After remaining for some time
After remaining for some time in Alexandria, and renewing his connection
and intimacy with Cleopatra, Antony went away again, crossing the sea
into Asia, with the intention of prosecuting certain military
undertakings there which imperiously demanded his attention. His plan
was to return as soon as possible to Egypt after the object of his
expedition should be accomplished. He found, however, that he could not
bear even a temporary absence from Cleopatra. His mind dwelled so much
upon her, and upon the pleasures which he had enjoyed with her in Egypt,
and he longed so much to see her again, that he was wholly unfit for the
discharge of his duties in the camp. He became timid, inefficient, and
remiss, and almost every thing that he undertook ended disastrously. The
army, who understood perfectly well the reason of their commander's
remissness and consequent ill fortune, were extremely indignant at his
conduct, and the camp was filled with suppressed murmurs and complaints.
Antony, however, like other persons in his situation, was blind to all
these indications of dissatisfaction; probably he would have disregarded
them if he had observed them. At length, finding that he could bear his
absence from his mistress no longer, he set out to march across the
country, in the depth of the winter, to the sea-shore, to a point where
he had sent for Cleopatra to come to join him. The army endured
incredible hardships and exposures in this march. When Antony had once
commenced the journey, he was so impatient to get forward that he
compelled his troops to advance with a rapidity greater than their
strength would bear. They were, besides, not provided with proper tents
or with proper supplies of provisions. They were often obliged,
therefore, after a long and fatiguing march during the day, to bivouac
at night in the open air among the mountains, with scanty means of
appeasing their hunger, and very little shelter from the cold rain, or
from the storms of driving snow. Eight thousand men died on this march,
from cold, fatigue, and exposure; a greater sacrifice, perhaps, than had
ever been made before to the mere ardor and impatience of a lover.
