Cleopatra was the ruin of Antony's cause. Shc pre vented him from putting forth in time that energy which his situation required, and which might have rendered him victorious. She digusted and drove away, by her offensive behaviour, some of his best and ablest friends. She prevailed upon him to fight by sea, where his an tagonist was strongest, rather than by land, where his own superiority was almost decisive : and, in short, at every step of his progress she attended him with the most malignant influence. (Plut. in Anton.) The two fleets fought at Actium; and Octavius gained a com plete victory. (Suet. in Octay. 17.) Cleopatra, who had insisted on being present, fled in the middle of the engagement. Antony, unmindful of his former fame, and of the brave men who were fighting in his cause, soon followed her, and being taken into the ship where she was, sat down in silence, and gave himself up to melancholy reflections. (Ron iv. 11.) Three hundred of his ships were captured ; and his land forces, after waiting several days for his orders or his appearance, and finding that their general Camdius and other offi cers had stolen away from the camp, surrendered them selves to the conqueror. It was not long till he was abandoned by every one, except those who were near his person. For a while he lived in retirement, resol ving to imitate Timon of Athens, the misanthropist, by hating and distrusting all mankind : but feeling solitude rather irksome, and the charms of Cleopatra still haunt ing his imagination, he went to reside with her in her palace, and, with a levity of mind approaching to mad ness, plunged the whole city of Alexandria into debauch ery and riot. With all this skew of pleasure, however, he found it expedient to send a petition to Octavius, praying that he might be allowed to live in Egypt as a private man, or at least to retire to Athens. This peti tion was rejected by Octavius, who, at the same time, intimated to Cleopatra, that if she either killed or banish ed Antony, there was no favour that she might not ex pect. Hcr affection for Antony was too sincere and strong to be sacrificed for such an offer ; and her sub sequent conduct skewed that nothing could have bribed her to betray the man who had been the unfortunate but faithful slave of her beauty and her charms. Octavius
hastened to Alexandria by rapid marches, and encamped near the Hippodrome. After a sally, in which Antony gained some advantage, and sending a challenge to Oc tavius, which was not accepted, he determined to attack the enemy both by sea and land, and to conquer or die in battle. Accordingly he marched out of the city with his infantry, which he posted on a rising ground : but from that eminence he had the mortification of seeing his fleet treacherously surrender to that of Octavius. The horse deserted him in the same manner ; and the foot being defeated, he retired into Alexandria, loudly accusing Cleopatra of having betrayed him to his ene mies. She, to avoid his fury, made it be reported to him that she was dead. Believing this, and seeing his affairs desperate, he ordered Eros, his servant, whom he had long ago engaged for the purpose, to put him to death. But Eros heroically inflicting the fatal wound upon himself, that he might not kill a master whom he loved, Antony drew his own sword, and plunged it in his bowels. The wound not being instantaneously mor tal, he had an affecting interview with Cleopatra, during which he comforted the princess as well as he could, advised her to apply to a friend of Octavius for protec tion, talked of the happiness they bad enjoyed together, gloried in having fought like a Roman, and been by a Roman overcome, and then expired in her arms. (Dion. Cuss. 1. li. Strati. 1. xvii. Jos. Antig. xv. I I. Phu. in Anton.) Thus died Mark Antony the triumvir, a man who prostituted the best talents and the fairest oppor tunities of acting an honourable part to the most crimi nal and ignominious purposes ; in whose character there was a strange mixture of reason and passion, of great weakness and as great ability, of profuse relentless cruelty ; and who died, as he had lived, an enemy to virtue and to himself, to liberty, to his coun try, and to the world. (r)