THE SCENE: One of the most famous episodes in the romance of Anthony and Cleopatra was when they made a bet about whether there were any limits to Cleopatra’s luxurious extravagances. Here, the famous man-of-letters Pliny the Elders recounts the tale.
THE TEXT: When Anthony was taking his fill every day at choice banquets, Cleopatra, headstrong woman as she was, with a haughty contempt, poured scorn on all his elegance and splendor. When Anthony asked how it could be more magnificent, Cleopatra replied that she would spend 10 million sesterces on one banquet.
Anthony wanted to know how this could be achieved, although he did not believe it was possible. So bets were laid and next day, when the dispute was to be settled, Cleopatra put before Anthony a banquet sufficiently splendid for the day not to be wasted, but one such as was served every day; he laughed and complained at its limited budget. She explained that this was just the started and that the banquet proper would complete the account – her dinner alone would cost 10 million sesterces. Cleopatra ordered the main course. Following her instructions, the servants set before her only a single vessel of vinegar, the acidity of which can dissolve pearls.
On her ears she was wearing that remarkable and truly unique work of Nature. Anthony waited breathlessly to see what on earth she was going to do. Cleopatra took off one ear-ring, dropped the pearl in the vinegar and, when it had dissolved, swallowed it. Lucius Plancus, who was umpire for the wager, put his hand on the other pearl when she prepared to destroy it in a similar way and declared that Anthony had been defeated – an omen that was to be fulfilled. The story is told that when Cleopatra, who had won this substantial wager, was captured, the second pearl was cut in two so that that half a dinner might adorn each ear of the statue of Venus in the Pantheon at Rome.
– Natural History, Pliny the Elder, 1st Century AD
