CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA

By George Bernard Shaw

ACT I

An October night on the Syrian border of Egypt towards the end ofthe XXXIII Dynasty, in the year 706 by Roman computation, afterwardsreckoned by Christian computation as 48 B. C. A great radiance of silverfire, the dawn of a moonlit night, is rising in the east. The starsand the cloudless sky are our own contemporaries, nineteen and a halfcenturies younger than we know them; but you would not guess that fromtheir appearance. Below them are two notable drawbacks of civilization:a palace, and soldiers. The palace, an old, low, Syrian building ofwhitened mud, is not so ugly as Buckingham Palace; and the officers inthe courtyard are more highly civilized than modern English officers:for example, they do not dig up the corpses of their dead enemies andmutilate them, as we dug up Cromwell and the Mahdi. They are in twogroups: one intent on the gambling of their captain Belzanor, a warriorof fifty, who, with his spear on the ground beside his knee, is stoopingto throw dice with a sly-looking young Persian recruit; the othergathered about a guardsman who has just finished telling a naughtystory (still current in English barracks) at which they are laughinguproariously. They are about a dozen in number, all highly aristocraticyoung Egyptian guardsmen, handsomely equipped with weapons and armor, very unEnglish in point of not being ashamed of and uncomfortable intheir professional dress; on the contrary, rather ostentatiously andarrogantly warlike, as valuing themselves on their military caste. 

Belzanor is a typical veteran, tough and wilful; prompt, capable andcrafty where brute force will serve; helpless and boyish when itwill not: an effective sergeant, an incompetent general, a deplorabledictator. Would, if influentially connected, be employed in the two lastcapacities by a modern European State on the strength of his successin the first. Is rather to be pitied just now in view of the fact thatJulius Caesar is invading his country. Not knowing this, is intent onhis game with the Persian, whom, as a foreigner, he considers quitecapable of cheating him. 

His subalterns are mostly handsome young fellows whose interest inthe game and the story symbolizes with tolerable completeness the maininterests in life of which they are conscious. Their spears are leaningagainst the walls, or lying on the ground ready to their hands. Thecorner of the courtyard forms a triangle of which one side is the frontof the palace, with a doorway, the other a wall with a gateway. Thestorytellers are on the palace side: the gamblers, on the gateway side. Close to the gateway, against the wall, is a stone block high enoughto enable a Nubian sentinel, standing on it, to look over the wall. Theyard is lighted by a torch stuck in the wall. As the laughter from thegroup round the storyteller dies away, the kneeling Persian, winning thethrow, snatches up the stake from the ground. 

BELZANOR. By Apis, Persian, thy gods are good to thee. 

THE PERSIAN. Try yet again, O captain. Double or quits!

BELZANOR. No more. I am not in the vein. 

THE SENTINEL (poising his javelin as he peers over the wall). Stand. Whogoes there?

They all start, listening. A strange voice replies from without. 

VOICE. The bearer of evil tidings. 

BELZANOR (calling to the sentry). Pass him. 

THE SENTINEL. (grounding his javelin). Draw near, O bearer of eviltidings. 

BELZANOR (pocketing the dice and picking up his spear). Let us receivethis man with honor. He bears evil tidings. 

The guardsmen seize their spears and gather about the gate, leaving away through for the new comer. 

PERSIAN (rising from his knee). Are evil tidings, then, honorable?

BELZANOR. O barbarous Persian, hear my instruction. In Egypt the bearerof good tidings is sacrificed to the gods as a thank offering but nogod will accept the blood of the messenger of evil. When we have goodtidings, we are careful to send them in the mouth of the cheapest slavewe can find. Evil tidings are borne by young noblemen who desire tobring themselves into notice. (They join the rest at the gate. )

THE SENTINEL. Pass, O young captain; and bow the head in the House ofthe Queen. 

VOICE. Go anoint thy javelin with fat of swine, O Blackamoor; for beforemorning the Romans will make thee eat it to the very butt. 

The owner of the voice, a fairhaired dandy, dressed in a differentfashion to that affected by the guardsmen, but no less extravagantly, comes through the gateway laughing. He is somewhat battle-stained; andhis left forearm, bandaged, comes through a torn sleeve. In his righthand he carries a Roman sword in its sheath. He swaggers down thecourtyard, the Persian on his right, Belzanor on his left, and theguardsmen crowding down behind him. 

BELZANOR. Who art thou that laughest in the House of Cleopatra theQueen, and in the teeth of Belzanor, the captain of her guard?

THE NEW COMER. I am Bel Affris, descended from the gods. 

BELZANOR (ceremoniously). Hail, cousin!

ALL (except the Persian). Hail, cousin!

PERSIAN. All the Queen's guards are descended from the gods, O stranger, save myself. I am Persian, and descended from many kings. 

BEL AFFRIS (to the guardsmen). Hail, cousins! (To the Persian, condescendingly) Hail, mortal!

BELZANOR. You have been in battle, Bel Affris; and you are a soldieramong soldiers. You will not let the Queen's women have the first ofyour tidings. 

BEL AFFRIS. I have no tidings, except that we shall have our throats cutpresently, women, soldiers, and all. 

PERSIAN (to Belzanor). I told you so. 

THE SENTINEL (who has been listening). Woe, alas!

BEL AFFRIS (calling to him). Peace, peace, poor Ethiop: destiny is withthe gods who painted thee black. (To Belzanor) What has this mortal(indicating the Persian) told you?

BELZANOR. He says that the Roman Julius Caesar, who has landed on ourshores with a handful of followers, will make himself master of Egypt. He is afraid of the Roman soldiers. (The guardsmen laugh with boisterousscorn. ) Peasants, brought up to scare crows and follow the plough. Sonsof smiths and millers and tanners! And we nobles, consecrated to arms, descended from the gods!

PERSIAN. Belzanor: the gods are not always good to their poor relations. 

BELZANOR (hotly, to the Persian). Man to man, are we worse than theslaves of Caesar?

BEL AFFRIS (stepping between them). Listen, cousin. Man to man, weEgyptians are as gods above the Romans. 

THE GUARDSMEN (exultingly). Aha!

BEL AFFRIS. But this Caesar does not pit man against man: he throwsa legion at you where you are weakest as he throws a stone from acatapult; and that legion is as a man with one head, a thousand arms, and no religion. I have fought against them; and I know. 

BELZANOR (derisively). Were you frightened, cousin?

The guardsmen roar with laughter, their eyes sparkling at the wit oftheir captain. 

BEL AFFRIS. No, cousin; but I was beaten. They were frightened(perhaps); but they scattered us like chaff. 

The guardsmen, much damped, utter a growl of contemptuous disgust. 

BELZANOR. Could you not die?

BEL AFFRIS. No: that was too easy to be worthy of a descendant of thegods. Besides, there was no time: all was over in a moment. The attackcame just where we least expected it. 

BELZANOR. That shows that the Romans are cowards. 

BEL AFFRIS. They care nothing about cowardice, these Romans: they fightto win. The pride and honor of war are nothing to them. 

PERSIAN. Tell us the tale of the battle. What befell?

THE GUARDSMEN (gathering eagerly round Bel Afris). Ay: the tale of thebattle. 

BEL AFFRIS. Know then, that I am a novice in the guard of the temple ofRa in Memphis, serving neither Cleopatra nor her brother Ptolemy, butonly the high gods. We went a journey to inquire of Ptolemy why he haddriven Cleopatra into Syria, and how we of Egypt should deal with theRoman Pompey, newly come to our shores after his defeat by Caesar atPharsalia. What, think ye, did we learn? Even that Caesar is comingalso in hot pursuit of his foe, and that Ptolemy has slain Pompey, whose severed head he holds in readiness to present to the conqueror. (Sensation among the guardsmen. ) Nay, more: we found that Caesar isalready come; for we had not made half a day's journey on our way backwhen we came upon a city rabble flying from his legions, whose landingthey had gone out to withstand. 

BELZANOR. And ye, the temple guard! Did you not withstand these legions?

BEL AFFRIS. What man could, that we did. But there came the sound of atrumpet whose voice was as the cursing of a black mountain. Then saw wea moving wall of shields coming towards us. You know how the heart burnswhen you charge a fortified wall; but how if the fortified wall were tocharge YOU?

THE PERSIAN (exulting in having told them so). Did I not say it?

BEL AFFRIS. When the wall came nigh, it changed into a line ofmen--common fellows enough, with helmets, leather tunics, andbreastplates. Every man of them flung his javelin: the one that came myway drove through my shield as through a papyrus--lo there! (he pointsto the bandage on his left arm) and would have gone through my neck hadI not stooped. They were charging at the double then, and were upon uswith short swords almost as soon as their javelins. When a man is closeto you with such a sword, you can do nothing with our weapons: they areall too long. 

THE PERSIAN. What did you do?

BEL AFFRIS. Doubled my fist and smote my Roman on the sharpness of hisjaw. He was but mortal after all: he lay down in a stupor; and I tookhis sword and laid it on. (Drawing the sword) Lo! a Roman sword withRoman blood on it!

THE GUARDSMEN (approvingly). Good! (They take the sword and hand itround, examining it curiously. )

THE PERSIAN. And your men?

BEL AFFRIS. Fled. Scattered like sheep. 

BELZANOR (furiously). The cowardly slaves! Leaving the descendants ofthe gods to be butchered!

BEL AFFRIS (with acid coolness). The descendants of the gods did notstay to be butchered, cousin. The battle was not to the strong; but therace was to the swift. The Romans, who have no chariots, sent a cloud ofhorsemen in pursuit, and slew multitudes. Then our high priest's captainrallied a dozen descendants of the gods and exhorted us to die fighting. I said to myself: surely it is safer to stand than to lose my breathand be stabbed in the back; so I joined our captain and stood. Then theRomans treated us with respect; for no man attacks a lion when the fieldis full of sheep, except for the pride and honor of war, of which theseRomans know nothing. So we escaped with our lives; and I am come to warnyou that you must open your gates to Caesar; for his advance guard isscarce an hour behind me; and not an Egyptian warrior is left standingbetween you and his legions. 

THE SENTINEL. Woe, alas! (He throws down his javelin and flies into thepalace. )

BELZANOR. Nail him to the door, quick! (The guardsmen rush for him withtheir spears; but he is too quick for them. ) Now this news will runthrough the palace like fire through stubble. 

BEL AFFRIS. What shall we do to save the women from the Romans?

BELZANOR. Why not kill them?

PERSIAN. Because we should have to pay blood money for some of them. Better let the Romans kill them: it is cheaper. 

BELZANOR (awestruck at his brain power). O subtle one! O serpent!

BEL AFFRIS. But your Queen?

BELZANOR. True: we must carry off Cleopatra. 

BEL AFFRIS. Will ye not await her command?

BELZANOR. Command! A girl of sixteen! Not we. At Memphis ye deem her aQueen: here we know better. I will take her on the crupper of my horse. When we soldiers have carried her out of Caesar's reach, then thepriests and the nurses and the rest of them can pretend she is a queenagain, and put their commands into her mouth. 

PERSIAN. Listen to me, Belzanor. 

BELZANOR. Speak, O subtle beyond thy years. 

THE PERSIAN. Cleopatra's brother Ptolemy is at war with her. Let us sellher to him. 

THE GUARDSMEN. O subtle one! O serpent!

BELZANOR. We dare not. We are descended from the gods; but Cleopatra isdescended from the river Nile; and the lands of our fathers will grow nograin if the Nile rises not to water them. Without our father's gifts weshould live the lives of dogs. 

PERSIAN. It is true: the Queen's guard cannot live on its pay. But hearme further, O ye kinsmen of Osiris. 

THE GUARDSMEN. Speak, O subtle one. Hear the serpent begotten!

PERSIAN. Have I heretofore spoken truly to you of Caesar, when youthought I mocked you?

GUARDSMEN. Truly, truly. 

BELZANOR (reluctantly admitting it). So Bel Affris says. 

PERSIAN. Hear more of him, then. This Caesar is a great lover of women:he makes them his friends and counselors. 

BELZANOR. Faugh! This rule of women will be the ruin of Egypt. 

THE PERSIAN. Let it rather be the ruin of Rome! Caesar grows old now:he is past fifty and full of labors and battles. He is too old for theyoung women; and the old women are too wise to worship him. 

BEL AFFRIS. Take heed, Persian. Caesar is by this time almost withinearshot. 

PERSIAN. Cleopatra is not yet a woman: neither is she wise. But shealready troubles men's wisdom. 

BELZANOR. Ay: that is because she is descended from the river Nile and ablack kitten of the sacred White Cat. What then?

PERSIAN. Why, sell her secretly to Ptolemy, and then offer ourselves toCaesar as volunteers to fight for the overthrow of her brother and therescue of our Queen, the Great Granddaughter of the Nile. 

THE GUARDSMEN. O serpent!

PERSIAN. He will listen to us if we come with her picture in our mouths. He will conquer and kill her brother, and reign in Egypt with Cleopatrafor his Queen. And we shall be her guard. 

GUARDSMEN. O subtlest of all the serpents! O admiration! O wisdom!

BEL AFFRIS. He will also have arrived before you have done talking, Oword spinner. 

BELZANOR. That is true. (An affrighted uproar in the palace interruptshim. ) Quick: the flight has begun: guard the door. (They rush tothe door and form a cordon before it with their spears. A mob ofwomen-servants and nurses surges out. Those in front recoil fromthe spears, screaming to those behind to keep back. Belzanor'svoice dominates the disturbance as he shouts) Back there. In again, unprofitable cattle. 

THE GUARDSMEN. Back, unprofitable cattle. 

BELZANOR. Send us out Ftatateeta, the Queen's chief nurse. 

THE WOMEN (calling into the palace). Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta. Come, come. Speak to Belzanor. 

A WOMAN. Oh, keep back. You are thrusting me on the spearheads. 

A huge grim woman, her face covered with a network of tiny wrinkles, andher eyes old, large, and wise; sinewy handed, very tall, very strong;with the mouth of a bloodhound and the jaws of a bulldog, appears on thethreshold. She is dressed like a person of consequence in the palace, and confronts the guardsmen insolently. 

FTATATEETA. Make way for the Queen's chief nurse. 

BELZANOR. (with solemn arrogance). Ftatateeta: I am Belzanor, thecaptain of the Queen's guard, descended from the gods. 

FTATATEETA. (retorting his arrogance with interest). Belzanor: I amFtatateeta, the Queen's chief nurse; and your divine ancestors wereproud to be painted on the wall in the pyramids of the kings whom myfathers served. 

The women laugh triumphantly. 

BELZANOR (with grim humor) Ftatateeta: daughter of a long-tongued, swivel-eyed chameleon, the Romans are at hand. (A cry of terror from thewomen: they would fly but for the spears. ) Not even the descendantsof the gods can resist them; for they have each man seven arms, eachcarrying seven spears. The blood in their veins is boiling quicksilver;and their wives become mothers in three hours, and are slain and eatenthe next day. 

A shudder of horror from the women. Ftatateeta, despising them andscorning the soldiers, pushes her way through the crowd and confrontsthe spear points undismayed. 

FTATATEETA. Then fly and save yourselves, O cowardly sons of the cheapclay gods that are sold to fish porters; and leave us to shift forourselves. 

BELZANOR. Not until you have first done our bidding, O terror ofmanhood. Bring out Cleopatra the Queen to us and then go whither youwill. 

FTATATEETA (with a derisive laugh). Now I know why the gods have takenher out of our hands. (The guardsmen start and look at one another). Know, thou foolish soldier, that the Queen has been missing since anhour past sun down. 

BELZANOR (furiously). Hag: you have hidden her to sell to Caesar or herbrother. (He grasps her by the left wrist, and drags her, helped by afew of the guard, to the middle of the courtyard, where, as they flingher on her knees, he draws a murderous looking knife. ) Where is she?Where is she? or--(He threatens to cut her throat. )

FTATATEETA (savagely). Touch me, dog; and the Nile will not rise on yourfields for seven times seven years of famine. 

BELZANOR (frightened, but desperate). I will sacrifice: I will pay. Orstay. (To the Persian) You, O subtle one: your father's lands lie farfrom the Nile. Slay her. 

PERSIAN (threatening her with his knife). Persia has but one god; yet heloves the blood of old women. Where is Cleopatra?

FTATATEETA. Persian: as Osiris lives, I do not know. I chide her forbringing evil days upon us by talking to the sacred cats of the priests, and carrying them in her arms. I told her she would be left alone herewhen the Romans came as a punishment for her disobedience. And now sheis gone--run away--hidden. I speak the truth. I call Osiris to witness. 

THE WOMEN (protesting officiously). She speaks the truth, Belzanor. 

BELZANOR. You have frightened the child: she is hiding. Search--quick--into the palace--search every corner. 

The guards, led by Belzanor, shoulder their way into the palace throughthe flying crowd of women, who escape through the courtyard gate. 

FTATATEETA (screaming). Sacrilege! Men in the Queen's chambers! Sa--(Her voice dies away as the Persian puts his knife to her throat. )

BEL AFFRIS (laying a hand on Ftatateeta's left shoulder). Forbear heryet a moment, Persian. (To Ftatateeta, very significantly) Mother: yourgods are asleep or away hunting; and the sword is at your throat. Bringus to where the Queen is hid, and you shall live. 

FTATATEETA (contemptuously). Who shall stay the sword in the hand of afool, if the high gods put it there? Listen to me, ye young men withoutunderstanding. Cleopatra fears me; but she fears the Romans more. Thereis but one power greater in her eyes than the wrath of the Queen's nurseand the cruelty of Caesar; and that is the power of the Sphinx that sitsin the desert watching the way to the sea. What she would have it know, she tells into the ears of the sacred cats; and on her birthday shesacrifices to it and decks it with poppies. Go ye therefore into thedesert and seek Cleopatra in the shadow of the Sphinx; and on your headssee to it that no harm comes to her. 

BEL AFFRIS (to the Persian). May we believe this, O subtle one?

PERSIAN. Which way come the Romans?

BEL AFFRIS. Over the desert, from the sea, by this very Sphinx. 

PERSIAN (to Ftatateeta). O mother of guile! O aspic's tongue! You havemade up this tale so that we two may go into the desert and perish onthe spears of the Romans. (Lifting his knife) Taste death. 

FTATATEETA. Not from thee, baby. (She snatches his ankle from underhim and flies stooping along the palace wall vanishing in the darknesswithin its precinct. Bel Affris roars with laughter as the Persiantumbles. The guardsmen rush out of the palace with Belzanor and a mob offugitives, mostly carrying bundles. )

PERSIAN. Have you found Cleopatra?

BELZANOR. She is gone. We have searched every corner. 

THE NUBIAN SENTINEL (appearing at the door of the palace). Woe! Alas!Fly, fly!

BELZANOR. What is the matter now?

THE NUBIAN SENTINEL. The sacred white cat has been stolen. Woe! Woe!(General panic. They all fly with cries of consternation. The torch isthrown down and extinguished in the rush. Darkness. The noise of thefugitives dies away. Dead silence. Suspense. Then the blackness andstillness breaks softly into silver mist and strange airs as thewindswept harp of Memnon plays at the dawning of the moon. It rises fullover the desert; and a vast horizon comes into relief, broken by a hugeshape which soon reveals itself in the spreading radiance as a Sphinxpedestalled on the sands. The light still clears, until the upraisedeyes of the image are distinguished looking straight forward and upwardin infinite fearless vigil, and a mass of color between its great pawsdefines itself as a heap of red poppies on which a girl lies motionless, her silken vest heaving gently and regularly with the breathing ofa dreamless sleeper, and her braided hair glittering in a shaft ofmoonlight like a bird's wing. 

Suddenly there comes from afar a vaguely fearful sound [it might bethe bellow of a Minotaur softened by great distance] and Memnon'smusic stops. Silence: then a few faint high-ringing trumpet notes. Thensilence again. Then a man comes from the south with stealing steps, ravished by the mystery of the night, all wonder, and halts, lost incontemplation, opposite the left flank of the Sphinx, whose bosom, withits burden, is hidden from him by its massive shoulder. )

THE MAN. Hail, Sphinx: salutation from Julius Caesar! I have wandered inmany lands, seeking the lost regions from which my birth into this worldexiled me, and the company of creatures such as I myself. I have foundflocks and pastures, men and cities, but no other Caesar, no air nativeto me, no man kindred to me, none who can do my day's deed, and think mynight's thought. In the little world yonder, Sphinx, my place is ashigh as yours in this great desert; only I wander, and you sit still; Iconquer, and you endure; I work and wonder, you watch and wait; I lookup and am dazzled, look down and am darkened, look round and am puzzled, whilst your eyes never turn from looking out--out of the world--to thelost region--the home from which we have strayed. Sphinx, you and I, strangers to the race of men, are no strangers to one another: have Inot been conscious of you and of this place since I was born? Rome is amadman's dream: this is my Reality. These starry lamps of yours I haveseen from afar in Gaul, in Britain, in Spain, in Thessaly, signallinggreat secrets to some eternal sentinel below, whose post I never couldfind. And here at last is their sentinel--an image of the constant andimmortal part of my life, silent, full of thoughts, alone in the silverdesert. Sphinx, Sphinx: I have climbed mountains at night to hear inthe distance the stealthy footfall of the winds that chase your sands inforbidden play--our invisible children, O Sphinx, laughing in whispers. My way hither was the way of destiny; for I am he of whose genius youare the symbol: part brute, part woman, and part God--nothing of man inme at all. Have I read your riddle, Sphinx?

THE GIRL (who has wakened, and peeped cautiously from her nest to seewho is speaking). Old gentleman. 

CAESAR (starting violently, and clutching his sword). Immortal gods!

THE GIRL. Old gentleman: don't run away. 

CAESAR (stupefied). "Old gentleman: don't run away!!!" This! To JuliusCaesar!

THE GIRL (urgently). Old gentleman. 

CAESAR. Sphinx: you presume on your centuries. I am younger than you, though your voice is but a girl's voice as yet. 

THE GIRL. Climb up here, quickly; or the Romans will come and eat you. 

CAESAR (running forward past the Sphinx's shoulder, and seeing her). Achild at its breast! A divine child!

THE GIRL. Come up quickly. You must get up at its side and creep round. 

CAESAR (amazed). Who are you?

THE GIRL. Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. 

CAESAR. Queen of the Gypsies, you mean. 

CLEOPATRA. You must not be disrespectful to me, or the Sphinx will letthe Romans eat you. Come up. It is quite cosy here. 

CAESAR (to himself). What a dream! What a magnificent dream! Only let menot wake, and I will conquer ten continents to pay for dreaming it outto the end. (He climbs to the Sphinx's flank, and presently reappears toher on the pedestal, stepping round its right shoulder. )

CLEOPATRA. Take care. That's right. Now sit down: you may have itsother paw. (She seats herself comfortably on its left paw. ) It isvery powerful and will protect us; but (shivering, and with plaintiveloneliness) it would not take any notice of me or keep me company. I amglad you have come: I was very lonely. Did you happen to see a white catanywhere?

CAESAR (sitting slowly down on the right paw in extreme wonderment). Have you lost one?

CLEOPATRA. Yes: the sacred white cat: is it not dreadful? I brought himhere to sacrifice him to the Sphinx; but when we got a little way fromthe city a black cat called him, and he jumped out of my arms andran away to it. Do you think that the black cat can have been mygreat-great-great-grandmother?

CAESAR (staring at her). Your great-great-great-grandmother! Well, whynot? Nothing would surprise me on this night of nights. 

CLEOPATRA. I think it must have been. My great-grandmother'sgreat-grandmother was a black kitten of the sacred white cat; and theriver Nile made her his seventh wife. That is why my hair is so wavy. And I always want to be let do as I like, no matter whether it is thewill of the gods or not: that is because my blood is made with Nilewater. 

CAESAR. What are you doing here at this time of night? Do you live here?

CLEOPATRA. Of course not: I am the Queen; and I shall live in the palaceat Alexandria when I have killed my brother, who drove me out of it. When I am old enough I shall do just what I like. I shall be able topoison the slaves and see them wriggle, and pretend to Ftatateeta thatshe is going to be put into the fiery furnace. 

CAESAR. Hm! Meanwhile why are you not at home and in bed?

CLEOPATRA. Because the Romans are coming to eat us all. YOU are not athome and in bed either. 

CAESAR (with conviction). Yes I am. I live in a tent; and I am now inthat tent, fast asleep and dreaming. Do you suppose that I believe youare real, you impossible little dream witch?

CLEOPATRA (giggling and leaning trustfully towards him). You are a funnyold gentleman. I like you. 

CAESAR. Ah, that spoils the dream. Why don't you dream that I am young?

CLEOPATRA. I wish you were; only I think I should be more afraid of you. I like men, especially young men with round strong arms; but I am afraidof them. You are old and rather thin and stringy; but you have a nicevoice; and I like to have somebody to talk to, though I think you are alittle mad. It is the moon that makes you talk to yourself in that sillyway. 

CAESAR. What! you heard that, did you? I was saying my prayers to thegreat Sphinx. 

CLEOPATRA. But this isn't the great Sphinx. 

CAESAR (much disappointed, looking up at the statue). What!

CLEOPATRA. This is only a dear little kitten of the Sphinx. Why, thegreat Sphinx is so big that it has a temple between its paws. This ismy pet Sphinx. Tell me: do you think the Romans have any sorcerers whocould take us away from the Sphinx by magic?

CAESAR. Why? Are you afraid of the Romans?

CLEOPATRA (very seriously). Oh, they would eat us if they caught us. They are barbarians. Their chief is called Julius Caesar. His fatherwas a tiger and his mother a burning mountain; and his nose is like anelephant's trunk. (Caesar involuntarily rubs his nose. ) They all havelong noses, and ivory tusks, and little tails, and seven arms with ahundred arrows in each; and they live on human flesh. 

CAESAR. Would you like me to show you a real Roman?

CLEOPATRA (terrified). No. You are frightening me. 

CAESAR. No matter: this is only a dream--

CLEOPATRA (excitedly). It is not a dream: it is not a dream. See, see. (She plucks a pin from her hair and jabs it repeatedly into his arm. )

CAESAR. Ffff--Stop. (Wrathfully) How dare you?

CLEOPATRA (abashed). You said you were dreaming. (Whimpering) I onlywanted to show you--

CAESAR (gently). Come, come: don't cry. A queen mustn't cry. (He rubshis arm, wondering at the reality of the smart. ) Am I awake? (He strikeshis hand against the Sphinx to test its solidity. It feels so realthat he begins to be alarmed, and says perplexedly) Yes, I--(quitepanic-stricken) no: impossible: madness, madness! (Desperately) Back tocamp--to camp. (He rises to spring down from the pedestal. )

CLEOPATRA (flinging her arms in terror round him). No: you shan't leaveme. No, no, no: don't go. I'm afraid--afraid of the Romans. 

CAESAR (as the conviction that he is really awake forces itself on him). Cleopatra: can you see my face well?

CLEOPATRA. Yes. It is so white in the moonlight. 

CAESAR. Are you sure it is the moonlight that makes me look whiter thanan Egyptian? (Grimly) Do you notice that I have a rather long nose?

CLEOPATRA (recoiling, paralyzed by a terrible suspicion). Oh!

CAESAR. It is a Roman nose, Cleopatra. 

CLEOPATRA. Ah! (With a piercing scream she springs up; darts round theleft shoulder of the Sphinx; scrambles down to the sand; and falls onher knees in frantic supplication, shrieking) Bite him in two, Sphinx:bite him in two. I meant to sacrifice the white cat--I did indeed--I(Caesar, who has slipped down from the pedestal, touches her on theshoulder) Ah! (She buries her head in her arms. )

CAESAR. Cleopatra: shall I teach you a way to prevent Caesar from eatingyou?

CLEOPATRA (clinging to him piteously). Oh do, do, do. I will stealFtatateeta's jewels and give them to you. I will make the river Nilewater your lands twice a year. 

CAESAR. Peace, peace, my child. Your gods are afraid of the Romans:you see the Sphinx dare not bite me, nor prevent me carrying you off toJulius Caesar. 

CLEOPATRA (in pleading murmurings). You won't, you won't. You said youwouldn't. 

CAESAR. Caesar never eats women. 

CLEOPATRA (springing up full of hope). What!

CAESAR (impressively). But he eats girls (she relapses) and cats. Now you are a silly little girl; and you are descended from the blackkitten. You are both a girl and a cat. 

CLEOPATRA (trembling). And will he eat me?

CAESAR. Yes; unless you make him believe that you are a woman. 

CLEOPATRA. Oh, you must get a sorcerer to make a woman of me. Are you asorcerer?

CAESAR. Perhaps. But it will take a long time; and this very night youmust stand face to face with Caesar in the palace of your fathers. 

CLEOPATRA. No, no. I daren't. 

CAESAR. Whatever dread may be in your soul--however terrible Caesar maybe to you--you must confront him as a brave woman and a great queen;and you must feel no fear. If your hand shakes: if your voice quavers;then--night and death! (She moans. ) But if he thinks you worthy to rule, he will set you on the throne by his side and make you the real ruler ofEgypt. 

CLEOPATRA (despairingly). No: he will find me out: he will find me out. 

CAESAR (rather mournfully). He is easily deceived by women. Their eyesdazzle him; and he sees them not as they are, but as he wishes them toappear to him. 

CLEOPATRA (hopefully). Then we will cheat him. I will put onFtatateeta's head-dress; and he will think me quite an old woman. 

CAESAR. If you do that he will eat you at one mouthful. 

CLEOPATRA. But I will give him a cake with my magic opal and seven hairsof the white cat baked in it; and--

CAESAR (abruptly). Pah! you are a little fool. He will eat your cake andyou too. (He turns contemptuously from her. )

CLEOPATRA (running after him and clinging to him). Oh, please, PLEASE!I will do whatever you tell me. I will be good! I will be your slave. (Again the terrible bellowing note sounds across the desert, now closerat hand. It is the bucina, the Roman war trumpet. )

CAESAR. Hark!

CLEOPATRA (trembling). What was that?

CAESAR. Caesar's voice. 

CLEOPATRA (pulling at his hand). Let us run away. Come. Oh, come. 

CAESAR. You are safe with me until you stand on your throne to receiveCaesar. Now lead me thither. 

CLEOPATRA (only too glad to get away). I will, I will. (Again thebucina. ) Oh, come, come, come: the gods are angry. Do you feel the earthshaking?

CAESAR. It is the tread of Caesar's legions. 

CLEOPATRA (drawing him away). This way, quickly. And let us look for thewhite cat as we go. It is he that has turned you into a Roman. 

CAESAR. Incorrigible, oh, incorrigible! Away! (He follows her, thebucina sounding louder as they steal across the desert. The moonlightwanes: the horizon again shows black against the sky, broken only by thefantastic silhouette of the Sphinx. The sky itself vanishes in darkness, from which there is no relief until the gleam of a distant torch fallson great Egyptian pillars supporting the roof of a majestic corridor. At the further end of this corridor a Nubian slave appears carrying thetorch. Caesar, still led by Cleopatra, follows him. They come down thecorridor, Caesar peering keenly about at the strange architecture, andat the pillar shadows between which, as the passing torch makes themhurry noiselessly backwards, figures of men with wings and hawks' heads, and vast black marble cats, seem to flit in and out of ambush. Furtheralong, the wall turns a corner and makes a spacious transept in whichCaesar sees, on his right, a throne, and behind the throne a door. Oneach side of the throne is a slender pillar with a lamp on it. )

CAESAR. What place is this?

CLEOPATRA. This is where I sit on the throne when I am allowed to wearmy crown and robes. (The slave holds his torch to show the throne. )

CAESAR. Order the slave to light the lamps. 

CLEOPATRA (shyly). Do you think I may?

CAESAR. Of course. You are the Queen. (She hesitates. ) Go on. 

CLEOPATRA (timidly, to the slave). Light all the lamps. 

FTATATEETA (suddenly coming from behind the throne). Stop. (The slavestops. She turns sternly to Cleopatra, who quails like a naughty child. )Who is this you have with you; and how dare you order the lamps to belighted without my permission? (Cleopatra is dumb with apprehension. )

CAESAR. Who is she?

CLEOPATRA. Ftatateeta. 

FTATATEETA (arrogantly). Chief nurse to--

CAESAR (cutting her short). I speak to the Queen. Be silent. (ToCleopatra) Is this how your servants know their places? Send her away;and you (to the slave) do as the Queen has bidden. (The slave lights thelamps. Meanwhile Cleopatra stands hesitating, afraid of Ftatateeta. ) Youare the Queen: send her away. 

CLEOPATRA (cajoling). Ftatateeta, dear: you must go away--just for alittle. 

CAESAR. You are not commanding her to go away: you are begging her. Youare no Queen. You will be eaten. Farewell. (He turns to go. )

CLEOPATRA (clutching him). No, no, no. Don't leave me. 

CAESAR. A Roman does not stay with queens who are afraid of theirslaves. 

CLEOPATRA. I am not afraid. Indeed I am not afraid. 

FTATATEETA. We shall see who is afraid here. (Menacingly) Cleopatra--

CAESAR. On your knees, woman: am I also a child that you dare triflewith me? (He points to the floor at Cleopatra's feet. Ftatateeta, halfcowed, half savage, hesitates. Caesar calls to the Nubian) Slave. (TheNubian comes to him. ) Can you cut off a head? (The Nubian nods andgrins ecstatically, showing all his teeth. Caesar takes his sword bythe scabbard, ready to offer the hilt to the Nubian, and turns againto Ftatateeta, repeating his gesture. ) Have you remembered yourself, mistress?

Ftatateeta, crushed, kneels before Cleopatra, who can hardly believe hereyes. 

FTATATEETA (hoarsely). O Queen, forget not thy servant in the days ofthy greatness. 

CLEOPATRA (blazing with excitement). Go. Begone. Go away. (Ftatateetarises with stooped head, and moves backwards towards the door. Cleopatrawatches her submission eagerly, almost clapping her hands, which aretrembling. Suddenly she cries) Give me something to beat her with. (She snatches a snake-skin from the throne and dashes after Ftatateeta, whirling it like a scourge in the air. Caesar makes a bound and managesto catch her and hold her while Ftatateeta escapes. )

CAESAR. You scratch, kitten, do you?

CLEOPATRA (breaking from him). I will beat somebody. I will beat him. (She attacks the slave. ) There, there, there! (The slave flies for hislife up the corridor and vanishes. She throws the snake-skin away andjumps on the step of the throne with her arms waving, crying) I am areal Queen at last--a real, real Queen! Cleopatra the Queen! (Caesarshakes his head dubiously, the advantage of the change seeming open toquestion from the point of view of the general welfare of Egypt. Sheturns and looks at him exultantly. Then she jumps down from the step, runs to him, and flings her arms round him rapturously, crying) Oh, Ilove you for making me a Queen. 

CAESAR. But queens love only kings. 

CLEOPATRA. I will make all the men I love kings. I will make you a king. I will have many young kings, with round, strong arms; and when I amtired of them I will whip them to death; but you shall always be myking: my nice, kind, wise, proud old king. 

CAESAR. Oh, my wrinkles, my wrinkles! And my child's heart! You will bethe most dangerous of all Caesar's conguests. 

CLEOPATRA (appalled). Caesar! I forgot Caesar. (Anxiously) You will tellhim that I am a Queen, will you not? a real Queen. Listen! (stealthilycoaxing him) let us run away and hide until Caesar is gone. 

CAESAR. If you fear Caesar, you are no true Queen; and though you wereto hide beneath a pyramid, he would go straight to it and lift it withone hand. And then--! (He chops his teeth together. )

CLEOPATRA (trembling). Oh!

CAESAR. Be afraid if you dare. (The note of the bucina resounds again inthe distance. She moans with fear. Caesar exalts in it, exclaiming) Aha!Caesar approaches the throne of Cleopatra. Come: take your place. (Hetakes her hand and leads her to the throne. She is too downcast tospeak. ) Ho, there, Teetatota. How do you call your slaves?

CLEOPATRA (spiritlessly, as she sinks on the throne and cowers there, shaking). Clap your hands. 

He claps his hands. Ftatateeta returns. 

CAESAR. Bring the Queen's robes, and her crown, and her women; andprepare her. 

CLEOPATRA (eagerly--recovering herself a little). Yes, the Crown, Ftatateeta: I shall wear the crown. 

FTATATEETA. For whom must the Queen put on her state?

CAESAR. For a citizen of Rome. A king of kings, Totateeta. 

CLEOPATRA (stamping at her). How dare you ask questions? Go and do asyou are told. (Ftatateeta goes out with a grim smile. Cleopatra goes oneagerly, to Caesar) Caesar will know that I am a Queen when he sees mycrown and robes, will he not?

CAESAR. No. How shall he know that you are not a slave dressed up in theQueen's ornaments?

CLEOPATRA. You must tell him. 

CAESAR. He will not ask me. He will know Cleopatra by her pride, hercourage, her majesty, and her beauty. (She looks very doubtful. ) Are youtrembling?

CLEOPATRA (shivering with dread). No, I--I--(in a very sickly voice) No. 

Ftatateeta and three women come in with the regalia. 

FTATATEETA. Of all the Queen's women, these three alone are left. Therest are fled. (They begin to deck Cleopatra, who submits, pale andmotionless. )

CAESAR. Good, good. Three are enough. Poor Caesar generally has to dresshimself. 

FTATATEETA (contemptuously). The Queen of Egypt is not a Romanbarbarian. (To Cleopatra) Be brave, my nursling. Hold up your headbefore this stranger. 

CAESAR (admiring Cleopatra, and placing the crown on her head). Is itsweet or bitter to be a Queen, Cleopatra?

CLEOPATRA. Bitter. 

CAESAR. Cast out fear; and you will conquer Caesar. Tota: are the Romansat hand?

FTATATEETA. They are at hand; and the guard has fled. 

THE WOMEN (wailing subduedly). Woe to us!

The Nubian comes running down the hall. 

NUBIAN. The Romans are in the courtyard. (He bolts through the door. With a shriek, the women fly after him. Ftatateeta's jaw expressessavage resolution: she does not budge. Cleopatra can hardly restrainherself from following them. Caesar grips her wrist, and lookssteadfastly at her. She stands like a martyr. )

CAESAR. The Queen must face Caesar alone. Answer "So be it. "

CLEOPATRA (white). So be it. 

CAESAR (releasing her). Good. 

A tramp and tumult of armed men is heard. Cleopatra's terror increases. The bucina sounds close at hand, followed by a formidable clangor oftrumpets. This is too much for Cleopatra: she utters a cry and dartstowards the door. Ftatateeta stops her ruthlessly. 

FTATATEETA. You are my nursling. You have said "So be it"; and if youdie for it, you must make the Queen's word good. (She hands Cleopatra toCaesar, who takes her back, almost beside herself with apprehension, tothe throne. )

CAESAR. Now, if you quail--! (He seats himself on the throne. )

She stands on the step, all but unconscious, waiting for death. TheRoman soldiers troop in tumultuously through the corridor, headed bytheir ensign with his eagle, and their bucinator, a burly fellow withhis instrument coiled round his body, its brazen bell shaped like thehead of a howling wolf. When they reach the transept, they stare inamazement at the throne; dress into ordered rank opposite it; draw theirswords and lift them in the air with a shout of HAIL CAESAR. Cleopatraturns and stares wildly at Caesar; grasps the situation; and, with agreat sob of relief, falls into his arms. 

ACT II

Alexandria. A hall on the first floor of the Palace, ending in aloggia approached by two steps. Through the arches of the loggia theMediterranean can be seen, bright in the morning sun. The clean loftywalls, painted with a procession of the Egyptian theocracy, presented inprofile 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 expressit, poor, bare, ridiculous and unhomely. For Tottenham Court Roadcivilization is to this Egyptian civilization as glass bead and tattoocivilization 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 hashim by the hand. The court is assembled to receive him. It is made up ofmen and women (some of the women being officials) of various complexionsand races, mostly Egyptian; some of them, comparatively fair, from lowerEgypt; some, much darker, from upper Egypt; with a few Greeks and Jews. Prominent in a group on Ptolemy's right hand is Theodotus, Ptolemy'stutor. Another group, on Ptolemy's left, is headed by Achillas, thegeneral of Ptolemy's troops. Theodotus is a little old man, whosefeatures are as cramped and wizened as his limbs, except his tallstraight forehead, which occupies more space than all the rest of hisface. He maintains an air of magpie keenness and profundity, listeningto what the others say with the sarcastic vigilance of a philosopherlistening to the exercises of his disciples. Achillas is a tall handsomeman of thirty-five, with a fine black beard curled like the coat of apoodle. Apparently not a clever man, but distinguished and dignified. Pothinus is a vigorous man of fifty, a eunuch, passionate, energetic andquick witted, but of common mind and character; impatient and unable tocontrol his temper. He has fine tawny hair, like fur. Ptolemy, the King, looks much older than an English boy of ten; but he has the childishair, the habit of being in leading strings, the mixture of impotenceand petulance, the appearance of being excessively washed, combed anddressed by other hands, which is exhibited by court-bred princes of allages. 

All receive the King with reverences. He comes down the steps to a chairof state which stands a little to his right, the only seat in the hall. Taking his place before it, he looks nervously for instructions toPothinus, who places himself at his left hand. 

POTHINUS. The King of Egypt has a word to speak. 

THEODOTUS (in a squeak which he makes impressive by sheerself-opinionativeness). Peace for the King's word!

PTOLEMY (without any vocal inflexions: he is evidently repeating alesson). Take notice of this all of you. I am the firstborn son ofAuletes the Flute Blower who was your King. My sister Berenice drove himfrom his throne and reigned in his stead but--but (he hesitates)--

POTHINUS (stealthily prompting). --but the gods would not suffer--

PTOLEMY. Yes--the gods would not suffer--not suffer (he stops; then, crestfallen) I forget what the gods would not suffer. 

THEODOTUS. Let Pothinus, the King's guardian, speak for the King. 

POTHINUS (suppressing his impatience with difficulty). The King wishedto say that the gods would not suffer the impiety of his sister to gounpunished. 

PTOLEMY (hastily). Yes: I remember the rest of it. (He resumes hismonotone). Therefore the gods sent a stranger, one Mark Antony, a Romancaptain of horsemen, across the sands of the desert and he set my fatheragain upon the throne. And my father took Berenice my sister andstruck her head off. And now that my father is dead yet another of hisdaughters, my sister Cleopatra, would snatch the kingdom from me andreign in my place. But the gods would not suffer (Pothinus coughsadmonitorily)--the gods--the gods would not suffer--

POTHINUS (prompting). --will not maintain--

PTOLEMY. Oh yes--will not maintain such iniquity, they will give herhead to the axe even as her sister's. But with the help of the witchFtatateeta she hath cast a spell on the Roman Julius Caesar to make himuphold her false pretence to rule in Egypt. Take notice then that I willnot suffer--that I will not suffer--(pettishly, to Pothinus)--What is itthat I will not suffer?

POTHINUS (suddenly exploding with all the force and emphasis ofpolitical passion). The King will not suffer a foreigner to take fromhim the throne of our Egypt. (A shout of applause. ) Tell the King, Achillas, how many soldiers and horsemen follow the Roman?

THEODOTUS. Let the King's general speak!

ACHILLAS. But two Roman legions, O King. Three thousand soldiers andscarce a thousand horsemen. 

The court breaks into derisive laughter; and a great chattering begins, amid which Rufio, a Roman officer, appears in the loggia. He is a burly, black-bearded man of middle age, very blunt, prompt and rough, withsmall clear eyes, and plump nose and cheeks, which, however, like therest of his flesh, are in ironhard condition. 

RUFIO (from the steps). Peace, ho! (The laughter and chatter ceaseabruptly. ) Caesar approaches. 

THEODOTUS (with much presence of mind). The King permits the Romancommander to enter!

Caesar, plainly dressed, but, wearing an oak wreath to conceal hisbaldness, enters from, the loggia, attended by Britannus, his secretary, a Briton, about forty, tall, solemn, and already slightly bald, with aheavy, drooping, hazel-colored moustache trained so as to lose itsends in a pair of trim whiskers. He is carefully dressed in blue, withportfolio, inkhorn, and reed pen at his girdle. His serious air andsense of the importance of the business in hand is in marked contrast tothe kindly interest of Caesar, who looks at the scene, which is new tohim, with the frank curiosity of a child, and then turns to the King'schair: Britannus and Rufio posting themselves near the steps at theother side. 

CAESAR (looking at Pothinus and Ptolemy). Which is the King? The man orthe boy?

POTHINUS. I am Pothinus, the guardian of my lord the King. 

Caesar (patting Ptolemy kindly on the shoulder). So you are the King. Dull work at your age, eh? (To Pothinus) your servant, Pothinus. (Heturns away unconcernedly and comes slowly along the middle of the hall, looking from side to side at the courtiers until he reaches Achillas. )And this gentleman?

THEODOTUS. Achillas, the King's general. 

CAESAR (to Achillas, very friendly). A general, eh? I am a generalmyself. But I began too old, too old. Health and many victories, Achillas!

ACHILLAS. As the gods will, Caesar. 

CAESAR (turning to Theodotus). And you, sir, are--?

THEODOTUS. Theodotus, the King's tutor. 

CAESAR. You teach men how to be kings, Theodotus. That is very clever ofyou. (Looking at the gods on the walls as he turns away from Theodotusand goes up again to Pothinus. ) And this place?

POTHINUS. The council chamber of the chancellors of the King's treasury, Caesar. 

CAESAR. Ah! That reminds me. I want some money. 

POTHINUS. The King's treasury is poor, Caesar. 

CAESAR. Yes: I notice that there is but one chair in it. 

RUFIO (shouting gruffly). Bring a chair there, some of you, for Caesar. 

PTOLEMY (rising shyly to offer his chair). Caesar--

CAESAR (kindly). No, no, my boy: that is your chair of state. Sit down. 

He makes Ptolemy sit down again. Meanwhile Rufio, looking about him, sees in the nearest corner an image of the god Ra, represented as aseated man with the head of a hawk. Before the image is a bronze tripod, about as large as a three-legged stool, with a stick of incense burningon it. Rufio, with Roman resourcefulness and indifference to foreignsuperstitions, promptly seizes the tripod; shakes off the incense; blowsaway the ash; and dumps it down behind Caesar, nearly in the middle ofthe hall. 

RUFIO. Sit on that, Caesar. 

A shiver runs through the court, followed by a hissing whisper ofSacrilege!

CAESAR (seating himself). Now, Pothinus, to business. I am badly in wantof money. 

BRITANNUS (disapproving of these informal expressions). My master wouldsay that there is a lawful debt due to Rome by Egypt, contracted by theKing's deceased father to the Triumvirate; and that it is Caesar's dutyto his country to require immediate payment. 

CAESAR (blandly). Ah, I forgot. I have not made my companions knownhere. Pothinus: this is Britannus, my secretary. He is an islander fromthe western end of the world, a day's voyage from Gaul. (Britannus bowsstiffly. ) This gentleman is Rufio, my comrade in arms. (Rufio nods. )Pothinus: I want 1, 600 talents. 

The courtiers, appalled, murmur loudly, and Theodotus and Achillasappeal mutely to one another against so monstrous a demand. 

POTHINUS (aghast). Forty million sesterces! Impossible. There is not somuch money in the King's treasury. 

CAESAR (encouragingly). ONLY sixteen hundred talents, Pothinus. Whycount it in sesterces? A sestertius is only worth a loaf of bread. 

POTHINUS. And a talent is worth a racehorse. I say it is impossible. Wehave been at strife here, because the King's sister Cleopatra falselyclaims his throne. The King's taxes have not been collected for a wholeyear. 

CAESAR. Yes they have, Pothinus. My officers have been collectingthem all the morning. (Renewed whisper and sensation, not without somestifled laughter, among the courtiers. )

RUFIO (bluntly). You must pay, Pothinus. Why waste words? You aregetting off cheaply enough. 

POTHINUS (bitterly). Is it possible that Caesar, the conqueror of theworld, has time to occupy himself with such a trifle as our taxes?

CAESAR. My friend: taxes are the chief business of a conqueror of theworld. 

POTHINUS. Then take warning, Caesar. This day, the treasures of thetemples and the gold of the King's treasury will be sent to the mint tobe melted down for our ransom in the sight of the people. They shallsee us sitting under bare walls and drinking from wooden cups. And theirwrath be on your head, Caesar, if you force us to this sacrilege!

CAESAR. Do not fear, Pothinus: the people know how well wine tastes inwooden cups. In return for your bounty, I will settle this dispute aboutthe throne for you, if you will. What say you?

POTHINUS. If I say no, will that hinder you?

RUFIO (defiantly). No. 

CAESAR. You say the matter has been at issue for a year, Pothinus. May Ihave ten minutes at it?

POTHINUS. You will do your pleasure, doubtless. 

CAESAR. Good! But first, let us have Cleopatra here. 

THEODOTUS. She is not in Alexandria: she is fled into Syria. 

CAESAR. I think not. (To Rufio) Call Totateeta. 

RUFIO (calling). Ho there, Teetatota. 

Ftatateeta enters the loggia, and stands arrogantly at the top of thesteps. 

FTATATEETA. Who pronounces the name of Ftatateeta, the Queen's chiefnurse?

CAESAR. Nobody can pronounce it, Tota, except yourself. Where is yourmistress?

Cleopatra, who is hiding behind Ftafateeta, peeps out at them, laughing. Caesar rises. 

CAESAR. Will the Queen favor us with her presence for a moment?

CLEOPATRA (pushing Ftatateeta aside and standing haughtily on the brinkof the steps). Am I to behave like a Queen?

CAESAR. Yes. 

Cleopatra immediately comes down to the chair of state; seizes Ptolemyand drags him out of his seat; then takes his place in the chair. Ftatateeta seats herself on the step of the loggia, and sits there, watching the scene with sybilline intensity. 

PTOLEMY (mortified, and struggling with his tears). Caesar: this ishow she treats me always. If I am a King why is she allowed to takeeverything from me?

CLEOPATRA. You are not to be King, you little cry-baby. You are to beeaten by the Romans. 

CAESAR (touched by Ptolemy's distress). Come here, my boy, and stand byme. 

Ptolemy goes over to Caesar, who, resuming his seat on the tripod, takesthe boy's hand to encourage him. Cleopatra, furiously jealous, rises andglares at them. 

CLEOPATRA (with flaming cheeks). Take your throne: I don't want it. (Sheflings away from the chair, and approaches Ptolemy, who shrinks fromher. ) Go this instant and sit down in your place. 

CAESAR. Go, Ptolemy. Always take a throne when it is offered to you. 

RUFIO. I hope you will have the good sense to follow your own advicewhen we return to Rome, Caesar. 

Ptolemy slowly goes back to the throne, giving Cleopatra a wide berth, in evident fear of her hands. She takes his place beside Caesar. 

CAESAR. Pothinus--

CLEOPATRA (interrupting him). Are you not going to speak to me?

CAESAR. Be quiet. Open your mouth again before I give you leave; and youshall be eaten. 

CLEOPATRA. I am not afraid. A queen must not be afraid. Eat my husbandthere, if you like: he is afraid. 

CAESAR (starting). Your husband! What do you mean?

CLEOPATRA (pointing to Ptolemy). That little thing. 

The two Romans and the Briton stare at one another in amazement. 

THEODOTUS. Caesar: you are a stranger here, and not conversant with ourlaws. The kings and queens of Egypt may not marry except with their ownroyal blood. Ptolemy and Cleopatra are born king and consort just asthey are born brother and sister. 

BRITANNUS (shocked). Caesar: this is not proper. 

THEODOTUS (outraged). How!

CAESAR (recovering his self-possession). Pardon him. Theodotus: he is abarbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are thelaws of nature. 

BRITANNUS. On the contrary, Caesar, it is these Egyptians who arebarbarians; and you do wrong to encourage them. I say it is a scandal. 

CAESAR. Scandal or not, my friend, it opens the gate of peace. (He risesand addresses Pothinus seriously. ) Pothiuus: hear what I propose. 

RUFIO. Hear Caesar there. 

CAESAR. Ptolemy and Cleopatra shall reign jointly in Egypt. 

ACHILLAS. What of the King's younger brother and Cleopatra's youngersister?

RUFIO (explaining). There is another little Ptolemy, Caesar: so theytell me. 

CAESAR. Well, the little Ptolemy can marry the other sister; and we willmake them both a present of Cyprus. 

POTHINUS (impatiently). Cyprus is of no use to anybody. 

CAESAR. No matter: you shall have it for the sake of peace. 

BRITANNUS (unconsciously anticipating a later statesman). Peace withhonor, Pothinus. 

POTHINUS (mutinously). Caesar: be honest. The money you demand is theprice of our freedom. Take it; and leave us to settle our own affairs. 

THE BOLDER COURTIERS (encouraged by Pothinus's tone and Caesar'squietness). Yes, yes. Egypt for the Egyptians!

The conference now becomes an altercation, the Egyptians becoming moreand more heated. Caesar remains unruffled; but Rufio grows fiercer anddoggeder, and Britannus haughtily indignant. 

RUFIO (contemptuously). Egypt for the Egyptians! Do you forget thatthere is a Roman army of occupation here, left by Aulus Gabinius when heset up your toy king for you?

ACHILLAS (suddenly asserting himself). And now under my command. I amthe Roman general here, Caesar. 

CAESAR (tickled by the humor of the situation). And also the Egyptiangeneral, eh?

POTHINUS (triumphantly). That is so, Caesar. 

CAESAR (to Achillas). So you can make war on the Egyptians in the nameof Rome and on the Romans--on me, if necessary--in the name of Egypt?

ACHILLAS. That is so, Caesar. 

CAESAR. And which side are you on at present, if I may presume to ask, general?

ACHILLAS. On the side of the right and of the gods. 

CAESAR. Hm! How many men have you?

ACHILLAS. That will appear when I take the field. 

RUFIO (truculently). Are your men Romans? If not, it matters not howmany there are, provided you are no stronger than 500 to ten. 

POTHINUS. It is useless to try to bluff us, Rufio. Caesar has beendefeated before and may be defeated again. A few weeks ago Caesar wasflying for his life before Pompey: a few months hence he may be flyingfor his life before Cato and Juba of Numidia, the African King. 

ACHILLAS (following up Pothinus's speech menacingly). What can you dowith 4, 000 men?

THEODOTUS (following up Achillas's speech with a raucous squeak). Andwithout money? Away with you. 

ALL THE COURTIERS (shouting fiercely and crowding towards Caesar). Awaywith you. Egypt for the Egyptians! Begone. 

Rufio bites his beard, too angry to speak. Caesar sits on comfortablyas if he were at breakfast, and the cat were clamoring for a piece ofFinnan-haddie. 

CLEOPATRA. Why do you let them talk to you like that Caesar? Are youafraid?

CAESAR. Why, my dear, what they say is quite true. 

CLEOPATRA. But if you go away, I shall not be Queen. 

CAESAR. I shall not go away until you are Queen. 

POTHINUS. Achillas: if you are not a fool, you will take that girlwhilst she is under your hand. 

RUFIO (daring them). Why not take Caesar as well, Achillas?

POTHINUS (retorting the defiance with interest). Well said, Rufio. Whynot?

RUFIO. Try, Achillas. (Calling) Guard there. 

The loggia immediately fills with Caesar's soldiers, who stand, swordin hand, at the top of the steps, waiting the word to charge from theircenturion, who carries a cudgel. For a moment the Egyptians face themproudly: then they retire sullenly to their former places. 

BRITANNUS. You are Caesar's prisoners, all of you. 

CAESAR (benevolently). Oh no, no, no. By no means. Caesar's guests, gentlemen. 

CLEOPATRA. Won't you cut their heads off?

CAESAR. What! Cut off your brother's head?

CLEOPATRA. Why not? He would cut off mine, if he got the chance. Wouldn't you, Ptolemy?

PTOLEMY (pale and obstinate). I would. I will, too, when I grow up. 

Cleopatra is rent by a struggle between her newly-acquired dignity as aqueen, and a strong impulse to put out her tongue at him. She takesno part in the scene which follows, but watches it with curiosity andwonder, fidgeting with the restlessness of a child, and sitting down onCaesar's tripod when he rises. 

POTHINUS. Caesar: if you attempt to detain us--

RUFIO. He will succeed, Egyptian: make up your mind to that. We hold thepalace, the beach, and the eastern harbor. The road to Rome is open; andyou shall travel it if Caesar chooses. 

CAESAR (courteously). I could do no less, Pothinus, to secure theretreat of my own soldiers. I am accountable for every life among them. But you are free to go. So are all here, and in the palace. 

RUFIO (aghast at this clemency). What! Renegades and all?

CAESAR (softening the expression). Roman army of occupation and all, Rufio. 

POTHINUS (desperately). Then I make a last appeal to Caesar's justice. I shall call a witness to prove that but for us, the Roman army ofoccupation, led by the greatest soldier in the world, would now haveCaesar at its mercy. (Calling through the loggia) Ho, there, LuciusSeptimius (Caesar starts, deeply moved): if my voice can reach you, comeforth and testify before Caesar. 

CAESAR (shrinking). No, no. 

THEODOTUS. Yes, I say. Let the military tribune bear witness. 

Lucius Septimius, a clean shaven, trim athlete of about 40, withsymmetrical features, resolute mouth, and handsome, thin Roman nose, inthe dress of a Roman officer, comes in through the loggia and confrontsCaesar, who hides his face with his robe for a moment; then, masteringhimself, drops it, and confronts the tribune with dignity. 

POTHINUS. Bear witness, Lucius Septimius. Caesar came hither in pursuitof his foe. Did we shelter his foe?

LUCIUS. As Pompey's foot touched the Egyptian shore, his head fell bythe stroke of my sword. 

THEODOTUS (with viperish relish). Under the eyes of his wife and child!Remember that, Caesar! They saw it from the ship he had just left. Wehave given you a full and sweet measure of vengeance. 

CAESAR (with horror). Vengeance!

POTHINUS. Our first gift to you, as your galley came into the roadstead, was the head of your rival for the empire of the world. Bear witness, Lucius Septimius: is it not so?

LUCIUS. It is so. With this hand, that slew Pompey, I placed his head atthe feet of Caesar. 

CAESAR. Murderer! So would you have slain Caesar, had Pompey beenvictorious at Pharsalia. 

LUCIUS. Woe to the vanquished, Caesar! When I served Pompey, I slew asgood men as he, only because he conquered them. His turn came at last. 

THEODOTUS (flatteringly). The deed was not yours, Caesar, but ours--nay, mine; for it was done by my counsel. Thanks to us, you keep yourreputation for clemency, and have your vengeance too. 

CAESAR. Vengeance! Vengeance!! Oh, if I could stoop to vengeance, whatwould I not exact from you as the price of this murdered man's blood. (They shrink back, appalled and disconcerted. ) Was he not my son-in-law, my ancient friend, for 20 years the master of great Rome, for 30 yearsthe compeller of victory? Did not I, as a Roman, share his glory? Wasthe Fate that forced us to fight for the mastery of the world, of ourmaking? Am I Julius Caesar, or am I a wolf, that you fling to me thegrey head of the old soldier, the laurelled conqueror, the mighty Roman, treacherously struck down by this callous ruffian, and then claim mygratitude for it! (To Lucius Septimius) Begone: you fill me with horror. 

LUCIUS (cold and undaunted). Pshaw! You have seen severed heads before, Caesar, and severed right hands too, I think; some thousands of them, in Gaul, after you vanquished Vercingetorix. Did you spare him, with allyour clemency? Was that vengeance?

CAESAR. No, by the gods! Would that it had been! Vengeance at least ishuman. No, I say: those severed right hands, and the brave Vercingetorixbasely strangled in a vault beneath the Capitol, were (with shudderingsatire) a wise severity, a necessary protection to the commonwealth, a duty of statesmanship--follies and fictions ten times bloodier thanhonest vengeance! What a fool was I then! To think that men's livesshould be at the mercy of such fools! (Humbly) Lucius Septimius, pardonme: why should the slayer of Vercingetorix rebuke the slayer of Pompey?You are free to go with the rest. Or stay if you will: I will find aplace for you in my service. 

LUCIUS. The odds are against you, Caesar. I go. (He turns to go outthrough the loggia. )

RUFIO (full of wrath at seeing his prey escaping). That means that he isa Republican. 

LUCIUS (turning defiantly on the loggia steps). And what are you?

RUFIO. A Caesarian, like all Caesar's soldiers. 

CAESAR (courteously). Lucius: believe me, Caesar is no Caesarian. WereRome a true republic, then were Caesar the first of Republicans. But youhave made your choice. Farewell. 

LUCIUS. Farewell. Come, Achillas, whilst there is yet time. 

Caesar, seeing that Rufio's temper threatens to get the worse of him, puts his hand on his shoulder and brings him down the hall out of harm'sway, Britannus accompanying them and posting himself on Caesar's righthand. This movement brings the three in a little group to the placeoccupied by Achillas, who moves haughtily away and joins Theodotus onthe other side. Lucius Septimius goes out through the soldiers in theloggia. Pothinus, Theodotus and Achillas follow him with the courtiers, very mistrustful of the soldiers, who close up in their rear and go outafter them, keeping them moving without much ceremony. The King isleft in his chair, piteous, obstinate, with twitching face and fingers. During these movements Rufio maintains an energetic grumbling, asfollows:--

RUFIO (as Lucius departs). Do you suppose he would let us go if he hadour heads in his hands?

CAESAR. I have no right to suppose that his ways are any baser thanmine. 

RUFIO. Psha!

CAESAR. Rufio: if I take Lucius Septimius for my model, and becomeexactly like him, ceasing to be Caesar, will you serve me still?

BRITANNUS. Caesar: this is not good sense. Your duty to Rome demandsthat her enemies should be prevented from doing further mischief. (Caesar, whose delight in the moral eye-to-business of his Britishsecretary is inexhaustible, smiles intelligently. )

RUFIO. It is no use talking to him, Britannus: you may save your breathto cool your porridge. But mark this, Caesar. Clemency is very well foryou; but what is it for your soldiers, who have to fight tomorrow themen you spared yesterday? You may give what orders you please; butI tell you that your next victory will be a massacre, thanks to yourclemency. I, for one, will take no prisoners. I will kill my enemiesin the field; and then you can preach as much clemency as you please: Ishall never have to fight them again. And now, with your leave, I willsee these gentry off the premises. (He turns to go. )

CAESAR (turning also and seeing Ptolemy). What! Have they left the boyalone! Oh shame, shame!

RUFIO (taking Ptolemy's hand and making him rise). Come, your majesty!

PTOLEMY (to Caesar, drawing away his hand from Rufio). Is he turning meout of my palace?

RUFIO (grimly). You are welcome to stay if you wish. 

CAESAR (kindly). Go, my boy. I will not harm you; but you will be saferaway, among your friends. Here you are in the lion's mouth. 

PTOLEMY (turning to go). It is not the lion I fear, but (looking atRufio) the jackal. (He goes out through the loggia. )

CAESAR (laughing approvingly). Brave boy!

CLEOPATRA (jealous of Caesar's approbation, calling after Ptolemy). Little silly. You think that very clever. 

CAESAR. Britannus: Attend the King. Give him in charge to that Pothinusfellow. (Britannus goes out after Ptolemy. )

RUFIO (pointing to Cleopatra). And this piece of goods? What is to bedone with HER? However, I suppose I may leave that to you. (He goes outthrough the loggia. )

CLEOPATRA (flushing suddenly and turning on Caesar). Did you mean me togo with the rest?

CAESAR (a little preoccupied, goes with a sigh to Ptolemy's chair, whilst she waits for his answer with red cheeks and clenched fists). Youare free to do just as you please, Cleopatra. 

CLEOPATRA. Then you do not care whether I stay or not?

CAESAR (smiling). Of course I had rather you stayed. 

CLEOPATRA. Much, MUCH rather?

CAESAR (nodding). Much, much rather. 

CLEOPATRA. Then I consent to stay, because I am asked. But I do not wantto, mind. 

CAESAR. That is quite understood. (Calling) Totateeta. 

Ftatateeta, still seated, turns her eyes on him with a sinisterexpression, but does not move. 

CLEOPATRA (with a splutter of laughter). Her name is not Totateeta: itis Ftatateeta. (Calling) Ftatateeta. (Ftatateeta instantly rises andcomes to Cleopatra. )

CAESAR (stumbling over the name). Ftatafeeta will forgive the erringtongue of a Roman. Tota: the Queen will hold her state here inAlexandria. Engage women to attend upon her; and do all that is needful. 

FTATATEETA. Am I then the mistress of the Queen's household?

CLEOPATRA (sharply). No: I am the mistress of the Queen's household. Go and do as you are told, or I will have you thrown into the Nile thisvery afternoon, to poison the poor crocodiles. 

CAESAR (shocked). Oh no, no. 

CLEOPATRA. Oh yes, yes. You are very sentimental, Caesar; but you areclever; and if you do as I tell you, you will soon learn to govern. 

Caesar, quite dumbfounded by this impertinence, turns in his chair andstares at her. 

Ftatateeta, smiling grimly, and showing a splendid set of teeth, goes, leaving them alone together. 

CAESAR. Cleopatra: I really think I must eat you, after all. 

CLEOPATRA (kneeling beside him and looking at him with eager interest, half real, half affected to show how intelligent she is). You must nottalk to me now as if I were a child. 

CAESAR. You have been growing up since the Sphinx introduced us theother night; and you think you know more than I do already. 

CLFOPATRA (taken down, and anxious to justify herself). No: that wouldbe very silly of me: of course I know that. But, (suddenly) are youangry with me?

CAESAR. No. 

CLEOPATRA (only half believing him). Then why are you so thoughtful?

CAESAR (rising). I have work to do, Cleopatra. 

CLEOPATRA (drawing back). Work! (Offended) You are tired of talking tome; and that is your excuse to get away from me. 

CAESAR (sitting down again to appease her). Well, well: another minute. But then--work!

CLFOPATRA. Work! What nonsense! You must remember that you are a Kingnow: I have made you one. Kings don't work. 

CAESAR. Oh! Who told you that, little kitten? Eh?

CLEOPATRA. My father was King of Egypt; and he never worked. But he wasa great King, and cut off my sister's head because she rebelled againsthim and took the throne from him. 

CAESAR. Well; and how did he get his throne back again?

CLEOPATRA (eagerly, her eyes lighting up). I will tell you. A beautifulyoung man, with strong round arms, came over the desert with manyhorsemen, and slew my sister's husband and gave my father back histhrone. (Wistfully) I was only twelve then. Oh, I wish he would comeagain, now that I am a Queen. I would make him my husband. 

CAESAR. It might be managed, perhaps; for it was I who sent thatbeautiful young man to help your father. 

CLEOPATRA (enraptured). You know him!

CAESAR (nodding). I do. 

CLEOPATRA. Has he come with you? (Caesar shakes his head: she is cruellydisappointed. ) Oh, I wish he had, I wish he had. If only I were a littleolder; so that he might not think me a mere kitten, as you do! Butperhaps that is because YOU are old. He is many, MANY years younger thanyou, is he not?

CAESAR (as if swallowing a pill). He is somewhat younger. 

CLEOPATRA. Would he be my husband, do you think, if I asked him?

CAESAR. Very likely. 

CLEOPATRA. But I should not like to ask him. Could you not persuade himto ask me--without knowing that I wanted him to?

CAESAR (touched by her innocence of the beautiful young man'scharacter). My poor child!

CLEOPATRA. Why do you say that as if you were sorry for me? Does he loveanyone else?

CAESAR. I am afraid so. 

CLEOPATRA (tearfully). Then I shall not be his first love. 

CAESAR. Not quite the first. He is greatly admired by women. 

CLEOPATRA. I wish I could be the first. But if he loves me, I will makehim kill all the rest. Tell me: is he still beautiful? Do his stronground arms shine in the sun like marble?

CAESAR. He is in excellent condition--considering how much he eats anddrinks. 

CLEOPATRA. Oh, you must not say common, earthly things about him; for Ilove him. He is a god. 

CAESAR. He is a great captain of horsemen, and swifter of foot than anyother Roman. 

CLEOPATRA. What is his real name?

CAESAR (puzzled). His REAL name?

CLEOPATRA. Yes. I always call him Horus, because Horus is the mostbeautiful of our gods. But I want to know his real name. 

CAESAR. His name is Mark Antony. 

CLEOPATRA (musically). Mark Antony, Mark Antony, Mark Antony! What abeautiful name! (She throws her arms round Caesar's neck. ) Oh, how Ilove you for sending him to help my father! Did you love my father verymuch?

CAESAR. No, my child; but your father, as you say, never worked. Ialways work. So when he lost his crown he had to promise me 16, 000talents to get it back for him. 

CLEOPATRA. Did he ever pay you?

CAESAR. Not in full. 

CLEOPATRA. He was quite right: it was too dear. The whole world is notworth 16, 000 talents. 

CAESAR. That is perhaps true, Cleopatra. Those Egyptians who work paidas much of it as he could drag from them. The rest is still due. But asI most likely shall not get it, I must go back to my work. So you mustrun away for a little and send my secretary to me. 

CLEOPATRA (coaxing). No: I want to stay and hear you talk about MarkAntony. 

CAESAR. But if I do not get to work, Pothinus and the rest of them willcut us off from the harbor; and then the way from Rome will be blocked. 

CLEOPATRA. No matter: I don't want you to go back to Rome. 

CAESAR. But you want Mark Antony to come from it. 

CLEOPATRA (springing up). Oh yes, yes, yes: I forgot. Go quickly andwork, Caesar; and keep the way over the sea open for my Mark Antony. (She runs out through the loggia, kissing her hand to Mark Antony acrossthe sea. )

CAESAR (going briskly up the middle of the hall to the loggia steps). Ho, Britannus. (He is startled by the entry of a wounded Roman soldier, who confronts him from the upper step. ) What now?

SOLDIER (pointing to his bandaged head). This, Caesar; and two of mycomrades killed in the market place. 

CAESAR (quiet but attending). Ay. Why?

SOLDIER. There is an army come to Alexandria, calling itself the Romanarmy. 

CAESAR. The Roman army of occupation. Ay?

SOLDIER. Commanded by one Achillas. 

CAESAR. Well?

SOLDIER. The citizens rose against us when the army entered the gates. I was with two others in the market place when the news came. They setupon us. I cut my way out; and here I am. 

CAESAR. Good. I am glad to see you alive. (Rufio enters the loggiahastily, passing behind the soldier to look out through one of thearches at the quay beneath. ) Rufio, we are besieged. 

RUFIO. What! Already?

CAESAR. Now or tomorrow: what does it matter? We SHALL be besieged. 

Britannus runs in. 

BRITANNUS. Caesar--

CAESAR (anticipating him). Yes: I know. (Rufio and Britannus come downthe hall from the loggia at opposite sides, past Caesar, who waits fora moment near the step to say to the soldier. ) Comrade: give the wordto turn out on the beach and stand by the boats. Get your wound attendedto. Go. (The soldier hurries out. Caesar comes down the hall betweenRufio and Britannus) Rufio: we have some ships in the west harbor. Burnthem. 

RUFIO (staring). Burn them!!

CAESAR. Take every boat we have in the east harbor, and seize thePharos--that island with the lighthouse. Leave half our men behind tohold the beach and the quay outside this palace: that is the way home. 

RUFIO (disapproving strongly). Are we to give up the city?

CAESAR. We have not got it, Rufio. This palace we have; and--what isthat building next door?

RUFIO. The theatre. 

CAESAR. We will have that too: it commands the strand, for the rest, Egypt for the Egyptians!

RUFIO. Well, you know best, I suppose. Is that all?

CAESAR. That is all. Are those ships burnt yet?

RUFIO. Be easy: I shall waste no more time. (He runs out. )

BRITANNUS. Caesar: Pothinus demands speech of you. It's my opinion heneeds a lesson. His manner is most insolent. 

CAESAR. Where is he?

BRITANNUS. He waits without. 

CAESAR. Ho there! Admit Pothinus. 

Pothinus appears in the loggia, and comes down the hall very haughtilyto Caesar's left hand. 

CAESAR. Well, Pothinus?

POTHINUS. I have brought you our ultimatum, Caesar. 

CAESAR. Ultimatum! The door was open: you should have gone out throughit before you declared war. You are my prisoner now. (He goes to thechair and loosens his toga. )

POTHINUS (scornfully). I YOUR prisoner! Do you know that you are inAlexandria, and that King Ptolemy, with an army outnumbering your littletroop a hundred to one, is in possession of Alexandria?

CAESAR (unconcernedly taking off his toga and throwing it on the chair). Well, my friend, get out if you can. And tell your friends not to killany more Romans in the market place. Otherwise my soldiers, who do notshare my celebrated clemency, will probably kill you. Britannus: Passthe word to the guard; and fetch my armor. (Britannus runs out. Rufioreturns. ) Well?

RUFIO (pointing from the loggia to a cloud of smoke drifting over theharbor). See there! (Pothinus runs eagerly up the steps to look out. )

CAESAR. What, ablaze already! Impossible!

RUFIO. Yes, five good ships, and a barge laden with oil grappled toeach. But it is not my doing: the Egyptians have saved me the trouble. They have captured the west harbor. 

CAESAR (anxiously). And the east harbor? The lighthouse, Rufio?

RUFIO (with a sudden splutter of raging ill usage, coming down to Caesarand scolding him). Can I embark a legion in five minutes? The firstcohort is already on the beach. We can do no more. If you want fasterwork, come and do it yourself?

CAESAR (soothing him). Good, good. Patience, Rufio, patience. 

RUFIO. Patience! Who is impatient here, you or I? Would I be here, if Icould not oversee them from that balcony?

CAESAR. Forgive me, Rufio; and (anxiously) hurry them as much as--

He is interrupted by an outcry as of an old man in the extremity ofmisfortune. It draws near rapidly; and Theodotus rushes in, tearing hishair, and squeaking the most lamentable exclamations. Rufio steps backto stare at him, amazed at his frantic condition. Pothinus turns tolisten. 

THEODOTUS (on the steps, with uplifted arms). Horror unspeakable! Woe, alas! Help!

RUFIO. What now?

CAESAR (frowning). Who is slain?

THEODOTUS. Slain! Oh, worse than the death of ten thousand men! Lossirreparable to mankind!

RUFIO. What has happened, man?

THEODOTUS (rushing down the hall between them). The fire has spread fromyour ships. The first of the seven wonders of the world perishes. Thelibrary of Alexandria is in flames. 

RUFIO. Psha! (Quite relieved, he goes up to the loggia and watches thepreparations of the troops on the beach. )

CAESAR. Is that all?

THEODOTUS (unable to believe his senses). All! Caesar: will you go downto posterity as a barbarous soldier too ignorant to know the value ofbooks?

CAESAR. Theodotus: I am an author myself; and I tell you it is betterthat the Egyptians should live their lives than dream them away with thehelp of books. 

THEODOTUS (kneeling, with genuine literary emotion: the passion of thepedant). Caesar: once in ten generations of men, the world gains animmortal book. 

CAESAR (inflexible). If it did not flatter mankind, the commonexecutioner would burn it. 

THEODOTUS. Without history, death would lay you beside your meanestsoldier. 

CAESAR. Death will do that in any case. I ask no better grave. 

THEODOTUS. What is burning there is the memory of mankind. 

CAESAR. A shameful memory. Let it burn. 

THEODOTUS (wildly). Will you destroy the past?

CAESAR. Ay, and build the future with its ruins. (Theodotus, in despair, strikes himself on the temples with his fists. ) But harken, Theodotus, teacher of kings: you who valued Pompey's head no more than a shepherdvalues an onion, and who now kneel to me, with tears in your old eyes, to plead for a few sheepskins scrawled with errors. I cannot spare you aman or a bucket of water just now; but you shall pass freely out of thepalace. Now, away with you to Achillas; and borrow his legions to putout the fire. (He hurries him to the steps. )

POTHINUS (significantly). You understand, Theodotus: I remain aprisoner. 

THEODOTUS. A prisoner!

CAESAR. Will you stay to talk whilst the memory of mankind is burning?(Calling through the loggia) Ho there! Pass Theodotus out. (ToTheodotus) Away with you. 

THEODOTUS (to Pothinus). I must go to save the library. (He hurriesout. )

CAESAR. Follow him to the gate, Pothinus. Bid him urge your people tokill no more of my soldiers, for your sake. 

POTHINUS. My life will cost you dear if you take it, Caesar. (He goesout after Theodotus. )

Rufio, absorbed in watching the embarkation, does not notice thedeparture of the two Egyptians. 

RUFIO (shouting from the loggia to the beach). All ready, there?

A CENTURION (from below). All ready. We wait for Caesar. 

CAESAR. Tell them Caesar is coming--the rogues! (Calling) Britannicus. (This magniloquent version of his secretary's name is one of Caesar'sjokes. In later years it would have meant, quite seriously andofficially, Conqueror of Britain. )

RUFIO (calling down). Push off, all except the longboat. Stand by it toembark, Caesar's guard there. (He leaves the balcony and comes down intothe hall. ) Where are those Egyptians? Is this more clemency? Have youlet them go?

CAESAR (chuckling). I have let Theodotus go to save the library. We mustrespect literature, Rufio. 

RUFIO (raging). Folly on folly's head! I believe if you could bring backall the dead of Spain, Gaul and Thessaly to life, you would do it thatwe might have the trouble of fighting them over again. 

CAESAR. Might not the gods destroy the world if their only thought wereto be at peace next year? (Rufio, out of all patience, turns away inanger. Caesar suddenly grips his sleeve, and adds slyly in his ear. )Besides, my friend: every Egyptian we imprison means imprisoning twoRoman soldiers to guard him. Eh?

RUFIO. Agh! I might have known there was some fox's trick behind yourfine talking. (He gets away from Caesar with an ill-humored shrug, andgoes to the balcony for another look at the preparations; finally goesout. )

CAESAR. Is Britannus asleep? I sent him for my armor an hour ago. (Calling) Britannicus, thou British islander. Britannicus!

Cleopatra, runs in through the loggia with Caesar's helmet and sword, snatched from Britannus, who follows her with a cuirass and greaves. They come down to Caesar, she to his left hand, Britannus to his right. 

CLEOPATRA. I am going to dress you, Caesar. Sit down. (He obeys. ) TheseRoman helmets are so becoming! (She takes off his wreath. ) Oh! (Shebursts out laughing at him. )

CAESAR. What are you laughing at?

CLEOPATRA. You're bald (beginning with a big B, and ending with asplutter). 

CAESAR (almost annoyed). Cleopatra! (He rises, for the convenience ofBritannus, who puts the cuirass on him. )

CLEOPATRA. So that is why you wear the wreath--to hide it. 

BRITANNUS. Peace, Egyptian: they are the bays of the conqueror. (Hebuckles the cuirass. )

CLEOPATRA. Peace, thou: islander! (To Caesar) You should rub your headwith strong spirits of sugar, Caesar. That will make it grow. 

CAESAR (with a wry face). Cleopatra: do you like to be reminded that youare very young?

CLEOPATRA (pouting). No. 

CAESAR (sitting down again, and setting out his leg for Britannus, whokneels to put on his greaves). Neither do I like to be reminded that Iam--middle aged. Let me give you ten of my superfluous years. That willmake you 26 and leave me only--no matter. Is it a bargain?

CLEOPATRA. Agreed. 26, mind. (She puts the helmet on him. ) Oh! How nice!You look only about 50 in it!

BRITANNUS (Looking up severely at Cleopatra). You must not speak in thismanner to Caesar. 

CLEOPATRA. Is it true that when Caesar caught you on that island, youwere painted all over blue?

BRITANNUS. Blue is the color worn by all Britons of good standing. Inwar we stain our bodies blue; so that though our enemies may strip us ofour clothes and our lives, they cannot strip us of our respectability. (He rises. )

CLEOPATRA (with Caesar's sword). Let me hang this on. Now you looksplendid. Have they made any statues of you in Rome?

CAESAR. Yes, many statues. 

CLEOPATRA. You must send for one and give it to me. 

RUFIO (coming back into the loggia, more impatient than ever). NowCaesar: have you done talking? The moment your foot is aboard therewill be no holding our men back: the boats will race one another for thelighthouse. 

CAESAR (drawing his sword and trying the edge). Is this well set to-day, Britannicus? At Pharsalia it was as blunt as a barrel-hoop. 

BRITANNUS. It will split one of the Egyptian's hairs to-day, Caesar. Ihave set it myself. 

CLEOPATRA (suddenly throwing her arms in terror round Caesar). Oh, youare not really going into battle to be killed?

CAESAR. No, Cleopatra. No man goes to battle to be killed. 

CLEOPATRA. But they DO get killed. My sister's husband was killed inbattle. You must not go. Let HIM go (pointing to Rufio. They all laughat her). Oh please, PLEASE don't go. What will happen to ME if you nevercome back?

CAESAR (gravely). Are you afraid?

CLEOPATRA (shrinking). No. 

CAESAR (with quiet authority). Go to the balcony; and you shall seeus take the Pharos. You must learn to look on battles. Go. (She goes, downcast, and looks out from the balcony. ) That is well. Now, Rufio. March. 

CLEOPATRA (suddenly clapping her hands). Oh, you will not be able to go!

CAESAR. Why? What now?

CLEOPATRA. They are drying up the harbor with buckets--a multitude ofsoldiers--over there (pointing out across the sea to her left)--they aredipping up the water. 

RUFIO (hastening to look). It is true. The Egyptian army! Crawling overthe edge of the west harbor like locusts. (With sudden anger he stridesdown to Caesar. ) This is your accursed clemency, Caesar. Theodotus hasbrought them. 

CAESAR (delighted at his own cleverness). I meant him to, Rufio. Theyhave come to put out the fire. The library will keep them busy whilst weseize the lighthouse. Eh? (He rushes out buoyantly through the loggia, followed by Britannus. )

RUFIO (disgustedly). More foxing! Agh! (He rushes off. A shout from thesoldiers announces the appearance of Caesar below). 

CENTURION (below). All aboard. Give way there. (Another shout. )

CLEOPATRA (waving her scarf through the loggia arch). Goodbye, goodbye, dear Caesar. Come back safe. Goodbye!

ACT III

The edge of the quay in front of the palace, looking out west over theeast harbor of Alexandria to Pharos island, just off the end of which, and connected with it by a narrow mole, is the famous lighthouse, agigantic square tower of white marble diminishing in size storey bystorey to the top, on which stands a cresset beacon. The island isjoined to the main land by the Heptastadium, a great mole or causewayfive miles long bounding the harbor on the south. 

In the middle of the quay a Roman sentinel stands on guard, pilum inhand, looking out to the lighthouse with strained attention, his lefthand shading his eyes. The pilum is a stout wooden shaft 41 feet long, with an iron spit about three feet long fixed in it. The sentinel is soabsorbed that he does not notice the approach from the north end of thequay of four Egyptian market porters carrying rolls of carpet, precededby Ftatateeta and Apollodorus the Sicilian. Apollodorus is a dashingyoung man of about 24, handsome and debonair, dressed with deliberateastheticism in the most delicate purples and dove greys, with ornamentsof bronze, oxydized silver, and stones of jade and agate. His sword, designed as carefully as a medieval cross, has a blued blade showingthrough an openwork scabbard of purple leather and filagree. Theporters, conducted by Ftatateeta, pass along the quay behind thesentinel to the steps of the palace, where they put down their balesand squat on the ground. Apollodorus does not pass along with them: hehalts, amused by the preoccupation of the sentinel. 

APOLLODORUS (calling to the sentinel). Who goes there, eh?

SENTINEL (starting violently and turning with his pilum at the charge, revealing himself as a small, wiry, sandy-haired, conscientious youngman with an elderly face). What's this? Stand. Who are you?

APOLLODORUS. I am Apollodorus the Sicilian. Why, man, what are youdreaming of? Since I came through the lines beyond the theatre there, Ihave brought my caravan past three sentinels, all so busy staring at thelighthouse that not one of them challenged me. Is this Roman discipline?

SENTINEL. We are not here to watch the land but the water. Caesar hasjust landed on the Pharos. (Looking at Ftatateeta) What have you here?Who is this piece of Egyptian crockery?

FTATATEETA. Apollodorus: rebuke this Roman dog; and bid him bridlehis tongue in the presence of Ftatateeta, the mistress of the Queen'shousehold. 

APOLLODORUS. My friend: this is a great lady, who stands high withCaesar. 

SENTINEL (not at all impressed, pointing to the carpets). And what isall this truck?

APOLLODORUS. Carpets for the furnishing of the Queen's apartments in thepalace. I have picked them from the best carpets in the world; and theQueen shall choose the best of my choosing. 

SENTINEL. So you are the carpet merchant?

APOLLODORUS (hurt). My friend: I am a patrician. 

SENTINEL. A patrician! A patrician keeping a shop instead of followingarms!

APOLLODORUS. I do not keep a shop. Mine is a temple of the arts. I ama worshipper of beauty. My calling is to choose beautiful things forbeautiful Queens. My motto is Art for Art's sake. 

SENTINEL. That is not the password. 

APOLLODORUS. It is a universal password. 

SENTINEL. I know nothing about universal passwords. Either give me thepassword for the day or get back to your shop. 

Ftatateeta, roused by his hostile tone, steals towards the edge of thequay with the step of a panther, and gets behind him. 

APOLLODORUS. How if I do neither?

SENTINEL. Then I will drive this pilum through you. 

APOLLODORUS. At your service, my friend. (He draws his sword, andsprings to his guard with unruffled grace. )

FTATATEETA (suddenly seizing the sentinel's arms from behind). Thrust your knife into the dog's throat, Apollodorus. (The chivalrousApollodorus laughingly shakes his head; breaks ground away from thesentinel towards the palace; and lowers his point. )

SENTINEL (struggling vainly). Curse on you! Let me go. Help ho!

FTATATEETA (lifting him from the ground). Stab the little Roman reptile. Spit him on your sword. 

A couple of Roman soldiers, with a centurion, come running along theedge of the quay from the north end. They rescue their comrade, andthrow off Ftatateeta, who is sent reeling away on the left hand of thesentinel. 

CENTURION (an unattractive man of fifty, short in his speech andmanners, with a vine wood cudgel in his hand). How now? What is allthis?

FTATATEETA (to Apollodorus). Why did you not stab him? There was time!

APOLLODORUS. Centurion: I am here by order of the Queen to--

CENTURION (interrupting him). The Queen! Yes, yes: (to the sentinel)pass him in. Pass all these bazaar people in to the Queen, with theirgoods. But mind you pass no one out that you have not passed in--noteven the Queen herself. 

SENTINEL. This old woman is dangerous: she is as strong as three men. She wanted the merchant to stab me. 

APOLLODORUS. Centurion: I am not a merchant. I am a patrician and avotary of art. 

CENTURION. Is the woman your wife?

APOLLODORUS (horrified). No, no! (Correcting himself politely) Not thatthe lady is not a striking figure in her own way. But (emphatically) sheis NOT my wife. 

FTATATEETA (to the Centurion). Roman: I am Ftatateeta, the mistress ofthe Queen's household. 

CENTURION. Keep your hands off our men, mistress; or I will have youpitched into the harbor, though you were as strong as ten men. (To hismen) To your posts: march! (He returns with his men the way they came. )

FTATATEETA (looking malignantly after him). We shall see whom Isis lovesbest: her servant Ftatateeta or a dog of a Roman. 

SENTINEL (to Apollodorus, with a wave of his pilum towards the palace). Pass in there; and keep your distance. (Turning to Ftatateeta) Comewithin a yard of me, you old crocodile; and I will give you this (thepilum) in your jaws. 

CLEOPATRA (calling from the palace). Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta. 

FTATATEETA (Looking up, scandalized). Go from the window, go from thewindow. There are men here. 

CLEOPATRA. I am coming down. 

FTATATEETA (distracted). No, no. What are you dreaming of? O ye gods, ye gods! Apollodorus: bid your men pick up your bales; and in with mequickly. 

APOLLODORUS. Obey the mistress of the Queen's household. 

FTATATEETA (impatiently, as the porters stoop to lift the bales). Quick, quick: she will be out upon us. (Cleopatra comes from the palace andruns across the quay to Ftatateeta. ) Oh that ever I was born!

CLEOPATRA (eagerly). Ftatateeta: I have thought of something. I want aboat--at once. 

FTATATEETA. A boat! No, no: you cannot. Apollodorus: speak to the Queen. 

APOLLODORUS (gallantly). Beautiful Queen: I am Apollodorus the Sicilian, your servant, from the bazaar. I have brought you the three mostbeautiful Persian carpets in the world to choose from. 

CLEOPATRA. I have no time for carpets to-day. Get me a boat. 

FTATATEETA. What whim is this? You cannot go on the water except in theroyal barge. 

APOLLODORUS. Royalty, Ftatateeta, lies not in the barge but in theQueen. (To Cleopatra) The touch of your majesty's foot on the gunwaleof the meanest boat in the harbor will make it royal. (He turns to theharbor and calls seaward) Ho there, boatman! Pull in to the steps. 

CLEOPATRA. Apollodorus: you are my perfect knight; and I will always buymy carpets through you. (Apollodorus bows joyously. An oar appears abovethe quay; and the boatman, a bullet-headed, vivacious, grinning fellow, burnt almost black by the sun, comes up a flight of steps from the wateron the sentinel's right, oar in hand, and waits at the top. ) Can yourow, Apollodorus?

APOLLODORUS. My oars shall be your majesty's wings. Whither shall I rowmy Queen? To the lighthouse. Come. (She makes for the steps. )

SENTINEL (opposing her with his pilum at the charge). Stand. You cannotpass. 

CLEOPATRA (flushing angrily). How dare you? Do you know that I am theQueen?

SENTINEL. I have my orders. You cannot pass. 

CLEOPATRA. I will make Caesar have you killed if you do not obey me. 

SENTINEL. He will do worse to me if I disobey my officer. Stand back. 

CLEOPATRA. Ftatateeta: strangle him. 

SENTINEL (alarmed--looking apprehensively at Ftatateeta, and brandishinghis pilum). Keep off there. 

CLEOPATRA (running to Apollodorus). Apollodorus: make your slaves helpus. 

APOLLODORUS. I shall not need their help, lady. (He draws his sword. )Now soldier: choose which weapon you will defend yourself with. Shall itbe sword against pilum, or sword against sword?

SENTINEL. Roman against Sicilian, curse you. Take that. (He hurls hispilum at Apollodorus, who drops expertly on one knee. The pilum passeswhizzing over his head and falls harmless. Apollodorus, with a cry oftriumph, springs up and attacks the sentinel, who draws his sword anddefends himself, crying) Ho there, guard. Help!

Cleopatra, half frightened, half delighted, takes refuge near thepalace, where the porters are squatting among the bales. The boatman, alarmed, hurries down the steps out of harm's way, but stops, with hishead just visible above the edge of the quay, to watch the fight. The sentinel is handicapped by his fear of an attack in the rear fromFtatateeta. His swordsmanship, which is of a rough and ready sort, isheavily taxed, as he has occasionally to strike at her to keep her offbetween a blow and a guard with Apollodorus. The Centurion returns withseveral soldiers. Apollodorus springs back towards Cleopatra as thisreinforcement confronts him. 

CENTURION (coming to the sentinel's right hand). What is this? What now?

SENTINEL (panting). I could do well enough for myself if it weren't forthe old woman. Keep her off me: that is all the help I need. 

CENTURION. Make your report, soldier. What has happened?

FTATATEETA. Centurion: he would have slain the Queen. 

SENTINEL (bluntly). I would, sooner than let her pass. She wanted totake boat, and go--so she said--to the lighthouse. I stopped her, as Iwas ordered to; and she set this fellow on me. (He goes to pick up hispilum and returns to his place with it. )

CENTURION (turning to Cleopatra). Cleopatra: I am loath to offend you;but without Caesar's express order we dare not let you pass beyond theRoman lines. 

APOLLODORUS. Well, Centurion; and has not the lighthouse been within theRoman lines since Caesar landed there?

CLEOPATRA. Yes, yes. Answer that, if you can. 

CENTURION (to Apollodorus). As for you, Apollodorus, you may thank thegods that you are not nailed to the palace door with a pilum for yourmeddling. 

APOLLODORUS (urbanely). My military friend, I was not born to be slainby so ugly a weapon. When I fall, it will be (holding up his sword) bythis white queen of arms, the only weapon fit for an artist. And nowthat you are convinced that we do not want to go beyond the lines, letme finish killing your sentinel and depart with the Queen. 

CENTURION (as the sentinel makes an angry demonstration). Peace there. Cleopatra. I must abide by my orders, and not by the subtleties of thisSicilian. You must withdraw into the palace and examine your carpetsthere. 

CLEOPATRA (pouting). I will not: I am the Queen. Caesar does not speakto me as you do. Have Caesar's centurions changed manners with hisscullions?

CENTURION (sulkily). I do my duty. That is enough for me. 

APOLLODORUS. Majesty: when a stupid man is doing something he is ashamedof, he always declares that it is his duty. 

CENTURION (angry). Apollodorus--

APOLLODORUS (interrupting him with defiant elegance). I will makeamends for that insult with my sword at fitting time and place. Who saysartist, says duelist. (To Cleopatra) Hear my counsel, star of theeast. Until word comes to these soldiers from Caesar himself, you are aprisoner. Let me go to him with a message from you, and a present; andbefore the sun has stooped half way to the arms of the sea, I will bringyou back Caesar's order of release. 

CENTURION (sneering at him), And you will sell the Queen the present, nodoubt. 

APOLLODORUS. Centurion: the Queen shall have from me, without payment, as the unforced tribute of Sicilian taste to Egyptian beauty, therichest of these carpets for her present to Caesar. 

CLEOPATRA (exultantly, to the Centurion). Now you see what an ignorantcommon creature you are!

CENTURION (curtly). Well, a fool and his wares are soon parted (He turnsto his men). Two more men to this post here; and see that no one leavesthe palace but this man and his merchandize. If he draws his sword againinside the lines, kill him. To your posts. March. 

He goes out, leaving two auxiliary sentinels with the other. 

APOLLODORUS (with polite goodfellowship). My friends: will you not enterthe palace and bury our quarrel in a bowl of wine? (He takes out hispurse, jingling the coins in it. ) The Queen has presents for you all. 

SENTINEL (very sulky). You heard our orders. Get about your business. 

FIRST AUXILIARY. Yes: you ought to know better. Off with you. 

SECOND AUXILIARY (looking longingly at the purse--this sentinel is ahooknosed man, unlike his comrade, who is squab faced). Do not tantalizea poor man. 

APOLLODORUS (to Cleopatra). Pearl of Queens: the Centurion is at hand;and the Roman soldier is incorruptible when his officer is looking. Imust carry your word to Caesar. 

CLEOPATRA (who has been meditating among the carpets). Are these carpetsvery heavy?

APOLLODORUS. It matters not how heavy. There are plenty of porters. 

CLEOPATRA. How do they put the carpets into boats? Do they throw themdown?

APOLLODORUS. Not into small boats, majesty. It would sink them. 

CLEOPATRA. Not into that man's boat, for instance? (Pointing to theboatman. )

APOLLODORUS. No. Too small. 

CLEOPATRA. But you can take a carpet to Caesar in it if I send one?

APOLLODORUS. Assuredly. 

CLEOPATRA. And you will have it carried gently down the steps and takegreat care of it?

APOLLODORUS. Depend on me. 

CLEOPATRA. Great, GREAT care?

APOLLODORUS. More than of my own body. 

CLEOPATRA. You will promise me not to let the porters drop it or throwit about?

APOLLODORUS. Place the most delicate glass goblet in the palace in theheart of the roll, Queen; and if it be broken, my head shall pay for it. 

CLEOPATRA. Good. Come, Ftatateeta. (Ftatateeta comes to her. Apollodorusoffers to squire them into the palace. ) No, Apollodorus, you must notcome. I will choose a carpet for myself. You must wait here. (She runsinto the palace. )

APOLLODORUS (to the porters). Follow this lady (indicating Ftatateeta);and obey her. 

The porters rise and take up their bales. 

FTATATEETA (addressing the porters as if they were vermin). This way. And take your shoes off before you put your feet on those stairs. 

She goes in, followed by the porters with the carpets. MeanwhileApollodorus goes to the edge of the quay and looks out over the harbor. The sentinels keep their eyes on him malignantly. 

APOLLODORUS (addressing the sentinel). My friend--

SENTINEL (rudely). Silence there. 

FIRST AUXILIARY. Shut your muzzle, you. 

SECOND AUXILIARY (in a half whisper, glancing apprehensively towards thenorth end of the quay). Can't you wait a bit?

APOLLODORUS. Patience, worthy three-headed donkey. (They mutterferociously; but he is not at all intimidated. ) Listen: were you sethere to watch me, or to watch the Egyptians?

SENTINEL. We know our duty. 

APOLLODORUS. Then why don't you do it? There's something going on overthere. (Pointing southwestward to the mole. )

SENTINEL (sulkily). I do not need to be told what to do by the like ofyou. 

APOLLODORUS. Blockhead. (He begins shouting) Ho there, Centurion. Hoiho!

SENTINEL. Curse your meddling. (Shouting) Hoiho! Alarm! Alarm!

FIRST AND SECOND AUXILIARIES. Alarm! alarm! Hoiho!

The Centurion comes running in with his guard. 

CENTURION. What now? Has the old woman attacked you again? (SeeingApollodorus) Are YOU here still?

APOLLODORUS (pointing as before). See there. The Egyptians are moving. They are going to recapture the Pharos. They will attack by sea andland: by land along the great mole; by sea from the west harbor. Stiryourselves, my military friends: the hunt is up. (A clangor of trumpetsfrom several points along the quay. ) Aha! I told you so. 

CENTURION (quickly). The two extra men pass the alarm to the southposts. One man keep guard here. The rest with me--quick. 

The two auxiliary sentinels run off to the south. The Centurion and hisguard run of northward; and immediately afterwards the bucina sounds. The four porters come from the palace carrying a carpet, followed byFtatateeta. 

SENTINEL (handling his pilum apprehensively). You again! (The portersstop. )

FTATATEETA. Peace, Roman fellow: you are now single-handed. Apollodorus:this carpet is Cleopatra's present to Caesar. It has rolled up in it tenprecious goblets of the thinnest Iberian crystal, and a hundred eggs ofthe sacred blue pigeon. On your honor, let not one of them be broken. 

APOLLODORUS. On my head be it. (To the porters) Into the boat with themcarefully. 

The porters carry the carpet to the steps. 

FIRST PORTER (looking down at the boat). Beware what you do, sir. Thoseeggs of which the lady speaks must weigh more than a pound apiece. Thisboat is too small for such a load. 

BOATMAN (excitedly rushing up the steps). Oh thou injurious porter! Ohthou unnatural son of a she-camel! (To Apollodorus) My boat, sir, hathoften carried five men. Shall it not carry your lordship and a bale ofpigeons' eggs? (To the porter) Thou mangey dromedary, the gods shallpunish thee for this envious wickedness. 

FIRST PORTER (stolidly). I cannot quit this bale now to beat thee; butanother day I will lie in wait for thee. 

APPOLODORUS (going between them). Peace there. If the boat were but asingle plank, I would get to Caesar on it. 

FTATATEETA (anxiously). In the name of the gods, Apollodorus, run norisks with that bale. 

APOLLODORUS. Fear not, thou venerable grotesque: I guess its greatworth. (To the porters) Down with it, I say; and gently; or ye shall eatnothing but stick for ten days. 

The boatman goes down the steps, followed by the porters with the bale:Ftatateeta and Apollodorus watching from the edge. 

APOLLODORUS. Gently, my sons, my children--(with sudden alarm) gently, ye dogs. Lay it level in the stern--so--'tis well. 

FTATATEETA (screaming down at one of the porters). Do not step on it, donot step on it. Oh thou brute beast!

FIRST PORTER (ascending). Be not excited, mistress: all is well. 

FTATATEETA (panting). All well! Oh, thou hast given my heart a turn!(She clutches her side, gasping. )

The four porters have now come up and are waiting at the stairhead to bepaid. 

APOLLODORUS. Here, ye hungry ones. (He gives money to the first porter, who holds it in his hand to show to the others. They crowd greedilyto see how much it is, quite prepared, after the Eastern fashion, toprotest to heaven against their patron's stinginess. But his liberalityoverpowers them. )

FIRST PORTER. O bounteous prince!

SECOND PORTER. O lord of the bazaar!

THIRD PORTER. O favored of the gods!

FOURTH PORTER. O father to all the porters of the market!

SENTINEL (enviously, threatening them fiercely with his pilum). Hence, dogs: off. Out of this. (They fly before him northward along the quay. )

APOLLODORUS. Farewell, Ftatateeta. I shall be at the lighthouse beforethe Egyptians. (He descends the steps. )

FTATATEETA. The gods speed thee and protect my nursling!

The sentry returns from chasing the porters and looks down at the boat, standing near the stairhead lest Ftatateeta should attempt to escape. 

APOLLODORUS (from beneath, as the boat moves off). Farewell, valiantpilum pitcher. 

SENTINEL. Farewell shopkeeper. 

APOLLODORUS. Ha, ha! Pull, thou brave boatman, pull. So Ho-o-o-o-o! (Hebegins to sing in barcarolle measure to the rhythm of the oars)

My heart, my heart, spread out thy wings: Shake off thy heavy load oflove--

Give me the oars, O son of a snail. 

SENTINEL (threatening Ftatateeta). Now mistress: back to your henhouse. In with you. 

FTATATEETA (falling on her knees and stretching her hands over thewaters). Gods of the seas, bear her safely to the shore!

SENTINEL. Bear WHO safely? What do you mean?

FTATATEETA (looking darkly at him). Gods of Egypt and of Vengeance, letthis Roman fool be beaten like a dog by his captain for suffering her tobe taken over the waters. 

SENTINEL. Accursed one: is she then in the boat? (He calls over the sea)Hoiho, there, boatman! Hoiho!

APOLLODORUS (singing in the distance). My heart, my heart, be whole andfree: Love is thine only enemy. 

Meanwhile Rufio, the morning's fighting done, sits munching dates ona faggot of brushwood outside the door of the lighthouse, which towersgigantic to the clouds on his left. His helmet, full of dates, isbetween his knees; and a leathern bottle of wine is by his side. Behindhim the great stone pedestal of the lighthouse is shut in from the opensea by a low stone parapet, with a couple of steps in the middle to thebroad coping. A huge chain with a hook hangs down from the lighthousecrane above his head. Faggots like the one he sits on lie beneath itready to be drawn up to feed the beacon. 

Caesar is standing on the step at the parapet looking out anxiously, evidently ill at ease. Britannus comes out of the lighthouse door. 

RUFIO. Well, my British islander. Have you been up to the top?

BRITANNUS. I have. I reckon it at 200 feet high. 

RUFIO. Anybody up there?

BRITANNUS. One elderly Tyrian to work the crane; and his son, a wellconducted youth of 14. 

RUFIO (looking at the chain). What! An old man and a boy work that!Twenty men, you mean. 

BRITANNUS. Two only, I assure you. They have counterweights, and amachine with boiling water in it which I do not understand: it is notof British design. They use it to haul up barrels of oil and faggots toburn in the brazier on the roof. 

RUFIO. But--

BRITANNUS. Excuse me: I came down because there are messengers comingalong the mole to us from the island. I must see what their business is. (He hurries out past the lighthouse. )

CAESAR (coming away from the parapet, shivering and out of sorts). Rufio: this has been a mad expedition. We shall be beaten. I wish I knewhow our men are getting on with that barricade across the great mole. 

RUFIO (angrily). Must I leave my food and go starving to bring you areport?

CAESAR (soothing him nervously). No, Rufio, no. Eat, my son. Eat. (Hetakes another turn, Rufio chewing dates meanwhile. ) The Egyptians cannotbe such fools as not to storm the barricade and swoop down on us herebefore it is finished. It is the first time I have ever run an avoidablerisk. I should not have come to Egypt. 

RUFIO. An hour ago you were all for victory. 

CAESAR (apologetically). Yes: I was a fool--rash, Rufio--boyish. 

RUFIO. Boyish! Not a bit of it. Here. (Offering him a handful of dates. )

CAESAR. What are these for?

RUFIO. To eat. That's what's the matter with you. When a man comes toyour age, he runs down before his midday meal. Eat and drink; and thenhave another look at our chances. 

CAESAR (taking the dates). My age! (He shakes his head and bites adate. ) Yes, Rufio: I am an old man--worn out now--true, quite true. (Hegives way to melancholy contemplation, and eats another date. ) Achillasis still in his prime: Ptolemy is a boy. (He eats another date, andplucks up a little. ) Well, every dog has his day; and I have had mine:I cannot complain. (With sudden cheerfulness) These dates are not bad, Rufio. (Britannus returns, greatly excited, with a leathern bag. Caesaris himself again in a moment. ) What now?

BRITANNUS (triumphantly). Our brave Rhodian mariners have captured atreasure. There! (He throws the bag down at Caesar's feet. ) Our enemiesare delivered into our hands. 

CAESAR. In that bag?

BRITANNUS. Wait till you hear, Caesar. This bag contains all the letterswhich have passed between Pompey's party and the army of occupationhere. 

CAESAR. Well?

BRITANNUS (impatient of Caesar's slowness to grasp the situation). Well, we shall now know who your foes are. The name of every man whohas plotted against you since you crossed the Rubicon may be in thesepapers, for all we know. 

CAESAR. Put them in the fire. 

BRITANNUS. Put them--(he gasps)!!!!

CAESAR. In the fire. Would you have me waste the next three years ofmy life in proscribing and condemning men who will be my friends whenI have proved that my friendship is worth more than Pompey's was--thanCato's is. O incorrigible British islander: am I a bull dog, to seekquarrels merely to show how stubborn my jaws are?

BRITANNUS. But your honor--the honor of Rome--

CAESAR. I do not make human sacrifices to my honor, as your Druids do. Since you will not burn these, at least I can drown them. (He picks upthe bag and throws it over the parapet into the sea. )

BRITANNUS. Caesar: this is mere eccentricity. Are traitors to be allowedto go free for the sake of a paradox?

RUFIO (rising). Caesar: when the islander has finished preaching, callme again. I am going to have a look at the boiling water machine. (Hegoes into the lighthouse. )

BRITANNUS (with genuine feeling). O Caesar, my great master, if I couldbut persuade you to regard life seriously, as men do in my country!

CAESAR. Do they truly do so, Britannus?

BRITANNUS. Have you not been there? Have you not seen them? What Britonspeaks as you do in your moments of levity? What Briton neglects toattend the services at the sacred grove? What Briton wears clothesof many colors as you do, instead of plain blue, as all solid, wellesteemed men should? These are moral questions with us. CAESAR. Well, well, my friend: some day I shall settle down and have a blue toga, perhaps. Meanwhile, I must get on as best I can in my flippant Romanway. (Apollodorus comes past the lighthouse. ) What now?

BRITANNUS (turning quickly, and challenging the stranger with officialhaughtiness). What is this? Who are you? How did you come here?

APOLLODORUS. Calm yourself, my friend: I am not going to eat you. I havecome by boat, from Alexandria, with precious gifts for Caesar. 

CAESAR. From Alexandria!

BRITANNUS (severely). That is Caesar, sir. 

RUFIO (appearing at the lighthouse door). What's the matter now?

APOLLODORUS. Hail, great Caesar! I am Apollodorus the Sicilian, anartist. 

BRITANNUS. An artist! Why have they admitted this vagabond?

CAESAR. Peace, man. Apollodorus is a famous patrician amateur. 

BRITANNUS (disconcerted). I crave the gentleman's pardon. (To Caesar)I understood him to say that he was a professional. (Somewhat out ofcountenance, he allows Apollodorus to approach Caesar, changing placeswith him. Rufio, after looking Apollodorus up and down with markeddisparagement, goes to the other side of the platform. )

CAESAR. You are welcome, Apollodorus. What is your business?

APOLLODORUS. First, to deliver to you a present from the Queen ofQueens. 

CAESAR. Who is that?

APOLLODORUS. Cleopatra of Egypt. 

CAESAR (taking him into his confidence in his most winning manner). Apollodorus: this is no time for playing with presents. Pray you, goback to the Queen, and tell her that if all goes well I shall return tothe palace this evening. 

APOLLODORUS. Caesar: I cannot return. As I approached the lighthouse, some fool threw a great leathern bag into the sea. It broke the nose ofmy boat; and I had hardly time to get myself and my charge to the shorebefore the poor little cockleshell sank. 

CAESAR. I am sorry, Apollodorus. The fool shall be rebuked. Well, well:what have you brought me? The Queen will be hurt if I do not look at it. 

RUFIO. Have we time to waste on this trumpery? The Queen is only achild. 

CAESAR. Just so: that is why we must not disappoint her. What is thepresent, Apollodorus?

APOLLODORUS. Caesar: it is a Persian carpet--a beauty! And in it are--soI am told--pigeons' eggs and crystal goblets and fragile preciousthings. I dare not for my head have it carried up that narrow ladderfrom the causeway. 

RUFIO. Swing it up by the crane, then. We will send the eggs to thecook; drink our wine from the goblets; and the carpet will make a bedfor Caesar. 

APOLLODORUS. The crane! Caesar: I have sworn to tender this bale ofcarpet as I tender my own life. 

CAESAR (cheerfully). Then let them swing you up at the same time; andif the chain breaks, you and the pigeons' eggs will perish together. (Hegoes to the chairs and looks up along it, examining it curiously. )

APOLLODORUS (to Britannus). Is Caesar serious?

BRITANNUS. His manner is frivolous because he is an Italian; but hemeans what he says. 

APOLLODORUS. Serious or not, he spoke well. Give me a squad of soldiersto work the crane. 

BRITANNUS. Leave the crane to me. Go and await the descent of the chain. 

APOLLODORUS. Good. You will presently see me there (turning to themall and pointing with an eloquent gesture to the sky above the parapet)rising like the sun with my treasure. 

He goes back the, way he came. Britannus goes into the lighthouse. 

RUFIO (ill-humoredly). Are you really going to wait here for thisfoolery, Caesar?

CAESAR (backing away from the crane as it gives signs of working). Whynot?

RUFIO. The Egyptians will let you know why not if they have the senseto make a rush from the shore end of the mole before our barricade isfinished. And here we are waiting like children to see a carpet full ofpigeons' eggs. 

The chain rattles, and is drawn up high enough to clear the parapet. Itthen swings round out of sight behind the lighthouse. 

CAESAR. Fear not, my son Rufio. When the first Egyptian takes his firststep along the mole, the alarm will sound; and we two will reach thebarricade from our end before the Egyptians reach it from their end--wetwo, Rufio: I, the old man, and you, his biggest boy. And the old manwill be there first. So peace; and give me some more dates. 

APOLLODORUS (from the causeway below). So-ho, haul away. So-ho-o-o-o!(The chain is drawn up and comes round again from behind the lighthouse. Apollodorus is swinging in the air with his bale of carpet at the end ofit. He breaks into song as he soars above the parapet. )

Aloft, aloft, behold the blue That never shone in woman's eyes

Easy there: stop her. (He ceases to rise. ) Further round! (The chaincomes forward above the platform. )

RUFIO (calling up). Lower away there. (The chain and its load begin todescend. )

APOLLODORUS (calling up). Gently--slowly--mind the eggs. 

RUFIO (calling up). Easy there--slowly--slowly. 

Apollodorus and the bale are deposited safely on the flags in the middleof the platform. Rufio and Caesar help Apollodorus to cast off the chainfrom the bale. 

RUFIO. Haul up. 

The chain rises clear of their heads with a rattle. Britannus comes fromthe lighthouse and helps them to uncord the carpet. 

APOLLODORUS (when the cords are loose). Stand off, my friends: letCaesar see. (He throws the carpet open. )

RUFIO. Nothing but a heap of shawls. Where are the pigeons' eggs?

APOLLODORUS. Approach, Caesar; and search for them among the shawls. 

RUFIO (drawing his sword). Ha, treachery! Keep back, Caesar: I saw theshawl move: there is something alive there. 

BRITANNUS (drawing his sword). It is a serpent. 

APOLLODORUS. Dares Caesar thrust his hand into the sack where theserpent moves?

RUFIO (turning on him). Treacherous dog--

CAESAR. Peace. Put up your swords. Apollodorus: your serpent seems tobreathe very regularly. (He thrusts his hand under the shawls and drawsout a bare arm. ) This is a pretty little snake. 

RUFIO (drawing out the other arm). Let us have the rest of you. 

They pull Cleopatra up by the wrists into a sitting position. Britannus, scandalized, sheathes his sword with a drive of protest. 

CLEOPATRA (gasping). Oh, I'm smothered. Oh, Caesar; a man stood on me inthe boat; and a great sack of something fell upon me out of the sky;and then the boat sank, and then I was swung up into the air and bumpeddown. 

CAESAR (petting her as she rises and takes refuge on his breast). Well, never mind: here you are safe and sound at last. 

RUFIO. Ay; and now that she is here, what are we to do with her?

BRITANNUS. She cannot stay here, Caesar, without the companionship ofsome matron. 

CLEOPATRA (jealously, to Caesar, who is obviously perplexed). Aren't youglad to see me?

CAESAR. Yes, yes; I am very glad. But Rufio is very angry; and Britannusis shocked. 

CLEOPATRA (contemptuously). You can have their heads cut off, can younot?

CAESAR. They would not be so useful with their heads cut off as they arenow, my sea bird. 

RUFIO (to Cleopatra). We shall have to go away presently and cut someof your Egyptians' heads off. How will you like being left here withthe chance of being captured by that little brother of yours if we arebeaten?

CLEOPATRA. But you mustn't leave me alone. Caesar you will not leave mealone, will you?

RUFIO. What! Not when the trumpet sounds and all our lives depend onCaesar's being at the barricade before the Egyptians reach it? Eh?

CLEOPATRA. Let them lose their lives: they are only soldiers. 

CAESAR (gravely). Cleopatra: when that trumpet sounds, we must takeevery man his life in his hand, and throw it in the face of Death. Andof my soldiers who have trusted me there is not one whose hand I shallnot hold more sacred than your head. (Cleopatra is overwhelmed. Her eyesfill with tears. ) Apollodorus: you must take her back to the palace. 

APOLLODORUS. Am I a dolphin, Caesar, to cross the seas with young ladieson my back? My boat is sunk: all yours are either at the barricade orhave returned to the city. I will hail one if I can: that is all I cando. (He goes back to the causeway. )

CLEOPATRA (struggling with her tears). It does not matter. I will not goback. Nobody cares for me. 

CAESAR. Cleopatra--

CLEOPATRA. You want me to be killed. 

CAESAR (still more gravely). My poor child: your life matters littlehere to anyone but yourself. (She gives way altogether at this, castingherself down on the faggots weeping. Suddenly a great tumult is heard inthe distance, bucinas and trumpets sounding through a storm of shouting. Britannus rushes to the parapet and looks along the mole. Caesar andRufio turn to one another with quick intelligence. )

CAESAR. Come, Rufio. 

CLEOPATRA (scrambling to her knees and clinging to him). No, no. Do notleave me, Caesar. (He snatches his skirt from her clutch. ) Oh!

BRITANNUS (from the parapet). Caesar: we are cut off. The Egyptians havelanded from the west harbor between us and the barricade!!!

RUFIO (running to see). Curses! It is true. We are caught like rats in atrap. 

CAESAR (ruthfully). Rufio, Rufio: my men at the barricade are betweenthe sea party and the shore party. I have murdered them. 

RUFIO (coming back from the parapet to Caesar's right hand). Ay: thatcomes of fooling with this girl here. 

APOLLODORUS (coming up quickly from the causeway). Look over theparapet, Caesar. 

CAESAR. We have looked, my friend. We must defend ourselves here. 

APOLLODORUS. I have thrown the ladder into the sea. They cannot get inwithout it. 

RUFIO. Ay; and we cannot get out. Have you thought of that?

APOLLODORUS. Not get out! Why not? You have ships in the east harbor. 

BRITANNUS (hopefully, at the parapet). The Rhodian galleys are standingin towards us already. (Caesar quickly joins Britannus at the parapet. )

RUFIO (to Apollodorus, impatiently). And by what road are we to walk tothe galleys, pray?

APOLLODORUS (with gay, defiant rhetoric). By the road that leadseverywhere--the diamond path of the sun and moon. Have you never seenthe child's shadow play of The Broken Bridge? "Ducks and geese with easeget over"--eh? (He throws away his cloak and cap, and binds his sword onhis back. )

RUFIO. What are you talking about?

APOLLODORUS. I will show you. (Calling to Britannus) How far off is thenearest galley?

BRITANNUS. Fifty fathom. 

CAESAR. No, no: they are further off than they seem in this clear air toyour British eyes. Nearly quarter of a mile, Apollodorus. 

APOLLODORUS. Good. Defend yourselves here until I send you a boat fromthat galley. 

RUFIO. Have you wings, perhaps?

APOLLODORUS. Water wings, soldier. Behold!

He runs up the steps between Caesar and Britannus to the coping of theparapet; springs into the air; and plunges head foremost into the sea. 

CAESAR (like a schoolboy--wildly excited). Bravo, bravo! (Throwing offhis cloak) By Jupiter, I will do that too. 

RUFIO (seizing him). You are mad. You shall not. 

CAESAR. Why not? Can I not swim as well as he?

RUFIO (frantic). Can an old fool dive and swim like a young one? He istwenty-five and you are fifty. 

CAESAR (breaking loose from Rufio). Old!!!

BRITANNUS (shocked). Rufio: you forget yourself. 

CAESAR. I will race you to the galley for a week's pay, father Rufio. 

CLEOPATRA. But me! Me!! Me!!! What is to become of me?

CAESAR. I will carry you on my back to the galley like a dolphin. Rufio:when you see me rise to the surface, throw her in: I will answer forher. And then in with you after her, both of you. 

CLEOPATRA. No, no, NO. I shall be drowned. 

BRITANNUS. Caesar: I am a man and a Briton, not a fish. I must have aboat. I cannot swim. 

CLEOPATRA. Neither can I. 

CAESAR (to Britannus). Stay here, then, alone, until I recapture thelighthouse: I will not forget you. Now, Rufio. 

RUFIO. You have made up your mind to this folly?

CAESAR. The Egyptians have made it up for me. What else is there to do?And mind where you jump: I do not want to get your fourteen stone in thesmall of my back as I come up. (He runs up the steps and stands on thecoping. )

BRITANNUS (anxiously). One last word, Caesar. Do not let yourself beseen in the fashionable part of Alexandria until you have changed yourclothes. 

CAESAR (calling over the sea). Ho, Apollodorus: (he points skyward andquotes the barcarolle)

The white upon the blue above--

APOLLODORUS (swimming in the distance)

Is purple on the green below--

CAESAR (exultantly). Aha! (He plunges into the sea. )

CLEOPATRA (running excitedly to the steps). Oh, let me see. He will bedrowned. (Rufio seizes her. ) Ah--ah--ah--ah! (He pitches her screaminginto the sea. Rufio and Britannus roar with laughter. )

RUFIO (looking down after her). He has got her. (To Britannus) Hold thefort, Briton. Caesar will not forget you. (He springs off. )

BRITANNUS (running to the steps to watch them as they swim). All safe, Rufio?

RUFIO (swimming). All safe. 

CAESAR (swimming further of). Take refuge up there by the beacon; andpile the fuel on the trap door, Britannus. 

BRITANNUS (calling in reply). I will first do so, and then commendmyself to my country's gods. (A sound of cheering from the sea. Britannus gives full vent to his excitement) The boat has reached him:Hip, hip, hip, hurrah!

ACT IV

Cleopatra's sousing in the east harbor of Alexandria was in October 48B. C. In March 47 she is passing the afternoon in her boudoir in thepalace, among a bevy of her ladies, listening to a slave girl who isplaying the harp in the middle of the room. The harpist's master, an oldmusician, with a lined face, prominent brows, white beard, moustacheand eyebrows twisted and horned at the ends, and a consciously keen andpretentious expression, is squatting on the floor close to her on herright, watching her performance. Ftatateeta is in attendance near thedoor, in front of a group of female slaves. Except the harp player allare seated: Cleopatra in a chair opposite the door on the other side ofthe room; the rest on the ground. Cleopatra's ladies are all young, themost conspicuous being Charmian and Iras, her favorites. Charmian isa hatchet faced, terra cotta colored little goblin, swift in hermovements, and neatly finished at the hands and feet. Iras is a plump, goodnatured creature, rather fatuous, with a profusion of red hair, anda tendency to giggle on the slightest provocation. 

CLEOPATRA. Can I--

FTATATEETA (insolently, to the player). Peace, thou! The Queen speaks. (The player stops. )

CLEOPATRA (to the old musician). I want to learn to play the harp withmy own hands. Caesar loves music. Can you teach me?

MUSICIAN. Assuredly I and no one else can teach the Queen. Have I notdiscovered the lost method of the ancient Egyptians, who could make apyramid tremble by touching a bass string? All the other teachers arequacks: I have exposed them repeatedly. 

CLEOPATRA. Good: you shall teach me. How long will it take?

MUSICIAN. Not very long: only four years. Your Majesty must first becomeproficient in the philosophy of Pythagoras. 

CLEOPATRA. Has she (indicating the slave) become proficient in thephilosophy of Pythagoras?

MUSICIAN. Oh, she is but a slave. She learns as a dog learns. 

CLEOPATRA. Well, then, I will learn as a dog learns; for she playsbetter than you. You shall give me a lesson every day for a fortnight. (The musician hastily scrambles to his feet and bows profoundly. ) Afterthat, whenever I strike a false note you shall be flogged; and if Istrike so many that there is not time to flog you, you shall be throwninto the Nile to feed the crocodiles. Give the girl a piece of gold; andsend them away. 

MUSICIAN (much taken aback). But true art will not be thus forced. 

FTATATEETA (pushing him out). What is this? Answering the Queen, forsooth. Out with you. 

He is pushed out by Ftatateeta, the girl following with her harp, amidthe laughter of the ladies and slaves. 

CLEOPATRA. Now, can any of you amuse me? Have you any stories or anynews?

IRAS. Ftatateeta--

CLEOPATRA. Oh, Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta, always Ftatateeta. Some new taleto set me against her. 

IRAS. No: this time Ftatateeta has been virtuous. (All the ladieslaugh--not the slaves. ) Pothinus has been trying to bribe her to let himspeak with you. 

CLEOPATRA (wrathfully). Ha! You all sell audiences with me, as if I sawwhom you please, and not whom I please. I should like to know how muchof her gold piece that harp girl will have to give up before she leavesthe palace. 

IRAS. We can easily find out that for you. 

The ladies laugh. 

CLEOPATRA (frowning). You laugh; but take care, take care. I will findout some day how to make myself served as Caesar is served. 

CHARMIAN. Old hooknose! (They laugh again. )

CLEOPATRA (revolted). Silence. Charmian: do not you be a silly littleEgyptian fool. Do you know why I allow you all to chatter impertinentlyjust as you please, instead of treating you as Ftatateeta would treatyou if she were Queen?

CHARMIAN. Because you try to imitate Caesar in everything; and he letseverybody say what they please to him. 

CLEOPATRA. No; but because I asked him one day why he did so; and hesaid "Let your women talk; and you will learn something from them. " Whathave I to learn from them? I said. "What they ARE, " said he; and oh! youshould have seen his eye as he said it. You would have curled up, youshallow things. (They laugh. She turns fiercely on Iras) At whom are youlaughing--at me or at Caesar?

IRAS. At Caesar. 

CLEOPATRA. If you were not a fool, you would laugh at me; and if youwere not a coward you would not be afraid to tell me so. (Ftatateetareturns. ) Ftatateeta: they tell me that Pothinus has offered you a bribeto admit him to my presence. 

FTATATEETA (protesting). Now by my father's gods--

CLEOPATRA (cutting her short despotically). Have I not told you notto deny things? You would spend the day calling your father's gods towitness to your virtues if I let you. Go take the bribe; and bring inPothinus. (Ftatateeta is about to reply. ) Don't answer me. Go. 

Ftatateeta goes out; and Cleopatra rises and begins to prowl to and frobetween her chair and the door, meditating. All rise and stand. 

IRAS (as she reluctantly rises). Heigho! I wish Caesar were back inRome. 

CLEOPATRA (threateningly). It will be a bad day for you all when hegoes. Oh, if I were not ashamed to let him see that I am as cruel atheart as my father, I would make you repent that speech! Why do you wishhim away?

CHARMIAN. He makes you so terribly prosy and serious and learned andphilosophical. It is worse than being religious, at OUR ages. (Theladies laugh. )

CLEOPATRA. Cease that endless cackling, will you. Hold your tongues. 

CHARMIAN (with mock resignation). Well, well: we must try to live up toCaesar. 

They laugh again. Cleopatra rages silently as she continues to prowlto and fro. Ftatateeta comes back with Pothinus, who halts on thethreshold. 

FTATATEETA (at the door). Pothinus craves the ear of the--

CLEOPATRA. There, there: that will do: let him come in. 

(She resumes her seat. All sit down except Pothinus, who advances to themiddle of the room. Ftatateeta takes her former place. ) Well, Pothinus:what is the latest news from your rebel friends?

POTHINUS (haughtily). I am no friend of rebellion. And a prisoner doesnot receive news. 

CLEOPATRA. You are no more a prisoner than I am--than Caesar is. Thesesix months we have been besieged in this palace by my subjects. Youare allowed to walk on the beach among the soldiers. Can I go furthermyself, or can Caesar?

POTHINUS. You are but a child, Cleopatra, and do not understand thesematters. 

The ladies laugh. Cleopatra looks inscrutably at him. 

CHARMIAN. I see you do not know the latest news, Pothinus. 

POTHINUS. What is that?

CHARMIAN. That Cleopatra is no longer a child. Shall I tell you how togrow much older, and much, MUCH wiser in one day?

POTHINUS. I should prefer to grow wiser without growing older. 

CHARMIAN. Well, go up to the top of the lighthouse; and get somebody totake you by the hair and throw you into the sea. (The ladies laugh. )

CLEOPATRA. She is right, Pothinus: you will come to the shore withmuch conceit washed out of you. (The ladies laugh. Cleopatra risesimpatiently. ) Begone, all of you. I will speak with Pothinus alone. Drive them out, Ftatateeta. (They run out laughing. Ftatateeta shuts thedoor on them. ) What are YOU waiting for?

FTATATEETA. It is not meet that the Queen remain alone with--

CLEOPATRA (interrupting her). Ftatateeta: must I sacrifice you to yourfather's gods to teach you that I am Queen of Egypt, and not you?

FTATATEETA (indignantly). You are like the rest of them. You want to bewhat these Romans call a New Woman. (She goes out, banging the door. )

CLEOPATRA (sitting down again). Now, Pothinus: why did you bribeFtatateeta to bring you hither?

POTHINUS (studying her gravely). Cleopatra: what they tell me is true. You are changed. 

CLEOPATRA. Do you speak with Caesar every day for six months: and YOUwill be changed. 

POTHINUS. It is the common talk that you are infatuated with this oldman. 

CLEOPATRA. Infatuated? What does that mean? Made foolish, is it not? Ohno: I wish I were. 

POTHINUS. You wish you were made foolish! How so?

CLEOPATRA. When I was foolish, I did what I liked, except whenFtatateeta beat me; and even then I cheated her and did it by stealth. Now that Caesar has made me wise, it is no use my liking or disliking; Ido what must be done, and have no time to attend to myself. That is nothappiness; but it is greatness. If Caesar were gone, I think I couldgovern the Egyptians; for what Caesar is to me, I am to the fools aroundme. 

POTHINUS (looking hard at her). Cleopatra: this may be the vanity ofyouth. 

CLEOPATRA. No, no: it is not that I am so clever, but that the othersare so stupid. 

POTHINUS (musingly). Truly, that is the great secret. 

CLEOPATRA. Well, now tell me what you came to say?

POTHINUS (embarrassed). I! Nothing. 

CLEOPATRA. Nothing!

POTHINUS. At least--to beg for my liberty: that is all. 

CLEOPATRA. For that you would have knelt to Caesar. No, Pothinus: youcame with some plan that depended on Cleopatra being a little nurserykitten. Now that Cleopatra is a Queen, the plan is upset. 

POTHINUS (bowing his head submissively). It is so. 

CLEOPATRA (exultant). Aha!

POTHINUS (raising his eyes keenly to hers). Is Cleopatra then indeed aQueen, and no longer Caesar's prisoner and slave?

CLEOPATRA. Pothinus: we are all Caesar's slaves--all we in this land ofEgypt--whether we will or no. And she who is wise enough to know thiswill reign when Caesar departs. 

POTHINUS. You harp on Caesar's departure. 

CLEOPATRA. What if I do?

POTHINUS. Does he not love you?

CLEOPATRA. Love me! Pothinus: Caesar loves no one. Who are those welove? Only those whom we do not hate: all people are strangers andenemies to us except those we love. But it is not so with Caesar. He hasno hatred in him: he makes friends with everyone as he does with dogsand children. His kindness to me is a wonder: neither mother, father, nor nurse have ever taken so much care for me, or thrown open theirthoughts to me so freely. 

POTHINUS. Well: is not this love?

CLEOPATRA. What! When he will do as much for the first girl he meets onhis way back to Rome? Ask his slave, Britannus: he has been just as goodto him. Nay, ask his very horse! His kindness is not for anything in ME:it is in his own nature. 

POTHINUS. But how can you be sure that he does not love you as men lovewomen?

CLEOPATRA. Because I cannot make him jealous. I have tried. 

POTHINUS. Hm! Perhaps I should have asked, then, do you love him?

CLEOPATRA. Can one love a god? Besides, I love another Roman: one whomI saw long before Caesar--no god, but a man--one who can love andhate--one whom I can hurt and who would hurt me. 

POTHINUS. Does Caesar know this?

CLEOPATRA. Yes

POTHINUS. And he is not angry. 

CLEOPATRA. He promises to send him to Egypt to please me!

POTHINUS. I do not understand this man?

CLEOPATRA (with superb contempt). YOU understand Caesar! How could you?(Proudly) I do--by instinct. 

POTHINUS (deferentially, after a moment's thought). Your Majesty causedme to be admitted to-day. What message has the Queen for me?

CLEOPATRA. This. You think that by making my brother king, you will rulein Egypt, because you are his guardian and he is a little silly. 

POTHINUB. The Queen is pleased to say so. 

CLEOPATRA. The Queen is pleased to say this also. That Caesar will eatup you, and Achillas, and my brother, as a cat eats up mice; and thathe will put on this land of Egypt as a shepherd puts on his garment. Andwhen he has done that, he will return to Rome, and leave Cleopatra hereas his viceroy. 

POTHINUS (breaking out wrathfully). That he will never do. We have athousand men to his ten; and we will drive him and his beggarly legionsinto the sea. 

CLEOPATRA (with scorn, getting up to go). You rant like any commonfellow. Go, then, and marshal your thousands; and make haste; forMithridates of Pergamos is at hand with reinforcements for Caesar. Caesar has held you at bay with two legions: we shall see what he willdo with twenty. 

POTHINUS. Cleopatra--

CLEOPATRA. Enough, enough: Caesar has spoiled me for talking to weakthings like you. (She goes out. Pothinus, with a gesture of rage, isfollowing, when Ftatateeta enters and stops him. )

POTHINUS. Let me go forth from this hateful place. 

FTATATEETA. What angers you?

POTHINUS. The curse of all the gods of Egypt be upon her! She has soldher country to the Roman, that she may buy it back from him with herkisses. 

FTATATEETA. Fool: did she not tell you that she would have Caesar gone?

POTHINUS. You listened?

FTATATEETA. I took care that some honest woman should be at hand whilstyou were with her. 

POTHINUS. Now by the gods--

FTATATEETA. Enough of your gods! Caesar's gods are all powerful here. It is no use YOU coming to Cleopatra: you are only an Egyptian. She willnot listen to any of her own race: she treats us all as children. 

POTHINUS. May she perish for it!

FTATATEETA (balefully). May your tongue wither for that wish! Go! sendfor Lucius Septimius, the slayer of Pompey. He is a Roman: may be shewill listen to him. Begone!

POTHINUS (darkly). I know to whom I must go now. 

FTATATEETA (suspiciously). To whom, then?

POTHINUS. To a greater Roman than Lucius. And mark this, mistress. Youthought, before Caesar came, that Egypt should presently be ruled by youand your crew in the name of Cleopatra. I set myself against it. 

FTATATEETA (interrupting him--wrangling). Ay; that it might be ruled byyou and YOUR crew in the name of Ptolemy. 

POTHINUS. Better me, or even you, than a woman with a Roman heart; andthat is what Cleopatra is now become. Whilst I live, she shall neverrule. So guide yourself accordingly. (He goes out. )

It is by this time drawing on to dinner time. The table is laid on theroof of the palace; and thither Rufio is now climbing, ushered by amajestic palace official, wand of office in hand, and followed by aslave carrying an inlaid stool. After many stairs they emerge at lastinto a massive colonnade on the roof. Light curtains are drawn betweenthe columns on the north and east to soften the westering sun. Theofficial leads Rufio to one of these shaded sections. A cord for pullingthe curtains apart hangs down between the pillars. 

THE OFFICIAL (bowing). The Roman commander will await Caesar here. 

The slave sets down the stool near the southernmost column, and slipsout through the curtains. 

RUFIO (sitting down, a little blown). Pouf! That was a climb. How highhave we come?

THE OFFICIAL. We are on the palace roof, O Beloved of Victory!

RUFIO. Good! the Beloved of Victory has no more stairs to get up. 

A second official enters from the opposite end, walking backwards. 

THE SECOND OFFICIAL. Caesar approaches. 

Caesar, fresh from the bath, clad in a new tunic of purple silk, comesin, beaming and festive, followed by two slaves carrying a light couch, which is hardly more than an elaborately designed bench. They place itnear the northmost of the two curtained columns. When this is done theyslip out through the curtains; and the two officials, formally bowing, follow them. Rufio rises to receive Caesar. 

CAESAR (coming over to him). Why, Rufio! (Surveying his dress with anair of admiring astonishment) A new baldrick! A new golden pommelto your sword! And you have had your hair cut! But not your beard--?Impossible! (He sniffs at Rufio's beard. ) Yes, perfumed, by JupiterOlympus!

RUFIO (growling). Well: is it to please myself?

CAESAR (affectionately). No, my son Rufio, but to please me--tocelebrate my birthday. 

RUFIO (contemptuously). Your birthday! You always have a birthdaywhen there is a pretty girl to be flattered or an ambassador to beconciliated. We had seven of them in ten months last year. 

CAESAR (contritely). It is true, Rufio! I shall never break myself ofthese petty deceits. 

RUFIO. Who is to dine with us--besides Cleopatra?

CAESAR. Apollodorus the Sicilian. 

RUFIO. That popinjay!

CAESAR. Come! the popinjay is an amusing dog--tells a story; sings asong; and saves us the trouble of flattering the Queen. What does shecare for old politicians and campfed bears like us? No: Apollodorus isgood company, Rufio, good company. 

RUFIO. Well, he can swim a bit and fence a bit: he might be worse, if heonly knew how to hold his tongue. 

CAESAR. The gods forbid he should ever learn! Oh, this military life!this tedious, brutal life of action! That is the worst of us Romans: weare mere doers and drudgers: a swarm of bees turned into men. Give mea good talker--one with wit and imagination enough to live withoutcontinually doing something!

RUFIO. Ay! a nice time he would have of it with you when dinner wasover! Have you noticed that I am before my time?

CAESAR. Aha! I thought that meant something. What is it?

RUFIO. Can we be overheard here?

CAESAR. Our privacy invites eavesdropping. I can remedy that. (He clapshis hands twice. The curtains are drawn, revealing the roof garden witha banqueting table set across in the middle for four persons, oneat each end, and two side by side. The side next Caesar and Rufio isblocked with golden wine vessels and basins. A gorgeous major-domois superintending the laying of the table by a staff of slaves. Thecolonnade goes round the garden at both sides to the further end, wherea gap in it, like a great gateway, leaves the view open to the skybeyond the western edge of the roof, except in the middle, where a lifesize image of Ra, seated on a huge plinth, towers up, with hawk head andcrown of asp and disk. His altar, which stands at his feet, is a singlewhite stone. ) Now everybody can see us, nobody will think of listeningto us. (He sits down on the bench left by the two slaves. )

RUFIO (sitting down on his stool). Pothinus wants to speak to you. Iadvise you to see him: there is some plotting going on here among thewomen. 

CAESAR. Who is Pothinus?

RUFIO. The fellow with hair like squirrel's fur--the little King's bearleader, whom you kept prisoner. 

CAESAR (annoyed). And has he not escaped?

RUFIO. No. 

CAESAR (rising imperiously). Why not? You have been guarding thisman instead of watching the enemy. Have I not told you always to letprisoners escape unless there are special orders to the contrary? Arethere not enough mouths to be fed without him?

RUFIO. Yes; and if you would have a little sense and let me cut histhroat, you would save his rations. Anyhow, he WON'T escape. Threesentries have told him they would put a pilum through him if they sawhim again. What more can they do? He prefers to stay and spy on us. Sowould I if I had to do with generals subject to fits of clemency. 

CAESAR (resuming his seat, argued down). Hm! And so he wants to see me. 

RUFIO. Ay. I have brought him with me. He is waiting there (jerking histhumb over his shoulder) under guard. 

CAESAR. And you want me to see him?

RUFIO (obstinately). I don't want anything. I daresay you will do whatyou like. Don't put it on to me. 

CAESAR (with an air of doing it expressly to indulge Rufio). Well, well:let us have him. 

RUFIO (calling). Ho there, guard! Release your man and send him up. (Beckoning) Come along!

Pothinus enters and stops mistrustfully between the two, looking fromone to the other. 

CAESAR (graciously). Ah, Pothinus! You are welcome. And what is the newsthis afternoon?

POTHINUS. Caesar: I come to warn you of a danger, and to make you anoffer. 

CAESAR. Never mind the danger. Make the offer. 

RUFIO. Never mind the offer. What's the danger?

POTHINUS. Caesar: you think that Cleopatra is devoted to you. 

CAESAR (gravely). My friend: I already know what I think. Come to youroffer. 

POTHINUS. I will deal plainly. I know not by what strange gods you havebeen enabled to defend a palace and a few yards of beach against a cityand an army. Since we cut you off from Lake Mareotis, and you dug wellsin the salt sea sand and brought up buckets of fresh water from them, wehave known that your gods are irresistible, and that you are a worker ofmiracles. I no longer threaten you. 

RUFIO (sarcastically). Very handsome of you, indeed. 

POTHINUS. So be it: you are the master. Our gods sent the north westwinds to keep you in our hands; but you have been too strong for them. 

CAESAR (gently urging him to come to the point). Yes, yes, my friend. But what then?

RUFIO. Spit it out, man. What have you to say?

POTHINUS. I have to say that you have a traitress in your camp. Cleopatra. 

THE MAJOR-DOMO (at the table, announcing). The Queen! (Caesar and Rufiorise. )

RUFIO (aside to Pothinus). You should have spat it out sooner, you fool. Now it is too late. 

Cleopatra, in gorgeous raiment, enters in state through the gap in thecolonnade, and comes down past the image of Ra and past the table toCaesar. Her retinue, headed by Ftatateeta, joins the staff at the table. Caesar gives Cleopatra his seat, which she takes. 

CLEOPATRA (quickly, seeing Pothinus). What is HE doing here?

CAESAR (seating himself beside her, in the most amiable of tempers). Just going to tell me something about you. You shall hear it. Proceed, Pothinus. 

POTHINUS (disconcerted). Caesar-- (He stammers. )

CAESAR. Well, out with it. 

POTHINUS. What I have to say is for your ear, not for the Queen's. 

CLEOPATRA (with subdued ferocity). There are means of making you speak. Take care. 

POTHINUS (defiantly). Caesar does not employ those means. 

CAESAR. My friend: when a man has anything to tell in this world, thedifficulty is not to make him tell it, but to prevent him from tellingit too often. Let me celebrate my birthday by setting you free. Farewell: we'll not meet again. 

CLEOPATRA (angrily). Caesar: this mercy is foolish. 

POTHINUS (to Caesar). Will you not give me a private audience? Your lifemay depend on it. (Caesar rises loftily. )

RUFIO (aside to Pothinus). Ass! Now we shall have some heroics. 

CAESAR (oratorically). Pothinus--

RUFIO (interrupting him). Caesar: the dinner will spoil if you beginpreaching your favourite sermon about life and death. 

CLEOPATRA (priggishly). Peace, Rufio. I desire to hear Caesar. 

RUFIO (bluntly). Your Majesty has heard it before. You repeated it toApollodorus last week; and he thought it was all your own. (Caesar'sdignity collapses. Much tickled, he sits down again and looks roguishlyat Cleopatra, who is furious. Rufio calls as before) Ho there, guard!Pass the prisoner out. He is released. (To Pothinus) Now off with you. You have lost your chance. 

POTHINUS (his temper overcoming his prudence). I WILL speak. 

CAESAR (to Cleopatra). You see. Torture would not have wrung a word fromhim. 

POTHINUS. Caesar: you have taught Cleopatra the arts by which the Romansgovern the world. 

CAESAR. Alas! They cannot even govern themselves. What then?

POTHINUS. What then? Are you so besotted with her beauty that you do notsee that she is impatient to reign in Egypt alone, and that her heart isset on your departure?

CLEOPATRA (rising). Liar!

CAESAR (shocked). What! Protestations! Contradictions!

CLEOPATRA (ashamed, but trembling with suppressed rage). No. I do notdeign to contradict. Let him talk. (She sits down again. )

POTHINUS. From her own lips I have heard it. You are to be her catspaw:you are to tear the crown from her brother's head and set it on herown, delivering us all into her hand--delivering yourself also. And thenCaesar can return to Rome, or depart through the gate of death, which isnearer and surer. 

CAESAR (calmly). Well, my friend; and is not this very natural?

POTHINUS (astonished). Natural! Then you do not resent treachery?

CAESAR. Resent! O thou foolish Egyptian, what have I to do withresentment? Do I resent the wind when it chills me, or the night whenit makes me stumble in the darkness? Shall I resent youth when it turnsfrom age, and ambition when it turns from servitude? To tell me such astory as this is but to tell me that the sun will rise to-morrow. 

CLEOPATRA (unable to contain herself). But it is false--false. I swearit. 

CAESAR. It is true, though you swore it a thousand times, and believedall you swore. (She is convulsed with emotion. To screen her, he risesand takes Pothinus to Rufio, saying) Come, Rufio: let us see Pothinuspast the guard. I have a word to say to him. (Aside to them) We mustgive the Queen a moment to recover herself. (Aloud) Come. (He takesPothinus and Rufio out with him, conversing with them meanwhile. ) Tellyour friends, Pothinus, that they must not think I am opposed to areasonable settlement of the country's affairs-- (They pass out ofhearing. )

CLEOPATRA (in a stifled whisper). Ftatateeta, Ftatateeta. 

FTATATEETA (hurrying to her from the table and petting her). Peace, child: be comforted--

CLEOPATRA (interrupting her). Can they hear us?

FTATATEETA. No, dear heart, no. 

CLEOPATRA. Listen to me. If he leaves the Palace alive, never see myface again. 

FTATATEETA. He? Poth--

CLEOPATRA (striking her on the mouth). Strike his life out as I strikehis name from your lips. Dash him down from the wall. Break him on thestones. Kill, kill, KILL him. 

FTATATEETA (showing all her teeth). The dog shall perish. 

CLEOPATRA. Fail in this, and you go out from before me forever. 

FTATATEETA (resolutely). So be it. You shall not see my face until hiseyes are darkened. 

Caesar comes back, with Apollodorus, exquisitely dressed, and Rufio. 

CLEOPATRA (to Ftatateeta). Come soon--soon. (Ftatateeta turns hermeaning eyes for a moment on her mistress; then goes grimly away past Raand out. Cleopatra runs like a gazelle to Caesar. ) So you have comeback to me, Caesar. (Caressingly) I thought you were angry. Welcome, Apollodorus. (She gives him her hand to kiss, with her other arm aboutCaesar. )

APOLLODORUS. Cleopatra grows more womanly beautiful from week to week. 

CLEOPATRA. Truth, Apollodorus?

APOLLODORUS. Far, far short of the truth! Friend Rufio threw a pearlinto the sea: Caesar fished up a diamond. 

CAESAR. Caesar fished up a touch of rheumatism, my friend. Come: todinner! To dinner! (They move towards the table. )

CLEOPATRA (skipping like a young fawn). Yes, to dinner. I have orderedSUCH a dinner for you, Caesar!

CAESAR. Ay? What are we to have?

CLEOPATRA. Peacocks' brains. 

CAESAR (as if his mouth watered). Peacocks' brains, Apollodorus!

APOLLODORUS. Not for me. I prefer nightingales' tongues. (He goes to oneof the two covers set side by side. )

CLEOPATRA. Roast boar, Rufio!

RUFIO (gluttonously). Good! (He goes to the seat next Apollodorus, onhis left. )

CAESAR (looking at his seat, which is at the end of the table, to Ra'sleft hand). What has become of my leathern cushion?

CLEOPATRA (at the opposite end). I have got new ones for you. 

THE MAJOR-DOMO. These cushions, Caesar, are of Maltese gauze, stuffedwith rose leaves. 

CAESAR. Rose leaves! Am I a caterpillar? (He throws the cushions awayand seats himself on the leather mattress underneath. )

CLEOPATRA. What a shame! My new cushions!

THE MAJOR-DOMO (at Caesar's elbow). What shall we serve to whet Caesar'sappetite?

CAESAR. What have you got?

THE MAJOR-DOMO. Sea hedgehogs, black and white sea acorns, sea nettles, beccaficoes, purple shellfish--

CAESAR. Any oysters?

THE MAJOR-DOMO. Assuredly. 

CAESAR. BRITISH oysters?

THE MAJOR-DOMO (assenting). British oysters, Caesar. 

CAESAR. Oysters, then. (The Major-Domo signs to a slave at each order;and the slave goes out to execute it. ) I have been in Britain--thatwestern land of romance--the last piece of earth on the edge of theocean that surrounds the world. I went there in search of its famouspearls. The British pearl was a fable; but in searching for it I foundthe British oyster. 

APOLLODORUS. All posterity will bless you for it. (To the Major-Domo)Sea hedgehogs for me. 

RUFIO. Is there nothing solid to begin with?

THE MAJOR-DOMO. Fieldfares with asparagus--

CLEOPATRA (interrupting). Fattened fowls! Have some fattened fowls, Rufio. 

RUFIO. Ay, that will do. 

CLEOPATRA (greedily). Fieldfares for me. 

THE MAJOR-DOMO. Caesar will deign to choose his wine? Sicilian, Lesbian, Chian--

RUFIO (contemptuously). All Greek. 

APOLLODORUS. Who would drink Roman wine when he could get Greek? Try theLesbian, Caesar. 

CAESAR. Bring me my barley water. 

RUFIO (with intense disgust). Ugh! Bring ME my Falernian. (The Falernianis presently brought to him. )

CLEOPATRA (pouting). It is waste of time giving you dinners, Caesar. Myscullions would not condescend to your diet. 

CAESAR (relenting). Well, well: let us try the Lesbian. (The Major-Domofills Caesar's goblet; then Cleopatra's and Apollodorus's. ) But whenI return to Rome, I will make laws against these extravagances. I willeven get the laws carried out. 

CLEOPATRA (coaxingly). Never mind. To-day you are to be like otherpeople: idle, luxurious, and kind. (She stretches her hand to him alongthe table. )

CAESAR. Well, for once I will sacrifice my comfort (kissing her hand)there! (He takes a draught of wine. ) Now are you satisfied?

CLEOPATRA. And you no longer believe that I long for your departure forRome?

CAESAR. I no longer believe anything. My brains are asleep. Besides, whoknows whether I shall return to Rome?

RUFIO (alarmed). How? Eh? What?

CAESAR. What has Rome to show me that I have not seen already? One yearof Rome is like another, except that I grow older, whilst the crowd inthe Appian Way is always the same age. 

APOLLODORUS. It is no better here in Egypt. The old men, when they aretired of life, say "We have seen everything except the source of theNile. "

CAESAR (his imagination catching fire). And why not see that? Cleopatra:will you come with me and track the flood to its cradle in the heart ofthe regions of mystery? Shall we leave Rome behind us--Rome, that hasachieved greatness only to learn how greatness destroys nations of menwho are not great! Shall I make you a new kingdom, and build you a holycity there in the great unknown?

CLEOPATRA (rapturously). Yes, Yes. You shall. 

RUFIO. Ay: now he will conquer Africa with two legions before we come tothe roast boar. 

APOLLODORUS. Come: no scoffing, this is a noble scheme: in it Caesar isno longer merely the conquering soldier, but the creative poet-artist. Let us name the holy city, and consecrate it with Lesbian Wine--andCleopatra shall name it herself. 

CLEOPATRA. It shall be called Caesar's Gift to his Beloved. 

APOLLODORUS. No, no. Something vaster than that--something universal, like the starry firmament. 

CAESAR (prosaically). Why not simply The Cradle of the Nile?

CLEOPATRA. No: the Nile is my ancestor; and he is a god. Oh! I havethought of something. The Nile shall name it himself. Let us call uponhim. (To the Major-Domo) Send for him. (The three men stare at oneanother; but the Major-Domo goes out as if he had received the mostmatter-of-fact order. ) And (to the retinue) away with you all. 

The retinue withdraws, making obeisance. 

A priest enters, carrying a miniature sphinx with a tiny tripod beforeit. A morsel of incense is smoking in the tripod. The priest comes tothe table and places the image in the middle of it. The light begins tochange to the magenta purple of the Egyptian sunset, as if the god hadbrought a strange colored shadow with him. The three men are determinednot to be impressed; but they feel curious in spite of themselves. 

CAESAR. What hocus-pocus is this?

CLEOPATRA. You shall see. And it is NOT hocus-pocus. To do it properly, we should kill something to please him; but perhaps he will answerCaesar without that if we spill some wine to him. 

APOLLODORUS (turning his head to look up over his shoulder at Ra). Whynot appeal to our hawkheaded friend here?

CLEOPATRA (nervously). Sh! He will hear you and be angry. 

RUFIO (phlegmatically). The source of the Nile is out of his district, Iexpect. 

CLEOPATRA. No: I will have my city named by nobody but my dear littlesphinx, because it was in its arms that Caesar found me asleep. (Shelanguishes at Caesar; then turns curtly to the priest. ) Go, I am apriestess, and have power to take your charge from you. (The priestmakes a reverence and goes out. ) Now let us call on the Nile alltogether. Perhaps he will rap on the table. 

CAESAR. What! Table rapping! Are such superstitions still believed inthis year 707 of the Republic?

CLEOPATRA. It is no superstition: our priests learn lots of things fromthe tables. Is it not so, Apollodorus?

APOLLODORUS. Yes: I profess myself a converted man. When Cleopatra ispriestess, Apollodorus is devotee. Propose the conjuration. 

CLEOPATRA. You must say with me "Send us thy voice, Father Nile. "

ALL FOUR (holding their glasses together before the idol). Send us thyvoice, Father Nile. 

The death cry of a man in mortal terror and agony answers them. Appalled, the men set down their glasses, and listen. Silence. Thepurple deepens in the sky. Caesar, glancing at Cleopatra, catchesher pouring out her wine before the god, with gleaming eyes, and muteassurances of gratitude and worship. Apollodorus springs up and runs tothe edge of the roof to peer down and listen. 

CAESAR (looking piercingly at Cleopatra). What was that?

CLEOPATRA (petulantly). Nothing. They are beating some slave. 

CAESAR. Nothing!

RUFIO. A man with a knife in him, I'll swear. 

CAESAR (rising). A murder!

APOLLODORUS (at the back, waving his hand for silence). S-sh! Silence. Did you hear that?

CAESAR. Another cry?

APOLLODORUS (returning to the table). No, a thud. Something fell on thebeach, I think. 

RUFIO (grimly, as he rises). Something with bones in it, eh?

CAESAR (shuddering). Hush, hush, Rufio. (He leaves the table and returnsto the colonnade: Rufio following at his left elbow, and Apollodorus atthe other side. )

CLEOPATRA (still in her place at the table). Will you leave me, Caesar?Apollodorus: are you going?

APOLLODORUS. Faith, dearest Queen, my appetite is gone. 

CAESAR. Go down to the courtyard, Apollodorus; and find out what hashappened. 

Apollodorus nods and goes out, making for the staircase by which Rufioascended. 

CLEOPATRA. Your soldiers have killed somebody, perhaps. What does itmatter?

The murmur of a crowd rises from the beach below. Caesar and Rufio lookat one another. 

CAESAR. This must be seen to. (He is about to follow Apollodorus whenRufio stops him with a hand on his arm as Ftatateeta comes back by thefar end of the roof, with dragging steps, a drowsy satiety in her eyesand in the corners of the bloodhound lips. For a moment Caesar suspectsthat she is drunk with wine. Not so Rufio: he knows well the red vintagethat has inebriated her. )

RUFIO (in a low tone). There is some mischief between those two. 

FTATATEETA. The Queen looks again on the face of her servant. 

Cleopatra looks at her for a moment with an exultant reflection of hermurderous expression. Then she flings her arms round her; kisses herrepeatedly and savagely; and tears off her jewels and heaps them on her. The two men turn from the spectacle to look at one another. Ftatateetadrags herself sleepily to the altar; kneels before Ra; and remains therein prayer. Caesar goes to Cleopatra, leaving Rufio in the colonnade. 

CAESAR (with searching earnestness). Cleopatra: what has happened?

CLEOPATRA (in mortal dread of him, but with her utmost cajolery). Nothing, dearest Caesar. (With sickly sweetness, her voice almostfailing) Nothing. I am innocent. (She approaches him affectionately)Dear Caesar: are you angry with me? Why do you look at me so? I havebeen here with you all the time. How can I know what has happened?

CAESAR (reflectively). That is true. 

CLEOPATRA (greatly relieved, trying to caress him). Of course it istrue. (He does not respond to the caress. ) You know it is true, Rufio. 

The murmur without suddenly swells to a roar and subsides. 

RUFIO. I shall know presently. (He makes for the altar in the burly trotthat serves him for a stride, and touches Ftatateeta on the shoulder. )Now, mistress: I shall want you. (He orders her, with a gesture, to gobefore him. )

FTATATEETA (rising and glowering at him). My place is with the Queen. 

CLEOPATRA. She has done no harm, Rufio. 

CAESAR (to Rufio). Let her stay. 

RUFIO (sitting down on the altar). Very well. Then my place is here too;and you can see what is the matter for yourself. The city is in a prettyuproar, it seems. 

CAESAR (with grave displeasure). Rufio: there is a time for obedience. 

RUFIO. And there is a time for obstinacy. (He folds his arms doggedly. )

CAESAR (to Cleopatra). Send her away. 

CLEOPATRA (whining in her eagerness to propitiate him). Yes, I will. I will do whatever you ask me, Caesar, always, because I love you. Ftatateeta: go away. 

FTATATEETA. The Queen's word is my will. I shall be at hand for theQueen's call. (She goes out past Ra, as she came. )

RUFIO (following her). Remember, Caesar, YOUR bodyguard also is withincall. (He follows her out. )

Cleopatra, presuming upon Caesar's submission to Rufio, leaves the tableand sits down on the bench in the colonnade. 

CLEOPATRA. Why do you allow Rufio to treat you so? You should teach himhis place. 

CAESAR. Teach him to be my enemy, and to hide his thoughts from me asyou are now hiding yours. 

CLEOPATRA (her fears returning). Why do you say that, Caesar? Indeed, indeed, I am not hiding anything. You are wrong to treat me like this. (She stifles a sob. ) I am only a child; and you turn into stone becauseyou think some one has been killed. I cannot bear it. (She purposelybreaks down and weeps. He looks at her with profound sadness andcomplete coldness. She looks up to see what effect she is producing. Seeing that he is unmoved, she sits up, pretending to struggle with heremotion and to put it bravely away. ) But there: I know you hate tears:you shall not be troubled with them. I know you are not angry, but onlysad; only I am so silly, I cannot help being hurt when you speak coldly. Of course you are quite right: it is dreadful to think of anyone beingkilled or even hurt; and I hope nothing really serious has-- (Her voicedies away under his contemptuous penetration. )

CAESAR. What has frightened you into this? What have you done? (Atrumpet sounds on the beach below. ) Aha! That sounds like the answer. 

CLEOPATRA (sinking back trembling on the bench and covering her facewith her hands). I have not betrayed you, Caesar: I swear it. 

CAESAR. I know that. I have not trusted you. (He turns from her, and isabout to go out when Apollodorus and Britannus drag in Lucius Septimiusto him. Rufio follows. Caesar shudders. ) Again, Pompey's murderer!

RUFIO. The town has gone mad, I think. They are for tearing the palacedown and driving us into the sea straight away. We laid hold of thisrenegade in clearing them out of the courtyard. 

CAESAR. Release him. (They let go his arms. ) What has offended thecitizens, Lucius Septimius?

LUCIUS. What did you expect, Caesar? Pothinus was a favorite of theirs. 

CAESAR. What has happened to Pothinus? I set him free, here, not half anhour ago. Did they not pass him out?

LUCIUS. Ay, through the gallery arch sixty feet above ground, with threeinches of steel in his ribs. He is as dead as Pompey. We are quits now, as to killing--you and I. 

CAESAR. (shocked). Assassinated!--our prisoner, our guest! (He turnsreproachfully on Rufio) Rufio--

RUFIO (emphatically--anticipating the question). Whoever did it was awise man and a friend of yours (Cleopatra is qreatly emboldened); butnone of US had a hand in it. So it is no use to frown at me. (Caesarturns and looks at Cleopatra. )

CLEOPATRA (violently--rising). He was slain by order of the Queen ofEgypt. I am not Julius Caesar the dreamer, who allows every slave toinsult him. Rufio has said I did well: now the others shall judge metoo. (She turns to the others. ) This Pothinus sought to make me conspirewith him to betray Caesar to Achillas and Ptolemy. I refused; and hecursed me and came privily to Caesar to accuse me of his own treachery. I caught him in the act; and he insulted me--ME, the Queen! To my face. Caesar would not revenge me: he spoke him fair and set him free. Was Iright to avenge myself? Speak, Lucius. 

LUCIUS. I do not gainsay it. But you will get little thanks from Caesarfor it. 

CLEOPATRA. Speak, Apollodorus. Was I wrong?

APOLLODORUS. I have only one word of blame, most beautiful. You shouldhave called upon me, your knight; and in fair duel I should have slainthe slanderer. 

CLEOPATRA (passionately). I will be judged by your very slave, Caesar. Britannus: speak. Was I wrong?

BRITANNUS. Were treachery, falsehood, and disloyalty left unpunished, society must become like an arena full of wild beasts, tearing oneanother to pieces. Caesar is in the wrong. 

CAESAR (with quiet bitterness). And so the verdict is against me, itseems. 

CLEOPATRA (vehemently). Listen to me, Caesar. If one man in allAlexandria can be found to say that I did wrong, I swear to have myselfcrucified on the door of the palace by my own slaves. 

CAESAR. If one man in all the world can be found, now or forever, toknow that you did wrong, that man will have either to conquer the worldas I have, or be crucified by it. (The uproar in the streets againreaches them. ) Do you hear? These knockers at your gate are alsobelievers in vengeance and in stabbing. You have slain their leader:it is right that they shall slay you. If you doubt it, ask your fourcounselors here. And then in the name of that RIGHT (He emphasizes theword with great scorn. ) shall I not slay them for murdering their Queen, and be slain in my turn by their countrymen as the invader of theirfatherland? Can Rome do less then than slay these slayers too, to showthe world how Rome avenges her sons and her honor? And so, to the endof history, murder shall breed murder, always in the name of right andhonor and peace, until the gods are tired of blood and create a racethat can understand. (Fierce uproar. Cleopatra becomes white withterror. ) Hearken, you who must not be insulted. Go near enough to catchtheir words: you will find them bitterer than the tongue of Pothinus. (Loftily wrapping himself up in an impenetrable dignity. ) Let the Queenof Egypt now give her orders for vengeance, and take her measures fordefense; for she has renounced Caesar. (He turns to go. )

CLEOPATRA (terrified, running to him and falling on her knees). You willnot desert me, Caesar. You will defend the palace. 

CAESAR. You have taken the powers of life and death upon you. I am onlya dreamer. 

CLEOPATRA. But they will kill me. 

CAESAR. And why not?

CLEOPATRA. In pity--

CAESAR. Pity! What! Has it come to this so suddenly, that nothing cansave you now but pity? Did it save Pothinus?

She rises, wringing her hands, and goes back to the bench in despair. Apollodorus shows his sympathy with her by quietly posting himselfbehind the bench. The sky has by this time become the most vivid purple, and soon begins to change to a glowing pale orange, against which thecolonnade and the great image show darklier and darklier. 

RUFIO. Caesar: enough of preaching. The enemy is at the gate. 

CAESAR (turning on him and giving way to his wrath). Ay; and what hasheld him baffled at the gate all these months? Was it my folly, as youdeem it, or your wisdom? In this Egyptian Red Sea of blood, whose handhas held all your heads above the waves? (Turning on Cleopatra) And yet, When Caesar says to such an one, "Friend, go free, " you, clinging foryour little life to my sword, dare steal out and stab him in the back?And you, soldiers and gentlemen, and honest servants as you forget thatyou are, applaud this assassination, and say "Caesar is in the wrong. "By the gods, I am tempted to open my hand and let you all sink into theflood. 

CLEOPATRA (with a ray of cunning hope). But, Caesar, if you do, you willperish yourself. 

Caesar's eyes blaze. 

RUFIO (greatly alarmed). Now, by great Jove, you filthy little Egyptianrat, that is the very word to make him walk out alone into the city andleave us here to be cut to pieces. (Desperately, to Caesar) Will youdesert us because we are a parcel of fools? I mean no harm by killing: Ido it as a dog kills a cat, by instinct. We are all dogs at your heels;but we have served you faithfully. 

CAESAR (relenting). Alas, Rufio, my son, my son: as dogs we are like toperish now in the streets. 

APOLLODORUS (at his post behind Cleopatra's seat). Caesar, what you sayhas an Olympian ring in it: it must be right; for it is fine art. ButI am still on the side of Cleopatra. If we must die, she shall not wantthe devotion of a man's heart nor the strength of a man's arm. 

CLEOPATRA (sobbing). But I don't want to die. 

CAESAR (sadly). Oh, ignoble, ignoble!

LUCIUS (coming forward between Caesar and Cleopatra). Hearken to me, Caesar. It may be ignoble; but I also mean to live as long as I can. 

CAESAR. Well, my friend, you are likely to outlive Caesar. Is it anymagic of mine, think you, that has kept your army and this whole cityat bay for so long? Yesterday, what quarrel had they with me that theyshould risk their lives against me? But to-day we have flung them downtheir hero, murdered; and now every man of them is set upon clearing outthis nest of assassins--for such we are and no more. Take courage then;and sharpen your sword. Pompey's head has fallen; and Caesar's head isripe. 

APOLLODORUS. Does Caesar despair?

CAESAR (with infinite pride). He who has never hoped can never despair. Caesar, in good or bad fortune, looks his fate in the face. 

LUCIUS. Look it in the face, then; and it will smile as it always has onCaesar. 

CAESAR (with involuntary haughtiness). Do you presume to encourage me?

LUCIUS. I offer you my services. I will change sides if you will haveme. 

CAESAR (suddenly coming down to earth again, and looking sharply at him, divining that there is something behind the offer). What! At this point?

LUCIUS (firmly). At this point. 

RUFIO. Do you suppose Caesar is mad, to trust you?

LUCIUS. I do not ask him to trust me until he is victorious. I ask formy life, and for a command in Caesar's army. And since Caesar is a fairdealer, I will pay in advance. 

CAESAR. Pay! How?

LUCIUS. With a piece of good news for you. 

Caesar divines the news in a flash. 

RUFIO. What news?

CAESAR (with an elate and buoyant energy which makes Cleopatra sit upand stare). What news! What news, did you say, my son Rufio? The reliefhas arrived: what other news remains for us? Is it not so, LuciusSeptimius? Mithridates of Pergamos is on the march. 

LUCIUS. He has taken Pelusium. 

CAESAR (delighted). Lucius Septimius: you are henceforth my officer. Rufio: the Egyptians must have sent every soldier from the city toprevent Mithridates crossing the Nile. There is nothing in the streetsnow but mob--mob!

LUCIUS. It is so. Mithridates is marching by the great road to Memphisto cross above the Delta. Achillas will fight him there. 

CAESAR (all audacity). Achillas shall fight Caesar there. See, Rufio. (He runs to the table; snatches a napkin; and draws a plan on it withhis finger dipped in wine, whilst Rufio and Lucius Septimius crowd abouthim to watch, all looking closely, for the light is now almost gone. )Here is the palace (pointing to his plan): here is the theatre. You (toRufio) take twenty men and pretend to go by THAT street (pointing itout); and whilst they are stoning you, out go the cohorts by this andthis. My streets are right, are they, Lucius?

LUCIUS. Ay, that is the fig market--

CAESAR (too much excited to listen to him). I saw them the day wearrived. Good! (He throws the napkin on the table and comes down againinto the colonnade. ) Away, Britannus: tell Petronius that within an hourhalf our forces must take ship for the western lake. See to my horse andarmor. (Britannus runs out. ) With the rest I shall march round the lakeand up the Nile to meet Mithridates. Away, Lucius; and give the word. 

Lucius hurries out after Britannus. 

RUFIO. Come: this is something like business. 

CAESAR (buoyantly). Is it not, my only son? (He claps his hands. Theslaves hurry in to the table. ) No more of this mawkish reveling: awaywith all this stuff: shut it out of my sight and be off with you. (Theslaves begin to remove the table; and the curtains are drawn, shuttingin the colonnade. ) You understand about the streets, Rufio?

RUFIO. Ay, I think I do. I will get through them, at all events. 

The bucina sounds busily in the courtyard beneath. 

CAESAR. Come, then: we must talk to the troops and hearten them. Youdown to the beach: I to the courtyard. (He makes for the staircase. )

CLEOPATRA (rising from her seat, where she has been quite neglected allthis time, and stretching out her hands timidly to him). Caesar. 

CAESAR (turning). Eh?

CLEOPATRA. Have you forgotten me?

CAESAR. (indulgently). I am busy now, my child, busy. When I return youraffairs shall be settled. Farewell; and be good and patient. 

He goes, preoccupied and quite indifferent. She stands with clenchedfists, in speechless rage and humiliation. 

RUFIO. That game is played and lost, Cleopatra. The woman always getsthe worst of it. 

CLEOPATRA (haughtily). Go. Follow your master. 

RUFIO (in her ear, with rough familiarity). A word first. Tell yourexecutioner that if Pothinus had been properly killed--IN THE THROAT--hewould not have called out. Your man bungled his work. 

CLEOPATRA (enigmatically). How do you know it was a man?

RUFIO (startled, and puzzled). It was not you: you were with us when ithappened. (She turns her back scornfully on him. He shakes his head, anddraws the curtains to go out. It is now a magnificent moonlit night. Thetable has been removed. Ftatateeta is seen in the light of the moon andstars, again in prayer before the white altar-stone of Ra. Rufio starts;closes the curtains again softly; and says in a low voice to Cleopatra)Was it she? With her own hand?

CLEOPATRA (threateningly). Whoever it was, let my enemies beware of her. Look to it, Rufio, you who dare make the Queen of Egypt a fool beforeCaesar. 

RUFIO (looking grimly at her). I will look to it, Cleopatra. (He nodsin confirmation of the promise, and slips out through the curtains, loosening his sword in its sheath as he goes. )

ROMAN SOLDIERS (in the courtyard below). Hail, Caesar! Hail, hail!

Cleopatra listens. The bucina sounds again, followed by severaltrumpets. 

CLEOPATRA (wringing her hands and calling). Ftatateeta. Ftatateeta. Itis dark; and I am alone. Come to me. (Silence. ) Ftatateeta. (Louder. )Ftatateeta. (Silence. In a panic she snatches the cord and pulls thecurtains apart. )

Ftatateeta is lying dead on the altar of Ra, with her throat cut. Herblood deluges the white stone. 

ACT V

High noon. Festival and military pageant on the esplanade before thepalace. In the east harbor Caesar's galley, so gorgeously decorated thatit seems to be rigged with flowers, is along-side the quay, close to thesteps Apollodorus descended when he embarked with the carpet. A Romanguard is posted there in charge of a gangway, whence a red floorcloth islaid down the middle of the esplanade, turning off to the north oppositethe central gate in the palace front, which shuts in the esplanade onthe south side. The broad steps of the gate, crowded with Cleopatra'sladies, all in their gayest attire, are like a flower garden. The facadeis lined by her guard, officered by the same gallants to whom Bel Affrisannounced the coming of Caesar six months before in the old palace onthe Syrian border. The north side is lined by Roman soldiers, with thetownsfolk on tiptoe behind them, peering over their heads at the clearedesplanade, in which the officers stroll about, chatting. Among these areBelzanor and the Persian; also the Centurion, vinewood cudgel inhand, battle worn, thick-booted, and much outshone, both socially anddecoratively, by the Egyptian officers. 

Apollodorus makes his way through the townsfolk and calls to theofficers from behind the Roman line. 

APOLLODORUS. Hullo! May I pass?

CENTURION. Pass Apollodorus the Sicilian there! (The soldiers let himthrough. )

BELZANOR. Is Caesar at hand?

APOLLODORUS. Not yet. He is still in the market place. I could notstand any more of the roaring of the soldiers! After half an hour of theenthusiasm of an army, one feels the need of a little sea air. 

PERSIAN. Tell us the news. Hath he slain the priests?

APOLLODORUS. Not he. They met him in the market place with ashes ontheir heads and their gods in their hands. They placed the gods at hisfeet. The only one that was worth looking at was Apis: a miracle of goldand ivory work. By my advice he offered the chief priest two talents forit. 

BELZANOR (appalled). Apis the all-knowing for two talents! What said thechief priest?

APOLLODORUS. He invoked the mercy of Apis, and asked for five. 

BELZANOR. There will be famine and tempest in the land for this. 

PERSIAN. Pooh! Why did not Apis cause Caesar to be vanquished byAchillas? Any fresh news from the war, Apollodorus?

APOLLODORUS. The little King Ptolemy was drowned. 

BELZANOR. Drowned! How?

APOLLODORUS. With the rest of them. Caesar attacked them from three sidesat once and swept them into the Nile. Ptolemy's barge sank. 

BELZANOR. A marvelous man, this Caesar! Will he come soon, think you?

APOLLODORUS. He was settling the Jewish question when I left. 

A flourish of trumpets from the north, and commotion among thetownsfolk, announces the approach of Caesar. 

PERSIAN. He has made short work of them. Here he comes. (He hurries tohis post in front of the Egyptian lines. )

BELZANOR (following him). Ho there! Caesar comes. 

The soldiers stand at attention, and dress their lines. Apollodorus goesto the Egyptian line. 

CENTURION (hurrying to the gangway guard). Attention there! Caesarcomes. 

Caesar arrives in state with Rufio: Britannus following. The soldiersreceive him with enthusiastic shouting. 

RUFIO (at his left hand). You have not yet appointed a Roman governorfor this province. 

CAESAR (Looking whimsically at him, but speaking with perfect gravity). What say you to Mithridates of Pergamos, my reliever and rescuer, thegreat son of Eupator?

RUFIO. Why, that you will want him elsewhere. Do you forget that youhave some three or four armies to conquer on your way home?

CAESAR. Indeed! Well, what say you to yourself?

RUFIO (incredulously). I! I a governor! What are you dreaming of? Do younot know that I am only the son of a freedman?

CAESAR (affectionately). Has not Caesar called you his son? (Calling tothe whole assembly) Peace awhile there; and hear me. 

THE ROMAN SOLDIERS. Hear Caesar. 

CAESAR. Hear the service, quality, rank and name of the Roman governor. By service, Caesar's shield; by quality, Caesar's friend; by rank, aRoman soldier. (The Roman soldiers give a triumphant shout. ) By name, Rufio. (They shout again. )

RUFIO (kissing Caesar's hand). Ay: I am Caesar's shield; but of what useshall I be when I am no longer on Caesar's arm? Well, no matter-- (Hebecomes husky, and turns away to recover himself. )

CAESAR. Where is that British Islander of mine?

BRITANNUS (coming forward on Caesar's right hand). Here, Caesar. 

CAESAR. Who bade you, pray, thrust yourself into the battle of theDelta, uttering the barbarous cries of your native land, and affirmingyourself a match for any four of the Egyptians, to whom you appliedunseemly epithets?

BRITANNUS. Caesar: I ask you to excuse the language that escaped me inthe heat of the moment. 

CAESAR. And how did you, who cannot swim, cross the canal with us whenwe stormed the camp?

BRITANNUS. Caesar: I clung to the tail of your horse. 

CAESAR. These are not the deeds of a slave, Britannicus, but of a freeman. 

BRITANNUS. Caesar: I was born free. 

CAESAR. But they call you Caesar's slave. 

BRITANNUS. Only as Caesar's slave have I found real freedom. 

CAESAR (moved). Well said. Ungrateful that I am, I was about to set youfree; but now I will not part from you for a million talents. (Heclaps him friendly on the shoulder. Britannus, gratified, but a trifleshamefaced, takes his hand and kisses it sheepishly. )

BELZANOR (to the Persian). This Roman knows how to make men serve him. 

PERSIAN. Ay: men too humble to become dangerous rivals to him. 

BELZANOR. O subtle one! O cynic!

CAESAR (seeing Apollodorus in the Egyptian corner and calling to him). Apollodorus: I leave the art of Egypt in your charge. Remember: Romeloves art and will encourage it ungrudgingly. 

APOLLODORUS. I understand, Caesar. Rome will produce no art itself; butit will buy up and take away whatever the other nations produce. 

CAESAR. What! Rome produces no art! Is peace not an art? Is war not anart? Is government not an art? Is civilization not an art? All these wegive you in exchange for a few ornaments. You will have the best of thebargain. (Turning to Rufio) And now, what else have I to do before Iembark? (Trying to recollect) There is something I cannot remember: whatCAN it be? Well, well: it must remain undone: we must not waste thisfavorable wind. Farewell, Rufio. 

RUFIO. Caesar: I am loath to let you go to Rome without your shield. There are too many daggers there. 

CAESAR. It matters not: I shall finish my life's work on my way back;and then I shall have lived long enough. Besides: I have always dislikedthe idea of dying: I had rather be killed. Farewell. 

RUFIO (with a sigh, raising his hands and giving Caesar up asincorrigible). Farewell. (They shake hands. )

CAESAR (waving his hand to Apollodorus). Farewell, Apollodorus, and myfriends, all of you. Aboard!

The gangway is run out from the quay to the ship. As Caesar movestowards it, Cleopatra, cold and tragic, cunningly dressed in black, without ornaments or decoration of any kind, and thus making a strikingfigure among the brilliantly dressed bevy of ladies as she passesthrough it, comes from the palace and stands on the steps. Caesar doesnot see her until she speaks. 

CLEOPATRA. Has Cleopatra no part in this leave taking?

CAESAR (enlightened). Ah, I KNEW there was something. (To Rufio) Howcould you let me forget her, Rufio? (Hastening to her) Had I gonewithout seeing you, I should never have forgiven myself. (He takes herhands, and brings her into the middle of the esplanade. She submitsstonily. ) Is this mourning for me?

CLEOPATRA. NO. 

CAESAR (remorsefully). Ah, that was thoughtless of me! It is for yourbrother. 

CLEOPATRA. No. 

CAESAR. For whom, then?

CLEOPATRA. Ask the Roman governor whom you have left us. 

CAESAR. Rufio?

CLEOPATRA. Yes: Rufio. (She points at him with deadly scorn. ) He who isto rule here in Caesar's name, in Caesar's way, according to Caesar'sboasted laws of life. 

CAESAR (dubiously). He is to rule as he can, Cleopatra. He has taken thework upon him, and will do it in his own way. 

CLEOPATRA. Not in your way, then?

CAESAR (puzzled). What do you mean by my way?

CLEOPATRA. Without punishment. Without revenge. Without judgment. 

CAESAR (approvingly). Ay: that is the right way, the great way, the onlypossible way in the end. (To Rufio) Believe it, Rufio, if you can. 

RUFIO. Why, I believe it, Caesar. You have convinced me of it long ago. But look you. You are sailing for Numidia to-day. Now tell me: if youmeet a hungry lion you will not punish it for wanting to eat you?

CAESAR (wondering what he is driving at). No. 

RUFIO. Nor revenge upon it the blood of those it has already eaten. 

CAESAR. No. 

RUFIO. Nor judge it for its guiltiness. 

CAESAR. No. 

RUFIO. What, then, will you do to save your life from it?

CAESAR (promptly). Kill it, man, without malice, just as it would killme. What does this parable of the lion mean?

RUFIO. Why, Cleopatra had a tigress that killed men at bidding. Ithought she might bid it kill you some day. Well, had I not beenCaesar's pupil, what pious things might I not have done to that tigress?I might have punished it. I might have revenged Pothinus on it. 

CAESAR (interjects). Pothinus!

RUFIO (continuing). I might have judged it. But I put all these folliesbehind me; and, without malice, only cut its throat. And that is whyCleopatra comes to you in mourning. 

CLEOPATRA (vehemently). He has shed the blood of my servant Ftatateeta. On your head be it as upon his, Caesar, if you hold him free of it. 

CAESAR (energetically). On my head be it, then; for it was well done. Rufio: had you set yourself in the seat of the judge, and with hatefulceremonies and appeals to the gods handed that woman over to some hiredexecutioner to be slain before the people in the name of justice, neveragain would I have touched your hand without a shudder. But this wasnatural slaying: I feel no horror at it. 

Rufio, satisfied, nods at Cleopatra, mutely inviting her to mark that. 

CLEOPATRA (pettish and childish in her impotence). No: not when a Romanslays an Egyptian. All the world will now see how unjust and corruptCaesar is. 

CAESAR (taking her handy coaxingly). Come: do not be angry with me. Iam sorry for that poor Totateeta. (She laughs in spite of herself. ) Aha!You are laughing. Does that mean reconciliation?

CLEOPATRA (angry with herself for laughing). No, no, NO!! But it is soridiculous to hear you call her Totateeta. 

CAESAR. What! As much a child as ever, Cleopatra! Have I not made awoman of you after all?

CLEOPATRA. Oh, it is you, who are a great baby: you make me seem sillybecause you will not behave seriously. But you have treated me badly;and I do not forgive you. 

CAESAR. Bid me farewell. 

CLEOPATRA. I will not. 

CAESAR (coaxing). I will send you a beautiful present from Rome. 

CLEOPATRA (proudly). Beauty from Rome to Egypt indeed! What can Romegive ME that Egypt cannot give me?

APOLLODORUS. That is true, Caesar. If the present is to be reallybeautiful, I shall have to buy it for you in Alexandria. 

CAESAR. You are forgetting the treasures for which Rome is most famous, my friend. You cannot buy THEM in Alexandria. 

APOLLODORUS. What are they, Caesar?

CAESAR. Her sons. Come, Cleopatra: forgive me and bid me farewell; andI will send you a man, Roman from head to heel and Roman of the noblest;not old and ripe for the knife; not lean in the arms and cold in theheart; not hiding a bald head under his conqueror's laurels; not stoopedwith the weight of the world on his shoulders; but brisk and fresh, strong and young, hoping in the morning, fighting in the day, andreveling in the evening. Will you take such an one in exchange forCaesar?

CLEOPATRA (palpitating). His name, his name?

CAESAR. Shall it be Mark Antony? (She throws herself in his arms. )

RUFIO. You are a bad hand at a bargain, mistress, if you will swapCaesar for Antony. 

CAESAR. So now you are satisfied. 

CLEOPATRA. You will not forget. 

CAESAR. I will not forget. Farewell: I do not think we shall meet again. Farewell. (He kisses her on the forehead. She is much affected andbegins to sniff. He embarks. )

THE ROMAN SOLDIERS (as he sets his foot on the gangway). Hail, Caesar;and farewell!

He reaches the ship and returns Rufio's wave of the hand. 

APOLLODORUS (to Cleopatra). No tears, dearest Queen: they stab yourservant to the heart. He will return some day. 

CLEOPATRA. I hope not. But I can't help crying, all the same. (She wavesher handkerchief to Caesar; and the ship begins to move. )

THE ROMAN SOLDIERS (drawing their swords and raising them in the air). Hail, Caesar!

NOTES TO CAESAR AND CLEOPATRA

CLEOPATRA'S CURE FOR BALDNESS

For the sake of conciseness in a hurried situation I have made Cleopatrarecommend rum. This, I am afraid, is an anachronism: the only real onein the play. To balance it, I give a couple of the remedies she actuallybelieved in. They are quoted by Galen from Cleopatra's book on Cosmetic. 

"For bald patches, powder red sulphuret of arsenic and take it up withoak gum, as much as it will bear. Put on a rag and apply, having soapedthe place well first. I have mixed the above with a foam of nitre, andit worked well. "

Several other receipts follow, ending with: "The following is the bestof all, acting for fallen hairs, when applied with oil or pomatum; actsalso for falling off of eyelashes or for people getting bald all over. It is wonderful. Of domestic mice burnt, one part; of vine rag burnt, one part; of horse's teeth burnt, one part; of bear's grease one; ofdeer's marrow one; of reed bark one. To be pounded when dry, and mixedwith plenty of honey til it gets the consistency of honey; then thebear's grease and marrow to be mixed (when melted), the medicine to beput in a brass flask, and the bald part rubbed til it sprouts. "

Concerning these ingredients, my fellow-dramatist, Gilbert Murray, who, as a Professor of Greek, has applied to classical antiquity the methodsof high scholarship (my own method is pure divination), writes to me asfollows: "Some of this I don't understand, and possibly Galen did not, as he quotes your heroine's own language. Foam of nitre is, I think, something like soapsuds. Reed bark is an odd expression. It mightmean the outside membrane of a reed: I do not know what it ought to becalled. In the burnt mice receipt I take that you first mixed thesolid powders with honey, and then added the grease. I expect Cleopatrapreferred it because in most of the others you have to lacerate theskin, prick it, or rub it till it bleeds. I do not know what vine ragis. I translate literally. "

APPARENT ANACHRONISMS

The only way to write a play which shall convey to the general public animpression of antiquity is to make the characters speak blank verseand abstain from reference to steam, telegraphy, or any of the materialconditions of their existence. The more ignorant men are, the moreconvinced are they that their little parish and their little chapel isan apex which civilization and philosophy have painfully struggled upthe pyramid of time from a desert of savagery. Savagery, they think, became barbarism; barbarism became ancient civilization; ancientcivilization became Pauline Christianity; Pauline Christianity becameRoman Catholicism; Roman Catholicism became the Dark Ages; and the DarkAges were finally enlightened by the Protestant instincts of the Englishrace. The whole process is summed up as Progress with a capital P. Andany elderly gentleman of Progressive temperament will testify that theimprovement since he was a boy is enormous. 

Now if we count the generations of Progressive elderly gentlemen since, say, Plato, and add together the successive enormous improvementsto which each of them has testified, it will strike us at once as anunaccountable fact that the world, instead of having been improved in 67generations out all recognition, presents, on the whole, a rather lessdignified appearance in Ibsen's Enemy of the People than in Plato'sRepublic. And in truth, the period of time covered by history is fartoo short to allow of any perceptible progress in the popular sense ofEvolution of the Human Species. The notion that there has been any suchProgress since Caesar's time (less than 20 centuries) is too absurd fordiscussion. All the savagery, barbarism, dark ages and the rest of it ofwhich we have any record as existing in the past, exists at the presentmoment. A British carpenter or stonemason may point out that he getstwice as much money for his labor as his father did in the same trade, and that his suburban house, with its bath, its cottage piano, itsdrawingroom suite, and its album of photographs, would have shamed theplainness of his grandmother's. But the descendants of feudal barons, living in squalid lodgings on a salary of fifteen shillings a weekinstead of in castles on princely revenues, do not congratulate theworld on the change. Such changes, in fact, are not to the point. It hasbeen known, as far back as our records go, that man running wild in thewoods is different to man kennelled in a city slum; that a dog seems tounderstand a shepherd better than a hewer of wood and drawer of watercan understand an astronomer; and that breeding, gentle nurture andluxurious food and shelter will produce a kind of man with whom thecommon laborer is socially incompatible. The same thing is true ofhorses and dogs. Now there is clearly room for great changes in theworld by increasing the percentage of individuals who are carefully bredand gently nurtured even to finally making the most of every man andwoman born. But that possibility existed in the days of the Hittites asmuch as it does to-day. It does not give the slightest real support tothe common assumption that the civilized contemporaries of the Hittiteswere unlike their civilized descendants to-day. 

This would appear the truest commonplace if it were not that theordinary citizen's ignorance of the past combines with his idealizationof the present to mislead and flatter him. Our latest book on the newrailway across Asia describes the dulness of the Siberian farmer andthe vulgar pursepride of the Siberian man of business without the leastconsciousness that the sting of contemptuous instances given mighthave been saved by writing simply "Farmers and provincial plutocratsin Siberia are exactly what they are in England. " The latest professordescanting on the civilization of the Western Empire in the fifthcentury feels bound to assume, in the teeth of his own researches, thatthe Christian was one sort of animal and the Pagan another. It might aswell be assumed, as indeed it generally is assumed by implication, that a murder committed with a poisoned arrow is different to a murdercommitted with a Mauser rifle. All such notions are illusions. Go backto the first syllable of recorded time, and there you will find yourChristian and your Pagan, your yokel and your poet, helot and hero, DonQuixote and Sancho, Tamino and Papageno, Newton and bushman unable tocount eleven, all alive and contemporaneous, and all convinced that theyare heirs of all the ages and the privileged recipients of THEtruth (all others damnable heresies), just as you have them to-day, flourishing in countries each of which is the bravest and best that eversprang at Heaven's command from out of the azure main. 

Again, there is the illusion of "increased command over Nature, " meaningthat cotton is cheap and that ten miles of country road on a bicyclehave replaced four on foot. But even if man's increased command overNature included any increased command over himself (the only sort ofcommand relevant to his evolution into a higher being), the fact remainsthat it is only by running away from the increased command over Natureto country places where Nature is still in primitive command over Manthat he can recover from the effects of the smoke, the stench, the foulair, the overcrowding, the racket, the ugliness, the dirt which thecheap cotton costs us. If manufacturing activity means Progress, thetown must be more advanced than the country; and the field laborers andvillage artizans of to-day must be much less changed from the servantsof Job than the proletariat of modern London from the proletariat ofCaesar's Rome. Yet the cockney proletarian is so inferior to the villagelaborer that it is only by steady recruiting from the country thatLondon is kept alive. This does not seem as if the change since Job'stime were Progress in the popular sense: quite the reverse. The commonstock of discoveries in physics has accumulated a little: that is all. 

One more illustration. Is the Englishman prepared to admit that theAmerican is his superior as a human being? I ask this question becausethe scarcity of labor in America relatively to the demand for it hasled to a development of machinery there, and a consequent "increaseof command over Nature" which makes many of our English methods appearalmost medieval to the up-to-date Chicagoan. This means that theAmerican has an advantage over the Englishman of exactly the samenature that the Englishman has over the contemporaries of Cicero. Is theEnglishman prepared to draw the same conclusion in both cases? I thinknot. The American, of course, will draw it cheerfully; but I mustthen ask him whether, since a modern negro has a greater "command overNature" than Washington had, we are also to accept the conclusion, involved in his former one, that humanity has progressed from Washingtonto the fin de siecle negro. 

Finally, I would point out that if life is crowned by its success anddevotion in industrial organization and ingenuity, we had better worshipthe ant and the bee (as moralists urge us to do in our childhood), andhumble ourselves before the arrogance of the birds of Aristophanes. 

My reason then for ignoring the popular conception of Progress in Caesarand Cleopatra is that there is no reason to suppose that any Progresshas taken place since their time. But even if I shared the populardelusion, I do not see that I could have made any essential differencein the play. I can only imitate humanity as I know it. Nobody knowswhether Shakespeare thought that ancient Athenian joiners, weavers, orbellows menders were any different from Elizabethan ones; but it isquite certain that one could not have made them so, unless, indeed, hehad played the literary man and made Quince say, not "Is all our companyhere?" but "Bottom: was not that Socrates that passed us at the Piraeuswith Glaucon and Polemarchus on his way to the house of Kephalus. " Andso on. 

CLEOPATRA

Cleopatra was only sixteen when Caesar went to Egypt; but in Egyptsixteen is a riper age than it is in England. The childishness I haveascribed to her, as far as it is childishness of character and not lackof experience, is not a matter of years. It may be observed in our ownclimate at the present day in many women of fifty. It is a mistake tosuppose that the difference between wisdom and folly has anything to dowith the difference between physical age and physical youth. Some womenare younger at seventy than most women at seventeen. 

It must be borne in mind, too, that Cleopatra was a queen, and wastherefore not the typical Greek-cultured, educated Egyptian lady ofher time. To represent her by any such type would be as absurd as torepresent George IV by a type founded on the attainments of Sir IsaacNewton. It is true that an ordinarily well educated Alexandrian girl ofher time would no more have believed bogey stories about the Romans thanthe daughter of a modern Oxford professor would believe them about theGermans (though, by the way, it is possible to talk great nonsense atOxford about foreigners when we are at war with them). But I do notfeel bound to believe that Cleopatra was well educated. Her father, the illustrious Flute Blower, was not at all a parent of the Oxfordprofessor type. And Cleopatra was a chip of the old block. 

BRITANNUS

I find among those who have read this play in manuscript a strongconviction that an ancient Briton could not possibly have been like amodern one. I see no reason to adopt this curious view. It is true thatthe Roman and Norman conquests must have for a time disturbed the normalBritish type produced by the climate. But Britannus, born before theseevents, represents the unadulterated Briton who fought Caesar andimpressed Roman observers much as we should expect the ancestors of Mr. Podsnap to impress the cultivated Italians of their time. 

I am told that it is not scientific to treat national character as aproduct of climate. This only shows the wide difference between commonknowledge and the intellectual game called science. We have men ofexactly the same stock, and speaking the same language, growing in GreatBritain, in Ireland, and in America. The result is three of the mostdistinctly marked nationalities under the sun. Racial characteristicsare quite another matter. The difference between a Jew and a Gentile hasnothing to do with the difference between an Englishman and a German. The characteristics of Britannus are local characteristics, notrace characteristics. In an ancient Briton they would, I take it, beexaggerated, since modern Britain, disforested, drained, urbanified andconsequently cosmopolized, is presumably less characteristically Britishthan Caesar's Britain. 

And again I ask does anyone who, in the light of a competent knowledgeof his own age, has studied history from contemporary documents, believethat 67 generations of promiscuous marriage have made any appreciabledifference in the human fauna of these isles? Certainly I do not. 

JULIUS CAESAR

As to Caesar himself, I have purposely avoided the usual anachronism ofgoing to Caesar's books, and concluding that the style is the man. Thatis only true of authors who have the specific literary genius, and havepractised long enough to attain complete self-expression in letters. It is not true even on these conditions in an age when literature isconceived as a game of style, and not as a vehicle of self-expressionby the author. Now Caesar was an amateur stylist writing books of traveland campaign histories in a style so impersonal that the authenticity ofthe later volumes is disputed. They reveal some of his qualities justas the Voyage of a Naturalist Round the World reveals some of Darwin's, without expressing his private personality. An Englishman reading themwould say that Caesar was a man of great common sense and good taste, meaning thereby a man without originality or moral courage. 

In exhibiting Caesar as a much more various person than the historianof the Gallic wars, I hope I have not succumbed unconsciously to thedramatic illusion to which all great men owe part of their reputationand some the whole of it. I admit that reputations gained in war arespecially questionable. Able civilians taking up the profession of arms, like Caesar and Cromwell, in middle age, have snatched all its laurelsfrom opponent commanders bred to it, apparently because capable personsengaged in military pursuits are so scarce that the existence of twoof them at the same time in the same hemisphere is extremely rare. Thecapacity of any conqueror is therefore more likely than not to be anillusion produced by the incapacity of his adversary. At all events, Caesar might have won his battles without being wiser than Charles XIIor Nelson or Joan of Arc, who were, like most modern "self-made"millionaires, half-witted geniuses, enjoying the worship accorded byall races to certain forms of insanity. But Caesar's victories wereonly advertisements for an eminence that would never have become popularwithout them. Caesar is greater off the battle field than on it. Nelsonoff his quarterdeck was so quaintly out of the question that when hishead was injured at the battle of the Nile, and his conduct became forsome years openly scandalous, the difference was not important enoughto be noticed. It may, however, be said that peace hath her illusoryreputations no less than war. And it is certainly true that in civillife mere capacity for work--the power of killing a dozen secretariesunder you, so to speak, as a life-or-death courier kills horses--enablesmen with common ideas and superstitions to distance all competitorsin the strife of political ambition. It was this power of work thatastonished Cicero as the most prodigious of Caesar's gifts, as itastonished later observers in Napoleon before it wore him out. How ifCaesar were nothing but a Nelson and a Gladstone combined! A prodigy ofvitality without any special quality of mind! Nay, with ideas that wereworn out before he was born, as Nelson's and Gladstone's were! I haveconsidered that possibility too, and rejected it. I cannot cite allthe stories about Caesar which seem to me to show that he was genuinelyoriginal; but let me at least point out that I have been careful toattribute nothing but originality to him. Originality gives a man an airof frankness, generosity, and magnanimity by enabling him to estimatethe value of truth, money, or success in any particular instance quiteindependently of convention and moral generalization. He therefore willnot, in the ordinary Treasury bench fashion, tell a lie which everybodyknows to be a lie (and consequently expects him as a matter of goodtaste to tell). His lies are not found out: they pass for candors. Heunderstands the paradox of money, and gives it away when he can get mostfor it: in other words, when its value is least, which is just when acommon man tries hardest to get it. He knows that the real moment ofsuccess is not the moment apparent to the crowd. Hence, in order toproduce an impression of complete disinterestedness and magnanimity, hehas only to act with entire selfishness; and this is perhaps the onlysense in which a man can be said to be naturally great. It is in thissense that I have represented Caesar as great. Having virtue, he has noneed of goodness. He is neither forgiving, frank, nor generous, becausea man who is too great to resent has nothing to forgive; a man who saysthings that other people are afraid to say need be no more frank thanBismarck was; and there is no generosity in giving things you do notwant to people of whom you intend to make use. This distinction betweenvirtue and goodness is not understood in England: hence the poverty ofour drama in heroes. Our stage attempts at them are mere goody-goodies. Goodness, in its popular British sense of self-denial, implies that manis vicious by nature, and that supreme goodness is supreme martyrdom. Not sharing that pious opinion, I have not given countenance to it inany of my plays. In this I follow the precedent of the ancient myths, which represent the hero as vanquishing his enemies, not in fair fight, but with enchanted sword, superequine horse and magical invulnerability, the possession of which, from the vulgar moralistic point of view, robshis exploits of any merit whatever. 

As to Caesar's sense of humor, there is no more reason to assume that helacked it than to assume that he was deaf or blind. It is said that onthe occasion of his assassination by a conspiracy of moralists (it isalways your moralist who makes assassination a duty, on the scaffold oroff it), he defended himself until the good Brutes struck him, when heexclaimed "What! you too, Brutes!" and disdained further fight. If thisbe true, he must have been an incorrigible comedian. But even if wewaive this story, or accept the traditional sentimental interpretationof it, there is still abundant evidence of his lightheartedness andadventurousness. Indeed it is clear from his whole history that what hasbeen called his ambition was an instinct for exploration. He had muchmore of Columbus and Franklin in him than of Henry V. 

However, nobody need deny Caesar a share, at least, of the qualities Ihave attributed to him. All men, much more Julius Caesars, possess allqualities in some degree. The really interesting question is whether Iam right in assuming that the way to produce an impression of greatnessis by exhibiting a man, not as mortifying his nature by doing hisduty, in the manner which our system of putting little men into greatpositions (not having enough great men in our influential families togo round) forces us to inculcate, but by simply doing what he naturallywants to do. For this raises the question whether our world has not beenwrong in its moral theory for the last 2, 500 years or so. It must be aconstant puzzle to many of us that the Christian era, so excellent inits intentions, should have been practically such a very discreditableepisode in the history of the race. I doubt if this is altogether due tothe vulgar and sanguinary sensationalism of our religious legends, withtheir substitution of gross physical torments and public executions forthe passion of humanity. Islam, substituting voluptuousness for torment(a merely superficial difference, it is true) has done no better. Itmay have been the failure of Christianity to emancipate itself fromexpiatory theories of moral responsibility, guilt, innocence, reward, punishment, and the rest of it, that baffled its intention of changingthe world. But these are bound up in all philosophies of creation asopposed to cosmism. They may therefore be regarded as the price we payfor popular religion.