Chapters 30 through 38 Summary

In chapter thirty, Cleopatra is heartened by Ptolemy's interest in a play, taking it as a positive sign with regard to his health. She learns that Caesar has been successful on the battlefield. When he returns to Rome, he talks about other military campaigns but promises to remain in Rome "for awhile" if she will also remain. She learns that Octavian is being sent away to learn military tactics. In chapter thirty-one, Ptolemy continues to grow worse and Cleopatra wishes she'd left while the weather permitted. There's a festival in which masters and slaves change roles for a day, and Cleopatra and Ptolemy visit several homes, including Marc Antony's.

In chapter thirty-two, there's the beginning of an upheaval as some call for Caesar to accept the creation of a higher power within the government. Cleopatra, watching the government's operations, longs to...