And all the unlawful iffue, that their luft

Since then hath made between them. Unto her
He gave the 'stablishment of Ægypt; made her
Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia,

Abfolute queen.

Mec. This in the public eye?

Caf. I' the common fhew-place, where they exercife.

2

His fons he there proclaim'd, The kings of kings:
Great Media, Parthia, and Armenia,

He gave to Alexander; to Ptolemy he affign'd
Syria, Cilicia, and Phoenicia: She

In the habiliments of the goddess Ifis3

That day appear'd; and oft before gave audience, As 'tis reported, fo.

Mac. Let Rome be thus

Inform'd.

Agr. Who, queafy with his infolence

Already, will their good thoughts call from him. Caf. The people know it; and have now receiv'd His accufations.

For Lydia, Mr. Upton, from Plutarch, has reftored Lybia.
JOHNSON.

In the tranflation from the French of Amyot, by Tho. North, in folio, 1597*, will be feen at once the origin of this mistake.First of all he did eftablish Cleopatra queen of Egypt, of Cyprus, of Lydia, and the lower Syria." FARMER.

2 -be there- -] The old copy has hither. Mr. Rowe corrected it. MALONE.

3 the goddess Ifis] So in the old tranflation of Plutarch: "Now for Cleopatra, fhe did not onely weare at that time (but at all other times els when she came abroad) the apparell of the goddeffe Ifis, and fo gaue audience vnto all her fubjects, as a new Ifis." STEEVENS.

I find the character of this work pretty early delineated:
"'Twas Greek at first, that Greek was Latin made,
"That Latin French, that French to English ftraid:
"Thus 'twixt one Plutarch there's more difference,
“ Than i’-th' same Englishman return'd from France.”

FARMER.

Agr.

Agr. Whom does he accuse?

Caf. Cæfar: and that, having in Sicily
Sextus Pompeius fpoil'd, we had not rated him
His part o' the ifle: then does he fay, hé lent me
Some fhipping unreftor'd: laftly, he frets,
That Lepidus of the triumvirate

Should be depos'd; and, being, that we detain
All his revenue.

Agr. Sir, this fhould be anfwer'd.

Cef. 'Tis done already, and the meffenger gone. I have told him, Lepidus was grown too cruel; That he his high authority abus'd,

And did deserve his change; for what I have conquer'd,

I grant him part; but then, in his Armenia,
And other of his conquer'd kingdoms, I

Demand the like.

Mac. He'll never yield to that.

Caf. Nor must not then be yielded to in this,

Enter Octavia.

Octa. Hail, Cæfar, and my lord! hail, most dear Cæfar!

Caf. That ever I fhould call thee, caft-away! Qita. You have not call'd me fo, nor have you

caufe.

Caf. Why have you ftol'n upon us thus? You

come not

Like Cæfar's fifter: The wife of Antony
Should have an army for an ufher, and
The neighs of horfe to tell of her approach,
Long ere she did appear; the trees by the way,
Should have borne men; and expectation fainted,
Longing for what it had not: nay, the dust
Should have afcended to the roof of heaven,
Rais'd by your populous troops: But you are come
A market-maid to Rome; and have prevented

The

4

The oftentation of our love, which, left unfhewn,
Is often left unlov'd: we fhould have met you
By fea, and land; fupplying every stage
With an augmented greeting.

Octa. Good my lord,

To come thus was I not conftrain'd, but did it
On my free-will. My lord, Mark Antony,
Hearing that you prepar'd for war, acquainted
My grieved ear withal; whereon, I begg'd
His pardon for return.

Caf. Which foon he granted,

Being an obftruct 'tween his luft and him.
Ota. Do not fay fo, my lord..

Caf. I have eyes upon him,

And his affairs come to me on the wind.

Where is he now?

Octa. My lord, in Athens.

Caf. No, my moft wronged fifter; Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire Up to a whore; who now are levying

5 The kings o' the earth for war: He hath affembled Bocchus, the king of Libya; Archelaus,

Of Cappadocia, Philadelphos, king

Of Paphlagonia; the Thracian king, Adallas;
King Malchus of Arabia; king of Pont;

s Which foon be granted,

Being an abstract 'tween his luft and him.]

Antony very foon comply'd to let Octavia go at her request, fays Cæfar; and why? Because the was an abstract between his inordinate paffion and him; this is abfurd. We must read, Being an obftruct 'tween his luft and him.

i. e. his wife being an obftruction, a bar to the prosecution of his wanton pleasures with Cleopatra." WARBURTON.

6

Mr. Upton remarks, that there are fome errors in this enumeration of the auxiliary kings: but it is probable that the author did not much wish to be accurate. JOHNSON.

Mr. Upton proposes to read :

-Polemon and Amintas

"Of Lycaonia; and the king of Mede." And this obviates all impropriety. STEEVENS.

Q3

Herod

Herod of Jewry; Mithridates, king
Of Comagene; Polemon and Amintas,
The kings of Mede, and Lycaonia,
With a more larger lift of scepters.
Octa. Ay me, moft wretched,

That have my heart parted betwixt two friends,
That do afflict each other!

Caf. Welcome hither:

Your letters did withhold our breaking forth;
'Till we perceived, both how you were wrong led,
And we in negligent danger. Cheer your heart:
Be you not troubled with the time, which drives
O'er your content thefe ftrong neceffities;
But let determin'd things to destiny

Hold unbewail'd their way. Welcome to Rome:
Nothing more dear to me. You are abus'd
Beyond the mark of thought: and the high gods,
To do you justice, make their ministers

Of us, and those that love you. Be of comfort; And ever welcome to us.

Agr. Welcome, lady.

Mac. Welcome, dear madam.

Each heart in Rome does love and pity you :
Only the adulterous Antony, most large
In his abominations, turns you off;

And gives his potent regiment to a trull,

That

Be of comfort.] The old copy-Best of comfort. STEEVENS. The connecting particle, and, feems to favour the old reading. According to the modern innovation, (which was introduced by Mr. Rowe,) it ftands very awkwardly. Beft of comfort" may mean-Thou beft of comforters! a phrase which we meet with again in the Tempeft:

A folemn air, and the best comforter

"To an unfettled fancy's cure 199 MALONE.

-potent regiment] Regiment, is, government, authority; he puts his power and his empire into the hands of a falfe woman. It may be obferved, that trull was not, in our author's time, a term of mere infamy, but a word of flight contempt, as wench

is now. JOHNSON.

Regiment

That noifes it against us.

Octa. Is it fo, fir?

Caf. Moft certain. Sifter, welcome: Pray you, Be ever known to patience: My dearest fifter!

[Exeunt.

Cleo. I will be even with thee, doubt it not.
Eno. But why, why, why?

8

Cleo. Thou haft forfpoke my being in these

wars;

And

Regiment is used for regimen or government by most of our ancient writers. The old tranflation of the Schola Salernitana, is called the Regiment of Helth.

Again, in Lylly's Woman in the Moon, 1597:

"Or Hecate in Pluto's regiment.

Again, in Spenfer's Faery Queen, B. II. c. x:

"So when he had refign'd his regiment."

Trull is not employed in an unfavourable sense by G. Peele in the Song of Coridon and Melampus, published in England's Helicon: "When swaines fweet pipes are puft, and truls are warme. Again, in Damatas's Figge in praise of his love, by John Wootton; printed in the fame collection :

8

be thy mirth feene;

"Heard to each fwaine, feene to each trull." STEEVENS. -forfpoke my being] To forfpeak, is to contradic, to JOHNSON.

Speak against, as forbid is to order negatively.

Thus, in the Arraignment of Paris, 1580:

"thy life forfpoke by love."

To forfpeak likewife fignified to curfe. So in Drayton's Epiftle from Elinor Cobham to Duke Humphrey :

"Or to forfpeak whole flocks as they did feed." To forfpeak, in the last inftance, has the fame power as to forbid in Macbeth:

"He fhall live a man forbid."