to live in Italy,
not before permitted. After this he forgave the populace left behind
in Rome for not having come to him, and on the thirtieth day after his
arrival set sail again for Greece. In the midst of winter he dragged his
ships across the isthmus of the Peloponnesus and got back to Asia
so quickly that Antony and Cleopatra received each piece of news
simultaneously,--that he had departed and that he had returned. They,
on fleeing from the naval battle, had gone as far as the Peloponnesus
together. From there they sent away some of their associates,--all, in
fact, whom they suspected,--while many withdrew against their will, and
Cleopatra hastened to Egypt, for fear that her subjects might perhaps
revolt, if they heard of the disaster before her coming. In order to
make her approach safe, at any rate, she crowned her prows, as a sign
of conquest, with garlands, and had some songs of victory sung by
flute-players. When she reached safety, she murdered many of the foremost
men, who had ever been restless under her rule and were now in a state
of excitement at her disaster. From their estates and from various
repositories hallowed and sacred she gathered a vast store of wealth,
sparing not even the most revered of consecrated treasures. She fitted
out her forces and looked about for possible alliances. The Armenian king
she killed and sent his head to the Median, who might be influenced by
this act, she thought, to aid them. As for Antony, he sailed to Pinarius
Scarpus in Libya, and to the army previously collected under him there
for the protection of Egypt. This general, however, would[69] not receive
him and also slew the first men that Antony sent, besides destroying some
of the soldiers under his command who showed displeasure at this act.
Then Antony, too, proceeded to Alexandria, having accomplished nothing.

[-6-] Now among the other preparations that they made for speedy warfare
they enrolled among the ephebi their sons, Cleopatra Caesarion and Antony
Antyllus, who was borne to him by Fulvia and was then with him. Their
purpose was to arouse interest among the Egyptians, who would feel that
they already had a man for king, and that the rest might recognize these
children as their lords, in case any untoward accident should happen to
the parents, and so continue the struggle. This proved the lads' undoing.
For Caesar, on the ground that they were men and held a certain form
of sovereignty, spared neither of