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DIO'S ROME


AN HISTORICAL NARRATIVE ORIGINALLY COMPOSED IN GREEK DURING THE REIGNS
OF SEPTIMIUS SEVERUS, GETA AND CARACALLA, MACRINUS, ELAGABALUS AND
ALEXANDER SEVERUS:



AND


NOW PRESENTED IN ENGLISH FORM


BY

HERBERT BALDWIN FOSTER, A.B. (Harvard), Ph.D. (Johns Hopkins), Acting
Professor of Greek in Lehigh University



SECOND VOLUME _Extant Books 36-44 (B.C. 69-44)_.



1905

PAFRAETS BOOK COMPANY TROY NEW YORK






VOLUME CONTENTS

Book Thirty-six

Book Thirty-seven

Book Thirty-eight

Book Thirty-nine

Book Forty

Book Forty-one

Book Forty-two

Book Forty-three

Book Forty-four




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

36

Metellus subdues Crete by force (chapters 1, 2)[1]

Mithridates and Tigranes renew the war (chapter 3).

Lucullus does not take advantage of his victory: a successor is
appointed: he captures Tigranocerta (chapter 4).

Arsaces, the Parthian, lends aid to neither party (chapter 5).

Lucullus, after a rather disastrous conflict, besieges and captures
Nisibis (chapters 6-8).

Meanwhile he loses the Armenias: Fabius is conquered (chapters 10, 11).

Triarius follows Mithridates to Comana: is afterwards overcome by him
(chapters 12-15).

Uprising in Lucullus's army: Mithridates regains everything (chapters
16-19).

Insolence of the pirates (chapters 20-23).

The consequent war, in spite of opposition on the part of many, is by
the Gabinian law entrusted to Pompey and is very quickly brought to an
end (chapters 23-37).

Cornelian laws in regard to canvassing for office and edicts of praetors:
the Roscian in regard to seats for the knights: the Manilian in regard
to the voting of freedmen (chapters 38-42).

The Mithridatic war by the Manilian law is given in charge of Pompey
(chapters 43, 44).

Pompey vanquishes Mithridates in a night battle (chapters 45-50).

Tigranes, the father, surrenders himself: his son is put in chains
(chapters 51-53).

An attack of the Albani is repulsed (chapter 54).


DURATION OF TIME.

Q. Hortensius, Q. Caecilius Metellus Creticus Coss. (B.C. 69 = a.u. 685.)

L. Caecilius Metellus (dies,[2] then) Q. Marcius Rex alone.(B.C. 68 =
a.u. 686.)

M. Acilius Glabrio, C. Calpurnius Piso. (B.C. 67 = a.u. 687.)

L. Volcatius Tullus, M. Aemilius Lepidus. (B.C. 66 = a.u. 688.)


(_BOOK 36, BOISSEVAIN_.)

The beginning of this book is missing in the MSS. The gist of the lost
portion may in all probability be gathered from the following sentences
of Xiphilinus (p. 3, R. Steph.):

"When the consuls drew lots, Hortensius obtained the war against the
Cretans. Because of his fondness, however, for residence in the capital,
and because of the courts (in which his influence was only second to
Cicero's) he voluntarily relinquished the campaign in favor of his
colleague and himself remained at home. Metellus accordingly started for
Crete ...

"Lucius Lucullus at about this period worsted the lords of
Asia,--Mithridates and Tigranes the Armenian,--in the war, and having
compelled them, to avoid a pitched battle proceeded to besiege
Tigranocerta. The barbarians did him serious injury by means of their
archery as well as by the naphtha which they poured over his engines.
This chemical is full of bitumen and is so fiery that whatever it
touches it is sure to burn to a cinder, and it can not be extinguished
by any liquid. As a consequence Tigranes recovered courage and marched
forth with an army of such huge proportions that he actually laughed
heartily at the appearance of the Romans present there. He is said to
have remarked that in cases where they came to make war only a few
presented themselves, but when it was an embassy, many came. However,
his amusement was of short duration, and he forthwith discovered how far
courage and skill surpass any mere numbers. Relics of his subsequent
flight were found by the soldiers in the shape of his tiara and the band
that goes around it; and they gave them to Lucullus. In his fear that
these marks might lead to his recognition and capture he had pulled them
off and thrown them away."

[B.C. 69 (_a.u._ 685)]

[-1-] ... and because he had enjoyed the extremes of fortune in both
respects, he allowed it. For after his many defeats and victories no
fewer, he had a firm belief that he had in consequence become more
versed in generalship. His foes accordingly busied themselves as if they
were then for the first time beginning war, sending an embassy to their
various neighbors, including among others Arsaces the Parthian, although
he was hostile to Tigranes on account of some disputed territory. This
they offered to vacate for him, and proceeded to malign the Romans,
saying that the latter, should they conquer them while isolated, would
immediately make a campaign against him. Every victorious force was
inherently insatiable of success and put no bound to acquisition, and
the Romans, who had won the mastery over many, would not choose to leave
him alone.

[-2-] While they were so engaged, Lucullus did not follow up Tigranes,
but allowed him to reach safety quite at leisure. Because of this he was
charged by the citizens, as well as others, with refusing to end the
war, in order that he might retain his command a longer time. Therefore
they then restored the province of Asia to the praetors, and later, when
he apparently acted in this way again, sent to him the consul of that
year, to relieve him. Tigranocerta he did seize when the foreigners that
dwelt with the natives revolted to the side of the Armenians. The most
of these were Cilicians who had once been deported, and they let in the
Romans during the night. Thereupon everything was laid waste except what
belonged to the Cilicians; and many wives of the principal chiefs
Lucullus held, when captured, free from outrage: by this action he won
over their husbands also. He received further Antiochus, king of
Commagene (the Syrian country near the Euphrates and the Taurus), and
Alchaudonius, an Arabian chieftain, and others who had made proposals
for peace.

[-3-] From them he learned of the embassy sent by Tigranes and
Mithridates to Arsaces, and despatched to him, on his part, some of the
allies with threats, in case he should aid the foe, and promises, if he
should espouse the Roman cause. Arsaces at that time (for he still
nourished anger against Tigranes and felt no suspicion toward the
Romans) sent a counter-embassy to Lucullus, and established friendship
and alliance. Later, at sight of Secilius,[3] who had come to him, he
began to suspect that the emissary was there to spy out the country and
his power. It was for this cause, he thought, and not for the sake of
the agreement which had already been made that a man distinguished in
warfare had been sent. Hence he no longer rendered them any help. On the
other hand, he made no opposition, but stood aloof from both parties,
naturally wishing neither to grow strong. He decided that an evenly
balanced contest between them would bring him the greatest safety.

[B.C. 68 (_a.u._ 686)]

[-4-] Besides these transactions Lucullus this year subdued many parts
of Armenia. In the year of Quintus Marcius (Note by the author.--By this
I mean that although he was not the only consul appointed, he was the
only one that held office. Lucius Metellus, elected with him, died in
the early part of the year, and the man chosen in his stead resigned
before entering upon office, wherefore no one else was appointed.),--in
this year, then, when summer was half way through (in the spring it was
impossible to invade hostile territory by reason of the cold), Lucullus
entered upon a campaign and devastated some land purposing to draw the
barbarians, while defending it, imperceptibly into battle. As he could
not rouse them for all that, he attacked. [-5-]In this engagement the
opposing cavalry gave the Roman cavalry hard work, but none of the foe
approached the infantry; indeed, whenever the foot-soldiers of Lucullus
assisted the horse, the adversaries of the Romans would turn to flight.
Far from suffering harm, however, they shot backward at those pursuing
them, killing some instantly and wounding great numbers. Such wounds
were dangerous and hard to heal. This was because they used double
arrow-points and furthermore poisoned them, so that the missiles,
whether they stuck fast anywhere in the body or were drawn out, would
quickly destroy it, since the second iron point, having no attachment,
would be left within.

[-6-] Lucullus, since many were being wounded, some were dying, and some
were being maimed, and provisions at the same time were failing them,
retired from that place and marched against Nisibis. This city is built
in the region called Mesopotamia (Author's note.--Mesopotamia is the
name given to all the country between the Tigris and Euphrates.) and now
belongs to us, being considered a colony of ours. But at that time
Tigranes, who had seized it from the Parthians, had deposited in it his
treasuries and most of his other possessions, and had stationed his
brother as guard over it. Lucullus reached this city in summer time, and
although he directed his attacks upon it in no half-hearted fashion, he
effected nothing. For the walls being of brick, double and of great
thickness, with a deep moat intervening, could be neither shaken down
nor dug through and consequently Tigranes was not lending them
assistance.[-7-] When winter set in, and the barbarians were behaving
rather carelessly, inasmuch as they had the upper hand and were all but
expecting to drive out the Romans, Lucullus waited for a night without a
moon, when there was a violent storm of thunder and rain, so that the
foe, not being able to see ahead or hear a sound, left the outer city
(all but a few of them) and the intervening moat. He then assailed the
wall at many points, ascending it without difficulty from the mounds,
and easily slew the guards, not many in number, who had been left behind
upon it. In this way he filled up a part of the moat--the barbarians had
broken down the bridges in advance--and got across, since in the
downpour neither archery nor fire could harm him. Immediately he
captured nearly everything, for the inner circle was not very strong by
reason of the confidence felt in the outer works beyond it. Among those
that fled to the acropolis, whom he subsequently caused to capitulate,
was the brother of Tigranes. He also obtained considerable money and
passed the winter there.

[-8-] Nisibis, then, he overpowered as described, but many localities of
Armenia and the other countries around Pontus he lost. Tigranes had not
aided the town in question through the idea that it could not be
captured, but had hurried to the aforementioned places to see if he
could acquire them before Lucullus, while the latter was occupied near
the other city. Despatching Mithridates to his native land, Tigranes
himself entered his own district of Armenia. There he was opposed by
Lucius Fannius, whom he cut off and besieged, however, until Lucullus
ascertaining it sent assistance. [-9-]Meanwhile Mithridates had invaded
the other Armenia and surrounding neighborhood, where he fell upon and
destroyed many of the Romans to whom he appeared unexpectedly as they
were wandering about the country. Others he annihilated in battle, and
thereby won back speedily most of the positions. For the men of that
land were well disposed toward him because of kinship and because of his
being hereditary monarch: they hated the Romans because the latter were
foreigners and because they had been ill treated by those set over them.
Consequently they sided with Mithridates and afterward conquered Marcus
Fabius, leader of the Romans in that place. The Thracians, who had
formerly been mercenaries under Mithridates, but were then with Fabius,
and the slaves present in the Roman camp gave them vigorous assistance.
Thracians sent ahead by Fabius to reconnoitre brought back to him no
reliable report, and later, when Mithridates suddenly fell upon him as
he was proceeding along in a rather unguarded fashion, they joined in
the attack on the Romans. At the same instant the slaves (to whom the
barbarians had proclaimed freedom) took a hand in the work. They would
have crushed their adversaries, had not Mithridates while occupied with
the enemy--although over seventy years old he was in the battle--been
hit with a stone. This caused the barbarians to fear that he might die;
and while they halted battle on this account, Fabius and the others were
able to escape to safety.[-10-] The Roman general was subsequently shut
up and besieged in Cabira, but was rescued by Triarius. The latter was
in that vicinity on his way from Asia to Lucullus. Having learned what
had happened he collected as large a force as was possible with the
resources at hand and in his advance so alarmed Mithridates (probably by
the size of the Roman detachment) as to make him withdraw before
Triarius came in view. At this the Romans took courage, and pursuing the
enemy as far as Comana, whither he had retired, won a victory over him.
Mithridates was in camp on the opposite side of the river from the point
where the Romans approached, and was anxious to join battle while they
were worn out from the march. Accordingly he himself met them first, and
directed that at the crisis of the battle others should cross from
another direction, by a bridge, to take part in the attack. But whereas
he fought an equal conflict a long time he was deprived of
reinforcements by the confusion on the bridge across which many were
pushing at one time, crowded all, together.

[-11-] Thereafter they both retreated to their own fortifications and
rested, for it was now winter. Comana belongs to the present territory
of Cappadocia and was reported to have preserved right through to that
time the Tauric statue of Artemis and the race of Agamemnon. As to how
these reached them or how remained there I can find no certain account,
since there are various stories. But what I understand accurately I will
state. There are two cities in Cappadocia not far apart and of the same
name which contend for the same honors. Their myths and the relics they
exhibit are alike, and both treasure a sword, which is supposedly the
very one connected with the story of Iphigenia.

[B.C. 67 (_a.u._ 687)]

[-12-] To resume our narrative. The following year, in the consulship of
Manius Acilius and Gaius Piso, Mithridates encamped against Triarius
near Gaziura, trying to challenge and provoke him to battle; for
incidentally he himself practiced watching the Romans and trained his
army to do so. His hope was to engage and vanquish Triarius before
Lucullus came up and thus get back the rest of the province. As he could
not arouse him, he sent some men to Dadasa, a garrison where the Romans'
baggage was deposited, in order that his opponent by defending it might
be drawn into conflict. And so it was. Triarius for a time fearing the
numbers of Mithridates and expecting Lucullus, whom he had sent for,[4]
remained quiet. But when news came of the siege of Dadasa, and the
soldiers in fear for the place got disturbed and kept threatening that
if no one would lead them out they would go to the rescue at their own
bidding, he reluctantly left his position. As he was now moving forward
the barbarians fell upon him, surrounded and overwhelmed by their
numbers those near at hand, and encompassed with cavalry and killed
those who, not knowing that the river had been directed into the plain,
had fled thither.[-13-] They would have destroyed them utterly, had not
one of the Romans, pretending to come from the allies of Mithridates--no
few of whom, as I have said, were along with the expedition on an equal
footing with the Romans,--approached the leader, as if wishing to make
some communication, and wounded him. To be sure, the fellow was
immediately seized and put to death, but the barbarians were so
disheartened in view of the occurrence that many of the Romans escaped.

When Mithridates had had his wound cured, he suspected that there were
some others, too, of the enemy in the camp. So he held a review of the
soldiers as if with a different purpose, and gave the order that they
should retire singly to their tents with speed. Then he despatched the
Romans, who were thus left alone. [-14-] At this juncture the arrival of
Lucullus gave the idea to some that he would conquer Mithridates easily,
and soon recover all that had been let slip: however, he effected
nothing. For his antagonist, entrenched on the high ground near Talaura,
would not come out against him, and the other Mithridates from Media,
son-in-law of Tigranes, fell upon the Romans while scattered, and killed
many of them. Likewise the approach of Tigranes himself was announced.

Then there was mutiny in the army; for the Valerians,[5] who had been
exempted from military service and afterward had started on a campaign
again, had been restless even at Nisibis on account of the victory and
ensuing idleness, and also because they had had provisions in abundance
and the bulk of the management, Lucullus being absent on many errands.
But it was chiefly because a certain Publius Clodius (whom some called
Claudius) under the influence of an innate love of revolution solidified
the seditious element among them, though his sister was united in
wedlock to Lucullus. They were especially wrought up at that time,
moreover, through hearing that Acilius the consul, who had been sent out
to relieve Lucullus for reasons mentioned, was drawing near. They held
him in slight repute, regarding him as a mere private citizen.
[-15-]Lucullus was in a dilemma both for these reasons and because
Marcius[6] (consul the year before Acilius), who was en route to
Cilicia, the province he was destined to govern, had refused a request
of his for aid. He hesitated to depart through a barren country and
feared to stand his ground: hence he set out against Tigranes, to see if
he could repulse the latter while off his guard and tired from the
march, and thus put a stop, to a certain extent, to the mutiny of the
soldiers. He attained neither object. The army accompanied him to a
certain spot from which it was possible to turn aside into Cappadocia,
and all with one consent without a word turned off in that direction.
The Valerians, indeed, learning that they had been exempted from the
campaign by the authorities at home, withdrew altogether.

[-16-] Let no one wonder that Lucullus, who had proved himself of all
men most versed in warfare, and was the first Roman to cross the Taurus
with an army and for hostile operations, who had vanquished two powerful
kings and would have captured them if he had chosen to end the war
quickly, was unable to rule his fellow-soldiers, and that they were
always revolting and finally left him in the lurch. He required a great
deal of them, was difficult of access, strict in his demands for labor,
and inexorable in his punishments: he did not understand how to win over
a man by argument, or to attach him to himself by kindliness, or to make
a comrade of him by sharing honors or wealth,--all of which means are
necessary, especially in a large body, and most of all in a body of
soldiers. Hence the soldiers, as long as they prospered and got booty
that was a fair return for their dangers, obeyed him: but when they
encountered trouble and fell into fear instead of hopes, they no longer
heeded him at all. The proof of this is that Pompey took these same men
(he enrolled the Valerians again) and kept them without the slightest
show of revolt. So much does man differ from man.

[-17-] After this action of the soldiers Mithridates won back almost all
his domain and wrought dire devastation in Cappadocia, since neither
Lucullus defended it, under the excuse that Acilius was near, nor
Acilius himself. For the latter, who in the first place was hurrying on
to rob Lucullus of the fruits of victory, now, when he learned what had
taken place, did not come to the camp, but delayed in Bithynia. As for
Marcius, the pretext which he gave for not assisting Lucullus was that
his soldiers refused to follow him. When he reached Cilicia he received
one Menemachus, a deserter from Tigranes, and Clodius who had revolted
under Lucullus, and, fearing a repetition of the doings at Nisibis, he
put him in command of the fleet; for Marcius, too, had one of his
sisters as wife. Now Clodius, after being captured by the pirates and
released by them in consequence of their fear of Pompey, came to Antioch
in Syria, declaring that he would be their ally against the Arabians,
with whom the people were then at variance. There, likewise, he caused
some to revolt, and his activity nearly cost him his life.

[-18-] ... he spares.[7] In his eagerness for supremacy he assailed even
the Cretans who had come to terms with him, and not heeding their
objection that there was a state of truce he hastened to do them harm
before Pompey came up. Octavius, who was there, had no troops and so
kept quiet: in fact, he had not been sent to do any fighting, but to
take charge of the cities. Cornelius Sisenna, the governor of Greece,
did, to be sure, when he heard the news, come to Crete and advise
Metellus to spare the villages, but on failing to persuade him made no
active opposition. Metellus, after many other outrages, captured by
treachery the city Eleuthera and extorted money from it. The traitors
had repeatedly at night saturated with vinegar a very large brick tower,
most difficult of capture, so that it became brittle. Next he took by
storm Lappa, in spite of Octavius's occupancy, and did the latter no
harm, but put to death the Cilicians, his followers. [-19-]Octavius,
incensed at this, no longer remained quiet, but first used the army of
Sisenna (that general had fallen sick and died) to aid here and there
the victims of oppression, and then, when the detachment of Metellus had
retired, proceeded to Aristion at Hieropydna, by whose side he fought.
Aristion, on the retreat from Cydonia about that time, had conquered one
Lucius Bassus who sailed out to oppose him, and had gained possession of
Hieropydna. They held out for a while, but at the approach of Metellus
left the fortification and put to sea. There they encountered a storm,
and were driven ashore, losing many men. Henceforth Metellus was master
of the entire island.

In this way the Cretans, who had been free through all preceding ages
and had never owned a foreign lord, were enslaved; and from their
subjugation Metellus obtained his title. He was, however, unable to have
Panares and Lasthenes (whom he had also captured) march in his triumph.
For Pompey had got them away beforehand by persuading one of the
tribunes that it was to him they had submitted and not to Metellus.

[-20-] I will now relate the progress of Pompey's career. The pirates,
occupied in plundering, kept troubling continually those who sailed as
well as the dwellers on land. There was never a time when piracy was not
practiced, nor may it cease so long as the nature of mankind remains the
same. But formerly plundering was limited to certain localities and
small bands operating only during the regular season on sea and on land;
whereas at this time, ever since war had been carried on continuously in
many different places, and many cities had been uprooted, while
sentences hung over the heads of all the fugitives even, and fear
confronted men in everything, large numbers turned to plundering. Now
the bandit organizations on the mainland, being rather in sight of
towns, which could thus perceive a source of injury close by, proved not
so very difficult to overwhelm and were somehow broken up with a fair
degree of ease; but those on the sea had grown to the greatest
proportions. While the Romans were busy with antagonists they
flourished. They sailed about to many quarters, adding to their band all
of like condition, and some of these, after the fashion of allies,
assisted many others.[-21-] How much they accomplished with the help of
the outsiders has been told. When those nations were overthrown, instead
of ceasing they did much serious damage alone by themselves to the
Romans and Roman allies. They were no longer in small force, but were
accustomed to sail in great expeditions; and they had generals, so that
they had acquired a great reputation. They robbed and harried first and
foremost sailors: for such not even the winter season was any longer
safe; the pirates through daring and through practice and through
success were now showing absolute fearlessness in their seamanship.
Second, they pillaged even craft lying in harbors. If any one ventured
to put out against them, usually he was defeated and perished; but even
if he conquered he would be unable to capture any of the enemy by reason
of the speed of their ships. Accordingly, they would return after a
little, as if victors, to ravage and set in flames not only farms and
country districts, but also whole cities. But other places they
conciliated, so as to gain apparently friendly naval stations and winter
quarters.

[-22-] As they progressed by these means it became customary for them to
go into the interior, and they did much mischief even among those who
had no sea-traffic. This is the way they treated not only those outside
of their body of allies, but the land of Italy itself. Believing that
they would obtain greater gains from that quarter and that they would
terrify all others still more, if they refused to hold their hands even
from that country, they sailed into the very harbor of Ostia, and also
of other cities in the vicinity, burned the ships and ravaged
everything. Finally, as no setback occurred, they took up their abode on
the land, disposing of whatever men they did not kill, and of the spoils
they took quite fearlessly, as if in their own territory. And though
some plundered in one region and others elsewhere,--it not being
possible for the same persons to do harm the whole length of the
sea,--they nevertheless showed such friendship one for another that they
sent money and assistance even to those entirely unknown, as if to
nearest kin. One of the largest elements in their strength was that
those who helped any of them all would honor, and those who came into
collision with any of them all would despoil.

[-23-] To such an extent did the supremacy of the pirates grow that
their hostility became a matter of moment, constant, admitting no
precaution, implacable. The Romans, of course, from time to time heard
and saw a little of what was going on, inasmuch as imports in general
ceased coming in and the corn supply was shut off entirely; but they
gave no serious attention to it when they ought. On the contrary, they
would send out fleets and generals, according as they were stirred by
individual reports, but effected nothing; instead, they caused their
allies all the greater distress by these very means, until they were
finally reduced to extremities. Then at last they came together and
deliberated many days as to what steps must be taken. Wearied by the
continued dangers and noting how great and far reaching was the war
raised against them, and believing, too, that it was impossible to
assail the pirates all at once or individually, because the latter gave
mutual assistance and it was impracticable to drive them back everywhere
at once, the people fell into a dilemma and into great despair of making
any successful stroke. In the end one Aulus Gabinius, a tribune, set
forth his plan: he was either prompted by Pompey or wished to do him
some favor; certainly he was not impelled by any love of the common
welfare, for he was the vilest of men: his plan was that they should
choose from among the ex-consuls one general with full powers over all,
who should command for three years and have the use of a huge force,
with many lieutenants. He did not actually utter the name of Pompey, but
it was easy to see that if once the multitude should hear of any such
proposition, they would choose him. [-24-] So it turned out. His motion
was carried and immediately all save the senate began to favor Pompey.
That body was in favor of enduring anything whatever at the hands of the
freebooters rather than to put so great command into Pompey's hands. In
fact they came near slaying Gabinius in the very halls of the senate,
but he eluded them somehow. When the people learned the intention of the
senators they raised an uproar, going to the point of making a rush at
them as they sat assembled: and if the elders had not gotten out of the
way, the populace would without doubt have killed them. They all
scattered and secreted themselves except Gaius Piso the consul (it was
in his year and Acilius's that these events took place), who was
arrested and condemned to perish for the others; but Gabinius begged him
off. After this the leading men themselves gladly held their peace on
condition of being allowed to live, but used influence on the nine
tribunes, to have them oppose Gabinius. All of the latter, however,
except a Lucius Trebellius and Lucius Roscius, out of fear of the
multitude would not say a word in opposition; and those two men, who had
the courage, were unable to redeem any of their promises by either word
or deed. For when the appointed day came on which the motion was to be
ratified, things went as follows.

Pompey, who was thoroughly anxious to command, and already by reason of
his own ambition and the zeal of the populace no longer so much regarded
this commission as an honor as the failure to win it a disgrace, seeing
the opposition of those in power had a wish to appear as if compulsion
were being used. In general he was as little as possible in the habit of
revealing his real desires, but still more on this occasion did he feign
reluctance, because of the ensuing jealousy, should he of his own accord
lay claim to the leadership, and because of the glory if he should be
appointed unwillingly as the one most worthy to command.

[-25-] He now came forward and said: "Quirites, I rejoice at the honor
laid upon me by you. All men naturally take pride in benefits conferred
upon them by the citizens, and I, who have often enjoyed honors at your
hands, scarcely know how to be worthily pleased at the present
contingency. However, I do not think that you should be so insatiable
with regard to my services, nor that I should incessantly be in some
position of command. For I have labored since childhood, and as you
know, you should be promoting others as well. Do you not recall how many
toils I underwent in the war against Cinna, though I was the veriest
youth, or how many labors in Sicily and in Africa before I had quite
reached the age of iuvenis, or how many dangers I encountered in Spain,
while I was not as yet a senator? I shall not say that you have shown
yourselves ungrateful toward me for all these labors. How could I? Quite
the reverse, in addition to the many other important favors of which you
have deemed me worthy, the very fact that I was trusted to undertake the
post of general against Sertorius, when no one else was either willing
or able, and that I held a triumph, contrary to custom, after resigning
it, brought me the greatest honor. I only say that I have undergone many
anxieties and many dangers, that I am worn out in body and wearied in
soul. Do not keep reckoning that I am still young, nor calculate that I
have lived just so many years. For if you count up the campaigns that I
have made and the dangers I have faced, you will find them far more in
number than my years, and by this means you will more readily believe
that I can no longer withstand the anxieties and the hardships."

[-26-] "Some one might possibly reply: 'But you see that all such
opportunities for toil are causes of jealousy and hatred.' This feature
you hold in no account--you ought not properly even to pretend to regard
it--but to me it would prove most grievous. And I must admit that I am
not so much disturbed or troubled by any danger to be encountered in the
midst of wars as by such exhibitions. For what person in his right mind
could take pleasure in living among men who are jealous of him, and who
would feel the heart to carry out any public enterprise, if destined in
case of failure to submit to punishment and if successful to be the
object of rancorous envy? In view of these and other considerations
allow me to remain at peace and attend to my own business, so that now
at last I may bestow some care upon my private affairs and not perish
from exhaustion. Against the pirates elect somebody else. There are many
who are both willing and able to serve as admirals, both younger and
older men, so that your choice from so numerous a company becomes easy.
Of course I am not the only one who loves you, nor am I alone skilled in
warfare, but--not seeming to favor any by mentioning names--equally so
is A or B."

[-27-] At this point in his harangue Gabinius, interrupting, cried:
"Pompey's behavior in this very matter, Quirites, is worthy of his
character. He does not seek the leadership, nor does he accept it
without thought when granted him. An upright man has no business,
generally speaking, to desire the annoyances incident to office, and it
is Pompey's way to undertake all tasks imposed upon him only with due
consideration, in order that he may accomplish them with corresponding
safety. Precipitation in promises and in action, more hasty than the
occasion demands, causes the downfall of many; but exactitude at the
start as well as in execution possesses a constant value and is to the
advantage of all. You must choose not what would satisfy Pompey, but
what is of benefit to the state. Not office seekers, but those who have
capacity should be appointed to the business in hand; the former exist
in very large numbers, but any other such man as my candidate you will
not find. You recall, further, how many reverses of a serious nature we
endured in the war against Sertorius through lack of a general, and that
we found no one else among young or old adapted to it except the man
before you; and that we sent him to the field in place of both consuls,
although at that time he had not yet reached a mature age and was not a
member of the senate. I should be glad if we did have many able men, and
if I ought to pray for such, I would so pray: since, however, this
ability does not depend on prayer or come of its own accord to any one,
but a man has to be born with a natural bent for it, to learn what is
pertinent and practice what is fitting and beyond everything to enjoy
good fortune, which would very rarely fall to the lot of the same man,
you must all unanimously, whenever such an one is found, both support
him and make the fullest use of him even if he does not wish it. Such
violence proves most noble both to him who exerts it and to him who
suffers it,--to the former because he would be preserved by it, and to
the latter because it would preserve the citizens, in whose behalf the
excellent and patriotic man would most readily give up both body and
soul.

[-28-] "Do you think that whereas this Pompey when a youth could conduct
campaigns, be general, increase our possessions, preserve those of our
allies, and acquire those of our adversaries, now, in the prime of life,
when every man fairly surpasses himself, with a mass of additional
experience gained from wars he could not prove most useful to you? Will
you reject, now that he has reached man's estate, him whom while iuvenis
you chose to lead? Will you not confide this campaign to the man, now
become a member of the senate, to whom while still a knight you
committed those wars? Will you not, now that you have most amply tested
his mettle, commit the present emergency, no less pressing than former
ones, to him for whom alone you asked in the face of those urgent
dangers ere you had applied any accurate test at all? Will you not send
out against the pirates one, now an ex-consul, whom before he could yet
properly hold office you elected against Sertorius? Rather, do not for a
moment adopt any other course; and Pompey, do you heed your country, and
me. By her you were borne, by her you were reared. You must be a slave
to whatever is for her advantage, not shrinking from any hardship or
danger to secure it. And should it become necessary for you to lose your
life, you must in that case not await your fated day but embrace
whatever death meets you. [-29-] But truly I am ridiculous to give you
this advice,--you who in so many great conflicts have exhibited both
your bravery and your love for your country. Heed me, therefore, and
these citizens here; do not fear because some are envious. Rather press
on all the more for this very reason to a goal which is the friendship
of the majority and the common advantage of us all, and scorn your
traducers. Or, if you are willing to grieve them a little, take command
for this very reason, that you may distress them by serving and winning
glory contrary to their expectations, and that you may in person set an
ending worthy of yourself beside your former accomplishments, by ridding
us of many great evils."

[-30-] When Gabinius had thus expressed himself, Trebellius strove to
make a dissenting speech; but as he did not receive leave to speak he
proceeded to oppose the casting of a vote. Gabinius was incensed, and
delayed the balloting regarding Pompey, but introduced a new motion
concerning the same man. The first seventeen tribes to register an
opinion decided that Trebellius was at fault and might be no longer
tribune. And not until the eighteenth was on the point of voting the
same way, was he barely induced to maintain silence. Roscius, seeing
this, did not dare utter a word, but by a gesture of his raised hand
urged them to choose two men, so that he might by so doing cut off a
little of Pompey's supremacy. At this gesticulation of his the crowd
gave a great threatening shout, whereat a crow flying above their heads
was so startled that it fell as if smitten by lightning. After that
Roscius kept not only his tongue but his hand still. Catulus was for
remaining silent, but Gabinius urged him to make some speech, inasmuch
as he ranked among the foremost in the senate and it seemed likely that
through his agency the rest might reach a harmonious decision; it was
Gabinius's hope, likewise, that he would join in approving the general
desire from the fact that he saw the tribunes in bad straits.
Accordingly Catulus received permission to speak, since all respected
and honored him as one who at all times spoke and acted for their
advantage, and delivered an address about as follows:

[-31-] "That I have been exceedingly zealous, Quirites, in behalf of
your body, all of you, doubtless, clearly understand. This being so, it
is requisite for me to set forth in simple fashion and quite frankly
what I know to be for the good of the State; and it is only fair for you
to listen to it calmly and afterward to deliberate. For, if you raise an
uproar, you will fail of obtaining some perhaps very useful suggestion
which you might have heard, but if you pay attention to what is said you
will be sure to discover definitely something to your advantage. I for
my part assert in the first place most emphatically that it is not
proper to confide to any one man so many positions of command, one after
another. This has been forbidden by law, and by test has been found to
be most perilous. What made Marius such a monster was practically
nothing else than being entrusted with so many wars in the briefest
space of time and being made consul six times as rapidly as possible:
and similarly the cause of Sulla's frenzy was that he held command of
the armies so many years in succession, and later was appointed
dictator, then consul. It does not lie in man's nature for a person, not
necessarily young but mature quite as often, after exercise in authority
for a considerable period to be willing to abide by ancestral
customs.[-32-] I do not say this in any spirit of condemnation of
Pompey, but because it does not appear at all advantageous to you on
general grounds, and further it is not permitted according to the laws.
For if an enterprise brings honor to those deemed worthy of it, all whom
that enterprise concerns ought to obtain honor; this is the principle of
democracy: and if it brings labor, all ought to share that labor
proportionately; this is mere equity.

"Again, in such an affair it is to your advantage for many individuals
to have practice in exploits, so that as a result of trial your choice
may be an easy one from among those who can be trusted for any urgent
business; but if you take that other course it is quite inevitable that
the scarcity should be great of those who will practice what they
should, and to whom interests can be trusted. This is the chief reason
why you were at a loss for a general in the war with Sertorius; previous
to that time you were accustomed to employ the same men for a long
period. Consequently, even if in all other respects Pompey deserves to
be elected against the pirates, still, inasmuch as he would be chosen
contrary to the injunction of the laws and to the principles laid down
by experience, it behooves both you and him most strongly that it be not
done.

[-33-] "This is the first and most important point I have to mention.
Second arises the consideration, that when consuls and praetors and those
serving in their place can take offices and leaderships in a way
prescribed by the laws it is neither decent nor advantageous for you to
overlook them and introduce some new office. To what end do you elect
the annual officials, if you are going to make no use of them for such
businesses? Not, presumably, that they may stalk about in
purple-bordered togas, nor that endued with the name alone of the office
they may be deprived of its duties. How can you fail to alienate these
and all the rest who have a purpose to enter politics at all, if you
break down the ancient offices, and entrust nothing to those elected by
law, but assign a strange and previously non-existent position of
command to a private individual? [-34-] If there should be any necessity
of choosing, in addition to the annual officials, still another, there
is for this, too, an ancient precedent,--I mean the dictator. However,
because he held such power, our fathers did not appoint him on all
occasions nor for a longer period than six months. Accordingly, if you
need any such person, you may, without transgressing the laws or making
light of the common welfare, designate either Pompey or any one else
dictator,--on condition that he shall sway for not more than the time
ordained, nor outside of Italy. You doubtless are not ignorant that this
latter limitation, too, our fathers guarded scrupulously, and no
instance would be found of a dictator chosen for any other country,
except one sent to Sicily, and that without accomplishing anything. But
if Italy needs no such person and you would no longer endure, apart from
the functions of dictator, even the name (this is clear from your anger
against Sulla), how would it be right for a new position of command to
be created, and that, too, for three years and embracing practically all
interests both in Italy and without? What disasters come to cities from
such a course, and how many men on account of lawless lust for rule have
often disturbed our populace and done themselves countless evils, you
all alike understand.

[-35-] "About this, then, I shall say no more. Who can fail to know that
on general principles it is neither decent nor advantageous to commit
matters to any one man, or for any one man to be put in charge of all
the blessings we own, even if he be the best man conceivable? Great
honors and excessive powers excite and ruin even such persons. I ask
you, however, to consider my next assertion,--that it is not possible
for one man to preside over the entire sea and to manage the entire war
properly. You must, if you shall in the least do what is needful, make
war on them everywhere at once, so that they may neither unite, nor by
finding a refuge among those not attacked, become hard to capture. Any
one man who might be in command could by no manner of means accomplish
this. For how on about the same days could he fight in Italy and in
Cilicia, Egypt and Syria, Greece and Spain, in the Ionian Sea and the
islands? Consequently you need many soldiers and generals both, to take
matters in hand, if they are going to be of any use to you. [-36-] In
case any one declares that even if you confide the entire war to some
one person he will most certainly have plenty of admirals and
lieutenants, my reply would be: 'Would it not be much juster and more
advantageous for these men destined to serve under him to be chosen by
you beforehand for the very purpose and to receive an independent
command from you? What prevents such a course?' By this plan they will
pay more heed to the war, since each of them is entrusted with his own
particular share and cannot lay upon any one else the responsibility for
neglect of it, and there will be keener rivalry among them because they
are independent and will themselves get the glory for whatever they
effect. By the other plan what man do you think, subordinate to some one
else, will with equal readiness perform any duty, when the credit for
his victory will belong not to himself but to another?

"Accordingly, that one man could not at one time carry on so great a war
has been admitted on the part of Gabinius himself, in that he asks for
many helpers to be given to whomever is elected. Our final consideration
is whether actual commanders or assistants should be sent, and whether
they should be despatched by the entire populace, or by the commandant
alone for his assistance. Every one of you would agree that my
proposition is more law-abiding in all respects, and not merely in
reference to the case of the freebooters. Aside from that, notice how it
looks for all our offices to be overthrown on the pretext of 'pirates'
and for no one of them either in Italy or in subject territory during
this time ..." [8]

[-37-] ... and of Italy in place of consul for three years, they
assigned to him fifteen lieutenants and voted all the ships, money and
armaments that he might wish to take. These measures as well as the
others which the senate decided to be necessary to their effectiveness
in any given case that body ratified even against its will. Its action
was prompted more particularly by the fact that when Piso refused to
allow the subordinate officers to hold enlistments in Gallia
Narbonensis, of which he was governor, the populace was furiously
enraged and would straightway have cast him out of office, had not
Pompey begged him off. So after making preparations as the business and
his judgment demanded he patrolled at one time the whole stretch of sea
that the pirates were troubling, partly himself and partly through the
agency of his under officers, and subdued the greater part of it that
very year. For whereas the force that he directed was vast both in point
of fleet and in point of heavy-armed infantry, so that he was
irresistible both on sea and on land, his kindness to those who made
terms with him was equally vast, so that he won over great numbers by
such procedure. Persons defeated by his troops who made trial of his
clemency went over to his side very readily. For besides other ways in
which he took care of them he would give them any lands he saw vacant
and cities that needed inhabitants, in order that they might never again
through poverty fall into need of criminal exertions. Among the other
cities settled in this way was the one called in commemoration
Pompeiopolis. It is in the coast region of Cilicia and had been sacked
by Tigranes. Soli was its original name.

[-38-] Besides these events in the year of Acilius and Piso, an
ordinance directed at men convicted of bribery regarding offices was
framed by the consuls themselves, to the effect that no one of those
involved should either hold office or be a senator, and should
furthermore be subject to a fine. For now that the power of the tribunes
had returned to its ancient state, and many of the persons whose names
had been stricken off by the censors were aspiring to get back the rank
of senator by one means or another, a great many political unions and
combinations were formed aiming at all the offices. The consuls took
this course not because they were angry at the affair--they themselves
were shown to have been actively engaged, and Piso, who was indicted by
several persons on this charge, escaped being brought to trial only by
purchasing exemption--but because pressure had been exerted by the
senate. The reason for this was that one Gaius Cornelius, while tribune,
undertook to lay very severe penalties upon such unions, and the
populace sided with him. The senate, being aware that an excessive
punishment threatened has some deterrent force, but that men are then
not easily found to accuse or condemn the guilty, since the latter will
be in desperate danger, whereas moderation stimulates many to
accusations and does not divert condemnations, was desirous of
remodeling his proposition somehow, and bade the consuls frame it as a
law.[-39-] Now when the comitiae had been announced in advance and
accordingly no law could be enacted till they were held, the canvassers
kept doing much evil in this intervening time, to such an extent that
assassinations occurred. As a consequence the senators voted that the
law should be introduced before the elections and a body-guard be given
to the consuls. Cornelius, angry at this, submitted a proposal that the
senators be not allowed to grant office to any one seeking it in a way
not prescribed by law, nor to vote away any other prerogative of the
people. This had been the law from very early times: it was not,
however, being observed in practice. Thereupon arose a great uproar,
since many of the senate and Piso in particular resisted; the crowd
broke his staves to pieces and threatened to tear him limb from limb.
Seeing the rush they made, Cornelius for the time being before calling
for any vote dismissed the assembly: later he added to the law that the
senate should invariably hold a preliminary consultation about these
cases and that it be compulsory to have the preliminary degree ratified
by the people.[-40-] So he secured the passage of both that law and
another now to be explained.

All the praetors themselves compiled and published the principles
according to which they intended to try cases; for all the decrees
regarding contracts had not yet been laid down. Now since they were not
in the habit of doing this once for all and did not observe the rules as
written, but often made changes in them and incidentally a number of
clauses naturally appeared in some one's favor or to some one's hurt, he
moved that they should at the very start announce the principles they
would use, and not swerve from them at all. In fine, the Romans took
such good care about that time to have no bribery, that in addition to
punishing those convicted they furthermore honored the accusers. For
instance, when Marcus Cotta dismissed the quaestor Publius Oppius
because of bribery and suspicion of conspiracy, though he himself had
made great profit out of Bithynia, they exalted Gaius Carbo who
thereupon accused Cotta, with consular honors, notwithstanding he had
served as tribune merely. Subsequently the latter himself was governor
of Bithynia and erred no less widely than Cotta; he was, in his turn,
accused by his son and convicted. Some persons, of course, can more
easily censure others than admonish themselves, and when it comes to
their own case commit very readily deeds for which they think their
neighbors deserving of punishment. Hence they can not, from the mere
fact that they prosecute others, inspire confidence in their own
detestation of the acts in question.

[-41-] As for Lucius Lucullus, he finished his term of office as city
praetor, but on being chosen by lot thereafter to serve as governor of
Sardinia he refused, detesting the business because of the throng who
were fostering corruption in foreign lands. That he was suited for the
place he had given the fullest proof. Acilius once commanded the chair
from which he had heard cases to be broken in pieces because Lucullus
seeing Acilius pass by did not rise from his seat: yet the praetor did
not give way to rage, and after that both he and his fellow officials
tried cases standing up on account of the consul's action.

[-42-] Roscius likewise introduced a law, and so did Gaius Manilius, at
the time when they were tribunes. The former received some praise for
his,--for it consisted in marking off sharply the seats of the knights
in theatres from the other locations,--but Manilius came near having to
stand trial. He had granted the class of freedmen, some of whom he got
together from the populace on the last day of the year and toward
evening, the right to vote with those who had freed them. The senate
learned of it immediately on the following day, the first of the month,
the day on which Lucius Tullius and Aemilius Lepidus entered upon the
consulship, and rejected his law.

[B.C. 66 (_a.u._ 688)]

He, then, in fear because the populace was terribly angry, at first
ascribed the idea to Crassus and some others; as no one believed him,
however, he paid court to Pompey even in the latter's absence,
especially because he knew that Gabinius had the greatest influence with
him. He went so far as to offer him command of the war against Tigranes
and against Mithridates, and the governorship of Bithynia and Cilicia at
the same time.

[-43-] Now irritation and opposition had developed even then on the part
of the nobles particularly because Marcius and Acilius were making peace
before the period of their command had expired. And the populace,
although a little earlier it had sent the men to establish a government
over the conquered territory, regarding the war as at an end from the
letters which Lucullus sent them, nevertheless voted to do as Manilius
proposed. Those who urged them most to this course were Caesar and Marcus
Cicero. These men seconded the measure not because they thought it
advantageous to the state nor because they wished to do Pompey a favor.
Inasmuch, however, as things were certain to turn out that way, Caesar
cultivated the good will of the multitude: he saw, in the first place,
how much stronger they were than the senate and further he paved the way
for a similar vote some time to be passed for his own profit.
Incidentally, too, he was willing to render Pompey more envied and
invidious as a result of the honors conferred upon him, so that the
people might get their fill of him more quickly. Cicero saw fit to play
politics and was endeavoring to make it clear to both populace and
nobles that to whichever side he should attach himself, he would
substantially benefit them. He was accustomed to fill a double rôle and
espoused now the cause of one party and again that of the other, to the
end that he might be sought after by both. A little while before he had
said that he chose the side of the optimates and for that reason wished
to be aedile rather than tribune; but now he went over to the side of
the rabble.[-44-] Soon after, as a suit was instituted by the nobles
against Manilius and the latter was striving to cause some delay about
it, Cicero tried to thwart him, and only after obstinate objection did
he put off his case till the following day, offering as an excuse that
the year was drawing to a close. He was enabled to do this by the fact
that he was praetor and president of the court. But since the crowd was
still discontented he entered their assembly, presumably compelled
thereto by the tribunes, where he inveighed against the senate and
promised to speak in support of Manilius. For this he fell into ill
repute generally, and was termed "deserter." [Probably spurious:
"because Caesar cultivated the populace from the beginning, whereas
Cicero usually played a double part; sometimes he sided with the people,
sometimes with the assembly, and for this reason he was termed
'deserter.'"--Mai, p. 552]: but a tumult that immediately arose
prevented the court from being convened. Publius Paetus and Cornelius
Sulla (a nephew of that great Sulla) who had been appointed consuls and
then convicted of bribery, plotted to kill their accusers, Gotta and
Torquatus, Lucii, especially after the latter had been convicted in
turn. Among others who had been suborned were Gnaeus Piso and Lucius
Catiline, a man of great audacity; he had himself sought the office and
was on this account inclined to anger. They were unable, however, to
accomplish anything because the plot was announced beforehand and a
body-guard given to Cotta and Torquatus by the senate. Indeed, a decree
would have been pronounced against them, had not one of the tribunes
opposed it. And since even so Piso showed signs of audacity, the senate
being afraid he would cause some riot sent him straightway to Spain on
the pretext that he was to look after some disorder.[-45-] He there met
his death at the hands of natives whom he had wronged.

Pompey was at first making ready to sail to Crete and to Metellus, and
when he learned the decrees that had been passed pretended to be annoyed
as before, and charged the members of the opposite faction with always
loading business upon him so that he might meet some reverse. In reality
he received the news with the greatest joy, and no longer regarding as
of any importance Crete or the other maritime points wherever anything
had been left unsettled, he made preparations for the war with the
barbarians.

Meanwhile, wishing to test the disposition of Mithridates, he sent
Metrophanes bearing friendly proposals to him. Mithridates at that time
held him in contempt; for Arsaces, king of the Parthians, having died
about this period he expected to conciliate Phraates, his successor. But
Pompey speedily contracted friendship with Phraates on the same terms
and persuaded him to invade in advance the Armenia belonging to
Tigranes. When Mithridates ascertained this he was alarmed and by means
of an embassy immediately arranged a treaty. As for Pompey's command
that he lay down his arms and deliver up the deserters, he had no chance
to deliberate; for the large number of deserters who were in his camp
hearing it and fearing they should be delivered up, and the barbarians
fearing that they should be compelled to fight without them, raised an
uproar. And they would have done some harm to the king, had he not by
pretending falsely that he had sent the envoys not for the truce but to
spy out the Roman troops, with difficulty kept them in check.

[-46-]Pompey, therefore, having decided that he must needs fight, in the
course of his other preparations made an additional enlistment of the
Valerians. When he was now in Galatia, Lucullus met him. The latter
declared the whole conflict over, and said there was no further need of
an expedition and that for this reason also the men sent by the senate
for the administration of the districts had arrived. Failing to persuade
him to retire Lucullus turned to abuse, stigmatizing him as officious, a
lover of war, a lover of office, and so on. Pompey, paying him but
slight attention, forbade every one any longer to obey his commands and
pressed on against Mithridates, being in haste to join issue with him as
quickly as possible.

[-47-] The king for a time kept fleeing, since he was inferior in
numbers: he continually devastated the country before him, gave Pompey a
long chase, and made him feel the want of provisions. But when the Roman
invaded Armenia both for the above reasons and because he wanted to
capture it while abandoned, Mithridates fearing it would be occupied
before his advent also entered the country. He took possession of a
strong hill opposite and there rested with his entire army, hoping to
exhaust the Romans by lack of provisions, while he could get abundance
from many quarters, being in a subject territory. He kept sending down
some of his cavalry into the plain, which was bare, and injured
considerably those who encountered them; after such a movement he would
receive large accessions of deserters.

Pompey was not bold enough to assail them in that position, but he moved
his camp to another spot where the surrounding country was wooded and he
would be troubled less by the cavalry and bowmen of his adversaries, and
there he set an ambuscade where an opportunity offered. Then with some
few he openly approached the camp of the barbarians, threw them into
disorder, and enticing them to the point he wished killed a large
number. Encouraged by this, he sent some one way, some another, over the
country after provisions.

[-48-] When Pompey went on procuring these in safety and through certain
men's help had become master of the land of Anaitis, which belongs to
Armenia and is dedicated to some god after whom it is named, and many
others kept seceding to him, while the soldiers of Marcius were added to
his force, Mithridates becoming frightened no longer kept his position,
but immediately started unobserved in the night, and thereafter by night
marches advanced into the Armenia of Tigranes. Pompey followed on, eager
to secure a battle. This, however, he could not do by day, for they
would not come out of their camp, and he did not venture the attempt by
night, fearing his ignorance of the country, until they got near the
frontier. Then, knowing that they would escape, he was compelled to have
a night battle. Having decided on this course he started off before them
at noontime, unobserved of the barbarians, by the road along which they
were to march.

Finding a sunken part of the road, between some low hills, he there
stationed his army on the higher ground and awaited the enemy. When the
enemy entered the sunken way, with confidence and without an advance
guard (since they had suffered no injury previously and now at last were
gaining safety, so that they expected that the Romans would no longer
follow them), he fell upon them in the darkness. There was no
illumination from heaven and they had no kind of light.

[-49-] The nature of the ensuing battle I will now describe. First, all
the trumpeters together at a signal sounded the attack, next the
soldiers and all the multitude raised a shout, some rattling their
spears against their shields, and others stones against the bronze
implements. The hollowed mountains took up and gave back their din with
most frightful effect, so that the barbarians, hearing them suddenly in
the night and the wilderness, were terribly alarmed, thinking they had
encountered some supernatural phenomenon. Directly the Romans from the
heights smote them at all points with stones, arrows, and javelins,
inevitably wounding some by reason of their numbers, and reduced them to
every extremity of evil. They were not drawn up in line of battle, but
for marching, and both men and women were moving about in the same place
with horses and camels and all sorts of implements; some were borne on
coursers, others on chariots, covered wagons, and carts
indiscriminately; and some getting wounded already and others expecting
to be wounded caused confusion, in consequence of which they were more
easily slain, since they kept becoming entangled one with another. This
was what they endured while they were still being struck from afar off.
But when the Romans after exhausting their long-distance ammunition
charged down upon them, the edges of the force were slaughtered, one
blow sufficing for their death, since the majority were unarmed, and the
center was crushed together, as all by reason of the encompassing fear
fell toward it. So they perished, pushed about and trampled down by one
another without being able to defend themselves or venture any movement
against the enemy. For whereas they were strongest in cavalry and
bowmen, they were unable to see before them in the darkness and unable
to make any manoeuvre in the defile.

When the moon rose, some rejoiced, with the idea that in the light they
could certainly ward off some one. And they would have been benefited a
little, if the Romans had not had the moon behind them, and so produced
much illusion both in sight and in action, while assailing them now on
this side and now on that. For the attackers, being many in number and
all in one body, casting the deepest imaginable shadow, baffled their
opponents before they had yet come into conflict with them. The
barbarians thinking them near would strike the empty air in vain and
when they reached common ground would be wounded in the shadow where
they were not expecting it. Thus numbers of them were killed and the
captives were not fewer than the slain. Many also escaped, among them
Mithridates.

[-50-] The latter's next move was to hasten to Tigranes. On sending
couriers to him, however, he found no friendship awaiting him, because
Tigranes' son had risen against him, and while holding the youth under
guard[9] the father suspected that Mithridates, his grandfather, had
been responsible for the quarrel. For this reason far from receiving him
Tigranes even arrested and threw into prison the men sent ahead by him.
Failing therefore of the hoped-for refuge he turned aside into Colchis,
and thence on foot reached Maeotis and the Bosphorus, using persuasion
with some and force with others. He recovered the territory, too, having
terrified Machares, his son, who had espoused the cause of the Romans
and was then ruling it, to such an extent that he would not even come
into his presence. And him Mithridates caused to be killed through his
associates to whom he promised to grant immunity and money.

In the course of these events Pompey sent men to pursue him: when,
however, he outstripped them by fleeing across the Phasis, the Roman
leader colonized a city in the territory where he had been victorious,
bestowing it upon the wounded and the more elderly of his soldiers. Many
of those living round about voluntarily joined the settlement and later
generations of them are in existence even now, being called Nicopolitans
[10] and paying tribute to the province of Cappadocia.

[-51-] While Pompey was thus engaged, Tigranes, the son of Tigranes,
taking with him some of the foremost men because the father was not
ruling to suit them, fled for refuge to Phraates; and, though the
latter, in view of the agreements made with Pompey, stopped to consider
what it was advisable to do, persuaded to invade Armenia. They came,
actually, as far as the Artaxatians, subduing all the country before
them, and assailed those men likewise. Tigranes the elder in fear of
them had fled to the mountains. But since it seemed that time was
required for the siege, Phraates left a part of the force with his own
son and retired to his native country. Thereupon the father took the
field against the young Tigranes, thus isolated, and conquered him. The
latter, in his flight, set out at first for Mithridates, his
grandfather; but when he learned that he had been defeated and was
rather in need of aid than able to assist any one, he went over to the
Romans. Pompey, employing him as a guide, made an expedition into
Armenia and against his father.

[-52-] The latter, learning this, in fear immediately sent heralds to
him for peace, and delivered up the envoys of Mithridates. When, on
account of the opposition of his son, he could gain no moderate terms,
and even as things were Pompey had crossed the Araxes and drawn near the
Artaxatians, then at last Tigranes surrendered the town to him and came
voluntarily into the midst of his camp. The old king had arrayed himself
so far as possible in a way to indicate his former dignity and his
present humbled condition, in order that he might seem to his enemy
worthy of respect and pity. He had put off his tunic shot with white and
the all-purple candys, but wore his tiara and headband. Pompey, however,
sent an attendant and made him descend from his horse; for Tigranes was
riding up as if to enter the very fortification, mounted on horseback
according to the custom of his people. But when the Roman general saw
him entering actually on foot, with fillet cast off, and prostrate on
the earth doing obeisance, he felt an impulse of pity; so starting up
hastily he raised him, bound on the headband and seated him upon a chair
close by, and he encouraged him, telling him among other things that he
had not lost the kingdom of Armenia but had gained the friendship of the
Romans. By these words Pompey restored his spirits, and then invited him
to dinner.

[-53-] But the son, who sat on the other side of Pompey, did not rise at
the approach of his father nor greet him in any other way, and
furthermore, though invited to dinner, did not present himself.
Wherefore he incurred Pompey's most cordial hatred. Now, on the
following day, when the Roman heard the recitals of both, he restored to
the elder all his ancestral domain. What he had acquired later, to be
sure,--these were chiefly portions of Cappadocia and Syria, as well as
Phoenicia and the large Sophanenian tract bordering on Armenia,--he took
away, and demanded money of him besides. To the younger he assigned
Sophanene only. And inasmuch as this was where the treasures were, the
young man began a dispute about them, and not gaining his point--for
Pompey had no other source from which to obtain the sums agreed upon--he
became vexed and planned to escape by flight.

Pompey, being informed of this beforehand, kept the youth under
surveillance without bonds and sent to those who were guarding the
money, bidding them give it all to his father. But they would not obey,
stating that it was necessary for the young man, to whom the country was
now held to belong, to give them this command. Then Pompey sent him to
the forts. He, finding them all locked up, approached close and
reluctantly ordered that they be opened. When the keepers obeyed as
little as before, asserting that he issued the command not of his own
free will, but under compulsion, Pompey was irritated and put Tigranes
in chains.

Thus the elder secured the treasures, and Pompey passed the winter in
the land of Anaitis and near the river Cyraus, after dividing his army
into three portions. From Tigranes he received plenty of everything and
far more money than had been agreed upon. For this reason especially he
shortly afterward enrolled the king among his friends and allies and
brought the latter's son to Rome under guard.

[-54-] The quiet of his winter quarters, however, was not unbroken.
Oroeses, king of the Albanians dwelling beyond the Cyrnus, made an
expedition against them just at the time of the Saturnalia. He was
impelled partly by a wish to do a favor to Tigranes the younger, who was
a friend of his, but mostly by the fear that the Romans would invade
Albania, and he cherished the idea that if he should fall upon them in
the winter, when they were not expecting hostilities and were not
encamped in one body, he would surely achieve some success. Oroeses
himself descended upon Metellus Celer, in whose charge Tigranes was, and
sent others against Pompey and against Lucius Flaccus, the commander of
the third division, in order that all might be thrown into confusion at
once, and so not assist one another.

In spite of all, he accomplished nothing at any point. Celer vigorously
repulsed Grosses. Flaccus, being unable to preserve the whole circuit of
the ditch intact by reason of its size, constructed another within it.
This fixed in his opponents' minds the impression that he was afraid,
and so he enticed them within an outer ditch, where by a charge upon
them when they were not looking for it he slaughtered many in close
conflict and many in flight. Meanwhile Pompey, having received advance
information of the attempt which the barbarians had made on the rest, to
their surprise encountered beforehand the detachment that was proceeding
against him, conquered it, and at once hurried on just as he was against
Oroeses. The latter, indeed, he did not overtake; for Oroeses, after the
repulse by Celer, had fled on being informed of the failures of the
rest; many of the Albanians, however, he overwhelmed near the crossing
of the Cyrnus and killed. After this he made a truce at their request.
For although on general principles he was extremely anxious to make a
return invasion of their country, he was glad to postpone the war
because of the winter.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

37

The following is contained in the Thirty-seventh of Dio's Rome: I

How Pompey fought against the Asiatic Iberians (chapters 1-7).

How Pompey annexed Pontus to Bithynia: how Pompey brought Syria and
Phoenicia under his sway (chapters 8, 9).

How Mithridates died (chapters 10-14).

About the Jews (chapters 15-19).

How Pompey after settling affairs in Asia returned to Rome (chapters
20-23).

About Cicero and Catiline and their transactions (chapters 24-42).

About Caesar and Pompey and Crassus and their sworn fellowship (chapters
43-58).

Duration of time, six years, in which there were the following
magistrates, here enumerated:

L. Aurelius M.F. Cotta, L. Manlius L.F. (B.C. 65 == a.u. 689.)

L. Caesar, C. Marcius C.F. Figulus. (B.C. 64 == a.u. 690.)

M. Tullius M.F. Cicero, C. Antonius M.F. (B.C. 63 == a.u. 691.)

Decimus Iunius M.F. Silanus, L. Licinius L.F. Murena. (B.C. 62 == a.
u. 692.)

M. Pupius M.F. Piso, M. Valerius M.F. Messala Niger (B.C. 61 == a.u.
693.)

L. Afranius A.F., C. Caecilius C.F. Celer. (B.C. 60 == a.u. 694.)


(_BOOK 37, BOISSEVAIN._)

[B.C. 65 (_a.u._ 689)]

[-1-] The following year after these exploits and in the consulship of
Lucius Cotta and Lucius Torquatus, he engaged in warfare against both
the Albanians and the Iberians. With the latter of these he was
compelled to become embroiled quite contrary to his plan. The Iberians
dwell on both sides of the Cyrnus, adjoining on the one hand the
Albanians and on the other the Armenians. Arthoces, their king, fearing
that Pompey would direct his steps against him, too, sent envoys to him
on a pretence of peace, but prepared to attack the invader at a time
when, feeling secure, he should be therefore off his guard. Pompey
learning of this betimes was in good season in making an incursion into
the territory of Arthoces, ere the latter had made ready sufficiently or
had occupied the pass on the frontier, which was well nigh impregnable.
He marched on, indeed, to the city called Acropolis,[11] before Arthoces
ascertained that he was at hand. At that moment he was right at the
narrowest point, where the Cyrnus[12] flows on the one side and the
Caucasus extends on the other, and had fortified the mountain in order
to guard the pass. Arthoces, panic-stricken, had no chance to array his
forces, but crossed the river, burning down the bridge; and those within
the wall, in view of his flight and a defeat they had sustained in
battle, surrendered. Pompey made himself master of the thoroughfares,
left a garrison in charge of them, and advancing from that point
subjugated all the territory within the river boundary. [-2-] But when
he was on the point of crossing the Cyrnus also, Arthoces sent to him
requesting peace and promising voluntarily to furnish him control of the
bridge and provisions. Both of these promises the king fulfilled as if
he intended to come to terms, but terrified when he saw his adversary
already across he fled away to the Pelorus, another river that flowed
through his dominions. The man that he might have hindered from crossing
he avoided by running away after drawing him on.

Pompey, seeing this, pursued after, overtook and conquered him. By a
charge he got into close quarters with the enemy's bowmen before they
could show their skill, and in the briefest time routed them. When
things took this turn, Arthoces crossed the Pelorus and fled, burning
the bridge over that stream too: of the rest some were killed in
hand-to-hand fights, and some while fording the river on foot. Many,
also, scattered through the woods, survived for a few days by shooting
from the trees, which were exceedingly tall, but soon the trees were cut
down at the base and they also were destroyed. Under these conditions
Arthoces again sent a herald to Pompey for peace, and forwarded gifts.
These the other accepted, in order that the king in his hope to secure a
truce might not proceed farther in any direction; but he did not agree
to grant peace till the petitioner should first convey to him his
children as hostages. Thus Pompey waited for a time until in the course
of the summer the Pelorus became fordable in places, and then the Romans
crossed over; their passage was especially easy as they met no one to
hinder them. Then Arthoces sent his children to him and finally
concluded a treaty.

[-3-] Pompey, learning directly that the Phasis was not distant, decided
to descend along its course to Colchis and thence to march to the
Bosphorus against Mithridates. He advanced as planned, traversing the
territory of the Colchians and their neighbors, using persuasion in some
quarters and inspiring fear in others. There perceiving that his route
on land led through many unknown and hostile tribes, and that the sea
journey was rather difficult on account of the country's having no
harbors and on account of the people inhabiting the region, he ordered
the fleet to blockade Mithridates so as to watch that the latter did not
set sail in any direction and to cut off his importation of provisions,
while he himself turned his steps against the Albanians. He took what
was not the shortest path, but went inland to Armenia in order that such
action, coupled with the truce, might enable him to find them not
expecting him. And the Cyrnus, too, he crossed at a point where it had
become passable because of summer, ordering the cavalry to cross down
stream with the baggage animals next, and the infantry afterward. The
object was that the horses should break the violence of the current with
their bodies, and if even so any one of the pack animals should be swept
off its feet it might collide with the men going alongside and not be
carried further down. From there he marched to Cambyse without suffering
any injury at the hands of the enemy, but through the influence of the
scorching heat and consequent thirst he in common with, the whole army
experienced hardship in his progress even at night over the greater part
of the road. Their guides, being some of the captives, did not lead them
by the most suitable route, and the river was of no advantage to them;
for the water, of which they drank great quantities, was very cold and
made a number sick.

When no resistance to them developed at this place either, they marched
on to the Abas, carrying supplies of water only; everything else they
received by the free gift of the natives, and for this reason they
committed no depredations.

[-4-] After they had already got across the river, Oroeses was announced
as coming up. Pompey was anxious to lead him into conflict somehow
before he should find out the number of the Romans, for fear that when
he learned it he might retreat. Accordingly he marshaled his cavalry
first, giving them notice beforehand what they should do; and keeping
the rest behind them in a kneeling position and covered with their
shields he made these last remain motionless, so that Oroeses should not
ascertain their presence until he came close up. Thereupon the latter,
in contempt for the cavalry who were alone, as he thought, joined battle
with them, and when after a little they purposely turned to flight,
pursued them at full speed. Then the infantry suddenly rising stood
apart to furnish their own men a safe means of escape through their
midst, but received the enemy, who were heedlessly bent on pursuit, and
surrounded a number of them. So these soldiers cut down those caught
inside the circle; and the cavalry, some of whom went round on the right
and some on the other side of them, assailed in the rear those outside.
Each of these bodies slaughtered many in that place and others who had
fled into the woods they burned to death, and they cried out, "Ha! ha!
the Saturnalia!" with reference to the attack made at that festival by
the Albanians.

[-5-] After accomplishing this and overrunning the country, Pompey
granted peace to the Albanians, and on the arrival of heralds concluded
a truce with some of the other tribes that dwell along the Caucasus as
far as the Caspian Sea, where the mountains, which begin at the Pontus,
come to an end. Phraates likewise sent to him, wishing to renew the
covenants. The sight of Pompey's onward rush and the fact that his
lieutenants were also subjugating the rest of Armenia and that region of
Pontus and that Grabinius had advanced across the Euphrates as far as
the Tigris filled him with fear of them, and he was anxious to confirm
the agreement. He effected nothing, however. Pompey, in view of the
existing conditions and the hopes which they inspired, held him in
contempt and replied scornfully to the ambassadors, among other things
demanding back the territory of Corduene, concerning which Phraates was
having a dispute with Tigranes. When the envoys made no answer, inasmuch
as they had received no instructions on this point, he wrote a few words
to Phraates, but instead of waiting for any answer suddenly despatched
Afranius into the territory, and having occupied it without a battle
gave it to Tigranes.

[B.C. 65]

Afranius, returning through Mesopotamia to Syria, contrary to the
agreement made with the Parthian, wandered from the way and endured much
evil by reason of the winter and lack of supplies. Indeed, he would have
perished, had not Carraeans, colonists of the Macedonians who dwelt
somewhere in that vicinity, supported him and helped him forward.

[-6-] This was the treatment that Pompey[13]out of the fullness of his
power accorded Phraates, thereby indicating very clearly to those
desiring personal profit that everything depends on armed force, and he
who is victorious by its aid wins inevitably the right to lay down what
laws he pleases. Furthermore, he did violence to the title of that
ruler, in which Phraates delighted before all the world and before the
Romans themselves, and by which the latter had always addressed him. For
whereas he was called "king of kings," Pompey clipped off the phrase "of
kings" and wrote "to the king," with merely that direction, in spite of
the fact that he had given this title to the captive Tigranes even
contrary to their custom when he celebrated the triumph over him in
Rome. Phraates, consequently, although he feared and was subservient to
him, was vexed at this, feeling that he had been deprived of the
kingdom; and he sent ambassadors, reproaching him with all the injustice
he had done, and forbade him to cross the Euphrates.

[-7-] As Pompey made no reasonable reply, the other immediately
instituted a campaign in the spring against Tigranes, being accompanied
by the latter's son, to whom he had given his daughter in marriage. This
was in the consulship Of Lucius Caesar and Gaius Figulus.

[B.C. 64 (_a.u._ 690)]

In the first battle Phraates was beaten, but later was victorious in his
turn. And when Tigranes invoked the assistance of Pompey, who was in
Syria, he sent ambassadors to the Roman commander, making many
accusations and throwing out numerous hints against the Romans, so that
Pompey was both ashamed and alarmed. As a result the latter lent no aid
to Tigranes and took no hostile measures against Phraates, giving as an
excuse that no such expedition had been assigned to him and that
Mithridates was still in arms. He declared himself satisfied with what
had been effected and said that he feared in striving for additional
results he might meet with reverses, as had Lucullus.

Such was the trend of his philosophy: he maintained that to make
personal gains was outrageous and to aim at the possessions of others
unjust, as soon as he was no longer able to use them. Through dread of
the forces of the Parthian, therefore, and fear of the unsettled state
of affairs he did not take up this war in spite of many solicitations.
As for the barbarians' complaints, he disparaged them, offering no
counter-argument, but asserting that the dispute which the prince had
with Tigranes concerned some boundaries, and that three men should
decide the case for them. These he actually sent, and they were enrolled
as arbitrators by the two kings, who then settled all their mutual
complaints. For Tigranes was angry at not having obtained assistance,
and Phraates wished the Armenian ruler to survive, so that in case of
need he might some day have him as an ally against the Romans. They both
understood well that whichever of them should conquer the other would
simply help on matters for the Romans and would himself become easier
for them to subdue. For these reasons, then, they were reconciled.

Pompey passed the winter in Aspis, winning over the sections that were
still resisting, and took Symphorion,[14] a fort which Stratonice
betrayed to him. She was the wife of Mithridates, and in anger toward
him because she had been abandoned sent the garrison out pretendedly to
collect supplies and let the Romans in, although her child was with ...
[15] ...

[B.C. 65 (_a.u._ 689)]

[-8-] ... [not (?)] for this alone in his aedileship he (C. Jul. Caesar)
received praise, but because he had also conducted both the Roman and
the Megalesian games on the most expensive scale and had further
arranged contests of gladiators in the most magnificent manner. Of the
sums expended on them a portion was raised by him in conjunction with
his colleague Marcus Bibulus, but another portion by him privately; and
his individual expenditure on the spectacles so much surpassed, that he
appropriated to himself the glory for them, and was thought to have
taken the whole cost on himself. Even Bibulus joked about it saying that
he had suffered the same fate as Pollux: for, although that hero
possessed a temple in common with his brother Castor, it was named only
for the latter.

[-9-] All this contributed to the Romans' joy, but they were quite
disturbed at the portents of that year. On the Capitol many statues were
melted by thunderbolts, among other images one of Jupiter, set upon a
pillar, and a likeness of the she-wolf with Romulus and Remus, mounted
on a pedestal, fell down; also the letters of the tablets on which the
laws were inscribed ran together and became indistinct. Accordingly, on
the advice of the soothsayers, they offered many expiatory sacrifices
and voted that a larger statue of Jupiter should be set up, looking
toward the east and the Forum, in order that the conspiracies by which
they were distraught might dissolve.

Such were the occurrences of that year. The censors also became involved
in a dispute regarding the dwellers beyond the Po: one thought it wise
to admit them to citizenship, and another not; so they did not perform
any of their duties, but resigned their office. Their successors, too,
did nothing in the following year, for the reason that the tribunes
hindered them in regard to the list of the senate, in fear lest they
themselves should be dropped from that assembly. Meantime all those who
were resident aliens in Rome, except those who dwelt in what is now
Italy, were banished on the motion of one Gaius Papius, a tribune,
because they were getting to be in the majority and were not thought fit
persons to dwell among the citizens.

[B.C. 64(_a.u._ 690)]

[-10-] In the ensuing year, with Figulus and Lucius Caesar in office,
notable events were few, but worthy of remembrance in view of the
contradictions in human affairs. For the man[16] who had slain Lucretius
at the instance of Sulla and another[17] who had murdered many of the
persons proscribed by him were tried for the slaughter and
punished,--Julius Caesar being most instrumental in bringing this about.
Thus the changes of affairs often render those once thoroughly powerful
exceedingly weak. But though this matter went contrary to the
expectation of the majority, they were equally surprised that Catiline,
who had incurred guilt on those same grounds (for he, too, had put out
of the way many similar persons), was acquitted. The result was that he
became far worse and for that reason also perished.

[B.C. 63 (_a.u._ 691)]

For, when Marcus Cicero was consul with Gaius Antonius, and Mithridates
no longer inflicted any injury upon the Romans but had destroyed his own
self, Catiline undertook to set up a new government, and by banding
together the allies against the state threw the people into fear of a
mighty conflict. Now each of these occurrences came about as follows.

[-11-] Mithridates himself did not give way under his disasters, but
trusting more in his will than in his power, especially while Pompey was
lingering in Syria, planned to reach the Ister through Scythia, and from
that point to invade Italy. As he was by nature given to great projects
and had experienced many failures and many successes, he regarded
nothing as beyond his ability to venture or to hope. If he missed he
preferred to perish conjointly with his kingdom, with pride unblemished,
rather than to live deprived of it in inglorious humility. On this idea
he grew strong. For in proportion as he wasted away through weakness of
body, the more steadfast did he grow in strength of mind, so that he
even revived the infirmity of the former by the reasonings of the
latter.

The rest who were his associates, as the position of the Romans kept
getting always more secure and that of Mithridates weaker,--among other
things the greatest earthquake that had ever occurred destroyed many of
their cities--became estranged; the military also mutinied and unknown
persons kidnapped some of his children, whom they conveyed to Pompey.

[-12-] Thereupon he detected and punished some; others he chastised from
mere suspicion: no one could any longer trust him; of his remaining
children, even, he put to death one of whom he grew suspicious. Seeing
this, one of his sons, Pharnaces, impelled at once by fear of the king
and an expectation that he would get the kingdom from the Romans, being
now of man's estate, plotted against him. He was detected, for many both
openly and secretly meddled constantly with all he was doing; and if the
body-guard had had even the slightest good will toward their aged
sovereign, the conspirator would immediately have met his just deserts.
As it was, Mithridates, who had proved himself most wise in all matters
pertaining to a king, did not recognize the fact that neither arms nor
multitude of subjects are of value to any one, without friendship on the
part of the people; nay, the more dependents a person has (unless he
holds them faithful to him) the greater burden they are to him. At any
rate Pharnaces, followed both by the men he had made ready in advance,
and by those whom his father had sent to arrest him (and these he very
easily made his own) hastened straight on against the father himself.
The old king was in Panticapaeum when he learned this, and sent ahead
some soldiers against his son, saying that he himself would soon follow
them. These also Pharnaces quickly diverted from their purpose, inasmuch
as they did not love Mithridates either, and after receiving the
voluntary submission of the city, put to death his father, who had fled
for refuge into the palace.

[-13-] The latter had tried to make way with himself, and after removing
beforehand by poison his wives and remaining children, he had swallowed
what was left to the last drop. Neither by that means nor by the sword
was he able to induce death with his own hands. For the poison, although
deadly, did not prevail over him, since he had inured his constitution
to it, taking every day precautionary antidotes in large doses: and the
force of the sword blow was lessened on account of the weakness of his
hand, caused by his age and the interference of those around him, and on
account of the effect of the poison, of whatever sort it was. When,
therefore, he failed to pour out his life through his own efforts and
seemed to linger beyond the proper time, those whom he had sent against
his son fell upon him and hastened his end with swords and spear points.
Mithridates, who had experienced the most varied and tremendous fortune,
found the close of his life equally far from being simple. He desired to
die against his will, and though anxious to kill himself was not able;
but first by poison and then by the sword at once became a suicide and
was slain by his foes.

[-14-] Pharnaces embalmed his body and sent it to Pompey as a proof of
what had been done, and surrendered himself and his dominions. The Roman
showed Mithridates no indignity, on the contrary commanding that he be
buried among the graves of his ancestors; for, feeling that his
hostility had been extinguished with his life, he indulged in no vain
anger against the dead body. The kingdom of Bosporus, however, he
granted to Pharnaces as the wages of his bloody deed, and enrolled him
among his friends and allies.

After the death of Mithridates all portions of his dominions, except a
few, were subjugated. Garrisons which at that date were still holding a
few fortifications outside of Bosporus, did not immediately come to
terms,--not so much because they were minded to resist him as because
they were afraid that some persons might confiscate beforehand the money
which they were guarding and lay the blame upon them: hence they waited,
wishing to exhibit everything to Pompey himself.[-15-] When, then, the
regions in that quarter had been subdued, and Phraates remained quiet,
while Syria and Phoenicia were in a state of calm, the conqueror turned
against Aretas. The latter was king of the Arabians, now slaves to the
Romans as far as the Red Sea. Previously he had done the greatest injury
to Syria and had on this account become involved in a battle with the
Romans who were defending it: he was defeated by them, but nevertheless
continued hostile at that time. Upon him and his neighbors Pompey made a
descent, overcame them without effort, and handed them over to a
garrison. Thence he proceeded against Palestine, in Syria, because its
inhabitants were harming Phoenicia. Their rulers were two brothers,
Hyrcanus and Aristobulus, who[18] were themselves quarreling, as it
chanced, and stirring up the cities concerning the priesthood (for so
they called their kingdom) of their God, whoever he is.

Pompey immediately brought to his side without a battle Hyrcanus, who
had no force worthy of note, and by confining Aristobulus in a certain
spot compelled him to come to terms. And when he would surrender neither
money nor garrison,[19] Pompey threw him into prison. After this he more
easily overcame the rest, but in the siege of Jerusalem found trouble.
[-16-]Most of the city he took without exertion, as he was received by
the party of Hyrcanus, but the temple itself, which the others had
occupied in advance, he did not capture without labor. It was on high
ground and strengthened by its own defences, and if they had continued
defending it on all days alike, he could not have got possession of it.
As it was, they made an exception of what were called the days of
Saturn,[20] and by doing no work at all on them offered the Romans an
opportunity in this vacant interval to batter down the wall. The latter
on learning this superstition of theirs, made no serious attempt the
rest of the time, but on those days, when they came around in
succession, assaulted most vigorously. Thus the holders were captured on
the day of Saturn, making no defence, and all the money was plundered.
The kingdom was given to Hyrcanus, and Aristobulus was carried back to
Rome.

This was the course of events at that time in Palestine. That is the
name that has been applied from of old to the whole race, which extends
from Phoenicia to Egypt along the inner sea. They have also another name
that has been acquired,--i.e., the country has been called Judaea, and
the people themselves Jews. [-17-]I do not know from what source this
title was first given them, but it applies also to all the rest of
mankind, although of foreign race, who cherish their customs. This
nation exists among the Romans also, and though often diminished has
increased to a very great extent and has won its way to the right of
freedom in its observances. They are distinguished from the rest of
mankind in every detail of life, so to speak, and especially by the fact
that they do not honor any of the usual gods, but reverence mightily one
particular divinity. They never had any statue in Jerusalem itself, but
believing him to be inexpressible, invisible, they worship him in the
most extravagant fashion on earth. They built to him a temple that was
extremely large and beautiful, except in so far as it was void and
roofless, and dedicated the day called the day of Saturn, on which,
among many other most peculiar actions, they undertake no serious
occupation.

Now as for him, who he is and why he has been so honored, and how they
got their superstition about accounts have been given by many, no one of
which pertains to this history.

[-18-] The custom of referring the days to the seven stars called
planets was established by the Egyptians, but has spread to all men,
though it was instituted comparatively not long ago. At any rate the
original Greeks in no case understood it, so far as I am aware. But
since it is becoming quite habitual to all the rest of mankind and to
the Romans themselves, and this is to them already in a way an
hereditary possession, I wish to make a few brief statements about it,
telling how and in what way it has been so arranged.

I have heard two accounts, in general not difficult of comprehension,
and containing some one's theories. If one apply the so-called
"principle of the tetrachord" (which is believed to constitute the basis
of music) in order to these stars, by which the whole universe of heaven
is divided into regular intervals, as each one of them revolves, and
beginning at the outer orbit assigned to Saturn, then omitting the next
two name the master of the fourth, and after him passing over two others
reach the seventh, and in the return cycle approach them by the names of
the days, one will find all the days to be in a kind of musical
connection with the arrangement of the heavens.

[-19-] This is one of the accounts: the other is as follows. If you
begin at the first one to count the hours of the day and of the night,
assigning the first to Saturn, the next to Jupiter, the third to Mars,
the fourth to Sol,[21] the fifth to Venus, the sixth to Mercury, and the
seventh to Luna,[20] according to the order of the cycles the Egyptians
observe in their system, and if you repeat the process, covering thus
the twenty-four hours, you will find that the first hour of the
following day comes to the sun. And if you carry on the operation
throughout the next twenty-four hours, by the same method as outlined
above, you will consecrate the first hour of the third day to the moon,
and if you proceed similarly through the rest, each day will receive the
god that appertains to it. This, then, is the tradition.[22]

[-20-] Pompey, when he had accomplished what has been related, went
again to the Pontus and after taking charge of the forts returned to
Asia and thence to Greece and Italy. He had won many battles; had
brought into subjection many potentates and kings, some by going to war
with them and some by treaty, he had colonized eight cities, had created
many lands and sources of revenue for the Romans, and had established
and organized most of the nations in the continent of Asia then
belonging to them with their own laws and governments, so that even to
this day they use the laws that he laid down.

But although these achievements were great and had been equaled by no
earlier Roman, one might ascribe them both to good fortune and to his
fellow campaigners. The performance for which credit particularly
attaches to Pompey himself, which is forever worthy of admiration, I
will now proceed to set forth.

[-21-] He had enormous power both on sea and on land; he had supplied
himself with vast sums of money from captives; he had made friends with
numerous potentates and kings; and he had kept practically all the
communities which he ruled well disposed through benefits bestowed. And
although by these means he might have occupied Italy and have taken
possession of the whole Roman sway, since the majority would have
accepted him voluntarily, and if any had resisted they would certainly
have capitulated through weakness, yet he did not choose to do this.
Instead, as soon as he had crossed to Brundusium he gave up of his own
accord all his powers, without waiting for any vote to be passed
concerning the matter by the senate or the people, not troubling himself
even about using them in the course of the triumph. For since he
understood that the careers of Marius and Sulla were held in abomination
by all mankind, he did not wish to cause them any fear even for a few
days that they should undergo any similar experiences. Consequently he
did not so much as acquire any name from his exploits, although he might
have taken many.

As for the triumphal celebration--I mean that one which is considered
the chief,--although according to most ancient precedents it is not
lawful that it be held without those who aided the victory, he
nevertheless accepted it, as it had been voted to him. He conducted the
procession in honor of all his wars at once, including in it many
trophies beautifully arrayed to represent each of his deeds, even the
smallest: and after them all came one huge one, arrayed in costly
fashion and bearing an inscription to the effect that it was a World
Trophy. He did not, however, add any other title to his name, but was
satisfied with that of Magnus only, which, as is known, he had gained
even before these achievements. Nor did he get any other extravagant
privilege awarded him: only he did use once such as had been voted him
in absence. These were that he should wear the laurel wreath on the
occasion of all meetings at any time, and should be clad in the robe of
office at all of them, as well as in the triumphal garb at the
horse-races. They were granted him chiefly through the coöperation of
Caesar, and contrary to the judgment of Marcus Cato.

[-22-] Regarding the former a statement has already been made as to who
he was, and it has been related[23] that he cultivated the common
people, and while generally striving to depose Pompey from his high
position, still made a friend of him in cases where he was sure of
pleasing the populace and gaining influence himself. But this Cato
belonged to the family of the Porcii and emulated the great Cato, except
that he had enjoyed a better Greek education than the former. He
promoted assiduously the interests of the multitude and admired no one
man, being excessively devoted to the common weal; suspicious of
sovereignty, he hated everything that had grown above its fellows, but
loved everything mediocre through pity for its weakness. He showed
himself a passionate adherent of the populace as did no one else, and
indulged in outspokenness beyond the limits of propriety, even when it
involved danger. All this he did not with a view to power or glory or
any honor, but solely for the sake of a life of independence, free from
the dictation of tyrants. Such was the nature of the man who now for the
first time came forward before the people and opposed the measures under
consideration, not out of any hostility to Pompey, but because they
transgressed time-honored customs.

[-23-] These honors, then, they granted Pompey in his absence, but none
when he had come home, though they would certainly have added others,
had he wished it; upon some other men, indeed, who had been less
successful than he, they often bestowed many extravagant distinctions.
That they did so unwillingly, however, is clear.

Pompey knew well that all the gifts granted by the common people to
those who have any influence and are in positions of authority contain
the suggestion, no matter how willingly they are voted, of having been
granted through force applied out of the resources of the strong. He
knew that such honors bring no glory to those who receive them, because
it is believed that they were obtained not from willing donors, but
under compulsion, and not from good will, but as a result of flattery.
Hence he did not permit any one to propose any measure whatever. This
course he declared far better than to reject what has been voted to one.
The latter method brought hatred for the high position that led to such
measures being passed, and connoted arrogance and insolence in not
accepting what is granted by your superiors or at all events by your
peers. By the former method you possessed in very fact the democratic
name and behavior both, not indicated but existent. For having received
almost all the offices and positions of command contrary to ancient
precedent, he refused to accept all such others as were destined to
bring him only envy and hatred even from the very givers, without
enabling him to benefit any one or be benefited.

[-24-] All this took place in course of time. Temporarily the Romans had
a respite from war for the remainder of the year, so that they even held
the so-called _augurium salutis_ after a long interval. This is a kind
of augury, which consists of an enquiry whether the god allows them to
request welfare for the State, as if it were unholy even to make a
request for it until the action received sanction. That day of the year
was observed on which no army went out to war, or was taking defensive
measures against any, or was fighting a battle. For this reason, amid
the constant perils (especially those of a civil nature), it was not
held. In general it was very difficult for them to secure exactly the
day which should be free from all those disturbances, and furthermore it
was most ridiculous, when they were voluntarily causing one another
unspeakable woes through factional conflicts and were destined to suffer
ills whether they were beaten or victorious, that they should still ask
safety from the divine power.

[-25-] Notwithstanding, it was in some way possible at that time for the
divination to be held, but it did not prove to be pure. Some strange
birds flew up and made the augury of no effect. Other unlucky omens,
too, developed. Many thunderbolts fell from a clear sky, the earth was
mightily shaken, and human apparitions were visible in many places, and
in the West flashes ran up into heaven, so that any one, even an
ignorant fellow, was bound to know in advance what was signified by
them. For the tribunes united with Antonius, the consul, who was much
like themselves in character, and some one of them supported for office
the children of those exiled by Sulla, while a second was for granting
to Publius Paetus and to Cornelius Sulla, who had been convicted with
him, the right to be members of the senate and to hold office. Another
made a motion for a cancellation of debts, and for allotments of land to
be made both in Italy and in the subject territory. These motions were
taken in hand betimes by Cicero and those who were of the same mind as
he, and were quashed before any action resulted from them.

[-26-] Titus Labienus, however, by indicting Gaius Rabirius for the
murder of Saturninus caused them the greatest disorder. For Saturninus
had been killed some thirty-six years earlier, and the steps taken
against him by the consuls of the period had been at the direction of
the senate: as a result of the present action the senate was likely to
lose authority over its votes. Consequently the whole system of
government was stirred up. Rabirius did not admit the murder, but denied
it. The tribunes were eager to overthrow completely the power and the
reputation of the senate and were preparing for themselves in advance
authority to do whatever they pleased. For the calling to account of
acts that had received the approval of the senate and had been committed
so many years before tended to give immunity to those who were
undertaking anything similar, and curtailed the punishments they could
inflict. Now the senate in general thought it shocking for a man of
senatorial rank who was guilty of no crime and now well advanced in
years to perish, and were all the more enraged because the dignity of
the government was being attacked, and control of affairs was being
entrusted to the vilest men.

[-27-] Hence arose turbulent exhibitions of partisanship and contentions
about the court, the one party demanding that it should not be convened
and the other that it should sit. When the latter party won, because of
Caesar and some others, there was strife again regarding the trial. Caesar
himself was judge with Lucius Caesar; for the charge against Rabirius was
not a simple one, but the so-called _perduellio-:--and they condemned
him, although they had not been chosen according to precedent by the
people, but by the praetor himself, which was not permitted. Rabirius
yielded, and would certainly have been convicted before the popular
court also, had not Metellus Celer who was an augur and praetor hindered
it. For since nothing else would make them heed him and they were
unconcerned that the trial had been held in a manner contrary to custom,
he ran up to Janiculum before they had cast any vote whatever, and
pulled down the military signal, so that it was no longer lawful for
them to reach a decision.

[-28-] Now this matter of the signal is about as follows. In old times
there were many enemies dwelling near the city, and the Romans
(according to the account) fearing that while they were holding an
assembly foes might occupy Janiculum to attack the city decided that not
all should vote at once, but that some men under arms should by turns
always guard that spot. So they garrisoned it as long as the assembly
lasted, but when it was about to be dissolved, the signal was pulled
down and the guards departed. Regularly no business was any longer
allowed to be transacted unless the post were garrisoned. It was
permissible only in the case of assemblies which collected by companies,
for these were outside the wall and all who had arms were obliged to
attend them. Even to this day it is done from religious grounds.

So on that occasion, when the signal was pulled down, the assembly was
dissolved and Rabirius saved. Labienus, indeed, had the right to go to
court again, but he did not do this.

[-29-] As for Catiline, his ruin was accomplished in the following way
and for the reasons which I shall narrate. He had been seeking the
consulship even then, and contriving every conceivable way to get
appointed, when the senate decreed, chiefly at the instance of Cicero,
that a banishment of ten years should be added by law to the penalties
imposed for bribery. Catiline thought, as was doubtless true, that this
ruling had been made on his account, and planned, by collecting a small
band, to slay Cicero and some other foremost men on the very day of the
election, in order that he might immediately be chosen consul. This
project he was unable, however, to carry out. Cicero learned of the plot
beforehand, informed the senate of it, and delivered a long accusation
against him. Being unsuccessful, however, in persuading them to vote any
of the measures he asked--this was because his announcement was not
regarded as credible and he was suspected of having uttered false
charges against the men on account of personal enmity--Cicero became
frightened, seeing that he had given Catiline additional provocation,
and he did not venture to enter the assembly alone, as had been his
custom, but he took his friends along prepared to defend him if any
danger threatened; and he wore for his own safety and because of their
hostility a breastplate beneath his clothing, which he would purposely
uncover. For this reason and because anyway some report had been spread
of a plot against him, the populace was furiously angry and the fellow
conspirators of Catiline through fear of him became quiet. [-30-] In
this way new consuls were chosen, and Catiline no longer directed his
plot in secret or against Cicero and his adherents only, but against the
whole commonwealth. He assembled from Rome itself the lowest characters
and such as were always eager for a revolution and as many as possible
of the allies, by promising them cancellation of debts, redistribution
of lands, and everything else by which he was most likely to allure
them. Upon the foremost and most powerful of them (of whose number was
Antonius the consul) he imposed the obligation of taking the oath in an
unholy manner. He sacrificed a boy, and after administering the oath
over his entrails, tasted the inwards in company with the rest. Those
who coöperated with him most were: In Rome, the consul and Publius
Lentulus, who, after his consulship, had been expelled from the senate
(he was now acting as praetor, in order to gain senatorial rank again);
at Faesulae, where the men of his party were collecting, one Gaius
Mallius, who was most experienced in military matters (he had served
with Sulla's centurions) and the greatest possible spendthrift.
Everything that he had gained at that epoch, although a vast sum, he had
consumed by evil practices, and was eager for other similar exploits.
Afranius, returning through Mesopotamia to Syria, contrary to the
agreement made with the Parthian, [B.C. 65] wandered from the way and
endured much evil by reason of the winter and lack of supplies. Indeed,
he would have perished, had not Carraeans, colonists of the Macedonians
who dwelt somewhere in that vicinity, supported him and helped him
forward.

[-31-] While they were making these preparations, information came to
Cicero, first of what was occurring in the city, through some letters
which did not indicate the writer but were given to Crassus and some
other influential men. On their publication a decree was passed that a
state of disorder existed and that a search should be made for those
responsible for it. Next came the news from Etruria, whereupon they
voted to the consuls in addition the guardianship of the city and of all
its interests, as they had been accustomed to have: for to this decree
was subjoined the command that they should take care that no injury
happen to the republic. When this had been done and a garrison stationed
at many points, there was no further sign of revolution in the city,
insomuch that Cicero was even falsely charged with sycophancy; but
messages from the Etruscans confirmed the accusation, and thereupon he
prepared an indictment for violence against Catiline.

[-32-] The latter at first accepted it with entire readiness as if
supported by a good conscience, and made ready for the trial, even
offering to surrender himself to Cicero so that the latter could watch
and see that he did not escape anywhere. As Cicero, however, refused to
take charge of him, he voluntarily took up his residence at the house of
Metellus the praetor, in order that he might be as free as possible from
the suspicion of promoting a revolution until he should gain some
additional strength from the conspirators in that very town. But he made
no headway at all, because Antonius through fear shrank back and
Lentulus was anything but an energetic sort of person. Accordingly, he
gave them notice to assemble by night in a particular house, where he
met them without Metellus's knowledge and upbraided them for their
timorousness and weakness. Next he set forth in detail how great
punishments they would suffer if they were detected and how many
desirable things they would obtain if successful, and by means so
encouraged and incited them, that two men promised to rush into Cicero's
house at daybreak and murder him there.

[-33-] Information of this, too, was given in advance: for Cicero, being
a man of influence, had through his speeches by either conciliation or
intimidation gained many followers, who reported such occurrences to
him: and the senate voted that Catiline should leave the city. The
latter was glad enough to withdraw on this excuse and went to Faesulae,
where he prepared an out and out war. He took the consular name and
dress and proceeded to organize the men previously collected by Mallius,
meanwhile gaining accessions first of freemen, and second of slaves.

The Romans consequently condemned him for violence, ordered Antonius to
the war (being ignorant, of course, of their conspiracy), and themselves
changed their apparel. The crisis kept Cicero likewise where he was. The
government of Macedonia had fallen to him by lot, but he did not set out
for that country,--retiring in favor of his colleague on account of his
occupation in the prosecutions,--nor for Hither Gaul, which he had
obtained in its place, on account of the immediate situation. Instead,
he charged himself with the protection of the city, but sent Metellus to
Gaul to prevent Catiline from alienating it.

[-34-] It was extremely well for the Romans that he remained. For
Lentulus made preparations to burn down the city and commit wholesale
slaughter with the aid of his fellow conspirators and of Allobroges, who
chanced to be there on an embassy: these also he persuaded to join
him[24] and the others implicated in the revolution in their
undertaking. The consul learning of their purpose arrested the men sent
to carry it out and brought them with their letter into the
senate-chamber, where, by granting them immunity, he proved all the
conspiracy. As a consequence Lentulus was forced by the senate to resign
the praetorship, and was kept under guard along with the others arrested
while the remnant of the society was being sought for. These measures
pleased the populace equally: especially so, when, during a speech of
Cicero's on the subject, the statue of Jupiter was set up on the Capitol
at the very time of the assembly, and by instructions of the soothsayers
was placed so as to face the East and the Forum. For these prophets had
decided that some conspiracy would be brought to light by the erection
of the statue, and when its setting up coincided with the time of the
conspirators' arrest, the people magnified the divine power and were the
more angry at those charged with the disturbance.

[-35-] A report went abroad that Crassus was also among them, and one of
the men arrested, too, gave this information; still, not many believed
it. Some, in the first place, thought they had no business to suspect
him of such a thing; others regarded it as a trumped-up charge emanating
from the guilty parties, in order that the latter might thereby get some
help from him, because he possessed the greatest influence. And if it
did seem credible to any persons, at least they did not see fit to ruin
a man who was foremost among them and to disquiet the city still more.
Consequently this charge fell through utterly.

Now many slaves, and freemen as well, some through fear and others for
pity of Lentulus and the rest, made preparations to deliver them all
forcibly and rescue them from death. Cicero learned of this beforehand
and occupied the Capitol and Forum betimes by night with a garrison. At
dawn he received from above an inspiration to hope for the best: for in
the course of sacrifices conducted in his house by the Vestals in behalf
of the populace, the fire, contrary to custom, shot up in a tongue of
great length. Accordingly, he ordered the praetors to administer an oath
to the populace and have them enlisted, in case there should be any need
of soldiers, and meanwhile himself convened the senate: then, by
throwing them into agitation and fright, he persuaded them to condemn to
death the persons held under arrest.

[-36-] At first the senators had been at variance, and came near setting
them free. For while all before Caesar had voted that they should be put
to death, he gave his decision that they should be imprisoned and
deported to various cities after having their property confiscated, with
the condition that there should be no further deliberation about
immunity for them, and if any one of them should run away, he should be
considered among the enemies of that city from which he fled. Then all
who subsequently made known their opinions, until it came to Cato, cast
this vote, so that some of the first also changed their minds. But the
fact that Cato himself gave a sentence of death against them caused all
the rest to vote similarly. So the conspirators were punished by the
decision of the majority and a sacrifice and period of festival over
them was decreed,--something that had never before happened from any
such cause. Others, also, against whom information was lodged, were
sought out and some incurred suspicion and were held to account for
merely intending to join that party. The consuls managed most of the
investigations, but Aulus Fulvius, a senator, was slain by his own
father; and some think that the latter was not the only private
individual who did this. There were many others, that is, not only
consuls but persons in private life, who killed their children. This was
the course of affairs at that time.

[-37-] The priestly elections, on motion of Labienus supported by Caesar,
were again referred by the people to popular vote, contrary to the law
of Sulla, but in renewal of the law of Domitius. Caesar at the death of
Metellus Pius was eager for his priesthood, although young and not
having served as praetor. Resting his hopes of it upon the multitude,
therefore, especially because he had helped Labienus against Rabirius
and had not voted for the death of Lentulus, he took the above course.
And he was appointed pontifex maximus, in spite of the fact that many
others, Catulus most of all, were his rivals for the honor. This because
he showed himself perfectly ready to serve and flatter every one, even
ordinary persons, and he spared no speech or action for getting
possession of the objects for which he strove. He paid no heed to
temporary groveling when weighed against subsequent power, and he
cringed as before superiors to those men whom he was planning to
dominate.

[-38-] Toward Caesar, accordingly, for these reasons, the masses were
well disposed, but their anger was directed against Cicero for the death
of the citizens, and they displayed their enmity in many ways. Finally,
when on the last day of his office he desired to give a defence and
account of all that had been done in his consulship,--for he took great
pleasure not only in being praised by others, but also in extolling
himself,--they made him keep silence and did not allow him to utter a
word outside of his oath; in this they had Metellus Nepos, the tribune,
to aid them. Only Cicero, in violent protestation, did take an
additional oath that he had saved the city.

[B.C. 62 (_a.u._ 692)]

[-39-] For that he incurred all the greater hatred. Catiline met his
doom at the very opening of the year in which Junius Silanus and Lucius
Licinius held office. For a while, although he had no small force, he
watched the movements of Lentulus and delayed, in the hope that if
Cicero and his adherents should be slain in good season he could easily
execute his remaining designs. But when he ascertained that Lentulus had
perished and that many of his followers had deserted for that reason, he
was compelled to risk the uttermost, especially as Antonius and Metellus
Celer, who were besieging Faesulae, did not allow him to advance in any
direction. He proceeded, therefore, against Antonius--the two were
separately encamped--although the latter had greater renown than
Metellus and was invested with greater power. The reason was that
Catiline had hopes of his letting himself be beaten in order to fulfill
the demands of his oath.

[-40-] The latter, who suspected this, no longer felt kindly toward
Catiline, because he was weak; for most men form both friendships and
enmities with reference to persons' influence and to individual
advantage. Furthermore, being afraid that the arch-conspirator, when he
saw them fighting earnestly, might utter some reproach and bring to
light things that should not be mentioned, he pretended to be sick and
confided the conduct of the battle to Marcus Petreius. This commander
joined battle with them and not without bloodshed cut down Catiline and
three thousand others while fighting most valiantly. No one of them
fled, but every man fell at his post. Even the victors mourned their
common loss, inasmuch as they had destroyed (no matter how justly) so
many and such brave men, who were citizens and allies. His head Antonius
sent to the city in order that its inhabitants might believe in his
death and have no further fear. He himself was named imperator for the
victory, although the number of the slaughtered was smaller than usual.
Sacrifices of oxen were also voted, and the people changed their raiment
to signify their deliverance from all dangers.

[-41-] Nevertheless, the allies who had shared the undertaking with
Catiline and still survived after that did not remain quiet, but through
fear of punishment created disturbances. Against each division of them
praetors were sent, overcame them in season, while still in a way
scattered, and punished them. Others that were avoiding observation were
convicted and condemned on information from Lucius Vettius, a knight,
who had taken part in the conspiracy but now on promise of immunity
revealed them. This went on until, after having impeached some men and
written their names on a tablet, he desired the privilege of writing in
others. The senators suspected that he was not dealing fair and would
not give him the document again for fear he should erase some names, but
had him mention orally all he had omitted. Then in shame and fear he
made known only a few others.

Since even under these circumstances disquietude prevailed in the city
and among the allies through ignorance of the persons named, and some
were needlessly troubled about themselves, while some incorrectly
suspected others, the senate decreed that the names be published. As a
result the innocent regained composure and judgments were pronounced
upon those called to account. Some were present to be condemned and
others let their cases go by default.

[-42-] Such was the career of Catiline and his downfall which, owing to
the reputation of Cicero and the speeches delivered against him, brought
him a greater name than his deeds deserved. Cicero came near being tried
immediately for the killing of Lentulus and the other prisoners. This
complaint, though technically brought against him, was really directed
against the senate. For among the populace its members were subject to
denunciations of the utmost virulence voiced by Metellus Nepos, to the
effect that they had no right to condemn any citizen to death without
the consent of the people. But Cicero had no trouble at that time. The
senate had granted immunity to all those who administered affairs during
that period and had further proclaimed that if any one should dare to
call any one of them to account again, he should be in the category of a
personal and public enemy; so that Nepos was afraid and aroused no
further tumult.

[-43-] This was not the senate's only victory. Nepos had moved that
Pompey be summoned with his army (he was still in Asia), pretendedly for
the purpose of bringing calm to the existing conditions, but really in
hope that he himself might through him get power in the disturbances he
was causing, because Pompey favored the multitude: this plan the
senators prevented from being ratified. For, to begin with, Cato and
Quintus Minucius in their capacity as tribunes vetoed the proposition
and stopped the clerk who was reading the motion. Nepos took the
document to read it himself, but they snatched it away, and when even so
he undertook to make some oral remarks they laid hold of his mouth. The
result was that a battle with sticks and stones and even swords took
place between them, in which some others joined who assisted both sides.
Therefore the senators convened in session that very day, changed their
togas and gave the consuls charge of the city, "that it suffer no
injury." Then even Nepos was afraid and retired immediately from their
midst: subsequently, after publishing some piece of writing against the
senate, he set out to join Pompey, although he had no right to be absent
from the city a single night.

[-44-] After this occurrence Caesar, who was now praetor, likewise showed
no further revolutionary tendencies. He effected the removal of the name
of Catulus from the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus--he was calling him to
account for theft and was demanding an account of the money he had
spent--and the entrusting to Pompey of the construction of the remainder
of the edifice. For many details, considering the size and character of
the work, were but half finished. Or else Caesar pretended it was so, in
order that Pompey might gain the glory for its completion and inscribe
his name instead. He was not, to be sure, so ready to do him a favor as
to submit to having passed concerning himself some decrees similar to
that regarding Nepos. He did not, in fact, act thus for Pompey's sake,
but in order that he might ingratiate himself with the populace. Still,
as it was, all feared Pompey to such an extent, seeing that it was not
yet clear whether he would give up his legions, that when he sent ahead
Marcus Piso, his lieutenant, to seek the consulship, they postponed the
elections in order that the latter might attend them, and on his arrival
elected him unanimously. For Pompey had recommended the man not only to
his friends, but also to his enemies.

[-45-] It was at this time that Publius Clodius debauched Caesar's wife
in her house and during the performance of the secret rites which
according to ancestral precedent the Vestals carried out at the
residences of consuls and praetors in behalf of the whole male
population. Caesar brought no charge against him, understanding well that
on account of his connections he would not be convicted, but divorced
his wife, telling her that he did not really believe the story but that
he could no longer live with her inasmuch as she had been suspected of
committing adultery at all: a chaste woman must not only not err, but
not even incur any evil suspicion.

[B.C. 61 (_a.u._ 693)]

[-46-] Following these events the stone bridge, called the Fabrician,
leading to the little island in the Tiber was constructed. The next year
in the consulship of Piso and Marcus Messala, the men in power showed
their hatred of Clodius and at the same time made expiation for his
pollution by delivering him to the court, after the pontifices had
decided that the rites because of his act had not been duly performed
and should be annulled. He was accused of adultery, in spite of Caesar's
silence, and of desertion at Nisibis and furthermore of having had
guilty relations with his sister: yet he was acquitted, although the
juries had requested and obtained of the senate a guard to prevent their
suffering any harm at his hands. Regarding this Catulus said jestingly
that they had asked for the guard not in order to condemn Clodius with
safety, but in order to preserve for themselves the money which they had
received in bribes.[25]

The author of this speech died shortly after,--a man who had always,
more conspicuously than his predecessors, held democracy in honor above
everything. That year the censors enrolled in the senatorial body all
who had attained office, even beyond the proper number. Until then, too,
the populace had watched unbroken series of armed combats, but now they
introduced the custom of going out to take lunch in the course of the
entertainment. This practice which began at that time continues even
now, when the person in authority exhibits games.

[-47-] This was the course of affairs in the city. Gaul in the vicinity
of Narbo was being devastated by the Allobroges, and Gaius Pomptinus,
its governor, sent his lieutenants against the enemy, but himself made a
stand at a convenient spot from which he could keep watch of what
occurred; this would enable him to give them opportune advice and
assistance, as their advantage might from time to time dictate.

Manlius Lentinus made a campaign against the city of Valentia and
terrified the inhabitants so, that the majority ran away and the rest
sent ambassadors for peace. Just then the country population coming to
their aid suddenly fell upon him; and he was repulsed from the wall, but
ravaged the land with impunity until Catugnatus, the commander of their
whole tribe, and some others of the dwellers across the Isar brought
them help. For the time being he did not dare to hinder them from
crossing, by reason of the number of the boats, for fear they might
gather in a body on seeing the Romans arrayed against them. As the
country was wooded, however, right down to the river bank, he planted
ambuscades in it, and captured and destroyed them as fast as they
crossed. While following up some fugitives he fell in with Catugnatus
himself, and would have perished with all his force, had not the advent
of a violent storm detained the barbarians from pursuit.

[-48-] Later, when Catugnatus had gone away to some distant place,
Lentinus overran the country again, and seized and razed to the ground
the wall where he had met with mishap. Also, Lucius Marius and Servius
Galba crossed the Rhone and after damaging the possessions of the
Allobroges finally reached the city of Solonium[27] and occupied a
strong position commanding it. In the battle they conquered their
opponents and set fire to the fortification, a portion of which was of
wood: they did not, however, capture it, being hindered by the
appearance of Catugnatus. Pomptinus, on receipt of this news, proceeded
against him with his entire force, and besieged and got possession of
the inhabitants all except Catugnatus. After that he more easily
subjugated the remaining portions.

[B.C. 60 (_a.u._ 694)]

[-49-] At this juncture Pompey entered Italy and had Lucius Afranius and
Metellus Celer appointed consuls, vainly hoping that through them he
could effect whatever he desired. Among his chief wishes was to have
some land given to him for the comrades of his campaigns and to have all
his acts approved; but he failed of these objects at that time, because
those in power, who were formerly not pleased with him, prevented the
questions being brought to vote. And of the consuls themselves Afranius
(who understood how to dance better than to transact any business) did
not unite with him for any purpose, and Metellus, in anger that Pompey
had divorced his sister in spite of having had children by her,
consistently opposed him in everything. Moreover, Lucius Lucullus whom
Pompey had once treated contemptuously at a chance meeting in Gaul was
greatly incensed against him, bidding him give an account individually
and separately of everything he had done instead of demanding a
ratification for all of his acts at once. He said it was only fair to
refuse to let absolutely everything that Pompey had done, as to the
character of which no one knew anything, be confirmed; it was unjust to
treat them like deeds performed by some master. When he (Lucullus) had
finished any of his own undertakings, he was accustomed to ask that an
investigation of each one be made in the senate, in order that the
senators might ratify whichever suited them. Lucullus was strongly
supported by Cato and Metellus and the rest who had the same wishes as
they.

[-50-] Accordingly, when the tribune who moved that land be assigned to
the adherents of Pompey added to the proposition (in order that they
might more readily vote this particular measure and ratify his acts)
that the same opportunity be afforded all the citizens as well, Metellus
contested every point with him and attacked the tribune to such an
extent that the latter had him put in a cell. Then Metellus wished to
assemble the senate there. When the other--his name was Lucius
Flavius--set the tribune's bench at the very entrance of the cell and
sitting there became an obstacle to any one's entrance, Metellus ordered
the wall of the prison to be cut through so that the senate might have
an entrance through it, and made preparations to pass the night where he
was. Pompey, on learning of this, in shame and some fear that the
populace might take offence, directed Flavius to withdraw. He spoke as
if this were a request from Metellus, but was not believed: for the
latter's pride was well known to all. Indeed, Metellus would not give
his consent when the other tribunes wished to set him free. He would not
even yield when Flavius threatened him again that he would not allow him
to go out to the province which he had obtained by lot unless he should
assist the tribune in putting the law through: on the contrary he was
very glad to remain in the city.

Pompey, therefore, since he could accomplish nothing because of Metellus
and the rest, said that they were jealous of him and that he would let
the people know of this. Fearing, however, that he should miss their
support as well, and so be subjected to still greater shame, he
abandoned his original aims. Thus he learned that he had no power in
reality, but only the reputation and envy resulting from his former
authority, which on the other hand afforded him no actual benefit; and
he repented of having let his legions go and of having delivered himself
to his enemies.

[-51-] Clodius's hatred[27] of the influential men led him after the
trial to desire to be tribune, and he induced some of those who held
that office to move that a share in it be given to the patricians also.
As he could not bring this about, he abjured his noble rank and changing
his tactics set out to obtain the prerogatives of the populace, and was
even enrolled in their list. Immediately he sought the tribuneship but
was not appointed, owing to the opposition of Metellus, who was related
to him and did not like his actions. The excuse that Metellus gave was
that the transference of Clodius had not been in accord with tradition;
this change had been permitted only at the time when the lex curiata was
introduced. Thus ended this episode.

Since now the taxes were a great oppression to the city and the rest of
Italy, the law that abolished them caused pleasure to all. The senators,
however, were angry at the praetor who proposed it (Metellus Nepos was
the man) and wished to erase his name from the law, entering another one
instead. Although this plan was not carried out, it was still made clear
to all that they received not even benefits gladly from inferior men.
About this same time Faustus, son of Sulla, gave a gladiatorial combat
in memory of his father and entertained the people brilliantly,
furnishing them with baths and oil gratis.

[-52-] While this happened in the city, Caesar had obtained the
government of Lusitania after his praetorship: and, though he might
without any great labor have cleared the land of brigandage (which
probably always existed there) and then have kept quiet, he refused to
do so. He was eager for glory, emulating Pompey and his other
predecessors who at one time had held great power, and he harbored no
small designs; it was his hope, in case he should at that time
accomplish anything, to be immediately chosen consul and show the people
deeds of magnitude. That hope was based more especially upon the fact
that in Gades, when he was praetor, he had dreamed of intercourse with
his mother, and had learned from the seers that he should come to great
power. Hence, on beholding there a likeness of Alexander dedicated in
the temple of Hercules he had given a groan, lamenting that he had
performed no great work as yet.

Accordingly, though he might, as I have said, have been at peace, he
took his way to Mount Herminium and ordered the dwellers on it to move
into the plain, pretendedly that they might not rush down from their
strongholds and plunder, but really because he well knew that they would
never do what he asked, and that as a result he should get a cause for
war. This also happened. After these men, then, had taken up arms he
proceeded to draw them on. When some of the neighbors, fearing that he
would betake himself against them too, carried off their children and
wives and most valuable possessions out of the way across the Dorius, he
first occupied their cities, where these measures were being taken, and
next joined battle with the men themselves. They put their flocks in
front of them, so that the Romans might scatter to seize the cattle,
whereupon they would attack them. But Caesar, neglecting the quadrupeds,
took the men by surprise and conquered them. [-53-] Meanwhile he learned
that the inhabitants of Herminium had withdrawn and were intending to
ambuscade him as he returned. So for the time being he returned by
another road, but again made an attempt upon them in which he was
victorious and pursued them in flight to the ocean. When, however, they
abandoned the mainland and crossed over to an island, he stayed where he
was, for his supply of boats was not large. He did put together some
rafts, by means of which he sent on a part of his army, and lost
numerous men. The person in command of them had advanced to a breakwater
which was near the island and had disembarked the troops with a view to
their crossing over on foot, when he was forced off by the flood tide
and put out to sea, leaving them in the lurch. All of them died bravely
defending themselves save Publius Scaefius, the only one to survive.
Deprived of his shield and wounded in many places he leaped into the
water and escaped by swimming. These events occurred all at one time.
Later, Caesar sent for boats from Gades, crossed over to the island with
his whole army and overcame the dwellers there without a blow, as they
were in poor condition from lack of food. Thence he sailed along to
Brigantium, a city of Gallaecia, alarmed the people (who had never before
seen a vessel) by the breakers which his approach to land caused, and
subjugated them.

[-54-] On accomplishing this he thought he had gained a sufficient means
of access to the consulship and set out hastily, even before his
successor arrived, to the elections. He decided to seek the position
even before asking for a triumph, since it was not possible to hold a
festival beforehand. He was refused the triumph, for Cato opposed him
with might and main. However, he let that go, hoping to perform many
more and greater exploits and celebrate corresponding triumphs, if
elected consul. Besides the omens previously recited, on which, he at
all times greatly prided himself, was the fact that a horse of his had
been born with clefts in the hoofs of its front feet, and bore him
proudly, whereas it would not endure any other rider. Consequently his
expectations were of no small character, so that he willingly resigned
the triumphal celebration and entered the city to canvass for office.
Here he courted Pompey and Crassus and the rest so skillfully that
though they were still at enmity with each other, and their political
clubs were likewise, and though each opposed everything that he learned
the other wished, he won them over and was unanimously appointed by them
all. This evidences his cleverness in the greatest degree that he should
have known and arranged the occasions and the amount of his services so
well as to attach them both to him when they were working against each
other.

[-55-] He was not even satisfied with this, but actually reconciled
them, not because he was desirous of having them agree, but because he
saw that they were the most powerful persons. And he understood well
that without the aid of both or of one he could never come to any great
power; but if he should make a friend of merely either one of them, he
should by that fact find the other his antagonist and should suffer more
reverses through him than he would win success by the support of the
other. For, on the one hand, it seemed to him that all men work more
strenuously against their enemies than they coöperate with their
friends, not merely as a corollary of the fact that anger and hate impel
more earnest endeavor than any friendship, but also because, when one
man works for himself, and a second for another, success does not hold a
like amount of pleasure or failure of pain in the two cases. Per contra
he reflected that it was handier to get in people's way and prevent
their reaching any prominence than to be willing to lead them to great
heights. The chief reason for this was that he who keeps another from
attaining magnitude pleases others as well as himself, whereas he who
exalts another renders him burdensome to both those parties.

[-56-] These reasons led Caesar at that time to insinuate himself into
their good graces, and subsequently he reconciled them with each other.
He did not believe that without them he could either attain permanent
power or fail to offend one of them some time, and had equally little
fear of their harmonizing their plans and so becoming stronger than he.
For he understood perfectly that he should master other people
immediately through their friendship, and a little later master them
through the agency of each other. And so it was.[28]

Pompey and Crassus, the moment they entered into his plan, themselves
made peace each with the other as if of their own accord, and took Caesar
into partnership respecting their designs. Pompey, on his side, was not
so strong as he had hoped to be, and seeing that Crassus was in power
and that Caesar's influence was growing feared that he should be utterly
overthrown by them; but he had the additional hope that if he made them
sharers in present advantages, he should win back his old authority
through them. Crassus thought that he should properly surpass them all
by reason of his family as well as his wealth; and since he was far
inferior to Pompey and thought that Caesar would rise to great heights,
he desired to set them in opposition one to the other, in order that
neither of them should have the upper hand. He expected that they would
be evenly matched antagonists and in this event he would get the benefit
of the friendship of each and gain honors beyond both of them. For
without supporting in all respects either the policy of the populace or
that of the senate he did everything to advance his own supremacy. Thus
it happened that he did both of them equal services and avoided the
enmity of either, promoting on occasion whatever measures pleased both
to such an extent as was likely to give him the credit for everything
that went to the liking of the two, without any share in more unpleasant
issues.

[-57-] Thus the three for these reasons cemented friendship, ratified it
with oaths, and managed public affairs by their own influence. Next they
gave and received in turn, one from another, whatever they set their
hearts on and was in view of the circumstances suitable to be carried
out by them. Their harmony caused an agreement also on the part of their
political followers: these, too, did with impunity whatever they wished,
enjoying the leadership of their superiors toward any ends, so that few
traces of moderation remained and those only in Cato and in any one else
who wished to seem to hold the same opinions as did he. No one in that
generation took part in politics from pure motives and without any
individual desire of gain except Cato. Some were ashamed of the acts
committed and others who strove to imitate him took a hand in affairs in
places, and manifested something of the same spirit: they were not
persevering, however, inasmuch as their efforts sprang from cultivation
of an attitude and not from innate virtue.

[-58-] This was the condition into which these men brought the affairs
of Rome at that time while they concealed their sworn fellowship as much
as possible. They did whatever had approved itself to them, but
fabricated and put forth the most opposite motives, in order that they
might still lie concealed for a very long time till their preparations
should be sufficiently made.

Yet Heaven was not ignorant of their doings, and it straightway revealed
plainly to those who could understand any such signs all that would
later result from their domination. For of a sudden such a storm came
down upon the whole city and all the land that quantities of trees were
torn up by the roots, many houses were shattered, the boats moored in
the Tiber both near the city and at its mouth were sunk, and the wooden
bridge destroyed, and a small theatre built of timbers for some assembly
was overturned, and in the midst of all this great numbers of human
beings perished. These portents appeared in advance,--an image, as it
were, of what should befall the people both on land and on water.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

38

The following is contained in the Thirty-eighth of Dio's Rome: How Caesar
and Bibulus fell to quarreling (chapters 1-8).

How Cicero was exiled (chapters 9-17).

How Philiscus consoled Cicero in the matter of his exile (chapters
18-30).

How Caesar fought the Helvetii and Ariovistus (chapters 31-50).

Duration of time, two years, in which there were the following
magistrates, here enumerated:

C. Julius C.F. Caesar, M. Calpurnius || C.F. Bibulus ||. (B.C. 59 = a.u.
695.)

||L. Calpurnius || L.F. Piso, A. Gabinius A.F. (B.C. 58 = a.u. 696.)

The names within the parallel lines are lacking in the MSS., but were
inserted by Palmer (and Boissevain).


(_BOOK 38, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 59 (_a.u._ 695)]

[-1-] The following year Caesar wished to court the favor of the entire
multitude, that he might make them his own to an even greater degree.
But since he was anxious to seem to be advancing also the interests of
the leading classes, so as to avoid getting into enmity with them, he
often told them that he would propose no measure which would not
advantage them also. Now there was a certain proposition about the land
which he was for assigning to the whole populace, that he had framed in
such a way as to incur no little censure for it. However, he pretended
he would not introduce this measure, either, unless it should be
according to their wishes. So far as the law went, indeed, no one could
find fault with him. The mass of the citizens, which was unwieldly (a
feature which more than any other accounted for their tendency to riot),
was thus turning in the direction of work and agriculture; and most of
the desolated sections of Italy were being colonized afresh, so that not
only those who had been worn out in the campaigns, but also all of the
rest should have subsistence a plenty, and that without any individual
expense on the part of the city or any assessment of the chief men;
rather it included the conferring of both rank and office upon many. He
wanted to distribute all the public land except Campania--this he
advised their keeping distinct as a public possession, because of its
excellence--and the rest he urged them to buy not from any one who was
unwilling to sell nor again for so large a price as the settlers might
wish, but first from people who were willing to dispose of their
holdings and second for as large a price as it had been valued at in the
tax-lists. They had a great deal of surplus money, he asserted, as a
result of the booty which Pompey had captured, as well as from the
new[29] tributes and taxes just established, and they ought, inasmuch as
it had been provided by the dangers that citizens had incurred, to
expend it upon those very persons. Furthermore he was for constituting
the land commissioners not a small body, to seem like an oligarchy, nor
composed of men who were laboring under any legal indictment,[30] lest
somebody might be displeased, but twenty to begin with, so that many
might share the honor, and next those who were most suitable, except
himself. This point he quite insisted should be settled in advance, that
it might not be thought that he was making a motion on his own account.
He himself was satisfied with the conception and proposal of the matter;
at least he said so, but clearly he was doing a favor to Pompey and
Crassus and the rest.

[-2-] So far as the motion went, then, he escaped censure, so that no
one, indeed, ventured to open his mouth in opposition: for he had read
it aloud beforehand in the senate, and calling upon each one of the
senators by name had enquired his opinion, for fear that some one might
have some fault to find; and he promised to frame differently or even
erase entirely any clause which might not please any person. Still on
the whole quite all the foremost men who were outside the plot were
irritated. And this very fact troubled them most, that Caesar had
compiled such a document that not one could raise a criticism and yet
they were all cast down. They suspected the purpose with which it was
being done,--that he would bind the multitude to him as a result of it,
and have reputation and power over all men. For this reason even if no
one spoke against him, no one expressed approval, either. This sufficed
for the majority and they kept promising him that they would pass the
decree: but they did nothing; on the contrary, fruitless delays and
postponements kept arising. [-3-] As for Marcus Cato, who was in general
an upright man and displeased with any innovation but was able to exert
no influence either by nature or by education, he did not himself make
any complaint against the motion, but without going into particulars
urged them to abide by the existing system and take no steps beyond it.
At this Caesar was on the point of dragging Cato out of the very
senate-house and casting him into prison. The latter gave himself up
quite readily to be led away and not a few of the rest followed him; one
of them, Marcus Petreius, being rebuked by Caesar because he was taking
his departure before the senate was yet dismissed, replied: "I prefer to
be with Cato in his cell rather than here with you." Abashed at this
speech Caesar let Cato go and adjourned the senate, saying only this much
in passing: "I have made you judges and lords of the law so that if
anything should not suit you, it need not be brought into the public
assembly; but since you are not willing to pass a decree, that body
itself shall decide."

[-4-] Thereafter he communicated to the senate nothing further under
this head but brought directly before the people whatever he desired.
However, as he wished even under these circumstances to secure as
sympathizers some of the foremost men in the assembly, hoping that they
had now changed their minds and would be a little afraid of the
populace, he began with his colleague and asked him if he criticised the
provisions of the law. When the latter made no answer save that he would
endure no innovations in his own office, Caesar proceeded to supplicate
him and persuaded the multitude to join him in his request, saying: "You
shall have the law if only he wishes it."

Bibulus with a great shout replied: "You shall not have this law this
year, even if all of you wish it." And having spoken thus he took his
departure.

Caesar did not address any further enquiries to persons in office,
fearing that some one of them might also oppose him; but he held a
conference with Pompey and Crassus, though they were private citizens,
and bade them make known their views about the proposition. This was not
because he failed to understand their attitude, for all their
undertakings were in common; but he purposed to honor these men in that
he called them in as advisers about the law when they were holding no
office, and also to stir terror in the rest by securing the adherence of
men who were admittedly the foremost in the city at that time and had
the greatest influence with all. By this very move, also, he would
please the multitude, by giving proof that they were not striving for
any unusual or unjust end, but for objects which those great men were
willing both to scrutinize and to approve.

[-5-] Pompey, accordingly, very gladly addressed them as follows: "Not I
alone, Quirites, sanction the proposition, but all the rest of the
senate as well, seeing that it has voted for land to be given, aside
from the partners of my campaign, to those who formerly followed
Metellus. At that time, indeed, since the treasury had no great means,
the granting of the land was naturally postponed; but at present, since
it has become exceedingly rich through my efforts, it behooves the
senators to redeem their promise and the rest to reap the fruit of the
common toils." After these remarks he went over in detail every feature
of the proposition and approved them all, so that the crowd was mightily
pleased. Seeing this, Caesar asked him if he would willingly lend
assistance against those who took the opposite side, and advised the
multitude to ask his aid similarly for this end. When this was done
Pompey was elated because both the consul and the multitude had
petitioned his help, although he was holding no position of command. So,
with an added opinion of his own value and assuming much dignity he
spoke at some length, finally declaring "if any one dares to raise a
sword, I, too, will oppose to him my shield." These utterances of Pompey
Crassus, too, approved. Consequently even if some of the rest were not
pleased, most became very eager for the ratification of the law when
these[31] men whose reputations were in general excellent and who were,
according to common opinion, inimical to Caesar (their reconciliation was
not yet manifest) joined in the approbation of his measure.

[-6-] Bibulus, notwithstanding, would not yield and with three tribunes
to support him continued to hinder the enactment of the law. Finally,
when no excuse for delay was any longer left him, he proclaimed a sacred
period for all the remaining days of the year alike, during which people
could not, in accordance with the laws, come together for a meeting.[32]
Caesar paid slight attention to him and announced an appointed day on
which they should pass the law. When the multitude by night had already
occupied the Forum, Bibulus appeared with the force at his disposal and
made his way to the temple of the Dioscuri from which Caesar was
delivering his harangue. The men fell back before him partly out of
respect and partly because they thought he would not actually oppose
them. But when he reached an elevated place and attempted to dispute
with Caesar, he was thrust down the steps, his staves were broken to
pieces, and the tribunes as well as the others received blows and
wounds.

Thus the law was ratified. Bibulus was for the moment satisfied to save
his life, but on the following day tried in the senate to annul the act;
however, he effected nothing, for all, subservient to the will of the
multitude, remained quiet. Accordingly he retired to his home and did
not again so much as once appear in public until the last day of the
year. Instead he remained in his house,--notifying Caesar through his
assistants on the introduction of every new measure that it was a sacred
period and by the laws he could rightfully take no action during it.
Publius Vatinius, a tribune, indeed undertook to place Bibulus in a cell
for this, but was prevented from confining him by the opposition of his
associates in office. However, Bibulus in this way put himself out of
politics and the tribunes belonging to his party likewise were never
again entrusted with any public duty.

[-7-] It should be said that Metellus Celer and Cato and through him one
Marcus Favonius, who imitated him in all points, for a while would not
take the oath of obedience to the law. (This custom once[33], begun, as
I have stated, became the regular practice in the case of other unusual
measures also.) A number besides Metellus, who referred to his title of
Numidicus, flatly declared they would never join in approving it. When,
however, the day came[34] on which they were to incur the stated
penalties, they took the oath, either as a result of the human trait
according to which many persons utter promises and threats more easily
than they put anything into execution, or else because they were going
to be fined to no purpose, without helping the commonwealth at all by
their obstinacy. So the law was ratified, and furthermore the land of
Campania was given to those having three or more children. For this
reason Capua was then for the first time considered a Roman colony.

By this means Caesar attached to his cause the people, and he won the
knights, as well, by allowing them a third part of the taxes which they
had hired. All the collections were made through them and though they
had often asked the senate to grant them some satisfactory schedule,
they had not gained it, because Cato and the others worked against them.
When, then, he had conciliated this class also without any protest, he
first ratified all the acts of Pompey--and in this he met no opposition
from Lucullus or any one else,--and next he put through many other
measures while no one opposed him. There was no gainsaying even from
Cato, although in the praetorship which he soon after held, he would
never mention the title of the other's laws, which were called the
"Julian." While he followed their provisions in allotting the courts he
most ridiculously concealed their names.

[-8-] These, then, because they are very many in number and offer no
contribution to this history, I will leave aside.--Quintus Fufius
Calenus, finding that the [B.C. 59 (_a.u._ 695)] votes of all in party
contests were promiscuously mingled,--each of the classes attributing
the superior measures to itself and referring the less sensible to the
others--passed when praetor a law that each should cast its votes
separately: his purpose was that even if their individual opinions could
not be revealed, by reason of doing this secretly, yet the views of the
classes at least might be made known.

As for the rest, Caesar himself proposed, advised and arranged everything
in the city once for all as if he were its sole ruler. Hence some
facetious persons hid the name of Bibulus in silence altogether and
named Caesar twice, and in writing would mention Gaius Caesar and Julius
Caesar as being the consuls. But in matters that concerned himself he
managed through others, for he guarded most strenuously against the
contingency of presenting anything to himself. By this means he more
easily effected everything that he desired. He himself declared that he
needed nothing more and strongly protested that he was satisfied with
his present possessions. Others, believing him a necessary and useful
factor in affairs proposed whatever he wished and had it ratified, not
only before the populace but in the senate itself. For whereas the
multitude granted him the government of Illyricum and of Gaul this side
of the Alps with three legions for five years, the senate entrusted him
in addition with Gaul beyond the mountains and another legion.

[-9-] Even so, in fear that Pompey in his absence (during which Aulus
Gabinius was to be consul) might lead some revolt, he attached to his
cause both Pompey and the other consul, Lucius Piso, by the bond of
kinship: upon the former he bestowed his daughter, in spite of having
betrothed her to another man, and he himself married Piso's daughter.
Thus he fortified himself on all sides. But Cicero and Lucullus, little
pleased at this, undertook to kill both Caesar and Pompey through the
medium of one Lucius Vettius; they failed of their attempt, however, and
all but perished themselves as well. For Vettius, being informed against
and arrested before he had acted, denounced them; and had he not charged
Bibulus also with being in the plot against the two, they would have
certainly met some evil fate. As it was, inasmuch as in his defence he
accused the man who had revealed the project to Pompey, he was suspected
of not speaking the truth on other points either, but created the
impression that the matter had been somehow purposely contrived with a
view to calumniating the opposite party. About these details some spread
one report and others another, but nothing was definitely proven.
Vettius was brought before the populace and after naming only those whom
I have mentioned was thrown into prison, where not much later he was
treacherously murdered.

[-10-] In consequence of this Cicero became an object of suspicion on
the part of Caesar and Pompey, and he strengthened their conjecture in
his defence of Antonius. The latter, in his governorship of Macedonia,
had committed many outrages upon the subject territory as well as the
section that was under truce, and had been well chastised in return. He
ravaged the possessions of the Dardani and their neighbors and then did
not dare to withstand their attack, but pretending to retire with his
cavalry for some other purpose took to flight; in this way the enemy
surrounded his infantry and drove them out of the country with violence,
taking away their plunder from them besides. When he tried the same
tactics on the allies in Moesia he was defeated near the city of the
Istrianians by the Bastarnian Scythians who came to their aid; and
thereupon he decamped. It was not for this conduct, however, that he was
accused, but he was indicted for conspiracy with Catiline; yet he was
convicted on the former charge, so that it was his fate to be found not
guilty of the crime for which he was being tried, but to be punished for
something of which he was not accused. That was the way he finally came
off; but at the time Cicero in the character of his advocate, because
Antonius was his colleague, made a most bitter assault upon Caesar as
responsible for the suit against the man, and heaped some abuse upon him
in addition.

[-11-] Caesar was naturally indignant at it, but, although consul,
refused to be the author of any insolent speech or act against him. He
said that the rabble purposely cast out[35] many idle slurs upon their
superiors, trying to entice them into strife, so that the commoners
might seem to be equal and of like importance, in case they should get
anything similar said of themselves. Hence he did not see fit to put any
person on an equal footing with himself. It had been his custom,
therefore, to conduct himself thus toward others who insulted him at
all, and now seeing that Cicero was not so anxious about abusing him as
about obtaining similar abuse in return and was merely desirous of being
put on an equality with him, he paid little heed to his traducer, acting
as if nothing had been said; indeed, he allowed him to employ
vilifications unstintedly, as if they were praises showered upon him.
Still, he did not disregard him entirely. Caesar possessed in reality a
rather decent nature, and was not easily moved to anger. Accordingly,
though punishing many, since his interests were of such magnitude, yet
his action was not due to anger nor was it altogether immediate. He did
not indulge wrath at all, but watched his opportunity and his vengeance
dogged the steps of the majority of culprits without their knowing it.
He did not take measures so as to seem to defend himself against
anybody, but so as to arrange everything to his own advantage while
creating the least odium. Therefore he visited retribution secretly and
in places where one would least have expected it,--both for the sake of
his reputation, to avoid seeming to be of a wrathful disposition, and to
the end that no one through premonition should be on his guard in
advance, or try to inflict some dangerous injury upon his persecutor
before being injured. For he was not more concerned about what had
already occurred than that[36] (future attacks) should be hindered. As a
result he would pardon many of those, even, who had harmed him greatly,
or pursue them only a little way, because he believed they would do no
further injury; whereas upon many others, even more than was right, he
took vengeance looking to his safety, and said that[37] what was done he
could never make undone,[38] but because of the extreme punishment he
would[39] for the future at least suffer[40] no calamity.

[-12-] These calculations induced him to remain quiet on this occasion,
too; but when he ascertained that Clodius was willing to do him a favor
in return, because he had not accused him of adultery, he set the man
secretly against Cicero. In the first place, in order that he might be
lawfully excluded from the patricians, he transferred him with Pompey's
coöperation again to the plebian rank, and then immediately had him
appointed tribune. This Clodius, then, muzzled Bibulus, who had entered
the Forum at the expiration of his office and intended in the course of
taking the oath to deliver a speech about present conditions, and after
that attacked Cicero also.

[B.C. 58 (_a.u._ 696)]

He soon decided that it was not easy to overthrow a man who, on account
of his skill in speaking, had very great influence in politics, and so
proceeded to conciliate not only the populace, but also the knights and
the senate with whom Cicero most held in regard. His hope was that if he
could make these men his own, he might easily cause the downfall of the
orator, whose great strength lay rather in the fear than in the
good-will which he inspired. Cicero annoyed great numbers by his words,
and those who were won to him by benefits conferred were not so numerous
as those alienated by injuries done them. Not only did it hold true in
his case that the majority of mankind are more ready to feel irritation
at what displeases them than to feel grateful to any one for good
treatment, and think that they have paid their advocates in full with
wages, whereas they are determined to give those who oppose them at law
a perceptible setback: but furthermore he invited very bitter enemies by
always striving to get the better of even the strongest men and by
always employing an unbridled and excessive frankness of speech to all
alike; he was in desperate pursuit of a reputation for being able to
comprehend and speak as no one else could, and before all wanted to be
thought a valuable citizen. As a result of this and because he was the
greatest boaster alive and thought no one equal to himself, but in his
words and life alike looked down on all and would not live as any one
else did, he was wearisome and burdensome, and was consequently both
envied and hated even by those very persons whom he pleased.

[-13-] Clodius therefore hoped that for these reasons, if he should
prepare the minds of the senate and the knights and the populace in
advance, he could quickly make way with him. So he straightway[41]
distributed free corn gratis (he had already in the consulship of
Gabinius and Piso introduced a motion that it be measured out to those
who lacked), and revived the associations called _collegia_ in the
native language, which had existed anciently but had been abolished for
some time. The tribunes he forbade to depose a person from any office or
disfranchise him, save if a man should be tried and convicted in
presence of them both. After enticing the citizens by these means he
proposed another law, concerning which it is necessary to speak at some
length, so that it may become clearer to most persons.

Public divination was obtained from the sky and from some other sources,
as I said, but that of the sky carried the greatest weight,--so much so
that whereas the other auguries held were many in number and for each
action, this one was held but once and for the whole day. Besides this
most peculiar feature it was noticeable that whereas in reference to all
other matters sky-divination either allowed things to be done and they
were carried out without consulting any individual augury further, or
else it would prevent and hinder something, it restrained the balloting
of the populace altogether and was always a portent to check them,
whether it was of a favorable or ill-boding nature. Now the cause of
this custom I am unable to state, but I set down the common report.
Accordingly, many persons who wished to obstruct either the proposal of
laws or official appointments that came before the popular assembly were
in the habit of announcing that they would use the divination from the
sky for that day, so that the people could ratify nothing during the
period. Clodius was afraid that if he indicted Cicero some person by
such means might interpose a postponement or delay the trial, and so
introduced measure that no one of the officials should, on the days when
it was necessary for the people to vote on anything, observe the signs
from heaven.

[-14-]Such was the nature of the indictment which he then drew up
against Cicero. The latter understood what was going on and induced
Lucius Ninnius Quadratus, a tribune, to oppose it all: then Clodius, in
fear lest a tumult and delay of some kind should arise as a result,
outwitted him by deceit. He made arrangements with Cicero beforehand to
bring no indictment against him, if he, in turn, would not interfere
with any of the measures under consideration; whereupon, while the
latter and Ninnius were quiet, he secured the passage of the laws, and
next proceeded against the orator. Thus was the latter, who thought
himself extremely wise, deceived on that occasion by Clodius,--if we
ought to say Clodius and not Caesar and his party. For the law that
Clodius proposed after this trick was not on its face enacted against
Cicero (i.e. it did not contain his name), but against all those simply
who put to death or had put to death any citizen without the
condemnation of the populace; yet in fact it was drawn up as strongly as
possible against that one man.

It brought within its scope, indeed, all the senate, because they had
charged the consuls with the protection of the city, by which act it was
permitted the latter to take such steps, and subsequently had voted to
condemn Lentulus and the rest who at that time suffered the death
penalty. Cicero, however, incurred the responsibility alone or most of
all, because he had laid information against them and had each time made
the proposition and put the vote and had finally seen to their execution
by the agents entrusted with such business. For this reason he took
vigorous retaliatory measures, and discarding senatorial dress went
about in the garb of the knights, paying court meanwhile, as he went
back and forth, day and night alike to all who had any influence, not
only of his friends but also of his opponents, and especially to Pompey
and Caesar, inasmuch as they did not show their enmity toward him. [-15-]
In their anxiety not to appear by their own action to have set Clodius
on or to be pleased with his measures, they devised the following way,
which suited them admirably and was obscure to their foe, for deceiving
Cicero. Caesar advised him to yield, for fear he might perish if he
remained where he was: and in order to have it believed the more readily
that he was doing this through good will, he promised that the other
should employ him as helper, so that he might retire from Clodius's path
not with reproach and as if under examination, but in command and with
honor.

Pompey, however, turned him aside from this course, calling the act
outright desertion, and uttering insinuations against Caesar to the
effect that through enmity he was not giving sound advice; for his own
counsel, as expressed, was for Cicero to remain and come to the aid of
the senate and himself with outspokenness, and to defend himself
immediately against Clodius: the latter, he declared, would not be able
to accomplish anything with the orator present and confronting him and
would furthermore meet his deserts, and he, Pompey, would coöperate to
this end. After these speeches from them, modeled in such a way not
because the views of the two were opposed, but for the purpose of
deceiving the man without arousing his suspicion, Cicero attached
himself to Pompey. Of him he had no previous suspicion and was
thoroughly confident of being rescued by his assistance. Many men
respected and honored him, for numerous persons in trouble were saved
some from the judges and others from their very accusers. Also, since
Clodius had been a relative of Pompey's and a partner of his campaigns
for a long period, it seemed likely that he would do nothing that failed
to accord with his wishes. As for Gabinius, Cicero expected that he
could count on him absolutely as an adherent, being a good friend of
his, and equally on Piso because of his regard for right and his kinship
with Caesar. [-16-] On the basis of these calculations, then, he hoped to
win (for he was confident beyond reason even as he had been terrified
without investigating), and in fear lest his withdrawal from town should
seem to have been the result of a bad conscience, he paid heed to
Pompey, while stating to Caesar that he was considerably obliged to him.

Thus it came about that the victim of the deceit continued his
preparations to administer a stinging defeat to his enemies. For, in
addition to the encouraging circumstances already mentioned, the knights
in convention sent to the consuls and senate on the Capitol [B.C. 58
(_a.u._ 696)] envoys in his behalf from their own number, and the
senators Quintus Hortensius and Gaius Curio. One of the many ways in
which Ninnius, too, assisted him was to urge the populace to change
their garb, as if for a universal disaster. And many even of the
senators did[42] this and would not change back until the consuls by
edict rebuked them.

The forces of his adversaries were more powerful, however. Clodius would
not allow Ninnius to take any action in his behalf, and Gabinius would
not grant the knights access to the senate; on the contrary, he drove
one of them, who was very insistent, out of the city and chided
Hortensius and Curio for having come before them when they were
assembled and having undertaken the embassy. Moreover Clodius led them
before the populace where they were well thrashed and beaten for their
embassy by some appointed agents. After this Piso, though he seemed well
disposed toward Cicero and had advised him to slip away beforehand on
seeing that it was impossible for him to attain safety by other means,
nevertheless, when the orator took offence at this counsel, came before
the assembly at the first opportunity--he was too feeble most of the
time--and to the question of Clodius as to what opinion he held
regarding the proposed measure said: "No deed of cruelty or sadness
pleases me." Gabinius, too, on being asked the same question, not only
praised Clodius but indulged in invectives against the knights and the
senate.

[-17-] Caesar, however (whom since he had taken the field Clodius could
make arbiter of the proposition only by assembling the throng outside
the walls), condemned the lawlessness of the action taken in regard to
Lentulus, but still did not approve the punishment proposed for it.
Every one knew, he said, all that had been in his mind concerning the
events of that time--he had cast his vote for letting the men live--but
it was not fitting for any such law to be drawn up touching events now
past. This was Caesar's statement; Crassus showed some favor to Cicero
through his son but himself took the side of the multitude. Pompey kept
promising the orator assistance, but by making various excuses at
different times and arranging purposely many journeys out of town failed
to defend him.

Cicero seeing this was frightened and again undertook to resort to
arms,--among other things he did was to abuse Pompey openly with
insults--but was prevented by Cato and Hortensius, for fear a civil war
might result. Then at last, against his will, with shame and the
ill-repute of having gone into exile voluntarily, as if
conscience-stricken, he departed. Before leaving he ascended the Capitol
and dedicated a little image of Minerva, whom he styled "protectress."
It was to Sicily that he secretly betook himself. He had once been
governor there, and entertained a lively hope that he would be honored
among its towns and private citizens and by its rulers.

On his departure the law took effect; so far from meeting with any
opposition, it was supported, as soon as he was once out of the way, by
those very persons (among others) who were thought to be the foremost
movers in Cicero's behalf. His property was confiscated, his house was
razed to the ground, as though it had been an enemy's, and its
foundation was dedicated for a temple of Liberty. Upon the orator
himself exile was imposed, and a continued stay in Sicily was forbidden
him: he was banished three thousand seven hundred and fifty stadia[43]
from Rome, and it was further proclaimed that if he should ever appear
within those limits, both he and those who harbored him might be killed
with impunity.

[-18-] He, accordingly, went over to Macedonia and was living in the
depths of grief. But there met him a man named Philiscus, who had made
his acquaintance in Athens and now by chance fell in with him again.

"Are you not ashamed, Cicero," said this person, "to be weeping and
behaving like a woman? Really, I should never have expected that you,
who have partaken of much education of every kind, who have acted as
advocate to many, would grow so faint-hearted."

"Ah," replied the other, "it's not the same thing, Philiscus, to speak
for others as to advise one's own self. The words spoken in others'
behalf, proceeding from a mind that stands erect, undeteriorated, have
the greatest possible effect. But when some affliction overwhelms the
spirit, it is made turbid and dark and can not think out anything
appropriate. Wherefore, I suppose, it has well been said that it is
easier to counsel others than one's self to be strong under suffering."

"Yours is a very human objection," rejoined Philiscus. "I did not think,
however, that you, who have shown so much wisdom and have trained
yourself in so much learning, had failed to prepare yourself for all
human possibilities, so that if any unexpected accident should happen to
you, it would not find you unfortified. Since, notwithstanding, you are
in this plight, why I might benefit you by rehearsing what is good for
you. Thus, just as men who put a hand to people's burdens relieve them,
so I might lighten this misfortune of yours, and the more easily than
they inasmuch as I shall take upon myself the smallest share of it. You
will not deem it unworthy, I trust, to receive some encouragement from
another. If you were sufficient for your own self, we should have no
need of these words. As it is, you are in a like case to Hippocrates or
Democedes or any other of the great physicians, if one of them should
fall a victim to a disease hard to cure and should need another's hand
to bring about his own recovery."

[-19-] "Indeed," said Cicero, "if you have any such train of reasoning
as will dispel this mist from my soul and restore me to the light of
old, I am most ready to listen. For of words, as of drugs, there are
many varieties and diverse potencies, so that it will not be surprising
if you should be able to steep in some mixture of philosophy even me,
the shining light of senate, assembly, and law-courts."

"Come then," continued Philiscus, "since you are ready to listen, let us
consider first whether these conditions that surround you are actually
bad, and next in what way we may cure them. First of all, now, I see you
are in good physical health and quite vigorous,--a state which is by
nature a blessing to mankind,--and next that you have provisions in
sufficiency so as not to hunger or thirst or be cold or endure any other
unpleasant experience through lack of means, a second circumstance which
any one might naturally set down as good for man's nature. For when
one's physical constitution is good and one can live along without worry
every accessory to happiness is enjoyed."

[-20-] To this Cicero replied: "No, not one of such accessories is of
use when some grief is preying upon one's spirit. The reflections of the
soul distress one far more than bodily comforts can cause delight. Even
so I at present set no value on my physical health because I am
suffering in mind, nor yet in the abundance of necessaries; for the
deprivations I have endured are many."

Said the other: "And does this grieve you? Now if you were going to be
in want of things needful, there would be some reason for your being
annoyed at your loss. But since you have all the necessaries in full
measure, why do you harass yourself because you do not possess more? All
that belongs to one beyond one's needs is in excess and its nature is
the same whether present or absent, for you are aware that even formerly
you did not make use of what was not necessary: hence suppose that at
that time the things which you did not need were non-existent or else
that those of which you are not in want are now here. Most of them were
not yours by inheritance that you should be particularly exercised about
them, but were furnished you by your own tongue and by your words,--the
same causes that effected their loss. Accordingly, you should not take
it hard that just as things were acquired, so they have been lost.
Sea-captains are not greatly disturbed when they suffer great reverses.
They understand, I think, how to look at it sensibly,--that the sea
which gives them wealth takes it away again.

[-21-] "This is enough on one point. I think it should be enough for a
man's happiness to possess a sufficiency and to lack nothing that the
body requires, and I hold that everything in excess brings anxieties and
trouble and jealousies. But as for your saying there is no enjoyment in
physical blessings unless one have corresponding spiritual advantages,
the statement is true: it is impossible if the spirit is in poor
condition that the body should fail to partake of the sickness. However,
I think it much easier for one to care for mental than for physical
vigor. The body, being of flesh, contains many paradoxical possibilities
and requires much assistance from the higher power: the intellect, of a
nature more divine, can be easily trained and prompted. Let us look to
this, therefore, to discover what spiritual blessing has abandoned you
and what evil has come upon you that you cannot shake off.

[-22-] "First, then, I see that you are a man of the greatest
intellectual gifts. The proof is that you nearly always persuaded both
the senate and the people in cases where you gave them any advice and
helped private citizens very greatly in cases where you acted as their
advocate. And second that you are a most just man. Indeed you have
contended everywhere for your country and for your friends and have
arrayed yourself against those who plotted against them. Yes, this very
misfortune which you have suffered has befallen you for no other reason
than that you continued to speak and act in everything for the laws and
for the government. Again, that you have attained the highest degree of
temperance is shown by your very habits. It is not possible for a man
who is a slave to sensual pleasures to appear constantly in public and
to go to and fro in the Forum, making his deeds by day witnesses of
those by night. And because this is so I thought you were the bravest of
men, enjoying, as you did, so great strength of intellect, so great
power in speaking. But it seems that you, startled out of yourself by
having failed contrary to your hope and deserts, have been drawn back a
little from the goal of real bravery. This loss, however, you will
recover immediately, and as your circumstances are such, with a good
physical state and a good spiritual, I cannot see what there is to
distress you."

[-23-] At the end of this speech of his Cicero rejoined:--"There seems
to you, then, to be no great evil in dishonor and exile and not living
at home nor being with your friends, but instead being expelled with
violence from your country, existing in a foreign land, and wandering
about with the name of exile, causing laughter to your enemies and
disgrace to your connections."

"Not a trace of evil, so far as I can see," declared Philiscus. "There
are two elements of which we are constituted,--soul and body,--and
definite blessings and evils are given to each of the two by Nature
herself. Now if there should be any failure in these details, it might
properly be considered hurtful and base, but if all should be right it
would be advantageous rather. This, at the outset, is your condition.
Those things which you mentioned, cases of dishonor among them, and
everything else of the sort are disgraceful and evil only through law
and a kind of notion, and work no injury to either body or soul. What
body could you cite that has fallen sick or perished and what spirit
that has grown wickeder or even more ignorant through dishonor and exile
and anything of that sort? I see none. And the reason is that no one of
these accidents is by nature evil, just as neither honorable position
nor residence in one's country is by nature excellent, but whatever
opinion each one of us holds about them, such they seem to be. For
instance, mankind do not universally apply the term 'dishonor' to the
same conditions, but certain deeds which are reprehensible in some
regions are praised in others and various actions honored by this people
are punishable by that. Some do not so much as know the name, nor the
fact which it implies. This is quite natural. For whatever does not
touch what belongs to man's nature is thought to have no bearing upon
him. Just exactly as it would be most ridiculous, surely, if some
judgment or decree were delivered that so-and-so is sick or so-and-so is
base, so does the case stand regarding dishonor.

[-24-] "The same thing I find to be true in regard to exile. Living
abroad is somehow in a way dishonorable, so that if dishonor pure and
simple contains no evil, surely an evil reputation can not be attached
to exile either. You know at any rate that many live abroad the longest
possible time, some unwillingly and others willingly; and some even
spend their whole life traveling about, just as if they were expelled
from every place: and yet they do not regard themselves as being injured
in doing so. It makes no difference whether a man does it voluntarily or
not. The person who trains unwillingly gets no less strong than he who
is willing about it, and the person who navigates unwillingly obtains no
less benefit than the other. And as for this very element of
unwillingness, I do not see how it can encounter a man of sense. If the
difference between being well and badly off is that some things we
readily volunteer to do and others we are unwilling and grudge to
perform, the trouble can be easily mended. For if We endure willingly
all necessary things and show the white feather before none of them, all
those matters in which one might assume unwillingness have been
abolished. There is, indeed, an old saying and a very good one, to the
effect that we ought not to think it requisite for whatever we wish to
come to pass, but to wish for whatever does come to pass as the result
of any necessity. We neither have free choice in our course of life nor
is it on ourselves that we are dependent; but according as it may suit
Fortune, and according to the character of the Divinity granted each one
of us for the fulfillment of what is ordained, must we also regard our
life.

[-25-] "Such is the nature of the case whether we like it or not. If,
now, it is not mere dishonor or mere exile that troubles you, but the
fact that not only without having done your country any hurt, but after
having benefited her greatly you were dishonored and expelled, look at
it in this way,--that once it was destined for you to have such an
experience, it has been the noblest and the best fortune that could
befall you to be despitefully used without having committed any wrong.
You advised and performed all that was proper for the citizens, not as
individual but as consul, not meddling officiously in a private capacity
but obeying the decree of the senate, not as a party measure but for the
best ends. This or that other person, on the contrary, out of his
superior power and insolence had devised everything against you,
wherefore disasters and grief belong to him for his injustice, but for
you it is noble as well as necessary to bear bravely what the Divinity
has determined. Surely you would not have preferred to coöperate with
Catiline and to conspire with Lentulus, to give your country the exact
opposite of advantageous counsel, to discharge none of the duties laid
upon you by it, and thus to remain at home under a burden of wickedness
instead of displaying uprightness and being exiled. Accordingly, if you
have any care for reputation, it is far preferable for you to have been
driven out, guilty of no wrong, than to have remained at home by
executing some villainy; for, among other considerations, shame attaches
to the men who have unjustly cast one forth, but not to the man who is
wantonly expelled.

[-26-] "Moreover, the story as I heard it was that you did not depart
unwillingly nor after conviction, but of your own accord; that you hated
to live with them, seeing that you could not make them better and would
not endure to perish with them, and that you were exiled not from your
country but from those who were plotting against her. Consequently they
would be the ones dishonored and banished, having cast out all that is
good from their souls, but you would be honored and fortunate, as being
nobody's slave in unseemly fashion and possessing all fitting qualities,
whether you choose to live in Sicily, in Macedonia, or anywhere else in
the world. Surely it is not localities that give either good fortune or
unhappiness of any sort, but each man makes for himself both country and
happiness always and everywhere. This is what Camillus had in mind when
he was glad to dwell in Ardea; this is the way Scipio reckoned when he
lived his life out without grieving in Liternum. What need is there to
mention Aristides or to cite Themistocles, men whom exile rendered more
esteemed, or Anni[44] ... or Solon, who of his own accord left home for
ten years?

"Therefore do you likewise cease to consider irksome any such thing as
pertains neither to our physical nor to our spiritual nature, and do not
vex yourself at what has happened. For to us belongs no choice as I told
you, of living as we please, but it is quite requisite for us to endure
what the Divinity determines. If we do this voluntarily, we shall not be
grieved: if involuntarily, we shall not escape at all what is fated and
we shall lay upon ourselves besides the greatest of ills,--distressing
our hearts to no purpose. The proof of it is that men who bear
good-naturedly the most outrageous fortunes do not regard themselves as
being in any very dreadful circumstances, while those that are disturbed
at the lightest disappointments feel as if all human ills were theirs.
And, among people in general, some who handle fair conditions badly and
others who handle unfavorable conditions well make their good or ill
fortune appear even in the eyes of others to be of precisely the same
nature as they figure it to themselves. [-27-] Bear this in mind, then,
and be not cast down by your present state, nor grieve if you learn that
the men who exiled you are flourishing. In general the successes of men
are vain and ephemeral, and the higher a man climbs as a result of them
the more easily, like a breath, does he fall, especially in partisan
conflicts. Borne along in a tumultuous and unstable medium they differ
little, or rather not at all, from ships in a storm, but are carried up
and then down, now hither, now yon; and if they make the slightest
error, they sink altogether. Not to mention Drusus or Scipio or the
Gracchi or some others, remember how Camillus the exile later came off
better than Capitolinus, and remember how much Aristides subsequently
surpassed Themistocles.

"Do you, then, as well, entertain a strong hope that you will be
restored; for you have not been expelled on account of wrong doing, and
the very ones who drove you forth will, as I take it, seek for you,
while all will miss you. [-28-] But if you continue in your present
state,--as give yourself no care about it, even so. For if you lean to
my way of thinking you will be quite satisfied to pick out a little
estate on the coast and there carry on at the same time farming and some
historical writing, like Xenophon, like Thucydides. This form of
learning is most lasting and most adaptable to every man, every
government, and exile brings a leisure in some respects more productive.
If, then, you wish to become really immortal, like those historians,
imitate them. Necessities you have in sufficiency and you lack no
measure of esteem. And, if there is any virtue in it, you have been
consul. Nothing more belongs to those who have held office a second, a
third, or a fourth time, except an array of idle letters which benefit
no man, living or dead. Hence you would not choose to be Corvinus or
Marius, the seven times consul, rather than Cicero. Nor, again, are you
anxious for any position of command, seeing that you withdrew from one
bestowed upon you because you scorned the gains to be had from it and
scorned a brief authority that was subject to the scrutiny of all who
chose to practice sycophancy, matters I have mentioned not because any
one of them is requisite for happiness, but because, since it was best,
you have been engaged in politics enough to learn from it the difference
in lives and to choose the one but reject the other, to pursue the one
but avoid the other.

"Our life is but short and you ought not to live all of it for others,
but by this time to grant a little to yourself. Consider how much quiet
is better than disturbance and a placid life than tumults, freedom than
slavery, and safety than dangers, that you may feel a desire to live as
I am urging you to do. In this way you will be happy, and your name
because of it shall be great,--yes, always, whether you are alive or
dead.

[-29-] "If, however, you are eager for a return and hold in esteem a
brilliant political career,--I do not wish to say anything unpleasant,
but I fear, as I cast my eyes on the case and call to mind your freedom
of speech, and behold the power and numbers of your adversaries, that
you may meet defeat once again. If then you should encounter exile, you
can merely change your mind, but if you should incur some fatal
punishment you will be unable to repent. Is it not assuredly a dreadful,
a disgraceful thing to have one's head cut off and set up in the Forum,
if it so happen, for any one, man or woman, to insult? Do not hate me as
one foreboding evil to you: I but give you warning; be on your guard. Do
not let the fact that you have certain friends among the influential men
deceive you. You will get no help against those hostilely disposed from
the men who seem to love you; this you probably know by experience.
Those who have a passion for domination regard everything else as
nothing in comparison with obtaining what they desire: they often give
up their dearest friends and closest kin in exchange for their bitterest
foes."

[-30-] On hearing this Cicero grew just a little easier in mind. His
exile did not, in fact, last long. He was recalled by Pompey himself,
who was most responsible for his expulsion. The reason was this.

Clodius had taken a bribe to deliver Tigranes the younger, who was even
then still in confinement at the abode of Lucius Flavius, and had let
him go. He outrageously insulted Pompey and Grabinius who had been
incensed at the proceeding, inflicted blows and wounds upon their
followers, broke to pieces the consul's rods, and dedicated his
property. Pompey, enraged by this and particularly because the authority
which he himself had restored to the tribunes Clodius had used against
him, was willing to recall Cicero, and immediately began through the
agency of Ninnius to negotiate for his return.

The latter watched for Clodius to be absent and then introduced in the
senate the motion in Cicero's behalf. When another one of the tribunes
opposed him, he not only went into the matter at some length, intimating
that he should communicate it also to the people, but he furthermore
opposed Clodius once for all at every point. From this ensued disputes
and many consequent woundings on both sides. But before matters reached
that point Clodius felt anxious to get Cato out of the way so that he
might the more easily be successful in the business he had in hand, and
likewise to take measures against Ptolemy who then held Cyprus, because
the latter had failed to ransom him from the pirates. Hence he made the
island public property and despatched Cato, very loath, to attend to its
administration.

[-31-] While this went on in the city, Caesar found no hostility in Gaul:
everything was absolutely quiet. The state of peace, however, did not
continue, but to one war which at first arose against him another was
added, so that his greatest wish was fulfilled of making war against and
setting right everything at once.

The Helvetians, who abounded in numbers and had not land sufficient for
their populous condition, refused to send out a part to form a colony
for fear that separated they might be more subject to plots on the part
of the tribes whom they had once injured. They decided all to leave
their homes, with the intention of transferring their dwelling-place to
some other larger and better country, and burned all their villages and
cities so as to prevent any one's regretting the migration. After adding
to their numbers some others who wanted the same changes, they started
off with Orgetorix as leader,--their intention being to cross the Rhone
and settle somewhere near the Alps.

When Caesar severed the bridge and made other preparations to hinder them
from crossing, they sent to him to ask a right of way and promised in
addition to do no harm to Roman territory.

And though he had the greatest distrust of them and had not the
slightest idea of allowing them to proceed, yet, because he was still
poorly equipped he answered that he wished to consult his lieutenants
about their requests and would give them their reply on a stated day. In
fact he offered some little hope of his granting them the passage.
Meanwhile he dug ditches and erected walls in commanding positions, so
that their road was made impassable.

[-32-] Accordingly the barbarians waited a little time, and then, when
they heard nothing as agreed, they broke camp and proceeded through the
Allobroges's country, as they had started. Encountering the obstacles
they turned aside into Sequanian territory and passed through their land
and that of the Aedui, who gave them a free passage on condition that
they do no harm. Not abiding by their covenant, however, they plundered
the Aeduans' country. Then the Sequani and Aedui sent to Caesar to ask
assistance, and begged him not to let them perish.

Though their statements did not correspond with their deeds, they
nevertheless obtained what they requested. Caesar was afraid the
Helvetians might turn also against Tolosa and chose to drive them back
with the help of the other tribes rather than to fight them after they
had effected a reconciliation,--which, it was clear, would otherwise be
the issue. For these reasons he fell upon the Helvetians as they were
crossing the Arar, annihilated in the very passage the last of the
procession and alarmed those that had gone ahead so much by the
suddenness and swiftness of the pursuit and the report of their loss,
that they desired to come to some agreement guaranteeing land. [-33-]
They did not, however, reach any terms; for when they were asked for
hostages they became offended, not because they were distrusted but
because they disliked to give hostages to any one. So they disdained a
truce and went forward again.

Caesar's cavalry had galloped far ahead of the infantry and was
harassing, incidentally, their rear guards, when they faced about with
their horse and conquered it. As a result they were filled with pride,
and thinking that he had fled, both because of the defeat and because
owing to a lack of provisions he was turning aside to a city that was
off the road, they abandoned further progress to pursue after him. Caesar
saw this, and fearing their impetus and numbers hurried with his
infantry to some higher ground but sent forward his horsemen to engage
the enemy till he should have marshaled his forces in a suitable place.
The barbarians routed them a second time and were making a spirited rush
up the hill when Caesar with forces drawn up dashed down upon them
suddenly from his commanding position and without difficulty repulsed
them, while they were scattered. After these had been routed some others
who had not joined in the conflict--and owing to their multitude and
eagerness not all had been there at once--took the pursuers in the rear
and threw them into some confusion, but effected nothing further. For
Caesar after assigning the fugitives to the care of his cavalry himself
with his heavy-armed force turned his attention to the others. He was
victorious and followed to the wagons both bodies, mingled in their
flight; and there, though from these vehicles they made a vigorous
defence, he vanquished them. After this reverse the barbarians were
divided into two parties. The one came to terms with him, went back
again to their native land whence they had set out, and there built up
again the cities to live in. The other refused to surrender arms, and,
with the idea that they could get back again to their primeval
dwelling-place, set out for the Rhine. Being few in numbers and laboring
under a defeat they were easily annihilated by the allies of the Romans
through whose country they were passing.

[-34-] So went the first war that Caesar fought; but he did not remain
quiet after this beginning. Instead, he at the same time satisfied his
own desire and did his allies a favor. The Sequani and Aedui had marked
the trend of his wishes[45] and had noticed that his deeds corresponded
with his hopes: consequently they were willing at one stroke to bestow a
benefit upon him and to take vengeance upon the Celts that were their
neighbors. The latter had at some time in the past crossed the Rhine,
cut off portions of their territory, and, holding hostages of theirs,
had rendered them tributaries. And because they happened to be asking
what Caesar was yearning for, they easily persuaded him to assist them.

Now Ariovistus was the ruler of those Celts: his dominion had been
ratified by action of the Romans and he had been registered among their
friends and allies by Caesar himself, in his consulship. In comparison,
however, with the glory to be derived from the war and the power which
that glory would bring, the Roman general heeded none of these
considerations, except in so far as he wished to get some excuse for the
quarrel from the barbarian so that it should not be thought that there
was any grievance against him at the start. Therefore he sent for him,
pretending that he wanted to hold some conversation with him.
Ariovistus, instead of obeying, replied: "If Caesar wishes to tell me
anything, let him come himself to me. I am not in any way inferior to
him, and a man who has need of any one must always go to that person."
At this the other showed anger on the ground that he had insulted all
the Romans, and he immediately demanded of him the hostages of the
allies and forbade him either to set foot on their land or to bring
against them any auxiliary force from home. This he did not with the
idea of scaring him but because he hoped to make him furious and by that
means to gain a great and fitting pretext for the war. What was expected
took place. The barbarian, enraged at the injunctions, made a long and
outrageous reply, so that Caesar no longer bandied words with him but
straightway, before any one was aware of his intentions, seized on
Vesontio, the city of the Sequani, in advance.

[-35-] Meanwhile reports reached the soldiers. "Ariovistus is making
vigorous preparations," was "There are many other Celts, some of whom
have already crossed the Rhine undoubtedly to assist him, while others
have collected on the very bank of the river to attack us suddenly," was
another. Hence they fell into deep dejection. Alarmed by the stature of
their enemies, by their numbers, their boldness, and consequent ready
threats, they were in such a mood as to feel that they were going to
contend not against men, but against uncanny and ferocious beasts. And
the talk was that they were undertaking a war which was none of their
business and had not been decreed, merely on account of Caesar's personal
ambition; and they threatened, also, to leave him in the lurch if he
should not change his course. He, when he heard of it, did not make any
address to the body of soldiers. It was not a good plan, he thought, to
discuss such matters before the multitude, especially when his words
would reach the enemy; and he was afraid that they might by refusing
obedience somehow raise a tumult and do some harm. Therefore he
assembled his lieutenants and the subalterns, before whom he spoke as
follows.

[-36-] "My friends, we must not, I think, deliberate about public
interests in the same way as about private. In fact, I do not see that
the same mark is set up for each man privately as for all together
publicly. For ourselves it is proper both to plan and to perform what
looks best and what is safest, but for the public what is most
advantageous. In private matters we must be energetic: so only can a
good appearance be preserved. Again, a man who is freest from outside
entanglements is thought to be also safest. Yet a state, especially if
holding sovereignty, would be very rapidly overthrown by such a course.
These laws, not drawn up by man but enacted by nature herself, always
did exist, do exist, and will exist so long as the race of mortals
endures.

"This being so, no one of you at this juncture should have an eye to
what is privately pleasant and safe rather than to what is suitable and
beneficial for the whole body of Romans. For besides many other
considerations that might naturally arise, reflect that we who are so
many and of such rank (members of the senate and knights) have come here
accompanied by a great mass of soldiers and with money in abundance not
to be idle or careless, but for the purpose of managing rightly the
affairs of our subjects, preserving in safety the property of those
bound by treaty, repelling any who undertake to do them wrong, and
increasing our own possessions. If we have not come with this in mind,
why in the world did we take the field at all instead of staying at home
with some occupation or other and on our private domains? Surely it were
better not to have undertaken the campaign than when assigned to it to
throw it over. If, however, some of us are here because compelled by the
laws to do what our country ordains, and the greater number voluntarily
on account of the honors and rewards that come from wars, how could we
either decently or without sin be false at once to the hopes of the men
that sent us forth and to our own? Not one person could grow so
prosperous as a private citizen as not to be ruined with the
commonwealth, if it fell. But if the republic succeeds, it lifts all
fortunes and each one individually.

[-37-] "I am not saying this with reference to you, my comrades and
friends who are here: you are not in general ignorant of the facts, that
you should need to learn them, nor do you assume an attitude of contempt
toward them, that you should require exhortation. I am saying it because
I have ascertained that there are some of the soldiers who themselves
are talking to the effect that the war we have taken up is none of our
business, and are stirring up the rest to sedition. My purpose is that
you yourselves may as a result of my words show a more ardent zeal for
your country and teach them all they should know. They would be apt to
receive greater benefit in hearing it from you privately and often than
in learning it but once from my lips. Tell them, then, that it was not
by staying at home or shirking campaigns or avoiding wars or pursuing
idleness that our ancestors made the State so great, but it was by
bringing their minds to venture readily everything that they ought and
by working eagerly to the bitter end with bodily labor for everything
that pleased them, by regarding their own things as belonging to others
but acquiring readily the possessions of their neighbors as their own,
while they saw happiness in nothing else than in doing what was required
of them and held nothing else to be ill fortune than resting inactive.
Accordingly, as a result of this policy those men, who had been at the
start very few and possessed at first a city than which none was more
diminutive, conquered the Latins, conquered the Sabines, mastered the
Etruscans, Volsci, Opici, Leucanians and Samnites, in one word
subjugated the whole land bounded by the Alps and repulsed all the alien
tribes that came against them.

[-38-] "The later Romans, likewise, and our own fathers imitated them,
not being satisfied with their temporary fortune nor content with what
they had inherited, and they regarded sloth as their sure destruction
but exertion as their certain safety. They feared that if their
treasures remained unaugmented they would be consumed and worn away by
age, and were ashamed after receiving so rich a heritage to make no
further additions: thus they performed greater and more numerous
exploits.

"Why should one name individually Sardinia, Sicily, Macedonia,
Illyricum, Greece, Ionic Asia, the Bithynians, Spaniards, Africans? I
tell you the Carthaginians would have given them plenty of money to stop
sailing against that city, and so would Philip and Perseus to stop
making campaigns against them; Antiochus would have given much, his
children and descendants would have given much to let them remain on
European soil. But those men in view of the glory and the greatness of
the empire did not choose to be ignobly idle or to enjoy their wealth in
confidence, nor did the elders of our own generation who even now are
still alive.

"They knew well that the same practices as acquire good things serve
also to preserve them: hence they made sure many of their original
belongings and acquired many new ones. What need is there here to
catalogue in detail Crete, Pontus, Cyprus, Asiatic Iberia, Farther
Albania, both Syrian nations, each of the two Armenias, the Arabians,
the Palestinians? We did not even know their names accurately in the old
days: yet now we lord it over some ourselves and others we have bestowed
upon various persons, insomuch that we have gained from them income and
powers and honors and alliances.

[-39-] "With such examples before you, then, do not bring shame upon our
fathers' deeds nor let slip that empire which is now the greatest. We
cannot deliberate in like manner with the rest of mankind who possess no
similar advantages. For them it suffices to live in ease and, with
safety guaranteed, to be subservient to others, but for us it is
inevitable to toil and march and amid dangers to preserve our existing
prosperity. Against this prosperity many are plotting. Every object
which surpasses others attracts both emulation and jealousy; and
consequently an eternal war is waged by all inferiors against those who
excel them in any respect. Hence we either ought not from the first to
have increased, thus differing from other men, or else, since we have
grown so great and have gained so many possessions, it has been fated
that we should either rule these firmly or ourselves perish utterly. For
it is impossible for men who have advanced to so great reputation and
such vast power to live apart and without danger. Let us therefore obey
Fortune and not repel her, seeing that she voluntarily and self-invited
belonged to our fathers and now abides with us. This result will not be
reached if we cast away our arms and desert the ranks and sit idly at
home or wander among our allies. It will be reached if we keep our arms
constantly in hand--this is the only way to preserve peace--and practice
warlike deeds in the midst of dangers--this is the only way we shall
avoid fighting forever--and aid promptly those allies that ask us--in
this way we shall get more--and do not indulge those enemies who are
always turbulent--in this way no one will any longer care to wrong us.

[-40-] "For if some god had actually become our sponsor that, even if we
should fail to do this, no one would plot against us and we should
forever enjoy in safety all that we have won, it would still be
disgraceful to say that we ought to keep quiet; yet those who are
willing to do nothing that is requisite would have some show of excuse.
But, as a fact, it is inevitable that men who possess anything should be
plotted against by many, and it behooves us to anticipate their attacks.
One class that holds quietly to its own possessions incurs danger even
for these, while another without any compulsion employs war to acquire
the possessions of others and keeps them. No one who is in terror
regarding his own goods longs for those of his neighbors; for the fear
concerning what he already has effectually deters him, from meddling in
what does not belong to him. Why then does any man say such a thing as
this,--that we must not all the time be gaining something more!

"Do you not recall, partly from hearsay and partly from observation,
that none of the Italian races refrained from plotting against our
country until our ancestors brought war into their territories, nor did
the Epirots until they crossed over into Greece? Philip did not refrain,
but intended to make a campaign against Italy until they wrought harm to
his land in advance. Nor was there hesitation on the part of Perseus, of
Antiochus, of Mithridates, until they were subjected to the same
treatment. And why must one mention the remaining cases? For a while the
Carthaginians suffered no damage at our hands in Africa, and crossed
into Italy, where they overran the country, sacked the towns and almost
captured the City itself; but when war began to be made against them
they decamped altogether from our land. One might instance this same
course of events in regard to the Gauls and Celts. For these people
while we remained on this side of the Alps often crossed them and
ravaged a large part of Italy. But when we ventured at last to make a
campaign beyond the mountains and to surround them with war, and
actually detached a portion of their territory, we never again saw any
war begun by them in Italy except once. When, accordingly, in the face
of these facts anybody says that we ought not to make war he simply says
that we ought not to be rich, ought not to rule others, ought not to be
free, to be Romans. Just as you would not endure it if a man should say
any of these things, but would kill him even as he stood before you, so
now also, my comrades, assume a like attitude toward those who utter the
other form of statement, judging their disposition not by their words
but by their acts.

[-41-] "Now no one of you would contend, I think, that these are not the
right kind of ideas to entertain. If, however, any one thinks that the
fact of no investigation having been made about this war before the
senate and of no vote having been passed in presence of the assembly is
a reason why we need be less eager, let him reflect that of all the wars
which have ever fallen to our lot some, to be sure, have come about as a
result of preparation and previous announcement, but others equally on
the spur of the moment. For this reason all uprisings that are made
while we are staying at home and keeping quiet and in which the
beginning of the complaints arises from some embassy both need and
demand an enquiry into their nature and the introduction of a vote,
after which the consuls and praetors must be assigned to them and the
forces sent out: but all that come to light after persons have already
gone forth and taken the field are no longer to be brought up for
decision, but to be taken hold of in advance, before they increase, as
matters decreed and ratified by Necessity herself.

"Else for what reason did the people despatch you to this point, for
what reason did they send me immediately after my consulship? Why did
they, on the one hand, elect me to hold command for five years at one
time, as had never been done before, and on the other hand equip me with
four legions, unless they believed that we should certainly be required
to fight, besides? Surely it was not that we might be supported in
idleness or traveling about to allied cities and subject territory prove
a worse bane to them than an enemy. Not a man would make this assertion.
It was rather that we might keep our own land, ravage that of the enemy,
and accomplish something worthy both of our numbers and our
expenditures. Therefore with this understanding both this war and every
other whatsoever has been entrusted, has been delivered to us. They
acted very sensibly in leaving in our hands the decision as to whom we
should fight against, instead of voting for the war themselves. For they
would not have been able to understand thoroughly the affairs of our
allies, being at such a distance from them, and would not have taken
measures against known and prepared enemies at an equally fitting
moment. So we, to whom is left at once the decision and the execution of
the war, by turning our weapons immediately against foes that are
actually in the field shall not be acting in an unauthorized or unjust
or incautious manner.

[-42-] "But suppose some one of you interrupts me with the following
objection: 'What has Ariovistus done so far out of the way as to become
an enemy of ours in Place of a friend and ally?' Let any such man
consider the fact that one has to defend one's self against those who
are undertaking to do any wrong not only on the basis of what they do,
but also on the basis of what they intend, and has to check their growth
in advance, before suffering some hurt, instead of waiting to have some
real injury inflicted and then taking vengeance. Now how could he better
be proven to be hostile, yes, most hostile toward us than from what he
has done? I sent to him in a friendly way to have him come to me and
deliberate in my company about present conditions, and he neither came
nor promised that he would appear. And yet what did I do that was unfair
or unfitting or arrogant in summoning him as a friend and ally? What
insolence and wantonness rather, has he omitted in refusing to come? Is
it not inevitable that he did this from one of two reasons, either that
he suspected he should suffer some harm or that he felt contempt for me?
Well, if he had any suspicions he convicted himself most clearly of
conspiring against us. For no one that has not endured any injury is
suspicious toward us nor does one become so as a result of an upright
and guileless mind: no, it is those who have prepared to wrong others
that are ready to be suspicious of them because of their own conscience.
If, again, nothing of this sort was at the bottom of his action, but he
merely looked down on us and insulted us with overweening words, what
must we expect him to do when he lays hold of some real project? For
when a man has shown such disdain in matters where he was not going to
gain anything, how has he not been convicted of entire injustice in
intention and in performance?

"Still, he was not satisfied with this, but further bade me come to him,
if I wanted anything of him. [-43-] Do not, I beg of you, regard this
addition as slight. It is really a good indication of his disposition.
That he should have refused to visit me a person speaking in his defence
might refer to shrinking and sickness and fear. But that he should send
a summons to me admits of no excuse, and furthermore proves him to have
acted from no other impulse than a readiness to yield me obedience in no
point and a determination to impose corresponding demands in every case.
With now much insolence and abuse does this very course of his teem! The
proconsul of the Romans summons a man and the latter does not come: then
one of the Allobroges [_sic_] summons the proconsul of the Romans. Do
not think this a small matter and of little moment in that it was I,
Caesar, whom he failed to obey, or because he called me Caesar. It was not
I that summoned him, but the Roman, the proconsul, the rods, the
dignity, the legions: it was not I that was summoned by him, but all of
these. Privately I have no dealings with him, but in common we have all
spoken and acted, received his retort and suffered.

[-44-] "Therefore the more that anybody asserts that he has been
registered among our friends and among our allies, the more he will
prove him to deserve our hatred. Why? Because acts such as not even any
of our admittedly bitterest foes has ever ventured to perform have been
committed by Ariovistus under the titles of friendship and of alliance;
it looks as though he had secured them for the very purpose of having a
chance to wrong us with impunity. On the other hand, our former treaty
with him was not made with the idea of being insulted and plotted
against, nor will it now be we who break the truce. For we sent envoys
to him as to one who was still a friend and ally, but he--well you see
how he has used us. Accordingly just as when he chose to benefit us and
desired to be well treated in return he justly obtained his wishes, so
now, too, when he does the opposite of that in everything, with thorough
justice would he be held in the position of a foe. Do not be surprised
that whereas once upon a time I myself did some little business in his
behalf both in the senate and before the people I now speak in this way.
So far as I am concerned my sentiments are the same now as then: I am
not changing front. And what are they? To honor and reward the good and
faithful, but to dishonor and punish the evil and unfaithful. It is he
that is changing front, in that he makes an unfair and improper use of
the privileges bestowed by us.

[-45-] "As to its being most just, then, for us to fight against him no
one, I think, will have any contention to make. And that he is neither
invincible nor even a difficult adversary you can see from the other
members of his race whom you have often conquered before and have
recently conquered very easily, and you can calculate further from what
we learn about the man himself. For in general he has no native force
that is united and welded together, and at present, since he is
expecting no reverse, he utterly lacks preparation. Again, not one of
his countrymen would readily aid him, not even if he makes most tempting
offers. Who would choose to be his ally and fight against us before
receiving any injury at our hands? Is it not rather likely that all
would coöperate with us, instead of with him,--from a desire to
overthrow his principality, which joins theirs, and obtain from us some
share of his territory?

"Even if some should band together, they would not prove at all superior
to us. For, to omit the rest,--our numbers, our age, our experience, our
deeds,--who is there ignorant of the fact that we have armor over all
our body alike, whereas they are for the most part naked, and that we
employ both plan and arrangement, whereas they, unorganized, rush at
everything in a rage. Be sure not to dread their charge nor the
greatness of either their bodies or their shout. For voice never yet
killed any man, and their bodies, having the same hands as we, can
accomplish no more, but will be capable of much greater damage through
being both big and naked. And though their charge is tremendous and
headlong at first, it is easily exhausted and lasts but a short time.
[-46-] To you who have doubtless experienced what I mention and have
conquered men like them I make these suggestions so that you need not
appear to have been influenced by my talk and may really feel a most
steadfast hope of victory as a result of what has already been
accomplished. However, a great many of the very Gauls who are like them
will be our allies, so that even if these nations did have anything
terrible about them, it will belong to us as well as to the others.

"Do you, then, look at matters in this way and instruct the rest. I
might as well tell you that even if some of you do hold opposite views,
I, for my part, fight just as I am and will never abandon the position
to which I was assigned by my country. The tenth legion will be enough
for me. I am sure that they, even if there should be need of going
through fire, would readily go through it naked. The rest of you be off
the quicker the better and cease consuming supplies here to no purpose,
recklessly spending the public money, laying claim to other men's
labors, and appropriating the plunder gathered by others."

[-47-] At the end of this speech of Caesar's not only did no one raise an
objection, even if some thought altogether the opposite, but they all
approved his words, especially those who were suspected by him of
spreading the talk they had heard mentioned. The soldiers they had no
difficulty in persuading to yield obedience: some had of their own free
will previously decided to do so and the rest were led to that course
through emulation of them. He had made an exception of the tenth legion
because for some reason he always felt kindly toward it. This was the
way the government troops were named, according to the arrangement of
the lists; whence those of the present day have similar titles.

When they had been thus united, Caesar, for fear that by delay they might
again become indifferent, no longer remained stationary, but immediately
set out and pressed forward against Ariovistus. By the suddenness of his
approach he so alarmed the latter that he forced him to hold a
conference with him regarding peace. They did not come to terms,
however, since Caesar wished to impose all commands and Ariovistus
refused to obey at all.

War consequently broke forth; and not only were the two chief parties
interested on the alert, but so were also all the allies and enemies of
both sides in that region; for they felt sure that the battle between
them would take place in the shortest possible time and that they
themselves should have to serve in every way those who once conquered.
The barbarians had the superiority in numbers and in size of bodies, but
the Romans in experience and armor. To some extent also Caesar's skill in
planning was found to counterbalance the fiery spirit of the Celts and
their disorderly, headlong charge. As a result, then, of their being
evenly matched, their hopes and consequent zeal were in perfect
equipoise.

[-48-] While they were encamped opposite each other the women on the
barbarian side after divination forbade the men to engage in any battle
before the new moon. For this reason Ariovistus, who already paid great
heed to them whenever they took any such action, did not join in
conflict with his entire force immediately, although the Romans were
challenging him to come out. Instead, he sent out the cavalry together
with the foot soldiers assigned to them and did the other side severe
injury. Scornfully elated by his success he undertook to occupy a
position beyond the line of their trench. Of this he held possession,
while his opponents occupied in turn another. Then, although Caesar kept
his army drawn up outside until afternoon, he would not proceed to
battle, but when his foe toward evening retired he suddenly came after
them and all but captured their palisade. Since his affairs progressed
so well he recked little any longer of the women, and on the following
day when, according to their daily custom the Romans were marshaled, he
led out his forces against them.

[-49-] The Romans, seeing them advancing from their quarters, did not
remain motionless, but made a forward dash which gave their opponents no
chance to get carefully ordered, and by attacking with a charge and
shout intercepted their javelins in which they had especial confidence.
In fact, they got into such close quarters with them that the enemy
could not employ their pikes or long swords. So the latter used their
bodies in shoving oftener than weapons in fighting and struggled to
overturn whoever they encountered and to knock down whoever withstood
them. Many deprived even of the use of the short swords fought with
hands and mouths instead, dragging down their adversaries, biting,
tearing, since they far surpassed them in the size of their bodies. The
Romans, however, did not suffer any great bodily injuries in
consequence: they closed with their foes and by their armor and skill
somehow proved a match. Finally, after carrying on that sort of battle
for a very long time, late in the day they prevailed. For their daggers,
which were smaller than those of the Gauls and had steel blades, proved
very useful to them: moreover, the men themselves, constrained thereto
by the very labor, lasted better than the barbarians because the
endurance of the latter was not of like quality with the vehemence of
their attacks. The Gauls for these reasons were defeated: they were not
routed, merely because they were unable, through confusion and
feebleness, to flee, and not because they lacked the wish. Three hundred
therefore, more or less, gathered in a body, opposed their shields on
all sides of them and standing upright, apart from the press, proved
hard to move by reason of their solidity: so that they neither
accomplished aught nor suffered aught.

[-50-] The Romans, when their warriors neither advanced against them nor
fled but stood quietly in the same spot as if on towers, likewise laid
aside first of all their short spears which could not be used: and as
they could not with their swords fight in close combat nor reach the
others' heads, where alone the latter, fighting with them exposed, were
vulnerable, they threw down their shields and made an attack. Some by a
long run and others from close at hand leaped upon[46] the foes in some
way and struck them. At this many fell immediately, beneath a single
blow, and many did not fall till after they were dead. They were kept
upright even when dead by the closeness of their formation. In this way
most of the infantry perished either there or near the wagons, according
to how far they were pushed out of line toward them, with wives and
children. Ariovistus with fifty horsemen straightway left the country
and started for the Rhine. He was pursued, but not overtaken, and
escaped on a boat ahead of his followers. Of the rest the Romans entered
the river to kill some, and others the chief himself took up and brought
away.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

39

The following is contained in the Thirty-ninth of Dio's Rome.

How Caesar fought the Belgae (chapters 1-5).

How Cicero came back from exile (chapters 6-11).

How Ptolemy, expelled from Egypt, sought refuge in Rome (chapters
12-16).

How Cato settled matters in Cyprus (chapters 17-23).

How Pompey and Crassus were chosen consuls (chapters 24-37).

How Pompey's Theatre was dedicated (chapters 38, 39).

How Decimus Brutus, Caesar's lieutenant, conquered the Veneti in a
sea-fight (chapters 40-43).

How Publius Crassus, Caesar's lieutenant, fought the Aquitani (chapters
44-46).

How Caesar after fighting with some of the Celtae crossed the Rhine: and
about the Rhine (chapters 47-49).

How Caesar crossed over into Britain: and about the island (chapters
50-54).

How Ptolemy was restored to Egypt by Gabinius, and how Gabinius was
brought to trial for it (chapters 55-85).

Duration of time, four years, in which there were the following
magistrates, here enumerated.

P. Cornelius P.F. Lentulus Spinther, C. Caecilius C.F. Metellus Nepos.
(B.C. 57 = a.u. 697.)

Cn. Cornelius P.F. Lentulus Marcellinus, L. Marcius L.F. Philippus.
(B.C. 56 = a.u. 698.)

Cn. Pompeius Cn. F. Magnus (II), M. Licinius P.F. Crassus (II). (B.C.
55 = a.u. 699.)

L. Domitius Cn. F. Ahenobarbus, Appius Claudius Appi F. Pulcher. (B.C.
54 = a.u. 700.)


(_BOOK 39, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 57 (_a.u._ 697)]

[-1-] Such was the end of these wars. After this, when the winter had
passed in which Cornelius Spinther and Metellus Nepos began their
consulship, a third war burst upon them. The Belgae, dwelling near the
Rhine with many mingled tribes and extending to the ocean opposite
Britain, had been during the previous epoch at peace with the Romans so
far as concerned a part of their nation, while the rest paid no heed to
them: but now, noting Caesar's prosperity and fearing that he might
advance against them, they made a change of front and by common
agreement (except on the part of the Remi) took counsel against the
Romans and conspired, making Galba their head.

Caesar learned this from the Remi and was on his guard against them:
subsequently he encamped at the river Axona, collected his soldiers all
together and exercised them. He did not venture to come into close
quarters with the enemy, though they were overrunning Roman territory,
until they felt contempt for him, thinking him afraid, and undertook to
destroy the bridge and put a stop to the conveyance of grain, which the
allies brought across it. He was made aware beforehand by deserters that
this was to be done, and by night sent against the foe the light-armed
troops and the cavalry. [-2-] So they, unexpectedly assaulting the
barbarians, killed many of them, so that the following night they all
withdrew thence to their own land, especially since the Aeduans were
reported to have invaded it. Caesar perceived what was going on, but
through ignorance of the country did not dare to pursue them
immediately. At daybreak, however, he took the cavalry, bade the
infantry follow behind, and came up with the fugitives. They proceeded
to give battle, for he was thought to have come with his cavalry alone,
and he delayed them until the infantry arrived. In this way he
surrounded them with his whole force, cut down the majority, and made
terms with the survivors. Later he brought into allegiance some of the
peoples without fighting and some by war.

[-3-] The Nervii voluntarily retired before him from their plain
country,--for they were not a match for his forces,--but betook
themselves into the wooded parts of the mountains, and then, when they
saw him settled in camp,[47] they came charging down unexpectedly.
Opposite Caesar himself they soon turned to flight, but got the better of
the major part of his army, capturing the camp without striking a blow.
When Caesar became aware of this,--he had advanced a little way in
pursuit of those he had routed,--he turned back and came upon them
engaged in pillage within the fortification, where he ensnared and
slaughtered them. After accomplishing this he found no difficulty in
subduing the rest of the Nervii.

[-4-] Meanwhile the Aduatuci, near neighbors of theirs, sprung from the
Cimbri and possessing their spirit, started out as if to assist them but
were overpowered before they effected anything, whereupon they withdrew,
and leaving all their other sites established themselves in one fort,
the strongest. Caesar assaulted it but was for many days repulsed, until
he turned to the making of engines. Then for a time they gazed at the
Romans cutting wood and constructing the machines and through their
inexperience laughed at what was taking place. But when the things were
finished and heavy-armed soldiers upon them approached from all sides,
they were panic-stricken because never before had they seen such an
affair; so they sent the heralds for peace, supplied the soldiers with
provisions, and threw some of their weapons from the wall. When,
however, they saw the machines stripped of men again, and noticed the
latter, as after a victory, following their own hearts' desires, they
changed their minds and recovering courage made a sally by night to cut
them down unawares. But Caesar was carefully managing everything every
moment, and when they fell on the outposts from every side they were
beaten back. Not one of the survivors could any longer obtain pardon,
and they were all sold.

[-5-] When these had been subjugated and others, too, some by him and
many by his lieutenants, winter set in and he retired to
winter-quarters. The Romans at home heard of this and were astonished
that he had seized so many nations, whose names they had known but
imperfectly before, and voted a sacrifice of fifteen days for his
deeds,--something that had never before occurred.

During the same period Servius Galba, acting as his lieutenant, had,
while the season lasted and the army remained a unit, brought to terms
the Varagri, dwelling beside Lake Lemannus and beside the Allobroges as
far as the Alps: some he had mastered by force and others by
capitulation, so that he was even preparing to winter where he was.
When, however, the majority of the soldiers had departed, some on
furloughs because they were not far from Italy, and others elsewhere to
their own possessions, the natives took advantage of this fact and
unexpectedly attacked him. Then he was led by despair to a kind of
frenzy and suddenly dashing out of the winter camp astounded those
attacking him by the strangeness of the move and passing through them
gained the heights. On reaching safety he fought them off and later
enslaved them: he did not winter there, however, but transferred his
quarters to the Allobroges.

[-6-] These were the events in Gaul. Pompey meanwhile had brought about
a vote for the recall of Cicero. The man that he had expelled through
the agency of Clodius he now brought back to help him against that very
person. So prone is human nature to change and in such wise do persons
select in turn the very opposite things as likely to cause them benefit
or injury. His helpers among the praetors and tribunes were Titus Annius
Milo and the rest, who brought the proposition before the populace.
Spinther the consul was zealous[48] for Cicero partly as a favor to
Pompey and partly to damage Clodius, by reason of a private enmity which
had led him as judge to condemn the man for incest: Clodius was
supported by various men in public office, by Appius Claudius, his
brother, who was praetor, and by Nepos the consul who hated Cicero for
some reason of his own. [-7-] These parties, accordingly, with the
consuls as leaders made more noise than before, and so did the rest in
the city, championing one side or the other. Many disorderly proceedings
were the result, chiefest of which was that during the very casting of
the vote on the subject Clodius, knowing that the masses would be for
Cicero, took the gladiators that his brother held in readiness for the
funeral games in honor of Marcus his relative, leaped into the
assemblage, wounded many and killed many more. Consequently no decision
was reached and the perpetrator, as the companion of armed champions,
was dreaded in general by all: he then stood for the aedileship, with a
view to escaping the penalty for his violence by being elected. Milo had
indicted him but did not succeed in bringing him to court, for the
quaestors, by whom the allotment of jurors had to be made, had not been
elected, and Nepos forbade the praetor to allow any case before their
allotment. Now it was proper for the aediles to be chosen before the
quaestors, and this proved the principal cause of delay. [-8-] Much
disturbance was created by the contest over this very point, and at last
Milo himself collected some gladiators and others who desired the same
objects as he did and kept continually coming to blows with Clodius, so
that fatal conflicts took place throughout practically the entire city.
Nepos now, inspired with fear by his colleague and by Pompey and by the
other prominent men, changed his attitude, and as the senate decreed, on
motion of Spinther, that Cicero should be restored, and the populace on
the motion of both consuls voted it, Clodius, to be sure, spoke against
it to them, but he had Milo as an opponent so that he could commit no
violence, and Pompey, among others, spoke in favor of the enactment, so
that that party proved much the stronger.

[-9-] Cicero accordingly came home from exile and expressed his
gratitude to both senate and people,--the consuls affording him an
opportunity,--in their respective assemblies. He laid aside his hatred
of Pompey for his banishment, became reconciled with him, and
immediately repaid his kindness. A sore famine had arisen in the city
and the entire populace rushed into the theatre (the kind of theatre
that they were then still using for public gatherings) and from there to
the Capitol where the senators were in session, threatening first to
slay them with their own hands and later to burn them alive, temple and
all. It was then that Cicero persuaded them to elect Pompey as
commissioner of the grain supply and to give him consequently the office
of proconsul for five years both within Italy and without. So he now, as
previously in the case of the pirates, was to hold sway over the entire
world at that time under Roman power.

[-10-] Caesar and Crassus really disliked Cicero, but paid some attention
to him when they perceived that he would return in any case, Caesar even
while absent displaying some good-will toward him; they received,
however, no thanks for their pains. Cicero knew that they had not acted
according to their real inclination and regarded them as having been
most to blame for his banishment. And though he was not quite bold
enough to oppose them openly, since he had recently tasted the fruits of
unrestrained free speech, nevertheless he composed secretly a little
book and inscribed upon it that it contained a kind of defence of his
policy. In it he heaped together masses of denunciation against them and
others, which led him to such fear of these statements getting out in
his lifetime that he sealed up the volume and delivered it to his son
with the injunction not to read nor to publish what was written, until
his father should have departed from life.

[-11-] Cicero, accordingly, took root anew and got back his property and
likewise the foundation of his home, although the latter had been given
up to Liberty and Clodius both called the gods to witness and interposed
religious scruples against its desecration. But Cicero found a flaw in
the enactment of the lex curiata by the provisions of which his rival
had been taken from the nobles into the rank of the people, on the
ground that it had not been proposed within the limit of days set by
ancestral custom. Thus he tried to make null and void the entire
tribuneship of Clodius (in which also the decree regarding his house had
been passed), saying that inasmuch as the transference of the latter to
the common people had taken place unlawfully, it was not possible for
any one of his acts while in office to be considered binding. By this
means he persuaded the pontifices to give back to him the foundation as
properly his and unconsecrated. So he obtained that and money for the
construction of his house, and whatever else of his property had been
damaged.

[-12-] After this there was further trouble on account of King Ptolemy.
He had spent much money upon some of the Romans, some of his own income
and some borrowed, in order to strengthen his kingdom and receive the
name of friend and ally. He was collecting this sum forcibly from the
Egyptians and was irritated at the difficulty he encountered as well as
at their bidding him demand back Cyprus from the Romans or else renounce
his friendship for the foreigners,--neither of which demands suited his
wishes. Since he could neither persuade them to be quiet nor yet force
them, as he had no foreign troops, he made his escape from Egypt, went
to Rome, and accused them of having expelled him from his kingdom: he
obtained the right to be restored by Spinther, to whom Cilicia had been
entrusted.

[-13-] While this was going on, the people of Alexandria, who for a
while did not know that he had departed for Italy or supposed he was
dead, placed Berenice his daughter on the throne in his place. Then,
learning the truth, they sent a hundred men to Rome to defend themselves
against his complaints and to bring counter charges of all the wrongs
they had suffered. He heard of it in advance (he was still in Rome) and
lay in wait for the envoys, by sending various men in different
directions, before their arrival. The majority of them perished on the
road, and of the survivors he slew some in the city itself and others he
either terrified by what had happened or by administering bribes
persuaded them neither to touch upon the matters regarding which they
had been sent, nor to make any mention at all of those who had been
killed. [-14-] The affair, however, became so noised abroad that even
the senate was mightily displeased, being urged on to action chiefly by
Marcus Favonius, who assigned two causes for his indignation,--first,
that many envoys sent by allies had perished by violence, and second,
that numerous Romans also on this occasion had taken bribes. So they
summoned Dio, the presiding officer of the envoys (for he had survived)
in order to learn the truth from him. But this time, too, Ptolemy gained
such a victory by money that neither did Dio enter the assemblage, nor
was any mention made of the murder of the dead men, so long as Ptolemy
was on the ground.[49] Furthermore, when Dio was subsequently
treacherously slain, he paid no penalty for that deed, either. This was
chiefly due to the fact that Pompey had entertained him in his house and
continued to render him powerful assistance. Of the other abuses that
sprang from this source many were accused at a later time, but few
convicted. For bribery was rampant and each coöperated with the other
because of his own fear.

[-15-] While mortals were being influenced by money to behave themselves
so, Heaven at the very beginning of the next year by striking with a
thunderbolt the statue of Jupiter erected on the Alban hill, delayed the
return of Ptolemy some little time. For when they had recourse to the
Sibylline verses they found written in them this very passage: "If the
king of Egypt come requesting some aid, refuse him not friendship
altogether, nor yet succor him with any great force: otherwise, you will
have both toils and dangers." Thereupon, amazed at the coincidence
between the verses and the events of the time, they were persuaded by
Gaius Cato the tribune to rescind all their decisions in the case. This
was the way the oracle was given, and it was made public by Cato (for it
was forbidden to announce to the populace any of the Sibylline
statements unless the senate voted it). Yet as soon as the sense of the
verses, as usually happens, began to be talked about, he was afraid that
it might be concealed, led the priests before the populace and there
compelled them to utter the oracle before the senate had given them any
instructions. The more scruples they had against doing so, the more
insistent[50] was the multitude. [-16-] Cato's wish prevailed; it was
written in the Latin tongue and proclaimed. After this they gave their
opinions: some were for assigning the restoration of Ptolemy to Spinther
without an army and others urged that Pompey with two lictors should
escort him home (Ptolemy, on learning of the oracle, had preferred this
latter request and his letter was read in public by Aulus Plautius, the
tribune). The senators then, fearing that Pompey would by this means
obtain still greater power, opposed it, using the matter of the grain as
an excuse.

All this happened in the consulship of Lucius Philippus and Gnaeus
Marcellinus. Ptolemy, when he heard of it, refused the favor of
restoration, went to Ephesus, and passed his time in the temple of the
goddess.

[-17-] The year before a peculiar incident, which still has some bearing
upon history, had taken place. It was this. The law expressly forbids
any two persons of the same clan to hold the same priesthood at the same
time. Now Spinther the consul was anxious to place his son Cornelius
Spinther among the augurs, and when Faustus, the son of Sulla, of the
Cornelian gens had been enrolled before him, took his son out of the
clan and put him in that of Manlius Torquatus, and thus though the
letter of the law was preserved, its spirit was broken.

[B.C. 56 (_a.u._ 698)]

[-18-] Clodius had now come to the office of aedile, in the year of
Philippus and Marcellinus; being anxious to avoid the lawsuit he had got
himself elected by a political combination. He immediately instituted
proceedings against Milo for procuring gladiators: what he was doing
himself and was likely to be brought to trial for he brought as a charge
against his rival. He did this not really in the expectation of
convicting Milo,--for the latter had many strong champions, among them
Cicero and Pompey,--but in order that under this pretext he might carry
on a campaign against Milo and harass his helpers. The following was one
of his numerous devices. [-19-] He had instructed his clique that
whenever he should ask them in the assemblies: "Who was it that did or
said so-and-so?" they should all cry out: "Pompey!" Then on several
occasions he would suddenly ask about everything that could be taken
amiss in Pompey, either in physical peculiarities or any other respect,
taking up various small topics, one at a time, as if he were not
speaking of him particularly. Thereupon, as usually happens in such
cases, some would start off and others join in the refrain, saying
"Pompey!" and there was considerable jeering. The man attacked could not
control himself and keep quiet nor would he stoop to a trick like
Clodius's, so that he grew exceedingly angry, yet could not stir: thus
nominally Milo was condemned, but in reality Pompey was convicted
without even making a defence. For Clodius went one step farther and
would not allow the lex curiata to be brought up for discussion; and
until that was enacted no other serious business could be transacted in
the commonwealth or any suit introduced.

[-20-] For a season Milo served as a shield for their abuses and
assassinations, but about this time some portents occurred. In Albanum a
small temple of Juno, set on a kind of table facing the east, was turned
around to the west; a flash of light starting from the south shot across
to the north; a wolf entered the city; an earthquake occurred; some of
the citizens were killed by a thunderbolt; in Latin territory a
subterranean tumult was distinctly heard: and the soothsayers, being
anxious to produce a remedy, said that some spirit was angry with them
because of some temples or sites not inhabited for holy purposes. Then
Clodius substituted Cicero for Milo and attacked him vigorously in
speeches because he had built upon the foundation of the house dedicated
to Liberty; and once he went to it, with the apparent intention of
razing it anew to the ground, though he did not do so, being prevented
by Milo. [-21-] Cicero was angry at such treatment and kept making
complaints, and finally with Milo and some tribunes as attendants he
ascended the Capitol and took down the tablets set up by Clodius to
commemorate his exile. This time Clodius came up with his brother Gaius,
a praetor, and took them away from him, but later he watched for a time
when Clodius was out of town, ascended the Capitol again, took them and
carried them home. After this occurrence no quarter was shown on either
side, but they abused and slandered each other as much as they could,
without refraining from the basest means. One declared that the
tribuneship of Clodius had been contrary to law and that therefore his
deeds in office had no authority, and the other that Cicero's exile had
been justly decreed and his restoration unlawfully voted.

[-22-]While they were contending, and Clodius was getting much the worst
of it, Marcus Cato came upon the scene and made them equal. He had a
grudge against Cicero and was likewise afraid that all his acts in
Cyprus would be annulled, because he had been sent out under Clodius as
tribune: hence he readily took sides with the latter. He was very proud
of his deeds and anxious above all things that they should be confirmed.
For Ptolemy, who at that time was master of the island, when he learned
of the vote that had been passed, and neither dared to rise against the
Romans nor could endure to live, deprived of that province, had taken
his life by drinking poison.[51] Then the Cypriots, without reluctance,
accepted Cato, expecting to be friends and allies of the Romans instead
of slaves. It was not, however, of this that Cato made his chief boast;
but because he had administered everything in the best possible manner,
had collected slaves and large amounts of money from the royal treasury,
yet had met with no reproach but had given account of everything
unchallenged,--it was for this that he laid claim to valor no less than
if he had conquered in some war. So many persons accepted bribes that he
thought it more unusual for a man to despise money than to conquer the
enemy.

[-23-] So at that time Cato for the reasons specified had some hope of a
proper triumph, and the consuls in the senate proposed that a praetorship
be given him, although by law it could not yet be his. He was not
appointed (for he spoke against the measure himself), but obtained even
greater renown from it. Clodius undertook to name the servants brought
from Cyprus Clodians, because he himself had sent Cato there, but failed
because the latter opposed it. So they received the title of Cyprians,
although some of them wanted to be called Porcians; but Cato prevented
this, too. Clodius took his opposition extremely ill and tried to pick
flaws in his administration: he demanded accounts for the transactions,
not because he could prove him guilty of any wrongdoing, but because
nearly all of the documents had been destroyed by shipwreck and he might
gain some prestige by following this line. Caesar, also, although not
present, was aiding Clodius at this time, and according to some sent him
in letters the accusations brought against Cato. One of their attacks
upon Cato consisted in the charge that he himself had persuaded the
consuls (so they affirmed) to propose a praetorship for him, and that he
had then voluntarily put it by, in order not to appear to have missed it
when he wanted it.

[B.C. 56 (_a.u._ 698)]

[-24-] So they kept up the conflict, and Pompey, too, encountered some
trouble in the distribution of the grain. Many slaves had been freed in
anticipation of the event, of whom he wished to take a census in order
that the grain delivery might take place with some decency and order.
This, to be sure, he managed fairly easily through his own wisdom and
because of the large supply of grain: but in seeking the consulship he
found annoyances which likewise entailed a measure of censure for him.
Clodius's behavior irritated him, but even more the fact that he was
treated slightingly by the rest, whose superior he was: and he felt
injured both on account of his reputation and on account of the hopes by
reason of which while still a private citizen he had thought to be
honored beyond them all. Sometimes he could bring himself to despise all
this. At first when people began to speak ill of him he was annoyed, but
after a time, when he came to consider carefully his own excellence and
their baseness, he paid no further attention to them. [-25-] The fact,
however, that Caesar's influence had grown and the populace admired his
achievements so much as to despatch ten men from the senate in
recognition of the apparently absolute subjugation of the Gauls[52] and
that the people were so slated by consequent hopes as to vote him large
sums of money was a thorn in Pompey's side. He attempted to persuade the
consuls not to read Caesar's letters but conceal the facts for a very
long time until the glory of his deeds should of its own motion spread
itself abroad, and further to send some one to relieve him even before
the specified date. So jealous was he that he proceeded to disparage and
abrogate all that he himself had effected with Caesar's aid: he was
displeased at the great and general praise bestowed upon the latter
(whereby his own exploits were being over-shadowed) and reproached the
populace for paying little heed to himself and going frantic over Caesar.
Especially was he vexed to see that they remembered former achievements
just so long as nothing occurred to divert them, that they turned with
greatest readiness to each new event, even if it were inferior to
something previous because they became tired of the usual and liked the
novel, and that they overthrew all established glory by reason of envy,
but helped to build up any new power by reason of their hopes. [-26-]
This was what caused his displeasure; and as he could not effect
anything through the consuls and saw that Caesar had passed beyond the
need of keeping faith with him, he regarded the situation as grave. He
held that there were two things that destroy friendship,--fear and
envy,--and that these can only arise from rival glory and strength. As
long as persons possess these last in equal shares, their friendship is
firm, but when one or the other excels in the least degree, then the
inferior party is jealous and hates the superior while the stronger
despises and abuses the weaker: so, whichever way you take it, the one
is vexed by his inferiority, the other is elated by his advantage, and
they come to strife and war in place of their former friendship. On the
basis of some such calculations Pompey began to arm himself against
Caesar. And because he thought he could not easily alone overthrow him,
he cultivated Crassus even more than before, that he might act with him.

[-27-] When they had compared notes, they decided that it would be
really impossible for them to accomplish anything as private citizens,
but if they should get the consulship and divide the authority between
them for rivalry against him, they would both be a match for him and
quickly overcome him, being two against one. So they arranged an entire
plan of dissimulation, to wit, that if any of their companions should
urge them to the office, they should say they no longer cared to obtain
the consulship: after this they put forth their best efforts to get it,
in spite of the fact that they had formerly been friends with some of
the other candidates. When they began to canvass for the office outside
of the times directed by law and others made it plain that they would
not allow them to be appointed (among these were the consuls themselves,
for Marcellinus had some little influence), they brought it about that
the elections should not be held that year (and to this end they
employed Gaius Cato and some others), in order that an interrex might be
chosen and they seek and secure the place in accordance with the laws.
[-28-] Now this was done under some other pretext (as it was said, by
reason of engagements made at a different time), but in reality by their
own influence, for they openly showed dislike of those who opposed them.
The senate, however, was violently enraged, and once while they were
wrangling left the room. That was the end of the proceedings for the
time being, and again when the same disturbance happened the senators
voted to change their dress, as if for some calamity, and they paid no
attention to Cato, who, because he gained nothing by speaking against
the proposed step, rushed out of the gathering and called in any one he
met in the market-place,[53] in order that no decision might be reached;
for, if any person not a senator were within, they might not give their
vote. But other tribunes were quick and prevented those invited from
entering, and so this decree was passed, and it was also proposed that
the senators should not be spectators at the festival then going on.
When Cato opposed this measure, too, they rushed out in a body, and
after changing their dress returned, hoping thus to frighten him. When
even so he would not moderate his behavior, they all together proceeded
to the Forum and brought to a state of sincere sorrow the multitude, who
had come running to that place; Marcellinus was the speaker, and he
lamented the present occurrences, while the rest listening wept and
groaned, so that no one had a word to say against him. After doing this
the senators entered the senate-house immediately, intending to vent
their wrath upon those who were responsible.[-29-] But Clodius had
meantime jumped to the side of Pompey and espoused his cause again in
the hope that if he should help him in securing the prize now at stake,
he would make him entirely his friend. So he came before the populace in
his ordinary garb, without making any change as the decree required, and
addressed a speech to them against Marcellinus and the rest. As great
indignation at this act was shown by the senators, he abandoned the
people in the midst of his speech and hastened to the senate, where he
came near meeting his end. For the senate confronted him and prevented
his going in, while at that moment he was surrounded by the knights and
would have been torn limb from limb, had he not raised an outcry,
calling upon the people for aid; whereupon many ran to the scene
bringing fire and threatening to burn his oppressors along with the
senate-house, if they should do him any harm.

[-30-] He, then, came within an ace of being killed. But Pompey, not
alarmed at all by this, on one occasion rushed into the senatorial
assembly, thwarting them as they were just about to vote, and prevented
the measure from being carried. When Marcellinus after that publicly
asked him whether he really desired to become consul, he in hope that
the other might give ground admitted that he was a candidate, but said
that he did not want the office so far as the just men were concerned,
but that on account of the seditious he was exerting every influence to
that end. So Pompey came out openly as his rival, and Crassus on being
interrogated gave the same implication himself, not admitting the fact,
to be sure, but not denying it, either: instead, he took, as usual, a
middle course and said that he would do whatever was advantageous to the
republic. In view of this situation Marcellinus and many others were
terrified, as they observed their equipment and opposing array, and
would no longer frequent the senate-house.

As the number required by custom for passing any vote about the
elections did not assemble, it was impossible to have any business at
all about them brought forward, and the year thus passed away. However,
the senators did not change their attire nor attend the festivals nor
celebrate the feast of Jupiter on the Capitol nor go out to Albanum for
the Feriae Latinae, held there for the second time by reason of something
not rightly done. Instead, like persons in bondage and not possessing
authority to choose officials or conduct any other public business they
spent the rest of the year.

[B.C. 55 (_a.u._ 699)]

[-31-]And after this Crassus and Pompey were appointed consuls by the
interrex, as no one else of the earlier canvassers opposed them. Lucius
Domitius, who contested the office up to the very last day of the year,
started out from home for the assembly of the people just after dark,
but when the boy that carried the torch in front of him was stabbed, he
was frightened and went no farther. Hence, as no one else contested
their election, and furthermore because of the action of Publius
Crassus, who was a son of Marcus and then lieutenant under Caesar, in
bringing soldiers to Rome for this very purpose, they were easily
chosen.

[-32-] When they had thus assumed the leadership of the State, they had
the other offices given to such as were well disposed toward them and
prevented Marcus Cato from being appointed praetor. They suspected that
he would not submit to their régime and were unwilling to add any legal
power to his outspoken opposition. The nomination of the praetors was
made in peace, for Cato did not see fit to offer any violence: in the
matter of the curule aediles, however, assassinations took place, so that
Pompey was implicated in much bloodshed. The other officials,
too,--those elected by the people,--they appointed to please themselves
(for they controlled the elections), and they made friends with the
other aediles and most of the tribunes. Two tribunes, Gaius Ateius Capito
and Publius Aquilius Gallus, would not come to terms with them.

[-33-] Accordingly, when the offices had been settled, they possessed
the object of their strivings. They themselves made no mention of these
matters before either the senate or the populace, but gravely pretended
that they wanted nothing further. Gaius Trebonius, however, a tribune,
presented a measure that to the one Syria and its environs be given to
rule over for five years, and to the other the Hispaniae, where there
had recently been an uprising, for a similar period; also that they
should employ as many soldiers as they might wish, both citizens and
allies, and should make peace and war with whomsoever they pleased.
Many, and especially the friends of Caesar, took offence at this, because
those men after obtaining provinces to govern were likely to keep Caesar
from holding his position for a much longer time; and therefore some
prepared to speak against the measure. Then the consuls fearing that
they might fail utterly of the projects they had in hand won over all
such supporters on the condition of extending his leadership also for
three [54] years more (to follow the actual facts). However, they
submitted no part of his case to the populace until their own business
had been ratified. And the adherents of Caesar anticipated in this way,
kept quiet, and the greater part of the rest, in bondage to fear and
satisfied if even so they should save their lives, remained still.
[-34-]On the other hand, Cato and Favonius resisted all their schemes,
having the two tribunes and others to help them, since in fighting few
against many their frankness was of no avail. Favonius, who obtained
from Trebonius only one hour for his speech in opposition, used it up in
crying out at random about the distressing condition of the times. Cato
received the right of employing two hours in his harangue and turned his
efforts to censuring the immediate proposition and the whole situation,
as he was wont, and so he exhausted his time before he had touched upon
any of the revolutionary aspects of the matter. This was done not
because he did not have the privilege of speaking also on that topic,
but in order that he might be silenced by Trebonius while still
appearing to have something more to say and thus obtain this additional
grievance to bring up against him. For he well understood that had he
employed the entire day, he was still sure to be unable to persuade them
to vote anything that he wished. Hence, when bidden to be silent he did
not stop immediately, but had to be pushed and dragged from the
assemblage, whereupon he came back, and at last though consigned to
prison he did not moderate his behavior.

[-35-] That day was so spent that the tribunes were unable to speak any
word at all. For in the meetings of the people where a measure was also
under discussion, the right to speak was given to all the private
citizens before those that held the offices, to the end, as it seemed,
that none of them captivated beforehand by the opinion of a superior
should dissimulate the thoughts that he had in mind, but should say what
he thought with entire frankness. Hence Gallus, being afraid that some
one might on the next day keep him from the Forum or do something worse
still, went into the place of assembly directly after nightfall and
passed the night there for the sake of the safety that the place
afforded, and for the purpose of leaving there at dawn to join the
populace outside. Trebonius, by shutting all the doors of the
senate-house, caused this man to have spent the night and most of the
day there in vain. Others occupied the site of the gathering by night
and barred out Ateius, Cato, Favonius and the remainder of their
followers. When Favonius and Ninnius got in somehow unobserved and Cato
and Ateius climbed upon the shoulders of some of those standing around
and being lifted up by them declared an omen directing the meeting to
break up, the attendants of the tribunes drove them both out, wounded
the rest who were with them and actually killed a few.

[-36-] After the law was in this way ratified and the people were
already departing from the assembly Ateius took Gallus covered with
blood (he had been struck in being forced out of the gathering), led him
into the presence of those still on the spot, exhibited him to them, and
by making all the comments that were natural, stirred them mightily. The
consuls were made aware of this and came quickly, having, indeed, been
waiting somewhere near to see what was going on. As they had a
considerable body-guard they intimidated the men, immediately called a
meeting and passed the additional measures relating to Caesar. The same
persons tried to resist these, too, but were unable to accomplish
anything.

[-37-] The consuls had this enactment passed, and next they laid heavier
penalties upon such as bribed any persons, as if they themselves were
any the less guilty because they had secured their office not by money
but by force. They had even undertaken to curtail personal expenditures,
which had gone to great lengths, although they themselves indulged in
every kind of luxury and delicacy; they were prevented, however, by this
very business of lawmaking. For Hortensius, one of the men fondest of
expensive living, by reviewing the great size of the city and adverting
with commendation to the costliness of their homes and their magnanimity
toward others, persuaded them to give up their intention, for he could
use their mode of life to champion his words. They respected his
contention, and furthermore, because they shrank from appearing to debar
others through any envy from rights that they themselves enjoyed, they
voluntarily withdrew their motion.

[-38-] These were the same days in which Pompey dedicated the theatre
wherein we take pride even at the present time. In it he provided an
entertainment consisting of music and gymnastic contests, and in the
hippodrome a horse-race and the slaughter of many beasts of all kinds.
Five hundred lions were used up in five days, and eighteen elephants
fought against men in heavy armor. Some of these beasts were killed
immediately and others much later. For some of them, contrary to
Pompey's wish, were pitied by the people when they were wounded and
ceased fighting and walked about with their trunks raised toward heaven.
They lamented so bitterly as to give rise to the report that they did so
not by accident, but were crying out upon the oaths in which they
trusted when crossing over from Libya, and were calling upon Heaven to
avenge them. For it is said that they would not set foot upon the ships
before they received a pledge under oath from their leaders that they
should verily suffer no harm: whether this is really so or otherwise, I
know not. For some in time past have further declared that in addition
to understanding the language of their native country they also
comprehend what is going on in the sky, so that at the time of new moon,
before that luminary comes within the gaze of men, they reach running
water and there make a kind of purification of themselves. These are
some of the things I have heard; I have heard also that this theatre was
not erected by Pompey, but by one Demetrius, a freedman of his, with the
money he had gained while making campaigns with the general. Wherefore
he yielded the name of the structure most justly to his master, that he
might not be ill spoken of for having, as his freedman, gathered money
enough to suffice for so huge an expenditure.

[-39-] No doubt in this Pompey afforded the populace no little delight,
but in making with Crassus the levies, according to their votes, he
displeased them exceedingly. Then the majority repented of their course
and praised Cato and the rest. So the latter group both on his account
and because a certain lawsuit, nominally against their lieutenants but
really against them and with reference to their acts had been instituted
by some of the tribunes, dared indeed to commit no act of violence, but,
together with the malcontents in the senate, changed their clothing as
if for a calamity. They immediately, however, repented in regard to this
costume and without waiting for any excuse went back to their accustomed
dress. Now when the tribunes endeavored to abolish the levies and
rescind the vote for the proposed campaigns, Pompey, for his part,
showed no anger. He had sent out his lieutenants without delay and he
himself was glad to remain where he was on the plea that he was
prevented from going abroad, especially as he ought to be in Rome on
account of his duties in the care of the grain; and his plan in that
case was to let his officers subdue the Hispaniae and himself manage the
affairs at Rome and in the rest of Italy. Crassus, however, since
neither of these considerations operated in his case, turned to force of
arms. The tribunes, then, seeing that their boldness, being unarmed, was
too weak to hinder any of his undertakings, in general kept silence.
They announced many unusual portents, however, that applied to him, as
if they could avoid including the public in their curse: at one time as
he was offering on the Capitol the customary prayers for his campaign
they spread a report of omens and wonders, and again when he was setting
out they called down many terrible curses upon him. Ateius even
attempted to cast him into prison, but other tribunes resisted, and
there was a conflict among them and a delay, in the midst of which
Crassus left the pomerium.

[B.C. 56 (_a.u._ 698)]

[-40-] Now he, whether by chance or as a result of the curses, before
long met with defeat. As for Caesar, he, in the consulship of Marcellinus
and Philippus, had made an expedition against the Veneti, who live near
the ocean. They had seized some Roman soldiers sent out for grain and
afterward detained the envoys who came to see about them, to the end
that in exchange they might get back their own hostages. Caesar, instead
of giving these back, sent out different bodies of troops in various
directions, some to waste the possessions of those who had joined the
revolt and thus to prevent the two bands from aiding each other, and
others to guard the possessions of those that were under treaty for fear
they too might cause some disturbance: he himself meanwhile went
straight against the Veneti. He constructed in the interior boats, which
he heard were of advantage for the reflux tide of the ocean, and
conveyed them down the river Liger, but in so doing used up almost the
entire season to no purpose. Their cities, established in strong
positions, were inaccessible, and the ocean surging around practically
all of them rendered an infantry attack out of the question, and a naval
attack equally so in the midst of the ebb and flow of the tide.
Consequently Caesar was in despair until Decimus Brutus came to him with
swift ships from the Mediterranean. And he was inclined to think he
would be unable to accomplish anything with those either, but the
barbarians through contempt for the smallness and weakness of the
cutters incurred defeat. [-41-] For these boats, with a view to rapid
progress, had been built rather light in the prevailing style of naval
architecture among us, whereas those of the barbarians, because in the
constant reflux of the ocean they often needed to rest on dry ground and
to hold out against the succession of ebb and flow, surpassed them very
much in both size and stoutness. For these reasons the barbarians, never
having had any experience with such a fleet, in view of the appearance
of the ships believed their effectiveness of no importance; and as soon
as they were lying at anchor they set sail against them, thinking to
sink them in a very short time by means of their boathooks. They were
carried by an extremely powerful wind, for their sails were of leather
and so received greedily the full force of the wind. [-42-] Now Brutus
for a time paid good heed to that fact and did not dare to sail out
against them because of the number and size of the ships and the sweep
of the wind and their impetus, but prepared to repel their attack near
the land and to abandon the boats altogether. When, however, the wind
suddenly fell, the waves were stilled, and the boats could no longer be
propelled even with oars but because of their great heaviness stopped
almost motionless, then he took courage and sailed to meet them. Falling
upon them he wrought them many serious injuries with impunity, using
both flank and smashing tactics,[55] now ramming one of them, now
backing water, in whatever way and as much as he liked, sometimes with
many vessels against one and again with equal numbers opposed,
occasionally even approaching safely with few against many. At whatever
point he was superior to them, there he stuck to them closely, and some
he sank by ripping them open, and others he boarded from all sides with
his mariners for a hand to hand conflict, thus slaughtering many. If he
found himself inferior at any place, he very easily retired, so that the
advantage rested with him in any case. [-43-] The barbarians did not use
archery and had not provided themselves beforehand with stones, not
expecting to have any need of them. Hence, if any one came into close
quarters with them, they fought him off after a fashion, but with those
that stood a little distance from them they knew not how to cope. So
they were wounded and killed, some being unable to repel any one, and
some of the boats were rammed and torn open, while others were set on
fire and burned; still others were drawn off in tow, as if empty of men.
The rest of the crews seeing this waited no longer: some killed
themselves to avoid being captured alive and others leaped into the sea
with the idea that from there they might board the hostile ships, or in
any event not perish at the hands of the Romans. In earnestness and
daring they were no whit inferior, but grieved terribly at being
betrayed by the stationary qualities of their vessels. The Romans, to
make sure that the wind when it sprang up again should not move the
ships, applied from a distance long poles fitted with knives, by means
of which they cut the ropes and split the sails. Through the
circumstance that the enemy were compelled to fight a kind of land
battle in their boats against a foe conducting a naval battle, great
numbers perished there and all the survivors were captured. Of these
Caesar slew the most prominent and sold the rest.

[-44-] Next he made a campaign against the Morini and Menapii, their
neighbors, expecting to terrify them by what he had already accomplished
and capture them easily. He failed, however, to subdue any of them. They
had no cities, living only in huts, and they conveyed their most valued
treasures to the ruggedest parts of the mountains, so that they did the
attacking parties of the Romans much more harm than they themselves
suffered. Caesar attempted by cutting down the forests to make his way
into the very mountains, but renounced his plan on account of their size
and the nearness of winter, and retired.

[-45-] While he was still in Venetia, Quintus Titurius Sabinus, his
lieutenant, was despatched against the Unelli, whose leader was
Viridovix. At first he was greatly terrified at their numbers and would
have been satisfied if only the camp should be saved, but later he
perceived that though this advantage made them bolder, they were not in
reality dangerous, and he took courage. Most of the barbarians, in fact,
in their threats make all sorts of terrible boasts that are without
foundation.

Even so he did not dare to venture a passage of arms openly with them,
for they kept him in position by mere numbers, but induced them
recklessly to assault his rampart, though the site was on high ground.
He did this by sending about evening, as a deserter, one of his allies
who spoke their language, and persuaded them that Caesar had met with
reverses. Trusting this report they straightway started out heedlessly
against the Romans (for they were gorged with food and drink), in the
fear that they might flee before their arrival. Moreover, since their
plans contemplated not allowing even the fire-priest[56] to be saved
they brought along chips and logs, carrying some and dragging others,
with the evident intention of burning them alive. Thus they made their
attack up-hill and came climbing up eagerly, meeting with no resistance.
Sabinus did not move until the most of them were within his power. Then
he charged down upon them from all sides at once, and terrifying those
in front he dashed them all headlong down the hill, and while they were
upset, tumbling over one another and the logs, he cut them down to such
an extent that no one of them or of the others rose against him again.
For the Gauls, who are unreasonably insatiate in all respects alike,
know no limits in either their courage or their fear, but fall from the
one into unthinkable cowardice and from the other into headstrong
audacity.

[-46-] About the same period, Publius Crassus, too, son of Marcus
Crassus, subjugated nearly all of Aquitania. The people are themselves
Gauls, and dwell next to Celtica, and their territory extends straight
along the Pyrenees to the ocean. Against these Crassus made his
campaign, conquering the Sotiates in battle and capturing them by siege.
He lost a few men, to be sure, by treachery in the course of a parley,
but defended them vigorously in this very action. On seeing some others
in a gathering with soldiers of Sertorius from Spain who carried on the
war with more strategy than recklessness, believing that the Romans
through lack of supplies would soon abandon the country, he pretended to
be afraid of them. Though incurring their contempt he did not even so
draw them into a conflict with him, but while they were calmly awaiting
developments he attacked them suddenly and unexpectedly. At the point
where he met them he accomplished nothing, because the barbarians
advanced and repelled him vigorously; but while their main force was
there, he sent some men around to the other side of their camp, got
possession of this, which was destitute of men, and passing through it
took the fighters in the rear. In this way they were all annihilated,
and the rest, all but a few, made terms without a murmur.

[B.C. 55 (_a.u._ 699)]

[-47-] This was the work of the summer. While the Romans were in winter
quarters on friendly ground the Tencteri and Usipetes, Celtic tribes,
partly because forced out by the Suebi and partly because called upon by
the Gauls, crossed the Rhine and invaded the country of the Treveri.
Finding Caesar there they became afraid and sent to him to make a truce,
asking for land or at least the permission to take some. When they could
obtain none, at first they promised voluntarily to return to their homes
and requested an armistice. Later their young men, seeing a few horsemen
of his approaching, despised them and altered their determination:
thereupon they stopped their journey, harassed the small detachment,
which would not await their attack, and elated over this success
continued the war.

[-48-] Their elders, condemning their action, came to Caesar even
contrary to their advice and asked him to pardon them, laying the
responsibility upon a few. He detained these emissaries with the
assurance that he would give them an answer before long, set out against
the other members of the tribe, who were in their tents, and came upon
them as they were passing the noon hour and expecting no hostile
demonstration, inasmuch as the delegation was with him.

Rushing into the tents[57] he found great numbers of infantrymen who did
not have time even to pick up their weapons, and he cut them down near
the wagons where they were disturbed by the presence of the women and
the children scattered promiscuously about. The cavalry was absent at
the time, and immediately, when the men learned of the occurrence, they
set out to their native abodes and retired among the Sugambri. He sent
after them and demanded their surrender, not because he expected that
they would give themselves up to him (the men beyond the Rhine were not
so afraid of the Romans as to listen to anything of that sort), but in
order that on this excuse he might cross the stream itself. He himself
was exceedingly anxious to do something that no one had previously
equaled, and he expected to keep the Celts at a distance from the Gauls
by invading the former's territory. When, therefore, the cavalry refused
to give themselves up, and the Ubii, whose land was coterminal with the
Sugambri and who were at variance with them, invoked his aid, he crossed
the river by bridging it. But on finding that the Sugambri had betaken
themselves into their strongholds and that the Suebi were gathering
apparently to come to their aid, he retired within twenty days.

[-49-] The Rhine issues from the Celtic Alps, a little outside of
Rhaetia, and proceeding westward, with Gaul and its inhabitants on the
left, it bounds the Celts on the right, and finally empties into the
ocean. This has always, even till now, been considered the boundary,
from which they came to the difference in names, since very anciently
both the peoples dwelling on each side of the river were called Celts.

[-50-] Caesar, then, first of Romans crossed the Rhine at this time, and
later in the consulship of Pompey and Crassus he traversed the channel
of Britain. This country is distant from the Belgic mainland, opposite
the Morini, three hundred and fifty stades at the shortest
computation,[58] and extends alongside the rest of Gaul and nearly all
of Spain, reaching out into the sea. To the very first of the Greeks and
Romans it was not even known; to their descendants it was a matter of
dispute whether it was a continent or an island. And its history was
written from both points of view by many who knew nothing about it,
because they had not seen with their own eyes nor heard from the natives
with their own ears, but indulged in guesses according as each had
leisure or fondness for talk. As time went on, first under Agricola as
propraetor and now under Severus as emperor, it has been clearly proven
to be an island.

[-51-] To this land then, Caesar, since he had won over the Morini and
the rest of Gaul was quiet, desired to cross. He made the voyage with
infantry by the most desirable course, but did not select the best
landing-place. For the Britons, having ascertained in advance that he as
sailing against them, had secured all the landings on the main coast.
Accordingly, he sailed around a kind of projecting headland and coasted
along on the other side of it. There he disembarked in shoal water,
conquered those who joined battle with him and got a footing on dry land
before more numerous assistance could come, after which he repulsed
their attack also. Not many of the barbarians fell, for they had chariot
drivers, and being mounted easily escaped the Romans whose cavalry had
not yet arrived; but alarmed at the reports about them from the mainland
and because they had dared to cross at all and had managed to set foot
upon the land, they sent to Caesar some of the Morini who were friends of
theirs, to see about terms of peace. On this occasion he demanded
hostages, which they were willing to give.[-52-] But as the Romans
meanwhile began to encounter difficulties by reason of a storm which
damaged their fleet that was present and also the one on the way, they
changed their minds and though not attacking the invaders openly (for
their camp was strongly guarded), they received some who had been sent
out to bring in provisions on the assumption that the country was
friendly, and destroyed them all, save a few, to whose rescue Caesar came
with speed. After that they assaulted the very camp of the invaders.
Here they accomplished nothing, but fared badly; they would not,
however, make terms until they had been often defeated. And Caesar
properly did not intend to make peace with them, but since the winter
was approaching and he was not equipped with a sufficient force to
continue fighting at that season,--moreover because his supplies had
failed and the Gauls in absence had begun an uprising,--he somewhat
unwillingly concluded a truce with them, demanding this time still more
hostages, but obtaining only a few.

[-53-] So he sailed back to the mainland and put an end to the
disturbances. From Britain he had won nothing for himself or for the
City except the glory of having conducted an expedition against that
land. But on this he prided himself greatly and the Romans at home
magnified it to a remarkable degree. Seeing that the formerly unknown
had become certain and the previously unheard of accessible, they
regarded the hope arising from these facts as already realized and
exulted over their expected achievements as if the latter were already
within their grasp.

[-54-] Hence they voted to celebrate a thanksgiving for twenty days: but
while that was taking place there was an uprising in Spain, which was
consequently assigned to Pompey's care. Some tribes had revolted and
obtained the help of the Vaccaei: while still unprepared they were
conquered by Metellus Nepos, but as he was besieging Clunia they
assailed him, proved themselves his superiors, and won back the city; at
another time they were beaten, though without being enslaved or anything
like it. In fact, they so far surpassed their opponents in numbers that
Nepos was glad to remain quiet and not run any risks.

[-55-] About this same time Ptolemy, although the Romans voted not to
assist him and were even now highly indignant at the bribery he had
instituted, was nevertheless restored and got back the kingdom. Pompey
and Gabinius effected this. So much power did official authority and
abundance have as against the decrees of the people and the senate that
when Pompey sent orders to Gabinius, then governor of Syria, the latter
immediately put his army in motion. So the former out of kindness and
the latter through corrupt influence restored the king contrary to the
wish of the commonwealth, paying no heed either to it or to the
utterances of the Sibyl. Gabinius was later brought to trial for this,
but on account of Pompey's influence and the money at his command was
not convicted. Public administration had so deteriorated among the
Romans of that day that when some of the magistrates and jurymen
received from him only a very little of the great bribes that he
disbursed, they heeded no requirement of propriety, and furthermore
instructed others to commit crimes for money, showing them that they
could easily buy immunity from punishment. At this time, consequently,
Gabinius was acquitted; but he was again brought to trial on some other
charge,--chiefly that he had plundered more than a million from the
province,--and was convicted. This was a matter of great surprise to
him, seeing that by money he had freed himself from the former suit; but
it was for that reason principally that he was condemned on these
charges. It was also a surprise to Pompey, because previously he had,
through his friends, rescued Gabinius even at a distance, but now while
in the suburbs of the city and, as you might say, in the courtroom
itself, he had accomplished nothing.

[-56-] This was the way of it. Gabinius had injured Syria in many ways,
even to the point of inflicting more damage upon the people than had the
pirates, who were then in their prime. Still, he regarded all his gains
from that source as mere trifles and was at one time planning and
preparing to lead a campaign also against the Parthians and their
wealth. Phraates had been treacherously murdered by his children, and
Orodes having taken the kingdom in turn had expelled Mithridates his
brother from Media, which he was governing. The latter took refuge with
Gabinius and persuaded him to connive at his restoration. However, when
Ptolemy came with Pompey's letter and promised that he would furnish
large sums, both to him and the army, Gabinius abandoned the Parthian
project and hastened to Egypt. This he did although the law forbade
governors to enter any one's territory outside their own borders or to
begin wars on their own responsibility, and although the people and the
Sibyl had declared that the man should not be restored. But the only
restraint these considerations exercised was to lead him to sell them
for a higher price. He left in Syria Sisenna his son, a mere boy, and a
very few soldiers with him, exposing the province to which he had been
assigned more than ever to the pirates. He himself then reached
Palestine, arrested Aristobulus, who had caused some trouble at Rome and
escaped, sent him to Pompey, imposed tribute upon the Jews and
thereafter invaded Egypt.

[-57-] Berenice was at this time ruling the Egyptians, and though she
feared the Romans she accorded him no satisfactory treatment. Instead,
she sent for one Seleucus who purported to belong to the royal race that
once had flourished in Syria, acknowledged him as her husband and made
him sharer of the kingdom and of the war. When he was seen to be held in
no esteem she had him killed and joined to herself on the same terms
Archelaus, son of that Archelaus who had deserted to Sulla; he was an
energetic man living in Syria. Gabinius could, indeed, have stopped the
evil in its beginning: he had arrested Archelaus, of whom he had been
suspicious all along, and seemed likely, therefore, to have no further
trouble. He was afraid, however, that this course might cause him to
receive from Ptolemy less of the money that had been stipulated, on the
assumption that he had done nothing of importance, and he hoped that he
could exact even a larger amount in view of the cleverness and renown of
Archelaus; moreover he received numerous other contributions from the
prisoner himself and so voluntarily released him, pretending that he had
escaped.[-58-] Thus he reached Pelusium without meeting opposition, and
while advancing from there with his army in two divisions he encountered
and conquered the Egyptians on the same day, and after this vanquished
them again on the river with his ships and also on land. For the
Alexandrians are very apt to face everything boldly and to speak out
whatever may occur to them, but for war and its terrors they are
decidedly worthless. This is true in spite of the fact that in
seditions, which occur among them in great numbers and of serious
proportions, they always become involved in slaughter, set no value upon
life as compared with the rivalry of the moment, but pursuing
destruction in such quarrels as if it were a most necessary prize. So
Gabinius conquered them, and after slaying Archelaus and many others he
immediately gained control of all Egypt and delivered it over to
Ptolemy.

Now Ptolemy killed his daughter and the foremost and richest of the
other citizens, because he had much need of money. [-59-] Gabinius after
restoring him in this fashion sent no message home about what he had
done, in order not to give them information against himself of his
transgressions of the law. But it was not possible for a proceeding of
such magnitude to be concealed. The people learned it directly, for the
Syrians cried out loudly against Gabinius, especially since in his
absence they were terribly abused by the pirates; and again the tax
collectors, being unable to levy taxes on account of the marauders, were
owing numerous sums. This enraged the populace: they passed resolutions
and were ready to condemn him. Cicero attacked him vigorously and
advised them to read again the Sibylline verses, expecting that there
was contained in them some punishment, in case their injunctions should
be transgressed. [-60-] Pompey and Crassus were still consuls, the
former acted as his own interests dictated, the latter was for pleasing
his colleague and also soon received money sent him by Gabinius. Thus
they openly justified his conduct, calling Cicero among other names
"exile," and would not put the question to a vote.

[B.C. 54 (_a.u._ 700)]

When, however, they had ended their office, Lucius Domitius and Appius
Claudius became their successors, once more many resolutions were
published and the majority proved to be against Gabinius. Domitius was
hostile to Pompey on account of the latter's canvass and because he had
been appointed consul contrary to his wish. Claudius, although a
relative of Pompey's, still wished to play the game of politics and
indulge the people, and furthermore he expected to get bribes from
Gabinius, if he should cause him any uneasiness. So both worked in every
way against him. The following fact, also, militated strongly against
him; that he had not received a certain lieutenant sent in advance by
Crassus to succeed him in the office, but held fast to the position as
if he had obtained an eternal sovereignty. They decided, therefore, that
the verse of the Sibyl should be read, in spite of Pompey's opposition.
[-61-] Meantime the Tiber, perhaps because excessive rains took place
somewhere up the stream above the city, or because a violent wind from
the sea beat back its outgoing tide, or still more probably, by the act
of some Divinity, suddenly rose so high as to inundate all the lower
levels in the city and to overwhelm much even of the higher ground. The
houses, therefore, being constructed of brick, were soaked through and
washed away, while all the cattle perished under water. And of the men
all who did not take refuge betimes on very high points were caught,
some in their dwellings, some on the streets, and lost their lives. The
remaining houses, too (because the evil lasted for many days), became
rotten and injured some persons at once and others afterward. The
Romans, distressed at such calamities and expecting others worse
because, as they thought, Heaven had become angry with them for the
restoration of Ptolemy, were urgent to put Gabinius to death even while
absent, believing that they would be harmed less if they should destroy
him with speed. So insistent were they that although nothing about
punishment was found in the Sibylline oracles, still the senate passed a
preliminary resolution that the governors and populace might accord him
very bitter and harsh treatment.

[-62-] While this was going on, money sent ahead by Gabinius caused by
its very presence a setback to his interests though he was not only
absent but not even on his way home. And, indeed, he was placed by his
conscience in such a wretched and miserable condition that he long
delayed coming to Italy, and was conveyed to his house by night, and for
a considerable number of days did not dare to appear outside of his
house. Complaints were many and he had abundance of accusers.
Accordingly, he was first tried for the restoration of Ptolemy, as his
greatest offence. Practically the entire populace surged into the
courthouse and often wished to tear him to pieces, particularly because
Pompey was not present and Cicero accused him with fearful earnestness.
Though this was their attitude, he was acquitted. For he himself,
appreciating the gravity of the charges on which he was tried, expended
vast sums of money, and the companions of Pompey and Caesar very
willingly aided him, declaring that a different time and different king
were meant by the Sybil, and, most important of all, that no punishment
for his deeds were recorded in her verses.

[-63-] The populace, therefore, came near killing the jurymen, but, when
they escaped, turned their attention to the remaining complaints against
him and caused him to be convicted at least on those. The men who were
chosen by lot to pass judgment on the charges both feared the people and
likewise obtained but little from Gabinius; knowing that his conduct in
minor matters only was being investigated and expecting to win this time
also he did not lay out much. Hence they condemned him, in spite of
Pompey's proximity and Cicero's advocacy of his cause. Pompey had left
town to attend to the grain, much of which had been ruined by the river,
but set out with the intention of attending the first court,--for he was
in Italy,--and, as he missed that, did not retire from the suburbs until
the other was also finished. He had the people assemble outside the
pomerium, since, as he held already the office of proconsul, he was not
allowed to enter the town, and harangued them at length in behalf of
Gabinius, reading to them a letter sent to him by Caesar in the man's
behalf. He even implored the jurymen, and not only prevented Cicero from
accusing him again but actually persuaded him to plead for him; as a
result the derogatory epithet of "deserter" became widely applied to the
orator. However, he did Gabinius no good: the latter was at this time
convicted and exiled, as stated, but was later restored by Caesar.

[-64-] At this same time the wife of Pompey died, after giving birth to
a baby girl. And whether by the arrangement of Caesar's friends and his
or because there were some who wished on general principles to do them a
favor, they caught up the body, as soon as she had received proper
eulogies in the Forum, and buried it in the Campus Martius. The
opposition of Domitius and his declaration (among others) that it was
impious for any one to be buried in the sacred spot without some decree
proved of no avail.

[-65-] At this season Gaius Pomptinus also celebrated the triumph over
the Gauls. Up to that time, as no one granted him the right to hold it,
he had remained outside the pomerium. And he would have missed it then,
too, had not Servius Galba, who had made a campaign with him, granted as
praetor secretly and just before dawn to certain persons the privilege of
voting:--this, in spite of the fact that it is not permitted by law for
any business to be transacted in the popular assembly before the first
hour. For this reason some of the tribunes, who had been left out of the
meeting, caused him trouble (at least, in the procession), so that there
was some killing.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

40

The following is contained in the Fortieth of Dio's Rome.

How Caesar for the second time sailed across into Britain (chapters 1-3.)

How Caesar turned back from Britain and again engaged in war with the
Gauls (chapters 4-11).

How Crassus began to carry on war with the Parthians (chapters 12, 13).

About the Parthians (chapters 14, 15).

How Crassus was defeated by them and perished (chapters 16-30).

How Caesar subjugated the whole of Transalpine Gaul (chapters 31-43).

How Milo killed Clodius and was condemned by the court (chapters 44-57).

How Caesar and Pompey began to be at variance (chapters 58-66).

Duration of time, the remainder of the consulship of Domitius and Appius
Claudius, together with four additional years, in which there were the
following magistrates here enumerated.

Cn. Domitius M.F. Calvinus, M. Valerius || Messala. || (B.C. 53 = a.u.
701.)

|| Cn. Pompeius || Cn. F. Magnus (III), Caecilius Metellus Scipio Nasicae
F. (B.C. 52 = a.u. 702.)

Servius Sulpicius Q.F. Rufus, M. Claudius M.F. Marcellus. (B.C. 51 =
a.u. 703.)

L. Aemilius M.F. Paulus, || C. Claudius C.F. Marcellus. || (B.C. 50 =
a.u. 704.)


(_BOOK 40, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 54 (_a.u._ 700)]

[-1-] These were the occurrences in Rome while the city was passing
through its seven hundredth year. In Gaul Caesar during the year of those
same consuls, Lucius Domitius and Appius Claudius, among other
undertakings constructed ships of a style halfway between his own swift
vessels and the native ships of burden, endeavoring to make them as
light as possible and yet entirely seaworthy, and he left them on dry
land to avoid injury. When the weather became fit for sailing, he
crossed over again to Britain, giving as his excuse that the people of
that country, thinking that he would never cross to them again because
he had once retired empty-handed, had not sent all the hostages they had
promised; the truth of the matter was that he vehemently coveted the
island, so that he would have certainly found some other pretext, if
this had not been in existence. He came to land at the same place as
before, no one daring to oppose him because of the number of his ships
and his approaching the shore at all points at once; thus he got
possession of the harbor immediately. [-2-] The barbarians for the
reasons specified had not been able to hinder his approach and being far
more afraid than before, because he had come with a larger army, carried
away all their most valued possessions into the most woody and overgrown
portions of the neighboring country. After they had put them in safety
by cutting down the surrounding wood and piling more upon it row after
row until the whole looked like an entrenched camp, they proceeded to
annoy Roman foraging parties. Indeed, in one battle after being defeated
on open ground they drew the invaders toward that spot in pursuit, and
killed many of them. Soon after, as storm had once more damaged the
ships, the Britons sent for allies and set out against their naval
arsenal itself, with Casuvellaunus, regarded as the foremost of the
chiefs in the island, at their head. The Romans upon meeting them were
at first thrown into confusion by the attack of their chariots, but
later opened ranks, and by letting them pass through and striking the
occupants obliquely as they drove by, made the battle equal. [-3-] For
the time being both parties remained where they were. At another meeting
the barbarians proved superior to the infantry, but were damaged by the
cavalry and withdrew to the Thames, where they encamped after planting
stakes across the ford, some visible and some under water. But Caesar by
a powerful assault forced them to leave the palisade and later on by
siege drove them from the fort, and others repulsed a party of theirs
that attacked the harbor. They then became terrified and made terms,
giving hostages and being rated for a yearly tribute.

[-4-] Under these circumstances Caesar departed entirely from the island
and left no body of troops behind in it. He believed that such a force
would be in danger while passing the winter on a foreign shore and that
it might be inconvenient for him to absent himself from Gaul for any
considerable period: hence he was satisfied with his present
achievements, in the fear that if he reached for more, he might be
deprived of these. It seemed that in this he had done rightly, as was,
indeed, proved by what took place. For when he had gone to Italy,
intending to winter there, the Gauls, though each separate nation
contained many garrisons, still planned resistance and some of them
openly revolted. So if this had happened while he was staying in Britain
to finish the winter season, all the hither regions would have been a
scene of confusion indeed.

[-5-] This war was begun by the Eburones, under Ambiorix as chief. They
said the disturbance was due to their being oppressed by the presence of
the Romans, who were commanded by Sabinus and Lucius Cotta, lieutenants.
As a matter of fact they despised the garrison, thinking they would not
prove competent to defend themselves and expecting that Caesar would not
speedily head an expedition against their tribe. They accordingly came
upon the soldiers unawares, expecting to take the camp without striking
a blow, and, when they failed of this, had recourse to deceit. Ambiorix
after setting ambuscades in the most suitable spots came to the Romans
for a parley and represented that he had taken part in the war against
his will and was himself sorry. But against the others he advised them
be on their guard, for his compatriots would not obey him and were
intending to attack the garrison at night. Consequently he made the
suggestion to them that they should abandon Eburonia, because they would
be in danger, if they stayed, and pass on as quickly as possible to
where some of their comrades were wintering near by.[-6-] The Romans
were persuaded by this disclosure, especially as he had received many
favors from Caesar and seemed in this to be repaying him in kindness.
They packed up their belongings with zeal just after nightfall and
later[59] started out, but fell into the ambush set and suffered a
terrible reverse. Cotta with many others perished immediately: Sabinus
was sent for by Ambiorix under the pretext of saving him, for the Gallic
leader was not on the ground and even then seemed faithful to him
personally; on his arrival, however, Ambiorix seized him, stripped him
of his arms and clothing, and then struck him down with his javelin,
uttering boasts over him, one to this effect: "How can such creatures as
you are have the idea of ruling a nation of our strength?" This was the
fate that these men suffered. The rest managed to break through to the
fortress from which they had set out, but when the barbarians assailed
that, too, and they could neither repel them nor escape, they killed one
another.

[-7-] After this event some other of the neighboring tribes revolted,
among them the Nervii, though Quintus Cicero, a brother of Marcus Cicero
and lieutenant of Caesar, was wintering in their territory. Ambiorix
added them to his force and began a conflict with Cicero. The contest
was close, and after capturing some prisoners alive the chieftain tried
to deceive him likewise, but being unable to do so resorted to siege.
Before long by means of his large force and the experience which he had
gained from the campaign that he made with the Romans, together with
some detailed information that he obtained from the captives, he managed
to enclose him with a palisade and ditch. There were battles, as natural
in such operations,--many of them,--and far larger numbers of barbarians
perished, because there were more of them. They, however, by reason of
their abundant army were never in sight of destruction, whereas the
Romans, not being many in the first place, kept continually growing
fewer and were encompassed without difficulty. [-8-] They were unable to
treat their wounds with success through lack of the necessary
applications, and did not have a large supply of food, because they had
been besieged unexpectedly. No one came to their aid, though many were
wintering at no great distance, for the barbarians guarded the roads
with care and all who were sent out they caught and slaughtered before
the eyes of their friends. As they were therefore in danger of being
captured, a Nervian who was friendly to them as the result of kindness
shown and at this time was besieged with Cicero, presented them with a
slave of his to send as a messenger through the lines. Because of his
dress and his native speech he would be able to associate with the enemy
as one of their number, without attracting notice, and after that he
could depart. [-9-] In this way Caesar learned of what was taking place
(he had not yet gone to Italy but was still on the way), and, turning
back, took with him the soldiers in the winter establishments through
which he passed, and pressed rapidly on. Meanwhile being afraid that
Cicero in despair of assistance might suffer disaster or capitulate, he
sent forward a horseman. He did not trust the servant of the Nervian, in
spite of having received an actual proof of his good will: he was afraid
that he might pity his countrymen and work him some great evil. So he
sent a horseman of the allies who knew their dialect and had dressed
himself in their garb. And in order that even he might not voluntarily
or involuntarily reveal the secret he gave him no verbal message and
wrote to Cicero in Greek all the injunctions that he wished to give, in
order that even if the letter should be captured, it might still be
incomprehensible to the barbarians and afford them no information. He
had also the custom as a usual thing, when he was sending a secret order
to any one, to write constantly the fourth letter beyond, instead of the
proper one, so that the writing might be unintelligible to most persons.
The horseman reached the camp of the Romans, but not being able to come
close up to it he fastened the letter to a small javelin and hurled it
into the enemy's ranks, fixing it purposely in a tower.[-10-] Thus
Cicero, on learning of the advent of Caesar, took courage and held out
more stubbornly. The barbarians for a long time knew nothing of the
assistance he was bringing; he journeyed by night, lying by day in most
obscure places, so as to fall upon them as far as possible unawares. At
last from the unnatural cheerfulness of the besieged they suspected it
and sent out scouts. Learning from them that Caesar was at last drawing
near they set out against him, thinking to attack him while off his
guard. He received advance information of this movement and remained
where he was that night, but just before dawn took up a strong position.
There he encamped apparently with the utmost haste, for the purpose of
appearing to have only a few followers, to have suffered from the
journey, to fear their onset, and by this plan to draw them to the
higher ground. And so it proved. Their contempt for him led them to
charge up hill, and they met with such a severe defeat that they
committed not another warlike act.

[-11-] In this way both they and all the rest were at that time subdued;
they did not, however, feel kindly toward the Romans. The Treveri,
indeed, when Caesar sent for the principal men[60] of each tribe and
punished them, through fear that they, too, might be called upon to pay
the penalty assumed again a hostile attitude, lending an attentive ear
to the persuasions of Indutiomarus. They led some others who feared the
same treatment to revolt and headed an expedition against Titus
Labienus, who was among the Remi, but were annihilated in an unexpected
sally made by the Romans.

[-12-] This was what took place in Gaul, and Caesar wintered there so as
to be able to keep strict control of affairs. Crassus, desiring for his
part to accomplish something that would confer some glory and profit
upon him, made a campaign against the Parthians, since after
consideration he saw no such opportunity in Syria, where the people were
quiet and the officers who had formerly warred against the Romans were
by reason of their impotency causing no disturbance. He had no complaint
to bring against the Parthians nor had war been decreed, but he heard
that they were exceeding wealthy and expected that Orodes would be easy
to capture, because but newly established. Therefore he crossed the
Euphrates and proceeded to traverse a considerable portion of
Mesopotamia, devastating and ravaging the country. As his crossing was
unexpected by the barbarians no strong guard had been placed at that
point. Silaces, then governor of that region, was quickly defeated near
Ichnai, a fortress so named, after contending with a few horsemen. He
was wounded and retired to report personally to the king the Romans'
invasion:[-13-] Crassus quickly got possession of the garrisons and
especially the Greek cities, among them one named Nicephorium. Many of
the Macedonians and of the rest that fought for the Parthians were Greek
colonists, oppressed by violence, and not unwillingly transferred their
allegiance to the Romans, who, they strongly hoped, would be favorable
to the Greeks. The inhabitants of Zenodotium, pretending a willingness
to revolt, sent for some of the invaders, but when they were within the
town cut them off and killed them, for which act they were driven from
their homes. Outside of this Crassus for the time being neither
inflicted nor received any serious harm. He certainly would have subdued
the other regions beyond the Tigris, if he had followed up the advantage
from his own attack and the barbarians' panic equally in all respects,
and had he wintered furthermore where he was, keeping a sharp lookout on
their behavior. As it turned out, he captured only what he could seize
by sudden assault and paid no heed to the rest nor to the people
themselves, but wearied by his stay in Mesopotamia and longing for the
indolence of Syria he afforded the Parthians time to prepare themselves
and to injure the soldiers left behind in their country.

[-14-]This was the beginning that the Romans made of war against them.
They dwell beyond the Tigris, possessing for the most part forts and
garrisons, but also a few cities, among them Ctesiphon, in which there
is a palace. Their stock was very likely in existence among the original
barbarians and they had this same name even under the Persian rule. But
at that time they inhabited only a small portion of the country and had
not obtained any transmontane sovereignty. When the Persian kingdom had
been destroyed and that of the Macedonians had reached its prime, and
then the successors of Alexander had quarreled one with another, cutting
off separate portions for their own and setting up individual
monarchies, this land then first attained prominence under a certain
Arsaces from whom their succeeding rulers have received the title of
Arsacidae. By good fortune they acquired all the neighboring territory,
kept control of Mesopotamia by means of satrapies, and finally advanced
to so great glory and power as to fight against the Romans at that
period and to be considered worthy antagonists up to present time.[61]
They are really formidable in warfare and possess the greater
reputation, in spite of never having gained anything from the Romans and
having parted with certain portions of their own domain, because they
have not yet been enslaved, but even now carry wars against us to the
end, whenever they get into conflicts. [-15-] About their race and their
country and the peculiarities of their customs many persons have spoken,
and I have no intention of compiling an account. But it is fair to
mention in what follows their equipment of arms, and the way they handle
a war: the examination of these details properly concerns the present
narrative, since it here needs to introduce them. The Parthians make no
use of a shield, but their forces consist of mounted archers and
pike-bearers, mostly in full armor. Their infantry is small, made up of
the weaker persons; hence it may be said they are all archers. They
practice from boyhood, and the sky and the country coöperate with them
for two good ends. The latter, being for the most part level, is
excellent for raising horses and very suitable for riding over with
horses. Therefore even in war the people lead about whole droves so that
they can use some horses at one place and others at another, can ride up
suddenly from a distance and also retire to a distance speedily. The sky
above them, too, which is very dry and contains not the least moisture,
affords them perfect opportunity for archery, except in the winter. For
that reason they make no campaigns in any direction during the winter
season. But the rest of the year they are almost invincible in their own
country and in any that has similar characteristics. By long custom they
can endure the sun, which is very scorching, and they have discovered
many remedies for the scantiness and difficulty of a supply of drink,--a
fact which is a help to them in repelling without difficulty the
invaders of their land. Outside of this district and beyond the
Euphrates they have once or twice exercised some sway by battles and
sudden incursions, but to fight with any nation continuously, without
stopping, is not in their power, when they encounter an entirely
different condition of land and sky and have no supplies of either food
or pay.

[-16-] Such is the Parthian state. Crassus, as has been stated, invaded
Mesopotamia and Orodes sent envoys to him in Syria to censure him for
the invasion and ask the causes of the war; he sent also Surena with an
army to the captured and revolted sections. He himself had in mind to
lead an expedition against Armenia, which had once belonged to Tigranes,
in order that Artabazes, son of Tigranes, the king of the land at that
time, should, through fear for his own domains, send no assistance to
the Romans. Now Crassus said that he would tell him in Seleucia the
causes of the war. (This is a city in Mesopotamia having even at the
present day chiefly a Greek population.) And one of the Parthians,
bringing down upon the palm of his left hand the fingers of the other,
exclaimed: "More quickly will hair grow herein, than you will reach
Seleucia."

[B.C. 53 (_a.u._ 701)]

[-17-] And when the winter set in,[62] in which Gnaeus Calvinus and
Valerius Messala became consuls, many portents occurred even in Rome
itself. Owls and wolves were seen, prowling dogs did damage, some sacred
statues exuded sweat and others were destroyed by lightning. The
offices, partly through rivalry but chiefly by reason of birds and
omens, were with difficulty filled at last in the seventh month. Those
signs, however, gave no clear indication as to what the event would be.
For affairs in the City were in turmoil, the Gauls had risen again, and,
though the Romans knew it not as yet, they had broken into war against
the Parthians: but to Crassus signs that were both evident and easy to
interpret appeared as he was crossing the Euphrates opposite Zeugma.[63]
That spot has been so called from the campaign of Alexander, because he
crossed at this point. [-18-] The omens were of the following nature.
There is a small shrine and in it a golden eagle, which is found in all
the legions that are on the register, and it never moves from the
winter-quarters except the whole army goes forth on some errand. One man
carries it on a long shaft, which ends in a sharp spike for the purpose
of setting it firmly in the ground. Now of these so-called eagles one
was unwilling to join him in his passage of the Euphrates at that time,
but stuck fast in the earth as if planted until many took their places
around it and pulled it out by force, so that it accompanied even
involuntarily. But one of the large standards, that resemble sheets,
with purple letters upon them to distinguish the division and its
commander, turned about and fell from the bridge into the river. This
happened in the midst of a violent wind. Then Crassus, who had the rest
of equal length cut down, so as to be shorter and consequently steadier
to carry, only increased the prodigies. In the very passage of the river
so great a mist enshrouded the soldiers that they fell over one another
and could see nothing of the enemy's country until they set foot upon
it: and the sacrifices both for crossing and for landing proved very
unfavorable. Meantime a great wind burst upon them, bolts of lightning
fell, and the bridge, before they had all passed over, was destroyed.
The occurrences were such that any one, even if extremely ignorant and
uninstructed, would interpret them to mean that they would fare badly
and not return. Hence there was great fear and dejection in the army.
[-19-] Crassus, trying to encourage them, said: "Be not alarmed, fellow
soldiers, that the bridge has been destroyed nor think because of this
that any disaster is portended. For I declare to you upon oath that I
have decided to make my return march through Armenia." By this he would
have emboldened them, had he not at the end added in a loud voice the
words: "Be of good cheer: for none of you shall come back _this_ way."
When they heard this, the soldiers deemed that it, no less than the
rest, had been a portent for them, and fell into greater discouragement;
and so it was that they paid no heed to the remainder of his
exhortation, in which he belittled the barbarian and glorified the Roman
State, offered them money and announced prizes for valor.

Still, even so, they followed and no one said a word or committed an act
to oppose him, partly by reason of the law, but further because they
were terrified and could neither plan nor carry out any measures of
safety. In all other respects, too, as if predestined to ruin by some
Divinity, they deteriorated both in mind and body.

[-20-] Nevertheless, the greatest injury was done them by Abgarus of
Osrhoene. He had pledged himself to peace with the Romans in the time of
Pompey, but now chose the side of the barbarians. The same was done by
Alchaudonius the Arabian, who always attached himself to the stronger
party. The latter, however, revolted openly, and hence was not hard to
guard against. Abgarus favored the Parthian cause, but pretended to be
well disposed toward Crassus. He spent money for him unsparingly,
learned all his plans (which he reported to the foe), and further, if
any course was excellent for the Romans he tried to divert him from it,
but if disadvantageous, to urge him to it. At last he was responsible
for the following occurrence. Crassus was intending to advance to
Seleucia by such a route as to reach there safely along the side of the
Euphrates and on its stream, with his army and provisions. Accompanied
by the people of that city, whom he hoped to win over easily, because
they were Greeks, he could cross without difficulty to Ctesiphon.
Abgarus caused him to give up this course, on the ground that it would
take a long time, and persuaded him to assail Surena, because the latter
was near and had only a few men.

[-21-] Then, when he had arranged matters so that the invader should
perish and the other should conquer (for he was continually in the
company of Surena, on the pretext of spying), he led out the Romans,
blinded by folly, to what he said was a victory in their very hands, and
in the midst of the action joined the attack against them.

It happened like this.

[B.C. 52 (_a.u._ 702)]

The Parthians confronted the Romans with most of their army hidden; the
ground was uneven in spots and wooded. Crassus seeing them--not Crassus
the commander, but the younger, who had come to his father from
Gaul,--and despising them (supposing them to be alone), led out his
cavalry and, as they turned purposely to flight, pursued them. In his
eagerness for victory he was separated far from his phalanx, and was
then caught in a trap and cut down. [-22-] When this took place the
roman infantry did not turn back, but valiantly joined battle with the
Parthians to avenge his death. They accomplished nothing worthy of
themselves, however, because of the enemy's numbers and tactics,
especially as they suffered from the plotting of Abgarus. If they
decided to lock shields for the purpose of avoiding the arrows by the
density of their array, the pike-bearers were upon them with a rush,
would strike down some, and at least scatter the others: and if they
stood apart, so as to turn these aside, they would be shot with arrows.

Hereupon many died from fright at the very charge or the pike-bearers,
and many hemmed in by the horsemen perished. Others were upset by the
pikes or were carried off transfixed. The missiles falling thick upon
them from all sides at once struck down many by an opportune blow, put
many out of the battle, and caused annoyance to all. They flew into
their eyes and pierced their hands and all the other parts of the body
and penetrating their armor, forced them to take off their protection
and expose themselves to wounds each minute. Thus, while a man was
guarding against arrows or pulling out one that had stuck fast he
received more wounds, one upon another. Consequently it was not feasible
for them to move, nor feasible to remain at rest. Neither course
afforded them safety, and both were fraught with destruction, the one
because it was out of their power, and the other because they were more
easily wounded. [-23-] This was what they suffered while they were
fighting only against visible enemies. Abgarus did not immediately make
his attempt upon them. When he, too, attacked, the Orshoeni themselves
struck the Romans from behind in exposed places while they were facing
in a different direction, and rendered them easier for the others to
slaughter. For the Romans, altering their formation, so as to be facing
them, put the Parthians behind them. They wheeled around again against
the Parthians, then back again against the Orshoeni, then against the
Parthians once more. Thrown into still greater confusion by this
circumstance, because they were continually changing position this way
and that and were forced to face the body that was wounding them at the
time, many fell upon their own swords or were killed by their comrades.
Finally they were shut up in so narrow a place, with the enemy
continually assaulting them from all sides at once, and compelled to
protect their exposed parts by the shields of those who stood beside
them, that they could no longer move. They could not even get a sure
footing by reason of the number of corpses, but kept falling over them.
The heat and thirst--it was mid-summer and this action took place at
noon--and the dust of which all the barbarians raised as much as
possible by riding around them, told fearfully upon the survivors, and
many succumbed to these influences, even though unwounded. [-24-] And
they would have perished utterly, but for the fact that some of the
pikes of the barbarians were bent and others were broken, while the
bowstrings snapped under the constant shooting, the missiles were all
discharged, every sword blunted, and, chief of all, that the men
themselves grew weary of the slaughter. Under these conditions, then,
when it grew night the assailants being obliged to ride off to a
distance retired. They never encamp near even the weakest bodies,
because they use no intrenchments and if any one comes upon them in the
darkness, they are unable to deploy their cavalry or their archery to
advantage. However, they captured no Roman alive at that time. Seeing
them standing upright in their armor and perceiving that no one threw
away any part of it or fled, they deemed that they still had some
strength, and feared to lay hold of them.

[-25-] So Crassus and the rest, as many as could, set out for Carrae,
kept faithful to them by the Romans that had stayed behind within the
walls. Many of the wounded being unable to walk and lacking vehicles or
even men to carry them (for the survivors were glad of the chance to
drag their own persons away) remained on the spot. Some of them died of
their wounds or by making away with themselves, and others were captured
the next day. Of the captives many perished on the road, as their
physical strength gave out, and many later because they were unable to
obtain proper care immediately. Crassus, in discouragement, believed he
would be unable to hold out safely even in the city any longer, but
planned flight at once. Since it was impossible for him to go out by day
without being detected, he undertook to escape by night, but failed to
secure secrecy, being betrayed by the moon, which was at its full. The
Romans accordingly waited for moonless nights, and then starting out in
darkness and a foreign land that was likewise hostile, they scattered in
tremendous fear. Some were caught when it became day and lost their
lives: others got safely away to Syria in the company of Cassius
Longinus, the quaestor. Others, with Crassus himself, sought the
mountains and prepared to escape through them into Armenia. [-26-]
Surena, learning this, was afraid that if they could reach any
headquarters they might make war on him again, but still was unwilling
to assail them on the higher ground, which was inaccessible to horses.
As they were heavy-armed men, fighting from higher ground, and in a kind
of frenzy, through despair, contending with them was not easy. So he
sent to them, inviting them to submit to a truce, on condition of
abandoning all territory east of the Euphrates. Crassus, nothing
wavering, trusted him. He was in the height of terror and distraught by
his private misfortune and the public calamity as well; and because,
further, he saw that the soldiers shrank from the journey (which they
thought long and rough) and that they feared Orodes, he was unable to
foresee anything that he ought. When he displayed acquiescence in the
matter of the truce, Surena refused to conduct the ceremony through the
agency of others, but in order to cut him off with only a few and seize
him, he said that he wished to hold a conference with the commander
personally. Thereupon they decided to meet each other in the space
between the two armies with an equal number of men from both sides.
Crassus descended to the level ground and Surena sent him a present of a
horse, to make sure of his coming to him more quickly. [-27-] While
Crassus was thus delaying and planning what he should do, the barbarians
took him forcibly and threw him on his horse. Meanwhile the Romans also
laid hold of him, they came to blows, and for a time carried on an equal
struggle; then aid came to the kidnapers, and they prevailed. The
barbarians, who were in the plain and were prepared beforehand, were too
quick for the Romans above to help their men. Crassus fell among the
rest, whether he was slain by one of his own men to prevent his capture
alive, or whether by the enemy because he was wounded anyway. This was
his end. And the Parthians, as some say, poured gold into his mouth in
mockery; for though a man of great wealth he was so eager for money as
to pity those who could not support an enrolled legion from their own
means, regarding them as poor men. Of the soldiers the majority escaped
through the mountains to friendly territory, but a fraction fell into
the hands of the enemy.

[B.C. 52 (_a.u._ 702)]

[-28-] The Parthians at this time did not advance beyond the Euphrates,
but won back the whole country east of it. Later they also (though not
in any numbers) invaded Syria, because the province had neither general
nor soldiers. The fact that there were not many of them enabled Cassius
easily to effect their repulse. When at Carrae the soldiers through
hatred of Crassus granted to Cassius absolute control of themselves, and
the commander himself on account of the greatness of the disaster
voluntarily allowed it, but Cassius would not accept it: now, however,
he took charge of Syria perforce, for the time being and subsequently.
For the barbarians would not keep away from it, but campaigned once more
against them with a larger band and under the nominal leadership of one
Pacorus by name, the son of Orodes, though under the real direction of
Osaces (for the other was still a child). They came as far as Antioch,
subduing the whole country before them. They had hopes of subjugating
also what remained, since the Romans were not at hand with a force fit
to cope with them, and the people were fretting under Roman rule but
ready to turn to the invaders, who were neighbors and acquaintances.

[-29-]As they failed to take Antioch, where Cassius repulsed them
severely and they were unable to institute any siege, they turned to
Antigonea. The neighborhood of the city was overgrown with wood and they
were dismayed, not being able to march into it. They then formed a plan
to cut down the trees and lay bare the whole place so that they might
approach the town with boldness and safety. Finding themselves unable to
do this, because the task was a great one and their time was spent in
vain, while Cassius harassed those scattered about, they retired
apparently with the intention of proceeding against some other position.
Meanwhile Cassius set an ambush on the road along which they were to
depart, and confronting them there with a few men he induced them to
pursue, led them into the trap, and killed Osaces and others. Upon the
latter's death Pacorus abandoned all of Syria and never invaded it
again.

[-30-] He had scarcely retired when Bibulus arrived to govern Syria. His
coming, to be sure, was in contravention of a decree intended to prevent
rivalry for office, so productive of seditions, that no praetor nor
consul, at once or at any time within four years, should go abroad to
hold office. He administered the subject country in peace, and turned
the Parthians against one another. Having won the friendship of
Orondapates, a satrap, who had a grudge against Orodes, he persuaded him
through messengers to set up Pacorus as king, and with him to conduct a
campaign against the other.

[B.C. 51 (_a.u._ 703)]

This war came to an end in the fourth year from the time when it had
begun, and while Marcus Marcellus and Sulpicius Rufus were consuls.

[-31-] In that same period Caesar by battle again gained control of
Gallic affairs, which were in an unsettled state. He accomplished very
much himself and some things through his lieutenants, of which I will
state only the most important.

[B.C. 54 (_a.u._ 700)]

Ambiorix won the confidence of the Treveri, who at this time were still
smarting under the setback of Indutiomarus's death, raised a greater
conspiracy in that quarter, and sent for a mercenary force from the
Celtae. Labienus wishing to join issue with them before this last
contingent should be added to their number invaded the country of the
Treveri in advance. The latter did not defend themselves, as they were
awaiting reinforcements, but put a river between the two armies and
remained quiet. Labienus then gathered his soldiers and addressed them
in words of such a nature as were likely to alarm his own men and
encourage the others: they must, he said, before the Celtae repelled
them, withdraw to Caesar and safety; and he immediately gave the signal
to pack up the baggage. Not much later he began actually to withdraw,
expecting that that would occur which really did. The barbarians heard
of his speech,--they took very good care in such matters and it was for
just that reason that it had been delivered publicly,--and thought he
was really afraid and truly taking to flight. Hence they eagerly crossed
the river and started toward the Romans with spirit, as fast as each one
could. So Labienus received their attack while they were scattered, and
after terrifying the foremost easily routed the rest because of the
action of the men in front. Then as they were fleeing in disorder,
falling over one another and crowding toward the river, he killed many
of them.

[B.C. 53 (_a.u._ 701)]

[-32-] Not a few of them escaped even so, of whom Caesar made no account,
except of Ambiorix: this man by hurrying now one way and now another and
doing much injury caused Caesar trouble in seeking and pursuing him. Not
being able to catch him by any device the Roman commander made an
expedition against the Celtae, alleging that they had wished to help the
Treveri. On this occasion likewise he accomplished nothing, but retired
rapidly through fear of the Suebi: he gained the reputation, however, of
having crossed the Rhine again, and of the bridge he destroyed only the
portions near the barbarians, constructing upon it a guard-house, as if
he might at any time have a desire to cross. Then, in anger at the
successful flight of Ambiorix, he delivered his country, though guilty
of no rebellion, to any one who wished, to be plundered. He gave public
notice of this in advance, that as many as possible might assemble,
wherefore many Gauls and many Sugambri came for the plunder. It did not
suffice the Sugambri, however, to make spoil of Gallic territory, but
they attacked the Romans themselves. They watched until the Romans were
absent getting provender and made an attempt upon their camp; but
meanwhile the other soldiers, perceiving it, came to the rescue and
killed a number of the assailants. Inspired with a fear of Caesar by this
encounter they hurriedly withdrew homeward: he inflicted no punishment
upon any one of them because of the winter and the political disputes in
Rome, but after dismissing the soldiers to their winter-quarters, went
himself to Italy on the plea of caring for Hither Gaul, but really in
order that he might be located close to what was taking place in the
city.

[B.C. 52 (_a.u._ 702)]

[-33-] Meantime the Gauls made another outbreak. The Arverni under the
leadership of Vercingetorix revolted, killed all the Romans they found
in their country, and proceeding against the tribes in alliance with the
foreigner bestowed favors upon such as were willing to join their
revolt, and injured the rest. Caesar, on ascertaining this, returned and
found that they had invaded the Bituriges. He did not try to repel them,
all his soldiers not being at hand as yet, but by invading the Arvernian
country in his turn drew the enemy home again, whereupon, not deeming
himself yet a match for them, he retired in good season. [-34-] They
accordingly went back to the Bituriges, captured Avaricum, a city of
theirs, and in it maintained a resistance a long time, for the wall was
hard to approach, being bordered on one side by almost trackless swamps
and on the other by a river with a swift current. When, therefore, later
they were besieged by the Romans, their great numbers made it easy for
them to repel assaults, and they made sallies, inflicting great damage.
Finally they burned over everything in the vicinity, not only fields and
villages but also cities from which they thought assistance could come
to the foe, and if anything was being brought to them from allies at a
distance, they seized it for booty. Therefore the Romans, while
appearing to besiege the city, really suffered the fate of besieged,
until a furious rain and great wind sprang up (the winter having already
set in) during their attack on one point in the wall, which first drove
the assailants back, making them seek shelter in their tents, and then
confined the barbarians, too, in their houses. When they had gone from
the battlements the Romans suddenly attacked again, while there were no
men there: and first capturing a tower, before the enemy became aware of
their presence, they then without difficulty got possession of the
remaining works, plundered the whole city, and in anger at the siege and
their hardship slew all the men.

[-35-] After effecting this Caesar conducted a campaign against their
territory. The rest of the Arverni in view of the war being made upon
them had gained possession in advance of the bridges which he had to
cross; and he being in doubt as to how he should pass over, proceeded a
considerable distance along the bank to see if he could find any place
suitable for going over on foot through the water itself. Soon after he
reached a woody and overshadowed spot, from which he sent forward the
baggage-carriers and most of his army a long way, with line stretched
out: he bade them go forward so that all his troops might appear to be
in that one division. He himself with the strongest portion remained
behind, cut down the wood, made rafts, and on them crossed the stream
while the barbarians still had their attention fixed on those going
along in front and calculated that Caesar was among them. After this he
called back the advance party by night, transferred them across in the
same way, and conquered the country. The people fled in a body to
Gergovia, carrying there all their most valued possessions, and Caesar
had a great deal of toil to no purpose in besieging them. [-36-] Their
fort was on a strong hill and they had strengthened it greatly with
walls; also the barbarians round about had seized all the high ground
and were keeping guard over it, so that if they remained in position
they could safely hold their own, and if they charged down they would
gain the greater advantage. For Caesar, not having any sure position to
choose, was encamped in the plain and never knew beforehand what was
going on: but the barbarians, higher up, could look down upon his camp
and kept making opportune charges. If they ever advanced farther than
was fitting and were beaten back, they quickly got within their own
domain again; and the Romans in no way could come as near to the places
as stones and javelins could be hurled. The time was in general spent
uselessly: often when he assaulted the very height upon which their
fortress was located, he would capture a certain portion of it so that
he could wall it in and continue thence more easily his progress against
the rest of it, but on the whole he met with reverses. He lost a number
of his soldiers, and saw that the enemy could not be captured. Moreover,
there was at this time an uprising among the Aedui, and while he was
absent attending to them, the men left behind fared badly. All these
considerations led Caesar to raise the siege.

[-37-] The Aedui in the beginning abode by their agreements and sent him
assistance, but later they made war rather involuntarily, being deceived
by Litaviccus and others. He, having been unable by any other course to
persuade them to adopt a hostile attitude, managed to get the
appointment of conveying some men to Caesar to be the latter's allies. He
started off as if to fulfill this mission, but sent ahead also some
horsemen and bade some of them return and say that their companions and
the rest of their men in the camp of the Romans had been arrested by the
latter and put to death. Then he further excited the wrath of his
soldiers by delivering a speech appropriate to the message. In this way
the Aedui themselves rose and led others to revolt with them. Caesar, as
soon as he ascertained this, sent to them the Aedui whom he had and was
thought to have slain, so that they might be seen by all to be alive,
and followed on with his cavalry. On this occasion, then, they repented
and made terms. [-38-] The Romans were later, by reason of Caesar's
absence, defeated close to Gergovia and then entirely withdrew from that
country; wherefore those who had caused the uprising and were always
desirous of a change in politics feared that if they delayed the Romans
might exact vengeance[64] from them, and consequently rebelled entirely.
Members of their tribe who were campaigning with Caesar, when they
learned of this, asked him to allow them to return home, promising that
they would arrange everything. Released on these conditions they came to
Noviodunum where the Romans had deposited money and grain and many
hostages, and with the coöperation of the natives destroyed the
garrisons, who were not expecting hostility, and became masters of all
of them. That city, because advantageous, they burned down, to prevent
the Romans from making it a starting point for the war, and they next
caused the remainder of the Aedui to revolt. Caesar, therefore, attempted
to march against them at once, but not being able, on account of the
river Liger he turned his attention to the Lingones. And not even there
did he meet with success. Labienus, however, occupied the island in the
Sequana river by conquering its defenders on the shore, and crossed over
at many points at once, both down stream and up, in order that his
troops might not be hindered by all crossing at one spot.

[-39-] Before this happened Vercingetorix, filled with contempt for
Caesar because of his reverses, had marched against the Allobroges. And
he intercepted the Roman leader, who had meantime started out evidently
to aid them, when he was in Sequania, and surrounded him but did him no
damage: on the contrary he compelled the Romans to be brave through
despair of safety, but he failed himself by reason of his numbers and
audacity and was even defeated to a certain extent by the Celtae that
were allies of the Romans; for to their charges with unwearying bodies
they added the strength of daring and so broke through the enclosing
ranks. Having discovered this device Caesar did not give ground, but shut
up in Alesia such of the foe as fled, and besieged them. [-40-]Now
Vercingetorix at first, before the wall had entirely cut off his
followers, had sent out the horsemen to get fodder for the horses (there
being none on hand), and in order to let them disperse, each to his
native land, and bring thence provisions and assistance. As these
delayed and food supplies began to fail the beleaguered party, he thrust
out the children and the women and the most useless among the rest,
vainly hoping that either the outcasts would be saved as booty by the
Romans or else those left in the town might perhaps survive by enjoying
for a longer time the supplies that would have belonged to their
companions. But Caesar to begin with had not sufficient himself to feed
others. Thinking, therefore, that by their return he could make the
deficiency of food seem more severe to the enemy (for he expected that
the expelled would without doubt be received), he forced them all back.
So these perished most miserably between the city and the camp, because
neither party would receive them. The relief looked for from the
horsemen and such others as they were conducting reached the barbarians
before long, but it was then defeated[65] by the onset of the Romans in
a cavalry battle. Thereupon the relief party tried by night to enter the
city through the enclosing wall but was bitterly disappointed: for the
Romans had made hidden pits in those roads which were used by horses and
had fixed stakes in them, afterward making the whole surface resemble
the surrounding country; thus horse and man, falling into them
absolutely without warning, were mangled. These reinforcements did not,
however, give up until, marshaled once more in battle array beside the
very walls, they themselves and at the same time the men in the city who
came out to fight had met with failure.

[-41-] Now Vercingetorix might have escaped, for he had not been
captured and was unwounded, but he hoped because he had once been on
friendly terms with Caesar, that he would obtain pardon from him. So he
came to him without any announcement by herald, but appeared before him
suddenly, as Caesar was seated on a platform, and threw some that were
present into alarm; he was first of all very tall, and in a suit of
armor he made an extremely imposing figure. When quiet had been
restored, he uttered not a word, but fell upon his knees and remained
so, with clasped hands. This inspired many with pity at remembrance of
his former fortune and at the distressing state in which he now
appeared. But Caesar reproached him in this very matter on which he most
relied for ultimate safety, and by setting before him how he had repaid
friendliness with the opposite treatment proved his offence to have been
the more abominable. Therefore he did not pity him even for one moment,
but immediately confined him in bonds, and later, after sending him to
his triumph, put him to death.

[B.C. 51 (_a.u._ 703)]

[-42-] This was really a later occurrence. At the time previously
mentioned he gained some of the survivors by capitulation and enslaved
the rest, after conquering them in battle. The Belgae, who live near by,
put at their head Commius, an Atrebatian, and resisted for a great
while. They fought two close cavalry battles and the third time in an
infantry battle they showed themselves at first an equal match, but
later, attacked unexpectedly in the rear by cavalry, they turned to
flight. [-43-] After this the remainder abandoned the camp by night, and
as they were passing through a wood set fire to it, leaving behind only
the wagons, in order that the enemy might be delayed by these and by the
fire, and they retire to safety. Their hopes, however, were not
realized. The Romans, as soon as they perceived their flight, pursued
them and on encountering the fire they extinguished part of it and hewed
their way through the rest. Some even ran right through the flame,
overtook the fugitives without warning and slaughtered great numbers.
Thereafter some of them capitulated, but the Atrebatian, who escaped,
would not keep quiet even after this experience. He undertook at one
time to ambush Labienus, and after a defeat in battle was persuaded to
hold a conference with him. Before any terms were made he was wounded by
one of the Romans who surmised that it was not his real intention to
make peace, but he escaped and again proved troublesome to them. At
last, despairing of his project, he secured for his associates entire
amnesty extending to all their people, and for himself, as some say, on
condition of never appearing again within sight of any Roman. So the
contending parties became reconciled and subsequently the rest, some
voluntarily and others overcome in war, were subdued. Then Caesar by
garrisons and legal penalties and levies of money and assignment of
tribute humbled some and tamed others.

[B.C. 50 (_a.u._ 704)]

[-44-] Thus this trouble came to an end in the consulship of Lucius
Paulus and Gaius Marcellus. Caesar in the interest of the Gauls and to
see about the term allowed him for leadership had to leave Gaul and
return to Rome. His office was about to terminate, the war had ceased,
and he had no longer any satisfactory excuse for not disbanding his
troops and returning to private life. Affairs in the city at this time
were in turmoil, Crassus was dead, and Pompey had again come to power,
after being three times consul and having managed to get the government
of Spain granted to him for five years more. The latter had no longer
any bond of alliance with Caesar, especially now that the child, who
alone had kept them on friendly terms, had passed away. The returning
general therefore was afraid that stripped of his soldiers he might fall
into the power of Pompey and of his other enemies, and therefore did not
dismiss them.

[B.C. 53 (_a.u._ 701)]

[-45-] In these same years many tumults of a seditious character had
arisen in the city, and especially in connection with the elections, so
that it was fully six months before Calvinus and Messala could be
appointed consuls. And not even then would they have been chosen, had
not Quintus Pompeius Rufus, though the grandson of Sulla and serving as
tribune, been cast into prison by the senate, whereupon the measure was
voted by the rest who were anxious to commit some outrages, and the
campaign against opposition was handed over to Pompey. Sometimes the
birds had prevented elections, refusing to allow the offices to belong
to interreges; above all the tribunes, by managing affairs in the city
so that they instead of the praetors conducted games, hindered the
remaining offices from being filled. This also accounts for Rufus having
been confined in a cell. He later on brought Favonius the aedile to the
same place on some small charge, in order that he might have a companion
in his disgrace. But all the tribunes introduced various obstructive
pleas, proposing, among other things, to appoint military tribunes, so
that more persons, as formerly, might come to office. When no one would
heed them, they declared that Pompey, at all events, must be chosen
dictator. By this pretext they secured a very long delay: for he was out
of town, and of those on the spot there was no one who would venture to
vote for the demand (for in remembrance of Sulla's cruelty they all
hated that policy), nor yet venture to refuse to choose Pompey, on
account of their fear of him.[-46-] At last, quite late, he came
himself, refused the dictatorship offered to him, and made preparation
to have the consuls named. These likewise on account of the turmoil from
assassinations did not appoint any successors, though they had laid
aside their senatorial garb and in the dress of knights convened the
senate as if on the occasion of some great calamity. They also passed a
decree that no one,--either an ex-praetor or an ex-consul,--should assume
foreign office until five years should have elapsed: this they did to
see if people when it was no longer in any one's power to be immediately
elected would cease their craze for office. For no moderation was being
shown and there was no purity in their methods, but they vied with one
another in expending great sums and fighting more than ever, so that
once the consul Calvinus was wounded. Hence no consul nor praetor nor
prefect of the city had any successor, but at the beginning of the year
the Romans were absolutely without a government in these branches.

[B.C. 52 (_a.u._ 702)]

[-47-] Nothing good resulted from this, and among other things the
market recurring every ninth day was held on the very first of January.
This seemed to the Romans to have taken place not by accident, and being
considered in the light of a portent it caused trepidation. The same
feeling was increased when an owl was both seen and caught in the city,
a statue exuded perspiration for three days, a flash darted from the
south to the east, and many thunderbolts, many clods, stones, tiles and
blood descended through the air. It seems to me that that decree passed
the previous year, near the close, with regard to Serapis and Isis, was
a portent equal to any: the senate decided to tear down their temples,
which some private individuals had built. For they did not reverence
these gods any long time and even when it became the fashion to render
public devotion to them, they settled them outside the pomerium.

[-48-] Such being the state of things in the city, with no one in charge
of affairs, murders occurred practically every day and they did not
finish the elections, though they were eager for office and employed
bribery and assassination on account of it. Milo, for instance, who was
seeking the consulship, met Clodius on the Appian Way and at first
simply wounded him: then, fearing he would attack him for what had been
done, he slew him. He at once freed all the servants concerned in the
business, and his hope was that he might be more easily acquitted of the
murder, now that the man was dead, than he would be for the wound in
case he had survived. The people in the city heard of this about evening
and were thrown into a terrible uproar: for to factional disturbances
there was being added a starting-point for war and evils, and the middle
class, even though they hated Clodius, yet on account of humanity and
because on this excuse they hoped to get rid of Milo, showed
displeasure.[-49-] While they were in this frame of mind Rufus and Titus
Munatius Plancus took hold of them and excited them to greater wrath. As
tribunes they conveyed the body into the Forum just before dawn, placed
it on the rostra, exhibited it to all, and spoke appropriate words with
lamentations. So the populace, as a result of what it both saw and
heard, was deeply stirred and paid no further heed to considerations of
sanctity or things divine, but overthrew all the customs of burial and
nearly burned down the whole city. The body of Clodius they picked up
and carried into the senate-house, arranged it in due fashion, and then
after heaping a pyre of benches burned both the corpse and the
convention hall. They did this, therefore, not under the stress of such
an impulse as often takes sudden hold of crowds, but of set purpose, so
that on the ninth day they held the funeral feast in the Forum itself,
with the senate-house still smouldering, and furthermore undertook to
apply the torch to Milo's house. This last was not burned because many
were defending it. Milo for a time, in great terror over the murder, was
hidden not only by ordinary citizens but under the guard of knights and
some senators. When this other act, however, occurred, he hoped that the
wrath of the senate would pass over to the outrage of the opposing
party. They had assembled late in the afternoon on the Palatine for this
very purpose, and had voted that an interrex be chosen by show of hands
and that he and the tribunes and Pompey, moreover, care for the guarding
of the city, that it suffer no detriment. Milo, accordingly, made his
appearance in public, and pressed his claims to the office as strongly
as before, if not more strongly.

[-50-] As a consequence of this, conflicts and killings in plenty began
again, so that the senate ratified the aforementioned measures, summoned
Pompey, allowed him to make fresh levies, and changed their garments.
Not long after his arrival they assembled under guard near his theatre
outside the pomerium and resolved that the bones of Clodius should be
taken up, and assigned the rebuilding of the senate-house to Faustus,
son of Sulla. It was the Curia Hostilia which had been remodeled by
Sulla. Wherefore they came to this decision about it and ordered that
when repaired it should receive again the former's name. The city was in
a fever of excitement about the magistrates who should rule it, some
talking to the effect that Pompey ought to be chosen dictator and others
that Caesar should be elected consul. They were so determined to honor
the latter for his achievements that they voted to offer sacrifices over
them sixty[66] days. Fearing both of the men the rest of the senate and
Bibulus, who was first to be asked and to declare his opinion,
anticipated the onset of the masses by giving the consulship to Pompey
to prevent his being named dictator, and to him alone in order that he
might not have Caesar as his colleague. This action of theirs was
strange; it had been taken in no other case, and yet they seemed to have
done well. For since he favored the masses less than Caesar, they hoped
to detach him from them altogether and to make him their own. This
expectation was fulfilled. Elated by the novelty and unexpectedness of
the honor, he no longer formed any plan to gratify the populace but was
careful to do everything that pleased the senate.

[-51-] He did not, however, wish to hold office alone. Possessing the
glory that lay in such a vote having been passed he was anxious to
divert the envy that arose from it. Also he felt afraid that, as the
field was vacant, Caesar might be given him as colleague through the
enthusiasm of the powerful classes and the populace alike. First of all,
therefore, in order that his rival might not think he had been entirely
neglected and therefore show some just displeasure, he arranged through
the tribunes that he should be permitted even in absence to be a
candidate for the office, when the proper time came according to law.
Pompey himself then chose as assistant Quintus Scipio, who was his
father-in-law and had incurred a charge of bribery. This man, by birth
son of Nasica, had been transferred by the lot of succession to the
family of Metellus Pius, and for that reason bore the latter's name. He
had given his daughter in marriage to Pompey, and now received in turn
from him the consulship and immunity from accusation.[-52-] Very many
had been examined in the complaint above mentioned, especially because
the courts, by Pompey's laws, were more carefully constituted. He
himself selected the entire list of names from which drawings for jurors
had to be made, and he limited the number of advocates on each side, in
order that the jurymen might not be confused and disturbed by the
numbers of them. He ordered that the time allotted to the plaintiff be
two hours, and to the defendant three. And what grieved many most of
all, he revised the custom of eulogizers being presented by those on
trial (for great numbers kept escaping the clutches of the law because
commended by persons worthy of confidence); and he had a measure passed
that such prisoners should in future be allowed no one whomsoever to
eulogize them. These and other reforms he instituted in all the courts
alike; and against those who practiced bribery for office he raised up
as accusers those who had formerly been convicted of some such offence,
thus offering the latter no small prize. For if any one secured the
conviction of two men on charges equal to that against himself, or even
on smaller charges, or if one man on a greater charge, he went scot
free.

[-53-] Among many others who were thus convicted was Plautius Hypsaeus,
who had been a rival of Milo and of Scipio for the consulship. Though
all three had been guilty of bribery he alone was condemned. Scipio was
indicted, and by two persons at that, but was not tried, on account of
Pompey: and Milo was not charged with this crime (for the murder formed
a greater complaint against him), but being brought to trial on the
latter charge he was convicted, as he was not able to use any violence.
Pompey kept the city in general well under guard and himself with armed
soldiers entered the court. When some raised an outcry at this, he
ordered the soldiers to drive them out of the Forum by striking them
with the side, or the flat, of their swords. When they would not yield,
but showed defiance as if the broadsides were being used for mere sport,
some of them were wounded and killed.

[-54-] After this, the courts being convened in quiet, many were
condemned on various charges, and, for the murder of Clodius, Milo among
others though he had Cicero as a defender. That orator, seeing Pompey
and the soldiers contrary to custom in the court, was alarmed and
overwhelmed with dread, so that he did not deliver any of the speech he
had prepared, but after saying a few words with effort in a half-dead
voice, was glad to retire. This speech which is now supposed to have
been delivered at that time in behalf of Milo he wrote some time later
and at leisure, when he had recovered his courage. There is also the
following story about it. When Milo, in banishment, made the
acquaintance of the speech sent to him by Cicero, he wrote back saying
that it was lucky for him those words had not been spoken in that form
in the court; for he would not be eating such fine mullets in Massilia
(where he was passing his exile), if any such defence had been made.
This he wrote, not because he was pleased with his circumstances,--he
made many ventures to secure his return,--but as a joke on Cicero,
because after saying nothing important at the time of the defence he
later both practiced and sent to him these fruitless words, as if they
could now be of any service to him.

[-55-] In this way Milo was convicted; and so were Rufus and Plancus, as
soon as they had finished their term of office, together with numerous
others on account of the burning of the senate-house. Plancus was not
even benefited by Pompey, who was so earnest in his behalf that he sent
to the court a volume containing both a eulogy of the prisoner and a
supplication for him. Marcus Cato, who was eligible to sit as a juryman,
said he would not allow the eulogizer to destroy his own laws. But he
got no opportunity to cast his vote; for Plancus rejected him, feeling
sure that he would give his voice for condemnation: (by the laws of
Pompey each of the parties to a suit was allowed to set aside five out
of the number that were to judge him;) the other jurors, however, voted
against him, especially as it did not seem right to them after they had
condemned Rufus to acquit Plancus, who was on trial on the same charge.
And when they saw Pompey coöperating with him, they showed the more zeal
against him, for fear they might be thought to be absolute slaves of his
rather than jurymen. It should be said that on this occasion, too,
Cicero accused Plancus no better than he had defended Milo: for the
appearance of the courtroom was the same, and Pompey in each case was
planning and acting against him,--a circumstance that naturally led to a
second collision between them.

[-56-] After attending to these matters Pompey revived the law about
elections (which had fallen somewhat into disuse) commanding those who
seek an office to present themselves without fail before the assembly,
so that no one who is absent may be chosen. He also confirmed the
ordinance, passed a short time previously, that those who had held
office in the city should not be allotted to foreign governorships
before five years had passed. He was not ashamed at this time to record
such measures, although a little later he himself took Spain for five
years more and granted Caesar, whose friends were in a terrible state of
irritation, the right to canvass for the consulship (as had been
decreed), even in his absence. He amended the law to read that only
those should be permitted to do it who were granted the privilege by
name and without disguise; but of course this was no different from its
not being prohibited at all, for men who had any influence were
certainly going to manage to get the right voted to them.

[-57-] Such were the political acts of Pompey. Scipio without enacting
any new laws abolished the measures emanating from Clodius, with regard
to the censors. It looked as though he had done this out of favor to
them since he restored to them the authority which they formerly had:
but it turned out to be the opposite. For in view of the fact that there
were many worthless men both in the equestrian and in the senatorial
orders, so long as it had not been permitted them to expel any one,
either accused or convicted, no fault was found with them on account of
those whose names were not expunged. But when they got back their old
power and were allowed to do this and to examine the life of each man
separately, they had not the hardihood to come to an open break with
many and did not wish to incur any censure for not expelling those
guilty of improper conduct, and for this reason no sensible person had
any desire for the office any longer.

[-58-] This was the vote passed with regard to the censors. Cato on the
whole did not wish any office, but seeing Caesar and Pompey outgrowing
the system of government, and surmising that they would either get
control of affairs between themselves or would quarrel with each other
and create a mighty strife, the victor in which would be sole ruler, he
wished to overthrow them before they became antagonists, and hence
sought the consulship to use it against them, because as a private
citizen he was likely to wield no influence.

[B.C. 51 (_a.u._ 703)]

His designs were guessed, however, by the adherents of the two men and
he was not appointed, but instead Marcus Marcellus and Sulpicius Rufus
were chosen, the one on account of his acquaintance with the law and the
other for his ability in speaking. One special reason was that they,
even if they did not employ bribes or violence, yet showed deference to
all and were wont to exhort people frequently, whereas Cato was
deferential to no one. He never again became a candidate for the office,
saying that it was the duty of an upright man not to avoid the
leadership of the commonwealth if any person wished him to enjoy it, nor
yet to pursue it beyond the limits of propriety. [-59-] Marcellus at
once directed all his efforts to compass the downfall of Caesar,--for he
was of Pompey's party,--and among the many measures against him that he
proposed was one to the effect that a successor to him should be sent
before the appointed time. He was resisted by Sulpicius and some of the
tribunes,--by the latter out of good will toward Caesar. Sulpicius made
common cause with them and with the multitude, because he did not like
the idea of a magistrate who had done no wrong being stopped in the
middle of his term. Pompey was starting from the city with the avowed
intention of leading an expedition into Spain, but he did not at this
time even leave the bounds of Italy, and after assigning to his
lieutenants the entire business abroad he himself kept close watch on
the city. Now when he heard how things were going, he pretended that the
plan of having Caesar detached from his command did not please him
either, but he arranged matters so that when Caesar should have served
out the time allowed him, an event not of the distant future, but due to
occur the following year,--he should lay down his arms and return home
to be a private citizen. In pursuance of this object he made Gaius
Marcellus, a cousin of Marcus,[67] or a brother (both traditions are
current), obtain the consulship, because although allied to Caesar by
marriage he was hostile to him; and he made Gaius Curio, who was also an
oldtime foe of his rival, receive the tribuneship.

[B.C. 50 (_a.u._ 704)]

[-60-] Caesar was on no account inclined to become a private citizen
after so great a command and one of such long standing, and was afraid
that he might fall into the power of his enemies. Therefore he made
preparations to stay in office in spite of them, collected additional
soldiers, gathered money, manufactured arms, and conducted himself to
please all. Meanwhile, desiring to settle matters at home somewhat
beforehand, so as not to seem to be gaining all his ends by violence,
but some by persuasion, he decided to effect a reconciliation with
Curio. For the latter belonged to the family of the Curiones, had a keen
intelligence, was eloquent, was greatly trusted by the populace and
absolutely unsparing of money for all purposes by which he could either
benefit himself or hoped to gain benefit for others. So, by buoying him
up with many hopes and releasing him from all his debts which on account
of his great expenditures were numerous, Caesar attached him to himself.
In view of the present importance of the objects for which he was
working he did not spare money, since he could collect it from the
people themselves, and he also promised various persons large sums, of
which he was destined to give them not the smallest particle. He courted
not only the free but the slaves who had any influence whatever with
their masters, and as a result a number of the knights and the senators,
too, joined his party.

[-61-]Thus Curio began to espouse Caesar's cause; not immediately,
however, did he begin to show open activity, because he was seeking an
excuse of fair semblance and was trying to appear to have transferred
his allegiance not willingly, but under compulsion. He also took into
consideration that the more he should associate with his patron's
enemies in the guise of their friend the more and the greater secrets of
theirs he would learn. For these reasons he dissimulated for a very long
time, and to prevent any suspicion of his having changed sides and not
maintaining and representing still at this time an attitude of
unqualified opposition to Caesar as one of the leading spirits in the
movement, he even made a public harangue against him, as a result of
which he gained the tribuneship and prepared many unusual measures. Some
bills he offered against the senate and its most powerful members, who
were especially active in Pompey's behalf, not because he either wished
or expected that any one of them would be passed, but in order that, as
they did not accept them, so no measure might be passed against Caesar
(for many motions to his detriment were being offered by many persons),
and that he himself might transfer his support on this excuse.

[-62-]After this, having used up considerable time at various occasions
on various pretexts, not a single one of which met with favor, he
pretended to be vexed and asked that another month be inserted for the
legislation that resulted from his measures. This practice was followed
at regular periods, established by custom, but not for any such reason
as his, and he himself, being pontifex, understood that fact.
Nevertheless he said that it ought to be done and made a fine show of
forcing his fellow-priests. At last not being able to persuade them to
assent to his proposal (of which he was very glad), he would not permit
any other matter for this reason to voted upon. On the contrary he
already began openly to justify Caesar's actions, since, as he said, he
was unable to accomplish anything against him, and brought forward every
possible proposition which was sure of not being accepted. The chief of
these was that all persons in arms must lay these down and disband their
legions, or else they should not strip Caesar of his weapons and expose
him to the forces of his rivals. This he said, not because he wished
Caesar to do it, but because he well understood that Pompey would not
yield obedience to it, and thus a plausible excuse was offered the
former for not dismissing his soldiers.

[-63-] Pompey, accordingly, as he could effect nothing in any other way,
proceeded without any further disguise to harsh measures and openly said
and did everything against Caesar. He failed, however, to accomplish
aught. Caesar had many followers, among them Lucius Paulus, colleague of
Marcellus, and Lucius Piso, his father-in-law, who was censor. For at
this time Appius Claudius and Piso (though the latter did not desire
it), were made censors. So Piso on account of his relationship belonged
to Caesar, while Claudius opposed him, espousing Pompey's cause, yet
quite involuntarily he rendered Caesar very efficient aid. He expelled
very many both of the knights and the senators, overpowering his
colleague, and in this made them all favor Caesar's aspirations. Piso on
every account wished to avoid trouble and to maintain friendship with
his son-in-law paid court to many people, being himself responsible for
none of the above acts, but he did not resist Claudius when he drove
from senate all the freedmen and numbers of the real nobility, among
them Sallustius Crispus who wrote the History. When Curio, however, was
about to have his name expunged, Piso, with the help of Paulus (whose
kinsman he was), did beg him off. [-64-] Consequently Claudius did not
expel him but made public in the senate the opinion that he had of him,
so that he, indignant, rent his clothes. Marcellus followed him, and
thinking that the senate would pass some severe vote against Curio and,
because of him, against Caesar, brought forward propositions about him.
Curio at first opposed any decision being rendered regarding him; but on
coming to realize that of the majority of the senators then present some
really were attached to Caesar's cause and others thoroughly feared him,
he allowed them to decide, saying incidentally only this: "I am
conscious of doing what is best and most advantageous for my country: to
you, however, I surrender both my body and soul to treat as you please."
Marcellus accordingly accused him, thinking that he would certainly be
convicted, and then when he was acquitted by the majority the accuser
took it greatly to heart: rushing out of the assembly he came to Pompey,
who was in the suburbs, and on his own responsibility, without the
formality of a vote, gave him charge to keep guard over the city along
with two legions of civilians. These soldiers were then present, having
been collected in the following way and for the following purpose.
[-65-] Pompey before this, while he was still on friendly terms with
Caesar, had given him one legion composed of those troops which according
to the register belonged to him, inasmuch as he was not conducting any
war and Caesar had need of soldiers. When they fell out with each other,
in his desire to get this back from him and to deprive him of yet
another he delivered a speech, stating that Bibulus required soldiers
against the Parthians; and in order that no new levies should be
raised,--for the matter was urgent, he said, and they had an abundance
of legions,--he got it voted that each of them, himself and Caesar, must
send one to him. Thereupon he failed to despatch any of those engaged in
warfare under his own command, but ordered those whose business it was
to demand that legion which he had given to Caesar. So nominally both of
them contributed, but in reality Caesar alone sent the two. He knew what
was being done, but complied with the demand, not wishing to incur the
charge of disobedience, particularly because on this excuse he intended
to raise in turn many more soldiers.

[-66-] These legions, therefore, were apparently made ready to be sent
against the Parthians, but when there proved to be no need of them,
(there was really no use to which they could be put,) Marcellus, fearing
that they might be restored to Caesar, at first declared that they must
remain in Italy, and then, as I have said, gave them into Pompey's
charge. These proceedings took place near the close of the year and were
destined not to be in force for long, since they had been approved
neither by the senate nor by the populace: accordingly, he brought over
to Pompey's side Cornelius Lentulus and Gaius Claudius, who were to hold
the consulship the next year, and caused them to issue the same
commands. Since they were allowed to give out letters to men appointed
to office and to perform even so early some other functions belonging to
the highest post in the state before they assumed it, they believed that
they had authority also in this matter. And Pompey, although he was very
exact in all other details, nevertheless on account of his need of
soldiers did not investigate this action at all, nor the sources from
which he was getting them, nor in what way, but accepted them very
gratefully. Yet no such result was accomplished as one would have
expected to come from so great a piece of audacity: they merely
displayed their enmity toward Caesar, as a consequence of which they
could not gather any further formidable equipment, and furnished to him
a plausible excuse for retaining the troops that were with him. For
Curio using the acts mentioned as his text delivered before the populace
a violent arraignment both of the consuls and of Pompey, and when he had
finished his term he at once set out to join Caesar.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

41

The following is contained in the Forty-first of Dio's Rome.

How Caesar came into Italy, and how Pompey, leaving it, sailed across to
Macedonia (chapters 1-17).

How Caesar subjugated Spain (chapters 18-37).

How Caesar sailed across to Macedonia to encounter Pompey (chapters
38-46).

How Caesar and Pompey fought at Dyrrachium (chapters 47-51).

How Caesar conquered Pompey at Pharsalus (chapters 52-63).

Duration of time, two years, in which there were the following
magistrates, here enumerated.

L. Cornelius P.F. Lentulus, C. Claudius M.F. Marcellus. (B.C. 49 =
a.u. 705.)

C. Iulius C.F. Caesar (II), P. Servilius P.F. Isauricus. (B.C. 48 =
a.u. 706.)


(_BOOK 41, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 49 (_a.u._ 705)]

[-1-] This is what he (sc. Curio) did then: later he came to Rome with a
letter to the senate from Caesar on the very first day of the month on
which Cornelius Lentulus and Gains Claudius entered upon office; and he
would not give it to the consuls until they reached the senate-house,
for fear that if they received it outside they might conceal it. Even as
it was they waited a long time, not wishing to read it, but at last they
were compelled by Quintus Cassius Longinus and Mark Antony, the
tribunes, to make it public. Now Antony for the favor he did Caesar at
the time in this matter was destined to receive a great return and to be
raised himself to heights of power. In the letter was contained a list
of the benefits which Caesar had conferred upon the commonwealth and a
defence of the charges which were brought against him. He promised that
he would disband his legions and give up his office if Pompey would also
do the same: for while the latter bore arms, he said, it was not just
for him to be compelled to part with his and so be exposed to his
enemies.

[-2-] The vote on this proposition was taken not individually for fear
that through having respect to others or some element of fear the
senators might express the opposite of their true opinion; but it was
done by their taking their stand on this side or on that of the
senate-chamber. No one voted that Pompey should cease to bear arms (for
he had his troops in the suburbs), but all, except one Marcus Caelius and
Curio, who had carried his letter, decided that Caesar must. About the
tribunes I say nothing because no necessity was laid upon them to
separate into two different groups; for they had authority to contribute
their vote if they wished, or otherwise not. This, then, was the
decision made, but Antony and Longinus did not allow any point in it to
be ratified either on that day or the next. [-3-] The rest, indignant at
this, voted to change their garb, but through the intervention of the
same men did not obtain ratification of this measure either. Their
opinion, however, was recorded and the appropriate action followed:
namely, all straightway left the senate-house, and after changing their
clothes came in again and proceeded to deliberate about vengeance to be
taken on the obstructionists. They, seeing this, at first resisted but
later became afraid, especially when Lentulus advised them to get out of
the way before the votes should be cast: hence after many remarks and
protestations they set out with Curio and with Caelius to Caesar, little
heeding that they had been expelled from the senate. This was the
determination reached at that time, and the care of the city was
committed to the consuls and to the other magistrates, as had been the
custom. Afterward the senators went outside the pomerium to Pompey
himself, declared that there was a state of disorder, and gave to him
both the money and soldiers. They voted that Caesar should surrender his
office to his successors and send away his legions by a given day, or
else be considered an enemy, because acting contrary to the interests of
the country.

[-4-] When he was informed of this he came to Ariminum, then for the
first time overstepping the confines of his own province, and after
collecting his soldiers he bade Curio and the others who had come with
him relate what had been done by them. After this was finished he
inspirited them by adding such words as the occasion demanded. Next he
set out and marched straight upon Rome itself, taking possession of all
the intervening cities without a conflict, since the garrisons of some
abandoned them by reason of weakness and others espoused his cause.
Pompey, perceiving this, was frightened, especially when he learned all
his intentions from Labienus. The latter had abandoned Caesar and come as
a deserter, and he announced all the latter's secrets to Pompey. One
might feel surprise that after having always been honored by Caesar in
the highest degree, to the extent of governing all the legions beyond
the Alps whenever their head was in Italy, he should have done this. The
reason was that when he had clothed himself with wealth and fame he
began to conduct himself more haughtily than his position warranted, and
Caesar, seeing that he put himself on the same level with his master,
ceased to be so fond of him. As he could not endure this changed
attitude and was at the same time afraid of suffering some harm, he
transferred his allegiance.

[-5-]Pompey as a result of what was told him about Caesar and because he
had not yet prepared a force to cope with him changed his plans: for he
saw that the dwellers in the city, yes, the members of the sedition
themselves, even more than the others, shrank from the war through
remembrance of the deeds of Marius and Sulla and wished to escape it in
safety. Therefore he sent as envoys to Caesar, Lucius Caesar, a relative
of his, and Lucius Roscius, a praetor,--both of them volunteering for the
service,--to see if he could avoid his open attack and then make an
agreement with him on some fair terms. The other replied to the same
effect as in his letter, previously forwarded, and said also that he
wished to converse with Pompey: but the people were displeased to hear
this, fearing that some measures might be concerted against them. When,
however, the envoys uttered many words in praise of Caesar, and finally
promised besides that no one should suffer any harm at his hands and
that the legions should immediately be disbanded, they were pleased and
sent the same envoys to him again, and besought both of the opposing
leaders with shouts, calling upon them everywhere and always to lay down
their arms at the same time. [-6-] Pompey was frightened at this,
knowing well that he would be far inferior to Caesar if they should both
have to depend on the clemency of the populace, and betook himself to
Campania before the envoys returned, with the idea that there he could
more easily make war. He also commanded the whole senate together with
those who held the offices to accompany him, granting them permission by
a decree of absence, and telling them in advance that whoever remained
behind he should regard as equal and alike to those were working against
him. Furthermore he enjoined them to vote that all the public moneys and
the votive offerings in the city be removed, hoping that from this
source he could gather a vast number of soldiers. For practically all
the cities of Italy felt such friendliness for him that when a short
time before they had heard he was dangerously ill, they vowed they would
offer public sacrifices for his preservation. That this was a great and
brilliant honor which they bestowed upon him no one could gainsay; there
is no one in whose behalf such a vote has been passed, except those who
later assumed absolute sovereignty: nevertheless he had not a sure
ground of confidence that they would not abandon him under the influence
of fear of a stronger power. The recommendation about the moneys and the
votive offerings was allowed, but neither of them was touched; for
having ascertained meanwhile that Caesar's answer to the envoys had been
anything but peaceful and that he also reproached them with having made
some false statements about him, that his soldiers were many and bold
and liable to do any kind of mischief (such reports, tending to greater
terror, as are usually made about such matters), the senators became
frightened and hastily took their departure before they could lay a
finger on any of the objects.

[-7-] For reason their removal was equally in all other respects of a
tumultuous and confused appearance. The departing citizens, practically
all of whom were the foremost men of the senate and of the knights and
of the populace, nominally were setting out for war, but really were
undergoing the experiences of captives. They were terribly distressed at
being compelled to abandon their country and their pursuits there, and
to consider foreign walls more native than their own. Such as removed
with their entire household said farewell to the temples and their
houses and their paternal threshold with the feeling that these would
straightway become the property of their opponents: they themselves, not
being ignorant of Pompey's intention, had the purpose, in case they
should survive, of establishing themselves in Macedonia or Thrace. And
those who left behind on the spot their children and wives and their
other most valued possessions appeared to have some little hope of their
country but really fared much worse than the others, since being
sundered from their dearest treasures they exposed themselves to a
double and most hostile fortune. For in delivering their closest
interests to the power of their bitterest foes they were destined to
play the coward and yet themselves encounter danger, to show zeal and
yet to be deprived of what they prized: moreover they would find a
friend in neither rival, but an enemy in both,--in Caesar because they
themselves did not remain behind, and in Pompey because they did not
take the others with them. Hence they assumed a twofold attitude in
their decisions, in their prayers, and in their hopes: with their bodies
they were being drawn away from those nearest to them, and their souls
they found cleft in twain.

[-8-] These were the feelings of the departing throng: and those left
behind had to face a different, but equally unpleasant situation. Bereft
of the association of their nearest relatives, deprived, as it were, of
their guardians and far from able to defend themselves, exposed to the
enemy and about to be subject to the authority of him who should make
himself master of the city, they were themselves distressed by fear both
of outrages and of murders as if they were already taking place. In view
of these same possibilities such as were angry at the fugitives, because
they themselves had been left in the lurch, cursed them for it, and
those who condoned their action because of the necessity still felt
consequent fears. The rest of the populace entire, even if they
possessed not the least kinship with those departing, were nevertheless
grieved at their fate, some expecting that their neighbors, and others
that their comrades would go far away from them and do and suffer many
unusual things. Most of all they bewailed their own lot, seeing the
magistrates and the senate and all the rest who had any power,--they
were not sure whether a single one of them would be left behind,--cast
out of their country and away from them. They reflected how those men,
had not many altogether dreadful calamities fastened themselves upon the
State, would never have wished to flee, and they likened themselves,
made destitute of allies, in every conceivable respect to orphaned
children and widow women. Being the first to await the wrath and the
lust of the oncoming foe, they remembered their former sufferings, some
by experience and others by hearing it from the victims, all the
outrages that Marius and Sulla had committed, and they therefore did not
look to Caesar for moderate treatment.[68] On the contrary, because his
army was constituted very largely of barbarians, they expected that
their misfortunes would be far more in number and more terrible than
those of yore.

[-9-] Since, then, all of them were in this condition, and no one except
those who appeared to be good friends of Caesar made light of the
situation, and even they, in consideration of the change of character to
which most men are subject according to their circumstances, were not
courageous enough to think that the source of their confidence was
reliable, it is not easy to conceive how great confusion and how great
grief prevailed at the departure of the consuls and those who set out
with them. All night they made an uproar in packing up and going about,
and toward dawn great sorrow fell upon them, induced by the action of
the priests, who went about offering prayers on every side. They invoked
the gods, showered kisses on the floors, enumerated how many times and
from what perils they had survived, and lamented that they were leaving
their country,--a venture they had never made before. Near the gates,
too, there was much wailing. Some took fond leave at once of each other
and of the city as if they were beholding them for the last time: others
bewailed their own lot and joined their prayers to those of the
departing: the larger number, on the ground that they were being
betrayed, uttered maledictions. The whole population, even those that
stayed behind, were there with all the women and all the children. Then
the one group set out on their way and the other group escorted them.
Some interposed delays and were detained by their acquaintances: others
embraced and clung to each other for a long time. Those that remained
accompanied those setting out, calling after them and expressing their
sympathy, while with invocations of Heaven they besought them to take
them, too or to remain at home themselves. Meanwhile there were shrill
sounds of wailing over each one of the exiles even from outsiders, and
insatiate floods of tears. Hope for the best they were scarcely at all
inclined to entertain in their condition; it was rather suffering which
was expected, first by those who were left and subsequently by those who
were departing. Any one that saw them would have guessed that two
peoples and two cities were being made from one and that one was being
driven out and was fleeing, whereas the other was being left to its fate
and was being captured.

[-10-] Pompey thus left the city drawing many of the senators after him;
some remained behind, either attached to Caesar's cause or maintaining a
neutral attitude toward both. He hastily raised levies from the cities,
collected money, and sent garrisons to almost every point. Caesar, when
he learned this, did not hurry to Rome: it, he knew, was offered as a
prize to the victors, and he said that he was not marching against that
place as hostile to him but against his political opponents in its
behalf. And he sent a letter throughout all Italy in which he summoned
Pompey to a kind of trial, encouraged all to be of good cheer, bade them
remain in their places, and made them many promises. He set out next
against Corfinium, which, being occupied by Lucius Domitius, had not
joined his adherents, and after conquering in battle a few who met him
he shut up the rest in a state of siege. Pompey, inasmuch as these
citizens were being besieged and many of the others were falling off to
Caesar, had no further hope of Italy but resolved to cross over into
Macedonia, Greece, and Asia. He derived much encouragement from the
remembrance of what he had achieved there and from the friendship of the
people and the princes. (Spain was likewise devoted to him, but he could
not reach it safely because Caesar had possession of both the Gauls.)
Moreover he calculated that if he should sail away, no one would pursue
him on account of the lack of boats and on account of the winter,--the
late autumn being far advanced,--and meanwhile he would at leisure amass
both money and troops, much of them from subject and much from allied
territory. [-11-] With this design, therefore, he himself set out for
Brundusium and bade Domitius abandon Corfinium and accompany him. In
spite of the large force that Domitius had and the hopes he reposed in
it--for he had courted the favor of the soldiers in every way and had
won some of them by promises of land (having belonged to Sulla's
veterans he had acquired a large amount in that reign)--he nevertheless
obeyed orders. Meanwhile Pompey proceeded with his preparations to
evacuate the country in safety: his associates learning this shrank from
the journey abroad, because it seemed to them a flight, and attached
themselves to Caesar. So these joined the invader's army: but Domitius
and the other senators after being censured by Caesar for arraying
themselves in opposition, were released and came to Pompey.

[-12-]Caesar now was anxious to join issue with him before he sailed
away, to fight it out with him in Italy, and to overtake him while he
was still at Brundusium; for since there were not sufficient boats for
them, Pompey had sent forward the consuls and others, fearing that they
might begin some rebellion if they stayed on the spot. Caesar, seeing the
difficulty of capturing the place, urged his opponent to accede to some
agreement, assuring him that he should obtain both peace and friendship
again. When Pompey made no further response than that he would
communicate to the consuls what Caesar said, the latter, inasmuch as they
had decided to receive no citizen in arms for a conference, assaulted
the city. Pompey repelled him for some days until the boats came back.
Having meanwhile barricaded and obstructed with fortifications the roads
leading to the harbor so that no one should attack him while sailing
off, he then set sail by night. Thus he crossed over to Macedonia in
safety and Brundusium was captured as well as two boats full of men.

[-13-] Pompey accordingly deserted in this way his country and the rest
of Italy, choosing and carrying out quite the opposite of his former
course, when he sailed back to it from Asia; wherefore he obtained the
reverse fortune and the reverse reputation. Formerly he broke up his
legions at Brundusium, in order not to cause the citizens any
solicitude, but now he was leading away through the town to fight
against them other forces gathered from Italy. Whereas he had brought
the wealth of the barbarians to Rome, he had now conveyed away from it
all that he possibly could to other places. And of all those at home he
was in despair, but purposed to use against his country foreigners and
the allies once enslaved by him, and he put far more hope in them both
of safety and of power than in those who had been benefited. Instead of
the brilliance, therefore, which, acquired in those wars, had marked his
arrival, he set out with humiliation as his portion in return for his
fear of Caesar: and instead of fame which he had had for exalting his
country, he became most infamous for his desertion of her.

[-14-] At the very moment of coming to land at Dyrrachium he learned
that he should not obtain a prosperous outcome. Thunderbolts destroyed
soldiers even as the ships were approaching; spiders occupied the army
standards; and after he had left the vessel serpents followed and
obliterated his footprints. These were the portents which he encountered
in person, but before the whole capital others had occurred both that
year and a short time previously. For there is no doubt about the fact
that in seditions the state is injured by both parties. Hence many
wolves and owls were seen in the City itself and continual earthquakes
with bellowings took place, fire shot down from the west to the east,
and other fires burned both the temple of Quirinus and a second. The
sun, too, suffered a total eclipse, and thunderbolts damaged a sceptre
of Jupiter, a shield and a helmet of Mars that were votive offerings on
the Capitol, and furthermore the tablets which contained the laws. Many
animals brought forth creatures outside of their own species, certain
oracles purporting to be those of the Sibyl were made known, and some
men becoming inspired practiced numerous divinations. No praefectus urbi
was chosen for the Feriae, as had been the custom, but the praetors, at
least according to some accounts, performed all his duties; others say
they did this only in the next year. If the former are right it happened
twice; and the first season Perperna who had once been censor with
Philippus died, being the last, as I stated, of all the senators who had
been alive in his censorship. This event, too, seemed likely to cause
political confusion. The people were, then, naturally disturbed at the
portents, but as both sides thought and hoped that they could lay them
all on their opponents, they offered no expiatory sacrifices.

[-15-] Caesar at this time did not even attempt to sail to Macedonia,
because he was short of boats and had fears for Italy, dreading that the
lieutenants of Pompey from Spain might assail and occupy it. He put
Brundusium under guard for the purpose that no one of those departed
should sail back again, and went to Rome. There the senate had been
assembled for him outside the pomerium by Antony and Longinus: they, who
had been expelled from it, now convened that body. He accordingly made a
speech of some length and of a temperate character, so that they might
experience good-will toward him at the present and feel an excellent
hope for the future. And since he saw them displeased at what was going
on and suspicious of the multitude of soldiers, he wished to encourage
and to conciliate them somewhat, to the end that quiet might prevail in
their quarter while he was conducting the war. Therefore he censured no
one and delivered no threat against any person, but made an attack not
without imprecations upon those who wished to war against citizens, and
at last moved that ambassadors be sent immediately in behalf of peace
and harmony to the consuls and to Pompey. [-16-] He made these same
statements also to the populace, when that body had likewise assembled
outside the pomerium, and he sent for corn from the islands and promised
each one of them seventy-five denarii. He hoped to tempt them with this
bait. The men, however, reflected that those who are pursuing certain
ends and those who have attained them do not think or act alike: at the
start of their operations they make all the most delightful offers to
such as can work against them in any way, but when they succeed in what
they wish, they remember nothing at all about it and use against those
very persons the power which they have received from them. They
remembered also the behavior of Marius and Sulla,--how many kind things
they had often told them, and then what treatment they had given them in
return for their confidence,--and furthermore perceiving Caesar's
necessity and seeing that his armed followers were many and were
everywhere in the city, they were unable either to trust or to be
cheered by his words. On the contrary, as they had fresh in their memory
the fear caused by former events, they suspected him also, particularly
because the ambassadors apparently intended to initiate a reconciliation
were chosen, to be sure, but did not go out. Indeed, for even making
mention of them once Piso, his father-in-law, was severely rebuked.
[-17-] The people, far from getting at that time the money which he had
promised them, had to give him all the rest that remained in the public
coffers for the support of his soldiers, whom they feared. Amid all
these happenings, as being favorable, they wore the garb of peace, which
they had not as yet put off. Lucius Metellus, a tribune, opposed the
proposition about the money, and when his efforts proved ineffectual
went to the treasury and kept watch of its doors. The soldiers, paying
little heed to either his guarding or his outspokenness, cut through the
bar,--for the consuls had the key, as if it were not possible for
persons to use axes in place of it,--and carried out all the money. In
fact, Caesar's other projects also, as I have often stated, he both
brought to vote and carried out in the same fashion, under the name of
democracy,--the most of them being introduced by Antony,--but with the
substance of despotism. Both men named their political rivals enemies of
their country and declared that they themselves were fighting for the
public interests, whereas each really ruined those interests and
increased only his own private possessions.

[-18-] After taking these steps Caesar occupied Sardinia and Sicily
without a battle, as the governors there at that time withdrew.
Aristobulus he sent home to Palestine to accomplish something against
Pompey. He also allowed the children of those proscribed by Sulla to
canvass for office, and arranged everything else both in the city and in
the rest of Italy to his own best advantage, so far as circumstances
permitted. Affairs, at home he now committed to Antony's care and
himself set out for Spain which distinctly chose to follow Pompey and
caused him some uneasiness lest his rival should induce the Gallic
countries to revolt. Meantime Cicero and other senators did not appear
in Caesar's sight, but retired to join Pompey, who, they believed, had
more justice on his side and would conquer in the war. For the consuls
before setting sail and Pompey using the authority of proconsul had
ordered them all to accompany him to Thessalonica on the general ground
that the capital was being held by certain enemies but that they
themselves were the senate and would maintain the form of the government
wherever they should be. For this reason most of the senators and the
knights, some of them immediately and others later, and all the cities
that were not subdued by Caesar's arms, embraced his cause.

[-19-]The Massilians, however, alone of the peoples who dwell in Gaul,
refused to coöperate with Caesar, and would not receive him into their
city, but made a noteworthy answer to him. They said they were allies of
the Roman people and were favorably disposed toward both generals, and
they could not go into details and were not competent to judge which of
the two was in the wrong: consequently, in case of friendly overtures
being made they would receive them both, they said, without their arms,
but on a war basis neither of them. On being placed in a state of siege
they repulsed Caesar himself and held out for a very long time against
Trebonius and Decimus Brutus, who subsequently besieged them. Caesar
contended stoutly for some time, thinking to capture them easily, and
regarding it as ridiculous that after vanquishing Rome without a battle
he was not received by the Massilians; but later, when their resistance
proved stubborn, he committed them to the care of others and himself
hastened to Spain. [-20-] He had sent thither already Gaius Fabius, but
fearing he would fail while contending by himself, he too began a
campaign. Afranius and Petreius at this time had charge of affairs in
the vicinity of the Iber and had posted a guard over the pass in the
mountains, but chiefly they had gathered their forces in Ilerda, and
there awaited the attackers. Fabius repulsed the hostile garrison at the
Pyrenees but as he was crossing the river Sicoris they fell upon him
suddenly and killed many of his men who were cut off. The bridge
assisted them materially by breaking before all had crossed. When Caesar
came up not much later, he crossed the river by another bridge and
challenged them to battle; but they did not dare to try conclusions with
him for a very considerable number of days, and remained quietly
encamped opposite him. Encouraged from this cause he undertook to seize
the ground, a strong position, between their rampart and the city, with
the intention of shutting them off from the walls. Afranius and his
followers on perceiving this occupied it first, repulsed their
assailants, and pursued them when they fled. Then when others came out
against them from the fortress they first resisted, then yielded
purposely, and so enticed the sallying party into positions which ere
favorable to themselves, where they slew many more of them. After this
they took courage, attacked Caesar's foraging parties and harassed the
scattered members. And on one occasion when some soldiers had crossed to
the other side of the river and meantime a great storm had come up and
the bridge which they had used was destroyed, they crossed over also by
the other bridge, which was near the city, and annihilated them all, as
no one was able to come to their assistance.

[-21-] Caesar, when this continued to happen, fell into desperate
straits: none of his allies rendered him assistance, for his opponents
met and annihilated[69] them as fast as they heard that each one was
approaching, and it was with difficulty that he managed to obtain
provisions, inasmuch as he was in a hostile territory and unsuccessful
in his operations. The Romans at home, when they ascertained it,
renounced all hopes of him, and believing that he would survive but a
short time longer fell off to Pompey. Some few senators and others set
out to join the latter even so late as this. It happened just at this
time that the Massilians were defeated in a naval battle by Brutus
through the size of his ships and the strength of his marines, although
they had Domitius as an ally and surpassed in their experience of naval
affairs; they were subsequently shut in entirely. But for this nothing
would have prevented Caesar's projects from being ruined. As it was,
however, the victory by preconcerted arrangement was announced to the
Spaniards with so many embellishments that it led some of them to change
and follow the fortunes of Caesar. When he had obtained these as
adherents, he secured plenty of food, constructed bridges, harassed his
opponents, and once intercepted suddenly a number of them who were
wandering about the country and destroyed them.

[-22-] Afranius was disheartened at these results, and seeing that
affairs in Ilerda were not safe or satisfactory for a prolonged delay,
he determined to retire to the Iber and to the cities there. He set out
on this journey by night, intending to escape the enemy's notice or at
least get the start of them. His departure proved no secret, yet he was
not immediately pursued, for Caesar did not think it safe in the darkness
to follow up with men who were strangers to the place an enemy that was
well acquainted with the country. When, however, day dawned, he hastened
forward and overtaking them in the middle of their journey he
encompassed them suddenly on all sides from a distance; for he was much
superior in numbers and found the bowl-shaped character of the country a
help. He did not wish to come into close quarters with the enemy, partly
because he was afraid that they might become frenzied and accomplish
some desperate undertaking, and partly again because he hoped to win
them over without conflict. This also took place. They tried to break
through at many points, but were unable to do so anywhere: they were
wearied from loss of sleep and from their march; they had no food,
since, expecting to finish their journey the same day, they had brought
none, and were not well supplied with water, for that region is notably
waterless: for these reasons they surrendered themselves, on condition
that they should not be maltreated nor compelled to join his expedition
against Pompey. [-23-]Caesar kept each of his promises to them
scrupulously He killed not a single man captured in this war in spite of
the fact that his foes had once, during a kind of truce, destroyed some
of his own men who were in an unguarded position; and he did not force
them to fight against Pompey, but released the most eminent and employed
the rest as voluntary allies induced by the prospect of gains and
honors. By this act he grew very greatly both in reputation and
prosperity, and attached to his cause all the cities in Spain and all
the soldiers who were in them (some of whom were in Baetica and others,
quite a number, with Marcus Terentius Varro, the lieutenant). [-24-] In
taking charge of these and arranging their affairs he pursued his course
as far as Gades, injuring no one except so far as a collection of money
was concerned,--for of this he levied very large amounts. Many of the
natives he honored both privately and publicly and to all the people of
Gades he granted citizenship, in which the people of Rome later
confirmed them. This kindness he did them in return for the vision of
his dream at the time that he was quaestor there, wherein he seemed to
have intercourse with his mother and had received the hope of sole
rulership, as I have stated.[70] After this act he assigned that nation
to Cassius Longinus because the latter was accustomed to the inhabitants
from his quaestorship which he had served under Pompey. Caesar himself
proceeded by boat to Tarraco. Thence he advanced across the Pyrenees,
but did not set up any trophy on their summits because he understood
that not even Pompey was well spoken of for so doing; but he erected a
great altar constructed of polished stones not far from his rival's
trophies.

[-25-] While this was going on the Massilians, as ships had again been
sent them by Pompey, faced danger afresh. They were defeated, to be
sure, on this occasion also, but held their ground even though they
learned that Caesar was already master of Spain. All attacks they
vigorously repulsed and made a truce, pretendedly for the purpose of
arranging terms with Caesar, when he should come. Then they sent out
Domitius secretly and wrought such havoc among the soldiers who had
attacked them in the midst of the truce and by night, that these
ventured to make no further attempts. With Caesar, however, when he came
himself, they made terms: he at that time deprived them of their arms,
ships and money, and later of everything else except the name of
freedom. To counterbalance this misfortune Phocaea, their mother city,
was made independent by Pompey.

[-26-] At Placentia some soldiers mutinied and refused to accompany
Caesar longer, under the pretext that they were exhausted, but really
because he did not allow them to plunder the country nor to do all the
other things on which their minds were set; they were hoping to obtain
anything whatever of him, inasmuch as he stood in such tremendous need
of them. Yet he did not yield, but, with a view to being safe from them
and in order that after listening to his address and seeing the persons
punished they should feel no wish in an way to transgress the
established rules, he called together both the mutinous body and the
rest, and spoke as follows:--[-27-] "Fellow soldiers, I desire to have
your love, and still I should not choose on that account to participate
in your errors. I am fond of you and should wish, as a father might for
his children, that you should be preserved, be prosperous, and have a
good repute. Do not think it is the duty of one who loves to assent to
things which ought not to be done, and for which it is quite inevitable
that dangers and ill-repute should fall to the lot of his beloved, but
rather he must teach them the better way and keep them from the worse,
both by advising and by disciplining them. You will recognize that I
speak the truth if you do not estimate advantage with reference to the
pleasure of the moment but instead with reference to what is continually
beneficial, and if you will avoid thinking that gratifying your desires
is more noble than restraining them. It is disgraceful to take pleasure
temporarily in something of which you must later repent, and it is
outrageous after conquering the enemy to be vanquished by some pleasure
or other.

[-28-] "To what do the words I speak apply? To the fact that you have
provisions in abundance,--I am going to speak right out with no
disguise: you do get your pay in full and on time and you are always and
everywhere supplied with plenty of food--that you endure no inglorious
toil nor useless danger; furthermore that you gather many great prizes
for your bravery and are rebuked little or not at all for your errors,
and yet you do not see fit to be satisfied with these things. I am
speaking not of all of you, for you are not all such men, but only to
those who for their own gain are casting reproach on the rest. Most of
you obey my orders very scrupulously and satisfactorily, abide by your
ancestral customs, and in that way have acquired so much land and wealth
and glory; some few, however, are attaching much disgrace and disrespect
to all of us. Though I understood clearly before this that they were
that sort of persons,--for there is none of your interests that I fail
to notice,--still I pretended not to know it, thinking that they might
become better if they believed they were not observed in some of their
evil deeds and had the fear that if they ever presumed too far they
might be punished for the guilt of which they were conscious. Since
they, however, proceeding on the ground that they may do whatever they
wish because they were not brought to book at the very start, are
overbold and are trying to make the rest of you, who are guilty of no
irregularity, likewise mutinous, it becomes necessary for me to devote
some care to them and to give them my attention. [-29-] In general, no
society of men can preserve its unity and continue to exist, if the
criminal element be not disciplined: if the part afflicted does not
receive proper medicine, it causes all the rest, as in fleshly bodies,
to be sick at the same time. And least of all in armies can discipline
be relaxed, because when the wrongdoers have strength they become more
daring and corrupt the excellent also by causing them to grow dejected
and to believe that they will obtain no benefit from right behavior.
Wherever the insolent element has the advantage, there inevitably the
decent element has the worst of it: and wherever injustice is
unpunished, there uprightness also goes without reward. What is there
you could assert is doing right, if these men are doing no wrong? How
could you logically desire to be honored, if these men do not endure
their just punishment? Are you ignorant of the fact that if one class is
freed from the fear of retribution and the other is deprived of the hope
of prizes, no good is brought about, but only numberless ills? Hence if
you really practice valor and excellence, you should detest these men as
enemies. What is friendly is not distinguished from what is hostile by
any characteristic of birth, but is determined by habits and actions,
which if they are good can make the alien intimate, but if they are bad
can alienate everything, even kindred. [-30-] And you should speak in
your own defence, because by the behavior of these few we must all
inevitably fall into disrepute, even if we have done no wrong. Every one
who is acquainted with our numbers and progress refers the errors of the
few to us all; and thus though we do not share in their gains, we bear
an equal share of their reproach. Who would not be indignant at hearing
that we had the name of Romans, but did deeds of the Celtae? Who would
not lament the sight of Italy ravaged like Britain? Is it not outrageous
for us to cease injuring the possessions of the Gauls, because they are
subdued, and then to devastate the property of dwellers south of the
Alps, as if they were some Epirots, or Carthaginians, or Cimbi? Is it
not disgraceful for us to give ourselves airs and say that we were the
first of the Romans to cross the Rhine and to sail the ocean, and then
to plunder our native land which is safe from harm at the hands of foes
and to receive blame instead of praise, dishonor in place of honor, loss
instead of gain, punishment instead of prizes?[-31-] Do not think that
because you are in the army, that makes you stronger than the citizens
at home. You are both Romans, and they like you both have been and will
be soldiers. Nor yet again that because you have arms, it is permitted
you to injure. The laws have more authority than you, and some day you
will without fail lay down these weapons. Do not, again, rely on your
numbers. Those capable of being wronged are, if they unite, more than
you. And they will unite, if you do wrong. Do not, because you have
conquered the barbarians, despise these citizens also, from whom you
differ not the slightest either in birth or in education, in the matter
of food or in customs. Instead, as is proper and advantageous for you,
use no violence and wrong no one of them, but receive provisions from
their willingness to provide, and accept rewards from their willing
hands. [-32-] In addition to what I have just said and other
considerations that one might cite who should enter upon a long
discussion of such questions, you must also take account of the
following fact,--that we have come here now to assist our country under
oppression and to ward off those that are harming her. If she were in no
danger, we should neither have come into Italy with arms,--since it is
unlawful,--nor should we have left unfinished the business of the Celts
and Britons, when we might have subjugated those regions too. Then is it
not remarkable if we who are here for vengeance upon the evildoers
should show ourselves no less greedy of gain than they? Is it not
inconceivable that when we have arrived to aid our country we should
force her to require other allies against us? And yet I think my claims
so much better warranted than Pompey's that I have often challenged him
to a trial; and since he by reason of his guilty conscience has refused
to have the questions peaceably decided, I hope by this act of his to
attach to my cause all the allies and the entire people. But now, if we
also shall take up a course similar to his, I shall not have any decent
excuse to offer nor be able to charge my opponents with any unbecoming
conduct. You must also look ahead very carefully to the justice of your
cause. If you have this, the strength that arms afford is full of hope,
but without it nothing remains sure, though for the moment a man may be
successful.

[-33-] "That nature has ordained this most of you understand, and you
fulfill all your duties without urging. That is why I have convened
you,--to make you both witnesses and spectators of my words and acts.
But you are not of such a character as some men I have been mentioning
and therefore it is that you receive praise. Only some few of you
observe how, in addition to working many injuries and paying no penalty
at all for them hitherto, these malcontents are also threatening us.
However, as a general principle, I do not think it well for any ruler to
be subdued by his subjects, nor do I believe that any safety could
possibly result, if the class appointed to assist a person should
attempt to overcome him. Consider what sort of order could exist in a
house where those in the prime of youth should despise their elders, or
what order in schools, if the students should pay no heed to their
instructors? What health would there be for the sick, if those
indisposed should not obey their physicians in all points, or what
safety for the navigators if the sailors should turn a deaf ear to their
pilots? It is by a natural law both necessary and salutary that the
principle of ruling and again that of being ruled have been placed among
men, and without them it is impossible for anything to continue to exist
for ever so short a time. Now it belongs to him who is stationed over
another both to think out and to command the requisite course, and to
him who is made subservient to obey without questioning and to put the
order into action. By this the sensible element is distinguished from
the senseless and the understanding element from the ignorant in all
matters.

[-34-] "Since these things are so I would never under compulsion assent
to these brawlers nor give them my permission perforce. Why am I sprung
from Aeneas and Iulus, why have I been praetor, why consul, for what end
have I led some of you out from home and gathered others later, for what
end have I received and held the authority of a proconsul now for so
long a time, if I am to be a slave to any one of you and conquered by
any one of you here in Italy and near to Rome,--I, to whom you owe your
subjection of the Gauls and your conquest of Britain? What should I fear
or dread? That some one of you will kill me? Nay, but if you all had
this mind, I would voluntarily choose to die rather than to give up the
dignity of my position as leader or to abandon the attitude of mind
befitting the head of an enterprise. For a far greater danger than the
unjust death of one man confronts the city, if the soldiers shall become
accustomed to issue orders to their generals and to take the justice of
the law into their own hands.[-35-] No one of them, however, has so much
as made this threat: if he had, I am sure he would have been slain
forthwith by the rest of you. But they are withdrawing from the campaign
on the pretence of being wearied and are laying down their arms because
(they say) they are worn out, and certainly if they do not obtain my
consent to this wish of theirs, they will leave their ranks and go over
to Pompey: some of them make this perfectly evident. Who would not be
glad to be deprived of such men, and who would not pray that such
soldiers might belong to his rival, seeing that they are not content
with what is given and are not obedient to orders, but that simulating
old age in the midst of youth and in strength simulating weakness they
claim the right to lord it over their rulers and to tyrannize over their
leaders? I had ten thousand times rather be reconciled with Pompey on
any terms whatever or suffer any other conceivable fate than do anything
unworthy of my native thought or of my own deliberate policy. Are you
unaware that it is not sovereignty or gain that I desire and that I am
not bent upon accomplishing anything absolutely, an at any cost, so that
I would lie and flatter and fawn upon people to this end? Will you give
up, then, for these reasons the campaign, O what can I call you? Yet
still it shall be not as you yourselves desire and say but as is
profitable for the commonwealth and for myself."

After this speech he distributed lots among them for the infliction of
the death penalty, and the most audacious,--for these, as was previously
arranged, drew the lots,--he condemned, and the rest he dismissed,
saying he had no further need of them. And they repented of what they
had done and were ready to renew the campaign.

[-36-] While he was still on the way Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the man who
later became a member of the triumvirate, in his capacity of praetor took
counsel with the people to elect Caesar dictator and immediately moved
his nomination, contrary to ancestral custom. The latter accepted the
office as soon as he entered the city, but committed no act of terror
while in it. On the contrary he granted a return to all the exiles
except Milo, and filled the offices for the ensuing year: at that time
they had chosen no one temporarily in place of the absentees, and
whereas there was no aedile in town, the tribunes exercised all the
functions pertaining to the aedileship: moreover he set up priests in the
places of those who were lost (though not observing all the detailed
ceremonies that were customary for them at such a juncture), and to the
Gauls who live this side of the Alps and beyond the Po he gave
citizenship because he had once governed them. After effecting this he
resigned the name of dictator, for he had quite all the power and
functions of the position constantly in his grasp. He employed the
strength that is afforded by arms, and also got in addition a
quasi-legal authority from the senate that was on the spot; for he was
permitted to do with impunity whatever he might wish.

[-37-] Having obtained this he at once set aright an affair of great
moment and necessity. The money lenders had exacted money quite
relentlessly from some, who needed large funds on account of the
political disputes and the wars. Many of the debtors by reason of the
same events were not able, even if they wished it, to pay back anything;
for they did not find it easy to sell anything or to borrow more. Hence
the mutual dealings of the two classes were ofttimes marked by deceit
and ofttimes by treachery, so that there was fear of the matter
progressing till it became an incurable evil. Certain modifications in
regard to interest had been made even before this by some of the
tribunes, but since even so payment was not secured, but the one class
kept forfeiting its securities and the other demanding the principal in
money, Caesar now came to the aid of both so far as he could. He ordered
that securities should have a fixed valuation according to their worth,
and to decide that point he assigned arbiters to be allotted to persons
disputing any point. [-38-] Since also many were said to possess large
properties but to be concealing all their wealth, he forbade any one to
have more than fifteen thousand denarii in silver or gold: this law, he
alleged, he did not enact himself, but he was simply enforcing a measure
some time previously introduced. His object was either that those who
owed should make good some of their debt to the lenders and the rest
lend to such as needed, or else that the well-to-do might be clearly
apparent and no one of them keep his property all together, for fear
some political change might take place in his absence. When the
populace, elated at this, asked that in addition to it rewards be
offered to servants for information against their masters, he refused to
add such a clause to the law and furthermore called down dire
destruction upon himself if he should ever trust a slave speaking
against his master.

[-39-] Caesar after doing this and removing all the Capitoline offerings
and others hastened to Brundusium toward the close of the year and
before entering upon the consulship to which he had been elected. And as
he was attending to the details of his departure a kite in the Forum let
fall a sprig of laurel upon one of his companions. Later, while he was
sacrificing to Fortuna, the bull escaped before being wounded, rushed
out of the city, and coming to a kind of pond swam across it. As a
consequence he continued his preparations with greater courage and
especially because the soothsayers declared that destruction should be
his if he remained at home, but if he crossed the sea salvation and
victory. When he had gone, the boys in the city spontaneously divided
into two classes, one side calling itself Pompeiians and the other
Caesarians, and they fought one another after a fashion without arms, and
those conquered who used Caesar's name.

[-40-] While such was the progress of events in Rome and in Spain,
Marcus Octavius and Lucius Scribonius Libo by using Pompey's fleet
expelled from Dalmatia Publius Cornelius Dolabella, who was there
attending to Caesar's interests. After this they shut up Gaius Antonius,
who was desirous of aiding him, in a little islet and there, abandoned
by the natives and oppressed by hunger, they captured him with all his
force save a few; some of them had escaped in season to the mainland,
and others who were sailing across on rafts and were caught made away
with themselves. [-41-] Curio had meanwhile reduced Sicily without a
battle; for Cato, the governor of it, being no match for him and not
wishing idly to expose the cities to danger, withdrew beforehand to
Pompey; afterward, however, the conqueror passed over to Africa and
perished. At his approach by sea Lucius Caesar abandoned the city of
Aspis in which he merely happened to be staying, and Publius Attius
Varus, then in charge of the affairs of that region, was defeated by him
and lost many soldiers and a few cities. Juba, however, son of Hiempsus
and king over the Numidians, esteemed the interests of Pompey as those
of the people and the senate, and hated Curio both for this reason and
because the latter when tribune had attempted to take away his kingdom
from him and confiscate the land: therefore he vigorously prosecuted the
war against him. He did not wait for him to invade his home country of
Numidia but assailed him with something less than his entire force at
the siege of Utica, for fear that the Roman, being previously informed,
might retire; and he was rather more anxious to take vengeance on him
than to repulse him. Accordingly, Juba sent forward a few men who
reported that the king had departed in some other direction and to a
distance: he himself followed after these and did not miss the results
he had hoped for. [-42-] Before this Curio with the idea that his enemy
was approaching had transferred his men to the camp near the sea and had
framed an intention, in case he were hard pushed, of embarking on the
ships and leaving Africa altogether. But when he ascertained that only a
few men were arriving and these without Juba, he took courage and
started out that very night as if to a victory waiting for him, and
fearing only that they should escape him. In his advance he destroyed
some of the van who were sleeping on the road and became much
emboldened. Next, about dawn, he encountered the rest who had started
out ahead from the camp; and without any delay, in spite of the fact
that his soldiers were exhausted both by the march and by loss of sleep,
he at once joined battle with them. At this juncture, while matters were
at a standstill and they were fighting rather evenly, Juba suddenly
appeared upon the scene and by his unexpected coming as well as by his
numbers overwhelmed him. Curio and most of the others he killed on the
spot by means of this surprise, and the rest he pursued as far as the
ditch, after which he confined them to their ships and in the midst of
the confusion got possession of large amounts of money and destroyed
many men. Numbers of them perished when they seemed to have escaped,
some being knocked down in the mêlée while boarding the boats, and
others drowned while in the ships themselves by the overloading of the
vessels. During these occurrences some being afraid they might suffer
the same fate went over to Varus expecting that their lives would be
spared, but received no benefit from it. For Juba asserted that it was
he who had conquered them and so slaughtered them all except a few. Thus
Curio died after rendering most valuable assistance to Caesar upon whom
he had founded many hopes. Juba found honors at the hands of Pompey and
the senators who were in Macedonia and was saluted as king: but on the
part of Caesar and those in the city he was censured and declared an
enemy, while Bocchus and Bogud were named kings because they were
hostile to him.

[B.C. 48 (_a.u._ 706)]

[-43-] The ensuing year the Romans had two sets of magistrates, contrary
to custom, and a mighty conflict was engendered. The people of the city
had chosen as consuls Caesar and Publius Servilius, together with
praetors, and everything else according to law: the party in Thessalonica
had made no such preparations although they had by some accounts about
two hundred of the senate and the consuls and had appropriated a small
piece of land for divinations to the end that their proceedings might
seem to take place under a certain form of law. Wherefore they regarded
the people and the entire city as present there (the reason being that
the consuls had not introduced the lex curiata), and they employed those
same officials as formerly, only changing their names and calling some
proconsuls, others propraetors, and others pro-quaestors. For they were
very careful about ancestral customs even though they had raised their
arms against their country and abandoned their native shores, and were
anxious to perform all necessary acts not merely with a view to
temporary demands or contrary to the exact wording of the ordinances. It
is quite time that nominally these officials ruled the two parties, but
in reality it was Pompey and Caesar who were supreme, bearing, for the
sake of good repute, the legal titles,--one that of consul and the other
that of proconsul,--and doing not what the magistrates allowed but
whatever they themselves pleased.

[-44-] Under these conditions, with the government divided in twain,
Pompey wintered in Thessalonica and did not keep a very careful guard of
the coast. He did not think that Caesar had yet arrived in Italy from
Spain, and even if he were there he did not suspect that his rival, in
winter, at least, would venture to cross the Ionian sea. Caesar was in
Brundusium, waiting for spring, but when he ascertained that Pompey was
some distance off and that Epirus just opposite was rather heedlessly
guarded, he seized the opportunity of the war to attack him while in a
state of relaxation. When the winter was about half gone he set out with
a portion of his army,--there were not enough ships to carry them all
across at once,--escaped the attention of Marcus Bibulus to whom the
guarding of the sea had been committed, and crossed to the so-called
Ceraunian Headlands, a point in the confines of Epirus, near the opening
of the Ionian gulf. Having reached there before it became noised abroad
that he would sail at all, he despatched the ships to Brundusium for the
rest: but Bibulus damaged them on the return voyage and actually took
some in tow, so that Caesar learned by experience that he had enjoyed a
more fortunate than prudent voyage.

[-45-]During this delay, therefore, he acquired Oricum and Apollonia and
other points there which had been abandoned by Pompey's garrisons. This
"Corinthian Apollonia" is well situated as regards the land and as
regards the sea, and excellently in respect to rivers. What I have
remarked, however, above all else is that a huge fire issues from the
ground near the Aöus river and neither spreads to any extent over the
surrounding land nor sets on fire that very place where it is located
nor even makes the ground dry and brittle, but leaves the grass and
trees flourishing very near it. In pouring rains it increases and rises
high. For this reason it is called Nymphaeum[71] and affords a kind of
oracle. You take a grain of incense and after making whatever prayer you
wish throw it carrying the prayer. At this the fire, if your wish is to
be fulfilled, receives it very readily and in case the grain falls
somewhere outside, darts forward, snatches it up and consumes it. But if
the wish is not to be fulfilled, the fire does not go to it, and if it
is carried into the flame, the latter recedes and flees before it. These
two actions it performs in this way in all matters save those of death
and marriage: about these two it is not granted any one to learn
anything whatever from it.

[-46-] Such is the nature of this marvel. Now as Antony, to whom had
been assigned the duty of conveying those that remained at Brundusium,
proved slow, and no message came about them on account of the winter and
of Bibulus, Caesar suspected that they had adopted a neutral attitude and
were watching the course of events, as often happens in political
disputes. Wishing therefore, to sail himself to Italy, and alone, he
embarked on a small boat as some one else, saying that he had been sent
by Caesar; and he forced the captain, although there was a wind, to set
sail. When, however, they were away from land, the gale came sweeping
violently down upon them and the billows rocked them terribly, so that
the captain not even under compulsion dared any longer sail on, but
undertook to return even without his passenger's consent. Then the
latter revealed himself, as if by this act he should stop the storm, and
said, "Be of good cheer: you carry Caesar." Such a disposition and such a
hope he had, either accidentally or as the result of some oracle, that
he felt a secure trust in safety even contrary to the appearance of
things. Nevertheless, he did not get across, but after struggling for a
long time in vain sailed back.

[-47-]After this he encamped opposite Pompey, near Apsus. The latter as
soon as he had heard of his rival's advent had made no delay, but hoping
to quell him easily before he secured the presence of the rest who were
with Antony, he marched in haste and in some force toward Apollonia.
Caesar advanced to meet him as far as the river, thinking that even as he
was he would prove a match for the troops then approaching: but when he
learned that he was actually far inferior in numbers, he halted. In
order that this action should not seem due to fear, and he not be
thought to be opening the war, he submitted some conciliatory proposals
to the opposing body and continued his abode in that place. Pompey,
knowing this, wished to try conclusions with him as soon as possible and
for this reason undertook to cross the river. But the bridge on
receiving the weight broke down and some of the advance guard being
isolated, perished. Then he desisted in dejection that he had failed in
his first recourse to hostile action. Meanwhile Antony had arrived, and
Pompey in fear retired to Dyrrachium. [-48-] While Bibulus lived,
Caesar's lieutenant had not dared even to set out from Brundusium, so
close was the guard kept over it. But when that officer, worn out by
hard work, had died and Libo succeeded him as admiral, Antony despised
him and set sail with the evident intention of forcing the passage.
Driven back to land he repelled the other's vigorous attack upon him and
later, when Libo was anxious to disembark somewhere, he allowed him to
find anchorage nowhere near that part of the mainland. The admiral being
in need of anchorage and water, since the little island in front of the
harbor, which was the only place he could approach, is destitute of
water and harbor alike, sailed off to some distant point where he was
likely to find both in abundance. In this way Antony was enabled to set
sail, and later when the foe attempted to assail them on the high seas
he suffered no damage at his hands: a violent storm came up which
prevented the attack, but caused injuries to both sides.

[-49-] When the soldiers had come safely across, Pompey, as I have said,
retired to Dyrrachium, and Caesar followed him, encouraged by the fact
that he had survived his previous experiences with the number of
followers he now had. Dyrrachium is situated in the land formerly
belonging to the tribe of Illyrians called Parthini, but now and even at
that time regarded as a part of Macedonia; and it is very favorably
placed, whether it be the Epidamnus of the Corcyraeans or some other.
Those who record this fact also refer its founding and its name to a
hero Dyrrachus. The other authorities have declared that the place was
renamed by the Romans with reference to the difficulties of the rocky
shore, because the term Epidamnus has in the Latin tongue the meaning
"loss," and so seemed to be very ill-omened for their crossing over to
it.

[-50-] Pompey after taking refuge in this Dyrrachium built a camp
outside the city and surrounded it with deep ditches and stout
palisades. Caesar encamped over against it and made assaults, in the hope
of shortly capturing the palisades by the number of his soldiers: when,
however, he was repulsed, he attempted to wall it off. While he was at
that work, Pompey fortified some points by stakes, cut off others by a
wall, and fortified still others with a ditch, establishing towers and
guards on the high places, so as to render the circuit of the
encompassing wall necessarily infinite and to render an approach
impossible to the foe, even if they conquered. There were meanwhile many
battles between them, but brief ones, in which now one party, now the
other, was victorious or beaten, so that a few were killed on both sides
alike. Upon Dyrrachium itself Caesar made an attempt by night, between
the marshes and the sea, in the expectation that it would be betrayed by
its defenders. He passed inside the narrows, but at that point was
attacked by many in front and many behind, who were conveyed along the
shore in boats and suddenly fell upon him; thus he lost numerous men and
very nearly perished himself. After this occurrence Pompey took courage
and concerted a plan for a night assault upon the circumvallation; as he
was unexpected he captured a portion of it by storm and caused a great
slaughter among the men encamped near it.

[-51-] Caesar in view of this event and because the grain had failed
him,--the entire sea and land in the vicinity being hostile,--and
because for this reason some had deserted, feared that he might either
be overcome while watching his adversary or be abandoned by his other
followers. Therefore he leveled all the works that had been constructed,
destroyed also all the parallel walls, and thereupon made a sudden start
and set out for Thessaly. During this same time that Dyrrachium was
being besieged Lucius Cassius Longinus and Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus had
been sent by him into Macedonia and into Thessaly. Longinus was
disastrously defeated by Scipio and by Sadalus, a Thracian; Calvinus was
repulsed from Macedonia by Faustus, but on receiving accessions from the
Locrians and Aetolians he invaded Thessaly with these troops, and after
being ambushed and then again laying counter-ambuscades conquered Scipio
in battle, and by that act gained a few cities. Thither, accordingly,
Caesar hastened, thinking that by combining with these officers he could
more easily get an abundance of food and continue the prosecution of the
war. When no one would receive him, because he had had bad luck, he
reluctantly held aloof from the larger settlements, but assaulted
Gomphi, a little city of Thessaly, took it, killed many and plundered
all its inhabitants in order that by this act he might inspire the rest
with terror. Metropolis, at any rate, another town, would have no
conflict with him but forthwith capitulated without a struggle: and as
he did no harm to its citizens he more easily won over some other places
by his display of equal readiness in opposite contingencies.

[-52-] So he became strong again. Pompey did not institute an immediate
pursuit, for his antagonist had withdrawn suddenly by night and had
hastily crossed the Genusus river: however, he was strongly inclined to
think that he had subdued him completely. Consequently he assumed the
name of imperator, though he made no boast of it and did not even wind
laurel about his fasces, disliking to show such exultation over the
downfall of citizens. Consistently with this same attitude he neither
sailed to Italy himself nor sent any others there, though he might
easily have reduced the whole peninsula. As regards a fleet he was
absolute master, for he had five hundred swift ships and could touch at
many points at once: and the sentiment of that country was not opposed
to him, nor, if it had been ever so hostile, could the people have been
a match for him in war. But he wished to remain at a distance, so as to
get the reputation of fighting for his land, and did not see fit to
cause any fear to the persons who then in Rome. Hence he made no attempt
on Italy, not even sending to the government any despatch about his
successes. But after this he set out against Caesar and came to Thessaly.

[-53-] As they lay opposite each other the appearance of the camps bore,
indeed, some resemblance of war, but the use of arms was suspended as in
time of peace. As they reviewed the greatness of the danger and foresaw
the obscurity and uncertainty of the issue, and still stood in some awe
of their common ancestry and kinship, they were led to delay. Meanwhile
they exchanged propositions about friendship and appeared to some likely
to become reconciled without accomplishing anything. This was due to the
fact that they were both reaching out for supreme dominion and were
influenced by a great deal of native ambition and a great deal of
acquired rivalry,--for men can least endure to be outdone by their
equals and intimates; they were not willing to make any concessions to
each other, since each felt that he might win, nor could they feel any
confidence, if they did come to terms, that they would not be always
yearning for the advantage and fall into strife again over complete
control. [-54-] In temper they differed from each other to this
extent,--that Pompey desired to be second to no man and Caesar to be
first of all, and the former was anxious to be honored by willing
subjects and to preside over and be loved by a people fully consenting,
whereas the latter cared not at all if he ruled over an unwilling nation
and issued orders to men that hated him, and bestowed the honors with
his own hand upon himself. The deeds, however, through which they hoped
to accomplish all that they wished, were perforce common to both alike.
For it was impossible that either one of them should succeed without
fighting against his countrymen, leading foreigners against kindred,
obtaining much money by unjust pillage, and killing unlawfully many of
his dearest associates. Hence, even though they differed in their
desires, yet in their acts, by which they hoped to fulfill those
desires, they were alike. Consequently they would not yield to each
other on any point, in spite of the many just grounds that they alleged,
and finally came into collision.

[-55-] The struggle proved a mighty one, and resembled no other
conflict. The leaders believed themselves to be the most skilled in all
matters of warfare and clearly the most distinguished not only of the
Romans but also of the remainder of mankind then in existence. They had
practiced those pursuits from boyhood, had constantly been connected
with them, had exhibited deeds worthy of note, had been conspicuous for
great valor and great good fortune, and were therefore most worthy of
commanding and most worthy of victory. As to forces, Caesar had the
largest and the most genuinely Roman portion of the citizen-army and the
most warlike men from the rest of Italy, from Spain, and the whole of
Gaul and the islands that he had conquered: Pompey had attracted many
from the senatorial and the equestrian order and from the regular
enrollment and had gathered a vast number from subject and pacified
peoples and kings. Aside from Pharnaces and Orodes,--the latter, indeed,
although an enemy because of his having killed the Crassi, he tried to
win over,--all the rest who had ever had even the smallest dealings with
Pompey gave him money and either sent or led auxiliaries. The Parthian
king promised to be his ally if he should take Syria: but as he did not
get it, the prince did not help him. While Pompey decidedly excelled in
numbers, Caesar's followers were equal to them in strength, and so, the
advantage being even, they just balanced each other and were equally
prepared for danger.

[-56-] In these circumstances and by the very cause and purpose of the
war a most notable struggle took place. The city of Rome and the entire
dominion over it, even then great and mighty, lay before them as a
prize: it was clear to all that it would become the slave of him who
conquered. When they reflected on this fact and furthermore recalled
their former deeds,--Pompey, Africa and Sertorius and Mithridates and
Tigranes and the sea: Caesar, Gaul and Spain and the Rhine and
Britain,--they were excited to frenzy, thinking that they were facing
danger for those conquests too, and each was eager to acquire the
other's glory. For the renown of the vanquished no less than his other
possessions becomes the property of the victors. The greater and more
powerful the antagonist that a man overthrows, to the greater heights is
he raised. [-57-] Therefore they delivered to the soldiers also many
exhortations, but very much alike on both sides, saying all that is
fitting to be mentioned on such occasions with reference both to the
immediate nature of the danger and to its future results. As they both
came from the same state and were talking to the same subjects and
calling each other tyrants and themselves liberators from tyranny, they
had nothing of different kinds to say, but stated that it would be the
lot of the one party to die, of the other to be preserved, of the one
party to be captives, of the other to enjoy the master's lot, to possess
everything or to be deprived of everything, to suffer or to inflict a
most terrible fate. After giving some such exhortations to the citizens
and furthermore leading the subject and allied contingents into hopes
for the better and fears for the worse, they hurled at each other
kinsmen, sharers of the same tent, those who had eaten together, those
who had drunk together. Why should any one then lament the fate of
others involved, when those very men, who were all these things to each
other, and had shared many secret words, many similar exploits, who had
once been concerned in a marriage and loved the same child, one as a
father, the other as grandfather, nevertheless fought? All the ties that
nature by mingling their blood had created, they now, directed by
insatiate lust of power, hastened to break, tear, and cleave asunder.
Because of them Rome was forced to encounter danger for herself against
herself, and though victor to be worsted.

Such was the struggle in which they joined. [-58-] They did not,
however, immediately come to close quarters. Sprung from the same
country and from the same hearth, with almost identical weapons and
similar formation, each side shrank from beginning the battle, shrank
from slaying any one. There was great silence then, and dejection on the
part of both; no one went forward nor moved at all: but with heads bowed
they stood motionless, as if devoid of life. Caesar and Pompey,
therefore, fearing that if they remained quiet any longer their
animosity might be dulled or they might even become reconciled,
hurriedly commanded the trumpeters to blow the signal and the men to
raise the war cry in unison. Both orders were obeyed, but the
contestants were so far from being imbued with courage, that at the
similar sound of the trumpeter's call and at their own outcry in the
same language, they felt their affinity and were impressed with their
kinship, and so fell into tears and wailing. [-59-] At length the allied
troops began the battle, and the rest joined in combat, fairly beside
themselves at what they were doing. Those whose part in the conflict was
a distant one were less sensible of the horror; they threw, shot, hurled
javelins, discharged slings, without knowing whom they hit: but the
heavy-armed and the cavalry had a fearful experience, as they were close
to each other and could even speak a little back and forth; at the same
moment they would recognize their vis-à-vis and would wound him, would
call to him and slaughter him, would remember their country and despoil
the slain. These were the actions and the sufferings of the Romans and
the rest from Italy who were joined with them in the campaign, wherever
they happened upon each other. Many sent messages home through their
very destroyers. The subject force fought both zealously and
unflinchingly, showing much alertness as once for their own freedom, so
now to secure the slavery of the Romans; they wanted, since they were
inferior to them at all points, to have them as fellow-slaves.

[-60-] It was a very great battle and full of diverse incidents, partly
for the reasons mentioned and partly on account of the numbers and the
variety of the armaments. There were vast bodies of heavy-armed
soldiers, vast bodies of cavalry, others that were archers and still
others that were slingers, so that they occupied the whole plain and
when scattered often fought with their own men, because similarly
arrayed, and often promiscuously with others. Pompey surpassed in his
body of horse and archers; hence they surrounded troops from a distance,
employed sudden assaults, and after throwing them into confusion
retired; then again and still again they would attack them, changing now
to this side and now to that. The Caesarians were on their guard against
this, and by deploying their ranks always managed to face those
assailing them, and when they came into close quarters with them readily
laid hold of both men and horses in the contest; light-armed infantry
had, in fact, been drawn up with their cavalry for this very purpose.
And all this took place, as I said, not in one spot but in many places
at once, scattered about; and with some contending from a distance and
others fighting at close quarters, this body smiting its opponents and
that group getting struck, one detachment fleeing, and a second
pursuing, many infantry battles and many cavalry battles as well were to
be seen. Under these conditions many unexpected things happened. One man
having routed another was himself turned to flight, and another who had
forced a man out of line was in turn attacked by him. One soldier who
had struck another was himself wounded and a second, who had fallen,
killed the enemy who stood over him. Many died without being wounded,
and many when half dead caused more slaughter. Some exulted and sang the
paean, while others were grieved and lamented, so that all places were
filled with cries and groans. The majority were thrown into confusion by
this fact, for the mass of words which were unintelligible to them,
because belonging to different nations and languages, alarmed them
greatly, and those who could understand one another suffered a calamity
many times worse; in addition to their private misfortunes they saw and
heard at the same time those of near neighbors.

[-61-] At last, after they had struggled evenly for a very long space of
time and many on both sides alike had fallen or been wounded, Pompey,
since the larger part of his army was Asiatic and untrained, was
defeated, even as had been made clear to him before the action.
Thunderbolts had fallen into his camp, a fire had appeared in the air
over Caesar's ditch and then fell up his own, bees had swarmed upon his
military standards, and many of the victims after being led up close the
very altar had run away. And so far did the effects of that contest
extend to the rest of mankind that on the very day of the battle
collisions of armies and the clash of arms occurred in many places: in
Pergamum a kind of noise of drums and cymbals rose from the temple of
Dionysus and spread throughout the city; in Tralles a palm tree grew up
in the temple of Victory and the goddess herself turned about toward an
image of Caesar located beside her; in Syria two young men (as they
seemed) announced the result of the battle and vanished; and in
Patavium, which now belongs to Italy but was then still a part of Gaul,
certain birds not only brought news of it but even acted it out to some
extent, for one Gaius Cornelius drew from them accurate information of
all that had taken place, and narrated it to the bystanders. These
things happened separately on that very same day and were naturally
distrusted at the time; but when news was brought of the engagement,
astonishment was felt.

[-62-] Of Pompey's followers who were not destroyed on the spot some
fled whithersoever they could, and others changed their allegiance.
Those of them who were solders of the line Caesar enrolled among his own
troops, exhibiting no resentment. Of the senators and knights all those
whom he had captured before and pitied he killed, unless his friends
begged some of them off; for he allowed each of these on this occasion
to save one man. The rest who had then for the first time fought against
him he released, saying: "Those have not wronged me who have advanced
the interests of Pompey, their friend, and had received no benefit from
me." This same attitude he adopted toward the potentates and peoples who
joined his cause. He pardoned them all, bearing in mind that he himself
was acquainted with none or almost none of them, whereas from his rival
they had previously obtained many favors. These he praised far more than
such as had previously received some kindness from Pompey but in the
midst of dangers had left him in the lurch: the former he could
reasonably expect would be favorably disposed to him also, but as to the
latter, no matter how anxious they seemed to be to please him in
anything, he believed that inasmuch as they had betrayed a friend in
this crisis they would not spare him either on occasion. [-63-] A proof
of his feeling is that he spared Sadalus the Thracian and Deiotarus the
Gaul, who had been in the battle, and Tarcondimotus, who was ruler of a
portion of Cilicia and had very greatly assisted Caesar's opponent in the
way of ships. What need is there of listing the rest who sent
auxiliaries, to all of whom he granted pardon and merely exacted money
from them? He did them no other damage and took from them nothing else,
though many had frequently received great gifts from Pompey, some long
ago and some just at that time. A certain portion of Armenia that had
belonged to Deiotarus he did give to Ariobarzanes, king of Cappadocia,
yet in this he did not injure Deiotarus at all, but rather conferred an
additional favor upon him. He did not sunder the territory his domains,
but after occupying all of Armenia before occupied by Pharnaces he
bestowed one part of it on Ariobarzanes and another part upon Deiotarus.
Pharnaces made a plea that he had not assisted Pompey and therefore, in
view of his behavior, deserved to obtain pardon: Caesar, however, gave
him no satisfactory response, and furthermore reproached him with the
very fact that he had proved himself base and impious toward his
benefactor. Such humaneness and uprightness did he afterward show in
every case to all those who had fought against him. Moreover, all the
letters that were found filed away in Pompey's chests which convicted
any persons of good-will toward the latter or ill-will toward himself he
neither read nor had copied but burned them immediately, in order not to
be forced by what was in them to take severe measures; and for this
reason if no other any one ought to hate the men that plotted against
him. This is not a mere random remark, but may serve to call attention
to the fact that Marcus Brutus Caepio, who afterward killed him, was
captured by him and preserved from harm.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

42

The following is contained in the Forty-second of Dio's Rome.

How Pompey, defeated in Thessaly, took to flight and perished in Egypt
(chapters 1-5).

How Caesar, following Pompey, came into Egypt (chapters 6-16).

How the news about Caesar and Pompey was announced at Rome, and what
decrees were passed in honor of Caesar (chapters 17-20).

How in the absence of Caesar the population of Rome revolted (chapters
21-33).

How Caesar fought and subdued the Egyptians and showered favors upon
Cleopatra (chapters 34-44).

How Caesar conquered Pharnaces (chapters 45-48).

How Caesar returned to Rome and reconciled the interests there (chapters
49-55).

How Caesar led an expedition into Africa (chapters 56-58).

Duration of time, the remainder of the consulship of Julius Caesar (II)
and Publius Servilius Isauricus, together with one additional year, in
which there were the following magistrates here enumerated.

C. Iulius C.F. Caesar, Dictator (II), M. Antonius M.F., Master of Horse,
and the two consuls C. Fufius C.F. Calenus and P. Vatinius P.F. (B.C. 47
= a.u. 707.)


(_BOOK 42, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 48 (_a.u._ 706)]

[-1-] The general nature of the battle has, accordingly, been described.
As a result of it Pompey straightway despaired of all his undertakings
and no longer made any account of his own valor or of the number of his
remaining soldiers or of the fact that Fortune often restores the
vanquished in the shortest space of time; yet in former times he had
always possessed the greatest cheerfulness and the greatest hopefulness
on all occasions of failure. The reason for this was that in the cases
just mentioned he had usually been evenly matched with the foe and hence
had not discounted a victory in advance; but by reflecting beforehand on
the dual possibilities of the outcome of the engagement, while he was
still coolheaded and before being involved in any alarm, he had not
neglected to prepare for the worst. In this way he had not been
compelled to yield to disasters and was able with ease to renew the
conflict: but this time as he had expected to far surpass Caesar he had
foreseen nothing. For instance, he had not put the camp in proper
condition nor provided a refuge for himself if defeated. And whereas he
might have delayed action and so have conquered without a battle,--for
his army kept increasing every day and he had abundant provisions
because he was in a country for the most part friendly and because he
was lord of the sea,--nevertheless, whether of his own accord and
thinking he would conquer in any event, or because he was forced by his
associates, he brought on an engagement. Consequently as soon as he was
defeated he was terribly alarmed and had no opportune plan or sure hope
ready to enable him to face the danger anew Whenever any event befalls a
man unexpectedly and most contrary to what seemed reasonable, it humbles
his mind and drives out the faculty of calculation, so that he becomes
the poorest and weakest judge of what must be done. Calculation cannot
live in the midst of fears; if it occupies the ground first, it thrusts
them out very effectively, but if it be a second comer, it gets the
worst of the encounter.

[-2-] Hence Pompey, also, having considered none of the chances
beforehand, was found naked and defenceless, whereas, had anything been
foreseen, he might, perhaps, without trouble have quickly recovered all
his losses. Large numbers of the combatants had survived and he had
other forces that were considerable. Above all, he had gotten into his
possession large amounts of money and was master of the entire sea, and
the cities both there and in Asia were fond of him even in his
misfortune. But, as it turned out, since he had fared so ill where he
felt most encouraged, in the temporary seizure of fear he made no use of
any one of these resources, but left the fortifications at once and fled
with a few companions toward Larissa. He did not enter the city although
the Larissaeans invited him, because he feared that by so doing he might
incur some blame. Bidding them make terms with the victor, he himself
took provisions, embarked on the sea, and sailed away to Lesbos on a
merchantman, to his wife Cornelia and his son Sextus. After taking
charge of them he did not even enter Mitylene but started for Egypt,
hoping to secure an alliance with Ptolemy, the king of that country.
This was the son of that Ptolemy who, through the agency of Gabinius,
had received back the kingdom at his hands, and he had as an
acknowledgment of that service sent a fleet to Pompey's assistance. I
have heard that Pompey thought also of fleeing to the Parthians, but I
cannot credit the report. For that race so hated all the Romans ever
since Crassus had led his expedition against them, and Pompey
especially, because related to him, that they imprisoned his envoy who
came with a request for aid, though he was a senator. And Pompey would
have never endured in his misfortune to become a suppliant of a most
hostile nation for what he had failed to obtain while enjoying success.
[-3-]However,--he proceeded to Egypt for the reasons mentioned, and
after coasting along the shore as far as Cilicia went across from there
to Pelusium, where Ptolemy, just then engaged in a war with his sister
Cleopatra, was encamped. Bringing the ships to anchor he sent some men
to remind the prince of the favor shown his father and to ask that he be
permitted to land on definite and secure conditions: he did not venture
to disembark before obtaining some guarantee of safety. Ptolemy made him
no answer, for he was still a mere child, but some of the Egyptians and
Lucius Septimius, a Roman who had made campaigns with Pompey but was a
relative of Gabinius and had been left behind by him to keep guard over
Ptolemy, came in the guise of friends: for all that they impiously
plotted against him and by their act brought guilt upon themselves and
all Egypt. They themselves perished not long after and the Egyptians for
their part were first delivered to be slaves of Cleopatra (this they
particularly disliked) and later were enrolled among the Roman subjects.
[-4-] Now at this time Septimius and Achillas, the commander-in-chief,
and others who were with them declared they would readily receive
Pompey,--to the end, of course, that he might be the more easily
deceived and ensnared. Some of them sent on his messengers ahead,
bidding them be of good cheer, and the natives themselves next embarked
on some small boats and sailed out to him. After many friendly greetings
they begged him to come over to their vessels, saying that by reason of
its size and the shallow water a trireme could not closely approach
their land and that they were very eager to see Pompey himself more
quickly. He thereupon changed ships, although all his fellow voyagers
urged him not to do it, trusting in his hosts and saying merely:

"Whoever to a tyrant wends his way, His slave is he, e'en though his
steps be free." [72]

Now when they drew near the land, fearing that if he even met Ptolemy he
might be saved, by the king himself or by the Romans who dwelt with him
or by the Egyptians, who regarded him with great affection, they killed
him before sailing into harbor. He said not a word and uttered no
complaint, but as soon as he perceived their plot and recognized that he
would not be able to ward them off nor escape, he veiled his face.

[-5-] Such was the end of the famous Pompey the Great, wherein once more
the weakness and the strange fortune of the human race are proved. He
was no whit deficient in foresight, but was deceived by having been
always absolutely secure against any force of harmful potency. He had
won many unexpected victories in Africa, and many in Asia and Europe,
both by land and by sea ever since boyhood; and was now in the
fifty-eighth year of his age defeated without good reason. He who had
subdued the entire Roman sea perished on it: and whereas he had once, as
the story goes, been master of a thousand ships, he was destroyed in a
tiny boat near Egypt and really by that same Ptolemy whose father he had
once restored from exile to that land and to his kingdom. The man whom
at that time Roman soldiers were still guarding, soldiers left behind by
Gabinius as a favor to Pompey and on account of the hatred felt by the
Egyptians for the young prince's father, seemed now to have put him to
death by the hands of those Romans and those Egyptians. Pompey, who was
previously considered the dominant figure among the Romans so that he
even had the nickname of _Agamemnon_, was now slain like any of the
lowest of the Egyptians themselves, near Mount Casius and on the
anniversary of the day on which he had celebrated a triumph over
Mithridates and the pirates. Even in this point, therefore, there was
nothing similar in the two parts of his career. Of yore on that day he
had experienced the most brilliant success, whereas he now suffered the
most grievous fate: again, following a certain oracle he had been
suspicious of all the citizens named Cassius, but instead of being the
object of a plot by any man called Cassius he died and was buried beside
the mountain that had this name. Of his fellow voyagers some were
captured at once, while others fled, among them his wife and child. The
former under a safe conduct came later safely to Rome: the latter,
Sextus, proceeded to Africa to his brother Gnaeus; these are the names by
which they are distinguished, since they both bore the appellation
Pompey.

[-6-] Caesar, when he had attended to pressing demands after the battle
and had assigned to certain others Greece and the remainder of that
region to win over and administer, himself pursued after Pompey. He
hurried forward as far as Asia in quest of news about him, and there
waited for a time since no one knew which way he had sailed. Everything
turned out favorably for him: for instance, while crossing the
Hellespont in a kind of ferryboat, he met Pompey's fleet sailing with
Lucius Cassius in command, but so far from suffering any harm at their
hands he terrified them and won them to his side. Next, meeting with no
resistance any longer he took possession of the rest of that district
and regulated its affairs, levying a money contribution, as I said, but
otherwise doing no one any harm and even conferring benefits on all, so
far as was visible. He did away with the taxgatherers, who abused the
people most cruelly, and he converted the product of the taxes into a
payment of tribute.

[-7-] Meanwhile, learning that Pompey was sailing to Egypt, he was
afraid that his rival by occupying it in advance might again acquire
strength, and he set out with, all speed. Him he found no longer alive.
Then with a few followers he sailed far in advance of the others to
Alexandria itself before Ptolemy came from Pelusium. On discovering that
the people of the city were in a tumult over Pompey's death he did not
at once venture to disembark, but put out to sea and waited till he saw
the head and finger-ring of the murdered man, sent him by Ptolemy.
Thereupon he approached the land with some courage: the multitude,
however, showed irritation at the sight of his lictors and he was glad
to make his escape into the palace. Some of his soldiers had their
weapons taken from them, and the rest accordingly put to sea again until
all the ships had reached harbor. [-8-] Caesar at the sight of Pompey's
head wept and lamented bitterly, calling him countryman and son-in-law,
and enumerating all the kindnesses they had shown each other. He said at
he owed no reward to the murderers, but heaped reproaches upon them, and
the head he commanded to be adorned and after proper preparation to be
buried. For this he received praise, but for his pretences he was made a
laughing stock. He had from the outset been thoroughly set upon
dominion; he had always hated Pompey as his antagonist and adversary;
besides all his other measures against him he had brought on this war
with no other purpose than to secure his rival's ruin and his own
leadership; he had but now been hurrying to Egypt with no other end in
view than to overthrow him completely if he should still be alive: yet
he feigned to miss his presence and made a show of vexation over his
destruction.

[-9-] Under the belief that now that Pompey was out of the way there was
no longer any spot left that was hostile to him, he spent some time in
Egypt collecting money and adjudicating the differences between Ptolemy
and Cleopatra. Meanwhile other wars were being prepared for him. Egypt
revolted, and Pharnaces had begun, just as soon as he learned that
Pompey and Caesar were at variance, to lay claim to his ancestral domain:
he hoped that they would consume much time in their disputes and use up
their own powers upon each other. He was at this time still clinging to
the districts mentioned, partly because he had once asserted his claim
and partly because he understood that Caesar was far off; and he had
occupied many points in advance. Meanwhile Cato and Scipio and the rest
who were of the same mind with them set on foot in Africa a war that was
both a civil and a foreign conflict.

[-10-] It was this way. Cato had been left behind at Dyrrachium by
Pompey to keep an eye upon reinforcements from Italy, in case any one
should cross, and to repress the Parthini in case they should cause any
disturbance. At first he carried on war with the latter, but after
Pompey's defeat he abandoned Epirus and proceeding to Corcyra with those
of the same mind as himself he there received the men who escaped from
the battle and the rest who had the same interests. Cicero and a few
other senators had set out for Rome at once: but the majority, together
with Labienus and Afranius, since they had no hope in Caesar,--the one
because he had deserted, the other because after having been pardoned by
him he had again made war on him,--went to Cato, put him at their head
and continued the war. [-11-] Their number was later increased by the
addition of Octavius. The latter after sailing into the Ionian sea and
arresting Gaius Antonius conquered several places but could not take
Salonae though he besieged it for a very long time. Having Gabinius to
assist them they repulsed him vigorously and finally along with the
women made a sortie which was eminently successful. The women with hair
let down and robed in black garments took torches, and after arraying
themselves wholly in the most terrifying manner assaulted the besieging
camp at midnight: they threw the outposts, who thought they were
spirits, into panic and then from all sides at once hurled the fire
within the palisade and following on themselves slew many in confusion
and many who were asleep, occupied the place without delay, and captured
at the first approach the harbor in which Octavius was lying. They were
not, however, left at peace. He escaped them somehow, gathered a force
again, and after defeating them in battle invested their city. Meanwhile
Gabinius died of sickness and he gained control of the whole sea in that
vicinity, and by making descents upon the land did the inhabitants much
harm. This lasted until the battle near Pharsalus, after which his
soldiers at the onset of a contingent from Brundusium changed sides
without even making a resistance. Then, destitute of allies he retired
to Corcyra.

[-12-] Gnaeus Pompey first sailed about with the Egyptian fleet and
overran Epirus, so-called, almost capturing Oricum. The commander of the
place, Marcus Acilius,[73] had blocked up the entrance to the harbor by
boats crammed with stones and about the mouth of it had raised towers on
both sides, on the land, and on ships of burden. Pompey, however, had
submarine divers scatter the stones that were in the vessels and when
the latter had been lightened he dragged them out of the way, freed the
passage, and next, after putting heavy-armed troops ashore on each half
of the breakwater, he sailed in. He burned all the boats and most of the
city and would have captured the rest of it, had he not been wounded and
caused the Egyptians to fear that he might die. After receiving medical
attendance he no longer assailed Oricum but journeyed about pillaging
various places and once vainly made an attempt upon Brundusium itself,
as some others had done. This was his occupation for awhile. When his
father had been defeated and the Egyptians on receipt of the news sailed
home, he betook himself to Cato. [-13-] And his example was followed by
Gaius Cassius, who had done very great mischief both in Italy and in
Sicily and had overcome a number of opponents in many battles by sea and
by land.

Many simultaneously took refuge with Cato because they saw that he
excelled them in uprightness, and he, using them as comrades in struggle
and counselors to all matters, sailed to the Peloponnesus with the
apparent intention of occupying it, for he had not yet heard that Pompey
was dead. He did seize Patrae and there received among other accessions
Petreius and Pompey's son-in-law[74] Faustus. Subsequently Quintus
Fufius Calenus led an expedition against them, whereupon they set sail,
and coming to Cyrene there learned of the death of Pompey. Their views
were now no longer harmonious: Cato, loathing the thought of Caesar's
sovereignty, and some others in despair of getting pardon from him,
sailed to Africa with the army, added Scipio to their number, and were
as active as possible against Caesar; the majority scattered, and some of
them retired to make their peace as each one best might, while the rest,
among them Gaius Cassius, went to Caesar forthwith and received assurance
of safety.

[-14-] Calenus had been sent by Caesar into Greece before the battle, and
he captured among other places the Peiraeus, owing to its being unwalled.
Athens (although he did a great deal of damage to its territory) he was
unable to take before the defeat of Pompey. The inhabitants then
capitulated voluntarily and Caesar without resentment released them
altogether, making only this remark, that in spite of their many
offences they were saved by the dead. This speech signified that it was
on account of their ancestors and on account of the latter's glory and
excellence that he spared them. Accordingly Athens and most of the rest
of Greece then at once made terms with him: but the Megarians in spite
of this resisted and were captured only at a considerably later date,
partly by force and partly by treachery. Wherefore a great slaughter of
the people was instituted and the survivors sold. Calenus had so acted
that he might seem to have taken a merited vengeance upon them. But
since he feared that the city might perish utterly, he sold the dwellers
in the first place to their relatives, and in the second place for a
very small sum, so that they might regain their freedom.

[-15-] After these achievements Caesar marched upon Patrae and occupied it
easily, as he had frightened out Cato and his followers in advance.
While these various troubles were being settled, there was an uprising
in Spain, although the country was at peace. The Spaniards were at the
time subject to many abuses from Quintus Longinus, and at first some few
banded together to kill him. He was wounded but escaped, and after that
proceeded to wrong them a great deal more. Then a number of Cordubasians
and a number of soldiers who had formerly belonged to the Pompeian party
rose against him, putting at their head Marcus Marcellus Aeserninus, the
quaestor. He did not accept their appointment with his whole heart, but
seeing the uncertainty of events and admitting that they might turn out
either way, he straddled the issue. All that he said or did was of a
neutral character, so that whether Caesar or Pompey should prevail he
would seem to have fought for the cause of either one. He favored Pompey
by receiving those who transferred their allegiance to him and by
fighting against Longinus, who declared he was on Caesar's side: at the
same time he did a kindness to Caesar because he assumed charge of the
soldiers when (as he would say) Longinus was guilty of certain
irregularities, and kept these men for him, while not allowing their
commander to be alienated. And when the soldiers inscribed the name of
Pompey on their shields he erased it so that he might by this act offer
to the one man the deeds done by the arms and to the other their reputed
ownership, and by laying claim to one thing or the other as done in
behalf of the victor and by referring the opposite to necessity or to
different persons he might continue safe.[-16-] Consequently, although
he had the opportunity of overthrowing Longinus altogether by mere
numbers, he refused, but while extending his actions over considerable
time in the display and preparation of what he desired, he put the
responsibility for doubtful measures upon other persons. Therefore both
in his setbacks and the advantages he gained he could make the plea that
he was acting equally in behalf of the same person: the setbacks he
might have planned himself or might not, and for the advantages others
might or might not be responsible. He continued in this way until Caesar
conquered, when, having incurred the victor's wrath, he was temporarily
banished, but was later brought back from exile and honored. Longinus,
however, being denounced by the Spaniards in an embassy, was deprived of
his office and while on his way home perished near the mouth of the
Iber.

These events took place abroad. [-17-] The population of Rome while the
interests of Caesar and Pompey were in a doubtful and vacillating state
all professedly espoused the cause of Caesar, influenced by his troops
that were in their midst and by his colleague Servilius. Whenever a
victory of his was reported, they rejoiced, and whenever a reverse, they
grieved,--some really, some pretendedly in each case. For there were
many spies prowling about and eavesdroppers, observing what was being
said and done on such occasions. Privately the talk and actions of those
who detested Caesar and preferred Pompey's side were the very opposite of
their public expressions. Hence, whereas both parties made a show of
receiving any and all news as favorable to their hopes, they in fact
regarded it sometimes with fear and sometimes with boldness, and
inasmuch as many diverse rumors would often be going the rounds on the
same day and in the same hour their position was a most trying one. In
the briefest space of time they were pleased, were grieved, grew bold,
grew fearful. [-18-] When the battle of Pharsalus was reported they were
long incredulous. Caesar sent no despatch to the government, hesitating
to appear to be rejoicing publicly over such a victory, for which reason
also he celebrated no triumph: and again, there seemed little likelihood
of its being true, in view of the relative equipment of the two forces
and the hopes entertained. When at last they gave the story credence,
they took down the images of Pompey and of Sulla that stood upon the
rostra, but did nothing further at that time. A large number did not
wish to do even that, and an equally large number fearing that Pompey
might renew the strife regarded this as quite enough for Caesar and
expected that it would be a fairly simple matter to placate Pompey on
account of it. Moreover, when he died, they would not believe this news
till late, and until they saw his signet that had been sent. (On this
were carved three trophies, as on that of Sulla.) [-19-] But when he
appeared to be really dead, at last they openly praised the winner and
abused the loser and proposed that everything in the world which they
could devise be given to Caesar. In the course of it all there was a
great rivalry among practically all of the foremost men who were eager
to outdo one another in fawning upon him and voting pleasing measures.
By their shouts and by their gestures all of them as if Caesar were
present and looking on showed the very greatest zeal and deemed that in
return for it they would get immediately,--as if they were doing it to
please him at all and not from necessity,--the one an office, another a
priesthood, and a third some pecuniary reward. I shall omit those honors
which had either been voted to some others previously,--images, crowns,
front seats, and things of that kind,--or were novel and proposed now
for the first time, which were not also confirmed by Caesar: for I fear
that I might become wearisome, were I to enumerate them all. This same
plan I shall adopt in my later narrations, adhering the more strictly to
it, as the honors proposed grew more in number and more universal. Only
such as had some special and extraordinary importance and were then
confirmed will be set down. [-20-] They granted him, then, permission to
do whatever he liked to those who had favored Pompey's cause; it could
not be said that he had not already received this right from himself,
but it was intended that he might seem to be acting with some show of
legal authority. They appointed him lord of wars and peace (using the
confederates in Africa as a Pretext) in regard to all mankind, even
though he should make no communication on the subject to the people or
the senate. This was also naturally in his power before, inasmuch as he
had so large a force; and the wars he had fought he had undertaken
himself in nearly every case: nevertheless, because they wished still to
appear to be free and independent citizens, they voted him these rights
and everything else which it was in his power to have even against their
will. He received the privilege of being consul for five consecutive
years and of being chosen dictator not for six months but for an entire
year, and could assume the tribunician authority practically for life.
He was enabled to sit with the tribunes upon the same benches and to be
reckoned with them for other purposes,--a right commonly accorded to no
one. All the elections except those of the people were put in his hands
and for this reason they were delayed till after his arrival and were
carried on only toward the close of the year.[75] The governorships in
subject territory the citizens themselves of course allotted to the
consuls, but they voted that Caesar might give them to the praetors
without the casting of lots: for they had gone back to consuls and
praetors again contrary to their decrees. And another practice which had
the sanction of custom, indeed, but in the corruption of the times might
justly be deemed a cause of hatred and resentment, formed the matter of
one of their resolutions. Caesar had at that time heard not a word of the
mere inception of the war against Juba and against the Romans who had
fought on his side, and yet they assigned a triumph for him to hold, as
if he had been victor.

[-21-] In this way these votes and ratifications took place. Caesar
entered upon the dictatorship at once, though he was outside Italy, and
chose Antony, who had not yet been praetor, as his master of the horse:
and the consul proposed his name, although the augurs most strongly
opposed him with the declaration that no one was allowed to be master of
the horse for more than six months. They incurred, however, a great deal
of laughter for this,--deciding that Caesar should be chosen dictator for
a year contrary to all ancestral precedent, and then splitting hairs
about the master of the horse. [-22-]Marcus Caelius[76] actually perished
because he dared to break the laws laid down by Caesar regarding loans of
money, as if their propounder was defeated and ruined, and because he
had therefore stirred up to strife Rome and Campania. He had been very
prominent in carrying out Caesar's wishes, for which reason moreover he
had been appointed praetor; but he became angry because he had not also
been made praetor urbanus, and because his colleague Trebonius had been
preferred before him for this office, not by lot as had been the custom,
but by Caesar's choice. Hence he opposed his colleague in everything and
would not let him perform any of the duties that belonged to him. He
would not consent to his executing judgments according to Caesar's laws,
and furthermore gave notice to such as owed any sum that he would assist
them against the money-lenders, and to all who dwelt in other peoples'
houses that he would release them from payment of rent. Having by this
course won the attachment of many he set upon Trebonius with their aid
and would have killed him, had he not managed to change his robe and
escape in the crowd. After this failure Caelius privately issued a law in
which he gave to all the use of houses free and annulled debts. [-23-]
Servilius consequently sent for some soldiers who chanced to be going by
on the way to Gaul and after convening the senate under their protection
he presented a proposition about the matter in hand. No ratification was
reached, since the tribunes prevented it, but the sense of the meeting
was recorded and Servilius then ordered the court officers to take down
the offending tablets. When Caelius drove them away and acted in a
disorderly manner toward the consul himself, they convened again, still
protected by the soldiers, and delivered to Servilius the "care of the
city," a phrase I have often used previously in regard to it. After this
he would not permit Caelius, even in his capacity as praetor, to do
anything, but assigned the duties pertaining to his office to some other
praetor, debarred him from the senate, dragged him from the rostra in the
midst of some vociferation, and broke to pieces his chair.

[-24-]Of course Caelius was violently angry at him for each of these
acts, but since Servilius had a rather respectable body of troops in
town he was afraid that he might suffer chastisement, and therefore
decided to set out for Campania to join Milo, who was instituting a kind
of rebellion. The latter, when it proved that he was the only one of the
exiles not restored by Caesar, had come to Italy, where he gathered a
number of men, some in want of a livelihood and others fearing some
punishment, and ravaged the country, assailing Capua and other cities.
It was to him that Caelius wished to betake himself, in order that with
his aid he might do Caesar all possible harm. He was watched, however,
and could not leave the city openly; and he did not venture to escape
secretly because (among other motives) he hoped to accomplish a great
deal more by possessing the attire and the title of praetor. At last,
therefore, he approached the consul and obtained from him leave of
absence, saying that he wished to proceed to Caesar. The other, though he
suspected his intention, still allowed him to do this, particularly
because he was very insistent, invoking Caesar's name and pretending that
he was eager to submit his defence. Servilius sent a tribune with him,
so that if he should attempt any rebellious conduct he might be
prevented.[25] When they got to Campania, and found that Milo after a
defeat near Capua had taken refuge in the Tifatine mountain, and Caelius
would go no farther, the tribune was alarmed and wished to bring him
back home. Servilius, learning of this in advance, declared war upon
Milo in the senate and gave orders that Caelius (who must be prevented
from stirring up any confusion) should remain in the suburbs. However,
he did not keep him under strict surveillance, because the man was a
praetor. Thus Clius made his escape and hastened to Milo: and he would
certainly have aroused some sedition, had he found him alive. As it
proved, Milo had been driven from Campania and had perished in Apulia:
Caelius therefore went to Bruttium, presumably to form some league in
that district, and there he perished before doing anything important;
for the persons who favored Caesar banded together and killed him.

[26-] So these men died, but that did not bring quiet to Rome. On the
contrary, many dreadful events took place, as, indeed, omens indicated
beforehand. Among other things that happened toward the end of that year
bees settled on the Capitol beside the statue of Hercules. At the time
sacrifices to Isis chanced to be going on and the soothsayers gave their
opinion to the effect that the precincts of that goddess and of Serapis
should be razed to the ground, as of yore. In the course of demolition a
small shrine of Bellona had unwittingly been taken down, and in it were
found jars full of human flesh.

[B.C. 47 (_a.u._ 707)]

The following year a violent earthquake occurred, an owl was seen,
thunderbolts descended upon the Capitol and upon the temple of the
so-called Public Fortune and into the gardens of Caesar, where a horse of
considerable value was destroyed by them, and the temple of Fortune
opened of its own accord. In addition to this, blood issuing from a
bake-shop flowed to another temple of Fortune, whose statue on account
of the fact that the goddess necessarily oversees and can fathom
everything that is before us as well as behind and does not forget from
what beginnings any great man came they had set up and named in a way
not easy for Greeks to describe.[77] Also some infants were born holding
their left hands to their heads, so that whereas no good was looked for
from the other signs, from this especially an uprising of inferiors
against superiors was both foretold by the soothsayers and accepted by
the people as true.

[-27-] These portents so revealed by supernatural power disturbed them;
and their fear was augmented by the very appearance of the city, which
had been strange and unaccustomed at the beginning of the month and
thereafter for a long time. There was as yet no consul or praetor, and
Antony, in so far as his costume went (which was the _toga laticlavia_)
and his lictors, of whom he had only six, and his convening the senate,
furnished some semblance of democracy: but the sword with which he was
girded, and the throng of soldiers that accompanied him, and his actions
themselves most of all indicated the existence of one sole ruler. Many
robberies, outrages, and murders took place. And not only were the
existing conditions most distressing to the Romans, but they dreaded a
far greater number of more terrible acts from Caesar. For when the master
of the horse never laid aside his sword even at the festivals, who would
not have been suspicious of the dictator himself? (At the most of these
festivals Antony presided at the orders of Caesar. Some few the tribunes
also had in charge.) It any persons stopped to think of his magnanimity,
which had led him to spare many that had opposed him in battle,
nevertheless seeing that men who had gained an office did not stick to
the same principles as guided them in striving for it, they therefore
expected that he too would change his tactics. [-28-] They felt
aggrieved and discussed the matter with one another at length,--those at
least who were safe in so doing, for they could not make everybody a
companion with impunity. Many who would seem to be good friends and
others who were relatives were liable to slander them, perverting some
statements, and telling downright lies on other points. This was a cause
of the greatest discomfort to the rest who were not equally safe,
because, being able neither to lament nor to share their views with
others they could not in any way get rid of their thoughts.
Communication with those similarly afflicted lightened their burden
somewhat, and the man who could safely utter and hear in return what the
citizens were undergoing became easier. But distrust of such as were not
of like habits with themselves confined their dissatisfaction within
their minds and inflamed them the more, as they could not tell their
secret[78] nor obtain any relief. In addition to keeping their
sufferings shut up within they were compelled to praise and admire their
treatment, as also to celebrate festivals, perform sacrifices, and
appear happy in it all.

[-29-] This was the condition of the Romans in the City at that time.
And, as if it were not sufficient for them to be abused by Antony,
Lucius Trebellius and Publius Cornelius Dolabella, tribunes, began a
factional disturbance. The latter fought on the side of the debtors, to
which category he belonged, and had therefore changed his legal standing
from patrician to plebeian, to get the tribuneship. The former said he
represented the nobles, but none the less published edicts and had
recourse to murders. This, too, naturally resulted in a great
disturbance and many weapons were everywhere in evidence, although the
senators had commanded that no changes should be made before Caesar's
arrival in the city, and Antony that no private individual in the city
should carry arms. As they paid no attention themselves, however, to
these orders, but resorted to all kinds of measures against each other
and against the men just mentioned, there arose a third dispute between
Antony and the senate. In order to have it thought that that body had
allowed him weapons and the authority that resulted from them (which he
had been overready to usurp) he got the privilege of keeping soldiers
within the wall and of helping the tribunes in maintaining a guard over
the city. After this Antony did whatever he desired with a kind of legal
right, and Dolabella and Trebellius were nominally guilty of violence:
but their effrontery and resources led them to resist both each other
and him as if they too had received some position of command from the
senate. [-30-] Meanwhile Antony learned that the legions which Caesar
after the battle had sent ahead into Italy, as if to indicate that he
would follow them, were engaged in doubtful proceedings; and in fear of
some insurrection from that quarter he turned over the charge of the
city to Lucius Caesar, appointing him praefectus urbi, an office never
before conferred by a master of the horse. He himself set out to the
soldiers. The tribunes that were at variance with the two despised
Lucius because of his advanced age and inflicted many outrages upon one
another and on the rest until they learned that Caesar, having settled
the affairs of Egypt, had started for Rome. They were carrying on the
quarrel under the assumption that he would never return again but be
killed somewhere abroad by the Egyptians, as, indeed, they kept hearing.
When his coming was reported they moderated their conduct for a time,
but as soon as he set out against Pharnaces they relapsed into factional
differences once more.[-31-] Antony was unable to restrain them, and
finding that his opposition to Dolabella was obnoxious to the populace
he at first joined his party and brought charges against
Trebellius,--one being to the effect that he was appropriating the
soldiers to his own use. Later, when he perceived that he was not
esteemed at all by the multitude, which was attached only to Dolabella,
he became vexed and changed sides. He was especially influenced in this
course by the fact that while not sharing popular favor with the
plebeian leader he received the greatest share of blame from the
senators. So nominally he adopted a neutral attitude toward both, but
really in secret he chose the cause of Trebellius, and coöperated with
him among other ways by allowing him to obtain soldiers. From this time
on he made himself a spectator and director of their contests; and they
fought, seized in turn the most advantageous points in the city, and
entered upon a career of killing and burning, so that on one occasion
the holy vessels were carried by the virgins out of the temple of Vesta.
[-32-] Once more the senators voted that the master of the horse should
guard the city still more scrupulously, and practically the entire town
was filled with soldiers. Yet there was no respite. Dolabella in despair
of obtaining any pardon from Caesar desired to accomplish some great evil
and then perish,--with the idea that he would forever have renown for
this act. So many men in the past have become infatuated with basest
deeds for the mere sake of fame! Under this influence he too wrought
universal disturbance, promising even that on a certain specified day he
would enact his laws in regard to debts and house-rents. On receipt of
these announcements the crowd erected barricades around the Forum,
setting up wooden towers at some points, and put itself in readiness to
cope with any force that might oppose it. At that, Antony brought down
from the Capitol about dawn a large body of soldiers, cut down the
tablets of the laws and hurled some offenders who still continued to be
unruly from the cliffs of the Capitol itself.

[-33-] However, this did not stop the factional disputes. Instead, the
greater the number of those who perished, the more did the survivors
raise a tumult, thinking that Caesar had got involved in a very great and
difficult war. And they did not cease until suddenly he himself appeared
before them. Then they became quiet even if unwilling. Some of them were
expecting to suffer every conceivable ill fate, for there was talk
against them all through the city, and some made one charge and others
another: but Caesar at this juncture also pursued his usual method. He
accepted their attitude of the moment as satisfactory and did not
concern himself with their past conduct: he spared them all and some of
them (including Dolabella) he honored. To the latter he owed some
kindness, which he did not see fit to forget. For in place of
overlooking that favor because he had been wronged, he pardoned him in
consideration of the benefit received, and besides bringing him to other
honors Caesar not long after appointed him consul, though he had not yet
served as praetor.

[-34-] These were the events which were brought about in Rome by Caesar's
absence. The reasons why he was so long in coming there and did not
arrive immediately after Pompey's death are as follows.

[B.C. 48 (_a.u._ 708)]

The Egyptians were discontented at the levies of money and highly
indignant because not even their temples were left untouched. They are
the most excessively religious people on earth and wage wars even
against one another on account of their beliefs, since their worship is
not a unified system, but different branches of it are diametrically
opposed one to another. As a result, then, of their vexation at this and
their further fear that they might be surrendered to Cleopatra, who had
great influence with Caesar, they commenced a disturbance. For a time the
princess had urged her claim against her brother through others who were
in Caesar's presence, but as soon as she discovered his disposition
(which was very susceptible, so that he indulged in amours with a very
great number of women at different stages of his travels), she sent word
to him that she was being betrayed by her friends and asked that she
allowed to plead her case in person. She was a woman of surpassing
beauty, especially conspicuous at that time because in the prime of
youth, with a most delicious voice and a knowledge of how to make
herself agreeable to every one. Being brilliant to look upon and to
listen to, with the power to subjugate even a cold natured or elderly
person, she thought that she might prove exactly to Caesar's tastes and
reposed in her beauty all her claims to advancement. She begged
therefore for access to his presence, and on obtaining permission
adorned and beautified herself so as to appear before him in the most
striking and pitiable guise. When she had perfected these devices she
entered the city from her habitation outside, and by night without
Ptolemy's knowledge went into the palace. [-35-] Caesar upon seeing her
and hearing her speak a few words was forthwith so completely captivated
that he at once, before dawn, sent for Ptolemy and tried to reconcile
them, acting as an advocate for the same woman whose judge he had
previously assumed to be. For this reason and because the sight of his
sister within the royal dwelling was so unexpected, the boy was filled
with wrath and rushed out among the people crying out that he had been
betrayed, and at last he tore the diadem from his head and cast it down.
In the mighty tumult which thereupon arose Caesar's soldiers seized the
prince who had caused the commotion; but the Egyptian mob was in
upheaval. They assaulted the palace by land and sea together and would
have taken it without difficulty (for the Romans had no force present
sufficient to cope with the foreigners, because the latter had been
regarded as friends) but for the fact that Caesar, alarmed, came out
before them and standing in a safe place promised to do for them
whatsoever they wished. Then he entered an assembly of theirs and
producing Ptolemy and Cleopatra read their father's will, in which it
was directed that they should live together according to the customs of
the Egyptians and rule in common, and that the Roman people should
exercise a guardianship over them. When he had done this and had added
that it belonged to him as dictator, holding all the power of the
people, to have an oversight of the children and to fulfill the father's
wishes, he bestowed upon them both the kingdom and granted Cyprus to
Arsinoë and Ptolemy the Younger, a sister and a brother of theirs. So
great fear possessed him that he not only laid hold on none of the
Egyptian domain, but actually gave the inhabitants in addition some of
what was his.

[-36-] By this action they were calmed temporarily, but not long after
they raised a rebellion which reached the dignity of war. Potheinos, a
eunuch who had taken a prominent part in urging the Egyptians on, who
was also charged with the management of Ptolemy's funds, was afraid that
he might some time pay the penalty for his behavior. Therefore he sent
secretly to Achillas who was at this time still near Pelusium and by
frightening him and inspiring him at the same time with hopes he made
him his associate, and next won over also all the rest who bore arms. To
all of them alike it seemed a shame to be ruled by a woman: for they
suspected that Caesar on the occasion mentioned had given the kingdom to
both of the children merely to quiet the people, and that in the course
of time he would offer it to Cleopatra alone. Also they thought
themselves a match for the army he then had present. Some started
immediately for Alexandria where they busied themselves with their
project. [-37-] Caesar when he learned this was afraid of their numbers
and daring, and sent some men to Achillas not in his own but in
Ptolemy's name, bidding him keep the peace. But he, understanding that
this was not the child's command, but Caesar's, so far from giving it any
attention was filled with contempt for the sender, believing him afraid.
Then he called his soldiers together and by haranguing them at length in
favor of Ptolemy and against Caesar and Cleopatra he finally so incensed
them against the messengers, though they were Egyptians, that they
defiled themselves with their murder and accepted the necessity of a war
without quarter. Caesar, when the news was brought him, summoned his
soldiers from Syria, put a ditch around the palace and the other
buildings near it, and fortified it with a wall reaching to the sea.
[38-] Meanwhile Achillas had arrived on the scene with his regular
followers and with the Romans left behind by Grabinius and Septimius to
keep guard over Ptolemy: these as a result of their stay there had
changed their character and were attached to the local party. Thus he
immediately won over the larger part of the Alexandrians and made
himself master of the most advantageous positions. After this many
battles between the two armies occurred both by day and at night and
many places were set on fire, and among others the docks and the
storehouses both of grain and of books were burned,--the volumes being,
as is reported, of the greatest number and excellence.

Achillas commanded the mainland, with the exception of what Caesar had
walled off, and the latter the sea--except the harbor. Caesar, indeed,
was victorious in a sea-fight, and when the Egyptians consequently,
fearing that he would sail into their harbor, had filled up the entrance
all except a narrow passage, he cut off that outlet also by sinking
freight ships full of stones; so they were unable to stir, no matter how
much they might desire to sail out. After this achievement provisions,
and among other things water, were brought in more easily. Achillas had
deprived them of the city water supply by cutting the pipes.

[-39-] While these events were taking place one Ganymedes, a eunuch,
abducted Arsinoë, as she was not very well guarded, and led her out to
the people. They declared her queen and proceeded to prosecute the war
more vigorously, inasmuch as they now had a representative of the race
of the Ptolemies. Caesar, therefore, in fear that Pothemos might kidnap
Ptolemy, put the former to death and guarded the latter strictly without
any further dissimulation. This contributed to incense the Egyptians
still more, to whose party numbers were added daily, whereas the Roman
soldiers from Syria were not yet on the scene. Caesar was anxious to
bring the people to a condition of peace, and so he had Ptolemy take his
stand on a high place from which they could hear his voice and bade him
say to them that he was unharmed and was averse to warfare. He urged
them to peaceful measures and promised that he would arrange the details
for them. Now if he had talked thus to them of his own accord, he could
have persuaded them to become reconciled; but as it was, they suspected
that it was all prearranged by Caesar, and they would not yield.

[-40-] As time went on a dispute arose among the followers of Arsinoë,
and Ganymedes prevailed upon her to put Achillas to death, on the ground
that he wished to betray the fleet. When this had been done he assumed
command of the soldiers and gathered all the boats that were in the
river and the lake, besides constructing others. All of them he conveyed
through the canals to the sea, where he attacked the Romans while off
their guard, burned some of their freight ships to the water's edge and
towed others away. Then he cleared out the entrance to the harbor and by
lying in wait for vessels there he caused the foreigners great
annoyance. One day Caesar noticed them behaving carelessly, by reason of
their supremacy, and suddenly sailed into the harbor, where he burned a
number of boats, and disembarking on Pharos slew the inhabitants of the
island. When the Egyptians on the mainland saw that, they came to their
aid over the bridges and after killing many of the Romans in their turn
they hurled the remainder back to their boats. While these fugitives
were forcing their way into them at any point and in crowds, Caesar,
besides many others, fell into the sea. And he would have perished
miserably weighed down by his robes and pelted by the Egyptians--his
garments, being purple, offered a good mark--had he not thrown off the
incumbrances and then succeeded in swimming out somewhere to a skiff,
which he boarded. In this way he was saved without wetting one of the
documents of which he held up a large number in his left hand as he
swam. His clothing the Egyptians took and hung upon the trophy which
they set up to commemorate this rout, as if they had as good as captured
the man himself. They also kept a close watch upon the landings (for the
legions which had been sent from Syria were now near at hand) and did
the Romans much injury. Caesar could ward off in a way the attack of
those who assailed him in the direction of Libya: but near the mouth of
the Nile they deceived many of his men by using signal fires as if they
too were Romans, and captured them, so that the rest no longer ventured
to coast along until Tiberius Claudius Nero at length sailed up the
river itself, conquered the foe in battle, and rendered the approach
less terrifying to his own followers.

[-41-] Meanwhile Mithridates, named the Pergamenian, undertook to ascend
with his ships the mouth of the Nile opposite Pelusium; but when the
Egyptians barred his entrance with their boats he betook himself by
night to the canal, hauled the ships over into it (it was one that does
not open into the sea), and through it sailed up into the Nile. After
that he suddenly began from the sea and the river at once a conflict
with the vessels that were guarding the mouth and broke up their
blockade, whereupon he assaulted Pelusium with both his infantry and his
force of ships, and took it. Advancing then to Alexandria he learned
that a certain Dioscorides was going to confront them, and he ambushed
and annihilated him.

[-42-] The Egyptians on receiving the news would not end the war even
under these conditions; yet they were irritated at the sovereignty of
the eunuch and the woman and thought if they could put Ptolemy at their
head, they would be superior to the Romans. So then, finding themselves
unable to seize him by any kind of violence because he was skillfully
guarded, they pretended that they were worn out by disasters and desired
peace; and they sent to Caesar a herald to ask for Ptolemy, to the end
that they might consult with him about the terms on which they would
make a truce. Caesar thought that they had in very truth changed front,
especially since he heard that they were cowardly and fickle and
perceived that at this time they were terrified in the face of their
defeats. And in order not to be regarded as hindering peace, even if
they were devising some trick, he said that he approved their request,
and sent them Ptolemy. He saw no tower of strength in the lad in view of
his youth and ignorance, and hoped that the Egyptians would either
become reconciled with him on what terms he wished or else would better
deserve the waging of war and subjugation, so that there might be some
reasonable excuse for delivering them to Cleopatra. He had no idea of
being defeated by them, particularly since his force had been augmented.
[-43-] The Egyptians, when they secured the child, had not a thought for
peace but straightway set out against Mithridates as if they were sure
to accomplish some great achievement in the name and by the family of
Ptolemy. They cut him off near the lake, between the river and the
marshes, and raised a great clamor. Caesar through fear of being ambushed
did not pursue them but at night he set sail as if he were hurrying to
some outlet of the Nile and kindled an enormous fire on each vessel so
that it might be thought that he was going a very long distance in this
direction. He started at first, then, to sail away, but afterward
extinguished the glare, returned and passed alongside the city to the
peninsula on the Libyan side, where he landed; there he disembarked the
soldiers, went around the lake, and fell upon the Egyptians unexpectedly
about dawn. They were so startled on the instant that they sent a herald
to him for terms, but, when he would not receive their entreaty, a
fierce battle subsequently took place in which he was victorious and
slew great numbers of the enemy. Some fled hastily to cross the river
and perished in it, together with Ptolemy.

[B.C. 47 (_a.u._ 707)]

[-44-] In this way Caesar overcame Egypt. He did not, however, make it
subject to the Romans, but bestowed it upon Cleopatra, for whose sake he
had waged the conflict. Yet, being afraid that the Egyptians might rebel
again because they were delivered to a woman to rule them and that the
Romans for this reason and because the woman was his companion might be
angry, he commanded her to make her other brother partner of her
habitation, and gave the kingdom to both of them,--at least nominally.
In reality Cleopatra alone was to hold all the power. For her husband
was still a child and in view of Caesar's favor there was nothing that
she could not do. Hence her living with her brother and sharing the
sovereignty with him was a mere pretence which she accepted, whereas she
actually ruled alone and spent her life in Caesar's company.

[-45-] She would have detained him even longer in Egypt or else would
have at once set out with him for Rome, had not Pharnaces drawn Caesar
most unwillingly from Afric's shores and hindered him from hurrying to
Italy. This man was a son of Mithridates and ruled the Cimmerian
Bosporus, as has been stated: it was his desire to win back again all
his ancestral kingdom, and so he revolted just at the time of the
quarrel between Caesar and Pompey, and, as the Romans had at that time
found business, with one another and afterward were detained in Egypt,
he got possession of Colchis without effort and, in the absence of
Deiotarus, subjugated all of Armenia and some cities of Cappadocia and
Pontus that were attached to the district of Bithynia. [-46-] While he
was thus engaged Caesar himself did not stir,--Egypt was not yet settled
and he had some hope of overcoming the man through others--but he sent
Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus, assigning him charge of Asia and ...[79]
legions. This officer added to his force Deiotarus and Ariobarzanes and
marched straight against Pharnaces, who was in Nicopolis,--a city he had
previously occupied. Indeed, he felt contempt for the barbarian, because
the latter in terror of his presence was ready to agree to an armistice
looking to an embassy, and so he would not conclude a truce with him,
but attacked him and was defeated.

After that he had to retire to Asia, since he was no match for his
conqueror, and winter was approaching. Pharnaces, greatly elated, joined
to his cause nearly all of Pontus, captured Amisus, though it held out
against him a long time, plundered the city and put to the sword all the
young men in it. He then hastened into Bithynia and Asia with the same
hopes as his father had harbored. Meanwhile, learning that Asander whom
he had left as governor of the Bosporus had revolted, he no longer
advanced any farther. For Asander, as soon as the advance of Pharnaces
to a point distant from his own position was reported to him and it
seemed likely that even if he should temporarily escape his observation
with the greatest success, he would still not get out of it well later,
rose against him, so as to do a favor to the Romans and to receive the
government of the Bosporus from them. [-47-] This was the news on
hearing which Pharnaces started against him, but the venture was in
vain. For on ascertaining that Caesar was on the way and was hurrying
into Armenia Pharnaces turned back and met him there near Zela. Now that
Ptolemy was dead and Domitius vanquished Caesar had decided that delay in
Egypt was neither fitting nor profitable for him, but set out from there
and by using great speed reached Armenia. The barbarian, alarmed and
fearing his quickness much more than his army, sent messengers to him
before he drew near, making frequent propositions to see if in any way
on any terms he could compromise the existing situation and escape. One
of the principal pleas that he presented was that he had not coöperated
with Pompey, and by this he hoped that he might induce the Roman general
to grant a truce, particularly since the latter was anxious to hasten to
Italy and Africa; and once he was gone he, Pharnaces, could easily wage
war again. Caesar suspected this, and the first and second sets of envoys
he treated with great kindness in order that he might fall upon the foe
in a state quite unguarded, through hopes of peace: when the third
deputation came he began to reproach him, one of his grounds of censure
being that he had deserted Pompey, his benefactor. Then without delay,
that very day and just as he was, Caesar marched forward and attacked him
as soon as he came up to him; for a little while some confusion was
caused by the cavalry and the scythe-bearing chariots, but after that he
conquered the Asiatics with his heavy-armed soldiers. Pharnaces escaped
to the sea and later forced his way into Bosporus, where Asander shut
him up and killed him.

[-48-] Caesar took great pride in the victory,--more, indeed, than in any
other, in spite of the fact that it had not been very glorious,--because
on the same day and at one and the same hour he had come to the enemy,
had seen him, and had conquered him. All the spoils, though of great
magnitude, he bestowed upon the soldiers, and he set up a trophy to
offset one which Mithridates had raised to commemorate the defeat of
Triarius.[80] He did not dare to take down that of the barbarians
because it had been dedicated to the gods of war, but by the erection of
his own he overshadowed and to a certain extent demolished the other.
Next he gained possession of all the region belonging to the Romans and
those bound to them by oath which Pharnaces had ravaged, and restored it
to the individuals who had been dispossessed, except a portion of
Armenia, which he granted to Ariobarzanes. The people of Amisus he
rewarded with freedom, and to Mithridates the Pergamenian he gave a
tetrarchy in Galatia with the name of kingdom and allowed him to wage
war against Asander, so that by conquering him, because he had proved
base toward his friend Mithridates might get Bosporus also.

[-49-] After accomplishing this and bidding Domitius arrange the rest he
came to Bithynia and from there to Greece, whence he sailed for Italy,
collecting all the way great sums of money from everybody, and upon
every pretext, just as before. On the one hand he levied all that
individuals had promised in advance to Pompey, and on the other he asked
for still more from outside sources, bringing some accusation against
the places to justify his act. All votive offerings of Heracles at Tyre
he removed, because the people had received the wife and child of Pompey
when they were fleeing. Many golden crowns, also, commemorative of
victories, he took from potentates and kings. This he did not out of
malice but because his expenditures were on a vast scale and because he
was intending to lay out still more upon his legions, his triumph, and
everything else that could add to his brilliance. Briefly, he showed
himself a money-getter, declaring that there were two things which
created and protected and augmented sovereignties,--soldiers and money;
and that these two were dependent upon each other. By proper support
armies were kept together, and this support was gathered by the use of
arms: and if either the one or the other were lacking, the second of
them would be overthrown at the same time.

[-50-] These were ever his ideas and this his talk upon such matters.
Now it was to Italy he hurried and not to Africa, although the latter
region had been made hostile to him, because he learned of the
disturbances in the City and feared that they might get beyond his
control. However, as I said, he did no harm to any one, except that
there too he gathered large sums of money, partly in the shape of crowns
and statues and the like which he received as gifts, and partly by
borrowing not only from individual citizens but also from cities. This
name (of borrowing) he applied to levies of money for which there was no
other reasonable excuse; his exactions from his creditors were none the
less unjustified and acts of violence, since he never intended to pay
these loans. What he said was that he had spent his private possessions
for the public good and it was for that reason he was borrowing.
Wherefore, when the multitude demanded that there should be an annulment
of debts, he would not do it, saying; "I too am heavily involved." He
was easily seen to be wresting away the property of others by his
position of supremacy, and for this his companions as well as others
disliked him. These men had bought considerable of the confiscated
property, in some cases for more than its real value, in the hope of
retaining it free of charge, but found themselves compelled to pay the
full price.

[-51-] To such persons he paid no attention. However to a certain extent
he did court the favor of the people as individuals. To the majority he
allowed the interest they were owing, an act by which he had incurred
the enmity of Pompey, and he released them from all rent for one year,
up to the sum of five hundred denarii; furthermore he raised the
valuations on goods in which it was allowable according to law for loans
to be paid to their value at the time of payment, and this after having
considerably lowered the price for the populace on all confiscated
property. By these acts he gained the attachment of the people; and he
won the affection of the members of his party and those who had fought
for him also. For upon the senators he bestowed priesthoods and
offices,--some which lasted for the rest of that year and some which
extended to the following season. In order to reward a larger number he
appointed ten praetors for the next year and more than the customary
number of priests. To the pontifices and the augurs, of whom he was one,
and to the so-called Fifteen he added one each, although he really
wished to take all the priesthoods himself, as had been decreed. To the
knights in his army and to the centurions and subordinate officers he
gave among other rights the important privilege of choosing some of
their own number for the senate to fill the places of those who had
perished.

[-52-] The unrest of the troops, however, made trouble for him. They had
expected to obtain great things, and finding their rewards not less, to
be sure, than their deserts, but inferior to their expectations, they
raised an outcry. The most of them were in Campania, being destined to
sail on ahead to Africa. These nearly killed Sallust, who had been
appointed praetor so as to recover his senatorial office, and when
escaping them he set out for Rome to lay before Caesar what was being
done, a number followed him, sparing no one on their way, and killed
among others whom they met two senators. Caesar as soon as he heard of
their approach wished to send his guard against them, but fearing that
it too might join the uprising he remained quiet until they reached the
suburbs. While they waited there he sent to them and enquired what wish
or what need had brought them. Upon their replying that they would tell
him face to face he allowed them to enter the city unarmed, save as to
their swords; these they were regularly accustomed to wear in the city,
and they would not have submitted to laying them aside at this time.
[-53-] They insisted a great deal upon the toils and dangers they had
undergone and said a great deal about what they had hoped and what they
declared they deserved to obtain. Next they asked to be released from
service and were very clamorous on this point, not because they wished
to return to private life,--they were far from anxious for this since they
had long become accustomed to the gains from warfare--but because they
thought they would scare Caesar in this way and accomplish anything
whatever, since his projected invasion of Africa was close at hand. He,
however, made no reply at all to their earlier statements, but said merely:
"Quirites,[81] what you say is right: you are weary and worn out with
wounds," and then at once disbanded them all as if he had no further
need of them, promising that he would give the rewards in full to such
as had served the appointed time. At these words they were struck with
alarm both at his attitude in general and because he had called them
_Quirites_ and not soldiers; and humiliated, in fear of suffering some
calamity, they changed their stand, and addressed him with many
entreaties and offers, promising that they would join his expedition as
volunteers and would carry the war through for him by themselves. When
they had reached this stage and one of their leaders also, either on his
own impulse or as a favor to Caesar, had said a few words and presented a
few petitions in their behalf, the dictator answered: "I release both
you who are here present and all the rest whose years of service have
expired. I really have no further need of you. Yet even so I will pay
you the rewards, that no one may say that I after using you in dangers
later showed myself ungrateful, even though you were unwilling to join
my campaign while perfectly strong in body and able in other respects to
prosecute a war." [-54-] said for effect, for they were quite
indispensable to him. He then assigned them all land from the public
holdings and from his own, settling them in different places, and
separating them considerable distances from one another, to the end that
they should not inspire their neighbors with terror nor (dwelling apart)
be ready for insurrection. Of the money that was owing them, large
amounts of which he had promised to give them at practically every levy,
he offered to discharge a part immediately and to supply the remainder
with interest in the near future. When he had said this and so
enthralled them that they showed no sign of boldness but expressed their
gratitude, he added: "You have all that is due you from me, and I will
compel no one of you to endure campaigns any longer. If, however, any
one wishes of his own accord to help me subjugate what remains, I will
gladly receive him." Hearing this they were overjoyed, and all alike
were anxious to join the new expedition.

[-55-]Caesar put side the turbulent spirits among them, not all, but as
many as were moderately well acquainted with farming and so could make a
living,--and the rest he used. This he did also in the case of the rest
of his soldiers. Those who were overbold and able to cause some great
evil he took away from Italy in order that they might not raise an
insurrection by being left behind there; and in Africa he was glad to
employ different men on different pretexts, for while he was making away
with his opponents through their work, he at the same time got rid of
them. Though he was the kindliest of men and most frequently did favors
of various sorts for his soldiers and others, he bitterly hated those
given to uprisings and punished them with extreme severity.

This he did in that year in which he ruled as dictator really for the
second time and the consuls were said to be Calenus and Vatinius,
appointed near the close of the season.[-56-] He next crossed over into,
although winter had set in. And he had no little success when, somewhat
later, he made an unlooked for attack on his opponents. On all occasions
he accomplished a great deal by his rapidity and the unexpectedness of
his expeditions, so that if any one should try to study out what it was
that made him so superior to his contemporaries in warfare, he would
find by careful comparison that there was nothing more striking than
these two characteristics. Africa had not been friendly to Caesar
formerly, but after Curio's death it became entirely hostile. Affairs
were in the hands of Varus and Juba, and furthermore Cato, Scipio, and
their followers had taken refuge there simultaneously, as I have stated.
After this they made common cause in the war, trained the land forces,
and making descents by sea upon Sicily and Sardinia they harassed the
cities and brought back ships from which they obtained[82] arms andiron
besides, which alone they lacked. Finally they reached such a condition
of readiness and disposition that, as no army opposed them and Caesar
delayed in Egypt and the capital, they despatched Pompey to Spain. On
learning that the peninsula was in revolt they thought that the people
would readily receive him as being the son of Pompey the Great; and
while he made preparations to occupy Spain in a short time and set out
from there to the capital, the others were getting ready to make the
voyage to Italy. [-57-] At the start they experienced a slight delay,
due to a dispute between Varus and Scipio about the leadership because
the former had held sway for a longer time in these regions, and also
Juba, elated by his victory, demanded that he should have first place.
But Scipio and Cato reached an agreement as being far in advance of them
all, the former in esteem, the latter in understanding, and won over the
rest, persuading them to entrust everything to Scipio. Cato, who might
have led the forces on equal terms with him or even alone, refused,
first because he thought it a most injurious course in the actual state
of affairs, and second, because he was inferior to the other in
political renown. For he saw that in military matters the principle of
preference to ex-magistrates as a matter of course had especial force,
and therefore he willingly yielded him the command and furthermore
delivered to him the troops that he had brought there. After this Cato
made a request for Utica, which was suspected of favoring Caesar's cause
and had come near having its citizens removed by the others on this
account, and he received it to guard; and the whole country and sea in
that vicinity was entrusted to his garrisons. The rest Scipio commanded
as dictator. His very name was a source of strength to those who sided
with him, since by some strange, unreasonable hope they believed that no
Scipio could meet with misfortune in Africa.

[-58-] Caesar, when he learned this and saw that his own soldiers also
were persuaded that it was so and were consequently afraid, took with
him as an aid a man of the family of the Scipios who bore that name (he
was otherwise known as Salvito)[83]and then made the voyage to
Adrymetum, since the neighborhood of Utica was strictly guarded. His
unexpected crossing in the winter enabled him to escape detection. When
he had left his ship an accident happened to him which, even if some
disaster was portended by Heaven, he nevertheless turned to a good omen.
Just as he was setting foot on land he slipped, and the soldiers seeing
him fall on his face were disheartened and in their chagrin raised an
outcry; but he never lost his presence of mind, and stretching out his
hands as if he had fallen on purpose he embraced and kissed repeatedly
the land, and cried with a shout: "I have thee, Africa!" His next move
was an assault upon Adrymetum, from which he was repulsed and moreover
driven violently out of his camp. Then he transferred his position to
another city called Ruspina, and being received by the inhabitants set
up his winter quarters there and made it the base for subsequent
warfare.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

43

The following is contained in the Forty-third of Dio's Rome:

How Caesar conquered Scipio and Juba (chapters 1-8). How the Romans got
possession of Numidia (chapter 9). How Cato slew himself (chapters
10-13). How Caesar returned to Rome and celebrated his triumph and
settled what business remained (chapters 14-21). How the Forum of Caesar
and the Temple of Venus were consecrated (chapters 22-25). How Caesar
arranged the year in its present fashion (chapters 26, 27). How Caesar
conquered in Spain Gnaeus Pompey the son of Pompey (chapters 28-45). How
for the first time consuls were appointed for not an entire year
(chapters 46-48). How Carthage and Corinth received colonies (chapters
49, 50). How the Aediles Cereales were appointed (chapter 51).

Duration of time, three years, in which there were the following
magistrates here enumerated.

C. Iulius C.F. Caesar, Dictator (III), with Aemilius Lepidus, Master of
Horse, and Consul (III) with Aemilius Lepidus Cos. (B.C. 46--a.u. 708.)

C. Iulius Caesar, Dictator (IV), with Aemilius Lepidus, Master of Horse;
also Consul (IV) alone. (B.C. 45--a.u. 709.)

C. Iulius Caesar, Dictator (V), with Aemilius Lepidus, Master of Horse,
and Consul (V) with M. Antonius Cos. (B.C. 44--a.u. 710.)


(_BOOK 43, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 46 (_a.u._ 708)]

[-1-] Such were his adventures at this time. The following year he
became both dictator and consul at the same time (it was the third
occasion on which he had filled each of the two offices), and Lepidus
became his colleague in both instances. When he had been named dictator
by Lepidus the first time, he had sent him immediately after the
praetorship into Hither Spain; and when he returned he had honored him
with triumphal celebrations though Lepidus had conquered no foes nor so
much as fought with any,--the excuse being that he had been at the scene
of the exploits of Longinus and of Marcellus. Yet he sent home nothing
(if you want the facts) except what money he had plundered from the
allies. Caesar besides exalting Lepidus with these honors chose him
subsequently as his colleague in both the positions mentioned.

[-2-] Now while they were still in office, the populace of Rome became
excited by prodigies. There was a wolf seen in the city, and a pig that
save for its feet resembled an elephant was brought forth. In Africa,
too, Petreius and Labienus who had observed that Caesar had gone out to
villages after grain, by means of the Nomads drove his cavalry, that had
not yet thoroughly recovered strength from its sea-voyage, in upon the
infantry; and while as a result the force was in utter confusion, they
killed many of the soldiers at close quarters. They would have cut down
all the rest besides, who had crowded together on a bit of high ground,
had they not been severely wounded. Even as it was, by this deed they
alarmed Caesar considerably. When he stopped to consider how he had been
tripped by a few, while expecting, too, that Scipio and Juba would
arrive directly with all their powers, as they had been reported, he was
decidedly in a dilemma, and did not know what course to adopt. He was
not yet able to bring the war to a satisfactory conclusion; he saw,
furthermore, that to stay in the same place was difficult because of the
lack of subsistence even if the foe should keep away from his troops,
and that to retire was impossible, with the enemy pressing upon him both
by land and by sea. Consequently he was in a state of dejection.

[-3-] He was still in this situation when one Publius Sittius (if we
ought to call it him, and not the Divine Power) brought at one stroke
salvation and victory. This man had been exiled from Italy, and had
taken along some fellow-exiles: after crossing over into Mauritania he
collected a band and was general under Bocchus. Though he had no benefit
from Caesar to start with, and although in general he was not known to
him, he undertook to share in the war and to help him to overcome the
existing difficulty. Accordingly he bore no direct aid to Caesar himself,
for he heard that the latter was at a distance and thought that his own
assistance (for he had no large body of troops) would prove of small
value to him. It was Juba whom he watched start out on his expedition,
and then he invaded Numidia, which along with Gaetulia (likewise a part
of Juba's dominion) he harried so completely that the king gave up the
project before him and turned back in the midst of his journey with most
of his army; some of it he had sent off to Scipio. This fact made it as
evident as one could wish that if Juba had also come up, Caesar would
never have withstood the two. He did not so much as venture to join
issue with Scipio alone at once, because he stood in terrible dread of
the elephants (among other things), partly on account of their fighting
abilities, but still more because they were forever throwing his cavalry
into confusion. [-4-] Therefore, while keeping as strict a watch over
the camp as he could, Caesar sent to Italy for soldiers and elephants. He
did not count on the latter for any considerable military achievement
(since there were not many of them) but intended that the horses, by
becoming accustomed to the sight and sound of them, should learn for the
future not to fear at all those belonging to the enemy.

Meanwhile, also, the Gaetulians came over to his side, with some others
of the neighboring tribes. The latter's reasons for this step were,
first,--the persuasion of the Gaetuli, who, they heard, had been greatly
honored, and second, the fact that they remembered Marius, who was a
relative of Caesar. When this had occurred, and his auxiliaries from
Italy in spite of delay and danger caused by bad weather and hostile
agents had nevertheless accomplished the passage, he did not rest a
moment. On the contrary he was eager for the conflict, looking to
annihilate Scipio in advance of Juba's arrival, and moved forward
against him in the direction of a city called Uzitta, where he took up
his quarters on a certain crest overlooking both the city and the
enemy's camp, having first dislodged those who were holding it. Soon
after this he chased Scipio, who had attacked him, away from this higher
ground, and by charging down behind him with his cavalry did some
damage.

This position accordingly he held and fortified; and he took another on
the other side of the city by dislodging Labienus from it; after which
he walled off the entire town. For Scipio, fearing lest his own power be
spent too soon, would no longer risk a battle with Caesar, but sent for
Juba. And when the latter repeatedly failed to obey his summons he
(Scipio) promised to relinquish to him all the rights that the Romans
had in Africa. At that, Juba appointed others to have charge of the
operations against Sittius, and once more started out himself against
Caesar.

[-5-] While this was going on Caesar tried in every way to draw Scipio
into close quarters. Baffled in this, he made friendly overtures to the
latter's soldiers, and distributed among them brief pamphlets, in which
he promised to the native that he would preserve his possessions
unharmed, and to the Roman that he would grant immunity and the honors
which he owed to his own followers. Scipio in like manner undertook to
circulate both offers and pamphlets among the opposite party, with a
view to making some of them his own: however, he was unable to induce
any of them to change sides. Not that some of them would not have chosen
his cause by preference, if any announcement similar to Caesar's had been
made: their failure to do so was due to the fact that he promised them
nothing in the way of a prize, but merely urged them to liberate the
Roman people and the senate. And so, inasmuch as he chose a respectable
proposition instead of something which would advantage them in the needs
of the moment, he failed to gain the allegiance of a single one.

[-6-] While Scipio alone was in the camp, matters progressed as just
described, but when Juba also came up, the scene was changed. For these
two both tried to provoke their opponents to battle and harassed them
when they showed unwillingness to contend; moreover by their cavalry
they kept inflicting serious damage upon any who were scattered at a
distance. But Caesar was not for getting into close quarters with them if
he could help it. He stuck to his circumvallation, kept seizing
provender as was convenient, and sent after other forces from home. When
at last these reached him with much difficulty--(for they were not all
together, but kept gathering gradually, since they lacked boats in which
to cross in a body)--still, when in the course of time they did reach
him and he had added them to his army, he took courage again; so much
so, that he led out against the foe, and drew up his men in front of the
trenches. Seeing this his opponents marshaled themselves in turn, but
did not join issue with Caesar's troops. This continued for several days.
For aside from cavalry skirmishes of limited extent after which they
would invariably retire, neither side risked any important movement.

[-7-] Accordingly Caesar, who bethought himself that because of the
nature of the land he could not force them to come into close quarters
unless they chose, started toward Thapsus, in order that either they
might come to the help of the city and so engage his forces, or, if they
neglected it, he might capture the place. Now Thapsus is situated on a
kind of peninsula, with the sea on one side and a marsh stretching along
on the other: between them lies a narrow, swampy isthmus so that one has
access to the town from two directions by an extremely narrow road
running along both sides of the marsh close to the surf. On his way
toward this city Caesar, when he had come within these narrow approaches,
proceeded to dig ditches and to erect palisades. And the others made no
trouble for him (for they were not his match), but Scipio and Juba
undertook to wall off in turn the neck of the isthmus, where it comes to
an end near the mainland, dividing it into two portions by means of
palisades and ditches.

[-8-] They were still at work, and accomplishing a great deal every day
(for in order that they might build the wall across more quickly they
had assigned the elephants to that portion along which a ditch had not
yet been dug and on that account was somewhat accessible to the enemy,
while on the remaining defences all were working), when Caesar suddenly
attacked the others, the followers of Scipio, and with slings and arrows
from a distance threw the elephants into thorough confusion. As they
retreated he not only followed them up, but unexpectedly reaching the
workers he routed them, too. When they fled into the redoubt, he dashed
in with them and captured it without a blow.

Juba, seeing this, was so startled and terrified, that he ventured
neither to come into close quarters with any one, nor even to keep the
camp properly guarded, but fled incontinently homeward. So then, when no
one would receive him, chiefly because Sittius had conquered all
antagonists beforehand, he renounced all chances of safety, and with
Petreius, who likewise had no hope of amnesty, in single conflict fought
and died.

[-9-]Caesar, immediately after Juba's flight, captured the palisade and
wrought a vast slaughter among all those that met his troops: he spared
not even those who would change to his side. Next, meeting with no
opposition, he brought the rest of the cities to terms; the Nomads whom
he acquired he reduced to a state of submission, and delivered to
Sallust nominally to rule, but really to harry and plunder. This officer
certainly did receive many bribes and make many confiscations, so that
accusations were even preferred and he bore the stigma of the deepest
disgrace, inasmuch as after writing such treatises as he had, and making
many bitter remarks about those who enjoyed the fruits of others' labor,
he did not practice what he preached. Wherefore, no matter how full
permission was given him by Caesar, yet in his History the man himself
had chiseled his own code of principles deep, as upon a tablet.

Such was the course which events took. Now as for These tribes in Libya,
the Region surrounding Carthage (which we call also Africa) received the
title of Old, because it had been long ago subjugated, whereas the
region of the Nomads was called New, because it had been newly captured.
Scipio, who had fled from the battle, chancing upon a boat set sail for
Spain and Pompey. He was cast ashore, however, upon Mauritania, and
through fear of Sittius made way with himself.

[-10-] Cato, since many had sought refuge with him, was at first
preparing to take a hand in affairs and to offer a certain amount of
resistance to Caesar. But the men of Utica were not in the beginning
hostile to Caesar, and now, seeing him victorious, would not listen to
Cato. This made the members of the senate and the knights who were
present afraid of arrest at their hands, and they took counsel for
flight. Cato himself decide neither to war against Caesar--indeed, he
lacked the power,--nor to give himself up. This was not through any
fear: he understood well enough that Caesar would have been very ready to
spare him for the sake of that reputation for humaneness: but it was
because he was passionately in love with freedom, and would not brook
defeat in aught at the hands of any man, and regarded pity emanating
from Caesar as more hateful than death.

He called together those of the citizens who were Present, enquired
whither each one of them had determined to proceed, sent them forth with
supplies for the journey, and bade his son betake himself to Caesar.

To the youth's interrogation, "Why then do you also not do so?" he
replied:--"I, brought up in freedom, with the right of free speech, can
not in my old age change and learn slavery instead; but you, who were
both born and brought up under such a régime, you ought to serve the
deity that presides over your fortunes."

[-11-] When he had done this, after sending to the people of Utica an
account of his administration and returning to them the surplus funds,
as well as whatever else of theirs he had, he was filled with a desire
to depart previous to Caesar's arrival. He did not undertake any such
project by day (for his son and others surrounding him kept him under
surveillance), but when evening was come he slipped a tiny dagger
secretly under his pillow, and asked for Plato's book on the Soul, [84]
which he had written out. This he did either endeavoring to divert the
company from the suspicion that he had any sinister plan in mind, in
order to render himself as free from scrutiny as possible, or else in
the wish to obtain some little consolation in respect to death from the
reading of it. When he had read the work through, as it drew on toward
midnight, he stealthily drew out the dagger, and smote himself upon the
belly. He would have immediately died from loss of blood, had he not by
falling from the low couch made a noise and aroused those sleeping in
the antechamber. Thereupon his son and some others who rushed in duly
put back his bowels into his belly again, and brought medical attendance
for him. Then they took away the dagger and locked the doors, that he
might obtain sleep,--for they had no idea of his perishing in any other
way. But he, having thrust his hands into the wound and broken the
stitches of it expired.

Thus Cato, who had proved himself both the most democratic and the
strongest willed of his contemporaries acquired a great glory even from
his very death, so that he obtained the commemorative title "of Utica,"
both because he had died, as described, in that city, and because he was
publicly buried by the people.[-12-] Caesar declared that with him he was
angry, because Cato had grudged him the distinction attaching to the
preservation of such a man, but released his son and most of the rest,
as was his custom: for some came over to him immediately of their own
volition, and others later, so as to approach him after time should have
somewhat blurred his memory. So these escaped, but Afranius and Faustus
would not come to him of their own free will, for they felt sure of
destruction. They fled to Mauritania, where they were captured by
Sittius. Caesar put them to death without a trial, on the ground that
they were captives for a second time.[85] And in the case of Lucius
Caesar, though the man was related to him and came a voluntary suppliant,
nevertheless, since he had fought against him straight through, he at
first bade him stand trial so that the conqueror might seem to have some
legal right on his side in condemning him: later Caesar shrank from
killing him by his own vote, and put it off for the time, but afterward
did slay him secretly. [-13-] Even among his own followers those that
did not suit him he sacrificed without compunction to the opposing side
in some cases, and in others by prearrangement caused them to perish in
the actual conflicts, through the agency of their own comrades, for, as
I have said, he did not take measures openly against all those that had
troubled him, but any that he could not prosecute on some substantial
charge he quietly put out of the way in some obscure fashion. And yet at
that time he burned without reading all the papers that were found in
the private chests of Scipio, and of the men who had fought against him
he preserved many for their own sakes, and many also on account of their
friends. For, as has been said, he allowed each of his fellow-soldiers
and companions to ask the life of one man. He would have preserved Cato,
too. For he had conceived such an admiration for him that when Cicero
subsequently wrote an encomium of Cato he was no whit vexed,--although
Cicero had likewise warred against him,--but merely wrote a short
treatise which he entitled Anticato.

[-14-]Caesar after these events at once and before crossing into Italy
disencumbered himself of the more elderly among his soldiers for fear
they might revolt again. He arranged the other matters in Africa just as
rapidly as was feasible and sailed as far as Sardinia with all his
fleet. From that point he sent the discarded troops in the company of
Graius Didius into Spain against Pompey, and himself returned to Rome,
priding himself chiefly upon the brilliance of his achievements but also
to some extent upon the decrees of the senate. For they had decreed that
offerings should be made for his victory during forty days, and they had
granted him leave to celebrate the previously accorded triumph upon
white horses and with such lictors as were then in his company, with as
many others as he had employed in his first dictatorship, and all the
rest, besides, that he had in his second. Further, they elected him
superintendent of every man's conduct (for some such name was given him,
as if the title of censor were not worthy of him), for three years, and
dictator for ten in succession. They moreover voted that he should sit
in the senate upon the sella curulis with the acting consuls, and should
always state his opinion first, that he should give the signal in all
the horse-races, and that he should have the appointment of the officers
and whatever else formerly the people were accustomed to assign. And
they resolved that a representation of his chariot be set on the Capitol
opposite Jupiter, that upon an image of the inhabited world a bronze
figure of Caesar be mounted, holding a written statement to the effect
that he was a demi-god, and that his name be inscribed upon the Capitol,
in place of that of Catulus, on the ground that he had finished the
temple, in the course of the construction of which he had undertaken to
call Catulus to account. These are the only measures I have recorded,
not because they were also the only ones voted,--for a vast number of
things was proposed and of course ratified,--but because he disregarded
the rest, whereas these he accepted.

[-15-] Now that they had been settled, he entered Rome, where he saw
that the inhabitants were afraid of his power and suspicious of his
designs as a result of which they expected to suffer many terrible evils
such as had taken place before. Seeing also that on this account
excessive honors had been accorded him, through flattery but not through
good-will, he began to encourage the Romans and to inspire them with
hope by the following speech delivered in the senate:

"Let none of you, Conscript Fathers, expect that I shall make any harsh
proclamation or perform any cruel act merely because I have conquered
and am able to say whatever I may please without being called to
account, and to do with authority whatever I may choose. It is true that
Marius and Cinna and Sulla and all the rest, so to speak, who ever
subdued their adversaries, in their initial undertakings said and did
much that was humane, principally as a result of which they converted to
their side some whose alliance, or at least whose refraining from
hostilities, they enjoyed; and then after conquering and becoming
masters of the ends they sought, they adopted a course of behavior
diametrically opposed to their former stand both in word and in deed.
Let no one, however, for any such reason assume that this same policy
will be mine. I have not associated with you in former time under a
disguise, possessing in reality some different nature, only to become
emboldened in security now because that is possible: nor have I been so
excited or beclouded by my great good fortune as to desire also to play
the tyrant over you. Both of these afflictions, or rather the second,
seems to have befallen those men whom I mentioned. No, I am in nature
the same sort of a man as you have always found me:--why should I go
into details and become burdensome by a praise of self?--I should not
think of treating Fortune so shabbily, but the more I have enjoyed her
favors, the better will I use her in every respect. I have been anxious
to secure so great power and to rise to such a height as to chastise all
active foes and admonish all those disaffected for no other reason than
that I might be able to play a brave part without danger, and to obtain
prosperity with fame. [-16-] It is not, besides, in general either noble
or just for a man to be convicted of adopting that course for which he
had rebuked those who differed from him in opinion: nor should I ever be
satisfied to be compared with them through my imitation of their deeds,
and to differ merely by the reputation of my complete victory. For who
ought to benefit people more and more abundantly than he who has the
greatest power. Who ought to err less than he who is the strongest? Who
should use the gifts of Heaven more sensibly than he who has received
the greatest from that source? Who ought to handle present blessings
more uprightly than he who has the most of them and is most afraid of
their being lost? Good fortune, joined with temperance, continues: and
authority, if it maintains moderation, preserves all that has been
gained. Above all, as is seldom the case with those persons that succeed
without virtue, they make it possible for rulers while alive to be loved
unfeignedly, and when, dead to receive genuine praise. But the man who
without restraint absolutely applies his power to everything finds for
himself neither real good-will nor certain safety, but though accorded a
false flattery in public [is secretly cursed][86]. For the whole world,
besides those who associate with him most, both suspect and fear a ruler
who is not master of his own authority.

[-17-] "Again, these words that I have spoken are no mere quibbles, and
I have tried to make you understand that they have not fallen into my
head for ostentation or by mere chance on the present occasion: on the
contrary, from the outset I realized that this course was both suitable
and advantageous for me; that is why I both think and speak thus.
Consequently you may be not only of good courage with reference to the
present, but hopeful as regards the future, reflecting (if you think I
used any pretence), that I would not be deferring my projects, but would
have made them known this very day.

"However, I was never otherwise minded in times past, as my works
themselves, indeed, doubtless prove and now I shall feel far more
eagerness with all order and decency not,--forbid it, Jupiter!--not to
be your master, but your head man, not your tyrant, but your leader. In
the matter of accomplishing for you everything else that must be done, I
will be both consul and dictator, but in the matter of injuring any one,
a private citizen. That possibility I do not think should be even
mentioned. Why should I put any one of you to death, who have done me no
harm, when I destroyed none of my adversaries, even if with the utmost
zeal they had taken[87] part with various enemies against me, but I took
pity on all those that had withstood me but once, saving many alive of
those that fought on the opposing side a second time? How should I bear
malice toward any, seeing that without reading or making excerpts I
immediately burned all the documents that were found among the private
papers both in Pompey's and in Scipio's tents? So then, let us,
Conscript Fathers, boldly unite our interests, forgetting all past
events as brought to pass simply by some supernatural Force, and
beginning to love each the other without suspicion as though we were
some new citizens. In this way you may behave yourselves toward me as
toward a father, enjoying the fore-thought and solicitude which I shall
give you and fearing no vexation, and I may have charge of you as of
children, praying that all noblest deeds may be ever! accomplished by
your exertions, and enduring perforce human limitations, exalting the
excellent by fitting honors and correcting the rest so far as is
feasible.

[-18-] "Another point--do not fear the soldiers nor regard them in any
other light than as guardians of my dominion, which is at the same time
yours: that they should be maintained is inevitable, for many reasons,
but they will be maintained for your benefit, not against you; they will
be content with what is given them and think well of the givers. For
this reason larger taxes than is customary have been levied, in order
that the opposition might be made submissive and the victorious element,
receiving sufficient support, might not become an opposition. Of course
I have received no private gain from these funds, seeing that I have
expended for you all that I possessed, including much that I had
borrowed. No, you can see that a part has been expended on the wars, and
the rest has been kept safe for you: it will serve to adorn the city and
administer the other governmental departments. I have, then, taken upon
my own shoulders the odium of the levy, whereas you will all enjoy its
advantages in common, in the campaigns as well as elsewhere. We are in
need of arms, at every moment, since without them it is impossible for
us, who inhabit so great a city and hold so extensive an empire, to live
safely: now the surplus of money will be a mighty assistance in this
matter. However, let none of you suspect that I shall harass any man who
is rich or establish any new taxes: I shall be satisfied with the
present collections and be anxious to help make some contribution to you
than to wrong any one for his money."

By such, statements in the senate and afterward before the people Caesar
relieved them to some extent of their fears, but was not able to
persuade them entirely to be of good courage until he corroborated his
declarations by his deeds.

[-19-] After this he conducted subsequent proceedings in a brilliant
manner, as was fitting in honor of so many and such decisive victories.
He celebrated triumphs over the Gauls, for Egypt, for Pharnaces and for
Juba, in four sections, on four separate days. Most of it doubtless
delighted the spectators, but the sight of Arsinoë of Egypt--he had
brought her along among the captives--and the horde of lictors and the
symbols of triumph taken from citizens who had fallen in Africa
displeased them exceedingly. The lictors, on account of their numbers,
appeared to them a most outrageous multitude, since never before had
they beheld so many at one time: and the sight of Arsinoë, a woman and
once called queen, in chains (a spectacle which had never yet been
offered, in Rome at least), aroused very great pity, and in consequence
on this excuse they incidentally lamented their personal misfortunes.
She, to be sure, was released out of consideration for her brothers, but
others including Vercingetorix were put to death.

[-20-] The people, accordingly, were disagreeably affected by these
sights that I have mentioned, and yet they deemed them very few
considering the multitude of the captives and the magnitude of Caesar's
accomplishments. This, as well as the fact that he endured very
goodnaturedly the army's outspoken comments,[88] led them to admire him
extremely. For they made sport of those of their own number appointed to
the senate by him and all the other failings of which he was
accused:[89] most of all they jested about his love for Cleopatra and
his sojourn at the court of Nicomedes, ruler of Bithynia, inasmuch as he
had once been at his court when a lad; indeed, they even declared that
Caesar had enslaved[90] the Gauls, but Nicomedes Caesar. Finally, on the
top of all the rest they all together with a shout declared that if you
do well, you will be punished, but if ill you shall rule.[91] This was
meant by them to signify that if Caesar should restore self-government to
the people--which they regarded as just--and stand trial for the acts he
had committed outside the laws, he would even undergo punishment;
whereas, if he should cleave to his power,--which they deemed the course
of an unjust person,--he would continue sole ruler. As for him, however,
he was not displeased at their saying this: on the contrary he was quite
delighted that by such frankness toward him they showed a belief that he
would never be angry at it,--except in so far as their abuse concerned
his association with Nicomedes. At this he was decidedly irritated and
evidently pained: he attempted to defend himself, denying with an oath
that the case was such, and after that he incurred the further penalty
of laughter.

[-21-] Now on the first day of the festival of victory a portent far
from good fell to his lot. The axle of the triumphal chariot was crushed
just opposite the very temple of Fortune built by Lucullus, so that he
had to complete the rest of the course in another. On this occasion,
too, he climbed up the stairs of the Capitol on his knees, without
noticing at all either the chariot which he had dedicated to Jupiter, or
the image of the inhabited world lying beneath his feet, or the
inscription upon it: later on, however, he erased from that inscription
the name demi-god.

After this triumphal celebration he entertained the populace splendidly,
giving them grain beyond the regular measure and olive oil. Also, to the
multitude which received the present of grain he assigned the
seventy-five denarii which he had promised in advance, and twenty-five
more, but to the soldiers five hundred in one sum. Yet he was not merely
ostentatious: in most respects he was very exact; for instance, since
the throng receiving doles of grain had for a very long period been
growing not by lawful methods of increase but in such ways as are common
in popular tumults, he investigated the matter and erased half of their
names at one time.

[-22-] The first days of the fête he passed as was customary: on the
last day, after they had finished dinner, he entered his own forum
wearing fancy sandals and garlanded with all sorts of flowers; thence he
proceeded homeward with the entire populace, so to speak, alongside
escorting him, while many elephants carried torches. He had himself
adorned the forum called after him, and it is distinctly more beautiful
than the Roman (Forum); yet it had increased the reputation of the other
so that that was called the Great Forum. This forum which he had
constructed and the temple of Venus, looked upon as the founder of his
race, he dedicated at this very time. In honor of them he instituted
many contests of all kinds. He furnished with benches a kind of
hunting-theatre, which from the fact that it had seats all around
without a canopy was called an amphitheatre. Here in honor of his
daughter he had animals killed and contests between men in armor; but
whoever should care to write down their number would doubtless render
his narrative tedious besides falling into errors; for all such things
are regularly exaggerated by boasting. [-23-] I shall accordingly pass
over this, and be silent on the other like events that subsequently took
place--unless, of course, it should seem to me thoroughly necessary to
mention some particular point,--but I will give an account of the
so-called camelopard, because it was then for the first time introduced
into Rome by Caesar and exhibited to all. This animal is in general a
camel, except that it has sets of legs not of equal length. That is, its
hind legs are shorter. Beginning from the rump its back grows gradually
higher, appearing as if it would ascend indefinitely, until the most of
its body reaching its loftiest point is supported on the front legs,
while the neck stretches up to an unusual height. It has skin spotted
like a leopard, and for this reason bears the name common to both
animals. Such is the appearance of this beast.

As for the men, he not only pitted one against another in the Forum, as
had been customary, but he also in the hippodrome brought them together
in companies, horsemen against horsemen, fighters on foot against
similar contestants, and others that were a match for one another
indiscriminately. Some even, forty in number, fought from elephants.
Finally he produced a naval battle, not on the sea nor on the lake but
on land. He hollowed out a certain tract on the Campus Martius and by
letting water into it introduced ships. In all the contests the captives
and those condemned to death took part. Some even of the knights,
and,--not to mention others,--a son of a man who had been praetor fought
in single combat. Indeed, a senator named Fulvius Sepinus[92] desired to
contend in full armor, but was prevented; for Caesar had expressed a
fervent wish that that should never take place, though he did permit the
knights to contend. The patrician children went through the so-called
Troy equestrian exercise according to ancient custom, and the young men
who were their peers vied with one another in chariots.

[-24-] Still, it must be said he was blamed for the great number of
those who were slain, on the ground that he had not himself become
satiated with slaughter and was further exhibiting to the populace
symbols of their own miseries; and much more so because he had expended
on all that array countless sums. A clamor in consequence was raised
against him for two reasons,--that he had collected most of the funds
unjustly, and that he had used them up for such purposes.

And by mentioning one feature of his extravagance of that time I shall
thereby give an inkling of all the rest. In order that the sun might not
annoy any of the spectators he had curtains stretched over them made of
silk, according to some accounts. Now this product of the loom is a
device of barbarian luxury and from them has come down even to us to
satisfy the excessive daintiness of veritable women. The civilians
perforce held their peace at such acts, but the soldiers raised an
outcry, not because they cared about the money recklessly squandered but
because they did not themselves get what was appropriated to those
displays. In fact they did not cease from confusion till Caesar suddenly
coming upon them with his own hand seized one man and delivered him up
to punishment. This person was executed for the reasons stated, and two
other men were slaughtered as a kind of piece of ritual. The true cause
I am unable to state, inasmuch as the Sibyl made no utterance and there
was no other similar oracle, but at any rate they were sacrificed in the
Campus Martius by the pontifices and the priest of Mars, and their heads
were set up near the palace.

[-25-] While Caesar was thus engaged he was also enacting many laws,
passing over most of which I shall mention only those most deserving
attention. The courts he entrusted to the senators and the knights alone
so that the purest element of the population, so far as was possible,
might always preside: formerly some of the common people had also joined
with them in rendering decisions. The expenditures, moreover, of men of
means which had been rendered enormous by their licentiousness he not
only controlled by law but put a strong check upon them by practical
measures. There was, on account of the numbers of warriors that had
perished, a dangerous scarcity of population, as was proved both from
the censuses (which he attended to, among other things, as if he were
censor) and from actual observation, consequently he offered prizes for
large families of children. Again, because he himself as a result of
ruling the Gauls many years in succession had been attracted into a
desire for dominion and had by it increased the equipment of his force,
he limited by law the term of ex-praetors to one year, and that of
ex-consuls to two consecutive years, and enacted in general that no one
should be allowed to hold any office for a longer time.

[-26-] After the passage of these laws he also established in their
present fashion the days of the year (which were not definitely settled
among the people, since even at that time they regulated their months
according to the movements of the moon) by adding sixty-seven days, all
that were necessary to bring the year out even. In the past some have
declared that even more were interpolated, but the truth is as I have
stated it. He got this improvement from his stay in Alexandria, save in
so far as those people calculate their months as of thirty days each,
afterward annexing the five days to the entire year as a whole, whereas
Caesar distributed among seven months these five along with two other
days that he took away from one month.[93] The one day, however, which
is made up of four parts Caesar introduced every fourth year, so as to
have the annual seasons no longer differ at all except in the slightest
degree. In fourteen hundred and sixty-one years there is need of only
one (additional) intercalary day.[94]

[-27-] All these and other undertakings which he was planning for the
common weal he accomplished not by independent declaration nor by
independent cogitation, but he communicated everything in every instance
to the heads of the senate, sometimes even to the entire body And to
this practice most of all was due the fact that even when he passed some
rather harsh measures, he still succeeded in pleasing them. For these
actions he received praise; but inasmuch as he had some of the tribunes
bring back many of those that stayed away from court, and allowed those
who were convicted of bribery in office on actual proof to live in
Italy, and furthermore numbered once more among the senate some who were
not worthy of it, many murmurings of all sorts arose against him. Yet
the greatest censure he incurred from all through his passion for
Cleopatra,--not the passion he had displayed in Egypt (that was mere
hearsay), but in Rome itself. For she had come to the city with her
husband and settled in Caesar's own house, so that he too derived an ill
repute from both of them. It caused him no anxiety, however; on the
contrary he enrolled them among the friends and allies of the Roman
people.

[-28-] Meanwhile he was learning in detail all that Pompey was doing in
Spain. Thinking him not hard to vanquish, he at first despatched his
fleet from Sardinia against him, but later sent on also the army that
was available by list, evidently intending to conduct the entire war
through his representatives. But when be ascertained that Pompey was
progressing mightily and that those sent were not sufficient to fight
against him, he finally himself went out to join the expedition,
entrusting the city to Lepidus and certain aediles,--eight as some think,
or six as is more commonly believed.

[-29-] The legions in Spain had rebelled during the period of command of
Longinus and Marcellus and some of the cities had revolted; upon the
removal of Longinus (Trebonius becoming his successor) they kept quiet
for a few days: after that through fear of vengeance from Caesar they
secretly sent ambassadors to Scipio expressing a wish to transfer their
allegiance. He despatched to them among others Gnaeus Pompey. The latter
being close to the Gymnasian[95] islands took possession of them without
a battle, save Ebusus: this one he brought over with difficulty, and
then falling sick delayed there together with his soldiers. As he was
late in returning, the soldiers in Spain, who had learned that Scipio
was dead and Didius had set sail against them, in their fear of being
annihilated before Pompey came failed to wait for him; but putting at
their head Titus Quintius Scapula and Quintus Aponius, Roman knights,
they drove out Trebonius and led the whole Baetic nation to revolt at the
same time. They had gone [-30-] thus far when Pompey, recovering from
his illness, arrived by sea at the mainland opposite. He immediately won
over several cities without resistance, for they were vexed at the
commands of their rulers and besides had no little hope in him because
of the memory of his father: Carthage,[96] which was unwilling to come
to terms, he besieged. The followers of Scapula on hearing this went
there and chose him general with full powers, after which they adhered
most closely to him and showed the most violent zeal, regarding his
successes as the successes of each individual and his disasters as their
own. Consequently they were strong for both reasons, striving to obtain
the successes and to avoid the disasters.

For Pompey, too, did what all are accustomed to do in the midst of such
tumults and revolutions and especially after some of the Allobroges had
deserted, whom Juba had taken alive in a war against Curio and had given
him, there was nothing that he did not grant the rest both by word and
deed.

They accordingly became more zealous in his behalf, and a number of the
opposing side, particularly all who had served under Afranius, came over
to him. Then there were those who came to him from Africa, among others
his brother Sextus, and Varus, and Labienus with his fleet. Therefore,
elated by the multitude of his army and their zeal he proceeded
fearlessly through the country, gaining some cities of their own accord,
some against their will, and seemed to surpass even his father in power.
[-31-] For though Caesar had generals in Spain,--Quintus Fabius Maximus
and Quintus Pedius, they did not think themselves a match for him, but
remained quiet themselves, while they sent in haste for their chief.

For a time matters went on so: but when a few of the men sent in advance
from Rome had reached there, and Caesar's arrival was looked for, Pompey
became frightened; and thinking that he was not strong enough to gain
the mastery of all Spain, he did not wait for a reverse before changing
his mind, but immediately, before testing the temper of his adversaries,
retired into Baetica. The sea, moreover, straightway became hostile to
him, and Varus was beaten in a naval battle near Carteia by Didius:
indeed, had he not escaped to the land and sunk anchors side by side at
the mouth of the harbor, upon which the foremost pursuers struck as on a
reef, the whole fleet would have perished. All the country at that point
except the city Ulia was an ally of Pompey's: this town, which had
refused to submit to him, he proceeded to besiege.

[-32-] Meanwhile Caesar, too, with a few men suddenly came up
unexpectedly not only to Pompey's followers, but even to his own
soldiers. He had employed such speed in the passage that he was seen
both by his adherents and by his opponents before news was brought that
he was actually in Spain. Now Caesar hoped from this very fact and his
mere presence to alarm Pompey in general, and to draw him from the
siege; that was why most of the army had been left behind on the road.

But Pompey, thinking that one man was not much superior to another and
quite confident in his own strength, was not seriously startled at the
other's arrival, but continued to besiege the city and kept making
assaults just as before. Hence Caesar stationed there a few soldiers from
among the first-comers and himself started for Corduba, partly because
he hoped to take it by treachery, but chiefly because he expected to
attract Pompey through fear for it away from Ulia. And so it turned out.
For at first Pompey left a portion of his army in position, went to
Corduba and strengthened it, and as Caesar did not withstand his troops,
put his brother Sextus in charge of it. However, he failed to accomplish
anything at Ulia: on the contrary, when a certain tower had fallen, and
that not shaken down by his own men but broken down by the crowd that
was making a defence from it, some few who rushed in did not come off
well; and Caesar approaching lent assistance secretly by night to the
citizens, and himself again made an expedition against Corduba, putting
it under siege in turn: then at last did Pompey withdraw entirely from
Ulia and hastened to the other town with his entire army,--a movement
not destitute of results. For Caesar, learning of this in advance, had
retired, as he happened to be sick. Afterward when he had recovered and
had taken charge of the additional troops who accompanied him he was
compelled to carry on warfare even in the winter. [-33-] Housed in
miserable little tents they were suffering distress and running short of
food. Caesar was at that time serving as dictator, and some time late,
near the close of the war, he was appointed consul, when Lepidus, who
was master of the horse, convoked the people for this purpose. He,
Lepidus, had become master of the horse at that time, having given
himself, while still in the consulship, that additional title contrary
to ancestral traditions.

Caesar, accordingly, compelled as I have said to carry on warfare even in
winter did not try to attack Corduba--it was strongly guarded--but
turned his attention to Ategua, a city in which he had learned that
there was an abundance of grain. Although it was strong, he hoped by the
size of his army and the sudden terror of his appearance to alarm the
inhabitants and capture it. In a short time he had palisaded it off and
dug a ditch round about. Pompey, encouraged by the nature of the country
and thinking that Caesar because of the winter would not besiege the
place to any great extent, paid no heed and did not try at first to
repel the assailants, since he was unwilling to injure his own soldiers
in the cold. Later on, when the town had been walled off and Caesar was
in position before it, he grew afraid and came with assistance. He fell
in with the pickets suddenly one misty night and killed a number of
them. The ungeneraled condition of the inhabitants he ameliorated by
sending to them Munatius Flaccus. The latter [-34-] had contrived the
following scheme to get inside. He went alone by night to some of the
guards as if appointed by Caesar to visit the sentries, asked and learned
the pass-word:--he was not known, of course, and would never have been
suspected by the separate contingents of being anything but a friend
when he acted in this manner:--then he left these men and went around to
the other side of the circumvallation where he met some other guards and
gave them the pass-word: after that he pretended that his mission was to
betray the city, and so went inside through the midst of the soldiers
with their consent and actually under their escort. He could not,
however, save the place. In addition to other setbacks there was one
occasion when the citizens hurled fire upon the engines and palisades of
the Romans, yet did no damage to them worth mentioning; but they
themselves by reason of a violent wind which just then began to blow
toward them from the opposite side fared ill: for their buildings were
set afire and many persons perished from the stones and missiles, not
being able to see any distance ahead of them for the smoke. After this
disaster, as their land was continually ravaged, and every now and then
a portion of their wall would fall, undermined, they began to riot.
Flaccus first conferred with Caesar by herald on the basis of pardon for
himself and followers: later he failed of this owing to his resolution
not to surrender his arms, but the rest of the natives subsequently sent
ambassadors and submitted to the terms imposed upon each.

[-35-] The capture of that city did not fail of its influence upon the
other peoples, but many themselves after sending envoys espoused Caesar's
cause, and many received him on his approach or his lieutenants. Pompey,
in consequence, at a loss which way to turn, at first made frequent
changes of base, wandering about now in one and now in another part of
the country: later on he became afraid that as a result of this very
behavior the rest of his adherents would also leave him in the lurch,
and chose to hazard all, although Heaven beforehand indicated his
defeat very clearly. To be sure, the drops of sweat that fell from
sacred statues and the confused noises of the legions, and the many
animals born which proved to be perversions of the proper type, and
the torches darting from sunrise to the sunset region--(all these signs
then met together in Spain at one time)--gave no clear manifestation
to which of the two combatants they were revealing the future. But the
eagles of his legions shook their wings and cast forth the golden
thunderbolts which some of them held in their talons: thus they would
hurl disaster directly at Pompey before flying off to Caesar.... For
a different force ... Heaven, and he held it in slight esteem, and so
into war ... settled down to battle.[97]

[-36-] Both had in addition to their citizen and mercenary troops many
of the natives and many Moors. For Bocchus[98] had sent his sons to
Pompey and Bogud in person accompanied Caesar's force. Still, the contest
turned out to be like a struggle of the Romans themselves, not of any
other nations. Caesar's soldiers derived courage from their numbers and
experience and above all from their leader's presence and so were
anxious to be done with the war and its attendant miseries. Pompey's men
were inferior in these respects, but, strong through their despair of
safety, should they fail to conquer, continued zealous.[99] Inasmuch as
the majority of them had been captured with Afranius and Varro, had been
spared, and delivered afterward to Longinus, from whom they had
revolted, they had no hope of safety if they were beaten, and as a
result of this were drawn toward desperation, feeling that they needed
to be of good cheer at that particular time or else perish utterly. So
the armies came together and began the battle. They had no longer any
dread of each other, since they had been so many times opposed in arms,
and for that reason required no urging. [-37-] In the course of the
engagement the allied forces on both sides quickly were routed and fled;
but the main bodies struggled in close combat to the utmost in their
resistance of each other. Not a man of them would yield. They remained
in position, wreaking slaughter and being slain, as if each separate man
was to be responsible to all the rest as well for the outcome of victory
or defeat. Consequently they were not concerned to see how their allies
were battling but set to work as if they alone were engaged. Neither
sound of paean nor groan was to be heard from any one of them: both
sides limited their shouts to "Strike! Kill!", while their acts easily
outran their speech. Caesar and Pompey, who saw this from horseback on
certain elevated positions, felt little inclination to either hope or
despair, but torn with doubts were equally distressed by confidence and
fear. The battle was so nearly balanced that they suffered tortures at
the sight, straining to spy out some advantage, and quivering lest they
descry some setback. Their souls were filled with prayers for success
and against misfortune, and with alternating strength and fear. In fact,
not being able to endure it long, they leaped from their horses and
joined the combat. Apparently they preferred a participation involving
personal exertion and danger rather than tension of spirit, and each
hoped by associating in the fight to turn the scale somehow in favor of
his own soldiers. Or, if they failed of that, they were content to meet
death, side by side with them.

[-38-] The generals, then, took part in the battle themselves. This
movement, however, resulted in no advantage to either army. On the
contrary,--when the men saw their chiefs sharing their danger, a far
greater disregard for their own death and eagerness for the destruction
of their opponents seized both alike. Accordingly neither side for the
moment turned to flight: matched in determination, they found their
persons matched in power. All would have perished, or else at nightfall
they would have parted with honors even, had not Bogud, who was
somewhere outside the press, made an advance upon Pompey's camp,
whereupon Labienus, seeing it, left his station to proceed against him.
Pompey's men, interpreting this as flight, lost heart. Later they
doubtless learned the truth but could no longer retrieve their position.
Some escaped to the city, some to the fortification. The latter body
vigorously fought off attacks and fell only when surrounded, while the
former for a long time kept the wall safe, so that it was not captured
till all of them had perished in sallies. So great was the total loss of
Romans on both sides that the victors, at a loss how to wall in the city
to prevent any running away in the night, actually heaped up the bodies
of the dead around it.

[-39-] Caesar, having thus conquered, took Corduba at once. Sextus had
retired from his path, and the natives, although their slaves, who had
purposely been made free, offered resistance, came over to his side. He
slew those under arms and obtained money by the sale of the rest. The
same course he adopted with those that held Hispalis, who at first,
pretending to be willing, had accepted a garrison from him, but later
massacred the soldiers that had come there, and entered upon a course of
warfare. In his expedition against them his rather careless conduct of
the siege caused them some hope of being able to escape. So then he
allowed them to come outside the wall, where he ambushed and destroyed
them, and in this way captured the town, which was soon destitute of
male defenders. Next he acquired and levied money upon Munda and the
other places, some that were unwilling with great slaughter and others
of their own accord. He did not even spare the offerings to Hercules,
consecrated in Gades, and he detached special precincts from some towns
and laid an added tribute upon others. This was his course toward those
who had opposed him; but to those who displayed any good-will toward him
he granted lands and freedom from taxation, to some, moreover,
citizenship, and to others the right to be considered Roman colonies; he
did not, however, grant these favors for nothing.

[-40-] While Caesar was thus occupied, Pompey, who had escaped in the
rout, reached the sea, intending to use the fleet that lay at anchor in
Carteia, but found that it had espoused the victor's cause. He
endeavored to embark in a boat, expecting to obtain safety thereby. In
the course of the attempt, however, he was roughly handled and in
dejection came to land again, where, taking some men that had assembled,
he set out for the interior. Pompey himself met defeat at the hands, of
Caesennius[100] Lento, with whom he fell in: he took refuge in a wood,
and was there killed. Didius, ignorant of the event, while wandering
about to join him met some other enemies and perished.

[-41-] Caesar, too, would doubtless have chosen to fall there, at the
hands of those who were still resisting and in the glory of war, in
preference to the fate he met not long after, to be cut down in his own
land and in the senate, at the hands of his best friends. For this was
the last war he carried through successfully, and this the last victory
that he won in spite of the fact that there was no project so great that
he did not hope to accomplish it. In this belief he was strengthened not
only by other reasons but most of all because from a palm that stood on
the site of the battle a shoot grew out immediately after the victory.

And I will not assert that this had no bearing in some direction; it
was, however, no longer for him, but for his sister's grandson,
Octavius: the latter made the expedition with him, and was destined to
shine forth brightly from his toils and dangers. As Caesar did not know
this, hoping that many great additional successes would fall to his own
lot he acted in no moderate fashion, but was filled with loftiness as if
immortal. [-42-] Though it was no foreign nation he had conquered, but a
great mass of citizens that he had destroyed, he not only personally
directed the triumph, incidentally regaling the entire populace again,
as if in honor of some common blessing, but also allowed Quintus Fabius
and Quintus Pedius to hold a festival. [101] Yet they had merely been
his lieutenants and had achieved no individual success. Naturally some
laughter was caused by this, as well as by the fact that he used wooden
instead of ivory instruments, and representations of certain actions,
and other such triumphal apparatus. Nevertheless, most brilliant triple
fêtes and triple processions of the Romans were held in connection with
those very things, and furthermore a hallowed period of fifty days was
observed. The Parilia[102] was honored by a perpetual horse-race, yet
not at all because the city had been founded on that day, but because
the news of Caesar's victory had arrived the day before, toward evening.

[-43-] Such was his gift to Rome. For himself he wore the triumphal
garb, by decree, in all assemblages and was adorned with the laurel
crown always and every-where alike. The excuse that he gave for it was
that his forehead was bald; and this had some show of reason from the
very fact that at the time, though well past youth, he still bestowed
attention on his appearance. He showed among all men his pride in rather
foppish clothing, and the footwear which he used later on was sometimes
high and of a reddish color, after the style of the kings who had once
lived in Alba, for he assumed that he was related to them on account of
Iulus. To Venus he was, in general, devoted body and soul and he was
anxious to persuade everybody that he had received from her a kind of
bloom of youth. Accordingly he used also to carry about a carven image
of her in full armor and he made her name his watchword in almost all
the greatest dangers. The looseness of his girdle[103] Sulla had looked
askance at, insomuch that he wished to kill him, and declared to those
who begged him off: "Well, I will grant him to you, but do you be on
your guard, without fail, against this ill-girt fellow." Cicero could
not comprehend it, but even in the moment of defeat said: "I should
never have expected one so ill-girt to conquer Pompey."

[-44-] This I have written by way of digression from story, so that no
one might be ignorant of the stories about Caesar.--In honor of the
victory the senate passed all of those decrees that I have mentioned,
and further called him "liberator", inscribed it in the records, and
publicly voted for a temple of Liberty. To him first and for the first
time, they then, applied, as a term of special significance, the title
"imperator,"--not merely according to ancient custom any longer, as
others besides Caesar had often been saluted as a result of wars, nor
even as those who have received some independent command or other
authority were called, but, in short, it was this title which is now
granted to those who hold successively the supreme power. And so great
an excess of flattery did they employ as even to vote that his children
and grandchildren should be so called, though he had no child and was
already an old man. From him this title has come down to all subsequent
imperatores, as something peculiar to their office, even as in Caesar's
case. The ancient custom has not, however, been thereby overthrown. Each
of the two titles exists. Consequently they are invested with it a
second time, when they gain some such victory as has been mentioned.
Those who are imperatores in the limited sense use the appellation once,
as they do others, and indeed before others: whatever rulers in addition
accomplish in war any deed worthy of it acquire also the name handed
down by ancient custom, so that a man is termed imperator a second and a
third time, and oftener, as frequently as he can bestow it upon himself.

These privileges they granted then to Caesar, as well as a house, so that
he might live in state-property, and a special period of festival
whenever any victory took place and whenever there were sacrifices for
it, even if he had not been with the expedition nor in general had any
hand in the achievement.[104] [-45-] Still, those measures, even if they
seemed to them immoderate and out of the usual order, were not, so far,
undemocratic. But they passed the following decrees besides, by which
they declared him sovereign out and out. They offered him the
magistracies, even those belonging to the people, and elected him consul
for ten years, as they previously had dictator. They ordered that he
alone should have soldiers, and alone administer the public funds, so
that no one else was allowed to employ either of them, save whom he
might permit. And they commanded at that time that an ivory statue of
him, but later that a whole chariot should be escorted at the
horse-races along with the likenesses of the gods. Another image they
set up in the temple of Quirinus with the inscription: "to the
invincible god", and another on the Capitol beside the former kings of
Rome. It occurs to me really to marvel at the coincidence: there were
eight such images--seven to the kings, and an eighth to the Brutus that
overthrew the Tarquins--besides this one, when they set up the statue of
Caesar; and it was from this cause chiefly that Marcus Brutus was stirred
to conspire against him.

[-46-] These were the measures that were ratified because of victory,--I
am not mentioning all, but as many as I have seemed to me notable,--not
on one day, but just as it happened, one at one time, another at
another. Some of them Caesar began to render operative, and of others he
intended to make use in the future, no matter how much he put aside some
of them. Now the office of consul he took up immediately, even before
entering the city, but did not hold it continuously.

[B.C. 45 (_a.u._ 709)]

When he got to Rome he renounced it, delivering it to Quintus Fabius and
Graius Trebonius. When Fabius on the last day of his consulship died, he
straightway chose instead of him another, Gaius Caninius Rebilus for the
remaining hours. Then for the first time, contrary to precedent, it
became possible for the same man to hold that office neither annually,
nor for all the time left in the same year, but while living to withdraw
from it without compulsion from either ancestral custom or any
accusation, and for another one to take his place. In the second place
the circumstances were unique, because Caninius at once was appointed
consul, and ceased to serve. On this, Cicero jestingly said that the
consul had displayed so great bravery and prudence in office, as never
to fall asleep in it for the briefest moment. So from that period on the
same persons no longer (save a few in olden times), served as consul
through the entire year, but just as it happened,--some for more time,
some for less, some for months, others for days--since now no one serves
with any one else, as a rule, for a whole year or for a longer period
than two months. In general we do not differ from our ancestors, but the
naming of the years for purposes of enumeration falls to those who are
consuls at the start. Accordingly I shall in most cases name those
officials closely connected with events, but to secure perfect clearness
with regard to what is done from time to time I shall mention also those
first to serve, even if they make no contribution to the undertakings in
question.

[-47-] Whereas the consuls were thus disposed of, the remaining
magistrates were nominally elected by the plebs and by the populace, in
accord with ancient customs (for Caesar would not accept the appointment
of them), but really by him, and without the casting of lots they were
sent out among the provinces. As for number, all were the same as
before, except that thirteen praetors and forty quaestors were appointed.
For, since he had made many promises to many people, he had no other way
to redeem them, and that accounts for his actions. Furthermore he
enrolled a vast number in the senate, making no distinction, whether a
man were a soldier, or a child of one enslaved, so that the sum of them
grew to nine hundred: and he enrolled many among the patricians and
among the ex-consuls or such as had held some office. When some were
tried for bribery and convicted he released them, so that he was charged
with bribe-taking himself. This report was strengthened by the fact that
he also exposed[105] in the market all the public lands, not only the
profane, but also the consecrated lots, and auctioned off the majority
of them. Nevertheless to some persons he granted ample gifts in the form
of money or the sale of lands; and to a certain Lucius Basilus[106] he
allowed no rulership of a province, though the latter was praetor, but
bestowed a large amount of money in place of it, so that Basilus became
notorious both in this matter and because when insulted in the course of
his praetorship by Caesar he stood his ground.[107]

All this suited those citizens who were making or expecting to make
corrupt gain, since they reverenced no element of the public weal in
comparison with bettering themselves by such acts. But all the rest took
it greatly to heart, and had much to say about it to intimates and also
(as many as felt safe in so doing) in outspoken public conversation and
the publication of anonymous pamphlets.

[-48-] Not only were those measures carried out that year, but two of
the aediles took charge of the municipal government, since no quaestor had
been elected. For just as once formerly, so now in the absence of Caesar,
the aediles managed all the city affairs, in conjunction with Lepidus as
master of the horse. Although they were censured for employing lictors
and magisterial garb and chair precisely like the master of the horse,
they got off by citing a certain law, which allowed all those receiving
any office from a dictator to make use of such things. The business of
administration, changed from that time for the reasons I have mentioned,
was no longer invariably laid upon the quaestors, but was finally
assigned to ex-praetors. Two of the aediles managed at that time the
public treasures, and one of them, by provision of Caesar, superintended
the Ludi Apollinares. The aediles of the populace directed the Megalesia,
by decree. A certain prefect, appointed during the Feriae, himself chose
a successor on the last day, and the latter another: this had never
happened before, nor did it happen again.

[B.C. 44 (_a.u._ 710)]

[-49-] The next year after these events during which Caesar was at once
dictator for the fifth time, taking Lepidus as master of the horse, and
consul for the fifth time, choosing Antony as colleague, sixteen praetors
were in power--this custom indeed has remained[108] for many years--and
the rostra, which was formerly in the center of the Forum, was moved
back to its present position: also the images of Sulla and of Pompey
were restored to it. For this Caesar received praise, and again because
he put upon Antony both the glory of the deed and credit for the
inscription on the image. Being anxious to build a theatre, as Pompey
had done, he laid the first foundations, but did not finish it. Augustus
later completed it and named it for his nephew, Marcus Marcellus. But
Caesar was blamed for tearing down the dwellings and temples on the site,
and likewise because he burned up the statues,--all of wood, save a
few,--and because on finding considerable treasures of money he
appropriated them all.

[-50-] In addition, he introduced laws and extended the pomerium, his
behavior in these and other matters resembling that of Sulla. Caesar,
however, removed the ban from the survivors of those that had warred
against him, granting them immunity with fair and equal terms; he
promoted them to office; to the wives of the slain he restored their
dowries, and to their children granted a share in the property, thus
putting mightily to shame Sulla's blood-guiltiness; so that he himself
enjoyed a great repute not alone for bravery, but also for uprightness,
though it is generally difficult for the same man to be eminent in peace
as well as in war. This was a source of pride to him, as was the fact
that he had raised again Carthage and Corinth. To be sure, there were
many other cities in and outside of Italy, some of which he had built
afresh, and some which he had newly founded. Others, however, had done
that: it remained for him to restore, in memory of their former
inhabitants, Corinth and Carthage, ancient, brilliant, conspicuous,
ruined cities: one of them he declared a Roman colony, and colonized,
and the other he honored with its ancient titles, bearing no grudge for
the enmity of their peoples toward places that had never harmed them.

[-51-] And they, even as they had once been demolished together, now
revived together and bade fair to flourish once again. But while Caesar
was so engaged, a longing came over all the Romans alike to avenge
Crassus and those that perished with him: there was some hope then, if
ever, of subjugating the Parthians. The command of the war they
unanimously voted to Caesar, and made ample provision for it. They
arranged, among other details, that he should have a larger number of
assistants, and that the city should neither be without officials in his
absence, nor by attempting to choose some on its own responsibility fall
into factions: also that such magistrates should be appointed in advance
for three years (this was the length of time they thought necessary for
the campaign). However, they did not designate them all beforehand.
Nominally Caesar was to choose half of them, having a certain legal right
to do this, but really he chose the whole number. For the first year, as
previously, forty quaestors were elected, and then for the first time two
patrician aediles and four from the people. Of the latter two have their
title from Ceres,--a custom which, then introduced, has remained to the
present day. Praetors were nominated to the number of eleven. It is not
on this, however, that I desire to lay emphasis (for they had formerly
been as many), but on the fact that among them was chosen Publius
Ventidius. He was originally from Picenum, as has been remarked, and
fought against Rome when her allies were alienated. He was captured by
Pompeius Strabo,[109] and in the latter's triumph marched in chains.
Later he was released; some time after he was enrolled in the senate,
and was now appointed praetor by Caesar; by degrees he advanced to such
prominence as to conquer the Parthians and hold a triumph over them.

All those who were to hold office the first year after that were
appointed in advance, but for the second year the consuls and tribunes
only: and no one got any closer than this to being nominated for the
third year. Caesar himself intended to be dictator both years, and
designated Octavius in advance as master of the horse for the second,
though he was at that time a mere lad. For the time being, while this
was going on, Caesar appointed Dolabella consul in his own stead, leaving
Antony to finish the year out in office. To Lepidus he assigned Gallia
Narbonensis with the adjoining portions of Spain, and made two men
masters of horse in their place, each separately. Owing, as he did,
favors to many persons he repaid them by such appointments as these and
by priesthoods, adding one to the "Quindecimviri", and three others to
the "Septemviri," as they were called.




DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY

44

The following is contained in the Forty-fourth of Dio's Rome.

About the decrees passed in honor of Caesar (chapters 1-11).

About the conspiracy formed against him (chapters 12-18).

How Caesar was murdered (chapters 19-22).

How a decree was passed that the people should not bear malice against
one another (chapters 23-34).

About the burial of Caesar and the oration delivered over him (chapters
35-53).

Duration of time, to the end of the 5th dictatorship of Julius Caesar,
held in company with Aemilius Lepidus as Master of the Horse, and to the
end of his 5th consulship, shared with Marcus Antonius. (B.C. 44 = a.u.
710).


(_BOOK 44, BOISSEVAIN_.)

[B.C. 44 (_a.u._ 710)]

[-1-] This Caesar did as a preliminary step to making a campaign against
the Parthians, but a baleful frenzy which fell upon certain men through
jealousy of his onward progress and hatred of his being esteemed above
others caused the death of the leader by unlawful means, while it added
a new name to the annals of infamy; it scattered decrees to the winds
and brought upon the Romans seditions again and civil wars after a state
of harmony. They declared that they had proved themselves both
destroyers of Caesar and liberators of the people, but in fact their plot
against him was one of fiendish malice, and they threw the city into
disorder when at last it possessed a stable government. [-2-] Democracy
has a fair appearing name which conveys the impression of bringing equal
rights to all from equal laws, but its results are seen not to agree at
all with its title. Monarchy, on the contrary, strikes the ear
unpleasantly, but is a very excellent government to live under. It is
easier to find one single excellent man than many, and if even this
seems to some a difficult feat, it is quite inevitable that the other
proposition be acknowledged to be impossible; for the acquirement of
virtue is not a characteristic of the majority of men. And again, even
though one reprobate should obtain supreme power, yet he is preferable
to a multitude of such persons, as the history of the Greeks and
barbarians and of the Romans themselves proves. For successes have
always been greater and more in number in the case both of cities and of
individuals under kings than under popular rule, and disasters do not
happen so easily in monarchies as in ochlocracies. In cases where a
democracy has flourished anywhere, it has nevertheless reached its prime
during a short period when the people had neither size nor strength that
abuses should spring up among them from good fortune or jealousies from
ambition. For a city so large as this, ruling the finest and the
greatest part of the known world, containing men of many and diverse
natures, holding many huge fortunes, occupied with every imaginable
pursuit, enjoying every imaginable fortune, both individually and
collectively,--for such a city to practice moderation under a democracy
is impossible, and still more is it impossible for the people, unless
moderation prevails, to be harmonious. If Marcus Brutus and Gaius
Cassius had stopped to think this over they would never have killed the
city's head and protector nor have made themselves the cause of
countless ills both to their own persons and to all the rest of mankind
then existing.

[-3-] It happened as follows, and his death was due to the cause I shall
presently describe. He had not aroused dislike without any definite
justification, except in so far as it was the senators themselves who
had by the novelty and excess of their honors sent his mind soaring; and
then, after filling him with conceit, they found fault with his
prerogatives and spread injurious reports to the effect that he was glad
to accept them and behaved more haughtily as a result of them. It is
true that sometimes Caesar erred by accepting some of the honors voted
him and believing that he really deserved them, yet most blameworthy are
those who, after beginning to reward him as he deserved, led him on and
made him liable to censure by the measures that they voted. He neither
dared to thrust them all aside, for fear of being thought contemptuous,
nor could he be safe when he accepted them. Excess in honors and praises
renders conceited even the most modest, especially if such rewards
appear to have been given with sincerity. [-4-] The privileges that were
granted him (in addition to all those mentioned) were of the following
number and kinds. They will be stated all together, even if they were
not all moved or ratified at one time. First, then, they voted that he
should always appear even in the city itself wearing the triumphal garb
and should sit in his chair of state everywhere except at festivals. At
that time he got the right to be seen on the tribune's benches and in
company with those who were successively tribunes. And they gave him the
right to offer the so-called _spolia opima_ at the temple of Jupiter
Feretrius, as if he had slain some hostile general with his own hand,
and to have lictors that always carried laurel, and after the Feriae
Latinae to ride from Albanum to the city mounted on a charger. In
addition to these remarkable privileges they named him father of his
country, stamped his image on the coinage, voted to celebrate his
birthday by public sacrifice, ordered that there be some statue of him
in the cities and all the temples of Rome, and they set on the rostra
two, one representing him as the savior of the citizens and the other as
the rescuer of the city from siege, along with the crowns customary for
such achievements. They also passed a resolution to build a temple of
Concordia Nova, on the ground that through his efforts they enjoyed
peace, and to celebrate an annual festival in her honor. [-5-] When he
had accepted these, they assigned to him the charge of filling the
Pontine marshes, cutting a canal through the Peloponnesian isthmus, and
constructing a new senate-house, since that of Hostilius although
repaired had been demolished. The reason given for that action was that
a temple of Good Fortune might be built there, which Lepidus, indeed,
while master of the horse had completed: but the real intention was that
the name of Sulla should not be preserved in it and that another
senate-house, newly constructed, might be named the Julian, just as they
had called the month in which he was born July, and one of the tribes
(selected by lot) the Julian. And Caesar himself, they voted, should be
sole censor for life and enjoy the immunities bestowed upon the
tribunes, so that if any one should outrage him by deed or word, that
man should be an outlaw and involved in the curse, and further that his
son, should he beget or adopt one, was to be appointed high priest.
[-6-] As he seemed to like this, a gilded chair was granted him, and a
garb that once the kings had used and a body-guard of knights and
senators: furthermore they decided that prayers should be made for him
publicly every year, that they would swear by his Fortune and that all
the deeds he was yet to do should receive confirmation. Next they
bestowed upon him a quinquennial festival, as to a hero, and managers of
sacred rites for the festival of naked boys in Pan's honor,[110]
constituting a third priestly college which they called the Julian, and
on the occasion of all combats in armor one special day of his own each
time both in Rome and the rest of Italy. When he showed himself pleased
at this, too, then they voted that his gilded chair and crown set with
precious gems and overlaid with gold should be carried into the theatre
on an equal footing with those of the gods, and that on the occasion of
the horse-races his chariot should be brought in. And finally they
addressed him outright as Julian Jupiter and ordered a temple to be
consecrated to him and to his Clemency, electing Antony as their priest
like some Dialis.

[-7-] At the same time with these measures they passed another which
well indicated their disposition. It gave him the right to place his
tomb within the pomerium; and the decrees regarding this matter they
inscribed with gold letters on silver tablets and deposited beneath the
feet of the Capitoline Jupiter, thus pointing out to him very clearly
that he was a man. When they began to honor him it was with the idea
that he would be reasonably modest; but as they went on and saw that he
was delighted at what they voted,--he accepted all but a very few of
their gifts,--various men kept at different times proposing various
greater marks of esteem, all in excess, some as an act of extreme
flattery toward him, and others as one of sarcastic ridicule. Actually
some dared to suggest permitting him to have intercourse with, as many
women[111] as he liked, because even at this time, though fifty years
old, he still had numerous mistresses. Others, and the majority,
followed the course mentioned because they wished to make him envied and
disliked as quickly as possible, that he might the sooner perish. Of
course precisely that happened, though Caesar took courage on account of
these very measures to believe that he would never be plotted against by
the men who had voted him such honors, nor by any one else, because they
would prevent it; and in consequence from this time he dispensed with a
bodyguard. Nominally he accepted the privilege of being watched over by
the senators and knights and thus did away with his previous guardians.
[-8-] Once on a single day they had passed in his honor an unusually
large number of decrees of especially important character, that had been
voted unanimously by all the rest except Cassius and a few others, who
became notorious for this action: yet they suffered no harm, a fact
which conspicuously displayed their ruler's clemency. So, then, they
approached him as he was sitting in the fore-part of the temple of Venus
with the intention of announcing to him in a body their decisions;--such
business they transacted in his absence, in order to have the appearance
of doing it not under compulsion but voluntarily. And either by some
Heaven-sent fatuity or through excess of joy he received them sitting,
an act which aroused so great indignation among them all, not only
senators but all the rest, that it afforded his slayers one of their
chief excuses for their plot against him. Some who subsequently tried to
defend him said that owing to diarrhoea he could not control the movement
of his bowels and had remained where he was in order to avoid a flux.

They were not able, however, to persuade the majority, since not long
after this he arose and walked home without assistance; hence most men
suspected him of being inflated with pride and hated him for his
supercilious behavior, when it was they themselves who had made him
disdainful by the extreme nature of their honors. After this occurrence
suspicion was increased by the fact that somewhat later he submitted to
being made dictator for life.

[-9-] When he had reached this point, the conduct of the men plotting
against him became no longer doubtful, and in order to embitter even his
best friends against him they did their best to traduce the man and
finally called him "king,"--a name which was often heard in their
consultations. When he refused the title and rebuked in a way those that
so saluted him, yet did nothing by which he could be thought to be
really displeased at it, they secretly adorned his statue, which stood
on the rostra, with a diadem. And when Gaius Epidius Marullus and Lucius
Caesetius Flavus, tribunes, took it down, he became thoroughly angry,
although they uttered no insulting word and furthermore spoke well of
him before the people as not desiring anything of the sort.[-10-] At
this time, though vexed, he remained quiet; subsequently, however, when
he was riding in from Albanum, some men again called him king, and he
said that his name was not king but Caesar: then when those tribunes
brought suit against the first man that termed him king, he no longer
restrained his wrath, but showed evident irritation, as if these
officials were actually aiming at the stability of his government. For
the moment he took no revenge upon them: later, when they issued public
notice to the effect that they found themselves not at liberty to speak
freely and without molestation for the public good, he appeared
exceedingly angry and brought them into the senate-house, where he
accused them and put their conduct to the vote. He did not put them to
death, though some declared them worthy of that penalty, but first
having removed them from the tribuneship through the motion of Helvius
Cinna, their colleague, he erased their names from the senate. Some were
pleased at this, or pretended to be, on the ground that they would have
no need to incur danger by free speech, and keeping out of politics they
viewed events as from a watch tower. Caesar, however, received an ill
name from this fact, too, that whereas he should have hated those that
applied to him the name of king, he let them go and found fault instead
with the tribunes.

[-11-] Something else that happened not long after these events proved
still more clearly that while pretendedly he shunned the title, in
reality he desired to assume it. When he had entered the Forum at the
festival of the Lupercalia, at which naked boys competed, and was
sitting on the rostra in his golden chair adorned with the royal apparel
and conspicuous by his crown wrought of gold, Antony with his fellow
priests saluted him as king and surrounding his brows with a diadem
said: "The people gives this to you through my hands." He answered that
Jupiter alone was king of the Romans and sent the diadem to him to the
Capitol, yet he was not angry and caused it to be inscribed in the
records that the royalty presented to him by the people through the
consul he had refused to receive. It was accordingly suspected that this
had been done by some pre-arranged plan and that he was anxious for the
name but wished to be somehow compelled to take it, and the consequent
hatred against him was intense. After this certain men at the elections
proposed those tribunes previously mentioned for the office of consul,
and approaching Marcus Brutus and such other persons as were of high
spirit attempted privately to persuade them and incited them to action
publicly. [-12-] They scattered broadcast many letters (taking the
fullest advantage of his having the same name as the great Brutus who
overthrew the Tarquins), declaring that he was not truly that man's
descendant: for _he_ had put to death both his sons, the only ones he
had, when they were mere lads, and was left no offspring surviving. This
attitude was, however, a mere ruse on the part of the majority, adopted
in order that being in family akin to that famous man he might be
induced to undertake similar deeds. They kept continually invoking him,
crying out "Brutus, Brutus!", and adding further: "We need a Brutus."
Finally on the statue of the early Brutus they wrote "Would that thou
wert living," and upon their contemporary's platform (he was praetor at
the time) "Brutus, thou sleepest," and "Thou art not Brutus."

[-13-] These incidents persuaded him, especially as he had displayed
hostility to Caesar from the start, to attack the leader, who had
nevertheless shown himself later his benefactor. He was also influenced
by the fact that he was, as I stated, both nephew and son-in-law of Cato
of Utica so-called. And his wife Portia was the only woman, as they say,
who had knowledge of the plot. She encountered him in the midst of his
meditation upon these very matters and enquired in what he was so
absorbed. When he made no answer, she suspected that she was distrusted
on account of physical weakness, for fear she should reveal something
even unwillingly under torture; hence she performed a noteworthy deed.
She secretly inflicted a deep wound in her thigh to test herself and see
if she could endure painful treatment. And when she found herself not
overdistressed, she despised the wound, and came to him and said: "You,
my husband, though you trusted that my spirit would not utter a secret,
nevertheless were distrustful of my body, and you acted in accordance
with human reason. But I have found that I can make even it keep
silence." Having said this she disclosed her thigh and after making
known the reason for what she had done, said: "Tell me boldly now all
that you are concealing, for to make me speak fire, lashes, and goads
shall alike be powerless. I was not born that kind of woman. Therefore
if you shall still distrust me, it is better for me to die than live. If
such be the case, let no one think me longer the daughter of Cato or
your wife." Hearing this Brutus marveled; and he no longer hid anything
from her but felt strengthened himself and related to her the whole
story. [-14-] After this he obtained as an associate also Gaius Cassius,
who had himself been preserved by Caesar and moreover honored with a
praetorship; he was the husband of Brutus's sister. Next they proceeded
to gather those who were of the same mind as themselves, and these
proved to be not few in number. There is no need of my giving a list of
most of the names, for I might thus become wearisome, but I cannot omit
Trebonius and Decimus Brutus, whom they also named Junius and Albinus.
For these joined in the plot against Caesar though they also had been
greatly benefited by him,--Decimus having been appointed consul for the
second year and assigned to Hither Gaul.

[-15-] They came very near being detected by reason of the number of
those concerned and by their delay. Caesar, however, would not receive
any information about such an undertaking and punished very severely
those who brought any news of the kind. Still, they stood in awe of him
and put the matter off, fearing that although he had no guard they might
be killed by the persons surrounding him at various times; and thus they
ran the risk of being discovered and perishing. Indeed, they would have
suffered this fate, had they not been forced even against their will to
hasten the plot. A report went abroad, true or false after the manner of
reports, that the so-called fifteen priests were declaring that the
Sibyl had said the Parthians should never be captured in any other way
than by a king, and the people were consequently preparing to propose
that this title be granted to Caesar. The conspirators believed this to
be true, and because a vote would be demanded of the officials, among
whom were Brutus and Cassius, owing to the seriousness of the measure,
they felt that they neither dared to oppose it nor could submit to keep
silent, and so hurried on the consummation of the plot before any
business connected with the measure could come up.

[-16-] It had been decided by them to make the attempt in the senate,
for they thought that there Caesar would least expect to be harmed in any
way and would so fall an easier victim, while they would possess
opportunity coupled with security by having their swords instead of
documents brought in boxes, and that the rest being unarmed would be
unable to make any resistance. In case any one should be so rash, they
expected at least that the gladiators, many of whom they had previously
stationed in Pompey's Theatre under the pretext that they were to
practice with arms, would assist them. These were to lie in wait there
in a certain room of the peristyle. The conspirators, when the appointed
day had come, gathered in the senate-hall at dawn and called for Caesar.
[-17-] As for him, he was warned of the plot in advance by the
soothsayers, and was warned also by dreams. The night before he was
slain his wife had a vision of their house fallen in ruins, her husband
wounded by some men and taking refuge in her bosom, and of Caesar being
raised aloft upon the clouds and grasping the hand of Jupiter. Moreover
omens not few nor indistinct crossed his path. The arms of Mars, at that
time deposited at his house by virtue of his position as high priest and
by ancestral custom, made a great noise at night, and the doors of the
chamber where he slept opened of their own accord. The sacrifices which
he offered because of these occurrences indicated nothing favorable and
the birds with which he practiced divination forbade him to leave the
house. After his assassination, finally, some recalled a weighty
incident in connection with his gilded chair,--that the servant, as
Caesar was slow in coming, carried it out of the senate, thinking that he
would have no further need of it.

[-18-] Caesar for this reason was so long in coming that the conspirators
feared there might be a postponement (a rumor circulated, indeed, that
he would remain at home that day), and their plot thus fall through and
they themselves be detected. Therefore they sent Decimus Brutus, as one
appearing to be a devoted friend, to secure his attendance. This man
made light of Caesar's scruples and by adding that the senate was
extremely anxious to behold him, persuaded him to go forward. At this an
image of his which he kept set up in the vestibule fell of its own
accord and was shattered to pieces. He ought then to have changed his
purpose, but instead he paid no attention to this and would not listen
to some one who was giving him information of the plot. He received from
him a little roll in which all the preparations made for the attack had
been accurately inscribed, but did not read it, thinking that it was
some other not very pressing matter. In brief, he was so confident that
to the soothsayer who had warned him to beware of that day he said
jokingly: "Where are your prophecies? Don't you see that the day over
which you were all of a tremble is here and I am alive?" And the other,
they say, answered only this: "Yes, it is here, but not yet gone."

[-19-] Now when he finally reached the senate Trebonius delayed Antony
somewhere at a distance outside. They had planned to kill both him and
Lepidus. But fearing that they might be ill spoken of as a result of the
number of those destroyed, and that it might be said that they had slain
Caesar to gain power and not to free the city, as they pretended, they
did not wish Antony even to be present at his slaughter. As for Lepidus,
he had set out on a campaign and was in the suburbs. Antony was held by
Trebonius in conversation. Meanwhile the rest in a body surrounded Caesar
(he was as easy of access and ready to be addressed as any one could
have wished), and some talked among themselves, while others presented
petitions to him, so that suspicion might be as far from his mind as
possible. When the right moment came, one of them approached him as if
to express his thanks for some favor or other and pulled his cloak from
his shoulder; for this, according to the agreement, served to the
conspirators as a signal raised. Thereupon they attacked him from many
sides at once and wounded him to death, so that by reason of their
numbers Caesar was unable to say or do anything, but veiling his face was
slain with many wounds. This is the truest account. In times past some
have made a declaration like this, that to Brutus who struck him
severely he said: "Thou, too, my child?"

[-20-] A great outcry naturally arose from all the rest who were inside
and who were standing nearby outside at the suddenness of the event and
because they were not acquainted with the slayers, their numbers, or
their intention; and all were thrown into confusion, believing
themselves in danger; so they themselves started in flight by whatever
way each man could, and they alarmed those who met them by saying
nothing definite, but merely shouting out these words: "Run, bolt doors!
Run, bolt doors!" The rest, taking it up from one another as each one
echoed the cries, filled the city with lamentations, and they burst into
shops and houses to hide themselves. Yet the assassins hurried just as
they were to the Forum, indicating both by their gestures and their
shouts not to be afraid. At the same time that they said this they
called continuously for Cicero: but the crowd did not believe that they
were sincere, and was not easily calmed. Late in the day at last they
gradually began to take courage and became quiet, as no one was killed
or arrested. [-21-] When they met in the assembly the assassins had much
to say against Caesar and much in favor of the democracy, and they bade
the people take courage and not expect any harm. They had killed him,
they declared, not to secure power or any other advantage, but in order
that they might be free and independent and be governed rightly. By
speaking such words they calmed the majority, especially since they
injured no one. Fearing for all that that somebody might concert
measures against them the conspirators ascended the Capitoline with the
avowed intention of offering prayer to the gods, and there they spent
the day and night. And at evening they were joined by some of the other
prominent men who had not shared in the plot, but were anxious, when
they saw the perpetrators praised, to secure the glory of it, as well as
the prizes which those concerned expected. With great justice the affair
happened to turn out the opposite way: they did not secure any
reputation for the deed because they had not been partakers of it in any
way, but they shared the danger which fell upon the ones who committed
it just as much as if they themselves had been the plotters.

[-22-] Seeing this, Dolabella likewise did not see fit to keep quiet,
but entered upon the consular office though it did not yet belong to
him, and after a short speech to the people on the situation ascended
the Capitol. While affairs were in this condition Lepidus, learning what
had taken place, by night occupied the Forum with his soldiers and at
dawn delivered a speech against the assassins. Antony immediately after
Caesar's death had fled, casting away his robe of office in order to
escape notice, and had concealed himself through the night. When,
however, he ascertained that the assassins were on the Capitol and
Lepidus in the Forum, he assembled the senate in the precinct of Tellus
and brought forward the business of the hour for deliberation. Some said
one thing, some another, as each of them thought about it: Cicero, whose
advice they followed, spoke to this effect:--

[-23-] "On every occasion I think no one ought to say anything merely
for the sake of winning favor or to show his spite, but to reveal just
what the man in each case thinks to be the best. We demand that those
who are praetors or consuls shall do everything from upright motives, and
if they make any errors we demand an account from them even if their
slip was accidental; and it will be unbearable if in debates, where we
are complete masters of our own opinion, we shall abandon the common
welfare with a view to private advantage. For this reason, Conscript
Fathers, I have always thought that I ought to advise you on all matters
with simplicity and justice, but especially under the present
circumstances, when, if without being over-captious we come to an
agreement, we shall be preserved ourselves and enable all the rest to
survive, but if we wish to examine everything minutely, I fear ill
fortune--but at the very opening of my address I do not wish to say
anything displeasing. [-24-] Formerly, not very long ago, those who had
arms usually also got control of the government and consequently issued
orders to you as to the subjects on which you must deliberate, but you
could not look forward and see what it was proper for them to do. But
now practically all conditions are so favorably placed that the matter
is in your hands and the responsibility rests upon you; and from your
own selves you may obtain either concord and with it liberty, or
seditions and civil wars again and a master at the close of them.
Whatever you decide to-day all the rest will follow. This being the
state of the case as I see it, I declare that you ought to abandon your
mutual enmities or jealousies or whatever name should be applied to
them, and return to that ancient condition of peace and friendship and
harmony. For you should remember this, if nothing else, that so long as
we enjoyed that kind of government, we acquired lands, fortunes, glory
and allies, but ever since we were led into abusing one another, so far
from growing better we have become decidedly worse off. I am so firmly
convinced that nothing else at present could save the city that if we do
not to-day, at once, with all possible speed, adopt some policy, we
shall never be able to regain our position.

[-25-] "Notice carefully that I am speaking only the truth, of which you
may convince yourselves if you regard present conditions and then
consider our position in old times. Do you not see what is taking
place,--that the populace is again being divided and torn asunder and
that, some choosing this side, and some that, they have already fallen
into two parties and two camps, that the one side has taken timely
possession of the Capitol as if they feared the Gauls or somebody, and
the other side with headquarters in the Forum is preparing to besiege
them and so behaving like Carthaginians, and not as though they too were
Romans? Do you not hear that though formerly citizens often differed,
even to the extent of occupying the Aventine once, and the Capitol, and
some of them the Sacred Mount, as often as they were reconciled one with
another on equal terms (or by yielding but a small point) they at once
stopped hating one another, to live the rest of their lives in such
peace and harmony that in common they carried through successfully many
great wars? As often, on the other hand, as they had recourse to murders
and assassinations, the one side deceived by the justification of
defending themselves against the encroachments of the other, and the
other side by an ambition to appear to be inferior to none, no good ever
came of it. Why need I waste time by repeating to you, who know them
equally well, the names of Valerius, Horatius, Saturninus, Glaucia, the
Gracchi? With such examples before you, not of foreign origin but native
to this land, do not hesitate to strive after the right course and guard
against the wrong. Having from the events of history received a proof of
the outcome of the situation on which you are deliberating, regard my
exhortation no longer as mere words but believe that the welfare of the
community is at stake this instant. Do not for any doubtful theory cast
away the certainty of hope, but trusting to a reliable pledge secure in
advance a sure result for your calculations.

[-26-] "It is in your power, if you receive this evidence that I
mentioned from your own land and your own ancestors, to decide rightly.
And this is why I did not wish to cite instances from abroad, though I
might have mentioned countless of them. One instance, nevertheless, I
will offer from the best and most ancient city from which our fathers
did not disdain to introduce certain laws; for it would be a disgrace
for us who so far surpass the Athenians in strength and sense, to
deliberate less well than they. They were once--of course you all know
this--at variance, and as a result were overcome in war by the
Lacedaemonians and endured a tyranny of the more powerful citizens; and
they did not obtain a respite from evils until they made a compact and
agreement to forget their past injuries, though many and severe, and
never to allow a single reproach because of them or to bear malice
against any one. Now when they had attained such a degree of wisdom,
they not only ceased enduring tyrannies and seditions, but flourished in
every way, regaining their city, laying claim to the sovereignty of the
Greeks, and finally becoming powerful enough to decide frequently on the
preservation or destruction both of the Lacedaemonians themselves and of
the Thebans. Now notice, that if those men who seized Phyle and came
home from the Peirseus had chosen to take vengeance on the city party
for wrongs suffered, they would, to be sure, have seemed to have
performed a justifiable action, but they would have undergone, as well
as have caused, many evils. Just as they exceeded their hopes by
defeating their foes, they might perhaps themselves have been in turn
unexpectedly worsted. [-27-] In such matters there is nothing sure, and
one does not necessarily gain the mastery as a result of being strong,
but vast numbers who were confident have failed and vast numbers who
were looking to defeat somebody have perished before they could strike.
The party that is overreached in any transaction is not bound to be
fortunate just because it is wronged, nor is the party which has the
greater power bound to be successful just because it surpasses, but both
are equally subservient to human uncertainty and the mutability of
fortune, and the issue they secure is often not in accordance with the
favorable prognostications of the one side, but proves to be what the
other actually dared not expect. As a result of this, and of intense
rivalry (for man is strongly given when wronged or believing himself
wronged to become beyond measure bold) many are on many occasions
inspired to undergo dangers even beyond their strength, with the
determination to conquer or at least not to perish utterly without
having shed some blood. So it is that partly conquering and partly
defeated, sometimes gaining the mastery over others and again falling
prostrate themselves, some are altogether annihilated and others gain a
Cadmean victory, as it is called, and at a time when the knowledge can
avail them nothing they perceive that their plans were ill drawn.

[-28-] "That this is so you also have learned by experience. Consider,
Marius for some time had power in seditions; then he was driven out,
collected a force, and accomplished what you know. Likewise Sulla--not
to speak of Cinna or Strabo or the rest who intervene--influential at
first, then subdued, then making himself ruler, authorized every
possible terrible severity."

After that Lepidus, evidently with the intention of following in their
footsteps, instituted a kind of sedition of his own and stirred nearly
the whole of Italy. When we at last got rid of him too, remember what we
suffered from Sertorius and from the exiles with him. What did Pompey,
what did this Caesar himself do?--not to mention here Catiline or
Clodius. Did they not at first fight against each other, and that in
spite of their relationship, and then fill full of countless evils not
only our own city or even the rest of Italy, but practically the entire
world? Well, after Pompey's death and that great destruction of the
citizens, did any quiet appear? Whence could it? By no means. Africa
knows, Spain knows the multitudes who perished in each of those lands.
What then? Did we have peace after this? How is it possible, when Caesar
himself lies slain in this fashion, the Capitol is occupied, all through
the Forum arms are seen, and throughout the city fear exists? [-29-] In
this way, when men begin a seditious career and seek ever to repay
violence with violence and inflict vengeance without care for propriety,
without care for human limitations, but according to their desires and
the power that arms give them, there necessarily arises in each such
case a kind of circle of ills, and alternate requitals of outrages take
place. The fortunate party abounds in insolence and sets no limits to
the advantage it may take, and the party that is crushed, if it does not
perish immediately, rages at the disaster and is eager to take vengeance
on the oppressor, until it sate its wrath. Then the remainder of the
multitude, even if it has not been previously involved in the
transactions, now through pity of the beaten and envy of the victorious
side, coöperates with the former, fearing that it may suffer the same
evils as the downtrodden element and hoping that it may win the same
success as the force temporarily in the ascendant. Thus the portion of
the citizens that is not concerned is brought into the dispute and one
class takes the evil up against another, through pretence of avenging
the side which is for the moment at a disadvantage, as if they were
repelling a regular, everyday danger; and individually they free
themselves from it, but they ruin the community in every way. [-30-] Do
you not see how much time we have lost in fighting one another, how many
great evils we have endured meanwhile, and, what is worse than that,
inflicted? And who could count the vast mass of money of which we have
stripped our allies and robbed the gods, which furthermore we have
contributed ourselves from what we did not possess, and then expended it
against one another? Or who could number the mass of men that have been
lost, not only of ordinary persons (that is beyond computation) but of
knights and senators, each one of whom was able in foreign wars to
preserve the whole city by his life and death? How many Curtii, how many
Decii, Fabii, Gracchi, Marcelli, Scipiones have been killed? Not, by
Jupiter, to repel Samnites or Latins or Spaniards or Carthaginians, but
only to perish themselves in the end. And for those under arms who died,
no matter how deep sorrow one might feel for them, there is less reason
to lament. They entered the battles as volunteers, if it is proper to
call volunteers men compelled by fear, and they met even if an unjust at
least a brave death, in an equal struggle; and in the hope that they
might even survive and conquer they fell without grieving. But how might
one mourn as they deserve those who were pitiably destroyed in their
houses, in the roads, in the Forum, in the senate-chamber even, on the
Capitol even, by violence--not only men but also women, not only those
in their prime, but also old men and children? And after subjecting one
another to so many of these reprisals of such a nature as all our
enemies put together never inflicted upon us (nor were we ever the
authors of anything similar to them), so far from loathing such acts and
manfully wishing to have done with them, we rejoice and hold festivals
and term those who are guilty of them benefactors. Honestly, I cannot
deem this life that we have been leading human; it is rather that of
wild beasts which are consumed by one another.

[-31-] "For what is definitely past, however, why should we lament
further? We cannot now prevent its having happened. Let us fix our
attention upon the future. That is, indeed, the reason why I have been
mentioning former events, not for the purpose of giving a list of
national calamities which ought never to have occurred, but that by
exhibiting them I might persuade you to preserve at least what is left.
This is the only benefit one can derive from evils,--to guard against
ever again enduring anything similar. This is most within your power at
the present moment, while the danger is just beginning, while not many
have yet united, and those who are unruly have gained no advantage over
one another nor suffered any setback, so that by hope of superiority or
anger at inferiority they are led to enter danger heedlessly and
contrary to their own interests. Still, in this great work you will be
successful without undergoing any toil or danger, without spending money
or ordering murders, but simply by voting just this, that no malice
shall be borne on the part of any. [-32-] Even if any errors have been
committed by certain persons, this is not a time to enquire carefully
into them, nor to convict, nor to punish. You are not at the moment
sitting in judgment over any one, that you should need to search out
what is just with absolute accuracy, but you are deliberating about the
situation that has arisen and how the excitement may in the safest way
be allayed. This is something we could not bring about, unless we should
overlook some few things, as we are wont to do in the case of children.
When dealing with them we do not take all matters carefully into
account, and many things we of necessity overlook. For venial sins it is
not right to chastise them remorselessly, but rather to admonish them
gently. And now, since we are not only named fathers of all the people
in common, but are in reality such, let us not enter into a discussion
of all the fine points, lest we all incur ruin; for anybody could find
much fault with Caesar himself so that he would seem to have been justly
slain, or again might bring heavy charges against those that killed him,
so that they would be thought to deserve punishment. But such action is
for men who are anxious to arouse seditions again. It is the task of
those who deliberate rightly not to cause their own hurt by meting out
exact justice, but to win preservation by a use at the same time of
clemency. Accordingly, think of this that has happened as if it had been
a kind of hail storm or deluge that had taken place and give it to
forgetfulness. Now, if never before, gain a knowledge of one another,
since you are countrymen and citizens and relatives, and secure harmony.

[-33-] "Now, that none of you may suspect that I wish to grant any
indulgence to Caesar's assassins to prevent their paying the penalty,
just because I was once a member of Pompey's party, I will state one
fact to you. I think that all of you are firmly of the opinion that I
have never adopted an attitude of friendship or hostility toward any one
for purely personal reasons, but it was always for your sake and for the
public freedom and harmony that I hated the one class and loved the
other. For this reason I will pass over the rest that might be said, and
make merely a brief statement to you. I am so far from doing this that I
mentioned and not looking out for the public safety, that I affirm the
others, too, should be granted immunity for their high-handed acts,
contrary to established law, in Caesar's lifetime, and they ought to keep
the honors, offices, and gifts which they received from him, though I am
not pleased with some of them. I should not advise you to do or to grant
anything further of the kind: but since it has been done, I think you
ought not to be troubled overmuch about any of these matters. For what
loss so far-reaching could you sustain if A or B holds something that he
has obtained outside of just channels and contrary to his deserts as the
benefit you could attain by not causing fear or disturbance to men who
were formerly of influence?

"This is what I have to say for the present, in the face of pressing
need. When feeling has subsided, let us then consider any remaining
subjects of discussion."

[-34-] Cicero by the foregoing speech persuaded the senate to vote that
no one should bear malice against any one else. While this was being
done the assassins also promised the soldiers that they would not undo
any of Caesar's acts. They perceived that the military was mightily ill
at ease for fear it should be deprived of what he had given it, and so
they made haste, before the senate reached any decision whatever, to
anticipate the others' wishes. Next they invited those who were present
there down below to come within hearing distance, and conversed with
them on matters of importance; as a result of the conference they sent
down a letter to the Forum announcing that they would take nothing away
from anybody nor do harm in other ways, and that the validity of all
acts of Caesar was confirmed. They also urged a state of harmony, binding
themselves by the strongest oaths that they would be honest in
everything. When, therefore, the decisions of the senate also were made
known, the soldiers no longer held to Lepidus nor did the others have
any fear of him, but hastened to become reconciled,--chiefly at the
instance of Antony,--quite contrary to his intention. Lepidus, making a
pretence of vengeance upon Caesar, was anxious to institute a revolution
and as he had legions at his command he expected that he would succeed
to his position as ruler and gain the mastery; these were his motives in
endeavoring to further a conflict. Antony, as he perceived his rival's
favorable situation and had not himself any force at his back, did not
dare to adopt any revolutionary measures for the time being, and
furthermore he persuaded Lepidus (to prevent his becoming greater) to
bow to the will of the majority. So they came to terms on the conditions
that had been voted, but those on the Capitol would not come down till
they had secured the son of Lepidus and the son of Antony to treat as
hostages; then Brutus descended to Lepidus, to whom he was related, and
Cassius to Antony, being assured of safety. While dining together they
naturally, at such a juncture, discussed a variety of topics and Antony
asked Cassius: "Have you perhaps got some kind of dagger under your arm
even now?" To which he answered: "Yes, and a big one, if you too should
desire to play the tyrant."

[-35-]This was the way things went at that time. No damage was inflicted
or expected, and the majority were glad to be rid of Caesar's rule, some
of them even conceiving the idea of casting his body out unburied. The
conspirators well pleased did not undertake any further superfluous
tasks and were called "liberators" and "tyrranicides." Later his will
was read and the people learned that he had made Octavius his son and
heir and had left Antony, Decimus, and some of the other assassins to be
the young man's guardians and inheritors of the property in case it
should not come to him, and furthermore that he had directed various
bequests to be given to different persons, and to the city the gardens
along the Tiber, as well as thirty denarii (according to the record of
Octavius himself) or seventy-five according to some others, to each of
the citizens. This news caused an upheaval and Antony fanned the flames
of their resentment by bringing the body most inconsiderately[112] into
the Forum and exposing it covered with blood as it was and with gaping
wounds. There he delivered over it a speech, in every way beautiful and
brilliant but not suited to the state of the public mind at that time.
His words were about as follows:--

[-36-] "If this man had died as a private citizen, Quirites, and I had
happened to be a private citizen, I should not have needed many words
nor have rehearsed all his achievements, but after making a few remarks
about his family, his education, and his character, and possibly
mentioning some of his services to the state, I should have been
satisfied and should have refrained from becoming wearisome to those not
related to him. But since this man has perished while holding the
highest position among you and I have received and hold the second, it
is requisite that I should deliver a twofold address, one as the man set
down as his heir and the other in my capacity as magistrate. I must not
omit anything that ought to be said but speak what the whole people
would have chanted with one tongue if they could have obtained one
voice. I am well aware that it is difficult to hit your precise
sentiments. Especially is it no easy task to treat matters of such
magnitude,--what speech could equal the greatness of the deeds?--and
you, whose minds are insatiable because of the facts that you know
already, will not prove lenient judges of my efforts. If the speech were
being made among men ignorant of the subject, it would be very easy to
content them, for they would be startled by such great deeds: but as the
matter stands, through your familiarity with the events, it is
inevitable that everything that shall be said will be thought less than
the reality. Outsiders, even if through jealousy they should distrust
it, yet for that very reason must deem each statement they hear strong
enough: but your gathering, influenced by good-will, must inevitably
prove impossible to satisfy. You yourselves have profited most by
Caesar's virtues and you demand his praises not half-heartedly, as if he
were no relation, but out of deep affection as one of your very own. I
shall strive therefore to meet your wishes to the fullest extent, and I
feel sure that you will not criticise too closely my command of words or
conception of the subject, but will, out of your kindness of heart, make
up whatever is lacking in that respect.

[-37-] "I shall speak first about his lineage, though not because it is
very brilliant. Yet this too has considerable bearing on the nature of
excellence, that a man should have become good not through force of
circumstances but by inherent power. Those not born of noble parents may
disguise themselves as honest men but may also some day be convicted of
their base origin by innate qualities. Those, however, who possess the
seed of honesty, descending through a long line of ancestors, cannot
possibly help having an excellence which is of spontaneous growth and
permanent. Still, I do not now praise Caesar chiefly because he was
sprung from many noble men of recent times and kings and gods of ancient
days, but because in the first place he was a kinsman of our whole
city,--we were founded by the men that were his ancestors,--and secondly
because he not only confirmed the renown of his forefathers who were
believed by virtue to have attained divinity, but actually increased it;
if any person disputed formerly the possibility of Aeneas ever having
been born of Venus, he may now believe it. The gods in past times have
been reported as possessing some unworthy children, but no one could
deem this man unworthy to have had gods for his ancestors. Aeneas himself
became king, as likewise some of his descendants. This man proved
himself so much superior to them that whereas they were monarchs of
Lavinium and Alba, he refused to become king of Rome; and whereas they
laid the foundation of our city, he raised it to such heights that among
other services he established colonies greater than the cities over
which they ruled.

[-38-] "Such, then, is the state of his family. That he passed through a
childhood and education corresponding to the dignity of his noble birth
how could one feel better assured than by the certain proofs that his
deeds afford? When a man possesses conspicuously a body that is most
enduring and a soul that is most steadfast in the face of all
contingencies alike of peace and war, is it not inevitable that he must
have been reared in the best possible way? And I tell you it is
difficult for any man surpassingly beautiful to show himself most
enduring, and difficult for one who is strong in body to attain greatest
prudence, but most difficult of all for the same man to shine both in
words and in deeds. Now this man--I speak among men who know the facts,
so that I shall not falsify in the least degree, for I should be caught
in the very act, nor heap up exaggerated praises, for then I should
obtain the opposite results of what I wish. If I do anything of the
kind, I shall be suspected with the utmost justice of braggadocio, and
it will be thought that I am making his excellence less than the
reputation which already exists in your own minds. Every utterance
delivered under such conditions, in case it admits even the smallest
amount of falsehood, not only bestows no praise on its subject but
defeats its own ends. The knowledge of the hearers, not agreeing with
the fictitious declaration, takes refuge in truth, where it quickly
finds satisfaction and learns as well what the statement ought to have
been; and then, comparing the two, detects the difference. Stating only
the truth, therefore, I affirm that this Caesar was at the same time most
able in body and most amiable in spirit. He enjoyed a wonderful natural
talent and had been scrupulously trained in every kind of education,
which always enabled him (not unnaturally) to comprehend everything that
was needed with the greatest keenness, to interpret the need most
plausibly, and to arrange and administer matters most prudently. No
shifting of a favorable situation could come upon him so suddenly as to
catch him off his guard, nor did a secret delay, no matter how long the
postponement, escape his notice. He decided always with regard to every
crisis before he came in contact with it, and was prepared beforehand
for every contingency that could happen to him. He understood well how
to discern sharply what was concealed, to dissimulate what was evident
in such a way as to inspire confidence, to pretend to know what was
obscure, to conceal what he knew, to adapt occasions to one another and
to give an account of them, and furthermore to accomplish and cover
successfully in detail the ground of every enterprise. [-39-] A proof of
this is that in his private affairs he showed himself at once an
excellent manager and very liberal, being careful to keep permanently
what he inherited, but lavish in spending with an unsparing hand what he
gained, and for all his relatives, except the most impious, he possessed
a strong affection. He did not neglect any of them in misfortune, nor
did he envy them in good fortune, but he helped the latter to increase
their previous property and made up the deficiencies for the former,
giving some money, some lands, some offices, some priesthoods. Again, he
was wonderfully attached to his friends and other associates. He never
scorned or insulted any one of them, but while courteous to all alike he
rewarded many times over those who assisted him in any project and won
the devotion of the rest by benefits, not bowing to any one of brilliant
position, nor humiliating any one who was bettering himself, but as if
he himself were being exalted through all their successes and acquiring
strength and adornment he took delight in making the largest number
equal with himself. While he behaved thus toward his friends and
acquaintances, he did not show himself cruel or inexorable even to his
enemies, but many of those who had come into collision with him
personally he let off scotfree, and many who had actually made war
against him he released, giving some of them honors and offices. To this
degree was he in every way inclined to right conduct, and not only had
no baseness in his own making, but would not believe that it was found
in anybody else.

[-40-] "Since I have reached these statements, I will begin to speak
about his public services. If he had lived a quiet existence, perhaps
his excellence would never have come to light; but as it was, by being
raised to the highest position and becoming the greatest not only of his
contemporaries but of all the rest who had ever wielded any influence,
he displayed it more conspicuously. For nearly all his predecessors this
supreme authority had served only to reveal their defects, but him it
made more luminous: through the greatness of his excellence he undertook
correspondingly great deeds, and was found to be a match for them; he
alone of men after obtaining for himself so great good fortune as a
result of true worth neither disgraced it nor treated it wantonly. The
brilliant successes which he regularly achieved on his campaigns and the
highmindedness he showed in everyday duties I shall pass over, although
they are so great that for any other man they would constitute
sufficient praise: but in view of the distinction of his subsequent
deeds, I shall seem to be dealing with small matters, if I rehearse them
all with exactness. I shall only mention his achievements while ruling
over you. Even all of these, however, I shall not relate with minute
scrupulousness. I could not possibly give them adequate treatment, and I
should cause you excessive weariness, particularly since you already
know them.

[-41-] "First of all, this man was praetor in Spain, and finding it
secretly hostile did not allow the inhabitants under the protection of
the name of peace to develop into foes, nor chose to spend the period of
his governorship in quiet rather than to effect what was for the
advantage of the nation; hence, since they would not agree to alter
their sentiments, he brought them to their senses without their consent,
and in doing so so far surpassed the men who had previously won glory
against them as keeping a thing is more difficult than acquiring it, and
reducing men to a condition where they can never again become rebellious
is more profitable than rendering them subject in the first place, while
their power is still undiminished. That is the reason that you voted him
a triumph for this and gave him at once the office of consul. As a
result of your decree it became most plainly evident that he had waged
that war not for his own desires or glory, but was preparing for the
future. The celebration of the triumph he waived on account of pressing
business, and after thanking you for the honor he was satisfied with
merely that to secure his glory, and entered upon the consulship. [-42-]
Now all his administrative acts in this city during the discharge of
that office would be verily countless to name. And as soon as he had
left it and been sent to conduct war against the Gauls, notice how many
and how great were his achievements there. So far from causing
grievances to the allies he even went to their assistance, because he
was not suspicious at all of them and further saw that they were
wronged. But his foes, both those dwelling near the friendly tribes, and
all the rest that inhabited Gaul he subjugated, acquiring at one time
vast stretches of territory and at another unnumbered cities of which we
knew not even the names before. All this, moreover, he accomplished so
quickly, though he had received neither a competent force nor sufficient
money from you, that before any of you knew that he was at war he had
conquered; and he settled affairs on such a firm basis and [113] ...,
that as a result Celtica and Britain felt his footstep. And now is that
Gaul enslaved which sent against us the Ambrones and the Cimbri, and is
entirely cultivated like Italy itself. Ships traverse not only the Rhone
or the Arar, but the Mosa, the Liger, the very Rhine, and the very
ocean. Places of which we had not even heard the titles to lead us to
think that they existed were likewise subdued for us: the formerly
unknown he made accessible, the formerly unexplored navigable by his
greatness of purpose and greatness of accomplishment. [-43-] And had not
certain persons out of envy formed a faction against him, or rather us,
and forced him to return here before the proper time, he would certainly
have subdued Britain entire together with the remaining islands
surrounding it and all of Celtica to the Arctic Ocean, so that we should
have had as borders not land or people for the future, but air and the
outer sea. For these reasons you also, seeing the greatness of his mind
and his deeds and good fortune, assigned him the right to hold office a
very long time,--a privilege which, from the hour that we became a
democracy has belonged to no other man,--I mean holding the leadership
during eight whole years in succession. This shows that you thought him
to be really winning all those conquests for you and never entertained
the suspicion that he would strengthen himself to your hurt.

"No, you desired that he should spend in those regions as long a time as
possible. He was prevented, however, by those who regarded the
government as no longer a public but their own private possession, from
subjugating the remaining countries, and you were kept from becoming
lords of them all; these men, making an ill use of the opportunity given
them by his being occupied, ventured upon many impious projects, so that
you came to require his aid. [-44-] Therefore abandoning the victories
within his grasp he quickly brought you assistance, freed all Italy from
the dangers in which it had become involved, and furthermore won back
Spain which had been estranged. Then he saw Pompey, who had abandoned
his fatherland and was setting up a kingdom of his own in Macedonia,
transferring thither all your possessions, equipping your subjects
against you, and using against you money of your own. So at first he
wished to persuade Pompey somehow to stop and change his course and
receive the greatest pledges that he should again attain a fair and
equal position with him; and he sent to him both privately and publicly.
When, however, he found himself unable in any way to effect this, but
Pompey burst all restraints, even the relationship that had existed
between himself and Caesar, and chose to fight against you, then at last
he was compelled to begin a civil war. And what need is there of telling
how daringly he sailed against him in spite of the winter, or how boldly
he assailed him, though Pompey held all the strong positions there, or
how bravely he vanquished him though much inferior in number of
soldiers? If a man wished to examine each feature in detail, he might
show the renowned Pompey to have been a child, so completely was he
outgeneraled at every point.

[-45-] "But this I will omit, for Caesar himself likewise never took any
pride in it, but he accepted it as a dispensation of destiny, repugnant
to him personally. When Heaven had most justly decided the issue of the
battle, what man of those then captured for the first time did he put to
death? Whom, rather, did he not honor, not alone senators or knights or
citizens in general, but also allies and subjects? No one of them either
died a violent death, or was made defendant in court, no individual, no
king, no tribe, no city. On the contrary, some arrayed themselves on his
side, and others at least obtained immunity with honor, so that then all
lamented the men that had been lost. Such exceeding humanity did he
show, that he praised those who had coöperated with Pompey and allowed
them to keep everything the latter had given them, but hated Pharnaces
and Orodes, because though friends of the vanquished they had not
assisted him. It was chiefly for this reason that he not long after
waged war on Pharnaces, and was preparing to conduct a campaign against
Orodes. He certainly [would have spared] even [Pompey himself if] he had
captured him alive.[114] A proof of this is that he did not pursue him
at once, but allowed him to flee at his leisure. Also he was grieved to
hear of Pompey's death and did not praise his murderers, but put them to
death for it soon after, and even destroyed besides Ptolemy himself,
though a child, because he had allowed his benefactor to perish.

[-46-] "How after this he brought Egypt to terms and how much money he
conveyed to you from there it would be superfluous to relate. And when
he made his campaign against Pharnaces, who already held considerable of
Pontus and Armenia, he was on the same day reported to the rebel as
approaching him, was seen confronting him, engaged in conflict with him,
and conquered him.

"This better than anything else established the truth of the assertion
that he had not become weaker in Alexandria and had not delayed there
out of voluptuousness. For how could he have won that victory so easily
without employing a great store of insight and great force? When now
Pharnaces had fled he was preparing to conduct a campaign at once
against the Parthian, but as certain quarrels were taking place there he
withdrew rather unwillingly, but settled this dispute, too, so that no
one would believe there had been a disturbance. Not a soul was killed or
exiled or even dishonored in any way as a result of that trouble, not
because many might not justly have been punished, but because he thought
it right while destroying enemies unsparingly to preserve citizens, even
if they were poor stuff. Therefore by his bravery he overcame foreigners
in war, but out of his humanity kept unharmed the seditious citizens,
although many of them by their acts had often shown themselves unworthy
of this favor. This same policy he followed again both in Africa and in
Spain, releasing all who had not before been captured and been made
recipients of his mercy. To grant their lives invariably to such as
frequently plotted against him he deemed folly, not humanity. On the
other hand, he thought it quite the duty of a manly man to pardon
opponents on the occasion of their first errors and not to keep an
inexorable anger, yes, and to assign honors to them, but if they clung
to their original course, to get rid of them. Yet why did I say this?
Many of them also he preserved by allowing all his associates and those
who had helped him conquer to save, one each, the life of a captive.

[-47-] "Moreover, that he did all this from inherent excellence and not
from pretence or to gather any advantage, as others in large numbers
have displayed humaneness, the greatest evidence is that everywhere and
under all circumstances he showed himself the same: anger did not
brutalize him nor good fortune corrupt him; power did not alter, nor
authority change him. Yet it is very difficult when tested in so many
enterprises of such a scope and following one another in quick
succession at a time when one has been successful in some, is still
engaged in conducting others, and only suspects the existence of others,
to prove equally efficient on all occasions and to refrain from wishing
to do anything harsh or frightful, if not out of vengeance for the past,
at least as a measure of safeguard for the future. This, then, is enough
to prove his excellence. He was so truly a scion of gods that he
understood but one thing, to save those that could be saved. But if you
want more evidence, it lies in this, that he took care to have those who
warred against him chastised by no other hands than his own, and that he
won back those who in former times had slipped away. He had amnesty
granted to all who had been followers of Lepidus and Sertorius, and next
arranged that safety should be afforded all the survivors among those
proscribed by Sulla; somewhat later he brought them home from exile and
bestowed honors and offices upon the children of all who had been slain
by that tyrant. Greatest of all, he burned absolutely every one of the
letters containing secret information that was found in the tent of
either Pompey or Scipio, not reading or noticing any portion of them, in
order that no one else might derive from them the power to play the
rogue. That this was not only what he said, but what he did, his acts
show clearly. No one as a result of those letters was even frightened,
let alone suffering any great calamity. And no one knows those who
escaped this danger except the men themselves. This is most astonishing
and has nothing to surpass it, that they were spared before being
accused, and saved before encountering danger, and that not even he who
saved their lives learned who it was he pitied.

[-48-] "For these and all his other acts of lawmaking and
reconstruction, great in themselves, but likely to be deemed small in
comparison with those others into which one cannot enter minutely, you
loved him as a father and cherished him as a benefactor, you glorified
him with such honors as you bestowed on no one else and desired him to
be continual head of the city and of the whole domain. You did not
dispute at all about titles, but applied them all to him as being still
less than his merits, with the purpose that whatever was lacking in each
one of them of what was considered a proper expression of the most
complete honor and authority might be made up by what the rest
contributed. Therefore, as regards the gods he was appointed high
priest, as regards us consul, as regards the soldiers imperator, and as
regards the enemy dictator. But why do I enumerate these details, when
in one phrase you called him father of his country,--not to mention the
rest of his titles?

[-49-] "Yet this father, this high priest, this inviolable being, hero,
god, is dead, alas, dead not by the violence of some disease, nor
exhausted by old age, nor wounded abroad somewhere in some war, nor
snatched away irresistibly by some supernatural force: but plotted
against here within the walls--the man that safely led an army into
Britain; ambushed in this city--the man who had increased its circuit;
struck down in the senate-house--the man that had reared another such
edifice at his own charge; unarmed the brave warrior; defenceless the
promoter of peace; the judge beside the court of justice; the governor
beside the seat of government; at the hands of the citizens--he whom
none of the enemy had been able to kill even when he fell into the sea;
at the hands of his comrades--he who had often taken pity on them.
Where, Caesar, was your humaneness, where your inviolability, where the
laws? You enacted many laws to prevent any one's being killed by
personal foes, yet see how mercilessly your friends killed you, and now
slain you lie before us in that Forum through which you often crowned
led triumphal marches, wounded unto death you have been cast down upon
that rostra from which you often addressed the people. Woe for the
blood-bespattered locks of gray, alas for the rent robe, which you
assumed, it seems, only to the end that you might be slain in it!"

[-50-] At this deliverance of Antony's the throng was at first excited,
then enraged, and finally so inflamed with passion that they sought his
murderers and reproached the senators besides, because the former had
killed and the latter had beheld without protest the death of a man in
whose behalf they had voted to offer yearly prayers, by whose Health and
Fortune they took oaths, and whom they had made sacrosanct equally with
the tribunes. Then, seizing his body, some wished to convey it to the
room in which he had been slaughtered, and others to the Capitol and to
burn it there: but being prevented by the soldiers, who feared that the
theatres and temples would be burned to the ground at the same time,
they placed it upon a pyre there in the Forum, just as they were. Even
under these circumstances many of the surrounding buildings would have
been destroyed, had not the soldiers presented an obstacle, and some of
the bolder spirits the consuls forced over the cliffs of the Capitol.
For all that the remainder did not cease their disturbance, but rushed
to the houses of the murderers, and during the excitement they killed
without reason Helvius Cinna, a tribune, and some others; this man had
not only not plotted against Caesar, but was one of his most devoted
friends. Their error was due to the fact that Cornelius Cinna the praetor
had a share in the attack. [-51-] After this the consuls forbade any one
outside the ranks of soldiers to carry arms. They accordingly refrained
from assassinations, but set up a kind of altar on the site of the
pyre--his bones the freedmen had previously taken up and deposited in
the ancestral tomb--and undertook to sacrifice upon it and offer victims
to Caesar, as to a god. This the consuls overturned and punished some who
showed displeasure at the act, also publishing a law that no one should
ever again be dictator. In fact they invoked curses and proclaimed death
as the penalty upon any man who should propose or support such a
measure, and furthermore they fined the present malcontents directly. In
making this provision for the future they seemed to assume that the
shamefulness of the deeds consisted in the names, whereas these
occurrences really arose from the supremacy of arms and the character of
each individual, and degraded the titles of authority in whatever
capacity exercised. For the time being they despatched immediately to
the colonies such as held allotments of land previously assigned by
Caesar; this was from fear that they might cause some disturbance. Of
Caesar's slayers they sent out some, who had obtained governorships, to
the provinces, and the rest to various different places on one pretext
or another: and these persons were honored by many persons as
benefactors.

[-52-] In this way Caesar disappeared from the scene. Inasmuch as he had
been slain in Pompey's edifice and near his statue which at that time
stood there, he seemed in a way to have afforded his rival his revenge;
and this idea gained ground from the fact that tremendous thunder and a
furious rain occurred. In the midst of that excitement there also took
place the following incident, not unworthy of mention. One Gaius Casca,
a tribune, seeing that Cinna had perished as a result of his name being
similar to the praetor's, and fearing that he too might be killed,
because Publius Servilius Casca was one of the tribunes and also one of
the assassins, issued a book which showed that they had in common only
one and the same name and pointed out their difference of disposition.
Neither of them suffered any harm (for Servilius was strongly guarded)
and Gaius won some consideration, so that he is remembered by this act.

[-53-] These were the proceedings, at that time, of the consuls and the
rest. Dolabella was invested with his office by Antony, who feared that
he might cause a sedition, although he was at first not disposed to take
such action, on the ground that Dolabella had not yet the right to it.
When, however, the excitement subsided, and Antony himself was charged
with investigating the acts of Caesar's administration and carrying out
all the latter's behests, he no longer kept within bounds. As soon as he
had got hold of the dead man's documents, he made many erasures, and
many substitutions,--inserting laws as well as other matter. Moreover,
he deprived some of money and offices, which in turn he gave to others,
pretending that in so doing he was carrying out Caesar's directions. Next
he made many seizures on the spot, and collected large sums of money
from individuals, peoples and kings, selling to some land, to others
liberty, to others citizenships, to others exemption from taxes. This
was done in spite of the fact that the senate at first had voted that no
tablet should be set up on account of any contract that Caesar had made
(all such transactions were inscribed on bronze tablets), and later,
when Antony persisted, declaring that many urgent matters had been
provided for by his chief, it had ordered that all the foremost citizens
should join in passing upon them. He, however, paid no attention to
this, and had an utter contempt for Octavius, who as a stripling and
inexperienced in business had declined the inheritance because it was
troublesome and hard to manage: and Antony himself, assuming to be the
heir not only of the property but also of the supremacy of Caesar,
managed everything. One of his acts was to restore some exiles. And
since Lepidus had great power and caused him considerable fear, he gave
his daughter in marriage to this leader's son and made arrangements to
have the latter appointed high priest, so as to prevent any meddling
with enterprises which he had on foot. In order to carry out this plan
with greater ease, he diverted the choice of high priest from the people
back to the priests, and in company with the latter he consecrated him,
performing few or none of the accustomed rites, though he might have
secured the priesthood for himself.


FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 1: As far as chapter 20 this argument of Leunclavius will be
found to follow a different division of Book Thirty-six from that
adopted by Melber and employed in the present translation.]

[Footnote 2: His death occurred early in the year.]

[Footnote 3: This man's name is given as Sextilius by Plutarch (Life of
Lucullus, chapter 25) and Appian (Mithridatic Wars, chapter 84).]

[Footnote 4: Cobet's (Greek: _metepepempto_) in place of Vat. A (Greek:
_metepempeto_).]

[Footnote 5: "Valerians" was a name given to the Twentieth Legion. (See
Livy VI, 9.)]

[Footnote 6: _Q. Marcius Rex._]

[Footnote 7: The subject must be Quintus Caecilius Metellus. This is the
point at which the Medicean manuscript (see Introduction) now begins,
and between what goes before and what follows there is an obvious gap of
some kind. A few details touching upon the close of the Cretan war may
be found in Xiphilinus (p. 1, 12-20), as follows:

"And [Metellus] subjugated the entire island, albeit he was hindered and
restrained by Pompey the Great, who was now lord of the whole sea and of
the mainland for a three days' march from the coast; for Pompey asserted
that the islands also belonged to him. Nevertheless, in spite of
Pompey's opposition, Metellus put an end to the Cretan war, conducted a
triumph in memory thereof, and was given the title of Creticus."

It should be noted in passing that J. Hilberg (Zeitschrift f. oest.
Gymn., 1889, p. 213) thinks that the proper place for the chapter
numbered 16 is after 17, instead of before it.]

[Footnote 8: A leaf is here torn out of the first quaternion of the
Medicean MS. An idea of the matter omitted may be gained by comparing
Xiphilinus (p. 5):--"Catulus, one of the foremost men, had said to the
populace: 'If he fail after being sent out on this errand (as not
infrequently happens in many contests, especially on the sea) whom else
will you find in place of him for still more pressing business?' Thereat
the entire throng as if by previous agreement lifted their voices and
exclaimed: 'You!' Thus Pompey secured command of the sea and of the
islands and of the mainland for four hundred etades inland from the
sea."]

[Footnote 9: Some half dozen words are wanting at this point in the MS.
Those most easily supplied afford the translation here given.]

[Footnote 10: I.e., "City of Victory."]

[Footnote 11: Harmastica (==arx dei Armazi) is meant.]

[Footnote 12: The words [Greek: tou Kurnou pararreontos, enthen de],
required to fill a gap in the sense, supplied by Bekker on the basis of
a previous suggestion by Reiske.]

[Footnote 13: The words [Greek: ho de Pompêios] at the opening of chapter
6 were supplied by Bekker.]

[Footnote 14: Properly called Sinoria.]

[Footnote 15: A gap exists in the Medicean MS. because the first leaf in
the third quaternion is lacking. The omission may be partly filled out
from Xiphilinus (p. 7):

"He returned from Armenia and arbitrated disputes besides conducting
other business for kings and potentates who came to him. He confirmed
some in possession of their kingdoms, added to the principalities of
others, and curtailed and humbled the excessive powers of a few. Hollow
Syria and Phoenicia which had lately ridden themselves of their rulers
and had been made the prey of the Arabians and Tigranes were united.
Antiochus had dared to ask them back, but he did not secure them.
Instead, they were combined into one province and received laws so that
their government was carried on in the Roman fashion."

As to the words at the end of chapter 7, "although her child was with,"
an inkling of their significance may be had from Appian, Mithridates,
chapter 107. Stratonice had betrayed to Pompey a treasurehouse on the
sole condition that if he should capture Xiphares, a favorite son of
hers, he should spare him. This disloyalty to Mithridates enraged the
latter, who gained possession of the youth and slew him, while the
mother beheld the deed of revenge from a distance.]

[Footnote 16: L. _Annius Bellienus_.]

[Footnote 17: L. _Luscius_.]

[Footnote 18: Or "and these were" (according to the MS. reading
selected).]

[Footnote 19: Xiphilinus adds: "after approaching and offering him
this."]

[Footnote 20: I.e., Jehovah.]

[Footnote 21: Sol and Luna: or the sun and moon. The words appear in the
text without any article and may be personified.]

[Footnote 22: Dio attempts in chapters 18 and 19 to explain why the days
of the week are associated with the names of the planets. It should be
borne in mind that the order of the planets with reference to their
distance from the earth (counting from farthest to nearest) is as
follows: Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Sun, Venus, Mercury, Moon. The custom of
naming the days may then have arisen, he says, (1) by regarding the gods
as originally presiding over separate _days_ assigned by the principle
of the tetrachord (I.e., skipping two stars in your count each time as
you go over the list) so that you get this order: the day of Saturn, of
the Sun, of the Moon, of Mars, of Mercury, of Jupiter, of Venus
(Saturday to Friday, inclusive); or (2) by regarding the gods as
properly gods of the _hours_, which are assigned in order, beginning
with Saturn, as in the list above,--and allowing it to be understood
that that god who is found by this system to preside over the _first
hour_ shall also give his name to the day in question.]

[Footnote 23: See Book Thirty-six, chapter 43.]

[Footnote 24: After "join him" there is a gap in the MS. The words
necessary to complete this sentence and to begin the next were supplied
by Reiske.]

[Footnote 25: Cobet (Mnemosyne N.S., X, p. 195) thinks that there is
here a reminiscence of Cicero, _Ad Atticum_, I, 16, 5.]

[Footnote 26: Or _Solo_ (according to the Epitome of the one hundred and
third Book of Livy).]

[Footnote 27: Supplying [Greek: to misein] (as v. Herwerden,
Boissevain).]

[Footnote 28: The following sentence: "For these reasons, then, he had
both united them and won them over" is probably an explanatory
insertion, made by some copyist. (So Bekker.)]

[Footnote 29: Reading [Greek: proskatastanton] (as Boissevain).]

[Footnote 30: The reading here has been subjected to criticism (compare
Naber in Mnemosyne, XVI, p. 109), but see Cicero, _De Lege Agraria_ 2,
9, 24 and Mommsen, _Staatsrecht_, I^2, 468, 3.]

[Footnote 31: The words [Greek: epeidae outoi] are supplied here by
Reiske.]

[Footnote 32: In regard to this matter see Mnemosyne N.S. XIX, p. 106,
note 2. The article in question is by I.M.J. Valeton, who agrees with
Mommsen's conclusions (_Staatsrecht_, III, p. 1058, note 2).]

[Footnote 33: Reading [Greek: pote] with Boissevain. There is apparently
a reference to the year B.C. 100, and to the refusal of Metellus
Numidicus to swear to the _lex Appuleia_.]

[Footnote 34: Following Reiske's arrangement: [Greek: os mentoi ae
aemera aechen, en emellon ...].]

[Footnote 35: The verb is supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 36: Following Reiske's reading: _[Greek: ae ina ta mellonta
cholotheiae]_]

[Footnote 37: Gaps in the text supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 38: Gaps in the text supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 39: Gaps in the text supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 40: Gaps in the text supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 41: The suggestion of Boissevain (euthus) or of Mommsen
(authicha) is here adopted in preference to the MS. authis (evidently
erroneous).]

[Footnote 42: Verb supplied by Xylander.]

[Footnote 43: Or five hundred miles, since Dio reckons a mile as
equivalent to seven and one-half instead of eight stades.]

[Footnote 44: The MS. is corrupt. Perhaps Hannibal is meant, perhaps
Aeneas.]

[Footnote 45: Reading [Greek: epithumian] (with Boissevain).]

[Footnote 46: Reading [Greek: enaellonto], proposed in Mnemosyne N.S. X,
p. 196, by Cobet, who compares Caesar's Gallic War I, 52, 5; and adopted
by Boissevain.]

[Footnote 47: Two words to fill a gap are suggested by Bekker.]

[Footnote 48: Four words to fill a gap supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 49: Reading [Greek: paraen] (as Boissevain).]

[Footnote 50: Words equivalent to "the more insistent" are easily
supplied from the context, as suggested by v. Herwerden, Wagner, and
Leunclavius.]

[Footnote 51: This is a younger brother of that Ptolemy Auletes who was
expelled from Egypt and subsequently restored (see chapter 55), and is
the same one mentioned in Book Thirty-eight, chapter 30.]

[Footnote 52: This statement of Dio's appears to be erroneous. See
Cicero, _Ad Familiares_ I, 7, 10, and Mommsen, _Staatsrecht_, 22, 672.]

[Footnote 53: Gap in the MS. supplied by Bekker's conjecture.]

[Footnote 54: Suetonius says "five years" (Life of Caesar, chapter 24),
and Plutarch and Appian make a similar statement of the time. (Plutarch,
Caesar, chapter 21, and Pompey, chapters 51, 52. Appian, Civil War, II,
17.)]

[Footnote 55: The two kinds of naval tactics mentioned here (Greek:
periplous] and [Greek: diechplous]) consist respectively (1) in
describing a semi-circle and making a broadside attack with the purpose
of ramming an opposing vessel, and (2) in dashing through the hostile
ranks, breaking the oars of some ship and then returning to ram it when
disabled. Both methods were employed in early Greek as well as in Roman
warfare.]

[Footnote 56: Dio has evidently imitated at this point a sentence in
Herodotos, VIII, 6 (as shown by the phraseology), where it is remarked
that "the Persians [at Artemisium] were minded not to let a single soul"
of the Greeks escape. The expression is, in general, a proverbial one,
applied to utter destruction, especially in warfare. Its source is
Greek, and lies in the custom of the Spartans (see Xenophon, Polity of
the Lacedaemonians, chapter 13, section 2), which required the presence
in their army of a priest carrying fire kindled at the shrine of Zeus
the Leader, in Sparta, this sacred fire being absolutely essential to
the proper conduct of important sacrifices. Victors would naturally
spare such a priest on account of his sacred character; he regularly
possessed the inviolability attaching also to heralds and envoys: and
the proverb that represents him as being slain is (as Suidas notes) an
effective bit of epigrammatic exaggeration. Other references to this
proverb may be found (by those interested) in Rawlinson's note on the
above passage of Herodotos, in one of the scholia on the Phoenician
Maidens of Euripides (verse 1377), in Sturz's Xenophontean Lexicon, in
Stobaios's _Florilegium_ (XLIV, 41, excerpt from Nicolaos in
Damascenos), in Zenobios's _Centuria_ (V, 34), and finally in the
dictionaries of Suidas and Hesychios.

The following slight variations as to the origin of the phrase are to be
found in the above. The scholiast on Euripides states that in early
times before the trumpet was invented, it was customary for a
torch-bearer to perform the duties of a trumpeter. Each of any two
opposing armies would have one, and the two priests advancing in front
of their respective armies would cast their torches into the intervening
space and then be allowed to retire unmolested before the clash
occurred. Zenobios, a gatherer of proverbs, uses the word "seer" instead
of priest. That the saying was an extremely common one seems to be
indicated by the rather naïve definition of Hesychios: _Fire-Bearer._ The
man bearing fire. Also, the only man saved in war.

Of course, this may be simply the unskillful condensation of an
authority.]

[Footnote 57: Reading [Greek: autas] (as Boissevain) in preference to
[Greek: autous] ("upon them").]

[Footnote 58: About sixty miles. It is interesting to compare here
Caesar's (probably less accurate) estimate of _thirty_ miles in his
Gallic War (V, 2, 3).]

[Footnote 59: The exact time, daybreak, is indicated in Caesar's Gallic
War, V, 31, 6.]

[Footnote 60: Compare Caesar's Gallic War, V, 54, 1.]

[Footnote 61: cp. LXXX, 3.]

[Footnote 62: Verb supplied by Reiske.]

[Footnote 63: "Zeugma" signifies a "fastening together" (of boats or
other material) to make a bridge.]

[Footnote 64: A gap here is filled by following approximately Bekker's
conjecture.]

[Footnote 65: Verb supplied by Oddey.]

[Footnote 66: Twenty days according to Caesar's Gallic War (VII, 90).
Reimar thinks "sixty" an error of the copyists.]

[Footnote 67: The Words "of Marcus" were added by Leunclavius to make
the statement of the sentence correspond with fact. Their omission would
seem to be obviously due to haplography. The confusion about the
relationship which might well have arisen by Dio's time, is very
possibly the consequence of the idiomatic Latin "frater patruelis" used
by Suetonius (for instance) in chapter 29 of his Life of Caesar. The two
men were in fact, first cousins. Again in Appian (Civil Wars, Book Two,
chapter 26), we read of "Claudius Marcellus, cousin of the previous
Marcus." Both had the gentile name Claudius, one being Marcus Claudius,
and the other Gaius Claudius, Marcellus.]

[Footnote 68: Small gaps occur in this sentence, filled by conjectures
of Bekker and Reiske.]

[Footnote 69: Verb suggested by Xylander, Reiske, Bekker.]

[Footnote 70: Compare Book Thirty-seven, chapter 52.]

[Footnote 71: I.e., "Temple" or "Place of the Nymphs."]

[Footnote 72: This couplet is from an unknown play of Sophocles,
according to both Plutarch and Appian. Plutarch, in his extant works,
cites it three times (Life of Pompey, chapter 78; Sayings of Kings and
Emperors, p. 204E; How a Young Man Ought to Hear Poems, chapter 12). In
the last of these passages he tells how Zeno by a slight change in the
words alters the lines to an opposite meaning which better expresses his
own sentiments. Diogenes Laertius (II, 8) relates a similar incident.
Plutarch says that Pompey quoted the verses in speaking to his wife and
son, but Appian (Civil Wars, H, 85) that he repeated to himself.

The verses will be found as No. 789 of the Incertarum Fabularum
Fragmenta in Nauck's _Tragici Graeci._]

[Footnote 73: _M. Acilius Caninus._]

[Footnote 74: In the MS, some corruption has jumbled these names
together. The correct interpretation was furnished by Xylander and
Leunclavius.]

[Footnote 75: The year 47, in which Caesar came to Rome, is here meant,
or else Dio has made an error.]

[Footnote 76: _M. Caelius Rufus_.]

[Footnote 77: This is one of some twenty different phases (listed in
Wissowa, _Religion und Kultus der Römer_, p. 212) under which the
goddess was worshipped. (See also Roscher 1, col. 1513.) The appropriate
Latin title was _Fortuna Respiciens_, and it certainly had a Greek
equivalent ([Greek: Tuoae hepistrephomenae] in Plutarch, _de fortuna
Romanorum_, c. 10) which it seems strange that Dio should not have
known. Moreover, our historian has apparently given a wrong
interpretation of the name, since _respicio_ in Latin, when used of the
gods, commonly means to "look favorably upon." In Plautus's _Captivi_
(verse 834) there is a play on the word _respice_ involving the goddess,
and in his _Asinaria_ (verse 716) mention is made of a closely related
divinity, Fortuna Obsequens. Cicero (_de legibus_, II, 11, 28), in
enumerating the divinities that merit human worship, includes "Fortuna,
quae est vel Huius diei--nam valet in omnis dies--vel Respiciens ad opem
ferendam, vel Fors, in quo incerti casus significantur magis" ... The
name Fortuna Respiciens has also come to light in at least three
inscriptions.]

[Footnote 78: This is the phrase commonly supplied to explain a palpable
corruption in the MS.]

[Footnote 79: It seems probable that a few words have fallen out of the
original narrative at this point. Such is the opinion of both Dindorf
and Hoelzl.]

[Footnote 80: Compare Book Thirty-six, chapters 12 and 13.]

[Footnote 81: _I.e._, "Citizens."]

[Footnote 82: Xylander and Leunclavius supply this necessary word
lacking in the MS.]

[Footnote 83: Compare Plutarch, Life of Caesar, chapter 52, and
Suetonius, Life of Caesar, chapter 59.]

[Footnote 84: Better known as the _Phaedo._]

[Footnote 85: The Greek word representing "for a second time" is not in
the MS., but is supplied with the best of reason by Schenkl and also
Cobet (see Mnemosyne N.S.X., p. 196). It was Caesar's regular custom to
spare any who were taken captive for the first time, but invariably to
put them to death if they were again caught opposing him in arms.
References in Dio are numerous: Compare Book 41, chapter 62; Book 43,
chapter 17; Book 44, chapter 45; Book 44, chapter 46. The same rule for
the treatment of captives finds mention also in the Life of Caesar by
Suetonius, chapter 75.]

[Footnote 86: The last three words of this sentence are not found in the
MS., but as a correlative clause of contrast is evidently needed to
complete the sense, this, or something similar, is supplied by most
editors.]

[Footnote 87: Reading [Greek: sunaeranto] with Bekker and Reiske in
place of [Greek: prosaeranto].]

[Footnote 88: These blatherskite jests formed a part of the ritual of
the triumph, for the purpose of averting the possible jealousy of
Heaven. Compare, in general, the interesting description of a triumph
given in Fragment 23 (volume VI).]

[Footnote 89: Reading [Greek: haetiazeto] (Cobet's preference).]

[Footnote 90: Caesar's conduct during his stay with Nicomedes (with
embellishments) was thrown in his teeth repeatedly during his career.
According to Suetonius (Life of Caesar, chapter 49) the soldiers sang
scurrilous verses, as follows:

Gallias Caesar subegit, Nicomedes Caesarem. Ecce Caesar nunc triumphat qui
subegit Gallias, Nicomedes non triumphat qui subegit Caesarem.

Dio undoubtedly had these verses before him, in either Suetonius or some
other work, but seems to have been too slow-witted to appreciate the
_double entendre_ in _subegit_, which may signify voluptuary as well as
military prowess. Hence, though he might have turned the expression
exactly by [Greek: hupaegageto] he contented himself with the prosaic
[Greek: hedoulosato]]

[Footnote 91: This remark (as Cobet pointed out) is evidently a
perversion of an old nursery jingle (nenia):

_Si male faxis vapulabis, si bene faxis rex eris._

And another form of it is found in Horace, Epistles (I, 1, 59-60):

_at pueri ludentes 'rex eris' aiunt 'si recte fades.'_

The soldiers simply changed the position of male and bene in the line
above cited.]

[Footnote 92: Possibly, Boissevain thinks, this is a corruption for the
Furius Leptinus mentioned by Suetonius, Life of Caesar, chapter 39.]

[Footnote 93: At present seven scattered months have thirty-one days.
Caesar, when he took the Alexandrian month of thirty days as his
standard, found the same discrepancy of five days as did the Egyptians.
Besides these he lopped two more days off one particular month, then
spread his remainder of seven through the year.]

[Footnote 94: I follow in this sentence the reading of all the older
texts as well as Boissevain's. Only Dindorf and Melber omit [Greek: chai
tetrachosiois], making the number of years 1061. The usual figuring,
1461, has pertinence: the number is just four times 365-1/4 and was
recognized as an Egyptian year-cycle.

As to the facts, however, Sturz points out (note 139 to Book 43) that
after the elapse of fourteen hundred and sixty-one years eleven days
must be subtracted instead of one day added. Pope Gregory XIII
ascertained this when in A.D. 1582 he summoned Aloysius and Antonius
Lilius to advise him in regard to the calendar. (Boissée also refers
here to Ideler, _Manuel de Chronologie_, II, 119ff.)]

[Footnote 95: The name of these islands is spelled both _Gymnasioe and
Gymnesioe_, and they are also called _Baleares_ and _Pityusoe_. Cp. the
end of IX, 10, in the transcript of Zonaras (Volume I).]

[Footnote 96: This is of course New Carthage (Karthago Nova), the
Spanish colony of the African city.]

[Footnote 97: At the close of this chapter there are undoubtedly certain
gaps in the MS., as Dindorf discerned. In the Tauchnitz stereotyped
edition, which usually insists upon wresting some sense from such
passages either by conjecture or by emendation, the following sentence
appears: "But Pompey made light of these supernatural effects, and the
war shrank to the compass of a battle." Boissevain (with a suggestion by
Kuiper) reads: [Greek: all haege gar to daimonion hen te oligoria auto
hepoihaesato chai es polin Moundan pros machaen dae chatestae]. This
would mean: "But Heaven, which he had slighted, led his steps, and he
took up his quarters in a city called Munda preparatory to battle."]

[Footnote 98: Mommsen in his Roman History (third German edition, p.
627, note 1), remarks that Dio must have confused the son of Bocchus
with the son of Massinissa, Arabio, who certainly did align himself with
the Pompeian party (Appian, Civil Wars, IV, 54). All other evidence,
outside of this one passage, shows the two kings to have been
steadfastly loyal to Caesar, behavior which brought them tangible profit
in the shape of enlargement of their domains.]

[Footnote 99: I.e., they were in arms against Caesar a second time.
Compare the note on chapter 12.]

[Footnote 100: This name is spelled _Coesonius_ in Florus's Epitome of
Livy's Thirteenth Book (=Florus II, 13, 86) and also in Orosius's
Narratives for the Discomfiture of Pagans (VI, 16, 9), but appears with
the same form as here in Cicero's Philippics, XII, 9, 23.]

[Footnote 101: The MS. has only "Fabius and Quintus." Mommsen supplies
their entire names from chapter 31 of this book.]

[Footnote 102: This was originally a festival of Pales-Palatua, and
information regarding its introduction is intercepted by remote
antiquity. In historical times we find it celebrated as the
commemoration of the founding of Rome, because Pales-Palatua was a
divinity closely connected with the Palatine, where the city first
stood. From Hadrian's time on special brilliance attached to the
occasion, and it was dignified by the epithet "Roman" (Athenaeus). As
late as the fifth century it was still known as "the birthday of the
city of Rome." Both forms, _Parilia_ and _Palilia_ occur. (Mentioned
also in Book Forty-five, chapter 6.)]

[Footnote 103: Licentiousness and general laxity of morals.]

[Footnote 104: The last clause of this chapter as it appears in the MS.
is evidently corrupt. The reading adopted is that of Madvig, modified by
Melber.]

[Footnote 105: Verb supplied (to fill MS gap) by R. Stephanus and
Leunclavius.]

[Footnote 106: _L. Minucius Basilus._]

[Footnote 107: Reading, with Boissevain, [Greek: antecharteraese].]

[Footnote 108: A gap in the MS.--Verb conjectured by Bekker on the
analogy of a passage in chapter 53.]

[Footnote 109: The father of Pompey the Great.]

[Footnote 110: In other words, the _Lupercalia_. The two other colleges
of Lupercales to which allusion is made were known as the Quintilian and
the Fabian.]

[Footnote 111: Compare Suetonius (Life of Caesar), chapter 52.]

[Footnote 112: It is here, with this word, that one of the two most
important manuscripts of Dio (the codex Venetus or Marcianus 395)
begins.]

[Footnote 113: Most editors have gotten over the difficulty of this
"and" in the MS. by omitting it. Dindorf, however, believed it to
indicate a real gap.]

[Footnote 114: The words in brackets are Reiske's conjecture for filling
the gap in the MS. Other editors use slightly different phraseology of
like purport.]