Roman History, 46

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1When Cicero had finished speaking in this vein, Quintus Fufius Calenus arose and said:—“Ordinarily I should not care either to say anything in defence of Antony or to assail Cicero; for I do not think it at all necessary in such discussions as the present to do either of these things, but simply to make known one’s own opinion; the former method belongs to the court-room, whereas this is a matter for deliberation. 2Since, however, this man has undertaken to speak ill of Antony on account of the enmity that exists between them, instead of lodging information against him, as he ought, in case Antony were guilty of any wrong-doing, and since, furthermore, he has made insulting reference to me, as if he could not have exhibited his own cleverness without indulging in unrestrained abuse of people, 3it behooves me also both to refute his accusations and to bring counter-charges against him. For, in the first place, I would not have him profit either from his own impudence, if allowed to go unchallenged, or from my silence, which might be suspected of coming from a guilty conscience; nor, again, would I have you be deceived by what he has said and come to an unworthy decision by letting his private grudge against Antony take the place of the public interest. 2For the purpose he wishes to accomplish is nothing else than that we should give up providing for the greatest safety of the commonwealth and fall into discord once more. Indeed, it is not the first time he has done this, but from the outset, ever since he entered politics, he has been continually turning things topsy-turvy. 2Is he not the one who embroiled Caesar with Pompey and prevented Pompey from becoming reconciled with Caesar? Or the one, again, who persuaded you to pass that vote against Antony by which he angered Caesar, and persuaded Pompey to leave Italy and transfer his quarters to Macedonia,— 3a course which proved the chief cause of all the evils that subsequently befell us? Is he not the one who killed Clodius by the hand of Milo and slew Caesar by the hand of Brutus? The one who made Catiline hostile to us and put Lentulus to death without a trial? 3Hence I should be very much surprised at you if, after changing your mind then about his conduct and making him pay the penalty for it, you should now heed him again, when his words and actions are similar. 2Or do you not observe how also after Caesar’s death, when order had been restored in our state chiefly by Antony, as not even Cicero himself can deny, Cicero went abroad, because he considered our life of harmony alien and dangerous to him? And how, when he perceived that turmoil had again arisen, he bade a long farewell to his son and to Athens, and returned? 3Or, again, how he insults and abuses Antony, whom he was wont to say he loved, and coöperates with Caesar, whose father he killed? And if chance so favour, he will ere long attack Caesar also. 4For the fellow is naturally faithless and turbulent, and has no ballast in his soul, but is always stirring up and overturning things, shifting his course oftener than the waters of the strait to which he fled,—whence his nickname of “turn-coat,”—yet demanding of you all that you consider a man as friend or foe according to his bidding.

4“For these reasons you must guard against the fellow; for he is a cheat and an impostor and grows rich and powerful from the ills of others, slandering, mauling, and rending the innocent after the manner of dogs, whereas in the midst of public harmony he is embarrassed and withers away, since love and good-will on our part towards one another cannot support this kind of orator. 2How else, indeed, do you imagine, has he become rich, and how else has he become great? Certainly neither family nor wealth was bequeathed him by his father, the fuller, who was always trading in grapes and olives, a fellow who was glad enough to support himself by this and by his wash-tubs, who every day and every night defiled himself with the foulest filth. 3The son, reared amid these surroundings, not unnaturally tramples and souses his superiors, using a species of abuse practised in the workshops and on the street corners.

5“Now when you yourself are of such a sort, and have grown up naked among naked companions, collecting clothes stained with sheep dung, pig manure, and human excrement, have you dared, most vile wretch, first to slander the youth of Antony, who had the advantage of attendants and teachers, as his rank demanded, and then to reproach him because in celebrating the Lupercalia, that ancient festival, he came naked into the Forum? 2But I ask you, you who always wore nothing but the clothes of others on account of your father’s business and were stripped by whoever met you and recognized them, what ought a man who was not only priest but also leader of his fellow-priests to have done? Not conduct the procession, not celebrate the festival, not sacrifice according to the custom of our fathers, not appear naked, not anoint himself? 3‘But it is not for this that I censure him,’ he answers, ‘but because he delivered a speech, and that kind of speech, naked in the Forum.’ Of course this fellow has become acquainted in the fuller’s shop with all the nice proprieties, so that he may detect a real mistake and may be able to rebuke it properly!

6“With regard to these matters, however, I will say later all that need be said, but just now I want to ask this fellow a question or two. Is it not true, then, that you have been reared amid the ills of others and been educated in the midst of your neighbours’ misfortunes, 2and hence are acquainted with no liberal branch of knowledge, but have established here a kind of council where you are always waiting, like the harlots, for a man who will give something, and with many agents always to attract profits to you, you pry into people’s affairs to find out who has wronged, or seems to have wronged, another, who hates another, and who is plotting against another? 3With these men you make common cause, and through them you support yourself, selling them the hopes that depend upon the turn of fortune, trading in the decisions of the jurors, considering him alone as a friend who gives the most at any particular time, and all those as enemies who are peaceably inclined or employ some other advocate, 4while you even pretend not to know those who are already in your clutches, and even find them a nuisance, but fawn and smile upon those who at the moment approach you, just as the women do who keep inns?

7“Yet how much better it would be for you, too, to have been born Bambalio—if this Bambalio really exists—than to have taken up such a livelihood, in which it is absolutely inevitable that you should either sell your speech on behalf of the innocent, or else save the guilty also ! 2Yet you cannot do even this effectively, though you spent three years in Athens. When, then, did you ever do so? Or how could you? Why, you always come to the courts trembling, as if you were going to fight as a gladiator, and after uttering a few words in a meek and half-dead voice you take your departure, without having remembered a word of the speech you thought out at home before you came, and without having found anything to say on the spur of the moment. 3In making assertions and promises you surpass all mankind in audacity, but in the trials themselves, apart from reviling and abusing people, you are most weak and cowardly. Or do you think any one is ignorant of the fact that you never delivered one of those wonderful speeches of yours that you have published, but wrote them all out afterwards, like persons who fashion generals and cavalry leaders out of clay? 4If you doubt my word, remember how you accused Verres, though, to be sure, you did give him an example of your father’s trade—when you wetted your clothes.

“But I hesitate, for fear that in saying precisely what suits your case I may seem to be uttering words that are unbecoming to myself. 8These matters I will therefore pass over; yes, by Jupiter, and the case of Gabinius also, against whom you prepared accusers and then pleaded his cause in such a way that he was condemned; also the pamphlets which you compose against your friends, in regard to which you feel yourself so guilty that you do not even dare to make them public. Yet it is a most miserable and pitiable state to be in, not to be able to deny these charges which are the most disgraceful conceivable to admit. 2But I will pass by all this and proceed to the rest. Well, then, though we gave the professor, as you admit, two thousand plethra of the Leontine lands, yet we learned nothing worth while in return for it. But as to you, who would not admire your system of instruction? 3And what is that? Why, you always envy the man who is your superior, you always malign the prominent man, you slander him who has attained distinction, you blackmail the one who has become powerful, and, though you hate impartially all good men, yet you pretend to love only those of them whom you expect to make the agents of some villainy. 4This is why you are always inciting the younger men against their elders and leading those who trust you, even in the slightest degree, into dangers, and then deserting them.

9“A proof of all this is that you have never accomplished any achievement worthy of a distinguished man either in war or in peace. What wars, for instance, did we win when you were praetor, or what territory did we acquire when you were consul? Nay, but you are continually deceiving some of the foremost men and winning them to your side, and then you privately use them as agents to carry out your policies and to pass what measures you choose, 2while publicly you indulge in vain rantings, bawling out those detestable phrases, ‘I am the only one who loves you,’ or, perchance, ‘I and so-and -so; but all the rest hate you,’ or ‘I alone am your friend, but all the rest are plotting against you,’ and other such stuff by which you fill some with elation and conceit and then betray them, and frighten the rest and thus bring them to your side. 3And if any service is rendered by any one in the world, you lay claim to it and attach your own name to it, prating: ‘I moved it, I proposed it, all this was done as it was through me.’ But if anything turns out unfortunately, you clear your own skirts of it and lay the blame on all the rest, saying: ‘Look you, was I the praetor, 4or the envoy, or the consul? ‘And you abuse everybody everywhere all the time, setting more store by the influence which comes from appearing to speak your mind boldly than by saying what duty demands; but as to the function of an orator, you exemplify it in no respect worth speaking of. 10What public interest has been preserved or restored by you? Whom have you indicted that was really harming the city, and whom have you brought to light that was in truth plotting against us? 2Why (to pass over the other cases), these very charges which you now bring against Antony are of such a nature and so numerous that no one could ever suffer any adequate punishment for them. 3Why, then, if you saw that we were being wronged by him from the very outset, as you assert, did you never prosecute or even accuse him at the time, instead of relating to us now all his illegal acts as tribune, all his irregularities as master of the horse, all his crimes as consul? You might immediately at the time in each specific instance have inflicted the appropriate penalty upon him, and thus have yourself stood revealed as a patriot in very deed, while we should then have imposed the punishment in security and safety at the time of the offences themselves. 4Indeed, one of two conclusions is inevitable,—either that you believed these things were so at the time and yet shirked the struggle on our behalf, or else that you were unable to prove any of your charges and are now indulging in idle slanders.

11“That all this is true, Conscript Fathers, I shall show you by going over each point in detail. Antony did have something to say during his tribuneship on Caesar’s behalf, as indeed did Cicero and some others on behalf of Pompey. Why, now, does he blame him for having preferred Caesar’s friendship, but acquit himself and the rest who supported the opposite cause? Antony prevented some measures from being passed against Caesar at that time; 2and this was all right, since Cicero prevented practically everything that was to be decreed in his favour. ‘But Antony,’ he replies, ‘thwarted the united will of the senate.’ Well, now, in the first place, how could one man have had so much power? And, secondly, if he had really been condemned for it, as this fellow says, how could he have escaped punishment? ‘Oh, he fled, he fled to Caesar and got out of the way.’ 3Well, then, Cicero, what you also did a while ago was not ‘taking a trip abroad,’ but taking flight, as on the former occasion. Come now, do not be so ready to apply your own shame to us all; for flee you did, fearing the court and condemning yourself beforehand. 4To be sure, a measure was passed for your recall,—how and for what reasons I do not say,—but at any rate it was passed, and you did not set foot in Italy until the recall was granted to you. But Antony not only went away to Caesar to inform him what had been done, but also returned, without asking for any decree, 5and finally brought about peace and friendship with him for all those who were at the time found in Italy; and the rest, too, would have had a share in it, if they had not taken your advice and fled after Pompey.

12“Then, when this is the case, do you dare to say he led Caesar against his country and stirred up the civil war and became, far more than any one else, responsible for the subsequent evils that befell us? No, indeed, but it was you yourself, you who gave Pompey legions that belonged to others, and the command also, and undertook to deprive Caesar even of those that had been given him; 2you, who advised Pompey and the consuls not to accept the offers made by Caesar, but to abandon the city and all Italy; you, who did not see Caesar even when he entered Rome, but ran off to Pompey and Macedonia. 3Yet not even to him did you prove of any assistance, but you allowed matters to take their course, and then, when he met with misfortune, left him in the lurch. Thus even at the outset you did not aid him as the one whose course was the more just, but after stirring up the strife and embroiling affairs you kept watch on events from a safe distance, 4and then promptly deserted the man who failed, as if that somehow proved him in the wrong, and went over to the victor, as if he were more in the right. And thus, in addition to your other base deeds, you are so ungrateful that you not only are not satisfied to have been spared by Caesar, but are actually displeased because you were not made his master of horse.

13“Then, with this on your conscience, do you dare to say that Antony ought not to have been master of the horse for a whole year, because Caesar himself ought not to have been dictator for a whole year? But whether or not it was wise or necessary for this to be done, at any rate both measures alike were passed, and they suited both us and the people. 2Therefore censure these men, Cicero, if they have transgressed in any particular, but not, by Jupiter, those whom they have chosen to honour for showing themselves worthy of rewards so great. For if we were forced by the circumstances which then surrounded us to act in this way, even contrary to what was fitting, why do you now lay this upon Antony’s shoulders, instead of having opposed it at the time, if you were able? Because, by Jupiter, you were afraid. 3Shall you, then, who were silent at the time, obtain pardon for your cowardice, and shall he, because he was preferred before you, submit to punishment for his virtue? Where have you learned this kind of justice, or where have you read this kind of law?

14“ ‘But he made an improper use of his position as master of the horse.’ Why? ‘Because,’ he answers, ‘he bought Pompey’s possessions.’ But how many others are there who purchased countless articles, no one of whom is blamed! Why, that was the purpose, naturally, in confiscating goods and putting them up at auction and proclaiming them by the voice of the public crier, namely, that somebody should buy them. 2‘But Pompey’s goods ought not to have been sold.’ Then it was we who erred and did wrong in confiscating them; or—to clear us both of blame—it was Caesar anyhow, I suppose, who acted irregularly, since he ordered this to be done; yet you did not censure him at all. 3But in making this charge Cicero stands convicted of playing the utter fool. In any event he has brought against Antony two utterly contradictory charges—first, that after helping Caesar in very many ways and receiving in return vast gifts from him, he was then required under compulsion to surrender the price of them, 4and, second, that, although he inherited naught from his father and swallowed up all that he had acquired ‘like Charybdis’ (the speaker is always offering us some comparison from Sicily, as if we had forgotten that he had gone into exile there), he nevertheless paid the price of all he had purchased.

15“So in these charges this remarkable fellow stands convicted of violently contradicting himself—yes, by Jupiter, and in the following statements also. At one time he says that Antony aided Caesar in every thing he did and by this means became more than any one else responsible for all our internal evils, and then he reproaches him with cowardice, charging him with having shared in no other exploits than those performed in Thessaly. 2And he brings a complaint against him to the effect that he restored some of the exiles, and finds fault with him because he did not secure the recall of his uncle as well—as if any one believes that he would not have restored him first of all, if he had been able to recall whomsoever he pleased, since there was no grievance on either side between them, as this man himself knows; 3at any rate, he did not dare to say anything of that sort, although he told many brazen lies about Antony. So utterly reckless is he about pouring out anything that comes to his tongue’s end, as if it were mere soapsuds.

16“But why should one pursue this subject further? Still, inasmuch as he goes about declaiming tragically, and has but this moment said, in the course of his remarks, that Antony rendered the sight of the master of the horse most odious, by using everywhere and always the sword and the purple, the lictors and the soldiers at one and the same time, let him tell me clearly how and in what respect we have been wronged by this. But he will have nothing to say; for if he had, he would have blurted it out before anything else. 2In fact, the very reverse is true: those who were quarrelling at that time and causing all the trouble were Trebellius and Dolabella, whereas Antony was so far from doing any wrong and was so active in every way in your behalf that he was even entrusted by you with the guarding of the city against those very men, and that, too, without any opposition on the part of this remarkable orator (for he was present), but actually with his approval. 3Else let him show what word he uttered when he saw that ‘the licentious and accursed fellow’ (to quote from his abuse) not only performed none of the duties of his office but also secured from you all that additional authority. But he will have nothing to show. So it looks as if not a word of what he now shouts so loud was ventured at that time by this great and patriotic orator, who is everywhere and always saying and repeating: 4‘I alone am fighting for freedom, I alone speak out boldly for the republic; I cannot be restrained by favour of friends or fear of enemies from looking out for your advantage; I, even if it should be my lot to die in speaking on your behalf, will perish very gladly.’ 5And his silence at that time was very natural, for it occurred to him to reflect that Antony possessed the lictors and the purple-bordered clothing in accordance with the custom of our ancestors in regard to the masters of the horse, and that he was using the sword and the soldiers perforce against the rebels. For what outrages would have been too terrible for them to commit, had he not been hedged about with these protections, when some showed such scorn of him as it was?

17“That these and all his other acts, then, were correct and most thoroughly in accord with Caesar’s intention, the facts themselves show. For the rebellion went no farther, and Antony, far from suffering punishment for his course, was subsequently appointed consul. 2Notice also, now, I beg of you, how he administered this office of his; for you will find, if you examine the matter carefully, that his tenure of it proved of great value to the city. His traducer, of course, knows this, but not being able to control his jealousy, has dared to slander him for those deeds which he would have longed to do himself. 3That is why he introduced the matter of his stripping and anointing and those ancient fables, not because any of them was called for on the present occasion, but in order to drown out by irrelevant noise Antony’s consummate skill and success. 4Yet this same Antony, witness earth and gods! (I shall call louder than you and invoke them with greater justice), when he saw that the city was already in reality under a tyranny, inasmuch as all the legions obeyed Caesar and all the people together with the senate submitted to him 5to such an extent that they voted, among other measures, that he should be dictator for life and use the trappings of the kings—this Antony, I say, convinced Caesar of his error most cleverly and restrained him most prudently, until Caesar, abashed and afraid, would not accept either the name of king or the diadem, which he had in mind to bestow upon himself even against our will. 6Any other man, now, would have declared that he had been ordered by his superior to do all this, and putting forward the compulsion as an excuse, would have obtained pardon for it—and why not, considering that we had passed such votes at that time and that the soldiers had gained such power? 7Antony, however, because he was thoroughly acquainted with Caesar’s intentions and perfectly aware of all he was preparing to do, by great good judgment succeeded in turning him aside from his course and dissuaded him. 8The proof is that Caesar afterwards no longer behaved in any way like a monarch, but mingled publicly and unprotected with us all; and for this reason more than for any other it became possible that he should meet the fate he did.

18“This is what was accomplished, O Cicero,—or Cicerculus, or Ciceracius, or Ciceriscus, or Graeculus, or whatever you delight in being called,—by the uneducated, the naked, the anointed man; 2and none of it was done by you, so clever, so wise, you who use much more oil than wine, who let your clothing drag about your ankles—not, by Jupiter, as the dancers do, who teach you intricacies of reasoning by their poses, but in order to hide the ugliness of your legs. 3Oh no, it is not through modesty that you do this, you who delivered that long screed about Antony’s habits. Who is there that does not see these delicate mantles of yours? Who does not scent your carefully combed gray locks? Who does not know that you put away your first wife who had borne you two children, and in your extreme old age married another, a mere girl, in order that you might pay your debts out of her property? 4And yet you did not keep her either, since you wished to be free to have with you Caerellia, whom you debauched though she was as much older than yourself as the maiden you married was younger, and to whom, old as she is, you write such letters as a jester and babbler might write if he were trying to get up an amour with a woman of seventy. 5I have been led to make this digression, Conscript Fathers, in order that he might not get off on this score, either, without receiving as good as he gave to me. And yet he had the effrontery to find fault with Antony because of a mere drinking party, himself a drinker of water, as he claims,—his purpose being to sit up at night and compose his speeches against us,—even though he brings up his son amid such debauchery that the son is sober neither night or day. 6Furthermore, he undertook to make derogatory remarks about Antony’s mouth—this man who has shown so great licentiousness and impurity throughout his entire life that he would not spare even his closest kin, but let out his wife for hire and was his daughter’s lover.

19“I propose, now, to leave this subject and to return to the point where I started. Well then, when Antony, against whom he has inveighed, saw that Caesar was becoming exalted above our government, caused him, by means of the very proposals which were supposed to gratify him, not to put into effect any of the projects he had in mind. 2For nothing so diverts persons from purposes which they cherish a wrongful desire to achieve and can put into effect, as for those who fear that they may have to submit to such things to pretend that they endure them of their own choice. 3For these persons in authority, being conscious of their own wrongful purposes, do not trust the sincerity of the others, and believing that they have been detected, are ashamed and afraid, construing to the opposite effect, in their distrust, what is said to them, counting it mere flattery, and regarding with suspicion, in their shame, the possible outcome of what is said, as if it were a plot. 4It was of course because Antony knew this thoroughly that he first of all selected the Lupercalia and its procession, in order that Caesar in the relaxation of his spirit and merriment of the occasion might with safety be rebuked, and that, in the next place, he selected the Forum and the rostra, that Caesar might be made ashamed by the very places. 5And he fabricated the commands from the populace, in order that Caesar, hearing them, might reflect, not on all that Antony was saying at the time, but on all that the Roman people would order a man to say. For how could he have believed that this injunction had been laid upon any one, when he neither knew of the people’s having voted anything of the kind nor heard them shouting their applause? 6But, in fact, it was necessary for him to hear this in the Roman Forum, where we have often joined in many deliberations for freedom, and beside the rostra, from which we have sent forth thousands upon thousands of measures on behalf of the republic, and at the festival of the Lupercalia, in order that he might be reminded of Romulus, and from the lips of the consul, that he might call to mind the deeds of the early consuls, 7and in the name of the people, that he might ponder the fact that he was undertaking to be tyrant, not over Africans or Gauls or Egyptians, but over very Romans. These words brought him to himself, they humiliated him; and whereas, if any one else had offered him the diadem, he might perhaps have taken it, as it was, through the influence of all these associations, he checked himself; he shuddered and felt afraid.

8“Here, then, you have the deeds of Antony; he did not break a leg in a vain attempt to make his own escape, nor burn off a hand in order to frighten Porsenna, but by his cleverness and consummate skill, which were of more avail than the spear of Decius or the sword of Brutus, he put an end to the tyranny of Caesar. 20But as for you, Cicero, what did you accomplish in your consulship, I will not say that was wise and good, but that was not deserving of the greatest punishment? Did you not throw our city into confusion and party strife when it was quiet and harmonious, and fill the Forum and the Capitol with slaves, among others, whom you had summoned to help you? 2Did you not basely destroy Catiline, who had merely canvassed for office but had otherwise done nothing dreadful? Did you not pitilessly slay Lentulus and his followers, who were not only guilty of no wrong, but had neither been tried nor convicted, and that, too, though you are always and everywhere prating much about the laws and about the courts? Indeed, if one should take these phrases from your speeches, there is nothing left. 3You censured Pompey because he conducted the trial of Milo contrary to the established procedure; yet you yourself afforded Lentulus no privilege great or small that is prescribed in such cases, but without defence or trial you cast into prison a man respectable and aged, who could furnish in his ancestors abundant and weighty guarantees of his devotion to his country, and by reason of his age and his character had no power to incite a revolution. 4What evil was his that he could have cured by the change in the government? And what blessing did he not enjoy that he would certainly have jeopardized by beginning a rebellion? What arms had he collected, what allies had he equipped, that a man who had been consul and was then praetor should be so pitilessly and impiously cast into prison without being allowed to say a word in defence or to hear a single charge, and should there be put to death as are the basest criminals? 5For this is what our excellent Tullius here particularly desired, namely, that in the place that bears his name, he might put to death the grandson of that Lentulus who once had been the leader of the senate. 21What would he have done now if he had laid hold of the power afforded by arms, seeing that he accomplished so much mischief by his words alone? These are your brilliant achievements, these are your great exhibitions of generalship; and not only were you condemned for them by your associates, but you also cast your own vote against yourself by fleeing even before your trial came on. 2Yet what greater proof could there be that you were guilty of his blood than that you came within an ace of perishing at the hands of those very persons on whose behalf you pretended you had done all this, that you were afraid of the very men whom you claimed to have benefited by these acts, and that you did not wait to hear what they had to say or to say a word to them, you clever, you extraordinary man, you who can aid others, but had to secure your own safety by flight as from a battle? 3And you are so shameless that you undertook to write a history of these events, disgraceful as they are, whereas you ought to have prayed that no one else should so much as record them, in order that you might derive at least this advantage, that your deeds should die with you and no memory of them be handed down to posterity. 4And to give you, sirs, something to make you even laugh, I beg you listen to a piece of his cleverness. He set himself the task of writing a history of all the achievements of the city (for he pretends to be a rhetorician and poet and philosopher and orator and historian), and then began, not with its founding, like the other historians of Rome, but with his own consulship, so that he might proceed backwards, making that the beginning of his account and the reign of Romulus the end.

22“Tell me now, you whose writings and whose deeds are such as I have described, what a good man ought to say in addressing the people and to do in action; for you are better at advising others about any matter in the world than at doing your duty yourself, and better at rebuking others than at reforming yourself. 2Yet how much better it would be for you, instead of reproaching Antony with cowardice, yourself to lay aside your effeminacy both of spirit and of body; instead of bringing a charge of disloyalty against him, yourself to cease from doing anything disloyal against him and playing the deserter; and instead of accusing him of ingratitude, yourself to cease from wronging your benefactors ! 3For this, I must tell you, is one of Cicero’s inherent defects, that he hates above all others those who have done him any kindness, and that while he is always fawning upon men of the other kind, yet he keeps plotting against these. At any rate (to omit other instances), after being pitied and spared by Caesar and enrolled among the patricians, he then killed him, not with his own hand, of course—how could he, cowardly and effeminate as he is?—but by persuading and bribing those who did it. 4That I am speaking the truth in this matter was made plain by the murderers themselves; at any rate, when they ran out into the Forum with their naked blades, they called for him by name, crying ‘Cicero!’ repeatedly, as you, no doubt, all heard them. 5Therefore, I say, he slew Caesar, his benefactor, and as for Antony, the very man from whom he had obtained not only his priesthood but also his life, when he was in danger of perishing at the hands of the soldiers in Brundisium, he repays him with this sort of thanks, accusing him of deeds with which neither he himself nor any one else ever found any fault and hounding him for conduct which he praises in others. 6At all events, when he sees that this young Caesar, who, although he has not attained the age yet to hold office or take any part in politics and has not been elected by you to office, has nevertheless equipped himself with an armed force and has undertaken a war which we have neither voted nor committed to his hands, he not only has no blame to bestow, but actually eulogizes him. 7Thus, you will perceive, he estimates neither justice by the standard of the laws nor expediency by the standard of the public weal, but manages everything simply to suit his own will, and what he extols in some he censures in others, spreading false reports against you and slandering you besides. 23For you will find that all Antony’s acts after Caesar’s death were ordered by you. Now to speak about Antony’s disposition of Caesar’s funds and his examination of his papers I regard as superfluous. 2Why so? Because, in the first place, it would be the business of the one who inherited Caesar’s property to busy himself with it, and, in the second place, if there were any truth in the charge of malfeasance, it ought to have been stopped immediately at the time. For none of these transactions was carried out in secret, Cicero, but they were all recorded on tablets, as you yourself admit. 3But as to Antony’s other acts, if he committed these villainies as openly and shamelessly as you allege, if he seized upon all Crete on the pretext that in Caesar’s papers it had been left free after the governorship of Brutus,—although it was only later that Brutus was given charge of it by us—how could you have kept silent, and how could any one else have tolerated such acts? 4But, as I said, I will pass over these matters; for the majority of them have not been specifically mentioned, and Antony, who could inform you exactly of what he has done in each instance, is not present. But as regards Macedonia and Gaul and the remaining provinces and as regards the legions, there are your decrees, Conscript Fathers, according to which you assigned to the various governors their several charges and entrusted Gaul, together with the troops, to Antony. And this is known also to Cicero, for he was present and voted for them all just as you did. 5Yet how much better it would have been for him to speak against it at the time, if any of these matters were not being done properly, and to instruct you in these matters that he now brings forward, than to be silent at the time and allow you to make mistakes, and now nominally to censure Antony but really to accuse the senate!

24“And no sensible person could assert, either, that Antony forced you to vote these measures. For he himself had no band of soldiers, so as to compel you to do anything contrary to your judgment, and, furthermore, the business was done for the good of the city. 2For since the legions had been sent ahead and united, and there was fear that when they heard of Caesar’s assassination they might revolt and, putting some worthless man at their head, go to war once more, you decided, rightly and properly, to place in command of them Antony, the consul, who had brought about harmony and had banished the dictatorship entirely from our system of government. 3And this is the reason you gave him Gaul in place of Macedonia, namely, that remaining here in Italy, he should have no chance to do mischief and might promptly carry out your orders.

25“To you I have said these things, that you may know that you have decided rightly. As for Cicero, that other point of mine was sufficient, namely, that he was present during all these proceedings and voted with us for the measures, although Antony had not a soldier at the time and was quite unable to bring to bear on us any intimidation that would have made us neglect any of our interests. 2But even though you were then silent, tell us now, at least, what we ought to have done in the circumstances? Leave the legions leaderless? Would they not have filled both Macedonia and Italy with countless evils? 3Entrust them, then, to another? And whom could we have found more closely related and suited to the business than Antony, the consul, the official who was directing all the city’s affairs, who had kept so close a watch over our harmony, who had given countless examples of his loyalty to the common weal? 4Appoint one of the assassins, then? Why, it was not even safe for them as it was to live in the city. Appoint, then, a man of the party opposed to them? Why, everybody suspected the members of that party. What other man was there who surpassed him in public esteem or excelled him in experience? 5Nay, you are vexed that we did not choose you. What office, now, were you holding? And what act would you not have committed if you had obtained arms and soldiers, seeing that you succeeded in stirring up so much serious turmoil during your consulship when armed with only those antitheses of yours, the result of your constant practice, of which alone you were master? 26But I return to my point that you were present when these measures were being voted and said nothing against them, but even assented to them all, obviously because you thought them excellent and necessary. For certainly you were not deprived of full freedom of speech; at any rate, you indulged in a great deal of barking, and to no purpose. And certainly you were not afraid of anybody, either. 2How could you have feared Antony unarmed when you do not dread him armed? How could you have feared him alone when you do not dread him with all these soldiers? Why, you are the man who actually pride yourself that you feel,—or at least say you feel,—nothing but contempt for death!

3“Since all this is so, which of the two seems to be in the wrong—Antony, who is directing the forces granted him by us, or Caesar, who has surrounded himself with so large a band of his own? Antony, who has departed to assume the office committed to him by us, or Brutus, who is trying to prevent him from setting foot in the country? 4Antony, who wishes to compel our allies to obey our decrees, or the allies, who have not received the ruler sent them by us but have attached themselves to the man who was rejected by our vote? 5Antony, who keeps our soldiers together, or the soldiers, who have abandoned their commander? Antony, who has not brought into the city a single one of the soldiers who were granted him by us, or Caesar, who has bribed to come here the veterans who were long ago discharged from service? 6For my part, I do not think there is any further need of argument to answer the imputation that he is not properly performing all the duties laid upon him by us, and to show that these other men ought to suffer punishment for what they have ventured on their own responsibility. 7For it is on this very account that you also have secured the protection of the soldiers, that you might discuss in safety the present situation, not because of Antony, who has done nothing on his private responsibility and has not intimidated you in any way, but because of his rival, who has not only has gathered a force against him but has often kept many soldiers in the city itself.

27“So much I have said for Cicero’s benefit, since it was he who began by making unjust accusations against us; for I am not generally quarrelsome, as he is, nor do I care to pry into others’ misdeeds, as he prides himself in doing always. But I will now state the advice I have to give you, without either favouring Antony or calumniating Caesar or Brutus, but simply consulting the general good, as is proper. 2For I declare that we ought not yet to make an enemy of either of these men in arms nor to enquire too closely into what they have been doing or in what way. For the present is not a suitable occasion for such action, and as they are all alike our fellow citizens, if any one of them fails the loss will be ours, and if any one of them succeeds his advancement will be a menace to us. 3Wherefore I believe that we ought to treat them as citizens and friends and send messengers to all of them alike, bidding them lay down their arms and put themselves and their legions in our hands, and that we ought not yet to wage war on any one of them, but in accordance with the reports brought back to approve those who are willing to obey us and to make war upon the disobedient. 4This course is just and expedient for us—not to be in a hurry or to do anything rashly, but to wait, and after giving the leaders themselves and their soldiers an opportunity to change their minds, then, if in such case there be need of war, to give the consuls charge of it.

28“And you, Cicero, I advise not to wax bold with the boldness of a woman, nor to imitate Bambalio, nor yet to make war nor to satisfy your private grudge against Antony at the expense of the public and thus plunge the whole city into danger again. 2Indeed, it would be well if you actually became reconciled with him, with whom you have often enjoyed many friendly dealings; but even if you are irreconcilably opposed to him, at least spare us, and do not, after acting in the past as the promoter of mutual friendship among us, now destroy it. 3Remember that day and the speech which you delivered in the precinct of Tellus, and concede also a little to this goddess of Concord in whose precinct we are now deliberating, lest you discredit what you said then and make it appear to have been uttered on that occasion from some other motive than an upright purpose; 4for such a course is not only to the advantage of the state but will also bring you most renown. Do not think that audacity is either glorious or safe, and do not assert that you despise death and expect to be praised for saying this. 5For all suspect and hate such men, as being likely to be influenced by desperation to venture some evil deed. Those, however, whom they see paying the greatest heed to their own safety they praise and laud, as men who would not willingly do anything that merited death. 6Do you, therefore, if you honestly wish your country to be saved, speak and act in such a way that you yourself will be saved and not, by Jupiter, in such a way as to bring destruction upon us as well as upon yourself!”

29Such language from Calenus Cicero could not endure; for while he himself always spoke out his mind intemperately and immoderately to all alike, he could not bring himself to accept similar frankness from others. So on this occasion, too, he dismissed the consideration of the public interests and set himself to abusing his opponent, with the result that that day was wasted, largely on this account. 2And on the next day and the day following many other arguments were presented on both sides, but Caesar’s adherents prevailed. So they voted, first, a statue to Caesar himself and the right not only to sit in the senate among the ex-quaestors but also to be a candidate for the other offices ten years sooner than custom allowed, 3and that he should receive from the city the money which he had spent on his soldiers, because he had equipped them at his own cost in its defence, naturally; and, second, they voted that both his soldiers and those that had abandoned Antony should have the privilege of not fighting in any other war and that land should be given them at once. 4To Antony they sent an embassy to order him to give up the legions, leave Gaul, and go back to Macedonia; and to his followers they issued a proclamation commanding them to return home before a given day or to know that they would be regarded in the light of enemies. Moreover, they removed from office the senators who had received from him governorships over the provinces and decided that others should be sent in their place. 5These were the measures ratified at that time; and not long afterwards, even before learning his decision, they voted that a state of disorder existed, laid aside their senatorial garb, entrusted the war against Antony to the consuls and to Caesar, granting the latter the authority of a praetor, 6and they ordered Lepidus and also Lucius Munatius Plancus, who was governor of a part of Transalpine Gaul, to render assistance.

30In this way they themselves provided Antony with his excuse for hostility, although he was eager to make war in any case. He was glad to seize upon the pretext of the decrees, and straightway reproached the envoys with not treating him rightly or fairly as compared with the lad (meaning Caesar). 2And in order to place the blame for the war upon the senators, he sent an embassy in his turn, and made some counter-propositions which saved his face but were impossible of performance either by Caesar or by his supporters. 3For while he had no intention of carrying out any of the senate’s commands and was well aware that the senators, too, would not do anything that he proposed, he pretended to promise that he would carry out all their decrees, in order not only that he himself might take refuge in asserting that he would have done so, but also that his opponents’ action, in refusing his proposals, might appear to have given the first occasion for war. 4For he said he would abandon Gaul and disband his legions, if they would grant these soldiers the same rewards as they had voted to Caesar’s and would elect Cassius and Marcus Brutus consuls. His purpose in making this last demand was to win over these two men, so that they should not harbour any resentment against him for his operations against their fellow-conspirator Decimus.

31Antony made these offers knowing well that neither of them would be accepted. For Caesar would never have endured that the murderers of his father should become consuls or that Antony’s soldiers by receiving the same rewards as his own should feel still more kindly toward his rival. 2Accordingly, not one of Antony’s proposals was ratified, but the senate again declared war on him and once more gave notice to his associates to leave him, setting another time limit. All, even such as were not to take the field, arrayed themselves in their military cloaks, and they committed to the consuls the care of the city, attaching to the decree the customary clause “that it suffer no harm.” 3And since there was need of much money for the war, they all contributed the twenty-fifth part of the wealth they possessed and the senators also four obols for each roof-tile of all the houses in the city that they either owned themselves or occupied as tenants. 4Besides this, the very wealthy contributed not a little in addition, while many cities and many individuals manufactured the weapons and other necessary accoutrements for the campaign free of charge; for the public treasury was at the time so empty that not even the festivals which were due to fall during that season were celebrated, except some minor ones for form’s sake. 32These contributions were given readily by those who favoured Caesar and hated Antony; but the majority, being burdened alike by the campaigns and the taxes, were irritated, particularly because it was doubtful which of the two would conquer, and yet quite evident that they would be slaves of the conqueror. 2Many of those, therefore, who favoured Antony’s cause, went straight to him, among them a few tribunes and praetors; others remained where they were, including Calenus, and did all they could for him, sometimes acting in secret and sometimes openly justifying their conduct. 3Hence they did not even change their raiment immediately, but persuaded the senate to send envoys again to Antony, among them Cicero; in doing this they pretended that the latter might persuade him to make terms, but their real purpose was that he should be removed from their path. 4He perceived this, however, and became alarmed, and did not venture to expose himself in the camp of Antony. Consequently none of the other envoys set out, either.

33While all this was going on, portents of no small moment again occurred, significant both for the city and for the consul himself, who was Vibius. Thus, in the last assembly before he set out for the war a man with the disease called the sacred disease fell down while Vibius was speaking. 2Also a bronze statue of him which stood in the vestibule of his house turned around of itself on the day and at the hour that he set out on the campaign, and the sacrifices customary before war could not be interpreted by the seers by reason of the quantity of blood. Likewise a man who was just then bringing him a palm slipped in the blood which had been shed, fell, and defiled the palm. These were the portents in his case. 3Now if they had befallen him when a private citizen, they would have pertained to him alone, but since he was consul, they had a bearing on all alike. So, too, these portents: the statue of the Mother of the Gods on the Palatine, which had formerly faced the east, turned around of itself toward the west; 4that of Minerva worshipped near Mutina, where the heaviest fighting occurred, sent forth a quantity of blood and afterwards of milk also; furthermore, the consuls took their departure just before the Feriae Latinae, and there is no instance where this has happened and the Romans have fared well. 5At any rate, on this occasion also, a vast multitude of the people, including the two consuls, perished, some immediately and some later, and also many of the knights and senators, including the most prominent. 6For in the first place the battles, and in the second place the murders at home which occurred again as in the Sullan régime, destroyed all the flower of the citizens except those who perpetrated the murders.

34The responsibility for these evils rested on the senators themselves. For whereas they ought to have set at their head some one man who had their best interests at heart and to have coöperated with him continually, they failed to do this, but took certain men into their favour, strengthened them against the rest, and later undertook to overthrow these favourites as well, and in consequence gained no friend but made everybody enemies. 2For men do not feel the same way toward those who have injured them and toward their benefactors, but whereas they remember their anger even against their will, yet they willingly forget their gratitude. This is because, on the one hand, they deprecate giving the impression that they have received benefits from others, since they will seem to be weaker than they, and, on the other hand, they are annoyed to have it thought that they have been injured by anybody with impunity, since that will imply cowardice on their part. 3So the senators, by not taking up with any one person, but attaching themselves first to one and then to another, and voting and doing, now something for them, now something against them, suffered much because of them and much also at their hands. 4For all the leaders had a single purpose in the war—the abolition of the popular government and the setting up of a sovereignty; and since the people were fighting to see whose slaves they should be, and the leaders to see who should be the people’s master, both alike were ruining the state, and each side gained a reputation which varied with its fortune. 5For those who were successful were considered shrewd and patriotic, while the defeated were called enemies of their country and accursed.

This was the pass to which the fortunes of Rome had at that time come. I shall now go on to describe the separate events. 35For it seems to me to be particularly instructive, when one takes facts as the basis of his reasoning, investigates the nature of the former by the latter, and thus proves his reasoning true by its correspondence with the facts.

2The reason for Antony’s besieging Decimus in Mutina, to be exact, was that Decimus would not give up Gaul to him, but he pretended that it was because Decimus had been one of Caesar’s assassins. For since the true cause of the war brought him no credit, and at the same time he saw that the feelings of the people were turning toward Caesar to help him avenge his father, he put forward this excuse for the war. 3For that it was a mere pretext for getting control of Gaul he himself made plain when he demanded that Cassius and Marcus Brutus should be appointed consuls. Each of these two pretences, utterly inconsistent as they were, he made with an eye to his own advantage. 4Caesar, now, had begun a campaign against his rival before the command of the war was voted to him, though he had achieved nothing worthy of mention. When, however, he learned of the decrees passed, he accepted the honours and rejoiced, the more so, since, when he was sacrificing at the time of receiving the distinction and the authority of praetor, the livers of all the victims, twelve in number, were found to be double. 5But he was vexed that envoys and proposals had been sent to Antony, also, by the senate instead of their declaring against him at once a war to the finish, 6and most of all because he ascertained that the consuls had forwarded to Antony some private message about harmony, also that when some letters sent by the latter to certain senators had been captured, these officials had handed them to the persons addressed, concealing the matter from him, and that, with the winter as an excuse, they were not carrying on the war zealously or promptly. 7However, as he could not publish these facts, because he did not wish to alienate them and on the other hand was unable to use any persuasion or force upon them, he also remained quiet in winter quarters in Forum Cornelii, until he became alarmed about Decimus.

36Decimus, it seems, had previously been defending himself vigorously against Antony. On one occasion, suspecting that some men had been sent into the city to corrupt the soldiers, he called together all those present and after a few preliminary remarks proclaimed through a herald that all the men under arms should go to one side of a certain place that he pointed out and the private citizens to the other side of it; in this way he detected and arrested Antony’s spies, who did not know which way to turn, and were thus left by themselves. 2Later he was entirely shut in by a wall; and Caesar, fearing he might be captured by storm or might capitulate through lack of provisions, compelled Hirtius to join him in an expedition; for Vibius was still in Rome making the levies and abolishing the laws of the Antonii. 3Accordingly, they set out and without a blow took possession of Bononia, which had been abandoned by its garrison, and routed the cavalry which later confronted them; but on account of the river near Mutina and the guard placed over it they found themselves unable to proceed farther. 4But even so, wishing at least to make their presence known to Decimus, that he might not make terms too soon, they at first tried sending beacon signals from the tallest trees; and when he did not understand, they scratched a few words on a thin sheet of lead, rolled up the lead like a piece of paper and gave it to a diver to carry across under water by night. 5Thus Decimus learned at one and the same time of their presence and of their promise of assistance, and sent them a reply in the same fashion, after which they continued uninterruptedly to reveal all their plans to each other.

37Antony, therefore, seeing that Decimus was not inclined to yield, left him to the charge of his brother Lucius, and himself proceeded against Caesar and Hirtius. The two armies faced each other for many days and a few insignificant cavalry skirmishes occurred, with honours even. 2Finally the German cavalry, whom Caesar had won to his side along with the elephants they had, went over to Antony again. They had issued from the camp with the rest and had gone on ahead as if intending to engage by themselves those of the enemy who came to meet them; but after a little they turned about and unexpectedly attacked the men who followed behind, who were looking for nothing of the sort, and killed many of them. 3After this some foraging parties on both sides came to blows, and then, when the remainder of each party came to the rescue, a sharp battle ensued between the two forces, in which Antony was victorious. Elated by this success and learning that Vibius was approaching, he assailed his opponents’ camp to see if he could capture it before Vibius’ arrival and thus make the war easier for the future. 4And when the others, besides being on their guard in other ways, in view of their reverses and the hope they placed in Vibius, would not come out to meet him, he left a portion of his army behind there also with orders to engage them and thus make it appear so far as possible that he himself was present, and at the same time to take good care that no one should fall upon his rear. 5After issuing these injunctions he set out secretly by night against Vibius, who was approaching from Bononia, and by means of an ambush he succeeded in wounding Vibius himself severely, in killing the majority of his soldiers and in shutting up the rest within their ramparts. Indeed, he would have annihilated them if he had gone on and besieged them for any considerable time. 6As it was, after accomplishing nothing by the first assault, he began to be alarmed lest while he was delaying he should receive some setback from Caesar and the others; so he again turned against them. 7But while he was still wearied by the journey both ways and by the battle and was not looking for any hostile force to attack him after his victory, Hirtius met him and defeated him decisively. For when Hirtius and Caesar had perceived what was going on, Caesar had remained to keep watch over the camp and Hirtius had set out against Antony. 38Upon the defeat of Antony not only was Hirtius saluted as imperator by the soldiers and by the senate, but likewise Vibius, although he had fared badly, and Caesar, although he had not even been engaged. 2To those who had participated in the conflict and had perished a public burial was voted, and it was further voted that all the prizes which they would have received, had they lived, should be given to their sons and fathers.

3At this time also Pontius Aquila, one of Caesar’s slayers and a lieutenant of Decimus, conquered in battle Titus Munatius Plancus, who opposed him; and Decimus, when a certain senator deserted to Antony, 4so far from displaying resentment against him sent to him all his baggage and whatever else he had left behind in Mutina, with the result that Antony’s soldiers began to change their attitude and some of the communities which had previously sympathized with him proceeded to rebel. 5Caesar and Hirtius were elated at this, and approaching the camp of Antony, challenged him to combat; and he for a time was alarmed and remained quiet, but later, when a force sent by Lepidus came to him, he took courage again. 6Lepidus, himself, however, did not make it clear to which of the two sides he was sending the army, for he was fond of Antony, who was a relative, while he had been summoned by the senate to oppose him; hence, both for this reason and that he might prepare a refuge for himself with both parties, he gave no clear instructions to Marcus Silanus, the commander. 7But this officer, doubtless knowing well his superior’s views, went on his own responsibility to Antony. So when Antony had received these reinforcements, he became bold and made a sudden sortie, but after great slaughter on both sides, he turned and fled.

39Up to this time Caesar was being aggrandized by the people and the senate, and consequently expected that among other honours to be bestowed he would forthwith be appointed consul; for it happened that Hirtius perished in connection with the capture of Antony’s camp and that Vibius died of his wounds not long afterwards, so that Caesar was charged with having caused their death that he might succeed to the office. 2But the senate had already, while it was still uncertain which of the two would prevail, taken the precaution to abolish all the privileges the granting of which hitherto to any individuals contrary to established custom had paved the way to supreme power; they voted, of course, that this edict should apply to both parties, intending thereby to forestall the victor, but planning to lay the blame upon the other who should be defeated. 3In the first place, they forbade anyone to hold office for a longer period than a year, and, secondly, they provided that no one man should be chosen superintendent of the corn supply or commissioner of food. And when they learned the outcome of the struggle, although they rejoiced at Antony’s defeat, and not only changed their attire, but also celebrated a thanksgiving for sixty days, and, regarding all those who had been on Antony’s side as enemies, took away their property, as they did in the case of Antony also, 40yet as regards Caesar, they not only did not consider him any longer as deserving of any great reward, but even undertook to overthrow him by giving to Decimus all the prizes for which Caesar was hoping. For they voted in Decimus’ honour not only sacrifices but also a triumph, and gave him charge of the rest of the war and of the legions, including those of Vibius. 2Upon the soldiers who had been besieged with him they decreed that praise should be bestowed and likewise all the other rewards which had formerly been promised to Caesar’s men, although these troops had contributed nothing to the victory, but had merely beheld it from the walls. They honoured Aquila, who had died in the battle, with a statue, and restored to his heirs the money which he had expended from his own purse for the equipment of Decimus’ troops. 3In a word, all that had been done for Caesar to thwart Antony was now voted to others to thwart Caesar himself. And to the end that, no matter how much he might wish it, he should not be able to do any harm, they arrayed all his personal enemies against him. Thus to Sextus Pompey they entrusted the fleet, to Marcus Brutus Macedonia, and to Cassius Syria together with the war against Dolabella. 4They would certainly have gone further and deprived him of the forces that he had, had they not been afraid to vote this openly, because they knew that his soldiers were devoted to him. But they attempted, even so, to set them at variance with one another and with Caesar himself. 5For they wished neither to praise and honour them all, for fear of raising their spirits still higher, nor to dishonour and neglect them all, for fear of alienating them the more and as a consequence forcing them to come to an agreement with one another. 6Hence they adopted a middle course, and by praising some of them and not others, by allowing some to wear garlands of olive at the festivals and others not, and, furthermore, by voting to some of them ten thousand sesterces and to others not a copper, they hoped to set them at odds with each other and consequently to weaken them. 41And they even sent the men who were to carry these announcements to them, not to Caesar, but to the men themselves. So he became enraged at this also, and though he pretended to allow the envoys to mingle with the army without his presence, giving orders beforehand that no answer should be given them and that he himself should at once be sent for, yet when he came into the camp and joined them in listening to the despatches, he won them to himself still more than before by the very nature of the communication. 2For, on the one hand, those who had been singled out for honour were not so pleased with their preferment as they were suspicious of the affair, and Caesar encouraged them in this as much as he could; on the other hand, those who had been slighted were not at all angry with their comrades, but adding their doubts of the sincerity of the decrees, they transferred to the whole army the slight to themselves and communicated their resentment to the others. 3The people in the city, on learning this, though they were frightened, did not even then appoint Caesar consul, the honour which he especially coveted, but granted him the distinction of consular honours, so that he might now give his vote along with the ex-consuls. When he showed his contempt for this, they voted that he should be chosen a praetor of the first rank and later consul as well. 4In this way they thought they had had handled Caesar cleverly, as if he were in reality a mere youth or boy, as indeed they were always repeating. He, however, was exceedingly vexed, not only at their general behaviour, but especially at this very fact that he was called a boy; so he made no further delay, but turned against their arms and their power. 5And he secretly arranged a truce with Antony, and proceeded to assemble the men who had escaped from the battle, whom he himself had conquered and the senate had voted to be enemies, and in their presence made many accusations against both the senate and the people.

42The people in the city, on hearing this, for a time regarded him with indifference, but when they heard that Antony and Lepidus had become of one mind, they began again to court his favour, being ignorant of the propositions he had made to Antony, and put him in charge of the war against the other two. 2Caesar, accordingly, undertook this war also, hoping that he might be made consul for it; for he was working so hard through Cicero and others to be elected, that he even promised to make Cicero his colleague. 3But when he was not chosen even then, he made preparations, to be sure, to carry on the war, as had been decreed, but meanwhile arranged that his own soldiers, ostensibly of their own motion, should suddenly take an oath not to fight against any legion that had been Caesar’s. This, of course, had reference to Lepidus and Antony, 4since the majority of their adherents were of that class. So he waited and sent to the senate as envoys on this business four hundred of the soldiers themselves.

43This was the soldiers’ excuse for the embassy, but all they really did was to demand the money that had been voted them and to urge that Caesar should be appointed consul. 2While the senators were postponing their reply, on the ground that it required deliberation, the envoys, acting presumably on their instructions from Caesar, asked that amnesty be granted to a certain person who had embraced Antony’s cause. They did not really desire to obtain it, but wished to test the senators and see if they would grant at least this request, and, if they should not, to gain as an excuse for resentment their pretended vexation at being refused. 3At any rate, when they failed to gain their petition (for, although no one spoke against it, yet, since many had preferred the same request on behalf of others at the same session, this petition also, since it was but one out of many, was rejected with a show of plausibility), 4all the soldiers were openly angry, and one of them went out of the senate-chamber and getting his sword,—for they had gone in unarmed—touched it and said: “If you do not grant the consulship to Caesar, this shall grant it.” And Cicero, interrupting him, answered: “If you exhort in this way he will get it.” 5Now for Cicero this incident paved the way for destruction. As for Caesar, he did not censure the soldier’s act, but made a complaint because his men had been obliged to lay aside their arms on entering the senate and because one of the senators had asked whether they were sent by the legions or by Caesar. 6He summoned in haste Antony and Lepidus (for he had attached Lepidus also to himself through the friendship existing between Antony and Lepidus), and he himself, pretending to have been forced to such measures by his soldiers, set out with all of them against Rome.

44They slew one of the knights, among others whom they suspected of being present to spy upon them, and besides harrying the lands of such as were not in accord with them, did much other mischief on this same pretext. 2The senators, on learning of their approach, sent them their money before they drew near, hoping that when the invaders received it they would retire, and when, even so, they still pressed on, they appointed Caesar consul. 3They gained nothing, however, by this step, either; for the soldiers were not at all grateful to them for what they had done not willingly but under compulsion, but were even more emboldened, now that they had thoroughly frightened them. 4So when the senate learned this, it altered its policy and ordered them not to approach the city but to keep at least a hundred miles from it. They themselves also changed their garb again and committed to the praetors the care of the city, as was the custom. 5And besides garrisoning other points,they promptly occupied the Janiculum with the soldiers that were in the city and with others who had come from Africa.

45Now these things were taking place while Caesar was still on the march; and all the people who were at that time in Rome with one accord took part in the proceedings against him, just as most men are wont to be bold until they come in sight of dangers and have a chance to experience them. 2When, however, he arrived in the suburbs, they became alarmed, and first some of the senators, and later many of the people, went over to his side. Thereupon the praetors also came down from the Janiculum and surrendered to him their soldiers and themselves. 3Thus Caesar took possession of the city without a blow and was appointed consul also by the people, after two men had been chosen to act as consuls for holding the elections; for it was impossible, on so short notice, for an interrex to be chosen for the purpose, in accordance with precedent, because many men who held the patrician offices were absent from the city. 4For they preferred to submit to this arrangement of having two men named by the praetor urbanus rather than to have the consuls elected under his direction, because now these officials would limit their activities to the elections and consequently would appear to have possessed no office greater than his. 5This was of course done under pressure of arms; but Caesar, in order that he might appear not to have used any force upon them, did not enter the assembly,—as if it was his presence that any one feared instead of his power!

46Thus Caesar was chosen consul, and Quintus Pedius was given him as his colleague in office — 2if it is right to call him that and not his subordinate. And Caesar was extremely proud of the fact that he was to be consul at an earlier age than had ever been the lot of any one else, and furthermore that on the first day of the elections, when he entered the Campus Martius, he saw six vultures, and later, while haranguing the soldiers, twelve others. 3For, comparing it with Romulus and the omen that had befallen him, he expected to obtain that king’s sovereignty also. He did not, however, boast of being consul for the second time, merely because of his having already been given the distinction of the consular honours. And his practice was afterwards observed in all similar cases down to our own day, 4the emperor Severus being the first to depart from it; for after honouring Plautianus with the consular honours and later making him a member of the senate and appointing him consul, he proclaimed that Plautianus was entering upon the consulship for the second time, and from that time forth the same thing has been done in other instances. 5Now Caesar arranged affairs in general in the city to suit his taste, and gave money to the soldiers, to some what had been voted from the funds prescribed, and to the rest individually from his private resources, as he claimed, but in reality from the public funds.

6In this way and for the reasons mentioned the soldiers received their money on that occasion. But some men have misunderstood the matter and have thought it was compulsory that the ten thousand sesterces be given always to absolutely all the citizen legions that enter Rome under arms. 7For this reason the followers of Severus who had entered the city to overthrow Julianus became most terrifying both to their leader himself and to us when they demanded this sum; and Severus won their favour with only a thousand sesterces apiece, the other leaders not even being aware of what it was the soldiers were demanding.

47Now Caesar not only gave the soldiers the money but also expressed to them his most hearty and sincere thanks; indeed, he did not even venture to enter the senate-chamber without a guard of them. To the senate he showed gratitude, but it was all fictitious and assumed; for he was accepting as if it were a favour received from their willing hands what he had attained by applying force to them. 2And so they plumed themselves on their behaviour, as if they had given him these privileges voluntarily; and, moreover, they granted to him, whom previously they had not even wished to elect to the consulship, the right, after his term should expire, of taking precedence, as often as he should be in camp, over any consul for the time being. 3To him on whom they had threatened to inflict penalties, because he had gathered forces on his own account without anyone’s voting for it, they assigned the duty of collecting other forces; and to the man for whose disgrace and overthrow they had ordered Decimus to fight against Antony they added the legions of Decimus. 4And,finally, he obtained the guardianship of the city, so that he was able to do everything he wished in accordance with the laws, and he was adopted into Caesar’s family in the regular way and changed his name in consequence. 5To be sure, even before this he had been accustomed, as some believe, to call himself Caesar, from the time this name had been bequeathed to him along with the inheritance, but he did not use this appellation with any strictness or in his dealings with everybody until at this time he got it confirmed in accordance with established custom, and was thus named, after his adoptive father, Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. 6For it is the custom for a person, when he is adopted, to take most of his name from his adopter but to keep one of his previous names somewhat altered in form. 7This is the way of the matter, but I shall call him, not Octavianus, but Caesar, inasmuch as the latter name has prevailed among all who have held sway over the Romans. 8For although he acquired another name also,—that of Augustus,—and the emperors who succeeded him consequently assumed it also, that one will be described when it comes up in the history, and until then the title Caesar will be sufficient to show that Octavianus is indicated.

48This Caesar, then, as soon as he had conciliated the soldiers and dominated the senate, turned himself to avenging his father’s murder; but as he was afraid of stirring up the populace more or less in carrying out this plan, he did not make known his intention until he had seen to the payment of the bequests made to them. 2But when they had been won over by means of the money, although it belonged to the public funds and had been collected on the pretext of the war, then at length he began to follow up the murderers. And in order that he might not appear to be doing this by force but in accordance with some principle of justice, he proposed a law about their trial and convened the courts even in their absence. 3For the majority of the assassins were abroad and some were even holding commands over provinces; and those who were present not only failed to appear, by reason of their fear, but also secretly left the country. Consequently not only those who had been the actual murderers of Caesar, and their fellow-conspirators, were convicted by default, but many others also who, so far from having plotted against Caesar, had not even been in the city at the time. 4This action was concocted chiefly against Sextus Pompey; for although he had had no share whatever in the attack, he was nevertheless condemned because he had been an enemy. Those adjudged guilty were debarred from fire and water and their property confiscated. The provinces, not only those which some of them were governing, but all the others as well, were entrusted to the friends of Caesar.

49Among the accused was also Publius Servilius Casca, the tribune. He had already suspected Caesar’s purpose in advance and had quietly slipped away, even before Caesar entered the city. For this he was removed from his office, on the charge of having left the city contrary to precedent, the populace being convened for the purpose by his colleague, Publius Titius, and thus he was condemned. 2When Titius died not long afterward, confirmation was found of a tradition that had remained unbroken from of old; for no one up to that time who had expelled a colleague had lived the year out. In the first place, Brutus died after removing Collatinus from office, then Gracchus was murdered after deposing Octavius, and Cinna, who put Marullus and Flavius out of the way, perished not long afterward. 3Thus has the tradition been observed. Now the murderers of Caesar had many accusers who were anxious to ingratiate themselves with his son, and many who were persuaded to act thus by the rewards offered. For they received money from the estate of the convicted man and the latter’s honours and office, if he had any, and exemption from further service in the army both for themselves and for their sons and grandsons. 4And as for the jurors, the majority voted against the accused, indicating in one way or another that they were justified in doing this, both in order to win Caesar’s favour and through fear of him; but there were some who cast their votes out of respect for the law enacted in regard to the punishment of the culprits, and others out of respect for the arms of Caesar. 5And one Silicius Corona, a senator, voted outright to acquit Marcus Brutus. He made a great boast of this at the time and secretly received approval from the others; and the fact that he was not immediately put to death gained for Caesar a reputation for clemency, but Silicius was afterwards proscribed and executed.

50After accomplishing all this Caesar made a pretence of making a campaign against Lepidus and Antony. Antony, it seems, on fleeing from the battle previously described, had not been pursued by Caesar because the war against him had been entrusted to Decimus; and Decimus had not pursued him because he did not wish Caesar’s rival to be removed from the field. 2Hence Antony collected as many as he could of the survivors of the battle and came to Lepidus, who had also made preparations to march into Italy in accordance with the decree, but had afterwards been ordered to remain where he was. 3For the senators, when they ascertained that Silanus had embraced Antony’s cause, were afraid that Lepidus and Lucius Plancus might also coöperate with him, and so they sent a message to them saying they had no further need of them. 4And to prevent their suspecting anything and consequently causing trouble, they ordered them to establish in a colony in Gallia Narbonensis the men who had once been driven by the Allobroges out of Vienna and afterwards established between the Rhone and the Arar, at their confluence. 5Therefore they submitted, and founded the town called Lugudunum, now known as Lugdunum,—not because they could not have entered Italy with their arms, had they wished, for the senate’s decrees by this time exerted a very weak influence upon such as had troops, 6but because, while awaiting the outcome of the war Antony was conducting, they wished to appear to have yielded obedience to the senate and at the same time to strengthen their own position. 51In any case, Lepidus censured Silanus severely for making an alliance with Antony, and when Antony himself came, did not hold a conference with him immediately, but sent a despatch to the senate containing further accusations against him, in consequence of which he received not only praise but also the command of the war against him. 2Hence for the time being he neither received Antony nor repelled him, but allowed him to be near and to associate with his followers, though he did not hold a conference with him; but when he learned of Antony’s agreement with Caesar, he then came to terms with both of them himself. 3Marcus Juventius, his lieutenant, learned what was being done and at first tried to alter his purpose; then, when he did not succeed in persuading him, he made away with himself in the sight of the soldiers. 4For this the senate voted eulogies and a statue to Juventius and a public funeral, but they deprived Lepidus of his statue which stood upon the rostra and declared him an enemy. They also set a certain day for his comrades and threatened them with war if they did not abandon him before that day. 5Furthermore, they changed their garb again—for they had resumed citizen’s apparel in honour of Caesar’s consulship—and summoned Marcus Brutus, Cassius, and Sextus to proceed against them. But when these men seemed likely to be too slow in responding, they entrusted the war to Caesar, being unaware of his league with Antony and Lepidus. 52Caesar nominally accepted the charge, in spite of having caused his soldiers to shout out the promise already mentioned; but actually he did nothing to follow up his acceptance. This was not because he had made common cause with Antony and through him with Lepidus,— 2little did he care for that,—but because he saw that they were powerful and knew that their harmony was due to their kinship; and not only could he not use force with them, but he even cherished hopes of bringing about through them the downfall of Cassius and Brutus, who were already very influential, and later of mastering them also by playing one against the other. 3Accordingly, though reluctantly, he kept his covenant with them and even effected a reconciliation between them and the senate and people. He did not himself propose the matter, lest some suspicion should arise of what had taken place, but he set out as if to make war on them, while Quintus urged, as if on his own motion, that amnesty and restoration should be granted to them. 4They did not secure this, however, until the senate had communicated the matter to Caesar, who was supposed to be in ignorance of what was going on, and he had agreed to it reluctantly, as he alleged, under compulsion from his soldiers.

53While all this was going on, Decimus at first set forth with the intention of making war upon the two, and associated with himself Lucius Plancus, since the latter had been appointed in advance as his colleague for the following year. 2Learning, however, of his own condemnation and of their reconciliation, he wished to make a campaign against Caesar, but was abandoned by Plancus, who favoured the cause of Lepidus and Antony. Then he decided to leave Gaul and hasten by land through Illyricum into Macedonia to Brutus, and he sent ahead some of the soldiers while he was engaged in finishing the business he had in hand. 3But they embraced Caesar’s cause, and the rest were pursued by Lepidus and Antony and afterwards were won over through the agency of others; thus Decimus, being deserted, was seized by a personal foe. When he was about to be murdered, he fell to complaining and lamenting, until one Helvius Blasio, who was kindly disposed to him from their association in campaigns, voluntarily slew himself first in his sight.

54So Decimus died also. Antony and Lepidus left lieutenants in Gaul and themselves proceeded to join Caesar in Italy, taking with them the larger and better part of the army. 2For they did not yet trust him thoroughly and wished not to owe him any favour, but to seem to have obtained pardon and restoration by their own efforts and strength, rather than through him. They also hoped that, owing to the superiority of their legions, both Caesar and the rest in the city would do whatever they, Antony and Lepidus, wished. 3So with such a purpose they marched through Italy, as if through a friendly country; still, it was harried, owing to their numbers and audacity, as much as in any war. They were met near Bononia by Caesar with many soldiers; for he was exceedingly well prepared to defend himself against them, if they should offer any violence. 4Yet at this time he found no need of arms to oppose them. For although they hated one another bitterly, yet since they had forces about equal and desired to have one another’s assistance in taking vengeance on their other enemies first, they reached a pretended agreement. 55And the three men came together for the conference, not alone, but each with an equal number of soldiers, on a little island in the river that flows past Bononia, so that no one else might be present on the side of any of them. 2And so they withdrew to a distance from their several escorts and searched one another carefully, to make sure that no one had a dagger concealed. Then they considered various matters at leisure and, in brief, made a solemn compact for the purpose of securing the sovereignty and overthrowing their enemies; but in order not to appear to be aiming directly at an oligarchy and thus to arouse envy and consequent opposition on the part of the others, they came to the following agreement. 3In common, the three were to be chosen as commissioners and correctors of a sort, for the administration and settlement of affairs, and that not as permanent officials, they pretended, but for five years, with the understanding that they should manage all public business, whether or not they made any communication about it to the people and the senate, and should give the offices and other honours to whomsoever they pleased. 4Individually, however, in order that they should not be thought to be appropriating the entire government, they arranged that both Africas, Sardinia, and Sicily should be given to Caesar to rule, all of Spain and Gallia Narbonensis to Lepidus, and the rest of Gaul, both south and north of the Alps, to Antony. 5The former was called Gallia Togata, as I have stated, because it seemed to be more peaceful than the other divisions of Gaul, and because the inhabitants already employed the Roman citizen-garb; the other was termed Gallia Comata because the Gauls there for the most part let their hair grow long, and were in this way distinguished from the others. 56So they made these allotments, for the purpose of securing the strongest provinces themselves and giving others the impression that they were not striving for the whole. It was further agreed that they should bring about the murder of their personal enemies, that Lepidus after being appointed consul in Decimus’ stead should keep guard over Rome and the remainder of Italy, and that the others should make an expedition against Brutus and Cassius. 2And they confirmed these arrangements by oath. After this, in order that the soldiers might ostensibly be hearers and witnesses of the terms they had made, they called them together and harangued them, telling all that it was proper and safe to tell them. 3Meanwhile the soldiers of Antony, of course by his arrangement, recommended to Caesar the daughter of Fulvia, Antony’s wife, whom she had by Clodius,—and this in spite of Caesar’s being already betrothed to another. 4He, however, did not refuse her, as he did not think this marriage would hinder him at all in the designs which he had against Antony. For, in addition to other considerations, he understood that his father Caesar had not failed to carry out all his plans against Pompey, in spite of the kinship between them.

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