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| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:37:35 -0700 |
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| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 04:37:35 -0700 |
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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/11688-0.txt b/11688-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c28a556 --- /dev/null +++ b/11688-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5634 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11688 *** + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11688-h.htm or 11688-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/6/8/11688/11688-h/11688-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/6/8/11688/11688-h.zip) + + + + + +HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR + +BY + +JACOB ABBOTT + +WITH ENGRAVINGS + +1904 + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR.] + + +[Illustration] + + + + +PREFACE + + +It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, +distinct, and connected narrative of the lives of those great personages +who have in various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as +leaders among mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public +affairs of great nations, have exerted the widest influence on the +history of the human race. The end which the author has had in view is +twofold: first, to communicate such information in respect to the +subjects of his narratives as is important for the general reader to +possess; and, secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events +described and the characters delineated as they may legitimately teach +to the people of the present age. Though written in a direct and simple +style, they are intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some +considerable degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully +appreciate the character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all +that is described in these volumes does, in close combination with the +conduct and policy of governments, and the great events of +international history. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Chapter + + I. MARIUS AND SYLLA. + II. CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS. + III. ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP. + IV. THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. + V. POMPEY. + VI. CROSSING THE RUBICON. + VII. THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. +VIII. FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY. + IX. CAESAR IN EGYPT. + X. CAESAR IMPERATOR. + XI. THE CONSPIRACY. + XII. THE ASSASSINATION. + + + +ENGRAVINGS. + +THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR. +MAP OF ROME. +ROMAN PLEBEIANS. +A ROMAN FORUM. +THE LANDING IN ENGLAND. +CROSSING THE RUBICON. +ROMAN STANDARD-BEARERS. +DEATH OF POMPEY. +POMPEY'S PILLAR. +CLEOPATRA'S BARGE. +THE ELEPHANTS MADE TORCH-BEARERS. +POMPEY'S STATUE. +BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT ROME.] + + + +JULIUS CAESAR. + +CHAPTER I. + +MARIUS AND SYLLA. + +[Sidenote: Three great European nations of antiquity.] + +There were three great European nations in ancient days, each of which +furnished history with a hero: the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and +the Romans. + +[Sidenote: Alexander.] + +Alexander was the hero of the Greeks. He was King of Macedon, a country +lying north of Greece proper. He headed an army of his countrymen, and +made an excursion for conquest and glory into Asia. He made himself +master of all that quarter of the globe, and reigned over it in Babylon, +till he brought himself to an early grave by the excesses into which his +boundless prosperity allured him. His fame rests on his triumphant +success in building up for himself so vast an empire, and the admiration +which his career has always excited among mankind is heightened by the +consideration of his youth, and of the noble and generous impulses +which strongly marked his character. + +[Sidenote: Hannibal.] +[Sidenote: His terrible energy.] + +The Carthaginian hero was Hannibal. We class the Carthaginians among the +European nations of antiquity; for, in respect to their origin, their +civilization, and all their commercial and political relations, they +belonged to the European race, though it is true that their capital was +on the African side of the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal was the great +Carthaginian hero. He earned his fame by the energy and implacableness +of his hate. The work of his life was to keep a vast empire in a state +of continual anxiety and terror for fifty years, so that his claim to +greatness and glory rests on the determination, the perseverance, and +the success with which he fulfilled his function of being, while he +lived, the terror of the world. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar.] + +The Roman hero was Caesar. He was born just one hundred years before the +Christian era. His renown does not depend, like that of Alexander, on +foreign conquests, nor, like that of Hannibal, on the terrible energy of +his aggressions upon foreign foes, but upon his protracted and dreadful +contests with, and ultimate triumphs over, his rivals and competitors at +home. When he appeared upon the stage, the Roman empire already +included nearly all of the world that was worth possessing. There were +no more conquests to be made. Caesar did, indeed, enlarge, in some +degree, the boundaries of the empire; but the main question in his day +was, who should possess the power which preceding conquerors +had acquired. + +[Sidenote: The ancient Roman empire.] +[Sidenote: The provinces.] + +The Roman empire, as it existed in those days, must not be conceived of +by the reader as united together under one compact and consolidated +government. It was, on the other hand, a vast congeries of nations, +widely dissimilar in every respect from each other, speaking various +languages, and having various customs and laws. They were all, however, +more or less dependent upon, and connected with, the great central +power. Some of these countries were provinces, and were governed by +officers appointed and sent out by the authorities at Rome. These +governors had to collect the taxes of their provinces, and also to +preside over and direct, in many important respects, the administration +of justice. They had, accordingly, abundant opportunities to enrich +themselves while thus in office, by collecting more money than they paid +over to the government at home, and by taking bribes to favor the rich +man's cause in court. Thus the more wealthy and prosperous provinces +were objects of great competition among aspirants for office at Rome. +Leading men would get these appointments, and, after remaining long +enough in their provinces to acquire a fortune, would come back to Rome, +and expend it in intrigues and maneuvers to obtain higher offices still. + +[Sidenote: Foreign wars.] +[Sidenote: The victorious general.] + +Whenever there was any foreign war to be carried on with a distant +nation or tribe, there was always a great eagerness among all the +military officers of the state to be appointed to the command. They each +felt sure that they should conquer in the contest, and they could enrich +themselves still more rapidly by the spoils of victory in war, than by +extortion and bribes in the government of a province in peace. Then, +besides, a victorious general coming back to Rome always found that his +military renown added vastly to his influence and power in the city. He +was welcomed with celebrations and triumphs; the people flocked to see +him and to shout his praise. He placed his trophies of victory in the +temples, and entertained the populace with games and shows, and with +combats of gladiators or of wild beasts, which he had brought home with +him for this purpose in the train of his army. While he was thus +enjoying his triumph, his political enemies would be thrown into the +back ground and into the shade; unless, indeed, some one of them might +himself be earning the same honors in some other field, to come back in +due time, and claim his share of power and celebrity in his turn. In +this case, Rome would be sometimes distracted and rent by the conflicts +and contentions of military rivals, who had acquired powers too vast for +all the civil influences of the Republic to regulate or control. + +[Illustration: ROMAN PLEBEIANS.] + +[Sidenote: Military rivals.] +[Sidenote: Marius and Sylla.] +[Sidenote: The patricians and plebeians.] +[Sidenote: Civil contests.] +[Sidenote: Quarrel about the command of the army.] +[Sidenote: Sylla's violence.] + +There had been two such rivals just before the time of Caesar, who had +filled the world with their quarrels. They were Marius and Sylla. Their +very names have been, in all ages of the world, since their day, the +symbols of rivalry and hate. They were the representatives respectively +of the two great parties into which the Roman state, like every other +community in which the population at large have any voice in governing, +always has been, and probably always will be divided, the upper and the +lower; or, as they were called in those days, the patrician and the +plebeian. Sylla was the patrician; the higher and more aristocratic +portions of the community were on his side. Marius was the favorite of +the plebeian masses. In the contests, however, which they waged with +each other, they did not trust to the mere influence of votes. They +relied much more upon the soldiers they could gather under their +respective standards and upon their power of intimidating, by means of +them, the Roman assemblies. There was a war to be waged with +Mithridates, a very powerful Asiatic monarch, which promised great +opportunities for acquiring fame and plunder. Sylla was appointed to the +command. While he was absent, however, upon some campaign in Italy, +Marius contrived to have the decision reversed, and the command +transferred to him Two officers, called tribunes, were sent to Sylla's +camp to inform him of the change. Sylla killed the officers for daring +to bring him such a message, and began immediately to march toward Rome. +In retaliation for the murder of the tribunes, the party of Marius in +the city killed some of Sylla's prominent friends there, and a general +alarm spread itself throughout the population. The Senate, which was a +sort of House of Lords, embodying mainly the power and influence of the +patrician party, and was, of course, on Sylla's side, sent out to him, +when he had arrived within a few miles of the city, urging him to come +no further. He pretended to comply; he marked out the ground for a camp; +but he did not, on that account, materially delay his march. The next +morning he was in possession of the city. The friends of Marius +attempted to resist him, by throwing stones upon his troops from the +roofs of the houses. Sylla ordered every house from which these +symptoms of resistance appeared to be set on fire. Thus the whole +population of a vast and wealthy city were thrown into a condition of +extreme danger and terror, by the conflicts of two great bands of armed +men, each claiming to be their friends. + +[Sidenote: Defeat of Marius.] + +Marius was conquered in this struggle, and fled for his life. Many of +the friends whom he left behind him were killed. The Senate were +assembled, and, at Sylla's orders, a decree was passed declaring Marius +a public enemy, and offering a reward to any one who would bring his +head back to Rome. + +[Sidenote: His flight.] + +Marius fled, friendless and alone, to the southward, hunted every where +by men who were eager to get the reward offered for his head. After +various romantic adventures and narrow escapes, he succeeded in making +his way across the Mediterranean Sea, and found at last a refuge in a +hut among the ruins of Carthage. He was an old man, being now over +seventy years of age. + +[Sidenote: Return of Marius.] +[Sidenote: He marches against Rome.] + +Of course, Sylla thought that his great rival and enemy was now finally +disposed of, and he accordingly began to make preparations for his +Asiatic campaign. He raised his army, built and equipped a fleet, and +went away. As soon as he was gone, Marius's friends in the city began to +come forth, and to take measures for reinstating themselves in power. +Marius returned, too, from Africa, and soon gathered about him a large +army. Being the friend, as he pretended, of the lower classes of +society, he collected vast multitudes of revolted slaves, outlaws, and +other desperadoes, and advanced toward Rome. He assumed, himself, the +dress, and air, and savage demeanor of his followers. His countenance +had been rendered haggard and cadaverous partly by the influence of +exposures, hardships, and suffering upon his advanced age, and partly by +the stern and moody plans and determinations of revenge which his mind +was perpetually revolving. He listened to the deputations which the +Roman Senate sent out to him from time to time, as he advanced toward +the city, but refused to make any terms. He moved forward with all the +outward deliberation and calmness suitable to his years, while all the +ferocity of a tiger was burning within. + +[Sidenote: Executions by order of Marius.] + +As soon as he had gained possession of the city, he began his work of +destruction. He first beheaded one of the consuls, and ordered his head +to be set up, as a public spectacle, in the most conspicuous place in +the city. This was the beginning. All the prominent friends of Sylla, +men of the highest rank and station, were then killed, wherever they +could be found, without sentence, without trial, without any other +accusation, even, than the military decision of Marius that they were +his enemies, and must die. For those against whom he felt any special +animosity, he contrived some special mode of execution. One, whose fate +he wished particularly to signalize, was thrown down from the +Tarpeian Rock. + +[Sidenote: The Tarpeian Rock.] + +The Tarpeian Rock was a precipice about fifty feet high, which is still +to be seen in Rome, from which the worst of state criminals were +sometimes thrown. They were taken up to the top by a stair, and were +then hurled from the summit, to die miserably, writhing in agony after +their fall, upon the rocks below. + +[Sidenote: The story of Tarpeia.] +[Sidenote: Subterranean passages.] + +The Tarpeian Rock received its name from the ancient story of Tarpeia. +The tale is, that Tarpeia was a Roman girl, who lived at a time in the +earliest periods of the Roman history, when the city was besieged by an +army from are of the neighboring nations. Besides their shields, the +story is that the soldiers had golden bracelets upon their arms. They +wished Tarpeia to open the gates and let them in. She promised to do so +if they would give her their bracelets; but, as she did not know the +name of the shining ornaments, the language she used to designate them +was, "Those things you have upon your arms." The soldiers acceded to her +terms; she opened the gates, and they, instead of giving her the +bracelets, threw their _shields_ upon her as they passed, until the poor +girl was crushed down with them and destroyed. This was near the +Tarpeian Rock, which afterward took her name. The rock is now found to +be perforated by a great many subterranean passages, the remains, +probably, of ancient quarries. Some of these galleries are now walled +up; others are open; and the people who live around the spot believe, it +is said, to this day, that Tarpeia herself sits, enchanted, far in the +interior of these caverns, covered with gold and jewels, but that +whoever attempts to find her is fated by an irresistible destiny to lose +his way, and he never returns. The last story is probably as true as +the other. + +[Sidenote: Escape of Sylla's wife.] + +Marius continued his executions and massacres until the whole of Sylla's +party had been slain or put to flight. He made every effort to discover +Sylla's wife and child, with a view to destroying them also, but they +could not be found. Some friends of Sylla, taking compassion on their +innocence and helplessness, concealed them, and thus saved Marius from +the commission of one intended crime. Marius was disappointed, too, in +some other cases, where men whom he had intended to kill destroyed +themselves to baffle his vengeance. One shut himself up in a room with +burning charcoal, and was suffocated with the fumes. Another bled +himself to death upon a public altar, calling down the judgments of the +god to whom he offered this dreadful sacrifice, upon the head of the +tyrant whose atrocious cruelty he was thus attempting to evade. + +[Sidenote: Illness of Marius.] +[Sidenote: Sylla outlawed.] + +By the time that Marius had got fairly established in his new position, +and was completely master of Rome, and the city had begun to recover a +little from the shock and consternation produced by his executions, he +fell sick. He was attacked with an acute disease of great violence. The +attack was perhaps produced, and was certainly aggravated by, the great +mental excitements through which he had passed during his exile, and in +the entire change of fortune which had attended his return. From being +a wretched fugitive, hiding for his life among gloomy and desolate +ruins, he found himself suddenly transferred to the mastery of the +world. His mind was excited, too, in respect to Sylla, whom he had not +yet reached or subdued, but who was still prosecuting his war against +Mithridates. Marius had had him pronounced by the Senate an enemy to his +country, and was meditating plans to reach him in his distant province, +considering his triumph incomplete as long as his great rival was at +liberty and alive. The sickness cut short these plans, but it only +inflamed to double violence the excitement and the agitations which +attended them. + +[Sidenote: Marius delirious.] +[Sidenote: Death of Marius.] + +As the dying tyrant tossed restlessly upon his bed, it was plain that +the delirious ravings which he began soon to utter were excited by the +same sentiments of insatiable ambition and ferocious hate whose calmer +dictates he had obeyed when well. He imagined that he had succeeded in +supplanting Sylla in his command, and that he was himself in Asia at the +head of his armies. Impressed with this idea, he stared wildly around; +he called aloud the name of Mithridates; he shouted orders to imaginary +troops; he struggled to break away from the restraints which the +attendants about his bedside imposed, to attack the phantom foes which +haunted him in his dreams. This continued for several days, and when at +last nature was exhausted by the violence of these paroxysms of phrensy, +the vital powers which had been for seventy long years spending their +strength in deeds of selfishness, cruelty, and hatred, found their work +done, and sunk to revive no more. + +[Sidenote: Return of Sylla.] +[Sidenote: Marius's son.] +[Sidenote: Proscriptions and massacres of Sylla.] + +Marius left a son, of the same name with himself, who attempted to +retain his father's power; but Sylla, having brought his war with +Mithridates to a conclusion, was now on his return from Asia, and it was +very evident that a terrible conflict was about to ensue. Sylla advanced +triumphantly through the country, while Marius the younger and his +partisans concentrated their forces about the city, and prepared for +defense. The people of the city were divided, the aristocratic faction +adhering to the cause of Sylla, while the democratic influences sided +with Marius. Political parties rise and fall, in almost all ages of the +world, in alternate fluctuations, like those of the tides. The faction +of Marius had been for some time in the ascendency, and it was now its +turn to fall. Sylla found, therefore, as he advanced, every thing +favorable to the restoration of his own party to power. He destroyed the +armies which came out to oppose him. He shut up the young Marius in a +city not far from Rome, where he had endeavored to find shelter and +protection, and then advanced himself and took possession of the city. +There he caused to be enacted again the horrid scenes of massacre and +murder which Marius had perpetrated before, going, however, as much +beyond the example which he followed as men usually do in the commission +of crime. He gave out lists of the names of men whom he wished to have +destroyed, and these unhappy victims of his revenge were to be hunted +out by bands of reckless soldiers, in their dwellings, or in the places +of public resort in the city, and dispatched by the sword wherever they +could be found. The scenes which these deeds created in a vast and +populous city can scarcely be conceived of by those who have never +witnessed the horrors produced by the massacres of civil war. Sylla +himself went through with this work in the most cool and unconcerned +manner, as if he were performing the most ordinary duties of an officer +of state. He called the Senate together one day, and, while he was +addressing them, the attention of the Assembly was suddenly distracted +by the noise of outcries and screams in the neighboring streets from +those who were suffering military execution there. The senators started +with horror at the sound. Sylla, with an air of great composure and +unconcern, directed the members to listen to him, and to pay no +attention to what was passing elsewhere. The sounds that they heard +were, he said, only some correction which was bestowed by his orders on +certain disturbers of the public peace. + +[Sidenote: Executions.] +[Sidenote: Extent of Sylla's proscriptions.] +[Sidenote: Man's nature.] + +Sylla's orders for the execution of those who had taken an active part +against him were not confined to Rome. They went to the neighboring +cities and to distant provinces, carrying terror and distress every +where. Still, dreadful as these evils were, it is possible for us, in +the conceptions which we form, to overrate the extent of them. In +reading the history of the Roman empire during the civil wars of Marius +and Sylla, one might easily imagine that the whole population of the +country was organized into the two contending armies, and were employed +wholly in the work of fighting with and massacring each other. But +nothing like this can be true. It is obviously but a small part, after +all, of an extended community that can be ever actively and personally +engaged in these deeds of violence and blood. Man is not naturally a +ferocious wild beast. On the contrary, he loves, ordinarily, to live in +peace and quietness, to till his lands and tend his flocks, and to enjoy +the blessings of peace and repose. It is comparatively but a small +number in any age of the world, and in any nation, whose passions of +ambition, hatred, or revenge become so strong as that they love +bloodshed and war. But these few, when they once get weapons into their +hands, trample recklessly and mercilessly upon the rest. One ferocious +human tiger, with a spear or a bayonet to brandish, will tyrannize as he +pleases over a hundred quiet men, who are armed only with shepherds' +crooks, and whose only desire is to live in peace with their wives and +their children. + +[Sidenote: Husbandmen.] +[Sidenote: How the Roman edifices were built.] +[Sidenote: Standing armies.] + +Thus, while Marius and Sylla, with some hundred thousand armed and +reckless followers, were carrying terror and dismay wherever they went, +there were many millions of herdsmen and husbandmen in the Roman world +who were dwelling in all the peace and quietness they could command, +improving with their peaceful industry every acre where corn would ripen +or grass grow. It was by taxing and plundering the proceeds of this +industry that the generals and soldiers, the consuls and praetors, and +proconsuls and propraetors, filled their treasuries, and fed their +troops, and paid the artisans for fabricating their arms. With these +avails they built the magnificent edifices of Rome, and adorned its +environs with sumptuous villas. As they had the power and the arms in +their hands, the peaceful and the industrious had no alternative but to +submit. They went on as well as they could with their labors, bearing +patiently every interruption, returning again to till their fields after +the desolating march of the army had passed away, and repairing the +injuries of violence, and the losses sustained by plunder, without +useless repining. They looked upon an armed government as a necessary +and inevitable affliction of humanity, and submitted to its destructive +violence as they would submit to an earthquake or a pestilence. The +tillers of the soil manage better in this country at the present day. +They have the power in their own hands, and they watch very narrowly to +prevent the organization of such hordes of armed desperadoes as have +held the peaceful inhabitants of Europe in terror from the earliest +periods down to the present day. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Sylla's animosity against him.] +[Sidenote: Caesar refuses to repudiate his wife.] +[Sidenote: His flight.] + +When Sylla returned to Rome, and took possession of the supreme power +there, in looking over the lists of public men, there was one whom he +did not know, at first what to do with. It was the young Julius Caesar, +the subject of this history. Caesar was, by birth, patrician, having +descended from a long line of noble ancestors. There had been, before +his day, a great many Caesars who had held the highest offices of the +state, and many of them had been celebrated in history. He naturally, +therefore, belonged to Sylla's side, as Sylla was the representative of +the patrician interest. But then Caesar had personally been inclined +toward the party of Marius. The elder Marius had married his aunt, and, +besides, Caesar himself had married the daughter of Cinna, who had been +the most efficient and powerful of Marius's coadjutors and friends. +Caesar was at this time a very young man, and he was of an ardent and +reckless character, though he had, thus far, taken no active part in +public affairs. Sylla overlooked him for a time, but at length was about +to put his name on the list of the proscribed. Some of the nobles, who +were friends both of Sylla and of Caesar too, interceded for the young +man; Sylla yielded to their request, or, rather, suspended his +decision, and sent orders to Caesar to repudiate his wife, the daughter +of Cinna. Her name was Cornelia. Caesar absolutely refused to repudiate +his wife. He was influenced in this decision partly by affection for +Cornelia, and partly by a sort of stern and indomitable +insubmissiveness, which formed, from his earliest years, a prominent +trait in his character, and which led him, during all his life, to brave +every possible danger rather than allow himself to be controlled. Caesar +knew very well that, when this his refusal should be reported to Sylla, +the next order would be for his destruction. He accordingly fled. Sylla +deprived him of his titles and offices, confiscated his wife's fortune +and his own patrimonial estate, and put his name upon the list of the +public enemies. Thus Caesar became a fugitive and an exile. The +adventures which befell him in his wanderings will be described in the +following chapter. + +[Sidenote: Sylla made dictator.] +[Sidenote: He resigns his power.] + +Sylla was now in the possession of absolute power. He was master of +Rome, and of all the countries over which Rome held sway. Still he was +nominally not a magistrate, but only a general returning victoriously +from his Asiatic campaign, and putting to death, somewhat irregularly, +it is true, by a sort of martial law persons whom he found, as he said, +disturbing the public peace. After having thus effectually disposed of +the power of his enemies, he laid aside, ostensibly, the government of +the sword, and submitted himself and his future measures to the control +of law. He placed himself ostensibly at the disposition of the city. +They chose him dictator, which was investing him with absolute and +unlimited power. He remained on this, the highest pinnacle of worldly +ambition, a short time, and then resigned his power, and devoted the +remainder of his days to literary pursuits and pleasures. Monster as he +was in the cruelties which he inflicted upon his political foes, he was +intellectually of a refined and cultivated mind, and felt an ardent +interest in the promotion of literature and the arts. + +[Sidenote: Opinion of mankind in regard to Marius and Sylla.] + +The quarrel between Marius and Sylla, in respect to every thing which +can make such a contest great, stands in the estimation of mankind as +the greatest personal quarrel which the history of the world has ever +recorded. Its origin was in the simple personal rivalry of two ambitious +men. It involved, in its consequences, the peace and happiness of the +world. In their reckless struggles, the fierce combatants trampled on +every thing that came in their way, and destroyed mercilessly, each in +his turn, all that opposed them. Mankind have always execrated their +crimes, but have never ceased to admire the frightful and almost +superhuman energy with which they committed them. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's resolution.] + +Caesar does not seem to have been much disheartened and depressed by his +misfortunes. He possessed in his early life more than the usual share of +buoyancy and light-heartedness of youth, and he went away from Rome to +enter, perhaps, upon years of exile and wandering, with a determination +to face boldly and to brave the evils and dangers which surrounded him, +and not to succumb to them. + +[Sidenote: His person and character.] + +Sometimes they who become great in their maturer years are thoughtful, +grave, and sedate when young. It was not so, however, with Caesar. He +was of a very gay and lively disposition. He was tall and handsome in +his person, fascinating in his manners, and fond of society, as people +always are who know or who suppose that they shine in it. He had seemed, +in a word, during his residence at Rome, wholly intent upon the +pleasures of a gay and joyous life, and upon the personal observation +which his rank, his wealth, his agreeable manners and his position in +society secured for him. In fact, they who observed and studied his +character in these early years, thought that, although his situation was +very favorable for acquiring power and renown, he would never feel any +strong degree of ambition to avail himself of its advantages. He was too +much interested, they thought, in personal pleasures ever to become +great, either as a military commander or a statesman. + +[Sidenote: Sylla's estimation of Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's friends intercede for him.] + +Sylla, however, thought differently. He had penetration enough to +perceive, beneath all the gayety and love of pleasure which +characterized Caesar's youthful life, the germs of a sterner and more +aspiring spirit, which, he was very sorry to see, was likely to expend +its future energies in hostility to him. By refusing to submit to +Sylla's commands, Caesar had, in effect, thrown himself entirely upon +the other party, and would be, of course, in future identified with +them. Sylla consequently looked upon him now as a confirmed and settled +enemy. Some friends of Caesar among the patrician families interceded in +his behalf with Sylla again, after he had fled from Rome. They wished +Sylla to pardon him, saying that he was a mere boy and could do him no +harm. Sylla shook his head, saying that, young as he was, he saw in him +indications of a future power which he thought was more to be dreaded +than that of many Mariuses. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's studies.] +[Sidenote: His ambition to be an orator.] + +One reason which led Sylla to form this opinion of Caesar was, that the +young nobleman, with all his love of gayety and pleasure, had not +neglected his studies, but had taken great pains to perfect himself in +such intellectual pursuits as ambitious men who looked forward to +political influence and ascendency were accustomed to prosecute in those +days He had studied the Greek language, and read the works of Greek +historians; and he attended lectures on philosophy and rhetoric, and was +obviously interested deeply in acquiring power as a public speaker. To +write and speak well gave a public man great influence in those days. +Many of the measures of the government were determined by the action of +great assemblies of the free citizens, which action was itself, in a +great measure, controlled by the harangues of orators who had such +powers of voice and such qualities of mind as enabled them to gain the +attention and sway the opinions of large bodies of men. + +[Sidenote: The Forum.] +[Sidenote: Its porticoes and statues.] +[Sidenote: Attractions of the Forum.] + +It most not be supposed, however, that this popular power was shared by +all the inhabitants of the city. At one time, when the population of the +city was about three millions the number of free citizens was only three +hundred thousand. The rest were laborers, artisans, and slaves, who had +no voice in public affairs. The free citizens held very frequent public +assemblies. There were various squares and open spaces in the city where +such assemblies were convened, and where courts of justice were held. +The Roman name for such a square was _forum_. There was one which was +distinguished above all the rest, and was called emphatically The Forum. +It was a magnificent square, surrounded by splendid edifices, and +ornamented by sculptures and statues without number. There were ranges +of porticoes along the sides, where the people were sheltered from the +weather when necessary, though it is seldom that there is any necessity +for shelter under an Italian sky. In this area and under these porticoes +the people held their assemblies, and here courts of justice were +accustomed to sit. The Forum was ornamented continually with new +monuments, temples, statues, and columns by successful generals +returning in triumph from foreign campaigns, and by proconsuls and +praetors coming back enriched from their provinces, until it was +fairly choked up with its architectural magnificence, and it had at last +to be partially cleared again, as one would thin out too dense a forest, +in order to make room for the assemblies which it was its main function +to contain. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN FORUM] + +[Sidenote: Harangues and political discussions.] + +The people of Rome had, of course, no printed books, and yet they were +mentally cultivated and refined, and were qualified for a very high +appreciation of intellectual pursuits and pleasures. In the absence, +therefore, of all facilities for private reading, the Forum became the +great central point of attraction. The same kind of interest which, in +our day, finds its gratification in reading volumes of printed history +quietly at home, or in silently perusing the columns of newspapers and +magazines in libraries and reading-rooms, where a whisper is seldom +heard, in Caesar's day brought every body to the Forum, to listen to +historical harangues, or political discussions, or forensic arguments in +the midst of noisy crowds. Here all tidings centered; here all questions +were discussed and all great elections held. Here were waged those +ceaseless conflicts of ambition and struggles of power on which the fate +of nations, and sometimes the welfare of almost half mankind depended. +Of course, every ambitious man who aspired to an ascendency over his +fellow-men, wished to make his voice heard in the Forum. To calm the +boisterous tumult there, and to hold, as some of the Roman orators could +do, the vast assemblies in silent and breathless attention, was a power +as delightful in its exercise as it was glorious in its fame. Caesar had +felt this ambition, and had devoted himself very earnestly to the study +of oratory. + +[Sidenote: Apollonius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar studies under him.] + +His teacher was Apollonius, a philosopher and rhetorician from Rhodes. +Rhodes is a Grecian island, near the southwestern coast of Asia Minor +Apollonius was a teacher of great celebrity, and Caesar became a very +able writer and speaker under his instructions. His time and attention +were, in fact, strangely divided between the highest and noblest +intellectual avocations, and the lowest sensual pleasures of a gay and +dissipated life. The coming of Sylla had, however, interrupted all; and, +after receiving the dictator's command to give up his wife and abandon +the Marian faction, and determining to disobey it, he fled suddenly from +Rome, as was stated at the close of the last chapter, at midnight, and +in disguise. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's wanderings.] +[Sidenote: He is seized by a centurion.] + +He was sick, too, at the time, with an intermittent fever. The paroxysm +returned once in three or four days, leaving him in tolerable health +during the interval. He went first into the country of the Sabines, +northeast of Rome, where he wandered up and down, exposed continually to +great dangers from those who knew that he was an object of the great +dictator's displeasure, and who were sure of favor and of a reward if +they could carry his head to Sylla He had to change his quarters every +day, and to resort to every possible mode of concealment. He was, +however, at last discovered, and seized by a centurion. A centurion was +a commander of a hundred men; his rank and his position therefore, +corresponded somewhat with those of a _captain_ in a modern army. Caesar +was not much disturbed at this accident. He offered the centurion a +bribe sufficient to induce him to give up his prisoner, and so escaped. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: He joins the court of Nicomedes.] + +The two ancient historians, whose records contain nearly all the +particulars of the early life of Caesar which are now known, give +somewhat contradictory accounts of the adventures which befell him +during his subsequent wanderings. They relate, in general, the same +incidents, but in such different connections, that the precise +chronological order of the events which occurred can not now be +ascertained. At all events, Caesar, finding that he was no longer safe +in the vicinity of Rome, moved gradually to the eastward, attended by a +few followers, until he reached the sea, and there he embarked on board +a ship to leave his native land altogether. After various adventures and +wanderings, he found himself at length in Asia Minor, and he made his +way at last to the kingdom of Bithynia, on the northern shore. The name +of the king of Bithynia was Nicomedes. Caesar joined himself to +Nicomedes's court, and entered into his service. In the mean time, Sylla +had ceased to pursue him, and ultimately granted him a pardon, but +whether before or after this time is not now to be ascertained. At all +events, Caesar became interested in the scenes and enjoyments of +Nicomedes's court, and allowed the time to pass away without forming any +plans for returning to Rome. + +[Sidenote: Cilicia.] +[Sidenote: Character of its inhabitants.] + +On the opposite side of Asia Minor, that is, on the southern shore, +there was a wild and mountainous region called Cilicia. The great chain +of mountains called Taurus approaches here very near to the sea, and the +steep conformations of the land, which, in the interior, produce lofty +ranges and summits, and dark valleys and ravines, form, along the line +of the shore, capes and promontories, bounded by precipitous sides, and +with deep bays and harbors between them. The people of Cilicia were +accordingly half sailors, half mountaineers. They built swift galleys, +and made excursions in great force over the Mediterranean Sea for +conquest and plunder. They would capture single ships, and sometimes +even whole fleets of merchantmen. They were even strong enough on many +occasions to land and take possession of a harbor and a town, and hold +it, often, for a considerable time, against all the efforts of the +neighboring powers to dislodge them. In case, however, their enemies +became at any time too strong for them, they would retreat to their +harbors, which were so defended by the fortresses which guarded them, +and by the desperate bravery of the garrisons, that the pursuers +generally did not dare to attempt to force their way in; and if, in any +case, a town or a port was taken, the indomitable savages would continue +their retreat to the fastnesses of the mountains, where it was utterly +useless to attempt to follow them. + +[Sidenote: The Cilicians wanting in poets and historians.] +[Sidenote: Robbers and pirates.] + +But with all their prowess and skill as naval combatants, and their +hardihood as mountaineers, the Cilicians lacked one thing which is very +essential in every nation to an honorable military fame. They had no +poets or historians of their own, so that the story of their deeds had +to be told to posterity by their enemies. If they had been able to +narrate their own exploits, they would have figured, perhaps, upon the +page of history as a small but brave and efficient maritime power, +pursuing for many years a glorious career of conquest, and acquiring +imperishable renown by their enterprise and success. As it was, the +Romans, their enemies, described their deeds and gave them their +designation. They called them robbers and pirates; and robbers and +pirates they must forever remain. + +[Sidenote: Depredations of the Cilicians.] + +And it is, in fact, very likely true that the Cilician commanders did +not pursue their conquests and commit their depredations on the rights +and the property of others in quite so systematic and methodical a +manner as some other conquering states have done. They probably seized +private property a little more unceremoniously than is customary; though +all belligerent nations, even in these Christian ages of the world, feel +at liberty to seize and confiscate private property when they find it +afloat at sea, while, by a strange inconsistency, they respect it on +the land. The Cilician pirates considered themselves at war with all +mankind, and, whatever merchandise they found passing from port to port +along the shores of the Mediterranean, they considered lawful spoil. +They intercepted the corn which was going from Sicily to Rome, and +filled their own granaries with it. They got rich merchandise from the +ships of Alexandria, which brought, sometimes, gold, and gems, and +costly fabrics from the East; and they obtained, often, large sums of +money by seizing men of distinction and wealth, who were continually +passing to and fro between Italy and Greece, and holding them for a +ransom. They were particularly pleased to get possession in this way of +Roman generals and officers of state, who were going out to take the +command of armies, or who were returning from their provinces with the +wealth which they had accumulated there. + +[Sidenote: Expeditions sent against them.] +[Sidenote: Boldness and courage of the Cilicians.] + +Many expeditions were fitted out and many naval commanders were +commissioned to sup press and subdue these common enemies of mankind, as +the Romans called them. At one time, while a distinguished general, +named Antonius, was in pursuit of them at the head of a fleet, a party +of the pirates made a descent upon the Italian coast, south of Rome, at +Nicenum, where the ancient patrimonial mansion of this very Antonius was +situated, and took away several members of his family as captives, and +so compelled him to ransom them by paying a very large sum of money. The +pirates grew bolder and bolder in proportion to their success. They +finally almost stopped all intercourse between Italy and Greece, neither +the merchants daring to expose their merchandise, nor the passengers +their persons to such dangers. They then approached nearer and nearer to +Rome, and at last actually entered the Tiber, and surprised and carried +off a Roman fleet which was anchored there. Caesar himself fell into the +hands of these pirates at some time during the period of his wanderings. + +[Sidenote: They capture Caesar.] + +The pirates captured the ship in which he was sailing near Pharmacusa, a +small island in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. He was not at +this time in the destitute condition in which he had found himself on +leaving Rome, but was traveling with attendants suitable to his rank, +and in such a style and manner as at once made it evident to the pirates +that he was a man of distinction. They accordingly held him for ransom, +and, in the mean time, until he could take measures for raising the +money, they kept him a prisoner on board the vessel which had +captured him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's air of superiority.] +[Sidenote: His ransom.] + +In this situation, Caesar, though entirely in the power and at the mercy +of his lawless captors, assumed such an air of superiority and command +in all his intercourse with them as at first awakened their +astonishment, then excited their admiration, and ended in almost +subjecting them to his will. He asked them what they demanded for his +ransom. They said twenty talents, which was quite a large amount, a +talent itself being a considerable sum of money. Caesar laughed at this +demand, and told them it was plain that they did not know who he was, He +would give them _fifty_ talents. He then sent away his attendants to the +shore, with orders to proceed to certain cities where he was known, in +order to procure the money, retaining only a physician and two servants +for himself. While his messengers were gone, he remained on board +the ship of his captors, assuming in every respect the air and manner of +their master. When he wished to sleep, if they made a noise which +disturbed him, he sent them orders to be still. He joined them in their +sports and diversions on the deck, surpassing them in their feats, and +taking the direction of every thing as if he were their acknowledged +leader. He wrote orations and verses which he read to them, and if his +wild auditors did not appear to appreciate the literary excellence of +his compositions, he told them that they were stupid fools without any +taste, adding, by way of apology, that nothing better could be expected +of such barbarians. + +The pirates asked him one day what he should do to them if he should +ever, at any future time, take them prisoners. Caesar said that he would +crucify every one of them. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at liberty.] +[Sidenote: He captures the pirates in his turn.] + +The ransom money at length arrived. Caesar paid it to the pirates, and +they, faithful to their covenant, sent him in a boat to the land. He was +put ashore on the coast of Asia Minor. He proceeded immediately to +Miletus, the nearest port, equipped a small fleet there, and put +to sea. He sailed at once to the roadstead where the pirates had been +lying, and found them still at anchor there, in perfect security.[1] He +attacked them, seized their ships, recovered his ransom money, and took +the men all prisoners. He conveyed his captives to the land, and there +fulfilled his threat that he would crucify them by cutting their +throats and nailing their dead bodies to crosses which his men erected +for the purpose along the shore. + +[Footnote 1: See Frontispiece] + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Rhodes.] + +During his absence from Rome Caesar went to Rhodes, where his former +preceptor resided, and he continued to pursue there for some time his +former studies. He looked forward still to appearing one day in the +Roman Forum. In fact, he began to receive messages from his friends at +home that they thought it would be safe for him to return. Sylla had +gradually withdrawn from power, and finally had died. The aristocratical +party were indeed still in the ascendency, but the party of Marius had +begun to recover a little from the total overthrow with which Sylla's +return, and his terrible military vengeance, had overwhelmed them. +Caesar himself, therefore, they thought, might, with prudent management, +be safe in returning to Rome. + +[Sidenote: He returns to Rome.] +[Sidenote: Caesar impeaches Dolabella.] +[Sidenote: Excitement in consequence.] + +He returned, but not to be prudent or cautious; there was no element of +prudence or caution in his character. As soon as he arrived, he openly +espoused the popular party. His first public act was to arraign the +governor of the great province of Macedonia, through which he had passed +on his way to Bithynia. It was a consul whom he thus impeached, and a +strong partisan of Sylla's. His name was Dolabella. The people were +astonished at his daring in thus raising the standard of resistance to +Sylla's power, indirectly, it is true, but none the less really on that +account. When the trial came on, and Caesar appeared at the Forum, he +gained great applause by the vigor and force of his oratory. There was, +of course, a very strong and general interest felt in the case; the +people all seeming to understand that, in this attack on Dolabella, +Caesar was appearing as their champion, and their hopes were revived at +having at last found a leader capable of succeeding Marius, and building +up their cause again. Dolabella was ably defended by orators on the +other side, and was, of course, acquitted, for the power of Sylla's +party was still supreme. All Rome, however, was aroused and excited by +the boldness of Caesar's attack, and by the extraordinary ability which +he evinced in his mode of conducting it. He became, in fact, at once one +of the most conspicuous and prominent men in the city. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's increasing power.] + +Encouraged by his success, and the applauses which he received, and +feeling every day a greater and greater consciousness of power, he +began to assume more and more openly the character of the leader of the +popular party. He devoted himself to public speaking in the Forum, both +before popular assemblies and in the courts of justice, where he was +employed a great deal as an advocate to defend those who were accused of +political crimes. The people, considering him as their rising champion, +were predisposed to regard every thing that he did with favor, and there +was really a great intellectual power displayed in his orations and +harangues. He acquired, in a word, great celebrity by his boldness and +energy, and his boldness and energy were themselves increased in their +turn as he felt the strength of his position increase with his growing +celebrity. + +[Sidenote: Death of Marius's wife.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's panegyric on Marius's wife.] +[Sidenote: Its success.] + +At length the wife of Marius, who was Caesar's aunt, died. She had lived +in obscurity since her husband's proscription and death, his party +having been put down so effectually that it was dangerous to appear to +be her friend. Caesar, however, made preparations for a magnificent +funeral for her. There was a place in the Forum, a sort of pulpit, where +public orators were accustomed to stand in addressing the assembly on +great occasions. This pulpit was adorned with the brazen beaks of ships +which had been taken by the Romans in former wars The name of such a +beak was _rostrum_; in the plural, _rostra_. The pulpit was itself, +therefore, called the _Rostra_, that is, The Beaks; and the people were +addressed from it on great public occasions.[2] Caesar pronounced a +splendid panegyric upon the wife of Marius, at this her funeral, from +the Rostra, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, and he +had the boldness to bring out and display to the people certain +household images of Marius, which had been concealed from view ever +since his death. Producing them again on such an occasion was annulling, +so far as a public orator could do it, the sentence of condemnation +which Sylla and the patrician party had pronounced against him, and +bringing him forward again as entitled to public admiration and +applause. The patrician partisans who were present attempted to rebuke +this bold maneuver with expressions of disapprobation, but these +expressions were drowned in the loud and long-continued bursts of +applause with which the great mass of the assembled multitude hailed and +sanctioned it. The experiment was very bold and very hazardous, but it +was triumphantly successful. + +[Footnote 2: In modern books this pulpit is sometimes called the +Rostrum, using the word in the singular.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar's oration on his wife.] +[Sidenote: Alarm of the patricians.] + +A short time after this Caesar had another opportunity for delivering a +funeral oration; it was in the case of his own wife, the daughter of +Cinna, who had been the colleague and coadjutor of Marius during the +days of his power. It was not usual to pronounce such panegyrics upon +Roman ladies unless they had attained to an advanced age. Caesar, +however, was disposed to make the case of his own wife an exception to +the ordinary rule. He saw in the occasion an opportunity to give a new +impulse to the popular cause, and to make further progress in gaining +the popular favor. The experiment was successful in this instance too. +The people were pleased at the apparent affection which his action +evinced; and as Cornelia was the daughter of Cinna, he had opportunity, +under pretext of praising the birth and parentage of the deceased, to +laud the men whom Sylla's party had outlawed and destroyed. In a word, +the patrician party saw with anxiety and dread that Caesar was rapidly +consolidating and organizing, and bringing back to its pristine strength +and vigor, a party whose restoration to power would of course involve +their own political, and perhaps personal ruin. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in office.] +[Sidenote: Shows and entertainments.] + +Caesar began soon to receive appointments to public office, and thus +rapidly increased his influence and power. Public officers and +candidates for office were accustomed in those days to expend great sums +of money in shows and spectacles to amuse the people. Caesar went beyond +all limits in these expenditures. He brought gladiators from distant +provinces, and trained them at great expense, to fight in the enormous +amphitheaters of the city, in the midst of vast assemblies of men. Wild +beasts were procured also from the forests of Africa, and brought over +in great numbers, under his direction, that the people might be +entertained by their combats with captives taken in war, who were +reserved for this dreadful fate. Caesar gave, also, splendid +entertainments, of the most luxurious and costly character, and he +mingled with his guests at these entertainments, and with the people at +large on other occasions, in so complaisant and courteous a manner as to +gain universal favor. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's extravagances.] +[Sidenote: His embarrassments.] + +He soon, by these means, not only exhausted all his own pecuniary +resources, but plunged himself enormously into debt. It was not +difficult for such a man in those days to procure an almost unlimited +credit for such purposes as these, for every one knew that, if he +finally succeeded in placing himself, by means of the popularity thus +acquired, in stations of power, he could soon indemnify himself and all +others who had aided him. The peaceful merchants, and artisans, and +husbandmen of the distant provinces over which he expected to rule, +would yield the revenues necessary to fill the treasuries thus +exhausted. Still, Caesar's expenditures were so lavish, and the debts he +incurred were so enormous, that those who had not the most unbounded +confidence in his capacity and his powers believed him irretrievably +ruined. + +The particulars, however, of these difficulties, and the manner in which +Caesar contrived to extricate himself from them, will be more fully +detailed in the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's rise to power.] + +From this time, which was about sixty-seven years before the birth of +Christ, Caesar remained for nine years generally at Rome, engaged there +in a constant struggle for power. He was successful in these efforts, +rising all the time from one position of influence and honor to another, +until he became altogether the most prominent and powerful man in the +city. A great many incidents are recorded, as attending these contests, +which illustrate in a very striking manner the strange mixture of rude +violence and legal formality by which Rome was in those days governed. + +[Sidenote: Government of Rome.] +[Sidenote: Bribery and corruption.] +[Sidenote: Public amusements.] + +Many of the most important offices of the state depended upon the votes +of the people; and as the people had very little opportunity to become +acquainted with the real merits of the case in respect to questions of +government, they gave their votes very much according to the personal +popularity of the candidate. Public men had very little moral principle +in those days, and they would accordingly resort to any means whatever +to procure this personal popularity. They who wanted office were +accustomed to bribe influential men among the people to support them, +sometimes by promising them subordinate offices, and sometimes by the +direct donation of sums of money; and they would try to please the mass +of the people, who were too numerous to be paid with offices or with +gold, by shows and spectacles, and entertainments of every kind which +they would provide for their amusement. + +This practice seems to us very absurd; and we wonder that the Roman +people should tolerate it, since it is evident that the means for +defraying these expenses must come, ultimately, in some way or other, +from them. And yet, absurd as it seems, this sort of policy is not +wholly disused even in our day. The operas and the theaters, and other +similar establishments in France, are sustained, in part, by the +government; and the liberality and efficiency with which this is done, +forms, in some degree, the basis of the popularity of each succeeding +administration. The plan is better systematized and regulated in our +day, but it is, in its nature, substantially the same. + +[Sidenote: Amusements for the people.] + +In fact, furnishing amusements for the people, and also providing +supplies for their wants, as well as affording them protection, were +considered the legitimate objects of government in those days. It is +very different at the present time, and especially in this country. The +whole community are now united in the desire to confine the functions of +government within the narrowest possible limits, such as to include only +the preservation of public order and public safety. The people prefer to +supply their own wants and to provide their own enjoyments, rather than +to invest government with the power to do it for them, knowing very well +that, on the latter plan, the burdens they will have to bear, though +concealed for a time, must be doubled in the end. + +[Sidenote: Provided by the government.] +[Sidenote: How the people were supported.] +[Sidenote: Agrarian laws.] + +It must not be forgotten, however, that there were some reasons in the +days of the Romans for providing public amusements for the people on an +extended scale which do not exist now. They had very few facilities then +for the private and separate enjoyments of home, so that they were much +more inclined than the people of this country are now to seek pleasure +abroad and in public. The climate, too, mild and genial nearly all the +year, favored this. Then they were not interested, as men are now, in +the pursuits and avocations of private industry. The people of Rome were +not a community of merchants, manufacturers, and citizens, enriching +themselves, and adding to the comforts and enjoyments of the rest of +mankind by the products of their labor. They were supported, in a great +measure, by the proceeds of the tribute of foreign provinces, and by the +plunder taken by the generals in the name of the state in foreign wars. +From the same source, too--foreign conquest--captives were brought home, +to be trained as gladiators to amuse them with their combats, and +statues and paintings to ornament the public buildings of the city. In +the same manner, large quantities of corn, which had been taken in the +provinces, were often distributed at Rome. And sometimes even land +itself, in large tracts, which had been confiscated by the state, or +otherwise taken from the original possessors, was divided among the +people. The laws enacted from time to time for this purpose were called +Agrarian laws; and the phrase afterward passed into a sort of proverb, +inasmuch as plans proposed in modern times for conciliating the favor of +the populace by sharing among them property belonging to the state or to +the rich, are designated by the name of _Agrarianism_. + +[Sidenote: Government of Rome.] +[Sidenote: Its foreign policy.] + +Thus Rome was a city supported, in a great measure, by the fruits of its +conquests, that is, in a certain sense, by plunder. It was a vast +community most efficiently and admirably organized for this purpose; and +yet it would not be perfectly just to designate the people simply as a +band of robbers. They rendered, in some sense, an equivalent for what +they took, in establishing and enforcing a certain organization of +society throughout the world, and in preserving a sort of public order +and peace. They built cities, they constructed aqueducts and roads; they +formed harbors, and protected them by piers and by castles; they +protected commerce, and cultivated the arts, and encouraged literature, +and enforced a general quiet and peace among mankind, allowing of no +violence or war except what they themselves created. Thus they +_governed_ the world, and they felt, as all governors of mankind always +do, fully entitled to supply themselves with the comforts and +conveniences of life, in consideration of the service which they +thus rendered. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's policy.] + +Of course, it was to be expected that they would sometimes quarrel among +themselves about the spoils. Ambitious men were always arising, eager to +obtain opportunities to make fresh conquests, and to bring home new +supplies, and those who were most successful in making the results of +their conquests available in adding to the wealth and to the public +enjoyments of the city, would, of course, be most popular with the +voters. Hence extortion in the provinces, and the most profuse and +lavish expenditure in the city, became the policy which every great man +must pursue to rise to power. + +[Sidenote: His success.] + +Caesar entered into this policy with his whole soul, founding all his +hopes of success upon the favor of the populace. Of course, he had many +rivals and opponents among the patrician ranks, and in the Senate, and +they often impeded and thwarted his plans and measures for a time, +though he always triumphed in the end. + +[Sidenote: He is made quaestor.] +[Sidenote: Caesar leaves Spain.] +[Sidenote: His project.] + +One of the first offices of importance to which he attained was that of +_quaestor_, as it was called, which office called him away from Rome +into the province of Spain, making him the second in command there. The +officer first in command in the province was, in this instance, a +praetor. During his absence in Spain, Caesar replenished in some degree +his exhausted finances, but he soon became very much discontented with +so subordinate a position. His discontent was greatly increased by his +coming unexpectedly, one day, at a city then called Hades--the present +Cadiz--upon a statue of Alexander, which adorned one of the public +edifices there. Alexander died when he was only about thirty years of +age, having before that period made himself master of the world. Caesar +was himself now about thirty-five years of age, and it made him very sad +to reflect that, though he had lived five years longer than Alexander, +he had yet accomplished so little. He was thus far only the second in a +province, while he burned with an insatiable ambition to be the first in +Rome. The reflection made him so uneasy that he left his post before his +time expired, and went back to Rome, forming, on the way, desperate +projects for getting power there. + +[Sidenote: Caesar accused of treason.] + +His rivals and enemies accused him of various schemes, more or less +violent and treasonable in their nature, but how justly it is not now +possible to ascertain. They alleged that one of his plans was to join +some of the neighboring colonies, whose inhabitants wished to be +admitted to the freedom of the city, and, making common cause with them, +to raise an armed force and take possession of Rome. It was said that, +to prevent the accomplishment of this design, an army which they had +raised for the purpose of an expedition against the Cilician pirates was +detained from its march, and that Caesar, seeing that the government +were on their guard against him, abandoned the plan. + +They also charged him with having formed, after this, a plan within the +city for assassinating the senators in the senate house, and then +usurping, with his fellow-conspirators, the supreme power. Crassus, who +was a man of vast wealth and a great friend of Caesar's, was associated +with him in this plot, and was to have been made dictator if it had +succeeded. But, notwithstanding the brilliant prize with which Caesar +attempted to allure Crassus to the enterprise, his courage failed him +when the time for action arrived. Courage and enterprise, in fact, ought +not to be expected of the rich; they are the virtues of poverty. + +[Sidenote: He is made aedile.] +[Sidenote: Gladiatorial shows.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's increasing popularity.] + +Though the Senate were thus jealous and suspicious of Caesar, and were +charging him continually with these criminal designs, the people were on +his side; and the more he was hated by the great, the more strongly he +became intrenched in the popular favor. They chose him _aedile_. The +aedile had the charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the +games spectacles, and shows which were exhibited in them. Caesar +entered with great zeal into the discharge of the duties of this office. +He made arrangements for the entertainment of the people on the most +magnificent scale, and made great additions and improvements to the +public buildings, constructing porticoes and piazzas around the areas +where his gladiatorial shows and the combats with wild beasts were to be +exhibited. He provided gladiators in such numbers, and organized and +arranged them in such a manner, ostensibly for their training, that his +enemies among the nobility pretended to believe that he was intending to +use them as an armed force against the government of the city. They +accordingly made laws limiting and restricting the number of the +gladiators to be employed. Caesar then exhibited his shows on the +reduced scale which the new laws required, taking care that the people +should understand to whom the responsibility for this reduction in the +scale of their pleasures belonged. They, of course, murmured against the +Senate, and Caesar stood higher in their favor than ever. + +[Sidenote: Caesar thwarted.] +[Sidenote: His resentment.] +[Sidenote: The statutes of Marius restored.] +[Sidenote: Rage of the patricians.] + +He was getting, however, by these means, very deeply involved in debt; +and, in order partly to retrieve his fortunes in this respect, he made +an attempt to have Egypt assigned to him as a province. Egypt was then +an immensely rich and fertile country. It had, however, never been a +Roman province. It was an independent kingdom, in alliance with the +Romans, and Caesar's proposal that it should be assigned to him as a +province appeared very extraordinary. His pretext was, that the people +of Egypt had recently deposed and expelled their king, and that, +consequently, the Romans might properly take possession of it. The +Senate, however, resisted this plan, either from jealousy of Caesar or +from a sense of justice to Egypt; and, after a violent contest, Caesar +found himself compelled to give up the design. He felt, however, a +strong degree of resentment against the patrician party who had thus +thwarted his designs. Accordingly, in order to avenge himself upon them, +he one night replaced certain statues and trophies of Marius in the +Capitol, which had been taken down by order of Sylla when he returned to +power. Marius, as will be recollected, had been the great champion of +the popular party, and the enemy of the patricians; and, at the time of +his down-fall, all the memorials of his power and greatness had been +every where removed from Rome, and among them these statues and +trophies, which had been erected in the Capitol in commemoration of some +former victories, and had remained there until Sylla's triumph, when +they were taken down and destroyed. Caesar now ordered new ones to be +made, far more magnificent than before. They were made secretly, and put +up in the night. His office as aedile gave him the necessary authority. +The next morning, when the people saw these splendid monuments of their +great favorite restored, the whole city was animated with excitement and +joy. The patricians, on the other hand, were filled with vexation and +rage. "Here is a single officer," said they, "who is attempting to +restore, by his individual authority, what has been formally abolished +by a decree of the Senate. He is trying to see how much we will bear. If +he finds that we will submit to this, he will attempt bolder measures +still." They accordingly commenced a movement to have the statues and +trophies taken down again, but the people rallied in vast numbers in +defense of them. They made the Capitol ring with their shouts of +applause; and the Senate, finding their power insufficient to cope with +so great a force, gave up the point, and Caesar gained the day. + +[Sidenote: The Good Goddess.] + +Caesar had married another wife after the death of Cornelia. Her name +was Pompeia, He divorced Pompeia about this time, under very +extraordinary circumstances. Among the other strange religious +ceremonies and celebrations which were observed in those days, was one +called the celebration of the mysteries of the Good Goddess. This +celebration was held by females alone, every thing masculine being most +carefully excluded. Even the pictures of men, if there were any upon the +walls of the house where the assembly was held, were covered. The +persons engaged spent the night together in music and dancing and +various secret ceremonies, half pleasure, half worship, according to the +ideas and customs of the time. + +[Sidenote: Clodius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar divorces his wife.] + +The mysteries of the Good Goddess were to be celebrated one night at +Caesar's house, he himself having, of course, withdrawn. In the +middle of the night, the whole company in one of the apartments were +thrown into consternation at finding that one of their number was a man. +He had a smooth and youthful-looking face, and was very perfectly +disguised in the dress of a female. He proved to be a certain Clodius, a +very base and dissolute young man, though of great wealth and high +connections. He had been admitted by a female slave of Pompeia's, whom +he had succeeded in bribing. It was suspected that it was with Pompeia's +concurrence. At any rate, Caesar immediately divorced his wife. The +Senate ordered an inquiry into the affair, and, after the other members +of the household had given their testimony, Caesar himself was called +upon, but he had nothing to say. He knew nothing about it. They asked +him, then, why he had divorced Pompeia, unless he had some evidence for +believing her guilty, He replied, that a wife of Caesar must not only be +without crime, but without suspicion. + +[Sidenote: Quarrel of Clodius and Milo.] +[Sidenote: Violence of the time.] + +Clodius was a very desperate and lawless character, and his subsequent +history shows, in a striking point of view, the degree of violence and +disorder which reigned in those times. He became involved in a bitter +contention with another citizen whose name was Milo, and each, gaining +as many adherents as he could, at length drew almost the whole city into +their quarrel. Whenever they went out, they were attended with armed +bands, which were continually in danger of coming into collision. The +collision at last came, quite a battle was fought, and Clodius was +killed. This made the difficulty worse than it was before. Parties were +formed, and violent disputes arose on the question of bringing Milo to +trial for the alleged murder. He was brought to trial at last, but so +great was the public excitement, that the consuls for the time +surrounded and filled the whole Forum with armed men while the trial was +proceeding, to ensure the safety of the court. + +[Sidenote: Conspiracy of Catiline.] +[Sidenote: Warm debate in the Senate.] +[Sidenote: Caesar in danger of violence.] + +In fact, violence mingled itself continually, in those times, with +almost all public proceedings, whenever any special combination of +circumstances occurred to awaken unusual excitement. At one time, when +Caesar was in office, a very dangerous conspiracy was brought to light, +which was headed by the notorious Catiline. It was directed chiefly +against the Senate and the higher departments of the government; it +contemplated, in fact, their utter destruction, and the establishment of +an entirely new government on the ruins of the existing constitution. +Caesar was himself accused of a participation in this plot. When it was +discovered, Catiline himself fled; some of the other conspirators were, +however, arrested, and there was a long and very excited debate in the +Senate on the question of their punishment. Some were for death. Caesar, +however, very earnestly opposed this plan, recommending, instead, the +confiscation of the estates of the conspirators, and their imprisonment +in some of the distant cities of Italy. The dispute grew very warm, +Caesar urging his point with great perseverance and determination, and +with a degree of violence which threatened seriously to obstruct the +proceedings, when a body of armed men, a sort of guard of honor +stationed there, gathered around him, and threatened him with their +swords. Quite a scene of disorder and terror ensued. Some of the +senators arose hastily and fled from the vicinity of Caesar's seat to +avoid the danger. Others, more courageous, or more devoted in their +attachment to him, gathered around him to protect him, as far as they +could, by interposing their bodies between his person and the weapons of +his assailants. Caesar soon left the Senate, and for a long time would +return to it no more. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's struggle for the office of pontifex maximus.] + +Although Caesar was all this time, on the whole, rising in influence and +power, there were still fluctuations in his fortune, and the tide +sometimes, for a short period, went strongly against him. He was at one +time, when greatly involved in debt, and embarrassed in all his affairs, +a candidate for a very high office, that of Pontifex Maximus, or +sovereign pontiff. The office of the pontifex was originally that of +building and keeping custody of the bridges of the city, the name being +derived from the Latin word _pons_, which signifies bridge. To this, +however, had afterward been added the care of the temples, and finally +the regulation and control of the ceremonies of religion, so that it +came in the end to be an office of the highest dignity and honor. Caesar +made the most desperate efforts to secure his election, resorting to +such measures, expending such sums, and involving himself in debt to +such an extreme, that, if he failed, he would be irretrievably ruined. +His mother, sympathizing with him in his anxiety, kissed him when he +went away from the house on the morning of the election, and bade hem +farewell with tears. He told her that he should come home that night the +pontiff, or he should never come home at all. He succeeded in gaining +the election. + +[Sidenote: He is deposed.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's forbearance.] +[Sidenote: He is restored to office.] + +At one time Caesar was actually deposed from a high office which he +held, by a decree of the Senate. He determined to disregard this decree, +and go on in the discharge of his office as usual. But the Senate, whose +ascendency was now, for some reason, once more established, prepared to +prevent him by force of arms. Caesar, finding that he was not +sustained, gave up the contest, put off his robes of office, and went +home. Two days afterward a reaction occurred. A mass of the populace +came together to his house, and offered their assistance to restore his +rights and vindicate his honor. Caesar, however, contrary to what every +one would have expected of him, exerted his influence to calm and quiet +the mob, and then sent them away, remaining himself in private as +before. The Senate had been alarmed at the first outbreak of the tumult, +and a meeting had been suddenly convened to consider what measures to +adopt in such a crisis. When, however, they found that Caesar had +himself interposed, and by his own personal influence had saved the city +from the danger which threatened it, they were so strongly impressed +with a sense of his forbearance and generosity, that they sent for him +to come to the senate house, and, after formally expressing their +thanks, they canceled their former vote, and restored him to his office +again. This change in the action of the Senate does not, however, +necessarily indicate so great a change of individual sentiment as one +might at first imagine. There was, undoubtedly, a large minority who +were averse to his being deposed in the first instance but, being +outvoted, the decree of deposition was passed. Others were, perhaps, +more or less doubtful. Caesar's generous forbearance in refusing the +offered aid of the populace carried over a number of these sufficient to +shift the majority, and thus the action of the body was reversed. It is +in this way that the sudden and apparently total changes in the action +of deliberative assemblies which often take place, and which would +otherwise, in some cases, be almost incredible, are to be explained. + +[Sidenote: Caesar implicated in Catiline's conspiracy.] +[Sidenote: He arrests Vettius.] + +After this, Caesar became involved in another difficulty, in consequence +of the appearance of some definite and positive evidence that he was +connected with Catiline in his famous conspiracy. One of the senators +said that Catiline himself had informed him that Caesar was one of the +accomplices of the plot. Another witness, named Vettius, laid an +information against Caesar before a Roman magistrate, and offered to +produce Caesar's handwriting in proof of his participation in the +conspirator's designs Caesar was very much incensed, and his manner of +vindicating himself from these serious charges was as singular as many +of his other deeds. He arrested Vettius, and sentenced him to pay a +heavy fine, and to be imprisoned; and he contrived also to expose him, +in the course of the proceedings, to the mob in the Forum, who were +always ready to espouse Caesar's cause, and who, on this occasion, beat +Vettius so unmercifully, that he barely escaped with his life. The +magistrate, too, was thrown into prison for having dared to take an +information against a superior officer. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's embarrassment.] +[Sidenote: Spain is assigned to him.] + +At last Caesar became so much involved in debt, through the boundless +extravagance of his expenditures, that something must be done to +replenish his exhausted finances. He had, however, by this time, risen +so high in official influence and power, that he succeeded in having +Spain assigned to him as his province, and he began to make preparations +to proceed to it. His creditors, however, interposed, unwilling to let +him go without giving them security. In this dilemma, Caesar succeeded +in making an arrangement with Crassus, who has already been spoken of as +a man of unbounded wealth and great ambition, but not possessed of any +considerable degree of intellectual power. Crassus consented to give the +necessary security, with an understanding that Caesar was to repay him +by exerting his political influence in his favor. So soon as this +arrangement was made, Caesar set off in a sudden and private manner, as +if he expected that otherwise some new difficulty would intervene. + +[Sidenote: The Swiss hamlet.] + +He went to Spain by land, passing through Switzerland on the way. He +stopped with his attendants one night at a very insignificant village of +shepherds' huts among the mountains. Struck with the poverty and +worthlessness of all they saw in this wretched hamlet, Caesar's friends +were wondering whether the jealousy, rivalry, and ambition which reigned +among men every where else in the world could find any footing there, +when Caesar told them that, for his part, he should rather choose to be +first in such a village as that than the second at Rome. The story has +been repeated a thousand times, and told to every successive generation +now for nearly twenty centuries, as an illustration of the peculiar type +and character of the ambition which controls such a soul as that +of Caesar. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's ambition.] + +Caesar was very successful in the administration of his province; that +is to say, he returned in a short time with considerable military glory, +and with money enough to pay all his debts, and famish him with means +for fresh electioneering. + +[Sidenote: Manner of choosing the consuls.] +[Sidenote: Pompey and Crassus.] + +He now felt strong enough to aspire to the office of consul, which was +the highest office of the Roman state. When the line of kings had been +deposed, the Romans had vested the supreme magistracy in the hands of +two consuls, who were chosen annually in a general election, the +formalities of which were all very carefully arranged. The current of +popular opinion was, of course, in Caesar's favor, but he had many +powerful rivals and enemies among the great, who, however, hated and +opposed each other as well as him. There was at that time a very bitter +feud between Pompey and Crassus, each of them struggling for power +against the efforts of the other. Pompey possessed great influence +through his splendid abilities and his military renown. Crassus, as has +already been stated, was powerful through his wealth. Caesar, who had +some influence with them both, now conceived the bold design of +reconciling them, and then of availing himself of their united aid in +accomplishing his own particular ends. + +[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.] + +He succeeded perfectly well in this management. He represented to them +that, by contending against each other, they only exhausted their own +powers, and strengthened the arms of their common enemies. He proposed +to them to unite with one another and with him, and thus make common +cause to promote their common interest and advancement. They willingly +acceded to this plan, and a triple league was accordingly formed, in +which they each bound themselves to promote, by every means in his +power, the political elevation of the others, and not to take any public +step or adopt any measures without the concurrence of the three. Caesar +faithfully observed the obligations of this league so long as he could +use his two associates to promote his own ends, and then he +abandoned it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar a candidate for the consulship.] + +Having, however, completed this arrangement, he was now prepared to push +vigorously his claims to be elected consul. He associated with his own +name that of Lucceius, who was a man of great wealth, and who agreed to +defray the expenses of the election for the sake of the honor of being +consul with Caesar. Caesar's enemies, however, knowing that they +probably could not prevent his election, determined to concentrate their +strength in the effort to prevent his having the colleague he desired. +They made choice, therefore, of a certain Bibulus as their candidate. +Bibulus had always been a political opponent of Caesar's, and they +thought that, by associating him with Caesar in the supreme magistracy, +the pride and ambition of their great adversary might be held somewhat +in check. They accordingly made a contribution among themselves to +enable Bibulus to expend as much money in bribery as Lucceius, and the +canvass went on. + +[Sidenote: Caesar assumes the whole power.] +[Sidenote: He imprisons Cato.] + +It resulted in the election of Caesar and Bibulus. They entered upon the +duties of their office; but Caesar, almost entirely disregarding his +colleague, began to assume the whole power, and proposed and carried +measure after measure of the most extraordinary character, all aiming at +the gratification of the populace. He was at first opposed violently +both by Bibulus and by many leading members of the Senate, especially by +Cato, a stern and inflexible patriot, whom neither fear of danger nor +hope of reward could move from what he regarded his duty. But Caesar was +now getting strong enough to put down the opposition which he +encountered with out much scruple as to the means. He ordered Cato on +one occasion to be arrested in the Senate and sent to prison. Another +influential member of the Senate rose and was going out with him. Caesar +asked him where he was going. He said he was going with Cato. He would +rather, he said, be with Cato in prison, than in the Senate with Caesar. + +[Sidenote: Bibulus retires to his house.] +[Sidenote: The year of "Julius and Caesar."] + +Caesar treated Bibulus also with so much neglect, and assumed so +entirely the whole control of the consular power, to the utter exclusion +of his colleague, that Bibulus at last, completely discouraged and +chagrined, abandoned all pretension to official authority, retired to +his house, and shut himself up in perfect seclusion, leaving Caesar to +his own way. It was customary among the Romans, in their historical and +narrative writings, to designate the successive years, not by a +numerical date as with us, but by the names of the consuls who held +office in them. Thus, in the time of Caesar's consulship, the phrase +would have been, "In the year of Caesar and Bibulus, consuls," according +to the ordinary usage; but the wags of the city, in order to make sport +of the assumptions of Caesar and the insignificance of Bibulus, used to +say, "In the year of Julius and Caesar, consuls," rejecting the name of +Bibulus altogether, and taking the two names of Caesar to make out the +necessary duality. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. + +[Sidenote: Caesar aspires to be a soldier.] +[Sidenote: His success and celebrity.] + +In attaining to the consulship, Caesar had reached the highest point of +elevation which it was possible to reach as a mere citizen of Rome. His +ambition was, however, of course, not satisfied. The only way to acquire +higher distinction and to rise to higher power was to enter upon a +career of foreign conquest. Caesar therefore aspired now to be a +soldier. He accordingly obtained the command of an army, and entered +upon a course of military campaigns in the heart of Europe, which he +continued for eight years. These eight years constitute one of the most +important and strongly-marked periods of his life. He was triumphantly +successful in his military career, and he made, accordingly, a vast +accession to his celebrity and power, in his own day, by the results of +his campaigns. He also wrote, himself, an account of his adventures +during this period, in which the events are recorded in so lucid and in +so eloquent a manner, that the narrations have continued to be read by +every successive generation of scholars down to the present day, and +they have had a great influence in extending and perpetuating his fame. + +[Sidenote: Scenes of Caesar's exploits.] +[Sidenote: Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.] + +The principal scenes of the exploits which Caesar performed during the +period of this his first great military career, were the north of Italy, +Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, a great tract of country, +nearly all of which he overran and conquered. A large portion of this +territory was called Gaul in those days; the part on the Italian side of +the Alps being named Cisalpine Gaul, while that which lay beyond was +designated as Transalpine. Transalpine Gaul was substantially what is +now France. There was a part of Transalpine Gaul which had been already +conquered and reduced to a Roman province. It was called The Province +then, and has retained the name, with a slight change in orthography, to +the present day. It is now known as Provence. + +[Sidenote: Condition of Gaul in Caesar's day.] +[Sidenote: Singular cavalry.] + +The countries which Caesar went to invade were occupied by various +nations and tribes, many of which were well organized and war-like, and +some of them were considerably civilized and wealthy. They had extended +tracts of cultivated land, the slopes of the hills and the mountain +sides being formed into green pasturages, which were covered with flocks +of goats, and sheep, and herds of cattle, while the smoother and more +level tracts were adorned with smiling vineyards and broadly-extended +fields of waving grain. They had cities, forts, ships, and armies. Their +manners and customs would be considered somewhat rude by modern nations, +and some of their usages of war were half barbarian. For example, in one +of the nations which Caesar encountered, he found, as he says in his +narrative, a corps of cavalry, as a constituent part of the army, in +which, to every horse, there were _two_ men, one the rider, and the +other a sort of foot soldier and attendant. If the battle went against +them, and the squadron were put to their speed in a retreat, these +footmen would cling to the manes-of the horses, and then, half running, +half flying, they would be borne along over the field, thus keeping +always at the side of their comrades, and escaping with them to a place +of safety. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's plans.] + +But, although the Romans were inclined to consider these nations as only +half civilized, still there would be great glory, as Caesar thought, in +subduing them, and probably great treasure would be secured in the +conquest, both by the plunder and confiscation of governmental +property, and by the tribute which would be collected in taxes from the +people of the countries subdued. Caesar accordingly placed himself at +the head of an army of three Roman legions, which he contrived, by means +of a great deal of political maneuvering and management, to have raised +and placed under his command. One of these legions, which was called the +tenth legion, was his favorite corps, on account of the bravery and +hardihood which they often displayed. At the head of these legions, +Caesar set out for Gaul. He was at this time not far from forty years +of age. + +[Sidenote: His pretexts.] + +Caesar had no difficulty in finding pretexts for making war upon any of +these various nations that he might desire to subdue. They were, of +course, frequently at war with each other, and there were at all times +standing topics of controversy and unsettled disputes among them. Caesar +had, therefore, only to draw near to the scene of contention, and then +to take sides with one party or the other, it mattered little with +which, for the affair almost always resulted, in the end, in his making +himself master of both. The manner, however, in which this sort of +operation was performed, can best be illustrated by an example, and we +will take for the purpose the case of Ariovistus. + +[Sidenote: Ariovistus.] +[Sidenote: The Aeduans.] + +Ariovistus was a German king. He had been nominally a sort of ally of +the Romans. He had extended his conquests across the Rhine into Gaul, +and he held some nations there as his tributaries. Among these, the +Aeduans were a prominent party, and, to simplify the account, we will +take their name as the representative of all who were concerned. When +Caesar came into the region of the Aeduans, he entered into some +negotiations with them, in which they, as he alleges, asked his +assistance to enable them to throw off the dominion of their German +enemy. It is probable, in fact, that there was some proposition of this +kind from them, for Caesar had abundant means of inducing them to make +it, if he was disposed, and the receiving of such a communication +furnished the most obvious and plausible pretext to authorize and +justify his interposition. + +Caesar accordingly sent a messenger across the Rhine to Ariovistus, +saying that he wished to have an interview with him on business of +importance, and asking him to name a time which would be convenient to +him for the interview, and also to appoint some place in Gaul where he +would attend. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's negotiations with Ariovistus.] + +To this Ariovistus replied, that if he had, himself, any business with +Caesar, he would have waited upon him to propose it; and, in the same +manner, if Caesar wished to see him, he must come into his own +dominions. He said that it would not be safe for him to come into Gaul +without an army, and that it was not convenient for him to raise and +equip an army for such a purpose at that time. + +[Sidenote: His message.] + +Caesar sent again to Ariovistus to say, that since he was so unmindful +of his obligations to the Roman people as to refuse an interview with +him on business of common interest, he would state the particulars that +he required of him. The Aeduans, he said, were now his allies, and under +his protection; and Ariovistus must send back the hostages which he held +from them, and bind himself henceforth not to send any more troops +across the Rhine, nor make war upon the Aeduans, or injure them in any +way. If he complied with these terms, all would be well. If he did not, +Caesar said that he should not himself disregard the just complaints of +his allies. + +[Sidenote: Ariovistus's spirited reply to Caesar.] + +Ariovistus had no fear of Caesar. Caesar had, in fact, thus far, not +begun to acquire the military renown to which he afterward attained +Ariovistus had, therefore, no particular cause to dread his power. He +sent him back word that he did not understand why Caesar should +interfere between him and his conquered province. + +"The Aeduans," said he, "tried the fortune of war with me, and were +overcome; and they must abide the issue. The Romans manage their +conquered provinces as they judge proper, without holding themselves +accountable to any one. I shall do the same with mine. All that I can +say is, that so long as the Aeduans submit peaceably to my authority, +and pay their tribute, I shall not molest them; as to your threat that +you shall not disregard their complaints, you must know that no one has +ever made war upon me but to his own destruction, and, if you wish to +see how it will turn out in your case, you may make the experiment +whenever you please." + +[Sidenote: Preparations for war.] + +Both parties immediately prepared for war. Ariovistus, instead of +waiting to be attacked, assembled his army, crossed the Rhine, and +advanced into the territories from which Caesar had undertaken to +exclude him. + +[Sidenote: Panic in the Roman army.] + +As Caesar, however, began to make his arrangements for putting his army +in motion to meet his approaching enemy, there began to circulate +throughout the camp such extraordinary stories of the terrible strength +and courage of the German soldiery as to produce a very general panic. +So great, at length, became the anxiety and alarm, that even the +officers were wholly dejected and discouraged; and as for the men, they +were on the very eve of mutiny. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's address.] + +When Caesar understood this state of things, he called an assembly of +the troops, and made an address to them. He told them that he was +astonished to learn to what an extent an unworthy despondency and fear +had taken possession of their minds, and how little confidence they +reposed in him, their general. And then, after some further remarks +about the duty of a soldier to be ready to go wherever his commander +leads him, and presenting also some considerations in respect to the +German troops with which they were going to contend, in order to show +them that they had no cause to fear, he ended by saying that he had not +been fully decided as to the time of marching, but that now he had +concluded to give orders for setting out the next morning at three +o'clock, that he might learn, as soon as possible, who were too cowardly +to follow him. He would go himself, he said, if he was attended by the +tenth legion alone He was sure that they would not shrink from any +undertaking in which he led the way. + +[Sidenote: Effect of Caesar's address.] +[Sidenote: Proposals for an interview.] + +The soldiers, moved partly by shame, partly by the decisive and +commanding tone which their general assumed, and partly reassured by the +courage and confidence which he seemed to feel, laid aside their fears, +and vied with each other henceforth in energy and ardor. The armies +approached each other. Ariovistus sent to Caesar, saying that now, if he +wished it, he was ready for an interview. Caesar acceded to the +suggestion, and the arrangements for a conference were made, each party, +as usual in such cases, taking every precaution to guard against the +treachery of the other. + +Between the two camps there was a rising ground, in the middle of an +open plain, where it was decided that the conference should be held. +Ariovistus proposed that neither party should bring any foot soldiers to +the place of meeting, but cavalry alone; and that these bodies of +cavalry, brought by the respective generals, should remain at the foot +of the eminence on either side, while Caesar and Ariovistus themselves, +attended each by only ten followers on horseback, should ascend it. This +plan was acceded to by Caesar, and a long conference was held in this +way between the two generals, as they sat upon their horses, on the +summit of the hill. + +[Sidenote: Conference between Caesar and Ariovistus.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's messenger seized.] + +The two generals, in their discussion, only repeated in substance what +they had said in their embassages before, and made no progress toward +coming to an understanding. At length Caesar closed the conference and +withdrew. Some days afterward Ariovistus sent a request to Caesar, +asking that he would appoint another interview, or else that he would +depute one of his officers to proceed to Ariovistus's camp and receive a +communication which he wished to make to him. Caesar concluded not to +grant another interview, and he did not think it prudent to send any one +of his principal officers as an embassador, for fear that he might be +treacherously seized and held as a hostage. He accordingly sent an +ordinary messenger, accompanied by one or two men. These men were all +seized and put in irons as soon as they reached the camp of Ariovistus, +and Caesar now prepared in earnest for giving his enemy battle. + +[Sidenote: Defeat of the Germans.] + +He proved himself as skillful and efficient in arranging and managing +the combat as he had been sagacious and adroit in the negotiations which +preceded it. Several days were spent in maneuvers and movements, by +which each party endeavored to gain some advantage over the other in +respect to their position in the approaching struggle. When at length +the combat came, Caesar and his legions were entirely and triumphantly +successful. The Germans were put totally to flight. Their baggage and +stores were all seized, and the troops themselves fled in dismay by all +the roads which led back to the Rhine; and there those who succeeded in +escaping death from the Romans, who pursued them all the way, embarked +in boats and upon rafts, and returned to their homes. Ariovistus himself +found a small boat, in which, with one or two followers, he succeeded in +getting across the stream. + +[Sidenote: Release of Caesar's messenger.] + +As Caesar, at the head of a body of his troops, was pursuing the enemy +in this their flight, he overtook one party who had a prisoner with them +confined by iron chains fastened to his limbs, and whom they were +hurrying rapidly along. This prisoner proved to be the messenger that +Caesar had sent to Ariovistus's camp, and whom he had, as Caesar +alleges, treacherously detained. Of course, he was overjoyed to be +recaptured and set at liberty. The man said that three times they had +drawn lots to see whether they should burn him alive then, or reserve +the pleasure for a future occasion, and that every time the lot had +resulted in his favor. + +[Sidenote: Results of the victory.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's continued success.] + +The consequence of this victory was, that Caesar's authority was +established triumphantly over all that part of Gaul which he had thus +freed from Ariovistus's sway. Other parts of the country, too, were +pervaded by the fame of his exploits, and the people every where began +to consider what action it would be incumbent on them to take, in +respect to the new military power which had appeared so suddenly among +them. Some nations determined to submit without resistance, and to seek +the conqueror's alliance and protection. Others, more bold, or more +confident of their strength, began to form combinations and to arrange +plans for resisting him. But, whatever they did, the result in the end +was the same. Caesar's ascendency was every where and always gaining +ground. Of course, it is impossible in the compass of a single chapter, +which is all that can be devoted to the subject in this volume, to give +any regular narrative of the events of the eight years of Caesar's +military career in Gaul. Marches, negotiations, battles, and victories +mingled with and followed each other in a long succession, the +particulars of which it would require a volume to detail, every thing +resulting most successfully for the increase of Caesar's power and the +extension of his fame. + +[Sidenote: Account of northern nations.] +[Sidenote: Their strange customs.] +[Sidenote: Well-trained horses.] + +Caesar gives, in his narrative, very extraordinary accounts of the +customs and modes of life of some of the people that he encountered. +There was one country, for example, in which all the lands were common, +and the whole structure of society was based on the plan of forming the +community into one great martial band. The nation was divided into a +hundred cantons, each containing two thousand men capable of bearing +arms. If these were all mustered into service together, they would form, +of course, an army of two hundred thousand men. It was customary, +however, to organize only one half of them into an army, while the rest +remained at home to till the ground and tend the flocks and herds. These +two great divisions interchanged their work every year, the soldiers +becoming husbandmen, and the husbandmen soldiers. Thus they all became +equally inured to the hardships and dangers of the camp, and to the more +continuous but safer labors of agricultural toil. Their fields were +devoted to pasturage more than to tillage, for flocks and herds could be +driven from place to place, and thus more easily preserved from the +depredations of enemies than fields of grain. The children grew up +almost perfectly wild from infancy, and hardened themselves by bathing +in cold streams, wearing very little clothing, and making long hunting +excursions among the mountains. The people had abundance of excellent +horses, which the young men were accustomed, from their earliest years, +to ride without saddle or bridle, the horses being trained to obey +implicitly every command. So admirably disciplined were they, that +sometimes, in battle, the mounted men would leap from their horses and +advance as foot soldiers to aid the other infantry, leaving the horses +to stand until they returned. The horses would not move from the spot; +the men, when the object for which they had dismounted was accomplished, +would come back, spring to their seats again, and once more become a +squadron of cavalry. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity with the army.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's military habits.] +[Sidenote: His bridge across the Rhine.] + +Although Caesar was very energetic and decided in the government of his +army, he was extremely popular with his soldiers in all these campaigns. +He exposed his men, of course, to a great many privations and hardships, +but then he evinced, in many cases, such a willingness to bear his share +of them, that the men were very little inclined to complain. He moved +at the head of the column when his troops were advancing on a march, +generally on horseback, but often on foot; and Suetonius says that he +used to go bareheaded on such occasions, whatever was the state of the +weather, though it is difficult to see what the motive of this +apparently needless exposure could be, unless it was for effect, on some +special or unusual occasion. Caesar would ford or swim rivers with his +men whenever there was no other mode of transit, sometimes supported, it +was said, by bags inflated with air, and placed under his arms. At one +time he built a bridge across the Rhine, to enable his army to cross +that river. This bridge was built with piles driven down into the sand, +which supported a flooring of timbers. Caesar, considering it quite an +exploit thus to bridge the Rhine, wrote a minute account of the manner +in which the work was constructed, and the description is almost exactly +in accordance with the principles and usages of modern carpentry. + +[Sidenote: System of posts.] +[Sidenote: Their great utility.] + +After the countries which were the scene of these conquests were pretty +well subdued, Caesar established on some of the great routes of travel a +system of posts, that is, he stationed supplies of horses at intervals +of from ten to twenty miles along the way, so that he himself, or the +officers of his army, or any couriers whore he might have occasion to +send with dispatches could travel with great speed by finding a fresh +horse ready at every stage. By this means he sometimes traveled himself +a hundred miles in a day. This system, thus adopted for military +purposes in Caesar's time, has been continued in almost all countries of +Europe to the present age, and is applied to traveling in carriages as +well as on horseback. A family party purchase a carriage, and arranging +within it all the comforts and conveniences which they will require on +the journey, they set out, taking these post horses, fresh at each +village, to draw them to the next. Thus they can go at any rate of speed +which they desire, instead of being limited in their movements by the +powers of endurance of one set of animals, as they would be compelled to +be if they were to travel with their own. This plan has, for some +reason, never been introduced into America, and it is now probable that +it never will be, as the railway system will doubtless supersede it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's invasion of Britain.] +[Sidenote: His pretext for it.] + +One of the most remarkable of the enterprises which Caesar undertook +during the period of these campaigns was his excursion into Great +Britain. The real motive of this expedition was probably a love of +romantic adventure, and a desire to secure for himself at Rome the glory +of having penetrated into remote regions which Roman armies had never +reached before. The pretext, however, which he made to justify his +invading the territories of the Britons was, that the people of the +island were accustomed to come across the Channel and aid the Gauls in +their wars. + +[Sidenote: Caesar consults the merchants.] + +In forming his arrangements for going into England, the first thing was, +to obtain all the information which was accessible in Gaul in respect to +the country. There were, in those days, great numbers of traveling +merchants, who went from one nation to another to purchase and sell, +taking with them such goods as were most easy of transportation. These +merchants, of course, were generally possessed of a great deal of +information in respect to the countries which they had visited, and +Caesar called together as many of them as he could find, when he had +reached the northern shores of France, to inquire about the modes of +crossing the Channel, the harbors on the English side, the geographical +conformation of the country, and the military resources of the people. +He found, however, that the merchants could give him very little +information. They knew that Britain was an island, but they did not know +its extent or its boundaries; and they could tell him very little of the +character or customs of the people. They said that they had only been +accustomed to land upon the southern shore, and to transact all their +business there, without penetrating at all into the interior of +the country. + +[Sidenote: Volusenus.] + +Caesar then, who, though undaunted and bold in emergencies requiring +prompt and decisive action, was extremely cautious and wary at all other +times, fitted up a single ship, and, putting one of his officers on +board with a proper crew, directed him to cross the Channel to the +English coast, and then to cruise along the land for some miles in each +direction, to observe where were the best harbors and places for +landing, and to examine generally the appearance of the shore. This +vessel was a galley, manned with numerous oarsmen, well selected and +strong, so that it could retreat with great speed from any sudden +appearance of danger The name of the officer who had the command of it +was Volusenus. Volusenus set sail, the army watching his vessel with +great interest as it moved slowly away from the shore. He was gone five +days, and then returned, bringing Caesar an account of his discoveries. + +[Sidenote: Caesar collects vessels.] + +In the mean time, Caesar had collected a large number of sailing vessels +from the whole line of the French shore, by means of which he proposed +to transport his army across the Channel. He had two legions to take +into Britain, the remainder of his forces having been stationed as +garrisons in various parts of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to leave a +considerable force at his post of debarkation, in order to secure a safe +retreat in case of any disaster on the British side. The number of +transport ships provided for the foot soldiers which were to be taken +over was eighty. There were, besides these, eighteen more, which were +appointed to convey a squadron of horse. This cavalry force was to +embark at a separate port, about eighty miles distant from the one from +which the infantry were to sail. + +[Sidenote: Embarkation of the troops.] + +At length a suitable day for the embarkation arrived; the troops were +put on board the ships, and orders were given to sail. The day could not +be fixed beforehand, as the time for attempting to make the passage must +necessarily depend upon the state of the wind and weather. Accordingly, +when the favorable opportunity arrived, and the main body of the army +began to embark it took some time to send the orders to the port where +the cavalry had rendezvoused; and there were, besides, other causes of +delay which occurred to detain this corps, so that it turned out, as we +shall presently see, that the foot soldiers had to act alone in the +first attempt at landing on the British shore. + +[Sidenote: Sailing of the fleet.] +[Sidenote: Preparations of the Britons.] + +It was one o'clock in the morning when the fleet set sail. The Britons +had, in the mean time, obtained intelligence of Caesar's threatened +invasion, and they had assembled in great force, with troops, and +horsemen, and carriages of war, and were all ready to guard the shore. +The coast, at the point where Caesar was approaching, consists of a line +of chalky cliffs, with valley-like openings here and there between them, +communicating with the shore, and sometimes narrow beaches below. When +the Roman fleet approached the land, Caesar found the cliffs every where +lined with troops of Britons, and every accessible point below carefully +guarded. It was now about ten o'clock in the morning, and Caesar, +finding the prospect so unfavorable in respect to the practicability of +effecting a landing here, brought his fleet to anchor near the shore, +but far enough from it to be safe from the missiles of the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Caesar calls a council of officers.] + +Here he remained for several hours, to give time for all the vessels to +join him. Some of them had been delayed in the embarkation, or had made +slower progress than the rest in crossing the Channel. He called a +council, too, of the superior officers of the army on board his own +galley, and explained to them the plan which he now adopted for the +landing. About three o'clock in the afternoon he sent these officers +back to their respective ships, and gave orders to make sail along the +shore. The anchors were raised and the fleet moved on, borne by the +united impulse of the wind and the tide. The Britons, perceiving this +movement, put themselves in motion on the land, following the motions of +the fleet so as to be ready to meet their enemy wherever they might +ultimately undertake to land. Their horsemen and carriages went on in +advance, and the foot soldiers followed, all pressing eagerly forward to +keep up with the motion of the fleet, and to prevent Caesar's army from +having time to land before they should arrive at the spot and be ready +to oppose them. + +[Illustration: THE LANDING IN ENGLAND] + +[Sidenote: The landing.] +[Sidenote: The battle.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of the Britons.] + +The fleet moved on until, at length, after sailing about eight miles, +they came to a part of the coast where there was a tract of +comparatively level ground, which seemed to be easily accessible from +the shore. Here Caesar determined to attempt to land; and drawing up his +vessel, accordingly, as near as possible to the beach, he ordered the +men to leap over into the water, with their weapons in their hands. The +Britons were all here to oppose them, and a dreadful struggle ensued, +the combatants dyeing the waters with their blood as they fought, half +submerged in the surf which rolled in upon the sand. Some galleys rowed +up at the same time near to the shore, and the men on board of them +attacked the Britons from the decks, by the darts and arrows which they +shot to the land. Caesar at last prevailed; the Britons were driven +away, and the Roman army established themselves in quiet possession of +the shore. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity at Rome.] + +Caesar had afterward a great variety of adventures, and many narrow +escapes from imminent dangers in Britain, and, though he gained +considerable glory by thus penetrating into such remote and unknown +regions, there was very little else to be acquired. The glory, however, +was itself of great value to Caesar. During the whole period of his +campaigns in Gaul, Rome and all Italy in fact, had been filled with the +fame of his exploits, and the expedition into Britain added not a little +to his renown. The populace of the city were greatly gratified to hear +of the continued success of their former favorite. They decreed to him +triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him, whenever he +should return, with greater honors and more extended and higher powers +than he had ever enjoyed before. + +[Sidenote: Results of his campaigns.] + +Caesar's exploits in these campaigns were, in fact, in a military point +of view, of the most magnificent character. Plutarch, in summing up the +results of them, says that he took eight hundred cities, conquered three +hundred nations, fought pitched battles at separate times with three +millions of men, took one million of prisoners, and killed another +million on the field. What a vast work of destruction was this for a man +to spend eight years of his life in performing upon his +fellow-creatures, merely to gratify his insane love of dominion. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +POMPEY. + +[Sidenote: Pompey.] + +While Caesar had thus been rising to so high an elevation, there was +another Roman general who had been, for nearly the same period, engaged, +in various other quarters of the world, in acquiring, by very similar +means, an almost equal renown. This general was Pompey. He became, in +the end, Caesar's great and formidable rival. In order that the reader +may understand clearly the nature of the great contest which sprung up +at last between these heroes, we must now go back and relate some of the +particulars of Pompey's individual history down to the time of the +completion of Caesar's conquests in Gaul. + +[Sidenote: His birth.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's personal appearance.] + +Pompey was a few years older than Caesar, having been born in 106 B.C. +His father was a Roman general, and the young Pompey was brought up in +camp. He was a young man of very handsome figure and countenance, and of +very agreeable manners. His hair curled slightly over his forehead, and +he had a dark and intelligent eye, full of vivacity and meaning. There +was, besides, in the expression of his face, and in his air and address, +a certain indescribable charm, which prepossessed every one strongly in +his favor, and gave him, from his earliest years, a great personal +ascendency over all who knew him. + +[Sidenote: Plans to assassinate him.] + +Notwithstanding this popularity, however, Pompey did not escape, even in +very early life, incurring his share of the dangers which seemed to +environ the path of every public man in those distracted times. It will +be recollected that, in the contests between Marius and Sylla, Caesar +had joined the Marian faction. Pompey's father, on the other hand, had +connected himself with that of Sylla. At one time, in the midst of these +wars, when Pompey was very young, a conspiracy was formed to assassinate +his father by burning him in his tent, and Pompey's comrade, named +Terentius, who slept in the same tent with him, had been bribed to kill +Pompey himself at the same time, by stabbing him in his bed. Pompey +contrived to discover this plan, but, instead of being at all +discomposed by it, he made arrangements for a guard about his father's +tent and then went to supper as usual with Terentius, conversing with +him all the time in even a more free and friendly manner than usual. +That night he arranged his bed so as to make it appear as if he was in +it, and then stole away. When the appointed hour arrived, Terentius came +into the tent, and, approaching the couch where he supposed Pompey was +lying asleep, stabbed it again and again, piercing the coverlets in many +places, but doing no harm, of course, to his intended victim. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's adventures and escapes.] +[Sidenote: Death of his father.] +[Sidenote: Pompey appears in his father's defense.] + +In the course of the wars between Marius and Sylla, Pompey passed +through a great variety of scenes, and met with many extraordinary +adventures and narrow escapes, which, however, can not be here +particularly detailed. His father, who was as much hated by his soldiers +as the son was beloved, was at last, one day, struck by lightning in his +tent. The soldiers were inspired with such a hatred for his memory, in +consequence, probably, of the cruelties and oppressions which they had +suffered from him, that they would not allow his body to be honored with +the ordinary funeral obsequies. They pulled it off from the bier on +which it was to have been borne to the funeral pile, and dragged it +ignominiously away. Pompey's father was accused, too, after his death, +of having converted some public moneys which had been committed to his +charge to his own use, and Pompey appeared in the Roman Forum as an +advocate to defend him from the charge and to vindicate his memory. He +was very successful in this defense. All who heard it were, in the first +instance, very deeply interested in favor of the speaker, on account of +his extreme youth and his personal beauty; and, as he proceeded with his +plea, he argued with so much eloquence and power as to win universal +applause. One of the chief officers of the government in the city was so +much pleased with his appearance, and with the promise of future +greatness which the circumstances indicated, that he offered him his +daughter in marriage. Pompey accepted the offer, and married the lady. +Her name was Antistia. + +[Sidenote: His success as a general.] +[Sidenote: Pompey defeats the armies.] + +Pompey rose rapidly to higher and higher degrees of distinction, until +he obtained the command of an army, which he had, in fact, in a great +measure raised and organized himself, and he fought at the head of it +with great energy and success against the enemies of Sylla. At length he +was hemmed in on the eastern coast of Italy by three separate armies, +which were gradually advancing against him, with a certainty, as they +thought, of effecting his destruction. Sylla, hearing of Pompey's +danger, made great efforts to march to his rescue. Before he reached the +place, however, Pompey had met and defeated one after another of the +armies of his enemies, so that, when Sylla approached, Pompey marched +out to meet him with his army drawn up in magnificent array, trumpets +sounding and banners flying, and with large bodies of disarmed troops, +the prisoners that he had taken, in the rear. Sylla was struck with +surprise and admiration; and when Pompey saluted him with the title of +_Imperator_, which was the highest title known to the Roman +constitution, and the one which Sylla's lofty rank and unbounded power +might properly claim, Sylla returned the compliment by conferring this +great mark of distinction on him. + +[Sidenote: His rising fame.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's modesty.] + +Pompey proceeded to Rome, and the fame of his exploits, the singular +fascination of his person and manners, and the great favor with Sylla +that he enjoyed, raised him to a high degree of distinction. He was not, +however, elated with the pride and vanity which so young a man would be +naturally expected to exhibit under such circumstances. He was, on the +contrary, modest and unassuming, and he acted in all respects in such a +manner as to gain the approbation and the kind regard of all who knew +him, as well as to excite their applause. There was an old general at +this time in Gaul--for all these events took place long before the time +of Caesar's campaigns in that country, and, in fact, before the +commencement of his successful career in Rome--whose name was Metellus, +and who, either on account of his advancing age, or for some other +reason, was very inefficient and unsuccessful in his government. Sylla +proposed to supersede him by sending Pompey to take his place. Pompey +replied that it was not right to take the command from a man who was so +much his superior in age and character, but that, if Metellus wished for +his _assistance_ in the management of his command, he would proceed to +Gaul and render him every service in his power. When this answer was +reported to Metellus, he wrote to Pompey to come. Pompey accordingly +went to Gaul, where he obtained new victories, and gained new and higher +honors than before. + +[Sidenote: An example.] +[Sidenote: Pompey divorces his wife.] +[Sidenote: He marries Sylla's daughter-in-law.] + +These, and various anecdotes which the ancient historians relate, would +lead us to form very favorable ideas of Pompey's character. Some other +circumstances, however, which occurred, seem to furnish different +indications. For example, on his return to Rome, some time after the +events above related, Sylla, whose estimation of Pompey's character and +of the importance of his services seemed continually to increase, wished +to connect him with his own family by marriage. He accordingly proposed +that Pompey should divorce his wife Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the +daughter-in-law of Sylla. Aemilia was already the wife of another man, +from whom she would have to be taken away to make her the wife of +Pompey. This, however, does not seem to have been thought a very serious +difficulty in the way of the arrangement. Pompey's wife was put away, +and the wife of another man taken in her place. Such a deed was a gross +violation not merely of revealed and written law, but of those universal +instincts of right and wrong which are implanted indelibly in all human +hearts. It ended, as might have been expected, most disastrously. +Antistia was plunged, of course, into the deepest distress. Her father +had recently lost his life on account of his supposed attachment to +Pompey. Her mother killed herself in the anguish and despair produced by +the misfortunes of her family; and Aemilia the new wife, died suddenly, +on the occasion of the birth of a child, a very short time after her +marriage with Pompey. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's success in Africa.] +[Sidenote: Attachment of his soldiers.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's title as "Great."] + +These domestic troubles did not, however, interpose any serious obstacle +to Pompey's progress in his career of greatness and glory. Sylla sent +him on one great enterprise after another, in all of which Pompey +acquitted himself in an admirable manner. Among his other campaigns, he +served for some time in Africa with great success. He returned in due +time from this expedition, loaded with military honors. His soldiers had +become so much attached to him that there was almost a mutiny in the +army when he was ordered home. They were determined to submit to no +authority but that of Pompey. Pompey at length succeeded, by great +efforts, in subduing this spirit, and bringing back the army to their +duty. A false account of the affair, however, went to Rome. It was +reported to Sylla that there was a revolt in the army of Africa, headed +by Pompey himself, who was determined not to resign his command. Sylla +was at first very indignant that his authority should be despised and +his power braved, as he expressed it, by "such a boy;" for Pompey was +still, at this time, very young. When, however, he learned the truth, he +conceived a higher admiration for the young general than ever. He went +out to meet him as he approached the city, and, in accosting him, he +called him Pompey the Great. Pompey has continued to bear the title thus +given him to the present day. + +[Sidenote: He demands a triumph.] + +Pompey began, it seems, now to experience, in some degree, the usual +effects produced upon the human heart by celebrity and praise. He +demanded a triumph. A triumph was a great and splendid ceremony, by +which victorious generals, who were of advanced age and high civil or +military rank, were received into the city when returning from any +specially glorious campaign. There was a grand procession formed on +these occasions, in which various emblems and insignia, and trophies of +victory, and captives taken by the conqueror, were displayed. This great +procession entered the city with bands of music accompanying it, and +flags and banners flying, passing under triumphal arches erected along +the way. Triumphs were usually decreed by a vote of the Senate, in cases +where they were deserved; but, in this case, Sylla's power as dictator +was supreme, and Pompey's demand for a triumph seems to have been +addressed accordingly to him. + +[Sidenote: Sylla refuses Pompey a triumph.] + +Sylla refused it. Pompey's performances in the African campaign had +been, he admitted, very creditable to him, but he had neither the Age +nor the rank to justify the granting him a triumph. To bestow such an +honor upon one so young and in such a station, would only bring the +honor itself, he said, into disrepute, and degrade, also, his +dictatorship for suffering it. + +[Sidenote: But at last consents.] + +To this Pompey replied, speaking, however, in an under tone to those +around him in the assembly, that Sylla need not fear that the triumph +would be unpopular, for people were much more disposed to worship a +rising than a setting sun. Sylla did not hear this remark, but, +perceiving by the countenances of the by-standers that Pompey had said +something which seemed to please them, he asked what it was. When the +remark was repeated to him, he seemed pleased himself with its justness +or with its wit, and said, "Let him have his triumph." + +[Sidenote: Pompey's triumph.] + +The arrangements were accordingly made Pompey ordering every thing +necessary to be prepared for a most magnificent procession. He learned +that some persons in the city, envious at his early renown, were +displeased with his triumph; this only awakened in him a determination +to make it still more splendid and imposing. He had brought some +elephants with him from Africa, and he formed a plan for having the car +in which he was to ride in the procession drawn by four of these huge +beasts as it entered the city; but, on measuring the gate, it was found +not wide enough to admit such a team, and the plan was accordingly +abandoned. The conqueror's car was drawn by horses in the usual manner, +and the elephants followed singly, with the other trophies, to grace +the train. + +[Sidenote: His course of conduct at Rome.] + +Pompey remained some time after this in Rome, sustaining from time to +time various offices of dignity and honor. His services were often +called for to plead causes in the Forum, and he performed this duty, +whenever he undertook it, with great success. He, however, seemed +generally inclined to retire somewhat from intimate intercourse with the +mass of the community, knowing very well that if he was engaged often in +the discussion of common questions with ordinary men, he should soon +descend in public estimation from the high position to which his +military renown had raised him. He accordingly accustomed himself to +appear but little in public, and, when he did so appear, he was +generally accompanied by a large retinue of armed attendants, at the +head of which he moved about the city in great state, more like a +victorious general in a conquered province than like a peaceful citizen +exercising ordinary official functions in a community governed by law. +This was a very sagacious course, so far as concerned the attainment of +the great objects of future ambition. Pompey knew very well that +occasions would probably arise in which he could act far more +effectually for the promotion of his own greatness and fame than by +mingling in the ordinary municipal contests of the city. + +[Sidenote: The Cilician pirates.] +[Sidenote: Their increasing depredations.] +[Sidenote: Ships and fortresses of the Cilicians.] +[Sidenote: Their conquests.] + +At length, in fact, an occasion came. In the year B.C. 67, which was +about the time that Caesar commenced his successful career in rising to +public office in Rome, as is described in the third chapter of this +volume, the Cilician pirates, of whose desperate character and bold +exploits something has already been said, had become so powerful, and +were increasing so rapidly in the extent of their depredations, that the +Roman people felt compelled to adopt some very vigorous measures for +suppressing them. The pirates had increased in numbers during the wars +between Marius and Sylla in a very alarming degree. They had built, +equipped, and organized whole fleets. They had various fortresses, +arsenals, ports, and watch-towers all along the coasts of the +Mediterranean. They had also extensive warehouses, built in secure and +secluded places, where they stored their plunder. Their fleets were well +manned, and provided with skillful pilots, and with ample supplies of +every kind; and they were so well constructed, both for speed and +safety, that no other ships could be made to surpass them. Many of them, +too, were adorned and decorated in the most sumptuous manner, with +gilded sterns, purple awnings, and silver-mounted oars. The number of +their galleys was said to be a thousand. With this force they made +themselves almost complete masters of the sea. They attacked not only +separate ships, but whole fleets of merchantmen sailing under convoy; +and they increased the difficulty and expense of bringing grain to Rome +so much, by intercepting the supplies, as very materially to enhance the +price and to threaten a scarcity. They made themselves masters of many +islands and of various maritime towns along the coast, until they had +four hundred ports and cities in their possession. In fact, they had +gone so far toward forming themselves into a regular maritime power, +under a systematic and legitimate government, that very respectable +young men from other countries began to enter their service, as one +opening honorable avenues to wealth and fame. + +[Sidenote: Plan for destroying the pirates.] +[Sidenote: Its magnitude.] + +Under these circumstances, it was obvious that something decisive must +be done. A friend of Pompey's brought forward a plan for commissioning +some one, he did not say whom, but every one understood that Pompey was +intended, to be sent forth against the pirates, with extraordinary +powers, such as should be amply sufficient to enable him to bring their +dominion to an end. He was to have supreme command upon the sea, and +also upon the land for fifty miles from the shore. He was, moreover, to +be empowered to raise as large a force, both of ships and men, as he +should think required, and to draw from the treasury whatever funds were +necessary to defray the enormous expenses which so vast an undertaking +would involve. If the law should pass creating this office, and a person +be designated to fill it, it is plain that such a commander would be +clothed with enormous powers; but then he would incur, on the other +hand, a vast and commensurate responsibility, as the Roman people would +hold him rigidly accountable for the full and perfect accomplishment of +the work he under took, after they had thus surrendered every possible +power necessary to accomplish it so unconditionally into his hands. + +[Sidenote: Pompey appointed to the command.] +[Sidenote: Fall in the price of grain.] + +There was a great deal of maneuvering, management, and debate on the one +hand to effect the passage of this law, and, on the other, to defeat it. +Caesar, who, though not so prominent yet as Pompey, was now rising +rapidly to influence and power, was in favor of the measure, because, as +is said, he perceived that the people were pleased with it. It was at +length adopted. Pompey was then designated to fill the office which the +law created. He accepted the trust, and began to prepare for the vast +undertaking. The price of grain fell immediately in Rome, as soon as the +appointment of Pompey was made known, as the merchants, who had large +supplies in the granaries there, were now eager to sell, even at a +reduction, feeling confident that Pompey's measures would result in +bringing in abundant supplies. The people, surprised at this sudden +relaxation of the pressure of their burdens, said that the very name of +Pompey had put an end to the war. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's complete success.] + +They were not mistaken in their anticipations of Pompey's success. He +freed the Mediterranean from pirates in three months, by one systematic +and simple operation, which affords one of the most striking examples of +the power of united and organized effort, planned and conducted by one +single master mind, which the history of ancient or modern times has +recorded. The manner in which this work was effected was this: + +[Sidenote: His mode of operation.] + +Pompey raised and equipped a vast number of galleys, and divided them +into separate fleets, putting each one under the command of a +lieutenant. He then divided the Mediterranean Sea into thirteen +districts, and appointed a lieutenant and his fleet for each one of them +as a guard. After sending these detachments forth to their respective +stations, he set out from the city himself to take charge of the +operations which he was to conduct in person. The people followed him, +as he went to the place where he was to embark, in great crowds, and +with long and loud acclamations. + +[Sidenote: Pompey drives the pirates before him.] +[Sidenote: Exultation at Rome.] + +Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar, Pompey cruised with a powerful +fleet toward the east, driving the pirates before him, the lieutenants, +who were stationed along the coast being on the alert to prevent them +from finding any places of retreat or refuge. Some of the pirates' ships +were surrounded and taken. Others fled, and were followed by Pompey's +ships until they had passed beyond the coasts of Sicily, and the seas +between the Italian and African shores. The communication was now open +again to the grain-growing countries south of Rome, and large supplies +of food were immediately poured into the city. The whole population was, +of course, filled with exultation and joy at receiving such welcome +proofs that Pompey was successfully accomplishing the work they had +assigned him. + +[Sidenote: The pirates concentrate themselves.] + +The Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which are, in fact, a +projection from the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with a salient +angle of the coast nearly opposite to them on the African side, form a +sort of strait which divides this great sea into two separate bodies of +water, and the pirates were now driven entirely out of the western +division. Pompey sent his principal fleet after them, with orders to +pass around the island of Sicily and the south era part of Italy to +Brundusium, which was the great port on the western side of Italy. He +himself was to cross the peninsula by land, taking Rome in his way, and +afterward to join the fleet at Brundusium. The pirates, in the mean +time, so far as they had escaped Pompey's cruisers, had retreated to the +seas in the neighborhood of Cilicia, and were concentrating their forces +there in preparation for the final struggle. + +Pompey was received at Rome with the utmost enthusiasm. The people came +out in throngs to meet him as he approached the city, and welcomed him +with loud acclamations. He did not, however, remain in the city to enjoy +these honors. He procured, as soon as possible, what was necessary for +the further prosecution of his work, and went on. He found his fleet at +Brundusium, and, immediately embarking, he put to sea. + +[Sidenote: Some of them surrender.] + +Pompey went on to the completion of his work with the same vigor and +decision which he had displayed in the commencement of it. Some of the +pirates, finding themselves hemmed in within narrower and narrower +limits, gave up the contest, and came and surrendered. Pompey, instead +of punishing them severely for their crimes, treated them, and their +wives and children, who fell likewise into his power, with great +humanity. This induced many others to follow their example, so that the +number that remained resisting to the end was greatly reduced. There +were, however, after all these submissions, a body of stern and +indomitable desperadoes left, who were incapable of yielding. These +retreated, with all the forces which they could retain, to their +strong-holds on the Silician shores, sending their wives and children +back to still securer retreats among the fastnesses of the mountains. + +[Sidenote: A great battle.] +[Sidenote: Disposal of the pirates.] + +Pompey followed them, hemming them in with the squadrons of armed +galleys which he brought up around them, thus cutting off from them all +possibility of escape. Here, at length, a great final battle was fought, +and the dominion of the pirates was ended forever. Pompey destroyed +their ships, dismantled their fortifications, restored the harbors and +towns which they had seized to their rightful owners, and sent the +pirates themselves, with their wives and children, far into the interior +of the country, and established them as agriculturists and herdsmen +there, in a territory which he set apart for the purpose, where they +might live in peace on the fruits of their own industry, without the +possibility of again disturbing the commerce of the seas. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's conquests in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: His magnificent triumph.] + +Instead of returning to Rome after these exploits, Pompey obtained new +powers from the government of the city, and pushed his way into Asia +Minor, where he remained several years, pursuing a similar career of +conquest to that of Caesar in Gaul. At length he returned to Rome, his +entrance into the city being signalized by a most magnificent triumph. +The procession for displaying the trophies, the captives, and the other +emblems of victory, and for conveying the vast accumulation of treasures +and spoils, was two days in passing into the city; and enough was left +after all for another triumph. Pompey was, in a word, on the very summit +of human grandeur and renown. + +[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's wife Julia.] +[Sidenote: Pompey and Caesar open enemies.] +[Sidenote: Their ambition.] + +He found, however, an old enemy and rival at Rome. This was Crassus, who +had been Pompey's opponent in earlier times, and who now renewed his +hostility. In the contest that ensued, Pompey relied on his renown, +Crassus on his wealth. Pompey attempted to please the people by combats +of lions and of elephants which he had brought home from his foreign +campaigns; Crassus courted their favor by distributing corn among them, +and inviting them to public feasts on great occasions. He spread for +them, at one time, it was said, ten thousand tables. All Rome was filled +with the feuds of these great political foes. It was at this time that +Caesar returned from Spain, and had the adroitness, as has already been +explained, to extinguish these feuds, and reconcile these apparently +implacable foes. He united them together, and joined them with himself +in a triple league, which is celebrated in Roman history as the first +_triumvirate_. The rivalry, however, of these great aspirants for power +was only suppressed and concealed, without being at all weakened or +changed. The death of Crassus soon removed him from the stage. Caesar +and Pompey continued afterward, for some time, an ostensible alliance. +Caesar attempted to strengthen this bond by giving Pompey his daughter +Julia for his wife. Julia, though so young--even her father was six +years younger than Pompey--was devotedly attached to her husband, and he +was equally fond of her. She formed, in fact, a strong bond of union +between the two great conquerors as long as she lived. One day, however, +there was a riot at an election, and men were killed so near to Pompey +that his robe was covered with blood. He changed it; the servants +carried home the bloody garment which he had taken off, and Julia was so +terrified at the sight, thinking that her husband had been killed, that +she fainted, and her constitution suffered very severely by the shock. +She lived some time afterward, but finally died under circumstances +which indicate that this occurrence was the cause. Pompey and Caesar now +soon became open enemies. The ambitious aspirations which each of them +cherished were so vast, that the world was not wide enough for them both +to be satisfied. They had assisted each other up the ascent which they +had been so many years in climbing, but now they had reached very near +to the summit, and the question was to be decided which of the two +should have his station there. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CROSSING THE RUBICON. + +[Sidenote: The Rubicon.] + +There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which +flowed westward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream +has been immortalized by the transactions which we are now about +to describe. + +[Sidenote: Its insignificance as a stream.] + +The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so +small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of +two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its +name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and +conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind +for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a +long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost. + +[Sidenote: Importance of the Rubicon as a boundary.] + +The Rubicon originally derived its importance from the fact that it was +the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed +by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent +countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This +country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the _hither_ +Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Caesar's +jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was +territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The +Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might +threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised +for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very +strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these +armies to the Capitol. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. +Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon +with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the +Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil +restriction to military power. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's expenditure of money at Rome.] +[Sidenote: His influence.] + +As Caesar found the time of his service in Gaul drawing toward a +conclusion, he turned his thoughts more and more toward Rome, +endeavoring to strengthen his interest there by every means in his +power, and to circumvent and thwart the designs of Pompey. He had and +partisans in Rome who acted for him and in his name. He sent immense +sums of money to these men, to be employed in such ways as would most +tend to secure the favor of the people. He ordered the Forum to be +rebuilt with great magnificence. He arranged great celebrations, in +which the people were entertained with an endless succession of games, +spectacles, and public feasts. When his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, +died, he celebrated her funeral with indescribable splendor. He +distributed corn in immense quantities among the people, and he sent a +great many captives home, to be trained as gladiators, to fight in the +theaters for their amusement. In many cases, too, where he found men of +talents and influence among the populace, who had become involved in +debt by their dissipations and extravagance, he paid their debts, and +thus secured their influence on his side. Men were astounded at the +magnitude of these expenditures, and, while the multitude rejoiced +thoughtlessly in the pleasures thus provided for them, the more +reflecting and considerate trembled at the greatness of the power which +was so rapidly rising to overshadow the land. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's personal popularity.] +[Sidenote: Public thanksgiving in his behalf.] + +It increased their anxiety to observe that Pompey was gaining the same +kind of influence and ascendency too. He had not the advantage which +Caesar enjoyed in the prodigious wealth obtained from the rich countries +over which Caesar ruled, but he possessed, instead of it, the advantage +of being all the time at Rome, and of securing, by his character and +action there, a very wide personal popularity and influence. Pompey was, +in fact, the idol of the people. At one time, when he was absent from +Rome, at Naples, he was taken sick. After being for some days in +considerable danger, the crisis passed favorably, and he recovered. Some +of the people of Naples proposed a public thanksgiving to the gods, to +celebrate his restoration to health. The plan was adopted by +acclamation, and the example, thus set, extended from city to city, +until it had spread throughout Italy, and the whole country was filled +with the processions, games, shows, and celebrations, which were +instituted every where in honor of the event. And when Pompey returned +from Naples to Rome, the towns on the way could not afford room for the +crowds that came forth to meet him. The high roads, the villages, the +ports, says Plutarch, were filled with sacrifices and entertainments. +Many received him with garlands on their heads and torches in their +hands, and, as they conducted him along, strewed the way with flowers. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's estimate of Caesar's power.] + +In fact, Pompey considered himself as standing far above Caesar in fame +and power, and this general burst of enthusiasm and applause, educed by +his recovery from sickness, confirmed him in this idea. He felt no +solicitude, he said, in respect to Caesar. He should take no special +precautions against any hostile designs which he might entertain on his +return from Gaul. It was he himself, he said, that had raised Caesar up +to whatever of elevation he had attained, and he could put him down even +more easily than he had exalted him. + +[Sidenote: Plans of the latter.] + +In the mean time, the period was drawing near in which Caesar's command +in the provinces was to expire; and, anticipating the struggle with +Pompey which was about to ensue, he conducted several of his legions +through the passes of the Alps, and advanced gradually, as he had a +right to do, across the country of the Po toward the Rubicon, revolving +in his capacious mind, as he came, the various plans by which he might +hope to gain the ascendency over the power of his mighty rival, and make +himself supreme. + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at Ravenna.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's demands.] + +He concluded that it would be his wisest policy not to a'tempt to +intimidate Pompey by great and open preparations for war, which might +tend to arouse him to vigorous measures of resistance, but rather to +cover and conceal his designs, and thus throw his enemy off his guard. +He advanced, therefore, toward the Rubicon with a small force. He +established his headquarters at Ravenna, a city not far from the river, +and employed himself in objects of local interest there, in order to +avert as much as possible the minds of the people from imagining that he +was contemplating any great design. Pompey sent to him to demand the +return of a certain legion which he had lent him from his own army at a +time when they were friends. Caesar complied with this demand without +any hesitation, and sent the legion home. He sent with this legion, +also, some other troops which were properly his own, thus evincing a +degree of indifference in respect to the amount of the force retained +under his command which seemed wholly inconsistent with the idea that he +contemplated any resistance to the authority of the government at Rome. + +[Sidenote: Caesar demands to be made consul.] +[Sidenote: Excitement in consequence.] + +In the mean time, the struggle at Rome between the partisans of Caesar +and Pompey grew more and more violent and alarming. Caesar through his +friends in the city, demanded to be elected consul. The other side +insisted that he must first, if that was his wish, resign the command of +his army, come to Rome, and present himself as a candidate in the +character of a private citizen. This the constitution of the state very +properly required. In answer to this requisition, Caesar rejoined, that, +if Pompey would lay down his military commands, he would do so too; if +not, it was unjust to require it of him. The services, he added, which +he had performed for his country, demanded some recompense, which, +moreover, they ought to be willing to award, even if, in order to do it, +it were necessary to relax somewhat in his favor the strictness of +ordinary rules. To a large part of the people of the city these demands +of Caesar appeared reasonable. They were clamorous to have them allowed. +The partisans of Pompey, with the stern and inflexible Cato at their +head, deemed them wholly inadmissible, and contended with the most +determined violence against them. The whole city was filled with the +excitement of this struggle, into which all the active and turbulent +spirits of the capital plunged with the most furious zeal, while the +more considerate and thoughtful of the population, remembering the days +of Marius and Sylla, trembled at the impending danger. Pompey himself +had no fear. He urged the Senate to resist to the utmost all of Caesar's +claims, saying, if Caesar should be so presumptuous as to attempt to +march to Rome, he could raise troops enough by stamping with his foot to +put him down. + +[Sidenote: Debates in the Senate.] +[Sidenote: Tumult and confusion.] +[Sidenote: Panic at Rome.] + +It would require a volume to contain a full account of the disputes and +tumults, the maneuvers and debates, the votes and decrees which marked +the successive stages of this quarrel. Pompey himself was all the time +without the city. He was in command of an army there, and no general, +while in command, was allowed to come within the gates. At last an +exciting debate was broken up in the Senate by one of the consuls rising +to depart, saying that he would hear the subject discussed no longer. +The time had arrived for action, and he should send a commander, with an +armed force, to defend the country from Caesar's threatened invasion. +Caesar's leading friends, two tribunes of the people, disguised +themselves as slaves, and fled to the north to join their master. The +country was filled with commotion and panic. The Commonwealth had +obviously more fear of Caesar than confidence in Pompey. The country +was full of rumors in respect to Caesar's power, and the threatening +attitude which he was assuming, while they who had insisted on +resistance seemed, after all, to have provided very inadequate means +with which to resist. A thousand plans were formed, and clamorously +insisted upon by their respective advocates, for averting the danger. +This only added to the confusion, and the city became at length pervaded +with a universal terror. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Ravenna.] + +While this was the state of things at Rome, Caesar was quietly +established at Ravenna; thirty or forty miles from the frontier. He was +erecting a building for a fencing school there and his mind seemed to be +occupied very busily with the plans and models of the edifice which the +architects had formed. Of course, in his intended march to Rome, his +reliance was not to be so much on the force which he should take with +him, as on the co-operation and support which he expected to find there. +It was his policy, therefore, to move as quietly and privately as +possible, and with as little display of violence, and to avoid every +thing which might indicate his intended march to any spies which might +be around him, or to any other person! who might be disposed to report +what they observed at Rome. Accordingly, on the very eve of his +departure, he busied himself with his fencing school, and assumed with +his officers and soldiers a careless and unconcerned air, which +prevented any one from suspecting his design. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's midnight march.] +[Sidenote: He loses his way.] + +In the course of the day he privately sent forward some cohorts to the +southward, with orders for them to encamp on the banks of the Rubicon. +When night came he sat down to supper as usual, and conversed with his +friends in his ordinary manner, and went with them afterward to a public +entertainment. As soon as it was dark and the streets were still, he set +off secretly from the city, accompanied by a very few attendants. +Instead of making use of his ordinary equipage, the parading of which +would have attracted attention to his movements, he had some mules taken +from a neighboring bake-house, and harnessed into his chaise. There were +torch-bearers provided to light the way. The cavalcade drove on during +the night, finding, however, the hasty preparations which had been made +inadequate for the occasion. The torches went out, the guides lost their +way, and the future conqueror of the world wandered about bewildered and +lost, until, just after break of day, the party met with a peasant +who undertook to guide them. Under his direction they made their way to +the main road again, and advanced then without further difficulty to the +banks of the river, where they found that portion of the army which had +been sent forward encamped, and awaiting their arrival. + +[Illustration: CROSSING THE RUBICON] + +[Sidenote: Caesar at the Rubicon.] +[Sidenote: His hesitation at the river.] + +Caesar stood for some time upon the banks of the stream, musing upon the +greatness of the undertaking in which simply passing across it would +involve him. His officers stood by his side. "We can retreat _now_" said +he, "but once across that river and we must go on." He paused for some +time, conscious of the vast importance of the decision, though he +thought only, doubtless, of its consequences to himself. Taking the step +which was now before him would necessarily end either in his realizing +the loftiest aspirations of his ambition, or in his utter and +irreparable ruin. There were vast public interests, too, at stake, of +which, however he probably thought but little. It proved, in the end, +that the history of the whole Roman world, for several centuries, was +depending upon the manner in which the question new in Caesar's mind +should turn. + +[Sidenote: Story of the shepherd trumpeter.] + +There was a little bridge across the Rubicon at the point where Caesar +was surveying it. While he was standing there, the story is, a peasant +or shepherd came from the neighboring fields with a shepherd's pipe--a +simple musical instrument, made of a reed, and used much by the rustic +musicians of those days. The soldiers and some of the officers gathered +around him to hear him play. Among the rest came some of Caesar's +trumpeters, with their trumpets in their hands. The shepherd took one of +these martial instruments from the hands of its possessor, laying aside +his own, and began to sound a charge--which is a signal for a rapid +advance--and to march at the same time over the bridge "An omen! a +prodigy!" said Caesar. "Let us march where we are called by such a +divine intimation. _The die is cast_." + +[Sidenote: Caesar crosses the Rubicon.] + +So saying, he pressed forward over the bridge, while the officers, +breaking up the encampment, put the columns in motion to follow him. + +It was shown abundantly, on many occasions in the course of Caesar's +life, that he had no faith in omens. There are equally numerous +instances to show that he was always ready to avail himself of the +popular belief in them; to awaken his soldiers' ardor or to allay their +fears. Whether, therefore, in respect to this story of the shepherd +trumpeter, it was an incident that really and accidentally occurred, or +whether Caesar planned and arranged it himself, with reference to its +effect, or whether, which is, perhaps, after all, the most probable +supposition, the tale was only an embellishment invented out of +something or nothing by the story-tellers of those days, to give +additional dramatic interest to the narrative of the crossing of the +Rubicon, it must be left for each reader to decide. + +[Sidenote: Caesar assembles his troops.] +[Sidenote: His address to them.] + +As soon as the bridge was crossed, Caesar called an assembly of his +troops, and, with signs of great excitement and agitation, made an +address to them on the magnitude of the crisis through which they were +passing. He showed them how entirely he was in their power; he urged +them, by the most eloquent appeals, to stand by him, faithful and true, +promising them the most ample rewards when he should have attained the +object at which he aimed. The soldiers responded to this appeal with +promises of the most unwavering fidelity. + +[Sidenote: Surrender of various towns.] + +The first town on the Roman side of the Rubicon was Ariminum. Caesar +advanced to this town. The authorities opened its gates to him--very +willing, as it appeared, to receive him as their commander. Caesar's +force was yet quite small, as he had been accompanied by only a single +legion in crossing the river. He had, however, sent orders for the other +legions, which had been left in Gaul, to join him without any delay, +though any re-enforcement of his troops seemed hardly necessary, as he +found no indications of opposition to his progress. He gave his soldiers +the strictest injunctions to do no injury to any property, public or +private, as they advanced, and not to assume, in any respect, a hostile +attitude toward the people of the country. The inhabitants, therefore, +welcomed him wherever he came, and all the cities and towns followed the +example of Ariminum, surrendering, in fact, faster than he could take +possession of them. + +[Sidenote: Domitius appointed to supersede Caesar.] + +In the confusion of the debates and votes in the Senate at Rome before +Caesar crossed the Rubicon, one decree had been passed deposing him from +his command of the army, and appointing a successor. The name of the +general thus appointed was Domitius. The only real opposition which +Caesar encountered in his progress toward Rome was from him. Domitius +had crossed the Apennines at the head of an army on his way northward to +supersede Caesar in his command, and had reached the town of Corfinium, +which was perhaps one third of the way between Rome and the Rubicon. +Caesar advanced upon him here and shut him in. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's treatment of Domitius.] + +After a brief siege the city was taken, and Domitius and his army were +made prisoners. Every body gave them up for lost, expecting that Caesar +would wreak terrible vengeance upon them. Instead of this, he received +the troops at once into his own service, and let Domitius go free. + +[Sidenote: Dismay at Rome.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's distress.] + +In the mean time, the tidings of Caesar's having passed the Rubicon, and +of the triumphant success which he was meeting with at the commencement +of his march toward Rome, reached the Capitol, and added greatly to the +prevailing consternation. The reports of the magnitude of his force and +of the rapidity of his progress were greatly exaggerated. The party of +Pompey and the Senate had done every thing to spread among the people +the terror of Caesar's name, in order to arouse them to efforts for +opposing his designs; and now, when he had broken through the barriers +which had been intended to restrain him, and was advancing toward the +city in an unchecked and triumphant career, they were overwhelmed with +dismay. Pompey began to be terrified at the danger which was impending. +The Senate held meetings without the city--councils of war, as it were, +in which they looked to Pompey in vain for protection from the danger +which he had brought upon them. He had said that he could raise an army +sufficient to cope with Caesar at any time by stamping with his foot. +They told him they thought now that it was high time for him to stamp. + +[Sidenote: He leaves Rome.] + +In fact, Pompey found the current setting every where strongly against +him. Some recommended that commissioners should be sent to Caesar to +make proposals for peace. The leading men, however, knowing that any +peace made with him under such circumstances would be their own ruin, +resisted and defeated the proposal. Cato abruptly left the city and +proceeded to Sicily, which had been assigned him as his province. Others +fled in other directions. Pompey himself, uncertain what to do, and not +daring to remain, called upon all his partisans to join him, and set off +at night, suddenly, and with very little preparation and small supplies, +to retreat across the country toward the shores of the Adriatic Sea, His +destination was Brundusium, the usual port of embarkation for Macedon +and Greece. + +[Sidenote: Enthusiasm of Caesar's soldiers.] + +Caesar was all this time gradually advancing toward Rome. His soldiers +were full of enthusiasm in his cause. As his connection with the +government at home was sundered the moment he crossed the Rubicon, all +supplies of money and of provisions were cut off in that quarter until +he should arrive at the Capitol and take possession of it. The soldiers +voted, however, that they would serve him without pay. The officers, +too, assembled together, and tendered him the aid of their +contributions. He had always observed a very generous policy in his +dealings with them, and he was now greatly gratified at receiving their +requital of it. + +[Sidenote: His policy in releasing Domitius.] + +The further he advanced, too, the more he found the people of the +country through which he passed disposed to espouse his cause. They were +struck with his generosity in releasing Domitius. It is true that it was +a very sagacious policy that prompted him to release him. But then it +was generosity too. In fact, there must be something of a generous +spirit in the soul to enable a man even to see the policy of +generous actions. + +[Sidenote: Letter of Caesar.] + +Among the letters of Caesar that remain to the present day, there is one +written about this time to one of his friends, in which he speaks of +this subject. "I am glad," says he, "that you approve of my conduct at +Corfinium. I am satisfied that such a course is the best one for us to +pursue, as by so doing we shall gain the good will of all parties, and +thus secure a permanent victory. Most conquerors have incurred the +hatred of mankind by their cruelties, and have all, in consequence of +the enmity they have thus awakened, been prevented from long enjoying +their power. Sylla was an exception; but his example of successful +cruelty I have no disposition to imitate. I will conquer after a new +fashion, and fortify myself in the possession of the power I acquire by +generosity and mercy." + +[Sidenote: Ingratitude of Domitius.] + +Domitius had the ingratitude, after this release, to take up arms again, +and wage a new war against Caesar. When Caesar heard of it, he said it +was all right. "I will act out the principles of my nature," said he, +"and he may act out his." + +[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.] + +Another instance of Caesar's generosity occurred, which is even more +remarkable than this. It seems that among the officers of his army there +were some whom he had appointed at the recommendation of Pompey, at the +time when he and Pompey were friends. These men would, of course, feel +under obligations of gratitude to Pompey, as they owed their military +rank to his friendly interposition in their behalf. As soon as the war +broke out, Caesar gave them all his free permission to go over to +Pompey's side, if they chose to do so. + +[Sidenote: Modern politicians.] + +Caesar acted thus very liberally in all respects. He surpassed Pompey +very much in the spirit of generosity and mercy with which he entered +upon the great contest before them. Pompey ordered every citizen to join +his standard, declaring that he should consider all neutrals as his +enemies. Caesar, on the other hand, gave free permission to every one to +decline, if he chose, taking any part in the contest, saying that he +should consider all who did not act against him as his friends. In the +political contests of our day, it is to be observed that the combatants +are much more prone to imitate the bigotry of Pompey than the generosity +of Caesar, condemning, as they often do, those who choose to stand aloof +from electioneering struggles, more than they do their most determined +opponents and enemies. + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at Brundusium.] + +When, at length, Caesar arrived at Brundusium, he found that Pompey had +sent a part of his army across the Adriatic into Greece, and was +waiting for the transports to return that he might go over himself with +the remainder. In the mean time, he had fortified himself strongly in +the city. Caesar immediately laid siege to the place, and he commenced +some works to block up the mouth of the harbor. He built piers on each +side, extending out as far into the sea as the depth of the water would +allow them to be built. He then constructed a series of rafts, which he +anchored on the deep water, in a line extending from one pier to the +other. He built towers upon these rafts, and garrisoned them with +soldiers, in hopes by this means to prevent all egress from the fort. He +thought that, when this work was completed, Pompey would be entirely +shut in, beyond all possibility of escape. + +[Sidenote: He besieges Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's plan of escape.] + +The transports, however, returned before the work was completed. Its +progress was, of course, slow, as the constructions were the scene of a +continued conflict; for Pompey sent out rafts and galleys against them +every day, and the workmen had thus to build in the midst of continual +interruptions, sometimes from showers of darts, arrows, and javelins, +sometimes from the conflagrations of fireships, and sometimes from the +terrible concussions of great vessels of war, impelled with prodigious +force against them. The transports returned, therefore, before the +defenses were complete, and contrived to get into the harbor. Pompey +immediately formed his plan for embarking the remainder of his army. + +[Sidenote: It is made known to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Success of Pompey's plan.] + +He filled the streets of the city with barricades and pitfalls, +excepting two streets which led to the place of embarkation. The object +of these obstructions was to embarrass Caesar's progress through the +city in case he should force an entrance while his men were getting on +board the ships. He then, in order to divert Caesar's attention from his +design, doubled the guards stationed upon the walls on the evening of +his intended embarkation, and ordered them to make vigorous attacks upon +all Caesar's forces outside. He then, when the darkness came on, marched +his troops through the two streets which had been left open, to the +landing place, and got them as fast as possible on board the transports. +Some of the people of the town contrived to make known to Caesar's army +what was going on, by means of signals from the walls; the army +immediately brought scaling ladders in great numbers, and, mounting the +walls with great ardor and impetuosity, they drove all before them, and +soon broke open the gates and got possession of the city. But the +barricades and pitfalls, together with the darkness, so embarrassed +their movements, that Pompey succeeded in completing his embarkation and +sailing away. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's conduct at Rome.] + +Caesar had no ships in which to follow. He returned to Rome. He met, of +course, with no opposition. He re-established the government there, +organized the Senate anew, and obtained supplies of corn from the public +granaries, and of money from the city treasury in the Capitol. In going +to the Capitoline Hill after this treasure, he found the officer who had +charge of the money stationed there to defend it. He told Caesar that it +was contrary to law for him to enter. Caesar said that, for men with +swords in their hands, there was no law. The officer still refused to +admit him. Caesar then told him to open the doors, or he would kill him +on the spot. "And you must understand," he added, "that it will be +easier for me to do it than it has been to say it." The officer resisted +no longer, and Caesar went in. + +[Sidenote: Caesar subdues various countries.] +[Sidenote: He turns his thoughts to Pompey.] + +After this, Caesar spent some time in rigorous campaigns in Italy, +Spain, Sicily, and Gaul, wherever there was manifested any opposition +to his sway. When this work was accomplished, and all these countries +were completely subjected to his dominion, he began to turn his thoughts +to the plan of pursuing Pompey across the Adriatic Sea. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. + +[Sidenote: The gathering armies.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's preparations.] +[Sidenote: Caesar at Brundusium.] + +The gathering of the armies of Caesar and Pompey on the opposite shores +of the Adriatic Sea was one of the grandest preparations for conflict +that history has recorded, and the whole world gazed upon the spectacle +at the time with an intense and eager interest, which was heightened by +the awe and terror which the danger inspired. During the year while +Caesar had been completing his work of subduing and arranging all the +western part of the empire, Pompey had been gathering from the eastern +division every possible contribution to swell the military force under +his command, and had been concentrating all these elements of power on +the coasts of Macedon and Greece, opposite to Brundusium, where he knew +that Caesar would attempt to cross the Adriatic Sea, His camps, his +detachments, his troops of archers and slingers, and his squadrons of +horse, filled the land, while every port was guarded, and the line of +the coast was environed by batteries and castles on the rocks, and +fleets of galleys on the water. Caesar advanced with his immense army to +Brundusium, on the opposite shore, in December, so that, in addition to +the formidable resistance prepared for him by his enemy on the coast, he +had to encounter the wild surges of the Adriatic, rolling perpetually in +the dark and gloomy commotion always raised in such wide seas by +wintery storms. + +[Sidenote: His address to his army.] + +Caesar had no ships, for Pompey had cleared the seas of every thing +which could aid him in his intended passage. By great efforts, however, +he succeeded at length in getting together a sufficient number of +galleys to convey over a part of his army, provided he took the men +alone, and left all his military stores and baggage behind. He gathered +his army together, therefore, and made them an address, representing +that they were now drawing toward the end of all their dangers and +toils. They were about to meet their great enemy for a final conflict. +It was not necessary to take their servants, their baggage, and their +stores across the sea, for they were sure of victory, and victory would +furnish them with ample supplies from those whom they were about +to conquer. + +[Sidenote: Caesar crosses the Adriatic.] + +The soldiers eagerly imbibed the spirit of confidence and courage which +Caesar himself expressed. A large detachment embarked and put to sea, +and, after being tossed all night upon the cold and stormy waters, they +approached the shore at some distance to the northward of the place +where Pompey's fleets had expected them. It was at a point where the +mountains came down near to the sea, rendering the coast rugged and +dangerous with shelving rocks and frowning promontories. Here Caesar +succeeded in effecting a landing of the first division of his troops, +and then sent back the fleet for the remainder. + +[Sidenote: He subdues several towns.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's advance.] +[Sidenote: Distress of the armies.] + +The news of his passage spread rapidly to all Pompey's stations along +the coast, and the ships began to gather, and the armies to march toward +the point where Caesar had effected his landing. The conflict and +struggle commenced. One of Pompey's admirals intercepted the fleet of +galleys on their return, and seized and burned a large number of them, +with all who were on board. This, of course, only renewed the determined +desperation of the remainder. Caesar advanced along the coast with the +troops which he had landed, driving Pompey's troops before him, and +subduing town after town as he advanced. The country was filled with +terror and dismay. The portion of the army which Caesar had left behind +could not now cross, partly on account of the stormy condition of the +seas, the diminished number of the ships, and the redoubled vigilance +with which Pompey's forces now guarded the shores, but mainly because +Caesar was now no longer with them to inspire them with his reckless, +though calm and quiet daring. They remained, therefore, in anxiety and +distress, on the Italian shore. As Caesar, on the other hand, advanced +along the Macedonian shore, and drove Pompey back into the interior, he +cut off the communication between Pompey's ships and the land, so that +the fleet was soon reduced to great distress for want of provisions and +water. The men kept themselves from perishing with thirst by collecting +the dew which fell upon the decks of their galleys. Caesar's army was +also in distress, for Pompey's fleets cut off all supplies by water, and +his troops hemmed them in on the side of the land; and, lastly, Pompey +himself, with the immense army that was under his command, began to be +struck with alarm at the impending danger with which they were +threatened. Pompey little realized, however, how dreadful a fate was +soon to overwhelm him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's impatience.] +[Sidenote: He attempts to cross the Adriatic.] + +The winter months rolled away, and nothing effectual was done. The +forces, alternating and intermingled, as above described, kept each +other in a continued state of anxiety and suffering. Caesar became +impatient at the delay of that portion of his army that he had left on +the Italian shore. The messages of encouragement and of urgency which he +sent across to them did not bring them over, and at length, one dark and +stormy night, when he thought that the inclemency of the skies and the +heavy surging of the swell in the offing would drive his vigilant +enemies into places of shelter, and put them off their guard, he +determined to cross the sea himself and bring his hesitating army over. +He ordered a galley to be prepared, and went on board of it disguised, +and with his head muffled in his mantle, intending that not even the +officers or crew of the ship which was to convey him should know of his +design. The galley, in obedience to orders, put off from the shore. The +mariners endeavored in vain for some time to make head against the +violence of the wind and the heavy concussions of the waves, and at +length, terrified at the imminence of the danger to which so wild and +tumultuous a sea on such a night exposed them, refused to proceed, and +the commander gave them orders to return. Caesar then came forward, +threw off his mantle, and said to them, "Friends! you have nothing to +fear. You are carrying Caesar." + +The men were, of course, inspirited anew by this disclosure, but all was +in vain. The obstacles to the passage proved insurmountable, and the +galley, to avoid certain destruction, was compelled to return. + +[Sidenote: Caesar lands the remainder of his army.] + +The army, however, on the Italian side, hearing of Caesar's attempt to +return to them, fruitless though it was, and stimulated by the renewed +urgency of the orders which he now sent to them, made arrangements at +last for an embarkation, and, after encountering great dangers on the +way, succeeded in landing in safety. Caesar, thus strengthened, began to +plan more decided operations for the coming spring. + +[Sidenote: Attempts at negotiation.] +[Sidenote: Conferences.] +[Sidenote: End in violence and disorder.] + +There were some attempts at negotiation. The armies were so exasperated +against each other on account of the privations and hardships which each +compelled the other to suffer, that they felt too strong a mutual +distrust to attempt any regular communication by commissioners or +ambassadors appointed for the purpose. They came to a parley, however, +in one or two instances, though the interviews led to no result. As the +missiles used in those days were such as could only be thrown to a very +short distance, hostile bodies of men could approach much nearer to each +other then than is possible now, when projectiles of the most terribly +destructive character can be thrown for miles. In one instance, some of +the ships of Pompey's fleet approached so near to the shore as to open a +conference with one or two of Caesar's lieutenants who were encamped +there. In another case, two bodies of troops from the respective armies +were separated only by a river, and the officers and soldiers came down +to the banks on either side, and held frequent conversations, calling to +each other in loud voices across the water. In this way they succeeded +in so far coming to an agreement as to fix upon a time and place for a +more formal conference, to be held by commissioners chosen on each side. +This conference was thus held, but each party came to it accompanied by +a considerable body of attendants, and these, as might have been +anticipated, came into open collision while the discussion was pending; +thus the meeting consequently ended in violence and disorder, each party +accusing the other of violating the faith which both had plighted. + +[Sidenote: Undecided warfare.] +[Sidenote: Bread made of roots.] + +This slow and undecided mode of warfare between the two vast armies +continued for many months without any decisive results. There were +skirmishes, struggles, sieges, blockades, and many brief and partial +conflicts, but no general and decided battle. Now the advantage seemed +on one side, and now on the other. Pompey so hemmed in Caesar's troops +at one period, and so cut off his supplies, that the men were reduced to +extreme distress for food. At length they found a kind of root which +they dug from the ground, and, after drying and pulverizing it, they +made a sort of bread of the powder, which the soldiers were willing to +eat rather than either starve or give up the contest. They told Caesar, +in fact, that they would live on the bark of trees rather than abandon +his cause. Pompey's soldiers, at one time, coming near to the walls of a +town which they occupied, taunted and jeered them on account of their +wretched destitution of food. Caesar's soldiers threw loaves of this +bread at them in return, by way of symbol that they were +abundantly supplied. + +[Sidenote: Caesar hems Pompey in.] +[Sidenote: Anxiety of the rivals.] + +After some time the tide of fortune turned Caesar contrived, by a +succession of adroit maneuvers and movements, to escape from his toils, +and to circumvent and surround Pompey's forces so as soon to make them +suffer destitution and distress in their turn. He cut off all +communication between them and the country at large, and turned away the +brooks and streams from flowing through the ground they occupied. An +army of forty or fifty thousand men, with the immense number of horses +and beasts of burden which accompany them, require very large supplies +of water, and any destitution or even scarcity of water leads +immediately to the most dreadful consequences. Pompey's troops dug +wells, but they obtained only very insufficient supplies. Great numbers +of beasts of burden died, and their decaying bodies so tainted the air +as to produce epidemic diseases, which destroyed many of the troops, and +depressed and disheartened those whom they did not destroy. + +[Sidenote: Nature of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Both hesitate.] + +During all these operations there was no decisive general battle. Each +one of the great rivals knew very well that his defeat in one general +battle would be his utter and irretrievable ruin. In a war between two +independent nations, a single victory, however complete, seldom +terminates the struggle, for the defeated party has the resources of a +whole realm to fall back upon, which are sometimes called forth with +renewed vigor after experiencing such reverses; and then defeat in such +cases, even if it be final, does not necessarily involve the ruin of the +unsuccessful commander. He may negotiate an honorable peace, and return +to his own land in safety; and, if his misfortunes are considered by his +countrymen as owing not to any dereliction from his duty as a soldier, +but to the influence of adverse circumstances which no human skill or +resolution could have controlled, he may spend the remainder of his days +in prosperity and honor. The contest, however, between Caesar and Pompey +was not of this character. One or the other of them was a traitor and a +usurper--an enemy to his country. The result of a battle would decide +which of the two was to stand in this attitude. Victory would legitimize +and confirm the authority of one, and make it supreme over the whole +civilized world. Defeat was to annihilate the power of the other, and +make him a fugitive and a vagabond, without friends, without home, +without country. It was a desperate stake; and it is not at all +surprising that both parties lingered and hesitated, and postponed the +throwing of the die. + +[Sidenote: The armies enter Thessaly.] + +At length Pompey, rendered desperate by the urgency of the destitution +and distress into which Caesar had shut him, made a series of rigorous +and successful attacks upon Caesar's lines, by which he broke away in +his turn from his enemy's grasp, and the two armies moved slowly back +into the interior of the country, hovering in the vicinity of each +other, like birds of prey contending in the air, each continually +striking at the other, and moving onward at the same time to gain some +position of advantage, or to circumvent the other in such a design. They +passed on in this manner over plains, and across rivers, and through +mountain passes, until at length they reached the heart of Thessaly. +Here at last the armies came to a stand and fought the final battle. + +[Illustration: ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS.] + +[Sidenote: The plain of Pharsalia.] +[Sidenote: Roman standard bearers.] +[Sidenote: Pompey draws up his army.] +[Sidenote: Forces on both sides.] + +The place was known then as the plain of Pharsalia, and the greatness of +the contest which was decided there has immortalized its name. Pompey's +forces were far more numerous than those of Caesar, and the advantage in +all the partial contests which had taken place for some time had been on +his side; he felt, consequently, sure of victory. He drew up his men in +a line, one flank resting upon the bank of a river, which protected them +from attack on that side. From this point, the long line of legions, +drawn up in battle array, extended out upon the plain, and was +terminated at the other extremity by strong squadrons of horse, and +bodies of slingers and archers, so as to give the force of weapons and +the activity of men as great a range as possible there, in order to +prevent Caesar's being able to outflank and surround them There was, +however, apparently very little danger of this, for Caesar, according to +his own story, had but about half as strong a force as Pompey. The army +of the latter, he says, consisted of nearly fifty thousand men, while +his own number was between twenty and thirty thousand. Generals, +however, are prone to magnify the military grandeur of their exploits by +overrating the strength with which they had to contend, and +under-estimating their own. We are therefore to receive with some +distrust the statements made by Caesar and his partisans; and as for +Pompey's story, the total and irreparable ruin in which he himself and +all who adhered to him were entirely overwhelmed immediately after the +battle, prevented its being ever told. + +[Sidenote: Appearance of Pompey's camp.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's tent.] + +In the rear of the plain where Pompey's lines were extended was the camp +from which the army had been drawn out to prepare for the battle. The +camp fires of the preceding night were moldering away, for it was a warm +summer morning; the intrenchments were guarded, and the tents, now +nearly empty, stood extended in long rows within the inclosure. In the +midst of them was the magnificent pavilion of the general, furnished +with every imaginable article of luxury and splendor. Attendants were +busy here and there, some rearranging what had been left in disorder by +the call to arms by which the troops had been summoned from their places +of rest, and others providing refreshments-and food for their victorious +comrades when they should return from the battle. In Pompey's tent a +magnificent entertainment was preparing. The tables were spread with +every luxury, the sideboards were loaded with plate, and the whole scene +was resplendent with utensils and decorations of silver and gold. + +[Sidenote: His confidence of victory.] + +Pompey and all his generals were perfectly certain of victory. In fact, +the peace and harmony of their councils in camp had been destroyed for +many days by their contentions and disputes about the disposal of the +high offices, and the places of profit and power at Rome, which were to +come into their hands when Caesar should have been subdued. The subduing +of Caesar they considered only a question of time; and, as a question of +time, it was now reduced to very narrow limits. A few days more, and +they were to be masters of the whole Roman empire, and, impatient and +greedy, they disputed in anticipation about the division of the spoils. + +To make assurance doubly sure, Pompey gave orders that his troops +should not advance to meet the onset of Caesar's troops on the middle +ground between the two armies, but that they should wait calmly for the +attack, and receive the enemy at the posts where they had themselves +been arrayed. + +[Sidenote: The battle of Pharsalia.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Scene of horror.] + +The hour at length arrived, the charge was sounded by the trumpets, and +Caesar's troops began to advance with loud shouts and great impetuosity +toward Pompey's lines. There was a long and terrible struggle, but the +forces of Pompey began finally to give way. Notwithstanding the +precautions which Pompey had taken to guard and protect the wing of his +army which was extended toward the land, Caesar succeeded in turning his +flank upon that side by driving off the cavalry and destroying the +archers and slingers, and he was thus enabled to throw a strong force +upon Pompey's rear. The flight then soon became general, and a scene of +dreadful confusion and slaughter ensued. The soldiers of Caesar's army, +maddened with the insane rage which the progress of a battle never fails +to awaken, and now excited to phrensy by the exultation of success, +pressed on after the affrighted fugitives, who trampled one upon +another, or fell pierced with the weapons of their assailants, filling +the air with their cries of agony and their shrieks of terror. The +horrors of the scene, far from allaying, only excited still more the +ferocity of their bloodthirsty foes, and they pressed steadily and +fiercely on, hour after hour, in their dreadful work of destruction. It +was one of those scenes of horror and woe such as those who have not +witnessed them can not conceive of, and those who have witnessed can +never forget. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's flight to the camp.] +[Sidenote: Pompey in his tent.] +[Sidenote: His consternation and despair.] + +When Pompey perceived that all was lost, he fled from the field in a +state of the wildest excitement and consternation. His troops were +flying in all directions, some toward the camp, vainly hoping to find +refuge there, and others in various other quarters, wherever they saw +the readiest hope of escape from their merciless pursuers. Pompey +himself fled instinctively toward the camp. As he passed the guards at +the gate where he entered, he commanded them, in his agitation and +terror, to defend the gate against the coming enemy, saying that he was +going to the other gates to attend to the defenses there. He then +hurried on, but a full sense of the helplessness and hopelessness of his +condition soon overwhelmed him; he gave up all thought of defense, and, +passing with a sinking heart through the scene of consternation and +confusion which reigned every where within the encampment, he sought +his own tent, and, rushing into it, sank down, amid the luxury and +splendor which had been arranged to do honor to his anticipated victory, +in a state of utter stupefaction and despair. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY. + +[Sidenote: Pursuit of the vanquished.] +[Sidenote: Pompey recovers himself.] + +Caesar pursued the discomfited and flying bodies of Pompey's army to the +camp. They made a brief stand upon the ramparts and at the gates in a +vain and fruitless struggle against the tide of victory which they soon +perceived must fully overwhelm them. They gave way continually here and +there along the lines of intrenchment, and column after column of +Caesar's followers broke through into the camp. Pompey, hearing from his +tent the increasing noise and uproar, was at length aroused from his +stupor, and began to summon his faculties to the question what he was to +do. At length a party of fugitives, hotly pursued by some of Caesar's +soldiers, broke into his tent. "What!" said Pompey, "into my tent too!" +He had been for more than thirty years a victorious general, accustomed +to all the deference and respect which boundless wealth, extended and +absolute power, and the highest military rank could afford. In the +encampments which he had made, and in the cities which he had occupied +from time to time, he had been the supreme and unquestioned master, and +his tent, arranged and furnished, as it had always been, in a style of +the utmost magnificence and splendor, had been sacred from all +intrusion, and invested with such a dignity that potentates and princes +were impressed when they entered, with a feeling of deference and awe. +Now, rude soldiers burst wildly into it, and the air without was filled +with an uproar and confusion, drawing every moment nearer and nearer, +and warning the fallen hero that there was no longer any protection +there against the approaching torrent which was coming on to +overwhelm him. + +[Sidenote: Pompey disguises himself.] +[Sidenote: He escapes from the camp.] + +Pompey aroused himself from his stupor, threw off the military dress +which belonged to his rank and station, and assumed a hasty disguise, in +which he hoped he might make his escape from the immediate scene of his +calamities. He mounted a horse and rode out of the camp at the easiest +place of egress in the rear, in company with bodies of troops and guards +who were also flying in confusion, while Caesar and his forces on the +other side were carrying the intrenchments and forcing their way in. As +soon is he had thus made his escape from the immediate scene of danger, +he dismounted and left his horse, that he might assume more completely +the appearance of a common soldier, and, with a few attendants who were +willing to follow his fallen fortunes, he went on to the eastward, +directing his weary steps toward the shores of the Aegean Sea. + +[Sidenote: The Vale of Tempe.] +[Sidenote: Its picturesqueness.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's sufferings.] +[Sidenote: A drink of water.] + +The country through which he was traveling was Thessaly. Thessaly is a +vast amphitheater, surrounded by mountains, from whose sides streams +descend, which, after watering many fertile valleys and plains, combine +to form one great central river that flows to the eastward, and after +various meanderings, finds its way into the Aegean Sea through a +romantic gap between two mountains, called the Vale of Tempe--a vale +which has been famed in all ages for the extreme picturesqueness of its +scenery, and in which, in those days, all the charms both of the most +alluring beauty and of the sublimest grandeur seemed to be combined. +Pompey followed the roads leading along the banks of this stream, weary +in body, and harassed and disconsolate in mind. The news which came to +him from time to time, by the flying parties which were moving through +the country in all directions, of the entire and overwhelming +completeness of Caesar's victory, extinguished all remains of hope, and +narrowed down at last the grounds of his solicitude to the single point +of his own personal safety. He was well aware that he should be pursued, +and, to baffle the efforts which he knew that his enemies would make to +follow his track, he avoided large towns, and pressed forward in by-ways +and solitudes, bearing as patiently as he was able his increasing +destitution and distress. He reached, at length, the Vale of Tempe, and +there, exhausted with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, he sat down upon the +bank of the stream to recover by a little rest strength enough for the +remainder of his weary way. He wished for a drink, but he had nothing to +drink from. And so the mighty potentate, whose tent was full of +delicious beverages, and cups and goblets of silver and gold, extended +himself down upon the sand at the margin of the river, and drank the +warm water directly from the stream. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Pompey's camp.] + +While Pompey was thus anxiously and toilsomely endeavoring to gain the +sea-shore, Caesar was completing his victory over the army which he had +left behind him. When Caesar had carried the intrenchments of the camp, +and the army found that there was no longer any safety for them there, +they continued their retreat under the guidance of such generals as +remained. Caesar thus gained undisputed possession of the camp. He found +every where the marks of wealth and luxury, and indications of the +confident expectation of victory which the discomfited army had +entertained. The tents of the generals were crowned with myrtle, the +beds were strewed with flowers, and tables every where were spread for +feasts, with cups and bowls of wine all ready for the expected revelers. +Caesar took possession of the whole, stationed a proper guard to protect +the property, and then pressed forward with his army in pursuit of +the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Retreat of Pompey's army.] +[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's army.] + +Pompey's army made their way to a neighboring rising ground, where they +threw up hasty intrenchments to protect themselves for the night. A +rivulet ran near the hill, the access to which they endeavored to +secure, in order to obtain supplies of water. Caesar and his forces +followed them to this spot. The day was gone, and it was too late to +attack them. Caesar's soldiers, too, were exhausted with the intense and +protracted excitement and exertions which had now been kept up for many +hours in the battle and in the pursuit, and they needed repose. They +made, however, one effort more. They seized the avenue of approach to +the rivulet, and threw up a temporary intrenchment to secure it which +intrenchment they protected with a guard; and then the army retired to +rest, leaving their helpless victims to while away the hours of the +night, tormented with thirst, and overwhelmed with anxiety and despair. +This could not long be endured. They surrendered in the morning, and +Caesar found himself in possession of over twenty thousand prisoners. + +[Sidenote: Pompey in the Vale of Tempe.] + +In the mean time, Pompey passed on through the Vale of Tempe toward the +sea, regardless of the beauty and splendor that surrounded him, and +thinking only of his fallen fortunes, and revolving despairingly in his +mind the various forms in which the final consummation of his ruin might +ultimately come. At length he reached the sea-shore, and found refuge +for the night in a fisherman's cabin. A small number of attendants +remained with him, some of whom were slaves. These he now dismissed, +directing them to return and surrender themselves to Caesar, saying that +he was a generous foe, and that they had nothing to fear from him. His +other attendants he retained, and he made arrangements for a boat to +take him the next day along the coast. It was a river boat, and +unsuited to the open sea, but it was all that he could obtain. + +[Sidenote: Pompey embarks on board a vessel.] +[Sidenote: The shipmaster's dream.] + +He arose the next morning at break of day, and embarked in the little +vessel, with two or three attendants, and the oarsmen began to row away +along the shore. They soon came in sight of a merchant ship just ready +to sail. The master of this vessel, it happened, had seen Pompey, and +knew his countenance, and he had dreamed, as a famous historian of the +times relates, on the night before, that Pompey had come to him hi the +guise of a simple soldier and in great distress, and that he had +received and rescued him. There was nothing extraordinary in such a +dream at such a time, as the contest between Caesar and Pompey, and the +approach of the final collision which was to destroy one or the other of +them, filled the minds and occupied the conversation of the world. The +shipmaster, therefore, having seen and known one of the great rivals in +the approaching conflict, would naturally find both his waking and +sleeping thoughts dwelling on the subject; and his fancy, in his dreams, +might easily picture the scene of his rescuing and saving the fallen +hero in the hour of his distress. + +[Sidenote: Pompey goes on board a merchant ship.] + +However this may be, the shipmaster is said to have been relating his +dream to the seamen on the deck of his vessel when the boat which was +conveying Pompey came into view. Pompey himself, having escaped from the +land, supposed all immediate danger over, not imagining that seafaring +men would recognize him in such a situation and in such a disguise. The +shipmaster did, however, recognize him. He was overwhelmed with grief at +seeing him in such a condition. With a countenance and with gestures +expressive of earnest surprise and sorrow, he beckoned to Pompey to come +on board. He ordered his own ship's boat to be immediately let down to +meet and receive him. Pompey came on board. The ship was given up to his +possession, and every possible arrangement was made to supply his wants, +to contribute to his comfort, and to do him honor. + +[Sidenote: His arrival at Amphipolis.] + +The vessel conveyed him to Amphipolis, a city of Macedonia near the sea, +and to the northward and eastward of the place where he had embarked. +When Pompey arrived at the port he sent proclamations to the shore, +calling upon the inhabitants to take arms and join his standard. He did +not, however, land, or take any other measures for carrying these +arrangements into effect. He only waited in the river upon which +Amphipolis stands long enough to receive a supply of money from some of +his friends on the shore, and stores for his voyage, and then get sail +again. Whether he learned that Caesar was advancing in that direction +with a force too strong for him to encounter, or found that the people +were disinclined to espouse his cause, or whether the whole movement was +a feint to direct Caesar's attention to Macedon as the field of his +operations, in order that he might escape more secretly and safely +beyond the sea, can not now be ascertained. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's wife Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: Her beauty and accomplishments.] + +Pompey's wife Cornelia was on the island of Lesbos, at Mitylene, near +the western coast of Asia Minor. She was a lady of distinguished beauty, +and of great intellectual superiority and moral worth. She was extremely +well versed in all the learning of the times, and yet was entirely free +from those peculiarities and airs which, as her historian says, were +often observed in learned ladies in those days. Pompey had married her +after the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter. They were strongly devoted +to each other. Pompey had provided for her a beautiful retreat on the +island of Lesbos, where she was living in elegance and splendor, +beloved for her own intrinsic charms, and highly honored on account of +the greatness and fame of her husband. Here she had received from time +to time glowing accounts of his success all exaggerated as they came to +her, through the eager desire of the narrators to give her pleasure. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's arrival at Mitylene.] +[Sidenote: His meeting with Cornelia.] + +From this high elevation of honor and happiness the ill-fated Cornelia +suddenly fell, on the arrival of Pompey's solitary vessel at Mitylene, +bringing as it did, at the same time, both the first intelligence of her +husband's fall, and himself in person, a ruined and homeless fugitive +and wanderer. The meeting was sad and sorrowful. Cornelia was +overwhelmed at the suddenness and violence of the shock which it brought +her, and Pompey lamented anew the dreadful disaster that he had +sustained, at finding how inevitably it must involve his beloved wife as +well as himself in its irreparable ruin. + +[Sidenote: Pompey gathers a little fleet.] + +The pain, however, was not wholly without some mingling of pleasure. A +husband finds a strange sense of protection and safety in the presence +and sympathy of an affectionate wife in the hour of his calamity. She +can, perhaps do nothing, but her mute and sorrowful concern and pity +comfort and reassure him. Cornelia, however, was able to render her +husband some essential aid. She resolved immediately to accompany him +wherever he should go; and, by their joint endeavors, a little fleet was +gathered, and such supplies as could be hastily obtained, and such +attendants and followers as were willing to share his fate, were taken +on board. During all this time Pompey would not go on shore himself, but +remained on board, his ship in the harbor. Perhaps he was afraid of some +treachery or surprise, or perhaps, in his fallen and hopeless condition, +he was unwilling to expose himself to the gaze of those who had so often +seen him in all the splendor of his former power. + +[Sidenote: He sails along the Mediterranean.] +[Sidenote: Pompey receives additional supplies.] + +At length, when all was ready, he sailed away. He passed eastward along +the Mediterranean, touching at such ports as he supposed most likely to +favor his cause. Vague and uncertain, but still alarming rumors that +Caesar was advancing in pursuit of him met him every where, and the +people of the various provinces were taking sides, some in his favor and +some against him, the excitement being every where so great that the +utmost caution and circumspection were required in all his movements. +Sometimes he was refused permission to land; at others, his friends +were too few to afford him protection; and at others still, though the +authorities professed friendship, he did not dare to trust them. He +obtained, however, some supplies of money and some accessions to the +number of ships and men under his command, until at length he had quite +a little fleet in his train. Several men of rank and influence, who had +served under him in the days of his prosperity, nobly adhered to him +now, and formed a sort of court or council on board his galley, where +they held with their great though fallen commander frequent +conversations on the plan which it was best to pursue. + +[Sidenote: He seeks refuge in Egypt.] +[Sidenote: Ptolemy and Cleopatra.] + +It was finally decided that it was best to seek refuge in Egypt. There +seemed to be, in fact, no alternative. All the rest of the world was +evidently going over to Caesar. Pompey had been the means, some years +before, of restoring a certain king of Egypt to his throne, and many of +his soldiers had been left in the country, and remained there still. It +is true that the king himself had died. He had left a daughter named +Cleopatra, and also a son, who was at this time very young. The name of +this youthful prince was Ptolemy. Ptolemy and Cleopatra bad been made by +their father joint heirs to the throne. But Ptolemy, or, rather, the +ministers and counselors who acted for him and in his name, had expelled +Cleopatra, that they might govern alone. Cleopatra had raised an army in +Syria, and was on her way to the frontiers of Egypt to regain possession +of what she deemed her rights. Ptolemy's ministers had gone forth to +meet her at the head of their own troops, 'Ptolemy himself being also +with them. They had reached Pelusium, which is the frontier town between +Egypt and Syria on the coast of the Mediterranean. Here their armies had +assembled in vast encampments upon the land, and their galleys and +transports were riding at anchor along the shore of the sea. Pompey and +his-counselors thought that the government of Ptolemy would receive him +as a friend, on account of the services he had rendered to the young +prince's father, forgetting that gratitude has never a place on the list +of political virtues. + +[Sidenote: Pompey arrives at Pelusium.] + +Pompey's little squadron made its way slowly over the waters of the +Mediterranean toward Pelusium and the camp of Ptolemy. As they +approached the shore, both Pompey himself and Cornelia felt many anxious +forebodings. A messenger was sent to the land to inform the young king +of Pompey's approach, and to solicit his protection. The government of +Ptolemy held a council, and took the subject into consideration. + +[Sidenote: Ptolemy's council resolve to murder Pompey.] + +Various opinions were expressed, and various plans were proposed. The +counsel which was finally followed was this. It would be dangerous to +receive Pompey, since that would make Caesar their enemy. It would be +dangerous to refuse to receive him, as that would make Pompey their +enemy, and, though powerless now, he might one day be in a condition to +seek vengeance. It was wisest, therefore, to destroy him. They would +invite him to the shore, and kill him when he landed. This would please +Caesar; and Pompey himself, being dead, could never revenge it. "Dead +dogs," as the orator said who made this atrocious proposal, "do +not bite." + +[Sidenote: The assassin Achillas.] + +An Egyptian, named Achillas, was appointed to execute the assassination +thus decreed. An invitation was sent to Pompey to land, accompanied with +a promise of protection; and, when his fleet had approached near enough +to the shore, Achillas took a small party in a boat, and went out to +meet his galley. The men in this boat, of course, were armed. + +[Sidenote: Suspicions of Pompey's friends.] +[Sidenote: Entreaties of Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's forlorn condition.] +[Sidenote: He determines to land.] + +The officers and attendants of Pompey watched all these movements from +the deck of his galley. They scrutinized every thing that occurred with +the closest attention and the greatest anxiety, to see whether the +indications denoted an honest friendship or intentions of treachery. The +appearances were not favorable. Pompey's friends observed that no +preparations were making along the shore for receiving him with the +honors due, as they thought, to his rank and station. The manner, too, +in which the Egyptians seemed to expect him to land was ominous of evil. +Only a single insignificant boat for a potentate who recently had +commanded half the world! Then, besides, the friends of Pompey observed +that several of the principal galleys of Ptolemy's fleet were getting up +their anchors, and preparing apparently to be ready to move at a sudden +call These and other indications appeared much more like preparations +for seizing an enemy than welcoming a friend. Cornelia, who, with her +little son, stood upon the deck of Pompey's galley, watching the scene +with a peculiar intensity of solicitude which the hardy soldiers around +her could not have felt, became soon exceedingly alarm ad. She begged +her husband Dot to go on shore. But Pompey decided that it was now too +late to retreat. He could not escape from the Egyptian galleys if they +had received orders to intercept him, nor could he resist violence if +violence were intended. To do any thing like that would evince distrust, +and to appear like putting himself upon his guard would be to take at +once, himself, the position of an enemy, and invite and justify the +hostility of the Egyptians in return. As to flight, he could not hope to +escape from the Egyptian galleys if they had received orders to prevent +it; and, besides, if he were determined on attempting an escape, whither +should he fly? The world was against him. His triumphant enemy was on +his track in full pursuit, with all the vast powers and resources of the +whole Roman empire at his command. There remained for Pompey only the +last forlorn hope of a refuge in Egypt, or else, as the sole +alternative, a complete and unconditional submission to Caesar. His +pride would not consent to this, and he determined, therefore, dark as +the indications were, to place himself, without any appearance of +distrust, in Ptolemy's hands, and abide the issue. + +The boat of Achillas approached the galley. When it touched the side, +Achillas and the other officers on board of it hailed Pompey in the most +respectful manner, giving him the title of Imperator, the highest title +known in the Roman state. Achillas addressed Pompey in Greek. The Greek +was the language of educated men in all the Eastern countries in those +days. He told him that the water was too shallow for his galley to +approach nearer to the shore, and invited him to come on board of his +boat, and he would take him to the beach, where, as he said, the king +was waiting to receive him. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for landing.] +[Sidenote: Pompey takes leave of his wife.] + +With many anxious forebodings, that were but ill concealed, Pompey made +preparations to accept the invitation. He bade his wife farewell, who +clung to him as they were about to part with a gloomy presentiment that +they should never meet again. Two centurions who were to accompany +Pompey, and two servants, descended into the boat. Pompey himself +followed, and then the boatmen pushed off from the galley and made +toward the shore. The decks of all the vessels in Pompey's little +squadron, as well as those of the Egyptian fleet, were crowded with +spectators, and lines of soldiery and groups of men, all intently +watching the operations of the landing, were scattered along the shore. + +[Sidenote: The assassins.] +[Sidenote: Gloomy silence.] + +Among the men whom Achillas had provided to aid him in the assassination +was an offieer of the Roman army who had formerly served under Pompey. +As soon as Pompey was seated in the boat, he recognized the countenance +of this man, and addressed him, saying, "I think I remember you as +having been in former days my fellow-soldier." The man replied merely by +a nod of assent. Feeling somewhat guilty and self-condemned at the +thoughts of the treachery which he was about to perpetrate, he was +little inclined to renew the recollection of the days when he was +Pompey's friend. In fact, the whole company in the boat, filled on the +one part with awe in anticipation of the terrible deed which they were +soon to commit, and on the other with a dread suspense and alarm, were +little disposed for conversation, and Pompey took out a manuscript of an +address in Greek which he had prepared to make to the young king at his +approaching interview with him, and occupied himself in reading it over. +Thus they advanced in a gloomy and solemn silence, hearing no sound but +the dip of the oars in the water, and the gentle dash of the waves along +the line of the shore. + +[Sidenote: Assassination of Pompey.] + +At length the boat touched the sand, while Cornelia still stood on the +deck of the galley, watching every movement with great solicitude and +concern. One of the two servants whom Pompey had taken with him, named +Philip, his favorite personal attendant, rose to assist his master in +landing. He gave Pompey his hand to aid him in rising from his seat, and +at that moment the Roman officer whom Pompey had recognized as his +fellow-soldier, advanced behind him and stabbed him in the back. At the +same instant Achillas and the others drew their swords. Pompey saw that +all was lost. He did not speak, and he uttered no cry of alarm, though +Cornelia's dreadful shriek was so loud and piercing that it was heard +upon the shore. From the suffering victim himself nothing was heard but +an inarticulate groan extorted by his agony. He gathered his mantle over +his face, and sank down and died. + +[Sidenote: Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: The funeral pile.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's ashes sent to Cornelia.] + +Of course, all was now excitement and confusion. As soon as the deed was +done, the perpetrators of it retired from the scene, taking the head of +their unhappy victim with them, to offer to Caesar as proof that his +enemy was really no more. The officers who remained in the fleet which +had brought Pompey to the coast made all haste to sail away, bearing the +wretched Cornelia with them, utterly distracted with grief and despair, +while Philip and his fellow-servant remained upon the beach, standing +bewildered and stupefied over the headless body of their beloved master. +Crowds of spectators came in succession to look upon the hideous +spectacle a moment in silence, and then to turn, shocked and repelled, +away. At length, when the first impulse of excitement had in some +measure spent its force, Philip and his comrades so far recovered their +composure as to begin to turn their thoughts to the only consolation +that was now left to them, that of performing the solemn duties of +sepulture. They found the wreck of a fishing boat upon the strand, from +which they obtained wood enough for a rude funeral pile. They burned +what remained of the mutilated body, and, gathering up the ashes, they +put them in an urn and sent them to Cornelia, who afterward buried them +at Alba with many bitter tears. + +[Illustration: Death of Pompey] + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CAESAR IN EGYPT. + +[Sidenote: Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia.] + +Caesar surveyed the field of battle after the victory of Pharsalia, not +with the feelings of exultation which might have been expected in a +victorious general, but with compassion and sorrow for the fallen +soldiers whose dead bodies covered the ground. After gazing upon the +scene sadly and in silence for a time, he said, "They would have it so," +and thus dismissed from his mind all sense of his own responsibility for +the consequences which had ensued. + +[Sidenote: His clemency.] +[Sidenote: Caesar pursues Pompey.] + +He treated the immense body of prisoners which had fallen into his hands +with great clemency, partly from the natural impulses of his +disposition, which were always generous and noble, and partly from +policy, that he might conciliate them all, officers and soldiers, to +acquiescence in his future rule. He then sent back a large portion of +his force to Italy, and, taking a body of cavalry from the rest, in +order that he might advance with the utmost possible rapidity, he set +off through Thessaly and Macedon in pursuit of his fugitive foe. + +[Sidenote: Treasures of the Temple of Diana.] + +He had no naval force at his command, and he accordingly kept upon the +land. Besides, he wished, by moving through the country at the head of +an armed force, to make a demonstration which should put down any +attempt that might be made in arty quarter to rally or concentrate a +force in Pompey's favor. He crossed the Hellespont, and moved down the +coast of Asia Minor. There was a great temple consecrated to Diana at +Ephesus, which, for its wealth and magnificence, was then the wonder of +the world. The authorities who had it in their charge, not aware of +Caesar's approach, had concluded to withdraw the treasures from the +temple and loan them to Pompey, to be repaid when he should have +regained his Dower. An assembly was accordingly convened to witness the +delivery of the treasures, and take note of their value, which ceremony +was to be performed with great formality and parade, when they learned +that Caesar had crossed the Hellespont and was drawing near. The whole +proceeding was thus arrested, and the treasures were retained. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: He sails for Egypt.] + +Caesar passed rapidly on through Asia Minor, examining and comparing, +as he advanced, the vague rumors which were continually coming in in +respect to Pompey's movements. He learned at length that he had gone to +Cyprus; he presumed that his destination was Egypt, and he immediately +resolved to provide himself with a fleet, and follow him thither by sea. +As time passed on, and the news of Pompey's defeat and flight, and of +Caesar's triumphant pursuit of him, became generally extended and +confirmed, the various powers ruling in all that region of the world +abandoned one after another the hopeless cause, and began to adhere to +Caesar. They offered him such resources and aid as he might desire. He +did not, however, stop to organize a large fleet or to collect an army. +He depended, like Napoleon, in all the great movements of his life, not +on grandeur of preparation, but on celerity of action. He organized at +Rhodes a small but very efficient fleet of ten galleys, and, embarking +his best troops in them, he made sail for the coasts of Egypt. Pompey +had landed at Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, having heard that the +young king and his court were there to meet and resist Cleopatra's +invasion. Caesar, however, with the characteristic boldness and energy +of his character, proceeded directly to Alexandria, the capital. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Alexandria.] + +Egypt was, in those days, an _ally_ of the Romans, as the phrase was; +that is, the country, though it preserved its independent organization +and its forms of royalty, was still united to the Roman people by an +intimate league, so as to form an integral part of the great empire. +Caesar, consequently, in appearing there with an armed force, would +naturally be received as a friend. He found only the garrison which +Ptolemy's government had left in charge of the city. At first the +officers of this garrison gave him an outwardly friendly reception, but +they soon began to take offense at the air of authority and command +which he assumed, and which seemed to them to indicate a spirit of +encroachment on the sovereignty of their own king. + +[Sidenote: The Roman fasces.] +[Sidenote: The lictors.] + +Feelings of deeply-seated alienation and animosity sometimes find their +outward expression in contests about things intrinsically of very little +importance. It was so in this case. The Roman consuls were accustomed to +use a certain badge of authority called the _fasces_. It consisted of a +bundle of rods, bound around the handle of an ax. Whenever a consul +appeared in public, he was preceded by two officers called _lictors_, +each of whom carried the fasces as a symbol of the power which was +vested in the distinguished personage who followed them. + +The Egyptian officers and the people of the city quarreled with Caesar +on account of his moving about among them in his imperial state, +accompanied by a life guard, and preceded by the lictors. Contests +occurred between his troops and those of the garrison, and many +disturbances were created in the streets of the city. Although no +serious collision took place, Caesar thought it prudent to strengthen +his force, and he sent back to Europe for additional legions to come to +Egypt and join him. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's head sent to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar mourns Pompey.] + +The tidings of Pompey's death came to Caesar at Alexandria, and with +them the head of the murdered man, which was sent by the government of +Ptolemy, they supposing that it would be an acceptable gift to Caesar. +Instead of being pleased with it, Caesar turned from the shocking +spectacle in horror. Pompey had been, for many years now gone by, +Caesar's colleague and friend. He had been his son-in-law, and thus had +sustained to him a very near and endearing relation. In the contest +which had at last unfortunately arisen, Pompey had done no wrong either +to Caesar or to the government at Rome. He was the injured party, so far +as there was a right and a wrong to such a quarrel. And now, after being +hunted through half the world by his triumphant enemy, he had been +treacherously murdered by men pretending to receive him as a friend. The +natural sense of justice, which formed originally so strong a trait in +Caesar's character, was not yet wholly extinguished. He could not but +feel some remorse at the thoughts of the long course of violence and +wrong which he had pursued against his old champion and friend, and +which had led at last to so dreadful an end. Instead of being pleased +with the horrid trophy which the Egyptians sent him, he mourned the +death of his great rival with sincere and unaffected grief, and was +filled with indignation against his murderers. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's signet ring.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's respect for Pompey's memory.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's Pillar.] +[Sidenote: Origin of Pompey's Pillar.] + +[Illustration: Pompey's Pillar.] + +Pompey had a signet ring upon his finger at the time of his +assassination, which was taken off by the Egyptian officers and carried +away to Ptolemy, together with the other articles of value which had +been found upon his person. Ptolemy sent this seal to Caesar to complete +the proof that its possessor was no more. Caesar received _this_ +memorial with eager though mournful pleasure, and he preserved it with +great care. And in many ways, during all the remainder of his life, he +manifested every outward indication of cherishing the highest respect +for Pompey's memory. There stands to the present day, among the ruins of +Alexandria, a beautiful column, about one hundred feet high, which has +been known in all modern times as POMPEY'S PILLAR. It is formed of +stone, and is in three parts. One stone forms the pedestal, another the +shaft, and a third the capital. The beauty of this column, the +perfection of its workmanship, which still continues in excellent +preservation, and its antiquity, so great that all distinct record of +its origin is lost, have combined to make it for many ages the wonder +and admiration of mankind. Although no history of its origin has come +down to us, a tradition has descended that Caesar built it during his +residence in Egypt, to commemorate the name of Pompey; but whether it +was his own victory over Pompey, or Pompey's own character and military +fame which the structure was intended to signalize to mankind, can not +now be known. There is even some doubt whether it was erected by +Caesar at all. + +[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's officers.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.] + +While Caesar was in Alexandria, many of Pompey's officers, now that +their master was dead, and there was no longer any possibility of their +rallying again under his guidance and command, came in and surrendered +themselves to him. He received them with great kindness, and, instead of +visiting them with any penalties for having fought against him, he +honored the fidelity and bravery they had evinced in the service of +their own former master. Caesar had, in fact, shown the same generosity +to the soldiers of Pompey's army that he had taken prisoners at the +battle of Pharsalia. At the close of the battle, he issued orders that +each one of his soldiers should have permission to _save_ one of the +enemy. Nothing could more strikingly exemplify both the generosity and +the tact that marked the great conqueror's character than this incident. +The hatred and revenge which had animated his victorious soldiery in the +battle and in the pursuit, were changed immediately by the permission to +compassion and good will. The ferocious soldiers turned at once from the +pleasure of hunting their discomfited enemies to death, to that of +protecting and defending them; and the way was prepared for their being +received into his service, and incorporated with the rest of his army as +friends and brothers. + +[Sidenote: His position at Alexandria.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's interference in Egyptian affairs.] + +Caesar soon found himself in so strong a position at Alexandria, that he +determined to exercise his authority as Roman consul to settle the +dispute in respect to the succession of the Egyptian crown. There was no +difficulty in finding pretexts for interfering in the affairs of Egypt. +In the first place, there was, as he contended, great anarchy and +confusion at Alexandria, people taking different sides in the +controversy with such fierceness as to render it impossible that good +government and public order should be restored until this great question +was settled. He also claimed a debt due from the Egyptian government, +which Photinus, Ptolemy's minister at Alexandria, was very dilatory in +paying. This led to animosities and disputes; and, finally, Caesar +found, or pretended to find, evidence that Photinus was forming plots +against his life. At length Caesar determined on taking decided action. +He sent orders both to Ptolemy and to Cleopatra to disband their forces, +to repair to Alexandria, and lay their respective claims before him for +his adjudication. + +[Sidenote: Cleopatra.] + +Cleopatra complied with this summons, and returned to Egypt with a view +to submitting her case to Caesar's arbitration. Ptolemy determined to +resist. He advanced toward Egypt, but it was at the head of his army, +and with a determination to drive Caesar and all his Roman +followers away. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's guilty passion for Cleopatra.] + +When Cleopatra arrived, she found that the avenues of approach to +Caesar's quarters were all in possession of her enemies, so that, in +attempting to join him, she incurred danger of falling into their hands +as a prisoner. She resorted to a stratagem, as the story is, to gain a +secret admission. They rolled her up in a sort of bale of bedding or +carpeting, and she was carried in in this way on the back of a man, +through the guards, who might otherwise have intercepted her. Caesar was +very much pleased with this device, and with the successful result of +it. Cleopatra, too, was young and beautiful, and Caesar immediately +conceived a strong but guilty attachment to her, which she readily +returned. Caesar espoused her cause, and decided that she and Ptolemy +should jointly occupy the throne. + +[Sidenote: Resistance of Ptolemy.] +[Sidenote: The Alexandrine war.] + +Ptolemy and his partisans were determined not to submit to this award. +The consequence was, a violent and protracted war. Ptolemy was not only +incensed at being deprived of what he considered his just right to the +realm, he was also half distracted at the thought of his sister's +disgraceful connection with Caesar. His excitement and distress, and the +exertions and efforts to which they aroused him, awakened a strong +sympathy in his cause among the people, and Caesar found himself +involved in a very serious contest, in which his own life was brought +repeatedly into the most imminent danger, and which seriously threatened +the total destruction of his power. He, however, braved all the +difficulty and dangers, and recklessly persisted in the course he had +taken, under the influence of the infatuation in which his attachment to +Cleopatra held him, as by a spell. + +[Sidenote: The Pharos.] +[Sidenote: Great splendor of the Pharos.] + +The war in which Caesar was thus involved by his efforts to give +Cleopatra a seat with her brother on the Egyptian throne, is called in +history the Alexandrine war. It was marked by many strange and romantic +incidents. There was a light-house, called the Pharos, on a small island +opposite the harbor of Alexandria, and it was so famed, both on account +of the great magnificence of the edifice itself, and also on account of +its position at the entrance to the greatest commercial port in the +world, that it has given its name, as a generic appellation, to all +other structures of the kind--any light-house being now called a Pharos, +just as any serious difficulty is called a Gordian knot. The Pharos was +a lofty tower--the accounts say that it was five hundred feet in height, +which would be an enormous elevation for such a structure--and in a +lantern at the top a brilliant light was kept constantly burning, which +could be seen over the water for a hundred miles. The tower was built in +several successive stories, each being ornamented with balustrades, +galleries, and columns, so that the splendor of the architecture by day +rivaled the brilliancy of the radiation which beamed from the summit by +night. Far and wide over the stormy waters of the Mediterranean this +meteor glowed, inviting and guiding the mariners in; and both its +welcome and its guidance were doubly prized in those ancient days, when +there was neither compass nor sextant on which they could rely. In the +course of the contest with the Egyptians, Caesar took possession of the +Pharos, and of the island on which it stood; and as the Pharos was then +regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, the fame of the +exploit, though it was probably nothing remarkable in a military point +of view, spread rapidly throughout the world. + +[Sidenote: It is captured by Caesar.] + +And yet, though the capture of a light-house was no very extraordinary +conquest, in the course of the contests on the harbor which were +connected with it Caesar had a very narrow escape from death. In all +such struggles he was accustomed always to take personally his full +share of the exposure and the danger. This resulted in part from the +natural impetuosity and ardor of his character, which were always +aroused to double intensity of action by the excitement of battle, and +partly from the ideas of the military duty of a commander which +prevailed in those days. There was besides, in this case, an additional +inducement to acquire the glory of extraordinary exploits, in Caesar's +desire to be the object of Cleopatra's admiration, who watched all his +movements, and who was doubly pleased with his prowess and bravery, +since she saw that they were exercised for her sake and in her cause. + +[Sidenote: Situation of the Pharos.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's personal danger.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's narrow escape.] + +The Pharos was built upon an island, which was connected by a pier or +bridge with the main land. In the course of the attack upon this bridge, +Caesar, with a party of his followers, got driven back and hemmed in by +a body of the enemy that surrounded them, in such a place that the only +mode of escape seemed to be by a boat, which might take them to a +neighboring galley. They began, therefore, all to crowd into the boat in +confusion, and so overloaded it that it was obviously in imminent danger +of being upset or of sinking. The upsetting or sinking of an overloaded +boat brings almost certain destruction upon most of the passengers, +whether swimmers or not, as they seize each other in their terror, and +go down inextricably entangled together, each held by the others in the +convulsive grasp with which drowning men always cling to whatever is +within their reach. Caesar, anticipating this danger, leaped over into +the sea and swam to the ship. He had some papers in his hand at the +time--plans, perhaps, of the works which he was assailing. These he held +above the water with his left hand, while he swam with the right. And to +save his purple cloak or mantle, the emblem of his imperial dignity, +which he supposed the enemy would eagerly seek to obtain as a trophy, he +seized it by a corner between his teeth, and drew it after him through +the water as he swam toward the galley. The boat which he thus escaped +from soon after went down, with all on board. + +[Sidenote: The Alexandrian library.] +[Sidenote: Burning of the Alexandrian library.] + +During the progress of this Alexandrine war one great disaster occurred, +which has given to the contest a most melancholy celebrity in all +subsequent ages: this disaster was the destruction of the Alexandrian +library. The Egyptians were celebrated for their learning, and, under +the munificent patronage of some of their kings, the learned men of +Alexandria had made an enormous collection of writings, which were +inscribed, as was the custom in those days, on parchment rolls. The +number of the rolls or volumes was said to be seven hundred thousand; +and when we consider that each one was written with great care, in +beautiful characters, with a pen, and at a vast expense, it is not +surprising that the collection was the admiration of the world. In fact, +the whole body of ancient literature was there recorded. Caesar set fire +to some Egyptian galleys, which lay so near the shore that the wind blew +the sparks and flames upon the buildings on the quay. The fire spread +among the palaces and other magnificent edifices of that part of the +city, and one of the great buildings in which the library was stored was +reached and destroyed. There was no other such collection in the world; +and the consequence of this calamity has been, that it is only detached +and insulated fragments of ancient literature and science that have come +down to our times. The world will never cease to mourn the +irreparable loss. + +[Sidenote: Caesar returns to Rome.] + +Notwithstanding the various untoward incidents which attended the war in +Alexandria during its progress, Caesar, as usual, conquered in the end. +The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and, in attempting to make his +escape across a branch of the Nile, he was drowned. Caesar then finally +settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra and a younger brother, and, after +remaining for some time longer in Egypt, he set out on his return +to Rome. + +[Illustration: Cleopatra's Barge] + +[Sidenote: Subsequent adventures of Cleopatra.] + +The subsequent adventures of Cleopatra were as romantic as to have given +her name a very wide celebrity. The lives of the virtuous pass smoothly +and happily away, but the tale, when told to others, possesses but +little interest or attraction; while those of the wicked, whose days are +spent in wretchedness and despair, and are thus full of misery to the +actors themselves, afford to the rest of mankind a high degree of +pleasure, from the dramatic interest of the story. + +[Sidenote: Her splendid barge.] +[Sidenote: Anthony and Octavius.] +[Sidenote: Death of Cleopatra.] + +Cleopatra led a life of splendid sin, and, of course, of splendid +misery. She visited Caesar in Rome after his return thither. Caesar +received her magnificently, and paid her all possible honors; but the +people of Rome regarded her with strong reprobation. When her young +brother, whom Caesar had made her partner on the throne, was old enough +to claim his share, she poisoned him. After Caesar's death, she went +from Alexandria to Syria to meet Antony, one of Caesar's successors, in +a galley or barge, which was so rich, so splendid, so magnificently +furnished and adorned, that it was famed throughout the world as +Cleopatra's barge. A great many beautiful vessels have since been called +by the same name. Cleopatra connected herself with Antony, who became +infatuated with her beauty and her various charms as Caesar had been. +After a great variety of romantic adventures, Antony was defeated in +battle by his great rival Octavius, and, supposing that he had been +betrayed by Cleopatra, he pursued her to Egypt, intending to kill her. +She hid herself in a sepulcher, spreading a report that she had +committed suicide, and then Antony stabbed himself in a fit of remorse +and despair. Before he died, he learned that Cleopatra was alive, and he +caused himself to be carried into her presence and died in her arms. +Cleopatra then fell into the hands of Octavius, who intended to carry +her to Rome to grace his triumph. To save herself from this humiliation, +and weary with a life which, full of sin as it had been, was a constant +series of sufferings, she determined to die. A servant brought in an asp +for her, concealed in a vase of flowers, at a great banquet. She laid +the poisonous reptile on her naked arm, and died immediately of the bite +which it inflicted. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CAESAR IMPERATOR. + +[Sidenote: Caesar again at Rome.] +[Sidenote: Combinations against him.] +[Sidenote: Veni, vidi, vici.] + +Although Pompey himself had been killed, and the army under his +immediate command entirely annihilated, Caesar did not find that the +empire was yet completely submissive to his sway. As the tidings of his +conquests spread over the vast and distant regions which were under the +Roman rule--although the story itself of his exploits might have been +exaggerated--the impression produced by his power lost something of its +strength, as men generally have little dread of remote danger. While he +was in Egypt, there were three great concentrations of power formed +against him in other quarters of the globe: in Asia Minor, in Africa, +and in Spain. In putting down these three great and formidable arrays of +opposition, Caesar made an exhibition to the world of that astonishing +promptness and celerity of military action on which his fame as a +general so much depends. He went first to Asia Minor, and fought a great +and decisive battle there, in a manner so sudden and unexpected to the +forces that opposed him that they found themselves defeated almost +before they suspected that their enemy was near. It was in reference to +this battle that he wrote the inscription for the banner, "_Veni, vidi, +vici_" The words may be rendered in English, "I came, looked, and +conquered," though the peculiar force of the expression, as well as the +alliteration, is lost in any attempt to translate it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar made dictator.] + +In the mean time, Caesar's prosperity and success had greatly +strengthened his cause at Rome. Rome was supported in a great measure by +the contributions brought home from the provinces by the various +military heroes who were sent out to govern them; and, of course, the +greater and more successful was the conqueror, the better was he +qualified for stations of highest authority in the estimation of the +inhabitants of the city. They made Caesar dictator even while he was +away, and appointed Mark Antony his master of horse. This was the same +Antony whom we have already mentioned as having been connected with +Cleopatra after Caesar's death. Rome, in fact, was filled with the fame +of Caesar's exploits, and, as he crossed the Adriatic and advanced +toward the city, he found himself the object of universal admiration +and applause. + +[Sidenote: Opposition of Cato.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's sons.] + +But he could not yet be contented to establish himself quietly at Rome. +There was a large force organized against him in Africa under Cato, a +stern and indomitable man, who had long been an enemy to Caesar, and who +now considered him as a usurper and an enemy of the republic, and was +determined to resist him to the last extremity. There was also a large +force assembled in Spain under the command of two sons of Pompey, in +whose case the ordinary political hostility of contending partisans was +rendered doubly intense and bitter by their desire to avenge their +father's cruel fate. Caesar determined first to go to Africa, and then, +after disposing of Cato's resistance, to cross the Mediterranean +into Spain. + +[Sidenote: Complaints of the soldiers.] + +Before he could set out, however, on these expeditions, he was involved +in very serious difficulties for a time, on account of a great +discontent which prevailed in his army, and which ended at last in open +mutiny. The soldiers complained that they had not received the rewards +and honors which Caesar had promised them. Some claimed offices, others +money others lands, which, as they maintained, they had been led to +expect would be conferred upon them at the end of the campaign. The fact +undoubtedly was, that, elated with their success, and intoxicated with +the spectacle of the boundless influence and power which their general +so obviously wielded at Rome, they formed expectations and hopes for +themselves altogether too wild and unreasonable to be realized by +soldiers; for soldiers, however much they may be flattered by their +generals in going into battle, or praised in the mass in official +dispatches, are after all but slaves, and slaves, too, of the very +humblest caste and character. + +[Sidenote: The mutiny.] +[Sidenote: The army marches to Rome.] + +The famous tenth legion, Cesar's favorite corps, took the most active +part in fomenting these discontents, as might naturally have been +expected, since the attentions and the praises which he had bestowed +upon them, though at first they tended to awaken their ambition, and to +inspire them with redoubled ardor and courage, ended, as such favoritism +always does, in making them vain, self-important, and unreasonable. Led +on thus by the tenth legion, the whole army mutinied. They broke up the +camp where they had been stationed at some distance beyond the walls of +Rome, and marched toward the city. Soldiers in a mutiny, even though +headed by their subaltern officers, are very little under command; and +these Roman troops, feeling released from their usual restraints, +committed various excesses on the way, terrifying the inhabitants and +spreading universal alarm. The people of the city were thrown into utter +consternation at the approach of the vast horde, which was coming like a +terrible avalanche to descend upon them. + +[Sidenote: Plan of the soldiers.] + +The army expected some signs of resistance at the gates, which, if +offered, they were prepared to encounter and overcome. Their plan was, +after entering the city, to seek Caesar and demand their discharge from +his service. They knew that he was under the necessity of immediately +making a campaign in Africa, and that, of course, he could not possibly, +as they supposed, dispense with them. He would, consequently, if they +asked their discharge, beg them to remain, and, to induce them to do it, +would comply with all their expectations and desires. + +Such was their plan. To tender, however, a resignation of an office as a +means of bringing an opposite party to terms, is always a very hazardous +experiment. We easily overrate the estimation in which our own services +are held taking what is said to us in kindness or courtesy by friends +as the sober and deliberate judgment of the public; and thus it often +happens that persons who in such case offer to resign, are astonished to +find their resignations readily accepted. + +[Sidenote: The army marches into the city.] + +When Caesar's mutineers arrived at the gates, they found, instead of +opposition, only orders from Caesar, by which they were directed to +leave all their arms except their swords, and march into the city. They +obeyed. They were then directed to go to the Campus Martius, a vast +parade ground situated within the walls, and to await Caesar's +orders there.[3] + +[Footnote 3: See map of the city of Rome, fronting the first page.] + +[Sidenote: The Campus Martius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's address to the army.] + +Caesar met them in the Campus Martius, and demanded why they had left +their encampment without orders and come to the city. They stated in +reply, as they had previously planned to do, that they wished to be +discharged from the public service. To their great astonishment, Caesar +seemed to consider this request as nothing at all extraordinary, but +promised, an the other hand, very readily to grant it He said that they +should be at once discharged, and should receive faithfully all the +rewards which had been promised them at the close of the war for their +long and arduous services. At the same time, he expressed his deep +regret that, to obtain what he was perfectly willing and ready at any +time to grant, they should have so far forgotten their duties as Romans, +and violated the discipline which should always be held absolutely +sacred by every soldier. He particularly regretted that the tenth +legion, on which he had been long accustomed so implicitly to rely, +should have taken a part in such transactions. + +[Sidenote: Its effects.] +[Sidenote: Attachment of Caesar's soldiers.] + +In making this address, Caesar assumed a kind and considerate, and even +respectful tone toward his men, calling them _Quirites_ instead of +soldiers--an honorary mode of appellation, which recognized them as +constituent members of the Roman commonwealth. The effect of the whole +transaction was what might have been anticipated. A universal desire was +awakened throughout the whole army to return to their duty. They sent +deputations to Caesar, begging not to be taken at their word, but to be +retained in the service, and allowed to accompany him to Africa. After +much hesitation and delay, Caesar consented to receive them again, all +excepting the tenth legion, who, he said, had now irrevocably lost his +confidence and regard. It is a striking illustration of the strength of +the attachment which bound Caesar's soldiers to their commander, that +the tenth legion _would not_ be discharged, after all. They followed +Caesar of their own accord into Africa, earnestly entreating him again +and again to receive them. He finally did receive them in detachments, +which he incorporated with the rest of his army, or sent on distant +service, but he would never organize them as the tenth legion again. + +[Sidenote: Caesar goes to Africa.] +[Sidenote: Cato shuts himself up in Africa.] + +It was now early in the winter, a stormy season for crossing the +Mediterranean Sea. Caesar, however, set off from Rome immediately, +proceeded south to Sicily, and encamped on the sea-shore there till the +fleet was ready to convey his forces to Africa. The usual fortune +attended him in the African campaigns His fleet was exposed to imminent +dangers in crossing the sea, but, in consequence of the extreme +deliberation and skill with which his arrangements were made, he escaped +them all. He overcame one after another of the military difficulties +which were in his way in Africa. His army endured, in the depth of +winter, great exposures and fatigues, and they had to encounter a large +hostile force under the charge of Cato. They were, however, successful +in every undertaking. Cato retreated at last to the city of Utica, where +he shut himself up with the remains of his army; but finding, at length, +when Caesar drew near, that there was no hope or possibility of making +good his defense, and as his stern and indomitable spirit could not +endure the thought of submission to one whom he considered as an enemy +to his country and a traitor he resolved upon a very effectual mode of +escaping from his conqueror's power. + +[Sidenote: He stabs himself.] +[Sidenote: Death of Cato.] + +He feigned to abandon all hope of defending the city, and began to make +arrangements to facilitate the escape of his soldiers over the sea. He +collected the vessels in the harbor, and allowed all to embark who were +willing to take the risks of the stormy water. He took, apparently, +great interest in the embarkations, and, when evening came on, he sent +repeatedly down to the sea-side to inquire about the state of the wind +and the progress of the operations. At length he retired to his +apartment, and, when all was quiet in the house, he lay down upon his +bed and stabbed himself with his sword He fell from the bed by the blow, +or else from the effect of some convulsive motion which the penetrating +steel occasioned. His son and servants, hearing the fall, came rushing +into the room, raised him from the floor, and attempted to bind up and +stanch the wound. Cato would not permit them to do it. He resisted them +violently as soon as he was conscious of what they intended. Finding +that a struggle would only aggravate the horrors of the scene, and even +hasten its termination, they left the bleeding hero to his fate, and in +a few minutes he died. + +[Sidenote: Folly of his suicide.] + +The character of Cato, and the circumstances under which his suicide was +committed, make it, on the whole, the most conspicuous act of suicide +which history records; and the events which followed show in an equally +conspicuous manner the extreme folly of the deed. In respect to its +wickedness, Cato, not having had the light of Christianity before him, +is to be leniently judged. As to the folly of the deed, however, he is +to be held strictly accountable. If he had lived and yielded to his +conqueror, as he might have done gracefully and without dishonor, since +all his means of resistance were exhausted, Caesar would have treated +him with generosity and respect, and would have taken him to Rome; and +as within a year or two of this time Caesar himself was no more, Cato's +vast influence and power might have been, and un doubtedly would have +been, called most effectually into action for the benefit of his +country. If any one, in defending Cato, should say he could not foresee +this, we reply, he _could_ have foreseen it; not the precise events, +indeed, which occurred, but he could have foreseen that vast changes +must take place, and new aspects of affairs arise, in which his powers +would be called into requisition. We can _always_ foresee in the midst +of any storm, however dark and gloomy, that clear skies will certainly +sooner or later come again; and this is just as true metaphorically in +respect to the vicissitudes of human life, as it is literally in regard +to the ordinary phenomena of the skies. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Spain.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of Pompey's sons.] + +From Africa Caesar returned to Rome, and from Rome he went to subdue the +resistance which was offered by the sons of Pompey in Spain. He was +equally successful here. The oldest son was wounded in battle, and was +carried off from the field upon a litter faint and almost dying. He +recovered in some degree, and, finding escape from the eager pursuit of +Caesar's soldiers impossible, he concealed himself in a cave, where he +lingered for a little time in destitution and misery. He was discovered +at last; his head was cut off by his captors and sent to Caesar, as his +father's had been. The younger son succeeded in escaping, but he became +a wretched fugitive and outlaw, and all manifestations of resistance to +Caesar's sway disappeared from Spain. The conqueror returned to Rome the +undisputed master of the whole Roman world. + +[Illustration: The elephants made torch-bearers.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar's triumphs.] +[Sidenote: The triumphal car breaks down.] +[Sidenote: Elephant torch-bearers.] + +Then came his triumphs. Triumphs were great celebrations, by which +military heroes in the days of the Roman commonwealth signalized their +victories on their return to the city Caesar's triumphs were four, one +for each of his four great successful campaigns, viz., in Egypt, in Asia +Minor, in Africa, and in Spain. Each was celebrated on a separate day, +and there was an interval of several days between them, to magnify their +importance, and swell the general interest which they excited among the +vast population of the city. On one of these days, the triumphal car in +which Caesar rode, which was most magnificently adorned, broke down on +the way, and Caesar was nearly thrown out of it by the shock. The +immense train of cars, horses, elephants, flags, banners, captives, and +trophies which formed the splendid procession was all stopped by the +accident, and a considerable delay ensued. Night came on, in fact +before the column could again be put in motion to enter the city, and +then Caesar, whose genius was never more strikingly shown than when he +had opportunity to turn a calamity to advantage, conceived the idea of +employing the forty elephants of the train as torch-bearers; the long +procession accordingly advanced through the streets and ascended to the +Capitol, lighted by the great blazing flambeaus which the sagacious and +docile beasts were easily taught to bear, each elephant holding one in +his proboscis, and waving it above the crowd around him. + +[Sidenote: Trophies and emblems.] + +In these triumphal processions, every thing was borne in exhibition +which could serve as a symbol of the conquered country or a trophy of +victory, Flags and banners taken from the enemy; vessels of gold and +silver, and other treasures, loaded in vans; wretched captives conveyed +in open carriages or marching sorrowfully on foot, and destined, some of +them, to public execution when the ceremony of the triumph was ended; +displays of arms, and implements, and dresses, and all else which might +serve to give the Roman crowd an idea of the customs and usages of the +remote and conquered nations; the animals they used, caparisoned in the +manner in which they used them: these, and a thousand other trophies +and emblems, were brought into the line to excite the admiration of the +crowd, and to add to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. In fact, it was +always a great object of solicitude and exertion with all the Roman +generals, when on distant and dangerous expeditions, to possess +themselves of every possible prize in the progress of their campaign +which could aid in adding splendor to the triumph which was to +signalize its end. + +[Sidenote: Banners and paintings.] + +In these triumphs of Caesar, a young sister of Cleopatra was in the line +of the Egyptian procession. In that devoted to Asia Minor was a great +banner containing the words already referred to, Veni, Vidi, Vici. There +were great paintings, too, borne aloft, representing battles and other +striking scenes. Of course, all Rome was in the highest state of +excitement during the days of the exhibition of this pageantry. The +whole surrounding country flocked to the capital to witness it, and +Caesar's greatness and glory were signalized in the most conspicuous +manner to all mankind. + +[Sidenote: Public entertainments.] +[Sidenote: Various spectacles and amusements.] +[Sidenote: Naval combats.] + +After these triumphs, a series of splendid public entertainments were +given, over twenty thousand tables having been spread for the populace +of the city Shows of every possible character and variety were +exhibited. There were dramatic plays, and equestrian performances in the +circus, and gladiatorial combats, and battles with wild beasts, and +dances, and chariot races, and every other imaginable amusement which +could be devised and carried into effect to gratify a population highly +cultivated in all the arts of life, but barbarous and cruel in heart and +character. Some of the accounts which have come down to us of the +magnificence of the scale on which these entertainments were conducted +are absolutely incredible. It is said, for example, that an immense +basin was constructed near the Tiber, large enough to contain two fleets +of galleys, which had on board two thousand rowers each, and one +thousand fighting men. These fleets were then manned with captives, the +one with Asiatics and the other with Egyptians, and when all was ready, +they were compelled to fight a real battle for the amusement of the +spectators which thronged the shores, until vast numbers were killed, +and the waters of the lake were dyed with blood. It is also said that +the whole Forum, and some of the great streets in the neighborhood where +the principal gladiatorial shows were held, were covered with silken +awnings to protect the vast crowds of spectators from the sun, and +thousands of tents were erected to accommodate the people from the +surrounding country, whom the buildings of the city could not contain. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's power.] +[Sidenote: Honors conferred upon him.] + +All open opposition to Caesar's power and dominion now entirely +disappeared. Even the Senate vied with the people in rendering him every +possible honor. The supreme power had been hitherto lodged in the hands +of two consuls, chosen annually, and the Roman people had been extremely +jealous of any distinction for any one, higher than that of an _elective +annual office,_ with a return to private life again when the brief +period should have expired. They now, however, made Caesar, in the first +place, consul for ten years, and then Perpetual Dictator. They conferred +upon him the title of the Father of his Country. The name of the month +in which he was born was changed to Julius, from his praenomen, and we +still retain the name. He was made, also, commander-in-chief of all the +armies of the commonwealth, the title to which vast military power was +expressed in the Latin language by the word IMPERATOR. + +[Sidenote: Statues of Caesar.] + +Caesar was highly elated with all these substantial proofs of the +greatness and glory to which he had attained, and was also very +evidently gratified with smaller, but equally expressive proofs of the +general regard. Statues representing his person were placed in the +public edifices, and borne in processions like those of the gods. +Conspicuous and splendidly ornamented seats were constructed for him in +all the places of public assembly, and on these he sat to listen to +debates or witness spectacles, as if he were upon a throne He had, +either by his influence or by his direct power, the control of all the +appointments to office, and was, in fact, in every thing but the name, a +sovereign and an absolute king. + +[Sidenote: His plans of internal improvement.] + +He began now to form great schemes of internal improvement for the +general benefit of the empire. He wished to increase still more the +great obligations which the Roman people were under to him for what he +had already done. They really were under vast obligations to him; for, +considering Rome as a community which was to subsist by governing the +world, Caesar had immensely enlarged the means of its subsistence by +establishing its sway every where, and providing for an incalculable +increase of its revenues from the tribute and the taxation of conquered +provinces and kingdoms. Since this work of conquest was now completed, +he turned his attention to the internal affairs of the empire, and made +many improvements in the system of administration, looking carefully +into every thing, and introducing every where those exact and systematic +principles which such a mind as his seeks instinctively in every thing +over which it has any control. + +[Sidenote: Ancient division of time.] +[Sidenote: Change effected by Caesar.] +[Sidenote: The old and new styles.] + +One great change which he effected continues in perfect operation +throughout Europe to the present day. It related to the division of +time. The system of months in use in his day corresponded so imperfectly +with the annual circuit of the sun, that the months were moving +continually along the year in such a manner that the winter months came +at length in the summer, and the summer months in the winter. This led +to great practical inconveniences; for whenever, for example, any thing +was required by law to be done in certain months, intending to have them +done in the summer, and the specified month came at length to be a +winter month, the law would require the thing to be done in exactly the +wrong season. Caesar remedied all this by adopting a new system of +months, which should give three hundred and sixty-five days to the year +for three years, and three hundred and sixty-six for the fourth; and so +exact was the system which he thus introduced, that it went on unchanged +for sixteen centuries. The months were then found to be eleven days out +of the way, when a new correction was introduced,[4] and it will now go +on three thousand years before the error will amount to a single day. +Caesar employed a Greek astronomer to arrange the system that he +adopted; and it was in part on account of the improvement which he thus +effected that one of the months, as has already been mentioned, was +called July. Its name before was Quintilis. + +[Footnote 4: By Pope Gregory XIII. at the time of the change from the +old style to the new] + +[Sidenote: Magnificent schemes.] +[Sidenote: Caesar collects the means to carry out his vast schemes.] + +Caesar formed a great many other vast and magnificent schemes. He +planned public buildings for the city, which were going to exceed in +magnitude and splendor all the edifices of the world. He commenced the +collection of vast libraries, formed plans for draining the Pontine +Marshes, for bringing great supplies of water into the city by an +aqueduct, for cutting a new passage for the Tiber from Rome to the sea, +and making an enormous artificial harbor at its mouth. He was going to +make a road along the Apennines, and cut a canal through the Isthmus of +Corinth, and construct other vast works, which were to make Rome the +center of the commerce of the world. In a word, his head was filled with +the grandest schemes, and he was gathering around him all the means and +resources necessary for the execution of them. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONSPIRACY. + +Caesar's greatness and glory came at last to a very sudden and violent +end. He was assassinated. All the attendant circumstances of this deed, +too, were of the most extraordinary character, and thus the dramatic +interest which adorns all parts of the great conqueror's history marks +strikingly its end. + +[Sidenote: Jealousies awakened by Caesar's power.] +[Sidenote: The Roman Constitution.] +[Sidenote: Struggles and Conflicts.] + +His prosperity and power awakened, of course, a secret jealousy and ill +will. Those who were disappointed in their expectations of his favor +murmured. Others, who had once been his rivals, hated him for having +triumphed over them. Then there was a stern spirit of democracy, too, +among certain classes of the citizens of Rome which could not brook a +master. It is true that the sovereign power in the Roman commonwealth +had never been shared by all the inhabitants. It was only in certain +privileged classes that the sovereignty was vested; but among these the +functions of government were divided and distributed in such a way as +to balance one interest against another, and to give all their proper +share of influence and authority. Terrible struggles and conflicts often +occurred among these various sections of society, as one or another +attempted from time to time to encroach upon the rights or privileges of +the rest. These struggles, however, ended usually in at last restoring +again the equilibrium which had been disturbed. No one power could ever +gain the entire ascendency; and thus, as all _monarchism_ seemed +excluded from their system, they called it a republic. Caesar, however, +had now concentrated in himself all the principal elements of power, and +there began to be suspicions that he wished to make himself in name and +openly, as well as secretly and in fact, a king. + +[Sidenote: Roman repugnance to royalty.] +[Sidenote: Firmness of the Romans.] + +The Romans abhorred the very name of king. They had had kings in the +early periods of their history, but they made themselves odious by their +pride and their oppressions, and the people had deposed and expelled +them. The modern nations of Europe have several times performed the same +exploit, but they have generally felt unprotected and ill at ease +without a personal sovereign over them and have accordingly, in most +cases, after a few years, restored some branch of the expelled dynasty +to the throne The Romans were more persevering and firm. They had +managed their empire now for five hundred years as a republic, and +though they had had internal dissensions, conflicts, and quarrels +without end, had persisted so firmly and unanimously in their +detestation of all regal authority, that no one of the long line of +ambitious and powerful statesmen, generals, or conquerors by which the +history of the empire had been signalized, had ever dared to aspire to +the name of king. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's ambitious plans.] + +There began, however, soon to appear some indications that Caesar, who +certainly now possessed regal power, would like the regal name. +Ambitious men, in such cases, do not directly assume themselves the +titles and symbols of royalty. Others make the claim for them, while +they faintly disavow it, till they have opportunity to gee what effect +the idea produces on the public mind. The following incidents occurred +which it was thought indicated such a design on the part of Caesar. + +[Sidenote: American feeling.] + +There were in some of the public buildings certain statues of kings; for +it must be understood that the Roman dislike to kings was only a dislike +to having kingly authority exercised over themselves. They respected and +sometimes admired the kings of other countries, and honored their +exploits, and made statues to commemorate their fame. They were willing +that kings should reign elsewhere, so long as there were no king of +Rome. The American feeling at the present day is much the same. If the +Queen of England were to make a progress through this country, she would +receive, perhaps, as many and as striking marks of attention and honor +as would be rendered to her in her own realm. We venerate the antiquity +of her royal line; we admire the efficiency of her government and the +sublime grandeur of her empire, and have as high an idea as any, of the +powers and prerogatives of her crown--and these feelings would show +themselves most abundantly on any proper occasion. We are willing, nay, +wish that she should continue to reign over Englishmen; and yet, after +all, it would take some millions of bayonets to place a queen securely +upon a throne over this land. + +[Sidenote: Regal power.] + +Regal power was accordingly, in the abstract, looked up to at Rome, as +it is elsewhere, with great respect; and it was, in fact, all the more +tempting as an object of ambition, from the determination felt by the +people that it should not be exercised there. There were, accordingly, +statues of kings at Rome. Caesar placed his own statue among them. Some +approved, others murmured. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's seat in the theater.] + +There was a public theater in the city, where the officers of the +government were accustomed to sit in honorable seats prepared expressly +for them, those of the Senate being higher and more distinguished than +the rest. Caesar had a seat prepared for himself there, similar in form +to a throne, and adorned it magnificently with gilding and ornaments of +gold, which gave it the entire pre-eminence over all the other seats. + +He had a similar throne placed in the senate chamber, to be occupied by +himself when attending there, like the throne of the King of England in +the House of Lords. + +[Sidenote: Public celebrations.] +[Sidenote: Caesar receives the Senate sitting.] +[Sidenote: Consequent excitement.] + +He held, moreover, a great many public celebrations and triumphs in the +city in commemoration of his exploits and honors; and, on one of these +occasions, it was arranged that the Senate were to come to him at a +temple in a body, and announce to him certain decrees which they had +passed to his honor. Vast crowds had assembled to witness the ceremony +Caesar was seated in a magnificent chair, which might have been called +either a chair or a throne, and was surrounded by officers and +attendants When the Senate approached, Caesar did not rise to receive +them, but remained seated, like a monarch receiving a deputation of his +subjects. The incident would not seem to be in itself of any great +importance, but, considered as an indication of Caesar's designs, it +attracted great attention, and produced a very general excitement. The +act was adroitly managed so as to be somewhat equivocal in its +character, in order that it might be represented one way or the other on +the following day, according as the indications of public sentiment +might incline. Some said that Caesar was intending to rise, but was +prevented, and held down by those who stood around him. Others said that +an officer motioned to him to rise, but he rebuked his interference by a +frown, and continued his seat. Thus while, in fact, he received the +Roman Senate as their monarch and sovereign, his own intentions and +designs in so doing were left somewhat in doubt, in order to avoid +awakening a sudden and violent opposition. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's statute crowned.] + +Not long after this, as he was returning in public from some great +festival, the streets being full of crowds, and the populace following +him in great throngs with loud acclamations, a man went up to his +statue as he passed it, and placed upon the head of it a laurel crown, +fastened with a white ribbon, which was a badge of royalty. Some +officers ordered the ribbon to be taken down, and sent the man to +prison. Caesar was very much displeased with the officers, and dismissed +them from their office. He wished, he said, to have the opportunity to +disavow, himself, such claims, and not to have others disavow them +for him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's disavowals.] + +Caesar's disavowals were, however, so faint, and people had so little +confidence in their sincerity, that the cases became more and more +frequent in which the titles and symbols of royalty were connected with +his name. The people who wished to gain his favor saluted him in public +with the name of _Rex_, the Latin word for king. He replied that his +name was Caesar, not _Rex_, showing, however, no other signs of +displeasure. On one great occasion, a high public officer, a near +relative of his, repeatedly placed a diadem upon his head, Caesar +himself, as often as he did it, gently putting it off. At last he sent +the diadem away to a temple that was near, saying that there was no king +in Rome but Jupiter. In a word, all his conduct indicated that he wished +to have it appear that the people were pressing the crown upon him, +when he himself was steadily refusing it. + +[Sidenote: Some willing to make Caesar king.] +[Sidenote: Others oppose it.] + +This state of things produced a very strong and universal, though +suppressed excitement in the city. Parties were formed. Some began to be +willing to make Caesar king; others were determined to hazard their +lives to prevent it. None dared, however, openly to utter their +sentiments on either side. They expressed them by mysterious looks and +dark intimations. At the time when Caesar refused to rise to receive the +Senate, many of the members withdrew in silence, and with looks of +offended dignity When the crown was placed upon his statue or upon his +own brow, a portion of the populace would applaud with loud +acclamations; and whenever he disavowed these acts, either by words or +counter-actions of his own, an equally loud acclamation would arise from +the other side. On the whole, however, the idea that Caesar was +gradually advancing toward the kingdom steadily gained ground. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's pretexts.] +[Sidenote: His assumed humility.] + +And yet Caesar himself spoke frequently with great humility in respect +to his pretensions and claims; and when he found public sentiment +turning against the ambitious schemes he seems secretly to have +cherished, he would present some excuse or explanation for his conduct +plausible enough to answer the purpose of a disavowal. When he received +the Senate, sitting like a king, on the occasion before referred to, +when they read to him the decrees which they had passed in his favor, he +replied to them that there was more need of diminishing the public +honors which he received than of increasing them. When he found, too, +how much excitement his conduct on that occasion had produced, he +explained it by saying that he had retained his sitting posture on +account of the infirmity of his health, as it made him dizzy to stand. +He thought, probably, that these pretexts would tend to quiet the strong +and turbulent spirits around him, from whose envy or rivalry he had most +to fear, without at all interfering with the effect which the act itself +would have produced upon the masses of the population. He wished, in a +word, to accustom them to see him assume the position and the bearing of +a sovereign, while, by his apparent humility in his intercourse with +those immediately around him, he avoided as much as possible irritating +and arousing the jealous and watchful rivals who were next to him +in power. + +[Sidenote: Progress of Caesar's plans.] + +If this were his plan, it seemed to be advancing prosperously toward +its accomplishment. The population of the city seemed to become more and +more familiar with the idea that Caesar was about to become a king. The +opposition which the idea had at first awakened appeared to subside, or, +at least, the public expression of it, which daily became more and more +determined and dangerous, was restrained. At length the time arrived +when it appeared safe to introduce the subject to the Roman Senate. +This, of course, was a hazardous experiment. It was managed, however, in +a very adroit and ingenious manner. + +[Sidenote: The Sibylline books.] +[Sidenote: Declaration of the Sibylline books.] +[Sidenote: Plan for crowning Caesar.] + +There were in Rome, and, in fact, in many other cities and countries of +the world in those days, a variety of prophetic books, called the +Sibylline Oracles, in which it was generally believed that future events +were foretold. Some of these volumes or rolls, which were very ancient +and of great authority, were preserved in the temples at Rome, under the +charge of a board of guardians, who were to keep them with the utmost +care, and to consult them on great occasions, in order to discover +beforehand what would be the result of public measures or great +enterprises which were in contemplation. It happened that at this time +the Romans were engaged in a war with the Parthians, a very wealthy and +powerful nation of Asia. Caesar was making preparations for an +expedition to the East to attempt to subdue this people. He gave orders +that the Sibylline Oracles should be consulted. The proper officers, +after consulting them with the usual solemn ceremonies, reported to the +Senate that they found it recorded in these sacred prophecies that the +Parthians could not be conquered except by a _king_, A senator proposed, +therefore, that, to meet the emergency, Caesar should be made king +during the war. There was at first no decisive action on this proposal. +It was dangerous to express any opinion. People were thoughtful, +serious, and silent, as on the eve of some great convulsion. No one knew +what others were meditating, and thus did not dare to express his own +wishes or designs. There soon, however, was a prevailing understanding +that Caesar's friends were determined on executing the design of +crowning him, and that the fifteenth of March, called, in their +phraseology, the _Ides of March_, was fixed upon as the coronation day. + +[Sidenote: The conspiracy.] + +In the mean time, Caesar's enemies, though to all outward appearance +quiet and calm, had not been inactive. Finding that his plans were now +ripe for execution, and that they had no, open means of resisting them, +they formed a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar himself, and thus bring +his ambitious schemes to an effectual and final end. The name of the +original leader of this conspiracy was Cassius. + +[Sidenote: Cassius.] + +Cassius had been for a long time Caesar's personal rival and enemy. He +was a man of a very violent and ardent temperament, impetuous and +fearless, very fond of exercising power himself, but very restless and +uneasy in having it exercised over him. He had all the Roman repugnance +to being under the authority of a master, with an additional personal +determination of his own not to submit to Caesar. He determined to slay +Caesar rather than to allow him to be made a king, and he went to work, +with great caution, to bring other leading and influential men to join +him in this determination. Some of those to whom he applied said that +they would unite with him in his plot provided he would get Marcus +Brutus to join them. + +[Sidenote: Marcus Brutus.] + +Brutus was the praetor of the city. The praetorship of the city was a +very high municipal office. The conspirators wished to have Brutus join +them partly on account of his station as a magistrate, as if they +supposed that by having the highest public magistrate of the city for +their leader in the deed, the destruction of their victim would appear +less like a murder, and would be invested, instead, in some respects, +with the sanctions and with the dignity of an official execution. + +[Sidenote: Character of Brutus.] +[Sidenote: His firmness and courage.] + +Then, again, they wished for the moral support which would be afforded +them in their desperate enterprise by Brutus's extraordinary personal +character. He was younger than Cassius, but he was grave, thoughtful, +taciturn, calm--a man of inflexible integrity, of the coolest +determination, and, at the same time, of the most undaunted courage. The +conspirators distrusted one another, for the resolution of impetuous men +is very apt to fail when the emergency arrives which puts it to the +test; but as for Brutus, they knew very well that whatever he undertook +he would most certainly do. + +[Sidenote: The ancient Brutus.] +[Sidenote: His expulsion of the kings.] + +There was a great deal even in his name. It was a Brutus that five +centuries before had been the main instrument of the expulsion of the +Roman kings. He had secretly meditated the design, and, the better to +conceal it, had feigned idiocy, as the story was, that he might not be +watched or suspected until the favorable hour for executing his design +should arrive. He therefore ceased to speak, and seemed to lose his +reason; he wandered about the city silent and gloomy, like a brute. His +name had been Lucius Junius before. They added Brutus now, to designate +his condition. When at last, however, the crisis arrived which he judged +favorable for the expulsion of the kings, he suddenly reassumed his +speech and his reason, called the astonished Romans to arms, and +triumphantly accomplished his design. His name and memory had been +cherished ever since that day as of a great deliverer. + +[Sidenote: The history of Brutus.] + +They, therefore, who looked upon Caesar as another king, naturally +turned their thoughts to the Brutus of their day, hoping to find in him +another deliverer. Brutus found, from time to time, inscriptions on his +ancient namesake's statue expressing the wish that he were now alive. He +also found each morning, as he came to the tribunal where he was +accustomed to sit in the discharge of the duties of his office, brief +writings, which had been left there during the night, in which few words +expressed deep meaning, such as "Awake, Brutus, to thy duty;" and "Art +thou indeed a Brutus?" + +[Sidenote: His obligations to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's friendship for Brutus.] + +Still it seemed hardly probable that Brutus could be led to take a +decided stand against Caesar, for they had been warm personal friends +ever since the conclusion of the civil wars. Brutus had, indeed, been on +Pompey's side while that general lived; he fought with him at the battle +of Pharsalia, but he had been taken prisoner there, and Caesar, instead +of executing him as a traitor, as most victorious generals in a civil +war would have done, spared his life, forgave him for his hostility, +received him into his own service, and afterward raised him to very high +and honorable stations. He gave him the government of the richest +province, and, after his return from it, loaded with wealth and honors, +he made him praetor of the city. In a word, it would seem that he had +done every thing which it was possible to do to make him one of his most +trustworthy and devoted friends. The men, therefore, to whom Cassius +first applied, perhaps thought that they were very safe in saying that +they would unite in the intended conspiracy if he would get Brutus to +join them. They expected Cassius himself to make the attempt to secure +the co-operation of Brutus, as Cassius was on terms of intimacy with him +on account of a family connection. Cassius's wife was the sister of +Brutus. This had made the two men intimate associates and warm friends +in former years, though they had been recently somewhat estranged from +each other on account of having been competitors for the same offices +and honors. In these contests Caesar had decided in favor of Brutus. +"Cassius," said he, on one such occasion, "gives the best reasons; but I +can not refuse Brutus any thing he asks for." In fact, Caesar had +conceived a strong personal friendship for Brutus, and believed him to +be entirely devoted to his cause. + +[Sidenote: Interview between Brutus and Cassius.] + +Cassius, however, sought an interview with Brutus, with a view of +engaging him in his design. He easily effected his own reconciliation +with him, as he had himself been the offended party in their +estrangement from each other. He asked Brutus whether he intended to be +present in the Senate on the Ides of March, when the friends of Caesar, +as was understood, were intending to present him with the crown. Brutus +said he should not be there. "But suppose," said Cassius, "we are +specially summoned." "Then," said Brutus, "I shall go, and shall be +ready to die if necessary to defend the liberty of my country." + +[Sidenote: Arguments of Cassius.] + +Cassius then assured Brutus that there were many other Roman citizens, +of the highest rank, who were animated by the same determination, and +that they all looked up to him to lead and direct them in the work which +it was now very evident must be done. "Men look," said Cassius, "to +other praetors to entertain them with games, spectacles, and shows, but +they have very different ideas in respect to you. Your character, your +name, your position, your ancestry, and the course of conduct which you +have already always pursued, inspire the whole city with the hope that +you are to be their deliverer. The citizens are all ready to aid you, +and to sustain you at the hazard of their lives; but they look to you to +go forward, and to act in their name and in their behalf, in the crisis +which is now approaching." + +[Sidenote: Effect on Brutus.] +[Sidenote: Brutus engages in the conspiracy.] + +Men of a very calm exterior are often susceptible of the profoundest +agitations within, the emotions seeming to be sometimes all the more +permanent and uncontrollable from the absence of outward display. Brutus +said little, but his soul was excited and fired by Cassius's words. +There was a struggle in his soul between his grateful sense of his +political obligations to Caesar and his personal attachment to him on +the one hand, and, on the other, a certain stern Roman conviction that +every thing should be sacrificed, even friendship and gratitude, as +well as fortune and life, to the welfare of his country. He acceded to +the plan, and began forthwith to enter upon the necessary measures for +putting it into execution. + +[Sidenote: Ligurius.] + +There was a certain general, named Ligurius, who had been in Pompey's +army, and whose hostility to Caesar had never been really subdued. He +was now sick. Brutus went to see him. He found him in his bed. The +excitement in Rome was so intense, though the expressions of it were +suppressed and restrained, that every one was expecting continually some +great event, and every motion and look was interpreted to have some deep +meaning. Ligurius read in the countenance of Brutus, as he approached +his bedside, that he had not come on any trifling errand. "Ligurius," +said Brutus, "this is not a time for _you_ to be sick." "Brutus," +replied Ligurius, rising at once from his couch, "if you have any +enterprise in mind that is worthy of you, I am well." Brutus explained +to the sick man their design, and he entered into it with ardor. + +[Sidenote: Consultations of the conspirators.] +[Sidenote: Their bold plan.] +[Sidenote: Final arrangements.] + +The plan was divulged to one after another of such men as the +conspirators supposed most worthy of confidence in such a desperate +undertaking, and meetings for consultation were held to determine what +plan to adopt for finally accomplishing their end. It was agreed that +Caesar must be slain; but the time, the place, and the manner in which +the deed should be performed were all yet undecided. Various plans were +proposed in the consultations which the conspirators held; but there was +one thing peculiar to them all, which was, that they did not any of them +contemplate or provide for any thing like secrecy in the commission of +the deed. It was to be performed in the most open and public manner. +With a stern and undaunted boldness, which has always been considered by +mankind as truly sublime, they determined that, in respect to the actual +execution itself of the solemn judgment which they had pronounced, there +should be nothing private or concealed. They thought over the various +public situations in which they might find Caesar, and where they might +strike him down, only to select the one which would be most public of +all. They kept, of course, their preliminary counsels private, to +prevent the adoption of measures for counteracting them; but they were +to perform the deed in such a manner as that, so soon as it was +performed, they should stand out to view, exposed fully to the gaze of +all mankind as the authors, of it. They planned no retreat, no +concealment, no protection whatever for themselves, seeming to feel that +the deed which they were about to perform, of destroying the master and +monarch of the world, was a deed in its own nature so grand and sublime +as to raise the perpetrators of it entirely above all considerations +relating to their own personal safety. Their plan, therefore, was to +keep their consultations and arrangements secret until they were +prepared to strike the blow, then to strike it in the most public and +imposing manner possible, and calmly afterward to await the +consequences. + +[Sidenote: The place and the day.] + +In this view of the subject, they decided that the chamber of the Roman +Senate was the proper place, and the Ides of March, the day on which he +was appointed to be crowned, was the propel time for Caesar to be slain. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE ASSASSINATION. + +[Sidenote: Caesar receives many warnings of his approaching fate.] + +According to the account given by his historians, Caesar received many +warnings of his approaching fate, which, however, he would not heed. +Many of these warnings were strange portents and prodigies, which the +philosophical writers who recorded them half believed themselves, and +which they were always ready to add to their narratives even if they did +not believe them, on account of the great influence which such an +introduction of the supernatural and the divine had with readers in +those days in enhancing the dignity and the dramatic interest of the +story. These warnings were as follows: + +[Sidenote: The tomb and inscription.] + +At Capua, which was a great city at some distance south of Rome, the +second, in fact, in Italy, and the one which Hannibal had proposed to +make his capital, some workmen were removing certain ancient sepulchers +to make room for the foundations of a splendid edifice which, among his +other plans for the embellishment of the cities of Italy, Caesar was +intending to have erected there. As the excavations advanced, the +workmen came at last to an ancient tomb, which proved to be that of the +original founder of Capua; and, in bringing out the sarcophagus, they +found an inscription, worked upon a brass plate, and in the Greek +character, predicting that if those remains were ever disturbed, a great +member of the Julian family would be assassinated by his own friends, +and his death would be followed by extended devastations throughout +all Italy. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's horses.] + +The horses, too, with which Caesar had passed the Rubicon, and which had +been, ever since that time, living in honorable retirement in a splendid +park which Caesar had provided for them, by some mysterious instinct, or +from some divine communication, had warning of the approach of their +great benefactor's end. They refused their food, and walked about with +melancholy and dejected looks, mourning apparently, and in a manner +almost human, some impending grief. + +[Sidenote: The soothsayers.] + +There was a class of prophets in those days called by a name which has +been translated _soothsayers_. These soothsayers were able, as was +supposed, to look somewhat into futurity--dimly and doubtfully, it is +true, but really, by means of certain appearances exhibited by the +bodies of the animals offered in sacrifices These soothsayers were +consulted on all important occasions; and if the auspices proved +unfavorable when any great enterprise was about to be undertaken, it was +often, on that account, abandoned or postponed. One of these +soothsayers, named Spurinna, came to Caesar one day, and informed him +that he had found, by means of a public sacrifice which he had just been +offering, that there was a great and mysterious danger impending over +him, which was connected in some way with the Ides of March, and he +counseled him to be particularly cautious and circumspect until that day +should have passed. + +[Sidenote: The hawks and the wren.] + +The Senate were to meet on the Ides of March in a new and splendid +edifice, which had been erected for their use by Pompey. There was in +the interior of the building, among other decorations, a statue of +Pompey. The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a +neighboring grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren +with a sprig of laurel in its mouth. The birds tore the wren to pieces, +the laurel dropping from its bill to the marble pavement of the floor +below. Now, as Caesar had been always accustomed to wear a crown of +laurel on great occasions, and had always evinced a particular fondness +for that decoration, that plant had come to be considered his own proper +badge, and the fall of the laurel, therefore, was naturally thought to +portend some great calamity to him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's agitation of mind.] +[Sidenote: His dream.] +[Sidenote: Calpurnia's dream.] +[Sidenote: The effect of a disturbed mind.] + +The night before the Ides of March Caesar could not sleep. It would not +seem, however, to be necessary to suppose any thing supernatural to +account for his wakefulness. He lay upon his bed restless and excited, +or if he fell into a momentary slumber, his thoughts, instead of finding +repose, were only plunged into greater agitations, produced by strange, +and, as he thought, supernatural dreams. He imagined that he ascended +into the skies, and was received there by Jupiter, the supreme divinity, +as an associate and equal. While shaking hands with the great father of +gods and men, the sleeper was startled by a frightful sound. He awoke, +and found his wife Calpurnia groaning and struggling in her sleep. He +saw her by the moonlight which was shining into the room. He spoke to +her, and aroused her. After staring wildly for a moment till she had +recovered her thoughts, she said that she had had a dreadful dream. She +had dreamed that the roof of the house had fallen in, and that, at the +same instant, the doors had been burst open, and some robber or assassin +had stabbed her husband as he was lying in her arms. The philosophy of +those days found in these dreams mysterious and preternatural warnings +of impending danger; that of ours, however, sees nothing either in the +absurd sacrilegiousness of Caesar's thoughts, or his wife's incoherent +and inconsistent images of terror--nothing more than the natural and +proper effects, on the one hand, of the insatiable ambition of man, and, +on the other, of the conjugal affection and solicitude of woman. The +ancient sculptors carved out images of men, by the forms and lineaments +of which we see that the physical characteristics of humanity have not +changed. History seems to do the same with the affections and passions +of the soul. The dreams of Caesar and his wife on the night before the +Ides of March, as thus recorded, form a sort of spiritual statue, which +remains from generation to generation, to show us how precisely all the +inward workings of human nature are from age to age the same. + +[Sidenote: Caesar hesitates.] + +When the morning came Caesar and Calpurnia arose, both restless and ill +at ease. Caesar ordered the auspices to be consulted with reference to +the intended proceedings of the day. The soothsayers came in in due +time, and reported that the result was unfavorable. Calpurnia, too, +earnestly entreated her husband not to go to the senate-house that day. +She had a very strong presentiment that, if he did go, some great +calamity would ensue. Caesar himself hesitated. He was half inclined to +yield, and postpone his coronation to another occasion. + +[Sidenote: Decimus Brutus.] + +In the course of the day, while Caesar was in this state of doubt and +uncertainty, one of the conspirators, named Decimus Brutus, came in. +This Brutus was not a man of any extraordinary courage or energy, but he +had been invited by the other conspirators to join them, on account of +his having under his charge a large number of gladiators, who, being +desperate and reckless men, would constitute a very suitable armed force +for them to call in to their aid in case of any emergency arising which +should require it. + +[Sidenote: Decimus Brutus waits upon Caesar.] + +The conspirators having thus all their plans arranged, Decimus Brutus +was commissioned to call at Caesar's house when the time approached for +the assembling of the Senate, both to avert suspicion from Caesar's +mind, and to assure himself that nothing had been discovered It was in +the afternoon, the time for the meeting of the senators having been +fixed at five o'clock. Decimus Brutus found Caesar troubled and +perplexed, and uncertain what to do. After hearing what he had to say, +he replied by urging him to go by all means to the senate-house, as he +had intended. "You have formally called the Senate together," said he, +"and they are now assembling. They are all prepared to confer upon you +the rank and title of king, not only in Parthia, while you are +conducting this war but every where, by sea and land, except in Italy. +And now, while they are all in their places, waiting to consummate the +great act, how absurd will it be for you to send them word to go home +again, and come back some other day, when Calpurnia shall have had +better dreams!" + +[Sidenote: He persuades him to go.] + +He urged, too, that, even if Caesar was determined to put off the action +of the Senate to another day, he was imperiously bound to go himself and +adjourn the session in person. So saying, he took the hesitating +potentate by the arm, and adding to his arguments a little gentle force, +conducted him along. + +[Sidenote: Artemidorus discovers the plot.] +[Sidenote: He warns Caesar.] + +The conspirators supposed that all was safe The fact was, however, that +all had been discovered. There was a certain Greek, a teacher of +oratory, named Artemidorus. He had contrived to learn something of the +plot from some of the conspirators who were his pupils. He wrote a brief +statement of the leading particulars, and, having no other mode of +access to Caesar, he determined to hand it to him on the way as he went +to the senate-house. Of course, the occasion was one of great public +interest, and crowds had assembled in the streets to see the great +conqueror as he went along. As usual at such times, when powerful +officers of state appear in public, many people came up to present +petitions to him as he passed. These he received, and handed them, +without reading, to his secretary who attended him, as if to have them +preserved for future examination. Artemidorus, who was waiting for his +opportunity, when he perceived what disposition Caesar made of the +papers which were given to him, began to be afraid that his own +communication would not be attended to until it was too late. He +accordingly pressed up near to Caesar, refusing to allow any one else to +pass the paper in; and when, at last, he obtained an opportunity, he +gave it directly into Caesar's hands saying to him, "Read this +immediately: it concerns yourself, and is of the utmost importance" + +Caesar took the paper and attempted to read it, but new petitions and +other interruptions constantly prevented him; finally he gave up the +attempt, and went on his way, receiving and passing to his secretary all +other papers, but retaining this paper of Artemidorus in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Caesar and Spurinna.] + +Caesar passed Spurinna on his way to the senate-house--the soothsayer +who had predicted some great danger connected with the Ides of March. As +soon as he recognized him, he accosted him with the words, "Well, +Spurinna, the Ides of March have come, and I am safe." "Yes," replied +Spurinna, "they have come, but they are not yet over." + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at the senate house.] + +At length he arrived at the senate-house, with the paper of Artemidorus +still unread in his hand. The senators were all convened, the leading +conspirators among them. They all rose to receive Caesar as he entered. +Caesar advanced to the seat provided for him, and, when he was seated, +the senators themselves sat down. The moment had now arrived, and the +conspirators, with pale looks and beating hearts, felt that now or never +the deed was to be done. + +[Sidenote: Resolution of the Conspirators.] + +It requires a very considerable degree of physical courage and +hardihood for men to come to a calm and deliberate decision that they +will kill one whom they hate, and, still more, actually to strike the +blow, even when under the immediate impulse of passion. But men who are +perfectly capable of either of these often find their resolution fail +them as the time comes for striking a dagger into the living flesh of +their victim, when he sits at ease and unconcerned before them, unarmed +and defenseless, and doing nothing to excite those feelings of +irritation and anger which are generally found so necessary to nerve the +human arm to such deeds. Utter defenselessness is accordingly, +sometimes, a greater protection than an armor of steel. + +[Sidenote: Caesar and Pompey's statue.] + +Even Cassius himself, the originator and the soul of the whole +enterprise, found his courage hardly adequate to the work now that the +moment had arrived; and, in order to arouse the necessary excitement in +his soul, he looked up to the statue of Pompey, Caesar's ancient and +most formidable enemy, and invoked its aid. It gave him its aid. It +inspired him with some portion of the enmity with which the soul of its +great original had burned; and thus the soul of the living assassin was +nerved to its work by a sort of sympathy with a block of stone. + +[Sidenote: Plan of the conspirators.] + +Foreseeing the necessity of something like a stimulus to action when the +immediate moment for action should arrive, the conspirators had agreed +that, as soon as Caesar was seated, they would approach him with a +petition, which he would probably refuse, and then, gathering around +him, they would urge him with their importunities, so as to produce, in +the confusion, a sort of excitement that would make it easier for them +to strike the blow. + +[Sidenote: Marc Antony.] + +There was one person, a relative and friend of Caesar's, named Marcus +Antonius, called commonly, however, in English narratives, Marc Antony, +the same who has been already mentioned as having been subsequently +connected with Cleopatra. He was a very energetic and determined man, +who, they thought, might possibly attempt to defend him. To prevent +this, one of the conspirators had been designated to take him aside, and +occupy his attention with some pretended subject of discourse, ready, at +the same time, to resist and prevent his interference if he should show +himself inclined to offer any. + +[Sidenote: The petition.] +[Sidenote: Caesar assaulted.] + +Things being thus arranged, the petitioner, as had been agreed, advanced +to Caesar with his petition, others coming up at the same time as if to +second the request. The object of the petition was to ask for the pardon +of the brother of one of the conspirators. Caesar declined granting it. +The others then crowded around him, urging him to grant the request with +pressing importunities, all apparently reluctant to strike the first +blow. Caesar began to be alarmed, and attempted to repel them. One of +them then pulled down his robe from his neck to lay it bare. Caesar +arose, exclaiming, "But this is violence." At the same instant, one of +the conspirators struck at him with his sword, and wounded him slightly +in the neck. + +[Sidenote: He resists.] + +All was now terror, outcry, and confusion Caesar had no time to draw his +sword, but fought a moment with his style, a sharp instrument of iron +with which they wrote, in those days, on waxen tablets, and which he +happened then to have in his hand. With this instrument he ran one of +his enemies through the arm. + +[Illustration: POMPEY'S STATUE.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar is overcome.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's statue.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's death.] + +This resistance was just what was necessary to excite the conspirators, +and give them the requisite resolution to finish their work. Caesar soon +saw the swords, accordingly, gleaming all around him, and thrusting +themselves at him on every side. The senators rose in confusion and +dismay, perfectly thunderstruck at the scene, and not knowing what to +do. Antony perceived that all resistance on his part would be +unavailing, and accordingly did not attempt any. Caesar defended himself +alone for a few minutes as well as he could, looking all around him in +vain for help, and retreating at the same time toward the pedestal of +Pompey's statue. At length, when he saw Brutus among his murderers, he +exclaimed, "And you too, Brutus?" and seemed from that moment to give up +in despair. He drew his robe over his face, and soon fell under the +wounds which he received. His blood ran out upon the pavement at the +foot of Pompey's statue, as if his death were a sacrifice offered to +appease his ancient enemy's revenge. + +[Sidenote: Flight of the senators.] +[Sidenote: Great commotion.] + +In the midst of the scene Brutus made an attempt to address the +senators, and to vindicate what they had done, but the confusion and +excitement were so great that it was impossible that any thing could be +heard. The senators were, in fact, rapidly leaving the place, going off +in every direction, and spreading the tidings over the city. The event, +of course, produced universal commotion. The citizens began to close +their shops, and some to barricade their houses, while others hurried to +and fro about the streets, anxiously inquiring for intelligence, and +wondering what dreadful event was next to be expected. Antony and +Lepidus, who were Caesar's two most faithful and influential friends, +not knowing how extensive the conspiracy might be, nor how far the +hostility to Caesar and his party might extend, fled, and, not daring to +go to their own houses, lest the assassins or their confederates might +pursue them there, sought concealment in the houses of friends on whom +they supposed they could rely and who were willing to receive them. + +[Sidenote: The Conspirators proceed to the Capitol.] +[Sidenote: They glory in their deed.] + +In the mean time, the conspirators, glorying In the deed which they had +perpetrated, and congratulating each other on the successful issue of +their enterprise, sallied forth together from the senate-house, leaving +the body of their victim weltering in its blood, and marched, with drawn +swords in their hands, along the streets from the senate-house to the +Capitol. Brutus went at the head of them, preceded by a liberty cap +borne upon the point of a spear, and with his bloody dagger in his hand. +The Capitol was the citadel, built magnificently upon the Capitoline +Hill, and surrounded by temples, and other sacred and civil edifices, +which made the spot the architectural wonder of the world. As Brutus and +his company proceeded thither, they announced to the citizens, as they +went along, the great deed of deliverance which they had wrought out for +the country. Instead of seeking concealment, they gloried in the work +which they had done, and they so far succeeded in inspiring others with +a portion of their enthusiasm, that some men who had really taken no +part in the deed joined Brutus and his company in their march, to obtain +by stealth a share in the glory. + +[Sidenote: Number of Caesar's wounds.] + +The body of Caesar lay for some time unheeded where it had fallen, the +attention of every one being turned to the excitement, which was +extending through the city, and to the expectation of other great events +which might suddenly develop themselves in other quarters of Rome. There +were left only three of Caesar's slaves, who gathered around the body to +look at the wounds. They counted them, and found the number +twenty-three. It shows, however, how strikingly, and with what +reluctance, the actors in this tragedy came up to their work at last, +that of all these twenty-three wounds only one was a mortal one. In +fact, it is probable that, while all of the conspirators struck the +victim in their turn, to fulfill the pledge which they had given to one +another that they would every one inflict a wound, each one hoped that +the fatal blow would be given, after all, by some other hand than +his own. + +[Sidenote: His slaves convey his body home.] + +At last the slaves decided to convey the body home. They obtained a sort +of chair, which was made to be borne by poles, and placed the body upon +it. Then, lifting at the three handles, and allowing the fourth to hang +unsupported for want of a man, they bore the ghastly remains home to the +distracted Calpurnia. + +[Sidenote: Address of the conspirators.] + +The next day Brutus and his associates called an assembly of the people +in the Forum, and made an address to them, explaining the motives which +had led them to the commission of the deed, and vindicating the +necessity and the justice of it. The people received these explanations +in silence. They expressed neither approbation nor displeasure. It was +not, in fact, to be expected that they would feel or evince any +satisfaction at the loss of their master. He had been their champion, +and, as they believed, their friend. The removal of Caesar brought no +accession of power nor increase of liberty to them. It might have been a +gain to ambitious senators, or powerful generals, or high officers of +state, by removing a successful rival out of their way, but it seemed to +promise little advantage to the community at large, other than the +changing of one despotism for another. Besides, a populace who know that +they mast be governed, prefer generally, if they must submit to some +control, to yield their submission to some one master spirit whom they +can look up to as a great and acknowledged superior. They had rather +have a Caesar than a Senate to command them. + +[Sidenote: Feelings of the populace.] + +The higher authorities, however, were, at might have been expected, +disposed to acquiesce in the removal of Caesar from his intended throne. +The Senate met, and passed an act of indemnity, to shield the +conspirators from all legal liability for the deed they had done. In +order, however, to satisfy the people too, as far as possible, they +decreed divine honors to Caesar, confirmed and ratified all that he had +done while in the exercise of supreme power, and appointed a time for +the funeral, ordering arrangements to be made for a very pompous +celebration of it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's will.] +[Sidenote: Its provisions.] + +A will was soon found, which Caesar, it seems, had made some time +before. Calpurnia's father proposed that this will should be opened and +read in public at Antony's house; and this was accordingly done. The +provisions of the will were, many of them, of such a character as +renewed the feelings of interest and sympathy which the people of Rome +had begun to cherish for Caesar's memory. His vast estate was divided +chiefly among the children of his sister, as he had no children of his +own, while the very men who had been most prominent in his assassination +were named as trustees and guardians of the property; and one of them, +Decimus Brutus, the one who had been so urgent to conduct him to the +senate-house, was a second heir. He had some splendid gardens near the +Tiber, which he bequeathed to the citizens of Rome, and a large amount +of money also, to be divided among them, sufficient to give every man a +considerable sum. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for Caesar's funeral.] +[Sidenote: The Field of Mars.] + +The time for the celebration of the funeral ceremonies was made known by +proclamation, and, as the concourse of strangers and citizens of Rome +was likely to be so great as to forbid the forming of all into one +procession without consuming more than one day, the various classes of +the community were invited to come, each in their own way, to the Field +of Mars, bringing with them such insignia, offerings, and oblations as +they pleased. The Field of Mars was an immense parade ground, reserved +for military reviews, spectacles, and shows. A funeral pile was erected +here for the burning of the body There was to be a funeral discourse +pronounced, and Marc Antony had been designated to perform this duty. +The body had been placed in a gilded bed, under a magnificent canopy in +the form of a temple, before the rostra where the funeral discourse was +to be pronounced. The bed was covered with scarlet and cloth of gold and +at the head of it was laid the robe in which Caesar had been slain. It +was stained with blood, and pierced with the holes that the swords and +daggers of the conspirators had made. + +[Sidenote: Marc Antony's oration.] +[Sidenote: The funeral pile.] + +Marc Antony, instead of pronouncing a formal panegyric upon his deceased +friend, ordered a crier to read the decrees of the Senate, in which all +honors, human and divine, had been ascribed to Caesar. He then added a +few words of his own. The bed was then taken up, with the body upon it, +and borne out into the Forum, preparatory to conveying it to the pile +which had been prepared for it upon the Field of Mars, A question, +however, here arose among the multitude assembled in respect to the +proper place for burning the body. The people seemed inclined to select +the most honorable place which could be found within the limits of the +city. Some proposed a beautiful temple on the Capitoline Hill. Others +wished to take it to the senate-house, where he had been slain. The +Senate, and those who were less inclined to pay extravagant honors to +the departed hero, were in favor of some more retired spot, under +pretense that the buildings of the city would be endangered by the fire. +This discussion was fast becoming a dispute, when it was suddenly ended +by two men, with swords at their sides and knees in their hands, forcing +their way through the crowd with lighted torches, and setting the bed +and its canopy on fire where it lay. + +[Illustration: BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.] + +[Sidenote: The body burned in the Forum.] + +This settled the question, and the whole company were soon in the +wildest excitement with the work of building up a funeral pile upon the +spot. At first they brought fagots and threw upon the fire, then benches +from the neighboring courts and porticoes, and then any thing +combustible which came to hand. The honor done to the memory of a +deceased hero was, in some sense, in proportion to the greatness of his +funeral pile, and all the populace on this occasion began soon to seize +every thing they could find, appropriate and unappropriate, provided +that it would increase the flame. The soldiers threw on their lances and +spears, the musicians their instruments, and others stripped off the +cloths and trappings from the furniture of the procession, and heaped +them upon the burning pile. + +[Sidenote: The conflagration.] + +So fierce and extensive was the fire, that it spread to some of the +neighboring houses, and required great efforts to prevent a general +conflagration. The people, too, became greatly excited by the scene. +They lighted torches by the fire, and went to the houses of Brutus and +Cassius, threatening vengeance upon them for the murder of Caesar. The +authorities succeeded though with infinite difficulty, in protecting +Brutus and Cassius from the violence of the mob, but they seized one +unfortunate citizen of the name of Cinna, thinking it a certain Cinna +who had been known as an enemy of Caesar. They cut off his head, +notwithstanding his shrieks and cries, and carried it about the city on +the tip of a pike, a dreadful symbol of their hostility to the enemies +of Caesar. As frequently happens, however, in such deeds of sudden +violence, these hasty and lawless avengers found afterward that they had +made a mistake, and beheaded the wrong man. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's monument.] +[Sidenote: The comet.] + +The Roman people erected a column to the memory of Caesar, on which they +placed the inscription, "To THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." They fixed the +figure of a star upon the summit of it, and some time afterward, while +the people were celebrating some games in honor of his memory, a great +comet blazed for seven nights in the sky, which they recognized as the +mighty hero's soul reposing in heaven. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 11688 *** diff --git a/11688-h.zip b/11688-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..f07e94e --- /dev/null +++ b/11688-h.zip diff --git a/11688-h/11688-h.htm b/11688-h/11688-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7623533 --- /dev/null +++ b/11688-h/11688-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,6206 @@ +<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.01 Transitional//EN"> +<html> +<head> +<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=iso-8859-1"> +<title>The Project Gutenberg eBook of History of Julius Caesar, by Jacob Abbott</title> + <style type="text/css"> + <!-- + * { font-family: Times;} + P { margin-top: .75em; + margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + font-size: 14pt; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; } + blockquote {text-align: justify; + margin-left: 15%; + margin-right: 15%;} + IMG { + BORDER-RIGHT: 0px; + BORDER-TOP: 0px; + BORDER-LEFT: 0px; + BORDER-BOTTOM: 0px } + span.pagenum + {position: absolute; left: 1%; right: 91%; font-size: 8pt;} + + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; } + HR { width: 33%; } + hr.full { width: 100%; } + .side { float:right; + font-size: 75%; + width: 25%; + padding-left:10px; + border-left: dashed thin; + border-width: 1px; + border-color: #000000; + background-color: #cccccc; + margin-left: 10px; + margin-right: 10px; + text-align: left; + text-indent: 0; + font-weight: bold; + font-style: italic;} + // --> + .ind { MARGIN-LEFT: 10%; MARGIN-RIGHT: 10% } + .ctr { TEXT-ALIGN: center } + a:link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + link {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:visited {color:blue; + text-decoration:none} + a:hover {color:red} + pre {font-size: 10pt;} + </style> +</head> +<body> +<h1>The Project Gutenberg eBook, History of Julius Caesar, by Jacob Abbott</h1> +<pre> +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a> + +Title: History of Julius Caesar + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: March 23, 2004 [eBook #11688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** +</pre> +<br> +<br> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full"> +<br> +<br> +<a name="Frontspiece"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0276.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0276.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR"> +</a><br> +<b>THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR</b> +</P><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>History of</h2> + +<h1>Julius Caesar</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JACOB ABBOTT</h2> + +<h4>WITH ENGRAVINGS</h4> + +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/002.png"> +<img src="Images/002.png" width = "15%" +alt=""> +</a></P><br> + +<h5>1904</h5> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br> + +<p>It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, +distinct, and connected narrative of the lives of those great personages +who have in various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as +leaders among mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public +affairs of great nations, have exerted the widest influence on the +history of the human race. The end which the author has had in view is +twofold: first, to communicate such information in respect to the +subjects of his narratives as is important for the general reader to +possess; and, secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events +described and the characters delineated as they may legitimately teach +to the people of the present age. Though written in a direct and simple +style, they are intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some +considerable degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully +appreciate the character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all +that is described in these volumes does, in close combination with the +conduct and policy of governments, and the great events of +international history.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><b>CONTENTS.</b></h2> +<br> + +<center> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I.">I. MARIUS AND SYLLA.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II.">II. CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III.">III. ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV.">IV. THE CONQUEST OF GAUL.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V.">V. POMPEY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI.">VI. CROSSING THE RUBICON.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII.">VII. THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII.">VIII. FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX.">IX. CAESAR IN EGYPT.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X.">X. CAESAR IMPERATOR.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI.">XI. THE CONSPIRACY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII.">XII. THE ASSASSINATION.</a><br> +</center> + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>ENGRAVINGS.</h2> + +<center> +<a href="#Frontspiece">THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0288">MAP OF ROME.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0277">ROMAN PLEBEIANS.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0278">A ROMAN FORUM.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0279">THE LANDING IN ENGLAND.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0280">CROSSING THE RUBICON.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0281">ROMAN STANDARD-BEARERS.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0282">DEATH OF POMPEY.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0283">POMPEY'S PILLAR.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0284">CLEOPATRA'S BARGE.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0285">THE ELEPHANTS MADE TORCH-BEARERS.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0286">POMPEY'S STATUE.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0287">BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.</a><br> +</center> +<br><br> + +<a name="Illus0288"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0288.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0288.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="ANCIENT ROME."> +</a><br> +<b>ANCIENT ROME.</b> +</P><br> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>JULIUS CAESAR.</h2> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>MARIUS AND SYLLA.</h3> + +<p class="side">Three great European nations of antiquity.</p> + +<p>There were three great European nations in ancient days, each of which +furnished history with a hero: the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and +the Romans.</p> + +<p class="side">Alexander.</p> + +<p>Alexander was the hero of the Greeks. He was King of Macedon, a country +lying north of Greece proper. He headed an army of his countrymen, and +made an excursion for conquest and glory into Asia. He made himself +master of all that quarter of the globe, and reigned over it in Babylon, +till he brought himself to an early grave by the excesses into which his +boundless prosperity allured him. His fame rests on his triumphant +success in building up for himself so vast an empire, and the admiration +which his career has always excited among mankind is heightened by the +consideration of his youth, and of the noble and generous impulses +which strongly marked his character.</p> + +<p class="side">Hannibal.<br> +His terrible energy.</p> + +<p>The Carthaginian hero was Hannibal. We class the Carthaginians among the +European nations of antiquity; for, in respect to their origin, their +civilization, and all their commercial and political relations, they +belonged to the European race, though it is true that their capital was +on the African side of the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal was the great +Carthaginian hero. He earned his fame by the energy and implacableness +of his hate. The work of his life was to keep a vast empire in a state +of continual anxiety and terror for fifty years, so that his claim to +greatness and glory rests on the determination, the perseverance, and +the success with which he fulfilled his function of being, while he +lived, the terror of the world.</p> + +<p class="side">Julius Caesar.</p> + +<p>The Roman hero was Caesar. He was born just one hundred years before the +Christian era. His renown does not depend, like that of Alexander, on +foreign conquests, nor, like that of Hannibal, on the terrible energy of +his aggressions upon foreign foes, but upon his protracted and dreadful +contests with, and ultimate triumphs over, his rivals and competitors at +home. When he appeared upon the stage, the Roman empire already +included nearly all of the world that was worth possessing. There were +no more conquests to be made. Caesar did, indeed, enlarge, in some +degree, the boundaries of the empire; but the main question in his day +was, who should possess the power which preceding conquerors +had acquired.</p> + +<p class="side">The ancient Roman empire.<br> +The provinces.</p> + +<p>The Roman empire, as it existed in those days, must not be conceived of +by the reader as united together under one compact and consolidated +government. It was, on the other hand, a vast congeries of nations, +widely dissimilar in every respect from each other, speaking various +languages, and having various customs and laws. They were all, however, +more or less dependent upon, and connected with, the great central +power. Some of these countries were provinces, and were governed by +officers appointed and sent out by the authorities at Rome. These +governors had to collect the taxes of their provinces, and also to +preside over and direct, in many important respects, the administration +of justice. They had, accordingly, abundant opportunities to enrich +themselves while thus in office, by collecting more money than they paid +over to the government at home, and by taking bribes to favor the rich +man's cause in court. Thus the more wealthy and prosperous provinces +were objects of great competition among aspirants for office at Rome. +Leading men would get these appointments, and, after remaining long +enough in their provinces to acquire a fortune, would come back to Rome, +and expend it in intrigues and maneuvers to obtain higher offices still.</p> + +<p class="side">Foreign wars.<br> +The victorious general.</p> + +<p>Whenever there was any foreign war to be carried on with a distant +nation or tribe, there was always a great eagerness among all the +military officers of the state to be appointed to the command. They each +felt sure that they should conquer in the contest, and they could enrich +themselves still more rapidly by the spoils of victory in war, than by +extortion and bribes in the government of a province in peace. Then, +besides, a victorious general coming back to Rome always found that his +military renown added vastly to his influence and power in the city. He +was welcomed with celebrations and triumphs; the people flocked to see +him and to shout his praise. He placed his trophies of victory in the +temples, and entertained the populace with games and shows, and with +combats of gladiators or of wild beasts, which he had brought home with +him for this purpose in the train of his army. While he was thus +enjoying his triumph, his political enemies would be thrown into the +back ground and into the shade; unless, indeed, some one of them might +himself be earning the same honors in some other field, to come back in +due time, and claim his share of power and celebrity in his turn. In +this case, Rome would be sometimes distracted and rent by the conflicts +and contentions of military rivals, who had acquired powers too vast for +all the civil influences of the Republic to regulate or control.</p> + +<a name="Illus0277"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0277.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0277.jpg" width = "40%" +alt="ROMAN PLEBEIANS."> +</a><br> +<b>ROMAN PLEBEIANS.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Military rivals.<br> +Marius and Sylla.<br> +The patricians and plebeians.<br> +Civil contests.<br> +Quarrel about the command of the army.<br> +Sylla's violence.</p> + +<p>There had been two such rivals just before the time of Caesar, who had +filled the world with their quarrels. They were Marius and Sylla. Their +very names have been, in all ages of the world, since their day, the +symbols of rivalry and hate. They were the representatives respectively +of the two great parties into which the Roman state, like every other +community in which the population at large have any voice in governing, +always has been, and probably always will be divided, the upper and the +lower; or, as they were called in those days, the patrician and the +plebeian. Sylla was the patrician; the higher and more aristocratic +portions of the community were on his side. Marius was the favorite of +the plebeian masses. In the contests, however, which they waged with +each other, they did not trust to the mere influence of votes. They +relied much more upon the soldiers they could gather under their +respective standards and upon their power of intimidating, by means of +them, the Roman assemblies. There was a war to be waged with +Mithridates, a very powerful Asiatic monarch, which promised great +opportunities for acquiring fame and plunder. Sylla was appointed to the +command. While he was absent, however, upon some campaign in Italy, +Marius contrived to have the decision reversed, and the command +transferred to him Two officers, called tribunes, were sent to Sylla's +camp to inform him of the change. Sylla killed the officers for daring +to bring him such a message, and began immediately to march toward Rome. +In retaliation for the murder of the tribunes, the party of Marius in +the city killed some of Sylla's prominent friends there, and a general +alarm spread itself throughout the population. The Senate, which was a +sort of House of Lords, embodying mainly the power and influence of the +patrician party, and was, of course, on Sylla's side, sent out to him, +when he had arrived within a few miles of the city, urging him to come +no further. He pretended to comply; he marked out the ground for a camp; +but he did not, on that account, materially delay his march. The next +morning he was in possession of the city. The friends of Marius +attempted to resist him, by throwing stones upon his troops from the +roofs of the houses. Sylla ordered every house from which these +symptoms of resistance appeared to be set on fire. Thus the whole +population of a vast and wealthy city were thrown into a condition of +extreme danger and terror, by the conflicts of two great bands of armed +men, each claiming to be their friends.</p> + +<p class="side">Defeat of Marius.</p> + +<p>Marius was conquered in this struggle, and fled for his life. Many of +the friends whom he left behind him were killed. The Senate were +assembled, and, at Sylla's orders, a decree was passed declaring Marius +a public enemy, and offering a reward to any one who would bring his +head back to Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">His flight.</p> + +<p>Marius fled, friendless and alone, to the southward, hunted every where +by men who were eager to get the reward offered for his head. After +various romantic adventures and narrow escapes, he succeeded in making +his way across the Mediterranean Sea, and found at last a refuge in a +hut among the ruins of Carthage. He was an old man, being now over +seventy years of age.</p> + +<p class="side">Return of Marius.<br> +He marches against Rome.</p> + +<p>Of course, Sylla thought that his great rival and enemy was now finally +disposed of, and he accordingly began to make preparations for his +Asiatic campaign. He raised his army, built and equipped a fleet, and +went away. As soon as he was gone, Marius's friends in the city began to +come forth, and to take measures for reinstating themselves in power. +Marius returned, too, from Africa, and soon gathered about him a large +army. Being the friend, as he pretended, of the lower classes of +society, he collected vast multitudes of revolted slaves, outlaws, and +other desperadoes, and advanced toward Rome. He assumed, himself, the +dress, and air, and savage demeanor of his followers. His countenance +had been rendered haggard and cadaverous partly by the influence of +exposures, hardships, and suffering upon his advanced age, and partly by +the stern and moody plans and determinations of revenge which his mind +was perpetually revolving. He listened to the deputations which the +Roman Senate sent out to him from time to time, as he advanced toward +the city, but refused to make any terms. He moved forward with all the +outward deliberation and calmness suitable to his years, while all the +ferocity of a tiger was burning within.</p> + +<p class="side">Executions by order of Marius.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had gained possession of the city, he began his work of +destruction. He first beheaded one of the consuls, and ordered his head +to be set up, as a public spectacle, in the most conspicuous place in +the city. This was the beginning. All the prominent friends of Sylla, +men of the highest rank and station, were then killed, wherever they +could be found, without sentence, without trial, without any other +accusation, even, than the military decision of Marius that they were +his enemies, and must die. For those against whom he felt any special +animosity, he contrived some special mode of execution. One, whose fate +he wished particularly to signalize, was thrown down from the +Tarpeian Rock.</p> + +<p class="side">The Tarpeian Rock.</p> + +<p>The Tarpeian Rock was a precipice about fifty feet high, which is still +to be seen in Rome, from which the worst of state criminals were +sometimes thrown. They were taken up to the top by a stair, and were +then hurled from the summit, to die miserably, writhing in agony after +their fall, upon the rocks below.</p> + +<p class="side">The story of Tarpeia.<br> +Subterranean passages.</p> + +<p>The Tarpeian Rock received its name from the ancient story of Tarpeia. +The tale is, that Tarpeia was a Roman girl, who lived at a time in the +earliest periods of the Roman history, when the city was besieged by an +army from are of the neighboring nations. Besides their shields, the +story is that the soldiers had golden bracelets upon their arms. They +wished Tarpeia to open the gates and let them in. She promised to do so +if they would give her their bracelets; but, as she did not know the +name of the shining ornaments, the language she used to designate them +was, "Those things you have upon your arms." The soldiers acceded to her +terms; she opened the gates, and they, instead of giving her the +bracelets, threw their <i>shields</i> upon her as they passed, until the poor +girl was crushed down with them and destroyed. This was near the +Tarpeian Rock, which afterward took her name. The rock is now found to +be perforated by a great many subterranean passages, the remains, +probably, of ancient quarries. Some of these galleries are now walled +up; others are open; and the people who live around the spot believe, it +is said, to this day, that Tarpeia herself sits, enchanted, far in the +interior of these caverns, covered with gold and jewels, but that +whoever attempts to find her is fated by an irresistible destiny to lose +his way, and he never returns. The last story is probably as true as +the other.</p> + +<p class="side">Escape of Sylla's wife.</p> + +<p>Marius continued his executions and massacres until the whole of Sylla's +party had been slain or put to flight. He made every effort to discover +Sylla's wife and child, with a view to destroying them also, but they +could not be found. Some friends of Sylla, taking compassion on their +innocence and helplessness, concealed them, and thus saved Marius from +the commission of one intended crime. Marius was disappointed, too, in +some other cases, where men whom he had intended to kill destroyed +themselves to baffle his vengeance. One shut himself up in a room with +burning charcoal, and was suffocated with the fumes. Another bled +himself to death upon a public altar, calling down the judgments of the +god to whom he offered this dreadful sacrifice, upon the head of the +tyrant whose atrocious cruelty he was thus attempting to evade.</p> + +<p class="side">Illness of Marius.<br> +Sylla outlawed.</p> + +<p>By the time that Marius had got fairly established in his new position, +and was completely master of Rome, and the city had begun to recover a +little from the shock and consternation produced by his executions, he +fell sick. He was attacked with an acute disease of great violence. The +attack was perhaps produced, and was certainly aggravated by, the great +mental excitements through which he had passed during his exile, and in +the entire change of fortune which had attended his return. From being +a wretched fugitive, hiding for his life among gloomy and desolate +ruins, he found himself suddenly transferred to the mastery of the +world. His mind was excited, too, in respect to Sylla, whom he had not +yet reached or subdued, but who was still prosecuting his war against +Mithridates. Marius had had him pronounced by the Senate an enemy to his +country, and was meditating plans to reach him in his distant province, +considering his triumph incomplete as long as his great rival was at +liberty and alive. The sickness cut short these plans, but it only +inflamed to double violence the excitement and the agitations which +attended them.</p> + +<p class="side">Marius delirious.<br> +Death of Marius.</p> + +<p>As the dying tyrant tossed restlessly upon his bed, it was plain that +the delirious ravings which he began soon to utter were excited by the +same sentiments of insatiable ambition and ferocious hate whose calmer +dictates he had obeyed when well. He imagined that he had succeeded in +supplanting Sylla in his command, and that he was himself in Asia at the +head of his armies. Impressed with this idea, he stared wildly around; +he called aloud the name of Mithridates; he shouted orders to imaginary +troops; he struggled to break away from the restraints which the +attendants about his bedside imposed, to attack the phantom foes which +haunted him in his dreams. This continued for several days, and when at +last nature was exhausted by the violence of these paroxysms of phrensy, +the vital powers which had been for seventy long years spending their +strength in deeds of selfishness, cruelty, and hatred, found their work +done, and sunk to revive no more.</p> + +<p class="side">Return of Sylla.<br> +Marius's son.<br> +Proscriptions and massacres of Sylla.</p> + +<p>Marius left a son, of the same name with himself, who attempted to +retain his father's power; but Sylla, having brought his war with +Mithridates to a conclusion, was now on his return from Asia, and it was +very evident that a terrible conflict was about to ensue. Sylla advanced +triumphantly through the country, while Marius the younger and his +partisans concentrated their forces about the city, and prepared for +defense. The people of the city were divided, the aristocratic faction +adhering to the cause of Sylla, while the democratic influences sided +with Marius. Political parties rise and fall, in almost all ages of the +world, in alternate fluctuations, like those of the tides. The faction +of Marius had been for some time in the ascendency, and it was now its +turn to fall. Sylla found, therefore, as he advanced, every thing +favorable to the restoration of his own party to power. He destroyed the +armies which came out to oppose him. He shut up the young Marius in a +city not far from Rome, where he had endeavored to find shelter and +protection, and then advanced himself and took possession of the city. +There he caused to be enacted again the horrid scenes of massacre and +murder which Marius had perpetrated before, going, however, as much +beyond the example which he followed as men usually do in the commission +of crime. He gave out lists of the names of men whom he wished to have +destroyed, and these unhappy victims of his revenge were to be hunted +out by bands of reckless soldiers, in their dwellings, or in the places +of public resort in the city, and dispatched by the sword wherever they +could be found. The scenes which these deeds created in a vast and +populous city can scarcely be conceived of by those who have never +witnessed the horrors produced by the massacres of civil war. Sylla +himself went through with this work in the most cool and unconcerned +manner, as if he were performing the most ordinary duties of an officer +of state. He called the Senate together one day, and, while he was +addressing them, the attention of the Assembly was suddenly distracted +by the noise of outcries and screams in the neighboring streets from +those who were suffering military execution there. The senators started +with horror at the sound. Sylla, with an air of great composure and +unconcern, directed the members to listen to him, and to pay no +attention to what was passing elsewhere. The sounds that they heard +were, he said, only some correction which was bestowed by his orders on +certain disturbers of the public peace.</p> + +<p class="side">Executions.<br> +Extent of Sylla's proscriptions.<br> +Man's nature.</p> + +<p>Sylla's orders for the execution of those who had taken an active part +against him were not confined to Rome. They went to the neighboring +cities and to distant provinces, carrying terror and distress every +where. Still, dreadful as these evils were, it is possible for us, in +the conceptions which we form, to overrate the extent of them. In +reading the history of the Roman empire during the civil wars of Marius +and Sylla, one might easily imagine that the whole population of the +country was organized into the two contending armies, and were employed +wholly in the work of fighting with and massacring each other. But +nothing like this can be true. It is obviously but a small part, after +all, of an extended community that can be ever actively and personally +engaged in these deeds of violence and blood. Man is not naturally a +ferocious wild beast. On the contrary, he loves, ordinarily, to live in +peace and quietness, to till his lands and tend his flocks, and to enjoy +the blessings of peace and repose. It is comparatively but a small +number in any age of the world, and in any nation, whose passions of +ambition, hatred, or revenge become so strong as that they love +bloodshed and war. But these few, when they once get weapons into their +hands, trample recklessly and mercilessly upon the rest. One ferocious +human tiger, with a spear or a bayonet to brandish, will tyrannize as he +pleases over a hundred quiet men, who are armed only with shepherds' +crooks, and whose only desire is to live in peace with their wives and +their children.</p> + +<p class="side">Husbandmen.<br> +How the Roman edifices were built.<br> +Standing armies.</p> + +<p>Thus, while Marius and Sylla, with some hundred thousand armed and +reckless followers, were carrying terror and dismay wherever they went, +there were many millions of herdsmen and husbandmen in the Roman world +who were dwelling in all the peace and quietness they could command, +improving with their peaceful industry every acre where corn would ripen +or grass grow. It was by taxing and plundering the proceeds of this +industry that the generals and soldiers, the consuls and praetors, and +proconsuls and propraetors, filled their treasuries, and fed their +troops, and paid the artisans for fabricating their arms. With these +avails they built the magnificent edifices of Rome, and adorned its +environs with sumptuous villas. As they had the power and the arms in +their hands, the peaceful and the industrious had no alternative but to +submit. They went on as well as they could with their labors, bearing +patiently every interruption, returning again to till their fields after +the desolating march of the army had passed away, and repairing the +injuries of violence, and the losses sustained by plunder, without +useless repining. They looked upon an armed government as a necessary +and inevitable affliction of humanity, and submitted to its destructive +violence as they would submit to an earthquake or a pestilence. The +tillers of the soil manage better in this country at the present day. +They have the power in their own hands, and they watch very narrowly to +prevent the organization of such hordes of armed desperadoes as have +held the peaceful inhabitants of Europe in terror from the earliest +periods down to the present day.</p> + +<p class="side">Julius Caesar.<br> +Sylla's animosity against him.<br> +Caesar refuses to repudiate his wife.<br> +His flight.</p> + +<p>When Sylla returned to Rome, and took possession of the supreme power +there, in looking over the lists of public men, there was one whom he +did not know, at first what to do with. It was the young Julius Caesar, +the subject of this history. Caesar was, by birth, patrician, having +descended from a long line of noble ancestors. There had been, before +his day, a great many Caesars who had held the highest offices of the +state, and many of them had been celebrated in history. He naturally, +therefore, belonged to Sylla's side, as Sylla was the representative of +the patrician interest. But then Caesar had personally been inclined +toward the party of Marius. The elder Marius had married his aunt, and, +besides, Caesar himself had married the daughter of Cinna, who had been +the most efficient and powerful of Marius's coadjutors and friends. +Caesar was at this time a very young man, and he was of an ardent and +reckless character, though he had, thus far, taken no active part in +public affairs. Sylla overlooked him for a time, but at length was about +to put his name on the list of the proscribed. Some of the nobles, who +were friends both of Sylla and of Caesar too, interceded for the young +man; Sylla yielded to their request, or, rather, suspended his +decision, and sent orders to Caesar to repudiate his wife, the daughter +of Cinna. Her name was Cornelia. Caesar absolutely refused to repudiate +his wife. He was influenced in this decision partly by affection for +Cornelia, and partly by a sort of stern and indomitable +insubmissiveness, which formed, from his earliest years, a prominent +trait in his character, and which led him, during all his life, to brave +every possible danger rather than allow himself to be controlled. Caesar +knew very well that, when this his refusal should be reported to Sylla, +the next order would be for his destruction. He accordingly fled. Sylla +deprived him of his titles and offices, confiscated his wife's fortune +and his own patrimonial estate, and put his name upon the list of the +public enemies. Thus Caesar became a fugitive and an exile. The +adventures which befell him in his wanderings will be described in the +following chapter.</p> + +<p class="side">Sylla made dictator.<br> +He resigns his power.</p> + +<p>Sylla was now in the possession of absolute power. He was master of +Rome, and of all the countries over which Rome held sway. Still he was +nominally not a magistrate, but only a general returning victoriously +from his Asiatic campaign, and putting to death, somewhat irregularly, +it is true, by a sort of martial law persons whom he found, as he said, +disturbing the public peace. After having thus effectually disposed of +the power of his enemies, he laid aside, ostensibly, the government of +the sword, and submitted himself and his future measures to the control +of law. He placed himself ostensibly at the disposition of the city. +They chose him dictator, which was investing him with absolute and +unlimited power. He remained on this, the highest pinnacle of worldly +ambition, a short time, and then resigned his power, and devoted the +remainder of his days to literary pursuits and pleasures. Monster as he +was in the cruelties which he inflicted upon his political foes, he was +intellectually of a refined and cultivated mind, and felt an ardent +interest in the promotion of literature and the arts.</p> + +<p class="side">Opinion of mankind in regard to Marius and Sylla.</p> + +<p>The quarrel between Marius and Sylla, in respect to every thing which +can make such a contest great, stands in the estimation of mankind as +the greatest personal quarrel which the history of the world has ever +recorded. Its origin was in the simple personal rivalry of two ambitious +men. It involved, in its consequences, the peace and happiness of the +world. In their reckless struggles, the fierce combatants trampled on +every thing that came in their way, and destroyed mercilessly, each in +his turn, all that opposed them. Mankind have always execrated their +crimes, but have never ceased to admire the frightful and almost +superhuman energy with which they committed them.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar's resolution.</p> + +<p>Caesar does not seem to have been much disheartened and depressed by his +misfortunes. He possessed in his early life more than the usual share of +buoyancy and light-heartedness of youth, and he went away from Rome to +enter, perhaps, upon years of exile and wandering, with a determination +to face boldly and to brave the evils and dangers which surrounded him, +and not to succumb to them.</p> + +<p class="side">His person and character.</p> + +<p>Sometimes they who become great in their maturer years are thoughtful, +grave, and sedate when young. It was not so, however, with Caesar. He +was of a very gay and lively disposition. He was tall and handsome in +his person, fascinating in his manners, and fond of society, as people +always are who know or who suppose that they shine in it. He had seemed, +in a word, during his residence at Rome, wholly intent upon the +pleasures of a gay and joyous life, and upon the personal observation +which his rank, his wealth, his agreeable manners and his position in +society secured for him. In fact, they who observed and studied his +character in these early years, thought that, although his situation was +very favorable for acquiring power and renown, he would never feel any +strong degree of ambition to avail himself of its advantages. He was too +much interested, they thought, in personal pleasures ever to become +great, either as a military commander or a statesman.</p> + +<p class="side">Sylla's estimation of Caesar.<br> +Caesar's friends intercede for him.</p> + +<p>Sylla, however, thought differently. He had penetration enough to +perceive, beneath all the gayety and love of pleasure which +characterized Caesar's youthful life, the germs of a sterner and more +aspiring spirit, which, he was very sorry to see, was likely to expend +its future energies in hostility to him. By refusing to submit to +Sylla's commands, Caesar had, in effect, thrown himself entirely upon +the other party, and would be, of course, in future identified with +them. Sylla consequently looked upon him now as a confirmed and settled +enemy. Some friends of Caesar among the patrician families interceded in +his behalf with Sylla again, after he had fled from Rome. They wished +Sylla to pardon him, saying that he was a mere boy and could do him no +harm. Sylla shook his head, saying that, young as he was, he saw in him +indications of a future power which he thought was more to be dreaded +than that of many Mariuses.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's studies.<br> +His ambition to be an orator.</p> + +<p>One reason which led Sylla to form this opinion of Caesar was, that the +young nobleman, with all his love of gayety and pleasure, had not +neglected his studies, but had taken great pains to perfect himself in +such intellectual pursuits as ambitious men who looked forward to +political influence and ascendency were accustomed to prosecute in those +days He had studied the Greek language, and read the works of Greek +historians; and he attended lectures on philosophy and rhetoric, and was +obviously interested deeply in acquiring power as a public speaker. To +write and speak well gave a public man great influence in those days. +Many of the measures of the government were determined by the action of +great assemblies of the free citizens, which action was itself, in a +great measure, controlled by the harangues of orators who had such +powers of voice and such qualities of mind as enabled them to gain the +attention and sway the opinions of large bodies of men.</p> + +<p class="side">The Forum.<br> +Its porticoes and statues.<br> +Attractions of the Forum.</p> + +<p>It most not be supposed, however, that this popular power was shared by +all the inhabitants of the city. At one time, when the population of the +city was about three millions the number of free citizens was only three +hundred thousand. The rest were laborers, artisans, and slaves, who had +no voice in public affairs. The free citizens held very frequent public +assemblies. There were various squares and open spaces in the city where +such assemblies were convened, and where courts of justice were held. +The Roman name for such a square was <i>forum</i>. There was one which was +distinguished above all the rest, and was called emphatically The Forum. +It was a magnificent square, surrounded by splendid edifices, and +ornamented by sculptures and statues without number. There were ranges +of porticoes along the sides, where the people were sheltered from the +weather when necessary, though it is seldom that there is any necessity +for shelter under an Italian sky. In this area and under these porticoes +the people held their assemblies, and here courts of justice were +accustomed to sit. The Forum was ornamented continually with new +monuments, temples, statues, and columns by successful generals +returning in triumph from foreign campaigns, and by proconsuls and +praetors coming back enriched from their provinces, until it was +fairly choked up with its architectural magnificence, and it had at last +to be partially cleared again, as one would thin out too dense a forest, +in order to make room for the assemblies which it was its main function +to contain.</p> + +<a name="Illus0278"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0278.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0278.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="A ROMAN FORUM."> +</a><br> +<b>A ROMAN FORUM.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Harangues and political discussions.</p> + +<p>The people of Rome had, of course, no printed books, and yet they were +mentally cultivated and refined, and were qualified for a very high +appreciation of intellectual pursuits and pleasures. In the absence, +therefore, of all facilities for private reading, the Forum became the +great central point of attraction. The same kind of interest which, in +our day, finds its gratification in reading volumes of printed history +quietly at home, or in silently perusing the columns of newspapers and +magazines in libraries and reading-rooms, where a whisper is seldom +heard, in Caesar's day brought every body to the Forum, to listen to +historical harangues, or political discussions, or forensic arguments in +the midst of noisy crowds. Here all tidings centered; here all questions +were discussed and all great elections held. Here were waged those +ceaseless conflicts of ambition and struggles of power on which the fate +of nations, and sometimes the welfare of almost half mankind depended. +Of course, every ambitious man who aspired to an ascendency over his +fellow-men, wished to make his voice heard in the Forum. To calm the +boisterous tumult there, and to hold, as some of the Roman orators could +do, the vast assemblies in silent and breathless attention, was a power +as delightful in its exercise as it was glorious in its fame. Caesar had +felt this ambition, and had devoted himself very earnestly to the study +of oratory.</p> + +<p class="side">Apollonius.<br> +Caesar studies under him.</p> + +<p>His teacher was Apollonius, a philosopher and rhetorician from Rhodes. +Rhodes is a Grecian island, near the southwestern coast of Asia Minor +Apollonius was a teacher of great celebrity, and Caesar became a very +able writer and speaker under his instructions. His time and attention +were, in fact, strangely divided between the highest and noblest +intellectual avocations, and the lowest sensual pleasures of a gay and +dissipated life. The coming of Sylla had, however, interrupted all; and, +after receiving the dictator's command to give up his wife and abandon +the Marian faction, and determining to disobey it, he fled suddenly from +Rome, as was stated at the close of the last chapter, at midnight, and +in disguise.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's wanderings.<br> +He is seized by a centurion.</p> + +<p>He was sick, too, at the time, with an intermittent fever. The paroxysm +returned once in three or four days, leaving him in tolerable health +during the interval. He went first into the country of the Sabines, +northeast of Rome, where he wandered up and down, exposed continually to +great dangers from those who knew that he was an object of the great +dictator's displeasure, and who were sure of favor and of a reward if +they could carry his head to Sylla He had to change his quarters every +day, and to resort to every possible mode of concealment. He was, +however, at last discovered, and seized by a centurion. A centurion was +a commander of a hundred men; his rank and his position therefore, +corresponded somewhat with those of a <i>captain</i> in a modern army. Caesar +was not much disturbed at this accident. He offered the centurion a +bribe sufficient to induce him to give up his prisoner, and so escaped.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Asia Minor.<br> +He joins the court of Nicomedes.</p> + +<p>The two ancient historians, whose records contain nearly all the +particulars of the early life of Caesar which are now known, give +somewhat contradictory accounts of the adventures which befell him +during his subsequent wanderings. They relate, in general, the same +incidents, but in such different connections, that the precise +chronological order of the events which occurred can not now be +ascertained. At all events, Caesar, finding that he was no longer safe +in the vicinity of Rome, moved gradually to the eastward, attended by a +few followers, until he reached the sea, and there he embarked on board +a ship to leave his native land altogether. After various adventures and +wanderings, he found himself at length in Asia Minor, and he made his +way at last to the kingdom of Bithynia, on the northern shore. The name +of the king of Bithynia was Nicomedes. Caesar joined himself to +Nicomedes's court, and entered into his service. In the mean time, Sylla +had ceased to pursue him, and ultimately granted him a pardon, but +whether before or after this time is not now to be ascertained. At all +events, Caesar became interested in the scenes and enjoyments of +Nicomedes's court, and allowed the time to pass away without forming any +plans for returning to Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">Cilicia.<br> +Character of its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of Asia Minor, that is, on the southern shore, +there was a wild and mountainous region called Cilicia. The great chain +of mountains called Taurus approaches here very near to the sea, and the +steep conformations of the land, which, in the interior, produce lofty +ranges and summits, and dark valleys and ravines, form, along the line +of the shore, capes and promontories, bounded by precipitous sides, and +with deep bays and harbors between them. The people of Cilicia were +accordingly half sailors, half mountaineers. They built swift galleys, +and made excursions in great force over the Mediterranean Sea for +conquest and plunder. They would capture single ships, and sometimes +even whole fleets of merchantmen. They were even strong enough on many +occasions to land and take possession of a harbor and a town, and hold +it, often, for a considerable time, against all the efforts of the +neighboring powers to dislodge them. In case, however, their enemies +became at any time too strong for them, they would retreat to their +harbors, which were so defended by the fortresses which guarded them, +and by the desperate bravery of the garrisons, that the pursuers +generally did not dare to attempt to force their way in; and if, in any +case, a town or a port was taken, the indomitable savages would continue +their retreat to the fastnesses of the mountains, where it was utterly +useless to attempt to follow them.</p> + +<p class="side">The Cilicians wanting in poets and historians.<br> +Robbers and pirates.</p> + +<p>But with all their prowess and skill as naval combatants, and their +hardihood as mountaineers, the Cilicians lacked one thing which is very +essential in every nation to an honorable military fame. They had no +poets or historians of their own, so that the story of their deeds had +to be told to posterity by their enemies. If they had been able to +narrate their own exploits, they would have figured, perhaps, upon the +page of history as a small but brave and efficient maritime power, +pursuing for many years a glorious career of conquest, and acquiring +imperishable renown by their enterprise and success. As it was, the +Romans, their enemies, described their deeds and gave them their +designation. They called them robbers and pirates; and robbers and +pirates they must forever remain.</p> + +<p class="side">Depredations of the Cilicians.</p> + +<p>And it is, in fact, very likely true that the Cilician commanders did +not pursue their conquests and commit their depredations on the rights +and the property of others in quite so systematic and methodical a +manner as some other conquering states have done. They probably seized +private property a little more unceremoniously than is customary; though +all belligerent nations, even in these Christian ages of the world, feel +at liberty to seize and confiscate private property when they find it +afloat at sea, while, by a strange inconsistency, they respect it on +the land. The Cilician pirates considered themselves at war with all +mankind, and, whatever merchandise they found passing from port to port +along the shores of the Mediterranean, they considered lawful spoil. +They intercepted the corn which was going from Sicily to Rome, and +filled their own granaries with it. They got rich merchandise from the +ships of Alexandria, which brought, sometimes, gold, and gems, and +costly fabrics from the East; and they obtained, often, large sums of +money by seizing men of distinction and wealth, who were continually +passing to and fro between Italy and Greece, and holding them for a +ransom. They were particularly pleased to get possession in this way of +Roman generals and officers of state, who were going out to take the +command of armies, or who were returning from their provinces with the +wealth which they had accumulated there.</p> + +<p class="side">Expeditions sent against them.<br> +Boldness and courage of the Cilicians.</p> + +<p>Many expeditions were fitted out and many naval commanders were +commissioned to sup press and subdue these common enemies of mankind, as +the Romans called them. At one time, while a distinguished general, +named Antonius, was in pursuit of them at the head of a fleet, a party +of the pirates made a descent upon the Italian coast, south of Rome, at +Nicenum, where the ancient patrimonial mansion of this very Antonius was +situated, and took away several members of his family as captives, and +so compelled him to ransom them by paying a very large sum of money. The +pirates grew bolder and bolder in proportion to their success. They +finally almost stopped all intercourse between Italy and Greece, neither +the merchants daring to expose their merchandise, nor the passengers +their persons to such dangers. They then approached nearer and nearer to +Rome, and at last actually entered the Tiber, and surprised and carried +off a Roman fleet which was anchored there. Caesar himself fell into the +hands of these pirates at some time during the period of his wanderings.</p> + +<p class="side">They capture Caesar.</p> + +<p>The pirates captured the ship in which he was sailing near Pharmacusa, a +small island in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. He was not at +this time in the destitute condition in which he had found himself on +leaving Rome, but was traveling with attendants suitable to his rank, +and in such a style and manner as at once made it evident to the pirates +that he was a man of distinction. They accordingly held him for ransom, +and, in the mean time, until he could take measures for raising the +money, they kept him a prisoner on board the vessel which had +captured him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's air of superiority.<br> +His ransom.</p> + +<p>In this situation, Caesar, though entirely in the power and at the mercy +of his lawless captors, assumed such an air of superiority and command +in all his intercourse with them as at first awakened their +astonishment, then excited their admiration, and ended in almost +subjecting them to his will. He asked them what they demanded for his +ransom. They said twenty talents, which was quite a large amount, a +talent itself being a considerable sum of money. Caesar laughed at this +demand, and told them it was plain that they did not know who he was, He +would give them <i>fifty</i> talents. He then sent away his attendants to the +shore, with orders to proceed to certain cities where he was known, in +order to procure the money, retaining only a physician and two servants +for himself. While his messengers were gone, he remained on board +the ship of his captors, assuming in every respect the air and manner of +their master. When he wished to sleep, if they made a noise which +disturbed him, he sent them orders to be still. He joined them in their +sports and diversions on the deck, surpassing them in their feats, and +taking the direction of every thing as if he were their acknowledged +leader. He wrote orations and verses which he read to them, and if his +wild auditors did not appear to appreciate the literary excellence of +his compositions, he told them that they were stupid fools without any +taste, adding, by way of apology, that nothing better could be expected +of such barbarians.</p> + +<p>The pirates asked him one day what he should do to them if he should +ever, at any future time, take them prisoners. Caesar said that he would +crucify every one of them.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar at liberty.<br> +He captures the pirates in his turn.</p> + +<p>The ransom money at length arrived. Caesar paid it to the pirates, and +they, faithful to their covenant, sent him in a boat to the land. He was +put ashore on the coast of Asia Minor. He proceeded immediately to +Miletus, the nearest port, equipped a small fleet there, and put +to sea. He sailed at once to the roadstead where the pirates had been +lying, and found them still at anchor there, in perfect security.<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a> He +attacked them, seized their ships, recovered his ransom money, and took +the men all prisoners. He conveyed his captives to the land, and there +fulfilled his threat that he would crucify them by cutting their +throats and nailing their dead bodies to crosses which his men erected +for the purpose along the shore.</p> + +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> See <a href="#Frontspiece">Frontispiece</a>. +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">Caesar at Rhodes.</p> + +<p>During his absence from Rome Caesar went to Rhodes, where his former +preceptor resided, and he continued to pursue there for some time his +former studies. He looked forward still to appearing one day in the +Roman Forum. In fact, he began to receive messages from his friends at +home that they thought it would be safe for him to return. Sylla had +gradually withdrawn from power, and finally had died. The aristocratical +party were indeed still in the ascendency, but the party of Marius had +begun to recover a little from the total overthrow with which Sylla's +return, and his terrible military vengeance, had overwhelmed them. +Caesar himself, therefore, they thought, might, with prudent management, +be safe in returning to Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">He returns to Rome.<br> +Caesar impeaches Dolabella.<br> +Excitement in consequence.</p> + +<p>He returned, but not to be prudent or cautious; there was no element of +prudence or caution in his character. As soon as he arrived, he openly +espoused the popular party. His first public act was to arraign the +governor of the great province of Macedonia, through which he had passed +on his way to Bithynia. It was a consul whom he thus impeached, and a +strong partisan of Sylla's. His name was Dolabella. The people were +astonished at his daring in thus raising the standard of resistance to +Sylla's power, indirectly, it is true, but none the less really on that +account. When the trial came on, and Caesar appeared at the Forum, he +gained great applause by the vigor and force of his oratory. There was, +of course, a very strong and general interest felt in the case; the +people all seeming to understand that, in this attack on Dolabella, +Caesar was appearing as their champion, and their hopes were revived at +having at last found a leader capable of succeeding Marius, and building +up their cause again. Dolabella was ably defended by orators on the +other side, and was, of course, acquitted, for the power of Sylla's +party was still supreme. All Rome, however, was aroused and excited by +the boldness of Caesar's attack, and by the extraordinary ability which +he evinced in his mode of conducting it. He became, in fact, at once one +of the most conspicuous and prominent men in the city.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's increasing power.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by his success, and the applauses which he received, and +feeling every day a greater and greater consciousness of power, he +began to assume more and more openly the character of the leader of the +popular party. He devoted himself to public speaking in the Forum, both +before popular assemblies and in the courts of justice, where he was +employed a great deal as an advocate to defend those who were accused of +political crimes. The people, considering him as their rising champion, +were predisposed to regard every thing that he did with favor, and there +was really a great intellectual power displayed in his orations and +harangues. He acquired, in a word, great celebrity by his boldness and +energy, and his boldness and energy were themselves increased in their +turn as he felt the strength of his position increase with his growing +celebrity.</p> + +<p class="side">Death of Marius's wife.<br> +Caesar's panegyric on Marius's wife.<br> +Its success.</p> + +<p>At length the wife of Marius, who was Caesar's aunt, died. She had lived +in obscurity since her husband's proscription and death, his party +having been put down so effectually that it was dangerous to appear to +be her friend. Caesar, however, made preparations for a magnificent +funeral for her. There was a place in the Forum, a sort of pulpit, where +public orators were accustomed to stand in addressing the assembly on +great occasions. This pulpit was adorned with the brazen beaks of ships +which had been taken by the Romans in former wars The name of such a +beak was <i>rostrum</i>; in the plural, <i>rostra</i>. The pulpit was itself, +therefore, called the <i>Rostra</i>, that is, The Beaks; and the people were +addressed from it on great public occasions.<a name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a> Caesar pronounced a +splendid panegyric upon the wife of Marius, at this her funeral, from +the Rostra, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, and he +had the boldness to bring out and display to the people certain +household images of Marius, which had been concealed from view ever +since his death. Producing them again on such an occasion was annulling, +so far as a public orator could do it, the sentence of condemnation +which Sylla and the patrician party had pronounced against him, and +bringing him forward again as entitled to public admiration and +applause. The patrician partisans who were present attempted to rebuke +this bold maneuver with expressions of disapprobation, but these +expressions were drowned in the loud and long-continued bursts of +applause with which the great mass of the assembled multitude hailed and +sanctioned it. The experiment was very bold and very hazardous, but it +was triumphantly successful.</p> + +<blockquote> +<a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> In modern books this pulpit is sometimes called the +Rostrum, using the word in the singular. +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">Caesar's oration on his wife.<br> +Alarm of the patricians.</p> + +<p>A short time after this Caesar had another opportunity for delivering a +funeral oration; it was in the case of his own wife, the daughter of +Cinna, who had been the colleague and coadjutor of Marius during the +days of his power. It was not usual to pronounce such panegyrics upon +Roman ladies unless they had attained to an advanced age. Caesar, +however, was disposed to make the case of his own wife an exception to +the ordinary rule. He saw in the occasion an opportunity to give a new +impulse to the popular cause, and to make further progress in gaining +the popular favor. The experiment was successful in this instance too. +The people were pleased at the apparent affection which his action +evinced; and as Cornelia was the daughter of Cinna, he had opportunity, +under pretext of praising the birth and parentage of the deceased, to +laud the men whom Sylla's party had outlawed and destroyed. In a word, +the patrician party saw with anxiety and dread that Caesar was rapidly +consolidating and organizing, and bringing back to its pristine strength +and vigor, a party whose restoration to power would of course involve +their own political, and perhaps personal ruin.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in office.<br> +Shows and entertainments.</p> + +<p>Caesar began soon to receive appointments to public office, and thus +rapidly increased his influence and power. Public officers and +candidates for office were accustomed in those days to expend great sums +of money in shows and spectacles to amuse the people. Caesar went beyond +all limits in these expenditures. He brought gladiators from distant +provinces, and trained them at great expense, to fight in the enormous +amphitheaters of the city, in the midst of vast assemblies of men. Wild +beasts were procured also from the forests of Africa, and brought over +in great numbers, under his direction, that the people might be +entertained by their combats with captives taken in war, who were +reserved for this dreadful fate. Caesar gave, also, splendid +entertainments, of the most luxurious and costly character, and he +mingled with his guests at these entertainments, and with the people at +large on other occasions, in so complaisant and courteous a manner as to +gain universal favor.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's extravagances.<br> +His embarrassments.</p> + +<p>He soon, by these means, not only exhausted all his own pecuniary +resources, but plunged himself enormously into debt. It was not +difficult for such a man in those days to procure an almost unlimited +credit for such purposes as these, for every one knew that, if he +finally succeeded in placing himself, by means of the popularity thus +acquired, in stations of power, he could soon indemnify himself and all +others who had aided him. The peaceful merchants, and artisans, and +husbandmen of the distant provinces over which he expected to rule, +would yield the revenues necessary to fill the treasuries thus +exhausted. Still, Caesar's expenditures were so lavish, and the debts he +incurred were so enormous, that those who had not the most unbounded +confidence in his capacity and his powers believed him irretrievably +ruined.</p> + +<p>The particulars, however, of these difficulties, and the manner in which +Caesar contrived to extricate himself from them, will be more fully +detailed in the next chapter.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar's rise to power.</p> + +<p>From this time, which was about sixty-seven years before the birth of +Christ, Caesar remained for nine years generally at Rome, engaged there +in a constant struggle for power. He was successful in these efforts, +rising all the time from one position of influence and honor to another, +until he became altogether the most prominent and powerful man in the +city. A great many incidents are recorded, as attending these contests, +which illustrate in a very striking manner the strange mixture of rude +violence and legal formality by which Rome was in those days governed.</p> + +<p class="side">Government of Rome.<br> +Bribery and corruption.<br> +Public amusements.</p> + +<p>Many of the most important offices of the state depended upon the votes +of the people; and as the people had very little opportunity to become +acquainted with the real merits of the case in respect to questions of +government, they gave their votes very much according to the personal +popularity of the candidate. Public men had very little moral principle +in those days, and they would accordingly resort to any means whatever +to procure this personal popularity. They who wanted office were +accustomed to bribe influential men among the people to support them, +sometimes by promising them subordinate offices, and sometimes by the +direct donation of sums of money; and they would try to please the mass +of the people, who were too numerous to be paid with offices or with +gold, by shows and spectacles, and entertainments of every kind which +they would provide for their amusement.</p> + +<p>This practice seems to us very absurd; and we wonder that the Roman +people should tolerate it, since it is evident that the means for +defraying these expenses must come, ultimately, in some way or other, +from them. And yet, absurd as it seems, this sort of policy is not +wholly disused even in our day. The operas and the theaters, and other +similar establishments in France, are sustained, in part, by the +government; and the liberality and efficiency with which this is done, +forms, in some degree, the basis of the popularity of each succeeding +administration. The plan is better systematized and regulated in our +day, but it is, in its nature, substantially the same.</p> + +<p class="side">Amusements for the people.</p> + +<p>In fact, furnishing amusements for the people, and also providing +supplies for their wants, as well as affording them protection, were +considered the legitimate objects of government in those days. It is +very different at the present time, and especially in this country. The +whole community are now united in the desire to confine the functions of +government within the narrowest possible limits, such as to include only +the preservation of public order and public safety. The people prefer to +supply their own wants and to provide their own enjoyments, rather than +to invest government with the power to do it for them, knowing very well +that, on the latter plan, the burdens they will have to bear, though +concealed for a time, must be doubled in the end.</p> + +<p class="side">Provided by the government.<br> +How the people were supported.<br> +Agrarian laws.</p> + +<p>It must not be forgotten, however, that there were some reasons in the +days of the Romans for providing public amusements for the people on an +extended scale which do not exist now. They had very few facilities then +for the private and separate enjoyments of home, so that they were much +more inclined than the people of this country are now to seek pleasure +abroad and in public. The climate, too, mild and genial nearly all the +year, favored this. Then they were not interested, as men are now, in +the pursuits and avocations of private industry. The people of Rome were +not a community of merchants, manufacturers, and citizens, enriching +themselves, and adding to the comforts and enjoyments of the rest of +mankind by the products of their labor. They were supported, in a great +measure, by the proceeds of the tribute of foreign provinces, and by the +plunder taken by the generals in the name of the state in foreign wars. +From the same source, too--foreign conquest--captives were brought home, +to be trained as gladiators to amuse them with their combats, and +statues and paintings to ornament the public buildings of the city. In +the same manner, large quantities of corn, which had been taken in the +provinces, were often distributed at Rome. And sometimes even land +itself, in large tracts, which had been confiscated by the state, or +otherwise taken from the original possessors, was divided among the +people. The laws enacted from time to time for this purpose were called +Agrarian laws; and the phrase afterward passed into a sort of proverb, +inasmuch as plans proposed in modern times for conciliating the favor of +the populace by sharing among them property belonging to the state or to +the rich, are designated by the name of <i>Agrarianism</i>.</p> + +<p class="side">Government of Rome.<br> +Its foreign policy.</p> + +<p>Thus Rome was a city supported, in a great measure, by the fruits of its +conquests, that is, in a certain sense, by plunder. It was a vast +community most efficiently and admirably organized for this purpose; and +yet it would not be perfectly just to designate the people simply as a +band of robbers. They rendered, in some sense, an equivalent for what +they took, in establishing and enforcing a certain organization of +society throughout the world, and in preserving a sort of public order +and peace. They built cities, they constructed aqueducts and roads; they +formed harbors, and protected them by piers and by castles; they +protected commerce, and cultivated the arts, and encouraged literature, +and enforced a general quiet and peace among mankind, allowing of no +violence or war except what they themselves created. Thus they +<i>governed</i> the world, and they felt, as all governors of mankind always +do, fully entitled to supply themselves with the comforts and +conveniences of life, in consideration of the service which they +thus rendered.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's policy.</p> + +<p>Of course, it was to be expected that they would sometimes quarrel among +themselves about the spoils. Ambitious men were always arising, eager to +obtain opportunities to make fresh conquests, and to bring home new +supplies, and those who were most successful in making the results of +their conquests available in adding to the wealth and to the public +enjoyments of the city, would, of course, be most popular with the +voters. Hence extortion in the provinces, and the most profuse and +lavish expenditure in the city, became the policy which every great man +must pursue to rise to power.</p> + +<p class="side">His success.</p> + +<p>Caesar entered into this policy with his whole soul, founding all his +hopes of success upon the favor of the populace. Of course, he had many +rivals and opponents among the patrician ranks, and in the Senate, and +they often impeded and thwarted his plans and measures for a time, +though he always triumphed in the end.</p> + +<p class="side">He is made quaestor.<br> +Caesar leaves Spain.<br> +His project.</p> + +<p>One of the first offices of importance to which he attained was that of +<i>quaestor</i>, as it was called, which office called him away from Rome +into the province of Spain, making him the second in command there. The +officer first in command in the province was, in this instance, a +praetor. During his absence in Spain, Caesar replenished in some degree +his exhausted finances, but he soon became very much discontented with +so subordinate a position. His discontent was greatly increased by his +coming unexpectedly, one day, at a city then called Hades--the present +Cadiz--upon a statue of Alexander, which adorned one of the public +edifices there. Alexander died when he was only about thirty years of +age, having before that period made himself master of the world. Caesar +was himself now about thirty-five years of age, and it made him very sad +to reflect that, though he had lived five years longer than Alexander, +he had yet accomplished so little. He was thus far only the second in a +province, while he burned with an insatiable ambition to be the first in +Rome. The reflection made him so uneasy that he left his post before his +time expired, and went back to Rome, forming, on the way, desperate +projects for getting power there.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar accused of treason.</p> + +<p>His rivals and enemies accused him of various schemes, more or less +violent and treasonable in their nature, but how justly it is not now +possible to ascertain. They alleged that one of his plans was to join +some of the neighboring colonies, whose inhabitants wished to be +admitted to the freedom of the city, and, making common cause with them, +to raise an armed force and take possession of Rome. It was said that, +to prevent the accomplishment of this design, an army which they had +raised for the purpose of an expedition against the Cilician pirates was +detained from its march, and that Caesar, seeing that the government +were on their guard against him, abandoned the plan.</p> + +<p>They also charged him with having formed, after this, a plan within the +city for assassinating the senators in the senate house, and then +usurping, with his fellow-conspirators, the supreme power. Crassus, who +was a man of vast wealth and a great friend of Caesar's, was associated +with him in this plot, and was to have been made dictator if it had +succeeded. But, notwithstanding the brilliant prize with which Caesar +attempted to allure Crassus to the enterprise, his courage failed him +when the time for action arrived. Courage and enterprise, in fact, ought +not to be expected of the rich; they are the virtues of poverty.</p> + +<p class="side">He is made aedile.<br> +Gladiatorial shows.<br> +Caesar's increasing popularity.</p> + +<p>Though the Senate were thus jealous and suspicious of Caesar, and were +charging him continually with these criminal designs, the people were on +his side; and the more he was hated by the great, the more strongly he +became intrenched in the popular favor. They chose him <i>aedile</i>. The +aedile had the charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the +games spectacles, and shows which were exhibited in them. Caesar +entered with great zeal into the discharge of the duties of this office. +He made arrangements for the entertainment of the people on the most +magnificent scale, and made great additions and improvements to the +public buildings, constructing porticoes and piazzas around the areas +where his gladiatorial shows and the combats with wild beasts were to be +exhibited. He provided gladiators in such numbers, and organized and +arranged them in such a manner, ostensibly for their training, that his +enemies among the nobility pretended to believe that he was intending to +use them as an armed force against the government of the city. They +accordingly made laws limiting and restricting the number of the +gladiators to be employed. Caesar then exhibited his shows on the +reduced scale which the new laws required, taking care that the people +should understand to whom the responsibility for this reduction in the +scale of their pleasures belonged. They, of course, murmured against the +Senate, and Caesar stood higher in their favor than ever.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar thwarted.<br> +His resentment.<br> +The statutes of Marius restored.<br> +Rage of the patricians.</p> + +<p>He was getting, however, by these means, very deeply involved in debt; +and, in order partly to retrieve his fortunes in this respect, he made +an attempt to have Egypt assigned to him as a province. Egypt was then +an immensely rich and fertile country. It had, however, never been a +Roman province. It was an independent kingdom, in alliance with the +Romans, and Caesar's proposal that it should be assigned to him as a +province appeared very extraordinary. His pretext was, that the people +of Egypt had recently deposed and expelled their king, and that, +consequently, the Romans might properly take possession of it. The +Senate, however, resisted this plan, either from jealousy of Caesar or +from a sense of justice to Egypt; and, after a violent contest, Caesar +found himself compelled to give up the design. He felt, however, a +strong degree of resentment against the patrician party who had thus +thwarted his designs. Accordingly, in order to avenge himself upon them, +he one night replaced certain statues and trophies of Marius in the +Capitol, which had been taken down by order of Sylla when he returned to +power. Marius, as will be recollected, had been the great champion of +the popular party, and the enemy of the patricians; and, at the time of +his down-fall, all the memorials of his power and greatness had been +every where removed from Rome, and among them these statues and +trophies, which had been erected in the Capitol in commemoration of some +former victories, and had remained there until Sylla's triumph, when +they were taken down and destroyed. Caesar now ordered new ones to be +made, far more magnificent than before. They were made secretly, and put +up in the night. His office as aedile gave him the necessary authority. +The next morning, when the people saw these splendid monuments of their +great favorite restored, the whole city was animated with excitement and +joy. The patricians, on the other hand, were filled with vexation and +rage. "Here is a single officer," said they, "who is attempting to +restore, by his individual authority, what has been formally abolished +by a decree of the Senate. He is trying to see how much we will bear. If +he finds that we will submit to this, he will attempt bolder measures +still." They accordingly commenced a movement to have the statues and +trophies taken down again, but the people rallied in vast numbers in +defense of them. They made the Capitol ring with their shouts of +applause; and the Senate, finding their power insufficient to cope with +so great a force, gave up the point, and Caesar gained the day.</p> + +<p class="side">The Good Goddess.</p> + +<p>Caesar had married another wife after the death of Cornelia. Her name +was Pompeia, He divorced Pompeia about this time, under very +extraordinary circumstances. Among the other strange religious +ceremonies and celebrations which were observed in those days, was one +called the celebration of the mysteries of the Good Goddess. This +celebration was held by females alone, every thing masculine being most +carefully excluded. Even the pictures of men, if there were any upon the +walls of the house where the assembly was held, were covered. The +persons engaged spent the night together in music and dancing and +various secret ceremonies, half pleasure, half worship, according to the +ideas and customs of the time.</p> + +<p class="side">Clodius.<br> +Caesar divorces his wife.</p> + +<p>The mysteries of the Good Goddess were to be celebrated one night at +Caesar's house, he himself having, of course, withdrawn. In the +middle of the night, the whole company in one of the apartments were +thrown into consternation at finding that one of their number was a man. +He had a smooth and youthful-looking face, and was very perfectly +disguised in the dress of a female. He proved to be a certain Clodius, a +very base and dissolute young man, though of great wealth and high +connections. He had been admitted by a female slave of Pompeia's, whom +he had succeeded in bribing. It was suspected that it was with Pompeia's +concurrence. At any rate, Caesar immediately divorced his wife. The +Senate ordered an inquiry into the affair, and, after the other members +of the household had given their testimony, Caesar himself was called +upon, but he had nothing to say. He knew nothing about it. They asked +him, then, why he had divorced Pompeia, unless he had some evidence for +believing her guilty, He replied, that a wife of Caesar must not only be +without crime, but without suspicion.</p> + +<p class="side">Quarrel of Clodius and Milo.<br> +Violence of the time.</p> + +<p>Clodius was a very desperate and lawless character, and his subsequent +history shows, in a striking point of view, the degree of violence and +disorder which reigned in those times. He became involved in a bitter +contention with another citizen whose name was Milo, and each, gaining +as many adherents as he could, at length drew almost the whole city into +their quarrel. Whenever they went out, they were attended with armed +bands, which were continually in danger of coming into collision. The +collision at last came, quite a battle was fought, and Clodius was +killed. This made the difficulty worse than it was before. Parties were +formed, and violent disputes arose on the question of bringing Milo to +trial for the alleged murder. He was brought to trial at last, but so +great was the public excitement, that the consuls for the time +surrounded and filled the whole Forum with armed men while the trial was +proceeding, to ensure the safety of the court.</p> + +<p class="side">Conspiracy of Catiline.<br> +Warm debate in the Senate.<br> +Caesar in danger of violence.</p> + +<p>In fact, violence mingled itself continually, in those times, with +almost all public proceedings, whenever any special combination of +circumstances occurred to awaken unusual excitement. At one time, when +Caesar was in office, a very dangerous conspiracy was brought to light, +which was headed by the notorious Catiline. It was directed chiefly +against the Senate and the higher departments of the government; it +contemplated, in fact, their utter destruction, and the establishment of +an entirely new government on the ruins of the existing constitution. +Caesar was himself accused of a participation in this plot. When it was +discovered, Catiline himself fled; some of the other conspirators were, +however, arrested, and there was a long and very excited debate in the +Senate on the question of their punishment. Some were for death. Caesar, +however, very earnestly opposed this plan, recommending, instead, the +confiscation of the estates of the conspirators, and their imprisonment +in some of the distant cities of Italy. The dispute grew very warm, +Caesar urging his point with great perseverance and determination, and +with a degree of violence which threatened seriously to obstruct the +proceedings, when a body of armed men, a sort of guard of honor +stationed there, gathered around him, and threatened him with their +swords. Quite a scene of disorder and terror ensued. Some of the +senators arose hastily and fled from the vicinity of Caesar's seat to +avoid the danger. Others, more courageous, or more devoted in their +attachment to him, gathered around him to protect him, as far as they +could, by interposing their bodies between his person and the weapons of +his assailants. Caesar soon left the Senate, and for a long time would +return to it no more.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's struggle for the office of pontifex maximus.</p> + +<p>Although Caesar was all this time, on the whole, rising in influence and +power, there were still fluctuations in his fortune, and the tide +sometimes, for a short period, went strongly against him. He was at one +time, when greatly involved in debt, and embarrassed in all his affairs, +a candidate for a very high office, that of Pontifex Maximus, or +sovereign pontiff. The office of the pontifex was originally that of +building and keeping custody of the bridges of the city, the name being +derived from the Latin word <i>pons</i>, which signifies bridge. To this, +however, had afterward been added the care of the temples, and finally +the regulation and control of the ceremonies of religion, so that it +came in the end to be an office of the highest dignity and honor. Caesar +made the most desperate efforts to secure his election, resorting to +such measures, expending such sums, and involving himself in debt to +such an extreme, that, if he failed, he would be irretrievably ruined. +His mother, sympathizing with him in his anxiety, kissed him when he +went away from the house on the morning of the election, and bade hem +farewell with tears. He told her that he should come home that night the +pontiff, or he should never come home at all. He succeeded in gaining +the election.</p> + +<p class="side">He is deposed.<br> +Caesar's forbearance.<br> +He is restored to office.</p> + +<p>At one time Caesar was actually deposed from a high office which he +held, by a decree of the Senate. He determined to disregard this decree, +and go on in the discharge of his office as usual. But the Senate, whose +ascendency was now, for some reason, once more established, prepared to +prevent him by force of arms. Caesar, finding that he was not +sustained, gave up the contest, put off his robes of office, and went +home. Two days afterward a reaction occurred. A mass of the populace +came together to his house, and offered their assistance to restore his +rights and vindicate his honor. Caesar, however, contrary to what every +one would have expected of him, exerted his influence to calm and quiet +the mob, and then sent them away, remaining himself in private as +before. The Senate had been alarmed at the first outbreak of the tumult, +and a meeting had been suddenly convened to consider what measures to +adopt in such a crisis. When, however, they found that Caesar had +himself interposed, and by his own personal influence had saved the city +from the danger which threatened it, they were so strongly impressed +with a sense of his forbearance and generosity, that they sent for him +to come to the senate house, and, after formally expressing their +thanks, they canceled their former vote, and restored him to his office +again. This change in the action of the Senate does not, however, +necessarily indicate so great a change of individual sentiment as one +might at first imagine. There was, undoubtedly, a large minority who +were averse to his being deposed in the first instance but, being +outvoted, the decree of deposition was passed. Others were, perhaps, +more or less doubtful. Caesar's generous forbearance in refusing the +offered aid of the populace carried over a number of these sufficient to +shift the majority, and thus the action of the body was reversed. It is +in this way that the sudden and apparently total changes in the action +of deliberative assemblies which often take place, and which would +otherwise, in some cases, be almost incredible, are to be explained.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar implicated in Catiline's conspiracy.<br> +He arrests Vettius.</p> + +<p>After this, Caesar became involved in another difficulty, in consequence +of the appearance of some definite and positive evidence that he was +connected with Catiline in his famous conspiracy. One of the senators +said that Catiline himself had informed him that Caesar was one of the +accomplices of the plot. Another witness, named Vettius, laid an +information against Caesar before a Roman magistrate, and offered to +produce Caesar's handwriting in proof of his participation in the +conspirator's designs Caesar was very much incensed, and his manner of +vindicating himself from these serious charges was as singular as many +of his other deeds. He arrested Vettius, and sentenced him to pay a +heavy fine, and to be imprisoned; and he contrived also to expose him, +in the course of the proceedings, to the mob in the Forum, who were +always ready to espouse Caesar's cause, and who, on this occasion, beat +Vettius so unmercifully, that he barely escaped with his life. The +magistrate, too, was thrown into prison for having dared to take an +information against a superior officer.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's embarrassment.<br> +Spain is assigned to him.</p> + +<p>At last Caesar became so much involved in debt, through the boundless +extravagance of his expenditures, that something must be done to +replenish his exhausted finances. He had, however, by this time, risen +so high in official influence and power, that he succeeded in having +Spain assigned to him as his province, and he began to make preparations +to proceed to it. His creditors, however, interposed, unwilling to let +him go without giving them security. In this dilemma, Caesar succeeded +in making an arrangement with Crassus, who has already been spoken of as +a man of unbounded wealth and great ambition, but not possessed of any +considerable degree of intellectual power. Crassus consented to give the +necessary security, with an understanding that Caesar was to repay him +by exerting his political influence in his favor. So soon as this +arrangement was made, Caesar set off in a sudden and private manner, as +if he expected that otherwise some new difficulty would intervene.</p> + +<p class="side">The Swiss hamlet.</p> + +<p>He went to Spain by land, passing through Switzerland on the way. He +stopped with his attendants one night at a very insignificant village of +shepherds' huts among the mountains. Struck with the poverty and +worthlessness of all they saw in this wretched hamlet, Caesar's friends +were wondering whether the jealousy, rivalry, and ambition which reigned +among men every where else in the world could find any footing there, +when Caesar told them that, for his part, he should rather choose to be +first in such a village as that than the second at Rome. The story has +been repeated a thousand times, and told to every successive generation +now for nearly twenty centuries, as an illustration of the peculiar type +and character of the ambition which controls such a soul as that +of Caesar.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's ambition.</p> + +<p>Caesar was very successful in the administration of his province; that +is to say, he returned in a short time with considerable military glory, +and with money enough to pay all his debts, and famish him with means +for fresh electioneering.</p> + +<p class="side">Manner of choosing the consuls.<br> +Pompey and Crassus.</p> + +<p>He now felt strong enough to aspire to the office of consul, which was +the highest office of the Roman state. When the line of kings had been +deposed, the Romans had vested the supreme magistracy in the hands of +two consuls, who were chosen annually in a general election, the +formalities of which were all very carefully arranged. The current of +popular opinion was, of course, in Caesar's favor, but he had many +powerful rivals and enemies among the great, who, however, hated and +opposed each other as well as him. There was at that time a very bitter +feud between Pompey and Crassus, each of them struggling for power +against the efforts of the other. Pompey possessed great influence +through his splendid abilities and his military renown. Crassus, as has +already been stated, was powerful through his wealth. Caesar, who had +some influence with them both, now conceived the bold design of +reconciling them, and then of availing himself of their united aid in +accomplishing his own particular ends.</p> + +<p class="side">The first triumvirate.</p> + +<p>He succeeded perfectly well in this management. He represented to them +that, by contending against each other, they only exhausted their own +powers, and strengthened the arms of their common enemies. He proposed +to them to unite with one another and with him, and thus make common +cause to promote their common interest and advancement. They willingly +acceded to this plan, and a triple league was accordingly formed, in +which they each bound themselves to promote, by every means in his +power, the political elevation of the others, and not to take any public +step or adopt any measures without the concurrence of the three. Caesar +faithfully observed the obligations of this league so long as he could +use his two associates to promote his own ends, and then he +abandoned it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar a candidate for the consulship.</p> + +<p>Having, however, completed this arrangement, he was now prepared to push +vigorously his claims to be elected consul. He associated with his own +name that of Lucceius, who was a man of great wealth, and who agreed to +defray the expenses of the election for the sake of the honor of being +consul with Caesar. Caesar's enemies, however, knowing that they +probably could not prevent his election, determined to concentrate their +strength in the effort to prevent his having the colleague he desired. +They made choice, therefore, of a certain Bibulus as their candidate. +Bibulus had always been a political opponent of Caesar's, and they +thought that, by associating him with Caesar in the supreme magistracy, +the pride and ambition of their great adversary might be held somewhat +in check. They accordingly made a contribution among themselves to +enable Bibulus to expend as much money in bribery as Lucceius, and the +canvass went on.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar assumes the whole power.<br> +He imprisons Cato.</p> + +<p>It resulted in the election of Caesar and Bibulus. They entered upon the +duties of their office; but Caesar, almost entirely disregarding his +colleague, began to assume the whole power, and proposed and carried +measure after measure of the most extraordinary character, all aiming at +the gratification of the populace. He was at first opposed violently +both by Bibulus and by many leading members of the Senate, especially by +Cato, a stern and inflexible patriot, whom neither fear of danger nor +hope of reward could move from what he regarded his duty. But Caesar was +now getting strong enough to put down the opposition which he +encountered with out much scruple as to the means. He ordered Cato on +one occasion to be arrested in the Senate and sent to prison. Another +influential member of the Senate rose and was going out with him. Caesar +asked him where he was going. He said he was going with Cato. He would +rather, he said, be with Cato in prison, than in the Senate with Caesar.</p> + +<p class="side">Bibulus retires to his house.<br> +The year of "Julius and Caesar."</p> + +<p>Caesar treated Bibulus also with so much neglect, and assumed so +entirely the whole control of the consular power, to the utter exclusion +of his colleague, that Bibulus at last, completely discouraged and +chagrined, abandoned all pretension to official authority, retired to +his house, and shut himself up in perfect seclusion, leaving Caesar to +his own way. It was customary among the Romans, in their historical and +narrative writings, to designate the successive years, not by a +numerical date as with us, but by the names of the consuls who held +office in them. Thus, in the time of Caesar's consulship, the phrase +would have been, "In the year of Caesar and Bibulus, consuls," according +to the ordinary usage; but the wags of the city, in order to make sport +of the assumptions of Caesar and the insignificance of Bibulus, used to +say, "In the year of Julius and Caesar, consuls," rejecting the name of +Bibulus altogether, and taking the two names of Caesar to make out the +necessary duality.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE CONQUEST OF GAUL.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar aspires to be a soldier.<br> +His success and celebrity.</p> + +<p>In attaining to the consulship, Caesar had reached the highest point of +elevation which it was possible to reach as a mere citizen of Rome. His +ambition was, however, of course, not satisfied. The only way to acquire +higher distinction and to rise to higher power was to enter upon a +career of foreign conquest. Caesar therefore aspired now to be a +soldier. He accordingly obtained the command of an army, and entered +upon a course of military campaigns in the heart of Europe, which he +continued for eight years. These eight years constitute one of the most +important and strongly-marked periods of his life. He was triumphantly +successful in his military career, and he made, accordingly, a vast +accession to his celebrity and power, in his own day, by the results of +his campaigns. He also wrote, himself, an account of his adventures +during this period, in which the events are recorded in so lucid and in +so eloquent a manner, that the narrations have continued to be read by +every successive generation of scholars down to the present day, and +they have had a great influence in extending and perpetuating his fame.</p> + +<p class="side">Scenes of Caesar's exploits.<br> +Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.</p> + +<p>The principal scenes of the exploits which Caesar performed during the +period of this his first great military career, were the north of Italy, +Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, a great tract of country, +nearly all of which he overran and conquered. A large portion of this +territory was called Gaul in those days; the part on the Italian side of +the Alps being named Cisalpine Gaul, while that which lay beyond was +designated as Transalpine. Transalpine Gaul was substantially what is +now France. There was a part of Transalpine Gaul which had been already +conquered and reduced to a Roman province. It was called The Province +then, and has retained the name, with a slight change in orthography, to +the present day. It is now known as Provence.</p> + +<p class="side">Condition of Gaul in Caesar's day.<br> +Singular cavalry.</p> + +<p>The countries which Caesar went to invade were occupied by various +nations and tribes, many of which were well organized and war-like, and +some of them were considerably civilized and wealthy. They had extended +tracts of cultivated land, the slopes of the hills and the mountain +sides being formed into green pasturages, which were covered with flocks +of goats, and sheep, and herds of cattle, while the smoother and more +level tracts were adorned with smiling vineyards and broadly-extended +fields of waving grain. They had cities, forts, ships, and armies. Their +manners and customs would be considered somewhat rude by modern nations, +and some of their usages of war were half barbarian. For example, in one +of the nations which Caesar encountered, he found, as he says in his +narrative, a corps of cavalry, as a constituent part of the army, in +which, to every horse, there were <i>two</i> men, one the rider, and the +other a sort of foot soldier and attendant. If the battle went against +them, and the squadron were put to their speed in a retreat, these +footmen would cling to the manes-of the horses, and then, half running, +half flying, they would be borne along over the field, thus keeping +always at the side of their comrades, and escaping with them to a place +of safety.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's plans.</p> + +<p>But, although the Romans were inclined to consider these nations as only +half civilized, still there would be great glory, as Caesar thought, in +subduing them, and probably great treasure would be secured in the +conquest, both by the plunder and confiscation of governmental +property, and by the tribute which would be collected in taxes from the +people of the countries subdued. Caesar accordingly placed himself at +the head of an army of three Roman legions, which he contrived, by means +of a great deal of political maneuvering and management, to have raised +and placed under his command. One of these legions, which was called the +tenth legion, was his favorite corps, on account of the bravery and +hardihood which they often displayed. At the head of these legions, +Caesar set out for Gaul. He was at this time not far from forty years +of age.</p> + +<p class="side">His pretexts.</p> + +<p>Caesar had no difficulty in finding pretexts for making war upon any of +these various nations that he might desire to subdue. They were, of +course, frequently at war with each other, and there were at all times +standing topics of controversy and unsettled disputes among them. Caesar +had, therefore, only to draw near to the scene of contention, and then +to take sides with one party or the other, it mattered little with +which, for the affair almost always resulted, in the end, in his making +himself master of both. The manner, however, in which this sort of +operation was performed, can best be illustrated by an example, and we +will take for the purpose the case of Ariovistus.</p> + +<p class="side">Ariovistus.<br> +The Aeduans.</p> + +<p>Ariovistus was a German king. He had been nominally a sort of ally of +the Romans. He had extended his conquests across the Rhine into Gaul, +and he held some nations there as his tributaries. Among these, the +Aeduans were a prominent party, and, to simplify the account, we will +take their name as the representative of all who were concerned. When +Caesar came into the region of the Aeduans, he entered into some +negotiations with them, in which they, as he alleges, asked his +assistance to enable them to throw off the dominion of their German +enemy. It is probable, in fact, that there was some proposition of this +kind from them, for Caesar had abundant means of inducing them to make +it, if he was disposed, and the receiving of such a communication +furnished the most obvious and plausible pretext to authorize and +justify his interposition.</p> + +<p>Caesar accordingly sent a messenger across the Rhine to Ariovistus, +saying that he wished to have an interview with him on business of +importance, and asking him to name a time which would be convenient to +him for the interview, and also to appoint some place in Gaul where he +would attend.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's negotiations with Ariovistus.</p> + +<p>To this Ariovistus replied, that if he had, himself, any business with +Caesar, he would have waited upon him to propose it; and, in the same +manner, if Caesar wished to see him, he must come into his own +dominions. He said that it would not be safe for him to come into Gaul +without an army, and that it was not convenient for him to raise and +equip an army for such a purpose at that time.</p> + +<p class="side">His message.</p> + +<p>Caesar sent again to Ariovistus to say, that since he was so unmindful +of his obligations to the Roman people as to refuse an interview with +him on business of common interest, he would state the particulars that +he required of him. The Aeduans, he said, were now his allies, and under +his protection; and Ariovistus must send back the hostages which he held +from them, and bind himself henceforth not to send any more troops +across the Rhine, nor make war upon the Aeduans, or injure them in any +way. If he complied with these terms, all would be well. If he did not, +Caesar said that he should not himself disregard the just complaints of +his allies.</p> + +<p class="side">Ariovistus's spirited reply to Caesar.</p> + +<p>Ariovistus had no fear of Caesar. Caesar had, in fact, thus far, not +begun to acquire the military renown to which he afterward attained +Ariovistus had, therefore, no particular cause to dread his power. He +sent him back word that he did not understand why Caesar should +interfere between him and his conquered province.</p> + +<p>"The Aeduans," said he, "tried the fortune of war with me, and were +overcome; and they must abide the issue. The Romans manage their +conquered provinces as they judge proper, without holding themselves +accountable to any one. I shall do the same with mine. All that I can +say is, that so long as the Aeduans submit peaceably to my authority, +and pay their tribute, I shall not molest them; as to your threat that +you shall not disregard their complaints, you must know that no one has +ever made war upon me but to his own destruction, and, if you wish to +see how it will turn out in your case, you may make the experiment +whenever you please."</p> + +<p class="side">Preparations for war.</p> + +<p>Both parties immediately prepared for war. Ariovistus, instead of +waiting to be attacked, assembled his army, crossed the Rhine, and +advanced into the territories from which Caesar had undertaken to +exclude him.</p> + +<p class="side">Panic in the Roman army.</p> + +<p>As Caesar, however, began to make his arrangements for putting his army +in motion to meet his approaching enemy, there began to circulate +throughout the camp such extraordinary stories of the terrible strength +and courage of the German soldiery as to produce a very general panic. +So great, at length, became the anxiety and alarm, that even the +officers were wholly dejected and discouraged; and as for the men, they +were on the very eve of mutiny.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's address.</p> + +<p>When Caesar understood this state of things, he called an assembly of +the troops, and made an address to them. He told them that he was +astonished to learn to what an extent an unworthy despondency and fear +had taken possession of their minds, and how little confidence they +reposed in him, their general. And then, after some further remarks +about the duty of a soldier to be ready to go wherever his commander +leads him, and presenting also some considerations in respect to the +German troops with which they were going to contend, in order to show +them that they had no cause to fear, he ended by saying that he had not +been fully decided as to the time of marching, but that now he had +concluded to give orders for setting out the next morning at three +o'clock, that he might learn, as soon as possible, who were too cowardly +to follow him. He would go himself, he said, if he was attended by the +tenth legion alone He was sure that they would not shrink from any +undertaking in which he led the way.</p> + +<p class="side">Effect of Caesar's address.<br> +Proposals for an interview.</p> + +<p>The soldiers, moved partly by shame, partly by the decisive and +commanding tone which their general assumed, and partly reassured by the +courage and confidence which he seemed to feel, laid aside their fears, +and vied with each other henceforth in energy and ardor. The armies +approached each other. Ariovistus sent to Caesar, saying that now, if he +wished it, he was ready for an interview. Caesar acceded to the +suggestion, and the arrangements for a conference were made, each party, +as usual in such cases, taking every precaution to guard against the +treachery of the other.</p> + +<p>Between the two camps there was a rising ground, in the middle of an +open plain, where it was decided that the conference should be held. +Ariovistus proposed that neither party should bring any foot soldiers to +the place of meeting, but cavalry alone; and that these bodies of +cavalry, brought by the respective generals, should remain at the foot +of the eminence on either side, while Caesar and Ariovistus themselves, +attended each by only ten followers on horseback, should ascend it. This +plan was acceded to by Caesar, and a long conference was held in this +way between the two generals, as they sat upon their horses, on the +summit of the hill.</p> + +<p class="side">Conference between Caesar and Ariovistus.<br> +Caesar's messenger seized.</p> + +<p>The two generals, in their discussion, only repeated in substance what +they had said in their embassages before, and made no progress toward +coming to an understanding. At length Caesar closed the conference and +withdrew. Some days afterward Ariovistus sent a request to Caesar, +asking that he would appoint another interview, or else that he would +depute one of his officers to proceed to Ariovistus's camp and receive a +communication which he wished to make to him. Caesar concluded not to +grant another interview, and he did not think it prudent to send any one +of his principal officers as an embassador, for fear that he might be +treacherously seized and held as a hostage. He accordingly sent an +ordinary messenger, accompanied by one or two men. These men were all +seized and put in irons as soon as they reached the camp of Ariovistus, +and Caesar now prepared in earnest for giving his enemy battle.</p> + +<p class="side">Defeat of the Germans.</p> + +<p>He proved himself as skillful and efficient in arranging and managing +the combat as he had been sagacious and adroit in the negotiations which +preceded it. Several days were spent in maneuvers and movements, by +which each party endeavored to gain some advantage over the other in +respect to their position in the approaching struggle. When at length +the combat came, Caesar and his legions were entirely and triumphantly +successful. The Germans were put totally to flight. Their baggage and +stores were all seized, and the troops themselves fled in dismay by all +the roads which led back to the Rhine; and there those who succeeded in +escaping death from the Romans, who pursued them all the way, embarked +in boats and upon rafts, and returned to their homes. Ariovistus himself +found a small boat, in which, with one or two followers, he succeeded in +getting across the stream.</p> + +<p class="side">Release of Caesar's messenger.</p> + +<p>As Caesar, at the head of a body of his troops, was pursuing the enemy +in this their flight, he overtook one party who had a prisoner with them +confined by iron chains fastened to his limbs, and whom they were +hurrying rapidly along. This prisoner proved to be the messenger that +Caesar had sent to Ariovistus's camp, and whom he had, as Caesar +alleges, treacherously detained. Of course, he was overjoyed to be +recaptured and set at liberty. The man said that three times they had +drawn lots to see whether they should burn him alive then, or reserve +the pleasure for a future occasion, and that every time the lot had +resulted in his favor.</p> + +<p class="side">Results of the victory.<br> +Caesar's continued success.</p> + +<p>The consequence of this victory was, that Caesar's authority was +established triumphantly over all that part of Gaul which he had thus +freed from Ariovistus's sway. Other parts of the country, too, were +pervaded by the fame of his exploits, and the people every where began +to consider what action it would be incumbent on them to take, in +respect to the new military power which had appeared so suddenly among +them. Some nations determined to submit without resistance, and to seek +the conqueror's alliance and protection. Others, more bold, or more +confident of their strength, began to form combinations and to arrange +plans for resisting him. But, whatever they did, the result in the end +was the same. Caesar's ascendency was every where and always gaining +ground. Of course, it is impossible in the compass of a single chapter, +which is all that can be devoted to the subject in this volume, to give +any regular narrative of the events of the eight years of Caesar's +military career in Gaul. Marches, negotiations, battles, and victories +mingled with and followed each other in a long succession, the +particulars of which it would require a volume to detail, every thing +resulting most successfully for the increase of Caesar's power and the +extension of his fame.</p> + +<p class="side">Account of northern nations.<br> +Their strange customs.<br> +Well-trained horses.</p> + +<p>Caesar gives, in his narrative, very extraordinary accounts of the +customs and modes of life of some of the people that he encountered. +There was one country, for example, in which all the lands were common, +and the whole structure of society was based on the plan of forming the +community into one great martial band. The nation was divided into a +hundred cantons, each containing two thousand men capable of bearing +arms. If these were all mustered into service together, they would form, +of course, an army of two hundred thousand men. It was customary, +however, to organize only one half of them into an army, while the rest +remained at home to till the ground and tend the flocks and herds. These +two great divisions interchanged their work every year, the soldiers +becoming husbandmen, and the husbandmen soldiers. Thus they all became +equally inured to the hardships and dangers of the camp, and to the more +continuous but safer labors of agricultural toil. Their fields were +devoted to pasturage more than to tillage, for flocks and herds could be +driven from place to place, and thus more easily preserved from the +depredations of enemies than fields of grain. The children grew up +almost perfectly wild from infancy, and hardened themselves by bathing +in cold streams, wearing very little clothing, and making long hunting +excursions among the mountains. The people had abundance of excellent +horses, which the young men were accustomed, from their earliest years, +to ride without saddle or bridle, the horses being trained to obey +implicitly every command. So admirably disciplined were they, that +sometimes, in battle, the mounted men would leap from their horses and +advance as foot soldiers to aid the other infantry, leaving the horses +to stand until they returned. The horses would not move from the spot; +the men, when the object for which they had dismounted was accomplished, +would come back, spring to their seats again, and once more become a +squadron of cavalry.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's popularity with the army.<br> +Caesar's military habits.<br> +His bridge across the Rhine.</p> + +<p>Although Caesar was very energetic and decided in the government of his +army, he was extremely popular with his soldiers in all these campaigns. +He exposed his men, of course, to a great many privations and hardships, +but then he evinced, in many cases, such a willingness to bear his share +of them, that the men were very little inclined to complain. He moved +at the head of the column when his troops were advancing on a march, +generally on horseback, but often on foot; and Suetonius says that he +used to go bareheaded on such occasions, whatever was the state of the +weather, though it is difficult to see what the motive of this +apparently needless exposure could be, unless it was for effect, on some +special or unusual occasion. Caesar would ford or swim rivers with his +men whenever there was no other mode of transit, sometimes supported, it +was said, by bags inflated with air, and placed under his arms. At one +time he built a bridge across the Rhine, to enable his army to cross +that river. This bridge was built with piles driven down into the sand, +which supported a flooring of timbers. Caesar, considering it quite an +exploit thus to bridge the Rhine, wrote a minute account of the manner +in which the work was constructed, and the description is almost exactly +in accordance with the principles and usages of modern carpentry.</p> + +<p class="side">System of posts.<br> +Their great utility.</p> + +<p>After the countries which were the scene of these conquests were pretty +well subdued, Caesar established on some of the great routes of travel a +system of posts, that is, he stationed supplies of horses at intervals +of from ten to twenty miles along the way, so that he himself, or the +officers of his army, or any couriers whore he might have occasion to +send with dispatches could travel with great speed by finding a fresh +horse ready at every stage. By this means he sometimes traveled himself +a hundred miles in a day. This system, thus adopted for military +purposes in Caesar's time, has been continued in almost all countries of +Europe to the present age, and is applied to traveling in carriages as +well as on horseback. A family party purchase a carriage, and arranging +within it all the comforts and conveniences which they will require on +the journey, they set out, taking these post horses, fresh at each +village, to draw them to the next. Thus they can go at any rate of speed +which they desire, instead of being limited in their movements by the +powers of endurance of one set of animals, as they would be compelled to +be if they were to travel with their own. This plan has, for some +reason, never been introduced into America, and it is now probable that +it never will be, as the railway system will doubtless supersede it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's invasion of Britain.<br> +His pretext for it.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable of the enterprises which Caesar undertook +during the period of these campaigns was his excursion into Great +Britain. The real motive of this expedition was probably a love of +romantic adventure, and a desire to secure for himself at Rome the glory +of having penetrated into remote regions which Roman armies had never +reached before. The pretext, however, which he made to justify his +invading the territories of the Britons was, that the people of the +island were accustomed to come across the Channel and aid the Gauls in +their wars.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar consults the merchants.</p> + +<p>In forming his arrangements for going into England, the first thing was, +to obtain all the information which was accessible in Gaul in respect to +the country. There were, in those days, great numbers of traveling +merchants, who went from one nation to another to purchase and sell, +taking with them such goods as were most easy of transportation. These +merchants, of course, were generally possessed of a great deal of +information in respect to the countries which they had visited, and +Caesar called together as many of them as he could find, when he had +reached the northern shores of France, to inquire about the modes of +crossing the Channel, the harbors on the English side, the geographical +conformation of the country, and the military resources of the people. +He found, however, that the merchants could give him very little +information. They knew that Britain was an island, but they did not know +its extent or its boundaries; and they could tell him very little of the +character or customs of the people. They said that they had only been +accustomed to land upon the southern shore, and to transact all their +business there, without penetrating at all into the interior of +the country.</p> + +<p class="side">Volusenus.</p> + +<p>Caesar then, who, though undaunted and bold in emergencies requiring +prompt and decisive action, was extremely cautious and wary at all other +times, fitted up a single ship, and, putting one of his officers on +board with a proper crew, directed him to cross the Channel to the +English coast, and then to cruise along the land for some miles in each +direction, to observe where were the best harbors and places for +landing, and to examine generally the appearance of the shore. This +vessel was a galley, manned with numerous oarsmen, well selected and +strong, so that it could retreat with great speed from any sudden +appearance of danger The name of the officer who had the command of it +was Volusenus. Volusenus set sail, the army watching his vessel with +great interest as it moved slowly away from the shore. He was gone five +days, and then returned, bringing Caesar an account of his discoveries.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar collects vessels.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Caesar had collected a large number of sailing vessels +from the whole line of the French shore, by means of which he proposed +to transport his army across the Channel. He had two legions to take +into Britain, the remainder of his forces having been stationed as +garrisons in various parts of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to leave a +considerable force at his post of debarkation, in order to secure a safe +retreat in case of any disaster on the British side. The number of +transport ships provided for the foot soldiers which were to be taken +over was eighty. There were, besides these, eighteen more, which were +appointed to convey a squadron of horse. This cavalry force was to +embark at a separate port, about eighty miles distant from the one from +which the infantry were to sail.</p> + +<p class="side">Embarkation of the troops.</p> + +<p>At length a suitable day for the embarkation arrived; the troops were +put on board the ships, and orders were given to sail. The day could not +be fixed beforehand, as the time for attempting to make the passage must +necessarily depend upon the state of the wind and weather. Accordingly, +when the favorable opportunity arrived, and the main body of the army +began to embark it took some time to send the orders to the port where +the cavalry had rendezvoused; and there were, besides, other causes of +delay which occurred to detain this corps, so that it turned out, as we +shall presently see, that the foot soldiers had to act alone in the +first attempt at landing on the British shore.</p> + +<p class="side">Sailing of the fleet.<br> +Preparations of the Britons.</p> + +<p>It was one o'clock in the morning when the fleet set sail. The Britons +had, in the mean time, obtained intelligence of Caesar's threatened +invasion, and they had assembled in great force, with troops, and +horsemen, and carriages of war, and were all ready to guard the shore. +The coast, at the point where Caesar was approaching, consists of a line +of chalky cliffs, with valley-like openings here and there between them, +communicating with the shore, and sometimes narrow beaches below. When +the Roman fleet approached the land, Caesar found the cliffs every where +lined with troops of Britons, and every accessible point below carefully +guarded. It was now about ten o'clock in the morning, and Caesar, +finding the prospect so unfavorable in respect to the practicability of +effecting a landing here, brought his fleet to anchor near the shore, +but far enough from it to be safe from the missiles of the enemy.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar calls a council of officers.</p> + +<p>Here he remained for several hours, to give time for all the vessels to +join him. Some of them had been delayed in the embarkation, or had made +slower progress than the rest in crossing the Channel. He called a +council, too, of the superior officers of the army on board his own +galley, and explained to them the plan which he now adopted for the +landing. About three o'clock in the afternoon he sent these officers +back to their respective ships, and gave orders to make sail along the +shore. The anchors were raised and the fleet moved on, borne by the +united impulse of the wind and the tide. The Britons, perceiving this +movement, put themselves in motion on the land, following the motions of +the fleet so as to be ready to meet their enemy wherever they might +ultimately undertake to land. Their horsemen and carriages went on in +advance, and the foot soldiers followed, all pressing eagerly forward to +keep up with the motion of the fleet, and to prevent Caesar's army from +having time to land before they should arrive at the spot and be ready +to oppose them.</p> + +<a name="Illus0279"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0279.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0279.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="THE LANDING IN ENGLAND."> +</a><br> +<b>THE LANDING IN ENGLAND.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">The landing.<br> +The battle.<br> +Defeat of the Britons.</p> + +<p>The fleet moved on until, at length, after sailing about eight miles, +they came to a part of the coast where there was a tract of +comparatively level ground, which seemed to be easily accessible from +the shore. Here Caesar determined to attempt to land; and drawing up his +vessel, accordingly, as near as possible to the beach, he ordered the +men to leap over into the water, with their weapons in their hands. The +Britons were all here to oppose them, and a dreadful struggle ensued, +the combatants dyeing the waters with their blood as they fought, half +submerged in the surf which rolled in upon the sand. Some galleys rowed +up at the same time near to the shore, and the men on board of them +attacked the Britons from the decks, by the darts and arrows which they +shot to the land. Caesar at last prevailed; the Britons were driven +away, and the Roman army established themselves in quiet possession of +the shore.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's popularity at Rome.</p> + +<p>Caesar had afterward a great variety of adventures, and many narrow +escapes from imminent dangers in Britain, and, though he gained +considerable glory by thus penetrating into such remote and unknown +regions, there was very little else to be acquired. The glory, however, +was itself of great value to Caesar. During the whole period of his +campaigns in Gaul, Rome and all Italy in fact, had been filled with the +fame of his exploits, and the expedition into Britain added not a little +to his renown. The populace of the city were greatly gratified to hear +of the continued success of their former favorite. They decreed to him +triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him, whenever he +should return, with greater honors and more extended and higher powers +than he had ever enjoyed before.</p> + +<p class="side">Results of his campaigns.</p> + +<p>Caesar's exploits in these campaigns were, in fact, in a military point +of view, of the most magnificent character. Plutarch, in summing up the +results of them, says that he took eight hundred cities, conquered three +hundred nations, fought pitched battles at separate times with three +millions of men, took one million of prisoners, and killed another +million on the field. What a vast work of destruction was this for a man +to spend eight years of his life in performing upon his +fellow-creatures, merely to gratify his insane love of dominion.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>POMPEY.</h3> + +<p class="side">Pompey.</p> + +<p>While Caesar had thus been rising to so high an elevation, there was +another Roman general who had been, for nearly the same period, engaged, +in various other quarters of the world, in acquiring, by very similar +means, an almost equal renown. This general was Pompey. He became, in +the end, Caesar's great and formidable rival. In order that the reader +may understand clearly the nature of the great contest which sprung up +at last between these heroes, we must now go back and relate some of the +particulars of Pompey's individual history down to the time of the +completion of Caesar's conquests in Gaul.</p> + +<p class="side">His birth.<br> +Pompey's personal appearance.</p> + +<p>Pompey was a few years older than Caesar, having been born in 106 B.C. +His father was a Roman general, and the young Pompey was brought up in +camp. He was a young man of very handsome figure and countenance, and of +very agreeable manners. His hair curled slightly over his forehead, and +he had a dark and intelligent eye, full of vivacity and meaning. There +was, besides, in the expression of his face, and in his air and address, +a certain indescribable charm, which prepossessed every one strongly in +his favor, and gave him, from his earliest years, a great personal +ascendency over all who knew him.</p> + +<p class="side">Plans to assassinate him.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this popularity, however, Pompey did not escape, even in +very early life, incurring his share of the dangers which seemed to +environ the path of every public man in those distracted times. It will +be recollected that, in the contests between Marius and Sylla, Caesar +had joined the Marian faction. Pompey's father, on the other hand, had +connected himself with that of Sylla. At one time, in the midst of these +wars, when Pompey was very young, a conspiracy was formed to assassinate +his father by burning him in his tent, and Pompey's comrade, named +Terentius, who slept in the same tent with him, had been bribed to kill +Pompey himself at the same time, by stabbing him in his bed. Pompey +contrived to discover this plan, but, instead of being at all +discomposed by it, he made arrangements for a guard about his father's +tent and then went to supper as usual with Terentius, conversing with +him all the time in even a more free and friendly manner than usual. +That night he arranged his bed so as to make it appear as if he was in +it, and then stole away. When the appointed hour arrived, Terentius came +into the tent, and, approaching the couch where he supposed Pompey was +lying asleep, stabbed it again and again, piercing the coverlets in many +places, but doing no harm, of course, to his intended victim.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's adventures and escapes.<br> +Death of his father.<br> +Pompey appears in his father's defense.</p> + +<p>In the course of the wars between Marius and Sylla, Pompey passed +through a great variety of scenes, and met with many extraordinary +adventures and narrow escapes, which, however, can not be here +particularly detailed. His father, who was as much hated by his soldiers +as the son was beloved, was at last, one day, struck by lightning in his +tent. The soldiers were inspired with such a hatred for his memory, in +consequence, probably, of the cruelties and oppressions which they had +suffered from him, that they would not allow his body to be honored with +the ordinary funeral obsequies. They pulled it off from the bier on +which it was to have been borne to the funeral pile, and dragged it +ignominiously away. Pompey's father was accused, too, after his death, +of having converted some public moneys which had been committed to his +charge to his own use, and Pompey appeared in the Roman Forum as an +advocate to defend him from the charge and to vindicate his memory. He +was very successful in this defense. All who heard it were, in the first +instance, very deeply interested in favor of the speaker, on account of +his extreme youth and his personal beauty; and, as he proceeded with his +plea, he argued with so much eloquence and power as to win universal +applause. One of the chief officers of the government in the city was so +much pleased with his appearance, and with the promise of future +greatness which the circumstances indicated, that he offered him his +daughter in marriage. Pompey accepted the offer, and married the lady. +Her name was Antistia.</p> + +<p class="side">His success as a general.<br> +Pompey defeats the armies.</p> + +<p>Pompey rose rapidly to higher and higher degrees of distinction, until +he obtained the command of an army, which he had, in fact, in a great +measure raised and organized himself, and he fought at the head of it +with great energy and success against the enemies of Sylla. At length he +was hemmed in on the eastern coast of Italy by three separate armies, +which were gradually advancing against him, with a certainty, as they +thought, of effecting his destruction. Sylla, hearing of Pompey's +danger, made great efforts to march to his rescue. Before he reached the +place, however, Pompey had met and defeated one after another of the +armies of his enemies, so that, when Sylla approached, Pompey marched +out to meet him with his army drawn up in magnificent array, trumpets +sounding and banners flying, and with large bodies of disarmed troops, +the prisoners that he had taken, in the rear. Sylla was struck with +surprise and admiration; and when Pompey saluted him with the title of +<i>Imperator</i>, which was the highest title known to the Roman +constitution, and the one which Sylla's lofty rank and unbounded power +might properly claim, Sylla returned the compliment by conferring this +great mark of distinction on him.</p> + +<p class="side">His rising fame.<br> +Pompey's modesty.</p> + +<p>Pompey proceeded to Rome, and the fame of his exploits, the singular +fascination of his person and manners, and the great favor with Sylla +that he enjoyed, raised him to a high degree of distinction. He was not, +however, elated with the pride and vanity which so young a man would be +naturally expected to exhibit under such circumstances. He was, on the +contrary, modest and unassuming, and he acted in all respects in such a +manner as to gain the approbation and the kind regard of all who knew +him, as well as to excite their applause. There was an old general at +this time in Gaul--for all these events took place long before the time +of Caesar's campaigns in that country, and, in fact, before the +commencement of his successful career in Rome--whose name was Metellus, +and who, either on account of his advancing age, or for some other +reason, was very inefficient and unsuccessful in his government. Sylla +proposed to supersede him by sending Pompey to take his place. Pompey +replied that it was not right to take the command from a man who was so +much his superior in age and character, but that, if Metellus wished for +his <i>assistance</i> in the management of his command, he would proceed to +Gaul and render him every service in his power. When this answer was +reported to Metellus, he wrote to Pompey to come. Pompey accordingly +went to Gaul, where he obtained new victories, and gained new and higher +honors than before.</p> + +<p class="side">An example.<br> +Pompey divorces his wife.<br> +He marries Sylla's daughter-in-law.</p> + +<p>These, and various anecdotes which the ancient historians relate, would +lead us to form very favorable ideas of Pompey's character. Some other +circumstances, however, which occurred, seem to furnish different +indications. For example, on his return to Rome, some time after the +events above related, Sylla, whose estimation of Pompey's character and +of the importance of his services seemed continually to increase, wished +to connect him with his own family by marriage. He accordingly proposed +that Pompey should divorce his wife Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the +daughter-in-law of Sylla. Aemilia was already the wife of another man, +from whom she would have to be taken away to make her the wife of +Pompey. This, however, does not seem to have been thought a very serious +difficulty in the way of the arrangement. Pompey's wife was put away, +and the wife of another man taken in her place. Such a deed was a gross +violation not merely of revealed and written law, but of those universal +instincts of right and wrong which are implanted indelibly in all human +hearts. It ended, as might have been expected, most disastrously. +Antistia was plunged, of course, into the deepest distress. Her father +had recently lost his life on account of his supposed attachment to +Pompey. Her mother killed herself in the anguish and despair produced by +the misfortunes of her family; and Aemilia the new wife, died suddenly, +on the occasion of the birth of a child, a very short time after her +marriage with Pompey.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's success in Africa.<br> +Attachment of his soldiers.<br> +Pompey's title as "Great."</p> + +<p>These domestic troubles did not, however, interpose any serious obstacle +to Pompey's progress in his career of greatness and glory. Sylla sent +him on one great enterprise after another, in all of which Pompey +acquitted himself in an admirable manner. Among his other campaigns, he +served for some time in Africa with great success. He returned in due +time from this expedition, loaded with military honors. His soldiers had +become so much attached to him that there was almost a mutiny in the +army when he was ordered home. They were determined to submit to no +authority but that of Pompey. Pompey at length succeeded, by great +efforts, in subduing this spirit, and bringing back the army to their +duty. A false account of the affair, however, went to Rome. It was +reported to Sylla that there was a revolt in the army of Africa, headed +by Pompey himself, who was determined not to resign his command. Sylla +was at first very indignant that his authority should be despised and +his power braved, as he expressed it, by "such a boy;" for Pompey was +still, at this time, very young. When, however, he learned the truth, he +conceived a higher admiration for the young general than ever. He went +out to meet him as he approached the city, and, in accosting him, he +called him Pompey the Great. Pompey has continued to bear the title thus +given him to the present day.</p> + +<p class="side">He demands a triumph.</p> + +<p>Pompey began, it seems, now to experience, in some degree, the usual +effects produced upon the human heart by celebrity and praise. He +demanded a triumph. A triumph was a great and splendid ceremony, by +which victorious generals, who were of advanced age and high civil or +military rank, were received into the city when returning from any +specially glorious campaign. There was a grand procession formed on +these occasions, in which various emblems and insignia, and trophies of +victory, and captives taken by the conqueror, were displayed. This great +procession entered the city with bands of music accompanying it, and +flags and banners flying, passing under triumphal arches erected along +the way. Triumphs were usually decreed by a vote of the Senate, in cases +where they were deserved; but, in this case, Sylla's power as dictator +was supreme, and Pompey's demand for a triumph seems to have been +addressed accordingly to him.</p> + +<p class="side">Sylla refuses Pompey a triumph.</p> + +<p>Sylla refused it. Pompey's performances in the African campaign had +been, he admitted, very creditable to him, but he had neither the Age +nor the rank to justify the granting him a triumph. To bestow such an +honor upon one so young and in such a station, would only bring the +honor itself, he said, into disrepute, and degrade, also, his +dictatorship for suffering it.</p> + +<p class="side">But at last consents.</p> + +<p>To this Pompey replied, speaking, however, in an under tone to those +around him in the assembly, that Sylla need not fear that the triumph +would be unpopular, for people were much more disposed to worship a +rising than a setting sun. Sylla did not hear this remark, but, +perceiving by the countenances of the by-standers that Pompey had said +something which seemed to please them, he asked what it was. When the +remark was repeated to him, he seemed pleased himself with its justness +or with its wit, and said, "Let him have his triumph."</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's triumph.</p> + +<p>The arrangements were accordingly made Pompey ordering every thing +necessary to be prepared for a most magnificent procession. He learned +that some persons in the city, envious at his early renown, were +displeased with his triumph; this only awakened in him a determination +to make it still more splendid and imposing. He had brought some +elephants with him from Africa, and he formed a plan for having the car +in which he was to ride in the procession drawn by four of these huge +beasts as it entered the city; but, on measuring the gate, it was found +not wide enough to admit such a team, and the plan was accordingly +abandoned. The conqueror's car was drawn by horses in the usual manner, +and the elephants followed singly, with the other trophies, to grace +the train.</p> + +<p class="side">His course of conduct at Rome.</p> + +<p>Pompey remained some time after this in Rome, sustaining from time to +time various offices of dignity and honor. His services were often +called for to plead causes in the Forum, and he performed this duty, +whenever he undertook it, with great success. He, however, seemed +generally inclined to retire somewhat from intimate intercourse with the +mass of the community, knowing very well that if he was engaged often in +the discussion of common questions with ordinary men, he should soon +descend in public estimation from the high position to which his +military renown had raised him. He accordingly accustomed himself to +appear but little in public, and, when he did so appear, he was +generally accompanied by a large retinue of armed attendants, at the +head of which he moved about the city in great state, more like a +victorious general in a conquered province than like a peaceful citizen +exercising ordinary official functions in a community governed by law. +This was a very sagacious course, so far as concerned the attainment of +the great objects of future ambition. Pompey knew very well that +occasions would probably arise in which he could act far more +effectually for the promotion of his own greatness and fame than by +mingling in the ordinary municipal contests of the city.</p> + +<p class="side">The Cilician pirates.<br> +Their increasing depredations.<br> +Ships and fortresses of the Cilicians.<br> +Their conquests.</p> + +<p>At length, in fact, an occasion came. In the year B.C. 67, which was +about the time that Caesar commenced his successful career in rising to +public office in Rome, as is described in the third chapter of this +volume, the Cilician pirates, of whose desperate character and bold +exploits something has already been said, had become so powerful, and +were increasing so rapidly in the extent of their depredations, that the +Roman people felt compelled to adopt some very vigorous measures for +suppressing them. The pirates had increased in numbers during the wars +between Marius and Sylla in a very alarming degree. They had built, +equipped, and organized whole fleets. They had various fortresses, +arsenals, ports, and watch-towers all along the coasts of the +Mediterranean. They had also extensive warehouses, built in secure and +secluded places, where they stored their plunder. Their fleets were well +manned, and provided with skillful pilots, and with ample supplies of +every kind; and they were so well constructed, both for speed and +safety, that no other ships could be made to surpass them. Many of them, +too, were adorned and decorated in the most sumptuous manner, with +gilded sterns, purple awnings, and silver-mounted oars. The number of +their galleys was said to be a thousand. With this force they made +themselves almost complete masters of the sea. They attacked not only +separate ships, but whole fleets of merchantmen sailing under convoy; +and they increased the difficulty and expense of bringing grain to Rome +so much, by intercepting the supplies, as very materially to enhance the +price and to threaten a scarcity. They made themselves masters of many +islands and of various maritime towns along the coast, until they had +four hundred ports and cities in their possession. In fact, they had +gone so far toward forming themselves into a regular maritime power, +under a systematic and legitimate government, that very respectable +young men from other countries began to enter their service, as one +opening honorable avenues to wealth and fame.</p> + +<p class="side">Plan for destroying the pirates.<br> +Its magnitude.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, it was obvious that something decisive must +be done. A friend of Pompey's brought forward a plan for commissioning +some one, he did not say whom, but every one understood that Pompey was +intended, to be sent forth against the pirates, with extraordinary +powers, such as should be amply sufficient to enable him to bring their +dominion to an end. He was to have supreme command upon the sea, and +also upon the land for fifty miles from the shore. He was, moreover, to +be empowered to raise as large a force, both of ships and men, as he +should think required, and to draw from the treasury whatever funds were +necessary to defray the enormous expenses which so vast an undertaking +would involve. If the law should pass creating this office, and a person +be designated to fill it, it is plain that such a commander would be +clothed with enormous powers; but then he would incur, on the other +hand, a vast and commensurate responsibility, as the Roman people would +hold him rigidly accountable for the full and perfect accomplishment of +the work he under took, after they had thus surrendered every possible +power necessary to accomplish it so unconditionally into his hands.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey appointed to the command.<br> +Fall in the price of grain.<br>/p> + +<p>There was a great deal of maneuvering, management, and debate on the one +hand to effect the passage of this law, and, on the other, to defeat it. +Caesar, who, though not so prominent yet as Pompey, was now rising +rapidly to influence and power, was in favor of the measure, because, as +is said, he perceived that the people were pleased with it. It was at +length adopted. Pompey was then designated to fill the office which the +law created. He accepted the trust, and began to prepare for the vast +undertaking. The price of grain fell immediately in Rome, as soon as the +appointment of Pompey was made known, as the merchants, who had large +supplies in the granaries there, were now eager to sell, even at a +reduction, feeling confident that Pompey's measures would result in +bringing in abundant supplies. The people, surprised at this sudden +relaxation of the pressure of their burdens, said that the very name of +Pompey had put an end to the war.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's complete success.</p> + +<p>They were not mistaken in their anticipations of Pompey's success. He +freed the Mediterranean from pirates in three months, by one systematic +and simple operation, which affords one of the most striking examples of +the power of united and organized effort, planned and conducted by one +single master mind, which the history of ancient or modern times has +recorded. The manner in which this work was effected was this:</p> + +<p class="side">His mode of operation.</p> + +<p>Pompey raised and equipped a vast number of galleys, and divided them +into separate fleets, putting each one under the command of a +lieutenant. He then divided the Mediterranean Sea into thirteen +districts, and appointed a lieutenant and his fleet for each one of them +as a guard. After sending these detachments forth to their respective +stations, he set out from the city himself to take charge of the +operations which he was to conduct in person. The people followed him, +as he went to the place where he was to embark, in great crowds, and +with long and loud acclamations.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey drives the pirates before him.<br> +Exultation at Rome.</p> + +<p>Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar, Pompey cruised with a powerful +fleet toward the east, driving the pirates before him, the lieutenants, +who were stationed along the coast being on the alert to prevent them +from finding any places of retreat or refuge. Some of the pirates' ships +were surrounded and taken. Others fled, and were followed by Pompey's +ships until they had passed beyond the coasts of Sicily, and the seas +between the Italian and African shores. The communication was now open +again to the grain-growing countries south of Rome, and large supplies +of food were immediately poured into the city. The whole population was, +of course, filled with exultation and joy at receiving such welcome +proofs that Pompey was successfully accomplishing the work they had +assigned him.</p> + +<p class="side">The pirates concentrate themselves.</p> + +<p>The Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which are, in fact, a +projection from the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with a salient +angle of the coast nearly opposite to them on the African side, form a +sort of strait which divides this great sea into two separate bodies of +water, and the pirates were now driven entirely out of the western +division. Pompey sent his principal fleet after them, with orders to +pass around the island of Sicily and the south era part of Italy to +Brundusium, which was the great port on the western side of Italy. He +himself was to cross the peninsula by land, taking Rome in his way, and +afterward to join the fleet at Brundusium. The pirates, in the mean +time, so far as they had escaped Pompey's cruisers, had retreated to the +seas in the neighborhood of Cilicia, and were concentrating their forces +there in preparation for the final struggle.</p> + +<p>Pompey was received at Rome with the utmost enthusiasm. The people came +out in throngs to meet him as he approached the city, and welcomed him +with loud acclamations. He did not, however, remain in the city to enjoy +these honors. He procured, as soon as possible, what was necessary for +the further prosecution of his work, and went on. He found his fleet at +Brundusium, and, immediately embarking, he put to sea.</p> + +<p class="side">Some of them surrender.</p> + +<p>Pompey went on to the completion of his work with the same vigor and +decision which he had displayed in the commencement of it. Some of the +pirates, finding themselves hemmed in within narrower and narrower +limits, gave up the contest, and came and surrendered. Pompey, instead +of punishing them severely for their crimes, treated them, and their +wives and children, who fell likewise into his power, with great +humanity. This induced many others to follow their example, so that the +number that remained resisting to the end was greatly reduced. There +were, however, after all these submissions, a body of stern and +indomitable desperadoes left, who were incapable of yielding. These +retreated, with all the forces which they could retain, to their +strong-holds on the Silician shores, sending their wives and children +back to still securer retreats among the fastnesses of the mountains.</p> + +<p class="side">A great battle.<br> +Disposal of the pirates.</p> + +<p>Pompey followed them, hemming them in with the squadrons of armed +galleys which he brought up around them, thus cutting off from them all +possibility of escape. Here, at length, a great final battle was fought, +and the dominion of the pirates was ended forever. Pompey destroyed +their ships, dismantled their fortifications, restored the harbors and +towns which they had seized to their rightful owners, and sent the +pirates themselves, with their wives and children, far into the interior +of the country, and established them as agriculturists and herdsmen +there, in a territory which he set apart for the purpose, where they +might live in peace on the fruits of their own industry, without the +possibility of again disturbing the commerce of the seas.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's conquests in Asia Minor.<br> +His magnificent triumph.</p> + +<p>Instead of returning to Rome after these exploits, Pompey obtained new +powers from the government of the city, and pushed his way into Asia +Minor, where he remained several years, pursuing a similar career of +conquest to that of Caesar in Gaul. At length he returned to Rome, his +entrance into the city being signalized by a most magnificent triumph. +The procession for displaying the trophies, the captives, and the other +emblems of victory, and for conveying the vast accumulation of treasures +and spoils, was two days in passing into the city; and enough was left +after all for another triumph. Pompey was, in a word, on the very summit +of human grandeur and renown.</p> + +<p class="side">The first triumvirate.<br> +Pompey's wife Julia.<br> +Pompey and Caesar open enemies.<br> +Their ambition.</p> + +<p>He found, however, an old enemy and rival at Rome. This was Crassus, who +had been Pompey's opponent in earlier times, and who now renewed his +hostility. In the contest that ensued, Pompey relied on his renown, +Crassus on his wealth. Pompey attempted to please the people by combats +of lions and of elephants which he had brought home from his foreign +campaigns; Crassus courted their favor by distributing corn among them, +and inviting them to public feasts on great occasions. He spread for +them, at one time, it was said, ten thousand tables. All Rome was filled +with the feuds of these great political foes. It was at this time that +Caesar returned from Spain, and had the adroitness, as has already been +explained, to extinguish these feuds, and reconcile these apparently +implacable foes. He united them together, and joined them with himself +in a triple league, which is celebrated in Roman history as the first +<i>triumvirate</i>. The rivalry, however, of these great aspirants for power +was only suppressed and concealed, without being at all weakened or +changed. The death of Crassus soon removed him from the stage. Caesar +and Pompey continued afterward, for some time, an ostensible alliance. +Caesar attempted to strengthen this bond by giving Pompey his daughter +Julia for his wife. Julia, though so young--even her father was six +years younger than Pompey--was devotedly attached to her husband, and he +was equally fond of her. She formed, in fact, a strong bond of union +between the two great conquerors as long as she lived. One day, however, +there was a riot at an election, and men were killed so near to Pompey +that his robe was covered with blood. He changed it; the servants +carried home the bloody garment which he had taken off, and Julia was so +terrified at the sight, thinking that her husband had been killed, that +she fainted, and her constitution suffered very severely by the shock. +She lived some time afterward, but finally died under circumstances +which indicate that this occurrence was the cause. Pompey and Caesar now +soon became open enemies. The ambitious aspirations which each of them +cherished were so vast, that the world was not wide enough for them both +to be satisfied. They had assisted each other up the ascent which they +had been so many years in climbing, but now they had reached very near +to the summit, and the question was to be decided which of the two +should have his station there.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>CROSSING THE RUBICON.</h3> + +<p class="side">The Rubicon.</p> + +<p>There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which +flowed westward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream +has been immortalized by the transactions which we are now about +to describe.</p> + +<p class="side">Its insignificance as a stream.</p> + +<p>The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so +small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of +two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its +name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and +conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind +for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a +long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost.</p> + +<p class="side">Importance of the Rubicon as a boundary.</p> + +<p>The Rubicon originally derived its importance from the fact that it was +the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed +by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent +countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This +country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the <i>hither</i> +Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Caesar's +jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was +territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The +Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might +threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised +for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very +strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these +armies to the Capitol. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. +Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon +with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the +Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil +restriction to military power.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's expenditure of money at Rome.<br> +His influence.</p> + +<p>As Caesar found the time of his service in Gaul drawing toward a +conclusion, he turned his thoughts more and more toward Rome, +endeavoring to strengthen his interest there by every means in his +power, and to circumvent and thwart the designs of Pompey. He had and +partisans in Rome who acted for him and in his name. He sent immense +sums of money to these men, to be employed in such ways as would most +tend to secure the favor of the people. He ordered the Forum to be +rebuilt with great magnificence. He arranged great celebrations, in +which the people were entertained with an endless succession of games, +spectacles, and public feasts. When his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, +died, he celebrated her funeral with indescribable splendor. He +distributed corn in immense quantities among the people, and he sent a +great many captives home, to be trained as gladiators, to fight in the +theaters for their amusement. In many cases, too, where he found men of +talents and influence among the populace, who had become involved in +debt by their dissipations and extravagance, he paid their debts, and +thus secured their influence on his side. Men were astounded at the +magnitude of these expenditures, and, while the multitude rejoiced +thoughtlessly in the pleasures thus provided for them, the more +reflecting and considerate trembled at the greatness of the power which +was so rapidly rising to overshadow the land.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's personal popularity.<br> +Public thanksgiving in his behalf.</p> + +<p>It increased their anxiety to observe that Pompey was gaining the same +kind of influence and ascendency too. He had not the advantage which +Caesar enjoyed in the prodigious wealth obtained from the rich countries +over which Caesar ruled, but he possessed, instead of it, the advantage +of being all the time at Rome, and of securing, by his character and +action there, a very wide personal popularity and influence. Pompey was, +in fact, the idol of the people. At one time, when he was absent from +Rome, at Naples, he was taken sick. After being for some days in +considerable danger, the crisis passed favorably, and he recovered. Some +of the people of Naples proposed a public thanksgiving to the gods, to +celebrate his restoration to health. The plan was adopted by +acclamation, and the example, thus set, extended from city to city, +until it had spread throughout Italy, and the whole country was filled +with the processions, games, shows, and celebrations, which were +instituted every where in honor of the event. And when Pompey returned +from Naples to Rome, the towns on the way could not afford room for the +crowds that came forth to meet him. The high roads, the villages, the +ports, says Plutarch, were filled with sacrifices and entertainments. +Many received him with garlands on their heads and torches in their +hands, and, as they conducted him along, strewed the way with flowers.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's estimate of Caesar's power.</p> + +<p>In fact, Pompey considered himself as standing far above Caesar in fame +and power, and this general burst of enthusiasm and applause, educed by +his recovery from sickness, confirmed him in this idea. He felt no +solicitude, he said, in respect to Caesar. He should take no special +precautions against any hostile designs which he might entertain on his +return from Gaul. It was he himself, he said, that had raised Caesar up +to whatever of elevation he had attained, and he could put him down even +more easily than he had exalted him.</p> + +<p class="side">Plans of the latter.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the period was drawing near in which Caesar's command +in the provinces was to expire; and, anticipating the struggle with +Pompey which was about to ensue, he conducted several of his legions +through the passes of the Alps, and advanced gradually, as he had a +right to do, across the country of the Po toward the Rubicon, revolving +in his capacious mind, as he came, the various plans by which he might +hope to gain the ascendency over the power of his mighty rival, and make +himself supreme.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar arrives at Ravenna.<br> +Pompey's demands.</p> + +<p>He concluded that it would be his wisest policy not to a'tempt to +intimidate Pompey by great and open preparations for war, which might +tend to arouse him to vigorous measures of resistance, but rather to +cover and conceal his designs, and thus throw his enemy off his guard. +He advanced, therefore, toward the Rubicon with a small force. He +established his headquarters at Ravenna, a city not far from the river, +and employed himself in objects of local interest there, in order to +avert as much as possible the minds of the people from imagining that he +was contemplating any great design. Pompey sent to him to demand the +return of a certain legion which he had lent him from his own army at a +time when they were friends. Caesar complied with this demand without +any hesitation, and sent the legion home. He sent with this legion, +also, some other troops which were properly his own, thus evincing a +degree of indifference in respect to the amount of the force retained +under his command which seemed wholly inconsistent with the idea that he +contemplated any resistance to the authority of the government at Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar demands to be made consul.<br> +Excitement in consequence.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the struggle at Rome between the partisans of Caesar +and Pompey grew more and more violent and alarming. Caesar through his +friends in the city, demanded to be elected consul. The other side +insisted that he must first, if that was his wish, resign the command of +his army, come to Rome, and present himself as a candidate in the +character of a private citizen. This the constitution of the state very +properly required. In answer to this requisition, Caesar rejoined, that, +if Pompey would lay down his military commands, he would do so too; if +not, it was unjust to require it of him. The services, he added, which +he had performed for his country, demanded some recompense, which, +moreover, they ought to be willing to award, even if, in order to do it, +it were necessary to relax somewhat in his favor the strictness of +ordinary rules. To a large part of the people of the city these demands +of Caesar appeared reasonable. They were clamorous to have them allowed. +The partisans of Pompey, with the stern and inflexible Cato at their +head, deemed them wholly inadmissible, and contended with the most +determined violence against them. The whole city was filled with the +excitement of this struggle, into which all the active and turbulent +spirits of the capital plunged with the most furious zeal, while the +more considerate and thoughtful of the population, remembering the days +of Marius and Sylla, trembled at the impending danger. Pompey himself +had no fear. He urged the Senate to resist to the utmost all of Caesar's +claims, saying, if Caesar should be so presumptuous as to attempt to +march to Rome, he could raise troops enough by stamping with his foot to +put him down.</p> + +<p class="side">Debates in the Senate.<br> +Tumult and confusion.<br> +Panic at Rome.</p> + +<p>It would require a volume to contain a full account of the disputes and +tumults, the maneuvers and debates, the votes and decrees which marked +the successive stages of this quarrel. Pompey himself was all the time +without the city. He was in command of an army there, and no general, +while in command, was allowed to come within the gates. At last an +exciting debate was broken up in the Senate by one of the consuls rising +to depart, saying that he would hear the subject discussed no longer. +The time had arrived for action, and he should send a commander, with an +armed force, to defend the country from Caesar's threatened invasion. +Caesar's leading friends, two tribunes of the people, disguised +themselves as slaves, and fled to the north to join their master. The +country was filled with commotion and panic. The Commonwealth had +obviously more fear of Caesar than confidence in Pompey. The country +was full of rumors in respect to Caesar's power, and the threatening +attitude which he was assuming, while they who had insisted on +resistance seemed, after all, to have provided very inadequate means +with which to resist. A thousand plans were formed, and clamorously +insisted upon by their respective advocates, for averting the danger. +This only added to the confusion, and the city became at length pervaded +with a universal terror.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar at Ravenna.</p> + +<p>While this was the state of things at Rome, Caesar was quietly +established at Ravenna; thirty or forty miles from the frontier. He was +erecting a building for a fencing school there and his mind seemed to be +occupied very busily with the plans and models of the edifice which the +architects had formed. Of course, in his intended march to Rome, his +reliance was not to be so much on the force which he should take with +him, as on the co-operation and support which he expected to find there. +It was his policy, therefore, to move as quietly and privately as +possible, and with as little display of violence, and to avoid every +thing which might indicate his intended march to any spies which might +be around him, or to any other person! who might be disposed to report +what they observed at Rome. Accordingly, on the very eve of his +departure, he busied himself with his fencing school, and assumed with +his officers and soldiers a careless and unconcerned air, which +prevented any one from suspecting his design.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's midnight march.<br> +He loses his way.</p> + +<p>In the course of the day he privately sent forward some cohorts to the +southward, with orders for them to encamp on the banks of the Rubicon. +When night came he sat down to supper as usual, and conversed with his +friends in his ordinary manner, and went with them afterward to a public +entertainment. As soon as it was dark and the streets were still, he set +off secretly from the city, accompanied by a very few attendants. +Instead of making use of his ordinary equipage, the parading of which +would have attracted attention to his movements, he had some mules taken +from a neighboring bake-house, and harnessed into his chaise. There were +torch-bearers provided to light the way. The cavalcade drove on during +the night, finding, however, the hasty preparations which had been made +inadequate for the occasion. The torches went out, the guides lost their +way, and the future conqueror of the world wandered about bewildered and +lost, until, just after break of day, the party met with a peasant +who undertook to guide them. Under his direction they made their way to +the main road again, and advanced then without further difficulty to the +banks of the river, where they found that portion of the army which had +been sent forward encamped, and awaiting their arrival.</p> + +<a name="Illus0280"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0280.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0280.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="CROSSING THE RUBICON."> +</a><br> +<b>CROSSING THE RUBICON.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Caesar at the Rubicon.<br> +His hesitation at the river.</p> + +<p>Caesar stood for some time upon the banks of the stream, musing upon the +greatness of the undertaking in which simply passing across it would +involve him. His officers stood by his side. "We can retreat <i>now</i>" said +he, "but once across that river and we must go on." He paused for some +time, conscious of the vast importance of the decision, though he +thought only, doubtless, of its consequences to himself. Taking the step +which was now before him would necessarily end either in his realizing +the loftiest aspirations of his ambition, or in his utter and +irreparable ruin. There were vast public interests, too, at stake, of +which, however he probably thought but little. It proved, in the end, +that the history of the whole Roman world, for several centuries, was +depending upon the manner in which the question new in Caesar's mind +should turn.</p> + +<p class="side">Story of the shepherd trumpeter.</p> + +<p>There was a little bridge across the Rubicon at the point where Caesar +was surveying it. While he was standing there, the story is, a peasant +or shepherd came from the neighboring fields with a shepherd's pipe--a +simple musical instrument, made of a reed, and used much by the rustic +musicians of those days. The soldiers and some of the officers gathered +around him to hear him play. Among the rest came some of Caesar's +trumpeters, with their trumpets in their hands. The shepherd took one of +these martial instruments from the hands of its possessor, laying aside +his own, and began to sound a charge--which is a signal for a rapid +advance--and to march at the same time over the bridge "An omen! a +prodigy!" said Caesar. "Let us march where we are called by such a +divine intimation. <i>The die is cast</i>."</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar crosses the Rubicon.</p> + +<p>So saying, he pressed forward over the bridge, while the officers, +breaking up the encampment, put the columns in motion to follow him.</p> + +<p>It was shown abundantly, on many occasions in the course of Caesar's +life, that he had no faith in omens. There are equally numerous +instances to show that he was always ready to avail himself of the +popular belief in them; to awaken his soldiers' ardor or to allay their +fears. Whether, therefore, in respect to this story of the shepherd +trumpeter, it was an incident that really and accidentally occurred, or +whether Caesar planned and arranged it himself, with reference to its +effect, or whether, which is, perhaps, after all, the most probable +supposition, the tale was only an embellishment invented out of +something or nothing by the story-tellers of those days, to give +additional dramatic interest to the narrative of the crossing of the +Rubicon, it must be left for each reader to decide.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar assembles his troops.<br> +His address to them.</p> + +<p>As soon as the bridge was crossed, Caesar called an assembly of his +troops, and, with signs of great excitement and agitation, made an +address to them on the magnitude of the crisis through which they were +passing. He showed them how entirely he was in their power; he urged +them, by the most eloquent appeals, to stand by him, faithful and true, +promising them the most ample rewards when he should have attained the +object at which he aimed. The soldiers responded to this appeal with +promises of the most unwavering fidelity.</p> + +<p class="side">Surrender of various towns.</p> + +<p>The first town on the Roman side of the Rubicon was Ariminum. Caesar +advanced to this town. The authorities opened its gates to him--very +willing, as it appeared, to receive him as their commander. Caesar's +force was yet quite small, as he had been accompanied by only a single +legion in crossing the river. He had, however, sent orders for the other +legions, which had been left in Gaul, to join him without any delay, +though any re-enforcement of his troops seemed hardly necessary, as he +found no indications of opposition to his progress. He gave his soldiers +the strictest injunctions to do no injury to any property, public or +private, as they advanced, and not to assume, in any respect, a hostile +attitude toward the people of the country. The inhabitants, therefore, +welcomed him wherever he came, and all the cities and towns followed the +example of Ariminum, surrendering, in fact, faster than he could take +possession of them.</p> + +<p class="side">Domitius appointed to supersede Caesar.</p> + +<p>In the confusion of the debates and votes in the Senate at Rome before +Caesar crossed the Rubicon, one decree had been passed deposing him from +his command of the army, and appointing a successor. The name of the +general thus appointed was Domitius. The only real opposition which +Caesar encountered in his progress toward Rome was from him. Domitius +had crossed the Apennines at the head of an army on his way northward to +supersede Caesar in his command, and had reached the town of Corfinium, +which was perhaps one third of the way between Rome and the Rubicon. +Caesar advanced upon him here and shut him in.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's treatment of Domitius.</p> + +<p>After a brief siege the city was taken, and Domitius and his army were +made prisoners. Every body gave them up for lost, expecting that Caesar +would wreak terrible vengeance upon them. Instead of this, he received +the troops at once into his own service, and let Domitius go free.</p> + +<p class="side">Dismay at Rome.<br> +Pompey's distress.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the tidings of Caesar's having passed the Rubicon, and +of the triumphant success which he was meeting with at the commencement +of his march toward Rome, reached the Capitol, and added greatly to the +prevailing consternation. The reports of the magnitude of his force and +of the rapidity of his progress were greatly exaggerated. The party of +Pompey and the Senate had done every thing to spread among the people +the terror of Caesar's name, in order to arouse them to efforts for +opposing his designs; and now, when he had broken through the barriers +which had been intended to restrain him, and was advancing toward the +city in an unchecked and triumphant career, they were overwhelmed with +dismay. Pompey began to be terrified at the danger which was impending. +The Senate held meetings without the city--councils of war, as it were, +in which they looked to Pompey in vain for protection from the danger +which he had brought upon them. He had said that he could raise an army +sufficient to cope with Caesar at any time by stamping with his foot. +They told him they thought now that it was high time for him to stamp.</p> + +<p class="side">He leaves Rome.</p> + +<p>In fact, Pompey found the current setting every where strongly against +him. Some recommended that commissioners should be sent to Caesar to +make proposals for peace. The leading men, however, knowing that any +peace made with him under such circumstances would be their own ruin, +resisted and defeated the proposal. Cato abruptly left the city and +proceeded to Sicily, which had been assigned him as his province. Others +fled in other directions. Pompey himself, uncertain what to do, and not +daring to remain, called upon all his partisans to join him, and set off +at night, suddenly, and with very little preparation and small supplies, +to retreat across the country toward the shores of the Adriatic Sea, His +destination was Brundusium, the usual port of embarkation for Macedon +and Greece.</p> + +<p class="side">Enthusiasm of Caesar's soldiers.</p> + +<p>Caesar was all this time gradually advancing toward Rome. His soldiers +were full of enthusiasm in his cause. As his connection with the +government at home was sundered the moment he crossed the Rubicon, all +supplies of money and of provisions were cut off in that quarter until +he should arrive at the Capitol and take possession of it. The soldiers +voted, however, that they would serve him without pay. The officers, +too, assembled together, and tendered him the aid of their +contributions. He had always observed a very generous policy in his +dealings with them, and he was now greatly gratified at receiving their +requital of it.</p> + +<p class="side">His policy in releasing Domitius.</p> + +<p>The further he advanced, too, the more he found the people of the +country through which he passed disposed to espouse his cause. They were +struck with his generosity in releasing Domitius. It is true that it was +a very sagacious policy that prompted him to release him. But then it +was generosity too. In fact, there must be something of a generous +spirit in the soul to enable a man even to see the policy of +generous actions.</p> + +<p class="side">Letter of Caesar.</p> + +<p>Among the letters of Caesar that remain to the present day, there is one +written about this time to one of his friends, in which he speaks of +this subject. "I am glad," says he, "that you approve of my conduct at +Corfinium. I am satisfied that such a course is the best one for us to +pursue, as by so doing we shall gain the good will of all parties, and +thus secure a permanent victory. Most conquerors have incurred the +hatred of mankind by their cruelties, and have all, in consequence of +the enmity they have thus awakened, been prevented from long enjoying +their power. Sylla was an exception; but his example of successful +cruelty I have no disposition to imitate. I will conquer after a new +fashion, and fortify myself in the possession of the power I acquire by +generosity and mercy."</p> + +<p class="side">Ingratitude of Domitius.</p> + +<p>Domitius had the ingratitude, after this release, to take up arms again, +and wage a new war against Caesar. When Caesar heard of it, he said it +was all right. "I will act out the principles of my nature," said he, +"and he may act out his."</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's generosity.</p> + +<p>Another instance of Caesar's generosity occurred, which is even more +remarkable than this. It seems that among the officers of his army there +were some whom he had appointed at the recommendation of Pompey, at the +time when he and Pompey were friends. These men would, of course, feel +under obligations of gratitude to Pompey, as they owed their military +rank to his friendly interposition in their behalf. As soon as the war +broke out, Caesar gave them all his free permission to go over to +Pompey's side, if they chose to do so.</p> + +<p class="side">Modern politicians.</p> + +<p>Caesar acted thus very liberally in all respects. He surpassed Pompey +very much in the spirit of generosity and mercy with which he entered +upon the great contest before them. Pompey ordered every citizen to join +his standard, declaring that he should consider all neutrals as his +enemies. Caesar, on the other hand, gave free permission to every one to +decline, if he chose, taking any part in the contest, saying that he +should consider all who did not act against him as his friends. In the +political contests of our day, it is to be observed that the combatants +are much more prone to imitate the bigotry of Pompey than the generosity +of Caesar, condemning, as they often do, those who choose to stand aloof +from electioneering struggles, more than they do their most determined +opponents and enemies.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar arrives at Brundusium.</p> + +<p>When, at length, Caesar arrived at Brundusium, he found that Pompey had +sent a part of his army across the Adriatic into Greece, and was +waiting for the transports to return that he might go over himself with +the remainder. In the mean time, he had fortified himself strongly in +the city. Caesar immediately laid siege to the place, and he commenced +some works to block up the mouth of the harbor. He built piers on each +side, extending out as far into the sea as the depth of the water would +allow them to be built. He then constructed a series of rafts, which he +anchored on the deep water, in a line extending from one pier to the +other. He built towers upon these rafts, and garrisoned them with +soldiers, in hopes by this means to prevent all egress from the fort. He +thought that, when this work was completed, Pompey would be entirely +shut in, beyond all possibility of escape.</p> + +<p class="side">He besieges Pompey.<br> +Pompey's plan of escape.</p> + +<p>The transports, however, returned before the work was completed. Its +progress was, of course, slow, as the constructions were the scene of a +continued conflict; for Pompey sent out rafts and galleys against them +every day, and the workmen had thus to build in the midst of continual +interruptions, sometimes from showers of darts, arrows, and javelins, +sometimes from the conflagrations of fireships, and sometimes from the +terrible concussions of great vessels of war, impelled with prodigious +force against them. The transports returned, therefore, before the +defenses were complete, and contrived to get into the harbor. Pompey +immediately formed his plan for embarking the remainder of his army.</p> + +<p class="side">It is made known to Caesar.<br> +Success of Pompey's plan.</p> + +<p>He filled the streets of the city with barricades and pitfalls, +excepting two streets which led to the place of embarkation. The object +of these obstructions was to embarrass Caesar's progress through the +city in case he should force an entrance while his men were getting on +board the ships. He then, in order to divert Caesar's attention from his +design, doubled the guards stationed upon the walls on the evening of +his intended embarkation, and ordered them to make vigorous attacks upon +all Caesar's forces outside. He then, when the darkness came on, marched +his troops through the two streets which had been left open, to the +landing place, and got them as fast as possible on board the transports. +Some of the people of the town contrived to make known to Caesar's army +what was going on, by means of signals from the walls; the army +immediately brought scaling ladders in great numbers, and, mounting the +walls with great ardor and impetuosity, they drove all before them, and +soon broke open the gates and got possession of the city. But the +barricades and pitfalls, together with the darkness, so embarrassed +their movements, that Pompey succeeded in completing his embarkation and +sailing away.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's conduct at Rome.</p> + +<p>Caesar had no ships in which to follow. He returned to Rome. He met, of +course, with no opposition. He re-established the government there, +organized the Senate anew, and obtained supplies of corn from the public +granaries, and of money from the city treasury in the Capitol. In going +to the Capitoline Hill after this treasure, he found the officer who had +charge of the money stationed there to defend it. He told Caesar that it +was contrary to law for him to enter. Caesar said that, for men with +swords in their hands, there was no law. The officer still refused to +admit him. Caesar then told him to open the doors, or he would kill him +on the spot. "And you must understand," he added, "that it will be +easier for me to do it than it has been to say it." The officer resisted +no longer, and Caesar went in.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar subdues various countries.<br> +He turns his thoughts to Pompey.</p> + +<p>After this, Caesar spent some time in rigorous campaigns in Italy, +Spain, Sicily, and Gaul, wherever there was manifested any opposition +to his sway. When this work was accomplished, and all these countries +were completely subjected to his dominion, he began to turn his thoughts +to the plan of pursuing Pompey across the Adriatic Sea.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.</h3> + +<p class="side">The gathering armies.<br> +Pompey's preparations.<br> +Caesar at Brundusium.</p> + +<p>The gathering of the armies of Caesar and Pompey on the opposite shores +of the Adriatic Sea was one of the grandest preparations for conflict +that history has recorded, and the whole world gazed upon the spectacle +at the time with an intense and eager interest, which was heightened by +the awe and terror which the danger inspired. During the year while +Caesar had been completing his work of subduing and arranging all the +western part of the empire, Pompey had been gathering from the eastern +division every possible contribution to swell the military force under +his command, and had been concentrating all these elements of power on +the coasts of Macedon and Greece, opposite to Brundusium, where he knew +that Caesar would attempt to cross the Adriatic Sea, His camps, his +detachments, his troops of archers and slingers, and his squadrons of +horse, filled the land, while every port was guarded, and the line of +the coast was environed by batteries and castles on the rocks, and +fleets of galleys on the water. Caesar advanced with his immense army to +Brundusium, on the opposite shore, in December, so that, in addition to +the formidable resistance prepared for him by his enemy on the coast, he +had to encounter the wild surges of the Adriatic, rolling perpetually in +the dark and gloomy commotion always raised in such wide seas by +wintery storms.</p> + +<p class="side">His address to his army.</p> + +<p>Caesar had no ships, for Pompey had cleared the seas of every thing +which could aid him in his intended passage. By great efforts, however, +he succeeded at length in getting together a sufficient number of +galleys to convey over a part of his army, provided he took the men +alone, and left all his military stores and baggage behind. He gathered +his army together, therefore, and made them an address, representing +that they were now drawing toward the end of all their dangers and +toils. They were about to meet their great enemy for a final conflict. +It was not necessary to take their servants, their baggage, and their +stores across the sea, for they were sure of victory, and victory would +furnish them with ample supplies from those whom they were about +to conquer.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar crosses the Adriatic.</p> + +<p>The soldiers eagerly imbibed the spirit of confidence and courage which +Caesar himself expressed. A large detachment embarked and put to sea, +and, after being tossed all night upon the cold and stormy waters, they +approached the shore at some distance to the northward of the place +where Pompey's fleets had expected them. It was at a point where the +mountains came down near to the sea, rendering the coast rugged and +dangerous with shelving rocks and frowning promontories. Here Caesar +succeeded in effecting a landing of the first division of his troops, +and then sent back the fleet for the remainder.</p> + +<p class="side">He subdues several towns.<br> +Caesar's advance.<br> +Distress of the armies.</p> + +<p>The news of his passage spread rapidly to all Pompey's stations along +the coast, and the ships began to gather, and the armies to march toward +the point where Caesar had effected his landing. The conflict and +struggle commenced. One of Pompey's admirals intercepted the fleet of +galleys on their return, and seized and burned a large number of them, +with all who were on board. This, of course, only renewed the determined +desperation of the remainder. Caesar advanced along the coast with the +troops which he had landed, driving Pompey's troops before him, and +subduing town after town as he advanced. The country was filled with +terror and dismay. The portion of the army which Caesar had left behind +could not now cross, partly on account of the stormy condition of the +seas, the diminished number of the ships, and the redoubled vigilance +with which Pompey's forces now guarded the shores, but mainly because +Caesar was now no longer with them to inspire them with his reckless, +though calm and quiet daring. They remained, therefore, in anxiety and +distress, on the Italian shore. As Caesar, on the other hand, advanced +along the Macedonian shore, and drove Pompey back into the interior, he +cut off the communication between Pompey's ships and the land, so that +the fleet was soon reduced to great distress for want of provisions and +water. The men kept themselves from perishing with thirst by collecting +the dew which fell upon the decks of their galleys. Caesar's army was +also in distress, for Pompey's fleets cut off all supplies by water, and +his troops hemmed them in on the side of the land; and, lastly, Pompey +himself, with the immense army that was under his command, began to be +struck with alarm at the impending danger with which they were +threatened. Pompey little realized, however, how dreadful a fate was +soon to overwhelm him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's impatience.<br> +He attempts to cross the Adriatic.</p> + +<p>The winter months rolled away, and nothing effectual was done. The +forces, alternating and intermingled, as above described, kept each +other in a continued state of anxiety and suffering. Caesar became +impatient at the delay of that portion of his army that he had left on +the Italian shore. The messages of encouragement and of urgency which he +sent across to them did not bring them over, and at length, one dark and +stormy night, when he thought that the inclemency of the skies and the +heavy surging of the swell in the offing would drive his vigilant +enemies into places of shelter, and put them off their guard, he +determined to cross the sea himself and bring his hesitating army over. +He ordered a galley to be prepared, and went on board of it disguised, +and with his head muffled in his mantle, intending that not even the +officers or crew of the ship which was to convey him should know of his +design. The galley, in obedience to orders, put off from the shore. The +mariners endeavored in vain for some time to make head against the +violence of the wind and the heavy concussions of the waves, and at +length, terrified at the imminence of the danger to which so wild and +tumultuous a sea on such a night exposed them, refused to proceed, and +the commander gave them orders to return. Caesar then came forward, +threw off his mantle, and said to them, "Friends! you have nothing to +fear. You are carrying Caesar."</p> + +<p>The men were, of course, inspirited anew by this disclosure, but all was +in vain. The obstacles to the passage proved insurmountable, and the +galley, to avoid certain destruction, was compelled to return.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar lands the remainder of his army.</p> + +<p>The army, however, on the Italian side, hearing of Caesar's attempt to +return to them, fruitless though it was, and stimulated by the renewed +urgency of the orders which he now sent to them, made arrangements at +last for an embarkation, and, after encountering great dangers on the +way, succeeded in landing in safety. Caesar, thus strengthened, began to +plan more decided operations for the coming spring.</p> + +<p class="side">Attempts at negotiation.<br> +Conferences.<br> +End in violence and disorder.</p> + +<p>There were some attempts at negotiation. The armies were so exasperated +against each other on account of the privations and hardships which each +compelled the other to suffer, that they felt too strong a mutual +distrust to attempt any regular communication by commissioners or +ambassadors appointed for the purpose. They came to a parley, however, +in one or two instances, though the interviews led to no result. As the +missiles used in those days were such as could only be thrown to a very +short distance, hostile bodies of men could approach much nearer to each +other then than is possible now, when projectiles of the most terribly +destructive character can be thrown for miles. In one instance, some of +the ships of Pompey's fleet approached so near to the shore as to open a +conference with one or two of Caesar's lieutenants who were encamped +there. In another case, two bodies of troops from the respective armies +were separated only by a river, and the officers and soldiers came down +to the banks on either side, and held frequent conversations, calling to +each other in loud voices across the water. In this way they succeeded +in so far coming to an agreement as to fix upon a time and place for a +more formal conference, to be held by commissioners chosen on each side. +This conference was thus held, but each party came to it accompanied by +a considerable body of attendants, and these, as might have been +anticipated, came into open collision while the discussion was pending; +thus the meeting consequently ended in violence and disorder, each party +accusing the other of violating the faith which both had plighted.</p> + +<p class="side">Undecided warfare.<br> +Bread made of roots.</p> + +<p>This slow and undecided mode of warfare between the two vast armies +continued for many months without any decisive results. There were +skirmishes, struggles, sieges, blockades, and many brief and partial +conflicts, but no general and decided battle. Now the advantage seemed +on one side, and now on the other. Pompey so hemmed in Caesar's troops +at one period, and so cut off his supplies, that the men were reduced to +extreme distress for food. At length they found a kind of root which +they dug from the ground, and, after drying and pulverizing it, they +made a sort of bread of the powder, which the soldiers were willing to +eat rather than either starve or give up the contest. They told Caesar, +in fact, that they would live on the bark of trees rather than abandon +his cause. Pompey's soldiers, at one time, coming near to the walls of a +town which they occupied, taunted and jeered them on account of their +wretched destitution of food. Caesar's soldiers threw loaves of this +bread at them in return, by way of symbol that they were +abundantly supplied.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar hems Pompey in.<br> +Anxiety of the rivals.</p> + +<p>After some time the tide of fortune turned Caesar contrived, by a +succession of adroit maneuvers and movements, to escape from his toils, +and to circumvent and surround Pompey's forces so as soon to make them +suffer destitution and distress in their turn. He cut off all +communication between them and the country at large, and turned away the +brooks and streams from flowing through the ground they occupied. An +army of forty or fifty thousand men, with the immense number of horses +and beasts of burden which accompany them, require very large supplies +of water, and any destitution or even scarcity of water leads +immediately to the most dreadful consequences. Pompey's troops dug +wells, but they obtained only very insufficient supplies. Great numbers +of beasts of burden died, and their decaying bodies so tainted the air +as to produce epidemic diseases, which destroyed many of the troops, and +depressed and disheartened those whom they did not destroy.</p> + +<p class="side">Nature of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.<br> +Both hesitate.</p> + +<p>During all these operations there was no decisive general battle. Each +one of the great rivals knew very well that his defeat in one general +battle would be his utter and irretrievable ruin. In a war between two +independent nations, a single victory, however complete, seldom +terminates the struggle, for the defeated party has the resources of a +whole realm to fall back upon, which are sometimes called forth with +renewed vigor after experiencing such reverses; and then defeat in such +cases, even if it be final, does not necessarily involve the ruin of the +unsuccessful commander. He may negotiate an honorable peace, and return +to his own land in safety; and, if his misfortunes are considered by his +countrymen as owing not to any dereliction from his duty as a soldier, +but to the influence of adverse circumstances which no human skill or +resolution could have controlled, he may spend the remainder of his days +in prosperity and honor. The contest, however, between Caesar and Pompey +was not of this character. One or the other of them was a traitor and a +usurper--an enemy to his country. The result of a battle would decide +which of the two was to stand in this attitude. Victory would legitimize +and confirm the authority of one, and make it supreme over the whole +civilized world. Defeat was to annihilate the power of the other, and +make him a fugitive and a vagabond, without friends, without home, +without country. It was a desperate stake; and it is not at all +surprising that both parties lingered and hesitated, and postponed the +throwing of the die.</p> + +<p class="side">The armies enter Thessaly.</p> + +<p>At length Pompey, rendered desperate by the urgency of the destitution +and distress into which Caesar had shut him, made a series of rigorous +and successful attacks upon Caesar's lines, by which he broke away in +his turn from his enemy's grasp, and the two armies moved slowly back +into the interior of the country, hovering in the vicinity of each +other, like birds of prey contending in the air, each continually +striking at the other, and moving onward at the same time to gain some +position of advantage, or to circumvent the other in such a design. They +passed on in this manner over plains, and across rivers, and through +mountain passes, until at length they reached the heart of Thessaly. +Here at last the armies came to a stand and fought the final battle.</p> + +<a name="Illus0281"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0281.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0281.jpg" width = "40%" +alt="ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS."> +</a><br> +<b>ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">The plain of Pharsalia.<br> +Roman standard bearers.<br> +Pompey draws up his army.<br> +Forces on both sides.</p> + +<p>The place was known then as the plain of Pharsalia, and the greatness of +the contest which was decided there has immortalized its name. Pompey's +forces were far more numerous than those of Caesar, and the advantage in +all the partial contests which had taken place for some time had been on +his side; he felt, consequently, sure of victory. He drew up his men in +a line, one flank resting upon the bank of a river, which protected them +from attack on that side. From this point, the long line of legions, +drawn up in battle array, extended out upon the plain, and was +terminated at the other extremity by strong squadrons of horse, and +bodies of slingers and archers, so as to give the force of weapons and +the activity of men as great a range as possible there, in order to +prevent Caesar's being able to outflank and surround them There was, +however, apparently very little danger of this, for Caesar, according to +his own story, had but about half as strong a force as Pompey. The army +of the latter, he says, consisted of nearly fifty thousand men, while +his own number was between twenty and thirty thousand. Generals, +however, are prone to magnify the military grandeur of their exploits by +overrating the strength with which they had to contend, and +under-estimating their own. We are therefore to receive with some +distrust the statements made by Caesar and his partisans; and as for +Pompey's story, the total and irreparable ruin in which he himself and +all who adhered to him were entirely overwhelmed immediately after the +battle, prevented its being ever told.</p> + +<p class="side">Appearance of Pompey's camp.<br> +Pompey's tent.</p> + +<p>In the rear of the plain where Pompey's lines were extended was the camp +from which the army had been drawn out to prepare for the battle. The +camp fires of the preceding night were moldering away, for it was a warm +summer morning; the intrenchments were guarded, and the tents, now +nearly empty, stood extended in long rows within the inclosure. In the +midst of them was the magnificent pavilion of the general, furnished +with every imaginable article of luxury and splendor. Attendants were +busy here and there, some rearranging what had been left in disorder by +the call to arms by which the troops had been summoned from their places +of rest, and others providing refreshments-and food for their victorious +comrades when they should return from the battle. In Pompey's tent a +magnificent entertainment was preparing. The tables were spread with +every luxury, the sideboards were loaded with plate, and the whole scene +was resplendent with utensils and decorations of silver and gold.</p> + +<p class="side">His confidence of victory.</p> + +<p>Pompey and all his generals were perfectly certain of victory. In fact, +the peace and harmony of their councils in camp had been destroyed for +many days by their contentions and disputes about the disposal of the +high offices, and the places of profit and power at Rome, which were to +come into their hands when Caesar should have been subdued. The subduing +of Caesar they considered only a question of time; and, as a question of +time, it was now reduced to very narrow limits. A few days more, and +they were to be masters of the whole Roman empire, and, impatient and +greedy, they disputed in anticipation about the division of the spoils.</p> + +<p>To make assurance doubly sure, Pompey gave orders that his troops +should not advance to meet the onset of Caesar's troops on the middle +ground between the two armies, but that they should wait calmly for the +attack, and receive the enemy at the posts where they had themselves +been arrayed.</p> + +<p class="side">The battle of Pharsalia.<br> +Defeat of Pompey.<br> +Scene of horror.</p> + +<p>The hour at length arrived, the charge was sounded by the trumpets, and +Caesar's troops began to advance with loud shouts and great impetuosity +toward Pompey's lines. There was a long and terrible struggle, but the +forces of Pompey began finally to give way. Notwithstanding the +precautions which Pompey had taken to guard and protect the wing of his +army which was extended toward the land, Caesar succeeded in turning his +flank upon that side by driving off the cavalry and destroying the +archers and slingers, and he was thus enabled to throw a strong force +upon Pompey's rear. The flight then soon became general, and a scene of +dreadful confusion and slaughter ensued. The soldiers of Caesar's army, +maddened with the insane rage which the progress of a battle never fails +to awaken, and now excited to phrensy by the exultation of success, +pressed on after the affrighted fugitives, who trampled one upon +another, or fell pierced with the weapons of their assailants, filling +the air with their cries of agony and their shrieks of terror. The +horrors of the scene, far from allaying, only excited still more the +ferocity of their bloodthirsty foes, and they pressed steadily and +fiercely on, hour after hour, in their dreadful work of destruction. It +was one of those scenes of horror and woe such as those who have not +witnessed them can not conceive of, and those who have witnessed can +never forget.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's flight to the camp.<br> +Pompey in his tent.<br> +His consternation and despair.</p> + +<p>When Pompey perceived that all was lost, he fled from the field in a +state of the wildest excitement and consternation. His troops were +flying in all directions, some toward the camp, vainly hoping to find +refuge there, and others in various other quarters, wherever they saw +the readiest hope of escape from their merciless pursuers. Pompey +himself fled instinctively toward the camp. As he passed the guards at +the gate where he entered, he commanded them, in his agitation and +terror, to defend the gate against the coming enemy, saying that he was +going to the other gates to attend to the defenses there. He then +hurried on, but a full sense of the helplessness and hopelessness of his +condition soon overwhelmed him; he gave up all thought of defense, and, +passing with a sinking heart through the scene of consternation and +confusion which reigned every where within the encampment, he sought +his own tent, and, rushing into it, sank down, amid the luxury and +splendor which had been arranged to do honor to his anticipated victory, +in a state of utter stupefaction and despair.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY.</h3> + +<p class="side">Pursuit of the vanquished.<br> +Pompey recovers himself.</p> + +<p>Caesar pursued the discomfited and flying bodies of Pompey's army to the +camp. They made a brief stand upon the ramparts and at the gates in a +vain and fruitless struggle against the tide of victory which they soon +perceived must fully overwhelm them. They gave way continually here and +there along the lines of intrenchment, and column after column of +Caesar's followers broke through into the camp. Pompey, hearing from his +tent the increasing noise and uproar, was at length aroused from his +stupor, and began to summon his faculties to the question what he was to +do. At length a party of fugitives, hotly pursued by some of Caesar's +soldiers, broke into his tent. "What!" said Pompey, "into my tent too!" +He had been for more than thirty years a victorious general, accustomed +to all the deference and respect which boundless wealth, extended and +absolute power, and the highest military rank could afford. In the +encampments which he had made, and in the cities which he had occupied +from time to time, he had been the supreme and unquestioned master, and +his tent, arranged and furnished, as it had always been, in a style of +the utmost magnificence and splendor, had been sacred from all +intrusion, and invested with such a dignity that potentates and princes +were impressed when they entered, with a feeling of deference and awe. +Now, rude soldiers burst wildly into it, and the air without was filled +with an uproar and confusion, drawing every moment nearer and nearer, +and warning the fallen hero that there was no longer any protection +there against the approaching torrent which was coming on to +overwhelm him.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey disguises himself.<br> +He escapes from the camp.</p> + +<p>Pompey aroused himself from his stupor, threw off the military dress +which belonged to his rank and station, and assumed a hasty disguise, in +which he hoped he might make his escape from the immediate scene of his +calamities. He mounted a horse and rode out of the camp at the easiest +place of egress in the rear, in company with bodies of troops and guards +who were also flying in confusion, while Caesar and his forces on the +other side were carrying the intrenchments and forcing their way in. As +soon is he had thus made his escape from the immediate scene of danger, +he dismounted and left his horse, that he might assume more completely +the appearance of a common soldier, and, with a few attendants who were +willing to follow his fallen fortunes, he went on to the eastward, +directing his weary steps toward the shores of the Aegean Sea.</p> + +<p class="side">The Vale of Tempe.<br> +Its picturesqueness.<br> +Pompey's sufferings.<br> +A drink of water.</p> + +<p>The country through which he was traveling was Thessaly. Thessaly is a +vast amphitheater, surrounded by mountains, from whose sides streams +descend, which, after watering many fertile valleys and plains, combine +to form one great central river that flows to the eastward, and after +various meanderings, finds its way into the Aegean Sea through a +romantic gap between two mountains, called the Vale of Tempe--a vale +which has been famed in all ages for the extreme picturesqueness of its +scenery, and in which, in those days, all the charms both of the most +alluring beauty and of the sublimest grandeur seemed to be combined. +Pompey followed the roads leading along the banks of this stream, weary +in body, and harassed and disconsolate in mind. The news which came to +him from time to time, by the flying parties which were moving through +the country in all directions, of the entire and overwhelming +completeness of Caesar's victory, extinguished all remains of hope, and +narrowed down at last the grounds of his solicitude to the single point +of his own personal safety. He was well aware that he should be pursued, +and, to baffle the efforts which he knew that his enemies would make to +follow his track, he avoided large towns, and pressed forward in by-ways +and solitudes, bearing as patiently as he was able his increasing +destitution and distress. He reached, at length, the Vale of Tempe, and +there, exhausted with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, he sat down upon the +bank of the stream to recover by a little rest strength enough for the +remainder of his weary way. He wished for a drink, but he had nothing to +drink from. And so the mighty potentate, whose tent was full of +delicious beverages, and cups and goblets of silver and gold, extended +himself down upon the sand at the margin of the river, and drank the +warm water directly from the stream.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Pompey's camp.</p> + +<p>While Pompey was thus anxiously and toilsomely endeavoring to gain the +sea-shore, Caesar was completing his victory over the army which he had +left behind him. When Caesar had carried the intrenchments of the camp, +and the army found that there was no longer any safety for them there, +they continued their retreat under the guidance of such generals as +remained. Caesar thus gained undisputed possession of the camp. He found +every where the marks of wealth and luxury, and indications of the +confident expectation of victory which the discomfited army had +entertained. The tents of the generals were crowned with myrtle, the +beds were strewed with flowers, and tables every where were spread for +feasts, with cups and bowls of wine all ready for the expected revelers. +Caesar took possession of the whole, stationed a proper guard to protect +the property, and then pressed forward with his army in pursuit of +the enemy.</p> + +<p class="side">Retreat of Pompey's army.<br> +Surrender of Pompey's army.</p> + +<p>Pompey's army made their way to a neighboring rising ground, where they +threw up hasty intrenchments to protect themselves for the night. A +rivulet ran near the hill, the access to which they endeavored to +secure, in order to obtain supplies of water. Caesar and his forces +followed them to this spot. The day was gone, and it was too late to +attack them. Caesar's soldiers, too, were exhausted with the intense and +protracted excitement and exertions which had now been kept up for many +hours in the battle and in the pursuit, and they needed repose. They +made, however, one effort more. They seized the avenue of approach to +the rivulet, and threw up a temporary intrenchment to secure it which +intrenchment they protected with a guard; and then the army retired to +rest, leaving their helpless victims to while away the hours of the +night, tormented with thirst, and overwhelmed with anxiety and despair. +This could not long be endured. They surrendered in the morning, and +Caesar found himself in possession of over twenty thousand prisoners.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey in the Vale of Tempe.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Pompey passed on through the Vale of Tempe toward the +sea, regardless of the beauty and splendor that surrounded him, and +thinking only of his fallen fortunes, and revolving despairingly in his +mind the various forms in which the final consummation of his ruin might +ultimately come. At length he reached the sea-shore, and found refuge +for the night in a fisherman's cabin. A small number of attendants +remained with him, some of whom were slaves. These he now dismissed, +directing them to return and surrender themselves to Caesar, saying that +he was a generous foe, and that they had nothing to fear from him. His +other attendants he retained, and he made arrangements for a boat to +take him the next day along the coast. It was a river boat, and +unsuited to the open sea, but it was all that he could obtain.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey embarks on board a vessel.<br> +The shipmaster's dream.</p> + +<p>He arose the next morning at break of day, and embarked in the little +vessel, with two or three attendants, and the oarsmen began to row away +along the shore. They soon came in sight of a merchant ship just ready +to sail. The master of this vessel, it happened, had seen Pompey, and +knew his countenance, and he had dreamed, as a famous historian of the +times relates, on the night before, that Pompey had come to him hi the +guise of a simple soldier and in great distress, and that he had +received and rescued him. There was nothing extraordinary in such a +dream at such a time, as the contest between Caesar and Pompey, and the +approach of the final collision which was to destroy one or the other of +them, filled the minds and occupied the conversation of the world. The +shipmaster, therefore, having seen and known one of the great rivals in +the approaching conflict, would naturally find both his waking and +sleeping thoughts dwelling on the subject; and his fancy, in his dreams, +might easily picture the scene of his rescuing and saving the fallen +hero in the hour of his distress.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey goes on board a merchant ship.</p> + +<p>However this may be, the shipmaster is said to have been relating his +dream to the seamen on the deck of his vessel when the boat which was +conveying Pompey came into view. Pompey himself, having escaped from the +land, supposed all immediate danger over, not imagining that seafaring +men would recognize him in such a situation and in such a disguise. The +shipmaster did, however, recognize him. He was overwhelmed with grief at +seeing him in such a condition. With a countenance and with gestures +expressive of earnest surprise and sorrow, he beckoned to Pompey to come +on board. He ordered his own ship's boat to be immediately let down to +meet and receive him. Pompey came on board. The ship was given up to his +possession, and every possible arrangement was made to supply his wants, +to contribute to his comfort, and to do him honor.</p> + +<p class="side">His arrival at Amphipolis.</p> + +<p>The vessel conveyed him to Amphipolis, a city of Macedonia near the sea, +and to the northward and eastward of the place where he had embarked. +When Pompey arrived at the port he sent proclamations to the shore, +calling upon the inhabitants to take arms and join his standard. He did +not, however, land, or take any other measures for carrying these +arrangements into effect. He only waited in the river upon which +Amphipolis stands long enough to receive a supply of money from some of +his friends on the shore, and stores for his voyage, and then get sail +again. Whether he learned that Caesar was advancing in that direction +with a force too strong for him to encounter, or found that the people +were disinclined to espouse his cause, or whether the whole movement was +a feint to direct Caesar's attention to Macedon as the field of his +operations, in order that he might escape more secretly and safely +beyond the sea, can not now be ascertained.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's wife Cornelia.<br> +Her beauty and accomplishments.</p> + +<p>Pompey's wife Cornelia was on the island of Lesbos, at Mitylene, near +the western coast of Asia Minor. She was a lady of distinguished beauty, +and of great intellectual superiority and moral worth. She was extremely +well versed in all the learning of the times, and yet was entirely free +from those peculiarities and airs which, as her historian says, were +often observed in learned ladies in those days. Pompey had married her +after the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter. They were strongly devoted +to each other. Pompey had provided for her a beautiful retreat on the +island of Lesbos, where she was living in elegance and splendor, +beloved for her own intrinsic charms, and highly honored on account of +the greatness and fame of her husband. Here she had received from time +to time glowing accounts of his success all exaggerated as they came to +her, through the eager desire of the narrators to give her pleasure.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's arrival at Mitylene.<br> +His meeting with Cornelia.</p> + +<p>From this high elevation of honor and happiness the ill-fated Cornelia +suddenly fell, on the arrival of Pompey's solitary vessel at Mitylene, +bringing as it did, at the same time, both the first intelligence of her +husband's fall, and himself in person, a ruined and homeless fugitive +and wanderer. The meeting was sad and sorrowful. Cornelia was +overwhelmed at the suddenness and violence of the shock which it brought +her, and Pompey lamented anew the dreadful disaster that he had +sustained, at finding how inevitably it must involve his beloved wife as +well as himself in its irreparable ruin.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey gathers a little fleet.</p> + +<p>The pain, however, was not wholly without some mingling of pleasure. A +husband finds a strange sense of protection and safety in the presence +and sympathy of an affectionate wife in the hour of his calamity. She +can, perhaps do nothing, but her mute and sorrowful concern and pity +comfort and reassure him. Cornelia, however, was able to render her +husband some essential aid. She resolved immediately to accompany him +wherever he should go; and, by their joint endeavors, a little fleet was +gathered, and such supplies as could be hastily obtained, and such +attendants and followers as were willing to share his fate, were taken +on board. During all this time Pompey would not go on shore himself, but +remained on board, his ship in the harbor. Perhaps he was afraid of some +treachery or surprise, or perhaps, in his fallen and hopeless condition, +he was unwilling to expose himself to the gaze of those who had so often +seen him in all the splendor of his former power.</p> + +<p class="side">He sails along the Mediterranean.<br> +Pompey receives additional supplies.</p> + +<p>At length, when all was ready, he sailed away. He passed eastward along +the Mediterranean, touching at such ports as he supposed most likely to +favor his cause. Vague and uncertain, but still alarming rumors that +Caesar was advancing in pursuit of him met him every where, and the +people of the various provinces were taking sides, some in his favor and +some against him, the excitement being every where so great that the +utmost caution and circumspection were required in all his movements. +Sometimes he was refused permission to land; at others, his friends +were too few to afford him protection; and at others still, though the +authorities professed friendship, he did not dare to trust them. He +obtained, however, some supplies of money and some accessions to the +number of ships and men under his command, until at length he had quite +a little fleet in his train. Several men of rank and influence, who had +served under him in the days of his prosperity, nobly adhered to him +now, and formed a sort of court or council on board his galley, where +they held with their great though fallen commander frequent +conversations on the plan which it was best to pursue.</p> + +<p class="side">He seeks refuge in Egypt.<br> +Ptolemy and Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>It was finally decided that it was best to seek refuge in Egypt. There +seemed to be, in fact, no alternative. All the rest of the world was +evidently going over to Caesar. Pompey had been the means, some years +before, of restoring a certain king of Egypt to his throne, and many of +his soldiers had been left in the country, and remained there still. It +is true that the king himself had died. He had left a daughter named +Cleopatra, and also a son, who was at this time very young. The name of +this youthful prince was Ptolemy. Ptolemy and Cleopatra bad been made by +their father joint heirs to the throne. But Ptolemy, or, rather, the +ministers and counselors who acted for him and in his name, had expelled +Cleopatra, that they might govern alone. Cleopatra had raised an army in +Syria, and was on her way to the frontiers of Egypt to regain possession +of what she deemed her rights. Ptolemy's ministers had gone forth to +meet her at the head of their own troops, 'Ptolemy himself being also +with them. They had reached Pelusium, which is the frontier town between +Egypt and Syria on the coast of the Mediterranean. Here their armies had +assembled in vast encampments upon the land, and their galleys and +transports were riding at anchor along the shore of the sea. Pompey and +his-counselors thought that the government of Ptolemy would receive him +as a friend, on account of the services he had rendered to the young +prince's father, forgetting that gratitude has never a place on the list +of political virtues.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey arrives at Pelusium.</p> + +<p>Pompey's little squadron made its way slowly over the waters of the +Mediterranean toward Pelusium and the camp of Ptolemy. As they +approached the shore, both Pompey himself and Cornelia felt many anxious +forebodings. A messenger was sent to the land to inform the young king +of Pompey's approach, and to solicit his protection. The government of +Ptolemy held a council, and took the subject into consideration.</p> + +<p class="side">Ptolemy's council resolve to murder Pompey.</p> + +<p>Various opinions were expressed, and various plans were proposed. The +counsel which was finally followed was this. It would be dangerous to +receive Pompey, since that would make Caesar their enemy. It would be +dangerous to refuse to receive him, as that would make Pompey their +enemy, and, though powerless now, he might one day be in a condition to +seek vengeance. It was wisest, therefore, to destroy him. They would +invite him to the shore, and kill him when he landed. This would please +Caesar; and Pompey himself, being dead, could never revenge it. "Dead +dogs," as the orator said who made this atrocious proposal, "do +not bite."</p> + +<p class="side">The assassin Achillas.</p> + +<p>An Egyptian, named Achillas, was appointed to execute the assassination +thus decreed. An invitation was sent to Pompey to land, accompanied with +a promise of protection; and, when his fleet had approached near enough +to the shore, Achillas took a small party in a boat, and went out to +meet his galley. The men in this boat, of course, were armed.</p> + +<p class="side">Suspicions of Pompey's friends.<br> +Entreaties of Cornelia.<br> +Pompey's forlorn condition.<br> +He determines to land.</p> + +<p>The officers and attendants of Pompey watched all these movements from +the deck of his galley. They scrutinized every thing that occurred with +the closest attention and the greatest anxiety, to see whether the +indications denoted an honest friendship or intentions of treachery. The +appearances were not favorable. Pompey's friends observed that no +preparations were making along the shore for receiving him with the +honors due, as they thought, to his rank and station. The manner, too, +in which the Egyptians seemed to expect him to land was ominous of evil. +Only a single insignificant boat for a potentate who recently had +commanded half the world! Then, besides, the friends of Pompey observed +that several of the principal galleys of Ptolemy's fleet were getting up +their anchors, and preparing apparently to be ready to move at a sudden +call These and other indications appeared much more like preparations +for seizing an enemy than welcoming a friend. Cornelia, who, with her +little son, stood upon the deck of Pompey's galley, watching the scene +with a peculiar intensity of solicitude which the hardy soldiers around +her could not have felt, became soon exceedingly alarm ad. She begged +her husband Dot to go on shore. But Pompey decided that it was now too +late to retreat. He could not escape from the Egyptian galleys if they +had received orders to intercept him, nor could he resist violence if +violence were intended. To do any thing like that would evince distrust, +and to appear like putting himself upon his guard would be to take at +once, himself, the position of an enemy, and invite and justify the +hostility of the Egyptians in return. As to flight, he could not hope to +escape from the Egyptian galleys if they had received orders to prevent +it; and, besides, if he were determined on attempting an escape, whither +should he fly? The world was against him. His triumphant enemy was on +his track in full pursuit, with all the vast powers and resources of the +whole Roman empire at his command. There remained for Pompey only the +last forlorn hope of a refuge in Egypt, or else, as the sole +alternative, a complete and unconditional submission to Caesar. His +pride would not consent to this, and he determined, therefore, dark as +the indications were, to place himself, without any appearance of +distrust, in Ptolemy's hands, and abide the issue.</p> + +<p>The boat of Achillas approached the galley. When it touched the side, +Achillas and the other officers on board of it hailed Pompey in the most +respectful manner, giving him the title of Imperator, the highest title +known in the Roman state. Achillas addressed Pompey in Greek. The Greek +was the language of educated men in all the Eastern countries in those +days. He told him that the water was too shallow for his galley to +approach nearer to the shore, and invited him to come on board of his +boat, and he would take him to the beach, where, as he said, the king +was waiting to receive him.</p> + +<p class="side">Preparations for landing.<br> +Pompey takes leave of his wife.</p> + +<p>With many anxious forebodings, that were but ill concealed, Pompey made +preparations to accept the invitation. He bade his wife farewell, who +clung to him as they were about to part with a gloomy presentiment that +they should never meet again. Two centurions who were to accompany +Pompey, and two servants, descended into the boat. Pompey himself +followed, and then the boatmen pushed off from the galley and made +toward the shore. The decks of all the vessels in Pompey's little +squadron, as well as those of the Egyptian fleet, were crowded with +spectators, and lines of soldiery and groups of men, all intently +watching the operations of the landing, were scattered along the shore.</p> + +<p class="side">The assassins.<br> +Gloomy silence.</p> + +<p>Among the men whom Achillas had provided to aid him in the assassination +was an offieer of the Roman army who had formerly served under Pompey. +As soon as Pompey was seated in the boat, he recognized the countenance +of this man, and addressed him, saying, "I think I remember you as +having been in former days my fellow-soldier." The man replied merely by +a nod of assent. Feeling somewhat guilty and self-condemned at the +thoughts of the treachery which he was about to perpetrate, he was +little inclined to renew the recollection of the days when he was +Pompey's friend. In fact, the whole company in the boat, filled on the +one part with awe in anticipation of the terrible deed which they were +soon to commit, and on the other with a dread suspense and alarm, were +little disposed for conversation, and Pompey took out a manuscript of an +address in Greek which he had prepared to make to the young king at his +approaching interview with him, and occupied himself in reading it over. +Thus they advanced in a gloomy and solemn silence, hearing no sound but +the dip of the oars in the water, and the gentle dash of the waves along +the line of the shore.</p> + +<p class="side">Assassination of Pompey.</p> + +<p>At length the boat touched the sand, while Cornelia still stood on the +deck of the galley, watching every movement with great solicitude and +concern. One of the two servants whom Pompey had taken with him, named +Philip, his favorite personal attendant, rose to assist his master in +landing. He gave Pompey his hand to aid him in rising from his seat, and +at that moment the Roman officer whom Pompey had recognized as his +fellow-soldier, advanced behind him and stabbed him in the back. At the +same instant Achillas and the others drew their swords. Pompey saw that +all was lost. He did not speak, and he uttered no cry of alarm, though +Cornelia's dreadful shriek was so loud and piercing that it was heard +upon the shore. From the suffering victim himself nothing was heard but +an inarticulate groan extorted by his agony. He gathered his mantle over +his face, and sank down and died.</p> + +<p class="side">Cornelia.<br> +The funeral pile.<br> +Pompey's ashes sent to Cornelia.</p> + +<p>Of course, all was now excitement and confusion. As soon as the deed was +done, the perpetrators of it retired from the scene, taking the head of +their unhappy victim with them, to offer to Caesar as proof that his +enemy was really no more. The officers who remained in the fleet which +had brought Pompey to the coast made all haste to sail away, bearing the +wretched Cornelia with them, utterly distracted with grief and despair, +while Philip and his fellow-servant remained upon the beach, standing +bewildered and stupefied over the headless body of their beloved master. +Crowds of spectators came in succession to look upon the hideous +spectacle a moment in silence, and then to turn, shocked and repelled, +away. At length, when the first impulse of excitement had in some +measure spent its force, Philip and his comrades so far recovered their +composure as to begin to turn their thoughts to the only consolation +that was now left to them, that of performing the solemn duties of +sepulture. They found the wreck of a fishing boat upon the strand, from +which they obtained wood enough for a rude funeral pile. They burned +what remained of the mutilated body, and, gathering up the ashes, they +put them in an urn and sent them to Cornelia, who afterward buried them +at Alba with many bitter tears.</p> + +<a name="Illus0282"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0282.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0282.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="Death of Pompey."> +</a><br> +<b>Death of Pompey.</b> +</P><br> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>CAESAR IN EGYPT.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia.</p> + +<p>Caesar surveyed the field of battle after the victory of Pharsalia, not +with the feelings of exultation which might have been expected in a +victorious general, but with compassion and sorrow for the fallen +soldiers whose dead bodies covered the ground. After gazing upon the +scene sadly and in silence for a time, he said, "They would have it so," +and thus dismissed from his mind all sense of his own responsibility for +the consequences which had ensued.</p> + +<p class="side">His clemency.<br> +Caesar pursues Pompey.</p> + +<p>He treated the immense body of prisoners which had fallen into his hands +with great clemency, partly from the natural impulses of his +disposition, which were always generous and noble, and partly from +policy, that he might conciliate them all, officers and soldiers, to +acquiescence in his future rule. He then sent back a large portion of +his force to Italy, and, taking a body of cavalry from the rest, in +order that he might advance with the utmost possible rapidity, he set +off through Thessaly and Macedon in pursuit of his fugitive foe.</p> + +<p class="side">Treasures of the Temple of Diana.</p> + +<p>He had no naval force at his command, and he accordingly kept upon the +land. Besides, he wished, by moving through the country at the head of +an armed force, to make a demonstration which should put down any +attempt that might be made in arty quarter to rally or concentrate a +force in Pompey's favor. He crossed the Hellespont, and moved down the +coast of Asia Minor. There was a great temple consecrated to Diana at +Ephesus, which, for its wealth and magnificence, was then the wonder of +the world. The authorities who had it in their charge, not aware of +Caesar's approach, had concluded to withdraw the treasures from the +temple and loan them to Pompey, to be repaid when he should have +regained his Dower. An assembly was accordingly convened to witness the +delivery of the treasures, and take note of their value, which ceremony +was to be performed with great formality and parade, when they learned +that Caesar had crossed the Hellespont and was drawing near. The whole +proceeding was thus arrested, and the treasures were retained.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Asia Minor.<br> +He sails for Egypt.</p> + +<p>Caesar passed rapidly on through Asia Minor, examining and comparing, +as he advanced, the vague rumors which were continually coming in in +respect to Pompey's movements. He learned at length that he had gone to +Cyprus; he presumed that his destination was Egypt, and he immediately +resolved to provide himself with a fleet, and follow him thither by sea. +As time passed on, and the news of Pompey's defeat and flight, and of +Caesar's triumphant pursuit of him, became generally extended and +confirmed, the various powers ruling in all that region of the world +abandoned one after another the hopeless cause, and began to adhere to +Caesar. They offered him such resources and aid as he might desire. He +did not, however, stop to organize a large fleet or to collect an army. +He depended, like Napoleon, in all the great movements of his life, not +on grandeur of preparation, but on celerity of action. He organized at +Rhodes a small but very efficient fleet of ten galleys, and, embarking +his best troops in them, he made sail for the coasts of Egypt. Pompey +had landed at Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, having heard that the +young king and his court were there to meet and resist Cleopatra's +invasion. Caesar, however, with the characteristic boldness and energy +of his character, proceeded directly to Alexandria, the capital.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar at Alexandria.</p> + +<p>Egypt was, in those days, an <i>ally</i> of the Romans, as the phrase was; +that is, the country, though it preserved its independent organization +and its forms of royalty, was still united to the Roman people by an +intimate league, so as to form an integral part of the great empire. +Caesar, consequently, in appearing there with an armed force, would +naturally be received as a friend. He found only the garrison which +Ptolemy's government had left in charge of the city. At first the +officers of this garrison gave him an outwardly friendly reception, but +they soon began to take offense at the air of authority and command +which he assumed, and which seemed to them to indicate a spirit of +encroachment on the sovereignty of their own king.</p> + +<p class="side">The Roman fasces.<br> +The lictors.</p> + +<p>Feelings of deeply-seated alienation and animosity sometimes find their +outward expression in contests about things intrinsically of very little +importance. It was so in this case. The Roman consuls were accustomed to +use a certain badge of authority called the <i>fasces</i>. It consisted of a +bundle of rods, bound around the handle of an ax. Whenever a consul +appeared in public, he was preceded by two officers called <i>lictors</i>, +each of whom carried the fasces as a symbol of the power which was +vested in the distinguished personage who followed them.</p> + +<p>The Egyptian officers and the people of the city quarreled with Caesar +on account of his moving about among them in his imperial state, +accompanied by a life guard, and preceded by the lictors. Contests +occurred between his troops and those of the garrison, and many +disturbances were created in the streets of the city. Although no +serious collision took place, Caesar thought it prudent to strengthen +his force, and he sent back to Europe for additional legions to come to +Egypt and join him.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's head sent to Caesar.<br> +Caesar mourns Pompey.</p> + +<p>The tidings of Pompey's death came to Caesar at Alexandria, and with +them the head of the murdered man, which was sent by the government of +Ptolemy, they supposing that it would be an acceptable gift to Caesar. +Instead of being pleased with it, Caesar turned from the shocking +spectacle in horror. Pompey had been, for many years now gone by, +Caesar's colleague and friend. He had been his son-in-law, and thus had +sustained to him a very near and endearing relation. In the contest +which had at last unfortunately arisen, Pompey had done no wrong either +to Caesar or to the government at Rome. He was the injured party, so far +as there was a right and a wrong to such a quarrel. And now, after being +hunted through half the world by his triumphant enemy, he had been +treacherously murdered by men pretending to receive him as a friend. The +natural sense of justice, which formed originally so strong a trait in +Caesar's character, was not yet wholly extinguished. He could not but +feel some remorse at the thoughts of the long course of violence and +wrong which he had pursued against his old champion and friend, and +which had led at last to so dreadful an end. Instead of being pleased +with the horrid trophy which the Egyptians sent him, he mourned the +death of his great rival with sincere and unaffected grief, and was +filled with indignation against his murderers.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's signet ring.<br> +Caesar's respect for Pompey's memory.<br> +Pompey's Pillar.<br> +Origin of Pompey's Pillar.</p> + +<a name="Illus0283"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0283.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0283.jpg" width = "40%" +alt="Pompey's Pillar."> +</a><br> +<b>Pompey's Pillar.</b> +</P><br> + +<p>Pompey had a signet ring upon his finger at the time of his +assassination, which was taken off by the Egyptian officers and carried +away to Ptolemy, together with the other articles of value which had +been found upon his person. Ptolemy sent this seal to Caesar to complete +the proof that its possessor was no more. Caesar received <i>this</i> +memorial with eager though mournful pleasure, and he preserved it with +great care. And in many ways, during all the remainder of his life, he +manifested every outward indication of cherishing the highest respect +for Pompey's memory. There stands to the present day, among the ruins of +Alexandria, a beautiful column, about one hundred feet high, which has +been known in all modern times as POMPEY'S PILLAR. It is formed of +stone, and is in three parts. One stone forms the pedestal, another the +shaft, and a third the capital. The beauty of this column, the +perfection of its workmanship, which still continues in excellent +preservation, and its antiquity, so great that all distinct record of +its origin is lost, have combined to make it for many ages the wonder +and admiration of mankind. Although no history of its origin has come +down to us, a tradition has descended that Caesar built it during his +residence in Egypt, to commemorate the name of Pompey; but whether it +was his own victory over Pompey, or Pompey's own character and military +fame which the structure was intended to signalize to mankind, can not +now be known. There is even some doubt whether it was erected by +Caesar at all.</p> + +<p class="side">Surrender of Pompey's officers.<br> +Caesar's generosity.</p> + +<p>While Caesar was in Alexandria, many of Pompey's officers, now that +their master was dead, and there was no longer any possibility of their +rallying again under his guidance and command, came in and surrendered +themselves to him. He received them with great kindness, and, instead of +visiting them with any penalties for having fought against him, he +honored the fidelity and bravery they had evinced in the service of +their own former master. Caesar had, in fact, shown the same generosity +to the soldiers of Pompey's army that he had taken prisoners at the +battle of Pharsalia. At the close of the battle, he issued orders that +each one of his soldiers should have permission to <i>save</i> one of the +enemy. Nothing could more strikingly exemplify both the generosity and +the tact that marked the great conqueror's character than this incident. +The hatred and revenge which had animated his victorious soldiery in the +battle and in the pursuit, were changed immediately by the permission to +compassion and good will. The ferocious soldiers turned at once from the +pleasure of hunting their discomfited enemies to death, to that of +protecting and defending them; and the way was prepared for their being +received into his service, and incorporated with the rest of his army as +friends and brothers.</p> + +<p class="side">His position at Alexandria.<br> +Caesar's interference in Egyptian affairs.</p> + +<p>Caesar soon found himself in so strong a position at Alexandria, that he +determined to exercise his authority as Roman consul to settle the +dispute in respect to the succession of the Egyptian crown. There was no +difficulty in finding pretexts for interfering in the affairs of Egypt. +In the first place, there was, as he contended, great anarchy and +confusion at Alexandria, people taking different sides in the +controversy with such fierceness as to render it impossible that good +government and public order should be restored until this great question +was settled. He also claimed a debt due from the Egyptian government, +which Photinus, Ptolemy's minister at Alexandria, was very dilatory in +paying. This led to animosities and disputes; and, finally, Caesar +found, or pretended to find, evidence that Photinus was forming plots +against his life. At length Caesar determined on taking decided action. +He sent orders both to Ptolemy and to Cleopatra to disband their forces, +to repair to Alexandria, and lay their respective claims before him for +his adjudication.</p> + +<p class="side">Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>Cleopatra complied with this summons, and returned to Egypt with a view +to submitting her case to Caesar's arbitration. Ptolemy determined to +resist. He advanced toward Egypt, but it was at the head of his army, +and with a determination to drive Caesar and all his Roman +followers away.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's guilty passion for Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>When Cleopatra arrived, she found that the avenues of approach to +Caesar's quarters were all in possession of her enemies, so that, in +attempting to join him, she incurred danger of falling into their hands +as a prisoner. She resorted to a stratagem, as the story is, to gain a +secret admission. They rolled her up in a sort of bale of bedding or +carpeting, and she was carried in in this way on the back of a man, +through the guards, who might otherwise have intercepted her. Caesar was +very much pleased with this device, and with the successful result of +it. Cleopatra, too, was young and beautiful, and Caesar immediately +conceived a strong but guilty attachment to her, which she readily +returned. Caesar espoused her cause, and decided that she and Ptolemy +should jointly occupy the throne.</p> + +<p class="side">Resistance of Ptolemy.<br> +The Alexandrine war.</p> + +<p>Ptolemy and his partisans were determined not to submit to this award. +The consequence was, a violent and protracted war. Ptolemy was not only +incensed at being deprived of what he considered his just right to the +realm, he was also half distracted at the thought of his sister's +disgraceful connection with Caesar. His excitement and distress, and the +exertions and efforts to which they aroused him, awakened a strong +sympathy in his cause among the people, and Caesar found himself +involved in a very serious contest, in which his own life was brought +repeatedly into the most imminent danger, and which seriously threatened +the total destruction of his power. He, however, braved all the +difficulty and dangers, and recklessly persisted in the course he had +taken, under the influence of the infatuation in which his attachment to +Cleopatra held him, as by a spell.</p> + +<p class="side">The Pharos.<br> +Great splendor of the Pharos.</p> + +<p>The war in which Caesar was thus involved by his efforts to give +Cleopatra a seat with her brother on the Egyptian throne, is called in +history the Alexandrine war. It was marked by many strange and romantic +incidents. There was a light-house, called the Pharos, on a small island +opposite the harbor of Alexandria, and it was so famed, both on account +of the great magnificence of the edifice itself, and also on account of +its position at the entrance to the greatest commercial port in the +world, that it has given its name, as a generic appellation, to all +other structures of the kind--any light-house being now called a Pharos, +just as any serious difficulty is called a Gordian knot. The Pharos was +a lofty tower--the accounts say that it was five hundred feet in height, +which would be an enormous elevation for such a structure--and in a +lantern at the top a brilliant light was kept constantly burning, which +could be seen over the water for a hundred miles. The tower was built in +several successive stories, each being ornamented with balustrades, +galleries, and columns, so that the splendor of the architecture by day +rivaled the brilliancy of the radiation which beamed from the summit by +night. Far and wide over the stormy waters of the Mediterranean this +meteor glowed, inviting and guiding the mariners in; and both its +welcome and its guidance were doubly prized in those ancient days, when +there was neither compass nor sextant on which they could rely. In the +course of the contest with the Egyptians, Caesar took possession of the +Pharos, and of the island on which it stood; and as the Pharos was then +regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, the fame of the +exploit, though it was probably nothing remarkable in a military point +of view, spread rapidly throughout the world.</p> + +<p class="side">It is captured by Caesar.</p> + +<p>And yet, though the capture of a light-house was no very extraordinary +conquest, in the course of the contests on the harbor which were +connected with it Caesar had a very narrow escape from death. In all +such struggles he was accustomed always to take personally his full +share of the exposure and the danger. This resulted in part from the +natural impetuosity and ardor of his character, which were always +aroused to double intensity of action by the excitement of battle, and +partly from the ideas of the military duty of a commander which +prevailed in those days. There was besides, in this case, an additional +inducement to acquire the glory of extraordinary exploits, in Caesar's +desire to be the object of Cleopatra's admiration, who watched all his +movements, and who was doubly pleased with his prowess and bravery, +since she saw that they were exercised for her sake and in her cause.</p> + +<p class="side">Situation of the Pharos.<br> +Caesar's personal danger.<br> +Caesar's narrow escape.</p> + +<p>The Pharos was built upon an island, which was connected by a pier or +bridge with the main land. In the course of the attack upon this bridge, +Caesar, with a party of his followers, got driven back and hemmed in by +a body of the enemy that surrounded them, in such a place that the only +mode of escape seemed to be by a boat, which might take them to a +neighboring galley. They began, therefore, all to crowd into the boat in +confusion, and so overloaded it that it was obviously in imminent danger +of being upset or of sinking. The upsetting or sinking of an overloaded +boat brings almost certain destruction upon most of the passengers, +whether swimmers or not, as they seize each other in their terror, and +go down inextricably entangled together, each held by the others in the +convulsive grasp with which drowning men always cling to whatever is +within their reach. Caesar, anticipating this danger, leaped over into +the sea and swam to the ship. He had some papers in his hand at the +time--plans, perhaps, of the works which he was assailing. These he held +above the water with his left hand, while he swam with the right. And to +save his purple cloak or mantle, the emblem of his imperial dignity, +which he supposed the enemy would eagerly seek to obtain as a trophy, he +seized it by a corner between his teeth, and drew it after him through +the water as he swam toward the galley. The boat which he thus escaped +from soon after went down, with all on board.</p> + +<p class="side">The Alexandrian library.<br> +Burning of the Alexandrian library.</p> + +<p>During the progress of this Alexandrine war one great disaster occurred, +which has given to the contest a most melancholy celebrity in all +subsequent ages: this disaster was the destruction of the Alexandrian +library. The Egyptians were celebrated for their learning, and, under +the munificent patronage of some of their kings, the learned men of +Alexandria had made an enormous collection of writings, which were +inscribed, as was the custom in those days, on parchment rolls. The +number of the rolls or volumes was said to be seven hundred thousand; +and when we consider that each one was written with great care, in +beautiful characters, with a pen, and at a vast expense, it is not +surprising that the collection was the admiration of the world. In fact, +the whole body of ancient literature was there recorded. Caesar set fire +to some Egyptian galleys, which lay so near the shore that the wind blew +the sparks and flames upon the buildings on the quay. The fire spread +among the palaces and other magnificent edifices of that part of the +city, and one of the great buildings in which the library was stored was +reached and destroyed. There was no other such collection in the world; +and the consequence of this calamity has been, that it is only detached +and insulated fragments of ancient literature and science that have come +down to our times. The world will never cease to mourn the +irreparable loss.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar returns to Rome.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the various untoward incidents which attended the war in +Alexandria during its progress, Caesar, as usual, conquered in the end. +The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and, in attempting to make his +escape across a branch of the Nile, he was drowned. Caesar then finally +settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra and a younger brother, and, after +remaining for some time longer in Egypt, he set out on his return +to Rome.</p> + +<a name="Illus0284"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0284.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0284.jpg" width = "60%" +alt="Cleopatra's Barge."> +</a><br> +<b>Cleopatra's Barge.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Subsequent adventures of Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>The subsequent adventures of Cleopatra were as romantic as to have given +her name a very wide celebrity. The lives of the virtuous pass smoothly +and happily away, but the tale, when told to others, possesses but +little interest or attraction; while those of the wicked, whose days are +spent in wretchedness and despair, and are thus full of misery to the +actors themselves, afford to the rest of mankind a high degree of +pleasure, from the dramatic interest of the story.</p> + +<p class="side">Her splendid barge.<br> +Anthony and Octavius.<br> +Death of Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>Cleopatra led a life of splendid sin, and, of course, of splendid +misery. She visited Caesar in Rome after his return thither. Caesar +received her magnificently, and paid her all possible honors; but the +people of Rome regarded her with strong reprobation. When her young +brother, whom Caesar had made her partner on the throne, was old enough +to claim his share, she poisoned him. After Caesar's death, she went +from Alexandria to Syria to meet Antony, one of Caesar's successors, in +a galley or barge, which was so rich, so splendid, so magnificently +furnished and adorned, that it was famed throughout the world as +Cleopatra's barge. A great many beautiful vessels have since been called +by the same name. Cleopatra connected herself with Antony, who became +infatuated with her beauty and her various charms as Caesar had been. +After a great variety of romantic adventures, Antony was defeated in +battle by his great rival Octavius, and, supposing that he had been +betrayed by Cleopatra, he pursued her to Egypt, intending to kill her. +She hid herself in a sepulcher, spreading a report that she had +committed suicide, and then Antony stabbed himself in a fit of remorse +and despair. Before he died, he learned that Cleopatra was alive, and he +caused himself to be carried into her presence and died in her arms. +Cleopatra then fell into the hands of Octavius, who intended to carry +her to Rome to grace his triumph. To save herself from this humiliation, +and weary with a life which, full of sin as it had been, was a constant +series of sufferings, she determined to die. A servant brought in an asp +for her, concealed in a vase of flowers, at a great banquet. She laid +the poisonous reptile on her naked arm, and died immediately of the bite +which it inflicted.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X."></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>CAESAR IMPERATOR.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar again at Rome.<br> +Combinations against him.<br> +Veni, vidi, vici.</p> + +<p>Although Pompey himself had been killed, and the army under his +immediate command entirely annihilated, Caesar did not find that the +empire was yet completely submissive to his sway. As the tidings of his +conquests spread over the vast and distant regions which were under the +Roman rule--although the story itself of his exploits might have been +exaggerated--the impression produced by his power lost something of its +strength, as men generally have little dread of remote danger. While he +was in Egypt, there were three great concentrations of power formed +against him in other quarters of the globe: in Asia Minor, in Africa, +and in Spain. In putting down these three great and formidable arrays of +opposition, Caesar made an exhibition to the world of that astonishing +promptness and celerity of military action on which his fame as a +general so much depends. He went first to Asia Minor, and fought a great +and decisive battle there, in a manner so sudden and unexpected to the +forces that opposed him that they found themselves defeated almost +before they suspected that their enemy was near. It was in reference to +this battle that he wrote the inscription for the banner, "<i>Veni, vidi, +vici</i>" The words may be rendered in English, "I came, looked, and +conquered," though the peculiar force of the expression, as well as the +alliteration, is lost in any attempt to translate it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar made dictator.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Caesar's prosperity and success had greatly +strengthened his cause at Rome. Rome was supported in a great measure by +the contributions brought home from the provinces by the various +military heroes who were sent out to govern them; and, of course, the +greater and more successful was the conqueror, the better was he +qualified for stations of highest authority in the estimation of the +inhabitants of the city. They made Caesar dictator even while he was +away, and appointed Mark Antony his master of horse. This was the same +Antony whom we have already mentioned as having been connected with +Cleopatra after Caesar's death. Rome, in fact, was filled with the fame +of Caesar's exploits, and, as he crossed the Adriatic and advanced +toward the city, he found himself the object of universal admiration +and applause.</p> + +<p class="side">Opposition of Cato.<br> +Pompey's sons.</p> + +<p>But he could not yet be contented to establish himself quietly at Rome. +There was a large force organized against him in Africa under Cato, a +stern and indomitable man, who had long been an enemy to Caesar, and who +now considered him as a usurper and an enemy of the republic, and was +determined to resist him to the last extremity. There was also a large +force assembled in Spain under the command of two sons of Pompey, in +whose case the ordinary political hostility of contending partisans was +rendered doubly intense and bitter by their desire to avenge their +father's cruel fate. Caesar determined first to go to Africa, and then, +after disposing of Cato's resistance, to cross the Mediterranean +into Spain.</p> + +<p class="side">Complaints of the soldiers.</p> + +<p>Before he could set out, however, on these expeditions, he was involved +in very serious difficulties for a time, on account of a great +discontent which prevailed in his army, and which ended at last in open +mutiny. The soldiers complained that they had not received the rewards +and honors which Caesar had promised them. Some claimed offices, others +money others lands, which, as they maintained, they had been led to +expect would be conferred upon them at the end of the campaign. The fact +undoubtedly was, that, elated with their success, and intoxicated with +the spectacle of the boundless influence and power which their general +so obviously wielded at Rome, they formed expectations and hopes for +themselves altogether too wild and unreasonable to be realized by +soldiers; for soldiers, however much they may be flattered by their +generals in going into battle, or praised in the mass in official +dispatches, are after all but slaves, and slaves, too, of the very +humblest caste and character.</p> + +<p class="side">The mutiny.<br> +The army marches to Rome.</p> + +<p>The famous tenth legion, Cesar's favorite corps, took the most active +part in fomenting these discontents, as might naturally have been +expected, since the attentions and the praises which he had bestowed +upon them, though at first they tended to awaken their ambition, and to +inspire them with redoubled ardor and courage, ended, as such favoritism +always does, in making them vain, self-important, and unreasonable. Led +on thus by the tenth legion, the whole army mutinied. They broke up the +camp where they had been stationed at some distance beyond the walls of +Rome, and marched toward the city. Soldiers in a mutiny, even though +headed by their subaltern officers, are very little under command; and +these Roman troops, feeling released from their usual restraints, +committed various excesses on the way, terrifying the inhabitants and +spreading universal alarm. The people of the city were thrown into utter +consternation at the approach of the vast horde, which was coming like a +terrible avalanche to descend upon them.</p> + +<p class="side">Plan of the soldiers.</p> + +<p>The army expected some signs of resistance at the gates, which, if +offered, they were prepared to encounter and overcome. Their plan was, +after entering the city, to seek Caesar and demand their discharge from +his service. They knew that he was under the necessity of immediately +making a campaign in Africa, and that, of course, he could not possibly, +as they supposed, dispense with them. He would, consequently, if they +asked their discharge, beg them to remain, and, to induce them to do it, +would comply with all their expectations and desires.</p> + +<p>Such was their plan. To tender, however, a resignation of an office as a +means of bringing an opposite party to terms, is always a very hazardous +experiment. We easily overrate the estimation in which our own services +are held taking what is said to us in kindness or courtesy by friends +as the sober and deliberate judgment of the public; and thus it often +happens that persons who in such case offer to resign, are astonished to +find their resignations readily accepted.</p> + +<p class="side">The army marches into the city.</p> + +<p>When Caesar's mutineers arrived at the gates, they found, instead of +opposition, only orders from Caesar, by which they were directed to +leave all their arms except their swords, and march into the city. They +obeyed. They were then directed to go to the Campus Martius, a vast +parade ground situated within the walls, and to await Caesar's +orders there.<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a></p> + +<blockquote> +<a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> See <a href="#Illus0288">map</a> of the city of Rome, fronting the first page. +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">The Campus Martius.<br> +Caesar's address to the army.</p> + +<p>Caesar met them in the Campus Martius, and demanded why they had left +their encampment without orders and come to the city. They stated in +reply, as they had previously planned to do, that they wished to be +discharged from the public service. To their great astonishment, Caesar +seemed to consider this request as nothing at all extraordinary, but +promised, an the other hand, very readily to grant it He said that they +should be at once discharged, and should receive faithfully all the +rewards which had been promised them at the close of the war for their +long and arduous services. At the same time, he expressed his deep +regret that, to obtain what he was perfectly willing and ready at any +time to grant, they should have so far forgotten their duties as Romans, +and violated the discipline which should always be held absolutely +sacred by every soldier. He particularly regretted that the tenth +legion, on which he had been long accustomed so implicitly to rely, +should have taken a part in such transactions.</p> + +<p class="side">Its effects.<br> +Attachment of Caesar's soldiers.</p> + +<p>In making this address, Caesar assumed a kind and considerate, and even +respectful tone toward his men, calling them <i>Quirites</i> instead of +soldiers--an honorary mode of appellation, which recognized them as +constituent members of the Roman commonwealth. The effect of the whole +transaction was what might have been anticipated. A universal desire was +awakened throughout the whole army to return to their duty. They sent +deputations to Caesar, begging not to be taken at their word, but to be +retained in the service, and allowed to accompany him to Africa. After +much hesitation and delay, Caesar consented to receive them again, all +excepting the tenth legion, who, he said, had now irrevocably lost his +confidence and regard. It is a striking illustration of the strength of +the attachment which bound Caesar's soldiers to their commander, that +the tenth legion <i>would not</i> be discharged, after all. They followed +Caesar of their own accord into Africa, earnestly entreating him again +and again to receive them. He finally did receive them in detachments, +which he incorporated with the rest of his army, or sent on distant +service, but he would never organize them as the tenth legion again.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar goes to Africa.<br> +Cato shuts himself up in Africa.</p> + +<p>It was now early in the winter, a stormy season for crossing the +Mediterranean Sea. Caesar, however, set off from Rome immediately, +proceeded south to Sicily, and encamped on the sea-shore there till the +fleet was ready to convey his forces to Africa. The usual fortune +attended him in the African campaigns His fleet was exposed to imminent +dangers in crossing the sea, but, in consequence of the extreme +deliberation and skill with which his arrangements were made, he escaped +them all. He overcame one after another of the military difficulties +which were in his way in Africa. His army endured, in the depth of +winter, great exposures and fatigues, and they had to encounter a large +hostile force under the charge of Cato. They were, however, successful +in every undertaking. Cato retreated at last to the city of Utica, where +he shut himself up with the remains of his army; but finding, at length, +when Caesar drew near, that there was no hope or possibility of making +good his defense, and as his stern and indomitable spirit could not +endure the thought of submission to one whom he considered as an enemy +to his country and a traitor he resolved upon a very effectual mode of +escaping from his conqueror's power.</p> + +<p class="side">He stabs himself.<br> +Death of Cato.</p> + +<p>He feigned to abandon all hope of defending the city, and began to make +arrangements to facilitate the escape of his soldiers over the sea. He +collected the vessels in the harbor, and allowed all to embark who were +willing to take the risks of the stormy water. He took, apparently, +great interest in the embarkations, and, when evening came on, he sent +repeatedly down to the sea-side to inquire about the state of the wind +and the progress of the operations. At length he retired to his +apartment, and, when all was quiet in the house, he lay down upon his +bed and stabbed himself with his sword He fell from the bed by the blow, +or else from the effect of some convulsive motion which the penetrating +steel occasioned. His son and servants, hearing the fall, came rushing +into the room, raised him from the floor, and attempted to bind up and +stanch the wound. Cato would not permit them to do it. He resisted them +violently as soon as he was conscious of what they intended. Finding +that a struggle would only aggravate the horrors of the scene, and even +hasten its termination, they left the bleeding hero to his fate, and in +a few minutes he died.</p> + +<p class="side">Folly of his suicide.</p> + +<p>The character of Cato, and the circumstances under which his suicide was +committed, make it, on the whole, the most conspicuous act of suicide +which history records; and the events which followed show in an equally +conspicuous manner the extreme folly of the deed. In respect to its +wickedness, Cato, not having had the light of Christianity before him, +is to be leniently judged. As to the folly of the deed, however, he is +to be held strictly accountable. If he had lived and yielded to his +conqueror, as he might have done gracefully and without dishonor, since +all his means of resistance were exhausted, Caesar would have treated +him with generosity and respect, and would have taken him to Rome; and +as within a year or two of this time Caesar himself was no more, Cato's +vast influence and power might have been, and un doubtedly would have +been, called most effectually into action for the benefit of his +country. If any one, in defending Cato, should say he could not foresee +this, we reply, he <i>could</i> have foreseen it; not the precise events, +indeed, which occurred, but he could have foreseen that vast changes +must take place, and new aspects of affairs arise, in which his powers +would be called into requisition. We can <i>always</i> foresee in the midst +of any storm, however dark and gloomy, that clear skies will certainly +sooner or later come again; and this is just as true metaphorically in +respect to the vicissitudes of human life, as it is literally in regard +to the ordinary phenomena of the skies.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Spain.<br> +Defeat of Pompey's sons.</p> + +<p>From Africa Caesar returned to Rome, and from Rome he went to subdue the +resistance which was offered by the sons of Pompey in Spain. He was +equally successful here. The oldest son was wounded in battle, and was +carried off from the field upon a litter faint and almost dying. He +recovered in some degree, and, finding escape from the eager pursuit of +Caesar's soldiers impossible, he concealed himself in a cave, where he +lingered for a little time in destitution and misery. He was discovered +at last; his head was cut off by his captors and sent to Caesar, as his +father's had been. The younger son succeeded in escaping, but he became +a wretched fugitive and outlaw, and all manifestations of resistance to +Caesar's sway disappeared from Spain. The conqueror returned to Rome the +undisputed master of the whole Roman world.</p> + +<a name="Illus0285"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0285.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0285.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="The elephants made torch-bearers."> +</a><br> +<b>The elephants made torch-bearers.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Caesar's triumphs.<br> +The triumphal car breaks down.<br> +Elephant torch-bearers.</p> + +<p>Then came his triumphs. Triumphs were great celebrations, by which +military heroes in the days of the Roman commonwealth signalized their +victories on their return to the city Caesar's triumphs were four, one +for each of his four great successful campaigns, viz., in Egypt, in Asia +Minor, in Africa, and in Spain. Each was celebrated on a separate day, +and there was an interval of several days between them, to magnify their +importance, and swell the general interest which they excited among the +vast population of the city. On one of these days, the triumphal car in +which Caesar rode, which was most magnificently adorned, broke down on +the way, and Caesar was nearly thrown out of it by the shock. The +immense train of cars, horses, elephants, flags, banners, captives, and +trophies which formed the splendid procession was all stopped by the +accident, and a considerable delay ensued. Night came on, in fact +before the column could again be put in motion to enter the city, and +then Caesar, whose genius was never more strikingly shown than when he +had opportunity to turn a calamity to advantage, conceived the idea of +employing the forty elephants of the train as torch-bearers; the long +procession accordingly advanced through the streets and ascended to the +Capitol, lighted by the great blazing flambeaus which the sagacious and +docile beasts were easily taught to bear, each elephant holding one in +his proboscis, and waving it above the crowd around him.</p> + +<p class="side">Trophies and emblems.</p> + +<p>In these triumphal processions, every thing was borne in exhibition +which could serve as a symbol of the conquered country or a trophy of +victory, Flags and banners taken from the enemy; vessels of gold and +silver, and other treasures, loaded in vans; wretched captives conveyed +in open carriages or marching sorrowfully on foot, and destined, some of +them, to public execution when the ceremony of the triumph was ended; +displays of arms, and implements, and dresses, and all else which might +serve to give the Roman crowd an idea of the customs and usages of the +remote and conquered nations; the animals they used, caparisoned in the +manner in which they used them: these, and a thousand other trophies +and emblems, were brought into the line to excite the admiration of the +crowd, and to add to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. In fact, it was +always a great object of solicitude and exertion with all the Roman +generals, when on distant and dangerous expeditions, to possess +themselves of every possible prize in the progress of their campaign +which could aid in adding splendor to the triumph which was to +signalize its end.</p> + +<p class="side">Banners and paintings.</p> + +<p>In these triumphs of Caesar, a young sister of Cleopatra was in the line +of the Egyptian procession. In that devoted to Asia Minor was a great +banner containing the words already referred to, Veni, Vidi, Vici. There +were great paintings, too, borne aloft, representing battles and other +striking scenes. Of course, all Rome was in the highest state of +excitement during the days of the exhibition of this pageantry. The +whole surrounding country flocked to the capital to witness it, and +Caesar's greatness and glory were signalized in the most conspicuous +manner to all mankind.</p> + +<p class="side">Public entertainments.<br> +Various spectacles and amusements.<br> +Naval combats.</p> + +<p>After these triumphs, a series of splendid public entertainments were +given, over twenty thousand tables having been spread for the populace +of the city Shows of every possible character and variety were +exhibited. There were dramatic plays, and equestrian performances in the +circus, and gladiatorial combats, and battles with wild beasts, and +dances, and chariot races, and every other imaginable amusement which +could be devised and carried into effect to gratify a population highly +cultivated in all the arts of life, but barbarous and cruel in heart and +character. Some of the accounts which have come down to us of the +magnificence of the scale on which these entertainments were conducted +are absolutely incredible. It is said, for example, that an immense +basin was constructed near the Tiber, large enough to contain two fleets +of galleys, which had on board two thousand rowers each, and one +thousand fighting men. These fleets were then manned with captives, the +one with Asiatics and the other with Egyptians, and when all was ready, +they were compelled to fight a real battle for the amusement of the +spectators which thronged the shores, until vast numbers were killed, +and the waters of the lake were dyed with blood. It is also said that +the whole Forum, and some of the great streets in the neighborhood where +the principal gladiatorial shows were held, were covered with silken +awnings to protect the vast crowds of spectators from the sun, and +thousands of tents were erected to accommodate the people from the +surrounding country, whom the buildings of the city could not contain.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's power.<br> +Honors conferred upon him.</p> + +<p>All open opposition to Caesar's power and dominion now entirely +disappeared. Even the Senate vied with the people in rendering him every +possible honor. The supreme power had been hitherto lodged in the hands +of two consuls, chosen annually, and the Roman people had been extremely +jealous of any distinction for any one, higher than that of an <i>elective +annual office,</i> with a return to private life again when the brief +period should have expired. They now, however, made Caesar, in the first +place, consul for ten years, and then Perpetual Dictator. They conferred +upon him the title of the Father of his Country. The name of the month +in which he was born was changed to Julius, from his praenomen, and we +still retain the name. He was made, also, commander-in-chief of all the +armies of the commonwealth, the title to which vast military power was +expressed in the Latin language by the word IMPERATOR.</p> + +<p class="side">Statues of Caesar.</p> + +<p>Caesar was highly elated with all these substantial proofs of the +greatness and glory to which he had attained, and was also very +evidently gratified with smaller, but equally expressive proofs of the +general regard. Statues representing his person were placed in the +public edifices, and borne in processions like those of the gods. +Conspicuous and splendidly ornamented seats were constructed for him in +all the places of public assembly, and on these he sat to listen to +debates or witness spectacles, as if he were upon a throne He had, +either by his influence or by his direct power, the control of all the +appointments to office, and was, in fact, in every thing but the name, a +sovereign and an absolute king.</p> + +<p class="side">His plans of internal improvement.</p> + +<p>He began now to form great schemes of internal improvement for the +general benefit of the empire. He wished to increase still more the +great obligations which the Roman people were under to him for what he +had already done. They really were under vast obligations to him; for, +considering Rome as a community which was to subsist by governing the +world, Caesar had immensely enlarged the means of its subsistence by +establishing its sway every where, and providing for an incalculable +increase of its revenues from the tribute and the taxation of conquered +provinces and kingdoms. Since this work of conquest was now completed, +he turned his attention to the internal affairs of the empire, and made +many improvements in the system of administration, looking carefully +into every thing, and introducing every where those exact and systematic +principles which such a mind as his seeks instinctively in every thing +over which it has any control.</p> + +<p class="side">Ancient division of time.<br> +Change effected by Caesar.<br> +The old and new styles.</p> + +<p>One great change which he effected continues in perfect operation +throughout Europe to the present day. It related to the division of +time. The system of months in use in his day corresponded so imperfectly +with the annual circuit of the sun, that the months were moving +continually along the year in such a manner that the winter months came +at length in the summer, and the summer months in the winter. This led +to great practical inconveniences; for whenever, for example, any thing +was required by law to be done in certain months, intending to have them +done in the summer, and the specified month came at length to be a +winter month, the law would require the thing to be done in exactly the +wrong season. Caesar remedied all this by adopting a new system of +months, which should give three hundred and sixty-five days to the year +for three years, and three hundred and sixty-six for the fourth; and so +exact was the system which he thus introduced, that it went on unchanged +for sixteen centuries. The months were then found to be eleven days out +of the way, when a new correction was introduced,<a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4">[4]</a> and it will now go +on three thousand years before the error will amount to a single day. +Caesar employed a Greek astronomer to arrange the system that he +adopted; and it was in part on account of the improvement which he thus +effected that one of the months, as has already been mentioned, was +called July. Its name before was Quintilis.</p> + +<blockquote> +<a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> By Pope Gregory XIII. at the time of the change from the +old style to the new +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">Magnificent schemes.<br> +Caesar collects the means to carry out his vast schemes.</p> + +<p>Caesar formed a great many other vast and magnificent schemes. He +planned public buildings for the city, which were going to exceed in +magnitude and splendor all the edifices of the world. He commenced the +collection of vast libraries, formed plans for draining the Pontine +Marshes, for bringing great supplies of water into the city by an +aqueduct, for cutting a new passage for the Tiber from Rome to the sea, +and making an enormous artificial harbor at its mouth. He was going to +make a road along the Apennines, and cut a canal through the Isthmus of +Corinth, and construct other vast works, which were to make Rome the +center of the commerce of the world. In a word, his head was filled with +the grandest schemes, and he was gathering around him all the means and +resources necessary for the execution of them.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI."></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE CONSPIRACY.</h3> + +<p>Caesar's greatness and glory came at last to a very sudden and violent +end. He was assassinated. All the attendant circumstances of this deed, +too, were of the most extraordinary character, and thus the dramatic +interest which adorns all parts of the great conqueror's history marks +strikingly its end.</p> + +<p class="side">Jealousies awakened by Caesar's power.<br> +The Roman Constitution.<br> +Struggles and Conflicts.</p> + +<p>His prosperity and power awakened, of course, a secret jealousy and ill +will. Those who were disappointed in their expectations of his favor +murmured. Others, who had once been his rivals, hated him for having +triumphed over them. Then there was a stern spirit of democracy, too, +among certain classes of the citizens of Rome which could not brook a +master. It is true that the sovereign power in the Roman commonwealth +had never been shared by all the inhabitants. It was only in certain +privileged classes that the sovereignty was vested; but among these the +functions of government were divided and distributed in such a way as +to balance one interest against another, and to give all their proper +share of influence and authority. Terrible struggles and conflicts often +occurred among these various sections of society, as one or another +attempted from time to time to encroach upon the rights or privileges of +the rest. These struggles, however, ended usually in at last restoring +again the equilibrium which had been disturbed. No one power could ever +gain the entire ascendency; and thus, as all <i>monarchism</i> seemed +excluded from their system, they called it a republic. Caesar, however, +had now concentrated in himself all the principal elements of power, and +there began to be suspicions that he wished to make himself in name and +openly, as well as secretly and in fact, a king.</p> + +<p class="side">Roman repugnance to royalty.<br> +Firmness of the Romans.</p> + +<p>The Romans abhorred the very name of king. They had had kings in the +early periods of their history, but they made themselves odious by their +pride and their oppressions, and the people had deposed and expelled +them. The modern nations of Europe have several times performed the same +exploit, but they have generally felt unprotected and ill at ease +without a personal sovereign over them and have accordingly, in most +cases, after a few years, restored some branch of the expelled dynasty +to the throne The Romans were more persevering and firm. They had +managed their empire now for five hundred years as a republic, and +though they had had internal dissensions, conflicts, and quarrels +without end, had persisted so firmly and unanimously in their +detestation of all regal authority, that no one of the long line of +ambitious and powerful statesmen, generals, or conquerors by which the +history of the empire had been signalized, had ever dared to aspire to +the name of king.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's ambitious plans.</p> + +<p>There began, however, soon to appear some indications that Caesar, who +certainly now possessed regal power, would like the regal name. +Ambitious men, in such cases, do not directly assume themselves the +titles and symbols of royalty. Others make the claim for them, while +they faintly disavow it, till they have opportunity to gee what effect +the idea produces on the public mind. The following incidents occurred +which it was thought indicated such a design on the part of Caesar.</p> + +<p class="side">American feeling.</p> + +<p>There were in some of the public buildings certain statues of kings; for +it must be understood that the Roman dislike to kings was only a dislike +to having kingly authority exercised over themselves. They respected and +sometimes admired the kings of other countries, and honored their +exploits, and made statues to commemorate their fame. They were willing +that kings should reign elsewhere, so long as there were no king of +Rome. The American feeling at the present day is much the same. If the +Queen of England were to make a progress through this country, she would +receive, perhaps, as many and as striking marks of attention and honor +as would be rendered to her in her own realm. We venerate the antiquity +of her royal line; we admire the efficiency of her government and the +sublime grandeur of her empire, and have as high an idea as any, of the +powers and prerogatives of her crown--and these feelings would show +themselves most abundantly on any proper occasion. We are willing, nay, +wish that she should continue to reign over Englishmen; and yet, after +all, it would take some millions of bayonets to place a queen securely +upon a throne over this land.</p> + +<p class="side">Regal power.</p> + +<p>Regal power was accordingly, in the abstract, looked up to at Rome, as +it is elsewhere, with great respect; and it was, in fact, all the more +tempting as an object of ambition, from the determination felt by the +people that it should not be exercised there. There were, accordingly, +statues of kings at Rome. Caesar placed his own statue among them. Some +approved, others murmured.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's seat in the theater.</p> + +<p>There was a public theater in the city, where the officers of the +government were accustomed to sit in honorable seats prepared expressly +for them, those of the Senate being higher and more distinguished than +the rest. Caesar had a seat prepared for himself there, similar in form +to a throne, and adorned it magnificently with gilding and ornaments of +gold, which gave it the entire pre-eminence over all the other seats.</p> + +<p>He had a similar throne placed in the senate chamber, to be occupied by +himself when attending there, like the throne of the King of England in +the House of Lords.</p> + +<p class="side">Public celebrations.<br> +Caesar receives the Senate sitting.<br> +Consequent excitement.</p> + +<p>He held, moreover, a great many public celebrations and triumphs in the +city in commemoration of his exploits and honors; and, on one of these +occasions, it was arranged that the Senate were to come to him at a +temple in a body, and announce to him certain decrees which they had +passed to his honor. Vast crowds had assembled to witness the ceremony +Caesar was seated in a magnificent chair, which might have been called +either a chair or a throne, and was surrounded by officers and +attendants When the Senate approached, Caesar did not rise to receive +them, but remained seated, like a monarch receiving a deputation of his +subjects. The incident would not seem to be in itself of any great +importance, but, considered as an indication of Caesar's designs, it +attracted great attention, and produced a very general excitement. The +act was adroitly managed so as to be somewhat equivocal in its +character, in order that it might be represented one way or the other on +the following day, according as the indications of public sentiment +might incline. Some said that Caesar was intending to rise, but was +prevented, and held down by those who stood around him. Others said that +an officer motioned to him to rise, but he rebuked his interference by a +frown, and continued his seat. Thus while, in fact, he received the +Roman Senate as their monarch and sovereign, his own intentions and +designs in so doing were left somewhat in doubt, in order to avoid +awakening a sudden and violent opposition.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's statute crowned.</p> + +<p>Not long after this, as he was returning in public from some great +festival, the streets being full of crowds, and the populace following +him in great throngs with loud acclamations, a man went up to his +statue as he passed it, and placed upon the head of it a laurel crown, +fastened with a white ribbon, which was a badge of royalty. Some +officers ordered the ribbon to be taken down, and sent the man to +prison. Caesar was very much displeased with the officers, and dismissed +them from their office. He wished, he said, to have the opportunity to +disavow, himself, such claims, and not to have others disavow them +for him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's disavowals.</p> + +<p>Caesar's disavowals were, however, so faint, and people had so little +confidence in their sincerity, that the cases became more and more +frequent in which the titles and symbols of royalty were connected with +his name. The people who wished to gain his favor saluted him in public +with the name of <i>Rex</i>, the Latin word for king. He replied that his +name was Caesar, not <i>Rex</i>, showing, however, no other signs of +displeasure. On one great occasion, a high public officer, a near +relative of his, repeatedly placed a diadem upon his head, Caesar +himself, as often as he did it, gently putting it off. At last he sent +the diadem away to a temple that was near, saying that there was no king +in Rome but Jupiter. In a word, all his conduct indicated that he wished +to have it appear that the people were pressing the crown upon him, +when he himself was steadily refusing it.</p> + +<p class="side">Some willing to make Caesar king.<br> +Others oppose it.</p> + +<p>This state of things produced a very strong and universal, though +suppressed excitement in the city. Parties were formed. Some began to be +willing to make Caesar king; others were determined to hazard their +lives to prevent it. None dared, however, openly to utter their +sentiments on either side. They expressed them by mysterious looks and +dark intimations. At the time when Caesar refused to rise to receive the +Senate, many of the members withdrew in silence, and with looks of +offended dignity When the crown was placed upon his statue or upon his +own brow, a portion of the populace would applaud with loud +acclamations; and whenever he disavowed these acts, either by words or +counter-actions of his own, an equally loud acclamation would arise from +the other side. On the whole, however, the idea that Caesar was +gradually advancing toward the kingdom steadily gained ground.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's pretexts.<br> +His assumed humility.</p> + +<p>And yet Caesar himself spoke frequently with great humility in respect +to his pretensions and claims; and when he found public sentiment +turning against the ambitious schemes he seems secretly to have +cherished, he would present some excuse or explanation for his conduct +plausible enough to answer the purpose of a disavowal. When he received +the Senate, sitting like a king, on the occasion before referred to, +when they read to him the decrees which they had passed in his favor, he +replied to them that there was more need of diminishing the public +honors which he received than of increasing them. When he found, too, +how much excitement his conduct on that occasion had produced, he +explained it by saying that he had retained his sitting posture on +account of the infirmity of his health, as it made him dizzy to stand. +He thought, probably, that these pretexts would tend to quiet the strong +and turbulent spirits around him, from whose envy or rivalry he had most +to fear, without at all interfering with the effect which the act itself +would have produced upon the masses of the population. He wished, in a +word, to accustom them to see him assume the position and the bearing of +a sovereign, while, by his apparent humility in his intercourse with +those immediately around him, he avoided as much as possible irritating +and arousing the jealous and watchful rivals who were next to him +in power.</p> + +<p class="side">Progress of Caesar's plans.</p> + +<p>If this were his plan, it seemed to be advancing prosperously toward +its accomplishment. The population of the city seemed to become more and +more familiar with the idea that Caesar was about to become a king. The +opposition which the idea had at first awakened appeared to subside, or, +at least, the public expression of it, which daily became more and more +determined and dangerous, was restrained. At length the time arrived +when it appeared safe to introduce the subject to the Roman Senate. +This, of course, was a hazardous experiment. It was managed, however, in +a very adroit and ingenious manner.</p> + +<p class="side">The Sibylline books.<br> +Declaration of the Sibylline books.<br> +Plan for crowning Caesar.</p> + +<p>There were in Rome, and, in fact, in many other cities and countries of +the world in those days, a variety of prophetic books, called the +Sibylline Oracles, in which it was generally believed that future events +were foretold. Some of these volumes or rolls, which were very ancient +and of great authority, were preserved in the temples at Rome, under the +charge of a board of guardians, who were to keep them with the utmost +care, and to consult them on great occasions, in order to discover +beforehand what would be the result of public measures or great +enterprises which were in contemplation. It happened that at this time +the Romans were engaged in a war with the Parthians, a very wealthy and +powerful nation of Asia. Caesar was making preparations for an +expedition to the East to attempt to subdue this people. He gave orders +that the Sibylline Oracles should be consulted. The proper officers, +after consulting them with the usual solemn ceremonies, reported to the +Senate that they found it recorded in these sacred prophecies that the +Parthians could not be conquered except by a <i>king</i>, A senator proposed, +therefore, that, to meet the emergency, Caesar should be made king +during the war. There was at first no decisive action on this proposal. +It was dangerous to express any opinion. People were thoughtful, +serious, and silent, as on the eve of some great convulsion. No one knew +what others were meditating, and thus did not dare to express his own +wishes or designs. There soon, however, was a prevailing understanding +that Caesar's friends were determined on executing the design of +crowning him, and that the fifteenth of March, called, in their +phraseology, the <i>Ides of March</i>, was fixed upon as the coronation day.</p> + +<p class="side">The conspiracy.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Caesar's enemies, though to all outward appearance +quiet and calm, had not been inactive. Finding that his plans were now +ripe for execution, and that they had no, open means of resisting them, +they formed a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar himself, and thus bring +his ambitious schemes to an effectual and final end. The name of the +original leader of this conspiracy was Cassius.</p> + +<p class="side">Cassius.</p> + +<p>Cassius had been for a long time Caesar's personal rival and enemy. He +was a man of a very violent and ardent temperament, impetuous and +fearless, very fond of exercising power himself, but very restless and +uneasy in having it exercised over him. He had all the Roman repugnance +to being under the authority of a master, with an additional personal +determination of his own not to submit to Caesar. He determined to slay +Caesar rather than to allow him to be made a king, and he went to work, +with great caution, to bring other leading and influential men to join +him in this determination. Some of those to whom he applied said that +they would unite with him in his plot provided he would get Marcus +Brutus to join them.</p> + +<p class="side">Marcus Brutus.</p> + +<p>Brutus was the praetor of the city. The praetorship of the city was a +very high municipal office. The conspirators wished to have Brutus join +them partly on account of his station as a magistrate, as if they +supposed that by having the highest public magistrate of the city for +their leader in the deed, the destruction of their victim would appear +less like a murder, and would be invested, instead, in some respects, +with the sanctions and with the dignity of an official execution.</p> + +<p class="side">Character of Brutus.<br> +His firmness and courage.</p> + +<p>Then, again, they wished for the moral support which would be afforded +them in their desperate enterprise by Brutus's extraordinary personal +character. He was younger than Cassius, but he was grave, thoughtful, +taciturn, calm--a man of inflexible integrity, of the coolest +determination, and, at the same time, of the most undaunted courage. The +conspirators distrusted one another, for the resolution of impetuous men +is very apt to fail when the emergency arrives which puts it to the +test; but as for Brutus, they knew very well that whatever he undertook +he would most certainly do.</p> + +<p class="side">The ancient Brutus.<br> +His expulsion of the kings.</p> + +<p>There was a great deal even in his name. It was a Brutus that five +centuries before had been the main instrument of the expulsion of the +Roman kings. He had secretly meditated the design, and, the better to +conceal it, had feigned idiocy, as the story was, that he might not be +watched or suspected until the favorable hour for executing his design +should arrive. He therefore ceased to speak, and seemed to lose his +reason; he wandered about the city silent and gloomy, like a brute. His +name had been Lucius Junius before. They added Brutus now, to designate +his condition. When at last, however, the crisis arrived which he judged +favorable for the expulsion of the kings, he suddenly reassumed his +speech and his reason, called the astonished Romans to arms, and +triumphantly accomplished his design. His name and memory had been +cherished ever since that day as of a great deliverer.</p> + +<p class="side">The history of Brutus.</p> + +<p>They, therefore, who looked upon Caesar as another king, naturally +turned their thoughts to the Brutus of their day, hoping to find in him +another deliverer. Brutus found, from time to time, inscriptions on his +ancient namesake's statue expressing the wish that he were now alive. He +also found each morning, as he came to the tribunal where he was +accustomed to sit in the discharge of the duties of his office, brief +writings, which had been left there during the night, in which few words +expressed deep meaning, such as "Awake, Brutus, to thy duty;" and "Art +thou indeed a Brutus?"</p> + +<p class="side">His obligations to Caesar.<br> +Caesar's friendship for Brutus.</p> + +<p>Still it seemed hardly probable that Brutus could be led to take a +decided stand against Caesar, for they had been warm personal friends +ever since the conclusion of the civil wars. Brutus had, indeed, been on +Pompey's side while that general lived; he fought with him at the battle +of Pharsalia, but he had been taken prisoner there, and Caesar, instead +of executing him as a traitor, as most victorious generals in a civil +war would have done, spared his life, forgave him for his hostility, +received him into his own service, and afterward raised him to very high +and honorable stations. He gave him the government of the richest +province, and, after his return from it, loaded with wealth and honors, +he made him praetor of the city. In a word, it would seem that he had +done every thing which it was possible to do to make him one of his most +trustworthy and devoted friends. The men, therefore, to whom Cassius +first applied, perhaps thought that they were very safe in saying that +they would unite in the intended conspiracy if he would get Brutus to +join them. They expected Cassius himself to make the attempt to secure +the co-operation of Brutus, as Cassius was on terms of intimacy with him +on account of a family connection. Cassius's wife was the sister of +Brutus. This had made the two men intimate associates and warm friends +in former years, though they had been recently somewhat estranged from +each other on account of having been competitors for the same offices +and honors. In these contests Caesar had decided in favor of Brutus. +"Cassius," said he, on one such occasion, "gives the best reasons; but I +can not refuse Brutus any thing he asks for." In fact, Caesar had +conceived a strong personal friendship for Brutus, and believed him to +be entirely devoted to his cause.</p> + +<p class="side">Interview between Brutus and Cassius.</p> + +<p>Cassius, however, sought an interview with Brutus, with a view of +engaging him in his design. He easily effected his own reconciliation +with him, as he had himself been the offended party in their +estrangement from each other. He asked Brutus whether he intended to be +present in the Senate on the Ides of March, when the friends of Caesar, +as was understood, were intending to present him with the crown. Brutus +said he should not be there. "But suppose," said Cassius, "we are +specially summoned." "Then," said Brutus, "I shall go, and shall be +ready to die if necessary to defend the liberty of my country."</p> + +<p class="side">Arguments of Cassius.</p> + +<p>Cassius then assured Brutus that there were many other Roman citizens, +of the highest rank, who were animated by the same determination, and +that they all looked up to him to lead and direct them in the work which +it was now very evident must be done. "Men look," said Cassius, "to +other praetors to entertain them with games, spectacles, and shows, but +they have very different ideas in respect to you. Your character, your +name, your position, your ancestry, and the course of conduct which you +have already always pursued, inspire the whole city with the hope that +you are to be their deliverer. The citizens are all ready to aid you, +and to sustain you at the hazard of their lives; but they look to you to +go forward, and to act in their name and in their behalf, in the crisis +which is now approaching."</p> + +<p class="side">Effect on Brutus.<br> +Brutus engages in the conspiracy.</p> + +<p>Men of a very calm exterior are often susceptible of the profoundest +agitations within, the emotions seeming to be sometimes all the more +permanent and uncontrollable from the absence of outward display. Brutus +said little, but his soul was excited and fired by Cassius's words. +There was a struggle in his soul between his grateful sense of his +political obligations to Caesar and his personal attachment to him on +the one hand, and, on the other, a certain stern Roman conviction that +every thing should be sacrificed, even friendship and gratitude, as +well as fortune and life, to the welfare of his country. He acceded to +the plan, and began forthwith to enter upon the necessary measures for +putting it into execution.</p> + +<p class="side">Ligurius.</p> + +<p>There was a certain general, named Ligurius, who had been in Pompey's +army, and whose hostility to Caesar had never been really subdued. He +was now sick. Brutus went to see him. He found him in his bed. The +excitement in Rome was so intense, though the expressions of it were +suppressed and restrained, that every one was expecting continually some +great event, and every motion and look was interpreted to have some deep +meaning. Ligurius read in the countenance of Brutus, as he approached +his bedside, that he had not come on any trifling errand. "Ligurius," +said Brutus, "this is not a time for <i>you</i> to be sick." "Brutus," +replied Ligurius, rising at once from his couch, "if you have any +enterprise in mind that is worthy of you, I am well." Brutus explained +to the sick man their design, and he entered into it with ardor.</p> + +<p class="side">Consultations of the conspirators.<br> +Their bold plan.<br> +Final arrangements.</p> + +<p>The plan was divulged to one after another of such men as the +conspirators supposed most worthy of confidence in such a desperate +undertaking, and meetings for consultation were held to determine what +plan to adopt for finally accomplishing their end. It was agreed that +Caesar must be slain; but the time, the place, and the manner in which +the deed should be performed were all yet undecided. Various plans were +proposed in the consultations which the conspirators held; but there was +one thing peculiar to them all, which was, that they did not any of them +contemplate or provide for any thing like secrecy in the commission of +the deed. It was to be performed in the most open and public manner. +With a stern and undaunted boldness, which has always been considered by +mankind as truly sublime, they determined that, in respect to the actual +execution itself of the solemn judgment which they had pronounced, there +should be nothing private or concealed. They thought over the various +public situations in which they might find Caesar, and where they might +strike him down, only to select the one which would be most public of +all. They kept, of course, their preliminary counsels private, to +prevent the adoption of measures for counteracting them; but they were +to perform the deed in such a manner as that, so soon as it was +performed, they should stand out to view, exposed fully to the gaze of +all mankind as the authors, of it. They planned no retreat, no +concealment, no protection whatever for themselves, seeming to feel that +the deed which they were about to perform, of destroying the master and +monarch of the world, was a deed in its own nature so grand and sublime +as to raise the perpetrators of it entirely above all considerations +relating to their own personal safety. Their plan, therefore, was to +keep their consultations and arrangements secret until they were +prepared to strike the blow, then to strike it in the most public and +imposing manner possible, and calmly afterward to await the +consequences.</p> + +<p class="side">The place and the day.</p> + +<p>In this view of the subject, they decided that the chamber of the Roman +Senate was the proper place, and the Ides of March, the day on which he +was appointed to be crowned, was the propel time for Caesar to be slain.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII."></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>THE ASSASSINATION.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar receives many warnings of his approaching fate.</p> + +<p>According to the account given by his historians, Caesar received many +warnings of his approaching fate, which, however, he would not heed. +Many of these warnings were strange portents and prodigies, which the +philosophical writers who recorded them half believed themselves, and +which they were always ready to add to their narratives even if they did +not believe them, on account of the great influence which such an +introduction of the supernatural and the divine had with readers in +those days in enhancing the dignity and the dramatic interest of the +story. These warnings were as follows:</p> + +<p class="side">The tomb and inscription.</p> + +<p>At Capua, which was a great city at some distance south of Rome, the +second, in fact, in Italy, and the one which Hannibal had proposed to +make his capital, some workmen were removing certain ancient sepulchers +to make room for the foundations of a splendid edifice which, among his +other plans for the embellishment of the cities of Italy, Caesar was +intending to have erected there. As the excavations advanced, the +workmen came at last to an ancient tomb, which proved to be that of the +original founder of Capua; and, in bringing out the sarcophagus, they +found an inscription, worked upon a brass plate, and in the Greek +character, predicting that if those remains were ever disturbed, a great +member of the Julian family would be assassinated by his own friends, +and his death would be followed by extended devastations throughout +all Italy.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's horses.</p> + +<p>The horses, too, with which Caesar had passed the Rubicon, and which had +been, ever since that time, living in honorable retirement in a splendid +park which Caesar had provided for them, by some mysterious instinct, or +from some divine communication, had warning of the approach of their +great benefactor's end. They refused their food, and walked about with +melancholy and dejected looks, mourning apparently, and in a manner +almost human, some impending grief.</p> + +<p class="side">The soothsayers.</p> + +<p>There was a class of prophets in those days called by a name which has +been translated <i>soothsayers</i>. These soothsayers were able, as was +supposed, to look somewhat into futurity--dimly and doubtfully, it is +true, but really, by means of certain appearances exhibited by the +bodies of the animals offered in sacrifices These soothsayers were +consulted on all important occasions; and if the auspices proved +unfavorable when any great enterprise was about to be undertaken, it was +often, on that account, abandoned or postponed. One of these +soothsayers, named Spurinna, came to Caesar one day, and informed him +that he had found, by means of a public sacrifice which he had just been +offering, that there was a great and mysterious danger impending over +him, which was connected in some way with the Ides of March, and he +counseled him to be particularly cautious and circumspect until that day +should have passed.</p> + +<p class="side">The hawks and the wren.</p> + +<p>The Senate were to meet on the Ides of March in a new and splendid +edifice, which had been erected for their use by Pompey. There was in +the interior of the building, among other decorations, a statue of +Pompey. The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a +neighboring grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren +with a sprig of laurel in its mouth. The birds tore the wren to pieces, +the laurel dropping from its bill to the marble pavement of the floor +below. Now, as Caesar had been always accustomed to wear a crown of +laurel on great occasions, and had always evinced a particular fondness +for that decoration, that plant had come to be considered his own proper +badge, and the fall of the laurel, therefore, was naturally thought to +portend some great calamity to him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's agitation of mind.<br> +His dream.<br> +Calpurnia's dream.<br> +The effect of a disturbed mind.</p> + +<p>The night before the Ides of March Caesar could not sleep. It would not +seem, however, to be necessary to suppose any thing supernatural to +account for his wakefulness. He lay upon his bed restless and excited, +or if he fell into a momentary slumber, his thoughts, instead of finding +repose, were only plunged into greater agitations, produced by strange, +and, as he thought, supernatural dreams. He imagined that he ascended +into the skies, and was received there by Jupiter, the supreme divinity, +as an associate and equal. While shaking hands with the great father of +gods and men, the sleeper was startled by a frightful sound. He awoke, +and found his wife Calpurnia groaning and struggling in her sleep. He +saw her by the moonlight which was shining into the room. He spoke to +her, and aroused her. After staring wildly for a moment till she had +recovered her thoughts, she said that she had had a dreadful dream. She +had dreamed that the roof of the house had fallen in, and that, at the +same instant, the doors had been burst open, and some robber or assassin +had stabbed her husband as he was lying in her arms. The philosophy of +those days found in these dreams mysterious and preternatural warnings +of impending danger; that of ours, however, sees nothing either in the +absurd sacrilegiousness of Caesar's thoughts, or his wife's incoherent +and inconsistent images of terror--nothing more than the natural and +proper effects, on the one hand, of the insatiable ambition of man, and, +on the other, of the conjugal affection and solicitude of woman. The +ancient sculptors carved out images of men, by the forms and lineaments +of which we see that the physical characteristics of humanity have not +changed. History seems to do the same with the affections and passions +of the soul. The dreams of Caesar and his wife on the night before the +Ides of March, as thus recorded, form a sort of spiritual statue, which +remains from generation to generation, to show us how precisely all the +inward workings of human nature are from age to age the same.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar hesitates.</p> + +<p>When the morning came Caesar and Calpurnia arose, both restless and ill +at ease. Caesar ordered the auspices to be consulted with reference to +the intended proceedings of the day. The soothsayers came in in due +time, and reported that the result was unfavorable. Calpurnia, too, +earnestly entreated her husband not to go to the senate-house that day. +She had a very strong presentiment that, if he did go, some great +calamity would ensue. Caesar himself hesitated. He was half inclined to +yield, and postpone his coronation to another occasion.</p> + +<p class="side">Decimus Brutus.</p> + +<p>In the course of the day, while Caesar was in this state of doubt and +uncertainty, one of the conspirators, named Decimus Brutus, came in. +This Brutus was not a man of any extraordinary courage or energy, but he +had been invited by the other conspirators to join them, on account of +his having under his charge a large number of gladiators, who, being +desperate and reckless men, would constitute a very suitable armed force +for them to call in to their aid in case of any emergency arising which +should require it.</p> + +<p class="side">Decimus Brutus waits upon Caesar.</p> + +<p>The conspirators having thus all their plans arranged, Decimus Brutus +was commissioned to call at Caesar's house when the time approached for +the assembling of the Senate, both to avert suspicion from Caesar's +mind, and to assure himself that nothing had been discovered It was in +the afternoon, the time for the meeting of the senators having been +fixed at five o'clock. Decimus Brutus found Caesar troubled and +perplexed, and uncertain what to do. After hearing what he had to say, +he replied by urging him to go by all means to the senate-house, as he +had intended. "You have formally called the Senate together," said he, +"and they are now assembling. They are all prepared to confer upon you +the rank and title of king, not only in Parthia, while you are +conducting this war but every where, by sea and land, except in Italy. +And now, while they are all in their places, waiting to consummate the +great act, how absurd will it be for you to send them word to go home +again, and come back some other day, when Calpurnia shall have had +better dreams!"</p> + +<p class="side">He persuades him to go.</p> + +<p>He urged, too, that, even if Caesar was determined to put off the action +of the Senate to another day, he was imperiously bound to go himself and +adjourn the session in person. So saying, he took the hesitating +potentate by the arm, and adding to his arguments a little gentle force, +conducted him along.</p> + +<p class="side">Artemidorus discovers the plot.<br> +He warns Caesar.</p> + +<p>The conspirators supposed that all was safe The fact was, however, that +all had been discovered. There was a certain Greek, a teacher of +oratory, named Artemidorus. He had contrived to learn something of the +plot from some of the conspirators who were his pupils. He wrote a brief +statement of the leading particulars, and, having no other mode of +access to Caesar, he determined to hand it to him on the way as he went +to the senate-house. Of course, the occasion was one of great public +interest, and crowds had assembled in the streets to see the great +conqueror as he went along. As usual at such times, when powerful +officers of state appear in public, many people came up to present +petitions to him as he passed. These he received, and handed them, +without reading, to his secretary who attended him, as if to have them +preserved for future examination. Artemidorus, who was waiting for his +opportunity, when he perceived what disposition Caesar made of the +papers which were given to him, began to be afraid that his own +communication would not be attended to until it was too late. He +accordingly pressed up near to Caesar, refusing to allow any one else to +pass the paper in; and when, at last, he obtained an opportunity, he +gave it directly into Caesar's hands saying to him, "Read this +immediately: it concerns yourself, and is of the utmost importance"</p> + +<p>Caesar took the paper and attempted to read it, but new petitions and +other interruptions constantly prevented him; finally he gave up the +attempt, and went on his way, receiving and passing to his secretary all +other papers, but retaining this paper of Artemidorus in his hand.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar and Spurinna.</p> + +<p>Caesar passed Spurinna on his way to the senate-house--the soothsayer +who had predicted some great danger connected with the Ides of March. As +soon as he recognized him, he accosted him with the words, "Well, +Spurinna, the Ides of March have come, and I am safe." "Yes," replied +Spurinna, "they have come, but they are not yet over."</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar arrives at the senate house.</p> + +<p>At length he arrived at the senate-house, with the paper of Artemidorus +still unread in his hand. The senators were all convened, the leading +conspirators among them. They all rose to receive Caesar as he entered. +Caesar advanced to the seat provided for him, and, when he was seated, +the senators themselves sat down. The moment had now arrived, and the +conspirators, with pale looks and beating hearts, felt that now or never +the deed was to be done.</p> + +<p class="side">Resolution of the Conspirators.</p> + +<p>It requires a very considerable degree of physical courage and +hardihood for men to come to a calm and deliberate decision that they +will kill one whom they hate, and, still more, actually to strike the +blow, even when under the immediate impulse of passion. But men who are +perfectly capable of either of these often find their resolution fail +them as the time comes for striking a dagger into the living flesh of +their victim, when he sits at ease and unconcerned before them, unarmed +and defenseless, and doing nothing to excite those feelings of +irritation and anger which are generally found so necessary to nerve the +human arm to such deeds. Utter defenselessness is accordingly, +sometimes, a greater protection than an armor of steel.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar and Pompey's statue.</p> + +<p>Even Cassius himself, the originator and the soul of the whole +enterprise, found his courage hardly adequate to the work now that the +moment had arrived; and, in order to arouse the necessary excitement in +his soul, he looked up to the statue of Pompey, Caesar's ancient and +most formidable enemy, and invoked its aid. It gave him its aid. It +inspired him with some portion of the enmity with which the soul of its +great original had burned; and thus the soul of the living assassin was +nerved to its work by a sort of sympathy with a block of stone.</p> + +<p class="side">Plan of the conspirators.</p> + +<p>Foreseeing the necessity of something like a stimulus to action when the +immediate moment for action should arrive, the conspirators had agreed +that, as soon as Caesar was seated, they would approach him with a +petition, which he would probably refuse, and then, gathering around +him, they would urge him with their importunities, so as to produce, in +the confusion, a sort of excitement that would make it easier for them +to strike the blow.</p> + +<p class="side">Marc Antony.</p> + +<p>There was one person, a relative and friend of Caesar's, named Marcus +Antonius, called commonly, however, in English narratives, Marc Antony, +the same who has been already mentioned as having been subsequently +connected with Cleopatra. He was a very energetic and determined man, +who, they thought, might possibly attempt to defend him. To prevent +this, one of the conspirators had been designated to take him aside, and +occupy his attention with some pretended subject of discourse, ready, at +the same time, to resist and prevent his interference if he should show +himself inclined to offer any.</p> + +<p class="side">The petition.<br> +Caesar assaulted.</p> + +<p>Things being thus arranged, the petitioner, as had been agreed, advanced +to Caesar with his petition, others coming up at the same time as if to +second the request. The object of the petition was to ask for the pardon +of the brother of one of the conspirators. Caesar declined granting it. +The others then crowded around him, urging him to grant the request with +pressing importunities, all apparently reluctant to strike the first +blow. Caesar began to be alarmed, and attempted to repel them. One of +them then pulled down his robe from his neck to lay it bare. Caesar +arose, exclaiming, "But this is violence." At the same instant, one of +the conspirators struck at him with his sword, and wounded him slightly +in the neck.</p> + +<p class="side">He resists.</p> + +<p>All was now terror, outcry, and confusion Caesar had no time to draw his +sword, but fought a moment with his style, a sharp instrument of iron +with which they wrote, in those days, on waxen tablets, and which he +happened then to have in his hand. With this instrument he ran one of +his enemies through the arm.</p> + +<a name="Illus0286"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0286.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0286.jpg" width = "25%" +alt="POMPEY'S STATUE."> +</a><br> +<b>POMPEY'S STATUE.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Caesar is overcome.<br> +Pompey's statue.<br> +Caesar's death.</p> + +<p>This resistance was just what was necessary to excite the conspirators, +and give them the requisite resolution to finish their work. Caesar soon +saw the swords, accordingly, gleaming all around him, and thrusting +themselves at him on every side. The senators rose in confusion and +dismay, perfectly thunderstruck at the scene, and not knowing what to +do. Antony perceived that all resistance on his part would be +unavailing, and accordingly did not attempt any. Caesar defended himself +alone for a few minutes as well as he could, looking all around him in +vain for help, and retreating at the same time toward the pedestal of +Pompey's statue. At length, when he saw Brutus among his murderers, he +exclaimed, "And you too, Brutus?" and seemed from that moment to give up +in despair. He drew his robe over his face, and soon fell under the +wounds which he received. His blood ran out upon the pavement at the +foot of Pompey's statue, as if his death were a sacrifice offered to +appease his ancient enemy's revenge.</p> + +<p class="side">Flight of the senators.<br> +Great commotion.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the scene Brutus made an attempt to address the +senators, and to vindicate what they had done, but the confusion and +excitement were so great that it was impossible that any thing could be +heard. The senators were, in fact, rapidly leaving the place, going off +in every direction, and spreading the tidings over the city. The event, +of course, produced universal commotion. The citizens began to close +their shops, and some to barricade their houses, while others hurried to +and fro about the streets, anxiously inquiring for intelligence, and +wondering what dreadful event was next to be expected. Antony and +Lepidus, who were Caesar's two most faithful and influential friends, +not knowing how extensive the conspiracy might be, nor how far the +hostility to Caesar and his party might extend, fled, and, not daring to +go to their own houses, lest the assassins or their confederates might +pursue them there, sought concealment in the houses of friends on whom +they supposed they could rely and who were willing to receive them.</p> + +<p class="side">The Conspirators proceed to the Capitol.<br> +They glory in their deed.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the conspirators, glorying In the deed which they had +perpetrated, and congratulating each other on the successful issue of +their enterprise, sallied forth together from the senate-house, leaving +the body of their victim weltering in its blood, and marched, with drawn +swords in their hands, along the streets from the senate-house to the +Capitol. Brutus went at the head of them, preceded by a liberty cap +borne upon the point of a spear, and with his bloody dagger in his hand. +The Capitol was the citadel, built magnificently upon the Capitoline +Hill, and surrounded by temples, and other sacred and civil edifices, +which made the spot the architectural wonder of the world. As Brutus and +his company proceeded thither, they announced to the citizens, as they +went along, the great deed of deliverance which they had wrought out for +the country. Instead of seeking concealment, they gloried in the work +which they had done, and they so far succeeded in inspiring others with +a portion of their enthusiasm, that some men who had really taken no +part in the deed joined Brutus and his company in their march, to obtain +by stealth a share in the glory.</p> + +<p class="side">Number of Caesar's wounds.</p> + +<p>The body of Caesar lay for some time unheeded where it had fallen, the +attention of every one being turned to the excitement, which was +extending through the city, and to the expectation of other great events +which might suddenly develop themselves in other quarters of Rome. There +were left only three of Caesar's slaves, who gathered around the body to +look at the wounds. They counted them, and found the number +twenty-three. It shows, however, how strikingly, and with what +reluctance, the actors in this tragedy came up to their work at last, +that of all these twenty-three wounds only one was a mortal one. In +fact, it is probable that, while all of the conspirators struck the +victim in their turn, to fulfill the pledge which they had given to one +another that they would every one inflict a wound, each one hoped that +the fatal blow would be given, after all, by some other hand than +his own.</p> + +<p class="side">His slaves convey his body home.</p> + +<p>At last the slaves decided to convey the body home. They obtained a sort +of chair, which was made to be borne by poles, and placed the body upon +it. Then, lifting at the three handles, and allowing the fourth to hang +unsupported for want of a man, they bore the ghastly remains home to the +distracted Calpurnia.</p> + +<p class="side">Address of the conspirators.</p> + +<p>The next day Brutus and his associates called an assembly of the people +in the Forum, and made an address to them, explaining the motives which +had led them to the commission of the deed, and vindicating the +necessity and the justice of it. The people received these explanations +in silence. They expressed neither approbation nor displeasure. It was +not, in fact, to be expected that they would feel or evince any +satisfaction at the loss of their master. He had been their champion, +and, as they believed, their friend. The removal of Caesar brought no +accession of power nor increase of liberty to them. It might have been a +gain to ambitious senators, or powerful generals, or high officers of +state, by removing a successful rival out of their way, but it seemed to +promise little advantage to the community at large, other than the +changing of one despotism for another. Besides, a populace who know that +they mast be governed, prefer generally, if they must submit to some +control, to yield their submission to some one master spirit whom they +can look up to as a great and acknowledged superior. They had rather +have a Caesar than a Senate to command them.</p> + +<p class="side">Feelings of the populace.</p> + +<p>The higher authorities, however, were, at might have been expected, +disposed to acquiesce in the removal of Caesar from his intended throne. +The Senate met, and passed an act of indemnity, to shield the +conspirators from all legal liability for the deed they had done. In +order, however, to satisfy the people too, as far as possible, they +decreed divine honors to Caesar, confirmed and ratified all that he had +done while in the exercise of supreme power, and appointed a time for +the funeral, ordering arrangements to be made for a very pompous +celebration of it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's will.<br> +Its provisions.</p> + +<p>A will was soon found, which Caesar, it seems, had made some time +before. Calpurnia's father proposed that this will should be opened and +read in public at Antony's house; and this was accordingly done. The +provisions of the will were, many of them, of such a character as +renewed the feelings of interest and sympathy which the people of Rome +had begun to cherish for Caesar's memory. His vast estate was divided +chiefly among the children of his sister, as he had no children of his +own, while the very men who had been most prominent in his assassination +were named as trustees and guardians of the property; and one of them, +Decimus Brutus, the one who had been so urgent to conduct him to the +senate-house, was a second heir. He had some splendid gardens near the +Tiber, which he bequeathed to the citizens of Rome, and a large amount +of money also, to be divided among them, sufficient to give every man a +considerable sum.</p> + +<p class="side">Preparations for Caesar's funeral.<br> +The Field of Mars.</p> + +<p>The time for the celebration of the funeral ceremonies was made known by +proclamation, and, as the concourse of strangers and citizens of Rome +was likely to be so great as to forbid the forming of all into one +procession without consuming more than one day, the various classes of +the community were invited to come, each in their own way, to the Field +of Mars, bringing with them such insignia, offerings, and oblations as +they pleased. The Field of Mars was an immense parade ground, reserved +for military reviews, spectacles, and shows. A funeral pile was erected +here for the burning of the body There was to be a funeral discourse +pronounced, and Marc Antony had been designated to perform this duty. +The body had been placed in a gilded bed, under a magnificent canopy in +the form of a temple, before the rostra where the funeral discourse was +to be pronounced. The bed was covered with scarlet and cloth of gold and +at the head of it was laid the robe in which Caesar had been slain. It +was stained with blood, and pierced with the holes that the swords and +daggers of the conspirators had made.</p> + +<p class="side">Marc Antony's oration.<br> +The funeral pile.</p> + +<p>Marc Antony, instead of pronouncing a formal panegyric upon his deceased +friend, ordered a crier to read the decrees of the Senate, in which all +honors, human and divine, had been ascribed to Caesar. He then added a +few words of his own. The bed was then taken up, with the body upon it, +and borne out into the Forum, preparatory to conveying it to the pile +which had been prepared for it upon the Field of Mars, A question, +however, here arose among the multitude assembled in respect to the +proper place for burning the body. The people seemed inclined to select +the most honorable place which could be found within the limits of the +city. Some proposed a beautiful temple on the Capitoline Hill. Others +wished to take it to the senate-house, where he had been slain. The +Senate, and those who were less inclined to pay extravagant honors to +the departed hero, were in favor of some more retired spot, under +pretense that the buildings of the city would be endangered by the fire. +This discussion was fast becoming a dispute, when it was suddenly ended +by two men, with swords at their sides and knees in their hands, forcing +their way through the crowd with lighted torches, and setting the bed +and its canopy on fire where it lay.</p> + +<a name="Illus0287"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0287.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0287.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY."> +</a><br> +<b>BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">The body burned in the Forum.</p> + +<p>This settled the question, and the whole company were soon in the +wildest excitement with the work of building up a funeral pile upon the +spot. At first they brought fagots and threw upon the fire, then benches +from the neighboring courts and porticoes, and then any thing +combustible which came to hand. The honor done to the memory of a +deceased hero was, in some sense, in proportion to the greatness of his +funeral pile, and all the populace on this occasion began soon to seize +every thing they could find, appropriate and unappropriate, provided +that it would increase the flame. The soldiers threw on their lances and +spears, the musicians their instruments, and others stripped off the +cloths and trappings from the furniture of the procession, and heaped +them upon the burning pile.</p> + +<p class="side">The conflagration.</p> + +<p>So fierce and extensive was the fire, that it spread to some of the +neighboring houses, and required great efforts to prevent a general +conflagration. The people, too, became greatly excited by the scene. +They lighted torches by the fire, and went to the houses of Brutus and +Cassius, threatening vengeance upon them for the murder of Caesar. The +authorities succeeded though with infinite difficulty, in protecting +Brutus and Cassius from the violence of the mob, but they seized one +unfortunate citizen of the name of Cinna, thinking it a certain Cinna +who had been known as an enemy of Caesar. They cut off his head, +notwithstanding his shrieks and cries, and carried it about the city on +the tip of a pike, a dreadful symbol of their hostility to the enemies +of Caesar. As frequently happens, however, in such deeds of sudden +violence, these hasty and lawless avengers found afterward that they had +made a mistake, and beheaded the wrong man.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's monument.<br> +The comet.</p> + +<p>The Roman people erected a column to the memory of Caesar, on which they +placed the inscription, "To THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." They fixed the +figure of a star upon the summit of it, and some time afterward, while +the people were celebrating some games in honor of his memory, a great +comet blazed for seven nights in the sky, which they recognized as the +mighty hero's soul reposing in heaven.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full"> +<pre> + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** + +******* This file should be named 11688-h.txt or 11688-h.zip ******* + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/6/8/11688">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/6/8/11688</a> + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: History of Julius Caesar + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: March 23, 2004 [eBook #11688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11688-h.htm or 11688-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/6/8/11688/11688-h/11688-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/6/8/11688/11688-h.zip) + + + + + +HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR + +BY + +JACOB ABBOTT + +WITH ENGRAVINGS + +1904 + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR.] + + +[Illustration] + + + + +PREFACE + + +It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, +distinct, and connected narrative of the lives of those great personages +who have in various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as +leaders among mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public +affairs of great nations, have exerted the widest influence on the +history of the human race. The end which the author has had in view is +twofold: first, to communicate such information in respect to the +subjects of his narratives as is important for the general reader to +possess; and, secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events +described and the characters delineated as they may legitimately teach +to the people of the present age. Though written in a direct and simple +style, they are intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some +considerable degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully +appreciate the character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all +that is described in these volumes does, in close combination with the +conduct and policy of governments, and the great events of +international history. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Chapter + + I. MARIUS AND SYLLA. + II. CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS. + III. ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP. + IV. THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. + V. POMPEY. + VI. CROSSING THE RUBICON. + VII. THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. +VIII. FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY. + IX. CAESAR IN EGYPT. + X. CAESAR IMPERATOR. + XI. THE CONSPIRACY. + XII. THE ASSASSINATION. + + + +ENGRAVINGS. + +THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR. +MAP OF ROME. +ROMAN PLEBEIANS. +A ROMAN FORUM. +THE LANDING IN ENGLAND. +CROSSING THE RUBICON. +ROMAN STANDARD-BEARERS. +DEATH OF POMPEY. +POMPEY'S PILLAR. +CLEOPATRA'S BARGE. +THE ELEPHANTS MADE TORCH-BEARERS. +POMPEY'S STATUE. +BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT ROME.] + + + +JULIUS CAESAR. + +CHAPTER I. + +MARIUS AND SYLLA. + +[Sidenote: Three great European nations of antiquity.] + +There were three great European nations in ancient days, each of which +furnished history with a hero: the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and +the Romans. + +[Sidenote: Alexander.] + +Alexander was the hero of the Greeks. He was King of Macedon, a country +lying north of Greece proper. He headed an army of his countrymen, and +made an excursion for conquest and glory into Asia. He made himself +master of all that quarter of the globe, and reigned over it in Babylon, +till he brought himself to an early grave by the excesses into which his +boundless prosperity allured him. His fame rests on his triumphant +success in building up for himself so vast an empire, and the admiration +which his career has always excited among mankind is heightened by the +consideration of his youth, and of the noble and generous impulses +which strongly marked his character. + +[Sidenote: Hannibal.] +[Sidenote: His terrible energy.] + +The Carthaginian hero was Hannibal. We class the Carthaginians among the +European nations of antiquity; for, in respect to their origin, their +civilization, and all their commercial and political relations, they +belonged to the European race, though it is true that their capital was +on the African side of the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal was the great +Carthaginian hero. He earned his fame by the energy and implacableness +of his hate. The work of his life was to keep a vast empire in a state +of continual anxiety and terror for fifty years, so that his claim to +greatness and glory rests on the determination, the perseverance, and +the success with which he fulfilled his function of being, while he +lived, the terror of the world. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar.] + +The Roman hero was Caesar. He was born just one hundred years before the +Christian era. His renown does not depend, like that of Alexander, on +foreign conquests, nor, like that of Hannibal, on the terrible energy of +his aggressions upon foreign foes, but upon his protracted and dreadful +contests with, and ultimate triumphs over, his rivals and competitors at +home. When he appeared upon the stage, the Roman empire already +included nearly all of the world that was worth possessing. There were +no more conquests to be made. Caesar did, indeed, enlarge, in some +degree, the boundaries of the empire; but the main question in his day +was, who should possess the power which preceding conquerors +had acquired. + +[Sidenote: The ancient Roman empire.] +[Sidenote: The provinces.] + +The Roman empire, as it existed in those days, must not be conceived of +by the reader as united together under one compact and consolidated +government. It was, on the other hand, a vast congeries of nations, +widely dissimilar in every respect from each other, speaking various +languages, and having various customs and laws. They were all, however, +more or less dependent upon, and connected with, the great central +power. Some of these countries were provinces, and were governed by +officers appointed and sent out by the authorities at Rome. These +governors had to collect the taxes of their provinces, and also to +preside over and direct, in many important respects, the administration +of justice. They had, accordingly, abundant opportunities to enrich +themselves while thus in office, by collecting more money than they paid +over to the government at home, and by taking bribes to favor the rich +man's cause in court. Thus the more wealthy and prosperous provinces +were objects of great competition among aspirants for office at Rome. +Leading men would get these appointments, and, after remaining long +enough in their provinces to acquire a fortune, would come back to Rome, +and expend it in intrigues and maneuvers to obtain higher offices still. + +[Sidenote: Foreign wars.] +[Sidenote: The victorious general.] + +Whenever there was any foreign war to be carried on with a distant +nation or tribe, there was always a great eagerness among all the +military officers of the state to be appointed to the command. They each +felt sure that they should conquer in the contest, and they could enrich +themselves still more rapidly by the spoils of victory in war, than by +extortion and bribes in the government of a province in peace. Then, +besides, a victorious general coming back to Rome always found that his +military renown added vastly to his influence and power in the city. He +was welcomed with celebrations and triumphs; the people flocked to see +him and to shout his praise. He placed his trophies of victory in the +temples, and entertained the populace with games and shows, and with +combats of gladiators or of wild beasts, which he had brought home with +him for this purpose in the train of his army. While he was thus +enjoying his triumph, his political enemies would be thrown into the +back ground and into the shade; unless, indeed, some one of them might +himself be earning the same honors in some other field, to come back in +due time, and claim his share of power and celebrity in his turn. In +this case, Rome would be sometimes distracted and rent by the conflicts +and contentions of military rivals, who had acquired powers too vast for +all the civil influences of the Republic to regulate or control. + +[Illustration: ROMAN PLEBEIANS.] + +[Sidenote: Military rivals.] +[Sidenote: Marius and Sylla.] +[Sidenote: The patricians and plebeians.] +[Sidenote: Civil contests.] +[Sidenote: Quarrel about the command of the army.] +[Sidenote: Sylla's violence.] + +There had been two such rivals just before the time of Caesar, who had +filled the world with their quarrels. They were Marius and Sylla. Their +very names have been, in all ages of the world, since their day, the +symbols of rivalry and hate. They were the representatives respectively +of the two great parties into which the Roman state, like every other +community in which the population at large have any voice in governing, +always has been, and probably always will be divided, the upper and the +lower; or, as they were called in those days, the patrician and the +plebeian. Sylla was the patrician; the higher and more aristocratic +portions of the community were on his side. Marius was the favorite of +the plebeian masses. In the contests, however, which they waged with +each other, they did not trust to the mere influence of votes. They +relied much more upon the soldiers they could gather under their +respective standards and upon their power of intimidating, by means of +them, the Roman assemblies. There was a war to be waged with +Mithridates, a very powerful Asiatic monarch, which promised great +opportunities for acquiring fame and plunder. Sylla was appointed to the +command. While he was absent, however, upon some campaign in Italy, +Marius contrived to have the decision reversed, and the command +transferred to him Two officers, called tribunes, were sent to Sylla's +camp to inform him of the change. Sylla killed the officers for daring +to bring him such a message, and began immediately to march toward Rome. +In retaliation for the murder of the tribunes, the party of Marius in +the city killed some of Sylla's prominent friends there, and a general +alarm spread itself throughout the population. The Senate, which was a +sort of House of Lords, embodying mainly the power and influence of the +patrician party, and was, of course, on Sylla's side, sent out to him, +when he had arrived within a few miles of the city, urging him to come +no further. He pretended to comply; he marked out the ground for a camp; +but he did not, on that account, materially delay his march. The next +morning he was in possession of the city. The friends of Marius +attempted to resist him, by throwing stones upon his troops from the +roofs of the houses. Sylla ordered every house from which these +symptoms of resistance appeared to be set on fire. Thus the whole +population of a vast and wealthy city were thrown into a condition of +extreme danger and terror, by the conflicts of two great bands of armed +men, each claiming to be their friends. + +[Sidenote: Defeat of Marius.] + +Marius was conquered in this struggle, and fled for his life. Many of +the friends whom he left behind him were killed. The Senate were +assembled, and, at Sylla's orders, a decree was passed declaring Marius +a public enemy, and offering a reward to any one who would bring his +head back to Rome. + +[Sidenote: His flight.] + +Marius fled, friendless and alone, to the southward, hunted every where +by men who were eager to get the reward offered for his head. After +various romantic adventures and narrow escapes, he succeeded in making +his way across the Mediterranean Sea, and found at last a refuge in a +hut among the ruins of Carthage. He was an old man, being now over +seventy years of age. + +[Sidenote: Return of Marius.] +[Sidenote: He marches against Rome.] + +Of course, Sylla thought that his great rival and enemy was now finally +disposed of, and he accordingly began to make preparations for his +Asiatic campaign. He raised his army, built and equipped a fleet, and +went away. As soon as he was gone, Marius's friends in the city began to +come forth, and to take measures for reinstating themselves in power. +Marius returned, too, from Africa, and soon gathered about him a large +army. Being the friend, as he pretended, of the lower classes of +society, he collected vast multitudes of revolted slaves, outlaws, and +other desperadoes, and advanced toward Rome. He assumed, himself, the +dress, and air, and savage demeanor of his followers. His countenance +had been rendered haggard and cadaverous partly by the influence of +exposures, hardships, and suffering upon his advanced age, and partly by +the stern and moody plans and determinations of revenge which his mind +was perpetually revolving. He listened to the deputations which the +Roman Senate sent out to him from time to time, as he advanced toward +the city, but refused to make any terms. He moved forward with all the +outward deliberation and calmness suitable to his years, while all the +ferocity of a tiger was burning within. + +[Sidenote: Executions by order of Marius.] + +As soon as he had gained possession of the city, he began his work of +destruction. He first beheaded one of the consuls, and ordered his head +to be set up, as a public spectacle, in the most conspicuous place in +the city. This was the beginning. All the prominent friends of Sylla, +men of the highest rank and station, were then killed, wherever they +could be found, without sentence, without trial, without any other +accusation, even, than the military decision of Marius that they were +his enemies, and must die. For those against whom he felt any special +animosity, he contrived some special mode of execution. One, whose fate +he wished particularly to signalize, was thrown down from the +Tarpeian Rock. + +[Sidenote: The Tarpeian Rock.] + +The Tarpeian Rock was a precipice about fifty feet high, which is still +to be seen in Rome, from which the worst of state criminals were +sometimes thrown. They were taken up to the top by a stair, and were +then hurled from the summit, to die miserably, writhing in agony after +their fall, upon the rocks below. + +[Sidenote: The story of Tarpeia.] +[Sidenote: Subterranean passages.] + +The Tarpeian Rock received its name from the ancient story of Tarpeia. +The tale is, that Tarpeia was a Roman girl, who lived at a time in the +earliest periods of the Roman history, when the city was besieged by an +army from are of the neighboring nations. Besides their shields, the +story is that the soldiers had golden bracelets upon their arms. They +wished Tarpeia to open the gates and let them in. She promised to do so +if they would give her their bracelets; but, as she did not know the +name of the shining ornaments, the language she used to designate them +was, "Those things you have upon your arms." The soldiers acceded to her +terms; she opened the gates, and they, instead of giving her the +bracelets, threw their _shields_ upon her as they passed, until the poor +girl was crushed down with them and destroyed. This was near the +Tarpeian Rock, which afterward took her name. The rock is now found to +be perforated by a great many subterranean passages, the remains, +probably, of ancient quarries. Some of these galleries are now walled +up; others are open; and the people who live around the spot believe, it +is said, to this day, that Tarpeia herself sits, enchanted, far in the +interior of these caverns, covered with gold and jewels, but that +whoever attempts to find her is fated by an irresistible destiny to lose +his way, and he never returns. The last story is probably as true as +the other. + +[Sidenote: Escape of Sylla's wife.] + +Marius continued his executions and massacres until the whole of Sylla's +party had been slain or put to flight. He made every effort to discover +Sylla's wife and child, with a view to destroying them also, but they +could not be found. Some friends of Sylla, taking compassion on their +innocence and helplessness, concealed them, and thus saved Marius from +the commission of one intended crime. Marius was disappointed, too, in +some other cases, where men whom he had intended to kill destroyed +themselves to baffle his vengeance. One shut himself up in a room with +burning charcoal, and was suffocated with the fumes. Another bled +himself to death upon a public altar, calling down the judgments of the +god to whom he offered this dreadful sacrifice, upon the head of the +tyrant whose atrocious cruelty he was thus attempting to evade. + +[Sidenote: Illness of Marius.] +[Sidenote: Sylla outlawed.] + +By the time that Marius had got fairly established in his new position, +and was completely master of Rome, and the city had begun to recover a +little from the shock and consternation produced by his executions, he +fell sick. He was attacked with an acute disease of great violence. The +attack was perhaps produced, and was certainly aggravated by, the great +mental excitements through which he had passed during his exile, and in +the entire change of fortune which had attended his return. From being +a wretched fugitive, hiding for his life among gloomy and desolate +ruins, he found himself suddenly transferred to the mastery of the +world. His mind was excited, too, in respect to Sylla, whom he had not +yet reached or subdued, but who was still prosecuting his war against +Mithridates. Marius had had him pronounced by the Senate an enemy to his +country, and was meditating plans to reach him in his distant province, +considering his triumph incomplete as long as his great rival was at +liberty and alive. The sickness cut short these plans, but it only +inflamed to double violence the excitement and the agitations which +attended them. + +[Sidenote: Marius delirious.] +[Sidenote: Death of Marius.] + +As the dying tyrant tossed restlessly upon his bed, it was plain that +the delirious ravings which he began soon to utter were excited by the +same sentiments of insatiable ambition and ferocious hate whose calmer +dictates he had obeyed when well. He imagined that he had succeeded in +supplanting Sylla in his command, and that he was himself in Asia at the +head of his armies. Impressed with this idea, he stared wildly around; +he called aloud the name of Mithridates; he shouted orders to imaginary +troops; he struggled to break away from the restraints which the +attendants about his bedside imposed, to attack the phantom foes which +haunted him in his dreams. This continued for several days, and when at +last nature was exhausted by the violence of these paroxysms of phrensy, +the vital powers which had been for seventy long years spending their +strength in deeds of selfishness, cruelty, and hatred, found their work +done, and sunk to revive no more. + +[Sidenote: Return of Sylla.] +[Sidenote: Marius's son.] +[Sidenote: Proscriptions and massacres of Sylla.] + +Marius left a son, of the same name with himself, who attempted to +retain his father's power; but Sylla, having brought his war with +Mithridates to a conclusion, was now on his return from Asia, and it was +very evident that a terrible conflict was about to ensue. Sylla advanced +triumphantly through the country, while Marius the younger and his +partisans concentrated their forces about the city, and prepared for +defense. The people of the city were divided, the aristocratic faction +adhering to the cause of Sylla, while the democratic influences sided +with Marius. Political parties rise and fall, in almost all ages of the +world, in alternate fluctuations, like those of the tides. The faction +of Marius had been for some time in the ascendency, and it was now its +turn to fall. Sylla found, therefore, as he advanced, every thing +favorable to the restoration of his own party to power. He destroyed the +armies which came out to oppose him. He shut up the young Marius in a +city not far from Rome, where he had endeavored to find shelter and +protection, and then advanced himself and took possession of the city. +There he caused to be enacted again the horrid scenes of massacre and +murder which Marius had perpetrated before, going, however, as much +beyond the example which he followed as men usually do in the commission +of crime. He gave out lists of the names of men whom he wished to have +destroyed, and these unhappy victims of his revenge were to be hunted +out by bands of reckless soldiers, in their dwellings, or in the places +of public resort in the city, and dispatched by the sword wherever they +could be found. The scenes which these deeds created in a vast and +populous city can scarcely be conceived of by those who have never +witnessed the horrors produced by the massacres of civil war. Sylla +himself went through with this work in the most cool and unconcerned +manner, as if he were performing the most ordinary duties of an officer +of state. He called the Senate together one day, and, while he was +addressing them, the attention of the Assembly was suddenly distracted +by the noise of outcries and screams in the neighboring streets from +those who were suffering military execution there. The senators started +with horror at the sound. Sylla, with an air of great composure and +unconcern, directed the members to listen to him, and to pay no +attention to what was passing elsewhere. The sounds that they heard +were, he said, only some correction which was bestowed by his orders on +certain disturbers of the public peace. + +[Sidenote: Executions.] +[Sidenote: Extent of Sylla's proscriptions.] +[Sidenote: Man's nature.] + +Sylla's orders for the execution of those who had taken an active part +against him were not confined to Rome. They went to the neighboring +cities and to distant provinces, carrying terror and distress every +where. Still, dreadful as these evils were, it is possible for us, in +the conceptions which we form, to overrate the extent of them. In +reading the history of the Roman empire during the civil wars of Marius +and Sylla, one might easily imagine that the whole population of the +country was organized into the two contending armies, and were employed +wholly in the work of fighting with and massacring each other. But +nothing like this can be true. It is obviously but a small part, after +all, of an extended community that can be ever actively and personally +engaged in these deeds of violence and blood. Man is not naturally a +ferocious wild beast. On the contrary, he loves, ordinarily, to live in +peace and quietness, to till his lands and tend his flocks, and to enjoy +the blessings of peace and repose. It is comparatively but a small +number in any age of the world, and in any nation, whose passions of +ambition, hatred, or revenge become so strong as that they love +bloodshed and war. But these few, when they once get weapons into their +hands, trample recklessly and mercilessly upon the rest. One ferocious +human tiger, with a spear or a bayonet to brandish, will tyrannize as he +pleases over a hundred quiet men, who are armed only with shepherds' +crooks, and whose only desire is to live in peace with their wives and +their children. + +[Sidenote: Husbandmen.] +[Sidenote: How the Roman edifices were built.] +[Sidenote: Standing armies.] + +Thus, while Marius and Sylla, with some hundred thousand armed and +reckless followers, were carrying terror and dismay wherever they went, +there were many millions of herdsmen and husbandmen in the Roman world +who were dwelling in all the peace and quietness they could command, +improving with their peaceful industry every acre where corn would ripen +or grass grow. It was by taxing and plundering the proceeds of this +industry that the generals and soldiers, the consuls and praetors, and +proconsuls and propraetors, filled their treasuries, and fed their +troops, and paid the artisans for fabricating their arms. With these +avails they built the magnificent edifices of Rome, and adorned its +environs with sumptuous villas. As they had the power and the arms in +their hands, the peaceful and the industrious had no alternative but to +submit. They went on as well as they could with their labors, bearing +patiently every interruption, returning again to till their fields after +the desolating march of the army had passed away, and repairing the +injuries of violence, and the losses sustained by plunder, without +useless repining. They looked upon an armed government as a necessary +and inevitable affliction of humanity, and submitted to its destructive +violence as they would submit to an earthquake or a pestilence. The +tillers of the soil manage better in this country at the present day. +They have the power in their own hands, and they watch very narrowly to +prevent the organization of such hordes of armed desperadoes as have +held the peaceful inhabitants of Europe in terror from the earliest +periods down to the present day. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Sylla's animosity against him.] +[Sidenote: Caesar refuses to repudiate his wife.] +[Sidenote: His flight.] + +When Sylla returned to Rome, and took possession of the supreme power +there, in looking over the lists of public men, there was one whom he +did not know, at first what to do with. It was the young Julius Caesar, +the subject of this history. Caesar was, by birth, patrician, having +descended from a long line of noble ancestors. There had been, before +his day, a great many Caesars who had held the highest offices of the +state, and many of them had been celebrated in history. He naturally, +therefore, belonged to Sylla's side, as Sylla was the representative of +the patrician interest. But then Caesar had personally been inclined +toward the party of Marius. The elder Marius had married his aunt, and, +besides, Caesar himself had married the daughter of Cinna, who had been +the most efficient and powerful of Marius's coadjutors and friends. +Caesar was at this time a very young man, and he was of an ardent and +reckless character, though he had, thus far, taken no active part in +public affairs. Sylla overlooked him for a time, but at length was about +to put his name on the list of the proscribed. Some of the nobles, who +were friends both of Sylla and of Caesar too, interceded for the young +man; Sylla yielded to their request, or, rather, suspended his +decision, and sent orders to Caesar to repudiate his wife, the daughter +of Cinna. Her name was Cornelia. Caesar absolutely refused to repudiate +his wife. He was influenced in this decision partly by affection for +Cornelia, and partly by a sort of stern and indomitable +insubmissiveness, which formed, from his earliest years, a prominent +trait in his character, and which led him, during all his life, to brave +every possible danger rather than allow himself to be controlled. Caesar +knew very well that, when this his refusal should be reported to Sylla, +the next order would be for his destruction. He accordingly fled. Sylla +deprived him of his titles and offices, confiscated his wife's fortune +and his own patrimonial estate, and put his name upon the list of the +public enemies. Thus Caesar became a fugitive and an exile. The +adventures which befell him in his wanderings will be described in the +following chapter. + +[Sidenote: Sylla made dictator.] +[Sidenote: He resigns his power.] + +Sylla was now in the possession of absolute power. He was master of +Rome, and of all the countries over which Rome held sway. Still he was +nominally not a magistrate, but only a general returning victoriously +from his Asiatic campaign, and putting to death, somewhat irregularly, +it is true, by a sort of martial law persons whom he found, as he said, +disturbing the public peace. After having thus effectually disposed of +the power of his enemies, he laid aside, ostensibly, the government of +the sword, and submitted himself and his future measures to the control +of law. He placed himself ostensibly at the disposition of the city. +They chose him dictator, which was investing him with absolute and +unlimited power. He remained on this, the highest pinnacle of worldly +ambition, a short time, and then resigned his power, and devoted the +remainder of his days to literary pursuits and pleasures. Monster as he +was in the cruelties which he inflicted upon his political foes, he was +intellectually of a refined and cultivated mind, and felt an ardent +interest in the promotion of literature and the arts. + +[Sidenote: Opinion of mankind in regard to Marius and Sylla.] + +The quarrel between Marius and Sylla, in respect to every thing which +can make such a contest great, stands in the estimation of mankind as +the greatest personal quarrel which the history of the world has ever +recorded. Its origin was in the simple personal rivalry of two ambitious +men. It involved, in its consequences, the peace and happiness of the +world. In their reckless struggles, the fierce combatants trampled on +every thing that came in their way, and destroyed mercilessly, each in +his turn, all that opposed them. Mankind have always execrated their +crimes, but have never ceased to admire the frightful and almost +superhuman energy with which they committed them. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's resolution.] + +Caesar does not seem to have been much disheartened and depressed by his +misfortunes. He possessed in his early life more than the usual share of +buoyancy and light-heartedness of youth, and he went away from Rome to +enter, perhaps, upon years of exile and wandering, with a determination +to face boldly and to brave the evils and dangers which surrounded him, +and not to succumb to them. + +[Sidenote: His person and character.] + +Sometimes they who become great in their maturer years are thoughtful, +grave, and sedate when young. It was not so, however, with Caesar. He +was of a very gay and lively disposition. He was tall and handsome in +his person, fascinating in his manners, and fond of society, as people +always are who know or who suppose that they shine in it. He had seemed, +in a word, during his residence at Rome, wholly intent upon the +pleasures of a gay and joyous life, and upon the personal observation +which his rank, his wealth, his agreeable manners and his position in +society secured for him. In fact, they who observed and studied his +character in these early years, thought that, although his situation was +very favorable for acquiring power and renown, he would never feel any +strong degree of ambition to avail himself of its advantages. He was too +much interested, they thought, in personal pleasures ever to become +great, either as a military commander or a statesman. + +[Sidenote: Sylla's estimation of Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's friends intercede for him.] + +Sylla, however, thought differently. He had penetration enough to +perceive, beneath all the gayety and love of pleasure which +characterized Caesar's youthful life, the germs of a sterner and more +aspiring spirit, which, he was very sorry to see, was likely to expend +its future energies in hostility to him. By refusing to submit to +Sylla's commands, Caesar had, in effect, thrown himself entirely upon +the other party, and would be, of course, in future identified with +them. Sylla consequently looked upon him now as a confirmed and settled +enemy. Some friends of Caesar among the patrician families interceded in +his behalf with Sylla again, after he had fled from Rome. They wished +Sylla to pardon him, saying that he was a mere boy and could do him no +harm. Sylla shook his head, saying that, young as he was, he saw in him +indications of a future power which he thought was more to be dreaded +than that of many Mariuses. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's studies.] +[Sidenote: His ambition to be an orator.] + +One reason which led Sylla to form this opinion of Caesar was, that the +young nobleman, with all his love of gayety and pleasure, had not +neglected his studies, but had taken great pains to perfect himself in +such intellectual pursuits as ambitious men who looked forward to +political influence and ascendency were accustomed to prosecute in those +days He had studied the Greek language, and read the works of Greek +historians; and he attended lectures on philosophy and rhetoric, and was +obviously interested deeply in acquiring power as a public speaker. To +write and speak well gave a public man great influence in those days. +Many of the measures of the government were determined by the action of +great assemblies of the free citizens, which action was itself, in a +great measure, controlled by the harangues of orators who had such +powers of voice and such qualities of mind as enabled them to gain the +attention and sway the opinions of large bodies of men. + +[Sidenote: The Forum.] +[Sidenote: Its porticoes and statues.] +[Sidenote: Attractions of the Forum.] + +It most not be supposed, however, that this popular power was shared by +all the inhabitants of the city. At one time, when the population of the +city was about three millions the number of free citizens was only three +hundred thousand. The rest were laborers, artisans, and slaves, who had +no voice in public affairs. The free citizens held very frequent public +assemblies. There were various squares and open spaces in the city where +such assemblies were convened, and where courts of justice were held. +The Roman name for such a square was _forum_. There was one which was +distinguished above all the rest, and was called emphatically The Forum. +It was a magnificent square, surrounded by splendid edifices, and +ornamented by sculptures and statues without number. There were ranges +of porticoes along the sides, where the people were sheltered from the +weather when necessary, though it is seldom that there is any necessity +for shelter under an Italian sky. In this area and under these porticoes +the people held their assemblies, and here courts of justice were +accustomed to sit. The Forum was ornamented continually with new +monuments, temples, statues, and columns by successful generals +returning in triumph from foreign campaigns, and by proconsuls and +praetors coming back enriched from their provinces, until it was +fairly choked up with its architectural magnificence, and it had at last +to be partially cleared again, as one would thin out too dense a forest, +in order to make room for the assemblies which it was its main function +to contain. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN FORUM] + +[Sidenote: Harangues and political discussions.] + +The people of Rome had, of course, no printed books, and yet they were +mentally cultivated and refined, and were qualified for a very high +appreciation of intellectual pursuits and pleasures. In the absence, +therefore, of all facilities for private reading, the Forum became the +great central point of attraction. The same kind of interest which, in +our day, finds its gratification in reading volumes of printed history +quietly at home, or in silently perusing the columns of newspapers and +magazines in libraries and reading-rooms, where a whisper is seldom +heard, in Caesar's day brought every body to the Forum, to listen to +historical harangues, or political discussions, or forensic arguments in +the midst of noisy crowds. Here all tidings centered; here all questions +were discussed and all great elections held. Here were waged those +ceaseless conflicts of ambition and struggles of power on which the fate +of nations, and sometimes the welfare of almost half mankind depended. +Of course, every ambitious man who aspired to an ascendency over his +fellow-men, wished to make his voice heard in the Forum. To calm the +boisterous tumult there, and to hold, as some of the Roman orators could +do, the vast assemblies in silent and breathless attention, was a power +as delightful in its exercise as it was glorious in its fame. Caesar had +felt this ambition, and had devoted himself very earnestly to the study +of oratory. + +[Sidenote: Apollonius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar studies under him.] + +His teacher was Apollonius, a philosopher and rhetorician from Rhodes. +Rhodes is a Grecian island, near the southwestern coast of Asia Minor +Apollonius was a teacher of great celebrity, and Caesar became a very +able writer and speaker under his instructions. His time and attention +were, in fact, strangely divided between the highest and noblest +intellectual avocations, and the lowest sensual pleasures of a gay and +dissipated life. The coming of Sylla had, however, interrupted all; and, +after receiving the dictator's command to give up his wife and abandon +the Marian faction, and determining to disobey it, he fled suddenly from +Rome, as was stated at the close of the last chapter, at midnight, and +in disguise. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's wanderings.] +[Sidenote: He is seized by a centurion.] + +He was sick, too, at the time, with an intermittent fever. The paroxysm +returned once in three or four days, leaving him in tolerable health +during the interval. He went first into the country of the Sabines, +northeast of Rome, where he wandered up and down, exposed continually to +great dangers from those who knew that he was an object of the great +dictator's displeasure, and who were sure of favor and of a reward if +they could carry his head to Sylla He had to change his quarters every +day, and to resort to every possible mode of concealment. He was, +however, at last discovered, and seized by a centurion. A centurion was +a commander of a hundred men; his rank and his position therefore, +corresponded somewhat with those of a _captain_ in a modern army. Caesar +was not much disturbed at this accident. He offered the centurion a +bribe sufficient to induce him to give up his prisoner, and so escaped. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: He joins the court of Nicomedes.] + +The two ancient historians, whose records contain nearly all the +particulars of the early life of Caesar which are now known, give +somewhat contradictory accounts of the adventures which befell him +during his subsequent wanderings. They relate, in general, the same +incidents, but in such different connections, that the precise +chronological order of the events which occurred can not now be +ascertained. At all events, Caesar, finding that he was no longer safe +in the vicinity of Rome, moved gradually to the eastward, attended by a +few followers, until he reached the sea, and there he embarked on board +a ship to leave his native land altogether. After various adventures and +wanderings, he found himself at length in Asia Minor, and he made his +way at last to the kingdom of Bithynia, on the northern shore. The name +of the king of Bithynia was Nicomedes. Caesar joined himself to +Nicomedes's court, and entered into his service. In the mean time, Sylla +had ceased to pursue him, and ultimately granted him a pardon, but +whether before or after this time is not now to be ascertained. At all +events, Caesar became interested in the scenes and enjoyments of +Nicomedes's court, and allowed the time to pass away without forming any +plans for returning to Rome. + +[Sidenote: Cilicia.] +[Sidenote: Character of its inhabitants.] + +On the opposite side of Asia Minor, that is, on the southern shore, +there was a wild and mountainous region called Cilicia. The great chain +of mountains called Taurus approaches here very near to the sea, and the +steep conformations of the land, which, in the interior, produce lofty +ranges and summits, and dark valleys and ravines, form, along the line +of the shore, capes and promontories, bounded by precipitous sides, and +with deep bays and harbors between them. The people of Cilicia were +accordingly half sailors, half mountaineers. They built swift galleys, +and made excursions in great force over the Mediterranean Sea for +conquest and plunder. They would capture single ships, and sometimes +even whole fleets of merchantmen. They were even strong enough on many +occasions to land and take possession of a harbor and a town, and hold +it, often, for a considerable time, against all the efforts of the +neighboring powers to dislodge them. In case, however, their enemies +became at any time too strong for them, they would retreat to their +harbors, which were so defended by the fortresses which guarded them, +and by the desperate bravery of the garrisons, that the pursuers +generally did not dare to attempt to force their way in; and if, in any +case, a town or a port was taken, the indomitable savages would continue +their retreat to the fastnesses of the mountains, where it was utterly +useless to attempt to follow them. + +[Sidenote: The Cilicians wanting in poets and historians.] +[Sidenote: Robbers and pirates.] + +But with all their prowess and skill as naval combatants, and their +hardihood as mountaineers, the Cilicians lacked one thing which is very +essential in every nation to an honorable military fame. They had no +poets or historians of their own, so that the story of their deeds had +to be told to posterity by their enemies. If they had been able to +narrate their own exploits, they would have figured, perhaps, upon the +page of history as a small but brave and efficient maritime power, +pursuing for many years a glorious career of conquest, and acquiring +imperishable renown by their enterprise and success. As it was, the +Romans, their enemies, described their deeds and gave them their +designation. They called them robbers and pirates; and robbers and +pirates they must forever remain. + +[Sidenote: Depredations of the Cilicians.] + +And it is, in fact, very likely true that the Cilician commanders did +not pursue their conquests and commit their depredations on the rights +and the property of others in quite so systematic and methodical a +manner as some other conquering states have done. They probably seized +private property a little more unceremoniously than is customary; though +all belligerent nations, even in these Christian ages of the world, feel +at liberty to seize and confiscate private property when they find it +afloat at sea, while, by a strange inconsistency, they respect it on +the land. The Cilician pirates considered themselves at war with all +mankind, and, whatever merchandise they found passing from port to port +along the shores of the Mediterranean, they considered lawful spoil. +They intercepted the corn which was going from Sicily to Rome, and +filled their own granaries with it. They got rich merchandise from the +ships of Alexandria, which brought, sometimes, gold, and gems, and +costly fabrics from the East; and they obtained, often, large sums of +money by seizing men of distinction and wealth, who were continually +passing to and fro between Italy and Greece, and holding them for a +ransom. They were particularly pleased to get possession in this way of +Roman generals and officers of state, who were going out to take the +command of armies, or who were returning from their provinces with the +wealth which they had accumulated there. + +[Sidenote: Expeditions sent against them.] +[Sidenote: Boldness and courage of the Cilicians.] + +Many expeditions were fitted out and many naval commanders were +commissioned to sup press and subdue these common enemies of mankind, as +the Romans called them. At one time, while a distinguished general, +named Antonius, was in pursuit of them at the head of a fleet, a party +of the pirates made a descent upon the Italian coast, south of Rome, at +Nicenum, where the ancient patrimonial mansion of this very Antonius was +situated, and took away several members of his family as captives, and +so compelled him to ransom them by paying a very large sum of money. The +pirates grew bolder and bolder in proportion to their success. They +finally almost stopped all intercourse between Italy and Greece, neither +the merchants daring to expose their merchandise, nor the passengers +their persons to such dangers. They then approached nearer and nearer to +Rome, and at last actually entered the Tiber, and surprised and carried +off a Roman fleet which was anchored there. Caesar himself fell into the +hands of these pirates at some time during the period of his wanderings. + +[Sidenote: They capture Caesar.] + +The pirates captured the ship in which he was sailing near Pharmacusa, a +small island in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. He was not at +this time in the destitute condition in which he had found himself on +leaving Rome, but was traveling with attendants suitable to his rank, +and in such a style and manner as at once made it evident to the pirates +that he was a man of distinction. They accordingly held him for ransom, +and, in the mean time, until he could take measures for raising the +money, they kept him a prisoner on board the vessel which had +captured him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's air of superiority.] +[Sidenote: His ransom.] + +In this situation, Caesar, though entirely in the power and at the mercy +of his lawless captors, assumed such an air of superiority and command +in all his intercourse with them as at first awakened their +astonishment, then excited their admiration, and ended in almost +subjecting them to his will. He asked them what they demanded for his +ransom. They said twenty talents, which was quite a large amount, a +talent itself being a considerable sum of money. Caesar laughed at this +demand, and told them it was plain that they did not know who he was, He +would give them _fifty_ talents. He then sent away his attendants to the +shore, with orders to proceed to certain cities where he was known, in +order to procure the money, retaining only a physician and two servants +for himself. While his messengers were gone, he remained on board +the ship of his captors, assuming in every respect the air and manner of +their master. When he wished to sleep, if they made a noise which +disturbed him, he sent them orders to be still. He joined them in their +sports and diversions on the deck, surpassing them in their feats, and +taking the direction of every thing as if he were their acknowledged +leader. He wrote orations and verses which he read to them, and if his +wild auditors did not appear to appreciate the literary excellence of +his compositions, he told them that they were stupid fools without any +taste, adding, by way of apology, that nothing better could be expected +of such barbarians. + +The pirates asked him one day what he should do to them if he should +ever, at any future time, take them prisoners. Caesar said that he would +crucify every one of them. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at liberty.] +[Sidenote: He captures the pirates in his turn.] + +The ransom money at length arrived. Caesar paid it to the pirates, and +they, faithful to their covenant, sent him in a boat to the land. He was +put ashore on the coast of Asia Minor. He proceeded immediately to +Miletus, the nearest port, equipped a small fleet there, and put +to sea. He sailed at once to the roadstead where the pirates had been +lying, and found them still at anchor there, in perfect security.[1] He +attacked them, seized their ships, recovered his ransom money, and took +the men all prisoners. He conveyed his captives to the land, and there +fulfilled his threat that he would crucify them by cutting their +throats and nailing their dead bodies to crosses which his men erected +for the purpose along the shore. + +[Footnote 1: See Frontispiece] + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Rhodes.] + +During his absence from Rome Caesar went to Rhodes, where his former +preceptor resided, and he continued to pursue there for some time his +former studies. He looked forward still to appearing one day in the +Roman Forum. In fact, he began to receive messages from his friends at +home that they thought it would be safe for him to return. Sylla had +gradually withdrawn from power, and finally had died. The aristocratical +party were indeed still in the ascendency, but the party of Marius had +begun to recover a little from the total overthrow with which Sylla's +return, and his terrible military vengeance, had overwhelmed them. +Caesar himself, therefore, they thought, might, with prudent management, +be safe in returning to Rome. + +[Sidenote: He returns to Rome.] +[Sidenote: Caesar impeaches Dolabella.] +[Sidenote: Excitement in consequence.] + +He returned, but not to be prudent or cautious; there was no element of +prudence or caution in his character. As soon as he arrived, he openly +espoused the popular party. His first public act was to arraign the +governor of the great province of Macedonia, through which he had passed +on his way to Bithynia. It was a consul whom he thus impeached, and a +strong partisan of Sylla's. His name was Dolabella. The people were +astonished at his daring in thus raising the standard of resistance to +Sylla's power, indirectly, it is true, but none the less really on that +account. When the trial came on, and Caesar appeared at the Forum, he +gained great applause by the vigor and force of his oratory. There was, +of course, a very strong and general interest felt in the case; the +people all seeming to understand that, in this attack on Dolabella, +Caesar was appearing as their champion, and their hopes were revived at +having at last found a leader capable of succeeding Marius, and building +up their cause again. Dolabella was ably defended by orators on the +other side, and was, of course, acquitted, for the power of Sylla's +party was still supreme. All Rome, however, was aroused and excited by +the boldness of Caesar's attack, and by the extraordinary ability which +he evinced in his mode of conducting it. He became, in fact, at once one +of the most conspicuous and prominent men in the city. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's increasing power.] + +Encouraged by his success, and the applauses which he received, and +feeling every day a greater and greater consciousness of power, he +began to assume more and more openly the character of the leader of the +popular party. He devoted himself to public speaking in the Forum, both +before popular assemblies and in the courts of justice, where he was +employed a great deal as an advocate to defend those who were accused of +political crimes. The people, considering him as their rising champion, +were predisposed to regard every thing that he did with favor, and there +was really a great intellectual power displayed in his orations and +harangues. He acquired, in a word, great celebrity by his boldness and +energy, and his boldness and energy were themselves increased in their +turn as he felt the strength of his position increase with his growing +celebrity. + +[Sidenote: Death of Marius's wife.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's panegyric on Marius's wife.] +[Sidenote: Its success.] + +At length the wife of Marius, who was Caesar's aunt, died. She had lived +in obscurity since her husband's proscription and death, his party +having been put down so effectually that it was dangerous to appear to +be her friend. Caesar, however, made preparations for a magnificent +funeral for her. There was a place in the Forum, a sort of pulpit, where +public orators were accustomed to stand in addressing the assembly on +great occasions. This pulpit was adorned with the brazen beaks of ships +which had been taken by the Romans in former wars The name of such a +beak was _rostrum_; in the plural, _rostra_. The pulpit was itself, +therefore, called the _Rostra_, that is, The Beaks; and the people were +addressed from it on great public occasions.[2] Caesar pronounced a +splendid panegyric upon the wife of Marius, at this her funeral, from +the Rostra, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, and he +had the boldness to bring out and display to the people certain +household images of Marius, which had been concealed from view ever +since his death. Producing them again on such an occasion was annulling, +so far as a public orator could do it, the sentence of condemnation +which Sylla and the patrician party had pronounced against him, and +bringing him forward again as entitled to public admiration and +applause. The patrician partisans who were present attempted to rebuke +this bold maneuver with expressions of disapprobation, but these +expressions were drowned in the loud and long-continued bursts of +applause with which the great mass of the assembled multitude hailed and +sanctioned it. The experiment was very bold and very hazardous, but it +was triumphantly successful. + +[Footnote 2: In modern books this pulpit is sometimes called the +Rostrum, using the word in the singular.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar's oration on his wife.] +[Sidenote: Alarm of the patricians.] + +A short time after this Caesar had another opportunity for delivering a +funeral oration; it was in the case of his own wife, the daughter of +Cinna, who had been the colleague and coadjutor of Marius during the +days of his power. It was not usual to pronounce such panegyrics upon +Roman ladies unless they had attained to an advanced age. Caesar, +however, was disposed to make the case of his own wife an exception to +the ordinary rule. He saw in the occasion an opportunity to give a new +impulse to the popular cause, and to make further progress in gaining +the popular favor. The experiment was successful in this instance too. +The people were pleased at the apparent affection which his action +evinced; and as Cornelia was the daughter of Cinna, he had opportunity, +under pretext of praising the birth and parentage of the deceased, to +laud the men whom Sylla's party had outlawed and destroyed. In a word, +the patrician party saw with anxiety and dread that Caesar was rapidly +consolidating and organizing, and bringing back to its pristine strength +and vigor, a party whose restoration to power would of course involve +their own political, and perhaps personal ruin. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in office.] +[Sidenote: Shows and entertainments.] + +Caesar began soon to receive appointments to public office, and thus +rapidly increased his influence and power. Public officers and +candidates for office were accustomed in those days to expend great sums +of money in shows and spectacles to amuse the people. Caesar went beyond +all limits in these expenditures. He brought gladiators from distant +provinces, and trained them at great expense, to fight in the enormous +amphitheaters of the city, in the midst of vast assemblies of men. Wild +beasts were procured also from the forests of Africa, and brought over +in great numbers, under his direction, that the people might be +entertained by their combats with captives taken in war, who were +reserved for this dreadful fate. Caesar gave, also, splendid +entertainments, of the most luxurious and costly character, and he +mingled with his guests at these entertainments, and with the people at +large on other occasions, in so complaisant and courteous a manner as to +gain universal favor. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's extravagances.] +[Sidenote: His embarrassments.] + +He soon, by these means, not only exhausted all his own pecuniary +resources, but plunged himself enormously into debt. It was not +difficult for such a man in those days to procure an almost unlimited +credit for such purposes as these, for every one knew that, if he +finally succeeded in placing himself, by means of the popularity thus +acquired, in stations of power, he could soon indemnify himself and all +others who had aided him. The peaceful merchants, and artisans, and +husbandmen of the distant provinces over which he expected to rule, +would yield the revenues necessary to fill the treasuries thus +exhausted. Still, Caesar's expenditures were so lavish, and the debts he +incurred were so enormous, that those who had not the most unbounded +confidence in his capacity and his powers believed him irretrievably +ruined. + +The particulars, however, of these difficulties, and the manner in which +Caesar contrived to extricate himself from them, will be more fully +detailed in the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's rise to power.] + +From this time, which was about sixty-seven years before the birth of +Christ, Caesar remained for nine years generally at Rome, engaged there +in a constant struggle for power. He was successful in these efforts, +rising all the time from one position of influence and honor to another, +until he became altogether the most prominent and powerful man in the +city. A great many incidents are recorded, as attending these contests, +which illustrate in a very striking manner the strange mixture of rude +violence and legal formality by which Rome was in those days governed. + +[Sidenote: Government of Rome.] +[Sidenote: Bribery and corruption.] +[Sidenote: Public amusements.] + +Many of the most important offices of the state depended upon the votes +of the people; and as the people had very little opportunity to become +acquainted with the real merits of the case in respect to questions of +government, they gave their votes very much according to the personal +popularity of the candidate. Public men had very little moral principle +in those days, and they would accordingly resort to any means whatever +to procure this personal popularity. They who wanted office were +accustomed to bribe influential men among the people to support them, +sometimes by promising them subordinate offices, and sometimes by the +direct donation of sums of money; and they would try to please the mass +of the people, who were too numerous to be paid with offices or with +gold, by shows and spectacles, and entertainments of every kind which +they would provide for their amusement. + +This practice seems to us very absurd; and we wonder that the Roman +people should tolerate it, since it is evident that the means for +defraying these expenses must come, ultimately, in some way or other, +from them. And yet, absurd as it seems, this sort of policy is not +wholly disused even in our day. The operas and the theaters, and other +similar establishments in France, are sustained, in part, by the +government; and the liberality and efficiency with which this is done, +forms, in some degree, the basis of the popularity of each succeeding +administration. The plan is better systematized and regulated in our +day, but it is, in its nature, substantially the same. + +[Sidenote: Amusements for the people.] + +In fact, furnishing amusements for the people, and also providing +supplies for their wants, as well as affording them protection, were +considered the legitimate objects of government in those days. It is +very different at the present time, and especially in this country. The +whole community are now united in the desire to confine the functions of +government within the narrowest possible limits, such as to include only +the preservation of public order and public safety. The people prefer to +supply their own wants and to provide their own enjoyments, rather than +to invest government with the power to do it for them, knowing very well +that, on the latter plan, the burdens they will have to bear, though +concealed for a time, must be doubled in the end. + +[Sidenote: Provided by the government.] +[Sidenote: How the people were supported.] +[Sidenote: Agrarian laws.] + +It must not be forgotten, however, that there were some reasons in the +days of the Romans for providing public amusements for the people on an +extended scale which do not exist now. They had very few facilities then +for the private and separate enjoyments of home, so that they were much +more inclined than the people of this country are now to seek pleasure +abroad and in public. The climate, too, mild and genial nearly all the +year, favored this. Then they were not interested, as men are now, in +the pursuits and avocations of private industry. The people of Rome were +not a community of merchants, manufacturers, and citizens, enriching +themselves, and adding to the comforts and enjoyments of the rest of +mankind by the products of their labor. They were supported, in a great +measure, by the proceeds of the tribute of foreign provinces, and by the +plunder taken by the generals in the name of the state in foreign wars. +From the same source, too--foreign conquest--captives were brought home, +to be trained as gladiators to amuse them with their combats, and +statues and paintings to ornament the public buildings of the city. In +the same manner, large quantities of corn, which had been taken in the +provinces, were often distributed at Rome. And sometimes even land +itself, in large tracts, which had been confiscated by the state, or +otherwise taken from the original possessors, was divided among the +people. The laws enacted from time to time for this purpose were called +Agrarian laws; and the phrase afterward passed into a sort of proverb, +inasmuch as plans proposed in modern times for conciliating the favor of +the populace by sharing among them property belonging to the state or to +the rich, are designated by the name of _Agrarianism_. + +[Sidenote: Government of Rome.] +[Sidenote: Its foreign policy.] + +Thus Rome was a city supported, in a great measure, by the fruits of its +conquests, that is, in a certain sense, by plunder. It was a vast +community most efficiently and admirably organized for this purpose; and +yet it would not be perfectly just to designate the people simply as a +band of robbers. They rendered, in some sense, an equivalent for what +they took, in establishing and enforcing a certain organization of +society throughout the world, and in preserving a sort of public order +and peace. They built cities, they constructed aqueducts and roads; they +formed harbors, and protected them by piers and by castles; they +protected commerce, and cultivated the arts, and encouraged literature, +and enforced a general quiet and peace among mankind, allowing of no +violence or war except what they themselves created. Thus they +_governed_ the world, and they felt, as all governors of mankind always +do, fully entitled to supply themselves with the comforts and +conveniences of life, in consideration of the service which they +thus rendered. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's policy.] + +Of course, it was to be expected that they would sometimes quarrel among +themselves about the spoils. Ambitious men were always arising, eager to +obtain opportunities to make fresh conquests, and to bring home new +supplies, and those who were most successful in making the results of +their conquests available in adding to the wealth and to the public +enjoyments of the city, would, of course, be most popular with the +voters. Hence extortion in the provinces, and the most profuse and +lavish expenditure in the city, became the policy which every great man +must pursue to rise to power. + +[Sidenote: His success.] + +Caesar entered into this policy with his whole soul, founding all his +hopes of success upon the favor of the populace. Of course, he had many +rivals and opponents among the patrician ranks, and in the Senate, and +they often impeded and thwarted his plans and measures for a time, +though he always triumphed in the end. + +[Sidenote: He is made quaestor.] +[Sidenote: Caesar leaves Spain.] +[Sidenote: His project.] + +One of the first offices of importance to which he attained was that of +_quaestor_, as it was called, which office called him away from Rome +into the province of Spain, making him the second in command there. The +officer first in command in the province was, in this instance, a +praetor. During his absence in Spain, Caesar replenished in some degree +his exhausted finances, but he soon became very much discontented with +so subordinate a position. His discontent was greatly increased by his +coming unexpectedly, one day, at a city then called Hades--the present +Cadiz--upon a statue of Alexander, which adorned one of the public +edifices there. Alexander died when he was only about thirty years of +age, having before that period made himself master of the world. Caesar +was himself now about thirty-five years of age, and it made him very sad +to reflect that, though he had lived five years longer than Alexander, +he had yet accomplished so little. He was thus far only the second in a +province, while he burned with an insatiable ambition to be the first in +Rome. The reflection made him so uneasy that he left his post before his +time expired, and went back to Rome, forming, on the way, desperate +projects for getting power there. + +[Sidenote: Caesar accused of treason.] + +His rivals and enemies accused him of various schemes, more or less +violent and treasonable in their nature, but how justly it is not now +possible to ascertain. They alleged that one of his plans was to join +some of the neighboring colonies, whose inhabitants wished to be +admitted to the freedom of the city, and, making common cause with them, +to raise an armed force and take possession of Rome. It was said that, +to prevent the accomplishment of this design, an army which they had +raised for the purpose of an expedition against the Cilician pirates was +detained from its march, and that Caesar, seeing that the government +were on their guard against him, abandoned the plan. + +They also charged him with having formed, after this, a plan within the +city for assassinating the senators in the senate house, and then +usurping, with his fellow-conspirators, the supreme power. Crassus, who +was a man of vast wealth and a great friend of Caesar's, was associated +with him in this plot, and was to have been made dictator if it had +succeeded. But, notwithstanding the brilliant prize with which Caesar +attempted to allure Crassus to the enterprise, his courage failed him +when the time for action arrived. Courage and enterprise, in fact, ought +not to be expected of the rich; they are the virtues of poverty. + +[Sidenote: He is made aedile.] +[Sidenote: Gladiatorial shows.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's increasing popularity.] + +Though the Senate were thus jealous and suspicious of Caesar, and were +charging him continually with these criminal designs, the people were on +his side; and the more he was hated by the great, the more strongly he +became intrenched in the popular favor. They chose him _aedile_. The +aedile had the charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the +games spectacles, and shows which were exhibited in them. Caesar +entered with great zeal into the discharge of the duties of this office. +He made arrangements for the entertainment of the people on the most +magnificent scale, and made great additions and improvements to the +public buildings, constructing porticoes and piazzas around the areas +where his gladiatorial shows and the combats with wild beasts were to be +exhibited. He provided gladiators in such numbers, and organized and +arranged them in such a manner, ostensibly for their training, that his +enemies among the nobility pretended to believe that he was intending to +use them as an armed force against the government of the city. They +accordingly made laws limiting and restricting the number of the +gladiators to be employed. Caesar then exhibited his shows on the +reduced scale which the new laws required, taking care that the people +should understand to whom the responsibility for this reduction in the +scale of their pleasures belonged. They, of course, murmured against the +Senate, and Caesar stood higher in their favor than ever. + +[Sidenote: Caesar thwarted.] +[Sidenote: His resentment.] +[Sidenote: The statutes of Marius restored.] +[Sidenote: Rage of the patricians.] + +He was getting, however, by these means, very deeply involved in debt; +and, in order partly to retrieve his fortunes in this respect, he made +an attempt to have Egypt assigned to him as a province. Egypt was then +an immensely rich and fertile country. It had, however, never been a +Roman province. It was an independent kingdom, in alliance with the +Romans, and Caesar's proposal that it should be assigned to him as a +province appeared very extraordinary. His pretext was, that the people +of Egypt had recently deposed and expelled their king, and that, +consequently, the Romans might properly take possession of it. The +Senate, however, resisted this plan, either from jealousy of Caesar or +from a sense of justice to Egypt; and, after a violent contest, Caesar +found himself compelled to give up the design. He felt, however, a +strong degree of resentment against the patrician party who had thus +thwarted his designs. Accordingly, in order to avenge himself upon them, +he one night replaced certain statues and trophies of Marius in the +Capitol, which had been taken down by order of Sylla when he returned to +power. Marius, as will be recollected, had been the great champion of +the popular party, and the enemy of the patricians; and, at the time of +his down-fall, all the memorials of his power and greatness had been +every where removed from Rome, and among them these statues and +trophies, which had been erected in the Capitol in commemoration of some +former victories, and had remained there until Sylla's triumph, when +they were taken down and destroyed. Caesar now ordered new ones to be +made, far more magnificent than before. They were made secretly, and put +up in the night. His office as aedile gave him the necessary authority. +The next morning, when the people saw these splendid monuments of their +great favorite restored, the whole city was animated with excitement and +joy. The patricians, on the other hand, were filled with vexation and +rage. "Here is a single officer," said they, "who is attempting to +restore, by his individual authority, what has been formally abolished +by a decree of the Senate. He is trying to see how much we will bear. If +he finds that we will submit to this, he will attempt bolder measures +still." They accordingly commenced a movement to have the statues and +trophies taken down again, but the people rallied in vast numbers in +defense of them. They made the Capitol ring with their shouts of +applause; and the Senate, finding their power insufficient to cope with +so great a force, gave up the point, and Caesar gained the day. + +[Sidenote: The Good Goddess.] + +Caesar had married another wife after the death of Cornelia. Her name +was Pompeia, He divorced Pompeia about this time, under very +extraordinary circumstances. Among the other strange religious +ceremonies and celebrations which were observed in those days, was one +called the celebration of the mysteries of the Good Goddess. This +celebration was held by females alone, every thing masculine being most +carefully excluded. Even the pictures of men, if there were any upon the +walls of the house where the assembly was held, were covered. The +persons engaged spent the night together in music and dancing and +various secret ceremonies, half pleasure, half worship, according to the +ideas and customs of the time. + +[Sidenote: Clodius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar divorces his wife.] + +The mysteries of the Good Goddess were to be celebrated one night at +Caesar's house, he himself having, of course, withdrawn. In the +middle of the night, the whole company in one of the apartments were +thrown into consternation at finding that one of their number was a man. +He had a smooth and youthful-looking face, and was very perfectly +disguised in the dress of a female. He proved to be a certain Clodius, a +very base and dissolute young man, though of great wealth and high +connections. He had been admitted by a female slave of Pompeia's, whom +he had succeeded in bribing. It was suspected that it was with Pompeia's +concurrence. At any rate, Caesar immediately divorced his wife. The +Senate ordered an inquiry into the affair, and, after the other members +of the household had given their testimony, Caesar himself was called +upon, but he had nothing to say. He knew nothing about it. They asked +him, then, why he had divorced Pompeia, unless he had some evidence for +believing her guilty, He replied, that a wife of Caesar must not only be +without crime, but without suspicion. + +[Sidenote: Quarrel of Clodius and Milo.] +[Sidenote: Violence of the time.] + +Clodius was a very desperate and lawless character, and his subsequent +history shows, in a striking point of view, the degree of violence and +disorder which reigned in those times. He became involved in a bitter +contention with another citizen whose name was Milo, and each, gaining +as many adherents as he could, at length drew almost the whole city into +their quarrel. Whenever they went out, they were attended with armed +bands, which were continually in danger of coming into collision. The +collision at last came, quite a battle was fought, and Clodius was +killed. This made the difficulty worse than it was before. Parties were +formed, and violent disputes arose on the question of bringing Milo to +trial for the alleged murder. He was brought to trial at last, but so +great was the public excitement, that the consuls for the time +surrounded and filled the whole Forum with armed men while the trial was +proceeding, to ensure the safety of the court. + +[Sidenote: Conspiracy of Catiline.] +[Sidenote: Warm debate in the Senate.] +[Sidenote: Caesar in danger of violence.] + +In fact, violence mingled itself continually, in those times, with +almost all public proceedings, whenever any special combination of +circumstances occurred to awaken unusual excitement. At one time, when +Caesar was in office, a very dangerous conspiracy was brought to light, +which was headed by the notorious Catiline. It was directed chiefly +against the Senate and the higher departments of the government; it +contemplated, in fact, their utter destruction, and the establishment of +an entirely new government on the ruins of the existing constitution. +Caesar was himself accused of a participation in this plot. When it was +discovered, Catiline himself fled; some of the other conspirators were, +however, arrested, and there was a long and very excited debate in the +Senate on the question of their punishment. Some were for death. Caesar, +however, very earnestly opposed this plan, recommending, instead, the +confiscation of the estates of the conspirators, and their imprisonment +in some of the distant cities of Italy. The dispute grew very warm, +Caesar urging his point with great perseverance and determination, and +with a degree of violence which threatened seriously to obstruct the +proceedings, when a body of armed men, a sort of guard of honor +stationed there, gathered around him, and threatened him with their +swords. Quite a scene of disorder and terror ensued. Some of the +senators arose hastily and fled from the vicinity of Caesar's seat to +avoid the danger. Others, more courageous, or more devoted in their +attachment to him, gathered around him to protect him, as far as they +could, by interposing their bodies between his person and the weapons of +his assailants. Caesar soon left the Senate, and for a long time would +return to it no more. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's struggle for the office of pontifex maximus.] + +Although Caesar was all this time, on the whole, rising in influence and +power, there were still fluctuations in his fortune, and the tide +sometimes, for a short period, went strongly against him. He was at one +time, when greatly involved in debt, and embarrassed in all his affairs, +a candidate for a very high office, that of Pontifex Maximus, or +sovereign pontiff. The office of the pontifex was originally that of +building and keeping custody of the bridges of the city, the name being +derived from the Latin word _pons_, which signifies bridge. To this, +however, had afterward been added the care of the temples, and finally +the regulation and control of the ceremonies of religion, so that it +came in the end to be an office of the highest dignity and honor. Caesar +made the most desperate efforts to secure his election, resorting to +such measures, expending such sums, and involving himself in debt to +such an extreme, that, if he failed, he would be irretrievably ruined. +His mother, sympathizing with him in his anxiety, kissed him when he +went away from the house on the morning of the election, and bade hem +farewell with tears. He told her that he should come home that night the +pontiff, or he should never come home at all. He succeeded in gaining +the election. + +[Sidenote: He is deposed.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's forbearance.] +[Sidenote: He is restored to office.] + +At one time Caesar was actually deposed from a high office which he +held, by a decree of the Senate. He determined to disregard this decree, +and go on in the discharge of his office as usual. But the Senate, whose +ascendency was now, for some reason, once more established, prepared to +prevent him by force of arms. Caesar, finding that he was not +sustained, gave up the contest, put off his robes of office, and went +home. Two days afterward a reaction occurred. A mass of the populace +came together to his house, and offered their assistance to restore his +rights and vindicate his honor. Caesar, however, contrary to what every +one would have expected of him, exerted his influence to calm and quiet +the mob, and then sent them away, remaining himself in private as +before. The Senate had been alarmed at the first outbreak of the tumult, +and a meeting had been suddenly convened to consider what measures to +adopt in such a crisis. When, however, they found that Caesar had +himself interposed, and by his own personal influence had saved the city +from the danger which threatened it, they were so strongly impressed +with a sense of his forbearance and generosity, that they sent for him +to come to the senate house, and, after formally expressing their +thanks, they canceled their former vote, and restored him to his office +again. This change in the action of the Senate does not, however, +necessarily indicate so great a change of individual sentiment as one +might at first imagine. There was, undoubtedly, a large minority who +were averse to his being deposed in the first instance but, being +outvoted, the decree of deposition was passed. Others were, perhaps, +more or less doubtful. Caesar's generous forbearance in refusing the +offered aid of the populace carried over a number of these sufficient to +shift the majority, and thus the action of the body was reversed. It is +in this way that the sudden and apparently total changes in the action +of deliberative assemblies which often take place, and which would +otherwise, in some cases, be almost incredible, are to be explained. + +[Sidenote: Caesar implicated in Catiline's conspiracy.] +[Sidenote: He arrests Vettius.] + +After this, Caesar became involved in another difficulty, in consequence +of the appearance of some definite and positive evidence that he was +connected with Catiline in his famous conspiracy. One of the senators +said that Catiline himself had informed him that Caesar was one of the +accomplices of the plot. Another witness, named Vettius, laid an +information against Caesar before a Roman magistrate, and offered to +produce Caesar's handwriting in proof of his participation in the +conspirator's designs Caesar was very much incensed, and his manner of +vindicating himself from these serious charges was as singular as many +of his other deeds. He arrested Vettius, and sentenced him to pay a +heavy fine, and to be imprisoned; and he contrived also to expose him, +in the course of the proceedings, to the mob in the Forum, who were +always ready to espouse Caesar's cause, and who, on this occasion, beat +Vettius so unmercifully, that he barely escaped with his life. The +magistrate, too, was thrown into prison for having dared to take an +information against a superior officer. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's embarrassment.] +[Sidenote: Spain is assigned to him.] + +At last Caesar became so much involved in debt, through the boundless +extravagance of his expenditures, that something must be done to +replenish his exhausted finances. He had, however, by this time, risen +so high in official influence and power, that he succeeded in having +Spain assigned to him as his province, and he began to make preparations +to proceed to it. His creditors, however, interposed, unwilling to let +him go without giving them security. In this dilemma, Caesar succeeded +in making an arrangement with Crassus, who has already been spoken of as +a man of unbounded wealth and great ambition, but not possessed of any +considerable degree of intellectual power. Crassus consented to give the +necessary security, with an understanding that Caesar was to repay him +by exerting his political influence in his favor. So soon as this +arrangement was made, Caesar set off in a sudden and private manner, as +if he expected that otherwise some new difficulty would intervene. + +[Sidenote: The Swiss hamlet.] + +He went to Spain by land, passing through Switzerland on the way. He +stopped with his attendants one night at a very insignificant village of +shepherds' huts among the mountains. Struck with the poverty and +worthlessness of all they saw in this wretched hamlet, Caesar's friends +were wondering whether the jealousy, rivalry, and ambition which reigned +among men every where else in the world could find any footing there, +when Caesar told them that, for his part, he should rather choose to be +first in such a village as that than the second at Rome. The story has +been repeated a thousand times, and told to every successive generation +now for nearly twenty centuries, as an illustration of the peculiar type +and character of the ambition which controls such a soul as that +of Caesar. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's ambition.] + +Caesar was very successful in the administration of his province; that +is to say, he returned in a short time with considerable military glory, +and with money enough to pay all his debts, and famish him with means +for fresh electioneering. + +[Sidenote: Manner of choosing the consuls.] +[Sidenote: Pompey and Crassus.] + +He now felt strong enough to aspire to the office of consul, which was +the highest office of the Roman state. When the line of kings had been +deposed, the Romans had vested the supreme magistracy in the hands of +two consuls, who were chosen annually in a general election, the +formalities of which were all very carefully arranged. The current of +popular opinion was, of course, in Caesar's favor, but he had many +powerful rivals and enemies among the great, who, however, hated and +opposed each other as well as him. There was at that time a very bitter +feud between Pompey and Crassus, each of them struggling for power +against the efforts of the other. Pompey possessed great influence +through his splendid abilities and his military renown. Crassus, as has +already been stated, was powerful through his wealth. Caesar, who had +some influence with them both, now conceived the bold design of +reconciling them, and then of availing himself of their united aid in +accomplishing his own particular ends. + +[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.] + +He succeeded perfectly well in this management. He represented to them +that, by contending against each other, they only exhausted their own +powers, and strengthened the arms of their common enemies. He proposed +to them to unite with one another and with him, and thus make common +cause to promote their common interest and advancement. They willingly +acceded to this plan, and a triple league was accordingly formed, in +which they each bound themselves to promote, by every means in his +power, the political elevation of the others, and not to take any public +step or adopt any measures without the concurrence of the three. Caesar +faithfully observed the obligations of this league so long as he could +use his two associates to promote his own ends, and then he +abandoned it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar a candidate for the consulship.] + +Having, however, completed this arrangement, he was now prepared to push +vigorously his claims to be elected consul. He associated with his own +name that of Lucceius, who was a man of great wealth, and who agreed to +defray the expenses of the election for the sake of the honor of being +consul with Caesar. Caesar's enemies, however, knowing that they +probably could not prevent his election, determined to concentrate their +strength in the effort to prevent his having the colleague he desired. +They made choice, therefore, of a certain Bibulus as their candidate. +Bibulus had always been a political opponent of Caesar's, and they +thought that, by associating him with Caesar in the supreme magistracy, +the pride and ambition of their great adversary might be held somewhat +in check. They accordingly made a contribution among themselves to +enable Bibulus to expend as much money in bribery as Lucceius, and the +canvass went on. + +[Sidenote: Caesar assumes the whole power.] +[Sidenote: He imprisons Cato.] + +It resulted in the election of Caesar and Bibulus. They entered upon the +duties of their office; but Caesar, almost entirely disregarding his +colleague, began to assume the whole power, and proposed and carried +measure after measure of the most extraordinary character, all aiming at +the gratification of the populace. He was at first opposed violently +both by Bibulus and by many leading members of the Senate, especially by +Cato, a stern and inflexible patriot, whom neither fear of danger nor +hope of reward could move from what he regarded his duty. But Caesar was +now getting strong enough to put down the opposition which he +encountered with out much scruple as to the means. He ordered Cato on +one occasion to be arrested in the Senate and sent to prison. Another +influential member of the Senate rose and was going out with him. Caesar +asked him where he was going. He said he was going with Cato. He would +rather, he said, be with Cato in prison, than in the Senate with Caesar. + +[Sidenote: Bibulus retires to his house.] +[Sidenote: The year of "Julius and Caesar."] + +Caesar treated Bibulus also with so much neglect, and assumed so +entirely the whole control of the consular power, to the utter exclusion +of his colleague, that Bibulus at last, completely discouraged and +chagrined, abandoned all pretension to official authority, retired to +his house, and shut himself up in perfect seclusion, leaving Caesar to +his own way. It was customary among the Romans, in their historical and +narrative writings, to designate the successive years, not by a +numerical date as with us, but by the names of the consuls who held +office in them. Thus, in the time of Caesar's consulship, the phrase +would have been, "In the year of Caesar and Bibulus, consuls," according +to the ordinary usage; but the wags of the city, in order to make sport +of the assumptions of Caesar and the insignificance of Bibulus, used to +say, "In the year of Julius and Caesar, consuls," rejecting the name of +Bibulus altogether, and taking the two names of Caesar to make out the +necessary duality. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. + +[Sidenote: Caesar aspires to be a soldier.] +[Sidenote: His success and celebrity.] + +In attaining to the consulship, Caesar had reached the highest point of +elevation which it was possible to reach as a mere citizen of Rome. His +ambition was, however, of course, not satisfied. The only way to acquire +higher distinction and to rise to higher power was to enter upon a +career of foreign conquest. Caesar therefore aspired now to be a +soldier. He accordingly obtained the command of an army, and entered +upon a course of military campaigns in the heart of Europe, which he +continued for eight years. These eight years constitute one of the most +important and strongly-marked periods of his life. He was triumphantly +successful in his military career, and he made, accordingly, a vast +accession to his celebrity and power, in his own day, by the results of +his campaigns. He also wrote, himself, an account of his adventures +during this period, in which the events are recorded in so lucid and in +so eloquent a manner, that the narrations have continued to be read by +every successive generation of scholars down to the present day, and +they have had a great influence in extending and perpetuating his fame. + +[Sidenote: Scenes of Caesar's exploits.] +[Sidenote: Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.] + +The principal scenes of the exploits which Caesar performed during the +period of this his first great military career, were the north of Italy, +Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, a great tract of country, +nearly all of which he overran and conquered. A large portion of this +territory was called Gaul in those days; the part on the Italian side of +the Alps being named Cisalpine Gaul, while that which lay beyond was +designated as Transalpine. Transalpine Gaul was substantially what is +now France. There was a part of Transalpine Gaul which had been already +conquered and reduced to a Roman province. It was called The Province +then, and has retained the name, with a slight change in orthography, to +the present day. It is now known as Provence. + +[Sidenote: Condition of Gaul in Caesar's day.] +[Sidenote: Singular cavalry.] + +The countries which Caesar went to invade were occupied by various +nations and tribes, many of which were well organized and war-like, and +some of them were considerably civilized and wealthy. They had extended +tracts of cultivated land, the slopes of the hills and the mountain +sides being formed into green pasturages, which were covered with flocks +of goats, and sheep, and herds of cattle, while the smoother and more +level tracts were adorned with smiling vineyards and broadly-extended +fields of waving grain. They had cities, forts, ships, and armies. Their +manners and customs would be considered somewhat rude by modern nations, +and some of their usages of war were half barbarian. For example, in one +of the nations which Caesar encountered, he found, as he says in his +narrative, a corps of cavalry, as a constituent part of the army, in +which, to every horse, there were _two_ men, one the rider, and the +other a sort of foot soldier and attendant. If the battle went against +them, and the squadron were put to their speed in a retreat, these +footmen would cling to the manes-of the horses, and then, half running, +half flying, they would be borne along over the field, thus keeping +always at the side of their comrades, and escaping with them to a place +of safety. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's plans.] + +But, although the Romans were inclined to consider these nations as only +half civilized, still there would be great glory, as Caesar thought, in +subduing them, and probably great treasure would be secured in the +conquest, both by the plunder and confiscation of governmental +property, and by the tribute which would be collected in taxes from the +people of the countries subdued. Caesar accordingly placed himself at +the head of an army of three Roman legions, which he contrived, by means +of a great deal of political maneuvering and management, to have raised +and placed under his command. One of these legions, which was called the +tenth legion, was his favorite corps, on account of the bravery and +hardihood which they often displayed. At the head of these legions, +Caesar set out for Gaul. He was at this time not far from forty years +of age. + +[Sidenote: His pretexts.] + +Caesar had no difficulty in finding pretexts for making war upon any of +these various nations that he might desire to subdue. They were, of +course, frequently at war with each other, and there were at all times +standing topics of controversy and unsettled disputes among them. Caesar +had, therefore, only to draw near to the scene of contention, and then +to take sides with one party or the other, it mattered little with +which, for the affair almost always resulted, in the end, in his making +himself master of both. The manner, however, in which this sort of +operation was performed, can best be illustrated by an example, and we +will take for the purpose the case of Ariovistus. + +[Sidenote: Ariovistus.] +[Sidenote: The Aeduans.] + +Ariovistus was a German king. He had been nominally a sort of ally of +the Romans. He had extended his conquests across the Rhine into Gaul, +and he held some nations there as his tributaries. Among these, the +Aeduans were a prominent party, and, to simplify the account, we will +take their name as the representative of all who were concerned. When +Caesar came into the region of the Aeduans, he entered into some +negotiations with them, in which they, as he alleges, asked his +assistance to enable them to throw off the dominion of their German +enemy. It is probable, in fact, that there was some proposition of this +kind from them, for Caesar had abundant means of inducing them to make +it, if he was disposed, and the receiving of such a communication +furnished the most obvious and plausible pretext to authorize and +justify his interposition. + +Caesar accordingly sent a messenger across the Rhine to Ariovistus, +saying that he wished to have an interview with him on business of +importance, and asking him to name a time which would be convenient to +him for the interview, and also to appoint some place in Gaul where he +would attend. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's negotiations with Ariovistus.] + +To this Ariovistus replied, that if he had, himself, any business with +Caesar, he would have waited upon him to propose it; and, in the same +manner, if Caesar wished to see him, he must come into his own +dominions. He said that it would not be safe for him to come into Gaul +without an army, and that it was not convenient for him to raise and +equip an army for such a purpose at that time. + +[Sidenote: His message.] + +Caesar sent again to Ariovistus to say, that since he was so unmindful +of his obligations to the Roman people as to refuse an interview with +him on business of common interest, he would state the particulars that +he required of him. The Aeduans, he said, were now his allies, and under +his protection; and Ariovistus must send back the hostages which he held +from them, and bind himself henceforth not to send any more troops +across the Rhine, nor make war upon the Aeduans, or injure them in any +way. If he complied with these terms, all would be well. If he did not, +Caesar said that he should not himself disregard the just complaints of +his allies. + +[Sidenote: Ariovistus's spirited reply to Caesar.] + +Ariovistus had no fear of Caesar. Caesar had, in fact, thus far, not +begun to acquire the military renown to which he afterward attained +Ariovistus had, therefore, no particular cause to dread his power. He +sent him back word that he did not understand why Caesar should +interfere between him and his conquered province. + +"The Aeduans," said he, "tried the fortune of war with me, and were +overcome; and they must abide the issue. The Romans manage their +conquered provinces as they judge proper, without holding themselves +accountable to any one. I shall do the same with mine. All that I can +say is, that so long as the Aeduans submit peaceably to my authority, +and pay their tribute, I shall not molest them; as to your threat that +you shall not disregard their complaints, you must know that no one has +ever made war upon me but to his own destruction, and, if you wish to +see how it will turn out in your case, you may make the experiment +whenever you please." + +[Sidenote: Preparations for war.] + +Both parties immediately prepared for war. Ariovistus, instead of +waiting to be attacked, assembled his army, crossed the Rhine, and +advanced into the territories from which Caesar had undertaken to +exclude him. + +[Sidenote: Panic in the Roman army.] + +As Caesar, however, began to make his arrangements for putting his army +in motion to meet his approaching enemy, there began to circulate +throughout the camp such extraordinary stories of the terrible strength +and courage of the German soldiery as to produce a very general panic. +So great, at length, became the anxiety and alarm, that even the +officers were wholly dejected and discouraged; and as for the men, they +were on the very eve of mutiny. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's address.] + +When Caesar understood this state of things, he called an assembly of +the troops, and made an address to them. He told them that he was +astonished to learn to what an extent an unworthy despondency and fear +had taken possession of their minds, and how little confidence they +reposed in him, their general. And then, after some further remarks +about the duty of a soldier to be ready to go wherever his commander +leads him, and presenting also some considerations in respect to the +German troops with which they were going to contend, in order to show +them that they had no cause to fear, he ended by saying that he had not +been fully decided as to the time of marching, but that now he had +concluded to give orders for setting out the next morning at three +o'clock, that he might learn, as soon as possible, who were too cowardly +to follow him. He would go himself, he said, if he was attended by the +tenth legion alone He was sure that they would not shrink from any +undertaking in which he led the way. + +[Sidenote: Effect of Caesar's address.] +[Sidenote: Proposals for an interview.] + +The soldiers, moved partly by shame, partly by the decisive and +commanding tone which their general assumed, and partly reassured by the +courage and confidence which he seemed to feel, laid aside their fears, +and vied with each other henceforth in energy and ardor. The armies +approached each other. Ariovistus sent to Caesar, saying that now, if he +wished it, he was ready for an interview. Caesar acceded to the +suggestion, and the arrangements for a conference were made, each party, +as usual in such cases, taking every precaution to guard against the +treachery of the other. + +Between the two camps there was a rising ground, in the middle of an +open plain, where it was decided that the conference should be held. +Ariovistus proposed that neither party should bring any foot soldiers to +the place of meeting, but cavalry alone; and that these bodies of +cavalry, brought by the respective generals, should remain at the foot +of the eminence on either side, while Caesar and Ariovistus themselves, +attended each by only ten followers on horseback, should ascend it. This +plan was acceded to by Caesar, and a long conference was held in this +way between the two generals, as they sat upon their horses, on the +summit of the hill. + +[Sidenote: Conference between Caesar and Ariovistus.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's messenger seized.] + +The two generals, in their discussion, only repeated in substance what +they had said in their embassages before, and made no progress toward +coming to an understanding. At length Caesar closed the conference and +withdrew. Some days afterward Ariovistus sent a request to Caesar, +asking that he would appoint another interview, or else that he would +depute one of his officers to proceed to Ariovistus's camp and receive a +communication which he wished to make to him. Caesar concluded not to +grant another interview, and he did not think it prudent to send any one +of his principal officers as an embassador, for fear that he might be +treacherously seized and held as a hostage. He accordingly sent an +ordinary messenger, accompanied by one or two men. These men were all +seized and put in irons as soon as they reached the camp of Ariovistus, +and Caesar now prepared in earnest for giving his enemy battle. + +[Sidenote: Defeat of the Germans.] + +He proved himself as skillful and efficient in arranging and managing +the combat as he had been sagacious and adroit in the negotiations which +preceded it. Several days were spent in maneuvers and movements, by +which each party endeavored to gain some advantage over the other in +respect to their position in the approaching struggle. When at length +the combat came, Caesar and his legions were entirely and triumphantly +successful. The Germans were put totally to flight. Their baggage and +stores were all seized, and the troops themselves fled in dismay by all +the roads which led back to the Rhine; and there those who succeeded in +escaping death from the Romans, who pursued them all the way, embarked +in boats and upon rafts, and returned to their homes. Ariovistus himself +found a small boat, in which, with one or two followers, he succeeded in +getting across the stream. + +[Sidenote: Release of Caesar's messenger.] + +As Caesar, at the head of a body of his troops, was pursuing the enemy +in this their flight, he overtook one party who had a prisoner with them +confined by iron chains fastened to his limbs, and whom they were +hurrying rapidly along. This prisoner proved to be the messenger that +Caesar had sent to Ariovistus's camp, and whom he had, as Caesar +alleges, treacherously detained. Of course, he was overjoyed to be +recaptured and set at liberty. The man said that three times they had +drawn lots to see whether they should burn him alive then, or reserve +the pleasure for a future occasion, and that every time the lot had +resulted in his favor. + +[Sidenote: Results of the victory.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's continued success.] + +The consequence of this victory was, that Caesar's authority was +established triumphantly over all that part of Gaul which he had thus +freed from Ariovistus's sway. Other parts of the country, too, were +pervaded by the fame of his exploits, and the people every where began +to consider what action it would be incumbent on them to take, in +respect to the new military power which had appeared so suddenly among +them. Some nations determined to submit without resistance, and to seek +the conqueror's alliance and protection. Others, more bold, or more +confident of their strength, began to form combinations and to arrange +plans for resisting him. But, whatever they did, the result in the end +was the same. Caesar's ascendency was every where and always gaining +ground. Of course, it is impossible in the compass of a single chapter, +which is all that can be devoted to the subject in this volume, to give +any regular narrative of the events of the eight years of Caesar's +military career in Gaul. Marches, negotiations, battles, and victories +mingled with and followed each other in a long succession, the +particulars of which it would require a volume to detail, every thing +resulting most successfully for the increase of Caesar's power and the +extension of his fame. + +[Sidenote: Account of northern nations.] +[Sidenote: Their strange customs.] +[Sidenote: Well-trained horses.] + +Caesar gives, in his narrative, very extraordinary accounts of the +customs and modes of life of some of the people that he encountered. +There was one country, for example, in which all the lands were common, +and the whole structure of society was based on the plan of forming the +community into one great martial band. The nation was divided into a +hundred cantons, each containing two thousand men capable of bearing +arms. If these were all mustered into service together, they would form, +of course, an army of two hundred thousand men. It was customary, +however, to organize only one half of them into an army, while the rest +remained at home to till the ground and tend the flocks and herds. These +two great divisions interchanged their work every year, the soldiers +becoming husbandmen, and the husbandmen soldiers. Thus they all became +equally inured to the hardships and dangers of the camp, and to the more +continuous but safer labors of agricultural toil. Their fields were +devoted to pasturage more than to tillage, for flocks and herds could be +driven from place to place, and thus more easily preserved from the +depredations of enemies than fields of grain. The children grew up +almost perfectly wild from infancy, and hardened themselves by bathing +in cold streams, wearing very little clothing, and making long hunting +excursions among the mountains. The people had abundance of excellent +horses, which the young men were accustomed, from their earliest years, +to ride without saddle or bridle, the horses being trained to obey +implicitly every command. So admirably disciplined were they, that +sometimes, in battle, the mounted men would leap from their horses and +advance as foot soldiers to aid the other infantry, leaving the horses +to stand until they returned. The horses would not move from the spot; +the men, when the object for which they had dismounted was accomplished, +would come back, spring to their seats again, and once more become a +squadron of cavalry. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity with the army.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's military habits.] +[Sidenote: His bridge across the Rhine.] + +Although Caesar was very energetic and decided in the government of his +army, he was extremely popular with his soldiers in all these campaigns. +He exposed his men, of course, to a great many privations and hardships, +but then he evinced, in many cases, such a willingness to bear his share +of them, that the men were very little inclined to complain. He moved +at the head of the column when his troops were advancing on a march, +generally on horseback, but often on foot; and Suetonius says that he +used to go bareheaded on such occasions, whatever was the state of the +weather, though it is difficult to see what the motive of this +apparently needless exposure could be, unless it was for effect, on some +special or unusual occasion. Caesar would ford or swim rivers with his +men whenever there was no other mode of transit, sometimes supported, it +was said, by bags inflated with air, and placed under his arms. At one +time he built a bridge across the Rhine, to enable his army to cross +that river. This bridge was built with piles driven down into the sand, +which supported a flooring of timbers. Caesar, considering it quite an +exploit thus to bridge the Rhine, wrote a minute account of the manner +in which the work was constructed, and the description is almost exactly +in accordance with the principles and usages of modern carpentry. + +[Sidenote: System of posts.] +[Sidenote: Their great utility.] + +After the countries which were the scene of these conquests were pretty +well subdued, Caesar established on some of the great routes of travel a +system of posts, that is, he stationed supplies of horses at intervals +of from ten to twenty miles along the way, so that he himself, or the +officers of his army, or any couriers whore he might have occasion to +send with dispatches could travel with great speed by finding a fresh +horse ready at every stage. By this means he sometimes traveled himself +a hundred miles in a day. This system, thus adopted for military +purposes in Caesar's time, has been continued in almost all countries of +Europe to the present age, and is applied to traveling in carriages as +well as on horseback. A family party purchase a carriage, and arranging +within it all the comforts and conveniences which they will require on +the journey, they set out, taking these post horses, fresh at each +village, to draw them to the next. Thus they can go at any rate of speed +which they desire, instead of being limited in their movements by the +powers of endurance of one set of animals, as they would be compelled to +be if they were to travel with their own. This plan has, for some +reason, never been introduced into America, and it is now probable that +it never will be, as the railway system will doubtless supersede it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's invasion of Britain.] +[Sidenote: His pretext for it.] + +One of the most remarkable of the enterprises which Caesar undertook +during the period of these campaigns was his excursion into Great +Britain. The real motive of this expedition was probably a love of +romantic adventure, and a desire to secure for himself at Rome the glory +of having penetrated into remote regions which Roman armies had never +reached before. The pretext, however, which he made to justify his +invading the territories of the Britons was, that the people of the +island were accustomed to come across the Channel and aid the Gauls in +their wars. + +[Sidenote: Caesar consults the merchants.] + +In forming his arrangements for going into England, the first thing was, +to obtain all the information which was accessible in Gaul in respect to +the country. There were, in those days, great numbers of traveling +merchants, who went from one nation to another to purchase and sell, +taking with them such goods as were most easy of transportation. These +merchants, of course, were generally possessed of a great deal of +information in respect to the countries which they had visited, and +Caesar called together as many of them as he could find, when he had +reached the northern shores of France, to inquire about the modes of +crossing the Channel, the harbors on the English side, the geographical +conformation of the country, and the military resources of the people. +He found, however, that the merchants could give him very little +information. They knew that Britain was an island, but they did not know +its extent or its boundaries; and they could tell him very little of the +character or customs of the people. They said that they had only been +accustomed to land upon the southern shore, and to transact all their +business there, without penetrating at all into the interior of +the country. + +[Sidenote: Volusenus.] + +Caesar then, who, though undaunted and bold in emergencies requiring +prompt and decisive action, was extremely cautious and wary at all other +times, fitted up a single ship, and, putting one of his officers on +board with a proper crew, directed him to cross the Channel to the +English coast, and then to cruise along the land for some miles in each +direction, to observe where were the best harbors and places for +landing, and to examine generally the appearance of the shore. This +vessel was a galley, manned with numerous oarsmen, well selected and +strong, so that it could retreat with great speed from any sudden +appearance of danger The name of the officer who had the command of it +was Volusenus. Volusenus set sail, the army watching his vessel with +great interest as it moved slowly away from the shore. He was gone five +days, and then returned, bringing Caesar an account of his discoveries. + +[Sidenote: Caesar collects vessels.] + +In the mean time, Caesar had collected a large number of sailing vessels +from the whole line of the French shore, by means of which he proposed +to transport his army across the Channel. He had two legions to take +into Britain, the remainder of his forces having been stationed as +garrisons in various parts of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to leave a +considerable force at his post of debarkation, in order to secure a safe +retreat in case of any disaster on the British side. The number of +transport ships provided for the foot soldiers which were to be taken +over was eighty. There were, besides these, eighteen more, which were +appointed to convey a squadron of horse. This cavalry force was to +embark at a separate port, about eighty miles distant from the one from +which the infantry were to sail. + +[Sidenote: Embarkation of the troops.] + +At length a suitable day for the embarkation arrived; the troops were +put on board the ships, and orders were given to sail. The day could not +be fixed beforehand, as the time for attempting to make the passage must +necessarily depend upon the state of the wind and weather. Accordingly, +when the favorable opportunity arrived, and the main body of the army +began to embark it took some time to send the orders to the port where +the cavalry had rendezvoused; and there were, besides, other causes of +delay which occurred to detain this corps, so that it turned out, as we +shall presently see, that the foot soldiers had to act alone in the +first attempt at landing on the British shore. + +[Sidenote: Sailing of the fleet.] +[Sidenote: Preparations of the Britons.] + +It was one o'clock in the morning when the fleet set sail. The Britons +had, in the mean time, obtained intelligence of Caesar's threatened +invasion, and they had assembled in great force, with troops, and +horsemen, and carriages of war, and were all ready to guard the shore. +The coast, at the point where Caesar was approaching, consists of a line +of chalky cliffs, with valley-like openings here and there between them, +communicating with the shore, and sometimes narrow beaches below. When +the Roman fleet approached the land, Caesar found the cliffs every where +lined with troops of Britons, and every accessible point below carefully +guarded. It was now about ten o'clock in the morning, and Caesar, +finding the prospect so unfavorable in respect to the practicability of +effecting a landing here, brought his fleet to anchor near the shore, +but far enough from it to be safe from the missiles of the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Caesar calls a council of officers.] + +Here he remained for several hours, to give time for all the vessels to +join him. Some of them had been delayed in the embarkation, or had made +slower progress than the rest in crossing the Channel. He called a +council, too, of the superior officers of the army on board his own +galley, and explained to them the plan which he now adopted for the +landing. About three o'clock in the afternoon he sent these officers +back to their respective ships, and gave orders to make sail along the +shore. The anchors were raised and the fleet moved on, borne by the +united impulse of the wind and the tide. The Britons, perceiving this +movement, put themselves in motion on the land, following the motions of +the fleet so as to be ready to meet their enemy wherever they might +ultimately undertake to land. Their horsemen and carriages went on in +advance, and the foot soldiers followed, all pressing eagerly forward to +keep up with the motion of the fleet, and to prevent Caesar's army from +having time to land before they should arrive at the spot and be ready +to oppose them. + +[Illustration: THE LANDING IN ENGLAND] + +[Sidenote: The landing.] +[Sidenote: The battle.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of the Britons.] + +The fleet moved on until, at length, after sailing about eight miles, +they came to a part of the coast where there was a tract of +comparatively level ground, which seemed to be easily accessible from +the shore. Here Caesar determined to attempt to land; and drawing up his +vessel, accordingly, as near as possible to the beach, he ordered the +men to leap over into the water, with their weapons in their hands. The +Britons were all here to oppose them, and a dreadful struggle ensued, +the combatants dyeing the waters with their blood as they fought, half +submerged in the surf which rolled in upon the sand. Some galleys rowed +up at the same time near to the shore, and the men on board of them +attacked the Britons from the decks, by the darts and arrows which they +shot to the land. Caesar at last prevailed; the Britons were driven +away, and the Roman army established themselves in quiet possession of +the shore. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity at Rome.] + +Caesar had afterward a great variety of adventures, and many narrow +escapes from imminent dangers in Britain, and, though he gained +considerable glory by thus penetrating into such remote and unknown +regions, there was very little else to be acquired. The glory, however, +was itself of great value to Caesar. During the whole period of his +campaigns in Gaul, Rome and all Italy in fact, had been filled with the +fame of his exploits, and the expedition into Britain added not a little +to his renown. The populace of the city were greatly gratified to hear +of the continued success of their former favorite. They decreed to him +triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him, whenever he +should return, with greater honors and more extended and higher powers +than he had ever enjoyed before. + +[Sidenote: Results of his campaigns.] + +Caesar's exploits in these campaigns were, in fact, in a military point +of view, of the most magnificent character. Plutarch, in summing up the +results of them, says that he took eight hundred cities, conquered three +hundred nations, fought pitched battles at separate times with three +millions of men, took one million of prisoners, and killed another +million on the field. What a vast work of destruction was this for a man +to spend eight years of his life in performing upon his +fellow-creatures, merely to gratify his insane love of dominion. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +POMPEY. + +[Sidenote: Pompey.] + +While Caesar had thus been rising to so high an elevation, there was +another Roman general who had been, for nearly the same period, engaged, +in various other quarters of the world, in acquiring, by very similar +means, an almost equal renown. This general was Pompey. He became, in +the end, Caesar's great and formidable rival. In order that the reader +may understand clearly the nature of the great contest which sprung up +at last between these heroes, we must now go back and relate some of the +particulars of Pompey's individual history down to the time of the +completion of Caesar's conquests in Gaul. + +[Sidenote: His birth.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's personal appearance.] + +Pompey was a few years older than Caesar, having been born in 106 B.C. +His father was a Roman general, and the young Pompey was brought up in +camp. He was a young man of very handsome figure and countenance, and of +very agreeable manners. His hair curled slightly over his forehead, and +he had a dark and intelligent eye, full of vivacity and meaning. There +was, besides, in the expression of his face, and in his air and address, +a certain indescribable charm, which prepossessed every one strongly in +his favor, and gave him, from his earliest years, a great personal +ascendency over all who knew him. + +[Sidenote: Plans to assassinate him.] + +Notwithstanding this popularity, however, Pompey did not escape, even in +very early life, incurring his share of the dangers which seemed to +environ the path of every public man in those distracted times. It will +be recollected that, in the contests between Marius and Sylla, Caesar +had joined the Marian faction. Pompey's father, on the other hand, had +connected himself with that of Sylla. At one time, in the midst of these +wars, when Pompey was very young, a conspiracy was formed to assassinate +his father by burning him in his tent, and Pompey's comrade, named +Terentius, who slept in the same tent with him, had been bribed to kill +Pompey himself at the same time, by stabbing him in his bed. Pompey +contrived to discover this plan, but, instead of being at all +discomposed by it, he made arrangements for a guard about his father's +tent and then went to supper as usual with Terentius, conversing with +him all the time in even a more free and friendly manner than usual. +That night he arranged his bed so as to make it appear as if he was in +it, and then stole away. When the appointed hour arrived, Terentius came +into the tent, and, approaching the couch where he supposed Pompey was +lying asleep, stabbed it again and again, piercing the coverlets in many +places, but doing no harm, of course, to his intended victim. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's adventures and escapes.] +[Sidenote: Death of his father.] +[Sidenote: Pompey appears in his father's defense.] + +In the course of the wars between Marius and Sylla, Pompey passed +through a great variety of scenes, and met with many extraordinary +adventures and narrow escapes, which, however, can not be here +particularly detailed. His father, who was as much hated by his soldiers +as the son was beloved, was at last, one day, struck by lightning in his +tent. The soldiers were inspired with such a hatred for his memory, in +consequence, probably, of the cruelties and oppressions which they had +suffered from him, that they would not allow his body to be honored with +the ordinary funeral obsequies. They pulled it off from the bier on +which it was to have been borne to the funeral pile, and dragged it +ignominiously away. Pompey's father was accused, too, after his death, +of having converted some public moneys which had been committed to his +charge to his own use, and Pompey appeared in the Roman Forum as an +advocate to defend him from the charge and to vindicate his memory. He +was very successful in this defense. All who heard it were, in the first +instance, very deeply interested in favor of the speaker, on account of +his extreme youth and his personal beauty; and, as he proceeded with his +plea, he argued with so much eloquence and power as to win universal +applause. One of the chief officers of the government in the city was so +much pleased with his appearance, and with the promise of future +greatness which the circumstances indicated, that he offered him his +daughter in marriage. Pompey accepted the offer, and married the lady. +Her name was Antistia. + +[Sidenote: His success as a general.] +[Sidenote: Pompey defeats the armies.] + +Pompey rose rapidly to higher and higher degrees of distinction, until +he obtained the command of an army, which he had, in fact, in a great +measure raised and organized himself, and he fought at the head of it +with great energy and success against the enemies of Sylla. At length he +was hemmed in on the eastern coast of Italy by three separate armies, +which were gradually advancing against him, with a certainty, as they +thought, of effecting his destruction. Sylla, hearing of Pompey's +danger, made great efforts to march to his rescue. Before he reached the +place, however, Pompey had met and defeated one after another of the +armies of his enemies, so that, when Sylla approached, Pompey marched +out to meet him with his army drawn up in magnificent array, trumpets +sounding and banners flying, and with large bodies of disarmed troops, +the prisoners that he had taken, in the rear. Sylla was struck with +surprise and admiration; and when Pompey saluted him with the title of +_Imperator_, which was the highest title known to the Roman +constitution, and the one which Sylla's lofty rank and unbounded power +might properly claim, Sylla returned the compliment by conferring this +great mark of distinction on him. + +[Sidenote: His rising fame.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's modesty.] + +Pompey proceeded to Rome, and the fame of his exploits, the singular +fascination of his person and manners, and the great favor with Sylla +that he enjoyed, raised him to a high degree of distinction. He was not, +however, elated with the pride and vanity which so young a man would be +naturally expected to exhibit under such circumstances. He was, on the +contrary, modest and unassuming, and he acted in all respects in such a +manner as to gain the approbation and the kind regard of all who knew +him, as well as to excite their applause. There was an old general at +this time in Gaul--for all these events took place long before the time +of Caesar's campaigns in that country, and, in fact, before the +commencement of his successful career in Rome--whose name was Metellus, +and who, either on account of his advancing age, or for some other +reason, was very inefficient and unsuccessful in his government. Sylla +proposed to supersede him by sending Pompey to take his place. Pompey +replied that it was not right to take the command from a man who was so +much his superior in age and character, but that, if Metellus wished for +his _assistance_ in the management of his command, he would proceed to +Gaul and render him every service in his power. When this answer was +reported to Metellus, he wrote to Pompey to come. Pompey accordingly +went to Gaul, where he obtained new victories, and gained new and higher +honors than before. + +[Sidenote: An example.] +[Sidenote: Pompey divorces his wife.] +[Sidenote: He marries Sylla's daughter-in-law.] + +These, and various anecdotes which the ancient historians relate, would +lead us to form very favorable ideas of Pompey's character. Some other +circumstances, however, which occurred, seem to furnish different +indications. For example, on his return to Rome, some time after the +events above related, Sylla, whose estimation of Pompey's character and +of the importance of his services seemed continually to increase, wished +to connect him with his own family by marriage. He accordingly proposed +that Pompey should divorce his wife Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the +daughter-in-law of Sylla. Aemilia was already the wife of another man, +from whom she would have to be taken away to make her the wife of +Pompey. This, however, does not seem to have been thought a very serious +difficulty in the way of the arrangement. Pompey's wife was put away, +and the wife of another man taken in her place. Such a deed was a gross +violation not merely of revealed and written law, but of those universal +instincts of right and wrong which are implanted indelibly in all human +hearts. It ended, as might have been expected, most disastrously. +Antistia was plunged, of course, into the deepest distress. Her father +had recently lost his life on account of his supposed attachment to +Pompey. Her mother killed herself in the anguish and despair produced by +the misfortunes of her family; and Aemilia the new wife, died suddenly, +on the occasion of the birth of a child, a very short time after her +marriage with Pompey. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's success in Africa.] +[Sidenote: Attachment of his soldiers.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's title as "Great."] + +These domestic troubles did not, however, interpose any serious obstacle +to Pompey's progress in his career of greatness and glory. Sylla sent +him on one great enterprise after another, in all of which Pompey +acquitted himself in an admirable manner. Among his other campaigns, he +served for some time in Africa with great success. He returned in due +time from this expedition, loaded with military honors. His soldiers had +become so much attached to him that there was almost a mutiny in the +army when he was ordered home. They were determined to submit to no +authority but that of Pompey. Pompey at length succeeded, by great +efforts, in subduing this spirit, and bringing back the army to their +duty. A false account of the affair, however, went to Rome. It was +reported to Sylla that there was a revolt in the army of Africa, headed +by Pompey himself, who was determined not to resign his command. Sylla +was at first very indignant that his authority should be despised and +his power braved, as he expressed it, by "such a boy;" for Pompey was +still, at this time, very young. When, however, he learned the truth, he +conceived a higher admiration for the young general than ever. He went +out to meet him as he approached the city, and, in accosting him, he +called him Pompey the Great. Pompey has continued to bear the title thus +given him to the present day. + +[Sidenote: He demands a triumph.] + +Pompey began, it seems, now to experience, in some degree, the usual +effects produced upon the human heart by celebrity and praise. He +demanded a triumph. A triumph was a great and splendid ceremony, by +which victorious generals, who were of advanced age and high civil or +military rank, were received into the city when returning from any +specially glorious campaign. There was a grand procession formed on +these occasions, in which various emblems and insignia, and trophies of +victory, and captives taken by the conqueror, were displayed. This great +procession entered the city with bands of music accompanying it, and +flags and banners flying, passing under triumphal arches erected along +the way. Triumphs were usually decreed by a vote of the Senate, in cases +where they were deserved; but, in this case, Sylla's power as dictator +was supreme, and Pompey's demand for a triumph seems to have been +addressed accordingly to him. + +[Sidenote: Sylla refuses Pompey a triumph.] + +Sylla refused it. Pompey's performances in the African campaign had +been, he admitted, very creditable to him, but he had neither the Age +nor the rank to justify the granting him a triumph. To bestow such an +honor upon one so young and in such a station, would only bring the +honor itself, he said, into disrepute, and degrade, also, his +dictatorship for suffering it. + +[Sidenote: But at last consents.] + +To this Pompey replied, speaking, however, in an under tone to those +around him in the assembly, that Sylla need not fear that the triumph +would be unpopular, for people were much more disposed to worship a +rising than a setting sun. Sylla did not hear this remark, but, +perceiving by the countenances of the by-standers that Pompey had said +something which seemed to please them, he asked what it was. When the +remark was repeated to him, he seemed pleased himself with its justness +or with its wit, and said, "Let him have his triumph." + +[Sidenote: Pompey's triumph.] + +The arrangements were accordingly made Pompey ordering every thing +necessary to be prepared for a most magnificent procession. He learned +that some persons in the city, envious at his early renown, were +displeased with his triumph; this only awakened in him a determination +to make it still more splendid and imposing. He had brought some +elephants with him from Africa, and he formed a plan for having the car +in which he was to ride in the procession drawn by four of these huge +beasts as it entered the city; but, on measuring the gate, it was found +not wide enough to admit such a team, and the plan was accordingly +abandoned. The conqueror's car was drawn by horses in the usual manner, +and the elephants followed singly, with the other trophies, to grace +the train. + +[Sidenote: His course of conduct at Rome.] + +Pompey remained some time after this in Rome, sustaining from time to +time various offices of dignity and honor. His services were often +called for to plead causes in the Forum, and he performed this duty, +whenever he undertook it, with great success. He, however, seemed +generally inclined to retire somewhat from intimate intercourse with the +mass of the community, knowing very well that if he was engaged often in +the discussion of common questions with ordinary men, he should soon +descend in public estimation from the high position to which his +military renown had raised him. He accordingly accustomed himself to +appear but little in public, and, when he did so appear, he was +generally accompanied by a large retinue of armed attendants, at the +head of which he moved about the city in great state, more like a +victorious general in a conquered province than like a peaceful citizen +exercising ordinary official functions in a community governed by law. +This was a very sagacious course, so far as concerned the attainment of +the great objects of future ambition. Pompey knew very well that +occasions would probably arise in which he could act far more +effectually for the promotion of his own greatness and fame than by +mingling in the ordinary municipal contests of the city. + +[Sidenote: The Cilician pirates.] +[Sidenote: Their increasing depredations.] +[Sidenote: Ships and fortresses of the Cilicians.] +[Sidenote: Their conquests.] + +At length, in fact, an occasion came. In the year B.C. 67, which was +about the time that Caesar commenced his successful career in rising to +public office in Rome, as is described in the third chapter of this +volume, the Cilician pirates, of whose desperate character and bold +exploits something has already been said, had become so powerful, and +were increasing so rapidly in the extent of their depredations, that the +Roman people felt compelled to adopt some very vigorous measures for +suppressing them. The pirates had increased in numbers during the wars +between Marius and Sylla in a very alarming degree. They had built, +equipped, and organized whole fleets. They had various fortresses, +arsenals, ports, and watch-towers all along the coasts of the +Mediterranean. They had also extensive warehouses, built in secure and +secluded places, where they stored their plunder. Their fleets were well +manned, and provided with skillful pilots, and with ample supplies of +every kind; and they were so well constructed, both for speed and +safety, that no other ships could be made to surpass them. Many of them, +too, were adorned and decorated in the most sumptuous manner, with +gilded sterns, purple awnings, and silver-mounted oars. The number of +their galleys was said to be a thousand. With this force they made +themselves almost complete masters of the sea. They attacked not only +separate ships, but whole fleets of merchantmen sailing under convoy; +and they increased the difficulty and expense of bringing grain to Rome +so much, by intercepting the supplies, as very materially to enhance the +price and to threaten a scarcity. They made themselves masters of many +islands and of various maritime towns along the coast, until they had +four hundred ports and cities in their possession. In fact, they had +gone so far toward forming themselves into a regular maritime power, +under a systematic and legitimate government, that very respectable +young men from other countries began to enter their service, as one +opening honorable avenues to wealth and fame. + +[Sidenote: Plan for destroying the pirates.] +[Sidenote: Its magnitude.] + +Under these circumstances, it was obvious that something decisive must +be done. A friend of Pompey's brought forward a plan for commissioning +some one, he did not say whom, but every one understood that Pompey was +intended, to be sent forth against the pirates, with extraordinary +powers, such as should be amply sufficient to enable him to bring their +dominion to an end. He was to have supreme command upon the sea, and +also upon the land for fifty miles from the shore. He was, moreover, to +be empowered to raise as large a force, both of ships and men, as he +should think required, and to draw from the treasury whatever funds were +necessary to defray the enormous expenses which so vast an undertaking +would involve. If the law should pass creating this office, and a person +be designated to fill it, it is plain that such a commander would be +clothed with enormous powers; but then he would incur, on the other +hand, a vast and commensurate responsibility, as the Roman people would +hold him rigidly accountable for the full and perfect accomplishment of +the work he under took, after they had thus surrendered every possible +power necessary to accomplish it so unconditionally into his hands. + +[Sidenote: Pompey appointed to the command.] +[Sidenote: Fall in the price of grain.] + +There was a great deal of maneuvering, management, and debate on the one +hand to effect the passage of this law, and, on the other, to defeat it. +Caesar, who, though not so prominent yet as Pompey, was now rising +rapidly to influence and power, was in favor of the measure, because, as +is said, he perceived that the people were pleased with it. It was at +length adopted. Pompey was then designated to fill the office which the +law created. He accepted the trust, and began to prepare for the vast +undertaking. The price of grain fell immediately in Rome, as soon as the +appointment of Pompey was made known, as the merchants, who had large +supplies in the granaries there, were now eager to sell, even at a +reduction, feeling confident that Pompey's measures would result in +bringing in abundant supplies. The people, surprised at this sudden +relaxation of the pressure of their burdens, said that the very name of +Pompey had put an end to the war. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's complete success.] + +They were not mistaken in their anticipations of Pompey's success. He +freed the Mediterranean from pirates in three months, by one systematic +and simple operation, which affords one of the most striking examples of +the power of united and organized effort, planned and conducted by one +single master mind, which the history of ancient or modern times has +recorded. The manner in which this work was effected was this: + +[Sidenote: His mode of operation.] + +Pompey raised and equipped a vast number of galleys, and divided them +into separate fleets, putting each one under the command of a +lieutenant. He then divided the Mediterranean Sea into thirteen +districts, and appointed a lieutenant and his fleet for each one of them +as a guard. After sending these detachments forth to their respective +stations, he set out from the city himself to take charge of the +operations which he was to conduct in person. The people followed him, +as he went to the place where he was to embark, in great crowds, and +with long and loud acclamations. + +[Sidenote: Pompey drives the pirates before him.] +[Sidenote: Exultation at Rome.] + +Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar, Pompey cruised with a powerful +fleet toward the east, driving the pirates before him, the lieutenants, +who were stationed along the coast being on the alert to prevent them +from finding any places of retreat or refuge. Some of the pirates' ships +were surrounded and taken. Others fled, and were followed by Pompey's +ships until they had passed beyond the coasts of Sicily, and the seas +between the Italian and African shores. The communication was now open +again to the grain-growing countries south of Rome, and large supplies +of food were immediately poured into the city. The whole population was, +of course, filled with exultation and joy at receiving such welcome +proofs that Pompey was successfully accomplishing the work they had +assigned him. + +[Sidenote: The pirates concentrate themselves.] + +The Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which are, in fact, a +projection from the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with a salient +angle of the coast nearly opposite to them on the African side, form a +sort of strait which divides this great sea into two separate bodies of +water, and the pirates were now driven entirely out of the western +division. Pompey sent his principal fleet after them, with orders to +pass around the island of Sicily and the south era part of Italy to +Brundusium, which was the great port on the western side of Italy. He +himself was to cross the peninsula by land, taking Rome in his way, and +afterward to join the fleet at Brundusium. The pirates, in the mean +time, so far as they had escaped Pompey's cruisers, had retreated to the +seas in the neighborhood of Cilicia, and were concentrating their forces +there in preparation for the final struggle. + +Pompey was received at Rome with the utmost enthusiasm. The people came +out in throngs to meet him as he approached the city, and welcomed him +with loud acclamations. He did not, however, remain in the city to enjoy +these honors. He procured, as soon as possible, what was necessary for +the further prosecution of his work, and went on. He found his fleet at +Brundusium, and, immediately embarking, he put to sea. + +[Sidenote: Some of them surrender.] + +Pompey went on to the completion of his work with the same vigor and +decision which he had displayed in the commencement of it. Some of the +pirates, finding themselves hemmed in within narrower and narrower +limits, gave up the contest, and came and surrendered. Pompey, instead +of punishing them severely for their crimes, treated them, and their +wives and children, who fell likewise into his power, with great +humanity. This induced many others to follow their example, so that the +number that remained resisting to the end was greatly reduced. There +were, however, after all these submissions, a body of stern and +indomitable desperadoes left, who were incapable of yielding. These +retreated, with all the forces which they could retain, to their +strong-holds on the Silician shores, sending their wives and children +back to still securer retreats among the fastnesses of the mountains. + +[Sidenote: A great battle.] +[Sidenote: Disposal of the pirates.] + +Pompey followed them, hemming them in with the squadrons of armed +galleys which he brought up around them, thus cutting off from them all +possibility of escape. Here, at length, a great final battle was fought, +and the dominion of the pirates was ended forever. Pompey destroyed +their ships, dismantled their fortifications, restored the harbors and +towns which they had seized to their rightful owners, and sent the +pirates themselves, with their wives and children, far into the interior +of the country, and established them as agriculturists and herdsmen +there, in a territory which he set apart for the purpose, where they +might live in peace on the fruits of their own industry, without the +possibility of again disturbing the commerce of the seas. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's conquests in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: His magnificent triumph.] + +Instead of returning to Rome after these exploits, Pompey obtained new +powers from the government of the city, and pushed his way into Asia +Minor, where he remained several years, pursuing a similar career of +conquest to that of Caesar in Gaul. At length he returned to Rome, his +entrance into the city being signalized by a most magnificent triumph. +The procession for displaying the trophies, the captives, and the other +emblems of victory, and for conveying the vast accumulation of treasures +and spoils, was two days in passing into the city; and enough was left +after all for another triumph. Pompey was, in a word, on the very summit +of human grandeur and renown. + +[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's wife Julia.] +[Sidenote: Pompey and Caesar open enemies.] +[Sidenote: Their ambition.] + +He found, however, an old enemy and rival at Rome. This was Crassus, who +had been Pompey's opponent in earlier times, and who now renewed his +hostility. In the contest that ensued, Pompey relied on his renown, +Crassus on his wealth. Pompey attempted to please the people by combats +of lions and of elephants which he had brought home from his foreign +campaigns; Crassus courted their favor by distributing corn among them, +and inviting them to public feasts on great occasions. He spread for +them, at one time, it was said, ten thousand tables. All Rome was filled +with the feuds of these great political foes. It was at this time that +Caesar returned from Spain, and had the adroitness, as has already been +explained, to extinguish these feuds, and reconcile these apparently +implacable foes. He united them together, and joined them with himself +in a triple league, which is celebrated in Roman history as the first +_triumvirate_. The rivalry, however, of these great aspirants for power +was only suppressed and concealed, without being at all weakened or +changed. The death of Crassus soon removed him from the stage. Caesar +and Pompey continued afterward, for some time, an ostensible alliance. +Caesar attempted to strengthen this bond by giving Pompey his daughter +Julia for his wife. Julia, though so young--even her father was six +years younger than Pompey--was devotedly attached to her husband, and he +was equally fond of her. She formed, in fact, a strong bond of union +between the two great conquerors as long as she lived. One day, however, +there was a riot at an election, and men were killed so near to Pompey +that his robe was covered with blood. He changed it; the servants +carried home the bloody garment which he had taken off, and Julia was so +terrified at the sight, thinking that her husband had been killed, that +she fainted, and her constitution suffered very severely by the shock. +She lived some time afterward, but finally died under circumstances +which indicate that this occurrence was the cause. Pompey and Caesar now +soon became open enemies. The ambitious aspirations which each of them +cherished were so vast, that the world was not wide enough for them both +to be satisfied. They had assisted each other up the ascent which they +had been so many years in climbing, but now they had reached very near +to the summit, and the question was to be decided which of the two +should have his station there. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CROSSING THE RUBICON. + +[Sidenote: The Rubicon.] + +There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which +flowed westward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream +has been immortalized by the transactions which we are now about +to describe. + +[Sidenote: Its insignificance as a stream.] + +The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so +small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of +two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its +name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and +conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind +for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a +long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost. + +[Sidenote: Importance of the Rubicon as a boundary.] + +The Rubicon originally derived its importance from the fact that it was +the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed +by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent +countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This +country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the _hither_ +Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Caesar's +jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was +territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The +Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might +threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised +for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very +strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these +armies to the Capitol. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. +Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon +with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the +Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil +restriction to military power. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's expenditure of money at Rome.] +[Sidenote: His influence.] + +As Caesar found the time of his service in Gaul drawing toward a +conclusion, he turned his thoughts more and more toward Rome, +endeavoring to strengthen his interest there by every means in his +power, and to circumvent and thwart the designs of Pompey. He had and +partisans in Rome who acted for him and in his name. He sent immense +sums of money to these men, to be employed in such ways as would most +tend to secure the favor of the people. He ordered the Forum to be +rebuilt with great magnificence. He arranged great celebrations, in +which the people were entertained with an endless succession of games, +spectacles, and public feasts. When his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, +died, he celebrated her funeral with indescribable splendor. He +distributed corn in immense quantities among the people, and he sent a +great many captives home, to be trained as gladiators, to fight in the +theaters for their amusement. In many cases, too, where he found men of +talents and influence among the populace, who had become involved in +debt by their dissipations and extravagance, he paid their debts, and +thus secured their influence on his side. Men were astounded at the +magnitude of these expenditures, and, while the multitude rejoiced +thoughtlessly in the pleasures thus provided for them, the more +reflecting and considerate trembled at the greatness of the power which +was so rapidly rising to overshadow the land. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's personal popularity.] +[Sidenote: Public thanksgiving in his behalf.] + +It increased their anxiety to observe that Pompey was gaining the same +kind of influence and ascendency too. He had not the advantage which +Caesar enjoyed in the prodigious wealth obtained from the rich countries +over which Caesar ruled, but he possessed, instead of it, the advantage +of being all the time at Rome, and of securing, by his character and +action there, a very wide personal popularity and influence. Pompey was, +in fact, the idol of the people. At one time, when he was absent from +Rome, at Naples, he was taken sick. After being for some days in +considerable danger, the crisis passed favorably, and he recovered. Some +of the people of Naples proposed a public thanksgiving to the gods, to +celebrate his restoration to health. The plan was adopted by +acclamation, and the example, thus set, extended from city to city, +until it had spread throughout Italy, and the whole country was filled +with the processions, games, shows, and celebrations, which were +instituted every where in honor of the event. And when Pompey returned +from Naples to Rome, the towns on the way could not afford room for the +crowds that came forth to meet him. The high roads, the villages, the +ports, says Plutarch, were filled with sacrifices and entertainments. +Many received him with garlands on their heads and torches in their +hands, and, as they conducted him along, strewed the way with flowers. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's estimate of Caesar's power.] + +In fact, Pompey considered himself as standing far above Caesar in fame +and power, and this general burst of enthusiasm and applause, educed by +his recovery from sickness, confirmed him in this idea. He felt no +solicitude, he said, in respect to Caesar. He should take no special +precautions against any hostile designs which he might entertain on his +return from Gaul. It was he himself, he said, that had raised Caesar up +to whatever of elevation he had attained, and he could put him down even +more easily than he had exalted him. + +[Sidenote: Plans of the latter.] + +In the mean time, the period was drawing near in which Caesar's command +in the provinces was to expire; and, anticipating the struggle with +Pompey which was about to ensue, he conducted several of his legions +through the passes of the Alps, and advanced gradually, as he had a +right to do, across the country of the Po toward the Rubicon, revolving +in his capacious mind, as he came, the various plans by which he might +hope to gain the ascendency over the power of his mighty rival, and make +himself supreme. + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at Ravenna.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's demands.] + +He concluded that it would be his wisest policy not to a'tempt to +intimidate Pompey by great and open preparations for war, which might +tend to arouse him to vigorous measures of resistance, but rather to +cover and conceal his designs, and thus throw his enemy off his guard. +He advanced, therefore, toward the Rubicon with a small force. He +established his headquarters at Ravenna, a city not far from the river, +and employed himself in objects of local interest there, in order to +avert as much as possible the minds of the people from imagining that he +was contemplating any great design. Pompey sent to him to demand the +return of a certain legion which he had lent him from his own army at a +time when they were friends. Caesar complied with this demand without +any hesitation, and sent the legion home. He sent with this legion, +also, some other troops which were properly his own, thus evincing a +degree of indifference in respect to the amount of the force retained +under his command which seemed wholly inconsistent with the idea that he +contemplated any resistance to the authority of the government at Rome. + +[Sidenote: Caesar demands to be made consul.] +[Sidenote: Excitement in consequence.] + +In the mean time, the struggle at Rome between the partisans of Caesar +and Pompey grew more and more violent and alarming. Caesar through his +friends in the city, demanded to be elected consul. The other side +insisted that he must first, if that was his wish, resign the command of +his army, come to Rome, and present himself as a candidate in the +character of a private citizen. This the constitution of the state very +properly required. In answer to this requisition, Caesar rejoined, that, +if Pompey would lay down his military commands, he would do so too; if +not, it was unjust to require it of him. The services, he added, which +he had performed for his country, demanded some recompense, which, +moreover, they ought to be willing to award, even if, in order to do it, +it were necessary to relax somewhat in his favor the strictness of +ordinary rules. To a large part of the people of the city these demands +of Caesar appeared reasonable. They were clamorous to have them allowed. +The partisans of Pompey, with the stern and inflexible Cato at their +head, deemed them wholly inadmissible, and contended with the most +determined violence against them. The whole city was filled with the +excitement of this struggle, into which all the active and turbulent +spirits of the capital plunged with the most furious zeal, while the +more considerate and thoughtful of the population, remembering the days +of Marius and Sylla, trembled at the impending danger. Pompey himself +had no fear. He urged the Senate to resist to the utmost all of Caesar's +claims, saying, if Caesar should be so presumptuous as to attempt to +march to Rome, he could raise troops enough by stamping with his foot to +put him down. + +[Sidenote: Debates in the Senate.] +[Sidenote: Tumult and confusion.] +[Sidenote: Panic at Rome.] + +It would require a volume to contain a full account of the disputes and +tumults, the maneuvers and debates, the votes and decrees which marked +the successive stages of this quarrel. Pompey himself was all the time +without the city. He was in command of an army there, and no general, +while in command, was allowed to come within the gates. At last an +exciting debate was broken up in the Senate by one of the consuls rising +to depart, saying that he would hear the subject discussed no longer. +The time had arrived for action, and he should send a commander, with an +armed force, to defend the country from Caesar's threatened invasion. +Caesar's leading friends, two tribunes of the people, disguised +themselves as slaves, and fled to the north to join their master. The +country was filled with commotion and panic. The Commonwealth had +obviously more fear of Caesar than confidence in Pompey. The country +was full of rumors in respect to Caesar's power, and the threatening +attitude which he was assuming, while they who had insisted on +resistance seemed, after all, to have provided very inadequate means +with which to resist. A thousand plans were formed, and clamorously +insisted upon by their respective advocates, for averting the danger. +This only added to the confusion, and the city became at length pervaded +with a universal terror. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Ravenna.] + +While this was the state of things at Rome, Caesar was quietly +established at Ravenna; thirty or forty miles from the frontier. He was +erecting a building for a fencing school there and his mind seemed to be +occupied very busily with the plans and models of the edifice which the +architects had formed. Of course, in his intended march to Rome, his +reliance was not to be so much on the force which he should take with +him, as on the co-operation and support which he expected to find there. +It was his policy, therefore, to move as quietly and privately as +possible, and with as little display of violence, and to avoid every +thing which might indicate his intended march to any spies which might +be around him, or to any other person! who might be disposed to report +what they observed at Rome. Accordingly, on the very eve of his +departure, he busied himself with his fencing school, and assumed with +his officers and soldiers a careless and unconcerned air, which +prevented any one from suspecting his design. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's midnight march.] +[Sidenote: He loses his way.] + +In the course of the day he privately sent forward some cohorts to the +southward, with orders for them to encamp on the banks of the Rubicon. +When night came he sat down to supper as usual, and conversed with his +friends in his ordinary manner, and went with them afterward to a public +entertainment. As soon as it was dark and the streets were still, he set +off secretly from the city, accompanied by a very few attendants. +Instead of making use of his ordinary equipage, the parading of which +would have attracted attention to his movements, he had some mules taken +from a neighboring bake-house, and harnessed into his chaise. There were +torch-bearers provided to light the way. The cavalcade drove on during +the night, finding, however, the hasty preparations which had been made +inadequate for the occasion. The torches went out, the guides lost their +way, and the future conqueror of the world wandered about bewildered and +lost, until, just after break of day, the party met with a peasant +who undertook to guide them. Under his direction they made their way to +the main road again, and advanced then without further difficulty to the +banks of the river, where they found that portion of the army which had +been sent forward encamped, and awaiting their arrival. + +[Illustration: CROSSING THE RUBICON] + +[Sidenote: Caesar at the Rubicon.] +[Sidenote: His hesitation at the river.] + +Caesar stood for some time upon the banks of the stream, musing upon the +greatness of the undertaking in which simply passing across it would +involve him. His officers stood by his side. "We can retreat _now_" said +he, "but once across that river and we must go on." He paused for some +time, conscious of the vast importance of the decision, though he +thought only, doubtless, of its consequences to himself. Taking the step +which was now before him would necessarily end either in his realizing +the loftiest aspirations of his ambition, or in his utter and +irreparable ruin. There were vast public interests, too, at stake, of +which, however he probably thought but little. It proved, in the end, +that the history of the whole Roman world, for several centuries, was +depending upon the manner in which the question new in Caesar's mind +should turn. + +[Sidenote: Story of the shepherd trumpeter.] + +There was a little bridge across the Rubicon at the point where Caesar +was surveying it. While he was standing there, the story is, a peasant +or shepherd came from the neighboring fields with a shepherd's pipe--a +simple musical instrument, made of a reed, and used much by the rustic +musicians of those days. The soldiers and some of the officers gathered +around him to hear him play. Among the rest came some of Caesar's +trumpeters, with their trumpets in their hands. The shepherd took one of +these martial instruments from the hands of its possessor, laying aside +his own, and began to sound a charge--which is a signal for a rapid +advance--and to march at the same time over the bridge "An omen! a +prodigy!" said Caesar. "Let us march where we are called by such a +divine intimation. _The die is cast_." + +[Sidenote: Caesar crosses the Rubicon.] + +So saying, he pressed forward over the bridge, while the officers, +breaking up the encampment, put the columns in motion to follow him. + +It was shown abundantly, on many occasions in the course of Caesar's +life, that he had no faith in omens. There are equally numerous +instances to show that he was always ready to avail himself of the +popular belief in them; to awaken his soldiers' ardor or to allay their +fears. Whether, therefore, in respect to this story of the shepherd +trumpeter, it was an incident that really and accidentally occurred, or +whether Caesar planned and arranged it himself, with reference to its +effect, or whether, which is, perhaps, after all, the most probable +supposition, the tale was only an embellishment invented out of +something or nothing by the story-tellers of those days, to give +additional dramatic interest to the narrative of the crossing of the +Rubicon, it must be left for each reader to decide. + +[Sidenote: Caesar assembles his troops.] +[Sidenote: His address to them.] + +As soon as the bridge was crossed, Caesar called an assembly of his +troops, and, with signs of great excitement and agitation, made an +address to them on the magnitude of the crisis through which they were +passing. He showed them how entirely he was in their power; he urged +them, by the most eloquent appeals, to stand by him, faithful and true, +promising them the most ample rewards when he should have attained the +object at which he aimed. The soldiers responded to this appeal with +promises of the most unwavering fidelity. + +[Sidenote: Surrender of various towns.] + +The first town on the Roman side of the Rubicon was Ariminum. Caesar +advanced to this town. The authorities opened its gates to him--very +willing, as it appeared, to receive him as their commander. Caesar's +force was yet quite small, as he had been accompanied by only a single +legion in crossing the river. He had, however, sent orders for the other +legions, which had been left in Gaul, to join him without any delay, +though any re-enforcement of his troops seemed hardly necessary, as he +found no indications of opposition to his progress. He gave his soldiers +the strictest injunctions to do no injury to any property, public or +private, as they advanced, and not to assume, in any respect, a hostile +attitude toward the people of the country. The inhabitants, therefore, +welcomed him wherever he came, and all the cities and towns followed the +example of Ariminum, surrendering, in fact, faster than he could take +possession of them. + +[Sidenote: Domitius appointed to supersede Caesar.] + +In the confusion of the debates and votes in the Senate at Rome before +Caesar crossed the Rubicon, one decree had been passed deposing him from +his command of the army, and appointing a successor. The name of the +general thus appointed was Domitius. The only real opposition which +Caesar encountered in his progress toward Rome was from him. Domitius +had crossed the Apennines at the head of an army on his way northward to +supersede Caesar in his command, and had reached the town of Corfinium, +which was perhaps one third of the way between Rome and the Rubicon. +Caesar advanced upon him here and shut him in. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's treatment of Domitius.] + +After a brief siege the city was taken, and Domitius and his army were +made prisoners. Every body gave them up for lost, expecting that Caesar +would wreak terrible vengeance upon them. Instead of this, he received +the troops at once into his own service, and let Domitius go free. + +[Sidenote: Dismay at Rome.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's distress.] + +In the mean time, the tidings of Caesar's having passed the Rubicon, and +of the triumphant success which he was meeting with at the commencement +of his march toward Rome, reached the Capitol, and added greatly to the +prevailing consternation. The reports of the magnitude of his force and +of the rapidity of his progress were greatly exaggerated. The party of +Pompey and the Senate had done every thing to spread among the people +the terror of Caesar's name, in order to arouse them to efforts for +opposing his designs; and now, when he had broken through the barriers +which had been intended to restrain him, and was advancing toward the +city in an unchecked and triumphant career, they were overwhelmed with +dismay. Pompey began to be terrified at the danger which was impending. +The Senate held meetings without the city--councils of war, as it were, +in which they looked to Pompey in vain for protection from the danger +which he had brought upon them. He had said that he could raise an army +sufficient to cope with Caesar at any time by stamping with his foot. +They told him they thought now that it was high time for him to stamp. + +[Sidenote: He leaves Rome.] + +In fact, Pompey found the current setting every where strongly against +him. Some recommended that commissioners should be sent to Caesar to +make proposals for peace. The leading men, however, knowing that any +peace made with him under such circumstances would be their own ruin, +resisted and defeated the proposal. Cato abruptly left the city and +proceeded to Sicily, which had been assigned him as his province. Others +fled in other directions. Pompey himself, uncertain what to do, and not +daring to remain, called upon all his partisans to join him, and set off +at night, suddenly, and with very little preparation and small supplies, +to retreat across the country toward the shores of the Adriatic Sea, His +destination was Brundusium, the usual port of embarkation for Macedon +and Greece. + +[Sidenote: Enthusiasm of Caesar's soldiers.] + +Caesar was all this time gradually advancing toward Rome. His soldiers +were full of enthusiasm in his cause. As his connection with the +government at home was sundered the moment he crossed the Rubicon, all +supplies of money and of provisions were cut off in that quarter until +he should arrive at the Capitol and take possession of it. The soldiers +voted, however, that they would serve him without pay. The officers, +too, assembled together, and tendered him the aid of their +contributions. He had always observed a very generous policy in his +dealings with them, and he was now greatly gratified at receiving their +requital of it. + +[Sidenote: His policy in releasing Domitius.] + +The further he advanced, too, the more he found the people of the +country through which he passed disposed to espouse his cause. They were +struck with his generosity in releasing Domitius. It is true that it was +a very sagacious policy that prompted him to release him. But then it +was generosity too. In fact, there must be something of a generous +spirit in the soul to enable a man even to see the policy of +generous actions. + +[Sidenote: Letter of Caesar.] + +Among the letters of Caesar that remain to the present day, there is one +written about this time to one of his friends, in which he speaks of +this subject. "I am glad," says he, "that you approve of my conduct at +Corfinium. I am satisfied that such a course is the best one for us to +pursue, as by so doing we shall gain the good will of all parties, and +thus secure a permanent victory. Most conquerors have incurred the +hatred of mankind by their cruelties, and have all, in consequence of +the enmity they have thus awakened, been prevented from long enjoying +their power. Sylla was an exception; but his example of successful +cruelty I have no disposition to imitate. I will conquer after a new +fashion, and fortify myself in the possession of the power I acquire by +generosity and mercy." + +[Sidenote: Ingratitude of Domitius.] + +Domitius had the ingratitude, after this release, to take up arms again, +and wage a new war against Caesar. When Caesar heard of it, he said it +was all right. "I will act out the principles of my nature," said he, +"and he may act out his." + +[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.] + +Another instance of Caesar's generosity occurred, which is even more +remarkable than this. It seems that among the officers of his army there +were some whom he had appointed at the recommendation of Pompey, at the +time when he and Pompey were friends. These men would, of course, feel +under obligations of gratitude to Pompey, as they owed their military +rank to his friendly interposition in their behalf. As soon as the war +broke out, Caesar gave them all his free permission to go over to +Pompey's side, if they chose to do so. + +[Sidenote: Modern politicians.] + +Caesar acted thus very liberally in all respects. He surpassed Pompey +very much in the spirit of generosity and mercy with which he entered +upon the great contest before them. Pompey ordered every citizen to join +his standard, declaring that he should consider all neutrals as his +enemies. Caesar, on the other hand, gave free permission to every one to +decline, if he chose, taking any part in the contest, saying that he +should consider all who did not act against him as his friends. In the +political contests of our day, it is to be observed that the combatants +are much more prone to imitate the bigotry of Pompey than the generosity +of Caesar, condemning, as they often do, those who choose to stand aloof +from electioneering struggles, more than they do their most determined +opponents and enemies. + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at Brundusium.] + +When, at length, Caesar arrived at Brundusium, he found that Pompey had +sent a part of his army across the Adriatic into Greece, and was +waiting for the transports to return that he might go over himself with +the remainder. In the mean time, he had fortified himself strongly in +the city. Caesar immediately laid siege to the place, and he commenced +some works to block up the mouth of the harbor. He built piers on each +side, extending out as far into the sea as the depth of the water would +allow them to be built. He then constructed a series of rafts, which he +anchored on the deep water, in a line extending from one pier to the +other. He built towers upon these rafts, and garrisoned them with +soldiers, in hopes by this means to prevent all egress from the fort. He +thought that, when this work was completed, Pompey would be entirely +shut in, beyond all possibility of escape. + +[Sidenote: He besieges Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's plan of escape.] + +The transports, however, returned before the work was completed. Its +progress was, of course, slow, as the constructions were the scene of a +continued conflict; for Pompey sent out rafts and galleys against them +every day, and the workmen had thus to build in the midst of continual +interruptions, sometimes from showers of darts, arrows, and javelins, +sometimes from the conflagrations of fireships, and sometimes from the +terrible concussions of great vessels of war, impelled with prodigious +force against them. The transports returned, therefore, before the +defenses were complete, and contrived to get into the harbor. Pompey +immediately formed his plan for embarking the remainder of his army. + +[Sidenote: It is made known to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Success of Pompey's plan.] + +He filled the streets of the city with barricades and pitfalls, +excepting two streets which led to the place of embarkation. The object +of these obstructions was to embarrass Caesar's progress through the +city in case he should force an entrance while his men were getting on +board the ships. He then, in order to divert Caesar's attention from his +design, doubled the guards stationed upon the walls on the evening of +his intended embarkation, and ordered them to make vigorous attacks upon +all Caesar's forces outside. He then, when the darkness came on, marched +his troops through the two streets which had been left open, to the +landing place, and got them as fast as possible on board the transports. +Some of the people of the town contrived to make known to Caesar's army +what was going on, by means of signals from the walls; the army +immediately brought scaling ladders in great numbers, and, mounting the +walls with great ardor and impetuosity, they drove all before them, and +soon broke open the gates and got possession of the city. But the +barricades and pitfalls, together with the darkness, so embarrassed +their movements, that Pompey succeeded in completing his embarkation and +sailing away. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's conduct at Rome.] + +Caesar had no ships in which to follow. He returned to Rome. He met, of +course, with no opposition. He re-established the government there, +organized the Senate anew, and obtained supplies of corn from the public +granaries, and of money from the city treasury in the Capitol. In going +to the Capitoline Hill after this treasure, he found the officer who had +charge of the money stationed there to defend it. He told Caesar that it +was contrary to law for him to enter. Caesar said that, for men with +swords in their hands, there was no law. The officer still refused to +admit him. Caesar then told him to open the doors, or he would kill him +on the spot. "And you must understand," he added, "that it will be +easier for me to do it than it has been to say it." The officer resisted +no longer, and Caesar went in. + +[Sidenote: Caesar subdues various countries.] +[Sidenote: He turns his thoughts to Pompey.] + +After this, Caesar spent some time in rigorous campaigns in Italy, +Spain, Sicily, and Gaul, wherever there was manifested any opposition +to his sway. When this work was accomplished, and all these countries +were completely subjected to his dominion, he began to turn his thoughts +to the plan of pursuing Pompey across the Adriatic Sea. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. + +[Sidenote: The gathering armies.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's preparations.] +[Sidenote: Caesar at Brundusium.] + +The gathering of the armies of Caesar and Pompey on the opposite shores +of the Adriatic Sea was one of the grandest preparations for conflict +that history has recorded, and the whole world gazed upon the spectacle +at the time with an intense and eager interest, which was heightened by +the awe and terror which the danger inspired. During the year while +Caesar had been completing his work of subduing and arranging all the +western part of the empire, Pompey had been gathering from the eastern +division every possible contribution to swell the military force under +his command, and had been concentrating all these elements of power on +the coasts of Macedon and Greece, opposite to Brundusium, where he knew +that Caesar would attempt to cross the Adriatic Sea, His camps, his +detachments, his troops of archers and slingers, and his squadrons of +horse, filled the land, while every port was guarded, and the line of +the coast was environed by batteries and castles on the rocks, and +fleets of galleys on the water. Caesar advanced with his immense army to +Brundusium, on the opposite shore, in December, so that, in addition to +the formidable resistance prepared for him by his enemy on the coast, he +had to encounter the wild surges of the Adriatic, rolling perpetually in +the dark and gloomy commotion always raised in such wide seas by +wintery storms. + +[Sidenote: His address to his army.] + +Caesar had no ships, for Pompey had cleared the seas of every thing +which could aid him in his intended passage. By great efforts, however, +he succeeded at length in getting together a sufficient number of +galleys to convey over a part of his army, provided he took the men +alone, and left all his military stores and baggage behind. He gathered +his army together, therefore, and made them an address, representing +that they were now drawing toward the end of all their dangers and +toils. They were about to meet their great enemy for a final conflict. +It was not necessary to take their servants, their baggage, and their +stores across the sea, for they were sure of victory, and victory would +furnish them with ample supplies from those whom they were about +to conquer. + +[Sidenote: Caesar crosses the Adriatic.] + +The soldiers eagerly imbibed the spirit of confidence and courage which +Caesar himself expressed. A large detachment embarked and put to sea, +and, after being tossed all night upon the cold and stormy waters, they +approached the shore at some distance to the northward of the place +where Pompey's fleets had expected them. It was at a point where the +mountains came down near to the sea, rendering the coast rugged and +dangerous with shelving rocks and frowning promontories. Here Caesar +succeeded in effecting a landing of the first division of his troops, +and then sent back the fleet for the remainder. + +[Sidenote: He subdues several towns.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's advance.] +[Sidenote: Distress of the armies.] + +The news of his passage spread rapidly to all Pompey's stations along +the coast, and the ships began to gather, and the armies to march toward +the point where Caesar had effected his landing. The conflict and +struggle commenced. One of Pompey's admirals intercepted the fleet of +galleys on their return, and seized and burned a large number of them, +with all who were on board. This, of course, only renewed the determined +desperation of the remainder. Caesar advanced along the coast with the +troops which he had landed, driving Pompey's troops before him, and +subduing town after town as he advanced. The country was filled with +terror and dismay. The portion of the army which Caesar had left behind +could not now cross, partly on account of the stormy condition of the +seas, the diminished number of the ships, and the redoubled vigilance +with which Pompey's forces now guarded the shores, but mainly because +Caesar was now no longer with them to inspire them with his reckless, +though calm and quiet daring. They remained, therefore, in anxiety and +distress, on the Italian shore. As Caesar, on the other hand, advanced +along the Macedonian shore, and drove Pompey back into the interior, he +cut off the communication between Pompey's ships and the land, so that +the fleet was soon reduced to great distress for want of provisions and +water. The men kept themselves from perishing with thirst by collecting +the dew which fell upon the decks of their galleys. Caesar's army was +also in distress, for Pompey's fleets cut off all supplies by water, and +his troops hemmed them in on the side of the land; and, lastly, Pompey +himself, with the immense army that was under his command, began to be +struck with alarm at the impending danger with which they were +threatened. Pompey little realized, however, how dreadful a fate was +soon to overwhelm him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's impatience.] +[Sidenote: He attempts to cross the Adriatic.] + +The winter months rolled away, and nothing effectual was done. The +forces, alternating and intermingled, as above described, kept each +other in a continued state of anxiety and suffering. Caesar became +impatient at the delay of that portion of his army that he had left on +the Italian shore. The messages of encouragement and of urgency which he +sent across to them did not bring them over, and at length, one dark and +stormy night, when he thought that the inclemency of the skies and the +heavy surging of the swell in the offing would drive his vigilant +enemies into places of shelter, and put them off their guard, he +determined to cross the sea himself and bring his hesitating army over. +He ordered a galley to be prepared, and went on board of it disguised, +and with his head muffled in his mantle, intending that not even the +officers or crew of the ship which was to convey him should know of his +design. The galley, in obedience to orders, put off from the shore. The +mariners endeavored in vain for some time to make head against the +violence of the wind and the heavy concussions of the waves, and at +length, terrified at the imminence of the danger to which so wild and +tumultuous a sea on such a night exposed them, refused to proceed, and +the commander gave them orders to return. Caesar then came forward, +threw off his mantle, and said to them, "Friends! you have nothing to +fear. You are carrying Caesar." + +The men were, of course, inspirited anew by this disclosure, but all was +in vain. The obstacles to the passage proved insurmountable, and the +galley, to avoid certain destruction, was compelled to return. + +[Sidenote: Caesar lands the remainder of his army.] + +The army, however, on the Italian side, hearing of Caesar's attempt to +return to them, fruitless though it was, and stimulated by the renewed +urgency of the orders which he now sent to them, made arrangements at +last for an embarkation, and, after encountering great dangers on the +way, succeeded in landing in safety. Caesar, thus strengthened, began to +plan more decided operations for the coming spring. + +[Sidenote: Attempts at negotiation.] +[Sidenote: Conferences.] +[Sidenote: End in violence and disorder.] + +There were some attempts at negotiation. The armies were so exasperated +against each other on account of the privations and hardships which each +compelled the other to suffer, that they felt too strong a mutual +distrust to attempt any regular communication by commissioners or +ambassadors appointed for the purpose. They came to a parley, however, +in one or two instances, though the interviews led to no result. As the +missiles used in those days were such as could only be thrown to a very +short distance, hostile bodies of men could approach much nearer to each +other then than is possible now, when projectiles of the most terribly +destructive character can be thrown for miles. In one instance, some of +the ships of Pompey's fleet approached so near to the shore as to open a +conference with one or two of Caesar's lieutenants who were encamped +there. In another case, two bodies of troops from the respective armies +were separated only by a river, and the officers and soldiers came down +to the banks on either side, and held frequent conversations, calling to +each other in loud voices across the water. In this way they succeeded +in so far coming to an agreement as to fix upon a time and place for a +more formal conference, to be held by commissioners chosen on each side. +This conference was thus held, but each party came to it accompanied by +a considerable body of attendants, and these, as might have been +anticipated, came into open collision while the discussion was pending; +thus the meeting consequently ended in violence and disorder, each party +accusing the other of violating the faith which both had plighted. + +[Sidenote: Undecided warfare.] +[Sidenote: Bread made of roots.] + +This slow and undecided mode of warfare between the two vast armies +continued for many months without any decisive results. There were +skirmishes, struggles, sieges, blockades, and many brief and partial +conflicts, but no general and decided battle. Now the advantage seemed +on one side, and now on the other. Pompey so hemmed in Caesar's troops +at one period, and so cut off his supplies, that the men were reduced to +extreme distress for food. At length they found a kind of root which +they dug from the ground, and, after drying and pulverizing it, they +made a sort of bread of the powder, which the soldiers were willing to +eat rather than either starve or give up the contest. They told Caesar, +in fact, that they would live on the bark of trees rather than abandon +his cause. Pompey's soldiers, at one time, coming near to the walls of a +town which they occupied, taunted and jeered them on account of their +wretched destitution of food. Caesar's soldiers threw loaves of this +bread at them in return, by way of symbol that they were +abundantly supplied. + +[Sidenote: Caesar hems Pompey in.] +[Sidenote: Anxiety of the rivals.] + +After some time the tide of fortune turned Caesar contrived, by a +succession of adroit maneuvers and movements, to escape from his toils, +and to circumvent and surround Pompey's forces so as soon to make them +suffer destitution and distress in their turn. He cut off all +communication between them and the country at large, and turned away the +brooks and streams from flowing through the ground they occupied. An +army of forty or fifty thousand men, with the immense number of horses +and beasts of burden which accompany them, require very large supplies +of water, and any destitution or even scarcity of water leads +immediately to the most dreadful consequences. Pompey's troops dug +wells, but they obtained only very insufficient supplies. Great numbers +of beasts of burden died, and their decaying bodies so tainted the air +as to produce epidemic diseases, which destroyed many of the troops, and +depressed and disheartened those whom they did not destroy. + +[Sidenote: Nature of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Both hesitate.] + +During all these operations there was no decisive general battle. Each +one of the great rivals knew very well that his defeat in one general +battle would be his utter and irretrievable ruin. In a war between two +independent nations, a single victory, however complete, seldom +terminates the struggle, for the defeated party has the resources of a +whole realm to fall back upon, which are sometimes called forth with +renewed vigor after experiencing such reverses; and then defeat in such +cases, even if it be final, does not necessarily involve the ruin of the +unsuccessful commander. He may negotiate an honorable peace, and return +to his own land in safety; and, if his misfortunes are considered by his +countrymen as owing not to any dereliction from his duty as a soldier, +but to the influence of adverse circumstances which no human skill or +resolution could have controlled, he may spend the remainder of his days +in prosperity and honor. The contest, however, between Caesar and Pompey +was not of this character. One or the other of them was a traitor and a +usurper--an enemy to his country. The result of a battle would decide +which of the two was to stand in this attitude. Victory would legitimize +and confirm the authority of one, and make it supreme over the whole +civilized world. Defeat was to annihilate the power of the other, and +make him a fugitive and a vagabond, without friends, without home, +without country. It was a desperate stake; and it is not at all +surprising that both parties lingered and hesitated, and postponed the +throwing of the die. + +[Sidenote: The armies enter Thessaly.] + +At length Pompey, rendered desperate by the urgency of the destitution +and distress into which Caesar had shut him, made a series of rigorous +and successful attacks upon Caesar's lines, by which he broke away in +his turn from his enemy's grasp, and the two armies moved slowly back +into the interior of the country, hovering in the vicinity of each +other, like birds of prey contending in the air, each continually +striking at the other, and moving onward at the same time to gain some +position of advantage, or to circumvent the other in such a design. They +passed on in this manner over plains, and across rivers, and through +mountain passes, until at length they reached the heart of Thessaly. +Here at last the armies came to a stand and fought the final battle. + +[Illustration: ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS.] + +[Sidenote: The plain of Pharsalia.] +[Sidenote: Roman standard bearers.] +[Sidenote: Pompey draws up his army.] +[Sidenote: Forces on both sides.] + +The place was known then as the plain of Pharsalia, and the greatness of +the contest which was decided there has immortalized its name. Pompey's +forces were far more numerous than those of Caesar, and the advantage in +all the partial contests which had taken place for some time had been on +his side; he felt, consequently, sure of victory. He drew up his men in +a line, one flank resting upon the bank of a river, which protected them +from attack on that side. From this point, the long line of legions, +drawn up in battle array, extended out upon the plain, and was +terminated at the other extremity by strong squadrons of horse, and +bodies of slingers and archers, so as to give the force of weapons and +the activity of men as great a range as possible there, in order to +prevent Caesar's being able to outflank and surround them There was, +however, apparently very little danger of this, for Caesar, according to +his own story, had but about half as strong a force as Pompey. The army +of the latter, he says, consisted of nearly fifty thousand men, while +his own number was between twenty and thirty thousand. Generals, +however, are prone to magnify the military grandeur of their exploits by +overrating the strength with which they had to contend, and +under-estimating their own. We are therefore to receive with some +distrust the statements made by Caesar and his partisans; and as for +Pompey's story, the total and irreparable ruin in which he himself and +all who adhered to him were entirely overwhelmed immediately after the +battle, prevented its being ever told. + +[Sidenote: Appearance of Pompey's camp.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's tent.] + +In the rear of the plain where Pompey's lines were extended was the camp +from which the army had been drawn out to prepare for the battle. The +camp fires of the preceding night were moldering away, for it was a warm +summer morning; the intrenchments were guarded, and the tents, now +nearly empty, stood extended in long rows within the inclosure. In the +midst of them was the magnificent pavilion of the general, furnished +with every imaginable article of luxury and splendor. Attendants were +busy here and there, some rearranging what had been left in disorder by +the call to arms by which the troops had been summoned from their places +of rest, and others providing refreshments-and food for their victorious +comrades when they should return from the battle. In Pompey's tent a +magnificent entertainment was preparing. The tables were spread with +every luxury, the sideboards were loaded with plate, and the whole scene +was resplendent with utensils and decorations of silver and gold. + +[Sidenote: His confidence of victory.] + +Pompey and all his generals were perfectly certain of victory. In fact, +the peace and harmony of their councils in camp had been destroyed for +many days by their contentions and disputes about the disposal of the +high offices, and the places of profit and power at Rome, which were to +come into their hands when Caesar should have been subdued. The subduing +of Caesar they considered only a question of time; and, as a question of +time, it was now reduced to very narrow limits. A few days more, and +they were to be masters of the whole Roman empire, and, impatient and +greedy, they disputed in anticipation about the division of the spoils. + +To make assurance doubly sure, Pompey gave orders that his troops +should not advance to meet the onset of Caesar's troops on the middle +ground between the two armies, but that they should wait calmly for the +attack, and receive the enemy at the posts where they had themselves +been arrayed. + +[Sidenote: The battle of Pharsalia.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Scene of horror.] + +The hour at length arrived, the charge was sounded by the trumpets, and +Caesar's troops began to advance with loud shouts and great impetuosity +toward Pompey's lines. There was a long and terrible struggle, but the +forces of Pompey began finally to give way. Notwithstanding the +precautions which Pompey had taken to guard and protect the wing of his +army which was extended toward the land, Caesar succeeded in turning his +flank upon that side by driving off the cavalry and destroying the +archers and slingers, and he was thus enabled to throw a strong force +upon Pompey's rear. The flight then soon became general, and a scene of +dreadful confusion and slaughter ensued. The soldiers of Caesar's army, +maddened with the insane rage which the progress of a battle never fails +to awaken, and now excited to phrensy by the exultation of success, +pressed on after the affrighted fugitives, who trampled one upon +another, or fell pierced with the weapons of their assailants, filling +the air with their cries of agony and their shrieks of terror. The +horrors of the scene, far from allaying, only excited still more the +ferocity of their bloodthirsty foes, and they pressed steadily and +fiercely on, hour after hour, in their dreadful work of destruction. It +was one of those scenes of horror and woe such as those who have not +witnessed them can not conceive of, and those who have witnessed can +never forget. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's flight to the camp.] +[Sidenote: Pompey in his tent.] +[Sidenote: His consternation and despair.] + +When Pompey perceived that all was lost, he fled from the field in a +state of the wildest excitement and consternation. His troops were +flying in all directions, some toward the camp, vainly hoping to find +refuge there, and others in various other quarters, wherever they saw +the readiest hope of escape from their merciless pursuers. Pompey +himself fled instinctively toward the camp. As he passed the guards at +the gate where he entered, he commanded them, in his agitation and +terror, to defend the gate against the coming enemy, saying that he was +going to the other gates to attend to the defenses there. He then +hurried on, but a full sense of the helplessness and hopelessness of his +condition soon overwhelmed him; he gave up all thought of defense, and, +passing with a sinking heart through the scene of consternation and +confusion which reigned every where within the encampment, he sought +his own tent, and, rushing into it, sank down, amid the luxury and +splendor which had been arranged to do honor to his anticipated victory, +in a state of utter stupefaction and despair. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY. + +[Sidenote: Pursuit of the vanquished.] +[Sidenote: Pompey recovers himself.] + +Caesar pursued the discomfited and flying bodies of Pompey's army to the +camp. They made a brief stand upon the ramparts and at the gates in a +vain and fruitless struggle against the tide of victory which they soon +perceived must fully overwhelm them. They gave way continually here and +there along the lines of intrenchment, and column after column of +Caesar's followers broke through into the camp. Pompey, hearing from his +tent the increasing noise and uproar, was at length aroused from his +stupor, and began to summon his faculties to the question what he was to +do. At length a party of fugitives, hotly pursued by some of Caesar's +soldiers, broke into his tent. "What!" said Pompey, "into my tent too!" +He had been for more than thirty years a victorious general, accustomed +to all the deference and respect which boundless wealth, extended and +absolute power, and the highest military rank could afford. In the +encampments which he had made, and in the cities which he had occupied +from time to time, he had been the supreme and unquestioned master, and +his tent, arranged and furnished, as it had always been, in a style of +the utmost magnificence and splendor, had been sacred from all +intrusion, and invested with such a dignity that potentates and princes +were impressed when they entered, with a feeling of deference and awe. +Now, rude soldiers burst wildly into it, and the air without was filled +with an uproar and confusion, drawing every moment nearer and nearer, +and warning the fallen hero that there was no longer any protection +there against the approaching torrent which was coming on to +overwhelm him. + +[Sidenote: Pompey disguises himself.] +[Sidenote: He escapes from the camp.] + +Pompey aroused himself from his stupor, threw off the military dress +which belonged to his rank and station, and assumed a hasty disguise, in +which he hoped he might make his escape from the immediate scene of his +calamities. He mounted a horse and rode out of the camp at the easiest +place of egress in the rear, in company with bodies of troops and guards +who were also flying in confusion, while Caesar and his forces on the +other side were carrying the intrenchments and forcing their way in. As +soon is he had thus made his escape from the immediate scene of danger, +he dismounted and left his horse, that he might assume more completely +the appearance of a common soldier, and, with a few attendants who were +willing to follow his fallen fortunes, he went on to the eastward, +directing his weary steps toward the shores of the Aegean Sea. + +[Sidenote: The Vale of Tempe.] +[Sidenote: Its picturesqueness.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's sufferings.] +[Sidenote: A drink of water.] + +The country through which he was traveling was Thessaly. Thessaly is a +vast amphitheater, surrounded by mountains, from whose sides streams +descend, which, after watering many fertile valleys and plains, combine +to form one great central river that flows to the eastward, and after +various meanderings, finds its way into the Aegean Sea through a +romantic gap between two mountains, called the Vale of Tempe--a vale +which has been famed in all ages for the extreme picturesqueness of its +scenery, and in which, in those days, all the charms both of the most +alluring beauty and of the sublimest grandeur seemed to be combined. +Pompey followed the roads leading along the banks of this stream, weary +in body, and harassed and disconsolate in mind. The news which came to +him from time to time, by the flying parties which were moving through +the country in all directions, of the entire and overwhelming +completeness of Caesar's victory, extinguished all remains of hope, and +narrowed down at last the grounds of his solicitude to the single point +of his own personal safety. He was well aware that he should be pursued, +and, to baffle the efforts which he knew that his enemies would make to +follow his track, he avoided large towns, and pressed forward in by-ways +and solitudes, bearing as patiently as he was able his increasing +destitution and distress. He reached, at length, the Vale of Tempe, and +there, exhausted with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, he sat down upon the +bank of the stream to recover by a little rest strength enough for the +remainder of his weary way. He wished for a drink, but he had nothing to +drink from. And so the mighty potentate, whose tent was full of +delicious beverages, and cups and goblets of silver and gold, extended +himself down upon the sand at the margin of the river, and drank the +warm water directly from the stream. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Pompey's camp.] + +While Pompey was thus anxiously and toilsomely endeavoring to gain the +sea-shore, Caesar was completing his victory over the army which he had +left behind him. When Caesar had carried the intrenchments of the camp, +and the army found that there was no longer any safety for them there, +they continued their retreat under the guidance of such generals as +remained. Caesar thus gained undisputed possession of the camp. He found +every where the marks of wealth and luxury, and indications of the +confident expectation of victory which the discomfited army had +entertained. The tents of the generals were crowned with myrtle, the +beds were strewed with flowers, and tables every where were spread for +feasts, with cups and bowls of wine all ready for the expected revelers. +Caesar took possession of the whole, stationed a proper guard to protect +the property, and then pressed forward with his army in pursuit of +the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Retreat of Pompey's army.] +[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's army.] + +Pompey's army made their way to a neighboring rising ground, where they +threw up hasty intrenchments to protect themselves for the night. A +rivulet ran near the hill, the access to which they endeavored to +secure, in order to obtain supplies of water. Caesar and his forces +followed them to this spot. The day was gone, and it was too late to +attack them. Caesar's soldiers, too, were exhausted with the intense and +protracted excitement and exertions which had now been kept up for many +hours in the battle and in the pursuit, and they needed repose. They +made, however, one effort more. They seized the avenue of approach to +the rivulet, and threw up a temporary intrenchment to secure it which +intrenchment they protected with a guard; and then the army retired to +rest, leaving their helpless victims to while away the hours of the +night, tormented with thirst, and overwhelmed with anxiety and despair. +This could not long be endured. They surrendered in the morning, and +Caesar found himself in possession of over twenty thousand prisoners. + +[Sidenote: Pompey in the Vale of Tempe.] + +In the mean time, Pompey passed on through the Vale of Tempe toward the +sea, regardless of the beauty and splendor that surrounded him, and +thinking only of his fallen fortunes, and revolving despairingly in his +mind the various forms in which the final consummation of his ruin might +ultimately come. At length he reached the sea-shore, and found refuge +for the night in a fisherman's cabin. A small number of attendants +remained with him, some of whom were slaves. These he now dismissed, +directing them to return and surrender themselves to Caesar, saying that +he was a generous foe, and that they had nothing to fear from him. His +other attendants he retained, and he made arrangements for a boat to +take him the next day along the coast. It was a river boat, and +unsuited to the open sea, but it was all that he could obtain. + +[Sidenote: Pompey embarks on board a vessel.] +[Sidenote: The shipmaster's dream.] + +He arose the next morning at break of day, and embarked in the little +vessel, with two or three attendants, and the oarsmen began to row away +along the shore. They soon came in sight of a merchant ship just ready +to sail. The master of this vessel, it happened, had seen Pompey, and +knew his countenance, and he had dreamed, as a famous historian of the +times relates, on the night before, that Pompey had come to him hi the +guise of a simple soldier and in great distress, and that he had +received and rescued him. There was nothing extraordinary in such a +dream at such a time, as the contest between Caesar and Pompey, and the +approach of the final collision which was to destroy one or the other of +them, filled the minds and occupied the conversation of the world. The +shipmaster, therefore, having seen and known one of the great rivals in +the approaching conflict, would naturally find both his waking and +sleeping thoughts dwelling on the subject; and his fancy, in his dreams, +might easily picture the scene of his rescuing and saving the fallen +hero in the hour of his distress. + +[Sidenote: Pompey goes on board a merchant ship.] + +However this may be, the shipmaster is said to have been relating his +dream to the seamen on the deck of his vessel when the boat which was +conveying Pompey came into view. Pompey himself, having escaped from the +land, supposed all immediate danger over, not imagining that seafaring +men would recognize him in such a situation and in such a disguise. The +shipmaster did, however, recognize him. He was overwhelmed with grief at +seeing him in such a condition. With a countenance and with gestures +expressive of earnest surprise and sorrow, he beckoned to Pompey to come +on board. He ordered his own ship's boat to be immediately let down to +meet and receive him. Pompey came on board. The ship was given up to his +possession, and every possible arrangement was made to supply his wants, +to contribute to his comfort, and to do him honor. + +[Sidenote: His arrival at Amphipolis.] + +The vessel conveyed him to Amphipolis, a city of Macedonia near the sea, +and to the northward and eastward of the place where he had embarked. +When Pompey arrived at the port he sent proclamations to the shore, +calling upon the inhabitants to take arms and join his standard. He did +not, however, land, or take any other measures for carrying these +arrangements into effect. He only waited in the river upon which +Amphipolis stands long enough to receive a supply of money from some of +his friends on the shore, and stores for his voyage, and then get sail +again. Whether he learned that Caesar was advancing in that direction +with a force too strong for him to encounter, or found that the people +were disinclined to espouse his cause, or whether the whole movement was +a feint to direct Caesar's attention to Macedon as the field of his +operations, in order that he might escape more secretly and safely +beyond the sea, can not now be ascertained. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's wife Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: Her beauty and accomplishments.] + +Pompey's wife Cornelia was on the island of Lesbos, at Mitylene, near +the western coast of Asia Minor. She was a lady of distinguished beauty, +and of great intellectual superiority and moral worth. She was extremely +well versed in all the learning of the times, and yet was entirely free +from those peculiarities and airs which, as her historian says, were +often observed in learned ladies in those days. Pompey had married her +after the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter. They were strongly devoted +to each other. Pompey had provided for her a beautiful retreat on the +island of Lesbos, where she was living in elegance and splendor, +beloved for her own intrinsic charms, and highly honored on account of +the greatness and fame of her husband. Here she had received from time +to time glowing accounts of his success all exaggerated as they came to +her, through the eager desire of the narrators to give her pleasure. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's arrival at Mitylene.] +[Sidenote: His meeting with Cornelia.] + +From this high elevation of honor and happiness the ill-fated Cornelia +suddenly fell, on the arrival of Pompey's solitary vessel at Mitylene, +bringing as it did, at the same time, both the first intelligence of her +husband's fall, and himself in person, a ruined and homeless fugitive +and wanderer. The meeting was sad and sorrowful. Cornelia was +overwhelmed at the suddenness and violence of the shock which it brought +her, and Pompey lamented anew the dreadful disaster that he had +sustained, at finding how inevitably it must involve his beloved wife as +well as himself in its irreparable ruin. + +[Sidenote: Pompey gathers a little fleet.] + +The pain, however, was not wholly without some mingling of pleasure. A +husband finds a strange sense of protection and safety in the presence +and sympathy of an affectionate wife in the hour of his calamity. She +can, perhaps do nothing, but her mute and sorrowful concern and pity +comfort and reassure him. Cornelia, however, was able to render her +husband some essential aid. She resolved immediately to accompany him +wherever he should go; and, by their joint endeavors, a little fleet was +gathered, and such supplies as could be hastily obtained, and such +attendants and followers as were willing to share his fate, were taken +on board. During all this time Pompey would not go on shore himself, but +remained on board, his ship in the harbor. Perhaps he was afraid of some +treachery or surprise, or perhaps, in his fallen and hopeless condition, +he was unwilling to expose himself to the gaze of those who had so often +seen him in all the splendor of his former power. + +[Sidenote: He sails along the Mediterranean.] +[Sidenote: Pompey receives additional supplies.] + +At length, when all was ready, he sailed away. He passed eastward along +the Mediterranean, touching at such ports as he supposed most likely to +favor his cause. Vague and uncertain, but still alarming rumors that +Caesar was advancing in pursuit of him met him every where, and the +people of the various provinces were taking sides, some in his favor and +some against him, the excitement being every where so great that the +utmost caution and circumspection were required in all his movements. +Sometimes he was refused permission to land; at others, his friends +were too few to afford him protection; and at others still, though the +authorities professed friendship, he did not dare to trust them. He +obtained, however, some supplies of money and some accessions to the +number of ships and men under his command, until at length he had quite +a little fleet in his train. Several men of rank and influence, who had +served under him in the days of his prosperity, nobly adhered to him +now, and formed a sort of court or council on board his galley, where +they held with their great though fallen commander frequent +conversations on the plan which it was best to pursue. + +[Sidenote: He seeks refuge in Egypt.] +[Sidenote: Ptolemy and Cleopatra.] + +It was finally decided that it was best to seek refuge in Egypt. There +seemed to be, in fact, no alternative. All the rest of the world was +evidently going over to Caesar. Pompey had been the means, some years +before, of restoring a certain king of Egypt to his throne, and many of +his soldiers had been left in the country, and remained there still. It +is true that the king himself had died. He had left a daughter named +Cleopatra, and also a son, who was at this time very young. The name of +this youthful prince was Ptolemy. Ptolemy and Cleopatra bad been made by +their father joint heirs to the throne. But Ptolemy, or, rather, the +ministers and counselors who acted for him and in his name, had expelled +Cleopatra, that they might govern alone. Cleopatra had raised an army in +Syria, and was on her way to the frontiers of Egypt to regain possession +of what she deemed her rights. Ptolemy's ministers had gone forth to +meet her at the head of their own troops, 'Ptolemy himself being also +with them. They had reached Pelusium, which is the frontier town between +Egypt and Syria on the coast of the Mediterranean. Here their armies had +assembled in vast encampments upon the land, and their galleys and +transports were riding at anchor along the shore of the sea. Pompey and +his-counselors thought that the government of Ptolemy would receive him +as a friend, on account of the services he had rendered to the young +prince's father, forgetting that gratitude has never a place on the list +of political virtues. + +[Sidenote: Pompey arrives at Pelusium.] + +Pompey's little squadron made its way slowly over the waters of the +Mediterranean toward Pelusium and the camp of Ptolemy. As they +approached the shore, both Pompey himself and Cornelia felt many anxious +forebodings. A messenger was sent to the land to inform the young king +of Pompey's approach, and to solicit his protection. The government of +Ptolemy held a council, and took the subject into consideration. + +[Sidenote: Ptolemy's council resolve to murder Pompey.] + +Various opinions were expressed, and various plans were proposed. The +counsel which was finally followed was this. It would be dangerous to +receive Pompey, since that would make Caesar their enemy. It would be +dangerous to refuse to receive him, as that would make Pompey their +enemy, and, though powerless now, he might one day be in a condition to +seek vengeance. It was wisest, therefore, to destroy him. They would +invite him to the shore, and kill him when he landed. This would please +Caesar; and Pompey himself, being dead, could never revenge it. "Dead +dogs," as the orator said who made this atrocious proposal, "do +not bite." + +[Sidenote: The assassin Achillas.] + +An Egyptian, named Achillas, was appointed to execute the assassination +thus decreed. An invitation was sent to Pompey to land, accompanied with +a promise of protection; and, when his fleet had approached near enough +to the shore, Achillas took a small party in a boat, and went out to +meet his galley. The men in this boat, of course, were armed. + +[Sidenote: Suspicions of Pompey's friends.] +[Sidenote: Entreaties of Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's forlorn condition.] +[Sidenote: He determines to land.] + +The officers and attendants of Pompey watched all these movements from +the deck of his galley. They scrutinized every thing that occurred with +the closest attention and the greatest anxiety, to see whether the +indications denoted an honest friendship or intentions of treachery. The +appearances were not favorable. Pompey's friends observed that no +preparations were making along the shore for receiving him with the +honors due, as they thought, to his rank and station. The manner, too, +in which the Egyptians seemed to expect him to land was ominous of evil. +Only a single insignificant boat for a potentate who recently had +commanded half the world! Then, besides, the friends of Pompey observed +that several of the principal galleys of Ptolemy's fleet were getting up +their anchors, and preparing apparently to be ready to move at a sudden +call These and other indications appeared much more like preparations +for seizing an enemy than welcoming a friend. Cornelia, who, with her +little son, stood upon the deck of Pompey's galley, watching the scene +with a peculiar intensity of solicitude which the hardy soldiers around +her could not have felt, became soon exceedingly alarm ad. She begged +her husband Dot to go on shore. But Pompey decided that it was now too +late to retreat. He could not escape from the Egyptian galleys if they +had received orders to intercept him, nor could he resist violence if +violence were intended. To do any thing like that would evince distrust, +and to appear like putting himself upon his guard would be to take at +once, himself, the position of an enemy, and invite and justify the +hostility of the Egyptians in return. As to flight, he could not hope to +escape from the Egyptian galleys if they had received orders to prevent +it; and, besides, if he were determined on attempting an escape, whither +should he fly? The world was against him. His triumphant enemy was on +his track in full pursuit, with all the vast powers and resources of the +whole Roman empire at his command. There remained for Pompey only the +last forlorn hope of a refuge in Egypt, or else, as the sole +alternative, a complete and unconditional submission to Caesar. His +pride would not consent to this, and he determined, therefore, dark as +the indications were, to place himself, without any appearance of +distrust, in Ptolemy's hands, and abide the issue. + +The boat of Achillas approached the galley. When it touched the side, +Achillas and the other officers on board of it hailed Pompey in the most +respectful manner, giving him the title of Imperator, the highest title +known in the Roman state. Achillas addressed Pompey in Greek. The Greek +was the language of educated men in all the Eastern countries in those +days. He told him that the water was too shallow for his galley to +approach nearer to the shore, and invited him to come on board of his +boat, and he would take him to the beach, where, as he said, the king +was waiting to receive him. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for landing.] +[Sidenote: Pompey takes leave of his wife.] + +With many anxious forebodings, that were but ill concealed, Pompey made +preparations to accept the invitation. He bade his wife farewell, who +clung to him as they were about to part with a gloomy presentiment that +they should never meet again. Two centurions who were to accompany +Pompey, and two servants, descended into the boat. Pompey himself +followed, and then the boatmen pushed off from the galley and made +toward the shore. The decks of all the vessels in Pompey's little +squadron, as well as those of the Egyptian fleet, were crowded with +spectators, and lines of soldiery and groups of men, all intently +watching the operations of the landing, were scattered along the shore. + +[Sidenote: The assassins.] +[Sidenote: Gloomy silence.] + +Among the men whom Achillas had provided to aid him in the assassination +was an offieer of the Roman army who had formerly served under Pompey. +As soon as Pompey was seated in the boat, he recognized the countenance +of this man, and addressed him, saying, "I think I remember you as +having been in former days my fellow-soldier." The man replied merely by +a nod of assent. Feeling somewhat guilty and self-condemned at the +thoughts of the treachery which he was about to perpetrate, he was +little inclined to renew the recollection of the days when he was +Pompey's friend. In fact, the whole company in the boat, filled on the +one part with awe in anticipation of the terrible deed which they were +soon to commit, and on the other with a dread suspense and alarm, were +little disposed for conversation, and Pompey took out a manuscript of an +address in Greek which he had prepared to make to the young king at his +approaching interview with him, and occupied himself in reading it over. +Thus they advanced in a gloomy and solemn silence, hearing no sound but +the dip of the oars in the water, and the gentle dash of the waves along +the line of the shore. + +[Sidenote: Assassination of Pompey.] + +At length the boat touched the sand, while Cornelia still stood on the +deck of the galley, watching every movement with great solicitude and +concern. One of the two servants whom Pompey had taken with him, named +Philip, his favorite personal attendant, rose to assist his master in +landing. He gave Pompey his hand to aid him in rising from his seat, and +at that moment the Roman officer whom Pompey had recognized as his +fellow-soldier, advanced behind him and stabbed him in the back. At the +same instant Achillas and the others drew their swords. Pompey saw that +all was lost. He did not speak, and he uttered no cry of alarm, though +Cornelia's dreadful shriek was so loud and piercing that it was heard +upon the shore. From the suffering victim himself nothing was heard but +an inarticulate groan extorted by his agony. He gathered his mantle over +his face, and sank down and died. + +[Sidenote: Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: The funeral pile.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's ashes sent to Cornelia.] + +Of course, all was now excitement and confusion. As soon as the deed was +done, the perpetrators of it retired from the scene, taking the head of +their unhappy victim with them, to offer to Caesar as proof that his +enemy was really no more. The officers who remained in the fleet which +had brought Pompey to the coast made all haste to sail away, bearing the +wretched Cornelia with them, utterly distracted with grief and despair, +while Philip and his fellow-servant remained upon the beach, standing +bewildered and stupefied over the headless body of their beloved master. +Crowds of spectators came in succession to look upon the hideous +spectacle a moment in silence, and then to turn, shocked and repelled, +away. At length, when the first impulse of excitement had in some +measure spent its force, Philip and his comrades so far recovered their +composure as to begin to turn their thoughts to the only consolation +that was now left to them, that of performing the solemn duties of +sepulture. They found the wreck of a fishing boat upon the strand, from +which they obtained wood enough for a rude funeral pile. They burned +what remained of the mutilated body, and, gathering up the ashes, they +put them in an urn and sent them to Cornelia, who afterward buried them +at Alba with many bitter tears. + +[Illustration: Death of Pompey] + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CAESAR IN EGYPT. + +[Sidenote: Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia.] + +Caesar surveyed the field of battle after the victory of Pharsalia, not +with the feelings of exultation which might have been expected in a +victorious general, but with compassion and sorrow for the fallen +soldiers whose dead bodies covered the ground. After gazing upon the +scene sadly and in silence for a time, he said, "They would have it so," +and thus dismissed from his mind all sense of his own responsibility for +the consequences which had ensued. + +[Sidenote: His clemency.] +[Sidenote: Caesar pursues Pompey.] + +He treated the immense body of prisoners which had fallen into his hands +with great clemency, partly from the natural impulses of his +disposition, which were always generous and noble, and partly from +policy, that he might conciliate them all, officers and soldiers, to +acquiescence in his future rule. He then sent back a large portion of +his force to Italy, and, taking a body of cavalry from the rest, in +order that he might advance with the utmost possible rapidity, he set +off through Thessaly and Macedon in pursuit of his fugitive foe. + +[Sidenote: Treasures of the Temple of Diana.] + +He had no naval force at his command, and he accordingly kept upon the +land. Besides, he wished, by moving through the country at the head of +an armed force, to make a demonstration which should put down any +attempt that might be made in arty quarter to rally or concentrate a +force in Pompey's favor. He crossed the Hellespont, and moved down the +coast of Asia Minor. There was a great temple consecrated to Diana at +Ephesus, which, for its wealth and magnificence, was then the wonder of +the world. The authorities who had it in their charge, not aware of +Caesar's approach, had concluded to withdraw the treasures from the +temple and loan them to Pompey, to be repaid when he should have +regained his Dower. An assembly was accordingly convened to witness the +delivery of the treasures, and take note of their value, which ceremony +was to be performed with great formality and parade, when they learned +that Caesar had crossed the Hellespont and was drawing near. The whole +proceeding was thus arrested, and the treasures were retained. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: He sails for Egypt.] + +Caesar passed rapidly on through Asia Minor, examining and comparing, +as he advanced, the vague rumors which were continually coming in in +respect to Pompey's movements. He learned at length that he had gone to +Cyprus; he presumed that his destination was Egypt, and he immediately +resolved to provide himself with a fleet, and follow him thither by sea. +As time passed on, and the news of Pompey's defeat and flight, and of +Caesar's triumphant pursuit of him, became generally extended and +confirmed, the various powers ruling in all that region of the world +abandoned one after another the hopeless cause, and began to adhere to +Caesar. They offered him such resources and aid as he might desire. He +did not, however, stop to organize a large fleet or to collect an army. +He depended, like Napoleon, in all the great movements of his life, not +on grandeur of preparation, but on celerity of action. He organized at +Rhodes a small but very efficient fleet of ten galleys, and, embarking +his best troops in them, he made sail for the coasts of Egypt. Pompey +had landed at Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, having heard that the +young king and his court were there to meet and resist Cleopatra's +invasion. Caesar, however, with the characteristic boldness and energy +of his character, proceeded directly to Alexandria, the capital. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Alexandria.] + +Egypt was, in those days, an _ally_ of the Romans, as the phrase was; +that is, the country, though it preserved its independent organization +and its forms of royalty, was still united to the Roman people by an +intimate league, so as to form an integral part of the great empire. +Caesar, consequently, in appearing there with an armed force, would +naturally be received as a friend. He found only the garrison which +Ptolemy's government had left in charge of the city. At first the +officers of this garrison gave him an outwardly friendly reception, but +they soon began to take offense at the air of authority and command +which he assumed, and which seemed to them to indicate a spirit of +encroachment on the sovereignty of their own king. + +[Sidenote: The Roman fasces.] +[Sidenote: The lictors.] + +Feelings of deeply-seated alienation and animosity sometimes find their +outward expression in contests about things intrinsically of very little +importance. It was so in this case. The Roman consuls were accustomed to +use a certain badge of authority called the _fasces_. It consisted of a +bundle of rods, bound around the handle of an ax. Whenever a consul +appeared in public, he was preceded by two officers called _lictors_, +each of whom carried the fasces as a symbol of the power which was +vested in the distinguished personage who followed them. + +The Egyptian officers and the people of the city quarreled with Caesar +on account of his moving about among them in his imperial state, +accompanied by a life guard, and preceded by the lictors. Contests +occurred between his troops and those of the garrison, and many +disturbances were created in the streets of the city. Although no +serious collision took place, Caesar thought it prudent to strengthen +his force, and he sent back to Europe for additional legions to come to +Egypt and join him. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's head sent to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar mourns Pompey.] + +The tidings of Pompey's death came to Caesar at Alexandria, and with +them the head of the murdered man, which was sent by the government of +Ptolemy, they supposing that it would be an acceptable gift to Caesar. +Instead of being pleased with it, Caesar turned from the shocking +spectacle in horror. Pompey had been, for many years now gone by, +Caesar's colleague and friend. He had been his son-in-law, and thus had +sustained to him a very near and endearing relation. In the contest +which had at last unfortunately arisen, Pompey had done no wrong either +to Caesar or to the government at Rome. He was the injured party, so far +as there was a right and a wrong to such a quarrel. And now, after being +hunted through half the world by his triumphant enemy, he had been +treacherously murdered by men pretending to receive him as a friend. The +natural sense of justice, which formed originally so strong a trait in +Caesar's character, was not yet wholly extinguished. He could not but +feel some remorse at the thoughts of the long course of violence and +wrong which he had pursued against his old champion and friend, and +which had led at last to so dreadful an end. Instead of being pleased +with the horrid trophy which the Egyptians sent him, he mourned the +death of his great rival with sincere and unaffected grief, and was +filled with indignation against his murderers. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's signet ring.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's respect for Pompey's memory.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's Pillar.] +[Sidenote: Origin of Pompey's Pillar.] + +[Illustration: Pompey's Pillar.] + +Pompey had a signet ring upon his finger at the time of his +assassination, which was taken off by the Egyptian officers and carried +away to Ptolemy, together with the other articles of value which had +been found upon his person. Ptolemy sent this seal to Caesar to complete +the proof that its possessor was no more. Caesar received _this_ +memorial with eager though mournful pleasure, and he preserved it with +great care. And in many ways, during all the remainder of his life, he +manifested every outward indication of cherishing the highest respect +for Pompey's memory. There stands to the present day, among the ruins of +Alexandria, a beautiful column, about one hundred feet high, which has +been known in all modern times as POMPEY'S PILLAR. It is formed of +stone, and is in three parts. One stone forms the pedestal, another the +shaft, and a third the capital. The beauty of this column, the +perfection of its workmanship, which still continues in excellent +preservation, and its antiquity, so great that all distinct record of +its origin is lost, have combined to make it for many ages the wonder +and admiration of mankind. Although no history of its origin has come +down to us, a tradition has descended that Caesar built it during his +residence in Egypt, to commemorate the name of Pompey; but whether it +was his own victory over Pompey, or Pompey's own character and military +fame which the structure was intended to signalize to mankind, can not +now be known. There is even some doubt whether it was erected by +Caesar at all. + +[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's officers.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.] + +While Caesar was in Alexandria, many of Pompey's officers, now that +their master was dead, and there was no longer any possibility of their +rallying again under his guidance and command, came in and surrendered +themselves to him. He received them with great kindness, and, instead of +visiting them with any penalties for having fought against him, he +honored the fidelity and bravery they had evinced in the service of +their own former master. Caesar had, in fact, shown the same generosity +to the soldiers of Pompey's army that he had taken prisoners at the +battle of Pharsalia. At the close of the battle, he issued orders that +each one of his soldiers should have permission to _save_ one of the +enemy. Nothing could more strikingly exemplify both the generosity and +the tact that marked the great conqueror's character than this incident. +The hatred and revenge which had animated his victorious soldiery in the +battle and in the pursuit, were changed immediately by the permission to +compassion and good will. The ferocious soldiers turned at once from the +pleasure of hunting their discomfited enemies to death, to that of +protecting and defending them; and the way was prepared for their being +received into his service, and incorporated with the rest of his army as +friends and brothers. + +[Sidenote: His position at Alexandria.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's interference in Egyptian affairs.] + +Caesar soon found himself in so strong a position at Alexandria, that he +determined to exercise his authority as Roman consul to settle the +dispute in respect to the succession of the Egyptian crown. There was no +difficulty in finding pretexts for interfering in the affairs of Egypt. +In the first place, there was, as he contended, great anarchy and +confusion at Alexandria, people taking different sides in the +controversy with such fierceness as to render it impossible that good +government and public order should be restored until this great question +was settled. He also claimed a debt due from the Egyptian government, +which Photinus, Ptolemy's minister at Alexandria, was very dilatory in +paying. This led to animosities and disputes; and, finally, Caesar +found, or pretended to find, evidence that Photinus was forming plots +against his life. At length Caesar determined on taking decided action. +He sent orders both to Ptolemy and to Cleopatra to disband their forces, +to repair to Alexandria, and lay their respective claims before him for +his adjudication. + +[Sidenote: Cleopatra.] + +Cleopatra complied with this summons, and returned to Egypt with a view +to submitting her case to Caesar's arbitration. Ptolemy determined to +resist. He advanced toward Egypt, but it was at the head of his army, +and with a determination to drive Caesar and all his Roman +followers away. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's guilty passion for Cleopatra.] + +When Cleopatra arrived, she found that the avenues of approach to +Caesar's quarters were all in possession of her enemies, so that, in +attempting to join him, she incurred danger of falling into their hands +as a prisoner. She resorted to a stratagem, as the story is, to gain a +secret admission. They rolled her up in a sort of bale of bedding or +carpeting, and she was carried in in this way on the back of a man, +through the guards, who might otherwise have intercepted her. Caesar was +very much pleased with this device, and with the successful result of +it. Cleopatra, too, was young and beautiful, and Caesar immediately +conceived a strong but guilty attachment to her, which she readily +returned. Caesar espoused her cause, and decided that she and Ptolemy +should jointly occupy the throne. + +[Sidenote: Resistance of Ptolemy.] +[Sidenote: The Alexandrine war.] + +Ptolemy and his partisans were determined not to submit to this award. +The consequence was, a violent and protracted war. Ptolemy was not only +incensed at being deprived of what he considered his just right to the +realm, he was also half distracted at the thought of his sister's +disgraceful connection with Caesar. His excitement and distress, and the +exertions and efforts to which they aroused him, awakened a strong +sympathy in his cause among the people, and Caesar found himself +involved in a very serious contest, in which his own life was brought +repeatedly into the most imminent danger, and which seriously threatened +the total destruction of his power. He, however, braved all the +difficulty and dangers, and recklessly persisted in the course he had +taken, under the influence of the infatuation in which his attachment to +Cleopatra held him, as by a spell. + +[Sidenote: The Pharos.] +[Sidenote: Great splendor of the Pharos.] + +The war in which Caesar was thus involved by his efforts to give +Cleopatra a seat with her brother on the Egyptian throne, is called in +history the Alexandrine war. It was marked by many strange and romantic +incidents. There was a light-house, called the Pharos, on a small island +opposite the harbor of Alexandria, and it was so famed, both on account +of the great magnificence of the edifice itself, and also on account of +its position at the entrance to the greatest commercial port in the +world, that it has given its name, as a generic appellation, to all +other structures of the kind--any light-house being now called a Pharos, +just as any serious difficulty is called a Gordian knot. The Pharos was +a lofty tower--the accounts say that it was five hundred feet in height, +which would be an enormous elevation for such a structure--and in a +lantern at the top a brilliant light was kept constantly burning, which +could be seen over the water for a hundred miles. The tower was built in +several successive stories, each being ornamented with balustrades, +galleries, and columns, so that the splendor of the architecture by day +rivaled the brilliancy of the radiation which beamed from the summit by +night. Far and wide over the stormy waters of the Mediterranean this +meteor glowed, inviting and guiding the mariners in; and both its +welcome and its guidance were doubly prized in those ancient days, when +there was neither compass nor sextant on which they could rely. In the +course of the contest with the Egyptians, Caesar took possession of the +Pharos, and of the island on which it stood; and as the Pharos was then +regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, the fame of the +exploit, though it was probably nothing remarkable in a military point +of view, spread rapidly throughout the world. + +[Sidenote: It is captured by Caesar.] + +And yet, though the capture of a light-house was no very extraordinary +conquest, in the course of the contests on the harbor which were +connected with it Caesar had a very narrow escape from death. In all +such struggles he was accustomed always to take personally his full +share of the exposure and the danger. This resulted in part from the +natural impetuosity and ardor of his character, which were always +aroused to double intensity of action by the excitement of battle, and +partly from the ideas of the military duty of a commander which +prevailed in those days. There was besides, in this case, an additional +inducement to acquire the glory of extraordinary exploits, in Caesar's +desire to be the object of Cleopatra's admiration, who watched all his +movements, and who was doubly pleased with his prowess and bravery, +since she saw that they were exercised for her sake and in her cause. + +[Sidenote: Situation of the Pharos.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's personal danger.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's narrow escape.] + +The Pharos was built upon an island, which was connected by a pier or +bridge with the main land. In the course of the attack upon this bridge, +Caesar, with a party of his followers, got driven back and hemmed in by +a body of the enemy that surrounded them, in such a place that the only +mode of escape seemed to be by a boat, which might take them to a +neighboring galley. They began, therefore, all to crowd into the boat in +confusion, and so overloaded it that it was obviously in imminent danger +of being upset or of sinking. The upsetting or sinking of an overloaded +boat brings almost certain destruction upon most of the passengers, +whether swimmers or not, as they seize each other in their terror, and +go down inextricably entangled together, each held by the others in the +convulsive grasp with which drowning men always cling to whatever is +within their reach. Caesar, anticipating this danger, leaped over into +the sea and swam to the ship. He had some papers in his hand at the +time--plans, perhaps, of the works which he was assailing. These he held +above the water with his left hand, while he swam with the right. And to +save his purple cloak or mantle, the emblem of his imperial dignity, +which he supposed the enemy would eagerly seek to obtain as a trophy, he +seized it by a corner between his teeth, and drew it after him through +the water as he swam toward the galley. The boat which he thus escaped +from soon after went down, with all on board. + +[Sidenote: The Alexandrian library.] +[Sidenote: Burning of the Alexandrian library.] + +During the progress of this Alexandrine war one great disaster occurred, +which has given to the contest a most melancholy celebrity in all +subsequent ages: this disaster was the destruction of the Alexandrian +library. The Egyptians were celebrated for their learning, and, under +the munificent patronage of some of their kings, the learned men of +Alexandria had made an enormous collection of writings, which were +inscribed, as was the custom in those days, on parchment rolls. The +number of the rolls or volumes was said to be seven hundred thousand; +and when we consider that each one was written with great care, in +beautiful characters, with a pen, and at a vast expense, it is not +surprising that the collection was the admiration of the world. In fact, +the whole body of ancient literature was there recorded. Caesar set fire +to some Egyptian galleys, which lay so near the shore that the wind blew +the sparks and flames upon the buildings on the quay. The fire spread +among the palaces and other magnificent edifices of that part of the +city, and one of the great buildings in which the library was stored was +reached and destroyed. There was no other such collection in the world; +and the consequence of this calamity has been, that it is only detached +and insulated fragments of ancient literature and science that have come +down to our times. The world will never cease to mourn the +irreparable loss. + +[Sidenote: Caesar returns to Rome.] + +Notwithstanding the various untoward incidents which attended the war in +Alexandria during its progress, Caesar, as usual, conquered in the end. +The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and, in attempting to make his +escape across a branch of the Nile, he was drowned. Caesar then finally +settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra and a younger brother, and, after +remaining for some time longer in Egypt, he set out on his return +to Rome. + +[Illustration: Cleopatra's Barge] + +[Sidenote: Subsequent adventures of Cleopatra.] + +The subsequent adventures of Cleopatra were as romantic as to have given +her name a very wide celebrity. The lives of the virtuous pass smoothly +and happily away, but the tale, when told to others, possesses but +little interest or attraction; while those of the wicked, whose days are +spent in wretchedness and despair, and are thus full of misery to the +actors themselves, afford to the rest of mankind a high degree of +pleasure, from the dramatic interest of the story. + +[Sidenote: Her splendid barge.] +[Sidenote: Anthony and Octavius.] +[Sidenote: Death of Cleopatra.] + +Cleopatra led a life of splendid sin, and, of course, of splendid +misery. She visited Caesar in Rome after his return thither. Caesar +received her magnificently, and paid her all possible honors; but the +people of Rome regarded her with strong reprobation. When her young +brother, whom Caesar had made her partner on the throne, was old enough +to claim his share, she poisoned him. After Caesar's death, she went +from Alexandria to Syria to meet Antony, one of Caesar's successors, in +a galley or barge, which was so rich, so splendid, so magnificently +furnished and adorned, that it was famed throughout the world as +Cleopatra's barge. A great many beautiful vessels have since been called +by the same name. Cleopatra connected herself with Antony, who became +infatuated with her beauty and her various charms as Caesar had been. +After a great variety of romantic adventures, Antony was defeated in +battle by his great rival Octavius, and, supposing that he had been +betrayed by Cleopatra, he pursued her to Egypt, intending to kill her. +She hid herself in a sepulcher, spreading a report that she had +committed suicide, and then Antony stabbed himself in a fit of remorse +and despair. Before he died, he learned that Cleopatra was alive, and he +caused himself to be carried into her presence and died in her arms. +Cleopatra then fell into the hands of Octavius, who intended to carry +her to Rome to grace his triumph. To save herself from this humiliation, +and weary with a life which, full of sin as it had been, was a constant +series of sufferings, she determined to die. A servant brought in an asp +for her, concealed in a vase of flowers, at a great banquet. She laid +the poisonous reptile on her naked arm, and died immediately of the bite +which it inflicted. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CAESAR IMPERATOR. + +[Sidenote: Caesar again at Rome.] +[Sidenote: Combinations against him.] +[Sidenote: Veni, vidi, vici.] + +Although Pompey himself had been killed, and the army under his +immediate command entirely annihilated, Caesar did not find that the +empire was yet completely submissive to his sway. As the tidings of his +conquests spread over the vast and distant regions which were under the +Roman rule--although the story itself of his exploits might have been +exaggerated--the impression produced by his power lost something of its +strength, as men generally have little dread of remote danger. While he +was in Egypt, there were three great concentrations of power formed +against him in other quarters of the globe: in Asia Minor, in Africa, +and in Spain. In putting down these three great and formidable arrays of +opposition, Caesar made an exhibition to the world of that astonishing +promptness and celerity of military action on which his fame as a +general so much depends. He went first to Asia Minor, and fought a great +and decisive battle there, in a manner so sudden and unexpected to the +forces that opposed him that they found themselves defeated almost +before they suspected that their enemy was near. It was in reference to +this battle that he wrote the inscription for the banner, "_Veni, vidi, +vici_" The words may be rendered in English, "I came, looked, and +conquered," though the peculiar force of the expression, as well as the +alliteration, is lost in any attempt to translate it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar made dictator.] + +In the mean time, Caesar's prosperity and success had greatly +strengthened his cause at Rome. Rome was supported in a great measure by +the contributions brought home from the provinces by the various +military heroes who were sent out to govern them; and, of course, the +greater and more successful was the conqueror, the better was he +qualified for stations of highest authority in the estimation of the +inhabitants of the city. They made Caesar dictator even while he was +away, and appointed Mark Antony his master of horse. This was the same +Antony whom we have already mentioned as having been connected with +Cleopatra after Caesar's death. Rome, in fact, was filled with the fame +of Caesar's exploits, and, as he crossed the Adriatic and advanced +toward the city, he found himself the object of universal admiration +and applause. + +[Sidenote: Opposition of Cato.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's sons.] + +But he could not yet be contented to establish himself quietly at Rome. +There was a large force organized against him in Africa under Cato, a +stern and indomitable man, who had long been an enemy to Caesar, and who +now considered him as a usurper and an enemy of the republic, and was +determined to resist him to the last extremity. There was also a large +force assembled in Spain under the command of two sons of Pompey, in +whose case the ordinary political hostility of contending partisans was +rendered doubly intense and bitter by their desire to avenge their +father's cruel fate. Caesar determined first to go to Africa, and then, +after disposing of Cato's resistance, to cross the Mediterranean +into Spain. + +[Sidenote: Complaints of the soldiers.] + +Before he could set out, however, on these expeditions, he was involved +in very serious difficulties for a time, on account of a great +discontent which prevailed in his army, and which ended at last in open +mutiny. The soldiers complained that they had not received the rewards +and honors which Caesar had promised them. Some claimed offices, others +money others lands, which, as they maintained, they had been led to +expect would be conferred upon them at the end of the campaign. The fact +undoubtedly was, that, elated with their success, and intoxicated with +the spectacle of the boundless influence and power which their general +so obviously wielded at Rome, they formed expectations and hopes for +themselves altogether too wild and unreasonable to be realized by +soldiers; for soldiers, however much they may be flattered by their +generals in going into battle, or praised in the mass in official +dispatches, are after all but slaves, and slaves, too, of the very +humblest caste and character. + +[Sidenote: The mutiny.] +[Sidenote: The army marches to Rome.] + +The famous tenth legion, Cesar's favorite corps, took the most active +part in fomenting these discontents, as might naturally have been +expected, since the attentions and the praises which he had bestowed +upon them, though at first they tended to awaken their ambition, and to +inspire them with redoubled ardor and courage, ended, as such favoritism +always does, in making them vain, self-important, and unreasonable. Led +on thus by the tenth legion, the whole army mutinied. They broke up the +camp where they had been stationed at some distance beyond the walls of +Rome, and marched toward the city. Soldiers in a mutiny, even though +headed by their subaltern officers, are very little under command; and +these Roman troops, feeling released from their usual restraints, +committed various excesses on the way, terrifying the inhabitants and +spreading universal alarm. The people of the city were thrown into utter +consternation at the approach of the vast horde, which was coming like a +terrible avalanche to descend upon them. + +[Sidenote: Plan of the soldiers.] + +The army expected some signs of resistance at the gates, which, if +offered, they were prepared to encounter and overcome. Their plan was, +after entering the city, to seek Caesar and demand their discharge from +his service. They knew that he was under the necessity of immediately +making a campaign in Africa, and that, of course, he could not possibly, +as they supposed, dispense with them. He would, consequently, if they +asked their discharge, beg them to remain, and, to induce them to do it, +would comply with all their expectations and desires. + +Such was their plan. To tender, however, a resignation of an office as a +means of bringing an opposite party to terms, is always a very hazardous +experiment. We easily overrate the estimation in which our own services +are held taking what is said to us in kindness or courtesy by friends +as the sober and deliberate judgment of the public; and thus it often +happens that persons who in such case offer to resign, are astonished to +find their resignations readily accepted. + +[Sidenote: The army marches into the city.] + +When Caesar's mutineers arrived at the gates, they found, instead of +opposition, only orders from Caesar, by which they were directed to +leave all their arms except their swords, and march into the city. They +obeyed. They were then directed to go to the Campus Martius, a vast +parade ground situated within the walls, and to await Caesar's +orders there.[3] + +[Footnote 3: See map of the city of Rome, fronting the first page.] + +[Sidenote: The Campus Martius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's address to the army.] + +Caesar met them in the Campus Martius, and demanded why they had left +their encampment without orders and come to the city. They stated in +reply, as they had previously planned to do, that they wished to be +discharged from the public service. To their great astonishment, Caesar +seemed to consider this request as nothing at all extraordinary, but +promised, an the other hand, very readily to grant it He said that they +should be at once discharged, and should receive faithfully all the +rewards which had been promised them at the close of the war for their +long and arduous services. At the same time, he expressed his deep +regret that, to obtain what he was perfectly willing and ready at any +time to grant, they should have so far forgotten their duties as Romans, +and violated the discipline which should always be held absolutely +sacred by every soldier. He particularly regretted that the tenth +legion, on which he had been long accustomed so implicitly to rely, +should have taken a part in such transactions. + +[Sidenote: Its effects.] +[Sidenote: Attachment of Caesar's soldiers.] + +In making this address, Caesar assumed a kind and considerate, and even +respectful tone toward his men, calling them _Quirites_ instead of +soldiers--an honorary mode of appellation, which recognized them as +constituent members of the Roman commonwealth. The effect of the whole +transaction was what might have been anticipated. A universal desire was +awakened throughout the whole army to return to their duty. They sent +deputations to Caesar, begging not to be taken at their word, but to be +retained in the service, and allowed to accompany him to Africa. After +much hesitation and delay, Caesar consented to receive them again, all +excepting the tenth legion, who, he said, had now irrevocably lost his +confidence and regard. It is a striking illustration of the strength of +the attachment which bound Caesar's soldiers to their commander, that +the tenth legion _would not_ be discharged, after all. They followed +Caesar of their own accord into Africa, earnestly entreating him again +and again to receive them. He finally did receive them in detachments, +which he incorporated with the rest of his army, or sent on distant +service, but he would never organize them as the tenth legion again. + +[Sidenote: Caesar goes to Africa.] +[Sidenote: Cato shuts himself up in Africa.] + +It was now early in the winter, a stormy season for crossing the +Mediterranean Sea. Caesar, however, set off from Rome immediately, +proceeded south to Sicily, and encamped on the sea-shore there till the +fleet was ready to convey his forces to Africa. The usual fortune +attended him in the African campaigns His fleet was exposed to imminent +dangers in crossing the sea, but, in consequence of the extreme +deliberation and skill with which his arrangements were made, he escaped +them all. He overcame one after another of the military difficulties +which were in his way in Africa. His army endured, in the depth of +winter, great exposures and fatigues, and they had to encounter a large +hostile force under the charge of Cato. They were, however, successful +in every undertaking. Cato retreated at last to the city of Utica, where +he shut himself up with the remains of his army; but finding, at length, +when Caesar drew near, that there was no hope or possibility of making +good his defense, and as his stern and indomitable spirit could not +endure the thought of submission to one whom he considered as an enemy +to his country and a traitor he resolved upon a very effectual mode of +escaping from his conqueror's power. + +[Sidenote: He stabs himself.] +[Sidenote: Death of Cato.] + +He feigned to abandon all hope of defending the city, and began to make +arrangements to facilitate the escape of his soldiers over the sea. He +collected the vessels in the harbor, and allowed all to embark who were +willing to take the risks of the stormy water. He took, apparently, +great interest in the embarkations, and, when evening came on, he sent +repeatedly down to the sea-side to inquire about the state of the wind +and the progress of the operations. At length he retired to his +apartment, and, when all was quiet in the house, he lay down upon his +bed and stabbed himself with his sword He fell from the bed by the blow, +or else from the effect of some convulsive motion which the penetrating +steel occasioned. His son and servants, hearing the fall, came rushing +into the room, raised him from the floor, and attempted to bind up and +stanch the wound. Cato would not permit them to do it. He resisted them +violently as soon as he was conscious of what they intended. Finding +that a struggle would only aggravate the horrors of the scene, and even +hasten its termination, they left the bleeding hero to his fate, and in +a few minutes he died. + +[Sidenote: Folly of his suicide.] + +The character of Cato, and the circumstances under which his suicide was +committed, make it, on the whole, the most conspicuous act of suicide +which history records; and the events which followed show in an equally +conspicuous manner the extreme folly of the deed. In respect to its +wickedness, Cato, not having had the light of Christianity before him, +is to be leniently judged. As to the folly of the deed, however, he is +to be held strictly accountable. If he had lived and yielded to his +conqueror, as he might have done gracefully and without dishonor, since +all his means of resistance were exhausted, Caesar would have treated +him with generosity and respect, and would have taken him to Rome; and +as within a year or two of this time Caesar himself was no more, Cato's +vast influence and power might have been, and un doubtedly would have +been, called most effectually into action for the benefit of his +country. If any one, in defending Cato, should say he could not foresee +this, we reply, he _could_ have foreseen it; not the precise events, +indeed, which occurred, but he could have foreseen that vast changes +must take place, and new aspects of affairs arise, in which his powers +would be called into requisition. We can _always_ foresee in the midst +of any storm, however dark and gloomy, that clear skies will certainly +sooner or later come again; and this is just as true metaphorically in +respect to the vicissitudes of human life, as it is literally in regard +to the ordinary phenomena of the skies. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Spain.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of Pompey's sons.] + +From Africa Caesar returned to Rome, and from Rome he went to subdue the +resistance which was offered by the sons of Pompey in Spain. He was +equally successful here. The oldest son was wounded in battle, and was +carried off from the field upon a litter faint and almost dying. He +recovered in some degree, and, finding escape from the eager pursuit of +Caesar's soldiers impossible, he concealed himself in a cave, where he +lingered for a little time in destitution and misery. He was discovered +at last; his head was cut off by his captors and sent to Caesar, as his +father's had been. The younger son succeeded in escaping, but he became +a wretched fugitive and outlaw, and all manifestations of resistance to +Caesar's sway disappeared from Spain. The conqueror returned to Rome the +undisputed master of the whole Roman world. + +[Illustration: The elephants made torch-bearers.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar's triumphs.] +[Sidenote: The triumphal car breaks down.] +[Sidenote: Elephant torch-bearers.] + +Then came his triumphs. Triumphs were great celebrations, by which +military heroes in the days of the Roman commonwealth signalized their +victories on their return to the city Caesar's triumphs were four, one +for each of his four great successful campaigns, viz., in Egypt, in Asia +Minor, in Africa, and in Spain. Each was celebrated on a separate day, +and there was an interval of several days between them, to magnify their +importance, and swell the general interest which they excited among the +vast population of the city. On one of these days, the triumphal car in +which Caesar rode, which was most magnificently adorned, broke down on +the way, and Caesar was nearly thrown out of it by the shock. The +immense train of cars, horses, elephants, flags, banners, captives, and +trophies which formed the splendid procession was all stopped by the +accident, and a considerable delay ensued. Night came on, in fact +before the column could again be put in motion to enter the city, and +then Caesar, whose genius was never more strikingly shown than when he +had opportunity to turn a calamity to advantage, conceived the idea of +employing the forty elephants of the train as torch-bearers; the long +procession accordingly advanced through the streets and ascended to the +Capitol, lighted by the great blazing flambeaus which the sagacious and +docile beasts were easily taught to bear, each elephant holding one in +his proboscis, and waving it above the crowd around him. + +[Sidenote: Trophies and emblems.] + +In these triumphal processions, every thing was borne in exhibition +which could serve as a symbol of the conquered country or a trophy of +victory, Flags and banners taken from the enemy; vessels of gold and +silver, and other treasures, loaded in vans; wretched captives conveyed +in open carriages or marching sorrowfully on foot, and destined, some of +them, to public execution when the ceremony of the triumph was ended; +displays of arms, and implements, and dresses, and all else which might +serve to give the Roman crowd an idea of the customs and usages of the +remote and conquered nations; the animals they used, caparisoned in the +manner in which they used them: these, and a thousand other trophies +and emblems, were brought into the line to excite the admiration of the +crowd, and to add to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. In fact, it was +always a great object of solicitude and exertion with all the Roman +generals, when on distant and dangerous expeditions, to possess +themselves of every possible prize in the progress of their campaign +which could aid in adding splendor to the triumph which was to +signalize its end. + +[Sidenote: Banners and paintings.] + +In these triumphs of Caesar, a young sister of Cleopatra was in the line +of the Egyptian procession. In that devoted to Asia Minor was a great +banner containing the words already referred to, Veni, Vidi, Vici. There +were great paintings, too, borne aloft, representing battles and other +striking scenes. Of course, all Rome was in the highest state of +excitement during the days of the exhibition of this pageantry. The +whole surrounding country flocked to the capital to witness it, and +Caesar's greatness and glory were signalized in the most conspicuous +manner to all mankind. + +[Sidenote: Public entertainments.] +[Sidenote: Various spectacles and amusements.] +[Sidenote: Naval combats.] + +After these triumphs, a series of splendid public entertainments were +given, over twenty thousand tables having been spread for the populace +of the city Shows of every possible character and variety were +exhibited. There were dramatic plays, and equestrian performances in the +circus, and gladiatorial combats, and battles with wild beasts, and +dances, and chariot races, and every other imaginable amusement which +could be devised and carried into effect to gratify a population highly +cultivated in all the arts of life, but barbarous and cruel in heart and +character. Some of the accounts which have come down to us of the +magnificence of the scale on which these entertainments were conducted +are absolutely incredible. It is said, for example, that an immense +basin was constructed near the Tiber, large enough to contain two fleets +of galleys, which had on board two thousand rowers each, and one +thousand fighting men. These fleets were then manned with captives, the +one with Asiatics and the other with Egyptians, and when all was ready, +they were compelled to fight a real battle for the amusement of the +spectators which thronged the shores, until vast numbers were killed, +and the waters of the lake were dyed with blood. It is also said that +the whole Forum, and some of the great streets in the neighborhood where +the principal gladiatorial shows were held, were covered with silken +awnings to protect the vast crowds of spectators from the sun, and +thousands of tents were erected to accommodate the people from the +surrounding country, whom the buildings of the city could not contain. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's power.] +[Sidenote: Honors conferred upon him.] + +All open opposition to Caesar's power and dominion now entirely +disappeared. Even the Senate vied with the people in rendering him every +possible honor. The supreme power had been hitherto lodged in the hands +of two consuls, chosen annually, and the Roman people had been extremely +jealous of any distinction for any one, higher than that of an _elective +annual office,_ with a return to private life again when the brief +period should have expired. They now, however, made Caesar, in the first +place, consul for ten years, and then Perpetual Dictator. They conferred +upon him the title of the Father of his Country. The name of the month +in which he was born was changed to Julius, from his praenomen, and we +still retain the name. He was made, also, commander-in-chief of all the +armies of the commonwealth, the title to which vast military power was +expressed in the Latin language by the word IMPERATOR. + +[Sidenote: Statues of Caesar.] + +Caesar was highly elated with all these substantial proofs of the +greatness and glory to which he had attained, and was also very +evidently gratified with smaller, but equally expressive proofs of the +general regard. Statues representing his person were placed in the +public edifices, and borne in processions like those of the gods. +Conspicuous and splendidly ornamented seats were constructed for him in +all the places of public assembly, and on these he sat to listen to +debates or witness spectacles, as if he were upon a throne He had, +either by his influence or by his direct power, the control of all the +appointments to office, and was, in fact, in every thing but the name, a +sovereign and an absolute king. + +[Sidenote: His plans of internal improvement.] + +He began now to form great schemes of internal improvement for the +general benefit of the empire. He wished to increase still more the +great obligations which the Roman people were under to him for what he +had already done. They really were under vast obligations to him; for, +considering Rome as a community which was to subsist by governing the +world, Caesar had immensely enlarged the means of its subsistence by +establishing its sway every where, and providing for an incalculable +increase of its revenues from the tribute and the taxation of conquered +provinces and kingdoms. Since this work of conquest was now completed, +he turned his attention to the internal affairs of the empire, and made +many improvements in the system of administration, looking carefully +into every thing, and introducing every where those exact and systematic +principles which such a mind as his seeks instinctively in every thing +over which it has any control. + +[Sidenote: Ancient division of time.] +[Sidenote: Change effected by Caesar.] +[Sidenote: The old and new styles.] + +One great change which he effected continues in perfect operation +throughout Europe to the present day. It related to the division of +time. The system of months in use in his day corresponded so imperfectly +with the annual circuit of the sun, that the months were moving +continually along the year in such a manner that the winter months came +at length in the summer, and the summer months in the winter. This led +to great practical inconveniences; for whenever, for example, any thing +was required by law to be done in certain months, intending to have them +done in the summer, and the specified month came at length to be a +winter month, the law would require the thing to be done in exactly the +wrong season. Caesar remedied all this by adopting a new system of +months, which should give three hundred and sixty-five days to the year +for three years, and three hundred and sixty-six for the fourth; and so +exact was the system which he thus introduced, that it went on unchanged +for sixteen centuries. The months were then found to be eleven days out +of the way, when a new correction was introduced,[4] and it will now go +on three thousand years before the error will amount to a single day. +Caesar employed a Greek astronomer to arrange the system that he +adopted; and it was in part on account of the improvement which he thus +effected that one of the months, as has already been mentioned, was +called July. Its name before was Quintilis. + +[Footnote 4: By Pope Gregory XIII. at the time of the change from the +old style to the new] + +[Sidenote: Magnificent schemes.] +[Sidenote: Caesar collects the means to carry out his vast schemes.] + +Caesar formed a great many other vast and magnificent schemes. He +planned public buildings for the city, which were going to exceed in +magnitude and splendor all the edifices of the world. He commenced the +collection of vast libraries, formed plans for draining the Pontine +Marshes, for bringing great supplies of water into the city by an +aqueduct, for cutting a new passage for the Tiber from Rome to the sea, +and making an enormous artificial harbor at its mouth. He was going to +make a road along the Apennines, and cut a canal through the Isthmus of +Corinth, and construct other vast works, which were to make Rome the +center of the commerce of the world. In a word, his head was filled with +the grandest schemes, and he was gathering around him all the means and +resources necessary for the execution of them. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONSPIRACY. + +Caesar's greatness and glory came at last to a very sudden and violent +end. He was assassinated. All the attendant circumstances of this deed, +too, were of the most extraordinary character, and thus the dramatic +interest which adorns all parts of the great conqueror's history marks +strikingly its end. + +[Sidenote: Jealousies awakened by Caesar's power.] +[Sidenote: The Roman Constitution.] +[Sidenote: Struggles and Conflicts.] + +His prosperity and power awakened, of course, a secret jealousy and ill +will. Those who were disappointed in their expectations of his favor +murmured. Others, who had once been his rivals, hated him for having +triumphed over them. Then there was a stern spirit of democracy, too, +among certain classes of the citizens of Rome which could not brook a +master. It is true that the sovereign power in the Roman commonwealth +had never been shared by all the inhabitants. It was only in certain +privileged classes that the sovereignty was vested; but among these the +functions of government were divided and distributed in such a way as +to balance one interest against another, and to give all their proper +share of influence and authority. Terrible struggles and conflicts often +occurred among these various sections of society, as one or another +attempted from time to time to encroach upon the rights or privileges of +the rest. These struggles, however, ended usually in at last restoring +again the equilibrium which had been disturbed. No one power could ever +gain the entire ascendency; and thus, as all _monarchism_ seemed +excluded from their system, they called it a republic. Caesar, however, +had now concentrated in himself all the principal elements of power, and +there began to be suspicions that he wished to make himself in name and +openly, as well as secretly and in fact, a king. + +[Sidenote: Roman repugnance to royalty.] +[Sidenote: Firmness of the Romans.] + +The Romans abhorred the very name of king. They had had kings in the +early periods of their history, but they made themselves odious by their +pride and their oppressions, and the people had deposed and expelled +them. The modern nations of Europe have several times performed the same +exploit, but they have generally felt unprotected and ill at ease +without a personal sovereign over them and have accordingly, in most +cases, after a few years, restored some branch of the expelled dynasty +to the throne The Romans were more persevering and firm. They had +managed their empire now for five hundred years as a republic, and +though they had had internal dissensions, conflicts, and quarrels +without end, had persisted so firmly and unanimously in their +detestation of all regal authority, that no one of the long line of +ambitious and powerful statesmen, generals, or conquerors by which the +history of the empire had been signalized, had ever dared to aspire to +the name of king. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's ambitious plans.] + +There began, however, soon to appear some indications that Caesar, who +certainly now possessed regal power, would like the regal name. +Ambitious men, in such cases, do not directly assume themselves the +titles and symbols of royalty. Others make the claim for them, while +they faintly disavow it, till they have opportunity to gee what effect +the idea produces on the public mind. The following incidents occurred +which it was thought indicated such a design on the part of Caesar. + +[Sidenote: American feeling.] + +There were in some of the public buildings certain statues of kings; for +it must be understood that the Roman dislike to kings was only a dislike +to having kingly authority exercised over themselves. They respected and +sometimes admired the kings of other countries, and honored their +exploits, and made statues to commemorate their fame. They were willing +that kings should reign elsewhere, so long as there were no king of +Rome. The American feeling at the present day is much the same. If the +Queen of England were to make a progress through this country, she would +receive, perhaps, as many and as striking marks of attention and honor +as would be rendered to her in her own realm. We venerate the antiquity +of her royal line; we admire the efficiency of her government and the +sublime grandeur of her empire, and have as high an idea as any, of the +powers and prerogatives of her crown--and these feelings would show +themselves most abundantly on any proper occasion. We are willing, nay, +wish that she should continue to reign over Englishmen; and yet, after +all, it would take some millions of bayonets to place a queen securely +upon a throne over this land. + +[Sidenote: Regal power.] + +Regal power was accordingly, in the abstract, looked up to at Rome, as +it is elsewhere, with great respect; and it was, in fact, all the more +tempting as an object of ambition, from the determination felt by the +people that it should not be exercised there. There were, accordingly, +statues of kings at Rome. Caesar placed his own statue among them. Some +approved, others murmured. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's seat in the theater.] + +There was a public theater in the city, where the officers of the +government were accustomed to sit in honorable seats prepared expressly +for them, those of the Senate being higher and more distinguished than +the rest. Caesar had a seat prepared for himself there, similar in form +to a throne, and adorned it magnificently with gilding and ornaments of +gold, which gave it the entire pre-eminence over all the other seats. + +He had a similar throne placed in the senate chamber, to be occupied by +himself when attending there, like the throne of the King of England in +the House of Lords. + +[Sidenote: Public celebrations.] +[Sidenote: Caesar receives the Senate sitting.] +[Sidenote: Consequent excitement.] + +He held, moreover, a great many public celebrations and triumphs in the +city in commemoration of his exploits and honors; and, on one of these +occasions, it was arranged that the Senate were to come to him at a +temple in a body, and announce to him certain decrees which they had +passed to his honor. Vast crowds had assembled to witness the ceremony +Caesar was seated in a magnificent chair, which might have been called +either a chair or a throne, and was surrounded by officers and +attendants When the Senate approached, Caesar did not rise to receive +them, but remained seated, like a monarch receiving a deputation of his +subjects. The incident would not seem to be in itself of any great +importance, but, considered as an indication of Caesar's designs, it +attracted great attention, and produced a very general excitement. The +act was adroitly managed so as to be somewhat equivocal in its +character, in order that it might be represented one way or the other on +the following day, according as the indications of public sentiment +might incline. Some said that Caesar was intending to rise, but was +prevented, and held down by those who stood around him. Others said that +an officer motioned to him to rise, but he rebuked his interference by a +frown, and continued his seat. Thus while, in fact, he received the +Roman Senate as their monarch and sovereign, his own intentions and +designs in so doing were left somewhat in doubt, in order to avoid +awakening a sudden and violent opposition. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's statute crowned.] + +Not long after this, as he was returning in public from some great +festival, the streets being full of crowds, and the populace following +him in great throngs with loud acclamations, a man went up to his +statue as he passed it, and placed upon the head of it a laurel crown, +fastened with a white ribbon, which was a badge of royalty. Some +officers ordered the ribbon to be taken down, and sent the man to +prison. Caesar was very much displeased with the officers, and dismissed +them from their office. He wished, he said, to have the opportunity to +disavow, himself, such claims, and not to have others disavow them +for him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's disavowals.] + +Caesar's disavowals were, however, so faint, and people had so little +confidence in their sincerity, that the cases became more and more +frequent in which the titles and symbols of royalty were connected with +his name. The people who wished to gain his favor saluted him in public +with the name of _Rex_, the Latin word for king. He replied that his +name was Caesar, not _Rex_, showing, however, no other signs of +displeasure. On one great occasion, a high public officer, a near +relative of his, repeatedly placed a diadem upon his head, Caesar +himself, as often as he did it, gently putting it off. At last he sent +the diadem away to a temple that was near, saying that there was no king +in Rome but Jupiter. In a word, all his conduct indicated that he wished +to have it appear that the people were pressing the crown upon him, +when he himself was steadily refusing it. + +[Sidenote: Some willing to make Caesar king.] +[Sidenote: Others oppose it.] + +This state of things produced a very strong and universal, though +suppressed excitement in the city. Parties were formed. Some began to be +willing to make Caesar king; others were determined to hazard their +lives to prevent it. None dared, however, openly to utter their +sentiments on either side. They expressed them by mysterious looks and +dark intimations. At the time when Caesar refused to rise to receive the +Senate, many of the members withdrew in silence, and with looks of +offended dignity When the crown was placed upon his statue or upon his +own brow, a portion of the populace would applaud with loud +acclamations; and whenever he disavowed these acts, either by words or +counter-actions of his own, an equally loud acclamation would arise from +the other side. On the whole, however, the idea that Caesar was +gradually advancing toward the kingdom steadily gained ground. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's pretexts.] +[Sidenote: His assumed humility.] + +And yet Caesar himself spoke frequently with great humility in respect +to his pretensions and claims; and when he found public sentiment +turning against the ambitious schemes he seems secretly to have +cherished, he would present some excuse or explanation for his conduct +plausible enough to answer the purpose of a disavowal. When he received +the Senate, sitting like a king, on the occasion before referred to, +when they read to him the decrees which they had passed in his favor, he +replied to them that there was more need of diminishing the public +honors which he received than of increasing them. When he found, too, +how much excitement his conduct on that occasion had produced, he +explained it by saying that he had retained his sitting posture on +account of the infirmity of his health, as it made him dizzy to stand. +He thought, probably, that these pretexts would tend to quiet the strong +and turbulent spirits around him, from whose envy or rivalry he had most +to fear, without at all interfering with the effect which the act itself +would have produced upon the masses of the population. He wished, in a +word, to accustom them to see him assume the position and the bearing of +a sovereign, while, by his apparent humility in his intercourse with +those immediately around him, he avoided as much as possible irritating +and arousing the jealous and watchful rivals who were next to him +in power. + +[Sidenote: Progress of Caesar's plans.] + +If this were his plan, it seemed to be advancing prosperously toward +its accomplishment. The population of the city seemed to become more and +more familiar with the idea that Caesar was about to become a king. The +opposition which the idea had at first awakened appeared to subside, or, +at least, the public expression of it, which daily became more and more +determined and dangerous, was restrained. At length the time arrived +when it appeared safe to introduce the subject to the Roman Senate. +This, of course, was a hazardous experiment. It was managed, however, in +a very adroit and ingenious manner. + +[Sidenote: The Sibylline books.] +[Sidenote: Declaration of the Sibylline books.] +[Sidenote: Plan for crowning Caesar.] + +There were in Rome, and, in fact, in many other cities and countries of +the world in those days, a variety of prophetic books, called the +Sibylline Oracles, in which it was generally believed that future events +were foretold. Some of these volumes or rolls, which were very ancient +and of great authority, were preserved in the temples at Rome, under the +charge of a board of guardians, who were to keep them with the utmost +care, and to consult them on great occasions, in order to discover +beforehand what would be the result of public measures or great +enterprises which were in contemplation. It happened that at this time +the Romans were engaged in a war with the Parthians, a very wealthy and +powerful nation of Asia. Caesar was making preparations for an +expedition to the East to attempt to subdue this people. He gave orders +that the Sibylline Oracles should be consulted. The proper officers, +after consulting them with the usual solemn ceremonies, reported to the +Senate that they found it recorded in these sacred prophecies that the +Parthians could not be conquered except by a _king_, A senator proposed, +therefore, that, to meet the emergency, Caesar should be made king +during the war. There was at first no decisive action on this proposal. +It was dangerous to express any opinion. People were thoughtful, +serious, and silent, as on the eve of some great convulsion. No one knew +what others were meditating, and thus did not dare to express his own +wishes or designs. There soon, however, was a prevailing understanding +that Caesar's friends were determined on executing the design of +crowning him, and that the fifteenth of March, called, in their +phraseology, the _Ides of March_, was fixed upon as the coronation day. + +[Sidenote: The conspiracy.] + +In the mean time, Caesar's enemies, though to all outward appearance +quiet and calm, had not been inactive. Finding that his plans were now +ripe for execution, and that they had no, open means of resisting them, +they formed a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar himself, and thus bring +his ambitious schemes to an effectual and final end. The name of the +original leader of this conspiracy was Cassius. + +[Sidenote: Cassius.] + +Cassius had been for a long time Caesar's personal rival and enemy. He +was a man of a very violent and ardent temperament, impetuous and +fearless, very fond of exercising power himself, but very restless and +uneasy in having it exercised over him. He had all the Roman repugnance +to being under the authority of a master, with an additional personal +determination of his own not to submit to Caesar. He determined to slay +Caesar rather than to allow him to be made a king, and he went to work, +with great caution, to bring other leading and influential men to join +him in this determination. Some of those to whom he applied said that +they would unite with him in his plot provided he would get Marcus +Brutus to join them. + +[Sidenote: Marcus Brutus.] + +Brutus was the praetor of the city. The praetorship of the city was a +very high municipal office. The conspirators wished to have Brutus join +them partly on account of his station as a magistrate, as if they +supposed that by having the highest public magistrate of the city for +their leader in the deed, the destruction of their victim would appear +less like a murder, and would be invested, instead, in some respects, +with the sanctions and with the dignity of an official execution. + +[Sidenote: Character of Brutus.] +[Sidenote: His firmness and courage.] + +Then, again, they wished for the moral support which would be afforded +them in their desperate enterprise by Brutus's extraordinary personal +character. He was younger than Cassius, but he was grave, thoughtful, +taciturn, calm--a man of inflexible integrity, of the coolest +determination, and, at the same time, of the most undaunted courage. The +conspirators distrusted one another, for the resolution of impetuous men +is very apt to fail when the emergency arrives which puts it to the +test; but as for Brutus, they knew very well that whatever he undertook +he would most certainly do. + +[Sidenote: The ancient Brutus.] +[Sidenote: His expulsion of the kings.] + +There was a great deal even in his name. It was a Brutus that five +centuries before had been the main instrument of the expulsion of the +Roman kings. He had secretly meditated the design, and, the better to +conceal it, had feigned idiocy, as the story was, that he might not be +watched or suspected until the favorable hour for executing his design +should arrive. He therefore ceased to speak, and seemed to lose his +reason; he wandered about the city silent and gloomy, like a brute. His +name had been Lucius Junius before. They added Brutus now, to designate +his condition. When at last, however, the crisis arrived which he judged +favorable for the expulsion of the kings, he suddenly reassumed his +speech and his reason, called the astonished Romans to arms, and +triumphantly accomplished his design. His name and memory had been +cherished ever since that day as of a great deliverer. + +[Sidenote: The history of Brutus.] + +They, therefore, who looked upon Caesar as another king, naturally +turned their thoughts to the Brutus of their day, hoping to find in him +another deliverer. Brutus found, from time to time, inscriptions on his +ancient namesake's statue expressing the wish that he were now alive. He +also found each morning, as he came to the tribunal where he was +accustomed to sit in the discharge of the duties of his office, brief +writings, which had been left there during the night, in which few words +expressed deep meaning, such as "Awake, Brutus, to thy duty;" and "Art +thou indeed a Brutus?" + +[Sidenote: His obligations to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's friendship for Brutus.] + +Still it seemed hardly probable that Brutus could be led to take a +decided stand against Caesar, for they had been warm personal friends +ever since the conclusion of the civil wars. Brutus had, indeed, been on +Pompey's side while that general lived; he fought with him at the battle +of Pharsalia, but he had been taken prisoner there, and Caesar, instead +of executing him as a traitor, as most victorious generals in a civil +war would have done, spared his life, forgave him for his hostility, +received him into his own service, and afterward raised him to very high +and honorable stations. He gave him the government of the richest +province, and, after his return from it, loaded with wealth and honors, +he made him praetor of the city. In a word, it would seem that he had +done every thing which it was possible to do to make him one of his most +trustworthy and devoted friends. The men, therefore, to whom Cassius +first applied, perhaps thought that they were very safe in saying that +they would unite in the intended conspiracy if he would get Brutus to +join them. They expected Cassius himself to make the attempt to secure +the co-operation of Brutus, as Cassius was on terms of intimacy with him +on account of a family connection. Cassius's wife was the sister of +Brutus. This had made the two men intimate associates and warm friends +in former years, though they had been recently somewhat estranged from +each other on account of having been competitors for the same offices +and honors. In these contests Caesar had decided in favor of Brutus. +"Cassius," said he, on one such occasion, "gives the best reasons; but I +can not refuse Brutus any thing he asks for." In fact, Caesar had +conceived a strong personal friendship for Brutus, and believed him to +be entirely devoted to his cause. + +[Sidenote: Interview between Brutus and Cassius.] + +Cassius, however, sought an interview with Brutus, with a view of +engaging him in his design. He easily effected his own reconciliation +with him, as he had himself been the offended party in their +estrangement from each other. He asked Brutus whether he intended to be +present in the Senate on the Ides of March, when the friends of Caesar, +as was understood, were intending to present him with the crown. Brutus +said he should not be there. "But suppose," said Cassius, "we are +specially summoned." "Then," said Brutus, "I shall go, and shall be +ready to die if necessary to defend the liberty of my country." + +[Sidenote: Arguments of Cassius.] + +Cassius then assured Brutus that there were many other Roman citizens, +of the highest rank, who were animated by the same determination, and +that they all looked up to him to lead and direct them in the work which +it was now very evident must be done. "Men look," said Cassius, "to +other praetors to entertain them with games, spectacles, and shows, but +they have very different ideas in respect to you. Your character, your +name, your position, your ancestry, and the course of conduct which you +have already always pursued, inspire the whole city with the hope that +you are to be their deliverer. The citizens are all ready to aid you, +and to sustain you at the hazard of their lives; but they look to you to +go forward, and to act in their name and in their behalf, in the crisis +which is now approaching." + +[Sidenote: Effect on Brutus.] +[Sidenote: Brutus engages in the conspiracy.] + +Men of a very calm exterior are often susceptible of the profoundest +agitations within, the emotions seeming to be sometimes all the more +permanent and uncontrollable from the absence of outward display. Brutus +said little, but his soul was excited and fired by Cassius's words. +There was a struggle in his soul between his grateful sense of his +political obligations to Caesar and his personal attachment to him on +the one hand, and, on the other, a certain stern Roman conviction that +every thing should be sacrificed, even friendship and gratitude, as +well as fortune and life, to the welfare of his country. He acceded to +the plan, and began forthwith to enter upon the necessary measures for +putting it into execution. + +[Sidenote: Ligurius.] + +There was a certain general, named Ligurius, who had been in Pompey's +army, and whose hostility to Caesar had never been really subdued. He +was now sick. Brutus went to see him. He found him in his bed. The +excitement in Rome was so intense, though the expressions of it were +suppressed and restrained, that every one was expecting continually some +great event, and every motion and look was interpreted to have some deep +meaning. Ligurius read in the countenance of Brutus, as he approached +his bedside, that he had not come on any trifling errand. "Ligurius," +said Brutus, "this is not a time for _you_ to be sick." "Brutus," +replied Ligurius, rising at once from his couch, "if you have any +enterprise in mind that is worthy of you, I am well." Brutus explained +to the sick man their design, and he entered into it with ardor. + +[Sidenote: Consultations of the conspirators.] +[Sidenote: Their bold plan.] +[Sidenote: Final arrangements.] + +The plan was divulged to one after another of such men as the +conspirators supposed most worthy of confidence in such a desperate +undertaking, and meetings for consultation were held to determine what +plan to adopt for finally accomplishing their end. It was agreed that +Caesar must be slain; but the time, the place, and the manner in which +the deed should be performed were all yet undecided. Various plans were +proposed in the consultations which the conspirators held; but there was +one thing peculiar to them all, which was, that they did not any of them +contemplate or provide for any thing like secrecy in the commission of +the deed. It was to be performed in the most open and public manner. +With a stern and undaunted boldness, which has always been considered by +mankind as truly sublime, they determined that, in respect to the actual +execution itself of the solemn judgment which they had pronounced, there +should be nothing private or concealed. They thought over the various +public situations in which they might find Caesar, and where they might +strike him down, only to select the one which would be most public of +all. They kept, of course, their preliminary counsels private, to +prevent the adoption of measures for counteracting them; but they were +to perform the deed in such a manner as that, so soon as it was +performed, they should stand out to view, exposed fully to the gaze of +all mankind as the authors, of it. They planned no retreat, no +concealment, no protection whatever for themselves, seeming to feel that +the deed which they were about to perform, of destroying the master and +monarch of the world, was a deed in its own nature so grand and sublime +as to raise the perpetrators of it entirely above all considerations +relating to their own personal safety. Their plan, therefore, was to +keep their consultations and arrangements secret until they were +prepared to strike the blow, then to strike it in the most public and +imposing manner possible, and calmly afterward to await the +consequences. + +[Sidenote: The place and the day.] + +In this view of the subject, they decided that the chamber of the Roman +Senate was the proper place, and the Ides of March, the day on which he +was appointed to be crowned, was the propel time for Caesar to be slain. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE ASSASSINATION. + +[Sidenote: Caesar receives many warnings of his approaching fate.] + +According to the account given by his historians, Caesar received many +warnings of his approaching fate, which, however, he would not heed. +Many of these warnings were strange portents and prodigies, which the +philosophical writers who recorded them half believed themselves, and +which they were always ready to add to their narratives even if they did +not believe them, on account of the great influence which such an +introduction of the supernatural and the divine had with readers in +those days in enhancing the dignity and the dramatic interest of the +story. These warnings were as follows: + +[Sidenote: The tomb and inscription.] + +At Capua, which was a great city at some distance south of Rome, the +second, in fact, in Italy, and the one which Hannibal had proposed to +make his capital, some workmen were removing certain ancient sepulchers +to make room for the foundations of a splendid edifice which, among his +other plans for the embellishment of the cities of Italy, Caesar was +intending to have erected there. As the excavations advanced, the +workmen came at last to an ancient tomb, which proved to be that of the +original founder of Capua; and, in bringing out the sarcophagus, they +found an inscription, worked upon a brass plate, and in the Greek +character, predicting that if those remains were ever disturbed, a great +member of the Julian family would be assassinated by his own friends, +and his death would be followed by extended devastations throughout +all Italy. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's horses.] + +The horses, too, with which Caesar had passed the Rubicon, and which had +been, ever since that time, living in honorable retirement in a splendid +park which Caesar had provided for them, by some mysterious instinct, or +from some divine communication, had warning of the approach of their +great benefactor's end. They refused their food, and walked about with +melancholy and dejected looks, mourning apparently, and in a manner +almost human, some impending grief. + +[Sidenote: The soothsayers.] + +There was a class of prophets in those days called by a name which has +been translated _soothsayers_. These soothsayers were able, as was +supposed, to look somewhat into futurity--dimly and doubtfully, it is +true, but really, by means of certain appearances exhibited by the +bodies of the animals offered in sacrifices These soothsayers were +consulted on all important occasions; and if the auspices proved +unfavorable when any great enterprise was about to be undertaken, it was +often, on that account, abandoned or postponed. One of these +soothsayers, named Spurinna, came to Caesar one day, and informed him +that he had found, by means of a public sacrifice which he had just been +offering, that there was a great and mysterious danger impending over +him, which was connected in some way with the Ides of March, and he +counseled him to be particularly cautious and circumspect until that day +should have passed. + +[Sidenote: The hawks and the wren.] + +The Senate were to meet on the Ides of March in a new and splendid +edifice, which had been erected for their use by Pompey. There was in +the interior of the building, among other decorations, a statue of +Pompey. The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a +neighboring grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren +with a sprig of laurel in its mouth. The birds tore the wren to pieces, +the laurel dropping from its bill to the marble pavement of the floor +below. Now, as Caesar had been always accustomed to wear a crown of +laurel on great occasions, and had always evinced a particular fondness +for that decoration, that plant had come to be considered his own proper +badge, and the fall of the laurel, therefore, was naturally thought to +portend some great calamity to him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's agitation of mind.] +[Sidenote: His dream.] +[Sidenote: Calpurnia's dream.] +[Sidenote: The effect of a disturbed mind.] + +The night before the Ides of March Caesar could not sleep. It would not +seem, however, to be necessary to suppose any thing supernatural to +account for his wakefulness. He lay upon his bed restless and excited, +or if he fell into a momentary slumber, his thoughts, instead of finding +repose, were only plunged into greater agitations, produced by strange, +and, as he thought, supernatural dreams. He imagined that he ascended +into the skies, and was received there by Jupiter, the supreme divinity, +as an associate and equal. While shaking hands with the great father of +gods and men, the sleeper was startled by a frightful sound. He awoke, +and found his wife Calpurnia groaning and struggling in her sleep. He +saw her by the moonlight which was shining into the room. He spoke to +her, and aroused her. After staring wildly for a moment till she had +recovered her thoughts, she said that she had had a dreadful dream. She +had dreamed that the roof of the house had fallen in, and that, at the +same instant, the doors had been burst open, and some robber or assassin +had stabbed her husband as he was lying in her arms. The philosophy of +those days found in these dreams mysterious and preternatural warnings +of impending danger; that of ours, however, sees nothing either in the +absurd sacrilegiousness of Caesar's thoughts, or his wife's incoherent +and inconsistent images of terror--nothing more than the natural and +proper effects, on the one hand, of the insatiable ambition of man, and, +on the other, of the conjugal affection and solicitude of woman. The +ancient sculptors carved out images of men, by the forms and lineaments +of which we see that the physical characteristics of humanity have not +changed. History seems to do the same with the affections and passions +of the soul. The dreams of Caesar and his wife on the night before the +Ides of March, as thus recorded, form a sort of spiritual statue, which +remains from generation to generation, to show us how precisely all the +inward workings of human nature are from age to age the same. + +[Sidenote: Caesar hesitates.] + +When the morning came Caesar and Calpurnia arose, both restless and ill +at ease. Caesar ordered the auspices to be consulted with reference to +the intended proceedings of the day. The soothsayers came in in due +time, and reported that the result was unfavorable. Calpurnia, too, +earnestly entreated her husband not to go to the senate-house that day. +She had a very strong presentiment that, if he did go, some great +calamity would ensue. Caesar himself hesitated. He was half inclined to +yield, and postpone his coronation to another occasion. + +[Sidenote: Decimus Brutus.] + +In the course of the day, while Caesar was in this state of doubt and +uncertainty, one of the conspirators, named Decimus Brutus, came in. +This Brutus was not a man of any extraordinary courage or energy, but he +had been invited by the other conspirators to join them, on account of +his having under his charge a large number of gladiators, who, being +desperate and reckless men, would constitute a very suitable armed force +for them to call in to their aid in case of any emergency arising which +should require it. + +[Sidenote: Decimus Brutus waits upon Caesar.] + +The conspirators having thus all their plans arranged, Decimus Brutus +was commissioned to call at Caesar's house when the time approached for +the assembling of the Senate, both to avert suspicion from Caesar's +mind, and to assure himself that nothing had been discovered It was in +the afternoon, the time for the meeting of the senators having been +fixed at five o'clock. Decimus Brutus found Caesar troubled and +perplexed, and uncertain what to do. After hearing what he had to say, +he replied by urging him to go by all means to the senate-house, as he +had intended. "You have formally called the Senate together," said he, +"and they are now assembling. They are all prepared to confer upon you +the rank and title of king, not only in Parthia, while you are +conducting this war but every where, by sea and land, except in Italy. +And now, while they are all in their places, waiting to consummate the +great act, how absurd will it be for you to send them word to go home +again, and come back some other day, when Calpurnia shall have had +better dreams!" + +[Sidenote: He persuades him to go.] + +He urged, too, that, even if Caesar was determined to put off the action +of the Senate to another day, he was imperiously bound to go himself and +adjourn the session in person. So saying, he took the hesitating +potentate by the arm, and adding to his arguments a little gentle force, +conducted him along. + +[Sidenote: Artemidorus discovers the plot.] +[Sidenote: He warns Caesar.] + +The conspirators supposed that all was safe The fact was, however, that +all had been discovered. There was a certain Greek, a teacher of +oratory, named Artemidorus. He had contrived to learn something of the +plot from some of the conspirators who were his pupils. He wrote a brief +statement of the leading particulars, and, having no other mode of +access to Caesar, he determined to hand it to him on the way as he went +to the senate-house. Of course, the occasion was one of great public +interest, and crowds had assembled in the streets to see the great +conqueror as he went along. As usual at such times, when powerful +officers of state appear in public, many people came up to present +petitions to him as he passed. These he received, and handed them, +without reading, to his secretary who attended him, as if to have them +preserved for future examination. Artemidorus, who was waiting for his +opportunity, when he perceived what disposition Caesar made of the +papers which were given to him, began to be afraid that his own +communication would not be attended to until it was too late. He +accordingly pressed up near to Caesar, refusing to allow any one else to +pass the paper in; and when, at last, he obtained an opportunity, he +gave it directly into Caesar's hands saying to him, "Read this +immediately: it concerns yourself, and is of the utmost importance" + +Caesar took the paper and attempted to read it, but new petitions and +other interruptions constantly prevented him; finally he gave up the +attempt, and went on his way, receiving and passing to his secretary all +other papers, but retaining this paper of Artemidorus in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Caesar and Spurinna.] + +Caesar passed Spurinna on his way to the senate-house--the soothsayer +who had predicted some great danger connected with the Ides of March. As +soon as he recognized him, he accosted him with the words, "Well, +Spurinna, the Ides of March have come, and I am safe." "Yes," replied +Spurinna, "they have come, but they are not yet over." + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at the senate house.] + +At length he arrived at the senate-house, with the paper of Artemidorus +still unread in his hand. The senators were all convened, the leading +conspirators among them. They all rose to receive Caesar as he entered. +Caesar advanced to the seat provided for him, and, when he was seated, +the senators themselves sat down. The moment had now arrived, and the +conspirators, with pale looks and beating hearts, felt that now or never +the deed was to be done. + +[Sidenote: Resolution of the Conspirators.] + +It requires a very considerable degree of physical courage and +hardihood for men to come to a calm and deliberate decision that they +will kill one whom they hate, and, still more, actually to strike the +blow, even when under the immediate impulse of passion. But men who are +perfectly capable of either of these often find their resolution fail +them as the time comes for striking a dagger into the living flesh of +their victim, when he sits at ease and unconcerned before them, unarmed +and defenseless, and doing nothing to excite those feelings of +irritation and anger which are generally found so necessary to nerve the +human arm to such deeds. Utter defenselessness is accordingly, +sometimes, a greater protection than an armor of steel. + +[Sidenote: Caesar and Pompey's statue.] + +Even Cassius himself, the originator and the soul of the whole +enterprise, found his courage hardly adequate to the work now that the +moment had arrived; and, in order to arouse the necessary excitement in +his soul, he looked up to the statue of Pompey, Caesar's ancient and +most formidable enemy, and invoked its aid. It gave him its aid. It +inspired him with some portion of the enmity with which the soul of its +great original had burned; and thus the soul of the living assassin was +nerved to its work by a sort of sympathy with a block of stone. + +[Sidenote: Plan of the conspirators.] + +Foreseeing the necessity of something like a stimulus to action when the +immediate moment for action should arrive, the conspirators had agreed +that, as soon as Caesar was seated, they would approach him with a +petition, which he would probably refuse, and then, gathering around +him, they would urge him with their importunities, so as to produce, in +the confusion, a sort of excitement that would make it easier for them +to strike the blow. + +[Sidenote: Marc Antony.] + +There was one person, a relative and friend of Caesar's, named Marcus +Antonius, called commonly, however, in English narratives, Marc Antony, +the same who has been already mentioned as having been subsequently +connected with Cleopatra. He was a very energetic and determined man, +who, they thought, might possibly attempt to defend him. To prevent +this, one of the conspirators had been designated to take him aside, and +occupy his attention with some pretended subject of discourse, ready, at +the same time, to resist and prevent his interference if he should show +himself inclined to offer any. + +[Sidenote: The petition.] +[Sidenote: Caesar assaulted.] + +Things being thus arranged, the petitioner, as had been agreed, advanced +to Caesar with his petition, others coming up at the same time as if to +second the request. The object of the petition was to ask for the pardon +of the brother of one of the conspirators. Caesar declined granting it. +The others then crowded around him, urging him to grant the request with +pressing importunities, all apparently reluctant to strike the first +blow. Caesar began to be alarmed, and attempted to repel them. One of +them then pulled down his robe from his neck to lay it bare. Caesar +arose, exclaiming, "But this is violence." At the same instant, one of +the conspirators struck at him with his sword, and wounded him slightly +in the neck. + +[Sidenote: He resists.] + +All was now terror, outcry, and confusion Caesar had no time to draw his +sword, but fought a moment with his style, a sharp instrument of iron +with which they wrote, in those days, on waxen tablets, and which he +happened then to have in his hand. With this instrument he ran one of +his enemies through the arm. + +[Illustration: POMPEY'S STATUE.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar is overcome.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's statue.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's death.] + +This resistance was just what was necessary to excite the conspirators, +and give them the requisite resolution to finish their work. Caesar soon +saw the swords, accordingly, gleaming all around him, and thrusting +themselves at him on every side. The senators rose in confusion and +dismay, perfectly thunderstruck at the scene, and not knowing what to +do. Antony perceived that all resistance on his part would be +unavailing, and accordingly did not attempt any. Caesar defended himself +alone for a few minutes as well as he could, looking all around him in +vain for help, and retreating at the same time toward the pedestal of +Pompey's statue. At length, when he saw Brutus among his murderers, he +exclaimed, "And you too, Brutus?" and seemed from that moment to give up +in despair. He drew his robe over his face, and soon fell under the +wounds which he received. His blood ran out upon the pavement at the +foot of Pompey's statue, as if his death were a sacrifice offered to +appease his ancient enemy's revenge. + +[Sidenote: Flight of the senators.] +[Sidenote: Great commotion.] + +In the midst of the scene Brutus made an attempt to address the +senators, and to vindicate what they had done, but the confusion and +excitement were so great that it was impossible that any thing could be +heard. The senators were, in fact, rapidly leaving the place, going off +in every direction, and spreading the tidings over the city. The event, +of course, produced universal commotion. The citizens began to close +their shops, and some to barricade their houses, while others hurried to +and fro about the streets, anxiously inquiring for intelligence, and +wondering what dreadful event was next to be expected. Antony and +Lepidus, who were Caesar's two most faithful and influential friends, +not knowing how extensive the conspiracy might be, nor how far the +hostility to Caesar and his party might extend, fled, and, not daring to +go to their own houses, lest the assassins or their confederates might +pursue them there, sought concealment in the houses of friends on whom +they supposed they could rely and who were willing to receive them. + +[Sidenote: The Conspirators proceed to the Capitol.] +[Sidenote: They glory in their deed.] + +In the mean time, the conspirators, glorying In the deed which they had +perpetrated, and congratulating each other on the successful issue of +their enterprise, sallied forth together from the senate-house, leaving +the body of their victim weltering in its blood, and marched, with drawn +swords in their hands, along the streets from the senate-house to the +Capitol. Brutus went at the head of them, preceded by a liberty cap +borne upon the point of a spear, and with his bloody dagger in his hand. +The Capitol was the citadel, built magnificently upon the Capitoline +Hill, and surrounded by temples, and other sacred and civil edifices, +which made the spot the architectural wonder of the world. As Brutus and +his company proceeded thither, they announced to the citizens, as they +went along, the great deed of deliverance which they had wrought out for +the country. Instead of seeking concealment, they gloried in the work +which they had done, and they so far succeeded in inspiring others with +a portion of their enthusiasm, that some men who had really taken no +part in the deed joined Brutus and his company in their march, to obtain +by stealth a share in the glory. + +[Sidenote: Number of Caesar's wounds.] + +The body of Caesar lay for some time unheeded where it had fallen, the +attention of every one being turned to the excitement, which was +extending through the city, and to the expectation of other great events +which might suddenly develop themselves in other quarters of Rome. There +were left only three of Caesar's slaves, who gathered around the body to +look at the wounds. They counted them, and found the number +twenty-three. It shows, however, how strikingly, and with what +reluctance, the actors in this tragedy came up to their work at last, +that of all these twenty-three wounds only one was a mortal one. In +fact, it is probable that, while all of the conspirators struck the +victim in their turn, to fulfill the pledge which they had given to one +another that they would every one inflict a wound, each one hoped that +the fatal blow would be given, after all, by some other hand than +his own. + +[Sidenote: His slaves convey his body home.] + +At last the slaves decided to convey the body home. They obtained a sort +of chair, which was made to be borne by poles, and placed the body upon +it. Then, lifting at the three handles, and allowing the fourth to hang +unsupported for want of a man, they bore the ghastly remains home to the +distracted Calpurnia. + +[Sidenote: Address of the conspirators.] + +The next day Brutus and his associates called an assembly of the people +in the Forum, and made an address to them, explaining the motives which +had led them to the commission of the deed, and vindicating the +necessity and the justice of it. The people received these explanations +in silence. They expressed neither approbation nor displeasure. It was +not, in fact, to be expected that they would feel or evince any +satisfaction at the loss of their master. He had been their champion, +and, as they believed, their friend. The removal of Caesar brought no +accession of power nor increase of liberty to them. It might have been a +gain to ambitious senators, or powerful generals, or high officers of +state, by removing a successful rival out of their way, but it seemed to +promise little advantage to the community at large, other than the +changing of one despotism for another. Besides, a populace who know that +they mast be governed, prefer generally, if they must submit to some +control, to yield their submission to some one master spirit whom they +can look up to as a great and acknowledged superior. They had rather +have a Caesar than a Senate to command them. + +[Sidenote: Feelings of the populace.] + +The higher authorities, however, were, at might have been expected, +disposed to acquiesce in the removal of Caesar from his intended throne. +The Senate met, and passed an act of indemnity, to shield the +conspirators from all legal liability for the deed they had done. In +order, however, to satisfy the people too, as far as possible, they +decreed divine honors to Caesar, confirmed and ratified all that he had +done while in the exercise of supreme power, and appointed a time for +the funeral, ordering arrangements to be made for a very pompous +celebration of it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's will.] +[Sidenote: Its provisions.] + +A will was soon found, which Caesar, it seems, had made some time +before. Calpurnia's father proposed that this will should be opened and +read in public at Antony's house; and this was accordingly done. The +provisions of the will were, many of them, of such a character as +renewed the feelings of interest and sympathy which the people of Rome +had begun to cherish for Caesar's memory. His vast estate was divided +chiefly among the children of his sister, as he had no children of his +own, while the very men who had been most prominent in his assassination +were named as trustees and guardians of the property; and one of them, +Decimus Brutus, the one who had been so urgent to conduct him to the +senate-house, was a second heir. He had some splendid gardens near the +Tiber, which he bequeathed to the citizens of Rome, and a large amount +of money also, to be divided among them, sufficient to give every man a +considerable sum. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for Caesar's funeral.] +[Sidenote: The Field of Mars.] + +The time for the celebration of the funeral ceremonies was made known by +proclamation, and, as the concourse of strangers and citizens of Rome +was likely to be so great as to forbid the forming of all into one +procession without consuming more than one day, the various classes of +the community were invited to come, each in their own way, to the Field +of Mars, bringing with them such insignia, offerings, and oblations as +they pleased. The Field of Mars was an immense parade ground, reserved +for military reviews, spectacles, and shows. A funeral pile was erected +here for the burning of the body There was to be a funeral discourse +pronounced, and Marc Antony had been designated to perform this duty. +The body had been placed in a gilded bed, under a magnificent canopy in +the form of a temple, before the rostra where the funeral discourse was +to be pronounced. The bed was covered with scarlet and cloth of gold and +at the head of it was laid the robe in which Caesar had been slain. It +was stained with blood, and pierced with the holes that the swords and +daggers of the conspirators had made. + +[Sidenote: Marc Antony's oration.] +[Sidenote: The funeral pile.] + +Marc Antony, instead of pronouncing a formal panegyric upon his deceased +friend, ordered a crier to read the decrees of the Senate, in which all +honors, human and divine, had been ascribed to Caesar. He then added a +few words of his own. The bed was then taken up, with the body upon it, +and borne out into the Forum, preparatory to conveying it to the pile +which had been prepared for it upon the Field of Mars, A question, +however, here arose among the multitude assembled in respect to the +proper place for burning the body. The people seemed inclined to select +the most honorable place which could be found within the limits of the +city. Some proposed a beautiful temple on the Capitoline Hill. Others +wished to take it to the senate-house, where he had been slain. The +Senate, and those who were less inclined to pay extravagant honors to +the departed hero, were in favor of some more retired spot, under +pretense that the buildings of the city would be endangered by the fire. +This discussion was fast becoming a dispute, when it was suddenly ended +by two men, with swords at their sides and knees in their hands, forcing +their way through the crowd with lighted torches, and setting the bed +and its canopy on fire where it lay. + +[Illustration: BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.] + +[Sidenote: The body burned in the Forum.] + +This settled the question, and the whole company were soon in the +wildest excitement with the work of building up a funeral pile upon the +spot. At first they brought fagots and threw upon the fire, then benches +from the neighboring courts and porticoes, and then any thing +combustible which came to hand. The honor done to the memory of a +deceased hero was, in some sense, in proportion to the greatness of his +funeral pile, and all the populace on this occasion began soon to seize +every thing they could find, appropriate and unappropriate, provided +that it would increase the flame. The soldiers threw on their lances and +spears, the musicians their instruments, and others stripped off the +cloths and trappings from the furniture of the procession, and heaped +them upon the burning pile. + +[Sidenote: The conflagration.] + +So fierce and extensive was the fire, that it spread to some of the +neighboring houses, and required great efforts to prevent a general +conflagration. The people, too, became greatly excited by the scene. +They lighted torches by the fire, and went to the houses of Brutus and +Cassius, threatening vengeance upon them for the murder of Caesar. The +authorities succeeded though with infinite difficulty, in protecting +Brutus and Cassius from the violence of the mob, but they seized one +unfortunate citizen of the name of Cinna, thinking it a certain Cinna +who had been known as an enemy of Caesar. They cut off his head, +notwithstanding his shrieks and cries, and carried it about the city on +the tip of a pike, a dreadful symbol of their hostility to the enemies +of Caesar. As frequently happens, however, in such deeds of sudden +violence, these hasty and lawless avengers found afterward that they had +made a mistake, and beheaded the wrong man. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's monument.] +[Sidenote: The comet.] + +The Roman people erected a column to the memory of Caesar, on which they +placed the inscription, "To THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." They fixed the +figure of a star upon the summit of it, and some time afterward, while +the people were celebrating some games in honor of his memory, a great +comet blazed for seven nights in the sky, which they recognized as the +mighty hero's soul reposing in heaven. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** + + +******* This file should be named 11688.txt or 11688.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/6/8/11688 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "https://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a> + +Title: History of Julius Caesar + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: March 23, 2004 [eBook #11688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: iso-8859-1 + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** +</pre> +<br> +<br> +<center><h3>E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner,<br> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team</h3></center> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full"> +<br> +<br> +<a name="Frontspiece"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0276.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0276.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR"> +</a><br> +<b>THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR</b> +</P><br> +<br> +<br> +<br> +<h2>History of</h2> + +<h1>Julius Caesar</h1> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>JACOB ABBOTT</h2> + +<h4>WITH ENGRAVINGS</h4> + +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/002.png"> +<img src="Images/002.png" width = "15%" +alt=""> +</a></P><br> + +<h5>1904</h5> + + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>PREFACE.</h2> +<br> + +<p>It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, +distinct, and connected narrative of the lives of those great personages +who have in various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as +leaders among mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public +affairs of great nations, have exerted the widest influence on the +history of the human race. The end which the author has had in view is +twofold: first, to communicate such information in respect to the +subjects of his narratives as is important for the general reader to +possess; and, secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events +described and the characters delineated as they may legitimately teach +to the people of the present age. Though written in a direct and simple +style, they are intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some +considerable degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully +appreciate the character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all +that is described in these volumes does, in close combination with the +conduct and policy of governments, and the great events of +international history.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><b>CONTENTS.</b></h2> +<br> + +<center> +<a href="#CHAPTER_I.">I. MARIUS AND SYLLA.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_II.">II. CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_III.">III. ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IV.">IV. THE CONQUEST OF GAUL.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_V.">V. POMPEY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VI.">VI. CROSSING THE RUBICON.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VII.">VII. THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_VIII.">VIII. FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_IX.">IX. CAESAR IN EGYPT.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_X.">X. CAESAR IMPERATOR.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XI.">XI. THE CONSPIRACY.</a><br> +<a href="#CHAPTER_XII.">XII. THE ASSASSINATION.</a><br> +</center> + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>ENGRAVINGS.</h2> + +<center> +<a href="#Frontspiece">THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0288">MAP OF ROME.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0277">ROMAN PLEBEIANS.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0278">A ROMAN FORUM.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0279">THE LANDING IN ENGLAND.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0280">CROSSING THE RUBICON.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0281">ROMAN STANDARD-BEARERS.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0282">DEATH OF POMPEY.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0283">POMPEY'S PILLAR.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0284">CLEOPATRA'S BARGE.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0285">THE ELEPHANTS MADE TORCH-BEARERS.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0286">POMPEY'S STATUE.</a><br> +<a href="#Illus0287">BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.</a><br> +</center> +<br><br> + +<a name="Illus0288"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0288.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0288.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="ANCIENT ROME."> +</a><br> +<b>ANCIENT ROME.</b> +</P><br> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2>JULIUS CAESAR.</h2> + +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I."></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>MARIUS AND SYLLA.</h3> + +<p class="side">Three great European nations of antiquity.</p> + +<p>There were three great European nations in ancient days, each of which +furnished history with a hero: the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and +the Romans.</p> + +<p class="side">Alexander.</p> + +<p>Alexander was the hero of the Greeks. He was King of Macedon, a country +lying north of Greece proper. He headed an army of his countrymen, and +made an excursion for conquest and glory into Asia. He made himself +master of all that quarter of the globe, and reigned over it in Babylon, +till he brought himself to an early grave by the excesses into which his +boundless prosperity allured him. His fame rests on his triumphant +success in building up for himself so vast an empire, and the admiration +which his career has always excited among mankind is heightened by the +consideration of his youth, and of the noble and generous impulses +which strongly marked his character.</p> + +<p class="side">Hannibal.<br> +His terrible energy.</p> + +<p>The Carthaginian hero was Hannibal. We class the Carthaginians among the +European nations of antiquity; for, in respect to their origin, their +civilization, and all their commercial and political relations, they +belonged to the European race, though it is true that their capital was +on the African side of the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal was the great +Carthaginian hero. He earned his fame by the energy and implacableness +of his hate. The work of his life was to keep a vast empire in a state +of continual anxiety and terror for fifty years, so that his claim to +greatness and glory rests on the determination, the perseverance, and +the success with which he fulfilled his function of being, while he +lived, the terror of the world.</p> + +<p class="side">Julius Caesar.</p> + +<p>The Roman hero was Caesar. He was born just one hundred years before the +Christian era. His renown does not depend, like that of Alexander, on +foreign conquests, nor, like that of Hannibal, on the terrible energy of +his aggressions upon foreign foes, but upon his protracted and dreadful +contests with, and ultimate triumphs over, his rivals and competitors at +home. When he appeared upon the stage, the Roman empire already +included nearly all of the world that was worth possessing. There were +no more conquests to be made. Caesar did, indeed, enlarge, in some +degree, the boundaries of the empire; but the main question in his day +was, who should possess the power which preceding conquerors +had acquired.</p> + +<p class="side">The ancient Roman empire.<br> +The provinces.</p> + +<p>The Roman empire, as it existed in those days, must not be conceived of +by the reader as united together under one compact and consolidated +government. It was, on the other hand, a vast congeries of nations, +widely dissimilar in every respect from each other, speaking various +languages, and having various customs and laws. They were all, however, +more or less dependent upon, and connected with, the great central +power. Some of these countries were provinces, and were governed by +officers appointed and sent out by the authorities at Rome. These +governors had to collect the taxes of their provinces, and also to +preside over and direct, in many important respects, the administration +of justice. They had, accordingly, abundant opportunities to enrich +themselves while thus in office, by collecting more money than they paid +over to the government at home, and by taking bribes to favor the rich +man's cause in court. Thus the more wealthy and prosperous provinces +were objects of great competition among aspirants for office at Rome. +Leading men would get these appointments, and, after remaining long +enough in their provinces to acquire a fortune, would come back to Rome, +and expend it in intrigues and maneuvers to obtain higher offices still.</p> + +<p class="side">Foreign wars.<br> +The victorious general.</p> + +<p>Whenever there was any foreign war to be carried on with a distant +nation or tribe, there was always a great eagerness among all the +military officers of the state to be appointed to the command. They each +felt sure that they should conquer in the contest, and they could enrich +themselves still more rapidly by the spoils of victory in war, than by +extortion and bribes in the government of a province in peace. Then, +besides, a victorious general coming back to Rome always found that his +military renown added vastly to his influence and power in the city. He +was welcomed with celebrations and triumphs; the people flocked to see +him and to shout his praise. He placed his trophies of victory in the +temples, and entertained the populace with games and shows, and with +combats of gladiators or of wild beasts, which he had brought home with +him for this purpose in the train of his army. While he was thus +enjoying his triumph, his political enemies would be thrown into the +back ground and into the shade; unless, indeed, some one of them might +himself be earning the same honors in some other field, to come back in +due time, and claim his share of power and celebrity in his turn. In +this case, Rome would be sometimes distracted and rent by the conflicts +and contentions of military rivals, who had acquired powers too vast for +all the civil influences of the Republic to regulate or control.</p> + +<a name="Illus0277"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0277.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0277.jpg" width = "40%" +alt="ROMAN PLEBEIANS."> +</a><br> +<b>ROMAN PLEBEIANS.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Military rivals.<br> +Marius and Sylla.<br> +The patricians and plebeians.<br> +Civil contests.<br> +Quarrel about the command of the army.<br> +Sylla's violence.</p> + +<p>There had been two such rivals just before the time of Caesar, who had +filled the world with their quarrels. They were Marius and Sylla. Their +very names have been, in all ages of the world, since their day, the +symbols of rivalry and hate. They were the representatives respectively +of the two great parties into which the Roman state, like every other +community in which the population at large have any voice in governing, +always has been, and probably always will be divided, the upper and the +lower; or, as they were called in those days, the patrician and the +plebeian. Sylla was the patrician; the higher and more aristocratic +portions of the community were on his side. Marius was the favorite of +the plebeian masses. In the contests, however, which they waged with +each other, they did not trust to the mere influence of votes. They +relied much more upon the soldiers they could gather under their +respective standards and upon their power of intimidating, by means of +them, the Roman assemblies. There was a war to be waged with +Mithridates, a very powerful Asiatic monarch, which promised great +opportunities for acquiring fame and plunder. Sylla was appointed to the +command. While he was absent, however, upon some campaign in Italy, +Marius contrived to have the decision reversed, and the command +transferred to him Two officers, called tribunes, were sent to Sylla's +camp to inform him of the change. Sylla killed the officers for daring +to bring him such a message, and began immediately to march toward Rome. +In retaliation for the murder of the tribunes, the party of Marius in +the city killed some of Sylla's prominent friends there, and a general +alarm spread itself throughout the population. The Senate, which was a +sort of House of Lords, embodying mainly the power and influence of the +patrician party, and was, of course, on Sylla's side, sent out to him, +when he had arrived within a few miles of the city, urging him to come +no further. He pretended to comply; he marked out the ground for a camp; +but he did not, on that account, materially delay his march. The next +morning he was in possession of the city. The friends of Marius +attempted to resist him, by throwing stones upon his troops from the +roofs of the houses. Sylla ordered every house from which these +symptoms of resistance appeared to be set on fire. Thus the whole +population of a vast and wealthy city were thrown into a condition of +extreme danger and terror, by the conflicts of two great bands of armed +men, each claiming to be their friends.</p> + +<p class="side">Defeat of Marius.</p> + +<p>Marius was conquered in this struggle, and fled for his life. Many of +the friends whom he left behind him were killed. The Senate were +assembled, and, at Sylla's orders, a decree was passed declaring Marius +a public enemy, and offering a reward to any one who would bring his +head back to Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">His flight.</p> + +<p>Marius fled, friendless and alone, to the southward, hunted every where +by men who were eager to get the reward offered for his head. After +various romantic adventures and narrow escapes, he succeeded in making +his way across the Mediterranean Sea, and found at last a refuge in a +hut among the ruins of Carthage. He was an old man, being now over +seventy years of age.</p> + +<p class="side">Return of Marius.<br> +He marches against Rome.</p> + +<p>Of course, Sylla thought that his great rival and enemy was now finally +disposed of, and he accordingly began to make preparations for his +Asiatic campaign. He raised his army, built and equipped a fleet, and +went away. As soon as he was gone, Marius's friends in the city began to +come forth, and to take measures for reinstating themselves in power. +Marius returned, too, from Africa, and soon gathered about him a large +army. Being the friend, as he pretended, of the lower classes of +society, he collected vast multitudes of revolted slaves, outlaws, and +other desperadoes, and advanced toward Rome. He assumed, himself, the +dress, and air, and savage demeanor of his followers. His countenance +had been rendered haggard and cadaverous partly by the influence of +exposures, hardships, and suffering upon his advanced age, and partly by +the stern and moody plans and determinations of revenge which his mind +was perpetually revolving. He listened to the deputations which the +Roman Senate sent out to him from time to time, as he advanced toward +the city, but refused to make any terms. He moved forward with all the +outward deliberation and calmness suitable to his years, while all the +ferocity of a tiger was burning within.</p> + +<p class="side">Executions by order of Marius.</p> + +<p>As soon as he had gained possession of the city, he began his work of +destruction. He first beheaded one of the consuls, and ordered his head +to be set up, as a public spectacle, in the most conspicuous place in +the city. This was the beginning. All the prominent friends of Sylla, +men of the highest rank and station, were then killed, wherever they +could be found, without sentence, without trial, without any other +accusation, even, than the military decision of Marius that they were +his enemies, and must die. For those against whom he felt any special +animosity, he contrived some special mode of execution. One, whose fate +he wished particularly to signalize, was thrown down from the +Tarpeian Rock.</p> + +<p class="side">The Tarpeian Rock.</p> + +<p>The Tarpeian Rock was a precipice about fifty feet high, which is still +to be seen in Rome, from which the worst of state criminals were +sometimes thrown. They were taken up to the top by a stair, and were +then hurled from the summit, to die miserably, writhing in agony after +their fall, upon the rocks below.</p> + +<p class="side">The story of Tarpeia.<br> +Subterranean passages.</p> + +<p>The Tarpeian Rock received its name from the ancient story of Tarpeia. +The tale is, that Tarpeia was a Roman girl, who lived at a time in the +earliest periods of the Roman history, when the city was besieged by an +army from are of the neighboring nations. Besides their shields, the +story is that the soldiers had golden bracelets upon their arms. They +wished Tarpeia to open the gates and let them in. She promised to do so +if they would give her their bracelets; but, as she did not know the +name of the shining ornaments, the language she used to designate them +was, "Those things you have upon your arms." The soldiers acceded to her +terms; she opened the gates, and they, instead of giving her the +bracelets, threw their <i>shields</i> upon her as they passed, until the poor +girl was crushed down with them and destroyed. This was near the +Tarpeian Rock, which afterward took her name. The rock is now found to +be perforated by a great many subterranean passages, the remains, +probably, of ancient quarries. Some of these galleries are now walled +up; others are open; and the people who live around the spot believe, it +is said, to this day, that Tarpeia herself sits, enchanted, far in the +interior of these caverns, covered with gold and jewels, but that +whoever attempts to find her is fated by an irresistible destiny to lose +his way, and he never returns. The last story is probably as true as +the other.</p> + +<p class="side">Escape of Sylla's wife.</p> + +<p>Marius continued his executions and massacres until the whole of Sylla's +party had been slain or put to flight. He made every effort to discover +Sylla's wife and child, with a view to destroying them also, but they +could not be found. Some friends of Sylla, taking compassion on their +innocence and helplessness, concealed them, and thus saved Marius from +the commission of one intended crime. Marius was disappointed, too, in +some other cases, where men whom he had intended to kill destroyed +themselves to baffle his vengeance. One shut himself up in a room with +burning charcoal, and was suffocated with the fumes. Another bled +himself to death upon a public altar, calling down the judgments of the +god to whom he offered this dreadful sacrifice, upon the head of the +tyrant whose atrocious cruelty he was thus attempting to evade.</p> + +<p class="side">Illness of Marius.<br> +Sylla outlawed.</p> + +<p>By the time that Marius had got fairly established in his new position, +and was completely master of Rome, and the city had begun to recover a +little from the shock and consternation produced by his executions, he +fell sick. He was attacked with an acute disease of great violence. The +attack was perhaps produced, and was certainly aggravated by, the great +mental excitements through which he had passed during his exile, and in +the entire change of fortune which had attended his return. From being +a wretched fugitive, hiding for his life among gloomy and desolate +ruins, he found himself suddenly transferred to the mastery of the +world. His mind was excited, too, in respect to Sylla, whom he had not +yet reached or subdued, but who was still prosecuting his war against +Mithridates. Marius had had him pronounced by the Senate an enemy to his +country, and was meditating plans to reach him in his distant province, +considering his triumph incomplete as long as his great rival was at +liberty and alive. The sickness cut short these plans, but it only +inflamed to double violence the excitement and the agitations which +attended them.</p> + +<p class="side">Marius delirious.<br> +Death of Marius.</p> + +<p>As the dying tyrant tossed restlessly upon his bed, it was plain that +the delirious ravings which he began soon to utter were excited by the +same sentiments of insatiable ambition and ferocious hate whose calmer +dictates he had obeyed when well. He imagined that he had succeeded in +supplanting Sylla in his command, and that he was himself in Asia at the +head of his armies. Impressed with this idea, he stared wildly around; +he called aloud the name of Mithridates; he shouted orders to imaginary +troops; he struggled to break away from the restraints which the +attendants about his bedside imposed, to attack the phantom foes which +haunted him in his dreams. This continued for several days, and when at +last nature was exhausted by the violence of these paroxysms of phrensy, +the vital powers which had been for seventy long years spending their +strength in deeds of selfishness, cruelty, and hatred, found their work +done, and sunk to revive no more.</p> + +<p class="side">Return of Sylla.<br> +Marius's son.<br> +Proscriptions and massacres of Sylla.</p> + +<p>Marius left a son, of the same name with himself, who attempted to +retain his father's power; but Sylla, having brought his war with +Mithridates to a conclusion, was now on his return from Asia, and it was +very evident that a terrible conflict was about to ensue. Sylla advanced +triumphantly through the country, while Marius the younger and his +partisans concentrated their forces about the city, and prepared for +defense. The people of the city were divided, the aristocratic faction +adhering to the cause of Sylla, while the democratic influences sided +with Marius. Political parties rise and fall, in almost all ages of the +world, in alternate fluctuations, like those of the tides. The faction +of Marius had been for some time in the ascendency, and it was now its +turn to fall. Sylla found, therefore, as he advanced, every thing +favorable to the restoration of his own party to power. He destroyed the +armies which came out to oppose him. He shut up the young Marius in a +city not far from Rome, where he had endeavored to find shelter and +protection, and then advanced himself and took possession of the city. +There he caused to be enacted again the horrid scenes of massacre and +murder which Marius had perpetrated before, going, however, as much +beyond the example which he followed as men usually do in the commission +of crime. He gave out lists of the names of men whom he wished to have +destroyed, and these unhappy victims of his revenge were to be hunted +out by bands of reckless soldiers, in their dwellings, or in the places +of public resort in the city, and dispatched by the sword wherever they +could be found. The scenes which these deeds created in a vast and +populous city can scarcely be conceived of by those who have never +witnessed the horrors produced by the massacres of civil war. Sylla +himself went through with this work in the most cool and unconcerned +manner, as if he were performing the most ordinary duties of an officer +of state. He called the Senate together one day, and, while he was +addressing them, the attention of the Assembly was suddenly distracted +by the noise of outcries and screams in the neighboring streets from +those who were suffering military execution there. The senators started +with horror at the sound. Sylla, with an air of great composure and +unconcern, directed the members to listen to him, and to pay no +attention to what was passing elsewhere. The sounds that they heard +were, he said, only some correction which was bestowed by his orders on +certain disturbers of the public peace.</p> + +<p class="side">Executions.<br> +Extent of Sylla's proscriptions.<br> +Man's nature.</p> + +<p>Sylla's orders for the execution of those who had taken an active part +against him were not confined to Rome. They went to the neighboring +cities and to distant provinces, carrying terror and distress every +where. Still, dreadful as these evils were, it is possible for us, in +the conceptions which we form, to overrate the extent of them. In +reading the history of the Roman empire during the civil wars of Marius +and Sylla, one might easily imagine that the whole population of the +country was organized into the two contending armies, and were employed +wholly in the work of fighting with and massacring each other. But +nothing like this can be true. It is obviously but a small part, after +all, of an extended community that can be ever actively and personally +engaged in these deeds of violence and blood. Man is not naturally a +ferocious wild beast. On the contrary, he loves, ordinarily, to live in +peace and quietness, to till his lands and tend his flocks, and to enjoy +the blessings of peace and repose. It is comparatively but a small +number in any age of the world, and in any nation, whose passions of +ambition, hatred, or revenge become so strong as that they love +bloodshed and war. But these few, when they once get weapons into their +hands, trample recklessly and mercilessly upon the rest. One ferocious +human tiger, with a spear or a bayonet to brandish, will tyrannize as he +pleases over a hundred quiet men, who are armed only with shepherds' +crooks, and whose only desire is to live in peace with their wives and +their children.</p> + +<p class="side">Husbandmen.<br> +How the Roman edifices were built.<br> +Standing armies.</p> + +<p>Thus, while Marius and Sylla, with some hundred thousand armed and +reckless followers, were carrying terror and dismay wherever they went, +there were many millions of herdsmen and husbandmen in the Roman world +who were dwelling in all the peace and quietness they could command, +improving with their peaceful industry every acre where corn would ripen +or grass grow. It was by taxing and plundering the proceeds of this +industry that the generals and soldiers, the consuls and praetors, and +proconsuls and propraetors, filled their treasuries, and fed their +troops, and paid the artisans for fabricating their arms. With these +avails they built the magnificent edifices of Rome, and adorned its +environs with sumptuous villas. As they had the power and the arms in +their hands, the peaceful and the industrious had no alternative but to +submit. They went on as well as they could with their labors, bearing +patiently every interruption, returning again to till their fields after +the desolating march of the army had passed away, and repairing the +injuries of violence, and the losses sustained by plunder, without +useless repining. They looked upon an armed government as a necessary +and inevitable affliction of humanity, and submitted to its destructive +violence as they would submit to an earthquake or a pestilence. The +tillers of the soil manage better in this country at the present day. +They have the power in their own hands, and they watch very narrowly to +prevent the organization of such hordes of armed desperadoes as have +held the peaceful inhabitants of Europe in terror from the earliest +periods down to the present day.</p> + +<p class="side">Julius Caesar.<br> +Sylla's animosity against him.<br> +Caesar refuses to repudiate his wife.<br> +His flight.</p> + +<p>When Sylla returned to Rome, and took possession of the supreme power +there, in looking over the lists of public men, there was one whom he +did not know, at first what to do with. It was the young Julius Caesar, +the subject of this history. Caesar was, by birth, patrician, having +descended from a long line of noble ancestors. There had been, before +his day, a great many Caesars who had held the highest offices of the +state, and many of them had been celebrated in history. He naturally, +therefore, belonged to Sylla's side, as Sylla was the representative of +the patrician interest. But then Caesar had personally been inclined +toward the party of Marius. The elder Marius had married his aunt, and, +besides, Caesar himself had married the daughter of Cinna, who had been +the most efficient and powerful of Marius's coadjutors and friends. +Caesar was at this time a very young man, and he was of an ardent and +reckless character, though he had, thus far, taken no active part in +public affairs. Sylla overlooked him for a time, but at length was about +to put his name on the list of the proscribed. Some of the nobles, who +were friends both of Sylla and of Caesar too, interceded for the young +man; Sylla yielded to their request, or, rather, suspended his +decision, and sent orders to Caesar to repudiate his wife, the daughter +of Cinna. Her name was Cornelia. Caesar absolutely refused to repudiate +his wife. He was influenced in this decision partly by affection for +Cornelia, and partly by a sort of stern and indomitable +insubmissiveness, which formed, from his earliest years, a prominent +trait in his character, and which led him, during all his life, to brave +every possible danger rather than allow himself to be controlled. Caesar +knew very well that, when this his refusal should be reported to Sylla, +the next order would be for his destruction. He accordingly fled. Sylla +deprived him of his titles and offices, confiscated his wife's fortune +and his own patrimonial estate, and put his name upon the list of the +public enemies. Thus Caesar became a fugitive and an exile. The +adventures which befell him in his wanderings will be described in the +following chapter.</p> + +<p class="side">Sylla made dictator.<br> +He resigns his power.</p> + +<p>Sylla was now in the possession of absolute power. He was master of +Rome, and of all the countries over which Rome held sway. Still he was +nominally not a magistrate, but only a general returning victoriously +from his Asiatic campaign, and putting to death, somewhat irregularly, +it is true, by a sort of martial law persons whom he found, as he said, +disturbing the public peace. After having thus effectually disposed of +the power of his enemies, he laid aside, ostensibly, the government of +the sword, and submitted himself and his future measures to the control +of law. He placed himself ostensibly at the disposition of the city. +They chose him dictator, which was investing him with absolute and +unlimited power. He remained on this, the highest pinnacle of worldly +ambition, a short time, and then resigned his power, and devoted the +remainder of his days to literary pursuits and pleasures. Monster as he +was in the cruelties which he inflicted upon his political foes, he was +intellectually of a refined and cultivated mind, and felt an ardent +interest in the promotion of literature and the arts.</p> + +<p class="side">Opinion of mankind in regard to Marius and Sylla.</p> + +<p>The quarrel between Marius and Sylla, in respect to every thing which +can make such a contest great, stands in the estimation of mankind as +the greatest personal quarrel which the history of the world has ever +recorded. Its origin was in the simple personal rivalry of two ambitious +men. It involved, in its consequences, the peace and happiness of the +world. In their reckless struggles, the fierce combatants trampled on +every thing that came in their way, and destroyed mercilessly, each in +his turn, all that opposed them. Mankind have always execrated their +crimes, but have never ceased to admire the frightful and almost +superhuman energy with which they committed them.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II."></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar's resolution.</p> + +<p>Caesar does not seem to have been much disheartened and depressed by his +misfortunes. He possessed in his early life more than the usual share of +buoyancy and light-heartedness of youth, and he went away from Rome to +enter, perhaps, upon years of exile and wandering, with a determination +to face boldly and to brave the evils and dangers which surrounded him, +and not to succumb to them.</p> + +<p class="side">His person and character.</p> + +<p>Sometimes they who become great in their maturer years are thoughtful, +grave, and sedate when young. It was not so, however, with Caesar. He +was of a very gay and lively disposition. He was tall and handsome in +his person, fascinating in his manners, and fond of society, as people +always are who know or who suppose that they shine in it. He had seemed, +in a word, during his residence at Rome, wholly intent upon the +pleasures of a gay and joyous life, and upon the personal observation +which his rank, his wealth, his agreeable manners and his position in +society secured for him. In fact, they who observed and studied his +character in these early years, thought that, although his situation was +very favorable for acquiring power and renown, he would never feel any +strong degree of ambition to avail himself of its advantages. He was too +much interested, they thought, in personal pleasures ever to become +great, either as a military commander or a statesman.</p> + +<p class="side">Sylla's estimation of Caesar.<br> +Caesar's friends intercede for him.</p> + +<p>Sylla, however, thought differently. He had penetration enough to +perceive, beneath all the gayety and love of pleasure which +characterized Caesar's youthful life, the germs of a sterner and more +aspiring spirit, which, he was very sorry to see, was likely to expend +its future energies in hostility to him. By refusing to submit to +Sylla's commands, Caesar had, in effect, thrown himself entirely upon +the other party, and would be, of course, in future identified with +them. Sylla consequently looked upon him now as a confirmed and settled +enemy. Some friends of Caesar among the patrician families interceded in +his behalf with Sylla again, after he had fled from Rome. They wished +Sylla to pardon him, saying that he was a mere boy and could do him no +harm. Sylla shook his head, saying that, young as he was, he saw in him +indications of a future power which he thought was more to be dreaded +than that of many Mariuses.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's studies.<br> +His ambition to be an orator.</p> + +<p>One reason which led Sylla to form this opinion of Caesar was, that the +young nobleman, with all his love of gayety and pleasure, had not +neglected his studies, but had taken great pains to perfect himself in +such intellectual pursuits as ambitious men who looked forward to +political influence and ascendency were accustomed to prosecute in those +days He had studied the Greek language, and read the works of Greek +historians; and he attended lectures on philosophy and rhetoric, and was +obviously interested deeply in acquiring power as a public speaker. To +write and speak well gave a public man great influence in those days. +Many of the measures of the government were determined by the action of +great assemblies of the free citizens, which action was itself, in a +great measure, controlled by the harangues of orators who had such +powers of voice and such qualities of mind as enabled them to gain the +attention and sway the opinions of large bodies of men.</p> + +<p class="side">The Forum.<br> +Its porticoes and statues.<br> +Attractions of the Forum.</p> + +<p>It most not be supposed, however, that this popular power was shared by +all the inhabitants of the city. At one time, when the population of the +city was about three millions the number of free citizens was only three +hundred thousand. The rest were laborers, artisans, and slaves, who had +no voice in public affairs. The free citizens held very frequent public +assemblies. There were various squares and open spaces in the city where +such assemblies were convened, and where courts of justice were held. +The Roman name for such a square was <i>forum</i>. There was one which was +distinguished above all the rest, and was called emphatically The Forum. +It was a magnificent square, surrounded by splendid edifices, and +ornamented by sculptures and statues without number. There were ranges +of porticoes along the sides, where the people were sheltered from the +weather when necessary, though it is seldom that there is any necessity +for shelter under an Italian sky. In this area and under these porticoes +the people held their assemblies, and here courts of justice were +accustomed to sit. The Forum was ornamented continually with new +monuments, temples, statues, and columns by successful generals +returning in triumph from foreign campaigns, and by proconsuls and +praetors coming back enriched from their provinces, until it was +fairly choked up with its architectural magnificence, and it had at last +to be partially cleared again, as one would thin out too dense a forest, +in order to make room for the assemblies which it was its main function +to contain.</p> + +<a name="Illus0278"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0278.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0278.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="A ROMAN FORUM."> +</a><br> +<b>A ROMAN FORUM.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Harangues and political discussions.</p> + +<p>The people of Rome had, of course, no printed books, and yet they were +mentally cultivated and refined, and were qualified for a very high +appreciation of intellectual pursuits and pleasures. In the absence, +therefore, of all facilities for private reading, the Forum became the +great central point of attraction. The same kind of interest which, in +our day, finds its gratification in reading volumes of printed history +quietly at home, or in silently perusing the columns of newspapers and +magazines in libraries and reading-rooms, where a whisper is seldom +heard, in Caesar's day brought every body to the Forum, to listen to +historical harangues, or political discussions, or forensic arguments in +the midst of noisy crowds. Here all tidings centered; here all questions +were discussed and all great elections held. Here were waged those +ceaseless conflicts of ambition and struggles of power on which the fate +of nations, and sometimes the welfare of almost half mankind depended. +Of course, every ambitious man who aspired to an ascendency over his +fellow-men, wished to make his voice heard in the Forum. To calm the +boisterous tumult there, and to hold, as some of the Roman orators could +do, the vast assemblies in silent and breathless attention, was a power +as delightful in its exercise as it was glorious in its fame. Caesar had +felt this ambition, and had devoted himself very earnestly to the study +of oratory.</p> + +<p class="side">Apollonius.<br> +Caesar studies under him.</p> + +<p>His teacher was Apollonius, a philosopher and rhetorician from Rhodes. +Rhodes is a Grecian island, near the southwestern coast of Asia Minor +Apollonius was a teacher of great celebrity, and Caesar became a very +able writer and speaker under his instructions. His time and attention +were, in fact, strangely divided between the highest and noblest +intellectual avocations, and the lowest sensual pleasures of a gay and +dissipated life. The coming of Sylla had, however, interrupted all; and, +after receiving the dictator's command to give up his wife and abandon +the Marian faction, and determining to disobey it, he fled suddenly from +Rome, as was stated at the close of the last chapter, at midnight, and +in disguise.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's wanderings.<br> +He is seized by a centurion.</p> + +<p>He was sick, too, at the time, with an intermittent fever. The paroxysm +returned once in three or four days, leaving him in tolerable health +during the interval. He went first into the country of the Sabines, +northeast of Rome, where he wandered up and down, exposed continually to +great dangers from those who knew that he was an object of the great +dictator's displeasure, and who were sure of favor and of a reward if +they could carry his head to Sylla He had to change his quarters every +day, and to resort to every possible mode of concealment. He was, +however, at last discovered, and seized by a centurion. A centurion was +a commander of a hundred men; his rank and his position therefore, +corresponded somewhat with those of a <i>captain</i> in a modern army. Caesar +was not much disturbed at this accident. He offered the centurion a +bribe sufficient to induce him to give up his prisoner, and so escaped.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Asia Minor.<br> +He joins the court of Nicomedes.</p> + +<p>The two ancient historians, whose records contain nearly all the +particulars of the early life of Caesar which are now known, give +somewhat contradictory accounts of the adventures which befell him +during his subsequent wanderings. They relate, in general, the same +incidents, but in such different connections, that the precise +chronological order of the events which occurred can not now be +ascertained. At all events, Caesar, finding that he was no longer safe +in the vicinity of Rome, moved gradually to the eastward, attended by a +few followers, until he reached the sea, and there he embarked on board +a ship to leave his native land altogether. After various adventures and +wanderings, he found himself at length in Asia Minor, and he made his +way at last to the kingdom of Bithynia, on the northern shore. The name +of the king of Bithynia was Nicomedes. Caesar joined himself to +Nicomedes's court, and entered into his service. In the mean time, Sylla +had ceased to pursue him, and ultimately granted him a pardon, but +whether before or after this time is not now to be ascertained. At all +events, Caesar became interested in the scenes and enjoyments of +Nicomedes's court, and allowed the time to pass away without forming any +plans for returning to Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">Cilicia.<br> +Character of its inhabitants.</p> + +<p>On the opposite side of Asia Minor, that is, on the southern shore, +there was a wild and mountainous region called Cilicia. The great chain +of mountains called Taurus approaches here very near to the sea, and the +steep conformations of the land, which, in the interior, produce lofty +ranges and summits, and dark valleys and ravines, form, along the line +of the shore, capes and promontories, bounded by precipitous sides, and +with deep bays and harbors between them. The people of Cilicia were +accordingly half sailors, half mountaineers. They built swift galleys, +and made excursions in great force over the Mediterranean Sea for +conquest and plunder. They would capture single ships, and sometimes +even whole fleets of merchantmen. They were even strong enough on many +occasions to land and take possession of a harbor and a town, and hold +it, often, for a considerable time, against all the efforts of the +neighboring powers to dislodge them. In case, however, their enemies +became at any time too strong for them, they would retreat to their +harbors, which were so defended by the fortresses which guarded them, +and by the desperate bravery of the garrisons, that the pursuers +generally did not dare to attempt to force their way in; and if, in any +case, a town or a port was taken, the indomitable savages would continue +their retreat to the fastnesses of the mountains, where it was utterly +useless to attempt to follow them.</p> + +<p class="side">The Cilicians wanting in poets and historians.<br> +Robbers and pirates.</p> + +<p>But with all their prowess and skill as naval combatants, and their +hardihood as mountaineers, the Cilicians lacked one thing which is very +essential in every nation to an honorable military fame. They had no +poets or historians of their own, so that the story of their deeds had +to be told to posterity by their enemies. If they had been able to +narrate their own exploits, they would have figured, perhaps, upon the +page of history as a small but brave and efficient maritime power, +pursuing for many years a glorious career of conquest, and acquiring +imperishable renown by their enterprise and success. As it was, the +Romans, their enemies, described their deeds and gave them their +designation. They called them robbers and pirates; and robbers and +pirates they must forever remain.</p> + +<p class="side">Depredations of the Cilicians.</p> + +<p>And it is, in fact, very likely true that the Cilician commanders did +not pursue their conquests and commit their depredations on the rights +and the property of others in quite so systematic and methodical a +manner as some other conquering states have done. They probably seized +private property a little more unceremoniously than is customary; though +all belligerent nations, even in these Christian ages of the world, feel +at liberty to seize and confiscate private property when they find it +afloat at sea, while, by a strange inconsistency, they respect it on +the land. The Cilician pirates considered themselves at war with all +mankind, and, whatever merchandise they found passing from port to port +along the shores of the Mediterranean, they considered lawful spoil. +They intercepted the corn which was going from Sicily to Rome, and +filled their own granaries with it. They got rich merchandise from the +ships of Alexandria, which brought, sometimes, gold, and gems, and +costly fabrics from the East; and they obtained, often, large sums of +money by seizing men of distinction and wealth, who were continually +passing to and fro between Italy and Greece, and holding them for a +ransom. They were particularly pleased to get possession in this way of +Roman generals and officers of state, who were going out to take the +command of armies, or who were returning from their provinces with the +wealth which they had accumulated there.</p> + +<p class="side">Expeditions sent against them.<br> +Boldness and courage of the Cilicians.</p> + +<p>Many expeditions were fitted out and many naval commanders were +commissioned to sup press and subdue these common enemies of mankind, as +the Romans called them. At one time, while a distinguished general, +named Antonius, was in pursuit of them at the head of a fleet, a party +of the pirates made a descent upon the Italian coast, south of Rome, at +Nicenum, where the ancient patrimonial mansion of this very Antonius was +situated, and took away several members of his family as captives, and +so compelled him to ransom them by paying a very large sum of money. The +pirates grew bolder and bolder in proportion to their success. They +finally almost stopped all intercourse between Italy and Greece, neither +the merchants daring to expose their merchandise, nor the passengers +their persons to such dangers. They then approached nearer and nearer to +Rome, and at last actually entered the Tiber, and surprised and carried +off a Roman fleet which was anchored there. Caesar himself fell into the +hands of these pirates at some time during the period of his wanderings.</p> + +<p class="side">They capture Caesar.</p> + +<p>The pirates captured the ship in which he was sailing near Pharmacusa, a +small island in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. He was not at +this time in the destitute condition in which he had found himself on +leaving Rome, but was traveling with attendants suitable to his rank, +and in such a style and manner as at once made it evident to the pirates +that he was a man of distinction. They accordingly held him for ransom, +and, in the mean time, until he could take measures for raising the +money, they kept him a prisoner on board the vessel which had +captured him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's air of superiority.<br> +His ransom.</p> + +<p>In this situation, Caesar, though entirely in the power and at the mercy +of his lawless captors, assumed such an air of superiority and command +in all his intercourse with them as at first awakened their +astonishment, then excited their admiration, and ended in almost +subjecting them to his will. He asked them what they demanded for his +ransom. They said twenty talents, which was quite a large amount, a +talent itself being a considerable sum of money. Caesar laughed at this +demand, and told them it was plain that they did not know who he was, He +would give them <i>fifty</i> talents. He then sent away his attendants to the +shore, with orders to proceed to certain cities where he was known, in +order to procure the money, retaining only a physician and two servants +for himself. While his messengers were gone, he remained on board +the ship of his captors, assuming in every respect the air and manner of +their master. When he wished to sleep, if they made a noise which +disturbed him, he sent them orders to be still. He joined them in their +sports and diversions on the deck, surpassing them in their feats, and +taking the direction of every thing as if he were their acknowledged +leader. He wrote orations and verses which he read to them, and if his +wild auditors did not appear to appreciate the literary excellence of +his compositions, he told them that they were stupid fools without any +taste, adding, by way of apology, that nothing better could be expected +of such barbarians.</p> + +<p>The pirates asked him one day what he should do to them if he should +ever, at any future time, take them prisoners. Caesar said that he would +crucify every one of them.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar at liberty.<br> +He captures the pirates in his turn.</p> + +<p>The ransom money at length arrived. Caesar paid it to the pirates, and +they, faithful to their covenant, sent him in a boat to the land. He was +put ashore on the coast of Asia Minor. He proceeded immediately to +Miletus, the nearest port, equipped a small fleet there, and put +to sea. He sailed at once to the roadstead where the pirates had been +lying, and found them still at anchor there, in perfect security.<a name="FNanchor1"></a><a href="#Footnote_1">[1]</a> He +attacked them, seized their ships, recovered his ransom money, and took +the men all prisoners. He conveyed his captives to the land, and there +fulfilled his threat that he would crucify them by cutting their +throats and nailing their dead bodies to crosses which his men erected +for the purpose along the shore.</p> + +<blockquote><a name="Footnote_1"></a><a href="#FNanchor1">[1]</a> See <a href="#Frontspiece">Frontispiece</a>. +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">Caesar at Rhodes.</p> + +<p>During his absence from Rome Caesar went to Rhodes, where his former +preceptor resided, and he continued to pursue there for some time his +former studies. He looked forward still to appearing one day in the +Roman Forum. In fact, he began to receive messages from his friends at +home that they thought it would be safe for him to return. Sylla had +gradually withdrawn from power, and finally had died. The aristocratical +party were indeed still in the ascendency, but the party of Marius had +begun to recover a little from the total overthrow with which Sylla's +return, and his terrible military vengeance, had overwhelmed them. +Caesar himself, therefore, they thought, might, with prudent management, +be safe in returning to Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">He returns to Rome.<br> +Caesar impeaches Dolabella.<br> +Excitement in consequence.</p> + +<p>He returned, but not to be prudent or cautious; there was no element of +prudence or caution in his character. As soon as he arrived, he openly +espoused the popular party. His first public act was to arraign the +governor of the great province of Macedonia, through which he had passed +on his way to Bithynia. It was a consul whom he thus impeached, and a +strong partisan of Sylla's. His name was Dolabella. The people were +astonished at his daring in thus raising the standard of resistance to +Sylla's power, indirectly, it is true, but none the less really on that +account. When the trial came on, and Caesar appeared at the Forum, he +gained great applause by the vigor and force of his oratory. There was, +of course, a very strong and general interest felt in the case; the +people all seeming to understand that, in this attack on Dolabella, +Caesar was appearing as their champion, and their hopes were revived at +having at last found a leader capable of succeeding Marius, and building +up their cause again. Dolabella was ably defended by orators on the +other side, and was, of course, acquitted, for the power of Sylla's +party was still supreme. All Rome, however, was aroused and excited by +the boldness of Caesar's attack, and by the extraordinary ability which +he evinced in his mode of conducting it. He became, in fact, at once one +of the most conspicuous and prominent men in the city.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's increasing power.</p> + +<p>Encouraged by his success, and the applauses which he received, and +feeling every day a greater and greater consciousness of power, he +began to assume more and more openly the character of the leader of the +popular party. He devoted himself to public speaking in the Forum, both +before popular assemblies and in the courts of justice, where he was +employed a great deal as an advocate to defend those who were accused of +political crimes. The people, considering him as their rising champion, +were predisposed to regard every thing that he did with favor, and there +was really a great intellectual power displayed in his orations and +harangues. He acquired, in a word, great celebrity by his boldness and +energy, and his boldness and energy were themselves increased in their +turn as he felt the strength of his position increase with his growing +celebrity.</p> + +<p class="side">Death of Marius's wife.<br> +Caesar's panegyric on Marius's wife.<br> +Its success.</p> + +<p>At length the wife of Marius, who was Caesar's aunt, died. She had lived +in obscurity since her husband's proscription and death, his party +having been put down so effectually that it was dangerous to appear to +be her friend. Caesar, however, made preparations for a magnificent +funeral for her. There was a place in the Forum, a sort of pulpit, where +public orators were accustomed to stand in addressing the assembly on +great occasions. This pulpit was adorned with the brazen beaks of ships +which had been taken by the Romans in former wars The name of such a +beak was <i>rostrum</i>; in the plural, <i>rostra</i>. The pulpit was itself, +therefore, called the <i>Rostra</i>, that is, The Beaks; and the people were +addressed from it on great public occasions.<a name="FNanchor2"></a><a href="#Footnote_2">[2]</a> Caesar pronounced a +splendid panegyric upon the wife of Marius, at this her funeral, from +the Rostra, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, and he +had the boldness to bring out and display to the people certain +household images of Marius, which had been concealed from view ever +since his death. Producing them again on such an occasion was annulling, +so far as a public orator could do it, the sentence of condemnation +which Sylla and the patrician party had pronounced against him, and +bringing him forward again as entitled to public admiration and +applause. The patrician partisans who were present attempted to rebuke +this bold maneuver with expressions of disapprobation, but these +expressions were drowned in the loud and long-continued bursts of +applause with which the great mass of the assembled multitude hailed and +sanctioned it. The experiment was very bold and very hazardous, but it +was triumphantly successful.</p> + +<blockquote> +<a name="Footnote_2"></a><a href="#FNanchor2">[2]</a> In modern books this pulpit is sometimes called the +Rostrum, using the word in the singular. +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">Caesar's oration on his wife.<br> +Alarm of the patricians.</p> + +<p>A short time after this Caesar had another opportunity for delivering a +funeral oration; it was in the case of his own wife, the daughter of +Cinna, who had been the colleague and coadjutor of Marius during the +days of his power. It was not usual to pronounce such panegyrics upon +Roman ladies unless they had attained to an advanced age. Caesar, +however, was disposed to make the case of his own wife an exception to +the ordinary rule. He saw in the occasion an opportunity to give a new +impulse to the popular cause, and to make further progress in gaining +the popular favor. The experiment was successful in this instance too. +The people were pleased at the apparent affection which his action +evinced; and as Cornelia was the daughter of Cinna, he had opportunity, +under pretext of praising the birth and parentage of the deceased, to +laud the men whom Sylla's party had outlawed and destroyed. In a word, +the patrician party saw with anxiety and dread that Caesar was rapidly +consolidating and organizing, and bringing back to its pristine strength +and vigor, a party whose restoration to power would of course involve +their own political, and perhaps personal ruin.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in office.<br> +Shows and entertainments.</p> + +<p>Caesar began soon to receive appointments to public office, and thus +rapidly increased his influence and power. Public officers and +candidates for office were accustomed in those days to expend great sums +of money in shows and spectacles to amuse the people. Caesar went beyond +all limits in these expenditures. He brought gladiators from distant +provinces, and trained them at great expense, to fight in the enormous +amphitheaters of the city, in the midst of vast assemblies of men. Wild +beasts were procured also from the forests of Africa, and brought over +in great numbers, under his direction, that the people might be +entertained by their combats with captives taken in war, who were +reserved for this dreadful fate. Caesar gave, also, splendid +entertainments, of the most luxurious and costly character, and he +mingled with his guests at these entertainments, and with the people at +large on other occasions, in so complaisant and courteous a manner as to +gain universal favor.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's extravagances.<br> +His embarrassments.</p> + +<p>He soon, by these means, not only exhausted all his own pecuniary +resources, but plunged himself enormously into debt. It was not +difficult for such a man in those days to procure an almost unlimited +credit for such purposes as these, for every one knew that, if he +finally succeeded in placing himself, by means of the popularity thus +acquired, in stations of power, he could soon indemnify himself and all +others who had aided him. The peaceful merchants, and artisans, and +husbandmen of the distant provinces over which he expected to rule, +would yield the revenues necessary to fill the treasuries thus +exhausted. Still, Caesar's expenditures were so lavish, and the debts he +incurred were so enormous, that those who had not the most unbounded +confidence in his capacity and his powers believed him irretrievably +ruined.</p> + +<p>The particulars, however, of these difficulties, and the manner in which +Caesar contrived to extricate himself from them, will be more fully +detailed in the next chapter.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III."></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar's rise to power.</p> + +<p>From this time, which was about sixty-seven years before the birth of +Christ, Caesar remained for nine years generally at Rome, engaged there +in a constant struggle for power. He was successful in these efforts, +rising all the time from one position of influence and honor to another, +until he became altogether the most prominent and powerful man in the +city. A great many incidents are recorded, as attending these contests, +which illustrate in a very striking manner the strange mixture of rude +violence and legal formality by which Rome was in those days governed.</p> + +<p class="side">Government of Rome.<br> +Bribery and corruption.<br> +Public amusements.</p> + +<p>Many of the most important offices of the state depended upon the votes +of the people; and as the people had very little opportunity to become +acquainted with the real merits of the case in respect to questions of +government, they gave their votes very much according to the personal +popularity of the candidate. Public men had very little moral principle +in those days, and they would accordingly resort to any means whatever +to procure this personal popularity. They who wanted office were +accustomed to bribe influential men among the people to support them, +sometimes by promising them subordinate offices, and sometimes by the +direct donation of sums of money; and they would try to please the mass +of the people, who were too numerous to be paid with offices or with +gold, by shows and spectacles, and entertainments of every kind which +they would provide for their amusement.</p> + +<p>This practice seems to us very absurd; and we wonder that the Roman +people should tolerate it, since it is evident that the means for +defraying these expenses must come, ultimately, in some way or other, +from them. And yet, absurd as it seems, this sort of policy is not +wholly disused even in our day. The operas and the theaters, and other +similar establishments in France, are sustained, in part, by the +government; and the liberality and efficiency with which this is done, +forms, in some degree, the basis of the popularity of each succeeding +administration. The plan is better systematized and regulated in our +day, but it is, in its nature, substantially the same.</p> + +<p class="side">Amusements for the people.</p> + +<p>In fact, furnishing amusements for the people, and also providing +supplies for their wants, as well as affording them protection, were +considered the legitimate objects of government in those days. It is +very different at the present time, and especially in this country. The +whole community are now united in the desire to confine the functions of +government within the narrowest possible limits, such as to include only +the preservation of public order and public safety. The people prefer to +supply their own wants and to provide their own enjoyments, rather than +to invest government with the power to do it for them, knowing very well +that, on the latter plan, the burdens they will have to bear, though +concealed for a time, must be doubled in the end.</p> + +<p class="side">Provided by the government.<br> +How the people were supported.<br> +Agrarian laws.</p> + +<p>It must not be forgotten, however, that there were some reasons in the +days of the Romans for providing public amusements for the people on an +extended scale which do not exist now. They had very few facilities then +for the private and separate enjoyments of home, so that they were much +more inclined than the people of this country are now to seek pleasure +abroad and in public. The climate, too, mild and genial nearly all the +year, favored this. Then they were not interested, as men are now, in +the pursuits and avocations of private industry. The people of Rome were +not a community of merchants, manufacturers, and citizens, enriching +themselves, and adding to the comforts and enjoyments of the rest of +mankind by the products of their labor. They were supported, in a great +measure, by the proceeds of the tribute of foreign provinces, and by the +plunder taken by the generals in the name of the state in foreign wars. +From the same source, too--foreign conquest--captives were brought home, +to be trained as gladiators to amuse them with their combats, and +statues and paintings to ornament the public buildings of the city. In +the same manner, large quantities of corn, which had been taken in the +provinces, were often distributed at Rome. And sometimes even land +itself, in large tracts, which had been confiscated by the state, or +otherwise taken from the original possessors, was divided among the +people. The laws enacted from time to time for this purpose were called +Agrarian laws; and the phrase afterward passed into a sort of proverb, +inasmuch as plans proposed in modern times for conciliating the favor of +the populace by sharing among them property belonging to the state or to +the rich, are designated by the name of <i>Agrarianism</i>.</p> + +<p class="side">Government of Rome.<br> +Its foreign policy.</p> + +<p>Thus Rome was a city supported, in a great measure, by the fruits of its +conquests, that is, in a certain sense, by plunder. It was a vast +community most efficiently and admirably organized for this purpose; and +yet it would not be perfectly just to designate the people simply as a +band of robbers. They rendered, in some sense, an equivalent for what +they took, in establishing and enforcing a certain organization of +society throughout the world, and in preserving a sort of public order +and peace. They built cities, they constructed aqueducts and roads; they +formed harbors, and protected them by piers and by castles; they +protected commerce, and cultivated the arts, and encouraged literature, +and enforced a general quiet and peace among mankind, allowing of no +violence or war except what they themselves created. Thus they +<i>governed</i> the world, and they felt, as all governors of mankind always +do, fully entitled to supply themselves with the comforts and +conveniences of life, in consideration of the service which they +thus rendered.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's policy.</p> + +<p>Of course, it was to be expected that they would sometimes quarrel among +themselves about the spoils. Ambitious men were always arising, eager to +obtain opportunities to make fresh conquests, and to bring home new +supplies, and those who were most successful in making the results of +their conquests available in adding to the wealth and to the public +enjoyments of the city, would, of course, be most popular with the +voters. Hence extortion in the provinces, and the most profuse and +lavish expenditure in the city, became the policy which every great man +must pursue to rise to power.</p> + +<p class="side">His success.</p> + +<p>Caesar entered into this policy with his whole soul, founding all his +hopes of success upon the favor of the populace. Of course, he had many +rivals and opponents among the patrician ranks, and in the Senate, and +they often impeded and thwarted his plans and measures for a time, +though he always triumphed in the end.</p> + +<p class="side">He is made quaestor.<br> +Caesar leaves Spain.<br> +His project.</p> + +<p>One of the first offices of importance to which he attained was that of +<i>quaestor</i>, as it was called, which office called him away from Rome +into the province of Spain, making him the second in command there. The +officer first in command in the province was, in this instance, a +praetor. During his absence in Spain, Caesar replenished in some degree +his exhausted finances, but he soon became very much discontented with +so subordinate a position. His discontent was greatly increased by his +coming unexpectedly, one day, at a city then called Hades--the present +Cadiz--upon a statue of Alexander, which adorned one of the public +edifices there. Alexander died when he was only about thirty years of +age, having before that period made himself master of the world. Caesar +was himself now about thirty-five years of age, and it made him very sad +to reflect that, though he had lived five years longer than Alexander, +he had yet accomplished so little. He was thus far only the second in a +province, while he burned with an insatiable ambition to be the first in +Rome. The reflection made him so uneasy that he left his post before his +time expired, and went back to Rome, forming, on the way, desperate +projects for getting power there.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar accused of treason.</p> + +<p>His rivals and enemies accused him of various schemes, more or less +violent and treasonable in their nature, but how justly it is not now +possible to ascertain. They alleged that one of his plans was to join +some of the neighboring colonies, whose inhabitants wished to be +admitted to the freedom of the city, and, making common cause with them, +to raise an armed force and take possession of Rome. It was said that, +to prevent the accomplishment of this design, an army which they had +raised for the purpose of an expedition against the Cilician pirates was +detained from its march, and that Caesar, seeing that the government +were on their guard against him, abandoned the plan.</p> + +<p>They also charged him with having formed, after this, a plan within the +city for assassinating the senators in the senate house, and then +usurping, with his fellow-conspirators, the supreme power. Crassus, who +was a man of vast wealth and a great friend of Caesar's, was associated +with him in this plot, and was to have been made dictator if it had +succeeded. But, notwithstanding the brilliant prize with which Caesar +attempted to allure Crassus to the enterprise, his courage failed him +when the time for action arrived. Courage and enterprise, in fact, ought +not to be expected of the rich; they are the virtues of poverty.</p> + +<p class="side">He is made aedile.<br> +Gladiatorial shows.<br> +Caesar's increasing popularity.</p> + +<p>Though the Senate were thus jealous and suspicious of Caesar, and were +charging him continually with these criminal designs, the people were on +his side; and the more he was hated by the great, the more strongly he +became intrenched in the popular favor. They chose him <i>aedile</i>. The +aedile had the charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the +games spectacles, and shows which were exhibited in them. Caesar +entered with great zeal into the discharge of the duties of this office. +He made arrangements for the entertainment of the people on the most +magnificent scale, and made great additions and improvements to the +public buildings, constructing porticoes and piazzas around the areas +where his gladiatorial shows and the combats with wild beasts were to be +exhibited. He provided gladiators in such numbers, and organized and +arranged them in such a manner, ostensibly for their training, that his +enemies among the nobility pretended to believe that he was intending to +use them as an armed force against the government of the city. They +accordingly made laws limiting and restricting the number of the +gladiators to be employed. Caesar then exhibited his shows on the +reduced scale which the new laws required, taking care that the people +should understand to whom the responsibility for this reduction in the +scale of their pleasures belonged. They, of course, murmured against the +Senate, and Caesar stood higher in their favor than ever.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar thwarted.<br> +His resentment.<br> +The statutes of Marius restored.<br> +Rage of the patricians.</p> + +<p>He was getting, however, by these means, very deeply involved in debt; +and, in order partly to retrieve his fortunes in this respect, he made +an attempt to have Egypt assigned to him as a province. Egypt was then +an immensely rich and fertile country. It had, however, never been a +Roman province. It was an independent kingdom, in alliance with the +Romans, and Caesar's proposal that it should be assigned to him as a +province appeared very extraordinary. His pretext was, that the people +of Egypt had recently deposed and expelled their king, and that, +consequently, the Romans might properly take possession of it. The +Senate, however, resisted this plan, either from jealousy of Caesar or +from a sense of justice to Egypt; and, after a violent contest, Caesar +found himself compelled to give up the design. He felt, however, a +strong degree of resentment against the patrician party who had thus +thwarted his designs. Accordingly, in order to avenge himself upon them, +he one night replaced certain statues and trophies of Marius in the +Capitol, which had been taken down by order of Sylla when he returned to +power. Marius, as will be recollected, had been the great champion of +the popular party, and the enemy of the patricians; and, at the time of +his down-fall, all the memorials of his power and greatness had been +every where removed from Rome, and among them these statues and +trophies, which had been erected in the Capitol in commemoration of some +former victories, and had remained there until Sylla's triumph, when +they were taken down and destroyed. Caesar now ordered new ones to be +made, far more magnificent than before. They were made secretly, and put +up in the night. His office as aedile gave him the necessary authority. +The next morning, when the people saw these splendid monuments of their +great favorite restored, the whole city was animated with excitement and +joy. The patricians, on the other hand, were filled with vexation and +rage. "Here is a single officer," said they, "who is attempting to +restore, by his individual authority, what has been formally abolished +by a decree of the Senate. He is trying to see how much we will bear. If +he finds that we will submit to this, he will attempt bolder measures +still." They accordingly commenced a movement to have the statues and +trophies taken down again, but the people rallied in vast numbers in +defense of them. They made the Capitol ring with their shouts of +applause; and the Senate, finding their power insufficient to cope with +so great a force, gave up the point, and Caesar gained the day.</p> + +<p class="side">The Good Goddess.</p> + +<p>Caesar had married another wife after the death of Cornelia. Her name +was Pompeia, He divorced Pompeia about this time, under very +extraordinary circumstances. Among the other strange religious +ceremonies and celebrations which were observed in those days, was one +called the celebration of the mysteries of the Good Goddess. This +celebration was held by females alone, every thing masculine being most +carefully excluded. Even the pictures of men, if there were any upon the +walls of the house where the assembly was held, were covered. The +persons engaged spent the night together in music and dancing and +various secret ceremonies, half pleasure, half worship, according to the +ideas and customs of the time.</p> + +<p class="side">Clodius.<br> +Caesar divorces his wife.</p> + +<p>The mysteries of the Good Goddess were to be celebrated one night at +Caesar's house, he himself having, of course, withdrawn. In the +middle of the night, the whole company in one of the apartments were +thrown into consternation at finding that one of their number was a man. +He had a smooth and youthful-looking face, and was very perfectly +disguised in the dress of a female. He proved to be a certain Clodius, a +very base and dissolute young man, though of great wealth and high +connections. He had been admitted by a female slave of Pompeia's, whom +he had succeeded in bribing. It was suspected that it was with Pompeia's +concurrence. At any rate, Caesar immediately divorced his wife. The +Senate ordered an inquiry into the affair, and, after the other members +of the household had given their testimony, Caesar himself was called +upon, but he had nothing to say. He knew nothing about it. They asked +him, then, why he had divorced Pompeia, unless he had some evidence for +believing her guilty, He replied, that a wife of Caesar must not only be +without crime, but without suspicion.</p> + +<p class="side">Quarrel of Clodius and Milo.<br> +Violence of the time.</p> + +<p>Clodius was a very desperate and lawless character, and his subsequent +history shows, in a striking point of view, the degree of violence and +disorder which reigned in those times. He became involved in a bitter +contention with another citizen whose name was Milo, and each, gaining +as many adherents as he could, at length drew almost the whole city into +their quarrel. Whenever they went out, they were attended with armed +bands, which were continually in danger of coming into collision. The +collision at last came, quite a battle was fought, and Clodius was +killed. This made the difficulty worse than it was before. Parties were +formed, and violent disputes arose on the question of bringing Milo to +trial for the alleged murder. He was brought to trial at last, but so +great was the public excitement, that the consuls for the time +surrounded and filled the whole Forum with armed men while the trial was +proceeding, to ensure the safety of the court.</p> + +<p class="side">Conspiracy of Catiline.<br> +Warm debate in the Senate.<br> +Caesar in danger of violence.</p> + +<p>In fact, violence mingled itself continually, in those times, with +almost all public proceedings, whenever any special combination of +circumstances occurred to awaken unusual excitement. At one time, when +Caesar was in office, a very dangerous conspiracy was brought to light, +which was headed by the notorious Catiline. It was directed chiefly +against the Senate and the higher departments of the government; it +contemplated, in fact, their utter destruction, and the establishment of +an entirely new government on the ruins of the existing constitution. +Caesar was himself accused of a participation in this plot. When it was +discovered, Catiline himself fled; some of the other conspirators were, +however, arrested, and there was a long and very excited debate in the +Senate on the question of their punishment. Some were for death. Caesar, +however, very earnestly opposed this plan, recommending, instead, the +confiscation of the estates of the conspirators, and their imprisonment +in some of the distant cities of Italy. The dispute grew very warm, +Caesar urging his point with great perseverance and determination, and +with a degree of violence which threatened seriously to obstruct the +proceedings, when a body of armed men, a sort of guard of honor +stationed there, gathered around him, and threatened him with their +swords. Quite a scene of disorder and terror ensued. Some of the +senators arose hastily and fled from the vicinity of Caesar's seat to +avoid the danger. Others, more courageous, or more devoted in their +attachment to him, gathered around him to protect him, as far as they +could, by interposing their bodies between his person and the weapons of +his assailants. Caesar soon left the Senate, and for a long time would +return to it no more.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's struggle for the office of pontifex maximus.</p> + +<p>Although Caesar was all this time, on the whole, rising in influence and +power, there were still fluctuations in his fortune, and the tide +sometimes, for a short period, went strongly against him. He was at one +time, when greatly involved in debt, and embarrassed in all his affairs, +a candidate for a very high office, that of Pontifex Maximus, or +sovereign pontiff. The office of the pontifex was originally that of +building and keeping custody of the bridges of the city, the name being +derived from the Latin word <i>pons</i>, which signifies bridge. To this, +however, had afterward been added the care of the temples, and finally +the regulation and control of the ceremonies of religion, so that it +came in the end to be an office of the highest dignity and honor. Caesar +made the most desperate efforts to secure his election, resorting to +such measures, expending such sums, and involving himself in debt to +such an extreme, that, if he failed, he would be irretrievably ruined. +His mother, sympathizing with him in his anxiety, kissed him when he +went away from the house on the morning of the election, and bade hem +farewell with tears. He told her that he should come home that night the +pontiff, or he should never come home at all. He succeeded in gaining +the election.</p> + +<p class="side">He is deposed.<br> +Caesar's forbearance.<br> +He is restored to office.</p> + +<p>At one time Caesar was actually deposed from a high office which he +held, by a decree of the Senate. He determined to disregard this decree, +and go on in the discharge of his office as usual. But the Senate, whose +ascendency was now, for some reason, once more established, prepared to +prevent him by force of arms. Caesar, finding that he was not +sustained, gave up the contest, put off his robes of office, and went +home. Two days afterward a reaction occurred. A mass of the populace +came together to his house, and offered their assistance to restore his +rights and vindicate his honor. Caesar, however, contrary to what every +one would have expected of him, exerted his influence to calm and quiet +the mob, and then sent them away, remaining himself in private as +before. The Senate had been alarmed at the first outbreak of the tumult, +and a meeting had been suddenly convened to consider what measures to +adopt in such a crisis. When, however, they found that Caesar had +himself interposed, and by his own personal influence had saved the city +from the danger which threatened it, they were so strongly impressed +with a sense of his forbearance and generosity, that they sent for him +to come to the senate house, and, after formally expressing their +thanks, they canceled their former vote, and restored him to his office +again. This change in the action of the Senate does not, however, +necessarily indicate so great a change of individual sentiment as one +might at first imagine. There was, undoubtedly, a large minority who +were averse to his being deposed in the first instance but, being +outvoted, the decree of deposition was passed. Others were, perhaps, +more or less doubtful. Caesar's generous forbearance in refusing the +offered aid of the populace carried over a number of these sufficient to +shift the majority, and thus the action of the body was reversed. It is +in this way that the sudden and apparently total changes in the action +of deliberative assemblies which often take place, and which would +otherwise, in some cases, be almost incredible, are to be explained.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar implicated in Catiline's conspiracy.<br> +He arrests Vettius.</p> + +<p>After this, Caesar became involved in another difficulty, in consequence +of the appearance of some definite and positive evidence that he was +connected with Catiline in his famous conspiracy. One of the senators +said that Catiline himself had informed him that Caesar was one of the +accomplices of the plot. Another witness, named Vettius, laid an +information against Caesar before a Roman magistrate, and offered to +produce Caesar's handwriting in proof of his participation in the +conspirator's designs Caesar was very much incensed, and his manner of +vindicating himself from these serious charges was as singular as many +of his other deeds. He arrested Vettius, and sentenced him to pay a +heavy fine, and to be imprisoned; and he contrived also to expose him, +in the course of the proceedings, to the mob in the Forum, who were +always ready to espouse Caesar's cause, and who, on this occasion, beat +Vettius so unmercifully, that he barely escaped with his life. The +magistrate, too, was thrown into prison for having dared to take an +information against a superior officer.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's embarrassment.<br> +Spain is assigned to him.</p> + +<p>At last Caesar became so much involved in debt, through the boundless +extravagance of his expenditures, that something must be done to +replenish his exhausted finances. He had, however, by this time, risen +so high in official influence and power, that he succeeded in having +Spain assigned to him as his province, and he began to make preparations +to proceed to it. His creditors, however, interposed, unwilling to let +him go without giving them security. In this dilemma, Caesar succeeded +in making an arrangement with Crassus, who has already been spoken of as +a man of unbounded wealth and great ambition, but not possessed of any +considerable degree of intellectual power. Crassus consented to give the +necessary security, with an understanding that Caesar was to repay him +by exerting his political influence in his favor. So soon as this +arrangement was made, Caesar set off in a sudden and private manner, as +if he expected that otherwise some new difficulty would intervene.</p> + +<p class="side">The Swiss hamlet.</p> + +<p>He went to Spain by land, passing through Switzerland on the way. He +stopped with his attendants one night at a very insignificant village of +shepherds' huts among the mountains. Struck with the poverty and +worthlessness of all they saw in this wretched hamlet, Caesar's friends +were wondering whether the jealousy, rivalry, and ambition which reigned +among men every where else in the world could find any footing there, +when Caesar told them that, for his part, he should rather choose to be +first in such a village as that than the second at Rome. The story has +been repeated a thousand times, and told to every successive generation +now for nearly twenty centuries, as an illustration of the peculiar type +and character of the ambition which controls such a soul as that +of Caesar.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's ambition.</p> + +<p>Caesar was very successful in the administration of his province; that +is to say, he returned in a short time with considerable military glory, +and with money enough to pay all his debts, and famish him with means +for fresh electioneering.</p> + +<p class="side">Manner of choosing the consuls.<br> +Pompey and Crassus.</p> + +<p>He now felt strong enough to aspire to the office of consul, which was +the highest office of the Roman state. When the line of kings had been +deposed, the Romans had vested the supreme magistracy in the hands of +two consuls, who were chosen annually in a general election, the +formalities of which were all very carefully arranged. The current of +popular opinion was, of course, in Caesar's favor, but he had many +powerful rivals and enemies among the great, who, however, hated and +opposed each other as well as him. There was at that time a very bitter +feud between Pompey and Crassus, each of them struggling for power +against the efforts of the other. Pompey possessed great influence +through his splendid abilities and his military renown. Crassus, as has +already been stated, was powerful through his wealth. Caesar, who had +some influence with them both, now conceived the bold design of +reconciling them, and then of availing himself of their united aid in +accomplishing his own particular ends.</p> + +<p class="side">The first triumvirate.</p> + +<p>He succeeded perfectly well in this management. He represented to them +that, by contending against each other, they only exhausted their own +powers, and strengthened the arms of their common enemies. He proposed +to them to unite with one another and with him, and thus make common +cause to promote their common interest and advancement. They willingly +acceded to this plan, and a triple league was accordingly formed, in +which they each bound themselves to promote, by every means in his +power, the political elevation of the others, and not to take any public +step or adopt any measures without the concurrence of the three. Caesar +faithfully observed the obligations of this league so long as he could +use his two associates to promote his own ends, and then he +abandoned it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar a candidate for the consulship.</p> + +<p>Having, however, completed this arrangement, he was now prepared to push +vigorously his claims to be elected consul. He associated with his own +name that of Lucceius, who was a man of great wealth, and who agreed to +defray the expenses of the election for the sake of the honor of being +consul with Caesar. Caesar's enemies, however, knowing that they +probably could not prevent his election, determined to concentrate their +strength in the effort to prevent his having the colleague he desired. +They made choice, therefore, of a certain Bibulus as their candidate. +Bibulus had always been a political opponent of Caesar's, and they +thought that, by associating him with Caesar in the supreme magistracy, +the pride and ambition of their great adversary might be held somewhat +in check. They accordingly made a contribution among themselves to +enable Bibulus to expend as much money in bribery as Lucceius, and the +canvass went on.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar assumes the whole power.<br> +He imprisons Cato.</p> + +<p>It resulted in the election of Caesar and Bibulus. They entered upon the +duties of their office; but Caesar, almost entirely disregarding his +colleague, began to assume the whole power, and proposed and carried +measure after measure of the most extraordinary character, all aiming at +the gratification of the populace. He was at first opposed violently +both by Bibulus and by many leading members of the Senate, especially by +Cato, a stern and inflexible patriot, whom neither fear of danger nor +hope of reward could move from what he regarded his duty. But Caesar was +now getting strong enough to put down the opposition which he +encountered with out much scruple as to the means. He ordered Cato on +one occasion to be arrested in the Senate and sent to prison. Another +influential member of the Senate rose and was going out with him. Caesar +asked him where he was going. He said he was going with Cato. He would +rather, he said, be with Cato in prison, than in the Senate with Caesar.</p> + +<p class="side">Bibulus retires to his house.<br> +The year of "Julius and Caesar."</p> + +<p>Caesar treated Bibulus also with so much neglect, and assumed so +entirely the whole control of the consular power, to the utter exclusion +of his colleague, that Bibulus at last, completely discouraged and +chagrined, abandoned all pretension to official authority, retired to +his house, and shut himself up in perfect seclusion, leaving Caesar to +his own way. It was customary among the Romans, in their historical and +narrative writings, to designate the successive years, not by a +numerical date as with us, but by the names of the consuls who held +office in them. Thus, in the time of Caesar's consulship, the phrase +would have been, "In the year of Caesar and Bibulus, consuls," according +to the ordinary usage; but the wags of the city, in order to make sport +of the assumptions of Caesar and the insignificance of Bibulus, used to +say, "In the year of Julius and Caesar, consuls," rejecting the name of +Bibulus altogether, and taking the two names of Caesar to make out the +necessary duality.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV."></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>THE CONQUEST OF GAUL.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar aspires to be a soldier.<br> +His success and celebrity.</p> + +<p>In attaining to the consulship, Caesar had reached the highest point of +elevation which it was possible to reach as a mere citizen of Rome. His +ambition was, however, of course, not satisfied. The only way to acquire +higher distinction and to rise to higher power was to enter upon a +career of foreign conquest. Caesar therefore aspired now to be a +soldier. He accordingly obtained the command of an army, and entered +upon a course of military campaigns in the heart of Europe, which he +continued for eight years. These eight years constitute one of the most +important and strongly-marked periods of his life. He was triumphantly +successful in his military career, and he made, accordingly, a vast +accession to his celebrity and power, in his own day, by the results of +his campaigns. He also wrote, himself, an account of his adventures +during this period, in which the events are recorded in so lucid and in +so eloquent a manner, that the narrations have continued to be read by +every successive generation of scholars down to the present day, and +they have had a great influence in extending and perpetuating his fame.</p> + +<p class="side">Scenes of Caesar's exploits.<br> +Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.</p> + +<p>The principal scenes of the exploits which Caesar performed during the +period of this his first great military career, were the north of Italy, +Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, a great tract of country, +nearly all of which he overran and conquered. A large portion of this +territory was called Gaul in those days; the part on the Italian side of +the Alps being named Cisalpine Gaul, while that which lay beyond was +designated as Transalpine. Transalpine Gaul was substantially what is +now France. There was a part of Transalpine Gaul which had been already +conquered and reduced to a Roman province. It was called The Province +then, and has retained the name, with a slight change in orthography, to +the present day. It is now known as Provence.</p> + +<p class="side">Condition of Gaul in Caesar's day.<br> +Singular cavalry.</p> + +<p>The countries which Caesar went to invade were occupied by various +nations and tribes, many of which were well organized and war-like, and +some of them were considerably civilized and wealthy. They had extended +tracts of cultivated land, the slopes of the hills and the mountain +sides being formed into green pasturages, which were covered with flocks +of goats, and sheep, and herds of cattle, while the smoother and more +level tracts were adorned with smiling vineyards and broadly-extended +fields of waving grain. They had cities, forts, ships, and armies. Their +manners and customs would be considered somewhat rude by modern nations, +and some of their usages of war were half barbarian. For example, in one +of the nations which Caesar encountered, he found, as he says in his +narrative, a corps of cavalry, as a constituent part of the army, in +which, to every horse, there were <i>two</i> men, one the rider, and the +other a sort of foot soldier and attendant. If the battle went against +them, and the squadron were put to their speed in a retreat, these +footmen would cling to the manes-of the horses, and then, half running, +half flying, they would be borne along over the field, thus keeping +always at the side of their comrades, and escaping with them to a place +of safety.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's plans.</p> + +<p>But, although the Romans were inclined to consider these nations as only +half civilized, still there would be great glory, as Caesar thought, in +subduing them, and probably great treasure would be secured in the +conquest, both by the plunder and confiscation of governmental +property, and by the tribute which would be collected in taxes from the +people of the countries subdued. Caesar accordingly placed himself at +the head of an army of three Roman legions, which he contrived, by means +of a great deal of political maneuvering and management, to have raised +and placed under his command. One of these legions, which was called the +tenth legion, was his favorite corps, on account of the bravery and +hardihood which they often displayed. At the head of these legions, +Caesar set out for Gaul. He was at this time not far from forty years +of age.</p> + +<p class="side">His pretexts.</p> + +<p>Caesar had no difficulty in finding pretexts for making war upon any of +these various nations that he might desire to subdue. They were, of +course, frequently at war with each other, and there were at all times +standing topics of controversy and unsettled disputes among them. Caesar +had, therefore, only to draw near to the scene of contention, and then +to take sides with one party or the other, it mattered little with +which, for the affair almost always resulted, in the end, in his making +himself master of both. The manner, however, in which this sort of +operation was performed, can best be illustrated by an example, and we +will take for the purpose the case of Ariovistus.</p> + +<p class="side">Ariovistus.<br> +The Aeduans.</p> + +<p>Ariovistus was a German king. He had been nominally a sort of ally of +the Romans. He had extended his conquests across the Rhine into Gaul, +and he held some nations there as his tributaries. Among these, the +Aeduans were a prominent party, and, to simplify the account, we will +take their name as the representative of all who were concerned. When +Caesar came into the region of the Aeduans, he entered into some +negotiations with them, in which they, as he alleges, asked his +assistance to enable them to throw off the dominion of their German +enemy. It is probable, in fact, that there was some proposition of this +kind from them, for Caesar had abundant means of inducing them to make +it, if he was disposed, and the receiving of such a communication +furnished the most obvious and plausible pretext to authorize and +justify his interposition.</p> + +<p>Caesar accordingly sent a messenger across the Rhine to Ariovistus, +saying that he wished to have an interview with him on business of +importance, and asking him to name a time which would be convenient to +him for the interview, and also to appoint some place in Gaul where he +would attend.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's negotiations with Ariovistus.</p> + +<p>To this Ariovistus replied, that if he had, himself, any business with +Caesar, he would have waited upon him to propose it; and, in the same +manner, if Caesar wished to see him, he must come into his own +dominions. He said that it would not be safe for him to come into Gaul +without an army, and that it was not convenient for him to raise and +equip an army for such a purpose at that time.</p> + +<p class="side">His message.</p> + +<p>Caesar sent again to Ariovistus to say, that since he was so unmindful +of his obligations to the Roman people as to refuse an interview with +him on business of common interest, he would state the particulars that +he required of him. The Aeduans, he said, were now his allies, and under +his protection; and Ariovistus must send back the hostages which he held +from them, and bind himself henceforth not to send any more troops +across the Rhine, nor make war upon the Aeduans, or injure them in any +way. If he complied with these terms, all would be well. If he did not, +Caesar said that he should not himself disregard the just complaints of +his allies.</p> + +<p class="side">Ariovistus's spirited reply to Caesar.</p> + +<p>Ariovistus had no fear of Caesar. Caesar had, in fact, thus far, not +begun to acquire the military renown to which he afterward attained +Ariovistus had, therefore, no particular cause to dread his power. He +sent him back word that he did not understand why Caesar should +interfere between him and his conquered province.</p> + +<p>"The Aeduans," said he, "tried the fortune of war with me, and were +overcome; and they must abide the issue. The Romans manage their +conquered provinces as they judge proper, without holding themselves +accountable to any one. I shall do the same with mine. All that I can +say is, that so long as the Aeduans submit peaceably to my authority, +and pay their tribute, I shall not molest them; as to your threat that +you shall not disregard their complaints, you must know that no one has +ever made war upon me but to his own destruction, and, if you wish to +see how it will turn out in your case, you may make the experiment +whenever you please."</p> + +<p class="side">Preparations for war.</p> + +<p>Both parties immediately prepared for war. Ariovistus, instead of +waiting to be attacked, assembled his army, crossed the Rhine, and +advanced into the territories from which Caesar had undertaken to +exclude him.</p> + +<p class="side">Panic in the Roman army.</p> + +<p>As Caesar, however, began to make his arrangements for putting his army +in motion to meet his approaching enemy, there began to circulate +throughout the camp such extraordinary stories of the terrible strength +and courage of the German soldiery as to produce a very general panic. +So great, at length, became the anxiety and alarm, that even the +officers were wholly dejected and discouraged; and as for the men, they +were on the very eve of mutiny.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's address.</p> + +<p>When Caesar understood this state of things, he called an assembly of +the troops, and made an address to them. He told them that he was +astonished to learn to what an extent an unworthy despondency and fear +had taken possession of their minds, and how little confidence they +reposed in him, their general. And then, after some further remarks +about the duty of a soldier to be ready to go wherever his commander +leads him, and presenting also some considerations in respect to the +German troops with which they were going to contend, in order to show +them that they had no cause to fear, he ended by saying that he had not +been fully decided as to the time of marching, but that now he had +concluded to give orders for setting out the next morning at three +o'clock, that he might learn, as soon as possible, who were too cowardly +to follow him. He would go himself, he said, if he was attended by the +tenth legion alone He was sure that they would not shrink from any +undertaking in which he led the way.</p> + +<p class="side">Effect of Caesar's address.<br> +Proposals for an interview.</p> + +<p>The soldiers, moved partly by shame, partly by the decisive and +commanding tone which their general assumed, and partly reassured by the +courage and confidence which he seemed to feel, laid aside their fears, +and vied with each other henceforth in energy and ardor. The armies +approached each other. Ariovistus sent to Caesar, saying that now, if he +wished it, he was ready for an interview. Caesar acceded to the +suggestion, and the arrangements for a conference were made, each party, +as usual in such cases, taking every precaution to guard against the +treachery of the other.</p> + +<p>Between the two camps there was a rising ground, in the middle of an +open plain, where it was decided that the conference should be held. +Ariovistus proposed that neither party should bring any foot soldiers to +the place of meeting, but cavalry alone; and that these bodies of +cavalry, brought by the respective generals, should remain at the foot +of the eminence on either side, while Caesar and Ariovistus themselves, +attended each by only ten followers on horseback, should ascend it. This +plan was acceded to by Caesar, and a long conference was held in this +way between the two generals, as they sat upon their horses, on the +summit of the hill.</p> + +<p class="side">Conference between Caesar and Ariovistus.<br> +Caesar's messenger seized.</p> + +<p>The two generals, in their discussion, only repeated in substance what +they had said in their embassages before, and made no progress toward +coming to an understanding. At length Caesar closed the conference and +withdrew. Some days afterward Ariovistus sent a request to Caesar, +asking that he would appoint another interview, or else that he would +depute one of his officers to proceed to Ariovistus's camp and receive a +communication which he wished to make to him. Caesar concluded not to +grant another interview, and he did not think it prudent to send any one +of his principal officers as an embassador, for fear that he might be +treacherously seized and held as a hostage. He accordingly sent an +ordinary messenger, accompanied by one or two men. These men were all +seized and put in irons as soon as they reached the camp of Ariovistus, +and Caesar now prepared in earnest for giving his enemy battle.</p> + +<p class="side">Defeat of the Germans.</p> + +<p>He proved himself as skillful and efficient in arranging and managing +the combat as he had been sagacious and adroit in the negotiations which +preceded it. Several days were spent in maneuvers and movements, by +which each party endeavored to gain some advantage over the other in +respect to their position in the approaching struggle. When at length +the combat came, Caesar and his legions were entirely and triumphantly +successful. The Germans were put totally to flight. Their baggage and +stores were all seized, and the troops themselves fled in dismay by all +the roads which led back to the Rhine; and there those who succeeded in +escaping death from the Romans, who pursued them all the way, embarked +in boats and upon rafts, and returned to their homes. Ariovistus himself +found a small boat, in which, with one or two followers, he succeeded in +getting across the stream.</p> + +<p class="side">Release of Caesar's messenger.</p> + +<p>As Caesar, at the head of a body of his troops, was pursuing the enemy +in this their flight, he overtook one party who had a prisoner with them +confined by iron chains fastened to his limbs, and whom they were +hurrying rapidly along. This prisoner proved to be the messenger that +Caesar had sent to Ariovistus's camp, and whom he had, as Caesar +alleges, treacherously detained. Of course, he was overjoyed to be +recaptured and set at liberty. The man said that three times they had +drawn lots to see whether they should burn him alive then, or reserve +the pleasure for a future occasion, and that every time the lot had +resulted in his favor.</p> + +<p class="side">Results of the victory.<br> +Caesar's continued success.</p> + +<p>The consequence of this victory was, that Caesar's authority was +established triumphantly over all that part of Gaul which he had thus +freed from Ariovistus's sway. Other parts of the country, too, were +pervaded by the fame of his exploits, and the people every where began +to consider what action it would be incumbent on them to take, in +respect to the new military power which had appeared so suddenly among +them. Some nations determined to submit without resistance, and to seek +the conqueror's alliance and protection. Others, more bold, or more +confident of their strength, began to form combinations and to arrange +plans for resisting him. But, whatever they did, the result in the end +was the same. Caesar's ascendency was every where and always gaining +ground. Of course, it is impossible in the compass of a single chapter, +which is all that can be devoted to the subject in this volume, to give +any regular narrative of the events of the eight years of Caesar's +military career in Gaul. Marches, negotiations, battles, and victories +mingled with and followed each other in a long succession, the +particulars of which it would require a volume to detail, every thing +resulting most successfully for the increase of Caesar's power and the +extension of his fame.</p> + +<p class="side">Account of northern nations.<br> +Their strange customs.<br> +Well-trained horses.</p> + +<p>Caesar gives, in his narrative, very extraordinary accounts of the +customs and modes of life of some of the people that he encountered. +There was one country, for example, in which all the lands were common, +and the whole structure of society was based on the plan of forming the +community into one great martial band. The nation was divided into a +hundred cantons, each containing two thousand men capable of bearing +arms. If these were all mustered into service together, they would form, +of course, an army of two hundred thousand men. It was customary, +however, to organize only one half of them into an army, while the rest +remained at home to till the ground and tend the flocks and herds. These +two great divisions interchanged their work every year, the soldiers +becoming husbandmen, and the husbandmen soldiers. Thus they all became +equally inured to the hardships and dangers of the camp, and to the more +continuous but safer labors of agricultural toil. Their fields were +devoted to pasturage more than to tillage, for flocks and herds could be +driven from place to place, and thus more easily preserved from the +depredations of enemies than fields of grain. The children grew up +almost perfectly wild from infancy, and hardened themselves by bathing +in cold streams, wearing very little clothing, and making long hunting +excursions among the mountains. The people had abundance of excellent +horses, which the young men were accustomed, from their earliest years, +to ride without saddle or bridle, the horses being trained to obey +implicitly every command. So admirably disciplined were they, that +sometimes, in battle, the mounted men would leap from their horses and +advance as foot soldiers to aid the other infantry, leaving the horses +to stand until they returned. The horses would not move from the spot; +the men, when the object for which they had dismounted was accomplished, +would come back, spring to their seats again, and once more become a +squadron of cavalry.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's popularity with the army.<br> +Caesar's military habits.<br> +His bridge across the Rhine.</p> + +<p>Although Caesar was very energetic and decided in the government of his +army, he was extremely popular with his soldiers in all these campaigns. +He exposed his men, of course, to a great many privations and hardships, +but then he evinced, in many cases, such a willingness to bear his share +of them, that the men were very little inclined to complain. He moved +at the head of the column when his troops were advancing on a march, +generally on horseback, but often on foot; and Suetonius says that he +used to go bareheaded on such occasions, whatever was the state of the +weather, though it is difficult to see what the motive of this +apparently needless exposure could be, unless it was for effect, on some +special or unusual occasion. Caesar would ford or swim rivers with his +men whenever there was no other mode of transit, sometimes supported, it +was said, by bags inflated with air, and placed under his arms. At one +time he built a bridge across the Rhine, to enable his army to cross +that river. This bridge was built with piles driven down into the sand, +which supported a flooring of timbers. Caesar, considering it quite an +exploit thus to bridge the Rhine, wrote a minute account of the manner +in which the work was constructed, and the description is almost exactly +in accordance with the principles and usages of modern carpentry.</p> + +<p class="side">System of posts.<br> +Their great utility.</p> + +<p>After the countries which were the scene of these conquests were pretty +well subdued, Caesar established on some of the great routes of travel a +system of posts, that is, he stationed supplies of horses at intervals +of from ten to twenty miles along the way, so that he himself, or the +officers of his army, or any couriers whore he might have occasion to +send with dispatches could travel with great speed by finding a fresh +horse ready at every stage. By this means he sometimes traveled himself +a hundred miles in a day. This system, thus adopted for military +purposes in Caesar's time, has been continued in almost all countries of +Europe to the present age, and is applied to traveling in carriages as +well as on horseback. A family party purchase a carriage, and arranging +within it all the comforts and conveniences which they will require on +the journey, they set out, taking these post horses, fresh at each +village, to draw them to the next. Thus they can go at any rate of speed +which they desire, instead of being limited in their movements by the +powers of endurance of one set of animals, as they would be compelled to +be if they were to travel with their own. This plan has, for some +reason, never been introduced into America, and it is now probable that +it never will be, as the railway system will doubtless supersede it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's invasion of Britain.<br> +His pretext for it.</p> + +<p>One of the most remarkable of the enterprises which Caesar undertook +during the period of these campaigns was his excursion into Great +Britain. The real motive of this expedition was probably a love of +romantic adventure, and a desire to secure for himself at Rome the glory +of having penetrated into remote regions which Roman armies had never +reached before. The pretext, however, which he made to justify his +invading the territories of the Britons was, that the people of the +island were accustomed to come across the Channel and aid the Gauls in +their wars.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar consults the merchants.</p> + +<p>In forming his arrangements for going into England, the first thing was, +to obtain all the information which was accessible in Gaul in respect to +the country. There were, in those days, great numbers of traveling +merchants, who went from one nation to another to purchase and sell, +taking with them such goods as were most easy of transportation. These +merchants, of course, were generally possessed of a great deal of +information in respect to the countries which they had visited, and +Caesar called together as many of them as he could find, when he had +reached the northern shores of France, to inquire about the modes of +crossing the Channel, the harbors on the English side, the geographical +conformation of the country, and the military resources of the people. +He found, however, that the merchants could give him very little +information. They knew that Britain was an island, but they did not know +its extent or its boundaries; and they could tell him very little of the +character or customs of the people. They said that they had only been +accustomed to land upon the southern shore, and to transact all their +business there, without penetrating at all into the interior of +the country.</p> + +<p class="side">Volusenus.</p> + +<p>Caesar then, who, though undaunted and bold in emergencies requiring +prompt and decisive action, was extremely cautious and wary at all other +times, fitted up a single ship, and, putting one of his officers on +board with a proper crew, directed him to cross the Channel to the +English coast, and then to cruise along the land for some miles in each +direction, to observe where were the best harbors and places for +landing, and to examine generally the appearance of the shore. This +vessel was a galley, manned with numerous oarsmen, well selected and +strong, so that it could retreat with great speed from any sudden +appearance of danger The name of the officer who had the command of it +was Volusenus. Volusenus set sail, the army watching his vessel with +great interest as it moved slowly away from the shore. He was gone five +days, and then returned, bringing Caesar an account of his discoveries.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar collects vessels.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Caesar had collected a large number of sailing vessels +from the whole line of the French shore, by means of which he proposed +to transport his army across the Channel. He had two legions to take +into Britain, the remainder of his forces having been stationed as +garrisons in various parts of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to leave a +considerable force at his post of debarkation, in order to secure a safe +retreat in case of any disaster on the British side. The number of +transport ships provided for the foot soldiers which were to be taken +over was eighty. There were, besides these, eighteen more, which were +appointed to convey a squadron of horse. This cavalry force was to +embark at a separate port, about eighty miles distant from the one from +which the infantry were to sail.</p> + +<p class="side">Embarkation of the troops.</p> + +<p>At length a suitable day for the embarkation arrived; the troops were +put on board the ships, and orders were given to sail. The day could not +be fixed beforehand, as the time for attempting to make the passage must +necessarily depend upon the state of the wind and weather. Accordingly, +when the favorable opportunity arrived, and the main body of the army +began to embark it took some time to send the orders to the port where +the cavalry had rendezvoused; and there were, besides, other causes of +delay which occurred to detain this corps, so that it turned out, as we +shall presently see, that the foot soldiers had to act alone in the +first attempt at landing on the British shore.</p> + +<p class="side">Sailing of the fleet.<br> +Preparations of the Britons.</p> + +<p>It was one o'clock in the morning when the fleet set sail. The Britons +had, in the mean time, obtained intelligence of Caesar's threatened +invasion, and they had assembled in great force, with troops, and +horsemen, and carriages of war, and were all ready to guard the shore. +The coast, at the point where Caesar was approaching, consists of a line +of chalky cliffs, with valley-like openings here and there between them, +communicating with the shore, and sometimes narrow beaches below. When +the Roman fleet approached the land, Caesar found the cliffs every where +lined with troops of Britons, and every accessible point below carefully +guarded. It was now about ten o'clock in the morning, and Caesar, +finding the prospect so unfavorable in respect to the practicability of +effecting a landing here, brought his fleet to anchor near the shore, +but far enough from it to be safe from the missiles of the enemy.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar calls a council of officers.</p> + +<p>Here he remained for several hours, to give time for all the vessels to +join him. Some of them had been delayed in the embarkation, or had made +slower progress than the rest in crossing the Channel. He called a +council, too, of the superior officers of the army on board his own +galley, and explained to them the plan which he now adopted for the +landing. About three o'clock in the afternoon he sent these officers +back to their respective ships, and gave orders to make sail along the +shore. The anchors were raised and the fleet moved on, borne by the +united impulse of the wind and the tide. The Britons, perceiving this +movement, put themselves in motion on the land, following the motions of +the fleet so as to be ready to meet their enemy wherever they might +ultimately undertake to land. Their horsemen and carriages went on in +advance, and the foot soldiers followed, all pressing eagerly forward to +keep up with the motion of the fleet, and to prevent Caesar's army from +having time to land before they should arrive at the spot and be ready +to oppose them.</p> + +<a name="Illus0279"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0279.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0279.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="THE LANDING IN ENGLAND."> +</a><br> +<b>THE LANDING IN ENGLAND.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">The landing.<br> +The battle.<br> +Defeat of the Britons.</p> + +<p>The fleet moved on until, at length, after sailing about eight miles, +they came to a part of the coast where there was a tract of +comparatively level ground, which seemed to be easily accessible from +the shore. Here Caesar determined to attempt to land; and drawing up his +vessel, accordingly, as near as possible to the beach, he ordered the +men to leap over into the water, with their weapons in their hands. The +Britons were all here to oppose them, and a dreadful struggle ensued, +the combatants dyeing the waters with their blood as they fought, half +submerged in the surf which rolled in upon the sand. Some galleys rowed +up at the same time near to the shore, and the men on board of them +attacked the Britons from the decks, by the darts and arrows which they +shot to the land. Caesar at last prevailed; the Britons were driven +away, and the Roman army established themselves in quiet possession of +the shore.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's popularity at Rome.</p> + +<p>Caesar had afterward a great variety of adventures, and many narrow +escapes from imminent dangers in Britain, and, though he gained +considerable glory by thus penetrating into such remote and unknown +regions, there was very little else to be acquired. The glory, however, +was itself of great value to Caesar. During the whole period of his +campaigns in Gaul, Rome and all Italy in fact, had been filled with the +fame of his exploits, and the expedition into Britain added not a little +to his renown. The populace of the city were greatly gratified to hear +of the continued success of their former favorite. They decreed to him +triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him, whenever he +should return, with greater honors and more extended and higher powers +than he had ever enjoyed before.</p> + +<p class="side">Results of his campaigns.</p> + +<p>Caesar's exploits in these campaigns were, in fact, in a military point +of view, of the most magnificent character. Plutarch, in summing up the +results of them, says that he took eight hundred cities, conquered three +hundred nations, fought pitched battles at separate times with three +millions of men, took one million of prisoners, and killed another +million on the field. What a vast work of destruction was this for a man +to spend eight years of his life in performing upon his +fellow-creatures, merely to gratify his insane love of dominion.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V."></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>POMPEY.</h3> + +<p class="side">Pompey.</p> + +<p>While Caesar had thus been rising to so high an elevation, there was +another Roman general who had been, for nearly the same period, engaged, +in various other quarters of the world, in acquiring, by very similar +means, an almost equal renown. This general was Pompey. He became, in +the end, Caesar's great and formidable rival. In order that the reader +may understand clearly the nature of the great contest which sprung up +at last between these heroes, we must now go back and relate some of the +particulars of Pompey's individual history down to the time of the +completion of Caesar's conquests in Gaul.</p> + +<p class="side">His birth.<br> +Pompey's personal appearance.</p> + +<p>Pompey was a few years older than Caesar, having been born in 106 B.C. +His father was a Roman general, and the young Pompey was brought up in +camp. He was a young man of very handsome figure and countenance, and of +very agreeable manners. His hair curled slightly over his forehead, and +he had a dark and intelligent eye, full of vivacity and meaning. There +was, besides, in the expression of his face, and in his air and address, +a certain indescribable charm, which prepossessed every one strongly in +his favor, and gave him, from his earliest years, a great personal +ascendency over all who knew him.</p> + +<p class="side">Plans to assassinate him.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding this popularity, however, Pompey did not escape, even in +very early life, incurring his share of the dangers which seemed to +environ the path of every public man in those distracted times. It will +be recollected that, in the contests between Marius and Sylla, Caesar +had joined the Marian faction. Pompey's father, on the other hand, had +connected himself with that of Sylla. At one time, in the midst of these +wars, when Pompey was very young, a conspiracy was formed to assassinate +his father by burning him in his tent, and Pompey's comrade, named +Terentius, who slept in the same tent with him, had been bribed to kill +Pompey himself at the same time, by stabbing him in his bed. Pompey +contrived to discover this plan, but, instead of being at all +discomposed by it, he made arrangements for a guard about his father's +tent and then went to supper as usual with Terentius, conversing with +him all the time in even a more free and friendly manner than usual. +That night he arranged his bed so as to make it appear as if he was in +it, and then stole away. When the appointed hour arrived, Terentius came +into the tent, and, approaching the couch where he supposed Pompey was +lying asleep, stabbed it again and again, piercing the coverlets in many +places, but doing no harm, of course, to his intended victim.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's adventures and escapes.<br> +Death of his father.<br> +Pompey appears in his father's defense.</p> + +<p>In the course of the wars between Marius and Sylla, Pompey passed +through a great variety of scenes, and met with many extraordinary +adventures and narrow escapes, which, however, can not be here +particularly detailed. His father, who was as much hated by his soldiers +as the son was beloved, was at last, one day, struck by lightning in his +tent. The soldiers were inspired with such a hatred for his memory, in +consequence, probably, of the cruelties and oppressions which they had +suffered from him, that they would not allow his body to be honored with +the ordinary funeral obsequies. They pulled it off from the bier on +which it was to have been borne to the funeral pile, and dragged it +ignominiously away. Pompey's father was accused, too, after his death, +of having converted some public moneys which had been committed to his +charge to his own use, and Pompey appeared in the Roman Forum as an +advocate to defend him from the charge and to vindicate his memory. He +was very successful in this defense. All who heard it were, in the first +instance, very deeply interested in favor of the speaker, on account of +his extreme youth and his personal beauty; and, as he proceeded with his +plea, he argued with so much eloquence and power as to win universal +applause. One of the chief officers of the government in the city was so +much pleased with his appearance, and with the promise of future +greatness which the circumstances indicated, that he offered him his +daughter in marriage. Pompey accepted the offer, and married the lady. +Her name was Antistia.</p> + +<p class="side">His success as a general.<br> +Pompey defeats the armies.</p> + +<p>Pompey rose rapidly to higher and higher degrees of distinction, until +he obtained the command of an army, which he had, in fact, in a great +measure raised and organized himself, and he fought at the head of it +with great energy and success against the enemies of Sylla. At length he +was hemmed in on the eastern coast of Italy by three separate armies, +which were gradually advancing against him, with a certainty, as they +thought, of effecting his destruction. Sylla, hearing of Pompey's +danger, made great efforts to march to his rescue. Before he reached the +place, however, Pompey had met and defeated one after another of the +armies of his enemies, so that, when Sylla approached, Pompey marched +out to meet him with his army drawn up in magnificent array, trumpets +sounding and banners flying, and with large bodies of disarmed troops, +the prisoners that he had taken, in the rear. Sylla was struck with +surprise and admiration; and when Pompey saluted him with the title of +<i>Imperator</i>, which was the highest title known to the Roman +constitution, and the one which Sylla's lofty rank and unbounded power +might properly claim, Sylla returned the compliment by conferring this +great mark of distinction on him.</p> + +<p class="side">His rising fame.<br> +Pompey's modesty.</p> + +<p>Pompey proceeded to Rome, and the fame of his exploits, the singular +fascination of his person and manners, and the great favor with Sylla +that he enjoyed, raised him to a high degree of distinction. He was not, +however, elated with the pride and vanity which so young a man would be +naturally expected to exhibit under such circumstances. He was, on the +contrary, modest and unassuming, and he acted in all respects in such a +manner as to gain the approbation and the kind regard of all who knew +him, as well as to excite their applause. There was an old general at +this time in Gaul--for all these events took place long before the time +of Caesar's campaigns in that country, and, in fact, before the +commencement of his successful career in Rome--whose name was Metellus, +and who, either on account of his advancing age, or for some other +reason, was very inefficient and unsuccessful in his government. Sylla +proposed to supersede him by sending Pompey to take his place. Pompey +replied that it was not right to take the command from a man who was so +much his superior in age and character, but that, if Metellus wished for +his <i>assistance</i> in the management of his command, he would proceed to +Gaul and render him every service in his power. When this answer was +reported to Metellus, he wrote to Pompey to come. Pompey accordingly +went to Gaul, where he obtained new victories, and gained new and higher +honors than before.</p> + +<p class="side">An example.<br> +Pompey divorces his wife.<br> +He marries Sylla's daughter-in-law.</p> + +<p>These, and various anecdotes which the ancient historians relate, would +lead us to form very favorable ideas of Pompey's character. Some other +circumstances, however, which occurred, seem to furnish different +indications. For example, on his return to Rome, some time after the +events above related, Sylla, whose estimation of Pompey's character and +of the importance of his services seemed continually to increase, wished +to connect him with his own family by marriage. He accordingly proposed +that Pompey should divorce his wife Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the +daughter-in-law of Sylla. Aemilia was already the wife of another man, +from whom she would have to be taken away to make her the wife of +Pompey. This, however, does not seem to have been thought a very serious +difficulty in the way of the arrangement. Pompey's wife was put away, +and the wife of another man taken in her place. Such a deed was a gross +violation not merely of revealed and written law, but of those universal +instincts of right and wrong which are implanted indelibly in all human +hearts. It ended, as might have been expected, most disastrously. +Antistia was plunged, of course, into the deepest distress. Her father +had recently lost his life on account of his supposed attachment to +Pompey. Her mother killed herself in the anguish and despair produced by +the misfortunes of her family; and Aemilia the new wife, died suddenly, +on the occasion of the birth of a child, a very short time after her +marriage with Pompey.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's success in Africa.<br> +Attachment of his soldiers.<br> +Pompey's title as "Great."</p> + +<p>These domestic troubles did not, however, interpose any serious obstacle +to Pompey's progress in his career of greatness and glory. Sylla sent +him on one great enterprise after another, in all of which Pompey +acquitted himself in an admirable manner. Among his other campaigns, he +served for some time in Africa with great success. He returned in due +time from this expedition, loaded with military honors. His soldiers had +become so much attached to him that there was almost a mutiny in the +army when he was ordered home. They were determined to submit to no +authority but that of Pompey. Pompey at length succeeded, by great +efforts, in subduing this spirit, and bringing back the army to their +duty. A false account of the affair, however, went to Rome. It was +reported to Sylla that there was a revolt in the army of Africa, headed +by Pompey himself, who was determined not to resign his command. Sylla +was at first very indignant that his authority should be despised and +his power braved, as he expressed it, by "such a boy;" for Pompey was +still, at this time, very young. When, however, he learned the truth, he +conceived a higher admiration for the young general than ever. He went +out to meet him as he approached the city, and, in accosting him, he +called him Pompey the Great. Pompey has continued to bear the title thus +given him to the present day.</p> + +<p class="side">He demands a triumph.</p> + +<p>Pompey began, it seems, now to experience, in some degree, the usual +effects produced upon the human heart by celebrity and praise. He +demanded a triumph. A triumph was a great and splendid ceremony, by +which victorious generals, who were of advanced age and high civil or +military rank, were received into the city when returning from any +specially glorious campaign. There was a grand procession formed on +these occasions, in which various emblems and insignia, and trophies of +victory, and captives taken by the conqueror, were displayed. This great +procession entered the city with bands of music accompanying it, and +flags and banners flying, passing under triumphal arches erected along +the way. Triumphs were usually decreed by a vote of the Senate, in cases +where they were deserved; but, in this case, Sylla's power as dictator +was supreme, and Pompey's demand for a triumph seems to have been +addressed accordingly to him.</p> + +<p class="side">Sylla refuses Pompey a triumph.</p> + +<p>Sylla refused it. Pompey's performances in the African campaign had +been, he admitted, very creditable to him, but he had neither the Age +nor the rank to justify the granting him a triumph. To bestow such an +honor upon one so young and in such a station, would only bring the +honor itself, he said, into disrepute, and degrade, also, his +dictatorship for suffering it.</p> + +<p class="side">But at last consents.</p> + +<p>To this Pompey replied, speaking, however, in an under tone to those +around him in the assembly, that Sylla need not fear that the triumph +would be unpopular, for people were much more disposed to worship a +rising than a setting sun. Sylla did not hear this remark, but, +perceiving by the countenances of the by-standers that Pompey had said +something which seemed to please them, he asked what it was. When the +remark was repeated to him, he seemed pleased himself with its justness +or with its wit, and said, "Let him have his triumph."</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's triumph.</p> + +<p>The arrangements were accordingly made Pompey ordering every thing +necessary to be prepared for a most magnificent procession. He learned +that some persons in the city, envious at his early renown, were +displeased with his triumph; this only awakened in him a determination +to make it still more splendid and imposing. He had brought some +elephants with him from Africa, and he formed a plan for having the car +in which he was to ride in the procession drawn by four of these huge +beasts as it entered the city; but, on measuring the gate, it was found +not wide enough to admit such a team, and the plan was accordingly +abandoned. The conqueror's car was drawn by horses in the usual manner, +and the elephants followed singly, with the other trophies, to grace +the train.</p> + +<p class="side">His course of conduct at Rome.</p> + +<p>Pompey remained some time after this in Rome, sustaining from time to +time various offices of dignity and honor. His services were often +called for to plead causes in the Forum, and he performed this duty, +whenever he undertook it, with great success. He, however, seemed +generally inclined to retire somewhat from intimate intercourse with the +mass of the community, knowing very well that if he was engaged often in +the discussion of common questions with ordinary men, he should soon +descend in public estimation from the high position to which his +military renown had raised him. He accordingly accustomed himself to +appear but little in public, and, when he did so appear, he was +generally accompanied by a large retinue of armed attendants, at the +head of which he moved about the city in great state, more like a +victorious general in a conquered province than like a peaceful citizen +exercising ordinary official functions in a community governed by law. +This was a very sagacious course, so far as concerned the attainment of +the great objects of future ambition. Pompey knew very well that +occasions would probably arise in which he could act far more +effectually for the promotion of his own greatness and fame than by +mingling in the ordinary municipal contests of the city.</p> + +<p class="side">The Cilician pirates.<br> +Their increasing depredations.<br> +Ships and fortresses of the Cilicians.<br> +Their conquests.</p> + +<p>At length, in fact, an occasion came. In the year B.C. 67, which was +about the time that Caesar commenced his successful career in rising to +public office in Rome, as is described in the third chapter of this +volume, the Cilician pirates, of whose desperate character and bold +exploits something has already been said, had become so powerful, and +were increasing so rapidly in the extent of their depredations, that the +Roman people felt compelled to adopt some very vigorous measures for +suppressing them. The pirates had increased in numbers during the wars +between Marius and Sylla in a very alarming degree. They had built, +equipped, and organized whole fleets. They had various fortresses, +arsenals, ports, and watch-towers all along the coasts of the +Mediterranean. They had also extensive warehouses, built in secure and +secluded places, where they stored their plunder. Their fleets were well +manned, and provided with skillful pilots, and with ample supplies of +every kind; and they were so well constructed, both for speed and +safety, that no other ships could be made to surpass them. Many of them, +too, were adorned and decorated in the most sumptuous manner, with +gilded sterns, purple awnings, and silver-mounted oars. The number of +their galleys was said to be a thousand. With this force they made +themselves almost complete masters of the sea. They attacked not only +separate ships, but whole fleets of merchantmen sailing under convoy; +and they increased the difficulty and expense of bringing grain to Rome +so much, by intercepting the supplies, as very materially to enhance the +price and to threaten a scarcity. They made themselves masters of many +islands and of various maritime towns along the coast, until they had +four hundred ports and cities in their possession. In fact, they had +gone so far toward forming themselves into a regular maritime power, +under a systematic and legitimate government, that very respectable +young men from other countries began to enter their service, as one +opening honorable avenues to wealth and fame.</p> + +<p class="side">Plan for destroying the pirates.<br> +Its magnitude.</p> + +<p>Under these circumstances, it was obvious that something decisive must +be done. A friend of Pompey's brought forward a plan for commissioning +some one, he did not say whom, but every one understood that Pompey was +intended, to be sent forth against the pirates, with extraordinary +powers, such as should be amply sufficient to enable him to bring their +dominion to an end. He was to have supreme command upon the sea, and +also upon the land for fifty miles from the shore. He was, moreover, to +be empowered to raise as large a force, both of ships and men, as he +should think required, and to draw from the treasury whatever funds were +necessary to defray the enormous expenses which so vast an undertaking +would involve. If the law should pass creating this office, and a person +be designated to fill it, it is plain that such a commander would be +clothed with enormous powers; but then he would incur, on the other +hand, a vast and commensurate responsibility, as the Roman people would +hold him rigidly accountable for the full and perfect accomplishment of +the work he under took, after they had thus surrendered every possible +power necessary to accomplish it so unconditionally into his hands.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey appointed to the command.<br> +Fall in the price of grain.<br>/p> + +<p>There was a great deal of maneuvering, management, and debate on the one +hand to effect the passage of this law, and, on the other, to defeat it. +Caesar, who, though not so prominent yet as Pompey, was now rising +rapidly to influence and power, was in favor of the measure, because, as +is said, he perceived that the people were pleased with it. It was at +length adopted. Pompey was then designated to fill the office which the +law created. He accepted the trust, and began to prepare for the vast +undertaking. The price of grain fell immediately in Rome, as soon as the +appointment of Pompey was made known, as the merchants, who had large +supplies in the granaries there, were now eager to sell, even at a +reduction, feeling confident that Pompey's measures would result in +bringing in abundant supplies. The people, surprised at this sudden +relaxation of the pressure of their burdens, said that the very name of +Pompey had put an end to the war.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's complete success.</p> + +<p>They were not mistaken in their anticipations of Pompey's success. He +freed the Mediterranean from pirates in three months, by one systematic +and simple operation, which affords one of the most striking examples of +the power of united and organized effort, planned and conducted by one +single master mind, which the history of ancient or modern times has +recorded. The manner in which this work was effected was this:</p> + +<p class="side">His mode of operation.</p> + +<p>Pompey raised and equipped a vast number of galleys, and divided them +into separate fleets, putting each one under the command of a +lieutenant. He then divided the Mediterranean Sea into thirteen +districts, and appointed a lieutenant and his fleet for each one of them +as a guard. After sending these detachments forth to their respective +stations, he set out from the city himself to take charge of the +operations which he was to conduct in person. The people followed him, +as he went to the place where he was to embark, in great crowds, and +with long and loud acclamations.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey drives the pirates before him.<br> +Exultation at Rome.</p> + +<p>Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar, Pompey cruised with a powerful +fleet toward the east, driving the pirates before him, the lieutenants, +who were stationed along the coast being on the alert to prevent them +from finding any places of retreat or refuge. Some of the pirates' ships +were surrounded and taken. Others fled, and were followed by Pompey's +ships until they had passed beyond the coasts of Sicily, and the seas +between the Italian and African shores. The communication was now open +again to the grain-growing countries south of Rome, and large supplies +of food were immediately poured into the city. The whole population was, +of course, filled with exultation and joy at receiving such welcome +proofs that Pompey was successfully accomplishing the work they had +assigned him.</p> + +<p class="side">The pirates concentrate themselves.</p> + +<p>The Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which are, in fact, a +projection from the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with a salient +angle of the coast nearly opposite to them on the African side, form a +sort of strait which divides this great sea into two separate bodies of +water, and the pirates were now driven entirely out of the western +division. Pompey sent his principal fleet after them, with orders to +pass around the island of Sicily and the south era part of Italy to +Brundusium, which was the great port on the western side of Italy. He +himself was to cross the peninsula by land, taking Rome in his way, and +afterward to join the fleet at Brundusium. The pirates, in the mean +time, so far as they had escaped Pompey's cruisers, had retreated to the +seas in the neighborhood of Cilicia, and were concentrating their forces +there in preparation for the final struggle.</p> + +<p>Pompey was received at Rome with the utmost enthusiasm. The people came +out in throngs to meet him as he approached the city, and welcomed him +with loud acclamations. He did not, however, remain in the city to enjoy +these honors. He procured, as soon as possible, what was necessary for +the further prosecution of his work, and went on. He found his fleet at +Brundusium, and, immediately embarking, he put to sea.</p> + +<p class="side">Some of them surrender.</p> + +<p>Pompey went on to the completion of his work with the same vigor and +decision which he had displayed in the commencement of it. Some of the +pirates, finding themselves hemmed in within narrower and narrower +limits, gave up the contest, and came and surrendered. Pompey, instead +of punishing them severely for their crimes, treated them, and their +wives and children, who fell likewise into his power, with great +humanity. This induced many others to follow their example, so that the +number that remained resisting to the end was greatly reduced. There +were, however, after all these submissions, a body of stern and +indomitable desperadoes left, who were incapable of yielding. These +retreated, with all the forces which they could retain, to their +strong-holds on the Silician shores, sending their wives and children +back to still securer retreats among the fastnesses of the mountains.</p> + +<p class="side">A great battle.<br> +Disposal of the pirates.</p> + +<p>Pompey followed them, hemming them in with the squadrons of armed +galleys which he brought up around them, thus cutting off from them all +possibility of escape. Here, at length, a great final battle was fought, +and the dominion of the pirates was ended forever. Pompey destroyed +their ships, dismantled their fortifications, restored the harbors and +towns which they had seized to their rightful owners, and sent the +pirates themselves, with their wives and children, far into the interior +of the country, and established them as agriculturists and herdsmen +there, in a territory which he set apart for the purpose, where they +might live in peace on the fruits of their own industry, without the +possibility of again disturbing the commerce of the seas.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's conquests in Asia Minor.<br> +His magnificent triumph.</p> + +<p>Instead of returning to Rome after these exploits, Pompey obtained new +powers from the government of the city, and pushed his way into Asia +Minor, where he remained several years, pursuing a similar career of +conquest to that of Caesar in Gaul. At length he returned to Rome, his +entrance into the city being signalized by a most magnificent triumph. +The procession for displaying the trophies, the captives, and the other +emblems of victory, and for conveying the vast accumulation of treasures +and spoils, was two days in passing into the city; and enough was left +after all for another triumph. Pompey was, in a word, on the very summit +of human grandeur and renown.</p> + +<p class="side">The first triumvirate.<br> +Pompey's wife Julia.<br> +Pompey and Caesar open enemies.<br> +Their ambition.</p> + +<p>He found, however, an old enemy and rival at Rome. This was Crassus, who +had been Pompey's opponent in earlier times, and who now renewed his +hostility. In the contest that ensued, Pompey relied on his renown, +Crassus on his wealth. Pompey attempted to please the people by combats +of lions and of elephants which he had brought home from his foreign +campaigns; Crassus courted their favor by distributing corn among them, +and inviting them to public feasts on great occasions. He spread for +them, at one time, it was said, ten thousand tables. All Rome was filled +with the feuds of these great political foes. It was at this time that +Caesar returned from Spain, and had the adroitness, as has already been +explained, to extinguish these feuds, and reconcile these apparently +implacable foes. He united them together, and joined them with himself +in a triple league, which is celebrated in Roman history as the first +<i>triumvirate</i>. The rivalry, however, of these great aspirants for power +was only suppressed and concealed, without being at all weakened or +changed. The death of Crassus soon removed him from the stage. Caesar +and Pompey continued afterward, for some time, an ostensible alliance. +Caesar attempted to strengthen this bond by giving Pompey his daughter +Julia for his wife. Julia, though so young--even her father was six +years younger than Pompey--was devotedly attached to her husband, and he +was equally fond of her. She formed, in fact, a strong bond of union +between the two great conquerors as long as she lived. One day, however, +there was a riot at an election, and men were killed so near to Pompey +that his robe was covered with blood. He changed it; the servants +carried home the bloody garment which he had taken off, and Julia was so +terrified at the sight, thinking that her husband had been killed, that +she fainted, and her constitution suffered very severely by the shock. +She lived some time afterward, but finally died under circumstances +which indicate that this occurrence was the cause. Pompey and Caesar now +soon became open enemies. The ambitious aspirations which each of them +cherished were so vast, that the world was not wide enough for them both +to be satisfied. They had assisted each other up the ascent which they +had been so many years in climbing, but now they had reached very near +to the summit, and the question was to be decided which of the two +should have his station there.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI."></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>CROSSING THE RUBICON.</h3> + +<p class="side">The Rubicon.</p> + +<p>There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which +flowed westward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream +has been immortalized by the transactions which we are now about +to describe.</p> + +<p class="side">Its insignificance as a stream.</p> + +<p>The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so +small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of +two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its +name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and +conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind +for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a +long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost.</p> + +<p class="side">Importance of the Rubicon as a boundary.</p> + +<p>The Rubicon originally derived its importance from the fact that it was +the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed +by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent +countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This +country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the <i>hither</i> +Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Caesar's +jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was +territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The +Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might +threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised +for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very +strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these +armies to the Capitol. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. +Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon +with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the +Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil +restriction to military power.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's expenditure of money at Rome.<br> +His influence.</p> + +<p>As Caesar found the time of his service in Gaul drawing toward a +conclusion, he turned his thoughts more and more toward Rome, +endeavoring to strengthen his interest there by every means in his +power, and to circumvent and thwart the designs of Pompey. He had and +partisans in Rome who acted for him and in his name. He sent immense +sums of money to these men, to be employed in such ways as would most +tend to secure the favor of the people. He ordered the Forum to be +rebuilt with great magnificence. He arranged great celebrations, in +which the people were entertained with an endless succession of games, +spectacles, and public feasts. When his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, +died, he celebrated her funeral with indescribable splendor. He +distributed corn in immense quantities among the people, and he sent a +great many captives home, to be trained as gladiators, to fight in the +theaters for their amusement. In many cases, too, where he found men of +talents and influence among the populace, who had become involved in +debt by their dissipations and extravagance, he paid their debts, and +thus secured their influence on his side. Men were astounded at the +magnitude of these expenditures, and, while the multitude rejoiced +thoughtlessly in the pleasures thus provided for them, the more +reflecting and considerate trembled at the greatness of the power which +was so rapidly rising to overshadow the land.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's personal popularity.<br> +Public thanksgiving in his behalf.</p> + +<p>It increased their anxiety to observe that Pompey was gaining the same +kind of influence and ascendency too. He had not the advantage which +Caesar enjoyed in the prodigious wealth obtained from the rich countries +over which Caesar ruled, but he possessed, instead of it, the advantage +of being all the time at Rome, and of securing, by his character and +action there, a very wide personal popularity and influence. Pompey was, +in fact, the idol of the people. At one time, when he was absent from +Rome, at Naples, he was taken sick. After being for some days in +considerable danger, the crisis passed favorably, and he recovered. Some +of the people of Naples proposed a public thanksgiving to the gods, to +celebrate his restoration to health. The plan was adopted by +acclamation, and the example, thus set, extended from city to city, +until it had spread throughout Italy, and the whole country was filled +with the processions, games, shows, and celebrations, which were +instituted every where in honor of the event. And when Pompey returned +from Naples to Rome, the towns on the way could not afford room for the +crowds that came forth to meet him. The high roads, the villages, the +ports, says Plutarch, were filled with sacrifices and entertainments. +Many received him with garlands on their heads and torches in their +hands, and, as they conducted him along, strewed the way with flowers.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's estimate of Caesar's power.</p> + +<p>In fact, Pompey considered himself as standing far above Caesar in fame +and power, and this general burst of enthusiasm and applause, educed by +his recovery from sickness, confirmed him in this idea. He felt no +solicitude, he said, in respect to Caesar. He should take no special +precautions against any hostile designs which he might entertain on his +return from Gaul. It was he himself, he said, that had raised Caesar up +to whatever of elevation he had attained, and he could put him down even +more easily than he had exalted him.</p> + +<p class="side">Plans of the latter.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the period was drawing near in which Caesar's command +in the provinces was to expire; and, anticipating the struggle with +Pompey which was about to ensue, he conducted several of his legions +through the passes of the Alps, and advanced gradually, as he had a +right to do, across the country of the Po toward the Rubicon, revolving +in his capacious mind, as he came, the various plans by which he might +hope to gain the ascendency over the power of his mighty rival, and make +himself supreme.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar arrives at Ravenna.<br> +Pompey's demands.</p> + +<p>He concluded that it would be his wisest policy not to a'tempt to +intimidate Pompey by great and open preparations for war, which might +tend to arouse him to vigorous measures of resistance, but rather to +cover and conceal his designs, and thus throw his enemy off his guard. +He advanced, therefore, toward the Rubicon with a small force. He +established his headquarters at Ravenna, a city not far from the river, +and employed himself in objects of local interest there, in order to +avert as much as possible the minds of the people from imagining that he +was contemplating any great design. Pompey sent to him to demand the +return of a certain legion which he had lent him from his own army at a +time when they were friends. Caesar complied with this demand without +any hesitation, and sent the legion home. He sent with this legion, +also, some other troops which were properly his own, thus evincing a +degree of indifference in respect to the amount of the force retained +under his command which seemed wholly inconsistent with the idea that he +contemplated any resistance to the authority of the government at Rome.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar demands to be made consul.<br> +Excitement in consequence.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the struggle at Rome between the partisans of Caesar +and Pompey grew more and more violent and alarming. Caesar through his +friends in the city, demanded to be elected consul. The other side +insisted that he must first, if that was his wish, resign the command of +his army, come to Rome, and present himself as a candidate in the +character of a private citizen. This the constitution of the state very +properly required. In answer to this requisition, Caesar rejoined, that, +if Pompey would lay down his military commands, he would do so too; if +not, it was unjust to require it of him. The services, he added, which +he had performed for his country, demanded some recompense, which, +moreover, they ought to be willing to award, even if, in order to do it, +it were necessary to relax somewhat in his favor the strictness of +ordinary rules. To a large part of the people of the city these demands +of Caesar appeared reasonable. They were clamorous to have them allowed. +The partisans of Pompey, with the stern and inflexible Cato at their +head, deemed them wholly inadmissible, and contended with the most +determined violence against them. The whole city was filled with the +excitement of this struggle, into which all the active and turbulent +spirits of the capital plunged with the most furious zeal, while the +more considerate and thoughtful of the population, remembering the days +of Marius and Sylla, trembled at the impending danger. Pompey himself +had no fear. He urged the Senate to resist to the utmost all of Caesar's +claims, saying, if Caesar should be so presumptuous as to attempt to +march to Rome, he could raise troops enough by stamping with his foot to +put him down.</p> + +<p class="side">Debates in the Senate.<br> +Tumult and confusion.<br> +Panic at Rome.</p> + +<p>It would require a volume to contain a full account of the disputes and +tumults, the maneuvers and debates, the votes and decrees which marked +the successive stages of this quarrel. Pompey himself was all the time +without the city. He was in command of an army there, and no general, +while in command, was allowed to come within the gates. At last an +exciting debate was broken up in the Senate by one of the consuls rising +to depart, saying that he would hear the subject discussed no longer. +The time had arrived for action, and he should send a commander, with an +armed force, to defend the country from Caesar's threatened invasion. +Caesar's leading friends, two tribunes of the people, disguised +themselves as slaves, and fled to the north to join their master. The +country was filled with commotion and panic. The Commonwealth had +obviously more fear of Caesar than confidence in Pompey. The country +was full of rumors in respect to Caesar's power, and the threatening +attitude which he was assuming, while they who had insisted on +resistance seemed, after all, to have provided very inadequate means +with which to resist. A thousand plans were formed, and clamorously +insisted upon by their respective advocates, for averting the danger. +This only added to the confusion, and the city became at length pervaded +with a universal terror.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar at Ravenna.</p> + +<p>While this was the state of things at Rome, Caesar was quietly +established at Ravenna; thirty or forty miles from the frontier. He was +erecting a building for a fencing school there and his mind seemed to be +occupied very busily with the plans and models of the edifice which the +architects had formed. Of course, in his intended march to Rome, his +reliance was not to be so much on the force which he should take with +him, as on the co-operation and support which he expected to find there. +It was his policy, therefore, to move as quietly and privately as +possible, and with as little display of violence, and to avoid every +thing which might indicate his intended march to any spies which might +be around him, or to any other person! who might be disposed to report +what they observed at Rome. Accordingly, on the very eve of his +departure, he busied himself with his fencing school, and assumed with +his officers and soldiers a careless and unconcerned air, which +prevented any one from suspecting his design.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's midnight march.<br> +He loses his way.</p> + +<p>In the course of the day he privately sent forward some cohorts to the +southward, with orders for them to encamp on the banks of the Rubicon. +When night came he sat down to supper as usual, and conversed with his +friends in his ordinary manner, and went with them afterward to a public +entertainment. As soon as it was dark and the streets were still, he set +off secretly from the city, accompanied by a very few attendants. +Instead of making use of his ordinary equipage, the parading of which +would have attracted attention to his movements, he had some mules taken +from a neighboring bake-house, and harnessed into his chaise. There were +torch-bearers provided to light the way. The cavalcade drove on during +the night, finding, however, the hasty preparations which had been made +inadequate for the occasion. The torches went out, the guides lost their +way, and the future conqueror of the world wandered about bewildered and +lost, until, just after break of day, the party met with a peasant +who undertook to guide them. Under his direction they made their way to +the main road again, and advanced then without further difficulty to the +banks of the river, where they found that portion of the army which had +been sent forward encamped, and awaiting their arrival.</p> + +<a name="Illus0280"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0280.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0280.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="CROSSING THE RUBICON."> +</a><br> +<b>CROSSING THE RUBICON.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Caesar at the Rubicon.<br> +His hesitation at the river.</p> + +<p>Caesar stood for some time upon the banks of the stream, musing upon the +greatness of the undertaking in which simply passing across it would +involve him. His officers stood by his side. "We can retreat <i>now</i>" said +he, "but once across that river and we must go on." He paused for some +time, conscious of the vast importance of the decision, though he +thought only, doubtless, of its consequences to himself. Taking the step +which was now before him would necessarily end either in his realizing +the loftiest aspirations of his ambition, or in his utter and +irreparable ruin. There were vast public interests, too, at stake, of +which, however he probably thought but little. It proved, in the end, +that the history of the whole Roman world, for several centuries, was +depending upon the manner in which the question new in Caesar's mind +should turn.</p> + +<p class="side">Story of the shepherd trumpeter.</p> + +<p>There was a little bridge across the Rubicon at the point where Caesar +was surveying it. While he was standing there, the story is, a peasant +or shepherd came from the neighboring fields with a shepherd's pipe--a +simple musical instrument, made of a reed, and used much by the rustic +musicians of those days. The soldiers and some of the officers gathered +around him to hear him play. Among the rest came some of Caesar's +trumpeters, with their trumpets in their hands. The shepherd took one of +these martial instruments from the hands of its possessor, laying aside +his own, and began to sound a charge--which is a signal for a rapid +advance--and to march at the same time over the bridge "An omen! a +prodigy!" said Caesar. "Let us march where we are called by such a +divine intimation. <i>The die is cast</i>."</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar crosses the Rubicon.</p> + +<p>So saying, he pressed forward over the bridge, while the officers, +breaking up the encampment, put the columns in motion to follow him.</p> + +<p>It was shown abundantly, on many occasions in the course of Caesar's +life, that he had no faith in omens. There are equally numerous +instances to show that he was always ready to avail himself of the +popular belief in them; to awaken his soldiers' ardor or to allay their +fears. Whether, therefore, in respect to this story of the shepherd +trumpeter, it was an incident that really and accidentally occurred, or +whether Caesar planned and arranged it himself, with reference to its +effect, or whether, which is, perhaps, after all, the most probable +supposition, the tale was only an embellishment invented out of +something or nothing by the story-tellers of those days, to give +additional dramatic interest to the narrative of the crossing of the +Rubicon, it must be left for each reader to decide.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar assembles his troops.<br> +His address to them.</p> + +<p>As soon as the bridge was crossed, Caesar called an assembly of his +troops, and, with signs of great excitement and agitation, made an +address to them on the magnitude of the crisis through which they were +passing. He showed them how entirely he was in their power; he urged +them, by the most eloquent appeals, to stand by him, faithful and true, +promising them the most ample rewards when he should have attained the +object at which he aimed. The soldiers responded to this appeal with +promises of the most unwavering fidelity.</p> + +<p class="side">Surrender of various towns.</p> + +<p>The first town on the Roman side of the Rubicon was Ariminum. Caesar +advanced to this town. The authorities opened its gates to him--very +willing, as it appeared, to receive him as their commander. Caesar's +force was yet quite small, as he had been accompanied by only a single +legion in crossing the river. He had, however, sent orders for the other +legions, which had been left in Gaul, to join him without any delay, +though any re-enforcement of his troops seemed hardly necessary, as he +found no indications of opposition to his progress. He gave his soldiers +the strictest injunctions to do no injury to any property, public or +private, as they advanced, and not to assume, in any respect, a hostile +attitude toward the people of the country. The inhabitants, therefore, +welcomed him wherever he came, and all the cities and towns followed the +example of Ariminum, surrendering, in fact, faster than he could take +possession of them.</p> + +<p class="side">Domitius appointed to supersede Caesar.</p> + +<p>In the confusion of the debates and votes in the Senate at Rome before +Caesar crossed the Rubicon, one decree had been passed deposing him from +his command of the army, and appointing a successor. The name of the +general thus appointed was Domitius. The only real opposition which +Caesar encountered in his progress toward Rome was from him. Domitius +had crossed the Apennines at the head of an army on his way northward to +supersede Caesar in his command, and had reached the town of Corfinium, +which was perhaps one third of the way between Rome and the Rubicon. +Caesar advanced upon him here and shut him in.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's treatment of Domitius.</p> + +<p>After a brief siege the city was taken, and Domitius and his army were +made prisoners. Every body gave them up for lost, expecting that Caesar +would wreak terrible vengeance upon them. Instead of this, he received +the troops at once into his own service, and let Domitius go free.</p> + +<p class="side">Dismay at Rome.<br> +Pompey's distress.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the tidings of Caesar's having passed the Rubicon, and +of the triumphant success which he was meeting with at the commencement +of his march toward Rome, reached the Capitol, and added greatly to the +prevailing consternation. The reports of the magnitude of his force and +of the rapidity of his progress were greatly exaggerated. The party of +Pompey and the Senate had done every thing to spread among the people +the terror of Caesar's name, in order to arouse them to efforts for +opposing his designs; and now, when he had broken through the barriers +which had been intended to restrain him, and was advancing toward the +city in an unchecked and triumphant career, they were overwhelmed with +dismay. Pompey began to be terrified at the danger which was impending. +The Senate held meetings without the city--councils of war, as it were, +in which they looked to Pompey in vain for protection from the danger +which he had brought upon them. He had said that he could raise an army +sufficient to cope with Caesar at any time by stamping with his foot. +They told him they thought now that it was high time for him to stamp.</p> + +<p class="side">He leaves Rome.</p> + +<p>In fact, Pompey found the current setting every where strongly against +him. Some recommended that commissioners should be sent to Caesar to +make proposals for peace. The leading men, however, knowing that any +peace made with him under such circumstances would be their own ruin, +resisted and defeated the proposal. Cato abruptly left the city and +proceeded to Sicily, which had been assigned him as his province. Others +fled in other directions. Pompey himself, uncertain what to do, and not +daring to remain, called upon all his partisans to join him, and set off +at night, suddenly, and with very little preparation and small supplies, +to retreat across the country toward the shores of the Adriatic Sea, His +destination was Brundusium, the usual port of embarkation for Macedon +and Greece.</p> + +<p class="side">Enthusiasm of Caesar's soldiers.</p> + +<p>Caesar was all this time gradually advancing toward Rome. His soldiers +were full of enthusiasm in his cause. As his connection with the +government at home was sundered the moment he crossed the Rubicon, all +supplies of money and of provisions were cut off in that quarter until +he should arrive at the Capitol and take possession of it. The soldiers +voted, however, that they would serve him without pay. The officers, +too, assembled together, and tendered him the aid of their +contributions. He had always observed a very generous policy in his +dealings with them, and he was now greatly gratified at receiving their +requital of it.</p> + +<p class="side">His policy in releasing Domitius.</p> + +<p>The further he advanced, too, the more he found the people of the +country through which he passed disposed to espouse his cause. They were +struck with his generosity in releasing Domitius. It is true that it was +a very sagacious policy that prompted him to release him. But then it +was generosity too. In fact, there must be something of a generous +spirit in the soul to enable a man even to see the policy of +generous actions.</p> + +<p class="side">Letter of Caesar.</p> + +<p>Among the letters of Caesar that remain to the present day, there is one +written about this time to one of his friends, in which he speaks of +this subject. "I am glad," says he, "that you approve of my conduct at +Corfinium. I am satisfied that such a course is the best one for us to +pursue, as by so doing we shall gain the good will of all parties, and +thus secure a permanent victory. Most conquerors have incurred the +hatred of mankind by their cruelties, and have all, in consequence of +the enmity they have thus awakened, been prevented from long enjoying +their power. Sylla was an exception; but his example of successful +cruelty I have no disposition to imitate. I will conquer after a new +fashion, and fortify myself in the possession of the power I acquire by +generosity and mercy."</p> + +<p class="side">Ingratitude of Domitius.</p> + +<p>Domitius had the ingratitude, after this release, to take up arms again, +and wage a new war against Caesar. When Caesar heard of it, he said it +was all right. "I will act out the principles of my nature," said he, +"and he may act out his."</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's generosity.</p> + +<p>Another instance of Caesar's generosity occurred, which is even more +remarkable than this. It seems that among the officers of his army there +were some whom he had appointed at the recommendation of Pompey, at the +time when he and Pompey were friends. These men would, of course, feel +under obligations of gratitude to Pompey, as they owed their military +rank to his friendly interposition in their behalf. As soon as the war +broke out, Caesar gave them all his free permission to go over to +Pompey's side, if they chose to do so.</p> + +<p class="side">Modern politicians.</p> + +<p>Caesar acted thus very liberally in all respects. He surpassed Pompey +very much in the spirit of generosity and mercy with which he entered +upon the great contest before them. Pompey ordered every citizen to join +his standard, declaring that he should consider all neutrals as his +enemies. Caesar, on the other hand, gave free permission to every one to +decline, if he chose, taking any part in the contest, saying that he +should consider all who did not act against him as his friends. In the +political contests of our day, it is to be observed that the combatants +are much more prone to imitate the bigotry of Pompey than the generosity +of Caesar, condemning, as they often do, those who choose to stand aloof +from electioneering struggles, more than they do their most determined +opponents and enemies.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar arrives at Brundusium.</p> + +<p>When, at length, Caesar arrived at Brundusium, he found that Pompey had +sent a part of his army across the Adriatic into Greece, and was +waiting for the transports to return that he might go over himself with +the remainder. In the mean time, he had fortified himself strongly in +the city. Caesar immediately laid siege to the place, and he commenced +some works to block up the mouth of the harbor. He built piers on each +side, extending out as far into the sea as the depth of the water would +allow them to be built. He then constructed a series of rafts, which he +anchored on the deep water, in a line extending from one pier to the +other. He built towers upon these rafts, and garrisoned them with +soldiers, in hopes by this means to prevent all egress from the fort. He +thought that, when this work was completed, Pompey would be entirely +shut in, beyond all possibility of escape.</p> + +<p class="side">He besieges Pompey.<br> +Pompey's plan of escape.</p> + +<p>The transports, however, returned before the work was completed. Its +progress was, of course, slow, as the constructions were the scene of a +continued conflict; for Pompey sent out rafts and galleys against them +every day, and the workmen had thus to build in the midst of continual +interruptions, sometimes from showers of darts, arrows, and javelins, +sometimes from the conflagrations of fireships, and sometimes from the +terrible concussions of great vessels of war, impelled with prodigious +force against them. The transports returned, therefore, before the +defenses were complete, and contrived to get into the harbor. Pompey +immediately formed his plan for embarking the remainder of his army.</p> + +<p class="side">It is made known to Caesar.<br> +Success of Pompey's plan.</p> + +<p>He filled the streets of the city with barricades and pitfalls, +excepting two streets which led to the place of embarkation. The object +of these obstructions was to embarrass Caesar's progress through the +city in case he should force an entrance while his men were getting on +board the ships. He then, in order to divert Caesar's attention from his +design, doubled the guards stationed upon the walls on the evening of +his intended embarkation, and ordered them to make vigorous attacks upon +all Caesar's forces outside. He then, when the darkness came on, marched +his troops through the two streets which had been left open, to the +landing place, and got them as fast as possible on board the transports. +Some of the people of the town contrived to make known to Caesar's army +what was going on, by means of signals from the walls; the army +immediately brought scaling ladders in great numbers, and, mounting the +walls with great ardor and impetuosity, they drove all before them, and +soon broke open the gates and got possession of the city. But the +barricades and pitfalls, together with the darkness, so embarrassed +their movements, that Pompey succeeded in completing his embarkation and +sailing away.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's conduct at Rome.</p> + +<p>Caesar had no ships in which to follow. He returned to Rome. He met, of +course, with no opposition. He re-established the government there, +organized the Senate anew, and obtained supplies of corn from the public +granaries, and of money from the city treasury in the Capitol. In going +to the Capitoline Hill after this treasure, he found the officer who had +charge of the money stationed there to defend it. He told Caesar that it +was contrary to law for him to enter. Caesar said that, for men with +swords in their hands, there was no law. The officer still refused to +admit him. Caesar then told him to open the doors, or he would kill him +on the spot. "And you must understand," he added, "that it will be +easier for me to do it than it has been to say it." The officer resisted +no longer, and Caesar went in.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar subdues various countries.<br> +He turns his thoughts to Pompey.</p> + +<p>After this, Caesar spent some time in rigorous campaigns in Italy, +Spain, Sicily, and Gaul, wherever there was manifested any opposition +to his sway. When this work was accomplished, and all these countries +were completely subjected to his dominion, he began to turn his thoughts +to the plan of pursuing Pompey across the Adriatic Sea.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII."></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA.</h3> + +<p class="side">The gathering armies.<br> +Pompey's preparations.<br> +Caesar at Brundusium.</p> + +<p>The gathering of the armies of Caesar and Pompey on the opposite shores +of the Adriatic Sea was one of the grandest preparations for conflict +that history has recorded, and the whole world gazed upon the spectacle +at the time with an intense and eager interest, which was heightened by +the awe and terror which the danger inspired. During the year while +Caesar had been completing his work of subduing and arranging all the +western part of the empire, Pompey had been gathering from the eastern +division every possible contribution to swell the military force under +his command, and had been concentrating all these elements of power on +the coasts of Macedon and Greece, opposite to Brundusium, where he knew +that Caesar would attempt to cross the Adriatic Sea, His camps, his +detachments, his troops of archers and slingers, and his squadrons of +horse, filled the land, while every port was guarded, and the line of +the coast was environed by batteries and castles on the rocks, and +fleets of galleys on the water. Caesar advanced with his immense army to +Brundusium, on the opposite shore, in December, so that, in addition to +the formidable resistance prepared for him by his enemy on the coast, he +had to encounter the wild surges of the Adriatic, rolling perpetually in +the dark and gloomy commotion always raised in such wide seas by +wintery storms.</p> + +<p class="side">His address to his army.</p> + +<p>Caesar had no ships, for Pompey had cleared the seas of every thing +which could aid him in his intended passage. By great efforts, however, +he succeeded at length in getting together a sufficient number of +galleys to convey over a part of his army, provided he took the men +alone, and left all his military stores and baggage behind. He gathered +his army together, therefore, and made them an address, representing +that they were now drawing toward the end of all their dangers and +toils. They were about to meet their great enemy for a final conflict. +It was not necessary to take their servants, their baggage, and their +stores across the sea, for they were sure of victory, and victory would +furnish them with ample supplies from those whom they were about +to conquer.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar crosses the Adriatic.</p> + +<p>The soldiers eagerly imbibed the spirit of confidence and courage which +Caesar himself expressed. A large detachment embarked and put to sea, +and, after being tossed all night upon the cold and stormy waters, they +approached the shore at some distance to the northward of the place +where Pompey's fleets had expected them. It was at a point where the +mountains came down near to the sea, rendering the coast rugged and +dangerous with shelving rocks and frowning promontories. Here Caesar +succeeded in effecting a landing of the first division of his troops, +and then sent back the fleet for the remainder.</p> + +<p class="side">He subdues several towns.<br> +Caesar's advance.<br> +Distress of the armies.</p> + +<p>The news of his passage spread rapidly to all Pompey's stations along +the coast, and the ships began to gather, and the armies to march toward +the point where Caesar had effected his landing. The conflict and +struggle commenced. One of Pompey's admirals intercepted the fleet of +galleys on their return, and seized and burned a large number of them, +with all who were on board. This, of course, only renewed the determined +desperation of the remainder. Caesar advanced along the coast with the +troops which he had landed, driving Pompey's troops before him, and +subduing town after town as he advanced. The country was filled with +terror and dismay. The portion of the army which Caesar had left behind +could not now cross, partly on account of the stormy condition of the +seas, the diminished number of the ships, and the redoubled vigilance +with which Pompey's forces now guarded the shores, but mainly because +Caesar was now no longer with them to inspire them with his reckless, +though calm and quiet daring. They remained, therefore, in anxiety and +distress, on the Italian shore. As Caesar, on the other hand, advanced +along the Macedonian shore, and drove Pompey back into the interior, he +cut off the communication between Pompey's ships and the land, so that +the fleet was soon reduced to great distress for want of provisions and +water. The men kept themselves from perishing with thirst by collecting +the dew which fell upon the decks of their galleys. Caesar's army was +also in distress, for Pompey's fleets cut off all supplies by water, and +his troops hemmed them in on the side of the land; and, lastly, Pompey +himself, with the immense army that was under his command, began to be +struck with alarm at the impending danger with which they were +threatened. Pompey little realized, however, how dreadful a fate was +soon to overwhelm him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's impatience.<br> +He attempts to cross the Adriatic.</p> + +<p>The winter months rolled away, and nothing effectual was done. The +forces, alternating and intermingled, as above described, kept each +other in a continued state of anxiety and suffering. Caesar became +impatient at the delay of that portion of his army that he had left on +the Italian shore. The messages of encouragement and of urgency which he +sent across to them did not bring them over, and at length, one dark and +stormy night, when he thought that the inclemency of the skies and the +heavy surging of the swell in the offing would drive his vigilant +enemies into places of shelter, and put them off their guard, he +determined to cross the sea himself and bring his hesitating army over. +He ordered a galley to be prepared, and went on board of it disguised, +and with his head muffled in his mantle, intending that not even the +officers or crew of the ship which was to convey him should know of his +design. The galley, in obedience to orders, put off from the shore. The +mariners endeavored in vain for some time to make head against the +violence of the wind and the heavy concussions of the waves, and at +length, terrified at the imminence of the danger to which so wild and +tumultuous a sea on such a night exposed them, refused to proceed, and +the commander gave them orders to return. Caesar then came forward, +threw off his mantle, and said to them, "Friends! you have nothing to +fear. You are carrying Caesar."</p> + +<p>The men were, of course, inspirited anew by this disclosure, but all was +in vain. The obstacles to the passage proved insurmountable, and the +galley, to avoid certain destruction, was compelled to return.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar lands the remainder of his army.</p> + +<p>The army, however, on the Italian side, hearing of Caesar's attempt to +return to them, fruitless though it was, and stimulated by the renewed +urgency of the orders which he now sent to them, made arrangements at +last for an embarkation, and, after encountering great dangers on the +way, succeeded in landing in safety. Caesar, thus strengthened, began to +plan more decided operations for the coming spring.</p> + +<p class="side">Attempts at negotiation.<br> +Conferences.<br> +End in violence and disorder.</p> + +<p>There were some attempts at negotiation. The armies were so exasperated +against each other on account of the privations and hardships which each +compelled the other to suffer, that they felt too strong a mutual +distrust to attempt any regular communication by commissioners or +ambassadors appointed for the purpose. They came to a parley, however, +in one or two instances, though the interviews led to no result. As the +missiles used in those days were such as could only be thrown to a very +short distance, hostile bodies of men could approach much nearer to each +other then than is possible now, when projectiles of the most terribly +destructive character can be thrown for miles. In one instance, some of +the ships of Pompey's fleet approached so near to the shore as to open a +conference with one or two of Caesar's lieutenants who were encamped +there. In another case, two bodies of troops from the respective armies +were separated only by a river, and the officers and soldiers came down +to the banks on either side, and held frequent conversations, calling to +each other in loud voices across the water. In this way they succeeded +in so far coming to an agreement as to fix upon a time and place for a +more formal conference, to be held by commissioners chosen on each side. +This conference was thus held, but each party came to it accompanied by +a considerable body of attendants, and these, as might have been +anticipated, came into open collision while the discussion was pending; +thus the meeting consequently ended in violence and disorder, each party +accusing the other of violating the faith which both had plighted.</p> + +<p class="side">Undecided warfare.<br> +Bread made of roots.</p> + +<p>This slow and undecided mode of warfare between the two vast armies +continued for many months without any decisive results. There were +skirmishes, struggles, sieges, blockades, and many brief and partial +conflicts, but no general and decided battle. Now the advantage seemed +on one side, and now on the other. Pompey so hemmed in Caesar's troops +at one period, and so cut off his supplies, that the men were reduced to +extreme distress for food. At length they found a kind of root which +they dug from the ground, and, after drying and pulverizing it, they +made a sort of bread of the powder, which the soldiers were willing to +eat rather than either starve or give up the contest. They told Caesar, +in fact, that they would live on the bark of trees rather than abandon +his cause. Pompey's soldiers, at one time, coming near to the walls of a +town which they occupied, taunted and jeered them on account of their +wretched destitution of food. Caesar's soldiers threw loaves of this +bread at them in return, by way of symbol that they were +abundantly supplied.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar hems Pompey in.<br> +Anxiety of the rivals.</p> + +<p>After some time the tide of fortune turned Caesar contrived, by a +succession of adroit maneuvers and movements, to escape from his toils, +and to circumvent and surround Pompey's forces so as soon to make them +suffer destitution and distress in their turn. He cut off all +communication between them and the country at large, and turned away the +brooks and streams from flowing through the ground they occupied. An +army of forty or fifty thousand men, with the immense number of horses +and beasts of burden which accompany them, require very large supplies +of water, and any destitution or even scarcity of water leads +immediately to the most dreadful consequences. Pompey's troops dug +wells, but they obtained only very insufficient supplies. Great numbers +of beasts of burden died, and their decaying bodies so tainted the air +as to produce epidemic diseases, which destroyed many of the troops, and +depressed and disheartened those whom they did not destroy.</p> + +<p class="side">Nature of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.<br> +Both hesitate.</p> + +<p>During all these operations there was no decisive general battle. Each +one of the great rivals knew very well that his defeat in one general +battle would be his utter and irretrievable ruin. In a war between two +independent nations, a single victory, however complete, seldom +terminates the struggle, for the defeated party has the resources of a +whole realm to fall back upon, which are sometimes called forth with +renewed vigor after experiencing such reverses; and then defeat in such +cases, even if it be final, does not necessarily involve the ruin of the +unsuccessful commander. He may negotiate an honorable peace, and return +to his own land in safety; and, if his misfortunes are considered by his +countrymen as owing not to any dereliction from his duty as a soldier, +but to the influence of adverse circumstances which no human skill or +resolution could have controlled, he may spend the remainder of his days +in prosperity and honor. The contest, however, between Caesar and Pompey +was not of this character. One or the other of them was a traitor and a +usurper--an enemy to his country. The result of a battle would decide +which of the two was to stand in this attitude. Victory would legitimize +and confirm the authority of one, and make it supreme over the whole +civilized world. Defeat was to annihilate the power of the other, and +make him a fugitive and a vagabond, without friends, without home, +without country. It was a desperate stake; and it is not at all +surprising that both parties lingered and hesitated, and postponed the +throwing of the die.</p> + +<p class="side">The armies enter Thessaly.</p> + +<p>At length Pompey, rendered desperate by the urgency of the destitution +and distress into which Caesar had shut him, made a series of rigorous +and successful attacks upon Caesar's lines, by which he broke away in +his turn from his enemy's grasp, and the two armies moved slowly back +into the interior of the country, hovering in the vicinity of each +other, like birds of prey contending in the air, each continually +striking at the other, and moving onward at the same time to gain some +position of advantage, or to circumvent the other in such a design. They +passed on in this manner over plains, and across rivers, and through +mountain passes, until at length they reached the heart of Thessaly. +Here at last the armies came to a stand and fought the final battle.</p> + +<a name="Illus0281"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0281.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0281.jpg" width = "40%" +alt="ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS."> +</a><br> +<b>ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">The plain of Pharsalia.<br> +Roman standard bearers.<br> +Pompey draws up his army.<br> +Forces on both sides.</p> + +<p>The place was known then as the plain of Pharsalia, and the greatness of +the contest which was decided there has immortalized its name. Pompey's +forces were far more numerous than those of Caesar, and the advantage in +all the partial contests which had taken place for some time had been on +his side; he felt, consequently, sure of victory. He drew up his men in +a line, one flank resting upon the bank of a river, which protected them +from attack on that side. From this point, the long line of legions, +drawn up in battle array, extended out upon the plain, and was +terminated at the other extremity by strong squadrons of horse, and +bodies of slingers and archers, so as to give the force of weapons and +the activity of men as great a range as possible there, in order to +prevent Caesar's being able to outflank and surround them There was, +however, apparently very little danger of this, for Caesar, according to +his own story, had but about half as strong a force as Pompey. The army +of the latter, he says, consisted of nearly fifty thousand men, while +his own number was between twenty and thirty thousand. Generals, +however, are prone to magnify the military grandeur of their exploits by +overrating the strength with which they had to contend, and +under-estimating their own. We are therefore to receive with some +distrust the statements made by Caesar and his partisans; and as for +Pompey's story, the total and irreparable ruin in which he himself and +all who adhered to him were entirely overwhelmed immediately after the +battle, prevented its being ever told.</p> + +<p class="side">Appearance of Pompey's camp.<br> +Pompey's tent.</p> + +<p>In the rear of the plain where Pompey's lines were extended was the camp +from which the army had been drawn out to prepare for the battle. The +camp fires of the preceding night were moldering away, for it was a warm +summer morning; the intrenchments were guarded, and the tents, now +nearly empty, stood extended in long rows within the inclosure. In the +midst of them was the magnificent pavilion of the general, furnished +with every imaginable article of luxury and splendor. Attendants were +busy here and there, some rearranging what had been left in disorder by +the call to arms by which the troops had been summoned from their places +of rest, and others providing refreshments-and food for their victorious +comrades when they should return from the battle. In Pompey's tent a +magnificent entertainment was preparing. The tables were spread with +every luxury, the sideboards were loaded with plate, and the whole scene +was resplendent with utensils and decorations of silver and gold.</p> + +<p class="side">His confidence of victory.</p> + +<p>Pompey and all his generals were perfectly certain of victory. In fact, +the peace and harmony of their councils in camp had been destroyed for +many days by their contentions and disputes about the disposal of the +high offices, and the places of profit and power at Rome, which were to +come into their hands when Caesar should have been subdued. The subduing +of Caesar they considered only a question of time; and, as a question of +time, it was now reduced to very narrow limits. A few days more, and +they were to be masters of the whole Roman empire, and, impatient and +greedy, they disputed in anticipation about the division of the spoils.</p> + +<p>To make assurance doubly sure, Pompey gave orders that his troops +should not advance to meet the onset of Caesar's troops on the middle +ground between the two armies, but that they should wait calmly for the +attack, and receive the enemy at the posts where they had themselves +been arrayed.</p> + +<p class="side">The battle of Pharsalia.<br> +Defeat of Pompey.<br> +Scene of horror.</p> + +<p>The hour at length arrived, the charge was sounded by the trumpets, and +Caesar's troops began to advance with loud shouts and great impetuosity +toward Pompey's lines. There was a long and terrible struggle, but the +forces of Pompey began finally to give way. Notwithstanding the +precautions which Pompey had taken to guard and protect the wing of his +army which was extended toward the land, Caesar succeeded in turning his +flank upon that side by driving off the cavalry and destroying the +archers and slingers, and he was thus enabled to throw a strong force +upon Pompey's rear. The flight then soon became general, and a scene of +dreadful confusion and slaughter ensued. The soldiers of Caesar's army, +maddened with the insane rage which the progress of a battle never fails +to awaken, and now excited to phrensy by the exultation of success, +pressed on after the affrighted fugitives, who trampled one upon +another, or fell pierced with the weapons of their assailants, filling +the air with their cries of agony and their shrieks of terror. The +horrors of the scene, far from allaying, only excited still more the +ferocity of their bloodthirsty foes, and they pressed steadily and +fiercely on, hour after hour, in their dreadful work of destruction. It +was one of those scenes of horror and woe such as those who have not +witnessed them can not conceive of, and those who have witnessed can +never forget.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's flight to the camp.<br> +Pompey in his tent.<br> +His consternation and despair.</p> + +<p>When Pompey perceived that all was lost, he fled from the field in a +state of the wildest excitement and consternation. His troops were +flying in all directions, some toward the camp, vainly hoping to find +refuge there, and others in various other quarters, wherever they saw +the readiest hope of escape from their merciless pursuers. Pompey +himself fled instinctively toward the camp. As he passed the guards at +the gate where he entered, he commanded them, in his agitation and +terror, to defend the gate against the coming enemy, saying that he was +going to the other gates to attend to the defenses there. He then +hurried on, but a full sense of the helplessness and hopelessness of his +condition soon overwhelmed him; he gave up all thought of defense, and, +passing with a sinking heart through the scene of consternation and +confusion which reigned every where within the encampment, he sought +his own tent, and, rushing into it, sank down, amid the luxury and +splendor which had been arranged to do honor to his anticipated victory, +in a state of utter stupefaction and despair.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VIII."></a>CHAPTER VIII.</h2> + +<h3>FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY.</h3> + +<p class="side">Pursuit of the vanquished.<br> +Pompey recovers himself.</p> + +<p>Caesar pursued the discomfited and flying bodies of Pompey's army to the +camp. They made a brief stand upon the ramparts and at the gates in a +vain and fruitless struggle against the tide of victory which they soon +perceived must fully overwhelm them. They gave way continually here and +there along the lines of intrenchment, and column after column of +Caesar's followers broke through into the camp. Pompey, hearing from his +tent the increasing noise and uproar, was at length aroused from his +stupor, and began to summon his faculties to the question what he was to +do. At length a party of fugitives, hotly pursued by some of Caesar's +soldiers, broke into his tent. "What!" said Pompey, "into my tent too!" +He had been for more than thirty years a victorious general, accustomed +to all the deference and respect which boundless wealth, extended and +absolute power, and the highest military rank could afford. In the +encampments which he had made, and in the cities which he had occupied +from time to time, he had been the supreme and unquestioned master, and +his tent, arranged and furnished, as it had always been, in a style of +the utmost magnificence and splendor, had been sacred from all +intrusion, and invested with such a dignity that potentates and princes +were impressed when they entered, with a feeling of deference and awe. +Now, rude soldiers burst wildly into it, and the air without was filled +with an uproar and confusion, drawing every moment nearer and nearer, +and warning the fallen hero that there was no longer any protection +there against the approaching torrent which was coming on to +overwhelm him.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey disguises himself.<br> +He escapes from the camp.</p> + +<p>Pompey aroused himself from his stupor, threw off the military dress +which belonged to his rank and station, and assumed a hasty disguise, in +which he hoped he might make his escape from the immediate scene of his +calamities. He mounted a horse and rode out of the camp at the easiest +place of egress in the rear, in company with bodies of troops and guards +who were also flying in confusion, while Caesar and his forces on the +other side were carrying the intrenchments and forcing their way in. As +soon is he had thus made his escape from the immediate scene of danger, +he dismounted and left his horse, that he might assume more completely +the appearance of a common soldier, and, with a few attendants who were +willing to follow his fallen fortunes, he went on to the eastward, +directing his weary steps toward the shores of the Aegean Sea.</p> + +<p class="side">The Vale of Tempe.<br> +Its picturesqueness.<br> +Pompey's sufferings.<br> +A drink of water.</p> + +<p>The country through which he was traveling was Thessaly. Thessaly is a +vast amphitheater, surrounded by mountains, from whose sides streams +descend, which, after watering many fertile valleys and plains, combine +to form one great central river that flows to the eastward, and after +various meanderings, finds its way into the Aegean Sea through a +romantic gap between two mountains, called the Vale of Tempe--a vale +which has been famed in all ages for the extreme picturesqueness of its +scenery, and in which, in those days, all the charms both of the most +alluring beauty and of the sublimest grandeur seemed to be combined. +Pompey followed the roads leading along the banks of this stream, weary +in body, and harassed and disconsolate in mind. The news which came to +him from time to time, by the flying parties which were moving through +the country in all directions, of the entire and overwhelming +completeness of Caesar's victory, extinguished all remains of hope, and +narrowed down at last the grounds of his solicitude to the single point +of his own personal safety. He was well aware that he should be pursued, +and, to baffle the efforts which he knew that his enemies would make to +follow his track, he avoided large towns, and pressed forward in by-ways +and solitudes, bearing as patiently as he was able his increasing +destitution and distress. He reached, at length, the Vale of Tempe, and +there, exhausted with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, he sat down upon the +bank of the stream to recover by a little rest strength enough for the +remainder of his weary way. He wished for a drink, but he had nothing to +drink from. And so the mighty potentate, whose tent was full of +delicious beverages, and cups and goblets of silver and gold, extended +himself down upon the sand at the margin of the river, and drank the +warm water directly from the stream.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Pompey's camp.</p> + +<p>While Pompey was thus anxiously and toilsomely endeavoring to gain the +sea-shore, Caesar was completing his victory over the army which he had +left behind him. When Caesar had carried the intrenchments of the camp, +and the army found that there was no longer any safety for them there, +they continued their retreat under the guidance of such generals as +remained. Caesar thus gained undisputed possession of the camp. He found +every where the marks of wealth and luxury, and indications of the +confident expectation of victory which the discomfited army had +entertained. The tents of the generals were crowned with myrtle, the +beds were strewed with flowers, and tables every where were spread for +feasts, with cups and bowls of wine all ready for the expected revelers. +Caesar took possession of the whole, stationed a proper guard to protect +the property, and then pressed forward with his army in pursuit of +the enemy.</p> + +<p class="side">Retreat of Pompey's army.<br> +Surrender of Pompey's army.</p> + +<p>Pompey's army made their way to a neighboring rising ground, where they +threw up hasty intrenchments to protect themselves for the night. A +rivulet ran near the hill, the access to which they endeavored to +secure, in order to obtain supplies of water. Caesar and his forces +followed them to this spot. The day was gone, and it was too late to +attack them. Caesar's soldiers, too, were exhausted with the intense and +protracted excitement and exertions which had now been kept up for many +hours in the battle and in the pursuit, and they needed repose. They +made, however, one effort more. They seized the avenue of approach to +the rivulet, and threw up a temporary intrenchment to secure it which +intrenchment they protected with a guard; and then the army retired to +rest, leaving their helpless victims to while away the hours of the +night, tormented with thirst, and overwhelmed with anxiety and despair. +This could not long be endured. They surrendered in the morning, and +Caesar found himself in possession of over twenty thousand prisoners.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey in the Vale of Tempe.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Pompey passed on through the Vale of Tempe toward the +sea, regardless of the beauty and splendor that surrounded him, and +thinking only of his fallen fortunes, and revolving despairingly in his +mind the various forms in which the final consummation of his ruin might +ultimately come. At length he reached the sea-shore, and found refuge +for the night in a fisherman's cabin. A small number of attendants +remained with him, some of whom were slaves. These he now dismissed, +directing them to return and surrender themselves to Caesar, saying that +he was a generous foe, and that they had nothing to fear from him. His +other attendants he retained, and he made arrangements for a boat to +take him the next day along the coast. It was a river boat, and +unsuited to the open sea, but it was all that he could obtain.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey embarks on board a vessel.<br> +The shipmaster's dream.</p> + +<p>He arose the next morning at break of day, and embarked in the little +vessel, with two or three attendants, and the oarsmen began to row away +along the shore. They soon came in sight of a merchant ship just ready +to sail. The master of this vessel, it happened, had seen Pompey, and +knew his countenance, and he had dreamed, as a famous historian of the +times relates, on the night before, that Pompey had come to him hi the +guise of a simple soldier and in great distress, and that he had +received and rescued him. There was nothing extraordinary in such a +dream at such a time, as the contest between Caesar and Pompey, and the +approach of the final collision which was to destroy one or the other of +them, filled the minds and occupied the conversation of the world. The +shipmaster, therefore, having seen and known one of the great rivals in +the approaching conflict, would naturally find both his waking and +sleeping thoughts dwelling on the subject; and his fancy, in his dreams, +might easily picture the scene of his rescuing and saving the fallen +hero in the hour of his distress.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey goes on board a merchant ship.</p> + +<p>However this may be, the shipmaster is said to have been relating his +dream to the seamen on the deck of his vessel when the boat which was +conveying Pompey came into view. Pompey himself, having escaped from the +land, supposed all immediate danger over, not imagining that seafaring +men would recognize him in such a situation and in such a disguise. The +shipmaster did, however, recognize him. He was overwhelmed with grief at +seeing him in such a condition. With a countenance and with gestures +expressive of earnest surprise and sorrow, he beckoned to Pompey to come +on board. He ordered his own ship's boat to be immediately let down to +meet and receive him. Pompey came on board. The ship was given up to his +possession, and every possible arrangement was made to supply his wants, +to contribute to his comfort, and to do him honor.</p> + +<p class="side">His arrival at Amphipolis.</p> + +<p>The vessel conveyed him to Amphipolis, a city of Macedonia near the sea, +and to the northward and eastward of the place where he had embarked. +When Pompey arrived at the port he sent proclamations to the shore, +calling upon the inhabitants to take arms and join his standard. He did +not, however, land, or take any other measures for carrying these +arrangements into effect. He only waited in the river upon which +Amphipolis stands long enough to receive a supply of money from some of +his friends on the shore, and stores for his voyage, and then get sail +again. Whether he learned that Caesar was advancing in that direction +with a force too strong for him to encounter, or found that the people +were disinclined to espouse his cause, or whether the whole movement was +a feint to direct Caesar's attention to Macedon as the field of his +operations, in order that he might escape more secretly and safely +beyond the sea, can not now be ascertained.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's wife Cornelia.<br> +Her beauty and accomplishments.</p> + +<p>Pompey's wife Cornelia was on the island of Lesbos, at Mitylene, near +the western coast of Asia Minor. She was a lady of distinguished beauty, +and of great intellectual superiority and moral worth. She was extremely +well versed in all the learning of the times, and yet was entirely free +from those peculiarities and airs which, as her historian says, were +often observed in learned ladies in those days. Pompey had married her +after the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter. They were strongly devoted +to each other. Pompey had provided for her a beautiful retreat on the +island of Lesbos, where she was living in elegance and splendor, +beloved for her own intrinsic charms, and highly honored on account of +the greatness and fame of her husband. Here she had received from time +to time glowing accounts of his success all exaggerated as they came to +her, through the eager desire of the narrators to give her pleasure.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's arrival at Mitylene.<br> +His meeting with Cornelia.</p> + +<p>From this high elevation of honor and happiness the ill-fated Cornelia +suddenly fell, on the arrival of Pompey's solitary vessel at Mitylene, +bringing as it did, at the same time, both the first intelligence of her +husband's fall, and himself in person, a ruined and homeless fugitive +and wanderer. The meeting was sad and sorrowful. Cornelia was +overwhelmed at the suddenness and violence of the shock which it brought +her, and Pompey lamented anew the dreadful disaster that he had +sustained, at finding how inevitably it must involve his beloved wife as +well as himself in its irreparable ruin.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey gathers a little fleet.</p> + +<p>The pain, however, was not wholly without some mingling of pleasure. A +husband finds a strange sense of protection and safety in the presence +and sympathy of an affectionate wife in the hour of his calamity. She +can, perhaps do nothing, but her mute and sorrowful concern and pity +comfort and reassure him. Cornelia, however, was able to render her +husband some essential aid. She resolved immediately to accompany him +wherever he should go; and, by their joint endeavors, a little fleet was +gathered, and such supplies as could be hastily obtained, and such +attendants and followers as were willing to share his fate, were taken +on board. During all this time Pompey would not go on shore himself, but +remained on board, his ship in the harbor. Perhaps he was afraid of some +treachery or surprise, or perhaps, in his fallen and hopeless condition, +he was unwilling to expose himself to the gaze of those who had so often +seen him in all the splendor of his former power.</p> + +<p class="side">He sails along the Mediterranean.<br> +Pompey receives additional supplies.</p> + +<p>At length, when all was ready, he sailed away. He passed eastward along +the Mediterranean, touching at such ports as he supposed most likely to +favor his cause. Vague and uncertain, but still alarming rumors that +Caesar was advancing in pursuit of him met him every where, and the +people of the various provinces were taking sides, some in his favor and +some against him, the excitement being every where so great that the +utmost caution and circumspection were required in all his movements. +Sometimes he was refused permission to land; at others, his friends +were too few to afford him protection; and at others still, though the +authorities professed friendship, he did not dare to trust them. He +obtained, however, some supplies of money and some accessions to the +number of ships and men under his command, until at length he had quite +a little fleet in his train. Several men of rank and influence, who had +served under him in the days of his prosperity, nobly adhered to him +now, and formed a sort of court or council on board his galley, where +they held with their great though fallen commander frequent +conversations on the plan which it was best to pursue.</p> + +<p class="side">He seeks refuge in Egypt.<br> +Ptolemy and Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>It was finally decided that it was best to seek refuge in Egypt. There +seemed to be, in fact, no alternative. All the rest of the world was +evidently going over to Caesar. Pompey had been the means, some years +before, of restoring a certain king of Egypt to his throne, and many of +his soldiers had been left in the country, and remained there still. It +is true that the king himself had died. He had left a daughter named +Cleopatra, and also a son, who was at this time very young. The name of +this youthful prince was Ptolemy. Ptolemy and Cleopatra bad been made by +their father joint heirs to the throne. But Ptolemy, or, rather, the +ministers and counselors who acted for him and in his name, had expelled +Cleopatra, that they might govern alone. Cleopatra had raised an army in +Syria, and was on her way to the frontiers of Egypt to regain possession +of what she deemed her rights. Ptolemy's ministers had gone forth to +meet her at the head of their own troops, 'Ptolemy himself being also +with them. They had reached Pelusium, which is the frontier town between +Egypt and Syria on the coast of the Mediterranean. Here their armies had +assembled in vast encampments upon the land, and their galleys and +transports were riding at anchor along the shore of the sea. Pompey and +his-counselors thought that the government of Ptolemy would receive him +as a friend, on account of the services he had rendered to the young +prince's father, forgetting that gratitude has never a place on the list +of political virtues.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey arrives at Pelusium.</p> + +<p>Pompey's little squadron made its way slowly over the waters of the +Mediterranean toward Pelusium and the camp of Ptolemy. As they +approached the shore, both Pompey himself and Cornelia felt many anxious +forebodings. A messenger was sent to the land to inform the young king +of Pompey's approach, and to solicit his protection. The government of +Ptolemy held a council, and took the subject into consideration.</p> + +<p class="side">Ptolemy's council resolve to murder Pompey.</p> + +<p>Various opinions were expressed, and various plans were proposed. The +counsel which was finally followed was this. It would be dangerous to +receive Pompey, since that would make Caesar their enemy. It would be +dangerous to refuse to receive him, as that would make Pompey their +enemy, and, though powerless now, he might one day be in a condition to +seek vengeance. It was wisest, therefore, to destroy him. They would +invite him to the shore, and kill him when he landed. This would please +Caesar; and Pompey himself, being dead, could never revenge it. "Dead +dogs," as the orator said who made this atrocious proposal, "do +not bite."</p> + +<p class="side">The assassin Achillas.</p> + +<p>An Egyptian, named Achillas, was appointed to execute the assassination +thus decreed. An invitation was sent to Pompey to land, accompanied with +a promise of protection; and, when his fleet had approached near enough +to the shore, Achillas took a small party in a boat, and went out to +meet his galley. The men in this boat, of course, were armed.</p> + +<p class="side">Suspicions of Pompey's friends.<br> +Entreaties of Cornelia.<br> +Pompey's forlorn condition.<br> +He determines to land.</p> + +<p>The officers and attendants of Pompey watched all these movements from +the deck of his galley. They scrutinized every thing that occurred with +the closest attention and the greatest anxiety, to see whether the +indications denoted an honest friendship or intentions of treachery. The +appearances were not favorable. Pompey's friends observed that no +preparations were making along the shore for receiving him with the +honors due, as they thought, to his rank and station. The manner, too, +in which the Egyptians seemed to expect him to land was ominous of evil. +Only a single insignificant boat for a potentate who recently had +commanded half the world! Then, besides, the friends of Pompey observed +that several of the principal galleys of Ptolemy's fleet were getting up +their anchors, and preparing apparently to be ready to move at a sudden +call These and other indications appeared much more like preparations +for seizing an enemy than welcoming a friend. Cornelia, who, with her +little son, stood upon the deck of Pompey's galley, watching the scene +with a peculiar intensity of solicitude which the hardy soldiers around +her could not have felt, became soon exceedingly alarm ad. She begged +her husband Dot to go on shore. But Pompey decided that it was now too +late to retreat. He could not escape from the Egyptian galleys if they +had received orders to intercept him, nor could he resist violence if +violence were intended. To do any thing like that would evince distrust, +and to appear like putting himself upon his guard would be to take at +once, himself, the position of an enemy, and invite and justify the +hostility of the Egyptians in return. As to flight, he could not hope to +escape from the Egyptian galleys if they had received orders to prevent +it; and, besides, if he were determined on attempting an escape, whither +should he fly? The world was against him. His triumphant enemy was on +his track in full pursuit, with all the vast powers and resources of the +whole Roman empire at his command. There remained for Pompey only the +last forlorn hope of a refuge in Egypt, or else, as the sole +alternative, a complete and unconditional submission to Caesar. His +pride would not consent to this, and he determined, therefore, dark as +the indications were, to place himself, without any appearance of +distrust, in Ptolemy's hands, and abide the issue.</p> + +<p>The boat of Achillas approached the galley. When it touched the side, +Achillas and the other officers on board of it hailed Pompey in the most +respectful manner, giving him the title of Imperator, the highest title +known in the Roman state. Achillas addressed Pompey in Greek. The Greek +was the language of educated men in all the Eastern countries in those +days. He told him that the water was too shallow for his galley to +approach nearer to the shore, and invited him to come on board of his +boat, and he would take him to the beach, where, as he said, the king +was waiting to receive him.</p> + +<p class="side">Preparations for landing.<br> +Pompey takes leave of his wife.</p> + +<p>With many anxious forebodings, that were but ill concealed, Pompey made +preparations to accept the invitation. He bade his wife farewell, who +clung to him as they were about to part with a gloomy presentiment that +they should never meet again. Two centurions who were to accompany +Pompey, and two servants, descended into the boat. Pompey himself +followed, and then the boatmen pushed off from the galley and made +toward the shore. The decks of all the vessels in Pompey's little +squadron, as well as those of the Egyptian fleet, were crowded with +spectators, and lines of soldiery and groups of men, all intently +watching the operations of the landing, were scattered along the shore.</p> + +<p class="side">The assassins.<br> +Gloomy silence.</p> + +<p>Among the men whom Achillas had provided to aid him in the assassination +was an offieer of the Roman army who had formerly served under Pompey. +As soon as Pompey was seated in the boat, he recognized the countenance +of this man, and addressed him, saying, "I think I remember you as +having been in former days my fellow-soldier." The man replied merely by +a nod of assent. Feeling somewhat guilty and self-condemned at the +thoughts of the treachery which he was about to perpetrate, he was +little inclined to renew the recollection of the days when he was +Pompey's friend. In fact, the whole company in the boat, filled on the +one part with awe in anticipation of the terrible deed which they were +soon to commit, and on the other with a dread suspense and alarm, were +little disposed for conversation, and Pompey took out a manuscript of an +address in Greek which he had prepared to make to the young king at his +approaching interview with him, and occupied himself in reading it over. +Thus they advanced in a gloomy and solemn silence, hearing no sound but +the dip of the oars in the water, and the gentle dash of the waves along +the line of the shore.</p> + +<p class="side">Assassination of Pompey.</p> + +<p>At length the boat touched the sand, while Cornelia still stood on the +deck of the galley, watching every movement with great solicitude and +concern. One of the two servants whom Pompey had taken with him, named +Philip, his favorite personal attendant, rose to assist his master in +landing. He gave Pompey his hand to aid him in rising from his seat, and +at that moment the Roman officer whom Pompey had recognized as his +fellow-soldier, advanced behind him and stabbed him in the back. At the +same instant Achillas and the others drew their swords. Pompey saw that +all was lost. He did not speak, and he uttered no cry of alarm, though +Cornelia's dreadful shriek was so loud and piercing that it was heard +upon the shore. From the suffering victim himself nothing was heard but +an inarticulate groan extorted by his agony. He gathered his mantle over +his face, and sank down and died.</p> + +<p class="side">Cornelia.<br> +The funeral pile.<br> +Pompey's ashes sent to Cornelia.</p> + +<p>Of course, all was now excitement and confusion. As soon as the deed was +done, the perpetrators of it retired from the scene, taking the head of +their unhappy victim with them, to offer to Caesar as proof that his +enemy was really no more. The officers who remained in the fleet which +had brought Pompey to the coast made all haste to sail away, bearing the +wretched Cornelia with them, utterly distracted with grief and despair, +while Philip and his fellow-servant remained upon the beach, standing +bewildered and stupefied over the headless body of their beloved master. +Crowds of spectators came in succession to look upon the hideous +spectacle a moment in silence, and then to turn, shocked and repelled, +away. At length, when the first impulse of excitement had in some +measure spent its force, Philip and his comrades so far recovered their +composure as to begin to turn their thoughts to the only consolation +that was now left to them, that of performing the solemn duties of +sepulture. They found the wreck of a fishing boat upon the strand, from +which they obtained wood enough for a rude funeral pile. They burned +what remained of the mutilated body, and, gathering up the ashes, they +put them in an urn and sent them to Cornelia, who afterward buried them +at Alba with many bitter tears.</p> + +<a name="Illus0282"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0282.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0282.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="Death of Pompey."> +</a><br> +<b>Death of Pompey.</b> +</P><br> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX."></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>CAESAR IN EGYPT.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia.</p> + +<p>Caesar surveyed the field of battle after the victory of Pharsalia, not +with the feelings of exultation which might have been expected in a +victorious general, but with compassion and sorrow for the fallen +soldiers whose dead bodies covered the ground. After gazing upon the +scene sadly and in silence for a time, he said, "They would have it so," +and thus dismissed from his mind all sense of his own responsibility for +the consequences which had ensued.</p> + +<p class="side">His clemency.<br> +Caesar pursues Pompey.</p> + +<p>He treated the immense body of prisoners which had fallen into his hands +with great clemency, partly from the natural impulses of his +disposition, which were always generous and noble, and partly from +policy, that he might conciliate them all, officers and soldiers, to +acquiescence in his future rule. He then sent back a large portion of +his force to Italy, and, taking a body of cavalry from the rest, in +order that he might advance with the utmost possible rapidity, he set +off through Thessaly and Macedon in pursuit of his fugitive foe.</p> + +<p class="side">Treasures of the Temple of Diana.</p> + +<p>He had no naval force at his command, and he accordingly kept upon the +land. Besides, he wished, by moving through the country at the head of +an armed force, to make a demonstration which should put down any +attempt that might be made in arty quarter to rally or concentrate a +force in Pompey's favor. He crossed the Hellespont, and moved down the +coast of Asia Minor. There was a great temple consecrated to Diana at +Ephesus, which, for its wealth and magnificence, was then the wonder of +the world. The authorities who had it in their charge, not aware of +Caesar's approach, had concluded to withdraw the treasures from the +temple and loan them to Pompey, to be repaid when he should have +regained his Dower. An assembly was accordingly convened to witness the +delivery of the treasures, and take note of their value, which ceremony +was to be performed with great formality and parade, when they learned +that Caesar had crossed the Hellespont and was drawing near. The whole +proceeding was thus arrested, and the treasures were retained.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Asia Minor.<br> +He sails for Egypt.</p> + +<p>Caesar passed rapidly on through Asia Minor, examining and comparing, +as he advanced, the vague rumors which were continually coming in in +respect to Pompey's movements. He learned at length that he had gone to +Cyprus; he presumed that his destination was Egypt, and he immediately +resolved to provide himself with a fleet, and follow him thither by sea. +As time passed on, and the news of Pompey's defeat and flight, and of +Caesar's triumphant pursuit of him, became generally extended and +confirmed, the various powers ruling in all that region of the world +abandoned one after another the hopeless cause, and began to adhere to +Caesar. They offered him such resources and aid as he might desire. He +did not, however, stop to organize a large fleet or to collect an army. +He depended, like Napoleon, in all the great movements of his life, not +on grandeur of preparation, but on celerity of action. He organized at +Rhodes a small but very efficient fleet of ten galleys, and, embarking +his best troops in them, he made sail for the coasts of Egypt. Pompey +had landed at Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, having heard that the +young king and his court were there to meet and resist Cleopatra's +invasion. Caesar, however, with the characteristic boldness and energy +of his character, proceeded directly to Alexandria, the capital.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar at Alexandria.</p> + +<p>Egypt was, in those days, an <i>ally</i> of the Romans, as the phrase was; +that is, the country, though it preserved its independent organization +and its forms of royalty, was still united to the Roman people by an +intimate league, so as to form an integral part of the great empire. +Caesar, consequently, in appearing there with an armed force, would +naturally be received as a friend. He found only the garrison which +Ptolemy's government had left in charge of the city. At first the +officers of this garrison gave him an outwardly friendly reception, but +they soon began to take offense at the air of authority and command +which he assumed, and which seemed to them to indicate a spirit of +encroachment on the sovereignty of their own king.</p> + +<p class="side">The Roman fasces.<br> +The lictors.</p> + +<p>Feelings of deeply-seated alienation and animosity sometimes find their +outward expression in contests about things intrinsically of very little +importance. It was so in this case. The Roman consuls were accustomed to +use a certain badge of authority called the <i>fasces</i>. It consisted of a +bundle of rods, bound around the handle of an ax. Whenever a consul +appeared in public, he was preceded by two officers called <i>lictors</i>, +each of whom carried the fasces as a symbol of the power which was +vested in the distinguished personage who followed them.</p> + +<p>The Egyptian officers and the people of the city quarreled with Caesar +on account of his moving about among them in his imperial state, +accompanied by a life guard, and preceded by the lictors. Contests +occurred between his troops and those of the garrison, and many +disturbances were created in the streets of the city. Although no +serious collision took place, Caesar thought it prudent to strengthen +his force, and he sent back to Europe for additional legions to come to +Egypt and join him.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's head sent to Caesar.<br> +Caesar mourns Pompey.</p> + +<p>The tidings of Pompey's death came to Caesar at Alexandria, and with +them the head of the murdered man, which was sent by the government of +Ptolemy, they supposing that it would be an acceptable gift to Caesar. +Instead of being pleased with it, Caesar turned from the shocking +spectacle in horror. Pompey had been, for many years now gone by, +Caesar's colleague and friend. He had been his son-in-law, and thus had +sustained to him a very near and endearing relation. In the contest +which had at last unfortunately arisen, Pompey had done no wrong either +to Caesar or to the government at Rome. He was the injured party, so far +as there was a right and a wrong to such a quarrel. And now, after being +hunted through half the world by his triumphant enemy, he had been +treacherously murdered by men pretending to receive him as a friend. The +natural sense of justice, which formed originally so strong a trait in +Caesar's character, was not yet wholly extinguished. He could not but +feel some remorse at the thoughts of the long course of violence and +wrong which he had pursued against his old champion and friend, and +which had led at last to so dreadful an end. Instead of being pleased +with the horrid trophy which the Egyptians sent him, he mourned the +death of his great rival with sincere and unaffected grief, and was +filled with indignation against his murderers.</p> + +<p class="side">Pompey's signet ring.<br> +Caesar's respect for Pompey's memory.<br> +Pompey's Pillar.<br> +Origin of Pompey's Pillar.</p> + +<a name="Illus0283"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0283.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0283.jpg" width = "40%" +alt="Pompey's Pillar."> +</a><br> +<b>Pompey's Pillar.</b> +</P><br> + +<p>Pompey had a signet ring upon his finger at the time of his +assassination, which was taken off by the Egyptian officers and carried +away to Ptolemy, together with the other articles of value which had +been found upon his person. Ptolemy sent this seal to Caesar to complete +the proof that its possessor was no more. Caesar received <i>this</i> +memorial with eager though mournful pleasure, and he preserved it with +great care. And in many ways, during all the remainder of his life, he +manifested every outward indication of cherishing the highest respect +for Pompey's memory. There stands to the present day, among the ruins of +Alexandria, a beautiful column, about one hundred feet high, which has +been known in all modern times as POMPEY'S PILLAR. It is formed of +stone, and is in three parts. One stone forms the pedestal, another the +shaft, and a third the capital. The beauty of this column, the +perfection of its workmanship, which still continues in excellent +preservation, and its antiquity, so great that all distinct record of +its origin is lost, have combined to make it for many ages the wonder +and admiration of mankind. Although no history of its origin has come +down to us, a tradition has descended that Caesar built it during his +residence in Egypt, to commemorate the name of Pompey; but whether it +was his own victory over Pompey, or Pompey's own character and military +fame which the structure was intended to signalize to mankind, can not +now be known. There is even some doubt whether it was erected by +Caesar at all.</p> + +<p class="side">Surrender of Pompey's officers.<br> +Caesar's generosity.</p> + +<p>While Caesar was in Alexandria, many of Pompey's officers, now that +their master was dead, and there was no longer any possibility of their +rallying again under his guidance and command, came in and surrendered +themselves to him. He received them with great kindness, and, instead of +visiting them with any penalties for having fought against him, he +honored the fidelity and bravery they had evinced in the service of +their own former master. Caesar had, in fact, shown the same generosity +to the soldiers of Pompey's army that he had taken prisoners at the +battle of Pharsalia. At the close of the battle, he issued orders that +each one of his soldiers should have permission to <i>save</i> one of the +enemy. Nothing could more strikingly exemplify both the generosity and +the tact that marked the great conqueror's character than this incident. +The hatred and revenge which had animated his victorious soldiery in the +battle and in the pursuit, were changed immediately by the permission to +compassion and good will. The ferocious soldiers turned at once from the +pleasure of hunting their discomfited enemies to death, to that of +protecting and defending them; and the way was prepared for their being +received into his service, and incorporated with the rest of his army as +friends and brothers.</p> + +<p class="side">His position at Alexandria.<br> +Caesar's interference in Egyptian affairs.</p> + +<p>Caesar soon found himself in so strong a position at Alexandria, that he +determined to exercise his authority as Roman consul to settle the +dispute in respect to the succession of the Egyptian crown. There was no +difficulty in finding pretexts for interfering in the affairs of Egypt. +In the first place, there was, as he contended, great anarchy and +confusion at Alexandria, people taking different sides in the +controversy with such fierceness as to render it impossible that good +government and public order should be restored until this great question +was settled. He also claimed a debt due from the Egyptian government, +which Photinus, Ptolemy's minister at Alexandria, was very dilatory in +paying. This led to animosities and disputes; and, finally, Caesar +found, or pretended to find, evidence that Photinus was forming plots +against his life. At length Caesar determined on taking decided action. +He sent orders both to Ptolemy and to Cleopatra to disband their forces, +to repair to Alexandria, and lay their respective claims before him for +his adjudication.</p> + +<p class="side">Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>Cleopatra complied with this summons, and returned to Egypt with a view +to submitting her case to Caesar's arbitration. Ptolemy determined to +resist. He advanced toward Egypt, but it was at the head of his army, +and with a determination to drive Caesar and all his Roman +followers away.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's guilty passion for Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>When Cleopatra arrived, she found that the avenues of approach to +Caesar's quarters were all in possession of her enemies, so that, in +attempting to join him, she incurred danger of falling into their hands +as a prisoner. She resorted to a stratagem, as the story is, to gain a +secret admission. They rolled her up in a sort of bale of bedding or +carpeting, and she was carried in in this way on the back of a man, +through the guards, who might otherwise have intercepted her. Caesar was +very much pleased with this device, and with the successful result of +it. Cleopatra, too, was young and beautiful, and Caesar immediately +conceived a strong but guilty attachment to her, which she readily +returned. Caesar espoused her cause, and decided that she and Ptolemy +should jointly occupy the throne.</p> + +<p class="side">Resistance of Ptolemy.<br> +The Alexandrine war.</p> + +<p>Ptolemy and his partisans were determined not to submit to this award. +The consequence was, a violent and protracted war. Ptolemy was not only +incensed at being deprived of what he considered his just right to the +realm, he was also half distracted at the thought of his sister's +disgraceful connection with Caesar. His excitement and distress, and the +exertions and efforts to which they aroused him, awakened a strong +sympathy in his cause among the people, and Caesar found himself +involved in a very serious contest, in which his own life was brought +repeatedly into the most imminent danger, and which seriously threatened +the total destruction of his power. He, however, braved all the +difficulty and dangers, and recklessly persisted in the course he had +taken, under the influence of the infatuation in which his attachment to +Cleopatra held him, as by a spell.</p> + +<p class="side">The Pharos.<br> +Great splendor of the Pharos.</p> + +<p>The war in which Caesar was thus involved by his efforts to give +Cleopatra a seat with her brother on the Egyptian throne, is called in +history the Alexandrine war. It was marked by many strange and romantic +incidents. There was a light-house, called the Pharos, on a small island +opposite the harbor of Alexandria, and it was so famed, both on account +of the great magnificence of the edifice itself, and also on account of +its position at the entrance to the greatest commercial port in the +world, that it has given its name, as a generic appellation, to all +other structures of the kind--any light-house being now called a Pharos, +just as any serious difficulty is called a Gordian knot. The Pharos was +a lofty tower--the accounts say that it was five hundred feet in height, +which would be an enormous elevation for such a structure--and in a +lantern at the top a brilliant light was kept constantly burning, which +could be seen over the water for a hundred miles. The tower was built in +several successive stories, each being ornamented with balustrades, +galleries, and columns, so that the splendor of the architecture by day +rivaled the brilliancy of the radiation which beamed from the summit by +night. Far and wide over the stormy waters of the Mediterranean this +meteor glowed, inviting and guiding the mariners in; and both its +welcome and its guidance were doubly prized in those ancient days, when +there was neither compass nor sextant on which they could rely. In the +course of the contest with the Egyptians, Caesar took possession of the +Pharos, and of the island on which it stood; and as the Pharos was then +regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, the fame of the +exploit, though it was probably nothing remarkable in a military point +of view, spread rapidly throughout the world.</p> + +<p class="side">It is captured by Caesar.</p> + +<p>And yet, though the capture of a light-house was no very extraordinary +conquest, in the course of the contests on the harbor which were +connected with it Caesar had a very narrow escape from death. In all +such struggles he was accustomed always to take personally his full +share of the exposure and the danger. This resulted in part from the +natural impetuosity and ardor of his character, which were always +aroused to double intensity of action by the excitement of battle, and +partly from the ideas of the military duty of a commander which +prevailed in those days. There was besides, in this case, an additional +inducement to acquire the glory of extraordinary exploits, in Caesar's +desire to be the object of Cleopatra's admiration, who watched all his +movements, and who was doubly pleased with his prowess and bravery, +since she saw that they were exercised for her sake and in her cause.</p> + +<p class="side">Situation of the Pharos.<br> +Caesar's personal danger.<br> +Caesar's narrow escape.</p> + +<p>The Pharos was built upon an island, which was connected by a pier or +bridge with the main land. In the course of the attack upon this bridge, +Caesar, with a party of his followers, got driven back and hemmed in by +a body of the enemy that surrounded them, in such a place that the only +mode of escape seemed to be by a boat, which might take them to a +neighboring galley. They began, therefore, all to crowd into the boat in +confusion, and so overloaded it that it was obviously in imminent danger +of being upset or of sinking. The upsetting or sinking of an overloaded +boat brings almost certain destruction upon most of the passengers, +whether swimmers or not, as they seize each other in their terror, and +go down inextricably entangled together, each held by the others in the +convulsive grasp with which drowning men always cling to whatever is +within their reach. Caesar, anticipating this danger, leaped over into +the sea and swam to the ship. He had some papers in his hand at the +time--plans, perhaps, of the works which he was assailing. These he held +above the water with his left hand, while he swam with the right. And to +save his purple cloak or mantle, the emblem of his imperial dignity, +which he supposed the enemy would eagerly seek to obtain as a trophy, he +seized it by a corner between his teeth, and drew it after him through +the water as he swam toward the galley. The boat which he thus escaped +from soon after went down, with all on board.</p> + +<p class="side">The Alexandrian library.<br> +Burning of the Alexandrian library.</p> + +<p>During the progress of this Alexandrine war one great disaster occurred, +which has given to the contest a most melancholy celebrity in all +subsequent ages: this disaster was the destruction of the Alexandrian +library. The Egyptians were celebrated for their learning, and, under +the munificent patronage of some of their kings, the learned men of +Alexandria had made an enormous collection of writings, which were +inscribed, as was the custom in those days, on parchment rolls. The +number of the rolls or volumes was said to be seven hundred thousand; +and when we consider that each one was written with great care, in +beautiful characters, with a pen, and at a vast expense, it is not +surprising that the collection was the admiration of the world. In fact, +the whole body of ancient literature was there recorded. Caesar set fire +to some Egyptian galleys, which lay so near the shore that the wind blew +the sparks and flames upon the buildings on the quay. The fire spread +among the palaces and other magnificent edifices of that part of the +city, and one of the great buildings in which the library was stored was +reached and destroyed. There was no other such collection in the world; +and the consequence of this calamity has been, that it is only detached +and insulated fragments of ancient literature and science that have come +down to our times. The world will never cease to mourn the +irreparable loss.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar returns to Rome.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding the various untoward incidents which attended the war in +Alexandria during its progress, Caesar, as usual, conquered in the end. +The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and, in attempting to make his +escape across a branch of the Nile, he was drowned. Caesar then finally +settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra and a younger brother, and, after +remaining for some time longer in Egypt, he set out on his return +to Rome.</p> + +<a name="Illus0284"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0284.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0284.jpg" width = "60%" +alt="Cleopatra's Barge."> +</a><br> +<b>Cleopatra's Barge.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Subsequent adventures of Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>The subsequent adventures of Cleopatra were as romantic as to have given +her name a very wide celebrity. The lives of the virtuous pass smoothly +and happily away, but the tale, when told to others, possesses but +little interest or attraction; while those of the wicked, whose days are +spent in wretchedness and despair, and are thus full of misery to the +actors themselves, afford to the rest of mankind a high degree of +pleasure, from the dramatic interest of the story.</p> + +<p class="side">Her splendid barge.<br> +Anthony and Octavius.<br> +Death of Cleopatra.</p> + +<p>Cleopatra led a life of splendid sin, and, of course, of splendid +misery. She visited Caesar in Rome after his return thither. Caesar +received her magnificently, and paid her all possible honors; but the +people of Rome regarded her with strong reprobation. When her young +brother, whom Caesar had made her partner on the throne, was old enough +to claim his share, she poisoned him. After Caesar's death, she went +from Alexandria to Syria to meet Antony, one of Caesar's successors, in +a galley or barge, which was so rich, so splendid, so magnificently +furnished and adorned, that it was famed throughout the world as +Cleopatra's barge. A great many beautiful vessels have since been called +by the same name. Cleopatra connected herself with Antony, who became +infatuated with her beauty and her various charms as Caesar had been. +After a great variety of romantic adventures, Antony was defeated in +battle by his great rival Octavius, and, supposing that he had been +betrayed by Cleopatra, he pursued her to Egypt, intending to kill her. +She hid herself in a sepulcher, spreading a report that she had +committed suicide, and then Antony stabbed himself in a fit of remorse +and despair. Before he died, he learned that Cleopatra was alive, and he +caused himself to be carried into her presence and died in her arms. +Cleopatra then fell into the hands of Octavius, who intended to carry +her to Rome to grace his triumph. To save herself from this humiliation, +and weary with a life which, full of sin as it had been, was a constant +series of sufferings, she determined to die. A servant brought in an asp +for her, concealed in a vase of flowers, at a great banquet. She laid +the poisonous reptile on her naked arm, and died immediately of the bite +which it inflicted.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X."></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>CAESAR IMPERATOR.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar again at Rome.<br> +Combinations against him.<br> +Veni, vidi, vici.</p> + +<p>Although Pompey himself had been killed, and the army under his +immediate command entirely annihilated, Caesar did not find that the +empire was yet completely submissive to his sway. As the tidings of his +conquests spread over the vast and distant regions which were under the +Roman rule--although the story itself of his exploits might have been +exaggerated--the impression produced by his power lost something of its +strength, as men generally have little dread of remote danger. While he +was in Egypt, there were three great concentrations of power formed +against him in other quarters of the globe: in Asia Minor, in Africa, +and in Spain. In putting down these three great and formidable arrays of +opposition, Caesar made an exhibition to the world of that astonishing +promptness and celerity of military action on which his fame as a +general so much depends. He went first to Asia Minor, and fought a great +and decisive battle there, in a manner so sudden and unexpected to the +forces that opposed him that they found themselves defeated almost +before they suspected that their enemy was near. It was in reference to +this battle that he wrote the inscription for the banner, "<i>Veni, vidi, +vici</i>" The words may be rendered in English, "I came, looked, and +conquered," though the peculiar force of the expression, as well as the +alliteration, is lost in any attempt to translate it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar made dictator.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Caesar's prosperity and success had greatly +strengthened his cause at Rome. Rome was supported in a great measure by +the contributions brought home from the provinces by the various +military heroes who were sent out to govern them; and, of course, the +greater and more successful was the conqueror, the better was he +qualified for stations of highest authority in the estimation of the +inhabitants of the city. They made Caesar dictator even while he was +away, and appointed Mark Antony his master of horse. This was the same +Antony whom we have already mentioned as having been connected with +Cleopatra after Caesar's death. Rome, in fact, was filled with the fame +of Caesar's exploits, and, as he crossed the Adriatic and advanced +toward the city, he found himself the object of universal admiration +and applause.</p> + +<p class="side">Opposition of Cato.<br> +Pompey's sons.</p> + +<p>But he could not yet be contented to establish himself quietly at Rome. +There was a large force organized against him in Africa under Cato, a +stern and indomitable man, who had long been an enemy to Caesar, and who +now considered him as a usurper and an enemy of the republic, and was +determined to resist him to the last extremity. There was also a large +force assembled in Spain under the command of two sons of Pompey, in +whose case the ordinary political hostility of contending partisans was +rendered doubly intense and bitter by their desire to avenge their +father's cruel fate. Caesar determined first to go to Africa, and then, +after disposing of Cato's resistance, to cross the Mediterranean +into Spain.</p> + +<p class="side">Complaints of the soldiers.</p> + +<p>Before he could set out, however, on these expeditions, he was involved +in very serious difficulties for a time, on account of a great +discontent which prevailed in his army, and which ended at last in open +mutiny. The soldiers complained that they had not received the rewards +and honors which Caesar had promised them. Some claimed offices, others +money others lands, which, as they maintained, they had been led to +expect would be conferred upon them at the end of the campaign. The fact +undoubtedly was, that, elated with their success, and intoxicated with +the spectacle of the boundless influence and power which their general +so obviously wielded at Rome, they formed expectations and hopes for +themselves altogether too wild and unreasonable to be realized by +soldiers; for soldiers, however much they may be flattered by their +generals in going into battle, or praised in the mass in official +dispatches, are after all but slaves, and slaves, too, of the very +humblest caste and character.</p> + +<p class="side">The mutiny.<br> +The army marches to Rome.</p> + +<p>The famous tenth legion, Cesar's favorite corps, took the most active +part in fomenting these discontents, as might naturally have been +expected, since the attentions and the praises which he had bestowed +upon them, though at first they tended to awaken their ambition, and to +inspire them with redoubled ardor and courage, ended, as such favoritism +always does, in making them vain, self-important, and unreasonable. Led +on thus by the tenth legion, the whole army mutinied. They broke up the +camp where they had been stationed at some distance beyond the walls of +Rome, and marched toward the city. Soldiers in a mutiny, even though +headed by their subaltern officers, are very little under command; and +these Roman troops, feeling released from their usual restraints, +committed various excesses on the way, terrifying the inhabitants and +spreading universal alarm. The people of the city were thrown into utter +consternation at the approach of the vast horde, which was coming like a +terrible avalanche to descend upon them.</p> + +<p class="side">Plan of the soldiers.</p> + +<p>The army expected some signs of resistance at the gates, which, if +offered, they were prepared to encounter and overcome. Their plan was, +after entering the city, to seek Caesar and demand their discharge from +his service. They knew that he was under the necessity of immediately +making a campaign in Africa, and that, of course, he could not possibly, +as they supposed, dispense with them. He would, consequently, if they +asked their discharge, beg them to remain, and, to induce them to do it, +would comply with all their expectations and desires.</p> + +<p>Such was their plan. To tender, however, a resignation of an office as a +means of bringing an opposite party to terms, is always a very hazardous +experiment. We easily overrate the estimation in which our own services +are held taking what is said to us in kindness or courtesy by friends +as the sober and deliberate judgment of the public; and thus it often +happens that persons who in such case offer to resign, are astonished to +find their resignations readily accepted.</p> + +<p class="side">The army marches into the city.</p> + +<p>When Caesar's mutineers arrived at the gates, they found, instead of +opposition, only orders from Caesar, by which they were directed to +leave all their arms except their swords, and march into the city. They +obeyed. They were then directed to go to the Campus Martius, a vast +parade ground situated within the walls, and to await Caesar's +orders there.<a name="FNanchor3"></a><a href="#Footnote_3">[3]</a></p> + +<blockquote> +<a name="Footnote_3"></a><a href="#FNanchor3">[3]</a> See <a href="#Illus0288">map</a> of the city of Rome, fronting the first page. +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">The Campus Martius.<br> +Caesar's address to the army.</p> + +<p>Caesar met them in the Campus Martius, and demanded why they had left +their encampment without orders and come to the city. They stated in +reply, as they had previously planned to do, that they wished to be +discharged from the public service. To their great astonishment, Caesar +seemed to consider this request as nothing at all extraordinary, but +promised, an the other hand, very readily to grant it He said that they +should be at once discharged, and should receive faithfully all the +rewards which had been promised them at the close of the war for their +long and arduous services. At the same time, he expressed his deep +regret that, to obtain what he was perfectly willing and ready at any +time to grant, they should have so far forgotten their duties as Romans, +and violated the discipline which should always be held absolutely +sacred by every soldier. He particularly regretted that the tenth +legion, on which he had been long accustomed so implicitly to rely, +should have taken a part in such transactions.</p> + +<p class="side">Its effects.<br> +Attachment of Caesar's soldiers.</p> + +<p>In making this address, Caesar assumed a kind and considerate, and even +respectful tone toward his men, calling them <i>Quirites</i> instead of +soldiers--an honorary mode of appellation, which recognized them as +constituent members of the Roman commonwealth. The effect of the whole +transaction was what might have been anticipated. A universal desire was +awakened throughout the whole army to return to their duty. They sent +deputations to Caesar, begging not to be taken at their word, but to be +retained in the service, and allowed to accompany him to Africa. After +much hesitation and delay, Caesar consented to receive them again, all +excepting the tenth legion, who, he said, had now irrevocably lost his +confidence and regard. It is a striking illustration of the strength of +the attachment which bound Caesar's soldiers to their commander, that +the tenth legion <i>would not</i> be discharged, after all. They followed +Caesar of their own accord into Africa, earnestly entreating him again +and again to receive them. He finally did receive them in detachments, +which he incorporated with the rest of his army, or sent on distant +service, but he would never organize them as the tenth legion again.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar goes to Africa.<br> +Cato shuts himself up in Africa.</p> + +<p>It was now early in the winter, a stormy season for crossing the +Mediterranean Sea. Caesar, however, set off from Rome immediately, +proceeded south to Sicily, and encamped on the sea-shore there till the +fleet was ready to convey his forces to Africa. The usual fortune +attended him in the African campaigns His fleet was exposed to imminent +dangers in crossing the sea, but, in consequence of the extreme +deliberation and skill with which his arrangements were made, he escaped +them all. He overcame one after another of the military difficulties +which were in his way in Africa. His army endured, in the depth of +winter, great exposures and fatigues, and they had to encounter a large +hostile force under the charge of Cato. They were, however, successful +in every undertaking. Cato retreated at last to the city of Utica, where +he shut himself up with the remains of his army; but finding, at length, +when Caesar drew near, that there was no hope or possibility of making +good his defense, and as his stern and indomitable spirit could not +endure the thought of submission to one whom he considered as an enemy +to his country and a traitor he resolved upon a very effectual mode of +escaping from his conqueror's power.</p> + +<p class="side">He stabs himself.<br> +Death of Cato.</p> + +<p>He feigned to abandon all hope of defending the city, and began to make +arrangements to facilitate the escape of his soldiers over the sea. He +collected the vessels in the harbor, and allowed all to embark who were +willing to take the risks of the stormy water. He took, apparently, +great interest in the embarkations, and, when evening came on, he sent +repeatedly down to the sea-side to inquire about the state of the wind +and the progress of the operations. At length he retired to his +apartment, and, when all was quiet in the house, he lay down upon his +bed and stabbed himself with his sword He fell from the bed by the blow, +or else from the effect of some convulsive motion which the penetrating +steel occasioned. His son and servants, hearing the fall, came rushing +into the room, raised him from the floor, and attempted to bind up and +stanch the wound. Cato would not permit them to do it. He resisted them +violently as soon as he was conscious of what they intended. Finding +that a struggle would only aggravate the horrors of the scene, and even +hasten its termination, they left the bleeding hero to his fate, and in +a few minutes he died.</p> + +<p class="side">Folly of his suicide.</p> + +<p>The character of Cato, and the circumstances under which his suicide was +committed, make it, on the whole, the most conspicuous act of suicide +which history records; and the events which followed show in an equally +conspicuous manner the extreme folly of the deed. In respect to its +wickedness, Cato, not having had the light of Christianity before him, +is to be leniently judged. As to the folly of the deed, however, he is +to be held strictly accountable. If he had lived and yielded to his +conqueror, as he might have done gracefully and without dishonor, since +all his means of resistance were exhausted, Caesar would have treated +him with generosity and respect, and would have taken him to Rome; and +as within a year or two of this time Caesar himself was no more, Cato's +vast influence and power might have been, and un doubtedly would have +been, called most effectually into action for the benefit of his +country. If any one, in defending Cato, should say he could not foresee +this, we reply, he <i>could</i> have foreseen it; not the precise events, +indeed, which occurred, but he could have foreseen that vast changes +must take place, and new aspects of affairs arise, in which his powers +would be called into requisition. We can <i>always</i> foresee in the midst +of any storm, however dark and gloomy, that clear skies will certainly +sooner or later come again; and this is just as true metaphorically in +respect to the vicissitudes of human life, as it is literally in regard +to the ordinary phenomena of the skies.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar in Spain.<br> +Defeat of Pompey's sons.</p> + +<p>From Africa Caesar returned to Rome, and from Rome he went to subdue the +resistance which was offered by the sons of Pompey in Spain. He was +equally successful here. The oldest son was wounded in battle, and was +carried off from the field upon a litter faint and almost dying. He +recovered in some degree, and, finding escape from the eager pursuit of +Caesar's soldiers impossible, he concealed himself in a cave, where he +lingered for a little time in destitution and misery. He was discovered +at last; his head was cut off by his captors and sent to Caesar, as his +father's had been. The younger son succeeded in escaping, but he became +a wretched fugitive and outlaw, and all manifestations of resistance to +Caesar's sway disappeared from Spain. The conqueror returned to Rome the +undisputed master of the whole Roman world.</p> + +<a name="Illus0285"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0285.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0285.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="The elephants made torch-bearers."> +</a><br> +<b>The elephants made torch-bearers.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Caesar's triumphs.<br> +The triumphal car breaks down.<br> +Elephant torch-bearers.</p> + +<p>Then came his triumphs. Triumphs were great celebrations, by which +military heroes in the days of the Roman commonwealth signalized their +victories on their return to the city Caesar's triumphs were four, one +for each of his four great successful campaigns, viz., in Egypt, in Asia +Minor, in Africa, and in Spain. Each was celebrated on a separate day, +and there was an interval of several days between them, to magnify their +importance, and swell the general interest which they excited among the +vast population of the city. On one of these days, the triumphal car in +which Caesar rode, which was most magnificently adorned, broke down on +the way, and Caesar was nearly thrown out of it by the shock. The +immense train of cars, horses, elephants, flags, banners, captives, and +trophies which formed the splendid procession was all stopped by the +accident, and a considerable delay ensued. Night came on, in fact +before the column could again be put in motion to enter the city, and +then Caesar, whose genius was never more strikingly shown than when he +had opportunity to turn a calamity to advantage, conceived the idea of +employing the forty elephants of the train as torch-bearers; the long +procession accordingly advanced through the streets and ascended to the +Capitol, lighted by the great blazing flambeaus which the sagacious and +docile beasts were easily taught to bear, each elephant holding one in +his proboscis, and waving it above the crowd around him.</p> + +<p class="side">Trophies and emblems.</p> + +<p>In these triumphal processions, every thing was borne in exhibition +which could serve as a symbol of the conquered country or a trophy of +victory, Flags and banners taken from the enemy; vessels of gold and +silver, and other treasures, loaded in vans; wretched captives conveyed +in open carriages or marching sorrowfully on foot, and destined, some of +them, to public execution when the ceremony of the triumph was ended; +displays of arms, and implements, and dresses, and all else which might +serve to give the Roman crowd an idea of the customs and usages of the +remote and conquered nations; the animals they used, caparisoned in the +manner in which they used them: these, and a thousand other trophies +and emblems, were brought into the line to excite the admiration of the +crowd, and to add to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. In fact, it was +always a great object of solicitude and exertion with all the Roman +generals, when on distant and dangerous expeditions, to possess +themselves of every possible prize in the progress of their campaign +which could aid in adding splendor to the triumph which was to +signalize its end.</p> + +<p class="side">Banners and paintings.</p> + +<p>In these triumphs of Caesar, a young sister of Cleopatra was in the line +of the Egyptian procession. In that devoted to Asia Minor was a great +banner containing the words already referred to, Veni, Vidi, Vici. There +were great paintings, too, borne aloft, representing battles and other +striking scenes. Of course, all Rome was in the highest state of +excitement during the days of the exhibition of this pageantry. The +whole surrounding country flocked to the capital to witness it, and +Caesar's greatness and glory were signalized in the most conspicuous +manner to all mankind.</p> + +<p class="side">Public entertainments.<br> +Various spectacles and amusements.<br> +Naval combats.</p> + +<p>After these triumphs, a series of splendid public entertainments were +given, over twenty thousand tables having been spread for the populace +of the city Shows of every possible character and variety were +exhibited. There were dramatic plays, and equestrian performances in the +circus, and gladiatorial combats, and battles with wild beasts, and +dances, and chariot races, and every other imaginable amusement which +could be devised and carried into effect to gratify a population highly +cultivated in all the arts of life, but barbarous and cruel in heart and +character. Some of the accounts which have come down to us of the +magnificence of the scale on which these entertainments were conducted +are absolutely incredible. It is said, for example, that an immense +basin was constructed near the Tiber, large enough to contain two fleets +of galleys, which had on board two thousand rowers each, and one +thousand fighting men. These fleets were then manned with captives, the +one with Asiatics and the other with Egyptians, and when all was ready, +they were compelled to fight a real battle for the amusement of the +spectators which thronged the shores, until vast numbers were killed, +and the waters of the lake were dyed with blood. It is also said that +the whole Forum, and some of the great streets in the neighborhood where +the principal gladiatorial shows were held, were covered with silken +awnings to protect the vast crowds of spectators from the sun, and +thousands of tents were erected to accommodate the people from the +surrounding country, whom the buildings of the city could not contain.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's power.<br> +Honors conferred upon him.</p> + +<p>All open opposition to Caesar's power and dominion now entirely +disappeared. Even the Senate vied with the people in rendering him every +possible honor. The supreme power had been hitherto lodged in the hands +of two consuls, chosen annually, and the Roman people had been extremely +jealous of any distinction for any one, higher than that of an <i>elective +annual office,</i> with a return to private life again when the brief +period should have expired. They now, however, made Caesar, in the first +place, consul for ten years, and then Perpetual Dictator. They conferred +upon him the title of the Father of his Country. The name of the month +in which he was born was changed to Julius, from his praenomen, and we +still retain the name. He was made, also, commander-in-chief of all the +armies of the commonwealth, the title to which vast military power was +expressed in the Latin language by the word IMPERATOR.</p> + +<p class="side">Statues of Caesar.</p> + +<p>Caesar was highly elated with all these substantial proofs of the +greatness and glory to which he had attained, and was also very +evidently gratified with smaller, but equally expressive proofs of the +general regard. Statues representing his person were placed in the +public edifices, and borne in processions like those of the gods. +Conspicuous and splendidly ornamented seats were constructed for him in +all the places of public assembly, and on these he sat to listen to +debates or witness spectacles, as if he were upon a throne He had, +either by his influence or by his direct power, the control of all the +appointments to office, and was, in fact, in every thing but the name, a +sovereign and an absolute king.</p> + +<p class="side">His plans of internal improvement.</p> + +<p>He began now to form great schemes of internal improvement for the +general benefit of the empire. He wished to increase still more the +great obligations which the Roman people were under to him for what he +had already done. They really were under vast obligations to him; for, +considering Rome as a community which was to subsist by governing the +world, Caesar had immensely enlarged the means of its subsistence by +establishing its sway every where, and providing for an incalculable +increase of its revenues from the tribute and the taxation of conquered +provinces and kingdoms. Since this work of conquest was now completed, +he turned his attention to the internal affairs of the empire, and made +many improvements in the system of administration, looking carefully +into every thing, and introducing every where those exact and systematic +principles which such a mind as his seeks instinctively in every thing +over which it has any control.</p> + +<p class="side">Ancient division of time.<br> +Change effected by Caesar.<br> +The old and new styles.</p> + +<p>One great change which he effected continues in perfect operation +throughout Europe to the present day. It related to the division of +time. The system of months in use in his day corresponded so imperfectly +with the annual circuit of the sun, that the months were moving +continually along the year in such a manner that the winter months came +at length in the summer, and the summer months in the winter. This led +to great practical inconveniences; for whenever, for example, any thing +was required by law to be done in certain months, intending to have them +done in the summer, and the specified month came at length to be a +winter month, the law would require the thing to be done in exactly the +wrong season. Caesar remedied all this by adopting a new system of +months, which should give three hundred and sixty-five days to the year +for three years, and three hundred and sixty-six for the fourth; and so +exact was the system which he thus introduced, that it went on unchanged +for sixteen centuries. The months were then found to be eleven days out +of the way, when a new correction was introduced,<a name="FNanchor4"></a><a href="#Footnote_4">[4]</a> and it will now go +on three thousand years before the error will amount to a single day. +Caesar employed a Greek astronomer to arrange the system that he +adopted; and it was in part on account of the improvement which he thus +effected that one of the months, as has already been mentioned, was +called July. Its name before was Quintilis.</p> + +<blockquote> +<a name="Footnote_4"></a><a href="#FNanchor4">[4]</a> By Pope Gregory XIII. at the time of the change from the +old style to the new +</blockquote> + +<p class="side">Magnificent schemes.<br> +Caesar collects the means to carry out his vast schemes.</p> + +<p>Caesar formed a great many other vast and magnificent schemes. He +planned public buildings for the city, which were going to exceed in +magnitude and splendor all the edifices of the world. He commenced the +collection of vast libraries, formed plans for draining the Pontine +Marshes, for bringing great supplies of water into the city by an +aqueduct, for cutting a new passage for the Tiber from Rome to the sea, +and making an enormous artificial harbor at its mouth. He was going to +make a road along the Apennines, and cut a canal through the Isthmus of +Corinth, and construct other vast works, which were to make Rome the +center of the commerce of the world. In a word, his head was filled with +the grandest schemes, and he was gathering around him all the means and +resources necessary for the execution of them.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI."></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>THE CONSPIRACY.</h3> + +<p>Caesar's greatness and glory came at last to a very sudden and violent +end. He was assassinated. All the attendant circumstances of this deed, +too, were of the most extraordinary character, and thus the dramatic +interest which adorns all parts of the great conqueror's history marks +strikingly its end.</p> + +<p class="side">Jealousies awakened by Caesar's power.<br> +The Roman Constitution.<br> +Struggles and Conflicts.</p> + +<p>His prosperity and power awakened, of course, a secret jealousy and ill +will. Those who were disappointed in their expectations of his favor +murmured. Others, who had once been his rivals, hated him for having +triumphed over them. Then there was a stern spirit of democracy, too, +among certain classes of the citizens of Rome which could not brook a +master. It is true that the sovereign power in the Roman commonwealth +had never been shared by all the inhabitants. It was only in certain +privileged classes that the sovereignty was vested; but among these the +functions of government were divided and distributed in such a way as +to balance one interest against another, and to give all their proper +share of influence and authority. Terrible struggles and conflicts often +occurred among these various sections of society, as one or another +attempted from time to time to encroach upon the rights or privileges of +the rest. These struggles, however, ended usually in at last restoring +again the equilibrium which had been disturbed. No one power could ever +gain the entire ascendency; and thus, as all <i>monarchism</i> seemed +excluded from their system, they called it a republic. Caesar, however, +had now concentrated in himself all the principal elements of power, and +there began to be suspicions that he wished to make himself in name and +openly, as well as secretly and in fact, a king.</p> + +<p class="side">Roman repugnance to royalty.<br> +Firmness of the Romans.</p> + +<p>The Romans abhorred the very name of king. They had had kings in the +early periods of their history, but they made themselves odious by their +pride and their oppressions, and the people had deposed and expelled +them. The modern nations of Europe have several times performed the same +exploit, but they have generally felt unprotected and ill at ease +without a personal sovereign over them and have accordingly, in most +cases, after a few years, restored some branch of the expelled dynasty +to the throne The Romans were more persevering and firm. They had +managed their empire now for five hundred years as a republic, and +though they had had internal dissensions, conflicts, and quarrels +without end, had persisted so firmly and unanimously in their +detestation of all regal authority, that no one of the long line of +ambitious and powerful statesmen, generals, or conquerors by which the +history of the empire had been signalized, had ever dared to aspire to +the name of king.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's ambitious plans.</p> + +<p>There began, however, soon to appear some indications that Caesar, who +certainly now possessed regal power, would like the regal name. +Ambitious men, in such cases, do not directly assume themselves the +titles and symbols of royalty. Others make the claim for them, while +they faintly disavow it, till they have opportunity to gee what effect +the idea produces on the public mind. The following incidents occurred +which it was thought indicated such a design on the part of Caesar.</p> + +<p class="side">American feeling.</p> + +<p>There were in some of the public buildings certain statues of kings; for +it must be understood that the Roman dislike to kings was only a dislike +to having kingly authority exercised over themselves. They respected and +sometimes admired the kings of other countries, and honored their +exploits, and made statues to commemorate their fame. They were willing +that kings should reign elsewhere, so long as there were no king of +Rome. The American feeling at the present day is much the same. If the +Queen of England were to make a progress through this country, she would +receive, perhaps, as many and as striking marks of attention and honor +as would be rendered to her in her own realm. We venerate the antiquity +of her royal line; we admire the efficiency of her government and the +sublime grandeur of her empire, and have as high an idea as any, of the +powers and prerogatives of her crown--and these feelings would show +themselves most abundantly on any proper occasion. We are willing, nay, +wish that she should continue to reign over Englishmen; and yet, after +all, it would take some millions of bayonets to place a queen securely +upon a throne over this land.</p> + +<p class="side">Regal power.</p> + +<p>Regal power was accordingly, in the abstract, looked up to at Rome, as +it is elsewhere, with great respect; and it was, in fact, all the more +tempting as an object of ambition, from the determination felt by the +people that it should not be exercised there. There were, accordingly, +statues of kings at Rome. Caesar placed his own statue among them. Some +approved, others murmured.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's seat in the theater.</p> + +<p>There was a public theater in the city, where the officers of the +government were accustomed to sit in honorable seats prepared expressly +for them, those of the Senate being higher and more distinguished than +the rest. Caesar had a seat prepared for himself there, similar in form +to a throne, and adorned it magnificently with gilding and ornaments of +gold, which gave it the entire pre-eminence over all the other seats.</p> + +<p>He had a similar throne placed in the senate chamber, to be occupied by +himself when attending there, like the throne of the King of England in +the House of Lords.</p> + +<p class="side">Public celebrations.<br> +Caesar receives the Senate sitting.<br> +Consequent excitement.</p> + +<p>He held, moreover, a great many public celebrations and triumphs in the +city in commemoration of his exploits and honors; and, on one of these +occasions, it was arranged that the Senate were to come to him at a +temple in a body, and announce to him certain decrees which they had +passed to his honor. Vast crowds had assembled to witness the ceremony +Caesar was seated in a magnificent chair, which might have been called +either a chair or a throne, and was surrounded by officers and +attendants When the Senate approached, Caesar did not rise to receive +them, but remained seated, like a monarch receiving a deputation of his +subjects. The incident would not seem to be in itself of any great +importance, but, considered as an indication of Caesar's designs, it +attracted great attention, and produced a very general excitement. The +act was adroitly managed so as to be somewhat equivocal in its +character, in order that it might be represented one way or the other on +the following day, according as the indications of public sentiment +might incline. Some said that Caesar was intending to rise, but was +prevented, and held down by those who stood around him. Others said that +an officer motioned to him to rise, but he rebuked his interference by a +frown, and continued his seat. Thus while, in fact, he received the +Roman Senate as their monarch and sovereign, his own intentions and +designs in so doing were left somewhat in doubt, in order to avoid +awakening a sudden and violent opposition.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's statute crowned.</p> + +<p>Not long after this, as he was returning in public from some great +festival, the streets being full of crowds, and the populace following +him in great throngs with loud acclamations, a man went up to his +statue as he passed it, and placed upon the head of it a laurel crown, +fastened with a white ribbon, which was a badge of royalty. Some +officers ordered the ribbon to be taken down, and sent the man to +prison. Caesar was very much displeased with the officers, and dismissed +them from their office. He wished, he said, to have the opportunity to +disavow, himself, such claims, and not to have others disavow them +for him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's disavowals.</p> + +<p>Caesar's disavowals were, however, so faint, and people had so little +confidence in their sincerity, that the cases became more and more +frequent in which the titles and symbols of royalty were connected with +his name. The people who wished to gain his favor saluted him in public +with the name of <i>Rex</i>, the Latin word for king. He replied that his +name was Caesar, not <i>Rex</i>, showing, however, no other signs of +displeasure. On one great occasion, a high public officer, a near +relative of his, repeatedly placed a diadem upon his head, Caesar +himself, as often as he did it, gently putting it off. At last he sent +the diadem away to a temple that was near, saying that there was no king +in Rome but Jupiter. In a word, all his conduct indicated that he wished +to have it appear that the people were pressing the crown upon him, +when he himself was steadily refusing it.</p> + +<p class="side">Some willing to make Caesar king.<br> +Others oppose it.</p> + +<p>This state of things produced a very strong and universal, though +suppressed excitement in the city. Parties were formed. Some began to be +willing to make Caesar king; others were determined to hazard their +lives to prevent it. None dared, however, openly to utter their +sentiments on either side. They expressed them by mysterious looks and +dark intimations. At the time when Caesar refused to rise to receive the +Senate, many of the members withdrew in silence, and with looks of +offended dignity When the crown was placed upon his statue or upon his +own brow, a portion of the populace would applaud with loud +acclamations; and whenever he disavowed these acts, either by words or +counter-actions of his own, an equally loud acclamation would arise from +the other side. On the whole, however, the idea that Caesar was +gradually advancing toward the kingdom steadily gained ground.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's pretexts.<br> +His assumed humility.</p> + +<p>And yet Caesar himself spoke frequently with great humility in respect +to his pretensions and claims; and when he found public sentiment +turning against the ambitious schemes he seems secretly to have +cherished, he would present some excuse or explanation for his conduct +plausible enough to answer the purpose of a disavowal. When he received +the Senate, sitting like a king, on the occasion before referred to, +when they read to him the decrees which they had passed in his favor, he +replied to them that there was more need of diminishing the public +honors which he received than of increasing them. When he found, too, +how much excitement his conduct on that occasion had produced, he +explained it by saying that he had retained his sitting posture on +account of the infirmity of his health, as it made him dizzy to stand. +He thought, probably, that these pretexts would tend to quiet the strong +and turbulent spirits around him, from whose envy or rivalry he had most +to fear, without at all interfering with the effect which the act itself +would have produced upon the masses of the population. He wished, in a +word, to accustom them to see him assume the position and the bearing of +a sovereign, while, by his apparent humility in his intercourse with +those immediately around him, he avoided as much as possible irritating +and arousing the jealous and watchful rivals who were next to him +in power.</p> + +<p class="side">Progress of Caesar's plans.</p> + +<p>If this were his plan, it seemed to be advancing prosperously toward +its accomplishment. The population of the city seemed to become more and +more familiar with the idea that Caesar was about to become a king. The +opposition which the idea had at first awakened appeared to subside, or, +at least, the public expression of it, which daily became more and more +determined and dangerous, was restrained. At length the time arrived +when it appeared safe to introduce the subject to the Roman Senate. +This, of course, was a hazardous experiment. It was managed, however, in +a very adroit and ingenious manner.</p> + +<p class="side">The Sibylline books.<br> +Declaration of the Sibylline books.<br> +Plan for crowning Caesar.</p> + +<p>There were in Rome, and, in fact, in many other cities and countries of +the world in those days, a variety of prophetic books, called the +Sibylline Oracles, in which it was generally believed that future events +were foretold. Some of these volumes or rolls, which were very ancient +and of great authority, were preserved in the temples at Rome, under the +charge of a board of guardians, who were to keep them with the utmost +care, and to consult them on great occasions, in order to discover +beforehand what would be the result of public measures or great +enterprises which were in contemplation. It happened that at this time +the Romans were engaged in a war with the Parthians, a very wealthy and +powerful nation of Asia. Caesar was making preparations for an +expedition to the East to attempt to subdue this people. He gave orders +that the Sibylline Oracles should be consulted. The proper officers, +after consulting them with the usual solemn ceremonies, reported to the +Senate that they found it recorded in these sacred prophecies that the +Parthians could not be conquered except by a <i>king</i>, A senator proposed, +therefore, that, to meet the emergency, Caesar should be made king +during the war. There was at first no decisive action on this proposal. +It was dangerous to express any opinion. People were thoughtful, +serious, and silent, as on the eve of some great convulsion. No one knew +what others were meditating, and thus did not dare to express his own +wishes or designs. There soon, however, was a prevailing understanding +that Caesar's friends were determined on executing the design of +crowning him, and that the fifteenth of March, called, in their +phraseology, the <i>Ides of March</i>, was fixed upon as the coronation day.</p> + +<p class="side">The conspiracy.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, Caesar's enemies, though to all outward appearance +quiet and calm, had not been inactive. Finding that his plans were now +ripe for execution, and that they had no, open means of resisting them, +they formed a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar himself, and thus bring +his ambitious schemes to an effectual and final end. The name of the +original leader of this conspiracy was Cassius.</p> + +<p class="side">Cassius.</p> + +<p>Cassius had been for a long time Caesar's personal rival and enemy. He +was a man of a very violent and ardent temperament, impetuous and +fearless, very fond of exercising power himself, but very restless and +uneasy in having it exercised over him. He had all the Roman repugnance +to being under the authority of a master, with an additional personal +determination of his own not to submit to Caesar. He determined to slay +Caesar rather than to allow him to be made a king, and he went to work, +with great caution, to bring other leading and influential men to join +him in this determination. Some of those to whom he applied said that +they would unite with him in his plot provided he would get Marcus +Brutus to join them.</p> + +<p class="side">Marcus Brutus.</p> + +<p>Brutus was the praetor of the city. The praetorship of the city was a +very high municipal office. The conspirators wished to have Brutus join +them partly on account of his station as a magistrate, as if they +supposed that by having the highest public magistrate of the city for +their leader in the deed, the destruction of their victim would appear +less like a murder, and would be invested, instead, in some respects, +with the sanctions and with the dignity of an official execution.</p> + +<p class="side">Character of Brutus.<br> +His firmness and courage.</p> + +<p>Then, again, they wished for the moral support which would be afforded +them in their desperate enterprise by Brutus's extraordinary personal +character. He was younger than Cassius, but he was grave, thoughtful, +taciturn, calm--a man of inflexible integrity, of the coolest +determination, and, at the same time, of the most undaunted courage. The +conspirators distrusted one another, for the resolution of impetuous men +is very apt to fail when the emergency arrives which puts it to the +test; but as for Brutus, they knew very well that whatever he undertook +he would most certainly do.</p> + +<p class="side">The ancient Brutus.<br> +His expulsion of the kings.</p> + +<p>There was a great deal even in his name. It was a Brutus that five +centuries before had been the main instrument of the expulsion of the +Roman kings. He had secretly meditated the design, and, the better to +conceal it, had feigned idiocy, as the story was, that he might not be +watched or suspected until the favorable hour for executing his design +should arrive. He therefore ceased to speak, and seemed to lose his +reason; he wandered about the city silent and gloomy, like a brute. His +name had been Lucius Junius before. They added Brutus now, to designate +his condition. When at last, however, the crisis arrived which he judged +favorable for the expulsion of the kings, he suddenly reassumed his +speech and his reason, called the astonished Romans to arms, and +triumphantly accomplished his design. His name and memory had been +cherished ever since that day as of a great deliverer.</p> + +<p class="side">The history of Brutus.</p> + +<p>They, therefore, who looked upon Caesar as another king, naturally +turned their thoughts to the Brutus of their day, hoping to find in him +another deliverer. Brutus found, from time to time, inscriptions on his +ancient namesake's statue expressing the wish that he were now alive. He +also found each morning, as he came to the tribunal where he was +accustomed to sit in the discharge of the duties of his office, brief +writings, which had been left there during the night, in which few words +expressed deep meaning, such as "Awake, Brutus, to thy duty;" and "Art +thou indeed a Brutus?"</p> + +<p class="side">His obligations to Caesar.<br> +Caesar's friendship for Brutus.</p> + +<p>Still it seemed hardly probable that Brutus could be led to take a +decided stand against Caesar, for they had been warm personal friends +ever since the conclusion of the civil wars. Brutus had, indeed, been on +Pompey's side while that general lived; he fought with him at the battle +of Pharsalia, but he had been taken prisoner there, and Caesar, instead +of executing him as a traitor, as most victorious generals in a civil +war would have done, spared his life, forgave him for his hostility, +received him into his own service, and afterward raised him to very high +and honorable stations. He gave him the government of the richest +province, and, after his return from it, loaded with wealth and honors, +he made him praetor of the city. In a word, it would seem that he had +done every thing which it was possible to do to make him one of his most +trustworthy and devoted friends. The men, therefore, to whom Cassius +first applied, perhaps thought that they were very safe in saying that +they would unite in the intended conspiracy if he would get Brutus to +join them. They expected Cassius himself to make the attempt to secure +the co-operation of Brutus, as Cassius was on terms of intimacy with him +on account of a family connection. Cassius's wife was the sister of +Brutus. This had made the two men intimate associates and warm friends +in former years, though they had been recently somewhat estranged from +each other on account of having been competitors for the same offices +and honors. In these contests Caesar had decided in favor of Brutus. +"Cassius," said he, on one such occasion, "gives the best reasons; but I +can not refuse Brutus any thing he asks for." In fact, Caesar had +conceived a strong personal friendship for Brutus, and believed him to +be entirely devoted to his cause.</p> + +<p class="side">Interview between Brutus and Cassius.</p> + +<p>Cassius, however, sought an interview with Brutus, with a view of +engaging him in his design. He easily effected his own reconciliation +with him, as he had himself been the offended party in their +estrangement from each other. He asked Brutus whether he intended to be +present in the Senate on the Ides of March, when the friends of Caesar, +as was understood, were intending to present him with the crown. Brutus +said he should not be there. "But suppose," said Cassius, "we are +specially summoned." "Then," said Brutus, "I shall go, and shall be +ready to die if necessary to defend the liberty of my country."</p> + +<p class="side">Arguments of Cassius.</p> + +<p>Cassius then assured Brutus that there were many other Roman citizens, +of the highest rank, who were animated by the same determination, and +that they all looked up to him to lead and direct them in the work which +it was now very evident must be done. "Men look," said Cassius, "to +other praetors to entertain them with games, spectacles, and shows, but +they have very different ideas in respect to you. Your character, your +name, your position, your ancestry, and the course of conduct which you +have already always pursued, inspire the whole city with the hope that +you are to be their deliverer. The citizens are all ready to aid you, +and to sustain you at the hazard of their lives; but they look to you to +go forward, and to act in their name and in their behalf, in the crisis +which is now approaching."</p> + +<p class="side">Effect on Brutus.<br> +Brutus engages in the conspiracy.</p> + +<p>Men of a very calm exterior are often susceptible of the profoundest +agitations within, the emotions seeming to be sometimes all the more +permanent and uncontrollable from the absence of outward display. Brutus +said little, but his soul was excited and fired by Cassius's words. +There was a struggle in his soul between his grateful sense of his +political obligations to Caesar and his personal attachment to him on +the one hand, and, on the other, a certain stern Roman conviction that +every thing should be sacrificed, even friendship and gratitude, as +well as fortune and life, to the welfare of his country. He acceded to +the plan, and began forthwith to enter upon the necessary measures for +putting it into execution.</p> + +<p class="side">Ligurius.</p> + +<p>There was a certain general, named Ligurius, who had been in Pompey's +army, and whose hostility to Caesar had never been really subdued. He +was now sick. Brutus went to see him. He found him in his bed. The +excitement in Rome was so intense, though the expressions of it were +suppressed and restrained, that every one was expecting continually some +great event, and every motion and look was interpreted to have some deep +meaning. Ligurius read in the countenance of Brutus, as he approached +his bedside, that he had not come on any trifling errand. "Ligurius," +said Brutus, "this is not a time for <i>you</i> to be sick." "Brutus," +replied Ligurius, rising at once from his couch, "if you have any +enterprise in mind that is worthy of you, I am well." Brutus explained +to the sick man their design, and he entered into it with ardor.</p> + +<p class="side">Consultations of the conspirators.<br> +Their bold plan.<br> +Final arrangements.</p> + +<p>The plan was divulged to one after another of such men as the +conspirators supposed most worthy of confidence in such a desperate +undertaking, and meetings for consultation were held to determine what +plan to adopt for finally accomplishing their end. It was agreed that +Caesar must be slain; but the time, the place, and the manner in which +the deed should be performed were all yet undecided. Various plans were +proposed in the consultations which the conspirators held; but there was +one thing peculiar to them all, which was, that they did not any of them +contemplate or provide for any thing like secrecy in the commission of +the deed. It was to be performed in the most open and public manner. +With a stern and undaunted boldness, which has always been considered by +mankind as truly sublime, they determined that, in respect to the actual +execution itself of the solemn judgment which they had pronounced, there +should be nothing private or concealed. They thought over the various +public situations in which they might find Caesar, and where they might +strike him down, only to select the one which would be most public of +all. They kept, of course, their preliminary counsels private, to +prevent the adoption of measures for counteracting them; but they were +to perform the deed in such a manner as that, so soon as it was +performed, they should stand out to view, exposed fully to the gaze of +all mankind as the authors, of it. They planned no retreat, no +concealment, no protection whatever for themselves, seeming to feel that +the deed which they were about to perform, of destroying the master and +monarch of the world, was a deed in its own nature so grand and sublime +as to raise the perpetrators of it entirely above all considerations +relating to their own personal safety. Their plan, therefore, was to +keep their consultations and arrangements secret until they were +prepared to strike the blow, then to strike it in the most public and +imposing manner possible, and calmly afterward to await the +consequences.</p> + +<p class="side">The place and the day.</p> + +<p>In this view of the subject, they decided that the chamber of the Roman +Senate was the proper place, and the Ides of March, the day on which he +was appointed to be crowned, was the propel time for Caesar to be slain.</p> + + +<br><br><hr style="width: 35%;"><br><br> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII."></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>THE ASSASSINATION.</h3> + +<p class="side">Caesar receives many warnings of his approaching fate.</p> + +<p>According to the account given by his historians, Caesar received many +warnings of his approaching fate, which, however, he would not heed. +Many of these warnings were strange portents and prodigies, which the +philosophical writers who recorded them half believed themselves, and +which they were always ready to add to their narratives even if they did +not believe them, on account of the great influence which such an +introduction of the supernatural and the divine had with readers in +those days in enhancing the dignity and the dramatic interest of the +story. These warnings were as follows:</p> + +<p class="side">The tomb and inscription.</p> + +<p>At Capua, which was a great city at some distance south of Rome, the +second, in fact, in Italy, and the one which Hannibal had proposed to +make his capital, some workmen were removing certain ancient sepulchers +to make room for the foundations of a splendid edifice which, among his +other plans for the embellishment of the cities of Italy, Caesar was +intending to have erected there. As the excavations advanced, the +workmen came at last to an ancient tomb, which proved to be that of the +original founder of Capua; and, in bringing out the sarcophagus, they +found an inscription, worked upon a brass plate, and in the Greek +character, predicting that if those remains were ever disturbed, a great +member of the Julian family would be assassinated by his own friends, +and his death would be followed by extended devastations throughout +all Italy.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's horses.</p> + +<p>The horses, too, with which Caesar had passed the Rubicon, and which had +been, ever since that time, living in honorable retirement in a splendid +park which Caesar had provided for them, by some mysterious instinct, or +from some divine communication, had warning of the approach of their +great benefactor's end. They refused their food, and walked about with +melancholy and dejected looks, mourning apparently, and in a manner +almost human, some impending grief.</p> + +<p class="side">The soothsayers.</p> + +<p>There was a class of prophets in those days called by a name which has +been translated <i>soothsayers</i>. These soothsayers were able, as was +supposed, to look somewhat into futurity--dimly and doubtfully, it is +true, but really, by means of certain appearances exhibited by the +bodies of the animals offered in sacrifices These soothsayers were +consulted on all important occasions; and if the auspices proved +unfavorable when any great enterprise was about to be undertaken, it was +often, on that account, abandoned or postponed. One of these +soothsayers, named Spurinna, came to Caesar one day, and informed him +that he had found, by means of a public sacrifice which he had just been +offering, that there was a great and mysterious danger impending over +him, which was connected in some way with the Ides of March, and he +counseled him to be particularly cautious and circumspect until that day +should have passed.</p> + +<p class="side">The hawks and the wren.</p> + +<p>The Senate were to meet on the Ides of March in a new and splendid +edifice, which had been erected for their use by Pompey. There was in +the interior of the building, among other decorations, a statue of +Pompey. The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a +neighboring grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren +with a sprig of laurel in its mouth. The birds tore the wren to pieces, +the laurel dropping from its bill to the marble pavement of the floor +below. Now, as Caesar had been always accustomed to wear a crown of +laurel on great occasions, and had always evinced a particular fondness +for that decoration, that plant had come to be considered his own proper +badge, and the fall of the laurel, therefore, was naturally thought to +portend some great calamity to him.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's agitation of mind.<br> +His dream.<br> +Calpurnia's dream.<br> +The effect of a disturbed mind.</p> + +<p>The night before the Ides of March Caesar could not sleep. It would not +seem, however, to be necessary to suppose any thing supernatural to +account for his wakefulness. He lay upon his bed restless and excited, +or if he fell into a momentary slumber, his thoughts, instead of finding +repose, were only plunged into greater agitations, produced by strange, +and, as he thought, supernatural dreams. He imagined that he ascended +into the skies, and was received there by Jupiter, the supreme divinity, +as an associate and equal. While shaking hands with the great father of +gods and men, the sleeper was startled by a frightful sound. He awoke, +and found his wife Calpurnia groaning and struggling in her sleep. He +saw her by the moonlight which was shining into the room. He spoke to +her, and aroused her. After staring wildly for a moment till she had +recovered her thoughts, she said that she had had a dreadful dream. She +had dreamed that the roof of the house had fallen in, and that, at the +same instant, the doors had been burst open, and some robber or assassin +had stabbed her husband as he was lying in her arms. The philosophy of +those days found in these dreams mysterious and preternatural warnings +of impending danger; that of ours, however, sees nothing either in the +absurd sacrilegiousness of Caesar's thoughts, or his wife's incoherent +and inconsistent images of terror--nothing more than the natural and +proper effects, on the one hand, of the insatiable ambition of man, and, +on the other, of the conjugal affection and solicitude of woman. The +ancient sculptors carved out images of men, by the forms and lineaments +of which we see that the physical characteristics of humanity have not +changed. History seems to do the same with the affections and passions +of the soul. The dreams of Caesar and his wife on the night before the +Ides of March, as thus recorded, form a sort of spiritual statue, which +remains from generation to generation, to show us how precisely all the +inward workings of human nature are from age to age the same.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar hesitates.</p> + +<p>When the morning came Caesar and Calpurnia arose, both restless and ill +at ease. Caesar ordered the auspices to be consulted with reference to +the intended proceedings of the day. The soothsayers came in in due +time, and reported that the result was unfavorable. Calpurnia, too, +earnestly entreated her husband not to go to the senate-house that day. +She had a very strong presentiment that, if he did go, some great +calamity would ensue. Caesar himself hesitated. He was half inclined to +yield, and postpone his coronation to another occasion.</p> + +<p class="side">Decimus Brutus.</p> + +<p>In the course of the day, while Caesar was in this state of doubt and +uncertainty, one of the conspirators, named Decimus Brutus, came in. +This Brutus was not a man of any extraordinary courage or energy, but he +had been invited by the other conspirators to join them, on account of +his having under his charge a large number of gladiators, who, being +desperate and reckless men, would constitute a very suitable armed force +for them to call in to their aid in case of any emergency arising which +should require it.</p> + +<p class="side">Decimus Brutus waits upon Caesar.</p> + +<p>The conspirators having thus all their plans arranged, Decimus Brutus +was commissioned to call at Caesar's house when the time approached for +the assembling of the Senate, both to avert suspicion from Caesar's +mind, and to assure himself that nothing had been discovered It was in +the afternoon, the time for the meeting of the senators having been +fixed at five o'clock. Decimus Brutus found Caesar troubled and +perplexed, and uncertain what to do. After hearing what he had to say, +he replied by urging him to go by all means to the senate-house, as he +had intended. "You have formally called the Senate together," said he, +"and they are now assembling. They are all prepared to confer upon you +the rank and title of king, not only in Parthia, while you are +conducting this war but every where, by sea and land, except in Italy. +And now, while they are all in their places, waiting to consummate the +great act, how absurd will it be for you to send them word to go home +again, and come back some other day, when Calpurnia shall have had +better dreams!"</p> + +<p class="side">He persuades him to go.</p> + +<p>He urged, too, that, even if Caesar was determined to put off the action +of the Senate to another day, he was imperiously bound to go himself and +adjourn the session in person. So saying, he took the hesitating +potentate by the arm, and adding to his arguments a little gentle force, +conducted him along.</p> + +<p class="side">Artemidorus discovers the plot.<br> +He warns Caesar.</p> + +<p>The conspirators supposed that all was safe The fact was, however, that +all had been discovered. There was a certain Greek, a teacher of +oratory, named Artemidorus. He had contrived to learn something of the +plot from some of the conspirators who were his pupils. He wrote a brief +statement of the leading particulars, and, having no other mode of +access to Caesar, he determined to hand it to him on the way as he went +to the senate-house. Of course, the occasion was one of great public +interest, and crowds had assembled in the streets to see the great +conqueror as he went along. As usual at such times, when powerful +officers of state appear in public, many people came up to present +petitions to him as he passed. These he received, and handed them, +without reading, to his secretary who attended him, as if to have them +preserved for future examination. Artemidorus, who was waiting for his +opportunity, when he perceived what disposition Caesar made of the +papers which were given to him, began to be afraid that his own +communication would not be attended to until it was too late. He +accordingly pressed up near to Caesar, refusing to allow any one else to +pass the paper in; and when, at last, he obtained an opportunity, he +gave it directly into Caesar's hands saying to him, "Read this +immediately: it concerns yourself, and is of the utmost importance"</p> + +<p>Caesar took the paper and attempted to read it, but new petitions and +other interruptions constantly prevented him; finally he gave up the +attempt, and went on his way, receiving and passing to his secretary all +other papers, but retaining this paper of Artemidorus in his hand.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar and Spurinna.</p> + +<p>Caesar passed Spurinna on his way to the senate-house--the soothsayer +who had predicted some great danger connected with the Ides of March. As +soon as he recognized him, he accosted him with the words, "Well, +Spurinna, the Ides of March have come, and I am safe." "Yes," replied +Spurinna, "they have come, but they are not yet over."</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar arrives at the senate house.</p> + +<p>At length he arrived at the senate-house, with the paper of Artemidorus +still unread in his hand. The senators were all convened, the leading +conspirators among them. They all rose to receive Caesar as he entered. +Caesar advanced to the seat provided for him, and, when he was seated, +the senators themselves sat down. The moment had now arrived, and the +conspirators, with pale looks and beating hearts, felt that now or never +the deed was to be done.</p> + +<p class="side">Resolution of the Conspirators.</p> + +<p>It requires a very considerable degree of physical courage and +hardihood for men to come to a calm and deliberate decision that they +will kill one whom they hate, and, still more, actually to strike the +blow, even when under the immediate impulse of passion. But men who are +perfectly capable of either of these often find their resolution fail +them as the time comes for striking a dagger into the living flesh of +their victim, when he sits at ease and unconcerned before them, unarmed +and defenseless, and doing nothing to excite those feelings of +irritation and anger which are generally found so necessary to nerve the +human arm to such deeds. Utter defenselessness is accordingly, +sometimes, a greater protection than an armor of steel.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar and Pompey's statue.</p> + +<p>Even Cassius himself, the originator and the soul of the whole +enterprise, found his courage hardly adequate to the work now that the +moment had arrived; and, in order to arouse the necessary excitement in +his soul, he looked up to the statue of Pompey, Caesar's ancient and +most formidable enemy, and invoked its aid. It gave him its aid. It +inspired him with some portion of the enmity with which the soul of its +great original had burned; and thus the soul of the living assassin was +nerved to its work by a sort of sympathy with a block of stone.</p> + +<p class="side">Plan of the conspirators.</p> + +<p>Foreseeing the necessity of something like a stimulus to action when the +immediate moment for action should arrive, the conspirators had agreed +that, as soon as Caesar was seated, they would approach him with a +petition, which he would probably refuse, and then, gathering around +him, they would urge him with their importunities, so as to produce, in +the confusion, a sort of excitement that would make it easier for them +to strike the blow.</p> + +<p class="side">Marc Antony.</p> + +<p>There was one person, a relative and friend of Caesar's, named Marcus +Antonius, called commonly, however, in English narratives, Marc Antony, +the same who has been already mentioned as having been subsequently +connected with Cleopatra. He was a very energetic and determined man, +who, they thought, might possibly attempt to defend him. To prevent +this, one of the conspirators had been designated to take him aside, and +occupy his attention with some pretended subject of discourse, ready, at +the same time, to resist and prevent his interference if he should show +himself inclined to offer any.</p> + +<p class="side">The petition.<br> +Caesar assaulted.</p> + +<p>Things being thus arranged, the petitioner, as had been agreed, advanced +to Caesar with his petition, others coming up at the same time as if to +second the request. The object of the petition was to ask for the pardon +of the brother of one of the conspirators. Caesar declined granting it. +The others then crowded around him, urging him to grant the request with +pressing importunities, all apparently reluctant to strike the first +blow. Caesar began to be alarmed, and attempted to repel them. One of +them then pulled down his robe from his neck to lay it bare. Caesar +arose, exclaiming, "But this is violence." At the same instant, one of +the conspirators struck at him with his sword, and wounded him slightly +in the neck.</p> + +<p class="side">He resists.</p> + +<p>All was now terror, outcry, and confusion Caesar had no time to draw his +sword, but fought a moment with his style, a sharp instrument of iron +with which they wrote, in those days, on waxen tablets, and which he +happened then to have in his hand. With this instrument he ran one of +his enemies through the arm.</p> + +<a name="Illus0286"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0286.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0286.jpg" width = "25%" +alt="POMPEY'S STATUE."> +</a><br> +<b>POMPEY'S STATUE.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">Caesar is overcome.<br> +Pompey's statue.<br> +Caesar's death.</p> + +<p>This resistance was just what was necessary to excite the conspirators, +and give them the requisite resolution to finish their work. Caesar soon +saw the swords, accordingly, gleaming all around him, and thrusting +themselves at him on every side. The senators rose in confusion and +dismay, perfectly thunderstruck at the scene, and not knowing what to +do. Antony perceived that all resistance on his part would be +unavailing, and accordingly did not attempt any. Caesar defended himself +alone for a few minutes as well as he could, looking all around him in +vain for help, and retreating at the same time toward the pedestal of +Pompey's statue. At length, when he saw Brutus among his murderers, he +exclaimed, "And you too, Brutus?" and seemed from that moment to give up +in despair. He drew his robe over his face, and soon fell under the +wounds which he received. His blood ran out upon the pavement at the +foot of Pompey's statue, as if his death were a sacrifice offered to +appease his ancient enemy's revenge.</p> + +<p class="side">Flight of the senators.<br> +Great commotion.</p> + +<p>In the midst of the scene Brutus made an attempt to address the +senators, and to vindicate what they had done, but the confusion and +excitement were so great that it was impossible that any thing could be +heard. The senators were, in fact, rapidly leaving the place, going off +in every direction, and spreading the tidings over the city. The event, +of course, produced universal commotion. The citizens began to close +their shops, and some to barricade their houses, while others hurried to +and fro about the streets, anxiously inquiring for intelligence, and +wondering what dreadful event was next to be expected. Antony and +Lepidus, who were Caesar's two most faithful and influential friends, +not knowing how extensive the conspiracy might be, nor how far the +hostility to Caesar and his party might extend, fled, and, not daring to +go to their own houses, lest the assassins or their confederates might +pursue them there, sought concealment in the houses of friends on whom +they supposed they could rely and who were willing to receive them.</p> + +<p class="side">The Conspirators proceed to the Capitol.<br> +They glory in their deed.</p> + +<p>In the mean time, the conspirators, glorying In the deed which they had +perpetrated, and congratulating each other on the successful issue of +their enterprise, sallied forth together from the senate-house, leaving +the body of their victim weltering in its blood, and marched, with drawn +swords in their hands, along the streets from the senate-house to the +Capitol. Brutus went at the head of them, preceded by a liberty cap +borne upon the point of a spear, and with his bloody dagger in his hand. +The Capitol was the citadel, built magnificently upon the Capitoline +Hill, and surrounded by temples, and other sacred and civil edifices, +which made the spot the architectural wonder of the world. As Brutus and +his company proceeded thither, they announced to the citizens, as they +went along, the great deed of deliverance which they had wrought out for +the country. Instead of seeking concealment, they gloried in the work +which they had done, and they so far succeeded in inspiring others with +a portion of their enthusiasm, that some men who had really taken no +part in the deed joined Brutus and his company in their march, to obtain +by stealth a share in the glory.</p> + +<p class="side">Number of Caesar's wounds.</p> + +<p>The body of Caesar lay for some time unheeded where it had fallen, the +attention of every one being turned to the excitement, which was +extending through the city, and to the expectation of other great events +which might suddenly develop themselves in other quarters of Rome. There +were left only three of Caesar's slaves, who gathered around the body to +look at the wounds. They counted them, and found the number +twenty-three. It shows, however, how strikingly, and with what +reluctance, the actors in this tragedy came up to their work at last, +that of all these twenty-three wounds only one was a mortal one. In +fact, it is probable that, while all of the conspirators struck the +victim in their turn, to fulfill the pledge which they had given to one +another that they would every one inflict a wound, each one hoped that +the fatal blow would be given, after all, by some other hand than +his own.</p> + +<p class="side">His slaves convey his body home.</p> + +<p>At last the slaves decided to convey the body home. They obtained a sort +of chair, which was made to be borne by poles, and placed the body upon +it. Then, lifting at the three handles, and allowing the fourth to hang +unsupported for want of a man, they bore the ghastly remains home to the +distracted Calpurnia.</p> + +<p class="side">Address of the conspirators.</p> + +<p>The next day Brutus and his associates called an assembly of the people +in the Forum, and made an address to them, explaining the motives which +had led them to the commission of the deed, and vindicating the +necessity and the justice of it. The people received these explanations +in silence. They expressed neither approbation nor displeasure. It was +not, in fact, to be expected that they would feel or evince any +satisfaction at the loss of their master. He had been their champion, +and, as they believed, their friend. The removal of Caesar brought no +accession of power nor increase of liberty to them. It might have been a +gain to ambitious senators, or powerful generals, or high officers of +state, by removing a successful rival out of their way, but it seemed to +promise little advantage to the community at large, other than the +changing of one despotism for another. Besides, a populace who know that +they mast be governed, prefer generally, if they must submit to some +control, to yield their submission to some one master spirit whom they +can look up to as a great and acknowledged superior. They had rather +have a Caesar than a Senate to command them.</p> + +<p class="side">Feelings of the populace.</p> + +<p>The higher authorities, however, were, at might have been expected, +disposed to acquiesce in the removal of Caesar from his intended throne. +The Senate met, and passed an act of indemnity, to shield the +conspirators from all legal liability for the deed they had done. In +order, however, to satisfy the people too, as far as possible, they +decreed divine honors to Caesar, confirmed and ratified all that he had +done while in the exercise of supreme power, and appointed a time for +the funeral, ordering arrangements to be made for a very pompous +celebration of it.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's will.<br> +Its provisions.</p> + +<p>A will was soon found, which Caesar, it seems, had made some time +before. Calpurnia's father proposed that this will should be opened and +read in public at Antony's house; and this was accordingly done. The +provisions of the will were, many of them, of such a character as +renewed the feelings of interest and sympathy which the people of Rome +had begun to cherish for Caesar's memory. His vast estate was divided +chiefly among the children of his sister, as he had no children of his +own, while the very men who had been most prominent in his assassination +were named as trustees and guardians of the property; and one of them, +Decimus Brutus, the one who had been so urgent to conduct him to the +senate-house, was a second heir. He had some splendid gardens near the +Tiber, which he bequeathed to the citizens of Rome, and a large amount +of money also, to be divided among them, sufficient to give every man a +considerable sum.</p> + +<p class="side">Preparations for Caesar's funeral.<br> +The Field of Mars.</p> + +<p>The time for the celebration of the funeral ceremonies was made known by +proclamation, and, as the concourse of strangers and citizens of Rome +was likely to be so great as to forbid the forming of all into one +procession without consuming more than one day, the various classes of +the community were invited to come, each in their own way, to the Field +of Mars, bringing with them such insignia, offerings, and oblations as +they pleased. The Field of Mars was an immense parade ground, reserved +for military reviews, spectacles, and shows. A funeral pile was erected +here for the burning of the body There was to be a funeral discourse +pronounced, and Marc Antony had been designated to perform this duty. +The body had been placed in a gilded bed, under a magnificent canopy in +the form of a temple, before the rostra where the funeral discourse was +to be pronounced. The bed was covered with scarlet and cloth of gold and +at the head of it was laid the robe in which Caesar had been slain. It +was stained with blood, and pierced with the holes that the swords and +daggers of the conspirators had made.</p> + +<p class="side">Marc Antony's oration.<br> +The funeral pile.</p> + +<p>Marc Antony, instead of pronouncing a formal panegyric upon his deceased +friend, ordered a crier to read the decrees of the Senate, in which all +honors, human and divine, had been ascribed to Caesar. He then added a +few words of his own. The bed was then taken up, with the body upon it, +and borne out into the Forum, preparatory to conveying it to the pile +which had been prepared for it upon the Field of Mars, A question, +however, here arose among the multitude assembled in respect to the +proper place for burning the body. The people seemed inclined to select +the most honorable place which could be found within the limits of the +city. Some proposed a beautiful temple on the Capitoline Hill. Others +wished to take it to the senate-house, where he had been slain. The +Senate, and those who were less inclined to pay extravagant honors to +the departed hero, were in favor of some more retired spot, under +pretense that the buildings of the city would be endangered by the fire. +This discussion was fast becoming a dispute, when it was suddenly ended +by two men, with swords at their sides and knees in their hands, forcing +their way through the crowd with lighted torches, and setting the bed +and its canopy on fire where it lay.</p> + +<a name="Illus0287"></a> +<P class=ctr> +<a href="Images/Illus0287.jpg"> +<img src="Images/Illus0287.jpg" width = "80%" +alt="BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY."> +</a><br> +<b>BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.</b> +</P><br> + +<p class="side">The body burned in the Forum.</p> + +<p>This settled the question, and the whole company were soon in the +wildest excitement with the work of building up a funeral pile upon the +spot. At first they brought fagots and threw upon the fire, then benches +from the neighboring courts and porticoes, and then any thing +combustible which came to hand. The honor done to the memory of a +deceased hero was, in some sense, in proportion to the greatness of his +funeral pile, and all the populace on this occasion began soon to seize +every thing they could find, appropriate and unappropriate, provided +that it would increase the flame. The soldiers threw on their lances and +spears, the musicians their instruments, and others stripped off the +cloths and trappings from the furniture of the procession, and heaped +them upon the burning pile.</p> + +<p class="side">The conflagration.</p> + +<p>So fierce and extensive was the fire, that it spread to some of the +neighboring houses, and required great efforts to prevent a general +conflagration. The people, too, became greatly excited by the scene. +They lighted torches by the fire, and went to the houses of Brutus and +Cassius, threatening vengeance upon them for the murder of Caesar. The +authorities succeeded though with infinite difficulty, in protecting +Brutus and Cassius from the violence of the mob, but they seized one +unfortunate citizen of the name of Cinna, thinking it a certain Cinna +who had been known as an enemy of Caesar. They cut off his head, +notwithstanding his shrieks and cries, and carried it about the city on +the tip of a pike, a dreadful symbol of their hostility to the enemies +of Caesar. As frequently happens, however, in such deeds of sudden +violence, these hasty and lawless avengers found afterward that they had +made a mistake, and beheaded the wrong man.</p> + +<p class="side">Caesar's monument.<br> +The comet.</p> + +<p>The Roman people erected a column to the memory of Caesar, on which they +placed the inscription, "To THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." They fixed the +figure of a star upon the summit of it, and some time afterward, while +the people were celebrating some games in honor of his memory, a great +comet blazed for seven nights in the sky, which they recognized as the +mighty hero's soul reposing in heaven.</p> +<br> +<br> +<hr class="full"> +<pre> + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** + +******* This file should be named 11688-h.txt or 11688-h.zip ******* + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/6/8/11688">https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/6/8/11688</a> + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: History of Julius Caesar + +Author: Jacob Abbott + +Release Date: March 23, 2004 [eBook #11688] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Charlie Kirschner, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 11688-h.htm or 11688-h.zip: + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/6/8/11688/11688-h/11688-h.htm) + or + (http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/1/1/6/8/11688/11688-h.zip) + + + + + +HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR + +BY + +JACOB ABBOTT + +WITH ENGRAVINGS + +1904 + + + + + + +[Illustration: THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR.] + + +[Illustration] + + + + +PREFACE + + +It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, +distinct, and connected narrative of the lives of those great personages +who have in various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as +leaders among mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public +affairs of great nations, have exerted the widest influence on the +history of the human race. The end which the author has had in view is +twofold: first, to communicate such information in respect to the +subjects of his narratives as is important for the general reader to +possess; and, secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events +described and the characters delineated as they may legitimately teach +to the people of the present age. Though written in a direct and simple +style, they are intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some +considerable degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully +appreciate the character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all +that is described in these volumes does, in close combination with the +conduct and policy of governments, and the great events of +international history. + + + +CONTENTS. + + +Chapter + + I. MARIUS AND SYLLA. + II. CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS. + III. ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP. + IV. THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. + V. POMPEY. + VI. CROSSING THE RUBICON. + VII. THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. +VIII. FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY. + IX. CAESAR IN EGYPT. + X. CAESAR IMPERATOR. + XI. THE CONSPIRACY. + XII. THE ASSASSINATION. + + + +ENGRAVINGS. + +THE PIRATES AT ANCHOR. +MAP OF ROME. +ROMAN PLEBEIANS. +A ROMAN FORUM. +THE LANDING IN ENGLAND. +CROSSING THE RUBICON. +ROMAN STANDARD-BEARERS. +DEATH OF POMPEY. +POMPEY'S PILLAR. +CLEOPATRA'S BARGE. +THE ELEPHANTS MADE TORCH-BEARERS. +POMPEY'S STATUE. +BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY. + +[Illustration: ANCIENT ROME.] + + + +JULIUS CAESAR. + +CHAPTER I. + +MARIUS AND SYLLA. + +[Sidenote: Three great European nations of antiquity.] + +There were three great European nations in ancient days, each of which +furnished history with a hero: the Greeks, the Carthaginians, and +the Romans. + +[Sidenote: Alexander.] + +Alexander was the hero of the Greeks. He was King of Macedon, a country +lying north of Greece proper. He headed an army of his countrymen, and +made an excursion for conquest and glory into Asia. He made himself +master of all that quarter of the globe, and reigned over it in Babylon, +till he brought himself to an early grave by the excesses into which his +boundless prosperity allured him. His fame rests on his triumphant +success in building up for himself so vast an empire, and the admiration +which his career has always excited among mankind is heightened by the +consideration of his youth, and of the noble and generous impulses +which strongly marked his character. + +[Sidenote: Hannibal.] +[Sidenote: His terrible energy.] + +The Carthaginian hero was Hannibal. We class the Carthaginians among the +European nations of antiquity; for, in respect to their origin, their +civilization, and all their commercial and political relations, they +belonged to the European race, though it is true that their capital was +on the African side of the Mediterranean Sea. Hannibal was the great +Carthaginian hero. He earned his fame by the energy and implacableness +of his hate. The work of his life was to keep a vast empire in a state +of continual anxiety and terror for fifty years, so that his claim to +greatness and glory rests on the determination, the perseverance, and +the success with which he fulfilled his function of being, while he +lived, the terror of the world. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar.] + +The Roman hero was Caesar. He was born just one hundred years before the +Christian era. His renown does not depend, like that of Alexander, on +foreign conquests, nor, like that of Hannibal, on the terrible energy of +his aggressions upon foreign foes, but upon his protracted and dreadful +contests with, and ultimate triumphs over, his rivals and competitors at +home. When he appeared upon the stage, the Roman empire already +included nearly all of the world that was worth possessing. There were +no more conquests to be made. Caesar did, indeed, enlarge, in some +degree, the boundaries of the empire; but the main question in his day +was, who should possess the power which preceding conquerors +had acquired. + +[Sidenote: The ancient Roman empire.] +[Sidenote: The provinces.] + +The Roman empire, as it existed in those days, must not be conceived of +by the reader as united together under one compact and consolidated +government. It was, on the other hand, a vast congeries of nations, +widely dissimilar in every respect from each other, speaking various +languages, and having various customs and laws. They were all, however, +more or less dependent upon, and connected with, the great central +power. Some of these countries were provinces, and were governed by +officers appointed and sent out by the authorities at Rome. These +governors had to collect the taxes of their provinces, and also to +preside over and direct, in many important respects, the administration +of justice. They had, accordingly, abundant opportunities to enrich +themselves while thus in office, by collecting more money than they paid +over to the government at home, and by taking bribes to favor the rich +man's cause in court. Thus the more wealthy and prosperous provinces +were objects of great competition among aspirants for office at Rome. +Leading men would get these appointments, and, after remaining long +enough in their provinces to acquire a fortune, would come back to Rome, +and expend it in intrigues and maneuvers to obtain higher offices still. + +[Sidenote: Foreign wars.] +[Sidenote: The victorious general.] + +Whenever there was any foreign war to be carried on with a distant +nation or tribe, there was always a great eagerness among all the +military officers of the state to be appointed to the command. They each +felt sure that they should conquer in the contest, and they could enrich +themselves still more rapidly by the spoils of victory in war, than by +extortion and bribes in the government of a province in peace. Then, +besides, a victorious general coming back to Rome always found that his +military renown added vastly to his influence and power in the city. He +was welcomed with celebrations and triumphs; the people flocked to see +him and to shout his praise. He placed his trophies of victory in the +temples, and entertained the populace with games and shows, and with +combats of gladiators or of wild beasts, which he had brought home with +him for this purpose in the train of his army. While he was thus +enjoying his triumph, his political enemies would be thrown into the +back ground and into the shade; unless, indeed, some one of them might +himself be earning the same honors in some other field, to come back in +due time, and claim his share of power and celebrity in his turn. In +this case, Rome would be sometimes distracted and rent by the conflicts +and contentions of military rivals, who had acquired powers too vast for +all the civil influences of the Republic to regulate or control. + +[Illustration: ROMAN PLEBEIANS.] + +[Sidenote: Military rivals.] +[Sidenote: Marius and Sylla.] +[Sidenote: The patricians and plebeians.] +[Sidenote: Civil contests.] +[Sidenote: Quarrel about the command of the army.] +[Sidenote: Sylla's violence.] + +There had been two such rivals just before the time of Caesar, who had +filled the world with their quarrels. They were Marius and Sylla. Their +very names have been, in all ages of the world, since their day, the +symbols of rivalry and hate. They were the representatives respectively +of the two great parties into which the Roman state, like every other +community in which the population at large have any voice in governing, +always has been, and probably always will be divided, the upper and the +lower; or, as they were called in those days, the patrician and the +plebeian. Sylla was the patrician; the higher and more aristocratic +portions of the community were on his side. Marius was the favorite of +the plebeian masses. In the contests, however, which they waged with +each other, they did not trust to the mere influence of votes. They +relied much more upon the soldiers they could gather under their +respective standards and upon their power of intimidating, by means of +them, the Roman assemblies. There was a war to be waged with +Mithridates, a very powerful Asiatic monarch, which promised great +opportunities for acquiring fame and plunder. Sylla was appointed to the +command. While he was absent, however, upon some campaign in Italy, +Marius contrived to have the decision reversed, and the command +transferred to him Two officers, called tribunes, were sent to Sylla's +camp to inform him of the change. Sylla killed the officers for daring +to bring him such a message, and began immediately to march toward Rome. +In retaliation for the murder of the tribunes, the party of Marius in +the city killed some of Sylla's prominent friends there, and a general +alarm spread itself throughout the population. The Senate, which was a +sort of House of Lords, embodying mainly the power and influence of the +patrician party, and was, of course, on Sylla's side, sent out to him, +when he had arrived within a few miles of the city, urging him to come +no further. He pretended to comply; he marked out the ground for a camp; +but he did not, on that account, materially delay his march. The next +morning he was in possession of the city. The friends of Marius +attempted to resist him, by throwing stones upon his troops from the +roofs of the houses. Sylla ordered every house from which these +symptoms of resistance appeared to be set on fire. Thus the whole +population of a vast and wealthy city were thrown into a condition of +extreme danger and terror, by the conflicts of two great bands of armed +men, each claiming to be their friends. + +[Sidenote: Defeat of Marius.] + +Marius was conquered in this struggle, and fled for his life. Many of +the friends whom he left behind him were killed. The Senate were +assembled, and, at Sylla's orders, a decree was passed declaring Marius +a public enemy, and offering a reward to any one who would bring his +head back to Rome. + +[Sidenote: His flight.] + +Marius fled, friendless and alone, to the southward, hunted every where +by men who were eager to get the reward offered for his head. After +various romantic adventures and narrow escapes, he succeeded in making +his way across the Mediterranean Sea, and found at last a refuge in a +hut among the ruins of Carthage. He was an old man, being now over +seventy years of age. + +[Sidenote: Return of Marius.] +[Sidenote: He marches against Rome.] + +Of course, Sylla thought that his great rival and enemy was now finally +disposed of, and he accordingly began to make preparations for his +Asiatic campaign. He raised his army, built and equipped a fleet, and +went away. As soon as he was gone, Marius's friends in the city began to +come forth, and to take measures for reinstating themselves in power. +Marius returned, too, from Africa, and soon gathered about him a large +army. Being the friend, as he pretended, of the lower classes of +society, he collected vast multitudes of revolted slaves, outlaws, and +other desperadoes, and advanced toward Rome. He assumed, himself, the +dress, and air, and savage demeanor of his followers. His countenance +had been rendered haggard and cadaverous partly by the influence of +exposures, hardships, and suffering upon his advanced age, and partly by +the stern and moody plans and determinations of revenge which his mind +was perpetually revolving. He listened to the deputations which the +Roman Senate sent out to him from time to time, as he advanced toward +the city, but refused to make any terms. He moved forward with all the +outward deliberation and calmness suitable to his years, while all the +ferocity of a tiger was burning within. + +[Sidenote: Executions by order of Marius.] + +As soon as he had gained possession of the city, he began his work of +destruction. He first beheaded one of the consuls, and ordered his head +to be set up, as a public spectacle, in the most conspicuous place in +the city. This was the beginning. All the prominent friends of Sylla, +men of the highest rank and station, were then killed, wherever they +could be found, without sentence, without trial, without any other +accusation, even, than the military decision of Marius that they were +his enemies, and must die. For those against whom he felt any special +animosity, he contrived some special mode of execution. One, whose fate +he wished particularly to signalize, was thrown down from the +Tarpeian Rock. + +[Sidenote: The Tarpeian Rock.] + +The Tarpeian Rock was a precipice about fifty feet high, which is still +to be seen in Rome, from which the worst of state criminals were +sometimes thrown. They were taken up to the top by a stair, and were +then hurled from the summit, to die miserably, writhing in agony after +their fall, upon the rocks below. + +[Sidenote: The story of Tarpeia.] +[Sidenote: Subterranean passages.] + +The Tarpeian Rock received its name from the ancient story of Tarpeia. +The tale is, that Tarpeia was a Roman girl, who lived at a time in the +earliest periods of the Roman history, when the city was besieged by an +army from are of the neighboring nations. Besides their shields, the +story is that the soldiers had golden bracelets upon their arms. They +wished Tarpeia to open the gates and let them in. She promised to do so +if they would give her their bracelets; but, as she did not know the +name of the shining ornaments, the language she used to designate them +was, "Those things you have upon your arms." The soldiers acceded to her +terms; she opened the gates, and they, instead of giving her the +bracelets, threw their _shields_ upon her as they passed, until the poor +girl was crushed down with them and destroyed. This was near the +Tarpeian Rock, which afterward took her name. The rock is now found to +be perforated by a great many subterranean passages, the remains, +probably, of ancient quarries. Some of these galleries are now walled +up; others are open; and the people who live around the spot believe, it +is said, to this day, that Tarpeia herself sits, enchanted, far in the +interior of these caverns, covered with gold and jewels, but that +whoever attempts to find her is fated by an irresistible destiny to lose +his way, and he never returns. The last story is probably as true as +the other. + +[Sidenote: Escape of Sylla's wife.] + +Marius continued his executions and massacres until the whole of Sylla's +party had been slain or put to flight. He made every effort to discover +Sylla's wife and child, with a view to destroying them also, but they +could not be found. Some friends of Sylla, taking compassion on their +innocence and helplessness, concealed them, and thus saved Marius from +the commission of one intended crime. Marius was disappointed, too, in +some other cases, where men whom he had intended to kill destroyed +themselves to baffle his vengeance. One shut himself up in a room with +burning charcoal, and was suffocated with the fumes. Another bled +himself to death upon a public altar, calling down the judgments of the +god to whom he offered this dreadful sacrifice, upon the head of the +tyrant whose atrocious cruelty he was thus attempting to evade. + +[Sidenote: Illness of Marius.] +[Sidenote: Sylla outlawed.] + +By the time that Marius had got fairly established in his new position, +and was completely master of Rome, and the city had begun to recover a +little from the shock and consternation produced by his executions, he +fell sick. He was attacked with an acute disease of great violence. The +attack was perhaps produced, and was certainly aggravated by, the great +mental excitements through which he had passed during his exile, and in +the entire change of fortune which had attended his return. From being +a wretched fugitive, hiding for his life among gloomy and desolate +ruins, he found himself suddenly transferred to the mastery of the +world. His mind was excited, too, in respect to Sylla, whom he had not +yet reached or subdued, but who was still prosecuting his war against +Mithridates. Marius had had him pronounced by the Senate an enemy to his +country, and was meditating plans to reach him in his distant province, +considering his triumph incomplete as long as his great rival was at +liberty and alive. The sickness cut short these plans, but it only +inflamed to double violence the excitement and the agitations which +attended them. + +[Sidenote: Marius delirious.] +[Sidenote: Death of Marius.] + +As the dying tyrant tossed restlessly upon his bed, it was plain that +the delirious ravings which he began soon to utter were excited by the +same sentiments of insatiable ambition and ferocious hate whose calmer +dictates he had obeyed when well. He imagined that he had succeeded in +supplanting Sylla in his command, and that he was himself in Asia at the +head of his armies. Impressed with this idea, he stared wildly around; +he called aloud the name of Mithridates; he shouted orders to imaginary +troops; he struggled to break away from the restraints which the +attendants about his bedside imposed, to attack the phantom foes which +haunted him in his dreams. This continued for several days, and when at +last nature was exhausted by the violence of these paroxysms of phrensy, +the vital powers which had been for seventy long years spending their +strength in deeds of selfishness, cruelty, and hatred, found their work +done, and sunk to revive no more. + +[Sidenote: Return of Sylla.] +[Sidenote: Marius's son.] +[Sidenote: Proscriptions and massacres of Sylla.] + +Marius left a son, of the same name with himself, who attempted to +retain his father's power; but Sylla, having brought his war with +Mithridates to a conclusion, was now on his return from Asia, and it was +very evident that a terrible conflict was about to ensue. Sylla advanced +triumphantly through the country, while Marius the younger and his +partisans concentrated their forces about the city, and prepared for +defense. The people of the city were divided, the aristocratic faction +adhering to the cause of Sylla, while the democratic influences sided +with Marius. Political parties rise and fall, in almost all ages of the +world, in alternate fluctuations, like those of the tides. The faction +of Marius had been for some time in the ascendency, and it was now its +turn to fall. Sylla found, therefore, as he advanced, every thing +favorable to the restoration of his own party to power. He destroyed the +armies which came out to oppose him. He shut up the young Marius in a +city not far from Rome, where he had endeavored to find shelter and +protection, and then advanced himself and took possession of the city. +There he caused to be enacted again the horrid scenes of massacre and +murder which Marius had perpetrated before, going, however, as much +beyond the example which he followed as men usually do in the commission +of crime. He gave out lists of the names of men whom he wished to have +destroyed, and these unhappy victims of his revenge were to be hunted +out by bands of reckless soldiers, in their dwellings, or in the places +of public resort in the city, and dispatched by the sword wherever they +could be found. The scenes which these deeds created in a vast and +populous city can scarcely be conceived of by those who have never +witnessed the horrors produced by the massacres of civil war. Sylla +himself went through with this work in the most cool and unconcerned +manner, as if he were performing the most ordinary duties of an officer +of state. He called the Senate together one day, and, while he was +addressing them, the attention of the Assembly was suddenly distracted +by the noise of outcries and screams in the neighboring streets from +those who were suffering military execution there. The senators started +with horror at the sound. Sylla, with an air of great composure and +unconcern, directed the members to listen to him, and to pay no +attention to what was passing elsewhere. The sounds that they heard +were, he said, only some correction which was bestowed by his orders on +certain disturbers of the public peace. + +[Sidenote: Executions.] +[Sidenote: Extent of Sylla's proscriptions.] +[Sidenote: Man's nature.] + +Sylla's orders for the execution of those who had taken an active part +against him were not confined to Rome. They went to the neighboring +cities and to distant provinces, carrying terror and distress every +where. Still, dreadful as these evils were, it is possible for us, in +the conceptions which we form, to overrate the extent of them. In +reading the history of the Roman empire during the civil wars of Marius +and Sylla, one might easily imagine that the whole population of the +country was organized into the two contending armies, and were employed +wholly in the work of fighting with and massacring each other. But +nothing like this can be true. It is obviously but a small part, after +all, of an extended community that can be ever actively and personally +engaged in these deeds of violence and blood. Man is not naturally a +ferocious wild beast. On the contrary, he loves, ordinarily, to live in +peace and quietness, to till his lands and tend his flocks, and to enjoy +the blessings of peace and repose. It is comparatively but a small +number in any age of the world, and in any nation, whose passions of +ambition, hatred, or revenge become so strong as that they love +bloodshed and war. But these few, when they once get weapons into their +hands, trample recklessly and mercilessly upon the rest. One ferocious +human tiger, with a spear or a bayonet to brandish, will tyrannize as he +pleases over a hundred quiet men, who are armed only with shepherds' +crooks, and whose only desire is to live in peace with their wives and +their children. + +[Sidenote: Husbandmen.] +[Sidenote: How the Roman edifices were built.] +[Sidenote: Standing armies.] + +Thus, while Marius and Sylla, with some hundred thousand armed and +reckless followers, were carrying terror and dismay wherever they went, +there were many millions of herdsmen and husbandmen in the Roman world +who were dwelling in all the peace and quietness they could command, +improving with their peaceful industry every acre where corn would ripen +or grass grow. It was by taxing and plundering the proceeds of this +industry that the generals and soldiers, the consuls and praetors, and +proconsuls and propraetors, filled their treasuries, and fed their +troops, and paid the artisans for fabricating their arms. With these +avails they built the magnificent edifices of Rome, and adorned its +environs with sumptuous villas. As they had the power and the arms in +their hands, the peaceful and the industrious had no alternative but to +submit. They went on as well as they could with their labors, bearing +patiently every interruption, returning again to till their fields after +the desolating march of the army had passed away, and repairing the +injuries of violence, and the losses sustained by plunder, without +useless repining. They looked upon an armed government as a necessary +and inevitable affliction of humanity, and submitted to its destructive +violence as they would submit to an earthquake or a pestilence. The +tillers of the soil manage better in this country at the present day. +They have the power in their own hands, and they watch very narrowly to +prevent the organization of such hordes of armed desperadoes as have +held the peaceful inhabitants of Europe in terror from the earliest +periods down to the present day. + +[Sidenote: Julius Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Sylla's animosity against him.] +[Sidenote: Caesar refuses to repudiate his wife.] +[Sidenote: His flight.] + +When Sylla returned to Rome, and took possession of the supreme power +there, in looking over the lists of public men, there was one whom he +did not know, at first what to do with. It was the young Julius Caesar, +the subject of this history. Caesar was, by birth, patrician, having +descended from a long line of noble ancestors. There had been, before +his day, a great many Caesars who had held the highest offices of the +state, and many of them had been celebrated in history. He naturally, +therefore, belonged to Sylla's side, as Sylla was the representative of +the patrician interest. But then Caesar had personally been inclined +toward the party of Marius. The elder Marius had married his aunt, and, +besides, Caesar himself had married the daughter of Cinna, who had been +the most efficient and powerful of Marius's coadjutors and friends. +Caesar was at this time a very young man, and he was of an ardent and +reckless character, though he had, thus far, taken no active part in +public affairs. Sylla overlooked him for a time, but at length was about +to put his name on the list of the proscribed. Some of the nobles, who +were friends both of Sylla and of Caesar too, interceded for the young +man; Sylla yielded to their request, or, rather, suspended his +decision, and sent orders to Caesar to repudiate his wife, the daughter +of Cinna. Her name was Cornelia. Caesar absolutely refused to repudiate +his wife. He was influenced in this decision partly by affection for +Cornelia, and partly by a sort of stern and indomitable +insubmissiveness, which formed, from his earliest years, a prominent +trait in his character, and which led him, during all his life, to brave +every possible danger rather than allow himself to be controlled. Caesar +knew very well that, when this his refusal should be reported to Sylla, +the next order would be for his destruction. He accordingly fled. Sylla +deprived him of his titles and offices, confiscated his wife's fortune +and his own patrimonial estate, and put his name upon the list of the +public enemies. Thus Caesar became a fugitive and an exile. The +adventures which befell him in his wanderings will be described in the +following chapter. + +[Sidenote: Sylla made dictator.] +[Sidenote: He resigns his power.] + +Sylla was now in the possession of absolute power. He was master of +Rome, and of all the countries over which Rome held sway. Still he was +nominally not a magistrate, but only a general returning victoriously +from his Asiatic campaign, and putting to death, somewhat irregularly, +it is true, by a sort of martial law persons whom he found, as he said, +disturbing the public peace. After having thus effectually disposed of +the power of his enemies, he laid aside, ostensibly, the government of +the sword, and submitted himself and his future measures to the control +of law. He placed himself ostensibly at the disposition of the city. +They chose him dictator, which was investing him with absolute and +unlimited power. He remained on this, the highest pinnacle of worldly +ambition, a short time, and then resigned his power, and devoted the +remainder of his days to literary pursuits and pleasures. Monster as he +was in the cruelties which he inflicted upon his political foes, he was +intellectually of a refined and cultivated mind, and felt an ardent +interest in the promotion of literature and the arts. + +[Sidenote: Opinion of mankind in regard to Marius and Sylla.] + +The quarrel between Marius and Sylla, in respect to every thing which +can make such a contest great, stands in the estimation of mankind as +the greatest personal quarrel which the history of the world has ever +recorded. Its origin was in the simple personal rivalry of two ambitious +men. It involved, in its consequences, the peace and happiness of the +world. In their reckless struggles, the fierce combatants trampled on +every thing that came in their way, and destroyed mercilessly, each in +his turn, all that opposed them. Mankind have always execrated their +crimes, but have never ceased to admire the frightful and almost +superhuman energy with which they committed them. + + + +CHAPTER II. + +CAESAR'S EARLY YEARS. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's resolution.] + +Caesar does not seem to have been much disheartened and depressed by his +misfortunes. He possessed in his early life more than the usual share of +buoyancy and light-heartedness of youth, and he went away from Rome to +enter, perhaps, upon years of exile and wandering, with a determination +to face boldly and to brave the evils and dangers which surrounded him, +and not to succumb to them. + +[Sidenote: His person and character.] + +Sometimes they who become great in their maturer years are thoughtful, +grave, and sedate when young. It was not so, however, with Caesar. He +was of a very gay and lively disposition. He was tall and handsome in +his person, fascinating in his manners, and fond of society, as people +always are who know or who suppose that they shine in it. He had seemed, +in a word, during his residence at Rome, wholly intent upon the +pleasures of a gay and joyous life, and upon the personal observation +which his rank, his wealth, his agreeable manners and his position in +society secured for him. In fact, they who observed and studied his +character in these early years, thought that, although his situation was +very favorable for acquiring power and renown, he would never feel any +strong degree of ambition to avail himself of its advantages. He was too +much interested, they thought, in personal pleasures ever to become +great, either as a military commander or a statesman. + +[Sidenote: Sylla's estimation of Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's friends intercede for him.] + +Sylla, however, thought differently. He had penetration enough to +perceive, beneath all the gayety and love of pleasure which +characterized Caesar's youthful life, the germs of a sterner and more +aspiring spirit, which, he was very sorry to see, was likely to expend +its future energies in hostility to him. By refusing to submit to +Sylla's commands, Caesar had, in effect, thrown himself entirely upon +the other party, and would be, of course, in future identified with +them. Sylla consequently looked upon him now as a confirmed and settled +enemy. Some friends of Caesar among the patrician families interceded in +his behalf with Sylla again, after he had fled from Rome. They wished +Sylla to pardon him, saying that he was a mere boy and could do him no +harm. Sylla shook his head, saying that, young as he was, he saw in him +indications of a future power which he thought was more to be dreaded +than that of many Mariuses. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's studies.] +[Sidenote: His ambition to be an orator.] + +One reason which led Sylla to form this opinion of Caesar was, that the +young nobleman, with all his love of gayety and pleasure, had not +neglected his studies, but had taken great pains to perfect himself in +such intellectual pursuits as ambitious men who looked forward to +political influence and ascendency were accustomed to prosecute in those +days He had studied the Greek language, and read the works of Greek +historians; and he attended lectures on philosophy and rhetoric, and was +obviously interested deeply in acquiring power as a public speaker. To +write and speak well gave a public man great influence in those days. +Many of the measures of the government were determined by the action of +great assemblies of the free citizens, which action was itself, in a +great measure, controlled by the harangues of orators who had such +powers of voice and such qualities of mind as enabled them to gain the +attention and sway the opinions of large bodies of men. + +[Sidenote: The Forum.] +[Sidenote: Its porticoes and statues.] +[Sidenote: Attractions of the Forum.] + +It most not be supposed, however, that this popular power was shared by +all the inhabitants of the city. At one time, when the population of the +city was about three millions the number of free citizens was only three +hundred thousand. The rest were laborers, artisans, and slaves, who had +no voice in public affairs. The free citizens held very frequent public +assemblies. There were various squares and open spaces in the city where +such assemblies were convened, and where courts of justice were held. +The Roman name for such a square was _forum_. There was one which was +distinguished above all the rest, and was called emphatically The Forum. +It was a magnificent square, surrounded by splendid edifices, and +ornamented by sculptures and statues without number. There were ranges +of porticoes along the sides, where the people were sheltered from the +weather when necessary, though it is seldom that there is any necessity +for shelter under an Italian sky. In this area and under these porticoes +the people held their assemblies, and here courts of justice were +accustomed to sit. The Forum was ornamented continually with new +monuments, temples, statues, and columns by successful generals +returning in triumph from foreign campaigns, and by proconsuls and +praetors coming back enriched from their provinces, until it was +fairly choked up with its architectural magnificence, and it had at last +to be partially cleared again, as one would thin out too dense a forest, +in order to make room for the assemblies which it was its main function +to contain. + +[Illustration: A ROMAN FORUM] + +[Sidenote: Harangues and political discussions.] + +The people of Rome had, of course, no printed books, and yet they were +mentally cultivated and refined, and were qualified for a very high +appreciation of intellectual pursuits and pleasures. In the absence, +therefore, of all facilities for private reading, the Forum became the +great central point of attraction. The same kind of interest which, in +our day, finds its gratification in reading volumes of printed history +quietly at home, or in silently perusing the columns of newspapers and +magazines in libraries and reading-rooms, where a whisper is seldom +heard, in Caesar's day brought every body to the Forum, to listen to +historical harangues, or political discussions, or forensic arguments in +the midst of noisy crowds. Here all tidings centered; here all questions +were discussed and all great elections held. Here were waged those +ceaseless conflicts of ambition and struggles of power on which the fate +of nations, and sometimes the welfare of almost half mankind depended. +Of course, every ambitious man who aspired to an ascendency over his +fellow-men, wished to make his voice heard in the Forum. To calm the +boisterous tumult there, and to hold, as some of the Roman orators could +do, the vast assemblies in silent and breathless attention, was a power +as delightful in its exercise as it was glorious in its fame. Caesar had +felt this ambition, and had devoted himself very earnestly to the study +of oratory. + +[Sidenote: Apollonius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar studies under him.] + +His teacher was Apollonius, a philosopher and rhetorician from Rhodes. +Rhodes is a Grecian island, near the southwestern coast of Asia Minor +Apollonius was a teacher of great celebrity, and Caesar became a very +able writer and speaker under his instructions. His time and attention +were, in fact, strangely divided between the highest and noblest +intellectual avocations, and the lowest sensual pleasures of a gay and +dissipated life. The coming of Sylla had, however, interrupted all; and, +after receiving the dictator's command to give up his wife and abandon +the Marian faction, and determining to disobey it, he fled suddenly from +Rome, as was stated at the close of the last chapter, at midnight, and +in disguise. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's wanderings.] +[Sidenote: He is seized by a centurion.] + +He was sick, too, at the time, with an intermittent fever. The paroxysm +returned once in three or four days, leaving him in tolerable health +during the interval. He went first into the country of the Sabines, +northeast of Rome, where he wandered up and down, exposed continually to +great dangers from those who knew that he was an object of the great +dictator's displeasure, and who were sure of favor and of a reward if +they could carry his head to Sylla He had to change his quarters every +day, and to resort to every possible mode of concealment. He was, +however, at last discovered, and seized by a centurion. A centurion was +a commander of a hundred men; his rank and his position therefore, +corresponded somewhat with those of a _captain_ in a modern army. Caesar +was not much disturbed at this accident. He offered the centurion a +bribe sufficient to induce him to give up his prisoner, and so escaped. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: He joins the court of Nicomedes.] + +The two ancient historians, whose records contain nearly all the +particulars of the early life of Caesar which are now known, give +somewhat contradictory accounts of the adventures which befell him +during his subsequent wanderings. They relate, in general, the same +incidents, but in such different connections, that the precise +chronological order of the events which occurred can not now be +ascertained. At all events, Caesar, finding that he was no longer safe +in the vicinity of Rome, moved gradually to the eastward, attended by a +few followers, until he reached the sea, and there he embarked on board +a ship to leave his native land altogether. After various adventures and +wanderings, he found himself at length in Asia Minor, and he made his +way at last to the kingdom of Bithynia, on the northern shore. The name +of the king of Bithynia was Nicomedes. Caesar joined himself to +Nicomedes's court, and entered into his service. In the mean time, Sylla +had ceased to pursue him, and ultimately granted him a pardon, but +whether before or after this time is not now to be ascertained. At all +events, Caesar became interested in the scenes and enjoyments of +Nicomedes's court, and allowed the time to pass away without forming any +plans for returning to Rome. + +[Sidenote: Cilicia.] +[Sidenote: Character of its inhabitants.] + +On the opposite side of Asia Minor, that is, on the southern shore, +there was a wild and mountainous region called Cilicia. The great chain +of mountains called Taurus approaches here very near to the sea, and the +steep conformations of the land, which, in the interior, produce lofty +ranges and summits, and dark valleys and ravines, form, along the line +of the shore, capes and promontories, bounded by precipitous sides, and +with deep bays and harbors between them. The people of Cilicia were +accordingly half sailors, half mountaineers. They built swift galleys, +and made excursions in great force over the Mediterranean Sea for +conquest and plunder. They would capture single ships, and sometimes +even whole fleets of merchantmen. They were even strong enough on many +occasions to land and take possession of a harbor and a town, and hold +it, often, for a considerable time, against all the efforts of the +neighboring powers to dislodge them. In case, however, their enemies +became at any time too strong for them, they would retreat to their +harbors, which were so defended by the fortresses which guarded them, +and by the desperate bravery of the garrisons, that the pursuers +generally did not dare to attempt to force their way in; and if, in any +case, a town or a port was taken, the indomitable savages would continue +their retreat to the fastnesses of the mountains, where it was utterly +useless to attempt to follow them. + +[Sidenote: The Cilicians wanting in poets and historians.] +[Sidenote: Robbers and pirates.] + +But with all their prowess and skill as naval combatants, and their +hardihood as mountaineers, the Cilicians lacked one thing which is very +essential in every nation to an honorable military fame. They had no +poets or historians of their own, so that the story of their deeds had +to be told to posterity by their enemies. If they had been able to +narrate their own exploits, they would have figured, perhaps, upon the +page of history as a small but brave and efficient maritime power, +pursuing for many years a glorious career of conquest, and acquiring +imperishable renown by their enterprise and success. As it was, the +Romans, their enemies, described their deeds and gave them their +designation. They called them robbers and pirates; and robbers and +pirates they must forever remain. + +[Sidenote: Depredations of the Cilicians.] + +And it is, in fact, very likely true that the Cilician commanders did +not pursue their conquests and commit their depredations on the rights +and the property of others in quite so systematic and methodical a +manner as some other conquering states have done. They probably seized +private property a little more unceremoniously than is customary; though +all belligerent nations, even in these Christian ages of the world, feel +at liberty to seize and confiscate private property when they find it +afloat at sea, while, by a strange inconsistency, they respect it on +the land. The Cilician pirates considered themselves at war with all +mankind, and, whatever merchandise they found passing from port to port +along the shores of the Mediterranean, they considered lawful spoil. +They intercepted the corn which was going from Sicily to Rome, and +filled their own granaries with it. They got rich merchandise from the +ships of Alexandria, which brought, sometimes, gold, and gems, and +costly fabrics from the East; and they obtained, often, large sums of +money by seizing men of distinction and wealth, who were continually +passing to and fro between Italy and Greece, and holding them for a +ransom. They were particularly pleased to get possession in this way of +Roman generals and officers of state, who were going out to take the +command of armies, or who were returning from their provinces with the +wealth which they had accumulated there. + +[Sidenote: Expeditions sent against them.] +[Sidenote: Boldness and courage of the Cilicians.] + +Many expeditions were fitted out and many naval commanders were +commissioned to sup press and subdue these common enemies of mankind, as +the Romans called them. At one time, while a distinguished general, +named Antonius, was in pursuit of them at the head of a fleet, a party +of the pirates made a descent upon the Italian coast, south of Rome, at +Nicenum, where the ancient patrimonial mansion of this very Antonius was +situated, and took away several members of his family as captives, and +so compelled him to ransom them by paying a very large sum of money. The +pirates grew bolder and bolder in proportion to their success. They +finally almost stopped all intercourse between Italy and Greece, neither +the merchants daring to expose their merchandise, nor the passengers +their persons to such dangers. They then approached nearer and nearer to +Rome, and at last actually entered the Tiber, and surprised and carried +off a Roman fleet which was anchored there. Caesar himself fell into the +hands of these pirates at some time during the period of his wanderings. + +[Sidenote: They capture Caesar.] + +The pirates captured the ship in which he was sailing near Pharmacusa, a +small island in the northeastern part of the Aegean Sea. He was not at +this time in the destitute condition in which he had found himself on +leaving Rome, but was traveling with attendants suitable to his rank, +and in such a style and manner as at once made it evident to the pirates +that he was a man of distinction. They accordingly held him for ransom, +and, in the mean time, until he could take measures for raising the +money, they kept him a prisoner on board the vessel which had +captured him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's air of superiority.] +[Sidenote: His ransom.] + +In this situation, Caesar, though entirely in the power and at the mercy +of his lawless captors, assumed such an air of superiority and command +in all his intercourse with them as at first awakened their +astonishment, then excited their admiration, and ended in almost +subjecting them to his will. He asked them what they demanded for his +ransom. They said twenty talents, which was quite a large amount, a +talent itself being a considerable sum of money. Caesar laughed at this +demand, and told them it was plain that they did not know who he was, He +would give them _fifty_ talents. He then sent away his attendants to the +shore, with orders to proceed to certain cities where he was known, in +order to procure the money, retaining only a physician and two servants +for himself. While his messengers were gone, he remained on board +the ship of his captors, assuming in every respect the air and manner of +their master. When he wished to sleep, if they made a noise which +disturbed him, he sent them orders to be still. He joined them in their +sports and diversions on the deck, surpassing them in their feats, and +taking the direction of every thing as if he were their acknowledged +leader. He wrote orations and verses which he read to them, and if his +wild auditors did not appear to appreciate the literary excellence of +his compositions, he told them that they were stupid fools without any +taste, adding, by way of apology, that nothing better could be expected +of such barbarians. + +The pirates asked him one day what he should do to them if he should +ever, at any future time, take them prisoners. Caesar said that he would +crucify every one of them. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at liberty.] +[Sidenote: He captures the pirates in his turn.] + +The ransom money at length arrived. Caesar paid it to the pirates, and +they, faithful to their covenant, sent him in a boat to the land. He was +put ashore on the coast of Asia Minor. He proceeded immediately to +Miletus, the nearest port, equipped a small fleet there, and put +to sea. He sailed at once to the roadstead where the pirates had been +lying, and found them still at anchor there, in perfect security.[1] He +attacked them, seized their ships, recovered his ransom money, and took +the men all prisoners. He conveyed his captives to the land, and there +fulfilled his threat that he would crucify them by cutting their +throats and nailing their dead bodies to crosses which his men erected +for the purpose along the shore. + +[Footnote 1: See Frontispiece] + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Rhodes.] + +During his absence from Rome Caesar went to Rhodes, where his former +preceptor resided, and he continued to pursue there for some time his +former studies. He looked forward still to appearing one day in the +Roman Forum. In fact, he began to receive messages from his friends at +home that they thought it would be safe for him to return. Sylla had +gradually withdrawn from power, and finally had died. The aristocratical +party were indeed still in the ascendency, but the party of Marius had +begun to recover a little from the total overthrow with which Sylla's +return, and his terrible military vengeance, had overwhelmed them. +Caesar himself, therefore, they thought, might, with prudent management, +be safe in returning to Rome. + +[Sidenote: He returns to Rome.] +[Sidenote: Caesar impeaches Dolabella.] +[Sidenote: Excitement in consequence.] + +He returned, but not to be prudent or cautious; there was no element of +prudence or caution in his character. As soon as he arrived, he openly +espoused the popular party. His first public act was to arraign the +governor of the great province of Macedonia, through which he had passed +on his way to Bithynia. It was a consul whom he thus impeached, and a +strong partisan of Sylla's. His name was Dolabella. The people were +astonished at his daring in thus raising the standard of resistance to +Sylla's power, indirectly, it is true, but none the less really on that +account. When the trial came on, and Caesar appeared at the Forum, he +gained great applause by the vigor and force of his oratory. There was, +of course, a very strong and general interest felt in the case; the +people all seeming to understand that, in this attack on Dolabella, +Caesar was appearing as their champion, and their hopes were revived at +having at last found a leader capable of succeeding Marius, and building +up their cause again. Dolabella was ably defended by orators on the +other side, and was, of course, acquitted, for the power of Sylla's +party was still supreme. All Rome, however, was aroused and excited by +the boldness of Caesar's attack, and by the extraordinary ability which +he evinced in his mode of conducting it. He became, in fact, at once one +of the most conspicuous and prominent men in the city. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's increasing power.] + +Encouraged by his success, and the applauses which he received, and +feeling every day a greater and greater consciousness of power, he +began to assume more and more openly the character of the leader of the +popular party. He devoted himself to public speaking in the Forum, both +before popular assemblies and in the courts of justice, where he was +employed a great deal as an advocate to defend those who were accused of +political crimes. The people, considering him as their rising champion, +were predisposed to regard every thing that he did with favor, and there +was really a great intellectual power displayed in his orations and +harangues. He acquired, in a word, great celebrity by his boldness and +energy, and his boldness and energy were themselves increased in their +turn as he felt the strength of his position increase with his growing +celebrity. + +[Sidenote: Death of Marius's wife.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's panegyric on Marius's wife.] +[Sidenote: Its success.] + +At length the wife of Marius, who was Caesar's aunt, died. She had lived +in obscurity since her husband's proscription and death, his party +having been put down so effectually that it was dangerous to appear to +be her friend. Caesar, however, made preparations for a magnificent +funeral for her. There was a place in the Forum, a sort of pulpit, where +public orators were accustomed to stand in addressing the assembly on +great occasions. This pulpit was adorned with the brazen beaks of ships +which had been taken by the Romans in former wars The name of such a +beak was _rostrum_; in the plural, _rostra_. The pulpit was itself, +therefore, called the _Rostra_, that is, The Beaks; and the people were +addressed from it on great public occasions.[2] Caesar pronounced a +splendid panegyric upon the wife of Marius, at this her funeral, from +the Rostra, in the presence of a vast concourse of spectators, and he +had the boldness to bring out and display to the people certain +household images of Marius, which had been concealed from view ever +since his death. Producing them again on such an occasion was annulling, +so far as a public orator could do it, the sentence of condemnation +which Sylla and the patrician party had pronounced against him, and +bringing him forward again as entitled to public admiration and +applause. The patrician partisans who were present attempted to rebuke +this bold maneuver with expressions of disapprobation, but these +expressions were drowned in the loud and long-continued bursts of +applause with which the great mass of the assembled multitude hailed and +sanctioned it. The experiment was very bold and very hazardous, but it +was triumphantly successful. + +[Footnote 2: In modern books this pulpit is sometimes called the +Rostrum, using the word in the singular.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar's oration on his wife.] +[Sidenote: Alarm of the patricians.] + +A short time after this Caesar had another opportunity for delivering a +funeral oration; it was in the case of his own wife, the daughter of +Cinna, who had been the colleague and coadjutor of Marius during the +days of his power. It was not usual to pronounce such panegyrics upon +Roman ladies unless they had attained to an advanced age. Caesar, +however, was disposed to make the case of his own wife an exception to +the ordinary rule. He saw in the occasion an opportunity to give a new +impulse to the popular cause, and to make further progress in gaining +the popular favor. The experiment was successful in this instance too. +The people were pleased at the apparent affection which his action +evinced; and as Cornelia was the daughter of Cinna, he had opportunity, +under pretext of praising the birth and parentage of the deceased, to +laud the men whom Sylla's party had outlawed and destroyed. In a word, +the patrician party saw with anxiety and dread that Caesar was rapidly +consolidating and organizing, and bringing back to its pristine strength +and vigor, a party whose restoration to power would of course involve +their own political, and perhaps personal ruin. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in office.] +[Sidenote: Shows and entertainments.] + +Caesar began soon to receive appointments to public office, and thus +rapidly increased his influence and power. Public officers and +candidates for office were accustomed in those days to expend great sums +of money in shows and spectacles to amuse the people. Caesar went beyond +all limits in these expenditures. He brought gladiators from distant +provinces, and trained them at great expense, to fight in the enormous +amphitheaters of the city, in the midst of vast assemblies of men. Wild +beasts were procured also from the forests of Africa, and brought over +in great numbers, under his direction, that the people might be +entertained by their combats with captives taken in war, who were +reserved for this dreadful fate. Caesar gave, also, splendid +entertainments, of the most luxurious and costly character, and he +mingled with his guests at these entertainments, and with the people at +large on other occasions, in so complaisant and courteous a manner as to +gain universal favor. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's extravagances.] +[Sidenote: His embarrassments.] + +He soon, by these means, not only exhausted all his own pecuniary +resources, but plunged himself enormously into debt. It was not +difficult for such a man in those days to procure an almost unlimited +credit for such purposes as these, for every one knew that, if he +finally succeeded in placing himself, by means of the popularity thus +acquired, in stations of power, he could soon indemnify himself and all +others who had aided him. The peaceful merchants, and artisans, and +husbandmen of the distant provinces over which he expected to rule, +would yield the revenues necessary to fill the treasuries thus +exhausted. Still, Caesar's expenditures were so lavish, and the debts he +incurred were so enormous, that those who had not the most unbounded +confidence in his capacity and his powers believed him irretrievably +ruined. + +The particulars, however, of these difficulties, and the manner in which +Caesar contrived to extricate himself from them, will be more fully +detailed in the next chapter. + + + +CHAPTER III. + +ADVANCEMENT TO THE CONSULSHIP. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's rise to power.] + +From this time, which was about sixty-seven years before the birth of +Christ, Caesar remained for nine years generally at Rome, engaged there +in a constant struggle for power. He was successful in these efforts, +rising all the time from one position of influence and honor to another, +until he became altogether the most prominent and powerful man in the +city. A great many incidents are recorded, as attending these contests, +which illustrate in a very striking manner the strange mixture of rude +violence and legal formality by which Rome was in those days governed. + +[Sidenote: Government of Rome.] +[Sidenote: Bribery and corruption.] +[Sidenote: Public amusements.] + +Many of the most important offices of the state depended upon the votes +of the people; and as the people had very little opportunity to become +acquainted with the real merits of the case in respect to questions of +government, they gave their votes very much according to the personal +popularity of the candidate. Public men had very little moral principle +in those days, and they would accordingly resort to any means whatever +to procure this personal popularity. They who wanted office were +accustomed to bribe influential men among the people to support them, +sometimes by promising them subordinate offices, and sometimes by the +direct donation of sums of money; and they would try to please the mass +of the people, who were too numerous to be paid with offices or with +gold, by shows and spectacles, and entertainments of every kind which +they would provide for their amusement. + +This practice seems to us very absurd; and we wonder that the Roman +people should tolerate it, since it is evident that the means for +defraying these expenses must come, ultimately, in some way or other, +from them. And yet, absurd as it seems, this sort of policy is not +wholly disused even in our day. The operas and the theaters, and other +similar establishments in France, are sustained, in part, by the +government; and the liberality and efficiency with which this is done, +forms, in some degree, the basis of the popularity of each succeeding +administration. The plan is better systematized and regulated in our +day, but it is, in its nature, substantially the same. + +[Sidenote: Amusements for the people.] + +In fact, furnishing amusements for the people, and also providing +supplies for their wants, as well as affording them protection, were +considered the legitimate objects of government in those days. It is +very different at the present time, and especially in this country. The +whole community are now united in the desire to confine the functions of +government within the narrowest possible limits, such as to include only +the preservation of public order and public safety. The people prefer to +supply their own wants and to provide their own enjoyments, rather than +to invest government with the power to do it for them, knowing very well +that, on the latter plan, the burdens they will have to bear, though +concealed for a time, must be doubled in the end. + +[Sidenote: Provided by the government.] +[Sidenote: How the people were supported.] +[Sidenote: Agrarian laws.] + +It must not be forgotten, however, that there were some reasons in the +days of the Romans for providing public amusements for the people on an +extended scale which do not exist now. They had very few facilities then +for the private and separate enjoyments of home, so that they were much +more inclined than the people of this country are now to seek pleasure +abroad and in public. The climate, too, mild and genial nearly all the +year, favored this. Then they were not interested, as men are now, in +the pursuits and avocations of private industry. The people of Rome were +not a community of merchants, manufacturers, and citizens, enriching +themselves, and adding to the comforts and enjoyments of the rest of +mankind by the products of their labor. They were supported, in a great +measure, by the proceeds of the tribute of foreign provinces, and by the +plunder taken by the generals in the name of the state in foreign wars. +From the same source, too--foreign conquest--captives were brought home, +to be trained as gladiators to amuse them with their combats, and +statues and paintings to ornament the public buildings of the city. In +the same manner, large quantities of corn, which had been taken in the +provinces, were often distributed at Rome. And sometimes even land +itself, in large tracts, which had been confiscated by the state, or +otherwise taken from the original possessors, was divided among the +people. The laws enacted from time to time for this purpose were called +Agrarian laws; and the phrase afterward passed into a sort of proverb, +inasmuch as plans proposed in modern times for conciliating the favor of +the populace by sharing among them property belonging to the state or to +the rich, are designated by the name of _Agrarianism_. + +[Sidenote: Government of Rome.] +[Sidenote: Its foreign policy.] + +Thus Rome was a city supported, in a great measure, by the fruits of its +conquests, that is, in a certain sense, by plunder. It was a vast +community most efficiently and admirably organized for this purpose; and +yet it would not be perfectly just to designate the people simply as a +band of robbers. They rendered, in some sense, an equivalent for what +they took, in establishing and enforcing a certain organization of +society throughout the world, and in preserving a sort of public order +and peace. They built cities, they constructed aqueducts and roads; they +formed harbors, and protected them by piers and by castles; they +protected commerce, and cultivated the arts, and encouraged literature, +and enforced a general quiet and peace among mankind, allowing of no +violence or war except what they themselves created. Thus they +_governed_ the world, and they felt, as all governors of mankind always +do, fully entitled to supply themselves with the comforts and +conveniences of life, in consideration of the service which they +thus rendered. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's policy.] + +Of course, it was to be expected that they would sometimes quarrel among +themselves about the spoils. Ambitious men were always arising, eager to +obtain opportunities to make fresh conquests, and to bring home new +supplies, and those who were most successful in making the results of +their conquests available in adding to the wealth and to the public +enjoyments of the city, would, of course, be most popular with the +voters. Hence extortion in the provinces, and the most profuse and +lavish expenditure in the city, became the policy which every great man +must pursue to rise to power. + +[Sidenote: His success.] + +Caesar entered into this policy with his whole soul, founding all his +hopes of success upon the favor of the populace. Of course, he had many +rivals and opponents among the patrician ranks, and in the Senate, and +they often impeded and thwarted his plans and measures for a time, +though he always triumphed in the end. + +[Sidenote: He is made quaestor.] +[Sidenote: Caesar leaves Spain.] +[Sidenote: His project.] + +One of the first offices of importance to which he attained was that of +_quaestor_, as it was called, which office called him away from Rome +into the province of Spain, making him the second in command there. The +officer first in command in the province was, in this instance, a +praetor. During his absence in Spain, Caesar replenished in some degree +his exhausted finances, but he soon became very much discontented with +so subordinate a position. His discontent was greatly increased by his +coming unexpectedly, one day, at a city then called Hades--the present +Cadiz--upon a statue of Alexander, which adorned one of the public +edifices there. Alexander died when he was only about thirty years of +age, having before that period made himself master of the world. Caesar +was himself now about thirty-five years of age, and it made him very sad +to reflect that, though he had lived five years longer than Alexander, +he had yet accomplished so little. He was thus far only the second in a +province, while he burned with an insatiable ambition to be the first in +Rome. The reflection made him so uneasy that he left his post before his +time expired, and went back to Rome, forming, on the way, desperate +projects for getting power there. + +[Sidenote: Caesar accused of treason.] + +His rivals and enemies accused him of various schemes, more or less +violent and treasonable in their nature, but how justly it is not now +possible to ascertain. They alleged that one of his plans was to join +some of the neighboring colonies, whose inhabitants wished to be +admitted to the freedom of the city, and, making common cause with them, +to raise an armed force and take possession of Rome. It was said that, +to prevent the accomplishment of this design, an army which they had +raised for the purpose of an expedition against the Cilician pirates was +detained from its march, and that Caesar, seeing that the government +were on their guard against him, abandoned the plan. + +They also charged him with having formed, after this, a plan within the +city for assassinating the senators in the senate house, and then +usurping, with his fellow-conspirators, the supreme power. Crassus, who +was a man of vast wealth and a great friend of Caesar's, was associated +with him in this plot, and was to have been made dictator if it had +succeeded. But, notwithstanding the brilliant prize with which Caesar +attempted to allure Crassus to the enterprise, his courage failed him +when the time for action arrived. Courage and enterprise, in fact, ought +not to be expected of the rich; they are the virtues of poverty. + +[Sidenote: He is made aedile.] +[Sidenote: Gladiatorial shows.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's increasing popularity.] + +Though the Senate were thus jealous and suspicious of Caesar, and were +charging him continually with these criminal designs, the people were on +his side; and the more he was hated by the great, the more strongly he +became intrenched in the popular favor. They chose him _aedile_. The +aedile had the charge of the public edifices of the city, and of the +games spectacles, and shows which were exhibited in them. Caesar +entered with great zeal into the discharge of the duties of this office. +He made arrangements for the entertainment of the people on the most +magnificent scale, and made great additions and improvements to the +public buildings, constructing porticoes and piazzas around the areas +where his gladiatorial shows and the combats with wild beasts were to be +exhibited. He provided gladiators in such numbers, and organized and +arranged them in such a manner, ostensibly for their training, that his +enemies among the nobility pretended to believe that he was intending to +use them as an armed force against the government of the city. They +accordingly made laws limiting and restricting the number of the +gladiators to be employed. Caesar then exhibited his shows on the +reduced scale which the new laws required, taking care that the people +should understand to whom the responsibility for this reduction in the +scale of their pleasures belonged. They, of course, murmured against the +Senate, and Caesar stood higher in their favor than ever. + +[Sidenote: Caesar thwarted.] +[Sidenote: His resentment.] +[Sidenote: The statutes of Marius restored.] +[Sidenote: Rage of the patricians.] + +He was getting, however, by these means, very deeply involved in debt; +and, in order partly to retrieve his fortunes in this respect, he made +an attempt to have Egypt assigned to him as a province. Egypt was then +an immensely rich and fertile country. It had, however, never been a +Roman province. It was an independent kingdom, in alliance with the +Romans, and Caesar's proposal that it should be assigned to him as a +province appeared very extraordinary. His pretext was, that the people +of Egypt had recently deposed and expelled their king, and that, +consequently, the Romans might properly take possession of it. The +Senate, however, resisted this plan, either from jealousy of Caesar or +from a sense of justice to Egypt; and, after a violent contest, Caesar +found himself compelled to give up the design. He felt, however, a +strong degree of resentment against the patrician party who had thus +thwarted his designs. Accordingly, in order to avenge himself upon them, +he one night replaced certain statues and trophies of Marius in the +Capitol, which had been taken down by order of Sylla when he returned to +power. Marius, as will be recollected, had been the great champion of +the popular party, and the enemy of the patricians; and, at the time of +his down-fall, all the memorials of his power and greatness had been +every where removed from Rome, and among them these statues and +trophies, which had been erected in the Capitol in commemoration of some +former victories, and had remained there until Sylla's triumph, when +they were taken down and destroyed. Caesar now ordered new ones to be +made, far more magnificent than before. They were made secretly, and put +up in the night. His office as aedile gave him the necessary authority. +The next morning, when the people saw these splendid monuments of their +great favorite restored, the whole city was animated with excitement and +joy. The patricians, on the other hand, were filled with vexation and +rage. "Here is a single officer," said they, "who is attempting to +restore, by his individual authority, what has been formally abolished +by a decree of the Senate. He is trying to see how much we will bear. If +he finds that we will submit to this, he will attempt bolder measures +still." They accordingly commenced a movement to have the statues and +trophies taken down again, but the people rallied in vast numbers in +defense of them. They made the Capitol ring with their shouts of +applause; and the Senate, finding their power insufficient to cope with +so great a force, gave up the point, and Caesar gained the day. + +[Sidenote: The Good Goddess.] + +Caesar had married another wife after the death of Cornelia. Her name +was Pompeia, He divorced Pompeia about this time, under very +extraordinary circumstances. Among the other strange religious +ceremonies and celebrations which were observed in those days, was one +called the celebration of the mysteries of the Good Goddess. This +celebration was held by females alone, every thing masculine being most +carefully excluded. Even the pictures of men, if there were any upon the +walls of the house where the assembly was held, were covered. The +persons engaged spent the night together in music and dancing and +various secret ceremonies, half pleasure, half worship, according to the +ideas and customs of the time. + +[Sidenote: Clodius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar divorces his wife.] + +The mysteries of the Good Goddess were to be celebrated one night at +Caesar's house, he himself having, of course, withdrawn. In the +middle of the night, the whole company in one of the apartments were +thrown into consternation at finding that one of their number was a man. +He had a smooth and youthful-looking face, and was very perfectly +disguised in the dress of a female. He proved to be a certain Clodius, a +very base and dissolute young man, though of great wealth and high +connections. He had been admitted by a female slave of Pompeia's, whom +he had succeeded in bribing. It was suspected that it was with Pompeia's +concurrence. At any rate, Caesar immediately divorced his wife. The +Senate ordered an inquiry into the affair, and, after the other members +of the household had given their testimony, Caesar himself was called +upon, but he had nothing to say. He knew nothing about it. They asked +him, then, why he had divorced Pompeia, unless he had some evidence for +believing her guilty, He replied, that a wife of Caesar must not only be +without crime, but without suspicion. + +[Sidenote: Quarrel of Clodius and Milo.] +[Sidenote: Violence of the time.] + +Clodius was a very desperate and lawless character, and his subsequent +history shows, in a striking point of view, the degree of violence and +disorder which reigned in those times. He became involved in a bitter +contention with another citizen whose name was Milo, and each, gaining +as many adherents as he could, at length drew almost the whole city into +their quarrel. Whenever they went out, they were attended with armed +bands, which were continually in danger of coming into collision. The +collision at last came, quite a battle was fought, and Clodius was +killed. This made the difficulty worse than it was before. Parties were +formed, and violent disputes arose on the question of bringing Milo to +trial for the alleged murder. He was brought to trial at last, but so +great was the public excitement, that the consuls for the time +surrounded and filled the whole Forum with armed men while the trial was +proceeding, to ensure the safety of the court. + +[Sidenote: Conspiracy of Catiline.] +[Sidenote: Warm debate in the Senate.] +[Sidenote: Caesar in danger of violence.] + +In fact, violence mingled itself continually, in those times, with +almost all public proceedings, whenever any special combination of +circumstances occurred to awaken unusual excitement. At one time, when +Caesar was in office, a very dangerous conspiracy was brought to light, +which was headed by the notorious Catiline. It was directed chiefly +against the Senate and the higher departments of the government; it +contemplated, in fact, their utter destruction, and the establishment of +an entirely new government on the ruins of the existing constitution. +Caesar was himself accused of a participation in this plot. When it was +discovered, Catiline himself fled; some of the other conspirators were, +however, arrested, and there was a long and very excited debate in the +Senate on the question of their punishment. Some were for death. Caesar, +however, very earnestly opposed this plan, recommending, instead, the +confiscation of the estates of the conspirators, and their imprisonment +in some of the distant cities of Italy. The dispute grew very warm, +Caesar urging his point with great perseverance and determination, and +with a degree of violence which threatened seriously to obstruct the +proceedings, when a body of armed men, a sort of guard of honor +stationed there, gathered around him, and threatened him with their +swords. Quite a scene of disorder and terror ensued. Some of the +senators arose hastily and fled from the vicinity of Caesar's seat to +avoid the danger. Others, more courageous, or more devoted in their +attachment to him, gathered around him to protect him, as far as they +could, by interposing their bodies between his person and the weapons of +his assailants. Caesar soon left the Senate, and for a long time would +return to it no more. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's struggle for the office of pontifex maximus.] + +Although Caesar was all this time, on the whole, rising in influence and +power, there were still fluctuations in his fortune, and the tide +sometimes, for a short period, went strongly against him. He was at one +time, when greatly involved in debt, and embarrassed in all his affairs, +a candidate for a very high office, that of Pontifex Maximus, or +sovereign pontiff. The office of the pontifex was originally that of +building and keeping custody of the bridges of the city, the name being +derived from the Latin word _pons_, which signifies bridge. To this, +however, had afterward been added the care of the temples, and finally +the regulation and control of the ceremonies of religion, so that it +came in the end to be an office of the highest dignity and honor. Caesar +made the most desperate efforts to secure his election, resorting to +such measures, expending such sums, and involving himself in debt to +such an extreme, that, if he failed, he would be irretrievably ruined. +His mother, sympathizing with him in his anxiety, kissed him when he +went away from the house on the morning of the election, and bade hem +farewell with tears. He told her that he should come home that night the +pontiff, or he should never come home at all. He succeeded in gaining +the election. + +[Sidenote: He is deposed.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's forbearance.] +[Sidenote: He is restored to office.] + +At one time Caesar was actually deposed from a high office which he +held, by a decree of the Senate. He determined to disregard this decree, +and go on in the discharge of his office as usual. But the Senate, whose +ascendency was now, for some reason, once more established, prepared to +prevent him by force of arms. Caesar, finding that he was not +sustained, gave up the contest, put off his robes of office, and went +home. Two days afterward a reaction occurred. A mass of the populace +came together to his house, and offered their assistance to restore his +rights and vindicate his honor. Caesar, however, contrary to what every +one would have expected of him, exerted his influence to calm and quiet +the mob, and then sent them away, remaining himself in private as +before. The Senate had been alarmed at the first outbreak of the tumult, +and a meeting had been suddenly convened to consider what measures to +adopt in such a crisis. When, however, they found that Caesar had +himself interposed, and by his own personal influence had saved the city +from the danger which threatened it, they were so strongly impressed +with a sense of his forbearance and generosity, that they sent for him +to come to the senate house, and, after formally expressing their +thanks, they canceled their former vote, and restored him to his office +again. This change in the action of the Senate does not, however, +necessarily indicate so great a change of individual sentiment as one +might at first imagine. There was, undoubtedly, a large minority who +were averse to his being deposed in the first instance but, being +outvoted, the decree of deposition was passed. Others were, perhaps, +more or less doubtful. Caesar's generous forbearance in refusing the +offered aid of the populace carried over a number of these sufficient to +shift the majority, and thus the action of the body was reversed. It is +in this way that the sudden and apparently total changes in the action +of deliberative assemblies which often take place, and which would +otherwise, in some cases, be almost incredible, are to be explained. + +[Sidenote: Caesar implicated in Catiline's conspiracy.] +[Sidenote: He arrests Vettius.] + +After this, Caesar became involved in another difficulty, in consequence +of the appearance of some definite and positive evidence that he was +connected with Catiline in his famous conspiracy. One of the senators +said that Catiline himself had informed him that Caesar was one of the +accomplices of the plot. Another witness, named Vettius, laid an +information against Caesar before a Roman magistrate, and offered to +produce Caesar's handwriting in proof of his participation in the +conspirator's designs Caesar was very much incensed, and his manner of +vindicating himself from these serious charges was as singular as many +of his other deeds. He arrested Vettius, and sentenced him to pay a +heavy fine, and to be imprisoned; and he contrived also to expose him, +in the course of the proceedings, to the mob in the Forum, who were +always ready to espouse Caesar's cause, and who, on this occasion, beat +Vettius so unmercifully, that he barely escaped with his life. The +magistrate, too, was thrown into prison for having dared to take an +information against a superior officer. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's embarrassment.] +[Sidenote: Spain is assigned to him.] + +At last Caesar became so much involved in debt, through the boundless +extravagance of his expenditures, that something must be done to +replenish his exhausted finances. He had, however, by this time, risen +so high in official influence and power, that he succeeded in having +Spain assigned to him as his province, and he began to make preparations +to proceed to it. His creditors, however, interposed, unwilling to let +him go without giving them security. In this dilemma, Caesar succeeded +in making an arrangement with Crassus, who has already been spoken of as +a man of unbounded wealth and great ambition, but not possessed of any +considerable degree of intellectual power. Crassus consented to give the +necessary security, with an understanding that Caesar was to repay him +by exerting his political influence in his favor. So soon as this +arrangement was made, Caesar set off in a sudden and private manner, as +if he expected that otherwise some new difficulty would intervene. + +[Sidenote: The Swiss hamlet.] + +He went to Spain by land, passing through Switzerland on the way. He +stopped with his attendants one night at a very insignificant village of +shepherds' huts among the mountains. Struck with the poverty and +worthlessness of all they saw in this wretched hamlet, Caesar's friends +were wondering whether the jealousy, rivalry, and ambition which reigned +among men every where else in the world could find any footing there, +when Caesar told them that, for his part, he should rather choose to be +first in such a village as that than the second at Rome. The story has +been repeated a thousand times, and told to every successive generation +now for nearly twenty centuries, as an illustration of the peculiar type +and character of the ambition which controls such a soul as that +of Caesar. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's ambition.] + +Caesar was very successful in the administration of his province; that +is to say, he returned in a short time with considerable military glory, +and with money enough to pay all his debts, and famish him with means +for fresh electioneering. + +[Sidenote: Manner of choosing the consuls.] +[Sidenote: Pompey and Crassus.] + +He now felt strong enough to aspire to the office of consul, which was +the highest office of the Roman state. When the line of kings had been +deposed, the Romans had vested the supreme magistracy in the hands of +two consuls, who were chosen annually in a general election, the +formalities of which were all very carefully arranged. The current of +popular opinion was, of course, in Caesar's favor, but he had many +powerful rivals and enemies among the great, who, however, hated and +opposed each other as well as him. There was at that time a very bitter +feud between Pompey and Crassus, each of them struggling for power +against the efforts of the other. Pompey possessed great influence +through his splendid abilities and his military renown. Crassus, as has +already been stated, was powerful through his wealth. Caesar, who had +some influence with them both, now conceived the bold design of +reconciling them, and then of availing himself of their united aid in +accomplishing his own particular ends. + +[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.] + +He succeeded perfectly well in this management. He represented to them +that, by contending against each other, they only exhausted their own +powers, and strengthened the arms of their common enemies. He proposed +to them to unite with one another and with him, and thus make common +cause to promote their common interest and advancement. They willingly +acceded to this plan, and a triple league was accordingly formed, in +which they each bound themselves to promote, by every means in his +power, the political elevation of the others, and not to take any public +step or adopt any measures without the concurrence of the three. Caesar +faithfully observed the obligations of this league so long as he could +use his two associates to promote his own ends, and then he +abandoned it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar a candidate for the consulship.] + +Having, however, completed this arrangement, he was now prepared to push +vigorously his claims to be elected consul. He associated with his own +name that of Lucceius, who was a man of great wealth, and who agreed to +defray the expenses of the election for the sake of the honor of being +consul with Caesar. Caesar's enemies, however, knowing that they +probably could not prevent his election, determined to concentrate their +strength in the effort to prevent his having the colleague he desired. +They made choice, therefore, of a certain Bibulus as their candidate. +Bibulus had always been a political opponent of Caesar's, and they +thought that, by associating him with Caesar in the supreme magistracy, +the pride and ambition of their great adversary might be held somewhat +in check. They accordingly made a contribution among themselves to +enable Bibulus to expend as much money in bribery as Lucceius, and the +canvass went on. + +[Sidenote: Caesar assumes the whole power.] +[Sidenote: He imprisons Cato.] + +It resulted in the election of Caesar and Bibulus. They entered upon the +duties of their office; but Caesar, almost entirely disregarding his +colleague, began to assume the whole power, and proposed and carried +measure after measure of the most extraordinary character, all aiming at +the gratification of the populace. He was at first opposed violently +both by Bibulus and by many leading members of the Senate, especially by +Cato, a stern and inflexible patriot, whom neither fear of danger nor +hope of reward could move from what he regarded his duty. But Caesar was +now getting strong enough to put down the opposition which he +encountered with out much scruple as to the means. He ordered Cato on +one occasion to be arrested in the Senate and sent to prison. Another +influential member of the Senate rose and was going out with him. Caesar +asked him where he was going. He said he was going with Cato. He would +rather, he said, be with Cato in prison, than in the Senate with Caesar. + +[Sidenote: Bibulus retires to his house.] +[Sidenote: The year of "Julius and Caesar."] + +Caesar treated Bibulus also with so much neglect, and assumed so +entirely the whole control of the consular power, to the utter exclusion +of his colleague, that Bibulus at last, completely discouraged and +chagrined, abandoned all pretension to official authority, retired to +his house, and shut himself up in perfect seclusion, leaving Caesar to +his own way. It was customary among the Romans, in their historical and +narrative writings, to designate the successive years, not by a +numerical date as with us, but by the names of the consuls who held +office in them. Thus, in the time of Caesar's consulship, the phrase +would have been, "In the year of Caesar and Bibulus, consuls," according +to the ordinary usage; but the wags of the city, in order to make sport +of the assumptions of Caesar and the insignificance of Bibulus, used to +say, "In the year of Julius and Caesar, consuls," rejecting the name of +Bibulus altogether, and taking the two names of Caesar to make out the +necessary duality. + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +THE CONQUEST OF GAUL. + +[Sidenote: Caesar aspires to be a soldier.] +[Sidenote: His success and celebrity.] + +In attaining to the consulship, Caesar had reached the highest point of +elevation which it was possible to reach as a mere citizen of Rome. His +ambition was, however, of course, not satisfied. The only way to acquire +higher distinction and to rise to higher power was to enter upon a +career of foreign conquest. Caesar therefore aspired now to be a +soldier. He accordingly obtained the command of an army, and entered +upon a course of military campaigns in the heart of Europe, which he +continued for eight years. These eight years constitute one of the most +important and strongly-marked periods of his life. He was triumphantly +successful in his military career, and he made, accordingly, a vast +accession to his celebrity and power, in his own day, by the results of +his campaigns. He also wrote, himself, an account of his adventures +during this period, in which the events are recorded in so lucid and in +so eloquent a manner, that the narrations have continued to be read by +every successive generation of scholars down to the present day, and +they have had a great influence in extending and perpetuating his fame. + +[Sidenote: Scenes of Caesar's exploits.] +[Sidenote: Cisalpine and Transalpine Gaul.] + +The principal scenes of the exploits which Caesar performed during the +period of this his first great military career, were the north of Italy, +Switzerland, France, Germany, and England, a great tract of country, +nearly all of which he overran and conquered. A large portion of this +territory was called Gaul in those days; the part on the Italian side of +the Alps being named Cisalpine Gaul, while that which lay beyond was +designated as Transalpine. Transalpine Gaul was substantially what is +now France. There was a part of Transalpine Gaul which had been already +conquered and reduced to a Roman province. It was called The Province +then, and has retained the name, with a slight change in orthography, to +the present day. It is now known as Provence. + +[Sidenote: Condition of Gaul in Caesar's day.] +[Sidenote: Singular cavalry.] + +The countries which Caesar went to invade were occupied by various +nations and tribes, many of which were well organized and war-like, and +some of them were considerably civilized and wealthy. They had extended +tracts of cultivated land, the slopes of the hills and the mountain +sides being formed into green pasturages, which were covered with flocks +of goats, and sheep, and herds of cattle, while the smoother and more +level tracts were adorned with smiling vineyards and broadly-extended +fields of waving grain. They had cities, forts, ships, and armies. Their +manners and customs would be considered somewhat rude by modern nations, +and some of their usages of war were half barbarian. For example, in one +of the nations which Caesar encountered, he found, as he says in his +narrative, a corps of cavalry, as a constituent part of the army, in +which, to every horse, there were _two_ men, one the rider, and the +other a sort of foot soldier and attendant. If the battle went against +them, and the squadron were put to their speed in a retreat, these +footmen would cling to the manes-of the horses, and then, half running, +half flying, they would be borne along over the field, thus keeping +always at the side of their comrades, and escaping with them to a place +of safety. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's plans.] + +But, although the Romans were inclined to consider these nations as only +half civilized, still there would be great glory, as Caesar thought, in +subduing them, and probably great treasure would be secured in the +conquest, both by the plunder and confiscation of governmental +property, and by the tribute which would be collected in taxes from the +people of the countries subdued. Caesar accordingly placed himself at +the head of an army of three Roman legions, which he contrived, by means +of a great deal of political maneuvering and management, to have raised +and placed under his command. One of these legions, which was called the +tenth legion, was his favorite corps, on account of the bravery and +hardihood which they often displayed. At the head of these legions, +Caesar set out for Gaul. He was at this time not far from forty years +of age. + +[Sidenote: His pretexts.] + +Caesar had no difficulty in finding pretexts for making war upon any of +these various nations that he might desire to subdue. They were, of +course, frequently at war with each other, and there were at all times +standing topics of controversy and unsettled disputes among them. Caesar +had, therefore, only to draw near to the scene of contention, and then +to take sides with one party or the other, it mattered little with +which, for the affair almost always resulted, in the end, in his making +himself master of both. The manner, however, in which this sort of +operation was performed, can best be illustrated by an example, and we +will take for the purpose the case of Ariovistus. + +[Sidenote: Ariovistus.] +[Sidenote: The Aeduans.] + +Ariovistus was a German king. He had been nominally a sort of ally of +the Romans. He had extended his conquests across the Rhine into Gaul, +and he held some nations there as his tributaries. Among these, the +Aeduans were a prominent party, and, to simplify the account, we will +take their name as the representative of all who were concerned. When +Caesar came into the region of the Aeduans, he entered into some +negotiations with them, in which they, as he alleges, asked his +assistance to enable them to throw off the dominion of their German +enemy. It is probable, in fact, that there was some proposition of this +kind from them, for Caesar had abundant means of inducing them to make +it, if he was disposed, and the receiving of such a communication +furnished the most obvious and plausible pretext to authorize and +justify his interposition. + +Caesar accordingly sent a messenger across the Rhine to Ariovistus, +saying that he wished to have an interview with him on business of +importance, and asking him to name a time which would be convenient to +him for the interview, and also to appoint some place in Gaul where he +would attend. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's negotiations with Ariovistus.] + +To this Ariovistus replied, that if he had, himself, any business with +Caesar, he would have waited upon him to propose it; and, in the same +manner, if Caesar wished to see him, he must come into his own +dominions. He said that it would not be safe for him to come into Gaul +without an army, and that it was not convenient for him to raise and +equip an army for such a purpose at that time. + +[Sidenote: His message.] + +Caesar sent again to Ariovistus to say, that since he was so unmindful +of his obligations to the Roman people as to refuse an interview with +him on business of common interest, he would state the particulars that +he required of him. The Aeduans, he said, were now his allies, and under +his protection; and Ariovistus must send back the hostages which he held +from them, and bind himself henceforth not to send any more troops +across the Rhine, nor make war upon the Aeduans, or injure them in any +way. If he complied with these terms, all would be well. If he did not, +Caesar said that he should not himself disregard the just complaints of +his allies. + +[Sidenote: Ariovistus's spirited reply to Caesar.] + +Ariovistus had no fear of Caesar. Caesar had, in fact, thus far, not +begun to acquire the military renown to which he afterward attained +Ariovistus had, therefore, no particular cause to dread his power. He +sent him back word that he did not understand why Caesar should +interfere between him and his conquered province. + +"The Aeduans," said he, "tried the fortune of war with me, and were +overcome; and they must abide the issue. The Romans manage their +conquered provinces as they judge proper, without holding themselves +accountable to any one. I shall do the same with mine. All that I can +say is, that so long as the Aeduans submit peaceably to my authority, +and pay their tribute, I shall not molest them; as to your threat that +you shall not disregard their complaints, you must know that no one has +ever made war upon me but to his own destruction, and, if you wish to +see how it will turn out in your case, you may make the experiment +whenever you please." + +[Sidenote: Preparations for war.] + +Both parties immediately prepared for war. Ariovistus, instead of +waiting to be attacked, assembled his army, crossed the Rhine, and +advanced into the territories from which Caesar had undertaken to +exclude him. + +[Sidenote: Panic in the Roman army.] + +As Caesar, however, began to make his arrangements for putting his army +in motion to meet his approaching enemy, there began to circulate +throughout the camp such extraordinary stories of the terrible strength +and courage of the German soldiery as to produce a very general panic. +So great, at length, became the anxiety and alarm, that even the +officers were wholly dejected and discouraged; and as for the men, they +were on the very eve of mutiny. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's address.] + +When Caesar understood this state of things, he called an assembly of +the troops, and made an address to them. He told them that he was +astonished to learn to what an extent an unworthy despondency and fear +had taken possession of their minds, and how little confidence they +reposed in him, their general. And then, after some further remarks +about the duty of a soldier to be ready to go wherever his commander +leads him, and presenting also some considerations in respect to the +German troops with which they were going to contend, in order to show +them that they had no cause to fear, he ended by saying that he had not +been fully decided as to the time of marching, but that now he had +concluded to give orders for setting out the next morning at three +o'clock, that he might learn, as soon as possible, who were too cowardly +to follow him. He would go himself, he said, if he was attended by the +tenth legion alone He was sure that they would not shrink from any +undertaking in which he led the way. + +[Sidenote: Effect of Caesar's address.] +[Sidenote: Proposals for an interview.] + +The soldiers, moved partly by shame, partly by the decisive and +commanding tone which their general assumed, and partly reassured by the +courage and confidence which he seemed to feel, laid aside their fears, +and vied with each other henceforth in energy and ardor. The armies +approached each other. Ariovistus sent to Caesar, saying that now, if he +wished it, he was ready for an interview. Caesar acceded to the +suggestion, and the arrangements for a conference were made, each party, +as usual in such cases, taking every precaution to guard against the +treachery of the other. + +Between the two camps there was a rising ground, in the middle of an +open plain, where it was decided that the conference should be held. +Ariovistus proposed that neither party should bring any foot soldiers to +the place of meeting, but cavalry alone; and that these bodies of +cavalry, brought by the respective generals, should remain at the foot +of the eminence on either side, while Caesar and Ariovistus themselves, +attended each by only ten followers on horseback, should ascend it. This +plan was acceded to by Caesar, and a long conference was held in this +way between the two generals, as they sat upon their horses, on the +summit of the hill. + +[Sidenote: Conference between Caesar and Ariovistus.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's messenger seized.] + +The two generals, in their discussion, only repeated in substance what +they had said in their embassages before, and made no progress toward +coming to an understanding. At length Caesar closed the conference and +withdrew. Some days afterward Ariovistus sent a request to Caesar, +asking that he would appoint another interview, or else that he would +depute one of his officers to proceed to Ariovistus's camp and receive a +communication which he wished to make to him. Caesar concluded not to +grant another interview, and he did not think it prudent to send any one +of his principal officers as an embassador, for fear that he might be +treacherously seized and held as a hostage. He accordingly sent an +ordinary messenger, accompanied by one or two men. These men were all +seized and put in irons as soon as they reached the camp of Ariovistus, +and Caesar now prepared in earnest for giving his enemy battle. + +[Sidenote: Defeat of the Germans.] + +He proved himself as skillful and efficient in arranging and managing +the combat as he had been sagacious and adroit in the negotiations which +preceded it. Several days were spent in maneuvers and movements, by +which each party endeavored to gain some advantage over the other in +respect to their position in the approaching struggle. When at length +the combat came, Caesar and his legions were entirely and triumphantly +successful. The Germans were put totally to flight. Their baggage and +stores were all seized, and the troops themselves fled in dismay by all +the roads which led back to the Rhine; and there those who succeeded in +escaping death from the Romans, who pursued them all the way, embarked +in boats and upon rafts, and returned to their homes. Ariovistus himself +found a small boat, in which, with one or two followers, he succeeded in +getting across the stream. + +[Sidenote: Release of Caesar's messenger.] + +As Caesar, at the head of a body of his troops, was pursuing the enemy +in this their flight, he overtook one party who had a prisoner with them +confined by iron chains fastened to his limbs, and whom they were +hurrying rapidly along. This prisoner proved to be the messenger that +Caesar had sent to Ariovistus's camp, and whom he had, as Caesar +alleges, treacherously detained. Of course, he was overjoyed to be +recaptured and set at liberty. The man said that three times they had +drawn lots to see whether they should burn him alive then, or reserve +the pleasure for a future occasion, and that every time the lot had +resulted in his favor. + +[Sidenote: Results of the victory.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's continued success.] + +The consequence of this victory was, that Caesar's authority was +established triumphantly over all that part of Gaul which he had thus +freed from Ariovistus's sway. Other parts of the country, too, were +pervaded by the fame of his exploits, and the people every where began +to consider what action it would be incumbent on them to take, in +respect to the new military power which had appeared so suddenly among +them. Some nations determined to submit without resistance, and to seek +the conqueror's alliance and protection. Others, more bold, or more +confident of their strength, began to form combinations and to arrange +plans for resisting him. But, whatever they did, the result in the end +was the same. Caesar's ascendency was every where and always gaining +ground. Of course, it is impossible in the compass of a single chapter, +which is all that can be devoted to the subject in this volume, to give +any regular narrative of the events of the eight years of Caesar's +military career in Gaul. Marches, negotiations, battles, and victories +mingled with and followed each other in a long succession, the +particulars of which it would require a volume to detail, every thing +resulting most successfully for the increase of Caesar's power and the +extension of his fame. + +[Sidenote: Account of northern nations.] +[Sidenote: Their strange customs.] +[Sidenote: Well-trained horses.] + +Caesar gives, in his narrative, very extraordinary accounts of the +customs and modes of life of some of the people that he encountered. +There was one country, for example, in which all the lands were common, +and the whole structure of society was based on the plan of forming the +community into one great martial band. The nation was divided into a +hundred cantons, each containing two thousand men capable of bearing +arms. If these were all mustered into service together, they would form, +of course, an army of two hundred thousand men. It was customary, +however, to organize only one half of them into an army, while the rest +remained at home to till the ground and tend the flocks and herds. These +two great divisions interchanged their work every year, the soldiers +becoming husbandmen, and the husbandmen soldiers. Thus they all became +equally inured to the hardships and dangers of the camp, and to the more +continuous but safer labors of agricultural toil. Their fields were +devoted to pasturage more than to tillage, for flocks and herds could be +driven from place to place, and thus more easily preserved from the +depredations of enemies than fields of grain. The children grew up +almost perfectly wild from infancy, and hardened themselves by bathing +in cold streams, wearing very little clothing, and making long hunting +excursions among the mountains. The people had abundance of excellent +horses, which the young men were accustomed, from their earliest years, +to ride without saddle or bridle, the horses being trained to obey +implicitly every command. So admirably disciplined were they, that +sometimes, in battle, the mounted men would leap from their horses and +advance as foot soldiers to aid the other infantry, leaving the horses +to stand until they returned. The horses would not move from the spot; +the men, when the object for which they had dismounted was accomplished, +would come back, spring to their seats again, and once more become a +squadron of cavalry. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity with the army.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's military habits.] +[Sidenote: His bridge across the Rhine.] + +Although Caesar was very energetic and decided in the government of his +army, he was extremely popular with his soldiers in all these campaigns. +He exposed his men, of course, to a great many privations and hardships, +but then he evinced, in many cases, such a willingness to bear his share +of them, that the men were very little inclined to complain. He moved +at the head of the column when his troops were advancing on a march, +generally on horseback, but often on foot; and Suetonius says that he +used to go bareheaded on such occasions, whatever was the state of the +weather, though it is difficult to see what the motive of this +apparently needless exposure could be, unless it was for effect, on some +special or unusual occasion. Caesar would ford or swim rivers with his +men whenever there was no other mode of transit, sometimes supported, it +was said, by bags inflated with air, and placed under his arms. At one +time he built a bridge across the Rhine, to enable his army to cross +that river. This bridge was built with piles driven down into the sand, +which supported a flooring of timbers. Caesar, considering it quite an +exploit thus to bridge the Rhine, wrote a minute account of the manner +in which the work was constructed, and the description is almost exactly +in accordance with the principles and usages of modern carpentry. + +[Sidenote: System of posts.] +[Sidenote: Their great utility.] + +After the countries which were the scene of these conquests were pretty +well subdued, Caesar established on some of the great routes of travel a +system of posts, that is, he stationed supplies of horses at intervals +of from ten to twenty miles along the way, so that he himself, or the +officers of his army, or any couriers whore he might have occasion to +send with dispatches could travel with great speed by finding a fresh +horse ready at every stage. By this means he sometimes traveled himself +a hundred miles in a day. This system, thus adopted for military +purposes in Caesar's time, has been continued in almost all countries of +Europe to the present age, and is applied to traveling in carriages as +well as on horseback. A family party purchase a carriage, and arranging +within it all the comforts and conveniences which they will require on +the journey, they set out, taking these post horses, fresh at each +village, to draw them to the next. Thus they can go at any rate of speed +which they desire, instead of being limited in their movements by the +powers of endurance of one set of animals, as they would be compelled to +be if they were to travel with their own. This plan has, for some +reason, never been introduced into America, and it is now probable that +it never will be, as the railway system will doubtless supersede it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's invasion of Britain.] +[Sidenote: His pretext for it.] + +One of the most remarkable of the enterprises which Caesar undertook +during the period of these campaigns was his excursion into Great +Britain. The real motive of this expedition was probably a love of +romantic adventure, and a desire to secure for himself at Rome the glory +of having penetrated into remote regions which Roman armies had never +reached before. The pretext, however, which he made to justify his +invading the territories of the Britons was, that the people of the +island were accustomed to come across the Channel and aid the Gauls in +their wars. + +[Sidenote: Caesar consults the merchants.] + +In forming his arrangements for going into England, the first thing was, +to obtain all the information which was accessible in Gaul in respect to +the country. There were, in those days, great numbers of traveling +merchants, who went from one nation to another to purchase and sell, +taking with them such goods as were most easy of transportation. These +merchants, of course, were generally possessed of a great deal of +information in respect to the countries which they had visited, and +Caesar called together as many of them as he could find, when he had +reached the northern shores of France, to inquire about the modes of +crossing the Channel, the harbors on the English side, the geographical +conformation of the country, and the military resources of the people. +He found, however, that the merchants could give him very little +information. They knew that Britain was an island, but they did not know +its extent or its boundaries; and they could tell him very little of the +character or customs of the people. They said that they had only been +accustomed to land upon the southern shore, and to transact all their +business there, without penetrating at all into the interior of +the country. + +[Sidenote: Volusenus.] + +Caesar then, who, though undaunted and bold in emergencies requiring +prompt and decisive action, was extremely cautious and wary at all other +times, fitted up a single ship, and, putting one of his officers on +board with a proper crew, directed him to cross the Channel to the +English coast, and then to cruise along the land for some miles in each +direction, to observe where were the best harbors and places for +landing, and to examine generally the appearance of the shore. This +vessel was a galley, manned with numerous oarsmen, well selected and +strong, so that it could retreat with great speed from any sudden +appearance of danger The name of the officer who had the command of it +was Volusenus. Volusenus set sail, the army watching his vessel with +great interest as it moved slowly away from the shore. He was gone five +days, and then returned, bringing Caesar an account of his discoveries. + +[Sidenote: Caesar collects vessels.] + +In the mean time, Caesar had collected a large number of sailing vessels +from the whole line of the French shore, by means of which he proposed +to transport his army across the Channel. He had two legions to take +into Britain, the remainder of his forces having been stationed as +garrisons in various parts of Gaul. It was necessary, too, to leave a +considerable force at his post of debarkation, in order to secure a safe +retreat in case of any disaster on the British side. The number of +transport ships provided for the foot soldiers which were to be taken +over was eighty. There were, besides these, eighteen more, which were +appointed to convey a squadron of horse. This cavalry force was to +embark at a separate port, about eighty miles distant from the one from +which the infantry were to sail. + +[Sidenote: Embarkation of the troops.] + +At length a suitable day for the embarkation arrived; the troops were +put on board the ships, and orders were given to sail. The day could not +be fixed beforehand, as the time for attempting to make the passage must +necessarily depend upon the state of the wind and weather. Accordingly, +when the favorable opportunity arrived, and the main body of the army +began to embark it took some time to send the orders to the port where +the cavalry had rendezvoused; and there were, besides, other causes of +delay which occurred to detain this corps, so that it turned out, as we +shall presently see, that the foot soldiers had to act alone in the +first attempt at landing on the British shore. + +[Sidenote: Sailing of the fleet.] +[Sidenote: Preparations of the Britons.] + +It was one o'clock in the morning when the fleet set sail. The Britons +had, in the mean time, obtained intelligence of Caesar's threatened +invasion, and they had assembled in great force, with troops, and +horsemen, and carriages of war, and were all ready to guard the shore. +The coast, at the point where Caesar was approaching, consists of a line +of chalky cliffs, with valley-like openings here and there between them, +communicating with the shore, and sometimes narrow beaches below. When +the Roman fleet approached the land, Caesar found the cliffs every where +lined with troops of Britons, and every accessible point below carefully +guarded. It was now about ten o'clock in the morning, and Caesar, +finding the prospect so unfavorable in respect to the practicability of +effecting a landing here, brought his fleet to anchor near the shore, +but far enough from it to be safe from the missiles of the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Caesar calls a council of officers.] + +Here he remained for several hours, to give time for all the vessels to +join him. Some of them had been delayed in the embarkation, or had made +slower progress than the rest in crossing the Channel. He called a +council, too, of the superior officers of the army on board his own +galley, and explained to them the plan which he now adopted for the +landing. About three o'clock in the afternoon he sent these officers +back to their respective ships, and gave orders to make sail along the +shore. The anchors were raised and the fleet moved on, borne by the +united impulse of the wind and the tide. The Britons, perceiving this +movement, put themselves in motion on the land, following the motions of +the fleet so as to be ready to meet their enemy wherever they might +ultimately undertake to land. Their horsemen and carriages went on in +advance, and the foot soldiers followed, all pressing eagerly forward to +keep up with the motion of the fleet, and to prevent Caesar's army from +having time to land before they should arrive at the spot and be ready +to oppose them. + +[Illustration: THE LANDING IN ENGLAND] + +[Sidenote: The landing.] +[Sidenote: The battle.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of the Britons.] + +The fleet moved on until, at length, after sailing about eight miles, +they came to a part of the coast where there was a tract of +comparatively level ground, which seemed to be easily accessible from +the shore. Here Caesar determined to attempt to land; and drawing up his +vessel, accordingly, as near as possible to the beach, he ordered the +men to leap over into the water, with their weapons in their hands. The +Britons were all here to oppose them, and a dreadful struggle ensued, +the combatants dyeing the waters with their blood as they fought, half +submerged in the surf which rolled in upon the sand. Some galleys rowed +up at the same time near to the shore, and the men on board of them +attacked the Britons from the decks, by the darts and arrows which they +shot to the land. Caesar at last prevailed; the Britons were driven +away, and the Roman army established themselves in quiet possession of +the shore. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's popularity at Rome.] + +Caesar had afterward a great variety of adventures, and many narrow +escapes from imminent dangers in Britain, and, though he gained +considerable glory by thus penetrating into such remote and unknown +regions, there was very little else to be acquired. The glory, however, +was itself of great value to Caesar. During the whole period of his +campaigns in Gaul, Rome and all Italy in fact, had been filled with the +fame of his exploits, and the expedition into Britain added not a little +to his renown. The populace of the city were greatly gratified to hear +of the continued success of their former favorite. They decreed to him +triumph after triumph, and were prepared to welcome him, whenever he +should return, with greater honors and more extended and higher powers +than he had ever enjoyed before. + +[Sidenote: Results of his campaigns.] + +Caesar's exploits in these campaigns were, in fact, in a military point +of view, of the most magnificent character. Plutarch, in summing up the +results of them, says that he took eight hundred cities, conquered three +hundred nations, fought pitched battles at separate times with three +millions of men, took one million of prisoners, and killed another +million on the field. What a vast work of destruction was this for a man +to spend eight years of his life in performing upon his +fellow-creatures, merely to gratify his insane love of dominion. + + + +CHAPTER V. + +POMPEY. + +[Sidenote: Pompey.] + +While Caesar had thus been rising to so high an elevation, there was +another Roman general who had been, for nearly the same period, engaged, +in various other quarters of the world, in acquiring, by very similar +means, an almost equal renown. This general was Pompey. He became, in +the end, Caesar's great and formidable rival. In order that the reader +may understand clearly the nature of the great contest which sprung up +at last between these heroes, we must now go back and relate some of the +particulars of Pompey's individual history down to the time of the +completion of Caesar's conquests in Gaul. + +[Sidenote: His birth.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's personal appearance.] + +Pompey was a few years older than Caesar, having been born in 106 B.C. +His father was a Roman general, and the young Pompey was brought up in +camp. He was a young man of very handsome figure and countenance, and of +very agreeable manners. His hair curled slightly over his forehead, and +he had a dark and intelligent eye, full of vivacity and meaning. There +was, besides, in the expression of his face, and in his air and address, +a certain indescribable charm, which prepossessed every one strongly in +his favor, and gave him, from his earliest years, a great personal +ascendency over all who knew him. + +[Sidenote: Plans to assassinate him.] + +Notwithstanding this popularity, however, Pompey did not escape, even in +very early life, incurring his share of the dangers which seemed to +environ the path of every public man in those distracted times. It will +be recollected that, in the contests between Marius and Sylla, Caesar +had joined the Marian faction. Pompey's father, on the other hand, had +connected himself with that of Sylla. At one time, in the midst of these +wars, when Pompey was very young, a conspiracy was formed to assassinate +his father by burning him in his tent, and Pompey's comrade, named +Terentius, who slept in the same tent with him, had been bribed to kill +Pompey himself at the same time, by stabbing him in his bed. Pompey +contrived to discover this plan, but, instead of being at all +discomposed by it, he made arrangements for a guard about his father's +tent and then went to supper as usual with Terentius, conversing with +him all the time in even a more free and friendly manner than usual. +That night he arranged his bed so as to make it appear as if he was in +it, and then stole away. When the appointed hour arrived, Terentius came +into the tent, and, approaching the couch where he supposed Pompey was +lying asleep, stabbed it again and again, piercing the coverlets in many +places, but doing no harm, of course, to his intended victim. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's adventures and escapes.] +[Sidenote: Death of his father.] +[Sidenote: Pompey appears in his father's defense.] + +In the course of the wars between Marius and Sylla, Pompey passed +through a great variety of scenes, and met with many extraordinary +adventures and narrow escapes, which, however, can not be here +particularly detailed. His father, who was as much hated by his soldiers +as the son was beloved, was at last, one day, struck by lightning in his +tent. The soldiers were inspired with such a hatred for his memory, in +consequence, probably, of the cruelties and oppressions which they had +suffered from him, that they would not allow his body to be honored with +the ordinary funeral obsequies. They pulled it off from the bier on +which it was to have been borne to the funeral pile, and dragged it +ignominiously away. Pompey's father was accused, too, after his death, +of having converted some public moneys which had been committed to his +charge to his own use, and Pompey appeared in the Roman Forum as an +advocate to defend him from the charge and to vindicate his memory. He +was very successful in this defense. All who heard it were, in the first +instance, very deeply interested in favor of the speaker, on account of +his extreme youth and his personal beauty; and, as he proceeded with his +plea, he argued with so much eloquence and power as to win universal +applause. One of the chief officers of the government in the city was so +much pleased with his appearance, and with the promise of future +greatness which the circumstances indicated, that he offered him his +daughter in marriage. Pompey accepted the offer, and married the lady. +Her name was Antistia. + +[Sidenote: His success as a general.] +[Sidenote: Pompey defeats the armies.] + +Pompey rose rapidly to higher and higher degrees of distinction, until +he obtained the command of an army, which he had, in fact, in a great +measure raised and organized himself, and he fought at the head of it +with great energy and success against the enemies of Sylla. At length he +was hemmed in on the eastern coast of Italy by three separate armies, +which were gradually advancing against him, with a certainty, as they +thought, of effecting his destruction. Sylla, hearing of Pompey's +danger, made great efforts to march to his rescue. Before he reached the +place, however, Pompey had met and defeated one after another of the +armies of his enemies, so that, when Sylla approached, Pompey marched +out to meet him with his army drawn up in magnificent array, trumpets +sounding and banners flying, and with large bodies of disarmed troops, +the prisoners that he had taken, in the rear. Sylla was struck with +surprise and admiration; and when Pompey saluted him with the title of +_Imperator_, which was the highest title known to the Roman +constitution, and the one which Sylla's lofty rank and unbounded power +might properly claim, Sylla returned the compliment by conferring this +great mark of distinction on him. + +[Sidenote: His rising fame.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's modesty.] + +Pompey proceeded to Rome, and the fame of his exploits, the singular +fascination of his person and manners, and the great favor with Sylla +that he enjoyed, raised him to a high degree of distinction. He was not, +however, elated with the pride and vanity which so young a man would be +naturally expected to exhibit under such circumstances. He was, on the +contrary, modest and unassuming, and he acted in all respects in such a +manner as to gain the approbation and the kind regard of all who knew +him, as well as to excite their applause. There was an old general at +this time in Gaul--for all these events took place long before the time +of Caesar's campaigns in that country, and, in fact, before the +commencement of his successful career in Rome--whose name was Metellus, +and who, either on account of his advancing age, or for some other +reason, was very inefficient and unsuccessful in his government. Sylla +proposed to supersede him by sending Pompey to take his place. Pompey +replied that it was not right to take the command from a man who was so +much his superior in age and character, but that, if Metellus wished for +his _assistance_ in the management of his command, he would proceed to +Gaul and render him every service in his power. When this answer was +reported to Metellus, he wrote to Pompey to come. Pompey accordingly +went to Gaul, where he obtained new victories, and gained new and higher +honors than before. + +[Sidenote: An example.] +[Sidenote: Pompey divorces his wife.] +[Sidenote: He marries Sylla's daughter-in-law.] + +These, and various anecdotes which the ancient historians relate, would +lead us to form very favorable ideas of Pompey's character. Some other +circumstances, however, which occurred, seem to furnish different +indications. For example, on his return to Rome, some time after the +events above related, Sylla, whose estimation of Pompey's character and +of the importance of his services seemed continually to increase, wished +to connect him with his own family by marriage. He accordingly proposed +that Pompey should divorce his wife Antistia, and marry Aemilia, the +daughter-in-law of Sylla. Aemilia was already the wife of another man, +from whom she would have to be taken away to make her the wife of +Pompey. This, however, does not seem to have been thought a very serious +difficulty in the way of the arrangement. Pompey's wife was put away, +and the wife of another man taken in her place. Such a deed was a gross +violation not merely of revealed and written law, but of those universal +instincts of right and wrong which are implanted indelibly in all human +hearts. It ended, as might have been expected, most disastrously. +Antistia was plunged, of course, into the deepest distress. Her father +had recently lost his life on account of his supposed attachment to +Pompey. Her mother killed herself in the anguish and despair produced by +the misfortunes of her family; and Aemilia the new wife, died suddenly, +on the occasion of the birth of a child, a very short time after her +marriage with Pompey. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's success in Africa.] +[Sidenote: Attachment of his soldiers.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's title as "Great."] + +These domestic troubles did not, however, interpose any serious obstacle +to Pompey's progress in his career of greatness and glory. Sylla sent +him on one great enterprise after another, in all of which Pompey +acquitted himself in an admirable manner. Among his other campaigns, he +served for some time in Africa with great success. He returned in due +time from this expedition, loaded with military honors. His soldiers had +become so much attached to him that there was almost a mutiny in the +army when he was ordered home. They were determined to submit to no +authority but that of Pompey. Pompey at length succeeded, by great +efforts, in subduing this spirit, and bringing back the army to their +duty. A false account of the affair, however, went to Rome. It was +reported to Sylla that there was a revolt in the army of Africa, headed +by Pompey himself, who was determined not to resign his command. Sylla +was at first very indignant that his authority should be despised and +his power braved, as he expressed it, by "such a boy;" for Pompey was +still, at this time, very young. When, however, he learned the truth, he +conceived a higher admiration for the young general than ever. He went +out to meet him as he approached the city, and, in accosting him, he +called him Pompey the Great. Pompey has continued to bear the title thus +given him to the present day. + +[Sidenote: He demands a triumph.] + +Pompey began, it seems, now to experience, in some degree, the usual +effects produced upon the human heart by celebrity and praise. He +demanded a triumph. A triumph was a great and splendid ceremony, by +which victorious generals, who were of advanced age and high civil or +military rank, were received into the city when returning from any +specially glorious campaign. There was a grand procession formed on +these occasions, in which various emblems and insignia, and trophies of +victory, and captives taken by the conqueror, were displayed. This great +procession entered the city with bands of music accompanying it, and +flags and banners flying, passing under triumphal arches erected along +the way. Triumphs were usually decreed by a vote of the Senate, in cases +where they were deserved; but, in this case, Sylla's power as dictator +was supreme, and Pompey's demand for a triumph seems to have been +addressed accordingly to him. + +[Sidenote: Sylla refuses Pompey a triumph.] + +Sylla refused it. Pompey's performances in the African campaign had +been, he admitted, very creditable to him, but he had neither the Age +nor the rank to justify the granting him a triumph. To bestow such an +honor upon one so young and in such a station, would only bring the +honor itself, he said, into disrepute, and degrade, also, his +dictatorship for suffering it. + +[Sidenote: But at last consents.] + +To this Pompey replied, speaking, however, in an under tone to those +around him in the assembly, that Sylla need not fear that the triumph +would be unpopular, for people were much more disposed to worship a +rising than a setting sun. Sylla did not hear this remark, but, +perceiving by the countenances of the by-standers that Pompey had said +something which seemed to please them, he asked what it was. When the +remark was repeated to him, he seemed pleased himself with its justness +or with its wit, and said, "Let him have his triumph." + +[Sidenote: Pompey's triumph.] + +The arrangements were accordingly made Pompey ordering every thing +necessary to be prepared for a most magnificent procession. He learned +that some persons in the city, envious at his early renown, were +displeased with his triumph; this only awakened in him a determination +to make it still more splendid and imposing. He had brought some +elephants with him from Africa, and he formed a plan for having the car +in which he was to ride in the procession drawn by four of these huge +beasts as it entered the city; but, on measuring the gate, it was found +not wide enough to admit such a team, and the plan was accordingly +abandoned. The conqueror's car was drawn by horses in the usual manner, +and the elephants followed singly, with the other trophies, to grace +the train. + +[Sidenote: His course of conduct at Rome.] + +Pompey remained some time after this in Rome, sustaining from time to +time various offices of dignity and honor. His services were often +called for to plead causes in the Forum, and he performed this duty, +whenever he undertook it, with great success. He, however, seemed +generally inclined to retire somewhat from intimate intercourse with the +mass of the community, knowing very well that if he was engaged often in +the discussion of common questions with ordinary men, he should soon +descend in public estimation from the high position to which his +military renown had raised him. He accordingly accustomed himself to +appear but little in public, and, when he did so appear, he was +generally accompanied by a large retinue of armed attendants, at the +head of which he moved about the city in great state, more like a +victorious general in a conquered province than like a peaceful citizen +exercising ordinary official functions in a community governed by law. +This was a very sagacious course, so far as concerned the attainment of +the great objects of future ambition. Pompey knew very well that +occasions would probably arise in which he could act far more +effectually for the promotion of his own greatness and fame than by +mingling in the ordinary municipal contests of the city. + +[Sidenote: The Cilician pirates.] +[Sidenote: Their increasing depredations.] +[Sidenote: Ships and fortresses of the Cilicians.] +[Sidenote: Their conquests.] + +At length, in fact, an occasion came. In the year B.C. 67, which was +about the time that Caesar commenced his successful career in rising to +public office in Rome, as is described in the third chapter of this +volume, the Cilician pirates, of whose desperate character and bold +exploits something has already been said, had become so powerful, and +were increasing so rapidly in the extent of their depredations, that the +Roman people felt compelled to adopt some very vigorous measures for +suppressing them. The pirates had increased in numbers during the wars +between Marius and Sylla in a very alarming degree. They had built, +equipped, and organized whole fleets. They had various fortresses, +arsenals, ports, and watch-towers all along the coasts of the +Mediterranean. They had also extensive warehouses, built in secure and +secluded places, where they stored their plunder. Their fleets were well +manned, and provided with skillful pilots, and with ample supplies of +every kind; and they were so well constructed, both for speed and +safety, that no other ships could be made to surpass them. Many of them, +too, were adorned and decorated in the most sumptuous manner, with +gilded sterns, purple awnings, and silver-mounted oars. The number of +their galleys was said to be a thousand. With this force they made +themselves almost complete masters of the sea. They attacked not only +separate ships, but whole fleets of merchantmen sailing under convoy; +and they increased the difficulty and expense of bringing grain to Rome +so much, by intercepting the supplies, as very materially to enhance the +price and to threaten a scarcity. They made themselves masters of many +islands and of various maritime towns along the coast, until they had +four hundred ports and cities in their possession. In fact, they had +gone so far toward forming themselves into a regular maritime power, +under a systematic and legitimate government, that very respectable +young men from other countries began to enter their service, as one +opening honorable avenues to wealth and fame. + +[Sidenote: Plan for destroying the pirates.] +[Sidenote: Its magnitude.] + +Under these circumstances, it was obvious that something decisive must +be done. A friend of Pompey's brought forward a plan for commissioning +some one, he did not say whom, but every one understood that Pompey was +intended, to be sent forth against the pirates, with extraordinary +powers, such as should be amply sufficient to enable him to bring their +dominion to an end. He was to have supreme command upon the sea, and +also upon the land for fifty miles from the shore. He was, moreover, to +be empowered to raise as large a force, both of ships and men, as he +should think required, and to draw from the treasury whatever funds were +necessary to defray the enormous expenses which so vast an undertaking +would involve. If the law should pass creating this office, and a person +be designated to fill it, it is plain that such a commander would be +clothed with enormous powers; but then he would incur, on the other +hand, a vast and commensurate responsibility, as the Roman people would +hold him rigidly accountable for the full and perfect accomplishment of +the work he under took, after they had thus surrendered every possible +power necessary to accomplish it so unconditionally into his hands. + +[Sidenote: Pompey appointed to the command.] +[Sidenote: Fall in the price of grain.] + +There was a great deal of maneuvering, management, and debate on the one +hand to effect the passage of this law, and, on the other, to defeat it. +Caesar, who, though not so prominent yet as Pompey, was now rising +rapidly to influence and power, was in favor of the measure, because, as +is said, he perceived that the people were pleased with it. It was at +length adopted. Pompey was then designated to fill the office which the +law created. He accepted the trust, and began to prepare for the vast +undertaking. The price of grain fell immediately in Rome, as soon as the +appointment of Pompey was made known, as the merchants, who had large +supplies in the granaries there, were now eager to sell, even at a +reduction, feeling confident that Pompey's measures would result in +bringing in abundant supplies. The people, surprised at this sudden +relaxation of the pressure of their burdens, said that the very name of +Pompey had put an end to the war. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's complete success.] + +They were not mistaken in their anticipations of Pompey's success. He +freed the Mediterranean from pirates in three months, by one systematic +and simple operation, which affords one of the most striking examples of +the power of united and organized effort, planned and conducted by one +single master mind, which the history of ancient or modern times has +recorded. The manner in which this work was effected was this: + +[Sidenote: His mode of operation.] + +Pompey raised and equipped a vast number of galleys, and divided them +into separate fleets, putting each one under the command of a +lieutenant. He then divided the Mediterranean Sea into thirteen +districts, and appointed a lieutenant and his fleet for each one of them +as a guard. After sending these detachments forth to their respective +stations, he set out from the city himself to take charge of the +operations which he was to conduct in person. The people followed him, +as he went to the place where he was to embark, in great crowds, and +with long and loud acclamations. + +[Sidenote: Pompey drives the pirates before him.] +[Sidenote: Exultation at Rome.] + +Beginning at the Straits of Gibraltar, Pompey cruised with a powerful +fleet toward the east, driving the pirates before him, the lieutenants, +who were stationed along the coast being on the alert to prevent them +from finding any places of retreat or refuge. Some of the pirates' ships +were surrounded and taken. Others fled, and were followed by Pompey's +ships until they had passed beyond the coasts of Sicily, and the seas +between the Italian and African shores. The communication was now open +again to the grain-growing countries south of Rome, and large supplies +of food were immediately poured into the city. The whole population was, +of course, filled with exultation and joy at receiving such welcome +proofs that Pompey was successfully accomplishing the work they had +assigned him. + +[Sidenote: The pirates concentrate themselves.] + +The Italian peninsula and the island of Sicily, which are, in fact, a +projection from the northern shores of the Mediterranean, with a salient +angle of the coast nearly opposite to them on the African side, form a +sort of strait which divides this great sea into two separate bodies of +water, and the pirates were now driven entirely out of the western +division. Pompey sent his principal fleet after them, with orders to +pass around the island of Sicily and the south era part of Italy to +Brundusium, which was the great port on the western side of Italy. He +himself was to cross the peninsula by land, taking Rome in his way, and +afterward to join the fleet at Brundusium. The pirates, in the mean +time, so far as they had escaped Pompey's cruisers, had retreated to the +seas in the neighborhood of Cilicia, and were concentrating their forces +there in preparation for the final struggle. + +Pompey was received at Rome with the utmost enthusiasm. The people came +out in throngs to meet him as he approached the city, and welcomed him +with loud acclamations. He did not, however, remain in the city to enjoy +these honors. He procured, as soon as possible, what was necessary for +the further prosecution of his work, and went on. He found his fleet at +Brundusium, and, immediately embarking, he put to sea. + +[Sidenote: Some of them surrender.] + +Pompey went on to the completion of his work with the same vigor and +decision which he had displayed in the commencement of it. Some of the +pirates, finding themselves hemmed in within narrower and narrower +limits, gave up the contest, and came and surrendered. Pompey, instead +of punishing them severely for their crimes, treated them, and their +wives and children, who fell likewise into his power, with great +humanity. This induced many others to follow their example, so that the +number that remained resisting to the end was greatly reduced. There +were, however, after all these submissions, a body of stern and +indomitable desperadoes left, who were incapable of yielding. These +retreated, with all the forces which they could retain, to their +strong-holds on the Silician shores, sending their wives and children +back to still securer retreats among the fastnesses of the mountains. + +[Sidenote: A great battle.] +[Sidenote: Disposal of the pirates.] + +Pompey followed them, hemming them in with the squadrons of armed +galleys which he brought up around them, thus cutting off from them all +possibility of escape. Here, at length, a great final battle was fought, +and the dominion of the pirates was ended forever. Pompey destroyed +their ships, dismantled their fortifications, restored the harbors and +towns which they had seized to their rightful owners, and sent the +pirates themselves, with their wives and children, far into the interior +of the country, and established them as agriculturists and herdsmen +there, in a territory which he set apart for the purpose, where they +might live in peace on the fruits of their own industry, without the +possibility of again disturbing the commerce of the seas. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's conquests in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: His magnificent triumph.] + +Instead of returning to Rome after these exploits, Pompey obtained new +powers from the government of the city, and pushed his way into Asia +Minor, where he remained several years, pursuing a similar career of +conquest to that of Caesar in Gaul. At length he returned to Rome, his +entrance into the city being signalized by a most magnificent triumph. +The procession for displaying the trophies, the captives, and the other +emblems of victory, and for conveying the vast accumulation of treasures +and spoils, was two days in passing into the city; and enough was left +after all for another triumph. Pompey was, in a word, on the very summit +of human grandeur and renown. + +[Sidenote: The first triumvirate.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's wife Julia.] +[Sidenote: Pompey and Caesar open enemies.] +[Sidenote: Their ambition.] + +He found, however, an old enemy and rival at Rome. This was Crassus, who +had been Pompey's opponent in earlier times, and who now renewed his +hostility. In the contest that ensued, Pompey relied on his renown, +Crassus on his wealth. Pompey attempted to please the people by combats +of lions and of elephants which he had brought home from his foreign +campaigns; Crassus courted their favor by distributing corn among them, +and inviting them to public feasts on great occasions. He spread for +them, at one time, it was said, ten thousand tables. All Rome was filled +with the feuds of these great political foes. It was at this time that +Caesar returned from Spain, and had the adroitness, as has already been +explained, to extinguish these feuds, and reconcile these apparently +implacable foes. He united them together, and joined them with himself +in a triple league, which is celebrated in Roman history as the first +_triumvirate_. The rivalry, however, of these great aspirants for power +was only suppressed and concealed, without being at all weakened or +changed. The death of Crassus soon removed him from the stage. Caesar +and Pompey continued afterward, for some time, an ostensible alliance. +Caesar attempted to strengthen this bond by giving Pompey his daughter +Julia for his wife. Julia, though so young--even her father was six +years younger than Pompey--was devotedly attached to her husband, and he +was equally fond of her. She formed, in fact, a strong bond of union +between the two great conquerors as long as she lived. One day, however, +there was a riot at an election, and men were killed so near to Pompey +that his robe was covered with blood. He changed it; the servants +carried home the bloody garment which he had taken off, and Julia was so +terrified at the sight, thinking that her husband had been killed, that +she fainted, and her constitution suffered very severely by the shock. +She lived some time afterward, but finally died under circumstances +which indicate that this occurrence was the cause. Pompey and Caesar now +soon became open enemies. The ambitious aspirations which each of them +cherished were so vast, that the world was not wide enough for them both +to be satisfied. They had assisted each other up the ascent which they +had been so many years in climbing, but now they had reached very near +to the summit, and the question was to be decided which of the two +should have his station there. + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +CROSSING THE RUBICON. + +[Sidenote: The Rubicon.] + +There was a little stream in ancient times, in the north of Italy, which +flowed westward into the Adriatic Sea, called the Rubicon. This stream +has been immortalized by the transactions which we are now about +to describe. + +[Sidenote: Its insignificance as a stream.] + +The Rubicon was a very important boundary, and yet it was in itself so +small and insignificant that it is now impossible to determine which of +two or three little brooks here running into the sea is entitled to its +name and renown. In history the Rubicon is a grand, permanent, and +conspicuous stream, gazed upon with continued interest by all mankind +for nearly twenty centuries; in nature it is an uncertain rivulet, for a +long time doubtful and undetermined, and finally lost. + +[Sidenote: Importance of the Rubicon as a boundary.] + +The Rubicon originally derived its importance from the fact that it was +the boundary between all that part of the north of Italy which is formed +by the valley of the Po, one of the richest and most magnificent +countries of the world, and the more southern Roman territories. This +country of the Po constituted what was in those days called the _hither_ +Gaul, and was a Roman province. It belonged now to Caesar's +jurisdiction, as the commander in Gaul. All south of the Rubicon was +territory reserved for the immediate jurisdiction of the city. The +Romans, in order to protect themselves from any danger which might +threaten their own liberties from the immense armies which they raised +for the conquest of foreign nations, had imposed on every side very +strict limitations and restrictions in respect to the approach of these +armies to the Capitol. The Rubicon was the limit on this northern side. +Generals commanding in Gaul were never to pass it. To cross the Rubicon +with an army on the way to Rome was rebellion and treason. Hence the +Rubicon became, as it were, the visible sign and symbol of civil +restriction to military power. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's expenditure of money at Rome.] +[Sidenote: His influence.] + +As Caesar found the time of his service in Gaul drawing toward a +conclusion, he turned his thoughts more and more toward Rome, +endeavoring to strengthen his interest there by every means in his +power, and to circumvent and thwart the designs of Pompey. He had and +partisans in Rome who acted for him and in his name. He sent immense +sums of money to these men, to be employed in such ways as would most +tend to secure the favor of the people. He ordered the Forum to be +rebuilt with great magnificence. He arranged great celebrations, in +which the people were entertained with an endless succession of games, +spectacles, and public feasts. When his daughter Julia, Pompey's wife, +died, he celebrated her funeral with indescribable splendor. He +distributed corn in immense quantities among the people, and he sent a +great many captives home, to be trained as gladiators, to fight in the +theaters for their amusement. In many cases, too, where he found men of +talents and influence among the populace, who had become involved in +debt by their dissipations and extravagance, he paid their debts, and +thus secured their influence on his side. Men were astounded at the +magnitude of these expenditures, and, while the multitude rejoiced +thoughtlessly in the pleasures thus provided for them, the more +reflecting and considerate trembled at the greatness of the power which +was so rapidly rising to overshadow the land. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's personal popularity.] +[Sidenote: Public thanksgiving in his behalf.] + +It increased their anxiety to observe that Pompey was gaining the same +kind of influence and ascendency too. He had not the advantage which +Caesar enjoyed in the prodigious wealth obtained from the rich countries +over which Caesar ruled, but he possessed, instead of it, the advantage +of being all the time at Rome, and of securing, by his character and +action there, a very wide personal popularity and influence. Pompey was, +in fact, the idol of the people. At one time, when he was absent from +Rome, at Naples, he was taken sick. After being for some days in +considerable danger, the crisis passed favorably, and he recovered. Some +of the people of Naples proposed a public thanksgiving to the gods, to +celebrate his restoration to health. The plan was adopted by +acclamation, and the example, thus set, extended from city to city, +until it had spread throughout Italy, and the whole country was filled +with the processions, games, shows, and celebrations, which were +instituted every where in honor of the event. And when Pompey returned +from Naples to Rome, the towns on the way could not afford room for the +crowds that came forth to meet him. The high roads, the villages, the +ports, says Plutarch, were filled with sacrifices and entertainments. +Many received him with garlands on their heads and torches in their +hands, and, as they conducted him along, strewed the way with flowers. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's estimate of Caesar's power.] + +In fact, Pompey considered himself as standing far above Caesar in fame +and power, and this general burst of enthusiasm and applause, educed by +his recovery from sickness, confirmed him in this idea. He felt no +solicitude, he said, in respect to Caesar. He should take no special +precautions against any hostile designs which he might entertain on his +return from Gaul. It was he himself, he said, that had raised Caesar up +to whatever of elevation he had attained, and he could put him down even +more easily than he had exalted him. + +[Sidenote: Plans of the latter.] + +In the mean time, the period was drawing near in which Caesar's command +in the provinces was to expire; and, anticipating the struggle with +Pompey which was about to ensue, he conducted several of his legions +through the passes of the Alps, and advanced gradually, as he had a +right to do, across the country of the Po toward the Rubicon, revolving +in his capacious mind, as he came, the various plans by which he might +hope to gain the ascendency over the power of his mighty rival, and make +himself supreme. + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at Ravenna.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's demands.] + +He concluded that it would be his wisest policy not to a'tempt to +intimidate Pompey by great and open preparations for war, which might +tend to arouse him to vigorous measures of resistance, but rather to +cover and conceal his designs, and thus throw his enemy off his guard. +He advanced, therefore, toward the Rubicon with a small force. He +established his headquarters at Ravenna, a city not far from the river, +and employed himself in objects of local interest there, in order to +avert as much as possible the minds of the people from imagining that he +was contemplating any great design. Pompey sent to him to demand the +return of a certain legion which he had lent him from his own army at a +time when they were friends. Caesar complied with this demand without +any hesitation, and sent the legion home. He sent with this legion, +also, some other troops which were properly his own, thus evincing a +degree of indifference in respect to the amount of the force retained +under his command which seemed wholly inconsistent with the idea that he +contemplated any resistance to the authority of the government at Rome. + +[Sidenote: Caesar demands to be made consul.] +[Sidenote: Excitement in consequence.] + +In the mean time, the struggle at Rome between the partisans of Caesar +and Pompey grew more and more violent and alarming. Caesar through his +friends in the city, demanded to be elected consul. The other side +insisted that he must first, if that was his wish, resign the command of +his army, come to Rome, and present himself as a candidate in the +character of a private citizen. This the constitution of the state very +properly required. In answer to this requisition, Caesar rejoined, that, +if Pompey would lay down his military commands, he would do so too; if +not, it was unjust to require it of him. The services, he added, which +he had performed for his country, demanded some recompense, which, +moreover, they ought to be willing to award, even if, in order to do it, +it were necessary to relax somewhat in his favor the strictness of +ordinary rules. To a large part of the people of the city these demands +of Caesar appeared reasonable. They were clamorous to have them allowed. +The partisans of Pompey, with the stern and inflexible Cato at their +head, deemed them wholly inadmissible, and contended with the most +determined violence against them. The whole city was filled with the +excitement of this struggle, into which all the active and turbulent +spirits of the capital plunged with the most furious zeal, while the +more considerate and thoughtful of the population, remembering the days +of Marius and Sylla, trembled at the impending danger. Pompey himself +had no fear. He urged the Senate to resist to the utmost all of Caesar's +claims, saying, if Caesar should be so presumptuous as to attempt to +march to Rome, he could raise troops enough by stamping with his foot to +put him down. + +[Sidenote: Debates in the Senate.] +[Sidenote: Tumult and confusion.] +[Sidenote: Panic at Rome.] + +It would require a volume to contain a full account of the disputes and +tumults, the maneuvers and debates, the votes and decrees which marked +the successive stages of this quarrel. Pompey himself was all the time +without the city. He was in command of an army there, and no general, +while in command, was allowed to come within the gates. At last an +exciting debate was broken up in the Senate by one of the consuls rising +to depart, saying that he would hear the subject discussed no longer. +The time had arrived for action, and he should send a commander, with an +armed force, to defend the country from Caesar's threatened invasion. +Caesar's leading friends, two tribunes of the people, disguised +themselves as slaves, and fled to the north to join their master. The +country was filled with commotion and panic. The Commonwealth had +obviously more fear of Caesar than confidence in Pompey. The country +was full of rumors in respect to Caesar's power, and the threatening +attitude which he was assuming, while they who had insisted on +resistance seemed, after all, to have provided very inadequate means +with which to resist. A thousand plans were formed, and clamorously +insisted upon by their respective advocates, for averting the danger. +This only added to the confusion, and the city became at length pervaded +with a universal terror. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Ravenna.] + +While this was the state of things at Rome, Caesar was quietly +established at Ravenna; thirty or forty miles from the frontier. He was +erecting a building for a fencing school there and his mind seemed to be +occupied very busily with the plans and models of the edifice which the +architects had formed. Of course, in his intended march to Rome, his +reliance was not to be so much on the force which he should take with +him, as on the co-operation and support which he expected to find there. +It was his policy, therefore, to move as quietly and privately as +possible, and with as little display of violence, and to avoid every +thing which might indicate his intended march to any spies which might +be around him, or to any other person! who might be disposed to report +what they observed at Rome. Accordingly, on the very eve of his +departure, he busied himself with his fencing school, and assumed with +his officers and soldiers a careless and unconcerned air, which +prevented any one from suspecting his design. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's midnight march.] +[Sidenote: He loses his way.] + +In the course of the day he privately sent forward some cohorts to the +southward, with orders for them to encamp on the banks of the Rubicon. +When night came he sat down to supper as usual, and conversed with his +friends in his ordinary manner, and went with them afterward to a public +entertainment. As soon as it was dark and the streets were still, he set +off secretly from the city, accompanied by a very few attendants. +Instead of making use of his ordinary equipage, the parading of which +would have attracted attention to his movements, he had some mules taken +from a neighboring bake-house, and harnessed into his chaise. There were +torch-bearers provided to light the way. The cavalcade drove on during +the night, finding, however, the hasty preparations which had been made +inadequate for the occasion. The torches went out, the guides lost their +way, and the future conqueror of the world wandered about bewildered and +lost, until, just after break of day, the party met with a peasant +who undertook to guide them. Under his direction they made their way to +the main road again, and advanced then without further difficulty to the +banks of the river, where they found that portion of the army which had +been sent forward encamped, and awaiting their arrival. + +[Illustration: CROSSING THE RUBICON] + +[Sidenote: Caesar at the Rubicon.] +[Sidenote: His hesitation at the river.] + +Caesar stood for some time upon the banks of the stream, musing upon the +greatness of the undertaking in which simply passing across it would +involve him. His officers stood by his side. "We can retreat _now_" said +he, "but once across that river and we must go on." He paused for some +time, conscious of the vast importance of the decision, though he +thought only, doubtless, of its consequences to himself. Taking the step +which was now before him would necessarily end either in his realizing +the loftiest aspirations of his ambition, or in his utter and +irreparable ruin. There were vast public interests, too, at stake, of +which, however he probably thought but little. It proved, in the end, +that the history of the whole Roman world, for several centuries, was +depending upon the manner in which the question new in Caesar's mind +should turn. + +[Sidenote: Story of the shepherd trumpeter.] + +There was a little bridge across the Rubicon at the point where Caesar +was surveying it. While he was standing there, the story is, a peasant +or shepherd came from the neighboring fields with a shepherd's pipe--a +simple musical instrument, made of a reed, and used much by the rustic +musicians of those days. The soldiers and some of the officers gathered +around him to hear him play. Among the rest came some of Caesar's +trumpeters, with their trumpets in their hands. The shepherd took one of +these martial instruments from the hands of its possessor, laying aside +his own, and began to sound a charge--which is a signal for a rapid +advance--and to march at the same time over the bridge "An omen! a +prodigy!" said Caesar. "Let us march where we are called by such a +divine intimation. _The die is cast_." + +[Sidenote: Caesar crosses the Rubicon.] + +So saying, he pressed forward over the bridge, while the officers, +breaking up the encampment, put the columns in motion to follow him. + +It was shown abundantly, on many occasions in the course of Caesar's +life, that he had no faith in omens. There are equally numerous +instances to show that he was always ready to avail himself of the +popular belief in them; to awaken his soldiers' ardor or to allay their +fears. Whether, therefore, in respect to this story of the shepherd +trumpeter, it was an incident that really and accidentally occurred, or +whether Caesar planned and arranged it himself, with reference to its +effect, or whether, which is, perhaps, after all, the most probable +supposition, the tale was only an embellishment invented out of +something or nothing by the story-tellers of those days, to give +additional dramatic interest to the narrative of the crossing of the +Rubicon, it must be left for each reader to decide. + +[Sidenote: Caesar assembles his troops.] +[Sidenote: His address to them.] + +As soon as the bridge was crossed, Caesar called an assembly of his +troops, and, with signs of great excitement and agitation, made an +address to them on the magnitude of the crisis through which they were +passing. He showed them how entirely he was in their power; he urged +them, by the most eloquent appeals, to stand by him, faithful and true, +promising them the most ample rewards when he should have attained the +object at which he aimed. The soldiers responded to this appeal with +promises of the most unwavering fidelity. + +[Sidenote: Surrender of various towns.] + +The first town on the Roman side of the Rubicon was Ariminum. Caesar +advanced to this town. The authorities opened its gates to him--very +willing, as it appeared, to receive him as their commander. Caesar's +force was yet quite small, as he had been accompanied by only a single +legion in crossing the river. He had, however, sent orders for the other +legions, which had been left in Gaul, to join him without any delay, +though any re-enforcement of his troops seemed hardly necessary, as he +found no indications of opposition to his progress. He gave his soldiers +the strictest injunctions to do no injury to any property, public or +private, as they advanced, and not to assume, in any respect, a hostile +attitude toward the people of the country. The inhabitants, therefore, +welcomed him wherever he came, and all the cities and towns followed the +example of Ariminum, surrendering, in fact, faster than he could take +possession of them. + +[Sidenote: Domitius appointed to supersede Caesar.] + +In the confusion of the debates and votes in the Senate at Rome before +Caesar crossed the Rubicon, one decree had been passed deposing him from +his command of the army, and appointing a successor. The name of the +general thus appointed was Domitius. The only real opposition which +Caesar encountered in his progress toward Rome was from him. Domitius +had crossed the Apennines at the head of an army on his way northward to +supersede Caesar in his command, and had reached the town of Corfinium, +which was perhaps one third of the way between Rome and the Rubicon. +Caesar advanced upon him here and shut him in. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's treatment of Domitius.] + +After a brief siege the city was taken, and Domitius and his army were +made prisoners. Every body gave them up for lost, expecting that Caesar +would wreak terrible vengeance upon them. Instead of this, he received +the troops at once into his own service, and let Domitius go free. + +[Sidenote: Dismay at Rome.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's distress.] + +In the mean time, the tidings of Caesar's having passed the Rubicon, and +of the triumphant success which he was meeting with at the commencement +of his march toward Rome, reached the Capitol, and added greatly to the +prevailing consternation. The reports of the magnitude of his force and +of the rapidity of his progress were greatly exaggerated. The party of +Pompey and the Senate had done every thing to spread among the people +the terror of Caesar's name, in order to arouse them to efforts for +opposing his designs; and now, when he had broken through the barriers +which had been intended to restrain him, and was advancing toward the +city in an unchecked and triumphant career, they were overwhelmed with +dismay. Pompey began to be terrified at the danger which was impending. +The Senate held meetings without the city--councils of war, as it were, +in which they looked to Pompey in vain for protection from the danger +which he had brought upon them. He had said that he could raise an army +sufficient to cope with Caesar at any time by stamping with his foot. +They told him they thought now that it was high time for him to stamp. + +[Sidenote: He leaves Rome.] + +In fact, Pompey found the current setting every where strongly against +him. Some recommended that commissioners should be sent to Caesar to +make proposals for peace. The leading men, however, knowing that any +peace made with him under such circumstances would be their own ruin, +resisted and defeated the proposal. Cato abruptly left the city and +proceeded to Sicily, which had been assigned him as his province. Others +fled in other directions. Pompey himself, uncertain what to do, and not +daring to remain, called upon all his partisans to join him, and set off +at night, suddenly, and with very little preparation and small supplies, +to retreat across the country toward the shores of the Adriatic Sea, His +destination was Brundusium, the usual port of embarkation for Macedon +and Greece. + +[Sidenote: Enthusiasm of Caesar's soldiers.] + +Caesar was all this time gradually advancing toward Rome. His soldiers +were full of enthusiasm in his cause. As his connection with the +government at home was sundered the moment he crossed the Rubicon, all +supplies of money and of provisions were cut off in that quarter until +he should arrive at the Capitol and take possession of it. The soldiers +voted, however, that they would serve him without pay. The officers, +too, assembled together, and tendered him the aid of their +contributions. He had always observed a very generous policy in his +dealings with them, and he was now greatly gratified at receiving their +requital of it. + +[Sidenote: His policy in releasing Domitius.] + +The further he advanced, too, the more he found the people of the +country through which he passed disposed to espouse his cause. They were +struck with his generosity in releasing Domitius. It is true that it was +a very sagacious policy that prompted him to release him. But then it +was generosity too. In fact, there must be something of a generous +spirit in the soul to enable a man even to see the policy of +generous actions. + +[Sidenote: Letter of Caesar.] + +Among the letters of Caesar that remain to the present day, there is one +written about this time to one of his friends, in which he speaks of +this subject. "I am glad," says he, "that you approve of my conduct at +Corfinium. I am satisfied that such a course is the best one for us to +pursue, as by so doing we shall gain the good will of all parties, and +thus secure a permanent victory. Most conquerors have incurred the +hatred of mankind by their cruelties, and have all, in consequence of +the enmity they have thus awakened, been prevented from long enjoying +their power. Sylla was an exception; but his example of successful +cruelty I have no disposition to imitate. I will conquer after a new +fashion, and fortify myself in the possession of the power I acquire by +generosity and mercy." + +[Sidenote: Ingratitude of Domitius.] + +Domitius had the ingratitude, after this release, to take up arms again, +and wage a new war against Caesar. When Caesar heard of it, he said it +was all right. "I will act out the principles of my nature," said he, +"and he may act out his." + +[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.] + +Another instance of Caesar's generosity occurred, which is even more +remarkable than this. It seems that among the officers of his army there +were some whom he had appointed at the recommendation of Pompey, at the +time when he and Pompey were friends. These men would, of course, feel +under obligations of gratitude to Pompey, as they owed their military +rank to his friendly interposition in their behalf. As soon as the war +broke out, Caesar gave them all his free permission to go over to +Pompey's side, if they chose to do so. + +[Sidenote: Modern politicians.] + +Caesar acted thus very liberally in all respects. He surpassed Pompey +very much in the spirit of generosity and mercy with which he entered +upon the great contest before them. Pompey ordered every citizen to join +his standard, declaring that he should consider all neutrals as his +enemies. Caesar, on the other hand, gave free permission to every one to +decline, if he chose, taking any part in the contest, saying that he +should consider all who did not act against him as his friends. In the +political contests of our day, it is to be observed that the combatants +are much more prone to imitate the bigotry of Pompey than the generosity +of Caesar, condemning, as they often do, those who choose to stand aloof +from electioneering struggles, more than they do their most determined +opponents and enemies. + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at Brundusium.] + +When, at length, Caesar arrived at Brundusium, he found that Pompey had +sent a part of his army across the Adriatic into Greece, and was +waiting for the transports to return that he might go over himself with +the remainder. In the mean time, he had fortified himself strongly in +the city. Caesar immediately laid siege to the place, and he commenced +some works to block up the mouth of the harbor. He built piers on each +side, extending out as far into the sea as the depth of the water would +allow them to be built. He then constructed a series of rafts, which he +anchored on the deep water, in a line extending from one pier to the +other. He built towers upon these rafts, and garrisoned them with +soldiers, in hopes by this means to prevent all egress from the fort. He +thought that, when this work was completed, Pompey would be entirely +shut in, beyond all possibility of escape. + +[Sidenote: He besieges Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's plan of escape.] + +The transports, however, returned before the work was completed. Its +progress was, of course, slow, as the constructions were the scene of a +continued conflict; for Pompey sent out rafts and galleys against them +every day, and the workmen had thus to build in the midst of continual +interruptions, sometimes from showers of darts, arrows, and javelins, +sometimes from the conflagrations of fireships, and sometimes from the +terrible concussions of great vessels of war, impelled with prodigious +force against them. The transports returned, therefore, before the +defenses were complete, and contrived to get into the harbor. Pompey +immediately formed his plan for embarking the remainder of his army. + +[Sidenote: It is made known to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Success of Pompey's plan.] + +He filled the streets of the city with barricades and pitfalls, +excepting two streets which led to the place of embarkation. The object +of these obstructions was to embarrass Caesar's progress through the +city in case he should force an entrance while his men were getting on +board the ships. He then, in order to divert Caesar's attention from his +design, doubled the guards stationed upon the walls on the evening of +his intended embarkation, and ordered them to make vigorous attacks upon +all Caesar's forces outside. He then, when the darkness came on, marched +his troops through the two streets which had been left open, to the +landing place, and got them as fast as possible on board the transports. +Some of the people of the town contrived to make known to Caesar's army +what was going on, by means of signals from the walls; the army +immediately brought scaling ladders in great numbers, and, mounting the +walls with great ardor and impetuosity, they drove all before them, and +soon broke open the gates and got possession of the city. But the +barricades and pitfalls, together with the darkness, so embarrassed +their movements, that Pompey succeeded in completing his embarkation and +sailing away. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's conduct at Rome.] + +Caesar had no ships in which to follow. He returned to Rome. He met, of +course, with no opposition. He re-established the government there, +organized the Senate anew, and obtained supplies of corn from the public +granaries, and of money from the city treasury in the Capitol. In going +to the Capitoline Hill after this treasure, he found the officer who had +charge of the money stationed there to defend it. He told Caesar that it +was contrary to law for him to enter. Caesar said that, for men with +swords in their hands, there was no law. The officer still refused to +admit him. Caesar then told him to open the doors, or he would kill him +on the spot. "And you must understand," he added, "that it will be +easier for me to do it than it has been to say it." The officer resisted +no longer, and Caesar went in. + +[Sidenote: Caesar subdues various countries.] +[Sidenote: He turns his thoughts to Pompey.] + +After this, Caesar spent some time in rigorous campaigns in Italy, +Spain, Sicily, and Gaul, wherever there was manifested any opposition +to his sway. When this work was accomplished, and all these countries +were completely subjected to his dominion, he began to turn his thoughts +to the plan of pursuing Pompey across the Adriatic Sea. + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE BATTLE OF PHARSALIA. + +[Sidenote: The gathering armies.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's preparations.] +[Sidenote: Caesar at Brundusium.] + +The gathering of the armies of Caesar and Pompey on the opposite shores +of the Adriatic Sea was one of the grandest preparations for conflict +that history has recorded, and the whole world gazed upon the spectacle +at the time with an intense and eager interest, which was heightened by +the awe and terror which the danger inspired. During the year while +Caesar had been completing his work of subduing and arranging all the +western part of the empire, Pompey had been gathering from the eastern +division every possible contribution to swell the military force under +his command, and had been concentrating all these elements of power on +the coasts of Macedon and Greece, opposite to Brundusium, where he knew +that Caesar would attempt to cross the Adriatic Sea, His camps, his +detachments, his troops of archers and slingers, and his squadrons of +horse, filled the land, while every port was guarded, and the line of +the coast was environed by batteries and castles on the rocks, and +fleets of galleys on the water. Caesar advanced with his immense army to +Brundusium, on the opposite shore, in December, so that, in addition to +the formidable resistance prepared for him by his enemy on the coast, he +had to encounter the wild surges of the Adriatic, rolling perpetually in +the dark and gloomy commotion always raised in such wide seas by +wintery storms. + +[Sidenote: His address to his army.] + +Caesar had no ships, for Pompey had cleared the seas of every thing +which could aid him in his intended passage. By great efforts, however, +he succeeded at length in getting together a sufficient number of +galleys to convey over a part of his army, provided he took the men +alone, and left all his military stores and baggage behind. He gathered +his army together, therefore, and made them an address, representing +that they were now drawing toward the end of all their dangers and +toils. They were about to meet their great enemy for a final conflict. +It was not necessary to take their servants, their baggage, and their +stores across the sea, for they were sure of victory, and victory would +furnish them with ample supplies from those whom they were about +to conquer. + +[Sidenote: Caesar crosses the Adriatic.] + +The soldiers eagerly imbibed the spirit of confidence and courage which +Caesar himself expressed. A large detachment embarked and put to sea, +and, after being tossed all night upon the cold and stormy waters, they +approached the shore at some distance to the northward of the place +where Pompey's fleets had expected them. It was at a point where the +mountains came down near to the sea, rendering the coast rugged and +dangerous with shelving rocks and frowning promontories. Here Caesar +succeeded in effecting a landing of the first division of his troops, +and then sent back the fleet for the remainder. + +[Sidenote: He subdues several towns.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's advance.] +[Sidenote: Distress of the armies.] + +The news of his passage spread rapidly to all Pompey's stations along +the coast, and the ships began to gather, and the armies to march toward +the point where Caesar had effected his landing. The conflict and +struggle commenced. One of Pompey's admirals intercepted the fleet of +galleys on their return, and seized and burned a large number of them, +with all who were on board. This, of course, only renewed the determined +desperation of the remainder. Caesar advanced along the coast with the +troops which he had landed, driving Pompey's troops before him, and +subduing town after town as he advanced. The country was filled with +terror and dismay. The portion of the army which Caesar had left behind +could not now cross, partly on account of the stormy condition of the +seas, the diminished number of the ships, and the redoubled vigilance +with which Pompey's forces now guarded the shores, but mainly because +Caesar was now no longer with them to inspire them with his reckless, +though calm and quiet daring. They remained, therefore, in anxiety and +distress, on the Italian shore. As Caesar, on the other hand, advanced +along the Macedonian shore, and drove Pompey back into the interior, he +cut off the communication between Pompey's ships and the land, so that +the fleet was soon reduced to great distress for want of provisions and +water. The men kept themselves from perishing with thirst by collecting +the dew which fell upon the decks of their galleys. Caesar's army was +also in distress, for Pompey's fleets cut off all supplies by water, and +his troops hemmed them in on the side of the land; and, lastly, Pompey +himself, with the immense army that was under his command, began to be +struck with alarm at the impending danger with which they were +threatened. Pompey little realized, however, how dreadful a fate was +soon to overwhelm him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's impatience.] +[Sidenote: He attempts to cross the Adriatic.] + +The winter months rolled away, and nothing effectual was done. The +forces, alternating and intermingled, as above described, kept each +other in a continued state of anxiety and suffering. Caesar became +impatient at the delay of that portion of his army that he had left on +the Italian shore. The messages of encouragement and of urgency which he +sent across to them did not bring them over, and at length, one dark and +stormy night, when he thought that the inclemency of the skies and the +heavy surging of the swell in the offing would drive his vigilant +enemies into places of shelter, and put them off their guard, he +determined to cross the sea himself and bring his hesitating army over. +He ordered a galley to be prepared, and went on board of it disguised, +and with his head muffled in his mantle, intending that not even the +officers or crew of the ship which was to convey him should know of his +design. The galley, in obedience to orders, put off from the shore. The +mariners endeavored in vain for some time to make head against the +violence of the wind and the heavy concussions of the waves, and at +length, terrified at the imminence of the danger to which so wild and +tumultuous a sea on such a night exposed them, refused to proceed, and +the commander gave them orders to return. Caesar then came forward, +threw off his mantle, and said to them, "Friends! you have nothing to +fear. You are carrying Caesar." + +The men were, of course, inspirited anew by this disclosure, but all was +in vain. The obstacles to the passage proved insurmountable, and the +galley, to avoid certain destruction, was compelled to return. + +[Sidenote: Caesar lands the remainder of his army.] + +The army, however, on the Italian side, hearing of Caesar's attempt to +return to them, fruitless though it was, and stimulated by the renewed +urgency of the orders which he now sent to them, made arrangements at +last for an embarkation, and, after encountering great dangers on the +way, succeeded in landing in safety. Caesar, thus strengthened, began to +plan more decided operations for the coming spring. + +[Sidenote: Attempts at negotiation.] +[Sidenote: Conferences.] +[Sidenote: End in violence and disorder.] + +There were some attempts at negotiation. The armies were so exasperated +against each other on account of the privations and hardships which each +compelled the other to suffer, that they felt too strong a mutual +distrust to attempt any regular communication by commissioners or +ambassadors appointed for the purpose. They came to a parley, however, +in one or two instances, though the interviews led to no result. As the +missiles used in those days were such as could only be thrown to a very +short distance, hostile bodies of men could approach much nearer to each +other then than is possible now, when projectiles of the most terribly +destructive character can be thrown for miles. In one instance, some of +the ships of Pompey's fleet approached so near to the shore as to open a +conference with one or two of Caesar's lieutenants who were encamped +there. In another case, two bodies of troops from the respective armies +were separated only by a river, and the officers and soldiers came down +to the banks on either side, and held frequent conversations, calling to +each other in loud voices across the water. In this way they succeeded +in so far coming to an agreement as to fix upon a time and place for a +more formal conference, to be held by commissioners chosen on each side. +This conference was thus held, but each party came to it accompanied by +a considerable body of attendants, and these, as might have been +anticipated, came into open collision while the discussion was pending; +thus the meeting consequently ended in violence and disorder, each party +accusing the other of violating the faith which both had plighted. + +[Sidenote: Undecided warfare.] +[Sidenote: Bread made of roots.] + +This slow and undecided mode of warfare between the two vast armies +continued for many months without any decisive results. There were +skirmishes, struggles, sieges, blockades, and many brief and partial +conflicts, but no general and decided battle. Now the advantage seemed +on one side, and now on the other. Pompey so hemmed in Caesar's troops +at one period, and so cut off his supplies, that the men were reduced to +extreme distress for food. At length they found a kind of root which +they dug from the ground, and, after drying and pulverizing it, they +made a sort of bread of the powder, which the soldiers were willing to +eat rather than either starve or give up the contest. They told Caesar, +in fact, that they would live on the bark of trees rather than abandon +his cause. Pompey's soldiers, at one time, coming near to the walls of a +town which they occupied, taunted and jeered them on account of their +wretched destitution of food. Caesar's soldiers threw loaves of this +bread at them in return, by way of symbol that they were +abundantly supplied. + +[Sidenote: Caesar hems Pompey in.] +[Sidenote: Anxiety of the rivals.] + +After some time the tide of fortune turned Caesar contrived, by a +succession of adroit maneuvers and movements, to escape from his toils, +and to circumvent and surround Pompey's forces so as soon to make them +suffer destitution and distress in their turn. He cut off all +communication between them and the country at large, and turned away the +brooks and streams from flowing through the ground they occupied. An +army of forty or fifty thousand men, with the immense number of horses +and beasts of burden which accompany them, require very large supplies +of water, and any destitution or even scarcity of water leads +immediately to the most dreadful consequences. Pompey's troops dug +wells, but they obtained only very insufficient supplies. Great numbers +of beasts of burden died, and their decaying bodies so tainted the air +as to produce epidemic diseases, which destroyed many of the troops, and +depressed and disheartened those whom they did not destroy. + +[Sidenote: Nature of the contest between Caesar and Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Both hesitate.] + +During all these operations there was no decisive general battle. Each +one of the great rivals knew very well that his defeat in one general +battle would be his utter and irretrievable ruin. In a war between two +independent nations, a single victory, however complete, seldom +terminates the struggle, for the defeated party has the resources of a +whole realm to fall back upon, which are sometimes called forth with +renewed vigor after experiencing such reverses; and then defeat in such +cases, even if it be final, does not necessarily involve the ruin of the +unsuccessful commander. He may negotiate an honorable peace, and return +to his own land in safety; and, if his misfortunes are considered by his +countrymen as owing not to any dereliction from his duty as a soldier, +but to the influence of adverse circumstances which no human skill or +resolution could have controlled, he may spend the remainder of his days +in prosperity and honor. The contest, however, between Caesar and Pompey +was not of this character. One or the other of them was a traitor and a +usurper--an enemy to his country. The result of a battle would decide +which of the two was to stand in this attitude. Victory would legitimize +and confirm the authority of one, and make it supreme over the whole +civilized world. Defeat was to annihilate the power of the other, and +make him a fugitive and a vagabond, without friends, without home, +without country. It was a desperate stake; and it is not at all +surprising that both parties lingered and hesitated, and postponed the +throwing of the die. + +[Sidenote: The armies enter Thessaly.] + +At length Pompey, rendered desperate by the urgency of the destitution +and distress into which Caesar had shut him, made a series of rigorous +and successful attacks upon Caesar's lines, by which he broke away in +his turn from his enemy's grasp, and the two armies moved slowly back +into the interior of the country, hovering in the vicinity of each +other, like birds of prey contending in the air, each continually +striking at the other, and moving onward at the same time to gain some +position of advantage, or to circumvent the other in such a design. They +passed on in this manner over plains, and across rivers, and through +mountain passes, until at length they reached the heart of Thessaly. +Here at last the armies came to a stand and fought the final battle. + +[Illustration: ROMAN STANDARD BEARERS.] + +[Sidenote: The plain of Pharsalia.] +[Sidenote: Roman standard bearers.] +[Sidenote: Pompey draws up his army.] +[Sidenote: Forces on both sides.] + +The place was known then as the plain of Pharsalia, and the greatness of +the contest which was decided there has immortalized its name. Pompey's +forces were far more numerous than those of Caesar, and the advantage in +all the partial contests which had taken place for some time had been on +his side; he felt, consequently, sure of victory. He drew up his men in +a line, one flank resting upon the bank of a river, which protected them +from attack on that side. From this point, the long line of legions, +drawn up in battle array, extended out upon the plain, and was +terminated at the other extremity by strong squadrons of horse, and +bodies of slingers and archers, so as to give the force of weapons and +the activity of men as great a range as possible there, in order to +prevent Caesar's being able to outflank and surround them There was, +however, apparently very little danger of this, for Caesar, according to +his own story, had but about half as strong a force as Pompey. The army +of the latter, he says, consisted of nearly fifty thousand men, while +his own number was between twenty and thirty thousand. Generals, +however, are prone to magnify the military grandeur of their exploits by +overrating the strength with which they had to contend, and +under-estimating their own. We are therefore to receive with some +distrust the statements made by Caesar and his partisans; and as for +Pompey's story, the total and irreparable ruin in which he himself and +all who adhered to him were entirely overwhelmed immediately after the +battle, prevented its being ever told. + +[Sidenote: Appearance of Pompey's camp.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's tent.] + +In the rear of the plain where Pompey's lines were extended was the camp +from which the army had been drawn out to prepare for the battle. The +camp fires of the preceding night were moldering away, for it was a warm +summer morning; the intrenchments were guarded, and the tents, now +nearly empty, stood extended in long rows within the inclosure. In the +midst of them was the magnificent pavilion of the general, furnished +with every imaginable article of luxury and splendor. Attendants were +busy here and there, some rearranging what had been left in disorder by +the call to arms by which the troops had been summoned from their places +of rest, and others providing refreshments-and food for their victorious +comrades when they should return from the battle. In Pompey's tent a +magnificent entertainment was preparing. The tables were spread with +every luxury, the sideboards were loaded with plate, and the whole scene +was resplendent with utensils and decorations of silver and gold. + +[Sidenote: His confidence of victory.] + +Pompey and all his generals were perfectly certain of victory. In fact, +the peace and harmony of their councils in camp had been destroyed for +many days by their contentions and disputes about the disposal of the +high offices, and the places of profit and power at Rome, which were to +come into their hands when Caesar should have been subdued. The subduing +of Caesar they considered only a question of time; and, as a question of +time, it was now reduced to very narrow limits. A few days more, and +they were to be masters of the whole Roman empire, and, impatient and +greedy, they disputed in anticipation about the division of the spoils. + +To make assurance doubly sure, Pompey gave orders that his troops +should not advance to meet the onset of Caesar's troops on the middle +ground between the two armies, but that they should wait calmly for the +attack, and receive the enemy at the posts where they had themselves +been arrayed. + +[Sidenote: The battle of Pharsalia.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of Pompey.] +[Sidenote: Scene of horror.] + +The hour at length arrived, the charge was sounded by the trumpets, and +Caesar's troops began to advance with loud shouts and great impetuosity +toward Pompey's lines. There was a long and terrible struggle, but the +forces of Pompey began finally to give way. Notwithstanding the +precautions which Pompey had taken to guard and protect the wing of his +army which was extended toward the land, Caesar succeeded in turning his +flank upon that side by driving off the cavalry and destroying the +archers and slingers, and he was thus enabled to throw a strong force +upon Pompey's rear. The flight then soon became general, and a scene of +dreadful confusion and slaughter ensued. The soldiers of Caesar's army, +maddened with the insane rage which the progress of a battle never fails +to awaken, and now excited to phrensy by the exultation of success, +pressed on after the affrighted fugitives, who trampled one upon +another, or fell pierced with the weapons of their assailants, filling +the air with their cries of agony and their shrieks of terror. The +horrors of the scene, far from allaying, only excited still more the +ferocity of their bloodthirsty foes, and they pressed steadily and +fiercely on, hour after hour, in their dreadful work of destruction. It +was one of those scenes of horror and woe such as those who have not +witnessed them can not conceive of, and those who have witnessed can +never forget. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's flight to the camp.] +[Sidenote: Pompey in his tent.] +[Sidenote: His consternation and despair.] + +When Pompey perceived that all was lost, he fled from the field in a +state of the wildest excitement and consternation. His troops were +flying in all directions, some toward the camp, vainly hoping to find +refuge there, and others in various other quarters, wherever they saw +the readiest hope of escape from their merciless pursuers. Pompey +himself fled instinctively toward the camp. As he passed the guards at +the gate where he entered, he commanded them, in his agitation and +terror, to defend the gate against the coming enemy, saying that he was +going to the other gates to attend to the defenses there. He then +hurried on, but a full sense of the helplessness and hopelessness of his +condition soon overwhelmed him; he gave up all thought of defense, and, +passing with a sinking heart through the scene of consternation and +confusion which reigned every where within the encampment, he sought +his own tent, and, rushing into it, sank down, amid the luxury and +splendor which had been arranged to do honor to his anticipated victory, +in a state of utter stupefaction and despair. + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +FLIGHT AND DEATH OF POMPEY. + +[Sidenote: Pursuit of the vanquished.] +[Sidenote: Pompey recovers himself.] + +Caesar pursued the discomfited and flying bodies of Pompey's army to the +camp. They made a brief stand upon the ramparts and at the gates in a +vain and fruitless struggle against the tide of victory which they soon +perceived must fully overwhelm them. They gave way continually here and +there along the lines of intrenchment, and column after column of +Caesar's followers broke through into the camp. Pompey, hearing from his +tent the increasing noise and uproar, was at length aroused from his +stupor, and began to summon his faculties to the question what he was to +do. At length a party of fugitives, hotly pursued by some of Caesar's +soldiers, broke into his tent. "What!" said Pompey, "into my tent too!" +He had been for more than thirty years a victorious general, accustomed +to all the deference and respect which boundless wealth, extended and +absolute power, and the highest military rank could afford. In the +encampments which he had made, and in the cities which he had occupied +from time to time, he had been the supreme and unquestioned master, and +his tent, arranged and furnished, as it had always been, in a style of +the utmost magnificence and splendor, had been sacred from all +intrusion, and invested with such a dignity that potentates and princes +were impressed when they entered, with a feeling of deference and awe. +Now, rude soldiers burst wildly into it, and the air without was filled +with an uproar and confusion, drawing every moment nearer and nearer, +and warning the fallen hero that there was no longer any protection +there against the approaching torrent which was coming on to +overwhelm him. + +[Sidenote: Pompey disguises himself.] +[Sidenote: He escapes from the camp.] + +Pompey aroused himself from his stupor, threw off the military dress +which belonged to his rank and station, and assumed a hasty disguise, in +which he hoped he might make his escape from the immediate scene of his +calamities. He mounted a horse and rode out of the camp at the easiest +place of egress in the rear, in company with bodies of troops and guards +who were also flying in confusion, while Caesar and his forces on the +other side were carrying the intrenchments and forcing their way in. As +soon is he had thus made his escape from the immediate scene of danger, +he dismounted and left his horse, that he might assume more completely +the appearance of a common soldier, and, with a few attendants who were +willing to follow his fallen fortunes, he went on to the eastward, +directing his weary steps toward the shores of the Aegean Sea. + +[Sidenote: The Vale of Tempe.] +[Sidenote: Its picturesqueness.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's sufferings.] +[Sidenote: A drink of water.] + +The country through which he was traveling was Thessaly. Thessaly is a +vast amphitheater, surrounded by mountains, from whose sides streams +descend, which, after watering many fertile valleys and plains, combine +to form one great central river that flows to the eastward, and after +various meanderings, finds its way into the Aegean Sea through a +romantic gap between two mountains, called the Vale of Tempe--a vale +which has been famed in all ages for the extreme picturesqueness of its +scenery, and in which, in those days, all the charms both of the most +alluring beauty and of the sublimest grandeur seemed to be combined. +Pompey followed the roads leading along the banks of this stream, weary +in body, and harassed and disconsolate in mind. The news which came to +him from time to time, by the flying parties which were moving through +the country in all directions, of the entire and overwhelming +completeness of Caesar's victory, extinguished all remains of hope, and +narrowed down at last the grounds of his solicitude to the single point +of his own personal safety. He was well aware that he should be pursued, +and, to baffle the efforts which he knew that his enemies would make to +follow his track, he avoided large towns, and pressed forward in by-ways +and solitudes, bearing as patiently as he was able his increasing +destitution and distress. He reached, at length, the Vale of Tempe, and +there, exhausted with hunger, thirst, and fatigue, he sat down upon the +bank of the stream to recover by a little rest strength enough for the +remainder of his weary way. He wished for a drink, but he had nothing to +drink from. And so the mighty potentate, whose tent was full of +delicious beverages, and cups and goblets of silver and gold, extended +himself down upon the sand at the margin of the river, and drank the +warm water directly from the stream. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Pompey's camp.] + +While Pompey was thus anxiously and toilsomely endeavoring to gain the +sea-shore, Caesar was completing his victory over the army which he had +left behind him. When Caesar had carried the intrenchments of the camp, +and the army found that there was no longer any safety for them there, +they continued their retreat under the guidance of such generals as +remained. Caesar thus gained undisputed possession of the camp. He found +every where the marks of wealth and luxury, and indications of the +confident expectation of victory which the discomfited army had +entertained. The tents of the generals were crowned with myrtle, the +beds were strewed with flowers, and tables every where were spread for +feasts, with cups and bowls of wine all ready for the expected revelers. +Caesar took possession of the whole, stationed a proper guard to protect +the property, and then pressed forward with his army in pursuit of +the enemy. + +[Sidenote: Retreat of Pompey's army.] +[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's army.] + +Pompey's army made their way to a neighboring rising ground, where they +threw up hasty intrenchments to protect themselves for the night. A +rivulet ran near the hill, the access to which they endeavored to +secure, in order to obtain supplies of water. Caesar and his forces +followed them to this spot. The day was gone, and it was too late to +attack them. Caesar's soldiers, too, were exhausted with the intense and +protracted excitement and exertions which had now been kept up for many +hours in the battle and in the pursuit, and they needed repose. They +made, however, one effort more. They seized the avenue of approach to +the rivulet, and threw up a temporary intrenchment to secure it which +intrenchment they protected with a guard; and then the army retired to +rest, leaving their helpless victims to while away the hours of the +night, tormented with thirst, and overwhelmed with anxiety and despair. +This could not long be endured. They surrendered in the morning, and +Caesar found himself in possession of over twenty thousand prisoners. + +[Sidenote: Pompey in the Vale of Tempe.] + +In the mean time, Pompey passed on through the Vale of Tempe toward the +sea, regardless of the beauty and splendor that surrounded him, and +thinking only of his fallen fortunes, and revolving despairingly in his +mind the various forms in which the final consummation of his ruin might +ultimately come. At length he reached the sea-shore, and found refuge +for the night in a fisherman's cabin. A small number of attendants +remained with him, some of whom were slaves. These he now dismissed, +directing them to return and surrender themselves to Caesar, saying that +he was a generous foe, and that they had nothing to fear from him. His +other attendants he retained, and he made arrangements for a boat to +take him the next day along the coast. It was a river boat, and +unsuited to the open sea, but it was all that he could obtain. + +[Sidenote: Pompey embarks on board a vessel.] +[Sidenote: The shipmaster's dream.] + +He arose the next morning at break of day, and embarked in the little +vessel, with two or three attendants, and the oarsmen began to row away +along the shore. They soon came in sight of a merchant ship just ready +to sail. The master of this vessel, it happened, had seen Pompey, and +knew his countenance, and he had dreamed, as a famous historian of the +times relates, on the night before, that Pompey had come to him hi the +guise of a simple soldier and in great distress, and that he had +received and rescued him. There was nothing extraordinary in such a +dream at such a time, as the contest between Caesar and Pompey, and the +approach of the final collision which was to destroy one or the other of +them, filled the minds and occupied the conversation of the world. The +shipmaster, therefore, having seen and known one of the great rivals in +the approaching conflict, would naturally find both his waking and +sleeping thoughts dwelling on the subject; and his fancy, in his dreams, +might easily picture the scene of his rescuing and saving the fallen +hero in the hour of his distress. + +[Sidenote: Pompey goes on board a merchant ship.] + +However this may be, the shipmaster is said to have been relating his +dream to the seamen on the deck of his vessel when the boat which was +conveying Pompey came into view. Pompey himself, having escaped from the +land, supposed all immediate danger over, not imagining that seafaring +men would recognize him in such a situation and in such a disguise. The +shipmaster did, however, recognize him. He was overwhelmed with grief at +seeing him in such a condition. With a countenance and with gestures +expressive of earnest surprise and sorrow, he beckoned to Pompey to come +on board. He ordered his own ship's boat to be immediately let down to +meet and receive him. Pompey came on board. The ship was given up to his +possession, and every possible arrangement was made to supply his wants, +to contribute to his comfort, and to do him honor. + +[Sidenote: His arrival at Amphipolis.] + +The vessel conveyed him to Amphipolis, a city of Macedonia near the sea, +and to the northward and eastward of the place where he had embarked. +When Pompey arrived at the port he sent proclamations to the shore, +calling upon the inhabitants to take arms and join his standard. He did +not, however, land, or take any other measures for carrying these +arrangements into effect. He only waited in the river upon which +Amphipolis stands long enough to receive a supply of money from some of +his friends on the shore, and stores for his voyage, and then get sail +again. Whether he learned that Caesar was advancing in that direction +with a force too strong for him to encounter, or found that the people +were disinclined to espouse his cause, or whether the whole movement was +a feint to direct Caesar's attention to Macedon as the field of his +operations, in order that he might escape more secretly and safely +beyond the sea, can not now be ascertained. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's wife Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: Her beauty and accomplishments.] + +Pompey's wife Cornelia was on the island of Lesbos, at Mitylene, near +the western coast of Asia Minor. She was a lady of distinguished beauty, +and of great intellectual superiority and moral worth. She was extremely +well versed in all the learning of the times, and yet was entirely free +from those peculiarities and airs which, as her historian says, were +often observed in learned ladies in those days. Pompey had married her +after the death of Julia, Caesar's daughter. They were strongly devoted +to each other. Pompey had provided for her a beautiful retreat on the +island of Lesbos, where she was living in elegance and splendor, +beloved for her own intrinsic charms, and highly honored on account of +the greatness and fame of her husband. Here she had received from time +to time glowing accounts of his success all exaggerated as they came to +her, through the eager desire of the narrators to give her pleasure. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's arrival at Mitylene.] +[Sidenote: His meeting with Cornelia.] + +From this high elevation of honor and happiness the ill-fated Cornelia +suddenly fell, on the arrival of Pompey's solitary vessel at Mitylene, +bringing as it did, at the same time, both the first intelligence of her +husband's fall, and himself in person, a ruined and homeless fugitive +and wanderer. The meeting was sad and sorrowful. Cornelia was +overwhelmed at the suddenness and violence of the shock which it brought +her, and Pompey lamented anew the dreadful disaster that he had +sustained, at finding how inevitably it must involve his beloved wife as +well as himself in its irreparable ruin. + +[Sidenote: Pompey gathers a little fleet.] + +The pain, however, was not wholly without some mingling of pleasure. A +husband finds a strange sense of protection and safety in the presence +and sympathy of an affectionate wife in the hour of his calamity. She +can, perhaps do nothing, but her mute and sorrowful concern and pity +comfort and reassure him. Cornelia, however, was able to render her +husband some essential aid. She resolved immediately to accompany him +wherever he should go; and, by their joint endeavors, a little fleet was +gathered, and such supplies as could be hastily obtained, and such +attendants and followers as were willing to share his fate, were taken +on board. During all this time Pompey would not go on shore himself, but +remained on board, his ship in the harbor. Perhaps he was afraid of some +treachery or surprise, or perhaps, in his fallen and hopeless condition, +he was unwilling to expose himself to the gaze of those who had so often +seen him in all the splendor of his former power. + +[Sidenote: He sails along the Mediterranean.] +[Sidenote: Pompey receives additional supplies.] + +At length, when all was ready, he sailed away. He passed eastward along +the Mediterranean, touching at such ports as he supposed most likely to +favor his cause. Vague and uncertain, but still alarming rumors that +Caesar was advancing in pursuit of him met him every where, and the +people of the various provinces were taking sides, some in his favor and +some against him, the excitement being every where so great that the +utmost caution and circumspection were required in all his movements. +Sometimes he was refused permission to land; at others, his friends +were too few to afford him protection; and at others still, though the +authorities professed friendship, he did not dare to trust them. He +obtained, however, some supplies of money and some accessions to the +number of ships and men under his command, until at length he had quite +a little fleet in his train. Several men of rank and influence, who had +served under him in the days of his prosperity, nobly adhered to him +now, and formed a sort of court or council on board his galley, where +they held with their great though fallen commander frequent +conversations on the plan which it was best to pursue. + +[Sidenote: He seeks refuge in Egypt.] +[Sidenote: Ptolemy and Cleopatra.] + +It was finally decided that it was best to seek refuge in Egypt. There +seemed to be, in fact, no alternative. All the rest of the world was +evidently going over to Caesar. Pompey had been the means, some years +before, of restoring a certain king of Egypt to his throne, and many of +his soldiers had been left in the country, and remained there still. It +is true that the king himself had died. He had left a daughter named +Cleopatra, and also a son, who was at this time very young. The name of +this youthful prince was Ptolemy. Ptolemy and Cleopatra bad been made by +their father joint heirs to the throne. But Ptolemy, or, rather, the +ministers and counselors who acted for him and in his name, had expelled +Cleopatra, that they might govern alone. Cleopatra had raised an army in +Syria, and was on her way to the frontiers of Egypt to regain possession +of what she deemed her rights. Ptolemy's ministers had gone forth to +meet her at the head of their own troops, 'Ptolemy himself being also +with them. They had reached Pelusium, which is the frontier town between +Egypt and Syria on the coast of the Mediterranean. Here their armies had +assembled in vast encampments upon the land, and their galleys and +transports were riding at anchor along the shore of the sea. Pompey and +his-counselors thought that the government of Ptolemy would receive him +as a friend, on account of the services he had rendered to the young +prince's father, forgetting that gratitude has never a place on the list +of political virtues. + +[Sidenote: Pompey arrives at Pelusium.] + +Pompey's little squadron made its way slowly over the waters of the +Mediterranean toward Pelusium and the camp of Ptolemy. As they +approached the shore, both Pompey himself and Cornelia felt many anxious +forebodings. A messenger was sent to the land to inform the young king +of Pompey's approach, and to solicit his protection. The government of +Ptolemy held a council, and took the subject into consideration. + +[Sidenote: Ptolemy's council resolve to murder Pompey.] + +Various opinions were expressed, and various plans were proposed. The +counsel which was finally followed was this. It would be dangerous to +receive Pompey, since that would make Caesar their enemy. It would be +dangerous to refuse to receive him, as that would make Pompey their +enemy, and, though powerless now, he might one day be in a condition to +seek vengeance. It was wisest, therefore, to destroy him. They would +invite him to the shore, and kill him when he landed. This would please +Caesar; and Pompey himself, being dead, could never revenge it. "Dead +dogs," as the orator said who made this atrocious proposal, "do +not bite." + +[Sidenote: The assassin Achillas.] + +An Egyptian, named Achillas, was appointed to execute the assassination +thus decreed. An invitation was sent to Pompey to land, accompanied with +a promise of protection; and, when his fleet had approached near enough +to the shore, Achillas took a small party in a boat, and went out to +meet his galley. The men in this boat, of course, were armed. + +[Sidenote: Suspicions of Pompey's friends.] +[Sidenote: Entreaties of Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's forlorn condition.] +[Sidenote: He determines to land.] + +The officers and attendants of Pompey watched all these movements from +the deck of his galley. They scrutinized every thing that occurred with +the closest attention and the greatest anxiety, to see whether the +indications denoted an honest friendship or intentions of treachery. The +appearances were not favorable. Pompey's friends observed that no +preparations were making along the shore for receiving him with the +honors due, as they thought, to his rank and station. The manner, too, +in which the Egyptians seemed to expect him to land was ominous of evil. +Only a single insignificant boat for a potentate who recently had +commanded half the world! Then, besides, the friends of Pompey observed +that several of the principal galleys of Ptolemy's fleet were getting up +their anchors, and preparing apparently to be ready to move at a sudden +call These and other indications appeared much more like preparations +for seizing an enemy than welcoming a friend. Cornelia, who, with her +little son, stood upon the deck of Pompey's galley, watching the scene +with a peculiar intensity of solicitude which the hardy soldiers around +her could not have felt, became soon exceedingly alarm ad. She begged +her husband Dot to go on shore. But Pompey decided that it was now too +late to retreat. He could not escape from the Egyptian galleys if they +had received orders to intercept him, nor could he resist violence if +violence were intended. To do any thing like that would evince distrust, +and to appear like putting himself upon his guard would be to take at +once, himself, the position of an enemy, and invite and justify the +hostility of the Egyptians in return. As to flight, he could not hope to +escape from the Egyptian galleys if they had received orders to prevent +it; and, besides, if he were determined on attempting an escape, whither +should he fly? The world was against him. His triumphant enemy was on +his track in full pursuit, with all the vast powers and resources of the +whole Roman empire at his command. There remained for Pompey only the +last forlorn hope of a refuge in Egypt, or else, as the sole +alternative, a complete and unconditional submission to Caesar. His +pride would not consent to this, and he determined, therefore, dark as +the indications were, to place himself, without any appearance of +distrust, in Ptolemy's hands, and abide the issue. + +The boat of Achillas approached the galley. When it touched the side, +Achillas and the other officers on board of it hailed Pompey in the most +respectful manner, giving him the title of Imperator, the highest title +known in the Roman state. Achillas addressed Pompey in Greek. The Greek +was the language of educated men in all the Eastern countries in those +days. He told him that the water was too shallow for his galley to +approach nearer to the shore, and invited him to come on board of his +boat, and he would take him to the beach, where, as he said, the king +was waiting to receive him. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for landing.] +[Sidenote: Pompey takes leave of his wife.] + +With many anxious forebodings, that were but ill concealed, Pompey made +preparations to accept the invitation. He bade his wife farewell, who +clung to him as they were about to part with a gloomy presentiment that +they should never meet again. Two centurions who were to accompany +Pompey, and two servants, descended into the boat. Pompey himself +followed, and then the boatmen pushed off from the galley and made +toward the shore. The decks of all the vessels in Pompey's little +squadron, as well as those of the Egyptian fleet, were crowded with +spectators, and lines of soldiery and groups of men, all intently +watching the operations of the landing, were scattered along the shore. + +[Sidenote: The assassins.] +[Sidenote: Gloomy silence.] + +Among the men whom Achillas had provided to aid him in the assassination +was an offieer of the Roman army who had formerly served under Pompey. +As soon as Pompey was seated in the boat, he recognized the countenance +of this man, and addressed him, saying, "I think I remember you as +having been in former days my fellow-soldier." The man replied merely by +a nod of assent. Feeling somewhat guilty and self-condemned at the +thoughts of the treachery which he was about to perpetrate, he was +little inclined to renew the recollection of the days when he was +Pompey's friend. In fact, the whole company in the boat, filled on the +one part with awe in anticipation of the terrible deed which they were +soon to commit, and on the other with a dread suspense and alarm, were +little disposed for conversation, and Pompey took out a manuscript of an +address in Greek which he had prepared to make to the young king at his +approaching interview with him, and occupied himself in reading it over. +Thus they advanced in a gloomy and solemn silence, hearing no sound but +the dip of the oars in the water, and the gentle dash of the waves along +the line of the shore. + +[Sidenote: Assassination of Pompey.] + +At length the boat touched the sand, while Cornelia still stood on the +deck of the galley, watching every movement with great solicitude and +concern. One of the two servants whom Pompey had taken with him, named +Philip, his favorite personal attendant, rose to assist his master in +landing. He gave Pompey his hand to aid him in rising from his seat, and +at that moment the Roman officer whom Pompey had recognized as his +fellow-soldier, advanced behind him and stabbed him in the back. At the +same instant Achillas and the others drew their swords. Pompey saw that +all was lost. He did not speak, and he uttered no cry of alarm, though +Cornelia's dreadful shriek was so loud and piercing that it was heard +upon the shore. From the suffering victim himself nothing was heard but +an inarticulate groan extorted by his agony. He gathered his mantle over +his face, and sank down and died. + +[Sidenote: Cornelia.] +[Sidenote: The funeral pile.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's ashes sent to Cornelia.] + +Of course, all was now excitement and confusion. As soon as the deed was +done, the perpetrators of it retired from the scene, taking the head of +their unhappy victim with them, to offer to Caesar as proof that his +enemy was really no more. The officers who remained in the fleet which +had brought Pompey to the coast made all haste to sail away, bearing the +wretched Cornelia with them, utterly distracted with grief and despair, +while Philip and his fellow-servant remained upon the beach, standing +bewildered and stupefied over the headless body of their beloved master. +Crowds of spectators came in succession to look upon the hideous +spectacle a moment in silence, and then to turn, shocked and repelled, +away. At length, when the first impulse of excitement had in some +measure spent its force, Philip and his comrades so far recovered their +composure as to begin to turn their thoughts to the only consolation +that was now left to them, that of performing the solemn duties of +sepulture. They found the wreck of a fishing boat upon the strand, from +which they obtained wood enough for a rude funeral pile. They burned +what remained of the mutilated body, and, gathering up the ashes, they +put them in an urn and sent them to Cornelia, who afterward buried them +at Alba with many bitter tears. + +[Illustration: Death of Pompey] + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +CAESAR IN EGYPT. + +[Sidenote: Caesar after the battle of Pharsalia.] + +Caesar surveyed the field of battle after the victory of Pharsalia, not +with the feelings of exultation which might have been expected in a +victorious general, but with compassion and sorrow for the fallen +soldiers whose dead bodies covered the ground. After gazing upon the +scene sadly and in silence for a time, he said, "They would have it so," +and thus dismissed from his mind all sense of his own responsibility for +the consequences which had ensued. + +[Sidenote: His clemency.] +[Sidenote: Caesar pursues Pompey.] + +He treated the immense body of prisoners which had fallen into his hands +with great clemency, partly from the natural impulses of his +disposition, which were always generous and noble, and partly from +policy, that he might conciliate them all, officers and soldiers, to +acquiescence in his future rule. He then sent back a large portion of +his force to Italy, and, taking a body of cavalry from the rest, in +order that he might advance with the utmost possible rapidity, he set +off through Thessaly and Macedon in pursuit of his fugitive foe. + +[Sidenote: Treasures of the Temple of Diana.] + +He had no naval force at his command, and he accordingly kept upon the +land. Besides, he wished, by moving through the country at the head of +an armed force, to make a demonstration which should put down any +attempt that might be made in arty quarter to rally or concentrate a +force in Pompey's favor. He crossed the Hellespont, and moved down the +coast of Asia Minor. There was a great temple consecrated to Diana at +Ephesus, which, for its wealth and magnificence, was then the wonder of +the world. The authorities who had it in their charge, not aware of +Caesar's approach, had concluded to withdraw the treasures from the +temple and loan them to Pompey, to be repaid when he should have +regained his Dower. An assembly was accordingly convened to witness the +delivery of the treasures, and take note of their value, which ceremony +was to be performed with great formality and parade, when they learned +that Caesar had crossed the Hellespont and was drawing near. The whole +proceeding was thus arrested, and the treasures were retained. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Asia Minor.] +[Sidenote: He sails for Egypt.] + +Caesar passed rapidly on through Asia Minor, examining and comparing, +as he advanced, the vague rumors which were continually coming in in +respect to Pompey's movements. He learned at length that he had gone to +Cyprus; he presumed that his destination was Egypt, and he immediately +resolved to provide himself with a fleet, and follow him thither by sea. +As time passed on, and the news of Pompey's defeat and flight, and of +Caesar's triumphant pursuit of him, became generally extended and +confirmed, the various powers ruling in all that region of the world +abandoned one after another the hopeless cause, and began to adhere to +Caesar. They offered him such resources and aid as he might desire. He +did not, however, stop to organize a large fleet or to collect an army. +He depended, like Napoleon, in all the great movements of his life, not +on grandeur of preparation, but on celerity of action. He organized at +Rhodes a small but very efficient fleet of ten galleys, and, embarking +his best troops in them, he made sail for the coasts of Egypt. Pompey +had landed at Pelusium, on the eastern frontier, having heard that the +young king and his court were there to meet and resist Cleopatra's +invasion. Caesar, however, with the characteristic boldness and energy +of his character, proceeded directly to Alexandria, the capital. + +[Sidenote: Caesar at Alexandria.] + +Egypt was, in those days, an _ally_ of the Romans, as the phrase was; +that is, the country, though it preserved its independent organization +and its forms of royalty, was still united to the Roman people by an +intimate league, so as to form an integral part of the great empire. +Caesar, consequently, in appearing there with an armed force, would +naturally be received as a friend. He found only the garrison which +Ptolemy's government had left in charge of the city. At first the +officers of this garrison gave him an outwardly friendly reception, but +they soon began to take offense at the air of authority and command +which he assumed, and which seemed to them to indicate a spirit of +encroachment on the sovereignty of their own king. + +[Sidenote: The Roman fasces.] +[Sidenote: The lictors.] + +Feelings of deeply-seated alienation and animosity sometimes find their +outward expression in contests about things intrinsically of very little +importance. It was so in this case. The Roman consuls were accustomed to +use a certain badge of authority called the _fasces_. It consisted of a +bundle of rods, bound around the handle of an ax. Whenever a consul +appeared in public, he was preceded by two officers called _lictors_, +each of whom carried the fasces as a symbol of the power which was +vested in the distinguished personage who followed them. + +The Egyptian officers and the people of the city quarreled with Caesar +on account of his moving about among them in his imperial state, +accompanied by a life guard, and preceded by the lictors. Contests +occurred between his troops and those of the garrison, and many +disturbances were created in the streets of the city. Although no +serious collision took place, Caesar thought it prudent to strengthen +his force, and he sent back to Europe for additional legions to come to +Egypt and join him. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's head sent to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar mourns Pompey.] + +The tidings of Pompey's death came to Caesar at Alexandria, and with +them the head of the murdered man, which was sent by the government of +Ptolemy, they supposing that it would be an acceptable gift to Caesar. +Instead of being pleased with it, Caesar turned from the shocking +spectacle in horror. Pompey had been, for many years now gone by, +Caesar's colleague and friend. He had been his son-in-law, and thus had +sustained to him a very near and endearing relation. In the contest +which had at last unfortunately arisen, Pompey had done no wrong either +to Caesar or to the government at Rome. He was the injured party, so far +as there was a right and a wrong to such a quarrel. And now, after being +hunted through half the world by his triumphant enemy, he had been +treacherously murdered by men pretending to receive him as a friend. The +natural sense of justice, which formed originally so strong a trait in +Caesar's character, was not yet wholly extinguished. He could not but +feel some remorse at the thoughts of the long course of violence and +wrong which he had pursued against his old champion and friend, and +which had led at last to so dreadful an end. Instead of being pleased +with the horrid trophy which the Egyptians sent him, he mourned the +death of his great rival with sincere and unaffected grief, and was +filled with indignation against his murderers. + +[Sidenote: Pompey's signet ring.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's respect for Pompey's memory.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's Pillar.] +[Sidenote: Origin of Pompey's Pillar.] + +[Illustration: Pompey's Pillar.] + +Pompey had a signet ring upon his finger at the time of his +assassination, which was taken off by the Egyptian officers and carried +away to Ptolemy, together with the other articles of value which had +been found upon his person. Ptolemy sent this seal to Caesar to complete +the proof that its possessor was no more. Caesar received _this_ +memorial with eager though mournful pleasure, and he preserved it with +great care. And in many ways, during all the remainder of his life, he +manifested every outward indication of cherishing the highest respect +for Pompey's memory. There stands to the present day, among the ruins of +Alexandria, a beautiful column, about one hundred feet high, which has +been known in all modern times as POMPEY'S PILLAR. It is formed of +stone, and is in three parts. One stone forms the pedestal, another the +shaft, and a third the capital. The beauty of this column, the +perfection of its workmanship, which still continues in excellent +preservation, and its antiquity, so great that all distinct record of +its origin is lost, have combined to make it for many ages the wonder +and admiration of mankind. Although no history of its origin has come +down to us, a tradition has descended that Caesar built it during his +residence in Egypt, to commemorate the name of Pompey; but whether it +was his own victory over Pompey, or Pompey's own character and military +fame which the structure was intended to signalize to mankind, can not +now be known. There is even some doubt whether it was erected by +Caesar at all. + +[Sidenote: Surrender of Pompey's officers.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's generosity.] + +While Caesar was in Alexandria, many of Pompey's officers, now that +their master was dead, and there was no longer any possibility of their +rallying again under his guidance and command, came in and surrendered +themselves to him. He received them with great kindness, and, instead of +visiting them with any penalties for having fought against him, he +honored the fidelity and bravery they had evinced in the service of +their own former master. Caesar had, in fact, shown the same generosity +to the soldiers of Pompey's army that he had taken prisoners at the +battle of Pharsalia. At the close of the battle, he issued orders that +each one of his soldiers should have permission to _save_ one of the +enemy. Nothing could more strikingly exemplify both the generosity and +the tact that marked the great conqueror's character than this incident. +The hatred and revenge which had animated his victorious soldiery in the +battle and in the pursuit, were changed immediately by the permission to +compassion and good will. The ferocious soldiers turned at once from the +pleasure of hunting their discomfited enemies to death, to that of +protecting and defending them; and the way was prepared for their being +received into his service, and incorporated with the rest of his army as +friends and brothers. + +[Sidenote: His position at Alexandria.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's interference in Egyptian affairs.] + +Caesar soon found himself in so strong a position at Alexandria, that he +determined to exercise his authority as Roman consul to settle the +dispute in respect to the succession of the Egyptian crown. There was no +difficulty in finding pretexts for interfering in the affairs of Egypt. +In the first place, there was, as he contended, great anarchy and +confusion at Alexandria, people taking different sides in the +controversy with such fierceness as to render it impossible that good +government and public order should be restored until this great question +was settled. He also claimed a debt due from the Egyptian government, +which Photinus, Ptolemy's minister at Alexandria, was very dilatory in +paying. This led to animosities and disputes; and, finally, Caesar +found, or pretended to find, evidence that Photinus was forming plots +against his life. At length Caesar determined on taking decided action. +He sent orders both to Ptolemy and to Cleopatra to disband their forces, +to repair to Alexandria, and lay their respective claims before him for +his adjudication. + +[Sidenote: Cleopatra.] + +Cleopatra complied with this summons, and returned to Egypt with a view +to submitting her case to Caesar's arbitration. Ptolemy determined to +resist. He advanced toward Egypt, but it was at the head of his army, +and with a determination to drive Caesar and all his Roman +followers away. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's guilty passion for Cleopatra.] + +When Cleopatra arrived, she found that the avenues of approach to +Caesar's quarters were all in possession of her enemies, so that, in +attempting to join him, she incurred danger of falling into their hands +as a prisoner. She resorted to a stratagem, as the story is, to gain a +secret admission. They rolled her up in a sort of bale of bedding or +carpeting, and she was carried in in this way on the back of a man, +through the guards, who might otherwise have intercepted her. Caesar was +very much pleased with this device, and with the successful result of +it. Cleopatra, too, was young and beautiful, and Caesar immediately +conceived a strong but guilty attachment to her, which she readily +returned. Caesar espoused her cause, and decided that she and Ptolemy +should jointly occupy the throne. + +[Sidenote: Resistance of Ptolemy.] +[Sidenote: The Alexandrine war.] + +Ptolemy and his partisans were determined not to submit to this award. +The consequence was, a violent and protracted war. Ptolemy was not only +incensed at being deprived of what he considered his just right to the +realm, he was also half distracted at the thought of his sister's +disgraceful connection with Caesar. His excitement and distress, and the +exertions and efforts to which they aroused him, awakened a strong +sympathy in his cause among the people, and Caesar found himself +involved in a very serious contest, in which his own life was brought +repeatedly into the most imminent danger, and which seriously threatened +the total destruction of his power. He, however, braved all the +difficulty and dangers, and recklessly persisted in the course he had +taken, under the influence of the infatuation in which his attachment to +Cleopatra held him, as by a spell. + +[Sidenote: The Pharos.] +[Sidenote: Great splendor of the Pharos.] + +The war in which Caesar was thus involved by his efforts to give +Cleopatra a seat with her brother on the Egyptian throne, is called in +history the Alexandrine war. It was marked by many strange and romantic +incidents. There was a light-house, called the Pharos, on a small island +opposite the harbor of Alexandria, and it was so famed, both on account +of the great magnificence of the edifice itself, and also on account of +its position at the entrance to the greatest commercial port in the +world, that it has given its name, as a generic appellation, to all +other structures of the kind--any light-house being now called a Pharos, +just as any serious difficulty is called a Gordian knot. The Pharos was +a lofty tower--the accounts say that it was five hundred feet in height, +which would be an enormous elevation for such a structure--and in a +lantern at the top a brilliant light was kept constantly burning, which +could be seen over the water for a hundred miles. The tower was built in +several successive stories, each being ornamented with balustrades, +galleries, and columns, so that the splendor of the architecture by day +rivaled the brilliancy of the radiation which beamed from the summit by +night. Far and wide over the stormy waters of the Mediterranean this +meteor glowed, inviting and guiding the mariners in; and both its +welcome and its guidance were doubly prized in those ancient days, when +there was neither compass nor sextant on which they could rely. In the +course of the contest with the Egyptians, Caesar took possession of the +Pharos, and of the island on which it stood; and as the Pharos was then +regarded as one of the seven wonders of the world, the fame of the +exploit, though it was probably nothing remarkable in a military point +of view, spread rapidly throughout the world. + +[Sidenote: It is captured by Caesar.] + +And yet, though the capture of a light-house was no very extraordinary +conquest, in the course of the contests on the harbor which were +connected with it Caesar had a very narrow escape from death. In all +such struggles he was accustomed always to take personally his full +share of the exposure and the danger. This resulted in part from the +natural impetuosity and ardor of his character, which were always +aroused to double intensity of action by the excitement of battle, and +partly from the ideas of the military duty of a commander which +prevailed in those days. There was besides, in this case, an additional +inducement to acquire the glory of extraordinary exploits, in Caesar's +desire to be the object of Cleopatra's admiration, who watched all his +movements, and who was doubly pleased with his prowess and bravery, +since she saw that they were exercised for her sake and in her cause. + +[Sidenote: Situation of the Pharos.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's personal danger.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's narrow escape.] + +The Pharos was built upon an island, which was connected by a pier or +bridge with the main land. In the course of the attack upon this bridge, +Caesar, with a party of his followers, got driven back and hemmed in by +a body of the enemy that surrounded them, in such a place that the only +mode of escape seemed to be by a boat, which might take them to a +neighboring galley. They began, therefore, all to crowd into the boat in +confusion, and so overloaded it that it was obviously in imminent danger +of being upset or of sinking. The upsetting or sinking of an overloaded +boat brings almost certain destruction upon most of the passengers, +whether swimmers or not, as they seize each other in their terror, and +go down inextricably entangled together, each held by the others in the +convulsive grasp with which drowning men always cling to whatever is +within their reach. Caesar, anticipating this danger, leaped over into +the sea and swam to the ship. He had some papers in his hand at the +time--plans, perhaps, of the works which he was assailing. These he held +above the water with his left hand, while he swam with the right. And to +save his purple cloak or mantle, the emblem of his imperial dignity, +which he supposed the enemy would eagerly seek to obtain as a trophy, he +seized it by a corner between his teeth, and drew it after him through +the water as he swam toward the galley. The boat which he thus escaped +from soon after went down, with all on board. + +[Sidenote: The Alexandrian library.] +[Sidenote: Burning of the Alexandrian library.] + +During the progress of this Alexandrine war one great disaster occurred, +which has given to the contest a most melancholy celebrity in all +subsequent ages: this disaster was the destruction of the Alexandrian +library. The Egyptians were celebrated for their learning, and, under +the munificent patronage of some of their kings, the learned men of +Alexandria had made an enormous collection of writings, which were +inscribed, as was the custom in those days, on parchment rolls. The +number of the rolls or volumes was said to be seven hundred thousand; +and when we consider that each one was written with great care, in +beautiful characters, with a pen, and at a vast expense, it is not +surprising that the collection was the admiration of the world. In fact, +the whole body of ancient literature was there recorded. Caesar set fire +to some Egyptian galleys, which lay so near the shore that the wind blew +the sparks and flames upon the buildings on the quay. The fire spread +among the palaces and other magnificent edifices of that part of the +city, and one of the great buildings in which the library was stored was +reached and destroyed. There was no other such collection in the world; +and the consequence of this calamity has been, that it is only detached +and insulated fragments of ancient literature and science that have come +down to our times. The world will never cease to mourn the +irreparable loss. + +[Sidenote: Caesar returns to Rome.] + +Notwithstanding the various untoward incidents which attended the war in +Alexandria during its progress, Caesar, as usual, conquered in the end. +The young king Ptolemy was defeated, and, in attempting to make his +escape across a branch of the Nile, he was drowned. Caesar then finally +settled the kingdom upon Cleopatra and a younger brother, and, after +remaining for some time longer in Egypt, he set out on his return +to Rome. + +[Illustration: Cleopatra's Barge] + +[Sidenote: Subsequent adventures of Cleopatra.] + +The subsequent adventures of Cleopatra were as romantic as to have given +her name a very wide celebrity. The lives of the virtuous pass smoothly +and happily away, but the tale, when told to others, possesses but +little interest or attraction; while those of the wicked, whose days are +spent in wretchedness and despair, and are thus full of misery to the +actors themselves, afford to the rest of mankind a high degree of +pleasure, from the dramatic interest of the story. + +[Sidenote: Her splendid barge.] +[Sidenote: Anthony and Octavius.] +[Sidenote: Death of Cleopatra.] + +Cleopatra led a life of splendid sin, and, of course, of splendid +misery. She visited Caesar in Rome after his return thither. Caesar +received her magnificently, and paid her all possible honors; but the +people of Rome regarded her with strong reprobation. When her young +brother, whom Caesar had made her partner on the throne, was old enough +to claim his share, she poisoned him. After Caesar's death, she went +from Alexandria to Syria to meet Antony, one of Caesar's successors, in +a galley or barge, which was so rich, so splendid, so magnificently +furnished and adorned, that it was famed throughout the world as +Cleopatra's barge. A great many beautiful vessels have since been called +by the same name. Cleopatra connected herself with Antony, who became +infatuated with her beauty and her various charms as Caesar had been. +After a great variety of romantic adventures, Antony was defeated in +battle by his great rival Octavius, and, supposing that he had been +betrayed by Cleopatra, he pursued her to Egypt, intending to kill her. +She hid herself in a sepulcher, spreading a report that she had +committed suicide, and then Antony stabbed himself in a fit of remorse +and despair. Before he died, he learned that Cleopatra was alive, and he +caused himself to be carried into her presence and died in her arms. +Cleopatra then fell into the hands of Octavius, who intended to carry +her to Rome to grace his triumph. To save herself from this humiliation, +and weary with a life which, full of sin as it had been, was a constant +series of sufferings, she determined to die. A servant brought in an asp +for her, concealed in a vase of flowers, at a great banquet. She laid +the poisonous reptile on her naked arm, and died immediately of the bite +which it inflicted. + + + +CHAPTER X. + +CAESAR IMPERATOR. + +[Sidenote: Caesar again at Rome.] +[Sidenote: Combinations against him.] +[Sidenote: Veni, vidi, vici.] + +Although Pompey himself had been killed, and the army under his +immediate command entirely annihilated, Caesar did not find that the +empire was yet completely submissive to his sway. As the tidings of his +conquests spread over the vast and distant regions which were under the +Roman rule--although the story itself of his exploits might have been +exaggerated--the impression produced by his power lost something of its +strength, as men generally have little dread of remote danger. While he +was in Egypt, there were three great concentrations of power formed +against him in other quarters of the globe: in Asia Minor, in Africa, +and in Spain. In putting down these three great and formidable arrays of +opposition, Caesar made an exhibition to the world of that astonishing +promptness and celerity of military action on which his fame as a +general so much depends. He went first to Asia Minor, and fought a great +and decisive battle there, in a manner so sudden and unexpected to the +forces that opposed him that they found themselves defeated almost +before they suspected that their enemy was near. It was in reference to +this battle that he wrote the inscription for the banner, "_Veni, vidi, +vici_" The words may be rendered in English, "I came, looked, and +conquered," though the peculiar force of the expression, as well as the +alliteration, is lost in any attempt to translate it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar made dictator.] + +In the mean time, Caesar's prosperity and success had greatly +strengthened his cause at Rome. Rome was supported in a great measure by +the contributions brought home from the provinces by the various +military heroes who were sent out to govern them; and, of course, the +greater and more successful was the conqueror, the better was he +qualified for stations of highest authority in the estimation of the +inhabitants of the city. They made Caesar dictator even while he was +away, and appointed Mark Antony his master of horse. This was the same +Antony whom we have already mentioned as having been connected with +Cleopatra after Caesar's death. Rome, in fact, was filled with the fame +of Caesar's exploits, and, as he crossed the Adriatic and advanced +toward the city, he found himself the object of universal admiration +and applause. + +[Sidenote: Opposition of Cato.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's sons.] + +But he could not yet be contented to establish himself quietly at Rome. +There was a large force organized against him in Africa under Cato, a +stern and indomitable man, who had long been an enemy to Caesar, and who +now considered him as a usurper and an enemy of the republic, and was +determined to resist him to the last extremity. There was also a large +force assembled in Spain under the command of two sons of Pompey, in +whose case the ordinary political hostility of contending partisans was +rendered doubly intense and bitter by their desire to avenge their +father's cruel fate. Caesar determined first to go to Africa, and then, +after disposing of Cato's resistance, to cross the Mediterranean +into Spain. + +[Sidenote: Complaints of the soldiers.] + +Before he could set out, however, on these expeditions, he was involved +in very serious difficulties for a time, on account of a great +discontent which prevailed in his army, and which ended at last in open +mutiny. The soldiers complained that they had not received the rewards +and honors which Caesar had promised them. Some claimed offices, others +money others lands, which, as they maintained, they had been led to +expect would be conferred upon them at the end of the campaign. The fact +undoubtedly was, that, elated with their success, and intoxicated with +the spectacle of the boundless influence and power which their general +so obviously wielded at Rome, they formed expectations and hopes for +themselves altogether too wild and unreasonable to be realized by +soldiers; for soldiers, however much they may be flattered by their +generals in going into battle, or praised in the mass in official +dispatches, are after all but slaves, and slaves, too, of the very +humblest caste and character. + +[Sidenote: The mutiny.] +[Sidenote: The army marches to Rome.] + +The famous tenth legion, Cesar's favorite corps, took the most active +part in fomenting these discontents, as might naturally have been +expected, since the attentions and the praises which he had bestowed +upon them, though at first they tended to awaken their ambition, and to +inspire them with redoubled ardor and courage, ended, as such favoritism +always does, in making them vain, self-important, and unreasonable. Led +on thus by the tenth legion, the whole army mutinied. They broke up the +camp where they had been stationed at some distance beyond the walls of +Rome, and marched toward the city. Soldiers in a mutiny, even though +headed by their subaltern officers, are very little under command; and +these Roman troops, feeling released from their usual restraints, +committed various excesses on the way, terrifying the inhabitants and +spreading universal alarm. The people of the city were thrown into utter +consternation at the approach of the vast horde, which was coming like a +terrible avalanche to descend upon them. + +[Sidenote: Plan of the soldiers.] + +The army expected some signs of resistance at the gates, which, if +offered, they were prepared to encounter and overcome. Their plan was, +after entering the city, to seek Caesar and demand their discharge from +his service. They knew that he was under the necessity of immediately +making a campaign in Africa, and that, of course, he could not possibly, +as they supposed, dispense with them. He would, consequently, if they +asked their discharge, beg them to remain, and, to induce them to do it, +would comply with all their expectations and desires. + +Such was their plan. To tender, however, a resignation of an office as a +means of bringing an opposite party to terms, is always a very hazardous +experiment. We easily overrate the estimation in which our own services +are held taking what is said to us in kindness or courtesy by friends +as the sober and deliberate judgment of the public; and thus it often +happens that persons who in such case offer to resign, are astonished to +find their resignations readily accepted. + +[Sidenote: The army marches into the city.] + +When Caesar's mutineers arrived at the gates, they found, instead of +opposition, only orders from Caesar, by which they were directed to +leave all their arms except their swords, and march into the city. They +obeyed. They were then directed to go to the Campus Martius, a vast +parade ground situated within the walls, and to await Caesar's +orders there.[3] + +[Footnote 3: See map of the city of Rome, fronting the first page.] + +[Sidenote: The Campus Martius.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's address to the army.] + +Caesar met them in the Campus Martius, and demanded why they had left +their encampment without orders and come to the city. They stated in +reply, as they had previously planned to do, that they wished to be +discharged from the public service. To their great astonishment, Caesar +seemed to consider this request as nothing at all extraordinary, but +promised, an the other hand, very readily to grant it He said that they +should be at once discharged, and should receive faithfully all the +rewards which had been promised them at the close of the war for their +long and arduous services. At the same time, he expressed his deep +regret that, to obtain what he was perfectly willing and ready at any +time to grant, they should have so far forgotten their duties as Romans, +and violated the discipline which should always be held absolutely +sacred by every soldier. He particularly regretted that the tenth +legion, on which he had been long accustomed so implicitly to rely, +should have taken a part in such transactions. + +[Sidenote: Its effects.] +[Sidenote: Attachment of Caesar's soldiers.] + +In making this address, Caesar assumed a kind and considerate, and even +respectful tone toward his men, calling them _Quirites_ instead of +soldiers--an honorary mode of appellation, which recognized them as +constituent members of the Roman commonwealth. The effect of the whole +transaction was what might have been anticipated. A universal desire was +awakened throughout the whole army to return to their duty. They sent +deputations to Caesar, begging not to be taken at their word, but to be +retained in the service, and allowed to accompany him to Africa. After +much hesitation and delay, Caesar consented to receive them again, all +excepting the tenth legion, who, he said, had now irrevocably lost his +confidence and regard. It is a striking illustration of the strength of +the attachment which bound Caesar's soldiers to their commander, that +the tenth legion _would not_ be discharged, after all. They followed +Caesar of their own accord into Africa, earnestly entreating him again +and again to receive them. He finally did receive them in detachments, +which he incorporated with the rest of his army, or sent on distant +service, but he would never organize them as the tenth legion again. + +[Sidenote: Caesar goes to Africa.] +[Sidenote: Cato shuts himself up in Africa.] + +It was now early in the winter, a stormy season for crossing the +Mediterranean Sea. Caesar, however, set off from Rome immediately, +proceeded south to Sicily, and encamped on the sea-shore there till the +fleet was ready to convey his forces to Africa. The usual fortune +attended him in the African campaigns His fleet was exposed to imminent +dangers in crossing the sea, but, in consequence of the extreme +deliberation and skill with which his arrangements were made, he escaped +them all. He overcame one after another of the military difficulties +which were in his way in Africa. His army endured, in the depth of +winter, great exposures and fatigues, and they had to encounter a large +hostile force under the charge of Cato. They were, however, successful +in every undertaking. Cato retreated at last to the city of Utica, where +he shut himself up with the remains of his army; but finding, at length, +when Caesar drew near, that there was no hope or possibility of making +good his defense, and as his stern and indomitable spirit could not +endure the thought of submission to one whom he considered as an enemy +to his country and a traitor he resolved upon a very effectual mode of +escaping from his conqueror's power. + +[Sidenote: He stabs himself.] +[Sidenote: Death of Cato.] + +He feigned to abandon all hope of defending the city, and began to make +arrangements to facilitate the escape of his soldiers over the sea. He +collected the vessels in the harbor, and allowed all to embark who were +willing to take the risks of the stormy water. He took, apparently, +great interest in the embarkations, and, when evening came on, he sent +repeatedly down to the sea-side to inquire about the state of the wind +and the progress of the operations. At length he retired to his +apartment, and, when all was quiet in the house, he lay down upon his +bed and stabbed himself with his sword He fell from the bed by the blow, +or else from the effect of some convulsive motion which the penetrating +steel occasioned. His son and servants, hearing the fall, came rushing +into the room, raised him from the floor, and attempted to bind up and +stanch the wound. Cato would not permit them to do it. He resisted them +violently as soon as he was conscious of what they intended. Finding +that a struggle would only aggravate the horrors of the scene, and even +hasten its termination, they left the bleeding hero to his fate, and in +a few minutes he died. + +[Sidenote: Folly of his suicide.] + +The character of Cato, and the circumstances under which his suicide was +committed, make it, on the whole, the most conspicuous act of suicide +which history records; and the events which followed show in an equally +conspicuous manner the extreme folly of the deed. In respect to its +wickedness, Cato, not having had the light of Christianity before him, +is to be leniently judged. As to the folly of the deed, however, he is +to be held strictly accountable. If he had lived and yielded to his +conqueror, as he might have done gracefully and without dishonor, since +all his means of resistance were exhausted, Caesar would have treated +him with generosity and respect, and would have taken him to Rome; and +as within a year or two of this time Caesar himself was no more, Cato's +vast influence and power might have been, and un doubtedly would have +been, called most effectually into action for the benefit of his +country. If any one, in defending Cato, should say he could not foresee +this, we reply, he _could_ have foreseen it; not the precise events, +indeed, which occurred, but he could have foreseen that vast changes +must take place, and new aspects of affairs arise, in which his powers +would be called into requisition. We can _always_ foresee in the midst +of any storm, however dark and gloomy, that clear skies will certainly +sooner or later come again; and this is just as true metaphorically in +respect to the vicissitudes of human life, as it is literally in regard +to the ordinary phenomena of the skies. + +[Sidenote: Caesar in Spain.] +[Sidenote: Defeat of Pompey's sons.] + +From Africa Caesar returned to Rome, and from Rome he went to subdue the +resistance which was offered by the sons of Pompey in Spain. He was +equally successful here. The oldest son was wounded in battle, and was +carried off from the field upon a litter faint and almost dying. He +recovered in some degree, and, finding escape from the eager pursuit of +Caesar's soldiers impossible, he concealed himself in a cave, where he +lingered for a little time in destitution and misery. He was discovered +at last; his head was cut off by his captors and sent to Caesar, as his +father's had been. The younger son succeeded in escaping, but he became +a wretched fugitive and outlaw, and all manifestations of resistance to +Caesar's sway disappeared from Spain. The conqueror returned to Rome the +undisputed master of the whole Roman world. + +[Illustration: The elephants made torch-bearers.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar's triumphs.] +[Sidenote: The triumphal car breaks down.] +[Sidenote: Elephant torch-bearers.] + +Then came his triumphs. Triumphs were great celebrations, by which +military heroes in the days of the Roman commonwealth signalized their +victories on their return to the city Caesar's triumphs were four, one +for each of his four great successful campaigns, viz., in Egypt, in Asia +Minor, in Africa, and in Spain. Each was celebrated on a separate day, +and there was an interval of several days between them, to magnify their +importance, and swell the general interest which they excited among the +vast population of the city. On one of these days, the triumphal car in +which Caesar rode, which was most magnificently adorned, broke down on +the way, and Caesar was nearly thrown out of it by the shock. The +immense train of cars, horses, elephants, flags, banners, captives, and +trophies which formed the splendid procession was all stopped by the +accident, and a considerable delay ensued. Night came on, in fact +before the column could again be put in motion to enter the city, and +then Caesar, whose genius was never more strikingly shown than when he +had opportunity to turn a calamity to advantage, conceived the idea of +employing the forty elephants of the train as torch-bearers; the long +procession accordingly advanced through the streets and ascended to the +Capitol, lighted by the great blazing flambeaus which the sagacious and +docile beasts were easily taught to bear, each elephant holding one in +his proboscis, and waving it above the crowd around him. + +[Sidenote: Trophies and emblems.] + +In these triumphal processions, every thing was borne in exhibition +which could serve as a symbol of the conquered country or a trophy of +victory, Flags and banners taken from the enemy; vessels of gold and +silver, and other treasures, loaded in vans; wretched captives conveyed +in open carriages or marching sorrowfully on foot, and destined, some of +them, to public execution when the ceremony of the triumph was ended; +displays of arms, and implements, and dresses, and all else which might +serve to give the Roman crowd an idea of the customs and usages of the +remote and conquered nations; the animals they used, caparisoned in the +manner in which they used them: these, and a thousand other trophies +and emblems, were brought into the line to excite the admiration of the +crowd, and to add to the gorgeousness of the spectacle. In fact, it was +always a great object of solicitude and exertion with all the Roman +generals, when on distant and dangerous expeditions, to possess +themselves of every possible prize in the progress of their campaign +which could aid in adding splendor to the triumph which was to +signalize its end. + +[Sidenote: Banners and paintings.] + +In these triumphs of Caesar, a young sister of Cleopatra was in the line +of the Egyptian procession. In that devoted to Asia Minor was a great +banner containing the words already referred to, Veni, Vidi, Vici. There +were great paintings, too, borne aloft, representing battles and other +striking scenes. Of course, all Rome was in the highest state of +excitement during the days of the exhibition of this pageantry. The +whole surrounding country flocked to the capital to witness it, and +Caesar's greatness and glory were signalized in the most conspicuous +manner to all mankind. + +[Sidenote: Public entertainments.] +[Sidenote: Various spectacles and amusements.] +[Sidenote: Naval combats.] + +After these triumphs, a series of splendid public entertainments were +given, over twenty thousand tables having been spread for the populace +of the city Shows of every possible character and variety were +exhibited. There were dramatic plays, and equestrian performances in the +circus, and gladiatorial combats, and battles with wild beasts, and +dances, and chariot races, and every other imaginable amusement which +could be devised and carried into effect to gratify a population highly +cultivated in all the arts of life, but barbarous and cruel in heart and +character. Some of the accounts which have come down to us of the +magnificence of the scale on which these entertainments were conducted +are absolutely incredible. It is said, for example, that an immense +basin was constructed near the Tiber, large enough to contain two fleets +of galleys, which had on board two thousand rowers each, and one +thousand fighting men. These fleets were then manned with captives, the +one with Asiatics and the other with Egyptians, and when all was ready, +they were compelled to fight a real battle for the amusement of the +spectators which thronged the shores, until vast numbers were killed, +and the waters of the lake were dyed with blood. It is also said that +the whole Forum, and some of the great streets in the neighborhood where +the principal gladiatorial shows were held, were covered with silken +awnings to protect the vast crowds of spectators from the sun, and +thousands of tents were erected to accommodate the people from the +surrounding country, whom the buildings of the city could not contain. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's power.] +[Sidenote: Honors conferred upon him.] + +All open opposition to Caesar's power and dominion now entirely +disappeared. Even the Senate vied with the people in rendering him every +possible honor. The supreme power had been hitherto lodged in the hands +of two consuls, chosen annually, and the Roman people had been extremely +jealous of any distinction for any one, higher than that of an _elective +annual office,_ with a return to private life again when the brief +period should have expired. They now, however, made Caesar, in the first +place, consul for ten years, and then Perpetual Dictator. They conferred +upon him the title of the Father of his Country. The name of the month +in which he was born was changed to Julius, from his praenomen, and we +still retain the name. He was made, also, commander-in-chief of all the +armies of the commonwealth, the title to which vast military power was +expressed in the Latin language by the word IMPERATOR. + +[Sidenote: Statues of Caesar.] + +Caesar was highly elated with all these substantial proofs of the +greatness and glory to which he had attained, and was also very +evidently gratified with smaller, but equally expressive proofs of the +general regard. Statues representing his person were placed in the +public edifices, and borne in processions like those of the gods. +Conspicuous and splendidly ornamented seats were constructed for him in +all the places of public assembly, and on these he sat to listen to +debates or witness spectacles, as if he were upon a throne He had, +either by his influence or by his direct power, the control of all the +appointments to office, and was, in fact, in every thing but the name, a +sovereign and an absolute king. + +[Sidenote: His plans of internal improvement.] + +He began now to form great schemes of internal improvement for the +general benefit of the empire. He wished to increase still more the +great obligations which the Roman people were under to him for what he +had already done. They really were under vast obligations to him; for, +considering Rome as a community which was to subsist by governing the +world, Caesar had immensely enlarged the means of its subsistence by +establishing its sway every where, and providing for an incalculable +increase of its revenues from the tribute and the taxation of conquered +provinces and kingdoms. Since this work of conquest was now completed, +he turned his attention to the internal affairs of the empire, and made +many improvements in the system of administration, looking carefully +into every thing, and introducing every where those exact and systematic +principles which such a mind as his seeks instinctively in every thing +over which it has any control. + +[Sidenote: Ancient division of time.] +[Sidenote: Change effected by Caesar.] +[Sidenote: The old and new styles.] + +One great change which he effected continues in perfect operation +throughout Europe to the present day. It related to the division of +time. The system of months in use in his day corresponded so imperfectly +with the annual circuit of the sun, that the months were moving +continually along the year in such a manner that the winter months came +at length in the summer, and the summer months in the winter. This led +to great practical inconveniences; for whenever, for example, any thing +was required by law to be done in certain months, intending to have them +done in the summer, and the specified month came at length to be a +winter month, the law would require the thing to be done in exactly the +wrong season. Caesar remedied all this by adopting a new system of +months, which should give three hundred and sixty-five days to the year +for three years, and three hundred and sixty-six for the fourth; and so +exact was the system which he thus introduced, that it went on unchanged +for sixteen centuries. The months were then found to be eleven days out +of the way, when a new correction was introduced,[4] and it will now go +on three thousand years before the error will amount to a single day. +Caesar employed a Greek astronomer to arrange the system that he +adopted; and it was in part on account of the improvement which he thus +effected that one of the months, as has already been mentioned, was +called July. Its name before was Quintilis. + +[Footnote 4: By Pope Gregory XIII. at the time of the change from the +old style to the new] + +[Sidenote: Magnificent schemes.] +[Sidenote: Caesar collects the means to carry out his vast schemes.] + +Caesar formed a great many other vast and magnificent schemes. He +planned public buildings for the city, which were going to exceed in +magnitude and splendor all the edifices of the world. He commenced the +collection of vast libraries, formed plans for draining the Pontine +Marshes, for bringing great supplies of water into the city by an +aqueduct, for cutting a new passage for the Tiber from Rome to the sea, +and making an enormous artificial harbor at its mouth. He was going to +make a road along the Apennines, and cut a canal through the Isthmus of +Corinth, and construct other vast works, which were to make Rome the +center of the commerce of the world. In a word, his head was filled with +the grandest schemes, and he was gathering around him all the means and +resources necessary for the execution of them. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE CONSPIRACY. + +Caesar's greatness and glory came at last to a very sudden and violent +end. He was assassinated. All the attendant circumstances of this deed, +too, were of the most extraordinary character, and thus the dramatic +interest which adorns all parts of the great conqueror's history marks +strikingly its end. + +[Sidenote: Jealousies awakened by Caesar's power.] +[Sidenote: The Roman Constitution.] +[Sidenote: Struggles and Conflicts.] + +His prosperity and power awakened, of course, a secret jealousy and ill +will. Those who were disappointed in their expectations of his favor +murmured. Others, who had once been his rivals, hated him for having +triumphed over them. Then there was a stern spirit of democracy, too, +among certain classes of the citizens of Rome which could not brook a +master. It is true that the sovereign power in the Roman commonwealth +had never been shared by all the inhabitants. It was only in certain +privileged classes that the sovereignty was vested; but among these the +functions of government were divided and distributed in such a way as +to balance one interest against another, and to give all their proper +share of influence and authority. Terrible struggles and conflicts often +occurred among these various sections of society, as one or another +attempted from time to time to encroach upon the rights or privileges of +the rest. These struggles, however, ended usually in at last restoring +again the equilibrium which had been disturbed. No one power could ever +gain the entire ascendency; and thus, as all _monarchism_ seemed +excluded from their system, they called it a republic. Caesar, however, +had now concentrated in himself all the principal elements of power, and +there began to be suspicions that he wished to make himself in name and +openly, as well as secretly and in fact, a king. + +[Sidenote: Roman repugnance to royalty.] +[Sidenote: Firmness of the Romans.] + +The Romans abhorred the very name of king. They had had kings in the +early periods of their history, but they made themselves odious by their +pride and their oppressions, and the people had deposed and expelled +them. The modern nations of Europe have several times performed the same +exploit, but they have generally felt unprotected and ill at ease +without a personal sovereign over them and have accordingly, in most +cases, after a few years, restored some branch of the expelled dynasty +to the throne The Romans were more persevering and firm. They had +managed their empire now for five hundred years as a republic, and +though they had had internal dissensions, conflicts, and quarrels +without end, had persisted so firmly and unanimously in their +detestation of all regal authority, that no one of the long line of +ambitious and powerful statesmen, generals, or conquerors by which the +history of the empire had been signalized, had ever dared to aspire to +the name of king. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's ambitious plans.] + +There began, however, soon to appear some indications that Caesar, who +certainly now possessed regal power, would like the regal name. +Ambitious men, in such cases, do not directly assume themselves the +titles and symbols of royalty. Others make the claim for them, while +they faintly disavow it, till they have opportunity to gee what effect +the idea produces on the public mind. The following incidents occurred +which it was thought indicated such a design on the part of Caesar. + +[Sidenote: American feeling.] + +There were in some of the public buildings certain statues of kings; for +it must be understood that the Roman dislike to kings was only a dislike +to having kingly authority exercised over themselves. They respected and +sometimes admired the kings of other countries, and honored their +exploits, and made statues to commemorate their fame. They were willing +that kings should reign elsewhere, so long as there were no king of +Rome. The American feeling at the present day is much the same. If the +Queen of England were to make a progress through this country, she would +receive, perhaps, as many and as striking marks of attention and honor +as would be rendered to her in her own realm. We venerate the antiquity +of her royal line; we admire the efficiency of her government and the +sublime grandeur of her empire, and have as high an idea as any, of the +powers and prerogatives of her crown--and these feelings would show +themselves most abundantly on any proper occasion. We are willing, nay, +wish that she should continue to reign over Englishmen; and yet, after +all, it would take some millions of bayonets to place a queen securely +upon a throne over this land. + +[Sidenote: Regal power.] + +Regal power was accordingly, in the abstract, looked up to at Rome, as +it is elsewhere, with great respect; and it was, in fact, all the more +tempting as an object of ambition, from the determination felt by the +people that it should not be exercised there. There were, accordingly, +statues of kings at Rome. Caesar placed his own statue among them. Some +approved, others murmured. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's seat in the theater.] + +There was a public theater in the city, where the officers of the +government were accustomed to sit in honorable seats prepared expressly +for them, those of the Senate being higher and more distinguished than +the rest. Caesar had a seat prepared for himself there, similar in form +to a throne, and adorned it magnificently with gilding and ornaments of +gold, which gave it the entire pre-eminence over all the other seats. + +He had a similar throne placed in the senate chamber, to be occupied by +himself when attending there, like the throne of the King of England in +the House of Lords. + +[Sidenote: Public celebrations.] +[Sidenote: Caesar receives the Senate sitting.] +[Sidenote: Consequent excitement.] + +He held, moreover, a great many public celebrations and triumphs in the +city in commemoration of his exploits and honors; and, on one of these +occasions, it was arranged that the Senate were to come to him at a +temple in a body, and announce to him certain decrees which they had +passed to his honor. Vast crowds had assembled to witness the ceremony +Caesar was seated in a magnificent chair, which might have been called +either a chair or a throne, and was surrounded by officers and +attendants When the Senate approached, Caesar did not rise to receive +them, but remained seated, like a monarch receiving a deputation of his +subjects. The incident would not seem to be in itself of any great +importance, but, considered as an indication of Caesar's designs, it +attracted great attention, and produced a very general excitement. The +act was adroitly managed so as to be somewhat equivocal in its +character, in order that it might be represented one way or the other on +the following day, according as the indications of public sentiment +might incline. Some said that Caesar was intending to rise, but was +prevented, and held down by those who stood around him. Others said that +an officer motioned to him to rise, but he rebuked his interference by a +frown, and continued his seat. Thus while, in fact, he received the +Roman Senate as their monarch and sovereign, his own intentions and +designs in so doing were left somewhat in doubt, in order to avoid +awakening a sudden and violent opposition. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's statute crowned.] + +Not long after this, as he was returning in public from some great +festival, the streets being full of crowds, and the populace following +him in great throngs with loud acclamations, a man went up to his +statue as he passed it, and placed upon the head of it a laurel crown, +fastened with a white ribbon, which was a badge of royalty. Some +officers ordered the ribbon to be taken down, and sent the man to +prison. Caesar was very much displeased with the officers, and dismissed +them from their office. He wished, he said, to have the opportunity to +disavow, himself, such claims, and not to have others disavow them +for him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's disavowals.] + +Caesar's disavowals were, however, so faint, and people had so little +confidence in their sincerity, that the cases became more and more +frequent in which the titles and symbols of royalty were connected with +his name. The people who wished to gain his favor saluted him in public +with the name of _Rex_, the Latin word for king. He replied that his +name was Caesar, not _Rex_, showing, however, no other signs of +displeasure. On one great occasion, a high public officer, a near +relative of his, repeatedly placed a diadem upon his head, Caesar +himself, as often as he did it, gently putting it off. At last he sent +the diadem away to a temple that was near, saying that there was no king +in Rome but Jupiter. In a word, all his conduct indicated that he wished +to have it appear that the people were pressing the crown upon him, +when he himself was steadily refusing it. + +[Sidenote: Some willing to make Caesar king.] +[Sidenote: Others oppose it.] + +This state of things produced a very strong and universal, though +suppressed excitement in the city. Parties were formed. Some began to be +willing to make Caesar king; others were determined to hazard their +lives to prevent it. None dared, however, openly to utter their +sentiments on either side. They expressed them by mysterious looks and +dark intimations. At the time when Caesar refused to rise to receive the +Senate, many of the members withdrew in silence, and with looks of +offended dignity When the crown was placed upon his statue or upon his +own brow, a portion of the populace would applaud with loud +acclamations; and whenever he disavowed these acts, either by words or +counter-actions of his own, an equally loud acclamation would arise from +the other side. On the whole, however, the idea that Caesar was +gradually advancing toward the kingdom steadily gained ground. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's pretexts.] +[Sidenote: His assumed humility.] + +And yet Caesar himself spoke frequently with great humility in respect +to his pretensions and claims; and when he found public sentiment +turning against the ambitious schemes he seems secretly to have +cherished, he would present some excuse or explanation for his conduct +plausible enough to answer the purpose of a disavowal. When he received +the Senate, sitting like a king, on the occasion before referred to, +when they read to him the decrees which they had passed in his favor, he +replied to them that there was more need of diminishing the public +honors which he received than of increasing them. When he found, too, +how much excitement his conduct on that occasion had produced, he +explained it by saying that he had retained his sitting posture on +account of the infirmity of his health, as it made him dizzy to stand. +He thought, probably, that these pretexts would tend to quiet the strong +and turbulent spirits around him, from whose envy or rivalry he had most +to fear, without at all interfering with the effect which the act itself +would have produced upon the masses of the population. He wished, in a +word, to accustom them to see him assume the position and the bearing of +a sovereign, while, by his apparent humility in his intercourse with +those immediately around him, he avoided as much as possible irritating +and arousing the jealous and watchful rivals who were next to him +in power. + +[Sidenote: Progress of Caesar's plans.] + +If this were his plan, it seemed to be advancing prosperously toward +its accomplishment. The population of the city seemed to become more and +more familiar with the idea that Caesar was about to become a king. The +opposition which the idea had at first awakened appeared to subside, or, +at least, the public expression of it, which daily became more and more +determined and dangerous, was restrained. At length the time arrived +when it appeared safe to introduce the subject to the Roman Senate. +This, of course, was a hazardous experiment. It was managed, however, in +a very adroit and ingenious manner. + +[Sidenote: The Sibylline books.] +[Sidenote: Declaration of the Sibylline books.] +[Sidenote: Plan for crowning Caesar.] + +There were in Rome, and, in fact, in many other cities and countries of +the world in those days, a variety of prophetic books, called the +Sibylline Oracles, in which it was generally believed that future events +were foretold. Some of these volumes or rolls, which were very ancient +and of great authority, were preserved in the temples at Rome, under the +charge of a board of guardians, who were to keep them with the utmost +care, and to consult them on great occasions, in order to discover +beforehand what would be the result of public measures or great +enterprises which were in contemplation. It happened that at this time +the Romans were engaged in a war with the Parthians, a very wealthy and +powerful nation of Asia. Caesar was making preparations for an +expedition to the East to attempt to subdue this people. He gave orders +that the Sibylline Oracles should be consulted. The proper officers, +after consulting them with the usual solemn ceremonies, reported to the +Senate that they found it recorded in these sacred prophecies that the +Parthians could not be conquered except by a _king_, A senator proposed, +therefore, that, to meet the emergency, Caesar should be made king +during the war. There was at first no decisive action on this proposal. +It was dangerous to express any opinion. People were thoughtful, +serious, and silent, as on the eve of some great convulsion. No one knew +what others were meditating, and thus did not dare to express his own +wishes or designs. There soon, however, was a prevailing understanding +that Caesar's friends were determined on executing the design of +crowning him, and that the fifteenth of March, called, in their +phraseology, the _Ides of March_, was fixed upon as the coronation day. + +[Sidenote: The conspiracy.] + +In the mean time, Caesar's enemies, though to all outward appearance +quiet and calm, had not been inactive. Finding that his plans were now +ripe for execution, and that they had no, open means of resisting them, +they formed a conspiracy to assassinate Caesar himself, and thus bring +his ambitious schemes to an effectual and final end. The name of the +original leader of this conspiracy was Cassius. + +[Sidenote: Cassius.] + +Cassius had been for a long time Caesar's personal rival and enemy. He +was a man of a very violent and ardent temperament, impetuous and +fearless, very fond of exercising power himself, but very restless and +uneasy in having it exercised over him. He had all the Roman repugnance +to being under the authority of a master, with an additional personal +determination of his own not to submit to Caesar. He determined to slay +Caesar rather than to allow him to be made a king, and he went to work, +with great caution, to bring other leading and influential men to join +him in this determination. Some of those to whom he applied said that +they would unite with him in his plot provided he would get Marcus +Brutus to join them. + +[Sidenote: Marcus Brutus.] + +Brutus was the praetor of the city. The praetorship of the city was a +very high municipal office. The conspirators wished to have Brutus join +them partly on account of his station as a magistrate, as if they +supposed that by having the highest public magistrate of the city for +their leader in the deed, the destruction of their victim would appear +less like a murder, and would be invested, instead, in some respects, +with the sanctions and with the dignity of an official execution. + +[Sidenote: Character of Brutus.] +[Sidenote: His firmness and courage.] + +Then, again, they wished for the moral support which would be afforded +them in their desperate enterprise by Brutus's extraordinary personal +character. He was younger than Cassius, but he was grave, thoughtful, +taciturn, calm--a man of inflexible integrity, of the coolest +determination, and, at the same time, of the most undaunted courage. The +conspirators distrusted one another, for the resolution of impetuous men +is very apt to fail when the emergency arrives which puts it to the +test; but as for Brutus, they knew very well that whatever he undertook +he would most certainly do. + +[Sidenote: The ancient Brutus.] +[Sidenote: His expulsion of the kings.] + +There was a great deal even in his name. It was a Brutus that five +centuries before had been the main instrument of the expulsion of the +Roman kings. He had secretly meditated the design, and, the better to +conceal it, had feigned idiocy, as the story was, that he might not be +watched or suspected until the favorable hour for executing his design +should arrive. He therefore ceased to speak, and seemed to lose his +reason; he wandered about the city silent and gloomy, like a brute. His +name had been Lucius Junius before. They added Brutus now, to designate +his condition. When at last, however, the crisis arrived which he judged +favorable for the expulsion of the kings, he suddenly reassumed his +speech and his reason, called the astonished Romans to arms, and +triumphantly accomplished his design. His name and memory had been +cherished ever since that day as of a great deliverer. + +[Sidenote: The history of Brutus.] + +They, therefore, who looked upon Caesar as another king, naturally +turned their thoughts to the Brutus of their day, hoping to find in him +another deliverer. Brutus found, from time to time, inscriptions on his +ancient namesake's statue expressing the wish that he were now alive. He +also found each morning, as he came to the tribunal where he was +accustomed to sit in the discharge of the duties of his office, brief +writings, which had been left there during the night, in which few words +expressed deep meaning, such as "Awake, Brutus, to thy duty;" and "Art +thou indeed a Brutus?" + +[Sidenote: His obligations to Caesar.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's friendship for Brutus.] + +Still it seemed hardly probable that Brutus could be led to take a +decided stand against Caesar, for they had been warm personal friends +ever since the conclusion of the civil wars. Brutus had, indeed, been on +Pompey's side while that general lived; he fought with him at the battle +of Pharsalia, but he had been taken prisoner there, and Caesar, instead +of executing him as a traitor, as most victorious generals in a civil +war would have done, spared his life, forgave him for his hostility, +received him into his own service, and afterward raised him to very high +and honorable stations. He gave him the government of the richest +province, and, after his return from it, loaded with wealth and honors, +he made him praetor of the city. In a word, it would seem that he had +done every thing which it was possible to do to make him one of his most +trustworthy and devoted friends. The men, therefore, to whom Cassius +first applied, perhaps thought that they were very safe in saying that +they would unite in the intended conspiracy if he would get Brutus to +join them. They expected Cassius himself to make the attempt to secure +the co-operation of Brutus, as Cassius was on terms of intimacy with him +on account of a family connection. Cassius's wife was the sister of +Brutus. This had made the two men intimate associates and warm friends +in former years, though they had been recently somewhat estranged from +each other on account of having been competitors for the same offices +and honors. In these contests Caesar had decided in favor of Brutus. +"Cassius," said he, on one such occasion, "gives the best reasons; but I +can not refuse Brutus any thing he asks for." In fact, Caesar had +conceived a strong personal friendship for Brutus, and believed him to +be entirely devoted to his cause. + +[Sidenote: Interview between Brutus and Cassius.] + +Cassius, however, sought an interview with Brutus, with a view of +engaging him in his design. He easily effected his own reconciliation +with him, as he had himself been the offended party in their +estrangement from each other. He asked Brutus whether he intended to be +present in the Senate on the Ides of March, when the friends of Caesar, +as was understood, were intending to present him with the crown. Brutus +said he should not be there. "But suppose," said Cassius, "we are +specially summoned." "Then," said Brutus, "I shall go, and shall be +ready to die if necessary to defend the liberty of my country." + +[Sidenote: Arguments of Cassius.] + +Cassius then assured Brutus that there were many other Roman citizens, +of the highest rank, who were animated by the same determination, and +that they all looked up to him to lead and direct them in the work which +it was now very evident must be done. "Men look," said Cassius, "to +other praetors to entertain them with games, spectacles, and shows, but +they have very different ideas in respect to you. Your character, your +name, your position, your ancestry, and the course of conduct which you +have already always pursued, inspire the whole city with the hope that +you are to be their deliverer. The citizens are all ready to aid you, +and to sustain you at the hazard of their lives; but they look to you to +go forward, and to act in their name and in their behalf, in the crisis +which is now approaching." + +[Sidenote: Effect on Brutus.] +[Sidenote: Brutus engages in the conspiracy.] + +Men of a very calm exterior are often susceptible of the profoundest +agitations within, the emotions seeming to be sometimes all the more +permanent and uncontrollable from the absence of outward display. Brutus +said little, but his soul was excited and fired by Cassius's words. +There was a struggle in his soul between his grateful sense of his +political obligations to Caesar and his personal attachment to him on +the one hand, and, on the other, a certain stern Roman conviction that +every thing should be sacrificed, even friendship and gratitude, as +well as fortune and life, to the welfare of his country. He acceded to +the plan, and began forthwith to enter upon the necessary measures for +putting it into execution. + +[Sidenote: Ligurius.] + +There was a certain general, named Ligurius, who had been in Pompey's +army, and whose hostility to Caesar had never been really subdued. He +was now sick. Brutus went to see him. He found him in his bed. The +excitement in Rome was so intense, though the expressions of it were +suppressed and restrained, that every one was expecting continually some +great event, and every motion and look was interpreted to have some deep +meaning. Ligurius read in the countenance of Brutus, as he approached +his bedside, that he had not come on any trifling errand. "Ligurius," +said Brutus, "this is not a time for _you_ to be sick." "Brutus," +replied Ligurius, rising at once from his couch, "if you have any +enterprise in mind that is worthy of you, I am well." Brutus explained +to the sick man their design, and he entered into it with ardor. + +[Sidenote: Consultations of the conspirators.] +[Sidenote: Their bold plan.] +[Sidenote: Final arrangements.] + +The plan was divulged to one after another of such men as the +conspirators supposed most worthy of confidence in such a desperate +undertaking, and meetings for consultation were held to determine what +plan to adopt for finally accomplishing their end. It was agreed that +Caesar must be slain; but the time, the place, and the manner in which +the deed should be performed were all yet undecided. Various plans were +proposed in the consultations which the conspirators held; but there was +one thing peculiar to them all, which was, that they did not any of them +contemplate or provide for any thing like secrecy in the commission of +the deed. It was to be performed in the most open and public manner. +With a stern and undaunted boldness, which has always been considered by +mankind as truly sublime, they determined that, in respect to the actual +execution itself of the solemn judgment which they had pronounced, there +should be nothing private or concealed. They thought over the various +public situations in which they might find Caesar, and where they might +strike him down, only to select the one which would be most public of +all. They kept, of course, their preliminary counsels private, to +prevent the adoption of measures for counteracting them; but they were +to perform the deed in such a manner as that, so soon as it was +performed, they should stand out to view, exposed fully to the gaze of +all mankind as the authors, of it. They planned no retreat, no +concealment, no protection whatever for themselves, seeming to feel that +the deed which they were about to perform, of destroying the master and +monarch of the world, was a deed in its own nature so grand and sublime +as to raise the perpetrators of it entirely above all considerations +relating to their own personal safety. Their plan, therefore, was to +keep their consultations and arrangements secret until they were +prepared to strike the blow, then to strike it in the most public and +imposing manner possible, and calmly afterward to await the +consequences. + +[Sidenote: The place and the day.] + +In this view of the subject, they decided that the chamber of the Roman +Senate was the proper place, and the Ides of March, the day on which he +was appointed to be crowned, was the propel time for Caesar to be slain. + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +THE ASSASSINATION. + +[Sidenote: Caesar receives many warnings of his approaching fate.] + +According to the account given by his historians, Caesar received many +warnings of his approaching fate, which, however, he would not heed. +Many of these warnings were strange portents and prodigies, which the +philosophical writers who recorded them half believed themselves, and +which they were always ready to add to their narratives even if they did +not believe them, on account of the great influence which such an +introduction of the supernatural and the divine had with readers in +those days in enhancing the dignity and the dramatic interest of the +story. These warnings were as follows: + +[Sidenote: The tomb and inscription.] + +At Capua, which was a great city at some distance south of Rome, the +second, in fact, in Italy, and the one which Hannibal had proposed to +make his capital, some workmen were removing certain ancient sepulchers +to make room for the foundations of a splendid edifice which, among his +other plans for the embellishment of the cities of Italy, Caesar was +intending to have erected there. As the excavations advanced, the +workmen came at last to an ancient tomb, which proved to be that of the +original founder of Capua; and, in bringing out the sarcophagus, they +found an inscription, worked upon a brass plate, and in the Greek +character, predicting that if those remains were ever disturbed, a great +member of the Julian family would be assassinated by his own friends, +and his death would be followed by extended devastations throughout +all Italy. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's horses.] + +The horses, too, with which Caesar had passed the Rubicon, and which had +been, ever since that time, living in honorable retirement in a splendid +park which Caesar had provided for them, by some mysterious instinct, or +from some divine communication, had warning of the approach of their +great benefactor's end. They refused their food, and walked about with +melancholy and dejected looks, mourning apparently, and in a manner +almost human, some impending grief. + +[Sidenote: The soothsayers.] + +There was a class of prophets in those days called by a name which has +been translated _soothsayers_. These soothsayers were able, as was +supposed, to look somewhat into futurity--dimly and doubtfully, it is +true, but really, by means of certain appearances exhibited by the +bodies of the animals offered in sacrifices These soothsayers were +consulted on all important occasions; and if the auspices proved +unfavorable when any great enterprise was about to be undertaken, it was +often, on that account, abandoned or postponed. One of these +soothsayers, named Spurinna, came to Caesar one day, and informed him +that he had found, by means of a public sacrifice which he had just been +offering, that there was a great and mysterious danger impending over +him, which was connected in some way with the Ides of March, and he +counseled him to be particularly cautious and circumspect until that day +should have passed. + +[Sidenote: The hawks and the wren.] + +The Senate were to meet on the Ides of March in a new and splendid +edifice, which had been erected for their use by Pompey. There was in +the interior of the building, among other decorations, a statue of +Pompey. The day before the Ides of March, some birds of prey from a +neighboring grove came flying into this hall, pursuing a little wren +with a sprig of laurel in its mouth. The birds tore the wren to pieces, +the laurel dropping from its bill to the marble pavement of the floor +below. Now, as Caesar had been always accustomed to wear a crown of +laurel on great occasions, and had always evinced a particular fondness +for that decoration, that plant had come to be considered his own proper +badge, and the fall of the laurel, therefore, was naturally thought to +portend some great calamity to him. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's agitation of mind.] +[Sidenote: His dream.] +[Sidenote: Calpurnia's dream.] +[Sidenote: The effect of a disturbed mind.] + +The night before the Ides of March Caesar could not sleep. It would not +seem, however, to be necessary to suppose any thing supernatural to +account for his wakefulness. He lay upon his bed restless and excited, +or if he fell into a momentary slumber, his thoughts, instead of finding +repose, were only plunged into greater agitations, produced by strange, +and, as he thought, supernatural dreams. He imagined that he ascended +into the skies, and was received there by Jupiter, the supreme divinity, +as an associate and equal. While shaking hands with the great father of +gods and men, the sleeper was startled by a frightful sound. He awoke, +and found his wife Calpurnia groaning and struggling in her sleep. He +saw her by the moonlight which was shining into the room. He spoke to +her, and aroused her. After staring wildly for a moment till she had +recovered her thoughts, she said that she had had a dreadful dream. She +had dreamed that the roof of the house had fallen in, and that, at the +same instant, the doors had been burst open, and some robber or assassin +had stabbed her husband as he was lying in her arms. The philosophy of +those days found in these dreams mysterious and preternatural warnings +of impending danger; that of ours, however, sees nothing either in the +absurd sacrilegiousness of Caesar's thoughts, or his wife's incoherent +and inconsistent images of terror--nothing more than the natural and +proper effects, on the one hand, of the insatiable ambition of man, and, +on the other, of the conjugal affection and solicitude of woman. The +ancient sculptors carved out images of men, by the forms and lineaments +of which we see that the physical characteristics of humanity have not +changed. History seems to do the same with the affections and passions +of the soul. The dreams of Caesar and his wife on the night before the +Ides of March, as thus recorded, form a sort of spiritual statue, which +remains from generation to generation, to show us how precisely all the +inward workings of human nature are from age to age the same. + +[Sidenote: Caesar hesitates.] + +When the morning came Caesar and Calpurnia arose, both restless and ill +at ease. Caesar ordered the auspices to be consulted with reference to +the intended proceedings of the day. The soothsayers came in in due +time, and reported that the result was unfavorable. Calpurnia, too, +earnestly entreated her husband not to go to the senate-house that day. +She had a very strong presentiment that, if he did go, some great +calamity would ensue. Caesar himself hesitated. He was half inclined to +yield, and postpone his coronation to another occasion. + +[Sidenote: Decimus Brutus.] + +In the course of the day, while Caesar was in this state of doubt and +uncertainty, one of the conspirators, named Decimus Brutus, came in. +This Brutus was not a man of any extraordinary courage or energy, but he +had been invited by the other conspirators to join them, on account of +his having under his charge a large number of gladiators, who, being +desperate and reckless men, would constitute a very suitable armed force +for them to call in to their aid in case of any emergency arising which +should require it. + +[Sidenote: Decimus Brutus waits upon Caesar.] + +The conspirators having thus all their plans arranged, Decimus Brutus +was commissioned to call at Caesar's house when the time approached for +the assembling of the Senate, both to avert suspicion from Caesar's +mind, and to assure himself that nothing had been discovered It was in +the afternoon, the time for the meeting of the senators having been +fixed at five o'clock. Decimus Brutus found Caesar troubled and +perplexed, and uncertain what to do. After hearing what he had to say, +he replied by urging him to go by all means to the senate-house, as he +had intended. "You have formally called the Senate together," said he, +"and they are now assembling. They are all prepared to confer upon you +the rank and title of king, not only in Parthia, while you are +conducting this war but every where, by sea and land, except in Italy. +And now, while they are all in their places, waiting to consummate the +great act, how absurd will it be for you to send them word to go home +again, and come back some other day, when Calpurnia shall have had +better dreams!" + +[Sidenote: He persuades him to go.] + +He urged, too, that, even if Caesar was determined to put off the action +of the Senate to another day, he was imperiously bound to go himself and +adjourn the session in person. So saying, he took the hesitating +potentate by the arm, and adding to his arguments a little gentle force, +conducted him along. + +[Sidenote: Artemidorus discovers the plot.] +[Sidenote: He warns Caesar.] + +The conspirators supposed that all was safe The fact was, however, that +all had been discovered. There was a certain Greek, a teacher of +oratory, named Artemidorus. He had contrived to learn something of the +plot from some of the conspirators who were his pupils. He wrote a brief +statement of the leading particulars, and, having no other mode of +access to Caesar, he determined to hand it to him on the way as he went +to the senate-house. Of course, the occasion was one of great public +interest, and crowds had assembled in the streets to see the great +conqueror as he went along. As usual at such times, when powerful +officers of state appear in public, many people came up to present +petitions to him as he passed. These he received, and handed them, +without reading, to his secretary who attended him, as if to have them +preserved for future examination. Artemidorus, who was waiting for his +opportunity, when he perceived what disposition Caesar made of the +papers which were given to him, began to be afraid that his own +communication would not be attended to until it was too late. He +accordingly pressed up near to Caesar, refusing to allow any one else to +pass the paper in; and when, at last, he obtained an opportunity, he +gave it directly into Caesar's hands saying to him, "Read this +immediately: it concerns yourself, and is of the utmost importance" + +Caesar took the paper and attempted to read it, but new petitions and +other interruptions constantly prevented him; finally he gave up the +attempt, and went on his way, receiving and passing to his secretary all +other papers, but retaining this paper of Artemidorus in his hand. + +[Sidenote: Caesar and Spurinna.] + +Caesar passed Spurinna on his way to the senate-house--the soothsayer +who had predicted some great danger connected with the Ides of March. As +soon as he recognized him, he accosted him with the words, "Well, +Spurinna, the Ides of March have come, and I am safe." "Yes," replied +Spurinna, "they have come, but they are not yet over." + +[Sidenote: Caesar arrives at the senate house.] + +At length he arrived at the senate-house, with the paper of Artemidorus +still unread in his hand. The senators were all convened, the leading +conspirators among them. They all rose to receive Caesar as he entered. +Caesar advanced to the seat provided for him, and, when he was seated, +the senators themselves sat down. The moment had now arrived, and the +conspirators, with pale looks and beating hearts, felt that now or never +the deed was to be done. + +[Sidenote: Resolution of the Conspirators.] + +It requires a very considerable degree of physical courage and +hardihood for men to come to a calm and deliberate decision that they +will kill one whom they hate, and, still more, actually to strike the +blow, even when under the immediate impulse of passion. But men who are +perfectly capable of either of these often find their resolution fail +them as the time comes for striking a dagger into the living flesh of +their victim, when he sits at ease and unconcerned before them, unarmed +and defenseless, and doing nothing to excite those feelings of +irritation and anger which are generally found so necessary to nerve the +human arm to such deeds. Utter defenselessness is accordingly, +sometimes, a greater protection than an armor of steel. + +[Sidenote: Caesar and Pompey's statue.] + +Even Cassius himself, the originator and the soul of the whole +enterprise, found his courage hardly adequate to the work now that the +moment had arrived; and, in order to arouse the necessary excitement in +his soul, he looked up to the statue of Pompey, Caesar's ancient and +most formidable enemy, and invoked its aid. It gave him its aid. It +inspired him with some portion of the enmity with which the soul of its +great original had burned; and thus the soul of the living assassin was +nerved to its work by a sort of sympathy with a block of stone. + +[Sidenote: Plan of the conspirators.] + +Foreseeing the necessity of something like a stimulus to action when the +immediate moment for action should arrive, the conspirators had agreed +that, as soon as Caesar was seated, they would approach him with a +petition, which he would probably refuse, and then, gathering around +him, they would urge him with their importunities, so as to produce, in +the confusion, a sort of excitement that would make it easier for them +to strike the blow. + +[Sidenote: Marc Antony.] + +There was one person, a relative and friend of Caesar's, named Marcus +Antonius, called commonly, however, in English narratives, Marc Antony, +the same who has been already mentioned as having been subsequently +connected with Cleopatra. He was a very energetic and determined man, +who, they thought, might possibly attempt to defend him. To prevent +this, one of the conspirators had been designated to take him aside, and +occupy his attention with some pretended subject of discourse, ready, at +the same time, to resist and prevent his interference if he should show +himself inclined to offer any. + +[Sidenote: The petition.] +[Sidenote: Caesar assaulted.] + +Things being thus arranged, the petitioner, as had been agreed, advanced +to Caesar with his petition, others coming up at the same time as if to +second the request. The object of the petition was to ask for the pardon +of the brother of one of the conspirators. Caesar declined granting it. +The others then crowded around him, urging him to grant the request with +pressing importunities, all apparently reluctant to strike the first +blow. Caesar began to be alarmed, and attempted to repel them. One of +them then pulled down his robe from his neck to lay it bare. Caesar +arose, exclaiming, "But this is violence." At the same instant, one of +the conspirators struck at him with his sword, and wounded him slightly +in the neck. + +[Sidenote: He resists.] + +All was now terror, outcry, and confusion Caesar had no time to draw his +sword, but fought a moment with his style, a sharp instrument of iron +with which they wrote, in those days, on waxen tablets, and which he +happened then to have in his hand. With this instrument he ran one of +his enemies through the arm. + +[Illustration: POMPEY'S STATUE.] + +[Sidenote: Caesar is overcome.] +[Sidenote: Pompey's statue.] +[Sidenote: Caesar's death.] + +This resistance was just what was necessary to excite the conspirators, +and give them the requisite resolution to finish their work. Caesar soon +saw the swords, accordingly, gleaming all around him, and thrusting +themselves at him on every side. The senators rose in confusion and +dismay, perfectly thunderstruck at the scene, and not knowing what to +do. Antony perceived that all resistance on his part would be +unavailing, and accordingly did not attempt any. Caesar defended himself +alone for a few minutes as well as he could, looking all around him in +vain for help, and retreating at the same time toward the pedestal of +Pompey's statue. At length, when he saw Brutus among his murderers, he +exclaimed, "And you too, Brutus?" and seemed from that moment to give up +in despair. He drew his robe over his face, and soon fell under the +wounds which he received. His blood ran out upon the pavement at the +foot of Pompey's statue, as if his death were a sacrifice offered to +appease his ancient enemy's revenge. + +[Sidenote: Flight of the senators.] +[Sidenote: Great commotion.] + +In the midst of the scene Brutus made an attempt to address the +senators, and to vindicate what they had done, but the confusion and +excitement were so great that it was impossible that any thing could be +heard. The senators were, in fact, rapidly leaving the place, going off +in every direction, and spreading the tidings over the city. The event, +of course, produced universal commotion. The citizens began to close +their shops, and some to barricade their houses, while others hurried to +and fro about the streets, anxiously inquiring for intelligence, and +wondering what dreadful event was next to be expected. Antony and +Lepidus, who were Caesar's two most faithful and influential friends, +not knowing how extensive the conspiracy might be, nor how far the +hostility to Caesar and his party might extend, fled, and, not daring to +go to their own houses, lest the assassins or their confederates might +pursue them there, sought concealment in the houses of friends on whom +they supposed they could rely and who were willing to receive them. + +[Sidenote: The Conspirators proceed to the Capitol.] +[Sidenote: They glory in their deed.] + +In the mean time, the conspirators, glorying In the deed which they had +perpetrated, and congratulating each other on the successful issue of +their enterprise, sallied forth together from the senate-house, leaving +the body of their victim weltering in its blood, and marched, with drawn +swords in their hands, along the streets from the senate-house to the +Capitol. Brutus went at the head of them, preceded by a liberty cap +borne upon the point of a spear, and with his bloody dagger in his hand. +The Capitol was the citadel, built magnificently upon the Capitoline +Hill, and surrounded by temples, and other sacred and civil edifices, +which made the spot the architectural wonder of the world. As Brutus and +his company proceeded thither, they announced to the citizens, as they +went along, the great deed of deliverance which they had wrought out for +the country. Instead of seeking concealment, they gloried in the work +which they had done, and they so far succeeded in inspiring others with +a portion of their enthusiasm, that some men who had really taken no +part in the deed joined Brutus and his company in their march, to obtain +by stealth a share in the glory. + +[Sidenote: Number of Caesar's wounds.] + +The body of Caesar lay for some time unheeded where it had fallen, the +attention of every one being turned to the excitement, which was +extending through the city, and to the expectation of other great events +which might suddenly develop themselves in other quarters of Rome. There +were left only three of Caesar's slaves, who gathered around the body to +look at the wounds. They counted them, and found the number +twenty-three. It shows, however, how strikingly, and with what +reluctance, the actors in this tragedy came up to their work at last, +that of all these twenty-three wounds only one was a mortal one. In +fact, it is probable that, while all of the conspirators struck the +victim in their turn, to fulfill the pledge which they had given to one +another that they would every one inflict a wound, each one hoped that +the fatal blow would be given, after all, by some other hand than +his own. + +[Sidenote: His slaves convey his body home.] + +At last the slaves decided to convey the body home. They obtained a sort +of chair, which was made to be borne by poles, and placed the body upon +it. Then, lifting at the three handles, and allowing the fourth to hang +unsupported for want of a man, they bore the ghastly remains home to the +distracted Calpurnia. + +[Sidenote: Address of the conspirators.] + +The next day Brutus and his associates called an assembly of the people +in the Forum, and made an address to them, explaining the motives which +had led them to the commission of the deed, and vindicating the +necessity and the justice of it. The people received these explanations +in silence. They expressed neither approbation nor displeasure. It was +not, in fact, to be expected that they would feel or evince any +satisfaction at the loss of their master. He had been their champion, +and, as they believed, their friend. The removal of Caesar brought no +accession of power nor increase of liberty to them. It might have been a +gain to ambitious senators, or powerful generals, or high officers of +state, by removing a successful rival out of their way, but it seemed to +promise little advantage to the community at large, other than the +changing of one despotism for another. Besides, a populace who know that +they mast be governed, prefer generally, if they must submit to some +control, to yield their submission to some one master spirit whom they +can look up to as a great and acknowledged superior. They had rather +have a Caesar than a Senate to command them. + +[Sidenote: Feelings of the populace.] + +The higher authorities, however, were, at might have been expected, +disposed to acquiesce in the removal of Caesar from his intended throne. +The Senate met, and passed an act of indemnity, to shield the +conspirators from all legal liability for the deed they had done. In +order, however, to satisfy the people too, as far as possible, they +decreed divine honors to Caesar, confirmed and ratified all that he had +done while in the exercise of supreme power, and appointed a time for +the funeral, ordering arrangements to be made for a very pompous +celebration of it. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's will.] +[Sidenote: Its provisions.] + +A will was soon found, which Caesar, it seems, had made some time +before. Calpurnia's father proposed that this will should be opened and +read in public at Antony's house; and this was accordingly done. The +provisions of the will were, many of them, of such a character as +renewed the feelings of interest and sympathy which the people of Rome +had begun to cherish for Caesar's memory. His vast estate was divided +chiefly among the children of his sister, as he had no children of his +own, while the very men who had been most prominent in his assassination +were named as trustees and guardians of the property; and one of them, +Decimus Brutus, the one who had been so urgent to conduct him to the +senate-house, was a second heir. He had some splendid gardens near the +Tiber, which he bequeathed to the citizens of Rome, and a large amount +of money also, to be divided among them, sufficient to give every man a +considerable sum. + +[Sidenote: Preparations for Caesar's funeral.] +[Sidenote: The Field of Mars.] + +The time for the celebration of the funeral ceremonies was made known by +proclamation, and, as the concourse of strangers and citizens of Rome +was likely to be so great as to forbid the forming of all into one +procession without consuming more than one day, the various classes of +the community were invited to come, each in their own way, to the Field +of Mars, bringing with them such insignia, offerings, and oblations as +they pleased. The Field of Mars was an immense parade ground, reserved +for military reviews, spectacles, and shows. A funeral pile was erected +here for the burning of the body There was to be a funeral discourse +pronounced, and Marc Antony had been designated to perform this duty. +The body had been placed in a gilded bed, under a magnificent canopy in +the form of a temple, before the rostra where the funeral discourse was +to be pronounced. The bed was covered with scarlet and cloth of gold and +at the head of it was laid the robe in which Caesar had been slain. It +was stained with blood, and pierced with the holes that the swords and +daggers of the conspirators had made. + +[Sidenote: Marc Antony's oration.] +[Sidenote: The funeral pile.] + +Marc Antony, instead of pronouncing a formal panegyric upon his deceased +friend, ordered a crier to read the decrees of the Senate, in which all +honors, human and divine, had been ascribed to Caesar. He then added a +few words of his own. The bed was then taken up, with the body upon it, +and borne out into the Forum, preparatory to conveying it to the pile +which had been prepared for it upon the Field of Mars, A question, +however, here arose among the multitude assembled in respect to the +proper place for burning the body. The people seemed inclined to select +the most honorable place which could be found within the limits of the +city. Some proposed a beautiful temple on the Capitoline Hill. Others +wished to take it to the senate-house, where he had been slain. The +Senate, and those who were less inclined to pay extravagant honors to +the departed hero, were in favor of some more retired spot, under +pretense that the buildings of the city would be endangered by the fire. +This discussion was fast becoming a dispute, when it was suddenly ended +by two men, with swords at their sides and knees in their hands, forcing +their way through the crowd with lighted torches, and setting the bed +and its canopy on fire where it lay. + +[Illustration: BURNING OF CAESAR'S BODY.] + +[Sidenote: The body burned in the Forum.] + +This settled the question, and the whole company were soon in the +wildest excitement with the work of building up a funeral pile upon the +spot. At first they brought fagots and threw upon the fire, then benches +from the neighboring courts and porticoes, and then any thing +combustible which came to hand. The honor done to the memory of a +deceased hero was, in some sense, in proportion to the greatness of his +funeral pile, and all the populace on this occasion began soon to seize +every thing they could find, appropriate and unappropriate, provided +that it would increase the flame. The soldiers threw on their lances and +spears, the musicians their instruments, and others stripped off the +cloths and trappings from the furniture of the procession, and heaped +them upon the burning pile. + +[Sidenote: The conflagration.] + +So fierce and extensive was the fire, that it spread to some of the +neighboring houses, and required great efforts to prevent a general +conflagration. The people, too, became greatly excited by the scene. +They lighted torches by the fire, and went to the houses of Brutus and +Cassius, threatening vengeance upon them for the murder of Caesar. The +authorities succeeded though with infinite difficulty, in protecting +Brutus and Cassius from the violence of the mob, but they seized one +unfortunate citizen of the name of Cinna, thinking it a certain Cinna +who had been known as an enemy of Caesar. They cut off his head, +notwithstanding his shrieks and cries, and carried it about the city on +the tip of a pike, a dreadful symbol of their hostility to the enemies +of Caesar. As frequently happens, however, in such deeds of sudden +violence, these hasty and lawless avengers found afterward that they had +made a mistake, and beheaded the wrong man. + +[Sidenote: Caesar's monument.] +[Sidenote: The comet.] + +The Roman people erected a column to the memory of Caesar, on which they +placed the inscription, "To THE FATHER OF HIS COUNTRY." They fixed the +figure of a star upon the summit of it, and some time afterward, while +the people were celebrating some games in honor of his memory, a great +comet blazed for seven nights in the sky, which they recognized as the +mighty hero's soul reposing in heaven. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HISTORY OF JULIUS CAESAR*** + + +******* This file should be named 11688.txt or 11688.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/1/6/8/11688 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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