Duane W. Roller

attempt to raise as much funding as possible. Th is desperate action is
seemingly at odds with the reported vast sums on board the ships at
Actium, 61 repeated references to her treasure in the last days of her
life, and the large amounts of money that Octavian obtained aft er her
death through gift s or outright confi scation. 62 It is diffi cult to determine
what her fi nancial situation was at the end of her life. A comment by
Athenaios that Ptolemy XII had used up all the wealth of the Ptolemies
has been used to suggest that Cleopatra was virtually bankrupt. 63 But
the statement may be simply a slander against her father. Yet it does
seem that the queen never gained total control of the poor fi nancial situation
that she had inherited, and her recent lavish military expenditures
would have aggravated the situation. But it may merely be relative, as
poverty in Egypt was wealth anywhere else. Or it may be that the executions
were more to eliminate political rebellion than to gain funds, or
even fabricated Augustan propaganda that made its way into the later
historical tradition. 64 Cleopatra also looked for new allies and supposedly
executed Artavasdes II of Armenia, still a hostage at the court, and
sent his head to his rival, the king of Media Atropatene, also named
Artavasdes, in the hopes of support from that region. How true these
tales are cannot be determined.
Meanwhile Antonius had found no help in Cyrene. Th e governor, his
appointee L. Pinarius Scarpus, had received information from Actium
before Antonius’s messengers arrived. He killed them and refused to
receive Antonius, and delivered the four legions to Octavian. Antonius
had to be prevented from suicide and was brought to Alexandria by
his staff . He withdrew from society and built himself a beach cottage,
perhaps on the island of Pharos, which he named the Timoneion in
honor of the famous misanthrope Timon of Athens, and lived in isolation,
receiving ever more depressing reports. 65 Th e worst news was the
defection of Herod the Great, who, despite his absence from the battle,
had continued to advise Antonius aft er Actium, suggesting that the
only way to save himself was to eliminate Cleopatra. 66 Herod knew that
he was in great danger, as next to the queen he was Antonius’s most
powerful ally. He went to Rhodes, where Octavian had moved from
Athens, and presented himself in a speech that remains a masterpiece
of rhetoric. He admitted his devotion to Antonius and was candid in
noting that had he not been otherwise engaged he would have been at
Actium on Antonius’s side, since Herod was a man who stressed loyalty
as a primary virtue. But now he was prepared to resign his kingship.
Downfall 141