Part 6 (1/2)
”Your sently ”I carried it with me in my heart the whole time”
Yet this same sentimental hter, Berenice How can we be so many different people, all contained within the sarounds that it was an intrusion; a person should be able to die privately But Father insisted
”Just as her treason was public,” he said, ”so too must her punishment be”
And he insisted that the Romans be present, too The Romans, who had restored him to power--for a price Now they ht
We had to take our places before a barracks that housed the Household Guards; seats of honor had been hastily erected Before leaving for the grounds, Father had presented the Roman officers to me Aulus Gabinius was a square, stocky man, a no-nonsense sort, as one would expect of someone who defied a prophecy And his star cavalry officer, Marcus Antonius I found hienuine
And, to be honest, that is all I re
Berenice was led out before the barracks, her hands bound behind her back She was not blindfolded, but forced to look at us all, her ghoulish audience
”You have been found guilty of treason, of usurping the throne in the absence of your rightful King,” intoned Pothinus, one of the King'seunuch His voice had the ti power of an adult's ”For this you must pay the penalty, and die”
”Have you any words?” asked the King It was a formality only Did he truly wish to hear any?
”Slave of the Romans!” she cried ”There they sit!” She jerked her head toward Gabinius and Antonius and Rabirius, the n ”There they sit, never to be dislodged froypt! Who, then, is the traitor to this country, Father?”
”Enough!” said Pothinus ”This will be your last breath!” He le her The man stepped up behind her His forearhs
Berenice was standing rigid, waiting She closed her eyes as he brought his hands around her throat, then clasped the ti her breath, but then suddenly her body rebelled and she began twisting, trying to loosen his grip Her hands were helplessly tied behind her, and there was little she could do The soldier finally lifted her up by her neck and held her there as the life was snuffed out in her and her body at last stopped twitching Her feet hung down straight fro a loud plop in the still air I saw that her face had turned a hideous dark color, and I looked away Then I heard a noise of tra loaded onto a litter and carried away One of her feet--the one without a sandal--dragged along the ground; if she had been living it would have distressed her But now she did not h he did not betray any open emotion Next to him Gabinius had winced, and Antonius had looked away Soldiers preferred battlefield killing to this for siblings, taking in this cautionary lesson Arsinoe had given a sharp gasp when the executioner stepped forward The two boys--six and four--squirame, that Berenice would not jus that day
As I watched the hideous ritual, I knew that she had bequeathed so she had not exactly intended Fro woman, that is The earlier Ptolees, but Berenice had proved that a woman could seize her oer, and only afterward choose the man Or choose no man at all, should she prefer that
Then, I was acutely aware that Roht about this restoration, and that Roman troops were for hire for the promise of Ptolemaic money Their forces, our money: a formidable combination And last, in spite of the hatred of the Romans as a political fact, individual Romans were not demons In fact, they could be quite attractive Gabinius and this Antonius were personable, pleasant, and wellbarbarians--I remembered what I had believed about them before the Pompey dinner--were si I had gli the Father, another for it One set of rules forbade it, but a clever rewording got around that Everything in Rome was not set in stone, and perhaps one side could be used to counteract another
These were ideas, for to reveal theainst which ere helpless, but were torn by factions and rivalries of their ohich could be turned to our advantage I saw that our adversary had holes in his aryptian money One must always have money
Father made it clear that the Romans elcome to stay in Alexandria-- for a short time Then they should discreetly remove themselves But first there was to be a Dionysian festival to celebrate the King's restoration to the throne He saw himself as the descendant of that mysterious God of wine, of joy and drareat festivals of Bacchus--the God's Ro: all the things he could not find in Alexandria in the broad daylight, dazzling though it is in that city of cities
In readying h the streets, I was acutely aware that I would be the object of intense curiosity I, hitherto the third child and practically unnoticed, was now the heir Everyone would want to assess uish in choosingmy hair dressed And when it was finished, I kneould look in theWas I beautiful? Pleasing? Special? Would a timely jar of beauty from Persephone open itself fordown around irl's hairdo, and I knew thatit before its tiht curl to it And I chose forbecoht style of older Egypt, since my shape was slim, but Grecian style fitted the occasion better, with all its floating folds
At least I no longer had to bind my breasts; the death of Berenice had ended that I could let my body speak for itself And my breasts--even in my critical eyes, I could find no fault in the, I saw Arsinoe reflected in the mirror behind ed for
I e vanished And then I studiedht, I would want to know her better
I shrugged, and put the mirror down, as I bent to select the appropriate jewelry Perhaps that was the best verdict anyone could reasonably hope for: If I saw her, I would want to know her better If I saw her, I would want to know her better
Now, as we rode at a stately cere both sides of the wide streets The procession had begun at the palace, then wound its way past Alexander's to, colonnaded Gymnasion, past the Library, the Temple of Serapis, the artificial hill of the park of Pan, the theater--all the reat city The vast, excitable crowd today was cheering, cli statues Since ere following in the wake of Dionysus and his wineskins, by the time we ca These were the very same people who had rioted when a Roman soldier accidentally killed a sacred cat-- unstable, violent Today they were our devoted partisans Tonify the end of the procession, walked a th we reached our destination: the Stadium, transformed into a pavilion where the festivities would take place The normal open-air field had been roofed over with a lattice of ivy-and grape-entwined beams, supported by columns shaped like Dionysus's sacred wand The brilliant afternoon sunlight filtered through the green leaves as we entered the cave of the God, to the rites of drunkenness and ecstasy
Or, rather, my father entered it As a devotee of the God, he took it upon himself to seek union with Dionysus by way of wine While the rest of us sae froypt's finest, Father gulped it Then, as the dancing began--for actors and musicians were sacred to the God, and inspired by hio into a trance He had put on the sacred ivy wreath, and now pulled out his flute and started playing melodies
”Dance! Dance!” he ordered everyone around hiyptians obeyed, but the Ro de Roineer
”You! There! Deh he had been ordered to jump into a malarial swamp ”I do not dance,” he said, and turned his back and walked away
”Co attempted to catch the fold of his tunic, but tripped instead, and his ivy wreath slipped over one eye ” ”Oh!”
A group of Gabinius's soldiers was snickering I felt deep sha in the time-honored behavior of the Bacchanalia, but those rites had been banned in dignity-conscious Rome To the Romans, this was just a comic, drunken spectacle
”So that's why he's nicknamed Auletes--the flute-player,” said a voice nearby I saw it belonged to Marcus Antonius--or Marc Antony, as he was coave him the name in affection,” I said stiffly ”They understand about the rites of Dionysus” understand about the rites of Dionysus”
”So I see” He gestured around at the crowd
Here was another prissy, judg thelared at hioblet ”At least you don't consider your lips too good to touch Egyptian wine,” I said As I spoke, he held out his goblet for a costuood,” he said, sipping it ”I've a great fondness for wine; I o I've had Chian wine, Rhaetic, the undrinkable Coan and Rhodian, and the inco his children
”Is the Pramnian really all it is said to be?” I asked, as he see about it
”Indeed It is honey-sweet; they don't squeeze it frorapes of Lesbos, they let it ooze out of its own accord”
He really was quite relaxed and unpretentious; I foundthis Roman He was handsome, too, in a bullish sort of way: thick neck, wide face, and a fra with muscles
”Yes, I understand Dionysus,” he said, more to himself than to me ”I also like actors In Rome I prefer the cah the crowd, chased by wohing
”Dancing is considered immoral in Rome,” he said ”That is why De of that, when he's--not the God any longer, but returns to hi when he's sober again when he's sober again I did like this young Ro Roman, who seemed so very un-Ro; within a ions were left behind to keep order The one Roone with them stayed--Rabirius, the infamous financier He was deteryptians, and forced the King to appoint hie sums from the populace The Alexandrians, alith a mind of their own and virtually never subservient, drove him away Father was lucky that they did not sweep hiain in the process
In Rome, both Gabinius and Rabirius had to stand trial before the Senate: Gabinius for disregarding the sacred Sibylline oracle and the decree of the Senate, and Rabirius for serving in an ad Gabinius was forced to go into exile, but the crafty Rabirius got off
Without his coiance and services to a new general: Julius Caesar