Part 102 (2/2)
I had been curious to see Antony's son, this boy as his Roh that I knew he carried him close to his heart But he had not actually seen him in alreeted hie, without the winsoonies for a youth He had none of Antony's solidity, but was thin and weedy, with a long, narrow face, and teeth that see for his ht creature? Still, he had a sweet disposition (which he had inherited fro way froht fill out later
At first he was shy around his father, but Antony soon disarmed him, and the boy provided hi war When he ith Antyllus, he was able to suspend all the cares pressing down on hi for Caesarion, for Alexander and Selene, even for little Philadelphos It is good to have children to take us into other worlds, even as we try to prepare the present one to hand on to the as that may sees in Ro questions about Egypt and the pyra as the Pharaohs' ?”
I didn't knohat he meant ”My to about it in Ro about it What's so special about it?”
I had to think hard ”Nothing, really It is next to the Teular mausoleum, except”--perhaps this is what he meant--”it has special doors that can't be reopened once they are closed Why?”
”Well, everyone says the to buried in it, instead of in Ro about it!” was talking about it!”
”And how did they know that?” asked Antony, putting down the reports he was reading
”They said it was in your will”
We looked at one another The will It was in the safekeeping of the Vestal Virgins, absolutely inviolate
”How did they knoas in my will?” asked Antony ”It's supposed to be a secret--until I die, that is”
”Oh”--Antyllus shrugged, payingon a heaped-up blanket to serve as a ins”
”What?” Antony got down on one knee and looked sternly at his son ”No joking, now No playing Did they really steal it?”
Antyllus put down the soldiers ”Yes Uncle Octavian made them Some Romans who had come back told him about it, and he demanded to see it”
”He isn't your uncle!” I said sharply
”He ry if I didn't”
”Well, stop it!” I said ”You aren't closely related to him!”
”Hush” Antony frowned at me ”That isn't important What I want to knoho stole the will” stole the will”
”Uncle--I ins It caused a big ruckus in Ro on about the way you wanted to be buried in Egypt It made people mad And, oh, let's seeI seeI don't re about” don't re about”
Plancus and titius They had witnessed the will They had told Octavian about it, and he had used it in his uncanny way But how had he dared to violate the sanctuary of the Vestals? He was ga that what he found in the ould make it hile That bastard And he had won
That night in our chaainst Antony's shoulder and talked in hushed tones ”We need to take stock of our position,” I said ”Plancus and titius have changed the equation What is happening in Rome?”
”It sounds as if they have won a pardon fro him with inside information about me--what they were privy to as the keepers of my seal, and witnesses to the will,” Antony said ”They had to offer hi he wanted in order to be taken in After all, all, they had been with me for ten years That would have tainted them in his eyes” they had been with me for ten years That would have tainted the is this infor at all,” he said ”I don't understand why it should be”
The sounds of a sus fro stones below On the streets of Athens, people were enjoying the warmth, the clear, starry skies above them
I put my head on his chest and listened to the slow, steady sound of his heart How calmly he lay there, how unconcerned he see, arched ribs under ave shelter Just touching him made my worries and fears subside The defections of Plancus and titius had disturbed me deeply, but less for the loss of their persons than for what it syht sap the morale of those still with us Desertions could spread, like plague
The reports that finally caht; as price of their adraces, Plancus and titius told hi inforood use
Plancus and titius's appearance had been timely Octavian, freshly returned from Illyria, was only a private citizen now The Triumvirate had officially expired, and Octavian held no public office Furtherainst his ex-fellow Triuressive or illegal, and Octavian had earlier declared the civil wars over Antony still had a loyal following in Rome, plus almost half the Senate with him, and there were vast numbers of fence-sitters who kept themselves aloof from either faction Unless Octavian could find some excuse to attack Antony and to marshal public opinion on his side, he could not proceed
Then cah in itself, it provided evidence that Antony was casting off his Roave fuel to the fire, fanned by Octavian, that Antony was beco un-Roman Then the will, with its wish that Antony be buried beside me, ”proved” that Antony had repudiated Rome and planned to move the capital to Alexandria
”While he lies en land, I--no matter where I fall in battle--I, Imperator Caesar, will laybeside the Tiber Even my dust will not forsake or abandon you, Mother Rome!” Octavian had cried, when he revealed the contents of the will
The response was an explosion of anger and disgust at us Antony was called every vile nainable Plancus stood up in as left of the Senate and described Antony's servile fawning on me: Antony left a senator ins to read love poems written by me on jeweled tablets; he even rubbedthem passionately
I remembered the time in Ephesus when titius had intruded on us in the privacy of our own house, where Antony was rubbing erated it into this slander
Plancus entertained the Senate for days outlining one folly, evil, or ue of Antony's failings was as high as the pyramids
Finally one old senator rose and rereatyourself to leave hi yourself to leave hi, but Octavian needed so before he could strike Since burial plans did not constitute disloyalty--one senator had objected that it was unfair to punish a living man for what he intended after his death--Octavian would have to invoke a ”higher sanction,” one above the constitution He thought of a way: Roiance to him, in his own person, rather than for any office he held Thus he would be the patron, and all the country his clients
An oath of allegiance was hurriedly composed, and by autumn people were persuaded to take it
I held a copy of it and read it aloud to Antony, who could barely bring himself to listen
” 'I hearby bind myself to have the same friends and eneht with body and soul, by land and sea, against anyone who should threaten him, to report treason seen or heard, and to consider myself and my children less dear than the safety of the Imperator Caesar Should I break my oath, may Jupiter visit me and my children with exile, outlawry, and ruin,' ” I read ”Thorough, isn't it?”
Antony shook his head ”Bononia refused to take it,” he said
”Yes, that town is loyal to you” But the ar citizens of the towns had taken it Meanwhile, in Rome, the fence-sitters had finally been pushed off into Octavian's yard The will and the divorce had done it--both personal things, pertaining to Antony's private life How ironic They enabled Octavian to claim that all loyal citizens, shocked and saddened at Antony's disgrace, had risen up in a spontaneous expression of their devotion to the Divi filius: Divi filius: champion of Roman fortitude, virtue, and tradition Hence the oaths champion of Roman fortitude, virtue, and tradition Hence the oaths
”We still coer, our navy superior, and our treasury deeper When the clash corippa and Octavian put together Do you remember e talked about creativity? Mine is in warfare, and it will not failin the will that shocked Octavian, but it was not what he shouted about,” I said ”The real thing that frightened hi in the will that shocked Octavian, but it was not what he shouted about,” I said ”The real thing that frightened him he kept to himself”
Antony rubbed his forehead, as if he would erase the lines there, lines that had settled on hi to Athens ”What was that?”
”In the will you emphatically support Caesarion's inheritance By that we deny Octavian a place in the west, as well as in the east We give hio He knows that, and cannot submit to such a scheme”
”Yes, that is true,” admitted Antony ” Thus we must make war, that we may live in peace,' as Aristotle said”