Cleopatra | Page 5

that the united forces of Antony and Cleopatra had gained
a great victory on sea and land.
In the eating-house at Kanopus, where he had breakfasted, everyone
was full of the joyful news, and rivers of wine had been drunk to the
health of the victors and the destruction of the malicious foe. "In these
days," cried Dion, "not only weak-brained fellows, like the zither-
player, believe me omniscient, but many sensible men also. And why?
Because, forsooth, I am the nephew of Zeno, the Keeper of the Seal,
who is on the brink of despair because he himself knows nothing, not
even the veriest trifle."
"Yet he stands nearest to the Regent," observed Gorgias, "and must

learn, if any one does, how the fleet fares."
"You too!" sighed his friend. "Had I been standing so far above the
ground as you, the architect--by the dog, I should not have failed to
note the quarter whence the wind blew! It has been southerly a whole
fortnight, and keeps back the galleys coming from the north. The
Regent knows nothing, absolutely nothing, and my uncle, of course, no
more. But if they do learn anything they will be shrewd enough not to
enrich me with it."
"True, there are other rumours afloat," said the architect thoughtfully.
"If I were in Mardion's place--"
"Thank the Olympians that you are not," laughed his companion. "He
has as many cares as a fish has scales. And one, the greatest. That pert
young Antyllus was over-ready with his tongue yesterday at Barine's.
Poor fellow! He'll have to answer for it to his tutor at home."
"You mean the remark about the Queen's accompanying the fleet?"
"St!" said Dion, putting his finger on his lips, for many men and
women were now ascending the temple steps. Several carried flowers
and cakes, and the features of most expressed joyful emotion. The news
of the victory had reached their ears, and they wanted to offer sacrifices
to the goddess whom Cleopatra, "the new Isis," preferred to all others.
The first court-yard of the sanctuary was astir with life. They could
hear the ringing of the sistrum bells and the murmuring chant of the
priests. The quiet fore-court of the little temple of the goddess, which
here, in the Greek quarter of palaces, had as few visitors as the great
Temple of Isis in the Rhakotis was overcrowded, had now become the
worst possible rendezvous for men who stood so near the rulers of the
government. The remark made about the Queen the evening before by
Antyllus, Antony's nineteen-year-old son, at the house of Barine, a
beautiful young woman who attracted all the prominent men in
Alexandria, was the more imprudent because it coincided with the
opinion of all the wisest heads. The reckless youth enthusiastically
reverenced his father, but Cleopatra, the object of Antony's love,
and--in the Egyptians' eyes-- his wife, was not Antyllus's mother. He
was the son of Fulvia, his father's first wife, and feeling himself a
Roman, would have preferred a thousand times to live on the banks of
the Tiber. Besides, it was certain--Antony's stanchest friends made no
attempt to conceal the fact-- that the Queen's presence with the army

exerted a disturbing influence, and could not fail to curb the daring
courage of the brave general. Antyllus, with the reckless frankness
inherited from his father, had expressed this view in the presence of all
Barine's guests, and in a form which would be only too quickly spread
throughout Alexandria, whose inhabitants relished such speeches.
These remarks would be slow in reaching the plain people who were
attracted to the temple by the news of the victory, yet many doubtless
knew Caesarion, whom the architect was awaiting here. It would be
wiser to meet the prince at the foot of the steps. Both men, therefore,
went down to the square, though the crowds seeking the temple and
thronging the space before Didymus's house made it more and more
difficult to pace to and fro.
They were anxious to learn whether the rumour that Didymus's garden
was to be taken for the twin statues had already spread abroad, and
their first questions revealed that this was the case. It was even stated
that the old sage's house was to be torn down, and within a few hours.
This was vehemently contradicted; but a tall, scrawny man seemed to
have undertaken to defend the ruler's violence.
The friends knew him well. It was the Syrian Philostratus, a clever
extempore speaker and agitator of the people, who placed his clever
tongue at the disposal of the highest bidder.
"The rascal is probably now in my uncle's employ," said Dion. "The
idea of putting the piece of sculpture there originated with him, and it is
difficult to turn him from