xpedition against Armenia, as far as the
river Euphrates, and returned through Damascus to Judaea. There she was
politely received by her enemy Herod, who was too much in fear of Antony
to take his revenge on her. She farmed out to him the revenues of her
parts of Arabia and Judaea, and was accompanied by him on her way towards
Egypt. But after wondering at the wasteful feasts and gifts, in which
pearls and provinces were alike trifled with, we are reminded that even
Cleopatra was of the family of the Lagido, and that she was well aware
how much the library of the museum had added to the glory of Alexandria.
It had been burnt by the Roman troops under Caesar, and, to make amends
for this, Antony gave her the large library of the city of Pergamus, by
which Eumenes and Attalus had hoped to raise a school that should equal
the museum of Alexandria. Cleopatra placed these two hundred thousand
volumes in the temple of Serapis; and Alexandria again held the largest
library in the world; while Pergamus ceased to be a place of learning.
By the help of this new library, the city still kept its trade in books
and its high rank as a school of letters; and, when the once proud
kingdom of Egypt was a province of Rome, and when almost every trace of
the monarchy was lost, and half a century afterwards Philo, the Jewish
philosopher of Alexandria, asked, "Where are now the Ptolemies?" the
historian could have found an answer by pointing to the mathematical
schools and the library of the Serapeum.

But to return to our history. When Antony left Cleopatra, he marched
against the Parthians, and on his return he again entered Alexandria in
triumph, leading Artavasdes, King of Armenia, chained behind his chariot
as he rode in procession through the city. He soon afterwards made
known his plans for the government of Egypt and the provinces. He called
together the Alexandrians in the Gymnasium, and, seating himself and
Cleopatra on two golden thrones, he declared her son Caesarion her
colleague, and that they should hold Egypt, Cyprus, Africa, and
Coele-Syria. To her sons by himself he gave the title of kings the
children of kings; and to Alexander, though still a child, he gave
Armenia and Media, with Parthia when it should be conquered; and to
Ptolemy he gave Phoenicia, Syria, and Cilicia. Cleopatra wore the
sacred robe of Isis, and took the title of the New Isis, while the young
Alexander wore a Median dress with turban and tiara, and the l