Plutarch: Lives of the noble Grecians and Romans
Lamprias, that, having some acquaintance with one of the royal
cooks, he was invited by him, being a young man, to come and see
the sumptuous preparations for supper. So he was taken into the
kitchen, where he admired the prodigious variety of all things;
but particularly, seeing eight wild boars roasting whole, says
he, "Surely you have a great number of guests." The cook
laughed at his simplicity, and told him there were not above
twelve to sup, but that every dish was to be served up just
roasted to a turn, and if anything was but one minute ill-timed,
it was spoiled; "And," said he, "maybe Antony will sup just now,
maybe not this hour, maybe he will call for wine, or begin to
talk, and will put it off. So that," he continued, "it is not
one, but many suppers must be had in readiness, as it is
impossible to guess at his hour." This was Philotas's story;
who related besides, that he afterwards came to be one of the
medical attendants of Antony's eldest son by Fulvia, and used to
be invited pretty often, among other companions, to his table,
when he was not supping with his father. One day another
physician had talked loudly, and given great disturbance to the
company, whose mouth Philotas stopped with this sophistical
syllogism: "In some states of fever the patient should take cold
water; everyone who has a fever is in some state of fever;
therefore in a fever cold water should always be taken." The
man was quite struck dumb, and Antony's son, very much pleased,
laughed aloud, and said, Philotas, "I make you a present of all
you see there," pointing to a sideboard covered with plate.
Philotas thanked him much, but was far enough from ever
imagining that a boy of his age could dispose of things of that
value. Soon after, however, the plate was all brought to him,
and he was desired to set his mark upon it; and when he put it
away from him, and was afraid to accept the present, "What ails
the man?" said he that brought it; "do you know that he who
gives you this is Antony's son, who is free to give it, if it
were all gold? but if you will be advised by me, I would counsel
you to accept of the value in money from us; for there may be
amongst the rest some antique or famous piece of workmanship,
which Antony would be sorry to part with." These anecdotes my
grandfather told us Philotas used frequently to relate.
To return to Cleopatra; Plato admits four sorts of flattery,
but she had a thousand. Were Antony serious or disposed to
mirth, she had at any moment some new delight or charm to meet
his wishes; at every turn she was upon him, and let him escape
her neither by day nor by night. She played at dice with him,
drank with him, hunted with him; and when he exercised in arms,
she was there to see. At night she would go rambling with him
to disturb and torment people at their doors and windows,
dressed like a servant-woman, for Antony also went in servant's
disguise, and from these expeditions he often came home very
scurvily answered, and sometimes even beaten severely, though
most people guessed who it was. However, the Alexandrians in
general liked it all well enough, and joined good humoredly and
kindly in his frolic and play, saying they were much obliged to
Antony for acting his tragic parts at Rome, and keeping his
comedy for them. It would be trifling without end to be
particular in his follies, but his fishing must not be
forgotten. He went out one day to angle with Cleopatra, and,
being so unfortunate as to catch nothing in the presence of his
mistress, he gave secret orders to the fishermen to dive under
water, and put fishes that had been already taken upon his
hooks; and these he drew so fast that the Egyptian perceived it.
But, feigning great admiration, she told everybody how dexterous
Antony was, and invited them next day to come and see him again.
So, when a number of them had come on board the fishing boats,
as soon as he had let down his hook, one of her servants was
beforehand with his divers, and fixed upon his hook a salted
fish from Pontus. Antony, feeling his line give, drew up the
prey, and when, as may be imagined, great laughter ensued,
"Leave," said Cleopatra, "the fishing-rod, general, to us poor
sovereigns of Pharos and Canopus; your game is cities,
provinces, and kingdoms."
Whilst he was thus diverting himself and engaged in this boys'
play, two dispatches arrived; one from Rome, that his brother
Lucius and his wife Fulvia, after many quarrels among
themselves, had joined in war against Caesar, and, having lost
all, had fled out of Italy; the other bringing little better
news, that Labienus, at the head of the Parthians, was
overrunning Asia, from Euphrates and Syria as far as Lydia and
Ionia. So, scarcely at last rousing himself from sleep, and
shaking off the fumes of wine, he set out to attack the
Parthians, and went as far as Phoenicia; but, upon the receipt
of lamentable letters from Fulvia, turned his course with two
hundred ships to Italy. And, in his way, receiving, such of his
friends as fled from Italy, he was given to understand that
Fulvia was the sole cause of the war, a woman of a restless
spirit and very bold, and withal her hopes were that commotions
in Italy would force Antony from Cleopatra. But it happened
that Fulvia, as she was coming to meet her husband, fell sick by
the way, and died at Sicyon, so that an accommodation was the
more easily made. For when he reached Italy, and Caesar showed
no intention of laying anything to his charge, and he on his
part shifted the blame of everything on Fulvia, those that were
friends to them would not suffer that the time should be spent
in looking narrowly into the plea, but made a reconciliation
first, and then a partition of the empire between them, taking
as their boundary the Ionian Sea, the eastern provinces falling
to Antony, to Caesar the western, and Africa being left to
Lepidus. And an agreement was made, that everyone in their
turn, as he thought fit, should make their friends consuls,
when they did not choose to take the offices themselves.
These terms were well approved of, but yet it was thought some
closer tie would be desirable; and for this, fortune offered
occasion. Caesar had an elder sister, not of the whole blood,
for Attia was his mother's name, hers Ancharia. This sister,
Octavia, he was extremely attached to, as, indeed, she was, it
is said, quite a wonder of a woman. Her husband, Caius
Marcellus, had died not long before, and Antony was now a
widower by the death of Fulvia; for, though he did not disavow
the passion he had for Cleopatra, yet he disowned anything of
marriage, reason, as yet, upon this point, still maintaining the
debate against the charms of the Egyptian. Everybody concurred
in promoting this new alliance, fully expecting that with the
beauty, honor, and prudence of Octavia, when her company should,
as it was certain it would, have engaged his affections, all
would be kept in the safe and happy course of friendship. So,
both parties being agreed, they went to Rome to celebrate the
nuptials, the senate dispensing with the law by which a widow
was not permitted to marry till ten months after the death of
her husband.
Sextus Pompeius was in possession of Sicily, and with his ships,
under the command of Menas, the pirate, and Menecrates, so
infested the Italian coast, that no vessels durst venture into
those seas. Sextus had behaved with much humanity towards
Antony, having received his mother when she fled with Fulvia,
and it was therefore judged fit that he also should be received
into the peace. They met near the promontory of Misenum, by the
mole of the port, Pompey having his fleet at anchor close by,
and Antony and Caesar their troops drawn up all along the shore.
There it was concluded that Sextus should quietly enjoy the
government of Sicily and Sardinia, he conditioning to scour the
seas of all pirates, and to send so much corn every year to
Rome.
This agreed on, they invited one another to supper, and by lot
it fell to Pompey's turn to give the first entertainment, and
Antony, asking where it was to be, "There," said he, pointing to
the admiral-galley, a ship of six banks of oars, "that is the
only house that Pompey is heir to of his father's." And this
he said, reflecting upon Antony, who was then in possession of
his father's house. Having fixed the ship on her anchors, and
formed a bridgeway from the promontory to conduct on board of
her, he gave them a cordial welcome. And when they began to
grow warm, and jests were passing freely on Antony and
Cleopatra's loves, Menas, the pirate, whispered Pompey in the
ear, "Shall I," said he, "cut the cables, and make you master
not of Sicily only and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?"
Pompey, having considered a little while, returned him answer,
"Menas, this might have been done without acquainting me; now we
must rest content; I do not break my word." And so, having been
entertained by the other two in their turns, he set sail for
Sicily.
After the treaty was completed, Antony dispatched Ventidius into
Asia, to check the advance of the Parthians, while he, as a
compliment to Caesar, accepted the office of priest to the
deceased Caesar. And in any state affair and matter of
consequence, they both behaved themselves with much
consideration and friendliness for each other. But it annoyed
Antony, that in all their amusements, on any trial of skill
or fortune, Caesar should be constantly victorious. He had with
him an Egyptian diviner, one of those who calculate nativities,
who, either to make his court to Cleopatra, or that by the rules
of his art he found it to be so, openly declared to him, that
though the fortune that attended him was bright and glorious,
yet it was overshadowed by Caesar's; and advised him to keep
himself as far distant as he could from that young man; "for
your Genius," said he, "dreads his; when absent from him yours
is proud and brave, but in his presence unmanly and dejected;"
and incidents that occurred appeared to show that the Egyptian
spoke truth. For whenever they cast lots for any playful
purpose, or threw dice, Antony was still the loser; and
repeatedly, when they fought game-cocks or quails, Caesar's had
the victory. This gave Antony a secret displeasure, and made
him put the more confidence in the skill of his Egyptian. So,
leaving the management of his home affairs to Caesar, he left
Italy, and took Octavia, who had lately borne him a daughter,
along with him into Greece.
Here, whilst he wintered in Athens, he received the first news
of Ventidius's successes over the Parthians, of his having
defeated them in a battle, having slain Labienus and
Pharnapates, the best general their king, Hyrodes, possessed.
For the celebrating of which he made a public feast through
Greece, and for the prizes which were contested at Athens he
himself acted as steward, and, leaving at home the ensigns that
are carried before the general, he made his public appearance in
a gown and white shoes, with the steward's wands marching
before; and he performed his duty in taking the combatants by
the neck, to part them, when they had fought enough.
When the time came for him to set out for the war, he took a
garland from the sacred olive, and, in obedience to some oracle,
he filled a vessel with the water of the Clepsydra, to carry
along with him. In this interval, Pacorus, the Parthian king's
son, who was marching into Syria with a large army, was met by
Ventidius, who gave him battle in the country of Cyrrhestica,
slew a large number of his men, and Pacorus among the first.
This victory was one of the most renowned achievements of the
Romans, and fully avenged their defeats under Crassus, the