"You are too gentle and debonair for a throne! Hand over your government to me.

I will fill your treasury every year with gold.

I beg you now, come to Alexandria with Cleopatra for good, and share with me the palace and the gardens in the Bruchion.

I will nominate your little Philopator heir to the throne, for I have no wish to contract a permanent tie with any woman, as Cleopatra belongs to you.

This is a bold proposal, but reflect, Philometor, if you were to accept it, how much time it would give you for your music, your disputations with the Jews, and all your other favorite occupations." "You never know how far you may go with your jest!" interrupted Cleopatra.