The sun., 1908-12-06


| immediate preparation.
The political and economic situation
had been threatening enough In CRsar's
| lifetime and grew more embarrassing after
| his death. The forces OF dissolution which
Cesar. though with great difficulty. had
been able to check were now let loose upon
the empire. 1t was obvious that the con-
fusion could only end In fearful catastrophe
unless some one man. some party or some
| institution could recover some measure Of
authority over the masses. Such author
| ity Antony hoped to regain by the Persian
campaign. and in Ferrero's judgment the
mere fact that he entertained such q hope
Is a striking proof Of his energy. Can the
man who was ready to contemplate 20 vast
an enterprise be regarded as nothing more
than q sensualist madly in love with an
Egyptian woman? He might have seized,
like Octavianus, the highest position by
petty intrigue and underhand aggression;
he preferred. however. 10 secure IL by means
! of a great and dangerous exploit
For two years Antony gathered money,
concentrated legions in Asia and renod-
elled the political map Of the East in order
to secure wholehearted supporters among
the kings and chieftains Of Asia Minor.
He made every arrangement for the inva-
sion Of Persia by the road which Cesar
had indicated through Armenia and by
which it should be possible to avoid the
pitfalls in which Crassus had been en-
shared What is still more extraordi-
nary says Ferrero, 'in a man supposed
to be hopelessly enamored OF Cleopatra,
he even married 0ctavia. the sister Of
Octavianus, to avoid the embarrassment
OF political difficulties at home during his
distant campaign" From b. c. 40 to
| B. C. 81 our author finds II impossible to
detect the least influence exerted by Cleo
patra upon Antony. He does not assert
| that all connection between Antony and
the Egyptian Queen was broken OF. He
deems it possible that Cleopatra had ennis
saries in his suite and that she maintained
correspondence with the Triumvir.
Cleopatra, however. is no longer para
mount in Antony's life or policy; his at
tention is now concentrated upon the
execution OF Cesar's plans. and it Is not
until the end of B. c. 81 that an unexpected
event brings Cleopatra back into his life.
In the spring Of the year last named the
| intrieues of Octavianus had forced An
tony to return with his feet to the shores
Of southern Italy; there he had wasted at
Tarentum months in negotiations with
his brother-in-law: when these had been
concluded toward the end Of August he
could return to Syria. From Corfu, how
! ever. he sent 0ctavia back to Italy. de-
spatched one OF his lieutenants. Fonteius
! Capito, to Alexandria, and then betook
himself TO Antioch. where Cleopatra soon
Joined him. Ferrero now points out that
"at the beginning Of B. c. 80 an event takes
place at Antioch which was never sus-
pected by Shakespeare. who has depicted
this loving couple for us in such glowing
! colors. The lovers who gave kingdom
for mirth' are married like two respect
able citizens.' Our author gives NJ.
Letronne the credit OF calculating by the
study Of numis matics this matter, which
is left obscure in the narrative Of the
classical historians. At the beginning OF
| b. c. 30 Antony becomes practically
though not avowedly King Of Egypt by
his marriage with the Queen. Why
asks Ferrero, 'did Antony and Cleopatra
resolve to marry? What was the mean
| ing of this strange act? What negotia-
tions preceded its accomplishments
/ 1t is pronounced not likely that the mar
riage was the result Of precipitate deci-
sion. while the complete absence Of any
information concerning the preparations
for II proves that It was secretly arranged.
Antony did not divorce 0ctavia, and there
fore had two wives after the beginning Of
B. C. 81. His marriage is celebrated not
at Alexandria. the capital Of his future
realm. but at Antioch. He shows an OBJ
vious anxiety to hide the consequences
OF his act as far as possible. He does not
assume the title Of King Of Egypt. though
he strikes Egyptian coins with his image.
Finally no sooner is the marriage con-
ciuded than he leaves his new wife aud
starts for Persia.
| III.
Ferrero submits that Antony must have
had several reasons for such extraordi-
| nary conduct. reasons which We must
attempt to divine by conjecture for want
OF documentary evidence. Dion informs
us. and the whole history Of the age con-
firms his statement, that Cleopatra's
government was by no means popular in
/ Egypt and that she had everything TO fear
from one Of those palace revolutions 30
frequent under the later Ptolemies.' Our
author deems it quite possible that she
was anxious TO protect her power from
secret conspiracy with the help OF Antony
and his legions, and that she had invited
him TO Alexandria in B. c. 20 in order to
propose the marriage which actually took
place in b. C. 81. At first Antony realized
the incongruity Of the proposal while en-
4 joying, manlike, the means OF persuasion
employed by the Queen, he listened TO her
arguments with intellect unconvinced.
Moreover he was soon recalled TO Italy
by disturbances at home, and was en-
tirely preoccupied by his great Persian
scheme. Cleopatra, however. did not
lose courage: her spies and agents would
be ever about the Triumvir: her cor
respondence with him was maintained
and she waited her opportunity to advance
her proposal once more. Thanks TO the
financial eIigencies Of the Persian war
she was at last successful.
Our author points out that Antonys
political preparations for the Persian
campaign were hampered by most