that through having respect to others or some element of fear the
senators might express the opposite of their true opinion; but it was
done by their taking their stand on this side or on that of the
senate-chamber. No one voted that Pompey should cease to bear arms (for
he had his troops in the suburbs), but all, except one Marcus Caelius and
Curio, who had carried his letter, decided that Caesar must. About the
tribunes I say nothing because no necessity was laid upon them to
separate into two different groups; for they had authority to contribute
their vote if they wished, or otherwise not. This, then, was the
decision made, but Antony and Longinus did not allow any point in it to
be ratified either on that day or the next. [-3-] The rest, indignant at
this, voted to change their garb, but through the intervention of the
same men did not obtain ratification of this measure either. Their
opinion, however, was recorded and the appropriate action followed:
namely, all straightway left the senate-house, and after changing their
clothes came in again and proceeded to deliberate about vengeance to be
taken on the obstructionists. They, seeing this, at first resisted but
later became afraid, especially when Lentulus advised them to get out of
the way before the votes should be cast: hence after many remarks and
protestations they set out with Curio and with Caelius to Caesar, little
heeding that they had been expelled from the senate. This was the
determination reached at that time, and the care of the city was
committed to the consuls and to the other magistrates, as had been the
custom. Afterward the senators went outside the pomerium to Pompey
himself, declared that there was a state of disorder, and gave to him
both the money and soldiers. They voted that Caesar should surrender his
office to his successors and send away his legions by a given day, or
else be considered an enemy, because acting contrary to the interests of
the country.
[-4-] When he was informed of this he came to Ariminum, then for the
first time overstepping the confines of his own province, and after
collecting his soldiers he bade Curio and the others who had come with
him relate what had been done by them. After this was finished he
inspirited them by adding such words as the occasion demanded. Next he
set out and marched straight upon Rome itself, taking possession of all
the intervening cities without a conflict, since the garrisons of some
abandoned them by reason of weakness and others espoused his cause.
Pompey, perceiving this, was frightened, especially when he learned all
his intentions from Labienus. The latter had abandoned Caesar and come as
a deserter, and he announced all the latter's secrets to Pompey. One
might feel surprise that after having always been honored by Caesar in
the highest degree, to the extent of governing all the legions beyond
the Alps whenever their head was in Italy, he should have done this. The
reason was that when he had clothed himself with wealth and fame he
began to conduct himself more haughtily than his position warranted, and
Caesar, seeing that he put himself on the same level with his master,
ceased to be so fond of him. As he could not endure this changed
attitude and was at the same time afraid of suffering some harm, he
transferred his allegiance.
[-5-]Pompey as a result of what was told him about Caesar and because he
had not yet prepared a force to cope with him changed his plans: for he
saw that the dwellers in the city, yes, the members of the sedition
themselves, even more than the others, shrank from the war through
remembrance of the deeds of Marius and Sulla and wished to escape it in
safety. Therefore he sent as envoys to Caesar, Lucius Caesar, a relative
of his, and Lucius Roscius, a praetor,--both of them volunteering for the
service,--to see if he could avoid his open attack and then make an
agreement with him on some fair terms. The other replied to the same
effect as in his letter, previously forwarded, and said also that he
wished to converse with Pompey: but the people were displeased to hear
this, fearing that some measures might be concerted against them. When,
however, the envoys uttered many words in praise of Caesar, and finally
promised besides that no one should suffer any harm at his hands and
that the legions should immediately be disbanded, they were pleased and
sent the same envoys to him again, and besought both of the opposing
leaders with shouts, calling upon them everywhere and always to lay down
their arms at the same time. [-6-] Pompey was frightened at this,
knowing well that he would be far inferior to Caesar if they should both
have to depend on the clemency of the populace, and betook himself to
Campania before the envoys returned, with the idea that there he could
more easily make war. He also commanded the whole senate together with
those who held the offices to accompany him, granting them permission by
a decree of absence, and telling them in advance that whoever remained
behind he should regard as equal and alike to those were working against
him. Furthermore he enjoined them to vote that all the public moneys and
the votive offerings in the city be removed, hoping that from this
source he could gather a vast number of soldiers. For practically all
the cities of Italy felt such friendliness for him that when a short
time before they had heard he was dangerously ill, they vowed they would
offer public sacrifices for his preservation. That this was a great and
brilliant honor which they bestowed upon him no one could gainsay; there
is no one in whose behalf such a vote has been passed, except those who
later assumed absolute sovereignty: nevertheless he had not a sure
ground of confidence that they would not abandon him under the influence
of fear of a stronger power. The recommendation about the moneys and the
votive offerings was allowed, but neither of them was touched; for
having ascertained meanwhile that Caesar's answer to the envoys had been
anything but peaceful and that he also reproached them with having made
some false statements about him, that his soldiers were many and bold
and liable to do any kind of mischief (such reports, tending to greater
terror, as are usually made about such matters), the senators became
frightened and hastily took their departure before they could lay a
finger on any of the objects.
[-7-] For reason their removal was equally in all other respects of a
tumultuous and confused appearance. The departing citizens, practically
all of whom were the foremost men of the senate and of the knights and
of the populace, nominally were setting out for war, but really were
undergoing the experiences of captives. They were terribly distressed at
being compelled to abandon their country and their pursuits there, and
to consider foreign walls more native than their own. Such as removed
with their entire household said farewell to the temples and their
houses and their paternal threshold with the feeling that these would
straightway become the property of their opponents: they themselves, not
being ignorant of Pompey's intention, had the purpose, in case they
should survive, of establishing themselves in Macedonia or Thrace. And
those who left behind on the spot their children and wives and their
other most valued possessions appeared to have some little hope of their
country but really fared much worse than the others, since being
sundered from their dearest treasures they exposed themselves to a
double and most hostile fortune. For in delivering their closest
interests to the power of their bitterest foes they were destined to
play the coward and yet themselves encounter danger, to show zeal and
yet to be deprived of what they prized: moreover they would find a
friend in neither rival, but an enemy in both,--in Caesar because they
themselves did not remain behind, and in Pompey because they did not
take the others with them. Hence they assumed a twofold attitude in
their decisions, in their prayers, and in their hopes: with their bodies
they were being drawn away from those nearest to them, and their souls
they found cleft in twain.
[-8-] These were the feelings of the departing throng: and those left
behind had to face a different, but equally unpleasant situation. Bereft
of the association of their nearest relatives, deprived, as it were, of
their guardians and far from able to defend themselves, exposed to the
enemy and about to be subject to the authority of him who should make
himself master of the city, they were themselves distressed by fear both
of outrages and of murders as if they were already taking place. In view
of these same possibilities such as were angry at the fugitives, because
they themselves had been left in the lurch, cursed them for it, and
those who condoned their action because of the necessity still felt
consequent fears. The rest of the populace entire, even if they
possessed not the least kinship with those departing, were nevertheless
grieved at their fate, some expecting that their neighbors, and others
that their comrades would go far away from them and do and suffer many
unusual things. Most of all they bewailed their own lot, seeing the
magistrates and the senate and all the rest who had any power,--they
were not sure whether a single one of them would be left behind,--cast
out of their country and away from them. They reflected how those men,
had not many altogether dreadful calamities fastened themselves upon the
State, would never have wished to flee, and they likened themselves,
made destitute of allies, in every conceivable respect to orphaned
children and widow women. Being the first to await the wrath and the
lust of the oncoming foe, they remembered their former sufferings, some
by experience and others by hearing it from the victims, all the
outrages that Marius and Sulla had committed, and they therefore did not
look to Caesar for moderate treatment.[68] On the contrary, because his
army was constituted very largely of barbarians, they expected that
their misfortunes would be far more in number and more terrible than
those of yore.
[-9-] Since, then, all of them were in this condition, and no one except
those who appeared to be good friends of Caesar made light of the
situation, and even they, in consideration of the change of character to
which most men are subject according to their circumstances, were not
courageous enough to think that the source of their confidence was
reliable, it is not easy to conceive how great confusion and how great
grief prevailed at the departure of the consuls and those who set out
with them. All night they made an uproar in packing up and going about,
and toward dawn great sorrow fell upon them, induced by the action of
the priests, who went about offering prayers on every side. They invoked
the gods, showered kisses on the floors, enumerated how many times and
from what perils they had survived, and lamented that they were leaving
their country,--a venture they had never made before. Near the gates,
too, there was much wailing. Some took fond leave at once of each other
and of the city as if they were beholding them for the last time: others
bewailed their own lot and joined their prayers to those of the
departing: the larger number, on the ground that they were being
betrayed, uttered maledictions. The whole population, even those that
stayed behind, were there with all the women and all the children. Then
the one group set out on their way and the other group escorted them.
Some interposed delays and were detained by their acquaintances: others
embraced and clung to each other for a long time. Those that remained
accompanied those setting out, calling after them and expressing their
sympathy, while with invocations of Heaven they besought them to take
them, too or to remain at home themselves. Meanwhile there were shrill
sounds of wailing over each one of the exiles even from outsiders, and
insatiate floods of tears. Hope for the best they were scarcely at all
inclined to entertain in their condition; it was rather suffering which
was expected, first by those who were left and subsequently by those who
were departing. Any one that saw them would have guessed that two
peoples and two cities were being made from one and that one was being
driven out and was fleeing, whereas the other was being left to its fate
and was being captured.
[-10-] Pompey thus left the city drawing many of the senators after him;
some remained behind, either attached to Caesar's cause or maintaining a
neutral attitude toward both. He hastily raised levies from the cities,
collected money, and sent garrisons to almost every point. Caesar, when
he learned this, did not hurry to Rome: it, he knew, was offered as a
prize to the victors, and he said that he was not marching against that
place as hostile to him but against his political opponents in its
behalf. And he sent a letter throughout all Italy in which he summoned
Pompey to a kind of trial, encouraged all to be of good cheer, bade them
remain in their places, and made them many promises. He set out next
against Corfinium, which, being occupied by Lucius Domitius, had not
joined his adherents, and after conquering in battle a few who met him
he shut up the rest in a state of siege. Pompey, inasmuch as these
citizens were being besieged and many of the others were falling off to
Caesar, had no further hope of Italy but resolved to cross over into
Macedonia, Greece, and Asia. He derived much encouragement from the
remembrance of what he had achieved there and from the friendship of the
people and the princes. (Spain was likewise devoted to him, but he could
not reach it safely because Caesar had possession of both the Gauls.)
Moreover he calculated that if he should sail away, no one would pursue
him on account of the lack of boats and on account of the winter,--the
late autumn being far advanced,--and meanwhile he would at leisure amass
both money and troops, much of them from subject and much from allied
territory. [-11-] With this design, therefore, he himself set out for
Brundusium and bade Domitius abandon Corfinium and accompany him. In
spite of the large force that Domitius had and the hopes he reposed in
it--for he had courted the favor of the soldiers in every way and had
won some of them by promises of land (having belonged to Sulla's
veterans he had acquired a large amount in that reign)--he nevertheless
obeyed orders. Meanwhile Pompey proceeded with his preparations to
evacuate the country in safety: his associates learning this shrank from
the journey abroad, because it seemed to them a flight, and attached
themselves to Caesar. So these joined the invader's army: but Domitius
and the other senators after being censured by Caesar for arraying
themselves in opposition, were released and came to Pompey.
[-12-]Caesar now was anxious to join issue with him before he sailed
away, to fight it out with him in Italy, and to overtake him while he
was still at Brundusium; for since there were not sufficient boats for
them, Pompey had sent forward the consuls and others, fearing that they
might begin some rebellion if they stayed on the spot. Caesar, seeing the
difficulty of capturing the place, urged his opponent to accede to some
agreement, assuring him that he should obtain both peace and friendship
again. When Pompey made no further response than that he would
communicate to the consuls what Caesar said, the latter, inasmuch as they
had decided to receive no citizen in arms for a conference, assaulted
the city. Pompey repelled him for some days until the boats came back.
Having meanwhile barricaded and obstructed with fortifications the roads
leading to the harbor so that no one should attack him while sailing
off, he then set sail by night. Thus he crossed over to Macedonia in
safety and Brundusium was captured as well as two boats full of men.
[-13-] Pompey accordingly deserted in this way his country and the rest
of Italy, choosing and carrying out quite the opposite of his former
course, when he sailed back to it from Asia; wherefore he obtained the
reverse fortune and the reverse reputation. Formerly he broke up his
legions at Brundusium, in order not to cause the citizens any
solicitude, but now he was leading away through the town to fight
against them other forces gathered from Italy. Whereas he had brought
the wealth of the barbarians to Rome, he had now conveyed away from it
all that he possibly could to other places. And of all those at home he
was in despair, but purposed to use against his country foreigners and
the allies once enslaved by him, and he put far more hope in them both
of safety and of power than in those who had been benefited. Instead of
the brilliance, therefore, which, acquired in those wars, had marked his
arrival, he set out with humiliation as his portion in return for his
fear of Caesar: and instead of fame which he had had for exalting his
country, he became most infamous for his desertion of her.
[-14-] At the very moment of coming to land at Dyrrachium he learned
that he should not obtain a prosperous outcome. Thunderbolts destroyed
soldiers even as the ships were approaching; spiders occupied the army
standards; and after he had left the vessel serpents followed and
obliterated his footprints. These were the portents which he encountered
in person, but before the whole capital others had occurred both that
year and a short time previously. For there is no doubt about the fact
that in seditions the state is injured by both parties. Hence many
wolves and owls were seen in the City itself and continual earthquakes
with bellowings took place, fire shot down from the west to the east,
and other fires burned both the temple of Quirinus and a second. The
sun, too, suffered a total eclipse, and thunderbolts damaged a sceptre
of Jupiter, a shield and a helmet of Mars that were votive offerings on
the Capitol, and furthermore the tablets which contained the laws. Many
animals brought forth creatures outside of their own species, certain
oracles purporting to be those of the Sibyl were made known, and some
men becoming inspired practiced numerous divinations. No praefectus urbi
was chosen for the Feriae, as had been the custom, but the praetors, at
least according to some accounts, performed all his duties; others say
they did this only in the next year. If the former are right it happened
twice; and the first season Perperna who had once been censor with
Philippus died, being the last, as I stated, of all the senators who had
been alive in his censorship. This event, too, seemed likely to cause
political confusion. The people were, then, naturally disturbed at the
portents, but as both sides thought and hoped that they could lay them
all on their opponents, they offered no expiatory sacrifices.
[-15-] Caesar at this time did not even attempt to sail to Macedonia,
because he was short of boats and had fears for Italy, dreading that the
lieutenants of Pompey from Spain might assail and occupy it. He put
Brundusium under guard for the purpose that no one of those departed
should sail back again, and went to Rome. There the senate had been
assembled for him outside the pomerium by Antony and Longinus: they, who
had been expelled from it, now convened that body. He accordingly made a
speech of some length and of a temperate character, so that they might
experience good-will toward him at the present and feel an excellent
hope for the future. And since he saw them displeased at what was going
on and suspicious of the multitude of soldiers, he wished to encourage
and to conciliate them somewhat, to the end that quiet might prevail in
their quarter while he was conducting the war. Therefore he censured no
one and delivered no threat against any person, but made an attack not
without imprecations upon those who wished to war against citizens, and
at last moved that ambassadors be sent immediately in behalf of peace
and harmony to the consuls and to Pompey. [-16-] He made these same
statements also to the populace, when that body had likewise assembled
outside the pomerium, and he sent for corn from the islands and promised
each one of them seventy-five denarii. He hoped to tempt them with this
bait. The men, however, reflected that those who are pursuing certain
ends and those who have attained them do not think or act alike: at the
start of their operations they make all the most delightful offers to
such as can work against them in any way, but when they succeed in what
they wish, they remember nothing at all about it and use against those
very persons the power which they have received from them. They
remembered also the behavior of Marius and Sulla,--how many kind things
they had often told them, and then what treatment they had given them in
return for their confidence,--and furthermore perceiving Caesar's
necessity and seeing that his armed followers were many and were
everywhere in the city, they were unable either to trust or to be
cheered by his words. On the contrary, as they had fresh in their memory
the fear caused by former events, they suspected him also, particularly
because the ambassadors apparently intended to initiate a reconciliation
were chosen, to be sure, but did not go out. Indeed, for even making
mention of them once Piso, his father-in-law, was severely rebuked.
[-17-] The people, far from getting at that time the money which he had
promised them, had to give him all the rest that remained in the public
coffers for the support of his soldiers, whom they feared. Amid all
these happenings, as being favorable, they wore the garb of peace, which
they had not as yet put off. Lucius Metellus, a tribune, opposed the
proposition about the money, and when his efforts proved ineffectual
went to the treasury and kept watch of its doors. The soldiers, paying
little heed to either his guarding or his outspokenness, cut through the
bar,--for the consuls had the key, as if it were not possible for
persons to use axes in place of it,--and carried out all the money. In
fact, Caesar's other projects also, as I have often stated, he both
brought to vote and carried out in the same fashion, under the name of
democracy,--the most of them being introduced by Antony,--but with the
substance of despotism. Both men named their political rivals enemies of
their country and declared that they themselves were fighting for the
public interests, whereas each really ruined those interests and
increased only his own private possessions.
[-18-] After taking these steps Caesar occupied Sardinia and Sicily
without a battle, as the governors there at that time withdrew.
Aristobulus he sent home to Palestine to accomplish something against
Pompey. He also allowed the children of those proscribed by Sulla to
canvass for office, and arranged everything else both in the city and in
the rest of Italy to his own best advantage, so far as circumstances
permitted. Affairs, at home he now committed to Antony's care and
himself set out for Spain which distinctly chose to follow Pompey and
caused him some uneasiness lest his rival should induce the Gallic
countries to revolt. Meantime Cicero and other senators did not appear
in Caesar's sight, but retired to join Pompey, who, they believed, had
more justice on his side and would conquer in the war. For the consuls
before setting sail and Pompey using the authority of proconsul had
ordered them all to accompany him to Thessalonica on the general ground
that the capital was being held by certain enemies but that they
themselves were the senate and would maintain the form of the government
wherever they should be. For this reason most of the senators and the
knights, some of them immediately and others later, and all the cities
that were not subdued by Caesar's arms, embraced his cause.