grew more threatening in their struggles. The friends of Cæsar demanded
that he should be elected consul. The friends of Pompey replied that
Cæsar must first resign the command of his army, and come to Rome and
present himself as a candidate in the character of a private citizen,
as the constitution of the state required. Cæsar replied that if
Pompey would lay down his arms, he would also do so; but otherwise,
it was unjust to require it of him. This privilege he demanded as a
recompense for the services he had rendered to the state. A large part
of the people sided with Cæsar; but the partisans of Pompey, with the
inflexible Cato at their head, withstood the demand. The city was much
excited over the impending conflict. Pompey displayed no fear, and
urged the Senate to resist all of Cæsar’s claims, saying, that if Cæsar
should presumptuously dare to march with his forces to Rome, he could
raise troops enough to subdue him by merely stamping on the ground.
Cæsar meanwhile had been quietly making his preparations at Ravenna.
It was his policy to move as privately as possible. Accordingly, he
sent some cohorts to march secretly to the banks of the river, and
encamp there, while he employed himself in his usual occupation. He had
established a fencing school, and on the very eve of his departure
he went as usual to this school, then feasted with his friends, going
afterwards with them to a public entertainment. As soon as it was
dark enough, and the streets were deserted, he stole away with a few
attendants. During the night, Cæsar and his guides found themselves
lost, and they wandered about until nearly break of day, when a peasant
guided them to the shore, where he found his troops awaiting him.
Having arrived at the banks of the stream, Cæsar stood for some moments
musing upon the step he was about to take. If he crossed that narrow
stream retreat would be impossible. The story is told that a shepherd
coming up took the trumpet from one of Cæsar’s trumpeters, and sounded
a charge, marching rapidly over the bridge at the same time. “An omen!
a prodigy!” exclaimed Cæsar. “Let us march where we are called by such
a divine intimation—_The die is cast!_”
As soon as the bridge was crossed, Cæsar called an assembly of his
troops, and made an eloquent appeal to them, urging them to stand
faithful to him, and promising them large rewards should he be
successful. The soldiers responded with enthusiastic applause. As
Cæsar advanced towards Rome, several towns surrendered to him without
resistance. He met with but one opposition. The Senate had deposed
Cæsar from his command during the hot debates preceding his crossing of
the Rubicon, and had appointed Domitius to succeed him. That general
had crossed the Apennines at the head of an army, and had reached the
town of Corfinium. Cæsar advanced and besieged him there. The town was
soon captured; and Cæsar, to the surprise of everyone, who supposed he
would wreak vengeance upon his foes, received the troops into his own
service, and let Domitius go free. News had now reached the city of
Rome, of Cæsar’s crossing the Rubicon, and rapid advance. The Senate
were terribly alarmed, and looked to Pompey in vain for help. Pompey
himself was terrified, but could do nothing; and the Senate then
derisively called upon him to raise the promised army of which he had
boasted, telling him they thought it was high time to stamp with his
feet, as he declared that by so doing he could secure a force large
enough to defeat Cæsar. Cato and many of the prominent men fled from
the city.
Pompey, calling upon all his partisans to follow him, set forth at
night to retreat across the country towards the Adriatic Sea.
Cæsar was rapidly advancing toward Rome. As all supplies of money were
cut off by his crossing the Rubicon, which severed his connection
with the government, his soldiers voted to serve him without pay. His
treatment of Domitius was much applauded by the people. He himself
says, in a letter written to a friend at the time, “I am glad that you
approve of my conduct at Corfinium. I am satisfied that such a course
is the best one for us to pursue, as by so doing we shall gain the
good will of all parties, and thus secure a permanent victory. Most
conquerors have incurred the hatred of mankind by their cruelties, and
have all, in consequence of the enmity they have thus awakened, been
prevented from long enjoying their power. Sylla was an exception, but
his example of successful cruelty I have no disposition to imitate. I
will conquer after a new fashion, and fortify myself in the possession
of the power I acquire by generosity and mercy.”
Cæsar now pursued Pompey to Brundusium, whither Pompey had retreated.
Cæsar laid siege to the city, but Pompey secretly made preparations
for embarking his troops. He caused all the streets to be barricaded,
except two, which led to the landing, and in the darkness of the
night, he began embarking his forces as fast as possible on board of
transports already provided. Cæsar was made aware of this fact, and
his army quickly brought ladders and scaled the walls of the city, but
the barricaded streets so impeded their progress through the darkness
of the night, that Pompey and his troops succeeded in sailing away.
As Cæsar had no ships, he continued his march to Rome, and entering
the city without opposition, re-established the government and took
control. After various subsequent campaigns in Italy, Spain, Sicily,
and Gaul, which resulted in completely subjugating these nations to his
dominion, he commenced the pursuit of Pompey, across the Adriatic Sea.
As Pompey had cleared the seas of every vessel which could aid him in
his flight, Cæsar had great difficulty in procuring even a sufficient
number of galleys to transport a part of his army, and embarking with
these he landed on the opposite shore, and sent back the galleys for
the remainder of his forces, while he pursued Pompey with the troops
already with him. Some of Pompey’s generals intercepted a part of
Cæsar’s galleys, and destroyed them; the sea also, becoming very
boisterous, the troops were afraid to embark, not being stimulated to
courage by the presence and voice of Cæsar. Julius Cæsar still pursued
Pompey, who constantly retreated; and the winter wore away with no
decided battle, and leaving both armies in a suffering condition.
At last, one stormy night, Cæsar determined to embark upon a galley
and return to the Italian side, and bring the remainder of his army
over. Cæsar disguised himself in a long cloak, with his head muffled
in his mantle, and thus got aboard the galley and ordered the men
to row him across. A violent wind arose, and the waves were so high
that at last the rowers declared they could go no further; Cæsar then
came forward, threw off his mantle, and exclaimed: “Friends, you have
nothing to fear; you are carrying Cæsar!” Thus inspired the men put
forth herculean efforts, but all to no purpose, and Cæsar was obliged,
reluctantly, to turn back. His army on the Italian shore, however,
hearing of this brave deed were inspired with new courage, and making
another attempt, they were successful in joining Cæsar, who, thus
strengthened, planned for a vigorous attack in the spring. A parley had
been held several times between the hostile hosts, but to no effect;
and many skirmishes and partial conflicts took place, but no decided
battle. At one time, Pompey’s troops so hemmed in the army of Cæsar
that his forces suffered for want of food, but his soldiers bravely
made use of a sort of root which they dug from the ground, and made
into a kind of bread, telling Cæsar they would live upon the bark of
trees rather than abandon his cause. At length the army of Pompey was
in turn hemmed in by Cæsar’s forces, and becoming very desperate, on
account of the distress occasioned by want of food and water, Pompey
made some successful attacks upon Cæsar’s lines, and broke away from
his enemy’s grasp.
At last, however, they came to open battle on the plain of Pharsalia.
As Pompey’s forces far outnumbered those of Cæsar he felt confident
of victory. “The hour at length arrived; the charge was sounded by
the trumpets, and Cæsar’s troops began to advance with loud shouts
and great impetuosity toward Pompey’s lines. There was a long and
terrible struggle, but the forces of Pompey began finally to give
way. Notwithstanding the precautions which Pompey had taken to guard
and protect the wing of his army which was extended toward the land,
Cæsar succeeded in turning his flank upon that side by driving off
the cavalry, and destroying the archers and slingers; and he was thus
enabled to throw a strong force upon Pompey’s rear. The flight then
soon became general, and a scene of dreadful confusion and slaughter
ensued. The soldiers of Cæsar’s army, maddened with the insane rage
which the progress of a battle never fails to awaken, and now excited
to frenzy by the exultation of success, pressed on after the affrighted
fugitives, who trampled one upon another or fell pierced with the
weapons of their assailants, filling the air with their cries of agony
and their shrieks of terror.”
When Pompey perceived that all was lost he fled from the field, and
having disguised himself as a common soldier, he retreated with a few
attendants until he reached the Vale of Tempe in Thessaly. Here, in
this picturesque spot, noted for its beautiful scenery, the fallen
Pompey took his weary way. Having at length reached the Ægean Sea, he
took refuge in a fisherman’s hut; hearing still of Cæsar’s pursuit he
did not dare to rest, but embarked the next morning in a little vessel,
with three attendants. He was afterwards taken up by the commander of
a merchant ship, and was at length conveyed to the island of Lesbos,
where his wife, Cornelia, was residing; Pompey had married her after
the death of Julia, Cæsar’s daughter. Cornelia now provided a small
fleet, and, determining to accompany her husband, they set sail upon
the Mediterranean Sea. At last Pompey decided to seek refuge in Egypt.
Some years before Pompey had been the means of restoring a king of
Egypt to his throne; this king had since died, but had left his
daughter, the famous Cleopatra, on the throne, to rule, conjointly,
with a younger brother, named Ptolemy. At this time, the Egyptian
ministers, who acted for the young prince, who was not old enough to be
invested with the royal power, had dethroned Cleopatra that they might
thus govern alone.
Cleopatra went into Syria to raise an army to recover her lost throne,
and Ptolemy’s ministers had gone forth to battle with her. It was
then that Pompey arrived in Egypt, and thinking that the young prince
Ptolemy would receive him on account of the services Pompey had
rendered to the Egyptian king, father of Ptolemy, Pompey and Cornelia,
with their little fleet, approached the shore intending to land. A
messenger was sent to the young king to solicit a kind reception.
The Egyptian ministers of Ptolemy persuaded him that it would be
dangerous either to grant or refuse Pompey’s request, and therefore,
counselled that he might be invited to their camp, and then that he
should be killed; this would please Cæsar, who was now so powerful,
and it would put Pompey out of their way. This ungrateful counsel
prevailed, and an Egyptian was appointed to perform the bloody deed. A
courteous invitation was sent to Pompey to land, who, however, parted
with his wife, Cornelia, with many forebodings of evil. As the boat
of the Egyptians reached Pompey’s galley the officers hailed him with
every mark of respect; bidding Cornelia farewell, Pompey, with two
centurions, stepped into the Egyptian boat and was rowed to the shore.
Just as he was about to step from the boat the assassins drew their
swords, and Pompey was slain before the very eyes of his wife, who
beheld the bloody scene from the deck of her galley, and her piercing
shriek was wafted to the ears of her dying husband. The Egyptians then
cut off the head of Pompey, leaving the headless body lying upon the
shore. The two centurions who had accompanied Pompey, afterwards burned
the body, and sent the ashes to the heartbroken Cornelia.
Cæsar, in pursuit of Pompey, soon after reached Alexandria, where
he learned of his death; and the Egyptians, hoping to please him,
presented to him the bloody head of his late enemy. But though Cæsar
was very ambitious, he was not blood-thirsty, nor brutal in his wars.
Instead of being pleased with such a ghastly gift, Cæsar turned from
the shocking spectacle in horror. While Cæsar was in Alexandria many
of Pompey’s officers came and surrendered themselves to him; and
Cæsar, finding himself so powerful, determined to use his authority as
Roman consul, to settle the dispute between Cleopatra and her brother
Ptolemy. It was at this time that Cleopatra, in order to plead her
cause, was brought by her commands to Cæsar’s quarters, rolled up in a
bale of carpeting, and carried upon the shoulders of a slave. As all
the avenues of approach to Cæsar’s apartments were in the possession
of her enemies she feared falling into their hands. Cæsar espoused her
cause, and determined that she and her brother Ptolemy should reign
jointly. Ptolemy was so incensed against his sister, for thus securing
Cæsar’s allegiance, that a violent war was waged between the Egyptians
and Cæsar. This is called in history the Alexandrine War. In the course
of this contest Cæsar took possession of the famous lighthouse of
Pharos, one of the Seven Wonders of the world. During the progress of
this war a great disaster occurred, which was the burning of the famous
Alexandrian library. The number of volumes, or rolls of parchment
there collected, was said to have been seven hundred thousand. When we
remember that the people in those days possessed no printed books, and
that each one of these rolls had been written by hand, with immense
labor, and at vast expense, the loss to the world of works which could
never be reproduced was irreparable. Cæsar was victorious in this war.
The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and in attempting to retreat
across one of the branches of the Nile he was drowned. Cæsar finally
settled Cleopatra and a younger brother upon the throne of Egypt and
returned to Rome. While Cæsar was in Egypt three great powers had
arisen against him, in Asia Minor, in Africa, and in Spain.
He first went to Asia Minor and so quickly defeated his enemies there,
that it was in reference to this battle that he wrote the famous
inscription for his banner, which appeared in his triumphal procession,
“_Veni, Vidi, Vici_,” I came, I saw, I conquered. Cæsar then proceeded
to Africa, where his old enemy Cato had raised a large force against
him. Cæsar was successful also in this contest, and finally shut up
Cato in the city of Utica. Cato, finding defence hopeless, killed
himself.
From Africa, Cæsar returned to Rome for a short time, and then went
to Spain to put down the rebellion there which was led by the sons of
Pompey. Here also he was successful, and the conqueror returned to
Rome the undisputed master of the whole Roman world. Then came his
magnificent triumphs. Cæsar celebrated four triumphs for his four great
campaigns, in Egypt, in Asia Minor, in Africa, and in Spain. These were
celebrated upon separate days. These triumphs were gorgeous in the
extreme. Forty elephants were employed as torch-bearers in one triumph
which took place at night, each elephant holding a great blazing
flambeau in his proboscis and waving it proudly in the air. These
triumphal processions are thus described by one historian. “In these
triumphal processions everything was borne in exhibition which could
serve as a symbol of the conquered country or a trophy of victory.
Flags and banners, taken from the enemy; vessels of gold and silver
and other treasures loaded in vans; wretched captives conveyed in open
carriages, or marching sorrowfully on foot, and destined, some of
them, to public execution when the ceremony of the triumph was ended;
displays of arms and implements and dresses and all else which might
serve to give the Roman crowd an idea of the customs and usages of the
remote and conquered nations; the animals they used caparisoned in the
manner in which they used them; these and a thousand other trophies
and emblems were brought into the line to excite the admiration of
the crowd, and to add to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. In these
triumphs of Cæsar a young sister of Cleopatra, wearing chains of
gold, was in the line of the Egyptian procession. In that devoted to
Asia Minor was a great banner containing the words already referred
to, Veni, Vidi, Vici. There were great paintings, too, borne aloft,
representing battles and other striking scenes. Of course, all Rome was
in the highest state of excitement during the days of the exhibition of
this pageantry.
“The whole surrounding country flocked to the capital to witness it,
and Cæsar’s greatness and glory were signalized in the most conspicuous
manner to all the world. After these triumphs, a series of splendid
public entertainments were given, over twenty thousand tables having
been spread for the populace of the city. Shows of every character
and variety were exhibited. There were dramatic plays and equestrian
performances in the circus, and gladiatorial combats, and battles with
wild beasts, and dances and chariot races and every other amusement
which could be devised to gratify a population highly cultivated in
all the arts of life, but barbarous and cruel in heart and character.
Some of the accounts which have come down to us of the magnificence of
the scale on which these entertainments were conducted are absolutely
incredible. It is said that an immense basin was constructed near the
Tiber, large enough to contain two fleets of galleys, which had on
board two thousand rowers each and one thousand fighting men. These
fleets were then manned with captives,—the one with Asiatics, and the
other with Egyptians,—and when all was ready, they were compelled to
fight a real battle for the amusement of the spectators who thronged
the shores, until vast numbers were killed, and the waters of the lake
were dyed with blood. It is also said that the entire Forum and some of
the great streets in the neighborhood, where the principal gladiatorial
shows were held, were covered with silken awnings to protect the vast
crowds of spectators from the sun, and thousands of tents were erected
to accommodate the people from the surrounding country, whom the
buildings of the city could not contain.”
All open opposition to Cæsar’s power was now put down. The Senate
vied with the people to do him honor. He was first made consul for
ten years, and then perpetual dictator. They conferred upon him the
title of “The Father of his Country.” Cæsar now began to form plans
for immense improvements which should benefit his empire. He completed
the regulation of the calendar. “The system of months in use in his
day corresponded so imperfectly with the annual circuit of the sun,
that the months were moving continually along the year in such a manner
that the winter months came at length in the summer, and the summer
months in the winter. This led to great practical inconveniences.
For whenever, for example, anything was required by law to be done
in certain months, intending to have them done in the summer, and
the specified month came at length to be a winter month, the law
would require the thing to be done in exactly the wrong season. Cæsar
remedied all this by adopting a new system of months which should
give three hundred and sixty-five days to the year for three years,
and three hundred and sixty-six for the fourth; and so exact was the
system which he thus introduced that it went on unchanged for sixteen
centuries. The months were then found to be eleven days out of the
way, and a new correction was introduced by Pope Gregory XIII., and it
will now go on three thousand years before the error will amount to a
single day. Cæsar employed a Greek astronomer to arrange the system he
adopted, and for this improvement one of the months was called July,
after Julius Cæsar. Its former name was Quintilis.”
Cæsar commenced the collection of vast libraries; formed plans for
draining the Pontine Marshes, and for bringing great supplies of water
into the city by an aqueduct; and he intended to cut a new passage
for the Tiber from Rome to the sea. He also planned a road along the
Apennines, and a canal through the Isthmus of Corinth, and intended to
construct other vast works which should make Rome the wonder of the
world.
But in the midst of all these grand projects he was suddenly stricken
down. Although the Romans disliked the thought of being ruled by a
king, they preserved certain statues of their kings in some of the
public buildings, and the ambition of Cæsar led him very foolishly
to place his own statue among them. He also had a seat prepared for
himself in the Senate in the form of a throne. On one occasion, when
the members of the Senate were to come to him in a temple to announce
certain decrees they had passed to his honor, Cæsar received them
sitting upon a magnificent chair, which seemed a throne, so gorgeous
was it; and he did not even rise to welcome them, as was the usual
custom, thus showing that he would receive them as a monarch, who
never rises in the presence of inferiors. This incident, small as it
may seem, aroused much indignation. His statue was also found adorned
with a laurel crown, to which was fastened a white fillet, which was
an emblem of royalty. On another occasion, at a public entertainment,
an officer placed a diadem upon the head of Cæsar, who pretended to
be disinclined to receive it, and taking it off, it was offered twice
again, and refused, when Cæsar sent the diadem to a temple near by as
an offering to Jupiter. Although he thus appeared to reject the honor,
his manner indicated that he only desired to be more warmly pressed to
receive it. There was now formed a strong conspiracy against Cæsar,
headed by Cassius, who had for a long time been Cæsar’s enemy. Cassius
at last succeeded in persuading Marcus Brutus to join him. The plan was
then divulged to such men as the conspirators thought most necessary
to the success of their plot. It was agreed that Cæsar must be slain.
They at length decided that the Roman Senate was the proper place.
As it had been rumored that Cæsar’s friends were about to attempt to
crown him as a king on the Ides of March, that day was chosen by the
conspirators as a fitting one on which Julius Cæsar should meet his
doom. Cæsar received many warnings of his approaching fate, and the
soothsayers reported many strange omens which betokened some portentous
event. One of these soothsayers informed Cæsar that he had been
warned, by certain signs at a public sacrifice, that some terrible
danger threatened his life on the Ides of March; and he besought him
to be cautious until that day should have passed. The Senate were to
meet on the Ides of March in a new and magnificent edifice, which had
been erected by Pompey. In this Senate Chamber was a statue of Pompey.
The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a neighboring
grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren which had a
sprig of laurel in its beak. The birds tore the poor wren to pieces,
and the laurel fell from its bill to the marble pavement below. As
Cæsar had been crowned with laurel after his victories, and always
wore a wreath of laurel on public occasions, this event was thought
to portend some evil to him. The night before the Ides of March, both
Cæsar and his wife Calpurnia awoke from terrible dreams. Cæsar dreamed
that he ascended into the skies and was received by Jupiter, and
Calpurnia, awakening with a wild shriek, declared that she had dreamed
that the roof of the house had fallen in, and that her husband had been
stabbed by an assassin. When morning came, Calpurnia endeavored to
persuade Cæsar not to go to the Senate, and he had consented to comply
with her wish, until one of the conspirators, who had been appointed to
accompany Cæsar to the Senate, came to the house of Julius Cæsar, and
by his declarations that the people were waiting to confer upon their
dictator the title of king throughout all the Roman dominions excepting
Italy alone, he at length persuaded Cæsar to go with him. On the way
to the Senate, a Greek teacher, having learned something of the plot,
wrote a statement of it, and as Cæsar passed him he gave it to him,
saying, “Read this immediately; it concerns yourself, and is of the
utmost importance.” Cæsar made the attempt to do so, but the crowd of
people who pressed towards him and handed him various petitions, as was
the usual custom when a state officer appeared in public, prevented
Cæsar from thus learning of the dreadful fate awaiting him. There was
one warm friend of Cæsar, named Marc Antony, whom the conspirators
feared might interfere with the successful completion of their plot,
and so it was arranged that one of their number should engage the
attention of Antony, while the petitioner chosen should advance and
make his appeal to Cæsar, which should be the signal for the bloody
deed. This conspirator made a pretence of asking Cæsar for the pardon
of his brother, which request, as they had expected, Cæsar declined to
grant. This occasioned an outburst of pretended fury, under cover of
which the conspirators rushed upon Cæsar and stabbed him with their
swords. Cæsar at first attempted to defend himself, but as Brutus, his
former friend, also plunged his dagger into his side, he exclaimed,
“And you, too, Brutus?” and drawing his mantle over his face, he fell
at the feet of Pompey’s statue and expired. Now again the city of Rome
was in wild tumult.