XLVII. There were many prognostics of the victory, but the most

remarkable is that which is reported as having appeared at

Tralles.[542] In the temple of Victory there stood a statue of Cæsar,

and the ground about it was naturally firm and the surface was also

paved with hard stone; from this, they say, there sprung up a

palm-tree by the pedestal of the statue. In Patavium, Caius Cornelius,

a man who had reputation for his skill in divination, a fellow-citizen

and acquaintance of Livius the historian, happened to be sitting that

day to watch the birds. And first of all, as Livius says, he

discovered the time of the battle, and he said to those who were

present that the affair was now deciding and the men were going into

action. Looking again and observing the signs, he sprang up with

enthusiasm and called out, "You conquer, Cæsar." The bystanders being

surprised, he took the chaplet from his head and said with an oath,

that he would not put it on again till facts had confirmed his art.

Livius affirms that these things were so.

XLVIII. Cæsar after giving the Thessalians their liberty[543] in

consideration of his victory, pursued Pompeius. On reaching Asia[544]

he made the Cnidians free to please Theopompus,[545] the collector of

mythi, and he remitted to all the inhabitants of Asia the third of

their taxes. Arriving at Alexandria[546] after the death of Pompeius,

he turned away from Theodotus who brought him the head of Pompeius,

but he received his seal ring[547] and shed tears over it. All the

companions and intimate friends of Pompeius who were rambling about

the country and had been taken by the King, he treated well and gained

over to himself. He wrote to his friends in Rome, that the chief and

the sweetest pleasure that he derived from his victory, was to be able

to pardon any of those citizens who had fought against him. As to the

war[548] there, some say that it might have been avoided and that it

broke out in consequence of his passion for Kleopatra and was

discreditable to him and hazardous; but others blame the King's party

and chiefly the eunuch Potheinus,who possessed the chief power, and

having lately cut off Pompeius and driven out Kleopatra, was now

secretly plotting against Cæsar; and on this account they say that

Cæsar from that time passed the nights in drinking in order to protect

himself. But in his public conduct Pothinus was unbearable, for he

both said and did many things to bring odium on Cæsar and to insult

him. While measuring out to the soldiers the worst and oldest corn he

told them they must be satisfied with it and be thankful, as they were

eating what belonged to others; and at the meals he used only wooden

and earthen vessels, alleging that Cæsar had got all the gold and

silver vessels in payment for a debt.[549] For the father of the then

King owed Cæsar one thousand seven hundred and fifty times ten

thousand, of which Cæsar had remitted the seven hundred and fifty to

the King's sons before, but he now claimed the one thousand to

maintain his army with. Upon Pothinus now bidding him take his

departure and attend to his important affairs and that he should

afterwards receive his money back with thanks, Cæsar said, that least

of all people did he want the Egyptians as advisers, and he secretly

sent for Kleopatra from the country.

XLIX. Kleopatra,[550] taking Apollodorus the Sicilian alone of all her

friends with her, and getting into a small boat, approached the

palace as it was growing dark; and as it was impossible for her to

escape notice in any other way, she got into a bed sack and laid

herself out at full length, and Apollodorus, tying the sack together

with a cord, carried her through the doors to Cæsar. Cæsar is said to

have been first captivated by this device of Kleopatra, which showed a

daring temper, and being completely enslaved by his intercourse with

her and her attractions, he brought about an accommodation between

Kleopatra and her brother on the terms of her being associated with

him in the kingdom. A feast was held to celebrate the reconciliation,

during which a slave of Cæsar, his barber, owing to his timidity in

which he had no equal, leaving nothing unscrutinized, and listening

and making himself very busy, found out that a plot against Cæsar was

forming by Achillas the general and Potheinus the eunuch. Cæsar being

made acquainted with their design, placed a guard around the

apartment, and put Potheinus to death. Achillas escaped to the camp,

and raised about Cæsar a dangerous and difficult war for one who with

so few troops had to resist so large a city and force. In this contest

the first danger that he had to encounter was being excluded from

water, for the canals[551] were dammed up by the enemy; and, in the

second place, an attempt being made to cut off his fleet, he was

compelled to repel the danger with fire, which spreading from the

arsenals to the large library[552] destroyed it; and, in the third

place, in the battle near the Pharos[553] he leaped down from the

mound into a small boat and went to aid the combatants; but as the

Egyptians were coming against him from all quarters, he threw himself

into the sea and swam away with great difficulty. On this occasion it

is said that he had many papers in his hands, and that he did not let

them go, though the enemy were throwing missiles at him and he had to

dive under the water, but holding the papers above the water with one

hand, he swam with the other; but the boat was sunk immediately. At

last, when the King had gone over to the enemy, Cæsar attacked and

defeated them in a battle in which many fell and the King[554] himself

disappeared. Leaving Kleopatra[555] Queen of Egypt, who shortly after

gave birth to a child that she had by Cæsar, which the Alexandrines

named Cæsarion, he marched to Syria.

L. From Syria continuing his march through Asia he heard that Domitius

had been defeated by Pharnakes[556] son of Mithridates, and had fled

from Pontus with a few men; and that Pharnakes, who used his victory

without any moderation, and was in possession of Bithynia and

Cappadocia, also coveted Armenia, called the Little, and was stirring

up all the kings and tetrarchs in this part. Accordingly Cæsar

forthwith advanced against the man with three legions and fighting a

great battle near Zela drove Pharnakes in flight from Pontus, and

completely destroyed his army. In reporting to one of his friends at

Rome, Amantius,[557] the celerity and rapidity of this battle, he

wrote only three words: "I came, I saw, I conquered." In the Roman

language the three words ending in the like form of verb, have a

brevity which is not without its effect.

LI. After this, passing over to Italy he went up to Rome at the close

of the year for which he had been chosen Dictator[558] the second

time, though that office had never before been for a whole year; and

he was elected consul for the following year. He was much blamed about

a mutiny[559] that broke out among the soldiers in which they killed

two men of prætorian rank, Cosconius and Galba, because he reproved

his men no further than by calling them citizens instead of soldiers,

and he gave to each of them a thousand drachmæ, and allotted to them

much land in Italy. He also bore the blame of the madness of

Dolabella,[560] the covetousness of Amantius, and the drunkenness of

Antonius, and the greedy tricks of Corfinius in getting the house of

Pompeius, and his building it over again as if it were not fit for

him; for the Romans were annoyed at these things. But Cæsar, in the

present state of affairs, though he was not ignorant of these things,

and did not approve of them, was compelled to employ such men in his

service.

LII. As Cato[561] and Scipio, after the battle near Pharsalus, had

fled to Libya, and there, with the assistance of King Juba, got

together a considerable force, Cæsar determined to go against them;

and about the winter solstice passing over to Sicily and wishing to

cut off from the officers about him all hopes of delay and tarrying

there, he placed his own tent on the margin of the waves,[562] and as

soon as there was a wind he went on board and set sail with three

thousand foot-soldiers and a few horsemen. Having landed them

unobserved he embarked again, for he was under some apprehension about

the larger part of his force; and having fallen in with it on the sea,

he conducted all to the camp. Now there was with him in the army a man

in other respects contemptible enough and of no note, but of the

family of the Africani, and his name was Scipio Sallutio;[563] and as

Cæsar heard that the enemy relied on a certain old oracular answer,

that it was always the privilege of the family of the Scipios to

conquer in Libya, either to show his contempt of Scipio as a general

by a kind of joke, or because he really wished to have the benefit of

the omen himself (it is difficult to say which), he used to place this

Sallutio in the front of the battles as if he were the leader of the

army; for Cæsar was often compelled to engage with the enemy and to

seek a battle, there being neither sufficient supply of corn for the

men nor fodder for the animals, but they were compelled to take the

sea-weed after washing off the salt and mixing a little grass with it

by way of sweetening it, and so to feed their horses. For the

Numidians, by continually showing themselves in great numbers and

suddenly appearing, kept possession of the country; and on one

occasion while the horsemen of Cæsar were amusing themselves with a

Libyan, who was exhibiting to them his skill in dancing and playing on

a flute at the same time in a surprising manner, and the men, pleased

with the sight, were sitting on the ground and the boys holding their

horses, the enemy suddenly coming round and falling upon them killed

some, and entered the camp together with the rest, who fled in

disorderly haste. And if Cæsar himself and Asinius Pollio had not come

out of the camp to help the men, and checked the pursuit, the war

would have been at an end. In another battle, also, the enemy had the

advantage in the encounter, on which occasion it is said that Cæsar,

seizing by the neck the man who bore the eagle and was running away,

turned him round, and said, "There is the enemy!"

LIII. However Scipio[564] was encouraged by these advantages to hazard

a decisive battle; and leaving Afranius and Juba[565] encamped each

separately at a short distance, he commenced making a fortified camp

above a lake near the city Thapsus, intending it as a place for the

whole army to sally forth from to battle and a place of refuge also.

While he was thus employed, Cæsar with incredible speed making his way

through woody grounds which contained certain approaches that had not

been observed, surrounded part of the enemy and attacked others in

front. Having put these to flight he availed himself of the critical

moment and the career of fortune, by means of which he captured the

camp of Afranius on the first assault, and at the first assault also

he broke into the camp of the Numidians from which Juba fled; and in a

small part of a single day he made himself master of three camps and

destroyed fifty thousand of the enemy without losing as many as fifty

of his own men. This is the account that some writers give of that

battle; but others say that Cæsar was not in the action himself, but

that as he was marshalling and arranging his forces, he was attacked

by his usual complaint, and that perceiving it as soon as it came on,

and before his senses were completely confounded and overpowered by

the malady, just as he was beginning to be convulsed, he was carried

to one of the neighbouring towers and stayed there quietly. Of the men

of consular and prætorian rank who escaped from the battle, some

killed themselves when they were being taken, and Cæsar put many to

death who were captured.

LIV. Being ambitious to take Cato[566] alive, Cæsar hastened to Utica,

for Cato was guarding that city and was not in the battle. Hearing

that Cato had put an end to himself, Cæsar was evidently annoyed, but

for what reason is uncertain. However, he said, "Cato, I grudge you

your death, for you also have grudged me the preservation of your

life." But the work which be wrote against Cato after his death cannot

be considered an indication that he was mercifully disposed towards

him or in a mood to be easily reconciled. For how can we suppose that

he would have spared Cato living, when he poured out against him after

he was dead so much indignation? However, some persons infer from his

mild treatment of Cicero and Brutus and ten thousand others of his

enemies that this discourse also was composed not from any enmity, but

from political ambition, for the following reason. Cicero wrote a

panegyric on Cato and gave the composition the title "Cato"; and the

discourse was eagerly read by many, as one may suppose, being written

by the most accomplished of orators on the noblest subject. This

annoyed Cæsar, who considered the panegyric on a man whose death he

had caused to be an attack upon himself. Accordingly in his treatise

he got together many charges against Cato; and the work is entitled

"Anticato."[567] Both compositions have many admirers, as well on

account of Cæsar as of Cato.

LV. However, on his return[568] to Rome from Libya, in the first place

Cæsar made a pompous harangue to the people about his victory, in

which he said that he had conquered a country large enough to supply

annually to the treasury two hundred thousand Attic medimni of corn,

and three million litræ of oil. In the next place he celebrated

triumphs,[569] the Egyptian, the Pontic, and the Libyan, not of

course for his victory over Scipio, but over Juba.[570] On that

occasion Juba also, the son of King Juba, who was still an infant, was

led in the triumphal procession, most fortunate in his capture, for

from being a barbarian and a Numidian he became numbered among the

most learned of the Greek writers. After the triumphs Cæsar made large

presents to the soldiers, and entertained the people with banquets and

spectacles, feasting the whole population at once at twenty-two

thousand triclina,[571] and exhibiting also shows of gladiators and

naval combats in honour of his daughter Julia who had been dead for

some time. After the shows a census[572] was taken, in which instead

of the three hundred and twenty thousand of former enumerations, there

were enrolled only one hundred and fifty thousand. So much desolation

had the civil wars produced and so large a proportion of the people

had been destroyed in them, not to reckon the miseries that had

befallen the rest of Italy and the provinces.

LVI. All this being completed, Cæsar was made consul[573] for the

fourth time, and set out to Iberia to attack the sons of Pompeius, who

were still young, but had got together a force of amazing amount and

displayed a boldness that showed they were worthy to command, so that

they put Cæsar in the greatest danger. The great battle was fought

near the city of Munda,[574] in which Cæsar, seeing that his men were

being driven from their ground and making a feeble resistance, ran

through the arms and the ranks calling out, "If they had no sense of

shame, to take and deliver him up to the boys." With difficulty and

after great exertion he put the enemy to flight and slaughtered above

thirty thousand of them, but he lost a thousand of his own best

soldiers. On retiring after the battle he said to his friends, that he

had often fought for victory, but now for the first time he had fought

for existence. He gained this victory on the day of the festival of

Bacchus, on which day it is said that Pompeius Magnus also went out to

battle; the interval was four years. The younger of the sons[575] of

Pompeius escaped, but after a few days Didius[576] brought the head of

the elder. This was the last war that Cæsar was engaged in; but the

triumph[577] that was celebrated for this victory vexed the Romans

more than anything else. For this was no victory over foreign leaders

nor yet over barbarian kings, but Cæsar had destroyed the children of

the bravest of the Romans, who had been unfortunate, and had

completely ruined his family, and it was not seemly to celebrate a

triumph over the calamities of his country, exulting in these things,

for which the only apology both before gods and men was that they had

been done of necessity; and that too when he had never before sent

either messenger or public letters to announce a victory gained in the

civil wars, but had from motives of delicacy rejected all glory on

that account.

LVII. However, the Romans, gave way before the fortune of the man and

received the bit, and considering the monarchy to be a respite from

the civil wars and miseries they appointed him dictator[578] for life.

This was confessedly a tyranny, for the monarchy received in addition

to its irresponsibility the character of permanency; and when

Cicero[579] in the Senate had proposed the highest honours[580] to

him, which though great were still such as were befitting a human

being, others by adding still further honours and vying with one

another made Cæsar odious and an object of dislike even to those who

were of the most moderate temper, by reason of the extravagant and

unusual character of what was decreed; and it is supposed that those

who hated Cæsar cooperated in these measures no less than those who

were his flatterers, that they might have as many pretexts as possible

against him and might be considered to make their attempt upon him

with the best ground of complaint. For in all other respects, after

the close of the civil wars, he showed himself blameless; and it was

not without good reason that the Romans voted a temple to Clemency to

commemorate his moderate measures. For he pardoned many of those who

had fought against him, and to some he even gave offices and honours,

as to Brutus and Cassius, both of whom were Prætors. He also did not

allow the statues of Pompeius to remain thrown down, but he set them

up again, on which Cicero said that by erecting the statues of

Pompeius, Cæsar had firmly fixed his own. When his friends urged him

to have guards and many offered their services for this purpose, he

would not consent, and he said, that it was better to die at once than

to be always expecting death. But for the purpose of surrounding

himself with the affection of the Romans as the noblest and also the

securest protection, he again courted the people with banquets and

distribution of corn, and the soldiers with the foundation of

colonies, of which the most conspicuous were Carthage[581] and

Corinth, to both of which it happened that their former capture and

their present restoration occurred at once and at the same time.

LVIII. To some of the nobles he promised consulships and prætorships

for the future, and others he pacified with certain other offices and

honours, and he gave hopes to all, seeking to make it appear that he

ruled over them with their own consent, so that when Maximus[582] the

consul died, he appointed Caninius Revilius consul for the one day

that still remained of the term of office. When many persons were

going, as was usual, to salute the new consul and to form part of his

train Cicero said, "We must make haste, or the man will have gone out

of office." Cæsar's great success did not divert his natural

inclination for great deeds and his ambition to the enjoyment of that

for which he had laboured, but serving as fuel and incentives to the

future bred in him designs of greater things and love of new glory, as

if he had used up what he had already acquired; and the passion was

nothing else than emulation of himself as if he were another person,

and a kind of rivalry between what he intended and what he had

accomplished; and his propositions and designs were to march against

the Parthians,[583] and after subduing them and marching through

Hyrkania and along the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus, and so

encompassing the Euxine, to invade Scythia, and after having overrun

the countries bordering on the Germans and Germany itself to return

through Gaul to Italy, and so to complete his circle of the empire

which would be bounded on all sides by the ocean. During this

expedition he intended also to dig through the Corinthian

Isthmus,[584] and he had already commissioned Anienus to superintend

the work; and to receive the Tiber[585] immediately below the city in

a deep cut, and giving it a bend towards Circæum to make it enter the

sea by Tarracina, with the view of giving security and facility to

those who came to Rome for the purpose of trade: besides this he

designed to draw off the water from the marshes about Pomentium and

Setia,[586] and to make them solid ground, which would employ many

thousands of men in the cultivation; and where the sea was nearest to

Rome he designed to place barriers to it by means of moles, and after

clearing away the hidden rocks and dangerous places on the shore of

Ostia[587] to make harbours and naval stations which should give

security to the extensive shipping. And all these things were in

preparation.

LIX. But the arrangement of the Kalendar[588] and the correction of

the irregularity in the reckoning of time were handled by him

skilfully, and being completed were of the most varied utility. For it

was not only in very ancient times that the Romans had the periods of

the moon in confusion with respect to the year, so that the feasts and

festivals gradually changing at last fell out in opposite seasons of

the year, but even with respect to the solar year at that time nobody

kept any reckoning except the priests, who, as they alone knew the

proper time, all of a sudden and when nobody expected it, would insert

the intercalary month named Mercedonius, which King Numa is said to

have been the first to intercalate, thereby devising a remedy, which

was slight and would extend to no great period, for the irregularity

in the recurrence of the times, as I have explained in the Life of

Numa. But Cæsar laying the problem before the ablest philosophers and

mathematicians, from the methods that were laid before him compounded

a correction of his own which was more exact, which the Romans use to

the present time, and are considered to be in less error than other

nations as to the inequality. However, even this furnished matter for

complaint to those who envied him and disliked his power; for Cicero,

the orator, as it is said, when some observed that Lyra would rise

to-morrow, "Yes," he replied, "pursuant to the Edict," meaning that

men admitted even this by compulsion.

LX. But the most manifest and deadly hatred towards him was produced

by his desire of kingly power, which to the many was the first, and to

those who had long nourished a secret hatred of him the most specious,

cause. And indeed those who were contriving this honour for Cæsar

spread about a certain report among the people, that according to the

Sibylline writings[589] it appeared that Parthia could be conquered by

the Romans if they advanced against it with a king, but otherwise

could not he assailed. And as Cæsar was going down from Alba to the

city, they ventured to salute him as King, but as the people showed

their dissatisfaction, Cæsar was disturbed and said that he was not

called King but Cæsar; and as hereupon there was a general silence, he

passed along with no great cheerfulness nor good humour on his

countenance. When some extravagant honours had been decreed to him in

the Senate, it happened that he was sitting above the Rostra,[590] and

when the consuls and prætors approached with all the Senate behind

them, without rising from his seat, but just as if he were transacting

business with private persons, he answered that the honours required

rather to be contracted than enlarged. This annoyed not the Senate

only, but the people also, who considered that the State was insulted

in the persons of the Senate; and those who were not obliged to stay

went away forthwith with countenance greatly downcast, so that Cæsar

perceiving it forthwith went home, and as he threw his cloak from his

shoulders he called out to his friends, that he was ready to offer his

throat to anyone who wished to kill him; but afterwards he alleged his

disease as an excuse for his behaviour, saying that persons who are so

affected cannot usually keep their senses steady when they address a

multitude standing, but that the senses being speedily convulsed and

whirling about bring on giddiness and are overpowered. However, the

fact was not so, for it is said that he was very desirous to rise up

when the Senate came, but was checked by one of his friends, or rather

one of his flatterers, Cornelius Balbus,[591] who said, "Will you not

remember that you are Cæsar, and will you not allow yourself to be

honoured as a superior?"

LXI. There was added to these causes of offence the insult offered to

the tribunes. It was the festival of the Lupercalia,[592] about which

many writers say that it was originally a festival of the shepherds

and had also some relationship to the Arcadian Lykæa. On this occasion

many of the young nobles and magistrates run through the city without

their toga, and for sport and to make laughter strike those whom they

meet with strips of hide that have the hair on; many women of rank

also purposely put themselves in the way and present their hands to be

struck like children at school, being persuaded that this is

favourable to easy parturition for those who are pregnant, and to

conception for those who are barren. Cæsar was a spectator, being

seated at the Rostra on a golden chair in a triumphal robe; and

Antonius was one of those who ran in the sacred race, for he was

consul. Accordingly, when he entered the Forum and the crowd made way

for him, he presented to Cæsar a diadem[593] which he carried

surrounded with a crown of bay; and there was a clapping of hands,

not loud, but slight, which had been already concerted. When Cæsar put

away the diadem from him all the people clapped their hands, and when

Antonius presented it again, only a few clapped; but when Cæsar

declined to receive it, again all the people applauded. The experiment

having thus failed, Cæsar rose and ordered the crown to be carried to

the Capitol. But as Cæsar's statues were seen crowned with royal

diadems, two of the tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, went up to them

and pulled off the diadems, and having discovered those who had been

the first to salute Cæsar as king they led them off to prison. The

people followed clapping their hands and calling the tribunes Bruti,

because it was Brutus who put down the kingly power and placed the

sovereignty in the Senate and people instead of its being in the hands

of one man. Cæsar being irritated at this deprived Flavius and

Marullus of their office, and while rating them he also insulted the

people by frequently calling the tribunes Bruti and Cumæi.[594] LXII.

In this state of affairs the many turned to Marcus Brutus,[595] who on

his father's side was considered to be a descendant of the ancient

Brutus, and on his mother's side belonged to the Servilii, another

distinguished house, and he was the son-in-law and nephew of Cato. The

honours and favours which Brutus had received from Cæsar dulled him

towards attempting of his own proper motion the overthrow of the

monarchical power; for not only was his life saved at the battle of

Pharsalus after the rout of Pompeius, and many of his friends also at

his entreaty, but besides this he had great credit with Cæsar. He had

also received among those who then held the prætorship[596] the chief

office, and he was to be consul in the fourth year from that time,

having been preferred to Cassius who was a rival candidate. For it is

said that Cæsar observed that Cassius urged better grounds of

preference, but that he could not pass over Brutus. And on one

occasion when some persons were calumniating Brutus to him, at a time

when the conspiracy was really forming, he would not listen to them,

but touching his body with his hand he said to the accusers, "Brutus

waits[597] for this dry skin," by which he intended to signify that

Brutus was worthy of the power for his merits, but for the sake of the

power would not be ungrateful and a villain. Now, those who were eager

for the change and who looked up to him alone, or him as the chief

person, did not venture to speak with him on the subject, but by night

they used to fill the tribunal and the seat on which he sat when

discharging his functions as prætor with writings, most of which were

to this purport, "You are asleep, Brutus," and "You are not Brutus."

By which Cassius,[598] perceiving that his ambition was somewhat

stirred, urged him more than he had done before, and pricked him on;

and Cassius himself had also a private grudge against Cæsar for the

reasons which I have mentioned in the Life of Brutus. Indeed Cæsar

suspected Cassius, and he once said to his friends, "What think ye is

Cassius aiming at? for my part, I like him not over much, for he is

over pale." On the other hand it is said that when a rumour reached

him, that Antonius and Dolabella were plotting, he said, "I am not

much afraid of these well-fed,[599] long-haired fellows, but I rather

fear those others, the pale and thin," meaning Cassius and Brutus.

LXIII. But it appears that destiny is not so much a thing that gives

no warning as a thing that cannot be avoided, for they say that

wondrous signs and appearances presented themselves. Now, as to lights

in the skies and sounds by night moving in various directions and

solitary birds descending into the Forum, it is perhaps not worth

while recording these with reference to so important an event: but

Strabo[600] the Philosopher relates that many men all of fire were

seen contending against one another, and that a soldier's slave

emitted a great flame from his hand and appeared to the spectators to

be burning, but when the flame went out, the man had sustained no

harm; and while Cæsar himself was sacrificing the heart of the victim

could not be found, and this was considered a bad omen, for naturally

an animal without a heart cannot exist. The following stories also are

told by many; that a certain seer warned him to be on his guard

against great danger on that day of the month of March, which the

Romans call the Ides;[601] and when the day had arrived, as Cæsar was

going to the Senate-house, he saluted the seer and jeered him saying,

"Well, the Ides of March are come;" but the seer mildly replied, "Yes,

they are come, but they are not yet over." The day before, when Marcus

Lepidus was entertaining him, he chanced to be signing some letters,

according to his habit, while he was reclining at table; and the

conversation having turned on what kind of death was the best, before

any one could give an opinion he called out, "That which is

unexpected!" After this, while he was sleeping, as he was accustomed

to do, by the side of his wife, all the doors and windows in the house

flew open at once, and being startled by the noise and the brightness

of the moon which was shining down upon him, he observed that

Calpurnia[602] was in a deep slumber, but was uttering indistinct

words and inarticulate groans in the midst of her sleep; and indeed

she was dreaming that she held her murdered husband in her arms and

was weeping over him. Others say this was not the vision that

Calpurnia had, but the following: there was attached to Cæsar's house

by way of ornament and distinction pursuant to a vote of the Senate an

acroterium,[603] as Livius says, and Calpurnia in her dream seeing

this tumbling down lamented and wept. When day came accordingly she

entreated Cæsar, if it were possible, not to go out, and to put off

the meeting of the Senate; but if he paid no regard to her dreams, she

urged him to inquire by other modes of divination and by sacrifices

about the future. Cæsar also, as it seems, had some suspicion and

fear; for he had never before detected in Calpurnia any womanish

superstition, and now he saw that she was much disturbed. And when the

seers also after sacrificing many victims reported to him that the

omens were unfavourable, he determined to send Antonius to dismiss the

Senate.

LXIV. In the mean time Decimus Brutus,[604] surnamed Albinus, who was

in such favour with Cæsar that he was made in his will his second

heir,[605] but was engaged in the conspiracy with the other Brutus and

Cassius, being afraid that if Cæsar escaped that day, the affair might

become known, ridiculed the seers and chided Cæsar for giving cause

for blame and censure to the Senate who would consider themselves

insulted: he said, "That the Senate had met at his bidding and that

they were all ready to pass a decree, that he should be proclaimed

King of the provinces out of Italy and should wear a diadem whenever

he visited the rest of the earth and sea; but if any one shall tell

them when they are taking their seats, to be gone now and to come

again, when Calpurnia shall have had better dreams, what may we not

expect to be said by those who envy you? or who will listen to your

friends when they say that this is not slavery and tyranny; but if,"

he continued, "you are fully resolved to consider the day

inauspicious, it is better for you to go yourself and address the

Senate and then to adjourn the business." As he said this, Brutus took

Cæsar by the hand and began to lead him forth: and he had gone but a

little way from the door, when a slave belonging to another person,

who was eager to get at Cæsar but was prevented by the press and

numbers about him, rushing into the house delivered himself up to

Calpurnia and told her to keep him till Cæsar returned, for he had

important things to communicate to him.

LXV. Artemidorus,[606] a Knidian by birth, and a professor of Greek

philosophy, which had brought him into the familiarity of some of

those who belonged to the party of Brutus, so that he knew the greater

part of what was going on, came and brought in a small roll the

information which he intended to communicate; but observing that Cæsar

gave each roll as he received it to the attendants about him, he came

very near, and said, "This you alone should read, Cæsar, and read it

soon; for it is about weighty matters which concern you." Accordingly

Cæsar received the roll, but he was prevented from reading it by the

number of people who came in his way, though he made several attempts,

and he entered the Senate holding that roll in his hand and retaining

that alone among all that had been presented to him. Some say that it

was another person who gave him this roll, and that Artemidorus did

not even approach him, but was kept from him all the way by the

pressure of the crowd.

LXVI. Now these things perchance may be brought about by mere

spontaneity; but the spot that was the scene of that murder and

struggle, wherein the Senate was then assembled, which contained the

statue of Pompeius[607] and was a dedication by Pompeius and one of

the ornaments that he added to his theatre, completely proved that it

was the work of some dæmon to guide and call the execution of the deed

to that place. It is said also that Cassius[608] looked towards the

statue of Pompeius before the deed was begun and silently invoked it,

though he was not averse to the philosophy of Epikurus; but the

critical moment for the bold attempt which was now come probably

produced in him enthusiasm and feeling in place of his former

principles. Now Antonius,[609] who was faithful to Cæsar and a robust

man, was kept on the outside by Brutus Albinus, who purposely engaged

him in a long conversation. When Cæsar entered, the Senate rose to do

him honour, and some of the party of Brutus stood around his chair at

the back, and others presented themselves before him, as if their

purpose was to support the prayer of Tillius Cimber[610] on behalf of

his exiled brother, and they all joined in entreaty, following Cæsar

as far as his seat. When he had taken his seat and was rejecting their

entreaties, and, as they urged them still more strongly, began to show

displeasure towards them individually, Tillius taking hold of his toga

with both his hands pulled it downwards from the neck, which was the

signal for the attack. Casca[611] was the first to strike him on the

neck with his sword, a blow neither mortal nor severe, for as was

natural at the beginning of so bold a deed he was confused, and Cæsar

turning round seized the dagger and held it fast. And it happened that

at the same moment he who was struck cried out in the Roman language,

"You villain, Casca, what are you doing?" and he who had given the

blow cried out to his brother in Greek, "Brother, help." Such being

the beginning, those who were not privy to the conspiracy were

prevented by consternation and horror at what was going on either from

flying or going to aid, and they did not even venture to utter a word.

And now each of the conspirators bared his sword, and Cæsar, being

hemmed in all round, in whatever direction he turned meeting blows and

swords aimed against his eyes and face, driven about like a wild

beast, was caught in the hands of his enemies; for it was arranged

that all of them should take a part in and taste of the deed of blood.

Accordingly Brutus[612] also gave him one blow in the groin. It is

said by some authorities, that he defended himself against the rest,

moving about his body hither and thither and calling out, till he saw

that Brutus had drawn his sword, when he pulled his toga over his face

and offered no further resistance, having been driven either by chance

or by the conspirators to the base on which the statue of Pompeius

stood. And the base was drenched with blood, as if Pompeius was

directing the vengeance upon his enemy who was stretched beneath his

feet and writhing under his many wounds; for he is said to have

received three and twenty wounds. Many of the conspirators were

wounded by one another, while they were aiming so many blows against

one body.

LXVII. After Cæsar was killed, though Brutus came forward as if he was

going to say something about the deed, the Senators,[613] without

waiting to listen, rushed through the door and making their escape

filled the people with confusion and indescribable alarm, so that some

closed their houses, and others left their tables and places of

business, and while some ran to the place to see what had happened,

others who had seen it ran away. But Antonius and Lepidus,[614] who

were the chief friends of Cæsar, stole away and fled for refuge to

the houses of other persons. The partizans of Brutus, just as they

were, warm from the slaughter, and showing their bare swords, advanced

all in a body from the Senate-house to the Capitol, not like men who

were flying, but exultant and confident, calling the people to liberty

and joined by the nobles who met them. Some even went up to the

Capitol with them and mingled with them as if they had participated in

the deed, and claimed the credit of it, among whom were Caius Octavius

and Lentulus Spinther.[615] But they afterwards paid the penalty of

their vanity, for they were put to death by Antonius and the young

Cæsar, without having enjoyed even the reputation of that for which

they lost their lives, for nobody believed that they had a share in

the deed. For neither did those who put them to death, punish them for

what they did, but for what they wished to do. On the next day Brutus

came down and addressed the people, who listened without expressing

disapprobation or approbation of what had been done, but they

indicated by their deep silence that they pitied Cæsar and respected

Brutus. The Senate, with the view of making an amnesty and

conciliating all parties, decreed that Cæsar should be honoured as a

god and that not the smallest thing should be disturbed which he had

settled while he was in power; and they distributed among the

partisans of Brutus provinces and suitable honours, so that all people

supposed that affairs were quieted and had been settled in the best

way.

LXVIII. But when the will[616] of Cæsar was opened and it was

discovered that he had given to every Roman a handsome present, and

they saw the body, as it was carried through the Forum, disfigured

with the wounds, the multitude, no longer kept within the bounds of

propriety and order, but heaping about the corpse benches, lattices

and tables taken from the Forum, they set fire to it on the spot and

burnt it; then taking the flaming pieces of wood they ran to the

houses of the conspirators to fire them, and others ran about the city

in all directions seeking for the men to seize and tear them in

pieces. But none of the conspirators came in their way, and they were

all well protected. One Cinna,[617] however, a friend of Cæsar,

happened, as it is said, to have had a strange dream the night

before; for he dreamed that he was invited by Cæsar to sup with him,

and when he excused himself, he was dragged along by Cæsar by the

hand, against his will and making resistance the while. Now, when he

heard that the body of Cæsar was burning in the Forum, he got up and

went there out of respect, though he was somewhat alarmed at his dream

and had a fever on him. One of the multitude who saw Cinna told his

name to another who was inquiring of him, and he again told it to a

third, and immediately it spread through the crowd that this man was

one of those who had killed Cæsar; and indeed there was one of the

conspirators who was named Cinna: and taking this man to be him the

people forthwith rushed upon him and tore him in pieces on the spot.

It was principally through alarm at this that the partisans of Brutus

and Cassius after a few days left the city. But what they did and

suffered before they died is told in the Life of Brutus.[618] LXIX. At

the time of his death Cæsar was full fifty-six years old, having

survived Pompeius not much more than four years, and of the power and

dominion which all through his life he pursued at so great risk and

barely got at last, having reaped the fruit in name only, and with the

glory of it the odium of the citizens. Yet his great dæmon,[619] which

accompanied him through life, followed him even when he was dead, the

avenger of his murder, through every land and sea hunting and tracking

out his murderers till not one of them was left, and pursuing even

those who in any way whatever had either put their hand to the deed or

been participators in the plot. Among human events the strangest was

that which befell Cassius, for after his defeat at Philippi he killed

himself with the same dagger that he had employed against Cæsar; and

among signs from heaven, there was the great comet, which appeared

conspicuous for seven nights after Cæsar's assassination and then

disappeared, and the obscuration of the splendour of the sun. For

during all that year the circle of the sun rose pale and without rays,

and the warmth that came down from it was weak and feeble, so that the

air as it moved was dark and heavy owing to the feebleness of the

warmth which penetrated it, and the fruits withered and fell off when

they were half ripened and imperfect on account of the coldness of the

atmosphere. But chief of all, the phantom that appeared to Brutus

showed that Cæsar's murder was not pleasing to the gods; and it was

after this manner. When Brutus was going to take his army over from

Abydus[620] to the other continent, he was lying down by night, as his

wont was, in his tent, not asleep, but thinking about the future; for

it is said that Brutus of all generals was least given to sleep, and

had naturally the power of keeping awake longer than any other person.

Thinking that he heard a noise near the door, he looked towards the

light of the lamp which was already sinking down, and saw a frightful

vision of a man of unusual size and savage countenance. At first he

was startled, but observing that the figure neither moved nor spoke,

but was standing silent by the bed, he asked him who he was. The

phantom replied, "Thy bad dæmon, Brutus; and thou shalt see me at

Philippi." Upon which Brutus boldly replied, "I shall see;" and the

dæmon immediately disappeared. In course of time having engaged with

Antonius and Cæsar at Philippi, in the first battle he was victorious,

and after routing that part of the army which was opposed to him he

followed up his success and plundered Cæsar's camp. As he was

preparing to fight the second battle, the same phantom appeared again

by night, without speaking to him, but Brutus, who perceived what his

fate was, threw himself headlong into the midst of the danger. However

he did not fall in the battle, but when the rout took place, he fled

to a precipitous spot, and throwing himself with his breast on his

bare sword, a friend also, as it is said, giving strength to the blow,

he died.[621] FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 435: It has been remarked by Niebuhr (_Lectures on the

History of Rome_, ii. 33) that the beginning of the Life of Cæsar is

lost. He says, "Plutarch could not have passed over the ancestors, the

father, and the whole family, together with the history of Cæsar's

youth, &c." But the reasons for this opinion are not conclusive. The

same reason would make us consider other lives imperfect, which are

also deficient in such matters. Plutarch, after his fashion, gives

incidental information about Cæsar's youth and his family. I conceive

that he purposely avoided a formal beginning; and according to his

plan of biography, he was right. Niebuhr also observes that the

beginning of the Life of Cæsar in Suetonius is imperfect; "a fact well

known, but it is only since the year 1812, that we know that the part

which is wanting contained a dedication to the præfectus prætorio of

the time, a fact which has not yet found its way into any history of

Roman Literature." It is an old opinion that the Life of Cæsar in

Suetonius is imperfect. The fact that the dedication alone is wanting,

for so Niebuhr appears to mean, shows that the Life is not incomplete,

and there is no reason for thinking that it is.

C. Julius Cæsar, the son of C. Julius Cæsar and Aurelia, was born on

the twelfth of July, B.C. 100, in the sixth consulship of his uncle C.

Marius. His father, who had been prætor, died suddenly at Pisa when

his son was in his sixteenth year.]

[Footnote 436: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 9, and notes.]

[Footnote 437: Cæsar was first betrothed to Cossutia, the daughter of

a rich Roman Eques, but he broke off the marriage contract, and

married Cornelia, B.C. 83.]

[Footnote 438: A different story is told by Suetonius (_Cæsar_, c. 1),

and Velleius Paterculus (ii. 43).]

[Footnote 439: Cornelius Phagita (Suetonius, c. 1, 74.) The words of

Sulla are also reported by Suetonius (c. 1).]

[Footnote 440: Nicomedes III. Cæsar was sent to him by Thermus to get

ships for the siege of Mitylene. Suetonius, a lover of scandal, has

preserved a grievous imputation against Cæsar, which is connected with

this visit to Nicomedes (_Cæsar_, c. 2, 49). Cæsar in a speech for the

Bithynians (Gellius, v. 13) calls Nicomedes his friend. He felt the

reproach keenly, and tried to clear himself (Dion Cassius, 43, c. 20).

But it is easier to make such charges than to confute them.

M. Minucius Thermus, Proprætor. Cæsar served his first campaign under

him at the siege and capture of Mitylene B.C. 80. Cæsar gained a civic

crown. See the note in Burmaun's edition of Suetonius.]

[Footnote 441: This island was near Miletus. Stephan. Byzant., [Greek:

Pharmakoussa] Φαρμακοῦσσα.]

[Footnote 442: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 26. Cæsar served a short

time against the Cilician pirates under P. Servilius Isauricus

(Sueton. _Cæsar_, 2) B.C. 77, or perhaps later.]

[Footnote 443: He was now in Bithynia according to Vell. Paterculus

(ii. 42). This affair of the pirates happened according to Drumann in

B.C. 76. Plutarch places it five years earlier.]

[Footnote 444: Plutarch should probably have called him only Molo. He

was a native of Alabanda in Caria. Cicero often mentions his old

master, but always by the name of Molo only. He calls the rhetorician,

who was the master of Q. Mucius Scævola, consul B.C. 117. Apollonius,

who was also a native of Alabanda.]

[Footnote 445: See c. 54.]

[Footnote 446: See the first chapter of the Life of Lucullus.]

[Footnote 447: Cn. Cornelius Dolabella, consul B.C. 81, afterwards was

governor of Macedonia as proconsul, in which office he was charged

with maladministration. Cicero (_Brutus_, c. 71, 92) mentions this

trial. Drumann places it in B.C. 77. Cicero (_Brutus_, c. 72) gives

his opinion of the eloquence of Cæsar. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 4; Vell.

Paterculus, ii. 42.)]

[Footnote 448: His name was Caius. He was consul B.C. 63 with Cicero.

The trial, which was in B.C. 76, of course related to misconduct prior

to that date. The trial was not held in Greece. M. Lucullus was the

brother of L. Lucullus, and was Prætor in Rome at the time of the

trial.]

[Footnote 449: Some amplification is necessary here in order to

preserve Plutarch's metaphor. He was fond of such poetical turns.

Nec poterat quemquam placidi pellacia ponti

Subdola pellicere in fraudem ridentibus undis.

_Lucretius_, v. 1002.]

[Footnote 450: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 48.]

[Footnote 451: The military tribunes, it appears, were now elected by

the people, or part of them at least. Comp. Liv. 43, c. 14.]

[Footnote 452: His aunt Julia and his wife Cornelia died during his

quæstorship, probably B.C. 68.]

[Footnote 453: The Roman word is Imagines. There is a curious passage

about the Roman Imagines in Polybius (vi. 53, ed. Bekker)--"Viginti

clarissimarum familiarum imagines antelatæ sunt." Tacit. _Annal._ iii.

76.]

[Footnote 454: The origin of this custom with respect to women is told

by Livius (5. c. 50). It was introduced after the capture of the city

by the Gauls, as a reward to the women for contributing to the ransom

demanded by the enemy.]

[Footnote 455: Antistius Vetus (Vell. Paterculus, ii. 18) was Prætor

of the division of Iberia which was called Bætica. His son C.

Antistius Veius was Quæstor B.C. 61 under Cæsar in Iberia.]

[Footnote 456: She was a daughter of Q. Pompeius Rufus, the son-in-law

of Sulla, who lost his life B.C. 88, during the consulship of his

father. See the Life of Sulla, c. 6 notes. The daughter who is here

mentioned was Julia, Cæsar's only child.]

[Footnote 457: This was the road from Rome to Capua, which was begun

by the Censor Appius Claudius Cæcus B.C. 312, and afterwards continued

to Brundisium. It commenced at Rome and ran in nearly a direct line to

Terracina across the Pomptine marshes.

The appointment as commissioner (curator) for repairing and making

roads was an office of honour, and one that gave a man the opportunity

of gaining popular favour.]

[Footnote 458: Cæsar was Curule Ædile B.C. 65.]

[Footnote 459: Q. Metellus Pius, Consul B.C. 80. Cæsar's competitors

were P. Servilius Isauricus, consul B.C. 79, under whom Cæsar had

fought against the pirates, and Q. Lutatius Catulus, consul B.C. 78,

the son of the Catulus whom Marius put to death. Cæsar was already a

Pontifex, but the acquisition of the post of Pontifex Maximus, which

places him at the head of religion, was an object of ambition to him

in his present position. The office was for life, it brought him an

official residence in the Via Sacra, and increased political

influence.]

[Footnote 460: The conspiracy of Catiline happened B.C. 63, when

Cicero was consul. See the Life of Cicero, c. 10, &c. Sallustius

(_Catilina_, c. 51, &c.) has given the speeches of Cæsar and Cato in

the debate upon the fate of the conspirators who had been seized. If

we have not the words of Cæsar, there is no reason for supposing that

we have not the substance of his speech. Whatever might be Cæsar's

object, his proposal was consistent with law and a fair trial. The

execution of the conspirators was a violent and illegal measure.]

[Footnote 461: This circumstance is mentioned by Sallustius

(_Catilina_, 49), apparently as having happened when Cæsar was leaving

the Senate, after one of the debates previous to that on which it was

determined to put the conspirators to death. Sallustius mentions

Catulus and C. Piso as the instigators. He also observes that they had

tried to prevail on Cicero to criminate Cæsar by false testimony. (See

Drumann, _Tullii_, § 40, p. 531.)]

[Footnote 462: C. Scribonius Curio, consul B.C. 76, father of the

Curio mentioned in the Life of Pompeius, c. 58, who was a tribune B.C.

50.]

[Footnote 463: Cicero wrote his book on his Consulship B.C. 60, in

which year Cæsar was elected consul, and it was published at that

time. Cæsar was then rising in power, and Cicero was humbled. It would

be as well for him to say nothing on this matter which Plutarch

alludes to (_Ad Attic._ ii. 1).

Cicero wrote first a prose work on his consulship in Greek (_Ad

Attic._ i. 19), and also a poem in three books in Latin hexameters

(_Ad Attic._ ii. 3).]

[Footnote 464: Attic drachmæ, as usual with Plutarch, when he omits

the denomination of the money. In his Life of Cato (c. 26) Plutarch

estimates the sum at 1250 talents. This impolitic measure of Cato

tended to increase an evil that had long been growing in Rome, the

existence of a large body of poor who looked to the public treasury

for part of their maintenance. (See the note on the Life of Caius

Gracchus, c. 5.)]

[Footnote 465: Cæsar was Prætor B.C. 62. He was Prætor designatus in

December B.C. 63, when he delivered his speech on the punishment of

Catiline's associates.]

[Footnote 466: Some notice of this man is contained in the Life of

Lucullus, c. 34, 38, and the Life of Cicero, c. 29. The affair of the

Bona Dea, which made a great noise in Rome, is told very fully in

Cicero's letters to Atticus (i. 12, &c.), which were written at the

time.

The feast of the Bona Dea was celebrated on the first of May, in the

house of the Consul or of the Prætor Urbanus. There is some further

information about it in Plutarch's Romanæ Quæstiones (ed. Wyttenbach,

vol. ii.). According to Cicero (_De Haruspicum Responsis_, c. 17), the

real name of the goddess was unknown to the men; and Dacier considers

it much to the credit of the Roman ladies that they kept the secret so

well. For this ingenious remark I am indebted to Kaltwasser's citation

of Dacier; I have not had curiosity enough to look at Dacier's notes.]

[Footnote 467: The divorce of Pompeia is mentioned by Cicero (_Ad

Attic._ i. 13).]

[Footnote 468: Clodius was tried B.C. 61, and acquitted by a corrupt

jury (judices). (See Cicero, _Ad Attic._ i. 16.) Kaltwasser appears to

me to have mistaken this passage. The judices voted by ballot, which

had been the practice in Rome in such trials since the passing of the

Lex Cassia B.C. 137. Drumanu remarks (_Geschichte Roms_, Claudii, p.

214, note) that Plutarch has confounded the various parts of the

procedure at the trial; and it may be so. See the Life of Cicero, c.

29. There is a dispute as to the meaning of the term Judicia Populi,

to which kind of Judicia the Lex Cassia applied. (Orelli,

_Onomasticon_, Index Legum, p. 279.)]

[Footnote 469: Cæsar was Prætor (B.C. 60) of Hispania Ulterior or

Bætica, which included Lusitania.]

[Footnote 470: A similar story is told by Suetonius (_Cæsar_, 7) and

Dion Cassius (37. c. 52), but they assign it to the time of Cæsar's

quæstorship in Spain.]

[Footnote 471: The Calaici, or Callaici, or Gallæci, occupied that

part of the Spanish peninsula which extended from the Douro north and

north-west to the Atlantic. (Strabo, p. 152.) The name still exists in

the modern term Gallica. D. Junius Brutus, consul B.C. 138, and the

grandfather of one of Cæsar's murderers, triumphed over the Callaici

and Lusitani, and obtained the name Callaicus. The transactions of

Cæsar in Lusitania are recorded by Dion Cassius (37. c. 52).]

[Footnote 472: Many of the creditors were probably Romans. (Velleius

Pat. ii 43, and the Life of Lucullus, c. 7.)]

[Footnote 473: Cæsar was consul B.C. 59.]

[Footnote 474: The measure was for the distribution of Public land

(Dion Cassius, 38. c. 1, &c. &c.) and it was an Agrarian Law. The law

comprehended also the land about Capua (Campanus ager). Twenty

thousand Roman citizens were settled on the allotted lands (Vell.

Pater, ii. 44; Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 10). Cicero, who was

writing to Atticus at the time, mentions this division of the lands as

an impolitic measure. It left the Romans without any source of public

income in Italy except the Vicesimæ (_Ad Attic._ ii. 16, 18).

The Romans, who were fond of jokes and pasquinades against those who

were in power, used to call the consulship of Cæsar, the consulship of

Caius Cæsar and Julius Cæsar, in allusion to the inactivity of

Bibulus, who could not resist his bolder colleague's measures. (Dion

Cassius, 38. c. 8.)]

[Footnote 475: The marriage with Pompeius took place in Cæsar's

consulship. _Life of Crassus_, c. 16.

This Servilius Cæpio appears to be Q. Servilius Cæpio, the brother of

Servilia, the mother of M. Junius Brutus, one of Cæsar's assassins.

Servilius Cæpio adopted Brutus, who is accordingly sometimes called Q.

Cæpio Brutus. (Cicero, _Ad Divers._ vii. 21; _Ad Attic._ ii. 24.) Piso

was L. Calpurnius Piso, who with Aulus Gabinius was consul B.C. 58.]

[Footnote 476: Q. Considius Gallus. He is mentioned by Cicero several

times in honourable terms (_Ad Attic._ ii. 24).]

[Footnote 477: Cicero went into exile B.C. 58. See the Life of Cicero,

c. 30.

Dion Cassius (38. c. 17) states that Cæsar was outside of the city

with his army, ready to march to his province, at the time when

Clodius proposed the bill of penalties against him. Cicero says the

same (_Pro Sestio_, c. 18). Cæsar, according to Dion, was not in

favour of the penalties contained in the bill; but he probably did not

exert himself to save Cicero. Pompeius, who had presided at the

comitia in which Clodius was adrogated into a Plebeian family, in

order to qualify him to be a tribune, treated Cicero with neglect

(Life of Pompeius, c. 46). Cæsar owed Cicero nothing. Pompeius owed

him much. And Cicero deserved his punishment.]

[Footnote 478: Cæsar's Gallic campaign began B.C. 58.

He carried on the war actively for eight years, till the close of B.C.

51. But he was still proconsul of Gallia in the year B.C. 50. Plutarch

has not attempted a regular narrative of Cæsar's campaigns, which

would have been foreign to his purpose (see the Life of Alexander, c.

1); nor can it be attempted in these notes. The great commander has

left in his Commentary on the Gallic War an imperishable record of his

subjugation of Gaul.]

[Footnote 479: Plutarch here, after his fashion, throws in a few

anecdotes without any regard to the chronological order.]

[Footnote 480: Massalia, an ancient Greek settlement, now Marseilles,

was called Massilia by the Romans. The siege of Massalia is told by

Cæsar (_Civil War_, ii. 1, &c.). It took place after Pompeius had fled

from Brundisium.]

[Footnote 481: The story of Scæva is told by Cæsar (_Civil War_, iii.

53). The missiles were arrows. As to the exact number of arrows that

the brave centurion Scæva received in his shield, see the note in

Oudendorp's Cæsar. Scæva was promoted to the first class of centurions

(Suetonius. _Cæsar_, 68).]

[Footnote 482: Cordoba or Cordova in Hispania Bætica. Cæsar must

therefore have been subject to these attacks during his quæstorship,

or at least his prætorship in Spain.

Of Cæsar's endurance and activity, Suetonius also (_Cæsar_, 57) has

preserved several notices.]

[Footnote 483: Kaltwasser translates this: "He travelled with such

speed that he did not require more than eight days to reach the Rhone

after leaving Rome;" as if this was his habit. But Kaltwasser is

mistaken.]

[Footnote 484: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 10.

In the time of Gellius (xvii. 9) there was extant a collection of

Cæsar's letters to C. Oppius and Cornelius Balbus, written in a kind

of cipher. (See Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 56.) Two letters of Cæsar to

Oppius and Balbus are extant in the collection of Cicero's letters

(_Ad Atticum_, ix. 8, 16), both expressed with admirable brevity and

clearness. One of them also shows his good sense and his humanity.]

[Footnote 485: The story is also told by Suetonius (_Cæsar_, 54).

Instead of using plain oil, Leo thought he should please his guests by

mixing it with a fragrant oil (conditum oleum pro viridi). He was an

ill-bred fellow for his pains; but a well-bred man would affect not to

notice his blunder.]

[Footnote 486: This campaign belongs to B.C. 58. The Helvetii occupied

the country between the Rhine, the Jura, the Rhone, and the Rhætian

Alps. The history of the campaign is given by Cæsar (_Gallic War_, i.

2-29; Dion Cassius, 38, c. 31). The Arar is the Saone, which joins the

Rhone at Lyons.]

[Footnote 487: This German chief had been acknowledged as king and

ally (rex et amicus) during Cæsar's consulship, B.C. 59. What

territory the Romans considered as belonging to his kingdom does not

appear. The campaign with Ariovistus and the circumstances which

preceded it are told by Cæsar (_Gallic War_, i. 31, &c.).

The speech of Cæsar in which he rated the men for their cowardice is

reported by himself (_Gallic War_, i. 40). The pursuit of the Germans

was continued for five miles according to the MSS. of Cæsar; but some

editors in place of 'five' have put 'fifty.' Plutarch's 400 stadia are

equal to 50 Roman miles.]

[Footnote 488: Cæsar (_Gallic War_, i. 54). The army wintered in the

country between the Jura, the Rhone and Saone, and the Rhine; which

was the country of the Sequani. Cæsar says that he went into Citerior

Gallia, that is, North Italy, 'ad conventus agendos,' to make his

circuits for the administration of justice and other civil business.

He may be excused for not saying anything of his political intrigues.]

[Footnote 489: The rising of the Belgæ is the subject of Cæsar's

Second Book. This campaign was in B.C. 57. It was not a rebellion of

the Belgæ, for they had not been conquered, but they feared that the

Romans would attack them after completing the subjugation of the

Galli. The Belgæ were defeated on the Axona, the Aisne, a branch of

the Seine (_Gallic War_, ii. 9-11). There is no mention in Cæsar of

lakes and rivers being filled with dead bodies.]

[Footnote 490: The Nervii considered themselves of German origin. They

occupied Hainault in Belgium, and the modern cities of Cambray and

Tournay in France were within their limits. The Nervii were on the

Sabis, the Sambre. Cæsar (ii. 25) speaks of seizing a shield and

restoring the battle. Plutarch has taken from Cæsar (c. 29) the amount

of the enemy's loss. See Dion Cassius (39. c. 1, &c.)]

[Footnote 491: "Ob easque res ex litteris Cæsaris dies xv subplicatio

decreta est, quod ante id tempus accidit nulli." (Cæsar, _Gallic War_,

ii. 35.)]

[Footnote 492: See the Life of Crassus, c. 14; Life of Pompeius, c.

51. The meeting at Luca was at the end of B.C. 56, and Plutarch has

omitted the campaign of that year, which is contained in Cæsar's Third

Book of the Gallic War.]

[Footnote 493: Csasar (iv. 1) names them Usipetes and Tenetheri. The

events in this chapter belong to B.C. 55, when Cn. Pompeius Magnus and

M. Licinius Crassus were consuls for the second time.]

[Footnote 494: Cæsar, iv. c. 12. Plutarch here calls the Commentaries

[Greek: ephêmerides] ἐφημερίδες, which means a Diary or Day-book. The

proper Greek word would be [Greek: hypomnêmata] ὑπομνήματα. Kaltwasser

accordingly concludes that Plutarah appears to have confounded the

Ephemerides and the Commentarii, or at least to have used the word

[Greek: ephêmerides] ἐφημερίδες improperly instead of [Greek:

hypomnêmata] ὑπομνήματα. There is no proof that Cæsar kept a diary.

That kind of labour is suited to men of a different stamp from him.

Plutarch means the Commentarii. It is true that Servius (_Ad Æneid._

xi. 743) speaks of a diary (Ephemeris) of Cæsar, which records his

being once captured by the Gauls. But see the note of Davis on this

passage (Cæsar, ed. Oudendorp, ii. 999). Suetonius, who enumerates

Cæsar's writings (Cæsar, 55, 56), mentions no Ephemeris. There were

abundant sources for anecdotes about Cæsar. The Roman himself wrote as

an historian: he was not a diary keeper.]

[Footnote 495: Tanusius Geminus wrote a history which is mentioned by

Suetonius (Cæsar, 9). Cato's opinion on this occasion was merely

dictated by party hostility and personal hatred. His proposal was

unjust and absurd. Cæsar had good reason for writing his Anticato.]

[Footnote 496: Or Sigambri, a German tribe on the east bank of the

Lower Rhine. They bordered on the Ubii, and were north of them. The

name probably remains in the Sieg, a small stream which enters the

Rhine on the east bank, nearly opposite to Bonn.]

[Footnote 497: Cæsar describes the construction of this bridge (iv.

17) without giving any particulars as to the place where it was made.

The situation can only be inferred from a careful examination of the

previous part of his history, and it has been subject of much

discussion, in which opinions are greatly divided. The narratives of

Dion Cassius (39. c. 48) and Florus (iii. 10) give some assistance

towards the solution of the question. Professor Müller, in an

excellent article in the 'Jahrbücher des Vereins von

Alterthumsfreunden im Rheinlande' (vii. 1845), has proved that the

bridge must have been built near Coblenz. Cæsar defeated the Germans

in the angle between the Moselle and the Rhine. He must have crossed

the Moselle in order to find a convenient place for his bridge, which

he would find near Neuwied. The bridge abutted on the east bank on the

territory of the Ubii, who were his friends. The narrative of Cæsar,

when carefully examined, admits of no other construction than that

which Müller has put upon it; and if there were any doubt, it is

removed by Cæsar himself in another passage (_Gallic War_, vi. 9)

where he speaks of his second bridge, which gave him a passage from

the territory of the Treviri into that of the Ubii, and he adds that

the site of the second bridge was near that of the first.

In the Gallic War (iv. 15) Cæsar speaks of the junction (ad

confluentem Mosæ et Rheni) of the Mosa and the Rhine, where Müller

assumes that he means the Moselle, as he undoubtedly does. Either the

reading Mosa is wrong, or, what is not improbable, both the Moselle

and the Maas had the same name, Mosa. Mosella or Mosula is merely the

diminution of Mosa. At this confluence of the Moselle and Rhine the

town of Coblenz was afterwards built, which retains the ancient name.

Cæsar indicates which Mosa he means clearly enough by the words 'ad

confluentem.' There was no 'confluens' of the Great Mosa and the

Rhenus.]

[Footnote 498: The first expedition of Cæsar to Britain was in the

autumn of B.C. 55, and is described in his fourth book of the Gallic

War, c. 20, &c. He landed on the coast of Kent, either at Deal or

between Sandgate and Hythe. His second expedition was in the following

year B.C. 54, which is described in the fifth book, c. 8 &c. He

crossed the Thamesis (Thames) in face of the forces of Cassivelaunus,

whose territories were bounded on the south by the Thames.

There has been some discussion on the place where Cæsar crossed the

Thames. Camden (p. 882, ed. Gibson) fixes the place at Cowey Stakes

near Oatlands on the Thames, opposite to the place where the Wey joins

the Thames. Bede, who wrote at the beginning of the eighth century,

speaks of stakes in the bed of the river at that place, which so far

corresponds to Cæsar's description, who says that the enemy had

protected the ford with stakes on the banks and across the bed of the

river. Certain stakes still exist there, which are the subject of a

paper in the Archæologia, 1735, by Mr. Samuel Gale. The stakes are as

hard as ebony; and it is evident from the exterior grain that the

stakes were the entire bodies of young oak trees. Cæsar places the

ford eighty miles from the coast of Kent where he landed, which

distance agrees very well with the position of Oatlands, as Camden

remarks.

Cassivelaunus had been appointed Commander-in-chief of all the British

forces. This is the king whom Plutarch means. He agreed to pay an

annual tribute to the Romans (_Gallic War_, v. 22), and gave them

hostages. Compare Cicero, _Ad Attic._ iv. 17.

Cæsar wrote two letters to Cicero while he was in Britain. He wrote

one letter on the 1st of September, which Cicero received on the 28th

of September (_Ad Quintum Fratrem,_ iii. 1). Cicero here alludes to

Cæsar's sorrow for his daughter's death, of which Cæsar had not

received intelligence when he wrote to Cicero; but Cicero knew that

the news had gone to him. On the 24th of October, Cicero received

another letter written from the British coast from Cæsar, and one from

his brother Quintus who was with Cæsar. This letter was written on the

26th of September. Cæsar states (_Gallic War_, v. 23) that it was near

the time of the equinox when he was leaving Britain.]

[Footnote 499: See the Life of Crassus, c. 16, and the Life of

Pompeius, c. 53.]

[Footnote 500: L. Aurunculeius Cotta and Q. Titurius Sabinus were sent

into the country of the Eburones, the chief part of which was between

the Maas and the Rhine, in the parallels of Namur and Liege. This

king, who is called Abriorix, is named Ambiorix by Cæsar (_Gallic

War_, 24, &c.) The Gauls, after an unsuccessful attempt on the camp,

persuaded the Romans to leave it under a promise that they should have

a safe passage through the country of the Eburones. Ambiorix made them

believe that there was going to be a general rising of the Gauls, and

that their best plan was to make their way to the camp of Q. Cicero or

Labienus. When they had left their camp, the Gauls fell upon them in a

convenient spot and massacred most of them.]

[Footnote 501: Quintus Cicero was encamped in the country of the

Nervii in Hainault. The attack on his camp is described by Cæsar

(_Gallic War_, v. 39, &c.) Cæsar says, when he is speaking of his own

camp (v. 50), 'Jubet ... ex omnibus partibus castra altiore vallo

muniri portasque obstrui, &c.... cum simulatione terroris;' of which

Plutarch has given the meaning.]

[Footnote 502: Kaltwasser remarks that Plutarch passes over the events

in Cæsar's Sixth Book of the Gallic War, as containing matters of less

importance for his purpose.]

[Footnote 503: Cæsar (vii. 4) calls him Vercingetorix. He was of the

nation of the Arverni, whom Plutarch (as his text stands) calls

Arvenni in c. 25, and Aruveni in c. 26. The Arverni were on the Upper

Loire in Auvergne. The Carnunteni, whom Cæsar calls Carnutes, were

partly in the middle basin of the same river. Orleans (Genapum) and

Chartres (Autricum) were their headquarters.]

[Footnote 504: [Greek: tais autais hodois] ταῖς αὐταῖς ὁδοῖς in the

MSS., which gives no sense. I have adopted Reiske's alteration [Greek:

autais tais hodois] αὐταῖς ταῖς ὁδοῖς. Cæsar (vii. 8) describes his

march over the Cevenna, the Cevennes, in winter. He had to cut his

road through snow six feet deep. The enemy, who considered the

Cevennes as good a protection as a wall, were surprised by his sudden

appearance.]

[Footnote 505: So Plutarch writes it. It is Ædui in Cæsar's text, or

Hædui. The Ædui, one of the most powerful of the Gallic tribes, were

situated between the Upper Loire and the Saone, and possessed the

chief part of Burgundy. The Saone separated them from the Sequani on

the east.]

[Footnote 506: The Lingones were on the Vosges, which contain the

sources of the Marne and the Moselle. The Saone separated them from

the Sequani on the south-east. The account of this campaign is

unintelligible in Plutarch. It is contained in Cæsar's Seventh Book.]

[Footnote 507: A small matter in itself; but if true, a trait in

Cæsar's character. Schaefer has the following note: "Aliter facturus

erat Cyrneus, omnino inferior ille Romano." The Corsican is Napoleon.

Cæsar was the magnanimous man, whom Aristotle describes (_Eth. Nicom._

iv. 7); Napoleon was not.]

[Footnote 508: Alise, or rather the summit of Mont Auxois, west of

Dijon in Burgundy, represents the Alesia of Cæsar. A stream flowed

along each of two sides of the city. Alesia belonged to the Mandubii,

who were dependants of the Ædui. The siege and capture of Alesia, B.C.

52, are told by Cæsar (_Gallic War_, vii. 68, &c.)

The assembling of the Gallic nations was a last great effort to throw

off the yoke.

Dion Cassius (40. c. 41) says Vercingetorix was put in chains. Seven

years after he appeared in Cæsar's triumph, after which he was put to

death.

Cæsar passed the winter of B.C. 51 at Nemetocenna, Arras, in Belgium.

The final pacification of Gaul is mentioned (viii. 48). Cæsar left

Gaul for North Italy in the early part of B.C. 50, and having visited

all the cities in his province on the Italian side of the Alps, he

again returned to Nemetocenna in Belgium, and after finally settling

affairs in those parts, he returned to North Italy, where he learned

that the two legions, which had been taken from him for the Parthian

war, had been given by the consul C. Marcellus to Pompeius, and were

kept in Italy.

In nine years Cæsar completed the subjugation of all that part of Gaul

which is bounded by the Saltus Pyrenæus, the Alps and the Cevennes,

the Rhine and the Rhone; and it was reduced to the form of a province.

(Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 25.) With the capture of Alesia the Seventh

book of the Gallic War ends. The Eighth book is not by Cæsar.]

[Footnote 509: As to the disturbances at Rome mentioned in this

chapter, see the Life of Pompeius, c. 54, &c., notes.]

[Footnote 510: Life of Pompeius, c. 52.]

[Footnote 511: M. Claudius Marcellus, consul B.C. 51, with S.

Sulpicius Rufus.]

[Footnote 512: Novum Comum or Novocomum; north of the Padus, had been

settled as a Colonia Latina by Cæsar. (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii.

26.)

The government of the colonia was formed on a Roman model: there was a

body of Decuriones or Senators.]

[Footnote 513: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 58; Appianus, _Civil

Wars_, ii, 26; Dion Cassius, 40. c. 59.]

[Footnote 514: L. Domitius Ahenobarbus, whom Cæsar took in Corfinium,

c. 34.]

[Footnote 515: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 52.]

[Footnote 516: Cæsar (_Civil War_, i. 1) mentions this letter; but it

was read in the Senate after great opposition. The consuls of the year

B.C. 49 were L. Cornelius Lentulus and C. Claudius Marcellus.

Cæsar, in the first few chapters of the Civil War, has clearly stated

all the matters that are referred to in c. 30 and 31. The "letters"

mentioned in c. 31 as coming before Curio and Antonius left Rome, are

not mentioned by Cæsar. Plutarch might have confounded this with

another matter. (_Civil War_, i. 3.)]

[Footnote 517: Cæsar was at Ravenna when the tribunes fled from Rome,

and he first saw them at Ariminum, Rimini, which was not within the

limits of Cæsar's province. (_Civil War_, i. 6; Dion Cassius, 41. c.

3.)]

[Footnote 518: Q. Hortensius Hortalus, a son of the orator Hortensius.

He was an unprincipled fellow.]

[Footnote 519: Cæsar says nothing of the passage of the Rubico, but

his silence does not disprove the truth of the story as told by

Plutarch. The passage of the Rubico was a common topic (locus

communis) for rhetoricians. Lucanus (_Pharsalia,_ i. 213) has

embellished it:--

"Fonte cadit modico parvisque impellitur undis

Puniceus Rubicon, cum fervida canduit æstas--

Tunc vires præbebat hiems."

This small stream does not appear to be identified with certainty.

Some writers make it the Fiumicino.

Ariminum was not in Cæsar's province, and Plutarch must have known

that, as appears from his narrative. Kaltwasser thinks that he may

mean that it was originally a Gallic town, which was true.]

[Footnote 520: In Plutarch's time the system of naming the Romans was

greatly confused, and he extended the confusion to earlier times. C.

Asinius Pollio, who was with Cæsar at the Rubico and at the battle of

Pharsalia, wrote a history of the Civil Wars. He was also a poet.

(Horatius, _Od._ ii. 1.) His work, as we may collect from c. 46,

furnished materials for anecdotes about Cæsar.]

[Footnote 521: This dream according to Suetonius (_Cæsar_, c. 7) and

Dion Cassius (41. c. 24) he had at Cades (Cadiz) in Spain during his

quæstorship. The time of the dream is not unimportant, if the

interpretation of it was that he was destined to have the dominion of

the world. Cæsar has not recorded his dream. Sulla recorded his

dreams. He was superstitious and cruel. Cæsar was not cruel, and there

is no proof that he was superstitious.]

[Footnote 522: Pompeius went to Capua, where he thought of making a

stand, but he soon moved on to Brundisium. On the confusion in the

city see Dion Cassius (41. c. 5-9).]

[Footnote 523: The author of the Eighth book of the Gallic War (c. 52)

speaks of Labienus being solicited by Cæsar's enemies. Cæsar had put

him over Gaul south of the Alps. In the Civil War, Book 1, he is

merely mentioned as having fortified Cingulum at his own cost. Cicero

(_Ad Attic._ vii. 7) says that he was indebted to Cæsar for his

wealth. His defection is mentioned by Cicero several times, and it

gave a temporary encouragement to the party of Pompeius. (_Ad Attic._

vi. 12, 13.) Labienus joined Pompeius and the Consuls at Teanum in

Campania on the 23rd of January.]

[Footnote 524: Corfinium three miles from the river Aternus. Cæsar

(_Civil War_, i. 16-23) describes the siege of Corfinium. L. Domitius

Ahenobarbus was treated kindly by Cæsar. He afterwards went to

Massalia and defended it against Cæsar. This most excellent citizen,

as Cicero calls him, met the death he so well deserved at the battle

of Pharsalia, and as Cicero says (_Phillipp._ ii. 29), at the hand of

M. Antonius.]

[Footnote 525: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 62.]

[Footnote 526: From this it appears that the Life of Pompeius was

written after the Life of Cæsar.]

[Footnote 527: Cæsar (_Civil War_, i, 32) has reported his own

speech.]

[Footnote 528: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 62.]

[Footnote 529: This was the "sanctius ærarium" (Cæsar, _Civil War_, i.

13), which Lentulus had left open; in such alarm had he left the city.

This money, which was kept in the temple of Saturn, was never touched

except in cases of great emergency. Vossius remarks that to save his

own character, Cæsar says that he found this treasury open. But Cæsar

does not say that he found it open. He says that Lentulus left it

open. There was time enough for Metellus to lock the door after

Lentulus ran away. Cæsar would have been a fool not to take the money;

and if he wanted it, he would of course break the door open, if he

found it shut. But whether the door was open or shut was unimportant;

the wrongful act, if there was any, consisted in taking the money, and

he would not have been excused for taking it simply because the door

was unlocked. I believe Cæsar broke it open (Cicero _Ad Attic._ x. 4;

Dion Cassius, 41. c. 17; and the authorities quoted by Reimarus). I

also believe Cæsar when he says that Lentulus left the door unlocked.

The Senate had supplied Pompeius with money for the war out of the

ordinary treasury. When Cæsar took Corfinium, he gave to Domitius all

the money that he found there, which was to a large amount, though

this was public money and had been given to Domitius by Pompeius to

pay his soldiers with. (Appianus, ii. 28; Cæsar, _Civil War_, i. 23.)

When "that man of greatest purity and integrity," as Cicero calls him,

M. Terentius Varro, commanded for Pompeius in Spain (B.C. 48), he

carried off the treasure from the temple of Hercules at Cadiz. That

man, on whom Cicero vents every term of abuse that his fear and hatred

could supply, restored the stolen money to the god. (Cæsar, _Civil

War_, ii. 18, 21.)]

[Footnote 530: The Spanish campaign against Afranius is contained in

the _Civil War_, 34, &c. The legati of Pompeius in Spain were L.

Afranius, consul B.C. 60, M. Petreius, and M. Terentius Varro, better

known for his learning and his numerous works than for his military

talents. After the surrender of Afranius and Petreius, Cæsar marched

to the south of Spain, for Varro, who was in Lusitania, was making

preparations for war. Varro, after some feeble efforts, surrendered to

the conqueror at Cordova. Varro was treated kindly like all the rest

who fell into Cæsar's hands, and he had the opportunity of placing

himself against Cæsar at Dyrrachium.

On his return from the successful close of his Spanish campaign,

Massalia surrendered to Cæsar after an obstinate resistance. (Cæsar,

_Civil War_, ii. 22.)

It was on his return to Massalia from the south of Spain that Cæsar

heard of his appointment as Dictator (_Civil War_, ii. 21).]

[Footnote 531: (Cæsar, _Civil War_, iii. 1; Dion Cassius, 41. c. 37.)

Cæsar does not speak of those who had suffered in Sulla's time; nor

does Dion.]

[Footnote 532: Cæsar and P. Servilius Isauricus (son of the consul

Isauricus, B.C. 79) were elected Consuls for B.C. 48. See the Life of

Pompeius, c. 54, notes; and of Cæsar, c. 57, _Dictator_.

When Cæsar had left Rome, the boys formed themselves into two parties,

Pompeians and Cæsarians, and had a battle without arms, in which the

Cæsarians were victorious. (Dion Cassius, 41, c. 39.)