Lucius Sempronius Atratinus in his place; consequently some name the
latter and not the former in the enumeration of the consuls. In the
course of his efforts to take vengeance on the Armenian king with least
trouble to himself, he asked the hand of his daughter, pretending to want
to unite her in marriage to his son Alexander; he sent on this errand one
Quintus Deillius, who had once been a favorite of his, and promised to
give the monarch many gifts. Finally, at the beginning of spring, he came
suddenly into Nicopolis (founded by Pompey) and sent for him, stating
that he wanted to deliberate on and execute with his aid some measures
against the Parthians. The king suspecting the plot did not come, so he
sent Deillius to have another talk with him and marched with undiminished
haste toward Artaxata. In this way, after a long time, partly by
persuading him through friends, and partly by scaring him through his
soldiers, and writing and acting toward him in every way as thoroughly
friendly, he induced him to come into his camp. Thereupon the Roman
arrested him and at first keeping the prince without bonds he led him
around among the garrisons with whom his treasures were deposited, to see
if he could win them without a struggle. He made a pretence of having
arrested him for no other purpose than to collect tribute of the
Armenians that would ensure both his preservation and his sovereignty.
When, however, the guardians of the gold would have nothing to do with
him and the troops under arms chose Artaxes, the eldest of his children,
king in his stead, Antony bound him in silver chains. It seemed
disgraceful, probably, for one who had been a king to be made fast in
iron bonds. [-40-] After this, capturing some settlements peaceably and
some by force, Antony occupied all of Armenia, for Artaxes after fighting
an engagement and being worsted retired to the Parthian prince. After
doing this he betrothed to his son the daughter of the Median king with
the intention of making him still more his friend; then he left the
legions in Armenia and went once more to Egypt, taking the great mass of
booty and the Armenian with his wife and children. He sent them ahead
with the other captives for a triumph held in Alexandria, and himself
drove into the city upon a chariot, and among the other favors he granted
to Cleopatra he brought before her the Armenian and his family in golden
bonds. She was seated in the midst of the populace upon a platform plated
with silver and upon a gilded chair. The barbarians would not be her
suppliants nor do obeisance to her, though much coercion was brought to
bear upon them and hopes were held out to persuade them, but they merely
addressed her by name: this gave them a reputation for spirit, but they
were subject to a great deal of ill usage on account of it.
[-41-] After this Antony gave an entertainment to the Alexandrians, and
in the assemblage had Cleopatra and her children sit by his side: also in
the course of a public address he enjoined that she be called Queen of
Monarchs, and Ptolemy (whom he named Caesarion) King of Kings. He then
made a different distribution by which he gave them Egypt and Cyprus.
For he declared that one was the wife and the other the true son of the
former Caesar and he made the plea that he was doing this as a mark of
favor to the dead statesman,--his purpose being to cast reproach in this
way upon Octavianus Caesar because he was only an adopted and not a real
son of his. Besides making this assignment to them, he promised to give
to his own children by Cleopatra the following lands,--to Ptolemy Syria
and all the region west of the Euphrates as far as the Hellespont, to
Cleopatra Libya about Cyrene, and to their brother Alexander Armenia and
the rest of the districts across the Euphrates as far as the Indi. The
latter he bestowed as if they were already his. Not only did he say this
in Alexandria, but sent a despatch to Rome, in order that it might secure
ratification also from the people there. Nothing of this, however, was
read in public.
[B.C. 32 (_a. u._ 722)]
Domitius and Sosius were consuls by that time and being extremely devoted
to him refused to accede to Caesar's urgent demands that they should
publish it to all. Though they prevailed in this matter Caesar won a
victory in turn by not having anything that had been written about the
Armenian king made known to the public. He felt pity for the prince
because he had been secretly in communication with him for the purpose of
injuring Antony, and he grudged the latter his triumph. While Antony was
engaged as described he dared to write to the senate that he wished to
give up his office and put all affairs into the hands of that body and of
the people: he was not really intending to do anything of the kind, but
he desired that under the influence of the hopes he roused they might
either compel Caesar, because on the spot, to give up his arms first, or
begin to hate him, if he would not heed them.
[-42-] In addition to these events at that time the consuls celebrated
the festival held in honor of Venus Genetrix. During the Feriae, prefects,
boys and beardless youths, appointed by Caesar and sprung from knights
but not from senators, directed ceremonies. Also Aemilius Lepidus Paulus
constructed at his own expense the so-called _Porticus Pauli_ and
dedicated it in his consulship; for he was consul a portion of that
year. And Agrippa restored from his own purse the so-called Marcian
water-supply, which had been cut off by the destruction of the pipes, and
carried it in pipes to many parts of the city. These men, though rivals
in the outlay of their private funds, still dissembled the fact and
behaved sensibly: others who were holding even some most insignificant
office strove to get a triumph voted to themselves, some through Antony
and some through Caesar; and on this pretext they levied large sums upon
foreign nations for gold crowns.
[B.C. 33 (_a. u._ 721)]
[-43-] The next year Agrippa agreed to be made aedile and without taking
anything from the public treasury repaired all the public buildings
and all the roads, cleaned out the sewers, and sailed through them
underground into the Tiber. And seeing that in the hippodrome men made
mistakes about the number of turns necessary, he established the system
of dolphins and egg-shaped objects, so that by them the number of times
the track had been circled might be clearly shown. Furthermore he
distributed to all olive oil and salt, and had the baths open free of
charge throughout the year for the use of both men and women. In the
many festivals of all kinds which he gave (so many that the children of
senators could perform the "Troy" equestrian exercise), he also paid
barbers, to the end that no one should be at any expense for their
services. Finally he rained upon the heads of the people in the theatre
tickets that were good for money in one case, clothes in another, and
something else in a third, and he also would place various other large
stocks of goods in the squares and allow the people to scramble for them.
Besides doing this Agrippa drove the astrologers and charlatans from the
city. During these same days a decree was passed that no one belonging to
the senatorial class should be tried for piracy, and so those who were
under any such charge at the time were released and some were given
_carte blanche_ to commit crimes in future. Caesar became consul for the
second time with Lucius Tullus as his colleague, but on the very first
day, as Antony had done, he resigned; and with the sanction of the senate
he introduced some persons from the populace to the rank of patricians.
When a certain Lucius Asellius, who was praetor, on account of a long
sickness wished to lay down his office, he appointed his son in his
stead. And another praetor died on the last day of his term, whereupon
Caesar chose another for the remaining hours. At the decease of Bocchus
he gave his kingdom to no one else, but enrolled it among the Roman
provinces. And since the Dalmatians had been utterly subdued, he erected
from the spoils thus gained the porticoes and secured the collection of
books called the Octavian, after his sister.
[-44-] Antony meantime had marched as far as the Araxes, presumably to
conduct a campaign against the Parthians, but was satisfied to arrange
terms with the Median monarch. They made a covenant to serve each other
as allies, the one against the Parthians and the other against Caesar, and
to cement the compact they exchanged some soldiers; the Median prince
received a portion of the newly acquired Armenia and Antony his daughter
Iotape, to be united in marriage with Alexander, and the military
standards taken in the battle with Statianus; after this Antony bestowed
upon Polemon, as I have stated, Lesser Armenia, both made Lucius Flavius
consul and removed him (as his colleague), and set out for Ionia and
Greece to wage war against Caesar. The Median at first, by employing the
Romans as allies, conquered the Parthians and Artaxes who came against
him; but as Antony sent for his soldiers and moreover retained those of
the prince, the latter was in turn defeated and captured, and so Armenia
was lost together with Media.
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY 50
The following is contained in the Fiftieth of Dio's Rome.
How Caesar and Antony commenced hostilities against each other (chapters
1-14).
How Caesar conquered Antony at Actium (chapters 15-35).
Duration of time two years, in which there were the following magistrates
here enumerated:
Cn. Domitius L.F.Cn.N. Ahenobarbus, C. Sosius C.F. T.N. (B.C. 32 = a. u.
722.)
Caesar (III), M. Valerius M.F. Messala Corvinus. (B.C. 31 = a. u. 723.)
(_BOOK 50, BOISSEVAIN_.)
[-1-] The Roman people had been robbed of democracy but had not become
definitely a monarchy: Antony and Caesar still controlled affairs on an
equal footing, had divided the management of most of them, and nominally
considered that the rest belonged to them in common, though in reality
they endeavored to appropriate each interest as fast as either was able
to gain any advantage over the other. Sextus had now perished, the
Armenian king had been captured, the parties hostile to Caesar were
silent, the Parthians showed no signs of restlessness, and so after this
they turned openly against each other and the people became entirely
enslaved. The causes for the war, or the pretexts, were as follows.
Antony charged against Caesar that he had removed Lepidus from his
position, and had taken possession of his territory and the troops
of both him and Sextus, which ought to have been common property. He
demanded the half of these as well as the half of the soldiers that had
been levied in the parts of Italy which belonged to both of them. Caesar's
charge against him was that he was holding Egypt and other countries that
he had not drawn by lot, had killed Sextus (whom he would willingly have
spared, he said), and by deceiving and binding the Armenian king had
caused much ill repute to attach to the Roman people. He, too, demanded
half of the spoils, and above all reproached him with Cleopatra and the
children of hers which he had seen fit to regard as his own, the gifts
bestowed upon them, and particularly that he called the boy such a name
as Caesarion and placed him in the family of Caesar. [-2-] These were their
mutual charges; and to a certain extent mutual rejoinders were made, some
sent by letter to each other and others given to the public, by Caesar
orally, by Antony in writing. On this pretext also they kept constantly
sending envoys back and forth, wishing to appear as far as possible
justified in the complaints they made and to reconnoitre each other's
position at the same time.
[B.C. 32 (_a. u._ 722)]
Meanwhile they were collecting money avowedly for some different purpose
and were making all other preparations for war as if against other
persons, until the time that Gnaeus Domitius and Gaius Sosius, both
belonging to Antony's party, became consuls. Then they made no further
concealment, but admitted their alienation outright. It happened in the
following way.
Domitius did not openly attempt any radical measures, since he had had
the experience of many calamities. Sosius, however, had never experienced
such evils, and so on the very first day of the month he spoke at length
in praise of Antony and inveighed forcibly against Caesar. Indeed, he
would have immediately introduced measures against the latter, had not
Nonius Balbus, a tribune, prevented it. Caesar had suspected what he
was going to do and wished neither to permit it to come to pass nor by
offering opposition to appear to be commencing war; hence he did not
enter the senate at this time nor even live in the city at all, but
invented some excuse which took him out of town. He was not only
influenced by the above considerations but desired to deliberate at
leisure according to the reports brought to him and decide by mature
reflection upon the proper course. Later he returned and convened the
senate; he was surrounded by a guard of soldiers and friends who had
daggers concealed, and sitting between the consuls upon his chair of
state he spoke at length, and calmly, from where he sat regarding his own
position, and brought many accusations against Sosius and Antony. When
neither of the consuls themselves nor any one else ventured to utter a
word, he bade them come together again on a specified day, giving them to
understand that he would prove by certain documents that Antony was in
the wrong. The consuls did not dare to reply to him and could not endure
to be silent, and therefore secretly left the city before the time came
for them to appear again; after that they took their way to Antony,
followed by not a few of the senators who were left. Caesar on learning
this declared, to prevent its appearing that he had been abandoned by
them as a result of some injustice, that he had sent them out voluntarily
and that he granted the rest who so wished permission to depart unarmed
to Antony.
[-3-] This action of theirs just mentioned was counterbalanced by the
arrival of others who had fled from Antony to Caesar--among them Titius
and Plancus, though they were honored by Antony among the foremost and
knew all his secrets. Their desertion was due to some friction between
themselves and the Roman leader, or perhaps they were disgusted in the
matter of Cleopatra: at any rate they left soon after the consuls had
taken the final step and Caesar in the latter's absence had convened the
senate and read and spoken all that he wished, upon hearing of which
Antony assembled a kind of senate from the ranks of his followers, and
after considerable talk on both sides of the question took up the war and
renounced his connection with Octavia. Caesar was very glad to receive the
pair and learned from them about Antony's condition, what he was doing,
what he had in mind, what was written in his will, and the name of the
man that had it; for they had taken part in sealing it. He became still
more violently enraged from this cause and did not shrink from searching
for the document, seizing it, and then carrying it into the senate and
subsequently the assembly, and reading it. The clauses contained in it
were of such a nature that his most lawless behavior brought upon him
no reproach from the citizens. The writer had asseverated the fact that
Caesarion was truly sprung from Caesar, had given some enormous presents to
his children by the Egyptian queen, who were being reared by him, and had
ordered that his body be buried in Alexandria and by her side.
[-4-] This made the Romans in their indignation believe that the other
reports circulated were also true,--viz., that if Antony should prevail,
he would bestow their city upon Cleopatra and transfer the seat of power
to Egypt. And thereat they became so angry that all, not only such as
disliked him or were indifferent to the two men, censured him, but even
his most intimate friends did so severely. For in consternation at what
was read and eager to relieve themselves of the suspicion felt toward
them by Caesar, they said the same as the rest. They deprived him of the
consulship, to which he had been previously elected, and of all his
remaining authority. They did not declare him an enemy in so many words,
because they feared its effect on his adherents, since it would be
necessary that they also be held in the position of enemies in case they
should not abandon him; but by action they showed their attitude as
plainly as possible. For they voted to the men arrayed on his side pardon
and praise if they would abandon him, and declared war outright upon
Cleopatra, put on their military cloaks as though he were close at hand,
and went to the temple of Bellona where they performed through Caesar as
_fetialis_ all the rites preliminary to war in the customary fashion.
These were stated to refer to Cleopatra, but their real bearing was on
Antony. [-5-] She had enslaved him so absolutely that she persuaded him
to act as gymnasiarch[58] to the Alexandrians; and she was saluted by him
as "queen" and "mistress," had Roman soldiers in her body-guard, and all
of these inscribed her name upon their shields. She used to frequent the
market-place with him, joined him in the management of festivals, in the
hearing of lawsuits, and in riding; and in the cities she was actually
carried in a chair, while Antony accompanied her on foot along with the
eunuchs. He also termed his head-quarters "the palace", sometimes wore an
Oriental dagger at his belt, dressed in a manner not in accordance with
the customs of his native land, and let himself be seen even in public
upon a gilded couch and a chair of similar appearance. He joined her in
sitting for paintings and statues, he representing Osiris and Dionysus,
and she Selene and Isis. This more than all made him seem to have become
crazed by her through some enchantment. She so charmed and enthralled
not only him but all the rest who had any influence with him that she
conceived the hope of ruling the Romans, and made her greatest vow,
whenever she took any oath, that of dispensing justice on the Capitol.
[-6-] This was the reason that they voted for war against Cleopatra, but
they made no such declaration against Antony, knowing well that he would
be made hostile in any case, for he was certainly not going to betray
her and espouse Caesar's cause. And they wished to have this additional
reproach to heap upon him, that he had voluntarily taken up war in behalf
of the Egyptian woman against his native country, though no ill treatment
had been accorded him personally at home.
Now the men of fighting age were being rapidly assembled on both sides,
money was being collected from all quarters, and all warlike equipment
was being gathered with speed. The entire armament distinctly surpassed
in size anything previous. All the following nations coöperated with one
side or the other in this war. Caesar had Italy--he attached to his cause
even all those who had been placed in colonies by Antony, partly by
frightening them on account of their small numbers and partly by
conferring benefits; among other things that he did was to settle again
as an act of his own the men who inhabited Bononia, so that they might
seem to be his colonists. His allies, then, were Italy, Gaul, Spain,
Illyricum, the Libyans,--both those who had long since accepted Roman
sway (except those about Cyrene), and those that had belonged to Bogud
and Bocchus,--Sardinia, Sicily, and the rest of the islands adjacent to
the aforementioned divisions of the mainland. On Antony's side were the
regions obeying Rome in continental Asia, the regions of Thrace, Greece,
Macedonia, the Egyptians, the Cyrenaeans together with the surrounding
country, the islanders dwelling near them, and practically all the
princes and potentates who were neighbors to that part of the Roman
empire then under his control,--some taking the field themselves and
others being represented by troops. And so enthusiastic were the outside
contingents on both sides that they confirmed by oath their alliance with
each man.
[-7-] Such was the strength of the contestants. Antony took an oath to
his own soldiers that he would fight without quarter and further promised
that within two months after his victory he would give up his entire
power and commit it to the senate and the people: some of them with
difficulty persuaded him to do so only when six months had elapsed, so
that he might be able to settle matters leisurely. And he, however far
he was from seriously contemplating such an act, yet made the offer to
strengthen the belief that he was certainly and without fail going to
conquer. He saw that his own force was much superior in numbers and
hoped to weaken that of his opponent by bribes. He sent gold in every
direction, most of all into Italy, and especially to Rome; and he tempted
his opponents individually, trying to win followers. As a result Caesar
kept the more vigilant watch and gave money to his soldiers.
[-8-] Such was the vigor and the equipment of the two; and meantime all
sorts of stories were circulated by men, and from the gods also there
were many plain indications. An ape entered the temple of Ceres during
a certain service, and tumbled about everything in the building. An owl
flew first upon the temple of Concord and then upon practically all the
other holiest buildings, and finally after being driven away from every
other spot settled upon the temple of the Genius Populi and was not
caught, and did not depart until late in the day. The chariot of Jupiter
was demolished in the Roman hippodrome, and for many days a flash would
rise over the sea toward Greece and dart up into the firmament. Many
unfortunate accidents also were caused by storm: a trophy standing upon
the Aventine fell, a statue of Victory was dislodged from the back wall
of the theatre, and the wooden bridge was broken down completely. Many
objects were destroyed by fire, and moreover there was a fierce volcanic
discharge from Aetna which damaged cities and fields. On seeing and
hearing these things the Romans remembered also about the serpent,
because he too had doubtless indicated something about the situation
confronting them. A little before this a great two-headed serpent,
eighty-five feet long, had suddenly appeared in Etruria and after doing
much damage had been killed by lightning. This had a bearing upon all of
them. The chief force engaged on both sides alike was made up of Romans,
and many were destined at that juncture to perish in each army, and then
all of the survivors to become the property of the victor. Antony was
given omens of defeat beforehand by the children in Rome; without any
one's having suggested it they formed two parties, of which one called
itself the Antonians and the other the Caesarians, and they fought
with each other for two days, when those that bore Antony's name were
defeated. His death was portended by what happened to one of his images
set up as an offering in the temple of Jupiter at Albanum; although it
was stone it sent forth streams of blood.
[-9-] All alike were excited over these events, yet in that year
nothing further took place. Caesar was busied settling matters in Italy,
especially when he discovered the presence of money sent by Antony, and
so could not go to the front before winter. His rival started out with
the intention of carrying the war into Italy before they suspected his
movements, but when he came to Corcyra and ascertained that the advance
guard of ships sent to reconnoitre his position was hiding in the
vicinity of the mountains of Ceraunia, he conceived the idea that Caesar
himself with all his fleet had arrived; hence he would proceed no
farther. Instead, he sailed back to the Peloponnesus, the season being
already late autumn, and passed the winter at Patrae, distributing the
soldiers in every direction to the end that they might keep guard over
the various districts and secure more easily an abundance of provisions.
Meanwhile volunteers from each party went over to both sides, senators
as well as others, and Lucius Messius was caught as a spy by Caesar. He
released the man in spite of his being one of those previously captured
at Perusia, but first showed him all his power. To Antony Caesar sent
a letter, bidding him either withdraw from the sea a day's journey on
horseback, and grant him the free privilege of coming to him by boat on
condition that they should meet within five days, or else to cross over
to Italy himself on the same terms. Antony made a great deal of fun of
him and said: "Who will be our arbitrator, if the compact is transgressed
in any way?" And Caesar did not expect that his demands would receive
compliance, but hoped to inspire his own soldiers with courage and his
opponents with terror by this act.
[B.C. 31 (_a. u._ 723)]