Aichmalatoi; or, The Captives

By John Carney

While Cleopatra and Marcus Antonius hide in their palace at Alexandria, Octavian leads the legions of Rome to Egypt. The outcome of their conflict will decide no less than the future of the Roman Empire, but it will also decide the fate of the child-pharaoh Caesarion, deemed a threat to Roman succession. Who will make it out alive?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Key and Candle, Inc
• Release date: Jun 22, 2022
• ISBN: 9781953666109

Book preview

Aichmalatoi; or, The Captives

a New Comedy

John Carney

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Key and Candle, Inc.

Copyright © 2020 by John Carney

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without written permission of the copyright owner except for the use of quotations in a book review.

Published by Key & Candle, Inc.

Jupiter, Florida

keyandcandle.com

ISBN: 978-1-953666-10-9

Book design by John Carney

Contents

Prologue

Act I

Act II

Act III

Act IV

Act V

Act VI

About Author

Also By

Prologue

The curtains remain drawn.

[Enter TURPIO, center.]

TURPIO

O, Divine Justice, take heed! I come before you as an emissary from our Poet. He stands faced with that all too familiar accusation: his critics claim that his work has been contaminated by those giants upon whose shoulders he perches. Give us something new! they clamor, all the while craving what they know — and what they know, they hate. Therefore, he will take what they know, and make of it something new, and they will hate it all the same. Judge for yourselves then whether our Poet deserves to continue his endeavors or be cast aside — for the same old words from the same old men mean little when weighed against your reception. Thus, I beseech you to pay heed to the pains our Poet has taken. Notice the careful manner in which He uses the characters that you well know to concoct this farce: the prodigal pimp, the greedy whore, the naïve youth, the clever slave, and the braggadocious captain. Our Poet tonight presents you a new production which He has named Aichmalotoi; or, The Captives. The facts stand as such: the two leading men of Rome have been engaged in an intermittent war for fifteen long years. In July of 30 B.C.E., Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, soon to be the Emperor Caesar Augustus, arrived in Alexandria to confront Marcus Antonius, soon to be deceased. Antonius had taken up with Caesar’s mistress: Cleopatra VII, the great lady of perfection, excellent in counsel, the great one, sacred image of her father, beloved goddess, eminently beautiful and imminently deceased. They had been living in Cleopatra’s Palace at Alexandria, and to that same palace the two lovers returned after their fleet was destroyed in the decisive Battle at Actium nearly a year prior to the young Caesar’s arrival.

[Exit TURPIO, center.]

Act I

Inside Cleopatra’s Palace at Alexandria. Two golden thrones sit on the stage, centered near the rear.

[Enter ANTONIUS, stage right. He wears Roman military attire with a sword at his side. He carries a large, golden cup full of wine.]

ANTONIUS

Ah, Dionysus, your gift gives life! You’ve always been there for me, waiting with a kiss that’s cool in summer and warm in winter, strong in the morning and soft in the evening. Where will you kiss me today?

[Enter CLEOPATRA, stage right. She