pt a fool before
Caesar.

RUFIO (looking grimly at her). I will look to it, Cleopatra. (He nods
in confirmation of the promise, and slips out through the curtains,
loosening his sword in its sheath as he goes.)

ROMAN SOLDIERS (in the courtyard below). Hail, Caesar! Hail, hail!

Cleopatra listens. The bucina sounds again, followed by several
trumpets.

CLEOPATRA (wringing her hands and calling). Ftatateeta. Ftatateeta. It
is dark; and I am alone. Come to me. (Silence.) Ftatateeta. (Louder.)
Ftatateeta. (Silence. In a panic she snatches the cord and pulls the
curtains apart.)

Ftatateeta is lying dead on the altar of Ra, with her throat cut. Her
blood deluges the white stone.

ACT V

High noon. Festival and military pageant on the esplanade before the
palace. In the east harbor Caesar's galley, so gorgeously decorated that
it seems to be rigged with flowers, is along-side the quay, close to the
steps Apollodorus descended when he embarked with the carpet. A Roman
guard is posted there in charge of a gangway, whence a red floorcloth is
laid down the middle of the esplanade, turning off to the north opposite
the central gate in the palace front, which shuts in the esplanade on
the south side. The broad steps of the gate, crowded with Cleopatra's
ladies, all in their gayest attire, are like a flower garden. The facade
is lined by her guard, officered by the same gallants to whom Bel Affris
announced the coming of Caesar six months before in the old palace on
the Syrian border. The north side is lined by Roman soldiers, with the
townsfolk on tiptoe behind them, peering over their heads at the cleared
esplanade, in which the officers stroll about, chatting. Among these are
Belzanor and the Persian; also the Centurion, vinewood cudgel in
hand, battle worn, thick-booted, and much outshone, both socially and
decoratively, by the Egyptian officers.

Apollodorus makes his way through the townsfolk and calls to the
officers from behind the Roman line.

APOLLODORUS. Hullo! May I pass?

CENTURION. Pass Apollodorus the Sicilian there! (The soldiers let him
through.)

BELZANOR. Is Caesar at hand?

APOLLODORUS. Not yet. He is still in the market place. I could not
stand any more of the roaring of the soldiers! After half an hour of the
enthusiasm of an army, one feels the need of a little sea air.

PERSIAN. Tell us the news. Hath he slain the priests?

APOLLODORUS. Not he. They met him in the market place with a