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 ANTONY. 207 rapture, and when he left, seemed to languish and half faint away. She took great pains that he should see her m tears, and, as soon as he noticed it, hastily dried them up and turned away, as if it were her wish that he should know nothing of it. All this was acting while he pre- pared for Media; and Cleopatra's creatures were not slow to forward the design, upbraiding Antony with his unfeelmg, hard-hearted temper, thus letting a woman perish whose soul depended uj^on him and hun alone. OctaAaa, it was true, was his wife, and had been married to him because it was found convenient for the affairs of her brother that it should be so, and she had the honor of the title ; but Cleopatra, the sovereign queen of many nations, had been contented with the name of his mis- tress, nor did she shun or despise the character whilst she might see him, might live with him, and enjoy him ; if she were bereaved of this, she would not survive the loss. In fine, they so melted and unmanned him, that, fully believing she would die if he forsook her, he put off the war and returned to Alexandria, deferring his Median expedition until next summer, though news came of the Parthians being all in confusion with intestine disputes. Nevertheless, he did some time after go into that country, and made an alliance with the king of Media, by marriage of a son of his by Cleopatra to the king's daughter, who Avas yet very young ; and so returned, with his thoughts taken up about the civU war. When Octavia returned from Athens, Caesar, who consid- ered she had been injuriously treated, commanded her to live in a separate house ; but she refused to leave the liouse of her husband, and entreated him, unless he had already resolved, upon other motives, to make war with Antony, that he would on her account let it alone ; it would be mtolerable to have it said of the two greatest commanders in the world, that they had involved the