he ideas that prevailed in the courts
of kings in those days. Arsinoe, accordingly, gave her consent to the
proposal, and opened the gates of the city to Ceraunus and his troops.
Ceraunus immediately put her two sons to death. Arsinoe herself fled
from the city. Very probably Ceraunus allowed her to escape, since, as
she herself had no claim to the throne, any open violence offered to
her would have been a gratuitous crime, which would have increased,
unnecessarily, the odium that would naturally attach to Ceraunus's
proceedings. At any rate, Arsinoe escaped, and, after various
wanderings, found her way back to her former home in her father's
court at Alexandria.

The heart of Ceraunus was now filled with exultation and pride. All
his schemes had proved successful, and he found himself, at last, in
secure possession, as he thought, of a powerful and wealthy kingdom.
He wrote home to his brother in Egypt, Ptolemy Philadelphus--by whom,
as the reader will recollect, he had been supplanted there, in
consequence of his father's preference for the children of
Berenice--saying that he now acquiesced in that disposition of the
kingdom of Egypt, since he had acquired for himself a better kingdom
in Macedon. He proceeded to complete the organization of his
government. He recruited his armies; he fortified his towns; and began
to consider himself as firmly established on his throne. All his
dreams, however, of security and peace, were soon brought to a very
sudden termination.

There was a race of half-civilized people on the banks of the Danube
called Gauls. Some tribes of this nation afterward settled in what is
now France, and gave their name to that country. At the period,
however, of the events which we are here relating, the chief seat of
their dominion was a region on the banks of the Danube, north of
Macedon and Thrace. Here they had been for some time concentrating
their forces and gradually increasing in power, although their
movements had been very little regarded by Ceraunus. Now, however, a
deputation suddenly appeared at Ceraunus's capital, to say that they
were prepared for an invasion of his dominions, and asking him how
much money he would give for peace. Ceraunus, in the pride of his
newly-established power, treated this proposal with derision. He
directed the embassadors to go back and say that, far from wishing to
purchase peace, he would not _allow_ peace to them, unless they
immediately sent him all their