Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, -30 B.C.; Egypt -- History -- 332-30 B.C. -- Biography; Queens -- Egypt -- Biography
After the battle of Philippi, described in the last chapter, Antony--who,
with all his faults, was sometimes a very generous foe--as soon as the
tidings of Brutus's death were brought to him, repaired immediately to the
spot, and appeared to be quite shocked and concerned at the sight of the
body. He took off his own military cloak or mantle--which was a very
magnificent and costly garment, being enriched with many expensive
ornaments--and spread it over the corpse. He then gave directions to one
of the officers of his household to make arrangements for funeral
ceremonies of a very imposing character, as a testimony of his respect for
the memory of the deceased. In these ceremonies it was the duty of the
officer to have burned the military cloak which Antony had appropriated to
the purpose of a pall, with the body. He did not, however, do so. The
cloak being very valuable, he reserved it; and he withheld, also, a
considerable part of the money which had been given him for the expenses
of the funeral. He supposed that Antony would probably not inquire very
closely into the details of the arrangements made for the funeral of his
most inveterate enemy. Antony, however, did inquire into them, and when he
learned what the officer had done, he ordered him to be killed.
The various political changes which occurred, and the movements which took
place among the several armies after the battle of Philippi, can not be
here detailed. It is sufficient to say that Antony proceeded to the
eastward through Asia Minor, and in the course of the following year came
into Cilicia. From this place he sent a messenger to Egypt to Cleopatra,
summoning her to appear before him. There were charges, he said, against
her, of having aided Cassius and Brutus in the late war instead of
rendering assistance to him. Whether there really were any such charges,
or whether they were only fabricated by Antony as pretexts for seeing
Cleopatra, the fame of whose beauty was very widely extended, does not
certainly appear. However this may be, he sent to summon the queen to come
to him. The name of the messenger whom Antony dispatched on this errand
was Dellius. Fulvia, Antony's wife, was not with him at this time. She had
been left behind at Rome.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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