XXIII. Caesar now led his troops over the river, no one venturing to oppose him, and even the Suevi, the most valiant of the Germans, retired with their property into deep woody valleys. After devastating with fire the enemy's country and encouraging all those who favoured the Romans, he returned into Gaul after spending eighteen days in Germany. His expedition against the Britanni[498] was notorious for its daring: for he was the first who entered the western Ocean with an armament and sailed through the Atlantic sea, leading an army to war; and by attempting to occupy an island of incredible magnitude, which furnished matter for much dispute to numerous writers, who affirmed that the name and the accounts about it were pure inventions, for it never had existed and did not then exist, he extended the Roman supremacy beyond the inhabited world. After twice crossing over to the island from the opposite coast of Gaul, and worsting the enemy in many battles rather than advantaging his own men, for there was nothing worth taking from men who lived so wretched a life and were so poor, he brought the war to a close not such as he wished, but taking hostages from the king and imposing a tribute, he retired from the island. On his return he found letters which were just going to cross over to him from his friends in Rome, informing him of his daughter's death, who died in child-birth in the house of her husband Pompeius. Great was the grief of Pompeius, and great was the grief of Caesar; and their friends were also troubled, as the relationship was now dissolved which maintained peace and concord in the State, which but for this alliance was threatened with disturbance. The child also died after surviving the mother only a few days. Now the people, in spite of the tribunes, carried Julia[499] to the Field of Mars, where her obsequies were celebrated; and there she lies.

XXIV. As the force of Caesar was now large, he was obliged to distribute it in many winter encampments. But while he was on his road to Italy, according to his custom, there was another general rising of the Gauls, and powerful armies scouring the country attempted to destroy the winter camps, and attacked the Roman entrenchments. The most numerous and bravest of the revolted Gauls under Abriorix destroyed Cotta[500] and Titurius with their army; and the legion under Cicero[501] they surrounded with sixty thousand men and blockaded, and they came very near taking the camp by storm, for all the Romans had been wounded and were courageously defending themselves above their strength. When this intelligence reached Caesar, who was at a distance, he quickly turned about, and getting together seven thousand men in all, he hurried to release Cicero from the blockade. The besiegers were aware of his approach and met him with the intention of cutting him off at once, for they despised the fewness of his numbers. But Caesar, deceiving the enemy, avoided them continually, and having occupied a position which was advantageous to one who had to contend against many with a small force, he fortified his camp, and kept his men altogether from fighting; and he made them increase the height of the ramparts and build up the gates as if they were afraid, his manoeuvre being to make the enemy despise him, till at last when they made their assault in scattered bodies, urged by self-confidence, sallying out he put them to flight and killed many of them.

XXV.[502] The frequent defections of the Gauls in those parts were thus quieted, and also by Caesar during the winter moving about in all directions and carefully watching disturbances. For there had come to him from Italy three legions to replace those that had perished, Pompeius having lent him two of those which were under his command, and one legion having been newly raised in Gaul upon the Padus. But in the course of time there showed themselves, what had long in secret been planted and spread abroad by the most powerful men among the most warlike tribes, the elements of the greatest and the most dangerous of all the wars in Gaul, strengthened by a numerous body of young men armed and collected from all quarters, and by great stores brought together, and fortified cities, and countries difficult of access. And at that time, during the winter, frozen rivers and forests buried in snow, and plains overflowed by winter torrents, and in some parts paths that could not be discovered for the depth of the snow, and in other parts the great uncertainty of a march through marshes and streams diverted from their course, seemed to place the proceedings of the insurgents altogether beyond any attempt on the part of Caesar. Accordingly many tribes had revolted, but the leaders of the revolt were the Arvenni and the Carnuntini; Vergentorix was elected to the supreme direction of the war, he whose father the Gauls had put to death on the ground of aiming at a tyranny.

XXVI. Vergentorix,[503] dividing his force into many parts, and placing over them many commanders, began to gain over all the surrounding country as far as those who bordered on the Arar, it being his design, as Caesar's enemies in Rome were combining against him, to rouse all Gaul to war. If he had attempted this a little later, when Caesar was engaged in the civil war, alarms no less than those from the invasion of the Cimbri would have seized on Italy. But now Caesar, who appears to have had the talent for making the best use of all opportunities in war, and particularly critical seasons, as soon as he heard of the rising, set out on his march, by the very roads[504] that he traversed, and the impetuosity and rapidity of his march in so severe a winter letting the barbarians see that an invincible and unvanquished army was coming against them. For where no one believed that a messenger or a letter-carrier from him could make his way in a long time, there was Caesar seen with all his army, at once ravaging their lands, and destroying the forts, taking cities, and receiving those who changed sides and came over to him, till at last even the nation of the Edui[505] declared against him, who up to this time had called themselves brothers of the Romans, and had received signal distinction, but now by joining the insurgents they greatly dispirited Caesar's troops. In consequence of this, Caesar moved from those parts, and passed over the territory of the Lingones,[506] wishing to join the Sequani, who were friends, and formed a bulwark in front of Italy against the rest of Gaul. There the enemy fell upon him and hemmed him in with many ten thousands, upon which Caesar resolved to fight a decisive battle against the combined forces, and after a great contest, he gained a victory at last, and with great slaughter, routed the barbarians; but at first it appears that he sustained some loss, and the Aruveni show a dagger[507] suspended in a temple, which they say was taken from Caesar. Caesar himself afterwards saw it, and smiled; and when his friends urged him to take it down, he would not, because he considered it consecrated.

XXVII. However, the chief part of those who then escaped, fled with the king to the city of Alesia.[508] And while Caesar was besieging this city, which was considered to be impregnable by reason of the strength of the walls and the number of the defenders, there fell upon him from without a danger great beyond all expectation. For the strength of all the nations in Gaul assembling in arms came against Alesia, to the number of three hundred thousand; and the fighting men in the city were not fewer than one hundred and seventy thousand; so that Caesar being caught between two such forces and blockaded, was compelled to form two walls for his protection, the one towards the city, and the other opposite those who had come upon him, since, if these forces should unite, his affairs would be entirely ruined. On many accounts then, and with good reason, the hazard before the walls of Alesia was famed abroad, as having produced deeds of daring and skill such as no other struggle had done; but it is most worthy of admiration that Caesar engaged with so many thousands outside of the town and defeated them without it being known to those in the city; and still more admirable, that this was also unknown to the Romans who were guarding the wall towards the city. For they knew nothing of the victory till they heard the weeping of the men in Alesia and the wailing of the women, when they saw on the other side many shields adorned with silver and gold, and many breastplates smeared with blood, and also cups and Gallic tents conveyed by the Romans to their camp. So quickly did so mighty a force, like a phantom or a dream, vanish out of sight and disperse, the greater part of the men having fallen in battle. But those who held Alesia, after giving no small trouble to themselves and to Caesar, at last surrendered; and the leader of the whole war, Vergentorix, putting on his best armour, and equipping his horse, came out through the gates, and riding round Caesar who was seated, and then leaping down from his horse, he threw off his complete armour, and seating himself at Caesar's feet, he remained there till he was delivered up to be kept for the triumph.

XXVIII.[509] Caesar had long ago resolved to put down Pompeius, as Pompeius also had fully resolved to do towards him. For now that Crassus had lost his life among the Parthians, who kept a watch over both of them, it remained for one of them, in order to be the chief, to put down him who was, and to him who was the chief, to take off the man whom he feared, in order that this might not befall him. But it had only recently occurred to Pompeius to take alarm, and hitherto he had despised Caesar, thinking it would be no difficult thing for the man whom he had elevated to be again depressed by him; but Caesar, who had formed his design from the beginning, like an athlete, removed himself to a distance from his antagonists, and exercised himself in the Celtic wars, and thus disciplined his troops and increased his reputation, being elevated by his exploits to an equality with the victories of Pompeius; also laying hold of pretexts, some furnished by the conduct of Pompeius himself, and others by the times and the disordered state of the administration at Rome, owing to which, those who were candidates for magistracies placed tables in public and shamelessly bribed the masses, and the people being hired went down to show their partisanship not with votes on behalf of their briber, but with bows and swords and slings. And after polluting the Rostra with blood and dead bodies, they separated, leaving the city to anarchy, like a ship carried along without a pilot, so that sensible men were well content if matters should result in nothing worse than a monarchy after such madness and such tempest. And there were many who even ventured to say publicly that the state of affairs could only be remedied by a monarchy, and that they ought to submit to this remedy when applied by the mildest of physicians, hinting at Pompeius. But when Pompeius in what he said affected to decline the honour, though in fact he was more than anything else labouring to bring about his appointment as dictator, Cato, who saw through his intention, persuaded the Senate to appoint him sole consul, that he might not by violent means get himself made dictator, and might be contented with a mere constitutional monarchy. They also decreed an additional period for his provinces: and he had two, Iberia[510] and all Libya, which he administered by sending Legati and maintaining armies, for which he received out of the public treasury a thousand talents every year.

XXIX. Upon this, Caesar began to canvass for a consulship by sending persons to Rome, and also for a prorogation of the government of his provinces. At first Pompeius kept silent, but Marcellus[511] and Lentulus opposed his claim, for they hated Caesar on other grounds, and they added to what was necessary what was not necessary, to dishonour and insult him. For they deprived of the citizenship the inhabitants of Novum Comum[512] a colony lately settled by Caesar in Gaul; and Marcellus, who was consul, punished with stripes one of the Senators of Novum Comum who had come to Rome, and added too this insult, "That he put these marks upon him to show that he was not a Roman," and he told him to go and show them to Caesar. After the consulship of Marcellus, when Caesar had now profusely poured forth his Gallic wealth for all those engaged in public life to draw from, and had released Curio[513] the tribune from many debts, and given to Paulus the consul fifteen hundred talents, out of which he decorated the Forum with the Basilica, a famous monument which he built in place of the old one called Fulvia;—under these circumstances, Pompeius, fearing cabal, both openly himself and by means of his friends exerted himself to have a successor[514] appointed to Caesar in his government, and he sent and demanded back of him the soldiers[515] which he had lent to Caesar for the Gallic wars. Caesar sent the men back after giving each of them a present of two hundred and fifty drachmae. The officers who led these troops to Pompeius, spread abroad among the people reports about Caesar which were neither decent nor honest; and they misled Pompeius by ill-founded hopes, telling him that the army of Caesar longed to see him, and that while he with difficulty directed affairs at Rome owing to the odium produced by secret intrigues, the force with Caesar was all ready for him, and that if Caesar's soldiers should only cross over to Italy, they would forthwith be on his side: so hateful, they said, had Caesar become to them on account of his numerous campaigns, and so suspected owing to their fear of monarchy. With all this Pompeius was inflated, and he neglected to get soldiers in readiness, as if he were under no apprehension; but by words and resolution he was overpowering Caesar, as he supposed, by carrying decrees against him, which Caesar cared not for at all. It is even said that one of the centurions who had been sent by him to Rome, while standing in front of the Senate-house, on hearing that the Senate would not give Caesar a longer term in his government. "But this," he said, "shall give it," striking the hilt of his sword with his hand.

XXX. However, the claim of Caesar at least had a striking show of equity. For he proposed that he should lay down his arms and that when Pompeius had done the same and both had become private persons, they should get what favours they could from the citizens; and he argued that if they took from him his power and confirmed to Pompeius what he had, they would be stigmatizing one as a tyrant and making the other a tyrant in fact. When Curio made this proposal before the people on behalf of Caesar, he was loudly applauded; and some even threw chaplets of flowers upon him as on a victorious athlete. Antonius, who was tribune, produced to the people a letter[516] of Caesar's on this subject which he had received, and he read it in spite of the consuls. But in the Senate, Scipio, the father-in-law of Pompeius, made a motion, that if Caesar did not lay down his arms on a certain day, he should be declared an enemy. Upon the consuls putting the question, whether they were of opinion that Pompeius should dismiss his troops, and again, whether Caesar should, very few voted in favour of the former question, and all but a few voted in favour of the latter; but when Antonius[517] on his side moved that both should dismiss their troops, all unanimously were in favour of that opinion. Scipio made a violent opposition, and Lentulus, the consul, called out that they needed arms to oppose a robber, and not votes, on which the Senate broke up and the Senators changed their dress as a sign of lamentation on account of the dissension.

XXXI. But when letters had come from Caesar by which he appeared to moderate his demands, for he proposed to surrender everything else except Gaul within the Alps and Illyricum with two legions, which should be given to him to hold till he was a candidate for a second consulship, and Cicero the orator, who had just returned from Cilicia and was labouring at a reconciliation, was inducing Pompeius to relent, and Pompeius was ready to yield in everything else except as to the soldiers, whom he still insisted on taking from Caesar, Cicero urged the friends of Caesar to give in and to come to a settlement on the terms of the above-mentioned provinces and the allowance of six thousand soldiers, only to Caesar. Pompeius was ready to yield and to give way; but the consul Lentulus would not let him, and he went so far as to insult and drive with dishonour from the Senate both Curio and Antonius, thus himself contriving for Caesar the most specious of all pretexts, by the aid of which indeed Caesar mainly excited the passions of his men, pointing out to them that men of distinction and magistrates had made their escape in hired vehicles in the dress of slaves. For, putting on this guise through fear, they had stolen out of Rome.

XXXII. Now Caesar had about him no more than three hundred horse and five thousand legionary soldiers; for the rest of his army, which had been left beyond the Alps, was to be conducted by those whom he sent for that purpose. Seeing that the commencement of his undertaking and the onset did not so much require a large force at the present, but were to be effected by the alarm which a bold stroke would create and by quickly seizing his opportunity, for he concluded that he should strike terror by his unexpected movement more easily than he could overpower his enemies by attacking them with all his force, he ordered his superior officers and centurions with their swords alone and without any other weapons to take Ariminum, a large city of Gaul, avoiding all bloodshed and confusion as much as possible; and he intrusted the force to Hortensius.[518] Caesar himself passed the day in public, standing by some gladiators who were exercising, and looking on; and a little before evening after attending to his person and going into the mess-room and staying awhile with those who were invited to supper, just as it was growing dark he rose, and courteously addressing the guests, told them to wait for his return, but he had previously given notice to a few of his friends to follow him, not all by the same route, but by different directions. Mounting one of the hired vehicles, he drove at first along another road, and then turning towards Ariminium, when he came to the stream which divides Gaul within the Alps from the rest of Italy (it is called Rubico[519] , and he began to calculate as he approached nearer to the danger, and was agitated by the magnitude of the hazard, he checked his speed; and halting he considered about many things with himself in silence, his mind moving from one side to the other, and his will then underwent many changes; and he also discussed at length with his friends who were present, of whom Pollio Asinius[520] was one, all the difficulties, and enumerated the evils which would ensue to all mankind from his passage of the river, and how great a report of it they would leave to posterity. At last, with a kind of passion, as if he were throwing himself out of reflection into the future, and uttering what is the usual expression with which men preface their entry upon desperate enterprises and daring, "Let the die be cast," he hurried to cross the river; and thence advancing at full speed, he attacked Ariminum before daybreak and took it. It is said that on the night before the passage of the river, he had an impure dream,[521] for he dreamed that he was in unlawful commerce with his mother.

XXXIII. But when Ariminum was taken, as if the war had been let loose through wide gates over all the earth and sea at once, and the laws of the state were confounded together with the limits of the province, one would not have supposed that men and women only, as on other occasions, in alarm were hurrying through Italy, but that the cities themselves, rising from their foundations, were rushing in flight one through another; and Rome herself, as if she were deluged by torrents, owing to the crowding of the people from the neighbouring towns and their removal, could neither easily be pacified by magistrate nor kept in order by words, and in the midst of the mighty swell and the tossing of the tempest, narrowly escaped being overturned by her own agitation. For contending emotions and violent movements occupied every place. Neither did those who rejoiced keep quiet, but in many places, as one might expect in a large city, coming into collision with those who were alarmed and sorrowing, and being full of confidence as to the future, they fell to wrangling with them; and people from various quarters assailed Pompeius, who was terror-struck and had to endure the censure of one party for strengthening Caesar against himself and the supremacy of Rome, while others charged him with inciting Lentulus to insult Caesar who was ready to give way and was proposing fair terms of accommodation. Favonius bade him stamp on the ground with his foot; for Pompeius on one occasion in an arrogant address to the Senate, told them not to be concerned or trouble themselves about preparations for war; when Caesar advanced, he would stamp upon the earth with his foot and fill Italy with armies. However, even then Pompeius had the advantage over Caesar in amount of forces: but nobody would let the man follow his own judgment: and giving way to the many false reports and alarms, that the war was now close at hand and the enemy in possession of everything, and carried away by the general movement, he declared by an edict that he saw there was tumult, and he left the city after giving his commands to the Senate to follow, and that no one should stay who preferred his country and freedom to tyranny.

XXXIV.[522] Accordingly the consuls fled without even making the sacrifices which it was usual to make before quitting the city; and most of the senators also took to flight, in a manner as if they were robbing, each snatching of his own what first came to hand as if it belonged to another. There were some also who, though they had hitherto vehemently supported the party of Caesar, through alarm at that time lost their presence of mind, and without any necessity for it were carried along with the current of that great movement. A most piteous sight was the city, when so great a storm was coming on, left like a ship whose helmsman had given her up, to be carried along and dashed against anything that lay in her way. But though this desertion of the city was so piteous a thing, men for the sake of Pompeius considered the flight to be their country, and they were quitting Rome as if it were the camp of Caesar; for even Labienus,[523] one of Caesar's greatest friends, who had been his legatus and had fought with him most gallantly in all the Gallic wars, then fled away from Caesar and came to Pompeius. But Caesar sent to Labienus both his property and his baggage; and advancing he pitched his camp close by Domitius, who with thirty cohorts held Corfinium.[524] Domitius despairing of himself asked his physician, who was a slave, for poison, and taking what was given, he drank it, intending to die. Shortly after, hearing that Caesar showed wonderful clemency towards his prisoners, he bewailed his fate and blamed the rashness of his resolution. But on the physician assuring him that what he had taken was only a sleeping potion and not deadly, he sprung up overjoyed, and going to Caesar, received his right hand, and yet he afterwards went over again to Pompeius. This intelligence being carried to Rome made people more tranquil, and some who had fled, returned.

XXXV. Caesar took the troops of Domitius into his service, as well as the soldiers that were raising for Pompeius whom he surprised in the cities; and having now got a numerous and formidable army, he advanced against Pompeius. Pompeius did not await his approach, but fled to Brundisium, and sending the consuls over before him with a force to Dyrrachium,[525] himself shortly after sailed from Brundisium upon the approach of Caesar, as will be told more particularly in the Life of Pompeius.[526] Though Caesar wished to pursue immediately, he was prevented by want of ships, and he turned back to Rome, having in sixty days without bloodshed become master of Italy. Finding the city more tranquil than he expected and many of the Senators in it, he addressed them in moderate and constitutional language,[527] urging them to send persons to Pompeius with suitable terms of accommodation; but no one listened to his proposal, either because they feared Pompeius, whom they had deserted, or supposed that Caesar did not really mean what he said, and merely used specious words. When the tribune Metellus[528] attempted to prevent him from taking money from the reserved treasure[529] and alleged certain laws, Caesar replied, "That the same circumstances did not suit arms and laws: but do you, if you don't like what is doing, get out of the way, for war needs not bold words; when we have laid down our arms after coming to terms, then you may come forward and make your speeches to the people." "And in saying this," he continued, "I waive part of my rights, for you are mine, and all are mine, who have combined against me, now that I have caught them." Having thus spoken to Metellus he walked to the doors of the treasury; but as the keys were not found, he sent for smiths and ordered them to break the locks. Metellus again opposed him, and some commended him for it, but Caesar, raising his voice, threatened to kill him, if he did not stop his opposition, "And this," said he, "young man, you well know, is more painful for me to have said than to do." These words alarmed Metellus and made him retire, and also caused everything else to be supplied to Caesar for the war without further trouble, and with speed.

XXXVI. He marched against Iberia,[530] having first determined to drive out Afranius and Varro, the legati of Pompeius, and having got into his power the forces and the provinces in those parts, then to advance against Pompeius without leaving any enemy in his rear. After having often been exposed to risk in his own person from ambuscades, and with his army chiefly from want of provisions, he never gave up pursuing, challenging to battle and hemming in the enemy with his lines, till he had made himself master of their camps and forces. The generals escaped to Pompeius.

XXXVII. On his return to Rome, Piso, the father-in-law of Caesar, advised that they should send commissioners to Pompeius to treat of terms, but Isauricus opposed the measure to please Caesar. Being chosen Dictator by the Senate, he restored the exiles, and the children of those who had suffered in the times of Sulla,[531] he reinstated in their civil rights, and he relieved the debtors by a certain abatement of the interest, and took in hand other measures of the like kind, not many in number; but in eleven days, he abdicated the monarchy, and declaring himself and Servilius Isauricus consuls[532] set out on his expedition. The rest of his forces he passed by on his hurried march, and with six hundred picked horsemen and five legions, the time being the winter solstice and the commencement of January (and this pretty nearly corresponds to the Poseideon of the Athenians), he put to sea, and crossing the Ionian gulf he took Oricum and Apollonia; but he sent back his ships to Brundisium for the soldiers whom he had left behind on his march. But while the men were still on the road, as they were already passed the vigour of their age and worn out by the number of their campaigns, they murmured against Caesar, "Whither now will he lead us and where will this man at last carry us to, hurrying us about and treating us as if we could never be worn out and as if we were inanimate things? even the sword is at last exhausted by blows, and shield and breastplate need to be spared a little after so long use. Even our wounds do not make Caesar consider that he commands perishable bodies, and that we are but mortal towards endurance and pain; and the winter season and the storms of the sea even a god cannot command; but this man runs all risks, as if he were not pursuing his enemies, but flying from them." With such words as these they marched slowly towards Brundisium. But when they found that Caesar had embarked, then quickly changing their temper, they reproached themselves as traitors to their Imperator; and they abused their officers also for not hastening the march. Sitting on the heights, they looked towards the sea and towards Epirus for the ships which were to carry them over to their commander.

XXXVIII. At Apollonia, as Caesar had not a force sufficient to oppose the enemy, and the delay of the troops from Italy put him in perplexity and much uneasiness, he formed a desperate design, without communicating it to any one, to embark in a twelve-oared boat and go over to Brundisium, though the sea was commanded by so many ships of the enemy.[533] Accordingly, disguising himself in a slave's dress, he went on board by night, and throwing himself down as a person of no importance, he lay quiet. While the river Anius[534] was carrying down the boat towards the sea, the morning breeze, which at that time generally made the water smooth at the outlet of the river by driving the waves before it, was beaten down by a strong wind which blew all night over the sea; and the river, chafing at the swell of the sea and the opposition of the waves, was becoming rough, being driven back by the huge blows and violent eddies, so that it was impossible for the master of the boat to make head against it; on which he ordered the men to change about, intending to turn the boat round. Caesar perceiving this, discovered himself, and taking the master by the hand, who was alarmed at the sight of him, said, "Come, my good man, have courage and fear nothing; you carry Caesar and the fortune of Caesar in your boat." The sailors now forgot the storm, and sticking to their oars, worked with all their force to get out of the river. But as it was impossible to get on, after taking in much water and running great risk at the mouth of the river, Caesar very unwillingly consented that the master should put back. On his return, the soldiers met him in crowds, and blamed him much and complained that he did not feel confident of victory even with them alone, but was vexed and exposed himself to risk on account of the absent, as if he distrusted those who were present.

XXXIX. Shortly after Antonius arrived from Brundisium with the troops; and Caesar, being now confident, offered battle to Pompeius, who was well posted and had sufficient supplies both from land and sea, while Caesar at first had no abundance, and afterwards was hard pressed for want of provisions: but the soldiers cut up a certain root[535] and mixing it with milk, ate it. And once, having made loaves of it, they ran up to the enemies' outposts, threw the bread into the camp, and pitched it about, adding, that so long as the earth produces such roots, they will never stop besieging Pompeius. Pompeius, however, would not let either the matter of the loaves or these words be made known to the mass of the army; for his soldiers were dispirited and dreaded the savage temper and endurance of the enemy as if they were wild beasts. There were continually skirmishes about the fortifications of Pompeius, and Caesar had the advantage in all except one, in which there was a great rout of his troops and he was in danger of losing his camp. For when Pompeius made an onset, no one stood the attack, but the trenches were filled with the dying, and Caesar's men were falling about their own ramparts and bulwarks, being driven in disorderly flight. Though Caesar met the fugitives and endeavoured to turn them, he had no success, and when he laid hold of the colours, those who were carrying them threw them down, so that the enemy took two and thirty, and Caesar himself had a narrow escape with his life. A tall, strong man was running away past by Caesar, who putting his hand upon him, ordered him to stand and face the enemy; but the man, who was completely confounded by the danger, raised his sword to strike him, on which Caesar's shield-bearer struck the man first and cut off his shoulder. Caesar had so completely given up his cause as lost, that when Pompeius either through caution or from some accident did not put the finishing stroke to his great success, but retreated after shutting up the fugitives within their ramparts, Caesar said to his friends as he was retiring, To-day the victory would be with the enemy, if they had a commander who knew how to conquer. Going into his tent and lying down, Caesar spent that night of all nights in the greatest agony and perplexity, considering that his generalship had been bad, in that while a fertile country lay near him and the rich cities of Macedonia and Thessaly, he had neglected to carry the war thither, and was now stationed on the sea which the enemy commanded with his ships, and that he was rather held in siege by want of supplies than holding the enemy in siege by his arms. Accordingly, after passing a restless night, full of uneasiness at the difficulty and danger of his present position, he broke up his camp with the determination of leading his troops into Macedonia to oppose Scipio, for he concluded that either he should draw Pompeius after him to a country where he would fight without the advantage of having the same supplies from the sea, or that he would defeat Scipio if he were left to himself.

XL. This encouraged the army of Pompeius and the officers about him to stick close to Caesar, whom they considered to have been defeated and to be making his escape; though Pompeius himself was cautious about hazarding a battle for so great a stake, and, as he was excellently furnished with everything for prolonging the war, he thought it best to wear out and weaken the vigour of the enemy, which could not be long sustained. For the best fighting men in Caesar's army possessed experience and irresistible courage in battle; but in marchings and making encampments and assaulting fortifications and watching by night, they gave way by reason of their age, and their bodies were unwieldy for labour, and owing to weakness, had lost their alacrity. It was also reported that a pestilential disease was prevalent in Caesar's army, which had originated in the want of proper food; and, what was chief of all, as Caesar was neither well supplied with money nor provisions, it might be expected that in a short time his army would be broken up of itself.

XLI. For these reasons Pompeius did not wish to fight, and Cato alone commended his design, because he wished to spare the citizens; for after seeing those who had fallen in the battle to the number of a thousand, he wrapped up his face and went away with tears in his eyes. But all the rest abused Pompeius for avoiding a battle, and tried to urge him on by calling him Agamemnon and King of Kings, by which they implied that he was unwilling to lay down the sole command, and was proud at having so many officers under his orders and coming to his tent, Favonius, who aped Cato's freedom of speech, raved because they should not be able even that year to enjoy the figs of Tusculum owing to Pompeius being so fond of command; and Afranius (for he had just arrived from Iberia, where he had shown himself a bad general), being charged with betraying his army for a bribe, asked why they did not fight with the merchant who had bought the provinces of him. Pressed by all this importunity, Pompeius pursued Caesar with the intention of fighting, though contrary to his wish. Caesar accomplished his march with difficulty, as no one would supply him with provisions and he was universally despised on account of his recent defeat; however, after taking Gomphi,[536] a Thessalian city, he had not only provisions for his army, but his men were unexpectedly relieved from their disease. For they fell in with abundance of wine, of which they drank plentifully, and revelling and rioting on their march, by means of their drunkenness, they threw off and got rid of their complaint in consequence of their bodies being brought into a different habit.

XLII. When the two armies had entered the plain of Pharsalus and pitched their camps, Pompeius again fell back into his former opinion, and there were also unlucky appearances and a vision in his sleep.[537] He dreamed that he saw himself in the theatre, applauded by the Romans. But those about him were so confident, and so fully anticipated a victory, that Domitius and Scipio and Spinther were disputing and bestirring themselves against one another about the priesthood of Caesar, and many persons sent to Rome to hire and get possession of houses that were suitable for consuls and praetors, expecting to be elected to magistracies immediately after the war. But the cavalry showed most impatience for the battle, being sumptuously equipped with splendid armour, and priding themselves on their well-fed horses and fine persons, and on their numbers also, for they were seven thousand against Caesar's thousand. The number of the infantry also was unequal, there being forty-five thousand matched against twenty-two thousand.

XLIII. Caesar, calling his soldiers together and telling them that Corfinius[538] was close at hand with two legions, and that other cohorts to the number of fifteen under Calenus were encamped near Megara and Athens, asked if they would wait for them or hazard a battle by themselves. The soldiers cried out aloud that they did not wish him to wait, but rather to contrive and so manage his operations that they might soonest come to a battle with their enemies. While he was performing a lustration of the army, as soon as he had sacrificed the first victim, the soothsayer said that within three days there would be a decisive battle with the enemy. Upon Caesar asking him, if he saw any favourable sign in the victims as to the result of the battle also, he replied, "You can answer this better for yourself: the gods indicate a great change and revolution of the actual state of things to a contrary state, so that if you think yourself prosperous in your present condition, expect the worst fortune; but if you do not, expect the better." As Caesar was taking his round to inspect the watches the night before the battle about midnight, there was seen in the heavens a fiery torch, which seemed to pass over Caesar's camp and assuming a bright and flame-like appearance to fall down upon the camp of Pompeius. In the morning watch they perceived that there was also a panic confusion among the enemy. However, as Caesar did not expect that the enemy would fight on that day, he began to break up his camp with the intention of marching to Scotussa.

XLIV. The tents were already taken down when the scouts rode up to him with intelligence that the enemy were coming down to battle, whereupon Caesar was overjoyed, and after praying to the gods he arranged his battle in three divisions. He placed Domitius Calvinus in command of the centre, Antonius had the left wing, and he commanded the right, intending to fight in the tenth legion. Observing that the cavalry of the enemy were posting themselves opposite to this wing and fearing their splendid appearance and their numbers, he ordered six cohorts to come round to him from the last line without being observed and he placed them in the rear of the right wing with orders what to do when the enemy's cavalry made their attack. Pompeius commanded his own right, and Domitius the left, and the centre was under Scipio, his father-in-law. But all the cavalry crowded to the left, intending to surround the right wing of the enemy and to make a complete rout of the men who were stationed about the general; for they believed that no legionary phalanx, however deep, could resist, but that their opponents would be completely crushed and broken to pieces by an attack of so many cavalry at once. When the signal for attack was going to be given on both sides, Pompeius ordered the legionary soldiers to stand with their spears presented and in close order to wait the attack of the enemy till they were within a spear's throw. But Caesar says that here also Pompeius made a mistake, not knowing that the first onset, accompanied with running and impetuosity, gives force to the blows, and at the same time fires the courage, which is thus fanned in every way. As Caesar was about to move his phalanx and was going into action, the first centurion that he spied was a man who was faithful to him and experienced in war, and was encouraging those under his command and urging them to vigorous exertion. Caesar addressing him by name said, "What hopes have we Caius Crassinius,[539] and how are our men as to courage?" Crassinius stretching out his right hand and calling out aloud, said, "We shall have a splendid victory, Caesar; and you shall praise me whether I survive the day or die." Saying this, he was the first to fall on the enemy at his full speed and carrying with him the hundred and twenty soldiers who were under his command. Having cut through the first rank, he was advancing with great slaughter of the enemy and was driving them from their ground, when he was stopped by a blow from a sword through the mouth, and the point came out at the back of his neck.

XLV. The infantry having thus rushed together in the centre and being engaged in the struggle, the cavalry of Pompeius proudly advanced from the wing, extending their companies to enclose Caesar's right; but before they fell upon the enemy, the cohorts sprang forward from among Caesar's troops, not, according to the usual fashion of war, throwing their spears nor yet holding them in their hands and aiming at the thighs and legs of the enemy, but pushing them against their eyes and wounding them in the face; and they had been instructed to do this by Caesar, who was confident that men who had no great familiarity with battles or wounds, and were young and very proud of their beauty and youth, would dread such wounds and would not keep their ground both through fear of the present danger and the future disfigurement. And it turned out so; for they could not stand the spears being pushed up at them nor did they venture to look at the iron that was presented against their eyes, but they turned away and covered their faces to save them; and at last, having thus thrown themselves into confusion, they turned to flight most disgracefully and ruined the whole cause. For those who had defeated the cavalry, immediately surrounded the infantry and falling on them in the rear began to cut them down. But when Pompeius saw from the other wing the cavalry dispersed in flight, he was no longer the same, nor did he recollect that he was Pompeius Magnus, but more like a man who was deprived of his understanding by the god than anything else,[540] he retired without speaking a word to his tent, and sitting down awaited the result, until the rout becoming general the enemy were assailing the ramparts, and fighting with those who defended them. Then, as if he had recovered his senses and uttering only these words, as it is reported, "What even to the ramparts!" he put off his military and general's dress, and taking one suited for a fugitive, stole away. But what fortunes he afterwards had, and how he gave himself up to the Egyptians and was murdered, I shall tell in the Life of Pompeius.

XLVI. When Caesar entered the camp of Pompeius and saw the bodies of those who were already killed, and the slaughter still going on among the living, he said with a groan: They would have it so; they brought me into such a critical position that I, Caius Caesar, who have been successful in the greatest wars, should have been condemned, if I had disbanded my troops. Asinius Pollio[541] says that Caesar uttered these words on that occasion in Latin, and that he wrote them down in Greek. He also says that the chief part of those who were killed were slaves, and they were killed when the camp was taken; and that not more than six thousand soldiers fell. Of those who were taken prisoners, Caesar drafted most into his legions; and he pardoned many men of distinction, among whom was Brutus, who afterwards murdered him. Caesar is said to have been very much troubled at his not being found, but when Brutus, who had escaped unhurt, presented himself to Caesar, he was greatly pleased.

XLVII. There were many prognostics of the victory, but the most remarkable is that which is reported as having appeared at Tralles.[542] In the temple of Victory there stood a statue of Caesar, and the ground about it was naturally firm and the surface was also paved with hard stone; from this, they say, there sprung up a palm-tree by the pedestal of the statue. In Patavium, Caius Cornelius, a man who had reputation for his skill in divination, a fellow-citizen and acquaintance of Livius the historian, happened to be sitting that day to watch the birds. And first of all, as Livius says, he discovered the time of the battle, and he said to those who were present that the affair was now deciding and the men were going into action. Looking again and observing the signs, he sprang up with enthusiasm and called out, "You conquer, Caesar." The bystanders being surprised, he took the chaplet from his head and said with an oath, that he would not put it on again till facts had confirmed his art. Livius affirms that these things were so.

XLVIII. Caesar after giving the Thessalians their liberty[543] in consideration of his victory, pursued Pompeius. On reaching Asia[544] he made the Cnidians free to please Theopompus,[545] the collector of mythi, and he remitted to all the inhabitants of Asia the third of their taxes. Arriving at Alexandria[546] after the death of Pompeius, he turned away from Theodotus who brought him the head of Pompeius, but he received his seal ring[547] and shed tears over it. All the companions and intimate friends of Pompeius who were rambling about the country and had been taken by the King, he treated well and gained over to himself. He wrote to his friends in Rome, that the chief and the sweetest pleasure that he derived from his victory, was to be able to pardon any of those citizens who had fought against him. As to the war[548] there, some say that it might have been avoided and that it broke out in consequence of his passion for Kleopatra and was discreditable to him and hazardous; but others blame the King's party and chiefly the eunuch Potheinus,who possessed the chief power, and having lately cut off Pompeius and driven out Kleopatra, was now secretly plotting against Caesar; and on this account they say that Caesar from that time passed the nights in drinking in order to protect himself. But in his public conduct Pothinus was unbearable, for he both said and did many things to bring odium on Caesar and to insult him. While measuring out to the soldiers the worst and oldest corn he told them they must be satisfied with it and be thankful, as they were eating what belonged to others; and at the meals he used only wooden and earthen vessels, alleging that Caesar had got all the gold and silver vessels in payment for a debt.[549] For the father of the then King owed Caesar one thousand seven hundred and fifty times ten thousand, of which Caesar had remitted the seven hundred and fifty to the King's sons before, but he now claimed the one thousand to maintain his army with. Upon Pothinus now bidding him take his departure and attend to his important affairs and that he should afterwards receive his money back with thanks, Caesar said, that least of all people did he want the Egyptians as advisers, and he secretly sent for Kleopatra from the country.

XLIX. Kleopatra,[550] taking Apollodorus the Sicilian alone of all her friends with her, and getting into a small boat, approached the palace as it was growing dark; and as it was impossible for her to escape notice in any other way, she got into a bed sack and laid herself out at full length, and Apollodorus, tying the sack together with a cord, carried her through the doors to Caesar. Caesar is said to have been first captivated by this device of Kleopatra, which showed a daring temper, and being completely enslaved by his intercourse with her and her attractions, he brought about an accommodation between Kleopatra and her brother on the terms of her being associated with him in the kingdom. A feast was held to celebrate the reconciliation, during which a slave of Caesar, his barber, owing to his timidity in which he had no equal, leaving nothing unscrutinized, and listening and making himself very busy, found out that a plot against Caesar was forming by Achillas the general and Potheinus the eunuch. Caesar being made acquainted with their design, placed a guard around the apartment, and put Potheinus to death. Achillas escaped to the camp, and raised about Caesar a dangerous and difficult war for one who with so few troops had to resist so large a city and force. In this contest the first danger that he had to encounter was being excluded from water, for the canals[551] were dammed up by the enemy; and, in the second place, an attempt being made to cut off his fleet, he was compelled to repel the danger with fire, which spreading from the arsenals to the large library[552] destroyed it; and, in the third place, in the battle near the Pharos[553] he leaped down from the mound into a small boat and went to aid the combatants; but as the Egyptians were coming against him from all quarters, he threw himself into the sea and swam away with great difficulty. On this occasion it is said that he had many papers in his hands, and that he did not let them go, though the enemy were throwing missiles at him and he had to dive under the water, but holding the papers above the water with one hand, he swam with the other; but the boat was sunk immediately. At last, when the King had gone over to the enemy, Caesar attacked and defeated them in a battle in which many fell and the King[554] himself disappeared. Leaving Kleopatra[555] Queen of Egypt, who shortly after gave birth to a child that she had by Caesar, which the Alexandrines named Caesarion, he marched to Syria.

L. From Syria continuing his march through Asia he heard that Domitius had been defeated by Pharnakes[556] son of Mithridates, and had fled from Pontus with a few men; and that Pharnakes, who used his victory without any moderation, and was in possession of Bithynia and Cappadocia, also coveted Armenia, called the Little, and was stirring up all the kings and tetrarchs in this part. Accordingly Caesar forthwith advanced against the man with three legions and fighting a great battle near Zela drove Pharnakes in flight from Pontus, and completely destroyed his army. In reporting to one of his friends at Rome, Amantius,[557] the celerity and rapidity of this battle, he wrote only three words: "I came, I saw, I conquered." In the Roman language the three words ending in the like form of verb, have a brevity which is not without its effect.

LI. After this, passing over to Italy he went up to Rome at the close of the year for which he had been chosen Dictator[558] the second time, though that office had never before been for a whole year; and he was elected consul for the following year. He was much blamed about a mutiny[559] that broke out among the soldiers in which they killed two men of praetorian rank, Cosconius and Galba, because he reproved his men no further than by calling them citizens instead of soldiers, and he gave to each of them a thousand drachmae, and allotted to them much land in Italy. He also bore the blame of the madness of Dolabella,[560] the covetousness of Amantius, and the drunkenness of Antonius, and the greedy tricks of Corfinius in getting the house of Pompeius, and his building it over again as if it were not fit for him; for the Romans were annoyed at these things. But Caesar, in the present state of affairs, though he was not ignorant of these things, and did not approve of them, was compelled to employ such men in his service.

LII. As Cato[561] and Scipio, after the battle near Pharsalus, had fled to Libya, and there, with the assistance of King Juba, got together a considerable force, Caesar determined to go against them; and about the winter solstice passing over to Sicily and wishing to cut off from the officers about him all hopes of delay and tarrying there, he placed his own tent on the margin of the waves,[562] and as soon as there was a wind he went on board and set sail with three thousand foot-soldiers and a few horsemen. Having landed them unobserved he embarked again, for he was under some apprehension about the larger part of his force; and having fallen in with it on the sea, he conducted all to the camp. Now there was with him in the army a man in other respects contemptible enough and of no note, but of the family of the Africani, and his name was Scipio Sallutio;[563] and as Caesar heard that the enemy relied on a certain old oracular answer, that it was always the privilege of the family of the Scipios to conquer in Libya, either to show his contempt of Scipio as a general by a kind of joke, or because he really wished to have the benefit of the omen himself (it is difficult to say which), he used to place this Sallutio in the front of the battles as if he were the leader of the army; for Caesar was often compelled to engage with the enemy and to seek a battle, there being neither sufficient supply of corn for the men nor fodder for the animals, but they were compelled to take the sea-weed after washing off the salt and mixing a little grass with it by way of sweetening it, and so to feed their horses. For the Numidians, by continually showing themselves in great numbers and suddenly appearing, kept possession of the country; and on one occasion while the horsemen of Caesar were amusing themselves with a Libyan, who was exhibiting to them his skill in dancing and playing on a flute at the same time in a surprising manner, and the men, pleased with the sight, were sitting on the ground and the boys holding their horses, the enemy suddenly coming round and falling upon them killed some, and entered the camp together with the rest, who fled in disorderly haste. And if Caesar himself and Asinius Pollio had not come out of the camp to help the men, and checked the pursuit, the war would have been at an end. In another battle, also, the enemy had the advantage in the encounter, on which occasion it is said that Caesar, seizing by the neck the man who bore the eagle and was running away, turned him round, and said, "There is the enemy!"

LIII. However Scipio[564] was encouraged by these advantages to hazard a decisive battle; and leaving Afranius and Juba[565] encamped each separately at a short distance, he commenced making a fortified camp above a lake near the city Thapsus, intending it as a place for the whole army to sally forth from to battle and a place of refuge also. While he was thus employed, Caesar with incredible speed making his way through woody grounds which contained certain approaches that had not been observed, surrounded part of the enemy and attacked others in front. Having put these to flight he availed himself of the critical moment and the career of fortune, by means of which he captured the camp of Afranius on the first assault, and at the first assault also he broke into the camp of the Numidians from which Juba fled; and in a small part of a single day he made himself master of three camps and destroyed fifty thousand of the enemy without losing as many as fifty of his own men. This is the account that some writers give of that battle; but others say that Caesar was not in the action himself, but that as he was marshalling and arranging his forces, he was attacked by his usual complaint, and that perceiving it as soon as it came on, and before his senses were completely confounded and overpowered by the malady, just as he was beginning to be convulsed, he was carried to one of the neighbouring towers and stayed there quietly. Of the men of consular and praetorian rank who escaped from the battle, some killed themselves when they were being taken, and Caesar put many to death who were captured.

LIV. Being ambitious to take Cato[566] alive, Caesar hastened to Utica, for Cato was guarding that city and was not in the battle. Hearing that Cato had put an end to himself, Caesar was evidently annoyed, but for what reason is uncertain. However, he said, "Cato, I grudge you your death, for you also have grudged me the preservation of your life." But the work which be wrote against Cato after his death cannot be considered an indication that he was mercifully disposed towards him or in a mood to be easily reconciled. For how can we suppose that he would have spared Cato living, when he poured out against him after he was dead so much indignation? However, some persons infer from his mild treatment of Cicero and Brutus and ten thousand others of his enemies that this discourse also was composed not from any enmity, but from political ambition, for the following reason. Cicero wrote a panegyric on Cato and gave the composition the title "Cato"; and the discourse was eagerly read by many, as one may suppose, being written by the most accomplished of orators on the noblest subject. This annoyed Caesar, who considered the panegyric on a man whose death he had caused to be an attack upon himself. Accordingly in his treatise he got together many charges against Cato; and the work is entitled "Anticato."[567] Both compositions have many admirers, as well on account of Caesar as of Cato.

LV. However, on his return[568] to Rome from Libya, in the first place Caesar made a pompous harangue to the people about his victory, in which he said that he had conquered a country large enough to supply annually to the treasury two hundred thousand Attic medimni of corn, and three million litrae of oil. In the next place he celebrated triumphs,[569] the Egyptian, the Pontic, and the Libyan, not of course for his victory over Scipio, but over Juba.[570] On that occasion Juba also, the son of King Juba, who was still an infant, was led in the triumphal procession, most fortunate in his capture, for from being a barbarian and a Numidian he became numbered among the most learned of the Greek writers. After the triumphs Caesar made large presents to the soldiers, and entertained the people with banquets and spectacles, feasting the whole population at once at twenty-two thousand triclina,[571] and exhibiting also shows of gladiators and naval combats in honour of his daughter Julia who had been dead for some time. After the shows a census[572] was taken, in which instead of the three hundred and twenty thousand of former enumerations, there were enrolled only one hundred and fifty thousand. So much desolation had the civil wars produced and so large a proportion of the people had been destroyed in them, not to reckon the miseries that had befallen the rest of Italy and the provinces.

LVI. All this being completed, Caesar was made consul[573] for the fourth time, and set out to Iberia to attack the sons of Pompeius, who were still young, but had got together a force of amazing amount and displayed a boldness that showed they were worthy to command, so that they put Caesar in the greatest danger. The great battle was fought near the city of Munda,[574] in which Caesar, seeing that his men were being driven from their ground and making a feeble resistance, ran through the arms and the ranks calling out, "If they had no sense of shame, to take and deliver him up to the boys." With difficulty and after great exertion he put the enemy to flight and slaughtered above thirty thousand of them, but he lost a thousand of his own best soldiers. On retiring after the battle he said to his friends, that he had often fought for victory, but now for the first time he had fought for existence. He gained this victory on the day of the festival of Bacchus, on which day it is said that Pompeius Magnus also went out to battle; the interval was four years. The younger of the sons[575] of Pompeius escaped, but after a few days Didius[576] brought the head of the elder. This was the last war that Caesar was engaged in; but the triumph[577] that was celebrated for this victory vexed the Romans more than anything else. For this was no victory over foreign leaders nor yet over barbarian kings, but Caesar had destroyed the children of the bravest of the Romans, who had been unfortunate, and had completely ruined his family, and it was not seemly to celebrate a triumph over the calamities of his country, exulting in these things, for which the only apology both before gods and men was that they had been done of necessity; and that too when he had never before sent either messenger or public letters to announce a victory gained in the civil wars, but had from motives of delicacy rejected all glory on that account.

LVII. However, the Romans, gave way before the fortune of the man and received the bit, and considering the monarchy to be a respite from the civil wars and miseries they appointed him dictator[578] for life. This was confessedly a tyranny, for the monarchy received in addition to its irresponsibility the character of permanency; and when Cicero[579] in the Senate had proposed the highest honours[580] to him, which though great were still such as were befitting a human being, others by adding still further honours and vying with one another made Caesar odious and an object of dislike even to those who were of the most moderate temper, by reason of the extravagant and unusual character of what was decreed; and it is supposed that those who hated Caesar cooperated in these measures no less than those who were his flatterers, that they might have as many pretexts as possible against him and might be considered to make their attempt upon him with the best ground of complaint. For in all other respects, after the close of the civil wars, he showed himself blameless; and it was not without good reason that the Romans voted a temple to Clemency to commemorate his moderate measures. For he pardoned many of those who had fought against him, and to some he even gave offices and honours, as to Brutus and Cassius, both of whom were Praetors. He also did not allow the statues of Pompeius to remain thrown down, but he set them up again, on which Cicero said that by erecting the statues of Pompeius, Caesar had firmly fixed his own. When his friends urged him to have guards and many offered their services for this purpose, he would not consent, and he said, that it was better to die at once than to be always expecting death. But for the purpose of surrounding himself with the affection of the Romans as the noblest and also the securest protection, he again courted the people with banquets and distribution of corn, and the soldiers with the foundation of colonies, of which the most conspicuous were Carthage[581] and Corinth, to both of which it happened that their former capture and their present restoration occurred at once and at the same time.

LVIII. To some of the nobles he promised consulships and praetorships for the future, and others he pacified with certain other offices and honours, and he gave hopes to all, seeking to make it appear that he ruled over them with their own consent, so that when Maximus[582] the consul died, he appointed Caninius Revilius consul for the one day that still remained of the term of office. When many persons were going, as was usual, to salute the new consul and to form part of his train Cicero said, "We must make haste, or the man will have gone out of office." Caesar's great success did not divert his natural inclination for great deeds and his ambition to the enjoyment of that for which he had laboured, but serving as fuel and incentives to the future bred in him designs of greater things and love of new glory, as if he had used up what he had already acquired; and the passion was nothing else than emulation of himself as if he were another person, and a kind of rivalry between what he intended and what he had accomplished; and his propositions and designs were to march against the Parthians,[583] and after subduing them and marching through Hyrkania and along the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus, and so encompassing the Euxine, to invade Scythia, and after having overrun the countries bordering on the Germans and Germany itself to return through Gaul to Italy, and so to complete his circle of the empire which would be bounded on all sides by the ocean. During this expedition he intended also to dig through the Corinthian Isthmus,[584] and he had already commissioned Anienus to superintend the work; and to receive the Tiber[585] immediately below the city in a deep cut, and giving it a bend towards Circaeum to make it enter the sea by Tarracina, with the view of giving security and facility to those who came to Rome for the purpose of trade: besides this he designed to draw off the water from the marshes about Pomentium and Setia,[586] and to make them solid ground, which would employ many thousands of men in the cultivation; and where the sea was nearest to Rome he designed to place barriers to it by means of moles, and after clearing away the hidden rocks and dangerous places on the shore of Ostia[587] to make harbours and naval stations which should give security to the extensive shipping. And all these things were in preparation.

LIX. But the arrangement of the Kalendar[588] and the correction of the irregularity in the reckoning of time were handled by him skilfully, and being completed were of the most varied utility. For it was not only in very ancient times that the Romans had the periods of the moon in confusion with respect to the year, so that the feasts and festivals gradually changing at last fell out in opposite seasons of the year, but even with respect to the solar year at that time nobody kept any reckoning except the priests, who, as they alone knew the proper time, all of a sudden and when nobody expected it, would insert the intercalary month named Mercedonius, which King Numa is said to have been the first to intercalate, thereby devising a remedy, which was slight and would extend to no great period, for the irregularity in the recurrence of the times, as I have explained in the Life of Numa. But Caesar laying the problem before the ablest philosophers and mathematicians, from the methods that were laid before him compounded a correction of his own which was more exact, which the Romans use to the present time, and are considered to be in less error than other nations as to the inequality. However, even this furnished matter for complaint to those who envied him and disliked his power; for Cicero, the orator, as it is said, when some observed that Lyra would rise to-morrow, "Yes," he replied, "pursuant to the Edict," meaning that men admitted even this by compulsion.

LX. But the most manifest and deadly hatred towards him was produced by his desire of kingly power, which to the many was the first, and to those who had long nourished a secret hatred of him the most specious, cause. And indeed those who were contriving this honour for Caesar spread about a certain report among the people, that according to the Sibylline writings[589] it appeared that Parthia could be conquered by the Romans if they advanced against it with a king, but otherwise could not he assailed. And as Caesar was going down from Alba to the city, they ventured to salute him as King, but as the people showed their dissatisfaction, Caesar was disturbed and said that he was not called King but Caesar; and as hereupon there was a general silence, he passed along with no great cheerfulness nor good humour on his countenance. When some extravagant honours had been decreed to him in the Senate, it happened that he was sitting above the Rostra,[590] and when the consuls and praetors approached with all the Senate behind them, without rising from his seat, but just as if he were transacting business with private persons, he answered that the honours required rather to be contracted than enlarged. This annoyed not the Senate only, but the people also, who considered that the State was insulted in the persons of the Senate; and those who were not obliged to stay went away forthwith with countenance greatly downcast, so that Caesar perceiving it forthwith went home, and as he threw his cloak from his shoulders he called out to his friends, that he was ready to offer his throat to anyone who wished to kill him; but afterwards he alleged his disease as an excuse for his behaviour, saying that persons who are so affected cannot usually keep their senses steady when they address a multitude standing, but that the senses being speedily convulsed and whirling about bring on giddiness and are overpowered. However, the fact was not so, for it is said that he was very desirous to rise up when the Senate came, but was checked by one of his friends, or rather one of his flatterers, Cornelius Balbus,[591] who said, "Will you not remember that you are Caesar, and will you not allow yourself to be honoured as a superior?"

LXI. There was added to these causes of offence the insult offered to the tribunes. It was the festival of the Lupercalia,[592] about which many writers say that it was originally a festival of the shepherds and had also some relationship to the Arcadian Lykaea. On this occasion many of the young nobles and magistrates run through the city without their toga, and for sport and to make laughter strike those whom they meet with strips of hide that have the hair on; many women of rank also purposely put themselves in the way and present their hands to be struck like children at school, being persuaded that this is favourable to easy parturition for those who are pregnant, and to conception for those who are barren. Caesar was a spectator, being seated at the Rostra on a golden chair in a triumphal robe; and Antonius was one of those who ran in the sacred race, for he was consul. Accordingly, when he entered the Forum and the crowd made way for him, he presented to Caesar a diadem[593] which he carried surrounded with a crown of bay; and there was a clapping of hands, not loud, but slight, which had been already concerted. When Caesar put away the diadem from him all the people clapped their hands, and when Antonius presented it again, only a few clapped; but when Caesar declined to receive it, again all the people applauded. The experiment having thus failed, Caesar rose and ordered the crown to be carried to the Capitol. But as Caesar's statues were seen crowned with royal diadems, two of the tribunes, Flavius and Marullus, went up to them and pulled off the diadems, and having discovered those who had been the first to salute Caesar as king they led them off to prison. The people followed clapping their hands and calling the tribunes Bruti, because it was Brutus who put down the kingly power and placed the sovereignty in the Senate and people instead of its being in the hands of one man. Caesar being irritated at this deprived Flavius and Marullus of their office, and while rating them he also insulted the people by frequently calling the tribunes Bruti and Cumaei.[594] LXII. In this state of affairs the many turned to Marcus Brutus,[595] who on his father's side was considered to be a descendant of the ancient Brutus, and on his mother's side belonged to the Servilii, another distinguished house, and he was the son-in-law and nephew of Cato. The honours and favours which Brutus had received from Caesar dulled him towards attempting of his own proper motion the overthrow of the monarchical power; for not only was his life saved at the battle of Pharsalus after the rout of Pompeius, and many of his friends also at his entreaty, but besides this he had great credit with Caesar. He had also received among those who then held the praetorship[596] the chief office, and he was to be consul in the fourth year from that time, having been preferred to Cassius who was a rival candidate. For it is said that Caesar observed that Cassius urged better grounds of preference, but that he could not pass over Brutus. And on one occasion when some persons were calumniating Brutus to him, at a time when the conspiracy was really forming, he would not listen to them, but touching his body with his hand he said to the accusers, "Brutus waits[597] for this dry skin," by which he intended to signify that Brutus was worthy of the power for his merits, but for the sake of the power would not be ungrateful and a villain. Now, those who were eager for the change and who looked up to him alone, or him as the chief person, did not venture to speak with him on the subject, but by night they used to fill the tribunal and the seat on which he sat when discharging his functions as praetor with writings, most of which were to this purport, "You are asleep, Brutus," and "You are not Brutus." By which Cassius,[598] perceiving that his ambition was somewhat stirred, urged him more than he had done before, and pricked him on; and Cassius himself had also a private grudge against Caesar for the reasons which I have mentioned in the Life of Brutus. Indeed Caesar suspected Cassius, and he once said to his friends, "What think ye is Cassius aiming at? for my part, I like him not over much, for he is over pale." On the other hand it is said that when a rumour reached him, that Antonius and Dolabella were plotting, he said, "I am not much afraid of these well-fed,[599] long-haired fellows, but I rather fear those others, the pale and thin," meaning Cassius and Brutus.

LXIII. But it appears that destiny is not so much a thing that gives no warning as a thing that cannot be avoided, for they say that wondrous signs and appearances presented themselves. Now, as to lights in the skies and sounds by night moving in various directions and solitary birds descending into the Forum, it is perhaps not worth while recording these with reference to so important an event: but Strabo[600] the Philosopher relates that many men all of fire were seen contending against one another, and that a soldier's slave emitted a great flame from his hand and appeared to the spectators to be burning, but when the flame went out, the man had sustained no harm; and while Caesar himself was sacrificing the heart of the victim could not be found, and this was considered a bad omen, for naturally an animal without a heart cannot exist. The following stories also are told by many; that a certain seer warned him to be on his guard against great danger on that day of the month of March, which the Romans call the Ides;[601] and when the day had arrived, as Caesar was going to the Senate-house, he saluted the seer and jeered him saying, "Well, the Ides of March are come;" but the seer mildly replied, "Yes, they are come, but they are not yet over." The day before, when Marcus Lepidus was entertaining him, he chanced to be signing some letters, according to his habit, while he was reclining at table; and the conversation having turned on what kind of death was the best, before any one could give an opinion he called out, "That which is unexpected!" After this, while he was sleeping, as he was accustomed to do, by the side of his wife, all the doors and windows in the house flew open at once, and being startled by the noise and the brightness of the moon which was shining down upon him, he observed that Calpurnia[602] was in a deep slumber, but was uttering indistinct words and inarticulate groans in the midst of her sleep; and indeed she was dreaming that she held her murdered husband in her arms and was weeping over him. Others say this was not the vision that Calpurnia had, but the following: there was attached to Caesar's house by way of ornament and distinction pursuant to a vote of the Senate an acroterium,[603] as Livius says, and Calpurnia in her dream seeing this tumbling down lamented and wept. When day came accordingly she entreated Caesar, if it were possible, not to go out, and to put off the meeting of the Senate; but if he paid no regard to her dreams, she urged him to inquire by other modes of divination and by sacrifices about the future. Caesar also, as it seems, had some suspicion and fear; for he had never before detected in Calpurnia any womanish superstition, and now he saw that she was much disturbed. And when the seers also after sacrificing many victims reported to him that the omens were unfavourable, he determined to send Antonius to dismiss the Senate.

LXIV. In the mean time Decimus Brutus,[604] surnamed Albinus, who was in such favour with Caesar that he was made in his will his second heir,[605] but was engaged in the conspiracy with the other Brutus and Cassius, being afraid that if Caesar escaped that day, the affair might become known, ridiculed the seers and chided Caesar for giving cause for blame and censure to the Senate who would consider themselves insulted: he said, "That the Senate had met at his bidding and that they were all ready to pass a decree, that he should be proclaimed King of the provinces out of Italy and should wear a diadem whenever he visited the rest of the earth and sea; but if any one shall tell them when they are taking their seats, to be gone now and to come again, when Calpurnia shall have had better dreams, what may we not expect to be said by those who envy you? or who will listen to your friends when they say that this is not slavery and tyranny; but if," he continued, "you are fully resolved to consider the day inauspicious, it is better for you to go yourself and address the Senate and then to adjourn the business." As he said this, Brutus took Caesar by the hand and began to lead him forth: and he had gone but a little way from the door, when a slave belonging to another person, who was eager to get at Caesar but was prevented by the press and numbers about him, rushing into the house delivered himself up to Calpurnia and told her to keep him till Caesar returned, for he had important things to communicate to him.

LXV. Artemidorus,[606] a Knidian by birth, and a professor of Greek philosophy, which had brought him into the familiarity of some of those who belonged to the party of Brutus, so that he knew the greater part of what was going on, came and brought in a small roll the information which he intended to communicate; but observing that Caesar gave each roll as he received it to the attendants about him, he came very near, and said, "This you alone should read, Caesar, and read it soon; for it is about weighty matters which concern you." Accordingly Caesar received the roll, but he was prevented from reading it by the number of people who came in his way, though he made several attempts, and he entered the Senate holding that roll in his hand and retaining that alone among all that had been presented to him. Some say that it was another person who gave him this roll, and that Artemidorus did not even approach him, but was kept from him all the way by the pressure of the crowd.

LXVI. Now these things perchance may be brought about by mere spontaneity; but the spot that was the scene of that murder and struggle, wherein the Senate was then assembled, which contained the statue of Pompeius[607] and was a dedication by Pompeius and one of the ornaments that he added to his theatre, completely proved that it was the work of some daemon to guide and call the execution of the deed to that place. It is said also that Cassius[608] looked towards the statue of Pompeius before the deed was begun and silently invoked it, though he was not averse to the philosophy of Epikurus; but the critical moment for the bold attempt which was now come probably produced in him enthusiasm and feeling in place of his former principles. Now Antonius,[609] who was faithful to Caesar and a robust man, was kept on the outside by Brutus Albinus, who purposely engaged him in a long conversation. When Caesar entered, the Senate rose to do him honour, and some of the party of Brutus stood around his chair at the back, and others presented themselves before him, as if their purpose was to support the prayer of Tillius Cimber[610] on behalf of his exiled brother, and they all joined in entreaty, following Caesar as far as his seat. When he had taken his seat and was rejecting their entreaties, and, as they urged them still more strongly, began to show displeasure towards them individually, Tillius taking hold of his toga with both his hands pulled it downwards from the neck, which was the signal for the attack. Casca[611] was the first to strike him on the neck with his sword, a blow neither mortal nor severe, for as was natural at the beginning of so bold a deed he was confused, and Caesar turning round seized the dagger and held it fast. And it happened that at the same moment he who was struck cried out in the Roman language, "You villain, Casca, what are you doing?" and he who had given the blow cried out to his brother in Greek, "Brother, help." Such being the beginning, those who were not privy to the conspiracy were prevented by consternation and horror at what was going on either from flying or going to aid, and they did not even venture to utter a word. And now each of the conspirators bared his sword, and Caesar, being hemmed in all round, in whatever direction he turned meeting blows and swords aimed against his eyes and face, driven about like a wild beast, was caught in the hands of his enemies; for it was arranged that all of them should take a part in and taste of the deed of blood. Accordingly Brutus[612] also gave him one blow in the groin. It is said by some authorities, that he defended himself against the rest, moving about his body hither and thither and calling out, till he saw that Brutus had drawn his sword, when he pulled his toga over his face and offered no further resistance, having been driven either by chance or by the conspirators to the base on which the statue of Pompeius stood. And the base was drenched with blood, as if Pompeius was directing the vengeance upon his enemy who was stretched beneath his feet and writhing under his many wounds; for he is said to have received three and twenty wounds. Many of the conspirators were wounded by one another, while they were aiming so many blows against one body.

LXVII. After Caesar was killed, though Brutus came forward as if he was going to say something about the deed, the Senators,[613] without waiting to listen, rushed through the door and making their escape filled the people with confusion and indescribable alarm, so that some closed their houses, and others left their tables and places of business, and while some ran to the place to see what had happened, others who had seen it ran away. But Antonius and Lepidus,[614] who were the chief friends of Caesar, stole away and fled for refuge to the houses of other persons. The partizans of Brutus, just as they were, warm from the slaughter, and showing their bare swords, advanced all in a body from the Senate-house to the Capitol, not like men who were flying, but exultant and confident, calling the people to liberty and joined by the nobles who met them. Some even went up to the Capitol with them and mingled with them as if they had participated in the deed, and claimed the credit of it, among whom were Caius Octavius and Lentulus Spinther.[615] But they afterwards paid the penalty of their vanity, for they were put to death by Antonius and the young Caesar, without having enjoyed even the reputation of that for which they lost their lives, for nobody believed that they had a share in the deed. For neither did those who put them to death, punish them for what they did, but for what they wished to do. On the next day Brutus came down and addressed the people, who listened without expressing disapprobation or approbation of what had been done, but they indicated by their deep silence that they pitied Caesar and respected Brutus. The Senate, with the view of making an amnesty and conciliating all parties, decreed that Caesar should be honoured as a god and that not the smallest thing should be disturbed which he had settled while he was in power; and they distributed among the partisans of Brutus provinces and suitable honours, so that all people supposed that affairs were quieted and had been settled in the best way.

LXVIII. But when the will[616] of Caesar was opened and it was discovered that he had given to every Roman a handsome present, and they saw the body, as it was carried through the Forum, disfigured with the wounds, the multitude, no longer kept within the bounds of propriety and order, but heaping about the corpse benches, lattices and tables taken from the Forum, they set fire to it on the spot and burnt it; then taking the flaming pieces of wood they ran to the houses of the conspirators to fire them, and others ran about the city in all directions seeking for the men to seize and tear them in pieces. But none of the conspirators came in their way, and they were all well protected. One Cinna,[617] however, a friend of Caesar, happened, as it is said, to have had a strange dream the night before; for he dreamed that he was invited by Caesar to sup with him, and when he excused himself, he was dragged along by Caesar by the hand, against his will and making resistance the while. Now, when he heard that the body of Caesar was burning in the Forum, he got up and went there out of respect, though he was somewhat alarmed at his dream and had a fever on him. One of the multitude who saw Cinna told his name to another who was inquiring of him, and he again told it to a third, and immediately it spread through the crowd that this man was one of those who had killed Caesar; and indeed there was one of the conspirators who was named Cinna: and taking this man to be him the people forthwith rushed upon him and tore him in pieces on the spot. It was principally through alarm at this that the partisans of Brutus and Cassius after a few days left the city. But what they did and suffered before they died is told in the Life of Brutus.[618] LXIX. At the time of his death Caesar was full fifty-six years old, having survived Pompeius not much more than four years, and of the power and dominion which all through his life he pursued at so great risk and barely got at last, having reaped the fruit in name only, and with the glory of it the odium of the citizens. Yet his great daemon,[619] which accompanied him through life, followed him even when he was dead, the avenger of his murder, through every land and sea hunting and tracking out his murderers till not one of them was left, and pursuing even those who in any way whatever had either put their hand to the deed or been participators in the plot. Among human events the strangest was that which befell Cassius, for after his defeat at Philippi he killed himself with the same dagger that he had employed against Caesar; and among signs from heaven, there was the great comet, which appeared conspicuous for seven nights after Caesar's assassination and then disappeared, and the obscuration of the splendour of the sun. For during all that year the circle of the sun rose pale and without rays, and the warmth that came down from it was weak and feeble, so that the air as it moved was dark and heavy owing to the feebleness of the warmth which penetrated it, and the fruits withered and fell off when they were half ripened and imperfect on account of the coldness of the atmosphere. But chief of all, the phantom that appeared to Brutus showed that Caesar's murder was not pleasing to the gods; and it was after this manner. When Brutus was going to take his army over from Abydus[620] to the other continent, he was lying down by night, as his wont was, in his tent, not asleep, but thinking about the future; for it is said that Brutus of all generals was least given to sleep, and had naturally the power of keeping awake longer than any other person. Thinking that he heard a noise near the door, he looked towards the light of the lamp which was already sinking down, and saw a frightful vision of a man of unusual size and savage countenance. At first he was startled, but observing that the figure neither moved nor spoke, but was standing silent by the bed, he asked him who he was. The phantom replied, "Thy bad daemon, Brutus; and thou shalt see me at Philippi." Upon which Brutus boldly replied, "I shall see;" and the daemon immediately disappeared. In course of time having engaged with Antonius and Caesar at Philippi, in the first battle he was victorious, and after routing that part of the army which was opposed to him he followed up his success and plundered Caesar's camp. As he was preparing to fight the second battle, the same phantom appeared again by night, without speaking to him, but Brutus, who perceived what his fate was, threw himself headlong into the midst of the danger. However he did not fall in the battle, but when the rout took place, he fled to a precipitous spot, and throwing himself with his breast on his bare sword, a friend also, as it is said, giving strength to the blow, he died.[621] FOOTNOTES:

[Footnote 435: It has been remarked by Niebuhr (Lectures on the History of Rome, ii. 33) that the beginning of the Life of Caesar is lost. He says, "Plutarch could not have passed over the ancestors, the father, and the whole family, together with the history of Caesar's youth, &c." But the reasons for this opinion are not conclusive. The same reason would make us consider other lives imperfect, which are also deficient in such matters. Plutarch, after his fashion, gives incidental information about Caesar's youth and his family. I conceive that he purposely avoided a formal beginning; and according to his plan of biography, he was right. Niebuhr also observes that the beginning of the Life of Caesar in Suetonius is imperfect; "a fact well known, but it is only since the year 1812, that we know that the part which is wanting contained a dedication to the praefectus praetorio of the time, a fact which has not yet found its way into any history of Roman Literature." It is an old opinion that the Life of Caesar in Suetonius is imperfect. The fact that the dedication alone is wanting, for so Niebuhr appears to mean, shows that the Life is not incomplete, and there is no reason for thinking that it is.

C. Julius Caesar, the son of C. Julius Caesar and Aurelia, was born on the twelfth of July, B.C. 100, in the sixth consulship of his uncle C. Marius. His father, who had been praetor, died suddenly at Pisa when his son was in his sixteenth year.]

[Footnote 436: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 9, and notes.]

[Footnote 437: Caesar was first betrothed to Cossutia, the daughter of a rich Roman Eques, but he broke off the marriage contract, and married Cornelia, B.C. 83.]

[Footnote 438: A different story is told by Suetonius (Caesar, c. 1), and Velleius Paterculus (ii. 43).]

[Footnote 439: Cornelius Phagita (Suetonius, c. 1, 74.) The words of Sulla are also reported by Suetonius (c. 1).]

[Footnote 440: Nicomedes III. Caesar was sent to him by Thermus to get ships for the siege of Mitylene. Suetonius, a lover of scandal, has preserved a grievous imputation against Caesar, which is connected with this visit to Nicomedes (Caesar, c. 2, 49). Caesar in a speech for the Bithynians (Gellius, v. 13) calls Nicomedes his friend. He felt the reproach keenly, and tried to clear himself (Dion Cassius, 43, c. 20). But it is easier to make such charges than to confute them.

M. Minucius Thermus, Propraetor. Caesar served his first campaign under him at the siege and capture of Mitylene B.C. 80. Caesar gained a civic crown. See the note in Burmaun's edition of Suetonius.]

[Footnote 441: This island was near Miletus. Stephan. Byzant., [Greek: Pharmakoussa].]

[Footnote 442: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 26. Caesar served a short time against the Cilician pirates under P. Servilius Isauricus (Sueton. Caesar, 2) B.C. 77, or perhaps later.]

[Footnote 443: He was now in Bithynia according to Vell. Paterculus (ii. 42). This affair of the pirates happened according to Drumann in B.C. 76. Plutarch places it five years earlier.]

[Footnote 444: Plutarch should probably have called him only Molo. He was a native of Alabanda in Caria. Cicero often mentions his old master, but always by the name of Molo only. He calls the rhetorician, who was the master of Q. Mucius Scaevola, consul B.C. 117. Apollonius, who was also a native of Alabanda.]

[Footnote 445: See c. 54.]

[Footnote 446: See the first chapter of the Life of Lucullus.]

[Footnote 447: Cn. Cornelius Dolabella, consul B.C. 81, afterwards was governor of Macedonia as proconsul, in which office he was charged with maladministration. Cicero (Brutus, c. 71, 92) mentions this trial. Drumann places it in B.C. 77. Cicero (Brutus, c. 72) gives his opinion of the eloquence of Caesar. (Suetonius, Caesar, 4; Vell. Paterculus, ii. 42.)]

[Footnote 448: His name was Caius. He was consul B.C. 63 with Cicero. The trial, which was in B.C. 76, of course related to misconduct prior to that date. The trial was not held in Greece. M. Lucullus was the brother of L. Lucullus, and was Praetor in Rome at the time of the trial.]

[Footnote 449: Some amplification is necessary here in order to preserve Plutarch's metaphor. He was fond of such poetical turns.

Nec poterat quemquam placidi pellacia ponti Subdola pellicere in fraudem ridentibus undis.

Lucretius, v. 1002.]

[Footnote 450: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 48.]

[Footnote 451: The military tribunes, it appears, were now elected by the people, or part of them at least. Comp. Liv. 43, c. 14.]

[Footnote 452: His aunt Julia and his wife Cornelia died during his quaestorship, probably B.C. 68.]

[Footnote 453: The Roman word is Imagines. There is a curious passage about the Roman Imagines in Polybius (vi. 53, ed. Bekker)—"Viginti clarissimarum familiarum imagines antelatae sunt." Tacit. Annal. iii. 76.]

[Footnote 454: The origin of this custom with respect to women is told by Livius (5. c. 50). It was introduced after the capture of the city by the Gauls, as a reward to the women for contributing to the ransom demanded by the enemy.]

[Footnote 455: Antistius Vetus (Vell. Paterculus, ii. 18) was Praetor of the division of Iberia which was called Baetica. His son C. Antistius Veius was Quaestor B.C. 61 under Caesar in Iberia.]

[Footnote 456: She was a daughter of Q. Pompeius Rufus, the son-in-law of Sulla, who lost his life B.C. 88, during the consulship of his father. See the Life of Sulla, c. 6 notes. The daughter who is here mentioned was Julia, Caesar's only child.]

[Footnote 457: This was the road from Rome to Capua, which was begun by the Censor Appius Claudius Caecus B.C. 312, and afterwards continued to Brundisium. It commenced at Rome and ran in nearly a direct line to Terracina across the Pomptine marshes.

The appointment as commissioner (curator) for repairing and making roads was an office of honour, and one that gave a man the opportunity of gaining popular favour.]

[Footnote 458: Caesar was Curule AEdile B.C. 65.]

[Footnote 459: Q. Metellus Pius, Consul B.C. 80. Caesar's competitors were P. Servilius Isauricus, consul B.C. 79, under whom Caesar had fought against the pirates, and Q. Lutatius Catulus, consul B.C. 78, the son of the Catulus whom Marius put to death. Caesar was already a Pontifex, but the acquisition of the post of Pontifex Maximus, which places him at the head of religion, was an object of ambition to him in his present position. The office was for life, it brought him an official residence in the Via Sacra, and increased political influence.]

[Footnote 460: The conspiracy of Catiline happened B.C. 63, when Cicero was consul. See the Life of Cicero, c. 10, &c. Sallustius (Catilina, c. 51, &c.) has given the speeches of Caesar and Cato in the debate upon the fate of the conspirators who had been seized. If we have not the words of Caesar, there is no reason for supposing that we have not the substance of his speech. Whatever might be Caesar's object, his proposal was consistent with law and a fair trial. The execution of the conspirators was a violent and illegal measure.]

[Footnote 461: This circumstance is mentioned by Sallustius (Catilina, 49), apparently as having happened when Caesar was leaving the Senate, after one of the debates previous to that on which it was determined to put the conspirators to death. Sallustius mentions Catulus and C. Piso as the instigators. He also observes that they had tried to prevail on Cicero to criminate Caesar by false testimony. (See Drumann, Tullii, Sec. 40, p. 531.)]