only gave them 4 per cent. When he left Rome after the death of
Caesar, Cicero wrote to Atticus that the money that was owing him
would suffice to pay his debts; but as at that moment money was scarce
and debtors held off, he ordered him to sell his goods, if necessary,
and added: “Consult only my reputation.” _Ad Att._ xvi. 2.
Footnote 87:
_Ad fam._ ix. 26: _Me nihil istorum ne juvenem quidem movit unquam_.
Footnote 88:
_Pro Caelio_, 19.
Footnote 89:
_Dio Cass._ xlvi. 18.
Footnote 90:
_Ad fam._ xiii. 72.
Footnote 91:
_Ad Att._ xiv. 19.
Footnote 92:
_Ibid._ xiii. 21.
Footnote 93:
_Ad fam._ ix. 15: _on attici, sed salsiores quam illi Atticorum,
romani veteres atque urbani sales_.
Footnote 94:
Plut. _Cic._ 8.
Footnote 95:
_Ad Att._ ii. 4.
Footnote 96:
_Ad fam._ xiv. 4: _Neque Dii, quos tu castissime coluisti, neque
homines, quibus ego semper servivi_, etc.
Footnote 97:
_Ad fam._ xiv. 7.
Footnote 98:
_Ad fam._ xiv. 1.
Footnote 99:
_Ibid._ xiv. 3.
Footnote 100:
_Ibid._ xiv. 4.
Footnote 101:
_Ibid._ xiv. 5.
Footnote 102:
_Ad fam._ xiv. 12.
Footnote 103:
_Ibid._ xiv. 17.
Footnote 104:
_Ibid._ xiv. 20.
Footnote 105:
_Ad Att._ iv. 1.
Footnote 106:
_Pro Caecin._ 5.
Footnote 107:
_Ad Att._ vii. 1, 3.
Footnote 108:
_Ad fam._ iv. 14.
Footnote 109:
_Ad Att._ xi. 2.
Footnote 110:
_Ibid._ xi. 24.
Footnote 111:
_Ibid._ xii. 22.
Footnote 112:
_Ibid._ xii. 21.
Footnote 113:
_Ad Att._ xii. 32.
Footnote 114:
_Ad Quint._ i. 3.
Footnote 115:
_In Verr. act. sect._ i. 44.
Footnote 116:
_Ad Att._ vii. 4.
Footnote 117:
_Ad Att._ vii. 3.
Footnote 118:
Horace, _Sat._ II. 3, 239.
Footnote 119:
_Ad Att._ xi. 25.
Footnote 120:
_Ad fam._ iv. 5.
Footnote 121:
_Ad Att._ iv. 6.
Footnote 122:
_Ad Att._ x. 8.
Footnote 123:
Plin. _Hist. nat._ xiv. 22.
Footnote 124:
_Ad fam._ xvi. 21.
Footnote 125:
_Brut. ad Cic._ ii. 3.
Footnote 126:
_De offic._ ii. 7.
Footnote 127:
_Ad Att._ i. 12.
Footnote 128:
_Ad fam._ xiii. 77.
Footnote 129:
_Ad fam._ xvi. 22.
Footnote 130:
A. Gell. vii. 3.
Footnote 131:
_Ad fam._ xvi. 10.
Footnote 132:
_Ibid._ xvi. 21.
Footnote 133:
_Ad fam._ xvi. 18.
Footnote 134:
_Ad fam._ xvi. 3, 4.
Footnote 135:
A. Gell. xiii. 20.
Footnote 136:
Plin. _Epist._ viii. 16.
Footnote 137:
Virgil, however, always faithful to ancient traditions, places, in
Tartarus, the patron who had deceived his client beside the son who
had struck his father.
Footnote 138:
_De petit. cons._ 9.
Footnote 139:
_Ad fam._ xiii. 19.
Footnote 140:
_Ad Quint._ i. 1.
Footnote 141:
_Ad fam._ xiii. 22.
Footnote 142:
_Ibid._ vii. 31.
Footnote 143:
_Ad Att._ vi. 1.
Footnote 144:
I have endeavoured to prove this with more detail in a memoir
published by the _Revue archéologique_, entitled, _Atticus, éditeur de
Cicéron_.
Footnote 145:
_Ad Att._ iv. 4, 8.
Footnote 146:
_Ad Att._ i. 13.
Footnote 147:
_Ibid._ i. 19.
Footnote 148:
_De Leg._ i. 7. He is still faithful to this part of an amateur in
philosophy, when he says further on (i. 21), that Antiochus had made
him take a few steps in the Academy, _deduxit in Academiam perpauculis
passibus_. He never penetrated further.
Footnote 149:
_T. Pomp. Att._ 13. All the preceding details are taken from the life
of Atticus by Cornelius Nepos.
Footnote 150:
_Ad Att._ vi. 1.
Footnote 151:
_Ad Att._ iv. 9.
Footnote 152:
_Ibid._ vi. 1.
Footnote 153:
_Ad Att._ vii. 8: _soles conglutinare amicitias_.
Footnote 154:
It is the saying of Tacitus: _pessimum veri affectus venenum sua
cuique utilitas_.
Footnote 155:
_Ad Att._ xiii. 33.
Footnote 156:
It must be remarked, however, that the last letter that we have from
Cicero to Atticus (xvi. 16) contains a proof of the very active steps
that Cicero took to save a part of the fortune of Atticus which was
endangered after the death of Caesar.
Footnote 157:
_Ad Att._ iv. 8.
Footnote 158:
_Ad Att._ ii. 1.
Footnote 159:
_Ad Att._ i. 14.
Footnote 160:
_Ibid._ xvi. 3.
Footnote 161:
_Ibid._ xii. 3.
Footnote 162:
_Ad Att._ xii. 51.
Footnote 163:
_Ibid._ i. 18.
Footnote 164:
_Ibid._ xii. 14.
Footnote 165:
_Cui potest esse vita vitalis, ut ait Ennius, qui non in amici mutua
benevolentia conquiescat?_ (Cicero, _De Amicit._ 6.)
Footnote 166:
_T. Liv._ xxi. 63: _Quaestus omnibus patribus indecorus visus_
Footnote 167:
Scipio says so in the _Republic_ (i. 22): _Quum mihi sit unum opus hoc
a parentibus majoribusque meis relictum, atque administrate rei
publicae_, etc.
Footnote 168:
Corn. Nep. _Attic._ 7: _Usus es aetatis vacatione_.
Footnote 169:
Nep. _Attic._ 6.
Footnote 170:
_Ad Att._ xiv. 10.
Footnote 171:
_Ibid._ viii. 2.
Footnote 172:
_Ibid._ x. 15.
Footnote 173:
_Ad Att._ x. 16.
Footnote 174:
_Ad Att._ i. 17. See also _de Offic._ i. 21, and especially i. 26.
This last passage evidently contains an allusion to Atticus.
Footnote 175:
_Epist. Brut._ i. 17.
Footnote 176:
_De Rep._ i. 2.
Footnote 177:
_Epist. Brut._ i. 17.
Footnote 178:
_Attic._ 10.
Footnote 179:
_De Orat._ 34.
Footnote 180:
In the time of the Gracchi, the Censor Metellus thus expressed himself
in a speech in which he vigorously attacked bachelors: “Citizens, if
we could live without wives we should all dispense with that
encumbrance (_omnes ea molestia careremus_); but, as nature has willed
it to be as impossible to do without them as it is disagreeable to
live with them, let us sacrifice the charms of so short a life to the
interests of the republic, which must always endure.” This way of
encouraging men to marry seemed apparently very efficacious, since, at
the time when men married less than ever, Augustus thought he ought to
have the speech of old Metellus read to the people.
Footnote 181:
Liv. xxxiv. 3.
Footnote 182:
_Pro Muraen._ 12.
Footnote 183:
Schol. Bob. _p. Sext._ ed. Or. p. 304.
Footnote 184:
Schwab. _Quaest. Catull._ p. 77.
Footnote 185:
All these details, and those that follow, are taken from the _Pro
Caelio_ of Cicero.
Footnote 186:
Macr. _Sat._ ii. 10.
Footnote 187:
Ovid, _Trist._ ii. 427.
Footnote 188:
Apul. _de Mag._ 10. A learned German, M. Schwab, in a book that he has
just published on Catullus (_Quaest. Catull._ 1862), seems to me to
have put the truth of this assertion of Apuleius beyond doubt.
Footnote 189:
_Catull. Carm._ 26.
Footnote 190:
_Catull. Carm._ 86.
Footnote 191:
_Cat. Carm._ 5.
Footnote 192:
_Cat. Carm._ 12.
Footnote 193:
_Cat. Carm._ 70.
Footnote 194:
_Ibid._ 85.
Footnote 195:
Probably with some woman that Caelius loved. Cicero, in replying to
this letter, tells him that the rumour of his exploits has reached
Mount Taurus. Many suppose he means amorous exploits.
Footnote 196:
_Ad fam._ viii. 7.
Footnote 197:
Quint. _Inst. or_, iv. 2.
Footnote 198:
_De Ira._ iii. 8.
Footnote 199:
_Ad fam._ ii. 8.
Footnote 200:
_Ad fam._ viii. 6.
Footnote 201:
_Ibid._ viii. 4.
Footnote 202:
_Ibid._ viii. 5. The sense of this phrase is altered in Orelli.
Footnote 203:
_Ibid._ viii. 14.
Footnote 204:
_Ad fam._ viii. 13.
Footnote 205:
_Ibid._ viii. 14.
Footnote 206:
_Ad fam._ ii. 8.
Footnote 207:
See the excellent memoir of M. Th. Mommsen, entitled _Die Rechtsfrage
zwischen Caesar und dem Senat_. Breslau, 1857.
Footnote 208:
_Ad fam._ viii. 14.
Footnote 209:
We see at the end of the eighth book _De Bello Gallico_, that Caesar
had eight legions in Gaul, one in Cisalpine Gaul, and two that he gave
to Pompey. At the first threat of war he ordered those that were in
Gaul to approach the frontier. After the capture of Corfinium he had
three of his old legions with him.
Footnote 210:
_Ad Att._ vii. 4.
Footnote 211:
_Ad Att._ vii. 8.
Footnote 212:
_Ibid._ viii. 12.
Footnote 213:
_Ad fam._ viii. 15.
Footnote 214:
_Ad Att._ viii. 11.
Footnote 215:
_Ibid._ ix. 6.
Footnote 216:
_Ad Att._ ix. 12.
Footnote 217:
_Ad Att._ ix. 10.
Footnote 218:
_Ad fam._ ii. 16.
Footnote 219:
_Ibid._ vi. 6.
Footnote 220:
_Ad fam._ viii. 17.
Footnote 221:
_De amic._ 15.
Footnote 222:
It would be wrong to pass over the name of Matius in silence. A very
fine letter of his on the death of Caesar remains (_Ad fam._ xi. 28).
He was a true friend of Caesar; but it is to be remarked that he was
not one of those whom he made praetors and consuls, and whose debts he
had often paid. Matius never filled any important political office,
and his name would not have come down to us if it had not been for
Cicero’s correspondence.
Footnote 223:
_De bell. civ._ iii. 53.
Footnote 224:
_Ibid._ iii. 91.
Footnote 225:
_De amic._ 15.
Footnote 226:
_Ad Att._ ix. 19.
Footnote 227:
_Ibid._ ix. 18.
Footnote 228:
Suet. _Caes._ 54.
Footnote 229:
_Ad Att._ x. 4.
Footnote 230:
_Ad fam._ viii. 15.
Footnote 231:
_Pro Flacco_, 38.
Footnote 232:
_Ad fam._ viii. 17.
Footnote 233:
A very curious detail preserved by Quintilian, shows us that Caelius
retained his levity of character and bantering humour in the midst of
these grave affairs in which he staked his life. After his curule
chair had been broken he had another made entirely of leather thongs,
and took it to the consul. All the spectators burst out laughing. The
story ran that Servilius had had a strapping in his youth.
Footnote 234:
_Inst. orat._ x. 1.
Footnote 235:
_Pro Marcello_, 9.
Footnote 236:
_In Pis._ 22.
Footnote 237:
_Pro Dom._ 28.
Footnote 238:
_Ad Quint._ ii. 1.
Footnote 239:
_Ibid._ ii. 3.
Footnote 240:
_Pro Sext._ 35.
Footnote 241:
_Ad pop. pro red._ 7.
Footnote 242:
_Ad Att._ iv. 3. _Ego diaeta curari incipio, chirurgiae taedet._
Footnote 243:
_Ad Att._ iv. 2.
Footnote 244:
_Ad Att._ iv. 5.
Footnote 245:
_Ad Att._ iv. 5.
Footnote 246:
_Ibid._ iv. 6.
Footnote 247:
_Ad fam._ i. 9.
Footnote 248:
_Ad fam._ i. 9.
Footnote 249:
_In Pis._ 32.
Footnote 250:
_Ad Quint._ ii. 12.
Footnote 251:
_Ibid._ ii. 15.
Footnote 252:
This at least was the opinion of all the historians of antiquity. We
read in a fragment of a letter from Cicero to Q. Axius quoted by
Suetonius (_Caes._ 9): _Caesar in consulatu confirmavit regnum de quo
aedilis cogitaret._
Footnote 253:
_Ad Quint._ ii. 13.
Footnote 254:
Or only forty-two, if we place his birth in 654. See, on this point,
an interesting note in the _Life of Caesar_, by Napoleon III., Bk. II.
ch. i.
Footnote 255:
_Ad fam._ vii. 5.
Footnote 256:
_Ad fam._ vii. 5.
Footnote 257:
_Ad Quint._ ii. 15.
Footnote 258:
_Ad fam._ vii. 6: _nisi te extrusissemus_.
Footnote 259:
_Ad fam._ vii. 17.
Footnote 260:
_Ibid._ vii. 13.
Footnote 261:
_Ad fam._ vii. 18.
Footnote 262:
_Ibid._ vii. 10.
Footnote 263:
_De orat._ ii. 3.
Footnote 264:
_Ad Quint._ i. 2.
Footnote 265:
_Caes._ 47.
Footnote 266:
_Ad fam._ vii. 7.
Footnote 267:
Suet. _Caes._ 67.
Footnote 268:
Suet. _Caes._ 46, 48.
Footnote 269:
_Ad Quint._ iii. 1.
Footnote 270:
_Ad Quint._ iii. 9.
Footnote 271:
_Ad Quint._ ii. 15.
Footnote 272:
_Ibid._ ii. 16.
Footnote 273:
Cic. _Brut._ 72, and Pliny, _Hist. nat._ vii. 30.
Footnote 274:
Caesar wrote to Cicero twice from Britain. The first letter took
twenty-six days to reach Rome, and the second twenty-eight. This was
quick travelling for that time, and we see that Caesar must have
organized his mail-service well. Furthermore, we know his stay in
Britain was very short.
Footnote 275:
_Ad Quint._ iii. 1.
Footnote 276:
_De prov Cons._ 13, 14.
Footnote 277:
M. Mommsen completely settles this in his _Roman History_.
Footnote 278:
_De Arusp. resp._ 25.
Footnote 279:
_Ad Att._ vii. 7.
Footnote 280:
_Ad Att._ xi. 20. I read _cognitionem_ instead of _notionem_, which
does not seem to me to have any sense.
Footnote 281:
_Ad fam._ ix. 1.
Footnote 282:
_Ad Att._ xvi. 31.
Footnote 283:
_Ad fam._ ix. 5.
Footnote 284:
_Ad Att._ ix. 20.
Footnote 285:
_Ad Att._ x. 4.
Footnote 286:
_Bell. Afric._ 88.
Footnote 287:
_Ad Att._ ix. 7.
Footnote 288:
The general amnesty that Suetonius speaks of did not take place till
much later.
Footnote 289:
_Ad fam._ vii. 7.
Footnote 290:
It is unnecessary to say that I believe in the authenticity of this
speech: it has been disputed for reasons that seem to me futile.
Further on I shall reply to those drawn from the character of the
speech, by showing that it is less base and servile than has been
asserted.
Footnote 291:
_Pro Marc._ 4.
Footnote 292:
_Ad fam._ iv. 4.
Footnote 293:
_Pro Marc._ 7.
Footnote 294:
_Ibid._ 8.
Footnote 295:
_Philipp._ iii. 11.
Footnote 296:
_Ad fam._ xv. 5.
Footnote 297:
_Pro Muraen._ 31.
Footnote 298:
_Pro Muraen._ 35.
Footnote 299:
_Pro Mur._ 36.
Footnote 300:
_Ad Att._ ii. 1.
Footnote 301:
_Ad Att._ xii. 4.
Footnote 302:
_Ann._ iv. 34.
Footnote 303:
_Ad Att._ xiii. 46.
Footnote 304:
Caes. _Bell. civ._ i. 4.
Footnote 305:
_Philipp._ ii. 32.
Footnote 306:
It is not easy to say what Caesar’s projects were, as his work was
interrupted by his death. Some insist that he only desired a sort of
dictatorship for life; the greater number suppose that he thought of
permanently establishing monarchical rule. The question is too grave
to be entered upon incidentally, and settled in a few words. I will
simply say that perhaps he only thought at first of the dictatorship;
but in proportion as he became more powerful, the idea of founding a
monarchy seemed to take more consistency in his mind. Yet it may be
inferred from a passage in Plutarch (_Brut._ 7), that he was not
decided on the question of an hereditary succession when he died.
Footnote 307:
_Ad fam._ xii. 17.
Footnote 308:
_Brut._ 51.
Footnote 309:
_Pro Rabir._ 7.
Footnote 310:
_Pro Rosc. Am._ 12.
Footnote 311:
_Ad fam._ iv. 5.
Footnote 312:
_Ibid._ xiii. 68.
Footnote 313:
_Ibid._ xii. 18.
Footnote 314:
_Ibid._ vi. 9.
Footnote 315:
_Pro Marc._ 10.
Footnote 316:
_Ad Att._ xii. 45.
Footnote 317:
_Pro Dejot._ 12.
Footnote 318:
“All the honest men,” said Cicero (_Phil._ ii. 12), “in so far as they
could, have killed Caesar. Some wanted the means, others the
resolution, several the opportunity; no one wanted the will.”
Footnote 319:
_Ann._ i. 3.
Footnote 320:
The authenticity of these letters has been often called in question
since the last century, and has been debated in Germany quite recently
with much warmth, and a distinguished critic, F. Hermann of Göttingen,
has published some remarkable essays, to which it seems to me
difficult to reply, in order to prove that they are really letters of
Brutus and Cicero. I have summed up his principal arguments in
_Recherches sur la manière dont furent recueillies les lettres de
Cicéron_, ch. v.
Footnote 321:
_Ad Att._ vi. 1.
Footnote 322:
_Ad fam._ iii. 11.
Footnote 323:
_Ad Att._ vi. 1.
Footnote 324:
_Orat._ 10.
Footnote 325:
_Ad Att._ xiv. 1.—A very curious statue of Brutus is to be seen at the
Campana Museum. The artist has not tried to idealize his model, and
seems to have aimed at nothing but a vulgar exactness; but we can very
well recognize in it the real Brutus. We can trace in that low
forehead and the heavy bones of the face a narrow mind and an
obstinate will. The face has a feverish and sickly look; it is at once
young and old, as is the case with those who have never really been
young. Above all we perceive in it a strange sadness, that of a man
overwhelmed by the weight of a great and fateful destiny. In the fine
bust of Brutus preserved in the Museum of the Capitol, the face is
fuller and handsomer. The sweetness and sadness remain; the sickly
look has disappeared. The features exactly resemble those on the
famous medal struck during Brutus’ last years, and which bears on the
reverse a Phrygian cap between two daggers, with the threatening
legend, _Idus Martiae_. Michael Angelo commenced a bust of Brutus, of
which the admirable rough model may be seen at the Uffizi in Florence.
It was not a fancy study, and we see that he had made use of ancient
portraits while idealizing them.
Footnote 326:
_Ad Att._ xv. 1, B.
Footnote 327:
_Ad Att._ xii. 21.
Footnote 328:
Liv. xlv. 18.
Footnote 329:
Cic. _Ad Quint._ i. 1.
Footnote 330:
_Ad Att._ vi. 1.
Footnote 331:
_Ad Quint._ i. 1.
Footnote 332:
_Ad Att._ vi. 1.
Footnote 333:
_Ibid._ v. 21.
Footnote 334:
_Ad Att._ xi. 4.
Footnote 335:
_Ad fam._ xv. 15.
Footnote 336:
_Ad fam._ iv. 9.
Footnote 337:
Cic. _Brut._ 96.
Footnote 338:
_Tusc._ ii. 2.
Footnote 339:
See on this question the very interesting work of M. Martha, _Les
Moralistes sous l’Empire Romain_.
Footnote 340:
_Ad Att._ xv. 2.
Footnote 341:
Quint. x. 1.
Footnote 342:
Sen. _Cons. ad Helv._ 9.
Footnote 343:
_Epist. Brut._ i. 16.
Footnote 344:
App. _De bell. civ._ iv. 133.
Footnote 345:
Plut. _Brut._ 12.
Footnote 346:
Those who employed these manœuvres well knew that they were taking
Brutus on his weak side. His descent from him who expelled the kings
was much contested. The more it was regarded as doubtful the more
anxious he was to prove it. To say to him: “No, you are not Brutus,”
was to put on him the necessity or the temptation of proving his
origin by his actions.
Footnote 347:
_Ad fam._ xv. 18.
Footnote 348:
_De Offic._ ii. 7.
Footnote 349:
_De Divin._ ii. 2.
Footnote 350:
_Brut._ 97.
Footnote 351:
_Epis. Brut._ i. 17.
Footnote 352:
_Ibid._ x. 16.
Footnote 353:
_Ibid._ i. 17.
Footnote 354:
Quint. ix. 3.
Footnote 355:
It must, however, be noticed that there are several of Cassius’
letters in Cicero’s correspondence, and that some of them are witty
and very lively. There are even puns in them.—(_Ad fam._ xv. 19.)
Footnote 356:
_De Bell. civ._ ii. 113. Plutarch relates the same thing, and almost
in the same words.
Footnote 357:
_Ad Att._ xv. 4.
Footnote 358:
_De Bell. civ._ ii. 120.
Footnote 359:
_Ad Att._ xiv. 10, and xv. 11.
Footnote 360:
_De Bell. civ._ iii. 42.
Footnote 361:
_Ad Att._ xv. 11.
Footnote 362:
_Ad fam._ xi. 3.
Footnote 363:
_Philipp._ x. 4.
Footnote 364:
_Ad fam._ x. 1.
Footnote 365:
_Ad fam._ xi. 7.
Footnote 366:
_Ibid._ x. 16.
Footnote 367:
_Ad Brut._ ii. 7.
Footnote 368:
_Ad fam._ xi. 23.
Footnote 369:
_Philipp._ xiii. 19.
Footnote 370:
_Philipp._ xi. 8.
Footnote 371:
_Ad fam._ xii. 2.
Footnote 372:
_Ad Att._ xiv. 20.
Footnote 373:
_Ad Brut._ i. 10.
Footnote 374:
_Epist. Brut._ i. 17.
Footnote 375:
_Ad fam._ ix. 16.
Footnote 376:
_Ad Att._ xvi. 11.
Footnote 377:
_Ibid._ xiv. 12.
Footnote 378:
_Ad fam._ xii. 25: _Quem ructantem et nauseantem conjeci in Caesaris
Octaviani plagas_.
Footnote 379:
Orelli, _Fragm. Cic._ p. 465.
Footnote 380:
Suet. _Aug._ 101.
Footnote 381:
_Exploration archéologique de la Galatie_, etc., par MM. Perrot,
Guillaume et Delbet. Paris, 1863. Didot. As the Galatians spoke Greek
and understood Latin ill, the official text was put in the place of
honour, in the temple itself, and the translation was placed outside
where every one might read it, in order to bring the narrative of
Augustus within their reach. But the exterior of the temple has not
been any more respected than the interior. The Turks have fixed their
houses against the walls, carelessly driving their beams into the
marble, and using the solid masonry as a support for their brick and
mud party-walls. All the skill of M. Perrot and his companion M.
Guillaume was required to penetrate into these inhospitable houses.
When they had entered they met with still greater difficulties. It was
necessary to demolish the walls, take away the beams and support the
roofs in order to reach the ancient wall. This was but little. The
wall was hammered and cracked, blackened by dirt and smoke. How could
the inscription that covered it be deciphered? It was necessary to
remain for weeks in dark and foul rooms, or on the straw of a loft,
working by candlelight, throwing the light in every direction on the
surface of the marble, and thus gradually winning each letter by
extraordinary efforts of courage and perseverance. This painful labour
was rewarded by complete success. Of nineteen columns of Greek text,
the English traveller Hamilton had copied five completely and
fragments of another; M. Perrot brings back twelve entirely new ones.
One only, the ninth, could not be read; it was behind a thick
party-wall that it was found impossible to pull down. These twelve
columns, although they have suffered much from the ravages of time,
fill up in great part the lacunae of the Latin text. They make us
acquainted with entire paragraphs of which no traces remain in the
original; and even in passages where the Latin was better preserved
they rectify at almost every step mistakes that had been made in the
interpretation of the text. M. Egger, in his _Examen des historiens
d’Auguste_, p. 412 _et seq._, has carefully and critically studied the
inscription of Ancyra. M. Mommsen, with the help of M. Perrot’s copy,
is preparing a learned work on this inscription, after which, no
doubt, nothing will remain to be done. (M. Mommsen’s work, that was
announced in the first edition of this book, has since appeared under
the title: _Res gestae divi Augusti ex monumentis Ancurano et
Apolloniensi_.)
Footnote 382:
Dio, lii. 14–40. See what M. Egger says of Dio in his _Examen des
hist. d’Aug._ ch. viii.
Footnote 383:
The figure cannot be read either in the Latin or Greek.
Footnote 384:
The figure cannot be read. The great number of gladiators who fought,
and no doubt perished in these bloody _fêtes_ will be noticed. Seneca,
to show how far men can become indifferent to death, relates that,
under Tiberius, a gladiator complained of the rarity of these grand
massacres; and alluding to the time of Augustus said: “That was a good
time! _Quam bella aetas periit!_”
Footnote 385:
There is some probability, according to a passage of Suetonius (_Aug._
52), that what the Greek text of the inscription calls absolute
authority αὐτεξουσιὸς ἀρχὴ was the dictatorship.
Footnote 386:
I have only summed up here a very curious chapter of Dio Cassius
(_Hist. Rom._ liii. 17). We see there clearly how the Roman
constitution, in which the separation of powers was a guarantee for
liberty, became, by the sole fact of their concentration, a formidable
engine of despotism.
Footnote 387:
The Ancyra inscription gives most precise information on the subject
of this increase. In 725 Augustus took the census for the first time
after an interruption of forty-one years: 4,063,000 citizens were
counted in this return. Twenty-one years later, in 746, the numbers
returned amounted to 4,233,000. In 767, the year of Augustus’ death,
there were 4,937,000. If, to the figures that Augustus gives, we add
the number of women and children who were not comprised in the Roman
census, we shall see that in the last twenty years of his reign the
increase had reached an average of very nearly 16 per cent. This is
exactly the figure to which the increase of population in France rose,
after the Revolution, from 1800 to 1825; that is, like political
circumstances produced like results. It might be thought, indeed, that
this increase of population under Augustus was due to the introduction
of foreigners into the city. But we know, from Suetonius, that
Augustus, contrary to the example and principles of Caesar, was very
chary of the title of Roman citizen.
Footnote 388:
Suet. _Aug._ 31.
Footnote 389:
_De Clem._ 9; _Divus Augustus mitis fuit princeps_. It is true that
elsewhere he calls his clemency a wearied-out cruelty.
Footnote 390:
Suet. _Aug._ 84.
Footnote 391:
See especially Velleius Pat. ii. 66.
Footnote 392:
Sen. _Suas._ 6.
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TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES
1. Silently corrected obvious typographical errors and variations in
spelling.
2. Retained archaic, non-standard, and uncertain spellings as printed.
3. Re-indexed footnotes using numbers and collected together at the end
of the last chapter.
4. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.