Cleopatra Page #4

How dare you and the rest of your

barbarians set fire to my library?

Play conqueror all you want,

mighty Caesar.

Rape, murder, pillage thousands,

millions of human beings.

But neither you nor

any other barbarian...

...has the right to destroy

one human thought!

Enough!

Leave me alone with her.

I will send for you when I finish.

It won't be long.

Swords? Javelins?

Or are you going to set me on fire?

The time has come for us

to understand each other.

Whatever else I may be, in your

opinion, first of all, I am Caesar.

And I am Cleopatra,

queen, daughter of Isis!

If I say so and when I say so,

you are what I say you are...

...nothing more.

Hail Caesar!

You, descendant of inbred generations

of incestuous mental defectives...

...how dare you call me barbarian.

- Barbarian!

Daughter of a drunkard who

bribed his way to the throne.

- Your price was too high, remember?

- I've had enough of you pretenders...

...parading on ruins of past glories.

- Only the future concerns me.

- IKeep out of my affairs, do as I say.

- Do as you say?

Literally?

As if I were something

you had conquered?

If I choose to regard you as such.

Am I to understand that you're free

to do with me whatever you want...

...whenever you want?

Yes, I want that understood.

Won't you at least wear

your laurel wreath...

...so I can be reminded it's

the divine Caesar that honors me so?

You talk too much.

I promise you...

...you won't like me this way.

Caesar! An attack on the moon gate!

The moon gate.

An attack in force!

Those ballistas need eliminating.

Send out a turtle.

Form the turtle!

Now is the time for us to attack!

- No.

- We have a full legion in reserve.

We hold our positions here.

Two hours till dawn.

We'll hold where we are.

- And what happens at dawn?

- I thought you knew.

The sun comes up.

Tell the men they've won.

Liberty and wine

for defenders of the gate.

All reserves, cavalry, every man

available, move out behind Achillas.

- We have him in a vise.

- What is the other half?

Rufio and the armies of Mithradates.

He went out last night.

Mithradates? How could

he get here this fast?

I sent him when we sailed for Egypt.

No general in his right mind can

hold Alexandria with two legions...

...as you and others have repeatedly

pointed out to me.

I taste your drink,

daughter of Isis...

...and if there be harm in it,

let the harm fall upon me.

Lotus.

You wiped the rim of the cup

after you tasted it. Why?

Why? So my mouth would not soil it.

Lotus...

...taste it again.

Pothinus said he would have me killed.

Forgive me, Majesty.

Forgive me. Forgive me.

I forgive you.

Now drink it.

Apollodorus!

Apollodorus!

Great silence

for Gaius Julius Caesar...

...senate consul of the people

of Rome.

You will all stand.

Let what is said be recorded...

...as the judgment and decree

of the Senate and people of Rome.

There is no judgment here.

And the decree not Rome's,

but Cleopatra's.

She has lied to you, Caesar.

She and her slaves lie to you.

You have not been accused, Pothinus.

Thus far.

You are now charged with inciting and

abetting war against the Roman army...

...and plotting to assassinate

Queen Cleopatra.

You are guilty of both.

You are sentenced to death.

It's too bright in here.

Shut out some of the sun.

Are you going to kill me too, Caesar?

What am I accused of?

King Ptolemy is hereby removed

from the protective custody of Rome.

He'll leave within the hour...

...and be conducted safely

to the camp of Achillasi.

Achillas! You're going to send me

back to my own troops?

He is to be accompanied

by his learned tutor, Theodotus.

Do you hear that?

You'll be saved along with me.

Stop grinning, you little idiot.

May I speak?

You know that Achillas is trapped...

...between your own legions

and the armies of Mithradates.

To send His Majesty to fight

may mean his death.

An occupational hazard

for those who are king.

But then certainly not I, Caesar.

I'm no king, nor general.

What do I know of war?

A simple scholar.

A man of thoughts and words.

Too many words. Enough.

Let all be done properly as decreed.

Flavius.

Find Apollodorus.

Return his dagger to him.

You might clean it first.

It has Pothinus all over it.

Yes, yes, I know I'm tired.

I promise I'll sleep.

You have my apologies

for what almost happened to you.

Caesar, will you talk with me

for just a minute?

Yesterday was full.

Tonight was long.

This morning has not been uneventful.

Did you know that Apollodorus

would kill Pothinus?

He was kind enough to wait until Rome

had passed sentence of death.

And my brother...

...and Theodotus?

They too will be killed, possibly.

Probably.

Your Majesty, I'm truly weary.

You knew all along, didn't you,

that there was no real danger.

That Mithradates was on his way

to reinforce you.

- Why didn't you tell me?

- You wouldn't believe me.

- I really must insist...

- I would've believed you.

- You didn't trust me.

- Not for an instant.

And yet, in these last few minutes...

...you have made me undisputed queen.

The sole ruler of Egypt. Why?

Perhaps tomorrow we could talk.

- Why, Caesar?

- It was best for Rome!

- Best for Egypt.

- For Egypt too.

Cleopatra, get out.

I beg of you, get out.

That will not be needed.

It wasn't necessary

for me to betray myself.

I could have

called out for Flavius.

How many new spy-holes

have you dug in the walls?

Are we being watched

even now?

If you see Flavius,

you might send him to me.

- Still trying to dismiss me?

- What is it you want?

- What more do you want?

- To be of help to you.

There never has been help.

There never will be.

Now there is.

One day it'll happen

where I cannot hide.

Where the world will see me fall.

I shall tumble down before the mob...

...and foam at the mouth

and make them laugh.

And they'll tear me to pieces.

The gods themselves had your sickness.

Hannibal, even the great Alexander.

And in the end, they fell.

Were torn to pieces by the mob.

Not you.

I will see to that.

In the name of the Senate and the

people of Rome and by their will.

Isis herself would surrender her place

in heaven to be as beautiful as you.

You're not supposed

to look at me. No one is.

If they aren't looking,

how do they know I am?

You should be kneeling.

Would that do

before all these visiting kings?

Making believe

they're not watching us?

You have such bony knees.

Not only bony, but unaccustomed

to this sort of thing.

If we're to get an early start

in the morning...

What will it be tomorrow?

More wheat?

What I've seen could feed

more legions than Rome ever had.

There's enough to feed the world.

More gold then.

Why not buy the world?

Surely you have enough.

At least enough to pay more legions

than even Rome has ever had.

More granite, more marble...

...more millions of slaves

to build whatever needs building.

Better routes to India,

shorter routes to the East.

What can there be in Egypt

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