Then she ordered the dessert to be served. But she said that this was merely a preliminary and assured him that the real banquet would use up the estimated sum and that she would consume the half-million dollar dinner all by herself. Antony laughed at her and asked for the reckoning. She did this so that the day should not be entirely wasted. So they made a bet, and on the next day when the bet was to be decided, she set before Antony a dinner that under other circumstances would have been a magnificent one but was an everyday affair for Antony. Antony was eager to learn about it but didn't think it could be done. When he asked her what could be added in the way of sumptuousness she replied that she would use up 10,000,000 sesterces at one dinner. When Antony was stuffing himself daily with rare foods, she proudly and impertinently, like the royal harlot that she was, sneered at his attempts at luxury and extravagance. (9.119‑21): "The last of the Egyptian queens," he says, "owned the two largest pearls of all time, left to her by oriental kings. The famous story of Cleopatra's pearls is told by Pliny the Elder in his Natural History
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