Roman History, 47.8

Cassius Dio  translated by Earnest Cary

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8So Caesar saved the lives of as many as he could; and Lepidus allowed his brother Paulus to escape to Miletus and was not inexorable toward the others. But Antony killed savagely and mercilessly, not only those whose names had been posted, but likewise those who had attempted to assist any of them. 2He always viewed their heads, even if he happened to be eating, and sated himself to the fullest extent on this most unholy and pitiable sight. And even Fulvia also caused the death of many, both to satisfy her enmity and to gain their wealth, in some cases men with whom her husband was not even acquainted; 3at any rate, when he saw the head of one man, he exclaimed: “I knew not this man!” When, however, the head of Cicero also was brought to them one day (he had been overtaken and slain in flight), Antony uttered many bitter reproaches against it and then ordered it to be exposed on the rostra more prominently than the rest, in order that it might be seen in the very place where Cicero had so often been heard declaiming against him, together with his right hand, just as it had been cut off. 4And Fulvia took the head into her hands before it was removed, and after abusing it spitefully and spitting upon it, set it on her knees, opened the mouth, and pulled out the tongue, which she pierced with the pins that she used for her hair, at the same time uttering many brutal jests. 5Yet even this pair saved some persons from whom they got more money than they could expect to obtain by their death; and in order that the places for their names on the tablets might not be empty, they inscribed others in their stead. Indeed, with the exception of releasing his uncle at the earnest entreaty of his mother Julia, Antony performed no praiseworthy act.

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