30.

To Antony, Cæsar deigned no reply; to Cleo- B. c. patra, he offered every favour on one condition only, that she should banish her lover or put him to death!

Antony, now desperate, drew out his troops, and held Cæsar in check at Alexandria, till his troops went over to Cæsar, whereupon he returned to the city crying out that Cleopatra had ruined and betrayed him.

Cleopatra, a little before, had caused to be built a kind of sepulchre near the temple of Isis, in which she placed her jewels and treasures, and covered them over with combustible matter, intending at the last extremity to set fire to the treasure, and perish with all for which she had the soul to live. To this sepulchre she now retired and caused a report that she was dead. This news revived all the tender feelings of her lover, who, resolving not to survive her, attempted self-destruction by falling on his sword. And now Antony was lying in agony writhing upon his bed, and vainly calling on some one to release him from his sufferings, when Cleopatra, from her living tomb, sends to announce that she is yet alive, and entreats that he will allow himself to be carried to her sepulchre. The dying Antony assents; and as Cleopatra would not open the door of her retreat, assisted by her maids, she drew him up by cords at a window, and laid him on her bed in a transport of grief, and there Antony expired in the fifty-third year of

his age.

B. C.

Cleopatra was not doomed to die as she intended: 30. Cæsar, informed of her design, was eager to save the treasures and the queen to grace his triumph at Rome, so contrived to make her his prisoner. When he entered Alexandria, he commanded she should receive every respect, and even be allowed to solemnise the obsequies of Antony. And soon Cæsar paid Cleopatra a visit. Once more Cleopatra tried the powers of her female charms, but neither tears nor smiles could move the hard and

unsusceptible heart of Cæsar. The conqueror left his fair captive, not doubting she had prevailed; but in a few days she was convinced that her hopes were vain, learning that she and her children were to be sent on into Syria. And now she resolved to die; and having permission to visit the tomb of Antony, she embraced it, and strewed it with flowers, and then, as if her mourning was over, she sat down in all her costly attire to a splendid banquet. While at table, a peasant came with a basket of figs, and passed the guards without suspicion. Cleopatra took the basket, aware of its fatal contents, and having written a letter to Cæsar requesting to be buried with Antony, she took an asp from among the figs, and, retaining in the room only her maids Iras and Charmione, applied it to her arm; and when the guards entered they found her lying dead on the couch, Iras dead at her feet, and Charmione just expiring in the act of arranging the diadem on the head of her mistress. Cleopatra was buried by

B. C.

Cæsar in the same tomb with Antony, but her two sons followed in the triumphal procession in- 30. tended for their unhappy mother at Rome.

Cleopatra is celebrated not only for her love of pleasure, but for her wasteful extravagance. In a banquet given to Antony, at Alexandria, she is said to have melted pearls in her drink to make her entertainment the more costly. She was fond of appearing dressed as the Goddess Iris, and advised Antony to make war upon the richest nations to support her extravagance. Her mental endowments were little inferior to her personal attractions. She is described as capable of giving audience to the ambassadors of seven different nations, and addressing each in his own language. Cleopatra died in the 39th year of her age.

CHAP. XXXII.

THE ANCIENT GERMANS; THEIR MANNERS AND

CUSTOMS.

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200.

Two thousand years ago, Germany was covered A. D. over with forests, furze, and marshes, and, consequently, the climate was colder and less genial and fertilising than at present: not a single tree bearing fruit was to be seen. Amongst the herbs of natural growth were the wild asparagus, and

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200.

A. D. the large radish or parsnip, called by the Romans "pastinaca." The only kinds of corn that were cultivated were barley and oats; of barley, beer was made, then called barley wine; and of the oats they prepared a kind of porridge. The principal and most valued property of the ancient Germans consisted in numerous droves of horses and oxen. The horse served not only for driving and riding for war or convenience, but sometimes for food; and some were considered sacred horses, and their neighing was observed as a means of divination. Troops of horses and oxen were at that early time found in Germany in a wild state: from the horns of the oxen drinking cups were manufactured: but the number of wild animals has been materially diminished by hunting and the great increase of population. Large flocks of migratory birds settled much more frequently in Germany in those days. Salt wells and mineral springs were highly prized by the ancient Germans. The German races were celebrated among the Romans for their commanding stature, their blue eyes, and their red hair, and regarded with terror for their military ardour. They wore arms both at home and in the field, at the banquet and at the court of justice; and weapons were even laid in the tomb on the body of the dead. Even the women participated in this warlike character, which also led the ancient Germans frequently to take the name of some fierce and strong beast of prey. The stronger and more warlike the German

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warrior, the less he thought it necessary to work. a. d. The pursuits of agriculture, and every kind of 200. domestic economy, were left entirely to the women and old men. The free and hardy warrior was at the chase and at the feasts, entering into every known dissipation, drinking and gaming night and day. In point of honour and good faith their character was indeed to be admired. The ancient Germans, our ancestors, were not in other respects so ignorant as some of their later descendants have supposed; they already possessed an independent diet, and were divided into provinces or districts, each with its chief under the name of Count, who decided all disputes after the manner of those primitive times; and the praises of their warriors were the theme of their songs. Their dwellings and clothing were simple; the women wore dresses of linen, sometimes ornamented with purple stripes. The nation was divided into a number of small communities which did not congregate into one town, but resided in separate villages. Their princes seldom governed a large territory, still they were ambitious of being surrounded by numerous dependants, who for the most part clung to their leaders with a degree of attachment which no words can describe: to escape alive from a battle in which the leader was killed was deemed the greatest disgrace. The bravery of our ancestors rendered them a terror to all other nations. The Romans were but too glad to enlist them for soldiers; and the emperors were proud of having