CAESAR                      Where is he now?

OCTAVIA                                My lord, in Athens.

CAESAR          No, my most wrongèd sister. Cleopatra

Hath nodded him to her. He hath given his empire

Up to a whore; who now are levying

The kings o’th’ earth for war. He hath assembled

Bocchus, the King of Libya; Archelaus

Of Cappadocia; Philadelphos, King

Of Paphlagonia; the Thracian King Adallas;

King Manchus of Arabia; King of Pont;

Herod of Jewry; Mithridates, King

Of Comagena; Polemon and Amyntas,

The Kings of Mede and Lycaonia;

With a more larger list of sceptres. (3.6.64-76)

So, where is he now then, Antony, your husband? asks Caesar, brutally, a question to which he (and the audience) already knows the answer. My lord, in Athens, where I left him, where I’ve come from; where else would he be? Does Octavia suspect, even as she speaks these words? No, my most wronged sister—and there can be a hint of pity here (you poor, trusting thing), or of self-righteousness, I knew all along, I told you so. (Caesar promoted this marriage too.) Cleopatra hath nodded him to her, one jerk of her head, a wink and a whistle, and he’s there. You wouldn’t see him for dust. And Caesar doesn’t have to turn the knife, doesn’t have to be so brutal, add to his sister’s humiliation—but he does, his instinct to censorious self-righteousness prevailing. He hath given his empire up to a whore(empire is Caesar’s main concern whereas Octavia’s, for all her political nous, is still her marriage); who are now levying the kings o’th’ earth for war. The pair of them, your so-called husband and that—woman—they’re making alliances, firming them up, and raising funds left right and centre. He hath assembled all these guys—and Caesar doesn’t have to list them (and the actor could wish that he doesn’t)—but it’s central to his way of operating to give all the evidence, all the circumstances, to prove that he’s on top of his brief, the master of all the facts, as well as proving it beyond doubt to poor Octavia. Best if he doesn’t even have to refer to the list in his hand. The point is, Antony’s got all the big guns assembled already, from all over the world, Central Asia and Asia Minor, and he’s got the minor kings lining up behind him too, the more larger list of sceptres. The time for peace missions is over; Antony’s preparing for war, and on a grand scale.