Civil Wars

Two brothers of the name of Ligarius, being proscribed together, hid themselves in an oven till their slaves found them, when one of them was killed and the other fled. When the latter learned that his brother had perished he threw himself from a bridge into the Tiber. Some fishermen seized him thinking that he had fallen into the water instead of leaping in. He resisted rescue and tried to throw himself into the river again. When he was overcome by the fishermen he exclaimed, "You are not saving me, but ruining yourselves by helping one who is proscribed." Nevertheless they had pity on him and saved him until some soldiers who were guarding the bridge saw him, ran to him, and cut off his head. One of two brothers threw himself into the river and one of his slaves searched for the body five days. At last he found it, and as it was still possible to recognize it, he cut off the head for the sake of the reward. The other brother had concealed himself in a dung-heap and another slave betrayed him. The murderers disdained to go into the heap, but thrust their spears into him and dragged him out. They then cut off his head, just as he was, without washing it. Another one seeing his brother arrested ran up to him, not knowing that he was himself proscribed also, and said, "Kill me instead of him."[*](e)me\ ktei/nate pro\ tou/tou. This may mean, "kill me before him," or "kill me instead of him." The latter was the meaning intended, but the centurion interpreted it the other way for the sake of the jest.) The centurion, having the proscription list at hand, said, "Your request is a proper one, for your name comes before his." And so saying, he killed both of them in due order. Let these serve as examples in the case of brothers.

Ligarius was concealed by his wife, who communicated the secret to only one female slave. Having been betrayed by the latter, she followed her husband's head as it was carried away, crying out, "I sheltered him; those who give shelter are to share the punishment." As nobody killed her or informed of her, she came to the triumvirs and accused herself before them. Being moved by her love for her husband they pretended not to see her. So she starved herself to death. I have mentioned her in this place because she failed to save her husband and would not survive him. I shall refer to those who were successful in their devotion to their husbands when I speak of the men who escaped. Other women betrayed their husbands infamously. Among these was the wife of Septimius, who had an amour with a certain friend of Antony. Being impatient to exchange this illicit connection for matrimony, she besought Antony through her paramour[*](e)deh/qh tou= moixeu/ontos au)th\n )*antwni/ou. This sentence is probably corrupt. The translation is conjectural.) to rid her of her husband. Septimius was at once put on the list of the proscribed. He learned this fact from his wife, and in ignorance of his domestic ills prepared for flight. She, as though with loving anxiety, closed the doors, and kept him until the murderers came. The same day that her husband was killed she celebrated her new nuptials.

Salassus escaped, and, not knowing what to do with himself, came back to the city by night, thinking that the danger had mostly passed away. His house had been sold. The janitor, who had been sold with the house, was the only one who recognized him, and he received him in his room, promising to conceal him and feed him as well as he could. Salassus told the janitor to call his wife from her own house. She pretended to be very desirous to come, but to be fearful of the night and distrustful of her servants, and said that she would come at daybreak. When daylight came she went for the murderers. The janitor, because she was delaying, ran to her house to hasten her coming. When the janitor went out Salassus feared that he had gone to lay a plot against him, and went up to the roof to watch what would happen. Seeing that it was not the janitor but his wife who was bringing the murderers, he precipitated himself from the roof. Fulvius fled to the house of a female servant, who had been his mistress, and to whom he had given freedom and a dowry on her marriage. Although she had been so well treated by him she betrayed him on account of jealousy of the woman whom Fulvius had married after his relations with her. Let these serve as examples of depraved women.

Statius, the Samnite, who had had great influence with the Samnites during the social war and who had been raised to the rank of a Roman senator for his noble deeds, his wealth, and his lineage, and who was now eighty years of age, was proscribed on account of his riches. He threw open his house to the people and to his own slaves to carry away whatever they pleased. He also scattered his property around with his own hand. When at last the house was empty he closed the doors, set fire to it, and perished, and the fire spread to many other parts of the city. Capito, through his half-opened door, for a long time resisted those who had been sent against him, killing them one by one. Finally, he was overpowered by numbers and slain after killing single-handed many of his assailants. Vetulinus assembled around Rhegium a large force of the proscribed and those who had fled with them, and others from the eighteen cities which had been promised as rewards of victory to the soldiers and who were indignant at such treatment. With these men Vetulinus slew the centurions who were scouting thereabouts, until a larger force was sent against him, and even then he did not desist, but passed over to Sicily and joined Sextus Pompeius, who had mastered that island and who received the fugitives. There he fought bravely until he was defeated in several engagements. Then he sent his son and the remainder of the proscribed who were with him to Messana, and when he saw that their boat was passing the straits he dashed upon the enemy and was cut in pieces.[*](That the text is defective here is evident, for how could Vetulinus send his son across the straits to Messana if he were already in Sicily? Schweighäuser met the difficulty by substituting e)/p emyen for e)pe/rasen, i.e., he opened communications with Sextus Pompeius, instead of joining him in Sicily. Probably there is a lacuna in the text.)

Naso, having been betrayed by a freedman who had been his favorite, snatched a sword from one of the soldiers, and, having killed his betrayer with it, surrendered himself to the murderers. A slave who was devoted to his master left the latter on a hill while he went to the sea-shore to hire a boat. On his return he found that his master had been killed, and while he was breathing his last the slave called out to him, "Wait a moment, my master," whereupon he fell suddenly upon the centurion and slew him. Then he killed himself, saying to his master, "Now you have consolation." Lucius placed his gold in the hands of his two most faithful freedmen and started for the seashore. They ran away with it, and he turned around, despairing of his life, and gave himself up to the murderers. Labienus, who had captured and killed many persons in the time of the proscription of Sulla, thought that he would be disgraced if he did not bear himself bravely under similar circumstances. So he.went to his front door, seated himself in a chair, and waited for the murderers. Cestius concealed himself in the fields among faithful slaves. When he saw centurions running hither and thither with weapons and the heads of the proscribed he could not endure the prolonged fear. He persuaded the slaves to light a funeral pyre, so that they might say that they were paying the last rites to the dead Cestius. They were deceived by him and lighted the pyre accordingly, whereupon he leaped into it. Aponius concealed himself securely, but, as he could not endure the meanness of his diet, he came forth and delivered himself to slaughter. Another proscript voluntarily seated himself in full view, and, as the murderers delayed their coming, he strangled himself in public.