Regum et imperatorum apophthegmata

Gaius Caesar, while still a young man, in trying to escape from Sulla, fell into the hands of pirates. First of all, when demand was made upon him for a very large sum of money, he laughed at the robbers for their ignorance of the man they had in their power, and agreed to give double the sum. Later, being kept under guard while he was getting together the money, he enjoined upon the men that they should give him a quiet time for sleep and should not talk. He wrote speeches and poems, and read them to his captors, and those who did not speak very highly of them he called dull barbarians, and threatened laughingly to hang them. And this he actually did a little later. For when the ransom was brought, and he was set free, he got together men and ships from Asia Minor, seized the robbers, and crucified them. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chaps. i.-ii. (708 A-D); Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 4: Velleius Paterculus, Roman History, ii. 41; Valerius Maximus, vi. 9. 15.)

In Rome he entered into a contest against Catulus, the leading man among the Romans, for the office of Pontifex Maximus, [*](In 63 B.C.) and, as he was accompanied to the door by his mother, he said, To-day, mother, you shall have as your son a Pontifex Maximus or an exile. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. vii. (710 D); Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 13.)

He put away his wife Pompeia because her name was linked in gossip with Clodius, but later, when Clodius was brought to trial on this charge, and

While he was reading of the exploits of Alexander, he burst into tears, and said to his friends, When he was of my age he had conquered Darius, but, up to now, nothing has been accomplished by me. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. xi. (712 F) and Perrin’s note in vol. vii. of the L.C.L.; Dio Cassius, xxxvii. 52. 2: Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 7.)

As he was passing by a miserable little town in the Alps, his friends raised the question whether even here there were rival parties and contests for the first place. He stopped and becoming thoughtful said, I had rather be the first here than the second in Rome. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. xi. (712 F).)

He said that the venturesome and great deeds of daring call for action and not for thought.

And he crossed the river Rubicon from his province in Gaul against Pompey, saying before all, Let the die be cast. [*](Ibid. chap. xxxii. (723 F); Life of Pompey, chap. lx. (651 D); Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 32 iacta alea est or esto. The expression seems to have been proverbial; Cf. Leutsch and Schneidewin, Paroemiographi Graeci, i. p. 383 and the references; Aristophanes, Frag. 673 Kock, Com. Att. Frag. i. p. 557 and Menander, Frag. 65, Ibid. iii. p. 22.)

When Pompey had fled to sea from Rome, Caesar wished to take money from the treasury, but Metellus, who was in charge, tried to stop him, and locked up the treasury, whereupon Caesar threatened

As the transportation of his soldiers from Brundusium to Dyrrachium proceeded slowly, he, without being seen by anybody, embarked in a small boat, and attempted the passage through the open sea. But as the boat was being swamped by the waves, he disclosed his identity to the pilot, crying out, Trust to Fortune, knowing it is Caesar you carry. [*](The story is often told. Cf. for example, Moralia, 319 B; Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. xxxviii. (726 D); Appian, Roman History, the Civil Wars, ii. 57; Dio Cassius, xli. 46; Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 58; Lucan, Pharsalia, v. 580; Valerius Maximus, ix. 8. 2.)

At that time he was prevented from crossing, as the storm became violent, and his soldiers quickly gathered about him in a state of high emotion if it could be that he were waiting for other forces because he felt he could not rely on them. A battle was fought [*](At Dyrrhacium, 48 B.C.) and Pompey was victorious; he did not, however, follow up his success, but withdrew to his camp. Caesar said, To-day the victory was with the enemy, but they have not the man who knows how to be victorious. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. xxxviii. (726 D) and xxxix. (727 B); Life of Pompey, chap. lxv. (654 A); Appian, Roman History, the Civil Wars, ii. 62; Dio Cassius, xli. 50; Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 36.)

At Pharsalus [*](In 48 B.C.) Pompey gave the word for his regiments after they had formed for battle to stand in their tracks and meet the onset of the enemy. In this Caesar said that he made a mistake, inasmuch as he lost the effect on his soldiers of the intensity and excitement which comes from rushing to the onset with enthusiasm. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. xliv. (729 B); Life of Pompey, chap. lxix. (656 C); Caesar, Civil War, iii. 92. Appian (The Civil Wars, ii. 79) says that this statement was found in Caesar’s letters.)

After he had conquered Pharnaces of Pontus by a swift drive against him, he wrote to his friends, I came, saw, conquered. [*](In 47 B.C. Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. 1. (731 F); Appian, The Civil Wars, ii. 91; Dio Cassius, xlii. 48. According to Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 37, these words (veni, vidi, vici) were borne aloft in Caesar’s triumph.)

Following upon the flight of Scipio and his followers in Africa Cato took his own life; whereat Caesar said, I begrudge you your death, Cato, for you begrudged me the saving of your life. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. liv. (733 B); Life of Cato Minor, chap. lxxii. (794 C); Appian, The Civil Wars, ii. 99; Dio Cassius, xlii. 12.)

Some looked with suspicion upon Antony and Dolabella and urged Caesar to be on his guard, but he said that he did not fear these fat and sleek tradesmen and craftsmen but those lean and pale fellows, indicating Brutus and Cassius. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. lxii. (737 C); Life of Antony, chap. xii. (921 B); Life of Brutus, chap. viii. (987 C). Shakespeare, Julius Caesar, i. 2: Let me have men about me that are fat: Sleek-headed men and such as sleep o’ nights: Yond Cassius has a lean and hungry look; He thinks too much: such men are dangerous. seems to incorporate all the terms used in the Lives, but to ignore βαναύσους in this passage.)

When the conversation at dinner once digressed to the subject of death, regarding what kind of death is the best, he said, Sudden death. [*](Cf. Plutarch’s Life of Caesar, chap. lxiii. (737 F); Appian, The Civil Wars, ii. 115; Suetonius, Divus Iulius, 87.)