Dio Cassius, Histories

§ 44.28.5 What then? Did we have peace after this? Peace, when Caesar himself lies slain in this fashion, when the Capitol is occupied, when the Forum is filled with arms and the whole city with fear?

§ 44.29.1 In this way, when men begin sedition and seek ever to repay violence with violence and inflict vengeance without regard to decency or humanity, but according to their desires and the power that arms give them, there necessarily occurs each time a kind of cycle of ills, and alternate requitals of outrages take place. 2 For the fortunate side abounds in insolence and sets no limit to its greed, and the defeated side, if it does not perish immediately, rages at its misfortune and is eager to take vengeance on the oppressor, until it sates its wrath.

§ 44.29.3 And the remaining multitude, also, even though it has not taken sides, now through pity for the vanquished and envy of the victorious side coöperates with the oppressed, fearing that it may itself suffer the same evils as the one party, and hoping also that it may cause the same evils as the other. 4 Thus the citizens who have remained neutral are brought into the dispute, and one class after another, on the pretext of avenging the side which is for the moment at a disadvantage, takes up the sorry business of reprisals as if it were a legitimate, everyday affair; and while individually they escape, they ruin the state in every way.

§ 44.30.1 Or do you not see how much time we have wasted in fighting one another, how many great evils we have meanwhile endured, and, what is worse than this, inflicted? 2 And who could count the vast amount of money of which we have stripped our allies and robbed the gods and moreover have even contributed ourselves from what we did not possess, only to expend it against one another?

§ 44.30.3 Or who could number the multitude of men who have been lost, not only of ordinary persons (for that is beyond computation) but of knights and senators, each one of whom was able in foreign wars to preserve the whole city by his life or by his death? 4 How many Curtii, how many Decii, Fabii, Gracchi, Marcelli, and Scipios have been killed? And not, by Jupiter, to repel Samnites or Latins or Spaniards or Carthaginians, but to kill citizens (?) and to perish also themselves.

§ 44.30.5 As for those who have died under arms, no matter how much we may mourn their loss, yet there is less reason to lament in their case. For they entered their battles as volunteers (if it is proper to call by the name of volunteers men compelled by fear), and they met a death which, even if uncalled for, was at least a brave one; in an equal struggle and in the hope that they might really survive and conquer they fell without suffering. 6 But how can one mourn as they deserve those who have perished miserably in their homes, in the streets, in the Forum, in the very senate-chamber, on the very Capitol, all by violence — not only men, but women, too, not only those in their prime, but also old men and children?

§ 44.30.7 And yet, while subjecting one another to so many and so terrible reprisals as all our enemies put together never inflicted upon us nor we upon them, so far from loathing such acts and manfully wishing to have done with them, we even rejoice and hold festivals and term those who are guilty of them benefactors. 8 Verily, I do not regard this life that we have been leading as human; it is rather that of wild beasts which are destroyed by one another.

§ 44.31.1 “Yet why should we lament further what is already past? We cannot now prevent its having happened. Let us rather provide for the future. 2 This, indeed, is the reason why I have been recalling former events, not for the purpose of giving a list of our public calamities (would to Heaven they had never occurred!) but that by means of them I might persuade you to save at least what is left.

§ 44.31.3 For this is the only benefit one can derive from evils, to guard against having ever again to suffer their like. And this is within your power especially at the present moment, while the danger is just beginning, while not many have yet united, and while those who have been stirred to action have gained no advantage over one another nor suffered any set-back, that they should be led by hope of their superiority or anger at their inferiority to incur danger heedlessly and contrary to their own interests. 4 Great as this task is, however, you will deal with it successfully without incurring any hardship or danger, without spending money or causing bloodshed, but simply by voting this one thing, to bear no malice against one another.

§ 44.32.1 Even if mistakes have been made by certain persons, this is no time to enquire minutely into them, to convict, or to punish. For you are not at the present moment sitting in judgment upon any one, that you should need to search out with absolute accuracy what is just, but you are deliberating about the situation that has arisen and as to how it may in the safest way be righted. 2 But this is something we cannot accomplish unless we overlook some things, as we are wont to do in the case of children. When dealing with them, now, we do not take careful account of everything, but of necessity overlook many things, since for moderate errors it is not right to punish one of them remorselessly, but rather to admonish them gently.

§ 44.32.3 And now, since we are in common the fathers of all the people, not in name only, but in reality, let us not enter into a discussion of all the fine points, lest we all perish. For that matter anybody could find much to blame in Caesar himself, so that he would seem to have been justly slain, 4 or again might bring numerous charges against those who killed him, so that they would be thought to deserve punishment. But such a course is for men who are eager to stir up strife again, whereas it is necessary for those who deliberate wisely not to cause their own hurt by meting out strict justice, but to secure their own safety by employing clemency with justice.

§ 44.32.5 Regard this, then, that has happened as if it were some hail-storm or deluge that had taken place, and consign it to oblivion. And learn at last to know one another, since you are countrymen and fellow-citizens and relatives, and so live in harmony.

§ 44.33.1 ”In order, now, that none of you may suspect me of wishing to grant any indulgence to Caesar's slayer to prevent their paying the penalty, in view of the fact that I was once a member of Pompey's party, I will make one statement to you. 2 For I think that all of you are firmly convinced that I have never adopted an attitude of friendship or hostility toward any one for purely personal reasons, but that it was always for your sake and for the public freedom and harmony that I hated the one side and loved the other; for this reason I will pass over everything else and make merely one brief statement to you.

§ 44.33.3 So far, indeed, am I from acting in the way I have mentioned, instead of looking out for the public safety, that I affirm that the others, too, should not only be granted immunity for their high-handed acts, contrary to established law, in Caesar's lifetime, but that they also should keep the honours, offices and gifts which they received from him, though I am not pleased with some of these. 4 I should not, indeed, advise you to do or to grant anything further of the kind; but since it has been done, I think you ought not to be troubled overmuch about any of these matters, either. For what loss could you sustain, even if this man or that does hold something that he has obtained apart from justice and contrary to his deserts, so far-reaching as the benefits you would obtain by not causing fear or disturbance to the men who were formerly powerful.

§ 44.33.5 “This is what I have to say for the present, in face of the pressing need. But when matters have become settled, let us then consider the questions that remain.”

§ 44.34.1 Cicero by the foregoing speech persuaded the senate to vote that no one should bear malice against any one else. While this was being done, the assassins also promised the soldiers that they would not undo any of Caesar's acts. 2 For as soon as they perceived that the troops were very ill at ease for fear that they would be deprived of what he had given them, they made haste, before the senate reached any decision whatever, to get them on their side. Next they invited those who were present at the foot of the Capitol to come within hearing distance and addressed suitable words to them;

§ 44.34.3 and they also sent down a letter to the Forum announcing that they would not confiscate anybody's goods or cause injury in other ways, and that they confirmed the validity of all the acts of Caesar. They also urged them to harmony, binding themselves by the strongest oaths that they would faithfully carry out these promises. 4 When, therefore, the action of the senate also was made known, the soldiers no longer paid heed to Lepidus nor did the conspirators have any fear of him, but all hastened to become reconciled, chiefly at the instance of Antony, and quite contrary to Lepidus' purpose.

§ 44.34.5 For Lepidus, while making a pretence of avenging Caesar, was really eager for a revolution, and inasmuch as he had legions also at his command, he expected to succeed to Caesar's position as ruler and to come to power; with these motives he was disposed to begin war. 6 Antony, perceiving his rival's favourable situation and having himself no force at his back, did not dare to begin any revolutionary movement for the time being, and in order to prevent the other from becoming stronger, he furthermore persuaded him to bow to the will of the majority. So they came to an agreement on the terms that had been voted, but those on the Capitol would not come down till they had secured the son of Lepidus and the son of Antony as hostages; then Brutus descended to Lepidus, to whom he was related,

§ 44.34.7 and Cassius to Antony, under promise of safety. And while they were dining together they naturally, at such a juncture, discussed a variety of topics and Antony asked Cassius: “Have you perchance a dagger under your arm even now?” To which he answered: “Yes, and a big one, if you too should desire to make yourself tyrant.”

§ 44.35.1 This was the way things went at that time. No injury was inflicted or expected, but instead the majority were glad to be rid of Caesar's rule, some of them even conceiving the idea of casting his body out unburied, and the conspirators, well pleased at being called liberators and tyrannicides, did not busy themselves with any further undertaking. 2 But later, when Caesar's will was read and the people learned that he had adopted Octavius as his son and had left Antony along with Decimus and some of the other assassins to be the young man's guardians and heirs to the property in case it should not come to him,

§ 44.35.3 and, furthermore, that he not only had made various bequests to individuals but had also given his gardens along the Tiber to the city and one hundred and twenty sesterces, according to the record of Octavius himself, or three hundred, according to some others, to each of the citizens, — at this the people became excited. 4 And Antony aroused them still more by bringing the body most inconsiderately into the Forum, exposing it all covered with blood as it was and with gaping wounds, and then delivering over it a speech, which was very ornate and brilliant, to be sure, but out of place on that occasion. He spoke somewhat as follows:

§ 44.36.1 “If this man had died as a private citizen, Quirites, and I had happened to be in private life, I should not have required many words nor have rehearsed all his achievements, but after making a few remarks about his family, his education, and his character, and perhaps mentioning his services to the state, I should have been satisfied, desiring only not to become wearisome to those who were unrelated to him. 2 But since this man when he perished held the highest position among you and I have received and hold the second, it is requisite that I should deliver a two-fold address, one as the man set down as his heir and the other in my capacity as magistrate, and I must not omit anything that ought to be spoken, but must mention the things which the whole people would have celebrated with one tongue if they could speak with one voice.

§ 44.36.3 Now I am well aware that it is difficult successfully to utter your thoughts; for it is no easy task in any case to measure up to so great a theme — indeed, what speech could equal the greatness of his deed? — and you, whose wishes are not easily satisfied because you know the facts as well as I, will prove no lenient judges of my efforts. 4 To be sure, if my words were being addressed to men ignorant of the subject, it would be very easy to win their approval by astounding them with the very magnitude of his achievements; but as the matter stands, because of your familiarity with them it is inevitable that everything that shall be said will be thought less than the reality.

§ 44.36.5 Strangers, even if through jealousy they doubt the deeds, yet for that reason deem each statement they hear strong enough; but your minds, because of your good-will, must inevitably prove impossible to satisfy. For you yourselves have profited most by Caesar's virtues, and you demand their praises, not half-heartedly, as if he were unrelated to you, but with deep affection as for your own kinsman. 6 I shall strive, therefore, to meet your wishes to the fullest extent, and I feel sure that you will not judge my good-will by the feebleness of my words, but will supply from my zeal whatever is lacking in that respect.

§ 44.37.1 ”I shall speak first about his lineage, though not because it is the most brilliant. Yet this, too, has considerable bearing on the nature of virtue, that a man should become good, not through force of circumstances, but by inherited power. 2 Those, to be sure, who are not born of noble parents may disguise themselves as noble men, but may also some day be convicted of their base origin by their inborn character; those, however, who possess the seed of a noble nature, handed down through a long line of ancestors, cannot possibly help possessing a virtue both spontaneous and enduring.

§ 44.37.3 Still, I am praising Caesar now, not so much because his recent lineage is through many noble men, his ancient origin from kings and gods, but because, in the first place, he is a kinsman of our whole city, — for those who founded his line also founded our city, — 4 and, secondly, because he not only confirmed the renown of his forefathers who were believed to have attained divinity through their virtue, but actually enhanced it; so that if anyone was inclined formerly to argue that Aeneas could never have been born of Venus, let him now believe it.

§ 44.37.5 For, although in times past some unworthy sons have been imputed to the gods, yet no one could deem this man unworthy to have had gods for his ancestors. Indeed, Aeneas himself ruled as king and so did some of his descendants; but this man proved himself so much superior to them that, whereas they were monarchs of Lavinium and Alba, 6 he refused to become king of Rome; and whereas they laid the foundation of our city, he raised it to such a height that he even established colonies greater than the cities over which they ruled.

§ 44.38.1 “So much, then, for his family. That he also received a nurture and a training corresponding to the dignity of his noble birth how could one better realize than by the cogent proof his deeds afford? 2 For is it not inevitable that a man who possessed to a conspicuous degree a body that was altogether adequate and a spirit that was more than adequate for all contingencies alike of peace and of war, must have been reared in the best possible way?

§ 44.38.3 And yet it is difficult for any man of surpassing beauty to show the greatest endurance, and difficult for one who is powerful in body to attain to the greatest wisdom, but it is particularly difficult for one and the same man to shine both in words and in deeds. Yet this man — I speak among those who know the facts, so that I shall not falsify in the least degree, since I should be caught in the very act, nor heap up exaggerated praises, since then I should accomplish the opposite of what I wish. 4 For if I do anything of the sort, I shall be suspected with full justice of boasting, and it will be thought that I am making his virtue appear less than the belief in it which is already in your own minds. In fact, every utterance delivered under such conditions, in case it contains even the smallest amount of falsehood, not only bestows no praise upon its subject but actually involves censure of him;

§ 44.38.5 for the knowledge of the hearers, not agreeing with the fictitious report, takes refuge in the truth, where it quietly finds satisfaction, and not only learns what kind of man he ought to have been, but also, by comparing the two, detects what he lacked. Stating only the truth, therefore, I affirm that this Caesar was at the same time most capable in body and most versatile in spirit. 6 For he enjoyed a wonderful natural force and had been carefully trained by the most liberal education, which always enabled him, not unnaturally, to comprehend everything that was needful with the greatest keenness, to interpret the need most convincingly, and then to arrange and handle the matter most prudently. No critical turn in a situation came upon him so suddenly as to catch him off his guard, nor did a secret menace, no matter how long the postponement, except his notice.

§ 44.38.7 For he decided always with regard to every crisis before it was at hand, and was prepared beforehand for every contingency that could happen to one. He understood well how to discern shrewdly what was concealed, to dissimulate plausibly what was evident, to pretend to know what was hidden, to conceal what he knew, 8 to adapt occasions to one another and to draw the proper inferences from them, and furthermore to accomplish and carry out in detail every enterprise.

§ 44.39.1 A proof of this is that in his private affairs he showed himself an excellent manager and very liberal at the same time, being careful to keep enough of what he had inherited, yet lavish in spending with an unsparing hand what he had acquired, and for all his relatives, except the most impious, he possessed a strong affection. 2 For he did not neglect any of them in misfortune, nor did he envy those in good fortune, but he helped these to increase the property they already had, and made up to the others what they lacked, giving some of them money, some lands, some offices, and some priesthoods.

§ 44.39.3 Again, his conduct toward his friends and other associates was remarkable. He never scorned or insulted any of them, but while courteous to all alike, he rewarded many times over those who assisted him in any project and won the devotion of the rest by benefits, never disparaging any one of brilliant position, nor humiliating any one who was bettering himself, 4 but, just as if he himself were being exalted through all of them and were acquiring strength and honour, he took delight in seeing great numbers become equal to himself. And yet, while he behaved thus toward his friends and acquaintances, he did not show himself cruel or inexorable even to his enemies,

§ 44.39.5 but let off scot-free many of those who had come into collision with him personally and released many who had actually made war against him, even giving some of them honours and offices. So strong a natural bent had he toward virtue, and not only had no vice himself, but would not believe that it existed in anybody else.

§ 44.40.1 ”And since I have reached this topic, I will begin to speak about his public services. If he had lived in quiet retirement, perhaps his virtue would not have been clearly proved; but as it was, by being raised to the highest position and becoming the greatest not only of his contemporaries but of all others who ever wielded any power, he displayed it more conspicuously. 2 For in the case of nearly all the others this authority had served only to reveal their weakness, but him it made more illustrious, since by reason of the greatness of his virtue he undertook correspondingly great deeds, and was found to be equal to them; he alone of men after obtaining for himself so great good fortune as a result of his nobility of character neither disgraced it nor treated it wantonly.

§ 44.40.3 I shall pass over, then, the brilliant successes which he regularly achieved in his campaigns and the high-mindedness he showed in his ordinary public services, although they were so great that for any other man they would warrant high praise; for, in view of the distinction of his subsequent deeds, I shall seem to be dealing in trivialities, if I also rehearse these scrupulously. I shall therefore only mention his achievements while he was your magistrate. 4 Yet I shall not even relate all these with scrupulous detail, for I could never get to the end of them, and I should cause you excessive weariness, particularly since you already know them.

§ 44.41.1 “First of all, then, this man was praetor in Spain, and finding it secretly disloyal, did not allow the inhabitants under the name of peace to become unconquerable, nor was it his own choice to spend the period of his governorship in quiet instead of accomplishing what was for the advantage of the state. Hence, since they would not willingly change their course, he brought them to their senses against their will, 2 and in doing this he surpassed the men who had previously won glory against them in just so far as keeping a thing is more difficult than acquiring it, and reducing men to a condition where they can never again become rebellious is more profitable than making them subject in the first place, while their power is still undiminished.

§ 44.41.3 That is the reason why you voted him a triumph for this and immediately gave him the office of consul. Indeed, from this very circumstance it became most evident that he had waged that war, not for his own pleasure or glory, but as a preparation for the future. 4 At all events he waived the celebration of the triumph because of the business that was pressing, and after thanking you for the honour he was content with that alone for his glory, and entered upon the consulship.

§ 44.42.1 ”Now all his administrative acts in the city during his tenure of that office would verily be countless to name. But as soon as he had ended it and had been sent to conduct this war against the Gauls, observe how many and how great were his achievements there. 2 So far from becoming a burden to our allies, he even went to their assistance, because he was not at all suspicious of them and saw, moreover, that they were being wronged. But our foes, both those who dwelt near the friendly tribes, and all the rest who inhabited Gaul, he subjugated, acquiring, on the one hand, vast stretches of territory, and on the other, numberless cities of which we knew not even the names before.

§ 44.42.3 All this, moreover, he accomplished so quietly, though he had received neither a competent force nor sufficient money from you, that before any of you knew that he was at war, he had conquered; and he settled affairs on so firm a basis as to make these places stepping-stones to Germania and to Britain. 4 So now Gaul is enslaved, which sent against us the Ambrones and the Cimbri, and is all under cultivation like Italy itself; and ships sail not only the Rhone and the Arar, but the Mosa, the Liger, the very Rhine, and the very ocean itself.

§ 44.42.5 Places of which we had not even heard the names, to lead us to think that they existed, he likewise subdued for us; the formerly unknown he made accessible, the formerly unexplored he made navigable, by the greatness of his purpose and the greatness of his resolution.

§ 44.43.1 And had not certain persons in their envy of him, or rather of you, begun a revolt and forced him to return here before the proper time, he would certainly have subdued all Britain together with the other islands which surround it and all Germania to the Arctic Ocean, so that we should have had as our boundaries for the future, not land or people, but the air and the outer sea. 2 For these reasons you also, beholding the greatness of his purpose, his deeds, and his good fortune, assigned him the right to hold office for a very long period, — a privilege which, from the time that we became a republic, no other man has enjoyed, — I mean holding the command during eight whole years in succession. So fully did you believe that it was really for your sake he was making all these conquests and so far were you from ever suspecting that he would grow powerful to your hurt.

§ 44.43.3 Nay, you desired that he should tarry in those regions as long as possible. He was prevented, however, by those who regarded the government as belonging no longer to the public but as their own private property, from subjugating the remaining countries, and you were kept from becoming masters of them all; for these men, making an evil use of the opportunity afforded by his being occupied, ventured upon many impious projects, so that you came to require his aid.

§ 44.44.1 Therefore, abandoning the victories within his grasp, he quietly came to your assistance, freed all Italy from the dangers which threatened it, and furthermore won back Spain, which was being estranged. Then, when he saw that Pompey, who had abandoned his country and was setting up a kingdom of his own in Macedonia, 2 was transferring thither all your possessions, equipping your subjects against you, and using your own money against you, he at first wished to persuade him somehow to stop and change his course, sending mediators to him both privately and publicly and offering the most solemn pledges that he should again attain and equal and like position with himself.

§ 44.44.3 When, however, he found himself unable in any way to effect this, but instead Pompey burst all restraints, even the relationship which had existed between himself and Caesar, and chose to fight against you, then at last he was compelled to begin the civil war. But what need is there of relating how daringly he sailed against him in spite of the winter, 4 or how boldly he assailed him, though Pompey held all the strong positions, or how bravely he vanquished him, though much inferior in the number of his troops? Indeed, if one wished to recite the whole story in detail, he could show the renowned Pompey to have been a mere child, so completely was he outgeneralled at every point.

§ 44.45.1 “But all this I will omit, since not even Caesar himself ever took any pride in it, always hating, as he did, the deeds enforced by necessity. But when Heaven had most justly decided the issue of the battle, whom of those then captured for the first time did he put to death? Whom, rather, did he not honour, not alone of the senators or knights or of the citizens in general, but even of the allies and subjects? 2 For no one, even of them, either died a violent death, or was censured, — no civilian, no king, no tribe, no city. On the contrary, some arrayed themselves on his side, and others obtained at least pardon with honour, so that all then lamented the fate of those who had perished.

§ 44.45.3 Such exceeding humanity did he show, that he praised those who had coöperated with Pompey and allowed them to keep everything that Pompey had given them, but hated Pharnaces and Orodes, because, though friends of the vanquished, they had not assisted him. 4 It was chiefly for this reason that he not long afterward waged war on Pharnaces and was preparing to conduct a campaign against Orodes. And he certainly would have spared even Pompey himself if he had captured him alive. A proof of this is that he did not pursue him at once, but allowed him to flee at his leisure.

§ 44.45.5 Also he was grieved when he heard of Pompey's death and did not praise his murderers, but put them to death for it soon after, and moreover even destroyed Ptolemy himself, because, though a child, he had allowed his benefactor to perish.

§ 44.46.1 ”How after this he brought Egypt to terms and how much money he conveyed to you from there, it would be superfluous to relate. And when he made his campaign against Pharnaces, who already held a considerable part of Pontus and Armenia, he was on one and the same day reported to the king as approaching him, was seen confronting him, engaged him in conflict, and conquered him. 2 This better than anything else showed that he had not become weaker in Alexandria and had not delayed there out of voluptuousness. For how could he have won that victory so easily without having great mental vigour in reserve and great physical strength?

§ 44.46.3 When now Pharnaces had fled, he was preparing to conduct a campaign at once against the Parthian, but as certain men had begun a strife here he returned reluctantly and settled this dispute, too, so well that no one would believe that there had been any disturbance at all. 4 For not a person was killed or exiled or even disgraced in any way as a result of that trouble, not because many might not justly have been punished, but because he thought it right while destroying the enemy unsparingly to preserve the citizens, even if some of them are of little account.

§ 44.46.5 Therefore by his bravery he overcame foreigners in war, but by his humanity he kept unharmed even the seditious citizens, although many of them by their acts had often shown themselves unworthy of this favour. This same policy he followed again both in Africa and in Spain, releasing all who had not previously been captured and been pitied by him. 6 For while he considered it folly, not humanity, always to spare the lives of those who frequently plotted against him, on the other hand, he thought it the duty of one who was truly a man to pardon opponents on the occasion of their first errors instead of harbouring implacable anger, yes, and even to assign honours to them, but if they clung to their original course, to get rid of them.

§ 44.46.7 Yet why do I relate this? Many of these also he spared by allowing all his associates and those who had helped him conquer to save the life of one captive each.

§ 44.47.1 “That he did all this, moreover, from inherent goodness and not for appearances or to reap any advantage, as many others have displayed humaneness, there is this further very strong evidence, that everywhere and in all circumstances he showed himself the same: anger did not brutalize him, nor good fortune corrupt him; power did not alter, nor authority change him. 2 Yet it is very difficult when tested in so many enterprises of such magnitude, in enterprises, moreover, that follow one another in rapid succession, when one has been successful in some, is still engaged in conducting others, and only surmises that others are yet to come, to prove equally good on all occasions and to refrain from wishing to do anything harsh or terrible, if not out of vengeance for the past, at least as a measure of safeguard for the future.

§ 44.47.3 This alone is enough to prove his goodness; for he was so truly a scion of gods that he understood but one thing, to save those who could be saved. But there is also this further evidence, that he took care not to have those who warred against him punished even by anyone else, and that he won back those who had met with misfortune earlier. 4 For he caused amnesty to be granted to all who had been followers of Lepidus and Sertorius, and next arranged that safety should be afforded to all the survivors of those whom Sulla had proscribed; somewhat later he brought them home from exile and bestowed honours and offices upon the sons of all who had been slain by Sulla.

§ 44.47.5 Greatest of all, he burned absolutely all the secret documents found in the tent of either Pompey or Scipio, neither reading nor yet keeping any of them, in order that it might not happen that anyone else should use them for mischievous ends. And that this was not only what he said he had done, but what he actually did, the facts show clearly; at any rate, no one as a result of those letters was even frightened, much less suffered any harm. 6 Hence no one even knows those who escaped this danger except the men themselves. This is a most astonishing fact and one without a parallel, that they were spared before they were accused and saved before they encountered danger, and that not even he who saved their lives learned who it was he pitied.

§ 44.48.1 ”For these and for all his other acts of legislation and reconstruction, great in themselves, but likely to be deemed small in comparison with those others which I need not recount in detail, you loved him as a father and cherished him as a benefactor, you exalted him with such honours as you bestowed on no one else 2 and desired him to be continual head of the city and of the whole domain. You did not quarrel at all about titles, but applied them all to him, feeling that they were inadequate to his merits, and desiring that whatever each of them, in the light of customary usage, lacked of being a complete expression of honour and authority might be supplied by what the rest contributed.

§ 44.48.3 Therefore, for the gods he was appointed high priest, for us consul, for the soldiers imperator, and for the enemy dictator. But why do I enumerate these details, when in one phrase you called him father of his country — not to mention the rest of his titles?

§ 44.49.1 “Yet this father, this high priest, this inviolable being, this hero and god, is dead, alas, dead not by the violence of some disease, nor wasted by old age, nor wounded abroad somewhere in some war, nor caught up inexplicably by some supernatural force, but right here within the walls as the result of a plot — the man who had safely led an army into Britain; 2 ambushed in this city — the man who had enlarged its pomerium; murdered in the senate-house — the man who had reared another such edifice at his own expense; unarmed — the brave warrior; defenceless — the promoter of peace; the judge — beside the court of justice; the magistrate — beside the seat of government; at the hands of the citizens — he whom none of the enemy had been able to kill even when he fell into the sea; at the hands of his comrades — he who had often taken pity on them.

§ 44.49.3 Of what avail, O Caesar, was your humanity, of what avail your inviolability, of what avail the laws? Nay, though you enacted many laws that men might not be killed by their personal foes, yet how mercilessly you yourself were slain by your friends! And now, the victim of assassination, you lie dead in the Forum through which you often led the triumph crowned; wounded to death, you have been cast down upon the Rostra from which you often addressed the people. 4 Woe for the blood-bespattered locks of gray, alas for the rent robe, which you assumed, it seems, only that you might be slain in it!”

§ 44.50.1 At this deliverance of Antony's the throng was at first excited, then enraged, and finally so inflamed with passion that they sought his murderers and reproached the other senators, because while the others had slain they had looked on at the death of a man on whose behalf they had voted to offer public prayers each year, by whose Health and Fortune they had sworn their oaths, whose person they had made as inviolable as the tribunes. 2 Then, seizing his body, some wished to convey it to the room in which he had been slaughtered, and others to the Capitol, and burn it there; but being prevented by the soldiers, who feared that the theatre and temples would be burned to the ground at the same time, they placed it upon a pyre there in the Forum, without further ado.

§ 44.50.3 Even so, many of the surrounding buildings would have been destroyed had not the soldiers prevented and had not the consuls thrust some of the bolder ones over the cliffs of the Capitoline. 4 For all that, the rest did not cease their disturbance, but rushed to the houses of the assassins, and during the excitement killed, among others, Helvius Cinna, a tribune, without just cause; for this man had not only not plotted against Caesar, but was one of his most devoted friends. Their mistake was due to the fact that Cornelius Cinna, the praetor, had taken part in the attack.

§ 44.51.1 After this, when the consuls forbade any one except the soldiers to carry arms, they refrained from bloodshed, but set up an altar on the site of the pyre (for the freedmen of Caesar had previously taken up his bones and deposited them in the family tomb), and undertook to sacrifice upon it and to offer victims to Caesar, as to a god. 2 But the consuls overthrew this altar and punished some who showed displeasure at the act, at the same time publishing a law that no one should ever again be dictator and invoking curses and proclaiming death as the penalty upon any man who should propose or support such a measure, besides openly setting a price upon the heads of any such.

§ 44.51.3 This provision they made for the future, assuming that the shamefulness of men's deeds consists in the titles they bear, whereas these deeds really arise from their possession of armed forces and from the character of the individual incumbent of the office, and disgrace the titles of authority under which they chance to occur; 4 but for the time being they sent out immediately to the colonies such as held allotments of land already assigned by Caesar, out of fear that they might begin an uprising, while of the assassins they sent out those who had obtained governorships to the provinces, and the rest to various places on one pretext or another; and these men were honoured by many as their benefactors.

§ 44.52.1 In this way Caesar met his end. And inasmuch as he had been slain in Pompey's edifice and near his statue which at that time stood there, he seemed in a way to have afforded his rival his revenge, especially as tremendous thunder and a furious rain followed. In the midst of that excitement there also took place the following incident, not unworthy of mention. 2 One Gaius Casca, a tribune, seeing that Cinna had perished as a result of his cognomen being the same as the prisoner's, and fearing that he too might be killed, because Publius Servilius Casca was one of the tribunes and also one of the assassins,

§ 44.52.3 issued a statement which showed that they had in common only the single name and pointed out the difference in their sentiments. Neither of them suffered any harm, as Servilius was strongly guarded; but Gaius gained some notoriety, so that he is remembered for this act.

§ 44.53.1 These were the actions of the consuls and of the others at that time. I say consuls, for Antony, fearing that Dolabella would head a revolt, took him as his colleague in the consulship, although he was at first not disposed to do so, on the ground that the office did not yet belong to him. 2 When, however, the excitement subsided, and Antony himself was charged with the duty of investigating the acts of Caesar's administration and carrying out all his behests, he no longer acted with moderation, but as soon as he had got hold of the dead man's papers, made many erasures and many substitutions, inserting laws as well as other matters.

§ 44.53.3 Moreover, he deprived some of money and offices, which in turn he gave to others, pretending that in doing so he was carrying out Caesar's directions. Next he seized large sums of money there in Rome, and collected large sums also from private persons, communities, and kings, selling to some land, to others freedom, to others citizenship, to others exemption from taxes. 4 And this was in spite of the fact that the senate had voted at first that no tablet should be set up on account of any law alleged to have been framed by Caesar (all such matters were inscribed upon bronze tablets), and that later, when he persisted, declaring that many urgent matters had been provided for by Caesar, it had ordered that all the foremost citizens should jointly determine them.

§ 44.53.5 Antony, however, paid no attention to them, and, in a word, despised Octavius, who, as a stripling and inexperienced in business, had declined the inheritance because it was troublesome and hard to manage; and thus he himself, claiming to be the heir not only of the property but also of the power of Caesar, managed everything. One of his acts was to restore some exiles. 6 And since Lepidus had great power and was causing him considerable fear, he gave his daughter in marriage to this leader's son and made arrangements to have Lepidus himself appointed high priest, so as to prevent his meddling with what he himself was doing.

§ 44.53.7 In fact, in order to carry out this plan with ease, he transferred the election of the high priest from the people back to the priests, and in company with the latter he consecrated him, performing few or none of the prescribed rites; and yet he might have secured the priesthood for himself.

§ 45.1.1 So much for Antony's conduct. Now Gaius Octavius Caepias, as the son of Caesar's niece, Attia, was named, came from Velitrae in the Volscian country; after being bereft of his father Octavius he was brought up in the house of his mother and her husband, Lucius Philippus, but on attaining maturity lived with Caesar. 2 For Caesar, being childless and basing great hopes upon him, loved and cherished him, intending to leave him as successor to his name, authority, and sovereignty. He was influenced largely by Attia's emphatic declaration that the youth had been engendered by Apollo; for while sleeping once in his temple, she said, she thought she had intercourse with a serpent, and it was this that caused her at the end of the allotted time to bear a son.

§ 45.1.3 Before he came to the light of day she saw in a dream her entrails lifted to the heavens and spreading out over all the earth; and the same night Octavius thought that the sun rose from her womb. Hardly had the child been born when Nigidius Figulus, a senator, straightway prophesied for him absolute power. 4 This man could distinguish most accurately of his contemporaries the order of the firmament and the differences between the stars, what they accomplish when by themselves and when together, by their conjunctions and by their intervals, and for this reason had incurred the charge of practising some forbidden art.

§ 45.1.5 He, then, on this occasion met Octavius, who on account of the birth of the child, was somewhat late in reaching the senate-house (for there happened to be a meeting of the senate that day), and upon asking him why he was late and learning the cause, he cried out, “You have begotten a master over us.” At this Octavius was alarmed and wished to destroy the infant, but Nigidius restrained him, saying that it was impossible for it to suffer any such fate.

§ 45.2.1 These things were reported at that time; and while the child was being brought up in the country, an eagle snatched from his hands a loaf of bread and after soaring aloft flew down and gave it back to him. When he was now a lad and was staying in Rome, 2 Cicero dreamed that the boy had been let down from the sky by golden chains to the Capitol and had received a whip from Jupiter. He did not know who the boy was, but meeting him the next day on the Capitol itself, he recognized him and told the vision to the bystanders.

§ 45.2.3 Catulus, who had likewise never seen Octavius, thought in his sleep that all the noble boys had marched in a solemn procession to Jupiter on the Capitol, and in the course of the ceremony the god had cast what looked like an image of Rome into that boy's lap. 4 Startled at this, he went up to the Capitol to offer prayers to the god, and finding there Octavius, who had gone up for some reason or other, he compared his appearance with the dream and convinced himself of the truth of the vision.

§ 45.2.5 When, later, Octavius had grown up and reached maturity and was putting on man's dress, his tunic was rent on both sides from his shoulders and fell to his feet. Now this event in itself not only foreboded no good as an omen, 6 but it also distressed those who were present because it had happened on the occasion of his first putting on man's garb; it occurred, however, to Octavius to say, “I shall have the whole senatorial dignity beneath my feet,” and the outcome proved in accordance with his words.

§ 45.2.7 Caesar, accordingly, founded great hopes upon him as a result of all this, enrolled him among the patricians, and trained him for the rule, carefully educating him in all the arts that should be possessed by one who was destined to direct well and worthily so great a power. 8 Thus he was practised in oratory, not only in the Latin language but in the Greek as well, was vigorously trained in military service, and thoroughly instructed in politics and the art of government.

§ 45.3.1 Now this Octavius chanced at the time that Caesar was murdered to be in Apollonia on the Ionic Gulf, pursuing his education; for he had been sent ahead thither in view of Caesar's intended campaign against the Parthians. When he learned what had happened, he was of course grieved, but did not dare to begin a revolution at once; for he had not yet heard that he had been made Caesar's son or even his heir, and moreover the first news he received was to the effect that the people were of one mind in the affair. 2 When, however, he had crossed to Brundisium and had been informed about Caesar's will and the people's second thought, he made no delay, particularly as he had large sums of money and numerous soldiers who had been sent ahead under his charge, but immediately assumed the name of Caesar, succeeded to his estate, and began to busy himself with public affairs.

§ 45.4.1 At the time he seemed to some to have acted recklessly and daringly in this, but later, thanks to his good fortune and the successes he achieved, he acquired a reputation for bravery for this act. 2 For it has often happened that men who were wrong in undertaking some project have gained a reputation for good judgment, because they had the luck to gain their ends; while others, who made the best possible choice, have been charged with folly because they were not fortunate enough to attain their objects.

§ 45.4.3 He, too, acted in a precarious and hazardous fashion; for he was only just past boyhood, being eighteen years of age, and saw that his succession to the inheritance and the family was sure to provoke jealousy and censure; yet he set out in pursuit of objects such as had led to Caesar's murder, which had not been avenged, and he feared neither the assassins nor Lepidus and Antony. 4 Nevertheless, he was not thought to have planned badly, because he proved to be successful. Heaven, however, indicated in no obscure manner all the confusion that would result to the Romans from it; for as he was entering Rome a great halo with the colours of the rainbow surrounded the whole sun.

§ 45.5.1 In this way he who was formerly called Octavius, but already by this time Caesar, and subsequently Augustus, took a hand in public affairs; and he managed and dealt with them more vigorously than any man in his prime, more prudently than any graybeard. 2 In the first place, he entered the city as if for the sole purpose of succeeding to the inheritance, coming as a private citizen with only a few attendants, without any display. Again, he did not utter threats against any one nor show that he was displeased at what had occurred and would take vengeance for it.

§ 45.5.3 Indeed, so far from demanding of Antony any of the money that he had previously plundered, he actually paid court to him, although he was insulted and wronged by him. For Antony did him many injuries both in word and deed, particularly when the lex curiata was proposed by which the transfer of Octavius into Caesar's family was to take place; 4 Antony himself pretended to be doing his best to have it passed, but through some tribunes he kept securing its postponement, in order that the young man, not being as yet Caesar's son according to law, might not meddle with the property and might be weaker in all other ways.

§ 45.6.1 Caesar was vexed at this, but as he was unable to speak his mind freely, he bore it until he had won over the multitude, by whom he understood his father had been raised to honour. 2 For he knew that they were angry at Caesar's death and hoped they would be devoted to him as his son, and he perceived that they hated Antony on account of his conduct as master of the horse and also for his failure to punish the assassins.

§ 45.6.3 Hence he undertook to become tribune as a starting point for popular leadership and to secure the power that would result from it; and he accordingly became a candidate for the place of Cinna, which was vacant. Though hindered by Antony's followers, he did not desist, and after using persuasion upon Tiberius Cannutius, a tribune, he was by him brought before the populace; and taking as his pretext the gift bequeathed the people by Caesar, he addressed them in appropriate words, promising that he would discharge the debt at once and giving them cause to hope for much besides. 4 After this came the festival appointed in honour of the completion of the temple of Venus, which some, while Caesar was still alive, had promised to celebrate, but were now holding in slight regard, even as they did the games in the Circus in honour of the Parilia; so, to win the favour of the populace, he provided for it at his private expense, on the ground that it concerned him because of his family.

§ 45.6.5 At this time out of fear of Antony he did not bring into the theatre either Caesar's gilded chair or his crown set with precious stones, as had been permitted by decree.

§ 45.7.1 When, however, a certain star during all those days appeared in the north toward evening, which some called a comet, claiming that it foretold the usual occurrences, while the majority, instead of believing it, ascribed it to Caesar, interpreting it to mean that he had become immortal and had been received into the number of the stars, Octavius then took courage and set up in the temple of Venus a bronze statue of him with a star above his head. 2 And when this act also was allowed, no one trying to prevent it through fear of the populace, then at last some of the other decrees already passed in honour of Caesar were put into effect. Thus they called one of the months July after him, and in the course of certain festivals of thanksgiving for victory they sacrificed during one special day in memory of his name. For these reasons the soldiers also, particularly since some of them received largesses of money, readily took the side of Caesar.

§ 45.7.3 A rumour accordingly got abroad and it seemed likely that something unusual would take place. This belief was due particularly to the circumstance that once, when Octavius wished to speak with Antony in court about something, from an elevated and conspicuous place, as he had been wont to do in his father's lifetime, Antony would not permit it, but caused his lictors to drag him down and drive him out.

§ 45.8.1 All were exceedingly vexed, especially as Caesar, with a view to casting odium upon his rival an attracting the multitude, would no longer even frequent the Forum. So Antony became alarmed, and in conversation with the bystanders one days remarked that he harboured no anger against Caesar, but on the contrary owed him good-will, and was ready to end all suspicion. 2 The statement was reported to the other, they held a conference, and some thought they had become reconciled. For they understood each other's feeling accurately, and, thinking it inopportune at that time to put them to the test, they tried to come to terms by making a few mutual concessions. And for some days they kept quiet; then they began to suspect each other afresh, as a result either of some actual treachery or some false calumny, as regularly happens under such conditions, and fell out again.

§ 45.8.3 For when men become reconciled after some great enmity they are suspicious of many acts that have no significance and of many chance occurrences; in brief, they regard everything, in the light of their former hostility, as done on purpose and for an evil end. And in the meantime those who are neutral aggravate the trouble between them by bearing reports back and forth under the pretence of good-will and thus exasperating them still further. 4 For there is a very large element which is anxious to see all those who have power at variance with one another, an element which consequently takes delight in their enmity and joins in plots against them. And the one who has previously suffered from calumny is very easy to deceive with words adapted to the purpose by friends whose attachment is free from suspicion. Thus it was that these men, who even before this had not trusted each other, became now more estranged than ever.

§ 45.9.1 So Antony, seeing that Caesar was gaining ground, attempted to attract the populace by various baits, to see if he could detach them from his rival and win them to himself. Hence he introduced a measure for the opening up to settlement of a great amount of land, including the region of the Pomptine marshes, since these had already been filled in and were capable of cultivation. He did this through his brother Lucius Antonius, who was tribune; 2 for the three Antonii, who were brothers, all held offices at the same time, Marcus being consul, Lucius tribune, and Gaius praetor. This in particular enabled them to remove those who were then governing the allies and subjects (except the majority of the assassins and some others whom they regarded as loyal) and to choose others in their place,

§ 45.9.3 and also to grant to some the privilege of holding office for an unusually long term, contrary to the laws established by Caesar. And thus Macedonia, which had fallen to Marcus by lot, was appropriated by his brother Gaius, while Marcus himself with the legions previously sent to Apollonia took in its place Cisalpine Gaul, to which Decimus Brutus had been assigned, because it was very powerful in soldiers and money. 4 After these arrangements had been voted, the pardon granted to Sextus Pompey, who already had considerable influence, was confirmed, in spite of the fact that it had originally been granted by Caesar to him as to all the rest. It was further resolved that whatever money in silver or gold the public treasury had received from his ancestral estate should be restored; but as for the lands belonging to it, Antony held the most of them and made no restoration.

§ 45.10.1 This was the business in which these men were now engaged. I shall now relate how Sextus had fared. When he had fled from Corduba on the former occasion, he first came to Lacetania and concealed himself there. He was pursued, to be sure, but eluded discovery because the natives were kindly disposed to him out of regard for his father's memory. 2 Later, when Caesar had set out for Italy and only a small army was left behind in Baetica, Sextus was joined both by the natives and by those who had escaped from the battle; and with them he came again into Baetica, because he thought it a more suitable region in which to carry on war.

§ 45.10.3 There he gained possession of soldiers and cities, particularly after Caesar's death, some voluntarily and some forcibly; for the commander in charge of them, Gaius Asinius Pollio, had no strong force. He next set out against Spanish Carthage, 4 but since in his absence Pollio made an attack and did some damage, he returned with a large force, met his opponent, and routed him, after which the following accident enabled him to terrify and conquer the rest also, who were contending fiercely.

§ 45.10.5 Pollio had cast off his general's cloak, in order to suffer less chance of detection in his flight, and another man of the same name, a distinguished knight, had fallen. The soldiers, hearing the name of the latter, who was lying there, and seeing the garment, which had been captured, were deceived, thinking that their general had perished, and so surrendered. 6 In this way Sextus conquered and gained possession of nearly the whole region. When he had thus become powerful, Lepidus arrived to govern the adjoining portion of Spain, and persuaded him to enter into an agreement on the condition of recovering his father's estate. And Antony, influenced by his friendship for Lepidus and by his hostility toward Caesar, caused such a decree to be passed. So Sextus, in this way and on these conditions, departed from Spain.

§ 45.11.1 As for Caesar and Antony, in all their acts they were opposing each other, but had not yet fallen out openly, and while in reality they had become enemies, they tried to disguise the fact so far as appearances went. As a result all other interests in the city were in great confusion and turmoil. 2 The citizens were still at peace and yet already at war; the appearance of liberty was kept up, but the deeds done were those of a monarchy. To a casual observer Antony, since he held the consulship, seemed to be getting the best of it, but the zeal of the masses was for Caesar. This was partly on his father's account, partly on account of their hopes for what he kept promising them, but above all because they were displeased at the great power of Antony and were inclined to assist Caesar while he was as yet devoid of strength.

§ 45.11.3 Neither man, to be sure, had their affection; but they were always eager for a change of government, and it was their nature to overthrow every party that had the upper hand and to help the one that was being oppressed. Consequently they made use of the two to suit their own desires. Thus, after humbling Antony at this time through Caesar, they next undertook to destroy the latter also. 4 For in their irritation against the men successively in power they regularly took up with the weaker side and attempted with its help to overthrow the others; afterwards they would become estranged from this side also. Thus exposing both of them to envy in turn, they alternately loved and hated, elevated and humbled, the same persons.

§ 45.12.1 While they were thus disposed toward Caesar and Antony, the war began in the following way. When Antony had set out for Brundisium to meet the soldiers who had crossed over from Macedonia, Caesar sent some men to that city with money, 2 who were to arrive there before Antony and win over the men, while he himself went to Campania and collected a large number of men, chiefly from Capua, because the people there had received their land and city from his father, whom he said he was avenging. He made them many promises and gave them on the spot two thousand sesterces apiece.

§ 45.12.3 From these men was constituted the corps of evocati, which one might translate the “recalled,” because after having ended their military service they were recalled to it again. Caesar took charge of them, hastened to Rome before Antony returned, 4 and came before the people, who had been made ready for him by Cannutius. There he reminded them in detail of the many excellent deeds his father had performed, delivered a lengthy, though moderate, defence of himself,

§ 45.12.5 and brought charges against Antony. He also praised the soldiers who had accompanied him, saying that they had come voluntarily to lend aid to the city, that they had elected him to preside over the state, and that through him they made known these facts to all. 6 For this speech he received the approbation of his following and of the throng that stood by, after which he departed for Etruria with a view to obtaining an accession to his forces from that region.

§ 45.13.1 While he was doing this Antony had at first been kindly received in Brundisium by the soldiers, because they expected to secure more from him than was offered them by Caesar; for they believed that he possessed much more than his rival. 2 When, however, he promised to give them merely four hundred sesterces apiece, they raised an outcry, but he reduced them to submission by ordering centurions as well as others to be slain before the eyes of himself and of his wife.3 So for the time being the soldiers were quiet, but when they arrived near the capital on the way to Gaul they mutinied, and many of them, despising the lieutenants who had been set over them, changed to Caesar's side; in fact, the Martian legion, as it was called, and the fourth went over to him in a body. 4 Caesar took charge of them and won their attachment by giving money to them likewise, — an act which added many more to his cause. He also captured all the elephants of Antony, by falling in with them suddenly as they were being driven along.

§ 45.13.5 Antony stopped in Rome only long enough to arrange a few affairs and to administer the oath to all the rest of the soldiers who were in their company; then he set out for Gaul, fearing that it, too, might begin an uprising. Caesar, on his side, did not delay, but followed after him.