Civil Wars

So this tumult was quieted. The extreme fondness of the plebeians for Antony was turned into extreme hatred. The Senate was delighted, because it believed that Brutus and his associates could not rest secure otherwise.[*](As we have no dates in the text we are left in confusion as to the state of affairs in Rome at any particular time. The assassination took place on the 15th of March. Cassius and Marcus Brutus retired to Lanuvium as soon as it appeared that their lives were in danger in Rome. A letter written to them in the month of April by Decimus Brutus, who had not yet gone to Cisalpine Gaul, is preserved among the letters of Cicero. He says he has had an interview with Hirtius, who tells him that Antony did not consider Rome a safe place for any of them, because the soldiers and the plebeians were so incensed against them. "Do you ask me," he continues, "what I advise? Let us submit to fortune, withdraw from Italy, and retire to Rhodes, or some other part of the world. If better luck comes, we can return to Rome; if no change occurs, we can live in exile; if worst comes to worst, we can try our last resources." (Ad Fam. xi. I.)) Antony also moved that Sextus Pompeius (the son of Pompey the Great, who was still much beloved by all) should be recalled from Spain, where he was still at war with Cæsar's lieutenants, and that he should be paid 50,000,000 of Attic drachmas[*](In the 13th Philippic of Cicero (5) the amount voted to Sextus Pompey in compensation for his father's confiscated estates is put at seven hundred millions of sesterces or $28,700,000 of our money. This was exactly the amount that was in the temple of Ops (the produce of confiscated estates) at the time of Cæsar's death (2d Philippic, 37). Fifty millions of Attic drachmas would have been equal to about $ 10,000,000.) out of the public treasury for his father's confiscated property and be appointed commander of the sea, as his father had been, with charge of all the Roman ships, wherever situated, which were needed for immediate service. The astonished Senate accepted each of these decrees with alacrity and applauded Antony the whole day; for nobody, in their estimation, was more devoted to the republic than the elder Pompey, and hence nobody was more regretted. Cassius and Brutus, who were of Pompey's faction, and the ones most honored by all at that time, thought that they would be entirely safe. They thought that what they had done would be confirmed, and the republic be at last restored, and their party successful. Wherefore Cicero praised Antony continually,[*](In the first Philippic Cicero acknowledges that he was deceived by Antony during the first few days after the assassination. Among other things Antony moved that the dictatorship be forever abolished. He produced a senatus consultum in writing for this purpose, which he wished to have passed; "and when it was read," says Cicero, "we adopted his motion with the greatest enthusiasm and by another senatus consultum returned our thanks to him in the amplest terms." (Phil. I. I.)) and the Senate, perceiving that the plebeians were making plots against him on its account, allowed him a guard for his personal safety, chosen by himself from the veterans who were sojourning in the city.

Antony, either because he had done everything for this very purpose, or seizing the happy chance as very useful to him, enlisted his guard and kept adding to it till it amounted to 6000 men. They were not common soldiers. He thought that he should easily get the latter for his service otherwise. These were composed wholly of centurions, as being fit for command, and of long experience in war, and his own acquaintances through service under Cæsar. He appointed tribunes over them, chosen from their own number and adorned with military decoration, and these he held in honor and made sharers of his public councils. The Senate began to be suspicious of the number of his guards, and of his care in choosing them, and advised him to reduce them to a moderate number so as to avoid invidious remarks. He promised to do so as soon as the disorder among the plebeians should be quieted. It had been decreed that all the things done by Cæsar, and all that he intended to do, should be ratified. The memoranda of Cæsar's intentions were in Antony's possession, and Cæsar's secretary, Faberius, was obedient to him in every way since Cæsar himself, on the point of his departure, had placed all petitions of this kind in Antony's discretion. Antony made many additions in order to secure the favor of many persons. He made gifts to cities, to princes, and to his own guards, and although all were advised that these were Cæsar's memoranda, yet the recipients knew that the favor was due to Antony. In the same way he enrolled many new names in the list of senators and did many other things to please the Senate, in order that it might not bear him ill-will in reference to his guards.

While Antony was busy with these matters, Brutus and Cassius, seeing nobody among either the plebeians or the veterans inclined to be at peace with them, and considering that any other person might lay plots against them like that of Amatius, became distrustful of the fickleness of Antony, who now had an army under his command. Seeing that the republic was not confirmed by deeds, they suspected Antony for that reason also. They reposed most confidence in Decimus Brutus, who had three legions near by. They sent secretly to Trebonius in Asia and to Tillius in Bithynia, asking them to collect money quietly and to prepare an army. They were anxious to enter upon the government of the provinces assigned to them by Cæsar, but as the time for doing so had not yet come, they thought that it would be indecorous for them to leave their service as city prætors unfinished, and that they should incur the suspicion of an undue longing for power over the provinces. They preferred, nevertheless, to spend the remainder of their year as private citizens somewhere, as a matter of necessity, rather than serve as praetors in the city where they were not safe, and were not held in honor corresponding to the benefits they had conferred upon their country. Being in this state of mind, and the Senate holding the same opinion as themselves, the latter gave them charge of the supply of corn for the city from all parts of the world until the time should arrive for them to take command of their provinces. This was done in order that Brutus and Cassius might not at any time seem to have fled. So great was the anxiety and regard for them that the Senate cared for the other murderers chiefly on their account.[*](Brutus and Cassius were at Antium when the Senate appointed them commissioners of the food-supply, and Cicero went there to confer with them. A consultation was held in which the mother, the sister, and the wife of Brutus took part. Cassius at first declined his appointment, saying that he considered it an insult, but he was finally soothed, and both of them accepted. (Ad Att. xv. 11..))

After Brutus and Cassius had left the city, Antony, being in possession of something like monarchical power, cast about for the government of a province and an army for himself. He desired that of Syria most of all, but he was not ignorant of the fact that he was under suspicion and that he would be more so if he should ask for it; for the Senate had secretly encouraged Dolabella, the other consul, to oppose Antony, as the former had always been at variance with the latter. Antony, knowing that this young Dolabella was himself ambitious, persuaded him to solicit the province of Syria and the army enlisted against the Parthians, in place of Cassius, and to ask it, not from the Senate, which had not the power to grant it,[*](ou) ga\r e)ch=n. This means that it is not within the competence of the Senate to assign the province of Syria to Dolabella. Yet in the next section we are informed that it was within the competence of the Senate to assign the province of Macedonia to Antony. The fact is that the competency of the Senate extended to both. Combes-Dounous suggests h)= instead of ou), changing it from negative to affirmative.) but from the people by a law. Dolabella was delighted, and immediately brought forward the law. The Senate accused him of nullifying the decrees of Cæsar. He replied that Cæsar had not assigned the war against the Parthians to anybody, and that Cassius, who had been assigned to the command of Syria, had himself been the first to alter the decrees of Cæsar by authorizing colonists to sell their allotments before the expiration of the legal period of twenty years. He said also that it would be an indignity to himself if he, being Dolabella,[*](That is, a man in his position, a consul whose term was about expiring.) were not chosen for Syria instead of Cassius. The Senate then persuaded one of the tribunes, named Asprenas, to falsify the signs in the sky during the comitia,[*](In which case the proceedings must be suspended.) expecting that Antony, who was both consul and augur, and was supposed to be still at variance with Dolabella, would coöperate with him. But when the voting came on, and Asprenas said that the signs in the sky were unfavorable, as it was not his business to attend to this,

Antony, angry at his lying, ordered that the tribes should go on with the voting on the subject of Dolabella.

Thus Dolabella became governor of Syria and general of the war against the Parthians and of the forces enlisted for that purpose by Cæsar, together with those that had gone in advance to Macedonia. Then it became known for the first time that Antony was coöperating with Dolabella. After this business had been transacted by the people, Antony solicited the province of Macedonia from the Senate, well knowing that after Syria had been given to Dolabella, they would be ashamed to deny Macedonia to himself, especially as it was a province without an army. They gave it to him unwillingly, at the same time wondering why Antony should let Dolabella have the army, but glad nevertheless that the latter had it rather than the former. They themselves took the opportunity to ask of Antony other provinces for Brutus and Cassius. They assigned to them Cyrenaica and Crete; or, as some say, both of these to Cassius and Bithynia to Brutus. Such was the state of affairs at Rome.

Octavius, the son of the daughter of Cæsar's sister, had been appointed master of Cæsar's horse for one year, for Cæsar at times made this a yearly office, passing it around among his friends. Being still a young man, he had been sent by Cæsar to Apollonia on the Adriatic to be educated and trained in the art of war, so that he might accompany Cæsar on his expeditions. Troops of horse from Macedonia were sent to him by turns for the purpose of drill, and certain army officers visited him frequently as a relative of Cæsar. As he received all with kindness, an acquaintance and good feeling grew up by means of them between himself and the army. At the end of a six months' sojourn in Apollonia, it was announced to him one evening that Cæsar had been killed in the senate-house by those who were dearest to him, and were then the most powerful ones under him. As the rest of the story was untold he was overcome by fear, not knowing whether the deed had been committed by the Senate as a whole or was confined to the immediate actors; nor whether they had already been punished by the people, or would be,[*](kai\ ei) di/khn h)/dh toi=s plei/osi dedw/koien, h)\ kai\ tou=de ei)=en. All commentators are agreed that the last two words are corrupt; they convey no meaning. Among the numerous conjectures made by way of emendation that of Bekker seems the most reasonable, viz.: h)\ kai\ dw/soien, "or would be punished." This reading has been followed in the translation. The Didot Latin version follows that of Schweighäuser, viz.: utrum poenas jam populo dedissent interfectores, aut saltem eas timerent; i.e. "whether the murderers had already been punished by the people, or at least feared punishment.") or whether the people were pleased with what had been done.

Thereupon his Roman friends advised him to take refuge with the army in Macedonia to insure his personal safety, and that when he should learn that the murder was only a private transaction he should take courage and avenge Cæsar of his enemies; and there were high officers who promised to protect him if he would come. But his mother and his stepfather, Philippus, wrote to him from Rome not to be too confident and not to attempt anything rash, but to bear in mind what Cæsar, after conquering every enemy, had suffered at the hands of his closest friends; that it would be safer under present circumstances to choose a private life and hasten to them at Rome, but with caution. Octavius yielded to them because he did not know what had happened after Cæsar's death. He took leave of the army officers and crossed the Adriatic, not to Brundusium (for as he had made no test of the army at that place he avoided all risk), but to another town not far from it and out of the direct route, named Lupiæ. There he took lodgings and remained for a while.

When more accurate information about the murder and the public grief had reached him, together with copies of Cæsar's will and the decrees of the Senate, his relatives still cautioned him to beware of the enemies of Cæsar, as he was the latter's adopted son and heir. They even advised him to renounce the adoption, together with the inheritance. But he thought that to do so, and not to avenge Cæsar, would be disgraceful. So he went to Brundusium, first sending in advance to see that none of the murderers had laid any trap for him. When the army there advanced to meet him, and received him as Cæsar's son, he took courage, offered sacrifice, and immediately assumed the name of Cæsar; for it is customary among the Romans for the adopted son to take the name of the adoptive father. He not only assumed it, but he changed his own name and his patronymic completely, calling himself Cæsar the son of Cæsar, instead of Octavius the son of Octavius, and he continued to do so ever after. Directly multitudes of men from all sides flocked to him as Cæsar's son, some from friendship to Cæsar, others his freedmen and slaves, and with them other soldiers, who were either engaged in conveying supplies and money to the army in Macedonia, or bringing other money and tribute from other countries to Brundusium.

Encouraged by the numbers who were joining him, and by the glory of Cæsar, and by the good-will of all toward himself, he journeyed to Rome with a notable crowd which, like a torrent, grew larger and larger each day. Although he was safe from any open attacks by reason of the multitude surrounding him, he was all the more on his guard against secret ones, because almost all of those accompanying him were new acquaintances. Some of the towns were not altogether favorable to him, but Cæsar's veterans, who had been distributed in colonies, flocked from their settlements to greet the young man. They bewailed Cæsar, and cursed Antony for not proceeding against the monstrous crime, and said that they would avenge it if anybody would lead them. Octavius praised them, but postponed the matter for the present and sent them away. When he had arrived at Tarracina, about 400 stades from Rome, he received news that Cassius and Brutus had been deprived of Syria and Macedonia by the consuls, and had received the smaller provinces of Cyrenaica and Crete by way of compensation; that certain exiles had returned; that Sextus Pompey had been recalled; that some new members had been added to the Senate in accordance with Cæsar's memoranda, and that many other things were happening.[*](Octavius went to Rome by way of Naples. In a letter to Atticus, written at Puteoli in April, Cicero says: " Octavius arrived at Naples on the 14th Kalends. There Balbus saw him on the morning of the following day and on the same day came to me at Cumæ to tell me that he was going to claim his inheritance; but, as you say, he will have a lively time with Antony." (Ad Att. xiv. 10.) In another letter he writes: "Octavius has arrived at the neighboring villa of Philippus. He is devoted to me." In the next letter he says: " Octavius treats me with the greatest distinction and friendship. Some call him Cæsar. Philippus does not; therefore I do not. I am sure that he cannot be a good citizen, so many of those around him threaten death to our friends and say that these things cannot be borne. What think you when this boy shall come to Rome where our liberators cannot live in safety? They will always be famous, and happy also in the consciousness of what they have done. But, unless I am deceived, we shall be flat on our backs." (Ad Att. xiv. 12.))

When he arrived at the city his mother and Philippus and the others who were interested in him were anxious about the estrangement of the Senate from Cæsar, and the decree that his murderers should not be punished, and the contempt shown him by Antony, who was then all-powerful, and had neither gone to meet Cæsar's son when he was coming nor sent anybody to him. Octavius quieted their fears, saying that he would call on Antony, as the younger man on the older and the private citizen on the consul, and that he would show proper respect for the Senate. As for the decree, he said that it had been passed because nobody had prosecuted the murderers; whenever anybody should have courage to prosecute, the people and the Senate would lend their aid to him as one enforcing the law, the gods would do so for the justice of his cause, and perhaps Antony himself would help. If he (Octavius) should reject the inheritance and the adoption, he would be false to Cæsar and would wrong the people who had a share in the will. As he was finishing his remarks he burst out that he ought not only to incur danger, but even to die, after he had been preferred before all others in this way by Cæsar, if he would show himself worthy of one who had himself braved every danger. Then turning to his mother, he repeated the words of Achilles to Thetis, which were then fresh in his mind: --

"Then quickly let me die since fate denied That I should aid my friend against the foes That slew him."

Iliad, xviii. 98, Bryant's translation.[*](*au)ti/ka teqnai/hn, e)pei\ ou)k a)/r' e)/mellon e(tai/rw| kteinome/nw| e)pamu=nai.)

After saying this he added that these words of Achilles, and especially the deed that followed, had of all things given him immortal renown; and he invoked Cæsar not as a friend, but a father; not as a fellow-soldier, but a commander-in-chief; not as one who had fallen by the law of war, but as the victim of sacrilegious murder in the senate-house.

Thereupon his mother's anxiety was changed to joy, and she embraced him as the only one worthy of Cæsar. She checked his speaking and urged him to prosecute his designs with the favor of fortune. She advised him, however, to use art and patience rather than open boldness. Octavius approved of this policy and promised to adopt it in action, and forthwith sent around to his friends the same evening, asking them to come to the forum early in the morning and bring a crowd with them. There presenting himself to Gaius Antonius, the brother of Antony, who was the city prætor, he said that he accepted the adoption of Cæsar; for it is a Roman custom that adoptions are confirmed by witnesses before the prætors. When the public scribes had taken down his declaration, Octavius went from the forum straightway to Antony. The latter was in the gardens that Cæsar had given to him, that had formerly been Pompey's. As Octavius was kept waiting at the vestibule for some time, he interpreted the fact as a sign of Antony's displeasure. When he was admitted there were greetings and mutual questionings proper to the occasion. When the time came to speak of the business in hand, Octavius said: --

"Father Antony (for the benefits that Cæsar conferred upon you and your gratitude toward him warrant me in giving you that title), for some of the things that you have done since his death I praise you and owe you thanks; for others I blame you. I shall speak freely of what my sorrow prompts me to speak. When Cæsar was killed you were not present, as the murderers detained you at the door; otherwise you would have saved him or incurred the danger of sharing the same fate with him. If the latter would have befallen you, then it is well that you were not present. When certain senators proposed rewards to the murderers as tyrannicides you strongly opposed them. For this I give you hearty thanks, although you knew that they intended to kill you also;[*](The interpretation of this passage is doubtful. Schweighäuser thinks that Octavius means to say that he thanks Antony for opposing the proposition to reward the murderers, although he may have had a selfish interest in doing so.) not, as I think, because you were likely to avenge Cæsar, but, as they themselves say, lest you should be his successor in the tyranny. At the same time they made it clear that they were not tyrant-killers, but murderers,[*]((/*ama d' ou)k h)=san e)kei=noi turannokto/noi ei) mh\ kai\ fonei=s h)=san: literally, "these men were not tyrant-killers unless they were murderers also." I have followed the Latin version of Schweighäuser, which differs from those of his predecessors. He said that the text conveyed no clear meaning to him, and that his version was guesswork.) by taking refuge in the Capitol, either as guilty suppliants in a temple or as enemies in a fortress. How then could they have obtained amnesty and impunity for their crime unless some portion of the Senate and people had been corrupted by them? Yet you, as consul, ought to have seen what would be for the interest of the majority,[*](kai\ se\ to\ tw=n pleo/nwn o)ra=|n e(xrh=n, u(/paton o)/nta. Schweighäuser and his predecessors rendered these words: " You as consul ought to see what would be agreeable to the majority (quid placeret pluribus)." The Didot version more properly renders it quid prodesset pluribus.) and if you had wished to avenge such a monstrous crime, or to reclaim the erring, your office would have enabled you to do either. But you sent hostages from your own family to the murderers at the Capitol for their security. Let us suppose that those who had been corrupted forced you to do this also, yet when Cæsar's will had been read, and you had delivered your righteous funeral oration, and the people, in lively remembrance of Cæsar, had carried firebrands to the houses of the murderers, but spared them for the sake of their neighbors, agreeing to come back armed the next day, why did you not coöperate with them and lead them with fire or arms? Or why did you not bring them to trial, if trial was necessary for men seen in the act of murder -- you, Cæsar's friend; you, the consul; you, Antony?

"The pseudo-Marius was put to death by your order in the plenitude of your authority, but you connived at the escape of the murderers, some of whom have passed on to the provinces which they nefariously hold as gifts at the hands of him whom they slew. These things were no sooner done than you and Dolabella, the consuls, proceeded, very properly, to strip them and possess yourselves of Syria and Macedonia. I should have owed you thanks for this also, had you not immediately voted them Cyrenaica ana Crete; had you not preferred these fugitives for governorships, where they can always defend themselves against me, and had you not tolerated Decimus Brutus in the command of Hither Gaul, although he, like the rest, was one of my father's slayers. It may be said that these were decrees of the Senate. But you put the vote and you presided over the Senate -- you who ought most of all to have opposed them on your own account. To grant amnesty to the murderers was merely to insure their personal safety as a matter of favor, but to vote them provinces and rewards forthwith was to insult Cæsar and annul your own opinion. Grief has compelled me to speak these words, against the rules of decorum perhaps, considering my youth and the respect I owe you. They have been spoken, however, to the firmest friend of Cæsar, to one who was invested by him with the greatest honor and power, and who would have been adopted by him no doubt if he had known that you would accept kinship with the family of Æneas in exchange for that of Hercules; for this created doubt in his mind when he was thinking strongly of designating you as his successor.

"For the future, Antony, I conjure you by the gods who preside over friendship, and by Cæsar himself, to change somewhat the measures that have been adopted, for you can change them if you wish to; if not, that you will hereafter aid and cooperate with me in punishing the murderers, with the help of the people and of those who are still my father's faithful friends. If you still have regard for the conspirators and the Senate, do not be hard on us. So much for that. You know about my private affairs and the expense I must incur for the legacy which my father directed to be given to the people, and the haste involved in it lest I may seem churlish by reason of delay, and lest those who have been assigned to colonies be compelled to remain in the city and waste their time on my account. Of Cæsar's movables, that were brought immediately after the murder from his house to yours as a safer place, I beg you to take keepsakes and anything else by way of ornament and whatever you like to retain from us. But in order that I may pay the legacy to the people, please give me the gold coin that Cæsar had collected for his intended wars. That will suffice for the distribution to 300,000 men now. For the rest of my expenses I may perhaps borrow from you, if I may be so bold, or from the public treasury on your security, if you will give it, and I will offer my own property for sale at once."

While Octavius was speaking in this fashion Antony was astonished at his freedom of speech and his boldness, which seemed much beyond the bounds of propriety and of his years. He was offended by the words because they were wanting in the respect due to him, and still more by the demand for money, and, accordingly, he replied in the severe terms following: "Young man, if Cæsar left you the government, together with the inheritance and his name, it is proper for you to ask and for me to give the reasons for my public acts. But if the Roman people never surrendered the government to anybody to dispose of in succession, not even when they had kings, whom they expelled and swore never to have any more (this was the very charge that the murderers brought against your father, saying that they killed him because he was no longer leading but reigning), then there is no need of my answering you as to my public acts. For the same reason I release you from any indebtedness to me in the way of gratitude for those acts. They were performed not as a favor to you, but to the people, except in one particular, which was of the greatest importance to Cæsar and to yourself. For if, to secure my own safety and to shield myself from enmity, I had allowed honors to be voted to the murderers as tyrannicides, Cæsar would have been declared a tyrant, to whom neither glory, nor any kind of honor, nor confirmation of his acts would have been possible; who could make no valid will, have no son, nor any burial of his body, even as a private citizen. The laws provide that the bodies of tyrants shall be cast out unburied, their memory stigmatized, and their property confiscated.