His sons he there proclaim'd, The kings of kings: He gave to Alexander; to Ptolemy he assign'd In the habiliments of the goddess Isis That day appear'd; and oft before gave audience Mec. Let Rome be thus Inform'd. Agr. Who, queasy with his insolence Already, will their good thoughts call from him. Agr. Whom does he accuse? Cos. Cæsar and that, having in Sicily That Lepidus of the triumvirate Should be depos'd; and, being, that we detain Agr. Sir, this should be answer'd. Caes. 'Tis done already, and the messenger 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. Mec. He'll never yield to that. Cas. Nor must not then be yielded to in this. Enter OCTAVIA. Oct. Hail, Cæsar, and my lord! hail, most dear Cæsar! Cas. That ever I should call thee, cast-away! Oct. You have not call'd me so, nor have you cause. Caes. Why have you stol'n upon us thus? You come not Like Cæsar's sister: The wife of Antony Should have an army for an usher, and The neighs of horse to tell of her approach, A market-maid to Rome; and have prevented Oct. Good my lord, To come thus was I not constrain'd, but did it Caes. Which soon he granted, Being an obstruct 'tween his lust and him. Cas. I have eyes upon him, And his affairs come to me on the wind. Where is he now ? Oct. My lord, in Athens. Cas. No, my most wronged sister; Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire Up to a whore; who now are levying The kings o'the earth for war: He hath assembled Of Cappadocia; Philadelphos, king Of Paphlagonia; the Tracian king, Adallas; Oct. Ah me, most wretched, That have my heart parted betwixt two friends, Cas. Welcome hither: Your letters did withhold our breaking forth; Hold unbewail'd their way. Welcome to Rome : [6] That is, his wife being an obstruction, a bar to the prosecution of his wanton pleasures with Cleopatra. WARBURTON. Beyond the mark of thought: and the high gods, Of us, and those that love you. Best of comfort; Agr. Welcome, lady. Mec. Welcome, dear madam. Each heart in Rome does love and pity you : In his abominations, turns you off; And gives his potent regiment to a trull," That noises it against us. Oct. Is it so, sir? Caes. Most certain. Sister, welcome: Pray you, Be ever known to patience: My dearest sister! [Exeunt. SCENE VII. ANTONY'S Camp, near the Promontory of Actium. Enter Cleo. I will be even with thee, doubt it not. Cleo. Thou hast forspoke my being in these wars 7 And say'st, it is not fit. Eno. Well, is it? is it? Cleo. Is't not? Denounce against us, why should not we Be there in person ? Eno. [Aside.] Well, I could reply : If we should serve with horse and mares together, Cleo. What is't you say ? [6] Regiment--is government, authority; he puts his power and his empire into the hands of a false woman. It may be observed, trull was not, in our author's time, a term of mere infamy, but a word of slight contempt, as wench is now. JOHNSON. [7] To forspeak, is to contradict, to speak against, as forbid is to order negatively. JOHNSON. [8] Cleopatra means to say, "Is not the war denounced against us? Why should we not then attend in person?" She says, a little lower, "A charge we bear i' the war, And, as the president of my kingdom, will She speaks of herself in the plural number, according to the usual style of sovereigns. M. MASON. I read with the old copy, introducing only the change of a single letter,---denounc't instead of denounc'd. There is, however, in the folio, a comma after the word not, and no point of interrogation at the end of the sentence. MALONE. Surely no valid inference can be drawn from such uncertain premises as the punctuation of the old copy, which (to use the words of Rosalind and Touchstone in As you like it) is "as fortune will, or as the destinies decree.” STEEVENS. Eno. Your presence needs must puzzle Antony; Take from his heart, take from his brain, from his time, Traduc'd for levity; and 'tis said in Rome, Cleo. Sink Rome; and their tongues rot, That speak against us! A charge we bear i'the war, Appear there for a man. I will not stay behind. Eno. Nay, I have done : Here comes the emperor. Speak not against it ; Enter ANTONY and CANIDIUS, Ant. Is't not strange, Canidius, That from Tarentum, and Brundusium, And take in Toryne ?--You have heard on't, sweet? Than by the negligent. Ant. A good rebuke, Which might have well become the best of men, Will fight with him by sea. Cleo. By sea! what else? Can. Why will my lord do so? Ant. For he dares us to't. Eno. So hath my lord dar'd him to single fight. Can. Ay, and to wage this battle at Pharsalia, Where Cæsar fought with Pompey: But these offers, Which serve not for his vantage, he shakes off; And so should you. Eno. Your ships are not well-mann'd : Your mariners are muleteers, reapers, people Are those, that often have 'gainst Pompey fought : Being prepar'd for land. Ant. By sea, by sea. Eno. Most worthy sir, you therein throw away The absolute soldiership you have by land; Distract your army, which doth most consist [9] Yare--generally signifies dextrous, manageable. STEEVENS, Of war-mark'd footmen; leave unexecuted The way Ant. I'll fight at sea. Cleo. I have sixty sails, Cæsar none better. Ant. Our overplus of shipping will we burn; And, with the rest full-mann'd, from the head of Actium Beat the approaching Cæsar. But if we fail, Enter a Messenger. We then can do't at land.-Thy business? Mes. The news is true, my lord; he is descried ; Ant. Can he be there in person? 'tis impossible; Away, my Thetis !-How now, worthy soldier? Have used to conquer, standing on the earth, Ant. Well, well, away. [Exe. ANT. CLEO. and ENG Can. Soldier, thou art but his whole action grows Not in the power on't: So our leader's led, And we are women's men. Sold. You keep by land The legions and the horse whole, do you not? Publicola, and Cælius, are for sea: But we keep whole by land. This speed of Cæsar's Sold. While he was yet in Rome, His power went out in such distractions, as [1] That is, his whole conduct becomes ungoverned by the right or by reason. JOHNSON. Canidius means to say, His whole conduct in the war is not founder upon that which is his greatest strength, (namely, his land force,) but on the caprice of a woman, who wishes that he should fight by sea. MALONE. STEEVENS. Perhaps this phrase is from archery. |