Cleopatra Page #8

One flew into the Senate carrying a

sprig of laurel which it dropped...

...at the base of Pompey's statue.

Pompey?

- Caesar, I'm afraid.

- You must not tell me to stay away.

Shall I too be afraid?

Can it be said of Caesar, he gave up

the world because of a thunderstorm?

That such divinity that was in him ran

before mortal superstition?

I feel you need me now...

...and I cannot help you.

Then help me to live as I have lived,

always differently from the rest.

The others, for whom life is merely

an endless fear of dying.

Your gods...

...and mine go with you, Caesar.

The world, except for you,

is filled with little men.

Fire burns.

Fire burns.

The winds of destruction blow.

Rome...

...mighty and alone, the winds of

destruction blow down upon thee!

Storms and hail

shall cut down wheat...

...shall cut down birds

and living things of earth.

The heavens...

...and the gods themselves.

My son!

Caesar! Caesar!

Caesar! Caesar!

There has been much to do.

And it seems you have

done it extremely well.

Is that where...?

Yes.

In Egypt, we build eternal monuments

to our dead heroes.

Here, you burn them like rubbish.

Goodbye.

I've brought the 10th Legion.

You have nothing to fear.

Nothing to fear?

That's no reason for staying.

So much has happened so quickly.

Suddenly I have the pieces

of a broken world to pick up:

Caesar, you running off

at night like this.

Do you suggest that I stay? Why?

Don't ask me to be clear about

my feelings right now. I'm tired.

And with you,

it's never easy to say my meaning.

But you speak so well, Antony.

I've been told how excitingly

you read Caesar's will...

...to the sobbing, murdering,

free citizens of Rome.

Naming as his heir

his great nephew, Octavian!

I knew Caesar's will

and the reasons for it.

If Octavian hadn't been named...

...how many hours or minutes

would you have survived?

And if Caesar had become truly king...

...do you believe he would

still have named Octavian?

In any case, it's over.

Caesar...

...and the dream

that was murdered with him.

First Alexander's...

...then Caesar's.

Now over. Finished.

- First, Rome must be put in order.

- Rome again.

Brutus and the others

must be found and killed.

- Then?

- In death...

...Caesar must be granted the power

and title he was denied in life.

A dead king, a dead god.

Safe enough even for Rome.

Caesarion as Caesar's son could claim

the title of king and his deification.

And to what court of law

would my son and I take our claim?

I will present it

to the Roman Senate myself.

I believe you would.

And after the noble senators

have stopped laughing...

...do my son and I

then declare war on Rome?

No. For this,

a Caesar would be needed.

You have very little time.

Another Caesar.

But thank you.

I shall remember your kindness to us.

- You give up too easily.

- Do I?

Let me come to Alexandria

and talk more with you.

- Whenever you like.

- Now. Tonight, if I could.

In any case, try to remember.

For more than two years did Antony

seek out the assassins of Caesar.

At last, at Philippi...

... he was able to set against them

his legions and those of Octavian...

... who was Caesar's heir.

Cassius was the first to die...

... by his own hand.

Then Brutus and the others.

Hail Antony!

Hail Antony!

Hail Antony's legion!

You remember Philippi.

He won it.

My lord.

- This way.

- But my tent is this way.

Later. I'll see him later.

Octavian depresses me.

You promised.

Well, the fighting's over.

We've won it all.

Your health should improve quickly.

Even if I die,

my place is with you on the field.

- You were wrong to prevent me.

- Caesar was ill.

Caesar? Ah, yes. I keep forgetting.

I have inherited the name.

I have made it mine.

Why not? You'll never be confused

with the other one.

At least your troops

fought bravely, under my command.

Agrippa has kept me fully informed.

What were you doing there?

The battle was fought on land, between

men, not wood bumping on water.

Why did you bring Agrippa?

Were you expecting rain?

Shall we choose a piece of land,

just you and I?

Be quiet. There are matters

to talk about.

Have you an objection

to Agrippa remaining?

I object to Agrippa at all times.

Lying here, indisposed...

...you must have had time

to consider the problem.

I think it is best

to continue the Triumvirate.

You and I and Lepidus.

Very well.

Lepidus shall have Africa and

the islands. You, Spain and Gaul.

Rome and Italy to be administered

by the three of us, jointly.

- And you?

- All the rest.

Then, with Lepidus in Africa

and you in the East...

...bringing order to Rome and Italy

will be my problem.

- So it seems.

- Spain and Gaul aren't enough.

I'll need money.

- There have been tax riots in Rome.

- So I've heard.

Done.

And done.

Would Caesar approve, do you think?

Definitely. Perhaps the veil of Isis

would have bothered him a bit.

Three years...

...and Rome remembers him

only by the image on a gold coin.

Are they those I brought back with me?

When Octavian had them struck off...

...it was to commemorate

Caesar's deification.

So that he could inherit Caesar's

divinity together with all the rest.

Even a dead god

cannot rewrite his will.

Antony did present

Caesarion's claims to the Senate.

He kept that much of his promise.

And he will keep the rest of it.

After almost three years

since Caesar's death...

...more than a year

since Philippi?

Antony will come. He will need Egypt.

Egypt is you.

That's what I meant, of course.

Antony will need me.

Finances! My head hurts

when you talk of money.

Change the subject.

All right. News from Rome.

Octavian has forced Lepidus

out of his command and into exile.

I wish I hadn't...

I wish I had not drunk so much today.

So do I.

Do I trouble you, Rufio?

Yes, you do.

I'll wager Caesar was never befuddled

by wine. Nothing befuddled him.

The campaign against Parthia

won't be easy.

- How many legions have we left?

- It's hard to tell.

- So many desertions.

- Desertions?

They haven't been paid in months.

You remember when

we started into Greece?

I lived with them, ate with them.

I was one of them.

They seem distant to me now,

as if they were a memory.

We must find the gold to pay them...

...the wheat to feed them,

supplies, ships, armor.

And where do you suggest

we look for all these?

- I thought perhaps further to the east.

- Syria?

- Perhaps more to the south.

- Ethiopia?

To the north...

- I forbid her mention!

- I didn't.

I won't crawl to her!

Why hasn't she offered assistance?

- She may not know.

- She knows everything.

- If only in gratitude...

- Perhaps she'll express it in person.

Then let her come.

Am I so much less than Caesar?

Nor she less than queen of Egypt

who you promised...

Strip them naked,

they're no longer queens.

It is also difficult

to tell the rank of a naked general.

And generals without armies

are naked, indeed.

All right. I'll meet her halfway.

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