As you know, he had lost the battle a few days before and cowardly fled from those whom you destroyed shortly after. But this abandonment has nothing to do with yours, for love provoked your flight while fear triggered his. 
        Thus you see, my dear Antony, that you have been defeated without shame and that your enemy has won the victory but without glory. And our situation is not yet desperate. You have a powerful army near Actium, which is not yet under Octavius' sway. My realms still have men, money and fortresses. I want all my subjects to fight until their last drop of blood to preserve yours and your freedom. Finally, even when fate unjustly takes away all the crowns you deserve, and your values are forcibly torn from you, know that my love for you will remain the same. No, my dear Antony, even if chance and misfortune reduce us to live in a thatched hut, in a place isolated from the society of men, I will hold the same respect for you that I had in those blessed times when you were ruling kingdoms and twenty-two kings were seen behind you. Therefore, do not fear that misfortune will frighten me. There is only one misfortune I could not endure with you, and I know you will not tolerate it either. Yes, I, Cleopatra, can be exiled with Antony without complaining. I can renounce all the greatness of royalty and yet retain a will to live. But servitude, that I cannot bear, and I am sure you can't either. So rest assured that far from having dealings with Octavius, I pledge my word to die rather than entrust my fate to him and allow him to reduce me to slavery. No, Antony, I will never wear chains, and if fate leads me to a point where I have no other choice than Rome or death, the end of my life will justify the love you have for me and my innocence. But before we come to this last resort, let's do everything in our power to resist our enemies. Preserve life as much as possible, without shame, for in the end, it will only be precious as long as our love remains perfect. It seems to me as I look into your eyes that my speech has not been in vain. They tell me that your heart is making excuses for having unjustly suspected me, that it sees my innocence as pure as it is, and that the love it harbors for me is so strong that it continues to love the person who snatched victory from its grasp. For my part, you will always be my strongest and last passion. I confess that at a time when I did not know you, the greatness of Julius Caesar touched my heart, and I could not prevent myself from loving a man who, in the whole world, was reckoned the foremost of mortals. A man whom you once deemed worthy of the Roman Empire since you were the first to honor him by placing a diadem on his head in the middle of Rome, and it was you who, after his death, paid tribute to his memory with the beautiful and powerful speech you gave before the Roman people, banishing Brutus and Cassius, setting their palaces on fire and displaying your courage and friendship. But ever since I saw you, I assure you that you have perfectly ruled my soul, and that you will always rule within it.

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