Cleopatra Page #11

...turn me away?

That would be quite impossible.

Have you ever really left her?

No.

Three days I've waited

for an audience with you.

What is the purpose?

Get out, all of you.

- You're before the throne of Egypt.

- I know!

State your purpose!

Matters I won't discuss publicly.

I do not grant private audiences

to unidentified persons.

I am Marcus Antonius.

I know who you are.

What are you, at the moment?

Envoy of Rome, proconsul of all

the Roman Empire to the east of Italy.

An impressive title.

Worthy, perhaps,

of a private audience?

Without a treaty of alliance

with Egypt...

...you could not hold the territories

under your command. True?

Possibly.

Then, Lord Antony, you come before me

as a suppliant.

- If you choose to regard me as such.

- I do.

You will therefore assume the position

of a suppliant before this throne.

You will kneel.

- I will what?

- On your knees.

You dare ask the proconsul

of the Roman Empire...

I asked it of Julius Caesar.

I demand it of you!

Now...

...you may have the treaty

you asked for...

...on the following conditions:

By your authority

as proconsul of Rome...

...you will cede to Egypt immediately

the following territories:

Judea, Jordan, Armenia, Phoenicia,

the provinces of Sinai and Arabia...

...the islands of Cyprus and Crete.

You ask for one-third

of the Roman Empire!

Put it another way.

I give to you two-thirds.

Most generous.

I cannot accept.

I suggest you deliberate further.

Perhaps consult with your superior

in Rome.

My superior?

Octavian.

Caesar Octavian?

You have not been dismissed!

You are now dismissed.

Outside, all of you. Her Majesty

and I will speak in private.

Out! Before I chop you up

and feed you to my horses.

That's how Romans

frighten little girls.

They like to frighten little girls.

Wait outside.

I married Octavia

at her brother's insistence...

...as a gesture of faith, of peace.

A bargain sealed.

With a kiss? Or did you simply

shake hands on your wedding night?

Rome was celebrating the marriage even

before I arrived. How could I refuse?

By saying no.

As you have said no to all my demands.

They're unreasonable! The kind

laid down for a helpless enemy!

You're not helpless... yet.

I can't cede the territories. It would

cause a break between Rome and me.

Why do you think

I asked for them?

It would be playing

into Octavian's hands!

It would not be wise!

What is wise?

To hand over Rome, Italy,

the world to Octavian?

To grovel publicly

before his authority?

Take his sister to wed and to bed.

As if to beg forgiveness...

...for having stayed so long

with your Egyptian harlot.

What has angered you?

That I dealt with him how I could...

...or that I married his sister?

Jealousy or politics?

Both! And damn you for not

understanding either.

I wouldn't look to you

for instruction.

Which is why you have come back

chained to Octavian like a slave.

- Slave!

- And with such exquisite chains.

So softly spoken, so virtuous.

She sleeps, I hear, fully clothed.

I'm back. That's all

that should concern you.

Should it?

How long before your master snaps his

finger and you run back to him, or her?

I have only one master.

My love for you.

No.

Your master must not be love.

Never love.

Give yourself to love and you

give yourself to forgetfulness...

...of what you are and who you are

and what you want.

And what you want

is worth so much more?

I will not have love as my master.

- Then you will not have love.

- Nor will I have Octavian.

- Never fear.

- How confident you are.

And has Octavian a master?

His ambition:
To rule the Roman world

as emperor and god.

The Roman world, to begin with.

And what stands in his way?

- You and I.

- And my son!

The rightful heir to the name

and glory of great Caesar.

Octavian has already stolen those

and he will now destroy...

...in the name of his sister,

Rome's love for you.

And by your marriage to her...

...he has made of me, unmistakably,

your whore.

Never fear Octavian?

It is he, now, who I think

must be unafraid.

Show me a city and I'll take it.

I'll find an army's weak points

and hit them hard.

But make me to sit down and talk

in whispers of this and that...

...with an emphasis here and a shrug,

and I'm soon confounded and defeated.

Meaning to do the best...

...I suppose I could not

have done worse.

There is still time.

Let someone ask me what I want:

To live with you in peace and love.

Do you have...

...conditions for total surrender?

First, as did Caesar...

...you will marry me

according to Egyptian ritual.

That's not a condition,

that's a reward.

You'll declare, by your authority...

...Caesarion to be king of Egypt...

...and we will rule together

in his name.

Happily granted.

You will cede to Egypt

all the territories I have demanded.

You must.

If only to assert

your own authority and power.

Otherwise, inevitably,

in time we will lose everything.

Can't you see that?

I can see nothing...

...but you.

To marry this Egyptian

under their barbaric rites!

Meaningless under Roman law!

Great Caesar himself...

Yes. Bit by bit,

Antony crawls behind his memory.

But tell us this, Germanicus:

Did great Caesar also toss one-third

of the Roman Empire...

...into Cleopatra's

undoubtedly deserving lap?

The territories in dispute

were subjugated by Julius Caesar.

The right to rule over them

is the heritage of his son.

And in the name of the mighty Caesar

I grant to King Ptolemy Caesarion...

...that right.

Let it be known the greatness of Rome

lies not in what she takes...

...but in what she gives.

"Rome's greatness lies

in what she gives," he says.

Then calmly gives what is not his.

And Cleopatra takes...

...and will take more.

And war will come.

She knows and I know...

...that war will come.

But I will not speak for it...

...nor will I speak against Antony.

I must be forced into war.

The people of Rome

must force this war upon me.

They must storm the doors

of the Senate, crying for it.

If we move quickly, they won't know

we've crossed the Mediterranean...

...until we land in Greece.

You and General Rufio,

start embarking the troops.

Yes, Your Majesty.

If it is decided

to move our armies into Greece.

It has been decided.

My men do not...

...travel well by sea.

They fight on land.

They move on land.

Your men will do

as they are told, as mine will.

My men will do as they're told by me.

They have not yet become...

They are still Roman.

However...

...since I do as I'm told...

The final decision will,

of course, be Lord Antony's.

And I'm sure that in time

he will make it.

That is all.

It would be wiser not to disagree

in the presence of our officers.

Your officers.

What final decision

have you decided I am to make?

Why do you oppose transporting

our armies to Greece?

Because I do not want war

against Rome.

One hundred thousand men

led by Marc Antony.

Octavian is no fool. He won't fight.

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