Cassius Dio
Roman History
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Book XLVI (46)
The following is contained in the Forty-sixth of Dio's Rome:—
1. How Calenus replied to Cicero in defence of Antony (chaps. 1-28).
2. How Antony was defeated at Mutina by Caesar and the consuls (chaps.
29-38).
3. How Caesar came to Rome and was elected consul (chaps. 39-49).
4. How Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus formed an alliance (chaps. 50-56).
Duration of time, one year, in which there were the magistrates
(consuls) here enumerated:—
B.C.
43
C. Vibius C. F. Pansa Capronianus, A. Hirtius A. F.
When Cicero had finished speaking in this vein, Quintus Fufius Calenus
arose and said:— "Ordinarily I should not care either to say anything
in defence of Antony or to assail Cicero; for I do not think at all
necessary in such discussions as the present to do either of these
things, but simply to make known one's own opinion; the former method
belong to the court-room, whereas this is a matter for deliberation.
Since, however, this man his undertaken to speak ill of Antony on
account of the enmity that exists between them, instead of lodging
information against him, as he ought, in case Antony were guilty of any
wrong-doing, and since, furthermore, he has made insulting reference to
me, as if he could not have exhibited his own cleverness anyone
indulging in unrestrained abuse of people, it behooves me also both to
refute his accusations and to bring counter-charges against him. For,
in the first place, I would not have him profit either from his own
impudence, if allowed to go unchallenged, or from my silence, which
might be suspected of coming from a guilty conscience; nor, again,
would I have you be deceived by what he has said and come to an
unworthy decision by letting his private grudge against Antony take the
place of the public interest. For the purpose he wishes to accomplish
is nothing else than that we should give up providing for the greatest
safety of the commonwealth and fall into discord once more. Indeed, it
is not the first time he has done this, but from the outset, ever since
he entered politics, he has been continually turning things
topsy-turvy. Is he not the one who embroiled Caesar with Pompey and
prevented Pompey from becoming reconciled with Caesar? Or the one,
again, who persuaded you to pass that vote against Antony by which he
angered Caesar, and persuaded Pompey to leave Italy and transfer his
quarters to Macedonia,— a course which proved the chief cause of all
the evils that subsequently befell us? Is he not the one who killed
Clodius by the hand of Milo and slew Caesar by the hand of Brutus? The
one who made Catiline hostile to us and put Lentulus to death without a
trial? Hence I should be very much surprised at you if, after changing
your mind then about his conduct and making him pay the penalty for it,
you should now heed him again, when his words and actions are similar.
Or do you not observe how also after Caesar's death, when order had
been restored in our state chiefly by Antony, as not even Cicero
himself can deny, Cicero went abroad, because he considered our life of
harmony alien and dangerous to him And how, when he perceived that
turmoil had again arisen, he bade a long farewell to his son and to
Athens, and returned? Or, again, how he insults and abuses Antony, whom
he was wont to say he loved, and coöperates with Caesar, whose
father he killed? And if chance so favour, he will ere long attack
Caesar also. For the fellow is naturally faithless and turbulent, and
has no ballast in his soul, but is always stirring up and overturning
things, shifting his course oftener than the waters of the strait to
which he fled,— whence his nickname of "turn-coat," — yet demanding of
you all that you consider a man as friend or foe according to his
bidding.
"For these reasons you must guard against the fellow; for he is a cheat
and an impostor and grows rich and powerful from the ills of others,
slandering, mauling, and rending the innocent after the manner of dogs,
whereas in the midst of public harmony he is embarrassed and withers
away, since love and good-will on our part towards one another cannot
support this kind of orator. How else, indeed, do you imagine, has he
become rich, and how else has he become great? Certainly neither family
nor wealth was bequeathed him by his father, the fuller, who was always
trading in grapes and olives, a fellow who was glad enough to support
himself by this and by his wash-tubs, who every day and every night
defiled himself with the foulest filth. The son, reared amid these
surroundings, not unnaturally tramples and souses his superiors, using
a species of abuse practised in the workshops and on the street corners.
"Now when you yourself are of such a sort, and have grown up naked
among naked companions, collecting clothes stained with sheep dung, pig
manure, and human excrement, have you dared, most vile wretch, first to
slander the youth of Antony, who had the advantage of attendant and
teachers, as his rank demanded, and then to reproach him because in
celebrating the Lupercalia, that ancient festival, he came naked into
the Forum? But I ask you, you who always wore nothing but the clothes
of others on account of your father's business and were stripped by
whoever met you and recognized them, what ought a man who was not only
priest but also leader of his fellow-priests to have done? Not conduct
the procession, not celebrate the festival, not sacrifice according to
the custom of our fathers, not appear naked, not anoint himself? 'But
it is not for this that I censure him,' he answers, 'but because he
delivered a speech, and that kind of speech, naked in the Forum.' Of
course this fellow has become acquainted in the fuller's shop with all
the nice proprieties, so that he may detect a real mistake and may be
able to rebuke it properly!
"With regard to these matters, however, I will say later all that need
be said, but just now I want to ask this fellow a question or two. Is
it not true, then, that you have been reared amid the ills of others
and been educated in the midst of your neighbours' misfortunes, and
hence are acquainted with no liberal branch of knowledge, but have
established here a kind of council where you are always waiting, like
the harlots, for a man who will give something, and with many agents
always to attract profits to you, you pry into people's affairs to find
out who has wronged, or seems to have wronged, another, who hates
another, and who is plotting against another? With these men you make
common cause, and through them you support yourself, selling them the
hopes that depend upon the turn of fortune, trading in the decisions of
the jurors, considering him alone as a friend who gives the most at any
particular time, and all those as enemies who are peaceably inclined or
employ some other advocate, while you even pretend not to know those
who are already in your clutches, and even find them a nuisance, but
fawn and smile upon those who at the moment approach you, just as the
women do who keep inns?
"Yet how much better it would be for you, too, to have been born
Bambalio — if this Bambalio really exists — than to have taken up such
a livelihood, in which it is absolutely inevitable that you should
either sell your speech on behalf of the innocent, or else save the
guilty also! Yet you cannot do even this effectively, though you spent
three years in Athens. When, then, did you ever do so? Or how could
you? Why, you always come to the courts trembling, as if you were going
to fight as a gladiator, and after uttering a few words in a meek and
half-dead voice you take your departure, without having remembered a
word of the speech you thought out at home before you came, and without
having found anything to say on the spur of the moment. In making
assertions and promises you surpass all mankind in audacity, but in the
trials themselves, apart from reviling and abusing people, you are most
weak and cowardly. Or do you think any one is ignorant of the fact that
you never delivered one of those wonderful speeches of yours that you
have published, but wrote them all out afterwards, like persons who
fashion generals and cavalry leaders out of clay? If you doubt my word,
remember how you accused Verres, though, to be sure, you did give him
an example of your father's trade — when you wetted your clothes.
"But I hesitate, for fear that in saying precisely what suits your case
I may seem to be uttering words that are unbecoming to myself. These
matters I will therefore pass over; yes, by Jupiter, and the case of
Gabinius also, against whom you prepared accusers and then pleaded his
cause in such a way that he was condemned; also the pamphlets which you
compose against your friends, in regard to which you feel yourself so
guilty that you do not even dare to make them public. Yet it is a most
miserable and pitiable state to be in, not to be able to deny these
charges which are the most disgraceful conceivable to admit. But I will
pass by all this and proceed to the rest. Well, then, though we gave
the professor, as you admit, two thousand plethra of the Leontine
lands, yet we learned nothing worth while in return for it. But as to
you, who would not admire your system of instruction? And what is that?
Why, you always envy the man who is your superior, you always malign
the prominent man, you slander him who has attained distinction, you
blackmail the one who has become powerful, and, though you hate
impartially all good men, yet you pretend to love only those of them
whom you expect to make the agents of some villainy. This is why you
are always inciting the younger men against their elders and leading
those who trust you, even in the slightest degree, into dangers, and
then deserting them.
"A proof of all this is that you have never accomplished any
achievement worthy of a distinguished man either in war or in peace.
What wars, for instance, did we win when you were praetor, or what
territory did we acquire when you were consul? Nay, but you are
continually deceiving some of the foremost men and winning them to your
side, and then you privately use them as agents to carry out your
policies and to pass what measures you choose, while publicly you
indulge in vain rantings, bawling out those detestable phrases, 'I am
the only one who loves you,' or perchance, 'I and so-and-so; but all
the rest hate you,' or 'I alone am your friend, but all the rest are
plotting against you,' and other such stuff by which you fill some with
elation and conceit and then betray them, and frighten the rest and
thus bring them to your side. And if any service is rendered by any one
in the world, you lay claim to it and attach your own name to it,
prating: 'I moved it, I proposed it, all this was done as it was
through me.' But if anything turns out unfortunately, you clear your
own skirts of it and lay the blame on all the rest, saying: 'Look you,
was I the praetor, or the envoy, or the consul?' And you abuse
everybody everywhere all the time, setting more store by the influence
which comes from appearing to speak your mind boldly than by saying
what duty demands; but as to the function of an orator, you exemplify
it in no respect worth speaking of. What public interest has been
preserved or restored by you? Whom have you indicted that was really
harming the city, and whom have you brought to light that was in truth
plotting against us? Why (to pass over the other cases), these very
charges which you now bring against Antony are of such a nature and so
numerous that no one could ever suffer any adequate punishment for
them. Why, then, if you saw that we were being wronged by him from the
very outset, as you assert, did you never prosecute or even accuse him
at the time, instead of relating to us now all his illegal acts as
tribune, all his irregularities as master of the horse, all his crimes
as consul? You might immediately at the time in each specific instance
have inflicted the appropriate penalty upon him, and thus have yourself
stood revealed as a patriot in very deed, while we could then have
imposed the punishment in security and safety at the time of the
offences themselves. Indeed, one of two conclusions is inevitable,—
either that you believed these things were so at the time and yet
shirked the struggle on our behalf, or else that you were unable to
prove any of your charges and are now indulging in idle slanders.
"That all this is true, Conscript Fathers, I shall show you by going
over each point in detail. Antony did have something to say during his
tribuneship on Caesar's behalf, as indeed did Cicero and some others on
behalf of Pompey. Why, now, does he blame him for having preferred
Caesar's friendship, but acquit himself and the rest who supported the
opposite cause? Antony prevented some measures from being passed
against Caesar at that time; and this was all right, since Cicero
prevented practically everything that was to be decreed in his favour.
'But Antony,' he replies, 'thwarted the united will of the senate.'
Well, now, in the first place, how could one man have had so much
power? And, secondly, if he had really been condemned for it, as this
fellow says, how could he have escaped punishment? 'Oh, he fled, he
fled to Caesar and got out of the way.' Well, then, Cicero, what you
also did a while ago was not 'taking a trip abroad,' but taking flight,
as on the former occasion. Come now, do not be so ready to apply your
own shame to us all; for flee you did, fearing the court and condemning
yourself beforehand. To be sure, a measure was passed for your recall,—
how and for what reasons I do not say,— but at any rate it was passed,
and you did not set foot in Italy until the recall was granted to you.
But Antony not only went away to Caesar to inform him what had been
done, but also returned, without asking for any decree, and finally
brought about peace and friendship with him for all those who were at
the time found in Italy; and the rest, too, would have had a share in
it, if they had not taken your advice and fled after Pompey.
"Then, when this is the case, do you dare to say he led Caesar against
his country and stirred up the civil war and became, far more than
anyone else, responsible for the subsequent evils that befell us? No,
indeed, but it was you yourself, you who gave Pompey legions that
belonged to others, and the command also, and undertook to deprive
Caesar even of those that had been given him; you, who advised Pompey
and the consuls not to accept the offers made by Caesar, but to abandon
the city and all Italy; you, who did not see Caesar even when he
entered Rome, but ran off to Pompey and Macedonia. Yet not even to him
did you prove of any assistance, but you allowed matters to take their
course, and then, when he met with misfortune, left him in the lurch.
Thus even at the outset you did not aid him as the one whose course was
the more just, but after stirring up the strife and embroiling affairs
you kept watch on events from a safe distance, and then promptly
deserted the man who failed, as if that somehow proved him in the
wrong, and went over to the victor, as if he were more in the right.
And thus, in addition to your other base deeds, you are so ungrateful
that you not only are not satisfied to have been spared by Caesar, but
are actually displeased because you were not made his master of horse.
"Then, with this on your conscience, do you dare to say that Antony
ought not to have been master of the horse for a whole year, because
Caesar himself ought not to have been dictator for a whole year? But
whether or not it was wise or necessary for this to be done, at any
rate both measures alike were passed, and they suited both us and the
people. Therefore censure these men, Cicero, if they have transgressed
in any particular, but not, by Jupiter, those whom they have chosen to
honour for showing themselves worthy of rewards so great. For it we
were forced by the circumstances which then surrounded us to act in
this way, even contrary to what was fitting, why do you now lay this
upon Antony's shoulders, instead of having opposed it at the time, if
you were able? Because, by Jupiter, you were afraid. Shall you, then,
who were silent at the time, obtain pardon for your cowardice, and
shall he, because he was preferred over you, submit to punishment for
his virtue? Where have you learned this kind of justice, or where have
you read this kind of law?
"'But he made an improper use of his position as master of the house.'
Why? 'Because,' he answers, 'he bought Pompey's possessions.' But how
many others are there who purchased countless articles, no one of whom
is blamed! Why, that was the purpose, naturally, in confiscating goods
and putting them up at auction and proclaiming them by the voice of the
public crier, namely, that someone should buy them. 'But Pompey's goods
ought not to have been sold.' Then it was we who erred and did wrong in
confiscating them; or — to clear us both of blame — it was Caesar
anyhow, I suppose, who acted irregularly, since he ordered this to be
done; yet you did not censure him at all. But in making this charge
Cicero stands convicted of playing the utter fool In any event he has
brought against Antony two utterly contradictory charges — first, that
after helping Caesar in very many ways and receiving in return vast
gifts from him, he was then required under compulsion to surrender the
price of them, and, second, that although he inherited naught from his
father and swallowed up all that he had acquired 'like Charybdis' (the
speaker is always offering us some comparison from Sicily, as if we had
forgotten that he had gone into exile there), he nevertheless paid the
price of all he had purchased.
"So in these charges this remarkable fellow stands convicted of
violently contradicting himself — yes, but Jupiter, and in the
following statements also. At one time he says that Antony aided Caesar
in everything he did and by this means became more than any one else
responsible for all our internal evils, and then he reproaches him with
cowardice, charging him with having shared in no other exploits than
those performed in Thessaly. And he brings a complaint against him to
the effect that he restored some of the exiles, and finds fault with
him because he did not secure the recall of his uncle as well — as if
any one believes that he would not have restored him first of all, if
he had been able to recall whomsoever he pleased, since there was no
grievance on either side between them, as this man himself knows; at
any rate, he did not dare to say anything of that sort, although he
told many brazen lies about Antony. So utterly reckless is he about
pouring out anything that comes to his tongue's end, as if it were mere
soapsuds.
"But why should one pursue this subject further? Still, inasmuch as he
goes about declaiming tragically, and has but this moment said, in the
course of his remarks, that Antony rendered the sight of the master of
the horse most odious, by using everywhere and always the sword and the
purple, the lictors and the soldiers at one and the same time, let him
tell me clearly and in what respect we have been wronged by this. But
he will have nothing to say; for if he had, he would have blurted it
out before anything else. In fact, the very reverse is true: those who
were quarrelling at that time and causing all the trouble were
Trebellius and Dolabella, whereas Antony was so far from doing any
wrong and was so active in every way in your behalf that he was even
entrusted by you with the guarding of the city against those very men,
and that, too, without any opposition on the part of this remarkable
orator (for he was present), but actually with his approval. Else let
him show what word he uttered when he saw that 'the licentious and
accursed fellow' (to quote from his abuse) not only performed none of
the duties of his office but also secured from you all that additional
authority. But he will have nothing to show. So it looks as if not a
word of what he now shouts so loud was ventured at that time by this
great and patriotic orator, who is everywhere and always saying and
repeating: 'I alone am fighting for freedom, I alone speak out boldly
for the republic; I cannot be restrained by favour of friends or fear
of enemies from looking out for your advantage; I, even if it should be
my lot to die in speaking on your behalf, will perish very gladly.' And
his silence at that time was very natural, for it occurred to him to
reflect that Antony possessed the lictors and the purple-bordered
clothing in accordance with the custom of our ancestors in regard to
the masters of the horse, and that he was using the sword and the
soldiers perforce against the rebels. For what outrages would have been
too terrible for them to commit, had he not been hedged about with
these protections, when some showed such scorn of him as it was?
"That these and all his other acts, then, were correct and most
thoroughly in accord with Caesar's intention, the facts themselves
show. For the rebellion went no farther, and Antony, far from suffering
punishment for his course, was subsequently appointed consul. Notice
also, now, I beg of you, how he administered this office of his; for
you will find, if you examine the matter carefully, that his tenure of
it proved of great value to the city. His traducer, of course, knows
this, but not being able to control his jealousy, has dared to slander
him for those deeds which he would have longed to do himself. That is
why he introduced the matter of his stripping and anointing and those
ancient fables, not because any of them was called for on the present
occasion, but in order to drown out by irrelevant noise Antony's
consummate skill and success. Yet this same Antony, witness earth and
gods! (I shall call louder than you and invoke them with greater
justice), when he saw that the city was already in reality under a
tyranny, inasmuch as all the legions obeyed Caesar and all the people
together with the senate submitted to him to such an extent that they
voted, among other measures, that he should be dictator for life and
use the trapping of the kings — this Antony, I say, convinced Caesar of
his error most cleverly and restrained him most prudently, until
Caesar, abashed and afraid, would not accept either the name of king or
the diadem, which he had in mind to bestow upon himself even against
our will. Any other man, now, would have declared that he had been
ordered by his superior to do all this, and putting forward the
compulsion as an excuse, would have obtained pardon for it — and why
not, considering that we had passed such votes at that time and that
the soldiers had gained such power? Antony, however, because he was
thoroughly acquainted with Caesar's intentions and perfectly aware of
all he was preparing to do, by great good judgment succeeded in turning
him aside from his course and dissuaded him. The proof is that Caesar
afterwards no longer behaved in any way like a monarch, but mingled
publicly and unprotected with us all; and for this reason more than for
any other it became possible that he should meet the fate he did.
"This is what was accomplished, O Cicero,— or Cicerculus, or
Ciceracius, or Ciceriscus, or Graeculus, or whatever you delight in
being called,— by the uneducated, the naked, the anointed man; and none
of it was done by you, so clever, so wise, you who use much more oil
than wine, who let your clothing drag about your ankles — not, by
Jupiter, as the dancers do, who teach you intricacies of reasoning by
their poses, but in order to hide the ugliness of your legs. Oh no, it
is not through modesty that you do this, you who delivered that long
screed about Antony's habits. Who is there that does not see these
delicate mantles of yours? Who does not scent your carefully combed
gray locks? Who does not know that you put away your first wife who had
borne you two children, and in your extreme old age married another, a
mere girl, in order that you might pay your debts out of her property?
And yet you did not keep her either, since you wished to be free to
have with you Caerellia, whom you debauched though she was as much
older than yourself as the maiden you married was younger, and to whom,
old as she is, you write such letters as a jester and babbler might
write if he were trying to get up an amour with a woman of seventy. I
have been led to make this digression, Conscript Fathers, in order that
he might not get off on this score, either, without receiving as good
as he gave to me. And yet he had the effrontery to find fault with
Antony because of a mere drinking party, himself a drinker of water, as
he claims,— his purpose being to sit up at night and compose his
speeches against us,— even though he brings up his son amid such
debauchery that the son is sober neither night or day. Furthermore, he
undertook to make derogatory remarks about Antony's mouth — this man
who has shown so great licentiousness and impurity throughout his
entire life that he would not spare even his closest kin, but let out
his wife for hire and was his daughter's lover.
"I propose, now to leave this subject and to return to the point where
I started. Well then, when Antony, against whom he has inveighed, saw
that Caesar was becoming exalted above our government, caused him, by
means of the very proposals which were supposed to gratify him, not to
put into effect any of the projects he had in mind. For nothing so
diverts persons from purposes which they cherish a wrongful desire to
achieve and can put into effect, as for those who fear that they may
have to submit to such things to pretend that they endure them of their
own choice. For these persons in authority, being conscious of their
own wrongful purposes, do not trust the sincerity of others, and
believing that they have been detected, are ashamed and afraid,
construing to the opposite effect, in their distrust, what is said to
them, counting it mere flattery, and regarding with suspicion, in their
shame, the possible outcome of what is said, as if it were a plot. It
was of course because Antony knew this thoroughly that he first of all
selected the Lupercalia and its procession, in order that Caesar in the
relaxation of his spirit and merriment of the occasion might with
safety be rebuked, and that, in the next place, he selected the Forum
and the rostra, that Caesar might be made ashamed by the very places.
And he fabricated the commands from the populace, in order that Caesar,
hearing them, might reflect, not on all that Antony was saying at the
time, but on all that the Roman people would order a man to say. For
how could he have believed that this injunction had been laid upon any
one, when he neither knew of the people's having voted anything of the
kind nor heard them shouting their applause? But, in fact, it was
necessary for him to hear this in the Roman Forum, where we have often
joined in many deliberations for freedom, and beside the rostra, from
which we have sent forth thousands upon thousands of measures on behalf
of the republic, and at the festival of the Lupercalia, in order that
he might be reminded of Romulus, and from the lips of the consul, that
he might call to mind the deeds of the early consuls, and in the name
of the people, that he might ponder the fact that he was undertaking to
be tyrant, not over Africans or Gauls or Egyptians, but over very
Romans. These words brought him to himself, they humiliated him; and
whereas, if any one else had offered him the diadem, he might perhaps
have taken it, as it was, through the influence of all these
associations, he checked himself; he shuddered and felt afraid.
"Here, then, you have the deeds of Antony; he did not break a leg in a
vain attempt to make his own escape, nor burn off a hand in order to
frighten Porsenna, but by his cleverness and consummate skill, which
were of more avail than the spear of Decius or the sword of Brutus, he
put an end to the tyranny of Caesar. But as for you, Cicero, what did
you accomplish in your consulship, I will not say that was wise and
good, but that was not deserving of the greatest punishment? Did you
not throw our city into confusion and party strife when it was quiet
and harmonious, and fill the Forum and the Capitol with slaves, among
others, whom you had summoned to help you? Did you not basely destroy
Catiline, who had merely canvassed for office but had otherwise done
nothing dreadful? Did you not pitilessly slay Lentulus and his
followers, who were not only guilty of no wrong, but had neither been
tried nor convicted, and that, too, though you are always and
everywhere prating much about the laws and about the courts? Indeed, if
one should take these phrases from your speeches, there is nothing
left. You censured Pompey because he conducted the trial of Milo
contrary to the established procedure; yet you yourself afforded
Lentulus no privilege great or small that is prescribed in such cases,
but without defence or trial you cast into prison a man respectable and
aged, who could furnish in his ancestors abundant and weighty
guarantees of his devotion to his country, and by reason of his age and
his character had no power to incite a revolution. What evil was his
that he could have cured by the change in the government? And what
blessing did he not enjoy that he would certainly have jeopardized by
beginning a rebellion? What arms had he collected, what allies had he
equipped, that a man who had been consul and was then praetor should be
so pitilessly and impiously cast into prison without being allowed to
say one word in defence or to hear a single charge, and should there be
put to death as are the basest criminals? For this is what our
excellent Tullius here particularly desired, namely, that in the place
that bears his name, he might put to death the grandson of that
Lentulus who once had been the leader of the senate. What would he have
done now if he had laid hold of the power afforded by arms, seeing that
he accomplished so much mischief by his words alone? These are your
brilliant achievements, these are your great exhibitions of
generalship; and not only were you condemned for them by your
associates, but you also cast your own vote against yourself by fleeing
even before your trial came on. Yet what greater proof could there be
that you were guilty of his blood than that you came within an ace of
perishing at the hands of those very persons on whose behalf you
pretended you had done all this, that you were afraid of the very men
whom you claimed to have benefited by these acts, and that you did not
wait to hear what they had to say or to say a word to them, you clever,
you extraordinary man, you who can aid others, but had to secure your
own safety by flight as from a battle? And you are so shameless that
you undertook to write a history of these events, disgraceful as they
are, whereas you ought to have prayed that no one else should so much
as record them, in order that you might derive at least this advantage,
that your deeds should die with you and no memory of them be handed
down to posterity. And to give you, sirs, something to make you even
laugh, I beg you listen to a piece of his cleverness. He set himself
the task of writing a history of all the achievements of the city (for
he pretends to be a rhetorician and poet and philosopher and orator and
historian), and then began, not with its founding, like the other
historians of Rome, but with his own consulship, so that he might
proceed backwards, making that the beginning of his account and the
reign of Romulus the end.
"Tell me now, you whose writings and whose deeds are such as I have
described, what a good man ought to say in addressing the people and to
do in action; for you are better at advising others about any matter in
the world than at doing your duty yourself, and better at rebuking
others than at reforming yourself. Yet how much better it would be for
you, instead of reproaching Antony with cowardice, yourself to lay
aside your effeminacy both of spirit and of body; instead of bringing a
charge of disloyalty against him, yourself to cease from doing anything
disloyal against him and playing the deserter; and instead of accusing
him of ingratitude, yourself cease from wronging your benefactors! For
this, I must tell you, is one of Cicero's inherent defects, that he
hates above all others those who have done him any kindness, and that
while he is always fawning upon men of the other kind, yet he keeps
plotting against these. At any rate (to omit other instances), after
being pitied and spared by Caesar and enrolled among the patricians, he
then killed him, not with his own hand, of course — how could he,
cowardly and effeminate as he is? — but by persuading and bribing those
who did it. That I am speaking the truth in this matter was made plain
by the murderers themselves; at any rate, when they ran out into the
Forum with their naked blades, they called for him by name, crying
'Cicero!' repeatedly, as you, no doubt, all heard them. Therefore, I
say, he slew Caesar, his benefactor, and as for Antony, the very man
from whom he had obtain not only his priesthood but also his life, when
he was in danger of perishing at the hands of the soldiers in
Brundisium, he repays him with this sort of thanks, accusing him of
deeds with which neither he himself nor any one else ever found any
fault and hounding him for conduct which he praises in others. At all
events, when he sees that this young Caesar, who, although he has not
attained the age yet to hold office or take any part in politics and
has not been elected by you to office, has nevertheless equipped
himself with an armed force and has undertaken a war which we have
neither voted nor committed to his hands, he not only has no blame to
bestow, but actually eulogizes him. Thus, you will perceive, he
estimates neither justice by the standard of the laws nor expediency by
the standard of the public weal, but manages everything simply to suit
his own will, and what he extols in some he censures in others,
spreading false reports against you and slandering you besides. For you
will find that all Antony's acts after Caesar's death were ordered by
you. Now to speak about Antony's disposition of Caesar's funds and his
examination of his papers I regard as superfluous. Why so? Because, in
the first place, it would be the business of the one who inherited
Caesar's property to busy himself with it, and, in the second place, if
there were any truth in the charge of malfeasance, it ought to have
been stopped immediately at the time. For none of these transactions
was carried out in secret, Cicero, but they were all recorded on
tablets, as you yourself admit. But as to Antony's other acts, if he
committed these villainies as openly and shamelessly as you allege, if
he seized upon all Crete on the pretext that in Caesar's papers it had
been left free after the governorship of Brutus,— although it was only
later that Brutus was given charge of it by us — how could you have
kept silent, and how could any one else have tolerated such acts? But,
as I said, I will pass over these matters for the majority of them have
not been specifically mentioned, and Antony, who could inform you
exactly of what he has done in each instance, is not present. But as
regards Macedonia and Gaul and the remaining provinces and as regards
the legions, there are your decrees, Conscript Fathers, according to
which you assigned to the various governors their several charges and
entrusted Gaul, together with the troops, to Antony. And this is known
also to Cicero, for he was present and voted for them all just as you
did. Yet how much better it would have been for him to speak against it
at the time, if any of these matters were not being done properly, and
to instruct you in these matters that he now brings forward, than to be
silent at the time and allow you to make mistakes, and now nominally to
censure Antony but really to accuse the senate!
"And no sensible person could assert, either, that Antony forced you to
vote these measures. For he himself had no band of soldiers, so as to
compel you to do anything contrary to your judgment, and, furthermore,
the business was done for the good of the city. For since the legions
had been sent ahead and united, and there was fear that when they heard
of Caesar's assassination they might revolt and, putting some worthless
man at their head, go to war once more, you decided, rightly and
properly, to place in command of them Antony, the consul, who had
brought about harmony and had banished the dictatorship entirely from
our system of government. And this is the reason you gave him Gaul in
place of Macedonia, namely, that remaining here in Italy, he should
have no chance to do mischief and might promptly carry out your orders.
"To you I have said these things, that you may know that you have
decided rightly. As for Cicero, that other point of mine was
sufficient, namely, that he was present during all these proceedings
and voted with us for the measures, although Antony had not a soldier
at the time and was quite unable to bring to bear on us any
intimidation that would have made us neglect any of our interests. But
even though you were then silent, tell us now, at least, what we ought
to have done in the circumstances? Leave the legions leaderless? Would
they not have filled both Macedonia and Italy with countless evils?
Entrust them, then, to another? And whom could we have found more
closely related and suited to the business than Antony, the consul, the
official who was directing all the city's affairs, who had kept so
close a watch over our harmony, who had given countless examples of his
loyalty to the common weal? Appoint one of the assassins, then? Why, it
was not even safe for them to live in the city. Appoint, then, a man of
the opposed to them? Why, everybody suspected the members of that
party. What other man was there who surpassed him in public esteem or
excelled him in experience? Nay, you are vexed that we did not choose
you. What office, now, were you holding? And what act would you not
have committed if you had obtained arms and soldiers, seeing that you
succeeded in stirring up so much serious turmoil during our consulship
when armed with only those antitheses of yours, the result of your
constant practice, of which alone you were master? But I return to my
point that you were present when these measures were being voted and
said nothing against them, but even assented to them all, obviously
because you thought them excellent and necessary. For certainly you
were not deprived of full freedom of speech; at any rate, you indulged
in a great deal of barking, and to no purpose. And certainly you were
not afraid of anybody, either. How could you have feared Antony unarmed
when you do not dread him armed? How could you have feared him alone
when you do not dread him with all these soldiers? Why, you are the man
who actually pride yourself that you feel,— or at least say you feel,—
nothing but contempt for death!
"Since all this is so, which of the two seems to be in the wrong —
Antony, who is directing the forces granted to him by us, or Caesar,
who has surrounded himself with so large a band of his own? Antony, who
has departed to assume the office committed to him by us, or Brutus,
who is trying to prevent him from setting foot in the country? Antony,
who wishes to compel our allies to obey our decrees, or the allies, who
have not yet received the ruler sent them by us but have attached
themselves to the man who was rejected by our vote? Antony, who keeps
our soldiers together, or the soldiers, who have abandoned their
commander? Antony, who has not brought into the city a single one of
the soldiers who were granted him by us, or Caesar, who has bribed to
come here the veterans who were long ago discharged from service? For
my part, I do not think there is any further need of argument to answer
the imputation that he is not properly performing all the duties laid
upon him by us, and to show that these other men ought to sufficient
punishment for what they have ventured on their own responsibility. For
it is on this very account that you also have secured the protection of
the soldiers, that you might discuss in safety the present situation,
not because of Antony, who has done nothing on his private
responsibility and has not intimidated you in any way, but because of
his rival, who has not only gathered a force against him but has often
kept many soldiers in the city itself.
"So much I have said for Cicero's benefit, since it was he who began by
making unjust accusations against us; for I am not generally
quarrelsome, as he is, nor do I care to pry into others' misdeeds, as
he prides himself in doing always. But I will now state the advice I
have to give you, without either favouring Antony or calumniating
Caesar or Brutus, but simply consulting the general good, as is proper.
For I declare that we ought not yet to make an enemy of either of these
men in arms nor to enquire too closely into what they have been doing
or in what way. For the present is not a suitable occasion for such
action, and as they are all alike our fellow citizens, if any one of
them fails the loss will be ours, and if any one of them succeeds his
advancement will be a menace to us. Wherefore I believe that we ought
to treat them as citizens and friends and send messengers to all of
them alike, bidding them lay down their arms and put themselves and
their legions in our hands, and that we ought not yet to wage war on
any one of them, but in accordance with the reports brought back to
approve those who are willing to obey us and to make war upon the
disobedient. This course is just and expedient for us — not to be in a
hurry or to do anything rashly, but to wait, and after giving the
leaders themselves and their soldiers an opportunity to change their
minds, then, if in such case there be need of war, to give the consuls
charge of it.
"And you, Cicero, I advise not to wax bold with the boldness of a
woman, nor to imitate Bambalio, nor yet to make war nor to satisfy your
private grudge against Antony at the expense of the public and thus
plunge the whole city into danger again. Indeed, it would be well if
you actually became reconciled with him, with whom you have often
enjoyed many friendly dealings; but even if you are irreconcilably
opposed to him, at least spare us, and do not, after acting in the past
as the promoter of mutual friendship among us, now destroy it. Remember
that day and the speech which you delivered in the precinct of Tellus,
and concede also a little to this goddess of Concord in whose precinct
we are now deliberating, lest you discredit what you said then and make
it appear to have been uttered on that occasion from some other motive
than an upright purpose; for such a course is not only to the advantage
of the state but will also bring you most renown. Do not think that
audacity is either glorious or safe, and do not assert that you despise
death and expect to be praised for saying this. For all suspect and
hate such men, as being likely to be influenced by desperation to
venture some evil deed. Those, however, whom they see paying the
greatest heed to their own safety they praise and laud, as men who
would not willingly do anything that merited death. Do you, therefore,
if you honestly wish your country to be saved, speak and act in such a
way that you yourself will be saved and not, by Jupiter, in such a way
as to bring destruction upon us as well as upon yourself!"
Such language from Calenus Cicero could not endure; for while he
himself always spoke out his mind intemperately and immoderately to all
alike, he could not bring himself to accept similar frankness from
others. So on this occasion, too, he dismissed the consideration of the
public interests and set himself to abusing his opponent, with the
result that that day was wasted, largely on this account. And on the
next day and the day following many other arguments were presented on
both sides, but Caesar's adherents prevailed. So they voted, first, a
statue to Caesar himself and the right not only to it in the senate
among the ex-quaestors but also to be a candidate for the other offices
ten years sooner than custom allowed, and that he should receive from
the city the money which he had spent on his soldiers, because he had
equipped them at his own cost in its defence, naturally; and, second,
they voted that both his soldiers and those that had abandoned Antony
should have the privilege of not fighting in any other war and that
land should be garden them at once. To Antony they sent an embassy to
order him to give up the legions, leave Gaul, and go back to Macedonia;
and to his followers they issued a proclamation commanding them to
return home before a given day or to know that they would be regarded
in the light of enemies. Moreover, they removed from office the
senators who had received from him governorships over the provinces and
decided that others should be sent in their place. These were the
measures ratified at that time; and not long afterwards, even before
learning his decision, they voted that a state of disorder existed,
laid aside their senatorial garb, entrusted the war against Antony to
the consuls and to Caesar, granting the latter the authority of a
praetor, and they ordered Lepidus and also Lucius Munatius Plancus, who
was governor of a part of Transalpine Gaul, to render assistance.
In this way they themselves provided Antony with his excuse for
hostility, although he was eager to make war in any case. He was glad
to seize upon the pretext of the decrees, and straightway reproached
the envoys with not treating him rightly or fairly as compared with the
lad (meaning Caesar). And in order to place the blame for the war upon
the senators, he sent an embassy in his turn, and made some
counter-propositions which saved his face but were impossible of
performance either by Caesar or by his supporters. For while he had no
intention of carrying out of the senate's commands and was well aware
that the senators, too, would not do anything that he proposed, he
pretended to promise that he would carry out all their decrees, in
order not only that he himself might take refuge in asserting that he
would have done so, but also that his opponents' action, in refusing
his proposals, might appear to have given the first occasion for war.
For he said he would abandon Gaul and disband his legions, if they
would grant these soldiers the same rewards as they had voted to
Caesar's and would elect Cassius and Marcus Brutus consuls. His purpose
in making this last demand was to win over these two men, so that they
should not harbour any resentment against him for his operations
against their fellow-conspirator Decimus.
Antony made these offers knowing well that neither of them would be
accepted. For Caesar would never have endured that the murderers of his
father should become consuls or that Antony's soldiers by receiving the
same reward as his own should feel still more kindly toward his rival.
Accordingly, not one of Antony's proposals was ratified, but the senate
again declared war on him and once more gave notice to his associates
to leave him, setting another time limit. All, even such as were not to
take the field, arrayed themselves in their military cloaks, and they
committed to the consuls the care of the city, attaching to the decree
the customary phrase "that it suffer no harm." And since there was need
of much money for the war, they all contributed the twenty-fifth part
of the wealth they possessed and the senators also four obols for each
roof-tile of all the houses in the city that they either owned
themselves or occupied as tenants. Besides this, the very wealthy
contributed not a little in addition, while many cities and many
individuals manufactured the weapons and other necessary accoutrements
for the campaign free of charge; for the public treasury was at the
time so empty that not even the festivals which were due to fall during
that season were celebrated, except some minor ones for form's sake.
These contributions were given readily by those who favoured Caesar and
hated Antony; but the majority, being burdened alike by the campaigns
and the taxes, were irritated, particularly because it was doubtful
which of the two would conquer, and yet quite evident that they would
be slaves of the conqueror. Many of those, therefore, who favoured
Antony's cause, went straight to him, among them a few tribunes and
praetors; others remained where they were, including Calenus, and did
all they could for him, sometimes acting in secret and sometimes openly
justifying their conduct. Hence they did not even change their raiment
immediately, but persuaded the senate to send envoys again to Antony,
among them Cicero; in doing this they pretended that the latter might
persuade him to make terms, but their real purpose was that he should
be removed from their path. He perceived this, however, and became
alarmed, and did not venture to expose himself in the camp of Antony.
Consequently none of the other envoys set out, either.
While all this was going on, portent of no small moment again occurred,
significant both for the city and for the consul himself, who was
Vibius. Thus, in the last assembly before he set out for the war a man
with the disease called the sacred disease fell down while Vibius was
speaking. Also a bronze statue of him which stood in the vestibule of
his house turned around of itself on the day and at the hour that he
set out on the campaign, and the sacrifices customary before war could
not be interpreted by the seers by reason of the quantity of blood.
Likewise a man who was just then bringing him a palm slipped in the
blood which had been shed, fell, and defiled the palm. These were the
portents in his case. Now if they had befallen him when a private
citizen, they would have pertained to him alone, but since he was
consul, they had a bearing on all alike. So, too, these portents: the
statue of the Mother of the Gods on the Palatine, which had formerly
faced the east, turned around of itself toward the west; that of
Minerva worshipped near Mutina, where the heaviest fighting occurred,
sent forth a quantity of blood and afterwards of milk also;
furthermore, the consuls took their departure just before the Feriae
Latinae, and there is no instance where this has happened and the
Romans have fared well. At any rate, on this occasion also, a vast
multitude of the people, including the two consuls, perished, some
immediately and some later, and also many of the knights and senators,
including the most prominent. For in the first place the battles, and
in the second place the murders at home which occurred again as in the
Sullan régime, destroyed all the flower of the citizens except
those who perpetrated the murders.
The responsibility for these evils rested on the senators themselves.
For whereas they ought to have set at their head some one man who had
their best interests at heart and to have coöperated with him
continually, they failed to do this, but took certain men into their
favour, strengthened them against the rest, and later undertook to
overthrow these favourites as well, and in consequence gained no friend
but made everybody enemies. For men do not feel the same way toward
those who have injured them and toward their benefactors, but where
they remember their anger even against their will, yet they willingly
forget their gratitude. This is because, on the one hand, they
deprecate giving the impression that they have received benefits from
others, since they will seem to be weaker than they, and, on the other
hand, they are annoyed to have it thought that they have been injured
by anybody with impunity, since that will imply cowardice on their
part. So the senators, by not taking up with any one person, but
attaching themselves first to one and then to another, and voting and
doing, now something for them, now something against them, suffered
much because of them and much also at their hands. For all the leaders
had a single purpose in the war — the abolition of the popular
government and the setting up of a sovereignty; and since the people
were fighting to see whose slaves they should be, and the leaders to
see who should be the people's master, both alike were ruining the
state, and each side gained a reputation which varied with its fortune.
For those who were successful were considered shrewd and patriotic,
while the defeated were called enemies of their country and accursed.
This was the pass to which the fortunes of Rome had at that time come.
I shall now go on to describe the separate events. For its seems to me
to be particularly instructive, when one takes facts as the basis of
his reasoning, investigates the nature of the former by the latter, and
thus proves his reasoning true by its correspondence with the facts.
The reason for Antony's besieging Decimus in Mutina, to be exact, was
that Decimus would not give up Gaul to him, but he pretended that it
was because Decimus had been one of Caesar's assassins. For since the
true cause of the war brought him no credit, and at the same time he
saw that the feelings of the people were turning toward Caesar to help
him avenge his father, he put forward this excuse for the war. For that
it was a mere pretext for getting control of Gaul he himself made plain
when he demanded that Cassius and Marcus Brutus should be appointed
consuls. Each of these two pretences, utterly inconsistent as they
were, he made with an eye to his own advantage. Caesar, now, had begun
a campaign against his rival before the command of the war was voted to
him, though he had achieved nothing worthy of mention. When, however,
he learned of the decrees passed, he accepted the honours and rejoiced,
the more so, since, when he was sacrificing at the time of receiving
the distinction and the authority of praetor, the livers of all the
victims, twelve in number, were found to be double. But he was vexed
that envoys and proposals had been sent to Antony, also, by the senate
instead of their declaring against him at once a war to the finish, and
most of all because he ascertained that the consuls had forwarded to
Antony some private message about harmony, also that when some letters
sent by the latter to certain senators had been captured, these
officials had handed them to the persons addressed, concealing the
matter from him, and that, with the winter as an excuse, they were not
carrying on the war zealously or promptly. However, as he could not
publish these facts, because he did not wish to alienate them and on
the other hand was unable to use any persuasion or force upon them, he
also remained quiet in winter quarters in Forum Cornelii, until he
became alarmed about Decimus.
Decimus, it seems, had previously been defending himself vigorously
against Antony. On one occasion, suspecting that some men had been sent
into the city to corrupt the soldiers, he called together all those
present and after a few preliminary remarks proclaimed through a herald
that all the men under arms should go to one side of a certain place
that he pointed out and the private citizens to other side of it; in
this way he detected and arrested Antony's spies, who did not know
which way to turn, and were thus left by themselves. Later he was
entirely shut in by a wall; and Caesar, fearing he might be captured by
storm or might capitulate through lack of provisions, compelled Hirtius
to join him in an expedition; for Vibius was still in Rome making the
levies and abolishing the laws of the Antonii. Accordingly, they set
out and without a blow took possession of Bononia, which had been
abandoned by its garrison, and routed the cavalry which later
confronted them; but on account of the river near Mutina and the guard
placed over it they found themselves unable to proceed farther. But
even so, wishing at least to make their presence known to Decimus, that
he might not make terms too soon, they at first tried sending beacon
signals from the tallest trees; and when he did not understand, they
scratched a few words on a thin sheet of lead, rolled up the lead like
a piece of paper and gave it to a diver to carry across under water by
night. Thus Decimus learned at one and the same time of their presence
and of their promise of assistance, and sent them a reply in the same
fashion, after which they continued uninterruptedly to reveal all their
plans to each other.
Antony, therefore, seeing that Decimus was not inclined to yield, left
him to the charge of his brother Lucius, and himself proceeded against
Caesar and Hirtius. The two armies faced each other for many days and a
few insignificant cavalry skirmished occurred, with honours even.
Finally the German cavalry, whom Caesar had won to his side along with
the elephants they had, went over the Antony again. They had issued
from the camp with the rest and had gone on ahead as if intending to
engage by themselves those of the enemy who came to meet them; but
after a little they turned about and unexpectedly attacked the men who
followed behind, who were looking for nothing of the sort, and killed
many of them. After this some foraging parties on both sides came to
blows, and then, when the remainder of each party came to the rescue, a
sharp battle ensued between the two forces, in which Antony was
victorious. Elated by his success and learning that Vibius was
approaching, he assailed his opponents' camp to see if he could capture
it before Vibius' arrival and thus make the war easier for the future.
And when the others, besides being on their guard in other ways, in
view of their reverses and the hope they placed in Vibius, would not
come out to meet him, he left a portion of his army behind there also
with orders to engage them and thus make it appear so far as possible
that he himself was present, and at the same time to take good care
that no one should fall upon his rear. After issuing these injunctions
he set out secretly by night against Vibius, who was approaching from
Bononia, and by means of an ambush he succeeded in wounding Vibius
himself severely, in killing the majority of his soldiers and in
shutting up the rest within their ramparts. Indeed, he would have
annihilated them if he had gone on and besieged them for any
considerable time. As it was, after accomplishing nothing by the first
assault, he began to be alarmed lest while he was delaying he should
receive some setback from Caesar and the others; so he again turned
against them. But while he was still wearied by the journey both ways
and by the battle and was not looking for any hostile force to attack
him after his victory, Hirtius met him and defeated him decisively. For
when Hirtius and Caesar had perceived what was going on, Caesar had
remained to keep watch over the camp and Hirtius had set out against
Antony. Upon the defeat of Antony not only was Hirtius saluted as
imperator by the soldiers and by the senate, but likewise Vibius,
although he had fared badly, and Caesar, although he had not even been
engaged. To those who had participated in the conflict and had perished
a public burial was voted, and it was further voted that all the prizes
which they would have received, had they lived, should be given to
their sons and fathers.
At this time also Pontius Aquila, one of Caesar's slayers and a
lieutenant of Decimus, conquered in battle Titus Munatius Plancus, who
opposed him; and Decimus, when a certain senator deserted to Antony, so
far from displaying resentment against him sent to him all his baggage
and whatever else he had left behind in Mutina, with the result that
Antony's soldiers began to change their attitude and some of the
communities which had previously sympathized with him proceeded to
rebel. Caesar and Hirtius were elated at this, and approaching the camp
of Antony, challenged him to combat; and he for a time was alarmed and
remained quiet, but later, when a force sent by Lepidus came to him, he
took courage again. Lepidus, himself, however, did not make it clear to
which of the two sides he was sending the army, for he was fond of
Antony, who was a relative, while he had been summoned by the senate to
opposite him; hence, both for this reason and that he might prepare a
refuge for himself with both parties, he gave no clear instructions to
Marcus Silanus, the commander. But this officer, doubtless knowing well
his superior's views, went on his own responsibility to Antony. So when
Antony had received these reinforcements, he became bold and made a
sudden sortie, but after great slaughter on both sides, he turned and
fled.
Up to this time Caesar was being aggrandized by the people and the
senate, and consequently expected that among other honours to be
bestowed he would forthwith be appointed consul; for it happened that
Hirtius perished in connection with the capture of Antony's camp and
that Vibius died of his wounds not long afterwards, so that Caesar was
charged with having caused their death that he might succeed to the
office. But the senate had already, while it was still uncertain which
of the two would prevail, taken the precaution to abolish all the
privileges the granting of which hitherto to any individuals contrary
to established custom had paved the way to supreme power; they voted,
of course, that this edict should apply to both parties, intending
thereby to forestall the victor, but planning to lay the blame upon the
other who should be defeated. In the first place, they forbade anyone
to hold office for a longer period than a year, and, secondly, they
provided that no one man should be chosen superintendent of the corn
supply or commissioner of food. And when they learned the outcome of
the struggle, although they rejoiced at Antony's defeat, and not only
changed their attire, but also celebrated a thanksgiving for sixty
days, and, regarding all those who had been on Antony's side as
enemies, took away their property, as they did in the case of Antony
also, yet as regards Caesar, they not only did not consider him any
longer as deserving of any great reward, but even undertook to
overthrow him by giving to Decimus all the prizes for which Caesar was
hoping. For they voted in Decimus' honour not only sacrifices but also
a triumph, and gave him charge of the rest of the war and of the
legions, including those of Vibius. Upon the soldiers who had been
besieged with him they decreed that praised should be bestowed and
likewise all the other reward which had formerly been promised to
Caesar's men, although these troops had contributed nothing to the
victory, but had merely beheld it from the walls. They honoured Aquila,
who had died in the battle, with a statue, and restored to his heirs
the money which he had expended from his own purse for the equipment of
Decimus' troops. In a word, all that had been done for Caesar to thwart
Antony was now voted to others to thwart Caesar himself. And to the end
that, no matter how much he might wish it, he should not be able to do
any harm, they arrayed all his personal enemies against him. Thus to
Sextus Pompey they entrusted the fleet, to Marcus Brutus Macedonia, and
to Cassius Syria together with the war against Dolabella. They would
certainly have gone further and deprived him of the forces that he had,
had they not been afraid to vote this openly, because they knew that
his soldiers were devoted to him. But they attempted, even so, to set
them at variance with one another and with Caesar himself. For they
wished neither to praise and honour them all, for fear of raising their
spirits still higher, nor to dishonour and neglect them all, for fear
of alienating them to come to an agreement with one another. Hence they
adopted a middle course, and by praising some of them and not others,
by allowing some to wear garlands of live at the festivals and others
not, and, furthermore, by voting to some of them ten thousand sesterces
and to others not a copper, they hoped to set them at odds with each
other and consequently to weaken them. And they even sent the men who
were to carry these announcements to them, not to Caesar, but to the
men themselves. So he became enraged at this also, and though he
pretended to allow the envoys to mingle with the army without his
presence, giving orders beforehand that no answer should be given them
and that he himself should at once be sent for, yet when he came into
the camp and joined them in listening to the despatches, he won them to
himself still more than before by the very nature of the communication.
For, on the one hand, those who had been singled out for honour were
not so pleased with their preferment as they were suspicious of the
affair, and Caesar encouraged them in this as much as he could; on the
other hand, those who had been slighted were not at all angry with
their comrades, but adding their doubts of the sincerity of the
decrees, they transferred to the whole army the slight to themselves
and communicated their resentment to the others. The people in the
city, on learning this, though they were frightened, did not even then
appoint Caesar consul, the honour which he especially coveted, but
granted him the distinction of consular honours, so that he might now
give his vote along with the ex-consuls. When he showed his contempt
for this, they voted that he should be chosen a praetor of the first
rank and later consul as well. In this way they thought they had
handled Caesar cleverly, as if he were in reality a mere youth or boy,
as indeed they were always repeating. He, however, was exceedingly
vexed, not only at their general behaviour, but especially at this very
fact that he was called a boy; so he made no further delay, but turned
against their arms and their power. And he secretly arranged a truce
with Antony, and proceeded to assemble the men who had escaped from the
battle, whom he himself had conquered and the senate had voted to be
enemies, and in their presence made many accusations against both the
senate and the people.
The people in the city, on hearing his, for a time regarded him with
indifference, but when they heard that Antony and Lepidus had become of
one mind, they began again to court his favour, being ignorant of the
propositions he had made to Antony, and put him in charge of the war
against the other two. Caesar, accordingly, undertook this war also,
hoping that he might be made consul for it; for he was working so hard
through Cicero and others to be elected, that he even promised to make
Cicero his colleague. But when he was not chosen even then, have made
preparations, to be sure, to carry on the war, as had been decreed, but
meanwhile arranged that his own soldiers ostensibly of their own
motion, should suddenly take an oath not to fight against any legion
that had been Caesar's. This, of course, had reference to Lepidus and
Antony, since the majority of their adherent with were of that class.
So he waited and sent to the senate as envoys on this business four
hundred of the soldiers themselves.
This was the soldiers' excuse for the embassy, but all they really did
was to demand the money that had been voted them and to urge that
Caesar should be appointed consul. While the senators were postponing
their reply, on the ground that it required deliberation, the envoys,
acting presumably on their instructions from Caesar, asked that amnesty
be granted to a certain person who had embraced Antony's cause. They
did not really desire to obtain it, but wished to test the senators and
see if they would grant at least this request, and, if they should not,
to gain as an excuse for resentment their pretended vexation at being
refused. At any rate, when they failed to gain their petition (for,
although no one spoke against it, yet, since many had preferred the
same request on behalf of others at the same session, this petition
also, since it was but one out of many, was rejected with a show of
plausibility), all the soldiers were openly angry, and one of them went
out of the senate-chamber and getting his sword,— for they had gone in
unarmed — touched it and said: "If you do not grant the consulship to
Caesar, this shall grant it." And Cicero, interrupting him, answered:
"If you exhort in this way he will get it." Now for Cicero this
incident paved the way for destruction. As for Caesar, he did not
censure the soldier's act, but made a complaint because his men had
been obliged to lay aside their arms on entering the senate and because
one of the senators had asked whether they were sent by the legions or
by Caesar. He summoned in haste Antony and Lepidus (for he had attached
Lepidus also to himself through the friendship existing between Antony
and Lepidus), and he himself, pretending to have been forced to such
measures by his soldiers, set out with all of them against Rome.
They slew one of the knights, among others whom they suspected of being
present to spy upon them, and besides harrying the lands of such as
were not in accord with them, did much other mischief on this same
pretext. The senators, on learning of their approach, sent them their
money before they drew near, hoping that when the invaders received it
they would retire, and when, even so, they still pressed on and, they
appointed Caesar consul. They gained nothing, by this step, either; for
the soldiers were not at all grateful to them for what they had done
not willingly but under compulsion, but were even more emboldened, now
that they had thoroughly frightened them. So when the senate learned
this, it altered its policy and ordered them not to approach the city
but to keep at least a hundred miles from it. They themselves also
changed their garb again and committed to the praetors the care of the
city, as was the custom. And besides garrisoning other points, they
promptly occupied the Janiculum with the soldiers that were in the city
and with others who had come from Africa.
Now these things were taking place while Caesar was still on the march;
and all the people who were at that time in Rome with one accord took
part in the proceedings against him, just as most men are wont to be
bold until they come in sight of dangers and have a chance to
experience them. When, however, he arrived in the suburbs, they became
alarmed, and first some of the senators, and later many of the people,
went over to his side. Thereupon the praetors also came down from the
Janiculum and surrendered to him their soldiers and themselves. Thus
Caesar took possession of the city without a blow and was appointed
consul by the people, after two men had been chosen to act as consuls
for holding the elections; for it was impossible, on so short notice,
for an interrex to be chosen for the purpose, in accordance with
precedent, because many men who held the patrician offices were absent
from the city. For they preferred to submit to this arrangement of
having two men named by the praetor urbanus rather to have the consuls
elected under his direction, because now these officials would limit
their activities to the elections and consequently would appear to have
possessed no office greater than his. This was of course done under
pressure of arms; but Caesar, in order that he might appear not to have
used any force upon them, did not enter the assembly,— as if it was his
presence that any one feared instead of his power!
Thus Caesar was chosen consul, and Quintus Pedius was given him as his
colleague in office — if it is right to call him that and not his
subordinate. And Caesar was extremely proud of the fact that he was to
be consul at an earlier age than had ever been the lot of any one else,
and furthermore that on the first day of the elections, when he entered
the Campus Martius, he saw six vultures, and later, while haranguing
the soldiers, twelve others. For, comparing it with Romulus and the
omen that had befallen him, he expected to obtain that king's
sovereignty also. He did not, however, boast of being consul for the
second time, merely because of his having already been given the
distinction of the consular honours. And his practice was afterwards
observed in all similar cases down to our own day, the emperor Severus
being the first to depart from it; for after honouring Plautianus with
the consular honours and later making him a member of the senate and
appointing him consul, he proclaimed that Plautianus was entering upon
the consulship for the second time, and from that time forth the same
thing has been done in other instances. Now Caesar arranged affairs in
general in the city to suit his taste, and gave money to the soldiers,
to some what had been voted from the funds prescribed, and to the rest
individually from his private resources, as he claimed, but in reality
from the public funds.
In this way and for the reasons mentioned the soldiers received their
money on that occasion. But some men have misunderstood the matter and
have thought it was compulsory that the ten thousand sesterces be given
always to absolutely all the citizen legions that enter Rome under
arms. For this reason the followers of Severus who had entered the city
to overthrow Julianus became most terrifying both to their leader
himself and to us when they demanded this sum; and Severus won their
favour with only a thousand sesterces apiece, the other leaders not
even being aware of what it was the soldiers were demanding.
Now Caesar not only gave the soldiers the money but also expressed to
them his most hearty and sincere thanks; indeed, he did not even
venture to enter the senate-chamber without a guard of them. To the
senate he showed gratitude, but it was all fictitious and assumed for
he was accepting as if it were a favour received from their willing
hands what he had attained by applying force to them. And so they
plumed themselves on their behaviour, as if they had given his these
privileges voluntarily; and, moreover, they granted to him, whom
previously they had not even wished to elect to the consulship, the
right, after his term should expire, of taking precedence, as often as
he should be in camp, over any consul for the time being. To him on
whom they had threatened to inflict penalties, because he had gathered
forces on his own account without anyone's voting for it, they assigned
the duty of collecting other forces; and to the man for whose disgrace
and overthrow they had ordered Decimus to fight against Antony they
added the legions of Decimus. And, finally, he obtained the
guardianship of city, so that he was able to do everything he wished in
accordance with the laws, and he was adopted into Caesar's family in
the regular way and changed his name in consequence. To be sure, even
before this he had been accustomed, as some believe, to call himself
Caesar, from the time this name had been bequeathed to him along with
the inheritance, but he did not use this appellation with any
strictness or in his dealings with everybody until at this time he got
it confirmed in accordance with established custom, and was thus named,
after his adoptive father, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. For it is
the custom for a person, when he is adopted, to take most of his name
from his adopter but to keep one of his previous names somewhat altered
in form. This is the way of the matter, but I shall call him, not
Octavianus, but Caesar, inasmuch as the latter name has prevailed among
all who have held sway over the Romans. For although he acquired
another name also,— that of Augustus,— and the emperors who succeeded
him consequently assumed it also, that one will be described when it
comes up in the history, and until then the title Caesar will be
sufficient to show that Octavianus is indicated.
This Caesar, then, as soon as he had conciliated the soldiers and
dominated the senate, turned himself to avenging his father's murder;
the as he was afraid of stirring up the populace more or less in
carrying out this plan, he did not make known his intention until he
had seen to the payment of the bequests made to them. But when they had
been won over by means of the money, although it belonged to the public
funds and had been collected on the pretest of the war, then at length
he began to follow up the murderers. And in order that he might not
appear to be doing this by force but in accordance with some principle
of justice, he proposed a law about their trial and convened the courts
even in their absence. For the majority of the assassins were abroad
and some were even holding commands over provinces; and those who were
present not only failed to appear, by reason of their fear, but also
secretly left the country. Consequently not only those who had been the
actual murderers of Caesar, and their fellow-conspirators, were
convicted by default, but many others also who, so far from having
plotted against Caesar, had not even been in the city at the time. This
action was concocted chiefly against Sextus Pompey; for although he had
had no share whatever in the attack, he was nevertheless condemned
because he had been an enemy. Those adjudged guilty were debarred from
fire and water and their property confiscated. The provinces, not only
those which some of them were governing, but all the others as well,
were entrusted to the friends of Caesar.
Among the accused was also Publius Servilius Casca, the tribune. He had
already suspected Caesar's purpose in advance and had quietly slipped
away, even before Caesar entered the city. For this he was removed from
his office, on the charge of having left the city contrary to
precedent, the populace being convened for the purpose by his
colleague, Publius Titius, and thus he was condemned. When Titius died
not long afterward, confirmation was found of a tradition that had
remained unbroken from of old; for no one up to that time who had
expelled a colleague had lived the year out. In the first place, Brutus
died after removing Collatinus from office, than Gracchus was murdered
after deposing Octavius, and Cinna, who put Marullus and Flavius out of
the way, perished not long afterward. Thus has the tradition been
observed. Now the murderers of Caesar had many accusers who were
anxious to ingratiate themselves with his son, and many who were
persuaded to act thus by the rewards offered. For they received money
from the estate of the convicted man and the latter's honours and
office, if he had any, and exemption from further service in the army
both for themselves and for their sons and grandsons. And as for the
jurors, the majority voted against the accused, indicating in one way
or another that they were justified in doing this, both in order to win
Caesar's favour and through fear of him; but there were some who cast
their votes out of respect for the law enacted in regard to the
punishment of the culprits, and others out of respect for the arms of
Caesar. And one Silicius Corona, a senator, voted outright to acquit
Marcus Brutus. He made a great boast of this at the time and secretly
received approval from the others; and the fact that he was not
immediately put to death gained for Caesar a reputation for clemency,
but Silicius was afterwards proscribed and executed.
After accomplishing all this Caesar made a pretence of making a
campaign against Lepidus and Antony. Antony, it seems, on fleeing from
the battle previously described, had not been pursued by Caesar because
the war against him had been entrusted to Decimus; and Decimus had not
pursued him because he did not wish Caesar's rival to be removed from
the field. Hence Antony collected as many as he could of the survivors
of the battle and came to Lepidus, who had also made preparations to
march into Italy in accordance with the decree, but had afterwards been
ordered to remain where he was. For the senators, when they ascertained
that Silanus had embraced Antony's cause, were afraid that Lepidus and
Lucius Plancus might also coöperate with him, and so they sent a
message to them saying they had no further need of them. And to prevent
their suspecting anything and consequently causing trouble, they
ordered them to establish in a colony in Gallia Narbonensis the men who
had once been driven bin the Allobroges out of Vienna and afterwards
established between the Rhone and the Arar, at their confluence.
Therefore they submitted, and founded the town called Lugudunum, now
known as Lugdunum,— not because they could not have entered Italy with
their arms, had they wished, for the senate's decrees by this time
exerted a very weak influence upon such as had troops, but because,
while awaiting the outcome of the war Antony was conducting, they
wished to appear to have yielded obedience to the senate and at the
same time to strengthen their own position. In any case, Lepidus
censured Silanus severely for making an alliance with Antony, and when
Antony himself came, did not hold a conference with him immediately,
but sent a despatch to the senate containing further accusation against
him, in consequence of which he received not only praise but also the
command of the war against him. Hence for the time being he neither
received Antony nor repelled him, but allowed him to be near and to
associate with his followers, though he did not hold a conference with
him; but when he learned of Antony's agreement with Caesar, he then
came to terms with both of them himself. Marcus Juventius, his
lieutenant, learned what was being done and at first tried to alter his
purpose; then, when he did not succeed in persuading him, he made away
with himself in the sight of the soldiers. For this the senate voted
eulogies and a statue to Juventius and a public funeral, but they
deprived Lepidus of his statue which stood upon the rostra and declared
him an enemy. They also set a certain day for his comrades and
threatened them with war if they did not abandon him before that day.
Furthermore, they changed their garb again — for they had resumed
citizen's apparel in honour of Caesar's consulship — and summoned
Marcus Brutus, Cassius, and Sextus to proceed against them. But when
these men seemed likely to be too slow in responding, they entrusted
the war to Caesar, being unaware of his league with Antony and Lepidus.
Caesar nominally accepted the charge, in spite of having caused his
soldiers to shout out the promise already mend; but actually he did
nothing to follow up his acceptance. This was not because he had made
common cause with Antony and through him with Lepidus,— little did he
care for that,— but because he saw that they were powerful and knew
that their harmony was due to their kinship; and not only could he not
use force with them, the he even cherished hopes of bringing about
through them the downfall of Cassius and Brutus, who were already very
influential, and later of mastering them also by playing one against
the other. Accordingly, though reluctantly, he kept his covenant with
them and even effected a reconciliation between them and the senate and
people. He did not himself propose the matter, let some suspicion
should arise of what had taken place, but he set out as if to make war
on them, while Quintus urged, as if on his own motion, that amnesty and
restoration should be granted to them. They did not secure this,
however, until the senate had communicated the matter to Caesar, who
was supposed to be in ignorance of what was going on, and he had agreed
to it reluctantly, as he alleged, under compulsion from his soldiers.
While all this was going on, Decimus at first set forth with the
intention of making war upon the two, and associated with himself
Lucius Plancus, since the latter had been appointed in advance as his
colleague for the following year. Learning, however, of his own
condemnation and of their reconciliation, he wished to make a campaign
against Caesar, but was abandoned by Plancus, who favoured the cause of
Lepidus and Antony. Then he decided to leave Gaul and hasten by land
through Illyricum into Macedonia to Brutus, and he sent ahead some of
the soldiers while he was engaged in finishing the business he had in .
But they embraced Caesar's cause, and the rest were pursued by Lepidus
and Antony and afterwards were won over through the agency of others;
thus Decimus, being deserted, was seized by a personal foe. When he was
about to be murdered, he fell to complaining and lamenting, until one
Helvius Blasio, who was kindly disposed to him from their association
in campaigns, voluntarily slew himself first in his sight.
So Decimus died also. Antony and Lepidus left lieutenants in Gaul and
themselves proceeded to join Caesar in Italy, taking with them the
larger and better part of the army. For they did not yet trust him
thoroughly and wished not to owe him any favour, but to seem to have
obtained pardon and return by their own efforts and strength, rather
than through him. They also hoped that, owing to the superiority of
their legions, both Caesar and the rest in the city would do whatever
they, Antony and Lepidus, wished. So with such a purpose they marched
through Italy, as if through a friendly country; still, it was harried,
owing to their numbers and audacity, as much as in any war. They were
met near Bononia by Caesar with many soldiers; for he was exceedingly
well prepared to defend himself against them, if they should offer any
violence. Yet at this time he found no need of arms to oppose them. For
although they hated one another bitterly, yet since they had forces
about equal and desired to have one another's assistance in taking
vengeance on their other enemies first, they reached a pretended
agreement. And the three men came together for the conference, not
alone, but each with an equal number of soldiers, on a little island in
the river that flows past Bononia, so that no one else might be present
on the side of any of them. And so they withdrew to a distance from
their several escorts and searched one another carefully, to make sure
that no one had a dagger concealed. Then they considered bar matters at
leisure and, in brief, made a solemn compact for the purpose of
securing the sovereignty and overthrowing their enemies; but in order
not to appear to be aiming directly at an oligarchy and thus to arouse
envy and consequent opposition on the part of the others, they came to
the following agreement. In common, the three were to be chosen as
commissioners and correctors of a sort, for the administration and
settlement of affairs, and that not as permanent officials, they
pretended, but for five years, with the understanding that they should
manage all public business, whether or not they made any communication
about it to the people and the senate, and should give the offices and
other honours to whomsoever they pleased. Individually, however, in
order that they should not be thought to be appropriating the entire
government, they arranged that both Africas, Sardinia, and Sicily
should be given to Caesar to rule, all of Spain and Gallia Narbonensis
to Lepidus, and the rest of Gaul, both south and north of the Alps, to
Antony. The former was called Gallia Togata, as I have stated, because
it seemed to be more peaceful than the other divisions of Gaul, and
because the inhabitants already employed the Roman citizen-garb; the
other was termed Gallia Comata because the Gauls there for the most
part let their hair grow long, and we in this way distinguished from
the others. So they made these allotments, for the purpose of securing
the strongest provinces themselves and giving others the impression
that they were not striving for the whole. It was further agreed that
they should bring about the murder of their personal enemies, that
Lepidus after being appointed consul in Decimus' stead should keep
guard over Rome and the remainder of Italy, and that the others should
make an expedition against Brutus and Cassius. And they confirmed these
arrangements by oath. After this, in order that the soldiers might
ostensibly be hearers and witnesses of the terms they had made, they
called them together and harangued them, telling all that it was proper
and safe to tell them. Meanwhile the soldiers of Antony, of course by
his arrangement, recommended to Caesar the daughter of Fulvia, Antony's
wife, whom she had by Clodius,— and this in spite of Caesar's being
already betrothed to another. He, however, did not refuse her, as he
did not think this marriage would hinder him at all in the designs
which he had against Antony. For, in addition to other considerations,
he understood that his father Caesar had not failed to carry out all
his plans against Pompey, in spite of the kinship between them.
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