es had been erected of himself, of his father, his mother,
and even of his favorite heroes, above all of Alexander the Great;
triumphal arches without number had been constructed. The vast halls of
the Serapeum, through which he was to pass, had been magnificently
decorated; and in front of the new temple, outside the Kanopic Gate,
dedicated to his father, who now ranked among the gods, the elders of the
town had been received by Caesar, to do him homage and offer him the
gifts of the city. All this had cost many talents, a whole heap of gold;
but Alexandria was wealthy, and ready to make even greater sacrifices if
only they had been accepted with thanks and condescension. But a young
actor, who had been a spectator of the scene at the Kanopic Gate, and had
then hurried hither, declared, with dramatic indignation, that Caesar had
only replied in a few surly words to the address of the senate, and even
while he accepted the gift had looked as if he were being ill-used. The
delegates had retired as though they had been condemned to death. To none
but Timotheus, the high-priest of Serapis, had he spoken graciously.

Others confirmed this report; and dissatisfaction found expression in
muttered abuse or satirical remarks and bitter witticisms.

"Why did he drive past so quickly?" asked a tailor's wife; and some one
replied:

"Because the Eumenides, who haunt him for murdering his brother, lash him
on with their whips of snakes!"

A spice-merchant; who was not less indignant but more cautious, hearing a
neighbor inquire why Tarautas drove panther-spotted horses, replied that
such beasts of prey had spotted skins, and that like to like was a common
rule. A cynical philosopher, who proclaimed his sect by his ragged
garment, unkempt hair, and rough mode of speech, declared that Caesar had
a senator to guide his chariot because he had long since succeeded in
turning the senate-house into a stable.

To all this, however, Melissa turned a deaf ear, for the thought of the
great Roman leech possessed her mind entirely. She listened earnestly to
the mosaic-worker, who had come close up to her, and officiously
mentioned the names of the most important personages as they went past.
Caesar's train seemed endless. It included not merely horse and foot
soldiers, but numberless baggage-wagons, cars, elephants--which Caracalla
especially affected, because Alexander the Great had been fond of these
huge beasts--horses, mules, and asses,