[Footnote 546: Cæsar (_Civil War_, iii. 106) speaks of his arrival on
the coast of Egypt. The Egyptians were offended to see the Roman
fasces carried before him.]
[Footnote 547: Cæsar had the head of Pompeius burnt with due honours,
and he built a temple to Nemesis over the ashes. The temple was pulled
down by the Jews in their rising in Egypt during the time of Trajanus.
(Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 90.)
As to the seal ring see the Life of Pompeius, c. 80, and Dion Cassias
(42. c. 18).]
[Footnote 548: The Alexandrine war, which is confusedly told here, is
recorded in a single book entitled De Bello Alexandrino and in Dion
Cassius (42. c. 34-44). The origin of it is told by Cæsar at the end
of the third Book of the Civil War. The history of the Alexandrine war
by Appianus was in his Ægyptiaca, which is lost. Dion Cassius, a lover
of scandal, mentions that Cæsar's attachment to Kleopatra was the
cause of the Alexandrine war (42. c. 44). But it could not be the sole
cause. Cæsar landed with the insignia of his office, as if he were
entering a Roman province, and it might be reasonably suspected by the
Egyptians that he had a design on the country. Instead of thanking
them for ridding him of his rival, he fixed himself and his soldiers
in one of the quarters of Alexandria. Cæsar went to get money (Dion,
42. c. 9). Kleopatra kept him there longer than he at first intended
to stay.]
[Footnote 549: Ptolemæus Auletes through Cæsar's influence had been
declared a friend and ally of the Romans in Cæsar's consulship B.C.
59. (Cic. _Ad Attic._ ii. 16.) Ptolemæus had to spend money for this:
he both gave and promised. It does not appear that this money was
promised to Cæsar: it is more probable that it was promised to the
Roman State and Cæsar came to get it.]
[Footnote 550: The story of Kleopatra coming to Cæsar is also told by
Dion Cassius (42. c. 34). Cæsar mentions his putting Pothinus to death
(_Civil War_, iii. 112). Cæsar had at first only 3200 foot soldiers
and 800 cavalry to oppose to the 20,000 men of Achillas, who were not
bad soldiers. Besides these 20,000 men Achillas had a great number of
vagabonds collected from all parts of Cilicia and Syria.]
[Footnote 551: Alexandria had no springs, and it was supplied from the
Nile, the water of which was received into cisterns under the houses.
This supply was (_Bell. Alex._ 5, &c.) damaged by Ganymedes the
Egyptian drawing up salt water from the sea and sending it into the
cisterns. Cæsar supplied himself by digging wells in the sand.]
[Footnote 552: As to the destruction of the library see Dion Cassius
(42. c. 38) and the notes of Reimarus. The destruction is not
mentioned by Cæsar or the author of the Alexandrine war. Kleopatra
afterwards restored it, and the library was famed for a long time
after. Lipsius (Opera iii. 1124, Vesal 1675) has collected all that is
known of this and other ancient libraries.]
[Footnote 553: The Pharos is a small island in the bay of Alexandria,
which was connected with the mainland by a mole, and so divided the
harbour into two parts. The story of the battle of the Pharos is told
by Dion Cassius (42. c. 40), with the particulars about Cæsar's
escape. See the notes of Reimarus.
The modern city of Alexandria is chiefly built on the mole which
joined the old city to the mainland. (Article _Alexandria_, 'Penny
Cyclopædia,' by the author of this note.)]
[Footnote 554: The King, the elder brother of Kleopatra, was drowned
in the Nile. (Dion Cassius, 42. c. 43, and the notes of Reimarus.) His
body was found. (Florus, ii. 60.)]
[Footnote 555: Cæsar did not add Egypt to the Roman Empire. He married
Kleopatra to her younger brother, who was a boy. Dion says that he
still continued his commerce with Kleopatra. Cæsar was nine months in
Egypt, from October 48 to July 47 of the unreformed Kalendar.
Cæsarion, a Greek form from the word Cæsar, may have been Cæsar's son,
for there is no doubt that Cæsar cohabited with Kleopatra in Egypt.
There is more about this Cæsarion in Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 52, where
the reading is doubtful; _Cæsar Octavian_. c. 17. When Cæsar
Octavianus took Egypt he put Cæsarion to death.]
[Footnote 556: He had been acknowledged by Pompeius as king of the
Bosporus after the death of his father. He was now in Asia Minor,
where he had taken Amisus and had castrated all the male children.
Cæsar after hearing of the defeat of Domitius Calvinus, his legatus,
by Pharnakos, advanced against him and routed his army. Zela is eight
hours south of Amasia, the birthplace of Strabo, and about 40° 15' N.
lat. Pharnakes was afterwards murdered by Asander, one of his
generals. (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 91; Dion Cassius, 42, 46;
_Bell. Alexandria_, c. 72.)
The modern town of Zilleh, which contains 2000 houses, stands on the
site of Zela. A hill rises abruptly above the plain near the centre of
the present town, and occupies a commanding position. The appearance
of the place corresponds very well with Strabo's description (p. 561),
in whose time it was the capital of Zelitis. (Hamilton's _Asia Minor_,
i. 361.)]
[Footnote 557: This is the best MS. reading, not Amintius; the true
name is probably C. Matius. He was an intimate friend of Cæsar, and he
is well spoken of by Cicero. He remained faithful to the cause of
Cæsar after his death, and he attached himself to Octavianus. There is
a letter of Cicero to Matius, with the answer of Matius (Cicero, _Ad
Diversos_, xi. 27, 28) written after Cæsar's death, which shows him to
have been a man of honour and courage, and worthy of the name of
Cæsar's friend.
This letter of Cæsar's is probably a forgery of the anecdote-makers.
Davis (note to Oudendorp's Cæsar, ii. 992) has indicated the probable
source of this supposed letter. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 37.) The
battle was a smart affair of several hours, and was not won without
some loss.]
[Footnote 558: He was named Dictator for B.C. 47 by the Senate in Rome
immediately after the battle of Pharsalia: he was at Alexandria when
he received this news. He appointed M. Antonius his Master of the
Horse and sent him to Rome. (Dion Cassius, 42. c. 21-33.)]
[Footnote 559: It broke out during his dictatorship. (Suetonius,
_Cæsar_, c. 70; Dion Cassius, 42. c. 52.) The story is told very
circumstantially by Appianus (_Civil Wars_, ii. 92). The soldiers
demanded of Cæsar release from service (missio), and he granted it to
them in a single word, Mitto. The soldiers having got what they asked
for were no longer soldiers, but citizens; and Cæsar in the subsequent
part of the conference properly addressed them as Quirites, just as
Cicero addresses the Roman people by this name in one of his orations
against Rullus. The soldiers at last prevailed on him to restore them
to their former condition; and he set out with them for his African
war. This affair is alluded to by Tacitus. (_Annal._ ii. 42; Lucanus,
v. 357.)]
[Footnote 560: P. Cornelius Dolabella, a devoted adherent of Cæsar.
His turbulent tribunate is recorded by Dion Cassius (42. c. 29, &c.).
He was consul with M. Antonius B.C. 44. The name Amantius occurs here
again. It is Amintius in some editions of Plutarch. Kaltwasser
observes that nothing is known of Amintius and Corfinius. But
Corfinius should be Cornificius; and Amantius should probably be C.
Matius.]
[Footnote 561: Cato was not in the battle of Pharsalus. After the
battle Cato, Scipio, Afranius, and Labienus went to Corcyra, whence
they sailed to Africa to join Juba. (Life of Cato, c. 55; Dion
Cassius, 42. c. 10; Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 95, &c.)
The history of the African War is contained in one book, and is
printed in the editions with the Gallic War of Cæsar. Cæsar landed at
Hadrumetum, because Utica was strongly guarded. (Dion Cassius, 42. c.
58.)]
[Footnote 562: Comp. the _African War_, c. 1.]
[Footnote 563: Dion Cassius (42. c. 58) calls him Salatto. Suetonius
(_Cæsar_, c. 59) also tells the same story. The African campaign is
told by Dion Cassius, 43. c. 1, &c.]
[Footnote 564: Scipio avoided fighting as long as he could. Thapsus
was situated on a kind of peninsula, south of Hadrumetum, as Dion
Cassius states. But his description is not clear. There were salt-pans
near it, which were separated from the sea by a very narrow tract.
Cæsar occupied this approach to Thapsus, and then formed his lines
about the town in the form of a crescent. Scipio came to relieve
Thapsus, and this brought on a battle. (_African War_, 80.) Cæsar
could not stop the slaughter after the battle was won.]
[Footnote 565: Petreius, Cæsar's former opponent in Spain, fled with
Juba to Zama, where Juba had his family and his treasures. But the
people would not receive Juba into the place. On which, after rambling
about for some time with Petreius, in despair they determined to fight
with one another that they might die like soldiers. Juba, who was
strong, easily killed Petreius, and then with the help of a slave he
killed himself. (_African War_, 94; Dion Cassius, 43, c. 8.)
Scipio attempted to escape to Spain on ship-board. Near Hippo Regius
(Bona) he was in danger of falling into the hands of P. Silius, on
which he stabbed himself. Afranius and Faustus Sulla, the son of the
dictator, were taken prisoners and murdered by the soldiers in Cæsar's
camp.]
[Footnote 566: As to the death of Cato, see the Life of Cato, c. 65.]
[Footnote 567: The work was in two books, and was written about the
time of the battle of Munda, B.C. 45. (Suetonius, c. 56; Cicero, _Ad
Attic_, xii. 40; Dion Cassius, 43. c. 13, and the notes of Reimarus
about the "Anticato.")]
[Footnote 568: Cæsar made the kingdom of Juba a Roman province, of
which he appointed C. Sallustius, the historian, proconsul. He laid
heavy impositions on the towns of Thapsus and Hadrumetum. He imposed
on the people of Leptis an annual tax of 3,000,000 pounds weight of
oil (pondo olei), which Plutarch translates by the Greek word litræ.
On his voyage to Rome he stayed at Carales (Cagliari) in Sardinia. He
reached Rome at the end of July, B.C. 46. (_African War_, 97, &c.)
Dion Cassius (43. c. 15, &c.) gives us a speech of Cæsar before the
Senate on his return to Rome.]
[Footnote 569: As Kaltwasser remarks, Plutarch has omitted the triumph
over Gaul. (Dion Cassius, 43. c. 19; Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 101.)
After the triumph Vercingetorix was put to death. Arsinœ, the sister
of Kleopatra, appeared in the Egyptian triumph in chains.]
[Footnote 570: See the Life of Sulla, c. 16 notes; and Dion Cassius,
51. c. 15.]
[Footnote 571: Plutarch has the word [Greek: triklinos] τρίκλινος. The
Latin form is triclinium, a couch which would accomodate three persons
at table. The word is of Greek origin, and simply means a place which
will allow three persons to recline upon it. As triclinia were placed
in eating-rooms, such a room is sometimes called triclinium. It is
sometimes incorrectly stated that triclinium means three couches, and
that a dining-room had the name of triclinium because it contained
three couches; which is absurd. Vitruvius describes œci(dining-rooms)
square and large enough to contain four triclinia, and leave room also
for the servants (vi. 10). It may be true that three couches was a
common number in a room.]
[Footnote 572: There was no census this year, as Rualdus quoted by
Kaltwasser shows. Augustus had a census made in his sixth consulship,
B.C. 28; and there had then been none for twenty-four years. That of
B.C. 42 was in the consulship of M. Æmilius Lepidus and Munatius
Plancus. It has been remarked that Plutarch gives the exact numbers
that are given in Suetonius (_Cæsar_, 41), when he is speaking of the
number of poor citizens who received an allowance of corn from the
state, which number Cæsar reduced from 320,000 to 150,000. This
passage, compared with Dion Cassius (43. c. 21), seems to explain the
origin of Plutarch's statement. Appianus (_Civil Wars_, ii. 102) also
supposed that it was a census. See Clinton, _Fasti_, Lustra Romana,
B.C. 50. (See the Life of Caius Gracchus, c. 5, notes.)]
[Footnote 573: Cæsar was sole consul in the year B.C. 45. He was still
dictator.]
[Footnote 574: Munda was in Bætica, west of Malaca (Malaga). The
battle was fought on the day of the Liberalia, the feast of Liber or
Bacchus, the 17th of March. Pompeius, B.C. 49, left Brundisium on the
Ides of March, the 15th.
The Spanish campaign is contained in a book entitled "De Bello
Hispaniensi," which is printed with the "Commentaries of Cæsar:"
thirty thousand men fell on the side of Pompeius, and three thousand
equites (c. 31). See also Dion Cassius, 43, c. 36; and Appianus,
_Civil Wars_, ii. 104.]
[Footnote 575: Cneius Pompeius, the elder of the two sons of Pompeius
Magnus, was overtaken after he had for some time eluded the pursuit of
the enemy. His head was carried to Hispalis (Seville) and exhibited in
public. Cæsar, who was then at Gades (Cadiz), came shortly after to
Hispalis, and addressed the people in a speech. Sextus Pompeius was at
Corduba during the battle, and he made his escape on hearing the news
of his brother's defeat.]
[Footnote 576: C. Didius. According to Dion, Cn. Pompeius was killed
by another set of pursuers, not by Didius. The author of the Spanish
War (c. 40) does not mention Didius as having carried the head of
Pompeius to Hispalis. After the death of Pompeius, Didius fell in a
battle with some Lusitani who had escaped from Munda.]
[Footnote 577: Cæsar celebrated his Spanish triumph in October, B.C.
45.]
[Footnote 578: Cæsar was appointed Dictator for Life, and consul for
ten years, (Appianus, ii. 106.)
Dictatorship was properly only a temporary office, and created in some
great emergency, or for a particular purpose. The first dictator was
T. Lartius, who was appoined, B.C. 501. The original period of office
was only six months (Livius, ix. 34), and many dictators abdicated,
that is, voluntarily resigned the dictatorship before the end of the
six months. The Dictator had that authority within the city which the
consuls, when in office, only had without. During his term of office
there were no consuls. Under the Dictator there was a Magister
Equitum, who was sometimes appointed probably by the Dictator. The
whole question of the dictatorship is one of considerable difficulty.
No dictator had been appointed for one hundred and twenty years before
the time when Sulla was appointed; and his dictatorship and that of
Cæsar must not be considered as the genuine office. Cæsar was the last
Roman who had the title of Dictator. The subject of the Dictatorship
is discussed by Niebuhr, _Roman History_, vol. i. 552, _English
Transl._]
[Footnote 579: The honours decreed to Cæsar in the year before are
mentioned by Dion Cassius (43. c. 14). Among other things a large
statue of him was made which was supported on a figure of the earth
(probably a sphere); and there was the inscription--"Semideus,
Half-God." The further honours conferred on Cæsar in this year are
recorded by Dion Cassius (43. c. 44, &c.). A statue of the Dictator
was to be placed in the temple of Quirinus (Romulus), which was
equivalent to calling Cæsar a second founder of Rome. Cicero (_Ad
Attic._ xii. 45, and xiii. 28)
Jokes Atticus on the new neighbour that he was going to have: Atticus
lived on the Quirinal Hill, where the temple of Quirinus stood.
The Senate also decreed that Cæsar should use the word Imperator as a
title prefixed to his name--Imperator Caius Julius Cæsar. The old
practice was to put it after the name, as M. Tullius Cicero Imperator.
The title Imperator prefixed to the name does not occur on the medals
of Cæsar. But this decree of the Senate was the origin of the term
Imperator being used as a title by the Roman Emperors. (Dion Cassius,
43. c. 44.)]
[Footnote 580: I do not find what particular honours Cicero proposed.
His correspondence with Atticus during this period shows that he was
dissatisfied with the state of affairs, and very uneasy about himself,
though, as far as concerned Cæsar, he had nothing to fear.]
[Footnote 581: Carthage was destroyed B.C. 146; and Corinth in the
same year by L. Mummius. Colonies were sent to both places in B.C. 44.
(Dion Cassius, 43. c. 50.) Many Romans were sent to settle in both
places. (Strabo, p. 833; Pausanias, ii. 1.) The colonization of
Carthage had been attempted by Caius Gracchus. (Life of C. Gracchus,
c. 11, notes.)]
[Footnote 582: In B.C. 45 Cæsar was consul for the fourth time and
without a colleague. But he laid down the office before the end of the
year, and Quintus Fabius Maximus and C. Trebonius were appointed
consuls; the first instance of consuls being appointed for a part of
the year, which afterwards became a common practice. (Dion Cassius,
43. c. 46.) The appointment of C. Caninius is mentioned by Cicero (_Ad
Diversos_, vii. 30), who remarks that nobody dined in that consulship,
and that the consul was so vigilant that he did not sleep during his
term of office: in fact he was consul for only part of a day. An
inscription records the consulships of this year. (Note to Cicero in
the Variorum edition.)]
[Footnote 583: On the intended Parthian expedition of Cæsar, see Dion
Cassius, 43. c. 51.]
[Footnote 584: This design of Cæsar is mentioned by Dion Cassius (44.
c. 5), Suetonius (_Cæsar_, 441), and Plinius (_H.N._ iv. 4).]
[Footnote 585: This scheme is not mentioned by any other author that I
can find. Circæum, or Circeii, as the Romans called it, is the
mountain promontory, now Circello or Circeo, between which and
Tarracina lies the southern part of the Pomptine marshes. The intended
cut must therefore run nearly in the direction of the Via Appia and to
the west of it. But considerable cuttings would be required on that
more elevated part of the Campagna which lies between the mountains of
Alba and the nearest part of the coast. The basin of the Pomptine
marshes is bounded by the offsets of the Alban mountains, the Volscian
mountains, and the sea. In the central part it is only a few feet
above the sea-level, and in some parts it is below it. When a violent
south-west wind raises the sea on the coast between Tarracina and
Circeo, the water would be driven into the basin of the Pomptine
marshes instead of flowing out. There would therefore be no sufficient
fall of water to keep the channel clear, even if the head of the cut,
where it originated in the Tiber, were high enough; and that is
doubtful. The scheme was probably a canal, which with some locks might
be practicable; but if the work could be accomplished, it would
probably have no commercial advantages.]
[Footnote 586: Pometia is the common Roman form, from which comes the
name of the Pometinæ, or Pomptinæ Paludes, now the Pontine Paludi; the
site of Pometia is uncertain. That Cæsar intended to accomplish the
drainage of this tract is mentioned by Dion Cassius and Suetonius.
Setia (Sezza), noted for its wine, is on the Volscian hills (the Monti
Lepini), and on the eastern margin of the marshes. The physical
condition of this tract is described by Prony, in his "Description
Hydrographique et Historique des Marais Pontins," 4to. Paris, 1822;
the work is accompanied by a volume of plans and sections and a map of
the district. A sketch of the physical character of this district, and
of the various attempts to drain it, is also given in the 'Penny
Cyclopædia,'--art. _Pomptine Marshes_. See also Westphal's two
valuable maps of the Campagna di Roma, and his accompanying Memoir,
Berlin and Stettin, 1829.]
[Footnote 587: Ostia, the old port of Rome, on the east bank of the
Tiber near the mouth of the river. The present Ostia is somewhat
farther inland, and was built in the ninth century by Pope Gregory the
Fourth. There are extensive remains of the old town, but they are in a
very decayed condition. "Numerous shafts of columns, which are
scattered about in all directions, remains of the walls of extensive
buildings, and large heaps of rubbish covered with earth and overgrown
with grass, give some, though a faint, idea of the splendour, of the
ancient city, which at the time of its greatest splendour, at the
beginning of our era, had eighty thousand inhabitants." (Westphal,
_Die Römische Kampagne_, p. 7.)]
[Footnote 588: The reformation of the Kalendar was effected in B.C.
46. Dion Cassius (43. c. 26) says that Cæsar was instructed on this
subject during his residence at Alexandria in Egypt. The Egyptians had
a year of 365 days from a very early date (Herodotus, ii. 4). In this
year (B.C. 46) Cæsar intercalated two months of 67 days between
November and December, and as this was the year in which, according to
the old fashion, the intercalary month of 23 days had been inserted in
February, the whole intercalation in this year was 90 days. Cæsar made
the reformed year consist of 365 days, and he directed one day to be
intercalated in every fourth year (quarto quoque anno) in order that
the civil year, which began on the 1st of January, might agree with
the solar year. The old practice of intercalating a month was of
course dropped. The year B.C. 46 was a year of 445 days. By this
reformation, says Dion Cassius, all error was avoided except a very
small one, and he adds, that to correct the accumulations of this
error, it would only be necessary to intercalate one day in 1461
years. But this is a mistake; for in 1460 years there would be an
error of nearly eleven days too much. Ten days were actually dropped
between the 4th and 15th of October, 1582, by Gregory XIII., with the
sanction of the Council of Trent.
A curious mistake was soon made at Rome by the Pontifices who had the
regulation of the Kalendar. The rule was to intercalate a day in every
fourth year (quarto quoque anno). Now such expressions are ambiguous
in Latin, as is shown by numerous examples. (Savigny, _System des
heut. Röm. Rechts_, iv. 329.) The expression might mean that both the
year one and the year four were to be included in the interpretation
of this rule; and the Pontifices interpreted it accordingly. Thus,
after intercalating in year one, they intercalated again in year four,
instead of in year five. In the time of Augustus, B.C. 8. the error
was corrected, and the civil year was set right by dropping the three
intercalary days which came next after that year, three being the
number of days in excess that had been intercalated. For the future
the rule of Cæsar was correctly interpreted. Dion Cassius in
expressing the rule as to intercalation uses the phrase, [Greek: dia
pente etôn] διὰ πέντε ἐτῶν.
The subject of Cæsar's reformation is explained in the notes to Dion
Cassius (43. c. 26), ed. Reimarus, and in the article Calendar
(Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities) by Professor Key.]
[Footnote 589: The Romans had a large collection of these writings
(libri Sibyllini) which were kept in the Temple of Jupiter Capitolinus
under the care of particular functionaries (duumviri sacrorum). On
this curious subject the reader will find sufficient information in
the Penny Cyclopædia,--art. _Sibyl_.]
[Footnote 590: Dion Cassius (44. c. 8), who tells the story, says that
he was seated in the vestibule of the Temple of Venus; and he mentions
another excuse that Cæsar had for not rising.]
[Footnote 591: L. Cornelius Balbus was a native of Gades. Pompeius
Magnus gave him the Roman citizenship for his services in Spain
against Sertorius, which was confirmed by a lex passed B.C. 72, in the
consulship of Cn. Cornelius Lentulus. Probably to show his gratitude
to the consul, Balbus assumed the Roman name Cornelius. Balbus is
often mentioned in Cicero's correspondence. After Cæsar's death he
attached himself to Cæsar Octavianus, and he was consul B.C. 40. He
left a journal of the events of his own and Cæsar's life. He also
urged Hirtius (Pansa) to write the Eighth Book of the Gallic War
(Preface addressed to Balbus), Suetonius, Cæsar, 81.]
[Footnote 592: The Lupercalia are described in the Life of Romulus, c.
21. The festival was celebrated on the 15th of February. It was
apparently an old shepherd celebration; and the name of the deity
Lupercus appears to be connected with the name Lupus (wolf), the
nurturer of the twins Romulus and Remus. Shakspere, who has literally
transferred into his play of Julius Cæsar many passages from North's
Plutarch, makes Cæsar say to the consul Antonius--
Forget not, in your speed, Antonius,
To touch Calphurnia; for our elders say,
The barren, touched in this holy chase,
Shake off their sterile curse.