Part 20 (2/2)

”As you wish”

It was almost impossible to show life in the eyes from the side And of course you could never indicate color I had found it curious that Caesar, the Roreen Caesarion's had darkened; they would be like his father's Had I not borne him, I would wonder what I had contributed to Caesarion's heredity

I sat for what seemed hours I had to hand Caesarion over to Iras, because he began to squirer, the artist said, ”I believe I am finished Would you care to look?”

There is always aat one's portrait It is how another perceives you, and you are sure their view s were almost asleep--and caly!

Without thinking, I burst out, ”Is this what I look like?”

He looked crestfallen ”I--I--”

”This woman looks like an old Hittite axe!” I cried Stolid, jaw clenched, the lared out across the coin The infant at her breast--was it an infant or a stone globe? It had no features but an abnore, round head

The ridiculous infantlike that

”You have to change it!” I said ”I know I am not as beautiful as Aphrodite, but neither do I look like I am sixty years old I am not the size of the Apis bull! And ht you wanted to stress the dignity of the throne,” the artist said

”I do,” I said ”But age and size do not auto old hulks of burnt-out warshi+ps! Come to think of it, that is what you have ivea woman--that it would be better--I mean--”

I knehat he meant For unknown reasons, if one wished to show that a wonify it was to portray her as being physically unattractive For a man, however, it was the opposite Alexander's beauty was not felt to detract froeneralshi+p Nowhere was it hinted that a handso, or brave In fact, people longed for a resplendent king But for a womanI shook my head It was as if beauty in a woman rendered all other traits suspect

”I know there is a hidden code in all this, and coinswoman who has any physical charms at all is seen as incompatible with queenshi+p That is the convention But this is too e it,” he said ”Please allow me to adjust it to your approval”

Mardian and I were looking at the almost-finished product A facsimile of the coin had been rendered in bronze by another artist, and then a die would be cut assu, of course, that it met withto suppress a giggle He failed

”Have you ever seen anything so--grie

”It serves you right,” he said ”It is an antidote to your vanity”

”I am not vain!” I believe this is true I have never dwelt on myself, but I do try to have an honest appraisal of my traits, that is all

”It was vain of you to think of the coin at all,” he insisted

”It was a political statement, pure and simple”

”It was a political statement, but not pure and simple” He rotated the coin ”You do look forhed ”They will also wonder what Caesar saw in you”

I sighed I was anxious to knohat had happened to hi Why had he not writtennot to sound plaintive, ”have you had any word about his whereabouts?” If anyone knew, Mardian would

”I have heard that he landed in Antioch, then made his way to Ephesus I think he is still there”

”What is the date?”

”He was reported to have reached Ephesus in the latter part of Quintilis”

It was now the last day of Quintilis He had sailed away in early June Caesarion had been born on June twenty-third, almost exactly the sue fro directly to Pontus, then?”

”That is the assumption,” said Mardian ”He wants to strike quickly”

”That is what he always does,” I said

He strikes quickly and then moves on, I added to myself He moves on and never looks back

Chapter 17

Veni, vidi, vici: vidi, vici: I came, I saw, I conquered I came, I saw, I conquered

Even today, those words have the power to excite my soul They were the three laconic words Caesar used to describe what happened when he finallyhundreds ofinto his own territory, and then, on the very day of sighting him, joined battle It lasted only four hours, and ended in the utter defeat of the braggart King The forces of Pharnaces were flushed with enough bravado to attehold The result was inevitable Later Caesar reportedly said that it was no wonder that Poeneral, if such was the caliber of his enemies

The battle had taken place on the first day of the Roman month of sextilis, less than two ion Once again his speed and feat had seemed superhuman

I wish those words, veni, vidi, vici veni, vidi, vici, had been written towith a description of the battle, but they were not They were in a letter addressed to a certain Gaius Matius in Rome, an old confidant of Caesar's Of course, spies picked thehout the world The same spies, as well as Mardian's ”international brotherhood of eunuchs,” reported that he returned to Ro offices and appointments in the troubled territories

I ive you thanks for his deliverance My constant apprehension about his safety was difficult to bear I felt, even then, that the Gods were al hieons we have selected for the altar, as if we thereby render theive therass and corn We shelter theht Nothing can touch theuardians But you, Isis, alone of the Gods, are compassionate You have known the sorrow of a wife and the joy of motherhood I knew that you would not turn a deaf ear to my pleas and prayers

Almost at the saan its annual rise At the ti that both our fortunes were swelling on a great tide upward It was the New Year of the Egyptian calendar, and all along the riverbanks the festivals began to welcome the first perceptible rise of the water At Thebes, the sacred boat of Amun-Re was taken in procession by the priests, with thousands of lanterns swaying in the warates of the canals to welcome the water, to let it take possession of the land like a reat festival of love, nights of feasting and ht my bark upon the water Andto the temple portals And to many happy hours

Great God Ptah, let ht That toht

Me bright

And his sweetheart would answer:

My heart is sick with longing heart is sick with longing Till my lover coh the opened ways Give him wreaths for wreaths of flowers Loose hters When I lie in his e, and it filledand night festivals going on up and down the land, while I, only twenty-two years old, remained in the palace alone in