stir of life it remains unattainable, and yet it is too low an aim for
their struggles, for there are worthier objects. Yet one saying of
Epicurus we both believed, and it has always stood us in good stead:
'Wisdom can obtain no more precious contribution to the happiness of
mortal life than the possession of friendship.'"

She held out her hand as she spoke, and while, deeply agitated, he raised
it to his lips, she went on: "You know I am on the eve of the last
desperate battle--if the gods will--shoulder to shoulder with Antony.
Therefore I shall not be permitted to watch your work of education; yet I
will aid it. When the children question you about their mother, you will
be obliged to restrain yourself from saying: 'Instead of striving for the
painless peace of mind, the noble pleasure of Epicurus, which once seemed
to her the highest good, she constantly pursued fleeting amusements. The
Oriental recklessly squandered her once noble gifts of intellect and the
wealth of her people, yielded to the hasty impulses of her passionate
nature.' But you shall also say to them: 'Your mother's heart was full
of ardent love, she scorned what was base, strove for the highest goal,
and when she fell, preferred death to treachery and disgrace.'"

Here she paused, for she thought she heard footsteps approaching, and
then exclaimed anxiously: "I am waiting--expecting. Perhaps Antony
cannot escape from the paralyzing grasp of despair. To fight the last
battle without him, and yet under the gaze of his wrathful, gloomy eyes,
once so full of sunshine, would be the greatest sorrow of my life.
Archibius, I may confess this to you, the friend who saw love for this
man develop in the breast of the child--But what does this mean? An
uproar! Have the people rebelled? Yesterday the representatives of the
priesthood, the members of the museum, and the leaders of the army
assured me of their changeless fidelity and love. Dion belonged to the