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44When Brutus learned of the defeat of Cassius, he rode towards him, but heard of his death when he was already near his camp. He mourned over the body, and called Cassius “the last of the Romans,” implying that such an exalted spirit could no longer arise in the city. Then he decked the body for burial and sent it to Thasos, in order that the funeral rites might not disturb the camp. 2He himself, however, assembled the soldiers of Cassius and comforted them; and seeing that they were deprived of all the necessaries of life, he promised them two thousand drachmas the man, to make good what they had lost. They were encouraged by his words and amazed at the largeness of his gift; and they sent him on his way with shouts, exalting him as the only one of the four commanders who had not been defeated in the battle. 3And the results bore witness that his confidence in a victory in the battle was well grounded; for with a few legions he routed all those opposed to him. And if he had employed them all in fighting, and if the most of them had not passed by the enemy and set upon the enemy’s possessions, it would seem that his victory must have been complete.
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