Enter Caesar with Agrippa, Maecenas, and his army, Caesar reading a letter

CAESAR          He calls me boy, and chides as he had power

To beat me out of Egypt. My messenger

He hath whipped with rods, dares me to personal combat,

Caesar to Antony. Let the old ruffian know

I have many other ways to die; meantime,

Laugh at his challenge.         (4.1.1-6)

Not all the army, obviously, but there’s a contrast with the previous scene, where Antony was mostly accompanied by women and servants, exiting with Cleopatra, not Enobarbus. Caesar, by contrast, has lieutenants, sidekicks, as well as ordinary ranks. And he’s not impressed, reading the expression of Antony’s renewed spirit of defiance. He calls me boy—always a sore point for Roman men, even more so when there is, as is the case for Caesar, a generation gap. He’s treating me as if I’m not one of the grown-ups! How dare he patronise me! But, even more, this is ridiculous: Antony chides as he had power to beat me out of Egypt. He’s acting as if he still has some cards to play, as if he’s actually in a position to negotiate, rather than just supplicate. He’s telling me off, being high-handed! How dare he?! Moreover my messenger—Thidias, who presumably brought the message—he hath whipped with rods(and Thidias, injured, might even be present, bruised and bandaged; whipped with rods is insulting, too, it’s what you’d do to a naughty, disobedient schoolboy). Antony’s been pulling rank without the slightest justification. And—the icing on the cake—he dares me to personal combat. The cheek of it! The hubris, both in thinking he could still get away with that, and thinking that he’s got a leg to stand on in proposing the terms of engagement. I call the shots here! (Caesar is right; he’s also sounding a bit like a petulant schoolboy: take me seriously!) So let the old ruffian know—no respect there, any longer, for Antony’s reputation and record; he’s past it, an embarrassment, although there might be a bit of laughing affection too, this is so utterly ludicrous—I have many other ways to die. Absolutely not taking this seriously; if I wanted to die, I could find a better and more appropriate way of doing so. Not worth it—and not really going to dignify this with a proper response. I laugh at his challenge; how could he even think I’d take it up? How embarrassing!