"Will you destroy the life that is so precious to us?"
"My life has no longer any value; glory was its only excuse for being. I am now like a man robbed and left naked by the roadside," replied Antony.
"But all is not lost; your friends..."
"I have no friends. Who stays by you in adversity? Foreseeing my defeat, no doubt those on whom I most counted have already deserted."
Crouching before the man whom he had always looked on as a demigod, Eros embraced his knees.
"Others are faithful. I know those who would shed their last drop of blood to save you."
"Yes, you, my poor Eros, I know it well. But it is not your blood that I need now, but a promise."
Eros looked at him lovingly, submissively.
"Swear that the instant I command you to do it, you will deliver me from the curse of existence!"
Startled by these words, the slave jumped up, rebellious.