i was in reality the closing scene of the
republican drama. But the rivalship of the triumvirs prolonged for
several years the divided state of the Roman world; and it was not till
after the crowning victory of Actium that the imperial government was
established in its unity. We shall, therefore, here add a rapid
narrative of the events which led to that consummation.

The hopeless state of the republican or rather the senatorial party was
such that almost all hastened to make submission to the conquerors:
those whose sturdy spirit still disdained submission resorted to Sext.
Pompeius in Sicily. Octavian, still suffering from ill-health, was
anxious to return to Italy; but before he parted from Antony, they
agreed to a second distribution of the provinces of the empire. Antony
was to have the Eastern world; Octavian the Western provinces. To
Lepidus, who was not consulted in this second division, Africa alone was
left. Sext. Pompeius remained in possession of Sicily.

Antony at once proceeded to make a tour through Western Asia, in order
to exact money from its unfortunate people. About midsummer (B.C. 41) he
arrived at Tarsus, and here he received a visit which determined the
future course of his life and influenced Roman history for the next ten
years.

Antony had visited Alexandria fourteen years before, and had been
smitten by the charms of Cleopatra, then a girl of fifteen. She became
Caesar's paramour, and from the time of the dictator's death Antony had
never seen her. She now came to meet him in Cilicia. The galley which
carried her up the Cydnus was of more than oriental gorgeousness: the
sails of purple; oars of silver, moving to the sound of music; the
raised poop burnished with gold. There she lay upon a splendid couch,
shaded by a spangled canopy; her attire was that of Venus; around her
flitted attendant cupids and graces. At the news of her approach to
Tarsus, the triumvir found his tribunal deserted by the people. She
invited him to her ship, and he complied. From that moment he was her
slave. He accompanied her to Alexandria, exchanged the Roman garb for
the Graeco-Egyptian costume of the court, and lent his power to the
Queen to execute all her caprices.

Meanwhile Octavian was not without his difficulties. He was so ill at
Brundusium that his death was reported at Rome. The veterans, eager for
their promised rewards, were on the eve of mutiny. In a short time
Octavian was sufficiently recovered to