Into these troubled scenes in Rome the news presently penetrated of the approach of the young Octavian, now nearly nineteen years of age, who was coming to claim his rights; and thereupon the city, setting aside the question of the conspirators, formed itself into two factions, the one supporting the newcomer, the other upholding Antony’s attitude. It is usually stated by historians that Antony was fighting solely in his own interests, being desirous of ousting Octavian and assuming the dignities of Cæsar by force of arms. If this be so, why did he make a point of declaring in the Senate that Cæsarion was the Dictator’s child? With what claims upon the public did he oppose those of Octavian if not by the supporting of Cæsar’s son? We shall see that in after years he always claimed the Roman throne on behalf of the child Cæsarion; and I find it difficult to suppose that that attitude was not already assumed, to some extent, by him.

There now began to be grave fears of the immediate outbreak of civil war; and so threatening was the situation that Cleopatra was advised to leave Rome and to return to Egypt with her son, there to await the outcome of the struggle. It is probable, indeed, that Antony urged her to return to her own country in order to raise troops and ships for his cause. Be this as it may, the Queen left Rome a few days before April 15th, upon which date Cicero wrote to Atticus, from Sinuessa, not far from Rome, commenting on the news that she had fled.

As she sailed over the Mediterranean back to Egypt her mind must have been besieged by a hundred schemes and plans for the future. The despair which she had experienced, after the death of the Dictator, at the demolition of all her vast hopes, may now have given place to a spirited desire to begin the fight once more. Cæsar was dead, but his great personality would live again in his little son, whom Antony, she believed, would champion, since in doing so he would further his own ambitions. The legions left at Alexandria by the Dictator would, no doubt, stand by her; and she would bring all the might and all the wealth of Egypt against the power of Octavian. The coming warfare would be waged by her for the creation of that throne for the establishment of which Cæsar had indeed given his life; and her arms would be directed against that form of democratic government which the Dictator, perhaps at her instance, had endeavoured to overthrow, but which a man of Octavian’s character, she supposed, would be contented to support. Her mighty Cæsar would look down from his place amidst the stars to direct her, and to lead their son to the goal of their ambitions; for now he was in very truth a god amongst the gods. Recently during seven days a comet had been seen blazing in the sky, and all men had been convinced that this was the soul of the murdered Dictator rushing headlong to heaven. Even now a strange haze hung over the sun, as though the light of that celestial body were dimmed by the approach of the Divine Cæsar. Before the Queen left Rome she had heard the priests and public officials name him God in very truth; and maybe she had already seen his statues embellished by the star of divinity which was set upon his brow after his death. Surely now he would not desert her, his Queen and his fellow-divinity; nor would he suffer their royal son to pass into obscurity. From his exalted heights he would defend her with his thunderbolts, and come down to her aid upon the wings of the wind. Thus there was no cause for her to despair; and with that wonderful optimism which seems to have characterised her nature, she now set her active brain to thoughts of the future, turning her mature intellect to the duties which lay before her. When Cæsar had met her in Egypt she had been an irresponsible girl. Now she was a keen-brained woman, endowed with the fire and the pluck of her audacious dynasty, and prepared to fight her way with all their unscrupulous energy to the summit of her ambitions. And, moreover, now she held the trump card in her hands in the person of her little boy, who was by all natural laws the rightful heir to the throne of the earth.

PART II.
CLEOPATRA AND ANTONY

CHAPTER XI.
THE CHARACTER OF ANTONY AND HIS RISE TO POWER.

When Antony and Octavian first met after the death of Cæsar, the former was in possession of popular confidence; and he did not hesitate to advise Octavian to make no attempt to claim his inheritance. He snubbed the young man, telling him that he was mad to think himself capable of assuming the responsibilities of the Dictator’s heir at so early an age; and as a result of this attitude dissensions speedily broke out between them. A reconciliation, however, was arrived at in the following August, B.C. 44; but early in October there was much talk in regard to a supposed attempt by Octavian upon the life of Antony, and, as a result of this, the inevitable quarrel once more broke out. Antony now spread the story that his young rival had only been adopted by Cæsar in consequence of their immoral relations, and he accused him of being a low-born adventurer. Towards the end of the year Antony left Rome, and all men believed that yet another civil war was about to break out. He was now proclaiming himself the avenger of the late Dictator, and I think it possible that he had decided definitely to advance the claims of Cleopatra’s son, Cæsarion, against those of Octavian. After many vicissitudes he was attacked and hunted as an enemy of Rome, and the triumph of Octavian, thanks to the assistance of Cicero, seemed to be assured; but, owing to a series of surprising incidents, which we need not here relate, a reconciliation was at last effected between the combatants in October, B.C. 43. The two men, who had not met for many months, regarded one another with such extreme suspicion that when at length they were obliged to exchange the embrace of friendship, they are each said to have taken the opportunity of feeling the other’s person to ascertain that no sword or dagger was concealed under the folds of the toga.

As soon as the reconciliation had been established, Antony, Octavian, and a certain Lepidus formed a Triumvirate, which was to have effect until December 31, B.C. 38, it being agreed that Rome and Italy should be governed jointly by the three, but that the provinces should fall under distinctive controls, Antony and Lepidus sharing the larger portion and Octavian receiving only Africa, Numidia, and the islands. It was then decided that they should each rid themselves of their enemies by a general proscription and massacre. A list was drawn up of one hundred senators and about two thousand other rich and prominent men, and these were hunted down and murdered in the most ruthless fashion, amidst scenes of horror which can hardly have been equalled in the world’s history. Cicero was one of the victims who suffered for his animosity to Antony, who was now the leading Triumvir, and was in a position to refuse to consider Octavian’s plea for mercy for the orator. The property of the proscribed persons was seized, and upon these ill-gotten riches the three men thrived and conducted their government.