Historians are inclined to see in the deaths of these three conspirators an instance of Cleopatra’s cruelty and vindictiveness; and one finds them described as victims of her insatiable ambition, the killing of Arsinoe being named as the darkest stain upon the Queen’s black reputation. I cannot see, however, in what manner a menace to her throne of this kind could have been removed, save by the ejection of the makers of the trouble from the earthly sphere of their activities. The death of Arsinoe, like that of Thomas à Beckett, is rendered ugly by the fact that it took place at the steps of a sacred altar; but, remembering the period in which these events occurred, the executions are not to be censured too severely, for what goodly king or queen of former days has not thus removed by death all pretenders to the throne?
Cleopatra’s visit to Tarsus does not seem to have been prolonged beyond a few weeks, but when at length she returned to Alexandria, she must have felt that her short residence with Antony had raised her prestige once more to the loftiest heights. Not only had she used his dictatorial power to sweep her two rivals and their presumed accomplice from the face of the earth, not only had she struck the terror of her power into the heart of the powerful High Priest of Artemis who, in the distant Ægean, had merely harboured a pretender to Egypt’s throne, but she had actually won the full support of Antony once more, and had extracted from him a promise to pay her a visit at Alexandria in order that he might see with his own eyes the wealth which Egypt could offer. For the first time, therefore, since the death of Cæsar, her prospects seemed once more to be brilliant; and it must have been with a light heart that she sailed across the Mediterranean once more towards her own splendid city.
There can be little doubt that Antony was extremely anxious to form a solid alliance with Cleopatra at this juncture, for he needed just such an ally for the schemes which he had in view. His relations with Octavian were strained, and the insignificant part played by the latter in the operations which culminated at Philippi had led him to feel some contempt for the young man’s abilities. The Triumvirate was, at best, a compromise; and Antony had no expectation that it would for one day outlive the acquisition either by Octavian or himself of preponderant power. At the back of his mind he hoped for the fall of Cæsar’s nephew; and he saw in the alliance with Cleopatra the means whereby he could obtain a numerical advantage over his rival.