ANTONY                     Speak this no more.

SOOTHSAYER                        To none but thee; no more but when to thee.

If thou dost play with him at any game

Thou art sure to lose; and of that natural luck

He beats thee ’gainst the odds. Thy lustre thickens

When he shines by. I say again, thy spirit

Is all afraid to govern thee near him;

But he away, ’tis noble.

ANTONY                                 Get thee gone.

Say to Ventidius I would speak with him;

He shall to Parthia.

[Exit Soothsayer]                    (2.3.21-30)

Antony isn’t keen on hearing this: speak this no more, but the soothsayer is insistent: to none but thee; no more but when to thee. Caesar just has that effect on you, just you, not on anyone else. And so, if thou dost play with him at any game, thou art sure to lose; and of that natural luck he beats thee ’gainst the odds. No matter what contest you engage in, even if it’s a game of chance, that natural luck, where everything should be equal, he’ll win. Thy lustre thickens when he shines by; he overshadows you, your natural brilliance is eclipsed and grows dim when he’s there. (The sense of dimming, of something being obscured, becoming blurred in its outline, out of focus, will recur in relation to Antony much later in the play.) Caesar stops you being your best and true self. I say again, thy spirit is all afraid to govern thee near him. It’s as if your soul, the very core of your being, your daemon becomes timid when he’s there. You don’t know how to act, how to control and comport yourself to your own best advantage. You simply lose your nerve. And yet he away, ’tis noble. When he’s not there, you’re unstoppable, in control not just of yourself but everything else too. Noble. Get thee gone, says Antony, frustrated and alarmed by this uncomfortable truth-telling, but partly disguising it as a need to get on with things, as if the soothsayer were just another underling to be sent on a message about the things that really matter, military strategy and operations. Say to Ventidius I would speak with him; he shall to Parthia. Look at me, being the decisive general, completely in control.