Cleopatra
on this,
and on other public occasions, wore the sacred robe of
?
and on other public occasions, wore the sacred robe of
?
Plutarch - Lives - v7
These were the general causes of the affec-
tion he found in his army; and, on this particular oc-
casion, his sympathising with the wounded, and attend-
ing to their wants, made them totally forget their suf-
ferings.
The Parthians, who had before begun to languish in
their operations, were so much elevated with this ad-
vantage, and held the Romans in such contempt, that
they even spent the night by their camp, in hopes of
seizing the baggage while they deserted their tents.
At break of day numbers more came up, to the
amount, as it is said, of forty thousand horse; for the
Parthian king had sent even his body-guard, so confi-
dent was he of absolute victory : as to himself, he never
was present at any engagement.
Antony, being now about to address his soldiers, called
for mourning apparel, that his speech might be more
affecting; but as his friends would not permit this, he
appeared in his general's robe. Those that had been
victorious he praised, those who had fled he re-
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? 44
PLUTARCH.
proached; the former encouraged him by every testi-
mony of their zeal; the latter, offering themselves
either to decimation or any other kind of punishment
that he might think proper to inflict on them, intreated
him to forego his sorrow and concern. On this he
raised his hands to heaven, and prayed to the gods,
'that if his happier fortune was to be followed by fu-
ture evil, it might affect only himself, and that his
army might be safe and victorious. '
The day following they marched out in better and
firmer order, and the Parthians, who thought they had
nothing to do but to plunder, when they saw their
enemy in fresh spirits, and in a capacity for renewing
the engagement, were extremely disconcerted. How-
ever, they fell on the Romans from the adjacent decli-
vities, and galled them with their arrows as they were
marching slowly forward. Against these attacks the
light-armed troops were covered by the legionaries,
who, placing one knee on the ground, received the
arrows on their shields. The rank that was behind
covered that which was before in a regular gradation;
so that this curious fortification, which defended them
from the arrows of the enemy, resembled the roof of a
house.
The Parthians, who thought that the Romans rested
on their knees only through weariness and fatigue,
threw away their bows, and came to close engagement
with their spears. On this the Romans leaped up with
a loud shout, cut to pieces those who came first to the
attack, and put all the rest to flight. This method of
attack and defence being repeated every day, they
made but little progress in their march, and were, be-
sides, distressed for want of provisions; they could
not forage without fighting; the corn they could get
was but little, and even that they had not instruments
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? ANToNY.
45
to grind. The greatest part of them had been left be-
hind; for many of the beasts of burden were dead, and
many were employed in carrying the sick and wounded.
It is said that a bushel of wheat, Attic measure, was
sold for fifty drachmas, and a barley loaf for its weight
in silver. Those who sought for roots and potherbs
found few that they had been accustomed to eat, and in
tasting unknown herbs, they met with one that brought
on madness and death. He that had eaten of it im-
mediately lost all memory and knowlege; but, at the
same time, would busy himself in turning and moving
every stone he met with, as if he was on some very
important pursuit. The camp was full of unhappy
men bending to the ground, and thus digging np and
removing stones, till at last they were carried oft' by
a bilious vomiting, when wine, the only remedy, was
not to be had. Thus, while numbers perished, and the
Parthians still continued to harass them, Antony is
said frequently to have cried out, ' O the Ten Thou-
sand! ' alluding to the army that Xenophon led from
Babylon both a longer way, and through more nu-
merous conflicts, and yet led in safety.
The Parthians, when they found that they could not
break throngh the Roman ranks, nor throw them into
disorder, but were frequently beaten in their attacks,
begun once more to treat their foragers in a peaceable
manner. They showed them their bows unstrung, and
informed them that they had given up the pursuit,
and were going to depart. A few Medes, they said,
might continue the route a day or two longer, but they
would give the Romans no trouble, as their only pur-
pose was to protect some of the remoter villages.
These professions were accompanied with many kind
salutations; insomuch, that the Romans conceived
fresh hopes and spirits; and, because the way over the
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? PLUTARCH.
mountains was said to be destitute of water, Antony
once more was desirous of taking his route through
the plains. When he was going to put this scheme in
execution, one Mithridates, cousin to that Moneses
who had formerly sought his protection, and been pre-
sented by him with three cities, came from the enemy's
camp, and desired he might be permitted to speak with
some person that understood the Syrian or the Parthian
language. Alexander of Antioch, a friend of Antony's,
went out to him, and after the Parthiau had informed
him who he was, and attributed his coming to the kind-
ness of Moneses, he asked him whether he did not see
at a great distance before him a range of high hills.
'Under those hills,' said he, 'the whole Parthian
army lies in ambuscade for you: for at the foot of the
mountains there is a spacious plain; and there, when,
deluded by their artifices, you have left the way over
the heights, they expect to find you. In the mountain
roads, indeed, you have thirst and toil to contend with
as usual; but, should Antony take the plains, he must
expect the fate of Crassus. '
After he had given this information he departed;
and Antony, on the occasion, assembled a council, and
amongst the rest his Mardian guide, who concurred
with the directions of the Parthian. The way over
the plains, he said, was hardly practicable, were there
no enemy to contend with: the windings were long
and tedious, and difficult to be made out. The rugged
way over the mountains, on the contrary, had no other
difficulty in it than to endure thirst for ene day. An-
tony therefore changed his mind; and, ordering each
man to take water along with him, took the mountain
road by night. As there was not a sufficient number
of vessels, some conveyed their water in helmets, and
others in bladders.
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? ANToNY.
47
The Parthians were informed of Antony's motions,
and, contrary to custom, pursued him in the night.
About sunrise they came up with the rear, weary as it
was with toil and watching; for that night they had
travelled thirty miles. In this condition they had to
contend with an unexpected enemy; and being at once
obliged to fight and continue their march, their thirst
became still more insupportable. At last the front
came up to a river, the water of which was cool and
dear; but being salt and acrimonious, it occasioned a
pain in the stomach and bowels, that had been heated
and inflamed with thirst. The Mardian guide had, in-
deed, forewarned them of this ; but the poor fellows,
rejecting the information that was brought them, drank
eagerly of the stream. Antony, running- amongst the
ranks, intreated them to forbear but a little. He told
them that there was another river at no great distance,
the water of which might be drank with safety; and
that the way was so extremely rocky and uneven, that
it was impossible for the enemy's cavalry to pursue.
At the same time he sounded a retreat to call off such
as were engaged with the enemy, and gave the signal
for pitching their tents, that they might at least have
the convenience of shade.
While the tents were fixing, and the Parthians, as
usual, retiring from the pursuit, Mithridates came
again; and Alexander being sent out to him, he ad-
vised that the Romans, after a little rest, should rise
and make for the river, because the Parthians did not
propose to carry their pursuit beyond it. Alexander
reported this to Antony; and Mithridates being pre-
sented with as many phials and cups of gold as he
could conceal in. his garments, once more left the
camp. Antony, while it was yet day, struck his tents,
and marched unmolested by the enemy: but so dread-
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PLUTARCH.
ful a night as followed he had never passed. Those
who were known to be possessed of gold or silver were
slain and plundered, and the money that was conveyed
in the baggage was made a prey of. Last of all, An-
tony's baggage was seized, and the richest bowls and
tables were cut asunder and divided amongst the plun-
derers. The greatest terror and distraction ran through
the whole army; for it was concluded that the inroads
of the enemy had occasioned this flight and confusion.
Antony sent for one of his freedmen, called Kbamnus,
and made him swear that he would stab him and cut
off his head, whenever he should command him, that
he might neither fall alive into the hands of the enemy,
nor be known when dead. While his friends were
weeping around him, the Mardian guide gave him
some encouragement, by telling him that the river was
at hand, as he could perceive by the cool freshness of
the air that issued from it; and that, of course, the
troubles of his journey would soon be at an end, as the
night nearly was. At the same time, he was informed
that all these disorders had been occasioned by the
avarice of the soldiers; and he therefore ordered the
signal for encamping, that he might rectify his disor-
dered army.
It was now daylight, and as soon as the troops were
brought to a little order, the Parthians once more be-
gan to harass the rear. The signal was therefore given
to the light troops to engage, and the heavy-armed
received the arrows under a roof of shields as before.
The Parthians, however, durst not come any more to
close engagement; and when the front had advanced a
little farther, the river was in sight. Antony first
drew up the cavalry on the bank to carry over the
weak and wounded. The combat was now over, and
the thirsty could enjoy their water in quiet. At sight
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? ANToNY.
of the river the Parthians unstrung their bows, and,
with the highest encomiums on their bravery, bade
their enemies pass over in peace. They did so; and
after the necessary refreshments, proceeded on their
march, without much confidence in the Parthian praise
or professions. Within six days from the last battle
they arrived at the river Araxes, which divides Media
from Armenia. This river, on account of the depth
and strength of its current, seemed difficult to pass;
and a rumor, moreover, ran through the army, that
the enemy was there in ambuscade to attack them as
they fordpd it. However, they passed over in safety;
and when they set foot in Armenia, with the avidity of
mariners when they first come on shore, they kissed
the ground in adoration, and embraced each other with
a pleasure that could only express itself in tears. The
ill consequences of their former extremities, however,
discovered themselves even here; for as they now
passed through a country of plenty and profusion,
their too great indulgences threw them into the dropsy
and the cholic. Antony, on reviewing his army, found
that he had lost twenty thousand foot and four thou-
sand horse, more than half of which had not died in
battle, but by sickness. They had been twenty-seven
days in their return from Phraata, and had beaten the
Parthians in eighteen engagements; but these victo-
ries were by no means complete, because they could
not prosecute their advantages by pursuit.
Hence it is evident that Artavasdes deprived An-
tony of the fruits of his Parthian expedition: for had
he been assisted by the sixteen thousand horse which
he took with him out of Media (who were armed like
the Parthians, and accustomed to fight with them),
after the Romans had beaten them in set battles, this
cavalry might have taken up the pursuit, and harassed
PLUT. VOL. VII. D
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? PLUTARCH.
them in such a manner, that they could not so often
have rallied, and returned to the charge. All there-
fore were exciting Antony to revenge himself on Ar-
tavasdes: but he followed better counsels, and in his
present weak and indigent condition, he did not think
proper to withhold the usual respect and honors he
had paid him. But when he came into Armenia on
another occasion, after having drawn him to a meeting
by fair promises and invitations, he seized and carried
him bound to Alexandria, where be led him in tri-
umphal procession. The Romans were offended at
this triumph and at Antony, who had thus transferred
the principal honors of their country to Egypt, for the
gratification of Cleopatra. These things, however, hap-
pened in a later period of Antony's life.
The severity of the winter, and perpetual snows,
were so destructive to the troops, that in his march
he lost eight thousand men. Accompanied by a small
party, he went down to the sea coast, and in a fort be-
tween Berytus and Sidon, called the White Hair, he
waited for Cleopatra. To divert his impatience on her
delay, he had recourse to festivity and intoxication;
and he would frequently, over his cups, start up from
bis seat, and run, leaping and dancing, to look out for
her approach. At length she came, and brought with
her a large quantity of money and clothing for the
army. Some however have asserted that she brought
nothing but the clothes, and that Antony supplied the
money, though he gave her the credit of it.
There happened at this time a quarrel between
Phraates and the king of the Medes, occasioned, as it
is said, by the division of the Roman spoils, and the
latter was apprehensive of losing his kingdom. He
therefore sent to Antony an offer of his assistance
against the Parthians. Antony, who concluded that
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? ANToNY.
51
he had failed of conquering the Parthians only through
want of cavalry and bowmen, and would here seem
rather to confer than to receive a favor, determined
once more to return to Armenia, and, after joining
the king of the Medes at the river Araxes, to renew
the war.
Octavia, who was still at Rome, now expressed a
desire of visiting Antony, and Caesar gave her his per-
mission; not according to the general opinion, merely
to oblige her, but that the ill treatment and neglect
which he concluded she would meet with might give
him a pretence for renewing the war. When she ar-
rived at Athens, she received letters from Antony,
commanding her to continue there, and acquainting
her with his new expedition. These letters mortified
her, for she suspected the expedition to be nothing
more than a pretence; however, she wrote to him, and
desired he would send his commands where she should
leave the presents she had brought. These presents
consisted of clothing for the army, beasts of burden,
money, and gifts for his officers and friends. Besides
these, she had brought two thousand picked men, fully
equipped and armed for the general's cohort. Octavia'
sent this letter by Niger, a friend of Antony's, who
did not fail to pay her the compliments she deserved,
but represented her to Antony in the most agreeable
light.
Cleopatra dreaded her rival. She was apprehensive
that if she came to Antony, the respectable gravity of
her manners, added to the authority and interest of
Caesar, would carry off her husband. She therefore
pretended to be dying for the love of Antony; and, to
give a color to her pretence, she emaciated herself by
abstinence. At his approach she taught her eye to
express an agreeable surprise, and when he left her.
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? PLUTARCH.
she put on the look of languishment and dejection.
Sometimes she would endeavor to weep; and then, as
if she wished to hide the tear from her tender Antony,
she affected to wipe it off unseen.
Antony was all this while preparing for his Median
expedition, and Cleopatra's creatures and dependants
did not fail to reproach his unfeeling heart, which
could suffer the woman whose life was wrapped up in
his, to die for his sake. Octavia's marriage, they said,
was a mere political convenience; and it was enough
for her that she had the honor of being called his wife:
poor Cleopatra, though queen of a mighty nation, was
called nothing more than his mistress; yet even with
this, for the sake of his society, she could be content;
but of that society, whenever she should be deprived,
it would deprive her of life. These insinuations so
totally unmanned him, that through fear of Cleopatra's
putting an end to her life, he returned to Egypt, and
put off the Mede till summer, though at that time the
Parthian affairs were said to be in a seditious and dis-
orderly situation. At length, however, he went into
Armenia; and after entering into alliance with the
Mede, and betrothing one of Cleopatra's sons to a
daughter of his who was very young, he returned, that
he might attend to the civil war.
When Octavia returned from Athens, Caesar looked
on the treatment she had met with as a mark of the
greatest contempt, and he therefore ordered her to
retire and live alone. However, she refused to quit
her husband's house, and moreover intreated Caesar by
no means to have recourse to arms merely on her ac-
count. 'It would be infamous,' she said, 'for two
chiefs of the Roman empire to involve the people in a
civil war, one for the love of a woman, and the other
out of jealousy. ' By her own conduct she added
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? ANToNV.
53
weight to her expostulations. She kept up the dignity
of Antony's house, and took the same care of his
children, as well those that he had hy Fulvia as her
own, that she could possibly have taken, had he been
present. Antony's friends who were sent to Rome to
solicit honors or transact business, she kindly enter-
tained, and used her best offices with Caesar to obtain
what they requested. Yet even by this conduct she
was hurting Antony, contrary to her inclination. His
injurious treatment of such a woman excited a general
indignatiou; and the distribution he had made to his
children in Alexandria carried with it something so
imperious and so disparaging to the Romans, that it
increased that indignation not a little. The manner of
doing it was extremely obnoxious: he summoned the
people to the place of public exercise, and ordering
two golden chairs to be placed on a tribunal of silver,
one for himself, and the other for Cleopatra, besides
lower seats for the children, he announced her queen
of Egypt, Cyprus, Africa, and Coelosyria, and nomi-
nated Caesario, her son by Caesar the dictator, her col-
league. The sons she had by him he entitled Kings of
Kings, and to Alexander he gave Armenia and Media,
together with Parthia, when it should be conquered.
To Ptolemy he gave Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. At
the same time the children made their appearance,
Alexander in a Median dress, with the turban and
tiara; and Ptolemy in a long cloak and slippers, with
a bonnet encircled by a diadem. The latter was dressed
like the successors of Alexander; the former, like the
Median and Armenian kings. When the children sa-
luted their parents, one was attended by Armenian,
the other by Macedonian guards.
Cleopatra on this,
and on other public occasions, wore the sacred robe of
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PLUTARCH.
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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? ANToNY.
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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? 58
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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? ANToNY. 59
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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? ANToNY.
Gl
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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? PLUTARCH.
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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? ANToNY.
G3
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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?
tion he found in his army; and, on this particular oc-
casion, his sympathising with the wounded, and attend-
ing to their wants, made them totally forget their suf-
ferings.
The Parthians, who had before begun to languish in
their operations, were so much elevated with this ad-
vantage, and held the Romans in such contempt, that
they even spent the night by their camp, in hopes of
seizing the baggage while they deserted their tents.
At break of day numbers more came up, to the
amount, as it is said, of forty thousand horse; for the
Parthian king had sent even his body-guard, so confi-
dent was he of absolute victory : as to himself, he never
was present at any engagement.
Antony, being now about to address his soldiers, called
for mourning apparel, that his speech might be more
affecting; but as his friends would not permit this, he
appeared in his general's robe. Those that had been
victorious he praised, those who had fled he re-
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? 44
PLUTARCH.
proached; the former encouraged him by every testi-
mony of their zeal; the latter, offering themselves
either to decimation or any other kind of punishment
that he might think proper to inflict on them, intreated
him to forego his sorrow and concern. On this he
raised his hands to heaven, and prayed to the gods,
'that if his happier fortune was to be followed by fu-
ture evil, it might affect only himself, and that his
army might be safe and victorious. '
The day following they marched out in better and
firmer order, and the Parthians, who thought they had
nothing to do but to plunder, when they saw their
enemy in fresh spirits, and in a capacity for renewing
the engagement, were extremely disconcerted. How-
ever, they fell on the Romans from the adjacent decli-
vities, and galled them with their arrows as they were
marching slowly forward. Against these attacks the
light-armed troops were covered by the legionaries,
who, placing one knee on the ground, received the
arrows on their shields. The rank that was behind
covered that which was before in a regular gradation;
so that this curious fortification, which defended them
from the arrows of the enemy, resembled the roof of a
house.
The Parthians, who thought that the Romans rested
on their knees only through weariness and fatigue,
threw away their bows, and came to close engagement
with their spears. On this the Romans leaped up with
a loud shout, cut to pieces those who came first to the
attack, and put all the rest to flight. This method of
attack and defence being repeated every day, they
made but little progress in their march, and were, be-
sides, distressed for want of provisions; they could
not forage without fighting; the corn they could get
was but little, and even that they had not instruments
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? ANToNY.
45
to grind. The greatest part of them had been left be-
hind; for many of the beasts of burden were dead, and
many were employed in carrying the sick and wounded.
It is said that a bushel of wheat, Attic measure, was
sold for fifty drachmas, and a barley loaf for its weight
in silver. Those who sought for roots and potherbs
found few that they had been accustomed to eat, and in
tasting unknown herbs, they met with one that brought
on madness and death. He that had eaten of it im-
mediately lost all memory and knowlege; but, at the
same time, would busy himself in turning and moving
every stone he met with, as if he was on some very
important pursuit. The camp was full of unhappy
men bending to the ground, and thus digging np and
removing stones, till at last they were carried oft' by
a bilious vomiting, when wine, the only remedy, was
not to be had. Thus, while numbers perished, and the
Parthians still continued to harass them, Antony is
said frequently to have cried out, ' O the Ten Thou-
sand! ' alluding to the army that Xenophon led from
Babylon both a longer way, and through more nu-
merous conflicts, and yet led in safety.
The Parthians, when they found that they could not
break throngh the Roman ranks, nor throw them into
disorder, but were frequently beaten in their attacks,
begun once more to treat their foragers in a peaceable
manner. They showed them their bows unstrung, and
informed them that they had given up the pursuit,
and were going to depart. A few Medes, they said,
might continue the route a day or two longer, but they
would give the Romans no trouble, as their only pur-
pose was to protect some of the remoter villages.
These professions were accompanied with many kind
salutations; insomuch, that the Romans conceived
fresh hopes and spirits; and, because the way over the
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? PLUTARCH.
mountains was said to be destitute of water, Antony
once more was desirous of taking his route through
the plains. When he was going to put this scheme in
execution, one Mithridates, cousin to that Moneses
who had formerly sought his protection, and been pre-
sented by him with three cities, came from the enemy's
camp, and desired he might be permitted to speak with
some person that understood the Syrian or the Parthian
language. Alexander of Antioch, a friend of Antony's,
went out to him, and after the Parthiau had informed
him who he was, and attributed his coming to the kind-
ness of Moneses, he asked him whether he did not see
at a great distance before him a range of high hills.
'Under those hills,' said he, 'the whole Parthian
army lies in ambuscade for you: for at the foot of the
mountains there is a spacious plain; and there, when,
deluded by their artifices, you have left the way over
the heights, they expect to find you. In the mountain
roads, indeed, you have thirst and toil to contend with
as usual; but, should Antony take the plains, he must
expect the fate of Crassus. '
After he had given this information he departed;
and Antony, on the occasion, assembled a council, and
amongst the rest his Mardian guide, who concurred
with the directions of the Parthian. The way over
the plains, he said, was hardly practicable, were there
no enemy to contend with: the windings were long
and tedious, and difficult to be made out. The rugged
way over the mountains, on the contrary, had no other
difficulty in it than to endure thirst for ene day. An-
tony therefore changed his mind; and, ordering each
man to take water along with him, took the mountain
road by night. As there was not a sufficient number
of vessels, some conveyed their water in helmets, and
others in bladders.
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? ANToNY.
47
The Parthians were informed of Antony's motions,
and, contrary to custom, pursued him in the night.
About sunrise they came up with the rear, weary as it
was with toil and watching; for that night they had
travelled thirty miles. In this condition they had to
contend with an unexpected enemy; and being at once
obliged to fight and continue their march, their thirst
became still more insupportable. At last the front
came up to a river, the water of which was cool and
dear; but being salt and acrimonious, it occasioned a
pain in the stomach and bowels, that had been heated
and inflamed with thirst. The Mardian guide had, in-
deed, forewarned them of this ; but the poor fellows,
rejecting the information that was brought them, drank
eagerly of the stream. Antony, running- amongst the
ranks, intreated them to forbear but a little. He told
them that there was another river at no great distance,
the water of which might be drank with safety; and
that the way was so extremely rocky and uneven, that
it was impossible for the enemy's cavalry to pursue.
At the same time he sounded a retreat to call off such
as were engaged with the enemy, and gave the signal
for pitching their tents, that they might at least have
the convenience of shade.
While the tents were fixing, and the Parthians, as
usual, retiring from the pursuit, Mithridates came
again; and Alexander being sent out to him, he ad-
vised that the Romans, after a little rest, should rise
and make for the river, because the Parthians did not
propose to carry their pursuit beyond it. Alexander
reported this to Antony; and Mithridates being pre-
sented with as many phials and cups of gold as he
could conceal in. his garments, once more left the
camp. Antony, while it was yet day, struck his tents,
and marched unmolested by the enemy: but so dread-
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? 48
PLUTARCH.
ful a night as followed he had never passed. Those
who were known to be possessed of gold or silver were
slain and plundered, and the money that was conveyed
in the baggage was made a prey of. Last of all, An-
tony's baggage was seized, and the richest bowls and
tables were cut asunder and divided amongst the plun-
derers. The greatest terror and distraction ran through
the whole army; for it was concluded that the inroads
of the enemy had occasioned this flight and confusion.
Antony sent for one of his freedmen, called Kbamnus,
and made him swear that he would stab him and cut
off his head, whenever he should command him, that
he might neither fall alive into the hands of the enemy,
nor be known when dead. While his friends were
weeping around him, the Mardian guide gave him
some encouragement, by telling him that the river was
at hand, as he could perceive by the cool freshness of
the air that issued from it; and that, of course, the
troubles of his journey would soon be at an end, as the
night nearly was. At the same time, he was informed
that all these disorders had been occasioned by the
avarice of the soldiers; and he therefore ordered the
signal for encamping, that he might rectify his disor-
dered army.
It was now daylight, and as soon as the troops were
brought to a little order, the Parthians once more be-
gan to harass the rear. The signal was therefore given
to the light troops to engage, and the heavy-armed
received the arrows under a roof of shields as before.
The Parthians, however, durst not come any more to
close engagement; and when the front had advanced a
little farther, the river was in sight. Antony first
drew up the cavalry on the bank to carry over the
weak and wounded. The combat was now over, and
the thirsty could enjoy their water in quiet. At sight
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? ANToNY.
of the river the Parthians unstrung their bows, and,
with the highest encomiums on their bravery, bade
their enemies pass over in peace. They did so; and
after the necessary refreshments, proceeded on their
march, without much confidence in the Parthian praise
or professions. Within six days from the last battle
they arrived at the river Araxes, which divides Media
from Armenia. This river, on account of the depth
and strength of its current, seemed difficult to pass;
and a rumor, moreover, ran through the army, that
the enemy was there in ambuscade to attack them as
they fordpd it. However, they passed over in safety;
and when they set foot in Armenia, with the avidity of
mariners when they first come on shore, they kissed
the ground in adoration, and embraced each other with
a pleasure that could only express itself in tears. The
ill consequences of their former extremities, however,
discovered themselves even here; for as they now
passed through a country of plenty and profusion,
their too great indulgences threw them into the dropsy
and the cholic. Antony, on reviewing his army, found
that he had lost twenty thousand foot and four thou-
sand horse, more than half of which had not died in
battle, but by sickness. They had been twenty-seven
days in their return from Phraata, and had beaten the
Parthians in eighteen engagements; but these victo-
ries were by no means complete, because they could
not prosecute their advantages by pursuit.
Hence it is evident that Artavasdes deprived An-
tony of the fruits of his Parthian expedition: for had
he been assisted by the sixteen thousand horse which
he took with him out of Media (who were armed like
the Parthians, and accustomed to fight with them),
after the Romans had beaten them in set battles, this
cavalry might have taken up the pursuit, and harassed
PLUT. VOL. VII. D
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? PLUTARCH.
them in such a manner, that they could not so often
have rallied, and returned to the charge. All there-
fore were exciting Antony to revenge himself on Ar-
tavasdes: but he followed better counsels, and in his
present weak and indigent condition, he did not think
proper to withhold the usual respect and honors he
had paid him. But when he came into Armenia on
another occasion, after having drawn him to a meeting
by fair promises and invitations, he seized and carried
him bound to Alexandria, where be led him in tri-
umphal procession. The Romans were offended at
this triumph and at Antony, who had thus transferred
the principal honors of their country to Egypt, for the
gratification of Cleopatra. These things, however, hap-
pened in a later period of Antony's life.
The severity of the winter, and perpetual snows,
were so destructive to the troops, that in his march
he lost eight thousand men. Accompanied by a small
party, he went down to the sea coast, and in a fort be-
tween Berytus and Sidon, called the White Hair, he
waited for Cleopatra. To divert his impatience on her
delay, he had recourse to festivity and intoxication;
and he would frequently, over his cups, start up from
bis seat, and run, leaping and dancing, to look out for
her approach. At length she came, and brought with
her a large quantity of money and clothing for the
army. Some however have asserted that she brought
nothing but the clothes, and that Antony supplied the
money, though he gave her the credit of it.
There happened at this time a quarrel between
Phraates and the king of the Medes, occasioned, as it
is said, by the division of the Roman spoils, and the
latter was apprehensive of losing his kingdom. He
therefore sent to Antony an offer of his assistance
against the Parthians. Antony, who concluded that
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? ANToNY.
51
he had failed of conquering the Parthians only through
want of cavalry and bowmen, and would here seem
rather to confer than to receive a favor, determined
once more to return to Armenia, and, after joining
the king of the Medes at the river Araxes, to renew
the war.
Octavia, who was still at Rome, now expressed a
desire of visiting Antony, and Caesar gave her his per-
mission; not according to the general opinion, merely
to oblige her, but that the ill treatment and neglect
which he concluded she would meet with might give
him a pretence for renewing the war. When she ar-
rived at Athens, she received letters from Antony,
commanding her to continue there, and acquainting
her with his new expedition. These letters mortified
her, for she suspected the expedition to be nothing
more than a pretence; however, she wrote to him, and
desired he would send his commands where she should
leave the presents she had brought. These presents
consisted of clothing for the army, beasts of burden,
money, and gifts for his officers and friends. Besides
these, she had brought two thousand picked men, fully
equipped and armed for the general's cohort. Octavia'
sent this letter by Niger, a friend of Antony's, who
did not fail to pay her the compliments she deserved,
but represented her to Antony in the most agreeable
light.
Cleopatra dreaded her rival. She was apprehensive
that if she came to Antony, the respectable gravity of
her manners, added to the authority and interest of
Caesar, would carry off her husband. She therefore
pretended to be dying for the love of Antony; and, to
give a color to her pretence, she emaciated herself by
abstinence. At his approach she taught her eye to
express an agreeable surprise, and when he left her.
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? PLUTARCH.
she put on the look of languishment and dejection.
Sometimes she would endeavor to weep; and then, as
if she wished to hide the tear from her tender Antony,
she affected to wipe it off unseen.
Antony was all this while preparing for his Median
expedition, and Cleopatra's creatures and dependants
did not fail to reproach his unfeeling heart, which
could suffer the woman whose life was wrapped up in
his, to die for his sake. Octavia's marriage, they said,
was a mere political convenience; and it was enough
for her that she had the honor of being called his wife:
poor Cleopatra, though queen of a mighty nation, was
called nothing more than his mistress; yet even with
this, for the sake of his society, she could be content;
but of that society, whenever she should be deprived,
it would deprive her of life. These insinuations so
totally unmanned him, that through fear of Cleopatra's
putting an end to her life, he returned to Egypt, and
put off the Mede till summer, though at that time the
Parthian affairs were said to be in a seditious and dis-
orderly situation. At length, however, he went into
Armenia; and after entering into alliance with the
Mede, and betrothing one of Cleopatra's sons to a
daughter of his who was very young, he returned, that
he might attend to the civil war.
When Octavia returned from Athens, Caesar looked
on the treatment she had met with as a mark of the
greatest contempt, and he therefore ordered her to
retire and live alone. However, she refused to quit
her husband's house, and moreover intreated Caesar by
no means to have recourse to arms merely on her ac-
count. 'It would be infamous,' she said, 'for two
chiefs of the Roman empire to involve the people in a
civil war, one for the love of a woman, and the other
out of jealousy. ' By her own conduct she added
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? ANToNV.
53
weight to her expostulations. She kept up the dignity
of Antony's house, and took the same care of his
children, as well those that he had hy Fulvia as her
own, that she could possibly have taken, had he been
present. Antony's friends who were sent to Rome to
solicit honors or transact business, she kindly enter-
tained, and used her best offices with Caesar to obtain
what they requested. Yet even by this conduct she
was hurting Antony, contrary to her inclination. His
injurious treatment of such a woman excited a general
indignatiou; and the distribution he had made to his
children in Alexandria carried with it something so
imperious and so disparaging to the Romans, that it
increased that indignation not a little. The manner of
doing it was extremely obnoxious: he summoned the
people to the place of public exercise, and ordering
two golden chairs to be placed on a tribunal of silver,
one for himself, and the other for Cleopatra, besides
lower seats for the children, he announced her queen
of Egypt, Cyprus, Africa, and Coelosyria, and nomi-
nated Caesario, her son by Caesar the dictator, her col-
league. The sons she had by him he entitled Kings of
Kings, and to Alexander he gave Armenia and Media,
together with Parthia, when it should be conquered.
To Ptolemy he gave Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. At
the same time the children made their appearance,
Alexander in a Median dress, with the turban and
tiara; and Ptolemy in a long cloak and slippers, with
a bonnet encircled by a diadem. The latter was dressed
like the successors of Alexander; the former, like the
Median and Armenian kings. When the children sa-
luted their parents, one was attended by Armenian,
the other by Macedonian guards.
Cleopatra on this,
and on other public occasions, wore the sacred robe of
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? 54
PLUTARCH.
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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? ANToNY.
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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? 58
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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? ANToNY. 59
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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? 60
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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? ANToNY.
Gl
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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? PLUTARCH.
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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? ANToNY.
G3
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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