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ACT III.

SCENE I. A Plain in Syria.

Enter VENTIDIUS in triumph, with SILIUS, and other Romans, Officers and Soldiers: the dead body of PACORUS borne before him.

Ven. Now, darting Parthia,' art thou struck; and now Pleased fortune does of Marcus Crassus' death

Make me revenger.2-Bear the king's son's body

Before our army.-Thy Pacorus, Orodes,

Pays this for Marcus Crassus.

Sil.

Noble Ventidius,

Whilst yet with Parthian blood thy sword is warm,
The fugitive Parthians follow; spur through Media,
Mesopotamia, and the shelters whither

The routed fly; so thy grand captain, Antony,
Shall set thee on triumphant chariots, and

Put garlands on thy head.

Ven.

O, Silius, Silius!

I have done enough: a lower place, note well,

May make too great an act; 3 for learn this, Silius,

1 Darting Parthia.] The Parthian horsemen were very expert bowmen.

2 And now pleased fortune, &c.] See Extracts from Plutarch, 24.

3 A lower place, &c.] An inferior officer may perform a deed of too great merit. See Extracts from Plutarch, 24.

Better to leave undone, than by our deed
Acquire too high a fame when him we serve
Cæsar and Antony have ever won

More in their officer than person :

1 Sossius,

One of my place in Syria, his lieutenant,

For quick accumulation of renown,

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Which he achieved by the minute, lost his favour.
Who does i' the wars more than his captain can,
Becomes his captain's captain; and ambition,
The soldier's virtue, rather makes choice of loss,
Than gain which darkens him.

I could do more to do Antonius good,

But 't would offend him and in his offence

Should my performance perish.

Sil.

Thou hast, Ventidius, that Without the which a soldier, and his sword,

Grants scarce distinction.2 Thou wilt write to Antony?
Ven. I'll humbly signify what in his name,

That magical word of war, we have effected;
How, with his banners, and his well-paid ranks,
The ne'er-yet-beaten horse of Parthia

We have jaded out o' the field.

Sil.

Where is he now?

Ven. He purposeth to Athens: whither with what

haste

The weight we must convey with's will permit,

We shall appear before him.-On there! pass along!

1 Cæsar and Antony, &c.] Extracts from Plutarch, 25.

[Exeunt.

2 Thou hast, Ventidius, that, &c.] Ventidius, thou hast that discretion without which a soldier and his senseless sword scarcely presents, or admits, any distinction.

SCENE II.-Rome. An Ante-Chamber in Cæsar's House.

Enter AGRIPPA and ENOBARBUS, meeting.

Agr. What, are the brothers parted?

1

Eno. They have despatched with Pompey, he is

gone;

The other three are sealing.2 Octavia weeps

To part from Rome; Cæsar is sad; and Lepidus,
Since Pompey's feast, as Menas says, is troubled
With the
green sickness.

Agr.

"T is a noble Lepidus.
Eno. A very fine one: O, how he loves Cæsar!
Agr. Nay, but how dearly he adores Mark Antony!
Eno. Cæsar? Why, he's the Jupiter of men.3
Agr. What's Antony? The god of Jupiter.
Eno. Spake you of Cæsar? Ho! the nonpareil !
Agr. O, Antony! O, thou Arabian bird! 4

Eno. Would you praise Cæsar, say,-Caesar;-go no further.

Agr. Indeed, he plied them both with excellent praises.

Eno. But he loves Cæsar best ;-yet he loves Antony : Ho! hearts, tongues, figures, scribes, bards, poets, cannot Think, speak, cast, write, sing, number,-ho!

His love to Antony. But as for Cæsar,

Kneel down, kneel down, and wonder !
Agr.

1 Despatched.] Transacted; concluded.

Both he loves.

2 The other three are sealing.] Cæsar, Antony, and Lepidus are sealing the composition or covenant.

3 The Jupiter of men.] The dialogue here is meant to ridicule what Lepidus had said at the feast.

4 Arabian bird.] The phoenix is meant. See the Editor's Tempest, p. 62, note 2.

Eno. They are his shards,' and he their beetle. So,

[Trumpets.

This 2 is to horse.-Adieu, noble Agrippa.
Agr. Good fortune, worthy soldier; and farewell.

[AGRIP. and ENOB. retire.

Enter CESAR, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavia.

Ant. No further, sir.

Cas. You take from me a great part of myself;
Use me well in't.-Sister, prove such a wife

As my thoughts make thee, and as my farthest band 3
Shall pass on thy approof.-Most noble Antony,
Let not the piece of virtue which is set
Betwixt us as the cement of our love,

To keep it builded, be the ram to batter
The fortress of it: for better might we

4

Have loved without this mean, if on both parts
This be not cherished.

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Though you be therein curious, the least cause

For what you seem to fear: so, the gods keep you,
And make the hearts of Romans serve your ends!
We will here part.

His shards.] The scaly wings that support him. In Macbeth, iii. 2, we have the expression the shard-borne beetle.'

2 This.] This trumpet summons.

My farthest band.] My fullest bond or guarantee. The word band was often used for bond. So in K. Richard II., i. 1, ‘According to thy oath and band.'

For better might we, &c.] For we might have been better friends without this matrimonial alliance.

Curious.] Very particular or scrupulous.

Cas. Farewell, my dearest sister, fare thee well.
The elements be kind to thee,1 and make

Thy spirits all of comfort! fare thee well.
Octa. My noble brother !—

Ant. The April's in her eyes: it is love's spring,
And these the showers to bring it on.—Be cheerful.
Octa. Sir, look well to my husband's house; and.-
Cæs.
Octavia?

Octa. I'll tell you in your ear.

What

Ant. Her tongue will not obey her heart, nor can Her heart inform her tongue,—the swan's down-feather, That stands upon the swell at full of tide,

And neither way inclines.

Eno. [Aside to AGR.] Will Cæsar weep?

Agr. [Aside to ENO.] He has a cloud in's face.

Eno. [Aside to AGR.] He were the worse for that, were he a horse; 2

So is he, being a man.

Agr. [Aside to ENO.] Why, Enobarbus? When Antony found Julius Cæsar dead, He cried almost to roaring; and he wept, When at Philippi he found Brutus slain.

Eno. [Aside to AGR.] That year, indeed, he was troubled with a rheum; 3

What willingly he did confound he wailed,

Believe't, till I wept too.

The elements, &c.] May the elements of thy constitution be happily blended. This interpretation is in accordance with Dr. Johnson's, which is vindicated by Staunton. See the Editor's Julius Cæsar, p. 136, note 3.

2 He were the worse, &c.] A horse with a disfiguring spot between the eyes was said to have a cloud in his face.

3 A rheum.] A watering of the eyes.

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