ABSTRACT
Ceasar, before his death, had assigned the province of Syria to Dolabella and that of Macedonia to Antony; but now the Senate, in order to rid Rome of the troublesome presence of the dictator's murderers, had given Macedonia and Syria to Marcus Brutus and Cassius, and these two men were now collecting troops with which to enter their dominions in safety. There was, however, equally reasonable cause for Brutus to have sympathised with Ceasar, for his supposed father had been put to death by Pompey, an execution which Ceasar had, as it were, been instrumental in avenging. Yet Cleopatra still delayed her departure, in the hope that the great event would take place on March 15th, so that at any rate she might return to Egypt in the knowledge that her position as Ceasar's wife was secured.
