Part 113 (1/2)

It wasthethe shapes of the shi+ps dotting the surface No one rippa held his line steady and advanced no farther He was not to be drawn in closer to shore But we had anticipated that, though it was a pity We would have welcorippa, to inflict grievous dae on the architect of our iven Octavian the power he noielded, and caused us such woe

The wind had died and the surface of the water was glassy The first-- alishful--plan for battle must now be discarded, to be replaced by the second Now Antony must wait another hour or so until the breeze would rise

O dear Isis! Let it rise today, of all days! Do not fail us! dear Isis! Let it rise today, of all days! Do not fail us! Even prayer seemed an affront, as if I lacked faith She would know I had failed the test--and punish me Even prayer seemed an affront, as if I lacked faith She would know I had failed the test--and punishorry, aware that the senators atching with their little bird eyes I did not care Let it come! Let it blow! Let it come! Let it blow! There were only Isis and me now, no senators, no soldiers, no oarshter There were only Isis and me now, no senators, no soldiers, no oarshter

Let it come! Open the skies and let the wind free!

Utter stillness, and the sun burned on the flat water

I tore offit fall overcould actually stir up a wind by ainst my arms--then, ever so faintlyainst the strands Barely perceptible Then again

I thank you, Isis! I cried in ood faith But therethanks in advance, to show ood faith But there must be more than this

”I thank you, Isis, for the wind you send!” I cried aloud, startling the senators, who perceived nothing There, I had committed myself, and Isis rewarded ive gentle puffs Tiny ripples rose on the water, like fingers pushi+ng against a fabric, and grew bigger A shout rose from the men

”Now fall to it!” cried the captain

Ahead of us the oars flashed,the line of Antony's shi+ps out into open water Our left wing, under Sosius, being the closest inshore to Leucas and farthest south, needing rippa's forces backed water, retreating farther out, and the two lines of shi+ps advanced, always keeping aaround to the best direction for us There would have to bethe shi+ps out Our own squadron, far to the rear, now passed out of the gulf, past the hateful promontory of Actium, which I cast off like a bad dream All these ain! Just beyond the two points were sandy shallows that we had to steer around

In e armies on both sides, passive onlookers to the action They were drawn up and waiting, but did nothing Then ere out of sight

Farther and farther out the shi+ps ventured, and all the while the breeze was increasing, turning into a wind At first it had blown froan to shi+ft, as it always did, turning in a circle and originating from the northwest--e needed to fill our sails and carry us south

I breathed it in This wind, blowing from the direction of Ro else fro, our salvation Perhaps Caesar, the one good thing from Rome, was embodied in it Perhaps it blew fro heirs, his son

How far was Agrippa going to allow us to advance7 The farther, the better Could he possibly have no idea of our plan The farther, the better Could he possibly have no idea of our plan7 That would seeood to be believed

And it was Finally he stopped backing up and his shi+ps held their line, halting our progress He refused to cooperate Battle must be joined

A hail of missiles--stones, spears, and fire--were launched on one another, a deadly arc between the two lines Then the air was blackened by the rush of arrows and lead pellets shot froer warshi+ps; noise rose, and the shi+ps began to fall on one another

Agrippa, deterh, doubled his lines, and set his nu the Antonian warshi+ps like so rippa's little shi+ps would dart in, trying to raed could dump stones and hurl javelins down on them They attacked the lower parts of the shi+ps, crushi+ng the oars, shattering their blades, snapping off the rudders, while trying to clamber on board On our side, we pushed them off with boathooks, cut them doith stones, and crushed the turned into confusion, shi+p against shi+p, soer ones, like dogs in a pack attacking elephants The first shi+p sank: one of ours, a smaller one Then screams reached my ears from across' the water as one entire shi+pload of Octavian's was sunk by a well-ai, all the screauishable Ours or theirs? In death agonies, everyone has the sa into a shi+p, it was so engulfed by the swirling fight Srapnels and boarding-bridges were put into play, the ar onto enemy decks, swords drawn

The waters were churned byti ed, flecked with red foa shi+ps as their timbers tore apart were soanimal howl, punctuated by the thuds as shi+ps were ra, falling fro the wind created whitecaps that flashed red with blood and the reflection of fla fro oil from the fire- out into a carpet of flames S, obscuring the shi+ps theap appear in the center The left and right wings had succeeded in pulling the fabric open so we could sail through the rent, if we h to do it; we could catch the wind properly

”Sails! Hoist the sails!” the captain commanded, and the purple linen sails were unfurled and spread Like a fist hitting a pal theht of the royal sails aloft, the rest of the squadron followed suit The oarsether ht of hundreds of floating --and out into, the open sea Huge spars from ripped shi+ps spun and turned on the water like spokes

The sails creaked as the wind strained theh the clouds of it, where I could see nothing, could not discern Antony's shi+p On all sides, like falling stars, the fiery missiles continued to rain down, and one or two landed on our deck, where they were quickly smothered by wet hides

Then ere out in the open sea, the shi+p flying southward, the mountains of Leucas off to our left Good-bye to Actium--I could see the last of it far over , as our purple sails had signaled theed lines, and I prayed they would not close up before the last of our squadron had sailed through Plu the line of conflict

Now, if only the rest of the force could disengage and follow!

We flen the coast, past Leucas, past the open channel (now guarded by Agrippa's forces) of Cephallenia, past all the places now lost to us, but rejoicing in our freedoher, and behind us the sky was now as black as the s

Welco us on our way

Oh, let the others follow! Let the others break away! It was a desperate plea, for I had seen how closely grappled all the shi+ps were

Far, far to our rear I thought I saw some warshi+ps; theyunder Sosius, which I thought had evaded the general fighting And behind the with each slap as the shi+p hit the troughs betaves The as tearing at , I could will Antony's shi+p to appear

Eventually I did see a quinquere it up to us It gained steadily But I did not recognize it Could it be the eneside us, and then I saw hiri, and seemed unhurt

He was safe He was here I shouted for the men to lower a rope ladder and take him on board, and the rails were lined with our senators and soldiers, cheering Antony cliely blank

To the cries and welcome of the people on board, he had no response other than a halfhearted wave of the hand I pushed ht up one ar limp at his side

”My eternal thanks to all the Gods,” I whispered in his ear ”We are safe”

Still he did not respond, as if he were stunned ”Not all,” he said ”Not all”

”How ht of this--”where is your flagshi+p?”

”I could not break free, so I had to abandon it The plan has gone awry We were so closely grappled and surrounded that most of the shi+ps could not follow The entire center and left ere held in place Only the right wing--where, ironically, Agrippa faced us--had any shi+ps able to escape They are following I a, waiting for him to address theed him, as I had once before

But his self-co off his hel it like an empty bucket ”No I cannot,” he mumbled, and bolted away to the prow of the shi+p

I made excuses for hi

Fast Liburnians appeared, giving chase Agrippa had sent the them, seemed to rally and comht up with us--to turn and face the galleys One was rudge against Antony They challenged each other to fight, then Eurycles turned and ed to ram and capture a sizable shi+p of Antony's, as well as one ofsome valuable royal stores Satisfied, he turned back and we sailed on

For the few h spirits, but as soon as it was over, he fell back into silence and stood watching the setting sun, refusing to move even after darkness fell