Part 35

XXXVIII. Now Brutus had subjected to him most of the nations that lay in his way: and if any city or ruler had been passed by, they then brought over all in their progress as far as the sea opposite to Thasos. In those parts Norbanus[561] and his troops happened to be encamped in the Straits and about Symbolum; but Brutus and Cassius getting round them compelled them to withdraw and desert the posts. They also came very near taking his force, Cæsar staying behind on account of illness; and they would have done it, if Antonius had not come to their aid with such wonderful expedition that Brutus could scarce believe it. Cæsar arrived ten days later, and pitched his camp opposite to Brutus: Antonius took his station opposite to Cassius. The plain which lay between the armies, the Romans called the Campi Philippi; and it was on this occasion that the largest Roman armies were matched against one another. Now in numbers they were not a little inferior to those of Cæsar, but in show and splendour of arms the forces of Brutus outshone the enemy. For most of their armour was of gold, and silver had been unsparingly supplied, though in other respects Brutus accustomed his officers to a simple and severe habit. But he thought that the wealth which they had in their hands and about their bodies, would give courage to the more ambitious of honour and would make those who were fond of gain still more courageous, as if the weapons which they held were their property.

XXXIX. Now Cæsar made a lustration[562] within his lines, and distributed among the soldiers a small allowance of grain and five drachmæ apiece for the sacrifice; but Brutus, who considered this either as proof of Cæsar's poverty or his meanness, first of all performed a lustration for the army under the open sky, according to the custom, and then distributed a number of victims for every cohort, and fifty drachmæ to each man, by which he had the advantage over the enemy in the goodwill and zeal of his troops. Notwithstanding this bad omen, as Cassius considered it, happened during the lustration; for the lictor brought him his crown reversed. It is said that on a former occasion, also during a certain spectacle and procession, a golden Victory belonging to Cassius, which was being carried, fell down owing to the bearer slipping. Besides this many birds of prey daily appeared in the camp and swarms of bees were seen collecting about a certain spot within the lines, which the diviners enclosed in order to get rid of the superstitious fear which was gradually withdrawing even Cassius himself from the principles of Epicurus, and had completely cowed the soldiers. Owing to this, Cassius was not eager that the matter should be decided at present by a battle, and he was of opinion that they should protract the war, being strong in resources, but in amount of arms and men inferior to the enemy. But Brutus even before this was eager to settle the matter by the speediest hazard, and thus either to recover freedom for his country, or to relieve from their sufferings all the people who were oppressed by cost and military service and requisitions. And now seeing that his cavalry was successful and victorious in the skirmishes and encounters of posts, his spirit was raised: and some desertions to the enemy which took place and imputations and suspicions against others caused many of the friends of Cassius in the council to go over to the opinion of Brutus. One of the friends of Brutus, Atillius, opposed the opinion of Brutus and advised that they should wait for the winter. On Brutus asking, Wherein he thought that he would be better after a year, he replied, If in nothing else, I shall live longer. Cassius was vexed at this, and Atillius gave no small offence to the rest. Accordingly it was resolved to fight on the next day.

XL. Brutus went to rest after having been in high spirits and engaged in philosophical discourse at supper. As to Cassius, Messala[563] says that he supped by himself with a few of his intimates, and appeared thoughtful and silent, though he was not naturally so; and that after supper he pressed the hand of Messala strongly and said, as he was wont when he was in friendly mood, in the Greek language, "I call you to witness, Messala, that I am in the same situation as Pompeius Magnus, being compelled to cast the die for my country's safety in a single battle. However, let us have a good heart, looking to fortune, which it is not right to distrust, though we may have resolved badly." Messala says that these were the last words that Cassius spoke to him and thereon embraced him, and that he was invited[564] by him to supper for the following day, which was his birthday. At daybreak there was hung out in the lines of Brutus and of Cassius the signal for the contest, a purple vest, and they met between the two camps, and Cassius said: "Brutus, I hope we may be victorious and live together happily all the rest of our lives; but as the chief of human events are the most uncertain, and if the battle results contrary to our expectation, it will not be easy for us to see one another, what do you intend with respect to flight or death?" Brutus replied, "When I was a young man, Cassius, and inexperienced in affairs, I know not how it happened that I neglected a weighty matter in philosophy. I blamed Cato for killing himself, considering that it was not right nor befitting a man to withdraw himself from his dæmon, and not to await what happens without fear, but to skulk away. But now I am of a different mind in the circumstances, and if the deity shall not determine in our favour, I do not want to try other hopes and means, but I will withdraw content with fortune, that on the Ides of March I gave to my country my life and have lived another life for her sake free and glorious." Whereat Cassius smiled and, embracing Brutus, said, "With such thoughts let us go against the enemy; for we shall either conquer or we shall not fear the conquerors." After this they discussed the order of battle in the presence of their friends. Brutus asked Cassius to allow him to command the right wing, which was supposed to be more appropriate for Cassius on account of his experience and his age. But Cassius granted even this, and he commanded Messala with the bravest of the legions to be posted on the right. Brutus immediately led forth the cavalry equipped in splendid style, and he brought up the infantry with equal expedition.

XLI. The soldiers of Antonius happened to be driving trenches from the marshes, around which they were encamped, into the plain and cutting off the approaches of Cassius to the sea. Cæsar was on the watch, not being present himself by reason of sickness, but his troops were there, which, however, did not expect that the enemy would fight, but would merely make sallies against the works and disturb the diggers with light missiles and shouts; and as they were paying no attention to those who were opposed to them, they were surprised at the shouts about the trenches, which were indistinct and loud. In the meantime billets came from Brutus to the officers in which the word was written, and as he was advancing on horseback before the legions and encouraging them, a few had time to hear the word as it was passed along, but the greater part without waiting, with one impulse and shout rushed against the enemy. Some irregularity arose in the lines and some separation of them through this disorder, and the legion of Messala first and those which were close upon it outflanked Cæsar's left; and having slightly touched the soldiers on the extreme left and killed no great number, but completely outflanking them, fell on the camp. Cæsar, as he says in his Memoirs, inasmuch as one of his friends, Artorius Marcus,[565] had seen a vision in his sleep which bade Cæsar get out of the way and leave the camp, had just before been conveyed out of it, and he was supposed to have lost his life; for the enemy pierced his empty litter with javelins and spears. And there was a slaughter in the camp of those who were captured, and two thousand Lacedæmonians, who had lately come as allies, were cut to pieces with them.

XLII. They who had not surrounded the soldiers of Cæsar, but had engaged with those in front, easily put to flight the enemy who were in confusion, and destroyed at close quarters three legions, and they rushed into the camp with the fugitives, carried along by the impetuosity of success and having Brutus with them; but what the victors did not see, that the critical time showed to the vanquished. For pushing forward to the parts of the opposite line which were exposed and broken where the right wing was drawn off in the pursuit, they did not force the centre but were engaged in a violent struggle; but they put to flight the left, which was in disorder and ignorant of what had happened, and pursuing it to the camp they plundered it, neither of the Imperatores being with them. For Antonius, as they say, having at the beginning avoided the attack, retreated to the marsh, and Cæsar could nowhere be seen, as he had fled from the camp; but some showed their bloody swords to Brutus supposing they had killed him, and describing his appearance and age. And now the centre had repelled their opponents with great slaughter; and Brutus thought that he was completely victorious as Cassius thought that he was defeated. And this was the only thing which ruined their cause, that Brutus did not aid Cassius because he thought that he was victorious, and that Cassius did not wait for Brutus because he thought that he had perished; for Messala considers it a proof of victory that Brutus had taken three eagles and many standards from the enemy, and the enemy had taken nothing. Brutus now retreating after he had destroyed Cæsar's camp, was surprised not to see the tent of Cassius standing out conspicuous, as usual, nor the rest in their place, for most of the tents had immediately been thrown down and torn in pieces by the enemy when they broke in. But those who thought they could see better than their comrades said to Brutus that they saw many helmets glittering and many silver shields moving about in the camp of Cassius, and they said it did not appear to them that it was either the number or the armour of those were left to guard the camp, but yet there did not appear to be in that direction a number of corpses such as might be expected if so many legions had been defeated. This was the first thing that gave Brutus an idea of the misfortune; and leaving a guard in the camp of the enemy he recalled the pursuers and got them together to aid Cassius.

XLIII. And it had fared thus with him. He was neither pleased at seeing the first onset of the soldiers of Brutus without signal and order, nor was he pleased that when they were victorious they rushed straight to plunder and profit, taking no pains to get round and encircle the enemy. Cassius, conducting his operations rather with delay and waste of time than with vigour and judgment, was surrounded by the right wing of the enemy; and when he saw that, as soon as the cavalry broke away in flight to the sea, the infantry also were giving way, he endeavoured to stop and recall them. He also seized the standard from one of the standard-bearers who was flying, and fixed it in the ground before his feet, though even those who were placed about his person no longer remained with any spirit. In these circumstances, being pressed, he retreated with a few men to a hill which had a view towards the plain. He saw nothing in the plain, or with difficulty the plunder of the camp, for he was weak of vision; but the horsemen around him saw many approaching whom Brutus sent. Cassius conjectured that they were enemies and were in pursuit of him; yet he sent Titinius, one of those who were with him, to see. The horsemen did not fail to observe him approaching, and when they saw a man who was a friend, and faithful to Cassius, they shouted for joy, and some of his friends leaping down from their horses embraced him and took his hand, and the rest riding round him with joyful shouts and clatter by their unmeasured rejoicing produced the greatest misfortune. For Cassius was quite sure that Titinius was caught by the enemy. With these words, "Through love of life have I waited to see a friend seized by the enemy," he retired into an empty tent dragging after him one of his freed men, Pindarus, whom, in the unfortunate affair of Crassus, he had prepared for this extremity. Cassius escaped the Parthians, but now drawing his cloak over his head and baring his neck he presented it to be cut asunder; for the head was found separated from the body. But no man saw Pindarus after the death of Cassius, which made some persons think that he had killed Cassius without his order. Shortly after the horsemen appeared, and Titinius crowned by them went up to Cassius. But when, by the weeping and cries of his friends who were lamenting and bewailing, he knew of the fate of the general and of his error, he drew his sword and with much upbraiding of himself for his tardiness killed himself.

XLIV. Brutus, who was acquainted with the defeat of Cassius, was now approaching, and he heard of his death when he was near the camp. After lamenting over the body and calling Cassius the last of the Romans, as if he considered that such a spirit could never again be produced in Rome, he wrapped up the corpse and sent it to Thasos, that no disorder might be produced by its being interred there. He summoned the soldiers together and consoled them; and seeing that they were deprived of all necessaries he promised them two thousand drachmæ apiece in place of what they had lost. The soldiers were encouraged by his words and admired the magnitude of his present; and they accompanied him with shouts as he went away, magnifying him as the only one of the four Imperatores who was unvanquished in battle. And the result proved that he had good reason for trusting to success in the battle; for with a few legions he put to flight all those who opposed him. But if he had employed all his forces in the battle, and the greater part had not passed by the enemy and fallen on the enemy's baggage, it is probable that he would have left no part of the enemy's force unvanquished.

XLV. There fell on the side of Brutus eight thousand, with the slaves who were with them in the army, whom Brutus called Briges;[566] and of the enemy Messala says that he thinks more than twice the number fell. For this reason the enemy was the more dispirited, till a slave of Cassius, named Demetrius, came to Antonius as soon as it was evening, having taken the cloaks from the corpse, and the sword; and when these were brought, they were so much encouraged that at daybreak they led forth their force prepared for battle. But as both his armies were in an unsettled and dangerous state (for his own army being full of captives required careful watching, and the army of Cassius was troubled at the loss of their general, and they felt somewhat of envy and dislike in consequence of their defeat towards the army that had been victorious), Brutus resolved to put his troops under arms, but he would not fight. Of the captives, he ordered the slaves to be killed, as they were moving about among the soldiers in a suspicious way; but of the freemen he released some, saying that they had rather been made captives by the enemy, and were captives and slaves there, but with him were free men and citizens; and when he saw that his friends and the officers were ill-disposed towards them, he saved them by concealing them and sending them away. There were a certain Volumnius,[567] a mime, and Saculio, a jester, among the prisoners, whom Brutus cared not for, and his friends bringing these to him accused them of not abstaining even now from speaking and jeering to insult them. Brutus was silent, being occupied with other thoughts, but Messala Corvinus was of opinion that they should be flogged in a tent, and given up naked to the generals of the enemy, that they might know what kind of drinking companions and intimates they wanted in their campaigns. Some of those who were present laughed; but Publius Casca, who had struck Cæsar first, said, "We offer no fit sacrifice to Cassius who is dead, by making merry and jesting; but you, Brutus," he said, "will show what remembrance you have of the general either by punishing or protecting those who will mock and revile him." Upon this Brutus, greatly angered, said, "Why then do you ask me, Casca, and why don't you do what you like?" This answer of Brutus they considered as an assent to the punishment of the unhappy men, whom they led away and put to death.

XLVI. After this Brutus gave the soldiers their present, and blaming them mildly for not having waited for the word, and having fallen on the enemy somewhat disorderly without waiting for the order, he promised them if they were victorious to give up to them for plunder and profit two cities, Thessalonica[568] and Lacedæmon. This is the only thing in the life of Brutus which he is charged with that admits of no defence, though Antonius and Cæsar paid to their soldiers a much more terrible price as the reward of their victories, for they drove the old settlers out of nearly the whole of Italy, that their soldiers might have land and cities to which they had no claim. But with Antonius and Cæsar dominion and power was the end which they proposed to themselves in the war, while Brutus, owing to his reputation for virtue, was not allowed by the many either to conquer or to save his life otherwise than by honourable and just means; and especially now that Cassius was dead, who had the imputation of urging Brutus on to some of his more violent acts. But as at sea when the helm is broken, they attempt to nail on other pieces of wood, and to fit them, not skilfully indeed, but as well as they can under circumstances, fighting against the necessity, so Brutus with so great a force around him, and in so hazardous a state of affairs, having no commander of equal weight with himself, was compelled to employ those who were with him, and to do and say many things according to their pleasure. And he judged it fit to do whatever he thought would improve the disposition of the soldiers of Cassius, for they were difficult to manage: in the camp being unruly for want of discipline, and towards the enemy having a feeling of cowardice by reason of their defeat.

XLVII. Affairs were no better with Cæsar and Antonius, for they were scantily supplied with provisions, and owing to the camp being pitched in a hollow, they expected a bad winter. For being among marshes and the autumnal rains coming on after the battle, they had their tents filled with mud and with water which froze immediately through the cold. While they were in this condition, news arrived of the misfortune that had befallen their forces at sea. For the ships of Brutus[569] fell upon them, and destroyed a large force that was coming to Cæsar from Italy, and only a very few of the men escaped, who were compelled by famine to eat the sails and ropes. On hearing this news they were eager to settle the matter by a battle before Brutus was aware of the great good fortune that had come to him; for it happened that in the same day the battle by land and the battle by sea were determined. But by some chance rather than through the fault of the commanders of the fleet, Brutus was ignorant of the success, though twenty days had elapsed. For otherwise he would not have gone out to a second battle when he was provided with all necessaries for his army for a long time and was posted in a good position, wherein he could have maintained his army in the winter free from all suffering and safe against the attacks of the enemy, and by being master of the sea, and having defeated by land the troops opposed to him, was in high hopes and spirits. But affairs, as it appears, being no longer governable by a number, and requiring a monarchy, the deity wishing to lead away and to remove the only person who stood in the way of him who was able to govern, cut off the news of that good fortune, though it came exceeding near to being communicated to Brutus. For the day before that on which he was going to fight, and late in the day, there came one Clodius, a deserter from the enemy, who reported, that Cæsar was eager to come to a decisive contest because he had heard of the destruction of his armament. The man got no credit for his report nor did he come into the presence of Brutus, being altogether despised as one who had heard no well-founded news, or reported falsehood to get favour.

XLVIII. In that night it is said that the phantom again appeared to Brutus, and displaying the same appearance said nothing and went away. But Publius Volumnius,[570] a philosopher and one who accompanied Brutus in his campaign from the first, says that this was not the sign; but he says that the first eagle was covered with bees, and from the arm of one of the centurions an oil of roses spontaneously burst out, and though they often rubbed it off and wiped it away, it was all to no use. Further, before the battle, two eagles met and fought in the space between the armies, and a silence past belief filled the plain while all were looking on, but at last the eagle which was on the side of Brutus gave way and fled. The Ethiopian became notorious, he who met the eagle-bearer as soon as the gate was opened, and was cut down with their swords by the soldiers, who considered it a bad omen.

XLIX. After Brutus had made the line advance, and had placed it in front of the enemy, he paused some time, for suspicions reached him and information against certain persons while he was inspecting the army; and he observed that the cavalry were not very eager to begin the battle, but were still waiting for the infantry to commence the attack. All of a sudden, a man of military skill, who had been particularly distinguished for his courage, rode past Brutus himself and passed over to the enemy: his name was Camulatus. Brutus was greatly pained at seeing this, and partly through passion, partly through fear of greater change and treachery, he forthwith led his men against the enemy, the sun now going down, to the ninth hour. Brutus had the advantage with his own troops, and he pushed on, pressing upon the left wing of the enemy which gave way, and the cavalry supported him by charging together with the infantry the disordered ranks; but the other wing, which the commanders extended for fear of being surrounded, was inferior in numbers, and was drawn out in the centre, and thus becoming weak, did not resist the enemy, but fled first. The enemy, having broken this wing, immediately surrounded Brutus, who displayed all the virtues of a general and a soldier, both in his personal exertions, and his prudent measures in the midst of danger to secure victory; but he was damaged by that circumstance whereby he gained advantage in the former battle. For in that battle the part of the enemy which was defeated had perished; but few perished of the troops of Cassius, though they were put to flight, and those who escaped being very timid through their former defeat, filled the chief part of the army with despondency and confusion. On this occasion also, Marcus the son of Cato,[571] fighting among the noblest and bravest of the youth, though hard pressed, did not yield nor flee, but laying about him and calling out who he was, and his father's name, he fell on a heap of the enemy's slain. There fell, too, the bravest of the men, exposing themselves in defence of Brutus.