Helps to Latin Translation at Sight
Chapter 5
proscriptionis invenit.']
+Parallel Passages.+ Horace, _Epodes_ vii. and xvi. 1-14.
+The Sullanian Proscriptions.+ Sulla was not like Marius swayed by feelings of revenge alone. His main object was the public good, which in his conviction was to be realised by a return to the older institutions of the republic. This he believed could be accomplished only by the utter annihilation of his opponents. The Proscriptions were not however intended to be an encouragement to indiscriminate murder, but rather a barrier against the rage of over-zealous partisans.
B8
_Tribunate of M. Livius Drusus, 91 B.C._
Deinde interiectis paucis annis tribunatum iniit M. Livius Drusus, vir nobilissimus, eloquentissimus, sanetissimus, meliore in omnia ingenio animoque quam fortuna usus. Qui cum senatui priscum restituere cuperet decus et indicia ab equitibus ad {5} eum transferre ordinem ... in eis ipsis, quae pro senatu moliebatur, senatum habuit adversarium non intellegentem, si qua de plebis commodis ab eo agerentur, veluti illiciendae multitudinis causa fieri, ut minoribus perceptis maiora permitteret. Denique {10} ea fortuna Drusi fuit, ut malefacta collegarum quamvis optime ab ipso cogitatis senatus probaret magis. . . . Tum conversus Drusi animus, quando bene incepta male cedebant, ad dandam civitatem Italiae: quod cum moliens revertisset e foro, immensa {15} illa et incondita, quae eum semper comitabatur, cinctus multitudine in area domus suae cultello percussus, qui affixus lateri eius relictus est, intra paucas horas decessit. Sed cum ultimum redderet spiritum, intuens circumstantium macrentiumque {20} frequentiam, effudit vocem convenientissimam conscientiae suae: ecquandone, inquit, propinqui amicique, similem mei civem habebit res publica? Hunc finem clarissimus iuvenis vitae habuit.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 13-14.
[Linenotes: 3-4. +Drusus.+ 'Generous and free from all selfishness and meanness, but without political experience, adroitness and knowledge of men, he aspired to a task which surpassed his strength.' --Ihne. 4-6. By the Sempronian Laws of C. Gracchus 123 B.C. _exclusive judicial rights had been given to the Equites_, as a counterpoise to the power of the Senate. The corruption of the Equites (as Judices) was flagrant, and Drusus proposed to transfer the judicial functions to a mixed body of 300 Senators and 300 Knights, the selected Knights to be included in the now attenuated ranks of the Senate. 14. +ad dandam civitatem Italiae.+ The claims of the Italians to the franchise were just and pressing, but the overbearing pride and self-sufficiency of the Roman citizens proved too strong.]
+Parallel Passages.+ Cic. _de Oratore_ iii. 1, and _pro Cluent._ 56, 153. Florus, iii. 18.
+Reference.+ Ihne, _Hist._ vol. v. pp. 176-189.
'Drusus was the Mirabeau of the social revolution of Rome, and had his measures been carried Rome might have been spared the most terrible of her civil wars.'
B9
THE SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR, 91-88 B.C. (1)
A. _Cause and Outbreak of the War at Asculum._
Cum ius civitatis, quam viribus auxerant, socii iustissime postularent, quam in spem eos cupidine dominationis Drusus erexerat, postquam ille domestico scelere oppressus est, eadem fax, quae illum cremavit, socios in arma et in expugnationem urbis {5} accendit. . . . Primum fuit belli consilium ut in Albano monte festo die Latinarum Iulius Caesar et Marcius Philippus consules inter sacra et aras immolarentur. Postquam id nefas proditione discussum est, Asculo furor omnis erupit, in ipsa quidem ludorum {10} frequentia trucidatis qui tum aderant ab urbe legatis. Hoc fuit impii belli sacramentum. Inde iam passim ab omni parte Italiae duce et auctore belli discursante Poppaedio diversa per populos et urbes signa cecinere. {15}
FLORUS, III. xviii. 3-10 (sel.).
[Linenotes: 2. +iustissime.+ 'The final issue of the war confirmed the justice and the wisdom of the reforms planned by the Gracchi and by Livius Drusus.' --Ihne. 7. +Latinarum+, sc. _Feriarum_, the solemn festival conducted by the Consuls on the Alban Mount. 10. +Asculo.+ Asculum (Ascoli), chief town of Picenum. The opening and closing scene of the war.]
B. _Advice of the Sabellian father to his sons._
'Vivite contenti casulis et collibus istis, O pueri,' Marsus dicebat et Hernicus olim 180 Vestinusque senex, 'panem quaeramus aratro, Qui satis est mensis: laudant hoc numina ruris, Quorum ope et auxilio gratae post munus aristae Contingunt homini veteris fastidia quercus. Nil vetitum fecisse volet, quem non pudet alto 185 Per glaciem perone tegi, qui summovet Euros Pellibus inversis; peregrina ignotaque nobis Ad scelus atque nefas, quaecumque est, purpura ducit.'
JUVENAL, _Sat._ xiv. 179-188.
[Linenotes: 179. +collibus istis+, i.e. in the central mountain range of Italy. The Federals chose Corfinium (E. of Lake Fucinus) to be the Italian rallying-point, and the seat of a new State. 180-181. +Marsus ... Hernicus ... Vestinus+, Sabellian peoples noted for their bravery and simplicity; the backbone of Rome's army. 182. +numina ruris+, e.g. Ceres, Liber and Priapus. 185-196. +alto perone+ = a high rustic boot of raw hide. 187. +pellibus inversis+ = skins with the hair turned inwards. --Duff.]
B10
THE SOCIAL OR MARSIC WAR, 91-88 B.C. (2)
A. _Defeat and Death of Rutilius._
Hanc tibi, 'Quo properas', memorant dixisse 'Rutili? Luce mea Marso consul ab hoste cades.' Exitus accessit verbis, flumenque Toleni Purpureum mixtis sanguine fluxit aquis. 566
OVID, _Fasti_, vi. 563-566. [Hallam VI. 487-490]
[Linenote: 563. +Hanc+, sc. _Leucothea_, goddess of the sea and of harbours. +Rutili+. Rutilius, consul 90 B.C., defeated and slain at the R. Tolenus (Turano) by the Marsian Vettius Scato.]
B. _The Lex Plautia Papiria of 89 B.C._
Data est civitas Silvani lege et Carbonis: si qui {5} foederatis civitatibus ascripti fuissent, si tum, cum lex ferebatur, in Italia domicilium habuissent et si sexaginta diebus apud praetorem essent professi.
CICERO, _pro Archia_, 4, 7.
[Linenotes: 5. +lege+, i.e. the Lex Plautia Papiria of the tribines M. Plautius Silvanus and C. Papirius Carbo. The Lex Julia of L. Julius Caesar 90 B.C., granting the _civitas_ to the Latins and to all the other Italian States not in rebellion, had weakened the resistance. The Lex Plautia Papiria 'scattered among the Italian ranks the seeds of discord and dissolution.']
C. _Cicero's first and only Campaign._
Memini colloquia et cum acerrimis hostibus et cum gravissime dissidentibus civibus. Cn. Pompeius, {10} consul me praesente, cum essem tiro in eius exercitu, cum P. Vettio Scatone, duce Marsorum, inter bina castra collocutus est. . . . Quem cum Scato salutasset, 'quem te appellem?' inquit: 'voluntate hospitem, necessitate hostem.' Erat in colloquio aequitas: {15} nullus timor, nulla suberat suspicio; mediocre etiam odium. Non enim, ut eriperent nobis socii civitatem, sed ut in eam reciperentur petebant.
CICERO, _Phil._ xii. 11, 27.
D. _The battle near Asculum, and capture of the city._
Strabo vero Pompeius omnia flammis ferroque populatus non prius finem caedium fecit quam Asculi {20} eversione manibus tot exercituum consulum direptarumque urbium dis litaretur.
FLORUS, III. xviii. 14.
[Linenote: 20. +Asculi eversione.+ The siege was memorable for the desperate patriotism of the besieged under their leader Judacilius, cf. siege of Saguntum.]
+Reference.+ Ihne, _Hist._ vol. v. pp. 190-220.
B11
L. CORNELIUS SULLA, 138-78 B.C.
_His Character and Bearing._
Igitur Sulla gentis patriciae nobilis fuit, familia prope iam exstincta maiorum ignavia, litteris Graecis et Latinis iuxta atque doctissimi eruditus, animo ingenti, cupidus voluptatum sed gloriae cupidior: tamen ab negotiis numquam voluptas remorata; {5} facundus callidus et amicitia facilis, ad simulanda negotia altitudo ingeni incredibilis, multarum rerum ac maxumae pecuniae largitor. Atque illi, felicissumo omnium ante civilem victoriam, numquam super industriam fortuna fuit, multique dubitavere fortior {10} an felicior esset. Nam postea quae fecerit, incertum habeo pudeat an pigeat magis disserere. Igitur Sulla, uti supra dictum est, postquam in Africam atque in castra Mari cum equitatu venit, rudis antea et ignarus belli, solertissumus omnium in paucis {15} tempestatibus factus est. Ad hoc milites benigne appellare, multis rogantibus aliis per se ipse dare beneficia, invitus accipere, sed ea properantius quam aes mutuum reddere, ipse ab nullo repetere, magis id laborare ut illi quam plurimi deberent, ioca atque {20} seria cum humillumis agere, in operibus in agmine atque ad vigilias multus adesse neque interim, quod prava ambitio solet, consulis aut cuiusquam boni famam laedere, tantum modo neque consilio neque manu priorem alium pati, plerosque antevenire. {25}
SALLUST, _Jug._ 95, 96.
[Linenotes: 1. +nobilis+, i.e. of a patrician family which had held curule offices. 1-2. +familia ... exstincta.+ The Cornelii were a distinguished _gens_ in early times and included 7 patrician families (e.g. the Lentuli and Scipios). Of these the Sullae were the least known. 2-3. +litteris Graecis ... eruditus.+ Contrast the proud boast of Marius:--'I have learnt no Greek: in the knowledge, however, which is far the most important for the State, I am a master.' --Sall. _Jug._ 85. 9. +ante civilem victoriam+, i.e. before 81 B.C. 10-11. +fortior an felicior.+ Sulla assumed the name Felix on the death of the younger Marius 82 B.C. Cf. Plut. _Sulla_, cap. vi. 11-12. +Nam postea ... disserere.+ Cf. Vell. Patere. II. xvii. 2: 'Sulla vir qui neque ad finem victoriae satis laudari neque post victoriam abunde vituperari potest.' 20. +illi+ more strictly _sibi_--'a negligence not unfrequent.' --Merivale. 22. +multus adesse+ = _frequently visited_, +multus+ = _saepe_.]
For +character of Sulla+ cf. Plut. _Sulla_, and Mommsen, iv. pp. 139-142: 'One of the most marvellous characters in history.'
B12
MITHRIDATES THE GREAT, 130-63 B.C.
A. _His Youth and Early Training._
Huius futuram magnitudinem etiam caelestia ostenta praedixerant. Nam et eo, quo genitus est, anno, et eo, quo regnare primum coepit, stella cometes per utrumque tempus LXX diebus ita luxit, ut caelum omne conflagrare videretur. Puer tutorum insidias {5} passus est, qui eum fero equo impositum equitare iacularique cogebant: qui conatus cum eos fefellissent, supra aetatem regente equum Mithridate, veneno eum appetivere. Veritus deinde, ne inimici, quod veneno non potuerant, ferro peragerent, venandi {10} studium finxit, quo per septem annos neque urbano neque rustico tecto usus est, sed per silvas vagatus, diversis montium regionibus pernoctabat ignaris omnibus, quibus esset locis; adsuetus feras cursu aut fugere aut persequi, cum quibusdam etiam viribus {15} congredi. Quibus rebus et insidias vitavit, et corpus ad omnem virtutis patientiam duravit.
[Linenotes: 1. +Huius.+ Mithridates (_Mithras_ = Persian sun-god) 'second only to Hannibal in inextinguishable, life-long hostility to Rome, as also in military genius.' Ihne. 5. +tutorum+ = (_at the hands_) _of his guardians_. Cf. _tueor._ 17. +ad omnem virtutis patientiam+ = _to all manly endurance_.]
B. _His Preparations for Conquest._
Ad regni deinde administrationem cum accessisset, statim non de regendo, sed de augendo regno cogitavit. Itaque Scythas invictos antea ingenti {20} felicitate perdomuit. Hieme deinde appetente, non in convivio, sed in campo, nec in avocationibus, nec inter sodales, sed inter aequales, aut equo aut cursu aut viribus contendebat. Exercitum quoque suum ad parem laboris patientiam cotidiana exercitatione {25} durabat, atque ita invictus ipse inexpugnabilem exercitum fecerat.
JUSTINUS, xxxvii. 2, 3, 4.
[Linenotes: 19. +de augendo regno.+ He subdued all the coast districts of the Euxine, East, North and West, as far as the Hister (Danube). 22. +avocationibus+ = _in diversions_ (very rare). 24. +exercitum.+ At the outbreak of the War with Rome, 88 B.C., he had collected a motley force of 250,000 foot and 40,000 horse.]
+Mithridates.+ 'With one blow he overthrew the Roman dominion in Asia, carried the war into Europe, united almost the whole Eastern world in an attack on the Republic, and resisted for 25 years the first generals of his time,--a Sulla, a Lucullus, and a Pompeius.' --Ihne.
+Historic Parallels.+ Alexander, Hannibal, Peter the Great.
B13
FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR, 88-84 B.C. (1)?]
_The Battle of Chaeronea, 86 B.C. Brilliant Tactics of Sulla._
Archelaus adversus L. Sullam in fronte ad perturbandum hostem falcatas quadrigas locavit, in secunda acie phalangem Macedonicam, in tertia Romanorum more armatos auxiliares, mixtis fugitivis Italicae gentis, quorum pervicaciae plurimum fidebat; {5} levem armaturam in ultimo statuit; in utroque deinde latere equitatum, cuius amplum numerum habebat, circumeundi hostis causa posuit. Contra haec Sulla fossas amplae latitudinis utroque latere duxit et capitibus earum castella communiit: qua {10} ratione, ne circuiretur ab hoste et peditum numero et maxime equitatu superante, consecutus est. Triplicem deinde peditum aciem ordinavit relictis intervallis per quae levem armaturam et equitem, quem in novissimo conlocaverat, cum res exegisset, emitteret. {15} Tum postsignanis qui in secunda acie erant imperavit ut densos numerososque palos firme in terram defigerent, intraque eos appropinquantibus quadrigis antesignanorum aciem recepit: tum demum sublato universorum clamore velites et levem armaturam {20} ingerere tela iussit. Quibus factis quadrigae hostium aut implicitae palis aut exterritae clamore telisque in suos conversae sunt turbaveruntque Macedonum structuram: qua cedente, cum Sulla instaret et Archelaus equitem opposuisset, Romani equites {25} subito emissi averterunt eos consummaverantque victoriam.
FRONTINUS, _Strategemata_, ii. 3. 17.
[Linenotes: 1. +Archelaus+ (and his brother Neoptolemus) 'trained in the traditions and experience of Greek and Macedonian masters.' 2. +falcatas quadrigras.+ Archelaus had 60 of these chariots armed with scythes projecting. Cf. Livy xxxvii. 41. 5. +pervicaciae+ = _steadfastness_ (_per_ + _vic_; cf. _vinco_). 11-12. +qua ratione ... consecutus est.+ Sulla had about 30,000 men (15,000 Romans only) against 120,000. 23. +turbaverunt.+ 'The war-chariots on this as on other occasions (e.g. at Magnesia) had not only proved a failure, but had actually led to a partial disaster.' --Ihne. Cf. use of war elephants, e.g. at Beneventum 275 B.C. and at Zama 202 B.C. 27. +victoriam.+ It was a great victory, but the results were trifling, partly because Sulla had no fleet, and partly because his political enemies at Rome were bent on crippling him.]
+Historic Parallel.+ The Battle of Magnesia 190 B.C.
B14
FIRST MITHRIDATIC WAR, 88-84 B.C. (2)
A. _Capture of Athens and the Piraeus, 86 B.C._
Sulla interim cum Mithridatis praefectis circa Athenas ita dimicavit, ut et Athenas reciperet et plurimo circa multiplices Piraei portus munitiones labore expleto amplius CC milia hostium interficeret nec minus multa caperet. . . . Nam oppressi (Athenienses) {5} Mithridatis armis homines miserrimae condicionis cum ab inimicis tenerentur, oppugnabantur ab amicis et animos extra moenia, corpora necessitati servientes intra muros habebant.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 23.
[Linenotes: 2. +ut Athenas reciperet.+ Sulla reduced the city by starvation. 3. +Piraei portus.+ This was strongly held by Archelaus, and was taken only after a most obstinate defence. 7. +cum ... tenerentur.+ The contemptible adventurer Aristion, with his bodyguard of 2000 men and the bribe of Delos and its treasure, had made himself master of Athens.]
B. _Battle of Orchomenus, 85 B.C. Sulla restores the Fight._
L. Sulla, cedentibus iam legionibus exercitui {10} Mithridatico ductu Archelai, stricto gladio in primam aciem procucurrit appellansque milites dixit, si quis quaesisset, ubi imperatorem reliquissent, responderent pugnantem in Boeotia: cuius rei pudore universi eum secuti sunt. {15}
FRONTINUS, _Strategemata_, ii. 8. 12.
[Linenote: 10-15. = 'The great victory at Orchomenus was the turning-point in the War.' --Ihne.]
C. _Peace of Dardanus. End of the First Mithridatic War, 84 B.C._
Transgressus deinde in Asiam Sulla parentem ad omnia supplicemque Mithridatem invenit, quem multatum pecunia ac parte navium, Asia omnibusque aliis provinciis, quas armis occupaverat, decedere coegit, captivos recepit, in perfugas noxiosque {20} animadvertit, paternis, id est Ponticis finibus contentum esse iussit.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 23.
[Linenote: 16-22. +The terms of peace+ were (i) Restoration of all conquests, (ii) Surrender of 80 ships and of all prisoners, (iii) Indemnity of 3000 talents. Florus says 'Non fregit ea res Ponticos, sed incendit.' Sulla was anxious to secure peace, because his presence was needed at Rome.]
+Sulla's Conduct of the War+. 'No previous general had shown so great a mastery of the art of war and such care and interest for the welfare of the State, as distinguished from the success of a party.' --Ihne.
B15
SECOND CIVIL WAR, 83-82 B.C. (1)
_Battles of Sacriportus and the Colline Gate._
A.
Iam quot apud Sacri cecidere cadavera Portum Aut Collina tulit stratas quot porta catervas, 135 Tum cum, paene caput mundi rerumque potestas Mutavit translata locum, Romanaque Samnis Ultra Caudinas speravit volnera Furcas.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, ii. 134-138.
[Linenotes: 134. +apud Sacriportum+, near Praeneste, where Sulla totally defeated the Marians, under the younger Marius, 82 B.C. 135. +Collina Porta+, i.e. N.E. gate of Rome near the _Collis_ Quirinalis. 136. +paene+, with _mutavit_, l. 137.]
B. At Pontius Telesinus, dux Samnitium, vir animi bellique fortissimus penitusque Romano nomini infestissimus, contractis circiter XL milibus fortissimae pertinacissimaeque in retinendis armis iuventutis Kal. Novembribus ita ad portam Collinam cum Sulla {10} dimicavit, ut ad summum discrimen et eum et rempublicam perduceret, quae non maius periculum adiit Hannibalis intra tertium miliarium conspicata castra, quam eo die, quo circumvolans ordines exercitus sui Telesinus dictitansque adesse Romanis ultimum {15} diem vociferabatur eruendam delendamque urbem, adiciens numquam deluturos raptores Italicae libertatis lupos, nisi silva, in quam refugere solerent, esset excisa. Post primam demum horam noctis et Romana acies respiravit et hostium cessit. Telesinus {20} postera die semianimis repertus est, victoris magis quam morientis vultum praeferens, cuius abscisum caput ferro figi gestarique circa Praeneste Sulla iussit.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 27.
[Linenotes: 6. +Pontius Telesinus+, 'a kinsman in name and temper of the hero of 321 B.C.' 12-14. +quae ... castra.+ 'As Hannibal had tried to relieve the closely pressed Capua by a direct attack on Rome, Pontius Telesinus thought to draw off the besieging army from Praeneste by threatening the Capital.' --Ihne. 20. +Romana acies respiravit.+ Sulla, with the left wing, was driven back by the Samnites to the walls of Rome, but Crassus with the right wing was completely victorious, and to him the final victory was due. 'The issue of the whole war, at least on Italian ground, was decided by the battle of the Colline Gate.' --Ihne.]
B16
SECOND CIVIL WAR, 83-82 B.C. (2)
A. _Death of the Younger Marius. Sulla Felix._
Tum demum desperatis rebus suis C. Marius adulescens per cuniculos, qui miro opere fabricati in diversas agrorum partes fuerunt, conatus erumpere, cum foramine e terra emersisset, a dispositis in id ipsum interemptus est. . . . De quo iuvene quid {5} existimaverit Sulla, in promptu est; occiso enim demum eo Felicis nomen adsumpsit, quod quidem usurpasset iustissime, si eundem et vincendi et vivendi finem habuisset.
VELL. PAT. ii. 27.
[Linenotes: 1. +Tum+, i.e. after Sulla's victory at the Colline Gate, 82 B.C. +C. Marius.+ 'He possessed his father's martial spirit, courage and unyielding perseverance.' --Ihne. 2. +per cuniculos+ = _through subterranean passages_.]
B. _The Sullan Proscriptions._
'Sulla quoque immensis accessit cladibus ultor. 139 Ille quod exiguum restabat sanguinis urbi Hausit: dumque nimis iam putria membra recidit, Excessit medicina modum, nimiumque secuta est, Qua morbi duxere, manus. . . . 143 Tum data libertas odiis, resolutaque legum 145 Frenis ira ruit. Non uni cuncta dabantur, Sed fecit sibi quisque nefas: semel omnia victor Iusserat . . . Hisne Salus rerum, Felix his Sulla vocari, 221 His meruit tumulum medio sibi tollere Campo? Haec rursus patienda manent: hoc ordine belli Ibitur: hic stabit civilibus exitus armis.' . . . . Sic maesta senectus 232 Praeteritique memor flebat metuensque futuri. 233
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, ii. 139-148, 221-224.
[Linenotes: 139. +Sulla ... ultor+ = _Sulla too in his vengeance came to crown these fearful disasters_. --Haskins. 141-143. +dumque ... manus.+ Sulla is compared to a surgeon who in too great haste to remove the mortified flesh cuts away the sound flesh also. 146. +non uni ...+ = _all crimes were not committed for one man's sake_, i.e. to please Sulla. 223-224. +hoc ordine belli ibitur+ = _in this course of war events will move_. --H. i.e. History will repeat itself. 232. +sic maesta senectus.+ An old man, who had lived through the Marian and Sullan times, predicts similar horrors of the Civil War between Caesar and Pompey.]
+The Proscriptions.+ 'They were the product not of passion or thirst of blood, but of a cool political calculation, and the conviction of its inevitable necessity.' --Ihne.
B17
A. _Sulla appointed Dictator, 81 B.C._
Dictator creatus (cuius honoris usurpatio per annos centum et viginti intermissa; nam proximus post annum quam Hannibal Italia excesserat, uti appareat populum Romanum usum dictatoris haud metu desiderasse tali quo timuisset potestatem) imperio, {5} quo priores ad vindicandum maximis periculis patriam usi erant, eo in immodicae crudelitatis licentiam usus est.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 28.
[Linenotes: 1-2. +cuius honoris ... intermissa.+ The last real Dictator (M. Junius Pera) was appointed after Cannae 216 B.C. 5-8. +imperio quo ... usus est.+ 'The Dictator of the first age of the Republic down to the Punic Wars had always a _well-defined special duty to discharge in a given time_. Sulla's task was of _a general nature and all-comprehensive range_, and he had the most essential of all monarchical attributes, which is _the unlimited duration of office_.' --Ihne.]
B. _Sulla lays down his Dictatorship, 79 B.C._
Nec minoris impotentiae voces propalam edebat, ut Titus Ampius scribit, 'Nihil esse rempublicam, {10} appellationem modo sine corpore ac specie. Sullam nescisse litteras, qui dictaturam deposuerit.'
SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 77.
[Linenotes: 9. +impotentiae+ = _arrogance_ (lack of self-restraint). 10. +Ampius.+ Titus Ampius Balbus, a Pompeian general. 11-12. +Sullam nescisse litteras+ = (i) S. had not profited by the teachings of History, or (ii) S. was without a liberal education.]
C. _Death of Sulla, 78 B.C._
Puteolis enim ardens indignatione, quod Granius, princeps eius coloniae pecuniam a decurionibus ad refectionem Capitolii promissam cunctantius daret, {15} animi concitatione nimia atque immoderato vocis impetu convulso pectore, spiritum cruore ac minis mixtum evomuit, nec senio iam prolapsus, utpote sexagesimum ingrediens annum, sed alita miseriis reipublicae inpotentia furens. Igitur in dubio est {20} Sullane prior an iracundia Sullae sit extincta.
VALERIUS MAXIMUS, ix. 3. 8.
[Linenote: 13. +Granius+, the chief magistrate of Puteoli, had kept back money destined for the building of the new temple of Jupiter Capitolinus. The old one was destroyed by fire 83 B.C. 'It was Sulla's great desire that his name should be recorded on the front of the new temple, for it was to be the symbol of the Republic, restored as he fondly hoped by him to its pristine purity.' --Ihne.]
B18
THE LEGES CORNELIAE, 81 B.C.
A. _Limitation of the Tribune's Right of Veto._
In ista quidem re vehementer Sullam probo, qui tribunis plebis sua lege iniuriae faciendae potestatem ademerit, auxili ferendi reliquerit.
CICERO, _de Legibus_, iii. 9. 22.
[Linenotes: 2. +iniuriae faciendae+, e.g. by their abuse of the right of veto. 3. +auxili ferendi.+ 'Sulla limited the office of tribune to the original functions for which it was established, _the legal protection of the people from the abuse of magisterial power_.' --Ihne.]
B. _Abolition of Corn Distributions._
Populus Romanus, paullo ante gentium moderator, exutus imperio gloria iure, agitandi inops despectusque ne servilia quidem alimenta relicua habet.
SALLUST, _Hist., Orat. M. Lepidi_.
[Linenotes: 5. +agitandi inops+ (i.e. _vitam sustentandi_) = _without means of livelihood._ 6. +servilia alimenta+ = _a slave's allowance of food_. Sulla abolished the largesses of corn.]
C. _Restoration of Judicial Functions to the Senators._
Iudicandi munus quod C. Gracchus ereptum senatui ad Equites, Sulla ab illis ad Senatum transtulerat.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 32.
[Linenote: 8-10. Sulla filled up the gaps in the Senate from the ranks of the Equites, and to the new Senate thus constituted he entrusted the administration of justice.]
D. _A Sumptuary Law, Limiting the Expense of the Table._
L. Sulla dictator, cum plerique in patrimoniis amplis eluerentur et familiam pecuniamque suam prandiorum conviviorumque gurgitibus proluissent, legem ad populam tulit, qua cautum est, ut Kalendis, Idibus, Nonis diebusque ludorum et feriis quibusdam {15} sollemnibus sestertios trecenos in cenam insumere ius potestasque esset, ceteris autem diebus omnibus non amplius tricenos.
AULUS GELLIUS, ii. 24, 11.
[Linenote: 12. +eluerentur+ = _had squandered_ (lit. 'washed away').]
+Leges Corneliae.+ 'Sulla's legislation was an attempt to revive what was dead and gone. The time had arrived when the old republican institutions could last no longer. The transformation of the state into a monarchy was inevitable.' --Ihne.
+The Sultan Constitution.+ It had as little endurance as that of Cromwell, and was finally destroyed in 70 B.C. during the consulship of Pompeius and Crassus.
B19
_Speech of Lepidus against Sulla, 78 B.C._
Nam praeter satellites commaculatos quis eadem volt? aut quis non omnia mutata praeter victorem? Scilicet milites, quorum sanguine Tarulae Scyrtoque, pessumis servorum, divitiae partae sunt! Itaque maxumam mihi fiduciam parit victor exercitus, cui {5} per tot volnera et labores nihil praeter tyrannum quaesitum est. Nisi forte tribuniciam potestatem evorsum profecti sunt, per arma conditam a maioribus suis, utique iura et iudicia sibimet extorquerent, egregia scilicet mercede, cum relegati in paludes et {10} silvam contumeliam atque invidiam suam, praemia penes paucos intellegerint. Quare igitur tanto agmine atque animis incedit? Quia secundae res mire sunt vitiis obtentui; quibus labefactis, quam formidatus est, tam contemnetur; nisi forte specie {15} concordiae et pacis, quae sceleri et parricidio suo nomina indidit; neque aliter rempublicam et belli finem ait, nisi maneat expulsa agris plebes, praeda civilis acerbissima, ius iudiciumque omnium rerum penes se, quod populi Romani fuit. Quae si vobis {20} pax et concordia intelleguntur, maxuma turbamenta reipublicae atque exitia probate, annuite legibus impositis, accipite otium cum servitio et tradite exemplum posteris ad populum Romanum suimet sanguinis mercede circumveniundum. {25}
SALLUST, _Hist, Orat. M. Lepidi_.
[Linenotes: 1. +Nam+, sc. 'His luck is not so great as he supposes, for...' 7-8. +tribuniciam ... evorsum+, i.e. by the Leges Corneliae 81 B.C. 9. +iudicia.+ Sulla restored the judicial functions to the Senate (from the Equites). 10. +relegati in paludes.+ Sulla established 120,000 soldiers in military colonies in different parts of Italy, but their roaming adventurous life had unfitted them for agricultural pursuits. 13-14. +Quia ... obtentui+ = _because prosperity serves in a marvellous manner to cover a man's faults of character_. --Holden. For +obtentui+ cf. _draw a veil over_. 16. +parricidio+ = _treason_. 18. +nisi ... agris+, i.e. Sulla's confiscations of estates, especially of those Italians who had fought against him. 24-25. +ad p. R. circumveniundum+ = _for oppressing_ (enslaving) _the people of Rome_.]
+M. Aemillus Lepidus+, Consul 78 B.C., a disappointed Optimate, jealous of Sulla's power, but without Sulla's ability. He posed as leader of the democratic party, took up arms against the State, but was defeated by Q. Catulus at the Milvian Bridge, 77 B.C.
B20
WAR WITH SERTORIUS IN SPAIN, 78-72 B.C. (1)
_Sertorius and his Fawn._
Huic Sertorio cerva alba eximiae pulchritudinis et vivacissimae celeritatis a Lusitano quodam dono data est. Hanc sibi oblatam divinitus, et instinctam Dianae numine colloqui secum, monereque, et docere, quae utilia factu essent, persuadere omnibus instituit: {5} ac, si quid durius videbatur, quod imperandum militibus foret, a cerva sese monitum tum praedicabat. Id cum dixerat, universi, tamquam si deo, libentes parebant. Ea cerva quodam die, cum incursio esset hostium nuntiata, festinatione ac tumultu consternata {10} in fugam se proripuit, atque in palude proxima delituit; et postea requisita perisse credita est. Neque multis diebus post inventam esse cervam Sertorio nuntiatur. Tum, qui nuntiaverat, iussit tacere: ac, ne cui palam diceret, interminatus est: {15} praecepitque, ut eam postero die repente in eum locum, in quo ipse cum amicis esset, immitteret: admissis deinde amicis postridie, visum sibi esse ait in quiete cervam, quae perisset, ad se reverti, et, ut prius consueverat, quod opus esset facto praedicare. {20} Tum servo, quod imperaverat, significat. Cerva emissa in cubiculum Sertorii introrupit; clamor factus et orta admiratio est: eaque hominum barbarorum credulitas Sertorio in magnis rebus magno usui fuit. {25}
GELLIUS, _Noctes Atticae_, xv. 22.
[Linenotes: 1. +alba+ = a _dull_ white as opp. to +ater+ = _dull_ black. Cf. +candidus+ = _shining_ white as opp. to +niger+ = _shining_ black. 3. +instinctam+ = _fired_, _animated_. 15. +interminatus+ = _he forbade with threats_. +inter + minor+, freq. in Plautus and Terence. 23-25. 'Sertorius did not disdain to turn to account the superstition of the ruder Spanish tribes, and to have his plans of war brought to him as commands of Diana by the white fawn of the goddess.' --M.]
+Character of Sertorius.+ 'He was the only democratic (Marian) officer who knew how to prepare and to conduct war, and the only democratic statesman who opposed the furious doings of his party with statesmanlike energy. His Spanish soldiers called him the new Hannibal, and not merely because he had, like that hero, lost an eye in war. He in reality reminds us of the great Phoenician by his equally cunning and courageous strategy, and by the quickness of his ingenuity in turning to good account his victories and averting the consequences of his defeats.' --M.
B21
WAR WITH SERTORIUS IN SPAIN (2)
A. _A New Hannibal._
Sertorius, exsul et profugus feralis illius tabulae, vir summae quidem sed calamitosae virtutis, malis suis maria terrasque permiscuit; et iam Africae, iam Balearibus insulis fortunam expertus usque in Oceanum Fortunatasque insulas penetravit consiliis, {5} tandem Hispaniam armavit. Viro cum viris facile convenit. Nec alias magis apparuit Hispani militis vigor quam Romano duce. Quamquam ille non contentus Hispania ad Mithridatem quoque Ponticosque respexit regemque classe iuvit. Et quid futurum {10} fuit satis tanto hosti, cui uno imperatore resistere res Romana non potuit? Additus Metello Gnaeus Pompeius. Hi copias attrivere viri prope tota Hispania persecuti. Diu et ancipiti semper acie pugnatum est; nec tamen prius bello quam suorum scelere {15} et insidiis extinctus est.
FLORUS, III. xxii. 2-6. A.
[Linenotes: 1. +feralis illius tabulae+ = _from that fatal list_, i.e. Sulla's list of proscribed Marians 82 B.C. 9-10. +ad Mithridatem ... iuvit.+ In 75 B.C. he concluded a formal treaty of alliance with Mithridates, and sent him the propraetor M. Marius to lead his troops. Cf. alliance between Hannibal and Philip. 14-15. +Diu et ancipiti semper acie pugnatum est+, e.g. the defeat of Pompey near Lauro. (For a graphic account of the strategy by which the battle was won see Frontinus, _Strat._ ii. 5.)]
B. _The Death of Sertorius._
M. Perpenna praetorius e proscriptis, gentis clarioris quam animi, Sertorium inter cenam Oscae interemit Romanisque certam victoriam, partibus suis excidium, sibi turpissimam mortem pessimo {20} auctoravit facinore. Metellus et Pompeius ex Hispaniis triumphaverunt.
VELL. PATERC. ii. 30.
[Linenotes: 17. +M. Perpenna praetorius+ (= _ex-praetor_), with the remnant of the army of Lepidus (defeated by Pompey in 77 B.C.) joined Sertorius in Spain. After serving under Sertorius for some years, through jealousy, he brought about his leader's assassination. 21. +auctoravit+ = _he brought about_. More usu. as +auctorari+ = _to hire oneself out for some service_, e.g. of gladiators.]
+The Death of Sertorius.+ 'So ended one of the greatest men that Rome had hitherto produced--a man who under more fortunate circumstances would perhaps have become the regenerator of his country.' --M.
B22
_Character and Early Career of Lucullus._
Magnum ingenium L. Luculli, magnumque optimarum artium studium, tum omnis liberalis et digna homine nobili ab eo percepta doctrina, quibus temporibus florere in foro maxime potuit, caruit omnino rebus urbanis. Ut enim admodum adolescens, {5} cum fratre pari pietate et industria praedito, paternas inimicitias magna cum gloria est persecutus, in Asiam quaestor profectus, ibi permultos annos admirabili quadam laude provinciae praefuit: deinde absens factus aedilis, continuo praetor: licebat {10} enim celerius legis praemio: post in Africam: inde ad consulatum: quem ita gessit ut diligentiam admirarentur omnes, ingenium cognoscerent. Post ad Mithridaticum bellum missus a senatu non modo opinionem vicit omnium quae de virtute eius erat, sed {15} etiam gloriam superiorum. Idque eo fuit mirabilius, quod ab eo laus imperatoria non admodum exspectabatur, qui adolescentiam in forensi opera, quaesturae diuturnum tempus, Murena bellum in Ponto gerente, in Asiae pace consumpserat. . . . {20} In eodem tanta prudentia fuit in constituendis temperandisque civitatibus, tanta aequitas, ut hodie stet Asia Luculli institutis servandis et quasi vestigiis persequendis.
CICERO, _Academica_, ii. 1.
[Linenotes: 1-3. +ingenium+, +studium+, +doctrina+, subjects of +caruit+. 3-5. +quibus temporibus ... urbanis+ = _all this was divorced_ (+caruit+, lit. _was cut off from_) _from the business of the capital, at the season when he might have had a specially brilliant career in the forum_. --J. S. Reid. 6. +paternas inimicitias+ = _his father's quarrel_. The first appearance of Lucullus in public life was as the accuser of the Augur Servilius who had procured the banishment of his father. 7-9. +in Asiam ... praefuit+, i.e. as Sulla's quaestor in the first Mithridatic War, 88-84 B.C. and then till 80 B.C. in charge of the province of Asia (= orig. Kingdom of Pergamus, N.W. part of Asia Minor). 11. +legis praemio+ = _owing to a privilege conveyed by statute_. J. S. R. 13-14. +ad Mithridaticum bellum+, i.e. the 3rd M. War, which he carried on for eight years (74-66 B.C.) with great success, until superseded by Pompeius in 66 B.C. 19-20. +Murena ... gerente.+ Lic. Murena, anxious for distinction, provoked the disastrous 2nd Mithridatic War, 83-81 B.C., when by the peremptory orders of Sulla the peace was renewed. 23. +stet ... servandis+ = _persists in maintaining_ (lit. _stands by_) _the ordinances of L._--J. S. R.]
+Reference.+ For _Character of Lucullus_, see Mommsen, vol. iv. pp. 337-8. Cf. also Vell. Paterc. ii. 32.
B23
A. _A Soldier of Lucullus._
Luculli miles collecta viatica multis Aerumnis, lassus dum noctu stertit, ad assem Perdiderat; post hoc vehemens lupus, et sibi et hosti Iratus pariter, ieiunis dentibus acer, Praesidium regale loco deiecit, ut aiunt, 30 Summe munito et multarum divite rerum. Clarus ob id factum donis ornatur honestis, Accipit et bis dena super sestertia nummum. Forte sub hoc tempus castellum evertere praetor Nescio quod cupiens hortari coepit eundem 35 Verbis, quae timido quoque possent addere mentem: 'I, bone, quo virtus tua te vocat, i pede fausto, Grandia laturus meritorum praemia. Quid stas?' Post haec ille catus, quantumvis rusticus, 'Ibit, Ibit eo quo vis qui zonam perdidit,' inquit. 40
HORACE, _Ep._ II. ii. 26-40.
[Linenotes: 26. +viatica+ = _savings_ (cf. _prize-money_). +viaticum+ = originally _travelling-money_. 28. +vehemens lupus+ = _a very wolf in his fury_. Cf. Vergil's simile for a forlorn hope--'lupi ceu | Raptores.' --Wickham. 32. +donis honestis+ = _gifts of honour_--i.e. the _corona muralis_, the _mural crown_, such as is worn by the goddess Cybele. 33. +nummum+ (= _nummorum_) = _in hard cash_. 39. +catus+ = _shrewd_, _witty_, a Sabine word, = _acutus_. 39-40. +Ibit ... quo vis+, the original of Juvenal's _ad caelum, iusseris, ibit_. 40. +zonam+ = _purse_. The +zona+ here was a broad belt made double or hollow to carry money in.]
B. _The Wealth of Lucullus._
Chlamydes Lucullus, ut aiunt, 40 Si posset centum scaenae praebere rogatus, 'Qui possum tot?' ait; 'tamen et quaeram, et quot habebo Mittam': post paulo scribit sibi milia quinque Esse domi chlamydum; partem vel tolleret omnes. 44
HORACE, _Ep._ I. vi. 40-44.
+Subject.+ Horace says 'I am like Lucullus' soldier--when his pocket was empty he would volunteer for forlorn hopes; when it was full again he would do so no more. It was poverty that made me write verses.' --W.
[Linenotes: 40. +Chlamydes.+ The Chlamys was the light short mantle of the Greeks, here wanted for a pageant on the stage. 44. +tolleret.+ The subj. is the praetor or person giving the show. --W.]
+Reference.+ For _the magnificence of his Villas_ at Tusculum and near Neapolis, see Cicero _De Fin._ ii. § 107, _De Leg._ iii. § 30, Pliny, _N. H._ ix. 170.
B24
WAR WITH SPARTACUS, 73-71 B.C.
_Spartacus and his Gladiators._
Spartacus, Crixus, Oenomaus effracto Lentuli ludo cum triginta aut amplius eiusdem fortunae viris erupere Capua; servisque ad vexillum vocatis cum statim decem amplius milia coissent, homines modo effugisse contenti iam et vindicari volebant. {5} Prima sedes velut rabidis beluis mons Vesuvius placuit. Ibi cum obsiderentur a Clodio Glabro, per fauces cavi montis vitineis delapsi vinculis ad imas eius descendere radices et exitu inviso nihil tale opinantis ducis subito impetu castra rapuerunt. Adfluentibus {10} in diem copiis cum iam esset iustus exercitus, e viminibus pecudumque tegumentis inconditos sibi clipeos et ferro ergastulorum recocto gladios ac tela fecerunt, Indo iam consulares quoque aggressus in Appennino Lentuli exercitum percecidit, apud {15} Mutinam Gai Cassi castra delevit. Tandem enim totis imperii viribus contra mirmillonem consurgunt, pudoremque Romanum Marcus Crassus asseruit: a quo pulsi fugatique hostes in extrema Italiae refugerunt. Ibi circa Bruttium angulum clusi cum {20} fugam in Siciliam pararent neque navigia suppeterent ratesque ex trabibus et dolia connexa virgultis rapidissimo freto frustra experirentur, tandem eruptione facta dignam viris obiere mortem, et quod sub gladiatore duce oportuit, sine missione {25} pugnatum est. Spartacus ipse in primo agmine fortissime dimicans quasi imperator occisus est.
FLORUS, III. xx. 3-14 (sel.).
[Linenotes: 1. +Spartacus+, by birth a Thracian, who had served among the Thracian auxiliaries in the Roman army, had deserted and become a chief of banditti. He was taken prisoner and sold to a trainer of gladiators. +Crixus+, +Oenomaus+, the slave-names of two Celts. 1-2. +effracto ludo+ = _broke out of the gladiators' school_. 8. +vitineis vinculis+ = _by means of ropes made of vine-branches_. 9. +inviso+ = _unknown_, lit. _unseen_. 13. +ergastulorum+ = _from the slaves' work-houses_. 17. +mirmillonem.+ The Mirmillones were a class of gladiators usually matched with the Thraces or the _retiarii_ (_net-fighters_). 18. +Marcus Crassus+, the Triumvir of 60 B.C. +asseruit+ = _maintained_. Cf. our _assert_. 21. +in Siciliam+, where the slaves had risen in 133 and 104 B.C., and only waited an impulse to break out a third time. 25. +sine missione+ = _without quarter_. Cf. _missio_ = _the discharge_ from service of soldiers and gladiators.]
B25
THE THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR, 74-63 B.C. (1)
_Lucullus Ponticus._
Quoniam de genere belli dixi, nunc de magnitudine pauca dicam. Atque ut omnes intellegant me L. Lucullo tantum impertire laudis, quantum forti viro et sapienti homini et magno imperatori debeatur, dico eius adventu maximas Mithridatis {5} copias omnibus rebus ornatas atque instructas fuisse urbemque Asiae clarissimam nobisque amicissimam, Cyzicenorum, obsessam esse ab ipso rege maxima multitudine et oppugnatam vehementissime, quam L. Lucullus virtute, assiduitate, consilio summis {10} obsidionis periculis liberavit: ab eodem imperatore classem magnam et ornatam, quae ducibus Sertorianis ad Italiam studio inflammata raperetur, superatam esse atque depressam; magnas hostium praeterea copias multis proeliis esse deletas patefactumque {15} nostris legionibus esse Pontum, qui antea populo Romano ex omni aditu clausus fuisset; Sinopen atque Amisum, quibus in oppidis erant domicilia regis, omnibus rebus ornatas atque refertas, ceterasque urbes Ponti et Cappadociae permultas uno {20} aditu adventuque esse captas; regem spoliatum regno patrio atque avito ad alios se reges atque ad alias gentes supplicem contulisse: atque haec omnia salvis populi Romani sociis atque integris vectigalibus esse gesta. {25}
CICERO, _pro Lege Manilia_, 20, 21.
[Linenotes: 5-6. +maximas ... fuisse.+ M. had 140,000 well-trained men, Roman officers sent by Sertorius, 16,000 cavalry, a war-fleet of 400 ships, and abundance of stores. 7-11. +urbemque ... liberavit.+ The city of Cyzicus stood on the S. side of the island of the same name in the Propontis (Sea of Marmora), close to the shore of M[-y]sia, to which it was joined by two bridges. 12-14. +classem ... depressam+, i.e. probably the Battle of Tenedos 73 B.C., in which Marcus Marius and the ablest of the Roman emigrants met their death, and the whole Aegean fleet of Mithridates was annihilated. 15. +multis proeliis+, e.g. of Cabira, 72 B.C.; Tigranocerta, 69 B.C. 18. +Sinopen.+ +Sinope+, on the W. headland of the great bay of which the delta of the R. Halys forms the E. headland, was the birthplace and residence (+domicilia+) of M. 22. +ad alios reges+, e.g. to his son-in-law, Tigranes of Armenia. 23-24. +salvis ... vectigalibus+, i.e. without ruining the provincial by forced contributions and requisitions.]
+Reference.+ For _Siege of Cyzicus_, see Mommsen, vol. iv. pp. 326-328; Frontinus, _Strat._ ii. 13. 6.
B26
CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS, 106-48 B.C.
_His Character, and Career to 66 B.C._
Iam vero virtuti Cn. Pompei quae potest oratio par inveniri? Quid est quod quisquam aut illo dignum, aut vobis novum aut cuiquam inauditum possit adferre? Neque enim illae sunt solae virtutes imperatoriae, quae vulgo esistimantur, labor in {5} negotiis, fortitudo in periculis, industria in agendo, celeritas in conficiendo, consilium in providendo, quae tanta sunt in hoc uno, quanta in omnibus reliquis imperatoribus, quos aut vidimus aut audivimus, non fuerunt. Testis est Italia, quam ille ipse {10} victor L. Sulla huius virtute et subsidio confessus est liberatam: testis est Sicilia, quam multis undique cinctam periculis non terrore belli, sed consilii celeritate explicavit: testis est Africa, quae magnis oppressa hostium copiis eorum ipsorum sanguine {15} redundavit: testis est Gallia, per quam legionibus nostris iter in Hispaniam Gallorum internecione patefactum est: testis est Hispania, quae saepissime plurimos hostes ab hoc superatos prostratosque conspexit: testis est iterum et saepius Italia, quae {20} cum servili bello taetro periculosoque premeretur, ab hoc auxilium absente expetivit, quod bellum exspectatione eius attenuatum atque imminutum est, adventu sublatum ac sepultum: testes nunc vero iam omnes orae atque omnes exterae gentes ac nationes. {25}
CICERO, _pro Lege Manilia_, 29-31.
[Linenotes: 10-12. +Testis est Italia ... liberatam.+ In 83 B.C. Pompeius, aged twenty-four, raised three legions in Picenum, gained several advantages over the Marian generals, and was saluted by Sulla as Imperator. 12-14. +testis est Sicilia ... explicavit.+ In 82 B.C. Pompeius, sent as propraetor to Sicily, quickly took possession of the island for Sulla. 14-16. +testis est Africa ... redundavit.+ In 81 B.C. Pompeius defeated at Utica the Marian Ahenobarbus (allied with Hiarbas of Numidia), and was, though _a simple Roman eques_, granted a triumph by Sulla and saluted as +Magnus+. 16-18. +testis est Gallia ... patefactum est.+ In 77 B.C., on his way to Spain as proconsul against Sertorius, he had to cut his way through the Transalpine Gauls, and laid out a new and shorter road over the Cottian Alps. 21. +servili bello.+ On his return from Spain he cut to pieces the scattered remnants of the army of Spartacus. 21-23. +ab hoc ... imminutum est.+ Cic. assumes that the enemy was crippled even by the mere notion of sending for Pompeius.]
+References.+ Plutarch, _Pompeius_; Vell. Paterc. ii. 29.
B27
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (1)
_The Man Caesar._
Fuisse traditur excelsa statura, colore candido, teretibus membris, ore paulo pleniore, nigris vegetisque oculis, valetudine prospera; nisi quod tempore extremo repente animo linqui atque etiam per somnum exterreri solebat. Armorum et equitandi {5} peritissimus, laboris ultra fidem patiens erat. In agmine nonnunquam equo, saepius pedibus anteibat, capite detecto, seu sol seu imber esset; longissimas vias incredibili celeritate confecit. In obeundis expeditionibus dubium cautior an audentior, {10} exercitum neque per insidiosa itinera duxit umquam nisi perspeculatus locorum situs. A Brundisio Dyrrachium inter oppositas classes hieme transmisit cessantibusque copiis, quas subsequi iusserat, cum ad accersendas frustra saepe misisset, {15} novissime ipse clam noctu parvulum navigium solus obvoluto capite conscendit, neque aut quis esset ante detexit aut gubernatorem cedere adversae tempestati passus est, quam paene obrutus fluctibus. Ne religione quidem ulla a quoquam incepto absterritus {20} umquam vel retardatus est. Cum immolanti aufugisset hostia, profectionem adversus Scipionem et Iubam non distulit. Prolapsus etiam in egressu navis, verso ad melius omine Teneo te, inquit, Africa.
SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 45, 57-59 (sel.)
[Linenotes: 4. +animo linqui+ = _he was subject to fainting-fits_. 8. +capite detecto+, so Cyrus the Younger and Hannibal. 9. +incredibili celeritate+, cf. Cic. _Ep. ad Att._ viii. 9 _hoc_ #teras# (= prodigy) _horribili vigilantia, celeritate, diligentia est_. Cf. also Napoleon the Great. 14. +cessantibusque copiis+ = _and when the troops delayed their coming_. Caesar did not then know that Antonius had himself been attacked at Brundisium by a Pompeian fleet, and had shown great skill in baffling it, and forcing it to put to sea again. Once more Antonius set sail with 4 legions and 800 horsemen, and fortunately a strong S. wind carried him safely to the port of Lissus (N. of Dyrrachium). 18-19. +gubernatorem ... passus est.+ '_Quid times? Caesarem vehis!_' was Caesar's famous exhortation to the pilot. (Florus.) 21-22. +Cum ... hostia:+ if the victim even tugged at the rope when being led to sacrifice, it was considered unfortunate, and hence a long slack rope was used. Cf. Juv. xii. 5 _Sed procul extensum petulans_ (butting) _quatit hostia funem_. 24. According to Frontinus his words were '_Teneo te, terra mater_.']
+The man Caesar.+ 'We may picture him as a man the dignity of whose bodily presence was in due proportion to the greatness of his mental powers.' --Warde Fowler.
B28
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (2)
_Captured by Pirates. Studies Oratory at Rhodes, 76-75 B.C._
Composita seditione civili Cornelium Dolabellam consularem et triumphalem repetundarum postulavit; absolutoque Rhodum secedere statuit, et ad declinandam invidiam et ut per otium ac requiem Apollonio Moloni clarissimo tunc dicendi magistro {5} operam daret. Huc dum hibernis iam mensibus traicit, circa Pharmacussam insulam a praedonibus captus est, mansitque apud eos, non sine summa indignatione, prope quadraginta dies cum uno medico et cubicularis duobus. Nam comites servosque {10} ceteros initio statim ad expediendas pecunias, quibus redimeretur, dimiserat. Numeratis deinde quinquaginta talentis, expositus in litore non distulit quin e vestigio classe deducta persequeretur abeuntis, ac redactos in potestatem supplicio, quod saepe illis {15} minatus inter iocum fuerat, adficeret. Vastante regiones proximas Mithridate ne desidere in discrimine sociorum videretur, ab Rhodio quo pertenderat, transiit in Asiam, auxiliisque contractis et praefecto regis provincia expulso, nutantes ac dubias civitates {20} retinuit in fide.
SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 4.
[Linenotes: 1. +Composita seditione civili+, i.e. after the abortive attempt of Lepidus to make himself master of the state 77 B.C. +C. Dolabellam,+ impeached for illegal extortion during his government of Macedonia. +Repetundarum+ (sc. _pecuniarum_), post-Aug. for _de repetundis (pecuniis)_, used i. of money extorted by an official and to be returned, ii. of money extorted as a bribe. Caesar lost his case, but succeeded in showing that Sulla's senatorial judges were corrupt. 4. +Apollonio Moloni+, the famous rhetorician, whose pupil Cicero was both at Rome and at Rhodes. Very possibly Caesar took this step by the advice of Cicero. 7. +circa Pharmacussam insulam:+ S.W. of Miletus (= mod. _Farmako_). 8-9. +non sine summa indignatione:+ Plutarch, _Caes._ gives a picturesque account of his adventures as their prisoner. 10. +cubicularis+ (_cubiculum_) = lit. _chamber-servants_. 11. +pecunias ...+ Velleius says that Caesar's ransom was paid out of public funds. 14. +e vestigio+ (= _statim_) = _immediately_.]
+Caesar at Rhodes.+ 'Caesar, from what we know of his taste and character, could hardly have found the same delight as Cicero in his studies at Rhodes. He nevertheless became one of the greatest orators of his day, and according to some accounts, second only to Cicero. It is characteristic of Caesar, but unfortunate for us, that he never took any pains to collect and preserve his speeches.' --Warde Fowler.
B29
CICERO PROSECUTES VERRES, 70 B.C.
_A Roman Citizen maltreated._
Quid ego de P. Gavio, Consano municipe, dicam, indices? Aut qua vi vocis, qua gravitate verborum, quo dolore animi dicam? Quod crimen eius modi est ut, cum primum ad me delatum est, usurum me illo non putarem; tametsi enim verissimum esse {5} intellegebam, tamen credibile fore non arbitrabar. Quid nunc agam? Rem in medio ponam: quae tantum habet ipsa gravitatis ut neque mea, quae nulla est, neque cuiusquam ad inflammandos vestros animos eloquentia requiratur. {10}
Caedebatur virgis in medio foro Messanae civis Romanus, iudices; cum interea nullus gemitus, nulla vox alia illius miseri inter dolorem crepitumque plagarum audiebatur, nisi haec, _Civis Romanus sum_. Hac se commemoratione civitatis omnia verbera {15} depulsurum, cruciatum a corpore deiecturum arbitrabatur. Is non modo hoc non perfecit ut virgarum vim deprecaretur, sed cum imploraret saepius usurparetque nomen civitatis, crux, crux, inquam, infelici et aerumnoso comparabatur. {20}
O nomen dulce libertatis! O ius eximium nostrae civitatis! O lex Porcia legesque Semproniae! O graviter desiderata et aliquando reddita plebi Romanae tribunicia potestas! Hucine tandem omnia reciderunt ut civis Romanus in provincia populi Romani, {25} in oppido foederatorum, ab eo qui beneficio populi Romani fasces et secures haberet deligatus in foro virgis caederetur?
CICERO, _in Verrem_, ii. 5. 62.
[Linenotes: 1. +Consano municipe+ = _a burgess of Consa_, on the borders of Lucania. 22. +Lex Porcia.+ Passed by M. Porcius Cato, 197 B.C., forbade the execution or scourging of a Roman citizen. +Leges Semproniae+, a code of laws passed by C. Sempronius Gracchus, 123 B.C. One of these declared it to be the sole right of the people to decide capital cases. 22-24. +O graviter desiderata ... potestas!+ Sulla (Dictator 82-79 B.C.) took from the tribunes _the right of proposing laws_, and left them only their original right of Intercessio or veto. In 70 B.C. Pompeius, who had formally accepted the democratic programme, gave back to the tribunes the power to initiate legislation.]
+The Orationes In Verrem.+ Cicero, as patronus of the Sicilians, undertook the prosecution of the Senator C. Verres for his gross misconduct as governor of Sicily, 73-71 B.C.
B30
CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS, 106-48 B.C.
_The Lex Gabinia, 67 B.C._
Converterat Cn. Pompei persona totum in se terrarum orbem et per omnia maior cive habebatur. Qui cum consul perquam laudabiliter iurasset se in nullam provinciam ex eo magistratu iturum idque servasset, post biennium A. Gabinius tribunus {5} legem tulit, ut cum belli more, non latrociniorum, orbem classibus iam, non furtivis expeditionibus, piratae terrerent, quasdamque etiam Italiae urbis diripuissent, Cn. Pompeius ad eos opprimendos mitteretur essetque ei imperium aequum in omnibus {10} provinciis cum proconsulibus usque ad quinquagesimum miliarium a mari. Quo decreto paene totius terrarum orbis imperium uni viro deferebatur; sed tamen idem hoc ante biennium in M. Antoni praetura decretum erat. Sed interdum persona ut exemplo {15} nocet, ita invidiam auget aut levat: in Antonio homines aequo animo passi erant; raro enim invidetur eorum honoribus, quorum vis non timetur: contra in iis homines extraordinaria reformidant, qui ea suo arbitrio aut deposituri aut retenturi videntur {20} et modum in voluntate habent. Dissuadebant optimates, sed consilia impetu victa sunt.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 31.
[Linenotes: 3-5. +Qui cum consul ... servasset.+ Pompeius, consul with Crassus in 71-70 B.C., thought it beneath his dignity to accept a consular province, and waited in Rome as a simple citizen until an opportunity should be offered him to play an extraordinary part. 5. +A. Gabinius+, a client of Pompeius, a man ruined in finances and character, but a dexterous negotiator, a bold orator, and a brave soldier. In 57 B.C. did excellent service as proconsul of Syria. 6-9. +ut cum belli more ... diripuissent.+ 'For twenty years the sea had been rendered unsafe by these curses of human society.' The commerce of the whole Mediterranean was in their power. 13-15. +sed tamen ... decretum erat.+ In 74 B.C. M. Antonius, son of the orator and father of the triumvir, was entrusted by the Senate with the task of clearing the seas from the corsairs. In spite of his extensive powers, the utter incapacity of Antonius, and the mismanagement of the Senate, caused the expedition to end in failure and disgrace.]
+Result.+ 'The Gabinio-Manilian proposals terminated the struggle between the senate and the popular party, which the Sempronian laws (133-123 B.C.) had begun. As the Sempronian laws first constituted the revolutionary party into a _political opposition_, the Gabinio-Manilian first converted it from an _opposition_ into a _government_.' --M.
B31
CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS, 106-48 B.C.
_Pompeius clears the Seas of Pirates, 67 B.C._
Quis enim umquam aut obeundi negoti aut consequendi quaestus studio tam brevi tempore tot loca adire, tantos cursus conficere potuit, quam celeriter Cn. Pompeio duce tanti belli impetus navigavit? Qui nondum tempestivo ad navigandum mari Siciliam {5} adiit, Africam exploravit, in Sardiniam cum classe venit, atque haec tria frumentaria subsidia rei publicae firmissimis praesidiis classibusque munivit. Inde cum se in Italiam recepisset, duabus Hispaniis et Gallia transalpina praesidiis ac navibus confirmata, {10} missis item in oram Illyrici maris et in Achaiam omnemque Graeciam navibus Italiae duo maria maximis classibus firmissimisque praesidiis adornavit, ipse autem, ut Brundisio profectus est, undequinquagesimo die totam ad imperium populi Romani {15} Ciliciam adiunxit: omnes, qui ubique praedones fuerant, partim capti interfectique sunt, partim unius huius se imperio ac potestati dediderunt. Ita tantum bellum, tam diuturnum, tam longe lateque dispersum, quo bello omnes gentes ac nationes {20} premebantur, Cn. Pompeius extrema hieme adparavit, ineunte vere suscepit, media aestate confecit.
CICERO, _pro Lege Manilia_, 34, 35.
[Linenotes: 4. +tanti belli impetus,+ fig. for _an attacking fleet of such force_, which from its size would ordinarily sail slowly. --Wilkins. 5-8. +Qui ... munivit.+ Early in the year (+nondum tempestivo ad navigandum+) Pompeius cleared of pirates the Sicilian, African, and Sardinian waters, so re-establish the supply of grain from these provinces to Italy. 14-18. +undequagesimo ... dediderunt.+ The bold Cilician seakings alone ventured to face the Roman fleet in the offing of Coracesium (at the W. frontier of Cilicia), but were completely defeated. Forty-nine days (+undequinquagesimo+) after Pompeius had appeared in the Eastern seas, Cilicia was subdued, and the war at an end. 'In all about 1300 piratical vessels are said to have been destroyed: besides which the richly filled arsenals and magazines of the buccaneers were burnt. Of the pirates, about 10,000 perished (+interfecti+); upwards of 20,000 fell alive (+partim capti--partim se dediderunt+) into the hands of the victor.' --M. 22. +ineunte vere ... confecit.+ 'In the summer of 67 B.C., three months after the beginning of the campaign, commerce resumed its wonted course, and instead of the former famine abundance prevailed in Italy.' --M.]
+This was the first trial of rule centralised in a single hand,+ and Pompeius fully justified the confidence that was placed in him.
B32
THE THIRD MITHRIDATIC WAR, 74-63 B.C. (2)
_Pompeius subdues Mithridates and Tigranes._
Pompeius interea memorabile adversus Mithridaten, qui post Luculli profectionem magnas novi exercitus vires reparaverat, bellum gessit. At rex fusus fugatusque et omnibus exutus copiis Armeniam Tigranenque generum petit, regem eius temporis, {5} nisi qua Luculli armis erat infractus, potentissimum. Simul itaque duos persecutus Pompeius intravit Armeniam. Prior filius Tigranis, sed discors patri, pervenit ad Pompeium: mox ipse supplex et praesens se regnumque dicioni eius permisit, {10} praefatus neminem alium neque Romanum neque ullius gentis virum futurum fuisse, cuius se societate commissurus foret, quam Pompeium; non esse turpe ab eo vinci, quem vincere esset nefas, neque inhoneste aliquem summitti huic, quem fortuna super {15} omnes extulisset. Servatus regi honos imperi, sed multato ingenti pecunia, quae omnis, sicuti Pompeio moris erat, redacta in quaestoris potestatem ac publicis descripta litteris. Syria aliaeque, quas occupaverat, provinciae ereptae, et aliae restitutae populo {20} Romano, aliae tum primum in eius potestatem redactae, ut Syria, quae tum primum facta est stipendiaria. Finis imperi regi terminatus Armenia.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 37.
+Context.+ In 66 B.C. Lucullus, of whom Mommsen says 'hardly any other Roman general accomplished so much with so trifling means,' was superseded by Pompeius. By the Lex Manilia Pompeius obtained, in addition to the extensive powers conferred upon him by the Lex Gabinia 67 B.C., the military administration of Asia as far as Armenia. 'Never since Rome stood had such power been united in the hands of a single man.' --M.
[Linenotes: 3-4. +rex fusus ... copiis+, i.e. in Lesser Armenia, on S. bank of R. Lycus, where Pompeius afterwards founded Nicopolis. 5. +Tigranenque generum petit.+ Tigranes had married Cleopatra, the daughter of Mithridates. 17-19. +quae omnis ... litteris,+ i.e. paid into the Roman treasury. Cf. Lucan ix. 197 _Immodicas possedit opes, sed plura retentis_ | _Intulit_ sc. _in aerarium_.]
+The End of Mithridates.+ After his defeat at Nicopolis the aged king took refuge in his Northern capital of Panticapaeum (on the Cimmerian Bosporus). Here, when all turned against him, he took poison, 63 B.C. 'In him a great enemy was borne to the tomb, a greater than had ever yet withstood the Romans in the indolent East.' --M.
+Syria made a Roman Province,+ 65 B.C.
B33
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (3)
A. _Curule Aedile, 65 B.C._
Aedilis praeter comitium ac forum basilicasque etiam Capitolium ornavit porticibus ad tempus exstructis, in quibus abundante rerum copia pars apparatus exponeretur. Venationes autem ludosque et cum collega et separatim edidit, quo factum est, {5} ut communium quoque impensarum solus gratiam caperet, nec dissimularet collega eius Marcus Bibulus evenisse sibi quod Polluci: ut enim geminis fratribus aedes in foro constituta tantum Castoris vocaretur, ita suam Caesarisque munificentiam unius Caesaris {10} dici.
SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 10.
[Linenotes: 1. +Aedilis.+ As curule-aedile Caesar exceeded all previous expenditure. This was meant to secure the favour of the democracy, and gain the position of its leader, which was in fact vacant; for Crassus was never popular, and Pompeius was absent in the East. +basilicas+ (#basilikê# sc. #oikia# and #stoa#: _regia_) = _halls_. 2. +porticibus:+ these acted as booths, in a grand fair, as we should say. 4. +Venationes+, here of the combats with wild beasts. 7. +M. Bibulus+, also Caesar's colleague in his first consulship, 59 B.C.]
B. _Propraetor in Further Spain, 61 B.C._
Ex praetura ulteriorem sortitus Hispaniam, retinentes creditores interventu sponsorum removit, ac neque more neque iure, ante quam provinciae ornarentur, profectus est; pacataque provincia, pari {15} festinatione, non expectato successore, ad triumphum simul consulatumque decessit. Sed cum, edictis iam comitiis, ratio eius haberi non posset nisi privatus introisset urbem, et ambienti ut legibus solveretur multi contradicerent, coactus est triumphum, {20} ne consulatu excluderetur, dimittere.
SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 18.
+Context.+ In 69 B.C. Caesar was elected to a Quaestorship (the lowest step in the ladder of official life) and discharged his judicial duties in Further Spain with tact and industry.
[Linenotes: 13. +retinentes ... removit+ = _freed himself from his creditors, who were for detaining him_, by the help of sureties. Caesar is said to have borrowed from Crassus 830 talents. 14-15. +ante quam provinciae ornarentur:+ a regular phrase used of supplying the newly chosen magistrate with money, arms, attendants, etc. 18. +ratio ... posset+ = _his candidature could not be considered_.]
+Propraetor in F. Spain.+ 'His governorship enabled him partly to rid himself of his debts partly to lay the foundation for his military repute.' --M.
B34
THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C. (1)
_Cicero declaims against the Audacity of Catiline._
Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum {5} omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Patere tua consilia non sentis? Constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, {10} ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? O tempora! O mores! Senatus haec intellegit; consul videt: hic tamen vivit. Vivit? immo vero etiam in senatum venit: fit publici consilii particeps; notat at designat {15} oculis ad caedem unum quemque nostrum. . . . Castra sunt in Italia contra rem publicam in Etruriae faucibus collocata: crescit in dies singulos hostium numerus; eorum autem castrorum imperatorem ducemque hostium intra moenia atque {20} adeo in senatu videmus intestinam aliquam cotidie perniciem rei publicae molientem. Si te iam, Catilina, eomprehendi, si interfici iussero, credo, erit verendum mihi ne non hoc potius omnes boni serius a me quam quisquam crudelius factum esse dicat. {25}
CICERO, _in Catilinam_, i. §§ 1, 2, 5.
[Linenotes: 1. +Quo usque tandem abutere+ = _how long, pray, will you presume upon?_ Catiline had been declared _hostis patriae_, and yet dared to appear in the Senate. 4. +praesidium Palati+: in the case of any threatening danger the +Mons Palatinus+ was occupied as one of the most important military points in the city. 6-7. +senatus locus+, i.e. the temple of +Jupiter Stator+, on the N. slope of the Palatine, chosen as the safest meeting-place, and near Cicero's house. 17-18. +castra ... collocata+, the camp of Manlius (one of the veteran centurions of Sulla) was planted at Faesulae (Fiesole), a rocky fastness three miles N.E. of Florence. 19. +imperatorem:+ ironical, as though Catiline were the legally appointed general of the Republic.]
+In L. Catilinam Oratio i.+ 'This splendid oration, in its fiery vigour and mastery of invective, is unsurpassed except by the Second Philippic.' --Cruttwell.
+Its effect on Catiline.+ _Tum ille furibundus 'quoniam quidem circumventus' inquit 'ab inimicis praeceps agor, incendium meum ruina restinguam.'_ Sall. _Catil._ 31. That night Catiline left Rome for the camp of Manlius.
B35
THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C. (2)
_The End of Catiline._
Sed confecto proelio tum vero cerneres, quanta audacia quantaque vis animi fuisset in exercitu Catilinae. Nam fere, quem quisque vivus pugnando locum ceperat, eum, amissa anima, corpore tegebat. Pauci autem, quos medios cohors praetoria disiecerat, {5} paulo divorsius, sed omnes tamen advorsis volneribus conciderant. Catilina vero longe a suis inter hostium cadavera repertus est, paululum etiam spirans ferociamque animi, quam habuerat vivus, in voltu retinens. Postremo ex omni copia neque in {10} proelio neque in fuga quisquam civis ingenuus captus est. Ita cuncti suae hostiumque vitae iuxta pepercerant. Neque tamen exercitus populi Romani laetam aut incruentam victoriam adeptus erat; nam strenuissumus quisque aut occiderat in proelio, aut {15} graviter volneratus discesserat. Multi autem, qui de castris visundi aut spoliandi gratia processerant, volventes hostilia cadavera, amicum alii, pars hospitem aut cognatum reperiebant; fuere item, qui inimicos suos cognoscerent. Ita varie per omnem {20} exercitum laetitia, maeror, luctus atque gaudia agitabantur.
SALLUST, _Bellum Catilinae_, 61.
[Linenotes: 5. +cohors praetoria+: a _corps d'élite_, specially organised as a bodyguard of the general (_praetor_ = _praeitor_, _prae + eo_), dating from the time when the praetores was the older name of the consuls (= _colleagues_). 8. +etiam+ (= _adhuc_) = _still_. Cf. Verg. _Aen._ vi. 485 _etiam currus etiam arma tenentem_. 11. +civis ingenuus+, i.e. a free citizen born of free citizens. 12. +Ita cuncti ... pepercerant+ = _so unsparing had they all been alike of their own and their opponents' lives_. --Pollard. 21. +laetitia+ = joy manifested, +gaudia+ = joy felt. +luctus+ = grief shown by outward signs, e.g. by dress. +maeror+ = grief shown by inward signs, e.g. by tears, or a sad face.]
+The Battle of Pistoria+ (Pistoia, N.W. of Faesulae). 'Catiline showed on this day that nature had destined him for no ordinary things, and that he knew at once how to command and how to fight as a soldier. At length Petreius, with his bodyguard, broke the centre of the enemy, and then attacked the two wings from within. This decided the day.' --M.
+The character of Catiline.+ 'He was one of the most wicked men in that wicked age. He possessed in a high degree the qualities which are required in the leader of a band of ruined and desperate men--the faculty of enjoying all pleasures and of bearing all privations, courage, military talent, knowledge of men, indomitable energy.' --M. Cf. Sall. _Catil._ 5.
B36
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (4).
_Forms the First Triumvirate: Consul, 60-59 B.C._
Hoc igitur consule inter eum et Cn. Pompeium et M. Crassum inita potentiae societas, quae urbi orbique terrarum nec minus diverso quoque tempore ipsis exitiabilis fuit. Hoc consilium sequendi Pompeius causam habuerat, ut tandem acta in {5} transmarinis provinciis, quibus, ut praediximus, multi obtrectabant, per Caesarem confirmarentur consulem, Caesar autem, quod animadvertebat se cedendo Pompei gloriae aucturum suam et invidia communis potentiae in illum relegata confirmaturum {10} vires suas, Crassus, ut quem principatum solus adsequi non poterat, auctoritate Pompei, viribus teneret Caesaris. Adfinitas etiam inter Caesarem Pompeiumque contracta nuptiis, quippe Iuliam, filiam C. Caesaris, Cn. Magnus duxit uxorem. In {15} hoc consulatu Caesar legem tulit, ut ager Campanus plebei divideretur, suasore legis Pompeio: ita circiter XX milia civium eo deducta et ius urbis restitutum post annos circiter CLII quam bello Punico ab Romanis Capua in formam praefecturae {20} redacta erat. Bibulus, collega Caesaris, cum actiones eius magis vellet impedire quam posset, maiore parte anni domi se tenuit: quo facto dum augere vult invidiam collegae, auxit potentiam. Tum Caesari decretae in quinquennium Galliae. {25}
VELL. PAT. ii. 44.
[Linenotes: 1-2. +inter eum ... societas+, the famous First Triumvirate. 'It was at first an expedient to secure, as we should say, a working majority for a vigorous democratic policy, but the bitterness of its enemies transformed the coalition itself from an honourable union into the semblance of a three-headed tyranny.' --Warde Fowler. 4-7. The ultra-senatorial party (after Pompeius' great act of renunciation, when he dismissed his victorious veterans in 62 B.C.) had checked and worried Pompeius by refusing to ratify his arrangements in the East, and by criticising and opposing his plans for rewarding his veterans. Thus they deliberately drove him once more into the arms of Caesar and the democracy. 10. +relegata+ = _attributed_, _imputed_, lit. _removed_ (_re_ + _lêgo_). 21. +Bibulus, collega Caesaris:+ cf. Suet. _Divus Iulius_ 20: _Non Bibulo quicquam, nuper sed Caesare factum est: Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini._]
+Caesar's First Consulship.+ Among his other acts was the famous _Lex Iulia de pecuniis repetundis_ (against official extortion in the provinces), which won strong praise even from Cicero himself.
B37
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (1)
'_That day he overcame the Nervii_,' 57 B.C.
Caesar ab decimae legionis cohortatione ad dextrum cornu profectus, ubi suos urgeri signisque in unum locum collatis duodecimae legionis confertos milites sibi ipsos ad pugnam esse impedimento vidit--quartae cohortis omnibus centurionibus occisis, {5} signifero interfecto, signo amisso, reliquarum cohortium omnibus fere centurionibus aut vulneratis aut occisis, in his primipilo P. Sextio Baculo, fortissimo viro, multis gravibusque volneribus confecto, ut iam se sustinere non posset; reliquos esse tardiores et nonnullos {10} ab novissimis deserto proelio excedere ac tela vitare, hostes neque a fronte ex inferiore loco subeuntes intermittere et ab utroque latere instare, et rem esse in angusto vidit neque ullum esse subsidium quod submitti posset, scuto ab novissimis {15} militi detracto, quod ipse eo sine scuto venerat, in primam aciem processit; centurionibusque nominatim appellatis reliquos cohortatus milites signa inferre et manipulos laxare iussit, quo facilius gladiis uti possent. Cuius adventu spe illata militibus ac {20} redintegrato animo, cum pro se quisque in conspectu imperatoris etiam in extremis suis rebus operam navare cuperet, paulum hostium impetus tardatus est.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ ii. 25.
+Context.+ The Nervii, the bravest of the Belgae, surprised Caesar's men while at work on their camp. There was no time to think: they took station where they could. The 9th and 10th legions on the left broke and pursued the enemy in front of them, and the two legions in the centre stood firm. But on the right there was a gap, and the Nervii were rapidly surrounding the two legions huddled together here, and the fight threatened every moment to become a second Cannae, +when Caesar restored the fight+. Labienus sent back the victorious 10th, who took the enemy in their rear, and the cavalry completed the victory.
[Linenotes: 14-15. +neque ullum ... posset+: the rear guard, the 13th and 14th legions, had not yet come up. 18-19. +signa ... laxare+ = _to charge and_ (thus) _open out the ranks_. 22-23. +operam navare+ = _to do their very best_. +navo+ (orig. _gnavo_; cf. #gnôskô#) = lit. _to make known_, _to exhibit_.]
+The Battle of the Sambre.+ One of the most desperate that Caesar ever fought. The memory of it lived in Caesar's mind so vividly that he seems to fight the battle over again as he describes it, in language for him unusually strong and intense. --W. F.
+Result of the Battle+, the submission of North West Gaul.
B38
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (2)
_Naval Battle with the Veneti, 56 B.C._
Una erat magno usui res praeparata a nostris,--falces praeacutae insertae affixaeque longuriis non absimili forma muralium falcium. His cum funes qui antemnas ad malos destinabant comprehensi adductique essent, navigio remis incitato praerumpebantur. {5} Quibus abscisis antemnae necessario concidebant; ut, cum omnis Gallicis spes in velis armamentisque consisteret, his ereptis omnis usus navium uno tempore eriperetur. Reliquum erat certamen positum in virtute, qua nostri milites facile {10} superabant atque eo magis, quod in conspectu Caesaris atque omnis exercitus res gerebatur, ut nullum paulo fortius factum latere posset; omnes enim colles ac loca superiora, unde erat propinquus despectus in mare, ab exercitu tenebantur. Disiectis, ut diximus, {15} antemnis, cum singulas binae ac ternae naves circumsteterant, milites summa vi transcendere in hostium naves contendebant. Quod postquam barbari fieri animadverterunt, expugnatis compluribus navibus, cum ei rei nullum reperiretur auxilium, fuga {20} salutem petere contenderunt. Ac iam conversis in eam partem navibus quo ventus ferebat, tanta subito malacia ac tranquillitas exstitit ut se ex loco movere non possent. Quae quidem res ad negotium conficiendum maxime fuit opportuna; nam singulas {25} nostri consectati expugnaverunt, ut perpaucae ex omni numero noctis interventu ad terram pervenerint, cum ab hora fere quarta usque ad solis occasum pugnaretur.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ iii. 14, 15.
+Context.+ In the winter of 57-6 Roman officers, who came to levy requisitions of grain, were detained by the Veneti. Caesar's attack on their coast-towns failed to reduce them to submission: so he determined to wait for his fleet. This he entrusted to Decimus Brutus, an able and devoted officer. At first the Roman galleys were powerless against the high-decked strong sailing-vessels of the Veneti, but +the use of the murales falces, and the opportune calm, enabled Brutus to annihilate their fleet+.
[Linenotes: 11-12. +quod ... gerebatur.+ Napoleon (_Caesar_, vol. ii. p. 6) thinks that Caesar was encamped on the heights of Saint Gildas overlooking Quiberon Bay. 23. +malacia+ = _a calm_, but #malakia# = _softness_, L. _mollities_.]
+Result of the Victory+--the surrender of the Veneti and of all Brittany. +The earliest historical naval battle fought on the Atlantic Ocean.+--M.
B39
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (3)
_Caesar's Bridge across the Rhine, 55 B.C._
Rationem pontis hanc instituit. Tigna bina sesquipedalia paulum ab imo praeacuta, dimensa ad altitudinem fluminis, intervallo pedum duorum inter se iungebat. Haec cum machinationibus immissa in flumen defixerat fistucisque adegerat--non sublicae {5} modo derecte ad perpendiculum, sed prone ac fastigate, ut secundum naturam fluminis procumberent--eis item contraria duo ad eundem modum iuncta intervallo pedum quadragenum ab inferiore parte contra vim atque impetum fluminis conversa statuebat. {10} Haec utraque insuper bipedalibus trabibus immissis, quantum eorum tignorum iunctura distabat, binis utrimque fibulis ab extrema parte distinebantur; quibus disclusis atque in contrariam partem revinctis, tanta erat operis firmitudo atque {15} ea rerum natura ut, quo maior vis aquae se incitavisset, hoc artius illigata tenerentur. Haec derecta materia iniecta contexebantur ac longuriis cratibusque consternebantur; ac nihilo setius sublicae et ad inferiorem partem fluminis oblique agebantur, quae {20} pro ariete subiectae et cum omni opere coniunctae vim fluminis exciperent; et aliae item supra pontem mediocri spatio, ut, si arborum trunci sive naves deiciendi operis essent a barbaris immissae, his defensoribus earum rerum vis minueretur, neu ponti {25} nocerent.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ iv. 17.
+Context.+ The year 55 B.C. appears to have been marked by a general movement in the migration of the German tribes. An advance, consisting of two tribes, the Usipetes and Tenctri, crowded forward by the more powerful Suevi, crossed the Lower Rhine into N. Gaul. Caesar drove them back across the Rhine, +bridged the river+, followed them up into their own territories, and fully established the supremacy of the Roman arms. --Allen and Greenough.
[Linenotes: 5. +fistucisque adegerat+ = _and had driven them home_ (+ad+-) _with rammers_. For Plan of Bridge see Allen's _Caesar_, p. 103. 11-14. +Haec ... distinebantur+ = _these two sets were held apart by two-feet timbers laid on above, equal_ (in thickness) _to the interval left by the fastening of the piles_ (+quantum ... distabat+), _with a pair of ties_ (+fibulis+) _at each end_. --A. & G. 17-18. +Haec ... contexebantur+ = _these_ (i.e. the framework of timber) _were covered over by boards_ (+materia+) _laid lengthwise_. +longuriis+ = _with long poles_.]
+The Bridge+ (prob. near Bonn). 'With extraordinary speed (in ten days) the bridge was completed. It was a triumph of engineering and industry.' --W. F.
B40
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (4)
_Cassivellaunus. Second Invasion of Britain, 54 B.C._
Cassivellaunus, omni deposita spe contentionis, dimissis amplioribus copiis, milibus circiter quattuor essedariorum relictis itinera nostra servabat: paulumque ex via excedebat locisque impeditis ac silvestribus sese occultabat, atque eis regionibus quibus {5} nos iter facturos cognoverat pecora atque homines ex agris in silvas compellebat; et cum equitatus noster liberius praedandi vastandique causa se in agros eiecerat, omnibus viis semitisque essedarios ex silvis emittebat; et magno cum periculo nostrorum {10} equitum cum eis confligebat atque hoc metu latius vagari prohibebat. Relinquebatur ut neque longius ab agmine legionum discedi Caesar pateretur, et tantum in agris vastandis incendiisque faciendis hostibus noceretur quantum in labore atque itinere {15} legionarii milites efficere poterant. . . . Cassivellaunus hoc proelio nuntiato, tot detrimentis acceptis, vastatis finibus, maxime etiam permotus defectione civitatum, legatos per Atrebatem Commium de deditione ad Caesarem mittit. {20}
CAESAR, _de B. G._ v. 19, 22.
+Context.+ The First Invasion of Britain (55 B.C.) was only a visit of exploration; but in the Second Invasion (54 B.C.) Caesar aimed at a partial conquest. He had been hearing of Britain ever since he came to Gaul, and knew it to be a refuge for his Celtic enemies and a secret source of their strength. He set sail from the Portus Ittius (mod. Wissant, some twelve miles W. of Calais) and after drifting some way to the N.E., made his way to his former landing-place, probably near Romney. Some severe fighting followed, till at length Caesar crossed the Thames (apparently between Kingston and Brentford) and +entered the country of Cassivellaunus, who gave Caesar much trouble by his guerilla tactics. Deserted by his allies, Cassivellaunus offered his submission, which Caesar gladly accepted.+
[Linenotes: 1. +Contentionis+, i.e. of a general engagement with Caesar. 12. +Relinquebatur ut+ = _the consequence was that_ ... 17. +hoc proelio+, i.e. the storming by Caesar of his fortified camp, perh. St. Albans. 18-19. +defectione civitatum+, espec. of the Trinobantes (chief place _Camulodunum_, later _Colonia castrum_ = _Colchester_). 19. +Commium+, Caesar had made him King of the Atrebates (N.W. Gaul).]
+Caesar In Britain.+ 'What he tells us of the geography and inhabitants of the Island comprises almost all we know, except from coins, down to the time of its final conquest by Clodius 51 A.D.' --W. F.
B41
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (5)
_The Gallic uprising. Fabian tactics of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C._
Vercingetorix tot continuis incommodis acceptis suos ad concilium convocat. Docet 'longe alia ratione esse bellum gerendum atque antea gestum sit; omnibus modis huic rei studendum ut pabulatione et commeatu Romani prohibeantur: id esse {5} facile, quod equitatu ipsi abundent et quod anni tempore subleventur; pabulum secari non posse; necessario dispersos hostes ex aedificiis petere; hos omnes cotidie ab equitibus deleri posse. Praeterea, salutis causa rei familiaris commoda neglegenda; {10} vicos atque aedificia incendi oportere hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo pabulandi causa adire posse videantur. Harum ipsis rerum copiam suppetere, quod quorum in finibus bellum geratur eorum opibus subleventur: Romanos aut inopiam non laturos aut {15} magno cum periculo longius a castris processuros; neque interesse ipsosne interficiant an impedimentis exuant, quibus amissis bellum geri non possit. Praeterea, oppida incendi oportere quae non munitione et loci natura ab omni sint periculo tuta; ne {20} suis sint ad detrectandam militiam receptacula, neu Romanis proposita ad copiam commeatus praedamque tollendam. Haec si gravia aut acerba videantur, multo illa gravius aestimari debere, liberos, coniuges in servitutem abstrahi, ipsos interfici; {25} quae sit necesse accidere victis.'
CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 14.
+Context.+ On his return from Britain, Caesar found the N. Gauls in open revolt. The division of Sabinus (at Aduatuca, near Liège) was annihilated by Ambiorix, and Caesar was only just in time to relieve Q. Cicero at Charleroi. To prevent all further support to the Gauls from the Germans across the Rhine, Caesar again made a military demonstration across the river, and put an end to all the hopes of the Germans of breaking through this boundary. In the winter of 53-2 B.C., during his absence in Cisalpine Gaul, +a general uprising of the S. and Central Gauls took place under the Arvernian Vercingetorix, the hero of the whole Gallic race+.
[Linenotes: 6-7. +anni tempore+, i.e. scarcely yet spring, when no crops could be got off the land. 11-12. +hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo+ = _so far in every direction as_. 19. +oppida incendi:+ only Avaricum (Bourges) was to be spared. 22. +proposita+ = _offered_ to be captured by the Romans.]
+The tactics of Vercingetorix.+ 'He adopted a system of warfare similar to that by which Cassivellaunus had saved the Celts of Britain.' --M.
B42
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (6)
_Siege of Gergovia. Petronius dies to save his men, 52 B.C._
Cum acerrime comminus pugnaretur, hostes loco et numero, nostri virtute confiderent, subito sunt Aedui visi ab latere nostris aperto, quos Caesar ab dextra parte alio ascensu manus distinendae causa miserat. Hi similitudine armorum vehementer {5} nostros perterruerunt. Eodem tempore L. Fabius centurio quique una murum ascenderant circumventi atque interfecti de muro praecipitabantur. M. Petronius, eiusdem legionis centurio, cum portas excidere conatus esset, a multitudine oppressus ac sibi desperans, {10} multis iam volneribus acceptis, manipularibus suis qui illum secuti erant, 'Quoniam,' inquit, 'me una vobiscum servare non possum, vestrae quidem certe vitae prospiciam, quos cupiditate gloriae adductus in periculum deduxi. Vos data facultate vobis consulite.' {15} Simul in niedios hostes irrupit, duobusque interfectis reliquos a porta paulum submovit. Conantibus auxiliari suis, 'Frustra,' inquit, 'meae vitae subvenire conamini, quem iam sanguis viresque deficiunt. Proinde abite dum est facultas vosque ad {20} legionem recipite.' Ita pugnans post paulum concidit ac suis saluti fuit.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 50.
+Context.+ With a half-starved army Caesar stormed Avaricum after a most obstinate defence, and then laid siege to the Arvernian capital of Gergovia, in hope of destroying Vercingetorix and ending the war. As the town was too strong to be taken by storm, he resolved to try a blockade, but he failed, as at Dyrrachium in 49 B.C., from want of sufficient troops.
+A last desperate attack on the town was repulsed+, and Caesar, defeated for the first time, was forced to raise the siege.
[Linenotes: 3. +ab latere nostris aperto:+ as a soldier carries his shield on the left arm, leaving the sword hand free, this (right) side is called +latus apertum+.--Compton. 4. +manus distinendae causa+ = _for the purpose of diverting_ (+distinendae+, lit. _hold off_) _the enemy's force_. 6. +perterruerunt+: this was all the more natural, as the Aeduan contingent was only awaiting the result of the blockade, to openly join the insurgents. 9. +excidere+ = _to cut away_, _hew down_, i.e. from within.]
+Gergovia+, 4 miles S. of Clermont. This famous stronghold consists of a rectangular plateau nearly a mile in length, and some 1300 feet above the plain through which the Allier flows, and descending steeply on all sides but one to the ground.
+Caesar's failure.+ 'The fact was that chiefly owing to the nature of the ground and their own ardour, Caesar's men were not well in hand.' --W. F.
B43
THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (7)
_Siege of Alesia. The Last Fight of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C._
Vercingetorix ex arce Alesiae suos conspicatus ex oppido egreditur: crates, longurios, musculos, fasces, reliquaque quae eruptionis causa paraverat profert. Pugnatur uno tempore omnibus locis atque omnia temptantur; quae minime visa pars firma est huc {5} concurritur. Romanorum manus tantis munitionibus distinetur nec facile pluribus locis occurrit. . . . Labienus, postquam neque aggeres neque fossae vim hostium sustinere poterant, coactis XI cohortibus, quas ex proximis praesidiis deductas fors obtulit, {10} Caesarem per nuntios facit certiorem quid faciendum existimet. Accelerat Caesar ut proelio intersit. Eius adventu ex colore vestitus cognito (quo insigni in proeliis uti consuerat), turmisque equitum et cohortibus visis quas se sequi iusserat, ut de locis {15} superioribus haec declivia et devexa cemebantur, hostes proelium committunt. Utrimque clamore sublato excipit rursus ex vallo atque omnibus munitionibus clamor. Nostri omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt. Repente post tergum equitatus cernitur: {20} cohortes aliae appropinquant. Hostes terga vertunt; fugientibus equites occurrunt: fit magna caedes: pauci ex tanto numero se incolumes in castra recipiunt.
CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 84, 87, 88.
+Context.+ After his successful defence of Gergovia, Vercingetorix allowed his judgment to be overruled, and attacked Caesar's army (now united to the division of Labienus) on the march. Caesar shook off the enemy with the help of his German cavalry, and turned their retreat into a rout. V. then threw himself with all his forces into Alesia. Caesar constructed an inner line of investment and an outer line of defence, and was thus able to wear out the besieged and +beat back the relieving host of the Gauls+.
[Linenotes: 1. +suos+, i.e. the host (some 250,000) of the relieving army of Gauls. 2. +musculos+ (dimin. of _mus_) = _pent-houses_ or _sheds_. 4. +omnibus locis+, i.e. along the whole length of Caesar's outer line of defence, _where it ran along the slope of Mont Réa_, to the N.W. of Alesia. This, as the relieving Gauls were quick to see, was the weakest point of the whole line. 13. +ex colore vestitus+, i.e. the purple or scarlet paludamentum.]
+Vercingetorix.+ The Celtic officers delivered up V. to Caesar, to be led in triumph five years later, and beheaded as a traitor. In 1865 a statue was erected on the summit of Alesia, in honour of the heroic Gaul.
+The fall of Alesia decided the fate of Gaul.+
B44
CICERO IN EXILE, MARCH 58 B.C.-AUGUST 57 B.C. (1)
_His Banishment._
Per idem tempus P. Clodius, homo nobilis, disertus, audax, quique dicendi neque faciendi ullum nisi quem vellet nosset modum, malorum propositorum exsecutor acerrimus, cum graves inimicitias cum M. Cicerone exerceret (quid enim inter tam {5} dissimilis amicum esse poterat?) et a patribus ad plebem transisset, legem in tribunatu tulit, qui civem Romanum non damnatum interemisset, ei aqua et igni interdiceretur: cuius verbis etsi non nominabatur Cicero, tamen solus petebatur. Ita vir optime {10} meritus de re publica conservatae patriae pretium calamitatem exili tulit. Non caruerunt suspicione oppressi Ciceronis Caesar et Pompeius. Hoc sibi contraxisse videbatur Cicero, quod inter xx viros dividendo agro Campano esse noluisset. Idem intra {15} biennium sera Cn. Pompei cura, verum ut coepit intenta, votisque Italiae ac decretis senatus, virtute atque actione Anni Milonis tribuni pl. dignitati patriaeque restitutus est. Neque post Numidici exilium ac reditum quisquam aut expulsus invidiosius {20} aut receptus est laetius: cuius domus quam infeste a Clodio disiecta erat, tam speciose a senatu restituta est.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 45.
[Linenotes: 6-7. +a patribus ... transisset.+ When Cicero refused to throw in his lot with the Triumvirs, Publius Clodius was (by the aid of Caesar as Pontifex Maximus) hurriedly transferred from a patrician to a plebeian gens, and then chosen a tribune of the people for the year 58 B.C. Clodius was thus enabled to satisfy his private hatred of Cicero, and Caesar was enabled to get rid of the man who persisted in opposing him. 7-8. +qui ... interemisset:+ aimed at Cicero for his share in the summary execution of the Catilinarians 63 B.C. Mommsen calls it a judicial murder. Undoubtedly the Senate had not the power of sentencing _citizens_ to death. But Cicero argues that the legal effect of the _Senatus consultum ultimum_ was to _disenfranchise_ Lentulus and his associates, and to place them in the position of _outlaws_. 12-13. +Non caruerunt ... Pompeius:+ Caesar having in vain tried to win him over abandoned him to his fate, and Pompeius basely deserted him. 15. +dividendo agro Campano+, i.e. by Caesar's Agrarian Law of 59 B.C., to provide for Pompey's veterans. 18. +Anni Milonis:+ the bravoes of Milo protected from disturbance the voters engaged in sanctioning the decree for the recall of Cicero. 19. +Numidici+, i.e. Q. Caecilius Metellus, general against Jugurtha, superseded by Marius and forced to retire to Rhodes.]
B45
CICERO IN EXILE, MARCH 58 B.C.-AUGUST 57 B.C. (2)
_His Return._
Pr. Nonas Sextiles Dyrrachio sum profectus, ipso illo die, quo lex est lata de nobis; Brundisium veni Nonis Sextilibus: ibi mihi Tulliola mea fuit praesto natali suo ipso die, qui casu idem natalis erat et Brundisinae coloniae et tuae vicinae Salutis; quae {5} res animadversa a multitudine summa Brundisinorum gratulatione celebrata est. Ante diem vi Idus Sextiles cognovi, cum Brundisii essem, litteris Quinti, mirifico studio omnium aetatum atque ordinum, incredibili concursu Italiae legem comitiis {10} centuriatis esse perlatam: inde a Brundisinis honestissimis ornatus iter ita feci, ut undique ad me cum gratulatione legati convenerint. Ad urbem ita veni, ut nemo ullius ordinis homo nomenclatori notus fuerit, qui mihi obviam non venerit, praeter eos {15} inimicos, quibus id ipsum, se inimicos esse, non liceret aut dissimulare aut negare. Cum venissem ad portam Capenam, gradus templorum ab infima plebe completi erant, a qua plausu maximo cum esset mihi gratulatio significata, similis et frequentia {20} et plausus me usque ad Capitolium celebravit, in foroque et in ipso Capitolio miranda multitudo fuit. Postridie in senatu, qui fuit dies Nonarum Septembr., senatui gratias egimus.
CICERO, _Ep. ad Att._ iv. 1.
[Linenotes: 1. +Dyrrachio+ (formerly _Epidamnus_, mod. _Durazzo_), a town in Illyria, on a peninsula in the Adriatic. It was the usual port of landing and departure from and for Brundisium (distant about 100 miles). 3. +Tulliola+, Cicero's dearly-loved daughter Tullia, the only one of his family of whose conduct he never complains, and his tender and sympathising companion in all his pursuits. 4-5. +qui casu ... coloniae.+ Brundisium was founded 244 B.C. The Via Appia terminated here. 5. +tuae vicinae Salutis+, the Temple of Salus on the Quirinal was near the house of Atticus. 9. +Quinti+ (sc. _Ciceronis_): Cicero's only brother, a gallant soldier (e.g. as legatus to Caesar in Gaul), but a man of violent temper. Proscribed by the Triumvirs, and put to death in 43 B.C. 11-12. +a Brundisinis ... ornatus+ = _having received attentions from the most respectable men of Brundisium_. 13. +legati+ = _deputations_, i.e. from the various towns en route. 14. +nomenclatori+ (= lit. _one who calls by name_, cf. #kal-eô#, _Cal-endae_): a confidential slave who attended his master in canvassing, and on similar occasions, and told him the names of the people he met. 18. +ad portam Capenam+ (_Porta S. Sebastiano_), by which the Via Appia led to Capua. 'Cicero, perhaps for effect, followed the line of triumphal procession.' --Impey.]
B46
CICERO'S RECANTATION, 56 B.C.
_In praise of Caesar._
Itaque cum acerrimis nationibus et maximis Germanorum et Helvetiorum proeliis felicissime decertavit: ceteras conterruit, compulit, domuit, imperio populi Romani parere assuefecit, et quas regiones, quasque gentes nullae nobis antea litterae, {5} nulla vox, nulla fama notas fecerat, has noster imperator nosterque exercitus et populi Romani arma peragrarunt. Semitam tantum Galliae tenebamus antea, patres conscripti; ceterae partes a gentibus aut inimicis huic imperio, aut infidis, aut {10} incognitis, aut certe immanibus et barbaris et bellicosis tenebantur; quas nationes, nemo umquam fuit, quin frangi domarique cuperet; nemo sapienter de republica nostra cogitavit iam inde a principio huius imperi, quin Galliam maxime timendam huic {15} imperio putaret; sed propter vim ac multitudinem gentium illarum numquam est antea cum omnibus dimicatum. Restitimus semper lacessiti. Nunc denique est perfectum, ut imperii nostri terrarumque illarum idem esset extremum. {20}
CICERO, _de Provinciis Consularibus_, § 33.
[Linenotes: 3. +compulit+ = _checked_, usu. = _to constrain_. 5. +nullae litterae+ = _no book_. 8. +Semitam tantum Galliae+ = _it was but a strip of Gaul._ --W. F. +Semita+ (_se + mi_ = _go aside_, cf. _meo_, _trames_) = lit. _a narrow way_, _path._ 13-14. +nemo ... cogitavit+ = _there never has been a prudent statesman_. --W. F. 17. +cum omnibus+, i.e. with the Gauls as a nation. 19-20. +ut imperi ... extremum+, i.e. that our Empire extends to the utmost limits of that land.]
+Cicero's Recantation+ (#palinôdia#). The time for the struggle between the Senatorial party (the Optimates) and the Triumvirs, weakened by their mutual jealousy, seemed to have come. Accordingly Cicero proposed in a full house to reconsider Caesar's Agrarian Law (of 59 B.C.) for the allotment of lands in Campania; while Domitius Ahenobarbus (candidate for next year's Consulship) openly declared his intention to propose Caesar's recall. Caesar acted with his usual promptness, and the Conference at Luca restored an understanding between the three regents. Pompeius then crossed to Sardinia, and informed Q. Cicero that he would be held reponsible for any act of hostility on the part of his brother. Cicero had no choice but to submit, and delivered in the Senate his oration _de Provinciis Consularibus_, a political manifesto on behalf of Caesar and Pompeius--the _Recantation_ alluded to in _Ep. ad Att._ iv. 5, and elaborately explained in _Ep. ad Fam._ i. 9 (to Lentulus Spinther).
B47
CARRHAE, 53 B.C. (1)
'_Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat._'
Dum Gallos per Caesarem in septentrione debellat, ipse interim ad orientem grave volnus a Parthis populus Romanus accepit. Nec de fortuna queri possumus; caret solacio clades. Adversis et dis et hominibus cupiditas consulis Crassi, dum Parthico {5} inhiat auro, undecim strage legionum et ipsius capite multata est. Primum enim, qui solus et subvehere commeatus et munire poterat a tergo, relictus Euphrates, dum simulato transfugae cuidam Mazzarae Syro creditur. Tum in mediam camporum {10} vastitatem eodem duce ductus exercitus, ut undique hosti exponeretur. Itaque vixdum venerat Carrhas cum undique praefecti regis Silaces et Surenas ostendere signa auro sericisque vexillis vibrantia. Tunc sine mora circumfusi undique equitatus in {15} modum grandinis atque nimborum densa pariter tela fuderunt. Sic miserabili strage deletus exercitus. Ipse in colloquium sollicitatus signo dato vivus in hostium manus incidisset, nisi tribunis reluctantibus fugam ducis barbari ferro occupassent. Filium {20} ducis paene in conspectu patris eisdem telis operuerunt. Reliquiae infelicis exercitus, quo quemque rapuit fuga, in Armeniam Ciliciam Syriamque distractae vix nuntium cladis rettulerunt.
FLORUS, III. xi. 1-10 (sel.)
+Context.+ By the conference of the Triumvirs at Luca, it was arranged to secure the succession of Crassus to the government of Syria, in order to make war on the growing strength of the Parthian Empire beyond the Euphrates. Consul with Pompeius in 55 B.C. he set out for his province even before the expiration of his consulship 'eager to gather in the treasures of the East in addition to those of the West.'
[Linenotes: 7-14. +Primum enim ... vibrantia.+ The Arab prince Abgarus induced Crassus to leave the Euphrates, and cross the great Mesopotamian desert to the Tigris. When at length the enemy offered battle some 30 miles to the S. of Carrhae (Harran, not far from Edessa), by the side of the Parthian vizier stood prince Abgarus with his Bedouins. 15-17. +Tunc sine mora ... exercitus.+ The Roman weapons of close combat, and the Roman system of concentration yielded for the first time to cavalry and distant warfare (the bow). 20-21. +Filium ducis:+ his young and brave son Publius, who had served with the greatest distinction under Caesar in Gaul. 22. +Reliquiae:+ out of 40,000 Roman legionaries, who had crossed the Euphrates, not a fourth part returned: 20,000 fell, and 10,000 were taken prisoners.]
+Carrhae.+ 'The day of Carrhae takes its place side by side with the days of the Allia, and of Cannae.' --M.
B48
CARRHAE, 53 B.C. (2)
_After the Battle._
A.
Temporis angusti mansit concordia discors, Paxque fuit non sponte ducum; nam sola futuri Crassus erat belli medius mora. Qualiter undas 100 Qui secat et geminum gracilis mare separat Isthmos Nec patitur conferre fretum: si terra recedat, Ionium Aegaeo frangat mare: sic, ubi saeva Arma ducum dirimens miserando funere Crassus Assyrias Latio maculavit sanguine Carrhas, 105 Parthica Romanos solverunt damna furores. Plus illa vobis acie quam creditis actum est, Arsacidae: bellum victis civile dedistis.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, i. 98-108.
[Linenotes: 98. +Temporis ... discors+ = _the short-lived concord endured, but it was a jarring_ (+discors+) _concord_. --Haskins. 101. +Isthmos+, sc. _of Corinth_: Caesar planned to cut it, and thus to secure a direct route by sea, connecting Italy and the East. 102. +Nec patitur ... fretum+ = _and suffers it_ (+mare+, l. 101) _not to join its waters_, i.e. the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs.]
B.
Milesne Crassi coniuge barbara Turpis maritus vixit, et hostium (Pro curia inversique mores!) Consenuit socerorum in armis 8 Sub rege Medo Marsus et Apulus, Anciliorum et nominis et togae Oblitus aeternaeque Vestae, Incolumi Iove et urbe Roma? 12
HORACE, _Odes_ III. v. 5-12.
Nearly 10,000 Roman prisoners were settled by the victors in the oasis of Merv, as bondsmen compelled after the Parthian fashion to render military service (+in armis+, l. 8).
[Linenotes: 8. +Consenuit:+ Carrhae (53 B.C.) was fought 26 years before this Ode was written (27 B.C.). 10-11. +Anciliorum, aeternae Vestae+, pledges of the immortality of Rome. 10. +togae+, i.e. the Roman people, the _gens togata_. 12. +Iove+, Jove's temple on the Capitol.]
C.
Crassus ad Euphraten aquilas natumque suosque Perdidit, et leto est ultimus ipse datus. "Parthe, quid exsultas?" dixit dea, "signa remittes, Quique necem Crassi vindicet, ultor erit." 468
OVID, _Fasti_, vi. 465-468. [[Hallam VI. 397-400]]
[Linenote: 3-4. During the last few months of his life, Caesar was occupied with the preparations for his expedition against the Parthians. In 36 B.C. Antonius carried on a disastrous campaign against Phraates, King of Parthia, but in 20 B.C. Augustus received from the King the Eagles (+signa+, l. 467) and prisoners captured at Carrhae.]
B49
CICERO, GOVERNOR OF CILICIA, 51-50 B.C.
_His humane Administration._
Ipse in Asiam profectus sum Tarso Nonis Ianuariis, non mehercule dici potest, qua admiratione Ciliciae civitatum maximeque Tarsensium; postea vero quam Taurum transgressus sum, mirifica exspectatio Asiae nostrarum dioecesium, quae sex {5} mensibus imperii mei nullas meas acceperat litteras, numquam hospitem viderat. Illud autem tempus quotannis ante me fuerat in hoc quaestu; civitates locupletes, ne in hiberna milites reciperent, magnas pecunias dabant, Cyprii talenta Attica CC, qua ex {10} insula--non #huperbolikôs#, sed verissime loquor--nummus nullus me obtinente erogabatur. Ob haec beneficia, quibus illi obstupescunt, nullos honores mihi nisi verborum decerni sino; statuas, fana, #tethrippa# prohibeo, nec sum in ulla re alia molestus {15} civitatibus, sed fortasse tibi, qui haec praedicem de me. Perifer, si me amas; tu enim me haec facere voluisti. Iter igitur ita per Asiam feci, ut etiam fames, qua nihil miserius est, quae tum erat in hac mea Asia--messis enim nulla fuerat--, mihi optanda {20} fuerit: quacumque iter feci, nulla vi, nullo iudicio, nulla contumelia auctoritate et cohortatione perfeci, ut et Graeci et cives Romani, qui frumentum compresserant, magnum numerum populis pollicerentur.
CICERO, _Ep. ad Atticum_, v. 21.
[Linenotes: 1. +in Asiam+, i.e. to the districts N. of the Taurus range, which belonged geographically to Asia in the Roman sense, but were politically attached to Cilicia. --Watson. +Tarso+ = on the R. Cydnus, about twelve miles above its mouth. Pompeius made Tarsus the capital of the new province of Cilicia, 66 B.C. 6-7. +nullas meas ... viderat+ = _had never received demands_ (+litteras+) _from me, never seen a man billeted on them_. The +hospites+ = _soldiers or public officials_. 8. +fuerat in hoc quaestu+ = _had been devoted to gain in the following fashion_. --Tyrrell. 9. +ne in hiberna milites reciperent:+ Mommsen says 'A town suffered nearly to the same extent when a Roman army took up winter quarters in it as when an enemy took it by storm.' 15. #tethrippa# = _statues in chariots drawn by four horses_. 20-21. +mihi optanda fuerit:+ i.e. because it gave him the opportunity of showing the effect of his personal influence. --T. 23. +compresserant+ = _had stowed away_; lit. _kept back_, rare.]
+Cicero as Governor.+ His administration seems to have been just, considerate and popular.
For +Cicero's Ideal of a Roman Governor+, see _Ep. ad Q. F._ i. 1 (Q. Cicero governed Asia as Propraetor 62-58 B.C.)
CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR.
_Nec quemquam iam ferre potest Caesarve priorem Pompeiusve parem._ --LUCAN.
+56 B.C. By the Conference at Luca+ it was arranged:--
(i) to give Caesar a new term of five years' government in which to complete his work in Gaul (until March 1, 49);
(ii) to give Pompeius the government of the two Spains, and Crassus that of Syria, for five years also.
It was further agreed that Pompeius and Crassus should have the consulship for 55 B.C.
+52 B.C. Pompeius Sole Consul.+ So things continued until 52 B.C., when the constant rioting (Clodius v. Milo), and utter lawlessness prevailing in Rome +gave Pompeius his opportunity+. The Senate in their distress caused Pompeius to be nominated sole Consul, with supreme power to meet the crisis. The death of Julia in 54 and of Crassus in 53 had removed the two strongest influences for peace, and from 52 onwards the breach between Pompeius and Caesar began to widen.
During Caesar's long absence from Rome his opponents, with Cato at their head, were waiting their chance to impeach him for numerous acts in his province, as soon as he appeared in Rome for the consular elections. He would then be merely a private citizen, and as such amenable to prosecution. Now Caesar's proconsulship of Gaul was to terminate on March 1, 49, and the consular elections would take place at the earliest in the following summer. +There would therefore be an interval between the two offices+, and Caesar would be exposed to the utmost peril, if he gave up province and army on March 1, 49. Caesar had long foreseen this. When the law was passed in 55, which added a fresh term of five years to his government, +Pompeius seems to have inserted in it+ (doubtless in accordance with a previous promise to Caesar) +a clause prohibiting the discussion of a successor before March 1, 50+. Caesar therefore could not be superseded except by the consuls of 49, and these would not be able to succeed him (as proconsuls) till Jan. 1, 48. He would thus be able to retain his army and government throughout the year 49.
+Caesar's canvass for the Consulship.+ As the law stood, he would have to come in person to Rome. But early in 52 +a decree was promulgated, with the support of Pompeius, which relieved him from the necessity of canvassing in person+. Caesar might now feel himself safe: he would retain both army and provinces throughout 49, and would not be forced to return to Rome until he was safe from prosecution as Consul.
+Lex Pompeia de iure magistratuum.+ But this did not suit Caesar's enemies. Pompeius and the Senate combined to alter the whole legal machinery for appointing provincial governors. +There was to be an interval of five years between a consulship and a proconsulship+, which would prevent Caesar, even if he were duly elected Consul in 49, from obtaining a fresh provincial governorship until five years from the end of 48. When the bill became law (as it did in 51) there would be an interval of some years before any consuls would be qualified under it for provinces: and to fill up the governorships during the interval, the Senate was authorised to appoint any person of consular rank who had not as yet proceeded to a proconsulship. +Thus Caesar's resignation both of his army and his province could be demanded on March 1, 49.+
+50 B.C. Caesar's overtures for peace.+ Caesar let it be known to the Senate through Curio that +he was willing to resign his army and provinces if Pompeius would simultaneously do the same+: and the Senate voted a resolution in this sense by a majority of 370 to 22. The presiding Consul, Gaius Marcellus, broke up the meeting in anger, and with the two Consuls elected for 49 (Claudius Marcellus and Lentulus Crus) requested Pompeius to put himself at the head of the two legions stationed at Capua and to call the Italian militia to arms.
+Caesar had completely attained the object of devolving the initiative of Civil War on his opponents.+ He had, while himself keeping on legal ground, compelled Pompeius to declare war, and to declare it not as the representative of the legitimate authority, but as general of a revolutionary minority of the Senate, which overawed the majority. --_Adapted from Long, Mommsen, and Warde Fowler._
B50
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (1)
_Caesar crosses the Rubicon, 49 B.C._
Fonte cadit modico parvisque impellitur undis Puniceus Rubicon cum fervida canduit aestas, Perque imas serpit valles et Gallica certus 215 Limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arva colonis. Tunc vires praebebat hiemps atque auxerat undas Tertia iam gravido pluvialis Cynthia cornu Et madidis Euri resolutae flatibus Alpes. Primus in obliquum sonipes opponitur amnem 220 Excepturus aquas; molli tum cetera rumpit Turba vado faciles iam fracti fluminis undas. Caesar, ut adversam superato gurgite ripam Attigit Hesperiae vetitis et constitit arvis, 'Hic' ait 'hic pacem temerataque iura relinquo; 225 Te, Fortuna, sequor; procul hinc iam foedora sunto, Credidimus fatis, utendum est iudice bello.' Sic fatus noctis tenebris rapit agmina ductor Impiger; it torto Balearis verbere fundae Ocior et missa Parthi post terga sagitta 230 Vicinumque minax invadit Ariminum, et ignes Solis lucifero fugiebant astra relicto. Iamque dies primos belli visura tumultus Exoritur; seu sponte deum, seu turbidus Auster Impulerat, maestam tenuerunt nubila lucem. 235
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, i. 213-235.
+Context.+ On Lentulus Crus and Claudius Marcellus, the Consuls for 49 B.C., must rest the immediate blame of the Civil War. On Jan. 1st Caesar's tribune Curio once more presented proposals from Caesar, which startle us by their marvellous moderation (cf. Suet. _Caesar_, 29, 30), but Lentulus would not allow them to be considered. On Jan. 7th the _Senatus consultum ultimum_ was decreed, and a state of war declared. Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the narrow brook which separated his province from Italy, to pass which at the head of an army was high treason to the State. --W. F.
[Linenotes: 214. +puniceus+ = _dark red_: +Rubicon+, as if from _ruber_. 216. +limes+, i.e. until the time of Augustus, by whom Italy was extended to the R. Varus, the boundary between Gallia Narbonensis and Italy. 218. I.e. prob. the third night after the change of moon; +gravido+ = _surcharged with rain_. --Haskins. 219. +Alpes+ = _mountains_, not _the_ Alps. 225. +temerata+, i.e. by Pompeius and the senatorial party. 229. +verbere+ = the _thong_, i.e. of the sling (+fundae+). 231. +Ariminum+ (Rimini), at this period the frontier town of Italy.]
+The Passage of the Rubicon.+ 'When after nine years' absence he trod once more the soil of his native land, he trod at the same time the path of revolution. Alea iacta est.' --M.
B51
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (2)
_Caesar defends himself before the Senate, April 49 B.C._
His rebus confectis Caesar, ut reliquum tempus a labore intermitteretur, milites in proxima municipia deducit; ipse ad urbem proficiscitur. Coacto senatu iniurias inimicorum commemorat. Docet se nullum extraordinarium honorem appetisse, sed exspectato {5} legitimo tempore consulatus eo fuisse contentum, quod omnibus civibus pateret. Latum ab x tribunis plebis contradicentibus inimicis, Catone vero acerrime repugnante et pristina consuetudine dicendi mora dies extrahente, ut sui ratio absentis haberetur, ipso {10} consule Pompeio; qui si improbasset, cur ferri passus esset? qui si improbasset, cur se uti populi beneficio prohibuisset? Patientiam proponit suam, cum de exercitibus dimittendis ultro postulavisset; in quo iacturam dignitatis atque honoris ipse facturus {15} esset. Acerbitatem inimicorum docet, qui, quod ab altero postularent, in se recusarent atque omnia permisceri mallent, quam imperium exercitusque dimittere. Iniuriam in eripiendis legionibus praedicat, crudelitatem et insolentiam in circumscribendis {20} tribunis plebis; condiciones a se latas, expetita colloquia et denegata commemorat. Pro quibus rebus hortatur ac postulat, ut rem publicam suscipiant atque una secum administrent.
CAESAR, _de B. C._ i. 32.
+Context.+ After his passage of the Rubicon, Caesar quickly made himself master of Italy. Town after town opened its gates to him. Corfinium (held in force by Domitius for Pompeius) surrendered, and the captured troops enlisted in his ranks. An attempt to blockade Pompeius in Brundisium was skilfully foiled. On the last day of March Caesar arrived at Rome. The Senate was legally summoned by the tribunes Antonius and Cassius, and +was invited to unite with him in carrying on the government+.
[Linenotes: 2. +municipia+, i.e. Brundisium, Tarentum, Hydruntum (Otranto). 10. +ut sui ... haberetur+, i.e. allowing him to stand for the consulship in his absence. 15. +iacturam dignitatis+ = sacrifice of prestige. --Long. 19. +eripiendis legionibus+, i.e. in 50 B.C. Caesar was required to send home a legion he had borrowed of Pompeius, and contribute another himself, ostensibly for the Parthian War; but the legions were detained by Pompeius in Italy, and the Parthian War was quietly dropped.]
+Caesar in Rome.+ All Caesar's acts after the crossing of the Rubicon were entirely unconstitutional. But when he told the senators that he was prepared to take the government on himself, he was justified to himself by the past, and to posterity by the result. --W. F.
B52
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (3)
_The Campaign round Lerida: the Soldiers fraternise, 49 B.C._
Dixit et ad montes tendentem praevenit hostem. Illic exiguo paulum distantia vallo Castra locant. Postquam spatio languentia nullo Mutua conspicuos habuerunt lumina voltus, 170 Et fratres natosque sues videre, patresque; Deprensum est civile nefas. Tenuere parumper Ora metu, tantum nutu motoque salutant Ense suos; mox ut stimulis maioribus ardens Rupit amor leges, audet transcendere vallum 175 Miles, in amplexus effusas tendere palmas. Hospitis ille ciet nomen, vocat ille propinquum, Admonet hunc studiis consors puerilibus aetas; Nec Romanus erat, qui non agnoverat hostem. 179 Pax erat, et miles castris permixtus utrisque 196 Errabat; duro concordes caespite mensas Instituunt et permixto libamina Baccho; Graminei luxere foci, iunctoque cubili Extrahit insomnes bellorum fabula noctes, 200 Quo primum steterint campo, qua lancea dextrum Exierit. Dum quae gesserunt fortia iactant, Et dum multa negant, quod solum fata petebant, Est miseris renovata fides, atque omne futurum Crevit amore nefas. 205
LUCAN, iv. 167-179, 196-205.
+Context.+ On leaving Rome Caesar set out for Spain to encounter the veteran army of Pompeius under his legati Afranius and Petreius. If this were crushed, he felt he would be free to take the offensive against Pompeius in the East. Round Lerida (_Ilerda_) on the R. Segres (a tributary of the Ebro) he fought the most brilliant campaign of all his military life. After severe losses and hardships, Caesar outmanoeuvred the Pompeians, cut them off from their base on the Ebro, and forced a surrender on most generous terms.
[Linenotes: 167. +Dixit+, sc. Caesar. +ad montes+, i.e. the rocky hills through which the retreating Pompeians had to pass before they could reach the Ebro valley. Caesar, by a wonderful march, outstrips (+praevenit+) them and blocks the way. 169. +spatio+ (sc. _interposito_) +languentia nullo+ = _not failing_ (+languentia+) _owing to the distance_, i.e. they were so near they could not fail to recognise one another. --Haskins. 173. +metu+, i.e. of their leaders. 175. +Rupit leges+ = _burst the bonds of discipline_. --H. 178. +Admonet ... aetas+ = _one is reminded of his friend by the time passed together in boyhood's pursuits_. --H. 200. +Extrahit+ = _whiles away_.]
+Result of the Campaign.+ The whole of the western half of the Empire was now in Caesar's power, with the single exception of Massilia.
B53
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (4)
_Siege of Massilia. A Treacherous Sortie, 49 B.C._
A.
Iam satis hoc Graiae memorandum contigit urbi Aeternumque decus, quod non impulsa nec ipso Strata metu tenuit flagrantis in omnia belli 390 Praecipitem cursum, raptisque a Caesare cunctis Vincitur una mora. Quantum est quod fata tenentur, Quodque virum toti properans imponere mundo Hos perdit fortuna, dies!
LUCAN, iii. 388-394.
+Context.+ Caesar's appeal to the leading citizens to espouse his cause was at first successful, but the arrival of Domitius (whom he had treated so generously at Corfinium) with a fleet caused the Massiliots to change their mind. Unable to remain himself, Caesar entrusted the siege to Trebonius, supported by Dec. Brutus with the fleet. He has, however, left us a detailed account of their skill and energy, and of the heroic defence of the citizens, +marred by a treacherous sortie under a truce+. He returned to receive its final submission, and left the city unharmed, as a tribute 'rather to its ancient renown than to any claim it had on himself.'
[Linenotes: 389. +non impulsa+ = _not urged by others_, i.e. by Pompeius and his adherents. But cf. Caesar, _de B. C._ i. 34. 391. +raptis+ = _speedily won_. --H.]
B. At hostes sine fide tempus atque occasionem fraudis ac doli quaerunt; interiectisque aliquot diebus, nostris languentibus atque animo remissis, {10} subito meridiano tempore, cum alius discessisset, alius ex diutino labore in ipsis operibus quieti se dedisset, arma vero omnia reposita contectaque essent, portis se foras erumpunt, secundo magnoque vento ignem operibus inferunt. Hunc sic distulit {15} ventus, uti uno tempore agger, plutei, testudo, turris, tormenta flammam conciperent, et prius haec omnia consumerentur, quam quem ad modum accidisset animadverti posset. Nostri repentina fortuna permoti arma, quae possunt, arripiunt; alii ex castris {20} sese incitant. Fit in hostes impetus eorum, sed muro sagittis tormentisque fugientes persequi prohibentur. Illi sub murum se recipiunt, ibique musculum turrimque latericiam libere incendunt. Ita multorum mensium labor hostium perfidia et vi {25} tempestatis puncto temporis interiit.
CAESAR, _de Bello Civili_, ii. 14.
[Linenotes: 13. +contecta:+ i.e. the shield kept in a leather casing. 16. +plutei+ = _screens_ or _mantlets_ of hurdles covered with raw hides. 17. +tormenta+ (_torqu + mentum_) = _artillery_, engines for throwing missiles by _twisted_ ropes; e.g. the _ballista_, _catapulta_. 24. +musculum+ = _sapping-shed_. +turrim latericiam+ = _brick tower_. 25. +multorum mensium+, i.e. from May to August 49 B.C.]
B54
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (5)
'_Nothing in his life Became him like the leaving it._'
Quid nunc rostra tibi prosunt turbata forumque Unde tribunicia plebeius signifer arce 800 Arma dabas populis? Quid prodita iura senatus Et gener atque socer bello concurrere iussi? Ante iaces quam dira duces Pharsalia confert, Spectandumque tibi bellum civile negatum est. 804 Libycas en nobile corpus 809 Pascit aves nullo contectus Curio busto. 810 At tibi nos, quando non proderit ista silere A quibus omne aevi senium sua fama repellit, Digna damus, iuvenis, meritae praeconia vitae. Haud alium tanta civem tulit indole Roma, Aut cui plus leges deberent recta sequenti. 815 Perdita nunc urbi nocuerunt saecula, postquam Ambitus et luxus et opum metuenda facultas Transverso mentem dubiam torrente tulerunt; Momentumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum Gallorum captus spoliis et Caesaris auro. 820 Ius licet in iugulos nostros sibi fecerit ense Sulla potens Mariusque ferox et Cinna cruentus Caesareaeque domus series; cui tanta potestas Concessa est? Emere omnes, hic vendidit urbem.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, iv. 799-804, 809-end.
+Context.+ In 49 B.C. Curio was sent by Caesar to wrest the corn-province of Africa from the Pompeians. He won a signal success over Varus (allied with Juba) at Utica, but allowed himself to be surprised on the plain of the Bagradas, and, when all was lost, died sword in hand.
[Linenotes: 800. +tribunicia arce+ = _from the citadel of the tribune_, i.e. the inviolability of the office and the right of veto. As tribune Curio played an all-important part in the crisis of 50 B.C. 801. +prodita iura senatus+, i.e. of the right of the senators to appoint governors of the provinces. --Haskins. 802. +gener atque socer:+ by the early death of Julia (54 B.C.)--a beloved wife and daughter--the personal relation between Pompeius and Caesar was broken up. 812. +senium+ (_senex_) = _decay_ (of lapse of time). 813. +digna ... vitae+ = _such a panegyric_ (+praeconia+) _as thy life deserves_. --H. 815-818. As tribune Curio for a time played the part of an independent republican, till his talent induced Caesar to buy him up. 819. +momentum+ (= _movi + mentum_) +rerum+ = _that which turned the scale of history_. --H. 824. +vendidit+: perh. referred to by Verg. _Aen._ vi. 621-2: _Vendidit hic auro patriam dominumque potentem Imposuit; fixit leges pretio atque refixit._]
B55
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (6)
_Dyrrachium. Caesar's line of circumvallation, 48 B.C._
Erat nova et inusitata belli ratio cum tot castellorum numero tantoque spatio et tantis munitionibus et toto obsidionis genere, tum etiam reliquis rebus. Nam quicumque alterum obsidere conati sunt, perculsos atque infirmos hostes adorti aut proelio superatos {5} aut aliqua offensione permotos continuerunt, cum ipsi numero equitum militumque praestarent; causa autem obsidionis haec fere esse consuevit, ut frumento hostes prohiberent. At tum integras atque incolumes copias Caesar inferiore militum {10} numero continebat, cum illi omnium rerum copia abundarent; cotidie enim magnus undique navium numerus conveniebat, quae commeatum supportarent, neque ullus flare ventus poterat, quin aliqua ex parte secundum cursum haberent. Ipse autem consumptis {15} omnibus longe lateque frumentis summis erat in angustiis. Sed tamen haec singulari patientia milites ferebant. Recordabantur enim eadem se superiore anno in Hispania perpessos labore et patientia maximum bellum confecisse, meminerant ad {20} Alesiam magnam se inopiam perpessos, multo etiam maiorem ad Avaricum maximarum se gentium victores discessisse.
CAESAR, _de B. C._ iii. 47.
+Context.+ In Jan. (48 B.C.) Caesar set sail from Brundisium and landed safely in Epirus. After a junction with Antonius, who followed him from Brundisium with reinforcements, Caesar established himself close to Dyrrachium (Durazzo), the key of the whole military situation. Pompeius refused to fight, and encamped on a hill close to the sea at Petra, a short distance S. of Dyrrachium, where his fleets could bring him supplies. Caesar now determined to hem him in by a line of circumvallation.
[Linenotes: 2. +tanto spatio+: eventually the whole circuit of circumvallation covered at the least 16 miles: to this was afterwards added, just as before Alesia, an outer line of defence. 6. +aut aliqua offensione permotos+ = _or demoralised by some other mishap_ (+offensione+, lit. _stumbling_, and so _failure_). 12-15. Pompeius still had undisputed command of the sea.]
+Caesar's lines broken.+ Pompeius was informed by Celtic deserters that Caesar had not yet secured by a cross wall the beach between his two chains of entrenchment on his left (200 yards apart), leaving it possible to land troops from the sea into the unprotected space. Troops were landed by night: Caesar's outer line of defence was carried, and his lines broken through. 'Like Wellington at Burgos in 1812, Caesar failed from want of a sufficient force. In each case the only safe course was a retreat: in each case the retreat was conducted with admirable skill.' --W. F.
B56
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (7)
_The Eve of Pharsalus. Dream of Pompeius._
At nox, felicis Magno pars ultima vitae, Sollicitos vana decepit imagine somnos. Nam Pompeiani visus sibi sede theatri Innumeram effigiem Romanae cernere plebis, 10 Attollique suum laetis ad sidera nomen Vocibus, et plausu cuneos certare sonantes. Qualis erat populi facies clamorque faventis, Olim cum iuvenis primique aetata triumphi Post domitas gentes quas torrens ambit Hiberus, 15 Et quaecumque fugax Sertorius impulit arma, Vespere pacato, pura venerabilis aeque Quam currus ornante toga, plaudente senatu, Sedit adhuc Romanus eques: seu fine bonorum Anxia venturis ad tempora laeta refugit, 20 Sive per ambages solitas contraria visis Vaticinata quies magni tulit omina planctus, Seu vetito patrias ultra tibi cernere sedes Sic Romam fortuna dedit. Ne rumpite somnos. Castrorum vigiles, nullas tuba verberet aures. 25 Crastina dira quies et imagine maesta diurna Undique funestas acies feret undique bellum. Unde pares somnos populi noctemque beatam? O felix, si te vel sic tua Roma videret.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, vii. 7-29.
[Linenotes: 9. +Pompeiani theatri.+ Pompeius built the first stone theatre at Rome, near the Campus Martius, capable of holding 40,000 people. 10. +Innumeram ... plebis+ = _the image of the countless Roman people_. +innumeram+ which belongs to +plebis+ is transferred to +effigiem+.--Haskins. 14. +Olim ... triumphi+, i.e. over Africa 79 B.C. when only 24, and +adhuc Romanus eques+ (l. 19). It was not until 71 B.C. that he triumphed over Spain, after the murder of Sertorius. Lucan confuses the two triumphs. 16. +impulit+ = _set in motion_ (lit. _drive forward_). 17-18. +pura venerabilis ... toga+ = _no less worshipful in pure white gown than_ (he would have been) _in that which usually adorns the car of triumph_, i.e. the _toga picta_. --H. 20. +anxia+ (sc. _quies_) = _his repose full of anxiety for the future_. --H. 21-22. +solitas ... vaticinata+ = _foretelling the opposite of his visions_ i.e. by the +plausus+ of which he dreamed, the +planctus+ which was in store for him was foreshadowed. --H. 25. +nullas+ = _at all_. Cf. Cic. _Ep._: _nullus venit_ = _he never came_. 26. +Crastina ... diurna+ = _to-morrow's night of horror haunted by the sad image of the day's events_. --H. 29. +sic+, i.e. in dreams.]
+The Dream of Pompeius.+ Macaulay says 'I hardly know an instance of so great an effect produced by means so simple.'
B57
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (8)
_Pompeius ill-advised at Pharsalus, 48 B.C._
Inter duas acies tantum erat relictum spatii, ut satis esset ad concursum utriusque exercitus. Sed Pompeius suis praedixerat, ut Caesaris impetum exciperent neve se loco moverent aciemque eius distrahi paterentur; idque admonitu C. Triarii {5} fecisse dicebatur, ut primus excursus visque militum infringeretur aciesque distenderetur atque in suis ordinibus dispositi dispersos adorirentur; leviusque casura pila sperabat in loco retentis militibus, quam si ipsi immissis telis occucurrissent, simul fore, ut {10} duplicato cursu Caesaris milites exanimarentur et lassitudine conficerentur. Quod nobis quidem nulla ratione factum a Pompeio videtur, propterea quod est quaedam animi incitatio atque alacritas naturaliter innata omnibus, quae studio pugnae incenditur. {15} Hanc non reprimere, sed augere imperatores debent; neque frustra antiquitus institutum est, ut signa undique concinerent clamoremque universi tollerent: quibus rebus et hostes terreri et suos incitari existimaverunt. {20}
CAESAR, _de Bello Civili_, iii. 92.
+Context.+ Caesar made for Apollonia, where he left his wounded, and then marched S.E. into Thessaly, where he joined Domitius Calvinus. (He had been sent with two legions E. into Macedonia, to stop reinforcements for Pompeius under Scipio, Pompeius' father-in-law.) Pompeius followed Caesar, and encamped on the slope of a hill facing Caesar's position near Pharsalus. Here he offered battle, his better judgment overruled by the clamorous Senators in his camp.
[Linenotes: 4-5. +aciem ... paterentur+ = _so as to allow their_ (advancing) _line to become disorganised_ (+distrahi+), by the force of its onset. 7. +in suis ... dispositi+ = _by maintaining their proper distances_.]
+Scene of the Fight.+ The battle was fought near the town of _Pharsalus_, while the territory of the town was named _Pharsalia_. Cf. Catull. lxiv. 37:
+Pharsalum+ _coeunt_, +Pharsalia+ _late frequentant_.
+The Battle.+ Pompeius had 47,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry against Caesar's 22,000 infantry and 1000 cavalry. Pompeius stationed his cavalry and archers on his left, and confidently expected to outflank his enemy's right. But Caesar, foreseeing the defeat of his cavalry, had stationed behind it in reserve 2000 of his best legionaries. When Caesar's cavalry fell back outnumbered, this reserve ran forward at the charge, not discharging their _pila_, but using them as spears, and driving them against man and horse. Taken aback by so unusual an infantry attack, the Pompeian cavalry wavered and fled. Caesar's third line (forming a rear-guard) was now sent forward to support the two front lines, and this decided the battle. --+Result.+ Submission of the East to Caesar.
B58
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (9)
A. _Pharsalus and Cannae compared._
Non aetas haec carpsit edax monimentaque rerum Putria destituit: crimen civile videmus Tot vacuas urbes. Generis quo turba redacta est Humani? Toto populi qui nascimur orbe 400 Nec muros implere viris nec possumus agros; Urbs nos una capit. Vincto fossore coluntur Hesperiae segetes, stat tectis putris avitis In nullos ruitura domus, nulloque frequentem Cive suo Romam, sed mundi faece repletam 405 Cladis eo dedimus, ne tanto in tempore bellum Iam posset civile geri. Pharsalia tanti Causa mali. Cedant feralia nomina Cannae Et damnata diu Romanis Allia fastis. Tempora signavit leviorum Roma malorum: 410 Hunc voluit nescire diem.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, vii. 397-411.
[Linenotes: 397-398. +monimentaque ... destituit+ = _and has abandoned to decay the monuments of the past_. --Haskins. 402. +vincto fossore+ = _by a chained digger_ (delver), in consequence of the dearth of free labour. Cf. Juv. xi. 80 _squalidus in magna ... compede fossor_. 404. +in nullos ruitura+ = _ready to fall, but on the heads of none_. --H. 405. +faece+ = _dregs_. Cf. Juv. iii. 60, 61 _Non possum ferre Quirites_ | _Graecam urbem_ (a Greek Rome); _quamvis_ (and yet) _quota portio_ (how small a fraction) _faecis Achaei_? 406-407. +ne tanto ... geri+ = lit. _so that during the long time since, it is impossible to wage_ +civil+ _war_, i.e. from the dearth of genuine Roman soldiers. 409. +Allia+: 390 B.C. Cf. Vergil. _Aeneid_, vii. 717 _quosque secans infaustum interluit Allia nomen_. 411. +nescire+ = _to ignore_.]
B. _The Battlefields of Pharsalus and Philippi._
Ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis Romanas acies iterum videre Philippi; 490 Nec fuit indignum superis, bis sanguine nostro Emathiam et latos Haemi pinguescere campos. Scilicet et tempus veniet, cum finibus illis Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro, Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila, 495 Aut gravibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanes, Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.
VERGIL, _Georg._ i. 489-497.
[Linenotes: 489. +Ergo+ = _therefore_, in fulfilment of the terrible warnings at the death of Caesar. 490. +iterum+, i.e. at Philippi 42 B.C.; the first time at Pharsalus.]
B59
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (10)
_How Pompeius died, 48 B.C._
Pompeius, deposito adeundae Syriae consilio, et aeris magno pondere ad militarem usum in naves imposito, duobusque milibus hominum armatis, Pelusium pervenit. Ibi casu rex erat Ptolemaeus, puer aetate, magnis copiis cum sorore Cleopatra {5} bellum gerens, quam paucis ante mensibus per suos propinquos atque amicos regno expulerat; castraque Cleopatrae non longo spatio ab eius castris distabant. Ad eum Pompeius misit, ut pro hospitio atque amicitia patris Alexandria reciperetur atque illius opibus in {10} calamitate tegeretur. Sed, qui ab eo missi erant, confecto legationis officio, liberius cum militibus regis colloqui coeperant eosque hortari, ut suum officium Pompeio praestarent, neve eius fortunam despicerent. His tunc cognitis rebus amici regis, {15} qui propter aetatem eius in procuratione erant regni, sive timore adducti, ne Pompeius Alexandriam Aegyptunique occuparet, sive despecta eius fortuna, iis, qui erant ab eo missi, palam liberaliter responderunt eumque ad regem venire iusserunt: ipsi, {20} clam consilio inito, Achillan, praefectum regium, singulari hominem audacia, et L. Septimium, tribunum militum, ad interficiendum Pompeium miserunt. Ab his liberaliter ipse appellatus naviculam parvulam conscendit cum paucis suis, et ibi {25} ab Achilla et Septimio interficitur.
CAESAR, _de Bello Civili_, iii. 103, 104 (sel.)
+Context.+ After the battle of Pharsalus, Pompeius, closely pursued by Caesar, had thoughts of going to Parthia and trying to form alliances there. While in Cyprus he heard that Antioch (in Syria) had declared for Caesar and that the route to the Parthians was no longer open. So he altered his plan and sailed to Egypt, where a number of his old soldiers served in the Egyptian army.
[Linenotes: 4. +Pelusium+, on the E. side of the easternmost mouth of the Nile. 5. +cum sorore Cleopatra.+ By his father's will, Ptolemy ruled jointly with his sister for three years, 51-48 B.C., when he expelled her. Cleopatra raised an army in Syria and invaded Egypt. The two armies were encamped opposite each other when Pompeius landed to seek the help of Ptolemy. 15. +amici regis+, e.g. Achillas, l. 21, and espec. Ptolemy's guardian Pothinus, the _de facto_ ruler of Egypt.]
'On the same day (28 Sept.) on which he had triumphed over Mithridates (61 B.C.) Pompeius died on the desert sands of the inhospitable Casian shore by the hands of one of his old soldiers (Septimius).'--M.
B60
CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS, 106-48 B.C. (11)
_Cato's Eulogy on Pompeius._
'Civis obit,' inquit, 'multum maioribus impar 190 Nosse modum iuris sed in hoc tamen utilis aevo, Cui non ulla fuit iusti reverentia; salva Libertate potens, et solus plebe parata Privatus servire sibi, rectorque senatus, Sed regnantis, erat. Nil belli iure poposcit, 195 Quaeque dari voluit, voluit sibi posse negari. Immodicas possedit opes, sed plura retentis Intulit: invasit ferrum, sed ponere norat; Praetulit arma togae, sed pacem armatus amavit; Iuvit sumpta ducem, iuvit dimissa potestas. 200 Casta domus luxuque carens corruptaque numquam Fortuna domini. Clarum et venerabile nomen Gentibus, et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi. . . . . . . . O felix, cui summa dies fuit obvia victo, 208 Et cui quaerendos Pharium scelus obtulit enses! Forsitan in soceri potuisses vivere regno. Scire mori sors prima viris sed proxima cogi.' 211 Vocibus his maior, quam si Romana sonarent 215 Rostra ducis laudes, generosam venit ad umbram Mortis honos.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, ix. 190-217.
[Linenotes: 190-191. +multum ... iuris+ = _far inferior to our ancestors in recognising the due bounds of power_. --Haskins. 193. +solus+ (sc. _ex proceribus_) ... +servire sibi+ = _alone (of the chief men of the State) acting the private citizen when the populace were ready to be his slaves_, i.e. acting unlike Sulla or Caesar. --H. 195. +sed regnantis.+ 'Pompeius came forward as the duly installed general of the Senate against the Imperator of the street, once more to save his country.' --M. 198. +Intulit+, sc. _in aerarium_. Cf. Shaksp. _Jul. C._ III. ii. (Mark Antony of Caesar) 'He hath brought many captives home to Rome | Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.' 'Caesar devoted the proceeds of the confiscations (the property of defeated opponents) entirely to the benefit of the State.' --M. 208. +cui summa dies ... victo+ = _whom the day of death met when he was vanquished_, i.e. without his having to seek it himself. --H. 209. +Pharium+ = _Egyptian_, lit. of _Pharos_ (= Faro), an island near Alexandria, famous for its lighthouse. 211. One of Lucan's famous _sententiae_ (#gnômai#, _maxims_).]
+Pompeius.+ 'Even in his own age he would have had a clearly defined and respectable position, _had he contented himself with being the general of the Senate_, for which he was from the outset destined.' --M.
B61
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (12)
_The Grave of Pompeius. His Roll of Fame._
Tunc ne levis aura retectos Auferret cineres, saxo compressit harenam: 790 Nautaque ne bustum religato fune moveret, Inscripsit sacrum semiusto stipite nomen: HIC SITUS EST MAGNUS. . . . Quod si tam sacro dignaris nomine saxum, 806 Adde actus tantos monimentaque maxima rerum, Adde truces Lepidi motus Alpinaque bella Armaque Sertori revocato consule victa, Et currus quos egit eques, commercia tuta 810 Gentibus et pavidos Cilicas maris: adde subactam Barbariem gentesque vagas et quidquid in Euro Regnorum Boreaque iacet. Die semper ab armis Civilem repetisse togam, ter curribus actis Contentum patriae multos donasse triumphos. 815 Quis capit haec tumulus? Surgit miserabile bustum Non ullis plenum titulis, non ordine tanto Fastorum, solitumque legi super alta deorum Culmina et exstructos spoliis hostilibus arcus Haud procul est ima Pompei nomen harena, 820 Depressum tumulo, quod non legat advena rectus, Quod nisi monstratum Romanus transeat hospes.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, viii. 789-793, 806-822.
+Subject.+ Cordus, whom Lucan calls _infaustus Magni comes_ (or according to Plutarch Philippus the faithful freedman of Pompeius), finds the cast-up body of Pompeius and gives it honourable burial.
[Linenotes: 793. +HIC SITUS EST+ = #enthade keitai#, the regular inscription on a tombstone. 808. +truces Lepidi motus.+ Cf. page 178, last note on page. 809. +revocato consule+, i.e. Metellus. Cf. page 180, A., l. 12. [[Selection B21, "Metello"]] 811. +pavidos Cilicas maris+ = _the Cilicians scared from the sea_. --Jebb. _Pompeius effecit ut piratae timerent maria quibus ipsi ante grassabantur_ (= they sailed at will).--Schol. 813-814. +dic semper ... togam+, e.g. after his triumph over Spain 71 B.C., and over Mithridates and the East in 61 B.C. 814-815. +ter curribus ... triumphos+ = (tell how) _content with thrice driving the_ (triumphal) _car he made a present to his fatherland of many triumphs_, i.e. he did not claim them when he might have done so. 817-818. +Non ordine tanto Fastorum+ = _storied with no majestic annals_. --Jebb. 819. +arcus+ = _triumphal arches_, orig. temporary structures of wood, but under the Empire built of marble, e.g. of Septimius Severus. 821. +Depressum ... rectus+ = _sunk low upon a tomb, which the stranger cannot read without stooping_ (+rectus+).--Haskins.]
B62
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (13)
_Atrox Animus Catonis, 46 B.C._
Complures interim ex fuga Uticam perveniunt. Quos omnes Cato convocatos una cum trecentis, qui pecuniam Scipioni ad bellum faciendum contulerant, hortatur, ut servitia manumitterent, oppidumque defenderent. Quorum cum partem assentire, partem {5} animum mentemque perterritam atque in fugam destinatam habere intellexisset, amplius de ea re agere destitit, navesque eis attribuit, ut in quas quisque partes vellet proficisceretur. Ipse, omnibus rebus diligentissime constitutis, liberis suis L. Caesari, {10} qui tum ei pro quaestore fuerat, commendatis et sine suspicione, vultu atque sermone, quo superiore tempore usus fuerat, cum dormitum isset, ferrum intro clam in cubiculum tulit, atque ita se traiecit. Qui cum anima nondum exspirata concidisset, et, {15} impetu facto in cubiculum ex suspicione, medicus familiaresque continere atque vulnus obligare coepissent, ipse suis manibus vulnus crudelissime divellit, atque animo praesenti se interemit.
ASINIUS POLLIO, _de B. Africo_, 88.
+Context.+ After Pharsalus and the flight of Pompeius, we finally part company with Caesar as an author. The _Bellum Alexandrinum_ (Caesar's perils in Egypt and his settlement of the East 48-47 B.C.), the _B. Africum_ (Thapsus 46 B.C.), the _B. Hispaniense_ (Munda 45 B.C.), are the work of eyewitnesses and officers of his army. After a delay of fifteen precious months Caesar landed in Africa (Jan. 46), and by investing Thapsus tempted Scipio (Pompeius' father-in-law) to try to save the city by a battle. His troops were quickly arranged as at Pharsalus, and by a single impetuous charge won a complete victory. The slaughter was terrible: the survivors fled to Utica, where Cato in vain tried to organise a defence and to restore order, and then in despair died by his own sword.
[Linenotes: 1. +Uticam:+ second in importance to Carthage. 19. +animo praesenti+ = _deliberately_.]
+After Thapsus.+ 'Caesar left Africa in June 46 B.C., and celebrated a magnificent triumph, not over Roman citizens, but over Gauls and Egyptians, Pharnaces and Juba. As Dictator he remained in Rome several months, in which more permanently valuable work was done than was ever achieved in the same space of time, unless it were by Cromwell in 1653-4. The senseless outbreak of the Pompeian party in Spain under Labienus and the two sons of Pompeius took him away from Rome: but the victory of Munda (45 B.C.) closed the civil strife. Caesar returned to Rome in September, and six months more of life was all that was left to him.' --W. F.
B63
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (14)
_Cato Uticensis, 46 B.C._
A. Hic genitus proavo M. Catone, principe illo familiae Porciae, homo Virtuti simillimus et per omnia ingenio diis quam hominibus propior, qui nunquam recte fecit, ut facere videretur, sed quia aliter facere non potuerat, cuique id solum visum {5} est rationem habere, quod haberet iustitiae, omnibus humanis vitiis immunis semper fortunam in sua potestate habuit.
VELL. PATERC. ii. 35.
[Linenote: 1. +M. Catone+, the famous Censor of 184 B.C. +principe+ = _founder_.]
B.
Ut primum tolli feralia viderat arma, Intonsos rigidam in frontem descendere canos 375 Passus erat maestamque genis increscere barbam: Uni quippe vacat studiis odiisque carenti Humanum lugere genus . . . Hi mores, haec duri immota Catonis 380 Secta fuit, servare modum finemque tenere Naturamque sequi patriaeque impendere vitam Nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo. Huic epulae, vicisse famem; magnique penates, Summovisse hiemem tecto; pretiosaque vestis, 385 Hirtam membra super Romani more Quiritis Induxisse togam . . . Iustitiae cultor, rigidi servator honesti, 389 In commune bonus: nullosque Catonis in actus Subrepsit partemque tulit sibi nata voluptas.
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, ii. 374-391 (sel.)
[Linenotes: 377. +uni+ (sc. _Catoni_), as the only true representative of the wise man of the Stoics. --Haskins. 381. +secta+ (sc. _via_, lit. _a beaten way_) here = _disciplina_ = _principles_. 381-383. +servare modum ... mundo.+ These expressions are Stoic maxims. Lucan (the nephew of Seneca) depicts the Stoic idea of virtue in the character of Cato. 382-383. +patriaeque ... mundo.+ Cato's aim is +patriae impendere vitam+. His devotion to the service of humanity is complete; it is his part +toti genitum se credere mundo+. But this humanity includes Rome in the first place, the rest of the world in a quite secondary sense. --H. 386-387. +hirtam togam+ = _a coarse_ (lit. _hairy_) _toga_. 389. +honesti+ = #tou kalou#. Cicero defines +honestum+ as _aut ipsa virtus, aut res gesta virtute_.]
+Cato Uticensis.+ 'He was like Caesar alone in this, that he had clear political convictions and acted on them not only with consistency but with justice and humanity. It is "his vain faith and courage" that alone lights up the dark hours of the falling Commonwealth:--
'Victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni.' --W. F.
B64
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR. (5)
_Caesar dines with Cicero, Dec. 19, 45 B.C._
O hospitem mihi tam gravem #ametamelêton#! fuit enim periucunde. Sed cum secundis Saturnalibus ad Philippum vesperi venisset, villa ita completa militibus est, ut vix triclinium, ubi cenaturus ipse Caesar esset, vacaret; quippe hominum CI[C] CI[C]. {5} Sane sum commotus, quid futurum esset postridie; at mihi Barba Cassius subvenit: custodes dedit. Castra in agro, villa defensa est. Ille tertiis Saturnalibus apud Philippum ad h. VII, nec quemquam admisit: rationes opinor cum Balbo. Inde ambulavit {10} in litore; post h. VIII in balneum; unctus est, accubuit. Et edit et bibit #adeôs# et iucunde, opipare sane et apparate, nec id solum, sed
_bene cocto, condito, sermone bono et, si quaeri', libenter._ 15
Praeterea tribus tricliniis accepti #hoi peri auton# valde copiose. Libertis minus lautis servisque nihil defuit: nam lautiores eleganter accepti. Quid multa? homines visi sumus. Hospes tamen non is, cui diceres: 'amabo te, eodem ad me, cum revertere': semel {20} satis est. #Spoudaion ouden# in sermone, #philologa# multa. Quid quaeris? delectatus est et libenter fuit. Puteolis se aiebat unum diem fore, alterum ad Baias. Habes hospitium sive #epistathmeian#, odiosam mihi, dixi, non molestam. {25}
CICERO, _Ep. ad Att._ xiii. 52.
+Subject.+ We here catch a glimpse of Caesar as he really was. He had spent a night near Puteoli (where Cicero also had a villa) with Philippus, the step-father of Octavianus. The Dictator proposed a visit, and Cicero in this memorable letter describes to Atticus what happened.
[Linenotes: 1. +O hospitem ...+ #ametamelêton#! = _Oh, what a formidable guest to have had, and yet I have had no reason to repent of it_ (#ametamelêton#). 10. +rationes+ (sc. _conferebat_) ... +Balbo+ = _he was settling accounts with Balbus, I suppose_. L. Cornelius Balbus, a native of Gades (Cadiz), was Caesar's confidential secretary and faithful friend. He was the first enfranchised foreigner who attained to the highest magistracy (Consul 40 B.C.). 14-15. 'Though the cook was good, 'Twas Attic salt (+sermone bono+) that flavoured most the food.' --Jeans. 18-19. +homines visi sumus+ = _I showed myself a man of taste_, i.e. as host. 21. #Spoudaion ouden# = lit. _nothing serious_, i.e. _nothing political_. #philologa# = _literary chat_. 24-25. #epistathmeian# = _billeting_, as Caesar's offer to dine with Cicero was equivalent to a command. +odiosam ... molestam+ = _unwelcome, though not disagreeable_.]
B65
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR. (6)
_The Death of Caesar, 44 B.C._
Assidentem conspirati specie officii circumsteterunt; ilicoque Cimber Tillius, qui primas partes susceperat, quasi aliquid rogaturus propius accessit, renuentique et gestu in aliud tempus differenti ab utroque umero togam apprehendit; deinde clamantem: {5} _Ista quidem vis est_, alter e Cascis aversum vulnerat, paulum infra iugulum. Caesar Cascae brachium arreptum graphio traiecit, conatusque prosilire alio vulnere tardatus est; utque animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput {10} obvolvit, simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura deduxit, quo honestius caderet etiam inferiore corporis parte velata. Atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est, uno modo ad primum ictum gemitu sine voce edito; etsi tradiderunt quidam {15} Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse: #Kai su teknon#; Exanimis, diffugientibus cunctis, aliquamdiu iacuit, donec lecticae impositum, dependente brachio, tres servoli domum rettulerunt. Nec in tot vulneribus, ut Antistius medicus existimabat, letale ullum {20} repertum est, nisi quod secundo loco in pectore acceperat.
SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 82.
+Context.+ After his return from Spain (Sept. 45 B.C.), Caesar was busy with the reconstruction of the Senate, the completion of his vast buildings in Rome, and with other far-reaching projects. But during these months the clouds of ill-will were gathering and threatening him on every side. A conspiracy was formed, of which C. Cassius, 'a lean and hungry man,' of a bitter and jealous disposition, seems to have been the real instigator. He persuaded Brutus, a student of life chiefly in books, that liberty could only be gained by murder, and at last it was resolved that the deed should be done on the Ides (15th) of March.
[Linenotes: 8. +graphio+ (#graphion# = _scriptorium_) = _a writing-style_. 12. +quo honestius caderet+, cf. Ovid, _Fasti_ ii. 833 (of Lucretia): [Hallam II. 675] _Tunc quoque iam moriens ne non procumbat honeste Respicit, haec etiam cura cadentis erat._ 16. #Kai su teknon#; there seems to be no authority for attributing the words _Et tu Brute?_ to Caesar. Shakespeare found them in an earlier play.]
+The Murder of Caesar.+ 'It is the most brutal and the most pathetic scene that profane history has to record; it was, as Goethe has said, the most senseless deed that ever was done. It was wholly useless, for it did not and could not save Rome from monarchy. The deed was done by a handful of men, who, pursuing a phantom liberty and following the lead of a personal hatred, slew +the one man who saw the truth of things+.' --W. F.
B66
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR. (7)
'_There may be many Caesars Ere such another Julius._'--Cymbeline.
A. Fuit in illo ingenium, ratio, memoria, litterae, cura, cogitatio, diligentia; res bello gesserat quamvis rei publicae calamitosas, at tamen magnas; multos annos regnare meditatus magno labore multis periculis quod cogitarat effecerat; muneribus, monumentis, {5} congiariis, epulis multitudinem imperitam delenierat: suos praemiis, adversarios clementiae specie devinxerat.
CICERO, _Philippica_, ii. 45.
[Linenotes: 4. +regnare meditatus.+ For Caesar monarchy meant the liberation of the Empire. 5. +muneribus+ (sc. +gladiatoriis+) = _gladiatorial shows_. +monumentis+ = _public buildings_, e.g. his forum, amphitheatre, Temple of Venus Genetrix, and other public works begun (e.g. the _Curia Iulia_) and planned. 6. +congiariis+ (sc. _donis_), orig. a _gift of wine_ (a _congius_ = about 6 pints), then = _wine-money_ (Ger. _Trinkgeld_), and so of any largess. 7-8. +clementiae specie.+ Cic. himself refutes this ungrateful taunt in his _pro Marcello_: _Recte igitur unus invictus est, a quo etiam ipsius victoriae condicio visque devicta est_.]
B.
Sed non in Caesare tantum Nomen erat nec fama ducis, sed nescia virtus Stare loco, solusque pudor non vincere bello. Acer et indomitus, quo spes quoque ira vocasset, 145 Ferre manum et numquam temerando parcere ferro. Successus urguere suos, instare favori Numinis, impellens quidquid sibi summa petenti Obstaret, gaudensque viam fecisse ruina. 150
LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, i. 143-150.
[Linenotes: 143-144. +tantum nomen+ = _not a mere name alone_, in contrast to Pompeius:--_Stat magni nominis umbra._ -- Haskins. 146. +temerando parcere ferro+ = _shrink from dyeing his sword_ (in blood).--H.]
_Apotheosis of Caesar._
C. Periit sexto et quinquagesimo aetatis anno atque in deorum numerum relatus est, non ore modo decernentium sed et persuasione volgi. Si quidem ludis, quos primos consecrato ei heres Augustus edebat, {20} stella crinita per septem continuos dies fulsit, exoriens circa undecimam horam, creditumque est animam esse Caesaris in caelum recepti; et hac de causa simulacro eius in vertice additur stella.
SUET. _Div. Iul._ 88.
[Linenotes: 21. +stella crinita+ (= #komêtês#); cf. Verg. _Georg._ iv. 466-8: _Ille_ (= the sun) _etiam exstincto miseratus Caesare Romam Cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine_ (= gloom) _texit, Impiaque aeternam timuerunt saecula noctem._]
'FACTA DUCIS VIVENT, OPEROSAQUE GLORIA RERUM.' --_OVID._
'THE HERO'S DEEDS AND HARD-WON FAME SHALL LIVE.'
Caesar was the sole creative genius produced by Rome, and the last produced by the ancient world, which accordingly moved on in the path that he marked out for it until its sun went down.
Whatever he undertook and achieved was pervaded and guided by the cool sobriety which constitutes the most marked peculiarity of his genius. To this he owed the power of living energetically in the present, undisturbed either by recollection or by expectation: to this he owed the capacity of acting at any moment with collected vigour, and of applying his whole genius even to the smallest and most incidental enterprise. Gifts such as these could not fail to produce a statesman.
+Caesar as a statesman.+--From early youth Caesar was a statesman in the deepest sense of the term, and his aim was the +political, military, intellectual, and moral regeneration of his own deeply decayed nation, and of the still more deeply decayed Hellenic nation intimately akin to his own+. According to his original plan, he had proposed to reach his object, like Pericles and Gaius Gracchus, without force of arms, until, reluctantly convinced of the necessity for a military support, he, when already forty years of age, put himself at the head of an army.
+His talent for organisation was marvellous.+--No statesman has ever compelled alliances, no general has ever collected an army out of unyielding and refractory elements with such decision, and kept them together with such firmness, as Caesar displayed in constraining and upholding his coalitions and his legions; never did regent judge his instruments and assign each to the place appropriate for him with so accurate an eye.
+He was monarch; but he never played the king.+--'I am no king, but Caesar.' Even when absolute lord of Rome, he retained the deportment of the party-leader; perfectly pliant and smooth, easy and charming in conversation, complaisant towards everyone, it seemed as if he wished io be nothing but the first among his peers.
Caesar ruled as king of Rome for five years and a half, not half as long as Alexander: in the intervals of seven great campaigns, which allowed him to stay not more than fifteen months altogether in the capital of his empire, +he regulated the destinies of the world for the present and the future+. The outlines were laid down, and thereby the new State was defined for all coming time: the boundless future alone could complete the structure. But precisely because the building was an endless one, the master so long as he lived restlessly added stone to stone, with always the same dexterity and always the same elasticity busy at work. Thus he worked and created as never did any man before or after him: and as a worker and creator he still, after well-nigh two thousand years, lives in the memory of the nations--the first and withal unique Imperator Caesar.
MOMMSEN.
B67
CICERO AND ANTONIUS.
A. _Peroration of the Second Philippic, 44 B.C._
Respice, quaeso, aliquando rem publicam, M. Antoni: quibus ortus sis, non quibuscum vivas considera: mecum, uti voles: redi cum re publica in gratiam. Sed de te tu videris: ego de me ipso profitebor. Defendi rem publicam adulescens, non {5} deseram senex: contempsi Catilinae gladios, non pertimescam tuos. Quin etiam corpus libenter obtulerim, si repraesentari morte mea libertas civitatis potest: ut aliquando dolor populi Romani pariat, quod iam diu parturit. Etenim si abhinc {10} annos prope viginti hoc ipso in templo negavi posse mortem immaturam esse consulari, quanto verius nunc negabo seni? Mihi vero, patres conscripti, iam etiam optanda mors est, perfuncto rebus eis quas adeptus sum quasque gessi. Duo modo haec {15} opto: unum, ut moriens populum Romanum liberum relinquam--hoc mihi maius ab dis immortalibus dari nihil potest,--alterum, ut ita cuique eveniat ut de re publica quisque mereatur.
CICERO, _Phil._ ii. 46.
[Linenotes: 2. +quibus ortus sis+: espec. his grandfather M. Antonius, the famous orator, whom Cicero held in great esteem. 5. +adulescens+, i.e. in 63 B.C., when he was in his 44th year. 8. +repraesentari+ = _be realised, won now and here_. --Jebb. 11. +templo+, i.e. _Concordiae_. Cic. refers to _In Catil._ iv.
+The Peroration.+ 'Such a passage speaks to us with a living impression of unity and directness which we acknowledge without question. We admire and ask for nothing more.' --Nettleship.
B. _On the Murder of Cicero, by order of Antonius._
Par scelus admisit Phariis Antonius armis: Abscidit voltus ensis uterque sacros. Illud, laurigeros ageres cum laeta triumphos, Hoc tibi, Roma, caput, cum loquereris, erat. 4 Antoni tamen est peior quam causa Pothini: Hic facinus domino praestitit, ille sibi.
MARTIAL, _Epig._ III. lxvi.
[Linenotes: 1. +Par Phariis armis+ = _which matches (that committed by) the armed hand of an Egyptian_, i.e. Pothinus (the guardian of the young king) who planned the murder of Pompeius, when he fled to Egypt 48 B.C. +sacros+: _consecrated_ to Rome from their public services. 3-4. +Illud caput+ = Pompeius. +hoc caput+ = Cicero. Cf. _Epig._ v. lxix: _Quid gladium demens_ +Romana+ _stringis_ +in ora+? 6. +domino+, sc. Ptolemaeus, King of Egypt, jointly with Cleopatra.]
B68
CICERO.
A. _Cicero as Orator and Poet._
Eloquium ac famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis Incipit optare et totis Quinquatribus optat 115 Quisquis adhuc uno parcam colit asse Minervam, Quem sequitur custos angustae vernula capsae. Eloquio sed uterque perit orator, utrumque Largus et exundans leto dedit ingenii fons. Ingenio manus est et cervix caesa, nec umquam 120 Sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli. 'O fortunatam natam me consule Romam': Antoni gladios potuit contemnere, si sic Omnia dixisset. Ridenda poemata malo Quam te, conspicuae divina Philippica famae, 125 Volveris a prima quae proxima.
JUVENAL, _Satires_, x. 114-126.
[Linenotes: 114-117. Boys at school long to be a Demosthenes or a Cicero. 115. +totis Quinquatribus+, i.e. during all the five days of the Quinquatria, an annual feast of Minerva, March 19-23: it was always a holiday time at schools, and the school year began at the close of it. 116. +parcam Minervam+ = _a cheap kind of learning_, and +uno asse+ = _an entrance fee of one_ +as+. But Duff says +as+ here = +stips+, i.e. the boy's contribution to the goddess of wisdom, who can make him wise, and +parcam+ (= _economical_), transferred from +asse+ to +Minervam+. 117. +vernula+ = _a little home-born slave_, +capsa+ a circular box of beech-wood, used for the transport of books. 121. +causidici pusilli+ = _of a petty pleader_, as opposed to orator. 122. From Cicero's poem _de suo consulatu_. Another line quoted in the 2nd Philippic is _Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea laudi_. 124. +Ridenda poemata malo+, i.e. they are better as being safer. Juvenal himself refutes this argument: _Summum crede nefas animam praeferre pudori Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas._]
B. _Cicero as Advocate._
Disertissime Romuli nepotum, Quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli, Quotque post aliis erunt in annis, Gratias tibi maximas Catullus Agit pessimus omnium poeta, 5 Tanto pessimus omnium poeta Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.
CATULLUS, xlix.
[Linenotes: 2. +Marce Tulli+: the formal address suits the formal expression of thanks to a _patronus_ (= _advocate_). 5. +pessimus omnium poeta:+ the self-depreciation heightens the praise of the last line. --Merrill.]
B69
CICERO.
_His Death, by order of Antonius, 43 B.C._
M. Cicero sub adventum triumvirorum urbe cesserat pro certo habens id quod erat, non magis se Antonio eripi quam Caesari Cassium et Brutum posse: primo in Tusculanum fugerat, inde transversis itineribus in Formianum ut ab Caieta navem {5} conscensurus proficiscitur. Unde aliquoties in altum provectum cum modo venti adversi retulissent, modo ipse iactationem navis caeco volvente fluctu pati non posset, taedium tandem eum et fugae et vitae cepit, regressusque ad superiorem villam, quae paulo {10} plus mille passibus a mari abest, 'moriar,' inquit, 'in patria saepe servata.' Satis constat servos fortiter fideliterque paratos fuisse ad dimicandum; ipsum deponi lecticam et quietos pati quod sors iniqua cogeret iussisse. Prominenti ex lectica praebentique {15} immotam cervicem caput praecisum est. Nec satis stolidae crudelitati militum fuit: manus quoque scripsisse aliquid in Antonium exprobrantes praeciderunt. Ita relatum caput ad Antonium iussuque eius inter duas manus in rostris positum, ubi {20} ille consul, ubi saepe consularis, ubi eo ipso anno adversus Antonium quanta nulla umquam humana vox cum admiratione eloquentiae auditus fuerat: vix attollentes prae lacrimis oculos homines intueri trucidati membra civis poterant. Vixit tres et sexaginta {25} annos, ut si vis afuisset, ne immatura quidem mors videri possit.
LIVY, _Fr. ap. Sen. Rh. Suas._ vii.
[Linenotes: 1. +triumvirorum+, sc. Antonius, Octavianus, and Lepidus. These three allies (about the end of Oct. 43 B.C.) held their famous meeting on an island in the R. Rhenus (a tributary of the Padus) near Bononia (Bologna), at which they constituted themselves a commission of three with absolute powers for five years. This was followed by a proscription of their principal opponents, of whom seventeen, including Cicero (sacrificed to Antonius), were at once put to death. 4. +in Tusculanum+, i.e. to his villa at Tusculum, richly adorned with pictures and statues. 5. +in Formianum+, i.e. to his villa at Formiae, on the Appian Way, in the innermost corner of the beautiful Gulf of Caieta (Gaëta). Near this villa Cicero was murdered.]
+The Death of Cicero.+ Cicero's work was over, and the tragedy of his death was the natural outcome of his splendid failure. The restoration of the Commonwealth of the Scipios was but a dream; still it was a beautiful dream, and Cicero gave his life for it. --Tyrrell.
B70
_In Praise of Cicero._
A. Nihil tamen egisti, M. Antoni, nihil, inquam, egisti mercedem caelestissimi oris et clarissimi capitis abscisi numerando, auctoramentoque funebri ad conservatoris quondam rei publicae tantique consulis irritando necem. Rapuisti tum Ciceroni lucem {5} sollicitam et aetatem senilem et vitam miseriorem te principe quam sub te triumviro mortem, famam vero gloriamque factorum atque dictorum adeo non abstulisti, ut auxeris. Vivit vivetque per omnem saeculorum memoriam, dumque hoc vel forte vel {10} providentia vel utcumque constitutum rerum naturae corpus, quod ille paene solus Romanorum animo vidit, ingenio complexus est, eloquentia illuminavit, manebit incolume, comitem aevi sui laudem Ciceronis trahet omnisque posteritas illius in te scripta mirabitur, {15} tuum in eum factum exsecrabitur citiusque e mundo genus hominum quam Ciceronis memoria cedet.
VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 66.
[Linenotes: 3-4. +auctoramentoque funebri irritando+ = lit. _and by stimulating (provoking) by a fatal reward_ (+auctoramento+) _the death_. . . . 10-15. +dumque ... trahet+, in reference to Cicero's philosophical works, in which Cicero propounds no original scheme of philosophy, claiming only that he renders the conclusions of Greek thinkers accessible to his own countrymen.]
B. Ingenium et operibus et praemiis operum felix; ipse fortunae diu prosperae et in longo tenore felicitatis {20} magnis interim ictus vulneribus, exilio, ruina partium pro quibus steterat, filiae exitu tam tristi tamque acerbo, omnium adversorum nihil ut viro dignum erat tulit praeter mortem, quae vere aestimanti minus indigna videri potuit, quod a victore {25} inimico nil crudelius passurus erat quam quod eiusdem fortunae compos victo fecisset. Si quis tamen virtutibus vitia pensaret, vir magnus ac memorabilis fuit, et in cuius laudes exsequendas Cicerone laudatore opus fuerit. {30}
LIVY, _Fr. ap. Sen._
[Linenote: 21-22. +ruina ... steterat+, i.e. the restoration of the Commonwealth of the Scipios.]
+Cicero.+ 'It happened many years after that Augustus once found one of his grandsons with a work of Cicero's in his hands. The boy was frightened, and hid the book under his gown; but Caesar took it from him, and, standing there motionless, he read through a great part of the book; then he gave it back to the boy, and said "This was a great orator, my child; a great orator, and a man who loved his country well."'--Plutarch, _Cicero_, 49.
B71
LAUS ITALIAE.
Si te forte iuvant Helles Athamantidos urbes, Nec desiderio, Tulle, movere meo, Tu licet aspicias caelum omne Atlanta gerentem, Sectaque Persea Phorcidos ora manu, 8 Geryonis stabula et luctantum in pulvere signa Herculis Antaeique Hesperidumque choros, Tuque tuo Colchum propellas remige Phasim, Peliacaeque trabis totum iter ipse legas, 12 Qua rudis Argoa natat inter saxa columba In faciem prorae pinus adacta novae, Et siqua Ortygii visenda est ora Caystri, Et quae septenas temperat unda vias; 16 Omnia Romanae cedent miracula terrae; Natura his posuit, quicquid ubique fuit. Armis apta magis tellus, quam commoda noxae: Famam, Roma, tuae non pudet historiae. 20 Nam quantum ferro, tantum pietate potentes Stamus: victrices temperat illa manus. Hic Anio Tiburne fluis, Clitumnus ab Umbro Tramite, et aeternum Marcius umor opus, 24 Albanus lacus et foliis Nemorensis abundans, Potaque Pollucis lympha salubris equo. 26 Haec tibi, Tulle, parens, haec est pulcherrima sedes; 39 Hic tibi pro digna gente petendus honos; Hic tibi ad eloquium cives, hic ampla nepotum Spes et venturae coniugis aptus amor. 42
PROPERTIUS, III. (IV.) xxii. 5-26, 39-42.
+Subject.+ Go where thou wilt, my Tullus, know that all the sights and marvels of all lands, from West to East, are outdone by those of thine own Italy. A truly famous land! A land ever victorious, ever merciful; full of fair lakes and streams. Here, Tullus, is thy true abode: here seek a life of honour and a home.
[Linenotes: 8. +Phorcidos ora+ = _the head of Medusa_, the daughter of Phorcus. 15. +Ortygii Caystri.+ Ortygia, an old name for Ephesus, near the mouth of the R. Cayster: the haunt of _quails_ (_Ortygia_, #ortux#). 16. +temperat septenas vias+ = _moderates its seven channels_, of the delta of the Nile. --Ramsay. 19-22. Cf. Verg. _Aen._ vi. 853 _Parcere subiectis et debellare superbos._ 19. +commoda noxae+ = _disposed to harm_. --North Pinder. 24. +Marcius umor+, i.e. the aqueduct of Q. Marcius Rex; built 145 B.C. 25. The Alban and Arician Lakes (+Nemorensis+ = mod. _Nemi_) are close together. 26. i.e. the well Iuturna in the Forum ('the well that springs by Vesta's fane') at which the Dioscuri washed their horses after their hot ride from Lake Regillus. 41. +ad eloquium cives+ = _citizens to hear and profit by your eloquence_. --N. P.]
B72
LAUS ROMAE.
Haec est in gremium victos quae sola recepit 150 Humanumque genus communi nomine fovit Matris, non dominae ritu: civesque vocavit Quos domuit, nexuque pio longinqua revinxit. Huius pacificis debemus moribus omnes Quod veluti patriis regionibus utitur hospes: 155 Quod sedem mutare licet: quod cernere Thulen Lusus, et horrendos quondam penetrare recessus: Quod bibimus passim Rhodanum, potamus Orontem; Quod cuncti gens una sumus. Nec terminus unquam Romanae dicionis erit. Nam cetera regna 160 Luxuries vitiis odiisque superbia vertit. Sic male sublimes fregit Spartanus Athenas Atque idem Thebas cecidit. Sic Medus ademit Assyrio, Medoque tulit moderamina Perses: Subiecit Macedo Persen, cessurus et ipse 165 Romanis. Haec auguriis firmata Sibyllae, Haec sacris animata Numae: huic fulmina vibrat Iuppiter: hanc tota Tritonia Gorgone velat. Arcanas huc Vesta faces, huc orgia Bacchus Transtulit, et Phrygios genetrix turrita leones. 170 Huc defensurus morbos Epidaurius hospes Reptavit placido tractu, vectumque per undas Insula Paeonium texit Tiberina draconem.
CLAUDIAN, _de Consulatu Stilichonis_, iii. 150-173.
[Linenotes: 153. +nexuque ... revinxit+ = _and has linked far places in a bond of love_. --Jebb. 156. +Thulen:+ cf. Vergil's _ultima Thule_, of the northernmost island known, variously identified with the Shetlands, Iceland, or Norway. 158. +Orontem+: the largest river of Syria, whence Juvenal, iii. 62, uses it of the Syrian people-- _Iam pridem Syrus in Tiberim defluxit Orontes._ 159. +Quod cuncti ... sumus+ = _that the whole earth is one people_. 164. +moderamina+ = _the reins of power_; lit. _a means of managing_. 168. +hanc tota ... velat+ = _she it is above whom Pallas spreads the whole shadow of the aegis_ (+tota Gorgone+). Cf. Verg. _Aen._