(3) The limits set to a work of this kind will not permit me to describe in detail the battle of Pharsalia, that day of carnage so fatal to the Roman name, when so much blood was shed on either side, the clash of arms between the two heads of the state, the extinction of one of the two luminaries of the Roman world, and the slaughter of so many noble men on Pompey’s side. (4) One detail, however, I cannot refrain from noting. When Gaius Caesar saw that Pompey’s army was defeated he made it his first and foremost concern to send out orders to grant quarter — if I may use the habitual military expression. (5) Ye immortal gods! What a reward did this merciful man afterwards receive for his kindness to Brutus! (6) There is nothing more marvellous about that victory, nothing more magnificent, nothing more glorious, than that our country did not mourn the loss of any citizen save those who had fallen in battle. But his offer of clemency was set at nought by the stubbornness of his opponents, since the victor was more ready to grant life than the vanquished to accept it.
LIII
Pompeius profugiens cum duobus Lentulis consularibus Sextoque filio et Favonio praetorio, quos comites ei fortuna adgregaverat, aliis, ut Parthos, aliis, ut Africam peteret, in qua fidelissimum partium suarum haberet regem Iubam, suadentibus, Aegyptum petere proposuit memor beneficiorum, quae in patrem eius Ptolemaei, qui tum puero quam iuveni propior regnabat Alexandriae, contulerat. Sed quis in adversis beneficiorum servat memoriam? Aut quis ullam calamitosis deberi putat gratiam? Aut quando fortuna non mutat fidem? Missi itaque ab rege, qui venientem Cn. Pompeium (is iam a Mytilenis Corneliam uxorem receptam in navem fugae comitem habere coeperat) consilio Theodoti et Achillae exciperent hortarenturque, ut ex oneraria in eam navem, quae obviam processerat, transcenderet; quod cum fecisset, princeps Romani nominis imperio arbitrioque Aegyptii mancipii, C. Caesare et P. Servilio consulibus, iugulatus est. Hic post tres consulatus et totidem triumphos domitumque terrarum orbem sanctissimi atque praestantissimi viri in id evecti, super quod ascendi non potest, duodesexagesimum annum agentis pridie natalem ipsius vitae fuit exitus, in tantum in illo viro a se discordante fortuna, ut cui modo ad victoriam terra defuerat, deesset ad sepulturam. Quid aliud quam nimium occupatos dixerim, quos in aetate et tanti et paene nostri saeculi viri fefellit quinquennium, cum a C. Atilio et Q. Servilio consulibus tam facilis esset annorum digestio? Quod adieci, non ut arguerem, sed ne arguerer.
[53] (1) Pompey fled with the two Lentuli, both ex-consuls, his own son Sextus, and Favonius, a former praetor, friends whom chance had gathered about him as his companions. Some advised him to take refuge with the Parthians, others in Africa, where he had in King Juba a most loyal partisan; but, remembering the favours which he had conferred upon the father of Ptolemy, who, though still between boyhood and manhood, was now reigning at Alexandria, he decided to repair to Egypt. (2) But, in adversity who remembers past services? Who considers that any gratitude is due to those who have met disaster? When does change of fortune fail to shift allegiance? Envoys were sent by the king at the instance of Theodotus and Achillas to receive Pompey at his arrival — he was now accompanied in his flight by his wife Cornelia, who had been taken on board at Mytilene — and to urge him to change from the merchant ship to the vessel which had come out to meet him. Having accepted the invitation, the first of the citizens of Rome was stabbed to death by the order and dictation of an Egyptian vassal, the year of his death being the consulship of Gaius Caesar and Publius Servilius. (3) So died in his fifty-eighth year, on the very eve of his birthday, that upright and illustrious man, after holding three consulships, celebrating three triumphs, conquering the whole world, and attaining to a pinnacle of fame beyond which it is impossible to rise. Such was the inconsistency of fortune in his case, that he who but a short time before had found no more lands to conquer now found none for his burial.
(4) As regards Pompey’s age, what excuse, other than that of excessive preoccupation, shall I make for those who have made an error of five years in the age of one who was not only a great man but who almost belongs to our century, especially as it is so easy to reckon from the consulship of Caius Atilius and Quintus Servilius? I have added this remark not for the sake of criticizing others, but to avoid criticism of myself.
LIV
Non fuit maior in Caesarem, quam in Pompeium fuerat, regis eorumque, quorum is auctoritaie regebatur, fides. Quippe cum venientem eum temptassent insidüs ac deinde bello lacessere auderent, utrique summorum imperatorum, alteri mortuo, alteri superstiti meritas poenas luere supplicüs. Nusquam erat Pompeius corpore, adhuc ubique vivebat nomine. Quippe ingens partium eius favor bellum excitaverat Africum, quod ciebat rex Iuba et Scipio, vir consularis, ante biennium quam extingueretur Pompeius, lectus ab eo socer, eorumque copias auxerat M. Cato, ingenti cum difficultate itinerum locorumque inopia perductis ad eos legionibus. Qui vir cum summum ei a militibus deferretur imperium, honoratiori parere maluit.
[54] (1) The loyalty of the king, and of those by whose influence he was controlled, was no greater towards Caesar than it had been toward Pompey. For, upon Caesar’s arrival in Egypt, they assailed him with plots and subsequently dared to challenge him in open warfare. By suffering death they paid to both of these great commanders, the living and the dead, a well-deserved atonement.
(2) Pompey the man was no more, but his name still lived everywhere. For the strong support his party had in Africa had stirred up in that country a war in which the moving spirits were King Juba and Scipio, a man of consular rank, (3) whom Pompey had chosen for his father-in‑law two years before his death. Their forces were augmented by Marcus Cato, who, in spite of the great difficulty of the march, and the lack of supplies in the regions traversed, succeeded in conducting his legions to them. Cato, although offered the supreme command by the soldiers, preferred to take orders from Scipio, his superior in rank.
LV
Admonet promissae brevitatis fides, quanto omnia transcursu dicenda sint. Sequens fortunam suam Caesar pervectus in Africam est, quam occiso C. Curione, Iulianarum duce partium, Pompeiani obtinebant exercitus. Ibi primo varia fortuna, mox pugnavit sua, inclinataeque hostiorn copiae: nec dissimilis ibi adversus victos quam in priores clementia Caesaris fuit. Victorem Africani belli Caesarem gravius excepit Hispaniense (nam victus ab eo Pharnaces vix quidquam gloriae eius adstruxit), quod Cn. Pompeius, Magni filius, adulescens impetus ad bella maximi, ingens ac terribile conflaverat, undique ad eum adhuc paterni nominis magnitudinem sequentium ex toto orbe terrarurn auxiliis confluentibus. Sua Caesarem in Hispaniam cornitata fortuna est, sed nullum umquam atrocius periculosiusque ab eo initum proelium, adeo ut plus quam dubio Marte descenderet equo consistensque ante recedentem suorum aciem, increpata prius fortuna, quod se in eum servasset exitum, denuntiaret militibus vestigio se non recessurum: proinde viderent, quem et quo loco imperatorem deserturi forent. Verecundia magis quam virtute acies restituita, et a duce quam a milite fortius. Cn. Pompeius gravis vulnere inventus inter solitudines avias interemptus est; Labienum Varumque acies abstulit.
[55] (1) Fidelity to my promise of brevity reminds me how rapidly I must pass over the details of my narrative. Caesar, following up his success, passed over to Africa, of which the Pompeian armies now held possession since the death of Gaius Curio, the leader there of the Caesarian party. At first his armies were attended by a varying fortune, but later by his usual luck the forces of the enemy were routed. (2) Here again he showed no less clemency toward the vanquished than to those whom he had defeated in the previous war.
Caesar, victorious in Africa, was now confronted by a more serious war in Spain (for the defeat of Pharnaces may be passed over, since it added but little to his renown). This great and formidable war had been stirred up by Gnaeus Pompeius, the son of Pompeius Magnus, a young man of great energy in war, and reinforcements flowed in from all parts of the world from among those who still followed his father’s great name. (3) Caesar’s usual fortune followed him to Spain; but no battle in which he ever engaged was more bitterly fought or more dangerous to his cause. Once, indee
d, when the fight was now more than doubtful, he leapt from his horse, placed himself before his lines, now beginning to give way, and, after upbraiding fortune for saving him for such an end, announced to his soldiers that he would not retreat a step. He asked them to consider who their commander was and in what a pass they were about to desert him. (4) It was shame rather than valour that restored their wavering line, and the commander showed more courage than his men. Gnaeus Pompeius, badly wounded, was discovered on a pathless waste and put to death. Labienus and Varus met their death in battle.
LVI
Caesar omnium victor regressus in urbem, quod humanam excedat fidem, omnibus, qui contra se arma tulerant, ignovit, magnificentissimisque gladiatorii muneris, naumachiae et equitum peditumque, simul elephantorum certaminis spectaculis epulique per multos dies dati celebratione replevit eam. Quinque egit triumphos: Gallici apparatus ex citro, Pontici ex acantho, Alexandrini testudine, Africi ebore, Hispaniensis argento rasili constitit. Pecunia ex manubiis lata paulo amplius sexiens miliens sestertium. Neque illi tanto viro et tam clementer omnibus victorüs suis uso plus quinque mensium principalis quies contigit. Quippe cum mense Octobri in urbem revertisset, idibus Martiis, coniurationis auctoribus Bruto et Cassio, quorum alterum promittendo consulatum non obligaverat, contra differendo Cassium offenderat, adiectis etiam consiliarüs caedis familiarissimis omnium et fortuna partium eius in summum evectis fastigium, D. Bruto et C. Trebonio aliisque clari nominis viris, interemptus est. Cui magnam invidiam conciliarat M. Antonius, omnibus audendis paratissimus, consulatus collega, inponendo capiti eius Lupercalibus sedentis pro rostris insigne regium, quod ad eo ita repulsum erat, ut non offensus videretur.
[56] (1) Caesar, victorious over all his enemies, returned to the city, and pardoned all who had borne arms against him, an act of generosity almost passing belief. He entertained the city to repletion with the magnificent spectacle of a gladiatorial show, a sham battle of ships, mock battles of cavalry, infantry, and even mounted elephants, and the celebration of a public banquet which was continued through several days. (2) He celebrated five triumphs. The emblems in his Gallic triumph were of citrus wood; in his Pontic of acanthus; in his Alexandrian triumph of tortoise-shell, in his African of ivory, and in his Spanish of polished silver. The money borne in his triumphs, realized from the sale of spoils, amounted to a little more than six hundred million sesterces.
(3) But it was the lot of this great man, who behaved with such clemency in all his victories, that his peaceful enjoyment of supreme power should last but five months. For, returning to the city in October, he was slain on the ides of March. Brutus and Cassius were the leaders of the conspiracy. He had failed to win the former by the promise of the consulship, and had offended the latter by the postponement of his candidacy. There were also in the plot to compass his death some of the most intimate of all his friends, who owed their elevation to the success of his party, namely Decimus Brutus, Gaius Trebonius, and others of illustrious name. (4) Marcus Antonius, his colleague in the consulship, ever ready for acts of daring, had brought great odium upon Caesar by placing a royal crown upon his head as he sat on the •rostra at the •Lupercalia. Caesar put the crown from him, but in such a way that he did not seem to be displeased.
LVII
Laudandum experientia consilium est Pansae atque Hirtii, qui semper praedixerant Caesari ut principatum armis quaesitum armis teneret. Ille dictitans mori se quam timere malle dum clementiam, quam praestiterat, expectat, incautus ab ingratis occupatus est, cum quidem plurima ei praesagia atque indicia dii immortales futuri obtulissent periculi. Nam et haruspices praemonuerant, ut diligentissime iduum Martiarum caveret diem, et uxor Calpurnia territa nocturno visu, ut ea die domi subsisteret, orabat, et libelli coniurationem nuntiantes dati neque protinus ab eo lecti erant. Sed profecto ineluctabilis fatorum vis, cuiuscumque fortunam mutare constituit, consilia corrumpit.
[57] (1) In the light of experience due credit should be given to the counsel of Pansa and Hirtius, who had always warned Caesar that he must hold by arms the position which he had won by arms. But Caesar kept reiterating that he would rather die than live in fear, and while he looked for a return for the clemency he had shown, he was taken off his guard by men devoid of gratitude, (2) although the gods gave many signs and presages of the threatened danger. For the soothsayers had warned him beforehand carefully to beware the Ides of March; his wife Calpurnia, terrified by a dream, kept begging him to remain at home on that day; and notes warning him of the conspiracy were handed him, but he neglected to read them at the time. But verily the power of destiny is inevitable; (3) it confounds the judgement of him whose fortune it has determined to reverse.
LVIII
Quo anno id patravere facinus Brutus et Cassius praetores erant, D. Brutus consul designatus. Hi una cum coniurationis globo, stipati gladiatorum D. Bruti manu, Capitolium occupavere. Tum consul Antonius (quem cum simul interimendum censuisset Cassius testamentumque Caesaris abolendum, Brutus repugnaverat dictitans nihil amplius civibus praeter tyranni - ita enim appellari Caesarem facto eius expediebat - petendum esse sanguinem) convocato senatu, cum iam Dolabella, quem substituturus sibi Caesar designaverat consulem, fasces atque insignia corripuisset consulis, velut pacis auctor liberos suos obsides in Capitolium misit fidemque descendendi tuto interfectoribus Caesaris dedit. Et illud decreti Atheniensium celeberrimi exemplum, relatum a Cicerone, oblivionis praeteritarum rerum decreto patrum comprobatum est.
[58] (1) Brutus and Cassius were praetors, and Decimus Brutus was consul designate in the year in which they perpetrated this deed. (2) These three, with the remainder of the group of conspirators, escorted by a band of gladiators belonging to Decimus Brutus, seized the capitol. Thereupon Antonius, as consul, summoned the senate. Cassius had been in favour of slaying Antony as well as Caesar, and of destroying Caesar’s will, but Brutus had opposed him, insisting that citizens ought not to seek the blood of any but the “tyrant” — for to call Caesar “tyrant” placed his deed in a better light. (3) Dolabella, whom Caesar had named for the consulship, with the intention of putting him in his own place, had already seized the fasces and the insignia of that office. Having summoned the senate, Antonius, acting as the guarantor of peace, sent his own sons to the capitol as hostages and thus gave his assurance to the slayers of Caesar that they might come down in safety. (4) On the motion of Cicero the famous precedent of the Athenians granting amnesty for past acts was approved by decree of the senate.
LIX
Caesaris deinde testamentum apertum est, quo C. Octavium, nepotem sororis suae Iuliae, adoptabat. De cuius origine, etiam si premit iter, pauca dicenda sunt. Fuit C. Octavius ut non patricia, ita admodum speciosa equestri genitus familia, gravis, sanctus, innocens, dives. Hic praetor inter nobilissimos viros creatus primo loco, cum ei dignatio Iulia genitam Atiam conciliasset uxorem, ex eo honore sortitus Macedoniam appellatusque in ea imperator, decedens ad petitionem consulatus obiit praetextato relicto filio. Quem C. Caesar, maior eius avunculus, educatum apud Philippum vitricum dilexit ut suum, natumque annos duodeviginti Hispaniensis militiae adsecutum se postea comitem habuit, numquam aut alio usum hospitio quam suo aut alio vectum vehiculo, pontificatusque sacerdotio puerum honoravit. Et patratis bellis civilibus ad erudiendam liberalibus disciplinis singularis indolem iuvenis Apolloniam eum in studia miserat, mox belli Getici ac deinde Parthici habiturus commilitonem. Cui ut est nuntiatum de caede avunculi, cum protinus ex vicinis legionibus centuriones suam suorumque militum operam ei pollicerentur neque eam spernendam Salvidienus et Agrippa dicerent, ille festinans pervenire in urbem omnem ordinem ac rationem et necis et testamenti Brundusii comperit. Cui adventanti Romam inmanis amicorum occurrit frequentia, et cum intraret urbem, solis orbis super caput eius curvatus aequaliter rotundatusque in colorem arcus velut coronam tanti mox viri capiti imponens conspectus est.
[59] (1) Caesar’s will was then opened, by which he adopted Gaius Octavius, the grandson of his sister Julia. Of the origin of Octavius I must now say a few words, even if
the account comes before its proper place. Gaius Octavius, his father, though not of patrician birth, (2) was descended from a very prominent equestrian family, and was himself a man of dignity, of upright and blameless life, and of great wealth. Chosen praetor at the head of the poll among a list of candidates of noble birth, this distinction won for him a marriage alliance with Atia, a daughter of Julia. After he had filled the office of praetor, the province of Macedonia fell to his lot, where he was honoured with the title of imperator. He was returning thence to sue for the consulship when he died on the way, leaving a son still in his early teens. (3) Though he had been reared in the house of his stepfather, Philippus, Gaius Caesar, his great-uncle, loved this boy as his own son. At the age of eighteen Octavius followed Caesar to Spain in his campaign there, and Caesar kept him with him thereafter as his companion, allowing him to share the same roof and ride in the same carriage, and though he was still a boy, honoured him with the pontificate. (4) When the civil war was over, with a view to training his remarkable talents by liberal studies, he sent him to Apollonia to study, with the intention of taking him with him as his companion in his contemplated wars with the Getae and the Parthians. (5) At the first announcement of his uncle’s death, although the centurions of the neighbouring legions at once proffered their own services and those of their men, and Salvidienus and Agrippa advised him to accept the offer, he made such haste to arrive in the city that he was already at Brundisium when he learned the details of the assassination and the terms of his uncle’s will. (6) As he approached Rome an enormous crowd of his friends went out to meet him, and at the moment of his entering the city, men saw above his head the orb of the sun with a circle about it, coloured like the rainbow, seeming thereby to place a crown upon the head of one destined soon to greatness.
Complete Works of Velleius Paterculus Page 52