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and the tears of it are wet

- Act II, scene vii, line 51

Anytears to end concerning the crocodile is that it sheds tears over its prey while sing it Hence the expression "crocodile tears" for hypocritical sorrow

lord of all the world

Menas,at his sleeve Sextus, who is enjoying the nonsense at the table, is unwilling to leave and follows Menas only with reluctance

Once to one side, Menas whispers:

Wilt thou be lord of all the world?

- Act II, scene vii, line 63

The half-drunken Sextus stares in surprise and Menas is forced to explain:

These three world-sharers, these competitors,

Are in thy vessel Let me cut the cable;

And e are put off, fall to their throats

All there is thine

- Act II, scene vii, lines 72-75

Sextus, sobered by the suggestion, is tempted, but then says, sorrowfully:

Ah, this thou shouldst have done,

And not have spoke on't

In me 'tis villainy,

In thee't had been good service

- Act II, scene vii, lines 75-77

This story is told by Plutarch and yet I wonder if it can be true It is conceivable that the thought would have occurred to Menas and that

Sextus ht have shrunk from the perfidiousness of the deed But is it conceivable that the triurasp without taking precautions against just such an act? If Lepidus were too stupid to foresee the possibility and Antony too careless, I would not believe it of Octavius He would not step into the lion's jaithout some sort of rod so placed as to hold that jaw firmly open

However, the story is a good one, true or false, and I would hate to lose it, particularly since it displays so neatly the exact moment when Sextus Pompeius reached and passed the peak of his power

my brave emperor

Octavius Caesar is the only one who is reluctant to drink He cannot carry his liquor well and he does not enjoy losing his iron control of hih Enobarbus says to him with some irony:

Ha, my brave emperor!

Shall we dance now the

Egyptian bacchanals

And celebrate our drink?

- Act II, scene vii, lines 105-7

The word "e "coeneral by his troops It was one of the titles granted Julius Caesar by the Senate He was not merely one of many imperators; he was the ieneralissimo

Octavius Caesar eventually received the title too, and since control of the army was, at bottom, the secret of the control of the Roman state, his position as "Roh distortion we know the title as "Roman Emperor," and the state became the "Roman Empire"

Enobarbus uses the term "emperor" in its less exalted but more accurate aspect as "commander" Both Octavius Caesar and Mark Antony are referred to now and then throughout the play as "emperor"

darting Parthia

While Sextus Po alcoholically neutralized in the West, Parthia is being defeated outright in the East Leaving Antony in Italy, Ventidius sailed to Asia Minor, where in 39 bc he drove the Roade Labienus into the eastern mountains and there defeated and killed him

The Parthian ar Orodes, still occupied Syria and Judea, however In 38 bc Ventidius took his army to Syria and defeated the Parthians in three separate battles (and it was only after this was done that Herod could take his throne in Jerusalem)

In the last of the three victories over Parthia, Pacorus hi to the story) on the fifteenth anniversary of the fateful day on which Crassus had lost his army at the Battle of Carrhae

The third act opens, then, a year after the gay celebration at Misenu in triumph fro carried along with the army and Ventidius says:

Now, darting Parthia, art thou struck; and now

Pleased fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death

Make 's son's body

Before our army Thy Pacorus, Orodes,

Pays this for Marcus Crassus

- Act III, scene i, lines 1-5

Parthia is called "darting" because of its reliance on archers in its battles The Parthian arroere their most effective weapon

Media, Mesopotamia

Ventidius' aide, Silius, eagerly urges the general to pursue the enely, and put an end to the Parthian menace forever He says:

Spur through Media,

Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither

The routed fly

- Act III, scene i, lines 7-9

Mesopotaiven by the Greeks to the upper portion of the Tigris-Euphrates valley It was the area within which Crassus had fought and died The Rorasp and hold it for centuries after Crassus' time, and from time to tiion passed definitively out of their hands

Media lay immediately to the east of Mesopotamia It had been controlled by the Persians, conquered by Alexander the Great, and ruled by the early Seleucids, but at no time, then or later, could Roman force extend itself so far

I have done enough

Ventidius resists the teue that a lienerals who could have gained greatly through initial victories and then went on to grasp for too much and to lose all Adolf Hitler of Germany is only the latest example of this

There have been exceptions, of course; Alexander the Great being the enerals have been lured to destruction by the specter of Alexander and by the fact that they theenius he was

Ventidius does not advance such reasonable rounds He prefers instead to ansith the wisdom of the practical politician

O Silius, Silius

I have done enough: a lower place, note well,

May reat an act For learn this, Silius,

Better to leave undone, than by our deed

Acquire too high a fame when him we serve's away

- Act III, scene i, lines 11-15

Perhaps this is true in Antony's case, and if so it is another weakness of his Since reat reco his subordinates display too much of it, lest people decide they can do without Antony

Octavius Caesar had no difficulty of this sort He was no enerals could cover thelory in his na as they followed his orders and left the political machinations to him

to Athens

As the Parthian menace is ended, at least temporarily, in victory, so the difficulties with Sextus Pompeius are ended, at least te and Mark Antony ain to look after his affairs But still not to Alexandria He must yetthe e with Octavia

In Syria the victorious Ventidius has heard of Antony's move He says to Silius:

He [Antony] purposeth to Athens

- Act III, scene i, line 35

Athens was no longer the great warlike power it had been in the tie I-140) four centuries before While its fleet had been in being, it was a city to be reckoned with, but its last fleet had been destroyed at the Battle of Aean Sea) in 322 bc

After that, it was at the le a bit when Macedon was in trouble In 146 bc all of Greece, including Athens, came under direct Roe of Athenian independence was gone

Yet Athens could, and did, dom of Pontus in the northeastern stretches of Asia Minor under its able king, Mithradates VI, attacked Roht flat-footed The Pontine blitz captured all of Asia Minor For a wildPontines would lead the way to Greek freedom once ainst Rome

Roeneral, Sulla, eastward He laid siege to Athens, quite without regard to its past glories, and Mithradates of Pontus was utterly unable to send help In 86 bc Athens was taken and sacked and that was the final end Never again, throughout ancient times, was Athens ever to take any independent political or military action It settled down to the utter quiet of a university town and for two and a half centuries it was to know conation

It is to somnolent Athens that Antony now comes and it is there he will stay, with Octavia, for over two years

This is too long a time for the purposes of the play, of course, since Shakespeare is anxious to show the love affair between Antony and Cleopatra to follow an absolutely irresistible course He ive the i

To do this, there is a scene, following that which involves Ventidius, which shows Antony leaving with Octavia for Athens, and then, immediately afterward, one which shows Cleopatra still questioning the Messenger who brought her news of the e

While tre in the outside world-a year of caotiation in Italy-it is yet the sa to win Antony back fro what is expected of hiladly describes Octavia as short, round-faced, with a low forehead and a sha walk

Nears 'gainst Pompey

Antony's establishment of his capital in Athens is, in itself, an invitation to reeiven Greece as one of his provinces Antony never lived up to that part of the bargain and may have deliberately come to Athens to make sure that Greece remained his

Once Sextus realized that Antony was not going to keep his part of the treaty, he was naturally infuriated, and once again began his offensive against Rome's food supply The pact of Misenuot a chance to work

Shakespeare mentions none of this When he turns to Antony's house in Athens, he pictures Antony as infuriated at events in Italy and placing all the blame for the renewed trouble on Octavius Caesar Antony is saying angrily to Octavia, concerning her brother:

he hath waged

Nears 'gainst Pompey; made his will, and read it

To public ear; Spoke scantly of me

- Act III, scene iv, lines 3-6

Naturally, Octavius rain shipard it as an invitation to war

Since Sextus' pretext is the withholding of Greece, which is Antony's act, Octavius Caesar can scarcely keep fro that Antony is behind Sextus; that the two have an understanding He therefore renews the propaganda offensive against Antony ("spoke scantly of me")

Furthermore, Octavius Caesar shored up his own popularity with the Ro money and property to the people in case of his death He carefully let that will be made public (Mark Antony once read Julius Caesar's will to the public, see page I-295, and he knoell hoerful a weapon a proper will can be)

Antony le with Sextus Poed from what it was before, however When Sextus closed off Rome's life line he found out why Menas had been opposed to the coreement at Misenum Octavius had used the respite to stock Ro time before it could be choked once more and meanwhile Octavius could strike back Sextus found that while Antony and Octavius could easily undo their part of the agreement, he could not undo his; he could not withdraw the food he had allowed into Rome

It was still necessary to fight Sextus, however, even if Ro Octavius Caesar twice sent out ships to fight Sextus, and twice Sextus' hardened sea fighters won

Octavius Caesar therefore set to work in earnest He placed Agrippa in charge and ordered hirippa was hard at work on this project, and Antony did not like it The last thing he wanted was an Octavian victory at sea, for that would mean that Octavius Caesar would be free to turn to the East and would have a fleet to do it with

Antony's ie in open hostilities, nohile Sextus can still be his ally and while Octavius is still without real power at sea (Antony hiyptian fleet at his disposal, in addition to his own ships)

Yourself shall go between's

Now conies tie of Octavia to show itself Octavia pleads for peace between husband and brother and urges Antony to let her serve as peace:

as you requested,

Yourself shall go between's: the meantime, lady,

I'll raise the preparation of a war

Shall stain your brother

- Act III, scene iv, lines 24-27

Octavia may try to make the peace, then, but if she fails, Antony will make war Actually, she succeeded Shebetween Antony and Octavius Caesar at Tarentum in southern Italy in 37 bc Peace between them continued

So e with Octavia proved a disaster for hireed to, and did, suspend his preparations for war; and in which Octavius Caesar agreed to, but did not, suspend his own preparations for sea mastery In the interval of peace between the triumvirs, Octavius Caesar continued to build his fleet

wars upon Pompey

Shakespeare skips this second reconciliation altogether Immediately after the scene with Octavia in which she is sent off as mediator, Enobarbus and another of Antony's captains, Eros, rush in to discuss military matters Eros has news, and says:

Caesar and Lepidus have made wars upon Pompey

- Act III, scene v, lines 4-5

This sounds like the sa about in the previous scene, especially since Enobarbus responds by saying:

This is old

- Act III, scene v, line 6

Actually, it is a near, begun after Octavia has brought about theat Tarentum and the reconciliation

On July 1, 36 bc, Agrippa's new fleet set out in three squadrons, Agrippa at the head of one, Octavius of a second, and Lepidus of a third For two months these ships and those of Sextuswith Sextus At one point, Octavius' squadron was nearly wiped out

Finally, on Septerippa near the Strait of Messina, which separates Sicily and Italy This time Sextus was defeated by sea and land, and his poas utterly destroyed Heto find safety with Antony

denied him rivality

Antony could now see into what catastrophe Octavia's mediation had led him Octavius Caesar had beaten Sextus and Antony had lost his chance to ainst Octavius in co that same ithout Sextus and with Octavius equipped noith a victorious navy was another, and worse, ether

Nor was this the full extent to which ainst Antony Eros has more news, about Lepidus:

Caesar, having made use of him [Lepidus] in the wars

'gainst Pompey, presently denied him rivality,

would not let hilory of the action;

and not resting here, accuses him

of letters he had formerly wrote to Pompey;

upon his own appeal, seizes him;

so the poor third is up, till death enlarge his confine

- Act III, scene v, lines 7-13

What happened was that after Sextus Pompeius was defeated, Octavius Caesar added all the conquered areas (Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and so on) to the provinces controlled by himself Lepidus, who controlled only Africa, felt that since he had shared in the fighting, he ought to get some of the loot This Octavius Caesar refused ("would not let hilory of the action")

Lepidus attempted to use force but this Octavius Caesar scotched at once He entered Lepidus' camp with a small body of troops, sure that Lepidus' portion of the areneral (probably he had ht Lepidus' men deserted him

Lepidus was therefore demoted from his triumviral status and Africa was taken from hierous He was sent back to Rome and was allowed to keep the purely honorary title of Pontifex Maxih priest"), in which role he had many har quarter century of his life and never bothered anyone again

And threats the throat

Octavius Caesar is noithout a rival in the West He rules all the provinces and is stronger than ever before Antony, who had lost his chance for effective e Eros describes his actions:

He's walking in the garden-thus, and spurns

The rush that lies before him; cries "Fool Lepidus!"

And threats the throat of that his officer

That murd'red Pompey

- Act III, scene v, lines 17-20

Sextus Poone first to the Aegean island of Lesbos, and then to Asia Minor There he had been taken by a contingent of Antony's troops, and the officer in charge, assu him to be an enemy, killed him That was the end of Sextus Poht have been the lord of all the world bya hawser first and then three throats

The officer who killed Sextus had acted hastily, however He still had his naainst Octavius Noas gone and Antony could only curse the excess zeal of his own loyal officer

The situation in 36 bc, then, was this From a quadrumvirate there had come a diumvirate-two men, Octavius Caesar and Mark Antony

The disappearance of the other two, Lepidus and Sextus, had resulted in their strength being added entirely to that of Octavius

In Alexandria

Between the scene just described and the next, there is a historical lapse of two years, which Shakespeare passes over in silence, though they are eventful

For one thing, Antony, thoroughly disillusioned with the political effect of the e had served Octavius Caesar's purpose only

In 36 bc, therefore, he left Athens and returned to Alexandria He abandoned Octavia and returned to Cleopatra, whom he had not seen in three years He was forty-seven years old now, and she was thirty-three, and fro came between them

Of course, there were still world affairs to deal with Antony could expect no further agree to be war as soon as one or the other felt strong enough to push it

Antony wanted the strength and to get it he turned and pushed against the Parthians In a way, this asteful, for Antony was turning away froy on a lesser foe Perhaps we can see his reasoning, though

Octavius Caesar had won considerable h the credit belonged to Agrippa), and since e was Antony's chief stock in trade he had to balance that gain so froht be an easy prey Then too, once they were beaten, Antony could face ithout having to worry about his rear

Without provocation, then, Antony opened a caainst the Parthians and proceeded to do what Ventidius had refused to do He pursued the Parthians deep into their own fastnesses

For his pains, he was trapped in the mountains and was able to escape only with the loss of more than half his army It was almost as bad a defeat as Crassus had suffered and only the fact that he himself did not die as Crassus had done obscured the fact

The next year, 35 bc, he tried to retrieveArmenia, athe King and bringing him back to Alexandria, where he celebrated a mock triumph (A real triumph would have had to take place in Rome)

Antony had returned to Alexandria with his military reputation much tarnished as a result of his Eastern adventure, rather thanas he had hoped Had he coht well have turned against Octavius at once As it was, he see for half

He would build an Eastern eypt as a base and with Alexandria as its capital He would assu so, however, he could not help assu

After all, life with Cleopatra had becoirl-soon after he had left her, back in 40 bc Now he recognized them as his They were named Alexander Helios ("the sun") and Cleopatra Selene ("the moon") He even e was recognized as valid in the provinces controlled by hih he was still married to Octavia (He didn't formally divorce Octavia till 32 bc)

It was at this point, too, that he began to hand over Roman territory to Cleopatra, as he had earlier promised

Octavius, who had been continuing to build his strength in the West and had been preparing public opinion for an offensive against the East, found all this a godsend

It is here that Shakespeare takes up the story Immediately after the scene in which the fate of Lepidus and Sextus is described, the scene shifts to Ro Antony's activity to Maecenas:

Conte Rome, he has done all this and more In Alexandria

Here's the manner oft: I 'th'marketplace on a tribunal silvered,

Cleopatra and hiold

Were publicly enthroned; at the feet sat Caesarian,

whom they call my father's son,

And all the unlawful issue that their lust

Since then hath made between them Unto her

He gave the stablishypt; made her

Of lower Syria, Cyprus, Lydia, Absolute queen

- Act III, scene vi, lines 1-11

Caesarion is, of course, the reputed son of Julius Caesar Julius Caesar was the great-uncle of Octavius Caesar, actually, but in his will Julius had adopted Octavius as his son, and Octavius therefore always refers to Julius as his father (A good propaganda point, of course)

In a way, Antony was restoring to Cleopatra territory that had belonged to the Ptolemies at the peak of their poo centuries before He also restored Cyrene (which Shakespeare does not mention), which Rome had annexed in 96 bc

What's oes on to say:

His sons he there proclais:

Great Media, Parthia, and Armenia

He gave to Alexander;

to Ptolened Syria, Cilicia, and Phoenicia

- Act III, scene vi, lines 12-16

This is not as bad as it sounds Alexander is Alexander Helios, who at this tiiven were not really Roman, so that they represented a phantom rule Ptolemy (that is, Caesarion, who is called Ptolemy XIV) received lands that had once been Ptolemaic

However, we can be sure that Octavius Caesar made the most of Antony's rash family-centered actions Heaway Ron queen What's(hated word) and loved Alexandria more than Rome He held triumphs there and Octavius Caesar found a hich he said was Antony's and which directed that Antony be buried in Alexandria rather than in Rome

It was easy to make it appear that Antony planned to conquer the West and then not only set hi in Rome but make Cleopatra queen Accusations such as these, skillfully spread, and made plausible by Antony's own actions, utterly destroyed any credit Antony ht have in the West

My lord, Mark Antony

And in upon Octavius Caesar, at this moment, comes Octavia, apparently on her errand of mediation She says:

My lord, Mark Antony,

Hearing that you prepared for war, acquainted

My grieved ear withal; whereon I begged

His pardon for return

- Act III, scene vi, lines 57-60

It would appear that Octavia, who left Mark Antony two scenes before, now arrives in Rome All the events that took place over three years-the defeat and death of Sextus Pons of Mark Antony in Parthia and Ar)-are all hastened over in the one intervening scene

This serves a purpose In many places in the play, Mark Antony is ashed to make him a more sympathetic hero Here he is made to seem worse than he is so that the love story with Cleopatra can be made more dramatic

In actual fact, he returned to Cleopatra only after three years, when his e to Octavia proved to be politically worthless-or worse Here in the play, it appears that even while Octavia is on her way to intercede for Antony with her brother, the faithless Antony deserts her

Octavius asks her where Antony is and when she innocently says that he is in Athens, her brother says:

No, ed sister,

Cleopatra Hath nodded him to her

- Act III, scene vi, lines 65-66

Cleopatra's power over Antony thus seems enormous The truth of Antony's return would have considerably dilamour of the love affair

The kings o'th'earth

Indeed, Octavius goes on to say, Antony is preparing for war:

He hath given his empire

Up to a whore, who now are levying

The kings o'th'earth for war

He hath asse of Libya;

Archelaus, Of Cappadocia;

Philadelphos, King Of Paphlagonia;

the Thracian king, Adallas;

King Mauchas of Arabia;

King of Pont; Herod of Jewry;

Mithridates, King Of Coene;

Polemon and Amyntas,

The kings of Mede and Lycaonia;

With a er list of scepters

- Act III, scene vi, lines 66-76

This list of kings sounds iue They are at best, however, a set of puppet kinglets, with very little power except for what prestige their naonia, Pont (Pontus), Coions in Asia Minor Herod and Mauchas represent sdos listed, Bocchus of Libya, actually fought on Octavius Caesar's side

Nevertheless, this sort of thing was undoubtedly used by Octavius to rouse the Ro the whole mysterious East loose upon them

denounced against us

Between this scene and the next, further crucial events take place

Toward the end of 32 bc Octavius finally had the situation exactly where he wanted it The Senate and the people had grown so exasperated that the forainst Cleopatra and the latter supported it avidly

This was utterly clever The as not against Mark Antony, who could be pictured as a Ron queen; it was against the wicked foreign queen herself It was not a civil war; it was a patriotic war against the dangerous kingdoypt was helpless and harmless and that Cleopatra, nored The public knew nothing of that)

Naturally, Mark Antony had to fight But he had to fight now against Roner Desperately he shifted his armies to Greece and prepared to invade Italy

Cleopatra, in a decision as foolish as that of Octavius Caesar had been wise, decided to accoether they are now at Actium, a promontory in northwestern Greece

The next scene, then, opens in Actiuainst Enobarbus, who objects to her presence there She points out that the war, after all, was declared against her:

Is't not denounced against us? Why should not we

Be there in person?

- Act III, scene vii, lines 5-6

But Cleopatra was unintentionally fighting on Octavius Caesar's side in this respect As a foreign queen, she was no more popular with Antony's soldiers than with the enemy

And take in Toryne

Indeed, it is the spirit of Antony's forces that is their weakest point, and Octavius Caesar knows it Anti-Cleopatra propaganda reaches theht for an Egyptian against Rome Antony's ly doubtful loyalty of his men

Octavius Caesar's general, Agrippa, moves quickly, however Where it had been Antony's hope to invade Italy, it was Agrippa instead ept across from that peninsula and landed in Greece Antony co about it:

Is it not strange, Canidius,

That from Tarentum and Brundusium

He could so quickly cut the Ionian sea

And take in Toryne?

- Act III, scene vii, lines 20-23

Tarentum and Brundusium are ports in the "heel" of Italy The Ionian Sea is the stretch of water between southern Italy and western Greece Toryne is a small harbor in northwestern Greece, thirty-five miles up the coast from Actium

not well manned

Octavius Caesar's rapid rippa's, in his name) has cut Antony's line of co short of supplies It is to Antony's interest to force a land battle; he has eighty thousand troops to Octavius Caesar's seventy thousand and it is Antony who is the better tactician on land

On the other hand, it is to Octavius Caesar's best interests to fight a sea battle He has only four hundred ships to Antony's five hundred, but he still would have the advantage there Enobarbus points this out to Antony, saying:

Your ships are not well manned;

Your mariners are muleters, reapers,

people Ingrossed by swift impress In Caesar's fleet

Are those that often have 'gainst Poht;

Their ships are yare, yours, heavy

- Act III, scene vii, lines 34-38

The growing desertions from Antony's standards have left his ships shorthanded, and their crews have had to be fleshed out by the drafting of non-sailors froh you can force a man onto a ship, you cannot force him to be a sailor

The logical course of action would have been to retreat inland and force Octavius to follow and then fight a land battle Even an ordinary soldier begs hi:

O noble Eht by sea,

Trust not to rotten planks

- Act III, scene vii, lines 61-62

It is Cleopatra, though, who holds out strongly for a sea engageht have excluded her and sent her back to Alexandria A sea victory, on the other hand, would include the Egyptian fleet and entitle her to a share in the glory and the profits She points out:

I have sixty sails, Caesar none better

- Act III, scene vii, line 49

And Antony rejects the advice of his seasoned warriors, decides on the sea battle Cleopatra wants, and loses his last chance

With all their sixty

There follows the sea battle, the Battle of Actium, on September 2, 31 bc It is one of the crucial clashes of history

The battle is, of course, not shown onstage, but Enobarbus supplies the vision of its crucial ht:

Naught, naught, all naught! I can behold no longer

Th 'Antoniad, the Egyptian admiral,

With all their sixty, fly

- Act III, scene x, lines 1-3

When the battle began, Octavius' ships could at first e vessels, and the battle seemed to be a useless one between rippa's superior sea its line, and Agrippa's ships began to dart through the openings that resulted, ht for Cleopatra's fleet of sixty that lay in reserve

At this point, Cleopatra ordered her flagship, the Antoniad (named in honor of Antony, of course), to turn and carry her to safety The remainder of her fleet ith her

The easy interpretation is that it was simply cowardice Or perhaps the cowardice wasn't that simple; she felt the battle was lost and that retreat was necessary She had to preserve herself from capture (with reason - for with her a captive the ould be lost), and also the treasure chest, which was aboard the ship

The noble ruin of her ic

Scarus, another officer, enters in wild passion, for even worse has developed He tells Enobarbus that, once Cleopatra sailed away:

The noble ruin of her ic, Antony,

Claps on his sea wing, and (like a doting mallard)

Leaving the fight in height, flies after her

- Act III, scene x, lines 18-20

This is the point at which the world is lost and Antony is forever disgraced Thereaway; the only reason for Antony is an iht be understandable, even ad so worth a sigh as to witness soame tossed away for love

Yet we must admit that however ado down to personal death for love, it is not noble to cast away the lives and fortunes of thousands of others for love

Antony abandoned a fleet that was fighting bravely on his behalf, and in the confusion and disheartenht have lived had he remained What's more, he abandoned thousands of officers and men on the nearbythenoble surrender

We may understand Antony, but we cannot excuse him

He at Philippi

Antony well understood his own disgrace After Actiu to Plutarch) of retiring froony of misanthropy and self-pity-like Tie, indeed, that inspired Shakespeare to try his hand, rather unsuccessfully, at Timon of Athens immediately after he had finished Antony and Cleopatra)

Antony cannot bring himself to be a Timon, however, and he must crawl back to the only place that will now receive hiypt is now his who once ruled half the world, and it will reet him

Antony broods madly on this same Octavius:

He at Philippi kept

His sword e'en like a dancer, while I struck

The lean and wrinkled Cassius; and 'twas

I That the mad Brutus ended

- Act III, scene xi, lines 35-38

It is true The Battle of Philippi was all Antony and Octavius' portion of the army was defeated For that matter, Octavius' portion of the fleet was defeated by Sextus, and Octavius was sick during the Battle of Actiurippa

Yet Octavius, always beaten, was somehow the winner because what he had he kept and what he lost one way he won another He could use other ment, and that stands head and shoulders over mere "style"

Fall not a tear

There is no lory in Antony Shakespeare, for what is left of the play, intends only to recoup for Antony all the sympathy he has lost by his folly in another way; he in it all back andAntony the lover

With all he has lost, Antony can only reproach Cleopatra sorrowfully When she says that she did not realize he would follow her, he replies:

Egypt, thou knew'st too well

My heart was to thy rudder tied by th'strings,

And thou shouldst tow me after

- Act III, scene xi, lines 56-58

And when she weeps and begs for pardon he says:

Fall not a tear, I say; one of them rates

All that is won and lost Give me a kiss;

Even this repays me

- Act III, scene xi, lines 69-71

What an incredible fool! What an exasperating idiot! But then why do the tears coh the rest of the play dry-eyed are either seeing an incredibly poor performance or are afflicted with an incredibly impoverished heart

her all-disgraced friend

Antony has no choice now but to sue for peace and get what ters to send now; they have all deserted him in the aftermath of Actium He sends his children's tutor to approach Octavius Caesar

For Cleopatra, he asks that she re up all the additions Antony has given her For hiypt with her or, still less, that he be allowed to remain in Athens as a private citizen Octavius replies to the Ambassador:

For Antony

I have no ears to his request The Queen

Of audience nor desire shall fail, so she

Froraced friend

Or take his life there

- Act III, scene xii, lines 19-23

Octavius knows his own military deficiencies as well as Antony does He knows that all his victories are the work of his allies and subordinates and that he hi in the field What he desires lorious triureat-uncle had received It is very likely that for himself he required no such trumperies, but he must surely have realized that his hold on the Roman people would not be complete without some public celebration of victories associated (however unfairly) with his name

For the purpose of a triued at the chariot wheels, and even if he were, that would arouse dangerous sympathies Nor could he be left alive, even as a private citizen in Athens How long would he reue to regain what he had lost? For Antony, it had to be death

Cleopatra, however, inable (and undeserved) extent Her reputation as a charainst Roht of her in chains walking behind Octavius Caesar's triumphant chariot would drive Rome ith exultation and turn Octavius, truly, into another Julius Octavius Caesar ht have a triumph without Cleopatra; but without her it would be a poor thing and leave his life in that one respect forever incomplete

Octavius was therefore ready to offer Cleopatra anything, make her any promise, in order to keep her alive

the boy Caesar

The news of Octavius Caesar's terht to Antony and he says to Cleopatra bitterly:

To the boy Caesar send this grizzled head,

And he will fill thy wishes to the brim

- Act III, scene xiii, lines 17-18

The play h space and ti ti scene of the play, if we are thinking of real history Antony is now about fifty-three years old and his head rizzled The "boy Caesar" is now thirty-three years old He is not really venerable, but he is certainly a boy no longer

the getting of a lawful race

Meanwhile, another ambassador, an officer named Thidias, approaches Cleopatra separately Clearly, if she is to be induced to sacrifice Antony, it can be best done in Antony's absence Cleopatra is eager to flatter Octavius into decent terms, both for herself and Antony, and it ives us no clear sign that she drea Antony at any time

However, even while she is fawning on Thidias and giving hirace and defeat, he finds it only too easy to believe he is being betrayed He orders Thidias to be whipped and rages at Cleopatra for her immorality and for the otherhe knew all about to begin with) He cries out in self-pity:

Have I my pillow left unpressed in Rome,

Forborne the getting of a lawful race,

And by a gem of women, to be abused

By one that looks on feeders?

- Act III, scene xiii, lines 106-9

To those who know only as much of Antony and Cleopatra as they read in this play it would coet a lawful race (that is, legitimate children) He had two sons by Fulvia

The "gem of women" must be a reference to Octavia, but there, too, Shakespeare is bending history In the play Antony's connection with Octavia see, but in actual history, he spent a couple of years with her in Athens and their relationship was long enough and real enough to produce two daughters

the hill of Basan

Half mad with frustration, Antony taunts Cleopatra with her infidelities to him (in advance yet, for the examples he cites came about before they had met in Tarsus) until heout:

O, that I were

Upon the hill of Basan to outroar

The horned herd!

- Act III, scene xiii, lines 126-28

Basan is the biblical Bashan, an area of pasturage renowned for its fat cows and strong bulls Thus, the psalmist describes his troubles metaphorically in this way: "Many bulls have co bulls of Bashan have beset me round" (Psalms 22:12) Since bulls are hoe I-84)

But the reference is biblical It is conceivable that a cultivated Roht have come across a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible and have read it out of curiosity or interest-but to suppose that the non-intellectual Antony would do so is out of the question

the old ruffian

Cleopatrahim to what senses remain in him

Octavius Caesar's army is now just outside Alexandria and Antony decides to esture-offers to le combat

Octavius e with characteristic contempt He says to Maecenas:

My er

He hath whipped with rods; dares me to personal combat

Caesar to Antony: let the old ruffian know I have many

other ways to die; e

- Act IV, scene i, lines 2-6

Actually, though one could not guess it from the play, eleven months have passed since the Battle of Actiuypt at once That could wait, for Antony and Cleopatra were helplessly penned up there

Octavius first founded the city of Nicopolis ("City of Victory") near the site of the battle Then he had to spend ti the affairs of the Eastern provinces that had been Antony's doypt, be it remembered, had never, till then, been a Rodom)

Then he had to return to Ro matters there It was only in July 30 bc that he could sail his arypt itself By that tune Cleopatra was thirty-nine

Antony and Cleopatra had spent the eleven-h they knew their time was limited and were determined to make the most of as left But now Octavius Caesar had come and the time for the final battle was at hand

the god Hercules

The eve of the last battle is a strange one The soldiers hearaway into the distance One soldier guesses at the :

'Tis the god Hercules, whom Antony loved,

Now leaves him

- Act IV, scene iii, lines 15-16

This eerie tale is told by Plutarch and is the kind of legend that arises after the fact

It is, of course, rather late in the day for Hercules to leave poor Antony Hercules had clearly abandoned him on the eve of Actium

send his treasure after

Nor is it only Hercules that abandons Antony The common soldier who had advised a land battle at Actiuht, he says:

The kings that have revolted, and the soldier

That has thisleft thee, would have still

Followed thy heels

- Act IV, scene v, lines 4-6

Thus it is that Antony discovers that the rough and faithful Enobarbus has at last deserted hione over to Octavius Caesar's cahts of strength and nobility he cannot possibly reach in prosperity He realizes that not Enobarbus' wickedness but his own follies have driven the soldier away He is thinking perhaps that after his own desertion at Actium, no soldier owes him loyalty, and he says:

O, my fortunes have

Corrupted honest men!

- Act IV, scene v, lines 16-17

And, having learned that Enobarbus has crept away so secretly as to have been unable to take with his and the money he has earned in the course of his labors, Antony says to his aide-de-camp:

Go, Eros, send his treasure after; do it,

Detain no jot, I charge thee

- Act IV, scene v, lines 12-13

alone the villain

Shakespeare found the tale of this princely gesture in Plutarch and it is believable in Antony He was lost, anyway, and it was the kind of quixotic gesture a man noble by fits would ht suppose it to have been done out of a desire to punish the deserter, for punishment it most certainly turns out to be

Enobarbus is already suffering over his betrayal, and realizes that the tardy converts to Octavius Caesar's cause are not truly trusted and are certainly not honored, but live in a kind of contes, he hears his property has been sent after hiony:

/ am alone the villain of the earth,

And feel I am so most

- Act IV, scene vi, lines 30-34

They are beaten

In the last battle, despite everything, the advantage falls to Antony once ht like madmen and his officer, Eros, rushes in to say:

They are beaten, sir, and our advantage serves

For a fair victory

- Act IV, scene vii, lines 11-12

But, alas, this is one of Shakespeare's few inventions of the play There was no victory at this point There wasn't even a true battle Antony's reave in almost at once and Antony was penned up in Alexandria

What Shakespeare wanted was one last unexpected uplift; one last illusion; one last hope of escape from the dooht of ht-have-been for the land battle at Actium that had never come

O, Antony

The victory serves also to add the last unbearable pang to Enobarbus' agony Had those faithful to Antony had the courage and will to fight and hile he hiers into the night, crying:

O, Antony,

Nobler than my revolt is infamous,

Forgive me in thine own particular,

But let the world rank ister

A itive

O, Antony! O, Antony!

- Act IV, scene ix, lines 18-23

And so, asking forgiveness from Antony alone, and content to have all the world besides scorn him, he dies Yet he does not have his wish, for with Shakespeare's deathlesshis case, who can scorn him? No one!

Again, Shakespeare follows his sources in having Enobarbus die of heartbreak From a historical standpoint, it is hard to believe in such a death, but here, as in so many cases, it is far better to romanticize with Shakespeare than be flat with history

There is a sequel to the story that Shakespeare doesn't hint at, but one that should be ret at Enobarbus' fate

Enobarbus had a son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, who in later years served Octavius Caesar and who did well This Lucius eventually hter by Octavia They had a son, Gnaeus Dorandson and narandfathers

The younger Ahenobarbus hter of Octavius Caesar and a great-granddaughter of Livia, the wife of Octavius Caesar, by her earlier reat-grandson of Enobarbus, as well as the great-great-grandson of both Livia and Octavius Caesar hihty-four years after Enobarbus' death

Could Enobarbus have suspected in his wildest dreams that a descendant of his would one day rule all Rome?

It is rather a sha this fifth eht to e of Octavius Caesar, his wife Livia, his sister Octavia, his enemy Antony, and his defected enemy, Enobarbus, but I must The emperor was the infamous Nero, whose real name was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus

All is lost

And now Shakespeare returns to history and lets Antony's forces betray hi:

All is lost!

This foul Egyptian hath betrayed me:

My fleet hath yielded to the foe, and yonder

They cast their caps up and carouse together

Like friends long lost Triple-turned whore!

'Tis thou Hast sold me to this novice

- Act IV, scene xii, lines 9-14

Antony is almost mad in his frustration, and when Cleopatra enters, he yells at her those wordsin the possibility that she race his triumph

The shirt of Nessus

Cleopatra rushes off, appalled by Antony's fury, and in deadly fear that he may even forestall Octavius Caesar's victory and kill her with his own hands This possibility is ical allusion, when he cries:

The shirt of Nessus is upon me; teach me,

Alcides, thou e

Let e Lichas on the horns o'th'moon

- Act IV, scene xii, lines 43-45

Alcides is, of course, Hercules (see page I-70) Hercules was the personification of blind strength, and since such strength can often be misapplied, several tales were told of what Hercules did in his es In one of these madnesses, he killed six of his own children and it was in penance for this that he was condemned to perfor over himself

The specific reference is to an event late in Hercules' life, when he took his last wife, Deianeira At one ti a river in flood Nessus, a centaur (half man, half horse), offered to carry Deianeira across while Hercules swa to the other side, the centaur galloped off with Deianeira and tried to rape her The angry Hercules shot down the centaur with one of those arrohich had been dipped in the deadly poison of the Hydra's (see page I-237) blood

As Nessus lay dying, he told Deianeira that if she saved some of his blood and placed it on Hercules' shirt, it would be an infallible way of assuring his fidelity While he wore the shirt, he would love only her Deianeira believed him

Eventually, when Hercules began to wander, Deianeira remembered Nessus' advice and sent him a bloodstained shirt by Lichas, one of his attendants

Hercules put it on (not noticing the blood, apparently) and at once the poison it carried fro pain He writhed in anguish, but the shirt had grown to his body and could not be re hiht of his superhued into a rock, while Hercules hi the news, killed herself

It was this "shirt of Nessus" that Antony felt hiony that he felt within hie he is ready to kill Cleopatra:

The witch shall die:

To the young Roman boy she hath sold me

- Act IV, scene xii, lines 47-48

The "young Roman boy" is now thirty-three, remember

the boar of Thessaly

Cleopatra is in the last extreme of panic She knows that it is because of her that Antony has frittered away everything, and there is no doubt in her mind that he intends to kill her She cries out to her ladies:

O, he's more mad

Than Telamon for his shield; the boar

of Thessaly Was never so embossed

- Act IV, scene xiii, lines 1-3

Cleopatra e and , as it happens, a mistake in each case

It was not Telae I-110), that went mad After the death of Achilles under the walls of Troy, the question arose as to as to inherit his divinely wrought arhty-thewed Ajax and the shrewd and cunning Ulysses (see page I-92) We ht suppose the Greeks reasoned that Ajax's muscles could kill only one Trojan at a tiether (And it did, for it was Ulysses who finally conceived the stratagee I-188) So the armor went to Ulysses

Now, finally, Ajax's long-suffering and unsubtle heart broke and he went e hi a herd of sheep forie and found hihtered beasts, he realized that he had but made himself ridiculous-so he killed himself

As for the boar of Thessaly as so e at the e e the countryside because the Calydonians had neglected to make proper sacrifices to Diana (Artemis) But Calydon was in Aetolia, not Thessaly

The sevenfold shield

Cleopatra feels that the only way of saving her life (and this is straight from Plutarch and is not Shakespeare's dramatic invention) is to send news to Antony that she has died with his na is that he would then realize she had not betrayed hiether they ht plan their next move

But she miscalculated the effect of the news on Antony In the ht to hie vanishes

The full swell of the orchestra ceases sharply and leaves behind the soft wail of one lonely flute, as Mark Antony turns to his aide and says:

Unar days task is done,

And we must sleep

- Act IV, scene xiv, lines 35-36

He scorns the ar, for it cannot protect him from this ne He says:

The sevenfold shield of Ajax cannot keep

The battery from my heart

- Act IV, scene xiv, lines 38-39

Again a reference to Ajax; this time to his famous shield, which Homer describes in connection with the duel of that hero with Hector It was a huge shield, covering Ajax froh oxhide and covered with bronze It was so heavy that none but Ajax (or Achilles) could wield it, and so strong that a spear driven by the full fury of Hector's arm could penetrate but six of the layers

souls do couch on flowers

Antony plans suicide and dreaines thee I-13) and says:

stay for me

Where souls do couch on flowers, we'll hand in hand,

And with our sprightly port aze:

Dido and her Aeneas shall want troops,

And all the haunt be ours

- Act IV, scene xiv, lines 50-54

I aypt

But even Antony's last act betrays him He cannot have himself killed by his men Eros kills himself rather than Antony (That is in Plutarch and Shakespeare is not forced to make it up) In desperation, Antony falls on his oord, but does not ai, but still alive

Now coer from Cleopatra, who, too late, fears the effect of the news of her death She has locked herself, for safety, in her own toyptianplaces after death-the pyra represented that custom at its most incredibly extreme Shakespeare refers to Cleopatra's tomb as the "monument," and, of course, it served that purpose too)

The dying Antony is brought to the touard Cleopatra watches frohShe dares not open the doors to the tomb, for once Antony is dead, it seems entirely reasonable that his soldiers will kill her From the courtyard, Antony, never more in love, calls out:

I a; only

I here importune death awhile, until

Of many thousand kisses the poor last

I lay upon thy lips

- Act IV, scene xv, lines 18-21

Cleopatra and her women draw Antony up to theon a stretcher (Plutarch describes the effort it took to do so and how Cleopatra, with the strength of despair, ether one last iven

And then he dies, fourteen years after the death of Julius Caesar had e which he had held the world in his hands, and had thrown it away

eternal in our triumph

The news of Antony's death reaches Octavius Caesar, who bursts into tears

Could Octavius, that cold politician, that efficient machine who never made a serious mistake, be so soft at the death of the man he had been fully determined to execute? Or was his sorrow a calculated device to blunt the sympathy of men for Antony?

It is clearly Shakespeare's intent to argue the latter, for as Octavius Caesar's speech grows yptian arrives with a e from Cleopatra and Octavius turns off the flow at once and is all business, saying:

But I will tell you at some meeter season

The business of this man looks out of him;

We'll hear him what he says

- Act V, scene i, lines 48-51

Octavius Caesar learns that Cleopatra is still locked in her to to him to find out his terms He is all sharpness now His victory has been partially blunted by Antony's suicide, for in Roman terains the dead man sympathy (which Octavius had to neutralize as far as possible by ostentatious tears and praise-as Antony had done over the corpse of Brutus, see page 1-315)

But there still reree necessary to keep her fro words by her er and then sends Proculeius, one of his ownhim:

give her what comforts

The quality of her passion shall require,

Lest, in her greatness, by some mortal stroke

She do defeat us For her life in Rome

Would be eternal in our triumph

- Act V, scene i, lines 62-66

conquered Egypt

Proculeius reaches Cleopatra and asks her ter:

if he [Octavius] please

To give ypt for my son,

He gives me so much of mine own as I

Will kneel to him with thanks

-Act V, scene ii, lines 18-21

She is offering to abdicate and asking that her son be recognized as King of Egypt so that the land will remain independent to some extent She doesn't say which son, but presumably she means Caesarion, who is now seventeen years old and who is coruler with her as Ptolemy XIV

Naturally, this is an entirely unacceptable request from Octavius Caesar's standpoint With the son of Cleopatra on the throne, or even alive as a private citizen, he would always be the focus for revolts What Octavius Caesar intended, and what he did, was to annex Egypt, not only as a Roetting all the revenues, as though he were a king of Egypt

This meant potential rivals would have to be put out of the way Caesar-ion was too dangerous to be left alive, and in the aftermath of Octavius Caesar's victory, he was executed The sa for Antony's older son by Fulvia Two of the children of Antony and Cleopatra were allowed to live and were brought up by none other than Octavia, who, in this, showed herself nobly forgiving (It is also possible that Octavia had loved Antony and had felt a certain guilt in having been used by her brother as one more weapon hich to defeat him)

The daughter of Mark Antony and Cleopatra, Cleopatra Selene, was eventually(also nae I-281) fighting against Julius Caesar The younger Juba had been given a co of Mauretania, located where the present-day Morocco is to be found Thus a younger Cleopatra became an African queen

The two had a son-the grandson of Antony and Cleopatra-as called Ptolemy of Mauretania He was the very last of the Ptolened quietly till ad 40, when he was called to Rome and there, seventy years after the suicide of Mark Antony, was put to death by the ula, for no better reason than that he had accumulated wealth which the Emperor felt he would like to confiscate for his own use

But all that lay in the future At the ypt be left to be ruled by her son, and Proculeius answers in soft words, for he knows that Ro the doors

Suddenly Cleopatra is seized froer she attempts to drarested from her It is clear that she will not be allowed to co so will be taken from her and she will be watched All she has left, it seems, are her memories:

I dreamt there was an Emperor Antony

O, such another sleep, that I ht see

But such another man

- Act V, scene ii, lines 76-78

He words me

Octavius hiracious In Plutarch, Cleopatra is described as being far from herself; her hair torn, her face scratched and puffy Still, she is Cleopatra; pushing forty perhaps, but the creature of charreatest of Romans Why not Octavius Caesar as well?

But Octavius is immune He is cold and unimpassioned He pushes aside the list of possessions she hands hi the favor of the victor, reveals that Cleopatra, even at this great crisis, has thoughtfully listed less than half her assets (After all, why should this disturb Octavius? He plans to take all Egypt)

His last words to her are:

Feed and sleep:

Our care and pity is so much upon you

That we remain your friend; and so adieu

- Act V, scene ii, lines 187-89

When she tries to prostrate herself before him, he will not allow it But as soon as he leaves, Cleopatra looks after him bitterly and says:

He words irls, he words me, that I should not

Be noble to myself!

- Act V, scene ii, lines 191-92

She knows certainly that what Octavius has in mind for her is his own triumph If she had any doubts in the matter, one of Octavius' officers, Cornelius Dolabella (according to Plutarch, and followed in this by Shakespeare), sends her secret information to this effect

Sadly, Cleopatra pictures to her ladies the triumph in such a way as to make it plain to the audience (not Ro the virtues of suicide) that death is preferable As a climax she describes the comic plays that will be written about them:

Antony

Shall be brought drunken forth, and 1 shall see

Soreatness

I'th'posture of a whore

- Act V, scene ii, lines 218-21

It is al himself here After all, he has written the play and in it, Antony is far more than a mere drunkard and Cleopatra far ic of Shakespeare converts them at last to ideal lovers and it is as such, thanks to him, that they will live forever

the pretty worm of Nilus

Now must come the suicide

Actually, the uards left behind by Octavius Caesar were surely impressed with the fact that Cleopatra must be kept alive Cleopatrasency

Her body was found virtually unmarked except for what seemed to be a puncture or two on her arm It had to be poison then, but administered how? Was it the puncture of a poisoned needle which she had kept hidden in her hair? Or was it a poison snake?

The poison snake is much more unlikely and is, indeed, rather ily dramatic and, whether true or not, is accepted by all who have ever heard of Cleopatra If they have heard only one thing of her, it is her method of suicide by snake

She prepares for that suicide as though she were ain, and indeed, she expects to, in Elysiuowns as on that occasion when she met Antony for the first time:

Show o fetch

My best attires I aain for Cydnus,

To meet Mark Antony

- Act V, scene ii, lines 227-29

A peasant is brought in noith the gift of a basket of figs for her It is this, partly, which makes the tale of the poison snake implausible Would anyone have been allowed in to see her under the circuo a search if he were passed through? Is it conceivable that the basket of figs would have been unexamined?

Yet that is the tale that Plutarch reports as one possibility He also talks of poisoned needles and poisoned razors

Cleopatra asks the peasant:

Hast thou the pretty worm of Nilus there,

That kills and pains not?

- Act V, scene ii, lines 243-44

He does! The "pretty woryptian cobra, whose venom works quickly and painlessly What's erous aniypt, and the coiled head of the cobra orn on the headdress of the Pharaohs A death by cobra bite was a royal death; it was rather like being bitten by a god

Cleopatra is now ready She says to her ladies in waiting:

Give me my robe, put on my crown, I have

Is in me Now no more

The juice of Egypt's grape shall moist this lip

Yare, yare, good Iras; quick: methinks I hear

Antony call: I see him rouse himself

To praise my noble act I hear him mock

The luck of Caesar, which the gods give men

To excuse their after wrath Husband, I come:

- Act V, scene ii, lines 280-87

And yet not all is pure love of Antony There is so Octavius of his final victory For as the asp is biting her, she says to it:

O couldst thou speak,

That I reat Caesar ass

Unpolicied!

- Act V, scene ii, lines 306-8

It is well done

Cleopatra dies Her lady in waiting Iras is already dead of heartbreak, and Charmian (whom early in the play the soothsayer had predicted would outlive herthe asp to her own arm In come the Roman soldiers, but too late

Gaping at the dead Cleopatra, they get the significance of it at once One of the soldiers cries:

All's not well: Caesar's beguiled

- Act V, scene ii, line 323

Then, when the sa ell done, she answers proudly, just before dying:

It is well done, and fitting for a princess

Descended of so s

- Act V, scene ii, lines 326-27

an aspic's trail

Octavius arrives to witness the defeat of what he planned as his crowning victory They puzzle out theand a spot of blood on Cleopatra's breast and the soldier who had questioned Charmian now says:

This is an aspic's trail; and these fig leaves

Have slime upon them

- Act V, scene ii, lines 350-51

It is an old superstition that snakes are slimy They are not Some snake-like sea creatures are slimy-lampreys, eels, salamanders Snakes, however, are perfectly dry to the touch

another Antony

It falls to the cold Octavius to give Cleopatra her final epitaph Even he is azes at her dead body as she lies there-Cleopatra still He says:

she looks like sleep,

As she would catch another

Antony In her strong toil of grace

- Act V, scene ii, lines 345-47

Nor is he vindictive He says:

Take up her bed,

And bear her women from the monument

She shall be buried by her Antony

- Act V, scene ii, lines 355-57

then to Rome

And now the world calls the one survivor and victor of all the turbulent events of the play He says:

Our army shall

In solemn show attend this funeral,

And then to Rome

- Act V, scene ii, lines 362-64

The civil wars that have lasted fifty years are over The next year, 29 bc, Octavius Caesar ordered the closing of the te that Rome was at peace, the first time that had happened in over two hundred years Then, in 27 bc, he accepted the title of Augustus, by which he is best known to history

Fro a new kind of govern as its first and by all odds the greatest of its eovernment he established and so honored was it in the h the last Roman E hin in Constantinople The Constantinopolitan line, which used the title of Roman Eone there was still a Roman Emperor in Vienna-a line that continued till 1806

And even after that was gone there were ee, these were called Kaisers and in the Slavic languages tsars- both distortions of Caesar, the faned his throne in 1917, the last Gerarian tsar in 1946

It is interesting that 1946 is exactly two thousand years after 44 bc, the year in which Julius Caesar was assassinated For that length of time not one year passed in which so himself by a form of "Caesar" as title (as all the Roman emperors did)