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SCIENTIA
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HISTORY
OF THE LATER
17977
ROMAN COMMONWEALTH,
FROM THE END OF THE SECOND PUNIC WAR TO THE
DEATH OF JULIUS CÆSAR;
AND OF THE
REIGN OF AUGUSTUS:
WITH A
LIFE OF TRAJAN.
GENERAL LIBRARY
University o
MICHIGAN

BY
THOMAS ARNOLD, D.D.,
LATE REGIUS PROFESSOR OF MODERN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD,
HEAD MASTER OF RUGBY SCHOOL,
AND MEMBER OF THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF ROME.
REPUBLISHED FROM "THE ENCYCLOPÆDIA METROPOLITANA.”
VOL. II.
LONDON:
B. FELLOWES; F. AND J. RIVINGTON; E. HODGSON; G. LAWFORD; J. M.
RICHARDSON; J. BAIN; AND S. HODGSON: ALSO, J. H. Parker, OXFORD ;
AND J. AND J. J. DEIGHTON, CAMBRIDGE.
1845.

1
LONDON:
GILBERT AND RIVINGTON, PRINTERS,
ST. JOHN'S SQUARE.
I
CONTENTS
OF
VOLUME II.
CHAPTER IX.
Caius Julius Cæsar.-A sketch of the Roman History from the
appointment of Cæsar to the command in Gaul to his Death.
—From u.c. 695 to 710, a.c. 59 to 44 [CONTINUED]
CHAPTER X.
Caius Octavius Cæsar Augustus.-A view of the History of
Rome. From u.c. 709 to u.c. 722, a.c. 45 to A.c. 32 .
CHAPTER XI.
Caius Octavius Cæsar Augustus.-A view of the History of
Rome. From u.c. 722 to u.c. 766, a.c. 32 to A.D. 13.
CHAPTER XII.
PAGE
1
. 112
291
M. Ulpius Trajanus Crinitus.-From A.D. 98 to 117
409
་
HISTORY
OF THE
LATER ROMAN COMMONWEALTH.
CHAPTER IX.
CAIUS JULIUS CÆSAR.—A SKETCH OF THE ROMAN
HISTORY FROM THE APPOINTMENT OF CESAR TO
THE COMMAND IN GAUL TO HIS DEATH.-FROM
U.c. 695 to 710, A.c. 59 to 44. [CONTINUED.]
IX.
From
to 710,
CÆSAR was fully aware of the importance of pursuing CHAP.
Pompey, as he knew that the whole cause of the
Commonwealth depended on him alone, and that if U.C. 695
he were once removed, his partisans would instantly A.c. 59
to 44.
be divided, and probably only a small portion of
Cæsar pur-
them would be inclined to continue the contest. sues Pom-
Accordingly, while M. Antonius led the greater part
of the victorious army back to Brundisium¹, Cæsar
himself crossed by the Hellespont into Asia, and by
the fame of his arrival dissipated an assemblage of
¹ Cicero, Philippic. II. 24. Cæsar, III. 105, 106.
VOL. II.
B
pey.
2
HE ARRIVES IN EGYPT, AND
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. Some citizens of rank, who had been called together
at Ephesus to sanction the removal of the treasures
of the temple of Diana, for the service of Pompey
and the Commonwealth. After a short stay in the
province of Asia, he received information that Pom-
pey had been seen at Cyprus; and thinking it pro-
bable that he would seek an asylum in Egypt, he
resolved to follow him thither. Already the news
of the battle of Pharsalia, and of the flight of Pom-
pey, had induced many of the squadrons which had
been sent to support the cause of the Common-
wealth by the states in alliance with Rome, to return
to their own countries. The Egyptian fleet had
been one of this number; whilst the Rhodians,
taking a more decisive part, had excluded Pompey,
as we have seen, from their harbours, and now fur-
nished Cæsar with ten ships of war, to enable him to
follow the man in whose cause they themselves had
been so lately engaged. These, with a few other
vessels procured in the ports of the province of Asia,
sufficed to transport the two incomplete legions,
which at this moment were the whole of Cæsar's dis-
posable force, and of which one had followed him
immediately from Pharsalia, and the other had been
sent for from the south of Greece, where it had been
employed on a separate service, and consequently
He arrives had not been present at the late battle. With
and is there these two legions he landed at Alexandria, and there
was informed of Pompey's murder, and saw his head
and his ring presented to him as a grateful offering
of Ptolemy by the murderers. He is said to have shed tears at
in Egypt,
involved in
a war, by
his inter-
ference in
the disputes
IS THERE INVOLVED IN WAR.
3
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
and Cleo-
patra.
the sight; and those signs of mere physical suscepti- CHAP.
bility, so little imply any real humanity of character, From
that they flowed very probably from a spontaneous U.C. 695
feeling; and Cæsar may have indulged them with A.C. 59
pleasure, flattering himself that they were a proof of
the tenderness of his nature. At any rate it cost
him no effort to refuse any expressions of gratitude
to the murderers; for he was immediately involved
in a quarrel with them, because he claimed the
right, as Roman consul³, to arbitrate in all disputes
which related to the execution of the late king's
will. Thus the very interference, from the fear of
which Ptolemy's counsellors had resolved to murder
Pompey, now threatened them in a much more
alarming shape, when Cæsar announced it as his
decision that Ptolemy and Cleopatra should both
dismiss their armies, and repair to his quarters at
Alexandria, there to state their respective preten-
sions before him. The king's officers, indignant at
the affront thus offered to the crown of Egypt, in-
stantly brought up their army from the Syrian fron-
tiers, and prepared to attack Cæsar; but the young
king himself, with his tutor and minister Pothinus,
was already in Alexandria, and in Cæsar's power;
so that the attempts of his subjects to deliver him
were represented by his oppressor as a rebellion
against his authority. Cleopatra too was in Cæsar's
quarters; but she was no unwilling prisoner, if the
2 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 48. Livy, 3 Cæsar, III. 107.
Epitome, CXII.
B 2
4
PROCEEDINGS OF POMPEY'S PARTISANS
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. common stories of the time may be credited, which
tell us, that trusting to the influence of her charms,
she readily obeyed Cæsar's summons, and finding
that access to him was precluded by the besieging
army of her brother, she caused herself to be
wrapped up in a package of carpeting, and in this
manner was safely conveyed into Cæsar's presence.
It is added, that she was not disappointed in her
expectations; that Cæsar's interference in the dis-
pute between her and her brother, which had origin-
ated in political and ambitious motives, was con-
tinued after his interview with Cleopatra from feel-
ings of a different nature, and that his passion for
her involved him more deeply in a contest, in which
he had at first found himself engaged unexpectedly,
and from which, when it became serious, he might
otherwise have deemed it politic to extricate him-
self. Be this as it may, Cæsar remained some
months at Alexandria, maintaining a difficult and
sometimes a perilous struggle with the Egyptians.
Without entering here into the detail of his adven-
tures, we must take a survey of the state of the
Roman empire during his absence, and describe the
effects of his victory at Pharsalia, and of that sub-
sequent neglect of his affairs which delayed for two
years the full enjoyment of its advantages.
Proceed-
ings of
If Pompey ever received intelligence, during his
Pompey's flight, of the services performed by his navy in the
seas westward of Greece, and of the sudden check
partisans
after the
battle of
Pharsalia.
4 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 49. Dion Cassius, XLII. 201, edit. Leunclav.
i
AFTER THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.
5
IX.
fortunes U.C. 695
to 710,
to 44.
At the A.C. 59
fugitive
given to this career of success by the fatal issue of CHAP.
the battle of Pharsalia, he must have been most From
bitterly sensible of his error in staking his
on the event of a general action by land.
very moment when he was escaping as a
from the scene of his defeat in Thessaly, one of
his squadrons was again blockading the harbour of
Brundisium 5; and another, under the command of
C. Cassius, was infesting the coasts of Sicily, and had
lately burnt the entire fleet of the enemy, amount-
ing to thirty-five ships, in the harbour of Messina.
But the news of Pompey's defeat at once deterred
his lieutenants from pursuing their advantages; their
squadrons retreated from the coasts of Italy and
Sicily, and repaired to Corcyra, at which place the
principal surviving leaders of the party of the Com-
monwealth were at this time assembled. We have
already mentioned that M. Cato had been left with
fifteen cohorts to defend Dyrrhachium, when Pom-
pey set out in pursuit of Cæsar into Thessaly, and
that M. Cicero, M. Varro, and some other distin-
guished individuals, had remained from different
causes at Dyrrhachium also. In the midst of their
anxiety for the issue of the campaign, T. Labienus
arrived a fugitive from the rout of Pharsalia, and
the tidings which he brought produced at once a
general consternation and disorder. The magazines
of corn were presently sacked by the soldiers, who,
considering the war as ended, were resolved to pay
5 Cæsar, III. 100, 101.
6 Cicero, de Divinatione, I. 31.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
6
CATO WITHDRAWS TO AFRICA.
CHAP. themselves as they best could for their services; nor
could they be induced to accompany their officers in
their flight, but proceeded to burn the transports in
the harbour, that none of their number might be
able to separate their fortunes from those of the rest.
But the ships of war for the most part were still
faithful, and in these the chiefs of the vanquished
party hastened to escape to Corcyra. When they
had reached that island a new scene of distraction
ensued. The command of the forces was offered to
Cicero, as he was the oldest senator present of con-
sular dignity'; but he being determined to take no
further part in the contest, declined it; and being
protected, as it is said, by Cato, from the violence of
Cn. Pompeius, Pompey's eldest son, who wished to
kill him as a deserter from the cause of the Com-
monwealth, he returned to Italy to throw himself on
the mercy of the victorious party. D. Lælius, one
of the commanders of the Asiatic squadron in Pom-
pey's fleet, followed the example of Cicero. There
were others, and these formed a considerable body,
who neither chose to continue the war nor to submit
to Cæsar, but who resolved for the present to remain
in Greece, and there to observe from a distance the
course of events at Rome. But Cato, Cn. Pom-
peius 10, Labienus, and several others, hoping that
Cato with-
draws to
Africa.
7 Plutarch, in Cicerone, 39.
› Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist.
VII. XIV.
9 Dion Cassius, XLII. 190, 191.
Plutarch, in Catone, 56.
10 We had originally added here
the name of Afranius, on the
authority of Dion Cassius. But if
Afranius had been with Cato, the
command would naturally have
devolved on him, as being a per-
son of consular dignity; exactly
CATO WITHDRAWS TO AFRICA.
7
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Pompey would be able to make a stand in some of CHAP.
the eastern provinces, determined to carry their fleet
thither in order to join him; and accordingly set sail
to the south without delay. They touched at Patræ,
on the coast of Peloponnesus, and there took on
board Petreius and Faustus Sylla, after which they
continued their voyage to the coast of Africa. Here
they met with Cornelia and her son Sextus Pom-
peius, who, finding no secure asylum in the east,
were now probably flying to the province of Africa,
which, since the death of Curio, had remained in the
peaceable possession of the friends of the Common-
wealth. On receiving the disastrous tidings of Pom-
pey's murder, a fresh division took place amongst
his partisans. C. Cassius, afterwards so distinguished,
abandoned his associates, and sailed at once with the
Syrian squadron, which he commanded, to Syria, in-
tending to offer his submission to Cæsar. Cato, and
those who with him were resolved to persist in their
opposition to the prevailing party, saw that the pro-
vince of Africa was now the quarter which held out
to them the most favourable prospects. The com-
on the same principle that Cato,
on his arrival in the province of
Africa, ceded the chief authority
to Scipio. Again, we have fol-
lowed Dion Cassius in represent-
ing C. Cassius as only leaving
Cato on the news of Pompey's
death; but it seems probable, from
one of Cicero's letters, that he
sailed directly from Corcyra to
Syria to offer his submission, as
soon as he had received the news
of the battle of Pharsalia. Epist.
ad Familiar. XV. epist. XV. Ap-
pian confounds C. Cassius with his
brother Lucius, and supposes him
to have been in the Hellespont
with his fleet when Cæsar crossed
over into Asia in pursuit of Pom-
pey. So difficult is it to ascertain
the truth, even in such indifferent
matters, when good contemporary
testimony fails us.
L
L
1
1
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
.00
UNPROMISING STATE OF CÆSAR'S AFFAIRS
CHAP. mand of the forces was by common consent bestowed
on Cato; and he resolved to attempt to carry his
U.C. 695 troops by land across the desert from Cyrene to the
frontiers of the Roman province; whether it was
that the departure of the Syrian squadron had de-
prived him of the means of transporting his whole
force by sea; or whether the navigation of the
neighbourhood of the great Syrtes was looked upon
as more formidable than the fatigues and privations
likely to attend on the march by land. However,
the army arrived in the province in safety, and found
that Scipio had already escaped thither from Phar-
salia, and that Juba, king of Mauritania, was dis-
posed, as heretofore, to support the cause of Pompey
Unpromis- to the uttermost. Meantime the tyranny and ex-
actions of Q. Cassius Longinus ", whom Cæsar had
left with the chief command in what was called
Further Spain, and who, when tribune of the people,
had fled with M. Antonius from Rome to Cæsar's
against Q. quarters at the beginning of the contest, had pro-
Longinus. voked a very serious mutiny among the legions of
his province. The troops, supported by the inhabit-
ing state of
Cæsar's
affairs in
different
parts of the
empire.
1. In Spain.
Mutiny of
the troops
Cassius
ants of Corduba, transferred their obedience to M.
Marcellus, his quæstor; and some of them were in-
clined to espouse the cause of Pompey, had not
Marcellus, though not without difficulty, prevented
them; being himself, it is said, not inclined to take
so decisive a step till the state of Pompey's affairs in
other quarters should appear more promising. At
" Auctor de Bell. Alexandrino, 48, et seq. Dion Cassius, XLII.
*
192.
IN DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE EMPIRE.
9
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
length the disturbance was appeased by the arrival CHAP.
of M. Lepidus, proconsul of the province of Hither
Spain, who took the command of the revolted legions U.C. 695
without resistance; and soon after C. Trebonius was A.C. 59
sent to supersede Cassius Longinus in the command
of the Further Province; and the ex-governor, while
proceeding to Italy by sea with the plunder which
he had acquired by his exactions, was lost in a storm
at the mouth of the Ebro. It appears that Cæsar
attached great importance to the service which
Lepidus had rendered him on this occasion, inso-
much that he afterwards rewarded him with the
honours of a triumph 12; and indeed the mutiny of
the legions in Spain produced a strong sensation in
Italy 13, coupled as it was with the tidings of the
great force acquired by Scipio and Cato in Africa,
and of some disasters which had befallen Cæsar's
arms at the same time in Illyricum and in Asia
Minor. M. Octavius 14, whom we have already had 2. In Illyri-
occasion to mention as the commander of one of the feat and
death of A.
squadrons in Pompey's fleet, had lingered in the Gabinius.
Illyrian seas after Cato's departure from Corcyra;
partly relying on the courage and fidelity of some of
the native tribes of Illyricum, and partly, perhaps,
hoping to organize a force out of the remains of
Pompey's army, which were still numerous, although
in a state of dispersion and despondency. The ab-
sence of Cæsar favoured his hopes; many persons of
12 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 214, X. XVI.
edit. Leunclav.
14 Auctor de Bell. Alexandrino,
13 Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist. 42, et seq.
cum. De-
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
10
DEFEAT AND DEATH OF GABINIUS.
CHAP. distinction, who had remained in Greece rather
than follow Cato into Africa, and who would have
submitted to Cæsar at once if he had returned
directly to Rome, began now to accuse themselves
of pusillanimity, when they heard of the war
which was beginning in Egypt; and some of them
began to draw together into Illyricum, and to
put themselves into a hostile attitude. Upon this
A. Gabinius, Cicero's ancient enemy, who, in his
tribuneship, had proposed to invest Pompey with
the extraordinary command against the pirates, and
who now, like most other men of equal profligacy,
was the partisan of Cæsar, received orders to cross
over from Italy with some legions that had been
lately raised, and secure Illyricum and Macedonia.
But Gabinius found himself unequal to the task
imposed on him; the country, which was the seat
of war, was unable to support his army, and the
stormy season was by this time arrived, which ren-
dered his supplies by sea very precarious. He
struggled to relieve his wants by taking some of the
strongholds occupied by the enemy; and in these
attempts, being often repulsed with loss, he was at
last obliged to retreat to Salona, a town on the sea
coast, in which he hoped to defend himself during
the winter. But the Illyrians attacked him on his
march, and defeated him with considerable loss, so
that he reached Salona in a very miserable condi-
tion; and being blockaded by the victorious enemy,
and reduced to great extremities, he was taken ill in
the course of a few months, and died. His disasters
DEFEAT OF DOMITIUS CALVINUS.
11
From
IX.
A.C. 59
to 44.
Defeat of
tius Calvi-
Pharnaces,
Mithridates.
were afterwards retrieved by P. Vatinius, a man of CHAP.
equally profligate character, who, in his tribuneship,
had rendered himself the tool of Cæsar, and on U.C. 695
to 710,
whose motion Cæsar had been originally appointed
to his fatal command in Gaul. Vatinius obliged
Octavius to resign the contest and escape to Africa ;
and in a short time from his first arrival in Illy-
ricum, he reduced the whole province to a state of
obedience. But before this change took place, and 3. In Asia,
while Gabinius was shut up in Salona, the aspect of Cn. Domi-
Cæsar's affairs was very unpromising; and it was at nus by
the same time that another of his lieutenants, Cn. son of
Domitius Calvinus, sustained a severe defeat in Asia
from Pharnaces, the son of the famous Mithridates.
This prince having received from the Romans the
kingdom of the Bosphorus 15, or what is now the
Crimea, as the reward of his treason against his
father, now, it seems, wished to avail himself of the
distracted state of the Roman empire to recover
some other parts of his hereditary dominions, and
began to invade Cappadocia and the Lesser Armenia,
which were possessed by two petty princes under
the protection of Rome. Application was presently
made by one of them to Cn. Domitius Calvinus for
aid, as Cæsar had intrusted that officer with the
chief command in the different provinces of Asia
Minor; and after some fruitless attempts at nego-
ciation, Domitius advanced with an army into the
Lesser Armenia; and there coming to an engage-
15 Appian, de Bell. Mithridat. 113. Auctor de Bell. Alexand.
34, et seq.
2
12
STATE OF ROME AND OF ITALY.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. ment with Pharnaces, he was defeated, and obliged
to fall back as far as the province of Asia. Pharnaces,
meanwhile, overran the whole of Pontus, which had
been the chief seat of his father's government, and
congratulated himself on having so soon recovered
so large a portion of that which Mithridates had
lost. During all this time Cæsar was still in Egypt;
and the various reports which arrived from that
country, together with the certain ill success of his
affairs in other quarters, produced a constant acces-
sion of strength to the party of the Commonwealth
in Africa.
State of
Rome and
of Italy.
From this sketch of the condition of some of the
provinces, we turn back, with an eager curiosity, to
inquire what was the state of Rome itself, and with
what temper the bodies, which still retained the
names of the senate and people, were disposed to
receive their new master. After Cicero had crossed
over into Greece, about the middle of the year 704,
to join the army of the Commonwealth, none, it is
probable, remained in Italy, but such as were the
active partisans, or the unresisting slaves of Cæsar.
Among the latter was T. Pomponius Atticus, who,
according to the tenets of the Epicureans, considered
it an unwise disturbance of his enjoyments to take
any part in political contests, calculating that, what-
ever became of the liberties of his country, he should
still retain his own villas and gardens through the
influence of his friends on one side or on the other.
Men of this stamp were a clay that might be moulded
to any shape at the pleasure of the conqueror; and
STATE OF ROME AND OF ITALY.
13
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
the daily growth of this selfish spirit, under pretence CHAP.
of an aversion to the horrors of a civil war, will easily
account for the introduction of that mere despotism U.C. 695
which was established as soon as the contest in A.C. 59
Africa was decided. Out of the capital it seemed
vain to look for any remains of public feeling: some
of the boldest and hardiest of the Italian tribes had
been nearly extirpated by Sylla's victories and mas-
sacres; the general admission of the Italians to the
privileges of Roman citizens would naturally attract
the most enterprising and active part of the popula-
tion to Rome; and their places would be ill supplied
by that multitude of disbanded soldiers whom Sylla
had converted into landed proprietors, by settling
them in the districts which he had desolated. It is
probable, that many of these soldiers would soon,
moreover, be glad to part with their land, either to
cover their losses in farming, or to supply their
extravagances. As early as the period of Catiline's
conspiracy, we find many of them ready to promote
a new scramble for plunder; and in the fourteen
years which had since elapsed, we may suspect that
a very large proportion of the estates, granted by
Sylla to his veterans, had passed into the hands of
the great nobility, by whom the soil of Italy was so
generally monopolized. Wherever land was held
by a proprietor of this description, the free popula-
tion quickly withered away, and slaves were the
only cultivators, and the only inhabitants.
towns were overwhelmed by the disproportionate
greatness of the capital, and were each of too little
importance to form a rallying point in opposition to
The
14
STATE OF ROME AND OF ITALY.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. Rome; whilst the local distinctions and prejudices
which divided the Tuscan from the Campanian, or
the Apulian from the inhabitant of Picenum, were
still too strong to admit of much habitual sympathy
of feeling or concert in action between the people
of different parts of the peninsula. Besides, they
had no longer that peculiar and direct interest in
the civil wars of Rome which they had felt in the
times of Marins and Sylla. Then every town of
Italy was conscious that its enjoyment of the envied
privileges of Roman citizens, the elevation of its
people from the rank of subjects to sovereigns,
would be secured by the victory of Cinna and Carbo,
and would be at least endangered by the triumph of
the aristocracy. But now, whatever was the issue
of the war, Nola and Volaterræ, Asculum and
Corfinium, would only share the fate of Rome; and
what the capital could submit to endure, the pro-
vincial towns could scarcely presume to consider as
an evil. It was this want of confidence in them-
selves, this political helplessness, leading the rest of
Italy to follow tamely in the steps of Rome, and
disposing the people of Rome itself to rely for every
thing upon their government, and to be incapable of
any organized exertions among themselves, which,
above all other causes, tended to lower the character
of the times, and marked each successive generation,
during a course of many centuries, with a deeper
stain of timidity and weakness 16.
16 It implies a much higher
national character to be anxious
for the general liberty, good go-
vernment, and positive ameliora-
tion of the state of the whole
people, than to make a desperate
STATE OF ROME AND OF ITALY.
15
CHAP.
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
Whatever, therefore, might have been their secret
wishes, the people of Rome and of Italy had re- From
mained tranquil during the campaign in Greece, had U.C. 695
given no support to the attempts of Cælius and Milo, A.C. 59
and were now ready to receive the destruction of
their liberties as the natural consequence of the
battle of Pharsalia. After that battle, M. Antonius,
as we have seen, returned with the greater part of
the victorious legions to Italy. It was soon shown
that the power of the sword was henceforth to
be paramount; the troops were quartered on the
inhabitants of the different towns, and indulged
themselves in the full license of unrestrained sol-
diers 17; the general, after exhibiting a second time
a scene of scandalous debauchery in his progress
through the country, arrived at Rome, and there
commenced the work of confiscation and pillage.
We hear nothing further of P. Servilius, who was
the nominal consul of the republic; the government
of Italy seems to have been vested solely in Anto-
nius, although he possessed no other title than that
of Cæsar's lieutenant. But it was soon proposed
that the office of dictator should be again conferred
struggle for the removal of in-
vidious distinctions between one
class of the community and another.
The Romans and the Italians had
vigour enough to do the latter,
but they wanted the much higher
qualities requisite to ensure the
former. In like manner, Napoleon
Buonaparte has observed, "Que
le peuple Français tenait plus à
l'égalité qu'à la liberté." (Mé-
moires, I. 145.) The revolution
succeeded completely in destroy-
ing the offensive privileges pos-
sessed by the aristocracy; but it
may be doubted whether, even at
this day, the French entertain a
just value for the general freedom
and political welfare of the whole
state; and it is certain that they
did not do so twenty years ago.
17 Cicero, Philippic. II. 25.
*
CHAP.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Cæsar ap-
pointed dic-
tator, M.
Antonius
master of
the horse.
16
CÆSAR APPOINTED DICTATOR.
on Cæsar, although he was then far from Italy; and
when this power was bestowed on him, by a vote of
the people, for the term of a year, M. Antonius was,
at the same time, named his master of the horse,
and thus appeared to be in some sort invested with
a legal authority. It is said by Dion Cassius 18, that
a vote of the people empowered Cæsar to punish the
adherents of Pompey as he thought proper, and gave
him besides the power of consul for five years, and
that of tribune of the people for life. There was
no reasonable ground for bestowing these unusual
honours; for the original pretext of Cæsar's rebellion
was merely to place himself on a level with Pompey
in retaining or resigning his province, and to obtain
the right of becoming a candidate for the consulship.
He was now at this time consul, and Pompey's death
had left him not only without a superior in dignity,
but without an equal. He had already gained, there-
fore, all that he pretended to fight for; and a general
amnesty might now have been passed, which, while
it saved him from the punishment due to his treason,
would have left him in undisputed possession of the
first place in the Commonwealth. Nor had he, like
Sylla, any public evils to remedy; no undue prepon-
derance of the aristocratical or of the popular party
required the aid of a legislator with absolute powers
to restore the constitution to a healthier condition.
There were no wrongs to be redressed, but those
which he had himself caused; nor was there any
18 XLII. 194.
· DISTURBANCES CAUSED BY DOLABELLA.
17
voice which called for a reform of the constitution, CHAP.
except that of his own ambition.
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
Rome, A.C. 59
aspire Disturb
ances
caused by
P. Dola-
tribuneship.
It is probable that Cæsar's protracted absence, U.C. 695
and the want of all ordinary magistrates at
impelled individuals of the victorious party to
to greatness independently of the patronage of their
chief. P. Dolabella 19, Cicero's son-in-law, procured bella in his
his election, as one of the tribunes of the people, for U.c. 706.
the year 706; and when he had entered on his
office, he began to revive the laws lately proposed
by M. Cælius, for exempting tenants from all de-
mands for the rent of their houses during one year,
and for a general abolition of debts. The master of
the horse was likely, he thought, to support him,
both from personal friendship, and from his general
inclination to uphold the cause of the needy and the
profligate, and if his countenance could be procured,
there was no effectual opposition to be dreaded.
L. Trebellius, indeed, one of Dolabella's colleagues
attempted to defend the interests of landlords and
creditors, and scenes of great disorder were fre-
quently exhibited in the streets of Rome in conse-
quence of these disputes, in the course of which
many lives were lost on both sides; but as long as
M. Antonius allowed Dolabella to go on with im-
punity, his party was likely to prevail in the contest.
But the senate called upon the master of the horse
to exert his power for the preservation of the public
peace; and it was rumoured that he was made
19 Dion Cassius, XLII. 198. XXIII.
Cicero ad Atticum, XI. epist.
VOL. II.
20 Cicero, Philippic. VI. 4.
C
20
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
18
DISTURBANCES CAUSED BY DOLABELLA.
21
CHAP. acquainted at this time with a criminal intercourse
subsisting between Dolabella and some female friend
or relation of his own ". This private injury made
him more willing to listen to the senate's call: he
brought troops into the city, and when the populace
broke out into a riot in support of Dolabella's laws,
he chastised them with great severity, and is said to
have put no fewer than 800 of the rioters to the
sword 22. The present masters of the Common-
wealth, although at the beginning of their career
they professed to espouse the popular party, had
now obtained a power which enabled them to cast
off their old connexions; and declared, by their
conduct, that it was to the swords of a disciplined
army, and not to the uncertain favour of a tumul-
tuous populace, that they were resolved to owe
their ascendency.
Discontents
in Cæsar's
army in
Italy.
Yet at this very time the obedience of the army
itself was beginning to waver. Antonius, while in-
dulging in every excess himself, connived, it is pro-
bable, at many irregularities in the conduct of the
soldiers; and the other officers 23, from a wish to
gain popularity, or from the natural relaxation con-
sequent upon victory, permitted the discipline of the
troops to be seriously impaired. It was known that
Cæsar intended to transport his veteran legions into
Africa, as soon as the affairs of the East should leave
him at liberty; and the soldiers were highly dis-
satisfied at finding that they were to be exposed to
21 Plutarch, in Antonio, 9.
22 Livy, Epitome, CXIII.
23 Auctor de Bell. Alexand. 65.
CÆSAR PASSES THROUGH SYRIA AND CILICIA. 19
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
another campaign 24, while no mention was heard of CHAP.
fulfilling the promises which had been made to them
on former occasions. They confirmed one another
in their resolutions not to leave Italy till their pre-
vious claims were satisfied; and when P. Sylla, an
officer of high rank 25, who had commanded the
right wing of Cæsar's army at Pharsalia, endeavoured
to pacify them, the soldiers of the twelfth legion
assailed him with stones, so that he narrowly escaped
with his life. Several other persons experienced
the same treatment, and some individuals of præto-
rian dignity are said to have been actually mur-
dered by the mutineers 26. Intelligence of these
disorders quickened Cæsar's wish to return to Italy. Cæsar
He had at last, about the middle of the year 706, Egypt.
brought the war in Egypt to a conclusion, by
placing Cleopatra and her younger brother on the
throne 27, as the elder Ptolemy had perished in the
course of the contest; and from Egypt he had He passes
marched into Syria, and thence to Cilicia and Cap- Syria and
padocia ; arranging on his way the affairs of those
several provinces, receiving the submissions of all
the petty princes or chiefs dependent on the Roman
empire, and continuing them in their respective
governments on such conditions as he judged proper.
These matters were easily and quickly settled; but
Pharnaces, king of the Bosphorus, was likely to occa-
24 Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist.
XX. XXII.
25 Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist.
XXI. XXII.
26 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 51.
Dion Cassius, XLII. 209.
27 Auctor de Bell. Alexand.
33-65, et seq.
leaves
through
Cilicia.
c 2
20
HE DEFEATS PHARNACES.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. sion a longer yet an unavoidable delay. It was the
boast of the Romans never to allow a foreign power
to take advantage of their domestic quarrels; and it
would have reflected disgrace on Cæsar had he suf-
fered Pharnaces to enjoy his late conquest without
molestation, from his eagerness to prosecute his own
private contest with his countrymen. Accordingly
he called upon Pharnaces to evacuate Pontus with-
out delay; and finding, according to the statement
of his anonymous partisan 28, that his demands were
evaded, because it was well known how anxious he
was to return to Italy, he marched instantly in quest
of the enemy.
Pharnaces was at this time en-
camped near Zela 29, a town of Pontus, on the spot
on which his father had gained one of his most
famous victories over the Romans; and when Cæsar
arrived and encamped at no great distance from
him, his confidence in the fortune of the place, and
in his own recent successes, induced him to attack
the Roman army in the strong position which it had
He defeats occupied. His rashness was quickly punished by a
total defeat; he himself fled from the field of battle
province of with only a few horsemen ; and the whole of Pontus
was lost by this single blow. Cæsar, unusually de-
lighted at this rapid and most seasonable conquest,
left two legions to secure Pontus, and himself hast-
ened on his way towards Italy; still however, as
before, employing the time on his journey in settling
the affairs of the provinces, and accustoming the
Pharnaces
and re-
covers the
Pontus.
28 Auctor de Bell. Alexand.
71.
29 Auctor de Bell. Alexand. 72,
et seq.
HIS ACTS OF SPOLIATION.
21
IX.
to 710,
petty Asiatic princes to look upon the government CHAP.
of Rome as already become monarchical. It was From
late in the year 30, according to the corrupt calendar U.C. 695
of the period, when he arrived in the capital, and
there proceeded to exercise that sovereign authority
with which his office of dictator, and still more the
swords of his soldiers, had invested him.
A.C. 59
to 44.
to Rome.
M. Antonius, on his return to Italy after the He returns
battle of Pharsalia 1, had published an edict by
Cæsar's express orders, forbidding all the fugitives
of the vanquished party to set foot in Italy without
having received their pardon from Cæsar himself.
In this manner a multitude of distinguished citizens His acts of
spoliation
were condemned to live in banishment; but their and wanton
display of
property was not in every instance confiscated, and power.
some were afterwards allowed, as we shall see here-
after, to return to their country. The rapacity of
the conqueror, however, had been abundantly grati-
fied in the eastern provinces; where he had amassed
immense sums 32, partly by imposing fines on those
princes or states who had supported the cause of the
Commonwealth, partly by the direct plunder of their
wealthiest temples, and partly by receiving a price
for the grants or titles which he gave or confirmed
to any city or individual. But the demands of the
approaching campaign in Africa could not be an-
swered without further exactions; and although he
had a very considerable fund in the numerous golden
30 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 51.
31 Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist.
VII.
32 Dion Cassius, XLII. 208.
Suetonius, in Cæsare, 54.
}
#
Į
រ
[
22
HIS WANTON DISPLAY OF POWER.
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
33
9
CHAP. crowns, figures, and other articles, which were pre-
sented to him from every quarter through fear or
U.C. 695 flattery, he deemed it expedient, on his arrival in
Italy, to raise money to a large amount by com-
pulsory loans from different cities as well as from
private individuals; and at the same time he pro-
ceeded to confiscate and expose to public sale the
property of some of his most distinguished oppo-
nents which Antonius had not ventured to touch
by his own authority. It was on this occasion that
the house and furniture of Pompey the Great were
set up to auction by the command of his father-in-
law; and that Antonius, amidst the general grief
and indignation of the Roman people, became their
purchaser. At this time also, if we may believe
Dion Cassius 34, Cæsar made some additional regula-
tions in favour of insolvent debtors, and actually en-
forced the proposed law of Dolabella, for relieving
tenants from rent for one year, in all cases where
the rent amounted to five hundred denarii, or about
157. 12s. 6d. His chief partisans were rewarded by
being appointed to various public offices, of which
he assumed the complete disposal; and as a cheap
method of gratifying the vanity of some of his asso-
ciates, he conferred the empty title of consuls, for
the short remainder of the year, on Q. Fufius
Calenus, his late lieutenant in Achaia, and on P.
Vatinius, who had rendered him most important
services in Illyricum. The prostitution of a dignity
33 Cicero, Philippic. II. 26, et
seq.
34 XLII. 209.
MUTINY OF HIS ARMY.
23
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
so respected, excited a general disgust; and in this CHAP.
open assumption of absolute power he already be-
trayed the same contempt for the feelings of his
countrymen which afterwards, when exhibited with
still greater aggravation, contributed principally to
the fatal conspiracy of the ides of March. But
amongst all this distribution of honours and benefits,
the veteran legions found that they were still to
trust only to promises; and that the period when
they should obtain their discharge, and be rewarded
with settlements of lands, was still far distant.
Aware of their own importance on the eve of another Mutiny of
campaign, but not sufficiently appreciating the able
and resolute character of their commander, they
broke up from their quarters in Campania 35, and ad-
vanced to Rome, committing various excesses on
their march, and filling the country and the capital
with terror. When they arrived before the city,
Cæsar allowed them to enter the walls, retaining
only their swords, and instantly presented himself
before them in the Campus Martius, and demanded
why they had left their quarters, and what they
wanted at Rome. They replied that they were come
to claim their release from any further service;
upon which Cæsar answered, without any apparent
reluctance, that their claim was reasonable, and that
he would discharge them instantly; assuring them
at the same time that all their comrades who had
served their full term of years should be discharged
35 Dion Cassius, XLII. 209, 210. Appian, de Bello Civili, II.
92, et seq.
his army.
5
[
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
He quells
it by his
firmness
and ad-
dress.
24
CAMPAIGN IN AFRICA.
CHAP. in the same manner, and promising still to give them
the settlements in lands which he had before allowed
them to look for. The soldiers were not prepared
for this treatment, and in proportion to his seeming
readiness to part from them, their wish to continue
in his service revived. Cæsar perceived his ad-
vantage, and persisted in giving them their discharge,
expressing particularly his surprise and sorrow to
find the soldiers of his favourite tenth legion impli-
cated in this meeting. At last, on their repeated
entreaties to be forgiven, he said that he would re-
tain them all except the tenth legion; nor could he
be prevailed on to receive that legion into his fa-
vour 36, so that it followed him to Africa without his
orders, from the mere zeal of the soldiers to do
something that might entitle them to pardon. After
all, he punished those who had been most active in
the mutiny, by depriving them of a third part of
their share of the plunder gained in Africa, and of
the lands which he afterwards bestowed on his army;
some also he actually discharged at once, and settled
them in different parts of Italy; and others, it is
said, he found means to employ in the most danger-
ous services in the ensuing campaign ", and thus
freed himself from their turbulence, while he made
their deaths useful by occasioning a loss to his
Campaign
in Africa.
enemies.
37
Having thus re-established his authority over his
legions, he proceeded with his usual activity to carry
36 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 70.
37 Dion Cassius, XLII. 211.
CAMPAIGN IN AFRICA.
25.
CHAP.
IX.
From
to 710,
to 44.
em- A.C. 59
and
the war into Africa. He arrived at Lilybæum, in
Sicily 38, on the seventeenth of December, and having
waited there till he had assembled a force of six U.C. 695
legions, and about two thousand cavalry, he
barked from Sicily on the twenty-seventh,
reached the coast of Africa on the thirtieth. He
landed near Adrumetum with no more than three
thousand men, the rest of his forces having been
dispersed in different directions on their passage;
and as he knew not what points of the coast might
be least occupied by the enemy, he had been unable
before his departure from Sicily to appoint any
particular spot as the place of destination for the
whole armament. Finding Adrumetum too strongly
garrisoned to be attacked with any hope of success,
he put his troops in motion again on the first of
January, and on the evening of that day halted at
Ruspina, from whence he again set out on the fol-
lowing morning, and approached Leptis. The inha-
bitants of that town sent to offer their submission to
him, and he accordingly occupied the gates with a
guard, and having given strict orders that no other
soldiers should be allowed to enter the walls, he
encamped for the night in the neighbourhood of
Leptis, and was joined on that very evening by a
part of his army from Sicily, which had put in by a
fortunate accident at this very point of the coast.
On the third of January he returned to Ruspina, and
there remained for some time, having collected con-
38 Auctor de Bello Africano, 1, et seq.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
26
FORCES OF SCIPIO AND CATO.
CHAP. siderable supplies of provisions from the adjacent
country, and having received a large accession of
strength by the arrival of another division of the
troops from Lilybæum. But his numbers were as
yet very inferior to those of the enemy, and he could
not depend for the permanent subsistence of his
army on the resources of a country which was al-
most entirely possessed by his opponents. He waited
therefore anxiously for the arrival of additional rein-
forcements, as well as of supplies of provisions from
Sicily, Sardinia, and other parts of the empire 39;
whilst he secured himself for the present by bestow-
ing extraordinary care on the fortifications of his
camp, and by carrying lines from this and from the
town of Ruspina down to the sea-shore, in order that
ships might approach the land with safety, and that
the succours of whatever kind, which might be
contained in them, might reach his camp without
molestation.
Forces of
Scipio and
Cato.
It appears that the supporters of the Common-
wealth had by this time organized a very large army
in Africa; and that their navy, although not possess-
ing the command of the sea so exclusively as during
the campaign in Greece, was yet strong enough to
cause great annoyance to the enemy, and during
Cæsar's absence in Egypt had made descents on the
coasts of Sicily and Sardinia 40, and had carried off
from them several vessels, and a considerable quan-
tity of arms. While Italy was suffering under the
39 Auctor de Bello Africano, 20. 40 Dion Cassius, XLII. 211.
CÆSAR'S DIFFICULTIES ON OPENING THE CAMPAIGN. 27
41
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
misrule of Antonius, and Rome itself was distracted CHAP.
by the turbulent tribuneship of Dolabella, it was From
expected that Scipio and Cato would transport their U.C. 695
forces from Africa, and avail themselves of so fair an A.C. 59
opportunity for regaining possession of the seat of
government ¹¹ But we must suppose that they had
not yet collected an army sufficient to encounter
Cæsar's veteran legions; and perhaps the want of
arms for their regular infantry was a principal ob-
stacle to such an attempt. With cavalry and light
troops they were abundantly provided: for the Nu-
midians of the Roman province were admirably cal-
culated for those services, and to them was added
the whole force of the kingdom of Mauritania, which
Juba furnished to the cause of the Commonwealth.
Utica, the most considerable city in Africa, was held
by M. Cato ¹², and he had made it a great magazine of
arms and provisions, as well as a depôt for the new
levies which he was constantly forming to reinforce
the main army in the field. That army was com-
manded by Scipio, with the title of proconsul; and
although the military talents of the general-in-chief
were not very highly distinguished, yet Labienus
and Petreius, his principal lieutenants, were officers
of great experience and ability.
42
may
of Cæsar at
the opening
of the cam-
In landing on the coast of Africa with a force Difficulties
very inferior to that of his opponents, Cæsar
be supposed to have had two objects in view;
to prevent the enemy from carrying the war into
first, paign.
41 Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist.
XV.
42
Auctor de Bello Africano, 22.
36.
Plutarch, in Catone, 58.
>
28
DIVERSION OF SITIUS IN FAVOUR OF CÆSAR.
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. Italy, and to preserve his usual character of being
always the assailant; and, secondly, to deprive them
U.C. 695 by his presence of some part of the resources of the
province, of which otherwise they would have had
the complete disposal. His great renown as a
general, his success in other parts of the empire, and
that character of the lawful representative of the
Roman people, which he derived from the posses-
sion of the capital, gained him immediately some
partisans among the cities and tribes of Africa 43
and thus produced at once a diversion in his favour.
Yet soon after his first landing he was severely
harassed by the attacks of the enemy's cavalry under
Labienus and Petreius; and had Juba united his
forces to those of Scipio, their combined efforts
might have been too overwhelming for Cæsar to
resist. He was saved from this danger by an un-
Diversion expected interference. P. Sitius, of Nuceria, had
P. Sitius in been in his early life engaged in money transactions,
Adventures on a very extensive scale 44, not only with many
persons in different parts of the empire, but also
with some foreign princes, and amongst the rest
with the king of Mauritania, the father of Juba.
The sums embarked in these various speculations
were not always easily to be recovered: Sitius had
incurred heavy debts at Rome, which brought him
into the society of dissolute and desperate men, and
had made him acquainted with L. Catiline and his
associates at the eve of their memorable conspiracy.
made by
his favour.
of Sitius.
43 Auctor de Bello Africano, 7. 44 Cicero, pro P. Syllâ, 20.
32, 33.
ADVENTURES OF SITIUS.
29
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
Whether he himself entered into their schemes is CHAP.
uncertain. It appears that he went about that period
to Africa, professedly to settle some business with U.C. 695
the king of Mauritania, but, as many asserted 15, to A.C. 59
employ his influence with that prince in levying an
armed force against the Commonwealth. However,
his innocence or his good fortune saved him from
the fate of the other conspirators, and Cicero him-
self, while defending P. Sylla from the same charge
of having been Catiline's accomplice, took occasion
equally to deny the accusation against Sitius. But
he was a man of ruined fortunes, and it seems that
he was afterwards brought before the tribunals for
some private offence 46, and was obliged to go into
exile. He repaired again to Africa, with an armed
force which he had raised in Italy and Spain, and
which it seems could easily be collected by any
adventurer of notoriety, while every part of the
empire was full of slaves and other needy and des-
perate persons, to whom all change was gain.
accompanied, Sitius appeared in Africa, like one of
the chiefs of the free companies in Italy during the
fourteenth century; and sold his services to the
highest bidder in the constant petty wars which the
wild tribes and barbarian sovereigns of that country
were carrying on against one another. His fame
soon became great, for the party which he espoused
was always victorious; and if the king of Mauri-
tania was slow in paying his debt to him, we may
45 Sallust, de Bello Catilinar. 21.
Cicero, pro Syllâ, ubi supra.
54.
Thus
46 Appian, de Bello Civili, IV.
Dion Cassius, XLIII. 214.
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
30
ADVENTURES OF SITIUS.
47
CHAP. the less wonder that he readily associated himself
with those inferior chiefs who were constantly en-
U.C. 695 gaged in predatory warfare with that more powerful
sovereign. In this way he was closely united with
a prince of the name of Bogud, according to Roman
orthography, at the time that Cæsar landed in Africa.
By attacking Juba now, Sitius might hope to gain
far more than plunder, or the pay of a poor barba-
rian chief; he might obtain the repeal of his banish-
ment, and expect besides a splendid reward from
the sovereign of the Roman empire for a service so
seasonably rendered to him. Bogud himself had
before shown himself friendly to Cæsar ", probably
because Juba supported the party of Pompey; and
now when Juba was on his march to join Scipio
with a considerable army, Bogud and P. Sitius
attacked his kingdom 48, took Cirta, one of his prin-
cipal cities, and committed such ravages in his
country, that he was obliged to return with his
whole force to oppose them, and even to recall the
troops which he had before sent to serve under the
Roman general, his ally. Meanwhile Cæsar was
reinforced by the arrival of two veteran legions from
Sicily"; and when at length Juba yielded to Scipio's
pressing applications, and came to join him, leaving
one of his generals to contend with Bogud and
Sitius 50, the decisive moment was already passed,
and Cæsar's army was now too formidable to be
47 Auctor de Bello Alexan-
drino, 59.
48 Auctor de Bello Africano, 25.
49 Auctor de Bello Africano, 34.
50 Auctor de Bello Africano, 48.
ADVENTURES OF SITIUS.
31
seriously injured by any force which Juba could CHAP.
bring against it.
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
From this time the event of the campaign might U.C. 695
be looked for with little hesitation. Cæsar was soon
after reinforced by two more of his veteran legions,
the ninth and tenth; and he was anxious, as before
in Greece, to bring the enemy to a general action as
soon as possible. But his situation now was very
different from what it had been in his campaign
against Pompey. Then he was opposed to a general
of talents far less disproportioned to his own, and of
reputation equal or even superior; the fleets of his
adversaries commanded every sea and cut off all hope
of supplies and reinforcements; and the army of the
Commonwealth was as yet unvanquished; and under
the command of its great leader was daily gaining
fresh strength and confidence. At present, he was
continually receiving deserters from the enemy's
army", and offers of submission and assistance from
the towns of the province and of Mauritania; the
regular infantry of his opponents was utterly unable
to resist his veteran legions; and the only annoy-
ance which he experienced was from their superior
cavalry and light troops, whose attacks became daily
less alarming as his soldiers grew more familiar with
them, and better understood how to oppose them
most effectually. Scipio, indeed, carefully avoided
a battle; but the rapidity of Cæsar's movements,
and the extraordinary celerity with which his troops
51 Auctor de Bello Africano, 52. 56.
32
BATTLE OF THAPSUS.
CHAP.
IX.
From
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Battle of
Thapsus.
were accustomed to construct works of every de-
scription, at last obliged him to depart from his
U.C. 695 system of caution. On the fourth of April, Cæsar
gained a march upon his antagonists by night 52, and
appeared on the following morning before the town
of Thapsus, a place which had shown peculiar at-
tachment to Scipio's cause, and which was at this
time defended by a strong garrison. Without loss
of time, Cæsar began to form lines of circumvalla-
tion, and to occupy every important post in the
neighbourhood so effectually, that when Scipio
arrived to protect the town, he found his communi-
cations with it already cut off. Under these circum-
stances, Scipio, unwilling to abandon so important a
place to its fate, prepared to form his camp on a
spot upon the sea-shore, from which he hoped to
obstruct the operations of the enemy; and whilst he
was employed in the construction of the rampart
and ditch, he drew out his army in order of battle
to cover the parties engaged in the work. In this
situation he was attacked by Cæsar and completely
defeated. His troops first fled to the camp, which
was as yet unfinished, and this being forced, they
hastened to the camp they had left the day before,
in the hope of being enabled there to make a stand.
But finding no officer to rally them, if we may be-
lieve the statement of Cæsar's partisan, they fled, as
a last resource, towards the camp of Juba, which
was at some distance from that of Scipio; but which
52 Auctor de Bello Africano, 79, et seq.
1
DEATH OF SCIPIO.
33
From
1x.
to 710,
to 44.
they now found equally in possession of the victo- CHAP.
rious enemy. Despairing of any further resistance,
the fugitives halted on a neighbouring hill, laid U.C. 695
down their arms, and implored quarter. But Cæsar's A.C. 59
soldiers, with the ferocity natural to men who re-
spected no law, and who felt that their swords were
disposing of the empire of the world, not only mas-
sacred the whole of this defenceless multitude, but
wounded and murdered several persons of distinc-
tion who were present in their own army, against
whom they had some supposed grounds of offence.
Cæsar himself was an eye-witness of this butchery,
which, according to his partisan's narrative, he in
vain endeavoured to prevent. Such a scene might
have taught him to what a brutal and unmanageable
power he had subjected his country; but the crimes
of his soldiers were forgotten in the splendour of
their victory, by which the campaign was irrecover-
ably decided. The news of the battle spread rapidly
in every direction, with an effect as powerful as the
tidings of the rout of Pharsalia two years before.
Scipio, with three or four other superior officers, Deaths of
escaped by sea from the scene of their defeat, in the Juba, Afra-
hope of finding an asylum in Spain 53. They were Petreius.
driven by contrary winds into the port of Hippo,
where they were surrounded by a superior naval
force, employed, as we are told, in the service of
the fugitive, P. Sitius. Scipio's ship was instantly
boarded, and he killed himself to avoid falling into
53 Auctor de Bello Africano, 96. Livy, Epitome. CXIV.
VOL. II.
D
Scipio,
nius, and
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
34
DEATHS OF JUBA, AFRANIUS, AND PETREIUS.
the hands of the enemy; the officers who were with
him, amongst whom we find the noble name of
L. Manlius Torquatus, either followed his example
or were put to death. Of the other generals of the
vanquished party, Labienus effected his escape into
Spain with Atius Varus and Cn. Pompeius, who,
during the late campaign, had both held commands
by sea. Juba, accompanied by Petreius, fled to his
own dominions 54; but finding that the forces which
he had left to protect them had been totally de-
feated by Bogud and P. Sitius, and being shut out
of Zama, his capital, by his own subjects, who wished
to make their peace with the conqueror, he con-
tinued his flight to one of his country houses, and
there Petreius and he resolved to die by each other's
hands. But Juba having easily killed Petreius, and
having attempted without effect to stab himself, per-
suaded one of his own slaves to become his execu-
tioner. The fate of Petreius was soon shared by
L. Afranius, his former colleague in the command
of Pompey's army in Spain. Afranius, with Faustus
Sylla 55, while attempting to reach Spain along the
northern coast of Africa, fell, together with the wife
and children of the latter, into the hands of P. Sitius.
They were soon after killed, according to Suetonius
and Dion Cassius, by Cæsar's orders; but the state-
ment of Cæsar's partisan attributes their death to a
disturbance in the army and the violence of the
54 Auctor de Bello Africano, Florus, IV. 2. Dion Cassius,
XLIII. 219.
91.94.
55 Auctor de Bello Africano, 95.
CATO ATTEMPTS TO DEFEND UTICA.
35
IX.
soldiers. The wife of Faustus, who was a daughter CHAP.
of Pompey, was spared, together with her children,
and the enjoyment of all her property was granted U.C. 695
to her.
From
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
tempts in
defend
Intelligence of the battle of Thapsus was brought Cato at-
to Utica by a party of Scipio's cavalry, who were vain to
flying from the action under the command of Utica.
Afranius 56. With the usual temper of a defeated
and desperate army, these fugitives began to revenge
themselves for their defeat by plundering and mur-
dering many of the citizens of Utica, who were sup-
posed to be attached to the cause of Cæsar. M. Cato
alone, with a spirit unbroken amidst the disasters of
his party, in vain endeavoured to give their feelings
a better direction, by persuading them to defend the
town against the enemy; and when he saw that
they could not be induced to do their duty, he dis-
tributed a sum of money to every soldier amongst
them, to prevail on them to depart without commit-
ting any further excesses. They thus pursued their
retreat along the coast on their way to Spain, as we
have already mentioned; and in the mean time
numerous parties of the vanquished army arrived in
Utica, with all of whom Cato was earnest in his
efforts to induce them to continue the contest, and
to maintain the place. But when he found that
their minds were possessed by an overwhelming
panic, he furnished them with all the ships in the
harbour to convey them wherever they wished to
56 Auctor de Bello Africano, 87, et seq.
D 2
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
36
DEATH AND CHARACTER OF CATO.
CHAP. go; and recommended his son and his other friends
to the intercession of L. Cæsar, his quæstor, who, as
being related to the conqueror, might be supposed
to possess some influence with him. His anxiety,
however, for the safety of those about him appears
less amiable when we find him too proud to accept
for himself that mercy which he wished to procure
for them, and resisting with passionate violence the
solicitations of his son, that he would consent to live
for his sake. When the evening came he retired to
his own apartment 57, and employed himself for some
time in reading one of Plato's "Dialogues," endea-
vouring, it is said, to lull the suspicions of his friends
by seeming to take a lively interest in the fate of
those who were escaping by sea from Utica, and by
sending several times to the sea-side to learn the
state of the wind and of the weather. But towards
morning, when all was quiet, he stabbed himself.
He fell from his bed with the blow, and the noise of
his fall immediately brought his son and his servants
into the room, by whose assistance he was raised
from the ground, and an attempt was made to bind
up the wound. Their efforts to save him were vain;
for Cato no sooner had recovered his self-possession,
than he tore open the wound again in so effectual a
manner that he instantly expired.
He kills
himself.
Character
of Cato.
Such was the end of a man, whom a better phi-
losophy, by teaching him to struggle with his pre-
dominant faults instead of encouraging them, would
57 Plutarch, in Catone, 70.
CHARACTER OF CATO.
37
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
have rendered truly amiable and admirable. He CHAP.
possessed the greatest integrity and firmness; and,
from the beginning of his political life, was never U.C. 695
swayed by fear or interest to desert that which he A.C. 69
considered the cause of liberty and justice. He is
said to have foreseen Cæsar's designs long before
they were generally suspected; but his well-known
animosity against him rendered his authority on the
subject less weighty; and his zeal led him to mis-
calculate the strength of the Commonwealth, when
he earnestly advised the senate to adopt those mea-
sures which gave Cæsar a pretence for beginning
hostilities. During the civil war he had the rare
merit of uniting to the sincerest ardour in the cause
of his party a steady regard to justice and humanity;
he would not countenance cruelty or rapine because
practised by his associates or coloured with pretences
of public advantage. But the pride and coarseness
of mind, of which we have already given some in-
stances in his behaviour to his private friends, over-
shadowed the last scene of his life, and led him to
indulge his selfish feelings by suicide, rather than
live for the happiness of his family and friends, and
mitigate, as far as lay in his power, the distressed
condition of his country. His character however
was so pure, and since Pompey's death so superior to
all the leaders engaged with him in the same cause,
that even his enemy's partisans could not refuse him
their respect and praise; and his name has become
a favourite theme of panegyric in after-times, as
38
END OF THE WAR IN AFRICA.
CHAP. the most upright and persevering defender of the
liberties of Rome.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
war in
Africa.
Cæsar meantime was advancing from Thapsus to-
wards Utica 58, and had occupied without resistance,
End of the on his march, the towns of Usceta and Adrumetum,
in both of which he found considerable magazines of
arms and provisions. As he drew near to Utica, he
was met by L. Cæsar, who implored his mercy; and
to whom, says his partisan, he readily granted it, ac-
cording to his natural temper and habits of clemency.
At the same time he spared the lives of Cato's son
and of a number of other individuals who threw
themselves on his mercy; but he levied heavy fines
on those Roman merchants and citizens of other
descriptions who had formed Cato's council, and had
contributed money to the cause of the Common-
wealth. He imposed also large contributions on the
inhabitants of Leptis, Adrumetum, and Thapsus 59;
and sold by auction the property of Juba, and of all
the Roman citizens resident in Mauritania who had
borne arms in his service; after which he reduced
his kingdom to the form of a Roman province, and
intrusted the government of it to C. Sallustius
Crispus, the historian, with the title of proconsul.
On the other hand, Cæsar bestowed rewards on the
people of Zama for having excluded their sovereign
from their walls; and divided the territories of
another Mauritanian prince, who had been Juba's
88 Auctor de Bello Africano, 89, 59 Auctor de Bello Africano, 97.
END OF THE WAR IN AFRICA.
39
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
ally, between Bogud and P. Sitius 60. Having thus CHAP.
brought the war in Africa to a conclusion, he em-
barked at Utica on the thirteenth of June, and sailed U.C. 695
to Sardinia, there to impose fresh fines, and to order A.C. 59
confiscations against some towns and individuals that
had assisted the party of his adversaries. He sailed
from Sardinia again on the twenty-ninth of June,
and after a tedious voyage of eight and twenty
days 61, arrived at Rome about the twenty-seventh of
July, or, according to the true calculation, about the
end of May.
From the date of Cæsar's return from Africa to
his assassination, there is a period of somewhat less
than two years; and even of this short time nine
months were engrossed by the renewal of the war in
Spain, which obliged him to leave Rome once more,
and contend for the security of his power at the
point of the sword. He enjoyed the sovereignty,
therefore, which he had so dearly purchased, during
little more than one single year; from the end of
July, 707, to the middle of the winter, a period of
between seven and eight months, owing to the re-
formation of the calendar which he introduced during
this interval; and again, from October, 708, to the
ides of March in the following spring. After giving
this outline of the order of events, we shall first
briefly notice the disturbances in Spain, and in other
parts of the empire, by which the tranquillity of
Cæsar's sovereignty was interrupted; and shall then
54.
60 Appian, de Bello Civili, IV.
61 Auctor de Bello Africano,
98.
*
IX.
40
RENEWAL OF THE CIVIL WAR IN SPAIN.
CHAP. endeavour to present our readers with a general view
of the nature of his government, and of the internal
state of Rome under his dominion; which last sub-
ject will naturally lead us to trace the origin of the
conspiracy formed against him, and to follow it up
to the moment of its fatal termination.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Renewal of
the civil
war in
The condition of Spain had become far from tran-
quil before the conclusion of the campaign in Africa.
Spain by
Scapula Cnæus Pompeius, who, as we have mentioned, was
and Cn.
Pompeius. invested with a naval command, had been invited
thither by some of the Spanish cities 62, which had
taken part in the resistance offered against Q. Cas-
sius, Cæsar's lieutenant, and which were apprehen-
sive that their conduct, though not hitherto noticed,
must necessarily have excited Cæsar's resentment.
Accordingly Cn. Pompeius sailed from Africa to the
barbarian islands 63, and succeeded in making him-
self master of them; but being seized with an illness,
he was detained there till after the defeat and death
of Scipio, and the conclusion of the African cam-
paign. When the tidings of Cæsar's victory arrived
in Spain, the party which had invited Pompeius to
be their leader, finding that he was still delayed by
sickness, resolved to seek out another chief; and for
this purpose they fixed on T. Annius Scapula 64, a
man of great rank and influence in the province, and
who had been deeply concerned in the opposition
62 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 228.
63 Dion Cassius. Auctor de Bello
Africano, 23.
64 Auctor de Bello Alexandrino,
55. De Bello Hispaniensi, 33.
Cicero, ad Familiares, IX. epist.
XIII.
CÆSAR GOES INTO SPAIN.
41
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
against the authority of Q. Cassius. His own slaves CHAP.
and freedmen were a numerous body, and with them
he first took up arms; but his adherents daily be- U.C. 695
came more formidable, being swelled partly by the A.C. 59
accession of Roman and native soldiers from Spain
itself, and partly by the fugitives from Africa, who
sought his standard as their last refuge. At length
Pompeius himself appeared, and was acknowledged
as commander-in-chief of the whole assembled force.
The popularity of his name gained him the zealous
support of the Spaniards; and soldiers resorted to
him from every quarter of the empire, as if it were
reserved for the son of Pompey to revenge the fate
of his father and of the Commonwealth. Cæsar's
lieutenants, to whom he had intrusted the govern-
ment of Spain, were unable to withstand the pro-
gress of the enemy; and Cæsar himself was obliged
to suspend his labours for the civil administration of
the empire, and once more appear at the head of an
army. He set out from Rome, as has been already Caesar leaves
observed, about the end of the year 707; and exert- goes into
ing his accustomed activity, he is said to have ar-
rived at Obulco 65, near Corduba, in the province of
Farther Spain, in twenty-seven days from the time
of his leaving the capital. His presence, as usual,
encouraged those cities which still remained faithful
to him, and restrained those which were inclining to
the enemy. The troops which he found in Spain,
added to those which followed him from Italy,
65 Strabo, III. 169, edit. Xyland.
Rome, and
Spain.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
42
BATTLE OF MUNDA.
CHAP. formed an army superior to that of the enemy in the
quality of its infantry, and in the numbers of its
cavalry; and Cæsar therefore, as in his former cam-
paigns, was anxious to bring on a general action;
and in order to accomplish this, whilst he was ad-
vancing his own cause at the same time in other
respects, he employed himself in laying siege to some
of the towns that were garrisoned by his opponents.
In this manner he besieged and took Alegua, and
one or two other places 66; till Cn. Pompeius, un-
willing to discourage his partisans by appearing
unable to offer any resistance to his enemy's enter-
prises, and having persuaded himself that the soldiers
in Cæsar's present army were no longer the same
veterans who had conquered at Pharsalia or at Thap-
sus, was induced to offer battle in the neighbourhood
of Munda. He disposed his army, however, upon
ground so defensible by nature 67, and his soldiers
conducted themselves so bravely, that the first attack
of the enemy was vigorously repelled; and it is said
that Cæsar dismounted from his horse, and by offer-
ing to expose his life as a common soldier in the
front of the line, at last with difficulty rallied his
men, and retrieved the fortune of the day 68. The
victory, though hardly won, was complete and de-
cisive. Labienus and Atius Varus were killed in
the field, and Cn. Pompeius was wounded, but
effected his escape in a litter to Carteia. From
Battle of
Munda.
66 Auctor de Bell. Hispan. 6, et seq.
et seq.
67 Auctor de Bell. Hispan. 29,
68 Velleius Paterculus, II. 55.
DEATH OF POMPEIUS.
43
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
thence, mistrusting the fidelity of the inhabitants, CHAP.
he endeavoured to withdraw by sea to a safer re-
fuge 69, but being pursued by a squadron of Cæsar's, U.C. 695
and being surprised at the very moment when his
ships had put in to shore to obtain fresh supplies of
water, his vessels were all taken or burnt, and he was
obliged once more to pursue his flight by land. He
at first attempted to defend himself with the aid of
the few followers who still remained with him, on
one of the strong positions which the country
afforded; but when his pursuers began to construct
regular works, under cover of which they might gain
a footing on the high ground occupied by his party,
he was forced to fly, and his men began to disperse
on every side. His wound disabled him from escap-
ing on foot, and the country was impracticable for a
carriage, or even for a horse; so that concealment
was his only remaining chance of safety, and he took
shelter in a cavern, in one of the wild and lonely
glens among the mountains, such as have afforded a
sure protection to the fugitives of a vanquished or
oppressed party in various periods of Spanish history.
But he was discovered by the information of some
prisoners whom the enemy had taken, and was
slaughtered in his place of refuge. His head was Death of
cut off and presented to Cæsar, who at that very peius.
moment was entering Hispalis in triumph; and this
bloody trophy being instantly by his orders ex-
hibited to the multitude, informed them that the
69 Auctor de Bell. Hispan. 37, 38, 39. Velleius Paterculus, ubi
supra.
Cn. Pom-
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
44
SPAIN IS REDUCED TO SUBMISSION.
71
CHAP. ruin of Pompey's cause was complete. Scapula had
put an end to his own life a short time before at
Corduba 70, and Sex. Pompeius, the younger son of
Pompey the Great, having fled from the same place
on the news of the battle of Munda, sought a refuge
amongst the Iaccetani or Lacetani ", one of the
tribes of Hither Spain, who lived between the Pyre-
nees and the Ebro, in what is now a part of Navarre
and Arragon. More fortunate than his brother,
Sex. Pompeius was enabled, by the attachment of
the natives, to baffle the vigilance of his pursuers,
and soon to commence a predatory warfare, which
became more serious after Cæsar's departure from
Spain, and gradually assumed the shape of an organ-
ized hostility. But for the present he was reduced
to the condition of a fugitive; and Cæsar pursued
a course of executions and confiscations for some
months 72, till he had destroyed every appearance of
and Caesar' regular opposition, and had enriched himself and
Rome. largely rewarded those towns or tribes which had
The whole
of Spain is
reduced to
submission,
returns to
Disturb-
ances in
Syria ex-
cited by Q.
Cæcilius
Bassus.
taken part with him in the late contest. The
arrangements necessary to be made of one kind or
another, detained him in Spain till the autumn, so
that, as we have already observed, he did not return
to Rome till the month of October.
There was one other part of the empire in which
Cæsar's authority was still disputed, nor was tran-
quillity ever fully established in it during his life-
70 Auctor de Bell. Hispan. 33.
71 Strabo, III. 170, edit. Xyland.
Dion Cassius, XLV. 275. Appian,
de Bello Civili, IV. 83. Cicero,
ad Atticum, XII. epist. XXXVII.
72 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 233.
DISTURBANCES IN SYRIA.
45
74
"
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
time. On his hasty progress from Egypt towards CHAP.
Pontus, when he was preparing to attack Pharnaces, From
he had conferred the command of the province of U.C. 695
Syria upon Sex. Cæsar 73, a friend and connexion of A.C. 59
his own. At this time there was a Roman knight
residing at Tyre, of the name of Q. Cæcilius Bassus
who had served in Pompey's army during the late
campaign, and after the battle of Pharsalia had
taken refuge in Syria. As belonging to the eques-
trian order, he was likely to have been engaged in
commerce, and he probably had some friends or con-
nexions in the great trading town of Tyre, which led
him to fix on that place as his asylum. He was an
active and enterprising man, and when reports began
to be circulated that Cæsar was in a state of great
danger and difficulty in Africa 75, Bassus thought
that he saw a favourable opportunity for reviving
the cause of Pompey in the east. His command of
money enabled him easily to raise soldiers in these
times of general disorder, and also to corrupt those
of Sex. Cæsar, as different detachments were succes-
sively placed in garrison at Tyre; we are told also,
that when his military preparations became so no-
torious as to excite alarm, he satisfied Sex. Cæsar by
assuring him that they were intended only to assist
Mithridates of Pergamus in taking possession of his
kingdom of the Bosphorus, which Cæsar had be-
stowed on him as a reward for the services he had
66.
73 Auctor de Bello Alexandrino,
74 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 342.
Livy, Epitome, CXIV.
75 Cicero, pro Deiotaro, 9. Dion
Cassius, ubi supra.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
46
DISTURBANCES IN SYRIA,
CHAP. rendered him in his Egyptian campaign76. Suspicion
being thus lulled asleep for the present, Bassus soon
afterwards pretended to have received letters from
Scipio, announcing the defeat and death of Cæsar in
Africa, and bestowing on himself the government
of Syria. Accordingly, by virtue of this imaginary
commission, he took possession of Tyre; and in a
very short time won over to his side the whole
army of Sex. Cæsar, whose soldiers, corrupted by the
money of his antagonist, murdered him, and then
deserted to Bassus. In this manner a private indi-
vidual, with no other means than the money and
influence which he had acquired by his commercial
dealings, became master of an army, and of the
province of Syria. He fixed his head-quarters at
Apamea ", a town of remarkable strength, situated
on a hill rising out of a level country, and protected
partly by the river Orontes, which flows almost
round it, and partly by a large tract of marsh or
stagnant water, which obstructs the approach of an
enemy. It commanded, besides, the resources of a
most abundant district, which had long been famous
for its wealth and fertility; and there were several
other strong fortresses in its neighbourhood, the
petty chiefs of which were induced by the money,
or by the credit of Bassus, to support him in his
enterprise. We are told, too 78, that the chief of
one of the wandering Arab tribes, inhabiting the
77
76 Auctor de Bell. Alexand. 78.
77 Strabo, XVI. 871. Dion
Cassius, LXVII. 342.
78 Dion Cassius and Strabo,
locis citatis.
EXCITED BY CECILIUS BASSUS.
47
IX.
desert between Syria and the Euphrates, was bribed CHAP.
by promises of high pay to himself and his followers, From
to 44.
to offer his services to the same cause; nor did U.C. 695
to 710,
Bassus scruple to call in the more powerful succour A.C. 59
of the sovereigns of Parthia, who were naturally
glad to foment the internal quarrels of the Romans,
and who once or twice relieved Apamea by their
sudden appearance, when Bassus was hard pressed
by the forces employed by Cæsar against him 79.
Thus there were two private individuals acting a
conspicuous part in two different extremities of the
empire, and each indebted for his political import-
ance to the connexions with foreign princes which
he had formed in the course of his commercial deal-
ings. We have already noticed the services ren-
dered to Cæsar in Africa by P. Sitius, at the very
time that Q. Cæcilius Bassus in Syria was organizing
an opposition against him. Other more important
occupations prevented Cæsar from employing a very
considerable force to put him down; and he con-
tinued, therefore, to retain possession of Apamea,
and to command the troops which had deserted to
him from Sex. Cæsar, till C. Cassius, after the death
of Cæsar, became the head of the party of the Com-
monwealth in Asia, when the superior fame and
rank of Cassius induced the soldiers of Bassus
to commit a second act of desertion, to abandon
him, and put themselves under the command of
Cassius 80
79 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. IX.
80 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XII.
CHAP.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Sketch of
the state of
Provinces.
48
STATE OF THE DIFFERENT PROVINCES.
There are few more curious historical records,
than that which Evelyn, in his "Memoirs," has left
of the state of England immediately after the great
civil war. He gives a journal of an excursion which
he made through the midland and northern counties
just at that period; and draws a most lively picture
of the state of the country and of the towns, and of
the marks of havoc and confiscation which naturally
attended the decision of so obstinate a contest. But
when we would strain our eyes to discover what was
the condition of the Roman empire when the sword
was at last sheathed, and the victory of Cæsar was
no longer disputed, we are obliged to turn away in
disappointment, and can only indulge a vain regret,
that the materials for obtaining a really valuable
knowledge of ancient history are so exceedingly
scanty. We have seen that Spain and Syria were
even yet disturbed by the show of actual warfare;
that Sex. Pompeius was the chief of a formidable
band of plunderers in the one country, while Q.
Cæcilius Bassus possessed in the other a strong and
important city, and the command of a Roman legion.
Before we return to Italy itself, we wish to glean a
few facts illustrative of the condition of the other
provinces of the empire, and to describe the charac-
ters of some of the persons, to whose care Cæsar
had committed them.
The countries on the eastern side of the Adriatic
the different and the Ionian gulf, which had been so lately the
principal seat of the civil war, were now governed
by P. Vatinius and Ser. Sulpicius. We have already
{
ILLYRICUM AND ACHAIA.
49
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
mentioned the services which Vatinius had rendered CHAP.
to Cæsar in Illyricum, when he succeeded A. Gabi- From
nius in the management of the war in that province, U.C. 695
and obliged M. Octavius to abandon the contest and A.C. 59
withdraw into Africa. He had been rewarded with Illyricum.
a titular consulship during the last three months of
the year 706 81, and was afterwards appointed to
command the province of Illyricum, as proconsul.
He was continually occupied in reducing the strong-
holds of the neighbouring Dalmatians 82, who had
taken an active part against Cæsar throughout the
late war; and it appears, too, that some Roman
officers, who had probably taken refuge in Illyricum
after the defeat of Pompey, were carrying on a
plundering and desultory warfare, accompanied with
all that wanton cruelty which usually marks the last
vindictive struggles of a vanquished party in a civil
war. Achaia, under which name was included the Achaia.
whole of Greece southward of Thermopylæ, was at
this same period under the government of Ser.
Sulpicius. Sulpicius, the most distinguished lawyer
of his day, had been one of those who remained in
Italy when Pompey first withdrew into Greece, nor
had he at any subsequent time been induced to
follow him. The neutrality thus observed by a man
of his high birth and character, was too grateful to
Cæsar to pass unrewarded; and when Q. Fufius
Calenus returned home to share the honours of the
consulship with P. Vatinius, Cæsar fixed upon Sul-
VOL. II.
81 Dion Cassius, LXII. 211.
82 Cicero, ad Familiares, V. epist. X.
E
50
ASIA.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. picius as the most fit person to succeed him in the
government of Greece 83. Such a task was probably
not an easy one: there were several distinguished
persons who had been involved in the defeat of
Pompey 84, and who were now living in Greece in
exile; many again of the Greeks themselves had
been forward in opposing Cæsar 85, and were to pay
the penalty of their conduct by the forfeiture of
their properties; while the adherents of the victo-
rious party could not, at once, lay aside the license
to which the war had accustomed them, and still
indulged themselves in frequent acts of lawless
violence 86, which it might not be safe or practicable
for Sulpicius to punish. Yet, on the whole, his
professional attachment to the laws, and his mode-
rate character, disposed him to alleviate, as far as
possible, the sufferings of the people whom he
governed; and the state of Greece was, perhaps,
enviable, when compared with that of some of the
other provinces of the empire.
Asia.
Of the condition of Asia, little appears to be
known, except that the province, called by that
name, was now under the government of P. Servilius
Isauricus 87, who had been Cæsar's colleague in the
consulship in the year 705, and whom Cicero com-
83 Cicero, ad Familiares, IV.
epist. III. IV.; VI. epist. VI.
84 For instance, M. Marcellus,
A. Torquatus, Cn. Plancius. Vid.
Ciceron. ad Familiares, IV. epist.
VII. XIV.; VI. epist. I.
* Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII.
epist. XIX.
86 Magna est gladiorum licentia ;
sed in externis locis minor etiam
ad facinus verecundia. Cicero, ad
Familiares, IV. epist. IX.
87 Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII.
epist. LXVIII.
AFRICA.
51
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
pliments on his beneficent and equitable adminis- CHAP.
tration. Deiotarus 88, king of Galatia, who had From
formerly assisted Pompey in the civil war, but after U.C. 695
the battle of Pharsalia had endeavoured to appease AC
A.C. 59
Cæsar's anger by his active services in the war with
Pharnaces, was about this time accused, by his own
grandson, of having intended to assassinate Cæsar,
when passing through Asia Minor two years before,
on his return from Egypt. Although he had been
acknowledged as an independent sovereign by Cæsar
himself, yet Deiotarus was obliged to apply to Cicero,
with whom he had long been familiarly acquainted,
to defend him against this charge, and the cause
was tried by Cæsar in his own house. It appears
that nothing was determined immediately; and as
Cæsar was forming plans for an expedition into
Parthia, he may have deferred his judgment on
Deiotarus till he should be himself in Asia, and
should be able to ascertain more fully what decision
would be most conducive to his own interests.
89
Cæsar's late conquests in Africa had been in- Africa.
trusted (as we have already mentioned) to the com-
mand of C. Sallustius Crispus the historian "". His
oppressions and extortions are said to have been
carried to such a pitch, that he was more like a
plunderer than a proconsul; and the unfortunate in-
habitants, finding the miseries of war succeeded by
the tyranny of such a government, must have been
88 Cicero, pro Deiotaro.
89 Auctor de Bello Africano, 97. Dion Cassius, XLIII. 217.
E 2
J
52
CÆSAR'S TRIUMPHS.
CHAP. amongst the most wretched of all the subjects of the
Roman empire.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
The return of Cæsar from Africa, in the end of
July, 707, was almost immediately followed by his
triumphs, which he now celebrated in commemora-
triumphs. tion of his various successes in Gaul 90, in Egypt, in
Cæsar's
91
Pontus, and in Africa. Each of these pageants
occupied a separate day, and there was an interval
of some days between them, that the interest of
the people might be kept alive, and that each might
pass off without weariness. In the first triumph,
Vercingetorix 9¹, who had been made prisoner at the
famous siege of Alesia six years before, was led
amongst the captives in the procession, and was
immediately afterwards put to death. It is men-
tioned that an accident happened to Cæsar's trium-
phal chariot on this occasion, by which he was nearly
thrown out of it; and so natural is superstition,
even to men of the greatest natural abilities, if un-
enlightened by the knowledge of God, that he was
accustomed 92, ever afterwards, as soon as he had
seated himself in any carriage, to repeat a certain
form of words three times over, by way of a charm
for the security of his journey. The injury which
the chariot had sustained, rendered it necessary that
another should be substituted for it; and the pro-
cession was so long delayed, that it was dark before
90 Livy, Epitome, CXV. Sueto-
nius, in Cæsare, 37.
91 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 223.
2.
92 Pliny, Hist.Natural. XXVIII.
93
CÆSAR AT THE CAPITOL.
53
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
the final ceremony of ascending into the capitol CHAP.
could take place. But the spectacle lost nothing From
by this circumstance; for we are told that forty U.C. 695
elephants were ranged in order on both sides of the A.C. 59
way**, supporting, in their trunks, a number of can-
delabra filled with lights. It seems, however, that
the accident of the morning had produced a strong
impression on Cæsar's mind; and that, with the
feeling so common in ancient times of wishing by a
voluntary humiliation to disarm the envy with which
the gods were supposed to regard excessive pros-
perity, he climbed, or rather crawled, up the steps
leading to the capitol upon his knees 94. In his
Egyptian triumph, Arsinoe, the younger sister of
Cleopatra, appeared amongst the prisoners, and ex-
cited a general feeling of compassion, which, toge-
ther with Cæsar's fondness for her sister, saved her
from sharing the fate of Vercingetorix. The triumph
over Pharnaces was rendered remarkable by the dis-
play of a banner, with the famous words "Veni,
Vidi, Vici ⁹5;" and we may imagine that Cæsar de-
lighted in representing his victory over the king of
Pontus as so easily won, in order to depreciate
Pompey's glory as the conqueror of Mithridates.
In his African triumph, Juba, the son of the late
king of Mauritania 96, was the most distinguished
prisoner; but his life was spared, and he afterwards
became an historian of considerable eminence, and
95.”
93 Suetonius, 37.
94 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 224.
95 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 37.
96 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 55.
Strabo, XVII. 959.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
54
LARGESSES TO THE POPULACE.
CHAP. recovered his hereditary throne, with an accession of
territory, from the favour of Augustus. The civil
wars, according to the constant practice of the
Romans, could not be the subject of a regular
triumph; but, if we may believe Appian ", pictures
were exhibited in the procession representing the
deaths of Scipio, Petreius, and Cato, although their
names were not mentioned in the list of conquered
enemies, which, as usual, was displayed to the people
as a part of the ceremony. Indignation was natu-
rally excited by this indirect glorying at the deaths
of some of the most distinguished citizens of the
Commonwealth; but the splendour of the pageant
drove all other considerations, we are told, from the
eyes of the multitude 98; and when they were in-
formed that Cæsar had brought into the treasury, as
the fruit of his conquests, a sum exceeding 4,843,7507.
of our money 99, few would be disposed to estimate
justly the immense price of wickedness and misery
at which this plunder had been purchased.
Largesses
to the po-
to the sol-
diers.
His triumphs were followed by various largesses
pulace and of provisions and money to the populace, and by a
succession of splendid spectacles, which were perhaps
equally effectual in winning the affections of the
multitude. Magnificent public entertainments were
given, and the people were feasted, we are told, at
two and twenty thousand tables 100; besides which
every one of the poorer citizens received a certain
97 De Bello Civili, II. 101.
8 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 223.
99 Velleius Paterculus, II.
100. Plutarch, in Cæsare, 55.
REMISSION OF RENTS.
55
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
portion of meat 10, about two bushels and a half of CHAP.
corn, ten pounds of oil, and 37. 4s. 7d. in money. A
year's rent 102, or possibly a year's house-tax, was also U.C. 695
remitted to every person in Rome who paid for his A.C. 59
dwelling less than 167. 2s. 11d., and to every one in
Italy who paid less than 47. Os. 83d.; or possibly the
remission to the Italians was now given in addition
to that which Cæsar had already given to the Ro-
mans, according to Dion Cassius, before he set out
for Africa, in the preceding winter 103. But it is
said that he somewhat lessened the effect of these
liberalities by a previous scrutiny and reduction of
the number of citizens who were to profit by them ;
for finding that the list of paupers at Rome 104, or of
persons receiving relief from the distributions of
101" Visceratio," Conf. Sueto-
nium, in Cæsare, 38.
102 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 38.
Dion Cassius, XLII. 209.
103 It is not quite clear what
was the nature of the payment
which Cæsar remitted on this
occasion. To have deprived all
landlords of a year's rent seems a
measure more violently iniquitous
than Cæsar was likely to have
sanctioned; especially as he, or
his partisan, represents this very
same thing as one of the mis-
chievous proposals of M. Cælius
in his prætorship, brought forward
by him at the same time with a
law for the general abolition of all
debts, which exposed him to the
censures of those persons to whom
Cæsar had intrusted the adminis-
tration of the capital. Possibly it
was a remission of all rents due to
the government, which may have
been the proprietor of a large
portion of the land occupied by
buildings in Rome, as well as in
many other towns in Italy. Dion
Cassius says, that in consequence
of the repeated conflicts which
took place between the soldiers of
Octavius Cæsar and the citizens,
both in Rome and in the other
towns of Italy, after the battle of
Philippi, in the course of which a
great many houses were burnt,
there was granted also a remission
of rent both in the capital and in
the country towns; but he does
not say whether this was an act of
the government, or an arrange-
ment generally made between the
landlords and their tenants, in
consideration of the temporary dis-
tress of the latter. Dion Cassius,
XLVIII. 362.
101 Suetonius, 41. Dion Cassius,
XLIII. 224.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
56
LARGESSES TO THE SOLDIERS.
CHAP. corn issued at the public expense, amounted to three
hundred and twenty thousand, he caused this account
to be rigorously examined, and diminished it by
about one half; providing moreover by a law, that
no new claimants on the public bounty should be
admitted, unless when vacancies in the number now
established should be occasioned by death. To his
soldiers he gave at the rate of 1617. 9s. 2d. to each
of the common men; 3227. 18s. 4d. to the centu-
rions; and 6457. 16s. 8d. to the military tribunes 105.
The cavalry are said to have received at the rate of
1937. 15s. a man. In addition to these presents in
money, settlements in land were given to the army;
yet we are told that the soldiers were dissatisfied
with the rewards conferred on them 106; and some-
thing of real bitterness mingled perhaps with the
wild license of the moment, when, as they followed
their leader in his triumphal procession, they sang
doggerel verses, attacking the infamous profligacy of
his youth, reproached him with their miserable fare
of roots at Dyrrhachium, and parodying the senti-
ment of the Stoics, told him that if he acted
honestly he would be condemned for his treasons,
but if he played the villain he might win the throne.
Already, too, they assumed so much of the self-
105 Appian, de Bello Civili, II.
102. The sum here stated appears
enormous; yet a natural cor-
rection of the text of Suetonius,
which in its present state is clearly
corrupt, makes his testimony
exactly confirm that of Appian;
and all parts of the empire had
been plundered to furnish Cæsar
with the means of enriching his
soldiery.
106 Pliny, XIX. 8. Dion Cas-
sius, XLIÏÍ. 224.226. Suetonius,
in Cæsare, 49. 51.
,
DRAMATIC ENTERTAINMENTS.
57
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
various
hibited to
importance of the guards of a military despot, that CHAP.
they murmured loudly against the extravagance of
Cæsar's spectacles; and if we may believe Dion U.C. 695
Cassius, they actually showed symptoms of mutiny, A.C. 59
which were only suppressed by the vigour of their
chief, in seizing one of them with his own hand, and
ordering him to be executed immediately. Yet
wiser and better citizens might have joined them in
condemning the profusion of the entertainments now
given to the multitude, and might have recognised
the invariable policy of tyrants, in the conduct of
Cæsar, thus pampering the populace with shows and Shows of
feastings, while he was plundering and oppressing kinds ex-
the rich, the respectable, and the industrious. He the people.
had built a forum, or great square, which was called
after his own name, an amphitheatre, and a temple
in honour of Venus, giving her the epithet of
Genitrix," or "the Ancestress," in allusion to the
fabled descent of the Julian family from Iulus, the
son of Æneas. These various buildings were now to
be opened, or consecrated; and this, together with
the pretence of paying honours to the memory of his
daughter Julia 107, who had died about eight years
before, furnished him with an occasion of gratifying
the favourite tastes of the multitude to the utmost.
Dramatic entertainments were exhibited in all the Dramatic
different quarters of the city 108, and were performed ments.
in several different languages, for the amusement of
the numerous strangers assembled in the capital
66
107 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 55. 108 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 39.
Dion Cassius, XLIII. 225.
entertain-
T
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Sports of
the amphi-
theatre.
58
COMBATS OF GLADIATORS.
CHAP. from all parts of the empire. It was in one of these
performances that Dec. Laberius, a Roman knight,
and well known as a writer of farces, was forced at
Cæsar's request to appear as an actor on the stage
in one of his own plays; and having thus forfeited
his rank by becoming one of a profession which the
Romans considered infamous, he recovered it again
from Cæsar as a reward for his condescension, and
received besides a large present in money. But the
dramatic spectacles were little regarded in compa-
rison with the sports of the circus, and the amphi-
theatre, the combats of gladiators, and the exhibi-
tion of the naumachia. The hunting of different
animals was continued during five days; and it is
said that the camelopard, or giraffe, was on this occa-
sion for the first time exhibited at Rome 109 On
the last day a regular engagement took place, in
which twenty elephants, thirty horsemen, and five
hundred foot-soldiers fought on each side; and at
another time twenty elephants 110, mounted with
their turrets, and assisted by sixty light-armed sol-
diers, were opposed to five hundred infantry and
Combats of twenty horsemen. The combats of gladiators were
gladiators.
also on the grandest scale; and if we may believe
Suetonius, Furius Leptinus, a man whose father had
been prætor, and Q. Calpenus, a senator, fought in
these contests amongst the hundreds of prisoners
taken in war, or criminals condemned to die, who in
general were the combatants. In like manner, the
109 Dion Cassius, ubi supra.
110 Pliny, VIII. 7.
NAUMACHIA, OR SEA-FIGHT.
59
CHAP.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
to 44.
martial exercise, called the Pyrrhic dance, was per-
formed by the sons of men of the highest rank in
the provinces of Asia and Bithynia; and many of the
young Roman nobility appeared as drivers of chariots A.C. 59
in the races of the circus. But the naumachia, or Naumachia,
sea-fight, excited greater admiration than even the or sca-fight.
combats of the gladiators or of the elephants. An
immense pond or lake was dug near the Tiber, and
having been filled with water, ships of war, of dif-
ferent sizes, of which some are said to have been
quadriremes, or vessels with four rows of oars, were
introduced upon it. Two fleets were formed, one
consisting of Egyptians, and the other of Tyrians;
and it is said that there were on board of each two
thousand rowers 111, and one thousand fighting men,
who engaged with one another, and displayed all the
horrors of real warfare. Even the habitual inhuma-
nity of the Romans was shocked, we are told, in
some measure, by this enormous and wanton effusion
of blood 112; yet they were much more shocked, it is
added, at the thought of the vast sums of money
which were thus prodigally expended. Amongst
other instances of magnificence it is mentioned, that
the whole forum in which the gladiators fought, to-
gether with the whole length of the Via Sacra, was
covered over with awnings to protect the spectators
from the sun 113 ; and some accounts which Dion
Cassius had seen, added the incredible circumstance
111 Appian, de Bello Civili, II. 226.
102.
112 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 225,
113 Pliny, XIX. 1.
60
POWERS AND HONOURS
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
114
CHAP. that these awnings were made of silk. Yet, how-
ever justly there might have existed a partial and
temporary feeling of indignation or disgust at so
much prodigality and cruelty, the entertainments
were altogether so attractive, that the multitudes
which flocked to Rome to witness them were obliged
to live in booths or tents, with which they lined the
roads near the capital, as well as the principal
streets ¹¹¹; and many lives were continually lost from
the pressure of the crowd, two senators, it is said,
perishing amongst the rest in this manner. One
circumstance yet remains to be told, in order to
complete the picture of these festivities. For some
cause, which Dion Cassius could not learn, human
sacrifices were judged to be necessary, and accord-
ingly two men were offered up in the Campus Mar-
tius, by the pontifices and the priest of Mars 115.
Such were the scenes exhibited in the capital of the
civilized world, under the express direction of the
sovereign of the empire, himself a man of the highest
and most cultivated intellect in his dominions.
Human
sacrifices
offered in
the Campus
Martius.
Powers and
honours
on Cæsar.
We have called Cæsar the sovereign of the em-
bestowed pire, for, independently of that actual power which
his sword had conferred on him, the senate, since
the tidings of his successes in Africa, had showered
upon him all the dignities and offices of the Com-
monwealth. He had been appointed dictator for
ten years 116, and Præfectus Morum, or superin-
114 Suetonius, 39.
115 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 226.
116 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 220.
Cicero, ad Familiares, IX. epist.
XV.
1
BESTOWED ON CÆSAR.
61
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
tendent of public manners and morals, with the CHAP.
whole vast authority formerly enjoyed by the cen- From
sors, for three years. He was to nominate the other U.C. 695
magistrates, who were before elected by the people,
although it appears that he did not avail himself of
this power to its full extent, but with the exception
of the consuls, allowed all other public officers to be
appointed half by the tribes, as usual, and half by
himself. He was allowed to have his curule chair
in the senate placed on a level with those of the
consuls, and he was entitled to deliver his opinion
before every other person in the debates. To all
these were added some of those profane and dis-
graceful flatteries 118 which were afterwards so com-
monly bestowed on the Roman emperors. His
statue, raised upon a figure representing the earth,
was placed in the capitol opposite to the statue of
Jupiter, and on it was the inscription,
"He is a
demigod." Other divine honours were voted to him,
either now, or after his return from the campaign
against the sons of Pompey, in Spain. His statues
were carried, together with those of the gods, in the
processions of the circus, temples and altars were
dedicated to him, and priests were appointed to
superintend his worship. These things he received
with a vanity which affords a striking contrast to the
contemptuous pride of Sylla. Cæsar took a pleasure
in receiving every token of homage, and in con-
templating with childish delight the gaudy honours
117 Suetonius, 41.
118 Dion Cassius, 41. Suetonius, 76.
•
K
7
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
62
AIM OF SYLLA'S POLICY.
CHAP. with which he was invested. It was a part of the
prize which he had coveted, and which he had com-
mitted so many crimes to gain; nor did the posses-
sion of real power seem to give him greater delight
than the enjoyment of these forced, and therefore
worthless, flatteries.
When Sylla had raised himself to the supreme
power, there was a definite object before him which
he never lost sight of-the depression of the popular
party, and the strengthening the aristocracy; and
when he had accomplished these ends he laid aside
his individual sovereignty, and took his station as
the chief of that part of the Commonwealth on
which he had conferred an absolute ascendency.
But Cæsar's policy was entirely selfish: he could not
pretend to act for the benefit of the aristocracy, or
of the lower orders. There were no grievances in the
old constitution which could be redressed only by his
despotism; there had been no offence committed by
the senate and people of Rome which deserved that
their liberties should be surrendered into the hands
of one profligate individual. Those therefore who
draw comparisons between Sylla's proscriptions and
Cæsar's clemency, forget the utterly different cir-
cumstances in which the two dictators were placed.
Wicked as Sylla's cruelties were, they were a re-
taliation for former atrocities, or a security for the
establishment of the interests of the high aristocra-
tical party at Rome. The Samnites were butchered
to maintain the ascendency of the Romans over the
Italian allies; the proscription lists were opened to
POLICY OF CÆSAR.
63
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
exterminate, if possible, the adherents of the popular CHAP.
faction, who had abetted the violences of Sulpicius
and Cinna, and had so lately trampled the nobility U.C. 695
under their feet. But after the deaths of Pompey, A.C. 59
of Scipio, of L. Domitius, of M. Bibulus, of L. Len-
tulus, of M. Cato, and of all the most eminent
citizens of the Commonwealth, whom could Cæsar
wish to proscribe? His own wrongs, even if we
were to admit his own statement, had been abun-
dantly revenged already; the security of his govern-
ment could not be ensured by massacres, when every
one seemed ready to submit to his power; and if
he had wished to get rid of all those whose interests
were incompatible with his own, he must have de-
stroyed every free citizen in the empire. Cæsar's
policy was to draw a veil over the past, as far as
possible; to conciliate, by an apparent clemency,
those whom he held in subjection; and to invest
himself, as early as he could, with all the splendour
and popularity which attend a prince of command-
ing abilities ruling over a great empire. Had he
but retained a small military force about his person,
to save him from the danger of assassination, there
was no probability that his power would ever have
been disturbed by any national resistance; he might
have died, like Augustus, in a peaceful old age,
quietly enjoying the imperial crown, and might have
transmitted his dominions to his successor, without
the intervention of that period of misery which
elapsed, between his murder and the final exaltation
of his nephew Octavius, after the battle of Actium.
t
CHAP.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Cæsar's
soldiers.
64 DISTRIBUTION OF LANDS TO CÆSAR'S SOLDIERS.
One of the most necessary measures for the secu-
rity of Cæsar's government, was the granting settle-
ments of lands to his victorious soldiers. He did
not wish to plant them all together in any one part
Distribution of Italy 119; partly that by being dispersed into
of lands to different quarters they might be less likely to re-
member their own power, and attempt to overthrow
the throne which they had raised; and partly in
order to avoid the odium of expelling a large body
of the lawful occupants of the soil in order to make
room for them. It was professed that for this pur-
pose Cæsar could find land enough amongst the
forfeited estates of the adherents of Pompey, or in
those parts of Italy and Cisalpine Gaul which were
the property of the Commonwealth. But it ap-
pears that the commissioners whom he appointed to
manage this business, might extend, with little con-
troul, the limits of what they chose to call national
or confiscated lands; and thus we find them dividing
out the districts of Veii and Capena 120; threatening
the neighbourhood of Tusculum, so that Cicero en-
tertained some fears for the safety of his own villa;
seizing on the estates in Cisalpine Gaul 12, which
belonged to the corporation of the town of Atella,
in Campania; claiming the whole territory of Vola-
terræ 122, because Sylla had decreed its confiscation,
although it had since been protected by an especial
119 Suetonius, 38. Dion Cassius,
XLII. 210. Appian, II. 94.
120 Cicero, ad Familiares, IX.
epist. XVII.
121 Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII.
epist. VII.
122 Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII.
epist. IV.
PURCHASES OF FORFEITED PROPERTY.
65
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
law, passed by Cæsar himself in his first consulship; CHAP.
and by a still more striking instance of arbitrary
power, marking out for distribution a property which U.C. 695
had already been sold by public auction under A.C. 59
Cæsar's authority 123, as belonging to an adherent of
Pompey; and had been purchased by C. Albinus, a
senator, in the natural confidence that Cæsar would
cause the validity of such sales to be religiously
observed, inasmuch as his own credit and interest
were concerned in maintaining his own acts.
in this manner, at whatever expense of individual
oppression and misery, the veterans were provided
for; and the favour of the army was conciliated
towards a chief, whose sole dependence was on their
support, and who had shown himself ready to repay
their services with the rewards which they most
coveted.
But
of forfeited
Cæsar's
It is not possible to estimate the amount of pro- Purchases
perty forfeited in different parts of the empire, on property by
account of the support given by its owners to the adherents.
party of Pompey. At Rome the sales of houses
and lands were constantly going on, and as it was
naturally considered odious to become a purchaser 124,
monied men of low character, and some of Cæsar's
partisans, who cared not for public opinion, were
able to buy splendid possessions at a very low price.
It is said that M. Antonius 125, having thus bought
the house which had belonged to Pompey, was very
123 Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII. epist. III.
epist. VIII.
124 Cicero, ad Atticum, XII.
VOL. II.
125 Cicero, Philippic. II. 29.
F
>
66
PURCHASES OF FORFEITED PROPERTY.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. unwilling to pay the price of it; presuming that his
services to Cæsar entitled him to share in his spoils
gratuitously. But Cæsar, on his return from Africa,
insisted absolutely on the payment being made; and
when Antonius still demurred, he ordered a military
guard to take possession of his property. It was
now time to give up the plea of right, and to appeal
to Cæsar's forbearance, that he would not press for
immediate payment; and Cæsar, whose main objec-
tion was to the principle on which Antonius had
before refused to pay, having no wish to distress so
useful an adherent, readily allowed him a longer
time to discharge his debt. It does not appear that
it was ever paid; for the profligacy of Antonius kept
him always poor, and Cæsar did not wish to exaspe-
rate him, and to run the risk of offending a large
party among his principal officers, by seeming to
grudge them any portion of the fruits of his usurpa-
tion. We are told that, whilst Cæsar was in Spain 126,
Antonius proceeded as far as Narbo, in Gaul, to join
him, but went no further; and after staying there
some time returned to Rome, in order to prevent
the sale of his property, with which he was at that
period threatened for his insolvency. During his
stay at Narbo 127, he is said to have communicated
with C. Trebonius some design against Cæsar's life;
and it was owing to this circumstance that Trebonius
afterwards led him aside out of the senate-house,
when Cæsar was assassinated, supposing that he,
126 Cicero, Philippic. 30, 31. 127 Cicero, Philippic. 14.
Ad Atticum, XII. epist. XVIII.
LIVES OF CÆSAR'S PRINCIPAL ADHERENTS.
67
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
who had once himself proposed the very same deed, CHAP.
would feel no regret when it was carried into execu- —
From
tion. But it is not unlikely that some among the U.C. 695
conspirators were actuated by the same motives A.C. 59
which had led Antonius to contemplate the murder
of Cæsar; and that it was the creditor rather than
the tyrant whom they wished to destroy. Be this
as it may, the friends of Cæsar seized largely upon
the spoils of the defenders of the Commonwealth;
and although in many instances the property thus
gained was speedily dissipated, yet the scandal and
the suffering occasioned by these proceedings was
great and deplorable.
the lives of
nius.
We shall take this opportunity of noticing some Sketch of
of those persons who had been Cæsar's principal Caesar's
principal
supporters in the civil war, and who were now raised adherents.
by his victory to the highest situations in the Com- M. Anto-
monwealth. Of all these, M. Antonius was the
most distinguished. He has been, necessarily, often
mentioned already in the course of this history; and
we have seen that his flight from Rome during his
tribuneship, furnished Cæsar with a pretence for
commencing his rebellion in the year 704; that he
was afterwards intrusted with the government of
Italy during Cæsar's absence in Spain in the same
year; that he held a high command in Cæsar's army
in the subsequent campaign in Greece; and that,
after the battle of Pharsalia, he carried the greatest
part of the victorious legions back to Italy, and
enjoyed the government of that country for the
second time till the return of Cæsar from Egypt in
F 2
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
P. Dola-
bella.
68 ANTONIUS, DOLABELLA, AND ÆMILIUS LEPIDUS.
CHAP. the autumn of 706. He was then named master of
the horse to Cæsar in his second dictatorship; but
he did not follow him into Africa, and employed
himself, during his stay at Rome, in wasting, amidst
the grossest excesses, the property which he had
purchased at Cæsar's auctions. Next to Antonius
we may rank P. Cornelius Dolabella, Cicero's son-in-
law, whose early profligacies and extravagances had
led him to join Cæsar at the beginning of his rebel-
lion as the natural patron of men of broken fortunes;
who had since fought under him at Pharsalia 128, had
distinguished himself by his revolutionary proceed-
ings when tribune, during Cæsar's absence in Egypt,
and had afterwards gone with him into Africa, and
had served under him through the whole of that
campaign. On his return to Italy, after Cæsar's final
victory, he appears to have lived in a style of great
magnificence, and the excellence of his entertain-
ments is recorded by Cicero 129, who at this time
often visited him, and through him, and one or two
other friends, maintained a friendly intercourse with
M. Æmilius the prevailing party. M. Æmilius Lepidus is en-
titled to our notice, more from the elevated situa-
tion to which circumstances afterwards raised him,
than from any merit or abilities of his own. Having
been prætor at the beginning of the rebellion, he
had remained at Rome when the consuls and the
great majority of the senate left it to follow
Lepidus.
128 Cicero, Philippic. II. 30.
129 Ad Familiares, IX. epist. XVI.
131
"
C. VIBIUS PANSA.
69
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
Pompey 130; and when Cæsar returned from Spain, CHAP.
towards the end of the year 704, Lepidus presided From
at the comitia, which conferred on him the office of U.C. 695
dictator. For thus giving the sanction of a lawful A.C. 59
magistrate to Cæsar's proceedings, he was rewarded
with the government of the province of Hither
Spain which he retained for two years; and
having made himself useful in quieting the disturb-
ances occasioned by the unpopularity of Q. Cassius,
he received the honours of a triumph on his return
to Rome, and was named Cæsar's colleague in the
consulship for the year 707. This dignity he was
now enjoying; and when Cæsar again set out for
Spain, at the close of the year, being then invested
with the dictatorship, Lepidus was appointed his
master of the horse, and was intrusted with the care
of the capital during his absence. The principal
partisans of Cæsar are enumerated by Cicero in one
of his letters 132, where we find the names of Pansa,
Hirtius, Balbus, Oppius, Matius, and Postumius.
C. Vibius Pansa had been tribune in the year 702, C. Vibius
and being already devoted to the interests of Cæsar,
he interposed his negative upon some of the earliest
resolutions passed by the senate 33, with a view to
the appointment of a new proconsul in the province
of Gaul. We know not how actively he was en-
gaged in the civil war; but it appears that he pre-
130 Cicero, ad Atticum, IX.
epist. IX. Dion Cassius, XLI.
170.
131 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 214.
Auctor de Bello Alexand. 59.
132 Ad Familiares, VI. epist.
XII.
133 Cicero, ad Familiares, VIII.
epist. VIII.
Pansa.
J
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
70
A. HIRTIUS.
CHAP. served, through the whole of it, an unblemished
character 134, and so distinguished himself by various
acts of kindness and protection towards distressed
individuals of the vanquished party, that when he
was appointed to succeed M. Brutus in the govern-
ment of Cisalpine Gaul, in the year 708, he received
from the people, on leaving Rome, the liveliest
A. Hirtius. tokens of their good-will and gratitude. A. Hirtius
was also a friend of Cæsar before the civil war broke
out, and was with him in Gaul in the year 703 135,
from whence he was despatched to Rome, to make
arrangements with some of Cæsar's partisans in the
capital, and returned to Cæsar immediately after, so
that he was probably with him when he first began
his rebellion. We hear of him again as residing in
Italy in the year 707 136, when he, like Dolabella,
was famous for the sumptuousness of his table, and
flattered Cicero's vanity by coming frequently to
receive instructions from him in the art of oratory.
He is known as the author of the eighth book of
the "Commentaries of Cæsar's Wars in Gaul 137;"
and was by some said to have written also those
narratives of the campaigns in Egypt, Africa, and
Spain, to which we have so often referred in our
account of those events. He also took upon him-
self to write an invective against Cato in answer to
134 Cicero, ad Familiares, XV.
epist. XVII. XIX. Ad Atticum,
XII. epist. XXVII.
135 Cicero, ad Atticum, VII.
epist. IV.
136 Cicero, ad Atticum, XII.
epist. II. Ad Familiares, VII.
epist. XXXIII.; IX. epist. XVI.
XVIII. XX.
137 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 56.
L. CORNELIUS BALBUS.
71
IX.
spirit U.C. 695
to 710,
Both A.C. 59
to 44.
Balbus.
Cicero's panegyric on him 138; and he is said to have CHAP.
displayed some talent in the work, but to have From
incurred much greater ridicule, for the evident
of flattery to Cæsar by which it was dictated.
Hirtius and Pansa appeared inclined, after Cæsar's
death, to acknowledge the authority of the old con-
stitution; they were both consuls together in the
year 710, and both perished in the actions fought at
Mutina, when commanding the armies of the Com-
monwealth against the rebellious attempts of M.
Antonius. The names of Balbus and Oppius are
generally coupled together in Cicero's letters, as if
either personal or political friendship had established
the closest union between them. L. Cornelius Balbus L. Cornelius
was a native of Spain, and by birth a citizen of
Gades. He distinguished himself in the service of
the Roman government in the war so long carried
on against Sertorius, and was rewarded by Pompey
with the rights of a Roman citizen 139. From this
period he removed to Rome, where he lived in a
style of affluence, and, as it appears, was exposed to
some odium on account of his wealth and luxury 140
He soon became acquainted with Cæsar, to whom,
perhaps, his money enabled him to be useful; and
his intimacy with him was already firmly established,
when Cæsar, after his prætorship, obtained the pro-
vince of the Farther Spain; for we find that Cæsar
conferred many kindnesses for his sake on his native
138 Cicero, ad Atticum, XII.
epist. XL. XLI. XLIV. XLV.
139 Cicero, pro Balbo, 2, 3.
140 Cicero, pro Balbo, 25.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
72
L. CORNELIUS BALBUS.
CHAP. city Gades 141. When Cæsar was afterwards consul,
Balbus was one of those whom he most warmly
patronised; and when, in the year 697, his title to
the character of a Roman citizen was disputed in a
court of justice, by the instigation, probably, of those
who hated him as Cæsar's friend, Crassus, Pompey,
and Cicero pleaded for him in his defence. Whilst
Cæsar was in Gaul, Balbus occasionally visited him",
and found opportunities, we may suppose, of adding
to his fortune from the plunder of that country and
Britain; for Cicero, in one of his letters 143, alludes
to the gardens and a Tusculan villa of the favourite,
as the fruits of Cæsar's friendship. When the civil
war broke out, he remained at Rome, and was not
required by Cæsar to take any active part in the
quarrel 144, as he was under great obligations to
Pompey, and to L. Cornelius Lentulus, then consul,
from whom he had taken his name when he became
a Roman citizen. But he was always highly valued
by Cæsar, and possessed great influence with him;
insomuch, that Cicero relied chiefly on his interest
to procure for him the favour of the conqueror after
the battle of Pharsalia 145. He was an Epicurean in
principle and in practice, building splendid villas
after Cæsar's victory in Africa 146, and enjoying the
gifts of fortune to the uttermost. According to the
philosophy which he professed, he seems to have
141 Cicero, pro Balbo, 19.
142 Cicero, Epist. ad Q. Fratrem,
III. epist. I.
143 Ad Atticum, VII. epist. VII.
144 Ad Atticum, IX. epist. VII.
145 Ad Atticum, XI. epist. VII.
VIII. &c.
146 Ad Atticum, XII. epist. II.
1 ...
C. OPPIUS.
73
CHAP.
IX.
From
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44,
been a selfish but easy tempered man, willing to
keep up a friendly intercourse with persons of all
parties, and studying to preserve his fortune unhurt U.C. 695
through all the political changes which he witnessed.
In this object he was fully successful; for after the
battle of Philippi he obtained the title of consul
from M. Antonius and Octavius in the year 713 147,
being the first individual who rose to that honour
without being an Italian or a Roman citizen by
birth; and at his death he was rich enough to be-
queath the sum of 16s. 1d. to every individual of the
Roman people.
His associate, Oppius, was a man of mean, or at c. Oppius.
least of humble birth 148, and apparently became
acquainted with Cæsar by furnishing him with money
at a time his profligacies were continually draining
his means and ruining his credit. When Cæsar was
in Gaul, Oppius seems to have been employed by
him as his agent at Rome 149, and was in the habit of
forwarding the letters which passed between him and
his principal officers and their friends in the capital.
Like Balbus, he enjoyed the confidence of Cæsar
without interruption, and his name is constantly
mentioned as that of a person whose influence in the
internal administration of affairs was very consider-
able. But we have been unable to find any particulars
147 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 376.
Pliny, VII. 43. Velleius Pater-
culus, II. 51.
148 Cicero, ad Atticum, IX.
epist. VII. Tacitus, Annal. XII.
60.
149 Cicero, ad Q. Fratrem, III.
epist. I.
**
with Witha anat
IX.
74
C. MATIUS.
CHAP. recorded of him which throw light upon his indi-
vidual character.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
9
C. Matius was a citizen of the equestrian order 150,
and became, at an early period of his life, acquainted
C. Matius. with Cæsar. He was with him for some time in
Gaul 151, and exerted himself at that period to recon-
cile him to Cicero, for whom he entertained an old
regard. At the beginning of the civil war he did his
utmost to preserve peace; but when his efforts proved
fruitless, a most false estimate of the claims of private
friendship led him to follow Cæsar, though at the
same time he disapproved of his cause. He does not
appear, however, to have taken much part in the war,
nor did he acquire either riches or honours by its
event; but availed himself of his influence with the
conqueror to mitigate the sufferings of the vanquished
party, and to recommend a system of clemency. After
the death of Cæsar, when his assassins were at the
height of their power, Matius never disguised his
sorrow for the loss of his friend, and was one of the
first persons to notice and support C. Octavius, when
he came forward to claim the name and inheritance
of his uncle. Octavius did not forget his kindness,
but lived on terms of friendship with him 152 when the
course of events had raised him to the imperial
throne: and Matius lived to old age, possessed of
fortune and influence, without reproach, amusing
himself with his gardens and trees, and, like our own
150 Tacitus, Annal. XII. 60.
151 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. XXVII. XXVIII.
152 Pliny, XII. 2; XV. 14.
POSTUMIUS.
75
IX.
Evelyn, leaving a name behind him for his attention CHAP.
to the practice of horticulture and the ornamenting
of pleasure grounds.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
to 44.
Of Postumius we have been able to collect no other A.C. 59
notices than that he was employed by Cæsar in the Postumius.
civil war 153, and after his death undertook, together
with C. Matius, the directions of the games which
were celebrated by Octavius in honour of his uncle's
victories.
One reflection naturally presents itself when we
read over this list of names, hitherto unknown in
Roman history, and now raised to the highest emi-
nence of wealth and political importance. With all
the misery which they had occasioned, the civil wars
had yet produced the beneficial effect of depriving
the oligarchy of great Roman families of that predo-
minant share of power and honours which they had
been accustomed to enjoy. In times of commotion,
men of wealth, or of personal qualifications, naturally
made their way to distinction and greatness; and
more monied men and foreigners were thus intro-
duced into the highest class of society, and gave a
severe wound to that narrow aristocratical spirit
which would perpetuate nobility in one particular
caste, and considers it as a profanation to admit indi-
viduals taken from the mass of the people into the
ranks of this privileged order. It was a general
benefit to the provinces of the Roman empire when
Balbus obtained the consulship; it was a general
153 Appian, de Bello Civili, II. 58. Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. II.
76
CHARACTERISTICS OF CÆSAR'S ADHERENTS.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. elevation of the commercial and monied classes of
the Roman people, when Oppius and Matius were
raised to a degree of power and importance above
the families of the oldest nobility in the Common-
wealth; while, at the same time, it was a fortunate
circumstance towards maintaining a just, but not
excessive respect for noble ancestry, that the person
who had seized the very highest place in the republic,
was one whose birth made him on a level with the
proudest of the patricians, and thus rendered his
sway less galling than if his abilities and crimes.
alone had exalted him above them.
It may be remarked, also, that almost all the friends
of Cæsar whom we have enumerated, were men of
Epicurean principles; and the same may be said of
T. Pomponius Atticus and C. Mecenas, two of the
most distinguished individuals of the equestrian order,
who flourished about this same period. The doctrines
of Epicurus naturally suited a class of men who
enjoyed wealth without political dignity; and such
was the general character of the equestrian order, to
which the persons of whom we have been speaking
originally belonged. Where these principles were
united with an amiable temper and kindly feelings,
the mischief to which they led was either indolence
and a sort of elegant selfishness, or, in the most
favourable circumstances, it was a preference of feel-
ing to principle, and a habit of substituting kind and
generous actions for the harder task of balancing the
claims of conflicting duties, and following that which
was right, rather than that which was agreeable. It
PHILOSOPHY OF EPICURUS.
77
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
is probable that Matius and Pansa thought that their CHAP.
conduct in supporting Cæsar was amply atoned for From
by their acts of personal kindness and disinterested- U.C. 695
ness after his victory; so prone are men to purchase A.C. 59
the privilege of declining a painful duty by the
practice of those amiable virtues which confer at
once the greatest self-complacency on themselves,
and most attract the admiration of others. This
tendency was especially encouraged by the doctrines
of Epicurus, which making pleasure the end of human
conduct, represented virtue as the surest means of
attaining it.
Men of coarser and viler natures
abused this philosophy, as was natural, far more
grossly; but its evil tendency was most shown in
the lives of its best disciples: for they who believed
virtue to be indeed the truest road to pleasure, were
yet misled by perceiving that the virtues most agree-
able to their natures, led them to pleasure most
readily; and, content with the practice of these,
they failed altogether in assigning to each virtue its
proper comparative rank, and in disciplining their
natures to choose their highest duty, when the grati-
fication of their intellect or their feelings was to be
the necessary sacrifice.
regulations
Meantime Cæsar proceeded to turn his attention Laws and
to the general settlement of the Commonwealth, of Casar.
and, like Sylla, to attempt to terminate the disorders
from which he had now nothing further to gain.
With this view he proposed and carried a law,
restricting to two years the term during which any
1
4
78
LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF CÆSAR.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. command in the provinces might be held 154 and
ordering that all those provinces which were go-
verned by prætors or proprætors should be held only
for one year. But as he had himself marched with
his army out of his province by his own sole autho-
rity, in open defiance of the Cornelian law of Sylla,
which rendered such conduct treasonable, so a popu-
lar adventurer, or an able and ambitious general,
would not fail to procure or to retain the command
of a province for as long a time as might suit his
purposes, notwithstanding the prohibitions of this law
of Cæsar. Another law, in which also the example
of Sylla was followed, proposed to increase the
severity of the criminal code 155. Wilful murderers
were to incur the forfeiture of all their property, in
addition to the penalty of exile, which had hitherto
been the utmost extent of punishment legally in-
flicted on the most enormous crimes; other criminals,
when banished, were to forfeit the half of their for-
tunes; and persons condemned for disturbing the
public peace 156, or for any other of those offences
against the public welfare included under the term
Majestas imminuta," or "læsa," were to be expelled
from Italy by the form of forbidding them the use
of fire and water within so many miles of the capital.
But this strictness ill accorded with the indemnities
which he had himself granted to so many persons
condemned for bribery and other offences 157; or
66
154 Cicero, Philippic. I. 8.
155 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 42.
156 Cicero, Philippic. I. 10.
157 Suetonius, 41.
LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF CÆSAR.
79
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
with his reversing the sentences of degradation for- CHAP.
merly passed by the censors upon several who had
since served him in the civil war. A third law, U.C. 695
which was most completely at variance with the A.C. 59
popular principles on which he had professed here-
tofore to act, contained an alteration of the Aurelian
law respecting the persons to whom the judicial
power was to be intrusted. By that law, passed as
we have seen in the first consulship of Pompey and
Crassus (U.c. 683), the judges were to be chosen
from the senate, the equestrian order, and from a
description of men among the plebeians who pos-
sessed a competent fortune, and were known by the
name of Tribuni Erarii. But Cæsar now made the
Tribuni Ærarii no longer eligible, and confined the
judicial power exclusively to the members of the
senate, or of the equestrian order 158. Another of
Cæsar's measures was directed against extravagance
in the expenses of the table, being a renewal and an
enforcement of the old sumptuary laws. Intempe-
rance in eating and drinking was not Cæsar's favourite
sensuality; and perhaps his feelings as a soldier may
have made him dislike an indulgence which he
might think inconsistent with the hardiness of a
military nation. But he found that the impatience
which men feel at being controlled by law, in a
matter so entirely of a domestic nature, was too
strong in this point for his authority; and learning
that as soon as he left Rome his enactments were
158 Suetonius, 41. Dion Cassius, XLIII. 226.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
80
LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF CÆSAR.
CHAP. disregarded, he wrote angrily from Spain to say that
he was resolved henceforward to remain constantly
in the capital, that his laws might be duly ob-
served 159; and afterwards, he is said not only to
have posted guards at the markets, to prevent the
sale of any forbidden articles 160, but sometimes to
have sent his lictors and soldiers into private houses,
and to have actually carried off from the table any
dishes which exceeded the allowed expense of pri-
vate entertainments. There were others of his acts
which excited great odium against him at the time,
and which proceeded indeed, very probably, from
selfish motives; but which were really wise and
liberal, and loudly called for by the existing circum-
stances of the empire. He conferred the rights of
Roman citizenship on a whole legion of soldiers
whom he had raised in Transalpine Gaul, and called
by the name of the Alauda 161. He bestowed also
the same privilege on many of the inhabitants of
Cisalpine Gaul, and intended to communicate it to
all the people within the Alps
a purpose which
was carried into effect soon after his death by M.
Antonius and Octavius. He gave also the inferior
distinction of the rights of Latin citizenship, " Jus
Latii," to all the inhabitants of Sicily He intro-
duced a number of persons into the senate, so that
the majority of the whole body were said to owe
their admission to him 164; and amongst the rest
159 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIII.
epist. VII.
160 Suetonius, 43.
161 Suetonius, 24.
162
,
163
162 Appian, de Bello Civili, V. 3.
163 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XII.
164 Cicero, de Divinatione, II. 9.
LAWS AND REGULATIONS OF CÆSAR.
81
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
were several Transalpine Gauls 165; upon which an CHAP.
ironical notice was handed about in Rome, ordering
that no one should pretend to show the new U.C. 695
senators the way to the senate-house."
to the senate-house." He raised A.C. 59
several new families to the dignity of patricians 166,
in order to supply the diminution of that order in
the late war; and he admitted all physicians, as well
as the professors of all other liberal arts and sciences,
resident at Rome, to the right of citizenship. All
these acts had a beneficial tendency, as far as they
contributed to place the inhabitants of different parts
of the empire on a level with each other; and pre-
pared the way for their forming gradually one united
nation, instead of regarding one another, as hitherto,
in the light of masters and slaves, between whom
there existed an insuperable barrier. Another class
of Cæsar's measures regarded the important subject
of population, and was an attempt to relieve the
capital from some portion of that multitude of indi-
gent citizens by which it was overburdened, and to
substitute free inhabitants in the room of some of
the slaves, who were now almost the sole cultivators
of the soil in many parts of Italy. He is said to
have settled no fewer than eighty thousand citi-
165 Suetonius, 76. 80.
166 Suetonius, 41. Tacitus,
Annal. XI. 25. Dion Cassius
makes Q. Fufius Calenus say, in
his speech in defence of M. Anto-
nius, that Cicero's family was
among those raised, on this occa-
sion, to the rank of patricians.
This is not impossible, as Cæsar
VOL. II.
would naturally fix upon those
families which were noble, though
not patricians: and, as Cicero was
almost the only man surviving who
had been consul before the civil
wars, his family would readily sug-
gest itself as one of the first to
receive this accession of dignity.
Dion Cassius, 306.
G
1
CHAP.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Reform of
the calen-
dar.
82
167
REFORM OF THE CALENDAR.
zens many of them freedmen, in different colonies,
and to have restored on this occasion many towns
which had been ruined in former wars, particularly
Carthage and Corinth. These two famous cities had
been both destroyed in the same year, exactly a
century before the period of their restoration; they
were now rebuilt together, and in a very short time
rose to a high degree of wealth and importance.
Then, to ensure the existence of a free population in
Italy 168, he forbade all citizens, between the ages of
twenty and forty, from being abroad for more than
three years together, except on military service; nor
were the sons of senators allowed to leave the country
at all, except they travelled in the suite of a magis-
trate. He also insisted that all graziers, and persons
who fed sheep or other animals on a large scale,
should employ freedmen in the proportion of at least
one-third out of the whole number of their shep-
herds or herdsmen. But the short duration of
Cæsar's power prevented these regulations from pro-
ducing any sufficient effect; and in the reign of
Augustus 169 it was still matter of complaint that
many districts of Italy were only redeemed from deso-
lation by the number of slaves belonging to the great
landed proprietors of Rome.
The reform of the calendar, which was accom-
plished by Cæsar, is too famous to be altogether
passed over in silence. It has been observed several
times in the course of this history, that the nominal
167 Suetonius, 42. Strabo, VIII.
436; XVII. 968, edit. Xyland.
168 Suetonius, ubi supra.
169 Livy, VI. 12.
-
HONOURS BESTOWED ON CÆSAR.
83
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
time was about two months in advance of the real CHAP.
season of the year, so that what was called mid- From
summer, was in reality the latter end of April. This U.C. 695
confusion was mainly owing to the strange power A.C. 59
allowed to the pontifices of intercalating or adding
to the year what number of days they pleased; and
this power was very capriciously exercised, as the in-
terests of their friends might require a greater num-
ber to be added to lengthen the period of their being
in office, or a less number in order to shorten the
term, when the annual magistracies were held by
men of the opposite party. Cæsar now employed
the ablest astronomers of the age to place the com-
putation of time on a true footing 170; and two
months were added to the current year, that on the
ensuing first of January the real and nominal time
might agree with one another. For the future, the
year was to consist of three hundred and sixty-five
days, and a single day was to be added every fourth
year, according to our present practice; so that this
Julian calendar has been followed ever since by the
nations of Europe, with only the slight correction
introduced by Pope Gregory XIII. in 1582, and
adopted in Great Britain in 1752, under the denomi-
nation of the New Style.
honours
Such were the principal public measures of Cæsar's Additional
government; but it was not by these that he pro- bestowed
voked the conspiracy to which he fell a victim, so after his
much as by the arrogance of his personal behaviour, Spain.
170 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 59. Suetonius, 40.
on Cæsar,
victory in
U.C. 708.
G 2
|
84
HONOURS BESTOWED ON CÆSAR.
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
""
CHAP. and his open assumption of the state, as well as of
the power, of an absolute sovereign. After his last
U.C. 695 victory over the sons of Pompey in Spain, the flat-
tery of the senate added yet more to the extravagant
honours which they had already lavished on him;
and it appears that the homage thus profusely offered
to him was more than he could bear, and that he
fancied himself greater in proportion to the increased
servility with which he was regarded. It was voted
that he should be styled the "father of his country,'
and that the title "imperator" should be prefixed to
his name 171; that his person should be declared
sacred; and that he should be appointed dictator for
life. His statue was placed in the temple of Qui-
rinus or Romulus 172, and in the capitol, next to
those of the seven traditional kings of Rome, and of
L. Junius Brutus, the founder of the Common-
wealth. He was allowed to wear, on all public festi-
vities, the dress used by victorious generals at their
triumphs 173; and at all times to have a crown of
laurel on his head. The month in which he was
born, and which had till then been called Quintilis,
was now named Julius, or July, in honour of him.
Money was stamped with his image; and a guard of
senators and citizens of the equestrian order was
voted for the security of his person. It was appa-
rently soon after his return from Spain, that the
whole body of the senate waited upon him to com-
171 Livy, Epitome, CXVI. Dion
Cassius, XLIII. 235, 236.
172 Cicero, ad Atticum, XII.
epist. XLV.
173 Suetonius.
HIS ARROGANT BEHAVIOUR GIVES OFFENCE. 85
From
IX.
him- U.C. 695
to 710,
seat, A.C. 59
to 44.
gance of
viour.
municate to him the decrees which they had passed CHAP.
in his honour. He received them in state in front
of the temple of Venus Genitrix which he had
self founded 174 ; but he never rose from his
either when they first approached him, or when they
presented to him so many tokens of their submis-
sion and devotion. This was an affront which was He gives
offence by
never forgiven; and it was particularly remarked 175, the arro-
that during his own triumph, a short time before, his beha-
when L. Pontius Aquila, one of the tribunes, allowed
his triumphal chariot to pass by the benches appro-
priated to himself and his colleagues without rising
from his place, Cæsar noticed it with great indigna-
tion, openly saying, that Aquila had better at once
take from him the administration of the Common-
wealth; and for some days afterwards, whenever he
promised any thing to any one who waited upon
him, he used ironically to add, "But you must ob-
tain the consent of Pontius Aquila!" On another
occasion when, at the time of the Latin holydays 176,
Cæsar was riding into Rome in solemn procession,
after having performed the usual sacrifices on the
Alban hill, some voices amongst the multitude
saluted him with the title of king, and a laurel
crown, bound round with the white fillet or diadem,
which was the well-known ornament of royalty, was
placed upon one of his statues. Two of the tribunes,
Epidius Marullus and C. Cæsetius Flavius, ordered
174 Livy, Epitome, CXVI. Dion
Cassius, XLIV. 244.
175 Suetonius, 78.
176 Dion Cassius, XLIV. 245.
Suetonius, 79.
86
THE DIADEM REJECTED BY CÆSAR.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. the diadem to be taken off from the laurel wreath,
and the man who had put it on the statue to be
taken into custody. Upon this Cæsar upbraided
them in strong language for endeavouring to excite
the popular odium against him, as if he were really
ambitious of the kingly title; and by an exercise of
what Paterculus calls his censorian power 177, he for-
bade them acting any more as tribunes, and expelled
them from the senate, deploring at the same time,
we are told, his own hard fortune in being thus
obliged either to do violence to the clemency of his
nature, or to suffer his dignity to be compromised.
It is added, that Cæsar so deeply resented the con-
duct of these tribunes 178, that he applied to the
father of Cæsetius to renounce his son for his sedi-
tious behaviour, promising him that he would amply
provide for his two other sons, if he complied with
his wishes. But the old man replied, " that Cæsar
should rather deprive him of all his children, than
prevail on him to turn one of them out of his house
as deserving to be given up by his father." Yet
Cæsar was probably well aware of the odium to
which he would be exposed if he were suspected of
aiming at the honours of royalty; and it was to re-
move any such impression from the public mind,
that he took occasion to answer to the acclamations
of the populace, on one occasion, when they were
saluting him with the title of king, “that he was
Cæsar, and not a king." With the same view it is
177 II. 68.
178 Valerius Maximus, V. 7.
SUSPICIONS OF HIS SINCERITY.
87
IX.
to 710,
ap- A.C. 59
the
,
to 44.
not unlikely that he had concerted beforehand the CHAP.
famous scene which took place on the fifteenth From
February, at the festival of the Lupercalia, when M. U.C 695
Antonius, who then held the office of consul,
proached Cæsar, as he was sitting in state in
rostra above the forum, and presented to him a royal
diadem. A murmur ran through the multitude 179,
but it was instantly changed into loud applause,
when Cæsar rejected the proffered ornament, and
persisted in his refusal, although Antonius threw
himself at his feet, imploring him, in the name of
the Roman people, to accept it. To complete the
purpose for which this scene was in all probability
acted, Antonius caused a memorandum to be en-
tered in the calendar for the year, "That on the day
of the Lupercalia, M. Antonius, the consul, had, by
the command of the people, offered the dignity of
king to C. Cæsar, perpetual dictator, and that Cæsar
had refused to accept it." Yet the opinion was still
entertained, that Cæsar coveted this unlawful and
abhorred title; and as mankind are the slaves of
words, the imputation of aspiring to be king was
eagerly laid to his charge by his enemies, as one
which would most surely provoke against him the
popular hatred.
offence by
lar manner
Another part of Cæsar's conduct which gave great Cæsar gives
offence, was his assuming so openly not only the his irregu
patronage of the ordinary offices of the state, but the of bestowing
power of bestowing them in an unprecedented man-
179 Cicero, Philippic. II. 34.
offices.
88
HIS IRREGULARITY IN BESTOWING OFFICES.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. ner, in order to suit his own policy. At the begin-
ning of the year 708, he had assumed the title of
consul, together with his dictatorship, but he had no
colleague, and the office was, in fact, merely nominal.
But on his return to Rome in October 180, after he
had finished the campaign in Spain, wishing for an
opportunity of rewarding two of his adherents, he
resigned his consulship, and appointed Q. Fabius
Maximus and C. Trebonius to succeed him for the
remaining three months of the year. It happened
that Q. Fabius died on the thirty-first of December,
early in the morning 181; and that no occasion of
exercising his patronage might be lost, Cæsar caused
the comitia to assemble about two o'clock in the
afternoon, and to elect C. Caninius Rebilus for the
few remaining hours of the year. The benefit of
this short-lived honour appears to have been, that it
conferred on the person who enjoyed it the rank of
senator for life. Cæsar, in like manner, increased
the number of prætors to fourteen 182, that of ædiles
to six, and that of quæstors to forty: he also added
one new member to the college of augurs, one to
that of the Pontifices, one to the Quindecemviri or
keepers of the Sibylline books, and three to the
Septemviri Epulonum, who had the care of providing
the feasts of the gods on all great solemnities. He
made a point of rewarding every one who had served
him; and thus he did not hesitate to intrust the
180 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 236.
181 Cicero, ad Familiares, VII.
epist. XXX. Plutarch, in Cæsare,
58.
182 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 237.
239, 240; XLII. 209.
HIS INDULGENCE TO HIS PARTISANS.
89
184
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
charge of the public mint to some of his own CHAP.
slaves 183, and even to appoint the son of one of his From
freedmen to command three of his legions which he U.C. 695
left in Egypt, after his departure from that country A.C. 59
in the autumn of the year 706. He allowed the
same spirit to interfere in the administration of jus-
tice; and we are told that one of his veterans
who had received a grant of land, having been
brought before him on a charge of violent and op-
pressive behaviour towards his neighbours, was not
only acquitted, but was presented by his judge with
the very land on which he had unjustly encroached,
as soon as he reminded Cæsar of some personal
services which he had rendered him during his first
campaign in Spain. In fact, Cæsar openly avowed,
that if ruffians and cut-throats had supported him in
his quarrel, he should think himself bound fully to
requite them 185.
Yet after all, in spite of his multi-
plication of offices, and the profusion with which he
bestowed them, the claims of his partisans were more
than he could satisfy; and many of those who had
served him through all his career of wickedness,
were afterwards in the number of his assassins,
because they did not think themselves sufficiently
rewarded 186
Cicero has left us a curious sketch of a visit which Sketch of
his personal
he received from Cæsar at his villa near Puteoli, in manners
the month of December, 708 187. On the twentieth haviour.
183 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 76.
184 Seneca, de Beneficiis, V. 24.
185 Suetonius, 72.
186 Seneca, de lrâ, III. 30.
187 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIII.
epist. LII.
and be-
90
SKETCH OF HIS MANNERS AND BEHAVIOUR.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. of December, Cæsar arrived at the house of L. Phi-
lippus, the father-in-law of Octavius, attended by
two thousand soldiers, who followed him either for
the security of his person, or as a mere guard of
honour. He spent the morning of the following
day at the house of Philippus, but was engaged the
whole time in transacting business in private with
L. Balbus. About one or two o'clock he took a
walk on the sea-shore; after which he went into a
bath, and heard, with the utmost composure, a most
virulent epigram of Catulus against him, in which he
was taxed, in plain terms, with those abominable
profligacies to which we have before alluded 188
After this he took his place at the table at Cicero's
house, his immediate attendants forming part of the
company, whilst the rest of his suite were enter-
tained in separate apartments, according to their
rank and respectability. "Cæsar seemed to enjoy
himself exceedingly," says Cicero, "and was in very
good spirits. The conversation did not touch at all
on politics, but we talked much on literary sub-
jects 189 "
Yet, however agreeable he might make
himself in private society, he kept up a degree of
state at Rome, which rendered access to his person
difficult and humiliating to those who had lived with
him so long, in former times, on a footing of equality.
Cicero complains of the vexations and mortifications
which he was obliged to endure in obtaining an
188 Catullus, Cann. 29 and 57.
189 "Eπovdaîov ovdèv, in Sermone; pıλóλoya, multa."
HIS CONFIDENCE IN HIS OWN SECURITY.
91
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
audience from him 190; and he was told by C. Ma- CHAP.
tius 191, that once, when he had been detained for a —
long time, waiting till Cæsar could receive him, U.C. 695
Cæsar had himself observed, "that he must neces- A.C. 59
sarily be very unpopular, when M. Cicero was thus
kept in attendance, and could not see him whenever
it suited him." "I know," he continued,
“that no
one would be more ready than himself to make
allowances for me, but I am sure that he must detest
me." There were, however, many incautious ex-
pressions of his own, which found their way into
general circulation, and excited a much stronger
feeling against him. He was accustomed to ridicule
Sylla for resigning the dictatorship 192; he used to
say, "that the Commonwealth was now nothing; it
was a mere name, totally devoid of any reality;" and
in language yet more arrogant, he added, " that he
ought now to be spoken to with more deference, and
that what he said should be considered as law."
Yet he would not believe that he had any thing to His con-
fear from popular resentment, insisting that his life his own
was of the utmost importance to his country; for
that his ambition was now satisfied; but that if he
were to die, the republic would again be involved in
civil wars more miserably than ever. Besides, his
great courage rendered him insensible to danger,
and impatient of precautions. In spite of the advice
190 Cicero, ad Familiares, VI.
epist. XIV. Quum omnem ade-
undi et conveniendi illius indigni-
tatem et molestiam pertulissem."
191 Epistol. ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. I. II.
192 Suetonius, 77. 86.
fidence in
security.
92
HIS PLANS OF CONQUEST AND IMPROVEMENT.
CHAP. of his friends Hirtius and Pansa 193, who advised him
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
to guard by the sword that power which the sword
U.C. 695, had won for him, he used to say that he would
rather die than make himself an object of terror to
the people; and he so far confided in his popularity,
or in the ascendency which he had acquired, that he
dismissed the guard of Spanish soldiers which had
His plans been in the habit of attending him. Meantime, as
if his government at home were settled in full secu-
provement. rity, he formed plans of foreign conquests on the
of conquest
and of
internal im-
most extensive scale, which would employ him for
some years at a distance from Rome. He talked of
attacking the Parthians 194, and of subduing those
wild tribes who dwelt on the banks of the Danube,
and who occasionally made inroads upon the Roman
territory in Thrace; and in order to provide for the
administration of affairs during his absence, he drew
out a list of persons who were to hold the principal
offices of state for the next two years 195, still retain-
ing to himself the title and authority of dictator.
Nor, whilst projecting schemes of conquest, was he
neglectful of the internal improvement of his domi-
nions. It is mentioned, that he was intending to
frame a digest of all the Roman laws 196; to form
public libraries, containing all the most valuable
works of Greek, as well as of Roman literature; to
build in the capital a temple in honour of Mars, and
193 Velleius Paterculus, II. 57.
Suetonius, 86.
194 Suetonius, 44. Dion Cassius,
XLIII. 239. Plutarch, 58.
195 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. VI. Dion Cassius, XLIII.
239.
196 Suetonius, 44.
REPORTED INTENTION TO DECLARE HIM KING. 93
CHAP.
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
a theatre, both in the highest style of magnificence;
to drain the Pontine marshes; to make a grand line From
of communication across the Apennines from the U.C. 695
Tiber to the Adriatic; to carry a canal from Rome A.C. 59
to Tarracina, in order to facilitate the arrival of
goods in the capital from Sicily and the East; to
improve and enlarge the harbour of Ostia, and to
dig through the isthmus of Corinth. Such are said
to have been his designs; and preparations were
already made for carrying the military part of them
into execution. His nephew, C. Octavius 197, whom
he had named as his master of the horse for one of
the years of his intended absence, was sent over to
Apollonia, in Epirus, there to remain, and to pursue
his literary studies, till Cæsar should arrive in Greece
to put himself at the head of his army; and a force
both of infantry and cavalry had been already trans-
ported across the Ionian gulf 198, and was quartered
in Macedonia, waiting till the return of spring should
enable them to commence their expedition against
Parthia.
it was in-
declare him
It was about this time reported, that L. Cotta, one Report that
of the Quindecemviri, or keepers of the Sibylline tended to
books, was intending to propose to the senate that king.
Cæsar should be declared king 199, and this step was
197 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 239;
XLV. 271. Velleius Paterculus,
11. 59.
198 Appian, de Bello Civili, II.
110. Appian says there were sixteen
legions, and ten thousand cavalry;
a most ridiculous exaggeration.
But Appian is the worst authority,
and that is saying not a little, of
all the writers who have left us
accounts of these times.
199 Suetonius, 79.
Divinatione, II. 54.
Cicero, de
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
A conspi-
racy formed
against his
94 SKETCH OF THE PRINCIPAL CONSPIRATORS.
CHAP. to be urged on the authority of the Sibylline oracles,
which declared that a king was necessary to the
U.C. 695 safety of Rome, in the event of a war with Parthia.
Whether the rumour was true or false, it is said to
have hastened the resolution of those persons who
had already formed a conspiracy against Cæsar's life,
and to have determined them to choose the fifteenth
or ides of March, for the execution of their purpose,
that being the day on which it was believed that
L. Cotta would bring forward his proposal before the
senate. It remains, therefore, that we give some
account of the origin of this famous conspiracy, and
of the principal persons who were engaged in it.
life.
Sketch of
the prin-
cipal con-
spirators.
Brutus.
It is agreed on all sides that M. Junius Brutus
and C. Cassius Longinus were the chief promoters
M. Junius of the design. The former of these was the son of
that M. Brutus who had taken part in the rebellion
of M. Lepidus immediately after the death of Sylla,
and who had in consequence been put to death at
Mutina, by the orders of Pompey, in the year 676.
The son, M. Brutus, was by his mother's side the
nephew of M. Cato, and he accompanied his uncle
to Cyprus in the year 695, when he was sent by P.
Clodius to annex that island to the Roman empire.
It appears, however, that he did not copy the ex-
ample of Cato's integrity; for having become the
creditor of the citizens of Salamis to a large amount 200,
he employed one M. Scaptius, a man of infamous
character, to enforce the payment of his debt, to-
200 Cicero, ad Atticum, V. epist. XXI.; VI. epist. I. II. III.
M. JUNIUS BRUTUS.
95
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
gether with an interest four times exceeding the rate CHAP.
allowed by law. And when Cicero governed the From
province of Cilicia, to which Cyprus seems to have U.C. 695
been attached, Brutus wrote to him, and was sup- A.C. 59
ported by T. Atticus in his request, entreating him
to give Scaptius a commission as an officer of the
Roman government, and to allow him to employ a
military force to exact from the Salaminians the
usurious interest which he illegally demanded.
Cicero was too upright a magistrate to comply with
such requests; but they were so agreeable to the
practice of the times, that he continued to live on
intimate terms with the man who could prefer them;
and the literary tastes of Brutus were a recommenda-
tion which he could not resist; so that he appears
soon to have forgotten the affair of Scaptius, and to
have spoken and thought of Brutus with great regard.
They both, indeed, were of the same party in politics;
and we are told that Brutus exerted himself very
actively in Pompey's service in the campaign of 705
in Greece 201, and being taken prisoner after the
battle of Pharsalia, received his life from the con-
queror. Before Cæsar set out for Africa to carry
on war against Scipio and Juba, he conferred on
Brutus 202 the government of Cisalpine Gaul 203; and
201 Cicero, ad Atticum, XI. epist.
IV. Dion Cassius, XLI. 184.
Plutarch, in Bruto, 6.
202 Cicero, ad Familiares, VI.
epist. VI.
203 "Where," says Ferguson, "he
remained, perhaps, rather under safe
custody, than high in the confi-
dence of Cæsar." Book V. 1. “He
was induced," says Middleton,
"by Cæsar's generosity, and his
mother's prayers, to lay down his
arms and return to Italy. Cæsar
endeavoured to oblige him by all
the honours which his power could
bestow; but the indignity of re-
11
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
96
'M. JUNIUS BRUTUS.
CHAP. in that province Brutus accordingly remained, and
was actually holding an office under Cæsar, while
his uncle Cato was maintaining the contest in Africa,
and committing suicide rather than fall alive into
the hands of the enemy. His character, however,
seems to have been greatly improved since his treat-
ment of the Salaminians; for he is said to have
governed Cisalpine Gaul with great integrity and
humanity 204, insomuch that his statue was preserved
in Milan when Augustus had obtained the sove-
reignty of the empire; and the popularity which he
obtained was reflected in some measure, we are told,
upon the government of Cæsar, from whom he had
received his appointment. In the year 708 he re-
turned to Rome, but afterwards set out to meet
Cæsar on his return from Spain, and in an interview
which he had with him at Nicæa 205, pleaded the
cause of Deiotarus, king of Galatia, with such warmth
and freedom, that Cæsar was struck by it, and was
reminded of what he used frequently to say of
Brutus, that what his inclinations might be, made a
very great difference, but that whatever they were,
ceiving from a master what he
ought to have received from a free
people, shocked him much more
than any honours could oblige."—
Life of Cicero, II. 210, 8vo, edit.
1819.
Ferguson's conjecture, so far as
we have been able to find, is as
destitute of any authority or pro-
bability as Middleton's insertion of
the words which we have printed
in italics, and which endeavour to
represent Brutus as sacrificing his
patriotic independence to the en-
treaties of his mother. As to the
rest of Middleton's statement, we
can only wonder that a writer, in
a Christian country, should think
that he was panegyrizing his hero
by imputing to him such a dispo-
sition.
204 Plutarch, in Bruto, 6. Com-
parat. Dionis. cum Bruto, 5.
205 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. I.
C. CASSIUS LONGINUS.
97
CHAP.
IX.
From
to 710,
to 44..
they would be nothing lukewarm. It was about this
time, also, that Brutus divorced his first wife, Appia,
the daughter of Appius Claudius, and married the U.C. 695
famous Porcia, his cousin, the daughter of Cato. A.C. 59
Soon after he received another mark of Cæsar's
favour 206, in being appointed Prætor Urbanus for
the year 709; and he was holding that office when
he resolved to become the assassin of the man whose
government he had twice acknowledged, by con-
senting himself to act in a public station under it.
Sir Matthew Hale did well to accept the place of
judge during the usurpation of Cromwell; but what
should we think of him if, whilst filling that office,
he had associated himself with Colonel Titus, and
other such wretches, in their plans to remove the
protector by assassination?
C. Cassius Longinus was remarkable, even when c. Cassius
a boy, for the pride and violence of his temper, if
we may believe the anecdotes reported of him by
Plutarch 207 and Valerius Maximus. He accompa-
nied M. Crassus into Parthia as his quæstor, and
distinguished himself, after the death of his general,
by conducting the wreck of the Roman army back
to Syria in safety. We have already spoken of him
as being one of the tribunes at the beginning of the
civil war; and have mentioned his having the com-
mand of the Syrian squadron in Pompey's fleet, and
the interruption which he met with, whilst engaged
successfully against the enemy, from the news of the
206 Plutarch, in Bruto, 7. Dion
Cassius, XLIV. 246.
VOL. II.
207 In Bruto, 9. Valerius Maxi-
mus, III. 1.
H
98
DECIMUS BRUTUS AND C. TREBONIUS.
CHAP. battle of Pharsalia.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Decimus
Brutus and
nius.
He afterwards resigned the
contest, and submitted himself to Cæsar in Asia
Minor, when Cæsar was returning from Egypt into
Italy; yet Cicero asserts 208, that at that very time
he had intended to assassinate the man whose
clemency he was consenting to solicit, had not an
accident prevented the accomplishment of his pur-
pose. He was not only spared by Cæsar, but was
appointed by him one of his lieutenants 209; a favour
bestowed by magistrates on their friends, in order to
invest them with a public character, and thus enable
them to reside or to travel in the provinces with
greater comfort and dignity. Even during the last
campaign of Cæsar in Spain, Cassius wrote to Cicero,
saying that he was anxious that Cæsar should be
victorious 210, for that he preferred an old and merci-
ful master to a new and a cruel one. He also, to-
gether with Brutus, was appointed one of the prætors
for the year 709 211, at a moment in which he was
entirely discontented with Cæsar's government, and
is said to have been the person by whose intrigues
the first elements of the conspiracy were formed.
Next to M. Brutus and C. Cassius, may be ranked
C. Trebo- Decimus Brutus and C. Trebonius. These had both
served Cæsar in the civil war, and had commanded
the land and sea forces employed by him in the
siege of Massilia. Since that time Trebonius had
208 Philippic. II. 11.
209 Cicero, ad Familiares, VI.
epist. VI.
210 Ad Familiares, XV. epist.
XIX.
211 Plutarch, in Bruto, 7. Cicero,
ad Familiares, XI. epist. II. III.
GENERAL LIBRARY
University of
WICHIGAN
CIMBER, GALBA, AND MINUCIUS BASILUS.
99
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
Cimber.
been appointed proconsul of the Further Spain, and CHAP.
more recently, as we have seen, had enjoyed the From
title of consul during the last three months of the U.C. 695
year 708. Decimus Brutus was chosen to succeed A.C. 59
to the consulship in the year 711 212, and to the
command of the province of Cisalpine Gaul imme-
diately; he was also named by Cæsar in his will,
amongst those persons who were to inherit his
fortune, in case of the failure of his direct heirs.
Another of the conspirators was L. Tillius Cimber, L. Tillius
a man notorious for his drunkenness and low vio-
lence 213, who had been throughout the civil war a
vehement partisan of Cæsar, and had received from
him lately the appointment to the province of
Bithynia 214.
Ser. Sulpicius Galba, the great grand- Ser. Galba.
father of the emperor of that name, had also served
under Cæsar in Gaul, and probably, in the civil war;
but he was now offended, because Cæsar had not
given him the honour of the consulship 215. L. Minu- L. Minucius
cius Basilus is also mentioned as having had a com-
mand in Cæsar's army in Gaul 216, and as now being
one of the conspirators against him; while P. Ser-
vilius Casca, Cn. Domitius Ænobarbus, L. Pontius
Aquila, and Q. Ligarius, had been attached to the
party of Pompey, although they had since submitted,
212 Velleius Paterculus, II. 58.
60. Suetonius, in Cæsare, 83.
213 Seneca, epist. LXXXIII.
De Irâ, III. 30.
214 Appian, de Bello Civili, III.
2. Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XIII.
215 Suetonius, in Galbâ, 3.
216 Cæsar, de Bello Gallico, VI.
29. He had afterwards fought in
Spain under Cneius Pompeius in
708, and had then submitted to
Cæsar, promising to be faithful to
him hereafter, as he had been to
Pompeius. Auctor de Bell. Hispan.
19.
UarM
Basilus.
E

Į
I
4
H 2
the
1
F
1
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
tius Æno-
barbus.
100 LIGARIUS AND DOMITIUS ÆNOBARBUS.
CHAP. and received the conqueror's pardon. Ligarius, in
particular, had been suffered to return to Italy in
consequence of the earnest solicitations of his friends,
amongst whom Cicero had appealed most strongly
Q. Ligarius. to Cæsar's clemency 217, and had gone so far as to re-
present Ligarius penitent for his fault, taking refuge
in Cæsar's mercy, and imploring pardon for his past
Cn. Domi- conduct. Cn. Domitius 218 was the son of that L.
Domitius, who had been the unsuccessful candidate for
the consulship, in opposition to Pompey and Crassus,
in the year 698, who had been appointed as Cæsar's
successor in Gaul at the beginning of the civil war,
who had been taken prisoner at Corfinium, and had
afterwards been killed at Pharsalia. His son was
also the nephew of Cato, whose sister L. Domitius
had married; so that this young man was likely to
inherit a violent hatred against Cæsar; nor does it
appear that he had ever imitated the conduct of
Brutus in accepting places of confidence and honour
from the conqueror.
The motives by which the conspirators were actu-
ated, which, perhaps, they themselves could not
have analyzed exactly, have been variously guessed
by historians, according to their own prevailing
217 Cicero, pro Ligario, 10.
218 His name is mentioned
amongst the assassins of Cæsar by
Cicero, Philippic. II. 11; but
Suetonius (in Nerone, 3,) says
that he was accused, without foun-
dation, of having had a share in the
deed. Was he among those
patrician youths who joined the
conspirators immediately after the
Myou
murder, wishing to appear con-
cerned in it, and did Cicero favour
from policy this false pretension?
or were Domitius himself and his
posterity anxious in after-times to
deny the fact, when he was receiv-
ing the favours of Augustus, or
when one of them, Nero, ascended
the imperial throne?
MOTIVES OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
101
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
opinions. Personal and party feelings may be con- CHAP.
founded unconsciously with patriotism, even by the
very man who is influenced by them; nor would it U.C. 695
be reasonable to deny that many of Cæsar's mur- A.C. 59
derers had persuaded themselves that the interests
of their country were promoted by their act. But
if we could inquire by what process they had ac-
quired this persuasion, and with how much self-
deception it was accompanied, we should, it is pro-
bable, find that their motives were widely distinct
from that purity, and singleness, and sincerity of
purpose which are essential to real goodness. At
any rate, it is clear that they who had served Cæsar
in the civil war, and had shared in the honours
and advantages of his victory, could with no shadow
of justice become his murderers. Their patriotism
ought to have been shown when Cæsar first com-
menced his rebellion; and had they then followed
the example of Labienus, and forsaken their general
when he began to be guilty of treason against his
country, their motives might have been unques-
tioned, and their conduct would have been really
just and honourable. Nor can even Brutus and
Cassius be excused for accepting honours and offices
from a government which they must have considered
as unlawful and tyrannical. If Cæsar's power were
required by the circumstances of the Commonwealth,
to destroy him was mischievous; if it were an evil
which was only to be endured so long as it was
inevitable, to countenance it by acting under it in a
-
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
102
GUILT AND IMPOLICY OF ASSASSINATIONS.
CHAP. public station, was an abandonment of their duty to
their country. But above all, the act of assassination
is in itself so hateful, and involves in it so much dis-
simulation and treachery, that whatever allowance
may be made for the perpetrators, when we consider
the moral ignorance of the times in which they lived,
their conduct must never be spoken of without con-
demnation. And it is satisfactory to find that crimes
of this nature have generally been as fruitless as
they deserved to be. Harmodius and Aristogiton,
by murdering Hipparchus, only subjected Athens to
a heavier tyranny; and the assassination of Cæsar
furnished something of a pretence to his surviving
followers, to involve the most eminent friends of the
Commonwealth in one unsparing destruction.
Events
which hap-
pened prc-
vious to
Cæsar's
murder.
The whole number of the conspirators is said to
have exceeded sixty; and their intention was at first
to have effected their purpose either in the street in
which Cæsar lived, or in the Campus Martius, when
he was presiding at the elections of magistrates;
but when they heard that the senate was summoned
to meet on the fifteenth of March, and it was
rumoured that the proposal of bestowing on Cæsar
the title of king was then to be brought forward,
they fixed upon that day, and on that meeting of
the senate, as the time and place best suited for
their attempt.
On the evening of the fourteenth of March, Cæsar
was supping with M. Lepidus, his master of the
horse, who was now at the head of a body of troops
CÆSAR'S WARNINGS.
103
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
without the walls 219, and was preparing shortly to CHAP.
march with them into Transalpine Gaul, which had
been assigned to him by Cæsar as his province. It U.C. 695
happened that Cæsar was engaged in writing, when A.C. 59
the rest of the party began to discuss the question,
"What kind of death is most to be desired?" The
subject on which they were talking caught his atten-
tion, and he cried out, before any one else had ex-
pressed an opinion, "That the best death was a
sudden one." A coincidence so remarkable was
likely to be remembered afterwards by all who had
been present; but it is said, also, that he had been
often warned by the augurs to beware of the Ides
of March 220; and these predictions had, probably,
wrought on the mind of his wife, Calpurnia, so that,
on the night that preceded that dreaded day, her
rest was broken by feverish dreams, and in the
morning her impression of fear was so strong, that
she earnestly besought her husband not to stir from
home. He himself, we are told, felt himself a little
unwell 221; and being thus more ready to be infected
by superstitious fears, he was inclined to comply
with Calpurnia's wishes, and allowed some part of
the morning to pass away, and the senate to be
already assembled, without having as yet quitted his
house. At such a moment the conspirators were
alive to every suspicion; and becoming uneasy at
his delay, Decimus Brutus was sent to call on him 222
219 Dion Cassius, XLIII. 240;
XLIV. 249. Plutarch, in Cæsare,
63. Suetonius, 87.
220 Plutarch, 63. Suetonius, 81.
221 Suetonius, 81.
222 Suetonius, 81. Plutarch, 64.
104
HIS PROGRESS TO THE SENATE-HOUSE.
IX.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
warned in
time of his
danger.
CHAP. and to persuade him to attend the senate, by urging
to him the offence that he would naturally give, if
he appeared to slight that body at the very moment
when they were preparing to confer on him the title
of king. Decimus Brutus visited Cæsar, and being
entirely in his confidence, his arguments were listened
to, and Cæsar set out about eleven o'clock to go to
He is nearly the senate-house. When he was on his way thither,
Artemidorus of Cnidus, a Greek sophist, who was
admitted into the houses of some of the conspirators,
and had there become acquainted with some facts
that had excited his suspicions, approached him with
a written statement of the information which he
had obtained, and putting it into his hand, begged
him to read it instantly, as it was of the last import-
Cæsar, it is said, tried to look at it, but he
was prevented by the crowd which pressed around
him, and by the numerous writings of various sorts
that were presented to him as he passed along.
Still, however, he held it in his hand, and con-
tinued to keep it there when he entered the senate-
house.
Antonius is
taken aside
nius at the
the senate.
ance.
M. Antonius, who was at this time Cæsar's col-
by Trebo- league in the consulship, was on the point of follow-
entrance of ing him into the senate, when C. Trebonius called
him aside 223, and detained him without, by professing
to desire some conversation with him. It is said
that some of the conspirators had wished to include
him in the fate of Cæsar; but Brutus had objected
2:3 Cicero, Philippic. II. 14. Velleius Paterculus, II. 58.
HIS ASSASSINATION.
105
CHAP.
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
to it as a piece of unnecessary bloodshed; and when
it was remembered that he himself, not long ago, From
had proposed to Trebonius the very act which they U.C. 695
were now about to perform, they consented that his A.C. 59
life should not be endangered. Meantime, as Cæsar
entered the senate-house, all the senators rose to
receive him. The conspirators had contrived to
surround his person in the street, and they now
formed his immediate train as he passed on to the
curule chair, which had been prepared, as usual, for
his reception. That chair had been placed near the
pedestal of a statue of Pompey the Great; for the
building in which the senate was assembled had
been one of Pompey's public works 224; and it is
said, that Cassius 225, labouring under the strong feel-
ing of the moment, turned himself to the image, and
seemed to implore its assistance in the deed which
was to be perpetrated.
226
,
tion of
March 15th,
U.C. 709,
A.C. 44 or
When Cæsar had taken his seat, the conspirators Assassina-
gathered more closely around him, and L. Tillius Caesar,
Cimber approached him as if to offer some petition
which he continued to press with vehemence when 45.
Cæsar seemed unwilling to grant it, and the other
conspirators joined in supporting his request. At
last, when Cæsar appeared impatient of further im-
portunity, Cimber took hold of his robe and pulled
it down from his shoulders; an action which was
the signal agreed upon with his associates for com-
mencing their attack. It is said that the dagger of
224 Curia Pompeia."
de Divinatione, II. 9.
Cicero,
225 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 66.
226 Suetonius, 82. Plutarch, 66.
f
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
106
SCENE IN THE SENATE-HOUSE.
CHAP. P. Casca took the lead in the work of blood, and
that Cæsar, in the first instant of surprise, attempted
to resist and to force his way through the circle
which surrounded him. But when all the con-
spirators rushed upon him, and were so eager to
have a share in his death, that they wounded one
another in the confusion, he drew his robe closely
around him, and having covered his face, fell with-
out a struggle or a groan. He received three and
twenty wounds, and it was observed that the blood,
as it streamed from them, bathed the pedestal
of Pompey's statue. No sooner was the murder
finished, than M. Brutus 227, raising his gory dagger
in his hand, turned round towards the assembled
senators, and called on Cicero by name, congratu-
lating him on the recovery of their country's liberty.
But to preserve order at such a moment was hope-
less: the senators fled in dismay; Antonius made
haste to escape to his house; and a universal con-
sternation was spread through the city; till the
conspirators, going in a body to the forum, addressed
the people, and by assuring them that no violence
was intended to any one, but that their only object
had been to assert the liberty of Rome, they suc-
ceeded in restoring comparative tranquillity. Still,
however, distrusting the state of the popular feel-
ing, they withdrew into the capitol, which Decimus
Brutus had secured with a band of gladiators whom
he retained in his service; and there, having been
227 Cicero, Philippic. II. 12. 35. Dion Cassius, XLIV. 249, 250.
CHARACTER OF CÆSAR.
107
From
IX.
to 710,
to 44.
joined by several of the nobility, they passed the CHAP.
first night after the murder. Meanwhile, the body
of Cæsar was left for some hours, amidst the general U.C. 695
confusion, on the spot where it fell 228; till at last A.C. 59
three of his slaves placed it on a litter, and carried
it home, one of the arms hanging down on the out-
side of the litter, and presenting a ghastly spectacle.
It was asserted by the surgeon, who examined the
wounds, that out of so many, one alone was mortal;
that, namely, which he had received in the breast
when he first attempted to break through the circle
of his assassins.
of Cæsar.
Cæsar is said to have been in his stature tall 229, and Character
of a fair complexion, but with black and lively eyes.
In attention to his person and dress he almost ex-
ceeded the bounds of mere neatness; and in gratifying
his tastes for villas, furniture, pictures, statues, and
in the choice of his slaves, he was accustomed to
spare no expense or trouble. He was temperate in
his eating and drinking, as became a soldier; and his
activity of body corresponded with the extraordinary
vigour of his mind. It is a remarkable feature in his
character, that he seems to have been alive to so
many and such various enjoyments; excessively ad-
dicted to gross sensualities, a lover of every kind of
intellectual gratification, from the humblest of the
fine arts to the highest and deepest parts of philo-
sophy, enamoured at the same time of popular honours,
and, above all things, ambitious of political greatness.
229 Suetonius, 82.
229 Suetonius, 45, 46, 47.
1
+
108
CHARACTER OF CÆSAR..
From
IX.
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
CHAP. He is said to have composed two books 230, "On the
Method of speaking Latin with the greatest Pro-
U.C. 695 priety," while he was crossing the Alps on his return
from his winter quarters in the north of Italy to
rejoin his army in Gaul; and on another occasion
he wrote a poem, entitled "The Journey," while he
was travelling into Spain with the utmost rapidity
to oppose the progress of the sons of Pompey in the
year 708. His "Commentaries," which alone, of all
his writings, have reached posterity, are admirably
calculated to answer the purpose for which they
were designed, the impressing his readers with the
most favourable notions of himself. Although the
representations which they contain are a continued
picture of his abilities and successes, yet, because
they are given in a quiet and unpretending style,
they have gained credit for truth and impartiality;
and critics, in their simplicity, have extolled the
modesty of the author, because he speaks of himself
in the third person. As a general, it is needless to
pronounce his eulogy; we may observe, however,
that the quality which most contributed to his suc-
cess on several occasions was his great activity; and
although this may seem a virtue no way peculiar to
men of superior minds, yet in the practical business
of life there is none which produces more important
results. Nor is it, in fact, an ordinary quality when
exhibited in persons invested with extensive power;
for then it implies quickness and decision in diffi-
230 Cicero, de claris Oratoribus, 72. Suetonius, 56.
.i
CHARACTER OF CÆSAR.
109
culties, than which nothing confers on one man a CHAP.
IX.
to 710,
more commanding superiority over others. In his From
political career Cæsar was at once patient and daring; U.C. 695
and the uniform success of all his schemes through so
many years, must prove his judgment in the choice
of means to accomplish his purposes. One weakness
he seems to have possessed, and that was vanity;
which he indulged unseasonably and fatally in re-
ceiving so greedily the honours which were at last
heaped upon him, and in disgusting the public feeling
by expressing, with so little reserve, his sense of his
own superiority. The submissions which he met
with were indeed enough to excite his arrogance;
for not the most servile flattery of our own clergy
and lawyers to the Tudor and Stuart princes can
equal the meanness and extravagance of the languagė
addressed to Cæsar by the republican Romans. In
fact, we see from different parts of Cicero's works,
and particularly from many of the letters inserted in
the collection of his correspondence, that the expres-
sions used by inferiors towards their superiors in
rank, seem to imply very little independence of
feeling in the bulk of the Roman people; and the
excessive compliments which Cicero delighted to
receive, and which he paid with equal liberality,
betray a littleness and indelicacy of mind which we
should not have expected to meet with in men of
high birth and station, the citizens of a free com-
monwealth.
If from the intellectual we turn to the moral
character of Cæsar, the whole range of history can
A.C. 59
to 44.
*
110
CHARACTER OF CESAR.
CHAP. hardly furnish a picture of greater deformity.
From
IX.
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
Never
did any man occasion so large an amount of human
misery, with so little provocation. In his campaigns
in Gaul, he is said to have destroyed 1,000,000 of
men in battle 23¹, and to have made prisoners 1,000,000
more, many of whom were destined to perish as
gladiators, and all were torn from their country and
reduced to slavery. The slaughter which he occa-
sioned in the civil wars cannot be computed; nor
can we estimate the degree of suffering caused in
every part of the empire by his spoliations and con-
fiscations, and by the various acts of extortion and
oppression which he tolerated in his followers.
When we consider that the sole object of his con-
quests in Gaul was to enrich himself and to disci-
pline his army, that he might be enabled the better
to attack his country; and that the sole provocation on
which he commenced the civil war, was the resolu-
tion of the senate to recall him from a command which
he had already enjoyed for nine years, after having
obtained it in the beginning by tumult and violence;
we may judge what credit ought to be given him for
his clemency in not opening lists of proscription
after his sword had already cut off his principal
adversaries, and had levelled their party with the
231 Plutarch, in Cæsare, 15.
Pliny has estimated the sum with
greater minuteness, probably from
the returns exhibited at Cæsar's
triumphs of the number of enemies
whom he had destroyed. He
makes the persons whom Cæsar
had killed in war to amount alto-
gether to 1,192,000, exclusive of
those who had perished in the
civil war, and of whom no account
was taken. Pliny, Hist. Nat.
VII. 25.
CHARACTER OF CESAR.
111
IX.
dust. Yet after all his crimes, the circumstances of CHAP.
his death render him almost an object of compassion; —
and though it cannot be said of his assassins, that
"Their greater crime made his like specks appear,
From which the sun in glory is not clear,”
yet we naturally sympathize with the victim, when
the murderers, by having abetted or countenanced
his offences, had deprived themselves of all just title
to punish them, and when his fall was only accom-
plished by the treachery of assassination.
From
U.C. 695
to 710,
A.C. 59
to 44.
L
CHAPTER X.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Parentage
and early
life of
CAIUS OCTAVIUS CÆSAR AUGUSTUS.—A VIEW OF THE
HISTORY OF ROME. FROM U.c. 709 TO U.c. 722,
a.c. 45 to a.c. 32.
CHAP. WE have already spoken slightly of the family of
Augustus Cæsar, and have mentioned his relation-
U.C. 709 ship to C. Julius Cæsar, as being the grandson of his
sister Julia. Julia married M. Attius Balbus, a
native of Aricia', who rose to the rank of prætor at
Rome; and Attia, their daughter, married C. Octa-
Augustus. vius, a man of respectable family, who also obtained
the same dignity, and died when he was on the
point of offering himself as a candidate for the con-
sulship. He left behind him one son, C. Octavius,
who was born at Rome on the twenty-third of Sep-
tember, U.c. 690, in the consulship of M. Cicero and
C. Antonius. The young Octavius lost his father
when he was only four years old, and his mother
soon after married L. Philippus, under whose care
he was brought up, till his great uncle, Julius Cæsar,
having no children, began to regard him as his heir 2,
¹ Suetonius, in Augusto, 4.
2 Velleius Paterculus, II. 59.
STATE OF AFFAIRS IN ROME.
113
CHAP.
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
and when he was between sixteen and seventeen
years of age, bestowed on him some military rewards
at the celebration of his triumph for his victories in U.C. 709
Africa 3. In the following year he accompanied his A.C. 45
uncle into Spain, where he is said to have given
signs of talents and of activity; and in the winter of
that same year he was sent, as we have seen, to
Apollonia in Epirus, there to employ himself in
completing his education till Cæsar should be ready
to take him with him on his expedition against the
Parthians. He was accordingly living quietly at
Apollonia when the news of his uncle's death called
him forward, when hardly more than eighteen years
of age, to act a principal part in the contentions of
the times.
*
affairs in
Cæsar's
On the morning of the sixteenth of March, State of
Brutus and Cassius, with their associates, were still Rome after
in the capitol, and Cicero and several other persons death.
attached to the aristocratical party had joined them
there. Antonius finding himself exposed to no
danger, appeared again in public, as consul; and
Dolabella, who had been appointed by Cæsar to
succeed him in the consulship, as soon as he should
commence his expedition against the Parthians, now
at once assumed the ensigns of that dignity; although
with strange inconsistency he went up into the
capitol to visit the conspirators, and if Appian may
be believed, strongly inveighed against the late
dictator in a speech addressed to the multitude in
3 Suetonius, 8.
4 Cicero, Philippic. II. 35.
VOL. II.
5 Dion Cassius, XLIV. 250.
6 De Bello Civili, II. 122.
I
114
CHAP. the forum.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
DISPOSITION OF THE VETERANS,
M. Lepidus, who, as we have seen, was
at this time invested with a military command,
U.C. 709 having been lately appointed to the government of
the Nearer Spain, had some intentions, it is said, of
availing himself of his actual power to establish him-
self in the place of Cæsar'; but Antonius, who had
no wish to see his own views thus anticipated, easily
prevailed upon him to lay aside such designs for the
present; representing to him, we may suppose, the
danger of such an attempt, and encouraging him
with the prospect of obtaining hereafter all that he
desired, if he would consent to temporize at the
moment. But the real obstacle to the restoration of
the Commonwealth, consisted in the numbers and
Disposition dispositions of Cæsar's veteran soldiers, many of
whom were waiting in Rome to receive their pro-
mised allotments of land; and others had come up
from their new settlements to compliment their old
general, by attending in his train when he should
march out of the city to commence his eastern expe-
dition. These then naturally resented the death of
their benefactor, and feared at the same time lest
they should be deprived of their grants of land if he
were declared a tyrant, and his acts should be re-
versed. They were therefore a great encouragement
to Antonius and Lepidus, and gave such alarm to
the conspirators, that they remained in the capitol,
still trusting to the gladiators of Decimus Brutus for
protection, and not venturing to expose their persons
of the
veterans.
7 Dion Cassius, XLIV. 257. 8 Appian, de Bello Civili, II. 119.
AND OF ALL PERSONS PROMOTED BY CESAR. 115
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
in the streets or in the forum. Nor were the CHAP.
veterans the only set of men who were interested in
upholding the legality of Cæsar's government. He U.C. 709
had nominated, as we have seen, the principal magis- A.C, 45
trates of the Commonwealth for the next two years,
under pretence of preventing any disorders during
his absence in Asia; and the individuals who, by
virtue of these appointments, were either in the
actual enjoyment or in the expectation of offices
either honourable or lucrative, were little disposed to
submit their pretensions to the chance of being con-
firmed or rejected by the free votes of the Roman
people. Besides, the late civil war had so extended
over every part of the empire, and every province
contained so many persons who had risen to affluence
or distinction in consequence of the offices or of the
grants of forfeited estates conferred on them by
Cæsar, that to repel all his measures, and to brand
his government as an usurpation, would have at once
unsettled the whole existing order of society. The
foreigners who had been admitted to the rights of
Roman citizens, and the many individuals who, in
the course of the late commotions, had risen from
humble stations to greatness, would have ill brooked
the return of that exclusive and insulting system
which was upheld by the friends of the old aristo-
cracy.
Under these circumstances, the act of the assassins
of Cæsar was likely to have no other effect than to
expose their country to a fresh series of miseries,
from which it would have no better prospect of
I 2
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
116
MEETING OF THE SENATE.
CHAP. relief, than a return at last to that very military
despotism which they had so rashly attempted to
overthrow. Cicero indeed had advised the only
measure which could have given the conspirators any
chance of maintaining their ground in Rome'; for he
had urged Brutus and Cassius to summon the senate,
by their authority as prætors, to assemble in the
capitol immediately after Cæsar's death, before An-
tonius had recovered from his panic, or the veterans
had had time to calculate their own strength or to
look out for a new leader. But this counsel was not
followed; and it was left for Antonius, in his cha-
racter of consul, to call the senate together at the
temple of the Earth on the seventeenth of March ¹º
when the doors of the assembly were beset by
Cæsar's veterans in arms, and when they who hoped
that they had restored the old constitution of the
Commonwealth dared not even to leave the shelter
of the capitol. Nor was it a slight circumstance,
that Calpurnia, Cæsar's widow, had put into Anto-
nius's hands the money and all the papers of her
late husband"; a trust from which he intended to
derive the most important benefits.
Meeting of
the senate
on the 17th
of March.
In the meeting of the senate on the seventeenth
of March, the reviving strength of Caesar's party was
already distinctly marked. Instead of declaring him
a tyrant, it was ordered that the late dictator should
be honoured with the usual funeral rites paid to
9 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. X.
10 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XIV.; and Philippic. II. 35.
11 Appian, II. 125.
ACT OF AMNESTY PASSED.
117
X.
to 722,
to 32.
distinguished persons 12, and that Antonius should CHAP.
deliver to the multitude an oration in his praise. From
All his acts were confirmed; his appointments of U.C. 709
public officers for the next two years were pro- A.C. 45
nounced valid; and all the grants of lands made to
the veterans were to be preserved inviolable. In
return for these concessions, the partisans of Cæsar
acceded to Cicero's proposal 13, that the whole trans-
action of the ides of March should be consigned to
oblivion, and that all hostile designs should be re-
linquished on all sides. Antonius in particular ex-
pressed himself warmly in favour of a general and
lasting peace; and this being the prevailing feeling
of the assembly, the act of oblivion was passed: A general
Antonius sent his son to the capitol as a hostage for amnesty
his sincerity. The principal conspirators then de-
scended from it; and we are told that Brutus that
same evening supped with Lepidus, and Cassius with
Antonius 14.
After this apparent termination of all dissensions,
the conduct of Antonius was exceedingly artful. He
frequently invited the most distinguished members
of the senate to his house, and consulted them as to
the measures which it would be expedient to pursue.
On the other hand, by coming forward to deliver
Cæsar's funeral oration, he gave the veterans reason
12 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV. II. 36.
epist. VI. IX. X. Philippic. I.
1. 7.
13 Cicero, Philippic. I. 1. 13;
14 Dion Cassius, XLIV. 257.
Plutarch, in Bruto, 19.
act of
passes.
118
CÆSAR'S FUNERAL.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
opened.
CHAP. to understand that he was really attached to their
late commander, and would not fail, when an oppor-
U.C. 709 tunity should offer, to act upon his real sentiments.
In the meantime Cæsar's will was opened and read;
Caesar's will and it appeared that C. Octavius was named the heir
to the greatest part of the property 15, and that he
was adopted into the name and family of Cæsar.
Several of the conspirators had been appointed
guardians to Cæsar's son, if ever he should have one;
and Decimus Brutus, as has been said before, was
mentioned amongst those who were to inherit his
fortune, in case of the failure of his regular heirs.
To the Roman people Cæsar bequeathed his gardens
on the right bank of the Tiber; and to each citizen
a sum of money amounting to about 21. 8s. His
funeral was prepared in a style of great magnifi-
cence 16; the pile on which the body was to be con-
sumed had been raised in the Campus Martius; and
a small model of the temple of Venus Genitrix,
which he had built and dedicated, was placed in
front of the rostra in order to receive the bier, whilst
the funeral oration was delivered. The bier was
made of ivory, and covered with scarlet and gold,
and at the head of it was displayed on a pole the
very dress in which he had been assassinated.
the dramatic entertainments which were exhibited
as a part of the solemnity, passages were selected
from the plays of Pacuvius and Attius, which the
Cæsar's
funeral.
15 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 83.
16 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 84.
In
HIS BODY BURNED IN THE FORUM.
119
audience might readily apply to the circumstances of CHAP.
Cæsar's fate; particularly one line from Pacuvius,
"Was I so merciful,
But to provide assassins for myself?"
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
When then Antonius came forward in the rostra to
speak the funeral oration, he ordered the crier to
read aloud to the multitude all the decrees of the
senate, by which Cæsar had been invested with so
many and such extraordinary honours, and the oath
which all the senators had taken to defend his
person; after which he added only a few words of
his own ". But his purpose was sufficiently answered,
and enough had been done to excite the feelings of
the multitude, disposed as they were of themselves
to remember Cæsar's brilliant achievements with
admiration, and his liberalities with gratitude and
regret. Instead of carrying the body to the Campus
Martius, some proposed to burn it in the temple of
Jupiter in the capitol, and others in the senate-
house of Pompey, which had been the scene of his
murder. But on a sudden, two of the veteran sol-
diers who attended the funeral, stepped forward armed
with their swords, and each holding two javelins in
his hand, and set fire to the bier with lighted His body
torches in the place where it was standing in the in the
front of the rostra. The flames were fed by the
17 Perpauca a se verba addidit―
Suetonius, in Cæsare, 84. Dion
Cassius makes him deliver a speech
on this occasion which occupies
nearly nine folio pages. He had
just before filled six pages with a
speech which he ascribes to Cicero,
and which is about as genuine as
the pretended funeral oration of
Antonius.
burned
forum.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
120
RIOTS OF THE POPULACE.
CHAP. zeal of the surrounding crowd with a quantity of
dry brush-wood, and with the benches and seats
which were usually left in the forum: those who
had brought offerings of various kinds to present
them at the funeral pile, now threw them in to in-
crease the conflagration; the musicians and actors
in the funeral games stripped off their dresses, and
cast them also into the fire; several matrons added
their own ornaments, and those of their children,
while the veteran soldiers crowned the whole
with the offering of their own arms. Groups of
foreigners of various nations were seen expressing
their grief according to the fashion of their several
countries; and amongst these the Jews were particu-
larly remarkable; their hatred to Pompey for his
violation of the sanctity of their temple having,
perhaps, disposed them to support the cause of his
Riots of the adversary. When the populace were satiated with
feeding the fire, they dispersed in all directions, bent
upon violence and bloodshed. They attacked the
houses of those persons who were known to be ad-
verse to Cæsar 18; and especially those of the chief
conspirators, Brutus and Cassius, whence they were
driven off by force of arms, as in the old disorders
and contests between Clodius and Milo. In the
midst of their fury, they fell in with a man by name
Helvius Cinna; and mistaking him for Cornelius
Cinna, who had given great offence by a speech
delivered the day before, full of invective against
populace on
that occa-
sion.
18 Cicero, Philippic. II. 36. Suetonius, in Cæsare, 85.
DOLABELLA DISPERSES THE RIOTERS.
121
""
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Cæsar, they instantly murdered him, and carried his CHAP.
head about with them on the head of a pike. This
display of the temper of the populace served the U.C. 709
purposes of Antonius by intimidating the conspi-
rators; but as he designed to establish his power on
a surer basis than the support of a riotous rabble, he
appeared to give no countenance to their excesses.
A mixed multitude, consisting of slaves, and
foreigners, and citizens of the lowest class, erected
a marble pillar 19, twenty feet high, in the forum,
with an inscription declaring it to be dedicated to
Cæsar, under the title of "Father of his country.
Close by this pillar there was an altar raised, on
which sacrifices continued for some time to be
offered to Cæsar as a god; and parties at variance
with one another would come to this spot, and de-
cide their quarrels by an oath in Cæsar's name.
The groups that used to assemble round this column
menaced the capital daily with scenes of outrage
similar to those which had been exhibited at Cæsar's
funeral; till P. Dolabella proceeded to disperse them, Dolabella
and with the usual summary severity of a Roman the rioters.
magistrate, crucified a number of the slaves, and
threw down from the Tarpeian rock those free citi-
zens who were most forward in exciting these dis-
turbances 20. It is said that when Dolabella returned
to his house after these executions, he was followed
by a crowd of all ranks of persons, testifying their
19 Suetonius, 85. Cicero, Phi-
lippic. I. 2.
20 Cicero, Philippic. I. 2. 12;
ad Atticum, XIV. epist. XVI.;
ad Familiares, IX. epist. XIV.
disperses
X.
122
STORY OF C. AMATIUS.
CHAP. admiration of his conduct that he received similar
applauses shortly afterwards in the theatre; and that
Cicero was warmly complimented by his friends on
this earnest of patriotic intentions which his son-in-
law had afforded.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Story of
C. Amatius,
the pre-
tended
Marius.
Antonius had also an opportunity about the same
time of gaining the good opinion of the higher
grandson of classes of citizens by acting in a similar manner.
There was a man of very low origin, of the name of
C. Amatius, who some months before, in the life-
time of Cæsar, had claimed to be the grandson of
the famous Marius, and had applied to Cicero as a
relation and townsman of Marius 21, to support him
in making good his pretensions. Cicero was not
disposed to commit himself by maintaining such a
cause; but the name of Marius was popular amongst
a large proportion of the common people; and we are
told that almost all the companies of the different
trades in Rome 22, together with some of the newly
founded colonies of the veterans, and even some
considerable free towns of Italy, believed the story
of Amatius, and chose him to be their patron. He
was followed also by a considerable multitude when
he appeared in the streets; till Cæsar, impatient of
such a rival in popularity, issued a decree to banish
him from Italy. But after the ides of March, he
returned again to Rome, and professed, as the de-
scendant of Marius, to feel particular regret for the
murder of his relation, Cæsar; insomuch, that he
21 Cicero, ad Atticum, XII. epist. 22 Valerius Maximus, IX. 15.
XLIX. Livy, Epitome, CXVI.
THE OFFICE OF DICTATOR IS ABOLISHED.
123
X.
to 722,
to 32.
continually instigated the populace to take ven- CHAP.
geance on the conspirators, and under this pretence From
had formed a design, as we are told 23, to massacre U.C. 709
the principal senators of the aristocratical party, and A.C. 45
to rule in Rome as L. Saturninus and P. Sulpicius
had done in former times. But the days were past
in which ambition could hope to rise by the mere
support of the turbulent rabble of the capital.
Antonius, glad, perhaps, to please and to blind his
opponents so cheaply, employed a military force
against Amatius, and having arrested him, ordered
him to be put to death in prison, in pursuance of
a decree of the senate, and caused his body to be
dragged by a hook through the streets, and to be
thrown into the Tiber. This execution took place
about the middle of April 24; and up to this period,
Antonius had appeared desirous in several instances
to maintain the old constitution of the Common-
wealth. To lessen the dissatisfaction that might be
felt by many at the confirmation of all the acts of
Cæsar 25, he assured the senate that Cæsar's papers
contained no grants of privileges or peculiar exemp-
tions of any sort, and that they directed the recall
of only one exile, Sex. Clodius; he agreed, more-
over, to the motion of Ser. Sulpicius, that none of
Cæsar's decrees or grants should be published, which
had not already been announced by public advertise-
ment before the ides of March. Above all, he pro- The office
2
23 Cicero, Philippic. I. 2. Vale-
rius Maximus, ubi supra. Appian,
de Bello Civili, III. 2, 3.
24 Conf. Ciceron. ad Atticum,
XIV. epist. VII. VIII.
25 Conf. Ciceron. Philippic. I. 1.
of dictator
is abolished
by Anto-
› nius.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
124 THE CONSPIRATORS RETIRE FROM ROME.
CHAP. posed that the office of dictator should be for ever
abolished; a proposal which was most joyfully ac-
ceded to by the senate, and for which they bestowed
on him their thanks in the warmest terms. His
treatment of C. Amatius, combining with his beha-
viour in all these instances, is said to have given
satisfaction even to Brutus himself 26; and seemed
to afford so fair a prospect of future tranquillity,
that Cicero, in a letter to Atticus, expresses his
belief that Brutus might now go in safety through
the forum, with a cover of gold upon his head 27.
The con-
spirators
Rome.
But these hopes were chequered by fears even
retire from from the beginning, and it was not long before they
were destroyed altogether. The tumults in the city,
and the threatening language held by Cæsar's vete-
rans, who were now assembled at Rome in great
numbers, rendered the situation of the conspirators
so unsafe, or at least so uncomfortable, that they
judged it expedient to withdraw for the present out
of the reach of danger. At first they had remained
in their own houses at Rome, and had only avoided
appearing in public 28; but when the disorders con-
tinued, they thought it best to remove to a greater
distance; and, accordingly, Brutus, apparently ac-
companied by Cassius, retired to his own villa at
Lanuvium 29; Trebonius set out in the most private
manner to go to his province of Asia; and Decimus
26 Conf. Ciceron. ad Atticum,
XIV. epist. VIII.
27 Conf. Ciceron. ad Atticum,
XIV. epist. XVI.
28 Conf. Ciceron. ad Atticum,
XIV. epist. V.
29 Conf. Ciceron. ad Atticum,
epist. VII. X.
D. BRUTUS TAKES POSSESSION OF CISALPINE GAUL. 125
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
Brutus hastened to Cisalpine Gaul 30, to secure the CHAP.
command of that province, which Cæsar, as has been
already noticed, had conferred on him before his U.C. 709
death. This appears to have been a sudden resolu- A.C. 45
tion; for there is extant a letter from Decimus
Brutus, to M. Brutus and Cassius 31, dated in the
month of April, in which he speaks in a very de-
sponding manner of the state of his party, and says
that they have no other resource but to withdraw
into a voluntary exile; that they can do nothing at
present, as they have no military force to support
them; nor was there any quarter to which they
could look for aid, except to the camp of Sex. Pom-
peius, in Spain, and of Q. Cæcilius Bassus, in Syria.
Yet on the twenty-sixth of April, Cicero had re- Decimus
ceived intelligence from Atticus, that Decimus takes pos-
Brutus had already joined his legions in Cisalpine Cisalpine
Gaul; and in that province he remained during the
whole summer, endeavouring to strengthen himself
to the utmost against any attempts of his adversaries.
In order to acquire some reputation for himself, and
to obtain the means of attaching his soldiers to him
by his liberality, he employed his time in attacking
some of the Gaulish tribes who inhabited the Alps 32;
and having taken many of their strongholds, and
wasted their country, he received from his army the
title of imperator, and was enabled, as he hoped, to
gratify it with a large share of plunder.
30 Conf. Ciceron. ad Atticum,
epist. XIII.
31 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. I.
32 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. IV.
Brutus
session of
Gaul,
CHAP.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Antonius
forges
grants in
Cæsar's
name, and
name,
sells them
for his own
benefit.
He courts
Cæsar's
veteran
soldiers.
126 ANTONIUS FORGES GRANTS IN CÆSAR'S NAME.
Soon after the departure of the conspirators from
Rome, Antonius proceeded to show the use which
he intended to make of the confirmation of Cæsar's
acts by the senate. In spite of the restriction to
which he had himself assented, that no new grant
should be published after the ides of March, Anto-
nius is accused of having commenced a system of
audacious forgeries 33, affixing notices in the forum
of all sorts of donations and immunities, both to
states and private individuals, which he pretended
to have discovered amongst Cæsar's papers, but
which he is charged with having invented at his
own discretion, and sold as an unfailing source of
revenue to himself. Besides all this, he is taxed
with having appropriated an immense treasure which
Cæsar had acquired by his confiscations and plunder-
ings, and had deposited in the temple of Ops. With
this money, Antonius is said to have discharged the
debts of his colleague, Dolabella, and to have thus
secured him to his own interests; at the same time
he found his power of selling forged grants so pro-
fitable to himself, that, if we may believe Cicero,
he paid all his own debts, to the amount of above
300,000., in the short interval that elapsed between
the ides of March and the first of April.
In order to obviate effectually all opposition to his
views, he made a progress through several parts of
Italy in the months of April and May 34, in which
33 Velleius Paterculus, II. 60.
Cicero, Philippic. II. 37, 38;
Philippic. V. 4; ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XII. XVIII.
34 Cicero, Philippic. II. 39; ad
Atticum, XIV. epist. XXI.
HE COURTS CÆSAR'S VETERAN SOLDIERS.
127
CHAP.
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
he took occasion to address himself to Cæsar's vete-
rans in their different settlements, and to conjure
them to bind themselves by oath, to maintain all U.C. 709
Cæsar's acts, and to procure the appointment of two A.C. 45
commissioners to inspect his papers every month, in
order to decide whether all their provisions were
duly carried into effect. He also spread a report,
that the veterans would be most nearly concerned
in the discussion which was to take place in the
senate on the first of June 35; and this rumour in-
duced them, as he intended, to assemble in crowds
at Rome, so that it became unsafe for the conspi-
rators or their friends to be present at the meeting.
Yet, during all this time, Antonius preserved an
appearance of respect and civility towards Brutus
and Cassius. He had prevailed on them to dismiss
their friends, who had assembled from several of the
municipal towns of Italy to protect them, assuring
them that it would be wise to avoid every appearance
of suspicion or hostility; and he had also proposed to
the senate, that Brutus should be dispensed from
the observation of the law 36, which forbade a prætor
to be more than ten days absent from Rome. He
wrote, also, to Cicero in very friendly language,
requesting him to consent to the restoration of Sex.
Clodius from exile; and telling him, that although
he might be bound in duty to restore him, as his
recall had been one of Cæsar's acts, yet he would
not press the point, unless Cicero was willing to
35 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI. 36 Cicero, Philippic. II. 13.
epist. II.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
128 OCTAVIUS RETURNS TO ITALY FROM EPIRUS.
CHAP. agree to it. Cicero, in return, assured Antonius of
his perfect readiness to comply with his request;
and added, that both on public and private grounds
there was no man for whom he entertained a higher
regard 37.
Such was his language towards the end
of the month of April; in the September following
he delivered his first philippic.
C. Octavius
returns to
Epirus.
In the mean time, the tidings of Cæsar's murder
Italy from had reached his nephew, C. Octavius, at Apollonia,
whither, as we have before mentioned, he had been
sent to complete his education, and to be in readiness
also to attend his uncle when he should set out on
his expedition into Parthia. As the probable heir
of Cæsar's greatness, he already received many at-
tentions from the officers of the army which was
then quartered in Macedonia; and when Cæsar's
death was known, M. Vipsanius Agrippa, and Q.
Sabidienus Rufus, who are here first spoken of as
his friends 38, advised him to embrace the offers which
many of the soldiers and centurions made him, of
assisting him to revenge his uncle's murder. But
as he was not yet aware of the strength of that
party which he would find opposed to him, he
judged it expedient in the first instance to return to
Italy in a private manner. On his arrival at Brun-
dusium he learned the particulars of Cæsar's death,
and was informed also of the contents of his will 39
"
37 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XIII. B. Nam quum te
semper amavi, primum tuo studio,
post etiam beneficio provocatus;
tum his temporibus Respublica te
mihi ita commendavit, ut cariorem
habeam neminem.
38 Velleius Paterculus, II. 59.
39 Dion Cassius, XLV. 271.
Velleius Paterculus, ubi supra.
40
OCTAVIUS RETURNS TO ITALY FROM EPIRUS. 129
41
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
by which himself was declared his heir, and his CHAP.
adopted son. He did not hesitate instantly to accept
this adoption, and to assume the name of Cæsar; U.C. 709
and, it is said, numerous parties of his uncle's vete- A.C. 45
rans, who had obtained settlements in the districts
of Italy, through which he passed, came from their
homes to meet him, and to assure him of their sup-
port 10. He arrived at Neapolis on the eighteenth of
April ¹¹, and had an interview there with L. Balbus,
who had been so long the confidential friend of
Cæsar, and who reported to Cicero, on the very
same day, that Octavius was resolved to accept the
inheritance bequeathed to him. From Neapolis he
proceeded to see his mother, and his father-in-law,
L. Philippus, at their villa near Puteoli. It hap-
pened that Cicero was at this time at his own villa,
which was almost close to that of Philippus 42; and
not only L. Balbus, but A. Hirtius and C. Pansa
were also staying in the same neighbourhood. Octa-
vius, doubtless, consulted these old adherents of his
uncle with some anxiety, as to the prospects which
were opened to him at Rome; he expressed, how-
ever, great respect and regard for Cicero, as he was
disposed at present to conciliate persons of every
party, although Cicero, in conformity with the ex-
ample of L. Philippus, did not address him by the
name of Cæsar. It is said, indeed, that both his
mother and his father-in-law earnestly dissuaded him
12.
40 Appian, de Bello Civili, III.
41 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
VOL. II.
epist. X.
42 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XI.
K
;
130
HE IS COOLLY RECEIVED BY ANTONIUS.
From
X.
to 722,
CHAP. from coming forward as his uncle's heir, and from
availing himself of his adoption into the Julian
U.C. 709 family 43; but his own resolution was taken, and he
continued his journey to Rome without loss of time.
He is coolly On his arrival in the capital he requested an inter-
Antonius. view with M. Antonius, hoping, probably, to form at
A.C. 45
to 32.
once a coalition with him, in order to take vengeance
on the perpetrators of his uncle's murder; but An-
tonius was at this time in the height of his power,
as the executor, in a manner, of Cæsar's grants and
ordinances; nor was he disposed to admit such an
associate as Octavius, who, as the relation and heir
of Cæsar, would naturally take the highest place in
any party that might be formed to avenge his death.
Accordingly he treated him with great coolness, and
declined any co-operation with him; upon which
Octavius, not at all discouraged, proceeded to ex-
hibit some games to the people in honour of Cæsar's
victories 44, the management of which was under-
taken by two of Cæsar's old friends, Matius and
Postumius. It was on this occasion that Octavius
ventured to exhibit Cæsar's state chair, which the
senate had allowed him to use whenever he appeared
in public; but the tribunes of the people ordered it
to be removed; and it appears that the whole of the
equestrian order loudly applauded them for doing so.
It is said, too, that Antonius in this instance sup-
ported the tribunes 45; and that he also opposed the
43 Velleius Paterculus, II. 60.
Suetonius, in Augusto, 8.
44 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. XXVIII.; ad Atticum, XV.
epist. III.
45 Plutarch, in Antonio, 16.
Appian, de Bello Civili, III. 30.
BOTH LOOK FOR THE AID OF THE LEGIONS. 131
X.
to 722,
to 32.
views which Octavius entertained of being elected CHAP.
tribune himself 46, in the place of one of that body From
who happened to die about this time. Irritated at U.C. 709
this behaviour, Octavius began to turn his attention A.C. 45
to the aristocratical party 47, to speak with apparent
respect of Brutus and Cassius, and seem desirous of
courting the friendship of Cicero. In the meantime
he exerted himself more earnestly to secure to him-
self the attachment of the legions 48, well knowing
that if he could gain their support, he might make
his own terms either with Antonius or with the
aristocracy.
We may suppose that Antonius felt himself greatly
strengthened by the favourable reception which
Cæsar's colonies of veterans had given him, during
his progress through different parts of Italy in the
months of April and May. The expectations of the
veterans were raised by the reports so industriously
spread, that their interests would be nearly con-
cerned in the measures to be proposed at Rome
when the senate should assemble on the first of
June; and it was probably whispered among them,
that the aristocratical party would endeavour to recall
16 Suetonius, in Augusto, 10.
Appian, III. 31. Dion Cassius,
XLV. 272.
47 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. XII.
edition, has ventured to alter, on
conjecture, into De Legione probè.
He supposes that Cicero alludes to
a disposition manifested by one of
the legions to take part against
Antonius. That Octavius was
intriguing with Cæsar's veterans is
stated by Appian, III. 31; but
none of them actually joined him
in arms till a later period.
48 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. IV. dated the twenty-third
of May.
In this letter there
occurs a passage which is given
variously and corruptly in the
MSS. but which Schütz, in his
K 2
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Cæsar's
friends are
suspicious
of the de-
aristocra-
tical party.
132
CÆSAR'S FRIENDS ARE SUSPICIOUS
CHAP. or to diminish the grants of land which they were at
present enjoying. Suspicions of a similar kind were,
indeed, not confined to the soldiers and inferior
officers, but were shared largely by those who had
been most familiarly connected with Cæsar, by
Balbus, Hirtius, Oppius, Matius, and by their friends
signs of the in general. Assassination is a crime which, when
once practised or defended by a political party, must
render it impossible for their opponents to trust them
again; and while Cæsar's friends regarded the late
dictator as the victim of his own unsuspecting confi-
dence, they naturally imagined that the conspirators
and their friends assumed the language of modera-
tion only whilst they were overawed by the populace
and the veterans 49
9: ; and that so soon as Decimus
Brutus should have organized an army in Cisalpine
Gaul, and Sex. Pompeius with his rapidly increasing
force should have arrived from Spain to join him,
the aristocratical party would retract the concessions
made in the temple of the Earth on the seventeenth
of March, and would annul all the acts of Cæsar's
sovereignty, as they had formerly intended to do to
those of his first consulship. With regard to Brutus
and Cassius themselves, although they were living in
apparent privacy at Lanuvium, yet it was suspected
that they were turning their views towards the east-
49 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XXII. 'Yлóbeσw hanc ha-
bent, (scil. Cæsariani,) eamque præ
se ferunt, virum clarissimum inter-
fectum, totam Rempublicam illius
interitu perturbatam; irrita fore
quæ ille egisset, simul ac desistamus
timere; clementiam illi malo fuisse,
quâ si usus non esset, nihil ei tale
accidere potuisse.
OF THE ARISTOCRATICAL PARTY.
133
X.
to 722,
to 32.
ern provinces 50, and were trusting to establish their CHAP.
ascendency over that portion of the empire. Their From
associate Trebonius was already gone to take posses- U.C. 709
sion of the province of Asia. Q. Cæcilius Bassus A.C. 45
was still in arms against Cæsar's officers in Syria;
Deiotarus, king of Galatia 51, whom Cæsar had de-
prived of a part of his dominions for his adherence
to the cause of Pompey, had immediately, upon re-
ceiving tidings of Cæsar's death, reinstated himself
in the territories which he had lost; the name of
Cassius was highly respected in Syria, from the abi-
lity which he had shown in preserving the wreck of
Crassus's army after the Parthian expedition, and
more recently in conducting the operations of the
Syrian squadron in Pompey's fleet, during the late
civil wars; and there were in Greece and Macedonia
many who had suffered severely from Cæsar's confis-
cations 52, and who would therefore gladly contribute
50 It is asserted by Appian, III.
2, and by Florus, IV. 7, that Ma-
cedonia and Syria had been as-
signed by Cæsar to Brutus and
Cassius before his death; and
Appian adds, that this appoint-
ment was confirmed by the senate
on the 17th of March, but after-
wards revoked by Antonius before
the arrival of Octavius at Rome.
But it is evident from Cicero, that
this was not the case, and that
Brutus and Cassius had not, like
Trebonius and Decimus Brutus,
any provinces of which they could
claim the command, till the senate,
in the month of June or July,
while appointing the prætors as
usual to their provincial govern-
ments, bestowed on them respec-
tively Crete and, as it appears,
Cyrenaica. These proofs of the
inaccuracy of the later writers
make us approach with regret to
that period when we shall be
obliged to follow them entirely,
and when we shall lose the in-
valuable guidance of Cicero, whose
letters are our only good_autho-
rity for the transactions of these
times.
51 Cicero, Philippic. II. 37.
52 The people of Buthrotum in
Epirus, for instance, are often
spoken of in Cicero's letters as
having had their lands confiscated
by Cæsar for the benefit of his
veterans. And the people of
1
I
}
]
[
T
134
LAWS PASSED BY
CHAP. to aid the reviving cause of the aristocracy.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
On all
these accounts the better class of Cæsar's friends
distrusted the fair professions of the conspirators, and
dreaded the approach of a counter-revolution; while
Antonius and Dolabella, sharing these feelings per-
haps themselves, and at any rate well aware of the
policy of pretending to feel them, prepared to make
these suspicions their own ground of justification for
the violent course which they were now going to
pursue.
The presence of the veterans at Rome, and the
hostile feelings which they were said to entertain to-
wards the friends of the old constitution, created an
unwillingness on the part of the conspirators and
their friends, to attend the approaching meeting of
the senate on the first of June. As the day drew
nearer, the violent dispositions of the soldiers seemed
likely to find a leader in Antonius; and the show of
military force at his disposal was so menacing, that a
considerable portion of the senators absented them-
selves from the capital 53, and their absence furnished
Antonius with a pretext for neglecting the authority
Laws passed of the senate from this time forward. Accordingly,
and Dola- on the second of June 54, a law was passed in the
assembly of the people, intrusting to the consuls the
entire cognizance of all Cæsar's acts and measures,
and thus sanctioning that absolute controul which
by Antonius
bella,
Dymè, in Achaia, being in the
same predicament, had recourse
to piracy about this very time,
to afford them a maintenance.
See Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. I.
53 Cicero, Philippic. II. 42.
54 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. XVI.
ANTONIUS AND DOLABELLA.
135
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
they already exercised, by having Cæsar's papers in CHAP.
their possession; and, it is added, his secretary in
their pay 55. Another law bestowed on Antonius U.C. 709
the command of the province of Cisalpine Gaul for
six years 56, together with the army which had been
sent over into Greece by Cæsar, in preparation for
his expedition against Parthia. This was in direct
violation of Cæsar's law, which forbade the consular
provinces to be given to any one for a longer period
than two years; but, if we may believe Cicero 57, the
soldiers of Antonius occupied all the avenues to the
forum, and kept out all whom they thought likely
to oppose the measure. At the same time Mace-
donia was given for two years, equally in defiance of
Cæsar's law, to C. Antonius, the brother of Marcus,
who was one of the prætors for the year 58; and P.
Dolabella obtained the appointment to the province
of Syria.
On the fifth of June the senate was again assem-
bled 59, and it was voted that Brutus should be sent
into Asia, and Cassius into Sicily, to buy corn, and
see that it was transported to Rome for the supply of
the market of the capital. Brutus and Cassius were
at this time at Antium 60, and Cicero met them there
on the eighth, and consulted with them on the pro-
55 Cicero, ad Atticum, XIV.
epist. XVIII. Appian, de Bello
Civili, III. 5.
56 Cicero, Philippic. V. 3; II.
42; I. 2. 8. Dion Cassius, XLV.
274.
57 Philippic. I. 2. 10; V. 4.
58 Cicero, Philippic. V. 3. Dion
Cassius, XLV. 274. 277.
59 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. IX.
60 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. XI.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
136
LAWS PASSED BY ANTONIUS
61
CHAP. priety of accepting or refusing such an appointment.
The commission to buy corn they considered as de-
U.C.709 grading; and Servilia, the mother of Brutus, who,
from her intimacy with Cæsar, enjoyed considerable
influence amongst the members of his party, assured
Cassius, who was particularly averse to it, that she
would procure the repeal of that part of the senate's
decree which related to the corn. However, both
Brutus and Cassius were invested with the character
of public officers, and provinces were voted to them
in common with the other prætors ; but whether
the vote was passed at this time, or a few weeks
later, does not sufficiently appear. It was proposed,
we are told, by Antonius, and was accompanied by a
permission to them to appoint a greater number of
lieutenants than was usually allowed; for Antonius
had not yet laid aside the appearance of friendship
towards them. Yet his other acts as consul seemed
to declare that he was not really inclined to content
himself with the condition of a citizen in a free
Commonwealth. He brought forward at once an
agrarian law, a change in the constitution of the
judicial power, and another in the manner of pro-
ceeding against persons charged with rioting, or with
treasonable practices. So invariably did each new
adventurer tread in the steps of his predecessors,
and endeavour to re-open the door which they had
successively hoped to shut against all future dema-
gogues, so soon as they had themselves passed
Laws of
Antonius.
61 Cicero, Philippic. II. 13.
TO GRATIFY THE ARMY.
137
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
through it. By his agrarian law, Antonius proposed CHAP.
to nominate a commission of seven persons 62,
62 who
were to possess the usual exorbitant powers granted U.C. 709
to such commissioners in declaring what were na- A.C. 45
tional domains, and in distributing them at their
pleasure. Their authority was so extensive, that
Cicero hyperbolically describes them as empowered
to divide the whole of Italy 63; and it is mentioned,
that Campania 64 together with some of the most
valuable lands possessed by the Commonwealth in
Sicily, were amongst the districts to be subjected
to their disposal. The constitution of the judicial
power had been, as we have seen, a frequent subject
of dispute during the course of the last century; and
one of Cæsar's late enactments had bestowed it,
exclusively, on the senatorian and equestrian orders,
and had repealed the more liberal provisions of the
Aurelian law, by which it had been communicated
also to some of the wealthiest class of the plebeians.
Antonius, however, proposed not only to repeal
Cæsar's restrictions, but to open the judicial power
more indiscriminately than ever, by making any man
eligible who had ever held the rank of centurion 65
and, in fact, by so removing all the qualifications
formerly required, that common soldiers and natural-
ized foreigners might now become judges. His
third and worst measure was to allow an appeal to
the people from all persons convicted before the
62 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV. epist.
XIX.
63 Cicero, Philippic. V. 3.
64 Cicero, Philippic. II. 39.
65 Cicero, Philippic. I. 8; V.
5, 6.
138
GROWING ANIMOSITY BETWEEN
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. ordinary tribunals, of any acts in violation of the
public peace 66; a law which was, in fact, a promise
of impunity to all who should be guilty of riots or
seditions. These acts were all carried, it is said, by
violence", and in contempt of all the religious im-
pediments with which their opponents attempted to
obstruct their course. Antonius was openly escorted
by armed men in the forum and in the senate; and
the veterans, whose grants of land he had taken care
to confirm by the authority of the people, were pre-
sent in crowds in the capital to support him against
all opposition.
Growing
animosity
between
Antonius
and the
conspira-
tors.
While these proceedings were going on at Rome,
Brutus and Cassius were chiefly at Antium, or in
Campania; and both were preparing to pass over into
Asia. Brutus was to exhibit some games at Rome
in the early part of July 68; but as he did not like to
appear in the city himself, C. Antonius, as one of his
colleagues in the prætorship, undertook the manage-
ment of them in his name. It was on
It was on this occasion
that the people eagerly caught at some passages in
one of the dramatic entertainments which seemed
applicable to Brutus, and received them with en-
thusiastic applause. This, perhaps, irritated and
alarmed Antonius; nor was he pleased that Brutus
and Cassius, in one of their proclamations which
they issued as prætors, should have declared their
intention still to absent themselves from Rome on
66 Cicero, Philippic. I. 9, 10.
67 Cicero, Philippic. I. 10; II.
42; V. 4. 6, 7.
68 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV. epist.
XXVI.; XVI. epist. I. II. Dion
Cassius, XLVII. 338.
ANTONIUS AND THE CONSPIRATORS.
139
From
X.
a U.C. 709
to 722,
a
A.C. 45
to 32.
account of the disordered state of the capital 69, and CHAP.
that they were evidently preparing to leave Italy and
repair to the eastern provinces. Antonius, in
counter-proclamation, treated this language as
declaration of war, and threatened to have recourse
to arms; his tone in his public speeches became
more arrogant; and he was heard to say openly that
none could hope to save their lives, except their
party should prove victorious 70
victorious 70; which was, in other
words, a denunciation of woe to the vanquished.
L. Piso, Cæsar's father-in-law ", ventured to speak
against Antonius in the senate on the first of Au-
gust, but no one supported him, and finding all
resistance hopeless, he forbore to attend in the senate
again. Yet soon after this it appears that Brutus
and Cassius entertained the hope of organizing a
more successful opposition 72; for they sent letters to
all the senators of consular and prætorian rank,
requesting them to be present in the senate on the
first of September; and on the seventeenth of Au-
gust, Brutus met Cicero at Velia; and finding that
he had already renounced his design of leaving Italy,
and was then returning to Rome, he expressed the
greatest satisfaction at this change of purpose, and
his hopes that Cicero was going to take an active
part in the administration of the Commonwealth.
It is probable that Brutus and Cassius, being now
69 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. III.
70 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. XXII.; Philippic. V. 8, nisi
victorem, neminem victurum.
71 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. VII.; Philippic. I. 4. 6.
72 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. VII.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
140 SEX. POMPEIUS RESTORED TO HIS COUNTRY
CHAP. fully resolved to secure to themselves, if possible, the
resources of the eastern provinces, were anxious to
U.C. 709 acquire such a support in the senate as might free
them from the charge of rebellion, and might en-
sure for all their proceedings the sanction of the
government at home. We cannot tell, however, by
what means they hoped to deprive Antonius of his
military superiority in Italy; and yet, while he re-
tained it they could not calculate on their party's
obtaining the ascendency either in the senate or in
the forum. Perhaps they trusted that many of
Cæsar's old officers, and particularly Hirtius and
Pansa, the two consuls elect, were disgusted with
the late conduct of Antonius, and would be able to
counteract his influence over the minds of the sol-
diers 73. But their plans and their cause were finally
ruined by the interference of C. Octavius, who,
taking to himself the part which Hirtius and Pansa
might have performed sincerely and effectually, suc-
ceeded indeed in drawing away the army from An-
tonius, but only to attach it to himself; and coming
forward as the heir and adopted son of Cæsar, rallied
around him the whole strength of his uncle's ad-
herents, and was thus enabled, eventually, to dictate
terms to Antonius on the one hand, and on the
other to crush for ever the reviving hopes of the
aristocracy.
Sex Pom-
peius re-
It was about this time that the aristocratical party
stored to lost an army, which, if it had existed for a few
months longer, might have altered the whole com-
his country
by an
agreement
with Lepi-
dus.
73 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV. epist. XXII. dated on the 25th of June.
BY AN AGREEMENT WITH LEPIDUS.
141
From
X.
He U.C. 709
to 722,
de- A.C. 45
and
to 32.
plexion of affairs. We have already stated that Sex. CHAP.
Pompeius was in arms against the officers of Cæsar
in Spain, at the period of Cæsar's assassination.
had been gradually increasing his strength, had
feated C. Asinius Pollio, Cæsar's lieutenant 74,
had made himself master of New Carthage, and of
most of the towns in what was called the Farther
Spain. The tidings of Cæsar's death gave him great
encouragement, and produced a general sensation in
his favour; he had seven legions under his com-
mand, which constituted a formidable force, although
they were probably composed chiefly of ill-disciplined
troops, and might not perhaps have had their full
complement in point of numbers. Thus circum-
stanced, he addressed a letter to the consuls at
Rome, couched, according to Cicero, in firm but
temperate language, in which he demanded his re-
storation to his country; and that all armies in every
part of the empire should be equally disbanded. At
the same time he wrote to his father-in-law, L. Libo75,
to say that he would conclude no peace unless he
could recover the property of his father which had
been confiscated by Cæsar, and sold to different in-
dividuals by public auction. The validity of these
sales, as well as of all the rest of Cæsar's acts, had
been recently confirmed by law; and besides, An-
tonius himself had been the purchaser of Pompey's
house at Rome, and was now actually residing in it;
,
74 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI. 75 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. IV.
Dion Cassius, XLV. epist. IV.
274,275.
CHAP.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Cicero
commences
his oppo-
sition to
142
CICERO COMMENCES HIS
so that it was not likely to be given up without
some compensation. But at this time M. Lepidus
commanded the province of the Hither Spain 76, and
thus found himself exposed to the first attacks of an
enemy who had already overrun the whole of the
Farther Spain, and had defeated one of Cæsar's
lieutenants in the field. Lepidus felt himself un-
equal to the contest, and was therefore warmly dis-
posed to accede to all that Sex. Pompeius requested 77.
The senate willingly confirmed what Lepidus had
promised; and it was agreed that Sex. Pompeius
should be restored to his country, and that a sum
amounting to about 5,650,000%. should be granted
to him out of the treasury, to enable him to redeem
his father's property. Satisfied with these condi-
tions, Pompeius gave up his army, quitted the pro-
vince in which he had so long maintained himself,
and repaired to Massilia 78, where he remained for
some time in a state of suspense, not deeming it
expedient or safe to return to Rome in the midst of
those disorders which had now again begun to dis-
tract the Commonwealth.
We have said that Cicero was met by Brutus at
Velia on the seventeenth of August, and was re-
Antonius. quested by him to take an active part from hence-
forward in the management of public affairs; in other
words, to put himself at the head of the aristocratical
76 Cicero, Philippic. V. 14, 15;
XIII. 4, 5. Dion Cassius, XLV.
275.
77 Quum Lepido omnes Impe-
ratores forent meliores, is the
remark of Velleius Paterculus on
another occasion, II. 63, and it is
equally applicable here.
78 Cicero, Philippic. XIII. 6.
Appian, de Bello Civili, IV. 84.
OPPOSITION TO ANTONIUS.
143
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
party, and make one vigorous attempt to recover for CHAP.
them their ancient ascendency. This, indeed, was
now become Cicero's fixed resolution; he thought U.C. 709
he saw a more favourable opportunity for acting with A.C. 45
effect, than had occurred at any period of the late
war between Cæsar and Pompey; and laying aside at
last all hesitation, he went to Rome to commence
his memorable career of opposition to Antonius, and
to all the partisans of his revolutionary system. He
arrived in the capital on the thirty-first of August,
and on the following day the senate was to assemble,
in order to vote a solemn thanksgiving to the gods
in honour of Cæsar's exploits. According to his
own account 79, Cicero feeling some fatigue from his
journey, and not considering the business on which
the senate was summoned to be very important, for-
bore to attend the meeting. His absence greatly
exasperated Antonius, who interpreted it probably
into an insinuation that it was useless to appear in
the senate while the debates of that body were over-
awed by a military force. Accordingly, Antonius
spoke with great violence, and threatened to come
and pull down Cicero's house, if he persisted in ab-
senting himself. It was usual, we must remember,
for the consuls to enforce the attendance of senators
either by a fine, or by seizing some article of their
property as a security for their appearance; but the
threat of Antonius far exceeded the authority which
any former consuls had been known to exercise in
79 Cicero, Philippic. I. 5, et seq.
1
144
FIRST AND SECOND PHILIPPIC.
CHAP. similar circumstances.
CHAP.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
On the following day, how-
ever, Cicero did attend the senate, when Antonius
in his turn was absent; and he then delivered the
speech which is known by the name of the first
Philippic Oration. It contains a strong condemna-
tion of the measures which Antonius was pursuing,
expressed however in temperate language, and un-
mixed with personalities; yet it gave Antonius the
greatest offence. He summoned the senate to meet
again on the nineteenth of September, and on that
day replied to Cicero's attack upon his measures by
a violent invective 80, in which, amongst other things,
he charged him with being an accomplice in Cæsar's
murder; intending, as Cicero asserted, to excite the
resentment of the veterans against him, and hoping
that they would make some attempts on his life, if
he ventured to appear in the senate-house. But
Cicero having suspected, whether justly or no, that
he could not attend without danger, was resolved
not to risk the experiment; and similar fears, he
tells us, kept away P. Servilius, who had expressed
the same sentiments as he had done on the second
of September; and L. Piso, who had set the first
example of opposition to Antonius, by his speech on
the first of August. The famous oration, therefore,
which is entitled the Second Philippic, and which
professes to have been spoken in the senate on the
nineteenth of September, in reply to the invectives
of Antonius, was in reality never delivered at all,
80 Cicero, Philippic. V. 7; ad Familiares, XII. epist. II.
OCTAVIUS COMES FORWARD AGAINST ANTONIUS. 145
X.
to 722,
to 32.
but was written by Cicero about this time, and sent CHAP.
to Atticus in the month of October, with an express From
caution that he would not let it be seen by those U.C. 709
friends of Antonius who were in the habit of visiting A.C. 45
at his house 81. In fact, Cicero retired into the
country soon afterwards, and remained for some
time at one or other of his villas, only going to
Rome at intervals, and leaving it again immediately.
He thought that nothing could be done in the senate
till the new consuls entered upon their office; mean-
time an unexpected enemy suddenly came forward
against Antonius, and attacked him with weapons
more effectual than Cicero's eloquence.
vius comes
against
We have seen that C. Octavius had been coolly C. Octa-
received by Antonius at his first arrival in Rome, forward
after Cæsar's murder. It is said, that not content Antonius.
with slighting him as a political associate, Antonius
endeavoured to obstruct, or at least to delay, his
adoption into the Julian family; as he could not
claim the possession of his uncle's inheritance 82 till
he had gone through the forms by which he became
Cæsar's adopted son. On this provocation, Octavius
resolved to do himself justice by the most atrocious
means, and although he was only nineteen years of
age, he suborned some ruffians to assassinate An-
tonius 83, the consul of the republic, in his own
house. The attempt was discovered in time, but it
81 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. XI. Caleni interventum et
Calvenæ cavebis.
8% Florus, IV. 4. Dion Cassius,
VOL. II,
XLV. 272.
83 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XXIII. Seneca, de Cle-
mentiâ, I. 9.
L
1
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
146
ALARM OF ANTONIUS.
CHAP. threw Antonius into the utmost perplexity and
alarm. As it had not succeeded, a large portion of
the people doubted its reality, and believed that the
charge had been falsely brought forward against
Octavius, in order to procure his ruin, that Antonius
might enjoy his property without disturbance. So
strong in fact was the public feeling, and so un-
popular was Antonius at this period, that he did not
think it advisable to bring his intended assassins to
trial. But he trembled at the insecurity of his
situation; and finding that Octavius was now leagued
with his enemies, and being informed probably of
the intrigues which he was carrying on with Cæsar's
veterans, he thought that he should require the
support of a stronger military force than the guard
with which he had hitherto protected his person,
and by which he had overawed the senate and the
forum. In justice to his memory we should re-
member, that the assassination of Cæsar might well
have deterred him from exposing himself in a similar
manner to the daggers of the conspirators or of their
partisans; and that when Cicero so loudly complains
of the introduction of a barbarian guard into the
senate-house, he should have reflected that the crime
committed by his own friends, had rendered such a
precaution natural, if not necessary. Be this as it
may, Antonius thought his present force insufficient
any longer to defend him; and, accordingly, he set
out on the ninth of October for Brundusium 84 in
4 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII. epist. XXIII.
>
ANTONIUS AT BRUNDUSIUM.
147
X.
to 722,
to 32.
order to secure the four legions which were quartered CHAP.
in that neighbourhood, and which having formed From
part of the army assembled in Macedonia by Cæsar U.C. 709
for his Parthian expedition, had lately returned to A.C. 45
Italy, and remained still embodied, under no other
authority than that of their own immediate officers.
When he arrived at Brundusium 85, he proceeded to
address the soldiers, and offered to each man a
gratuity of about 3l. 4s. 7d., in order to win them
to his interests; but far from receiving this offer
with thankfulness, the troops murmured at it and
ridiculed it, as utterly inadequate to their expecta-
tions; and many of the centurions and soldiers
appeared inclined to disown his authority altogether.
Alarmed at these symptoms, he sent for several of
those centurions, whom he most suspected, to his
own quarters, and there caused them to be instantly
executed. But this severity failed to effect its
object; the legions could not be prevailed upon to
follow him; and at the same time the tidings which
he received of the proceedings of Octavius, made
him feel the necessity of returning to Rome without
delay. In fact, no sooner had he set out for Brun- He per-
dusium, than Octavius hastened into Campania, and Caesar's
by giving to each man a donation of about 167. 86, join him.
he prevailed upon Cæsar's veterans, who had been
settled at Casilinum and Calatia, to join his standard.
He then applied to some other of the military colo-
nies in that neighbourhood, and succeeded in raising
85 Dion Cassius, XLV. 276.
Cicero, Philippic. III. 2; V. 8.
86 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. VIII. IX.
suades
veterans to
L 2
Į
CHAP.
From
X.
U.C 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
148
"
THE LEGIONS PREFER OCTAVIUS.
a considerable force, which he began to organize at
Capua with the greatest activity. The municipal
towns 87, no less than the establishments of the vete-
rans, testified the strongest attachment to his cause;
and he wrote at the same time to Cicero, requesting
a personal interview with him, asking his advice as
to his subsequent movements, and wishing him to
come forward as his avowed associate, and to exert
his influence in the senate in his behalf.
Cicero could not but entertain a natural distrust
of so dangerous an assistant; and expressed, in a
letter to Atticus 88, his unavailing wishes that Brutus
were at hand instead of Octavius to turn the im-
pending crisis to the advantage of the Common-
wealth. But Brutus and Cassius were already on
the other side of the Ionian Gulf; and to wait for
their return was impossible. In an evil hour, there-
fore, for himself, did Cicero listen to the advances of
Octavius, and encourage him to repair to Rome, and
endeavour to strengthen his party by the favour of
the popular assembly. Octavius adopted this plan,
and was introduced into the forum, and brought
forward to speak, by the tribune Tiberius Canutius 89,
one of the most violent enemies of Antonius. But
his speech was ill calculated to please the aristocratical
party; for he attempted, we are told, to recommend
himself to the popular favour as the heir and adopted
87 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. XI.
88 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. VIII. "O Brute, ubi es?
quantam evκaipíav amittis!”
89 Dion Cassius, XLV. 276.
Appian, de Bello Civili, III. 41.
ANTONIUS RETURNS TO ROME.
149
X.
to 722,
to 32.
son of Cæsar; he dwelt largely on the great services CHAP.
of the late dictator; and when making some pro- From
mises with regard to his own future conduct, he U.C. 709
stretched out his hand towards a statue of Cæsar, A.C. 45
which Antonius had lately placed in the rostra⁹, and
swore that he would be true to his word, "as he
hoped to arrive at his father's greatness." But not
feeling himself strong enough as yet to maintain
the capital against Antonius, and finding, if we may
believe Appian, that the veterans were not well dis-
posed to fight in such a quarrel, he withdrew into
Tuscany with his forces, and endeavoured to get
some assistance from that quarter.
91
In the meantime, Antonius was returning with
all speed to Rome, attended by the legion of the
Alauda ", a corps which had been raised by Cæsar
in Transalpine Gaul, and had afterwards, as we have
seen, been admitted by him to the rights of Roman
citizens. Since his death this legion had been
greatly favoured by Antonius, and its common sol-
diers had been rendered capable, by his law, of
serving amongst the third order of judges on criminal
trials. He had, therefore, apparently taken it with
him to Brundusium, and was now returning with it
to Rome; for the four legions which he had gone to
secure, had not received him so cordially as to in-
duce him to rely on them in any critical service;
90 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. III. ad Atticum, XVI. epist.
XV. Jurat., "ita sibi parentis
honores consequi liceat ;” et simul
dextram intendit ad statuam.
91 Cicero, ad Atticum, XVI.
epist. VIII.
150
HIS EFFORTS TO SECURE SUPPORT
From
X.
to 722.
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. and he was well satisfied that they should consent
to march by themselves towards Gaul, there, as he
U.C. 709 hoped, to receive him as their commander, when he
should arrive to take possession of that province.
The Alauda then formed his escort when he ap-
proached Rome, and were left by him at Tibur,
while he entered the city with no other force appa-
rently than that which he had been long in the habit
of employing to support his authority or secure his
person. He then, as consul, issued a number of
proclamations 92, charging Octavius with rebellion,
and threatening the severest punishments against
some other individuals whom he considered as his
abettors. He summoned the senate to meet on
the twenty-fourth of November, and announced
that if any member absented himself, he would
be justly considered as a conspirator against the
consul's life, and a party to the treasonable coun-
sels of Octavius. But he soon learned that one
of the legions from Brundusium 93, instead of pur-
suing its march towards Gaul, had suddenly turned
off towards the capital, and had actually stationed
itself at Alba in a state of open disobedience to his
authority. He then repaired to the troops whom
he had left at Tibur, and tried, we may suppose, to
assure himself of their fidelity, by promising to them
abundant rewards out of the property of his anta-
gonists.
Two of the
legions de-
sert Anto-
nius and
join Octa-
vius.
Again he returned to Rome, feeling it important,
92 Cicero, Philippic. III. 7, 8.
93 Cicero, Philippic. III. 3; XIII. 9.
IN THE CITY AND ARMY.
151
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
if possible, still to maintain possession of the capital; CHAP.
and not choosing, whatever was his reason, to attend From
in the senate on the twenty-fourth, he postponed U.C. 709
the meeting of that body to the twenty-eighth 94,
and summoned the senators then to assemble in the
capitol. He was extremely anxious to fortify him-
self by their authority, and to obtain a vote which
should declare Octavius and his abettors public
enemies. For this purpose he prohibited three in-
dividuals by name 95, all of them his vehement oppo-
nents, from appearing in the senate on this occasion;
threatening one of them with death, according to
Cicero, if he ventured to disobey his injunction.
But just before the senate assembled, he was in-
formed that the fourth legion 96, another of those
which he had met at Brundusium, had not only
stopped its march towards Gaul, but had actually
joined the standard of Octavius in Tuscany. Under
the impression produced on men's minds by this
intelligence, he dared not submit to the senate his
intended motion on the state of the Commonwealth,
lest the decision of the majority might rather favour
his enemies than himself. His only hope lay in the
success of his arms, and in stopping, by his presence,
the growing spirit of disaffection among the soldiers.
Accordingly, the senate was only consulted on the
question of voting the usual thanksgivings to the
gods in honour of M. Lepidus for his services in
Spain; and as soon as the senators separated, Anto-
94 Cicero, Philippic. III. 8.
95 Cicero, Philippic. 111. 9.
96 Cicero, Philippic. III. 3. 9.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
152 ANTONIUS RETIRES TO CISALPINE GAUL.
CHAP. nius proceeded to the customary allotment of the
provinces to the different magistrates of the year on
the expiration of their term of office. His brother,
C. Antonius, received his nomination to the pro-
vince of Macedonia, which had been already, as we
have seen, conferred on him by the people; and he
himself, in the same manner, entered upon his own
appointment to the command of Cisalpine Gaul.
He immediately assumed the military dress, and left
the city with the utmost secresy to take the com-
mand of his troops at Tibur 97; whence he hastened,
by cross roads, towards his province, fearing lest
Octavius might intercept his march.
Antonius
retires from
Rome to
Cisalpine
Gaul.
On his arrival at Ariminum, he found there the
two remaining legions from Brundusium, which ac-
knowledged his authority without dispute; and with
them a third, according to Appian 98, which had re-
turned from Macedonia after Antonius's departure
from Brundusium, and, choosing to embrace his
party, had followed the other two which still adhered
to him into Gaul. These forces, together with the
legion of the Alaudæ, and a considerable number of
the veterans from Cæsar's colonies, who preferred
his service to that of Octavius, formed altogether an
imposing army; and there was nothing in Cisalpine
Gaul which could offer to them any resistance in the
field. But Decimus Brutus, who, as we have seen,
had held the command of that province for some
he besieges months, was resolved not lightly to abandon it; and,
He is op-
posed by
Dec. Bru-
tus, whom
in Mutina.
97 Cicero, Philippic. III. 10.
99 De Bello Civili, III. 43. 48.
HE IS OPPOSED BY DEC. BRUTUS.
153
Anto-
2
CHAP.
X.
From
to 722,
accordingly, threw himself into the town of Mutina 99
to maintain that place against the invader.
nius immediately advanced and began to lay siege U.C. 709
to it; and thus the Commonwealth was again in- A.C. 45
volved in a civil war, when little more than a year
had elapsed since the termination of hostilities in
Spain, and the last triumphant return of Cæsar to
Rome.
When Antonius left the capital to take posses-
sion of Cisalpine Gaul, his colleague, P. Dolabella,
seems to have been already on his way towards Syria.
We find that he was at his villa, near Formiæ, in
the latter end of October 100, and that he was then
making some arrangements for the payment of a
debt due from him to Cicero, while he should be
absent from Italy.
Hence he probably crossed over into Greece soon
afterwards, accompanied by a small military force;
so that Rome, in the beginning of December, was
deserted by both the consuls, while of the tribunes,
two at least, Tiberius Canutius and L. Cassius, were
warmly devoted to the party of the aristocracy.
The senate and people of Rome seem now, for the
first time during many years, to have been left to
express their sentiments freely; the terror of a mili-
tary force was removed on the one hand, nor does
the peace of the city seem to have been disturbed
by any disorders of the populace on the other. The
measures of the government, therefore, and the votes
99 Cicero, Philippic. XIII. 9.
100 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV. epist. XIII.
to 32.
154
CICERO RETURNS TO ROME.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Ciccro re-
turns to
Rome.
CHAP. of individuals were likely now, if ever, to be inde-
pendent, and wise, and pure, debased only by that
U.C. 709 inevitable alloy which the actions and principles of
men will always contract from the original folly and
selfishness of human nature. But the influence of
eloquence is a less unworthy motive than the fear of
the sword; and it was a fit reward for the general
purity of Cicero's character, that his ascendency
marked the last moments of his country's freedom;
and that when Rome was left to herself, she fol-
lowed his guidance with enthusiastic affection. Im-
mediately on the departure of Antonius, he hastened
to return to the capital, where he arrived on the
ninth of December 101. The tribunes had summoned
the senate to meet on the twentieth, that a vote
might be passed empowering the consuls elect,
Hirtius and Pansa, to provide for the assembling
the senate in safety on the first of January.
A very
few days before the twentieth, there appeared a pro-
clamation from Decimus Brutus, in which he en-
gaged to maintain the province of Cisalpine Gaul
against the attempts of Antonius, and to preserve it
in a state of obedience to the authority of the senate
and people. This declaration was likely to encourage
the timid and the wavering; and that the impres-
sion produced by it might not be lost, Cicero went
very early to the senate on the morning of the
twentieth, and having thus awakened an interest in
men's minds, and procured a full attendance of
101 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI. epist. V. VI. Philippic. III. 4, 5.
THIRD PHILIPPIC.
155
X.
to 722,
to 32.
senators, he delivered the speech which is entitled CHAP.
the third philippic. In this he proposed that the From
senate should declare its approbation of the conduct U.C. 709
of Decimus Brutus, and of the province of Cisalpine A.C. 45
Gaul, in upholding the senate's authority; that it
should also express its gratitude to Octavius, and to
the two legions which had deserted Antonius; and
that it should order Decimus Brutus, and all other
officers who held commands in the provinces by virtue
of Cæsar's arrangements, to retain their governments
till the senate should think proper to supersede them.
The senate agreed to all that Cicero wished 102; and
thus not only was M. Antonius adjudged to have no
pretensions to the province of Gaul, but the claims
of his brother upon Macedonia, and of P. Dolabella
upon Syria, were condemned on the same ground.
Meanwhile the siege of Mutina was carried on with
vigour by Antonius, and Octavius having intercepted
some cavalry, archers, and elephants 103, which were
on their way to join the besieging army, was pro-
ceeding to attempt the relief of the town, as soon as
he should be strengthened by the arrival of the
consuls with fresh troops from Rome. Such was the
state of things when the first of January arrived, and
the new consuls, A. Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa,
entered upon their office. They assembled the se- U.c. 710.
nators on the very first day of their consulship; first
to consult them generally on the Commonwealth, and
then to determine on the honours which were to be
102 Cicero, Philippic. IV. 1, et
seq. Dion Cassius, XLV. 277.
103 Cicero, Philippic. V. 17.
Dion Cassius, XLV. 276.
156
Q. FUFIUS CALENUS DEFENDS
X.
CHAP. paid to C. Octavius and to his followers, according
to the resolution passed before at the meeting of
the twentieth of December.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Q. Fufius
Calenus de-
nius in the
It was not to be expected, composed as the senate
was in a considerable proportion of the partisans of
fends Anto- Cæsar, that Antonius should be left altogether with-
senate. out an advocate. The person who first came for-
ward in his behalf was Q. Fufius Calenus, who had
been made consul by Cæsar during the last three or
four months of the year 706, and had before com-
manded a separate division of his army in the cam-
paign of the preceding year in Greece. At an earlier
period, in the year 692, he had been one of the tri-
bunes; and it was owing to a law proposed by him 104
and directing that the judges should be chosen by lot,
instead of selected by the prætor, that P. Clodius ob-
tained an acquittal, when tried for his infamous pro-
fanation of the mysteries of the Bona Dea in Cæsar's
house. He now moved that a deputation from the
senate should be sent to Antonius, to demand of him
that he should raise the siege of Mutina 105 ; that he
should abstain from all acts of hostility against
Decimus Brutus and the province of Cisalpine Gaul;
and that he should submit himself to the authority
of the senate and people. If he refused to comply
with these demands, he was to be declared a public
enemy, and the whole population of the state was to
assume the military dress, as in a war of the last im-
portance to the general safety. It was not supposed
104 Cicero, ad Atticum, I. epist. 105 Cicero, Philippic. VI. 2. 3.
XVI.
ANTONIUS IN THE SENATE.
157
CHAP.
X.
From
to 722,
to 32.
that Antonius would accede to the terms offered
him; and as he would gain time to prosecute the
siege of Mutina, and to strengthen his party whilst U.C. 709
the deputation should be going to his camp from A.C. 45
Rome and returning with his answer, Cicero, well
aware of the necessity of decisive measures, was
anxious, on this very account, that he should be de-
clared a public enemy immediately, and that the
people should be summoned at once to take up arms
against him. After a vehement debate, however,
which was protracted by successive adjournments
during three days, the proposal of Q. Calenus pre-
vailed, and it was resolved that a deputation should
be sent to Antonius 106 On other points, the opinion
of Cicero was followed; settlements of land were
promised to the veterans and to the two legions
which had joined Octavius 107; and an exemption
from military service was granted to them and to
their children, except in the case of a war breaking
out in Gaul or in Italy. L. Egnatuleius, the quæstor
who had led the fourth legion over to Octavius, was
allowed to be a candidate for and to hold any public
office three years before he should have attained the
age prescribed by law. To Octavius still higher
honours were paid. He was constituted an officer
of the Commonwealth, with the title and authority
of proprætor; he was admitted into the senate
among the senators of prætorian rank; he was al-
lowed to be a candidate for all public offices several
106 Cicero, Philippic. VI. 1.
107 Cicero, Philippic. V. 17. 19.
158
OFFICERS COMMANDING IN GAUL AND SPAIN.
X.
CHAP. years earlier than the law permitted; and on the
motion of his step-father, L. Philippus 108, an eques-
trian statue was erected to his honour in the rostra.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32
A deputa-
tion sent
from the
senate
to Antonius
with pro-
posals of
peace.
Immediately after this debate, the deputation,
which was to carry the commands of the senate to
Antonius, set out on its journey. It consisted of
three members: Servius Sulpicius, the celebrated
lawyer, whom Cæsar had appointed proconsul of
Achaia in the year 707; L. Philippus, the step-father
of Octavius; and L. Calpurnius Piso, the father-in-
law of Cæsar, who had formerly, when consul, coun-
tenanced the attacks of Clodius upon Cicero, in
order to win the favour of the triumvirate. About
the same time, A. Hirtius took the field and marched
to the relief of Mutina 109; while his colleague, C.
Pansa, remained at Rome to superintend the levies
of troops which were carrying on with the greatest
activity. Cicero meanwhile was exerting himself to
the utmost to strengthen the cause of the Common-
wealth by securing the fidelity of the different com-
manders in the western provinces. If Antonius
were obliged to retreat from before Mutina, it was a
question of the last importance to him, to ascertain
whether he could hope to find an asylum and sup-
port in the armies of Spain and of Transalpine Gaul.
Account of There were three officers who held commands at
command this time in those countries; M. Æmilius Lepidus,
the proconsul of Gallia Narbonensis, and of the
Hither or Nearer Spain; L. Munatius Plancus, who
the officers
ing in
Gaul and
Spain.
108 Cicero, ad Brutum, I. epist.
XV. Velleius Paterculus, II. 61.
109 Cicero, Philippic. VII. 4.
ÆMILIUS LEPIDUS AND MUNATIUS PLANCUS. 159
X.
to 722,
to 32.
Lepidus.
tius Plancus.
enjoyed the government of all the other parts of CHAP.
Transalpine Gaul added by Cæsar's conquests to the From
Roman empire; and C. Asinius Pollio, who had been U.C. 709
employed in the Farther Spain against Sex. Pom- A.C. 45
peius with the title of Cæsar's lieutenant, and still
possessed the chief authority in that province. Of
these three men, Lepidus was likely to join that M. Æmilius
party which could most work upon his hopes of per-
sonal advantage; but his inclinations would lead him
to oppose the cause of the Commonwealth, inasmuch
as the forms of the old constitution would confine
within moderate bounds his irregular ambition. L.
Munatius Plancus is mentioned as one of those per- L. Muna-
sons who received large presents from Cæsar, at the
time when he was employing the plunder of Gaul in
purchasing partisans among the needy and the pro-
digal at Rome ¹¹º. When the civil war began, we
find that L. Plancus was in Cæsar's service, and held
a command in his army in Spain during the cam-
paign against Afranius and Petreius 1. At a later
period he was one of his lieutenants in Africa 112;
and on the whole, his conduct throughout the war
obtained for him from Cæsar the appointment to the
province of Transalpine Gaul, and the nomination to
the consulship for the year 711, together with Deci-
mus Brutus, so that he was at this time consul elect.
His reputation however had not kept pace with his
110
110 Cicero, ad Familiares, VIII. Auctor de Bello Africano.
epist. I.
112 Cæsar, de Bello Civili, I. and
111 Cæsar, de Bello Civili, I. and Auctor de Bello Africano.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Pollio.
160
C. ASINIUS POLLIO.
CHAP. fortune. Cicero tells him plainly, in one of his
letters 113, that he had been generally regarded as a
time-server; and Paterculus speaks of him as "be-
having with that wavering honour which was charac-
teristic of him 114 " But as he was at the head of an
important province and a considerable army, Cicero
tried to attach him to the cause of the Common-
wealth, and wrote to him a number of letters to this
effect, which he answered with the fairest professions
of his zeal in behalf of his country, but without de-
C. Asinius claring his sentiments with regard to Antonius. C.
Asinius Pollio, whose name reminds us that we are
arrived at the age of Virgil and Horace, was early
distinguished as an orator 115, and at the beginning
of the civil war espoused the party of Cæsar, be-
cause, according to his own account 116, the power of
some one of his personal enemies in the camp of
Pompey made him afraid to join the standard of the
Commonwealth. He served Cæsar faithfully, and
was left by him, as we have seen, in the command of
the province of Farther Spain, after the defeat of
Cnæus Pompeius at Munda. He had since been
opposed to Sex. Pompeius, and had been defeated by
him, as we have already mentioned. Yet he pro-
fessed a great zeal for the liberties of his country,
and a determination to resist any person whatsoever
115 Quintilian, XII. 6.
116 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
113 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. III.
114 II. 63. Plancus, dubiâ, id epist. XXXI.
est, suâ Fide.
ANTONIUS REJECTS THE SENATE'S PROPOSALS. 161
CHAP.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
to 32.
who should again attempt to gain absolute sove-
reignty". He was at the head of an army of three
legions 118; and Antonius had endeavoured already
to seduce one of these to his own service, nor had A.C. 45
Pollio been able to retain it in its duty without
difficulty. In fact, the dispositions of the soldiers
in general were so adverse to the establishment of
the old constitution, that when they understood the
quarrel to be between Antonius and the cause of the
senate and the people, they could not be prevailed
upon to support the latter; and it was this circum-
stance that ensured the success of Octavius, when a
few months afterwards he revealed his own treason-
able intentions, and enslaved the senate whose autho-
rity he was now affecting to uphold.
119
rejects the
of the
senate.
"
Meantime the deputation from the senate had Antonius
proceeded to the camp of M. Antonius. Ere its proposals
members had reached the end of their journey
Ser. Sulpicius, the most distinguished of their num-
ber, died of an indisposition which had attacked him
before he left Rome, and which had been aggravated
by the fatigue of travelling, and by the anxiety which
he felt for the success of his mission. His surviving
colleagues, L. Philippus and L. Piso, were too nearly
connected with the family of Cæsar to be very
zealous in the cause of the Commonwealth. They
presented the commands of the senate to Antonius,
117 Si id agitur ut rursus in
Potestate omnia unius sint, qui-
cunque is est, ei me profiteor
Inimicum.-Cicero, ad Familiares,
VOL. II.
X. epist. XXXI.
118 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XXXII.
119 Cicero, Philippic. IX. 7.
M
162
EFFECTS OF THE REJECTION.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. and consented to carry back to Rome a counter-pro-
posal on his part 120, in which, far from complying
with the orders which he had received, he agreed to
give up Cisalpine Gaul only on condition of receiving
in exchange the province of Transalpine Gaul for
five years
121, with an army of six legions, and that
his brother should retain Macedonia as long as
Brutus and Cassius should enjoy the command of
any provinces as consuls or proconsuls. Besides
these concessions, he demanded grants of lands for
the soldiers who had followed him, a confirmation
of all grants already made by himself and Dolabella,
and of all the decrees issued by them on the pre-
tended authority of Cæsar's papers; and that his law
relating to the judicial power should be maintained
inviolate. When these proposals were reported to
the senate, L. Cæsar 122, the uncle of Antonius,
moved that the country should be declared in a
state of disturbance; and the whole people assumed
the military dress, in token of the imminent danger
which threatened the Commonwealth. The spirit
120 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. IV.
121 Cicero, Philippic. VIII. 9.
The text towards the latter end
of the ninth chapter of the eighth
Philippic is evidently defective.
One sentence relative to C. Anto-
nius is marked by Schütz as in-
serted in this place by mistake;
but it seems to us that some words
have rather been omitted in the
preceding sentence, and that the
clause," tamdiuque ut obtineat,
quamdiu M. Brutus, C. Cassius,
Consules, prove Coss. Provincias
obtinebunt," refers to C. Anto-
nius, and not, as Schütz imagines,
to Marcus. M. Antonius through-
out speaks of himself in the first
person, and immediately after the
stipulation in behalf of his brother,
which we have just quoted, he
adds, "Ipse autem ut quinquen-
nium obtineam.”
122 Cicero, Philippic. VIII. 1.
PROCEEDINGS OF BRUTUS AND CASSIUS. 163
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
of all ranks, if we may believe Cicero 123, was keenly CHAP.
alive to the necessity of putting down the rebellion
of Antonius; with the exception only of those citi- U.C. 709
zens who were of consular dignity, whom age or the A.C. 45
honours and emoluments which they had gained
in the last revolution, made unwilling to risk the
chances of another. Besides, many of these persons
had been so connected with the party of Cæsar, that
the revival of the old aristocratical interest, supported
by the eloquence and integrity of Cicero, was to
them a prospect full of apprehension. They served
the cause of Antonius at present, by professing an
extreme anxiety for peace; but they hoped to espouse
it more effectually, and to introduce divisions amongst
the opposite party, so soon as they could find a
handle to insinuate that whilst Cæsar's friends were
quarrelling with one another, the partisans of Pom-
pey were watching for the moment in which they
might once more establish their own ascendency.
of Brutus
Nor was the opportunity which they sought for Proceedings
backward in presenting itself. Brutus and Cassius and Cassius.
had left Italy in the preceding autumn, with the in-
tention, we may suppose, of strengthening themselves
against the enmity of Antonius by the resources of
the eastern provinces. The opposition begun by
Cicero in the senate on the second of September, and
the subsequent state of terror under which the senate
was said to be kept by the military force of Anto-
nius, induced them, or furnished them with a pre-
123 Compare, besides his as- Familiares, XII. epist. IV. V.;
sertions in his Philippics, Epist. ad XI. epist. VIII.; X. epist. V.
3
3
1
J
M 2
164
BRUTUS AT ATHENS.
CHAP. text, to act in a more decisive manner.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722.
A.C. 45
to 32.
Brutus at
first had repaired to Athens 124, and had remained
there for some time, apparently engrossed with the
philosophical studies of the place; but during this
interval his emissaries had been at work in Mace-
donia, endeavouring to conciliate to his interest the
soldiers that were still quartered there; and he was
himself gaining partisans among that numerous body
of young men of family or talent who were in the
habit of resorting to Athens as the university of the
ancient world. He was, however, principally en-
abled to declare himself openly in consequence of
an important service rendered him by M. Apuleius 125
who had for some time past filled the office of
quæstor in the province of Asia. Apuleius hap-
pened to be returning to Rome with a fleet, on board
of which was a large sum of money belonging to
the government, collected by him in his province for
the benefit of the revenue of the Commonwealth.
Brutus met him on the coast of Euboea, and pre-
vailed upon him to make over the whole of this
treasure. He was thus in a condition immediately
to raise an army, partly by inviting to his standard
those soldiers who had formerly served under Pom-
pey 1:6, and who it seems were still numerous in
Thessaly; and partly by tampering with the troops
belonging to P. Dolabella, which were at this time
124 Plutarch, in Bruto, 24.
125 Cicero, Philippic. X. 11;
XIII. 16. Plutarch, in Bruto, 24.
Appian, de Bello Civili, IV. 75.
Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII. epist.
XLV.
126 Plutarch, in Bruto, 25.
HIS SUCCESSES IN GREECE.
165
From
X.
desert U.C. 709
to 722,
same A.C. 45
to 32.
passing through Greece on their way towards Syria. CHAP.
It is particularly mentioned, that two divisions of
Dolabella's cavalry were thus persuaded to
their officers and join Brutus 127; and the
means were probably used with effect towards a
legion commanded by one of the lieutenants of
C. Antonius, which submitted itself to M. Cicero,
Cicero's son, one of those young men whom Brutus
had won to his interests during his residence at
Athens. Soon afterwards, Q. Hortensius, the son
of the famous orator of that name, who was at this
time proconsul of Macedonia, put the whole re-
sources of his province at the disposal of Brutus;
and he was thus become so formidable, that P. Vati-
nius, proconsul of Illyricum, and one of Cæsar's
oldest and most zealous partisans, finding himself
unable to depend upon his soldiers, surrendered to
him the important town of Dyrrhachium, and saw
his troops immediately enter into the service of his
enemy. In this manner Brutus made himself master Brutus ob-
of the provinces of Achaia, Macedonia, and Illyricum, session of
and was become the general of an army of seven vinces of
legions 128; ; while C. Antonius, who had set out from Macedonia,
Italy in the hope of entering upon the government cum.
of Macedonia, found that province now armed
against him, and the troops which he expected to
command adding themselves to the forces of his
enemy. Thus disappointed, he threw himself into
Apollonia with seven cohorts which still remained
127 Cicero, Philippic. X. 6. 128 Velleius Paterculus, II. 65.
Plutarch, in Bruto, 25.
tains pos-
the pro-
Achaia,
and Illyri-
X.
166 DOLABELLA PLUNDERS THE PROVINCE OF ASIA,
CHAP. faithful to him 129; and being master of that city,
and of one or two other places in the neighbourhood,
he prepared to resist the attacks of Brutus.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Dolabella
surprises
It is difficult, while relying upon Cicero's autho-
rity for almost the whole of our accounts of these
and plun- times, not to forget that this authority is not equally
province of to be followed in its judgments of men and actions.
murders C. as in its reports of matters of fact. We catch in-
ders the
Asia, and
Trebonius.
sensibly the opinions of a writer whom we are con-
tinually consulting; and we do not remember that
during all the transactions which we are now re-
lating, he was the active leader of a party, and could
not, therefore, represent with impartiality the motives
or the merits of the conduct of his opponents. This
remark must apply particularly to those proceedings
of Dolabella which we are now called to notice.
He found that the assassins of Cæsar were resolved
to consider as illegal all the acts of his colleague
M. Antonius and of himself in their late consulship.
Decimus Brutus was maintaining Cisalpine Gaul
against M. Antonius, in defiance of the decree of
the people; M. Brutus was occupying Macedonia,
which had been equally given by the people to C.
Antonius; and C. Cassius was proceeding towards
Syria to take away that province in a similar manner
from Dolabella himself. Already, as we have seen,
Dolabella's cavalry had been seduced from his ser-
vice, and had joined the army of Brutus; so that
under these circumstances, whilst his enemies, by
129 Cicero, Philippic. X. 6; XI. 11.
AND MURDERS C. TREBONIUS.
167
X.
to 722,
to 32.
their own sole authority, were converting to their CHAP.
own use the resources of the empire, he might think From
himself justified in following their example, and in U.C. 709
depriving their officers of their provinces, as he him- A.C. 45
self and his friends had been deprived of those held
by themselves. With this view he formed the de-
sign of securing the province of Asia, which was now
held by C. Trebonius. But in the execution of this
purpose he is charged with acts of the greatest
perfidy and cruelty; he is said to have entered the
province of C. Trebonius as if he were merely pass-
ing through it on his way to Syria 130: he had an
interview with Trebonius, in which he professed the
most friendly dispositions towards him; and having
thus lulled him into a fatal security, he made a
sudden assault by night upon the city of Smyrna, in
which Trebonius then was, and thus obtained posses-
sion of his person. Trebonius thus treacherously
seized, was immediately put to the torture to draw
from him some information as to the treasure of the
province; and after he had suffered these cruelties
for two days, he was beheaded with circumstances
of additional barbarity; his head was carried about
on the point of a spear, and his body was exposed to
the insults of Dolabella's soldiers, and finally cast
into the sea. After this murder, Dolabella enriched
himself by seizing some of the public money in the
province, and by the plunder of a great number of
individuals ¹³¹; but not having a sufficient force to
131
130 Cicero, Philippic. XI. 2, 3.
Livy, Epitome, CXIX.
131 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist XV.
168
DOLABELLA ABANDONS ASIA.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. enable him at once to maintain Asia, and to prose-
cute his march towards Syria, he abandoned the
U.C. 709 prize which he had gained, and continued his pro-
gress towards the east. But receiving alarming
accounts of the force under C. Cassius, and thinking
it probable that Syria would be effectually barred
against him, he prepared a large fleet of transports
in the ports of Lycia, on board of which he intended,
in case of need, to embark his troops and his trea-
sures, and return to join Antonius in Italy. This
scheme was defeated by the activity of P. Lentulus
Spinther, the son of that Lentulus who had been
consul in the year 696, and to whom Cicero was
largely indebted for his recall from banishment.
The younger P. Lentulus had been quæstor under
Trebonius in Asia, and had first retired into Mace-
donia after the murder of the proconsul 182; but
finding that Dolabella did not retain possession of
Asia, he returned thither, and having re-organized
the administration of that province, he hastened to
Rhodes with the fleet under his command, in order
to procure assistance from the government of that
island to enable him to attack the fleet of Dolabella
in Lycia. The Rhodians, however, had suffered too
severely under the dominion of the old aristocracy
at Rome to be inclined to support its defenders.
They had refused to receive Pompey himself within
their walls, when he was a fugitive after the battle
of Pharsalia; and a squadron of their ships had
132 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII. epist. XIV. XV.
DOLABELLA KILLS HIMSELF.
169
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
is shut out
Dolabella Dolabella
probably from Syria
by Cassius.
joined Cæsar at that period, and had distinguished CHAP.
itself most highly in his service during the contest From
in which he was involved in Egypt. But P. Lentu- U.C. 709
lus, even without their aid, was strong enough to
effect his purpose; the ships of war belonging to
Dolabella fled from Lycia, and either dispersed and
abandoned his cause, or retreated to Cyprus and
Syria, while the transports thus left to themselves
were immediately secured by Lentulus.
arriving in Syria with a force which was
not very considerable, found the gates of Antioch
closed against him 133, and having in vain endea-
voured to force an entrance, he fled in disorder to
Laodicea. In this distressed state of his fortunes, He is be-
sieged in
his soldiers began to desert him, and he soon found Laodicea,
himself besieged by C. Cassius, who had gained full himself.
possession of the province of Syria, and now com-
manded an army of ten legions. Laodicea was
blockaded by land and sea, till Dolabella, hopeless
of relief, and dreading the fate which he had in-
flicted on Trebonius, ended his life by suicide 184.
This event took place in the summer of 710, and
the tidings of it reached the capital, and cheered
the aristocratical party with a moment's exultation
immediately before their complete and final over-
throw.
and kills
of the pro-
The army with which Cassius had obtained this Account
great success, had been collected by him from various ceedings of
quarters, since his first departure from Italy in the Syria.
133 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XIII. XIV. XV.
134 Velleius Paterculus, II. 69.
Livy, Epitome, 121.
Cassius in
170
CASSIUS IN SYRIA.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. autumn of the preceding year. He had first visited
Trebonius in the province of Asia 135, and was libe-
U.C. 709 rally supplied with money by his quæstor, P. Lentu-
lus, who also claimed the merit of winning over to
his interest a large body of cavalry forming part of
Dolabella's army, and which had been sent on by
him from Macedonia, to precede his march into
Syria. Some forces were also raised in the province
itself; and Cassius, thus provided with men and
money, did not hesitate to proceed to Syria without
delay, while Dolabella was still lingering in Europe.
He reached Syria in the depth of the winter, perhaps
about the end of January or beginning of February,
when the ascendency of the aristocratical party in
Rome, and the measures taken against Antonius,
were already known in the east. There was at this
time in Syria an army, according to Appian, of six
legions 16, under the command of L. Statius Murcus,
and Q. Marcius Crispus, which had been committed
to them by Cæsar for the purpose of reducing Q.
Cæcilius Bassus, and the legion with which he main-
tained himself in Apamea. Both of these officers
had served under Cæsar in the civil war, but they
were men of little ambition, and were disposed to
obey any authority which might seem entitled to
command them. Accordingly, they gave up their
legions to Cassius without hesitation 17, believing
that by so doing, they should most consult the wishes
135 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XIV. Dion Cassius, XLVII.
342.
136 De Bello Civili, IV. 58.
137 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XI. XII.
THE LEGIONS IN SYRIA JOIN HIM.
171
CHAP.
X.
to 722,
to 32.
of the government at Rome; and this example was
presently followed by the legion under Q. Bassus; From
for although that officer himself was sufficiently de- U.C. 709
sirous of retaining his command, yet his soldiers A.C. 45
looked upon Cassius as so much more respectable a
leader, that he was unable to prevent them from
making him an offer of their services. Soon after-
wards, A. Allienus, who had been employed by
Dolabella to lead from Egypt four legions which
had been mostly left there by Cæsar to secure the
throne of Cleopatra, meeting Cassius in Syria, and
being neither willing nor able to resist him, surren-
dered to him the whole force which he commanded.
With regard to foreign states, it may be mentioned
that the inhabitants of Syria in general 188, and par-
ticularly the people of Tyre, as also Cæsar's old
enemy, Deiotarus, king of Galatia, were inclined to
support Cassius; while on the other hand, Cleopatra,
queen of Egypt, the Rhodians, the Lycians, the
people of Tarsus 139, and the Jews, were the enemies
of the old aristocracy, and devoted to any one who
should profess himself the representative of the party
of Cæsar. The Jews, however, being placed in the
midst of the forces of Cassius, were soon obliged to
submit to him; and he proceeded soon afterwards to
attack the Rhodians, whose eminence as a naval
power made their opposition more formidable.
senate in
We have thus carried on our narrative of the state Vote of the
of affairs in the east to a period some months later favour of
139 Cicero, Philippic. XI. 13, 14.
139 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XIII. Dion Cassius, XLVII.
343.
Brutus.
172
PROGRESS MADE AT ROME
X.
CHAP. than that at which we had arrived, in describing the
course of events at Rome and in Italy. When M.
Brutus had made himself master of Macedonia and
Achaia, he sent despatches to the senate containing
an account of his successes 140
After they had been
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
read, Q. Fufius Calenus proposed that they should
be acknowledged by an answer of mere compliment,
and that Brutus at the same time should be ordered
to give up the legions, the command of which he
had gained so irregularly. But Cicero, rejoicing to
see a powerful army in the hands of a general on
whom he could so fully rely, moved on the contrary,
“that the senate highly approved of the conduct of
Brutus, and that it confirmed to him in the fullest
manner the possession of the armies and provinces
which he had acquired, requesting him at the same
time to remain with his forces as much as possible
in the neighbourhood of Italy, that he might be
ready to lend his assistance to the Commonwealth if
necessary. This motion, it appears, was carried,
and excited probably no small jealousy amongst the
partisans of Cæsar. Soon afterwards, tidings arrived
of the murder of Trebonius, and the seizure of the
province of Asia by Dolabella. The cruelty which
had accompanied this action excited a general feel-
Dolabella ing of indignation. Q. Calenus 14, with a frankness
highly creditable to him, being first asked his opinion
the senate. by his son-in-law, C. Pansa, moved that Dolabella
should be declared a public enemy, and that his
declared a
public
enemy by
""
140 Cicero, Philippic. X. passim. ¹¹¹ Cicero, Philippic. XI. 6.
BY THE ARISTOCRATICAL PARTY.
173
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
property should be confiscated; adding, that if any CHAP.
senator should propose a decree of greater severity,
he would gladly assent to it. But the unanimity U.C. 709
which had been thus happily produced by the cruelty A.C. 45
of Dolabella, was soon disturbed. It was next to be
considered to whom the Commonwealth should in-
trust the duty of revenging the death of Trebonius,
and prosecuting the war against Dolabella. L.
Cæsar 142, who had been consul twenty-one years
before, in the year preceding the conspiracy of Cati-
line, the uncle of M. Antonius, but who had always
firmly and honestly opposed his ambitious and violent
measures, proposed that P. Servilius Isauricus should
be the person selected. Servilius had been Cæsar's
colleague in the consulship in the year 705; but
even then he had supported the aristocratical in-
terest with vigour against the mischievous laws of
M. Cælius. He had since been himself proconsul of
Asia, and had borne the character of a moderate
and humane magistrate 143, so that his appointment
seems to have been most unexceptionable, and was
likely to have answered Cicero's purposes sufficiently
in putting down Dolabella, without giving offence to
the partisans of Cæsar. Another proposal advised
that the war should be committed to the two con-
suls, Hirtius and Pansa, who were to be appointed
to the command of the two provinces of Asia and
Syria. By this method it was artfully intended to
allure the two consuls from Italy by the prospect of
142 Cicero, Philippic. XI. 8;
Epist. ad Familiares, XII. epist. V.
143 Cicero, ad Familiares, XIII.
epist. LXVI. LXVIII.
174
PRECIPITANCY OF CICERO
From
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. an honourable command in the most lucrative sta-
CHA
tions in the empire; to leave Octavius by their
U.C. 709 departure at the head of the troops opposed to Anto-
nius, and above all to stop the progress of Cassius,
who was suspected of seizing Syria by his own
authority. Nothing seemed so likely to disappoint
this scheme as the proposal of L. Cæsar, which, if
supported by the aristocratical party, would probably
have been carried. But Cicero most injudiciously
opposed the nomination of Servilius, as well as that
of the consuls, and moved "that the war with Dola-
bella, together with the province of Syria, and all
the troops in that part of the empire, should be in-
trusted to C. Cassius; that for the prosecution of
the war he should be invested with an absolute con-
troul over the fleets and revenues of the east; that
his command should extend to the provinces of
Asia, Pontus, and Bithynia, as well as to Syria; and
that into whatsoever province he should enter in the
course of his hostilities against Dolabella, his autho-
rity in that province should immediately supersede
that of the regular officers of the Commonwealth."
Even the very mother and brother of Cassius 144, who
were at that time in Rome, remonstrated with Cicero
upon the gross impolicy of such a proposal. When
Brutus had so lately been confirmed in the com-
mand of three provinces, and an army of seven
legions, how was it to be expected that even mode-
rate men, and much less that the partisans of Cæsar,
144 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII. epist. VII.
IN BEHALF OF THE CONSPIRATORS.
175
X.
to 722,
to 32.
intrusted
consuls.
should consent to invest another of the conspirators CHAP.
with powers and resources still more ample? The From
only effect of Cicero's motion was to render him an U.C. 709
object of increased suspicion to all the friends of A.C. 45
Cæsar's government, and to procure the triumph of
that party who wished to give the command of the
war with Dolabella to the consuls Hirtius and Pansa.
It is true that they did not live long enough to avail The war
against
themselves of the vote of the senate in their favour; Dolabella
and Cassius, as we have seen, soon afterwards de- to the two
stroyed Dolabella by his own authority. But Cicero,
by thus showing himself so intemperate a partisan
of the assassins of Cæsar, and of those two in parti-
cular who had even during the civil war been among
the adherents of Pompey, gave a general disgust to
that numerous portion of the Commonwealth who
wished to see Cæsar's system and measures preserved
under certain limitations, and who dreaded and ab-
horred the exclusive dominion of the high aristo-
cratical party.
senate
Antonius.
The proceedings of Antonius, however, during his Vote of the
consulship, had been so violent, that the majority of against
the senate were disposed to pass the strongest de-
crees against him individually, however unwilling
they might be to concur in the excessive powers and
honours proposed by Cicero for the assassins of
Cæsar. It was resolved that the laws passed by
Antonius were not binding 145; that he had forged
decrees of the senate; and that he had corruptly
145 Cicero, Philippic. XII. 5.
1
176
VOTE OF THE SENATE AGAINST ANTONIUS.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. appropriated to himself above five millions sterling
of the public money. By these resolutions the senate
seemed to declare that their quarrel with him was
perpetual; and although they were so far moved by
L. Piso and Q. Calenus as to vote that another de-
putation should be sent to him, in the expectation
that he would submit implicitly to their orders, yet
when they found that this expectation was not likely
to be realized, the measure was dropped altogether.
Nay, when letters were received from M. Lepidus 146,
urging them to put an end to the civil war, they
voted according to the sentiments of P. Servilius,
who moved, that peace with Antonius was prejudicial
to the Commonwealth. It was about this time also,
that is, the beginning of April, that M. Varisidius
arrived at Rome 147, being the bearer of a letter ad-
dressed by L. Plancus to the senate. In this letter
Plancus asserted that he had an army of five legions
under his command; and that both himself, his
soldiers, and the people of his province of Gaul, were
entirely devoted to the interests of his country, and
ready to undertake any service to which the Com-
monwealth might think proper to call them. There
was an ambiguity in the terms "country" and
Commonwealth," of which Plancus possibly de-
signed hereafter to avail himself; yet the tone of his
letter was so promising, and his language in a private
letter to Cicero was so strongly in favour of his
attachment to the course now pursued by the senate,
(6
146 Cicero, Philippic. XIII. 4,
et seq.
147 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. VIII. XII.
VOTE OF HONOURS TO L. PLANCUS.
177
X.
to 722,
to 32.
that Cicero thought proper to move for a grant of CHAP.
extraordinary honours to him, in recompense of his From
fidelity. This motion was opposed by P. Servilius; U.C. 709
and when the majority of the senate agreed to it, A.C. 45
P. Titius, one of the tribunes, interposed his negative
at the request of Servilius, and thus stopped the
decree. The debate was adjourned to the following
day, the ninth of April, when Cicero spoke with
great vehemence against Servilius and Titius; and at
last, partly from the effect of his own eloquence, and
partly owing to the impression produced by the
arrival of despatches from P. Lentulus in Asia 148
148 Cicero, ad Brutum, II. epist.
II. We are
aware that the
genuineness of the two books of
Epistles to Brutus" has been
often questioned; and Schütz has
classed them, together with five
orations commonly ascribed to
Cicero, among the works which
he believes to be forgeries; and
has published them in a separate
volume. But judging from the
arguments which he brings to
prove their spuriousness, the
genuineness of a work was never
more unreasonably suspected. He
says, that the letter which we have
just quoted (II. epist. II.) must
be a forgery, because it speaks of
the arrival of tidings concerning
Cassius on the 9th of April; whereas
in another letter to Brutus, dated
on the 5th of May, the writer
says that nothing was known of
the forces of Cassius. But on
attending to the whole passages
in both letters, the inconsistency
vanishes. Despatches had reached
Rome, on the 9th of April, from
P. Lentulus, who had been quaestor
VOL. II.
to Trebonius, and who appears to
have written them from the pro-
vince of Asia. They contained a
report of the information which he
had received from Syria, of the
occupation of that province by
Cassius, and of the surrender of
the legions under L. Murcus and
Q. Crispus. It is not said that
the despatches of Lentulus en-
tered into any particulars; but
they probably stated in general
terms, as was natural, what he had
heard of events which had oc-
curred in a distant province.
Nearly a month afterwards, Cicero
informs Brutus that the senate
had given him a discretionary
power to act against Dolabella or
not, as he should judge most ex-
pedient; and adds, as the reason
why so much was thus left to
his own judgment, that nothing
was known about the army of
Cassius; nothing, that is, as to
its position, its operations, or even
its means of taking the field. It
was known that Cassius had an
army and a province; but this
N
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
178
LETTER OF ANTONIUS
CHAP. containing an account of the progress of Cassius in
Syria; the opinion of Cicero triumphed, the tribune
withdrew his negative, and the vote of honours to
L. Plancus was carried. But the subsequent con-
duct of Plancus seems to indicate that with regard
to him, as well as to Octavius, Cicero either believed
or pretended to believe their professions much too
knowledge was of no use towards
deciding the question, whether he
might require the aid of Brutus in
destroying Dolabella or no; and
therefore, as far as that point was
concerned, it was equivalent to a
"total ignorance about the army
of Cassius."
We have quoted the "Epistles
to Brutus" without hesitation ;
hesitation;
for we think that all the positive
arguments of inconsistency with
themselves or with other autho-
rities, which Schütz has repeated
from Tunstall, are founded on
mistakes and misinterpretations of
the passages attacked. Another
class of arguments, if they deserve
to be called so, is built on the pre-
tended occurrence of unclassical
or inelegant expressions in these
letters; and sometimes a letter is
condemned because tota ejus
compositio prorsus a Ciceronis ele-
gantiâ abhorret." Schütz, Præfat.
in tom. VIII. p. 3. Ciceron. Oper.
It must be a very strong case
indeed that could warrant us in
pronouncing a work to be a for-
gery, on account of fancied inele-
gancies in its style, or even of dis-
similarity from the usual language
of the writer. But in the present
instance we see no such dissimi-
larity; and as for the inelegance
of particular expressions, we do
think that it is quite absurd to
pretend to decide, in a dead lan-
guage, what expressions might or
might not have been used in the
familiarity of a private letter.
The evidence in favour of the
Epistles to Brutus" is the same
on which we believe the genuine-
ness of any ancient writing;
namely, that they have been trans-
mitted down to us amongst the
other works of Cicero, and pro-
fess to be his composition. If the
arguments brought against them
be of no weight, if there be, as we
think there is not, no evidence to
render them suspected, we may
receive them as genuine on the
external evidence of their having
been always ascribed to Cicero,
without inquiring whether they
afford any positive internal evi-
dence in their own favour. But
we think that they possess also
this mark of genuineness, and that
they are such letters as no man
was likely to have forged, from
the brevity and uninteresting
nature of many of the numbers ;
and from their real, but neither
apparent nor designed, agreement
with what we know from other
really respectable authorities con-
cerning the facts to which they
allude.
TO HIRTIUS AND OCTAVIUS.
179
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
readily; and by his lavish votes in their favour in- CHAP.
jured, in fact, the dignity of the Commonwealth, and
gave to the contest the appearance of a
quarrel with Antonius, rather than of a
opposition to the principle of usurped and illegal
power and military tyranny.
personal
general A.C. 45
to 32.
Antouius to
Octavius.
While the aristocratical party was thus triumph- Letter of
ing in the fancied support of Plancus, Antonius was Hirtius and
endeavouring to seduce the officers who were em-
ployed against him, A. Hirtius and C. Octavius. He
addressed to them a letter 149, in which he repre-
sented the impolicy of their conduct in serving the
purposes of the Pompeian party, and fighting against
their old comrades and natural associates, in behalf
of men by whom they were hated in reality as bit-
terly as he himself. And he spoke of Lepidus and
Plancus as being united with him in all his designs,
and approving his proceedings. This letter was
transmitted by Hirtius to Cicero, and was by him
read aloud in the senate. To Octavius, doubtless, it
suggested nothing which he had not himself clearly
perceived before. It was not, and could not be his
real intention to exalt the cause of Pompey, or to
see the assassins of his uncle in possession of the
greatest power and dignity in the Commonwealth.
Nor ought the enemies of Antonius to have neglected
that part of his letter in which he boasted of the
entire co-operation of Lepidus and Plancus. With
regard to Lepidus, the whole course of his former
119 Cicero, Philippic. XIII. 10, et seq.
}
P
་
1
N 2
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
180
OPERATIONS AROUND MUTINA.
CHAP. life, as well as his recent interference to procure
peace for Antonius, rendered the assertion extremely
probable; and if Lepidus deserted the cause of the
Commonwealth, the fidelity of Plancus would be
exposed to a very severe temptation. On the other
hand, the consuls Hirtius and Pansa, the latter of
whom had now taken the field with the army which
he had been levying and organizing at Rome, pos-
sessed and deserved the entire confidence of the
senate; and whilst the greatest part of the forces
employed against Antonius was in their hands, Octa-
vius must of necessity remain faithful, and the con-
test might be decided before Lepidus or Plancus
should venture to throw aside the mask which they
now thought it prudent to wear.
Battle of
Mutina.
Meantime the events of the campaign were be-
U.C. 711. coming of the highest importance. In the month of
February, Antonius, while closely besieging Decimus
Brutus in Mutina, was in possession of the important
places of Parma, Regium Lepidi or Reggio, and
Bononia or Bologna. These three towns were all
situated on the Emilian way, at that time probably
the only good line of communication by which it was
possible to reach Mutina; and lying two to the
westward and one to the eastward of the place that
was besieged, the occupation of them by the be-
sieging army rendered it difficult for Hirtius and
Octavius to advance to its relief. The season, be-
sides, was unfavourable, and C. Pansa was still
busied in levying troops at Rome; so that Hirtius
and Octavius remained quiet for some time; the
BATTLE OF MUTINA.
181
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
former at Claterna 150, and the latter at Forum Cor- CHAP.
nelii, or Imola; both of which towns were situated
on the Æmilian way, between Bononia and Ari- U.C. 709
minum. But as the spring came on, and Decimus A.C. 45
Brutus began to suffer severely from the strictness
of the blockade, Hirtius and Octavius deemed it
necessary to act more vigorously. They advanced
towards Mutina, and Antonius thought proper to
abandon Bononia to them, so that they were en-
abled to approach very near to the lines of the
besiegers; and in this situation they were endea-
vouring to open a communication with Decimus
Brutus, and were waiting at the same time for the
arrival of Pansa with his newly-raised legions from
Rome. It was about the middle of April 151, when
Hirtius was informed that Pansa was approaching at
the head of four legions of newly-raised troops; and
in order to favour his safe arrival, which Antonius
would naturally endeavour to prevent, he despatched
the prætorian cohorts of himself and Octavius, to-
gether with one of his legions, by night to join him,
and strengthen him on his march. It happened that
this was the Martian legion, which had first set the
example of desertion from Antonius, and which was
animated by the fiercest animosity against him.
Antonius, not aware of the reinforcement which
Pansa had thus received, marched with two of his
veteran legions, and some of Cæsar's disbanded sol-
diers, whom he had assembled under his standard at
150 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII. 151 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. V.
epist. XXX.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
182
ANTONIUS IS DEFEATED.
CHAP. the beginning of the campaign, to intercept him on
his way. But on the first appearance of his light
troops and cavalry, the Martian legion, unable to
restrain its impetuosity, advanced hastily forward,
and followed by the two prætorian cohorts, engaged
with the enemy before it could be supported by the
newly-raised legions, which were at some distance in
the rear. It was in consequence overpowered and
defeated with severe loss 152; Pansa, who had taken
the command of it in person, after having vainly
endeavoured to check its imprudent advance, was
dangerously wounded, and carried off to Bononia;
and Antonius following up his advantage, attempted
to take the camp of the enemy. Here, however, he
was repulsed by two of Pansa's newly-raised legions,
and finding that he could do nothing further on that
side, he commenced his retreat towards his own
camp before Mutina. But Hirtius, who had re-
ceived intelligence of Pansa's danger, had set out
with two legions to his rescue, leaving Octavius to
defend their camp; and although he could not
arrive in time to prevent the defeat of the Martian
legion, yet he fell in with Antonius when retreating
towards Mutina after his victory, and assaulting his
soldiers, fatigued as they were by their preceding
exertions, he totally routed and dispersed them.
Antonius reached his lines in safety at the head of
his cavalry, a kind of force with which Hirtius was
unprovided, and found that the troops whom he had
152 Cicero, ad Familiares, X. epist. XXX.; Philippic. XIV. 9, 10. 14.
HIRTIUS AND PANSA KILLED.
183
1
From
X.
left there in the morning, had made an attack upon CHAP.
the enemy's camp during the absence of Hirtius, but
had been repulsed with loss by the forces left with U.C. 709
Octavius to guard it.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Antonius.
two consuls.
By this action the army of Antonius was greatly Defeat of
weakened, but as it yet retained its lines around Death of the
Mutina, the relief of Decimus Brutus had not been
effected by the success of his associates. Hirtius
and Octavius, therefore, were anxious to bring An-
tonius to a second action; and this they accomplished
by threatening to force their way into Mutina at a
distant and ill-guarded quarter of his lines. Anto-
nius was forced to fight in order to oppose this
attempt; but he was again defeated with great loss;
and Decimus Brutus making a sally at the same
time with the garrison of Mutina, he had no other
resource but to abandon all his positions, and fly
with the wreck of his infantry, covered by his still
unbroken cavalry, in the direction of the Alps
Unfortunately for the cause of the aristocracy,
Hirtius, while pursuing the enemy into their lines,
had fallen, and the command of his army devolved
thus suddenly upon Octavius. This circumstance
deprived Decimus Brutus for the moment of any co-
operation. Octavius drew back his troops into his
own camp, and Brutus, not aware of the death of
Hirtius 154, waited in expectation of receiving some
communication from him. When he learned that
Octavius was now the sole general of the army of
IV.
153
153 Cicero, ad Brutum, I. epist. 154 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. XIII.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
184 ANTONIUS RETREATS TOWARDS GAUL.
CHAP. the Commonwealth, he wished to ascertain his senti-
ments before he ventured freely to act with him;
and having requested and obtained an interview
with him, although Octavius removed all suspicion
by the language which he held, yet it was too late
in the day, after this meeting, to take any active
steps in pursuing Antonius. On the following
morning Decimus Brutus was summoned to Bononia
to see Pansa, who was lying there ill of his wounds;
but on his way thither he received intelligence of
the consul's death, and returned immediately to
Mutina, having lost irreparably another day. Mean-
time Antonius was retreating with the utmost rapid-
ity, marching in no regular order, and swelling his
numbers by opening all the workhouses, and enlist-
ing the slaves who were kept there under their task-
masters His object was to enter Gaul as soon as
wards Gaul, possible by way of the Maritime Alps; and accord-
ingly he allowed himself no respite till he had
crossed the Apennines and arrived at Vada 156, a
spot which still retains the name of Vado, and is
situated on the road from Genoa to Nice, a little to
the westward of Savona. Here he received a most
seasonable support in the junction of P. Ventidius
with three legions. This officer was a native of
Asculum, and when that town had been taken by
Cn. Pompeius Strabo in the Italian war, Ventidius,
then quite a boy, had walked amongst the other
prisoners in the triumphal procession of the con-
Antonius
retreats to-
and is
joined by
Ventidius.
155
155 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. X. XIII.
156 Strabo, IV. 221, edit. Xy-
land.
;
+
DOUBTFUL CONDUCT OF LEPIDUS.
185
X.
to 722,
to 32.
queror. Since that time he had risen to considerable CHAP.
eminence, and had probably become acquainted with From
Antonius while they both served under Cæsar. U.C. 709
When the civil war was again begun by the siege of A.C. 45
Mutina, and Italy seemed likely to be the scene of
a bloody contest, as in the times of Marius and
Sylla, Ventidius repaired to his native country,
Picenum, and there began to raise soldiers, partly
from among Cæsar's veterans, and partly from the
inhabitants. He had collected a force of three
legions, and was apparently still in Picenum, or its
neighbourhood 157, when he received intelligence of
the defeat of Antonius. Without loss of time he
set out to join him, and as Octavius took no pains
to intercept him, he crossed the Apennines by roads
scarcely practicable, and succeeded in his attempt.
Their cavalry was exceedingly formidable 158, and L.
Antonius was sent forwards with it to occupy the
passes of the Alps, on the coast road from Vada to
Forum Julii, or Frejus. Antonius himself arrived
at Forum Julii on the fifteenth of May 159, with the
first divisions of his infantry; Ventidius following at
the distance of two days' march in the rear. They
found that M. Lepidus had arrived with his army at Lepidus
Forum Vocontii, a place distant little more than oppose his
twenty miles from them; and whatever private rea-
sons Antonius might have had for depending on his
assistance, yet his avowed object was to prevent the
157 Cicero, Philippic. XII. 9.
158 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XV. XXXIII. XXXIV.
159 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XVII.
pretends to
passage.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
186
DELAY IN THE MOVEMENTS
CHAP. fugitive army from entering his province, and he had
called upon L. Plancus to co-operate with him for
that end. Plancus, as we have seen, had been re-
warded with thanks and honours by the senate, on
the motion of Cicero, in return for the assurances of
patriotism which he had sent to Rome from his pro-
vince in the month of March. He crossed the
Rhone, near Lyons and Vienne, on the twenty-sixth
of April 160, with the intention, as he declared, of
marching into Italy to the relief of Decimus Brutus ;
but receiving intelligence of the battles of Mutina a
few days afterwards, he halted between the Rhone
and the Isere, and began to communicate with
Lepidus on the best means of serving the Common-
wealth.
Movements
of Plancus
mus Brutus.
The chief agent in this correspondence was M.
and Deci- Juventius Laterensis, who was at this time one of
the lieutenants of Lepidus; but, unlike his general,
had been through life, and still continued to be, a
fearless and sincere supporter of the old constitu-
tion 161. Laterensis, believing what he wished, as-
sured Plancus of the good intentions of Lepidus, and
earnestly entreated him to move to his assistance
against Antonius. It was on the twelfth of May
160 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. IX.
161 Laterensis had abandoned his
canvass for the tribuneship in the
year 694, because all candidates
for any magistracy were required
to take an oath that they would
never propose to the people any
alteration in Cæsar's agrarian law,
relative to a division of lands in
Campania. Cicero, ad Atticum,
II. epist. XVIII. And he had
afterwards loudly taxed Cicero
with a disgraceful tergiversation,
when he allowed himself to court
the friendship of Pompey and
Cæsar in opposition to the senate
after his return from exile. Cicero,
pro Plancio, 38, 39.
OF DECIMUS BRUTUS.
187
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
that Plancus had thrown a bridge over the Isere, CHAP.
and had crossed the river; but he had remained on
the left bank for nine days, being inclined, he said,
to wait there for the arrival of Decimus Brutus, on
whose co-operation he could more safely rely than
on that of Lepidus. But being urged by the re-
peated entreaties and assurances of Lepidus and
Laterensis, he moved forwards from the Isere with
four legions on the twenty-first of May 162, having
built and garrisoned two towers at the two extremi-
ties of his bridge, in order to secure the passage for
Decimus Brutus, if he should arrive from Italy to
join him. Three days only after he left the Isere,
Decimus Brutus was at Eporedia, or Ivrea 163, in the
direct road from the plains of the Po to the passage
over the Alps by the Little St. Bernard, by which,
retracing Hannibal's footsteps, he would have de-
scended into the plains of Dauphinè by Montmeillan,
and the road to Vienne. Brutus had under his
command an army of seven legions 164, consisting of
the legions raised by Pansa, those which he had
levied himself, and one legion of veterans; but having
been delayed at first in pursuing Antonius after the
battle of Mutina, having lost the co-operation of
Octavius, and being unprovided with the means of
adequately supplying his army, he was probably an
unequal match for the united forces of Antonius and
Ventidius, and therefore was obliged to rest his
162 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XVIII.
163 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. XX.
164 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XXIV.; XI. epist. X.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722.
A.C. 45
to 32.
188 UNION BETWEEN ANTONIUS AND LEPIDUS.
CHAP. dependence on the assistance of Plancus. But when
he had reached Eporedia, he was induced to suspend
his march by the alarming reports which he received
of the dispositions of Octavius and his veterans 165
reports which made him unwilling to leave Italy,
and to abandon the seat of government to the ambi-
tion of one who was far more dangerous than
Antonius. Meanwhile Plancus moved forwards
from the Isere to join the army of Lepidus 166; but
by this time the soldiers of Antonius were in com-
munication with those of Lepidus, and these last
had openly told their general that they were deter-
mined to have peace, and would fight with none of
their fellow-soldiers. M. Laterensis, perceiving that
Lepidus took no steps to check these feelings in his
soldiers, wrote to Plancus to warn him that he should
advance no further; and Plancus accordingly halted
within forty miles of Forum Julii to wait the event.
On the twenty-ninth of May, Lepidus united his
forces with those of Antonius, and the two generals
instantly began to march in pursuit of Plancus. He
fell back upon the Isere as they advanced, recrossed
the river without suffering any annoyance, and having
broken down his bridge, resolved again, according to
his own account, to look forward to the arrival of
Decimus Brutus. But it may be suspected that
Antonius and Lepidus would have pursued him
more vigorously, had they apprehended any serious
effects from his hostility; and the indecision of
Union
between
Antonius
and Lepi-
dus.
165 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. XX.
166 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XXI. XXIII.
PROCEEDINGS AT ROME.
189
Plancus may have joined with the treachery of CHAP.
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Lepidus in provoking Laterensis to that act of From
despair by which, when he saw the junction with
Antonius consummated, he fell upon his own sword.
It is now time to return to Rome, and to notice Suicide of
the effect produced in the capital by the tidings of
Proceedings
the battle of Mutina. When it was known that the at Rome.
siege of Mutina was raised, and that Antonius was
flying in disorder with the wreck of his army, the
expressions, and probably the feelings of public joy,
were great and general 167. The people, as if all danger
were at an end, laid aside the military dress; a
triumph was voted to Decimus Brutus 168, an ovation
to Octavius, and a public funeral in the Campus
Martius to the two consuls, Hirtius and Pansa.
Antonius and all his followers were declared public
enemies; and as the death of the consuls left vacant
the charge of conducting the war against Dolabella,
P. Servilius moved that it should be now conferred
on Cassius; and it was added, on the suggestion of
Cicero, that M. Brutus might take part in it or not,
as he should judge most expedient for the Common-
wealth. The first check which his exultation sus-
167 Cicero, ad Brutum, I. epist.
III. There is a story told by
Valerius Maximus, V. 2, which
seems to confirm the statement of
Cicero, that the war with Anto-
nius was regarded by the people
in general as a struggle for their
liberty. When M. Cornutus, the
prætor, was proceeding to con-
tract for the funeral solemnities of
Hirtius and Pansa, the principal
undertakers in Rome begged that
they might be allowed to furnish
every thing that was required,
even to the labour of their slaves,
without receiving any sort of pay-
ment, because they considered the
two consuls to have fallen in the
service of their country.
168 Velleius Paterculus, II. 62,
edit. Oxon. 1693. Cicero, ad
Brutum, I. epist. V. XV.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
190
CONDUCT OF OCTAVIUS.
CHAP. tained, was from the tidings of the unmolested
retreat of Antonius, and of his junction with P.
Ventidius; and the public complained loudly of the
neglect of Decimus Brutus and Octavius in suffering
their defeated enemy to escape. Decimus Brutus,
however, had so deep an interest in the success of
the aristocracy, that he cannot be suspected of any
want of vigour in their cause; and his own justifi-
cation, which he sent to Cicero in one of his letters,
appears entirely satisfactory 169. We have already
mentioned the circumstances which detained him
two days from the pursuit of Antonius immediately
after the battle; and it became then impossible for
him to overtake the fugitives, who were making
their way with the utmost expedition by tracts
which were probably impracticable for a regular
army, whose order was unbroken. But Decimus
Brutus requested Octavius to cross the Apennines
and intercept the division of Ventidius 170; for the
troops of Antonius, if left to themselves, would
naturally dwindle away by desertion; whereas, if
they were reinforced immediately by a fresh army,
their spirits would gradually recover, and their
fidelity to their chief would be confirmed.
Conduct of And here we want a more detailed account of
Octavius.
events, and a more careful specification of dates than
it is now possible to gain. All the veteran legions,
which had been commanded by the late consuls,
were now, with one exception, under the orders of
169 Ad Familiares, XI. epist. 170 Ad Familiares, XI. epist. X.
XIII.
HIS INACTION AFTER MUTINA.
191
to 722,
to 32.
Octavius; but it seems that neither they nor their CHAP.
X.
general were inclined to obey the senate any longer. From
What excuses he made to Decimus Brutus for not U.C. 709
attempting to intercept Ventidius, we cannot tell; A.C. 45
but no such attempt was made, and it was impos-
sible for him, so soon after the battle, to have re-
ceived intelligence of those decrees of the senate,
which his partisans represent as so injurious to him.
The fact appears to be, that the death of both the
consuls instantly opened to Octavius a new prospect;
and that his thoughts were henceforward bent far
more on forwarding his own schemes of ambition at
Rome, than on lending any effectual assistance to
Decimus Brutus. He conceived the design of pro-
curing his own election to the consulship for the
remaining months of the year; and possibly he
showed some symptoms of his intentions immediately
after the battle of Mutina; for Decimus Brutus
gives some intimations of this kind in a letter to
Cicero, dated on the fifth of May "". If this were
at all suspected, it was just and reasonable that the
senate should endeavour to transfer the chief com-
mand of the armies in Italy to an officer on whom
more reliance could be placed; and, accordingly, it
was proposed by L. Livius Drusus 72, the father of
the future wife of Octavius, and by L. Æmilius
Paulus, that the fourth legion and the Martian
171 Ad Familiares, XI. epist. X.
Primum omnium, quantam per-
turbationem rerum urbanarum
afferat obitus Consulum, quantam-
que cupiditatem hominibus injiciat
vacuitas, non te fugit. Satis me
multa scripsisse, quæ literis com-
mendari possint, arbitror. Scio
enim, cui scribam.
172 Ad Familiares, XI. epist. XIX.
192
SUSPICIONS ENTERTAINED OF HIM.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. should be given up to Decimus Brutus. This was
never done, for the soldiers would not be com-
manded by one of Cæsar's assassins 173, and Octavius
was not at all unwilling to avail himself of their in-
clinations, and to plead his inability to comply with
the senate's order.
Yet although his conduct in this matter, com-
bined with his designs upon the consulship, and his
negligence in acting against Antonius and Ventidius,
must have given just offence, nothing was decreed
by the senate against him; but a deputation of
senators was sent to the legions to try whether they
could not be prevailed upon to remain firm in their
duty, and to pacify them with regard to some claims
for pay and military rewards which they had been
lately advancing 174. In times of civil war, which
are necessarily accompanied by great public and
private distress, the government naturally finds it
difficult to pay the armies by which it is supported;
and this inability is commonly made a handle by
the soldiers and their generals to colour their own
usurpations. The poverty of the Roman treasury
was very great, and it seemed impossible to supply
it without having recourse to direct taxation 175,
from which the Romans had been exempted ever
since the conquest of Macedonia by L. Æmilius
Paulus. A property tax of one per cent. appears
173 Ad Familiares, XI. epist.
XIV.
174 Velleius Paterculus, II. 62.
Appian, III. 86.
175 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII.
epist. XXX. Pecunia conquiritur
undique, ut optimè meritis mili-
tibus promissa solvantur; quod
quidem fieri sine tributo posse non
arbitror.
>
1
1
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
THE ARMY IS IRRITATED AGAINST THE SENATE. 193
accordingly to have been levied 176; but the money CHAP.
thus procured was no more than sufficient to dis-
charge the promises formerly made by the senate U.C. 709
to the fourth legion and the Martian for their early A.C. 45
desertion of the cause of Antonius. A vote passed
besides, that lands should be distributed among the
soldiers of four legions 177; but which they were, is
not mentioned. And as a commission of ten senators
had lately been appointed 178, for the purpose of
examining the acts of Antonius during his consul-
ship, and amongst the rest his grants of lands to
Cæsar's veteran soldiers, it appears that some of the
members of this commission were anxious to have
the management of the grants now proposed to be
made to the four legions, which they would have
connected with the reversal of those made by Anto-
nius. All the commissioners were warm partisans
of the aristocracy, and Cicero was amongst the
most distinguished of the number; but on account
of the jealousy which was felt towards every military
man who might possess a dangerous influence over
the soldiery, neither Decimus Brutus nor Octavius
were included amongst them. In these measures The army
there was a spirit manifested which alarmed and against the
irritated all the partisans of Cæsar, and which made
the army fear that they should soon be deprived of
176 Cicero, ad Brutum, I. epist.
XVIII. Obdurescunt magis quo-
tidie boni viri ad vocem tributi;
quod ex centesimâ collatum impu-
denti censu locupletum in duarum
legionum præmiis omne consu-
VOL. II.
mitur.
177 Ad Familiares, XI. epist.
XX.
178 Ad Familiares, XI. epist.
XX. XXI. Appian, III. 82.
is irritated
senate.
From
X.
to 722,
194
INFLUENCE OF OCTAVIUS EMPLOYED
CHAP. the fruits of their victories. The veterans expressed
their indignation, that while their own generals were
U.C. 709 slighted, all the acts of government were directed
by Cicero 179; and all the bounties which they were
to receive were to be given them by men of whom
they had no knowledge, and from whose gratitude
or ambition they had nothing to expect.
A.C. 45
to 32.
Such language repeated by every person around
him served, perhaps, to excuse to Octavius himself
the guilt of the conduct which he meditated. He
threw himself into the hands of his soldiers, with
the mutual understanding that he should defend
their interests while they served the ends of his
ambition. His own grounds of offence against the
senate were utterly trifling. It is a mere mockery
of all government, when a military officer thinks
himself justified in committing treason, because his
services have not been rewarded according to his
estimate of their merits; and Decimus Brutus had
as much right as Octavius to complain of the omis-
sion of his name among the ten commissioners.
But Decimus Brutus, instead of turning the irrita-
tion of the soldiers to his own purposes, wrote to
Cicero to acquaint him with it, and to advise him
to take some steps to pacify it. He recommended
that no one legion should be favoured above the
rest; that the lands which had belonged to the
soldiers of Antonius, should be divided amongst the
veterans who had fought under the late consuls and
179 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI. epist. XX.
TO SEVER THE ARMY FROM THE SENATE. 195
CHAP.
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
Octavius; and that Octavius and himself should be
intrusted with the distribution of them. Cicero, in
answer, expressed his entire approbation of these U.C. 709
proposals 180; assured Decimus Brutus that he had A.C. 45
already prevented his colleagues in the commission
from having the management of the division of
lands, and that it was not his fault that neither
Decimus nor Octavius had been included amongst
the commissioners. Under these circumstances, it
was the army, and not Octavius personally, whom it
seemed expedient to the senate to conciliate. Their
demands of pay and of rewards in land, were to be
satisfied or moderated; their jealousy of the senate
and of the civil authorities, was to be lessened; and
they were to be persuaded to show their obedience
and their respect to the usual practice of the
Commonwealth, by submitting to the command of
Decimus Brutus, who was consul elect, rather than
to that of a youth of nineteen, who had been only
qualified to exercise any military authority at all, by
the extraordinary favour of the senate in dispensing
with the strict observance of the laws in his behalf.
But when the deputation of the senate reached the They refuse
camp of Octavius, the soldiers professed to be indig- a deputation
nant that they were addressed distinctly from their them by the
general 18¹; and Octavius, who had probably deter-
mined already on the part which he was to act,
affected to be deeply injured, and while he professed
his readiness to obey the senate, only inflamed the
180 Cicero, ad Familiares, XI.
epist. XXI.
181 Velleius Paterculus, II. 62.
to listen to
sent to
senate.
o 2
196
POSITION OF THE ARMIES IN GAUL.
From
X.
CHAP. veterans still more by his pretended meekness, and
determined them to persist in their refusal to listen
to any communication which they did not receive
through him.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
The defection of Lepidus, which took place, as we
have seen, on the twenty-ninth of May, made Octa-
vius more anxious than ever to terminate his oppo-
sition to Antonius. It seems that in the beginning
of June, Plancus had carried his forces across the
Alps, and had formed a junction with those of
Decimus Brutus, in the neighbourhood of Eporedia
or Ivrea. Their united army consisted of four
veteran legions, of one of two years' standing, and of
nine newly levied 182; so that although some of these
were probably incomplete, yet the numerical strength
of the whole must have been very considerable.
But hardly any superiority of numbers could enable
the newly-raised troops to meet veterans in the
field; so that in opposing the united armies of
Lepidus, Antonius, and Ventidius, the four veteran
legions were the only part of their force on which
Plancus and Brutus could safely calculate. Plancus,
therefore, sent repeated letters to Octavius, request-
ing him to march to their assistance; and Octavius
answered them by assurances that he was coming
without delay, although, in fact, he was bent on
moving in the very opposite direction, and on em-
ploying his troops, not against Antonius, but against
the senate and people of Rome. Meantime, the
182 Cicero, ad Familiares, X. epist. XXIV.
THE SENATE DECLARES LEPIDUS AN ENEMY. 197
› From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
to 32.
declares
It Lepidus a
the enemy.
public
senate, on the thirtieth of June, declared M. Lepidus CHAP.
a public enemy, together with all his adherents 183
and it seems to have been a question whether or no
the veteran legions in the province of Africa, and A.C. 45
M. Brutus, with his victorious army in Greece, The senate
should be recalled for the defence of Italy.
seems probable that Cæsar's friends, as long as
intentions of Octavius were any way doubtful, repre-
sented that it could not fail to disgust and alienate
him entirely, if the senate appeared to mistrust his
fidelity; and, above all, if M. Brutus were called in
to overawe him in the centre of Italy, whilst the
command of the war in the north had been just
transferred from him to Decimus. Accordingly,
the fear of offending Octavius seems to have had
such influence, that M. Brutus, although privately
urged by Cicero to cross over into Italy, was never
officially summoned home by the senate; but two
legions from the army in Africa were sent for, and
were despatched accordingly by Q. Cornificius, the
commander of the province; they did not, however,
arrive in Rome till the month of August, and their
arrival, after all, as we shall see, produced no benefit.
It was in the month of July that Octavius sent to the
capital a deputation from his army, headed by one of
his centurions, to request, or rather to demand, that
he should be elected consul 184. Wishing, as we may
suppose, to avoid the infamy of such an outrage, he
183 Cicero, ad Familiares, XII. epist. XXIV.
epist. X.
Augusto, 26.
184 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
Suetonius, in
198
OCTAVIUS AND PEDIUS ELECTED CONSULS.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Military
deputation
sent by
Octavius to
demand the
CHAP. had before endeavoured to find some friend amongst
the magistrates or members of the senate, who would
propose his request in a less obnoxious manner; but
Cicero affirms 185, as a splendid proof of the unani-
mous good spirit by which the people were actuated,
that not a single individual could be prevailed upon
to countenance his ambition. His soldiers, however,
were less scrupulous; and it is mentioned, that when
Rome, to the deputation was admitted into the senate, and
consulship. had declared the wishes of the army, the centurion
who headed it, finding that the senators hesitated in
complying, threw back his military cloak, and point-
ing to the hilt of his sword, exclaimed, "If you re-
fuse our request, this shall grant it." When such
treasonable language could be uttered with impu-
nity, a military despotism was, in fact, already esta-
blished. The senate could not, at once, be induced
to surrender up that liberty which so lately seemed
to have been securely recovered; but Octavius de-
termined now to throw off the mask altogether, put
his army in motion from Cisalpine Gaul, entered
Italy, as we are told, by the very road which his
uncle had taken at the beginning of his rebellion 186,
advanced without opposition to the very gates of
the capital, occupied the Campus Martius with his
troops, and thus, under the imminent terror of a
military usurpation, he was admitted into the city,
and was elected consul, together with Q. Pedius, an
old officer of his uncle, in the month of August,
Octavius
marches to
Rome, and
is elected
consul, to
gether with
Q. Pedius.
185 Ad Brutum, I. epist. X.
186 Appian, de Bello Civili, III. 88, et seq.
•
CÆSAR'S ASSASSINS ARE CONDEMNED.
199
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
sins of
condemned
Q. Pedius.
710 187. From this moment the liberty of the Com- CHAP.
monwealth was lost for ever; the senate, now the
helpless instrument of military violence, was obliged U.C. 709
to repeal its former decrees, by which Antonius and A.C. 45
Lepidus had been declared public enemies; and the
famous Pedian law was proposed and carried by Q. The assas-
Pedius, which enacted that all the assassins of Cæsar, Cæsar are
and all who had approved of the murder, should be by a law
brought
brought to trial for that crime, and on condemnation forward by
should be forbidden the use of fire and water,
according to the usual style of attainder. It is said
that M. Agrippa came forward as the accuser of C.
Cassius under this law 188; and as neither he nor any
of the other conspirators were in Rome to answer to
the charge, sentence of condemnation was passed
against them all. In the midst of these disturb-
ances, the two legions from Africa arrived in Italy 189
but the soldiers were soon corrupted by the general
example of their comrades, and put themselves
under the command of Octavius.
We have now reached the period at which we can
no longer avail ourselves of the inestimable guidance
of Cicero and his correspondents; and we are left at
the very moment when our curiosity and interest are
most intensely excited, without any means of gratify-
ing them. We might, indeed, still present our
readers with a very detailed narrative of the course
of events, if we could prevail on ourselves to rely on
Dion Cassius and Appian. But as we have found
69.
187 Velleius Paterculus, II. 65.
188 Velleius Paterculus, II. 69.
189 Appian, III. 92.
4
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
200 ASINIUS POLLIO AND PLANCUS JOIN ANTONIUS.
CHAP. how little they are to be trusted when we have been
able to try them by a reference to good authorities,
so when we have no opportunity of doing so, we
cannot follow them with confidence, nor will we
injure the truth of history by the indiscriminate ad-
mission of evidence so worthless.
Asinius
Pollio and
It seems that Octavius, soon after his usurpation
of the consulship, took the field to watch the move-
ments of Antonius, who, since his junction with
Lepidus, appears to have remained for some time
quietly in Gaul, and not to have made any attempts
against the army of Plancus and Brutus. But it is
likely that he was prepared for the change in the
conduct of Octavius, and rightly augured that he
should draw from his consulship the same advantages
which he must otherwise have risked a battle to
gain. Asinius Pollio 190, finding that Cæsar's officers
L. Plancus were all uniting in one common cause, and that his
join Anto-
nius. heir was on the point of taking his natural station
amongst them, surrendered his legions to Antonius;
and L. Plancus did not hesitate to separate his
troops from those of Decimus Brutus, and to follow
the example of Pollio. Of the four veteran legions
which Plancus and Brutus had commanded, three
had belonged to Plancus 191; and when these sub-
mitted to Antonius, it is likely that the single one
which had been commanded by Brutus, was easily
induced to follow the example of its comrades. It
is said also, that Plancus endeavoured to make his
190 Velleius Paterculus, II. 63.
Livy, Epitome, CXX.
191 Cicero, ad Familiares, X.
epist. XXIV.
EXECUTION OF DECIMUS BRUTUS.
201
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
Brutus is
his soldiers,
vours to
Greece.
defection still more acceptable to Antonius 192, by CHAP.
treacherously getting the person of his late associate
into his power.
In this he failed, but Decimus U.C. 709
Brutus soon found that he could not depend upon A.C. 45
the newly-raised legions, which alone continued to Decimus
acknowledge his authority. They gradually dropped deserted by
away from him, and Brutus saw that his only re- and endea
source was to escape, if possible, from Italy, and escape into
reach the camp of M. Brutus in Greece. His troops
at last deserting him altogether, he assumed the
disguise of a Gaul, and hoped, by avoiding all the
ordinary roads, to make his way to Aquileia and
Illyricum, through the territories of the Gaulish
chiefs, which bordered upon the Alps. He was dis-
covered, however, by one of the chiefs, who instantly
detained him, and sent word to Antonius of his
capture. Antonius sent a party of soldiers to
him to death, and to bring his head away with
them, and his commands were speedily executed. Antonius.
If, as it is reported, the Gaulish chief who betrayed
him had formerly received great kindnesses at his
hands 198, Decimus Brutus met with a treatment
more exactly corresponding to the peculiar perfidy
and ingratitude which he had himself shown in the
assassination of Cæsar. It is true that in the last
part of his life he had well and honourably supported
the cause of the Commonwealth; but if Antonius
had never been guilty of a worse crime than the
192 Velleius Paterculus, II. 64. IX. 13.
Livy, Epitome, CXX. Appian, 193 Appian, III. 98.
III. 97, 98. Valerius Maximus,
put He is taken
and put to
death by
order of
X.
202 MEETING OF ANTONIUS, LEPIDUS, AND AUGUSTUS
CHAP. putting him to death, his conduct would have had
some plea of retaliation to urge; and amidst the low
morality of the times, the illegality of the action.
might seem excused by the former illegal violence
of him who was now the victim.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Meeting
between
Antonius,
Lepidus,
and Au-
gustus.
Octavius, or Augustus as we shall for the future
call him 194, now invested with the title of consul,
and commanding a numerous army, marched back
again towards Cisalpine Gaul, and found that Anto-
nius and Lepidus had by this time recrossed the
Alps, and were arrived in the neighbourhood of
Mutina. A friendly correspondence had been carried
on between the chiefs of the two armies before they
were advanced very near to one another; and it was
determined that all differences should finally be
settled, and the future measures which they were to
take in common, should be arranged at a personal
interview. Accordingly, the meeting took place in
one of the islands 195, if so they may be called, which
194 We have resolved to call
Octavius henceforward by the
name of Augustus, in order that
the cruelties of the triumvirate,
and the splendour of the imperial
government, may be distinctly as
sociated in the reader's mind with
one and the same person; for
otherwise the emperor seems to
have derived a real benefit from
his change of name, and Octavius
with all his atrocities is forgotten,
while we think only of Augustus,
the peaceful sovereign of the
civilized world, the patron of lite-
rature, and the idol of the favourite
writers of our youth.
195 Appian, IV. 2. Plutarch, in
Antonio, 19. Such a spot as that
described in the text, was the isle
of Athelney, in Somersetshire, to
which Alfred is said to have re-
tired when the Danes had over-
run his kingdom. And the isle of
Ely still retains the name of an
island, which it obtained origi-
nally from similarity of situation.
The progress of agricultural im-
provement so alters the appearance
of such districts, that Athelney
now can scarcely, if at all, be
recognised; and the country be-
tween the Apennines and the Po,
which was in the days of the tri-
IN AN ISLAND NEAR BONONIA.
203
X.
were formed in the low fenny district between the CHAP.
Apennines and the Po, by the numerous streams From
to 722,
to 32.
which descended from the mountains, and which for U.C. 709
want of a proper drainage spread themselves to a A.C. 45
vast extent over the low country, encircling various
tracts of marshy ground in their irregular courses.
On one of these spots, which the subsequent altera-
tions in the nature of the country would soon make
it almost impossible to identify, amidst a scenery,
the dull and loathsome character of which well be-
fitted the actors and the acts which they meditated,
Antonius, Lepidus, and Augustus, held their confer-
ence. It was pretended afterwards by the writers,
who flourished under the imperial government 196,
that Augustus for a long time remonstrated against
the bloody executions which Antonius and Lepidus
were eager to perpetrate; but his language at a pri-
vate meeting could not be so well ascertained as his
subsequent conduct; and this, it is confessed, was
more remorseless than that of either of his associates;
for whilst Antonius and Lepidus listened in several
instances to the influence of entreaties or of favour,
and spared those whom they had condemned to
death, it is mentioned that Augustus did not pardon
a single victim ¹97. But whatever discussions may
have taken place between the three leaders, the
result sufficiently proved that all principles and all
feelings of good were overpowered in their minds by
umvirate little better than a great
fen, is now described to be one of
the richest and most delightful
parts in Italy.
196 Velleius Paterculus, II. 66.
197 Suetonius, in Augusto, 27.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
The second
triumvi-
rate.
U.C. 711.
204
THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE.
CHAP. revenge and ambition. They constituted themselves
into a Triumvirate, or High Commission of Three 198
for settling the affairs of the Commonwealth during
five years; they divided among themselves those
provinces of the empire which were subject to their
power; and nominated the persons who were to
hold the usual annual magistracies during the term
of the Triumvirate; they made such liberal promises
to their armies, that it is said that eighteen of the
finest cities in Italy, together with the territories
adjacent to them, were to be given up to the soldiers
as military colonies; and they agreed to draw up a
list of proscription, including the names of all those
individuals whom they proposed to murder. To
cement the personal union of the Triumvirs, it was
resolved that Clodia 199, the daughter-in-law of Anto-
nius, being the daughter of his wife Fulvia by her
first husband P. Clodius, should be given in marriage
to Augustus; but she was as yet too young to be-
come a wife, and in a short time afterwards, the
nominal connexion which policy had formed, was, by
a change of political circumstances, as readily dis-
solved.
The great
proscription.
Immediately after the conclusion of this agree-
ment, and while its purport was unknown at Rome,
orders were despatched to the capital for the murder
of twelve or sixteen individuals whom the Triumvirs
wished to destroy before any general alarm was
given 200
Some of these victims were suddenly
198 Livy, Epitome, CXX. Ap-
pian, IV. 3.
199 Suetonius, in Augusto, 62.
200 Appian, IV. 6, et seq.
THE GREAT PROSCRIPTION.
205
assassinated in the streets, or at social entertain- CHAP.
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
ments; and although the armies of the Triumvirs From
were yet at a distance, the consul Q. Pedius, who U.C. 709
had been left by Octavius at Rome, sanctioned these
crimes by his authority, and at once showed to the
people the hopelessness of the evil under which they
had fallen. He attempted, indeed, to allay the
panic which these first murders occasioned, by pub-
lishing the names of the individuals whom he had
been ordered to destroy, and by assurances that no
others should be molested. But it is said that
Pedius died suddenly, in consequence of his exces-
sive personal exertions to preserve tranquillity in the
city; and the Triumvirs were thus freed from the
difficulty in which his official limitation of the num-
ber of the proscribed might otherwise have involved
them. A few days afterwards they entered Rome
with their troops; the comitia were assembled in
mockery; the appointment of the Triumvirate was
proposed by P. Titius (one of the tribunes who had
before distinguished himself by his opposition to
Cicero's measures), and was of course agreed to with-
out a murmur. Then the lists of proscription began
to be published; but gradually, as had been done
before by Sylla, as if to protract the misery of the
sufferers by this horrible state of suspense. The
lists were accompanied by a proclamation, which
Appian professes to have faithfully translated into
Greek from its Latin original, and to which pro-
bably no other parallels can be found in history than
that which defended the massacre of St. Bartholomew,
X.
.From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
206
EXTENT OF THE PROSCRIPTION.
CHAP. and that which encouraged the populace of Paris to
the murders committed in the prisons in September,
1792. It is remarkable, too, that in the latter of
these two cases, the very same excuse was assigned
for the massacres as was now alleged by the Triumvirs.
"Whilst we are hastening to attack our enemies
abroad," said Lepidus, Antonius, and Augustus, "we
cannot with safety leave so many other enemies be-
hind us in Rome; nor again can we linger to take
precautions against our domestic adversaries, lest the
dangers with which we are threatened from abroad
become too formidable to be overcome.” " Whilst
the patriots are hastening to the defence of their
country in the plains of Champagne," said the muni-
cipality of Paris, "they cannot leave their wives and
children exposed to the machinations of those nu-
merous aristocrats who will be let loose from their
prisons on the first successes obtained by the enemy,
to fill our streets and our houses with bloodshed."
Extent of
the pro-
Under pretence of thus providing for their secu-
scription. rity, the Triumvirs inscribed on the proscription list
the names of one hundred and thirty senators 201, at
the lowest computation, and of a far greater number
of the equestrian order. All persons were forbidden
to harbour or to promote the escape of any of the
proscribed, under pain of being sentenced to the
same fate themselves 202; while rewards were offered
to any who should put them to death, and bring
their heads to the Triumvirs; and it was added, that
201 Livy, Epitome, CXX.
202 Appian, IV. 11.
EXTENT OF THE PROSCRIPTION.
207
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
no record should be kept of the payment of this CHAP.
blood-money, that he who received it might not From
hereafter be exposed to the public detestation. That U.C. 709
no aggravation of wickedness might be wanting,
each of the three associates stained themselves with
the blood of some near relation or former friend.
M. Lepidus insisted that his brother, L. Æmilius
Paulus, should be proscribed 203; Antonius inserted
on the list the name of his uncle, L. Cæsar; and
Augustus added that of his guardian, C. Toranius.
In emulation of the chiefs, L. Plancus requested
that his brother, Plotius Plancus, might be amongst
the victims; and, if Appian may be credited, Asinius
Pollio, in like manner, procured the murder of his
father-in-law. The rewards offered to the murderers,
added the instigations of avarice to those of revenge
or fear, and produced instances of the most horrible
domestic treachery; freedmen betraying their patrons,
slaves their masters, and children their parents. It
is the remark of Paterculus 204, that the proscription
was marked by the heroic fidelity of wives towards
their husbands, whilst the conduct of sons towards
their fathers was peculiarly undutiful and perfidious;
and he imputes this to the eagerness which men
feel to anticipate their hopes of future advantage;
for the son hoped by the merit of his parricide to
save his father's property from confiscation, and
to obtain an earlier possession of his inheritance.
Anecdotes of these fearful times were greedily col-
203 Livy, Epitome, CXX. Sueto-
nius, in Augusto, 27.
204 II. 67.
}
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
208
CICERO AMONG THE PROSCRIBED.
CHAP. lected, and volumes, as we are told, were filled with
them 205
; some recording the most tragical deaths,
and others the most extraordinary escapes, of those
who were destined to destruction. But of all the
victims of the proscription we must select the most
illustrious, and follow as carefully as we can the cir-
cumstances of the fate of M. Cicero.
Murder of
M. Cicero.
From the moment that we can no longer derive
any information concerning him from his own writ-
ings, our knowledge of his conduct becomes much
less accurate. The latest of his own letters, which
has been preserved to us, is one written to M. Brutus
on the twenty-seventh of July 206, in which he ex-
presses great fears lest Augustus should disappoint
all his hopes, and should falsify by some act of
treason all the praises which he had bestowed upon
him. But two letters from Brutus are extant 207
apparently of a still later date, written one to Cicero
and the other to T. Atticus, in both of which Cicero
is taxed with an excessive complaisance towards
Augustus, and is accused particularly of having in-
terceded with him in too humble a manner in behalf
of the conspirators against Cæsar, and even of having
endeavoured to conciliate him by condemning their
conduct, and by attacking P. Casca, who was one of
the tribunes for the year, and who, on the motion of
P. Titius, had been degraded from his office by the
votes of the tribes, since Augustus had usurped the
205 Appian, IV. 16.
207 Epist. ad Brutum, I. epist.
206 Epist. ad Brutum, I. epist. XVI. XVII.
XVIII.
HIS RELATIONS WITH AUGUSTUS.
209
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
consulship. It is very likely that Cicero was some- CHAP.
what too credulous in trusting to the fair professions
which Augustus constantly made to him; he be- U.C. 709
lieved, besides, that in spite of the pernicious coun- A.C. 45
sels of his military friends, so young a man could
not yet be thoroughly corrupted, and might still be
led to choose the better part, if his suspicions of the
aristocracy could be lessened. With this view he
thought it politic to praise him, and to move that
extraordinary honours should be granted him; he
may also have felt that if Augustus could be taught
to respect the constitution of his country, much
might be indulged to his natural resentment towards
the assassins of his uncle; and that in speaking to
him of them and of their conduct, the language of
deprecation and censure was more fitting than any
higher tone. It is true that Cicero's personal enmity
against Antonius made him over-estimate the ser-
vices which Augustus had rendered in first taking
up arms against him; nor did he rightly appreciate
the real danger which threatened the Common-
wealth, and which arose not from the ambition of
any one man, however unprincipled, but from the
power and insolence of the army at large, who were
now conscious of their strength, and were deter-
mined to exert it. We are told that Cicero at one
time was desirous of becoming the colleague of
Augustus in the consulship 208; and if he could have
effected this, the evil designs of his colleague would
VOL. II.
208 Plutarch, in Ciccrone, 45, 46.
P
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
210 FLIGHT AND ADVENTURES OF CICERO.
CHAP. have been in a great measure neutralized; the de-
clarations of the senate against Antonius and Lepidus
would not have been so easily repealed; the law
condemning the assassins of Cæsar might not have
passed, nor the nominal authority of government
have been so speedily transferred to that party which
had hitherto been considered as in a state of rebel-
lion. But Augustus having the power of the sword
in his hands, determined to avail himself of it to the
utmost; he chose, therefore, for his colleague, not
Cicero, but Q. Pedius; and the first measures of his
consulship must have almost prepared Cicero for
that consummation of treachery which was soon
afterwards displayed in establishing the Triumvirate.
It is said that the name of Cicero was included in
that first list of victims whom Q. Pedius received
orders to destroy before the arrival of the Triumvirs
at Rome. But be this as it may, Cicero could not
doubt of his own danger, from the moment that he
heard of the conferences and engagements between
the three generals. He instantly, therefore, quitted
the capital 209, and retired to his villa near Tusculum,
whence, by cross roads, he escaped to another of his
villas near Formiæ, intending to embark on board
of a vessel at Caieta, and make the best of his way
by sea to Macedonia. A vessel was provided for
him, and he commenced his voyage; but the wind
was contrary, and the delay thus occasioned, together
with the sickness which he always felt severely at
209 Livy, Fragm. apud Senecam, inter Fragmenta T. Livii editum.
*
HE IS MURDERED.
211
sea, induced him to return and to take no further CHAP.
X.
to 722,
to 32.
steps to avoid the fate which awaited him. "I will From
die," he said, “in that country which I have so often U.C. 709
saved." He was now sixty-three years of age, so A.C. 45
that death seemed to him preferable to the miseries
and anxieties of a doubtful flight. He landed, there-
fore, once more, and returned to his Formian villa
near Caieta. Here he was disposed to remain and
to meet his death, but his slaves 210, who were warmly
attached to him, could not bear to see him thus
sacrificed; and when the party of soldiers sent to
murder him was advancing towards the villa, they
almost forced him to put himself into his litter, and
to allow them to carry him once more on board of
the vessel which was still lying at Caieta. But as
they were bearing the litter towards the sea, they
were overtaken in the walks of his own grounds by
the soldiers who were in search of him, and who
were headed by one Herennius, a centurion, and
by C. Popilius Lænas. Popilius was a native of
Picenum 211, and had, on a former occasion, been
successfully defended by Cicero, when brought to
trial for some offence before the courts at Rome.
As the assistance of advocates was given gratuitously,
the connexion between them and their clients was
esteemed very differently from what it is amongst
us; and it was, therefore, an instance of peculiar
atrocity that Popilius offered his services to Anto-
nius to murder his patron, from no other motive
210 Plutarch, in Cicerone, 47, 48.
211 Valerius Maximus, V. 3.
P 2
212
POLITICAL CHARACTER OF CICERO.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. than the hope of gaining his favour by showing such
readiness to destroy his greatest enemy. The slaves
of Cicero 212, undismayed at the appearance of the
soldiers, prepared to defend their master; but he
refused to allow any blood to be shed on his account,
and commanded them to set down the litter, and to
await the issue in silence. He was obeyed, and
when the soldiers came up, he stretched out his head
with perfect calmness, and submitted his neck to
U.C. 711. the sword of Popilius. When the murder was ac-
complished, the soldiers cut off his two hands also,
as the instruments with which he had written his
Philippic orations; and the head and hands were
both carried to Rome and exposed together at the
rostra, at the very place where he had been so lately
heard with an universal feeling of admiration, "such,'
says Livy, "as no human tongue had ever excited
before." Men crowded to see his mangled remains,
and testified by their tears, the compassion and
affection which his unworthy death and his pure
and amiable character had so justly deserved.
Political
character
of Cicero.
""
In reviewing the political life of Cicero, it cannot,
we think, be doubted, that none of his contempo-
raries surpassed him in the liberality of his views, or
the integrity of his motives. He has been usually
charged with vacillation and timidity throughout the
period which elapsed between his return from banish-
ment in 696, and the close of the civil war between
Pompey and Cæsar. It seems, indeed, that in all
212 Fragment. Livii, ubi supra.
د
{
POLITICAL CHARACTER OF CICERO.
213
CHAP.
X.
to 722,
At A.C. 45
to 32.
great political convulsions, candour and acuteness
are apt to lead to indecision 213; it is certain, at From
least, that they will incur the reproach of it from U.C. 709
all the more violent partisans of either side.
Rome, immediately before the commencement of
Cæsar's rebellion, neither of the two parties, by
which the state was divided, was worthy of the
cordial support of an honest and well-judging citizen.
The heads of the high aristocracy were selfish and
violent; the popular tribunes and the military leaders,
whose interests they served, were turbulent and un-
principled. A few years earlier, while Pompey and
Cæsar were as yet acting in union with one another,
the aristocratical leaders were not such as to en-
courage confidence; and their jealousy of Cicero,
because he was not by birth or inclination exclu-
sively connected with themselves, was a public as
well as a personal reason for his regarding them with
suspicion and dislike. At the same time, Cicero
must be allowed to have been biassed at this par-
ticular period by private feelings; by the flattering
language of Pompey and Cæsar on the one side,
which affected the placability of his nature even
more than its vanity, and by the countenance which
the aristocracy at this time gave to his
to his enemy
Clodius, because they wished to employ his services
213 Τὸ πρὸς ἅπαν ξυνετὸν, ἐπὶ
πᾶν ἀργόν.—Τὸ δὲ σῶφρον, τοῦ
ἀνάνδρου πρόσχημα. Such was the
manner in which Thucydides tells
us that the violent and unprincipled
members of the aristocratical and
democratical factions in Greece
represented the characters of those
few moderate and upright men
who regarded both the contending
parties with equal disapprobation.
III. 82.
214
POLITICAL CHARACTER OF CICERO.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. in annoying the Triumvirate. The greatest error
into which these feelings led him, was the speech
which he made in the senate "On the disposal of
the consular provinces," in which he pronounced a
high panegyric upon Cæsar, and urged that he should
be continued in his command in Gaul, while at the
same time he advised the recall of Piso from Mace-
donia, and of Gabinius from Syria. But six years
before the commencement of Cæsar's rebellion, it
was hardly to be suspected that he intended to use
his province as a means of enabling him to make war
upon his country, or that he had no thoughts of
resigning his command in Gaul till it should be ex-
changed for the sovereignty of the empire.
When the civil war at last broke out, Cicero dis-
approved of the system on which Pompey intended
to conduct it, and particularly of his purpose of
leaving Italy. Yet he was only prevented at first
from following him into Greece by the rapid advance
of Cæsar's army into Apulia, by which he was pre-
cluded from joining Pompey at Brundusium; and
afterwards, having tried in vain, yet without the
least compromise of his own character, to persuade
Cæsar to conclude a peace on equitable terms, he
escaped from Italy on the first opportunity, and
joined the standard of the Commonwealth in Mace-
donia. There a nearer view of the avowed senti-
ments and designs of the aristocratical leaders, made
him, indeed, a lukewarm follower of their cause.
To say nothing of the immediate confiscations and
proscriptions which they announced as the first
POLITICAL CHARACTER OF CICERO.
215
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
fruits of their victory, Cicero might justly dread CHAP.
that their triumph would be followed by the re-
enactment of Sylla's most tyrannical measures, the U.C. 709
destruction of the tribunitian magistracy, and the A.C. 45
appropriation of the whole judicial power to the
senatorian order. Seeing thus so much to excite his
fears in the success of either party, the miseries of
civil war would naturally strike upon his mind with
proportionate force; and he wished to escape, at any
rate, from any personal share in a struggle which he
abhorred, as soon as he could with honour. Accord-
ingly, after the battle of Pharsalia, he took no fur-
ther part in the war, but returned to Italy, and
received the conqueror's permission to live in the
quiet enjoyment of his own property. When Cæsar's
power was finally established, Cicero kept up his
former acquaintance with him on the terms of mu-
tual civility; but he received from him no favours,
unless we consider it in that light, that his family
was one amongst many which Cæsar raised to the
dignity of patricians, when he wished to fill up the
losses sustained by that order in the late wars.
last, after Cæsar's death, when a fair prospect opened
of restoring the old constitution, Cicero acted with a
degree of firmness and decision, which we think adds
probability to the representation which we have
given of his motives and feelings in the earlier part
of his career.
At
His main error, as it seems to us, in the latter
part of his life, was his excessive partiality to the
assassins of Cæsar, and his throwing so great a mili-
216
POLITICAL CHARACTER OF CICERO.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. tary force into their hands. The murder of Cæsar
was an action, at the best, to be buried in oblivion.
U.C. 709 Except the single pretence of revenging his death,
the new enemies of the constitution had not another
excuse for their treason; while the cause which
Cicero upheld was perfectly pure, if it did not need-
lessly encumber itself by upholding an act of assassi-
nation, and rewarding the murderers. The more
respectable part of Cæsar's old officers, such as Hir-
tius, and Pansa, and Cornificius, and of those mode-
rate men who had submitted to his power without
having shared in the guilt of his first rebellion, such
as P. Servilius, Ser. Sulpicius, L. Philippus, and
others, were the very men to whom the Common-
wealth might most safely have trusted the defence
of its liberties against Antonius; for not only would
Cæsar's veterans have obeyed them without reluc-
tance, but all that numerous party who had been
gainers by the late revolution, looked upon these
men as their security against the excesses of a com-
plete reaction, and would have willingly supported
the Commonwealth so long as they conducted the
administration of it. And with them Cicero might
safely have taken his place as their associate, or even
as their leader; for his eloquence and his integrity
had made him long and generally popular: and the
only ground of the offence which Cæsar's veterans
entertained against him, was his so closely connect-
ing himself with the assassins of their general. Even
Augustus himself might not so soon have proved a
traitor, had he not seen that while Cicero was on the
ACCOUNT OF OTHER PROSCRIBED PERSONS. 217
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
one hand courting his support, he was on the other CHAP.
conferring exorbitant powers on Brutus and Cassius,
and investing them with the whole military com- U.C. 709
mand of the east. The restoration of the Common- A.C. 45
wealth might have been practicable; but to reinstate
the old aristocracy, or the friends of Pompey, in
their former supremacy, was clearly not so. But
perhaps after all, the preservation of any form of
civil government was become impossible, since the
army was grown so formidable as to form a distinct
interest of its own, and since its favour or dis-
pleasure were held up even in the debates of the
senate as objects of hope or fear. Be this as it may,
Cicero died as he had lived, with a reputation of
patriotism and integrity; nor is his life, as a citizen,
stained with any thing worse than some mixture of
vanity and erroneous judgment amid many splendid
instances of liberality and moderation, and wisdom
and vigour.
count of
sons in-
the pro-
Amongst the other distinguished persons who Some ac-
were murdered in the same proscription, may be other per-
noticed Q. Cicero and his son, C. Toranius, a man of cluded in
prætorian dignity 214, and who had been guardian to scription.
Augustus; L. Villius Annalis 215, one of the prætors
for the present year; C. Plotius Plancus, the brother
of L. Plancus; and, according to Appian, Salvius 216
one of the tribunes, and Minucius, also one of the
prætors.
"
L. Cæsar 217, the uncle of Antonius, was
L. Cæsar 217,
214 Valerius Maximus, IX. 11. Appian, IV. 18.
Suetonius, in Augusto, 27.
216 Appian, IV. 17.
215 Valerius Maximus, IX. 11.
217 Appian, IV. 37.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
relating to
the pro-
scription.
218
ANECDOTES RELATING
CHAP. saved by the influence of his sister; and L. Paulus,
the brother of Lepidus, was allowed to escape by
the soldiers sent to murder him, who respected, it is
said, the brother of their general, or perhaps were
shocked at the unnatural wickedness of that general,
in commanding the murder of so near a relation.
M. Varro 218, formerly one of Pompey's lieutenants
in Spain, but much more known as a man of letters,
was saved by the intercession of Q. Calenus. Apu-
lius 219, perhaps the same person who was tribune in
this very year, and who was warmly attached to
Cicero, escaped to the army of M. Brutus in Mace-
Anecdotes donia. Some of the expedients by which indivi-
duals who had been proscribed preserved their lives,
are worthy of mention, as serving to illustrate the
circumstances of the times. Sentius Saturninus
Vetulio 220 assumed the dress and ensigns of a prætor,
disguised his slaves as lictors, and proceeded from
Rome towards Naples, with all the state of a public
officer; impressing carriages for his use, taking pos-
session of the inns on the road, and obliging all
travellers whom he met to move out of the way till
he had passed. Having thus reached Puteoli in
safety, he there pretended to be employed on the
service of the state, and demanded some vessels for
the conveyance of himself and his attendants, which
being granted, he effected his passage in safety to
Sicily, where Sex. Pompeius was holding the chief
218 Appian, IV. 47.
219 Appian, IV. 46.
220 Valerius Maximus, VII. 3.
Appian, IV. 45.
TO THE PROSCRIPTION.
219
X.
to 722,
to 32.
command. Antius Restio had been proscribed 221, CHAP.
and escaped from his house secretly by night, while From
his slaves, having heard of their master's sentence, U.C. 709
were busily engaged in plundering his property. A.C. 45
One slave alone had watched him, and followed him
in his flight; a man who had been branded in the
face by his master for some offence, and had been
confined in chains in his workhouse, from whence he
had only been released by some of his fellow-servants
at the time of the general ruin of their master's
fortunes. This man overtook Antius, assured him
that he entertained no resentment against him for
the punishment which he had received, but rather
felt grateful to him for many former kindnesses; and
having concealed him out of the way of the soldiers
who were in search of him, he began to construct a
funeral pile, and then having, without any scruple,
murdered an old man who happened to be passing
by on the road, he placed his body upon it. The
soldiers coming up while he was thus employed, he
hastened to tell them that he had himself killed the
object of their search, in revenge for the former ill
treatment which he had received from him; and as
his story seemed probable, they contented themselves
with taking the head of the murdered man as that
of Antius, in order to obtain the usual reward from
the Triumvirs on producing it; and suspicion being
thus laid asleep, Antius himself was conducted from
his hiding place by his slave, and escaped with him
221 Valerius Maximus, VI. 8. Macrobius, Saturnalia, I. 11. Ap-
pian, IV. 43.
C
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
220
ANECDOTES RELATING
CHAP. into Sicily. M. Volusius 222, one of the ædiles, pro-
-cured from a friend the dress of one of the ministers
of Isis, and disguising himself in the long linen
gown, and wearing the mask made like a dog's face,
which were the distinguishing marks of that order of
persons, he went about through the streets dancing
and begging money of the passengers; and in this
manner he made his way through a considerable part
of the country, till he at last escaped out of Italy.
Some of the proscribed assumed the disguise of
centurions, and arming their slaves as soldiers, went
about as if they were themselves employed in the
pursuit of others; and once, it is mentioned, two of
these parties fell in with one another 223, and each
mistaking the other for the real emissaries of the
Triumvirs, they fought for some time without dis-
covering their mutual mistake. One man of the
name of Vitulinus 224, formed a considerable force in
the neighbourhood of Rhegium, partly out of those
who were proscribed, and had, like himself, escaped
the murderers, and partly out of the inhabitants of
those eighteen cities of Italy which the Triumvirs
had given up to their soldiers as settlements. Thus
supported, he cut off several parties that were going
about in pursuit of the proscribed, till at last, when
a strong detachment was sent against him, he main-
tained several obstinate contests, and before he was
killed had the satisfaction of knowing that his son,
and several others who had been proscribed, had
222 Valerius Maximus, VII. 3.
Appian, IV. 47.
2:3 Appian, 46.
224 Appian, 25.
TO THE PROSCRIPTION.
221
From
X.
large U.C. 709
to 722,
that A.C. 45
to 32.
effected their escape to Sicily in safety. Amidst CHAP.
the horrors of the times, we are told that several
orphans 225, of tender age, who were heirs to
properties, were included in the proscription,
their wealth might become the prey of the Triumvirs.
One of these, of the name of Atilius, had just gone
through the ceremony of putting on the manly gown,
and was going, as was the custom, attended by a
numerous company of his friends, to offer sacrifice at
the temples. It was suddenly announced that his
name was among the number of the proscribed; the
procession instantly dispersed, and Atilius, deserted
by all his relations, fled to his mother's house for
shelter. But even she refused to receive him, dread-
ing to incur the penalty denounced against all who
should harbour the proscribed. Thus cast off, and
despairing of protection from any one else, when his
own mother had abandoned him, he fled to an un-
frequented part of the country and took refuge
amongst the mountains; but being obliged to de-
scend into the valleys to get food, he was seized by
a kidnapper, who was in the habit of carrying off
travellers, and confining them as slaves in his work-
house. Unable to bear the cruelties to which he
was here exposed, he made his escape to the high
road, and in utter despair gave himself up to the
first military party that passed by, and was by them
accordingly put to death.
If any thing could be wanting to complete the Behaviour
225 Appian, 30.
of the
Triumvirs.
*
222
BEHAVIOUR OF THE TRIUMVIRS.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. general misery, it was added by the utter insolence
with which the Triumvirs mocked the victims of their
tyranny. Rufus Cæsetius, a senator 226, had been
proscribed, because he was the owner of a house and
property adjoining to those of Fulvia, the wife of
Antonius, and had often refused to sell them to her.
He was murdered, and his head as usual was brought
to Antonius, who happened to be at table with a
party of his associates. After carefully examining
the features of the face, Antonius said to the soldiers,
"This is no acquaintance of mine 227," and desired
them to take it to Fulvia, and she ordered it to be
exposed, not as usual at the rostra, but in front of
the house which had been the occasion of his murder.
M. Lepidus and L. Plancus 228, in the very midst of
the proscription, determined to enjoy the honours of
a triumph for some victories which they had gained
while commanding respectively the provinces of
Gallia Narbonnensis, and Gallia Transalpina. An
order was issued, commanding that the usual marks
of general rejoicing should not be omitted; that the
people should attend the triumphal procession, and
should offer sacrifices of thanksgiving at the temples.
It must be remembered that Lepidus and Plancus
had each caused the name of his own brother to be
inserted in the lists of the proscribed; and in allu-
sion to this, their own soldiers, availing themselves of
the customary license of the occasion, shouted aloud,
226 Valerius Maximus, IX. 5. habui." Valerius Maximus, IX. 5.
Appian, 29.
228 Appian, 31. Velleius Pater-
297 Hunc ego
non culus, II. 67.
66
notum
THEIR RAPACITY.
223
X.
as they followed their chariots, "De Germanis, non CHAP.
de Gallis, duo triumphant consules 229 "
From
to 722,
had U.C. 709
gain A.C. 45
But
to 32.
Their ra-
The pacity.
2
One object of all these dreadful atrocities
been the money which the Triumvirs hoped to
from the sale of the property of their victims 230
in this hope they were greatly disappointed.
plate and most articles of valuable furniture were
generally plundered by the slaves of the owner, as
soon as his name was seen on the fatal list; and the
houses and landed estates could only be sold at low
prices, because the people in general considered it
infamous to become purchasers; and A. Cascellius 231,
a lawer of high reputation, steadily refused to make
any instrument of conveyance for property granted
by the Triumvirs, or possibly sold at their auctions,
considering such means of acquiring it to be no
better than robbery. Accordingly the Triumvirs,
finding themselves still in want of money, drew out
a list of fourteen hundred ladies 232, who were or-
dered to make exact returns of their property, that
a proportionate tax might be levied upon them.
This excited great indignation, and the persons ag-
grieved having first applied in vain for the interces-
sion of the female relations of the Triumvirs, assem-
bled themselves in the forum, and trusting to the
protection of their sex, addressed the Triumvirs in
very forcible language, and succeeded in obtaining
229❝ The consuls are triumph-
ing, not over the Gauls, but ‘de
Germanis,' which signifies either
' over the Germans,' or, 'over their
brothers.""
230 Appian, 31.
231 Valerius Maximus, VI. 2.
232 Appian, IV. 32, et seq. Va-
lerius Maximus, VIII. 3.
224
CRIMES OF THE SOLDIERS AND OTHERS.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. from them an abatement of the greatest part of the
tax which it had been intended to raise. But as the
men could not utter their complaints with equal
safety, they were condemned to make up for this
deficiency. Every person, of what rank or condition
soever, who was possessed of property to the amount
of more than 400,000 H. S., or about 32007. 233, was
required to furnish a loan of two per cent. upon all
that he was worth, and at the same time to pay the
value of a year's income as a tax for the immediate
expenses of the war.
Crimes of
the soldiers
But the cruelty and rapacity of the Triumvirs
and others. themselves, great as they were, might yet have been
satisfied by so many murders and confiscations as we
have already recorded. A wider and almost bound-
less scene of misery was opened by the infinite vexa-
tions, robberies, and violences of every kind which
were committed by the army at large 234; when
every soldier gratified his passions without scruple,
and the Triumvirs dared not refuse to their instru-
ments that same license of wickedness which they
were themselves so largely enjoying. The example
of the soldiers was followed by numerous bands of
slaves and other low persons, who took advantage of
the general confusion to plunder and murder in their
turn, and often assumed the disguise of soldiers to
ensure to themselves impunity. But as their resent-
ment was not dreaded, their disorders were more
speedily repressed; orders were given by the Tri-
233 Appian, 34.
23+ Appian, 35.
¿
REFLECTIONS ON THE PROSCRIPTION.
225
CHAP.
X.
From
umvirs to punish those who committed unauthorized
acts of violence; and as the soldiers were too formid-
able to be restrained, the inferior malefactors were
the only sufferers; and of these last, several were A.C. 45
seized and crucified.
U.C. 709
to 722,
to 32.
on the pro-
Although no previous provocation, nor any pros- Reflections
pect of future benefits to the Commonwealth, could scription.
justify in any degree so atrocious a massacre, yet its
wickedness becomes still more heightened when we
consider the only pleas which its perpetrators could
urge in their defence, and the utter selfishness of the
motives by which they were actuated. Their great
pretence was to revenge the murder of Cæsar; an
act the guilt of which was confined to about sixty
individuals, scarcely any of whom were among the
victims of the present proscription. Thousands who
had no share in his death, might very justly have
rejoiced in the effects of it, in the dissolution of a
tyrannical power, and the restoration of the lawful
constitution; and after the murder had been perpe-
trated, the best course which could be followed was
that which the senate actually adopted on the motion
of Cicero, to decree a general amnesty for the past,
and to resume the usual form of the government, as
if Cæsar's usurpation had never interrupted it. And
on this principle the more respectable of Cæsar's
friends, such as Hirtius and Pansa, acted; who,
while openly lamenting and condemning his murder,
thought that it ill became them to renew the civil
war for the purpose of revenging it; but that it was
the duty of all good citizens to uphold that old con-
VOL. II.
Q
226
REFLECTIONS ON THE PROSCRIPTION.
[
}
!
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. stitution of their country which was now, by what-
ever means, restored; especially as all the beneficial
effects of the late revolution were still maintained,
in the extension of the privileges of citizenship to a
great number of foreigners, and the elevation of
many individuals of humble birth to the enjoyment
of wealth and honours. But Antonius and Lepidus
wishing to continue the system of military usurpa-
tion, and having been deservedly declared public
enemies, were anxious to exterminate all those who
were zealously attached to the constitution of their
country; while Augustus, hoping to inherit his uncle's
sovereignty as well as his name and private fortune,
and animated besides with that inveteracy which
men naturally feel against a cause which they have
deserted and betrayed, longed to destroy, if possible,
the whole of the aristocratical party, that his way to
the throne might be cleared from all impediments.
His conduct, accordingly, was marked by peculiar
traits of malignity and hard-heartedness. We have
already mentioned that he himself was not known to
spare a single victim of those whom he had marked
out for death; and he opposed every inclination to
clemency in his associates. When the proscription
was ended 235, Lepidus, in a speech to the senate,
made something of an apology for what was past,
and said that henceforth such instances of severity
would not be repeated, as enough of the guilty had
been already punished; but Augustus arose and
235 Suetonius, in Augusto, 27.
SEX. POMPEIUS IN SICILY.
227
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
added, that he had only closed the proscription as CHAP.
long as he thought proper, but without meaning to
impose the least restriction on himself with regard U.C, 709
to his future measures. When he thus spoke and
acted, he was scarcely one-and-twenty years old.
Had his whole after-life been marked by nothing but
benefits to his country, no human judgment would
be warranted in attributing his altered conduct to
any better motive than the absence of temptation ;
for he who had once plunged so deeply in wicked-
ness, must ever be suspected of being ready to do
the same again if his interests required it, unless he
could give positive proof that he regarded his former
crimes with remorse and abhorrence.
scribed are
in Greece,
Sicily.
Whilst Italy was overwhelmed by these calami- The pro-
ties 236, three neighbouring countries afforded a secure sheltered
refuge to all those of the proscribed who were happy Africa, and
enough to reach them. Many accordingly escaped
to M. Brutus in Macedonia, and to Q. Cornificius in
Africa; but a still greater number fled to Sicily,
where Sex. Pompeius, in a manner worthy of his
name, was exercising the most unwearied benevolence
towards all of his persecuted countrymen to whom
he had the means of extending it. We have al- Sex. Pom-
ready mentioned, that after he had been recalled ceives an
from banishment, and the senate had resolved to pay naval com-
him out of the treasury the value of his father's pro- the senate,
perty, he remained for some time at Massilia, waiting pies Sicily.
to see the issue of the campaign at Mutina; and
235 Appian, IV. 36.
peius re-
extensive
mand from
and occu-
Q 2
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
228
HIS ACTIVE BENEVOLENCE
CHAP. unable to take the active part in it which he wished,
because Cæsar's veterans, who were serving under
Hirtius, Pansa, and Augustus, were unwilling to re-
ceive amongst them the son of Pompey. After the
battle of Mutina, however, when the treason of Le-
pidus, and the suspected fidelity of Augustus, made
it necessary for the senate to avail themselves of
some more trustworthy aid, Sex. Pompeius was ap-
pointed to the general command of the naval forces
of the Commonwealth 237, with an authority on every
part of the coast, which, like that granted to his
father in the war with the Cilician pirates, extended
over the whole country within a certain distance from
the sea.
He had retained at Massilia part of the
fleet which had belonged to him in Spain; and
having speedily increased it after he had received his
commission from the senate, he sailed to Sicily,
deeming that island a favourable situation for his
head-quarters, and the whole of it, according to the
tenour of his appointment, being properly included
within the limits of his authority. Sicily was at
that time held by A. Pompeius Bithynicus, who had
received the government of it from Cæsar; but it
was occupied, after some resistance, by Sex. Pom-
peius, and when the proscription began, he was in
His active complete possession of it. He instantly ordered his
ships and smaller vessels to cruise along the coasts of
Italy 288, to intimate their presence by every possible
to the
proscribed.
237 Velleius Paterculus, II. 72,
73. edit. Oxon. 1693.
Appian,
IV. 84. Livy, Epitome, CXXIII,
239 Appian, IV. 36. Velleius
Paterculus, II. 77.
TO THE PROSCRIBED.
229
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
signal, and to receive on board every one who ap- CHAP.
plied to them for protection. To tempt the avarice
of the soldiers employed in the massacres, he offered U.C. 709
to each individual who should preserve any pro- AC, 45
scribed person, double the sum which the Triumvirs
gave for his murder. To those who reached Sicily,
he offered every consolation and relief in his power,
supplying them with clothing and other articles of
which they stood in need, and conferring on those of
higher rank amongst them some command in his
army or navy. Nor did he ever afterwards, from
any selfish consideration, abandon them; but when
he concluded his treaty with Antonius and Augustus,
he expressly stipulated that all who had fled to him
at the time of the proscription, should be allowed to
return to their homes in perfect safety. It is de-
lightful to refresh ourselves for a moment with a
picture of power actively exerted for objects of bene-
volence and to those who revere the memory of
Pompey the Great, it is pleasing to think that as his
conduct in the war against the pirates was a single
instance of wisdom and humanity, amidst the cruel-
ties of other Roman generals, so the virtues of his
son afford the principal relief to that dismal scene of
wickedness and misery which the party of his enemies
were now exhibiting.
In the midst of the horrors of the proscription, the
year 711 expired; and although the whole actual
power of the state was in the hands of the Triumvirs,
they resolved, nevertheless, to preserve nominally
the usual offices of the Commonwealth; and accord-
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
virs obtain
of Africa.
230 THE TRIUMVIRS OBTAIN POSSESSION OF AFRICA.
CHAP. ingly, M. Lepidus and L. Plancus were named as
consuls for the new year. Lepidus was to remain at
Rome 239, and superintend the government of Italy;
whilst his two associates, Antonius and Augustus,
were to undertake the management of the war
against Brutus and Cassius in the east, and against
Sex. Pompeius and Q. Cornificius in Sicily and
The Trium- Africa. In Africa, indeed, the contest was speedily
possession terminated in favour of the Triumvirs by T. Sextius,
one of their officers 240, assisted by the power of
Arabio, one of the native princes of Mauritania.
Arabio's father had taken part with Scipio and Juba
in the former African war; and had, on that ac-
count, been deprived of his dominions by Cæsar, and
had seen them divided between Bogud, a Mauri-
tanian prince in Cæsar's interest, and P. Sitius, the
Roman exile, whose services to the cause of Cæsar,
under very critical circumstances, have already been
noticed. But about the time of Cæsar's death,
Arabio returned home from Spain, whither he had
fled to join the sons of Pompey; and by the aid of
some African soldiers, who had been disciplined in
their service, he expelled Bogud from his share of
his father's territories, and procured the assassination
of Sitius. The aristocratical party at Rome began
to conceive hopes from this conduct of Arabio 41,
and perhaps expected that he would support their
cause with the same zeal which they had formerly
239 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 338.
240 Appian, IV. 53, et seq.
241 Cicero, ad Atticum, XV.
epist. XVII. Arabioni de Sitio
nihil irascor.
3
THEY ATTACK SICILY WITHOUT SUCCESS. 231
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
found in Juba. But the repeated victories of Cæsar CHAP.
had impressed Arabio with a deep sense of the utter
hopelessness of the cause of the Commonwealth; and U.C. 709
he chose rather to purchase a pardon for his treat-
ment of Bogud and Sitius, by proving to the Trium-
virs that he was disposed to exert in their favour the
power which he had seized from the hands of their
partisans. Accordingly, he so effectually assisted
T. Sextius, when the war broke out, that Q. Corni-
ficius was defeated and killed, the wreck of his party
dispersed, and the province of Africa became subject
to Augustus without dispute, according to the terms
of the agreement originally concluded between the
Triumvirs.
Sicily
success.
The contest in Sicily was not terminated so easily. They attack
Augustus was eager to gain the island, because the without
usual supplies of corn which it sent to the Roman
market were now interrupted; and the horrors of a
scarcity were thus added to the accumulated miseries
under which Italy was suffering. But Q. Salvidi-
enus, one of Augustus's principal officers 242, was re-
pulsed by the fleet of Sex. Pompeius, when attempt-
ing to cover the passage of troops from Rhegium to
the opposite shore; and the naval and military forces
of the Triumvirs were all required immediately after
in another quarter, to stop the progress of Brutus
and Cassius in the east.
Brutus and
Since the defeat and death of Dolabella at Laodi- Progress of
cea, which seems to have taken place about the end Cassius in
242 Livy, Epitome, CXXIII. Appian, IV. 85.
the east.
From
X.
232
PROGRESS OF BRUTUS AND CASSIUS
CHAP. of June, in the summer of the year 711, Cassius had
been engaged in an obstinate, but at last successful,
contest with those cities and countries of Asia Minor
which had manifested their attachment to the cause
of his enemy.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
After the fall of Laodicea, he had
hoped to make himself master of Egypt, in return
for the succours which Cleopatra had sent to Dola-
bella; but being pressed, it is said, by messages from
Brutus 243, he abandoned his enterprise, and began to
return towards the province of Asia. On his way he
levied a severe contribution upon the inhabitants of
Tarsus 244, and having enriched himself considerably,
by this and many similar exactions, he met Brutus at
Smyrna, as far as appears, about the middle of the
winter 245
Brutus had lately crossed over with his
army from Macedonia, having constantly refused to
listen to the pressing exhortations of Cicero and
Decimus Brutus, who had urged him to come to the
assistance of the Commonwealth in Italy, before the
treason of Augustus had openly manifested itself.
We cannot now decide whether he acted wisely or
timidly in adopting a different line of conduct; but
it seems impossible not to condemn the result of his
subsequent meeting with Cassius at Smyrna, if the
writers, whom we are now reduced to follow, have
put us at all in possession of the real circumstances
of the case, or of the grounds of the resolution which
was adopted. Cassius 26, it is said, insisted on the
243 Plutarch, in Bruto, 28. Ap-
pian, IV. 63.
244 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 345.
245 Plutarch, in Bruto, 28. Livy,
Epitome, CXXII.
246 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 346.
Appian, IV. 65.
IN THE EAST.
233
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
difficulties with which the Triumvirs were actually CHAP.
surrounded at Rome; on their want of money, and
on the delay which Sex. Pompeius must necessarily U.C. 709
occasion them by his occupation of Sicily; and,
therefore, he urged the policy of employing the pre-
sent moments in the reduction of Rhodes and Lycia,
which were warmly attached to the party of the
Triumvirs, and might effect a formidable diversion in
the rear if left unsubdued, while Brutus and himself
were advancing into Greece. No reasoning could
be more opposite to the soundest principles of policy
and military conduct; and if Cassius really argued
in such a manner, he was a very unequal antagonist
to generals who had been trained like Antonius in
the school of Cæsar. The event was a memorable
lesson on the folly of wasting time in war upon in-
ferior objects, and of pecking at the extremities of
an enemy's power, instead of striking at the heart.
Rhodes and Lycia, indeed, were successively con-
quered 247; but the power of the Triumvirs was in
the meantime consolidated, their armies were in a
condition to take the field, and they themselves,
acting in the true spirit of Cæsar's system, were pre-
pared to anticipate attack, and had already de-
spatched a force into Macedonia, to fix the seat of
war in the territories of their adversaries instead of
in their own.
This first division of the army, of the
was commanded by C. Norbanus and
247 Velleius Paterculus, II. 69.
Triumvirs The Trium-
Decidius force to
virs send a
occupy
Macedonia
against
them.
234
THE TRIUMVIRS OCCUPY MACEDONIA.
CHAP. Saxa 248. Of the former we can find nothing re-
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
corded, but if he were of the family of that C. Nor-
banus who was proscribed by Sylla, and who killed
himself at Rhodes, that he might not fall into the
hands of his enemies, his connexion with the party
of the Triumvirs was natural. Decidius Saxa was a
Spaniard 249, on whom Cæsar had conferred the rights
of Roman citizenship, and had afterwards caused
him to be named one of the tribunes. He was with
Antonius during the siege of Mutina, and is fre-
quently mentioned by Cicero in his Philippics as one
of his principal adherents. At the time when Saxa
and Norbanus crossed over into Greece, there was
no enemy to obstruct their progress either by land
or sea, for both the fleets and armies of Brutus and
Cassius were still employed in Asia. They advanced,
therefore, through Macedonia, till they approached
Philippi, a place favourably situated for intercepting
the march of an army from the Hellespont towards
Greece. The great plain of the Strymon is bounded
on the east by a branch of the mountains known by
the name of Pangaus 250, and which, running to the
southward, nearly at right angles with the general
course of the chain, is only separated from the sea
by a tract of low and marshy ground, over which
there was, at this time, no practicable road. The
road, therefore, from the Hellespont to Macedonia,
crossed this projecting branch of Pangaus by two
248 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 347.
249 Cicero, Philippic. XI. 5;
and XIII. 13.
250 Dion Cassius, 348. Appian,
IV. 105.
BRUTUS AND CASSIUS ADVANCE TO PHILIPPI. 235
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
mountain passes, before it descended into the plain CHAP.
of the Strymon; and a little to the westward of the
passes it came to the city of Philippi, which was U.C. 709
itself situated on one of the lower points of the A.C. 45
mountain range, near the head of a small stream
which flowed to the westward, through the plain,
to join the Strymon. The two passes to the east-
ward of Philippi were occupied by Norbanus and
Saxa; and in this position they hoped to check the
march of the enemy, if he should return from Asia
to attack them, until they could be supported by
Antonius himself, who was to join them as soon as
possible with the rest of his army from Italy.
Cassius ad-
Philippi.
Brutus and Cassius having effected the conquest Brutus and
of Rhodes and of Lycia, met again at Sardis 251, and vance to
thence resolved to carry their united forces into
Europe. They were aware that a part of the army
of the Triumvirs had already arrived in Macedonia,
but they trusted, by the superiority of their naval
force, to prevent the passage of the remainder; and
for this purpose, L. Statius Murcus was sent with a
considerable squadron to cruise off Brundusium 252
exactly as Pompey's naval officers had done before
in the war with Cæsar. Meanwhile they them-
selves crossed the Hellespont, and advanced towards
Philippi. And here again the impossibility of de-
fending a mountain line of considerable length,
against a superior enemy, was fully proved.
The positions of Norbanus and Saxa were impreg-
,
251 Plutarch, in Bruto, 34.
252 Dion Cassius, 348. Appian, 82.
236
ADVANTAGES OF THEIR POSITION.
CHAP. nable in front; but one of the Thracian chiefs
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
pointed out a way over the mountains to the north-
ward of the passes 253, by which the army of Brutus
and Cassius crossed without opposition, after a labo-
rious march of three days through the woods, and
appearing suddenly on the flank of Saxa and Nor-
banus, obliged them to retreat with great expedition,
and to fall back across the plain of the Strymon, as
far as Amphipolis. Brutus and Cassius then formed
their respective camps on two hills, distant somewhat
less than a mile from one another, and about a mile
and a half to the westward of Philippi. Imme-
diately to the south, or left of their position, the
marsh began, and extended from thence to the sea.
On their right were the mountains, the regular
passes being probably covered by their own position,
while they were likely to keep a watchful eye upon
the more difficult track by which they had them-
selves effected their passage.
The space between their two camps was secured
by fortifications connecting the two hills with each
other; their fleet was stationed in the neighbouring
harbour of Neapolis to co-operate with them; and
their magazines of every kind were placed in perfect
safety in the island of Thasos, which lay just opposite
to that part of the coast at an inconsiderable dis-
tance from the main land. Thus situated, and
having all the resources of Asia in their rear, while
their enemy's communications with Italy and the
253 Appian, IV. 103, 104.
1
ANTONIUS AND AUGUSTUS AT BRUNDUSIUM. 237
X.
to 722,
western provinces would be, as they hoped, con- CHAP.
stantly intercepted by the fleets of Sex. Pompeius From
and L. Murcus, they trusted to follow successfully U.C. 709
the system which Pompey, under similar circum- A.C. 45
stances, had been unwisely induced to abandon, and
to bring the war to a triumphant end, without ex-
posing themselves to the hazard of a battle.
to 32.
in Macedo-
pose them.
But Antonius effected his passage from Brundu- Antonius
and Augus-
sium with the same success which had attended him tus arrive
before in the very same place, and under the same nia to op-
circumstances, when he commanded the rear division
of Cæsar's army, and joined his general on the coast
of Epirus in spite of all the fleets of Pompey. After
he had been blockaded for some time by L. Murcus,
he sent to Augustus, who was then at Rhegium,
requesting him to suspend his preparations against
Sicily, and to employ his naval force in driving off
the blockading squadron from Brundusium 254. It
does not appear, however, that the fleet which
Augustus could spare for this service, was at all able
to meet that of L. Murcus in battle. But the ap-
prehension of being hemmed in in the narrow space
between Brundusium and the little island which lay
off the harbour's mouth, induced L. Murcus to draw
off his ships, and to allow Augustus to join Anto-
nius without opposition. The legions were then
embarked on board of vessels such as were usually
employed in commerce, and which were worked
only by sails, while an escort of ships of war accom-
254 Appian, 86.
י
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
238 THEIR SUCCESSFUL PASSAGE TO EPIRUS.
CHAP. panied them, to be sacrificed, if needful, to the
superior force of the enemy, in the hope that their
resistance might at least allow the transports time
to escape. But the wind, for some days, happened
to blow so freshly, that the transports were carried
across with full sails, at a rate which rendered it
impossible for the enemy's ships of war, worked only
with oars, to overtake them; and in this manner,
we are told, Antonius and Augustus landed the main
body of their army on the coast of Epirus without
loss. Antonius instantly hastened to the support of
Saxa and Norbanus, with an activity which rivalled
that of his old commander, and which far exceeded,
as we are told, all the calculations of his opponents 255.
We might wonder, indeed, why Brutus and Cassius
had not followed upon Saxa and Norbanus in their
retreat from Philippi, instead of allowing them
quietly to strengthen themselves on the Strymon;
but it is idle to attempt to give the military his-
tory of a campaign, when the writers, whom we are
obliged to follow, have not recorded the date of any
one operation or movement on either side. It only
appears, that as soon as Antonius arrived at Amphi-
polis 256, he instantly moved forwards with his whole
army, and encamped near Philippi, within a short
distance from the enemy; and that here he was in
a short time joined by Augustus, who on his first
landing had remained at Dyrrhachium on account
of illness, but not choosing to be absent from the
255 Plutarch, in Bruto, 38.
256 Appian, IV. 107. Dion Cassius, 349.
FIRST ACTION AT PHILIPPI.
239
CHAP.
X.
camp U.C, 709
scene of action at so critical a moment, he hastened
to follow his troops, as soon as he heard of the posi- From
tion of the two armies, and arrived in the
while he was still too weak to discharge the
active duties of a general.
to 722,
most A.C. 45
to 32.
at Philippi.
712.
In the present contest, as in that between Pompey First action
and Cæsar, the army of the constitutional party was Autumn of
the more numerous, their naval superiority was un-
doubted, and their resources were so ample, that
they could easily afford to protract the war.
But on
the side of the Triumvirs there were generals and
officers trained in the school of Cæsar; these were
the remains of his invincible veterans; and even the
newly-raised soldiers, disciplined by the same com-
manders, and having before their eyes in their more
experienced comrades such a perfect pattern of mili-
tary excellence, were likely to emulate the good
conduct of the veterans themselves. Antonius,
therefore, was eager to bring on a general action,
and finding that the enemy remained immovable
within his lines, he endeavoured to make opportu-
nities of fighting, by carrying a road through the
marsh on the left of Cassius's camp, as if he de-
signed to turn his position 257. It appears that an
irregular engagement was at last the consequence
of these operations; for the details of which we can
best rely on the narrative of Plutarch, as he appears
to have copied from the memoirs of M. Messala, an
officer of the highest rank in the constitutional army,
257 Appian, 109, et seq.
:
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
240
SUCCESSES ON BOTH SIDES.
CHAP. next to Brutus and Cassius. According, then, to
the statement of Messala, the left of the Triumvirs'
army, which was the part commanded by Augustus,
was drawn out in order of battle in front of its
camp, to effect a diversion in favour of Antonius.
But the troops of Brutus making a sudden and un-
expected sally, Messala himself, with a part of the
army, turned the left flank of the enemy, pushed
forwards at once to their camp, and carried it with
little opposition; while Brutus, assailing them at
the same time in front, broke them with great
slaughter, and chased them back to their camp,
which was already in Messala's possession. Mean-
while the centre of the Triumvirs' army, observing
that the troops of Cassius had taken no part in the
action, passed by the left flank of the victorious
legions of Brutus, and attacked the left wing of the
constitutional army, commanded by Cassius. Anto-
nius himself, on the extreme right of his own army,
was at the same time engaged in the marsh, in an
attempt to take the cross wall which Cassius had
carried out from his own camp, in order to intercept
the projected road of the enemy. It appears that
the veteran legions were all in that part of the
army commanded by Brutus, and that the troops of
Cassius were probably very unfit to maintain a con-
test with the disciplined soldiers of the Triumvirs.
In spite, therefore, of all the efforts of their general,
they were easily routed; their cavalry, instead of
covering the infantry, fled in disorder towards the
sea; and the enemy pursuing his advantage, not
BLUNDER AND DEATH OF CASSIUS.
241
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
only carried the cross wall in the marsh, but at- CHAP.
tacked and took the camp of Cassius. The prospect
over the field was so obscured, it is said, by clouds U.C. 709
of dust, that the parts of both armies which were A.C. 45
victorious, were not aware of the fortune of their
friends in the other wing; and when they were in-
formed of it, both Brutus and Antonius returned
to their own respective camps, and both parties, on
the following morning, remained in the same posi-
tions which they had occupied before the action.
But the hasty despair of Cassius gave to a battle,
which was otherwise of doubtful success, all the
appearances, and some of the consequences, of a
total defeat of the constitutional army. When he
saw his own legions routed 258, he supposed that all
was lost, and could scarcely be prevailed on to
despatch an officèr to the other part of the field to
learn what was the fate of Brutus. The officer, how-
ever, was sent, and Cassius, it is said, attended by
one of his freedmen, watched his progress for a time
from a hill on which he had taken refuge. He soon
saw him met by a party of cavalry; then he heard a
loud shout of triumph, and presently observed that
the cavalry continued to advance towards the spot
where he was, and that his officer was forming one
of their company. Concluding from this that the
horsemen belonged to the enemy, that his officer
was their prisoner, or was, perhaps, now guiding
them to the place where they might find his general,
258 Plutarch, in Bruto, 43. Appian, 113. Dion Cassius, 354.
VOL. II.
R
1
242
BRUTUS RESUMES THE DEFENSIVE.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Death of
Cassius.
CHAP. Cassius conjured his freedman to save him from
falling into their hands, and instantly to kill him.
The freedman obeyed, and fled; and presently after,
the officer arrived on the hill, followed by the horse-
men whom Brutus had sent to announce his success
to his colleague, and who, on meeting the messenger
despatched by Cassius, had shouted aloud to an-
nounce their victory, and turned him back with
them, to acquaint his general with the happy tidings.
It is added, that when he saw the body of Cassius
lying on the ground, he immediately stabbed him-
self, and fell dead beside it.
The body of the deceased general was sent by
Brutus to be buried privately at Thasos, lest the
performance of the funeral solemnities in sight of
the army should communicate some discouragement
to the soldiers. Brutus himself resolved still, as be-
fore, to act on the defensive 259, and hoped that the
enemy would soon be obliged to retreat from want
of provisions. But a system which even Pompey
could not steadily persevere in, was found much
more impracticable now. The soldiers, and even the
superior officers, grew impatient of the taunts which
the enemy continually threw out against them;
while the enemy were more eager than ever to fight,
as their situation was greatly compromised by a
heavy disaster recently sustained in the Ionian Gulf.
Since Antonius and Augustus had effected their
passage, L. Murcus had been reinforced by a nu-
259 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 354, 355. Appian, IV. 123, et seq.
IMPATIENCE OF HIS ARMY.
243
X.
to 722,
to 32.
merous squadron under the command of Cn. Domi- CHAP.
tius Ahenobarbus, the son of that Domitius who had From
been one of the most violent enemies of Cæsar, and U.C. 709
who was himself charged, whether truly or not, with A.C. 45
having been one of Cæsar's assassins. With his fleet
thus strengthened, Murcus soon after fell in with a
large force of soldiers which Cn. Domitius Calvinus
was carrying over in transports, escorted only by a
few ships of war, to reinforce the army of the Trium-
virs 260 The weather was now as favourable to
Murcus as it had been before adverse; for the wind
suddenly dropped, and the transports were left be-
calmed and perfectly helpless, while the enemy's
ships of war could use their oars with increased
facility in the smooth water. After an obstinate
resistance the whole of the transports were taken,
burnt, or dispersed; and a force which had consisted
of two legions, and a prætorian cohort of two thou-
sand men, besides a numerous body of cavalry, was
thus almost entirely destroyed. But these successes
could not decide the general issue of the war.
Brutus was at last induced, as Pompey had been
before him, to yield to the wishes of his army; for
latterly several desertions to the enemy had taken
place 261, and he feared that his troops, the best of
which had formerly served under Cæsar, might be
persuaded, if longer suffered to remain inactive, to
join the standard of the friend and adopted son of
their old general. Accordingly he drew out his
260 Appian, 115.
261 Dion Cassius, XLVII. 355.
R 2
244
HE IS PREVAILED ON TO GIVE BATTLE.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Second
battle of
Philippi.
CHAP. legions in order of battle, and was cheerfully met by
the enemy, who already began to suffer serious in-
convenience from want of provisions. The battle of
Philippi was marked, according to our accounts, by
no display of generalship on either side; but after
some hours of close combat, the superior discipline
of the Triumvirs' army prevailed, and the soldiers of
Brutus first began slowly to give ground, and then
were totally routed. Brutus himself 262, being cut off
from his camp, fled to a small glen or deep dell, at
no great distance from the field of battle, through
which a stream flowed between deep banks, occa-
sionally covered with wood, and sometimes consist-
ing of bare cliffs. He was accompanied by several
of his friends, and amongst the rest by P. Volumnius,
who from his love of literature had long lived on
terms of familiarity with Brutus, and whose account
of the close of his friend's life Plutarch appears to
have followed as his principal authority. We may
venture then to give the following particulars, as
resting on the testimony of one who was present at
the scene which he describes.
It was already dark when Brutus seated himself
on a large piece of rock in the narrow valley, and
looking up to the sky, which was bright with stars,
he repeated two lines from Greek poets, one of
which, from the Medea of Euripides, Volumnius still
remembered when he wrote his narrative, and has
recorded it. It was an imprecation, "that Jove
262 Plutarch, in Bruto, 51, et seq.
K
263 "
SECOND ACTION AT PHILIPPI.
245
X.
to 722,
to 32.
would not forget to punish the author of all this CHAP.
misery He was full of the thought of the many From
friends who had already fallen in the battle; and he U.C. 709
particularly lamented the loss of Labeo, who had A.C. 45
been one of his lieutenants, and of C. Flavius, his
master of the works, who had been long one of his
intimate friends 264. Shortly afterwards he began to
express his hopes that the number of his soldiers
who had fallen could not be great, upon which Sta-
tyllius, one of his companions, engaged to make his
way to the camp, to send up a fire signal from
thence, if he found it still in the possession of their
own troops, and then to return to Brutus. He went
accordingly, and after a certain interval the fire
signal was observed to be made; but Statyllius did
not return, so that Brutus rightly conjectured that
he had fallen in with some of the enemy on his way
back, and had perished by their hands. This circum-
stance showed that it would not be easy to regain
the camp, or to rally any part of the army that
might have taken refuge in its neighbourhood.
Accordingly, as the night wore away, Brutus was
seen to whisper something successively to two of his
attendants, and his words were observed to draw
tears from those to whom they were addressed.
then spoke in Greek to P. Volumnius himself; re-
minded him of the studies which they had shared
together; and plainly requested him to lend him his
assistance in killing himself. But Volumnius re-
263 Ζεύ, μὴ λάθοι σε τῶνδ᾿ ὃς
αἴτιος κακῶν. Med. 333.
He
264 See Cornel. Nep. in At-
tico, 8.
ช
246
י,
DEATH OF BRUTUS.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. fusing to comply, and some one of the party observ-
ing that it would not be safe to remain any longer
where they were, Brutus arose from his seat and
said: " Yes, indeed, we must go hence; but it must
be with our hands, and not with our feet." He
then, with a cheerful countenance, shook hands suc-
cessively with every one present, and declared to
them the happiness it gave him to think that none
of his friends had proved false to him. On his
country's account he might justly, he said, complain
of the cruelty of fortune; but for himself, he was
even at that moment a happier man than the con-
querors, inasmuch as he should leave behind him a
character for goodness which neither their arms nor
their treasures would ever procure for them.
conclusion, he conjured all his friends to provide for
their own safety; and having said thus much, he left
them, with only two attendants, and retired to some
distance out of their sight. There, according to the
general report, Strato, who was one of those who
still remained with him, and who had been used to
practise declamation with him, and to take part in
his studies in oratory, yielded at last to his repeated
requests, and turning away his face, held out towards
him the point of his sword. Brutus having placed
it exactly at his heart, threw himself upon it and
expired immediately.
Death of
Brutus.
In
Meantime, whatever was the numerical loss of the
constitutional army, many citizens of the noblest
names in Rome had already fallen. M. Cato, the
son of M. Cato of Utica, and L. Lucullus, the son
DEATHS AMONG THE ARISTOCRATICAL PARTY. 247
>
X.
long U.C. 709
to 722,
and A.C. 45
to 32.
of the conqueror of Tigranes, are particularly men- CHAP.
tioned 265; while Q. Hortensius, the son of the fa- From
mous orator of that name, M. Favonius, so
known as the friend and imitator of Cato 266,
M. Varro, who had been quaestor under Brutus in
Cisalpine Gaul, and a relation probably of that M.
Varro who was reputed the most learned of the
Romans, had fallen into the hands of the enemy.
When these prisoners were brought before the Tri-
umvirs, they addressed Antonius with respect as an
honourable adversary 267, but directed against Au-
gustus the bitterest reproaches; as, in addition to
the perfidy and cruelty which he had before ex-
hibited, he had been guilty of some atrocious in-
stances of cold-blooded barbarity to some other cap-
tives who had fallen into his power in the last battle.
Yet Antonius was not more merciful to them than
his colleague, and Hortensius, Varro, and Favonius
were all put to death. To complete the destruction
of the aristocratical party, L. Livius Drusus, the
father of the future wife of Augustus, killed himself
in his tent; and Quintilius Varus, having arrayed
himself in the insignia of the offices which he had
borne, desired one of his freedmen to become his
executioner.
of the aris-
The greatest part of the constitutional army rallied Dispersion
under the command of M. Messala and L. Bibulus, tocratical
at a little distance from the field of battle, and was
soon joined by several persons of distinction, who
265 Velleius Paterculus, II. 71. 267 Suetonius, in Augusto, 13.
266 Suetonius, in Augusto, 13.
party.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722.
A.C. 45
to 32.
248 THE ARISTOCRATICAL PARTY DISPERSED.
CHAP. immediately after the action had taken refuge in the
island of Thasos. Messala was called upon to be-
come the leader of this last hope of the aristocratical
party 268; but he wisely considered all further resist-
ance as hopeless, and preferred to submit himself
and all his troops to the Triumvirs, on a promise
of full indemnity for them all. The magazines of
Thasos were then surrendered 269; and the victorious
generals, being now in fact absolute masters of the
empire, concluded a new agreement between them-
selves, in which, disregarding Lepidus altogether,
they made some new arrangements in the division of
the provinces, and determined that Antonius, with
the greater part of their army, should proceed into
Asia, to organize that country, and to raise contribu-
tions in order to enable him to fulfil the promises
which he had made to his soldiers; while Augustus
should return to Italy, to superintend the division of
lands there, and to establish the veterans in the
settlements which they had been encouraged to
expect. Meantime the officers of Brutus and Cas-
sius, who had been left behind by them in Asia, now
fled to L. Murcus and Cn. Domitius, whose fleet still
remained unsubdued. But the battle of Philippi
produced an universal derangement of the constitu-
tional party.
L. Murcus 270, with his squadron,
joined Sex. Pompeius in Sicily, while Cn. Domitius
acted for a time as an independent commander, and
maintained his seamen, we must suppose, by forcible
268 Velleius Paterculus, II. 71.
£69 Appian, IV. 136; V. 3.
Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 357, 358.
270 Velleius Paterculus, II. 72.
AUGUSTUS RETURNS TO ITALY.
249
contributions raised upon the people of the sea coast, CHAP.
or by acts of piracy upon ships employed in com-
merce.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
to 32.
returns to
perintend
the division
of lands
In an evil hour for himself did Antonius turn his A.C. 45
back upon Italy, and leave the immediate govern- Augustus
ment of the capital in the hands of his associate. Italy to su-
Augustus, still suffering from ill health 271, travelled Person
slowly on his way towards Rome; whilst the popu- among his
lation of Italy, who had already experienced his soldiers.
cruelty and rapacity, looked forwards with horror
to the moment of his arrival, which would consign
some of the finest districts of the peninsula to the
occupation of a rapacious soldiery. How eagerly
should we open the smallest volume of contemporary
history, which might paint to us from the life the
state of society in Italy, under the effects of this
dreadful revolution! But not a single annalist of
these times has reached posterity, and we must find
our way, as best we can, with no other guidance
than that of the weak and ignorant Greeks of a
later age, whose testimony we have so often found
worthless.
nius, the
opposes the
the army.
It was not till the spring of the following year L. Anto-
that Augustus returned to Rome, and found P. consul,
Servilius and L. Antonius, the brother of the Trium- tyranny of
vir, in possession of the title of consuls. Antonius
had been tribune three years before, and had then
courted popularity by proposing divisions of land on
a very extensive scale among the poorer citizens of
271 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 358.
1
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
250
L. ANTONIUS, THE CONSUL, OPPOSES
CHAP. Rome. He now saw a division on the eve of being
made, which was to be still more extensive, and which
was to benefit exclusively the officers and soldiers of
the Triumvirs' army. So long as the aristocratical
party was strong enough to excite jealousy, that union
between the popular party and some ambitious mili-
tary leaders, which had first been observed in the coa-
lition between Sulpicius and Marius, had continued
for the most part unbroken; but when the power of
the senate was utterly destroyed, it was manifest to
the most prejudiced of the popular leaders, that the
liberties of Rome were at least as endangered by the
usurpation of the army, as they had ever been by the
oppression of the rich nobility; and that large pro-
portion of citizens who, with all their turbulence
and violence, were yet, in the main, sincerely attached
to their country, perceived that all their hopes of
a beneficial change in the political system of the
empire were about to be crushed in a manner that
seemed likely to render them for ever desperate.
Besides, there were considerations of immediate per-
sonal interest which aroused the inhabitants of Italy
in general against the Triumvirs. Their cities and
their lands were to be torn from them, merely on
the plea that it was necessary to fulfil the promises
made by the generals to their army. If the people
had been guilty of any crime in supporting the
government against the rebellion of M. Antonius, it
was a crime in which Augustus himself had shared;
and again, since the formation of the Triumvirate,
Italy had suffered much from the proscription on
THE TYRANNY OF THE ARMY.
251
X.
the one hand, and from the loss of its ordinary sup- CHAP.
plies of foreign corn on the other, but had submitted From
to 722,
to 32.
to all its calamities without resistance. Under these U.C. 709
circumstances, the contest which took place, nomi- A.C. 45
nally between Augustus and L. Antonius, may be
looked upon in reality as a struggle between the
people of Italy and the army; as the last effort
made in defence of liberty and property against a
military despotism. It is said, that L. Antonius and
his sister-in-law, Fulvia, who was the partner of all
his measures, at first quarrelled with Augustus, be-
cause they wished to have their share in the pro-
posed distribution of lands to the soldiery 272; and,
also, that the promised rewards should be given in
the name of M. Antonius as well as in that of
Augustus. But the general clamours which pre-
vailed throughout Italy against the spoliation of
property, induced L. Antonius to espouse a nobler
cause, and to oppose altogether the pretensions of
the army. In Rome itself 273, and in all the prin-
cipal towns of the peninsula, there were frequent
and bloody engagements between the soldiers and
citizens, which were attended with the destruction
of a great number of houses; and as the pressure of
scarcity began to be severely felt from the total
cessation of all supplies from Sicily, robberies and
disorders of every kind became common, till at last
the shops in Rome were shut up, and the ordinary
magistrates of the city, utterly unable to preserve
273 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 359.
Appian, V. 14.
273 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 362.
Appian, V. 18.
From
X.
252 WAR BETWEEN L. ANTONIUS AND AUGUSTUS.
CHAP. tranquillity, gave up their offices, we are told, to
pacify the people, who were indignant at seeing the
semblance of government retained, when it had lost
all its power of affording protection.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
War be-
tween L.
Antonius
and Au-
gustus.
L. Antonius now openly professed his opposition
to the illegal power of the Triumvirate 274, as well as
to the spoliation of the cities and lands of Italy.
His brother, he said, was willing to resign the title
of Triumvir, to see the lawful authority of the con-
sulship restored, and to receive himself, in his elec-
tion to that office, the reward of the sacrifice which
he should make to his country's good. All ranks
of people joined the standard of opposition to the
Triumvirate with equal eagerness 275; the nobility
and the commons, the patricians and equestrian
order at Rome, as well as the inhabitants of all the
cities of Italy, took up arms against Augustus, and
the system of military tyranny of which he was the
leader. He himself, leagued with his soldiers to
support their mutual oppressions, was obliged to
tolerate many acts of violence and disrespect to
himself 276, which his army, knowing their power,
unscrupulously committed; and in order to attach
them to his service, he plundered even the temples,
wherever they were in his power 277, and thus added
still more to the odiousness of his cause. But on
the other hand, in proportion as L. Antonius became
more evidently the head of a party truly national, so
274 Livy, Epitome, CXXV.
Appian, V. 30.
275 Appian, V. 27. 29. 31.
276 Appian, V. 15, 16.
277 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 364.
L. ANTONIUS SURRENDERS AT PERUSIA. 253
X.
to 722,
to 32.
the feeling of the army in every part of the empire CHAP.
was more interested to assist Augustus. Asinius From
Pollio and P. Ventidius 278, who were both warmly U.C. 709
attached to M. Antonius, and who commanded such A.C. 45
a force in Cisalpine Gaul as would have enabled
them readily to turn the scale in favour of his bro-
ther, hesitated when they saw that his success was
likely to put a stop universally to the overgrown
greatness of the army; and although they did not
actually take part against him, yet they allowed
Augustus and his lieutenants to shut him up in
Perusia, without making any effort in his favour,
when he had advanced towards the frontiers of
Cisalpine Gaul, relying on their co-operation. Aban-
doned thus to himself, and left to struggle against
a veteran army, with only the feeble support of an
undisciplined and unwarlike population, L. Anto- L. Antonius
nius could only defend himself in Perusia till the to surrender
provisions of his garrison were exhausted, and he
was then obliged to submit to his adversary. He
was himself dismissed in perfect safety, for it was
not politic to exasperate M. Antonius at such a
juncture by the execution of his brother; his sol-
diers also were pardoned, at the intercession of their
comrades in the service of Augustus; but neither
L. Antonius nor his troops were the chief objects of
the conqueror's jealousy and hatred; and the true
nature of the contest was shown by the choice of
the victims who were marked out for destruction at
278 Appian, V. 32.
is obliged
at Perusia,
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Augustus.
254
PROSPECTS OF A SEPARATION
>
CHAP. the close of it. There were captured at Perusia a
great number of Roman citizens of distinction 279
who had taken up arms for the restoration of their
liberties and laws; these Augustus put to death
Cruelties of without remorse, and on this occasion displayed
again the same vile and unfeeling nature which he
had shown in the whole course of his public life.
Though he was only three and twenty years of age,
he heard the prayers and excuses of his victims
without the least emotion, answering every sup-
pliant by a repetition of the words, "You must
die;" and to show that he considered his triumph
as gained, not so much over L. Antonius as over
the liberty of his country, he selected three hun-
dred persons from among his prisoners, some of
the rank of senators, and others of the equestrian
order, and ordered them all to be butchered on the
ides of March, at an altar erected in honour of his
uncle, Cæsar. To the citizens of Perusia he acted
with equal cruelty; for they, in common with the
people of the other Italian cities, had zealously
entered into the war to save their property from
military violence. He put to death all the magis-
trates of the town, and gave up the city to be plun-
dered; and in the confusion thus occasioned, it was
set on fire, and burnt to the ground.
Appear-
ances of a
coalition
between M.
Antonius
and the
people,
against the
oppression
Towards the close of the siege of Perusia, P. Ven-
tidius and the other officers who commanded the
forces belonging to M. Antonius in Cisalpine Gaul,
279 Appian, V. 48. Suetonius, in Augusto, 15. Dion Cassius,
XLVII. 365.
!
OF M. ANTONIUS FROM AUGUSTUS.
255
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
of Augustus
army.
made a show of marching to the relief of their CHAP.
general's brother; but their efforts were hardly more
than nominal, and plainly showed that they did not U.c. 709
enter sincerely into the quarrel. Yet the union A.C. 45
between L. Antonius and the friends of the old con-
stitution, seems to have brought about a temporary and the
coalition between the remnants of the aristocratical
party and the officers of M. Antonius himself; and
thus Cn. Domitius, who still commanded in his own
name a portion of the fleet which had belonged to
Brutus and Cassius, and was cruizing with it in the
Adriatic to intercept the communications between
Italy and the opposite coasts of Illyricum and Epirus,
was now induced by Asinius Pollio 280, to submit
himself to the command of Antonius, on the assu-
rance, probably, that Antonius was disposed to join
with his brother in restoring the lawful government
of the Commonwealth. And in the same spirit,
when Julia 281, the mother of Antonius, fled from
Italy, after the success of Augustus at Perusia, she
was received by Sex. Pompeius in Sicily, and treated
by him with every possible attention and kindness.
Amidst all the cruelties and profligacies of Anto-
nius's life, some traits of generosity were recorded,
which might lead men to believe, that he had acted
rather from personal resentment than from a de-
liberate design to enslave his country. Anecdotes
in particular were told of his behaviour after the
battle of Philippi 282, which contrasted strongly with
230 Velleius Paterculus, II. 76.
281 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 366.
282 Valerius Maximus, V. 1.
Plutarch, in Bruto, 50.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
256
TOTAL OVERTHROW OF THE
CHAP. the mean and merciless cruelty of Augustus on the
same occasion. It might not be impossible that the
affronts offered to so many of his near relations by
his ambitious associate, that the example of his
brother, and some sense of the innumerable miseries
under which Rome and Italy were groaning, might
at last awaken the better feelings of his nature, and
urge him to atone, as far as possible, for the guilt of
the proscription, by becoming now the restorer of
his country's liberty.
Total over-
throw of
cause in
Italy.
Meantime the war in Italy was brought rapidly
the national to an end after the fall of Perusia. An armed force
had taken the field in Campania 283, in defence of
the common cause of liberty and property, under
the command of Tib. Claudius Nero, a man of the
highest nobility. Ten years before this time he had
been much valued as a young man by Cicero, and
had nearly become his son-in-law 284; he had after-
wards served under Cæsar in Egypt, and had been
by him created one of the pontifices 285; yet, after
Cæsar's death, he had supported the party of the
aristocracy, though without taking a prominent share
in the events of that period. He now, after the
surrender of L. Antonius, endeavoured to raise the
slaves in Campania to swell his forces; but failing
in this attempt, he was obliged to fly to Sicily, ac-
companied by his wife, and by his son, a child of
about two years of age. His wife was Livia Drusilla,
who was shortly afterwards married to Augustus ;
283 Velleius Paterculus, II. 75.
284 Cicero, ad Atticum, VI.
epist. VI.
285 Auctor de Bello Alexand. 25.
NATIONAL CAUSE IN ITALY.
257
and his son was that Tiberius who in little more CHAP.
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
to 32.
than fifty years from this period became the sove- From
reign of the Roman empire.
Such was the termination of this brief contest, A.C. 45
which consigned the people of Rome and of Italy to
many centuries of helpless weakness. In this, more
than in any other of the civil dissensions of the
Romans, it was a direct struggle between the army
and the nation; and the triumph of the army, in
which it ended, was a much more serious evil to
the state, than the victories and usurpations of any
political party, or even than the tyranny of Cæsar
himself. It committed henceforward the whole
power of the empire to a mercenary standing army;
and reduced all the other classes of society to that
state of conscious insignificance in the government
of their country, which most surely leads to the
degradation of national and individual character.
Literature may flourish under such circumstances,
and the physical comforts of mankind may suffer at
times little diminution; but the soul of civilized
society, the power and the will to take part in the
administration of the great system of national govern-
ment, to watch over and assist in the execution of
the existing laws, and at the same time to observe
their deficiencies, and propose their remedies; the
spirit of real liberty which distinguishes the citizen
from the mere subject-this is totally destroyed;
and carries away with it that practical vigour of
mind which, when diffused amidst the mass of the
people, under the guidance of sound principles, is
VOL. II.
S
From
X.
258 FATE OF EXPELLED LANDOWNERS IN ITALY.
CHAP. the greatest earthly blessing of which mankind are
susceptible. The siege of Perusia, then, may be
U.C, 709 regarded as an event far more really disastrous to
liberty than the battle of Philippi.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Fate of the
expelled
possessors
Italy.
After the victory of Augustus, the proposed dis-
tribution of lands among the soldiers was probably
of lands in carried into effect in every part of Italy. The occu-
piers of estates or of farms, thus driven from their
homes, sought, for the most part, we are told, an
asylum in Sicily with Sex. Pompeius 286. But great
numbers wandered, it is probable, into the adjacent
provinces 287 and there found settlements, we may
conjecture, where their agricultural experience and
industrious habits would make them valuable inha-
bitants. In this manner good may have arisen out
of evil; and the civilization of Gaul and Spain, and
that general dissemination of the Latin language
which took place at so early a period in those coun-
tries, may have been accelerated by the desolation
of Italy. There were others of the expelled Italians
who repaired, it is likely, to Rome, and helped to
increase the immense population of the capital; for
the inhabitants of Rome were too important to be
neglected; and care was taken by the government
to provide for their maintenance, and even for their
enjoyments, while the country of Italy was suffered
286 Appian, V. 53.
287 The Mantuan farmer, in
Virgil, speaks of his countrymen
flying to Africa, to Scythia, and
to Britain; but these are only
hyperbolical expressions to denote
that species of exile in a less
favourable climate, and a less
civilized country, which was in
reality, we may suppose, the lot of
many of the poet's neighbours and
friends.
RETURN OF ANTONIUS TO ITALY.
259
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
Antonius to
to remain in a state of misery. But at the actual CHAP.
moment of which we are now speaking, Rome her-
self was sharing in the common distress; for the U.C. 709
fleets of Sex. Pompeius still blockaded all the ports, A.C. 45
and intercepted the supplies on which her sub-
sistence depended.
Meantime M. Antonius had been recalled from Return of
Asia by the tidings of hostilities in Italy, and it is Italy.
said was induced actually to form an alliance with
Sex. Pompeius, in his dread of the ambition and
ascendancy of Augustus. On his arrival off Brundu-
sium he found the gates of that city shut against
him, and he accordingly laid siege to it 288; while his
alliance with Sex. Pompeius, and the accession of
force which he had lately gained through the sub-
mission of Cn. Domitius, gave him the undisputed
dominion of the sea. But we hear nothing of his
entering into the views of his brother Lucius; and
his quarrel with Augustus now seems to have been
of the same kind with his final contest with him a
few
years later, a mere struggle for dominion between
two military leaders, in which the nation had no
other interest than as far as it would decide which
should be sovereign. On the present occasion, how-
ever, the veteran soldiers were strongly averse to a
war between Cæsar's oldest associate and his nephew,
which would tend, perhaps, to raise a son of Pompey
on the ruins of their common cause. Accordingly
the mutual friends of the two generals endeavoured
288 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 373. Appian, V. 56.
P
*
1
s 2
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Peace of
Brundu-
sium.
U.C. 713.
260
PEACE OF BRUNDUSIUM.
CHAP. to bring about a reconciliation; and C. Mecenas
was despatched by Augustus to Brundusium 289, to-
gether with L. Cocceius, a common friend to both
parties, to settle all their differences. The death of
Fulvia 290, the wife of Antonius, which happened
about this time, removed, it is said, one obstacle to
peace, and suggested the plan of cementing the
union of the Triumvirs by the marriage of Antonius
with Octavia, the sister of Augustus. In other
points it was agreed, that all the provinces eastward
of the Ionian Gulf 291, should be held by Antonius,
and those to the westward of the same boundary by
Augustus; that both the Triumvirs might equally
raise recruits for their armies in Italy; that Lepidus
should be left in possession of Africa; and that An-
tonius should afford no protection to Sex. Pompeius
against Augustus.
The peace of Brundusium was celebrated by both
the Triumvirs with the ceremony of the smaller
triumph or ovation 292; and the marriage which had
been agreed on between Antonius and Octavia, was
soon after concluded. The people of Rome 293, mean-
while, finding their usual supplies of provisions still
intercepted by the fleets of Sex. Pompeius, were
clamorous against the Triumvirs for not relieving
them from this evil; and Antonius, probably ashamed
289 Horace, Sat. 1. 5. Appian,
V. 64.
290 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 374.
Plutarch, in Antonio, 30.
291 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 374.
Plutarch, in An-
Appian, 65.
tonio, 30.
nium.
292 Fasti Capitolini, apud Sigo-
293 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 375,
Velleius Paterculus, II. 77.
376.
PEACE BETWEEN POMPEIUS AND THE TRIUMVIRS. 261
"
X.
to 722,
to 32.
Peace be-
triumvirs
Pompeius.
U.C. 714.
of having deserted Pompeius, was desirous of in- CHAP.
cluding him in the general peace. Accordingly, From
after some preparatory correspondence, the Triumvirs U.C. 709
and Pompeius met at Misenum 294 on the coast of A.C. 45
Campania, and there concluded a treaty, by which
Pompeius was to hold the islands of Sicily, Sardinia, tween the
and Corsica, and the province of Achaia, for the and Sex.
same period as the Triumvirs should retain the com-
mand of the other provinces of the empire. It was
agreed, besides, that he should be allowed to hold
the office of consul without appearing personally at
Rome; that he should be appointed a member of
the college of augurs; and that the sum of about
565,1047. should be given to him as a compensation
for his father's property which had been confiscated.
Pompeius, on his part, was to withdraw his garrisons
from all the ports which he occupied on the coasts of
Italy; he was not to add to the actual number of
his ships, nor receive any deserters from the service
of the Triumvirs; and he was to allow the usual
tribute of corn to be sent from his provinces to
Rome. But the stipulation which reflected most
honour on Pompeius, was that in which it was
agreed that all persons who had fled from Italy
during the proscription, should be allowed to return
in perfect safety, and should recover a fourth part of
their forfeited property; that all others, who had any
reason to dread the resentment of the Triumvirs,
should enjoy a general amnesty; and those whose
294 Velleius Paterculus, II. 77.
Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 378. Plu-
tarch, in Antonio, 32. Appian,
V. 72.
F
་
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
262
RETURN OF PUBLIC QUIET.
CHAP. property had been confiscated should receive back its
full value. The assassins of Cæsar were alone ex-
empted; but most of these, probably, had already
perished; and Cn. Domitius, who had at least the
reputation of belonging to their number, was not
only freed from all personal danger by his previous
submission to Antonius, but a few years afterwards
was raised to the dignity of consul. In this manner
Sex. Pompeius earned the real glory of putting an
end to the worst part of the miseries of the civil
wars, and of closing that long course of banishments
and forfeitures by which the late revolution had
been accompanied. In the succeeding contests, the
leaders of parties, with a few of their principal offi-
cers, were all who suffered on the vanquished side;
proscription lists were no more needed, and the
old constitution having been already effectually de-
stroyed, there was no renewal of those scenes of
general devastation which had marked the convul-
sions of its overthrow. Society began to settle in
its new form, and to taste that tranquillity which,
during the later years of the life of Augustus, was
enjoyed so universally.
We shall make no apology for passing briefly over
the events of the eight following years which inter-
vened between the peace concluded with Sex. Pom-
peius, and the final contest between Augustus and
Antonius. When we can copy the narrative of a
good contemporary historian, the most ordinary times
deserve attention; but when we can only follow the
compilations of writers of a distant age, from whom
WAR IN THE EASTERN PROVINCES.
263
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
it is vain to expect a faithful picture of the physical CHAP.
condition of mankind, or of their opinions, feelings,
and morals, during the period under review, there U.C. 709
are many wars and intrigues which may be safely A.C. 45
dismissed with only a bare outline of their origin
and issue. Such, for instance, are the campaigns of
P. Ventidius and of Antonius himself against the
Parthians; the last war between Augustus and Sex.
Pompeius, and the deposition of Lepidus from that
scanty share of dominion which he had till then
been suffered to retain.
eastern
The Par-
overrun
Cilicia, and
Before the battle of Philippi, Brutus and Cassius War in the
had despatched an officer to the Parthian court 295 to provinces.
solicit the assistance of that power. The officer em- thians
ployed on this mission was a son of T. Labienus, of Syria,
that general who alone in Cæsar's army had remem- Asia.
bered his duty to his country, and had left the
standard under which he had gained so many laurels,
as soon as it became dishonoured by the guilt of
rebellion. His son, the younger Labienus, found the
Parthian court unwilling to give him a decisive
answer, and in this manner the time passed away,
till Brutus and Cassius had perished, and the aristo-
cratical party was utterly ruined. Labienus, fore-
seeing that his return to his own country was now
hopeless, continued to remain in Parthia; and when
it was known that M. Antonius had abandoned all
295 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 371, et seq. Velleius Paterculus, II.
78. Livy, Epitome, CXXVII.
1
264
THE PARTHIANS OVERRUN ASIA.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. public business for the society of Cleopatra in Egypt,
and that Augustus was engrossed in Italy with the
struggle between the army and the people, Labienus
prevailed on the Parthian king to seize the favour-
able moment and attack the Roman empire. A
large Parthian army was intrusted to his guidance,
and with this he suddenly invaded Syria. Many of
the Roman troops in that province had served under
Brutus and Cassius, and had passed under the
standard of Antonius after the battle of Philippi;
and these now immediately joined Labienus. Thus
strengthened, he was enabled to give battle to Deci-
dius Saxa, whom Antonius had made his lieutenant
in Syria, and totally defeated him. The conquest of
all Syria and Palestine, with the exception of the
single city of Tyre, was the result of this victory;
after which, Pacorus, the son of the Parthian king,
remained in the conquered provinces with a part of
the army, while Labienus, with the other part, ad-
vanced into Cilicia. There was no force capable of
resisting him, so that he not only occupied the
whole of Cilicia, but attacked the province of Asia,
obliged L. Plancus, the governor of the province, to
retire to one of the islands of the Ægean, and made
himself master of all the cities on the continent,
except Stratonicea, which he besieged for a long
time in vain. Yet the contest between Augustus
and L. Antonius in Italy seemed of more urgent
importance to M. Antonius than even the recovery
of the eastern provinces; and accordingly, as we
THEY ARE DRIVEN OUT BY VENTIDIUS.
265
From
X.
have seen, he hastened to return to Italy, and Labi- CHAP.
enus was left in the undisturbed possession of his
conquests till after the conclusion of the treaty be- U.C. 709
tween the Triumvirs and Sex. Pompeius, in the year A.C. 45
714.
to 722,
to 32.
driven out
conquests
tidius.
Immediately after that treaty 296, Antonius crossed They are
over into Greece, and despatched P. Ventidius be- of all their
fore him into Asia, to attack Labienus. The for- by P. Ven-
tune of that officer was as rapid in its ebb as it had
been in its flood; he was surprised, and driven out
of the province of Asia almost without resistance;
then, having halted on the frontiers of Cilicia, and
being reinforced by the Parthians, he was attacked
by Ventidius, and his army defeated and dispersed.
He himself fled in disguise, but was discovered soon
after, and, as it seems, put to death 297.
Cilicia was
thus recovered, and a second victory over the Par-
thians in Syria put the Romans again in possession
of all their former dominions, except the town of
Aradus, which being exceedingly strong in its natural
situation, was long and obstinately defended 298.
was in the following year, while Antonius was still
lingering in Greece, that Pacorus, the son of the
Parthian king, made a second attempt to reconquer
It
296 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 380. detailed and seemingly probable
Plutarch, in Antonio, 33.
297❝Extinctus est virtute et
ductu Ventidii,” are the words of
Paterculus: "P.Ventidius Parthos,
prælio victos, Syriâ expulit, La-
bieno eorum duce occiso," is the
account of the epitomizer of Livy.
But as it appears from the more
account of Dion Cassius, that La-
bienus was not killed in the field,
but was made prisoner, his death
seems to have taken place in the
manner described in the text, and
not in battle.
298 Strabo, XVI. 873, edit. Xy-
land.
་
266
RENEWAL OF THE WAR BETWEEN
X.
CHAP. Syria, and was defeated and slain by Ventidius in a
battle which the Romans dwelt on with peculiar
U.C. 709 delight, as a retaliation for the defeat and death of
From
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Renewal of
the war
between
Augustus
and Sex.
Crassus.
Augustus, probably, was by this time well aware
of the little danger he had to apprehend from the
character of Antonius; and he commenced, accord-
Pompeius. ingly, his attacks upon Sex. Pompeius, in order to
make himself sole sovereign of the western pro-
vinces, in a spirit of undisguised ambition, which a
more observant and active rival would have re-
pressed by a timely resistance. He at this time
received into his service a man of the name of
Menas 299
one of the ablest officers of Sex. Pom-
peius, who being an enfranchised slave and a mere
soldier of fortune, was tempted easily to follow a
master so much more powerful than his old one.
Menas, not content with his own desertion, gave up
to Augustus the islands of Sardinia and Corsica, and
an army of three legions, which had been intrusted
to his command; and when Pompeius remonstrated
against this breach of the treaty, Augustus answered
him by complaints of counter-violations of it on his
own part; accusing him of having built new ships of
war, and of still encouraging secretly the commission
of acts of piracy on trading vessels bound to Italy.
It appears that some of the men taken on board of
some piratical ships were put to the torture 300, and
299 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 384,
et seq. Appian, V. 77.
300 Καὶ ὁ Καϊσάρ τινα λῃστήρια
σvìλaßòv éßaσávičev. Appian,
V. 77.
AUGUSTUS AND SEX. POMPEIUS.
267
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
it was thus that the confession was extorted from CHAP.
them, that they were acting at the instigation of Sex.
Pompeius. On the other hand, Pompeius complained U.C. 709
that the exiles who had returned to Italy had not A.C. 45
recovered the portion of their property which had
been promised them, and that Achaia was not ceded
to him; but that Antonius was draining it to the ut-
most of all its wealth 30¹, that when he gave it up
it might be a useless acquisition to its new master.
When we compare the respective grounds of com-
plaint alleged by the two parties, and consider,
besides, which was most likely to be anxious for
a new rupture, there can be little doubt but that
Augustus was the aggressor, and that Pompeius was
in truth, according to the expression of Tacitus 802
deceived to his ruin by a mere show of peace.
Be this as it may, the war was speedily renewed,
and Augustus requested Antonius to co-operate with
him in conducting it. Antonius, who was then
in Greece, crossed over to Brundusium to meet
him 303; but not finding him there, he returned
again immediately with so little apparent cause for
his sudden departure, that men accounted for it ac-
cording to their own fancies, and some attributed it
to a superstitious alarm occasioned by a reported
prodigy. Perhaps he was glad of any excuse for not
taking part in the contest, and availed himself of
some rumours respecting the progress of the Parthians
77.
301 Dion Cassius, 385. Appian,
302 Annal. I. 10.
79.
303 Dion Cassius, 385. Appian,
喇
​1
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
268
TREATY OF TARENTUM BETWEEN
CHAP. in the East, as a reason for returning instantly to
his own provinces. Augustus, however, resolved to
carry on the war alone; but his first attempts to
invade Sicily were so foiled by storms and the re-
sistance of the enemy, that he recalled his ablest
lieutenant, M. Agrippa, from Gaul, to assume the
direction of his forces, and began to make prepara-
tions for another attempt on a scale proportioned to
the greatness of his power
Treaty of
Tarentum
between
Augustus
and M.
Antonius.
304
It seems to have been towards the close of the
year 715, when Augustus was greatly annoyed by
the disappointment of his hopes of conquest in Sicily,
U.C. 716. and irritated at receiving no assistance from Anto-
nius, that Antonius crossed over to Italy once more
with a fleet, as it is said, of three hundred ships of
war 305, which he seemed as much inclined to employ
against Augustus as in his behalf. His honour and
his interest, indeed, alike urged him to defend Sex.
Pompeius; but his unsteady resolutions were liable
to be influenced by any motive that could gain a
momentary ascendency over him; and on this occa-
sion, his wife, Octavia, was as injurious to her hus-
band's interests, by persuading him to peace with
her brother, as she was a few years afterwards, when
the affronts which she received from him became
one of the ostensible causes of the last decisive war.
Antonius and Augustus met at Tarentum; Anto-
nius contributed a large portion of his fleet for the
30+ Dion Cassius, 387. Ap-
pian, 96.
Ap- Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 390. Ap-
pian, V. 93.
305 Plutarch, in Antonio, 35.
1
AUGUSTUS AND M. ANTONIUS.
269
X.
to 722,
to 32.
prosecution of the Sicilian war, and received in CHAP.
exchange two legions from Augustus to strengthen From
the army which he intended soon to lead into Parthia. U.C. 709
Then, as the term of their Triumvirate was just ex- A.C. 45
piring, they renewed it, by their own sole authority,
for five years more; and to cement their union more
strongly, a further interchange of marriages between
the different members of their families was agreed
on, but was never carried into effect 306. When this
new arrangement was settled, Antonius left Italy, to
return to it no more; and consigning Octavia, as
well as his children by his former marriage, to the
care of Augustus, he immediately hastened into
Asia.
About this same time Augustus married his third Marriage of
306 The character of all these
transactions between the Triumvirs
is well given by Tacitus, in the
following words : — "Antonium
Tarentino Brundusinoque Fodere,
et nuptiis Sororis illectum, sub-
dolæ affinitatis pœnas morte exsol-
visse." Annal. I. 10. Augustus
and Antonius were the exact
the exact
counterparts of Louis XI. of
France, and Charles duke of Bur-
gundy; and the manner in which
Augustus amused his rival, till he
had cut off all his other opponents,
brings strongly to mind the cautious
observance which Louis showed
towards Charles, till he had de-
stroyed the count de St. Pol, and
divided and broken the power of
his own nobles, in whom the
house of Burgundy might have
found such useful auxiliaries. The
cunning and calculating cruelty of
Augustus, his wisdom in the choice
of his servants, his skill in cor-
rupting those of his rivals, the
address with which he made his
political talents supply his total
deficiencies as a general, and his
utter want of generosity and noble
feeling, are all represented over
again most faithfully in Louis XI.;
while the violent and headstrong
selfishness of Antonius, the cruel-
ties in which he indulged from
passion and resentment, the easi-
ness with which he was managed
by his adroit antagonist, that inca-
pability of pursuing his own in-
terest steadily, which rendered his
military prowess so often nugatory,
together with those gleams of a
noble spirit which sometimes burst
through the darker parts of his
character, are qualities which the
reader of Philip de Comines will
recognise as distinguishing the
unfortunate Charles of Burgundy.
Augustus
with Livia,
the wife of
Tib. Nero.
270
MARRIAGE OF AUGUSTUS WITH LIVIA.
X.
From
U.C 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. wife, Livia 307, who was given up to him by her hus-
band, Tiberius Nero, although she was at that very
time far advanced in her pregnancy. Into this act,
indecent and scandalous even in the estimation of
the Romans themselves, Augustus was hurried, it is
said, by his passion for the person of Livia; and this
union of mere sensuality with a temper of the
utmost coldness and heartlessness, is by no means
uncommon, and shows with what facility vices, appa-
rently the most opposite, can exist together in a
character totally unprincipled. We have already
mentioned that the first marriage of Augustus with
Clodia, the daughter-in-law of Antonius, originated
altogether in political views, insomuch that he
treated her with total neglect even while their con-
nexion nominally lasted; and he divorced her when
her mother, Fulvia, joined with L. Antonius in
opposing his dominion in Italy. He then married
Scribonia 308, the daughter of L. Scribonius Libo, and
whose sister was the wife of Sex. Pompeius; and
the second marriage was concluded like the first,
from mere motives of personal interest, when he
dreaded the union of Antonius and Sex. Pompeius
against him soon after the siege of Perusia, and was
anxious to form some connexion with those whose
influence might be supposed to be powerful over
Pompeius. But Scribonia's conduct, according to
his own account, was exceedingly profligate 309, and
307 Velleius Paterculus, II. 79.
Tacitus, Annal. I. 10; V. 1.
309"Cum hâc etiam divortium
fecit, pertæsus, ut scribit, morum
308 Suetonius, in Augusto, 62. perversitatem ejus." Suetonius, in
Appian, V. 53.
Augusto, 62.
RUIN OF SEX. POMPEIUS.
271
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
he chose to divorce her, it is said, on the very day CHAP.
on which she became the mother of his daughter, From
Julia 310; though, as we are told that he was already U.C. 709
enamoured of Livia, the guilt of Scribonia may be
as doubtful as that of Anne Boleyn, whom her hus-
band accused of infidelity when his own affections
were diverted to a new object. It should be re-
membered, that when Augustus formed his new
connexion with Livia, after having been twice
married from political views, and having been twice
divorced, he was still no more than twenty-five or
twenty-six years of age.
of the Sici-
The whole of the year 716 was employed by Beginning
Augustus and Agrippa in completing their naval lian war.
preparations. The Italians and the provinces were
again oppressed with a fresh load of taxation to
furnish the money that was required 311; while the
establishments of all senators, members of the eques-
trian order, and other wealthy individuals, were
called upon to supply a certain number of slaves to
man the fleet as rowers. It was on this occasion,
also, that M. Agrippa converted the lakes Lucrinus
and Avernus, on the coast of Campania, into har-
bours, in which the ships might be assembled 312, and
where the seamen might be exercised at the oar in
perfect safety, alike secured from storms and from
the enemy.
At length, in the spring of 717,
Augustus commenced his operations, being sup-
ported not only by the fleet which he had received
310 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 377.
311 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 387.
312 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 387.
Velleius Paterculus, II. 79.
CHAP.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
272 DISPUTES BETWEEN AUGUSTUS AND LEPIDUS.
from Antonius, but by the military and naval force
of the province of Africa, which the third member
of the Triumvirate, M. Lepidus, was to bring over
to his aid. A force thus overwhelming could gain
little glory by its victory 313; but Sex. Pompeius
bravely resisted it, and in one engagement totally
defeated the enemy's fleet, commanded by Augustus
in person, and reduced to the utmost distress the
legions which, under the command of Cornificius,
had effected a descent on the coast of Sicily. They
were, however, relieved by M. Agrippa; and soon
Sex. Pom- after, Sex. Pompeius having been defeated by
conquered. Agrippa in a general naval engagement 314, and being
utterly unable to withstand the united forces of
Augustus and Lepidus on shore, abandoned the
contest, and escaped with his family and most valu-
able effects to Peloponnesus.
peius is
Disputes
between
and Lepi-
dus.
The moment was now favourable to Augustus for
Augustus ridding himself of another rival. Some disputes had
already arisen between him and Lepidus, because
Lepidus naturally objected to that tone of supe-
riority which his associate pretended to assume 315;
313 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 392,
et seq.
Velleius Paterculus, 79.
Livy, Epitome, CXXIX.
314 The whole account of this
battle, given by Dion Cassius, is
almost a transcript of the famous
description of the decisive defeat
of the Athenians in the harbour
of Syracuse, in the seventh book
of Thucydides, 70, 71. We care
little for the plagiarism; but it
shows the manner in which the
later Greek historians compiled
their narratives, not giving au-
thentic accounts of the battles or
sieges which they profess to de-
scribe, but borrowing some famous
passage of description from one of
their old writers, and applying it,
without scruple, to their own
immediate subject.
315 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 398, et
Velleius Paterculus, II. 80.
seq.
:
LEPIDUS IS DESERTED BY HIS ARMY.
273
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
but the quarrel came to an height when the army CHAP.
of Sex. Pompeius at Messina surrendered to Lepidus
in the absence of Augustus; and Lepidus saw no U.C. 709
reason for yielding up to his colleague a force which A.C. 45
had voluntarily submitted to himself. In this state
of things, Augustus presented himself, with only a
small guard attending his person, at the camp of
Lepidus; and being allowed to enter without sus-
picion, he began to tamper with the soldiers of his
rival, trusting that his superior power and ability
would prevail on them to desert to him. But he
was disappointed in this hope, and the soldiers of
Lepidus, irritated by his proposals, fell upon him
and his escort, and obliged him to save his life by a
precipitate flight. When treachery had thus failed,
he applied himself to open force, and bringing up
his whole army, prepared to besiege the camp of
Lepidus. Lepidus, destitute of all personal influence Lepidus is
over his soldiers, saw them now gradually abandon his army,
him, and go over to his enemy; till at length, de- prived by
spairing of his fortune, he laid aside his general's of all his
dress, and, in a mean habit, betook himself to the U.C. 718.
camp of Augustus, and prostrated himself before his
feet. With that nice discrimination which led him
to shed no blood, unless it were for his interest, and
to show no mercy towards those whom he respected
and feared, Augustus merely deprived Lepidus of
his power as Triumvir, and granted him the free
enjoyment of his life and of his private property,
while he put to death, with few exceptions, every
senator and member of the equestrian order whom
VOL. II.
T
deserted by
and de-
Augustus
power.
From
X.
274
MUTINY OF THE ARMY
CHAP. he found amongst the followers of Pompeius, and
either gave up all the slaves amongst his prisoners
to their former masters for execution, or, if their
masters could not be found, ordered them himself
to be crucified.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
Mutiny of
the army
by Augus-
tus.
Immediately after these great successes, the army
suppressed in Sicily 316, conscious of its power, began to mutiny;
and finding that their demands were not listened to,
the legions petitioned for their discharge, imagining
that Augustus would be afraid to disband them, and
thus leave himself exposed to the attacks of Anto-
nius. But the example of his uncle's conduct in
similar circumstances was not lost upon him; he
professed his readiness to comply with their wishes,
and first discharged all those who had served under
him against M. Antonius at Mutina; he then dis-
missed every soldier who had been enlisted as long
as ten years; but to these last he refused to give the
rewards and settlements in land which they had
expected, and by this punishment, and by declaring
that he would never again employ any of the troops
whom he should now discharge, he terrified the rest
of the army, and made them desirous of continuing
in his service. Having thus restored order, he pro-
ceeded to conciliate the late mutineers by a display
of his liberality. Besides various honorary rewards,
and a donation in money, he assigned to them those
settlements in land which they coveted above every
thing else; and, to increase the value of the gift, he
316 Velleius Paterculus, II. 81. Dion Cassius, XLIX. 399.
SUPPRESSED BY AUGUSTUS.
275
purchased, we are told, a large tract of country in CHAP.
Campania, to be divided amongst his soldiers 317, and
not
317 Dion Cassius and Paterculus,
locis citatis. We have copied the
statement of Dion Cassius, but
without being at all confident of
its accuracy. Capua, as we be-
lieve, became a Roman colony in
consequence of the Julian law,
passed by Cæsar in his first con-
sulship, u.c. 694. But the soil of
this part of Campania was so much
coveted, that succeeding dema-
gogues or usurpers were
pleased to be deprived of a means
of bribing or rewarding their fol-
lowers; and accordingly we find
that M. Antonius, soon after
Cæsar's death, planted new colo-
nies in Campania, regardless of the
rights of those already established
there, and encroaching in parti-
cular on the territory of Capua.
Cicero, Philippic. II. 39, 40. Ap-
pian tells us, that Capua was one
of the cities which the Triumvirs
gave up to their soldiers when
they commenced their usurpation.
Probably it was not a military
colony, and its inhabitants might
therefore have been ejected with-
out scruple. But a colony of
veterans seems to have been settled
there, when Augustus divided so
large a portion of all Italy amongst
his soldiers, after the battle of
Philippi. This colony, however,
was capable of receiving a greater
number of inhabitants: erоíкov
ἡ πόλις πολλῶν ἐδεῖτο, are the
words of Dion Cassius. Possibly
the veterans who had been settled
there had been tempted to serve
again either under Augustus or
Antonius, and many of them may
thus have perished, either in the
East or in the actions with Sex.
Pompeius. Besides, the decay of
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
these military colonies was often A.C. 45
inconceivably rapid, from the ha- to 32.
bitual extravagance of the soldiers
and their ignorance of farming;
so that they soon parted with their
shares, and were eager to go to
the wars again, to entitle them-
selves to a new division of spoil.
But it was competent to the go-
vernment to fill up the numbers of
colonies thus diminished;
" Colo-
nos novos adscribi posse," Cicero,
Philippic. II. 40, because the state
never lost its right of re-entering
into the possession of its demesne
lands, if the tenants to whom they
had been granted, or their heirs,
ceased to occupy them. Accord-
ing to Dion Cassius, however, we
must suppose that Augustus gave
the revenues in Crete to the old
colonists of Capua, as a compensa-
tion for the land which he re-
claimed, for the purposes of the
state, in Campania, and which
may have come into their hands
as the shareholders dropped off,
in the same way that the national
lands were so often usurped of old
by the rich citizens, as the small
landholders became obliged to
part with their shares. But if we
could be sure that Dion Cassius
had copied his account from Vel-
leius Paterculus-—and certainly the
passages strongly resemble one
another-we should think that he
had misunderstood the writer
whom he was following, and that
Paterculus had meant to say, that
the revenues in Crete were given
to the Roman treasury as a com-
pensation for the loss of the Cam-
panian rents, which were at all
times so valuable a part of the
revenue, and which were con-
T
2
!
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
276
HONOURS PAID TO AUGUSTUS
CHAP. repaid the former colonists of Capua by a grant of
a larger revenue arising from some lands in Crete.
Before he returned to Rome, he was desirous of
crossing over into Africa, to superintend the settle-
ment of that province, which, on the deposition of
Lepidus, had submitted to his authority without
resistance; but he was prevented by a continuance
of stormy weather 318; and thus, it is said, Africa and
Sardinia were the only provinces in the empire
which in the course of his life he never visited.
Honours
paid to
Augustus
on his
return to
Italy.
He returned to Italy in time to check a rising
insurrection in Tuscany; this is all that Dion Cas-
sius tells us 319; nor have we any means of estimating
the magnitude of the danger from which his timely
victory in Sicily had delivered him. But, as it was,
he found nothing in Italy but an excess of servility.
He seemed already to be regarded as the sovereign
of the empire; for he had for some years resided
amidst the Romans, while Antonius was engaged in
distant wars, or had been revelling in Greece and in
Egypt; and now Antonius appeared to be altogether
forgotten, while the senate, if we may still call it by
that name, was lavishing on Augustus those exces-
stantly, paid by the small farmers
who cultivated those parts of the
national lands, which had not yet
been divided out as colonies. See
Cicero, de Lege Agrariâ, Orat. II.
30, 31.
We should apologize, perhaps,
to the general reader for this long
and unsatisfactory note; but if
any person, well conversant with
Roman history, should peruse
these pages, the statement of what
is to us a difficulty may, perhaps,
direct his attention more success-
fully to the same subject; and
thus even a display of our own
ignorance may possibly not be
without its benefit to our readers.
318 Suetonius, in Augusto, 47.
319 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 400.
ON HIS RETURN TO ITALY.
277
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
sive and odious distinctions which had before been CHAP.
heaped upon his uncle. As if in ridicule of its own
flattery, we are told that the senate presented to U.C. 709
Augustus a list of the different honours which had
been voted to him 320, that he might either accept
the whole, or select as many as he thought proper.
It is said that he chose the following: to enter the
city with the ceremony of the smaller triumph, or
ovation; that his victory should be commemorated
every year by some days of solemn thanksgiving; and
that his statue in a triumphal dress should be erected
in the forum, on the top of a pillar ornamented with
the beaks of ships. The dignity of Pontifex Maxi-
mus, which was held by M. Lepidus, was also offered
to him; but as it could only be legally vacated by
death, he refused to accept it; he was invested, how-
ever, with the more valuable character of perpetual
tribune 321 ; that is, his person was declared sacred;
and to offer any violence to him was made as great
a crime as to injure the person of a tribune. On
his first arrival at Rome, he addressed the senate
and the people successively in set speeches, which he
afterwards published, and which contained a general
exposition of his whole political career. He then
promised his hearers the enjoyment of a state of
peace and prosperity; and in some measure to verify
his words, he remitted all the yet unpaid taxes which
he had imposed for the support of the war with Sex.
Pompeius, and gave a general discharge to all those
:
320 Appian, V. 130.
321 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 401.
278 HIS PERFIDY TOWARDS THE FREEDMEN
CHAP. who were indebted to the treasury before the com-
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
mencement of the civil war; but this last piece of
liberality excited some ridicule, inasmuch as he made
a merit of resigning what he had little chance of
ever recovering. The system of audacious robbery
which the distresses of the times had long fostered
in Rome, he now took effectual measures for sup-
pressing 322; and by the establishment of a strong
night patrole, and the appointment of an officer with
those ample powers with which the special commis-
sions even under the old government had always
been invested, he is said to have delivered the
country entirely from this evil in the space of a
His perfidy twelvemonth. Another of his measures rivalled in
freedmen cruelty the sweeping massacres of Sylla, and was
marked by a perfidy which was eminently character-
Pompeius. istic of Augustus. Great numbers of slaves had en-
towards the
who had
served
under Sex.
listed some years before in the service of Sex. Pom-
peius 323, and when he concluded his treaty with the
Triumvirs, it was stipulated that all these persons
should be allowed their liberty, and might return in
safety to Italy 324. But Augustus suspecting that
they would cherish a fondness for the memory of
Sex. Pompeius, which would make them disaffected
towards himself, is said to have sent sealed orders to
all his armies, with directions that they were all to
be opened on the same day; and on that day all the
freedmen, who had gained their liberty from the
treaty between Pompeius and the Triumvirs, were
320 Appian, V. 132.
323
Appian, V. 131.
324 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 378.
Appian, V. 72.
WHO HAD SERVED UNDER SEX. POMPEIUS. 279
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
arrested and sent to Rome. Augustus then ordered CHAP.
them all to be given back to their former masters, or
to their masters' heirs, if they belonged to a Roman,
an Italian, or a Sicilian; and if no one appeared to
claim them, they were sent to the cities in which
they had lived in their state of slavery, and were
there put to death. A somewhat similar act of
bloody treachery is recorded to have been committed
by the Spartans upon those of their helots whose
spirit and enterprise they most dreaded; but while
the Spartans have been ever justly condemned for
this and other such deeds, the memory of Augustus
has escaped the detestation which it deserves; and
this perfidy and cruelty has been called, even by
a modern historian, "a severe, but well-concerted
reform
325 "
tures of
Sex. Pompeius did not long survive this treat- Last adven-
ment of his old followers. When he reached the Sex. Pom-
peius.
coast of Peloponnesus, he was joined by several
325 Ferguson, V. 7. In this
instance, as well as in the account
of Sylla's massacre, which we for-
merly noticed, Ferguson has com-
pletely misrepresented the facts of
the case; for he entirely omits to
mention that the slaves were men
who had served under Sex. Pom-
peius; that they had received
their liberty by a solemn treaty;
and that they were living peace-
ably, as far as appears, in Italy, at
the moment at which they were
treacherously seized. According
to Ferguson, they were slaves
who, having deserted during the
civil war, were "taken into the
levies which were continually
forming by different parties ;" and
Octavius wished "to purge the
army of a dangerous class of men
by whom it was overcharged and
contaminated." If, indeed, the
freedmen, who had formerly served
under Pompeius, had enlisted since
their emancipation in the army of
Augustus, it only enhances the
atrocity of his conduct towards
them; but it does not appear that
they had done so, but rather that
they were living peaceably in
Italy on the faith of that treaty
which had stipulated for their
liberty.
280
LAST ADVENTURES OF SEX. POMPEIUS.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. vessels which had escaped from Sicily; but despair-
ing of continuing the war, he recommended their
captains to provide for their own safety, and him-
self, with a very small force which he still retained,
sailed for Asia, with the intention of requesting the
protection of Antonius. He first stopped at the
island of Lesbos, at that very city of Mitylene 326, in
which his mother and himself, then a boy, had re-
ceived his father in his flight from the battle of
Pharsalia, and where the inhabitants still cherished
with a fond regard the memory of his father's virtues.
The kind reception which they gave him revived his
hopes; at the same time he received tidings of the
disastrous expedition of Antonius against the Par-
thians, and of the dissension between Augustus and
Lepidus in Sicily. He is said accordingly to have
played a double part, on the one hand endeavouring
to win the support of the Parthians, and on the
other soliciting the friendship of Antonius, when he
found that he had returned from Parthia in safety.
But we are told also that C. Furnius 327, who was the
lieutenant of Antonius in the province of Asia, had
shown an unfriendly disposition towards Pompeius
from the first moment of his arrival at Lesbos; and
that M. Titius, whom Antonius had sent from Syria
to oppose him, on the first tidings of his hostile pur-
poses, had formerly received kindnesses from him,
which he had repaid by deserting his service and
going over to Antonius. What provocation then
326 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 402.
Appian, V. 133.
827 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 402.
1
.
HE IS PUT TO DEATH IN ASIA.
281
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
these two officers may have given, or how far they CHAP.
may have misrepresented to their general the con-
duct of Pompeius, is difficult to say; but we are U.C. 709
told, that Pompeius having collected a small force, A.C. 45
partly from his own partisans, who now again joined
him after their dispersion, and partly from that dis-
tressed portion of the population which seems in
these times to have abounded in every quarter of the
empire, and to have been always ready to follow any
standard in the hope of plunder, began to act in
a hostile manner in Asia. Some of his principal
friends 328, and among the rest his own father-in-law
L. Libo, are said to have left him, from a conviction
of the utter hopelessness of his cause, and to have
made their own terms with the officers of Antonius.
Pompeius himself was willing to surrender himself
to C. Furnius 329, but this offer was refused; and he
could not bear to put himself in the power of Titius,
whom he considered an ungrateful traitor.
being overpowered by the force brought against him,
and having in vain endeavoured to make his way
into the interior of Asia Minor, he was finally taken
prisoner, and, as might have been expected, was put
to death by Titius 330, at Miletus. It is the more He is put
probable account that this act was committed with- Asia by
out the knowledge of Antonius; but it was received of the lieu-
by Augustus at Rome as a triumph won by his Antonius.
associate ³¹, and he celebrated it by rejoicings, and
331
328 Appian, V. 139.
329 Appian, V. 141.
330 Appian, V. 144. Strabo, III.
150, edit. Xyland.
But
331 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 403.
to death in
Titius, one
tenants of
U.C. 719.
282
WAR WITH THE PANNONIANS.
CHAP. by paying some public compliments to Antonius,
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
while the people at large, indignant at the death of
the last surviving son of the great Pompey, retained
a strong detestation of Titius as the author of it; and
some time afterwards, when he was exhibiting some
games in the theatre of Pompey 332, he was driven
from the theatre by a general burst of public feel-
ing, as if one of the monuments of Pompey's muni-
ficence ought not to be profaned by the presence of
the murderer of his son.
In the interval which followed before the com-
mencement of the final contest with Antonius, we
read of several wars carried on by Augustus and his
lieutenants against the rude tribes inhabiting the
Alps, and against the Dalmatians 333; it is men-
tioned, also, that he now led the Roman armies, for
the first time, against the Pannonians, who lived
between Dalmatia and the Danube, and whom he
attacked without any provocation, for the mere ob-
ject of keeping his soldiers in employment. On his
return from these wars to Rome, fresh honours were
lavished upon him in the distinctions conferred upon
his wife Livia 334, and his sister Octavia, whose per-
sons were declared sacred, like those of the tribunes;
and they were allowed the privilege of managing
their own affairs without a guardian or trustee,
whose agency was necessary to all women in legal
transactions, as no female was supposed to be inde-
pendent, or was capable of acting in her own name.
332 Velleius Paterculus, II. 79.
333 Livy, Epitome, CXXXI.
Dion Cassius, XLIX. 412, 413.
334 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 414.
QUARREL BETWEEN AUGUSTUS AND ANTONIUS. 283
year
From
X.
to 722,
to 32.
nings of the
quarrel
Augustus
and Anto-
nius.
The Triumvirs had renewed their power for a CHAP.
period of five years, as we have already seen, from
the beginning of the year 716; and the succession U.C. 709
to the ordinary offices of the Commonwealth had A.C. 45
been settled for eight years, when the Triumvirs con- First begin-
cluded their treaty with Sex. Pompeius in the
714. According to this arrangement, the Triumvi- between
rate properly expired on the last day of the year and
720; and Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus and C. Sosius
were the persons who had been named as consuls for
the year 721. Already were the signs of an ap-
proaching quarrel between Augustus and Antonius
become clearly visible. Antonius could not be in-
sensible to the great accession of power which his
rival had gained by his acquisition of Sicily, Sardinia,
and Africa; nor was this his only ground of com-
plaint 335; but he expressed his dissatisfaction that
Augustus had appropriated to himself the military
resources of Italy, which were to be divided jointly be-
tween them; and that in assigning settlements in lands
to the veteran soldiers, he had confined his grants
almost exclusively to those who had served particu-
larly under his own standard. Augustus, in reply,
taxed Antonius with having on his part occupied
Armenia, and having brought disgrace on the Roman
name by the treacherous murder of its king; he said
Egypt was, in fact, become his province through his
connexion with Cleopatra; and that his soldiers
could not claim their share of settlements in Italy
335 Dion Cassius, I. 419. Plutarch, in Antonio, 55.
284
CONSULSHIP OF SOSIUS AND DOMITIUS.
X.
From
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. till they chose to divide, with equal fairness, what
they had won themselves in Media and Parthia.
This was a mere insult on the disasters of Antonius's
late expedition into those countries; and there was
hardly more weight in another accusation which
Dion Cassius ascribes to Augustus, namely, that
Antonius had put Sex. Pompeius to death, whereas
he himself had purposely allowed him to escape from
Sicily. But Augustus's main reliance was on the
feeling of national pride which he hoped to awaken
in the Romans, by representing his rival as one who
had cast off his duty to his country, and was become
the mere slave of a foreign queen. With this view
every tale of the levities in which Antonius indulged
in his hours of festivity with Cleopatra, and of the
attentions and gallantries which he paid to her, was
eagerly caught up and industriously circulated; and
the public were taught to deplore the degradation of
the majesty of the Roman name, because Antonius
had assumed the character of gymnasiarch, or master
of the gymnastic exercises at Alexandria 336; because
he had called Cleopatra his queen and sovereign
lady; and because she had some Roman soldiers
amongst her guards, and her name was inscribed on
their shields as their commander and mistress.
Consulship
of C. Sosius
and Cn.
Domitius.
T.C. 721.
But the two consuls, C. Sosius and Cn. Domitius,
were friends of Antonius, and as the Triumvirate was
now legally at an end, the consular power might
seem entitled to resume its ancient ascendency.
336 Dion Cassius, I. 421.
THE CONSULS REPAIR TO ANTONIUS.
285
337
,
X.
of From
he U.C, 709
to 722,
to 32.
Accordingly, on the very first day of the year CHAP.
C. Sosius delivered a speech full of the praises
Antonius, and of invective against Augustus; and
would have immediately proceeded to employ the AC, 45
authority of his office in some measure adverse to
the interests of the latter, had not Nonius Balbus,
one of the tribunes, interposed with his negative.
But this revival of the legal government of the
Commonwealth was, of all things, most unwelcome
to Augustus; he returned, therefore, speedily to
Rome (for he had absented himself purposely from
the meeting of the senate on the first of January),
assembled the senate, and surrounding his person
with a military force, and with a multitude of his
partisans, armed, it is said, with concealed daggers,
he took his seat on the curule chair, which he was
used to occupy, between the chairs of the consuls,
and after having spoken at some length in defence
of himself, he uttered a strong invective, in his turn,
against Sosius and Antonius. The actual presence
of his soldiers intimated sufficiently that "the master
of the legions" was not a person with whom it was
safe to argue; no one therefore answered him, and
he summoned the senate to meet again on a fixed
day, when he assured them that he would produce
written proofs of the unworthiness of Antonius.
Meanwhile the consuls, followed by a considerable The con-
number of senators, left the capital privately, and Rome, and
repaired to Antonius; while Augustus, to avoid the Antonius.
337 Dion Cassius, I. 419.
suls leave
repair to
286
ANTONIUS RENOUNCES AUGUSTUS.
From
X.
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. odium which their retirement cast upon him, pre-
tended that he had himself allowed them freely to
U.C. 709 withdraw, and that he would not oppose the depar-
ture of any other friends of Antonius, who might
wish in like manner to join him. It appears that
Antonius had already begun to prepare for war 338;
and that both Cleopatra and himself were about this
time in Asia Minor, while their land and sea forces
were gathering together in the same quarter and in
the Ægean. Here he heard of the proceedings which
were going on against him at Rome 339, of the sub-
sequent meeting of the senate which took place after
the departure of the consuls, and of the language
which Augustus used both in speaking and writing
concerning him. Upon this he assembled a sort of
counter-senate, consisting of the numerous senators
Augustus, who had repaired to him from Rome. After much
Octavia. debate, it was resolved that the war should be un-
Antonius
renounces
his con-
nexion with
and divorces
dertaken; and Antonius sent a formal divorce to
Octavia, exactly as Augustus had divorced his first
wife, Clodia, on the occasion of his quarrel with her
mother Fulvia and with L. Antonius. But the no-
toriety of the connexion of Antonius with Cleopatra,
made it appear that Octavia was rather sacrificed to
his passion for the Egyptian queen, than divorced on
account of his quarrel with her brother; and this
also was used as a topic on which to excite the na-
tional pride of the Romans, by representing a noble
Roman lady as dishonoured and despised by her
338 Plutarch, in Antonio, 56.
339 Dion Cassius, I. 420.
HE IS DESERTED BY PLANCUS AND TITIUS. 287
X.
husband, in order to gratify the jealousy of his bar- CHAP.
barian paramour.
From
to 722,
to 32.
L. Plancus
and M.
This feeling, indeed, was not confined to the U.C. 709
Romans of the capital; even the officers of Antonius A.C. 45
were disgusted at the evident influence which Cleo- He is de-
patra exercised over him, and against which their serted by
wisest counsels were sure to be offered ineffectually. Titius.
They might conjecture, too, from the infatuation of
their general, the probable result of the war; and
thus L. Plancus 340, who had formerly made so many
professions of fidelity to the old constitution, and
had afterwards joined the Triumvirs, and procured
from them the murder of his own brother as one of
the rewards of his treason, now deserted the cause of
Antonius. Accompanied by his nephew, M. Titius,
the author of the death of Sex. Pompeius 41, he
hastened to Rome to transfer his services to Augustus.
Plancus and Titius had been deeply trusted by An-
tonius, and they now betrayed to his enemy every
secret of which they were in possession. Amongst They be-
the rest they intimated to him the contents of the contents of
will of Antonius, which they had themselves attested, Augustus,
and informed him in whose care it was deposited. lishes them
Augustus immediately got this document into his senate and
power 342 and with shameless baseness broke open
the seals, and read the contents of it publicly, first
to the senate, and afterwards to the assembly of the
people. The clause in it which especially induced
340 Dion Cassius, I. 420. Plu-
tarch, in Antonio, 58.
341 Velleius Paterculus, II. 83.
Plu-
Suetonius,
342 Dion Cassius, 420.
tarch, in Antonio, 58.
in Augusto, 17.
tray the
his will to
who pub-
before the
people.
288
HIS WILL PUBLISHED TO THE SENATE.
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
CHAP. Augustus to commit this act, was one in which
Antonius desired that his body might, after his death,
be carried to Alexandria, and there buried by the
side of Cleopatra. This proof of his romantic passion
for a foreigner, seemed in the eyes of the Romans to
attest his utter degeneracy, and induced the populace
at least to credit the inventions of his enemies, who
asserted that it was his intention, if victorious in the
approaching contest, to give up Rome to the domi-
nion of Cleopatra, and to transfer the seat of empire
from the banks of the Tiber to those of the Nile.
It is clear, from the language of those poets who
wrote under the patronage of Augustus 343, that this
was the light in which the war was industriously
represented; that every effort was made to give it
the character of a contest with a foreign enemy, and
to array on the side of Augustus the national pride
and jealousy of the people of Rome. Nor were
these arts unsuccessful; insomuch, that the infamy
of stealing and divulging the contents of a will was
forgotten in the indignation felt by the Romans at
313" Antehac nefas depromere Cæcubum
Cellis avitis; dum Capitolio
Regina dementes ruinas,
Funus et imperio parabat,
Contaminato cum grege turpium
Morbo virorum."-Horace, Carm. I. ode 37.
“Hinc Augustus agens Italos in prælia Cæsar,
Cum Patribus Populoque, Penatibus et Magnis Diis,
Hinc ope barbaricâ, variisque Antonius armis,-
-sequiturque, nefas! Egyptia conjux!
*
*
*
*
*
*
Omnigenumque Deûm monstra, et latrator Anubis
Contra Neptunum et Venerem, contraque Minervam,
Tela tenent."-Virgil, Æneid. VIII. v. 678. 685. 698.
WAR DECLARED AGAINST CLEOPATRA.
289
X.
to 722,
to 32.
the preference shown by Antonius to Egypt, rather CHAP.
than to his own country; and it is said that the From
senate, as soon as they had heard the will read, de- U.C. 709
creed that Antonius should be deprived of the con- A.C. 45
sulship to which he was to have succeeded in the
following year
344, and of all his other authority as an
officer of the Roman Commonwealth. His adhe-
rents moreover were encouraged to desert him by
promises of indemnity and honours.
of war
Cleopatra.
At the same time war was declared against Cleo- Declaration
patra, and Augustus discharged the office of fecialis against
or herald, in going through all the usual ceremonies
in denouncing it. But for a contest of this magni-
tude, immense resources were requisite; and accord-
ingly Augustus imposed an income tax of twenty-
five per cent. on all the free citizens who possessed
any land in Italy 345, and a tax upon capital at the
rate of 127. 10s. per cent. on all freedmen who were
worth fifty thousand denarii, or about 16147. The
inequality of these burdens was greatly resented by
the freedmen, and numerous disturbances were the
consequence, insomuch that it was supposed that the
appearance of Antonius in Italy at that moment
would have ensured him a complete victory over his
rival. But whether Antonius was not sufficiently
advanced in his preparations to risk such an attempt,
or whether there was any failure of enterprise on his
part, it is certain that Augustus was suffered to
crush the discontents of Italy without any interrup-
344 Dion Cassius, I. 421.
3.45 Dion Cassius, I. 424. Plutarch, in Antonio, 58.
VOL. II.
U
From
X.
U.C. 709
to 722,
A.C. 45
to 32.
290 WAR DECLARED AGAINST CLEOPATRA.
CHAP. tion. His fleet was assembled in the neighbourhood
of Brundusium 316, and threatened the opposite coast
of Epirus, about the autumn of the year 722; and
Antonius judging it too late in the season to com-
mence any active operations, fell back from Corcyra,
to which place he had advanced in the hope of carry-
ing the war into Italy before his adversary was ready
to meet him, and passed the winter at Patræ, on
the north-western coast of Peloponnesus. And thus
having brought the two parties to the eve of the
decisive struggle, we shall here pause in our narra-
tive; and referring our readers to the history of
Egypt
347 for the details of the Actian war, we shall
hereafter resume the story of Augustus at the
period when his ambition was fully gratified, and
he was become the sole sovereign of the Roman
empire.
346 Dion Cassius, 424.
347 Ency. Metrop.
CHAPTER XI.
CAIUS OCTAVIUS CÆSAR AUGUSTUS.-A VIEW OF THE
HISTORY OF ROME.
A.C. 32 TO A.D. 13.
FROM U.C. 722 TO U.c. 766,
From
XI.
A.D. 13.
If we were to judge of God's moral government CHAP.
exclusively from the various earthly fortune of good
and bad men, there are few instances of successful U.C. 722
to 766,
wickedness which would more disturb our faith than A.C. 32 to
that of the long and peaceful reign of Augustus
Cæsar. Other usurpers have enjoyed till their death
their ill-gotten power, but it has been beset by fears
and anxieties; and the severity of their government
has betrayed their consciousness of the real feelings
with which they were regarded, and has proved that
they could truly anticipate the sentence which after-
ages would pass upon their memory. But Augustus
reigned amidst the grateful obedience of his people;
and the flattery with which his own court resounded,
has been echoed by successive generations, till he
has been habitually ranked amongst the best and
greatest of sovereigns; and the period of his domi-
nion has been considered synonymous with the
highest state of civilization and public prosperity.
Yet the man thus eulogized had shown himself
U 2
i.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
292 AugustUS SETTLES THE GOVERNMENT OF EGYPT.
CHAP. capable of every wickedness, so long as his interests
required it; and the merit of his later years consists
only in that clearness of understanding which taught
him that power, although most readily gained by
crime, was most wisely exercised in promoting the
happiness of mankind; and that justice and mercy,
when they demanded no personal sacrifices, were
only a means, as easy as effectual, of promoting at
once his own security and greatness.
Augustus
settles the
of Egypt.
The conquest of Egypt became a most seasonable
government source of riches to Augustus, and he availed him-
self of it to the utmost. It is said that, besides the
immense treasures accumulated by Cleopatra¹, and
the heavy forfeitures imposed on all those Egyptians
who had served their queen with most distinction
during the late war, a tax was imposed on the whole
people of Egypt to the amount of two-thirds of their
property, besides a heavy contribution levied on the
citizens of Alexandria, as a ransom for the exemp-
tion of their city from plunder. In this manner
Augustus, we are told, was enabled to pay all the
arrears due to the army, and to discharge his obliga-
tions to those creditors who had lent him money for
the expenses of the war; while at the same time he
carried off a great number of magnificent offerings
which had ornamented the temples of Egypt, and
were now to be laid up in those at Rome. It is
said, too, that after all the spoliations, the wealth and
resources of Egypt appeared to him so formidable,
¹ Dion Cassius, LI. 455, edit. Leunclavii.
1
HONOURS DECREED TO HIM BY THE SENATE. 293
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
that he was afraid to intrust that province to the CHAP.
charge of any man of rank or influence, lest he should
raise up a rival to himself. He, therefore, committed U.C. 722
the government of the country to Cornelius Gallus, A.C. 32 to
a citizen of the equestrian order, and a person of
very
low extraction 2; he would not allow the city
of Alexandria to possess any municipal council; and
he declared all Egyptians incapable of being ad-
mitted into the senate at Rome. At the same time
he employed his soldiers in clearing out many of the
old canals with which the country had been formerly
intersected ³, and which had been for a long period
choked up by the mud and sand deposited in the
successive inundations of the Nile. He then de-
parted from Egypt, passed through Syria, and thence
continued his progress to the province of Asia,
wherein he resolved to remain during the winter.
3
decreed to
senate.
The tidings of his final victory over Antonius Honours
and Cleopatra, arrived at Rome in the month of him by the
September, when, by a curious coincidence, M. U.C. 723.
Cicero, the son of the orator, was just entering on
his consulship; for that office, which was now a
mere empty title, was not held as formerly, for the
whole year; but, in order to multiply the patronage
of the sovereign, was given successively to several
persons, each of whom only retained it for two or
three months. Although it might have been thought
2 Dion Cassius, LI. 455. Sueto-
nius, in Augusto, 66.
4 Dion Cassius, LI. 456. Pliny,
Hist. Natural. XXII. 6. Plutarch,
3 Dion Cassius, LI. 456. Sueto- in Cicerone, 49.
nius, in Augusto, 18.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
294
CLOSING OF THE TEMPLE OF JANUS.
CHAP. that all conceivable modes of flattery to the con-
queror had been already exhausted, yet the senate,
on this occasion, was once more lavish of its honours
A.C. 32 to to the chief of the victorious party, and of its marks
of disgrace on the memory of the vanquished. All
monuments in honour of Antonius were ordered to
be defaced or destroyed; the day of his birth was
to be held accursed, and no member of his family
was ever to bear the prænomen of Marcus. On the
other hand, solemn games were to be celebrated
every five years in honour of Augustus; his birth-
day, and the anniversary of the day on which the
news of his victory had reached Rome, were to be
kept as days of thanksgiving; he was to be met, on
his approach to the capital, by the Vestal virgins,
the senate and people, in procession with their wives
and children; and his power of protection, as tribune,
to any one who appealed to him, was to extend to
the distance of seven stadia and a half without the
walls of Rome; and further, he was to have a privi-
lege of pardoning any criminal, by giving what was
called the vote of Minerva, when the number of the
voices which condemned, exceeded only by one the
number of those which acquitted. Finally, on the
U.C. 724. first of January in the ensuing year, the senators all
took an oath to observe all his acts; and the gates
of the temple of Janus were shut, as if Augustus, by
his conquest of Egypt, had delivered the Common-
wealth from every enemy, and had brought it to a
state of perfect peace.
Meantime the cities of Asia, wherein Augustus
AUGUSTUS RETURNS TO ROME.
295
From
XI.
to 766,
the A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
5
• Flatteries
the Greek
Asia.
was passing the winter, were vying with Rome itself CHAP.
in the flatteries which they offered him. They pro-
fessed to regard it as a great distinction, when he U.C. 722
allowed temples, dedicated to Rome and to
divine Julius, to be raised at Ephesus and Nicæa
and two others, consecrated to Rome and to himself, paid him by
to be built at Pergamus and Nicomedia. It is ob- cities of
served, however, that the care of the temples dedi-
cated to Julius Cæsar, was committed to the Roman
citizens resident in the cities wherein they were
placed; while the charge of the temples of Augustus
was given to the native inhabitants, or, as they were
commonly styled, the Greeks. The Romans, it is
said, would not, at this time, condescend to become
priests in the temple of a living man, although
they did not object to bestowing divine honours on
the same individual after death. But the subjects
of Rome were less scrupulous, and the example of
the Greeks of Asia was soon followed, we are told,
by the inhabitants of the other provinces of the
empire.
returns to
In the summer of this year, Augustus crossed over Augustus
from Asia into Greece, and thence to Italy'. He Rome.
lavished the treasures of Egypt so liberally on all
classes of people, in donations to his soldiers, in
largesses of 100 denarii, or about 31. 4s. 6d. to each
individual citizen, and in paying all the sums which
he had borrowed for the expenses of the war, that
all his crimes and oppressions were forgotten amid
5 Dion Cassius, LI. 458. Tacitus,
Annal. IV. 37.
6 Dion Cassius, LI. 458.
7 Dion Cassius, LI. 458.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
296
HIS THREE TRIUMPHS.
CHAP. the splendour of his munificence; nor did he give
less general satisfaction by refusing the golden
crowns which were offered to him, as they had been
A.C. 32 to to his uncle, by the cities of Italy, and by remitting
all arrears of taxes which were still due to the
treasury. Such an overflow of money was at this
time poured into the market at Rome, that the price
of land rapidly rose, and the usual rate of interest
was reduced to only one-third of what it had been
before; the great mass of disposable capital making
every one eager to become a purchaser of land as
the readiest means of investing it to advantage,
while all who wanted to borrow money were en-
abled to procure it on far easier terms than usual.
His three Augustus then celebrated his "triple triumph"
triumphs.
10
during three successive days: on the first of which
were commemorated the victories gained either by
himself or his lieutenants over the Dalmatians,
Pannonians, and various other barbarian tribes of
Germany and the northern extremity of Gaul ¹º; on
the second, his naval victory at Actium; and on the
third, his conquest of Egypt. No mention was made
of Antonius; nor was the late contest represented in
any other light than as a struggle between the senate
and people of Rome and the queen of Egypt. A
figure of Cleopatra lying on a couch, intended to
display the manner of her death, was carried in the
8 Dion Cassius, LI. 458. Suetonius, in Augusto, 41.
9 At Cæsar, triplici invectus Romana Triumpho
Moenia, &c.-Virgil, Æneid. VIII. 714.
10 Dion Cassius, 459; and Virgil, Eneid. VIII. 714. Livy, Epi-
tome, CXXXIII. Suetonius, in Augusto, 22.
CONSPIRACY OF THE YOUNGER LEPIDUS. 297
From
XI.
A. D. 13.
procession; and two of her children by Antonius, CHAP.
Alexander and Cleopatra, were exhibited among the
prisoners. One striking change of the forms prac- U.C. 722
to 766,
tised under the old constitution was remarked on A.C. 32 to
this occasion. The consuls, and other magistrates of
the Commonwealth, were accustomed to walk before
the chariot of the victorious general; but now they
followed in his train, in company with those sena-
tors who had served with him in his late cam-
paigns, and were now sharing in the honours of his
triumph.
The consecration of a temple, dedicated to Julius
Cæsar as a demigod, soon furnished Augustus with
an opportunity of further gratifying the people by
an exhibition of different kinds of sports and com-
bats. It is mentioned, that the hippopotamus and
rhinoceros were on this occasion first hunted and
killed in a Roman amphitheatre; and that large
bodies of the Suevi and the Dacians, the former one
of the most powerful of the German tribes, and
the latter a people who occupied both banks of the
Danube, in the lower part of the course of that river,
were matched against each other, and practised each
their national mode of fighting in real battle, for the
entertainment of the spectators.
of Lepidus.
It was a little before this time, apparently, that Conspiracy
M. Lepidus, the son of the late Triumvir, and the
nephew of M. Brutus, formed a design to destroy
Augustus". The particulars of this attempt are not
11 Velleius Paterculus, II. 88. neca, de Clementiâ, 9. Suetonius,
Livy, Epitome, CXXXIII. Se- in Augusto, 19.
298
POSITION AND VIEWS OF AUGUSTUS.
From
XI.
CHAP. recorded: Paterculus charges him with intending to
assassinate Augustus as soon as he should return to
Rome; while the Epitomizer of Livy says, that he
A.C. 32 to was meditating an open attack upon his power,
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
possibly by endeavouring to draw away some of the
legions from his service. But whatever his plans
were, they were discovered by C. Mæcenas, to whom
Augustus had intrusted the government of the capital
during his absence, and Lepidus was arrested and
put to death. His wife, Servilia, is said to have
killed herself in consequence of his loss, by swallow-
ing fire.
In the midst of his triumph, and when the sove-
reignty which he had so dearly purchased lay at
length securely within his grasp, Augustus is said to
have meditated an entire resignation of his power,
and the restoration of the old constitution. This
report, which is mentioned by Suetonius, became
embellished in process of time with additional cir-
cumstances; and Dion Cassius, in the true style of
a Greek rhetorician, represents Augustus as consult-
ing his two friends, Agrippa and Mæcenas, on this
important question; and ascribes to these two coun-
sellors two speeches of immense length, in one of
which Agrippa repeats all the old common-place
arguments in favour of a republic, and urges
Augustus to restore the authority of the senate and
people; while in the other, Mæcenas, in a strain
equally trite, recounts the advantages of monarchy,
and presses his friend to retain the power which
fortune had put into his hands. It is most impro-
HE REMODELS THE SENATE.
12
299
CHAP.
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
remodels
bable that Augustus should ever have entertained
a serious thought of sacrificing the prize which he From
had led a life of such surpassing wickedness to U.C. 722
gain; although it is perfectly consistent with his
character that he should have wished to spread such
a belief among the people, and should appear to be
reluctantly induced to bear the weight of govern-
ment, from a compassion for the disordered state of
the Commonwealth. We may more readily believe
that Mæcenas suggested to him many of the mea-
sures which he now began to carry into execution,
for establishing the new order of things ¹². He first Augustus
turned his attention to the senate, which he pro- the senate.
posed to reduce in its numbers, and to remove all
those members who seemed unfit for their station,
from their deficiencies in rank, fortune, or character;
particularly those individuals who had procured their
admission after Cæsar's death, by purchasing from
Antonius a pretended grant of that honour by the
late dictator, at the time when Antonius was avail-
ing himself of the possession of Cæsar's papers to
gratify his own rapacity and ambition. In this re-
view of the senate, Augustus chose M. Agrippa as
his colleague, and after a considerable number of
senators had resigned their rank of their own accord,
to avoid the disgrace of expulsion, each remaining
senator was directed to name one other whom he
considered as most worthy to remain on the rolls.
All those whose names found no place on this list,
12 Dion Cassius, LII. 494. Suetonius, in Augusto, 35.
↓
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
300
13
SALUTARY AND POPULAR
CHAP. and all others whom the censors judged it expedient
to remove, were then marked down, and obliged, it
is said, to withdraw of themselves, although they
were not allowed, like those who had resigned before
the examination, to retain the dress of senators, nor
their seats amongst those reserved for the senate at
the public spectacles. Whilst carrying on this scru-
tiny, Augustus is said to have worn armour under
his clothes ¹³, to have been constantly surrounded by
ten of the senators, on whose personal strength and
attachment he could most fully rely, and to have
admitted no other senator into his presence without
causing him to be previously searched, lest he should
carry about him any concealed weapon. It is added
also, that he deposed one Q. Statilius from the office
of tribune 14, that he raised two senators to the pri-
vileges of the consular rank, although they had never
held that magistracy, and that, following the pre-
cedent set by his uncle, he conferred on several
noble families the dignity of patricians. But his
jealousy of the nobility was shown by an order which
he issued, forbidding any senator to leave Italy at
any time without his permission, as if fearful of their
escaping from his superintendence. In this policy
also he trod, as we have seen, in the steps of his
uncle, Julius Cæsar.
Salutary
and popular
The ensuing year, in which Augustus held the
measures of office of consul for the sixth time himself, and chose
Augustus.
U.C. 725. M. Agrippa as his colleague, was marked by a va-
13 Suetonius, ubi supra.
14 Dion Cassius, ubi supra.
MEASURES OF AUGUSTUS.
301
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
riety of acts, all tending to render the new govern- CHAP.
ment generally popular, and thus preparing the way From
for the scene which was soon to follow. In the first U.C. 722
place, Augustus affected to revive the appearance of A.C. 32 to
the old consulship 15, by treating his colleague en-
tirely as his own equal. He amused the people with
magnificent games of various kinds; he formed and
opened for public use a voluminous library of Greek
and Roman literature on the Palatine Hill; he is
said to have borrowed money to enable him to make
a large contribution to the public treasury; he issued
four times the amount of the allowance of corn
usually given to the poorer citizens at the public
expense; he gave sums of money to the poorer
senators, to enable them to bear the burden of the
ædileship, and other expensive public offices; he
burnt the accounts of all debts of long standing
which were due to the Commonwealth; and made
over to the possessors the full property of all ground
in the capital to which the state maintained a doubt-
ful claim 16. It is mentioned besides, that he not
only liberally repaired all the temples in Rome
which needed it ", but that he was careful not to
efface the names of the original founders, nor to sub-
stitute his own as the restorer of their work. He
also stopped the proceedings against all persons who
had been long exposed to criminal prosecutions, and
15 Dion Cassius, LIII. 496.
16 Suetonius, in Augusto, 32.
"Loca in urbe publica Juris
ambigui possessoribus adjudicavit."
(C
17 Livy, IV. 20. Augustum
Cæsarem, Templorum omnium con-
ditorem aut restitutorem." Dion
Cassius, LIII. 497.
+
is ther
302
MEASURES OF INTERNAL POLICE.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
were
CHAP. whose cases had never yet been decided; ordaining,
that if the prosecutors were resolved to continue
their suits, they should themselves be liable, if the
A.C. 32 to accused were acquitted, to suffer the same punish-
ment which he would have undergone had he been
found guilty. Above all, this year is mentioned as
the period in which most of the disorders and abuses
introduced in the course of the civil wars 18
corrected or removed. Three of the most flagrant
of these are particularly noticed 19. The unsettled
state of the times had introduced the practice of
wearing arms for self-defence even in the streets and
neighbourhood of Rome; and whole bands of ruffians,
pretending to be armed only for their own protec-
tion, carried on their outrages with impunity. These
were suppressed by a vigorous exertion of military
force. By a similar system of violence, travellers of
all descriptions were continually kidnapped on the
roads 20, and carried off to private workhouses, where
they were confined as slaves, and treated with the
most excessive cruelty; but this evil was remedied
by submitting all these workhouses to a vigorous
search, and delivering all who were unlawfully de-
tained in them. A third mischief was the forma-
tion of a vast number of societies or clubs 21, one of
18 Dion Cassius, LIII. 497.
19 Suetonius, in Augusto, 32.
20 See the story of Atilius, ante,
p. 221.
21 Similar societies were frequent
in Greece, and are described by
Thucydides as the ready instru-
ments of violence, and particularly
of assassination in all political dis-
turbances. Their object was to
support their members when en-
gaged in any civil or criminal
causes in the courts of law, and to
further their election when can-
vassing for any public office. See
Thucydides, VIII. 54. 65, and his
HE OFFERS TO RESIGN THE GOVERNMENT. 303
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32
A.D. 13.
to
the worst aggravations of the miseries of revolutions. CHAP.
These professed to resemble the old companies be- From
longing to the several trades in Rome; but they U.C. 722
were in reality mere combinations for the purposes
of corruption or violence; and it was therefore a
general benefit when Augustus dissolved all associa-
tions except those that were ancient and agreeable
to law. When these salutary measures had won the
favour of all classes of people, Augustus continued
himself and Agrippa in the consulship for the follow-
ing year, and then proceeded to execute the trick
on which he designed to found the permanent
establishment of his government.
to resign
ment, but
upon to
U.C. 726.
It is said by Dion Cassius 22, that several of the He offers
senators had been prepared beforehand for the scene the govern-
which was to take place, and these would not fail to is prevailed
suggest to the other members the behaviour which retain it.
they were wished to adopt. Augustus then came to
the senate and read a speech composed for the occa-
sion, in which he expressed his intention of resigning
all his power, and restoring the old constitution of
the Commonwealth. We may suppose that such a
declaration was heard by the majority with extreme
surprise; many at once perceived its insincerity; but
there were others, we are told, who, dreading above
all things the restoration of the republic 23, were led
by their fears to suspect that Augustus was in
earnest; and these joined most zealously with the
character of such societies, III. 82,
in that admirable passage on the
seditions of Greece, which is a
lesson to every age and nation.
22 LIII. 497.
23 Dion Cassius, 502.
304
HE DIVIDES THE ADMINISTRATION.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. senators who were already in the secret, in depre-
cating a resignation which they said would be fatal
to the empire. The senators who most regretted
A.C. 32 to their ancient independence, joined perhaps the more
eagerly in the general cry, lest they might betray
their real feelings; and thus the proposal of Au-
gustus was received exactly as he had hoped; and in
consenting to be the despot of his country, he
seemed to be only yielding to the national wish, and
to accept a painful burden, which no other citizen
but himself was able to bear. Yet that he might
not lay aside the mask altogether, he refused to un-
dertake the administration of all the provinces; and
selected only those which were considered as re-
quiring the most vigilant superintendence, and in
which the presence of a military force was most
necessary 24 The portion of the empire which he
thus consented immediately to govern, consisted of
vinces with the whole of Spain, with the exception of Bætica,
He divides
the admi-
nistration
of the pro-
the senate.
the limits of which correspond nearly with those of
the modern province of Andalusia, the whole of
Transalpine Gaul, Coele-Syria, Phoenicia, Cilicia, and
Egypt. The other provinces were to be governed,
as formerly, by proconsuls annually appointed by lot
from among the senators: and even that part of the
empire which was given up to Augustus, he declared
that he would only retain for ten years, within which
period he hoped that every necessity for such an
extraordinary power would be at an end; and he
24 Dion Cassius, 502. Suetonius, in Augusto, 47.
1
66
SUGGESTION OF THE TITLE AUGUSTUS." 305
XI.
added, that he would gladly restore his provinces CHAP.
earlier to the senate and the people, if circumstances
should render it practicable.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
He receives
honours,
surname of
The monarchy was thus established, and the senate A.C. 32 to
laboured to invent yet additional honours to heap
upon their new master. It was ordered that laurels additional
should be planted at the gates of his residence on and the
the Palatine Hill, and a wreath of oak should be for Augustus.
ever hung up over them 25; the first denoting that
he was ever victorious, and the oaken wreath, or
civic crown, implying that he was the perpetual
saviour of the lives of his fellow-citizens. It was
debated also, what title of distinction should be con-
ferred upon him; and it was then that L. Munatius
Plancus suggested the name of Augustus 26, an epithet
which was ordinarily applied to places set apart for
religious purposes, and containing any thing conse-
crated by augury, and which was now offered to the
new sovereign, as signifying that a more than human
sacredness and majesty existed in his person.
the contents
remainder
memoir.
In this manner, at the age of six and thirty, did Sketch of
Augustus regularly commence his reign over the of the
Roman empire. He retained his power during forty of this
years, a period of general peace and prosperity,
during which the wounds inflicted by the long con-
tinuance of the civil wars were gradually and effec-
tually healed. To write the annals of such a reign,
especially with our present scanty materials, would
be but a meagre and unprofitable labour. We shall
25 Dion Cassius, LIII. 507.
Valerius Maximus, II. 8.
VOL. II.
6 Suetonius, in Augusto, 7.
Festus, in voce
Augustus."
X
""
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
306
EMPIRE OF AUGUSTUS.
CHAP. rather attempt to give a general picture of the whole
of it, and without pretending to detail the events of
every successive year, to present a view of the ex-
A.C. 32 to ternal and internal state of the empire; of its rela-
tions with foreign powers; of the nature of the
imperial government; of the condition of Italy and
the provinces; of the physical, moral, and intellectual
state of the Roman world during this most memorable
period. Some notice of the family of Augustus, and
of the person likely to become his successor, may
then properly precede our account of his death, and
serve to connect the present portion of our task
with the lives hereafter to be given of the emperors
who followed him.
Of the
foreign rela-
tions of
Rome.
The extent of the Roman dominion in the reign
of Augustus was still below the point which it after-
wards attained under Claudius and Trajan. Britain
was as yet unsubdued, and a large tract of country
between the mountains of Hamus and the Danube
was not yet tributary to Rome. But the empire
embraced within its limits the whole of the Medi-
terranean; its eastern frontier reached the Euphrates;
the conquest of Egypt extended its southern boun-
dary to the cataracts of the Nile; while in Europe
it possessed Spain and Gaul, together with all that
portion of modern Germany which is situated be-
tween the Alps and the Danube. It is of little
importance, however, to ascertain the exact line
which separated the Roman provinces from the
possessions of the independent barbarians. Even
within the limits of the empire, the more recently
ITS FOREIGN RELATIONS-PARTHIA.
307
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
conquered tribes might create occasional disturbance, CHAP.
and afford some employment for the Roman arms. From
But as far as the knowledge of geography then U.C. 722
attainable enabled them to cast their eyes around A.C. 32 to
the world, the Romans could discover only two
nations capable of offering an effectual resistance to
their power; the Parthians in Asia, and the Germans
in Europe.
Parthia.
the Par-
The Parthians, a rude tribe of mountaineers from I. With
the eastern shores of the Caspian sea, wearing large Origin of
loose caps upon their heads 27, and armed with short thians.
javelins and bows of cane, marched in company
with the neighbouring tribes of the Chorasmians
and Sogdians, amidst that countless multitude of
nations whom Xerxes led with him on his memor-
able expedition against Greece. Such is the ear-
liest notice of the Parthian name which is to be
found in history; the later fortunes of the nation,
their subjection to the Greek kings of Syria, the
foundation of their monarchy by Arsaces, and its
subsequent progress down to the invasion and defeat
of the Roman army under Crassus, have been related
elsewhere 28. We have also mentioned the attack
made by the Parthians on Syria and Asia Minor,
when T. Labienus, a Roman exile, conducted their
armies; and have briefly noticed their rapid suc-
cesses and equally rapid reverses; the victory gained
by P. Ventidius over Pacorus, the son of their
king; and, lastly, the disastrous attempt of M.
27 Herodotus, Polymnia, 66. 64. 62. 61.
28 Ency. Metrop.
x 2
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
308
THE PARTHIAN CAPITALS,
30
32
CHAP. Antonius to invade their country, in revenge for the
assistance which they had rendered to the party of
Brutus and Cassius. Their empire, which had thus
A.C. 32 to contended against Rome with more than equal for-
tune, now embraced the whole of Asia eastward of
the Euphrates 29, to the most remote of those coun-
tries which were within the knowledge of the
Romans. They numbered among their provinces
the once mighty names of Media in Assyria 50; and
even Persia itself, the seat of the empire of the
great king, although it still had princes of its own,
was no more than a vassal kingdom dependent on
the sovereign power of Parthia 31. There were two
capitals of the monarchy, Ecbatana and Seleucia ³²
The first, the ancient metropolis of Media, founded
by Deioces, the earliest of the Median princes, was
the summer residence of the king of Parthia. His
winters were passed in the lower and milder country
on the banks of the Tigris, where stood Seleucia,
the former capital of the Macedonian kings of Syria.
But Seleucia still retained a shadow of indepen-
dence; its inhabitants, proud of their Greek extrac-
tion, language, and manners, would have associated
ill with the guards and attendants of a barbarian
sovereign; and in order to save the city from the
burden of their presence 33, the court was accustomed
to reside at the neighbouring village of Ctesiphon,
29 Strabo, XI. 9, § 2, edit.
Siebenkees.
30 Strabo, XVI. 1, § 19, edit.
Siebenkees.
31 Strabo, XV. 3, § 3. 24.
32 Strabo, XVI. 1, § 16.
33 Strabo, XVI. 1,016. Tacitus,
Annal. VI. 42.
ECBATANA, SELEUCIA, CTESIPHON.
309
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
which was situated at the distance of about three CHAP.
miles from Seleucia, on the opposite bank of the
Tigris. In later times, when the citizens of Seleucia U.C. 722
were become obnoxious to the Parthian government,
from having betrayed an impatience of its dominion,
Ctesiphon was studiously favoured as a rival city,
which might be made a national capital of the
empire 34; and thus it gradually increased in wealth
and greatness, while Seleucia as gradually declined,
and went to ruin.
nal state.
Our knowledge of the internal state of Parthia is Their inter-
confined to one or two isolated facts. Strabo ex-
pressly omits all notice of the subject in his geogra-
phical work, referring his readers to the information
concerning it which he had given in some of his
other writings 35; and as these are now lost, his
reference to them only excites our curiosity in vain.
We can only discern in Parthia the existence of two
orders, of the nobility and priesthood 36, each of
which formed a distinct member of the great na-
tional council, and from either of them indifferently
the kings might be selected. There was also that
striking characteristic of the Sclavonic tribes, a
powerful nobility, with the rest of the population
consisting almost entirely of slaves. In time of war
26.
34 Pliny, Histor. Natural. VI.
35 Strabo, XI. 9, 3, edit.
Siebenkees.
36 Strabo, XI. 9, § 3. TÔ
Παρθυαίων συνέδριόν φησι o
σειδώνιος εἶναι διττόν TO μÈv
συγγενῶν, τὸ δὲ σοφῶν καὶ μάγων,
¿¿ av åµdoîv Toùs Baσiλeâs kαð-
ίστησιν. We have translated
ovyyevav by the word "nobility,"
supposing it to signify an extended
clan or caste. The Achæmenidæ
in Persia seem to have been an
instance of a smaller class on a
more limited scale.
4
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
310
SERFDOM IN PARTHIA.
CHAP. the nobles attended the king's standard, each bring-
ing with him a large body of his dependants. These
were not freemen, like the feudal vassals of Europe,
A.C. 32 to but slaves 37; they were, however, all carefully armed
and trained as cavalry, for this constituted the whole
strength of the Parthian armies; and the greatness
of the chiefs was measured by the number of slaves
which they brought into the field. The growth of
an intermediate class of freemen between the nobles
and their slaves, was checked by the law of the
country, which forbade any master to give a slave
his liberty; so that the highest and lowest classes of
society seemed destined to exist alone, and in per-
petual contact with each other. Probably, indeed,
the evils of slavery were softened by the interpo-
sition of such wide distinctions between the slave
and the freemen; as they must, on the other hand,
appear more intolerable where the line of division is
merely arbitrary, and the slave sees around him a
number of freemen who appear neither in wealth,
or birth, or condition, elevated above his own level.
But when freedom was identified with riches, and
power, and high nobility, it seemed placed com-
pletely out of his reach, and the absence of it was
so natural as hardly to excite a murmur. Those
revolts and mutinies, therefore, of which we have
seen such bloody instances among the slaves in the
Roman empire, appear to have been unknown in
37 Justin, XLI. 2. This account authority, and is consistent and
of the Parthians seems to be sensible.
copied from some trust-worthy
THEIR DEALINGS WITH THE ROMANS.
311
to From
XI.
to U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
Parthia. None would have dared in Greece or CHAP.
Rome to enlist slaves into the army, much less
give them the same arms which were intrusted
free citizens; but the Parthian chiefs armed their A.C. 32 to
dependants like themselves, and instead of trem-
bling at any symptoms which they might display of
courage and activity, they trained them carefully
in all martial exercises 38, and beheld their profi-
ciency with the same pleasure as that of their own
children.
39
tions be-
and the
At the period with which we are now engaged, Transac
a prince, whom the Greek and Roman writers call tween them
Phraates, was seated on the Parthian throne Romans.
Having been chosen by his father as his successor,
he is said to have secured an earlier enjoyment of
the crown, by murdering both him and thirty of his
other sons; and committing additional cruelties after
his repulse of the Roman invasion under Antonius,
he was driven from the throne by the indignation of
his subjects, and a successor, named Tiridates, was
appointed in his room. After some time, however,
Phraates, by the aid of some of the rude Scythian
tribes which bordered upon Parthia, recovered his
kingdom, and drove his competitor into exile in his
turn. Tiridates fled into the dominions of Rome,
carrying with him the youngest son of Phraates,
whom he had contrived to get in his power; and
38 Justin, XLI. 2. He says that
the army which repulsed Antonius
consisted of 50,000 cavalry, in
which number there were only
400 freemen; the rest was made
up entirely of slaves.
39 Justin, XLII. 5.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
312 QUARREL OF PHRAATES AND TIRIDATES.
CHAP. offering this young prince as a hostage to Augustus,
he requested his assistance to restore him to his
throne, promising him to extend the influence of
Rome over Parthia, if he were reinstated by Roman
aid. Phraates, on the other hand, solicited Augustus
to release his son, and to give up Tiridates as a
rebel 40. Augustus, more disposed to consolidate
than to extend his empire, sent back the son of
Phraates, and refused to assist the attempts of
Tiridates, while at the same time he allowed him to
live quietly in the Roman dominions. Phraates,
thus finding that he had nothing to fear from Rome,
and still suspecting danger from his own subjects,
resolved to commit four of his sons to the care of
Augustus, partly as hostages, and partly, we are
told, to prevent them from being raised to the
throne in his place", knowing that the Parthians
would set up no competitor against him, unless he
were of the royal stock of the Arsacidæ. Augustus
received the Parthian princes, and treated them
with the greatest kindness, bringing them up in the
customs of the Romans, and instructing them in the
arts and superior knowledge of Europe; he availed
himself also of his friendly connexion with Phraates,
to procure from him the restoration of all the
Roman standards and prisoners which had been
taken in the expeditions of Crassus and Antonius +2.
This supposed reparation of the greatest disasters
40 Justin, XLII. 5.
42
42 Strabo and Justin, locis citatis.
11 Tacitus, Annal. II. 1, 2. Livy, Epitome, CXXXIX.
Strabo, XVI. 1, § 28.
RELATIONS OF ROME WITH GERMANY. 313
CHAP.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
sustained for many years by the Roman arms, was
especially grateful to Augustus; and there is no
foreign transaction of his reign on which the
gyrists of those times have dwelt with greater com- A.C. 32 to
placency.
pane-
to 766,
A.D. 13.
of Rome
Germans.
the Roman
Nearly a century had now elapsed since the inva- II. Relation
sion of Italy by the Cimbri and Teutones; and with the
notwithstanding the final destruction of the invaders, Progress of
the Romans could not forget that several consular conquests
in Illyri-
armies had been overthrown before Marius had been cum.
able to stem the torrent. When Cæsar first took
possession of his government in Gaul, he found that
the Gauls regarded the Germans with the greatest
terror, as a people far more warlike than themselves;
and although he destroyed the army of Ariovistus,
and made a short expedition beyond the Rhine, yet
the conquest of Gaul afforded him sufficient employ-
ment, and the Roman arms had as yet made no
serious impression upon Germany. During the
thirteen years which elapsed between the death of
Cæsar and the battle of Actium, we read of a second
expedition made by the Romans beyond the Rhine
in the year 716, under the command of M. Agrippa 43;
but this had probably no other object than to chas-
tise some of the German tribes, who had assisted
the Gauls in a fruitless attempt to recover their
independence. A more regular hostility seems to
have been carried on against those numerous tribes.
who were included under the general name of
43 Dion Cassius, XLVIII. 387, edit. Leunclavii.
Uorm
314
PROGRESS OF THE ROMAN CONQUESTS
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. Illyrians, and who occupied the whole country
between the Alps and the Danube, together with
the whole of the eastern side of the Adriatic, ex-
A.C. 32 to tending southwards to the very confines of Greece.
Some parts of this extensive tract had indeed been
conquered by the Romans at a much earlier period:
a king of the most southern extremity of it had
taken part with Perseus in the last struggle made
by the Macedonian monarchy, and had paid for his
offence by the forfeiture of his dominions; whilst
the Dalmatians, who were thus brought into con-
tact with the Roman frontier, were attacked twelve
years afterwards, merely in order to find some
employment for the Roman arms 45. Accordingly,
several victories were gained over them, which were
the occasion of a triumph to several Roman gene-
rals; and the bounds of the Roman provinces of
Illyricum were gradually extended. Yet the Dal-
matians were persevering enemies; even in the civil
war between Pompey and Cæsar, they inflicted a
signal defeat on Cæsar's officer, the notorious A.
Gabinius; and after the establishment of Cæsar's
power, we find P. Vatinius, the successor of Gabi-
nius, complaining, in a letter to Cicero 46, of the
tedious nature of the contest against them, and of
the injustice of Cæsar, who seemed to expect that
he should go through the endless labour of conquer-
44 Cluverius, Vindelicia et No-
ricum, 1, forming an appendix to
his Germania Antiqua. To the
authorities there quoted may be
added Appian, Illyrica, 6.
45 Polybius, XXXII. 19.
46 Epist. ad Familiares, V. epist.
X.
IN ILLYRICUM.
315
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
ing the whole people, before he would reward him CHAP.
with the honour of a triumph. The Triumvirs, how-
ever, were more indulgent than Cæsar, for Vatinius U.C. 722
obtained his triumph, through their favour, in the A.C. 32 to
year after the proscription", although the Dalmatians
were still unconquered; and only three years after-
wards, C. Asinius Pollio obtained another triumph
over the same people 48, and Horace could speak of
the "eternal renown" which "the laurel of his Dal-
matian triumph had won for him." Again the con-
test was renewed by Augustus himself, who only
four years after the victories of Pollio, engaged per-
sonally in the Illyrian war, and is said to have been
wounded in an attack upon one of the fortresses of
Dalmatia 49. Under his command Pannonia was
invaded and conquered; and as the Roman arms
continued to advance towards the Danube, the coun-
tries bordering on the Adriatic appear to have been
at last more effectually subdued; and victories be-
came less frequent in Dalmatia and Liburnia, when
they began to be won on the frontiers of Vindelicia
and Noricum. After Augustus was established in
the full possession of the empire, his sons-in-law,
Tiberius Nero and Claudius Drusus, carried the
Roman conquests into Rhætia 50; and whatever occa-
sional disturbances might still arise within that
47 Fasti Consulares et Triumphi,
a Sigonio editi.
4s Fasti Consulares et Triumphi,
and Horace, Carm. II.
Cui laurus æternos honores
Dalmatico peperit triumpho.
49 Dion Cassius, XLIX. 412.
Florus, IV. 12. Suetonius, in
Augusto, 20.
50 Livy, Epitome, CXXXVI.
Florus, IV. 12. Suetonius, in
Tiberio, 9.
316
EXPEDITION OF DRUSUS AND TIB. NERO
XI.
CHAP. limit, the Danube became now regarded as the fron-
tier of the empire, at least during the whole of its
course through Germany.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
of Drusus
and Tib.
Nero bc-
yond the
Rhine.
51
While the Romans were thus extending their con-
Expedition quests from the Alps to the Danube, they attempted
to penetrate in another quarter into the very heart
of Germany, and to advance their frontier from the
Rhine to the Elbe. Claudius Drusus was first em-
ployed in this service, and afterwards his elder brother,
Tiberius Nero. In the course of these wars more
than fifty Roman fortresses were built on the banks
of the Rhine 5¹, many of which were the first germ
of towns still existing; and amongst these are to
be numbered Mentz, Bingen, Coblentz, Andernach,
and Bonn. A fleet also co-operated with the army,
sailing round from the ports of Gaul to the mouth
of the Elbe; and the country was so far overrun,
that Drusus had established military posts along the
course of that river, as well as of the Weser. Had
these successes been unchecked, the Romans would
have permanently occupied the greatest part of
Germany; the Latin language and the manners of
Italy might have prevailed as entirely over the
language and manners of the Germans as they did
over those of the Gauls and Spaniards; whilst the
Teutonic tribes, pressed by the Romans on the Elbe,
and by the Sclavonic nations on the Oder and the
Vistula, would have been either gradually over-
powered and lost, or at any rate would never have
51 Florus, IV. 12.
BEYOND THE RHINE.
317
CHAP.
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
been able to spread that regenerating influence over
the best portion of Europe, to which the excellence From
of our modern institutions may in great measure be U.C. 722
referred. If this be so, the victory of Arminius A.C. 32 to
deserves to be reckoned among those signal deliver-
ances which have affected for centuries the happiness
of mankind; and we may regard the destruction of
Quintilius Varus, and his three legions, on the banks
of the Lippe, as second only in the benefits derived
from it to the victory of Charles Martel at Tours,
over the invading host of the Mohammedans.
It was in the year 744 that M. Claudius Drusus
died in Germany 52; and his brother, Tiberius Nero,
was appointed to succeed him in his command.
Tiberius is said to have conducted the war with
extraordinary success; to have overrun again the
whole country between the Rhine and the Elbe, and
to have reduced it almost to the condition of a
Roman province. But when he returned to Rome
to enjoy a triumph, and to receive the consulship,
the effects of his victories began to wear away, and
the Germans soon renewed the contest. Ten
Ten years
afterwards, when Tiberius had been adopted by
Augustus as his son 53, he repaired for the second
time to Germany, and employed two summers in
retracing the ground of his former conquests, and in
again terrifying rather than subduing the Germans
into submission. On this occasion, too, the Roman
fleet co-operated with the army, and again sailed
52 Velleius Paterculus, II. 97.
53 Velleius Paterculus, II. 104.
1
318
QUINTILIUS VARUS COMMANDS
CHAP. round to the mouth of the Elbe, and advanced some
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
P. Quinti-
lius Varus
way up the river 54 A succession of such campaigns
must have produced a permanent effect; and the
A.C. 32 to Germans would have been conquered as completely
as the Gauls; for the Gauls had maintained an eight
years' struggle against Cæsar, and none of their
efforts had been so formidable as the last, when
Vercingetorix had roused all the force of his country
to contend with the Romans at Alesia. But as
Tiberius was on the point of commencing his third
campaign, a general revolt of all the Pannonian and
Dalmatian tribes interrupted his career, and gave
at this most critical moment a breathing time to
Germany 55. The main force of the empire was en-
gaged between the Danube and the Alps; and the
recent conquests of Tiberius between the Rhine and
the Elbe, were committed to the charge of P. Quin-
tilius Varus, with an army of three legions. Varus
had already been intrusted with the government of
Syria 56, and in that station had made himself known
by his exactions, and was said to have transferred to
himself the riches of the province. In his command
in Germany he seemed to consider himself again in
Syria; he introduced the Roman jurisdiction into
the conquered territories, and irritated the rude
minds of the barbarians, by subjecting them to a
discipline the most alien from their habits and cha-
racter. But it is said, that in order to lull him into
commands
the Roman
army in
Germany.
54 Velleius Paterculus, II. 106.
55 Velleius Paterculus, II. 110.
56 Tacitus, Histor. V. 9. Vel-
leius Paterculus, 117. Dion
Cassius, LVI. 582.
THE ROMAN ARMY IN GERMANY.
319
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
a false security, the German chiefs pretended to CHAP.
receive with gratitude the institutions which he was From
introducing among them. They concerted quarrels U.C. 722
amongst themselves, and solicited the arbitration of A.C. 32 to
Varus to decide them, professing to admire the
superior knowledge of the Romans, which taught
them to settle their differences by the rules of equity
instead of by the sword. Varus by constitution and
habit possessed little of the activity of a soldier; the
imaginary dignity of his situation, as the lawgiver
and instructor of Germany, flattered at once his
vanity and his indolence; and the licentious and
rapacious passions which the Roman magistrates were
so often accustomed to indulge in the provinces,
began now also to look for gratification. Those
profligacies which Varus might have committed in
safety amidst the general relaxation of morals in
Syria, were considered as the most intolerable out-
rages by the severe chastity of the Germans, who
looked upon adultery with abhorrence, and regarded
their wives as the chosen partners of all the dangers
and labours of their lives. It is likely that the
Romans, believing themselves securely established
in the dominion of the country, began to offer with-
out restraint those insults to the wives and daughters
of their subjects for which the armies of southern
climates have ever been infamous; and which in
ancient days, from the low standard of morals every-
where existing, were committed with peculiar indif-
ference.
In this state of things the plan of surprising and
320
CONSPIRACY OF ARMINIUS.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
Conspiracy
of Armi-
nius, or
Herman.
CHAP. cutting off the whole Roman army is said to have
been first conceived by a young German chief, whose
name the Roman writers have corrupted into Armi-
A.C. 32 to nius, but to whom we may more properly give his
true appellation of Herman. He had served in the
late campaigns amongst the auxiliaries of Rome 57;
and had been admitted not only to the privileges of
Roman citizenship, but also to the rank of the eques-
trian order. He now concerted his measures with
his countrymen with the utmost secrecy; while at
the same time he did every thing in his power to in-
crease the confidence of Varus, and to lead him into
the snare which he was preparing. The Roman
general had been persuaded to weaken his forces by
sending detachments into various parts of the country,
at the request of the German chiefs themselves, in
order, as they said, to maintain tranquillity, and to
secure the safe arrival of his convoys of provisions 58;
and on a stated day the insurrection broke out at a
point most remote from his head-quarters; and he
received intelligence that the people of the country
had risen and massacred the troops which they had
asked him to send among them. Upon this he in-
stantly put his army in motion to chastise the insur-
gents, while Herman and the other chiefs of the
conspiracy still professed the most entire attachment
to Rome, and promised to join him with their own
forces at a certain point on his line of march, that
they might assist him in putting down the rebellion.
57 Velleius Paterculus, 118.
58 Dion Cassius, LVI. 583.
FATAL MARCH OF VARUS.
321
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
Varus, we are told, had been previously warned of CHAP.
the treachery of Herman by another German chief, From
whom the Romans call Segestes 59. Herman had U.C. 722
married the daughter of this chief against his wishes, A.C. 32 to
and this private injury, added to his own attachment
to the Romans, made Segestes disposed to save
them from the destruction with which they were
threatened. When he found that all his warnings
had been slighted, he addressed Varus immediately
before he commenced his march, and while Herman
and the other conspirators were yet in the Roman
camp, and implored him that he would at once arrest
Herman himself, and all the other German chiefs
who were present, as the only means of defeating
their treachery. But Varus was obstinate in his
incredulity; and Herman and his associates were
allowed to depart, and put themselves at the head
of their forces.
out with his
his camp.
The Roman army was impeded by an immense Varus sets
train of waggons laden with their baggage, and by army from
a crowd of women and children belonging to the
soldiers, who were permitted to follow the march, as
the general would not allow himself to apprehend any
danger. The way ran through an extensive forest,
called by the Romans the Forest of Teutoburg
which spread over a considerable tract of country
between the Lippe and the Ems. In the intervals,
between the woods, the ground was broken and
boggy, and the Romans had to undergo the labour
60
,
59 Tacitus, Annal. I. 55. Vel- 60 Dion Cassius, LVI. 583, et
leius Paterculus, 118.
seq.
VOL. II.
Y
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766.
322 HE IS SURPRISED BY THE GERMANS.
CHAP. of forming for themselves a practicable road, by
clearing away the trees, and constructing a sort of
causeway through the worst parts of the morasses.
A.C. 32 to When they were already wearied by their exertions,
and perfectly unprepared for any attack, the troops
prised on his of Herman and his associates, who were to join
A.D. 13.
He is sur-
march by
the Ger-
mans.
them at this place, suddenly appeared; and rushing
out from the woods on every side, assailed them with
a heavy discharge of their missile weapons. The
Romans, encumbered by their heavy baggage, and
by the nature of the ground, were unable to form in
any regular order to repel the enemy; they thus
sustained a heavy loss without being able to retaliate;
and having made little or no progress in their march,
they encamped for the night on one of the most
open and level spots that they could find amidst the
forest. Here they destroyed or abandoned a great
part of their heavy baggage, and the next morning
again renewed their march. But they still had to
contend with the same natural difficulties of woods
and bogs; and while their own numbers were de-
creasing every hour, the confidence of success was
swelling the force of the Germans; and many, who
had at first dreaded to take any part in the con-
spiracy, came now to share in the anticipated spoils
of the Roman army. It is said too, that the weather
was exceedingly tempestuous, and that violent squalls
of wind and rain impeded the movements of the
Romans, and so drenched their clothing and their
wooden shields, that they could not stir themselves
or wield their arms. The result was the total de-
HIS ARMY IS DESTROYED-HE KILLS HIMSELF. 323
been
CHAP.
XI.
From
that U.C. 722
to 766,
and A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
destroyed,
himself.
struction of the Roman army. Varus himself and
his principal officers, most of them having
already wounded, fell upon their own swords,
they might not be taken alive by the enemy 61;
the wreck of his army, having attempted in vain to His army is
secure themselves at the approach of night by form- and he kills
ing a camp, and to shelter themselves behind the
ditch and rampart, were persuaded by one of their
surviving commanders to lay down their arms, and
to try the mercy of the conqueror. But there is
little humanity to be expected from barbarians when
they feel that the moment is arrived for taking ven-
geance for a long series of insults and injuries. The
military tribunes and principal centurions among the
prisoners were slaughtered by the Germans as victims
to their gods, before some altars raised in the adjoin-
ing woods; the common soldiers were hanged upon
the trees, or stifled in the morasses; and the heads
of many of those who had perished were fastened to
the trunks of the trees as a trophy of the victory.
Above all, it is said, the Germans felt a peculiar
delight in torturing those of their prisoners who had
practised as lawyers in the courts established by
Varus 62; they put out their eyes, or cut off their
hands; and one man, we are told, cut out the tongue
of his victim, and then sewed up his mouth, exclaim-
ing, Now, viper, cease thy hissing!" In the defeat
of the army, the standards of the legions and two
of the eagles were also taken, and these trophies
66
61 Tacitus, Annal. I. 61.
63 Florus, IV. 12.
Y 2
CHAP.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
The Ro-
mans are
324
CONSTERNATION AT ROME.
were exhibited by Herman to his soldiers, and
treated with every mark of contempt and mockery.
The third eagle was saved by the standard-bearer,
A.C. 32 to who pulled it off from its staff, and kept it concealed
under his girdle; he then hid himself in a bog till
the enemy had left the spot, and effected his escape
in safety to the Rhine. In the meantime other
driven out detachments of the Roman army were attacked in
different quarters; and although some succeeded in
cutting their way through the assailants and escap-
ing into Gaul, yet the triumph of the Germans was
every where complete 63; the Romans fled beyond
the Rhine, and all the conquests which they had
made between the river and the Elbe were totally
and irrecoverably lost 64
of Germany.
Consterna-
tion felt at
Rome.
The accounts of the consternation produced at
Rome by the defeat of Varus describe it as so exces-
sive, that unless they came from the Romans them-
selves, we should regard them as the mere exaggera-
tions of national pride in the conquerors, exalting the
effects of their own success. We are told that Au-
gustus posted guards in different parts of Rome 65;
that he continued all the governors of the provinces in
their several commands, as if the crisis required only
officers of tried ability and experience; and that he
followed a precedent which had been set during the
invasion of Italy by the Cimbri, and repeated in the
war with the Italian allies, of vowing solemn games
63 Velleius Paterculus, 120.
64 Hâc clade factum, ut Impe-
rium quod in litore oceani non
steterat, in ripâ Rheni fluminis
staret. Florus, IV. 12.
65 Suetonius, in Augusto, 23.
66
EXPEDITION OF TIBERIUS INTO GERMANY. 325
XI.
A.D. 13.
of Tiberius
Germany.
to Jupiter, "if he would be pleased to bring the CHAP.
Commonwealth into a better condition." Augustus From
himself is said to have felt the calamity so deeply, U.C. 722
to 766,
that for some months he let his beard and hair A.C. 32 to
grow, and would strike his head from time to time
against the doors of his apartments, exclaiming aloud,
Quintilius Varus! give me back my legions." Had
the Germans, indeed, united their efforts with those
of the Pannonians and Dalmatians, and formed any
connected plan for the invasion of the Roman fron-
tiers, the danger of an invasion of Italy might not
have been imaginary. But the revolt of Pannonia Expedition
had been already quelled 66, and Tiberius Nero was Nero into
at leisure to march with. his veteran legions towards
Germany, and to maintain the usual policy of Rome,
by acting at once on the offensive, and carrying the
war into the enemy's country. The Germans were
unable to meet him in the field, and his caution
secured him against every attempt at surprise; he
accordingly overran and laid waste a district of con-
siderable extent beyond the Rhine, and led back his
army into winter quarters on the banks of that
river 67, pretending to have retrieved the honour of
the Roman arms, and to have restored them to their
accustomed superiority. But the frontier had re-
ceded to the Rhine, and Tiberius could not again
advance it. Four years afterwards he succeeded
to the sovereignty of the empire, on the death of
Augustus; and his jealous temper made him by no
-
€6 Velleius Paterculus, 114.
67 Velleius Paterculus, II. 120.
1
1
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
326 THE RHINE A BARRIER TO ROMAN CONQUEST.
CHAP. means inclined to see any of his officers obtain the
glory of effectually conquering Germany. The Rhine
thus became the permanent limit of the Roman
A.C. 32 to dominions; and that great river formed so natural a
boundary line, that all attempts to penetrate beyond
it were renounced as inexpedient; so that the
Germans remaining unconquered, had leisure to
grow in power and numbers, till they crossed the
Rhine in their turn as conquerors.
State of
Britain.
We have said that Britain was not subdued by
the Romans till a period later than the reign of
Augustus. But although it was not yet become a
province, yet the petty chiefs of the island were glad
to propitiate the favour of Augustus 68, by sending
offerings to be presented to the temple of Jupiter in
the capitol, and by paying a small tax or duty on all
the articles which they imported from Gaul, or ex-
ported thither in return. However, as these duties
were probably only levied in the ports of Gaul, the
payment of them did not necessarily imply a state of
dependence, inasmuch as it was only a voluntary
compliance with the terms on which the Roman
government chose to allow them to trade with its
subjects. But the eagerness of the Britons for the
toys and trinkets which they procured from the
Roman empire, made them purchase them without
complaining of the duty; and Augustus found it
cheaper and easier to levy this tax upon their fond-
ness for finery, than to incur the expense of main-
63 Strabo, IV. 5, § 3, edit. Siebenkees.
RELATIONS OF ROME WITH BRITAIN.
327
taining an army in the island in order to reduce CHAP.
them to the condition of tributaries.
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
Having thus dwelt somewhat longer than we are U.C. 722
accustomed to do on the foreign relations of the
empire, we shall now return within the frontiers,
and proceed to describe the nature of the imperial
government, and the general condition of the people
under its dominion.
tendency
stitution of
Common-
Whoever has traced the character of the Roman Despotic
constitution through the successive periods of the of the con-
Commonwealth, must have observed in it a number the Roman
of points which are entirely congenial to despotism. wealth.
In fact, the powers of the magistrates were to a high
degree tyrannical; and were only counteracted by
the mutual check which they severally found in the
equally tyrannical powers of the rest. For instance,
the authority of the consul seems in itself to have
been absolute, although its exercise was restrained,
within the walls of Rome, by the protecting power
of the tribunes and by the right of appeal to the
people; abroad, by the particular provisions of the
Porcian law. Till that law was enacted, the consul,
when without the city commanding the armies of
the Commonwealth, was altogether the master of
the life of every citizen. Nor was this confined to
points of military discipline; for we read that Q.
Fabius Maximus threatened with death a citizen
who had been just elected to the consulship for the
ensuing year, because he had maintained the validity
of his own election which Fabius wished to over-
328
ROME-ELEMENTS OF DESPOTISM
From
XI.
U.C. 722
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
CHAP. throw 69, and to recall the centuries to give their
votes over again. The censors might degrade any
individual from his rank in the Commonwealth at
their sole discretion: the tribunes, or even any
single number of their college, might stop the pro-
ceedings of every department of the government, and
seem to have possessed an arbitrary power of com-
mitting any one to prison who opposed their mea-
sures. If from the ordinary magistrates of the
Commonwealth we turn to the senate itself, we
shall see that body, although properly only a single
member of the legislature, assuming to itself the
right of dispensing with the laws, or of annulling
them altogether, and claiming and exercising an
unlimited despotism, whenever it thought proper to
declare the country in danger, and to give the con-
suls charge to provide for its safety. Above all, the
Romans were familiarized to arbitrary power in the
authority possessed by the members of the various
special commissions which were from time to time
appointed. The commission of ten senators, who
were usually empowered to settle the state of a
newly-conquered country at the close of a war, was
accustomed, indeed, to act only in the provinces;
but the commissioners for planting colonies, for
superintending the distribution of national lands
under an agrarian law, for providing for the supply
69 Livy, XXIV. 9. Quum T.
Otacilius ferociter vociferaretur
atque obstreperet, Lictores ad eum
accedere Consul jussit; et, quia
in urbem non inierat, admonuit,
cum securibus sibi fasces præferri.
TO BE FOUND UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH. 329
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
of the Roman markets, or for instituting an inquiry CHAP.
into any alleged misdemeanours and malversations, From
exercised their power towards citizens, and seem to U.C. 722
have enjoyed an ample discretion which might be
moderated only by the fear of future impeachment
at the expiration of their office. In later times the
practice of appointing extraordinary officers had be-
come almost equivalent to the formation of a tem-
porary monarchy. Twice had Pompey been invested
with sovereign power over a large portion of the
empire; first, when he was intrusted with the
supreme direction of the war with the pirates, and
again when he was sent to finish the long-contested
struggle with Mithridates. On a third occasion,
when he was named comptroller of the markets,
allowed to appoint his lieutenants to act under him
in the different provinces, and intrusted with the
discretionary employment of a large sum of the
public money, his power seemed far to exceed the
level of a citizen of a free Commonwealth. When,
therefore, that atrocious Commission of Three for
regulating and settling the affairs of the republic,
was instituted in the persons of Augustus, Antonius,
and Lepidus, it was a measure not altogether unpre-
cedented, and certainly analogous to the less abso-
lute but yet very extensive powers which had been
often given to special commissioners under circum-
stances of less general disorder. And the imperial
power of Augustus was only an enlarged special
commission of the same nature. It was limited in
its duration, as it was to expire at the end of ten
330
AUTHORITY OF PUBLIC OFFICERS.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. years; it was conferred by the senate on the most
distinguished citizen in the Commonwealth, for the
avowed purpose of remedying the evils which had
A.C. 32 to grown up during a period of unparalleled confusion.
That it was in the highest degree arbitrary, was con-
formable to the general spirit of similar commissions
which had been conferred by the senate and people
in former times; and in this manner the govern-
ment was made gradually to slide into a monarchy,
merely by a dexterous application and enlargement
of precedents, which had occurred repeatedly through
the successive periods of the duration of the Com-
monwealth.
The people have in every age tolerated a despotic
power which has professed to derive itself from their
appointment, and to be exercised in their names and
for their benefit. Such was the power of the Roman
emperors; which, therefore, differed most widely in
its avowed principle from the monarchies of Asia,
and from those also which have been established on
its ruins among the nations of modern Europe. It
is true that in the eastern provinces of the empire,
the people, unacquainted with the forms of the
Roman government, and regarding only the absolute
authority with which the emperors were invested,
early began to bestow on them the title of kings,
and to look upon them in the same light as they
had been accustomed to view the successors of
Alexander. But in Italy, the name of king, or
sovereign lord, would have seemed a degradation
which the Roman people could not endure; and
AN EMPEROR NOT A KING.
331
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
the gross flattery which was offered to the Cæsars, CHAP.
was by no means characteristic of the new state of From
the Commonwealth, but arose out of those strongly U.C. 722
marked distinctions by which the aristocracy were
separated from the bulk of the people. It is plain
from many passages in Cicero's letters, that the
ordinary language of citizens of humble, or merely
of inferior rank, when addressing the nobility, was
in a tone of deference approaching almost to ser-
vility. Nay, even men of rank themselves, when
writing to those who were still above them in power
and dignity, used a style of compliment which strikes
our ears as offensive; so that it was no sudden influx
of servility, but the mere operation of the ordinary
feelings of the people, which produced that style of
flattery so observable in the writers of the Augustan
age, as well as in the decrees of the senate and the
speeches of its members. In process of time, as the
imperial power became more firmly established, and
as the families of the old aristocracy gradually
dropped off, this servile language came to be ad-
dressed more exclusively to the emperors; and as
the government continued to be wielded by a single
hand, the people felt more and more that strong dis-
tinction between themselves and their ruler, which
marks the relation of sovereign and subject, as
opposed to that of citizens and their chief magis-
trate. Hence, in later times, the Roman govern-
ment became a monarchy in the oriental and modern
sense of the term, and its laws and titles were trans-
1
332
AUGUSTUS AT ONCE PROCONSUL,
CHAP. ferred with perfect fitness to the kingdoms of Italy,
France, and Germany.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
Extent of
power.
Augustus possessed a power entirely despotic, by
A.C. 32 to the mere union of the ordinary magistracies of the
Commonwealth in his person, with some few especial
the imperial enlargements of their privileges and authority. He
was invested with proconsular power in all the pro-
vinces in Italy, and even within the walls of Rome;
and his authority in the provinces was to be para-
mount to that of the ordinary governors. In the
same manner Pompey the Great had received pro-
consular power in all the provinces of the empire
within fifty miles of the sea, when he was intrusted
with the command of the war against the Cilician
pirates; and still more recently, when Cicero pro-
posed to confer on C. Cassius the conduct of the
war against P. Dolabella, the tenour of his commis-
sion allowed him to enter any province in pursuit of
the enemy, and gave him superior power in that
province to the magistrate by whom it was actually
governed. The authority of the proconsuls in the
provinces was entirely absolute under the old con-
stitution, as they exercised supreme controul over
the military force, over the revenue, and over the
criminal and civil jurisdiction; and by extending
this power to Italy, and even to Rome itself, a vir-
tual sovereignty was in fact bestowed. Whatever
might be wanting in the proconsular power, was at
all events given in the title of "imperator," which was
prefixed to the name of Augustus, as it had been to
IMPERATOR, VIRTUAL CENSOR,
333
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
that of his uncle, and seems to have been equivalent CHAP.
to the name of " General of the Forces of the Com-
monwealth." By attaching a perpetual military U.C. 722
command to the person of the emperor, and by
allowing him to hold it in Rome as well as in the
provinces, all the people were in effect subjected to
martial law; and it is well known that the power
exercised by Roman generals over their soldiers was
ever most arbitrary, insomuch, that, according to
Cicero, "the Roman people in war obeyed their
general as a king 70." Yet further, in addition to
the powers of proconsul and imperator, Augustus
enjoyed also all the authority formerly possessed by
the censors. He would not, indeed, take the name
of censor, but he received a title and power similar
to that which had been bestowed on his uncle, and
which Suetonius calls, "morum legumque regimen,"
the controul of the manners and laws of the Com-
monwealth. With regard to his controul of the
laws, it must be understood, probably, to regard
those laws which concerned the objects of the
censor's jurisdiction, such as the sumptuary laws,
and those which related to marriage. His controul
of manners rendered him absolute master of the
rank of every citizen, as it enabled him to choose
members into the senate, and to degrade them; to
raise any plebeian to the equestrian order, or again
to deprive him even of the political privileges of a
70 Noster Populus ** in bello sic paret ut Regi. Cicero, de
Republicâ, I. 40.
334
AND TRIBUNE, FOR LIFE.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. simple citizen ". There was hardly any point of
private life which did not fall under the censor's cog-
nizance. Not only might a man be questioned for
A.C. 32 to any intemperance in eating and drinking, or for any
scandalous irregularities of conduct, but any exces-
sive sumptuousness in his establishment, and even, it
is said, any neglect of his property, such as omitting
to cultivate or improve his land 72, subjected him
often to the loss of the most distinguished rights of
citizenship. For this reason, according to tradition,
the duration of the censor's power had been reduced
from five years to eighteen months 73, as so great an
authority could not be safely intrusted to any one
for more than a very limited period; and now that it
was conferred on Augustus for life, it was by no
means one of the least of his imperial prerogatives.
To the powers of proconsul, imperator, and censor,
was added, moreover, that of tribune. By this, Au-
gustus was not only enabled to stop at once, by his
negative, any measure of the senate or people which
he disapproved, but his person was rendered sacred;
and any violation of its sacredness, either in word or
deed, exposed the offender to a complete religious
and political excommunication, in which state he
was devoted to some particular god 74, as if peculiarly
71 The "Erarii," or persons
expelled by the censors from their
tribes, lost their right of voting in
the comitia, because it could only
be exercised by those who be-
longed to some one of the thirty-
five tribes. Their private rights
and personal liberties were not at
all affected by their degradation.
See Niebuhr's Romische Ges-
chichte, I. 384, &c., and II. 179.
72 Aulus Gellius, IV. 12.
73 Livy, IV.
74 Festus, in vocibus
et "Sacratæ Leges."
Sacer,"
66
EMPERORS SOLUTI LEGIBUS.”
335
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
marked out for his vengeance, and might be killed CHAP.
by any man with impunity. Last of all must be From
mentioned the exemption from the authority of the U.C. 722
laws, which Dion Cassius tells us was bestowed on
the emperors 75. According to his account, Augustus
was rendered absolutely despotic, inasmuch as he
might dispense with any part of the code at his plea-
sure; and this prerogative he instances as one of
those few which were not borrowed from the usages
of the old constitution. But it has been reasonably
supposed, that the Latin expression "legibus solutus,"
which was applied to persons enjoying a dispensation
from some particular laws, combined with the real
exemption from all the laws which was possessed by
the later emperors, has misled Dion Cassius; and
that the exemption was, in fact, less comprehensive
than he imagined. A dispensing power had been
long exercised by the senate; and we find that it
was one of the measures of the patriotic tribune, C.
Cornelius 76, in the year of Rome 686, to remove the
abuses with which it was attended, and to enact that
no dispensation should pass the senate, or, according
to the legal phrase, "that no one should be released
from the laws, legibus solveretur," unless two hundred
senators were present. Still later, in the year 709,
M. Brutus had been excused by the senate from
continually residing in Rome during his prætorship,
as required by law; and he is accordingly said by
75 LIII. 509.
Ciceronis Orationem pro C. Cor-
76 Asconius, Argumentum in nelio primam.
1
336
RIGHT OF APPEAL TO THE PEOPLE.
CHAP. Cicero to have been "legibus solutus "."
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
Right of
appeal to
We may
conclude that the same exemption, from a compli-
ance with the injunctions of many of the old laws,
was also granted to Augustus; and indeed, if the
fragments of what is called the "lex regia" are to be
considered as genuine and authentic, it is evident
that the exemption was not universal 78.
It becomes here a natural question to ask, whether
the people. the right of appeal to the people was not altogether
extinct; and how the provisions of the Porcian law
were evaded, which made it highly criminal to
scourge or put to death any Roman citizen? With
regard to the first, we will endeavour to give the
reader some notion of its nature, and of the cases in
which it was allowed. In the earliest times it was
no more than a part of the wild habits of savage life,
where government being ill understood, and there-
fore apt to be rudely exercised, each man might ap-
peal from the authority of the chief to that of the
society at large; the power of capital punishment, as
distinguished from the taking away life in a quarrel
or in anger, being one of the rights which the com-
munity did not choose to intrust out of their own
hands. The appeal to the people was the first
simple form in which a man was tried by his country;
and before the establishment of independent judges,
it was the only security against the arbitrary sentence
77 Cicero, Philippic. II. 13.
78 Utique quibus legibus, ple-
beive scitis scriptum fuit ne Divus
Augustus,
teneretur, iis,
&c. Imperator Cæsar Vespasianus
solutus sit. Apud Heineccium,
Antiq. Roman. Syntagma, I. tit. 2,
67, edit. Haubold.
GRADUALLY NARROWED,
79
CHAP.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
337
of the magistrate. But as such an appeal could not
be made on every occasion, the people deputed their
power to judges specially appointed by themselves
(as in the case of the quæstores parricidii), or chosen A.C. 32 to
at the beginning of every year by the prætors out of
a whole order of citizens, sometimes out of the senate
alone, and sometimes from the senate, the equites,
and the richer plebeians, according to the various
enactments successively made on this subject. When
an independent judicial power was established, the
right of appeal to the people at large could only be
needless or mischievous, and therefore it gradually
fell into disuse; nay, we doubt whether there was
legally any appeal from the sentence of the select
judges who sat with the prætor in criminal causes;
for Cicero attacks Antonius for proposing a law by
which criminals condemned for rioting or treason by
the ordinary tribunals were allowed to appeal to the
people 80; and he complains that such an appeal was
equivalent to the total subversion of all justice. Nor
do we remember any instance in the later times of
the Commonwealth of a trial removed by appeal
from the regular courts to the popular assembly,
except in the case of C. Rabirius, U.c. 690; and
Rabirius appealed not from the decision of the præ-
79 Pomponius, de Orig. Juris,
quoted by Creuzer, Romische
Antiquitaten, 165, and Heineccius,
IV. tit. 18, c. 11, edit. Haubold.
See also the expression of Cicero,
de Legibus, III. 12. Magistra-
tibus judicia dantur,
VOL. II.
ut
esset
populi potestas, ad quam provo-
caretur.
80 Philippic. I. 9.
Altera pro-
mulgata lex est, ut et de Vi et de
Majestate damnati ad populum
provocent, si velint.
Z
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
338
FINALLY LOST.
81
CHAP. tor and the select judges, but from that of two
special commissioners, appointed by the prætor in-
stead of the people, contrary to the usual practice,
A.C. 32 to to try the case by themselves. The right of appeal
was thus become obsolete, if it were not actually
done away; but at any rate it was rendered useless
by the military power which the title of imperator
conferred on Augustus. It was an old maxim of
the Roman law, that from the sentence of a general
in the actual service there was no appeal ¹; and in
this consisted the plenitude of his power, for even if
he might be questioned afterwards for an abuse of
it, yet at the time there was nothing to check or
limit it, and there is a wide difference between pre-
sent protection and contingent future redress. As
Augustus, therefore, was invested with military
power both within and without the city, the right of
appeal from his authority became extinct of course.
Still, however, Roman citizens in the provinces,
when not actually serving in the army, might appeal
to Rome from the sentence of a provincial governor ;
but Augustus himself, if we may believe Dion Cas-
sius was constituted judge of all such appeals; and
we know, from a much higher authority 83, that in
the reign of Claudius they were regularly made to
82
"
81 Cicero, de Legibus, III. 3, 4.
Militiæ, ab eo, qui imperabit, pro-
vocatio ne esto; quodque is, qui
bellum geret, imperassit, jus ra-
tumque esto. Although these
words are a part of the code de-
vised by Cicero for his Utopian
Commonwealth, yet this code is
confessedly borrowed almost en-
tirely from that which actually
existed at Rome.-Omnium Ma-
gistratuum descriptio; sed ea pæne
nostræ civitatis, 5.
82 LI. 457.
83 Acts of the Apostles, XXV.
10, 11.
J
OF THE PORCIAN LAWS.
339
the emperor, without any allusion to the old con-
stitutional power of the people.
CHAP.
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
cian laws,
capital pu-
nishments
but under
A remarkable obscurity hangs over the origin of U.C. 722
the Porcian laws; for it is not known with certainty A.C. 32 to
by whom they were proposed, nor at what period of the Por-
they were enacted. It appears from Cicero that they the
and
were three in number, brought forward by three nature of
different members of the Porcian family 84;
whether of the family of Porcius Læca, or Porcius Augustus.
Cato, is still undecided. However, it is sufficiently
known that these laws confirmed the right of appeal
to the people, and forbade, under heavy penalties,
that any Roman citizen should be scourged or put
to death, of whatever crime he might have been
guilty, if we except, perhaps, the wilful murder of a
parent 85. Thus the greatest punishment that could
be legally inflicted at Rome, was simple banishment,
till Cæsar, in his dictatorship, added the forfeiture of
all property in the case of those convicted of wilful
murder, and of the half of it for all other offences 86
Nay, even the punishment denounced by the Pedian
law, passed U.c. 710, against the assassins of Cæsar,
was no more than banishment from Italy; so com-
pletely were Roman citizens exempted by law from
suffering the penalty of death. It is generally
thought, however, that the provisions of the Porcian
law did not extend to citizens actually serving in
the army; but this must be understood with con-
siderable limitations. The old ignominious method
rino, 25.
86 Suetonius, in Cæsare, 42.
84 De Republicâ, II. 31.
& See Cicero, pro Roscio Ame-
z 2
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
340 OF THE PORCIAN LAWS, AND THE NATURE OF
CHAP. of punishment, by which criminals were first scourged
with rods, and then beheaded with an axe (virgis
cæsi et securi percussi), could never be inflicted upon
a Roman citizen under any circumstances. This is
plain from the fact mentioned by Sallust 7, that
Q. Metellus Numidicus, in the Jugurthine war,
punished one of his officers in this manner, because,
adds the historian, the offender was a Latin citizen:
that is, he could not have so punished him had he
been a Roman. We believe further, that a Roman
soldier could not even be flogged on actual service;
and we are inclined to think that this was one of
the provisions of the Sempronian law, De Militum
Commodis, carried by C. Gracchus in his tribuneship;
for we are told by Plutarch 8, that M. Livius Drusus,
one of his colleagues, in order to outdo him in pro-
posing popular measures, brought forward a law to
exempt the Latins from the liability to be flogged
when serving as soldiers; and although the passage
in Sallust already quoted, shows either that this law
was soon after repealed, or that Plutarch, as we
rather believe, has assigned to it a wrong date, and
ascribed it to a wrong author, yet its being pro-
posed at all clearly proves that the Roman soldiers
already enjoyed a similar exemption, as no one would
ever have thought of granting to the Latins immu-
nities which were not possessed by the Romans
themselves. Nor is our position refuted by the in-
stances recorded in later times, of soldiers suffering
87 De Bello Jugurthino, 69.
88 In C. Graccho, 9.
1
CAPITAL PUNISHMENTS UNDER AUGUSTUS. 341
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
death by running the gauntlet 89 (fuste cæsi), for this CHAP.
was a punishment inflicted not by the general's From
lictors, but by the hands of the soldiers themselves, U.C. 722
and was expressive of the feelings of the army at
large towards those who were guilty of cowardice, or
of any other flagrant breach of military duty. In
cases of mutiny, or any other crime which required
an instant and terrifying example, a general would
have ordered the offenders to be executed; there
being no appeal at the time from his sentence, and
if ever he was afterwards questioned for his conduct,
he would have urged the plea of necessity or public
expediency, which was ever admitted as an excuse
for any departure from the ordinary laws. And thus
only can we reconcile the extreme bloodiness of the
proscriptions and occasional executions of the Ro-
mans, with the excessive mildness, or rather weak-
ness, of the letter of the constitution. When, soon
after Cæsar's death, a disorderly multitude used to
assemble round his altar in the forum, and committed
several outrages on the property of different citizens,
P. Dolabella, who was then consul, attacked the
rioters in a summary manner, and put numbers of
them to death without any sort of trial, crucifying
the slaves, and throwing the free citizens from the
Tarpeian rock. This behaviour was applauded by
Cicero as an act of salutary vigour 90; yet had the
meanest of the citizens thus executed been brought
89 Auctor de Bello Hispaniensi
apud Cæsaris Commentar. 27.
Velleius Paterculus, II. 78.
90 Philippic. I. 12. Epist. ad
Atticum, XIV. epist. XV. XVI.
XVII.
342
THE MILDNESS OF THE CRIMINAL LAW
XI.
CHAP. to a legal trial under the severest of the existing
statutes for the punishment of riots, he could have
received no heavier sentence than that of exile.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
A system like this, in which the laws were so fre-
quently superseded by acts of summary violence, was
admirably calculated to serve the purposes of des-
potism. The Porcian laws existed unrepealed, but
equally unregarded whenever it suited the interest of
the sovereign to violate them. How, indeed, could
they be more signally violated by the emperors than
they had been in innumerable instances under the old
constitution; not only in the proscriptions, but in the
suppression of less alarming disorders, in the execu-
tions ordered by the senate after the deaths of the
two Gracchi, in the punishment of the accomplices of
Catiline, and in the severity which we have just noticed
of P. Dolabella? So much respect was shown to the
forms of the constitution, while its spirit was violated,
that in the infliction of the punishment of death some
pains were taken to deprive it of the appearance of
an execution, and to give it the character of an irre-
gular but necessary act of policy or vengeance; a
sort of capital ostracism, in which the sufferer was
treated more as an enemy than a criminal, and his
life was taken without any accompanying circum-
stances of degradation. Hence a party of soldiers
were so often employed as the ministers of death,
instead of a regular executioner; and the sword
instead of the axe was the weapon used, a distinc-
tion which continued to exist to a much later period,
insomuch, that when beheading by the sword was
ENSURED IRREGULAR PUNISHMENTS.
343
91
From
XI.
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
recognised as a legal punishment, still beheading by CHAP.
the axe was looked upon as degrading and illegal 9¹.
Hence the sufferers were so often allowed to choose U.C. 722
to 766,
their own mode of death, and were constantly per-
mitted to be their own executioners. For all these
acts, committed by the sovereign power on the
alleged ground of public expediency, the practice of
the old constitution furnished precedent and apology;
and the Porcian law still availed to save Roman
citizens from the rods and axe of the lictor, from
those cruel and ignominious scourgings which were
inflicted so often by the Roman magistrates in the
provinces 92, sometimes as a punishment, and at other
times as an instrument of torture to extort a con-
fession from a prisoner before his trial. In process
of time, as was natural, the infliction of capital
punishment grew to be considered as legal and re-
gular; it began to assume the character of an execu-
tion; and as the government became more decidedly
monarchical, the cruel and degrading punishments,
so congenial to tyranny, were engrafted upon the
law of the empire. But, for the period with which
we are now engaged, it is important to observe how
an excessive mildness in the laws defeats its own
object, no less than excessive severity. Because
the Roman constitution provided no adequate legal
punishment for enormous crimes, men became re-
conciled to irregular inflictions of vengeance on the
91 Heineccius, Antiquitat. Ro-
man. Syntagma, IV. tit. 18, 10,
edit. Haubold.
92 St. Matthew, XXVII. 26.
Acts of the Apostles, XXII. 24.
29.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
344
IMPERIAL PREROGATIVES
CHAP. plea of necessity; and thus exemplified the danger
of looking with indifference upon any departure from
the written law, when necessity was as easily pleaded
A.C. 32 to by their tyrants for the murder of Cicero, as for
those of Saturninus, Cethegus, or Lentulus.
A.D. 13.
Imperial
prerogatives
peace.
93
Amongst the prerogatives possessed by Augustus,
of war and Dion Cassius mentions the right of making war or
peace with whatever nation he thought proper
This arose out of the proconsular power which had
been conferred on him, and from the immediate
command which he exercised in all the frontier pro-
vinces of the empire. Wherever the dominions of
the Commonwealth came in contact with any foreign
nations, there the whole civil and military authority
belonged to Augustus as proconsul; and if he pos-
sessed the power of making war or peace with the
people who bordered upon his provinces, it was no
more than had been commonly practised by the pro-
consuls of former times; nor could Augustus act
with a less restrained discretion than his uncle had
done in Gaul during the whole term of his com-
mand there, or than Crassus had exercised in his
government of Syria, when he commenced his un-
provoked attack upon the Parthian empire.
It is further stated by Dion Cassius, that Augustus
was the absolute master of the revenue, and that he
was enabled to levy money for the public service by
his sole authority. And here, perhaps, we may fitly
lay before the reader some notice of the pecuniary
93 LIII. 508.
OF WAR AND PEACE.
345
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
resources of the Roman empire; of the taxes paid CHAP.
by the people; and of the general administration of
the treasury. In doing this, we shall frequently go U.C. 722
back to the history of an earlier period; but the A.C.32 to
calm of the reign of Augustus allows us to turn
our attention to many points connected with the
internal state of Rome, which we have passed over
amidst the press of wars and internal disturbances,
through which our narrative has hitherto had to
struggle. Once for all, however, we must remind
the reader of the extreme difficulty of this part of
our task, and request his indulgence for the faults or
omissions which we fear he will not fail to discover.
We must draw our facts from scattered and scanty
sources; and it may often happen that some passage
has escaped our notice, which, had we known it,
might have taught us to qualify or to amend much
that we had advanced. We have said this, indeed,
nearly in the same words on a former occasion; but
we deem it not superfluous to repeat it again, not
only to disclaim for ourselves pretensions to a more
perfect knowledge than we possess, but to impress
upon the reader the unsatisfactory nature of many
of those disquisitions in which historians, endowed
with more eloquence than industry, have permitted
themselves to indulge. As the lessons of history
are the most valuable part of that wisdom which
concerns our earthly welfare, so it is most important
that they should not be rashly offered, but that they
may be at once so full and so uncorrupted, as to
furnish us with a trustworthy guide. And he who
1
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
346
OF THE ROMAN REVENUE.
CHAP. feels the deficiencies of his own performance may at
least render some service to his readers, if he shows
them how far they may safely rely on him, and does
A.C. 32 to not attempt to mislead them by assuming that tone
of self-satisfied confidence which will always impose
upon the mass of mankind, however much the wiser
few may detect and despise it.
A.D. 13.
Of the
Roman
revenue.
95
The revenue of the Roman people, before their
dominion embraced so many dependent provinces,
arose chiefly out of three sources 94: 1st, a property
tax (tributum) levied directly upon every citizen,
and proportioned to the amount of the property
which he possessed 25; 2dly, the rents or payments
of whatever kind which were received from the
national domains, using this last term in its most
extensive sense, as including not only lands in culti-
vation, whether arable or pasture, but also forests,
mines, and buildings; 3dly, the customs, including
the duties levied at the different ports on all im-
ported goods, and the tolls paid at all public ferries.
Of these three, the property tax, or tributum, is said
to have been discontinued after the conquest of
Macedon by L. Æmilius Paulus, in the year of
Rome 584 96; that is, the revenue which the state
received thenceforward from its conquered pro-
vinces, enabled it to relieve its own citizens from
that species of impost which is ever most galling to
the popular feeling. The second source of revenue,
namely, the national domains, cannot be fully under-
94 But see Niebuhr, I. 459.- 95 Livy, I. 43.
Ed.]
Cicero, de Officiis, II. 22.
OF THE NATURE OF THE NATIONAL DOMAINS. 347
97
CHAP.
From
XI.
U.C. 722-
to 766,
A.D. 13.
ture of the
domains.
stood, without touching upon a field of inquiry, at
once most interesting and most laborious, and which
neither our limits nor our ability enable us fully to
explore ⁹7. All lands conquered in war, surrendered A.C. 32 to
by the inhabitants or ceded by treaty, became the of the na-
property of the conquering people, who thus were national
not only the sovereign, but the landlord of the terri-
tories which they acquired. Sometimes this right
was so far mitigated in practice, that the old inha-
bitants were allowed to retain their lands, as tenants,
on payment of a rent to the conquering people as
their landlord; but sometimes, also, it was exercised
in its widest extent, the old proprietors were ex-
pelled altogether, and the land was disposed of
according to the pleasure of its new masters. In
Grecian history there is an instance of the first of
» For the groundwork of what
follows on the subject of the
national domains, the writer has
great pleasure in acknowledging
his obligations to the masterly
work of Niebuhr, and particularly
to the excellent chapter on the
nature of the agrarian laws, II.
349, et seq. He is indebted to
Niebuhr also for his first acquaint-
ance with the collection of writers,
De Re Agrariâ, published by
Goesius at Amsterdam, in 1674,
and which is so little known in
England, that he has found no
allusion to it in any English writer
on the Roman History whose
works have fallen under his notice.
Niebuhr's "Roman History" is
one of those great works of genius
which throw at once a blaze of
light over subjects before obscure,
and which, by the clearness and
justness of the views which they
communicate, make us full of sur-
prise that the same discoveries
had never been made before.
Niebuhr carries some hypotheses
perhaps too far, and in some of his
opinions may be led away by a
fondness for novelty; but these
are faults which succeeding writers
may easily correct, while they
and the world in general derive
perpetual benefit from the great
excellences of his work; its sur-
prising knowledge, and the emi-
nent ability with which detached
notices of facts are brought to-
gether and made to illustrate each
other, and the penetration with
which he has discovered principles
of civil and religious law amidst an
apparent chaos of anomalous and
unconnected particulars.
348
MODES OF DISTRIBUTION IN GREECE
XI.
CHAP. these methods of proceeding in the behaviour of the
Athenians, after their conquest of Mitylene, in the
From
U.C. 722 Peloponnesian war. The territory of the Mityle-
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
næans was divided into a certain number of lots, on
each of which a certain rent was levied, and the
former proprietors continued to occupy their estates
as before, but in the character of tenants instead of
landlords. On the other hand, when Ægina was
conquered, the inhabitants were suffered to remain
undisturbed for a time in their old homes; but on
the breaking out of the Peloponnesian war, the
Athenians thought proper to act upon their right
of conquest more rigorously; they expelled the
Æginetans accordingly, altogether, from the island,
and divided the lands amongst a certain number of
Athenian colonists, who became its inhabitants for
several years, till they were, in their turn, driven
out by the Lacedæmonians after the battle of
Egospotami. The Romans, in the same manner,
made a difference in the treatment of the different
nations whom they conquered; but in all cases they
claimed a sovereignty over the soil, and in all cases,
therefore, they derived from it a revenue. The
peculiar mark of this sovereignty was the reservation
of a right to a certain portion of the produce of the
land, and this portion was generally the tenth or
tithe. Even when the lands of a conquered country
were restored, as it was expressed, to the old pro-
prietors, (for by the act of conquest they were held
to be instantly forfeited to the conquering people,
and the right of the old inhabitants was immediately
AND ROME OF NATIONAL DOMAINS.
349
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
lost,) still the tithe of the produce was reserved. CHAP.
When they were not restored, they were either sold
by the quæstors in lots of a certain size, or divided U.C. 722
out among a certain number of the citizens; or, not A.C. 32 to
being regularly disposed of by the government, were
occupied by individuals without any particular title,
as they severally happened to take possession; or,
fourthly, were let on leases for terms of different
length to farmers, who had the power of under-
letting them again either entire or in lots. In the
second of these cases, and in that only, the full sove-
reignty of the land appears to have been granted
together with the occupation or enjoyment of it.
When a colony was planted in a conquered country,
and a division of lands made amongst the new
settlers, according to the solemn forms transmitted
through a long succession of ages from the priests
of Etruria, then the state resigned all its rights, and
the lots thus given to each colonist became, in the
fullest sense of the word, his freehold 98. But every
other mode of alienation was made with a reserva-
98 In the collection of writers,
De Re Agrariâ, to which we have
before alluded, there is a very
remarkable fragment, ascribed to
Vegoia, and which is evidently
translated from an Etruscan ori-
ginal of the highest antiquity. It
is so curious, that the reader may
not be displeased to see a part of
it herè transcribed :-
"Scias Mare ex Æthere re-
motum. Cum autem Juppiter
Terram Hetruriæ sibi vindicavit,
constituit jussitque metiri Campos,
signarique Agros, sciens Hominum
Avaritiam vel terrenam Cupidinem,
Terminis omnia scita esse voluit,
quos quandoque ob Avaritiam
prope novissimi octavi
octavi Sæculi
datos sibi Homines Dolo malo
violabunt, contingentque atque
movebunt.
Sed qui contigerit
moveritque Possessionem, promo-
vendo suam, alterius minuendo, ob
hoc Scelus damnabitur, a Diis,"
&c. p. 258.
How exactly does this agree
with the very words of the Mosaic
law, that "cursed is he who re-
moveth his neighbour's landmark."
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
350 NO PUBLIC LAND EXEMPT FROM TITHES
CHAP. tion of the state's sovereignty; a tenure more or
less favourable was granted to the individual, but
the government retained its right to the tithes of
A.C. 32 to the produce, and its power of planting colonies at a
future period in the domains over which it did not
think proper to exercise at present its full authority.
Now as the whole territory of Rome, to speak gene-
rally, had been gained by conquest, the sovereignty
of it was vested in the Roman people; and with the
exception of such portions as had been divided out
into colonies, it was all subject to the payment
of tithes. In process of time the whole of Italy
became exempted from this burden by the gradual
division of every part of the public land amongst
the inhabitants of its various colonies; and when
the Italians successively acquired the rights of
Roman citizens, all the land which had been given
back after conquest to its old possessors
99 Hyginus says expressly, "Agri
qui redditi sunt non obligantur
Vectigalibus, quoniam scilicet pri-
oribus Dominis redditi sunt," p.
205, edit. Goesii. But Cicero says
as positively, that the conquered
lands in Sicily, which had been
restored to their old inhabitants,
were regularly let by the censors;
that is, the tithes which they paid
were regularly farmed. (Cicero, in
Verrem, III. 6.) And Aggenus
Urbicus lays it down as a general
rule, that in the provinces, " omnes
etiam privati Agri Tributa atque
Vectigalia persolvunt." Commen-
tar. in Frontin. p. 47, edit. Goesii.
We suppose, therefore, that so
long as the Italians were foreigners
99 as well
to Rome, the lands given back to
them were subject to the same
burden as those which were re-
stored to the states of Sicily.
With regard to the lands sold by
the quæstors, Niebuhr classes
them with those divided amongst
the settlers of a colony, and con-
siders them as entirely freehold.
Romische Geschichte, II. 379.
It is with the utmost diffidence
that we differ from so great an
authority; but Hyginus says, that
the tenure of the "agri quæstorii"
was the same with that of the
other lands of the Roman people ;
and Siculus Flaccus gives it as a
definition of land belonging to
the Roman people," that its revenue
SAVE THAT OCCUPIED BY COLONIES.
351
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
as that which had been sold by the quæstors, CHAP.
assumed the character of the private property of
Roman citizens, and thus was placed on a level U.C. 722
with that divided out amongst the settlers of a
colony, and became altogether freehold. But in the
provinces all land, except that which belonged to
any Roman colony, was subject to some payment to
the government. In some instances a general land
tax was levied over the whole province, as a sort of
fine paid by the inhabitants for the renewal of their
term of possession, after their rights, as freehold pro-
prietors, had been forfeited by the conquest of their
country. But in other cases, where the province
had been peaceably ceded or bequeathed to the
Romans by its former sovereign, as in the instance of
the province of Asia, the inhabitants retained their
former rights, and the Roman people only acquired
the sovereignty or superiority over the country (if we
may borrow a nearly analogous term from the Scot-
tish law), which was signified by the reservation of
the tenth part of the produce as the invariable pro-
perty of the government. This claim upon the
tithes existed, we believe, quite distinctly from the
general land tax or fine levied upon some particular
provinces; and where that land tax was paid, the
tithes were nevertheless paid also. In some in-
stances we find that the provincial lands paid a
belongs to the treasury. Edit. whether it was a sale of the sove-
Goesii, p. 2. However, as the reignty, or only of the possession
lands sold by the quæstors were of the land for ever, subject to the
not very extensive, it is of the less payment of its tithes to the go-
consequence to ascertain minutely vernment.
XI.
352 OTHER TAXES DRAWN FROM NATIONAL DOMAINS.
CHAP. seventh and sometimes a fifth part of their produce
to the government 100; and here it may be difficult
to decide, whether this payment was still indepen-
A.C. 32 to dent of the tithes, or whether it was made as an
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
equivalent both for the tithes and the land tax or
tribute. But in addition to all these burdens, we
have a long list of others which were imposed by the
provincial governors when their own avarice or the
alleged exigencies of the public service required any
extraordinary resources 10. First, there was a general
levy of money enforced over the whole province 102,
corresponding perhaps to the feudal aids, and raised,
we may suppose, by a per centage upon property.
Then followed the most odious of all imposts, a poll
tax, demanded alike of slaves and freemen; and, be-
sides this, other taxes upon houses or house doors 103
and upon the columns which were so much used in
the more expensive architecture of the ancients.
Finally, there was a general impressment of soldiers,
seamen, and carriages, for the military and naval
service, additional requisitions of corn for the main-
tenance of the troops, and of arms and military en-
>
100 Hyginus, de Limitib. con-
stituend. 198, edit. Goesii. Creuzer
distinguishes these payments of the
fifth or seventh parts of the pro-
duce both from the tithes and
from the land tax, Romische Anti-
quitaten, 265. But we know not
But we know not
on what authority this statement
arose, and it seems to us somewhat
doubtful.
101 Cæsar, de Bello Civili, III.
31, 32.
The
102 Imperatæ Pecuniæ.
103 Ostiaria, Columnaria.
poll tax and house tax seem not
to have been peculiarly confined
to periods of great public exi-
gency; for both are mentioned by
Cicero as having been levied in
Cilicia in the year 701; and by
the manner in which they are
spoken of, they appear to have been
ordinarily levied there. Epist.
ad Familiares, III. epist. VIII.
THE PUBLICANI.
353
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
gines. Under these multiplied exactions, besides a CHAP.
charge altogether indefinite made by the proconsul From
or proprætor for the maintenance of himself and all U.C. 722
his inferior officers, it is no wonder that the pro- A.C. 32 to
vinces were overwhelmed with debt; for the neces-
sity of paying the taxes being immediate, the people
were reduced to borrow money at an exorbitant in-
terest, and there were always wealthy Romans of the
equestrian order at hand who carried on a regular
traffic in the distress of the provinces, and who were
accustomed to lay out their money in loans of this
kind, as they thus gained not only a very high rate
of interest, but also an extensive influence over the
individuals or communities who were indebted to
them.
publicani.
In the dealings between the government and its of the
subjects, the intervention of a third party was gene-
rally employed. The revenues of every province
were commonly farmed by wealthy individuals of the
equestrian order, called by the well-known name of
Publicani. As the senators were not allowed to
engage in any sort of traffic, the equestrian order,
consisting of all citizens not being senators, who pos-
sessed property beyond a certain amount, embraced
almost the whole commercial interest of the empire;
and a favourite branch of their speculations was that
of farming the revenues. As soon as a province fell
under the dominion of Rome, a number of these
adventurers proceeded to settle themselves in it,
and to acquaint themselves with the extent of its
resources. They then purchased of the censors the
VOL. II.
A A
354
THE PUBLICANI.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. different taxes claimed by the government,—the land
tax, the tithes, the poll tax, and the other subordi-
nate imposts, and thus took upon themselves the
A.C. 32 to whole risk and trouble of collecting them. In doing
this they were armed with the full authority of the
government by the officer who commanded in the
province, unless he happened to have some quarrel
with their order, in which case they probably found
their business sufficiently difficult, and were losers
rather than gainers by their contracts 104. But in
ordinary cases the governor of the province and the
publicani were well disposed to gratify one another;
for the equestrian order, after the Sempronian law
had placed the whole judicial power in their hands,
was a body not lightly to be offended; and the con-
demnation of P. Rutilius, whose upright administra-
tion had checked the exactions of the publicani in
Asia, was a lesson to future magistrates rather to
share in the plunder of the farmers of the revenue
than to endeavour to repress it.
Under the old constitution the revenues were
under the controul of the senate, to which body the
quæstors, who acted as treasurers both at Rome and
in the provinces, were obliged to submit their ac-
counts. But the civil wars had created so large a
military force throughout the empire, and had so
dangerously taught the soldiers to know their own
power, that it became most important to provide for
them by regular means, lest they should again be
104 Cicero, de Provinciis Consularibus, 5.
AUGUSTUS ESTABLISHES PROCURATORES.
355
tempted to listen to some new adventurer, and to
renew the disorders which had prevailed for the last
twenty years. Augustus therefore instituted a mili-
tary treasury 105, over which he possessed supreme
authority, as imperator or commander in chief of the
army; and for the support of this treasury he in-
vented some new taxes, particularly a sort of excise
duty of one per cent. on all articles exposed to sale 106
He enjoyed also the entire revenues of those pro-
vinces which were immediately subjected to his
jurisdiction; and even in those which were under
the controul of the senate, he had a treasury of his
own, distinguished by the name of fiscus from the
ærarium or treasury of the people, into which pro-
bably were paid those taxes which had been created
for the especial support of the ærarium militare. In
all the provinces alike, the revenues which belonged
to Augustus were received in his name by officers
called procuratores 107 ; a class of persons who at first
were hardly considered as more than the agents or
stewards of a wealthy individual, and who were
accordingly selected not only from the equestrian
order, but also from among the freedmen; while the
regular governors of the provinces, whether pro-
consuls or lieutenants of the emperor, were, with the
sole exception of the governor of Egypt, appointed
exclusively from the senate.
CHAP.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
We here propose to notice, separately, the state of State of
105 Suetonius, in Augusto, 49.
106 Tacitus, Anual, I. 78.
107 Dion Cassius, LIII. 506.
Conf. Creuzer, Romische Antiqui-
taten, 218, 219.
Italy and
the pro-
vinces.
A a 2
1
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
Italy.
356 STATE OF ITALY AND THE PROVINCES.
CHAP. Italy and of the different provinces of the empire,
under the government of Augustus, as far as we
have been able to collect materials for the picture.
A.C. 32 to The name of Italy was now at last applied to the
whole peninsula from the Alps to the Straits of
Messina 108; and the inhabitants of the whole of this
district had obtained the rights of Roman citizens.
Their votes, however, were no longer to be given in
the comitia at Rome 109, but the magistrates of the
different Italian colonies were to collect the votes of
their fellow-citizens in their respective towns, and
send them sealed up to Rome, there to be opened on
the day of election in the Campus Martius. These
colonies, it must be remembered, occupied at this
time nearly all the surface of Italy. It was the
boast of Augustus that he had himself planted no
fewer than eight and twenty; a strange subject of
exultation, when we consider that they were formed
out of the soldiers of his army, and were planted in
spots left desolate by the extirpation of their old in-
habitants, who had suffered either under the first
proscription of the Triumvirs, or under that fatal
establishment of military tyranny which was created
by the reduction of Perusia. The soldiers of a mer-
cenary army are miserable elements out of which to
form a civil society; and thus, instead of a people in-
heriting the soil from time immemorial, and blend-
ing, in one well-organized commonwealth, nobility
and wealth and honest industry, the new possessors
108 Strabo, V. 1.
109 Suetonius, in Augusto, 46.
DECAY OF THE FREE POPULATION.
357
From
XI.
to 766,
A. D. 13.
of Italy were an ill-cemented horde of dissolute ad- CHAP.
venturers, with no natural connexion with the spots
on which they were settled, and with habits the most U.C. 722
alien from those of good husbands, good fathers, or A.C. 32 to
good citizens. We are told accordingly, that the
free population of many parts of Italy was reduced to
a very low point 110, whilst the slaves were numerous,
and the capital itself was overburthened with the
crowd of needy citizens, whom each successive civil
war threw upon that common shore of nations. The
north of Italy, however, was in a more flourishing
condition; there the military colonies had been far
less numerous, and the inhabitants having lately
acquired the rights of Roman citizens, and possessing
natural advantages of the highest order in their soil
and climate, were perhaps the most fortunately cir-
cumstanced of any people throughout the empire.
In Patavium or Padua there were five hundred citi-
zens rich enough to be ranked among the equestrian
order. The town carried on a great trade with
Rome, supplying the capital with clothing, with the
finest carpets, and with other articles of similar kinds
to an immense amount, probably from its own manu-
factories. The woods of this part of Italy main-
tained also large droves of swine 112, which supplied
the population of Rome with the largest proportion
of their food; and the vine was cultivated with great
success, in proof of which Strabo instances the pro-
digious size of the wine vats, rivalling, it seems,
112 Strabo, 1, § 12.
110 Livy, VI. 12.
111 Strabo, V. 1, § 7.
|
|
|
ร
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
358
SICILY, SARDINIA, AND CORSICA.
CHAP. those of our London brewers, for they are described
as being larger than houses. The coarser woollen
cloths, which formed the dress of the households of
most of the people of Italy, were chiefly manufactured
in Liguria and its neighbourhood; whilst the softest
and finest wool was produced by the pastures of
Mutina and Scultenna. Above all, it is said, that
here was to be found a numerous free population,
which provided the state with its best supply of
soldiers, whilst the rest of Italy was left exhausted
and desolate, and Augustus was endeavouring to
force its inhabitants to marry and rear families by
the penalties and encouragements of the law.
Sicily, Sar-
dinia, and
Corsica.
The island of Sicily had been the seat of one of
the latest civil wars, that between Augustus and Sex.
Pompeius, and it is said to have suffered not only
during the contest, but during its previous occupa-
tion by Pompeius; the plundering and disorderly
habits of his numerous seamen having proved, we
may suppose, very mischievous to the inhabitants 113
Since that time, Augustus had sent a colony of vete-
rans to Syracuse, and a small portion of the former
site of that famous city was again occupied and for-
tified. But the cities of Sicily were now become
few and inconsiderable; its population was small;
and almost the whole of its abundant produce was
regularly sent to Rome for the maintenance of the
people of the capital. A great part of the surface
of the island was devoted to pasture for sheep,
113 Strabo, VI. 2, § 4.
BANDITTI IN THE ISLANDS.
359
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
oxen, and horses 114; and the slaves, who were em- CHAP.
ployed in taking care of them, had formerly, as we
have seen, carried on a long and obstinate struggle U.C. 722
against the Roman power. In the reign of Au-
gustus they still infested the country, and particularly
the neighbourhood of Etna, with their robberies;
and Strabo mentions a robber chief, whom he
himself saw torn to pieces by wild beasts in the
amphitheatre at Rome, and who, before he was
taken, had been at the head of a considerable force.
The mountains of Corsica and Sardinia were in like
manner occupied by wild tribes of barbarians, who
kept up a constant system of plunder against the
inhabitants of the more level country; those of
Corsica are described as so inveterately brutish 115,
that when taken and carried to the Roman slave
market, their purchasers always repented of their
bargain, however trifling the price they had paid for
them; while the Sardinian robbers did not confine
their depredations to their own island, but frequently
made excursions to the opposite coast of Italy, and
were enabled, in great measure, to defy the Roman
governors in their own haunts, from the impossibility
of keeping a military force exposed to the pestilen-
tial atmosphere of the wilder parts of the country.
Amongst the Alpine tribes, to the north of Italy,
the same plundering habits had formerly prevailed,
and even the Roman armies, which were stationed
in their neighbourhood, had frequently suffered from
114 Strabo, 2, § 6.
115 Strabo, V. 2, § 7.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
360 CLEARANCE OF BANDITTI IN NORTHERN ITALY.
CHAP. their desultory attacks 116; but Augustus, judging
it most important to keep up a secure communica-
tion between Italy and the Transalpine provinces,
A.C. 32 to and having himself, on one occasion, lost his baggage
and several of his soldiers when crossing the moun-
tains which they inhabited, determined to put an
effectual stop to their incursions. He accordingly
employed such vigorous measures against them, that
he extirpated the nation of the Salassi altogether,
selling no fewer than forty-four thousand of them
for slaves, eight thousand of whom were the warriors
of the tribe. Three thousand Roman settlers were
then sent to colonize the town of Augusta, or Aosta,
at the very head of the valley of the Dorea Baltea,
from which place two roads were carried across the
Alps, the one over the Little Saint Bernard, which
was made practicable for carriages, and the other
over the Great Saint Bernard, which could be tra-
velled only by mules. In consequence of these exer-
tions, the whole neighbourhood was reduced to a
state of perfect tranquillity, and the communication
with Gaul was carried on without molestation 117
Gaul.
The condition of the important province of Gaul
itself will be regarded with more curiosity. Its
"Cicatrice" must still "have looked raw and red
after the Roman sword," when Augustus first be-
came the sovereign of the empire; for scarcely more
than twenty years had elapsed since his uncle had
for the first time completed its conquest. Yet in
116 Strabo, IV. 6, § 7.
117 Strabo, IV. 6, § 7; and Pliny, Histor. Natural. III. 20.
GAUL; ITS QUIET SETTLEMENT.
361
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
the reign of Tiberius, Strabo describes the inha- CHAP.
bitants as already settled into habits of peaceful sub- From
mission to the Roman power 118; and he attributes U.C. 722
it to their national character, which long retained
the remembrance of a defeat, and if vanquished in
one general contest, was cowed for ever. But the
fact is, that the Gauls, when first attacked by Cæsar,
were by no means a nation of savages. They had
regular governments 119, were perfectly familiar with
agriculture, and were accustomed to pay the greatest
veneration to their Druids, who professed, with what-
ever success, the study of moral and natural philo-
sophy. Such a state of society, combined with the
natural features of the country, which then, as now,
was by no means favourable to the maintenance of
a desultory and harassing warfare, ensured the per-
manence of the conquest of Gaul as soon as it was
once effected. The people were able to appreciate
the value of the arts, and the commercial advantages
which they derived from their conquerors. Even
before the invasion of Cæsar, traders were in the
habit of visiting almost every part of the country,
and had familiarized the people with many even of the
luxuries of civilized life. But the Roman conquest
must have greatly increased this traffic, by enabling
merchants to transport their goods from one end of
Gaul to the other with perfect security, and by
bringing the whole country into direct communica-
tion with the wealth and commercial enterprise of
118 IV. 1, § 2; 4, § 2.
119 Cæsar, de Bello Gallico, VI. 11, &c.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
362 ITS COMMUNICATIONS, AND PRODUCE.
CHAP. the Roman empire. The great rivers with which
France abounds were successfully employed to expe-
dite this intercourse 120; and goods from all parts of
A.C. 32 to the Mediterranean were conveyed by water up the
Rhone and Saone, and from thence, after a short
interval of land carriage, were again embarked on
the Seine, and thus transported either to Britain or
to all the districts on the northern coast of Gaul,
bordering on the British Channel; while the Loire
and the Garonne afforded an equally convenient
communication with the western parts of Gaul, and
with the shores of the Bay of Biscay. In another
point, also, the Gauls felt the benefit of their con-
nexion with Rome. Great quantities of oxen, sheep,
and pigs, were reared in all parts of the country 121;
and we are told that not only Rome itself, but most
other districts of Italy, were supplied with coarse
cloaks manufactured of Gaulish wool, and with
Gaulish bacon of most excellent quality, particularly
from the hogs fed in Burgundy, Franche Comté,
and Lorraine. There were also some favoured spots
in Gaul, to which the Romans had communicated
their own political privileges. Narbo, Vienne, and
Lugdunum were Roman colonies, and enjoyed the
advantages of the "jus Italicum" in its full extent 122;
120 Strabo, IV. 1, § 14.
121 Strabo, 1, § 2; 4, § 3. Cæsar,
de Bello Gallico, IV. 2.
122 See Haubold, Epicrisis Hei-
neccii, I. Adpend. § 97, 98; and
Creuzer, Romische Antiquitaten,
263. This account of the "jus Ita-
•
licum" was first given by Savigny,
in his Dissertation " Ueber das Jus
Italicum" published among the
Memoirs, and read by him before
the Academy of Berlin in 1814
and 1815.
ROMAN COLONIES IN GAUL.
363
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
that is, they were governed by their own laws and
magistrates, and were not subject to the authority
of the proconsul of the province, and their land was U.C. 722
considered private and freehold property in the full A.C. 32 to
Roman sense of the term; it was, therefore, not
liable to pay land-tax or tithes; and it might be
alienated by "mancipatio," that is, it might be sold
in full sovereignty, and with an indisputable title, a
privilege which was peculiarly confined to the soil
of Italy 123, and to those places in the provinces
which, by possessing the "jus Italicum," were placed
on the same footing as if they were situated in Italy.
The lower privilege of the "jus Latii" was conferred
on the inhabitants of Nemansus, or Nismes 124, and
on the Convenæ and Ausci in Aquitania, by which
they also enjoyed an exemption from the authority
of the proconsul of the province; and those who
held any magistracy among them became ipso facto
entitled to the full rights of Roman citizens. These,
however, were in the time of Augustus rare excep-
tions; and the great majority of the inhabitants of
Gaul shared largely in the miseries as well as in
the benefits of subjection to the Roman empire.
They were oppressed by all the burdens ordinarily
imposed on the provinces, and suffered not only from
direct taxation, but from that still heavier evil, to
which we have before alluded, the frequent neces-
sity of borrowing money at an exorbitant interest
123 See Liber Simplicii, apud 124 Strabo, IV. 1, § 12; and 2,
Scriptores de Re Agrariâ, 76, edit. § 2.
Goesii.
і
1
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
364
REASONS OF THE DISAPPEARANCE
CHAP. from the wealthy Roman citizens who were settled
amongst them. Accordingly we find, as early as the
reign of Tiberius 125, that the whole of Gaul was
overwhelmed with debt, and their sufferings from
this cause led to the unsuccessful insurrection against
the Roman power, which took place, about eight
years after the death of Augustus, under Julius
Florus and Julius Sacrovir.
A.D. 13.
Change of
language.
126
The total extirpation of the Celtic language, which
was effected throughout the whole of Gaul, during
the continuance of the Roman dominion, could not
have taken place till long after the reign of Augustus.
But an earnest of the change was already exhibited
in Gallia Narbonensis, which had been now a Roman
province for more than a century; for Strabo tells
us that the inhabitants of the left or eastern bank
of the Rhone were even in his time no longer to
be considered barbarians, but were become Romans,
both in their customs and in their language. Several
important steps had also been taken towards the
civilization of the more recently conquered pro-
vinces. Human sacrifices 127, and all rites of the
Celtic worship which were at variance with the
practices of the Roman religion, were strictly pro-
hibited; nor was more toleration shown to the bar-
barous custom of carrying about the skulls of their
enemies whom they had slain, and fastening them
up as a trophy over their gates. Besides, the
125 Tacitus, Annal. III. 40. Gal-
liarum Civitates, ob magnitudinem
Æris alieni, rebellionem cœptavere.
126 IV. 1, § 12.
127 IV. 4, § 5.
OF THE CELTIC LANGUAGE IN GAUL.
365
XI.
had U.C. 722
these
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
Romans found the Gauls already disposed, in some CHAP.
measure, to adopt their institutions, from the popu- From
larity which the arts and literature of Greece
obtained amongst them. Their knowledge of
was derived from the famous Ionian colony of Mas-
silia, or Marseilles, a city which was at this time the
Athens of the western part of the empire 128, and
not only served as a school of instruction to the
Gauls, but was frequented by many Romans of the
highest distinction, who resorted thither, instead of
to Greece, to devote themselves to literature and
philosophy. So strong an effect had been produced
by the Massilians upon the Gauls in general, that
the Greek sophists found in most parts of Gaul a
liberal reception, and were often engaged, by par-
ticular cities, to open schools of public instruction
for their citizens, while the Greek character began
to be adopted wherever there was occasion for writ-
ing 129. The Celtic, it appears, was not a written
language; and the Druids refused to commit to
writing any of the learning which they possessed
and taught, giving their instructions only by word
of mouth, and obliging their scholars to trust to
their memories alone for retaining them. This cir-
cumstance, doubtless, contributed to the gradual
adoption of the Roman language throughout Gaul.
As soon as a fondness for literature was introduced,
the Gauls, finding nothing to gratify it in their own
language, applied themselves of necessity to that of
128 IV. 1, § 5.
129 Cæsar, de Bello Gallico, VI. 13.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
366
SPAIN; ITS THREE PROVINCES.
CHAP. their conquerors. This co-operating with the influ-
ence which Latin necessarily enjoyed from political
causes, introduced it universally, in time, amongst
A.C. 32 to the higher classes; while the existence of domestic
slavery made it much more necessary for the lower
orders to acquire the language of the higher, than is
the case in modern Europe. Thus the negroes in
the West Indies learn, universally, the language of
their masters; whilst in Wales and Ireland the gen-
tleman often accommodates himself to his poorer
neighbours, and consents to address them in Welch
or in Erse, because they choose to continue ignorant
of English.
Spain.
Bætica.
The different parts of the neighbouring country of
Spain presented a striking contrast to each other.
The whole Peninsula was at this time divided into
three provinces 130, known by the names of Bætica,
Lusitania, and Hispania Tarraconensis; the first of
which was governed by a proconsul appointed by
the senate, and the two latter by the lieutenants
of Augustus. Bætica comprised nearly the same
extent of country which is at present included within
the limits of Andalusia and Grenada. It had been
already conquered by the Carthaginians before the
second Punic war, and in the course of that war was
made a part of the Roman dominion by P. Scipio
Africanus, after the expulsion of its former masters.
The Romans had thus possessed it for about two
hundred years, and it was now one of the most
130 Dion Cassius, LIII. 503. Strabo, III. 4, p. 444, edit. Siebenkees.
+
SOUTHERN PROVINCE; BÆTICA.
367
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
flourishing portions of their empire. Its inhabitants CHAP.
had almost lost their original language 181, and in From
their speech, and dress, and manners, were become U.C. 722
assimilated to their conquerors. The valley of the
Bætis, or Guadalquivir, is described by Strabo as
rivalling in richness and fertility the most favoured
countries in the empire; its trade with Rome was
exceedingly great, and carried on directly with Ostia
and Puteoli, the ports in the immediate neighbour-
hood of the capital; the ships employed in this
commerce were of the largest size of any that fre-
quented the Mediterranean; and the articles ex-
ported in them were numerous and valuable, con-
sisting of corn, wine, oil, of the finest quality,
wax, honey, salt fish in immense quantities, pitch,
minium or cinnabar 132, and coccus ilicis, an insect
of the cochineal species, and used by the ancients
for their best scarlet dyes, as we now use the cochi-
neal of Mexico. The Spanish wool then enjoyed
the same high reputation which it still does to this
day; great quantities of it, both in the raw and
manufactured state, were exported to Rome; and so
highly was the Spanish breed of sheep esteemed,
131 Strabo, III. 2, p. 404. 380.
389, &c.
132 The minium (sulphuret of
quicksilver) belonged to the go-
vernment, and, with other produc-
tions of the mines, was farmed by
the publicani. The price, how-
ever, at which it was to be sold
was fixed by the government at
15s. 8d. the pound avoirdupois;
but the publicani made a large
profit by adulterating it. The
coccus ilicis was found so plentifully
on the evergreen oak, (quercus
coccifera,) that Pliny says the
poorer Spaniards were enabled to
pay half their tribute by the money
which they got from the sale of
this insect. See Pliny, Histor.
Natural. XVI. 8; and XXXIII.
7.
368
BÆTICA.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
133
³, or
CHAP. that the rams were ordinarily sold for a talent
1937. 15s. of our money. Above all, we should
notice the mineral riches of Spain, which exceeded,
A.C. 32 to in value and in quantity, all that were known to
exist in any part of the world. We read of gold
obtained partly from the mines, but more brought
down in small particles by the streams from the
mountains, and extracted by carefully washing the
sand and gravel in which it was contained: and
mention is made also of mines of silver, lead, tin,
iron, and copper. Of the towns of Bætica, the most
distinguished were the Roman colonies of Corduba
and Hispalis (Cordova and Seville), and Gades, or
Cadiz. This place had been founded at a very
remote period, by a colony from Tyre 134; their Phoe-
nician extraction however did not induce the in-
habitants to bear the Carthaginian dominion with
willingness; but, on the contrary, they took an early
opportunity to conclude an alliance with Rome
even before the downfall of the Carthaginian power
in Spain, and became thus, according to the usual
nature of alliances between a stronger and a weaker
state in the ancient world, a dependency of the
Roman people. In the civil war provoked by Cæsar's
rebellion, the people of Gades espoused his cause
with zeal, and expelled Pompey's officer from their
town 136; in return for which, if we may believe Dion
133 Strabo, ibid.
134 Velleius Paterculus, I. 2.
135 Cicero, pro Balbo, 15, 16.
The language of the treaty ran,
'Majestatem populi Romani comi-
66
ter conservato
Gaditanus).
20.
135
(scil. populus
136 Cæsar, de Bello Civili, II.
LUSITANIA AND HISPANIA TARRACONENSIS.
369
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
Cassius 137, Cæsar bestowed upon them the privileges CHAP.
of Roman citizenship. They found at any rate an From
effectual patron in their countryman L. Cornelius U.C. 722
Balbus, the nephew of that Balbus who had been A.C. 32 to
presented with the freedom of Rome by Pompey,
for his services in the contest with Sertorius, and
who has been mentioned before as one of the most
confidential friends of Cæsar, and as one of the first
instances of a man, by birth a foreigner, rising to the
rank of consul at Rome. Balbus enlarged the city
of Gades 138, and built a dock-yard on the main land
immediately opposite to the island in which the
town is situated. In the reign of Tiberius, Gades
was one of the most flourishing cities in the empire;
and it is said to have rivalled Patavium or Padua, in
containing five hundred citizens, rich enough to be
reckoned amongst the equestrian order. It carried
on an extensive trade both in the Mediterranean
and in the Atlantic, and the size and number of its
merchant vessels are both especially noticed.
and His-
conensis.
The two remaining provinces of Spain were far Lusitania
from being in so advanced a state as Bætica. The pania Tarra-
Celtiberians indeed, who inhabited the central and
eastern parts of the Peninsula, were partially be-
coming more civilized 139; and some of them, like
the people of Bætica, had learnt to wear the Roman
dress, and to adopt the Roman manner of living.
But the tribes which bordered on the Atlantic and
137 XLI. 164, edit. Leunclavii.
139 Strabo, III. 2, p. 404; and
138 Strabo, III. 5, p. 451, edit. 4, p. 446.
Siebenkees.
VOL. II.
B B
CHAP.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
370 LUSITANIA AND HISPANIA TARRACONENSIS.
on the Bay of Biscay still retained in great measure
their original wildness. The Cantabri, whose terri-
tory corresponded with the modern provinces of
A.C. 32 to Biscay and Asturias, had been only lately attacked
by Augustus in person 140, in the year 728; and being
then partially conquered, had soon afterwards re-
newed the contest, and had been more effectually
subdued by L. Æmilius, in the year following, and
again by M. Agrippa, in the year 734. In the reign
of Tiberius 141, the continued presence of a large
Roman army in their country (for out of three
Roman legions stationed in Spain, two were quar-
tered amongst the Asturians and Cantabrians), had
produced a partial effect upon them: some of them
had entered into the service of Rome, and some of
the tribes were learning the first elements of civil
society. But the existence of the Basque language
to this very day, undestroyed by the revolutions of
eighteen centuries, sufficiently proves that in these
remote districts the language and manners of Rome
were unable to take deep root; and therefore, at
the period of which we are writing, no more had
probably been done than to reduce the hostilities of
the natives to mere acts of robbery in the mountains
and forests, and by quartering Roman soldiers among
them to set before them a view of more civilized
institutions. The coast of the Mediterranean pre-
sented naturally a different picture
142 Here were
140 Dion Cassius, LIII. 513.
516. 528. Horace, Carm. III.
ode 14; and Epistolar. I. epist. 12.
141 Strabo, III. 3, p. 416; 4, p.
445. Tacitus, Annal. IV. 5.
142 Strabo, III. 4, p. 437. 429.
MAURITANIA.
371
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
cultivated the vine, the fig, and the olive; and here CHAP.
were the famous cities of Carthago, or Carthagena,
and Tarraco, or Tarragona, both Roman colonies. U.C. 722
On this coast also there grew in great luxuriance a
species of broom, which was largely used in rope-
making, and which was exported for that purpose to
all parts of the empire. In the interior may be no-
ticed the recently-planted colonies of Augusta Eme-
rita or Merida, Pax Augusta or Badajoz, and Cæsar-
augusta or Zaragoza, which Strabo instances as a
proof of the improved condition of the countries in
which they were situated 143,
The northern coast of Africa from the Atlantic Mauritania.
ocean to the harbour of Saldas 144, which lies a few
,
miles to the eastward of Algiers, was known by the
general name of Mauritania, and was at this time
governed by an African prince, on whom Augustus
had conferred the sovereignty; this was Juba, the
son of that Juba who had so zealously supported the
constitutional party in the civil war between Cæsar
and Pompey, and the husband of one of the daughters
of Antonius and Cleopatra. But notwithstanding
these connexions, Juba had served Augustus in the
civil wars 145, and had acquired his favour; and as
the greatest part of his father's dominions now formed
part of the Roman province of Africa, he received
the sovereignty of Mauritania as a sort of compensa-
tion. From the port of Saldas to the borders of
143 III. 2, p. 404.
145 Dion Cassius, LI.454; LIII.
144 Strabo, XVII. Tacitus, 514.
Annal. IV. 5.
Bb 2
372
MAURITANIA.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. Cyrenaica, the whole country which had been for-
merly possessed by the kings of Numidia and the
republic of Carthage, was now united under one
A.C. 32 to government, and was called the province of Africa 146,
It was one of the provinces assigned to the senate
and people, and was governed by a proconsul, with a
military establishment of two legions 147; and it is
known to have been one of the countries which sent
the greatest quantity of corn to the Roman market 148
But of the details of its condition very little is re-
corded. We find by the Fasti Triumphales, that
the proconsuls of this province frequently laid claim
to the insignia of a triumph, on account of victories
gained over the barbarians of the interior: we hear
of a Roman colony 149, lately founded by Augustus,
close to the site of the ancient Carthage; and we are
told that private individuals possessed here immense
estates 150, chiefly woodland and pasture, on which
many villages were built, and a numerous population
was maintained around the villa of the proprietor or
lord. Perhaps from this very cause the towns in
Africa were few and unimportant; the old ones had
been mostly destroyed, either in the Jugurthine war,
or in the contest between Cæsar and the constitu-
tional party, under Scipio and Cato: and as the land
146 Strabo, XVII. 3, § 25.
147 Tacitus, Annal. IV. 5.
148 Tacitus, Annal. XII. 43.
See also several passages in Ho-
race; for instance, Sat. II.; Sat.
III. 87. Carm. I. ode I. 10; III.
ode XVI. 30.
119 Strabo, XVII. 3, § 15. Ap-
pian, Punica, 136.
150 Aggenus Urbicus, de Con-
troversiis Agrorum, apud Scrip-
tores de Re Agrariâ, edit. Goesii,
71.
、
OF THE EASTERN OR GREEK PROVINCES. 373
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
seems mostly to have been granted or sold away to CHAP.
individuals, there was less room for those military
colonies, which in other parts of the empire were U.C. 722
laying the foundations of so many cities, famous in A.C. 32 to
after generations. Still we know that Africa carried
on a considerable trade, for Strabo 151, when wishing
to represent the great number of the merchant
vessels employed in the commerce between Italy and
the south of Spain, observes that it almost rivalled
the number of the vessels engaged in the commerce
of Africa.
eastern or
vinces.
In proceeding eastward to the small province of Of the
Cyrenaica, we enter upon a new division of the em- Greek pro-
pire, and one most strongly distinguished from all Cyrenaica.
the countries which we have hitherto noticed, by the
general use of the Greek language. The Greek
provinces, if we may so call them, were in a very
different condition from those of the west, which,
owing their civilization to the Romans, borrowed
from them alone their language and their institu-
tions. But in the east, society had long since
assumed a settled form, which in its internal details
was but little affected by the conquests of Rome.
Cyrene, originally a colony from the little island of
Thera, in the Ægæan 152, after enjoying some cen-
turies of independence and prosperity, was conquered
by Ptolemy 153, the son of Lagus, the first of the
Macedonian kings of Egypt, about the year of Rome
151 III. 2, p. 387.
153 Diodorus Siculus, XVIII.
152 Herodotus, Melpomene, 145, 602, et seq. edit. Rhodoman.
et seq.
隐​家
​XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
374
CYRENAICA.
CHAP. 430. It was afterwards, like Cyprus, conferred from
time to time, as a separate principality, on some
member of the royal family; and a prince, named
Ptolemy Apion 154, who had obtained it in this man-
ner, bequeathed it by his will to the Roman people,
in the year of Rome 657. The lands which had
belonged to him as king 155, thus became the demesne
of the Roman people, and not being divided out
amongst a certain number of citizens, as was the case
when a colony was planted, they were farmed in the
mass by the publicani, mostly as grazing lands, and
were encroached upon from time to time, like the
other national lands throughout the empire, by the
proprietors of the surrounding estates. In the time
of Augustus, Cyrenaica was united with Crete 156
under the government of the same officer, and the
two countries together formed one of the præ-
torian provinces which had been assigned to the
jurisdiction of the senate and people. It may be
remarked, as a proof that Cyrenaica was the western
limit of the Greek provinces, that the Jews, who had
spread themselves over all the eastern part of the
empire, are known to have been very numerous at
Cyrene 157, but are not mentioned as having esta-
blished themselves in the adjacent provinces of
Africa, or in any of the provinces westward of Italy.
To Cyrene itself its connexion with Egypt would
154 Livy, Epitome, LXX.
155 Tacitus, Annal. XIV. 18.
Pliny, Histor. Natural. XIX. 3.
Hyginus, de Limitibus constituend.
210. Script. Rei Agrar. edit.
Goesii.
156 Strabo, XVII. 2, § 25.
157 Acts of the Apostles, II. 10;
VI. 9. Dion Cassius, LXVIII.
786.
GENERAL LAWNEY
University of
MICHIGAN

EGYPT.
375
naturally have led them; and they formed there a
body so considerable as to have a synagogue speci-
ally appropriated to them in Jerusalem.
CHAP.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
We have already mentioned some of the precau- A.C. 32 to
tions taken by Augustus to prevent the great re- Egypt.
sources of Egypt from being placed at the disposal of
any one who might use them for the views of his
own ambition. The governor of Egypt was always
selected from the equestrian order, that is, from a
class of citizens who enjoyed the comforts of an
affluent private station, without taking any part in
civil or military offices. Next under the governor
was an officer invested with the administration of
justice 158; and after him came the procurator of the
emperor, whose business was simply to receive and
collect all sums which were due to the imperial
treasury. The military establishment consisted at
first of three legions, besides nine cohorts, employed
on permanent garrison duty at particular points of
the country; but as it was soon found that nothing
was to be dreaded either from any disposition to
revolt in the Egyptians themselves, or from the
power of the yet unconquered neighbouring nations,
it was thought safer to intrust the governor of so
wealthy a province with the least possible military
158 Strabo, XVII. 1, § 12.
ὁ δικαιοδότης. The procurator was
called ἴδιος λόγος, or private
account," which seems almost like
a cant term bestowed on him by
the Egyptians. The separation of
the judicial power from the su-
preme civil and military adminis-
tration of the province, appears to
be another proof of the excessive
jealousy with which the power and
wealth of Egypt were regarded by
the emperor.
1
376
EGYPT.
XI.
CHAP. force, and the army in Egypt was consequently
reduced to two legions 159. So wretched had been
the condition of the country under some of its
A.C. 32 to recent kings, that the Romans are said to have in-
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
troduced many beneficial reforms; and the trade with
India, which was carried on by way of the Red Sea,
increased prodigiously under their dominion, notwith-
standing the heavy duties which they took care to
impose on all articles imported into, or exported from,
Alexandria 160 There were two modes of communi-
cation between Egypt and the Red Sea; one was
by that famous canal, which had been begun in the
remotest times by Pharaoh Necho, again resumed by
Darius, the son of Hystaspes, and finally completed
under the government of the Ptolemies; and which
leaving the Nile near the southern point of the
Delta, after a somewhat circuitous course, joined the
Red Sea at the town of Arsinoe, close to the modern
town of Suez. The other was by land, across the
Desert, from Coptos on the Nile, situated a few
miles to the north of Thebes, to the ports of Berenice
and Myos Hormos; and the route was now supplied
with water, partly by digging wells, and partly by
159 We thus attempt to recon-
cile the different statements of
Strabo, who states the troops in
Egypt to have consisted of three
legions and nine cohorts, (XVII.
1, § 12,) and of Tacitus, who rates
them only at two legions (Annal.
IV. 5). Unless indeed Tacitus
spoke only of the number of Roman
soldiers, and Strabo meant to in-
clude the auxiliaries; a supposition
which seems supported by his dis-
tinguishing the nine cohorts which
were employed in garrison duty,
by the epithet "Roman," as if
all the troops of the three legions
were not entitled to that appel-
lation.
160 Strabo, XVII. 1, § 13. 25. 45.
EGYPT.
377
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
reservoirs, which preserved the occasional supply CHAP.
from the clouds. All the goods which were intro- From
duced into Egypt from the east by either of these U.C. 722
channels, were necessarily conveyed to Alexandria,
where they were again reshipped and exported to
Italy and the rest of the empire. It may be ob-
served, that two out of the three ships in which the
apostle Paul performed his voyage from Palestine to
Rome 16, were ships of Alexandria, which seems to
indicate that vessels from that place sailing direct to
Italy were more easily to be found than from any
other port in the eastern provinces. Besides the
various commodities of the east, Egypt exported to
Rome great quantities of corn 162, together with the
best writing materials then known in the world, the
famous papyrus, the two finest sorts of which were
named the Augustan and the Livian 163, in compli-
ment to the emperor and his wife. Alexandria
having been long the capital of a great monarchy,
and now becoming the seat of a commerce so exten-
sive, was probably the second city in the Roman em-
pire. But of all its buildings and institutions, the
Museum deserves most particular notice. It formed
a part of that large division of the city which the
successive kings of Egypt had inclosed within what
may be called the precincts of their court 164; a space
equal to nearly a third of the whole of Alexandria;
161 Acts, XXVII. 6; XXVIII.
11.
162 Tacitus, Annal. XII. 43.
Histor. III. 8. 48.
12.
163 Pliny, Histor. Natural. XIII.
164 Strabo, XVII. 1, § 8.
378
EGYPT.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766.
A.D. 13.
CHAP. and which may be compared to the parks of London,
and to that quarter of the town in which our palaces,
our public offices, and our courts of justice, are con-
A.C. 32 to centred together. The museum comprised within
it the great library of Alexandria, an ornamented
walk, and a large building, which served as a refec-
tory or college hall to the literary men who belonged
to the institution. It may perhaps surprise some of
our readers to hear that there was a society at
Alexandria which very closely resembled the colleges
of our English universities. There was a head or
master of the museum, who was also a priest, ap-
pointed by the government; and there was an
endowment for the maintenance of the members of
the college, who lived at the museum, and were
accustomed to have their meals together, as we have
seen, in their common hall. A similar assemblage
of literary and scientific men had formerly existed at
Heliopolis; and Strabo was shown the apartments
in which, according to the tradition of the guides,
Plato and Eudoxus had resided for several years, to
learn wisdom from the sages of Egypt 165. But this
institution was gone to decay in the time of Augustus,
and the buildings were occupied only by the persons
engaged in the care of the sacrifices, and by those
who instructed strangers in the forms which they
were to observe when they came there to worship.
In another point however Egypt had undergone
little change since the days of Herodotus. The
165 XVII. 1, § 29.
SYRIA AND ASIA.
379
CHAP.
XI.
From
to 766,
scandalous licentiousness of some of the festivals was
still faithfully preserved; and the canals which led
from Alexandria to the famous temple of Serapis, at U.C. 722
Canopus 166, were thronged day and night during the A.C. 32 to
period of the festival with an innumerable concourse
of people, indulging themselves without restraint in
the worst excesses of debauchery.
A.D. 13.
Asia.
From Egypt to the Ægæan Sea, the countries in- Syria and
cluded under the general names of Asia Minor and
Syria, were in the time of Augustus portioned out
into a number of divisions and subdivisions, which it
would be of little importance to enumerate minutely.
The principal of these were the two great provinces
of Syria and Asia; the former governed by the lieu-
tenants of the emperor 167, the latter by proconsuls,
in the name of the senate and people. Next to
these in importance were the united provinces of
Pontus and Bithynia, which also belonged to the
senate and people: Galatia with Pisidia and Lyca-
onia 168, which belonged to Augustus, and Cilicia,
which also was governed by a lieutenant of the em-
peror. Cappadocia still retained a nominal inde-
pendence 169, under its king Archelaus, till about
four years after the death of Augustus; as did
Judæa under Herod, till a somewhat earlier period.
Lycia enjoyed its own laws 170 and a free municipal
government; and there were a great many detached
166 Strabo, XVII. 1, § 16, 17.
167 Dion Cassius, LIII. 504.
Strabo, XVII. 3, § 25.
168 Dion Cassius, LIII. 514.
Strabo, XII. 5, § 1.
169 Tacitus, Annal. II. 42.
170 Strabo, XIV. 2, § 3.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
380
171
SYRIA AND ASIA.
CHAP. and subordinate districts, which were governed by
petty kings, dynasts, tetrarchs, and rulers of various
designations, but which were all subject in fact to
the controul of the Romans, and the condition of
which was altered from time to time at the pleasure
of the emperor, as it was understood that all countries
of this description were under his especial autho-
rity ¹¹. Throughout the whole of this part of the
empire, Greek was commonly spoken and under-
stood by the higher orders in all the large towns;
but there was a great variety of native languages and
dialects which still maintained their ground 172, and
an almost equal variety of manners prevailing amongst
the different people and tribes. Many of the moun-
tain districts were infested by robbers, who made
frequent inroads upon the lowland country in their
neighbourhood; while many of the cities, such as
Antioch, Tyre, and Tarsus, in Syria and Cilicia,
together with most of those in the province of Asia,
were in a state of high civilization, cultivating the
arts of peace successfully. But the Roman colonies
were few, and few of the cities, in comparison with
the western provinces, enjoyed the rights of Roman
or of Latin citizenship. The burden of taxation was
moreover great 173, and much was often suffered be-
sides from the tyranny and exactions of the provin-
cial governors. On the other hand, the evils of war
were no longer felt or dreaded; four legions only
were stationed in the whole of Asia Minor and
171 Strabo, XVII. 3, § 25.
172 See Acts II. 9, &c.
173 Tacitus, Annal. II. 42. 54.
GREECE-MACEDONIA AND ACHAIA.
381
XI.
Syria 174, and most of these were placed near the CHAP.
Euphrates, to guard the frontiers on the side of From
A.D. 13.
Parthia. The internal communications between dif- U.C. 722
ferent parts of the country were mostly become A.C. 32 to
secure and easy; and the piracy, which had been
once so great an evil on the coasts of Cilicia and
Pamphylia, was now so reduced as to offer no ob-
stacles to the trade or general intercourse which was
carried on by sea.
Macedonia
The condition of Greece was apparently one of Greece-
great desolation and distress. It was divided in its and Achaia.
widest extent into the two provinces of Macedonia
and Achaia, both belonging to the jurisdiction of the
senate and people. Both had suffered severely by
being the seat of the successive civil wars between
Cæsar and Pompey, between the Triumvirs and
Brutus and Cassius, and lastly between Augustus
and Antonius. Besides, the country had never re-
covered the long series of miseries which had pre-
ceded and accompanied its conquest by the Romans;
and between those times and the civil contest be-
tween Pompey and Cæsar, it had again been exposed
to all the evils of war when Sylla was disputing the
possession of it with the generals of Mithridates.
In the time of Augustus therefore it presented a
mournful picture of ruin. If we go through Pelo-
ponnesus, and inquire what was now the fate of
cities and states once so memorable, we shall find
that Messenia and Arcadia 175 were almost reduced
174 Tacitus, Annal. IV. 5.
175 Strabo, VIII. 4, § 11 ; 8, § 1.
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
382
MACEDONIA AND ACHAIA.
CHAP. to a desert, and that Laconia was greatly decreased
in population, although its capital, Lacedæmon, en-
U.C. 722 joyed the title of a free state 176, and the Laconians,
or inhabitants of the country, and even the helots,
had been long relieved from that abject dependence
upon the Spartans to which they were in the old
times subjected. The most flourishing towns were
Corinth and Patræ 177, both of them Roman colonies,
recently founded; the former by Cæsar, who peopled
it with a number of freedmen; and the latter, one
of the military colonies of Augustus, planted after
the battle of Actium. Northward of the Isthmus
the scene was equally melancholy. It was from a
view of the ruins of the once famous cities of the
Saronic Gulf, of Ægina, and Piræus, and Megara,
that Ser. Sulpicius derived that lesson of patience
under domestic calamities with which he attempted
to console Cicero for the loss of his daughter Tullia 178
Ætolia and Acarnania were become wastes 179, and
the soil was devoted to pasture for the rearing of
horses. Thebes was hardly better than a village 180,
and all the other towns of Boeotia, except Tanagra
and Thespiæ, were reduced to the same condition.
Epirus was depopulated 181, and occupied by Roman
soldiers; Macedonia had lost the benefit of its
mines, which the Roman government had appropri-
ated to itself, and was suffering from the weight of
176 Strabo, 5, § 5.
177 Strabo, 6, 23; 7, § 5.
178 Cicero, ad Familiares, IV.
epist. V.
179 Strabo, VIII. 8, § 1.
180 Strabo, IX. 2, § 5.
181 Strabo, VII. 7, § 3.
"
MACEDONIA AND ACHAIA.
383
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
its taxation; but it appears not to have undergone CHAP.
so great a desolation as the neighbouring province of From
Achaia. Of the burden of taxation imposed on this U.C. 722
part of the empire, there are two remarkable proofs
on record. Strabo himself happened once to touch
at the little island of Gyarus 182, which he describes
as a place containing no town, and inhabited merely
by fishermen. When the vessel was again putting
to sea, one of the fishermen came on board, and
took his passage to Corinth, telling Strabo and his
fellow-passengers that he was going on a deputation
from his countrymen to Augustus, who happened to
be in Greece at that time, to request some relief
from taxation; for the inhabitants of Gyarus paid,
he said, an hundred and fifty drachmæ (47. 16s. 101d.)
annually, one hundred of which would be more than
they were able to spare. It appears also that the
provinces of Macedonia and Achaia 183, when they
petitioned for a diminution of their burdens, in the
early part of the reign of Tiberius, were considered
so deserving of compassion, that they were trans-
ferred for a time from the jurisdiction of the senate
to that of the emperor; a change which tended to
relieve them, by subjecting them only to the exac-
tions of the imperial procurator, instead of the joint
demands of the procurator and proconsul; for the
emperor's fiscus or private treasury received a por-
tion of the revenues in the provinces belonging to
the senate, but in those which were particularly
182 X. 5, § 3.
183 Tacitus, Annal. I. 76.
•
384
MACEDONIA AND ACHAIA.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. under himself, there was no officer employed by the
senate to collect taxes for the public treasury or
ærarium. Meanwhile the change of circumstances
A.C. 32 to had rendered Greece far less capable of affording a
large revenue than in the days of her early great-
ness. Then the naval power of the Greeks, the un-
commercial habits of the Persians, and the general
barbarism of the west of Europe, bestowed upon
Greece an extensive trade with all parts of the
Mediterranean; and vessels from the coasts of Ionia
found their way not only to the Adriatic 184, to
Sicily, and to Italy, but also to the ports of Gaul and
Spain, and even through the Straits of Gibraltar to
the riches of Tartessus and Gades. Besides, the
high military character of the Greeks procured them
constant employment in the service of the Persian
satraps of Asia; and there were many officers who
there amassed, like Xenophon, a considerable for-
tune, and returned with it in the decline of life to
settle in their own country. This was particularly a
resource for the Arcadians 185; and money was thus
poured into that wild and barren district of Pelopon-
nesus, which the poverty of its soil and its inland
situation would never have allowed it to gain from
agriculture or trade. But now the commerce of the
Mediterranean had passed into other hands, and the
184 Herodotus, Clio, 163. Mel- half were Arcadians and Achaians;
pomene, 152.
and of these the Arcadians formed
by far the greatest portion.
Xenophon, Anabasis, V. 10; I.
1, 2.
185 Thucydides, VII. 57. Of
the Greeks who served under the
younger Cyrus, in his attempt to
dethrone his brother, more than
GENERAL STATE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE. 385
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
power of Rome had transferred to Italy the reputa- CHAP.
tion of being the best school of soldiers. In litera- From
ture and philosophy Greece, it is true, still retained U.C. 722
her pre-eminence; and in these respects her excel-
lence was appreciated over a greater portion of the
world than ever, as we have seen the cities of Gaul
eager to secure the services of Greek philosophers
for the education of their people. But although
the honour of this general celebrity was reflected
chiefly upon Greece properly so called, yet it was far
otherwise with the profit of it. Massilia, Tarsus,
and Alexandria, sent out over the Roman world as
many public and private instructors as proceeded
from the schools of Athens; and if we run over
the list of Greek writers of the times of the early
emperors we shall find very few of them to have
been natives of Greece itself. In this manner Greece
was left without any adequate means of repairing
the devastations of war, or the exactions of the Roman
government, and was thus already fallen into decay,
while most other parts of the empire were as yet
flourishing in unbroken vigour.
186
2,
state of the
empire.
While we have thus attempted to lead our readers General
step by step through most of the countries which Roman
were now subject to Rome, our task has been little
else than to collect together some of the scattered
186 Strabo was a native of
Amisus, in Pontus; Dionysius
was of Halicarnassus, in Caria;
Appian, of Alexandria; Lucian,
of Samosata, in Comagene; Dio-
VOL. II.
dorus, of Sicily. We hardly re-
member, indeed, any of the later
Greek writers, except Plutarch,
who was properly a native of
Greece.
C c
386
GENERAL STATE OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. notices of their condition preserved by the writers
of the times, and to repeat them as we have found
them recorded. But we naturally aspire to some-
A.C. 32 to thing more than this; the Augustan age is so famous
in the history of mankind, that we wish to form to
ourselves some general impression of it; we would
fain compare it with that state of society which we
ourselves are witnessing, and examine to what de-
gree of physical and moral improvement it had
attained. It requires also our especial attention,
because this splendid period was succeeded in the
course of a few generations by a very general and
remarkable decline; and many centuries elapsed
before the tide of civilization began again steadily
to flow, after having been so long upon the ebb.
It can be only by an attentive observation of the
Augustan age itself, that we can at all hope to dis-
cover the causes of the phenomena which followed
it; and so, perhaps, to learn whether there is any
just reason to dread their recurrence; whether the
great improvements of our own days may at some
future period be again cut short, and the full stream
of knowledge forced back once more to its original
and scanty channel.
No physical
condition.
In order to arrive at any just notions of the phy-
sical condition of a people, our attention must mainly
be directed to the state of property. Where the
means of creating wealth are wanting, there must
be general wretchedness; where it is inadequately
secured, the means of creating it are crippled; where
STATE OF PROPERTY.
387
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
it is very unequally divided, the splendour of indivi- CHAP.
dual fortunes may often make us forget the poverty
of the great bulk of the people. The physical means
of creating wealth were abundantly enjoyed in the
Roman empire, as it possessed some of the most pro-
ductive soils and favourable climates known in the
world, with excellent water communication from one
extremity of it to the other. The moral means of
industry and skill were to be found in very different
perfection in different parts of the empire; but we
know that all the useful arts were successfully cul-
tivated, and that the luxuries as well as the com-
forts of life were to be procured by any one who
was rich enough to purchase them. In some dis-
tricts, in several provinces, property was liable to
very frequent assaults from the robber tribes who
inhabited the neighbouring mountains; and in most
of the provinces, perhaps, the weight of taxation was
felt as a serious evil; but on the other hand, the
miseries of war were removed; and although the
government and its officers interfered greatly with
the profits of property, yet the actual right of pos-
session was secured by regular laws, and was rarely
disturbed by the violence of power. But the great
misfortune of the Roman empire was the excessive
inequality with which wealth was divided.
know enough of the splendid villas and magnificent
establishments of the nobility, and of the wealthier
members of the equestrian order; but the lower
classes of free citizens at Rome were in the mean
time supported, in great measure, by the largesses
We
C c 2
388
STATE OF PROPERTY IN ROME
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. of the emperor 187; and after all, from the decay
of agriculture in Italy, any continuance of stormy
weather which detained the usual supplies of corn
A.C. 32 to from Africa, Spain, or Egypt, threatened the capital
with a scarcity of bread. The fortune necessary to
qualify a man for the equestrian order, was 400
sestertia 188 (32297.), and in the time of Augustus
there were not four thousand citizens in Rome,
exclusive of the senators, whose property amounted
to this sum; and there were only two towns in the
empire, Gades and Patavium, which could produce
five hundred citizens who possessed it. And this
is rendered credible by a speech ascribed to L.
Philippus, who was consul in the year of Rome 662,
and who declared that there were not, at that time,
two thousand citizens in the Commonwealth worth
any thing 189. In fact, when we read of the enor-
mous riches possessed by some individuals in ancient
history, by the kings of Babylon and Persia at an
earlier period, and afterwards by the emperors and
some of the great nobility of Rome, we could not
reasonably credit the statements which are given,
if we did not consider that this splendour was pro-
duced by the vast concentration of wealth in a few
hands, and that it is in no respect an index of the
general prosperity of the people at large. The great
number of slaves kept in opulent families, and the
practice of employing them in various trades for the
187 Suetonius, in Augusto, 41, 42.
Tacitus, Annal. II. 87; IV. 6;
Histor. IV. 38.
XXXIII. 1, 2. Horace, Epist.
I. i. 58.
189 Cicero, de Officiis, II. 21.
188 Pliny,
Histor.
Natural.
AND IN THE PROVINCES.
389
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
supply of many of the common articles of life, was a CHAP.
great injury to the class of shopkeepers; and even in
the liberal arts and professions, such as architecture U.C. 722
and medicine, the high nobility were so much in
the habit of having architects and physicians among
their own slaves, that the respectability as well as
the profits of the free citizens of those and similar
professions were necessarily lessened. The miseries
of one immense portion of the whole population,
the slaves themselves, need not to be particularly
dwelt upon. When the slave market was so abun-
dantly supplied as it was in Rome, the value of a
slave, as an article of property, could not be con-
sidered very highly; and nothing but this selfish
motive was likely to restrain masters in general from
ill usage and cruelty; for the tendency of our nature
to abuse absolute power, was aggravated in Rome
by the utter indifference felt with regard to the
fate of a slave, and by the want of some restraining
and humanizing principles of morals. Something
of this same indifference extended itself also to the
condition of the people of the provinces, and sub-
jected them often to a tyranny as insulting as it was
oppressive. It is mentioned, indeed, to the praise
of Augustus, and of the early part of the reign of
Tiberius 190, that the cruelties and exactions of the
provincial magistrates were greatly checked by them;
that the subjects of Rome were protected from the
rods of the lictors, and from confiscations of their
,
190 Tacitus, Annal. IV. 6.
247
44
1
I
390 OF THE INTELLECTUAL STATE OF THE EMPIRE.
CHAP. property.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
And Augustus was the author of one
most important reform, by assigning to the governors
of provinces a certain fixed salary 191, instead of
allowing them, according to the old practice, to lay
an arbitrary charge upon the inhabitants for the
maintenance of themselves and their establishment.
Yet the mere ordinary administration of justice
towards the provincials was, at the best, harsh and
summary
192; and it was, perhaps, rendered more so
by the strong contrast between their condition and
that of a Roman citizen, whose liberty even yet was
fenced round against all subordinate tyranny by the
jealous laws of the old Commonwealth.
If we regard the effects of the political constitu-
tion of the empire in another light, it will lead us
by an easy transition from the physical to the moral
condition of the people. It may be doubted, whether
all the improvements of modern civilization could
diffuse life and activity through so vast a body as
was now united under the government of Augustus.
Much less was this actually accomplished, without
an established conveyance for letters, without public
carriages for travellers, and without circulation of
newspapers. The Romans had excellent roads, it is
true, as the Persians had had before them; and,
like the Persians, they had relays of horses placed at
certain distances, for the convenience of forwarding
couriers, or other officers of the government. But
these were of no benefit to the common traveller,
191 Dion Cassius, LIII. 506. 192 See Acts XVI. 22. 37; XX. 24.
1
OF THE INTELLECTUAL STATE OF THE EMPIRE. 391
་
CHAP.
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
who was obliged to find the means of conveyance
for himself 193, and who was forced to limit his day's From
journey by the distance which could be performed U.C. 722
by the same horses. Add to this, that the difference A.C. 32 to
of language between the eastern and western pro-
vinces created a barrier between them, which at all
times was an obstacle to their perfect union, and at
a later period rendered their separation easy and
natural. Those countries which were most remote
from the capital, lost all the advantages of indepen-
dent government, and their inhabitants were brought
up to a condition of unavoidable helplessness; while
at the same time their imperfect intercourse with
the heart of the empire, prevented them from de-
riving from it their due portion of nourishment, or
from receiving any adequate return for the wealth
and industry which were continually drawn from
them to Rome.
tellectual
Meanwhile a taste for literature was becoming of the in-
fashionable in the western provinces, as it had been state of the
long in the eastern; and we have seen that the cities empire.
of Gaul were in the habit of hiring Greek sophists
for the public instruction of their people. But the
expensiveness and consequent rarity of books was
an invincible obstacle to the general diffusion of
193
Nunc mihi curto
Ire licet mulo, vel, si libet, usque Tarentum,
Mantica cui lumbos onere ulceret, atque eques armos.
Horace, Sat. I. vi. 104.
No man would have talked of going to Tarentum on his dock-tailed
mule, carrying saddle-bags, if he could have had the convenience of a
good coach, to transport him in half the time, and with infinitely
greater ease and comfort.
1
392.
OF THE INTELLECTUAL STATE
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. knowledge. It is mentioned of one of the literary
men of these times 194, that he had read in the pro-
vince of Syria a great number of the works of an
A.C. 32 to earlier period, which continued to be known there,
because they were not superseded, as at Rome, by
the multitude of modern publications. And Horace
speaks of his works being carried into Spain and
Africa only as wrapping-paper for merchandize 195
when they had lost their popularity at Rome. The
consequence of this state of things was, that men of
literature formed a distinct profession in the empire,
which was followed for the sake of deriving from it
a means of subsistence, but that the bulk of the
people were left in a very general ignorance. What
has been preserved to us of the writings of these
times, has proceeded mostly from men who lived by
their pen, or by giving instructions to their pupils,
not from persons conversant with the business of
actual life, from statesmen and soldiers, or men of
independent fortune, such as were Cicero, Cæsar, and
the elder Cato, or such as was Tacitus a few gene-
rations later. Hence the total want of intelligent
books of travels, and the low state of experimental
philosophy and political economy. The study of
words, however dignified by the titles of Grammatica
and Rhetorica, was but a poor education for any
man; yet to this an excessive attention was directed,
and youth were taught to admire the purity of a
writer's style, or the musical arrangement of his sen-
194 Marcus Valerius Probus, of
Berytus. Suetonius, de Illustribus
Grammaticis, 24.
195 Epist. I. epist. XX. 13.
OF THE EMPIRE.
393
a
tences, instead of observing the value of his facts, or
the wisdom of his opinions. Oratory in particular,
which in the best days of Greece and Rome had
been far too highly appreciated, was now become
worthless study, and a mere waste of time and
ingenuity, since the practical occasions for its exer-
cise were at an end. It is, therefore, to us no
wonder at all, that when all kinds of public disasters
assailed the empire, the fair show of knowledge
which had just gilded the surface of the Augustan
age, should have been utterly worn away. Separated
as it was from the habits and concerns of the prac-
tical part of the community, it died away with the
patronage and general tranquillity which had fos-
tered it. It was but a rich man's luxury, which
they who were hourly trembling for their lives had
no leisure to care for. For after all, if we look
at the most famous writers of the Augustan age, of
what description shall we find them? The highest
eminence which they attained was in poetry; yet
even in this it is an excellence most suited to an
artificial age, and not, perhaps, the best suited to
win the ears of the people at large when litera-
ture was no longer in fashion. In history the
famous work of Livy is below mediocrity 196; and
the reputation which it has enjoyed is the best proof
of the long continued and pernicious influence of
196 A tolerable specimen of
Livy's manifold deficiencies, ar-
ranged under the several heads of
Ignorance of the old Constitu-
tion," "Ignorance of Military To-
pography," "Want of Judgment,"
Carelessness," &c. with numerous
instances of each, is given by
Wachsmuth, in his Early History
of the Roman State, 33, et seq.
CHAP.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
394
OF THE INTELLECTUAL STATE
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. the schools of grammar and rhetoric, which taught
men to admire eloquent language, and to consider it
as a compensation for ignorance and shallowness of
A.C. 32 to judgment. In morals, in political science, in all the
various branches of experimental philosophy, what
do we owe to the Augustan age? But happily for
mankind, the wisdom of Providence was now pre-
paring a knowledge the very opposite to that which
we have been considering, a knowledge as unpre-
tending and generally useful as the other was osten-
tatious and trifling; which was fitted for the real
business of life, and was received by persons of every
condition; which struck root as deeply as the litera-
ture of the Augustan age had been scattered su-
perficially; which continued its substantial benefits
through revolutions which laid every thing else in
ruins, and which preserves to this day its indestruc-
tible power of beneficent activity.
But the mere intellectual advancement of a people
is of little importance in comparison with their moral
knowledge of right and wrong; and whether the
literature of the Augustan age was generally valu-
able or not, the Romans might still have possessed
a good state of public and private morals, and there-
fore might have been happily circumstanced with
regard to the grand concern of human life. The
great questions of the end of all our actions, and the
nature of our several duties, were canvassed by the
philosophers of every sect; and in the public lec-
tures of those philosophers, such subjects formed the
principal part. When a parent, well versed in these
OF THE EMPIRE.
395
CHAP.
From
XI.
to 766,
A.D. 13.
inquiries, became himself the instructor of his son,
he was enabled to give him a moral education of no
mean excellence; and the young man who, in addi- U.C. 722
tion to the conversation and example of his father, A.C. 32 to
received from him such a guide as the great work of
Cicero, de Officiis, addressed by him to his son,
possessed, in many respects, a rule of conduct which
required little further improvement. But neither
were all parents philosophers, nor were philosophers
the ordinary teachers of the great mass of the com-
munity. The common elementary schools of Rome,
from which the majority of the people derived their
whole education, were schools of reading and of
arithmetic 197, and of nothing else; for the masters
were men of humble station, unacquainted with the
writings of the philosophers, and quite unable to
venture by themselves into all the difficulties with
which the chief good of man, and the nature of his
duties, were then enveloped. Under such circum-
stances men's characters are formed partly by the
influence of the society in which they live, and
partly by themselves. Some virtues are always con-
genial to human nature in theory, however much
selfishness may obstruct the practice of them; and
these were often beautifully displayed in the lives of
men of amiable dispositions, who wished to live up
to the best of their knowledge. But unfortunately
there are many vices also, of which the practice is
far more natural to man than the theory is repug-
197 Horat. Sat. I. iv. 72. De Arte Poeticâ, 325.
396
OF THE INTELLECTUAL STATE
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. nant; and into these the force of inclination and the
sanction of universal custom draw almost every one.
It is in such points especially that an authoritative
A.C. 32 to rule of life is wanted, which being once acknow-
ledged, may save common men the trouble of making
out their duty for themselves, and may lead them at
once to the true practical conclusion without the
risks or the difficulties of the previous inquiry. But
in the greater parts of the Roman empire no such
authority was to be found. In this respect the
popular religion had utterly failed; superstition,
according to the necessary course of things, was
closely connected with and encouraged a complete
moral carelessness; and whilst the high and pure
doctrines so often inculcated by the oracles and
choral songs of an earlier period were neglected or
scorned, the follies and sensualities of polytheism
continued to flourish even with increased vigour.
The oracles had lost all their authority 198, a loss
which Strabo ascribes to the influence of the Ro-
mans, who preferred their own national modes of
inquiry into futurity, by consulting the Sibylline
books, the entrails of victims, the flight of birds, and
the phenomena of the atmosphere. But the change
probably was greatly for the worse; for when the
oracles were in vogue, they were consulted not only
as prophets but as practical directors; and however
much we may be resolved to charge their predictions
with collusion and imposture, there are yet speci-
!
198 Strabo, XVII. 1, § 43.
OF THE EMPIRE.
397
which CHAP.
XI.
com- U.C. 722
to 766,
they A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
mens of their moral doctrine preserved 199, which
exhibit a purity and a wisdom scarcely to be sur- From
passed. Nor did the philosophers retain and
municate these sparks of true religion when
were become extinct elsewhere. On the contrary,
notwithstanding their many and great excellences
as expounders of the duties of man to man, they
were all agreed in one maxim, which amounts to a
complete practical atheism 200; the opinion, namely,
that nothing was to be feared from the anger of
God, because it was contrary to the divine attributes
that He should be the cause of pain to any one. By
this doctrine they removed the greatest check upon
wickedness which has been ever devised for it; for
to the mass of mankind to say that God could not
or would not punish, was the same thing as to say
that He did not exist. It was a virtual denial of his
moral government, the only point in his nature which
it greatly concerns his creatures to be acquainted
with. Thus while philosophy took away the best
sanction of human conduct, and while those who
could not be taught by philosophers were left to
form their principles for themselves, or to pick them
up from the opinions of the world, the morals of the
people were in a state of great corruption. Of the
sensualities which were universally practised, and of
the excessive grossness of manners which naturally
flowed from them, the writings of every author of
the times, and still more strikingly, perhaps, the
199 See particularly, Herodotus,
Clio, 158, 159, and Erato, 86.
200 Cicero, de Officiis, III. 28,
29.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
398 OF THE EFFECT PRODUCED IN THE EAST
CHAP. paintings and other embellishments of the houses
which have been discovered at Herculaneum, offer
proofs the most incontestible. But it is equally in-
A.C. 32 to structive and less disgusting to dwell rather on the
entire absence of those virtues and feelings which
operate with such extensive usefulness in the countries
of modern Europe. Charity and general philanthropy
were so little regarded as duties, that it requires a
very extensive acquaintance with the literature of
the times to find any allusion to them. There were
no public hospitals, no institutions for the relief of
the infirm and poor, no societies for the removal of
abuses, or the improvement of the condition of man-
kind from motives of charity. Nothing was done to
promote the instruction of the lower classes, nothing
to mitigate the miseries of domestic slavery, and far
less to stop altogether the perpetual atrocities of the
kidnapper and the slave market. The selfishness of
human nature was thus spared its most painful sacri-
fice; and he who was most largely endowed with
the gifts of fortune, was taught only to abstain from
doing active injury, and to enjoy the good things
which he possessed in a life of social and intellectual
gratification.
Of the effect
produced in
the east
by the resi-
Jews, and
But there was one part of the empire in which a
better knowledge had been slowly working its way,
dence of the and must by this time have produced considerable
the Greek effect. We have already observed that the Jews
were widely scattered over the eastern provinces; and
as they adopted the language which was most preva-
lent around them, the Greek translation of the Old
translation
of the Old
Testament.
201 "
BY THE RESIDENCE OF THE JEWS.
399
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
Testament, commonly known by the name of the CHAP.
Septuagint, was the form in which they were most From
familiar with their Scriptures. Intercourse with the U.C. 722
Jews, and an acquaintance thus gained with the
contents of their law and of the writings of their
prophets, gave birth, throughout Syria and Asia
Minor, to a class of persons who are called in our
translation of the Acts by the name of "the de-
vout and who, without thinking themselves
bound to conform to the national peculiarities of the
Jewish worship, had yet acquired those true notions
of the divine nature and attributes, and of the
duties which God demands of man, which are so
largely contained in the Old Testament. The effect
of this knowledge on those who profited by it, was
to produce the very virtues in which the world was
generally most deficient-devotion and charity
and by these means a large portion of the people was
in some degree prepared for the doctrines of a still
more perfect law, which were a few years afterwards
introduced among them by the Christian apostles.
202.
Here then our review of the state of the Roman
world must terminate. Deficient as we well know
it to be from the imperfection of our own knowledge,
it will yet serve, perhaps, to show what were the
most striking differences between the condition of
society in those times and in ours, and to point out
201 XVII. 4. 17. See also X.
2; XIII. 50. And the same
word is used in the Greek, although
it is differently translated in our
version, XIII. 43; XVI. 14;
XVIII. 7.
202 See the character of the
centurion Cornelius, Acts X. 2.
}
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
400
OF THE FAMILY OF AUGUSTUS.
CHAP. on how much less firm a foundation civilization was
then built than we may hope is the case now.
When, however, we reflect on the point of time at
A.C. 32 to which this sketch terminates, other thoughts, we
confess, are foremost in our minds, the expression of
which we do not feel called upon entirely to restrain.
About fourteen years before the death of Augustus,
Jesus Christ was born into the world, and in less
than twenty years afterwards the first foundations of
the Christian society were laid. Henceforward the
Roman empire acquires, in our eyes, a nearer in-
terest; as a country to which we were before indif-
ferent, becomes at once endeared to us, when we
know it to be the abode of those whom we love. In
pursuing the story of political crimes and miseries,
there will be henceforth a resting place for our
imaginations, a consciousness that, amidst all the
evil which is most prominent on the records of his-
tory, a power of good was silently at work, with an
influence continually increasing; and that virtue and
happiness were daily more and more visiting a por-
tion of mankind, which till now seemed to be in a
condition of hopeless suffering. The reader, who
has accompanied us through all the painful details
presented by the last century of the Roman Com-
monwealth, will be inclined, perhaps, with us, to
rejoice in the momentary contemplation of such a
scene of moral beauty.
Of the
family of
It now only remains that we give some account of
Augustus. the family of Augustus, and conclude this memoir
with some particulars of his own private life. We
OF THE FAMILY OF AUGUSTUS.
401
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
have already mentioned his marriage with Livia, the CHAP.
wife of Tib. Nero, in the year 716; and that he had
at that time one daughter, named Julia, the child of U.C. 722
his former marriage with Scribonia. As he had no
children by Livia, Julia remained his only heiress,
and the choice of her husband became a matter of
great importance. She was first married to her
cousin Claudius Marcellus, the nephew of Augustus
by his sister Octavia 203, and the person celebrated
by Virgil in those famous lines of the sixth Æneid,
for which Octavia so largely rewarded him. But
Marcellus dying young, and without children, Au-
gustus selected for the second husband of his daughter
his oldest friend and most useful adherent, M. Vip-
sanius Agrippa. This marriage seemed to answer
all his wishes, for Julia became the mother of five
children, Caius, Lucius, Julia, Agrippina, and Agrippa
Postumus, so called because he was born after his
father's death, which took place in the year 741.
Caius and Lucius were immediately adopted by their
grandfather, and assumed the name of Cæsar; be-
fore they arrived at the age of manhood they were
distinguished by the title of "principes juventutis,"
or "chiefs of the youth;" they were marked out as
consuls elect, to enter upon that office as soon as
they arrived at a fit age; they were sent to the dif-
ferent provinces and presented to the armies, as the
heirs of the emperor; their education was conducted
in great measure by Augustus himself, and they
203 Tacitus, Annal. I. 3. Suetonius in Augusto, 63, et seq.
VOL. II.
D D
CHAP.
From
XI.
U.C. 722
A.C. 32 to
to 766,
A.D. 13.
402
OF THE FAMILY OF AUGUSTUS.
were his constant companions at table and on his
journeys. But all his hopes in them were marred
by their successive premature deaths. Lucius Cæsar,
when on his way to take the command of the army
in Spain, was taken ill and died at Massilia, about
the year 754; and Caius Cæsar, who commanded
the army on the frontiers of Parthia, having been
wounded in Armenia, and returning slowly home-
wards towards Italy, died about eighteen months
after his brother, at the town of Limyra, in Lycia 204
Meanwhile their mother, Julia, had been married,
for the third time, by her father, after the death of
Agrippa, to Tiberius Claudius Nero, the son of
Livia; but when Caius and Lucius Cæsar were grown
up to manhood, and were in the height of their
favour with their grandfather, Tiberius, for whatever
reasons, thought proper to withdraw from Rome to
the island of Rhodes, where he lived in the greatest
retirement, and during a part of the time in a sort
of disgrace, for the space of more than seven years.
During his absence, his wife, Julia, was guilty of
such gross infidelities to him, that Augustus himself
divorced her in the name of his son-in-law, and
banished her to the island of Pandataria, off the
coast of Campania 205, where she was closely confined
for some time, and treated with the greatest rigour;
nor would Augustus ever forgive her, or receive her
into his presence, although he afterwards removed
her from Pandataria to Rhegium, and somewhat
204 Velleius Paterculus, II. 102.
205 Tacitus, Annal. I. 53.
ANECDOTES OF HIS CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOUR. 403
207
From
XI.
' to 766,
A.D. 13.
softened the severity of her treatment. After the CHAP.
deaths of Caius and Lucius Cæsar, Tiberius was
adopted by Augustus as his son, in the year 756 206 U.C. 722
and with him M. Agrippa Postumus, now the only A.C. 32 to
surviving son of M. Agrippa. But Agrippa Postumus
is represented as a youth of a brutal and intractable
temper ; and Livia, to favour her son's interests,
so exaggerated his faults, and so prejudiced his grand-
father against him, that he, too, like his mother, was
banished from Rome, and confined in the island of
Planasia: Tiberius thus remained the sole heir to
the greatness of his father-in-law; but in order to
point out the succession even for a more remote
period, he was obliged, by Augustus, to adopt as his
son his nephew, Germanicus, the only surviving child
of his brother Drusus, although he had at the same
time a son of his own. Accordingly, during the
last ten years of the life of Augustus, Tiberius was
associated with him in the tribunician power, and in
the general administration of the empire, and was
clearly marked out as his successor; while Drusus
and Germanicus, the two sons of Tiberius by birth
and by adoption, seemed to ensure the continuance
of the sovereign power in his family to the third
generation.
of his cha-
We have said that M. Vipsanius Agrippa died in Anecdotes
the year 741. Four years afterwards Augustus lost racter and
his other chief counsellor and faithful friend, C.
Cilnius Mæcenas, by whose advice he is said to have
206 Velleius Paterculus, II. 103, 207 Tacitus, Annal. I. 3. Sueto-
104.
nius, 65.
behaviour.
D d 2
f
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
404 ANECDOTES OF HIS CHARACTER AND BEHAVIOUR.
CHAP. been greatly assisted in the arrangement of his
government. But his power was now securely
settled, and the various conspiracies which were
A.C. 32 to formed against him at different times after the
battle of Actium, were the mere efforts of individual
revenge or ambition, and were all easily discovered
and punished. In the case of L. Cinna 208, who had
intended to assassinate him when sacrificing at the
altar, he not only forgave his intended murderer,
but offered him his friendship, and afterwards raised
him to the consulship, being resolved, it is said,
to try the effect of clemency after having indulged
so largely in cruelty, or being anxious rather to pre-
serve that character of magnanimity which, since
the overthrow of every enemy whom he dreaded, he
might counterfeit with little danger. Various other
stories of his moderation are recorded; his manners
were affable and courteous to all; he forbade, and
probably in sincerity, that any one should address
him by the name of "dominus," or master 209; and
when the people wished to force upon him the
ominous title of dictator, he threw himself on his
knees, and casting off his robe, and baring his breast,
intreated them rather to kill him, than to oblige
him to accept it. In these points the example of
his uncle always served as a useful warning to him;
and he also learned from it to avoid every display
of state in the appearance and manners of his family,
in the size of his house, and in the regulation of his
28 Seneca, de Clementiâ, I. 9, &c.
209 Suetonius, 53, et seq.
HIS LAST SICKNESS.
405
CHAP.
From
XI.
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
establishment. Yet it would be unjust to ascribe
to a politic premeditation all the popular actions of
his reign. Good is in itself so much more delight- U.C. 722
ful than evil, that he was doubtless not insensible
to the pleasure of kind and beneficent actions, and,
perhaps, sincerely rejoiced that they were no longer
incompatible with his interest. When Valerius
Messala was sent to him by the senate, to confer on
him, in the name of the senate and people of Rome,
the title of "father of his country210," he was affected
even to tears, and replied, “I have now gained all
that I desired, conscript fathers; and what have I
left to pray for from the gods, but that I may pre-
serve to the latest day of my life this same unani-
mous love of my countrymen?" He did preserve it,
and even with an increased affection, in proportion
as the remembrance of his former cruelties became
less lively, and the period of general tranquillity
which had commenced under his auspices was con-
tinually lengthening. At last, in the seventy-sixth His last
year of his age, when he was going to accompany
Tiberius as far as Beneventum, on the way to Illy-
ricum, he was seized with a dysentery, which at first
attacked him but slightly, and did not prevent him
from fulfilling the object of his journey, after having
spent some days on the coast of Campania, in the
hope of recruiting his strength. But on his return
from Beneventum his complaint grew more serious;
he stopped at Nola, at the house which had belonged
210 Suetonius, 58.
sickness.
}
រ
r
す
​L
406
HIS DEATH.
XI.
From
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.D. 13.
CHAP. to his father, and in which his father had died; and
as he became visibly worse, his wife Livia sent hasty
messengers after Tiberius, to recall him instantly
A.C. 32 to to the death-bed of the emperor. Meantime every
thing that passed within the walls was concealed by
Livia with the utmost care; insomuch, that although
it was given out that Tiberius found his adopted
father still alive 211, and had a long and affectionate
interview with him, yet Tacitus informs us that it
was never clearly ascertained whether these stories
were not mere fabrications 212, and whether Augustus
was not in reality already dead when Tiberius
arrived at Nola. The same authority which related
the conversation of the dying emperor with his suc-
cessor, pretended also that he actually expired in
the arms of his wife, and that his last words were,
His death.
U.C. 766,
A.D. 13.
His cha-
racter.
66
Farewell, Livia, and ever be mindful of our long
union." It was said that he died about three o'clock
in the afternoon, on the nineteenth of August, in
the year of Rome 766 213, and when he had in fact
a little more than completed his seventy-sixth year.
Augustus was in his stature something below the
middle size, but extremely well proportioned 214; his
hair was a little inclined to curl, and of a yellowish
brown; his eyes were bright and lively, but the
general expression of his countenance was remark-
ably calm and mild. His health was throughout his
211 Suetonius, 97, et seq.
212 See Suetonius and Velleius
Paterculus.
213 He was nominally born on
the 23d of September, u.c. 690,
but owing to the disordered state
of the calendar, it was in reality
more nearly the 23d of July.
214 Suetonius, in Augusto, 79.
HIS CHARACTER.
,
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
407
life delicate, yet the constant attention which he CHAP.
paid to it, and his strict temperance in eating and
drinking, enabled him, as we have seen, to reach the
full age of man. As a seducer and adulterer 215
and a man of low sensuality, his character was as
profligate as that of his uncle; it is mentioned also,
that he was extremely fond of gaming, a propensity
which he indulged even when he was advanced in
years. In his literary qualifications, without at all
rivalling the attainments of Cæsar, he was on a level
with most Romans of distinction of his time; and it
is said, that both in speaking and writing, his style
was eminent for its perfect plainness and propriety 216.
His speeches on any public occasion were composed
beforehand, and recited from memory; nay, so care-
ful was he not to commit himself by any incon-
siderate expression, that even when discussing any
important subject with his own wife, he wrote down
what he had to say, and read it before her. Like
his uncle, he was strongly tinged with superstition;
he was very much afraid of thunder and lightning 217,
and always carried about with him a seal skin, as a
charm against its power; notwithstanding which, in
any severe storm, he was accustomed to hide himself
in a chamber in the centre of his house, to be as
much out of the way of it as possible; add to which,
he was a great observer of dreams, and of lucky and
unlucky days. He was totally destitute of military
71.
215 Suetonius, in Augusto, 69. et seq.
216 Suetonius, in Augusto, 84,
217 Suetonius, in Augusto, 90.
X
From
XI.
U.C. 722
to 766,
A.C. 32 to
A.D. 13.
408
HIS CHARACTER.
CHAP. talent; but in every species of artful policy, in
clearly seeing, and steadily and dispassionately fol-
lowing his own interest, and in turning to his own
advantage all the weaknesses of others, his ability, if
so it may be called, has been rarely equalled. His
deliberate cruelty, his repeated treachery, and sacri-
fice of every duty and every feeling to the purposes
of his ambition, have been sufficiently shown in the
course of this narrative. But it was his good for-
tune, for the last forty years of his life, to be placed
in circumstances in which he had no longer any
temptation to the same kind of wickedness; and
thus it has happened that he whose crimes fitted
him to rank with Marius or Sylla, with Nero or with
Domitian, has been loaded with praises as a bene-
factor to his species, and his name has passed into a
proverb as a promoter of peace, and a general patron
of literature and of civilization.
{
CHAPTER XII.
M. ULPIUS TRAJANUS CRINITUS.
FROM A.D. 98 TO 117.
XII.
to 117.
BETWEEN the close of the reign of Augustus Cæsar CHAP.
and the accession of Trajanus, there elapsed a period From
of eighty-four years. During this period the Roman A.D. 98
empire, notwithstanding the crimes of almost all its
sovereigns, and the disturbances to which it had
been occasionally exposed, had consolidated its widely
scattered possessions, and its different provinces had
learned to consider themselves as members of one
great body. It was well prepared to feel the full
blessing of an able and upright government, and such
a blessing it was now going to experience for a term
of equal length with the period of tyranny which had
preceded it. The first eighty years, then, of the
second century of the Christian æra may be regarded
as the prime of manhood in the Roman empire,
during which its excellences were most fully de-
veloped, while at the same time there were visible,
even then, those evils which threw so dark a shade
over its decline and fall. It is of this period that we
wish to offer, not a picture, but such a sketch as our
imperfect information will enable us to execute;
From
XII.
410 SCANTY MATERIALS FOR THE REIGN OF TRAJANUS.
CHAP. connecting it with those particulars which we for-
merly gave of the state of the empire under Au-
gustus, in order to show more clearly the changes
which it had undergone since the first establishment
of the imperial government.
A.D. 98
to 117.
The reign of Trajanus is in one respect peculiarly
well fitted to be made the occasion of such a survey,
as we are absolutely unable to offer a detailed account
of its events. A few pages of an abridgment of the
original history of Dion Cassius, and a few lines of
Eutropius and Aurelius Victor, are all that we pos-
sess in the shape of a direct historical narrative of it.
Of these scanty materials, by far the greatest part
relates to the military expeditions of the emperor,
and to those conquests of which he himself lived
long enough to see the instability, and which his
successor quietly abandoned. It were indeed a waste
of our own time and that of our readers to dwell
upon the events of the Dacian war, or the triumphs
of Trajanus over the Parthians and Armenians. Un-
profitable as is the detail of almost every war, there
is none more utterly worthless than that which
relates to the contest between a civilized and a bar-
barian people, which repeats the story of fancied
provocations, of easy victories, and of sweeping con-
quests. Yet if we exclude the military operations
of Trajanus from our account of his life, his historians
and biographers furnish us with scarcely any mate-
rials. We shall first, therefore, give only a mere
outline of the events of his reign in chronological
order, and then, adopting a different arrangement,
ACCESSION OF TRAJANUS.
411
we shall regard the nature of the facts related, rather CHAP.
than the time of their occurrence.
From
XII.
to 117.
of Trajanus.
At the moment of Nerva's death, Trajanus was A.D. 98
still with the army in Germany'. He had been Accession
named consul the second time for that year, together
with the emperor; and as Nerva died about the 27th
of January 2, almost the whole term of his consulship
remained unexpired when he succeeded to the sove-
reignty of the empire. He did not return to Rome
till the beginning of the following year, having
passed his consulship in Germany, where he was em-
ployed in confirming discipline among the soldiers,
and in the civil administration of those important
provinces. A third consulship was offered him as
soon as his second was expired, as the emperors
usually marked the first year of their reign by receiv-
ing that title and office; but Trajanus positively re-
fused it. On his way home from Germany, he
travelled in the quietest and most moderate man-
ner 3; his attendants were restrained from commit-
ting those excesses upon the persons and property
of the people who lived near the line of his journey,
which it seems were commonly practised by the
train of the emperors. The expenses of his table
were defrayed by the inhabitants of the provinces
through which he travelled, according to the con-
stant practice of the Roman magistrates; but this
tax of purveyance, which the sovereigns of modern
1 Pliny, Panegyric. 9. 56. 59.
Sex. Aurel. Victor, in Trajano.
2 Compare Suetonius, Domitian.
17; and Dion Cassius, LXVIII.
771.
3 Pliny, Panegyric. 20.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
412
ACCESSION OF TRAJANUS.
4
CHAP. Europe exercised after the example of the Romans,
was imposed by Trajanus with great moderation;
and he could not forbear publishing a statement of
the sums demanded by himself, contrasted with
those which Domitianus had exacted, when he re-
turned to Rome from the same part of the empire.
His entrance into his capital was in a similar spirit.
Instead of being borne on a litter, according to the
practice of former emperors, it was remarked that he
walked behind his lictors, surrounded not by guards,
but by the flower of the senate and the equestrian
order; and that he bore with patience the frequent
interruptions to his progress occasioned by the eager-
ness of the multitude thronging to behold him. He
ascended the capitol to offer his prayers in the temple
of the Capitoline Jupiter, on the same spot whereon
Nerva, a short time before, had solemnly adopted
him as his son and successor in the empire. Thence
he retired to the palace, which he entered in the
same unostentatious manner that had marked his
behaviour through the day. It is added by Dion
Cassius, that his wife Plotina had displayed a like
temper when she first entered the imperial residence,
for she stopped on the steps, and turning round to
the multitude, said aloud, “I go into this house with
the same mind that I should wish to bear in leaving
it."
First mea-
sures of his
The popularity which Trajanus had gained by his
government. former character, and by this fair commencement of
4 Pliny, Panegric. 22, et seq.
5 LXVIII. 771, edit. Leunclav.
FIRST MEASURES OF HIS GOVERNMENT.
413
XII.
to 117.
his reign, was confirmed by some of his earliest CHAP.
measures, when he took into his hands the adminis- From
tration of government. His justice and firmness, his A.D. 98
liberality, and his regard for the public morals, are
all made the theme of his panegyrist's admiration.
Caspinus Ælianus, the prefect of the prætorian
guards, who had headed a mutiny of his soldiers in
the reign of Nerva, and obliged the emperor to give
up to their vengeance the assassins of Domitianus,
had been sent for by Trajanus, previously to his
entrance into Rome, and had been put to death.
The delators, or informers, a race of men as nume-
rous under the tyranny of the Roman emperors as
ever the sycophants had been under that of the
Athenian democracy, were banished to different
islands, and their property confiscated; and if we
may interpret literally the language of Pliny's Pane-
gyric, they were sent off to their respective places of
exile with so little delay, that the ships which car-
ried them were obliged to put to sea before the end
of the winter season, and the people enjoyed the
thought that some of them were likely to perish on
their voyage. On the other hand, the liberality of
Trajanus was shown both by that which he gave, and
by that which he resigned. The donative to the
soldiers, and the congiarium, or largess to the people,
as well as the shows of the circus, which he exhibited
on his accession, were so much according to the
common practice of other emperors, that they do not
6 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 771.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
414 FIRST MEASURES OF HIS GOVERNMENT.
8
CHAP. deserve any particular notice. But he obtained a
peculiar and well-earned glory, by providing for the
maintenance of nearly five thousand children of free
parents', in the different cities of Italy; and the
example which he thus set was imitated by private
individuals, as Pliny mentions that he had settled
an annual income of 300,000 sestertii on the town of
Comum, for the maintenance of free-born children.
The object of these liberalities was to encourage
population amongst the free inhabitants of Italy;
and there can be no better proof of the general
corruption of manners, than that any such encourage-
ment should have been needed. With these acts of
munificence was combined, at the same time, the
modification of one of the most obnoxious, but most
productive taxes, the duty of five per cent. which
was levied on all legacies, and even on the succes-
sions of the nearest relations, when entered upon by
persons who had become citizens of Rome otherwise
than by the right of birth. By the decree of Tra-
janus, those nearest in consanguinity, whether in the
direct or collateral line, were exempted altogether
from this tax; and no person whatever was liable to
it, if the property to which he had succeeded was
below a certain value. And while he provided for
the future, he endeavoured also to remedy the op-
pressions of past reigns, by enacting that no arrears
should be demanded in those cases in which the
parties would be exempted for the future under the
7 Pliny, Panegyric. 26. 28.
8 Epist. VII. 18.
9 Panegyric. 37.
I
FIRST MEASURES OF HIS GOVERNMENT.
415
XII.
to 117.
law as now mitigated. But besides the direct taxes, CHAP.
the public treasury and the imperial fiscus had been From
long enriched by the irregular exactions of the offi- A.D. 98
cers of the government, and by the frequent confis-
cations of the property of individuals condemned
under the imperial law of treasons. The first of
these sources of unjust gain Trajanus stopped, by
allowing justice to take its free course, and leaving
the officers of the revenue to the punishments of the
laws, if they exceeded the limits of their lawful
authority; the other was destroyed by the banish-
ment of the delators, and by the discouragement
shown to all prosecutions for treasons, and particu-
larly to the informations of slaves against their
masters. These deductions from the revenue were
made up for partly by a severe economy, and partly
by the sale of a great number of lands and villas 10,
which the rapacity and tyranny of former emperors
had annexed to the imperial demesnes. By these
means Trajanus was enabled to promote the execu-
tion of many public works in different parts of the
empire, and to add to the magnificence of Rome,
and to the comforts or pleasures of its inhabitants,
by completing the forum" which Domitianus had
begun, and by erecting or finishing several other
buildings, a circus, some temples, and a colonnade
or porticus. But while thus gratifying some of the
prevailing tastes of the people, there were others
which he strove to repress, as became him. The
10 Panegyric. 36.
ribus, in Trajano. Pliny, Pane-
11 Sex. Aurel. Victor, de Cæsa- gyric. 51.
416
THE DACIAN WAR.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
12
CHAP. exhibition of the pantomimes was prohibited ¹²; an
entertainment very different from that which is now
known by the same name, and an outrage upon all
decency, more shameless than any thing to be found
in the obscurest scenes of profligacy in the capitals
of modern Europe. According to Pliny, this pro-
hibition was highly popular; and so it was, doubtless,
with the most respectable part of the community:
but there was always a vast multitude at Rome who
forgave the cruelties of the most tyrannical emperors
in consideration of their toleration of licentiousness,
and to whom no government was so unwelcome as
that which attempted to reform their vices.
The Dacian
war.
But whatever were the virtues of Trajanus, he had
not learnt to appreciate the misery and wickedness of
war, nor to shrink with disgust from the reputation
of a conqueror. Since the reign of Augustus, the
conquests of the Romans in Dalmatia and Pannonia
had made them acquainted with the name of the
Dacians, a people who occupied both banks of the
Danube, in that part of its course where it forms at
present the southern boundary of Hungary. They
were reputed to be of the same stock with the tribes
who lived nearer the mouth of that river, and who,
under the name of Getæ, were known to the earliest
of the Greek historians. But the more inland
situation of the Dacians kept them longer in ob-
scurity; nor do we find them mentioned by any
writer earlier than those of the Augustan age. It
12 Panegyric. 46.
THE DACIAN WAR.
417
XII.
to 117.
is said indeed by Suetonius 13, that C. Julius Cæsar CHAP.
had projected an expedition against them, among From
those vast schemes of conquest which were cut short A.D. 98
by his assassination; but however this be, in the
reign of Augustus they first became engaged in
actual hostilities with Rome; and their incursions
across the Danube into the Roman territory, under
the conduct of their king, Cotiso, were of sufficient
importance to attract the notice of the court poets of
the day, and to confer that renown which flattery is
so ready to offer upon the efforts by which they were
repulsed. At a later period, when the troops which
defended the frontiers were drawn off to other quarters
in the civil war between Vitellius and Vespasianus,
the Dacians ¹5 again crossed the Danube, and com-
mitted hostilities on the Roman territory. More
recently still, Domitianus 16 had claimed a triumph
for his victories over them; but his pretended suc-
cesses were an inadequate compensation for the de-
feats which they were intended to revenge; those of
Appius, Sabinus, and of Cornelius Fuscus, the last
of whom, after having materially contributed to
the elevation of the Flavian family to the throne,
perished in Dacia with the greater part of his army
in the reign of Domitianus. Thus, when Trajanus
succeeded to the empire, he judged, in the usual
spirit of ambition and national pride, that the dignity
15
13 In Julio Cæsare, 44; and in
Augusto, 8.
14 Horace, Carm. II. 20; III.
6. 8. Florus, IV. 12. Suetonius,
Augusto, 21.
VOL. II.
15 Tacitus, Hist. III. 46.
16 Suetonius, in Domitiano, 6.
Dion Cassius, LXVII. 763, edit.
Leunclav.
E E
418
THE DACIAN WAR.
CHAP. of Rome required the chastisement of the Dacians.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Grounds of hostility can never, in fact, be wanting
between an ambitious, civilized nation, and the bar-
barian tribes who border on its frontiers, and whose
rude habits of plunder continually lead them to offer
some real provocation; while, on the other side, self-
defence is pleaded as an excuse for conquest; and
injury is seldom repelled without being also re-
taliated. The Dacians were commanded by a chief
whom the Romans called Decebalus, and who is
represented as a man of ability and courage; but
no personal qualities, however brilliant, could enable
a barbarian leader to resist the power of the Roman
empire when steadily and skilfully directed against
him. Accordingly, he was soon driven to sue for
peace ", which he obtained on such conditions as
were likely soon to lead to another war; for his
people were obliged to surrender up their arms, to
give up all deserters or fugitives who had fled to
them from the Romans, to pull down their fortresses,
to cede a portion of territory, and to become the
dependent allies of Rome. These terms were ob-
served as long as the impression of their defeats
retained its original force; but in a very short time
the Romans began to complain that they were col-
lecting arms, and rebuilding their fortresses, and
harbouring fugitives from the Roman territory; and
Trajanus prepared to attack them again, glad, per-
haps, that he was now furnished with a pretext,
17
17 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 773.
BRIDGE OVER THE DANUBE.
419
according to the usual policy of Rome, for complet- CHAP.
ing the conquest of their country.
From
XII.
to 117.
At the outset of his expedition, he indicated by A.D. 98
his conduct that he meditated more than a tempo- Bridge over
rary inroad into the enemy's territory. Hitherto the Danube.
the Danube had been regarded as the limit of the
empire; but Trajanus proposed to create a Roman
province to the north of that river, and a permanent
bridge over it became a necessary work to facilitate
the communication with this remote portion of his
dominions. Accordingly, he completed one on a
scale of magnificence, if we may believe Dion Cassius,
superior to that of all his other works. He tells
us 18, that there were twenty piers of stone, at inter-
vals of 170 feet from each other, and that each of
these was in height 150 feet above the foundations,
and sixty feet wide. The arches which connected
them were probably made of wood, and could thus
be taken down with the greater facility, which we
are told was done by the emperor Hadrianus, who
took away all the upper part of the bridge, and left
merely the piers standing. We believe that the
exact site of this famous work has not been ascer-
tained, nor are we aware that any researches have
been made to determine it, or to learn what is the
extent of the actual remains; but according to
D'Anville, it was built at a spot called Ram, about
four leagues above Orsova, and about a hundred
miles below Belgrade.
18 LXVIII. 776.
+
E e 2
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Final con-
quest of
Dacia.
Return of
Trajanus to
Rome.
420
RETURN OF TRAJANUS TO ROME.
As soon as the bridge was finished, the conquest
of Dacia was speedily effected. Decebalus 19, seeing
all his efforts useless, and his palace in the hands of
the enemy, killed himself; and his treasures, which
he is said to have concealed under the bed of the
river Sargetias, were betrayed to the Romans by
one of his officers, and by turning the course of the
stream, were discovered and carried off. Dacia was
reduced to the form of a province, and some Roman
colonies were settled in it, the principal of which
was called Ulpia Trajana, and was established at
Zamisegethusa, the ancient capital of the country,
on one of the streams which flow from the east into
the Theyss.
After the conclusion of this war, Trajanus returned
to Rome, and gratified the people by rejoicings cele-
brated on the most magnificent scale; for, according
to Dion Cassius 20, the different shows that were
exhibited lasted for four months, in the course of
which no fewer than ten thousand gladiators are said
to have fought for the amusement of the multitude.
His forum It was in commemoration also of the conquest of
and pillar.
Dacia, that the famous pillar in the forum of Trajanus
was erected; although it was not completed till the
seventeenth year of his reign. The height of this
pillar is 128 Roman feet 21, and the whole shaft is
covered with bas-reliefs, representing the exploits of
the emperor in both his Dacian expeditions. But
the most remarkable circumstance connected with
19 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 777.
20 P. 777.
21 Burton, Antiquities of Rome,
171, et seq.'
DISPUTE WITH PARTHIA.
421
XII.
to 117.
it, is the excavation of the ground, which was effected CHAP.
preparatory to its erection; for the inscription upon From
its base declares, that the hill had been cut away A.D.98
from the height of the pillar, to form the level space
on which the forum of Trajanus was built. These
great changes in the appearance of the ground on
which Rome is built, should always be borne in
mind when we attempt to reconcile its present con-
dition with the descriptions of ancient writers.
with Parthia
the investi-
Whilst Trajanus remained at Rome, he is said 22 Dispute
to have commenced the work of making roads or concerning
causeways through the Pomptine marshes, to have ture of the
kings of
issued a new coinage, and to have founded several Armenia.
public libraries. But his military ardour had been
influenced by his late conquests, and he was am-
bitious of winning triumphs over the Parthians, and
other Eastern nations, as he had already been victo-
torious over the enemies of Rome in Europe. The
pretext for this new war was an alleged affront
offered to the dignity of the empire by Chosroes,
the king of Parthia, who had conferred the crown of
Armenia, by his own authority, on a prince named
Exedares, instead of allowing him to receive the
diadem from the sovereign of Rome. Ever since
the victories of Lucullus and Cn. Pompeius, the
Romans pretended to regard Armenia as one of
their dependent kingdoms; and this claim had given
rise to various contests between them and the Par-
thians, who viewed it, on the other hand, as a kind
22 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 777.
1
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
422
DISPUTE WITH PARTHIA.
CHAP. of appanage of the crown of Parthia. The neigh-
bourhood of the Parthians, and the unwarlike cha-
racter of several of the Roman emperors, had made
the Parthian influence in Armenia really predomi-
nant; but the right of the Romans had never been
relinquished, and was likely to be enforced by any
ambitious prince who thirsted for the glory of
eastern conquests. Accordingly, it was now insisted
on by Trajanus, and preparations were made on a
great scale to maintain it by force of arms. The
Parthian king, unwilling to involve himself in a war,
deposed Exedares, and nominated Parthamasiris, his
own brother, as his successor; at the same time
sending an embassy with presents to Trajanus an-
nouncing this act, and requesting him to bestow the
diadem, according to the right of investiture which
he claimed as emperor of Rome, on the prince whom
he had just placed on the throne. For it seems,
that the right of the Romans was little more than
a form, and that they only installed the sovereign
whom the Parthians had previously nominated; as in
the reign of Nero, when Vologeses, king of Parthia,
had seated his brother Tiridates on the throne of
Armenia, it was agreed that Tiridates should go to
Rome to receive his investiture at the hands of the
emperor. But now Trajanus, bent upon conquest,
rejected the presents brought him by the ambassa-
dors, and replied to their communication with the
characteristic haughtiness of a Roman general, say-
ing, that the king of Parthia should manifest his
friendly disposition rather by deeds than by words,
=
STORY OF PARTHAMASIRIS.
423
XII.
and that when he should have arrived in Syria, the CHAP.
Romans would then do that which was fitting to be
done.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Parthama-
siris.
The narrative of Dion Cassius becomes here only a story of
collection of disjointed fragments, preserved by his
abbreviators, so that it does not appear whether the
negociation was renewed on the arrival of Trajanus
in Syria. It was at all events ineffectual; and the
Roman army advanced into Armenia, where they
were met by the satraps and petty princes of the
neighbouring districts, who came to make their sub-
missions and to offer presents. Meantime, Partha-
masiris had laid aside the style and title of king,
and had written to request that M. Junius, the
governor of Cappadocia, might be sent to him, as if
he wished, through his intercession with the em-
peror, to obtain some favourable terms. His request
was refused; but the son of Junius was sent to him,
and he was probably given to understand, that he
must present himself in person before Trajanus.
The emperor was now at Elegia, a town of Armenia,
having as yet not experienced any opposition; and
hither Parthamasiris repaired 23, in order, as he sup-
posed, to go through the ceremony of investiture,
which he the less doubted that he should obtain,
as the public humiliation thus imposed upon him
seemed at least a sufficient atonement for any offence
which the Romans might pretend to have received.
Accordingly, when Trajanus was seated on his tri-
23 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 779.
XII
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
424
STORY OF PARTHAMASIRIS.
CHAP. bunal in the midst of his camp, Parthamasiris ap-
peared before him, and having saluted him, took off
the diadem from his own head, and laid it at the
emperor's feet. When he had done this, he stood
silent for a few moments, expecting that Trajanus,
as a matter of course, would desire him to resume
it; but when he said nothing, and the soldiers with
loud shouts addressed their sovereign as "imperator,"
considering that the act which they had just wit-
nessed was equivalent to the absolute surrender of
Armenia to the Roman dominions, Parthamasiris
started, and apprehending some attempt upon his
person or liberty, turned in order to leave the camp.
But when the soldiers opposed his passage, he re-
quested a private interview with Trajanus, and went
with the emperor into his tent. Their conference
was unsatisfactory, and Parthamasiris left the tent
in great indignation; but he was again detained by
the emperor's order, and was desired, with the usual
indelicacy of the Romans, to state his cause publicly
in the hearing of the whole army. Coarse and
insolent as was this proposal, Parthamasiris did not
decline it; but standing before the emperor's tribu-
nal, he indignantly asserted, that he was betrayed,
and not conquered; that he had come freely into
the Roman camp, in the confidence that when he
had gone through the ceremony of homage, his right
to the crown of Armenia would be instantly allowed.
Trajanus, who perceived himself now strong enough
to avow his injustice without scruple, replied, that
Armenia belonged to the Romans, and should obey
STORY OF PARTHAMASIRIS
425
CHAP.
XII.
From
to 117.
none but a Roman sovereign; that the Armenian
followers of Parthamasiris must, therefore, remain
with the Roman army, but that he himself and his A.D. 98
Parthians were at liberty to depart whithersoever
they thought proper. The disgraceful conclusion of
this scene we learn from one of the newly discovered
fragments of the works of M. Cornelius Fronto, the
orator 24. Parthamasiris refused to submit to this
treacherous outrage, and, with a courage that heeded
not his unequal condition, attempted to force his
way out of the camp. In this attempt he was natu-
rally unsuccessful, and being taken prisoner, to crown
the atrocity of the conduct of Trajanus, he was put
to death.
Armenia having been thus surprised rather than
conquered, Trajanus left garrisons in its principal
fortresses, and marching southwards from Elegia,
arrived at Edessa. Here he was hospitably received
by Abgarus, prince of that district, who now thought
it his best policy to propitiate the Romans to the
utmost. Some others also of the petty sovereigns
who lived on the outskirts of the Parthian empire,
expressed their readiness to receive his commands;
and he thus made himself master of the town of
Singara, and some other places in Upper Mesopo-
tamia, without any opposition. At this point, the
narrative of Dion Cassius breaks off abruptly, and
24 Principia Historiæ, Fragment.
IV. "Trajano cædes Partha-
masiris regis haud satis excusata.
Tametsi ultro ille vim cœptans,
tumultu orto, merito interfectus
est, meliore tamen Romanorum
famâ impunè supplex abisset, quam
jure supplicium luisset.”
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
426 CHRONOLOGY OF THE REIGN OF TRAJANUS.
CHAP. the next remaining fragment of his work belongs to
a period nearly ten years later. But it is certain,
from the evidence of inscriptions, that Trajanus did
not gain further conquests at this time; and we
may suppose, that after his occupation of Armenia
he had no longer any pretence of hostility against
the king of Parthia, and that, as that monarch was
content to abandon Armenia to him, he led back
his army, and returned to Rome.
Chronology
of the reign
The events which we have just recorded seem
of Trajanus. to have taken place about the tenth year of the
reign of Trajanus; and it was probably for his
triumph over Parthamasiris that he assumed the
title of "imperator" for the sixth time. In the
inscription on the famous bridge over the Tagus
at Alcantara 25, which bears date the ninth year of
his reign, he is styled "imperator" for the fifth time;
and Dion Cassius tells us, that he received that
title again from the acclamations of his soldiers,
when they beheld the unfortunate Parthamasiris
surrendering to him his crown. But in the inscrip-
tion on the pillar erected in the middle of his forum
at Rome, and which is dated in the seventeenth year
of his reign, he is described as imperator only for the
sixth time 26; so that a decisive proof is thus ob-
tained, that during seven years he gained no signal
victories; and as his wars were nothing but a succes-
sion of victories, we may fairly conclude, that from
25 Gruter, Corpus Inscription. I. 247. Burton's Antiquities of
Rome, 172.
I. 162.
26 Gruter, Corpus Inscription.
OF THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS OF ROME. 427
XII.
to 117.
the tenth to the seventeenth year of his reign he CHAP.
remained at peace, and employed himself in the civil From
administration of his empire. Between the com- A.D. 98
pletion of his pillar and his death, the rapidity of his
conquests is marked by the accumulation of his titles
of imperator; for on the column, as we have seen, he
is described only as imperator for the sixth time, but
inscriptions of a date two years later 27, in the nine-
teenth year of his reign, call him imperator for the
eleventh time. We shall avail ourselves then of
this peaceful period of nearly seven years, the events
of which we are unable to relate chronologically,
from the total want of all regular annals of this reign,
to offer a general view of the state of the empire,
and of the character of the emperor's government.
ternal rela-
Rome.
Adopting the same arrangement which we for- of the ex-
merly pursued in our life of Augustus, the foreign tions of
relations of Rome will first claim our notice. And
here the picture which we gave of the state of affairs
under Augustus will require little alteration. Some
acquisitions of territory had indeed been made pre-
vious to the recent conquests of Trajanus in Dacia.
Our own island, after having been first conquered in
the reign of Claudius, and subsequently held with a
doubtful grasp during the last years of Nero, and
the civil wars which followed his death, had been
finally subdued and settled by Cn. Agricola, whose
merits have been transmitted to posterity, perhaps
27 Gruter, I. 248, and an inscrip-
tion on a bridge over the river
Metaurus, on the old Flaminian
road, between Furlo and Fossom-
brone, which we copied on the
spot in 1825.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
428 OF THE EXTERNAL RELATIONS OF ROME.
CHAP. with some exaggeration, by the affection and elo-
quence of his son-in-law, Tacitus. In the other ex-
tremity of the empire, Jerusalem had been destroyed,
after a resistance such as the Romans had seldom
experienced from an enemy so unequal.
Some
changes had taken place also, rather in the nominal
than in the real condition of countries 28 already in
fact subject to the authority of Rome, but retaining
the form of an independent government; and some
barbarous tribes had in the lapse of years been more
effectually subdued, or had gradually become more
familiarized to the Roman dominion. But still, as
in the reign of Augustus, the Parthians and Germans
were the only nations whom the Romans found
capable of maintaining a contest with them almost
on equal terms. The Parthian power was indeed
somewhat on the decline, and it was destined to re-
ceive from Trajanus severer blows than it had ever
yet sustained. But the Germans were as unbroken
as ever; nor had the Romans again ventured since
the defeat of Varus to extend their frontier beyond
the Rhine. The title of Germanicus, fondly assumed
by so many emperors, was the best proof that none
had fully deserved it, and that the conqueror of
Germany was as yet unborn.
28 Cappadocia, from a depend-
ent kingdom, had been reduced to
a province as early as the reign of
Tiberius. Tacitus, Annal. II. 42.
A part of Pontus, which still was
governed by a king of its own,
shared the same fate in the reign
of Nero. Tacitus, Hist. III. 47 ;
Eutropius, in Nerone. Rhodes,
Lycia, and some other places, were
in like manner made provinces by
Vespasianus. Suetonius, in Ves-
pasian. 8; Eutropius, in Vespa-
sian.
ITS INTERNAL STATE.
429
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
state.
government.
Nothing then remains to divert our attention from CHAP.
the internal state of the empire. In our life of
Augustus we attempted to mark the easy steps by
which the old constitution had been converted into Its internal
a monarchy, by showing that it contained within it 1. Of the
all the elements of despotic power, while there was
enough of servility and helplessness in the people at
large to make them almost welcome as a relief their
exclusion from all share in the government. Our
business will now be to delineate the imperial con-
stitution in its matured state, and to notice some of
those points in which the forms of freedom which
still subsisted in the days of Augustus had been
since overthrown. The government was now be-
come an acknowledged monarchy. In the time of
Augustus it was but a sort of perpetual dictatorship,
bestowed by the senate and people on the most dis-
tinguished citizen of the Commonwealth, as a re-
medy for the disorders occasioned by so many years
of civil war. But the adoption first of the sons of
Agrippa, and afterwards of Tib. Claudius Nero, into
the Julian family, made it evident that the new state
of things was designed to be perpetual; and so
natural is the notion of hereditary right, that even
while the monarchy was thus recent, the succession
was thought to belong to the family of the actual
sovereign; and in the failure of his immediate de-
scendants, he was allowed to adopt whomsoever he
thought proper, as the presumptive heir to the im-
perial power. On the death of Augustus, the senate,
by conferring all his extraordinary prerogatives on
430 THE GOVERNMENT IS MORE MONARCHICAL
CHAP. Tiberius, decreed in fact the final extinction of the
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
It was far
more mo-
than in the
time of
Augustus.
Commonwealth. The temporary reason before as-
signed for vesting the government in the hands of a
single person, was now exchanged for one of general
and lasting application; the disorders of the civil
wars had been long since repaired by the peaceful
administration of Augustus; but it was now dis-
covered that the empire was too vast to be governed
by the senate and people, and required the vigour
and unity of a monarchy; and thus, until the pro-
vinces should be dismembered, the Roman people
seemed to resign for ever its old authority. The
feeble attempt made by the senate to resume the
government, after the murder of Caligula, did not
last longer than two days; and from that time, even
when the succession to the imperial power was most
disputed, yet none ever proposed the restoration of
the Commonwealth.
We have said, that even Augustus, when he
narchical adopted Tiberius as his son, designed to make him
his successor in the empire. But the throne was
never considered as actually hereditary, so that the
natural or adopted son ascended it by the right of
his birth, whenever the death of his father had left
it vacant. By the theory of the constitution, if we
may apply so noble a term to the imperial govern-
ment of Rome, the emperor was still intrusted by
the senate with the management of the republic, and
each succeeding sovereign derived his power accord-
ing to law solely from their authority. It is difficult
to say whether the consent of the army was legally
THAN IN THE TIME OF AUGUSTUS.
431
XII.
to 117.
necessary to the validity of an election, although in CHAP.
reality it determined the whole transaction. The From
new emperor was saluted as such by the soldiers, and A.D. 98
he promised them a donative in return; and the op-
position of the senate to their choice must have been
necessarily fruitless. It is possible, too, that the
army may have been regarded in some measure as
the representative of the people, and their voice may
have been esteemed the sole remnant of the popular
part of the old constitution. The comitia no longer
assembled for the election of magistrates after the
accession of Tiberius 29; and although statutes (leges)
and decrees of the commons (plebiscita) are acknow-
ledged among the sources of the Roman law, even in
the time of T. Antoninus and M. Aurelius, yet the
votes of the tribes in enacting laws as well as in ap-
pointing magistrates had become no more than an
empty form 30. In their place the constitutions of
the emperor were allowed to have the force of laws 3
and these gradually became more frequent, as the
remembrance of free institutions became in every
successive generation fainter and fainter. It may be
noticed also, as a mark of the more avowed monarch-
ical character which the government assumed within
29 We have said, "for the elec-
tion of magistrates," because the
comitia even in the reign of Tra-
janus assembled in the Campus
Martius, to go through the form
of nominating those persons con-
suls, prætors, &c., who had been
previously chosen by the senate.
See Heineccius, I. Append. § 65;
and Creuzer, Romisch. Antiquitat.
121.
30 See Hugo, Lehrbuch der
Geschichte des Römischen Rechts,
611, 612, edit. 1824.
31 Gaius, Institution, I. § 5.
Nec unquam dubitatum est, quin
id (sc. Constitutio Principis) legis
vicem obtineat.
432
OF THE IMPERIAL LAW OF TREASONS.
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Of the im-
perial law of
treasons.
a century after the death of the first emperor, that
the title of dominus, or master, as opposed to slave,
which Augustus disclaimed with indignation 32, is
familiarly bestowed on Trajanus by his friend Pliny,
even in his private correspondence with him.
But the instrument by which the emperors had
perpetrated the worst acts of their tyranny was pro-
vided by the new imperial law of treasons. Under
the Commonwealth, the crime of "majestas læsa vel
imminuta" was held to extend not only to those
actions which our law regards as treasonable, such as
conspiring to levy war against the state, or joining
the enemy in war, but to a great variety of other
offences of less magnitude, such as rioting, or gross
misconduct in the management of a war, or the
usurpation of the state and authority of a magistrate
by any private person. Nor were even words al-
ways exempted from its operation, if the story told
of Claudia be deserving of credit, who was tried,
during the first Punic war, for a passionate expres-
sion uttered against the people, when her carriage
was stopped in the streets by the pressure of the
crowd. Whilst the Commonwealth lasted, however,
the severity of the laws was not amongst the prevail-
ing evils; and although many individuals who ought
to have been punished were never brought to justice,
no innocent man, probably, was ever a sufferer from
the law of treason as it was then established. With
the imperial government new maxims and a new
32 Suetonius, in Augusto, 53.
OF THE IMPERIAL LAW OF TREASONS.
433
XII.
to 117.
spirit of criminal jurisprudence were introduced: the CHAP.
emperor was invested with all the majesty of the From
Commonwealth, and to attempt his life 33, or to levy A.D. 98
war against his authority, were naturally, as in every
monarchy, regarded as acts of treason. But the
jealousy of Augustus, and still more of Tiberius,
extended the same appellation to every thing that
could be construed into disrespect to the person
or dignity of the emperor. Not only were libels
punishable with death 34, and expressions adjudged to
be libellous, which the worst despotism of modern
times would never have attempted to question; but
even words spoken in private society were liable to
the same penalty; and it was treasonable to consult
astrologers as to the fate of the emperor 35, to melt
down or sell a statue of an emperor who had been
deified 36, to take the head off from it 37, to scourge a
slave, or to undress, close to it, with some other
things so monstrous, that if they did not rest on
good contemporary testimony we should reject them
as utterly incredible. The offence was proceeded
against in the same spirit of tyranny by which it was
defined for persons held to be infamous 38, and
whose evidence was not admissible in other cases,
33 Digest. XLVIII. Tit. 4.
Paullus, Sentent. Recipt. Tit. 29.
34 Tacitus, Annal. IV.34; XIV.
48.
35 Tacitus, Annal. III. 22.
36 Digest. XLVIII. Tit. 4. The
atrocity of the law of treason may
be estimated by the nature of those
acts which the lawyers thought
proper to specify as exempted
VOL. II.
from its penalties.
"Non con-
trahit crimen Majestatis qui statuas
Cæsaris vetustate corruptas reficit.
Nec qui lapide jactato incerto,
fortuito statuam attigerit, crimen
Majestatis commisit." Digest.
XLVIII. Tit. 4.
37 Suetonius, in Tiberio, 58.
38 Digest. ubi supra.
F F
XII.
From
A.D.98
to 117.
434 OF THE IMPERIAL LAW OF TREASONS.
CHAP. were in these received as accusers; freedmen might
impeach their patrons, and slaves their own masters;
both of which acts the Romans regarded in general
with the utmost horror; and persons of the highest
rank, at least in the reign of Severus, might be
examined by torture". If condemned, criminals of
all ranks were punished with death, and those of
humble condition, by one of those atrocious distinc-
tions characteristic of the vilest tyranny, were either
thrown to wild beasts or burned alive. The pro-
perty of the victim was forfeited; and if the charge
extended to the act of levying war against the em-
peror 40, the forfeiture took place even when the
accused died before his trial, unless his heirs could
prove his innocence.
A law so odious bred a race of informers well
fitted to pander to its cruelty. Under the worst
emperors they swelled accordingly into a numerous
and formidable body, composed of the vilest indivi-
duals of every rank, who abused the confidence of
private society to report some word or action which
the imperial law of treason rendered criminal. Such
a system rendered the very name of justice un-
popular; and real crimes sometimes escaped with
impunity, or were undeservedly pardoned at the
accession of a better emperor, from the universal
hatred felt towards all prosecutions ¹¹, and the indis-
39 Paullus, ubi supra.
40 Digest. ubi supra.
41 Tacitus, Hist. I. 77. Placuit
ignoscentibus verso nomine, quod
41
avaritia fuerat videri Majestatem ;
cujus tum odio etiam bonæ leges
peribant.
THE ROMAN LAW OTHERWISE EXCELLENT.
435
XII.
to 117.
criminate compassion entertained for all who had CHAP.
incurred the penalties of the laws. Nor is it amongst From
the least evils of a tyrannical code, that even after A.D. 98
it has been mitigated by a virtuous sovereign, there
is perpetually danger of its being again revived in all
its horrors in some succeeding reign. The precedent
of a bad example is far more effectual in counte-
nancing wickedness, than that of a good one in
restraining it; and thus, although Trajanus banished
the informers, and suspended the operation of the
law of treason, yet the race of the one soon sprang
up again, and the enactments of the other remained
in existence to be again called into action by a
Commodus or a Caracalla.
lence of the
in other
It were unjust, however, to estimate the general The excel-
character of the Roman law from the provisions of the Roman law
lex majestatis; or to receive our impression of the poli- respects.
tical condition of the Roman people from those tragi-
cal details with which the histories of these times
are chiefly filled. The imperial system had been en-
grafted upon a free constitution, and upon the laws
of a free people; both of which it entirely over-
turned, wherever they interfered with its own im-
mediate interests: but as the principles of a corrupt
system will survive many partial reforms of parti-
cular institutions, so although the principles of liberty
and wisdom at Rome had been crippled in many
most important points in their practical application,
still their existence was not extinguished, and their
influence was even yet plainly perceptible. The
great lawyers of the age of the Antonines passed
F f 2
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
436 THE IMPERIAL TYRANNY MOST FELT AT ROME
CHAP. hastily over the odious page which contained the
law of treason, and delighted to fix their attention
on those wise and liberal provisions which concerned
the persons and properties of citizens in their deal-
ings with one another, wherever the government did
not interfere. From the excellence of the Roman
law in these points arose the eminent fame, so justly
earned by its professors amidst the general decline
of all other studies. It was here only that the
wisdom of better times was still practically useful,
and might be profitably emulated; so that talents
and integrity naturally turned themselves to that
field which alone was open to their exertions; and
when the higher duties of a statesman were inacces-
sible or neglected, those of a lawyer were fulfilled
in an enlightened spirit which later times have been
far from imitating.
The impe-
rial tyranny
was most
Nor should it be forgotten that the imperial
tyranny, which deluged Rome with blood, affected
Rome, and but little the condition of the provinces; and that
felt at
by the
higher
orders.
even at Rome itself, its victims were principally
chosen from the highest classes, while the mass
of the community suffered from it comparatively
nothing. It was, indeed, a bitter change for the
patricians and the equestrian order, to have their
proud and luxurious security invaded by execu-
tioners, and to be exposed every hour, at the caprice
of their tyrant, to banishment or death. But to the
plebeians, to the inhabitants of the provinces, and to
the slaves, the spirit of the monarchy was certainly
not more insolent and oppressive than that of the
42
AND BY THE HIGHER ORDERS.
437
XII.
From
to 117.
old aristocracy; nor did the worst excesses of the CHAP.
Cæsars ever produce such wide-spreading misery as
the triumph of the aristocratical party under Sylla. A.D. 98
Even Cicero had regarded the grant of the "jus
Latii," conferred by Cæsar on the inhabitants of
Sicily 12, as an intolerable affront to the dignity of
Rome. But now the rights of Latin citizenship
were enjoyed by all the inhabitants of Spain 43;
while the Gauls had received the higher privilege
of becoming citizens of Rome 44, and were thus
admissible to the highest offices in the empire.
These two great countries were fast acquiring those
marks of intimate union with Italy, which all the
revolutions of after ages were unable to efface.
Gaul, in particular, began to take a principal part in
the civil wars, and entered into them more with the
zeal of an integral portion of the state, than like a
province contending merely for the choice of masters.
When Julius Vindex revolted against Nero, his main
support was in the devotion of the people of Gaul to
his cause; and their efforts were rewarded by Galba
with the gift of Roman citizenship, and the reduc-
tion of a fourth part of their taxation for ever.
not remove
the old con-
But although the monarchy did not increase the But it did
evils to which the greatest part of the subjects of the evils of
the empire were liable, yet we must confess that it stitution.
did little to remove them. That hateful pride, which
made the Romans so careless of the sufferings of
42 Epist. ad Atticum, XIV. 12.
Multa illis (Siculis) Cæsar, neque
me invito: etsi Latinitas erat non
ferenda; verumtamen.
43 Pliny, Hist. Nat. III. 3.
44 Tacitus, Hist. I. 8; IV. 74.
438
IT DID NOT REMOVE THE EVILS
XII.
From
A. D. 98
to 117.
45
CHAP. those whom they considered their inferiors, was an
effectual bar to any attempts to ameliorate the con-
dition of the slaves, or to check the abuses of power
when exercised only against the poor and ignoble.
When in the reign of Nero 15, Pedanius Secundus
was murdered by one of his slaves, his whole house-
hold, consisting of four hundred slaves of both sexes
and of all ages, were ordered, according to ancient
practice, to be put to death. The populace of Rome,
whose natural humanity had not been quite extin-
guished by the callousness of rank and wealth, rose
in tumult to resist the execution. Upon this, the
case was debated in the senate, and C. Cassius, the
most celebrated lawyer of his day, strongly urged
the expediency of enforcing the sentence. His
opinion was approved by a large majority; and to
prevent the possibility of a rescue, Nero lined the
streets with troops, whilst these four hundred human
beings, most of whom were undoubtedly innocent,
and amongst whose number were old men, women,
and children, were led to an indiscriminate butchery.
So also in the reign of Tiberius, four thousand freed-
men 46, mostly Jews and Egyptians, and guilty of no
other crime than that of practising the religious
rites of their respective countries, were expelled
from Rome, and sent into Sardinia to repress the
banditti of that island, a service which, from the
unhealthiness of the climate, was almost equivalent
to a sentence of death; "but if they perished," says
45 Tacitus, Annal. XIV. 42, et seq. 46 Tacitus, Annal. II. 85.
OF THE OLD CONSTITUTION.
47
439
XII.
to 117.
Tacitus, "their loss was of no consequence." The CHAP.
same pride showed itself in more trifling matters, in From
the behaviour of the great to the humbler classes of A.D. 98
society. The door of a wealthy and noble Roman
was crowded before day-break by visitors who came
to pay their court to him "7, and who, after under-
going the most insolent treatment from his porter,
were seldom admitted to an interview with himself,
but were answered by one of his servants; or if he
did condescend to see them, they bent down to the
ground before him, and kissed his hand with oriental
servility. Hence, a number of subordinate oppres-
sions were practised in the provinces, and especially
in the more inconsiderable towns; so that we read
of a request preferred by the people of Juliopolis in
Bithynia 48, in the reign of Trajanus, to have a cen-
turion resident among them to protect them from
injury. The same feeling also tended to encourage
the insolence of the army towards the people,
wherever they were quartered. Since Marius first
changed the character of the legions by filling them
with citizens of the poorest classes, and still more
since the civil wars of the two first Cæsars, the
soldiers had learnt to regard themselves as a distinct
body in the nation, to whose superior merit and
importance all other citizens should pay deference.
Then all who did not belong to the army were
designated by the term "pagani," which soon be-
came used contemptuously, and thus in itself afforded
47 Lucian, de Moribus Philoso™ 48 Pliny, Epist. X. 81.
phorum, p. 20, edit. 1615.
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Helpless-
ness of the
couraged by
440 HELPLESSNESS AND APATHY OF THE PEOPLE
a proof of the undue supremacy of those who could
venture to stigmatize all other members of the com-
munity. But their offensive behaviour was not con-
fined to words; and we learn from history, no less.
than from the lively picture of the satirist 9, that
the soldiers were in the habit of using personal
violence to the provincials and to the Roman citi-
zens of humble condition; nor did the injured party
dare to seek for redress, lest he should provoke the
resentment of the offender's comrades.
The worst effect, however, of the imperial domi-
people en- nion as of that of the Commonwealth, was the help-
government. lessness of mind which a cowardly policy taught it
to encourage amongst the people of the provinces.
It was maintained by Aristotle 50, that a state could
not consist of so great a number as a hundred
thousand citizens; and although we may smile at
the exaggeration of this doctrine, yet it was founded
on the justest notions of the duties of a political
society, where all should have a common interest,
and should be keenly alive to the welfare of each
other, and of the whole body. The Greeks, there-
fore, distinguished between a state and a dominion ;
and it was by the latter name that they characterized
that vast mass of countries yoked together at the
time of which we are treating under the sovereignty
of Rome. The inhabitants then of the greatest
part of the empire were subjects, and not citizens;
and that activity and attention to public affairs
49 St. Luke III. 14. Juvenal, 50 Ethic. Nicomach. IX. 10.
Sat. XVI.
ENCOURAGED BY GOVERNMENT.
441
XII.
to 117.
which is the great virtue of a citizen, is most un- CHAP.
welcome to a sovereign when he sees it in his sub- From
jects. An enlightened despot, like Trajanus, is A.D. 98
frequently desirous of promoting the good of his
people, but he dreads to see them able and zealous
to promote their own; not considering that wealth
and security lose half their value when they are
passively received from another; and that men will
dwindle into children in understanding and energy,
when they are obliged to depend in childlike help-
lessness on the protection of their rulers. It is
remarkable, with what exceeding suspicion Trajanus
regarded every thing like a principle of internal
organization and self-dependence in the people of
his empire. A destructive fire had broken out at
Nicomedia in Bithynia 51, and had been greatly
aggravated by the apathy of the people, who looked
on without attempting to extinguish it. To prevent
the recurrence of such accidents, Pliny, who was
then proconsul of the province, recommended the
institution of a company of engineers, to consist of a
hundred and fifty persons, who were to have, we
may suppose, a monopoly of the business of firemen,
and would know how to act with effect whenever
their services were wanted. But Trajanus objected
to the proposal, on the express ground, that he did
not like the principle of association, as it might lead
to factions. On another occasion, the people of
Amisus begged to be allowed, according to their
51 Pliny, Epist. X. 42, 43.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
442 HELPLESSNESS AND APATHY OF THE PEOPLE
CHAP. own laws 52, to give their pavol, or public entertain-
ments to the poorer classes, furnished by the sub-
scriptions of the rich. Trajanus consented, as Amisus
was a free and confederate city, and was governed
by its own laws; but he expressed his hope, that the
entertainments might not be abused for purposes of
tumult or unlawful assemblies; and he strictly for-
bade them in all the cities of the province which
were more immediately subject to the Roman juris-
diction. In the same spirit, Pliny, in a letter to
the emperor, expresses his fears lest a practice pre-
valent in his province, of the richer inhabitants as-
sembling on certain joyful occasions a great number
of the common people, and giving them a largess of
one or two denarii a man, should grow into a means
of political influence. Nor should we omit to men-
tion, the constant reference made by the people of
the provinces to the government, when they wished
to execute any public works of ornament or utility.
Sometimes pecuniary assistance is requested, at other
times permission is asked to devote a part of the
revenue of a corporation to such purposes, or the
emperor is applied to, to send surveyors and en-
gineers to direct the operations. It seems as if the
people had in themselves no principle of activity,
but were taught on every occasion to look for aid
or for permission to the government. In the reign
of Trajanus certainly, the government was suffi-
ciently ready to promote any scheme of improve-
52 Pliny, Epist. X. 93, 94.
ENCOURAGED BY GOVERNMENT.
443
XIL
to 117.
ment that promised to be beneficial; but when CHAP.
other emperors succeeded, who had neither the-
From
ability nor the disposition to forward such plans, the A.D. 98
evil of encouraging helplessness in the people be-
came apparent, and when the provinces were neg-
lected by their rulers, they had lost the energy to
act for themselves.
We have been led insensibly to encroach upon a
topic which belongs more properly to a subsequent
part of this sketch. But the transition, from con-
sidering the nature of the imperial government to
an inquiry into the state of the people, is so faintly
marked, that it is difficult when speaking of the one
to forbear all mention of the other. We now, how-
ever, propose to proceed expressly to this second
division of our subject; and to illustrate the physical
and moral condition of the inhabitants of the Roman
empire, by some notices on each of these following
points:-1st, the amount of the national wealth, its
distribution, security, and the degree and manner in
which it was affected by the government; 2nd, the
state of literature and general knowledge; and 3rd,
that of morality, in the highest sense of the term,
including our duties to God as well as to man.
of agricul-
1. It is probable that agriculture, at least in the of the state
western provinces, had made considerable progress ture.
since the reign of Augustus. We do not mean that
it was better understood than formerly in those
countries where it had been long since practised;
but that the gradual establishment of the Roman
power had diffused a knowledge of it amongst
444
OF THE STATE OF AGRICULTURE.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
53
CHAP. people to whom it had been hitherto very imper-
fectly known, and from the union of so many parts
of the world under one government, the natural
productions of one country were introduced into
another 5³, and a benefit was thus conferred on man-
kind which survived the devastations of after ages.
The wealth and fertility of Gaul are spoken of in
high terms 54; its corn and flax were particularly
noted 55; and different methods of manuring the
land were practised 56, which argue a state of con-
siderable civilization. Even Britain, which had
been so much more recently conquered, bore marks
of the benefits which it derived from its connexion
with the Roman empire. There, too, the use of
marl for manure was familiarly known, and the cherry
had been already introduced 57, a fact deserving of
notice, as it shows that not only the most necessary
articles of food, but fruits and vegetables, for com-
fort and luxury, found their way into the provinces
very soon after their conquest. The whole coast of
Spain is pronounced by Pliny 58 to be the finest
country, except Italy, with which he was acquainted;
and the list of towns which he has given us in Lusi-
tania, and the northern part of Spain, marks the ad-
vances made by those provinces since the time of
Strabo. We hear much, it is true, of the decay of
agriculture in Italy itself, and the greater part of
53 Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXVII. 1.
54 Tacitus, Hist. IV. 73, 74.
55 Pliny, Hist. Nat. XVIII. 8,
9; XIX. 1.
13.
56 Pliny, Hist. Nat. XVII. 6-8.
57 Pliny, Hist. Nat. XV. 25.
58 Pliny, Hist. Nat. XXXVII.
OF COMMERCE.
445
CHAP.
XII.
to 117.
that country seems to have been no more than a
pleasure-ground for the wealthy Romans, while their From
farms for profit were in the provinces; but the north A.D. 98
of Italy must probably be excepted from this descrip-
tion, as its towns were more numerous and flourish-
ing than those of the south and centre, and its
inhabitants were said to retain a simpler and purer
character 59. It was probably owing to the increased
resources of the western provinces that Rome was
enabled, on one memorable occasion in the reign of
Trajanus 60, to send large supplies of corn to Egypt,
when, owing to an extraordinary drought, the Nile
had not afforded its usual salutary inundation. This
peaceful triumph of Italy is celebrated by Pliny as
one of the greatest glories of the age of Trajanus;
and he extols the happy effects of civilization, which
had now connected the most remote countries to-
gether, and had obviated the evils of an accidental
scarcity in one province, by enabling it instantly to
be relieved by the superfluous plenty of another.
merce.
To what extent internal commerce was carried be- Of com-
tween the different parts of the empire, it is scarcely
possible to form an accurate judgment. The more
general expressions of historians are of little value,
because they speak comparatively rather than abso-
lutely; and no one can doubt that the activity of
trade under the emperors must have appeared ex-
ceedingly great, when compared with any former
period of history. As to the foreign commerce, which
59 Pliny, Epist. I. 14.
60 Pliny, Panegyric. 30, et seq.
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Condition
of the
people at
large.
446
CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE AT LARGE.
was mostly carried on with India, the principal
articles thus imported were silks and other luxuries,
for which there was a great demand among persons
of the highest fortune, but they were not used by
the mass of the people.
It is sufficiently clear, that a wealthy Roman could
command many comforts and luxuries; but how far
comforts or even necessaries were within the reach
of the majority of the inhabitants of the empire is a
much more difficult and a more important question.
The place of our labourers and operative manufac-
turers being almost entirely supplied by slaves, we
have no opportunity of comparing the price of labour
with that of provision, the surest criterion of public
prosperity, if the welfare of the majority be justly
regarded as the welfare of the nation. But it seems
probable, that the free population of the Roman em-
pire was small in proportion to the extent of its
territory; and thus, that there was little of that
severe distress which visits more thickly-peopled
countries, even where their moral and political insti-
tutions are far superior to those of Rome. In Italy
itself, several laws were enacted to discourage celi-
bacy, and peculiar privileges were conferred on the
father of a numerous family. That these provisions
were not dictated by a mere undistinguishing desire
of multiplying the number of citizens, is proved not
only by the general complaints which we meet with
of the decay of the free population, but by the re-
mark of Pliny that most 6 persons thought even one
61 Epist. IV. 15.
61
CONDITION OF THE PEOPLE AT LARGE. 447
XII.
to 117.
child an inconvenience; and by the number of in- CHAP.
stances in which a successor to the imperial dignity From
was obtained by adoption, because the emperor had A.D. 98
no natural heir. We may suppose that the eastern
provinces were in this respect similarly circumstanced,
for their morals in general were sufficiently licen-
tious, and the unnatural indifference of parents to
the fate of their children appears from one 62 of
Pliny's letters, in which he describes the foundlings
in his province of Bithynia as forming a numerous
body, and states that many of them when exposed
were picked up by persons who made a profit of
selling them for slaves. In the western provinces,
where the physical and moral character of the people
was more favourable to population, their situation
was that of new countries, where the inhabitants
have not yet had time to multiply in proportion to
the means of subsistence. We must consider too,
when calculating the comforts of the Roman people,
that the climate under which they lived enabled
them to dispense with many things, the want of
which in the north of Europe is a sensible privation.
Well-built houses, a plentiful supply of fuel, and a
large quantity of substantial food, were not to them
objects of the first necessity. As amongst their
descendants at this day, their principal enjoyments
were not to be found at home; and if public build-
ings and places of public amusement were more
numerous and more magnificent than with us, it was
62 Epist. X. 71, 72.
1
448
OF THE SECURITY OF PROPERTY.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
CHAP. only because the fewer wants of the people obliged
them to a less unremitting industry, and while the
stimulus of diversion was more easily procured in
the amphitheatre or the colonnade, the neglected
state of their individual dwellings could be endured
without any sensation of wretchedness.
Of the
security of
property.
Of the security of property in the Roman empire
we should judge unfavourably, if we compared it
with the unrivalled protection which it actually en-
joys in most countries of modern Europe. Yet our
ancestors, less than a century ago, would have had
little reason to exult over the Romans; when John-
son might apply with justice to London the picture
drawn by Juvenal of the outrages nightly committed
in the streets of Rome, when highway robbery was
constantly expected and often experienced by every
traveller, and a still more audacious system of rapine
was yet unscrupulously practised in the highlands of
Scotland. Even at that period, however, we should
have been surprised to hear of such acts as those
noticed in one of Pliny's letters 63; where he men-
tions the total disappearance of a distinguished indi-
vidual of the equestrian order in the neighbourhood
of Ocriculum, that is in the very heart of Italy,
about seventy miles from Rome. No traces of his
fate were to be discovered, and the same thing had
happened a short time before to a citizen of Comum,
when travelling homewards with a large sum of
money from Rome. To these dangers of travelling
63 Epist. VI. 25.
3+
OF THE REVENUE.
449
XII.
From
to 117.
must be added, at least in the provinces, the oppres- CHAP.
sions and vexations which poor and humble men
often suffered from their more powerful neighbours, A.D. 98
and for which under most of the provincial governors
they could find no redress. Hence Columella 64 ad-
vises those who were purchasing estates to make
themselves first acquainted with the characters of
their neighbours; and he confirms his precept by
his own experience, as one of his neighbours was
continually felling his trees, robbing his plantations,
and carrying off his cattle.
venue.
We have spoken at some length of the Roman of the re-
revenue in our survey of the empire during the reign
of Augustus. To the account of it there given we
have little to add, except to observe, that its amount
varied largely under different emperors; that Galba
for example lightened considerably the public bur-
dens 65, while Vespasianus 66 again imposed the taxes
which had been taken off, and carried the exactions
of the treasury to the highest pitch. The most fruit-
ful sources of revenue, as far as Roman citizens were
concerned, were to be found in the Julian and
Papian laws, and in the legacy duty of five per cent.,
which, as we have seen, Trajanus considerably mode-
rated. By the former, unmarried men between
twenty and sixty 67, and even married men between
twenty-five and sixty if they had never had any
children, were incapable of inheriting from any but
64 De Re Rusticâ, I. 3.
65 Suetonius, in Galba, 15.
66 Suetonius, in Vespasiano, 16.
VOL. II.
67 Hugo, Geschichte des Rö-
mischen Rechts, 623, et seq.
G G
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
450
OF THE REVENUE.
CHAP. their nearest relations, and the property bequeathed
to them devolved upon the treasury. The provincials
were subject to a land-tax and poll-tax, and to those
other impositions which we have formerly noticed
when speaking of this subject. They were besides
burdened with the maintenance of the Roman ma-
gistrates by whom they were governed; and if the
ordinary expenses of the proconsul or procurator were
provided for by a fixed sum raised for the purpose,
yet when they travelled through the province they
demanded what they thought proper for the support
of themselves 68 and their domestic establishment,
from the inhabitants of the district wherein they
happened to stop. Sometimes, too, the provincial
cities were expected to send a deputation to Rome 69
every year with a loyal address to the emperor, or to
welcome their proconsul on his first arrival amongst
them. To this must be added the various exactions
which they often suffered from the oppression of
their governors; although in the reign of Trajanus
offenders of this kind were frequently brought to
trial, and sometimes to punishment.
State of
literature.
2. We have already expressed our opinion, that
the merits of Roman literature, even in its most
flourishing period, have been greatly overrated; and
we believe that a review of its condition at the end
of the first century of the Christian era, might tend
to lessen our wonder at the ignorance which after-
wards prevailed throughout Europe. Our first im-
68
Pliny, Epist. IX. 33.
69 Pliny, Epist. X. 52.
STATE OF LITERATURE.
451
XII.
to 117.
pression would probably be highly favourable: we CHAP.
meet with the names of a great many writers, whose From
reputation is even now eminent; we know that learn- A.D. 98
ing was not only held in honour in the eastern pro-
vinces, where it had been long since cultivated, but
that Gaul, and Spain, and Africa abounded with
schools and orators, and that a taste for literary
studies had been introduced even into Britain. The
names of the most distinguished orators at Rome
were familiarly known in the remotest parts of the
empire, and any splendid passages in their speeches
were copied out by the provincial students, and
sent down to their friends at home to excite their
admiration, and serve as models for their imitation.
Even the Roman laws, once so cold and so disdainful
of literature and the fine arts, had in some points
adopted a more conciliating language; and the pro-
fession of a Sophist 70 was a legal exemption from the
duties of a juryman in the conventus or circuits of
the provincial judges. The age of Trajanus then had
greatly the advantage over that of Augustus in the
more general diffusion of knowledge, while in the
comparison of individual writers the eminence which
Virgil and Horace attained in poetry was at least
equalled by the historical fame of Tacitus. But
although knowledge was more common than it had
been a century before, still its range was necessarily
confined; nor before the invention of printing could
it possibly be otherwise. Pliny expresses
71 his sur-
70 Pliny, Epist. X. 66.
71 Pliny, Epist. IX. 11.
G g 2
452
STATE OF LITERATURE.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
72
CHAP. prise at hearing that there was a bookseller's shop to
be found at Lugdunum or Lyons; yet this very city
had been for a long time the scene of public recita-
tions in Greek and Latin, in which the orators of
Gaul contended for the prize of eloquence. Thus,
instead of the various clubs, reading-rooms, circulating
libraries, and book-societies, which make so many
thousands in our day acquainted with every new
publication worthy of notice, it was the practice of
authors at Rome to read aloud their compositions to
a large audience of their friends and acquaintance;
and not only poetry and orations were thus recited,
but also works of history "2. To attend these read-
ings was often naturally enough considered rather an
irksome civility; they who went at first reluctantly
were apt to be but languid auditors; and we all
know, that even to those most fond of literature, it
is no agreeable task to sit hour after hour the
unemployed and constrained listeners alike to the
eloquence or dulness, to the sense or folly of another.
The weariness then of the audience was to be re-
lieved by the selection of brilliant and forcible pas-
sages; their feelings were to be gratified rather than
their understandings; and amidst the excitement of
a crowded hall and an impassioned recitation, there
was no room for that silent exercise of judgment and
reflection which alone leads to wisdom. From this
habit then of hearing books rather than reading
them, it was natural that poetry and oratory should
72 Pliny, Epist. VII. 17; IX. 27. Compare also I. 13; VI. 15;
VIII. 12.
STATE OF LITERATURE.
453
XII.
to 117.
be the most popular kinds of literature; and that CHAP.
history, as we have observed in our notice of the From
Roman historians, should be tempted to assume the A.D. 98
charms of oratory, in order to procure for itself an
audience. A detail of facts cannot be remembered
by being once heard; and many of the most useful
inquiries or discussions in history, however valuable
to the thoughtful student, are not the best calculated
to win the attention of a mixed audience, when
orally delivered. The scarcity of books therefore,
inducing the practice of reading them aloud to
many hearers, instead of reserving them for hours
of solitude and undisturbed thought, may be con-
sidered as one of the chief causes of the false
luxuriance of literature at Rome in the reigns of
the first emperors, and of its early and complete
decay. We have already noticed the unworthy
ideas which the Romans entertained of its nature, and
how completely they degraded it into a mere play-
thing of men's prosperous hours, an elegant amuse-
ment, and an embellishment of life, not a matter of
serious use to individuals and to the state. Works
of physical science, and much more such as tend to
illustrate the useful arts, were therefore almost
unknown; so also were books of travels, details of
statistics, and every thing relating to political
economy. Had books of this description been
numerous, it would indeed have been strange if the
Roman empire had afterwards relapsed into igno-
rance. The nations by whom it was overrun would
readily have appreciated the benefits of a knowledge
K
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
454
STATE OF LITERATURE.
CHAP. which daily made life more comfortable, and nations
more enlightened and more prosperous; and the
advantages of cultivating the understanding would
have been as obvious to men of every condition in
Rome, as they are actually at the present time in
England, Germany, and America. As a proof of
this, we may observe, that the only two kinds of
really valuable knowledge which the Romans had to
communicate to their northern conquerors were both
adopted by them with eagerness; we mean their
law and their religion. The Roman code found its
way, or rather retained much of its authority in the
kingdoms founded upon the ruins of the Roman
empire, and its wisdom imperceptibly influenced the
law of those countries which affected most to regard
it with jealousy and aversion. And the Christian
religion, in like manner, survived the confusion of
the fourth and fifth centuries, and continually exer-
cised its beneficent power in ensuring individual
happiness, and lessening the amount of public misery.
If, together with these, Rome could have offered to
her conquerors an enlarged knowledge of nature and
of the useful arts, and clear views of the principles
of political economy, and the higher science of legis-
lation in general, we need not doubt that they would
have accepted these gifts also, and that thus the cor-
ruption to which her law and religion were exposed,
would have been in a great measure obviated. For
it is a most important truth, and one which requires
at this day to be most earnestly enforced, that it is by
the study of facts, whether relating to nature or to
STATE OF LITERATURE.
455
XII.
to 117.
man, and not by any pretended cultivation of the CHAP.
mind by poetry, oratory, and moral or critical disser- From
tations, that the understandings of mankind in general A.D. 98
will be most improved, and their views of things
rendered most accurate. And the reason of this is,
that every man has a fondness for knowledge of some
kind; and by acquainting himself with those facts or
truths which are most suited to his taste, he finds
himself gaining something, the value of which he can
appreciate, and in the pursuit of which, therefore, all
his natural faculties will be best developed. From
the mass of varied knowledge thus possessed by the
several members of the community, arises the great
characteristic of a really enlightened age, a sound
and sensible judgment; a quality which can only be
formed by the habit of regarding things in different
lights, as they appear to intelligent men of different
pursuits and in different classes of society, and by
thus correcting the limited notions to which the
greatest minds are liable, when left to indulge with-
out a corrective in their own peculiar train of
opinions. Want of judgment, therefore, is the pre-
vailing defect in all periods of imperfect civilisation,
and in those wherein the showy branches of litera-
ture have been forced by patronage, while the more
beneficial parts of knowledge have been neglected.
Nor is it to the purpose to say, that the study of
facts is of no benefit, unless we form from them
some general conclusions. The disease of the human
mind is impatiently to anticipate conclusions, so
little danger is there that it will be slow in deducing
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
456
STATE OF LITERATURE.
CHAP. them when it is once in possession of premises from
which they may justly be derived. But, on the
other hand, wherever words and striking images are
mainly studied, as was the case in ancient Rome,
man's natural indolence is encouraged, and he pro-
ceeds at once to reason without taking the trouble
of providing himself with the necessary materials.
Eloquence, indeed, and great natural ability may, in
the most favourable instances, disguise to the vulgar
the shallowness which lurks beneath them; but with
the mass of mankind this system is altogether fatal.
Learning, in the only shape in which it presents
itself to their eyes, is to them utterly useless; they
have no desire to pursue it, and if they had such,
their pursuit would be fruitless. They remain there-
fore in their natural ignorance; not partaking in the
pretended cultivation of their age, and feeling no
deprivation when the ill-rooted literature which was
the mere amusement of the great and wealthy, is
swept away by the first considerable revolution in
the state of society.
The decay of learning, then, which we are called
to account for, is of all things the most readily ex-
plained. Unsubstantial as it was, it would have
worn out of itself, as it did at Constantinople, even
if no external violence had overwhelmed it. Facts
indeed, whether physical or moral, are a food which
will not only preserve the mind in vigour, but in-
creasing in number with every successive century,
furnish it with the means of an almost infinite pro-
gress. But the changes on words and sentiments
STATE OF LITERATURE.
457
XII.
to 117.
are soon capable of being exhausted; the earliest CHAP.
writers seize the best and happiest combinations, and From
nothing is left for their successors but imitation or A.D. 98
necessary inferiority. Poetry had fallen sufficiently
low in the hands of Silius Italicus, and history in
those of Appian and Dion Cassius; the Romans
themselves in the reign of Trajanus acknowledged
their inferiority to their ancestors in oratory, and in
a few centuries more the vessel was drained out to
the dregs. The great excellence of Tacitus is a
mere individual instance, and we might as well ask,
why Rome had produced no historian of equal merit
before him, as why she produced none such after
him. One other great man had died only a few
years before the accession of Trajanus, whose example,
had it been imitated, might have produced a great
revolution in the intellectual state of the Roman
empire. We speak of the elder Pliny, the natural
historian. The particulars of his life and death,
recorded by his nephew, no less than the contents of
his own work, display a thirst after real knowledge,
and an active spirit in searching for it by a personal
study of the great book of nature, which rose far
above the false views and the literary indolence of
his contemporaries. But he was a splendid excep-
tion to the spirit of his age, and there arose none to
tread in his steps. Posterity were contented to
read his writings, rather than improve upon them by
imitating his example; and his authority continued
to be quoted with reverence on all points of natural
history, even down to a period when errors, which in
458
STATE OF LITERATURE.
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
him were unavoidable, could no longer be repeated
without disgrace.
It may be asked, however, why the example of
Pliny was not followed, and why the most valuable
parts of human knowledge were so unhappily neg-
lected. In addition to the cause which we have
already mentioned, namely, the scarcity of books, the
practice of recitations, and the consequent discou-
ragement of any compositions that were not lively
and eloquent, there are several other circumstances
which tended to produce the same effect. The
natural indolence of mankind and their attachment
to the old beaten track were powerful obstacles to
the improvements that were most required; and if
so many centuries elapsed in later times before the
birth of Bacon, we need not wonder that no man of
equal powers with Pliny arose at Rome between the
age of Trajanus and the fall of the western empire.
We must consider also the general helplessness of
mind produced by such a government as that of
Rome; which, while it deprived men of the noblest
field for their exertions, a participation direct or in-
direct in the management of the affairs of the nation,
did not, like some modern despotisms, encourage
activity of another kind, by its patronage of manu-
factures and commerce. If we ask, further, why
commerce did not thrive of itself without the aid of
the government, and why the internal trade kept up
between the different parts of an empire so admi-
rably supplied with the means of mutual intercourse
was not on a scale of the greatest magnitude, the
STATE OF LITERATURE.
459
XII.
to 117.
answer is to be found partly in the habits of the CHAP.
nations of the south of Europe, which, with some From
exceptions, have never been addicted to much com- A.D. 98
mercial enterprise, and much more to the want of
capital amongst private individuals, and the absence
of a demand for distant commodities amongst the
people at large, owing to their general poverty. The
enormous sums lavished by the emperors and pos-
sessed by some of the nobility, or by fortunate indi-
viduals of the inferior classes, have provoked the
scepticism of many modern readers, as implying a
mass of wealth in the Roman empire utterly in-
credible. They rather show how unequally property
was distributed; an evil of very long standing at
Rome, and aggravated probably by the merciless
exactions of many of the emperors, who seemed lite-
rally unsatisfied so long as any of their subjects pos-
sessed any thing. The Indian trade, which furnished
articles of luxury for the consumption of the great,
was therefore in a flourishing condition; but not so
that internal commerce in articles of ordinary com-
fort, which in most countries of modern Europe is
carried on with such incessant activity. Where trade
is at a low ebb, the means of communication between
different countries are always defective; and hence
there exists undisturbed a large amount of inactivity
and ignorance, and a necessarily low state of physical
science and the study of nature. So that from all
these causes together, there would result that effect
on the intellectual condition of the Roman empire,
which we have described as so unfavourable.
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
Of the moral
state of the
empire.
460
OF THE STOIC PHILOSOPHY.
From this unsatisfactory picture we turn with de-
light to the contemplation of a promise and of a
partial beginning of moral improvement, such as
Rome had never seen before. We need not dwell
upon the need that there was for such a reform,
except to observe, that there can be no better proof
of a degraded state of morals, than the want of
natural affection in parents towards their offspring;
and that the practice of infanticide 73, or that of
exposing children soon after their birth, together
with the fact that Trajanus found it necessary to
provide for five thousand children at the public
expense, and that Pliny imitated his example on a
smaller scale in his own town of Comum, sufficiently
show how greatly parents neglected their most
natural duty. It is remarkable, also, that the
younger Pliny, a man by no means destitute of
virtue, could not only write and circulate indecent
verses, but deliberately justify himself for having
Of the stoic done so 74. Yet, with all this, the writings of Epic-
tetus and M. Aurelius Antoninus, if we may include
the latter in a review of the reign of Trajanus, pre-
sent a far purer and truer morality than the Romans
had yet been acquainted with from any heathen pen.
The providence of God, the gratitude which we owe
philosophy.
73 Is not the prevalence of in-
fanticide among the Romans indi-
cated by the observation which
Tacitus makes concerning the
Jews? Hist. V. 5,-" Augendæ
multitudini consulitur. Nam ne-
care quanquam ex agnatis, nefas.”
And, again, he says the same thing
of the Germans. German. 19,-
"Numerum liberorum finire, aut
quemquam ex agnatis necare, flagi-
tium habetur.
74 Epist. IV. 14; V. 3.
ITS EXCELLENCIES.
461
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D.
to 117.
lencies.
Him for all his gifts, and the duty of submission to
his will, are prominently brought forward; while
the duties of man to man, the claims which our 98
neighbours have upon our constant exertions to do
them service, and the excellence of abstaining from
revenge or uncharitable feelings, are enforced with
far greater earnestness than in the writings of the
older philosophers. We cannot, indeed, refuse to Its excel-
admire the noble effort of the stoic philosophy to
release mankind from the pressure of physical evil,
and to direct their minds with undivided affection to
the pursuit of moral good. When the prospect be-
yond the grave was all darkness, the apparently con-
fused scene of human life could not but perplex the
best and wisest; sickness, loss of friends, poverty,
slavery, or an untimely death, might visit him who
had laboured most steadily in the practice of virtue ;
and even Aristotle himself 75 is forced with his own
hands to destroy the theory of happiness which he
had so elaborately formed, by the confession that the
purest virtue might be so assailed with external evils
that it could only preserve its possessor from absolute
misery. The stoics assumed a bolder language, and
strove with admirable firmness to convince reluctant
nature of its truth. Happiness, as they taught, was
neither unattainable by man, nor dependent on ex-
ternal circumstances; the providence of God had
not 76, according to the vulgar complaint, scattered
75 Ethic. Nicomach. I. 10, Αθλιος τύχαις περιπέσῃ.
μὲν οὐδέποτε γένοιτ᾽ ἂν ὁ εὐδαίμων,
οὐ μὴν μακάριός γε, ἂν Πριαμικαῖς
76 Epictetus, Enchiridion, 38.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
462
ITS EXCELLENCIES.
CHAP good and evil indiscriminately upon the virtuous and
the wicked; the gifts and the deprivations of fortune
were neither good nor evil; and all that was really
good was virtue, all that was really bad was vice,
which were respectively chosen by men at their own
will, and so chosen that the distribution of happiness
and misery to each was in exact proportion to his
own deservings. But as it was not possible to attain
to this estimate of external things without the most
severe discipline, the stoics taught their disciples to
desire nothing at all 77, till they had so changed their
nature as to desire nothing but what was really good.
In the same way they inculcated an absence of all
feelings, in order to avoid subjecting ourselves to
any other power than that of reason. When our
friends were in distress 78, we might appear outwardly
to sympathize with their sorrow, but we were by no
means to grieve with them in heart; a parent should
not be roused to punish his son 79, for it was better
that the son should turn out ill, than that the father
should be diverted from the care of his own mind
by his interest for another. Death was to be re-
garded as the common lot of all 8º, and the frailty of
our nature should accustom us to view it without
surprise and alarm. In itself it must be an extinc-
tion of being ¹, or a translation to another state, still
equally under the government of a wise and good
Providence; it could not then be justly an object
81
77 Epictetus, Enchiridion, 7.
78 Epictetus, Enchiridion, 22.
79 Epictetus, Enchiridion, 16.
80
80 M. Antoninus, III. IV.
81 M. Antoninus, VII.
ITS IMPERFECTIONS.
463
- XII.
From
to 117.
fections.
of fear, and our only care should be to wait for its CHAP.
coming without anxiety, and to improve the time
allotted to us before its arrival, whether it were but A.D. 98
a day or half a century.
Such were the doctrines of the stoic philosophers Its imper-
of the age of Trajanus; and assuredly it must be a
strange blindness or uncharitableness that can refuse
to admire them. He can entertain but unworthy
notions of the wisdom of God, who is afraid lest the
wisdom of man should rival it. The stoic philo-
sophy was unfitted for the weakness of human
nature; its contempt of physical evil was revolting
to the common sense of mankind, and was abso-
lutely unattainable by persons of delicate bodily
constitutions; and thus, generally speaking, by one-
half of the human race, and particularly by that
sex which under a wiser discipline has been found
capable of attaining to such high excellence. Above
all, it could not represent God to man under those
peculiar characters, in which every affection and
faculty of our nature finds its proper object and
guide. There are many passages in the works of
Epictetus and M. Antoninus, in which his general
providence and our duties towards Him are forcibly
declared; still He seems to be at the most no more
than a part of their system, and that neither the
most striking, nor the most fully developed. But
in order to make us like Him, it was necessary that
in all our views of life, in our motives, in our hopes,
and in our affections, God should be all in all; that
He should be represented to us, not as He is in
!
464
ITS IMPERFECTIONS.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
CHAP. Himself, but as He stands related to us, as our
Father, and our Saviour, and the Author of all our
goodness; in those characters, in short, under which
the otherwise incomprehensible Deity had so re-
vealed himself as to be known and loved, not only
by the strongest and wisest of his creatures, but also
by the weak and the ignorant.
One great defect in the ancient systems of philo-
sophy was their want of authority. It was opinion
opposed to opinion, and thus the disputes of the
several sects seemed incapable of ever arriving at a
decision. Plain men, therefore, were bewildered by
the conflicting pretensions of their teachers, when
they turned to seek some relief from the utter folly
and worthlessness of the popular religion. So that
a large portion of mankind were likely to adopt the
advice of Lucian 82, to regard with contempt all the
high discussions of the philosophers relating to the
end and principle of our being, and to think only of
the present, bestowing serious thoughts upon nothing,
and endeavouring to pass through life laughingly.
Something, too, must be ascribed not only to the
discordant opinions of the philosophers, but to their
reputed dishonesty, and the suspicion which attached
to them of turning morality into a trade. Their
temptations were strong, and such as we have seen
even the teachers of Christianity unable often to
resist. In an age of ignorance, just made conscious
of its own deficiencies, any moral and intellectual
82 Necyomanteia, 166.
THE SOPHISTS.
465
From
XII.
to 117.
superiority is regarded with veneration; and when CHAP.
the sophists professed to teach men the true busi-
ness of life, they found many who were eager to A.D. 98
listen to them. Then followed an aggravation of The
the evils of popular preaching under another name: sophists.
the sophists aspired to be orators as well as moralists;
and their success would depend as much on their
eloquence and impressive delivery, as on the sound-
ness of their doctrines. In the eastern part of the
empire their ascendency was great; and if the story
of Philostratus be true 83, the philosophers in Egypt
formed as considerable a body, and, during the stay
of Vespasianus at Alexandria, claimed the right of
advising princes as boldly as the Romish clergy of a
later period have done. With these means of in-
fluence, and the consequent temptation to abuse it,
the sophists were without that organization and dis-
cipline, which in the Christian church preserved
the purity, or checked the excesses of individual
teachers; and not being responsible to any one for
their conduct, they were less scrupulous in avoiding
censure. The same want of organization prevented
them from acting in concert in the several parts of
the empire, and from directing their attention on a
regular system to all classes of the community from
the highest to the lowest. The sophists were no
missionaries, and poor or remote districts; which
could tempt neither their cupidity nor their ambi-
tion, derived little advantage from their know-
ledge.
VOL. II.
93 In vitâ Apollonii Tyanei, V. 27, et seq.
Н н
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
466
PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY.
Under these circumstances, the Christian religion
had grown with surprising rapidity, and must have
produced effects on the character and happiness of
individuals, far greater than the common details of
history will allow us to estimate. If our sole infor-
mation were derived from Pliny's famous "Letter,"
we must yet be struck with the first instance in
Roman history of a society for the encouragement
of the highest virtues, those of piety, integrity, and
purity, and embracing persons of both sexes and of
all conditions. Such a project was, indeed, a com-
plete remedy for the prevailing faults of the times;
it promised not only to teach goodness, but actively
to disseminate it; and to do away those degrading
distinctions between slaves and freemen, and even
between men and women, which had so limited the
views of the philosophers in their plans for the im-
provement of mankind. Of all subjects for history
none would be so profitable as the fortunes of the
Christian society; to trace the various causes which
impeded or corrupted its operations, and to bring at
the same time fully into view, that vast amount of
good which its inherent excellence enabled it still
to effect, amidst all external obstacles and internal
corruptions. We think that its friends have not
rightly understood the several elements which have
led to its partial failure, while we are certain that
its enemies can never appreciate its benefits. But
we must not enter upon this most inviting field at
present; and from the long, but very imperfect
survey which we have attempted to give of the state
OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TRAJANUS.
467
XII.
of the empire, we must at last return to the history CHAP.
of Trajanus, and hasten to conclude this memoir, From
after we have briefly noticed the character of his A.D. 98
individual government, and his expedition into the
East.
to 117.
government
The highest spirit of a sovereign is to labour to of the
bring his government, in every point of view, as of Trajanus.
nearly as possible to a state of absolute perfection;
his next highest praise, is to administer the system
which he finds established, with the greatest purity
and liberality. This glory was certainly deserved by
Trajanus; and although he never thought of amend-
ing some of the greatest evils of the times, yet, as
far as his people had suffered from the direct tyranny
and wastefulness of former governments, his reign
was a complete relief; and we can easily account
for the warm affection with which his memory was
so long regarded in after-ages. He pleased the
Romans by observing many of the forms of a free
constitution; nor ought we to suspect that in so
doing he was actuated by policy only, for he was
quite capable of feeling the superior dignity of the
magistrate of a free people to that of a tyrant; and
he most probably spoke from his heart, when on pre-
senting the sword to the præfect of the prætorian
guards, he desired him to use that weapon in his
service so long as he governed well, but to turn it
against him if ever he should abuse his power 84.
There is the same spirit observable in his conduct
8¹ Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 778 Sex. Aur. Victor. in Trajano.
Hh2
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
468 OF THE GOVERNMENT OF TRAJANUS.
CHAP. during his third consulship: as soon as he had been
elected, he walked up to the chair of the consul who
presided at the comitia, and whilst he stood before
it, the consul, without rising from his seat 85, ad-
ministered to him the usual consular oath, that he
would discharge his office faithfully. And when his
consulship had expired, he again took an oath 86,
that he had done nothing, during the time that he
had held it, which was contrary to law. These pro-
fessions of regard to the welfare of his people were
well verified by his actions. His suppression of the
informers; his discouraging prosecutions under the
"leges majestatis;" his relaxation of the tax on in-
heritances; and the impartiality with which he suf-
fered the law to take its course against his own
procurators, when they were guilty of any abuse of
power, were all real proofs of his sincerity; and they
were not belied by any subsequent measures at a
later period of his reign. The causes which were
brought before himself immediately, he tried with
fairness and attention 87; and it was on an occasion
of this kind, when Eurythmus, one of his freed-
men and procurators, was implicated in a charge of
tampering with a will, and the prosecutors seemed
reluctant to press their accusation against a person
so connected with the emperor, that he observed to
them, "Eurythmus is not a Polycletus," (one of the
most powerful of Nero's freedmen and favourites,)
"nor am I a Nero.". In his care of the provinces,
85 Pliny, Panegyric. 64.
s6 Pliny, Panegyric. 65.
87 Pliny, Epist. VI. 31.
PLINY THE YOUNGER.
469
XII.
and in his answers to the questions to him by the CHAP.
younger Piny, when proconsul of Bithynia, he mani--
From
to 117.
fested a love of justice, an attention to the comforts A.D. 98
of the people, and a minute knowledge of the de-
tails of the administration, which are most highly
creditable to him. It is mentioned, too, that he was
very careful in noticing the good conduct of the
officers employed in the provinces 88; and considered
the testimonials of regard given by a province to its
governor, as affording him a just title to higher dis-
tinctions at Rome. The materials for the history
of this reign are, indeed, so scanty, that we know
scarcely any thing of the lives and characters of the
men who were most distinguished under it, nor can
we enliven our narrative with many of those biogra-
phical sketches, which, by bringing out individuals
in a clear and strong light, illustrate most happily the
general picture of the age. But C. Plinius Secundus,
whom Trajanus made proconsul of Bithynia, affords
one memorable exception; and we gladly seize this
opportunity to bestow some particular notice on one
of the most distinguished persons who lived in these
times.
younger.
C. Plinius Cæcilius Secundus was born at or near Pliny the
Comum, about the sixth year of the reign of Nero,
or A.D. 61. His mother was a sister of C. Plinius,
the natural historian; and as he lost his father at an
early period, he removed with her to the house of
his uncle, with whom he resided for some years, and
88 Pliny, Panegyric. 70.
CHAP.
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
470
PLINY THE YOUNGER.
90
was adopted by him, and, consequently, assumed his
name in addition to his parental one, Cæcilius. He
appears to have been of a delicate constitution, and
even in his youth to have possessed little personal
activity and enterprise; for at the time of the
famous eruption of Vesuvius, when he was between
seventeen and eighteen, he continued his studies at
home, and allowed his uncle to set out to the moun-
tain without him. In literature, however, he made
considerable progress, according to the estimate of
those times; he composed a Greek tragedy when
he was only fourteen 89, and wrote Latin verses on
several occasions throughout his life; he attended
the lectures of Quinctilianus 9º, and some other emi-
nent rhetoricians, and assiduously cultivated his style
as an elegant writer and an orator. In this latter
capacity he acquired great credit, and to this cause
he was probably indebted for his political advance-
ment. He went through the whole succession of
public offices from that of quæstor to the high dig-
nities of consul and augur, and was so esteemed by
Trajanus as to be selected by him for the govern-
ment of Bithynia, because there were many abuses
in that province, which required a man of ability
and integrity to remove them 91. The trust so
honourably committed to him he seems to have dis-
charged with great fidelity; and the attention to
every branch of his duties, which his letters to
Trajanus display, is peculiarly praiseworthy in a man
89 Pliny, Panegyric. VII. 4.
9⁰ Pliny, Panegyric. II. 14.
91 Pliny, Panegyric. X. 41.
.
PLINY THE YOUNGER.
471
CHAP.
XII.
to 117.
of sedentary habits, and accustomed to the enjoy-
ments of his villas, and the stimulants of literary From
glory at Rome. His character as a husband, a A.D. 98
master, and a friend, was affectionate, kind, and
generous; he displayed also a noble liberality to-
wards his native town, Comum, by forming a public
library there, and devoting a yearly sum of 300,000
sesterces for ever to the maintenance of children
born of free parents who were citizens of Comum.
A man like Plinius, of considerable talents and learn-
ing, possessed of great wealth, and of an amiable
and generous disposition, was sure to meet with
many friends, and with still more who would gratify
his vanity by their praises and apparent admiration
of his abilities. But as a writer he has done nothing
to entitle him to a very high place in the judgment
of posterity. His panegyric of Trajanus belongs to
a class of compositions, the whole object of which
was to produce a striking effect, and it must not
aspire to any greater reward. It is ingenious and
eloquent, but by its very nature it gives no room for
the exercise of the highest faculties of the mind,
nor will its readers derive from it any more substan-
tial benefit than the pleasure which a mere elegant
composition can afford. His letters are valuable to
us, as all original letters of other times must be,
because they necessarily throw much light on the
period at which they were written. But many of
them are ridiculously studied, and leave the impres-
sion, so fatal to our interest in the perusal of such
compositions, that they were written for the ex-
XII.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
472 THE EASTERN EXPEDITION OF TRAJANUS.
CHAP. press purpose of publication. In short, the works
of Plinius, compared with the reputation which he
enjoyed among his contemporaries, seem to us
greatly to confirm the view which we have taken
of the inferiority of the literature of this period, and
of the unworthy notions which were entertained of
its proper excellence.
The eastern
expedition
92
It was in the seventeenth year of the reign of
of Trajanus. Trajanus, after a peaceful period of seven or eight
years, that war again broke out in the East, and the
Roman and the Parthian empires became involved
in direct hostilities with each other. We are neither
acquainted with the causes of the quarrel, nor with
the precise period of its commencement; but we are
merely told, that the chief operations of the first
campaign consisted in the capture of Nisibis and
Batna 22, towns of Mesopotamia, and that for these
successes, the senate bestowed on the emperor the
title of Parthicus. Nisibis is a name which often
occurs in the history of the subsequent wars between
Rome and Persia; and Batnæ was a Macedonian
colony 93, and the seat of a celebrated fair, held
annually in the month of September, to which there
was a general resort of merchants for the purchase
of commodities of India, China, and other parts of
the East. On the approach of winter, Trajanus
returned to Antioch, and during his stay in that
city it was visited by a most fatal earthquake, which
92 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 781.
93 Ammian. Marcel. XIV. 7, edit. Vales.
E
THE EASTERN EXPEDITION OF TRAJANUS. 473
XII.
to 117.
lasted for several days, and destroyed a vast multi- CHAP.
tude of persons of every condition; Trajanus him- From
self, it is said, escaping with difficulty from the ruin A.D. 98
of the house in which he was residing 94. The next
campaign presents us with a series of rapid and
short-lived conquests, such as the East has often
witnessed. It appears that the moment was happily
chosen, for the Parthian monarchy was torn by in-
testine contests, and was unable to offer any resist-
ance, so that the advance of the Roman troops
was a triumphant progress, and they crossed the
Tigris, overran Adiabene, were gratified by visiting
Babylon as conquerors, and finally took Ctesiphon,
the capital of the Parthian empire. Trajanus,
elated with the successes, and emulating the glory
of Alexander while he traversed the countries which
had been the scene of his exploits, descended the
Tigris to its mouth, to behold the Persian Gulf;
and it is said, that seeing there a vessel ready
to sail for India, he exclaimed that if he were a
younger man he would carry his arms against the
Indians. But on his return from the sea coast of
Babylon, he learned how sudden are the vicissitudes
of Asiatic warfare. While he had been dream-
ing of the invasion of India, his conquests of the
preceding year were vanishing from his grasp. As
soon as the immediate terror of his army was with-
drawn, the countries which he had overrun shook off
the yoke, and Nisibis, amongst other places, either
94 Dion Cassius, ubi supra.
4
XIL
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
474
HIS SICKNESS
CHAP. drove out or reduced the Roman garrison, and re-
covered its independence. Nor were the efforts of
Trajanus as successful as they had been in the pre-
ceding summer. Nisibis, indeed, was retaken, and
the emperor enjoyed the empty glory of giving away
the crown of Parthia to a prince whom Dion Cassius
calls Parthamaspates, and whose reign was likely to
last no longer than whilst the Romans were at hand
to protect him. But Maximus, a man of consular
rank, on whom Trajanus had bestowed the command
of a separate army, was defeated and slain in Meso-
potamia; and Trajanus himself closed the campaign
with disgrace, after having lost a great number of
men in a fruitless siege of Hatra 95, a small town of
Mesopotamia, standing in the midst of a desert, and
protected by the utter barrenness of the country
around it, and the scarcity of fresh water.
His sick-
ness and
death.
At the
end of the season the Romans fell back into Syria,
with the hope of renewing their invasion of Mesopo-
tamia in the following spring; but Trajanus was
seized with a lingering illness, which obliged him to
resign all thoughts of taking the command in person;
and he wished, therefore, to return himself to Rome,
leaving the army to the care of Ælius Hadrianus, a
native of the Spanish town of Italica, in which he
had himself been born, and who had married his
niece. As he had no children, the state of his
health excited great anxiety as to the person whom
he would adopt as his successor, and his wife Plotina
95 See Ammian. Marcel. XXV. 301.
AND DEATH.
475
From
XII.
to 117.
is said to have used all her influence in favour of CHAP.
Hadrianus; but it was generally believed that she
could never persuade her husband to adopt him, and A.D. 98
that the instrument which she produced, and sent to
Hadrianus at Antioch immediately before the death
of Trajanus, was in reality a forgery of her own. It
was known, at least, that she was present with the
emperor when he died, and that she took care that
no particulars of his illness should transpire, but
such as she chose herself to circulate. Trajanus died
at Selinus in Cilicia 96, in the month of August,
A.D. 117, after a reign of nineteen years, and a little
more than six months.
In addition to what we have said of his public
character, we may add, that he was an affectionate
husband and brother; and that the cordiality which
subsisted between his wife Plotina and his sister
Mariana 97
was thought to reflect honour not only
on themselves but on him. It is said by Sex. Victor,
that he was addicted to intemperance in drinking;
and the circumstance of his being dropsical in his
last illness agrees with this imputation. But as a
sovereign, his popularity during his lifetime was
equalled by the regard entertained for his memory
by posterity; and his claim to the title of Optimus,
which the senate solemnly bestowed on him, was
confirmed by the voice of succeeding times; inas-
much as for two hundred years after his death the
96 Dion Cassius, LXVIII. 786. 97 Pliny, Panegyric. 83, 84.
476
VENERATION FOR HIS MEMORY.
XII.
CHAP. senate 98, in pouring forth their prayers for the hap-
piness of a new emperor, were accustomed to wish
that he might surpass the prosperity of Augustus
and the goodness of Trajanus.
From
A.D. 98
to 117.
98 Eutropius, in Trajano, VIII.
THE END.
GILBERT & RIVINGTON, Printers, St. John's Square, London.
A
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