Cassius Dio
Roman History
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Book XLVII
The following is contained in the Forty-seventh of Dio's Rome:—
1. How Caesar, Antony, and Lepidus came to Rome and perpetrated murders
(chaps. 1-19).
2. About Brutus and Cassius and what they did before the battle of
Philippi (chaps. 20-36).
3. How Brutus and Cassius were defeated by Caesar and perished (chaps.
37-49).
Duration of time, the remainder of the consulship of Gaius Vibius Pansa
and Aulus Hirtius, together with one additional year, in which there
were the magistrates (consuls) here enumerated:—
B.C.
42
M. Aemilius M. F. Lepidus (II), L. Munatius L. F.
Plancus.
After forming this compact and taking oaths they hastened to Rome,
giving the impression that they were all going to rule on equal terms,
but each having the intention of getting the entire power himself. Yet
they had learned in advance very clearly before this, and very plainly
at this time also, what was going to happen. For in the case of Lepidus
a serpent that coiled about a centurion's sword and a wolf that entered
his camp and his tent while he was eating dinner and knocked over the
table foretold at once his future power and the trouble that was to
follow it; in the case of Antony, the flowing of milk round about the
trenches and the resounding of a kind of chant at night foreshadowed
the satisfactions that he was to experience and the destruction that
was to grow out of them. These portents befell them before they entered
Italy; but in Caesar's case it was at this very time, immediately after
the covenant had been made, that an eagle settled upon his tent and
killed two crows which had attacked it and were trying to pluck out its
feathers — a sign which gave him the victory over both his rivals.
So they came to Rome with all their troops, first Caesar and then the
others, each one separately, and immediately they enacted through the
tribunes the laws they had agreed upon. For the measures which they
dictated and forced through not only assumed the name of law, but
actually had to be supported by petitions, since the triumvirs required
to be besought earnestly to pass them Hence sacrifices were voted in
honour of them as if for successes and the people changed their attire
as if they had been blessed by fortune, although great fear was upon
them because of these very acts and still greater fear because of
omens. For the standards of the army which was guarding the city became
covered with cobwebs, pieces of armour were seen to rise up from the
earth to the sky and a great clashing that came from them was heard; in
the shrine of Aesculapius bees gathered in swarms on the ceiling, and
crowds of vultures settled on the temple of the Genius Populi and on
that of Concordia.
And while the people were still in this state of mind, those murders by
proscription which Sulla had once indulged in were once more resorted
to and the whole city was filled with corpses. Many were killed in
their houses, many even in the streets and here and there in the fora
and around the temples; the heads of the victims were once more set up
on the rostra and their bodies either allowed to lie where they were,
to be devoured by dogs and birds, or else cast into the river.
Everything that had been done before in the days of Sulla occurred also
at this time, except that only two white tablets were posted, one for
the senators and one for the others. The reason for this I have not
been able to learned from anyone else or to find out myself; for the
only reason that might occur to one, namely, that fewer were to be put
to death, is by no means true, since many more names were posted, owing
to the fact that there were more persons making the lists. However,
this circumstance did not cause these proscriptions to differ from the
murders on the earlier occasion; since the posting of the names of the
prominent citizens, not promiscuously along with those of the rabble,
but separately, must surely have seemed a very absurd distinction to
the men who were to be murdered on precisely the same terms. But over
against this one difference there were not a few other conditions of a
very distressing nature that fell to their lot, although Sulla's
proscriptions, to all appearances, left no room for outdoing them. In
Sulla's time, to be sure, the perpetrators had committed their socking
deeds on the spur of the moment, inasmuch as they were trying this sort
of thing for the first time, and not as the result of deliberate
planning, and hence in most cases they behaved less wickedly, since
they were acting, not with malice aforethought, but as chance dictated;
and the victims, encountering misfortunes which came upon them suddenly
and had never before been heard of by them, found some alleviation in
the unexpectedness of their sufferings. At this time, however, when men
had either taken part themselves in all the former terrible deeds, or
had beheld them, or were at any rate thoroughly acquainted with them
from recent descriptions, and accordingly in all the time between, in
the expectation of a recurrence of similar outrages, had, on the one
hand, been devising many additional horrors, with the idea that they
would inflict them, and, on the other hand, been conjuring up
additional terrors with the idea that they would suffer them, the
perpetrators resorted to the most unusual devices in their emulation of
the outrages of yore and their consequent eagerness to introduce into
their schemes, by their ingenuity, novel features of some sort; and the
victims, reflecting upon all that they might suffer, underwent great
tortures in their minds even before their bodies were put to torture,
as if they were already in the very midst of their sufferings. Another
reason for their faring worse on this occasion than before was that
previously only the enemies of Sulla and of the leaders associated with
him were destroyed, whereas among the friends of Sulla or of the other
men no one perished, at least not at Sulla's bidding; so that, apart
from the very wealthy, who can never be at peace on such occasions with
the man more powerful than themselves, all the rest had no cause for
fear. In this second series of murders, however, not only the men's
enemies or the rich were being killed, but also their best friends,
incredible as it may seem. For in general almost nobody had incurred
the enmity of those men for any mere private cause, to such an extent
as to be murdered by them; but it was their public relations and their
changing of their allegiance from one political leader to another that
had created for the Romans not only their friendships, but also their
violent enemies. For everyone who had made common cause or
coöperated with his neighbour in anything was regarded by all the
rest in the light of an enemy. And thus it came about that the same
persons had become friends of some one of the leaders and enemies of
them all as a body, so that while privately each leader was merely
taking vengeance upon those who had plotted against him, as a group
they were destroying even their dearest friends. For in consequence of
the dealings they had had with one another they kept a sort of
reckoning of the items of "friend" and "enemy," and no one of their
number could take vengeance on one of his own enemies, if he was a
friend of one of the other two, without giving up some friend in
return; and because of their resentment over what was past and their
suspicion regarding the future they cared nothing about the saving of
an associate as over against their vengeance upon an adversary, and
therefore readily gave their friends in return. In consequence they
were now offering up to each other their staunchest friends in return
for their bitterest enemies, and getting their most implacable foes in
return from their closest comrades, sometimes exchanging equal numbers
and sometimes several for one or fewer for more, and carrying on their
negotiations in general after the fashion of a market, particularly in
over-bidding one another as at an auction. If one person was found who
matched another in value so that there was a parity between them, there
was an even exchange; but those whose value was enhanced by some
excellence or rank or even relationship perished each at the price of
several lives. For, as is natural in civil wars, which last a long time
and involve many incidents, many had in the course of the strife come
into collision even with their nearest relatives. For example, Antony
had found an enemy in his uncle, Lucius Caesar, and Lepidus in his
brother, Lucius Paullus. But though the lives of these men were spared,
yet many of the rest were slaughtered even in the houses of their
friends and relatives, at whose hands they most confidently expected to
be saved and honoured. For, in order that no one should hesitate to
kill another out of fear of being deprived of the rewards,— inasmuch as
Marcus Cato, in his quaestorship, had demanded back from those who had
murdered anyone in the time of Sulla all that they had received for
their work,— they proclaimed that the name of none of the perpetrators
should be registered in the public records. Encouraged by this, men
proceeded to slay, in addition to the others, also the well-to-do, even
when they had no dislike for any of them. For since they stood in need
of vast sums of money have had no other source from which to satisfy
the desires of their soldiers, they affected a kind of common enmity
against the rich. And among the many other lawless acts they committed
in carrying out this policy, they took a lad and enrolled him among the
youths of military age, in order that they might kill him as now
classed among the grown men.
These acts were committed chiefly by Lepidus and Antony; for they had
been honoured by the former Caesar for many years, and as they had been
holding offices and governorships for a long time they had many
enemies. But Caesar seems to have taken part in the business merely
because of his sharing the authority, since he himself had no need at
all to kill a large number; for he was not naturally cruel and had been
brought up in his father's ways. Moreover, as he was still a young man
and had just entered politics, he was under no necessity in any case of
hating many persons violently, and, besides, he wished to be loved. A
proof of this is that from the time he broke off his joint rulership
with his colleagues and held the power alone he no longer did anything
of the sort. And even at this time he not only refrained from
destroying many but actually saved a very large number; and he treated
with great severity those who betrayed their masters or friends and
very leniently those who helped others. witness the case of Tanusia, a
woman of note. She at first concealed her husband Titus Vinius, one of
the proscribed, in a chest at the house of a freedman named Philopoemen
and so made it appear that he had been killed. Later she waited for a
popular festival, which a relative of hers was to direct, and through
the influence of Caesar's sister Octavia brought it about that Caesar
alone of the triumvirs entered the theatre. Then he rushed in an
informed him of her deed, of which he was still ignorant, brought in
the chest itself and produced from it her husband. Caesar, astonished,
released all of them — for death was the penalty also for such as
concealed anyone — and enrolled Philopoemen among the knights.
So 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. He 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; at 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. And 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. Yet
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.
For these reasons the murders took many forms, and also the rescues in
individual instances were of divers kinds. Many perished at the hands
of their dearest friends, and many were saved by their bitterest
enemies. Some slew themselves, and others were released by the very men
who came upon them to murder them. Some who betrayed masters or friends
were punished, and others were honoured for this very reason; of those
who helped others save their lives, some paid the penalty and others
actually received rewards. For since it was not one man who was
concerned, but three, each doing anything and everything according to
his own desire and his private advantage and regarding different sets
of men as enemies or friends, and each having often occasion to desire
earnestly that the life of a man be spared whom one of the others
wished to destroy, or, on the other hand, that a man be put to death
whom one of the others wished to have survive, many complicated
situations resulted, according as they felt good-will or hatred toward
anyone. I shall accordingly refrain from giving an accurate and
detailed description of all such incidents, since this would be a vast
undertaking and there would be no great gain to my history, but shall
relate what I regard as most worthy of remembrance.
In one case a slave had hidden his master in a villa, and then, when
even so the master was likely to perish through information given by a
third person, this slave changed clothes with him, and wearing his
master's apparel, went to meet the pursuers as if he were himself the
master, and was murdered. So they turned aside, thinking they had slain
the man they wished, and when they had departed, the master made his
escape to some other place. Again, another slave likewise changed his
entire dress with his master and entered a covered litter himself,
making his master one of the carriers; and so, when they were
overtaken, he was killed without being even looked at, while the master
was spared as being a porter. These, perhaps, are instances of favours
repaid by slaves to their indulgent masters in recognition of some
kindness previously received. But there was also a branded runaway
slave, who, so far from betraying the man who had branded him, very
gladly saved him. It was discovered that he was smuggling his master to
some place of safety and a pursuit was begun; so he killed a man who
met him by chance, gave the man's clothes to his master, and placing
the corpse upon a pyre, he himself took his master's clothing and ring,
went to meet the pursuers, and upon claiming that he had killed his
master while fleeing, his word was believed, because of his spoils and
the marks of the branding, and thus he not only saved his master, but
at the same time gained honour for himself. Now these anecdotes redound
to the memory of no persons known by name; but there was Hosidius Geta,
whose son arranged a funeral for him, as though he were already dead,
and saved him in that way, and Quintus Cicero, the brother of Marcus,
whose son secreted him and saved his life, so far as it was in his
power to do so For the boy concealed his father so well that he could
not be discovered, and when tormented for it by according to kinds of
torture, did not utter a syllable; but his father, learning what was
being done, was filled at once with admiration and pity for the boy,
came out into the open of his own free will and surrendered himself to
his slayers.
Such were the conspicuous deeds of bravery and filial devotion
performed at that time. On the other hand, Popilius Laenas killed
Marcus Cicero, although Cicero had once defended him as his advocate,
and in order that by means of optical proof as well as by report he
might have the credit of having murdered him, he set up a statue of
himself sitting crowned beside his victim's head, with an inscription
that recorded his name and his deed. By this act he pleased Antony so
much that he secured more than the price offered. Again, Marcus
Terentius Varro was a man who had given no offence, but his name was
identical with that of one of the proscribed, except for the agnomen,
and he was afraid that he might because of this suffer a fate similar
to that of Cinna; therefore he issued a statement making known this
fact (he was tribune at the time) and for this he became the subject of
amusement and ridicule. Now the uncertainty of life was illustrated not
only by this incident, but also by the case of Lucius Philuscius, who
had previously been proscribed by Sulla and had escaped, had his name
now inscribed on the tablet once more and perished, whereas Marcus
Valerius Messalla, who had been condemned to death by Antony, not only
continued to live in safety, but was later appointed consul and place
of Antony himself. So it is that many come out safe from the most
desperate situations, while just as many who feel no fear lose their
lives. Hence one should neither be so alarmed in the face of the
calamities of the moment as to lose all hope, nor be so carried away by
his immediate elation as to be reckless, but, by placing his
expectation of the future midway between the two, should make reliable
calculations for either event.
Such, at any rate, was the course of events at that time, and while
very many of those who were not proscribed also lost their lives,
because they either were hated or had money, yet very many whose names
were posted not only survived but were also restored from exile, and
some of them were even elected to office. They were finding refuge with
Brutus, with Cassius, and with Sextus, but the majority directed their
flight toward Sextus. For Sextus had formerly been chosen to command
the fleet and for a time had dominated the sea, so that he had
surrounded himself with a force of his own, even though he had
subsequently been deprived of his office by Caesar. He had occupied
Sicily, and then, when the order of proscription was passed against
him, too, and all the other murders were taking place, he proved of the
greatest assistance to those who were in like condition. For, anchoring
near the coast of Italy, he kept sending to Rome and to the other
cities, offering among other things to those who saved anybody double
the reward that had been proposed for those who should murder them, and
promising to the men themselves a refuge, assistance, money, and
honours. Therefore a considerable number came to him. As to the exact
number, now, either of those who were proscribed or slaughtered or of
those who escaped, I refrain even at the present time from recording
it, because many names originally inscribed on the tablets were erased
and many were later inscribed in their place, and of these not a few
were saved and many perished who were not on the lists. And it was not
permitted in any case even to mourn for the victims, and many lost
their lives on this account also. And finally, when the calamities
broke down all their assumed calm and no one even of the most
stout-hearted could longer bear up against them, but in all their work
and conversation their countenances were gloomy and they had no thought
of celebrating the new-year festival, as was their wont, they were
ordered by a proclamation to be of good cheer, on pain of death if they
should disobey. So they were forced to rejoice over their common evils
as over blessings. Yet why do I mention such a thing, when they voted
to those men (to the triumvirs, I mean) the civic crowns and other
distinctions as to benefactors and saviours of the state? For these men
not only would not allow themselves to be blamed because they were
murdering people, but, what is more, wished to be praised because the
number of their victims was not greater. And to the populace they once
openly stated they had emulated neither the cruelty of Marius and
Sulla, that they should be hated, nor, on the other hand, the mildness
of Caesar, that they should be despised and consequently plotted
against.
So much for the murders; but many strange proceedings took place also
in connection with the property of person left alive. To be sure, the
triumvirs announced, as if they were indeed just and humane rulers,
that they would give to the widows of the slain their dowries, and to
the male children a tenth and to the female children a twentieth of the
property of each other's father; but these portions were not actually
given save in a few cases, and the possessions of the other classes of
persons were plundered with impunity even down to the last farthing.
For, in the first place, they levied upon all the houses, both in the
city and in the rest of Italy, a tax which was the entire amount of the
annual rent in the case of dwellings which people had leased, and half
of that amount in the case of such as they occupied themselves, all
based on the value of the domicile; and secondly, from those who
possessed lands they took away half of the revenues they produced.
Furthermore, they required that the soldiers should receive their
support free from the cities in which they were wintering, and also
distributed them throughout the country districts, pretending that they
were sent to take charge of the confiscated property or that of the
persons who still opposed them. For they counted the latter class as
enemies, because they had not come over to the side of the triumvirs
before the appointed day. Thus the whole country outside the towns was
also pillaged. Indeed, the triumvirs not only allowed the soldiers to
do this, in order that, having their pay even in advance of their
services, they might devote all their zeal to their commanders'
interests, but also promised to give them cities and lands. And to
carry out this promise they appointed special commissioners to divide
the lands among them and to establish them in colonies. Now the mass of
the soldiers was made loyal by these measures; but in the case of the
more prominent, they tempted some with the possessions of those who
were being put to death, both by lowering the price on certain articles
and by granting others to them free, and others they honoured with the
offices and priesthoods of the victims. For, in order that they
themselves might with impunity secure the finest both of the lands and
of the buildings and yet might give their followers all they wanted,
the triumvirs gave notice that no one but themselves and the soldiers
should visit the auction unless he wanted to buy something; whoever did
so should die. And they managed even those who came under these
conditions in such a way that they detected no irregularity and had to
pay the very highest price for what they wanted, and consequently had
no further desire to buy.
This was the course followed in regard to the property of the
proscribed. As to the offices and priesthoods of such as had been put
to death, they distributed these, not in the fashion prescribed by law,
but apparently just as suited their fancy. As regards the consulship,
when Caesar resigned the office,— thus giving up willingly the position
he had so eagerly desired that he had even made war to gain it,— and
when his colleague died, they appointed Publius Ventidius, although he
was praetor at the time, and another man; and to the praetorship
vacated very Ventidius they promoted one of the aediles. Afterwards
they relieved all the praetors, who still had five days to hold office,
and sent them to be governors of the provinces, and installed others in
their places. Some laws they abolished entirely and in others inserted
new provisions; and, in brief, they ordered everything else just as
seemed good to them. They did not, to be sure, lay claim to titles
which were offensive and had therefore been done away with, but they
managed matters according to their own wish and desire, so that
Caesar's sovereignty by comparison appeared all gold.
That year, besides doing these things, they voted a temple to Serapis
and Isis. And when Marcus Lepidus and Lucius Plancus became consuls,
tablets were again set up, not involving the death of any one this
time, but defrauding the living of their property. For the triumvirs
found themselves in need of more money, inasmuch as they already owed
large sums to large numbers of soldiers, were spending large sums on
undertakings then being carried out by them, and expected to spend far
more still on the wars and prospect; they therefore proceeded to
collect funds. Now the reintroduction of the taxes which had been
formerly abrogated, or the establishment of new ones, and the
institution of the joint contributions, which they levied in large
numbers both on the land and on the slaves, caused the people some
little distress, it is true; but that those who were in the slightest
degree still prosperous, not only senators or knights, but even
freedmen, men and women alike, should be listed on the tablets and
mulcted of another "tithe" of their wealth irritated everybody
exceedingly. For it was in name only that a tenth of each other's
property was exacted; in reality not so much as a tenth was left. For
since they were not ordered to contribute a stated amount according to
the value of their possessions, but had the duty of assessing the value
of their own goods, they were as a result liable to be accused of not
having made a fair assessment and to lose in addition what they had
left. And even if some persons did somehow escape this fate, yet they
were brought into straits by the assessments, found themselves terribly
short of ready money, and so, like the others, were deprived
practically everything. Moreover, the following device, distressing
even to hear about, but most distressing in practice, was put into
operation. Any one of the proscribed who wished to do so was permitted,
if he would abandon all his property, to make requisition afterwards
for one-third of it, which meant getting nothing and having trouble
besides. For when they were being openly and violently despoiled of
two-thirds, how were they to recover the other third, especially since
their goods were being sold for an extremely low price? For, in the
first place, a great deal of property was being offered at auction all
at once and most people were without gold or silver and the rest did
not dare to show by buying that they had money, lest they should lose
that too, and consequently the prices were lowered; in the second
place, anything would be sold to the soldiers far below its value.
Hence none of the private citizens saved anything worth mentioning;
for, over and above all the other exactions, they had to furnish slaves
for the navy, buying them if they had none, and the senators had to
repair the roads at their individual expense. Only those, indeed, who
bore arms gained great wealth. For they were far from satisfied with
the are pay, though it was given in full, or with their outside
perquisites, though these were very numerous, or with the prizes
bestowed for the murders, though they were exceedingly large, or with
the lands they acquired, though they were practically a free gift to
them; but in addition some would ask for and receive all the property
of those who died, and others would force their way into the families
of the survivors who were old and childless. For they had reached such
a degree of greed and shamelessness that one man actually asked Caesar
himself for the property of Atia, his mother, who had died at that time
and had been honoured with a public funeral.
While these three men were behaving in this wise, they were also
magnifying the former Caesar to the utmost degree. For as they were
eager for sole rulership and were striving for it, they vindictively
pursued the rest of the assassins, with the idea that in this way they
would be preparing, long in advance, immunity for themselves in what
they were doing as well as safety; and so they eagerly did everything
which tended to his honour, in expectation of some day being themselves
thought worthy of like honours, and for this reason they exalted him,
not only by the honours which had already been voted him, but also by
others which they now added. Thus, on the first day of the year they
themselves took an oath and made all the rest swear that they would
consider all his acts binding; and the same thing is still done to-day
in honour of all those who successively enter upon the supreme power
and also of those who have possessed it and have not been dishonoured.
They also laid the foundation of a shrine to him, as hero, in the
Forum, on the spot where his body had been burned, and caused an image
of him, together with a second image, that of Venus, to be carried in
the procession at the Circensian games. And whenever news came of a
victory anywhere, they assigned the honour of a thanksgiving to the
victor by himself and to Caesar, though dead, by himself. And they
compelled everybody to celebrate his birthday by wearing laurel and by
merry-making, passing a law that those who neglected these observances
should be accursed in the sight of Jupiter and of Caesar himself, and,
in the case of senators of senators' sons, that they should forfeit a
million sesterces. Now it happened that the Ludi Apollinares fell on
the same day, and they therefore voted that his birthday feast should
be celebrated on the previous day, on the ground that there was an
oracle of the Sibyl which forbade the holding of a festival on Apollo's
day to any god except Apollo. Besides granting him these honours, they
made the day on which he had been murdered, a day on which there had
always been a regular meeting of the senate, an unlucky day. The room
in which he had been murdered they closed for the time being and later
transformed into a privy. They also built the Curia Julia, named after
him, beside the place called the Comitium, as had been voted. Moreover,
they forbad any likeness of him to be carried at the funerals of his
relatives,— just as if he were in very truth a god,— though this was an
ancient custom and was still being observed. And they enacted that no
one who took refuge in his shrine to secure immunity should be driven
or dragged away from there — a distinction which had never been granted
even to any one of the gods, save to such as were worshipped in the
days of Romulus. Yet after men began to congregate in that region even
this place had inviolability in name only, without the reality; for it
was so fenced about that no one could any longer enter it at all.
These were the honours which they granted to Caesar; they also allowed
the Vestal Virgins to employ one lictor each, because one of them, not
being recognised, had been insulted while returning home from dinner
toward evening. And they assigned the offices in the city for several
years ahead, thus at the same time honouring their friends and
strengthening their cause for a longer time by controlling the
succession of those officials.
When all this had been accomplished, Lepidus remained there, as I have
said, to take up the administration of the city and of the rest of
Italy, and Caesar and Antony set out upon their campaign. It should be
explained that Brutus and Cassius, after the compact made by them with
Antony and the rest, had at first gone regularly into the Forum and
discharged the duties of the praetorship with the same ceremonial as
before. But when some began to be displeased at the killing of Caesar,
they withdrew, pretending to be in haste to reach the governorships
abroad to which they had been appointed. And yet Cassius was praetor
urbanus and had not yet celebrated the Ludi Apollinares. But, although
absent, he performed that duty most brilliantly through his colleague
Antony; he did not himself sail away from Italy at once, however, but
lingered with Brutus in Campania and watched the course of events. And
in their capacity as praetors they kept sending letters to the people
at Rome, until Caesar Octavianus began to take a hand in affairs and to
win the affections of the populace. Then, despairing of the republic
and at the same time fearing him, year departed. The Athenians gave
them a splendid reception; for, though they were honoured by nearly
everybody else for what they had done, the inhabitants of this city
voted them bronze images by the side of those of Harmodius and
Aristogeiton, thus intimating that Brutus and Cassius had emulated
their example.
Meanwhile, learning that Caesar was growing stronger, they neglected
Crete and Bithynia, whither they were being sent, since they saw no
prospect of any noteworthy aid in those countries; but they turned to
Syria and to Macedonia, although these provinces did not belong to them
at all, because they excelled as strategical positions and in point of
money and troops. Cassius went to Syria, because its people we
acquainted with him and friendly as a result of his campaign with
Crassus, while Brutus proceeded to unite Greece and Macedonia. For the
inhabitants of those districts were inclined to give heed to him in any
case because of the glory of his deeds and in the expectation of
similar service to their country, and particularly because he had
acquired numerous soldiers, some of them survivors of the battle of
Pharsalus, who were even then still wandering about in that region, and
others who by reason either of sickness or slack discipline had been
left behind from the force which had set out with Dolabella. And money
also came to him from Trebonius in Asia. So for these reasons he won
over Greece without the least effort, although for that matter it
contained no force worth mentioning. He reached Macedonia at the moment
when Gaius Antonius had just arrived and Quintus Hortensius, who was
his predecessor in the governorship, was about to retire; however, he
experienced no trouble. For Hortensius embraced his cause at once, and
Antonius was weak, being hindered during Caesar's supremacy in Rome
from performing have of the duties belonging to his office. Vatinius,
who was governor of Illyricum near by, came from there to Dyrrachium,
seized it before Brutus could prevent, and acted as an enemy in the
present strife, but could not injure him at all; for his soldiers, who
disliked him and furthermore despised him by reason of a disease, went
over to the other side. So Brutus, taking over these troops, led an
expedition against Antonius, who was in Apollonia; and when Antonius
came out to meet him, Brutus won over his soldiers, shut him up within
the walls when he fled thither before him, and captured him alive
through betrayal, but did him no harm.
After this success, Brutus next acquired all Macedonia and Epirus, and
then despatched a letter to the senate, stating what he had
accomplished and placing at its disposal himself as well as the
provinces and the soldiers. The senators, who, as it chanced, already
felt suspicious of Caesar, praised him highly and bade him be governor
of all that region. When, then, he had had his command confirmed by the
decree, he not only felt more encouraged himself, but also found his
subjects ready to support him unreservedly. For a time he both
communicated with Caesar, when the latter appeared to be making war on
Antony, urging him to resist his enemy and to become reconciled with
the writer himself, and was himself making preparations to sail to
Italy, because the senate had summoned him; but after Caesar had got
matters thoroughly in hand in Rome and was proceeding openly to take
vengeance on his father's slayers, Brutus remained where he was,
deliberating how he should successfully ward off the other's attack
when it occurred; and besides managing admirably the other districts as
well as Macedonia, he calmed the minds of his legions when they had
been stirred to mutiny by Antonius.
For Antonius, although Brutus had not even deprived him of his
praetorian dress, was not content to keep quiet, his safety and office
secure, but was stirring up a revolt among the soldiers of Brutus. And
when he was discovered at this work before he had done any great harm,
he was stripped of his praetorian insignia, and delivered up to be
guarded, though not confined, that he might not cause any rebellion.
Yet he did not remain quiet even then, but concocted more schemes of
rebellion than ever, so that some of the soldiers came to blows with
one another and others set out for Apollonia to fetch Antonius himself,
with the intention of rescuing him. This, however, they were unable to
do; for Brutus had learned beforehand from some intercepted letters
what was to be done and by putting him into a covered litter, not
pretence that he was moving a sick man, got him out of the way. The
soldiers, unable to find Antonius and being also afraid of Brutus,
seized a hill commanding the city. Brutus induced them to come to an
understanding, and by taking a few of the most audacious, of whom he
executed some and dismissed others from his service, persuaded the
other mutineers to arrest and kill those who had been sent away, on the
ground that they were chiefly responsible for the sedition, and also to
ask for the surrender of the quaestor and the lieutenants of Antonius.
Now Brutus did not deliver any of these officials into their hands, but
put them aboard ships, as if he were going to drown them, and do
conveyed them to safety; fearing, however, that the troops would change
sides again when they should hear reports of the events in Rome, all
exaggerated to inspire alarm, he delivered Antonius to a certain Gaius
Clodius to guard and left him in Apollonia. Meanwhile Brutus himself
took the largest and strongest part of the army and retired into upper
Macedonia, whence he later sailed to Asia, in order to remove his men
as far as possible from Italy and to support them on the subject
territory there. Among the various allies whom he gained at this time
was Deiotarus, although this ruler was very old and had refused his
assistance to Cassius.
While Brutus was delaying there, a plot was formed against him by
Gellius Publicola, and Mark Antony also sent some men and attempted to
rescue his brother. Clodius, accordingly, as he could not keep his
prisoner in custody alive, killed him, either on his own responsibility
or following instructions from Brutus; for the story is that at first
Brutus made his prisoner's safety of supreme importance, but later,
after learning that Decimus had perished, cared nothing more about it.
Gellius was detected, but suffered no punishment; for Brutus released
him, inasmuch as he had always held him to be among his best friends
and knew that his brother, Marcus Messalla, was on very close terms
with Cassius. The man also made an attempt upon Cassius, but suffered
no harm in that case, either. The reason was that his mother Polla
learned of the plot in advance, and fearing for Cassius lest he should
be caught off his guard (for she was very fond of him) and for her son
lest he should be detected, in person and of her own free will informed
Cassius of the plot beforehand, and received the life of her son as a
reward. However, she did not succeed in making a better man of him; for
he deserted his benefactor to join Caesar and Antony.
Now as soon as Brutus learned of the attempt of Mark Antony and of the
killing of Antony's brother, he feared that some other insurrection
might take place in Macedonia during his absence, and immediately
hastened to Europe. On the way he took charge of the territory which
had belonged to Sadalus, who had died childless and had left it to the
Romans, and he also invaded the country of the Bessi, in the hope that
he might at one and the same time punish them for the mischief they
were doing and invest himself with the title and dignity of imperator,
thinking that he should thus carry on his war against Caesar and Antony
more easily. He accomplished both objects chiefly by the aid of a
certain prince named Rhascyporis. And after going thence into Macedonia
and making himself master of everything there, he withdrew again into
Asia.
In addition to these activities Brutus stamped upon the coins which
were being minted his own likeness and a cap and two daggers,
indicating by this and by the inscription that he and Cassius had
liberated the fatherland. Meanwhile Cassius crossed over to Trebonius
in Asia, forestalling Dolabella, and after securing money from him,
attached to himself many of the cavalry, which Dolabella had sent
before him into Syria, and also many Asiatics and Cilicians besides. He
next brought Tarcondimotus, also, and the people of Tarsus into the
alliance, though against their will, for the Tarsians were so devoted
to the former Caesar, out of regard for him to the second also, that
they changed the name of their city to Juliopolis after him. After
accomplishing this much Cassius went to Syria, and without striking a
blow completely won over both the people and the legions. The situation
in Syria at that time was as follows. Caecilius Bassus, a knight, who
had made the campaign with Pompey and in the retreat had arrived at
Tyre, was secretly spending his time there in the mart. The governor of
Syria was Sextus; for since he was not only quaestor but also a
relative of Caesar's, Caesar had placed in his charge all the Roman
interests in that quarter, having done this on the occasion of his
march from Egypt against Pharnaces. So Bassus at first remained quiet,
satisfied if only he might be allowed to live; but when some men in
like case had associated themselves with him and he had attached to
himself various soldiers of Sextus who came there at different times to
garrison the city, and when, moreover, many alarming reports kept
coming in from Africa about Caesar, he was no longer content with the
existing state of affairs, but began to stir up a rebellion, his aim
being either to help the followers of Scipio and Cato and the Pompeians
or to win for himself some political power. But he was discovered by
Sextus before he had finished his preparations, and explained that he
was collecting these troops for the use of Mithridates the Pergamenian
in an expedition against Bosporus; his story was believed, and he was
released. So after this he forged a letter, which he pretended had been
sent to him by Scipio, on the basis of which he announced that Caesar
had been defeated and had perished in Africa and claimed that the
governorship of Syria had been assigned to him. He then seized Tyre
with the aid of the forces he had got ready, and from there he advanced
against the legions of Sextus, but was defeated and wounded while
attacking him. After this experience, he did not again make an attempt
by force upon Sextus, but sent messages to his soldiers, and in some
way or other won some of them to himself to such an extent that they
murdered Sextus with their own hands.
When Sextus was dead, Bassus gained possession of all his army except a
few; for the soldiers who had been wintering in Apamea withdrew into
Cilicia before his arrival, and although he pursued them, he did not
win them over. Returning then to Syria, he took the title of praetor
and fortified Apamea, so as to have it as a base for the war. And he
proceeded to enlist the men of military age, not only freemen but
slaves as well, to gather money, and to prepare arms. While he was thus
engaged, one Gaius Antistius besieged him. Later they had a fairly
equal struggle, and when neither party was able to gain any great
advantage, they parted, without any definite truce, to await the
bringing up of allies. Antistius was joined by such persons of the
vicinity as favoured Caesar and by soldiers who had been sent from Rome
by Caesar, while Bassus was joined by Alchaudonius the Arabian. He it
was who had formerly made terms with Lucullus, as I have stated, and
later joined with the Parthians against Crassus. On this occasion he
was summoned by both sides, but entered the space between the city and
the camps and before making any answer called for bids for his services
as an ally; and as Bassus outbid Antistius, he assisted him, and in the
battle proved greatly superior in his archery. Even the Parthians, too,
came at the invitation of Bassus, but on account of the winter failed
to remain with him for any considerable time, and hence did not
accomplish anything of importance. Bassus prevailed for a time, to be
sure, but was later again held in check by Marcius Crispus and Lucius
Staius Murcus.
Affairs with them were in this state when Cassius came on the scene and
at once conciliated all the cities because of the renown of his acts
while quaestor and of his fame in general, and attached the legions of
Bassus and of the others without any further trouble. While he was
encamped in one place with all these forces, a great downpour from the
sky suddenly occurred, during which wild swine rushed into the camp,
through all the gates at once, overturning and throwing into confusion
everything there; hence some inferred from this his immediate rise to
power and his subsequent overthrow. So when Cassius had secured
possession of Syria, he set out for Judaea on learning that the
followers of Caesar who had been left behind in Egypt were approaching;
Next he sent away, without harming them in the least, Bassus and
Crispus and such others as did not care to share the campaign with him;
as for Staius, he retained him in the rank which he had when he came
there and entrusted the fleet to him besides.
Thus Cassius quietly became strong; and he sent a despatch to Caesar
about reconciliation, and to the senate about the situation, composed
in similar language to that of Brutus. Therefore the senate confirmed
him in the governorship of Syria and voted for the war with Dolabella.
Dolabella, it will be recalled, had been appointed to govern Syria and
had set out while consul, but travelling by way of Macedonia and
Thrace, had been late in arriving in the province of Asia, and he had
delayed there also. He was still there when he received news of the
decree, and so did not go on into Syria, but remained where he was; and
he treated Trebonius in such a manner as to inspire in him a firm
belief in his friendly disposition toward him, and thus to secure from
him, with his full consent, food for his soldiers and the privilege of
living with him in security. And when Trebonius became in this way
imbued with confidence and ceased to be on his guard, Dolabella one
night suddenly seized Smyrna, where they were staying, slew him, and
hurled his head at Caesar's statue; and after that he occupied all
Asia. When the Romans at home heard of this, they declared war upon
him; for as yet Caesar had neither conquered Antony nor got the affairs
of the city under his control. They also set a definite day before
which Dolabella's followers mut leave off friendship with him if they
also were not to be regarded in the light of enemies. And they
instructed the consuls to take complete charge of the measures against
him and of the war, as soon as they should have brought their present
business to a successful conclusion (for they did not yet know that
Cassius held Syria); however, in order that he should not become more
powerful in the meantime, they gave the governors of the neighbouring
provinces charge of the matter. When they subsequently learned the
truth about Cassius, they passed the decree mentioned above before
anything had been done by the provincial governors.
Dolabella, accordingly, after becoming in this way master of Asia, came
into Cilicia while Cassius was in Palestine, took over the people of
Tarsus with their consent, conquered a few of Cassius' guards who were
at Aegae, and invaded Syria. From Antioch he was repulsed by the
garrison of the place, but he gained Laodicea without a struggle on
account of the friendship which its inhabitants felt for the former
Caesar. Thereupon he became powerful for a few days, especially as the
fleet came to him speedily from Asia, and he crossed over to Arados
with the object of getting both money and ships from the people of that
island also; there he was intercepted with only a few followers, and
ran into danger. But he made his escape, and then encountering Cassius,
who was marching against him, he joined battle with him and was
defeated. He was then shut up and besieged in Laodicea, entirely cut
off from the main land (for Cassius was assisted by some Parthians
among others), though he was still powerful on the sea, not only
because of the ships he had from Asia, but also because of those from
Egypt which Cleopatra had sent him, and powerful also by reason of the
money which came to him from her. This situation lasted until Staius
got together a fleet, and sailing into the harbour of Laodicea,
defeated the ships that sailed out to meet him, and barred Dolabella
from the sea also. Then, prevented on both sides from bringing in
supplies, and seeing that it was being betrayed, he feared that he
might be taken alive, and so took his own life. His example was
followed by Marcus Octavius, his lieutenant. To these two burial was
conceded by Cassius, although they had cast out Trebonius unburied; and
the men who had participated in the campaign with them and survived
obtained both safety and pardon, in spite of their having been regarded
as enemies by the Romans at home. Furthermore, the Laodiceans also
suffered no harm apart from a forced contribution of money. But for
that matter no one else was punished, either, although many of them
subsequently plotted against Cassius.
While this was going on the people of Tarsus had attempted to keep from
the pass through the Taurus Tillius Cimber, an assassin of Caesar, who
was then governor of Bithynia and was hurrying forward to help Cassius.
Out of fear, however, they abandoned the place and at the time made a
truce with him, because they thought him strong; but afterwards, when
they perceived the small number of his troops, they neither received
him into their city nor furnished him with provisions. And when he had
constructed a fort against them and had set out for Syria, belong it to
be of more importance to aid Cassius than to destroy their city
himself, they made an attack upon this fort and got possession of it,
and then set out for Adana, a place on their borders always at variance
with them, giving as an excuse that it was supporting the cause of
Cassius. Now when Cassius heard of this, he at first, while Dolabella
was still alive, sent Lucius Rufus against them, but later came
himself; and finding that they had already surrendered to Rufus without
a struggle, he inflicted no severe penalty upon them, except to take
away all their money, private and public. As a result, the people of
Tarsus received praise from the triumvirs (for they were already
holding sway in Rome), and were inspired with hope of obtaining some
return for their losses. Cleopatra also, on account of the aid she had
sent to Dolabella, was granted the right to have her son called king of
Egypt; this son, whom she named Ptolemy, she pretended was her son by
Caesar, and she was therefore wont to call him Caesarion.
And when Cassius had settled matters in Syria and in Cilicia, he came
into Asia to meet Brutus. For when they learned of the league of the
triumvirs and what these men were doing against them, they came
together there and made common cause more than ever. As they shared the
responsibility for the war and looked forward to the danger in the same
degree, and as they did not even now recede from their determination to
defend the freedom of the people, but were eager to overthrow these men
also, inasmuch as they were three in number and were engaged in such
evil undertakings, they proceeded with the greater zeal to make all
their plans in common and to carry them out. In short, they resolved to
enter Macedonia and to hinder the others from crossing over into Italy;
but inasmuch as the triumvirs were reported to be still settling
affairs in Rome and it was thought likely that they would have their
hands full with Sextus, who was lying in wait against them near by,
they did not carry out their plans immediately. Instead, they not only
visited various places themselves, but also sent others in various
directions, winning over such as were not yet in accord with them, and
collecting both money and troops.
Nearly all the other peoples in that region, even those who had before
been waiting for the turn of events, at once came to terms; but
Ariobarzanes, the Rhodians, and the Lycians, while not opposing them,
were yet unwilling to form an alliance with them. Brutus and Cassius
therefore suspected them of favouring their enemies, since they had
been well treated by the former Caesar, and they feared that when they
themselves should have departed those peoples would cause some turmoil
and lead the rest to revolt. Hence they determined to turn their
attention to them first, in the hope that, since they themselves were
far superior to them in point of armed forces and were also lavish with
the favours they bestowed, they might soon either persuade or force
them to join their cause. The Rhodians, who had so great an opinion of
the strength of their fleet that without waiting for Cassius they
sailed to the mainland against him and displayed to his army the
fetters they were bringing with the idea that they were going to
capture many alive, first near Myndus and later close to Rhodes itself;
he accomplished this through Staius, who overcame their skill by the
superior number and size of his ships. Afterwards Cassius himself
crossed over to their island, where he met with no resistance,
possessing, as he did, their good-will because of the stay he had made
there while pursuing his education; and though he did the people no
harm, yet he appropriated their ships, money, and public and sacred
treasures, with the exception of the chariot of the Sun. Afterwards he
arrested and killed Ariobarzanes.
As for Brutus, he overcame in battle the combined army of the Lycians
which met him near the border, and when it fled in a body into the
camp, captured it without a blow; he won over the majority of the
cities without a struggle, but Xanthus he besieged. Suddenly the
inhabitants made a sortie, hurling fire upon his machines, and at the
same time shooting their arrows and javelins, and he was brought into
the greatest danger. Indeed, his forces would have been utterly
destroyed had they not pushed their way through the very fire and
unexpectedly attacked their assailants, who were light-armed. These
they hurled back within the walls, and themselves rushing in along with
them, they cast fire into some of the houses, striking terror into
those who witnessed what was being done and giving those at a distance
the impression that they had captured absolutely everything; thereupon
the inhabitants of their own accord helped set fire to the rest, and
most of them slew one another. Later Brutus came to Patara and invited
the people to conclude an alliance; but they would not obey, for the
slaves and the poorer portion of the free population, who had just
received, the former their freedom and the latter remission of their
debts, prevented their making terms. So at first he sent them the
captive Xanthians, to whom many of them were related by marriage, in
the hope that through these he might bring them around; but when they
yielded none the more, in spite of his offering to each man his own kin
as a free fit, he set up an auction block in a safe place under the
very wall and bringing up the prominent Xanthians one at a time,
auctioned them off, to see if by this means at least he could bring the
people of Patara to terms. But when they would not even then come over
to him, he sold only a few and let the rest go. And when the people
inside saw this, they no longer held out, but forthwith attached
themselves to his cause, regarding him as an upright man; and they were
punished only by the imposition of a fine. The people of Myra also did
likewise when Brutus captured their general at the harbour and then
released him. And thus he secured the control of the other districts
also in a short time.
After accomplishing these results Brutus and Cassius came again into
Asia; and all the suspicions which they were harbouring against each
other as the result of calumnious talk, such as is wont to arise in
similar conditions, they brought forward and discussed with each other
in privacy, and after becoming reconciled again they hastened into
Macedonia. And they found that Gaius Norbanus and Decidius Saxa had
anticipated them by crossing the Ionian Sea before Staius arrived,
occupying the whole country as far as Mt. Pangaeum and encamping near
Philippi. This city is situated near Pangaeum and Symbolon. Symbolon
("Junction") is the name they give the place where the mountain
mentioned joins on (symballei) to another that extends into the
interior, and it is between Neapolis and Philippi; for the former town
was near the sea, opposite Thasos, while the latter is situated within
the mountains on the plain. And inasmuch as Saxa and Norbanus, as it
chanced, has already occupied the most direct pass across, Brutus and
Cassius did not even try to get through that way but went round by a
longer road that passes by a place called Crenides. Here, too, they
encountered a garrison, but overpowered it, got inside the mountains,
approached the city along the high ground, and there encamped,
nominally each by himself; but, as a matter of fact, they bivouacked
together. For, in order to that the soldiers might preserve better
discipline and be easier to manage, the camp consisted of two separate
parts; but as all of it, including the intervening space, was
surrounded by a ditch and a rampart, the entire circuit was the same
for both, and from it they derived their safety in common.
Brutus and Cassius were far superior in numbers to their adversaries
then present and hence drove out the others and got possession of
Symbolon; in this way they were able not only to bring provisions from
the sea over a shorter route but also to secure them from the plain by
making descents thither. For Norbanus and Saxa did not venture to offer
them battle even with their entire force, though they sent out horsemen
as skirmishers, wherever opportunity offered; but, as they accomplished
nothing, they were careful for their own part rather to keep their camp
well guarded than to expose it to danger, and sent urgent summons to
Caesar and Antony. For these leaders, so long as they heard that
Cassius and Brutus were busy with the Rhodians and the Lycians, had
supposed that their adversaries would have fighting on their hands
there for a long time, and therefore had not made haste to come, be but
had merely sent Saxa and Norbanus ahead into Macedonia. But when they
perceived that the Lycians and Rhodians had been overpowered, they
bestowed praise upon these peoples and promised to make them a present
of money, and they themselves at once set out from the city. Both,
however, encountered delays. Antony had to spend some time at
Brundisium, where he was shut up by Staius, and Caesar at Rhegium,
after he had first turned aside to meet Sextus, who held Sicily and was
making an attempt on Italy.
When, however, it seemed to them to be impossible to overthrow Sextus,
and the operations of Cassius and Brutus urged them to greater haste,
they left a small part of their army to garrison Italy and with the
major portion safely crossed the Ionian Sea. Caesar fell sick and was
left behind at Dyrrachium, while Antony marched toward Philippi; and
for a time he was a source of some strength to his soldiers, but after
laying an ambush for some of the enemy when they were gathering grain
and failing in his attempt, even he was no longer hopeful. Caesar heard
of the situation and feared the outcome in either case, whether Antony,
acting alone, should be defeated in an engagement or should conquer,
for in the one event he felt that Brutus and Cassius would gain
strength to oppose him, and in the other that Antony would certainly do
so; therefore he made haste, though still sick. At this the followers
of Antony also took courage; and since it seemed the only safe course
for them to encamp all together, they assembled the three divisions in
one place and in one stronghold. While the armies were encamped
opposite each other, sallies and counter-sallies took place on both
sides, as chance dictated; but for some time no regular battle was
joined, although Caesar and Antony were exceedingly eager to bring on a
conflict. For not only were their forces stronger than those of their
adversaries, but they were not so abundantly supplied with provisions,
because their fleet was away fighting Sextus and they were therefore
not masters of the sea.
Hence these men, for the reasons given and because of Sextus, who held
Sicily and was making an attempt on Italy, were full of eagerness owing
to their fear that while they delayed he might capture Italy and come
into Macedonia. As for Cassius and Brutus, they had in general no
aversion to a battle, inasmuch as the weakness of their troops was
counterbalanced by their superior numbers; but when they reflected upon
the situation of their opponents and upon their own and observed that
fresh allies were being added to their own numbers every day and that
they had abundant food by the aid of their ships, they held off in the
hope of gaining their ends without danger and loss of men. For, as they
were genuine friends of the people and were contending with citizens,
they consulted the interests of the latter no less than those of their
own associates, and desired to afford safety and liberty to both alike.
The troops, however, composed mostly of subject nations, were vexed by
the delay and despised their antagonists because they had offered
inside their camp the sacrifice of purification, which regularly
precedes a conflict, and thus showed signs of fear; hence they were
eager for the battle and talked to the effect that if there should be
more delay, they would abandon the camp and disperse. In these
circumstances Brutus and Cassius reluctantly joined battle.
That this struggle proved tremendous and surpassed all previous civil
conflicts of the Romans would be naturally surmised,— not that it was
greater than they in either the number of the combatants or as regards
their valour, since far larger masses and braver men than they had
fought on many fields, but because now as never before liberty and
popular government were the issues of the struggle. For though they
again came to blows with one another just as they had done previously,
yet these later struggles were for the purpose of finding out what
master they should obey, whereas on the present occasion the one side
was trying to lead them autocracy, the other side to self-government.
Hence the people never attained again to absolute freedom of speech,
even though vanquished by no foreign nation (the subject and the allied
forces then present with them were of course merely a kind of
complement of the citizen army); but the people at one and the same
time triumphed over and were vanquished by themselves, defeated
themselves and were defeated, and consequently they exhausted the
democratic element and strengthened the monarchical. And yet I do not
say that it was not beneficial for the people to be defeated at that
time — what else, indeed, can one say regarding the contestants on both
sides than that the vanquished were Romans and that the victor was
Caesar! — for they were no longer capable of maintaining harmony in the
established form of government. It is, of course, impossible for an
unadulterated democracy that has grown to so proud an empire to
exercise moderation; and so they would later on have undertaken many
similar conflicts one after another, and some day would certainly have
been either enslaved or ruined.
We may infer also from the portents which appeared to them at that time
that it was manifestly a supreme struggle in which they were engaged;
for Heaven, even as it is ever accustomed to give warning signs before
the most unusual events, foretold to them accurately both in Rome and
in Macedonia all the results that would come of it. Thus, in the city
the sun at one time would be diminished and grow extremely small, and
again would show its huge and trebled in size, and once it even shone
forth at night; thunderbolts descended at many places and in particular
upon the altar of Jupiter Victor; meteors darted hither and thither;
notes of trumpets, clashing of arms, and shouts of armed hosts were
heard by night from the gardens both of Caesar and of Antony, which
were close together beside the Tiber. Moreover, a dog dragged the body
of another dog to the temple of Ceres, where he dug up the earth with
his paws and buried it. A child was born with hands that had ten
fingers each, and a mule gave birth to a prodigy of two species, the
front part of it resembling a horse and the rest a mule. The chariot of
Minerva while returning to the Capitol from the races in the Circus was
dashed to pieces, and the statue of Jupiter on the Alban Mount sent
forth blood from its right shoulder and right hand at the very time of
the Feriae. These were the warnings they had from Heaven; and there
were also rivers in their land which gave out entirely or began to flow
backward. And on the part of men, whatever of their doings were
directed by chance seemed to point to the same end; thus, during the
Feriae the prefect of the city celebrated the festival of Latiaris,
which neither belonged to him nor was ordinarily observed at that time,
and the plebeian aediles celebrated in honour of Ceres contests in
armour in place of the games in the Circus These were the events
occurring in Rome; and certain oracles also both before and after the
events were recited which pointed to the downfall of the republic. In
Macedonia, of which Mt. Pangaeum and the territory surrounding it are
regarded as a part, bees in swarms surrounded the camp of Cassius, and
in the course of the purification of the camp some one set the garland
upon his head wrong end foremost, and a boy fell down while carrying a
Victory in a procession such as the soldiers hold. But the thing which
most of all portended the destruction that was to come upon them, so
that it became plain even to their enemies, was that many vultures and
also many other birds that devour corpses gathered above the heads of
the conspirators only and gazed down of them, screaming and screeching
in a horrible and frightful manner.
To that side, then, these signs brought evil, while to the other, so
far as we know, no bad omen occurred, but visions appeared to them in
their dreams as follows. A Thessalian dreamed that the former Caesar
had bidden him tell Caesar that the battle would occur on the second
day after that one and to request him to assume and wear some article
which the other Caesar had used to wear while dictator; Caesar
therefore immediately put his father's ring on his finger and wore it
often afterwards. This was the Thessalian's vision; but the physician
who attended Caesar dreamed that Minerva commanded him to lead his
patient, though still in poor health, from his tent and place him in
the line of battle — the very means by which he was actually saved. For
whereas in most cases safety is the lot of such as remain in the camp
and within its ramparts, while it is dangerous to go into the midst of
weapons and battles, this was reversed in the case of Caesar, since it
was very manifestly the result of his leaving the intrenchments and
mingling with the combatants that he survived, although by reason of
his sickness he found it difficult to stand even without his arms.
The contest took place as follows. Although no arrangement had been
made as to when they should begin the battle, yet as if by some compact
they all armed themselves at dawn, advanced into the space between the
two camps leisurely, as though they were competitors in a game, and
then quietly drew themselves up in battle order. When they had taken
their stand facing each other, exhortations were addressed to each
side, partly to the armies collectively and partly to the separate
bodies of troops, according as the speakers were the generals or the
lieutenants or the lesser officers; and much that was said consisted of
the necessary advice called for by the immediate danger and also of
sentiments that bore upon the consequences of the battle,— words such
as men would speak who were to encounter danger at the moment and were
looking forward with anxiety to the future. For the most part the
speeches were very similar, inasmuch as on both sides alike they were
Romans with their allies. Still, there was a difference. The officers
of Brutus set before their men the prizes of liberty and democracy, of
freedom from tyrants and freedom from masters; they cited the benefits
of equality and the excesses of monarchy, appealing to what they
themselves had suffered or had heard related about other peoples; and
giving instances of the working of each system separately, they
besought them to strive for the one and to avoid the other, to conceive
a passion for the former and to take care that they should not suffer
the latter. The opposing leaders, on the other hand, urged their army
to take vengeance on the assassins of Caesar, to get the property of
their antagonists, to be filled with a desire to rule all the men of
their own race, and — the thing which heartened them most — they
promised to give them twenty thousand sesterces apiece.
Thereupon watchwords were going around — for the followers of Brutus it
was "Liberty" and for the other side whatever the word which was given
out,— and then one trumpeter on each side sounded the first note, after
which the rest joined in, first those who sounded the "at rest" and the
"ready" signals on their trumpets while standing in a kind of circular
space, and then the others who were to rouse the spirit of the soldiers
and incite them to the onset. Then there was suddenly a great silence,
and after waiting a little the leaders uttered a piercing shout and the
lines on both sides joined in. Then the heavy-armed troops gave the
war-cry, beat their shields with their spears and then hurled their
spears, while the slingers and the archers discharged their stones and
missiles. Then the two bodies of cavalry rode out against each other
and the cuirassiers following behind them came to close quarters with
each other.
For a long time there was pushing of shield against shield and
thrusting with the sword, as they were at first cautiously looking for
a chance of wound others without being wounded themselves, since they
were as eager to save themselves as to slay their antagonists; but
later, when their ardour increased and their rage was inflamed, they
rushed together recklessly and paid no more attention to their own
safety, but in their eagerness to destroy their adversaries would even
throw away their own lives. Some cast away their shields and seizing
hold of the foes facing them choked them by means of their helmets
while they struck them in the back, or else tore away their armour and
smote them on the breast. Others seized hold of the swords of their
opponents, who we thus as good as unarmed, and then ran their own into
their bodies; and some exposed a part of their own bodies to be wounded
and thus gained a freer use of the rest. Some clutched their opponents
in an embrace that prevented either one from striking and perished
through the commingling of their swords and bodies. Some died of a
single blow, others of many, and they neither were conscious of their
wounds, since death forestalled their suffering, nor lamented their
end, since they never reached the point of grieving. One who killed
another thought in the excessive joy of the moment that he could never
die; and whoever fell lost consciousness and had no knowledge of his
state.
Both sides remained precisely where they were at the beginning and
neither side retired or pursued, but there, just as they were, they
wounded and were wounded, slew and were slain, until late in the day.
And if each side as a whole had joined in the conflict with the other
as a whole, as generally happens in a struggle like this, or if Brutus
had been arrayed against Antony and Cassius against Caesar, they would
have proved equally matched. But as it was, Brutus forced Caesar,
because of his sickness, to yield ground, while Antony vanquished
Cassius, who was by no means his equal in warfare. And so at this time,
since they were not opposing each other as united armies, but each side
was in part defeated and in part victorious, the result was practically
the same for each; for both had conquered and had been defeated, each
had routed its adversaries and had been routed, pursuits and flights
had been the fortune of both alike, and the camps on both sides had
been captured. For, as the combatants were many, they stretched far out
over the plain, so that they could not see each other distinctly; and
not alone in the battle could each one recognize only what was opposite
him, but also when the rout took place both armies fled in opposite
directions to their respective camps, which were separated from each
other by a considerable distance, without stopping to look back.
Because of this fact and of the immense quantities of dust that rose
they were ignorant of the outcome of the battle, and those who had won
thought that they had conquered everywhere, and those who were defeated
that they had been worsted everywhere; and they did not learn what had
happened until their intrenchments had been pillages and the victors on
each side encountered each other as they went back to their own
quarters.
So far, then, as the battle was concerned, both sides both conquered
and were defeated, as I have described; for they certainly did not
again resume the conflict at this time, but as soon as they saw each
other as they turned and went back, and recognized what had taken
place, they withdrew, neither side venturing anything further. As for
their mutual successes and reverses, the whole camp of Caesar and
Antony and everything within it was captured,— and Caesar's dream found
a most striking confirmation in this circumstance, for if he had
remained where he was he would certainly have perished with the rest,—
while Cassius, on his side, returned in safety from the battle, and
then escaped to a different spot when he found that he had been
despoiled of his camp, but suspecting that Brutus, too, had been
defeated and that a party of the victors was coming in pursuit of
himself, he made haste to die. For he had sent a centurion to view the
situation and report to him where Brutus was and what he was doing, and
this man, falling in with some horsemen whom Brutus had sent out to
seek his colleague, turned back with them and proceeded leisurely, with
the idea that there was no hurry, because no danger preserved itself;
but Cassius, seeing them afar off, suspected that they were enemies and
ordered Pindarus, a freedman, to kill him. And the centurion slew
himself on the body of Cassius when he learned that Cassius had
perished on account of his own delay.
Now Brutus immediately sent the body of Cassius secretly to Thasos,
since he shrank from burying it where he was, for fear he should cause
grief and dejection to fall upon the army if they should witness what
was taking place. But he took in charge the remnant of Cassius'
soldiers, consoled them in a speech, won their devotion by a gift of
money to make up for what they had lost, and then transferred his
position to their intrenchments, which were more suitable. Making his
headquarters there, he proceeded to harass his opponents in various
ways, especially by assaulting their camp at night. For he had no
intention of joining issue with them again in a set battle, but, having
great hopes of overcoming them in time without risking an engagement,
he tried to throw them into confusion in various ways and to disturb
them by night, and once he diverted the course of the river and washed
away a considerable part of their camp. Now Caesar and Antony were
running short of both food and money and consequently did not so much
as recompense their soldiers for the property they had lost by pillage;
furthermore, the force that was sailing to them in transports from
Brundisium was destroyed by Staius. Yet they could not safely transfer
their position to any other region nor return to Italy, and so, even as
late as this, they once more placed in their arms all their hopes not
merely of victory but even of safety; and they were eager to have a
decisive engagement before their reverse at sea became noised abroad
among their own men and their opponents. But as Brutus was unwilling to
join battle with them, they managed in some way to cast pamphlets into
his camp, urging his soldiers either to embrace their cause (and they
made them certain promises) or to come to blows if they had the least
particle of strength. During this delay some of the German contingent
deserted from their side to Brutus, and Amyntas, the general of
Deiotarus, and Rhascyporis deserted Brutus and came to them — though
Rhascyporis, as some say, immediately returned home. As for Brutus,
this incident made him afraid that the disaffection might spread and so
he decided to join issue with his foes. And since there were many
captives in his camp, and he had no way to guard them during the
progress of the battle and could not trust them to refrain from doing
mischief, he put the majority of them to death contrary to his own
inclination, being a slave in this matter to necessity; but he was the
more ready to do it because his opponents had killed such of his
soldiers as had been taken alive. After doing this he armed his men for
battle. And when the two armies were already drawn up in line of
battle, two eagles that flew above the heads of the two armies battled
together and foretold to the combatants the outcome of the war; for
just as the eagle on the side of Brutus was beaten and fled, so his
heavy-armed force was defeated after a long and close struggle, and
then, when many had fallen, his cavalry also gave way, though it fought
nobly. Thereupon the victors pursued them as they fled in various
directions, although they neither killed nor capture any one; but they
kept watch on the separate forces during the night and did not allow
them to unite again.
Now Brutus, who had made his escape up to a well-fortified stronghold,
undertook to break through in some way to his camp; but when he was
unsuccessful, and furthermore learned that some of his soldiers had
made terms with the victors, he no longer had any hope, but despairing
of safety and disdaining capture, he also took refuge in death. He
first uttered aloud this sentence of Heracles:
"O wretched Valour, thou wert but a name,
And yet I worshipped thee as real indeed;
But now, it seems, thou were but Fortune's slave."
Then he called upon one of the bystanders to kill him. His body
received burial at Antony's hands — all but his head, which was sent to
Rome; but as the ships encountered a storm during the voyage across
from Dyrrachium, that was thrown into the sea. At his death the
majority of his soldiers immediately transferred their allegiance when
a proclamation of amnesty was issued to them; but Porcia perished by
swallowing a red-hot coal. And most of the prominent men who had held
offices or still survived of the number of Caesar's assassins or of
those who had been proscribed straightway killed themselves, or, like
Favonius, were captured and put to death; the remainder escaped to the
sea at this time and later joined Sextus.
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