"sleep and drunken debauch." He sailed from Alexandria to Tyrus in
Phoenicia, and thence by way of Cyprus and Rhodes to Athens, where he
saw Fulvia, who had escaped thither from Brundusium. He left her sick at
Sikyon, and crossed from Corcyra (Corfu) to Italy. (Appian, _Civil
Wars_, v. 52-55.) Brundusium shut her gates against him, on which he
commenced the siege of the city. The war was stopped by the
reconciliation that is mentioned in the text, to which the news of the
death of Fulvia greatly contributed. Antonius had left her at Sikyon
without taking leave of her, and vexation and disease put an end to her
turbulent life. (Appian, _Civil Wars_, v. 59.)
[381] See the Life of Cicero, c. 44, note.
[382] The meeting with Sextus Pompeius was in B.C. 39, at Cape Miseno,
which is the northern point of the Gulf of Naples.
Sextus was the second son of Pompeius Magnus. He was now master of a
large fleet, and having the command of the sea, he cut off the supplies
from Rome. The consequence was a famine and riots in the city. (Appian,
_Civil Wars_, v. 67, &c.) Antonius slaughtered many of the rioters, and
their bodies were thrown into the Tiber. This restored order; "but the
famine," says Appian, "was at its height, and the people groaned and
were quiet."
[383] P. Ventidius Bassus was what the Romans call a "novus homo," the
first of his family who distinguished himself at Rome. He had the
courage of a soldier and the talents of a true general. When a child he
was made prisoner with his mother in the Marsian war (Dion Cass. xliii.
51), and he appeared in the triumphal procession of Pompeius Strabo
(Dion Cass. xlix. 21). The captive lived to figure as the principal
person in his own triumph, B.C. 38. In his youth he supported himself by
a mean occupation. Hoche, when he was a common soldier, used to
embroider waistcoats. Julius Cæsar discovered the talents of Bassus, and
gave him employment suited to his abilities. In B.C. 43 he was Prætor
and in the same year Consul Suffectus. (Drumann, _Antonii_, p. 439;
Gell. xv. 4.)
[384] Cockfighting pleased a Roman, as it used to do an Englishman. The
Athenians used to fight quails.
[385] The name is written indifferently Hyrodes or Orodes (see the Life
of Crassus, c. 18).
Plutarch, on this as on many other occasions, takes no pains to state
facts with accuracy. Labienus lost his life and the Parthians were
defeated; and that was enough for his purpose. The facts are stated more
circumstantially by Dion Cassius (xlviii. 40, 41).
[386] The president of the gymnastic exercises. Dion Cassius (xlviii.
39) tells us something that is characteristic of Antonius. The fulsome
flattery of the Athenians gave him on this occasion the title of the
young Bacchus, and they betrothed the goddess Minerva to him. Antonius
said he was well content with the match; and to show that he was in
earnest he demanded of them a contribution of one million drachmæ as a
portion with his new wife. He thus fleeced them of about 2800_l._
sterling. No doubt Antonius relished the joke as well as the money.
[387] The sacred olive was in the Erektheium on the Acropolis of Athens.
Pausanias (i. 28) mentions a fountain on the Acropolis near the
Propylæa; and this is probably what Plutarch calls Clepsydra, or a
water-clock. The name Clepsydra is given to a spring in Messenia by
Pausanias (iv. 31). Kaltwasser supposes the name Clepsydra to have been
given because such a spring was intermittent. Such a spring the younger
Pliny describes (Ep. iv. 30).
[388] The defeat of Pacorus (B.C. 38) is told by Dion Cassius (xlix.
19). The ode of Horace (_Carm._ iii. 6) in which he mentions Pacorus
seems to have been written before this victory, and after the defeat of
Decidius Saxa (B.C. 40; Dion, xlviii. 25).
[389] Commagene on the west bordered on Cilicia and Cappadocia. The
capital was Samosata, on the Euphrates, afterwards the birthplace of
Lucian. This Antiochus was attacked by Pompeius B.C. 65, who concluded a
peace with him and extended his dominions (Appian _Mithrid._ 106, &c.).
[390] C. Sossius was made governor of Syria and Cilicia by Antonius. He
took the island and town of Aradus on the coast of Phoenice (B.C. 38);
and captured Antigonus, the son of Aristobulus, in Jerusalem.
[391] P. Canidius Crassus. His campaign against the Iberi of Asia is
described by Dion Cassius (xlix. 24).
[392] Antonius and Cæsar met at Tarentum (Taranto) in the spring of B.C.
37. The events of this meeting are circumstantially detailed by Appian
(_Civil Wars_, v. 93, &c.). Dion Cassius (xlviii. 54) says that the
meeting was in the winter.
[393] M. Vipsanius Agrippa, the constant friend of Cæsar, and afterwards
the husband of his daughter Julia. Mæcenas, the patron of Virgil and
Horace.
[394] [Greek: Myoparônes] are said to be light ships, such as pirates
use, adapted for quick sailing.
[395] Cæsar spent this year in making preparation against Sextus
Pompeius. In B.C. 36 Pompeius was defeated on the coast of Sicily. He
fled into Asia, and was put to death at Miletus by M. Titius, who
commanded under Antonius (Appian, _Civil Wars_, v. 97-121).
[396] The passage to which Plutarch alludes is in the Phædrus, p. 556.
[397] That is, the Ocean, as opposed to the Internal Sea or the
Mediterranean. Kaltwasser proposes to alter the text to "internal sea,"
for no sufficient reason.
[398] This was the Antigonus who fell into the hands of Sossius, when he
took Jerusalem on the Sabbath, as Pompeius Magnus had done. (Life of
Pompeius, 39; Dion Cassius, xlix. 22, and the notes of Reimarus.)
Antigonus was tied to a stake and whipped before he was beheaded. The
kingdom of Judæa was given to Herodes, the son of Antipater.
[399] Plutarch probably alludes to some laws of Solon against bastardy.
[400] A common name of the Parthian kings (see the Life of Crassus, c.
33). This Parthian war of Antonius took place in B.C. 36.
[401] See Plutarch's Life of Themistocles, c. 29. It was an eastern
fashion to grant a man a country, or a town and its district, for his
maintenance and to administer. Fidelity to the giver was of course
expected. The gift was a kind of fief.
[402] Among the Persians, and as it here appears among the Parthians,
"to send a right hand" was an offer of peace and friendship (Xenophon,
_Anab._ ii. 4, who uses the expression "right hands").
[403] The desert tract in the northern part of Mesopotamia is meant.
[404] There is error as to the number of cavalry of Artavasdes either
here or in c. 50. See the notes of Kaltwasser and Sintenis: and as to
Artavasdes, Life of Crassus, c. 19, 33, and Dion Cassius, xlix. 25.
[405] No doubt Iberians of Spain are meant.
[406] Was the most south-western part of Media, and it comprehended the
chief part of the modern Azerbijan.
[407] Dion Cassius (xlix. 25) names the place Phraaspa or Praaspa, which
may be the right name. The position of the place and the direction of
the march of Antonius are unknown.
[408] Was a king of Pontus: he was ransomed for a large sum of money.
Reimarus says in a note to Dion Cassius (xlix. 25) that Plutarch states
that Polemon was killed. The learned editor must have read this chapter
carelessly.
[409] See Life of Crassus, c. 10.
[410] [Greek: hoi gnôrimôtatoi], which Kaltwasser translates "those who
were most acquainted with the Romans;" and his translation may be right.
[411] Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, which is the Roman mode of writing the
word. He was the son of Domitius who was taken by Cæsar in Corfinium
(Life of Cæsar, c. 34); and he is the Domitius who deserted Antonius
just before the battle of Actium (c. 63).
[412] The Mardi inhabited a tract on the south coast of the Caspian,
where there was a river Mardus or Amardus.
Plutarch has derived his narrative of the retreat from some account by
an eye-witness, but though it is striking as a picture, it is quite
useless as a military history. The route is not designated any further
than this, that Antonius had to pass through a plain and desert country.
It is certain that he advanced considerably east of the Tigris, and he
experienced the same difficulties that Crassus did in the northern part
of Mesopotamia. (Strabo, p. 523, ed. Casaub. as to the narrative of
Adelphius, and Casaubon's note.)
[413] These were used by the slingers (funditores) in the Roman army.
[414] [Greek: ep' ouran], Sintenis: but the MS. reading is [Greek: ap'
ouras], "from the rear." See the note of Schaefer, and of Sintenis.
[415] Contrary to Parthian practice. Compare the Life of Crassus, c. 27.
[416] These are the soldiers in full armour. Sintenis refers to the Life
of Crassus, c. 25. See life of Antonius, c. 49, [Greek: hoi de hoplitai
... tois thyreois].
[417] The Romans called this mode of defence Testudo, or tortoise. It is
described by Dion Cassius (xlix. 30). The testudo was also used in
assaulting a city or wall. A cut of one from the Antonine column is
given in Smith's Dict. of Antiquities, art. Testudo.
[418] The forty-eighth part of a medimnus. The medimnus is estimated at
11 gal. 7·1456 pints English. The drachma (Attic) is reckoned at about
9-3/4d. (Smith's Dict. of Antiquities.) But the scarcity is best shown
by the fact that barley bread was as dear as silver. Compare Xenophon
(_Anab._ i. 5, 6) as to the prices in the army of Cyrus, when it was
marching through the desert.
[419] The allusion is to the retreat of the Greeks in the army of Cyrus
from the plain of Cunaxa over the highlands of Armenia to Trapezus
(Trebizond); which is the main subject of the Anabasis of Xenophon.
[420] Salt streams occur on the high lands of Asia. Mannert, quoted by
Kaltwasser, supposes that the stream here spoken of is one that flows
near Tabriz and then joins another river. If this were the only salt
stream that Antonius could meet with on his march, the conclusion of the
German geographer might be admitted.
[421] The modern Aras. The main branch of the river rises in the same
mountain mass in which a branch of the Euphrates rises, about 39° 47' N.
lat., 41° 9' E. long. It joins the Cyrus or Kur, which comes from the
Caucasus, about thirty miles above the entrance of the united stream
into the Caspian Sea. Mannert, quoted by Kaltwasser, conjectures that
Antonius crossed the river at Julfa (38° 54' N. lat.). It is well to
call it a conjecture. Anybody may make another, with as much reason.
Twenty-seven days' march (c. 50) brought the Romans from Phraata to the
Araxes, but the point of departure and the point where the army crossed
the Araxes are both unknown.
[422] The second expedition of Antonius into Armenia was in B.C. 34,
when he advanced to the Araxes. After the triumph, Artavasdes was kept
in captivity, and he was put to death by Cleopatra in Egypt after the
battle of Actium, B.C. 30 (Dion Cassius xlix. 41, &c).
[423] Compare Dion Cassius, xlix. 51.
[424] The name is written both Phraates and Phrates in the MSS.
[425] She went to Athens in B.C. 35.
[426] In B.C. 34, Antonius invaded Armenia and got Artavasdes the king
into his power. The Median king with whom Antonius made this marriage
alliance (B.C. 33) was also named Artavasdes. Alexander, the son of
Antonius by Cleopatra, was married to Jotape, a daughter of this Median
king.
[427] This is Plutarch's word. Its precise meaning is not clear, but it
may be collected from the context. It was something like a piece of
theatrical pomp.
[428] Or Cidaris. (See Life of Pompeius, c. 33.) The Cittaris seems to
be the higher and upright part of the tiara; and sometimes to be used in
the same sense as tiara. The Causia was a Macedonian hat with a broad
brim. (See Smith's Dict. of Antiquities.)
[429] After the defeat of Sextus Pompeius, Lepidus made a claim to
Sicily and attempted a campaign there against Cæsar. But this feeble man
was compelled to surrender. He was deprived of all power, and sent to
live in Italy. He still retained his office of Pontifex Maximus (Appian,
_Civil Wars_, v. 126; Dion Cassius, xlix. 11).
[430] This is an emendation of Amiot in place of the corrupt word
Laurians.
[431] The preparation was making in B.C. 32. Antonius spent the winter
of this year at Patræ in Achæa.
[432] An account of these exactions is given by Dion Cassius (l. 10).
They show to what a condition a people can be reduced by tyranny.
[433] Such is the nature of the people. It is hard to rouse them; and
their patience is proved by all the facts of history.
[434] It was usual with the Romans, at least with men of rank, to
deposit their wills with the Vestals for safe keeping.
[435] This great library at Alexandria is said to have been destroyed
during the Alexandrine war. See the Life of Cæsar, c. 49.
[436] The translators are much puzzled to explain this. Kaltwasser
conjectures that Antonius in consequence of losing some wager was
required to do this servile act; and accordingly he translates part of
the Greek text "in consequence of a wager that had been made."
[437] The only person of the name who is known as an active partizan at
this time was C. Furnius, tribune of the plebs, B.C. 50. He was a
legatus under M. Antonius in Asia in B.C. 35. Here Plutarch represents
him as a partizan of Cæsar. If Plutarch's Furnius was the tribune, he
must have changed sides already. As to his eloquence, there is no
further evidence of it than what we have here.
[438] C. Calvisius Sabinus, who was consul B.C. 39 with L. Marcius
Censorinus.
[439] The name occurs in Horace, 1 Sat. 5; but the two may be different
persons. As to the Roman Deliciæ see the note of Coraes; and Suetonius,
_Augustus_, c. 83.
[440] Dion Cassius (l. 4) also states that war was declared only against
Cleopatra, but that Antonius was deprived of all the powers that had
been given to him.
[441] Now Pesaro in Umbria.
[442] See Pausanias, i. 25. 2.
[443] The text of Bryan has, "and Deiotarus, king of the Galatians:" and
Schaefer follows it. But see the note of Sintenis.
[444] Actium is a promontory on the southern side of the entrance of the
Ambraciot Gulf, now the gulf of Arta. It is probably the point of land
now called La Punta. The width of the entrance of the gulf is about half
a mile. Nicopolis, "the city of Victory," was built by Cæsar on the
northern side of the gulf, a few miles from the site of Prevesa. The
battle of Actium was fought on the 2nd of September, B.C. 31. It is more
minutely described by Dion Cassius (l. 31, &c.; li. 1).
[445] This word means something to stir up a pot with, a ladle or
something of the kind. The joke is as dull as it could be.
[446] Sintenis observes that Plutarch has here omitted to mention the
place of Arruntius, who had the centre of Cæsar's line (c. 66). C.
Sossius commanded the left of the line of Antonius. Insteius is a Roman
name, as appears from inscriptions. Taurus is T. Statilius Taurus.
[447] There is some confusion in the text here, but the general meaning
is probably what I have given. See the note of Sintenis.
[448] These were light vessels adapted for quick evolutions. Horace,
_Epod._ i., alludes to them:--
"Ibis Liburnis inter alta navium,
Amice, propugnacula."
[449] Is the most southern point of the Peloponnesus, in Laconica. The
modern name of Tænarus is Matapan or "head."
[450] Dion Cassius (li. 2) gives an account of Cæsar's behaviour after
the battle. He exacted money from the cities; but Dion does not mention
any particular cities.
[451] By "all the citizens" Plutarch means the citizens of his native
town Chæronea. The people had to carry their burden a considerable
distance, for this Antikyra was on the Corinthian gulf, nearly south of
Delphi. This anecdote, which is supported by undoubted authority, is a
good example of the sufferings of the people during this contest for
power between two men.
[452] This was a town on the coast in the country called Marmarica. It
had a port and was fortified, and thus served as a frontier post to
Egypt against attacks from the west.
[453] See the Life of Brutus, c. 50.
[454] He was L. Pinarius Carpus, who had fought under him at Philippi.
Carpus gave up his troops to Cornelius Gallus, who advanced upon him
from the province Africa (Dion. Cass. l. 5, where he is called Scarpus
in the text of Reimarus).
[455] Or "Sea that lies off Egypt," that part of the Mediterranean which
borders on Egypt. The width of the Isthmus is much more than 300 stadia:
it is about seventy-two miles. Herodotus (ii. 158) states the width more
correctly at one thousand stadia.
In this passage Plutarch calls the Red Sea both the Arabian gulf and the
Erythra (Red), and in this he agrees with Herodotus. The Arabian Gulf or
modern Red Sea was considered a part of the great Erythræan Sea or
Indian Ocean. Herodotus (ii. 11) says that there is a gulf which runs
into the land from the Erythræan sea; and this gulf he calls (ii. 11,
158) the Arabian gulf, which is now the Red Sea. See Anton, c. 3.
[456] See the Life of Pompeius, c. 41.
[457] The Pharos was an island opposite to Alexandria, and connected
with it by a dike called Heptastadion, the length being seven stadia.
[458] Shakspere has made a play out of the meagre subject of Timon, and
Lucian has a dialogue entitled "Timon or the Misanthropist." (Comp.
Strab. 794, ed. Cas.)
[459] This was the second day of the third Dionysiac festival, called
the Anthesteria. The first day was Pithoegia ([Greek: pithoigia]) or the
tapping of the jars of wine; and the second day, as the word Choes seems
to import, was the cup day.
[460] This was Herodes I., son of Antipater, sometimes called the Great.
He was not at the battle of Actium, but he sent aid to Antonius (c. 61).
[461] This was the toga virilis, or dress which denoted that a male was
pubes, fourteen at least, and had attained full legal capacity. The
prætexta, which was worn up to the time of assuming the toga virilis,
had a broad purple border, by which the impubes was at once
distinguished from other persons.
Cleopatra's son, Cæsarion, was registered as an Alexandrine. The son of
Antonius was treated as a Roman citizen.
[462] This seems to be the sense of the passage. The Greek for asp is
aspis. Some suppose that it is the poisonous snake which the Arabs call
El Haje, which measures from three to five feet in length. But this is
rather too large to be put in a basket of figs.
[463] Conjectured by M. du Soul to be Alexander the Syrian, who has been
mentioned before.
[464] He was a native of Alexandria, and had been carried prisoner to
Rome by Gabinius. He obtained his freedom, and acquired celebrity as a
rhetorician and historian. He was a favourite of Asinius Pollio and of
Augustus; but he was too free-spoken for Augustus, who finally forbade
him his house (Horat. 1. _Ep._ 19, 15; and the note of Orelli). Life of
Pompeius, c. 49.
Dion Cassius (li. 8), who believed every scandalous story, says that
Cæsar made love to Cleopatra through the medium of Thyrsus.
[465] After the battle of Actium, Cæsar crossed over to Samos, where he
spent the winter. He was recalled by the news of a mutiny among the
soldiers, who had not received their promised reward. He returned to
Brundusium, where he stayed twenty-seven days, and he went no further,
for his appearance in Italy stopped the disturbance. He returned to Asia
and marched through Syria to Egypt (Sueton. _Aug._ c. 17; Dion Cassius,
li. 4).
[466] The shout of Bacchanals at the festivals. See the Ode of Horace
(_Carm._ ii. 19):
Evoe, recenti mens trepidat metu.
[467] The fleet passed over to Cæsar on the 1st of August (Orosius, vi.
19). The treachery of Cleopatra is not improbable (Dion Cass. li. 10).
[468] Compare Dion Cassius, li. 10.
[469] His name was C. Proculeius. He appears to be the person to whom
Horace alludes (Carm. ii. 2).
[470] Dion Cassius (li. 11) says that Cleopatra communicated to Cæsar
the death of Antonius, which is not so probable as Plutarch's narrative.
[471] C. Cornelius Gallus, a Roman Eques, who had advanced from the
province Africa upon Egypt. He was afterwards governor of Egypt; but he
incurred the displeasure of Augustus, and put an end to life B.C. 26.
Gallus was a poet, and a friend of Virgil and Ovid. The tenth Eclogue of
Virgil is addressed to Gallus.
[472] Said to have been a Stoic, and much admired by Augustus (Dion
Cass. li. 16; Sueton. _Aug._ 89).
[473] Probably the same that is mentioned in the Life of Cato the
Younger, c. 57.
[474] The circumstances of the death of Antyllus and Cæsarion are not
told in the same way by Dion Cassius (li. 15). Antyllus had been
betrothed to Cæsar's daughter Julia in B.C. 36.
[475] The words are borrowed from Homer (_Iliad_, ii. 204):--
[Greek: Ouk agathon polykoiraniê.]
There could be no reason for putting Cæsarion to death as a possible
competitor with Cæsar at Rome, for he was not a Roman citizen. As it was
Cæsar's object to keep Egypt, Cæsarion would have been an obstacle
there.
[476] There were, as usual in such matters, various versions of this
interview: it was a fit subject for embellishment with the writers of
spurious history. The account of Plutarch is much simpler and more
natural than that of Dion Cassius (li. 12), which savours of the
rhetorical.
[477] He was the son of P. Cornelius Dolabella, once the son-in-law of
Cicero, and one of Cæsar's murderers. His son P. Cornelius Dolabella was
consul A.D. 10.
[478] The word "companions" represents the Roman "comites," which has a
technical meaning. Young men of rank, who were about the person of a
commander, and formed a kind of staff, were his Comites. See Horat. I.
Ep. 8.
[479] The story of Dion (li. 14) is that Cæsar, after he had seen the
body, sent for the Psylli, serpent charmers, to suck out the poison
(compare Lucan, _Pharsal._ ix. 925). If a person was not dead, it was
supposed that the Psylli could extract the poison and save the life.
Dion Cassius also states that the true cause of Cleopatra's death was
unknown. One account was that she punctured her arm with a hair-pin
([Greek: belonê]) which was poisoned. But even as to the punctures on the
arm, Plutarch does not seem to state positively that there were any. The
"hollow comb" is hardly intelligible. Plutarch's word is [Greek:
knêstis], "a scraping instrument of any kind." One MS. has
[Greek: kistis], "a small coffer." Strabo (p. 795, ed. Casaub.) doubts
whether she perished by the bite of a serpent or by puncturing herself
with a poisoned instrument. Propertius (iii. 11, 53) alludes to the
image of Cleopatra, which was carried in the triumph--
Brachia spectavi sacris admorsa colubris
Et trahere occultum membra soporis iter.
An ancient marble at Rome represents Cleopatra with the asp on her arm.
There was also a story of her applying it to the left breast.
Cleopatra was born in B.C. 69, and died in the latter part of B.C. 30.
She was seventeen years of age when her father Ptolemæus Auletes died:
and upon his death she governed jointly with her brother Ptolemæus,
whose wife she was to be. Antonius first saw her when he was in Egypt
with Gabinius, and he had not forgotten the impression which the young
girl then made on him at the time when she visited him at Tarsus
(Appian, _Civil Wars_, v. 8). Antonius was forty years old when he saw
Cleopatra at Tarsus, B.C. 41, and he would therefore be in his
fifty-second year at the time of his death (Clinton, _Fasti_).
[480] Octavia's care of the children of Antonius is one of the beautiful
traits of her character. She is one of those Roman women whose virtues
command admiration.
Cleopatra, the daughter of Antonius and twin sister of Alexander,
married Juba II., king of Numidia, by whom she had a son Ptolemæus, who
succeeded his father, and a daughter Drusilla, who married Antonius
Felix, the governor of Judæa. The two brothers of Cleopatra were
Alexander and Ptolemæus.
Antonius, the son of Fulvia, was called Iulus Antonius. He married
Marcella, one of the daughters of Octavia. In B.C. 10, Antonius was
consul. He formed an adulterous intercourse with Julia, the daughter of
Augustus, which cost him his life B.C. 2. Antonius was a poet, as it
seems (Horat. _Carm._ iv. 2, and Orelli's note).