ENOBARBUS Then, world, thou hast a pair of chops, no more,
And throw between them all the food thou hast,
They’ll grind the one the other. Where’s Antony?
EROS He’s walking in the garden, thus, and spurns
The rush that lies before him, cries ‘Fool Lepidus!’
And threats the throat of that his officer
That murdered Pompey.
ENOBARBUS Our great navy’s rigged.
EROS For Italy and Caesar. More, Domitius:
My lord desires you presently. My news
I might have told hereafter.
ENOBARBUS ’Twill be naught.
But let it be; bring me to Antony.
EROS Come, sir.
Exeunt
(3.5.11-21)
They’re going head to head then, Caesar and Antony: then, world, thou has a pair of chops, no more, imagining the world as a mouth, a maw, specifically jaws and no matter how much they’re fed—with the bodies of soldiers, with money, land, any other distractions—throw between them all the food thou hast, they’ll grind the one the other. Three triumvirs have become two, and Antony and Caesar will simply grind each other down, in a war of attrition. Where’s Antony? Walking in the garden, thus—Eros clearly imitates not only Antony’s walk, but his action; he’s kicking at the rush that lies before him, the bits of rubbish and twigs on the ground (and there might have been rushes covering the stage, a standard floor covering still at the time), and crying ‘Fool Lepidus’—Lepidus is, after all, an old stick—you idiot, what did you think you were doing? But more than that (and this is much bigger news to the audience) Antony threats the throat of that his officer that murdered Pompey. That is news, Pompey dead, and by the hand of one of Antony’s officers—the implication being that Antony might have been behind it, even though he’s now going after the man who did it, or threatening him with a similar fate. (Historically, Antony probably ordered the murder; Shakespeare glosses over this.) Our great navy’s rigged, adds Enobarbus, prepared for war—he knows which way things are going, and Eros’s news just confirms it—and Eros knows what comes next too: Antony’s readied his ships for Italy and Caesar. It’s going to be open war between them, and Antony is seizing the initiative. And the main point is, Domitius (I had forgotten, had I ever noted, that Enobarbus’s other name is Domitius) my lord desires you presently. I’ve been sent to bring you to Antony, right now, and my news I might have told hereafter. I could have filled you in along the way, or after that urgent meeting even. ’Twill be naught, suggests Enobarbus, the old soldier; no matter in the grand scheme of things that we’ve delayed a little, you telling me that Antony wants me there immediately (or, perhaps, this isn’t looking good). Let it be; bring me to Antony. Come, sir. The military tension is ratcheted up quite a bit in this little scene, not least because Enobarbus has hitherto been so laid back—but now he’s business-like and he knows the score, and what’s likely coming.