Quintus Dellius, a creature of Antony’s, was appointed to bear the message to Cleopatra. This Dellius, an unscrupulous intriguer and agreeable man of pleasure, had by turns betrayed all men and all parties. He was called “The Hunter of the Civil Wars”—_Desultor bellorum civilium_. He was destined to die the friend of Horace, who dedicated an ode to him, and the friend of Augustus who enriched him. In the meanwhile he was going to make use of Cleopatra to enable him to attain still higher favor with Antony. At the first audience granted him by the beautiful queen, he understood the passion of Cæsar and foresaw that of Antony. Feeling that Cleopatra would captivate the triumvir at the first glance, he saw at once the advantage to be gained in the near future from the patronage of the Egyptian queen; and from the envoy of Antony he suddenly became the courtier of Cleopatra, and from an ambassador an intermeddler. He exhorted the queen to hasten into Cilicia, assuring her that, despite his appearance and manners suitable to the amphitheater, the rough soldier of Pharsalia and Philippi was not so ferocious as he seemed. “Never,” said he, “will Antony call tears to eyes so beautiful, and far from causing you the least pain he will fulfil your every wish.” Dellius found no difficulty in persuading Cleopatra: she saw, shining through his words, the dawn of a new fortune equal to that which she had dreamed of as the mistress of Cæsar. According to a somewhat doubtful tradition, Dellius might have succeeded in more than securing the attention of Cleopatra: he might have made himself beloved by her. Be this as it may, the queen, yielding to his counsels, determined to set out for Tarsus, but in order to enhance the value of the proceeding and to make it more effective she was careful not to precipitate it, and under various pretexts she often delayed her departure, notwithstanding the entreaties of Dellius and the messages constantly increasing in earnestness despatched by Antony.