When they reached Taenarus, the 
 southern promontory of the peninsula, it was 
 necessary to pause and consider what was to be 
 done. Cleopatra's women went to Antony and 
 attempted to quiet and calm him. They brought 
 him food. They persuaded him to see Cleopatra. 
 A great number of merchant ships from the 
 ports along the coast gathered around Antony's 
 little fleet and offered their services. His cause, 
 they said, was by no means desperate. The 
 army on the land had not been beaten. It was 
 not even certain that his fleet had been con* 
 quered. They endeavored thus to revive the 
 mined commander's sinking courage, and to 
 urge him to make a new effort to retrieve his 
 fortunes. But all was in vain. Antony wa
 
 B.C. 31.] THE BATTLE OP ACTIWM. 285 
 
 Antony and Cleopatra fly together to Egypt 
 
 sunk in a hopeless despondency. Cleopatra was 
 determined on going to Egypt, and he must go 
 too. He distributed what treasure remained 
 at his disposal among his immediate follower f 
 and friends, and gave them advice about the 
 means of concealing themselves until they could 
 make peace with Octavius. Then, giving up 
 all as lost, he followed Cleopatra across the se* 
 to Alexandria.
 
 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30 
 
 te&butkm of Antony HI* Miiy oliurmcte* 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 THE END OF CLEOPATRA, 
 
 fllHE case of Mark Antony affords one of the 
 -* most extraordinary examples of the power 
 of unlawful love to lead its deluded and infatu- 
 ated victim into the very jaws of open and rec- 
 ognized destruction that history records. Cases 
 similar in character occur by thousands in com- 
 mon life ; but Antony's, though perhaps not 
 more striking in itself than a great multitude 
 of others have been, is the most conspicuous in- 
 stance that has ever been held up to the obser- 
 vation of mankind. 
 
 In early life, Antony was remarkable, as we 
 have a.ready seen, for a certain savage rugged- 
 ness of character, and for a stern and indomita- 
 ble recklessness of will, so great that it seemed 
 impossible that any thing human should be able 
 to tame him. He was under the control, too, 
 of an ambition so lofty and aspiring that it ap- 
 peared to know no bounds ; and yet we find him 
 taken possession of, in the very midst of his oa- 
 reor, and in the height of his prosperity and
 
 B.C.30.] THE END o* CLEOPATRA. 287 
 
 Powerful influence of Cleopatra vrer Antony 
 
 success, by a woman, and so subdued by her 
 arts and fascinations as to yield himself wholly 
 to her guidance, and allow himself to be led 
 about by her entirely at her will. She displaces 
 whatever there might have been that was noble 
 and generous in his heart, and substitutes there- 
 for her own principles of malice and cruelty. 
 She extinguishes all the fires of his ambition, 
 originally so magnificent in its aims that the 
 world seemed hardly large enough to afford it 
 scope, and instead of this lofty passion, fills his 
 soul with a love of the lowest, vilest, and most 
 ignoble pleasures. She leads him to betray 
 every public trust, to alienate from himself all 
 the affections of his countrymen, to repel most 
 cruelly the kindness and devotedness of a beau- 
 tiful and faithful wife, and, finally, to expel this 
 wife and all of his own legitimate family from 
 his house ; and now, at last, she conducts him 
 away in a most cowardly and ignoble flight 
 from the field of his duty as a soldier he know- 
 Ing, all the time, that she is hurrying him to 
 disgrace and destruction, and yet utterly with- 
 out power to break from the control of his invis- 
 ible chains. 
 
 The indignation which Antony's base aban-
 
 2S8 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30 
 
 Indignation at Antony's conduct Plani of Cleopctr* 
 
 Jonment of his fleet and army at the battle of 
 Aotium excited, over all that part of the empire 
 which had been under his command, was ex- 
 treme. There was not the slightest possible 
 excuse for such a flight. His army, in which 
 his greatest strength lay, remained unharmed, 
 and evon his fleet was not defeated. The ships 
 contin tied the combat until night, notwithstand- 
 ing the betrayal of their cause by their com- 
 mander. They were at length, however, sub- 
 dued. The army, also, being discouraged, and 
 losing all motive for resistance, yielded too. In 
 a rery short time the whole country went over 
 to Ootavius's side. 
 
 In the mean time, Cleopatra and Antony, on 
 'lieir first return to Egypt, were completely be- 
 ide themselves with terror. Cleopatra formed 
 % plan for having all the treasures that she 
 oould save, and a certain number of galleys suf- 
 ficient for the transportation of these treasures 
 and a small company of friends, carried across 
 the isthmus of Suez and launched upon the Red 
 Sea, in order that she might escape in that di- 
 rection, and find some remote hiding-place and 
 safe retreat on the shores of Arabia or India, 
 beyond the reach of Octavius's dreaded power. 
 She actually commenced this undertaking, and
 
 B.C. 3U.J THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 289 
 
 Antony becomes a misanthrope. His hut on the island of Pharos 
 
 sent one or two of her galleys across the isth- 
 mus ; but the Arabs seized them as soon as they 
 reached their place of destination, and killed or 
 captured the men that had them in charge, so 
 that this desperate scheme was soon abandoned. 
 She and Antony then finally concluded to estab- 
 lish themselves at Alexandria, and made prep- 
 aration, as well as they could, for defending 
 themselves against Octavius there. 
 
 Antony, when the first effects of his panio 
 subsided, began to grow mad with vexation and 
 resentment against all mankind. He determ- 
 ined that he would have nothing to do with Cle- 
 opatra or with any of her friends, but went off 
 in a fit of sullen rage, and built a hermitage hi 
 lonely place on the island of Pharos, where he 
 Jived for a time, cursing his folly and his wretch- 
 ed fate, and uttering the bitterest invectives 
 against all who had been concerned in it. Here 
 tidings came continually in, informing him of 
 the defection of one after another of his armies, 
 of the fall of his provinces in Greece and Asia 
 Minor, and of the irresistible progress which 
 Ootavius was now making toward universal do- 
 minion. The tidings of these disasters coming 
 incessantly upon him kept him in a oontinua. 
 
 *ever of resentment and rage. 
 1619
 
 290 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30. 
 
 Antony'* reconciliation with Cleopatra. Scene* of revelry 
 
 At last he became tired of his misanthropic 
 solitude, a sort of reconciliation ensued between 
 himself and Cleopatra, and he went back again 
 to the city. Here he joined himself once more 
 to Cleopatra, and, collecting together what re- 
 mained of their J9int resources, they plunged 
 again into a life of dissipation and vice, with 
 the vain attempt to drown in mirth and wine 
 the bitter regrets and the anxious forebodings 
 which filled their souls. They joined with them 
 a company of revelers as abandoned as them- 
 selves, and strove very hard to disguise and con- 
 ceal their cares in their forced and unnatural 
 gayety. They could not, however, accomplish 
 this purpose. Octavius was gradually advan- 
 cing in his progress, and they knew very well 
 that the time of his dreadful reckoning with 
 them must soon come ; nor was there any place 
 on earth in which they could look with any 
 hope of finding a refuge in it from his vindictive 
 hostility. 
 
 Cleopatra, warned by dreadful presentiments 
 of what would probably at last be her fate, 
 amused herself in studying the nature of pois- 
 ons not theoretically, but practically making 
 experiments with them on wretched prisoners 
 and captives whom she compelled to take them.
 
 B.C.80.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 
 
 Cleopatra make* a collection of poisons. Her experiment* with then. 
 
 in order that she and Antony might see the ef- 
 fects which they produced. She made a collec- 
 tion of all the poisons which she could procure, 
 and administered portions of them all, that she 
 might see which were sudden and which were 
 slow in their effects, and also learn which pro- 
 duced the greatest distress and suffering, and 
 which, on the other hand, only benumbed and 
 stupefijd the faculties, and thus extinguished 
 life wit'.i the least infliction of pain. These ex- 
 periments were not confined to such vegetable 
 and mineral poisons as could be mingled with 
 the food or administered in a potion. Cleopa- 
 tra took an equal interest in the effects of the 
 bite of venomous serpents and reptiles. She 
 procured specimens of all these animals, and 
 tried them upon her prisoners, causing the men 
 to be stung and bitten by them, and then watch- 
 ing the effects. These investigations were made, 
 not directly with a view to any practical use 
 which she was to make of the knowledge thus 
 acquired, but rather as an agreeable occupation, 
 to divert her mind, and to amuse Antony and 
 her guests. The variety in the forms and ex- 
 pressions which the agony of her poisoned vic- 
 tims assumed their writhings, their cries, their 
 convulsions, and the distortions of their features
 
 CiEOPATRA. [B.C JIG 
 
 Antony's upicions. Cleoptra' itratagnra 
 
 when struggling with death, furnished exactly 
 the kind and degree of excitement which sh 
 needed to occupy and amuse her mind. 
 
 Antony was not entirely at ease, however, 
 during the progress of these terrible experi- 
 ments. His foolish and childish fondness foi 
 Cleopatra was mingled with jealousy, suspicion, 
 and distrust; and he was so afraid that Cleo- 
 patra might secretly poison him, that he would 
 never take any food or wine without requiring 
 that she should taste it before him. At length, 
 one day, Cleopatra caused the petals of some 
 flowers to be poisoned, and then had the flow- 
 ers woven into the chaplet which Antony was 
 to wear at supper. In the midst of the feast, 
 she pulled off the leaves of the flowers from her 
 own chaplet and put them playfully into her 
 wine, and then proposed that Antony should do 
 the same with his chaplet, and that they should 
 then drink the wine, tinctured, as it would be, 
 with the color and the perfume of the flowers. 
 Antony entered very readily into this proposal 
 and when he was about to drink the wine, *he 
 arrested his hand, and told him that it was pois- 
 oned " You see now," said she, " how vain it 
 is for you to watch against me. If it were po- 
 iblo tor me to live without you, how asy it
 
 B.C.30.J THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 298 
 
 The bite of the asp. Cleopatra's tomb 
 
 would be for me to devise ways and means to 
 kill you." Then, to prove that her words were 
 true, she ordered one of tne servants to drink 
 Antony's wine. He did so, and (Jied before 
 their sight in dreadful agony. 
 
 The experiments which Cleopatra thus mado 
 on the nature and effects of poison were not, 
 however, wholly without practical result. Cle- 
 opatra learned from them, it is said, that the 
 bite of the asp was the easiest and least painful 
 mode of death. The effect of the venom of that 
 animal appeared to her to be the lulling of the 
 sensorium into a lethargy or stupor, which soon 
 ended in detth, without the intervention of pain 
 This knowledge she seems to have laid up in 
 her mind for future use. 
 
 The thoughts of Cleopatra appear, in fact, to 
 have been much disposed, at this time, to flow 
 in gloomy channels, for she occupied herself a 
 great deal in building for herself a sepulchral 
 monument in a certain sacred portion of the 
 city This monument had, in fact, been com- 
 menced many years ago, in accordance with a 
 custom prevailing among Egyptian sovereigns, 
 of expending a portion of their revenues during 
 their life-time in building and decorating their 
 own tombs. Cleopatra now turned her mind
 
 294 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 80 
 
 Progrwi at OcUrtaA, Proposal of Antony 
 
 with new interest to her own mausoleum. She 
 finished it, provided it with the strongest possi 
 ble bolts and bars, and, in a word, seemed to be 
 preparing it in all respects for occupation. 
 
 In the mean time, Ootavius, having made 
 himself master of all the countries which lad 
 formerly been under Antony's sway, now ad- 
 vanced, meeting none to oppose him, from Asia 
 Minor into Syria, and from Syria toward Egypt. 
 Antony and Cleopatra made one attempt, while 
 he was thus advancing toward Alexandria, U 
 avert the storm which was impending over them, 
 by sending an embassage to ask for some terms 
 of peace. Antony proposed, in this embassage, 
 to give up every thing to his conqueror on con- 
 dition that he might be permitted to retire un- 
 molested with Cleopatra to Athens, and allowed 
 to spend the remainder of their days there in 
 peace ; and that the kingdom of Egypt might 
 descend to their children. Octavius replied 
 that he could not make any terms with Antony, 
 though he was willing to consent to any thing 
 that was reasonable in behalf of Cleopatra. The 
 messenger who came back from Ootavius with 
 this reply spent some time in private inter- 
 views with Cleopatra, This aroused Antony'i 
 jealousy and anger. He accordingly ordered
 
 B.C. JO.j THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 295 
 
 Octarius at Pehuium. Cleopatra's treasures. 
 
 the unfortunate messenger to be scourged and 
 then sent back to Octavius, all lacerated with 
 wounds, with orders to say to Octavius that if 
 it displeased him to have one of his servants 
 thus punished, he might revenge himself by 
 scourging a servant of Antony's, who was then, 
 as it happened, in Octavius's power. 
 
 The news at length suddenly arrived at Alex- 
 andria that Octavius had appeared before Pe- 
 lusium, and that the city had fallen into hia 
 hands. The next thing Antony and Cleopatra 
 well knew would be, that they should see him 
 at the gates of Alexandria. Neither Antony 
 nor Cleopatra had any means of resisting his 
 progress, and there was no place to which they 
 could fly. Nothing was to be done but to await, 
 in consternation and terror, the sure and inev- 
 itable doom which was now so near. 
 
 Cleopatra gathered together all her treasures 
 and sent them to her tomb. These treasures 
 consisted of great and valuable stores of gold, 
 silver, precious stones, garments of the highest 
 oost, and weapons, and vessels of exquisite 
 workmanship and great value, the hereditary 
 possessions of the Egyptian kings. She also 
 ent to the mausoleum an immense quantity 
 of flax, tow, torches, and other oomtustibles
 
 296 CLEOPATRA. [BC.30 
 
 Fears of Octavitu. He arrives at Alexandria 
 
 These she stored in the lower apartments cf 
 the monument, with the desperate determina- 
 tion of burning herself and her treasures to- 
 gether rather than to fall into the hands of the 
 Romans. 
 
 In the mean time, the army of Octavius 
 steadily continued its march across the desert 
 from Pelusium to Alexandria. On the way, 
 Octavius learned, through the agents in com- 
 munication with him from within the city 
 what were the arrangements which Cleopatra 
 had made for the destruction of her treasure 
 whenever the danger should become imminent 
 of its falling into his hands. He was extremely 
 unwilling that this treasure should be lost. Be- 
 sides its intrinsic value, it was an object of im- 
 mense importance to him to get possession of 
 it for the purpose of carrying it to Rome as a 
 trophy of his triumph. He accordingly sent 
 secret messengers to Cleopatra, endeavoring to 
 separate her from Antony, and to amuse her 
 mind with the profession that he felt only friend- 
 ship for her, and did not mean to do her any 
 injury, being in pursuit of Antony only. These 
 negotiations were continued from day to day 
 while Ootavius was advancing. At last the 
 Roman army reached Alexandria, and invested 
 it on every side.
 
 B.C. 30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 29? 
 
 The tally. The unfaithful captala 
 
 As soon as Octavius was established in his 
 camp under the walls of the city, Antonj 
 planned a sally, and he executed it, in fact, 
 with considerable energy and success. He is- 
 sued suddenly from the gates, at the head of as 
 strong a force as he could command, and at- 
 tacked a body of Octavius's horsemen. He 
 succeeded in driving these horsemen away from 
 their position, but he was soon driven back in 
 his turn, and compelled to retreat to the city, 
 fighting as he fled, to beat back his pursuers. 
 He was extremely elated at the success of this 
 skirmish. He came to Cleopatra with a coun- 
 tenance full of animation and pleasure, took her 
 in his arms and kissed her, all accoutered for 
 battle as he was, and boasted greatly of the ex- 
 ploit which he had performed. He praised, too, 
 in the highest terms, the valor of one of the 
 officers who had gone out with him to the fight, 
 and whom he had now brought to the palace to 
 present to Cleopatra. Cleopatra rewarded tha 
 faithful captain's prowess with a magnificent 
 suit of armor made of gold. Notwithstanding 
 this reward, however, the man deserted Antony 
 that very night, and went over to the enemy 
 Almost all of Antony's adherents were in the 
 arna tate of mind. They would have gladly
 
 298 CLBOFATRA. [IlC. 30 
 
 Disaffection of An tony 1 1 men. DeMrtion of the flee! 
 
 gone over to the camp of Octavius, if they could 
 have found an opportunity to do so. 
 
 In fact, when the final battle was fought, th 
 fate of it was decided by a grand defection in 
 the fleet, which went over in a body to the side 
 of Octavius. Antony was planning the opera- 
 tions of the day, and reconnoitering the move- 
 ments of the enemy from an eminence which 
 he occupied at the head of a body of foot soldiers 
 all the land forces that now remained to him 
 and looking off from the eminence on which 
 he stood toward the harbor, he observed a move- 
 ment among the galleys. They were going out 
 to meet the ships of Octavius, which were ly- 
 ing at anchor not very far from them. Antony 
 supposed that his vessels were going to attack 
 those of the enemy, and he looked to see what 
 exploits they would perform. They advanced 
 toward Octavius's ships, and when they mot 
 them, Antony observed, to his utter amazement, 
 that, instead of the furious combat that he had 
 expected to see, the ships only exchanged friend- 
 ly salutations, by the use of the customary naval 
 signals ; and then his ships, passing quietly 
 round, took their positions in the lines of the 
 other fleet. The two fleets had tho become 
 merged and mingled into ooo.
 
 B.C.30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 299 
 
 Falae rumor of Cleopatra' i death. Antony's despair 
 
 Antony immediately decided that this was 
 Cleopatra's treason. She had made peace with 
 Ootavius, he thought, and surrendered the fleet 
 to him as one of the conditions of it. Antony 
 ran through the city, crying out that he was 
 betrayed, and in a phrensy of rage sought the 
 palace. Cleopatra fled to her tomb. She took 
 in with her one or two attendants, and bolted 
 and barred the doors, securing the fastenings 
 with the heavy catches and springs that she had 
 previously made ready. She then directed her 
 women to call out through the door that she 
 had killed herself within the tomb. 
 
 The tidings of her death were borne to An- 
 tony. It changed his anger to grief and de- 
 spair. His mind, in fact, was now wholly lost 
 to all balance and control, and it passed from 
 the dominion of one stormy passion to another 
 with the most capricious facility. He cried out 
 with the most bitter expressions of sorrow, 
 mourning, he said, not so much Cleopatra's 
 death, for he should soon follow and join her, as 
 the fact that she had proved herself so superior 
 to him in courage at last, in having thus an- 
 ticipated him in the work of self-destruction. 
 
 He was at this time in one of the chambers 
 tf the palace, whither he had fled in his despair
 
 300 CLEOPATRA. [BC. 30 
 
 Bros. Antony's attempt to kffl UouetC 
 
 and was standing by a fire, for the morning was 
 cold He had a favorite servant named Eros, 
 whom he greatly trusted, and whom he had 
 made to take an oath long before, that whenever 
 it should become necessary for him to die, Eros 
 should kill him. This Eros he now called to 
 him, and telling him that the time was come, or- 
 dered him to take the sword and strike the blow. 
 
 Eros took the sword while Antony stood up 
 before him. Eros turned his head aside as if 
 wishing that his eyes should not see the deed 
 which his hands were about to perform. In 
 stead, however, of piercing his master with it, 
 he plunged it into his own breast, fell down at 
 Antony's feet, and died. 
 
 Antony gazed a moment at the shocking spec- 
 tacle, and then said, " I thank thee for this, noble 
 Eros. Thou hast set me an example. I must 
 do for myself what thou oouldst not do for me." 
 So saying, he took the sword from his servant's 
 hands, plunged it into his body, and staggering 
 to a little bed that was near, fell over upon it 
 in a swoon. He had received a mortal wound. 
 
 The pressure, however, which was produced 
 by the position in which he lay upon the bed, 
 stanched the wound a little and stopped the flow 
 of blood. Antony came presently to himself
 
 B.C.30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 301 
 
 Antony taken to Cleopatra. She refuse* to open the door 
 
 again, and then began to beg and implore those 
 around him to take the sword and put him out 
 of his misery. But no one would do it. He 
 lay for a time suffering great pain, and moan- 
 ing incessantly, until, at length, an officer came 
 into the apartment and told him that the story 
 which he had heard of Cleopatra's death was 
 not true ; that she was still alive, shut up in her 
 monument, and that she desired to see him 
 there. This intelligence was the source of new 
 excitement and agitation. Antony implored the 
 by-standers to carry him to Cleopatra, that he 
 might see her once more before he died. They 
 shrank from the attempt ; but, after some hesi- 
 tation and delay, they concluded to undertake 
 to remove him. So, taking him in their arms, 
 they bore him along, faint and dying, and 
 marking their track with his blood, toward the 
 
 Cleopatra would not open the gates to let the 
 party in. The city was all in uproar and con- 
 fusion through the terror of the assault which 
 Ootavius was making upon it, and she did not 
 know what treachery might be intended. She 
 therefore went up to a window above, and let- 
 ting down ropes and chains, she directed those 
 below to fasten the dying body to them, that
 
 302 CLEOPATRA. [B.C.30 
 
 Antony taken in at the window. Cleopatra' i grlet 
 
 the and the two women with her might draw il 
 up. This was done. Those who witnessed it 
 said that it was a most piteous sight to behold 
 Cleopatra and her women above exhausting 
 their strength in drawing the wounded and 
 bleeding sufferer up the wall, while he, when he 
 approached the window, feebly raised his arms 
 to them, that they might lift him in. The 
 women had hardly strength sufficient to draw 
 the body up. At one time it seemed that the 
 attempt would have to be abandoned ; but Cle- 
 opatra reached down from the window as far as 
 she could to get hold of Antony's arms, and 
 thus, by dint of great effort, they succeeded at 
 last in taking him in. They bore him to a 
 oouoh which was in the upper room from which 
 the window opened, and laid him down, while 
 Cleopatra wrung her hands, and tore her hair, 
 and uttered the most piercing lamentations and 
 cries. She leaned over the dying Antony, cry. 
 ing out incessantly with the most piteous ex- 
 olamations of grief. She bathed his face, which 
 was covered with blood, and vainly endeavored 
 to stanch his wound. 
 
 Antony urged her to be calrt, and not to 
 mourn his fate. He asked for some wine. They 
 brought it to him, and he drank it. He then
 
 B.C. 30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 305 
 
 Death of Antony. Cleopatra made prisoner. 
 
 entreated Cleopatra to save her life, if she pos- 
 sibly could do so, and to make some terms 01 
 other with Octavius, so as to continue to live. 
 Very soon after this he expired. 
 
 In the mean time, Octavius had heard of tlia 
 mortal wound which Antony had given him- 
 self ; for one of the by-standers had seized the 
 rword the moment that the deed was done, and 
 had hastened to carry it to Octavius, and to an- 
 nounce to him the death of his enemy. Octa- 
 vius immediately desired to get Cleopatra into 
 his power. He sent a messenger, therefore, to 
 the tomb, who attempted to open a parley there 
 with her. Cleopatra talked with the messen- 
 ger through the keyholes or crevices, but could 
 not be induced to open the door. The messen- 
 ger reported these facts to Octavius. Octaviua 
 then sent another man with the messenger, and 
 while one was engaging the attention of Cleo- 
 patra and her women at the door below, the 
 other obtained ladders, and succeeded in gain- 
 ing admission into the window above. Cleopa- 
 tra was warned of the success of this stratagem 
 by the shriek of her woman, who saw the officer 
 coming down the stairs. She looked around, 
 and observing at a glance that she was betray- 
 ed, and that the officer was coming to seize her, 
 1620
 
 806 CLEOPATRA. [KC. 30 
 
 Treatment of Cleopatra. Octarltu take* poecston of Alexandria 
 
 ehe drew a little dagger from her robe, and was 
 about to plunge it into her breast, when the 
 officer grasped her arm just in time to prevent 
 the blow. He took the dagger from her, and 
 then examined her clothes to see that there 
 were no other secret weapons concealed there. 
 
 The capture of the queen being reported to 
 Octavius, he appointed an officer to take her 
 into close custody. This officer was charged to 
 treat her with all possible courtesy, but to keep 
 a close and constant watch over her, and par- 
 ticularly to guard against allowing her any pos- 
 sible means or opportunity for self-destruction. 
 
 In the mean time, Octavius took formal pos- 
 session of the city, marching in at the head of 
 his troops with the most imposing pomp end 
 parade. A chair of state, magnificently deco- 
 rated, was set up for him on a high elevation in 
 a public square ; and here he sat, with circles 
 of guards around him, while the people of the 
 city, assembled before him in the dress of sup- 
 pliants, and kneeling upon the pavement, begged 
 his forgiveness, and implored him to spare the 
 city. These petitions the great conqueror gra- 
 ciously condescended to grant. 
 
 Many of the princes and generals who T -dd 
 served under Antony came next to beg the
 
 B.C. 30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 307 
 
 Antony's funeral. Cleopatra's wretched eondJttafc 
 
 of their commander, that they might give it an 
 honorable burial. These requests, however, Oo 
 tavius vnuld not accede to, saying that he could 
 not take the body away from Cleopatra. He, 
 however, gave Cleopatra leave to make such 
 arrangements for the obsequies as she thought 
 fit, and allowed her to appropriate such sums 
 of money from her treasures for this purpose as 
 she desired. Cleopatra accordingly made the 
 necessary arrangements, and superintended the 
 execution of them ; not, however, with any de- 
 gree of calmness and composure, but in a state, 
 on the contrary, of extreme agitation and dis- 
 tress. In fact, she had been living now so long 
 under the unlimited and unrestrained dominion 
 of caprice and passion, that reason was pretty 
 effectually dethroned, and all self-control was 
 gone. She was now nearly forty years of age, 
 and, though traces of her inexpressible beauty 
 remained, her bloom was faded, and her coun- 
 tenance was wan with the effects of weeping, 
 anxiety, and despair. She was, in a word, both 
 in body and mind, only the wreck and ruin of 
 what she once had been. 
 
 When the burial ceremonies were performed, 
 and she found that all was over that Antony 
 forever gone, and she herself hopelessly and
 
 808 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30. 
 
 Cleopatra' l woundj and bndter She reolve to (Urre herself 
 
 irremediably ruined she gave herself up to a 
 perfect phrensy of grief. She beat her breast, 
 and scratched and tore her flesh so dreadfully, 
 in the vain efforts which she made to kill her- 
 self, in the paroxysms of her despair, that she 
 was soon covered with contusions and wounds, 
 which, becoming inflamed and swelled, made 
 her a shocking spectacle to see, and threw her 
 into a fever. She then conceived the idea of 
 pretending to be more sick than she was, and 
 so refusing food and starving herself to death. 
 She attempted to execute this design. She re- 
 jected every medical remedy that was offered 
 her, and would not eat, and lived thus some 
 days without food. Octavius, to whom every 
 thing relating to his captive was minutely re- 
 ported by her attendants, suspected her design. 
 He was very unwilling that she should die, 
 having set his heart on exhibiting her to the 
 Roman people, on his return to the capital, in 
 his triumphal procession. He accordingly sent 
 her orders, requiring that she should submit to 
 the treatment prescribed by the physician, and 
 take her food, enforcing these his commands 
 with a certain threat which he imagined might 
 have some influence over her. And what threat 
 does the reader imagine could possibly he de-
 
 B.C.30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 309 
 
 Tturmtf of OcUTiu*. Their effect 
 
 vised to reach a mind so sunk, so desperate, so 
 wretched as hers ? Every thing seemed already 
 lost but life, and life was only an insupportable 
 burden. What interests, then, had she still re- 
 maining upon which a threat could take hold ? 
 
 Octavius, in looking for some avenue by 
 which he could reach her, reflected that she was 
 a mother. Caesarion, the son of Julius Caesar, 
 and Alexander, Cleopatra, and Ptolemy, Anto- 
 ny's children, were still alive. Octavius imag- 
 ined that in the secret recesses of her wrecked 
 and ruined soul there might be some lingering 
 principle of maternal affection remaining which 
 he could goad into life and action. He accord- 
 ingly sent word to her that, if she did not yield 
 to the physician and take her food, he would 
 kill every one of her children. 
 
 The threat produced its effect. The crazed 
 and frantic patient became calm. She receiv- 
 ed her food. She submitted to the physician. 
 Under his treatment her wounds began to heal, 
 the fever was allayed, and at length she appear- 
 ed to be gradually recovering. 
 
 When Ootavius learned that Cleopatra had 
 become composed, and seemed to be in some 
 sense convalescent, he resolved to pay her a vis- 
 it. As he entered the room where she was con
 
 310 CLKOPATRA. fB.C.30 
 
 Octarlui vlalu Cleopatra. Her wretched condition, 
 
 fined, which seems to have been still the upper 
 chamber of her tomb, he found her lying on a 
 low and miserable bed, in a most wretched con- 
 dition, and exhibiting such a spectacle of dis- 
 ease and wretchedness that he was shocked at 
 beholding her. She appeared, in fact, almost 
 wholly bereft of reason. When Octavius came 
 in, she suddenly leaped out of the bed, half nak- 
 ed as she was, and covered with bruises and 
 wounds, and crawled miserably along to her 
 conqueror's feet in the attitude of a suppliant. 
 Her hair was torn from her head, her limbs 
 were swollen and disfigured, and great bandages 
 appeared here and there, indicating that there 
 were still worse injuries than these concealed. 
 From the midst of all this squalidness and mis- 
 ery there still beamed from her sunken eyes a 
 great portion of their former beauty, and her 
 voice still possessed the same inexpressible 
 charm that had characterized it so strongly in 
 the days of her prime. Octavius made her go 
 back to her bed again and lie down. 
 
 Cleopatra then began to talk and excuse her 
 elf for what she had done, attributing all the 
 blame of her conduct to Antony. Octavius, 
 however, interrupted her, and defended Antony 
 from her criminations, saying to hex that it wat
 
 B.C.30.J THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 311 
 
 Phe false inventory. Cleopatra in a rage 
 
 not his fault so much as hers. She then sud- 
 denly changed her tone, and acknowledging her 
 sins, piteously implored mercy. She begged 
 Octavius to pardon and spare her, as if now she 
 were afraid of death and dreaded it, instead of 
 desiring it as a boon. In a word, her mind, 
 the victim and the prey alternately of the most 
 dissimilar and inconsistent passions, was now 
 overcome by fear. To propitiate Octavius, she 
 brought out a list of all her private treasures, 
 and delivered it to him as a complete inventory 
 of all that she had. One of her treasurers, 
 however, named Zeleucus, who was standing 
 by, said to Ootavius that that list was not com- 
 plete. Cleopatra had, he alleged, reserved sev- 
 eral things of great value, which she had not 
 put down upon it. 
 
 This assertion, thus suddenly exposing her 
 duplicity, threw Cleopatra into a violent rage. 
 She sprang from her bed and assaulted her sec- 
 retary in a most furious manner. Octavius and 
 the others who were there interposed, and com- 
 pelled Cleopatra to lie down again, which she 
 did, uttering all the time the most grievous com- 
 plaints at the wretched degradation to which 
 the was reduced, to be insulted thus by her own 
 ervanta at suoh a time If she had
 
 312 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30 
 
 OoUrlui deceived. Cleopatra's determination 
 
 any thing, she said, of her private treasures, it 
 was only for presents to some of her faithful 
 friends, to induce them the more zealously to 
 intercede with Octavius in her behalf. Octa- 
 vius replied by urging her to feel no concern 
 on the subject whatever. He freely gave her, 
 he said, all that she had reserved, and he prom- 
 ised in other respects to treat her in the most' 
 honorable and courteous manner. 
 
 Octavius was much pleased at the result of 
 this interview. It was obvious, as it appeared 
 to him, that Cleopatra had ceased to desire to 
 die ; that she now, on the contrary, wished to 
 live, and that he should accordingly succeed in 
 his desire of taking her with him to grace his 
 triumph at Rome. He accordingly made his 
 arrangements for departure, and Cleopatra was 
 notified that in three days she was to set out, 
 together with her children, to go into Syria. 
 Ootavius said Syria, as he did not wish to alarm 
 Cleopatra by speaking of Rome. She, however 
 understood well where the journey, if once com- 
 menced, would necessarily end, and she was 
 fully determined in her own mind that she 
 would never go there. 
 
 She asked to be allowed to pay one parting 
 lit to Antony's tomb. This request was
 
 B.C. 30.} THE END OF CLEOPATRA 313 
 
 Clecpatr* visit* Antony's tomb. Her composure on her return. 
 
 granted ; and she went to the tomb with a few 
 attendants, carrying with her ohaplets and gar- 
 lands ef flowers. At the tomb her grief broke 
 forth anew, and was as violent as ever. She 
 bewailed her lover's death with loud cries and 
 lamentations, uttered while she was placing the 
 garlands upon the tomb, and offering the obla- 
 tions and incense, which were customary in 
 those days, as expressions of grief. " These," 
 said she, as she made the offerings, " are the last 
 tributes of affection that I can ever pay thee, 
 my dearest, dearest lord. I can not join thee, 
 for I am a captive and a prisoner, and they will 
 not let me die. They watch me every hour, 
 and are going to bear me far away, to exhibit 
 me to thine enemies, as a badge and trophy of 
 their triumph over thee. Oh intercede, dearest 
 Antony, with the gods where thou art now, 
 since those that reign here on earth have utterly 
 forsaken me; implore them to save me from 
 this fate, and let me die here in my native land, 
 and be buried by thy side in this tomb." 
 
 When Cleopatra returned to her apartment 
 again after this melancholy ceremony, she seem- 
 ed to be more composed than she had been be- 
 fore. She went to the bath, and then she at- 
 tired herself handsomely for supper. She had
 
 314 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30 
 
 Cleopatrm'i wippar. Tb buket of Op. 
 
 ordered supper that night to be very sumptu- 
 ously served. She was at liberty to make these 
 arrangements, for the restrictions upon her 
 movements, which had been imposed at first, 
 were now removed, her appearance and de- 
 meanor having been for some time such as to 
 lead Octavius to suppose that there was no 
 longer any danger that she would attempt self- 
 destruction. Her entertainment was arranged, 
 therefore, according to her directions, in a man- 
 ner corresponding with the customs of her court 
 when she had been a queen. She had many 
 attendants, and among them were two of her 
 own women. These women were long-tried and 
 faithful servants and friends. 
 
 While she was at supper, a man came to the 
 door with a basket, and wished to enter. The 
 guards asked him what he had in his basket. 
 He opened it to let them see ; and, lifting up 
 some green leaves which were laid over the top, 
 he showed the soldiers that the basket was filled 
 with figs. He said that they were for Cleo- 
 patra's supper. The soldiers admired the ap- 
 pearance of the figs, saying that they were very 
 fine and beautiful. The man asked the soldier* 
 to take some of them. This they declined, but 
 allowed the man to pass in. When the supper
 
 B.C. 30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 315 
 
 Cleopatra's totter to Oetarhu. Ku> U fownd de*d- 
 
 was ended, Cleopatra sent all of her attendants 
 away except the two women. They remained. 
 After a little time, one of these women came 
 out with a letter for Ootavius, which Cleopatra 
 had written, and which she wished to hare im- 
 mediately delivered. One of the soldiers from 
 the guard stationed at the gates was accord- 
 ingly dispatched to carry the letter. Ootavius, 
 when it was given to him, opened the envelope 
 at once and read the letter, which was written, 
 as was customary in those days, on a small 
 tablet of metal. He found that it was a brief 
 but urgent petition from Cleopatra, written ev- 
 idently in agitation and excitement, praying 
 that he would overlook her offense, and allow 
 her to be buried with Antony. Ootavius im- 
 mediately inferred that she had destroyed her- 
 self. He sent off some messengers at once, with 
 orders to go directly to her place of confinement 
 and ascertain the truth, intending to follow them 
 himself immediately. 
 
 The messengers, on their arrival at the gates, 
 found the sentinels and soldiers quietly on guard 
 before the door, as if all were well. On enter- 
 ing Cleopatra's room, however, they beheld a 
 shocking spectacle. Cleopatra was lying dead 
 upon a couch. One of her women was upon
 
 316 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30. 
 
 Death of OharndoB. Amazement of the by-cUnden 
 
 the floor, dead too. The other, whose name 
 was Charmion, was sitting over the body of her 
 mistress, fondly caressing her, arranging flowers 
 in her hair, and adorning her uiadem. The 
 messengers of Octavius, on witnessing this spec- 
 tacle, were overcome with amazement, and de- 
 manded of Charmion what it could mean. "It 
 is all right," said Charmion. "Cleopatra has 
 acted in a manner worthy of a princess descend- 
 ed from so noble a line of kings." As Charmion 
 said this, she began to sink herself, fainting, 
 upon the bed, and almost immediately expired. 
 The by-standers were not only shocked at the 
 spectacle which was thus presented before them, 
 but they were perplexed and confounded in their 
 attempts to discover by what means Cleopatra 
 and her women had succeeded in effecting their 
 design. They examined the bodies, but no 
 marks of violence were to be discovered. They 
 looked all around the room, but no weapons, and 
 no indication of any means of poison, were to be 
 found. They discovered something that ap- 
 peared like the slimy track of an animal on the 
 wall, toward a window, which they thought 
 might have been produced by an asp ; but the 
 animal itself was nowhere to be seen. They 
 examined the boov with great care, but nu
 
 B.C.30.] THE END OF CLEOPATRA. 317 
 
 Varlow conjecture! a to the cause of Cleopatra'f death. 
 
 marks of any bite or sting were to be found, ex- 
 cept that there were two very slight and scarce- 
 ly-discernible punctures on the arm, which some 
 persons fancied might have been so caused. 
 The means and manner of her death seemed to 
 be involved in impenetrable mystery. 
 
 There were various rumors on the subject 
 subsequently in circulation both at Alexandria 
 and at Rome, though the mystery was never 
 fully solved. Some said that there was an asp 
 concealed among the figs which the servant man 
 brought in in the basket ; that he brought it in 
 that manner, by a preconcerted arrangement 
 between him and Cleopatra, and that, when she 
 received it, she placed the animal on her arm. 
 Others say that she had a small steel instru- 
 ment like a needle, with a poisoned point, which 
 she had kept concealed in her hair, and that she 
 killed herself with that, without producing any 
 visible wound. Another story was, that she had 
 an asp in a box somewhere in her apartment, 
 which she had reserved for this occasion, and 
 when the time finally uanie, that she pricked 
 and teased it with a golden bodkin to make it 
 angry, and then placed it upon her flesh and 
 received its sting. Which of these stories, if 
 either of them, were trne, could never be known
 
 318 CLEOPATRA. [B.C. 30. 
 
 Opinion of OctATlus. HI* trtamph. 
 
 It has, however, been generally believed among 
 mankind that Cleopatra died in some way or 
 other by the self-inflicted sting of the asp, and 
 paintings and sculptures without number hate 
 been made to illustrate and commemorate the 
 scene. 
 
 This supposition' in respect to the mode of 
 her death is, in fact, confirmed by the action 
 of Octavius himself on his return to Rome, 
 which furnishes a strong indication of his opin- 
 ion of the manner in which his captive at last 
 eluded him. Disappointed in not being able to 
 exhibit the queen herself in his triumphal train, 
 he caused a golden statue representing her to 
 be made, with an image of an asp upon the arm 
 of it, and this sculpture he caused to be borne 
 conspicuously before him in his grand triumphal 
 entry into the capital, as the token and trophy 
 of the final downfall of the unhappy Egyptian 
 queen. 
 
 THE END.
 
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