Graius Trebonius. When Fabius on the last day of his consulship died, he
straightway chose instead of him another, Gaius Caninius Rebilus for the
remaining hours. Then for the first time, contrary to precedent, it
became possible for the same man to hold that office neither annually,
nor for all the time left in the same year, but while living to withdraw
from it without compulsion from either ancestral custom or any
accusation, and for another one to take his place. In the second place
the circumstances were unique, because Caninius at once was appointed
consul, and ceased to serve. On this, Cicero jestingly said that the
consul had displayed so great bravery and prudence in office, as never
to fall asleep in it for the briefest moment. So from that period on the
same persons no longer (save a few in olden times), served as consul
through the entire year, but just as it happened,--some for more time,
some for less, some for months, others for days--since now no one serves
with any one else, as a rule, for a whole year or for a longer period
than two months. In general we do not differ from our ancestors, but the
naming of the years for purposes of enumeration falls to those who are
consuls at the start. Accordingly I shall in most cases name those
officials closely connected with events, but to secure perfect clearness
with regard to what is done from time to time I shall mention also those
first to serve, even if they make no contribution to the undertakings in
question.
[-47-] Whereas the consuls were thus disposed of, the remaining
magistrates were nominally elected by the plebs and by the populace, in
accord with ancient customs (for Caesar would not accept the appointment
of them), but really by him, and without the casting of lots they were
sent out among the provinces. As for number, all were the same as
before, except that thirteen praetors and forty quaestors were appointed.
For, since he had made many promises to many people, he had no other way
to redeem them, and that accounts for his actions. Furthermore he
enrolled a vast number in the senate, making no distinction, whether a
man were a soldier, or a child of one enslaved, so that the sum of them
grew to nine hundred: and he enrolled many among the patricians and
among the ex-consuls or such as had held some office. When some were
tried for bribery and convicted he released them, so that he was charged
with bribe-taking himself. This report was strengthened by the fact that
he also exposed[105] in the market all the public lands, not only the
profane, but also the consecrated lots, and auctioned off the majority
of them. Nevertheless to some persons he granted ample gifts in the form
of money or the sale of lands; and to a certain Lucius Basilus[106] he
allowed no rulership of a province, though the latter was praetor, but
bestowed a large amount of money in place of it, so that Basilus became
notorious both in this matter and because when insulted in the course of
his praetorship by Caesar he stood his ground.[107]
All this suited those citizens who were making or expecting to make
corrupt gain, since they reverenced no element of the public weal in
comparison with bettering themselves by such acts. But all the rest took
it greatly to heart, and had much to say about it to intimates and also
(as many as felt safe in so doing) in outspoken public conversation and
the publication of anonymous pamphlets.
[-48-] Not only were those measures carried out that year, but two of
the aediles took charge of the municipal government, since no quaestor had
been elected. For just as once formerly, so now in the absence of Caesar,
the aediles managed all the city affairs, in conjunction with Lepidus as
master of the horse. Although they were censured for employing lictors
and magisterial garb and chair precisely like the master of the horse,
they got off by citing a certain law, which allowed all those receiving
any office from a dictator to make use of such things. The business of
administration, changed from that time for the reasons I have mentioned,
was no longer invariably laid upon the quaestors, but was finally
assigned to ex-praetors. Two of the aediles managed at that time the
public treasures, and one of them, by provision of Caesar, superintended
the Ludi Apollinares. The aediles of the populace directed the Megalesia,
by decree. A certain prefect, appointed during the Feriae, himself chose
a successor on the last day, and the latter another: this had never
happened before, nor did it happen again.
[B.C. 44 (_a.u._ 710)]
[-49-] The next year after these events during which Caesar was at once
dictator for the fifth time, taking Lepidus as master of the horse, and
consul for the fifth time, choosing Antony as colleague, sixteen praetors
were in power--this custom indeed has remained[108] for many years--and
the rostra, which was formerly in the center of the Forum, was moved
back to its present position: also the images of Sulla and of Pompey
were restored to it. For this Caesar received praise, and again because
he put upon Antony both the glory of the deed and credit for the
inscription on the image. Being anxious to build a theatre, as Pompey
had done, he laid the first foundations, but did not finish it. Augustus
later completed it and named it for his nephew, Marcus Marcellus. But
Caesar was blamed for tearing down the dwellings and temples on the site,
and likewise because he burned up the statues,--all of wood, save a
few,--and because on finding considerable treasures of money he
appropriated them all.
[-50-] In addition, he introduced laws and extended the pomerium, his
behavior in these and other matters resembling that of Sulla. Caesar,
however, removed the ban from the survivors of those that had warred
against him, granting them immunity with fair and equal terms; he
promoted them to office; to the wives of the slain he restored their
dowries, and to their children granted a share in the property, thus
putting mightily to shame Sulla's blood-guiltiness; so that he himself
enjoyed a great repute not alone for bravery, but also for uprightness,
though it is generally difficult for the same man to be eminent in peace
as well as in war. This was a source of pride to him, as was the fact
that he had raised again Carthage and Corinth. To be sure, there were
many other cities in and outside of Italy, some of which he had built
afresh, and some which he had newly founded. Others, however, had done
that: it remained for him to restore, in memory of their former
inhabitants, Corinth and Carthage, ancient, brilliant, conspicuous,
ruined cities: one of them he declared a Roman colony, and colonized,
and the other he honored with its ancient titles, bearing no grudge for
the enmity of their peoples toward places that had never harmed them.
[-51-] And they, even as they had once been demolished together, now
revived together and bade fair to flourish once again. But while Caesar
was so engaged, a longing came over all the Romans alike to avenge
Crassus and those that perished with him: there was some hope then, if
ever, of subjugating the Parthians. The command of the war they
unanimously voted to Caesar, and made ample provision for it. They
arranged, among other details, that he should have a larger number of
assistants, and that the city should neither be without officials in his
absence, nor by attempting to choose some on its own responsibility fall
into factions: also that such magistrates should be appointed in advance
for three years (this was the length of time they thought necessary for
the campaign). However, they did not designate them all beforehand.
Nominally Caesar was to choose half of them, having a certain legal right
to do this, but really he chose the whole number. For the first year, as
previously, forty quaestors were elected, and then for the first time two
patrician aediles and four from the people. Of the latter two have their
title from Ceres,--a custom which, then introduced, has remained to the
present day. Praetors were nominated to the number of eleven. It is not
on this, however, that I desire to lay emphasis (for they had formerly
been as many), but on the fact that among them was chosen Publius
Ventidius. He was originally from Picenum, as has been remarked, and
fought against Rome when her allies were alienated. He was captured by
Pompeius Strabo,[109] and in the latter's triumph marched in chains.
Later he was released; some time after he was enrolled in the senate,
and was now appointed praetor by Caesar; by degrees he advanced to such
prominence as to conquer the Parthians and hold a triumph over them.
All those who were to hold office the first year after that were
appointed in advance, but for the second year the consuls and tribunes
only: and no one got any closer than this to being nominated for the
third year. Caesar himself intended to be dictator both years, and
designated Octavius in advance as master of the horse for the second,
though he was at that time a mere lad. For the time being, while this
was going on, Caesar appointed Dolabella consul in his own stead, leaving
Antony to finish the year out in office. To Lepidus he assigned Gallia
Narbonensis with the adjoining portions of Spain, and made two men
masters of horse in their place, each separately. Owing, as he did,
favors to many persons he repaid them by such appointments as these and
by priesthoods, adding one to the "Quindecimviri", and three others to
the "Septemviri," as they were called.
DIO'S ROMAN HISTORY
44
The following is contained in the Forty-fourth of Dio's Rome.
About the decrees passed in honor of Caesar (chapters 1-11).
About the conspiracy formed against him (chapters 12-18).
How Caesar was murdered (chapters 19-22).
How a decree was passed that the people should not bear malice against
one another (chapters 23-34).
About the burial of Caesar and the oration delivered over him (chapters
35-53).
Duration of time, to the end of the 5th dictatorship of Julius Caesar,
held in company with Aemilius Lepidus as Master of the Horse, and to the
end of his 5th consulship, shared with Marcus Antonius. (B.C. 44 = a.u.
710).
(_BOOK 44, BOISSEVAIN_.)
[B.C. 44 (_a.u._ 710)]
[-1-] This Caesar did as a preliminary step to making a campaign against
the Parthians, but a baleful frenzy which fell upon certain men through
jealousy of his onward progress and hatred of his being esteemed above
others caused the death of the leader by unlawful means, while it added
a new name to the annals of infamy; it scattered decrees to the winds
and brought upon the Romans seditions again and civil wars after a state
of harmony. They declared that they had proved themselves both
destroyers of Caesar and liberators of the people, but in fact their plot
against him was one of fiendish malice, and they threw the city into
disorder when at last it possessed a stable government. [-2-] Democracy
has a fair appearing name which conveys the impression of bringing equal
rights to all from equal laws, but its results are seen not to agree at
all with its title. Monarchy, on the contrary, strikes the ear
unpleasantly, but is a very excellent government to live under. It is
easier to find one single excellent man than many, and if even this
seems to some a difficult feat, it is quite inevitable that the other
proposition be acknowledged to be impossible; for the acquirement of
virtue is not a characteristic of the majority of men. And again, even
though one reprobate should obtain supreme power, yet he is preferable
to a multitude of such persons, as the history of the Greeks and
barbarians and of the Romans themselves proves. For successes have
always been greater and more in number in the case both of cities and of
individuals under kings than under popular rule, and disasters do not
happen so easily in monarchies as in ochlocracies. In cases where a
democracy has flourished anywhere, it has nevertheless reached its prime
during a short period when the people had neither size nor strength that
abuses should spring up among them from good fortune or jealousies from
ambition. For a city so large as this, ruling the finest and the
greatest part of the known world, containing men of many and diverse
natures, holding many huge fortunes, occupied with every imaginable
pursuit, enjoying every imaginable fortune, both individually and
collectively,--for such a city to practice moderation under a democracy
is impossible, and still more is it impossible for the people, unless
moderation prevails, to be harmonious. If Marcus Brutus and Gaius
Cassius had stopped to think this over they would never have killed the
city's head and protector nor have made themselves the cause of
countless ills both to their own persons and to all the rest of mankind
then existing.
[-3-] It happened as follows, and his death was due to the cause I shall
presently describe. He had not aroused dislike without any definite
justification, except in so far as it was the senators themselves who
had by the novelty and excess of their honors sent his mind soaring; and
then, after filling him with conceit, they found fault with his
prerogatives and spread injurious reports to the effect that he was glad
to accept them and behaved more haughtily as a result of them. It is
true that sometimes Caesar erred by accepting some of the honors voted
him and believing that he really deserved them, yet most blameworthy are
those who, after beginning to reward him as he deserved, led him on and
made him liable to censure by the measures that they voted. He neither
dared to thrust them all aside, for fear of being thought contemptuous,
nor could he be safe when he accepted them. Excess in honors and praises
renders conceited even the most modest, especially if such rewards
appear to have been given with sincerity. [-4-] The privileges that were
granted him (in addition to all those mentioned) were of the following
number and kinds. They will be stated all together, even if they were
not all moved or ratified at one time. First, then, they voted that he
should always appear even in the city itself wearing the triumphal garb
and should sit in his chair of state everywhere except at festivals. At
that time he got the right to be seen on the tribune's benches and in
company with those who were successively tribunes. And they gave him the
right to offer the so-called _spolia opima_ at the temple of Jupiter
Feretrius, as if he had slain some hostile general with his own hand,
and to have lictors that always carried laurel, and after the Feriae
Latinae to ride from Albanum to the city mounted on a charger. In
addition to these remarkable privileges they named him father of his
country, stamped his image on the coinage, voted to celebrate his
birthday by public sacrifice, ordered that there be some statue of him
in the cities and all the temples of Rome, and they set on the rostra
two, one representing him as the savior of the citizens and the other as
the rescuer of the city from siege, along with the crowns customary for
such achievements. They also passed a resolution to build a temple of
Concordia Nova, on the ground that through his efforts they enjoyed
peace, and to celebrate an annual festival in her honor. [-5-] When he
had accepted these, they assigned to him the charge of filling the
Pontine marshes, cutting a canal through the Peloponnesian isthmus, and
constructing a new senate-house, since that of Hostilius although
repaired had been demolished. The reason given for that action was that
a temple of Good Fortune might be built there, which Lepidus, indeed,
while master of the horse had completed: but the real intention was that
the name of Sulla should not be preserved in it and that another
senate-house, newly constructed, might be named the Julian, just as they
had called the month in which he was born July, and one of the tribes
(selected by lot) the Julian. And Caesar himself, they voted, should be
sole censor for life and enjoy the immunities bestowed upon the
tribunes, so that if any one should outrage him by deed or word, that
man should be an outlaw and involved in the curse, and further that his
son, should he beget or adopt one, was to be appointed high priest.
[-6-] As he seemed to like this, a gilded chair was granted him, and a
garb that once the kings had used and a body-guard of knights and
senators: furthermore they decided that prayers should be made for him
publicly every year, that they would swear by his Fortune and that all
the deeds he was yet to do should receive confirmation. Next they
bestowed upon him a quinquennial festival, as to a hero, and managers of
sacred rites for the festival of naked boys in Pan's honor,[110]
constituting a third priestly college which they called the Julian, and
on the occasion of all combats in armor one special day of his own each
time both in Rome and the rest of Italy. When he showed himself pleased
at this, too, then they voted that his gilded chair and crown set with
precious gems and overlaid with gold should be carried into the theatre
on an equal footing with those of the gods, and that on the occasion of
the horse-races his chariot should be brought in. And finally they
addressed him outright as Julian Jupiter and ordered a temple to be
consecrated to him and to his Clemency, electing Antony as their priest
like some Dialis.
[-7-] At the same time with these measures they passed another which
well indicated their disposition. It gave him the right to place his
tomb within the pomerium; and the decrees regarding this matter they
inscribed with gold letters on silver tablets and deposited beneath the
feet of the Capitoline Jupiter, thus pointing out to him very clearly
that he was a man. When they began to honor him it was with the idea
that he would be reasonably modest; but as they went on and saw that he
was delighted at what they voted,--he accepted all but a very few of
their gifts,--various men kept at different times proposing various
greater marks of esteem, all in excess, some as an act of extreme
flattery toward him, and others as one of sarcastic ridicule. Actually
some dared to suggest permitting him to have intercourse with, as many
women[111] as he liked, because even at this time, though fifty years
old, he still had numerous mistresses. Others, and the majority,
followed the course mentioned because they wished to make him envied and
disliked as quickly as possible, that he might the sooner perish. Of
course precisely that happened, though Caesar took courage on account of
these very measures to believe that he would never be plotted against by
the men who had voted him such honors, nor by any one else, because they
would prevent it; and in consequence from this time he dispensed with a
bodyguard. Nominally he accepted the privilege of being watched over by
the senators and knights and thus did away with his previous guardians.
[-8-] Once on a single day they had passed in his honor an unusually
large number of decrees of especially important character, that had been
voted unanimously by all the rest except Cassius and a few others, who
became notorious for this action: yet they suffered no harm, a fact
which conspicuously displayed their ruler's clemency. So, then, they
approached him as he was sitting in the fore-part of the temple of Venus
with the intention of announcing to him in a body their decisions;--such
business they transacted in his absence, in order to have the appearance
of doing it not under compulsion but voluntarily. And either by some
Heaven-sent fatuity or through excess of joy he received them sitting,
an act which aroused so great indignation among them all, not only
senators but all the rest, that it afforded his slayers one of their
chief excuses for their plot against him. Some who subsequently tried to
defend him said that owing to diarrhoea he could not control the movement
of his bowels and had remained where he was in order to avoid a flux.
They were not able, however, to persuade the majority, since not long
after this he arose and walked home without assistance; hence most men
suspected him of being inflated with pride and hated him for his
supercilious behavior, when it was they themselves who had made him
disdainful by the extreme nature of their honors. After this occurrence
suspicion was increased by the fact that somewhat later he submitted to
being made dictator for life.
[-9-] When he had reached this point, the conduct of the men plotting
against him became no longer doubtful, and in order to embitter even his
best friends against him they did their best to traduce the man and
finally called him "king,"--a name which was often heard in their
consultations. When he refused the title and rebuked in a way those that
so saluted him, yet did nothing by which he could be thought to be
really displeased at it, they secretly adorned his statue, which stood
on the rostra, with a diadem. And when Gaius Epidius Marullus and Lucius
Caesetius Flavus, tribunes, took it down, he became thoroughly angry,
although they uttered no insulting word and furthermore spoke well of
him before the people as not desiring anything of the sort.[-10-] At
this time, though vexed, he remained quiet; subsequently, however, when
he was riding in from Albanum, some men again called him king, and he
said that his name was not king but Caesar: then when those tribunes
brought suit against the first man that termed him king, he no longer
restrained his wrath, but showed evident irritation, as if these
officials were actually aiming at the stability of his government. For
the moment he took no revenge upon them: later, when they issued public
notice to the effect that they found themselves not at liberty to speak
freely and without molestation for the public good, he appeared
exceedingly angry and brought them into the senate-house, where he
accused them and put their conduct to the vote. He did not put them to
death, though some declared them worthy of that penalty, but first
having removed them from the tribuneship through the motion of Helvius
Cinna, their colleague, he erased their names from the senate. Some were
pleased at this, or pretended to be, on the ground that they would have
no need to incur danger by free speech, and keeping out of politics they
viewed events as from a watch tower. Caesar, however, received an ill
name from this fact, too, that whereas he should have hated those that
applied to him the name of king, he let them go and found fault instead
with the tribunes.
[-11-] Something else that happened not long after these events proved
still more clearly that while pretendedly he shunned the title, in
reality he desired to assume it. When he had entered the Forum at the
festival of the Lupercalia, at which naked boys competed, and was
sitting on the rostra in his golden chair adorned with the royal apparel
and conspicuous by his crown wrought of gold, Antony with his fellow
priests saluted him as king and surrounding his brows with a diadem
said: "The people gives this to you through my hands." He answered that
Jupiter alone was king of the Romans and sent the diadem to him to the
Capitol, yet he was not angry and caused it to be inscribed in the
records that the royalty presented to him by the people through the
consul he had refused to receive. It was accordingly suspected that this
had been done by some pre-arranged plan and that he was anxious for the
name but wished to be somehow compelled to take it, and the consequent
hatred against him was intense. After this certain men at the elections
proposed those tribunes previously mentioned for the office of consul,
and approaching Marcus Brutus and such other persons as were of high
spirit attempted privately to persuade them and incited them to action
publicly. [-12-] They scattered broadcast many letters (taking the
fullest advantage of his having the same name as the great Brutus who
overthrew the Tarquins), declaring that he was not truly that man's
descendant: for _he_ had put to death both his sons, the only ones he
had, when they were mere lads, and was left no offspring surviving. This
attitude was, however, a mere ruse on the part of the majority, adopted
in order that being in family akin to that famous man he might be
induced to undertake similar deeds. They kept continually invoking him,
crying out "Brutus, Brutus!", and adding further: "We need a Brutus."
Finally on the statue of the early Brutus they wrote "Would that thou
wert living," and upon their contemporary's platform (he was praetor at
the time) "Brutus, thou sleepest," and "Thou art not Brutus."