Part 104 (1/2)
I felt the color draining froner, while Antony was exe a Rohtily and disdainfully upon h ould fain pardon hih we try to pity hiround that he will turn the scale of the war For even in the past he was of no account, as you who conquered hih
In the past he was of no account! I trembled with the lies Did no one remember? Did no one in Rome remember Gaul, and Pharsalus, and Philippi? Oh, the littleness of men's memories, the erosion of their deeds! Then was Caesar dead indeed, with no hope
And even if he did at one ti with us-- even if he did at one ti with us--
Ca in his tent? Oh, the lies!
--be well assured that he has now spoiled it utterly by his changed manner of life It is an inevitable law that a man assimilates himself to the practices of his daily life A A proof of this is that in the one war he has waged in all this long tin that he has race from Phraaspa, and lost ever so many men besides in his retreat So, then, if any one of us were called upon to execute a ridiculous dance or cut a lascivious fling, such a person would surely have to yield the honors to him, since these are the specialties he has practiced, but now that the occasion calls for arms and battle, what is there about him that anyone should dread? His physical fitness? But he has passed his prith of mind? But he plays the woman and has worn hi, to be sure, as they expected to get rich without danger, solad to cleave to hiainst us, their own country to theed in all this long tin that he has race from Phraaspa, and lost ever so many men besides in his retreat So, then, if any one of us were called upon to execute a ridiculous dance or cut a lascivious fling, such a person would surely have to yield the honors to him, since these are the specialties he has practiced, but now that the occasion calls for arms and battle, what is there about him that anyone should dread? His physical fitness? But he has passed his prith of mind? But he plays the woman and has worn hi, to be sure, as they expected to get rich without danger, solad to cleave to hiainst us, their own country to thery I could hardly continue reading
Why fear him at all? Because of the number of people with him? But no number of persons can conquer valor Because of their nationality? But they have rather practiced carrying burdens than actual warfare Because of their experience? But they know better how to row than how to fight at sea I, forto contend with such creatures, by vanquishi+ng e shall gain no glory, whereas if we are defeated we shall be disgraced
Whoainst? I shall tell you! Who are Antony's generals? There is Mardian the eunuch, and Iras, Cleopatra's hairdressing girl, and Charmian, her wardrobe mistress! Those are your enemies--to such depths has once-noble Antony fallen!
As if Mardian would not be a better general than if Mardian would not be a better general than you! you! I thought You weak, coughing invalid, as helpless as a turtle on its back without Agrippa-- how dare you even co invalid, as helpless as a turtle on its back without Agrippa-- how dare you even compare yourself to Mardian?
Yet Octavian's audience would not know the truth How e since Philippi? How e of life since the Ides of March took Caesar? Truth could not exist like a granite outcropping all by itself; it was infinitely changeable, it was altered by what surrounded it Octavian's speech would enter the public record and the dust of time would sanctify it If it survived Truth was a ment there, spared by accident
Antony returned, without Cossus, and picked up the folded speech ”And I thought Cicero was bad,” he said lightly
”Cicero laid the foundation that Octavian has built on,” I said ”Long ago he s low coated you for cowardice, just because you weren't with Caesar in Spain Remember his vow: 'I will brand him with the truestmemory ofthe field that Octavian is reaping now!”
”Cicero,” Antony repeated unhappily ”It looks as if Octavian will be able to leave his back secure A few more of those speeches, and on't have any supporters left in Rome--or none that will dare admit it There will always be those who keep low and wait for the outco their heads”
”Then we must assure the outcome!” It all came down to that
In addition to his speeches, Octavian's agents began discovering ”omens” that they trumpeted to the credulous Antony's statues were selectively struck by lightning all over the Mediterranean, so it was said, or else theyblood If it wasn't Antony's statues, it was statues of Hercules or Dionysus, his Gods Then they clai war in Ro themselves Antonians and Octavians, and lo and behold! the Octavians won What a sign! sign!
Probably the truest indication of the real feelings in Rome was the report that a man had trained two ravens, one to say, ”Hail Octavian, victorious Imperator,” and the other, ”Hail victorious Imperator Antony” He meant to make a sale, no matter what
I was not afraid I felt we could not lose unless wemistake, and that seemed impossible Had we not foreseen every possibility? We had prepared to meet the enemy anywhere up and down the coast of Greece, by land or by sea We had shi+ps ranging from ”threes”--the fastest shi+ps afloat--to ”tens,” which were floating castles, bound with iron, armed with catapult towers In the arions with cavalry and auxiliaries No matter what the ene us by surprise
Of course, we had so our forces in fighting readiness over the winter The army was stationed in different areas tothem a little less onerous; like locusts, an ar the food, but the very presence of an arround around it Most of the legions were concentrated near us in Patrae, and Antony visited theularly to keep up their spirits-- and his There was the Third Legion--the Gallica--first raised by Caesar, which had fought with him at Munda and with Antony in Parthia There was the Sixth, the Ironclad, which had fought with Caesar in Gaul, Pharsalus, Alexandria, and Munda, and with Antony at Philippi and Parthia--glorious history Then there was the faion, the Alaudae, ”Crested Larks,” native Gauls who had served Caesar in their home territory and in Spain, Pharsalus, Thapsus, and Munda, and Antony in Parthia He drew strength just fro them
I went out with him several times, and I was moved almost to tears by their obvious care for one another I had heard it said that Caesar had an almost amorous bond with his men, but I had not understood it until now, because I had not seen it with my own eyes The way they looked at one another, Antony and his soldiers, the tone beneath the hearty ring of their voices, the eagerness to please, the bond of the possible ultile unit of ic that can never be predicted, since it requires a certain type ofthe strain of waiting, like a horse wanting to run I could see that, too
”When, I at his cloak
”When the ene”
It orse for the navy than for the ar norrippa hadhis crews, but it was for a shorter tiuished at their oars
”Antony, is it to be a sea battle or a land one?” I could only ask the question safely ere completely alone I did not see how it could be both, and yet ere th
”I don't know,” he had ad me
”You don't know?” I could only repeat it back ”Aren't you supposed to decide? Take the initiative?”
”It will depend on how things develop It would be fine if we could knock theht a pure naval battle But that would be difficult shi+ps are not asa part, for one thing And mobility is a problem shi+ps cannot move except by wind or oar, unlike the traround”
”You prefer a land battle” I had noticed the way he had said ”traround,” so affectionately
”I adh I have had some successes at sea, I am a relative newco down at a small map of the Gulf of Corinth
”Ah! You Romans don't have salt water in your veins like the Phoenicians and Greeks,” I said ”And you you come from a very old Roman family” I paused ”Of course, sextus and his father were at horippa seems to be” come from a very old Roman family” I paused ”Of course, sextus and his father were at horippa seerippa seeraceful in water but clumsy on land”
”Then perhaps we should allow theet them on land”
”And not use the navy at all? No, we should use it at least as a barricade The fewer e to land, the better” He paused ”And if we can lure them to Actium, where our main fleet is, we can overcome their fleet by our superior numbers and smash them”
Another weakness was that our line of defense was so spread out--all the way from northern Greece to Africa Yet it is an axiom of war that the defense must be wide, whereas the attacker is free to select one spot and concentrate all his force against it--much more efficient and econo so coypt, eight hundred miles away
Yet how could it be any other way? The war theaters covered gigantic portions of the earth's geography Antony's authority stretched from the Euphrates and Armenia to the Ionian Sea and Illyria, across Africa from Cyrene to Nubia Octavian's spread from Illyria to the ard ocean, and included Gaul, Italy, and Spain to the Pillars of Hercules The entire world was participating in the war, allied with one side or the other The gains for the victor would be staggering, almost incomprehensible So would the losses for the vanquished
Let it begin! I could bear the waiting no longer I was afraid ould lose our edge if action did not finally commence But it was Octavian as to determine the pace And so we held our breaths at Patrae, still in the grip of late winter, watching the gray, storh all through March The winter did not want to release its grip on us, as if it were deliberately holding us back froht it was cruel; noonder if it was kind; if the Gods of the winds had pity on us and said, Let us protect thelory of the untried, the yet-to-come, spare theer, let thelory of the untried, the yet-to-come, spare them what is writtenWho knows? Or perhaps it was just a fact, unconcerned with huinations endow the
In the middle of March--yes, on the Ides of March, Ih the years--fate struck, as if he had a return appointular sea travel had not yet started, but Agrippa took half his fleet, and, risking a dangerous southern course, headed for our naval station at Methone
Effecting a quick landing, he attacked Bogud, and in the action Bogud was killed The station was lost--one of our key outposts, guarding our food route, lost in an instant
The reports came quickly to us--naturally, as ere less than a hundred ers--afraid that ould take out our shock and anger on the in their hands
It had been one of those dreary, gray days, the kind that make you drowsy We had found it hard to attend to any real business, and werelazy circles on the ers I knew it all by heart, had been over it a hundred times This cove, this mountain, that island