Cassius Dio
Roman History
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Book XLIX
The following is contained in the Forty-ninth of Dio's Rome:—
1. How Caesar conquered Sextus and overthrew Lepidus (chaps. 1-18).
2. How Ventidius conquered and slew Pacorus and drove the Parthians
across the Euphrates (chaps. 19-21).
3. How Antony was defeated by the Parthians (chaps. 22-33).
4. How Caesar subjugated the Pannonians (chaps. 34-38).
5. How Antony by guile captured Artavasades, the king of Armenia
(chaps. 39-41).
6. How the Portico of Paulus was consecrated (chap. 42).
7. How Mauretania Caesariensis fell to the Romans (chap. 43).
Duration of time, four years, in which there were the magistrates
(consuls) here enumerated:—
B.C.
36
L. Gellius L. F. Publicola, M. Cocceius . . . Nerva.
35
L. Cornificius L. F. Sextus Pompeius Sex. F.
34
M. Antonius M. F. (II), L. Scribonius L. F. Libo.
33
Caesar (II), L. Volcacius L. F. Tullius.
All this happened in the winter in which Lucius Gellius and Cocceius
Nerva became consuls. When the fleet had been made ready and spring had
set in, Caesar set out from Baiae and coasted along Italy with great
hopes of encompassing Sicily on all sides. For he was sailing thither
with many ships himself and those of Antony were already in the strait;
also Lepidus had reluctantly promised to assist him. But his chief
ground of confidence lay in the height of his vessels and the thickness
of their timbers; they had been built unusually stout and unusually
high, in order not only to carry the largest possible number of marines
(in fact they had towers on them, in order that the men might fight
from higher ground, as if from a wall), but also to withstand the
attacks of the opposing vessels and at the same time bend back their
beaks, since the violence of their collision would be increased
thereby. With such plans Caesar was hastening to Sicily. As he was
passing the promontory named Palinurus a great storm fell upon him;
this destroyed many ships, and Menas, coming upon the rest while they
were in confusion, burned or towed away many of them. And had he not
again changed sides, on the promise of immunity and because of some
other hopes, and betrayed the whole fleet that he commanded by
receiving some triremes that simulated desertion, Caesar's voyage to
Sicily on this occasion also would have proved fruitless. Means acted
as he did because he was not allowed by Sextus to fight against Lepidus
and was under suspicion in all other ways. Caesar received him very
gladly on this occasion also, but trusted him no longer. And when he
had repaired the damaged ships, freed the slaves that were serving on
the triremes, and assigned the reserves (many of whom had escaped by
leaping overboard when their vessel were destroyed in the wreck) to
Antony's fleet, which was short of men he came to Lipara; and leaving
there Agrippa and the ships, he returned to the mainland, in order to
transport the infantry also to Sicily, when an opportunity should arise.
On learning of this Sextus himself remained at anchor off Messana,
waiting for Caesar to cross, but he ordered Demochares to anchor
opposite Agrippa at Mylae. These two men spent most of the time in
testing each other's strength as opportunity offered, but they did not
dare to risk an engagement with their entire armaments; for they were
not acquainted with each other's forces and on both sides the reports
that circulated about the opposing fleet were exaggerated and made more
fear-inspiring than the reality. But finally Agrippa realised that it
was not advantageous for him to delay,— for the forces of Sextus, lying
as they did in home waters, had no need of haste,— and so, taking the
best of his ships, he set out for Mylae to spy out the numbers of the
enemy. And when he found that he could not see them all and that none
of them wished to come out into the open sea, he came to despise them,
and on his return made preparations to sail against Mylae on the
following day with all his ships. And Demochares came to much the same
conclusion; for he had the idea that the ships which had approached him
were all alone, and seeing that they sailed very slowly by reason of
their size, he sent for Sextus by night and proceeded to make
preparations to attack Lipara itself. When discovery broke, they were
sailing against each other, both sides expecting to meet inferior
numbers. But when now they drew near together and each force contrary
to its expectation saw that its opponents were much more numerous than
they had supposed, both alike were at first thrown into confusion, and
some even backed water. Then, fearing flight more than battle, because
in the one case they hoped they should prevail, whereas in the other
they expected to be utterly destroyed, they sailed out to meet each
other and when they came to close quarters joined in battle. The one
side surpassed in the number of its ships, the other in the experience
of its sailors; one side was helped by the height of the vessels and
the thickness of the catheads and also the towers, but these advantages
were counterbalanced by the manoeuvring of the other side, and the
superior strength of Caesar's marines was matched by the daring of
those of Sextus, the majority of whom fought with great desperation
inasmuch as they were deserters from Italy. Consequently, since each
side had the points of superiority and likewise of inferiority that I
have named with respect to the other, they found their total strength
equal as the result of the even balance of their resources; and on this
account they at last fought on even terms for a long time. The
followers of Sextus alarmed their opponents by the way they dashed up
the waves, and they also damaged some of their ships by assailing them
with a rush and ripping open the parts that were beyond the banks of
oars, but since they were assailed with missiles from the towers at the
moment of attack and were brought alongside by grappling irons, they
suffered no less harm than they inflicted. And Caesar's forces, when
they came into close conflict and crossed over to the hostile ships,
proved superior; but as the enemy leaped overboard into the sea
whenever their vessels sank, and because of their good swimming and
light equipment succeeded easily in climbing aboard others, the
attackers were at a corresponding disadvantage. Meanwhile, in the case
of the ships also, the rapidity of movement of those on the one side
counterbalanced the steadiness of those on the other side, and the
weight of the latter made up for the lightness of the former.
Late in the day, however, toward nightfall, Caesar's forces were at
last victorious, but they did not give chase. The reason, as it appears
to me and as my with probability be conjectured, was that they could
not overtake the fleeing ships and were running ashore, since the coast
abounded in shoals with which they were unacquainted; but some assert
that Agrippa thought it sufficient merely to rout his adversaries,
since he was fighting for Caesar and not for himself. For he was wont
to say to his intimate friends that most men in positions of power wish
no one to be superior to themselves, but attend personally without the
use of agents to most matters — to all, in fact, that afford them an
easy victory — and assign the more difficult and extraordinary tasks to
others. And if they ever do find themselves obliged to entrust an
enterprise of the better sort to their assistants, they are irritated
and displeased at the fame these subordinates win, and although they do
not pray that they may be defeated and fare badly, yet they do not
choose to have them win a complete success and secure glory from it.
His advice, therefore, was that the man who expected to come out alive
should relieve his masters of undertakings which involve great
difficulty and reserve for them the successes. As for me, I know that
all this is naturally so and that Agrippa paid heed to these
principles, but I am not saying that on that particular occasion this
was the reason for his failure to pursue; for he would not have been
able to catch up with the foe no matter how much he may have desired it.
While the naval battle was in progress, Caesar, as soon as he perceived
that Sextus had departed from Messana and that the strait was destitute
of a garrison, did not let slip this "chance of war," but immediately
embarked on Antony's vessels and crossed over to Tauromenium; however,
he enjoyed no good fortune in doing so. No one, to be sure, interfered
with his sailing or his disembarking, and he was quite undisturbed in
general and also when he made his camp; but when the naval battle was
over, Sextus came with all speed to Messana, and learning of Caesar's
presence he quietly filled his ships with fresh troops and attacked him
at one and the same time with this fleet and with his heavy-armed
troops on land. Caesar did not even come out to fight the infantry, but
sailing the against Sextus, because he despised the enemy's fleet with
its small number of vessels and because they had been previously
defeated, he lost the greater part of his fleet and barely avoided
destruction himself. Indeed, he could not even escape to his own men in
Sicily, but was glad to reach the mainland in safety. And though he
himself was then in security, yet when he saw his army cut of on the
island, he was terribly distressed. His confidence was not restored
until a fish of its own accord leaped out of the sea and fell at his
feet; this incident gave him courage once more, for he believed the
soothsayers who told him that he should make the sea his slave.
Caesar now, was sending urgent messages to Agrippa to come to the aid
of his soldiers in Sicily, and these troops meanwhile were being
besieged. And when their provisions began to fail them and no rescuing
force appeared, Cornificius, their leader, became afraid that if he
stayed where he was he should in the course of time be compelled by
hunger to yield to his besiegers; and he reflected that while he
tarried there in that same spot none of the enemy would join issue with
him, or, if they declined battle, he would retire to a place of safety,
get a supply of provisions, and obtain some help from Caesar or from
Agrippa. Therefore he burned all the vessels that had been left over
from the sea-fight and had been cast up beside the entrenchments, and
set out as if to proceed to Mylae. Both cavalry and light-armed troops
attacked him from a distance, not daring to come to close quarters, and
proved exceedingly troublesome to him; for they would not only attack
whenever opportunity offered but would also quietly retreat again,
whereas his men, being heavy-armed, could not pursue them in any case
owing to the weight of their armour, and moreover were endeavouring to
protect the unarmed men who had been saved from the fleet. Consequently
they were suffering many injuries and could inflict none in return;
for, in case they made a rush upon any of them, they would put them to
flight, to be sure, but being unable to carry their pursuit to the end,
they would find themselves in a worse plight during their retreat,
since by their sortie they would become isolated. However, it was
during their march forward and especially when they had rivers to cross
that they suffered their greatest hardships; for their foes hemmed them
in as they hurried along in small groups, as is natural in such a
march, and in disorder, and kept raining fatal blows upon them as they
chanced to expose themselves, and hurling their missiles at them
whenever they stumbled into swamps or flowing streams and were being
checked in their course or else swept down stream.
The enemy employed these tactics for three whole days and on the last
demoralized them completely, especially since Sextus had now joined
them with his heavy-armed contingent. Consequently the troops of Caesar
ceased to concern themselves about those who were perishing, but
counted them fortunate to escape from further torment, and in their
despair wished that they, too, were among those already dead. Indeed
the wounded were far more numerous than those who died; for since they
were being hit by stones and javelins throws from a distance and
sustained no blows dealt in hand-to-hand fighting, they received their
wounds in many parts of their bodies, and not always in a vital spot.
Thus men were not only in great distress themselves, but they caused
the uninjured far more trouble than did the enemy. For, if they were
carried, they usually caused the death of the men who supported them
and lost their own lives besides, and if they were left behind, they
threw the whole army into dejection by their laments. The detachment
would have perished utterly, had not the foe reluctantly desisted from
attacking them. For Agrippa had sailed back to Lipara after winning the
naval battle, as related above, but when he learned that Sextus had
fled to Messana and Demochares had gone off in some other direction, he
crossed over to Sicily, occupied Mylae and Tyndaris, and sent food and
soldiers to the other party; and Sextus, believing that Agrippa himself
would come likewise, became frightened and hastily withdrew before his
approach, even abandoning some baggage and supplies in his camp; and
from this source the troops under Cornificius obtained ample provisions
and made their way in safety to Agrippa. Caesar welcomed them back with
words of praise and with gifts, although he had treated them with utter
indifference after the victory of Agrippa, who, as he thought, had
finished the war. As for Cornificius, he so prided himself upon having
saved his soldiers that even when he was back in Rome he always had
himself conveyed on the back on an elephant whenever he dined out.
After this Caesar went to Sicily and Sextus encamped opposite him in
the vicinity of Artemisium; yet they did not have any great battle at
once, but indulged in a few slight cavalry skirmishes. While they were
encamped there opposite one another Sextus was reinforced by Tisienus
Gallus and Caesar by Lepidus with his forces. Lepidus had encountered
the storm which I have mentioned, and also had fallen in with
Demochares, and he had lost a number of ships; he had not at once come
to Caesar, but either on account of his reverse, or because he wanted
Caesar to face difficulty by himself, or because he wished to draw
Sextus away from Caesar, he had made an assault on Lilybaeum, and
Gallus had been sent thither by Sextus and had contended against him.
From there, then, both the contestants, finding that they were
accomplishing nothing, went to Artemisium. Gallus proved a source of
strength to Sextus, but Lepidus quarrelled with Caesar, since he
claimed the privilege, as a colleague, of managing everything on equal
terms with Caesar, whereas Caesar treated him in all respects as a
lieutenant; therefore he inclined to Sextus and secretly held
communication with him. Caesar suspected this, but dared not make it
known, lest Lepidus should openly make war upon him; nor, on the other
hand, could he safely conceal his thoughts, for he felt that it would
arouse suspicion if he did not consult him at all, and that it would be
dangerous if he revealed all his plans. Hence he determined to risk a
decisive encounter as soon as possible, before there should be any
defection, although on other accounts he was by no means in haste; for
Sextus had neither food nor money, and therefore he hoped to overthrow
him without a battle before a great while. When, therefore, he had once
reached this decision, he himself led out the army on land and
marshalled it in front of the camp, while at the same time Agrippa
sailed in and lay at anchor, for Sextus, whose forces were far inferior
to theirs, would not come out to meet them on either element. This
lasted for several days. But finally, becoming afraid that he might be
despised for his behaviour and so be deserted by his allies, Sextus
gave orders at last for the ships to put out to battle for in these he
reposed his chief trust.
Accordingly, when the standard was raised and the trumpet gave the
signal, all the vessels joined battle near the land and the infantry
forces on both sides alike were marshalled at the very edge of the
water, so that the spectacle was a most notable one. The whole sea in
that vicinity was full of ships — they were so many, in fact, that they
formed a long line — and the land just behind it was occupied by the
armed men, and the adjacent space was taken up by the rest of the
throng that followed each side. Hence, although the struggle seemed to
be between the fighters on the ships alone, in reality the others too
participated; for those on ships strove with greater zeal in order to
display their prowess to those who were watching them, while the
others, no matter how far away they were, were themselves in a manner
participants in the struggle as they watched the men in action. The
battle was for a long time indecisive, the fighting being very similar
to that in the previous encounters, and the men on shore were swayed by
a conflict of feelings that was balanced between hope and fear. For
they hoped that, if possible, the whole war would be settled by this
engagement, but if that could not be, they yet were heartened by the
expectation, on the one side, that if only they should win this time,
they would not again be defeated. Accordingly, in order that they might
keep their own gaze fixed upon the action and might not distract those
who were taking part in it, they kept silent or indulged in but little
shouting. They cheered the men who fighting and appealed to the gods;
they praised those of their own number who were winning and reproached
those who were losing; they exchanged many exhortations with their own
men, and many shouts with each other, in order that their own men might
hear more easily what was said and their opponents might not catch the
commands meant for them.
Now so long as the forces were evenly matched, this was the conduct of
the partisans of both sides alike, and they even tried to show the
combatants by the postures of their bodies that they could both see and
understand; but when the adherents of Sextus were being routed, then at
length all together and with one impulse they raised the paean on the
one side and a wail of lamentation on the other. And the land forces of
Sextus at once retired to Messana, as if they, too, had shared in the
defeat, whilst Caesar proceeded to take over those of the vanquished
who were cast ashore, and going on into the sea itself, to set fire to
all the vessels that ran aground in the shallow water. Thus there was
no safety for those who continued to sail, for they would be cut into
pieces by Agrippa, nor for such as tried to land anywhere, for they
would be destroyed by Caesar,— except for a few, who had already
escaped to Messana. During this struggle Demochares, when on the point
of being captured, slew himself, and Apollophanes, who had his ship
unscathed and might have fled, went over to Caesar. The same course was
taken by others, including Gallus and all the cavalry that was with
him, and subsequently by some of the infantry. This more than anything
else caused Sextus to despair of the situation, and he resolved to
flee; so, taking his daughter and some other persons, his money, and
his other possessions of most value, he put them aboard the swiftest of
the ships that had come through safely, and departed at night. And none
pursued him, for he sailed away secretly and moreover Caesar
straightway found himself in great embarrassment.
It seems that Lepidus had attacked Messana and on being admitted to the
town had proceeded to set fire to some of it and to pillage other
portions. When Caesar, on ascertaining this, came up quietly and
interfered with him, Lepidus was alarmed and slipped out of the city,
and encamping on a strong hill, made complaints about his treatment; he
detailed all the slights he considered that he was receiving and
demanded all the rights that had been conceded to him according to
their first compact, and, further, laid claim to Sicily, on the ground
that he had helped to subdue it. He sent some men to Caesar with these
complaints and called upon him to submit to arbitration; his forces
consisted not only of those which he had brought over from Africa but
also of all those which had been left behind in Messana, as he had been
the first to enter it and had suggested to them some hopes of a
revolution. Caesar, however, made no answer to these demands, but
feeling that he had justice all on his side as well as in his weapons,
since he was stronger than Lepidus, he immediately set out against him
with a few followers, expecting to alarm him by the suddenness of his
move, as Lepidus was not at all energetic, and to win over his
soldiers. And he actually got inside their camp, because on account of
the small number of the men who accompanied him they supposed he was on
a peaceful errand; but when his words were not at all to their liking,
they became angry and attacked him, even killing some of his men,
though Caesar himself soon got reinforcements and got safely away.
After this he came against them once more with his entire army, shut
them up within their entrenchments, and besieged them. This caused them
to fear capture, and without making any general revolt, through their
regard for Lepidus, they privately deserted him in groups as
individuals and transferred their allegiance. In this way he, too, was
compelled on his own initiative, arraying himself in mounting, to
become a suppliant of Caesar. As a result Lepidus was shorn of all
authority and could not even live in Italy without a guard; and in the
case of those who had been enlisted in the cause of Sextus, the members
of the senatorial or equestrian classes were punished, save a few,
while of the rank and file the free citizens were incorporated in the
legions of Caesar, and those who had been slaves were given back to
their master for punishment, and in case no master could be found for
any one of them, he was impaled. As for the cities, some of them
voluntarily came over to Caesar and received pardon, and others
resisted him and were punished.
While Caesar was thus occupied his soldiers revolted. For they were
emboldened by observing their own numbers, and moreover, when they
stopped to think of the dangers they had encountered and the hopes they
had built up on them, they became insatiable in their desire for
rewards, and gathering by themselves they demanded whatever any one of
them longed for. And when their talk had no effect, inasmuch as Caesar,
with no longer any enemy confronting him, paid no heed to them, they
became clamorous; and setting before him all the hardships they had
endured and throwing up to him whatever promises he had made them, they
uttered many threats besides, and thought to make him their slave even
in spite of himself. But as they accomplished nothing, they demanded
with much heat and no end of shouting that they be at least discharged
from the service, claiming they were worn out. This was not because
they really wished to be free from the, for most of them were in their
prime, but because they had an inkling of the coming conflict between
Caesar and Antony and for that reason set a high value upon themselves;
for what they could not obtain by requests, they expected to secure by
threatening to abandon him. Not even this, however, served their
purpose. For Caesar did not yield to them in the least, even though he
knew perfectly well that the war was going to occur and though he
clearly understood their intentions, because he thought that a
commander should never do anything contrary to his own judgment under
pressure from his soldiers, realizing that if he did, they would want
to get the advantage of him in some other matter. So he pretended that
their demands were reasonable and their needs only what was natural for
men and then gave their discharge, first to those who had served under
him in the campaign against Antony at Mutina, and next, since the rest,
too, were importunate, to all of them who had been ten years in the
service. And in order to restrain the remainder, he gave further notice
that he would not in future employ any discharged soldier, no matter
how much he might wish it. On hearing this they uttered not another
word, but began to pay strict heed to what he said, because he
announced that he would give to the men discharged — not to all, save
to the first of them, but to the worthiest — everything he had
promised, and would assign them land, and because he made a present to
each of them of two thousand sesterces and to those who had been
victors in the sea-fight a crown of olive in addition. After this he
inspired the rank and file with many hopes, and the centurions in
particular with the expectation that he would enrol them in the senates
in their native cities. Upon his lieutenants he bestowed various gifts
and upon Agrippa a golden crown adorned with ships' beaks — a
decoration given to nobody before or since. And in order that Agrippa
might regularly enjoy this trophy of his naval victory on every
occasion on which generals should wear the laurel crown in celebrating
a triumph, Caesar's grant was later confirmed by a decree. In this way
Caesar calmed the soldiers at that time. The money he gave them at once
and the land not much later. And since the land which was still held by
the state at the time did not suffice, he bought more in addition,
especially a large tract from the inhabitants of Capua in Campania,
since their city needed a large number of settlers. In return he gave
the Capuans the water-supply called the Aqua Iulia, their chief source
of pride at all times, and the Gnosian territory, the use of which they
still enjoy at the present time.
These were later events, however; at the time Caesar arranged matters
in Sicily and through Statilius Taurus won over both the Africas
without a struggle and sent back to Antony ships equal in number to
those which had been lost. Meanwhile the parts of Etruria which had
been in rebellion had subsequently become quiet as soon as word came of
his victory. The people of the capital unanimously bestowed upon him
votes of praise, statues, the right to the front seat, an arch
surmounted by trophies, and the privilege of riding into the city on
horseback, of wearing the laurel crown on all occasions, and of holding
a banquet with his wife and children in the temple of Capitoline
Jupiter on the anniversary of the day on which he had won his victory,
which was to be a perpetual day of thanksgiving. These were the honours
which they granted him immediately after his victory. The victory had
been announced first by one of the soldiers in the city at the time who
had become possessed by some god on the very day of the victory (for
after saying and doing many strange things he finally ran up to the
temple on the Capitol and laid his sword at the feet of Jupiter, to
signify that there would be no further use for it), and for which by
the others who had been present at the victory and had been sent to
Rome by Caesar. And when Caesar himself arrived, he assembled the
people according to ancient custom outside the pomerium, gave them an
account of what he had done, declined some of the honours which had
been voted to him, remitted the tribute called for in the registered
lists and all the other debts owed to the state for the time previous
to the civil war, abolished certain taxes, and refused to accept the
priesthood of Lepidus, which was offered to him, as it was not lawful
to take away the office from a man who was still alive. Thereupon they
noted him many other distinctions. Some people, to be sure, even spread
the report abroad that these acts of magnanimity were designed to bring
reproach upon Antony and Lepidus and to enable him to shift the blame
upon them alone for the acts of injustice formerly committed; and
others alleged that, since he was unable in any way to collect the
debts due to the state, he turned the people's inability to pay into a
favour from himself that cost him nothing. But this was mere idle talk.
The people at this time resolved that a house should be presented to
Caesar at public expense; for he had made public property of the place
on the Palatine which he had bought for the purpose of erecting a
residence upon it, and had consecrated it to Apollo, after a
thunderbolt had descended upon it. Hence they voted him the house and
also protection from any insult by deed or word; any one who committed
such an offence was to be liable to the same penalties as had been
established in the case of a tribune. This was only logical, inasmuch
as he received the privilege of sitting upon the same benches with the
tribunes.
These were the privileges bestowed upon Caesar by the senate. And
Caesar on his own responsibility enrolled among the augurs, above the
proper number, Valerius Messalla, whom he had previously in the
proscriptions condemned to death, made the people of Utica citizens,
and gave orders that no one should wear the purple dress except the
senators who were acting as magistrates; for some ordinary individuals
were already using it. In this same year there was no aedile owing to a
lack of candidates, but the praetors and the tribunes performed the
aediles' duties; also no prefect of the city was appointed for the
Feriae, but some of the praetors discharged his functions. Other
matters in the city and in the rest of Italy were administered by one
Gaius Maecenas, a knight, both then and for a long time afterward.
Now after Sextus had taken ship from Messana he was afraid of pursuit
and suspected that some act of treachery would be committed by his
followers. Therefore he gave notice to them that he was going to sail
across the sea, but when he had extinguished the light which flagships
exhibit during night voyages for the purpose of causing the rest to
follow close behind, he coasted along past Italy, then went to Corcyra,
and from there came to Cephallenia. Here the remainder of his vessels,
which had by chance been driven from their course by a storm, joined
him again. Accordingly, after calling them together, he took off his
general's uniform and made an address, in which he said, among other
things, that while they remained together they could render no lasting
aid to one another or escape detention, but if they scattered they
could more easily make their escape; and he advised them to look out
for their own safety each man separately and for himself. Thereupon the
majority gave heed to him and departed in various directions, while he
with the remainder crossed over to Asia with the intention of going
straight to Antony. When he reached Lesbos, however, and learned that
Antony had gone on a campaign against the Medes and that Caesar and
Lepidus had gone to war with each other, he decided to winter where he
was; and in fact the Lesbians welcomed him with great enthusiasm on
account of their recollection of his father and tried to keep him
there. But when he learned that Antony had met with a reverse in Media,
and when Gaius Furnius, the governor of Asia at the time, was not
disposed to be friendly to him, he was against remaining, but hoping to
succeed to Antony's leadership, inasmuch as many had come to him from
Sicily and still others had rallied around him, some on account of his
father's renown and some because they were in need of a livelihood, he
resumed the dress of a general and began to make preparations for
occupying the land opposite. Meanwhile Antony had got back safely into
friendly territory and on learning what Sextus was doing promised to
grant him pardon and favour, if he would lay down his arms. Sextus in
his answer intimated that he would obey him, but did not do so;
instead, because he despised Antony on account of his reverses and in
view of his setting off immediately for Egypt, he held to his present
plan and entered into negotiations with the Parthians. Antony found
this out, but without turning back sent against him the fleet and
Marcus Titius, who had formerly deserted Sextus and come over to him
and was with him at this time. Sextus received information of this move
beforehand, and in alarm, since his preparations were not yet complete,
put out to sea, and taking the course which seemed most likely to
afford escape, came to Nicomedeia. And when he was overtaken there, he
opened negotiations with Titius, placing some hope in him because of
the kindness which had been shown him; but when the other refused to
enter into a truce with him without first taking possession of his
ships and the rest of his force, Sextus despaired of safety by sea, put
all his heavier baggage into the ships, which he thereupon burned, and
proceeded inland. Titius and Furnius pursued him, and overtaking him at
Midaëum in Phrygia, surrounded him and captured him alive. When
Antony learned of this, he at once in anger sent word to them that
Sextus should be put to death, but repenting again not long afterward,
wrote that his life should be spared .... Now the bearer of the second
letter arrived before the other; and Titius later received the letter
ordering Sextus' death, and either believing that it was really the
second or else knowing the truth but not caring to heed it, he followed
the order of the arrival of the two, but not their intention. So Sextus
was executed in the consulship of Lucius Cornificius and one Sextus
Pompeius. Caesar held games in the Circus in honour of the event, and
set up for Antony a chariot in front of the rostra and statues in the
temple of Concord, giving him also authority to hold banquets there
with his wife and children, even as had once been voted in his own
honour. For he pretended to be Antony's friend still and to be
consoling him for the disasters inflicted by the Parthians, and in this
way he tried to cure the jealousy the other might feel at his own
victory and the decrees which followed it.
This was what Caesar was doing; as for Antony and the barbarians, their
warfare was as follows. Publius Ventidius heard that Pacorus was
gathering an army and invading Syria, and becoming afraid, since the
cities had not yet become quiet and the legions were still scattered in
their winter-quarters, he acted as follows, in order to secure delay on
the part of his foe and to make up for the slowness of his own army.
Knowing that a certain prince Channaeus, with whom he, too, was
acquainted, favoured the Parthian cause, he honoured him in all
respects as if he had his entire confidence and took him as an adviser
in some matters wherein he could not be injured himself and yet would
cause Channaeus to think he possessed his most hidden secrets. Having
reached this point, he affected to be afraid that the barbarians might
abandon the place where they customarily crossed the Euphrates near the
city of Zeugma and use some other road farther down the river; for this
other place, he said, was a plain and convenient for the enemy, whereas
the former was hilly and best suited to his own forces. He persuaded
the prince to believe this and through him deceived Pacorus also; for
the Parthian leader took the route through the flat district, which
Ventidius kept on pretending to hope he would not take, and as this was
longer than the other, it gave the Roman time to assemble his forces.
In this way he met Pacorus in Syria Cyrrhestica and conquered him. For
when he had not prevented them from crossing the river and had not
attacked them at once after they had got across, they imputed sloth and
weakness to the Romans and therefore marched against their camp,
although it was on high ground, expecting to take it without
resistance. But when a sally was suddenly made, the assailants, being
cavalry, were driven back down the slope without difficulty; and
although at the foot they defended themselves valiantly, the majority
of them being in armour, yet they were confused by the unexpectedness
of the onslaught and year stumbling over one another and were defeated
by the heavy-armed men and especially by the slingers; for these struck
them from a distance with their powerful missiles and so were
exceedingly difficult for them to withstand. The fall of Pacorus in
this struggle was a very great loss to them; for as soon as they
perceived that their leader had perished, although a few men zealously
fought for his body, yet when these also were slain, all the rest gave
way. Some of them desired to escape homeward across the bridge and were
unable to do so, being cut off and killed before they could reach it,
and others fled for refuge to Antiochus in Commagene. Ventidius easily
brought into subjection all the rest out of Syria, which had been
hesitating while awaiting the outcome of the war, by sending the
prince's head about through the different cities; for the Syrians felt
unusual affection for Pacorus on account of his justice and mildness,
an affection as great as they had felt for the best kings that had ever
ruled them. And Ventidius himself made an expedition against Antiochus,
on the plea that the latter had not delivered up to him the refugees,
but really because of the vast wealth which he possessed.
When he had got to this point, Antony suddenly came upon him, and so
far from being pleased, was actually jealous of him because he had
gained the reputation of having carried out a brave exploit
independently. Accordingly, he not only removed him from his command
but employed him on no other business either then or later, although he
himself obtained the honour of thanksgivings for both achievements and
a triumph for his assistant's work. The Romans in the capital voted
these honours to Antony, on the one hand, because of his prominence and
in accordance with the law, because he was the commander in charge; but
they voted them to Ventidius also, since they felt that he had fully
requited the Parthians, through the death of Pacorus, for the disaster
which had been suffered by the Romans in the time of Crassus,
especially since both events had taken place on the same day in both
years. And it turned out, in fact, that Ventidius alone celebrated the
triumph, even as the victory had been his alone (for Antony perished in
the meantime), and he acquired a greater reputation from this fact as
well as from the caprice of fortune; for he himself had once marched in
procession with the other captives at the triumph of Pompeius Strabo,
and now he was the first of the Romans to celebrate a triumph over the
Parthians.
This, to be sure, took place at a later period; at the time under
consideration Antony attacked Antiochus, shut him up in Samosata and
proceeded to besiege him. But when he found he was accomplishing
nothing and was spending his time in vain, and when he also suspected
that the soldiers were alienated from him on account of the disgrace of
Ventidius, he secretly opened negotiations with the foe and made a
pretended compact with him so that he might have a plausible reason for
withdrawing. At any rate, Antony got neither hostages (except two and
these of little importance) nor the money which he had demanded, but he
granted Antiochus the death of a certain Alexander, who had earlier
deserted from him to the Roman side. After doing this he set out for
Italy, and Gaius Sosius received from him the governorship of Syria and
Cilicia. This officer subdued the Aradii, who had been besieged up to
this time and had been reduced to hard straits by famine and disease,
and also conquered in battle Antigonus, who had put to death the Roman
guards that were with him, and reduced him by siege when he took refuge
in Jerusalem. The Jews, indeed, had done much injury to the Romans, but
they suffered far more themselves. The first of them to be captured
were those who were fighting for the precinct of their god, and then
the rest on the day even then called the day of Saturn. And so
excessive were they in their devotion to religion that the first set of
prisoners, those who had been captured along with the temple, obtained
leave from Sosius, when the day of Saturn came round again, and went up
into the temple and there performed all the customary rites, together
with the rest of the people. These people Antony entrusted to a certain
Herod to govern; but Antigonus he bound to a cross and flogged,— a
punishment no other king had suffered at the hands of the Romans,— and
afterwards slew him.
This was the course of events in the consulship of Claudius and
Norbanus; during the following year the Romans accomplished nothing
worthy of note in Syria. For Antony spent the entire year in reaching
Italy and returning again to the province; and Sosius, because anything
he did would be advancing Antony's interests rather than his own, and
he therefore dreaded his jealousy and anger, spent the time in devising
means, not for achieving some success and incurring his enmity, but for
pleasing him without engaging in any activity. The Parthian state, in
fact, with no outside interference underwent a severe revolution from
the following cause. Orodes, the Parthian king, had succumbed to age
and to grief for Pacorus as well, but before he died had delivered the
government to Phraates, the eldest of his remaining sons. Phraates
after receiving the kingdom proved himself the most impious of men. He
treacherously murdered his brothers, sons of the daughter of Antiochus,
because they were his superiors in virtue, and, on their mother's side,
in family; and when Antiochus chafed under this outrage, he killed him
also, and after that destroyed the noblest men in the state generally
and kept committing many other crimes. Consequently a large number of
the most prominent persons abandoned him and betook themselves to
various places, some, including Monaeses, going to Antony.
This happened in the consulship of Agrippa and Gallus. During the
remainder of the winter, when Gellius and Nerva were now holding
office, Publius Canidius Crassus made a campaign against the Iberians
in Asia, conquered in battle their king Pharnabazus and brought them to
make an alliance; with this king he invaded Albania, the adjoining
country, and, after overcoming the inhabitants and their king Zober,
conciliated them likewise. with Antony was elated by all this and
furthermore based great hopes upon Monaeses, who had promised him to
lead his army and bring most of Parthia over to him without trouble,
and so he took in hand the war against the Parthians and gave Monaeses,
in addition to other presents, three Roman cities to occupy until he
should finish the war, and promised him the Parthian kingdom besides.
While they were thus occupied Phraates became terrified, especially
because the Parthians took the flight of Monaeses very much to heart,
and he opened negotiations with him, offering him everything
conceivable, and so persuaded him to return. When Antony found this
out, he was angry, quite naturally, but did not kill Monaeses, though
he was still in his power; for he could not hope to win to his side any
other barbarians, in case he should do such a thing. Accordingly, he
not only released Monaeses, just as if Monaeses were going to bring the
Parthians under his control, but even sent envoys with him to Phraates.
Nominally he was negotiating peace, on the condition of getting back
the standards and the prisoners captured in the disaster of Crassus and
with the purpose of taking the king off his guard because of his hope
of reaching a settlement; but, as a matter of fact, he was getting
everything in readiness for war.
And he went as far as the Euphrates, thinking it was destitute of a
garrison; when, however, he found that whole region carefully guarded,
he turned aside from it, but undertook to make a campaign against
Artavasdes, the king of the Medes, being persuaded thereto by the king
of Greater Armenia, who had the same name and was an enemy of the
other. Just as he was he at once advanced toward Armenia, and learning
there that the Mede had gone far away from his own land to bear aid to
his ally, the Parthian king, he left behind the beasts of burden and a
portion of the army with Oppius Statianus, giving orders for them to
follow, while he himself, taking the cavalry and the strongest of the
infantry, hurried on, confident that he would capture all the enemies'
strongholds without a blow. He assailed Praaspa, the royal residence,
and proceeded to heap up mounds and to make assaults. When the Parthian
and the Mede ascertained this, they left him to continue his idle
toil,— for the walls were strong and were well-manned by defenders,—
but assailed Statianus while off his guard and wearied from the march
and slew his whole detachment, with the exception of Polemon, king of
Pontus, who was then accompanying Statianus; him alone they took alive
and released for a ransom. They were able to gain this success because
the Armenian king, on the one hand, was not present at the battle, but,
when he might have helped the Romans, as some say, neither did so nor
joined Antony, but retired to his own country, although he hastened, at
first message sent to him by Statianus, to go to his assistance, was
nevertheless too late, for he found nothing but corpses. On this
account he felt afraid, but inasmuch as he fell in with no barbarian,
he suspected that they had gone off somewhere in alarm, and so regained
his courage. Hence, when he met them a little later, he routed them,
for as his slingers were numerous and could shoot farther than the
archers, they inflicted severe injury upon all, even upon the men in
armour; yet he did not kill any considerable number of the enemy,
because the barbarians could ride fast.
So he proceeded again against Praaspa and besieged it, though he did no
great injury to the enemy; for the men inside the walls repulsed him
vigorously, and those outside would not readily join in battle with
him. But he lost many of his own men in searching for and bringing in
provisions, and many by his own discipline. At first, so long as they
could get their food from somewhere in the neighbourhood, they were
sufficient for both undertakings, being able not only to carry on the
siege but also to secure their supplies in safety. When, however, all
the supplies at hand had been used up, it was their experience that if
only a few men were sent anywhere, they would not only fail to bring
any provisions, but would perish as well, whereas if many were sent,
they would be leaving the wall destitute of besiegers and meantime
would lose many men and many engines at the hands of the barbarians,
who would make a sortie against them. For this reason Antony gave all
his men barley instead of wheat and destroyed every tenth man in some
instances; and, in short, although he was supposed to be the besieger,
he was enduring the hardships of the besieged. For the men within the
walls kept a close watch for opportunities to make sallies; and those
outside not only grievously beset the Romans who remained about the
city, as often as they became separated, accomplishing this by making a
sudden charge and wheeling about again in a short time, but also in the
case of those who foraged for provisions, while they did not trouble tm
on their way out to the villages, yet they would fall upon them
unexpectedly when scattered on their way back to camp. But Antony even
under these conditions maintained his place before the city, Phraates,
fearing that in the long run he might do it some harm either by himself
somehow or else by securing an alliance in some quarter, secretly sent
some agents and persuaded him to open negotiations with him, intimating
that he could have peace on very easy terms. After this, when men were
sent to him by Antony, he held a conference with them seated upon a
golden chair and twanging his bowstring; he first inveighed against
them at length, but finally promised that he would grant peace, if they
would straightway remove their camp. On hearing this Antony was both
alarmed at the king's haughtiness and ready to believe that a truce
could be secured if he himself should shift his position; hence he
withdrew without destroying any of his implements of siege, just as if
he were in friendly territory.
When Antony had done this and was awaiting the truce, the Medes burned
his engines and scattered his mounds, and the Parthians made no
proposition to him respecting peace, but suddenly attacked him and
inflicted very serious injuries upon him. Learning, therefore, that he
had been deceived, he did not venture to send any more envoys, as he
did not expect that the barbarians would make peace on any reasonable
terms and moreover did not wish to cast the soldiers into dejection by
failing to arrange a truce, but he resolved, since he had once set out,
to hurry on into Armenia. His troops took another road, since they
believed the one by which they had come had been completely closed to
them, and on the way they met with many extraordinary adventures. Thus,
they came into unknown regions where they lost their way, and
furthermore the barbarians seized the passes in advance of their
approach, blocking them with trenches or palisades, rendered the
securing of water difficult everywhere, and destroyed the pasturage;
and in case they ever by good luck were on the point of marching
through more favourable regions, the enemy would turn them aside from
such placed by false announcements that they had been occupied
beforehand, and caused them to take different roads along which
ambuscades had been previously posted, so that many perished in this
way and many of hunger. As a result there were some desertions, and
they would all have gone over to the enemy, had not the barbarians shot
down before the eyes of the others any who had ventured to take this
course. Consequently the men refrained from this, and by good fortune
hit upon the following idea. One day, when they fell into an ambush and
were being struck by dense showers of arrows, they suddenly formed the
testudo by joining their shields, and rested their left knees on the
ground. The barbarians, who had never seen anything of the kind before,
thought that they had fallen from their wounds and needed only one
finishing blow; so they threw aside their bows, leaped from their
horses, and drawing their daggers, came up close to put an end to them.
At this the Romans sprang to their feet, extended their battle-line at
the word of command, and confronting the foe face to face, fell upon
them, each one upon the man nearest him, and cut down great numbers,
since they were contending in full armour against unprotected men, men
prepared against men off their guard, heavy infantry against archers,
Romans against barbarians. All the survivors immediately retired and no
one followed them thereafter.
This testudo and the way in which it is formed are as follows. The
baggage animals, the light-armed troops, and the cavalry are placed in
the centre of the army. The heavy-armed troops who use the oblong,
curved, and cylindrical shields are drawn up around the outside, making
a rectangular figure; and, facing outward and holding their arms at the
ready, they enclose the rest. The others, who have flat shields, form a
compact body in the centre and raise their shields over the heads of
all the others, so that nothing but shields can be seen in every part
of the phalanx alike and all the men by the density of the formation
are under shelter from missiles. Indeed, it is so marvellously strong
that men can walk upon the, and whenever they come to a narrow ravine,
even horses and vehicles can be driven over it. Such is the plan of
this formation, and for this reason it has received the name testudo,
with reference both to its strength and to the excellent shelter it
affords. They use it in two ways: either they approach some fort to
assault it, often even enabling men to scale the very walls, or
sometimes, when they are surrounded by archers, they all crouch
together — even the horses being taught to kneel or lie down — and
thereby cause the foe to think that they are exhausted; then, when the
enemy draws near, they suddenly rise and throw them into consternation.
The testudo, then, is the kind of device just described. As for Antony,
he suffered no further harm from the enemy, but underwent severe
hardships by reason of the cold; for it was now winter, and the
mountainous districts of Armenia, through which the only route led,—
and he was glad enough to take it,— are never free from ice. His
soldiers' wounds, which were many, there caused them the greatest
distress. So many kept perishing and so many were rendered unfit for
fighting that he would not allow reports of each individual case, but
forbade any one to bring him any such news. And although he was angry
with the Armenian king for leaving them in the lurch and eager to take
vengeance on him, he nevertheless flattered and paid court to him for
the purpose of obtaining provisions and money from him; and finally,
since his soldiers had not the strength to hold out for a longer march,
and it was mid-winter too, and at the same time it was likely that
their hardships would go for nothing,— for it was his intention to
return to Armenia before a great while,— he fawned upon the king
assiduously and made him many attractive promises, to get him to allow
the men to winter where they were, claiming that in the spring he would
make another campaign against the Parthians. Money also came to him
from Cleopatra, so that to each of the infantrymen four hundred
sesterces were given and to the rest a proportionate allowance. But
inasmuch as the amount sent was not enough for them, he paid the
remainder from his own funds, taking the expense upon himself and
giving Cleopatra the credit for the favour; for he solicited large
contributions from his friends and also levied large amounts upon the
allies.
After accomplishing this he departed for Egypt. The Romans at home were
not ignorant of anything that had taken place, not because he told them
the truth in his dispatches (for he concealed all his reverses and in
fact described some of them as just the opposite, making it appear that
he was meeting with success), but because rumour reported the truth and
Caesar and those with him investigated it carefully and discussed it.
They did not, however, yet expose the situation to the public, but
instead offered sacrifices and held festivals; for since Caesar at that
time was still getting the worst of it against Sextus, the exposure of
the facts would not, if made, be either fitting or opportune. Antony,
in addition to making the arrangements mentioned above, assigned
principalities, giving Galatia to Amyntas, though he had been only the
secretary of Deiotarus, and also adding to his domain Lycaonia with
portions of Pamphylia, and bestowing upon Archelaus Cappadocia, after
driving out Ariarathes. This Archelaus belonged on his father's side to
those Archelauses who had contended against the Romans, but on his
mother's side was the son of Glaphyra, an hetaera. However, Antony was
not so severely criticised by the citizens for these matters,— I mean
his arrogance in dealing with the property of others; but in the matter
of Cleopatra he was greatly censured because he had acknowledged as his
own some of her children — the elder ones being Alexandra and
Cleopatra, twins at a birth, and the younger one Ptolemy, called also
Philadelphus,— and because he had presented them with extensive
portions of Arabia, in the districts both of Malchus and of the
Ituraeans (for he executed Lysanias, whom he himself had made king over
them, on the charge that he had favoured Pacorus), and also extensive
portions of Phoenicia and Palestine, parts of Crete, and Cyrene and
Cyprus as well.
These were his acts at that time; the following year, when Pompeius and
Cornificius were consuls, he undertook to conduct a campaign against
the Armenian. For this he placed no small hope in the Mede, who in his
anger against Phraates because he had not received from him many of the
spoils or any other honour and in his eagerness to punish the Armenian
for bringing in the Romans had sent Polemon to him requesting his
friendship and alliance. Antony was apparently so exceedingly delighted
over the affair that he both made terms with the Mede and later gave
Polemon Lesser Armenia as a reward for his mission. First, then, he
summoned the Armenian to Egypt as a friend, in order that he might
seize him there without effort and make away with him; but when the
king suspected this and did not respond to the summons, he plotted to
deceive him in another fashion. He did not openly become angry with
him, lest he should alienate him, but in order that he might find him
unprepared, he set out from Egypt as if to make another campaign
against the Parthians at this time. Learning on the way, however, that
Octavia was coming from that, he went no farther, but returned, in
spite of the fact that he had then and there ordered her to go home and
had later accepted the gifts which she sent, including the soldiers
which she had begged from her brother for this very purpose.
As for Antony, he became more than ever a slave to the passion and the
witchery of Cleopatra. Caesar in the meantime, now that Sextus had
perished and affairs in Africa required settlement, went to Sicily as
if intending to sail thither, but after delaying there for some time
because of the bad weather, he gave up his plan of crossing; for the
Salassi, Taurisci, Liburni, and Iapydes, who even before this had been
behaving in no decent manner toward the Romans, not only having failed
to contribute their assessments of tribute but also having more than
once invaded and ravaged the neighbouring districts, openly revolted at
this time, in view of his absence. Consequently he turned back and
began various preparations against them. When some of the soldiers who
had been discharged when they mutinied, and had received nothing,
wished to serve again, he placed them apart in a single legion, in
order that being separate and by themselves they might find it
impossible to corrupt any one else, and that in case they should wish
to begin any rebellion, they might be detected at once. But when they
proved no better disciplined than before, he sent out a few of the
oldest of them to become colonists in Gaul, thinking that thus he would
inspire the rest with hopes and quiet them. And since even then they
continued their insubordination, he called them together as if for some
other purpose, made the rest of the army surrounded them, took away
their arms, and removed them from the service. In this way they learned
both their own weakness and the strength of Caesar's resolution, and so
they really experienced a change of heart and after urgent
supplications were allowed to enter the service anew. For Caesar, being
in need of soldiers and fearing that Antony would appropriate them,
said that he pardoned them, and he found them most useful for all tasks.
But this happened later. At that time he himself led the campaign
against the Iapydes, assigning the rest of the tribes to others to
subdue. Those that were on the nearer side of the mountains, dwelling
not very far from the sea, he reduced with comparatively little
trouble, but he overcame those on the heights and on the farther side
of them with no small hardship. For they fortified Metulum, the largest
of their cities, and repulsed many assaults of the Romans, burned up
many siege-engines, and laid low Caesar himself as he was trying to
step from a wooden tower upon the wall. Finally, when he still did not
desist, but kept sending for additional forces, they pretended they
wished to make terms and so received a garrison into their citadel;
then by night they destroyed all these men and set fire to their own
houses, some killing themselves and some their wives and children
besides, so that nothing whatever remained of this force to Caesar. For
not only they but also such as were captured alive destroyed themselves
voluntarily shortly afterward.
When these, then, had perished and the rest had been subdued without
performing any exploit of note, Caesar made a campaign against the
Pannonians. He had no complaint to bring against them, not having been
wronged by them in any way, but he wanted both to give his soldiers
practice and to support them at the expense of an alien people, for he
regarded every demonstration against a weaker party as just, when it
pleased the man who was their superior in arms. The Pannonians dwell in
Dalmatia along the very bank of the Ister from Noricum to Moesia and
lead the most miserable existence of all mankind. For they are not well
off as regards either soil or climate; they cultivate no olives and
produce no wine except to a very slight extent and a wretched quality
at that, since the winter is very rigorous and occupies the greater
part of their year, but drink as well as eat both barley and millet.
For all that they are considered the bravest of all men of whom we have
knowledge; for they are very high-spirited and bloodthirsty, as men who
possess nothing that makes an honourable life worth while. This I know
not from hearsay or reading only, but I have learned it from actual
experience as once their governor, for after my command in Africa and
in Dalmatia (the latter position my father also held for a time) I was
appointed to what is known as Upper Pannonia, and hence it is with
exact knowledge of all conditions among them that I write. Their name
is derived from the fact that their sleeved tunics are made by
stitching together pieces of old clothes which they cut up into strips
in a way peculiar to themselves and call panni. This is their name,
whether the reason be what I have stated or some other; but certain of
the Greeks in ignorance of the truth have called them Paeones, an
appellation which, though no doubt old, does not, however, apply to
that country, but rather to Rhodope, close to the present Macedonia, as
far as the sea. Therefore I also shall call the people of the latter
district Paeones, but the others Pannonians, just as both they
themselves and the Romans do.
It was against this people, then, that Caesar at that time conducted a
campaign. At first he did not devastate or plunder at all, although
they abandoned their villages in the plain; for he hoped to make them
his subjects of their own free will. But when they harassed him as he
advanced to Sisica, he became angry, burned their country, and took all
the booty he could. When he drew near the city, the natives for the
moment listened to their leaders and made terms with him and gave
hostages, but afterwards they shut their gates and underwent a siege.
For while they possessed strong walls, yet they placed their whole
confidence in two navigable rivers. The one called the Colops flows
past the very circuit of the wall and empties into the Savus not far
distant; it has now encircled the entire city, for Tiberius gave it
this shape by constructing a great canal through which it comes back to
its original channel. But at that time between the Colops on the one
hand, which flowed past the very walls, and the Savus on the other,
which flowed at a little distance, a gap had been left which had been
fortified with palisades and ditches. Caesar secured boats made by the
allies in that vicinity, and after towing them through the Ister into
the Savus, and through that stream into the Colops, he assailed the
enemy with his infantry and ships together, and had some naval battles
on the river. For the barbarians prepared in turn some boats made of
single logs, with which they risked a conflict; and thus on the river
they killed Menas, the freedman of Sextus, besides many others, while
on the land they vigorously repulsed the invader, until they
ascertained that some of their allies had been ambushed and destroyed.
Then they lost heart and yielded; and when they had been captured in
this manner, the remainder of Pannonia was induced to capitulate.
After this he left Fufius Geminus there with a small force and himself
returned to Rome. The triumph which had been voted to him he deferred,
but granted to Octavia and Livia statues, the right of administering
their own affairs without a guardian, and the same security and
inviolability as the tribunes enjoyed. In emulation of his father he
had set out to lead an expedition into Britain also, and had already
advanced into Gaul after the winter in which Antony (for the second
time) and Lucius Libo became consuls, when some of the newly-conquered
people and Dalmatians along with them rose in revolt. Geminus, although
expelled from Siscia, nevertheless recovered Pannonia by a few battles;
and Valerius Messalla overthrew the Salassi and the others who had
joined them in rebellion. Again the Dalmatians campaigns were made,
first by Agrippa and later by Caesar also. The most of them they
themselves subjugated after undergoing many terrible experiences; for
example, Caesar was wounded, rations of barley had to be given out to
some of the soldiers instead of wheat, and in the case of others who
had deserted their posts every tenth man was put to death. With the
remaining tribes Statilius Taurus carried out the war.
Antony meanwhile resigned his office on the very first day, putting
Lucius Sempronius Atratinus in his place; and consequently some name
Sempronius and not Antony in enumerating the consuls. In his endeavour
to take vengeance on Armenian king with the least trouble to himself,
he asked for the hand of the king's daughter, in order, as he said, to
marry her to his son Alexander; he sent on this errand one Quintus
Dellius, without had once been a great favourite of his, and promised
to give the king many gifts. Finally, at the beginning of spring, he
came suddenly into Nicopolis (the place founded by Pompey), and while
there sent for the king, stating that he wished to have his aid in
planning and executing some measures against the Parthians. And when
the king, suspecting the plot, did not come, he sent Dellius to confer
with him again, and meanwhile, for his own part, marched with
undiminished haste towards Artaxata. In this way he succeeded in
inducing him to come into his camp, after a long time, partly by using
the king's associates to persuade him, and partly by using his own
soldiers to terrorize him, and by writing and acting toward him in
every way precisely as he would toward a friend. Thereupon he arrested
him, and at first kept him without fetters and led him around to the
various forts where the king's treasures were deposited, in the hope
that he might secure them without a struggle; for he professed to have
arrested him for no other purpose than to levy tribute upon the
Armenians for the safeguarding of the king and to maintain his
sovereignty. When, however, the keepers of the gold would pay no heed
to the king, and the Armenian citizens who bore arms chose Artaxes, the
eldest of his sons, king in his stead, Antony bound him in silver
chains; for it was unseemly, apparently, that this man who had been
king should be bound in fetters of iron. After this Antony occupied the
whole of Armenia, taking some of the people peaceably and some by
force; for Artaxes withdrew and went to the Parthian king, after
fighting an engagement and suffering defeat. After accomplishing these
things Antony betrothed to his son the daughter of the Median king with
the intention of making him still more his friend; then he left his
legions in Armenia and went once more to Egypt, taking the great mass
of booty and the Armenian with his wife and children. Sending them with
the captives ahead of him into Alexandria in a kind of triumphal
procession, he himself drove into the city upon a chariot, and he not
only presented to Cleopatra all the other spoils but brought her the
Armenian and his family in golden bonds. She was seated in the midst of
the populace upon a platform plated with silver and upon a gilded
chair. The barbarians, however, addressed no supplications to her, nor
made obeisance to her, though much coercion was brought to bear upon
them and many hopes were held out to them to win their compliance, but
they merely addressed her by name; this gave them a reputation for high
spirit, but they were subjected to much ill-treatment on account of it.
After this Antony feasted the Alexandrians, and in the assembly made
Cleopatra and her children sit by his side; also in the course of his
address to the people he commanded that she should be called Queen of
Kings, and Ptolemy, whom they named Caesarion, King of Kings. And he
then made a new distribution of provinces, giving them Egypt and Cyprus
in addition; for he declared that in very truth one was the wife and
the other the son of the former Caesar, and he professed to be taking
these measures for Caesar's sake, though his purpose was to cast
reproach upon Caesar Octavianus because he was only an adopted and not
a real son of his. Besides making this assignment to them, he promised
to give to his own children by Cleopatra the following districts: to
Ptolemy, Syria and all the region west of the Euphrates as far as the
Hellespont; to Cleopatra, the Cyrenaica in Libya; and to their brother
Alexander, Armenia and the rest of the countries east of the Euphrates
as far as India; for he even bestowed the last-named regions as if they
were already in his possession. Not only did he say this in Alexandria,
but he sent a despatch to Rome as well, in order that it might secure
ratification also from the people there. None of these despatches,
however, was read in public; for Domitius and Sosius were consuls by
this time, and being extremely devoted to him, refused to publish them
to all the people, even though Caesar urged it upon them. But, although
they prevailed in this matter, Caesar won a victory in his turn by
preventing any of Antony's despatches regarding the Armenian king from
being made known to the public; for he not only felt pity for the
prince, inasmuch as he himself had been secretly in communication with
him for the purpose of injuring Antony, but he also grudged Antony his
triumph. Now while Antony was engaged as described he had the
effrontery to write to the senate that he wished to give up his office
and put the whole administration of the state into the hands of that
body and of the people; it was not his intention, of course, to do
either, but he desired them under the influence of the hopes he aroused
either to compel Caesar to give up his arms first, as being there at
hand, or to conceive hatred for him if he should refuse to heed their
commands.
In addition to these events at that time, the consuls celebrated the
festival held in honour of Venus Genetrix. During the Feriae mere boys
who were sons of knights, instead of senators, served as prefects of
the city on appointment by Caesar. Also Aemilius Lepidus Paulus
constructed at his own expense the Basilica Pauli, as it was called,
and dedicated it in his consulship; for he was consul during a portion
of that year. And Agrippa restored from his own purse the water-supply
named the Aqua Marcia, which had been cut off by the destruction of the
pipes, and carried it in pipes to many parts of the city. These men,
now, though furthering their ambitions by spending their private funds,
still acted with retiring modesty and with moderation; but others who
were holding even a most insignificant office bargained to get triumphs
voted in their own honour, some using the influence of Antony and some
that of Caesar, and on this pretext exacted large amounts of gold from
foreign states to province the crowns.
The next year Agrippa agreed to be made aedile, and without taking
anything from the public treasury repaired all the public buildings and
all the streets, cleaned out the sewers, and sailed through them
underground into the Tiber. And seeing that in the circus men made
mistakes about the number of laps completed, he set up the dolphins and
egg-shaped objects, so that by their aid the number of times the course
had been circled might be clearly shown. Furthermore he distributed
olive-oil and salt to all, and furnished the baths free of charge
throughout the year for the use of both men and women; and in
connection with the many festivals of all kinds which he gave — on such
a scale, in fact, that the children of senators also performed the
equestrian games called "Troy" — he hired the barbers, so that no one
should be at any expense for their services. Finally he rained upon the
heads of the people in the theatre tickets that were good for money in
one case, for cloths in another, and again for something else, and he
also set out immense quantities of various wares for all comers and
allowed the people to scramble for these things. Besides doing this
Agrippa drove the astrologers and charlatans from the city. During
these same days a decree was passed that no one belonging to the
senatorial class should be tried for piracy, and so those who were
under any charge at the time were set free, and some were given a free
hand to practice their villainy in the future. Caesar became consul for
the second time, with Lucius Tullus as his colleague, but resigned on
the very first day, as Antony had done, and with the sanction of the
senate he introduced some persons from the populace into the rank of
patricians. When a certain Lucius Asellius, who was praetor, wished on
account of a long sickness to lay down his office, he appointed his son
in his stead; and when a second praetor died on the last day of his
term, Caesar chose another for the remaining hours. At the death of
Bocchus he gave his kingdom to no one else, but enrolled it among the
Roman provinces. And after the Dalmatians had been utterly subjugated,
he erected from the spoils thus gained the porticos and the libraries
called the Octavian, after his sister.
Antony meantime had marched as far as the Araxes, ostensibly to conduct
a campaign against the Parthians, but was satisfied to arrange terms
with the Median king. They made a covenant to serve each other as
allies, the one against the Parthians and the other against Caesar, and
to cement the compact they exchanged some soldiers, the Mede received a
portion of the newly-acquire Armenia, and Antony received the king's
daughter, Iotape, to be united in marriage with Alexander, and the
military standards taken in the battle with Statianus. After this
Antony bestowed upon Polemon, as I have stated, Lesser Armenia, made
Lucius Flavius consul and likewise removed him (for he was there with
him), and set out for Ionia and Greece to wage war against Caesar. The
Mede at first, by employing the Romans as allies, conquered the
Parthians and Artaxes who came again him; but as Antony summoned back
his own soldiers, and moreover retained those of the king, the latter
was in turn defeated and captured, and so Armenia was lost together
with Media.
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