Just by observing all that I have done for you, one can believe in my innocence. But if I may<hr>
add another argument, I would say  that just as we do not easily forget the favors others have extended us, we don't take lightly losing those we have bestowed. And we rarely wish to erase with insults the good services we did for someone.<hr> So ask yourself if it is possible that after doing for you all that I have done, would I wish to erase your memory of it and sow hatred in a heart I have lavished so much attention upon? Because, if you remember, dear Antony, you were more my conquest than I was yours. Renown had already given me a portrait of you which, filling me with admiration, pushed me to want to triumph over the victor of all the others by triumphing over you. My eyes won honorable victories, and among their captives, they can count Caesars and half-gods to whose charms I did not yet trust. I doubted my beauty in this event, considering it insufficient to conquer you. And as you were the most splendid of men, I wanted love to enter your heart through wonder, and the day of its capture to resemble a day of victory rather than a day of combat. Thus, I wanted to dazzle you with the beauty of my weaponry. If you recall, dear Antony, the first day I saw you, I appeared aboard a vessel with a gilded stern, purple sails and silver oars which kept time to varied instruments playing together. I was under a canopy woven of gold and, aware of your divine lineage descending from Hercules, I was aptly adorned in a Venus-like attire. All my women were dressed magnificently as nymphs, and a hundred angels surrounding me were there due to my desire to win your heart. Hence, dear Antony, this little army was assembled solely for you. It was no coincidence that you were entranced. I did everything in my power to ensure it, and everything that beauty, cleverness, skillfulness, and magnificence could accomplish was not overlooked that day. I know it's imprudent to unveil all this to you so far removed from the golden days of yore, but that day was so glorious for me that I am incapable of forgetting its memory. And speaking logically, this memory is not pointless for my justification. How can one think that I would have voluntarily wanted to lose my conquest? This line of thinking has never occurred to all conquerors. Alexander would have undoubtedly preferred losing Macedonia over Persia. The Kingdom of Macedonia belonged to his ancestors, but Persia was truly his own since he conquered it himself. And for the same reason, I would rather forfeit myself than lose you. As you know, I was not a severe conqueror. The chains I burdened you with were not heavy, my laws were not harsh, and my way of enforcing them would have made it difficult to recognize the conqueror from the conquered. Since then, what have I done that could make me suspect? It's true that I've forgotten my own glory, but it was out of love for you.<hr>
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