the Cleopatra whose history is so conspicuous, or rather so infamous, in the ancient records, and which is related in the succeeding pages. PTOLEMY, CLEOPATRA. Little is known of the beginning of the reign of Cleopatra and her brother. The first act recorded of her is, that, two of the sons of Bibulus, who had been consul with Julius Cesar, and was at this time, B. c. 48, proconsul of Syria, being killed in Alexandria by the Roman soldiers, whom Gabinius had left to guard Auletes, Cleopatra sent the murderers to Bibulus that he might punish them as he thought fit; but the proconsul sent them back with this message, that their punishment belonged not to him, but to the senate of Rome. As Ptolemy was a minor, under the tuition of Pothinas a eunuch, and Achillas, general of his army, these two ministers, to engross the whole power to themselves, deprived Cleopatra of the share in the sovereignty left her by the will of Auletes. Cleopatra, thus injured, retired into Syria, and raised in that country, and in Palestine, a very considerable army, in order to assert her rights by force of arms. On the other hand, Ptolemy, having drawn together all the forces he could, took the field, and marched against his sister. Both armies encamped between Pelusium and Mount Casius, observing the motions of each other, neither of them being inclined to venture an engagement. It was at this juncture that Pompey, after having lost the battle of Pharsalia, fled to Egypt, conceiving that he should find there an asylum in his misfortunes. He had been, as narrated, the protector of Auletes, the father of the reigning king; and it was solely to Pompey's influence, that he was indebted for his re-establishment: and therefore it might have been expected that gratitude would have taught the king to receive him with open arms. But gratitude was a virtue unknown to most princes and ministers at this date, as Pompey found by experience. The unfortunate Roman, observing from the sea a great army encamped on the shore, concluded from thence, that the king was at war with his sister, and that, in such a conjuncture, he should find the young prince the more ready to protect him, since he might stand in need of his assistance; he therefore sent some of his friends to acquaint the king with his arrival, and to demand permission to land and enter his kingdom. Ptolemy himself returned no answer to Pompey's request; but Pothinas and Achillas, the two reigning ministers, with Theodotus the rhetorician, the young king's preceptor, and some others, consulted together what answer to return. This council differed in opinion; some were for receiving him, others for sending him word to seek a retreat elsewhere. Theodotus opposed both these propositions, and, displaying all his eloquence, undertook to demonstrate that there was no other choice to be made, than that of ridding themselves of him. His reasons were, because, if they protected him, Cesar would not fail to be revenged on them for abetting his enemy; and, if they refused to receive him, and affairs should take a turn in his favour, he would without doubt make them pay dear for their refusal; and therefore, the only safe way to guard against both these evils, was to put him to death, which, said he, will gain us the friendship of Cesar, and prevent the other from doing us mischief; for, according to the ancient proverb, "Dead men do not bite." Some writers tell us, that Theodotus maintained this cruel paradox only to display his eloquence and talents. But, be this as it may, it had a fatal effect. The advice prevailed, as being in their opinion the wisest and safest course to pursue; and Achillas Septimius, a Roman officer in the service of the king of Egypt, and some others, were charged with putting it into execution. They went to take Pompey on board a shallop, under the pretext that large vessels could not approach the shore without difficulty. The troops were drawn up at the seaside, as with design to do honour to Pompey, Ptolemy being at their head. The perfidious Septimius tendered his hand to Pompey in the name of his master, and bade him come to a king, his friend, whom he ought to regard as his ward and son. Pompey then embraced his wife Cornelia, who wept over him as one lost to her; and, after having repeated some lines of Sophocles, to the effect that every man who enters the court of a tyrant becomes his slave, though free before," he went into the shallop. The tragedy soon followed. When they saw themselves near the shore, they stabbed Pompey before the king's eyes, cut off his head, and threw his body upon the strand, where it had no other funeral than one of his freed-men could give it, with the assistance of an old Roman, who was accidentally passing that way. They raised him a wretched funeral pile, and for that purpose made use of some fragments of an old wreck that had been driven ashore. Lucan, in his Pharsalia, re lates, that the freed-man, whom he immortalizes under the name of Cordus, erected a stone over the spot where he buried him, with this inscription, 66 BENEATH THIS STONE, THE ONCE GREAT POMPEY LIES;" than which nothing can be more emphatic, or better show the vanity of human greatness. The name of Pompey had filled the world with alarms; but beneath that stone he lay silently, not even striking terror into the worms that devoured his mortal frame. A Christian poet thus moralizes on his fall: "The dust of heroes cast abroad, And kick'd and trampled in the road That lately wars and crowns designed, Of smoking kingdoms and their kings, He, That living could not bear to see An equal, now lies torn and dead Here his pale trunk, and there his head. Great Pompey! while I meditate, With solemn horror, thy sad fate, Thy carcass scattered on the shore Without a name, instructs me more Than my whole library before."-DR. WATTS. Cornelia witnessed the death of Pompey; and it is easier to imagine the condition of a woman, in the height of her grief from so tragical an occurrence, than to describe it. Those who were in the galley with her, and in two other ships in company with it, made the coast resound with the cries they raised, and, weighing anchor immediately, set sail, and prevented the Egyptians, who were preparing to chase them, from pursuing this design. In the mean time, Julius Cesar, being informed that Pompey had steered his course towards Egypt, pursued him thither; and he arrived at Alexandria just as the news of his death was brought to that city. Theodotus, or, as others say, Achillas, believing he should do him a pleasure, presented him the head of that illustrious fugitive. But Cesar, though the enemy of Pompey, was more merciful, and exhibited far more humanity, than those who ought to have befriended him. He wept at the sight, and, turning away his eyes with abhorrence, ordered the head to be buried with the usual solemnities. For the greater expedition, Cesar had pursued Pompey with few forces, having with him, when he arrived at Alexandria, only 800 horse, and 3,200 foot. The rest of his army he had left behind him in Greece and Asia Minor, under the command of his lieutenants, with orders to pursue the advantages of his victory, and secure his interests in those parts. He was very nigh paying dear for this temerity. The few forces he had with him not being sufficient to defend him against the populace of Alexandria, who were all in an uproar on account of Pompey's death, he, with much difficulty, gained an entrance into the king's palace, and there shut himself up with part of his men, the rest having been driven back to their ships by the enraged multitude. As it was not in Cesar's power to leave Alexandria, by reason of the Etesian winds, which, in that country, blow without cessation during the dog-days, (in the beginning of which Cesar had entered that port,) and prevent any ships from sailing out, he sent orders to the legions he had left in Asia to join him with all possible expedition. The tumult, however, was appeased before the arrival of his troops; and he ventured out of the palace, and gained the affections of the common people by his affable behaviour. He spent his time in visiting the curiosities of that great and stately metropolis, and took pleasure in assisting at the public speeches and harangues made by the Alexandrian orators and rhetoricians. But, that he might not spend his whole time in diversions, he began to solicit the payment of the money due to him from Auletes, and to take cognizance of the difference between Ptolemy and Cleopatra. The reader has been informed, that, during Cesar's first consulship, Auletes had bribed him by the promise of 6,000 talents, by which he had gained his interest, and finally the friendship and alliance of Rome, with the crown of Egypt. The king had only paid him part of this sum, and had given him a bond for the remainder. Cesar now demanded what was unpaid; and, as he needed it for the subsistence of his troops, he urged his claims with rigour. Pothinas, the king's treasurer, made this rigour appear more severe than it really was; for he plundered their temples of all the gold and silver utensils, and persuaded the king and all the chief men of the kingdom, to eat out of earthen or wooden vessels. His motive for this was to stir up the people against Cesar; for he insinuated to them that he had seized all their gold and silver plate. This had the desired effect; for it effectually estranged the minds of the Alexandrians from Cesar. But what most provoked their indignation, and at length drove them to take up arms against Cesar, was the haughtiness with which he acted, as judge between Ptolemy and Cleopatra. He not only cited them to appear before him for the decision of their difference, but issued a peremptory order, commanding them to disband their armies, and appear and plead their cause before him, to receive such sentence as he should please to pro nounce. This was looked upon in Egypt as a violation of the royal dignity, and an open encroachment on the prerogative of their sovereign, who, being independent, acknowledged no superior, and therefore could not be judged by any tribunal. To complaints made to this effect, Cesar replied, that he did not take upon him to decide the matter as a superior, but as an arbitrator appointed by the will of Auletes; who having placed his children under the tuition of the Roman people, and all their power being now vested in him as their dictator, it belonged to him to arbitrate and determine this controversy, as guardian of Ptolemy and Cleopatra by virtue of this will: he added, that he claimed no other prerogative than to settle peace between the king and his sister. This explanation allayed the animosity of the Egyptians for a short time; and the cause was brought to Cesar's tribunal, and advocates were appointed on both sides to plead before him. Cleopatra, thinking that Cesar would regard such of her sex as had youth and beauty on their side, resolved to employ her own blandishments to attach him to her person and her cause. Accordingly, she sent a private messenger to Cesar, complaining that her cause was betrayed by those she employed, and demanding his permission to appear before him in person. Plutarch says, it was Cesar himself who pressed her to come and plead her own cause. Be this as it may, she no sooner knew that Cesar was inclined to see her, than, taking with her Apollodorus, the Sicilian, she embarked in a small vessel, and, in the dusk of the evening, arrived under the walls of Alexandria. She was afraid of being discovered by her brother, or those of his party who were masters of the city, as they would not have failed to prevent her going to |