ertainment;
then the Parthian envoys, and some delegates from the municipal
authorities of the town. Finally, Seleukus presented the wives of the
magnates who had shared with him the cost of this display, and among
these, all magnificently dressed, the lady Berenike shone supreme by the
pride of her demeanor and the startling magnificence of her attire. As
her large eyes met those of Caesar with a flash of defiance, he frowned,
and remarked satirically:

"It seems to be the custom here to mourn in much splendor!"

But Berenike promptly replied:

"It has nothing to do with mourning. It is in honor of the sovereign who
commanded the presence of the mourner at the Circus."

Diodoros could not see the flame of rage in, Caesar's threatening eye,
nor hear his reply to the audacious matron:

"This is a misapprehension of how to do me honor, but an opportunity
will occur for teaching the Alexandrians better."

Even across the amphitheatre the youth could see the sudden flush and
pallor of the lady's haughty face; and immediately after, Macrinus, the
praetorian prefect, approached Caracalla with the master of the games,
the superintendent of the school of gladiators.

At the same time Diodoros heard his next neighbor, a member of the city
senate, say:

"How quietly it is going off! My proposal that Caesar should come in to
a dim light, so as to keep him and his unpopular favorites out of sight
for a while, has worked capitally. Who could the mob whistle at, so long
as they could not see one from another? Now they are too much delighted
to be uproarious. Caesar's bride, of all others, has reason to thank
me. And she reminds me of the Persian warriors who, before going into
battle, bound cats to their bucklers because they knew that the Egyptian
foe would not shoot at them so long as the sacred beasts were exposed to
being hit by his arrows."

"What do you mean by that?" asked another, and received the brisk reply:

"The lady Euryale is the cat who protects the damsel. Out of respect for
her, and for fear of hurting her, too, her companion has hitherto been
spared even by those fellows up there."

And he pointed to a party of "Greens" who were laying their heads
together in one of the topmost tiers. But his friend replied:

"Something besides that keeps them within bounds. The three beardless
fellows just behind them belong to the city watch, who are scattered
through the general mass like raisins in doughcakes."