CAESAR          Take to you no hard thoughts.

The record of what injuries you did us,

Though written in our flesh, we shall remember

As things but done by chance.

CLEOPATRA   Sole sir o’th’ world,

I cannot project mine own cause so well

To make it clear, but do confess I have

Been laden with like frailties which before

Have often shamed our sex.            (5.2.113-120)

Caesar’s not evil, far from it, but he’s still a bit weird, and tin-eared, oblique, stiff. Take to you no hard thoughts: don’t worry, don’t be afraid in regard of my intentions towards you. I forgive you for, in effect, having rebelled against Rome, and for the harm you (and Antony) have done me and the empire: the record of what injuries you did us, though written in our flesh (and it’s interesting that Caesar responds to Cleopatra’s presence in such a physical, bodily way, as if imagining that she personally has bruised him, scarred him, not just her troops his armies) we shall remember as things but done by chance. I know you didn’t really mean it, it was just the way things turned out. (No mention of Antony.)

Cleopatra’s in control of herself, and makes her pitch carefully. Sole sir o’ th’ world: Caesar’s now sole because both Antony and Lepidus (remember him?) are now dead; Caesar’s the only one remaining of the triumvirate who once ruled the Roman empire between them. He’s it, the man now. And now a touch of self-deprecation and also an admission of fault: I cannot project mine own cause so well to make it clear. I can’t make the case that I’m blameless, innocent of wrong-doing in all of this. And I’m not going to try. But I do confess I have been laden with like frailties which before have often shamed our sex. (O Cleopatra. Sister.) But I’m a WOMAN—and therefore WEAK, inconstant, easily-led etc etc etc. (A queen’s got to do what a queen’s got to do. The little woman card is worth a go, flattering Caesar’s ego apart from anything else. How will Octavia’s brother respond? Especially interesting if a tough, savvy Octavia is present in the scene—not in the text, but sometimes a choice made in performance.)