“We glorify the pharaohs and the Antonine family. Don’t be so naïve. The dead stay dead. Posterity favors the strong.”

Simoun speaks to those on the upper deck of the steamship on the way to Manila. He has been discussing the use of the labor of enslaved people to build a canal and uses historical precedence as an argument for tyranny. Not only is this a common argument to justify tyrants, but because Simoun’s goal is to foment rebellion, his examples carry with them footnotes of revolt. The pharaohs are linked to enslaved Jewish people and their being led away by the biblical Moses; the Antonine family ruled the Roman empire during the era known as Pax Romana, and their rule was ended by assassination.

“When fire heats it up, when little streams that at this point are found divided in small pools are pressed by a newfound destiny, they will come together in a deep abyss that men are now carving out.”

Isagani and Basilio speak with Simoun below deck on the steamship. Simoun has invited the two for beer, which they refuse. The ensuing discussion turns to politics, a favorite topic of Isagani’s, and Isagani uses water as a symbol and metaphor to describe the Filipino people.

“It was the type of struggle never before seen in the Filipino universe: a poor,

ignorant, friendless indio, convinced of his rights and the justice of his cause, fighting a highly powerful body before which justice bowed its head and judges dropped their scales and took up the sword.”

An important aspect of Cabesang Tales’s story is to illustrate the inherent toughness of the Filipino people. While a strong individual, Tales is used to represent what any person could accomplish if they work hard enough (and have some luck).