om not
unusual among royalty at that time, it was provided that Ptolemy should
become the husband of Cleopatra.

She was a woman--her brother a child.

She had intellect, ambition, talent. She knew the history of her own
country, and that of Assyria, Greece and Rome; and all the written
languages of the world were to her familiar. She had been educated by
the philosophers, who had brought from Greece the science of Pythagoras
and Plato. Her companions had been men--not women, or nurses, or pious,
pedantic priests.

Through the veins of her young body pulsed and leaped life plus.

She abhorred the thought of an alliance with her weak-chinned brother;
and the ministers of state who suggested another husband, as a
compromise, were dismissed with a look. They said she was intractable,
contemptuous, unreasonable, and was scheming for the sole possession of
the throne. She was not to be diverted even by ardent courtiers who
were sent to her, and who lay in wait, ready with amorous sighs--she
scorned them all.

Yet she was a woman still, and in her dreams she saw the coming prince.

She was banished from Alexandria.

A few friends followed her, and an army was formed to force from the
enemy her rights.

But other things were happening. A Roman army came leisurely drifting in
with the tide, and disembarked at Alexandria. The Great Caesar himself
was in command--a mere holiday, he said. He had intended to join the
land forces of Mark Antony and help crush the rebellious Pompey, but
Antony had done the trick alone, and only a few days before, word had
come that Pompey was dead.

Caesar knew that civil war was on in Alexandria, and being near he sailed
slowly in, sending messengers ahead warning both sides to lay down their
arms.

With him was the far-famed invincible Tenth Legion that had ravished
Gaul. Caesar wanted to rest his men, and incidentally to reward them.
They took possession of the city without a blow.

Cleopatra's troops laid down their arms, but Ptolemy's refused. They
were simply chased beyond the walls, and their punishment was for a time
deferred.

Caesar took possession of the palace of the King, and his soldiers
accommodated themselves in the houses, public buildings and temples as
best they could.

Cleopatra asked for a personal interview that she might present her
cause. Caesar declined to meet her. He understood the trouble--many such
cases he had seen. Claimants for thrones were not new to