Cleopatra — Volume 09 by Georg Ebers
page 3 of 56 (05%)
page 3 of 56 (05%)
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bystanders to kill him, but no one could bring himself to commit the
deed. Meanwhile Cleopatra's name, coupled with the wish to follow her, was constantly on the lips of the Imperator. At last Diomedes, the Queen's private secretary, appeared, to bring him, by her orders, to the mausoleum where she had taken refuge. Antony, as if animated with fresh vigour, assented, and while being carried thither gave orders that Eros should have a worthy burial. Even though dying, it would have been impossible for the most generous of masters to permit any kindness rendered to pass unrequited. The slave again wept aloud as he uttered the words, but Gorgias hastened at once to the tomb. The nearest way, the Street of the King, had become so crowded with people who had been forced back by Roman soldiers, between the Theatre of Dionysus and the Corner of the Muses, that he had been compelled to reach the building through a side street. The quay was already unrecognizable, and even in the other streets the populace showed a foreign aspect. Instead of peaceful citizens, Roman soldiers in full armour were met everywhere. Instead of Greek, Egyptian, and Syrian faces, fair and dark visages of alien appearance were seen. The city seemed transformed into a camp. Here he met a cohort of fair- haired Germans; yonder another with locks of red whose home he did not know; and again a vexil of Numidian or Pannonian horsemen. At the Temple of the Dioscuri he was stopped. A Hispanian maniple had just seized Antony's son Antyllus and, after a hasty court-martial, killed him. His tutor, Theodotus, had betrayed him to the Romans, but |
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