by Georg Ebers
CHAPTER VI.
The men sent by Archibius to obtain news had brought back no definiteinformation; but a short time before, a royal runner had handed him atablet from Iras, requesting him to visit her the next day. Disquieting,but fortunately as yet unverified tidings had arrived. The Regent wasdoing everything in his power to ascertain the truth; but he (Archibius)was aware of the distrust of the government, and everything connectedwith it, felt by the sailors and all the seafaring folk at the harbour.An independent person like himself could often learn more than the chiefof the harbour police, with all his ships and men.
The little tablet was accompanied by a second, which, in the Regent'sname, authorized the bearer to have the harbour chains raised anywhere,to go out into the open sea and return without interference.
The messenger, the overseer of Archibius's galley slaves, was anexperienced man. He undertook to have the "Epicurus"--a swift vessel,which Cleopatra had given to her friend--ready for a voyage to the opensea within two hours. The carriage should be sent for his master, thatno time might be lost.
When Archibius had returned to the ladies and asked whether it would bean abuse of their hospitality, if--it was now nearly midnight--he shouldstill delay his departure for a time, they expressed sincere pleasure,and begged him to continue his narrative.
"I must hasten," he hurriedly began, after eating the lunch whichBerenike had ordered while he was talking with the messenger, "but theevents of the next few years are hardly worth mentioning. Besides, mytime was wholly occupied by my studies in the museum.
"As for Cleopatra and Arsinoe, they stood like queens at the head of allthe magnificence of the court. The day on which they left our house wasthe last of their childhood.
"Who would venture to determine whether her father's restoration, or themeeting with Antony, had wrought the great change which took place atthat time in Cleopatra?
"Just before she left us, my mother had lamented that she must give herto a father like the flute-player, instead of to a worthy mother; forthe best could not help regarding herself happy in the possession ofsuch a daughter. Afterwards her character and conduct were better suitedto delight men than to please a mother. The yearning for peace of mindseemed over. Only the noisy festivals, the singing and music, of whichthere was never any cessation in the palace of the royal virtuoso,seemed to weary her and at such times she appeared at our house andspent several days beneath its roof. Arsinoe never accompanied her; herheart was sometimes won by a golden-haired officer in the ranks of theGerman horsemen whom Gabinius had left among the garrison of Alexandria,sometimes by a Macedonian noble among the youths who, at that time,performed the service of guarding the palace.
"Cleopatra lived apart from her, and Arsinoe openly showed her hostilityfrom the time that she entreated her to put an end to the scandal causedby her love affairs.
"Cleopatra held aloof from such things.
"Though she had devoted much time to the magic arts of the Egyptians,her clear intellect had rendered her so familiar with the philosophy ofthe Hellenes that it was a pleasure to hear her converse or argue inthe museum-as she often did-with the leaders of the various schools. Herself-confidence had become very strong. Though, while with us, shesaid that she longed to return to the days of the peaceful Garden ofEpicurus, she devoted herself eagerly enough to the events occurring inthe world and to statecraft. She was familiar with everything in Rome,the desires and struggles of the contending parties, as well as thecharacters of the men who were directing affairs, their qualities,views, and aims.
"She followed Antony's career with the interest of love, for she hadbestowed on him the first affection of her young heart. She had expectedthe greatest achievements, but his subsequent course seemed to beliethese lofty hopes. A tinge of scorn coloured her remarks concerning himat that time, but here also her heart had its share.
"Pompey, to whom her father owed his restoration to the throne, sheconsidered a lucky man, rather than a great and wise one. Of JuliusCaesar, on the contrary, long before she met him, she spoke with ardententhusiasm, though she knew that he would gladly have made Egypt a Romanprovince. The greatest deed which she expected from the energetic Juliuswas that he would abolish the republic, which she hated, and soar upwardto tyrannize over the arrogant rulers of the world--only she would fainhave seen Antony in his place. How often in those days she used magicart to assure herself of his future! Her father was interested in thesethings, especially as, through them, and the power of the mighty Isis,he expected to obtain relief from his many and severe sufferings.
"Cleopatra's brothers were still mere boys, completely dependentupon their guardian, Pothinus, to whom the King left the care of thegovernment, and their tutor, Theodotus, a clever but unprincipledrhetorician. These two men and Achillas, the commander of the troops,would gladly have aided Dionysus, the King's oldest male heir, to obtainthe control of the state, in order afterwards to rule him, but theflute-player baffled their plans. You know that in his last will he madeCleopatra, his favourite child, his successor, but her brother Dionysuswas to share the throne as her husband. This caused much scandal inRome, though it was an old custom of the house of Ptolemy, and suitedthe Egyptians.
"The flute-player died. Cleopatra became Queen, and at the same time thewife of a husband ten years old, for whom she did not even possess thenatural gift of sisterly tenderness. But with the obstinate child whohad been told by his counsellors that the right to rule should be hisalone, she also married the former governors of the country.
"Then began a period of sore suffering. Her life was a perpetual battleagainst notorious intrigues, the worst of which owed their origin to hersister. Arsinoe had surrounded herself with a court of her own, managedby the eunuch Ganymedes, an experienced commander, and at the same timea shrewd adviser, wholly devoted to her interest. He understood how tobring her into close relations with Pothinus and other rulers of thestate, and thus at last united all who possessed any power in the royalpalace in an endeavour to thrust Cleopatra from the throne. Pothinus,Theodotus, and Achillas hated her because she saw their failings andmade them feel the superiority of her intellect. Their combinedefforts might have succeeded in overthrowing her before, had notthe Alexandrians, headed by the Ephebi, over whom I still had someinfluence, stood by her so steadfastly. Whoever could still be classedas a youth glowed with enthusiasm for her, and most of the Macedoniannobles in the body-guard would have gone to death for her sake, thoughshe had forced them to gaze hopelessly up to her as if she were someunapproachable goddess.
"When her father died she was seventeen, but she knew how to resistoppressors and foes as if she were a man. My sister, Charmian, whom shehad appointed to a place in her service, loyally aided her. At that timeshe was a beautiful and lovable girl, but the spell exerted by the Queenfettered her like chains and bonds. She voluntarily resigned the love ofa noble man--he afterwards became your husband, Berenike--in order notto leave her royal friend at a time when she so urgently needed her.Since then my sister has shut her heart against love. It belonged toCleopatra. She lives, thinks, cares for her alone. She is fond of you,Barine, because your father was so dear to her. Iras, whose name is sooften associated with hers, is the daughter of my oldest sister, who wasalready married when the King entrusted the princesses to our father'scare. She is thirteen years younger than Cleopatra, but her mistressholds the first place in her heart also. Her father, the wealthy Krates,made every effort to keep her from entering the service of the Queen,but in vain. A single conversation with this marvellous woman had boundher forever.
"But I must be brief. You have doubtless heard how completely Cleopatrabewitched Pompey's son during his visit to Alexandria. She had not beenso gracious to any man since her meeting with Antony, and it was notfrom affection, but to maintain the independence of her beloved nativeland. At that time the father of Gnejus was the man who possessed themost power, and statecraft commanded her to win him through his son.The young Roman also took his leave 'full of her,' as the E
gyptians say.This pleased her, but the visit greatly aided her foes. There was noslander which was not disseminated against her. The commanders of thebody-guard, whom she had always treated as a haughty Queen, had seenher associate with Pompey's son in the theatre as if he were a friend ofequal rank; and on many other occasions the Alexandrians saw her repayhis courtesies in the same coin. But in those days hatred of Romesurged high. The regents, leagued with Arsinoe, spread the rumour thatCleopatra would deliver Egypt up to Pompey, if the senate would secureto her the sole sovereignty of the new province, and leave her free torid herself of her royal brother and husband.
"She was compelled to fly, and went first to the Syrian frontier,to gain friends for her cause among the Asiatic princes. My brotherStraton--you remember the noble youth who won the prize for wrestling atOlympia, Berenike--and I were commissioned to carry the treasure to her.We doubtless exposed ourselves to great peril, but we did so gladly, andleft Alexandria with a few camels, an ox-cart, and some trusted slaves.We were to go to Gaza, where Cleopatra was already beginning to collectan army, and had disguised ourselves as Nabataean merchants. Thelanguages which I had learned, in order not to be distanced byCleopatra, were now of great service.
"Those were stirring times. The names of Caesar and Pompey were in everymouth. After the defeat at Dyrrachium the cause of Julius seemed lost,but the Pharsalian battle again placed him uppermost, unless the Eastrose in behalf of Pompey. Both seemed to be favourites of Fortune. Thequestion now was to which the goddess would prove most faithful.
"My sister Charmian was with the Queen, but through one of Arsinoe'smaids, who was devoted to her, we had learned from the palace thatPompey's fate was decided. He had come a fugitive from the defeat ofPharsalus, and begged the King of Egypt--that is, the men who wereacting in his name--for a hospitable reception. Pothinus and hisassociates had rarely confronted a greater embarrassment. The troops andships of the victorious Caesar were close at hand; many of Gabinius'men were serving in the Egyptian army. To receive the vanquished Pompeykindly was to make the victorious Caesar a foe. I was to witness theterrible solution of this dilemma. The infamous words of Theodotus,'Dead dogs no longer bite,' had turned the scale.
"My brother and I reached Mount Casius with our precious freight, andpitched our tents to await a messenger, when a large body of armed menapproached from the city. At first we feared that we were pursued; buta spy reported that the King himself was among the soldiery, and at thesame time a large Roman galley drew near the coast. It must be Pompey's.So they had changed their views, and the King was coming in person toreceive their guest. The troops encamped on the flat shore on whichstood the Temple of the Casian Amon.
"The September sun shone brightly, and was reflected from the weapons.From the high bank of the dry bed of the river, where we had pitchedour tent, we saw something scarlet move to and fro. It was the King'smantle. The waves, stirred by the autumn breeze, rippled lightly, blueas cornflowers, over the yellow sand of the dunes; but the King stoodstill, shading his eyes with his hand as he gazed at the galley.Meanwhile, Achillas, the commander of the troops, and Septimius, thetribune, who belonged to the Roman garrison in Alexandria, and who, Iknew, had served under Pompey and owed him many favours, had entered aboat and put off to the vessel, which could not come nearer the land onaccount of the shallow water.
"The conference now began, and Achillas's offer of hospitality must havebeen very warm and well calculated to inspire confidence, for a talllady--it was Cornelia, the wife of the Imperator--waved her hand to himin token of gratitude."
Here the speaker paused, drew a long breath, and, pressing his hand tohis brow, continued "What follows--alas, that it was my fate to witnessthe dreadful scene! How often a garbled account has been given, and yetthe whole was so terribly simple!
"Fortune makes her favourites confiding. Pompey was also. Though morethan fifty years old--he lacked two years of sixty--he sprang into theboat quickly enough, with merely a little assistance from a freedman. Asailor--he was a negro--shoved the skiff off from the side of the hugeship as violently as if the pole he used for the purpose was a spear,and the galley his foe. The boat, urged by his companions' oars, hadalready moved forward, and he stumbled, the brown cap falling from hiswoolly head in the act.
"It seems as if I could still see him. Ere I clearly realized that thiswas an evil omen, the boat stopped.
"The water was shallow. I saw Achillas point to the shore. It could bereached by a single bound. Pompey looked towards the King. The freedmanput his hand under his arm to help him rise. Septimius also stood up. Ithought he intended to assist him. But no! What did this mean? Somethingflashed by the Imperator's silver-grey hair as if a spark had fallenfrom the sky. Would Pompey defend himself, or why did he raise his hand?It was to draw around him the toga, with which he silently coveredhis face. The tribune's arm was again raised high into the air, andthen--what confusion! Here, there, yonder, hands suddenly appearedaloft, bright flashes darted through the clear air. Achillas, thegeneral, dealt blows with his dagger as if he were skilled in murder.The Imperator's stalwart figure sank forward. The freedman supportedhim.
"Then shouts arose, here a cry of fury, yonder a wail of grief, and,rising above all, a woman's shriek of anguish. It came from the lips ofCornelia, the murdered man's wife. Shouts of applause from the King'scamp followed, then the blast of a trumpet; the Egyptians drew back fromthe shore. The scarlet cloak again appeared. Septimius, bearing in hishand a bleeding head, went towards it and held the ghastly trophy aloft.
"The royal boy gazed into the dull eyes of the victim, who had guidedthe destinies of many a battlefield, of Rome, of two quarters of theglobe. The sight was probably too terrible for the child upon thethrone, for he averted his head. The ship moved away from the land,the Egyptians formed into ranks and marched off. Achillas cleansed hisblood-stained hands in the sea-water. The freedman beside him washedhis master's headless trunk. The general shrugged his shoulders as thefaithful fellow heaped reproaches on him."
Here Archibius paused, drawing a long breath. Then he continued morecalmly:
"Achillas did not lead the troops back to Alexandria, but eastward,towards Pelusium, as I learned later.
"My brother and I stood on the rocky edge of the ravine. It was long ereeither spoke. A cloud of dust concealed the King and his body-guard, thesails of the galley disappeared. Twilight closed in, and Straton pointedwestward towards Alexandria. Then the sun set. Red! red! It seemed as ifa torrent of blood was pouring over the city.
"Night followed. A scanty fire was glimmering on the strand. Wherehad the wood been gathered in this desert? How had it been kindled? Awrecked, mouldering boat had lain close beside the scene of the murder.The freedman and his companions had broken it up and fed the flameswith withered boughs, the torn garments of the murdered man, and drysea-weed. A blaze soon rose, and a body was carefully placed upon thewretched funeral pyre. It was the corpse of the great Pompey. One of theImperator's veterans aided the faithful servant."
Here Archibius sank back again among the cushions, adding inexplanation:
"Cordus, the man's name was Servius Cordus. He fared well later. TheQueen provided for him. The others? Fate overtook them all soon enough.Theodotus was condemned by Brutus to a torturing death. Amid his loudshrieks of agony one of Pompey's veterans shouted, 'Dead dogs no longerbite, but they howl when dying!'
"It was worthy of Caesar that he averted his face in horror from thehead of his enemy, which Theodotus sent to him. Pothinus, too, vainlyawaited the reward of his infamous deed.
"Julius Caesar had cast anchor before Alexandria shortly after theKing's return. Not until after his arrival in Egypt did he learn howPompey had been received there. You know that he remained nine months.How often I have heard it said that Cleopatra understood how to chainhim here! This is both true and false. He was obliged to stay half ayear; the following three months he did indeed give to the woman whomhe loved. Ay, the heart of the man of fifty-four had again opened to agreat
passion. Like all wounds, those inflicted by the arrows of Erosheal more slowly when youth lies behind the stricken one. It wasnot only the eyes and the senses which attracted a couple so widelyseparated by years, but far more the mental characteristics of both. Twowinged intellects had met. The genius of one had recognized that of theother. The highest type of manhood had met perfect womanhood. They couldnot fail to attract each other. I expected it; for Cleopatra had longwatched breathlessly the flight of this eagle who soared so far abovethe others, and she was strong enough to keep at his side.
"We succeeded in joining Cleopatra, and heard that, spite of thehostility of our citizens, Caesar had occupied the palace of thePtolemies and was engaged in restoring order.
"We knew in what way Pothinus, Achillas, and Arsinoe would seek toinfluence him. Cleopatra had good reason to fear that her foes mightdeliver Egypt unconditionally to Rome, if Caesar should leave the reinsof government in their hands and shut her out. She had cause to dreadthis, but she also had the courage to act in person in her own behalf.
"The point now was to bring her into the city, the palace-nay, intodirect communication with the dictator. Children tell the tale of thestrong man who bore Cleopatra in a sack through the palace portals. Itwas not a sack which concealed her, but a Syrian carpet. The strong manwas my brother Straton. I went first, to secure a free passage.
"Julius Caesar and she saw and found each other. Fate merely drew theconclusion which must result from such premises. Never have I seenCleopatra happier, more exalted in mind and heart, yet she was menacedon all sides by serious perils. It required all the military genius ofCaesar to conquer the fierce hostility which he encountered here. It wasthis, not the thrall of Cleopatra, I repeat, which first bound him toEgypt. What would have prevented him--as he did later--from taking theobject of his love to Rome, had it been possible at that time? But thiswas not the case. The Alexandrians provided for that.
"He had recognized the flute-player's will, nay, had granted more to theroyal house than could have been given to the former. Cleopatra and herbrother-husband, Dionysus, were to share the government, and he alsobestowed on Arsinoe and her youngest brother the island of Cyprus, whichhad been wrested from their uncle Ptolemy by the republic. Rome was, ofcourse, to remain the guardian of the brothers and sisters.
"This arrangement was unendurable to Pothinus and the former rulers ofthe state. Cleopatra as Queen, and Rome--that is Caesar, the dictator,her friend, as guardian--meant their removal from power, theirdestruction, and they resisted violently.
"The Egyptians and even the Alexandrians supported them. The youngKing hated nothing more than the yoke of the unloved sister, who was sogreatly his superior. Caesar had come with a force by no means equalto theirs, and it might be possible to draw the mighty general intoa snare. They fought with all the power at their command, with suchpassionate eagerness, that the dictator had never been nearer succumbingto peril. But Cleopatra certainly did not paralyze his strength andcautious deliberation. No! He had never been greater; never proved thepower of his genius so magnificently. And against what superior power,what hatred he contended! I myself saw the young King, when he heardthat Cleopatra had succeeded in entering the palace and meeting Caesar,rush into the street, fairly crazed by rage, tear the diadem from hishead, hurl it on the pavement, and shriek to the passers-by that he wasbetrayed, until Caesar's soldiers forced him back into the palace, anddispersed the mob.
"Arsinoe had received more than she could venture to expect; but she wasagain most deeply angered. After Caesar's entry into the palace, she hadreceived him as Queen, and hoped everything from his favour. Then herhated sister had come and, as so often happened, she was forgotten forCleopatra's sake.
"This was too much, and with the eunuch Ganymedes, her confidant,and--as I have already said--an able warrior, she left the palace andjoined the dictator's foes.
"There were severe battles on land and sea; in the streets of thecity, for the drinkable water excavated by the foe; and against theconflagration which destroyed part of the Bruchium and the library ofthe museum. Yet, half dead with thirst, barely escaped from drowning,threatened on all sides by fierce hatred, he stood firm, and remainedvictor also in the open field, after the young King had placed himselfat the head of the Egyptians and collected an army.
"You know that the boy was drowned in the flight.
"In battle and mortal peril, amid blood and the clank of arms, Caesarand Cleopatra spent half a year ere they were permitted to pluck thefruit of their common labour. The dictator now made her Queen of Egypt,and gave her, as co-regent, her youngest brother, a boy not half her ownage. To Arsinoe he granted the life she had forfeited, but sent her toItaly.
"Peace followed the victory. Now, it is true, grave duties must havesummoned the statesman back to Rome, but he tarried three full monthslonger.
"Whoever knows the life of the ambitious Julius, and is aware what thisdelay might have cost him, may well strike his brow with his hand, andask, 'Is it true and possible that he used this precious time to take atrip with the woman he loved up the Nile, to the island of Isis,which is so dear to the Queen, to the extreme southern frontier of thecountry?' Yet it was so, and I myself went in the second ship, and notonly saw them together, but more than once shared their banquetsand their conversation. It was giving and taking, forcing down andelevating, a succession of discords, not unpleasant to hear, becauseexperience taught that they would finally terminate in the mostbeautiful harmony. It was a festal day for all the senses."
"I imagine the whole Nile journey," interrupted Barine, "to be likethe fairy voyage, when the purple silk sails of Cleopatra's galley boreAntony along the Cydnus."
"No, no," replied Archibius, "she first learned from Antony the art offilling this earthly existence with fleeting pleasures. Caesar demandedmore. Her intellect offered him the highest enjoyment."
Here he hesitated.
"True, the skill with which, to please Antony, she daily offered him foryears fresh charms for every sense, was not a matter of accident."
"And this," cried Barine, "this was undertaken by the woman who hadrecognized the chief good in peace of mind!"
"Ay," replied Archibius thoughtfully, "yet this was the inevitableresult. Pleasure had been the young girl's object in life. Ere passionawoke in her soul, peace of mind was the chief good she knew. When thehour arrived that this proved unattainable, the firmly rooted yearningfor happiness still remained the purpose of her existence. My fatherwould have been wiser to take her to the Stoa and impress it upon herthat, if life must have a goal, it should be only to live in accordancewith the sensibly arranged course of the world, and in harmony withone's own nature. He should have taught her to derive happiness fromvirtue. He should have stamped goodness upon the soul of the futureQueen as the fundamental law of her being. He omitted to do this,because in his secluded life he had succeeded in finding the happinesswhich the master promises to his disciples. From Athens to Cyrene, fromEpicurus to Aristippus, is but a short step, and Cleopatra took it whenshe forgot that the master was far from recognizing the chief good inthe enjoyment of individual pleasure. The happiness of Epicurus wasnot inferior to that of Zeus, if he had only barley bread and water toappease his hunger and thirst.
"Yet she still considered herself a follower of Epicurus, and later,when Antony had gone to the Parthian war, and she was a long time alone,she once more began to strive for freedom from pain and peace of mind,but the state, her children, the marriage of Antony--who had long beenher lover--to Octavia, the yearning of her own heart, Anubis, magic, andthe Egyptian teachings of the life after death, above all, the burningambition, the unresting desire to be loved, where she herself loved, tobe first among the foremost--"
Here he was interrupted by the messenger, who informed him that the shipwas ready.