op in tumultuously through the corridor, headed by
their ensign with his eagle, and their bucinator, a burly fellow with
his instrument coiled round his body, its brazen bell shaped like the
head of a howling wolf. When they reach the transept, they stare in
amazement at the throne; dress into ordered rank opposite it; draw their
swords and lift them in the air with a shout of HAIL CAESAR. Cleopatra
turns and stares wildly at Caesar; grasps the situation; and, with a
great sob of relief, falls into his arms.

ACT II

Alexandria. A hall on the first floor of the Palace, ending in a
loggia approached by two steps. Through the arches of the loggia the
Mediterranean can be seen, bright in the morning sun. The clean lofty
walls, painted with a procession of the Egyptian theocracy, presented in
profile as flat ornament, and the absence of mirrors, sham perspectives,
stuffy upholstery and textiles, make the place handsome, wholesome,
simple and cool, or, as a rich English manufacturer would express
it, poor, bare, ridiculous and unhomely. For Tottenham Court Road
civilization is to this Egyptian civilization as glass bead and tattoo
civilization is to Tottenham Court Road.

The young king Ptolemy Dionysus (aged ten) is at the top of the steps,
on his way in through the loggia, led by his guardian Pothinus, who has
him by the hand. The court is assembled to receive him. It is made up of
men and women (some of the women being officials) of various complexions
and races, mostly Egyptian; some of them, comparatively fair, from lower
Egypt; some, much darker, from upper Egypt; with a few Greeks and Jews.
Prominent in a group on Ptolemy's right hand is Theodotus, Ptolemy's
tutor. Another group, on Ptolemy's left, is headed by Achillas, the
general of Ptolemy's troops. Theodotus is a little old man, whose
features are as cramped and wizened as his limbs, except his tall
straight forehead, which occupies more space than all the rest of his
face. He maintains an air of magpie keenness and profundity, listening
to what the others say with the sarcastic vigilance of a philosopher
listening to the exercises of his disciples. Achillas is a tall handsome
man of thirty-five, with a fine black beard curled like the coat of a
poodle. Apparently not a clever man, but distinguished and dignified.
Pothinus is a vigorous man of fifty, a eunuch, passionate, energetic and
quick witted, but of common mind and character; impatient and unable t