ANTONY

The grandfather of Antony was the famous pleader, whom Marius

put to death for having taken part with Sylla. His father was

Antony, surnamed of Crete, not very famous or distinguished in

public life, but a worthy, good man, and particularly remarkable

for his liberality, as may appear from a single example. He was

not very rich, and was for that reason checked in the exercise

of his good-nature by his wife. A friend that stood in need of

money came to borrow of him. Money he had none, but he bade a

servant bring him water in a silver basin, with which, when it

was brought, he wetted his face, as if he meant to shave; and,

sending away the servant upon another errand, gave his friend

the basin, desiring him to turn it to his purpose. And when

there was, afterwards, a great inquiry for it in the house, and

his wife was in a very ill humor, and was going to put the

servants one by one to the search, he acknowledged what he had

done, and begged her pardon.

His wife was Julia, of the family of the Caesars, who, for her

discretion and fair behavior, was not inferior to any of her

time. Under her, Antony received his education, she being,

after the death of his father, remarried to Cornelius Lentulus.

who was put to death by Cicero for having been of Catiline's

conspiracy. This, probably, was the first ground and occasion

of that mortal grudge that Antony bore Cicero. He says, even,

that the body of Lentulus was denied burial, till, by

application made to Cicero's wife, it was granted to Julia. But

this seems to be a manifest error, for none of those that

suffered in the consulate of Cicero had the right of burial

denied them. Antony grew up a very beautiful youth, but, by the

worst of misfortunes, he fell into the acquaintance and

friendship of Curio, a man abandoned to his pleasures; who, to

make Antony's dependence upon him a matter of greater necessity,

plunged him into a life of drinking and dissipation, and led him

through a course of such extravagance, that he ran, at that

early age, into debt to the amount of two hundred and fifty

talents. For this sum, Curio became his surety; on hearing

which, the elder Curio, his father, drove Antony out of his

house. After this, for some short time, he took part with

Clodius, the most insolent and outrageous demagogue of the time,

in his course of violence and disorder; but, getting weary,

before long, of his madness, and apprehensive of the powerful

party forming against him, he left Italy, and traveled into

Greece, where he spent his time in military exercises and in the

study of eloquence. He took most to what was called the Asiatic

taste in speaking, which was then at its height, and was, in

many ways, suitable to his ostentatious, vaunting temper, full

of empty flourishes and unsteady efforts for glory.

After some stay in Greece, he was invited by Gabinius, who had

been consul, to make a campaign with him in Syria, which at

first he refused, not being willing to serve in a private

character, but, receiving a commission to command the horse, he

went along with him. His first service was against Aristobulus,

who had prevailed with the Jews to rebel. Here he was himself

the first man to scale the largest of the works, and beat

Aristobulus out of all of them; after which he routed, in a

pitched battle, an army many times over the number of his,

killed almost all of them, and took Aristobulus and his son

prisoners. This war ended, Gabinius was solicited by Ptolemy to

restore him to his kingdom of Egypt, and a promise made of ten

thousand talents reward. Most of the officers were against this

enterprise, and Gabinius himself did not much like it, though

sorely tempted by the ten thousand talents. But Antony,

desirous of brave actions, and willing to please Ptolemy, joined

in persuading Gabinius to go. And whereas all were of opinion

that the most dangerous thing before them was the march to

Pelusium, in which they would have to pass over a deep sand,

where no fresh water was to be hoped for, along the Ecregma and

the Serbonian marsh (which the Egyptians call Typhon's

breathing-hole, and which is, in probability, water left behind

by, or making its way through from, the Red Sea, which is here

divided from the Mediterranean by a narrow isthmus), Antony,

being ordered thither with the horse, not only made himself

master of the passes, but won Pelusium itself, a great city,

took the garrison prisoners, and, by this means, rendered the

march secure to the army, and the way to victory not difficult

for the general to pursue. The enemy, also, reaped some benefit

of his eagerness for honor. For when Ptolemy, after he had

entered Pelusium, in his rage and spite against the Egyptians,

designed to put them to the sword, Antony withstood him, and

hindered the execution. In all the great and frequent

skirmishes and battles, he gave continual proofs of his

personal valor and military conduct; and once in particular, by

wheeling about and attacking the rear of the enemy, he gave the

victory to the assailants in the front, and received for this

service signal marks of distinction. Nor was his humanity

towards the deceased Archelaus less taken notice of. He had

been formerly his guest and acquaintance, and, as he was now

compelled, he fought him bravely while alive, but, on his death,

sought out his body and buried it with royal honors. The

consequence was that he left behind him a great name among the

Alexandrians, and all who were serving in the Roman army looked

upon him as a most gallant soldier.

He had also a very good and noble appearance; his beard was well

grown, his forehead large, and his nose aquiline, giving him

altogether a bold, masculine look, that reminded people of the

faces of Hercules in paintings and sculptures. It was,

moreover, an ancient tradition, that the Antonys were descended

from Hercules, by a son of his called Anton; and this opinion he

thought to give credit to, by the similarity of his person just

mentioned, and also by the fashion of his dress. For, whenever

he had to appear before large numbers, he wore his tunic girt

low about the hips, a broadsword on his side, and over all a

large, coarse mantle. What might seem to some very

insupportable, his vaunting, his raillery, his drinking in

public, sitting down by the men as they were taking their food,

and eating, as he stood, off the common soldiers' tables, made

him the delight and pleasure of the army. In love affairs,

also, he was very agreeable; he gained many friends by the

assistance he gave them in theirs, and took other people's

raillery upon his own with good-humor. And his generous ways,

his open and lavish hand in gifts and favors to his friends and

fellow-soldiers, did a great deal for him in his first advance

to power, and, after he had become great, long maintained his

fortunes, when a thousand follies were hastening their

overthrow. One instance of his liberality I must relate. He

had ordered payment to one of his friends of twenty-five myriads

of money, or decies, as the Romans call it, and his steward,

wondering at the extravagance of the sum, laid all the silver in

a heap, as he should pass by. Antony, seeing the heap, asked

what it meant; his steward replied, "The money you have ordered

to be given to your friend." So, perceiving the man's malice,

said he, "I thought the decies had been much more; 't is too

little; let it be doubled." This, however, was at a later time.

When the Roman state finally broke up into two hostile factions,

the aristocratical party joining Pompey, who was in the city,

and the popular side seeking help from Caesar, who was at the

head of an army in Gaul, Curio, the friend of Antony, having

changed his party and devoted himself to Caesar, brought over

Antony also to his service. And the influence which he gained

with the people by his eloquence and by the money which was

supplied by Caesar enabled him to make Antony, first, tribune of

the people, and then, augur. And Antony's accession to office

was at once of the greatest advantage to Caesar. In the first

place, he resisted the consul Marcellus, who was putting under

Pompey's orders the troops who were already collected, and was

giving him power to raise new levies; he, on the other hand,

making an order that they should be sent into Syria to reinforce

Bibulus, who was making war with the Parthians, and that no one

should give in his name to serve under Pompey. Next, when the

senators would not suffer Caesar's letters to be received or

read in the senate, by virtue of his office he read them

publicly, and succeeded so well, that many were brought to

change their mind; Caesar's demands, as they appeared in what he

wrote, being but just and reasonable. At length, two questions

being put in the senate, the one, whether Pompey should dismiss

his army, the other, if Caesar his, some were for the former,

for the latter all, except some few, when Antony stood up and

put the question, if it would be agreeable to them that both

Pompey and Caesar should dismiss their armies. This proposal

met with the greatest approval, they gave him loud acclamations,

and called for it to be put to the vote. But when the consuls

would not have it so, Caesar's friends again made some new

offers, very fair and equitable, but were strongly opposed by

Cato, and Antony himself was commanded to leave the senate by

the consul Lentulus. So, leaving them with execrations, and

disguising himself in a servant's dress, hiring a carriage with

Quintus Cassius, he went straight away to Caesar, declaring at

once, when they reached the camp, that affairs at Rome were

conducted without any order or justice, that the privilege of

speaking in the senate was denied the tribunes, and that he who

spoke for common fair dealing was driven out and in danger of

his life.

Upon this, Caesar set his army in motion, and marched into

Italy; and for this reason it is that Cicero writes in his

Philippics, that Antony was as much the cause of the civil war,

as Helen was of the Trojan. But this is but a calumny. For

Caesar was not of so slight or weak a temper as to suffer

himself to be carried away, by the indignation of the moment,

into a civil war with his country, upon the sight of Antony and

Cassius seeking refuge in his camp, meanly dressed and in a

hired carriage, without ever having thought of it or taken any

such resolution long before. This was to him, who wanted a

pretense of declaring war, a fair and plausible occasion; but

the true motive that led him was the same that formerly led

Alexander and Cyrus against all mankind, the unquenchable thirst

of empire, and the distracted ambition of being the greatest man

in the world, which was impracticable for him, unless Pompey

were put down. So soon, then, as he had advanced and occupied

Rome, and driven Pompey out of Italy, he purposed first to go

against the legions that Pompey had in Spain, and then cross

over and follow him with the fleet that should be prepared

during his absence, in the meantime leaving the government of

Rome to Lepidus, as praetor, and the command of the troops and

of Italy to Antony, as tribune of the people. Antony was not

long in getting the hearts of the soldiers, joining with them in

their exercises, and for the most part living amongst them, and

making them presents to the utmost of his abilities; but with

all others he was unpopular enough. He was too lazy to pay

attention to the complaints of persons who were injured; he

listened impatiently to petitions; and he had an ill name for

familiarity with other people's wives. In short, the government

of Caesar (which, so far as he was concerned himself, had the

appearance of anything rather than a tyranny), got a bad repute

through his friends. And of these friends, Antony, as he had

the largest trust, and committed the greatest errors, was

thought the most deeply in fault.

Caesar, however, at his return from Spain, overlooked the

charges against him, and had no reason ever to complain, in the

employments he gave him in the war, of any want of courage,

energy, or military skill. He himself, going aboard at

Brundusium, sailed over the Ionian Sea with a few troops, and

sent back the vessels with orders to Antony and Gabinius to

embark the army, and come over with all speed into Macedonia.

Gabinius, having no mind to put to sea in the rough, dangerous

weather of the winter season, was for marching the army round by

the long land route; but Antony, being more afraid lest Caesar

might suffer from the number of his enemies, who pressed him

hard, beat back Libo, who was watching with a fleet at the mouth

of the haven of Brundusium, by attacking his galleys with a

number of small boats, and, gaining thus an opportunity, put on

board twenty thousand foot and eight hundred horse, and so set

out to sea. And, being espied by the enemy and pursued, from

this danger he was rescued by a strong south wind, which sprang

up and raised so high a sea, that the enemy's galleys could make

little way. But his own ships were driving before it upon a lee

shore of cliffs and rocks running sheer to the water, where

there was no hope of escape, when all of a sudden the wind

turned about to south-west, and blew from land to the main sea,

where Antony, now sailing in security, saw the coast all covered

with the wreck of the enemy's fleet. For hither the galleys in

pursuit had been carried by the gale, and not a few of them

dashed to pieces. Many men and much property fell into Antony's

hands; he took also the town of Lissus, and, by the seasonable

arrival of so large a reinforcement, gave Caesar great

encouragement.

There was not one of the many engagements that now took place

one after another in which he did not signalize himself; twice

he stopped the army in its full flight, led them back to a

charge, and gained the victory. So that not without reason his

reputation, next to Caesar's, was greatest in the army. And what

opinion Caesar himself had of him well appeared when for the

final battle in Pharsalia, which was to determine everything,

he himself chose to lead the right wing, committing the

charge of the left to Antony, as to the best officer of all that

served under him. After the battle, Caesar, being created

dictator, went in pursuit of Pompey, and sent Antony to Rome,

with the character of Master of the Horse, who is in office and

power next to the dictator, when present, and in his absence is

the first, and pretty nearly indeed the sole magistrate. For on

the appointment of a dictator, with the one exception of the

tribunes, all other magistrates cease to exercise any authority

in Rome.

Dolabella, however, who was tribune, being a young man and eager

for change, was now for bringing in a general measure for

canceling debts, and wanted Antony, who was his friend, and

forward enough to promote any popular project, to take part with

him in this step. Asinius and Trebellius were of the contrary

opinion, and it so happened, at the same time, Antony was

crossed by a terrible suspicion that Dolabella was too familiar

with his wife; and in great trouble at this, he parted with her

(she being his cousin, and daughter to Caius Antonius, the

colleague of Cicero), and, taking part with Asinius, came to

open hostilities with Dolabella, who had seized on the forum,

intending to pass his law by force. Antony, backed by a vote of

the senate that Dolabella should be put down by force of arms,

went down and attacked him, killing some of his, and losing some

of his own men; and by this action lost his favor with the

commonalty, while with the better class and with all well

conducted people his general course of life made him, as Cicero

says, absolutely odious, utter disgust being excited by his

drinking bouts at all hours, his wild expenses, his gross

amours, the day spent in sleeping or walking off his debauches,

and the night in banquets and at theaters, and in celebrating

the nuptials of some comedian or buffoon. It is related that,

drinking all night at the wedding of Hippias, the comedian, on

the morning, having to harangue the people, he came forward,

overcharged as he was, and vomited before them all, one of his

friends holding his gown for him. Sergius, the player, was one

of the friends who could do most with him; also Cytheris, a

woman of the same trade, whom he made much of, and who, when he

went his progress, accompanied him in a litter, and had her

equipage, not in anything inferior to his mother's; while every

one, moreover, was scandalized at the sight of the golden cups

that he took with him, fitter for the ornaments of a procession

than the uses of a journey, at his having pavilions set up, and

sumptuous morning repasts laid out by river-sides and in groves,

at his having chariots drawn by lions, and common women and

singing girls quartered upon the houses of serious fathers and

mothers of families. And it seemed very unreasonable that

Caesar, out of Italy, should lodge in the open field, and, with

great fatigue and danger, pursue the remainder of a hazardous

war, whilst others, by favor of his authority, should insult the

citizens with their impudent luxury.

All this appears to have aggravated party quarrels in Rome, and

to have encouraged the soldiers in acts of license and rapacity.

And, accordingly, when Caesar came home, he acquitted Dolabella,

and, being created the third time consul, took, not Antony, but

Lepidus, for his colleague. Pompey's house being offered for

sale, Antony bought it, and, when the price was demanded of him,

loudly complained. This, he tells us himself, and because he

thought his former services had not been recompensed as they

deserved, made him not follow Caesar with the army into Libya.

However, Caesar, by dealing gently with his errors, seems to

have succeeded in curing him of a good deal of his folly and

extravagance. He gave up his former courses, and took a wife,

Fulvia, the widow of Clodius the demagogue, a woman not born for

spinning or housewifery, nor one that could be content with

ruling a private husband, but prepared to govern a first

magistrate, or give orders to a commander-in-chief. So that

Cleopatra had great obligations to her for having taught Antony

to be so good a servant, he coming to her hands tame and broken

into entire obedience to the commands of a mistress. He used to

play all sorts of sportive, boyish tricks, to keep Fulvia in

good-humor. As, for example, when Caesar, after his victory in

Spain, was on his return, Antony, among the rest, went out to

meet him; and, a rumor being spread that Caesar was killed and

the enemy marching into Italy, he resumed to Rome, and,

disguising himself, came to her by night muffled up as a servant

that brought letters from Antony. She, with great impatience,

before she received the letter, asks if Antony were well, and

instead of an answer he gives her the letter; and, as she was

opening it, took her about the neck and kissed her. This little

story of many of the same nature, I give as a specimen.

There was nobody of any rank in Rome that did not go some days'

journey to meet Caesar on his return from Spain; but Antony was

the best received of any, admitted to ride the whole journey

with him in his carriage, while behind came Brutus Albinus, and

Octavian, his niece's son, who afterwards bore his name and

reigned so long over the Romans. Caesar being created, the

fifth time, consul, without delay chose Antony for his

colleague, but, designing himself to give up his own consulate

to Dolabella, he acquainted the senate with his resolution. But

Antony opposed it with all his might, saying much that was bad

against Dolabella, and receiving the like language in return,

till Caesar could bear with the indecency no longer, and

deferred the matter to another time. Afterwards, when he came

before the people to proclaim Dolabella, Antony cried out that

the auspices were unfavorable, so that at last Caesar, much to

Dolabella's vexation, yielded and gave it up. And it is

credible that Caesar was about as much disgusted with the one as

the other. When someone was accusing them both to him, "It is

not," said he, "these well fed, long-haired men that I fear, but

the pale and the hungry looking;" meaning Brutus and Cassius, by

whose conspiracy he afterwards fell.

And the fairest pretext for that conspiracy was furnished,

without his meaning it, by Antony himself. The Romans were

celebrating their festival, called the Lupercalia, when Caesar,

in his triumphal habit, and seated above the Rostra in the

market-place, was a spectator of the sports. The custom is,

that many young noblemen and of the magistracy, anointed with

oil and having straps of hide in their hands, run about and

strike, in sport, at everyone they meet. Antony was running

with the rest; but, omitting the old ceremony, twining a garland

of bay round a diadem, he ran up to the Rostra, and, being

lifted up by his companions, would have put it upon the head of

Caesar, as if by that ceremony he were declared king. Caesar

seemingly refused, and drew aside to avoid it, and was applauded

by the people with great shouts. Again Antony pressed it, and

again he declined its acceptance. And so the dispute between

them went on for some time, Antony's solicitations receiving but

little encouragement from the shouts of a few friends, and

Caesar's refusal being accompanied with the general applause of

the people; a curious thing enough, that they should submit with

patience to the fact, and yet at the same time dread the name as

the destruction of their liberty. Caesar, very much discomposed

at what had past, got up from his seat, and, laying bare his

neck, said, he was ready to receive the stroke, if any one of

them desired to give it. The crown was at last put on one of

his statues, but was taken down by some of the tribunes, who

were followed home by the people with shouts of applause.

Caesar, however, resented it, and deposed them.

These passages gave great encouragement to Brutus and Cassius,

who, in making choice of trusty friends for such an enterprise,

were thinking to engage Antony. The rest approved, except

Trebonius, who told them that Antony and he had lodged and

traveled together in the last journey they took to meet Caesar,

and that he had

let fall several words, in a cautious way, on purpose to sound

him; that Antony very well understood him, but did not encourage

it; however, he had said nothing of it to Caesar, but had kept

the secret faithfully. The conspirators then proposed that

Antony should die with him, which Brutus would not consent to,

insisting that an action undertaken in defense of right and the

laws must be maintained unsullied, and pure of injustice. It

was settled that Antony, whose bodily strength and high office

made him formidable, should, at Caesar's entrance into the

senate, when the deed was to be done, be amused outside by some

of the party in a conversation about some pretended business.

So when all was proceeded with, according to their plan, and

Caesar had fallen in the senate-house, Antony, at the first

moment, took a servant's dress, and hid himself. But,

understanding that the conspirators had assembled in the

Capitol, and had no further design upon anyone, he persuaded

them to come down, giving them his son as a hostage. That night

Cassius supped at Antony's house, and Brutus with Lepidus.

Antony then convened the senate, and spoke in favor of an act of

oblivion, and the appointment of Brutus and Cassius to

provinces. These measures the senate passed; and resolved that

all Caesar's acts should remain in force. Thus Antony went out

of the senate with the highest possible reputation and esteem;

for it was apparent that he had prevented a civil war, and had

composed, in the wisest and most statesman-like way, questions

of the greatest difficulty and embarrassment. But these

temperate counsels were soon swept away by the tide of popular

applause, and the prospects, if Brutus were overthrown, of being

without doubt the ruler-in-chief. As Caesar's body was

conveying to the tomb, Antony, according to the custom, was

making his funeral oration in the market; place, and, perceiving

the people to be infinitely affected with what he had said, he

began to mingle with his praises language of commiseration, and

horror at what had happened, and, as he was ending his speech,

he took the under-clothes of the dead, and held them up,

showing them stains of blood and the holes of the many stabs,

calling those that had done this act villains and bloody

murderers. All which excited the people to such indignation,

that they would not defer the funeral, but, making a pile of

tables and forms in the very market-place, set fire to it; and

everyone, taking a brand, ran to the conspirators' houses, to

attack them.

Upon this, Brutus and his whole party left the city, and

Caesar's friends joined themselves to Antony. Calpurnia,

Caesar's wife, lodged with him the best part of the property, to

the value of four thousand talents; he got also into his hands

all Caesar's papers, wherein were contained journals of all he

had done, and draughts of what he designed to do, which Antony

made good use of; for by this means he appointed what

magistrates he pleased, brought whom he would into the senate,

recalled some from exile, freed others out of prison, and all

this as ordered so by Caesar. The Romans, in mockery, gave

those who were thus benefited the name of Charonites, since, if

put to prove their patents, they must have recourse to the

papers of the dead. In short, Antony's behavior in Rome was

very absolute, he himself being consul, and his two brothers in

great place; Caius, the one, being praetor, and Lucius, the

other, tribune of the people.

While matters went thus in Rome, the young Caesar, Caesar's

niece's son, and by testament left his heir, arrived at Rome

from Apollonia, where he was when his uncle was killed. The

first thing he did was to visit Antony, as his father's friend.

He spoke to him concerning the money that was in his hands, and

reminded him of the legacy Caesar had made of seventy-five

drachmas to every Roman citizen. Antony, at first, laughing at

such discourse from so young a man, told him he wished he were

in his health, and that he wanted good counsel and good friends,

to tell him the burden of being executor to Caesar would sit

very uneasily upon his young shoulders. This was no answer to

him; and, when he persisted in demanding the property, Antony

went on treating him injuriously both in word and deed, opposed

him when he stood for the tribune's office, and, when he was

taking steps for the dedication of his father's golden chair, as

had been enacted, he threatened to send him to prison if he did

not give over soliciting the people. This made the young Caesar

apply himself to Cicero, and all those that hated Antony; by

them he was recommended to the senate, while he himself courted

the people, and drew together the soldiers from their

settlements, till Antony got alarmed, and gave him a meeting in

the Capitol, where, after some words, they came to an

accommodation.

That night Antony had a very unlucky dream, fancying that his

right hand was thunderstruck. And, some few days after, he was

informed that Caesar was plotting to take his life. Caesar

explained, but was not believed, so that the breach was now made

as wide as ever; each of them hurried about all through Italy to

engage, by great offers, the old soldiers that lay scattered in

their settlements, and to be the first to secure the troops that

still remained undischarged. Cicero was at this time the man of

greatest influence in Rome. He made use of all his art to

exasperate people against Antony, and at length persuaded the

senate to declare him a public enemy, to send Caesar the rods

and axes and other marks of honor usually given to praetors, and

to issue orders to Hirtius and Pansa, who were the consuls, to

drive Antony out of Italy. The armies engaged near Modena, and

Caesar himself was present and took part in the battle. Antony

was defeated, but both the consuls were slain. Antony, in his

flight, was overtaken by distresses of every kind, and the worst

of all of them was famine. But it was his character in

calamities to be better than at any other time. Antony, in

misfortune, was most nearly a virtuous man. It is common enough

for people, when they fall into great disasters, to discern what

is right, and what they ought to do; but there are but few who

in such extremities have the strength to obey their judgment,

either in doing what it approves or avoiding what it condemns;

and a good many are so weak as to give way to their habits all

the more, and are incapable of using their minds. Antony, on

this occasion, was a most wonderful example to his soldiers.

He, who had just quitted so much luxury and sumptuous living,

made no difficulty now of drinking foul water and feeding on

wild fruits and roots. Nay, it is related they ate the very

bark of trees, and, in passing over the Alps, lived upon

creatures that no one before had ever been willing to touch.

The design was to join the army on the other side the Alps,

commanded by Lepidus, who he imagined would stand his friend, he

having done him many good offices with Caesar. On coming up and

encamping near at hand, finding he had no sort of encouragement

offered him, he resolved to push his fortune and venture all.

His hair was long and disordered, nor had he shaved his beard

since his defeat; in this guise, and with a dark colored cloak

flung over him, he came into the trenches of Lepidus, and began

to address the army. Some were moved at his habit, others at

his words, so that Lepidus, not liking it, ordered the trumpets

to sound, that he might be heard no longer. This raised in the

soldiers yet a greater pity, so that they resolved to confer

secretly with him, and dressed Laelius and Clodius in women's

clothes, and sent them to see him. They advised him without

delay to attack Lepidus's trenches, assuring him that a strong

party would receive him, and, if he wished it, would kill

Lepidus. Antony, however, had no wish for this, but next

morning marched his army to pass over the river that parted the

two camps. He was himself the first man that stepped in, and,

as he went through towards the other bank, he saw Lepidus's

soldiers in great numbers reaching out their hands to help him,

and beating down the works to make him way. Being entered into

the camp, and finding himself absolute master, he nevertheless

treated Lepidus with the greatest civility, and gave him the title

of Father, when he spoke to him, and, though he had everything

at his own command, he left him the honor of being called

the general. This fair usage brought over to him Munatius

Plancus, who was not far off with a considerable force. Thus in

great strength he repassed the Alps, leading with him into Italy

seventeen legions and ten thousand horse, besides six legions

which he left in garrison under the command of Varius, one of

his familiar friends and boon companions, whom they used to call

by the nickname of Cotylon.

Caesar, perceiving that Cicero's wishes were for liberty, had

ceased to pay any further regard to him, and was now employing

the mediation of his friends to come to a good understanding

with Antony. They both met together with Lepidus in a small

island, where the conference lasted three days. The empire was

soon determined of, it being divided amongst them as if it had

been their paternal inheritance. That which gave them all the

trouble was to agree who should be put to death, each of them

desiring to destroy his enemies and to save his friends. But,

in the end, animosity to those they hated carried the day

against respect for relations and affection for friends; and

Caesar sacrificed Cicero to Antony, Antony gave up his uncle

Lucius Caesar, and Lepidus received permission to murder his

brother Paulus, or, as others say, yielded his brother to them.

I do not believe anything ever took place more truly savage or

barbarous than this composition, for, in this exchange of blood

for blood, they were equally guilty of the lives they

surrendered and of those they took; or, indeed, more guilty in

the case of their friends, for whose deaths they had not even

the justification of hatred. To complete the reconciliation,

the soldiery, coming about them, demanded that confirmation

should be given to it by some alliance of marriage; Caesar

should marry Clodia, the daughter of Fulvia, wife to Antony.

This also being agreed to, three hundred persons were put to

death by proscription. Antony gave orders to those that were to

kill Cicero, to cut off his head and right hand, with which he

had written his invectives against him; and, when they were

brought before him, he regarded them joyfully, actually bursting

out more than once into laughter, and when he had satiated

himself with the sight of them, ordered them to be hung up above

the speaker's place in the forum, thinking thus to insult the

dead, while in fact he only exposed his own wanton arrogance,

and his unworthiness to hold the power that fortune had given

him. His uncle Lucius Caesar, being closely pursued, took

refuge with his sister, who, when the murderers had broken into

her house and were pressing into her chamber, met them at the

door, and, spreading out her hands, cried out several times,

"You shall not kill Lucius Caesar till you first dispatch me,

who gave your general his birth;" and in this manner she

succeeded in getting her brother out of the way, and saving his

life.

This triumvirate was very hateful to the Romans, and Antony most

of all bore the blame, because he was older than Caesar, and had

greater authority than Lepidus, and withal he was no sooner

settled in his affairs, but he returned to his luxurious and

dissolute way of living. Besides the ill reputation he gained

by his general behavior, it was some considerable disadvantage

to him his living in the house of Pompey the Great, who had been

as much admired for his temperance and his sober, citizen-like

habits of life, as ever he was for having triumphed three times.

They could not without anger see the doors of that house shut

against magistrates, officers, and envoys, who were shamefully

refused admittance, while it was filled inside with players,

jugglers, and drunken flatterers, upon whom were spent the

greatest part of the wealth which violence and cruelty procured.

For they did not limit themselves to the forfeiture of the

estates of such as were proscribed, defrauding the widows and

families, nor were they contented with laying on every possible

kind of tax and imposition; but, hearing that several sums of

money were, as well by strangers as citizens of Rome, deposited

in the hands of the vestal virgins, they went and took the money

away by force. When it was manifest that nothing would ever be

enough for Antony, Caesar at last called for a division of

property. The army was also divided between them, upon their

march into Macedonia to make war with Brutus and Cassius,

Lepidus being left with the command of the city.

However, after they had crossed the sea and engaged in

operations of war, encamping in front of the enemy, Antony

opposite Cassius, and Caesar opposite Brutus, Caesar did nothing

worth relating, and all the success and victory were Antony's.

In the first battle, Caesar was completely routed by Brutus, his

camp taken, he himself very narrowly escaping by flight. As he

himself writes in his Memoirs, he retired before the battle, on

account of a dream which one of his friends had. But Antony, on

the other hand, defeated Cassius; though some have written that

he was not actually present in the engagement, and only joined

afterwards in the pursuit. Cassius was killed, at his own

entreaty and order, by one of his most trusted freedmen,

Pindarus, not being aware of Brutus's victory. After a few

days' interval, they fought another battle, in which Brutus lost

the day, and slew himself; and Caesar being sick, Antony had

almost all the honor of the victory. Standing over Brutus's

dead body, he uttered a few words of reproach upon him for the

death of his brother Caius, who had been executed by Brutus's

order in Macedonia in revenge of Cicero; but, saying presently

that Hortensius was most to blame for it, he gave order for his

being slain upon his brother's tomb, and, throwing his own

scarlet mantle, which was of great value, upon the body of

Brutus, he gave charge to one of his own freedmen to take care

of his funeral. This man, as Antony came to understand, did not

leave the mantle with the corpse, but kept both it and a good

part of the money that should have been spent in the funeral for

himself; for which he had him put to death.

But Caesar was conveyed to Rome, no one expecting that he would

long survive. Antony, proposing to go to the eastern provinces

to lay them under contribution, entered Greece with a large

force. The promise had been made that every common soldier

should receive for his pay five thousand drachmas; so it was

likely there would be need of pretty severe taxing and levying

to raise money. However, to the Greeks he showed at first

reason and moderation enough; he gratified his love of amusement

by hearing the learned men dispute, by seeing the games, and

undergoing initiation; and in judicial matters he was equitable,

taking pleasure in being styled a lover of Greece, but, above

all, in being called a lover of Athens, to which city he made

very considerable presents. The people of Megara wished to let

him know that they also had something to show him, and invited

him to come and see their senate-house. So he went and examined

it, and on their asking him how he liked it, told them it was

"not very large, but extremely ruinous." At the same time, he

had a survey made of the temple of the Pythian Apollo, as if he

had designed to repair it, and indeed he had declared to the

senate his intention so to do.

However, leaving Lucius Censorinus in Greece, he crossed over

into Asia, and there laid his hands on the stores of accumulated

wealth, while kings waited at his door, and queens were rivaling

one another, who should make him the greatest presents or appear

most charming in his eyes. Thus, whilst Caesar in Rome was

wearing out his strength amidst seditions and wars, Antony, with

nothing to do amidst the enjoyments of peace, let his passions

carry him easily back to the old course of life that was

familiar to him. A set of harpers and pipers, Anaxenor and

Xuthus, the dancing-man Metrodorus, and a whole Bacchic rout of

the like Asiatic exhibitors, far outdoing in license and

buffoonery the pests that had followed out of Italy, came in and

possessed the court; the thing was past patience, wealth of all

kinds being wasted on objects like these. The whole of Asia was

like the city in Sophocles, loaded, at one time,

with incense in the air,

Jubilant songs, and outcries of despair.

When he made his entry into Ephesus, the women met him dressed

up like Bacchantes, and the men and boys like Satyrs and Fauns,

and throughout the town nothing was to be seen but spears

wreathed about with ivy, harps, flutes, and psaltries, while

Antony in their songs was Bacchus the Giver of Joy and the

Gentle. And so indeed he was to some, but to far more the

Devourer and the Savage; for he would deprive persons of worth

and quality of their fortunes to gratify villains and

flatterers, who would sometimes beg the estates of men yet

living, pretending they were dead, and, obtaining a grant, take

possession. He gave his cook the house of a Magnesian citizen,

as a reward for a single highly successful supper, and, at last,

when he was proceeding to lay a second whole tribute on Asia,

Hybreas, speaking on behalf of the cities, took courage, and

told him broadly, but aptly enough for Antony's taste, "If you

can take two yearly tributes, you can doubtless give us a couple

of summers, and a double harvest time;" and put it to him in the

plainest and boldest way, that Asia had raised two hundred

thousand talents for his service: "If this has not been paid to

you, ask your collectors for it; if it has, and is all gone, we

are ruined men." These words touched Antony to the quick, who

was simply ignorant of most things that were done in his name;

not that he was so indolent, as he was prone to trust frankly in

all about him. For there was much simplicity in his character;

he was slow to see his faults, but, when he did see them, was

extremely repentant, and ready to ask pardon of those he had

injured; prodigal in his acts of reparation, and severe in his

punishments, but his generosity was much more extravagant than

his severity; his raillery was sharp and insulting, but the edge

of it was taken off by his readiness to submit to any kind of

repartee; for he was as well contented to be rallied, as he was

pleased to rally others. And this freedom of speech was,

indeed, the cause of many of his disasters. He never imagined

that those who used so much liberty in their mirth would flatter

or deceive him in business of consequence, not knowing how

common it is with parasites to mix their flattery with boldness,

as confectioners do their sweetmeats with something biting, to

prevent the sense of satiety. Their freedoms and impertinences

at table were designed expressly to give to their obsequiousness

in council the air of being not complaisance, but conviction.

Such being his temper, the last and crowning mischief that could

befall him came in the love of Cleopatra, to awaken and kindle

to fury passions that as yet lay still and dormant in his

nature, and to stifle and finally corrupt any elements that yet

made resistance in him, of goodness and a sound judgment. He

fell into the snare thus. When making preparation for the

Parthian war, he sent to command her to make her personal

appearance in Cilicia, to answer an accusation, that she had

given great assistance, in the late wars, to Cassius. Dellius,

who was sent on this message, had no sooner seen her face, and

remarked her adroitness and subtlety in speech, but he felt

convinced that Antony would not so much as think of giving any

molestation to a woman like this; on the contrary, she would be

the first in favor with him. So he set himself at once to pay

his court to the Egyptian, and gave her his advice, "to go," in

the Homeric style, to Cilicia, "in her best attire," and bade

her fear nothing from Antony, the gentlest and kindest of

soldiers. She had some faith in the words of Dellius, but more

in her own attractions, which, having formerly recommended her

to Caesar and the young Cnaeus Pompey, she did not doubt might

prove yet more successful with Antony. Their acquaintance was

with her when a girl, young, and ignorant of the world, but she

was to meet Antony in the time of life when women's beauty is

most splendid, and their intellects are in full maturity. She

made great preparation for her journey, of money, gifts, and

ornaments of value, such as so wealthy a kingdom might afford,

but she brought with her her surest hopes in her own magic arts

and charms.

She received several letters, both from Antony and from his

friends, to summon her, but she took no account of these orders;

and at last, as if in mockery of them, she came sailing up the

river Cydnus, in a barge with gilded stern and outspread sails

of purple, while oars of silver beat time to the music of flutes

and fifes and harps. She herself lay all along, under a canopy

of cloth of gold, dressed as Venus in a picture, and beautiful

young boys, like painted Cupids, stood on each side to fan her.

Her maids were dressed like Sea Nymphs and Graces, some steering

at the rudder, some working at the ropes. The perfumes diffused

themselves from the vessel to the shore, which was covered with

multitudes, part following the galley up the river on either

bank, part running out of the city to see the sight. The

market-place was quite emptied, and Antony at last was left

alone sitting upon the tribunal; while the word went through all

the multitude, that Venus was come to feast with Bacchus, for

the common good of Asia. On her arrival, Antony sent to invite

her to supper. She thought it fitter he should come to her; so,

willing to show his good-humor and courtesy, he complied, and

went. He found the preparations to receive him magnificent

beyond expression, but nothing so admirable as the great number

of lights; for on a sudden there was let down altogether so

great a number of branches with lights in them so ingeniously

disposed, some in squares, and some in circles, that the whole

thing was a spectacle that has seldom been equaled for beauty.

The next day, Antony invited her to supper, and was very

desirous to outdo her as well in magnificence as contrivance;

but he found he was altogether beaten in both, and was so well

convinced of it, that he was himself the first to jest and mock

at his poverty of wit, and his rustic awkwardness. She,

perceiving that his raillery was broad and gross, and savored

more of the soldier than the courtier, rejoined in the same

taste, and fell into it at once, without any sort of reluctance

or reserve. For her actual beauty, it is said, was not in

itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her, or

that no one could see her without being struck by it, but the

contact of her presence, if you lived with her, was

irresistible; the attraction of her person, joining with the

charm of her conversation, and the character that attended all

she said or did, was something bewitching. It was a pleasure

merely to hear the sound of her voice, with which, like an

instrument of many strings, she could pass from one language to

another; so that there were few of the barbarian nations that

she answered by an interpreter; to most of them she spoke

herself, as to the Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, Arabians,

Syrians, Medes, Parthians, and many others, whose language she

had learnt; which was all the more surprising, because most of

the kings her predecessors scarcely gave themselves the trouble

to acquire the Egyptian tongue, and several of them quite

abandoned the Macedonian.

Antony was so captivated by her, that, while Fulvia his wife

maintained his quarrels in Rome against Caesar by actual force

of arms, and the Parthian troops, commanded by Labienus (the

king's generals having made him commander-in-chief), were

assembled in Mesopotamia, and ready to enter Syria, he could yet

suffer himself to be carried away by her to Alexandria, there to

keep holiday, like a boy, in play and diversion, squandering and

fooling away in enjoyments that most costly, as Antiphon says,

of all valuables, time. They had a sort of company, to which

they gave a particular name, calling it that of the Inimitable

Livers. The members entertained one another daily in turn, with

an extravagance of expenditure beyond measure or belief.

Philotas, a physician of Amphissa, who was at that time a

student of medicine in Alexandria, used to tell my grandfather

Lamprias, that, having some acquaintance with one of the royal

cooks, he was invited by him, being a young man, to come and see

the sumptuous preparations for supper. So he was taken into the

kitchen, where he admired the prodigious variety of all things;

but particularly, seeing eight wild boars roasting whole, says

he, "Surely you have a great number of guests." The cook

laughed at his simplicity, and told him there were not above

twelve to sup, but that every dish was to be served up just

roasted to a turn, and if anything was but one minute ill-timed,

it was spoiled; "And," said he, "maybe Antony will sup just now,

maybe not this hour, maybe he will call for wine, or begin to

talk, and will put it off. So that," he continued, "it is not

one, but many suppers must be had in readiness, as it is

impossible to guess at his hour." This was Philotas's story;

who related besides, that he afterwards came to be one of the

medical attendants of Antony's eldest son by Fulvia, and used to

be invited pretty often, among other companions, to his table,

when he was not supping with his father. One day another

physician had talked loudly, and given great disturbance to the

company, whose mouth Philotas stopped with this sophistical

syllogism: "In some states of fever the patient should take cold

water; everyone who has a fever is in some state of fever;

therefore in a fever cold water should always be taken." The

man was quite struck dumb, and Antony's son, very much pleased,

laughed aloud, and said, Philotas, "I make you a present of all

you see there," pointing to a sideboard covered with plate.

Philotas thanked him much, but was far enough from ever

imagining that a boy of his age could dispose of things of that

value. Soon after, however, the plate was all brought to him,

and he was desired to set his mark upon it; and when he put it

away from him, and was afraid to accept the present, "What ails

the man?" said he that brought it; "do you know that he who

gives you this is Antony's son, who is free to give it, if it

were all gold? but if you will be advised by me, I would counsel

you to accept of the value in money from us; for there may be

amongst the rest some antique or famous piece of workmanship,

which Antony would be sorry to part with." These anecdotes my

grandfather told us Philotas used frequently to relate.

To return to Cleopatra; Plato admits four sorts of flattery,

but she had a thousand. Were Antony serious or disposed to

mirth, she had at any moment some new delight or charm to meet

his wishes; at every turn she was upon him, and let him escape

her neither by day nor by night. She played at dice with him,

drank with him, hunted with him; and when he exercised in arms,

she was there to see. At night she would go rambling with him

to disturb and torment people at their doors and windows,

dressed like a servant-woman, for Antony also went in servant's

disguise, and from these expeditions he often came home very

scurvily answered, and sometimes even beaten severely, though

most people guessed who it was. However, the Alexandrians in

general liked it all well enough, and joined good humoredly and

kindly in his frolic and play, saying they were much obliged to

Antony for acting his tragic parts at Rome, and keeping his

comedy for them. It would be trifling without end to be

particular in his follies, but his fishing must not be

forgotten. He went out one day to angle with Cleopatra, and,

being so unfortunate as to catch nothing in the presence of his

mistress, he gave secret orders to the fishermen to dive under

water, and put fishes that had been already taken upon his

hooks; and these he drew so fast that the Egyptian perceived it.

But, feigning great admiration, she told everybody how dexterous

Antony was, and invited them next day to come and see him again.

So, when a number of them had come on board the fishing boats,

as soon as he had let down his hook, one of her servants was

beforehand with his divers, and fixed upon his hook a salted

fish from Pontus. Antony, feeling his line give, drew up the

prey, and when, as may be imagined, great laughter ensued,

"Leave," said Cleopatra, "the fishing-rod, general, to us poor

sovereigns of Pharos and Canopus; your game is cities,

provinces, and kingdoms."

Whilst he was thus diverting himself and engaged in this boys'

play, two dispatches arrived; one from Rome, that his brother

Lucius and his wife Fulvia, after many quarrels among

themselves, had joined in war against Caesar, and, having lost

all, had fled out of Italy; the other bringing little better

news, that Labienus, at the head of the Parthians, was

overrunning Asia, from Euphrates and Syria as far as Lydia and

Ionia. So, scarcely at last rousing himself from sleep, and

shaking off the fumes of wine, he set out to attack the

Parthians, and went as far as Phoenicia; but, upon the receipt

of lamentable letters from Fulvia, turned his course with two

hundred ships to Italy. And, in his way, receiving, such of his

friends as fled from Italy, he was given to understand that

Fulvia was the sole cause of the war, a woman of a restless

spirit and very bold, and withal her hopes were that commotions

in Italy would force Antony from Cleopatra. But it happened

that Fulvia, as she was coming to meet her husband, fell sick by

the way, and died at Sicyon, so that an accommodation was the

more easily made. For when he reached Italy, and Caesar showed

no intention of laying anything to his charge, and he on his

part shifted the blame of everything on Fulvia, those that were

friends to them would not suffer that the time should be spent

in looking narrowly into the plea, but made a reconciliation

first, and then a partition of the empire between them, taking

as their boundary the Ionian Sea, the eastern provinces falling

to Antony, to Caesar the western, and Africa being left to

Lepidus. And an agreement was made, that everyone in their

turn, as he thought fit, should make their friends consuls,

when they did not choose to take the offices themselves.

These terms were well approved of, but yet it was thought some

closer tie would be desirable; and for this, fortune offered

occasion. Caesar had an elder sister, not of the whole blood,

for Attia was his mother's name, hers Ancharia. This sister,

Octavia, he was extremely attached to, as, indeed, she was, it

is said, quite a wonder of a woman. Her husband, Caius

Marcellus, had died not long before, and Antony was now a

widower by the death of Fulvia; for, though he did not disavow

the passion he had for Cleopatra, yet he disowned anything of

marriage, reason, as yet, upon this point, still maintaining the

debate against the charms of the Egyptian. Everybody concurred

in promoting this new alliance, fully expecting that with the

beauty, honor, and prudence of Octavia, when her company should,

as it was certain it would, have engaged his affections, all

would be kept in the safe and happy course of friendship. So,

both parties being agreed, they went to Rome to celebrate the

nuptials, the senate dispensing with the law by which a widow

was not permitted to marry till ten months after the death of

her husband.

Sextus Pompeius was in possession of Sicily, and with his ships,

under the command of Menas, the pirate, and Menecrates, so

infested the Italian coast, that no vessels durst venture into

those seas. Sextus had behaved with much humanity towards

Antony, having received his mother when she fled with Fulvia,

and it was therefore judged fit that he also should be received

into the peace. They met near the promontory of Misenum, by the

mole of the port, Pompey having his fleet at anchor close by,

and Antony and Caesar their troops drawn up all along the shore.

There it was concluded that Sextus should quietly enjoy the

government of Sicily and Sardinia, he conditioning to scour the

seas of all pirates, and to send so much corn every year to

Rome.

This agreed on, they invited one another to supper, and by lot

it fell to Pompey's turn to give the first entertainment, and

Antony, asking where it was to be, "There," said he, pointing to

the admiral-galley, a ship of six banks of oars, "that is the

only house that Pompey is heir to of his father's." And this

he said, reflecting upon Antony, who was then in possession of

his father's house. Having fixed the ship on her anchors, and

formed a bridgeway from the promontory to conduct on board of

her, he gave them a cordial welcome. And when they began to

grow warm, and jests were passing freely on Antony and

Cleopatra's loves, Menas, the pirate, whispered Pompey in the

ear, "Shall I," said he, "cut the cables, and make you master

not of Sicily only and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?"

Pompey, having considered a little while, returned him answer,

"Menas, this might have been done without acquainting me; now we

must rest content; I do not break my word." And so, having been

entertained by the other two in their turns, he set sail for

Sicily.

After the treaty was completed, Antony dispatched Ventidius into

Asia, to check the advance of the Parthians, while he, as a

compliment to Caesar, accepted the office of priest to the

deceased Caesar. And in any state affair and matter of

consequence, they both behaved themselves with much

consideration and friendliness for each other. But it annoyed

Antony, that in all their amusements, on any trial of skill

or fortune, Caesar should be constantly victorious. He had with

him an Egyptian diviner, one of those who calculate nativities,

who, either to make his court to Cleopatra, or that by the rules

of his art he found it to be so, openly declared to him, that

though the fortune that attended him was bright and glorious,

yet it was overshadowed by Caesar's; and advised him to keep

himself as far distant as he could from that young man; "for

your Genius," said he, "dreads his; when absent from him yours

is proud and brave, but in his presence unmanly and dejected;"

and incidents that occurred appeared to show that the Egyptian

spoke truth. For whenever they cast lots for any playful

purpose, or threw dice, Antony was still the loser; and

repeatedly, when they fought game-cocks or quails, Caesar's had

the victory. This gave Antony a secret displeasure, and made

him put the more confidence in the skill of his Egyptian. So,

leaving the management of his home affairs to Caesar, he left

Italy, and took Octavia, who had lately borne him a daughter,

along with him into Greece.

Here, whilst he wintered in Athens, he received the first news

of Ventidius's successes over the Parthians, of his having

defeated them in a battle, having slain Labienus and

Pharnapates, the best general their king, Hyrodes, possessed.

For the celebrating of which he made a public feast through

Greece, and for the prizes which were contested at Athens he

himself acted as steward, and, leaving at home the ensigns that

are carried before the general, he made his public appearance in

a gown and white shoes, with the steward's wands marching

before; and he performed his duty in taking the combatants by

the neck, to part them, when they had fought enough.

When the time came for him to set out for the war, he took a

garland from the sacred olive, and, in obedience to some oracle,

he filled a vessel with the water of the Clepsydra, to carry

along with him. In this interval, Pacorus, the Parthian king's

son, who was marching into Syria with a large army, was met by

Ventidius, who gave him battle in the country of Cyrrhestica,

slew a large number of his men, and Pacorus among the first.

This victory was one of the most renowned achievements of the

Romans, and fully avenged their defeats under Crassus, the

Parthians being obliged, after the loss of three battles

successively, to keep themselves within the bounds of Media and

Mesopotamia. Ventidius was not willing to push his good fortune

further, for fear of raising some jealousy in Antony, but,

turning his arms against those that had quitted the Roman

interest, he reduced them to their former obedience. Among the

rest, he besieged Antiochus, king of Commagene, in the city of

Samosata, who made an offer of a thousand talents for his

pardon, and a promise of submission to Antony's commands. But

Ventidius told him that he must send to Antony, who was already

on his march, and had sent word to Ventidius to make no terms

with Antiochus, wishing that at any rate this one exploit might

be ascribed to him, and that people might not think that all his

successes were won by his lieutenants. The siege, however, was

long protracted; for when those within found their offers

refused, they defended themselves stoutly, till, at last,

Antony, finding he was doing nothing, in shame and regret for

having refused the first offer, was glad to make an

accommodation with Antiochus for three hundred talents. And,

having given some orders for the affairs of Syria, he returned

to Athens; and, paying Ventidius the honors he well deserved,

dismissed him to receive his triumph. He is the only man that

has ever yet triumphed for victories obtained over the

Parthians; he was of obscure birth, but, by means of Antony's

friendship, obtained an opportunity of showing his capacity, and

doing great things; and his making such glorious use of it gave

new credit to the current observation about Caesar and Antony,

that they were more fortunate in what they did by their

lieutenants than in their own persons. For Sossius, also, had

great success, and Canidius, whom he left in Armenia, defeated

the people there, and also the kings of the Albanians and

Iberians, and marched victorious as far as Caucasus, by which

means the fame of Antony's arms had become great among the

barbarous nations.

He, however, once more, upon some unfavorable stories, taking

offense against Caesar, set sail with three hundred ships for

Italy, and, being refused admittance to the port of Brundusium,

made for Tarentum. There his wife Octavia, who came from Greece

with him, obtained leave to visit her brother, she being then

great with child, having already borne her husband a second

daughter; and as she was on her way, she met Caesar, with his

two friends Agrippa and Maecenas, and, taking these two aside,

with great entreaties and lamentations she told them, that of

the most fortunate woman upon earth, she was in danger of

becoming the most unhappy; for as yet everyone's eyes were fixed

upon her as the wife and sister of the two great commanders,

but, if rash counsels should prevail, and war ensue, "I shall be

miserable," said she, "without redress; for on what side soever

victory falls, I shall be sure to be a loser." Caesar was

overcome by these entreaties, and advanced in a peaceable temper

to Tarentum, where those that were present beheld a most stately

spectacle; a vast army drawn up by the shore, and as great a

fleet in the harbor, all without the occurrence of any act of

hostility; nothing but the salutations of friends, and other

expressions of joy and kindness, passing from one armament to

the other. Antony first entertained Caesar this also being a

concession on Caesar's part to his sister; and when at length an

agreement was made between them, that Caesar should give Antony

two of his legions to serve him in the Parthian war, and that

Antony should in return leave with him a hundred armed galleys,

Octavia further obtained of her husband, besides this, twenty

light ships for her brother, and of her brother, a thousand foot

for her husband. So, having parted good friends, Caesar went

immediately to make war with Pompey to conquer Sicily. And

Antony, leaving in Caesar's charge his wife and children, and

his children by his former wife Fulvia, set sail for Asia.

But the mischief that thus long had lain still, the passion for

Cleopatra, which better thoughts had seemed to have lulled and

charmed into oblivion, upon his approach to Syria, gathered

strength again, and broke out into a flame. And, in fine, like

Plato's restive and rebellious horse of the human soul, flinging

off all good and wholesome counsel, and breaking fairly loose,

he sends Fonteius Capito to bring Cleopatra into Syria. To whom

at her arrival he made no small or trifling present, Phoenicia,

Coele-Syria, Cyprus, great part of Cilicia, that side of Judaea

which produces balm, that part of Arabia where the Nabathaeans

extend to the outer sea; profuse gifts, which much displeased

the Romans. For, although he had invested several private

persons in great governments and kingdoms, and bereaved many

kings of theirs, as Antigonus of Judaea, whose head he caused to

be struck off (the first example of that punishment being

inflicted on a king), yet nothing stung the Romans like the

shame of these honors paid to Cleopatra. Their dissatisfaction

was augmented also by his acknowledging as his own the twin

children he had by her, giving them the name of Alexander and

Cleopatra, and adding, as their surnames, the titles of Sun and

Moon. But he, who knew how to put a good color on the most

dishonest action, would say, that the greatness of the Roman

empire consisted more in giving than in taking kingdoms, and

that the way to carry noble blood through the world was by

begetting in every place a new line and series of kings; his own

ancestor had thus been born of Hercules; Hercules had not

limited his hopes of progeny to a single womb, nor feared any

law like Solon's, or any audit of procreation, but had freely

let nature take her will in the foundation and first

commencement of many families.

After Phraates had killed his father Hyrodes, and taken

possession of his kingdom, many of the Parthians left their

country; among the rest, Monaeses, a man of great distinction

and authority, sought refuge with Antony, who, looking on his

case as similar to that of Themistocles, and likening his own

opulence and magnanimity to those of the former Persian kings,

gave him three cities, Larissa, Arethusa, and Hierapolis, which

was formerly called Bambyce. But when the king of Parthia soon

recalled him, giving him his word and honor for his safety,

Antony was not unwilling to give him leave to return, hoping

thereby to surprise Phraates, who would believe that peace would

continue; for he only made the demand of him, that he should

send back the Roman ensigns which were taken when Crassus was

slain, and the prisoners that remained yet alive. This done, he

sent Cleopatra into Egypt, and marched through Arabia and

Armenia; and, when his forces came together, and were joined by

those of his confederate kings (of whom there were very many,

and the most considerable, Artavasdes, king of Armenia, who came

at the head of six thousand horse and seven thousand foot), he

made a general muster. There appeared sixty thousand Roman

foot, ten thousand horse, Spaniards and Gauls, who counted as

Romans; and, of other nations, horse and foot, thirty thousand.

And these great preparations, that put the Indians beyond

Bactria into alarm, and made all Asia shake, were all, we are

told, rendered useless to him because of Cleopatra. For, in

order to pass the winter with her, the war was pushed on before

its due time; and all he did was done without perfect

consideration, as by a man who had no proper control over his

faculties, who, under the effects of some drug or magic, was

still looking back elsewhere, and whose object was much more to

hasten his return than to conquer his enemies.

For, first of all, when he should have taken up his

winter-quarters in Armenia, to refresh his men, who were tired

with long marches, having come at least eight thousand furlongs,

and then have taken the advantage in the beginning of the spring

to invade Media, before the Parthians were out of

winter-quarters, he had not patience to expect his time, but

marched into the province of Atropatene, leaving Armenia on the

left hand, and laid waste all that country. Secondly, his haste

was so great, that he left behind the engines absolutely

required for any siege, which followed the camp in three hundred

wagons, and, among the rest, a ram eighty feet long; none of

which was it possible, if lost or damaged, to repair or to make

the like, as the provinces of the upper Asia produce no trees

long or hard enough for such uses. Nevertheless, he left them

all behind, as a mere impediment to his speed, in the charge of

a detachment under the command of Statianus, the wagon-officer.

He himself laid siege to Phraata, a principal city of the king

of Media, wherein were that king's wife and children. And when

actual need proved the greatness of his error in leaving the

siege train behind him, he had nothing for it but to come up and

raise a mound against the walls, with infinite labor and great

loss of time. Meantime Phraates, coming down with a large army,

and hearing that the wagons were left behind with the battering

engines, sent a strong party of horse, by which Statianus was

surprised, he himself and ten thousand of his men slain, the

engines all broken in pieces, many taken prisoners, and, among

the rest, king Polemon.

This great miscarriage in the opening of the campaign much

discouraged Antony's army, and Artavasdes, king of Armenia,

deciding that the Roman prospects were bad, withdrew with all

his forces from the camp, although he had been the chief

promoter of the war. The Parthians, encouraged by their

success, came up to the Romans at the siege, and gave them many

affronts; upon which Antony, fearing that the despondency and

alarm of his soldiers would only grow worse if he let them lie

idle, taking all the horse, ten legions, and three praetorian

cohorts of heavy infantry, resolved to go out and forage,

designing by this means to draw the enemy with more advantage to

a battle. To effect this, he marched a day's journey from his

camp, and, finding the Parthians hovering about, in readiness to

attack him while he was in motion, he gave orders for the signal

of battle to be hung out in the encampment, but, at the same

time, pulled down the tents, as if he meant not to fight, but to

lead his men home again; and so he proceeded to lead them past

the enemy, who were drawn up in a half-moon, his orders being

that the horse should charge as soon as the legions were come up

near enough to second them. The Parthians, standing still while

the Romans marched by them, were in great admiration of their

army, and of the exact discipline it observed, rank after rank

passing on at equal distances in perfect order and silence,

their pikes all ready in their hands. But when the signal was

given, and the horse turned short upon the Parthians, and with

loud cries charged them, they bravely received them, though they

were at once too near for bowshot; but the legions, coming up

with loud shouts and rattling of their arms, so frightened their

horses and indeed the men themselves, that they kept their

ground no longer. Antony pressed them hard, in great hopes that

this victory should put an end to the war; the foot had them in

pursuit for fifty furlongs, and the horse for thrice that

distance, and yet, the advantage summed up, they had but thirty

prisoners, and there were but fourscore slain. So that they

were all filled with dejection and discouragement, to consider,

that when they were victorious, their advantage was so small,

and that when they were beaten, they lost so great a number of

men as they had done when the carriages were taken.

The next day, having put the baggage in order, they marched back

to the camp before Phraata, in the way meeting with some

scattering troops of the enemy, and, as they marched further,

with greater parties, at length with the body of the enemy's

army, fresh and in good order, who called them to battle, and

charged them on every side, and it was not without great

difficulty that they reached the camp. There Antony, finding

that his men had in a panic deserted the defense of the mound,

upon a sally of the Medes, resolved to proceed against them by

decimation, as it is called, which is done by dividing the

soldiers into tens, and, out of every ten, putting one to death,

as it happens by lot. The rest he gave orders should have,

instead of wheat, their rations of corn in barley.

The war was now become grievous to both parties, and the

prospect of its continuance yet more fearful to Antony, in

respect that he was threatened with famine; for he could no

longer forage without wounds and slaughter. And Phraates, on

the other side, was full of apprehension that, if the Romans

were to persist in carrying on the siege, the autumnal equinox

being past and the air already closing in for cold, he should be

deserted by his soldiers, who would suffer anything rather than

wintering in open field. To prevent which, he had recourse to

the following deceit: he gave order to those of his men who had

made most acquaintance among the Roman soldiers, not to pursue

too close when they met them foraging, but to suffer them to

carry off some provision; moreover, that they should praise

their valor, and declare that it was not without just reason

that their king looked upon the Romans as the bravest men in the

world. This done, upon further opportunity they rode nearer in,

and, drawing up their horses by the men, began to revile Antony

for his obstinacy; that whereas Phraates desired nothing more

than peace, and an occasion to show how ready he was to save the

lives of so many brave soldiers, he, on the contrary, gave no

opening to any friendly offers, but sat awaiting the arrival of

the two fiercest and worst enemies, winter and famine, from whom

it would be hard for them to make their escape, even with all

the good-will of the Parthians to help them. Antony, having

these reports from many hands, began to indulge the hope;

nevertheless, he would not send any message to the Parthian till

he had put the question to these friendly talkers, whether what

they said was said by order of their king. Receiving answer

that it was, together with new encouragement to believe them, he

sent some of his friends to demand once more the standards and

prisoners, lest, if he should ask nothing, he might be supposed

to be too thankful to have leave to retreat in quiet. The

Parthian king made answer, that as for the standards and

prisoners, he need not trouble himself; but if he thought fit to

retreat, he might do it when he pleased, in peace and safety.

Some few days, therefore, being spent in collecting the baggage,

he set out upon his march. On which occasion, though there was

no man of his time like him for addressing a multitude, or for

carrying soldiers with him by the force of words, out of shame

and sadness he could not find in his heart to speak himself, but

employed Domitius Aenobarbus. And some of the soldiers resented

it, as an undervaluing of them; but the greater number saw the

true cause, and pitied it, and thought it rather a reason why

they on their side should treat their general with more respect

and obedience than ordinary.

Antony had resolved to return by the same way he came, which was

through a level country clear of all trees, but a certain

Mardian came to him (one that was very conversant with the

manners of the Parthians, and whose fidelity to the Romans had

been tried at the battle where the machines were lost), and

advised him to keep the mountains close on his right hand, and

not to expose his men, heavily armed, in a broad, open, riding

country, to the attacks of a numerous army of light-horse and

archers; that Phraates with fair promises had persuaded him from

the siege on purpose that he might with more ease cut him off in

his retreat; but, if so he pleased, he would conduct him by a

nearer route, on which moreover he should find the necessaries

for his army in greater abundance. Antony upon this began to

consider what was best to be done; he was unwilling to seem to

have any mistrust of the Parthians after their treaty; but,

holding it to be really best to march his army the shorter and

more inhabited way, he demanded of the Mardian some assurance of

his faith, who offered himself to be bound until the army came

safe into Armenia. Two days he conducted the army bound, and,

on the third, when Antony had given up all thought of the

enemy, and was marching at his ease in no very good order, the

Mardian, perceiving the bank of a river broken down, and the

water let out and overflowing the road by which they were to

pass, saw at once that this was the handiwork of the Parthians,

done out of mischief, and to hinder their march; so he advised

Antony to be upon his guard, for that the enemy was nigh at

hand. And no sooner had he begun to put his men in order,

disposing the slingers and dart men in convenient intervals for

sallying out, but the Parthians came pouring in on all sides,

fully expecting to encompass them, and throw the whole army into

disorder. They were at once attacked by the light troops, whom

they galled a good deal with their arrows; but, being themselves

as warmly entertained with the slings and darts, and many

wounded, they made their retreat. Soon after, rallying up

afresh, they were beat back by a battalion of Gallic horse, and

appeared no more that day.

By their manner of attack Antony seeing what to do, not only

placed the slings and darts as a rear guard, but also lined both

flanks with them, and so marched in a square battle, giving

order to the horse to charge and beat off the enemy, but not to

follow them far as they retired. So that the Parthians, not

doing more mischief for the four ensuing days than they

received, began to abate in their zeal, and, complaining that

the winter season was much advanced, pressed for returning home.

But, on the fifth day, Flavius Gallus, a brave and active

officer, who had a considerable command in the army, came to

Antony, desiring of him some light-infantry out of the rear, and

some horse out of the front, with which he would undertake to do

some considerable service. Which when he had obtained, he beat

the enemy back, not withdrawing, as was usual, at the same time,

and retreating upon the mass of the heavy infantry, but

maintaining his own ground, and engaging boldly. The officers

who commanded in the rear, perceiving how far he was getting

from the body of the army, sent to warn him back, but he took no

notice of them. It is said that Titius the quaestor snatched

the standards and turned them round, upbraiding Gallus with thus

leading so many brave men to destruction. But when he on the

other side reviled him again, and commanded the men that were

about him to stand firm, Titius made his retreat, and Gallus,

charging the enemies in the front, was encompassed by a party

that fell upon his rear, which at length perceiving, he sent a

messenger to demand succor. But the commanders of the heavy

infantry, Canidius amongst others, a particular favorite of

Antony's, seem here to have committed a great oversight. For,

instead of facing about with the whole body, they sent small

parties, and, when they were defeated, they still sent out small

parties, so that by their bad management the rout would have

spread through the whole army, if Antony himself had not marched

from the van at the head of the third legion, and, passing this

through among the fugitives, faced the enemies, and hindered

them from any further pursuit.