No More Learning

Isis, and affected to give audience to the people in the
character and name of the New Isis.
Caesar expatiated on these things in the senate, and
by frequent accusations, incensed the people against
Antony. Antony did not fail to recriminate by his
deputies. In the first place, he charged Caesar with
wresting Sicily out of the hands of Pompey, and not
dividing it with him. His next charge was, that Caesar
had never returned the ships he had borrowed of him:
a third, that after reducing his colleague Lepidus to
the condition of a private man, he had taken to himself
his army, his province, and his tributes: lastly, that
he had distributed almost all the lands in Italy among
his own soldiers, and had left nothing for his. To these
Caesar made answer, that Lepidus was reduced, from
an incapacity of sustaining his government; that what
he had acquired by war he was ready to divide with
Antony, and at the same time he expected to share
Armenia with him; that his soldiers had no right to
lands in Italy, because Media and Armenia, which by
their bravery they had added to the Roman empire,
had been allotted to them.
Antony being informed of these things in Armenia,
immediately sent Canidius to the sea coast with six-
teen legions. In the mean time he went to Ephesus,
attended by Cleopatra. There he assembled his fleet,
which consisted of eight hundred ships of burden,
whereof Cleopatra furnished two hundred, besides
twenty thousand talents, and provisions for the whole
army. Antony, by the advice of Domitius and some
other friends, ordered Cleopatra to return to Egypt,
and there to wait the event of the war. But the queen,
apprehensive that a reconciliation might take place,
through the mediation of Octavia, by means of large
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6T>
bribes drew over Canidius to her interest. She pre-
vailed on him to represent to Antony, that it was un-
reasonable to refuse so powerful an auxiliary the pri-
vilege of being present at the war; that her presence
was even necessary to animate and encourage the
Egyptians, who made so considerable a part of his
naval force; nor was Cleopatra, in point of abilities,
inferior to any of the princes his allies; since she had
not only been a long time at the head of a considerable
kingdom, but by her intercourse with him, had learnt
the administration of the greatest affairs. These re-
monstrances, as the Fates had decreed every thing for
Caesar, had the desired effect, and they sailed together
for Samos, where they indulged in every species of
luxury: for at the same time that the kings, governors,
states, and provinces, between Syria, the Mceotis, Ar-
menia, and Lauria, were commanded to send their con-
tributions to the war, the whole tribe of players and
musicians were ordered to repair to Samos; and while
almost the whole world besides was venting its anguish
in groans and tears, that island alone was piping and
dancing. The several cities sent oxen for sacrifice,
and kings contended in the magnificence of their pre-
sents and entertainments. So that it was natural to
say, ' What kind of figure will these people make in
their triumph, when their very preparations for war
are so splendid V
When these things were over, he gave Priene for the
residence of the players and musicians, and sailed for
Athens, where he once more renewed the farce of
public entertainments. The Athenians had treated
Octavia, when she was at Athens, with the highest re-
spect; and Cleopatra, jealous of the honors she had
received, endeavored to court the people by every
mark of favor. The people in return decreed her
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? PLUTARCH,
public honors, and sent a deputation to wait on her
with the decree. At the head of this deputation was
Antony himself, in the character of a citizen of Athens,
and he was prolocutor on the occasion.
In the mean time he sent some of his people to turn
Octavia out of his house at Rome. When she left it,
it is said she took with her all his children, except the
eldest by Fulvia, who attended him, and deplored the
severity of her fate with tears, under the apprehension
that she would be looked on as one of the causes of
the civil war. The Romans pitied her sufferings, but
still more the folly of Antony, particularly such as
had seen Cleopatra; for she was by no means pre-
ferable to Octavia, either on account of her youth or
beauty.
When Caesar was informed of the celerity and mag-
nificence of Antony's preparations, he was afraid of
being forced into the war that summer. This would
have been very inconvenient for him, as he was in want
of almost every thing, and the levies of money occa-
sioned a general dissatisfaction. The whole body of
the people were taxed one fourth of their income, and
the sons of freedmen one eighth. This occasioned the
greatest clamor and confusion in Italy, and Antony
certainly committed a very great oversight in neg-
lecting the advantage. By his unaccountable delays
he gave Caesar an opportunity both to complete his
preparations, and appease the minds of the people.
When the money was demanded, they murmured and
mutinied; but after it was once paid, they thought of
it no longer.
Titius and Plancus, men of consular dignity, and
Antony's principal friends, being ill used by Cleopatra
on account of their opposing her stay in the army,
abandoned him and went over to Caesar. As they
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? ANToNY.
knew the contents of Antony's will, they presently
made him acquainted with them. This will was lodged
in the hands of the vestals; and when Csesar demanded
it they refused to send it; adding, that if he was de-
termined to have it, he must come and take it himself.
Accordingly he went and took it. First of all he read
it over to himself, and remarked such passages as were
most liable to censure. Afterwards he read it in the
senate, and this gave a general offence. It seemed to
the greatest part an absurd and unprecedented thing
that a man should suffer in his life for what he had
ordered to be done after his death. Caesar dwelt par-
ticularly on the orders he had given concerning his
funeral: for in case he died at Rome, he had directed
his body to be carried in procession through the forum,
and afterwards conveyed to Alexandria to Cleopatra.
Calvisius, a retainer of Caesar's, also accused him of
having given to Cleopatra the Pergamenian library,
which consisted of two hundred thousand volumes;
and added, that once, when they supped in public,
Antony rose and trod on Cleopatra's foot by way of
signal for some rendezvous. He asserted, moreover,
that he suffered the Ephesians in his presence to call
Cleopatra sovereign; and that when he was presiding
at the administration of public affairs, attended by
several tetrarchs and kings, he received love-letters
from her inclosed in onyx and crystal, and there pe-
rused them. Besides, when Furnius, a man of great
dignity, and one of the ablest of the Roman orators,
was speaking in public, Cleopatra was carried through
the forum in a litter; on which Antony immediately
started up, and no longer paying his attention to the
cause, accompanied her, leaning on the litter as he
walked.
The veracity of Calvisius, in these accusations, was,
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PLUTARCH.
nevertheless, suspected. The friends of Antony so-
licited the people in his behalf, and despatched Ge-
minius, one of their number, to put him on his guard
against the abrogation of his power, and his being de-
clared an enemy to the Roman people. Geminius
sailed into Greece, and, on his arrival, was suspected
by Cleopatra as an agent of Octavius. On this ac-
count he was contemptuously treated, and the lowest
seats were assigned him at the public suppers. This
however he bore for some time with patience, in hopes
of obtaining an interview with Antony: but being pub-
licly called on to declare the cause of his coming, he
answered, 'That one part of the cause would require
to be communicated at a sober hour, but the other part
could not be mistaken, whether a man were drunk or
sober; for it was clear that all things would go well
if Cleopatra retired into Egypt. ' Antony was ex-
tremely chagrined; and Cleopatra said, 'You have
done very well, Geminius, to confess without being
put to the torture. ' Geminius soon after withdrew,
and returned to Rome. Many more of Antony's friends
were driven off by the creatures of Cleopatra, when
they could no longer endure their insolence and scur-
rility. Amongst the rest were Marcus Silanus, and
Dellius the historian. The latter informs us that Cleo-
patra had a design on his life, as he was told by Glau-
cus the physician; because he had once affronted her
at supper, by saying, that while Sarmentus was drink-
ing Falernian at Rome, they were obliged to take up
with vinegar. Sarmentus was a boy of Caesar's, one
of those creatures whom the Romans call deliciae.
When Caesar had made his preparations, it was de-
creed that war should be declared against Cleopatra;
for that Antony could not be said to possess that power
which he had already given up to a woman. Caesar
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observed, that he was like a man under enchantment,
who has no longer any power over himself. It was
not he with whom they were going to war, but Mardion
the slave, and Pothinus; Iris, Cleopatra's woman, and
Charmion; for these had the principal direction of af-
fairs. Several prodigies are said to have happened
previous to this war. Pisaurum, a colony of Antony's
on the Adriatic, was swallowed up by an earthquake.
Antony's statue in Alba was covered with sweat for
many days, which returned though it was frequently
wiped off. While he was at Patra;, the temple of Her-
cules was set on fire by lightning: and at Athens the
statue of Bacchus was carried by a whirlwind from
the Gigantomachia into the theatre. These things con-
cerned Antony the more nearly, as he affected to be a
descendant of Hercules, and an imitator of Bacchus;
insomuch, that he was called the younger Bacchus.
The same wind threw down the colossal statues of Eu-
menes and Attalus, called the Antonii, while the rest
were unmoved. And in Cleopatra's royal galley,
which was called Antonias, a terrible phenomenon
appeared. Some swallows had built their nests in the
stern, and others drove them away aud destroyed their
young.
On the commencement of the war, Antony had no
fewer than five hundred armed vessels, magnificently
adorned, and furnished with eight or ten banks of oars.
He had, moreover, a hundred thousand foot, and twelve
thousand horse. The auxiliary kings, who fought under
his banners were, Bocchus of Africa, Tarcondemus of
the Upper Cilicia, Archelaus of Cappadocia, Phila-
delphus of Paphlagonia, Mithridates of Commagene,
and Adallas of Thrace. Those who did not attend in
person, but sent supplies, were Polemo of Pontus,
Malchus of Arabia, Herod of Judea, aud Amyntas,
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PLUTARCH.
king of Lycaonia and Galatia. Besides these he had
supplies also from the king of the Medes. Caesar had
two hundred and fifty men of war, eighty thousand
foot, and an equal number of horse with the enemy.
Antony's dominions lay from the Euphrates and Ar-
menia, to the Ionian sea and Illyria: Caesar's extended
from Illyria to the western ocean, and from that again
to the Tuscan and Sicilian seas. He had likewise all
that part of Africa which lies opposite to Italy, Gaul,
and Spain, as far as the pillars of Hercules. The rest
of that country, from Cyrene to Ethiopia, was in the
possession of Antony.
But such a slave was he to the will of a woman, that
though much superior at land, to gratify her, he put
his whole confidence in the navy; notwithstanding that
the ships had not half their complement of men, and the
officers were obliged to press and pick up in Greece
vagrants, ass-drivers, reapers, and boys. Nor could
they make up their numbers even with these, but many
of the ships were still almost empty. Caesar's ships,
which were not high-built or splendidly set off for
show, but tight good sailers, well manned and equipped,
continued in the harbors of Tarentum and Brundusium.
From thence he sent to Antony, desiring he would meet
him with his forces, that no time might be lost; offer-
ing at the same time to leave the ports and harbors free
for his landing, and to withdraw his army a day's journey
on horseback, that he might make good his encamp-
ment. To this Antony returned a haughty answer, and
though he was the older man, challenged Caesar to
single combat; or if he should decline this, he might
meet him at Pharsalia, and decide it where Caesar and
Pompey had done before. Caesar prevented this; for
while Antony made for Actium, which is now called
Nicopolis, he crossed the Ionian, and seized on Toryne,
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a place in Epirus. Antony was distressed on finding
this, because he was without his infantry; but Cleo-
patra made a jest of it, and asked him if it was so
very dreadful a thing that Caesar was got into the
Ladle.
Antony, as soon as it was daylight, perceived the
enemy making up to him; and fearing that his ill-
manned vessels would be unable to stand the attack*
he armed the rowers, and placed them on the decks to
make a show, with the oars suspended on each side of
the vessels: he proceeded in this mock form of battle
towards Actium. Caesar was deceived by the strata-
gem, and retired. The water about Caesar's camp was
both scarce and bad, and Antony had the address to
cut off the little that they had.
It was much about this time that, contrary to the in-
clination of Cleopatra, he acted so generous a part by
Domitius. The latter, even when he had a fever on
him, took a small boat and went over to Caesar: An-
tony, though he could not but resent this, sent after
him his baggage, his friends and servants; and Do-
mitius, as if it had been for grief that his treachery
was discovered, died very soon after. Amyntas and
Deiotarus likewise went over to Caesar.
Antony's fleet was so very unsuccessful, and so unfit
for service, that he was obliged at last to think of his
land-forces; and Canidius, who had been retained in
the interest of Cleopatra, now changing his mind,
thought it necessary that she should be sent away, and
that Antony should retire into Thrace or Macedonia to
decide it in the field. These places were thought of
the rather, because Dicomes, king of the Getae, had
offered to assist Antony with a large army. To give
up the sea to Caesar, who, in his Sicilian wars, had ac-
quired so much experience on it, he said, would be no
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disgrace; but to give up the advantage which so able
a general as himself might make of his land-forces,
and waste the strength of so many legions in useless
draughts for the sea service, would be infinitely ab-
surd. Cleopatra, however, prevailed for the decision
by sea; though her motive was not the superior chance
of victory, but, in case of being vanquished, the better
opportunity to escape.
There was a neck of land that lay between Antony's
camp and his fleet, along which he used to go fre-
quently from one to the other. Caesar was informed
by a domestic how easy it might be to seize Antony in
this passage, and he sent a party to lie in wait for that
purpose. They were so near carrying their point, that
they seized the person who went before Antony, and
had they not been too hasty, he must have fallen into
their hands, for it was with the greatest difficulty that
he made his escape by flight.
After it was determined to decide the affair by sea,
they set fire to all the Egyptian vessels except sixty.
The best and largest ships from three ranks of oars to
ten were selected, and these had their proper comple-
ment of men, for they were supplied with twenty thou-
sand foot and two thousand archers. On this a veteran
warrior, an experienced officer in the infantry, who had
often fought under Antony, and whose body was covered
with scars, cried, pointing to those scars, 'Why will
you, general, distrust these honest wounds, and rest
your hopes on those villanous wooden bottoms 1 Let
the Egyptians and Phoenicians skirmish at sea; but
give us at least the land, for there it is that we have"
learnt to conquer or to die. ' Antony made no answer,
but seemed to encourage him by the motions of his
hand and head; though, at the same time, he had no
great confidence himself; for when the pilots would
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have left the sails behind, he ordered them to take
them all on board, pretending indeed, that it should be
done to pursue the enemy's flight, not to facilitate his
own.
On that and the three following days the sea ran too
high for an engagement: but on the fifth the weather
was fine and the sea calm. Antony and Poplicola led
the right wing, Ccelius the left, and Marcus Octavius
and Marcus Justeius commanded the centre. Caesar
had given his left wing to Agrippa, and led the right
himself. Antony's land-forces were commanded by
Canidius, and Caesar's remained quiet on the shore,
under the command of Taurus. As to the generals
themselves, Antony was rowed about in a light vessel,
ordering his men, on account of the weight of their
vessels, to keep their ground and fight as steadily as if
they were at land. He ordered bis pilots to stand as
firm as if they were at anchor, in that position to re-
ceive the attacks of the enemy, and by all means to
avoid the disadvantage of the straits. Caesar, when he
left his tent before day, to review his fleet, met a man
who was driving an ass. On asking his name, the man
answered, ' My name is Eutychus, and the name of my
ass is Nicon. '1 The place where he met him was after-
wards adorned with trophies of the beaks of ships, and
there he placed the statue of the ass and his driver in
brass. After having reviewed the whole fleet, and
taken his post in the right wing, he attended to the
fleet of the enemy, which he was surprised to find
steady and motionless as if it lay at anchor: for some
time he was of opinion that it was so, and for that
reason, he kept back his fleet at the distance of eight
furlongs. About noon there was a brisk gale from the
1 Good fortune and victory.
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PLUTARCH.
sea, and Antony's forces being impatient for the com-
bat, and trusting to the height and bulk of their ves-
sels, which they thought would render them invincible,
put the left wing in motion. Caesar rejoiced at the
sight of this, and kept back his right wing, that he
might the more effectually draw them out to the open
sea, where his light galleys could easily surround the
heavy half-manned vessels of the enemy.
The attack was not made with any violence or im-
petuosity; for Antony's ships were too heavy for that
kind of rapid impression, which, however, is very ne-
cessary for the breach of the enemy's vessels. On the
other hand, Caesar's ships durst neither encounter head
to head with Antony's, on account of the strength and
roughness of their beaks, nor yet attack them on the
sides, since by means of their weight they would easily
have broken their beaks, which were made of large
square pieces of timber fastened to each other with
iron cramps. The engagement therefore was like a
battle at land, rather than a sea-fight, or, more pro-
perly, like the storming of a town; for there were
generally three or more ships of Caesar's about one of
Antony's, assaulting it with pikes, javelins, and fire-
brands, while Antony's men, out of their wooden
towers1 threw weapons of various kinds from engines.
Agrippa opened his left wing with a design to surround
the enemy, and Poplicola, in his endeavor to prevent
him, was separated from the main body, which threw it
into disorder, while at the same time it was attacked
with great vigor by Arruntius. 2 When things were in
this situation, and nothing decisive was yet effected,
Cleopatra's sixty ships on a sudden hoisted their sails,
1 His ships are so called on account of their tallness.
* Arruntius must have commanded Caesar's centre, though
that circumstance is not mentioned.
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65
and fairly took to flight through the midst of the com-
batants; for they were placed in the rear of the large
-vessels, and by breaking their way through them they
occasioned no small confusion. The enemy saw them
with astonishment making their way with a fair wind
for the Peloponnesus. Antony, on this occasion, forgot
both the general and the man; and as some author has
pleasantly observed, that ' a lover's soul lives in the
body of his mistress,' so, as if he had been absolutely
incorporated with her, he suffered her to carry him
soul and body away. No sooner did he see her vessel
hoisting sail than, forgetting every other object, for-
getting those brave friends that were shedding their
blood in his cause, he took a five-oared galley, and,
accompanied only by Alexander the Syrian and Scel-
lius, followed her who was the first cause, and now the
accomplisher of his ruin. Her own destruction was
certain, and he voluntarily involved himself in her
fate.
When she saw him coming, she put up a signal in
her vessel, on which he soon went aboard: neither of
them could look each other in the face, and Antony
sat down at the head of the ship, where he remained
in sombre silence, holding his head between his hands.
In the mean time Caesar's light ships that were in pur-
suit of Antony came in sight. On this he ordered his
pilot to tack about and meet them; but they all de-
clined the engagement, and made off, except Eurycles
the Lacedaemonian, who shook his lance at him in a
menacing manner on the deck. Antony, standing at
the head of his galley, cried, ' Who art thou that thus
pursuest Antony? ' He answered, ' I am Eurycles, the
son of Lachares, and follow the fortunes of Caesar to
revenge my father's death. ' This Lachares Antony
had beheaded for a robbery. Eurycles however did
PLUT. VoL. VII. E
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not attack Antony's vessel, but fell on the other admi-
ral-galley (for there were two of that rank), and by the
shock turned her round. He took that vessel and
another which contained Antony's most valuable plate
and furniture. When Eurycles was gone, Antony re-
turned to the same pensive posture; and continuing
thus for three days, during which, either through
shame or resentment, he refused to see Cleopatra, he
arrived at Taenarus. There the women who attended
them first brought them to speak to each other, then
to dine together, and not long after, as it may be sup-
posed, to sleep together. At last, several of his trans-
ports, and some of his friends who had escaped from
the defeat, came up with him, and informed him that
his fleet was totally destroyed, but that his land-forces
were yet unhurt. Hereon he sent orders to Canidius
immediately to march his army through Macedonia
into Asia. As for himself, he determined to sail from
Taenarus into Africa; and dividing one ship-load of
treasure amongst his friends, he desired them to pro-
vide for their own safety. They refused the treasure,
and expressed their sorrow in tears; while Antony,
with the kindest and most humane consolations in-
treated them to accept it, and dismissed them with
letters of recommendation to his agent at Corinth,
whom he ordered to give them refuge till they could
be reconciled to Caesar. This agent was Theophilus,
the father of Hipparchus, who had great interest with
Antony; but was the first of his freedmen that went
over to Caesar. He afterwards settled at Corinth.
In this posture were the affairs of Antony. After
his fleet at Actium had long struggled with Caesar's, a
hard gale, which blew right a-head of the ships, ob-
liged them to give out about four in the afternoon.
About five thousand men were slain in the action; and
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Caesar, according to bis own account, took three hun-
dred ships. Antony's flight was observed by few, and
to those who had not seen it, it was at first incredible.
They could not possibly believe that a general, who
had nineteen legions and twelve thousand horse, a ge-
neral to whom vicissitude of fortune was nothing new,
would so basely desert tbem. His soldiers had an in-
expressible desire to see him; and, still expecting that
he would appear in some part or other, gave the strong-
est testimony of their courage and fidelity. Nay, when
they were even convinced that he had irrecoverably
fled, they continued embodied for seven days, and
would not listen to the ambassadors of Caesar. At last,
however, when Canidins, who commanded them, fled
from the camp by night, and when they were aban-
doned by their principal officers, they surrendered to
Caesar.
After this great success Caesar sailed for Athens.
The cities of Greece he found in extreme poverty; for
they had been plundered of their cattle and every
thing else before the war. He therefore not only ad-
mitted them to favor, but made a distribution amongst
them of the remainder of the corn which had been
provided for the war. My great-grandfather, Nicar-
chus, used to relate, that as the inhabitants of Chaero-
nea had no horses, they were compelled to carry a
certain quantity of corn on their shoulders to the sea
coast as far as Anticyra, and were driven by soldiers
with stripes, like so many beasts of burden. This,
however, was done but once; for when the corn was
measured a second time, and they were preparing to
carry it, news came of Antony's defeat, and this saved
the city from farther hardships: for the commissaries
and soldiers immediately took to flight, and left the
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PLUTARCH.
poor inhabitants to share the corn amongst them-
selves.
When Antony arrived in Libya he sent Cleopatra
from Paraetonium into Egypt, and retired to a melan-
choly desert, where he wandered up and down, with
only two attendants. One of these was Aristocrates
the Greek rhetorician: the other was Lucilius; con-
cerning whom it has been mentioned in another place
that, to favor the escape of Brutus at the battle of
Philippi, he assumed his name, and suffered himself
to be taken. Antony saved him ; and he was so grate-
ful, that he attended him to the last.
When Antony was informed that he who commanded
his troops in Libya had gone over to the enemy, he
attempted to lay violent hands on himself; but he was
prevented by his friends, who conveyed him to Alex-
andria, where he found Cleopatra engaged in a very
bold enterprise.
Between the Red sea and the Egyptian there is an
isthmus which divides Asia from Africa, and which,
in the narrowest part, is about three hundred furlongs
in breadth. Cleopatra had formed a design of drawing
her galleys over this part into the Red sea; and pur-
posed, with all her wealth and forces, to seek some
remote country, where she might neither be reduced to
slavery nor involved in war. However, the first gal-
leys that were carried over, being burnt by the Ara-
bians of Petra, and Antony not knowing that his land-
forces were dispersed, she gave up this enterprise, and
began to fortify the avenues of her kingdom. An-
tony, in the mean time, forsook the city and the society
of his friends, and retired to a small house which he
had built himself near Pharos, on a mound he had cast
up in the sea. In this place, sequestered from all com-
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? ANToNY.
0! )
merce with mankind, he affected to live like Timon,
because there was a resemblance in their fortunes. He
had been deserted by his friends, and their ingratitude
had put him out of humor with his own species.
This Timon was a citizen of Athens, and lived about
the time of the Peloponnesian war, as appears from
the comedies of Aristophanes and Plato, in which he
is exposed as the hater of mankind. Yet, though he
hated mankind in general, he caressed the bold and
impudent boy Alcibiades; and being asked the reason
of this by Apemantus, who expressed some surprise at
it, he answered, it was because he foresaw that he
would plague the people of Athens. Apemantus was
the only one he admitted to his society, and he was his
friend in point of principle. At the feast of sacrifices
for the dead, these two dined by themselves; and when
Apemantus observed that the feast was excellent, Ti-
mon answered, 'it would be so if you were not here. '
Once, in an assembly of the people, he mounted the
rostrum, and the novelty of the thing occasioned an
universal silence and expectation; at length he said,
'People of Athens, there is a fig-tree in my yard, on
which many worthy citizens have hanged themselves;
and as I have determined to build on the spot, I
thought it necessary to give this public notice, that
such as choose to have recourse to this tree for the
aforesaid purpose may repair to it before it is cut
down. ' He was buried at Halae, near the sea; and
the water surrounded his tomb in such a manner, that
he was even then inaccessible to mankind. The fol-
lowing epitaph is inscribed on his monument:
At last, I've bid the knaves farewell:
Ask not my name----but go--to hell.
It is said that he wrote this epitaph himself. That
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? 70
PLUTARCH.
which is commonly repeated was written by Callima-
chus:
My name is Timon: knaves begone!
Curse me, but come not near my stone!
These are some of the many anecdotes we have con-
cerning Timon.
Canidius himself brought Antony news of the de-
fection of his army. Soon after he heard that Herod
of Judiea was gone over to Caesar with some legions
and cohorts; that several other powers had deserted
his interest; and, in short, that he had no foreign as-
sistance to depend on. None of these things however
disturbed him; for, at once abandoning his hopes and
his cares, he left his Timonian retreat, and returned
to Alexandria; where, in the palace of Cleopatra, he
once more entertained the citizens with his usual festi-
Tity and munificence. He gave the toga virilis to An-
tyllus, his son by Fulvia; and admitted Cleopatra's
son by Caesar into the order of young men. The en-
tertainments on this occasion were infinitely pompous
and magnificent, and lasted many days.
Antony and Cleopatra had before established a so-
ciety, called 'the Inimitable Livers,' of which they
were members; but they now instituted another, by
no means inferior in splendor or luxury, called ? the
Companions in Death. ' Their friends were admitted
into this, and the time passed in mutual treats and
diversions. Cleopatra, at the same time, was making
a collection of poisonous drugs; and being desirous to
know which was least painful in the operation, she
tried them on the capital convicts. Such poisons as
were quick in their operation she found to be attended
with violent pain and convulsions ; such as were milder
were slow in their eflFect: she therefore applied herself
to the examination of venomous creatures, and caused
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? ANToNY.
71
different kinds of them to be applied to different per-
sons under her own inspection. These experiments
she repeated daily ; and at length she found that the
bite of the asp was the most eligible kind of death;
for it brought on a gradual kind of lethargy, in which
the face was covered with a gentle sweat, and the
senses sunk easily into stupefaction; and those who
were thus affected showed the same uneasiness at be-
ing disturbed or awaked that people do in the pro-
foundest natural sleep.
They both sent ambassadors to Caesar in Asia. Cleo-
patra requested Egypt for her children; and Antony
only petitioned that he might be permitted to live as a
private man in Egypt, or, if that were too much, that
he might retire to Athens. Deserted as they were by
almost all their friends, and hardly knowing in whom
to confide, they were forced to send Euphronius, their
children's tutor, on this embassy. Alexis of Laodicea,
who, by means of Timogenes, became acquainted with
Antony at Rome, a man of great skill in the Greek
learning, and one of Cleopatra's chief agents in keep-
ing Antony from Octavia, he had before despatched
to Judaea, to detain Herod in his interest. This man
gave up Antony; and, relying on Herod's interest,
had the confidence to appear before Caesar. The inte-
rest of Herod, however, did not save him; for he was
immediately carried in chains into his own country,
and there put to death. Thus Antony had, at least,
the satisfaction of seeing him punished for his perfidy.
Caesar absolutely rejected Antony's petition; but he
answered Cleopatra, that she might expect every favor
from him, provided she either took off Antony, or ba-
nished him her dominions. At the same time he sent
Thyreus to her, who was one of his freedmen, and
whose address was not unlikely to carry his point,
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? 72
PLUTARCH.
particularly as he came from a young conqueror to the
court of a vain and ambitious queen, who had still the
highest opinion of her personal charms. As this am-
bassador was indulged with audiences longer and more
frequent than usual, Antony grew jealous, and having
first ordered him to be whipped, he sent him back to
Caesar with letters, wherein he informed him that he
had been provoked by the insolence of his freedman at
a time when his misfortunes made him but too prone
to anger. 'However,' added he, ' you have a freed-
man of mine, Hipparchus, in your power, and if it
will be any satisfaction to you, use him in the same
manner. ' Cleopatra, that she might make some amends
for her indiscretion, behaved to him afterwards with
great tenderness and respect. She kept her birth-day
in a manner suitable to their unhappy circumstances;
but his was celebrated with such magnificence, that
many of the guests who came poor, returned wealthy.
After Antony's overthrow Agrippa wrote several
letters to Caesar to inform him that his presence was
necessary at Rome. This put oft' the war for some
time; but as soon as the winter was over Caesar
marched against Antony by the route of Syria and
sent his lieutenants on the same business into Africa.
When Pelusium was taken, it was rumored that Se-
leucus had delivered up the place with the connivance
or consent of Cleopatra: whereon the queen, in order
to justify herself, gave up the wife and children of
Seleucus into the hands of Antony. Cleopatra had
erected near the temple of Isis some monuments of
extraordinary size and magnificence. To these she
removed her treasure, her gold, silver, emeralds,
pearls, ebony, ivory, and cinnamon, together with a
large quantity of flax, and a number of torches. Caesar
was under some apprehensions about this immense
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? ANToNY.
73
wealth, lest, on some sudden emergency, she should
set fire to the whole: for this reason he was continually
sending messengers to her with assurances of gentle
and honorable treatment, while in the mean time he
hastened to the city with his army.
When he arrived he encamped near the Hippodrome;
on which Antony made a brisk sally, routed the ca-
valry, drove them back into their trenches, and re-
turned to the city with the complacency of a conqueror.
As he was going to the palace he met Cleopatra, whom,
armed as he was, he kissed without ceremony, and at
the same time he recommended to her favor a brave
soldier, who had distinguished himself in the engage-
ment. She presented the soldier with a cuirass and
helmet of gold, which he took, and the same night
went over to Caesar. After this Antony challenged
Caesar to fight him in single combat; but Caesar only
answered, that ' Antony might think of many other
ways to end his life. ' Antony, therefore, concluding
that he could not die more honorable than in battle,
determined to attack Caesar at the same time both by
sea and land. The night preceding the execution of
this design he ordered his servants at supper to ren-
der him their best services that evening, and fill the
wine round plentifully; for the day following they
might belong to another master, whilst he lay extended
on the ground, no longer of consequence either to them
or to himself. His friends were affected, and wept to
hear him talk thus; which, when he perceived, he en-
couraged them by assurances that his expectations of
a glorious victory were at least equal to those of an
honorable death. At the dead of night, when uni-
versal silence reigned through the city, a silence that
was deepened by the awful thought of the ensuing day,
on a sudden was beard the sound of musical instru-
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? 74
PLUTARCH.
ments, and a noise which resembled the exclamations
of bacchanals. This tumultuous procession seemed
to pass through the whole city, and to go out at the
gate which led to the enemy's camp. Those who re-
flected on this prodigy, concluded that Bacchus, the
god whom Antony affected to imitate, had then for-
saken him.
As soon as it was light he led his infantry out of the
city, and posted them on a rising ground, from whence
he saw his fleet advance towards the enemy. There
he stood waiting for the event; but as soon as the two
fleets met they hailed each other with their oars in a
very friendly manner, (Antony's fleet making the first
advances,) and sailed together peaceably towards the
city. This was no sooner done than the cavalry de-
serted him in the same manner, and surrendered to
Ca? sar. His infantry were routed; and, as he retired
to the city, he exclaimed that Cleopatra had betrayed
him to those with whom he was fighting only for her
sake.
The unhappy queen, dreading the effects of his anger,
fled to her monument, and having secured it as much
as possible with bars and bolts, she gave orders that
Antony should be informed she was dead. Believing
the information to be true, he cried, ' Antony, why
dost thou delay? What is life to thee, when it is
taken from her, for whom alone thou couldst wish to
live V He then went to his chamber, and opening his
coat of mail, he said, ' I am not distressed, Cleopatra,
that thou art gone before me, for I shall soon be with
thee; but I grieve to think that I, who have been so
distinguished a general, should be inferior in magna-
nimity to a woman. ' He was then attended by a faith-
ful servant, whose name was Eros. He had engaged
this servant to kill him, whenever he should think it
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