Cleopatra the Great (31 page)

Yet Caesarion was considered to be in the very safest of hands, since Living Isis was regarded as the pre-eminent deity of healthcare and able to cure everything from snakebite to blindness. By Ptolemaic times the clergy of Isis were medical practitioners who knew by heart the six-part medical treatises covering anatomy, pathology, surgery, pharmacology, ophthalmology and gynaecology, all contained in temple texts known collectively as the
Book of Thoth.
Spells many centuries old invoked the aid of the goddess: ‘Isis, Great Mage, heal me and release me from all things bad and evil and belonging to Seth, from the demonic fatal illnesses, as you saved and freed your son Horus'. Isis' invention of drugs and medicines was also recognised by the classical world, who prescribed a drug named after her as a panacea to stop bleeding, cure headaches and heal ulcers, lesions, fractures and bites.

Nevertheless, Cleopatra needed to draw on all her powers when the Nile once more failed to rise sufficiently in 43
BC. AS
the threat of famine loomed large, not to mention the bad press, the huge grain reserves in Alexandria's royal warehouses were redistributed while anti-famine measures implemented by her epistrategos Kallimachos down in Thebes were so successful that he was honoured with statues and public festivals. And to prevent any exploitation of temple supplies, Cleopatra sent out firm reminders to her tax officials to honour the traditional tax exemptions she had made to the temples or face the consequences.

The floods of 42 and 41
BC
also fell short, and disease became such a problem that Cleopatra's medical advisor Dioscurides Phakas embarked on pioneering research into bubonic plague. She herself continued to work on a more esoteric level to placate the wrath of the lioness deity Sekhmet, ‘Lady of Plague', as revealed by an uninscribed stela portraying a royal figure, almost certainly Cleopatra, playing her sistrum rattles to appease the great plague bringer herself in the presence of Heka, the personification of magic.

It may have been more than coincidence that Taimhotep, wife of the Memphis high priest Pasherenptah, died in 42
BC
aged only thirty-one. Following her mummification, her burial in the family vault at Sakkara was marked by a large funerary stela inscribed with the lengthiest and ‘most explicit laments over death' known from Egypt, composed by her brother Horemhotep. The dead woman told her husband, ‘do not weary of drinking, eating, getting drunk and making love — make holiday and follow your heart day and night!' Her words were accompanied by exquisite images of Taimhotep worshipping Isis and Osiris, Horus and his fellow gods, including the Apis bull, in what were ‘perhaps the finest examples of private relief ever made in the Ptolemaic period'.

It is certainly true that Cleopatra's subjects could employ the very best artists, the great revival in native art exemplified by such masterpieces as a colossal black diorite statue head that quite possibly represented Pasherenptah and a handsome young Egyptian man with unruly curls carved with consummate skill in green schist. With such quality even exceeded in royal imagery, a superb bronze figurine of a Greek-style Horus made in Alexandria most likely represented Caesarion; while the breathtaking Tazza Farnese bowl, made of Indian sardonyx, featured a cameo of the Nile as a male god holding a cornucopia alongside Isis in the royal diadem reclining nonchalantly against the head of a sphinx and Horus carrying a bag of seed.

An allegory of Cleopatra-Isis and Caesarion-Horus uniting with the powers of the Nile to bring much-needed fertility back to Egypt, such artworks conveyed a further political message: Cleopatra's portrayal of her son as Horus ‘Avenger of his Father' Osiris carried with it the underlying notion of vengeance. And since Caesarion was raised by Cleopatra to perform his filial duties and take his father's place, they were both drawn into the approaching storm which would engulf the ancient world in bloodshed.

Just as Caesar had predicted, his murder sparked another civil war as his assassins were hunted down by the two men who vied to succeed him, his deputy Antonius, backed by Caesar's troops and money, and his posthumously adopted heir Octavian, who had arrived back from Macedonia in early May to claim his new name before the Senate. Understandably, Octavian demanded the money Caesar had left him. But Antonius, who was determined to retain power, brushed him aside.

The two men could not have been more different in terms of temperament, ideology and certainly outward appearance. Although his youthful looks had been matured by his thirty-nine years, Antonius ‘had a very good and noble appearance; his beard was well grown, his forehead large, and his nose aquiline, giving him altogether a bold, masculine look that reminded people of the faces of Hercules in paintings and sculptures'. This description is considerably removed from the bull-necked gargoyle image on some of his coin portraits, which were predominantly used to emphasise particular qualities rather than to provide a photographic likeness. His fondness for dressing up as Herakles was nevertheless regarded as decidedly odd by his enemies and his emulation of Alexander the antithesis of proper Roman behaviour, as was his devotion to Dionysos, the Eastern god of ‘deviant masculinity'.

Yet the more Antony swaggered around in his exotic if ambiguous attire, the more his rival Octavian championed the manly garb of Apollo and Mars. Although the idea of armed combat made him physically ill and his famously puny body fell short of the virile gods he sought to emulate, he compensated by wearing several layers of underclothes beneath his toga. Even his shoes ‘had rather thick soles to make him look taller', and although it was said that ‘one did not realise how small a man he was, unless someone tall stood close to him', he presumably kept his distance from the strapping Antonius whenever possible.

Octavian certainly ‘lacked glamour and panache, still more the vigorous masculinity of a Mark Antony. Puny, sickly, cowardly — the type is recognisable, as is the ruthlessness which often co-exists with physical cowardice. What commands admiration is high moral courage and a firm grasp of reality.' His lack of military prowess and valour were more than overcome by a brilliant political mind, complete lack of scruples, and an incredibly fortunate legacy.

Determined to emphasise this legacy at every opportunity, the eighteen-year-old Octavian set up a statue of Caesar in the family temple of Venus Genetrix which also housed the image of Cleopatra. He won over the people by putting on public games in Caesar's honour, and the timely appearance of a comet seen an hour before sunset for seven consecutive days was identified as Caesar's soul elevated into the heavens. It was dubbed the ‘sidus Iulium' in the grand tradition of Egypt's ancient stellar beliefs, in which the souls of dead pharaohs were believed to rise up from their pyramids and become ‘Imperishable Stars'. The Romans claimed that Caesar's soul had been transformed into the star, thereafter shown above his head in posthumous portrayals, including his new statue in Venus' temple.

In the same way that Cleopatra maintained her own links with Caesar, Octavian used his divine connections to become ‘divi films', ‘the son of a god', albeit by adoption. Although his use of Caesar's name at every opportunity clearly annoyed Antonius, who told him, ‘You, boy, owe everything to your name', Octavian was nevertheless feted by the remaining Republicans as an essential counterbalance to Antonius. Still naively hoping he would restore the Republic, Cicero declared that ‘Octavian is an excellent boy, of whom I personally have high hopes for the future.'

As Octavian played along to benefit from Cicero's remaining political influence and receive a good press, Antonius was continuously attacked. When he was appointed priest of Caesar's cult, Cicero denounced him as a ‘loathsome man! Equally loathsome as priest of a tyrant or priest of a dead human being!' Refusing to attend the Senate meeting that Antonius had called for 1 September 44
BC
, Cicero then launched into further virulent attacks in the first of a series of speeches which he dubbed the ‘Philippics' after the similar diatribes that the Athenian orator Demosthenes had launched three centuries earlier against the growing powers of Alexander's father, Philip of Macedon. Yet regardless of Cicero's feelings for either of them, Antonius and Octavian initially joined forces to deal with the assassins whom Cicero had already met, encouraging Brutus and Cassius to take up minor postings in Crete and Cyrene offered by some in the Senate to get them out of Rome and away from Caesar's supporters.

Antonius continued to implement plans that Caesar had outlined for his Parthian campaign, sending the general Dolabella to Syria and his own younger brother Gaius to Macedonia to return the troops that Caesar had originally sent out there. But as Antonius set off for the port of Brundisium in early October 44
BC
to meet the returning troops, Octavian realised they would only increase Antonius' already overwhelming power. So he quickly sent along his own supporters to meet the men, and by the time Antonius arrived many of the troops were already pro-Octavian.

As the two men vied for control of the various legions, Octavian marched his troops into Rome while Antonius went north to tackle Brutus' brother and fellow assassin Decimus who was holed up at Mutina (Modena). Octavian had now joined forces with Cicero and, as the pair began to win over the Senate, Cicero's barrage of Philippics continued. In the second of these speeches, completed by October 44
BC
, Cicero denounced Antonius as ‘a disgusting, intolerable sensualist, as well as a vicious, unsavoury crook', also ridiculing his relationship with his wife Fulvia, whose first husband's murderer Cicero had defended in court. He described one of Antonius' visits to his wife, covering his head with his mantle to deliver incognito a letter which renounced his actress mistress. Antonius apparently then ‘uncovered his head and threw his arms round her neck. Depraved character!' exclaimed Cicero, to whom such spontaneous displays of emotion were clearly unknown.

As Cicero continued his wide-ranging attacks, a spineless Senate were eventually persuaded to declare Antonius public enemy number one in April 43
BC
. Faced with the combined forces of Octavian and the Senate he abandoned the siege at Mutina and, now an outlaw, marched over the Alps into southern Gaul, a region he knew well. Just as Cicero had planned, Caesar's murderers were brought back into the senatorial bosom as Decimus was ordered to pursue and attack Antonius. His brother Brutus was given the province of Macedonia while Cassius received Syria, and even Sextus Pompeius was rewarded with the admiralty of the Roman fleet with which he could control the entire Mediterranean. Caesar was surely turning in his urn as his adopted son did nothing.

Yet both Octavian and the Senate had seriously underestimated Antonius and the loyalty of his men. When faced with the troops of Gaul's governor Lepidus in May, the two armies preferred to fraternise than to fight, and although unsure of the reception he might receive, Antonius strolled nonchalantly into the enemy camp. Lepidus decided it was probably best to join with his old colleague, for which he was condemned as a traitor by his own brother in the Senate, but the balance of power had once again shifted in Antonius' favour.

Decimus' men then deserted to Antonius and after Decimus himself fled north he was killed by one of Antonius' Gallic allies, who sent him Decimus' head as a gift. Sextus Pompeius felt so mistrustful of the shifting politics he stayed away from Rome, and making the fleet his own, occupied Sicily. Cicero's influence too was on the wane. Although he still assumed that he could orchestrate events through Octavian, his protege had discovered Cicero was telling close friends that the young man should be lauded, applauded, and dropped', alternatively translated as ‘raised, praised and erased'. Octavian decided to act alone and go all out for power to compete with Antonius' turn in fortune.

Having been refused the consulship by the Senate, he followed Caesar's example by marching his army on Rome and seizing the public treasury until he and a minor relative were made joint consuls on 19 August 43
BC
, just before his twentieth birthday. He then set up a special court to bring Caesar's murderers to justice: all were found guilty in their absence and their property confiscated. Cicero himself was implicated as a conspirator and fled the city, while Brutus and Cassius tried to establish themselves in their respective provinces, Macedonia and Syria. Yet, thanks to Cicero buying them time, they had amassed considerable powers which only the combined legions of Antonius and Lepidus could take on.

Left with little choice, Octavian was forced to revoke the two men's status as enemies of state and invited them to join him in forming the Second Triumvirate, emulating that of Caesar, Pompeius and Crassus some seventeen years earlier. At a conference near Bononia (Bologna) each received the powers of consul, a five-year limit on their arrangement heading off any accusation of dictatorship. Then they carved up the ancient world between them: Antonius demanded most of Gaul, Lepidus was given a smaller part of Gaul and Spain, and Octavian received the lesser regions of Sardinia, Sicily and Africa.

Agreeing that they could now take on Brutus and Cassius, the triumvirs needed serious money to pay the troops. A hit list was compiled of those to be condemned and their property confiscated. Although ‘that which gave them all the trouble was to agree who should be put to death, each of them desiring to destroy his enemies and to save his friends', it was said that ‘in the end, animosity to those they hated carried the day against respect for relations and affection for friends; Octavian sacrificed Cicero to Antony, Antony gave up his uncle Lucius Caesar and Lepidus received permission to murder his brother' who had so recently denounced him.

An original seventeen names soon expanded into hundreds, many of whom fled to save their lives. Cicero too could have escaped, but he was indecisive and merely retired to one of his many villas. On 7 December 43
BC
he was executed, together with his nephew, brother and many others. Delighted by the news, Antonius asked for Cicero's head and right hand which had written the attacks against him, and ‘when they were brought before him he regarded them joyfully, actually bursting out more than once into laughter . . . and ordered them to be hung up above the speaker's place in the Forum'. With the orator's head and hand nailed up in this most public place very much as Ptolemaic royalty had been known to do, Fulvia gleefully took out a sharp hairpin and, as a final response to the endless slander against two of her three husbands, drove it deep into the dead man's tongue.