"And so it fell out that at Pharsalia  the great might and manhood of Rome met in bloody civil war  and Caesar's legions destroyed those of the great Pompey  so that now only Caesar stood at the head of Rome." "But there was no joy for Caesar as in his other triumphs  for the dead which his legions counted and buried and burned  were their own countrymen." "The smoke of burning Roman dead is just as black and the stink no less." "It was Pompey, not I, who wanted it so." "Let what I have said be set down." "You may stand." "Do not try and impress me by looking either too penitent or too proud." "As field officers, you fought miserably for Pompey." "Men under your command will be permitted to enlist in my legions and returned to Rome as Romans." "You shall have the same privilege." "I'm not magnanimous." "Your names are marked." "You'll be watched." "First sign of treachery, you'll be killed." "What is it, Flavius?" "Antony?" "Oh, yes." "Canidius." "With news of Pompey, I hope." " Hail Caesar!" " Drink that in my name, Canidius." "To all Marc Antony's cavalry, Caesar's left wing and right arm." "What news of Pompey, or what's left?" "Pompey's gone, Caesar." "Slipped through our fingers, disguised as a peddler." " Leaving most of his merchandise." " Gone?" "Where?" "He has a galley waiting at the coast." "Provision enough for Egypt, they say." "Egypt." "Possibly." "They owe him a great deal." "He'll ask for sanctuary." "Borrow money, borrow time." "I thought it was over." "It seems it's not." "Rufio, consult the augurers." "I want to know." "In Egypt, will Pompey face me at last?" "But surely Caesar will now return to Rome!" "I must go to Egypt in any case." "IKing Ptolemy and his sister have a civil war of their own intent on destroying each other, and in the process, Rome's wheat." "That cannot be so urgent." "Let the Romans welcome great Caesar properly at last in this greatest of his triumphs." "Triumph?" "Over what?" "Over whom?" " Canidius." " Caesar?" "Leave me the 10th and 12th." "Antony's to take the rest to Rome." " When can he start?" " Whenever you say." "Then at once." "And in Rome, Marc Antony is to speak for Caesar." "His authority is not to be questioned." "His word will be yours." "As always, Caesar's word is law." "Of course." "But remind him to keep his legions intact." "They make the law legal." "Caesar." "And even as Caesar's galleys sailed the great sea to Egypt  it was happening that, just as the Romans  so the Egyptians made war, one upon the other  for King Ptolemy would no longer share the throne  with his sister Cleopatra  but drove her from the city of Alexandria  and sought to destroy her." "We've arrived on their market day." "Once a week they're allowed in the royal enclosure." "Where's the guard of honor for Caesar?" "Some representative of the royal or military?" "We have the privilege of watching Caesar battle through our marketplace." "Marcellus, a dozen front-rank men, swords only." "Clear a direct line to the palace steps." "Then as many more to keep it open." "It's precisely what they hope we'd do:" "Manhandle their people." "No." "This is their market day, we will go marketing." " You're not serious." " We'll shop our way to the palace." "Have you my money?" "Everything is to be paid for by coin." "Tell them to put away the swords and carry moneybags." "Olives." "Oil of olives." "Ah, the wine of Samos." "How much for your wine?" "Four drachma." "Sixty of your wine for my men." "Pay him." "Pay him." "You said they'd push the people and make them angry." "Why aren't they doing what you said they'd do?" "Your king has asked a question, Lord Chamberlain." "The Romans have degenerated minds, Most High Majesty." "They do the unexpected." "Particularly one Roman." "Master of the unexpected." "But with so few men." "You all look so impressive." "Any one of you could be king." "His Divine Majesty, my Lord Ptolemy lord of the Upper and Lower regions son of Ra, of Horus and of Thoth, beloved of..." "Et cetera, et cetera." "You welcome me." "And I, Gaius Julius Caesar, Pontifex Maximus et cetera, et cetera, thank you." "From the Senate and people of Rome, hail IKing Ptolemy." "And his sister and co-ruler, Queen Cleopatra?" "They won't tell you so, but Cleopatra's dead." "She tried to kill me, and we chased her into the desert." "And there she died." "Whereas it is true that His Majesty's sister repeatedly plotted to have him killed it is not true that Cleopatra is dead." "Whereas it is true that she fled from Alexandria..." "I seem to always interrupt you but the search for truth can go on and on." "Pothinus, is it not?" "Lord Chamberlain and chief eunuch to IKing Ptolemy." "An exalted rank." "Obtained not without certain, shall we say, sacrifice." "Theodotus, am I right?" "Tutor to His Majesty in history, philosophy and ambition." "And Achillas." "They say you're a good soldier." " As one to another, where is Cleopatra?" " With her army." "And how many of your men between her and Alexandria?" " Enough." " May I speak?" "Surely you have come in peace." "And we present ourselves to you in warm and respectful welcome." "Our only problem being an internal one, of concern only to us why have you come, Caesar?" "As we all know, when the father of both Ptolemy and Cleopatra died he named the two of them to rule jointly over Egypt." "Rome was appointed their guardian and the executor of his will." "I have come in the name of Rome to ask why Cleopatra has been deposed to resolve the differences between her and IKing Ptolemy and to see that they peacefully resume their joint rule of Egypt." "That will be difficult." "Cleopatra has forfeited her right." "I shall try to decide justly." "Don't you see he'll send for her?" "He'll bring her back!" "The sun which sheds its grace upon the ruler of the two lands burns too brightly perhaps." "If Lord Ptolemy wishes to retire..." "I wish nothing of the kind!" "I won't be put out of the way until I've watched you give him that!" "A thousand pardons, I had almost forgotten." "Lord Ptolemy wishes to enhance his welcome by a gift of some importance." "Most generous." "The ring." "Give him Pompey's ring." "And now the token of His Majesty's affection for Rome and regard for Caesar." "Pompey the Great." "Dead men, they say, do not bite." "Does it please you, Caesar?" "They said it would please you very much." "The sun does shed its grace too brightly." "It has become too hot here for kings." "My Lord Ptolemy will retire." "For His Majesty, a Roman guard of honor." "It was not by your hand, of course." "Lf, as you say, you've been told of me, you know better, Caesar." "My men shall be properly housed and fed." " May I speak?" " Not until you're spoken to." "I'll require rooms in the palace." "I shall consider myself honored to escort you." "Anyone but you." "Find the rest of Pompey." "Tear out a thousand tongues, but find him." "Have him purified the coin in the mouth and the rest, honorably." "Of course." "For now, this is what we must hold." "Moon gate and three others." "Here, here and here." "How are we placed?" "The 10th slingers on the moon gate." "The rest in reserve." "The 12th holding all other positions." "Very thin." "For now, deep enough." " And the wells?" " The water's brackish, but drinkable." "So far." "IKeep an eye on them." "Watch the corn and wheat." "With our supplies secure, we can hold indefinitely." "For a week, perhaps, but for the time being, time enough." "What do you want?" "Is the man to be trusted?" "Seems someone's brought me a gift from Queen Cleopatra." "Apparently, a rug peddler." "Flavius doubts it." "He seems to know the palace very well." "He appeared through a secret passage which none of the men knew." "Pothinus might send an assassin in Cleopatra's name." "Have the man brought in." "Are you the one who brings a gift from Cleopatra?" "Put it down and go." "It is the command of my queen I deliver her gift personally." "I am Caesar." "Lay it here before me." "Forgive me, Admiral Agrippa, but you're not Caesar." "Nor you, General Rufio." "Nor you, Germanicus." "My queen's gift is for the eyes of Caesar alone." " It seems harmless enough." " No, Caesar!" "You can lend me your sword, Rufio." "It may require some cutting." "Odd way to carry a rug." "Isn't it easier to sling it over your shoulder?" "It was less comfortable that way." " For you or the rug?" " That sword, Caesar." "The rug is such a delicate weave." "If I may untie it for you." "Turn it over first." " The rug is right-side up." " I want it the wrong side up." " Should I flip it over with my sword?" " No." "I find one can tell more about the quality of merchandise by examining the back side first." "All hail Cleopatra, kindred of Horus and Ra beloved of the moon and sun, daughter to Isis and of Upper and Lower Egypt, queen." "Thank you." "Here." "Take this to the captain of the night watch." "He'll see the queen's quarters are made ready to her." "Stay where you are." " Have I dismissed you?" " No, Your Majesty." "This is my palace, Caesar." "All of it is available to me at my will." "I am not your prisoner." "If anything, you are my guest." "Most kind." "And as for having my quarters, as you put it, made ready my chief handmaiden has, by now, brought the others out of hiding." "They should almost be finished." "Impossible." "The doors are under guard." "There are doors, and doors." "Of course." "You must take me on a tour someday within the walls of your palace." " What are you waiting for?" " Permission to leave." "Granted." "Apollodorus." "Thank you." "I'm pleased you received my summons and were able to..." "Summons?" "I'm pleased to say I received nothing of the kind." "I'm surprised you thought I would answer one." "Young lady, the voyage in your carpet has apparently not tired you, but I'm exhausted." "Caesar, it is essential we understand each other." "Only through me can you hope to escape the desperate situation in which you find yourself." "I wouldn't bite into that." "Did you bring it with you?" "Have you had it tasted?" "If neither, it's probably poisoned." "At least it's another way out of the desperate situation in which I'm found." "You're being tolerant of me, aren't you?" "Is it because you're so much older?" "Your maps are inferior." "Out-of-date, compared to mine." "They and I have aged together." "The lakes to the west are poorly marked certain important hill positions not even noted." "I must arrange for you to address my mapmakers and general staff." "We've gotten off to a bad start, haven't we?" "I've rubbed you the wrong way." "I'm not sure I want to be rubbed by you at all, young lady." "It is permissible for me to sit, is it not?" "As quickly as possible you must set me alone on the throne of Egypt." "My mission is to put to an end to your tiresome squabbling." "You're not a fool." "Or are you?" "Lmmodestly, perhaps, no." "You've seen my brother and listened to him?" "And that truly evil man to whom he belongs?" "Yes." "Shall we agree upon what Rome really wants has always wanted of Egypt?" "Corn, grain, treasure." "It's the old story." "Roman greatness built upon Egyptian riches." "You shall have them." "You shall have them all and in peace." "But there is only one way." "My way." "Make me queen." "That sounds very much like an ultimatum." "There is no other way." "For one whose assets, up to a few moments ago was a devoted slave and a rolled-up carpet..." "But I have you now, Caesar." "Besides, there are my armies and the simple fact that no mortal hand can destroy me." "Yes, I recall some mention of an obsession you have about your divinity." "Isis, is it not?" "I shall have to insist that you mind what you say." "I am Isis." "I am worshiped by millions who believe it." "Do not confuse what I am with the so-called divine origin that every Roman general acquires together with his shield." "It was Venus you chose to be descended from, wasn't it?" "I must now do a little insisting of my own." "The journey has tired you and you wish to retire." "I am not your servant, Caesar." "Do not dismiss me." "Secondly, you have no armies, young lady." "They are gone because you could not pay them." "Egypt's riches are not available for your use much less to give away." "Perhaps in a day or two we can speak again." " That may be too late for both of us." "Your safety will be my responsibility." "And what about your own?" "I am prepared, I believe, for the time being." "I hope so." "I hope you are as wise, as brilliant the god they say you are." "You Roman generals become divine so quickly." "A few victories, a few massacres." "Only yesterday, Pompey was a god." " They murdered him, didn't they?" " Yes." "Because they thought it would please you." " It didn't, did it?" " No." "Today I found myself remembering how much my daughter loved him." "She died trying to bear him a son." "Gave him this ring." "Sleep well tonight, Caesar." "These next days may be difficult for you." "Good night." "Germanicus, a guard to escort Queen Cleopatra to her apartments." "Guards!" "The corridors are dark, gentlemen." "But you mustn't be afraid." "Haven't we covered everything we can tonight, sir?" " Perhaps a fresh start in the morning." " No, a few more matters." "Rufio, has it occurred to you that our maps of this area are not quite what they should be?" "Why, no." "What makes you think they're not?" "I have an instinct about these things." " Actually of Macedonian descent." "No officially admitted Egyptian blood." ""Reputed to be extremely intelligent and sharp of wit." "Queen Cleopatra is widely read." "Well-versed in the sciences and mathematics." "She speaks seven languages proficiently." "Were she not a woman, she'd be considered an intellectual."" "Nothing bores me so much as an intellectual." "Makes a better admiral of you, Agrippa." "Here's something of more interest to the navy:" ""In obtaining her objectives, she has been known to use torture, poison and even her own sexual talents, which are said to be considerable." "Her lovers, I am told, are listed more easily by number than by name." "It is said that she chooses in the manner of a man rather than wait to be chosen in womanly fashion."" "Well, there's more reason than we thought for not wanting to leave you two alone, eh, sir?" "I'm sorry, I wasn't listening." "Are you inclined to trust Cleopatra?" "Trust?" "Not for a minute." ""Trust." The word has always made me apprehensive." "Like wine, whenever I've tried it, the aftereffects have not been good." "So I've given up wine and trusting." "Oh, it's been a long and difficult day, gentlemen." "The next few may be even longer and more difficult." " Good night." " Good night." "Flavius!" "Flavius!" ""It is autumn again, My best-loved Lesbia" "Look, the torrents of Roman leaves Are falling, falling" "And lovers revive in kisses The promise of spring" "Which will end the winter world With new nightingales calling."" "I taste your food, daughter of Isis and if there be harm in it, let the harm fall upon me." ""But love must bring Despair one day" "As beauty, sorrow."" " Why do you stop, Phoebus?" " In the corridor, there is movement." "That's how the Romans frighten the enemy by stamping their elephant feet." " No, this is one man followed by others." " Caesar, I would say." " Would you?" "We must not disappoint the mighty Caesar." "The Romans tell fabulous tales of my bath and handmaidens and my morals." "Cleopatra's requested my presence." " That was yesterday, Caesar." " I've been occupied." "The queen is occupied with her bath." "Perhaps Caesar could return later or tomorrow." " I'm afraid not." "Hold him." "No, don't hurt him." "You're a good man, Apollodorus." "I hope you're appreciated." "Wait here for me." ""Ah, then let us live and love Without one thought" "For the gossip of virgins Now grown old and stale" "Suns go down and may return" "But once put out Our own brief light" "We sleep through One eternal night."" "An intruder!" "A man!" "Oh, it's you." "You wanted to see me?" "I summoned you yesterday to an audience in my throne room." "I was told I was not permitted to go there." "It's too close to the quarters occupied by your brother and the rest." "I will not be told where I can go and where I cannot go!" "Since there's nothing you want..." "Except my throne!" "At least you've dressed properly for my presence." "Your best armor?" "Almost, but I'm afraid it's not being worn in your honor." "I know." "This morning, you paid a formal visit to the tomb of Alexander." "You remained alone beside the sarcophagus for some time." "I'd like to know how you know." "Just staring down at him." "And then you cried." "Why did you cry, Caesar?" "That man recites beautifully." " Is he blind?" " Don't you hurt him." "I won't." "Not anyone who speaks Catullus so well." "Catullus doesn't approve of you." "Why haven't you had him killed?" "Because I approve of him." ""My desire to please you, Caesar, is very slight" "Nor do I greatly care to know If you are black or white."" "Achillas is moving his entire army to Alexandria." "By tonight, he'll outnumber you 20-to-1, 30-to-1." "He'll have the royal enclosure entirely surrounded." "Except to the sea." "Do you plan to sail away, great Caesar?" "Not for the time being." "Achillas may attack tomorrow, the next day whenever it suits him!" " Very probable." "In your wildest dreams, Caesar, how can you possibly hope to hold the gates of this enclosure against such odds?" "And if you say once more, "For the time being..."" "My officers say anything from a week to indefinitely." "What would you estimate?" "Before you're without water without food your troops slaughtered, picked off from the rooftops poisoned in the brothels?" "A few days, Caesar." "At the most, a few days." "I'm inclined to agree with you." "Young man, do you know this of Catullus?" ""Give me a thousand And a thousand kisses" "When we have many more, We'll scramble them" "And forget the score" "So evil envy will not know How high the count" "And cast its evil eye."" "It couldn't have been as pleasant in the throne room." ""My desire to please you, Caesar, Is very slight..."" "Be still!" "Caesar, a word." "It's important." "The Egyptian galleys in the harbor have been taking on men and armaments." " When will they be prepared?" " Tomorrow, with the morning wind." "Burn them tonight." "Their ships lie close to shore." " The fire may spread to the city." " Let's hope it doesn't." "I can't risk a blockade." "Remember, not before tonight." "Prepare as secretly as possible." "I need this day." "Good luck." "Why not before tonight, my lord?" "Why does Caesar need this day?" "I can't give you that information, for the time being." "Flavius." "Here it is, Caesar." "Just arrived." "The gods shouldn't tantalize us so, Rufio." "It's even better than I'd hoped." " Be on your way, you haven't much time." " Hail Caesar." "It's called an epilepse because of the arching caused by muscular spasms the contortions." "The early Greeks considered those who suffered from it to be favored by the gods." "The great Alexander, they say had this falling sickness." "And, so they say, the mighty Caesar too." "Your Majesty, forgive me." "Sisogenes, the library." " What are you saying?" " The Romans set fire to the Egyptian fleet." " It's about time." "Come see for yourself." "The fire's spread to the city." " The city?" " Just a few buildings but the library is burning." "The great library." "Aristotle's manuscripts." "The Platonic commentaries, the plays, the histories." "The Testament of the Hebrew god." "The Book of Books." " Wind blew into the merchant shipping." " Four burned and sank right here." " And our ships?" " Safe and dry." "Prisoners are surrendering in droves." "I need help." " Not one man." "I may need your sailors." " Halt!" "Take your hands off me!" "You should attack my guards more often." "Battle seems to become you." "You grow more beautiful each time I see you." "And you grow bolder." "And busier." " Actually, we're extremely busy..." " Do you smell smoke?" "We found it necessary to burn the Egyptian fleet." "The ships were in the water." "Did you find it necessary to burn them in the streets?" "Merchant ships caught fire." "The burning masts fell." "Some houses..." "One of them, the great Library of Alexandria." "Yes, I've been told." "I'm extremely sorry." " Now, if you don't mind, I must ask..." " I do mind." "Are you putting the fire out?" "We're forming prisoners into fire brigades." "Oh, I see." "Romans only start fires, is that it?" "Have you left the nursery to come irritate the adults?" "Another time, we're working." " Shall we remove her for you, Caesar?" " Use Roman genius for destruction." "Tear down pyramids, wipe out cities!" "How dare you and the rest of your barbarians set fire to my library?" "Play conqueror all you want, mighty Caesar." "Rape, murder, pillage thousands, millions of human beings." "But neither you nor any other barbarian has the right to destroy one human thought!" "Enough!" "Leave me alone with her." "I will send for you when I finish." "It won't be long." "Swords?" "Javelins?" "Or are you going to set me on fire?" "The time has come for us to understand each other." "Whatever else I may be, in your opinion, first of all, I am Caesar." "And I am Cleopatra, queen, daughter of Isis!" "If I say so and when I say so, you are what I say you are nothing more." "Hail Caesar!" "You, descendant of inbred generations of incestuous mental defectives how dare you call me barbarian." " Barbarian!" "Daughter of a drunkard who bribed his way to the throne." " Your price was too high, remember?" " I've had enough of you pretenders parading on ruins of past glories." " Only the future concerns me." " IKeep out of my affairs, do as I say." " Do as you say?" "Literally?" "As if I were something you had conquered?" "If I choose to regard you as such." "Am I to understand that you're free to do with me whatever you want whenever you want?" "Yes, I want that understood." "Won't you at least wear your laurel wreath so I can be reminded it's the divine Caesar that honors me so?" "You talk too much." "I promise you you won't like me this way." "Caesar!" "An attack on the moon gate!" "The moon gate." "An attack in force!" "Those ballistas need eliminating." "Send out a turtle." "Form the turtle!" "Now is the time for us to attack!" " No." " We have a full legion in reserve." "We hold our positions here." "Two hours till dawn." "We'll hold where we are." " And what happens at dawn?" " I thought you knew." "The sun comes up." "Tell the men they've won." "Liberty and wine for defenders of the gate." "All reserves, cavalry, every man available, move out behind Achillas." " We have him in a vise." " What is the other half?" "Rufio and the armies of Mithradates." "He went out last night." "Mithradates?" "How could he get here this fast?" "I sent him when we sailed for Egypt." "No general in his right mind can hold Alexandria with two legions as you and others have repeatedly pointed out to me." "I taste your drink, daughter of Isis and if there be harm in it, let the harm fall upon me." "Lotus." "You wiped the rim of the cup after you tasted it." "Why?" "Why?" "So my mouth would not soil it." "Lotus taste it again." "Pothinus said he would have me killed." "Forgive me, Majesty." "Forgive me." "Forgive me." "I forgive you." "Now drink it." "Apollodorus!" "Apollodorus!" "Great silence for Gaius Julius Caesar senate consul of the people of Rome." "You will all stand." "Let what is said be recorded as the judgment and decree of the Senate and people of Rome." "There is no judgment here." "And the decree not Rome's, but Cleopatra's." "She has lied to you, Caesar." "She and her slaves lie to you." "You have not been accused, Pothinus." "Thus far." "You are now charged with inciting and abetting war against the Roman army and plotting to assassinate Queen Cleopatra." "You are guilty of both." "You are sentenced to death." "It's too bright in here." "Shut out some of the sun." "Are you going to kill me too, Caesar?" "What am I accused of?" "IKing Ptolemy is hereby removed from the protective custody of Rome." "He'll leave within the hour and be conducted safely to the camp of Achillas." "Achillas!" "You're going to send me back to my own troops?" "He is to be accompanied by his learned tutor, Theodotus." "Do you hear that?" "You'll be saved along with me." "Stop grinning, you little idiot." "May I speak?" "You know that Achillas is trapped between your own legions and the armies of Mithradates." "To send His Majesty to fight may mean his death." "An occupational hazard for those who are king." "But then certainly not I, Caesar." "I'm no king, nor general." "What do I know of war?" "A simple scholar." "A man of thoughts and words." "Too many words." "Enough." "Let all be done properly as decreed." "Flavius." "Find Apollodorus." "Return his dagger to him." "You might clean it first." "It has Pothinus all over it." "Yes, yes, I know I'm tired." "I promise I'll sleep." "You have my apologies for what almost happened to you." "Caesar, will you talk with me for just a minute?" "Yesterday was full." "Tonight was long." "This morning has not been uneventful." "Did you know that Apollodorus would kill Pothinus?" "He was kind enough to wait until Rome had passed sentence of death." "And my brother and Theodotus?" "They too will be killed, possibly." "Probably." "Your Majesty, I'm truly weary." "You knew all along, didn't you, that there was no real danger." "That Mithradates was on his way to reinforce you." " Why didn't you tell me?" " You wouldn't believe me." " I really must insist..." " I would've believed you." " You didn't trust me." " Not for an instant." "And yet, in these last few minutes you have made me undisputed queen." "The sole ruler of Egypt." "Why?" "Perhaps tomorrow we could talk." " Why, Caesar?" " It was best for Rome!" " Best for Egypt." " For Egypt too." "Cleopatra, get out." "I beg of you, get out." "That will not be needed." "It wasn't necessary for me to betray myself." "I could have called out for Flavius." "How many new spy-holes have you dug in the walls?" "Are we being watched even now?" "If you see Flavius, you might send him to me." " Still trying to dismiss me?" " What is it you want?" " What more do you want?" " To be of help to you." "There never has been help." "There never will be." "Now there is." "One day it'll happen where I cannot hide." "Where the world will see me fall." "I shall tumble down before the mob and foam at the mouth and make them laugh." "And they'll tear me to pieces." "The gods themselves had your sickness." "Hannibal, even the great Alexander." "And in the end, they fell." "Were torn to pieces by the mob." "Not you." "I will see to that." "In the name of the Senate and the people of Rome and by their will." "Isis herself would surrender her place in heaven to be as beautiful as you." "You're not supposed to look at me." "No one is." "If they aren't looking, how do they know I am?" "You should be kneeling." "Would that do before all these visiting kings?" "Making believe they're not watching us?" "You have such bony knees." "Not only bony, but unaccustomed to this sort of thing." "If we're to get an early start in the morning..." "What will it be tomorrow?" "More wheat?" "What I've seen could feed more legions than Rome ever had." "There's enough to feed the world." "More gold then." "Why not buy the world?" "Surely you have enough." "At least enough to pay more legions than even Rome has ever had." "More granite, more marble more millions of slaves to build whatever needs building." "Better routes to India, shorter routes to the East." "What can there be in Egypt that I haven't seen?" "Egypt itself." "The reason for Egypt." "My responsibility is Rome." "Alexander understood it that from Egypt he could rule the world." "He was very young." "And you, even younger." "At your age, such dreams have a reality which grows less in time." "Caesar no longer dreams?" "Dangerous to a man of my calling." "Necessary, I would have thought." "I can't stay away from Rome too long." "There are problems." "Messages from Marc Antony endlessly demanding my return." "And on my way back, wars to be fought in the east and north." "Even in Rome itself I'm not without opposition." "Do to them what you did to Achillas." "This is opposition of a different sort." "They weave it cleverly, lightly, like a cobweb." "You know what happens when cobwebs are not regularly swept away." "Do you trust this Marc Antony?" "If anyone in the world, I trust Antony." "Let him brush away the cobwebs for you and stay with me." "You've been declared dictator for a year." "You can do what you want with your time." "Everything but make it stand still." "If..." "When you return to Rome these wars that have to be fought on the way, are they important?" "Well, there's no such thing as an unimportant war." "I've been reading in your commentaries about your campaigns in Gaul." "How does my writing compare with Catullus?" "Well, it's different." "Dull." "Perhaps a little too much description." "You're being tactful." "Some of my critics, Brutus, for one tell me my Latin is not only ungrammatical, but common." "You spared his life more than once." "People say it's because Brutus is your son." "Is that true?" "I have no son." " Calpurnia, your third wife..." " Fourth." "...married to you how long?" "12 years?" "And still, Caesar has no son, no child at all." "It is well-known that Calpurnia is barren." "A woman who cannot bear children is like a river that is dry." "I see no purpose in discussing the subject further." "A woman, too, must make the barren land fruitful." "She must make life grow where there was no life." "Just as the Mother Nile feeds and replenishes the earth." "I am the Nile." "I will bear many sons." "Isis has told me." "My breasts are filled with love and life." "My hips are rounded and well apart." "Such women, they say have sons." "That first time when you stood here alone why did you cry?" "Will you tell me now?" "Because I had lost something." " What?" " A lifetime." " Mine." " Nonsense." "Having conquered the world, he died at 32." "I am 52." "My remaining ambition is to keep the world from conquering me." "Your ambitions must always have been his." "They still must be." "Shall I tell you something?" "When I was 32 in Spain I came upon a statue of Alexander." "I wept then too." "Even then." "I want you to have his sword to take back with you." " Too deeply embedded." " It can be removed." "It's buried in time." " And Alexander's mantle?" " Too heavy for Caesar." "His dream then." "Make his dream yours, Caesar." "His grand design." "Pick it up where he left off." "Out of the patchwork of conquests one world." "And out of one world, one nation." "One people on earth living in peace." "So you have told me at last what it is you want of me." "Of us!" "At the center, the capital of this world, one people, one nation Alexandria?" " He chose it." " I am Roman." "He was Greek!" "What will it matter when we're all one people?" "I am 52." "He was 32 and failed." "We will succeed." "Your dreams, your ambitions." "One lifetime is not enough for such dreams, such ambitions." "The cloak of Alexander cannot be too heavy for Rome and Egypt to carry together." "And what if his sword is too deeply embedded?" "Yours will replace it, Caesar." "You have a way of mixing politics and passion." "Where does one begin and the other leave off?" "That did not start, nor will it end with me." "Cleopatra, whatever it is, however it comes out leave me my destiny." "Your destiny is no longer just yours." "It's mine too." "Soon, there will be someone to carry both the cloak of Alexander and the sword of Caesar and the name of Caesar." "And in that name he will rule Egypt." "And whatever part or all of the world that we give him our child will be a son for you, Caesar." "By Isis, I swear it." "Could you put off your return to Rome just long enough?" "I came as quickly as I could." "Antony is welcome to Caesar's house as often and as quickly as he likes." "As Caesar's wife, before truth is distorted into vicious gossip I wanted you to hear..." " That my husband has married Cleopatra." "There's some fresh wine." "One of your many favorites." "The ceremony, according to vicious gossip, was in the Egyptian religion." "Even if true, that can't be taken seriously." "During which he was formally declared an Egyptian god." "Officially divine, at last." "That must have pleased Caesar." "Calpurnia, we know Caesar, you and I." "This so-called marriage has no validity under Roman law." "There must be political purpose." "Perhaps a symbolic ceremony to ratify our bond with Egypt." "Perhaps merely indulging some barbaric custom." "You've been loyal and kind." "You came as quickly as you could." "Unhappily, vicious gossip travels even faster than you and the truth." "Have you heard, for instance, that Cleopatra is carrying Caesar's child?" "Yes, Antony." "We know him you and I." "There shall be..." "There shall be Rome." "Mighty and alone and unloved." "A mistress." "A mistress shall raise thee again from earth to heaven and all the world shall know a golden age of justice and of love." "A son shall be born to Isis!" "A son shall be born to Isis!" "Rome shall know him in cloth of gold." "The East shall see him laden with jewels and treasure." "A son of Egypt and of Rome!" "Here shall he find his destiny!" "Do exactly as I tell you." "When the child is born after he is anointed and named royal prince take him to Caesar." "Bring Caesar here." "No." "Exactly as I tell you." "Take the child to Caesar, in front of his men." "Do you understand?" "In front of all the Romans." "Lay him at Caesar's feet." "At Caesar's feet." "I will do just as you say." "Fear not." "We have never lost a Caesar." "That remark was insubordinate and in bad taste!" "Caesar, remember Roman law." "If you pick up this child you acknowledge it's yours and a citizen of Rome, as your heir." "A son." "I have a son!" " Hail Caesar!" " Hail Caesar!" "He's been made king of Egypt." "They have named their bastard Caesarion." "Prince Caesarion." "What better name for the heir to the throne of Rome." "There is no throne of Rome." "Nor shall there be, nor would Caesar tolerate one." "But a son!" "We know how much he's wanted one." "I am happy for Caesar." "Your happiness is understandable enough." "Now that Caesar has publicly recognized a son one need no longer wonder about Brutus." "Is it a relief not to be wondered about, Casca?" "To be known openly as you are for what you are:" "Liar, swindler, bully and coward." "Brutus, you'll turn Casca's head with your flattery." "And Casca's head, if turned, will see Marc Antony." "A part of Caesar more to be feared than his infant son." "But it is for the good of Rome that Caesar has stayed so long in Egypt." "In his absence, the people have come to worship him as a god." "Why should he return to show himself as mortal as the rest?" "There are those who fear Caesar's ambition." "But what is to fear?" "That he will destroy the republic?" "Yes, he will." "I promise you he will." "Your tongue is old but sharp, Cicero." "Be careful how you waggle it." "It may cut off your head." "It will more likely be your sword, Antony." "'Tis just as sharp and quicker and frightened of heads." "There'll be a strong smell of wine in the Senate today." "We must breathe with restraint." "Octavian, this what's his name, this son of Caesar does it upset you?" "No." "You run off at the mouth so one thinks your words are as precious as your gold." "Like my gold, I use them where they are worth most." "And your virtue?" "My friend has a friend." "That too." "You know, it's quite possible that when you die you will die without ever having been alive." "I can't leave without saying goodbye to my son and to you." "We thought, your son and I, that if we came to you we would have those few minutes more." "A good thing to remember, my son what you will not let go, no one will take from you." "Hail and farewell, little Caesar." "Was it a century ago when I was dropped at your feet, wrapped in a carpet?" "Or was it last night?" "When will you send for us?" "When?" " Soon." " How soon?" "When?" "So much time must go by before even I reach Rome." "And then how soon?" "Within reasonable time." "Time is never reasonable." "Time is our enemy, Caesar." "Am I to conquer it for you?" "What plan of battle do you suggest?" "I must bring your son to Rome." "Rome must see Caesar's son who will one day rule over Caesar's world." "Caesar?" "I'm afraid the tides will soon be against you." "Not only time, but the tides." "Even as divinities, there seems little we can do about either." "But only after more than two years  and many wars in Africa and Asia Minor  was Caesar able to cross over to Italy and come home at last  to celebrate his triumphs and see to his affairs." ""In recognition, the Senate has bestowed upon Caesar the rank, privilege and title of dictator of Rome for life."" "Dictator for life!" "At long last, he is master of Rome." "Apollodorus, everything must be made ready at once." " Ships, servants..." " We are prepared." "Surely now nothing can prevent his sending for us if only to attend his coronation as he did mine." " Your Majesty..." " Three long, wasted years!" "Why should the Senate have taken so long to recognize what the world has already known?" "That Caesar was master of Rome." "Rufio wishes to speak." "Your Majesty seems to misunderstand." "It seems quite clear." "Caesar has been declared dictator of Rome for life." "True." "But there is a vast difference between dictator and master." "No man can call himself master of Rome." "Why not?" "It has a meaning far too close to a word no Roman will tolerate:" "IKing." "And to be dictator of Rome for life?" "Is to be granted the lifelong respect and honor of the Roman people." "And the dictates of the dictator?" "Must in each case, of course, be approved by the Senate of Rome." "Thank you, Rufio." "The enemy!" "The enemy!" "The enemy!" "Sisogenes." "You must think it odd that I propose an invitation to Queen Cleopatra." "Do you?" "Egypt, after all, has been officially declared ally of Rome." "Still, I confess I was surprised at some of those who voted in favor." "Were you?" "May I express my gratitude for being permitted to visit today's session?" "It was truly inspiring to witness the free will of free men so fearlessly expressed." "He seemed most anxious to be present." " I saw no harm in granting permission." " Didn't you?" "After today, never again shall I doubt the extent of Egypt's wealth." "I don't like Cicero's implication." "There's not enough gold in Egypt to buy a Roman senator." "More than enough, it seems, to buy his vote." "How was it now?" ""Rome will know him in cloth of gold."" "By reports, the reception in the streets is extraordinary." "The queen has instructed the procession to move slowly for the people's enjoyment." "I might almost believe Cleopatra set out to capture the citizens of Rome." "One would have every reason for believing exactly that." "Nothing like this has come into Rome since Romulus and Remus." "How unafraid he is." "How unafraid he is." "Your queen has conquered the people of Rome." "The people, yes." "Now then, walk like a king." "Head up." "Listen to them cheer." "Take your throne." "Bow to the right, left." "Now an angry glance at someone who's displeased you." "Very good." "I tremble." "See me tremble?" "No, don't smile." "Not when they're trembling." "It makes them stop." "Now the prisoners are dragged before you, one by one." "This one has no power anywhere, therefore means nothing." "But you wish to be known as a noble ruler." "What do you say?" ""I pardon you."" "Louder." "You pardon somebody, you want it known." ""I pardon you!"" "Ah, now, who comes here?" "Once your friend." "You trusted him, and he turned against you." "He has power, wealth and family." "He kneels." "He begs you to be his friend again." "To have you trust him again." "And then?" "What then, little king?" "Caesar must wish what needs commanding." "To drain the Pontine Marshes." "To free Rome from malaria." "To fill my belly." "To control the Tiber's floods." "To improve the harbor at Ostia." "To please my ambition." "And must I wish roads to be built, libraries for public use?" "The men of Italy to be equal to those of Rome?" "Many of these have merits and merit our approval." ""Merit your approval." Is Caesar to come before the Senate each day like a schoolboy, now passing, now failing?" "Do you suggest the Senate no longer deliberate the welfare of Rome?" "To end the process of Roman law?" "I must be the law!" "And my word must be the welfare of Rome." "Else, take from me this meaningless title of dictator." "I've carried a sword for too long." "I cannot now pretend with an empty scabbard." "Surely Caesar recalls the symbolic nature of the title "dictator" at the time it was conferred." "It was to honor Caesar above all men and to indicate Rome's gratitude for your triumphs in its name." "Brutus, I recall them well, those triumphs." "Do you?" "Pharsalia, for one." "You trembled in Antony's hand when he was hot to separate you from your head with just cause." "My command spared your life." "There was no deliberating body." "It was not my wish, but my command." "By my dictate that you stand here dribbling virtue out of your mouth." "Sit down." "No, I want no more meaningless privileges and considerations." "No more honors designed to pacify me." "I would rather have nothing." "Remain what I am at heart." "A humble man, anxious only to serve." "Why are the eyes of a statue always without life?" "Have any of you here seen the Nile?" "Spare yourselves the journey." "She carries it within her eyes." "I suggest, Caesar, that the hour is late." "Very late for Rome." "I was speaking, Cassius!" "I was..." "Now, where was I?" ""Anxious to serve."" "Yes, I've served." "Served for all of my life." "I've won for Rome more than half of the world." "Most of you owe your honors and fortunes to me." "And now I want you to do as I say." "You will appoint me emperor of Rome." "There is no need to resume your seats." "On behalf of all, thank you, Majesty, for your hospitality." "Good night." "Thank you and good night." "They resent being summoned here for meetings properly held in the Senate." "Resent it, do they?" "I cannot understand that the eyes of a statue should be always without life." "They resent me." "To flaunt me like this." "They'll use it to keep from you that which is yours." "By divine right, is that not so?" "Yes." "It is." "By divine right." "We shall have the Senate, in its deliberations, deliberate that." "Are you quite sure what it is you want so desperately?" "I've always been sure." "And Caesar?" "Does anyone speak for him?" "No." "Good night." "Tell me, Brutus, is it proper to stand before this goddess Caesar's set here in the temple?" " Or must we, as Romans, kneel?" "Not yet." "See there, where room has been left for another deity?" "When the god Caesar stands beside the goddess Cleopatra then Rome will crawl before them." "When that day comes, if it comes." " He demanded we make him emperor." " Only once, and it was his sickness." "His sickness grows worse." "Soon it will kill us." "He asked once to be made emperor, but he's since decreed himself god!" "Emperor and god." "No longer just king, but emperor and god!" " Brutus, open your eyes!" " What do you want of me?" "When the people think upon the honor of Rome they think upon one man:" "Brutus." "By that honor and by the responsibility you carry Brutus, save Rome from Caesar!" "You cannot ask me to destroy him." "Then let Caesar destroy Rome." "Antony has just come from a meeting of my friends with good news." "Tomorrow at the Senate, Lucius Cotta will move that I be made king." "It will pass." "But I don't understand." "IKing and emperor." "And it will pass?" "The last few months, I've been enjoying one of the few privileges of being dictator." "I have been appointing senators." "Slightly more than half the Senate has been appointed by me." "Once again, the army of Mithradates on its way all the time." "It will pass." "Tomorrow, the ides of March, a day to be remembered the Senate will declare me king of Rome." "IKing, yes, but not of Rome." "Not of Rome?" "What are you saying?" "They'll offer you king of the Roman Empire, outside Italy." "They're afraid, Caesar." "Even your friends." "Afraid of the people." " Perhaps in time..." " To be afraid of the people." "To waste time on the people." "IKing of all but Rome?" "What is there?" "The huts of Gaul?" "The caves of Britain?" "The whole of the empire outside Italy." "I will not accept." "They mean it to be an empty gesture." "Another title to please your fancy, flatter your ego." "Nothing more." "And it will pass." "Then accept it, Caesar." "I have never settled for half a victory." "Nor will you now." "Caesar, mighty Caesar all I can say is what you've taught me:" "Take a little, then a little more until finally you have it all." "Let them declare you king." "Even if it's only of a tree in Asia Minor." "The rest will come to you." "To redo once more everything I have already done?" "It's what you have never done, what you never conquered that waits for you." "The great legions of Rome in the outer empire that will become your legions." "The gold, the power of Egypt." "Your Egypt." "Caesar, you can conquer and hold the world as your own." "Won't you understand?" "IKings are not elected." "Gods are not elected." "Why, not only Rome but all of Italy upon which Rome stands must fall in your hands like a drop of sweat." "Let them make you what they choose." "I'll serve with you." "My legions with yours." "Together we'll conquer a world beyond the wildest dreams of Alexander." "Rome." "What was Rome when Sulla died when Crassus lost the armies in Parthia?" "These same men came after me through the streets howling like frightened dogs, "Caesar, save us!"" "They would've made me king then." "I wouldn't let them then." "He was thrown over the wall." "It's not a pretty sight." "Titus, the moneylender." "Why should he be killed savagely and brought here?" "Obviously, I am being warned." "Perhaps I am next." "They dare to threaten you?" " Caesarion." "Where was my son...?" " Not far away." "It frightened him." " Lepidus, how many legions has he now?" " Fifteen." "Perhaps more." " Where?" " Scythia." "You and I will dine with Lepidus tonight." "We'll talk of armies and battlefields and lists of men to die." "Tomorrow in the Senate, let them offer the sands of Libya as my kingdom I will accept." "This is great Caesar beloved by Rome and at least one of us who must die so that Rome may live." "If it must be done, then let us do it unashamed and unafraid." "If the world is to know that Rome will not have a king then let us make it the honorable act of free men in the light of day." "In the light of what day, Brutus?" "Tomorrow?" "In the curia of the Senate?" "And shall we be armed, all of us?" "Decimus, come to Caesar's villa early tomorrow to escort him to the Senate." "Cimber, Marc Antony must not enter the curia with Caesar." "On a pretext, lead him aside to speak of what you heard at Lepidus' house." "I remember something odd." "At one point, Caesar asked of each of us what manner of death we would choose." "And Caesar, when it came to him, looked straight at me and said:" ""Sudden."" "Odd, isn't it?" "I was afraid I'd find you still asleep." "Caesarion is." "He was awake most of the night." "Did the storm frighten him?" "He said not, but it did." "I could tell." "Have you time to come in?" "Decimus awaits." "He came by expressly to accompany me to the Senate." "Decimus?" "Has he done this before?" "A shrewd politician." "He hopes to benefit by arriving with me, this day of days." "IKeep Antony close by." "You too?" "The ladies of Rome seem to have caught each other's fears this morning." "Like a head cold." "Calpurnia pleaded with me not to go to the Senate at all." "Why?" "Why would she not want you to go?" "Oh, the bad night." "Nothing else." "She awoke screaming in her sleep." "The thunder, the lightning." "She dreamed that she saw me murdered." "That she saw me or a statue of me covered in blood." "The servants told her of seeing men of fire in the heavens odd happenings and so forth." "Strange birds were seen in the Forum." "One flew into the Senate carrying a sprig of laurel which it dropped at the base of Pompey's statue." "Pompey?" " Caesar, I'm afraid." " You must not tell me to stay away." "Shall I too be afraid?" "Can it be said of Caesar, he gave up the world because of a thunderstorm?" "That such divinity that was in him ran before mortal superstition?" "I feel you need me now and I cannot help you." "Then help me to live as I have lived, always differently from the rest." "The others, for whom life is merely an endless fear of dying." "Your gods and mine go with you, Caesar." "The world, except for you, is filled with little men." "Fire burns." "Fire burns." "The winds of destruction blow." "Rome mighty and alone, the winds of destruction blow down upon thee!" "Storms and hail shall cut down wheat shall cut down birds and living things of earth." "The heavens and the gods themselves." "My son!" "Caesar!" "Caesar!" "Caesar!" "Caesar!" "There has been much to do." "And it seems you have done it extremely well." "Is that where...?" "Yes." "In Egypt, we build eternal monuments to our dead heroes." "Here, you burn them like rubbish." "Goodbye." "I've brought the 10th Legion." "You have nothing to fear." "Nothing to fear?" "That's no reason for staying." "So much has happened so quickly." "Suddenly I have the pieces of a broken world to pick up:" "Caesar, you running off at night like this." "Do you suggest that I stay?" "Why?" "Don't ask me to be clear about my feelings right now." "I'm tired." "And with you, it's never easy to say my meaning." "But you speak so well, Antony." "I've been told how excitingly you read Caesar's will to the sobbing, murdering, free citizens of Rome." "Naming as his heir his great nephew, Octavian!" "I knew Caesar's will and the reasons for it." "If Octavian hadn't been named how many hours or minutes would you have survived?" "And if Caesar had become truly king do you believe he would still have named Octavian?" "In any case, it's over." "Caesar and the dream that was murdered with him." "First Alexander's then Caesar's." "Now over." "Finished." " First, Rome must be put in order." " Rome again." "Brutus and the others must be found and killed." " Then?" " In death Caesar must be granted the power and title he was denied in life." "A dead king, a dead god." "Safe enough even for Rome." "Caesarion as Caesar's son could claim the title of king and his deification." "And to what court of law would my son and I take our claim?" "I will present it to the Roman Senate myself." "I believe you would." "And after the noble senators have stopped laughing do my son and I then declare war on Rome?" "No." "For this, a Caesar would be needed." "You have very little time." "Another Caesar." "But thank you." "I shall remember your kindness to us." " You give up too easily." " Do I?" "Let me come to Alexandria and talk more with you." " Whenever you like." " Now." "Tonight, if I could." "In any case, try to remember." "For more than two years did Antony seek out the assassins of Caesar." "At last, at Philippi  he was able to set against them his legions and those of Octavian  who was Caesar's heir." "Cassius was the first to die  by his own hand." "Then Brutus and the others." "Hail Antony!" "Hail Antony!" "Hail Antony's legion!" "You remember Philippi." "He won it." "My lord." " This way." " But my tent is this way." "Later." "I'll see him later." "Octavian depresses me." "You promised." "Well, the fighting's over." "We've won it all." "Your health should improve quickly." "Even if I die, my place is with you on the field." " You were wrong to prevent me." " Caesar was ill." "Caesar?" "Ah, yes." "I keep forgetting." "I have inherited the name." "I have made it mine." "Why not?" "You'll never be confused with the other one." "At least your troops fought bravely, under my command." "Agrippa has kept me fully informed." "What were you doing there?" "The battle was fought on land, between men, not wood bumping on water." "Why did you bring Agrippa?" "Were you expecting rain?" "Shall we choose a piece of land, just you and I?" "Be quiet." "There are matters to talk about." "Have you an objection to Agrippa remaining?" "I object to Agrippa at all times." "Lying here, indisposed you must have had time to consider the problem." "I think it is best to continue the Triumvirate." "You and I and Lepidus." "Very well." "Lepidus shall have Africa and the islands." "You, Spain and Gaul." "Rome and Italy to be administered by the three of us, jointly." " And you?" " All the rest." "Then, with Lepidus in Africa and you in the East bringing order to Rome and Italy will be my problem." " So it seems." " Spain and Gaul aren't enough." "I'll need money." " There have been tax riots in Rome." " So I've heard." "Done." "And done." "Would Caesar approve, do you think?" "Definitely." "Perhaps the veil of Isis would have bothered him a bit." "Three years and Rome remembers him only by the image on a gold coin." "Are they those I brought back with me?" "When Octavian had them struck off it was to commemorate Caesar's deification." "So that he could inherit Caesar's divinity together with all the rest." "Even a dead god cannot rewrite his will." "Antony did present Caesarion's claims to the Senate." "He kept that much of his promise." "And he will keep the rest of it." "After almost three years since Caesar's death more than a year since Philippi?" "Antony will come." "He will need Egypt." "Egypt is you." "That's what I meant, of course." "Antony will need me." "Finances!" "My head hurts when you talk of money." "Change the subject." "All right." "News from Rome." "Octavian has forced Lepidus out of his command and into exile." "I wish I hadn't..." "I wish I had not drunk so much today." "So do I." "Do I trouble you, Rufio?" "Yes, you do." "I'll wager Caesar was never befuddled by wine." "Nothing befuddled him." "The campaign against Parthia won't be easy." " How many legions have we left?" " It's hard to tell." " So many desertions." " Desertions?" "They haven't been paid in months." "You remember when we started into Greece?" "I lived with them, ate with them." "I was one of them." "They seem distant to me now, as if they were a memory." "We must find the gold to pay them the wheat to feed them, supplies, ships, armor." "And where do you suggest we look for all these?" " I thought perhaps further to the east." " Syria?" " Perhaps more to the south." " Ethiopia?" "To the north..." " I forbid her mention!" " I didn't." "I won't crawl to her!" "Why hasn't she offered assistance?" " She may not know." " She knows everything." " Lf only in gratitude..." " Perhaps she'll express it in person." "Then let her come." "Am I so much less than Caesar?" "Nor she less than queen of Egypt who you promised..." "Strip them naked, they're no longer queens." "It is also difficult to tell the rank of a naked general." "And generals without armies are naked, indeed." "All right." "I'll meet her halfway." "I'll send you to her." " Order her to come." " Lf I order, I need not journey." " Then summon her." " Even worse." "Then beg, entreat, find the word you like pour perfume, whinny like a stallion." "But see that she comes to me." "I understand your position, Rufio." "Surely you must understand mine." "I do not intend to join that long list of queens who have quivered happily at being summoned by Lord Antony." "But surely I didn't say "summoned."" "You said "invite." He meant "summon."" "In any case, I am the queen of Egypt." "And I choose to remain on Egyptian soil." "Tarsus is not the other end of the world, Your Majesty." "If it were one step from Egypt, that would be too far." "I will meet with Lord Antony but only on Egyptian soil." "My lady, a way must be found, a time, a place to satisfy you both." "Must it, Rufio?" "Cleopatra." "Cleopatra!" "It is." "It must be." "She said never, except on Egyptian soil." ""Never." Something women say to begin with." "Welcome Queen Cleopatra on my behalf." "Extend my invitation to a banquet in her honor." " Don't you think...?" " Still not convinced?" "Hurry back, there's much to be done." "Have the cooks sent to me." "Forgive me, noble Rufio." "It is you who do not understand." "Queen Cleopatra, at present in her chamber, is on Egyptian territory and intends to remain on it." "Most learned Sisogenes, forgive me but this is Tarsus, not Alexandria." "You are on Tarsus, noble Rufio." "I am on Egypt." "Tonight and tomorrow night, if Lord Antony desires to meet Her Majesty he will come to her, to Egypt." "I shall do my best to prevail upon Lord Antony to attend." "Marc Antony, how prompt you are." "If I had not been, it would be unforgivable of me." "I hoped to be here as you came aboard." "If you had, it would be unforgivable of me." "Be more tolerant." "Forgive yourself now and then." "Almost three years." "Have you possibly become more beautiful?" "Almost three?" "That long?" "The time has passed so quickly." "Your necklace." "It seems to be made of gold coins." "Coins of Caesar." " Do you find it attractive?" " Very." "And I find what you're wearing most becoming." "Greek, isn't it?" "I have a fondness for almost all Greek things." "As an almost all-Greek thing, I'm flattered." "An unusual necklace." "Nothing but gold coins of Caesar." " How did you come by it?" " I had it made." "I wear it always." "A fabulous feast." "One is so limited when one travels by ship." "This fabulous ship together with its queen, the fabulous Cleopatra." "The name of Marc Antony is not exactly unknown to the world." " In the last year or so since we met..." " Almost three." "By now you have become one-third the master of Rome." "You don't permit yourself to forget him?" "That's an odd way of putting it." ""Don't permit myself?"" "Is it necessary to wear him around your neck?" "You forget, Antony, in these almost three years how full your own life has been." "They can't have been uneventful for you." "You rule Egypt alone." "Oh, they have been busy, but not full." "There's a difference." "There cannot be enough hours in the days of a queen and her nights have too many." " So I fill them with memories." " Of Caesar?" "And of a dream that almost came true." "You may remember." "I remember that night in Rome, saying it could still come true." "You said so much that night to so many." "Let me get rid of them all." "Why?" "I have arranged an entertainment." "A dance in the Greek fashion to welcome the god Bacchus." "If I make a great show of going, they'll have to leave too." "Then I can return and we can talk alone, you and I." " When would you return?" " In an hour, no more than two." " How long would you stay?" " Until we had nothing more to say." "Are you a strong swimmer?" "We sail at sunrise." "I don't understand." "Home to Alexandria, to Egypt." "You've come all this way for one night." "All to make a fool of me." "Perhaps you would feel less a fool if you stayed the night with me, is that it?" "I've told you before." "With you, words do not come easily to me." "There is too much unsaid within me that I cannot say." "Then I cannot know it." "There is much unsaid within you too." "That is probably true of everybody." "Stay for a while." "I have known you so long but so little." "Give me time." "Not I. Not Egypt and Rome together." "Not even the gods have time to give you." "But, Antony, use what you have." "Don't waste it by playing at god here in Tarsus while Octavian in Rome becomes a god." "The dance, I take it, is over." "Sit up." "I want to see whether you sleep with your memories." "With so much left unsaid within you it must be a relief to break and tear things." " I want to say something now." " Perhaps some other time." "Now!" "Caesar." "Conquer and conquer." "Bring the world to its knees." ""You're not a Caesar." "Did you know that?" "Be braver than the bravest stronger than the strongest." "Still no Caesar." "Caesar's done it first and better." "Ruled better, loved better." "Run where you will, you can't get out." "There's no way out." "The shadow of Caesar will cover you and the universe for all of time."" ""Whenever you like," you said in Rome." ""Come to Alexandria whenever you like."" ""Now, tonight," I said." "To bow to the throne upon which Caesar put you." "To talk of a new treaty." "Caesar's can't be improved." "Copy it." "Of Caesar's son." "Of the dream you shared that still fills your life." "Alexander's design for a world to be ruled by you and Caesar." "Where is Antony?" "Where is Marc Antony?" "Antony the Great!" "The divine Antony!" "Here." "He's here." "One step behind Caesar." "At the right hand of Caesar." "In the shadow of Caesar." "Tell me, how many have loved you since him?" "One?" "Ten?" "Anyone?" "No one?" "Have they kissed you with Caesar's lips?" "Is it his name you cry out?" "Afterwards, has he reproached you and have you begged forgiveness?" "You've come here, then, running over with wine and self-pity to conquer Caesar." "For so long now, you've filled my life like a great noise I hear everywhere in my heart." "I want to be free of you, of wanting you of being afraid." "Yet, Caesar would not permit it." "But I will never be free of you." "From the first instant I saw you entering Rome on that monstrous stone beast shining in the sun like a little gold toy." "...how I envied Caesar." "Went suddenly sick with it." "Not his conquests or his triumphs." "Not his titles or the roaring of the mob." "I envied him you." "When we first met in Rome, I remembered you." "I wondered that I could ever have forgotten." "Remembered me?" "Years ago, when you were a young cavalry officer stationed at the palace in Alexandria under that Roman general." " What was his name?" " Gabinius." "Gabinius." "I was 12 years old, and I loved you." " Nonsense." " It's true." "Lovers always want so much never to have loved before." "It's possible, you know." "It becomes a game." "Who loved whom first?" "I did." "If you noticed me at all then, you were probably terrified of me." "With good reason." "Everybody knows Romans cut up little children and feed them to their horses." "We'll make this our beginning." "Beginning with tonight you must never envy Caesar or anyone, anything again." "After all this is nothing new." "For so many years Antony has fed upon the crumbs that fell from Julius Caesar's table." "I say they are deserving of each other." "Let him stay in Egypt." "Let him fritter away his life but not the possessions and the empire of the Roman people!" "The Roman people!" "The Roman people." "What are glory and possessions to them?" "Is their Antony content?" "Then so are they." "Does their Antony sweep their empire under Cleopatra's bed?" "His adoring Romans sigh and remain content." "Let him stay however distant for however long with never a thought of them." "The Roman people hold him close to their hearts." "Distant?" "Perhaps from Rome but not from Caesar, I think." "Nor from Caesar's son." "Germanicus, do you speak of me?" "No, I speak of Caesar." "I am Caesar." "Only while Antony remains distant from Rome." "Antony!" "Stay not too long in Alexandria!" "Germanicus stay not too long in Rome." " How much is known to Antony?" " All of it and more." "I've written him regularly." "Letters, dispatches by personal messenger." "And what has he answered?" "He wrote he was no longer interested in the matters I described." "That he would not return to Rome." "That he understood quite clearly what was at stake, what he would lose." "But that he would not leave you." "Let's try the goat." "Let's try the goat." "Let's have that goat again." "There." "Not too much." "There." "The milk of a cow of a goat and of an ass." "Which is best for softening the beard?" "Is it true Octavian shaves but once a week?" "Even then, he has merely to face the wind and let the fuzz blow away." "You knew, didn't you, Germanicus was here from Rome?" "Yes." "Have you strong feelings about beards?" "I had one." "Bright red." "Why haven't you seen him?" "When you go must it be for very long?" "I must take some of these with me." "They don't have them." "At least, they didn't when I was last in Rome." "While they were digging the foundation of my tomb the workers found an old wall." "Someone had scratched on it hundreds of years ago:" ""You were not here last night, and I could not sleep." "Will you be here tonight?"" "Do you suppose they ever met again?" "Everything that I shall want to hold or look upon or have or be is here now with you." "I must not be sorry for myself." "Queens are sometimes no better at that than kings, or even princes." "It doesn't seem fair." "What I feel I should have felt long ago when I was very young." "When I could say to myself that this was how love was and how it would be." "But to have waited so long, to know so suddenly this late how it hurts." "How love can stab the heart." "Be careful with Octavian." "Let him be careful with me." "The Romans want no war between the two of you." "In any case, you are not ready yet." "War?" "The world is filled with love." "There'll be no more wars." "You must have your share." "Your titles and powers must be spelled out exactly." "There can be no question of your complete authority in the East." "Antony, how will I live?" "The same as I." "One breath upon the other." "Each bringing us one breath closer." "You take so much of me with you so far." "Remember, remember." "They'll want you to forget." " Please..." " Forget?" "How?" "I can never be more far away from you than this." "He will come first to Brindisium." "Agrippa and I plan to welcome his arrival with a great ceremony." "He must see how dear to the hearts of the Romans, of us all he is and has been." "He has been away for a very long time." "Perhaps we can persuade him to stay with us even longer." "Perhaps, Octavia, if you came to Brindisium, you could help." "You may have forgotten." "It is only six months since..." "Begging the pardon of Agrippa and our ancestors I do not agree that a young widow must retire from life." "You haven't left my house since your husband died." "If only for the sake of your health, the change alone..." "Then, begging the pardon of Lord Agrippa and our ancestors I would look forward very much to the change." "Nothing, no one, could possibly shine more brightly in the sun." "Not only Antony." "Any man would not hold out his greedy fists for Octavia." "After all, what greater pledge could I offer of my goodwill toward him?" "And how could Antony better show his love of peace and Rome than by accepting?" "And Cleopatra?" "Are you suggesting we invite her to the wedding?" "You remember when Julius Caesar returned and those months while she was in Rome?" "There was a poison in his heart, in his brain." "Yes, the falling sickness." "But more than that." " Cleopatra." " I remember well." " Antony is no Caesar." " I am grateful for that." "Granted that he marries Octavia, will he forget Cleopatra?" " Will she permit him to forget?" " Most probably not." " Have I permission to speak?" " Quickly." "A galley came to Pelusium with news from Rome." "Antony and Octavian have sealed a great pact." "Antony has 10 more legions and all of the East for his domain." "Egypt will be declared ally of Rome." "It is done." " There is more." " No." "No more, my lord." " He's afraid." " Is there anything more?" "Forgive me, Divine Majesty." "There has been a marriage." "A marriage of state." "Between Octavia, the sister of Caesar and Lord Antony." "Anything more?" "They're presently in Athens." "Sometime within the year, Lady Octavia is to return to Rome." "Antony will come here to negotiate the alliance of Rome and Egypt." "Leave me." "No." "Completely alone." "Antony!" "Do you find it pleasing, my lord?" "Oh, yes." "Very." "It was made here in Athens." "Not as practical as our Roman ones, of course." "The Greeks have such a weakness for beauty." "Does the dinner not please you, my lord?" "Very much." "I'm not particularly hungry." "If anything would please you more..." "Believe me, I am pleased." "The gods know you do nothing but please me in every way." "Word from Domitius?" "He never even reached the palace." "He was not permitted through the city gate." "If I may be excused." "There's no need for you to go." "When I hear matters of state discussed by men invariably I find myself wondering about why the wine has gone sour." "Good night, Rufio." "Good night, my lord." "Domitius turned away at the gate." "That makes how many?" "Five of your ambassadors turned away within this year." " Lf you'd gone when..." " It was the only favor I ever asked." "You granted it." "The treaty with Egypt must be made." "We've received no wheat, no gold..." "I cannot go to her to negotiate a treaty!" "She'll have no one else." "And what if she should turn me away?" "That would be quite impossible." "Have you ever really left her?" "No." "Three days I've waited for an audience with you." "What is the purpose?" "Get out, all of you." " You're before the throne of Egypt." " I know!" "State your purpose!" "Matters I won't discuss publicly." "I do not grant private audiences to unidentified persons." "I am Marcus Antonius." "I know who you are." "What are you, at the moment?" "Envoy of Rome, proconsul of all the Roman Empire to the east of Italy." "An impressive title." "Worthy, perhaps, of a private audience?" "Without a treaty of alliance with Egypt you could not hold the territories under your command." "True?" "Possibly." "Then, Lord Antony, you come before me as a suppliant." " Lf you choose to regard me as such." " I do." "You will therefore assume the position of a suppliant before this throne." "You will kneel." " I will what?" " On your knees." "You dare ask the proconsul of the Roman Empire..." "I asked it of Julius Caesar." "I demand it of you!" "Now you may have the treaty you asked for on the following conditions:" "By your authority as proconsul of Rome you will cede to Egypt immediately the following territories:" "Judea, Jordan, Armenia, Phoenicia, the provinces of Sinai and Arabia the islands of Cyprus and Crete." "You ask for one-third of the Roman Empire!" "Put it another way." "I give to you two-thirds." "Most generous." "I cannot accept." "I suggest you deliberate further." "Perhaps consult with your superior in Rome." "My superior?" "Octavian." "Caesar Octavian?" "You have not been dismissed!" "You are now dismissed." "Outside, all of you." "Her Majesty and I will speak in private." "Out!" "Before I chop you up and feed you to my horses." "That's how Romans frighten little girls." "They like to frighten little girls." "Wait outside." "I married Octavia at her brother's insistence as a gesture of faith, of peace." "A bargain sealed." "With a kiss?" "Or did you simply shake hands on your wedding night?" "Rome was celebrating the marriage even before I arrived." "How could I refuse?" "By saying no." "As you have said no to all my demands." "They're unreasonable!" "The kind laid down for a helpless enemy!" "You're not helpless... yet." "I can't cede the territories." "It would cause a break between Rome and me." "Why do you think I asked for them?" "It would be playing into Octavian's hands!" "It would not be wise!" "What is wise?" "To hand over Rome, Italy, the world to Octavian?" "To grovel publicly before his authority?" "Take his sister to wed and to bed." "As if to beg forgiveness for having stayed so long with your Egyptian harlot." "What has angered you?" "That I dealt with him how I could or that I married his sister?" "Jealousy or politics?" "Both!" "And damn you for not understanding either." "I wouldn't look to you for instruction." "Which is why you have come back chained to Octavian like a slave." " Slave!" " And with such exquisite chains." "So softly spoken, so virtuous." "She sleeps, I hear, fully clothed." "I'm back." "That's all that should concern you." "Should it?" "How long before your master snaps his finger and you run back to him, or her?" "I have only one master." "My love for you." "No." "Your master must not be love." "Never love." "Give yourself to love and you give yourself to forgetfulness of what you are and who you are and what you want." "And what you want is worth so much more?" "I will not have love as my master." " Then you will not have love." " Nor will I have Octavian." " Never fear." " How confident you are." "And has Octavian a master?" "His ambition:" "To rule the Roman world as emperor and god." "The Roman world, to begin with." "And what stands in his way?" " You and I." " And my son!" "The rightful heir to the name and glory of great Caesar." "Octavian has already stolen those and he will now destroy in the name of his sister, Rome's love for you." "And by your marriage to her he has made of me, unmistakably, your whore." "Never fear Octavian?" "It is he, now, who I think must be unafraid." "Show me a city and I'll take it." "I'll find an army's weak points and hit them hard." "But make me to sit down and talk in whispers of this and that with an emphasis here and a shrug, and I'm soon confounded and defeated." "Meaning to do the best I suppose I could not have done worse." "There is still time." "Let someone ask me what I want:" "To live with you in peace and love." "Do you have conditions for total surrender?" "First, as did Caesar you will marry me according to Egyptian ritual." "That's not a condition, that's a reward." "You'll declare, by your authority Caesarion to be king of Egypt and we will rule together in his name." "Happily granted." "You will cede to Egypt all the territories I have demanded." "You must." "If only to assert your own authority and power." "Otherwise, inevitably, in time we will lose everything." "Can't you see that?" "I can see nothing but you." "To marry this Egyptian under their barbaric rites!" "Meaningless under Roman law!" "Great Caesar himself..." "Yes." "Bit by bit, Antony crawls behind his memory." "But tell us this, Germanicus:" "Did great Caesar also toss one-third of the Roman Empire into Cleopatra's undoubtedly deserving lap?" "The territories in dispute were subjugated by Julius Caesar." "The right to rule over them is the heritage of his son." "And in the name of the mighty Caesar I grant to IKing Ptolemy Caesarion that right." "Let it be known the greatness of Rome lies not in what she takes but in what she gives." ""Rome's greatness lies in what she gives," he says." "Then calmly gives what is not his." "And Cleopatra takes and will take more." "And war will come." "She knows and I know that war will come." "But I will not speak for it nor will I speak against Antony." "I must be forced into war." "The people of Rome must force this war upon me." "They must storm the doors of the Senate, crying for it." "If we move quickly, they won't know we've crossed the Mediterranean until we land in Greece." "You and General Rufio, start embarking the troops." "Yes, Your Majesty." "If it is decided to move our armies into Greece." "It has been decided." "My men do not travel well by sea." "They fight on land." "They move on land." "Your men will do as they are told, as mine will." "My men will do as they're told by me." "They have not yet become..." "They are still Roman." "However since I do as I'm told..." "The final decision will, of course, be Lord Antony's." "And I'm sure that in time he will make it." "That is all." "It would be wiser not to disagree in the presence of our officers." "Your officers." "What final decision have you decided I am to make?" "Why do you oppose transporting our armies to Greece?" "Because I do not want war against Rome." "One hundred thousand men led by Marc Antony." "Octavian is no fool." "He won't fight." "He'll have to, instantly, on the spot where they land." "Rome will not declare war against you." "I do not agree." "I have not asked for your opinion." "Not for some time." "Not since I doubted the necessity of building 300 ships." "The way to prevent war is to be ready for it." "Have 300 warships ever been built for war without war?" "We shall have what we want without it." "Your Majesty, please hear me." "I think we are very near the edge." "Strings are being pulled, and not by us." "We are being managed and maneuvered without our choosing." "The deputation sent on behalf of Lady Octavia chosen from the most highly revered men of Rome." "Why?" "They can take back to their people nothing but Lord Antony's forgive me, insulting and unnecessary divorce of her and his rejection of them." "It was done at my bidding." "The responsibility is mine." "The doing was mine." "What do you propose?" "Let me go to Rome and approach Octavian, possibly the Roman people and assure them that we want peace." "Go then." "Go to Rome." "Sisogenes!" "Take care." "He's very dear to you." "Your concern and worry are written all over you." "Forgive me, but it's a kind of love that you're showing." "Let them talk." "Let them negotiate all they want." "Time is on our side." "We can only grow stronger." "These walls must not believe their ears to hear such silence from the right from the left." "The call of the Roman people can be clearly heard yet the Roman Senate has no answer." "Shall we then just sit and listen?" "There is not one of us that would not willingly make war upon Cleopatra." "But how without also making war upon Marc Antony loved by Rome and loving Rome?" ""Loved by Rome and loving Rome."" "I have here the last will and testament of Antony, who so loves Rome." "Read for yourselves how dearly Antony loves you, loves Rome in this, his last will under his seal." "Only lately brought from Egypt and deposited in our holy temple at Antony's request by the distinguished Sisogenes." "An extraordinary mission for an extraordinary man." "So wise, so close to Cleopatra, so trusted by her." "Read in Antony's will at the end." "Commit to memory the last request of your beloved Antony." "It bears witness to his love for Rome." "When he is dead, it says when Marc Antony has died it is his wish to be buried in his beloved Alexandria!" "In Egypt!" "Among Egyptians." "Beside his Egyptian whore!" "Is what I say the truth?" "Do I speak the truth?" " War!" " War!" "I hold before you the Golden Spear of War." "Placed into my hands without dissent by the command and will of the Senate of Rome." "And now it is you, the people of Rome, who must direct me." "Where is the enemy?" "Where is Egypt?" "Show me the way!" "No!" "No!" "There!" "There is Egypt." "And just as Antony had foretold  the forces of Octavian came to meet them  on the spot where they landed." "Which was at Actium, in Greece." "Action begins with the rise of the sun." "Your plan is brave and simple." "It's possible on land but we debate its wisdom on the sea." "I have an enemy on land with fewer troops, on sea with fewer ships." "Let him debate the wisdom of his position." "I have a happy choice." "To destroy him wet or dry." "I have chosen wet." "I think it best, Euphranor, you report to Cleopatra aboard her vessel." "There you may point out to her the reasons why my brave simplicity has failed." "In any case, you are relieved of your battle command." "This final commitment of yourself, your ships, of all of us to fight at sea, when did you decide?" " Forgive me." "I had..." " We've worked hard for many months." "We've trained an army of 200,000 men from 20 countries." " They won't be wasted..." " Of which 20,000 of them will be herded onto those ships and dragged out to sea, puking and afraid." " Why, my lord?" "Why?" " Because I have decided it will be so!" "I consider it an honor to fight beside Lord Antony at any time, anywhere." "Spoken like a Roman, Ramos." "And you shall fight at my side, in Rufio's place." "Rufio, you will remain with Her Majesty aboard her vessel." "As you command." "Canidius, you will remain with the land forces cheering from the hilltop, if you like." " As you command." " Exactly." "As I command." "You're all dismissed." "Antony." "What has happened?" "To me?" "You have happened to me." "Do the lookouts have Octavian's insignia?" " A golden eagle." "Sighted at sunrise." " By sunset we'll have those feathers." "Let Octavian know we're coming!" "Let the enemy hear the voice of Antony's legions!" "He's on his way." "Signal Lord Caesar's ship." "Does it fly his insignia?" "My orders are to be followed exactly as issued." "And may the gods grant that Antony has not changed his plan of battle." "There he goes as he's done 100 times on land." "Straight for the center." "If only it were on land, and we were there to protect his flanks." "But we're not." "This and all dispositions are to be signaled to Euphranor." "But Euphranor's in command of..." "In command of moving toy ships on a painted ocean so that Egypt's queen can more clearly follow her war upon water to which she has committed Marc Antony and 20,000 Romans." "Just as he said he would." "Antony and his escorts by themselves are after Octavian." " He's already broken through." " They let him through." "They'll close behind him." "Not if we engage, as Antony said." "They won't engage." "Agrippa will pull them back and back, behind Antony as Antony chases Octavian." "What report?" "Lord Antony is already through the center of the Roman line." "He is now deep within the Roman fleet, in pursuit of Octavian." "Faster!" "Faster!" "They've increased their own speed." "We're too heavy to catch them." "Then we'll slow them down." "Start the ballistas." "Javelin throwers." "Aim high." "Overshoot rather than under." "Ballistas." "Javelins." "Ballistas!" "Octavian's ships are so much faster than our Egyptian tubs." "Why doesn't Agrippa keep him away from Antony's ballistas?" "Ballistas!" "Ballistas!" "Ballistas!" "My lord!" "My lord!" "A direct hit on the enemy!" "A bank of oars is destroyed!" "He's coming around broadside." "We've got him!" "Collision course." "We'll ram him, board and destroy him." "Octavian!" "Octavian!" "Now is your time to be a Caesar!" " Where is he hiding?" " My Lord Octavian is not on board." "And now we close the trap." "Now we hit my Lord Antony with everything we have." "No word of Lord Antony?" "By now he must have Octavian." "You said he rammed his ship." "It may be Lord Antony rammed a ship flying Octavian's insignia." "But if it is Octavian's ship, if Octavian is on board..." "If he finds and kills Octavian, he's still surrounded by the Roman fleet." " Then send him help." " I've none to send." "They're pulling our ships apart now." "They've got Antony alone and cut off closing in on him like a pack of dogs on a wounded bear." " Lord Antony's ship?" " Gone." " And Octavian's ship?" " Burning, helpless." "Would you say, admiral that Lord Antony is dead?" "How is the wind for Egypt?" "Fair." "We'll sail at once." "Man the oar banks." "Hoist anchor." "We sail for Egypt!" "My Lord Canidius!" "Remember always, that after the battle of Actium with Octavian dead and Antony dead you saw the victor sail away on her golden barge." "She's going." "Cleopatra's going!" "Leaving me!" "My lord." "My lord, our casualties are heavy." "We have little armor left." "Our men need regrouping, someone to give them courage." "The dying are calling for you." "The living need your help." "You can't leave them." "Listen to me!" "Help!" "Help!" "Caesar, news!" "Great news!" "Cleopatra is leaving the battle." "Antony follows." "We have won a great victory." "Weigh oars!" "Her Majesty is most anxious to see you." "Will you come below?" "Perhaps if you remain, she will come to you." "Shall I send you food?" "Wine?" "Her Majesty's orders." "She's afraid you might harm yourself." "Please." "Octavian has crossed from Syria into Egypt." "He can be here in a matter of weeks." "There are two full legions here in Alexandria who have remained loyal to you." "They and their officers are waiting for you to command them." "If not to me, won't you speak to Rufio at least or to anyone you choose?" "Antony, just say what you want done and it will be." "It's been so long since you've looked at me." "Don't turn away even like this with your eyes filled with hate." "How they burn with hate." "Why, Antony?" "Why?" "Because I ran away?" "They told me you were dead!" "What could I do?" "Where could I go in a world suddenly without you except to my son and my country Caesarion and Egypt?" "I wanted to save them from Octavian." "You would have wanted me to go." "You would have commanded me to go." "Tell me you would have!" "They told me you were dead." "They told me you were dead." "You were quite right." "I am dead." "The armies of Gaius Julius Caesar are advancing without opposition upon Alexandria." "Gaius Julius Caesar?" "So now Octavian has stolen all of the name." "Caesar wishes it known he has no quarrel with Cleopatra of Egypt." "Then let him take his armies out of here and go home." "He has charged me to say that the choice of war or peace now rests with Egypt." "And that for himself, he desires only peace." "And what are his terms for this unconditional peace?" "A small token." "A demonstration." "A gesture." "An indication of Queen Cleopatra's goodwill and good faith." "What does Octavian want?" "Marc Antony." "The head of Marc Antony?" "Take this to him as my answer." "Egyptian generosity." "Octavian may have two heads for the price of one." "Either two or none." "I'm told you come here to sleep." "Not to sleep." "To pass the night then." "I'm not alone." "The old boy and I exchange memories of life." "It's like having a roommate, or should I say, "tomb-mate"?" "If he were in your place, would I find Caesar here?" "Hidden away, wrapped in moonlight and endless self-pity?" "Self-pity!" "You repeat yourself!" "Find new reproaches!" "Until now it has just been a part of your being drunk." "Singing sad songs for Antony." "Your time would be better spent negotiating with Octavian." "Why not give over my head?" "It's no great loss to me." "Dying the second time is painless and possibly an advantage to you." "The basis of a great new alliance with Rome." "I do not want a great new alliance with Rome." "Then what do you want?" "I have come for Marc Antony." "What is left of his army, Rufio, my son and I all of Egypt are waiting for him." "There is little time." "Marc Antony?" "There is no one here by that name alive." "Time for what?" "For Marc Antony to appear in shiny armor swords flashing in both hands?" "Agrippa." "Octavian." "Stand back!" "Rejoice!" "Marc Antony will save the day!" "Antony, you say?" "He died at Actium running away." "He tried to run on the water, but you weren't there to hold his hand!" "Rufio, my legions, waiting." "For what?" "To ask me what they carry in their eyes in their hearts, in their sleep, as I have." "Why are you not dead?" "Why do you live?" "How can you live?" "Why do you not lie in the deepest hole of the sea bloodless and bloated and at peace with honorable death?" "You begged forgiveness from me for running away." "You wept and gave reason." "A mother to her child, a queen to her country." "Where and how can I weep and beg?" "From whom?" "The thousands and thousands who can no longer hear me?" "Shall I give my reason?" "Shall I say simply, I loved?" "When I saw you go, I saw nothing." "Felt, heard, thought nothing except your going." "Not the dying and dead, not Rome, not Egypt not victory or defeat, honor or disgrace only that my love was going and I must be with her." "That my love, my master, called." "And I followed." "And that only then I looked back and I saw." "How right you were." ""Have as your master anyone, anything but never love."" "How wrong." "How wrong I was." "Antony, the love you followed is here." "To be had upon payment of an empire." "Without you, Antony this is not a world I want to live in much less conquer." "Because for me there would be no love anywhere." "Do you want me to die with you?" "I will." "Or do you want me to live with you?" "Whatever you choose." "Are we too late, do you think, if we choose to live?" "Better too late than never." "My lady, there is disturbing news from the city." "The people are frightened." "Some are beginning to leave their homes." "During the night, hundreds of notices were posted everywhere." "They were found stuck up in the marketplace." "Even painted on temples and other holy places." "Signed by Octavian Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus promising the Egyptian people peace if they surrender to him and destruction if they do not." "I've had all of them removed and I've ordered the death penalty for anyone who spreads the rumors that Antony's men might desert him." "And what penalty if the rumors might come true?" "How do you know?" "I know the Romans." "There is only one commander they will never desert." "His name is "Victory."" "But yet, just now, you let Lord Antony go as if..." "If you could have seen him, how proud he was unafraid as he used to be." "All of my attendants, have they been given their freedom?" "Have they gone?" "Yes." "They wanted once more to tidy up." "Octavian can do his own housecleaning." "The captain of the guards and three of his best men are to report to me disguised as merchants." "They are to escort Caesarion out of Egypt for the time being." "And you?" "Your Majesty, please reconsider." "There are two of Euphranor's ships in the east harbor." "And would you roll me on board in a carpet?" "No." "There are no more Caesars to go to, at least not for me." " Then it is still your intention..." " To remain in Alexandria." "In the last possible place anyone would look." "Literally, the last possible place." "Your Majesty, I have never questioned your decisions." "It's not the time to begin." "Let me stay with you." "Charmian and Eiras will look after me." "If Lord Antony should..." "When Lord Antony returns you will be here to tell him where to find me waiting for him." "Together, we will then do what he thinks best." "Is that clear?" " Yes, my lady." " Was there anything more?" "I have always loved you." "And I have always known." "Rome has never known such an army." "We should be taking on all of Asia." "It seems a waste to slaughter what's left of Antony's army and Antony." "There will be no slaughter." "I doubt there will be even bloodshed." "Has a battle ever been won without a blow being struck?" "I wonder." "At any rate, let me make it clear once more." "I want Antony alive, and I want her alive." "She must be taken alive." "Queen Cleopatra's second procession into Rome will surpass her first." "The ring your father gave you." "It is yours now to keep." "Wear it with pride and with honor." "I'm afraid." "I know I shouldn't be." "Who told you that?" "All kings and especially queens, are afraid." "They just manage not to show it." "Something ordinary people cannot do." "Hail Antony!" " How near is Octavian?" " Very near." "Over that low ridge." "As it grows dark, the glow from his campfires will light up the sky." "Our troops must find it attractive to watch." "Inviting, even." "Antony's legions warm themselves at their own fires." "Yes." "I could feel the warmth as I rode by." " How many legions has he?" " Twenty." " And we?" " Two." "The 12th and one made up..." "Made up from what was left of the others." "As I remember it, Caesar held Alexandria with two." "How are they deployed?" "Rufio." "Cavalry to the left, cavalry to the right, infantry to the center." "Three elephants deployed to stamp out a fly." "My lords Octavian and Agrippa have all the strategic brilliance of two vestal virgins." "We can move to ground too soft for cavalry and fight their infantry." "Stand?" "And let them stamp on us?" "No." "Let the elephants stand." "We flies will bite and buzz and tickle." "At the first light of day while Octavian's glow still lights up the sky we will attack." "By sunset, both our loyal legions will have grown larger and even more loyal, I promise you." "Good night." "Rufio, tell the guards, please I am to be awakened just before dawn." "Of course." "And, Rufio if, for whatever reason, the guards should forget or misjudge the time will you, yourself, wake me?" "The guards will wake you." " But if they don't?" " Then I will." "Never fear." "I never fear." "Not anymore." "Rufio!" "Rufio." "Fight!" "Fight!" "Fight!" "Why don't you fight?" "Is there no one who would grant Antony an honorable way to die?" "Before me this was carried by another Roman killed by Rome." "Another Caesar." "No." "We will have him." "We will have them both together." "Where is she?" "Where is she?" "Her Majesty said to tell you she can be found in the last possible place anyone would look." "Literally, the last possible place." "She might have waited." "Once more, it seems Cleopatra is out of reach and I must hurry after." "Throughout life and now beyond." "One woman, one love!" "Nothing changes except life into death." "Will you help me?" "Help me to die, Apollodorus!" "I want to!" "But I can't." "I've always envied Rufio his long arms." "The ultimate desertion:" "I from myself." "Else, how could I have missed what I must have aimed for all my life?" "Will you finish me now?" "Where is my sword?" "I beg you to finish me." "I lied to you." "I let you think the queen is dead." "But she's alive in her tomb, waiting for you." "Cleopatra waiting?" "There will be just enough time if you'll help me." "Perhaps, my lady, if we were to bind his wounds tightly..." "It would only give him pain." "Let him sleep." "Sleep." "Will you come tonight so that I can sleep the dark sleep?" "They did meet after all the lovers." "They will always meet." "Be lonely for me." "But not for very long." "I promise." "I thought always I would die so well as becomes a soldier." "A soldier's death." "I lived always as I saw fit." "Unfittingly." "I would make it up, I thought, in death." "I expected..." "I expected too much of me in death as in life." "Are you holding me?" "Never so closely." "Even closer." "You and I will prove death so much less than love." "You and I, we will..." "We'll make of dying nothing more than one last embrace." "A kiss to take my breath away." "There has never been such a silence." "Turn him over." "Strange people." "Poisons that smell like perfume." "Find more." "Have it analyzed." "Test it on one of the badly wounded." "My lord, they have found Queen Cleopatra." "She is locked in a building, that is to say, a tomb." "Hurry." "Oh, Marc Antony is with her, they say." "He's dead." " What?" " Lord Antony is dead." "Is that how one says it?" "As simply as that." "Marc Antony is dead." "Lord Antony is dead." "The soup is hot." "The soup is cold." "Antony is living." "Antony is dead." "Shake with terror when such words pass your lips for fear they be untrue and Antony cut out your tongue for the lie!" "And if true for your lifetime boast that you were honored to speak his name even in death." "The dying of such a man must be shouted." "Screamed." "It must echo back from the corners of the universe." "Antony is dead!" "Marc Antony of Rome lives no more!" "You needn't lower your head before Caesar." "I never did." "But if he were here, I'd be happy to." "I am Caesar." "If it pleases you, Octavian." "Look at me." "If it pleases you." "After all this time and all that has happened I suppose you are still beautiful, in a way." "You flatter me." "My interest is impersonal." "Should you have any intention..." "Now you flatter yourself." "The fighting is over." "Your country, your possessions and you are mine by right of conquest." "I permit you to rule Egypt as a Roman province and return your possessions." "There is one condition." "You will first accompany me to Rome." "Behind your chariot?" "Look at me!" "Would the proud citizens of Rome wait for hours in the hot sun to see my dead body dragged through the Forum?" "I'll have you closely watched." "Octavian when I am ready to die I will die." "What if I promise no harm will come to you that you will be returned to Alexandria?" "Look at me!" "What more could you ask?" "You have not spoken of my son." "Your son." "I'd forgotten him." "Where is he?" "Safe." "If I go with you to Rome would you permit my son to rule Egypt?" "And his sons?" "And theirs?" "I'll do everything I can." "Do I have your word as a Roman emperor and god?" "Yes." "When will you require me to go?" "As soon as possible." "At the moment, I am very tired and would like to rest." "If you'll leave me." "Do I have your word that you will not harm yourself in any way?" "I swear it." "On the life of my son." "Must the guards remain inside?" "I have sworn after all on the life of my son." "And now I must make ready to go." "There's little to do." "First, I shall want something to eat." "Something to sustain me on my way." "Some fruit, perhaps?" "Bring it to me." "Charmian." "You then, Eiras." "You have never been without us." "You cannot leave us behind." "Perhaps there may be enough for us all." "Bring me a tablet to write on." "I want a message brought to Octavian." "Words are wasted on such a man." "I have wasted so many on so many men." "A few more." "One last request." "Will he grant it, do you think?" "I may never know." "In this case I think I shall." "I will serve Her Majesty as always." "I have always served her." "You will both wait to dress me for my travels." "I will wear..." "I want to be as Antony first saw me." "The dress of gold?" "He must know at once even from a great distance that it is I." "This will be the last thing you do." "Drop this to one of the guards outside for Octavian." "But be sure to wait." "And now let me see if the figs are as they should be." "The taste of these, they say, is sharp and swiftly over." "How strangely awake I feel." "As if living had been just a long dream." "Someone else's dream." "Now finished at last." "But then now will begin a dream of my own." "Which will never end." "Antony?" "Antony, wait." "From the Egyptian queen, message for Caesar." "Read it." "Whatever she wants will be granted upon her arrival in Rome." "We will discuss it as she walks beside my chariot." "What is it?" ""My one wish, which I implore you to grant is to be buried at the site of Antony and to remain there until all things end."" "Was this well done of your lady?" "Extremely well." "As befitting the last of so many noble rulers." "And the Roman asked:" ""Was this well done of your lady?"" "And the servant answered:" ""Extremely well." "As befitting the last  of so many noble rulers. ""