Chapter XI: Part II: Rashness justly punished (7)

[Linenotes:
1. +Aedilis.+ As curule-aedile Caesar exceeded all previous
expenditure. This was meant to secure the favour of the democracy,
and gain the position of its leader, which was in fact vacant; for
Crassus was never popular, and Pompeius was absent in the East.
+basilicas+ (#basilikê# sc. #oikia# and #stoa#: _regia_) = _halls_.
2. +porticibus:+ these acted as booths, in a grand fair, as we
should say.
4. +Venationes+, here of the combats with wild beasts.
7. +M. Bibulus+, also Caesar's colleague in his first consulship,
59 B.C.]

B. _Propraetor in Further Spain, 61 B.C._

Ex praetura ulteriorem sortitus Hispaniam, retinentes creditores interventu sponsorum removit, ac neque more neque iure, ante quam provinciae ornarentur, profectus est; pacataque provincia, pari {15} festinatione, non expectato successore, ad triumphum simul consulatumque decessit. Sed cum, edictis iam comitiis, ratio eius haberi non posset nisi privatus introisset urbem, et ambienti ut legibus solveretur multi contradicerent, coactus est triumphum, {20} ne consulatu excluderetur, dimittere.

SUETONIUS, _Divus Iulius_, 18.

+Context.+ In 69 B.C. Caesar was elected to a Quaestorship (the lowest step in the ladder of official life) and discharged his judicial duties in Further Spain with tact and industry.

[Linenotes:
13. +retinentes ... removit+ = _freed himself from his creditors,
who were for detaining him_, by the help of sureties. Caesar is said
to have borrowed from Crassus 830 talents.
14-15. +ante quam provinciae ornarentur:+ a regular phrase used of
supplying the newly chosen magistrate with money, arms, attendants,
etc.
18. +ratio ... posset+ = _his candidature could not be considered_.]

+Propraetor in F. Spain.+ 'His governorship enabled him partly to rid himself of his debts partly to lay the foundation for his military repute.' --M.

B34

THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C. (1)

_Cicero declaims against the Audacity of Catiline._

Quo usque tandem abutere, Catilina, patientia nostra? Quam diu etiam furor iste tuus nos eludet? Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia? Nihilne te nocturnum praesidium Palati, nihil urbis vigiliae, nihil timor populi, nihil concursus bonorum {5} omnium, nihil hic munitissimus habendi senatus locus, nihil horum ora voltusque moverunt? Patere tua consilia non sentis? Constrictam iam horum omnium scientia teneri coniurationem tuam non vides? Quid proxima, quid superiore nocte egeris, {10} ubi fueris, quos convocaveris, quid consilii ceperis, quem nostrum ignorare arbitraris? O tempora! O mores! Senatus haec intellegit; consul videt: hic tamen vivit. Vivit? immo vero etiam in senatum venit: fit publici consilii particeps; notat at designat {15} oculis ad caedem unum quemque nostrum. . . . Castra sunt in Italia contra rem publicam in Etruriae faucibus collocata: crescit in dies singulos hostium numerus; eorum autem castrorum imperatorem ducemque hostium intra moenia atque {20} adeo in senatu videmus intestinam aliquam cotidie perniciem rei publicae molientem. Si te iam, Catilina, eomprehendi, si interfici iussero, credo, erit verendum mihi ne non hoc potius omnes boni serius a me quam quisquam crudelius factum esse dicat. {25}

CICERO, _in Catilinam_, i. §§ 1, 2, 5.

[Linenotes:
1. +Quo usque tandem abutere+ = _how long, pray, will you presume
upon?_ Catiline had been declared _hostis patriae_, and yet dared to
appear in the Senate.
4. +praesidium Palati+: in the case of any threatening danger the
+Mons Palatinus+ was occupied as one of the most important military
points in the city.
6-7. +senatus locus+, i.e. the temple of +Jupiter Stator+, on the N.
slope of the Palatine, chosen as the safest meeting-place, and near
Cicero's house.
17-18. +castra ... collocata+, the camp of Manlius (one of the
veteran centurions of Sulla) was planted at Faesulae (Fiesole),
a rocky fastness three miles N.E. of Florence.
19. +imperatorem:+ ironical, as though Catiline were the legally
appointed general of the Republic.]

+In L. Catilinam Oratio i.+ 'This splendid oration, in its fiery vigour and mastery of invective, is unsurpassed except by the Second Philippic.' --Cruttwell.

+Its effect on Catiline.+ _Tum ille furibundus 'quoniam quidem circumventus' inquit 'ab inimicis praeceps agor, incendium meum ruina restinguam.'_ Sall. _Catil._ 31. That night Catiline left Rome for the camp of Manlius.

B35

THE CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE, 63 B.C. (2)

_The End of Catiline._

Sed confecto proelio tum vero cerneres, quanta audacia quantaque vis animi fuisset in exercitu Catilinae. Nam fere, quem quisque vivus pugnando locum ceperat, eum, amissa anima, corpore tegebat. Pauci autem, quos medios cohors praetoria disiecerat, {5} paulo divorsius, sed omnes tamen advorsis volneribus conciderant. Catilina vero longe a suis inter hostium cadavera repertus est, paululum etiam spirans ferociamque animi, quam habuerat vivus, in voltu retinens. Postremo ex omni copia neque in {10} proelio neque in fuga quisquam civis ingenuus captus est. Ita cuncti suae hostiumque vitae iuxta pepercerant. Neque tamen exercitus populi Romani laetam aut incruentam victoriam adeptus erat; nam strenuissumus quisque aut occiderat in proelio, aut {15} graviter volneratus discesserat. Multi autem, qui de castris visundi aut spoliandi gratia processerant, volventes hostilia cadavera, amicum alii, pars hospitem aut cognatum reperiebant; fuere item, qui inimicos suos cognoscerent. Ita varie per omnem {20} exercitum laetitia, maeror, luctus atque gaudia agitabantur.

SALLUST, _Bellum Catilinae_, 61.

[Linenotes:
5. +cohors praetoria+: a _corps d'élite_, specially organised as a
bodyguard of the general (_praetor_ = _praeitor_, _prae + eo_),
dating from the time when the praetores was the older name of the
consuls (= _colleagues_).
8. +etiam+ (= _adhuc_) = _still_. Cf. Verg. _Aen._ vi. 485 _etiam
currus etiam arma tenentem_.
11. +civis ingenuus+, i.e. a free citizen born of free citizens.
12. +Ita cuncti ... pepercerant+ = _so unsparing had they all been
alike of their own and their opponents' lives_. --Pollard.
21. +laetitia+ = joy manifested, +gaudia+ = joy felt.
+luctus+ = grief shown by outward signs, e.g. by dress.
+maeror+ = grief shown by inward signs, e.g. by tears, or a sad
face.]

+The Battle of Pistoria+ (Pistoia, N.W. of Faesulae). 'Catiline showed on this day that nature had destined him for no ordinary things, and that he knew at once how to command and how to fight as a soldier. At length Petreius, with his bodyguard, broke the centre of the enemy, and then attacked the two wings from within. This decided the day.' --M.

+The character of Catiline.+ 'He was one of the most wicked men in that wicked age. He possessed in a high degree the qualities which are required in the leader of a band of ruined and desperate men--the faculty of enjoying all pleasures and of bearing all privations, courage, military talent, knowledge of men, indomitable energy.' --M. Cf. Sall. _Catil._ 5.

B36

GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR (4).

_Forms the First Triumvirate: Consul, 60-59 B.C._

Hoc igitur consule inter eum et Cn. Pompeium et M. Crassum inita potentiae societas, quae urbi orbique terrarum nec minus diverso quoque tempore ipsis exitiabilis fuit. Hoc consilium sequendi Pompeius causam habuerat, ut tandem acta in {5} transmarinis provinciis, quibus, ut praediximus, multi obtrectabant, per Caesarem confirmarentur consulem, Caesar autem, quod animadvertebat se cedendo Pompei gloriae aucturum suam et invidia communis potentiae in illum relegata confirmaturum {10} vires suas, Crassus, ut quem principatum solus adsequi non poterat, auctoritate Pompei, viribus teneret Caesaris. Adfinitas etiam inter Caesarem Pompeiumque contracta nuptiis, quippe Iuliam, filiam C. Caesaris, Cn. Magnus duxit uxorem. In {15} hoc consulatu Caesar legem tulit, ut ager Campanus plebei divideretur, suasore legis Pompeio: ita circiter XX milia civium eo deducta et ius urbis restitutum post annos circiter CLII quam bello Punico ab Romanis Capua in formam praefecturae {20} redacta erat. Bibulus, collega Caesaris, cum actiones eius magis vellet impedire quam posset, maiore parte anni domi se tenuit: quo facto dum augere vult invidiam collegae, auxit potentiam. Tum Caesari decretae in quinquennium Galliae. {25}

VELL. PAT. ii. 44.

[Linenotes:
1-2. +inter eum ... societas+, the famous First Triumvirate. 'It
was at first an expedient to secure, as we should say, a working
majority for a vigorous democratic policy, but the bitterness of its
enemies transformed the coalition itself from an honourable union
into the semblance of a three-headed tyranny.' --Warde Fowler.
4-7. The ultra-senatorial party (after Pompeius' great act of
renunciation, when he dismissed his victorious veterans in 62 B.C.)
had checked and worried Pompeius by refusing to ratify his
arrangements in the East, and by criticising and opposing his plans
for rewarding his veterans. Thus they deliberately drove him once
more into the arms of Caesar and the democracy.
10. +relegata+ = _attributed_, _imputed_, lit. _removed_
(_re_ + _lêgo_).
21. +Bibulus, collega Caesaris:+ cf. Suet. _Divus Iulius_ 20:
_Non Bibulo quicquam, nuper sed Caesare factum est:
Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini._]

+Caesar's First Consulship.+ Among his other acts was the famous _Lex Iulia de pecuniis repetundis_ (against official extortion in the provinces), which won strong praise even from Cicero himself.

B37

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (1)

'_That day he overcame the Nervii_,' 57 B.C.

Caesar ab decimae legionis cohortatione ad dextrum cornu profectus, ubi suos urgeri signisque in unum locum collatis duodecimae legionis confertos milites sibi ipsos ad pugnam esse impedimento vidit--quartae cohortis omnibus centurionibus occisis, {5} signifero interfecto, signo amisso, reliquarum cohortium omnibus fere centurionibus aut vulneratis aut occisis, in his primipilo P. Sextio Baculo, fortissimo viro, multis gravibusque volneribus confecto, ut iam se sustinere non posset; reliquos esse tardiores et nonnullos {10} ab novissimis deserto proelio excedere ac tela vitare, hostes neque a fronte ex inferiore loco subeuntes intermittere et ab utroque latere instare, et rem esse in angusto vidit neque ullum esse subsidium quod submitti posset, scuto ab novissimis {15} militi detracto, quod ipse eo sine scuto venerat, in primam aciem processit; centurionibusque nominatim appellatis reliquos cohortatus milites signa inferre et manipulos laxare iussit, quo facilius gladiis uti possent. Cuius adventu spe illata militibus ac {20} redintegrato animo, cum pro se quisque in conspectu imperatoris etiam in extremis suis rebus operam navare cuperet, paulum hostium impetus tardatus est.

CAESAR, _de B. G._ ii. 25.

+Context.+ The Nervii, the bravest of the Belgae, surprised Caesar's men while at work on their camp. There was no time to think: they took station where they could. The 9th and 10th legions on the left broke and pursued the enemy in front of them, and the two legions in the centre stood firm. But on the right there was a gap, and the Nervii were rapidly surrounding the two legions huddled together here, and the fight threatened every moment to become a second Cannae, +when Caesar restored the fight+. Labienus sent back the victorious 10th, who took the enemy in their rear, and the cavalry completed the victory.

[Linenotes:
14-15. +neque ullum ... posset+: the rear guard, the 13th and 14th
legions, had not yet come up.
18-19. +signa ... laxare+ = _to charge and_ (thus) _open out the
ranks_.
22-23. +operam navare+ = _to do their very best_. +navo+ (orig.
_gnavo_; cf. #gnôskô#) = lit. _to make known_, _to exhibit_.]

+The Battle of the Sambre.+ One of the most desperate that Caesar ever fought. The memory of it lived in Caesar's mind so vividly that he seems to fight the battle over again as he describes it, in language for him unusually strong and intense. --W. F.

+Result of the Battle+, the submission of North West Gaul.

B38

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (2)

_Naval Battle with the Veneti, 56 B.C._

Una erat magno usui res praeparata a nostris,--falces praeacutae insertae affixaeque longuriis non absimili forma muralium falcium. His cum funes qui antemnas ad malos destinabant comprehensi adductique essent, navigio remis incitato praerumpebantur. {5} Quibus abscisis antemnae necessario concidebant; ut, cum omnis Gallicis spes in velis armamentisque consisteret, his ereptis omnis usus navium uno tempore eriperetur. Reliquum erat certamen positum in virtute, qua nostri milites facile {10} superabant atque eo magis, quod in conspectu Caesaris atque omnis exercitus res gerebatur, ut nullum paulo fortius factum latere posset; omnes enim colles ac loca superiora, unde erat propinquus despectus in mare, ab exercitu tenebantur. Disiectis, ut diximus, {15} antemnis, cum singulas binae ac ternae naves circumsteterant, milites summa vi transcendere in hostium naves contendebant. Quod postquam barbari fieri animadverterunt, expugnatis compluribus navibus, cum ei rei nullum reperiretur auxilium, fuga {20} salutem petere contenderunt. Ac iam conversis in eam partem navibus quo ventus ferebat, tanta subito malacia ac tranquillitas exstitit ut se ex loco movere non possent. Quae quidem res ad negotium conficiendum maxime fuit opportuna; nam singulas {25} nostri consectati expugnaverunt, ut perpaucae ex omni numero noctis interventu ad terram pervenerint, cum ab hora fere quarta usque ad solis occasum pugnaretur.

CAESAR, _de B. G._ iii. 14, 15.

+Context.+ In the winter of 57-6 Roman officers, who came to levy requisitions of grain, were detained by the Veneti. Caesar's attack on their coast-towns failed to reduce them to submission: so he determined to wait for his fleet. This he entrusted to Decimus Brutus, an able and devoted officer. At first the Roman galleys were powerless against the high-decked strong sailing-vessels of the Veneti, but +the use of the murales falces, and the opportune calm, enabled Brutus to annihilate their fleet+.

[Linenotes:
11-12. +quod ... gerebatur.+ Napoleon (_Caesar_, vol. ii. p. 6)
thinks that Caesar was encamped on the heights of Saint Gildas
overlooking Quiberon Bay.
23. +malacia+ = _a calm_, but #malakia# = _softness_, L. _mollities_.]

+Result of the Victory+--the surrender of the Veneti and of all Brittany. +The earliest historical naval battle fought on the Atlantic Ocean.+--M.

B39

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (3)

_Caesar's Bridge across the Rhine, 55 B.C._

Rationem pontis hanc instituit. Tigna bina sesquipedalia paulum ab imo praeacuta, dimensa ad altitudinem fluminis, intervallo pedum duorum inter se iungebat. Haec cum machinationibus immissa in flumen defixerat fistucisque adegerat--non sublicae {5} modo derecte ad perpendiculum, sed prone ac fastigate, ut secundum naturam fluminis procumberent--eis item contraria duo ad eundem modum iuncta intervallo pedum quadragenum ab inferiore parte contra vim atque impetum fluminis conversa statuebat. {10} Haec utraque insuper bipedalibus trabibus immissis, quantum eorum tignorum iunctura distabat, binis utrimque fibulis ab extrema parte distinebantur; quibus disclusis atque in contrariam partem revinctis, tanta erat operis firmitudo atque {15} ea rerum natura ut, quo maior vis aquae se incitavisset, hoc artius illigata tenerentur. Haec derecta materia iniecta contexebantur ac longuriis cratibusque consternebantur; ac nihilo setius sublicae et ad inferiorem partem fluminis oblique agebantur, quae {20} pro ariete subiectae et cum omni opere coniunctae vim fluminis exciperent; et aliae item supra pontem mediocri spatio, ut, si arborum trunci sive naves deiciendi operis essent a barbaris immissae, his defensoribus earum rerum vis minueretur, neu ponti {25} nocerent.

CAESAR, _de B. G._ iv. 17.

+Context.+ The year 55 B.C. appears to have been marked by a general movement in the migration of the German tribes. An advance, consisting of two tribes, the Usipetes and Tenctri, crowded forward by the more powerful Suevi, crossed the Lower Rhine into N. Gaul. Caesar drove them back across the Rhine, +bridged the river+, followed them up into their own territories, and fully established the supremacy of the Roman arms. --Allen and Greenough.

[Linenotes:
5. +fistucisque adegerat+ = _and had driven them home_ (+ad+-) _with
rammers_. For Plan of Bridge see Allen's _Caesar_, p. 103.
11-14. +Haec ... distinebantur+ = _these two sets were held apart by
two-feet timbers laid on above, equal_ (in thickness) _to the
interval left by the fastening of the piles_ (+quantum ...
distabat+), _with a pair of ties_ (+fibulis+) _at each end_.
--A. & G.
17-18. +Haec ... contexebantur+ = _these_ (i.e. the framework of
timber) _were covered over by boards_ (+materia+) _laid lengthwise_.
+longuriis+ = _with long poles_.]

+The Bridge+ (prob. near Bonn). 'With extraordinary speed (in ten days) the bridge was completed. It was a triumph of engineering and industry.' --W. F.

B40

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (4)

_Cassivellaunus. Second Invasion of Britain, 54 B.C._

Cassivellaunus, omni deposita spe contentionis, dimissis amplioribus copiis, milibus circiter quattuor essedariorum relictis itinera nostra servabat: paulumque ex via excedebat locisque impeditis ac silvestribus sese occultabat, atque eis regionibus quibus {5} nos iter facturos cognoverat pecora atque homines ex agris in silvas compellebat; et cum equitatus noster liberius praedandi vastandique causa se in agros eiecerat, omnibus viis semitisque essedarios ex silvis emittebat; et magno cum periculo nostrorum {10} equitum cum eis confligebat atque hoc metu latius vagari prohibebat. Relinquebatur ut neque longius ab agmine legionum discedi Caesar pateretur, et tantum in agris vastandis incendiisque faciendis hostibus noceretur quantum in labore atque itinere {15} legionarii milites efficere poterant. . . . Cassivellaunus hoc proelio nuntiato, tot detrimentis acceptis, vastatis finibus, maxime etiam permotus defectione civitatum, legatos per Atrebatem Commium de deditione ad Caesarem mittit. {20}

CAESAR, _de B. G._ v. 19, 22.

+Context.+ The First Invasion of Britain (55 B.C.) was only a visit of exploration; but in the Second Invasion (54 B.C.) Caesar aimed at a partial conquest. He had been hearing of Britain ever since he came to Gaul, and knew it to be a refuge for his Celtic enemies and a secret source of their strength. He set sail from the Portus Ittius (mod. Wissant, some twelve miles W. of Calais) and after drifting some way to the N.E., made his way to his former landing-place, probably near Romney. Some severe fighting followed, till at length Caesar crossed the Thames (apparently between Kingston and Brentford) and +entered the country of Cassivellaunus, who gave Caesar much trouble by his guerilla tactics. Deserted by his allies, Cassivellaunus offered his submission, which Caesar gladly accepted.+

[Linenotes:
1. +Contentionis+, i.e. of a general engagement with Caesar.
12. +Relinquebatur ut+ = _the consequence was that_ ...
17. +hoc proelio+, i.e. the storming by Caesar of his fortified
camp, perh. St. Albans.
18-19. +defectione civitatum+, espec. of the Trinobantes (chief
place _Camulodunum_, later _Colonia castrum_ = _Colchester_).
19. +Commium+, Caesar had made him King of the Atrebates (N.W.
Gaul).]

+Caesar In Britain.+ 'What he tells us of the geography and inhabitants of the Island comprises almost all we know, except from coins, down to the time of its final conquest by Clodius 51 A.D.' --W. F.

B41

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (5)

_The Gallic uprising. Fabian tactics of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C._

Vercingetorix tot continuis incommodis acceptis suos ad concilium convocat. Docet 'longe alia ratione esse bellum gerendum atque antea gestum sit; omnibus modis huic rei studendum ut pabulatione et commeatu Romani prohibeantur: id esse {5} facile, quod equitatu ipsi abundent et quod anni tempore subleventur; pabulum secari non posse; necessario dispersos hostes ex aedificiis petere; hos omnes cotidie ab equitibus deleri posse. Praeterea, salutis causa rei familiaris commoda neglegenda; {10} vicos atque aedificia incendi oportere hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo pabulandi causa adire posse videantur. Harum ipsis rerum copiam suppetere, quod quorum in finibus bellum geratur eorum opibus subleventur: Romanos aut inopiam non laturos aut {15} magno cum periculo longius a castris processuros; neque interesse ipsosne interficiant an impedimentis exuant, quibus amissis bellum geri non possit. Praeterea, oppida incendi oportere quae non munitione et loci natura ab omni sint periculo tuta; ne {20} suis sint ad detrectandam militiam receptacula, neu Romanis proposita ad copiam commeatus praedamque tollendam. Haec si gravia aut acerba videantur, multo illa gravius aestimari debere, liberos, coniuges in servitutem abstrahi, ipsos interfici; {25} quae sit necesse accidere victis.'

CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 14.

+Context.+ On his return from Britain, Caesar found the N. Gauls in open revolt. The division of Sabinus (at Aduatuca, near Liège) was annihilated by Ambiorix, and Caesar was only just in time to relieve Q. Cicero at Charleroi. To prevent all further support to the Gauls from the Germans across the Rhine, Caesar again made a military demonstration across the river, and put an end to all the hopes of the Germans of breaking through this boundary. In the winter of 53-2 B.C., during his absence in Cisalpine Gaul, +a general uprising of the S. and Central Gauls took place under the Arvernian Vercingetorix, the hero of the whole Gallic race+.

[Linenotes:
6-7. +anni tempore+, i.e. scarcely yet spring, when no crops could
be got off the land.
11-12. +hoc spatio quoqueversus, quo+ = _so far in every
direction as_.
19. +oppida incendi:+ only Avaricum (Bourges) was to be spared.
22. +proposita+ = _offered_ to be captured by the Romans.]

+The tactics of Vercingetorix.+ 'He adopted a system of warfare similar to that by which Cassivellaunus had saved the Celts of Britain.' --M.

B42

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (6)

_Siege of Gergovia. Petronius dies to save his men, 52 B.C._

Cum acerrime comminus pugnaretur, hostes loco et numero, nostri virtute confiderent, subito sunt Aedui visi ab latere nostris aperto, quos Caesar ab dextra parte alio ascensu manus distinendae causa miserat. Hi similitudine armorum vehementer {5} nostros perterruerunt. Eodem tempore L. Fabius centurio quique una murum ascenderant circumventi atque interfecti de muro praecipitabantur. M. Petronius, eiusdem legionis centurio, cum portas excidere conatus esset, a multitudine oppressus ac sibi desperans, {10} multis iam volneribus acceptis, manipularibus suis qui illum secuti erant, 'Quoniam,' inquit, 'me una vobiscum servare non possum, vestrae quidem certe vitae prospiciam, quos cupiditate gloriae adductus in periculum deduxi. Vos data facultate vobis consulite.' {15} Simul in niedios hostes irrupit, duobusque interfectis reliquos a porta paulum submovit. Conantibus auxiliari suis, 'Frustra,' inquit, 'meae vitae subvenire conamini, quem iam sanguis viresque deficiunt. Proinde abite dum est facultas vosque ad {20} legionem recipite.' Ita pugnans post paulum concidit ac suis saluti fuit.

CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 50.

+Context.+ With a half-starved army Caesar stormed Avaricum after a most obstinate defence, and then laid siege to the Arvernian capital of Gergovia, in hope of destroying Vercingetorix and ending the war. As the town was too strong to be taken by storm, he resolved to try a blockade, but he failed, as at Dyrrachium in 49 B.C., from want of sufficient troops.

+A last desperate attack on the town was repulsed+, and Caesar, defeated for the first time, was forced to raise the siege.

[Linenotes:
3. +ab latere nostris aperto:+ as a soldier carries his shield on
the left arm, leaving the sword hand free, this (right) side is
called +latus apertum+.--Compton.
4. +manus distinendae causa+ = _for the purpose of diverting_
(+distinendae+, lit. _hold off_) _the enemy's force_.
6. +perterruerunt+: this was all the more natural, as the Aeduan
contingent was only awaiting the result of the blockade, to openly
join the insurgents.
9. +excidere+ = _to cut away_, _hew down_, i.e. from within.]

+Gergovia+, 4 miles S. of Clermont. This famous stronghold consists of a rectangular plateau nearly a mile in length, and some 1300 feet above the plain through which the Allier flows, and descending steeply on all sides but one to the ground.

+Caesar's failure.+ 'The fact was that chiefly owing to the nature of the ground and their own ardour, Caesar's men were not well in hand.' --W. F.

B43

THE GALLIC WAR, 58-50 B.C. (7)

_Siege of Alesia. The Last Fight of Vercingetorix, 52 B.C._

Vercingetorix ex arce Alesiae suos conspicatus ex oppido egreditur: crates, longurios, musculos, fasces, reliquaque quae eruptionis causa paraverat profert. Pugnatur uno tempore omnibus locis atque omnia temptantur; quae minime visa pars firma est huc {5} concurritur. Romanorum manus tantis munitionibus distinetur nec facile pluribus locis occurrit. . . . Labienus, postquam neque aggeres neque fossae vim hostium sustinere poterant, coactis XI cohortibus, quas ex proximis praesidiis deductas fors obtulit, {10} Caesarem per nuntios facit certiorem quid faciendum existimet. Accelerat Caesar ut proelio intersit. Eius adventu ex colore vestitus cognito (quo insigni in proeliis uti consuerat), turmisque equitum et cohortibus visis quas se sequi iusserat, ut de locis {15} superioribus haec declivia et devexa cemebantur, hostes proelium committunt. Utrimque clamore sublato excipit rursus ex vallo atque omnibus munitionibus clamor. Nostri omissis pilis gladiis rem gerunt. Repente post tergum equitatus cernitur: {20} cohortes aliae appropinquant. Hostes terga vertunt; fugientibus equites occurrunt: fit magna caedes: pauci ex tanto numero se incolumes in castra recipiunt.

CAESAR, _de B. G._ vii. 84, 87, 88.

+Context.+ After his successful defence of Gergovia, Vercingetorix allowed his judgment to be overruled, and attacked Caesar's army (now united to the division of Labienus) on the march. Caesar shook off the enemy with the help of his German cavalry, and turned their retreat into a rout. V. then threw himself with all his forces into Alesia. Caesar constructed an inner line of investment and an outer line of defence, and was thus able to wear out the besieged and +beat back the relieving host of the Gauls+.

[Linenotes:
1. +suos+, i.e. the host (some 250,000) of the relieving army of
Gauls.
2. +musculos+ (dimin. of _mus_) = _pent-houses_ or _sheds_.
4. +omnibus locis+, i.e. along the whole length of Caesar's outer
line of defence, _where it ran along the slope of Mont Réa_, to the
N.W. of Alesia. This, as the relieving Gauls were quick to see, was
the weakest point of the whole line.
13. +ex colore vestitus+, i.e. the purple or scarlet paludamentum.]

+Vercingetorix.+ The Celtic officers delivered up V. to Caesar, to be led in triumph five years later, and beheaded as a traitor. In 1865 a statue was erected on the summit of Alesia, in honour of the heroic Gaul.

+The fall of Alesia decided the fate of Gaul.+

B44

CICERO IN EXILE, MARCH 58 B.C.-AUGUST 57 B.C. (1)

_His Banishment._

Per idem tempus P. Clodius, homo nobilis, disertus, audax, quique dicendi neque faciendi ullum nisi quem vellet nosset modum, malorum propositorum exsecutor acerrimus, cum graves inimicitias cum M. Cicerone exerceret (quid enim inter tam {5} dissimilis amicum esse poterat?) et a patribus ad plebem transisset, legem in tribunatu tulit, qui civem Romanum non damnatum interemisset, ei aqua et igni interdiceretur: cuius verbis etsi non nominabatur Cicero, tamen solus petebatur. Ita vir optime {10} meritus de re publica conservatae patriae pretium calamitatem exili tulit. Non caruerunt suspicione oppressi Ciceronis Caesar et Pompeius. Hoc sibi contraxisse videbatur Cicero, quod inter xx viros dividendo agro Campano esse noluisset. Idem intra {15} biennium sera Cn. Pompei cura, verum ut coepit intenta, votisque Italiae ac decretis senatus, virtute atque actione Anni Milonis tribuni pl. dignitati patriaeque restitutus est. Neque post Numidici exilium ac reditum quisquam aut expulsus invidiosius {20} aut receptus est laetius: cuius domus quam infeste a Clodio disiecta erat, tam speciose a senatu restituta est.

VELLEIUS PATERCULUS, ii. 45.

[Linenotes:
6-7. +a patribus ... transisset.+ When Cicero refused to throw in
his lot with the Triumvirs, Publius Clodius was (by the aid of
Caesar as Pontifex Maximus) hurriedly transferred from a patrician
to a plebeian gens, and then chosen a tribune of the people for the
year 58 B.C. Clodius was thus enabled to satisfy his private hatred
of Cicero, and Caesar was enabled to get rid of the man who
persisted in opposing him.
7-8. +qui ... interemisset:+ aimed at Cicero for his share in the
summary execution of the Catilinarians 63 B.C. Mommsen calls it a
judicial murder. Undoubtedly the Senate had not the power of
sentencing _citizens_ to death. But Cicero argues that the legal
effect of the _Senatus consultum ultimum_ was to _disenfranchise_
Lentulus and his associates, and to place them in the position of
_outlaws_.
12-13. +Non caruerunt ... Pompeius:+ Caesar having in vain tried to
win him over abandoned him to his fate, and Pompeius basely deserted
him.
15. +dividendo agro Campano+, i.e. by Caesar's Agrarian Law of 59
B.C., to provide for Pompey's veterans.
18. +Anni Milonis:+ the bravoes of Milo protected from disturbance
the voters engaged in sanctioning the decree for the recall of
Cicero.
19. +Numidici+, i.e. Q. Caecilius Metellus, general against
Jugurtha, superseded by Marius and forced to retire to Rhodes.]

B45

CICERO IN EXILE, MARCH 58 B.C.-AUGUST 57 B.C. (2)

_His Return._

Pr. Nonas Sextiles Dyrrachio sum profectus, ipso illo die, quo lex est lata de nobis; Brundisium veni Nonis Sextilibus: ibi mihi Tulliola mea fuit praesto natali suo ipso die, qui casu idem natalis erat et Brundisinae coloniae et tuae vicinae Salutis; quae {5} res animadversa a multitudine summa Brundisinorum gratulatione celebrata est. Ante diem vi Idus Sextiles cognovi, cum Brundisii essem, litteris Quinti, mirifico studio omnium aetatum atque ordinum, incredibili concursu Italiae legem comitiis {10} centuriatis esse perlatam: inde a Brundisinis honestissimis ornatus iter ita feci, ut undique ad me cum gratulatione legati convenerint. Ad urbem ita veni, ut nemo ullius ordinis homo nomenclatori notus fuerit, qui mihi obviam non venerit, praeter eos {15} inimicos, quibus id ipsum, se inimicos esse, non liceret aut dissimulare aut negare. Cum venissem ad portam Capenam, gradus templorum ab infima plebe completi erant, a qua plausu maximo cum esset mihi gratulatio significata, similis et frequentia {20} et plausus me usque ad Capitolium celebravit, in foroque et in ipso Capitolio miranda multitudo fuit. Postridie in senatu, qui fuit dies Nonarum Septembr., senatui gratias egimus.

CICERO, _Ep. ad Att._ iv. 1.

[Linenotes:
1. +Dyrrachio+ (formerly _Epidamnus_, mod. _Durazzo_), a town in
Illyria, on a peninsula in the Adriatic. It was the usual port of
landing and departure from and for Brundisium (distant about 100
miles).
3. +Tulliola+, Cicero's dearly-loved daughter Tullia, the only one
of his family of whose conduct he never complains, and his tender
and sympathising companion in all his pursuits.
4-5. +qui casu ... coloniae.+ Brundisium was founded 244 B.C. The
Via Appia terminated here.
5. +tuae vicinae Salutis+, the Temple of Salus on the Quirinal was
near the house of Atticus.
9. +Quinti+ (sc. _Ciceronis_): Cicero's only brother, a gallant
soldier (e.g. as legatus to Caesar in Gaul), but a man of violent
temper. Proscribed by the Triumvirs, and put to death in 43 B.C.
11-12. +a Brundisinis ... ornatus+ = _having received attentions
from the most respectable men of Brundisium_.
13. +legati+ = _deputations_, i.e. from the various towns en route.
14. +nomenclatori+ (= lit. _one who calls by name_, cf. #kal-eô#,
_Cal-endae_): a confidential slave who attended his master in
canvassing, and on similar occasions, and told him the names of the
people he met.
18. +ad portam Capenam+ (_Porta S. Sebastiano_), by which the Via
Appia led to Capua. 'Cicero, perhaps for effect, followed the line
of triumphal procession.' --Impey.]

B46

CICERO'S RECANTATION, 56 B.C.

_In praise of Caesar._

Itaque cum acerrimis nationibus et maximis Germanorum et Helvetiorum proeliis felicissime decertavit: ceteras conterruit, compulit, domuit, imperio populi Romani parere assuefecit, et quas regiones, quasque gentes nullae nobis antea litterae, {5} nulla vox, nulla fama notas fecerat, has noster imperator nosterque exercitus et populi Romani arma peragrarunt. Semitam tantum Galliae tenebamus antea, patres conscripti; ceterae partes a gentibus aut inimicis huic imperio, aut infidis, aut {10} incognitis, aut certe immanibus et barbaris et bellicosis tenebantur; quas nationes, nemo umquam fuit, quin frangi domarique cuperet; nemo sapienter de republica nostra cogitavit iam inde a principio huius imperi, quin Galliam maxime timendam huic {15} imperio putaret; sed propter vim ac multitudinem gentium illarum numquam est antea cum omnibus dimicatum. Restitimus semper lacessiti. Nunc denique est perfectum, ut imperii nostri terrarumque illarum idem esset extremum. {20}

CICERO, _de Provinciis Consularibus_, § 33.

[Linenotes:
3. +compulit+ = _checked_, usu. = _to constrain_.
5. +nullae litterae+ = _no book_.
8. +Semitam tantum Galliae+ = _it was but a strip of Gaul._ --W. F.
+Semita+ (_se + mi_ = _go aside_, cf. _meo_, _trames_) = lit.
_a narrow way_, _path._
13-14. +nemo ... cogitavit+ = _there never has been a prudent
statesman_. --W. F.
17. +cum omnibus+, i.e. with the Gauls as a nation.
19-20. +ut imperi ... extremum+, i.e. that our Empire extends to the
utmost limits of that land.]

+Cicero's Recantation+ (#palinôdia#). The time for the struggle between the Senatorial party (the Optimates) and the Triumvirs, weakened by their mutual jealousy, seemed to have come. Accordingly Cicero proposed in a full house to reconsider Caesar's Agrarian Law (of 59 B.C.) for the allotment of lands in Campania; while Domitius Ahenobarbus (candidate for next year's Consulship) openly declared his intention to propose Caesar's recall. Caesar acted with his usual promptness, and the Conference at Luca restored an understanding between the three regents. Pompeius then crossed to Sardinia, and informed Q. Cicero that he would be held reponsible for any act of hostility on the part of his brother. Cicero had no choice but to submit, and delivered in the Senate his oration _de Provinciis Consularibus_, a political manifesto on behalf of Caesar and Pompeius--the _Recantation_ alluded to in _Ep. ad Att._ iv. 5, and elaborately explained in _Ep. ad Fam._ i. 9 (to Lentulus Spinther).

B47

CARRHAE, 53 B.C. (1)

'_Quem deus vult perdere, prius dementat._'

Dum Gallos per Caesarem in septentrione debellat, ipse interim ad orientem grave volnus a Parthis populus Romanus accepit. Nec de fortuna queri possumus; caret solacio clades. Adversis et dis et hominibus cupiditas consulis Crassi, dum Parthico {5} inhiat auro, undecim strage legionum et ipsius capite multata est. Primum enim, qui solus et subvehere commeatus et munire poterat a tergo, relictus Euphrates, dum simulato transfugae cuidam Mazzarae Syro creditur. Tum in mediam camporum {10} vastitatem eodem duce ductus exercitus, ut undique hosti exponeretur. Itaque vixdum venerat Carrhas cum undique praefecti regis Silaces et Surenas ostendere signa auro sericisque vexillis vibrantia. Tunc sine mora circumfusi undique equitatus in {15} modum grandinis atque nimborum densa pariter tela fuderunt. Sic miserabili strage deletus exercitus. Ipse in colloquium sollicitatus signo dato vivus in hostium manus incidisset, nisi tribunis reluctantibus fugam ducis barbari ferro occupassent. Filium {20} ducis paene in conspectu patris eisdem telis operuerunt. Reliquiae infelicis exercitus, quo quemque rapuit fuga, in Armeniam Ciliciam Syriamque distractae vix nuntium cladis rettulerunt.

FLORUS, III. xi. 1-10 (sel.)

+Context.+ By the conference of the Triumvirs at Luca, it was arranged to secure the succession of Crassus to the government of Syria, in order to make war on the growing strength of the Parthian Empire beyond the Euphrates. Consul with Pompeius in 55 B.C. he set out for his province even before the expiration of his consulship 'eager to gather in the treasures of the East in addition to those of the West.'

[Linenotes:
7-14. +Primum enim ... vibrantia.+ The Arab prince Abgarus induced
Crassus to leave the Euphrates, and cross the great Mesopotamian
desert to the Tigris. When at length the enemy offered battle some
30 miles to the S. of Carrhae (Harran, not far from Edessa), by the
side of the Parthian vizier stood prince Abgarus with his Bedouins.
15-17. +Tunc sine mora ... exercitus.+ The Roman weapons of close
combat, and the Roman system of concentration yielded for the first
time to cavalry and distant warfare (the bow).
20-21. +Filium ducis:+ his young and brave son Publius, who had
served with the greatest distinction under Caesar in Gaul.
22. +Reliquiae:+ out of 40,000 Roman legionaries, who had crossed
the Euphrates, not a fourth part returned: 20,000 fell, and 10,000
were taken prisoners.]

+Carrhae.+ 'The day of Carrhae takes its place side by side with the days of the Allia, and of Cannae.' --M.

B48

CARRHAE, 53 B.C. (2)

_After the Battle._

A.

Temporis angusti mansit concordia discors,
Paxque fuit non sponte ducum; nam sola futuri
Crassus erat belli medius mora. Qualiter undas 100
Qui secat et geminum gracilis mare separat Isthmos
Nec patitur conferre fretum: si terra recedat,
Ionium Aegaeo frangat mare: sic, ubi saeva
Arma ducum dirimens miserando funere Crassus
Assyrias Latio maculavit sanguine Carrhas, 105
Parthica Romanos solverunt damna furores.
Plus illa vobis acie quam creditis actum est,
Arsacidae: bellum victis civile dedistis.

LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, i. 98-108.

[Linenotes:
98. +Temporis ... discors+ = _the short-lived concord endured, but
it was a jarring_ (+discors+) _concord_. --Haskins.
101. +Isthmos+, sc. _of Corinth_: Caesar planned to cut it, and thus
to secure a direct route by sea, connecting Italy and the East.
102. +Nec patitur ... fretum+ = _and suffers it_ (+mare+, l. 101)
_not to join its waters_, i.e. the Corinthian and Saronic gulfs.]

B.

Milesne Crassi coniuge barbara
Turpis maritus vixit, et hostium
(Pro curia inversique mores!)
Consenuit socerorum in armis 8
Sub rege Medo Marsus et Apulus,
Anciliorum et nominis et togae
Oblitus aeternaeque Vestae,
Incolumi Iove et urbe Roma? 12

HORACE, _Odes_ III. v. 5-12.

Nearly 10,000 Roman prisoners were settled by the victors in the oasis of Merv, as bondsmen compelled after the Parthian fashion to render military service (+in armis+, l. 8).

[Linenotes:
8. +Consenuit:+ Carrhae (53 B.C.) was fought 26 years before this
Ode was written (27 B.C.).
10-11. +Anciliorum, aeternae Vestae+, pledges of the immortality of
Rome.
10. +togae+, i.e. the Roman people, the _gens togata_.
12. +Iove+, Jove's temple on the Capitol.]

C.

Crassus ad Euphraten aquilas natumque suosque
Perdidit, et leto est ultimus ipse datus.
"Parthe, quid exsultas?" dixit dea, "signa remittes,
Quique necem Crassi vindicet, ultor erit." 468

OVID, _Fasti_, vi. 465-468. [[Hallam VI. 397-400]]

[Linenote:
3-4. During the last few months of his life, Caesar was occupied
with the preparations for his expedition against the Parthians. In
36 B.C. Antonius carried on a disastrous campaign against Phraates,
King of Parthia, but in 20 B.C. Augustus received from the King the
Eagles (+signa+, l. 467) and prisoners captured at Carrhae.]

B49

CICERO, GOVERNOR OF CILICIA, 51-50 B.C.

_His humane Administration._

Ipse in Asiam profectus sum Tarso Nonis Ianuariis, non mehercule dici potest, qua admiratione Ciliciae civitatum maximeque Tarsensium; postea vero quam Taurum transgressus sum, mirifica exspectatio Asiae nostrarum dioecesium, quae sex {5} mensibus imperii mei nullas meas acceperat litteras, numquam hospitem viderat. Illud autem tempus quotannis ante me fuerat in hoc quaestu; civitates locupletes, ne in hiberna milites reciperent, magnas pecunias dabant, Cyprii talenta Attica CC, qua ex {10} insula--non #huperbolikôs#, sed verissime loquor--nummus nullus me obtinente erogabatur. Ob haec beneficia, quibus illi obstupescunt, nullos honores mihi nisi verborum decerni sino; statuas, fana, #tethrippa# prohibeo, nec sum in ulla re alia molestus {15} civitatibus, sed fortasse tibi, qui haec praedicem de me. Perifer, si me amas; tu enim me haec facere voluisti. Iter igitur ita per Asiam feci, ut etiam fames, qua nihil miserius est, quae tum erat in hac mea Asia--messis enim nulla fuerat--, mihi optanda {20} fuerit: quacumque iter feci, nulla vi, nullo iudicio, nulla contumelia auctoritate et cohortatione perfeci, ut et Graeci et cives Romani, qui frumentum compresserant, magnum numerum populis pollicerentur.

CICERO, _Ep. ad Atticum_, v. 21.

[Linenotes:
1. +in Asiam+, i.e. to the districts N. of the Taurus range, which
belonged geographically to Asia in the Roman sense, but were
politically attached to Cilicia. --Watson.
+Tarso+ = on the R. Cydnus, about twelve miles above its mouth.
Pompeius made Tarsus the capital of the new province of Cilicia,
66 B.C.
6-7. +nullas meas ... viderat+ = _had never received demands_
(+litteras+) _from me, never seen a man billeted on them_. The
+hospites+ = _soldiers or public officials_.
8. +fuerat in hoc quaestu+ = _had been devoted to gain in the
following fashion_. --Tyrrell.
9. +ne in hiberna milites reciperent:+ Mommsen says 'A town suffered
nearly to the same extent when a Roman army took up winter quarters
in it as when an enemy took it by storm.'
15. #tethrippa# = _statues in chariots drawn by four horses_.
20-21. +mihi optanda fuerit:+ i.e. because it gave him the
opportunity of showing the effect of his personal influence. --T.
23. +compresserant+ = _had stowed away_; lit. _kept back_, rare.]

+Cicero as Governor.+ His administration seems to have been just, considerate and popular.

For +Cicero's Ideal of a Roman Governor+, see _Ep. ad Q. F._ i. 1 (Q. Cicero governed Asia as Propraetor 62-58 B.C.)

CAUSES OF THE CIVIL WAR.

_Nec quemquam iam ferre potest Caesarve priorem
Pompeiusve parem._ --LUCAN.

+56 B.C. By the Conference at Luca+ it was arranged:--

(i) to give Caesar a new term of five years' government in which to complete his work in Gaul (until March 1, 49);

(ii) to give Pompeius the government of the two Spains, and Crassus that of Syria, for five years also.

It was further agreed that Pompeius and Crassus should have the consulship for 55 B.C.

+52 B.C. Pompeius Sole Consul.+ So things continued until 52 B.C., when the constant rioting (Clodius v. Milo), and utter lawlessness prevailing in Rome +gave Pompeius his opportunity+. The Senate in their distress caused Pompeius to be nominated sole Consul, with supreme power to meet the crisis. The death of Julia in 54 and of Crassus in 53 had removed the two strongest influences for peace, and from 52 onwards the breach between Pompeius and Caesar began to widen.

During Caesar's long absence from Rome his opponents, with Cato at their head, were waiting their chance to impeach him for numerous acts in his province, as soon as he appeared in Rome for the consular elections. He would then be merely a private citizen, and as such amenable to prosecution. Now Caesar's proconsulship of Gaul was to terminate on March 1, 49, and the consular elections would take place at the earliest in the following summer. +There would therefore be an interval between the two offices+, and Caesar would be exposed to the utmost peril, if he gave up province and army on March 1, 49. Caesar had long foreseen this. When the law was passed in 55, which added a fresh term of five years to his government, +Pompeius seems to have inserted in it+ (doubtless in accordance with a previous promise to Caesar) +a clause prohibiting the discussion of a successor before March 1, 50+. Caesar therefore could not be superseded except by the consuls of 49, and these would not be able to succeed him (as proconsuls) till Jan. 1, 48. He would thus be able to retain his army and government throughout the year 49.

+Caesar's canvass for the Consulship.+ As the law stood, he would have to come in person to Rome. But early in 52 +a decree was promulgated, with the support of Pompeius, which relieved him from the necessity of canvassing in person+. Caesar might now feel himself safe: he would retain both army and provinces throughout 49, and would not be forced to return to Rome until he was safe from prosecution as Consul.

+Lex Pompeia de iure magistratuum.+ But this did not suit Caesar's enemies. Pompeius and the Senate combined to alter the whole legal machinery for appointing provincial governors. +There was to be an interval of five years between a consulship and a proconsulship+, which would prevent Caesar, even if he were duly elected Consul in 49, from obtaining a fresh provincial governorship until five years from the end of 48. When the bill became law (as it did in 51) there would be an interval of some years before any consuls would be qualified under it for provinces: and to fill up the governorships during the interval, the Senate was authorised to appoint any person of consular rank who had not as yet proceeded to a proconsulship. +Thus Caesar's resignation both of his army and his province could be demanded on March 1, 49.+

+50 B.C. Caesar's overtures for peace.+ Caesar let it be known to the Senate through Curio that +he was willing to resign his army and provinces if Pompeius would simultaneously do the same+: and the Senate voted a resolution in this sense by a majority of 370 to 22. The presiding Consul, Gaius Marcellus, broke up the meeting in anger, and with the two Consuls elected for 49 (Claudius Marcellus and Lentulus Crus) requested Pompeius to put himself at the head of the two legions stationed at Capua and to call the Italian militia to arms.

+Caesar had completely attained the object of devolving the initiative of Civil War on his opponents.+ He had, while himself keeping on legal ground, compelled Pompeius to declare war, and to declare it not as the representative of the legitimate authority, but as general of a revolutionary minority of the Senate, which overawed the majority. --_Adapted from Long, Mommsen, and Warde Fowler._

B50

CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (1)

_Caesar crosses the Rubicon, 49 B.C._

Fonte cadit modico parvisque impellitur undis
Puniceus Rubicon cum fervida canduit aestas,
Perque imas serpit valles et Gallica certus 215
Limes ab Ausoniis disterminat arva colonis.
Tunc vires praebebat hiemps atque auxerat undas
Tertia iam gravido pluvialis Cynthia cornu
Et madidis Euri resolutae flatibus Alpes.
Primus in obliquum sonipes opponitur amnem 220
Excepturus aquas; molli tum cetera rumpit
Turba vado faciles iam fracti fluminis undas.
Caesar, ut adversam superato gurgite ripam
Attigit Hesperiae vetitis et constitit arvis,
'Hic' ait 'hic pacem temerataque iura relinquo; 225
Te, Fortuna, sequor; procul hinc iam foedora sunto,
Credidimus fatis, utendum est iudice bello.'
Sic fatus noctis tenebris rapit agmina ductor
Impiger; it torto Balearis verbere fundae
Ocior et missa Parthi post terga sagitta 230
Vicinumque minax invadit Ariminum, et ignes
Solis lucifero fugiebant astra relicto.
Iamque dies primos belli visura tumultus
Exoritur; seu sponte deum, seu turbidus Auster
Impulerat, maestam tenuerunt nubila lucem. 235

LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, i. 213-235.

+Context.+ On Lentulus Crus and Claudius Marcellus, the Consuls for 49 B.C., must rest the immediate blame of the Civil War. On Jan. 1st Caesar's tribune Curio once more presented proposals from Caesar, which startle us by their marvellous moderation (cf. Suet. _Caesar_, 29, 30), but Lentulus would not allow them to be considered. On Jan. 7th the _Senatus consultum ultimum_ was decreed, and a state of war declared. Caesar crossed the Rubicon, the narrow brook which separated his province from Italy, to pass which at the head of an army was high treason to the State. --W. F.

[Linenotes:
214. +puniceus+ = _dark red_: +Rubicon+, as if from _ruber_.
216. +limes+, i.e. until the time of Augustus, by whom Italy was
extended to the R. Varus, the boundary between Gallia Narbonensis
and Italy.
218. I.e. prob. the third night after the change of moon; +gravido+ =
_surcharged with rain_. --Haskins.
219. +Alpes+ = _mountains_, not _the_ Alps.
225. +temerata+, i.e. by Pompeius and the senatorial party.
229. +verbere+ = the _thong_, i.e. of the sling (+fundae+).
231. +Ariminum+ (Rimini), at this period the frontier town of Italy.]

+The Passage of the Rubicon.+ 'When after nine years' absence he trod once more the soil of his native land, he trod at the same time the path of revolution. Alea iacta est.' --M.

B51

CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (2)

_Caesar defends himself before the Senate, April 49 B.C._

His rebus confectis Caesar, ut reliquum tempus a labore intermitteretur, milites in proxima municipia deducit; ipse ad urbem proficiscitur. Coacto senatu iniurias inimicorum commemorat. Docet se nullum extraordinarium honorem appetisse, sed exspectato {5} legitimo tempore consulatus eo fuisse contentum, quod omnibus civibus pateret. Latum ab x tribunis plebis contradicentibus inimicis, Catone vero acerrime repugnante et pristina consuetudine dicendi mora dies extrahente, ut sui ratio absentis haberetur, ipso {10} consule Pompeio; qui si improbasset, cur ferri passus esset? qui si improbasset, cur se uti populi beneficio prohibuisset? Patientiam proponit suam, cum de exercitibus dimittendis ultro postulavisset; in quo iacturam dignitatis atque honoris ipse facturus {15} esset. Acerbitatem inimicorum docet, qui, quod ab altero postularent, in se recusarent atque omnia permisceri mallent, quam imperium exercitusque dimittere. Iniuriam in eripiendis legionibus praedicat, crudelitatem et insolentiam in circumscribendis {20} tribunis plebis; condiciones a se latas, expetita colloquia et denegata commemorat. Pro quibus rebus hortatur ac postulat, ut rem publicam suscipiant atque una secum administrent.

CAESAR, _de B. C._ i. 32.

+Context.+ After his passage of the Rubicon, Caesar quickly made himself master of Italy. Town after town opened its gates to him. Corfinium (held in force by Domitius for Pompeius) surrendered, and the captured troops enlisted in his ranks. An attempt to blockade Pompeius in Brundisium was skilfully foiled. On the last day of March Caesar arrived at Rome. The Senate was legally summoned by the tribunes Antonius and Cassius, and +was invited to unite with him in carrying on the government+.

[Linenotes:
2. +municipia+, i.e. Brundisium, Tarentum, Hydruntum (Otranto).
10. +ut sui ... haberetur+, i.e. allowing him to stand for the
consulship in his absence.
15. +iacturam dignitatis+ = sacrifice of prestige. --Long.
19. +eripiendis legionibus+, i.e. in 50 B.C. Caesar was required to
send home a legion he had borrowed of Pompeius, and contribute
another himself, ostensibly for the Parthian War; but the legions
were detained by Pompeius in Italy, and the Parthian War was quietly
dropped.]

+Caesar in Rome.+ All Caesar's acts after the crossing of the Rubicon were entirely unconstitutional. But when he told the senators that he was prepared to take the government on himself, he was justified to himself by the past, and to posterity by the result. --W. F.

B52

CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (3)

_The Campaign round Lerida: the Soldiers fraternise, 49 B.C._

Dixit et ad montes tendentem praevenit hostem.
Illic exiguo paulum distantia vallo
Castra locant. Postquam spatio languentia nullo
Mutua conspicuos habuerunt lumina voltus, 170
Et fratres natosque sues videre, patresque;
Deprensum est civile nefas. Tenuere parumper
Ora metu, tantum nutu motoque salutant
Ense suos; mox ut stimulis maioribus ardens
Rupit amor leges, audet transcendere vallum 175
Miles, in amplexus effusas tendere palmas.
Hospitis ille ciet nomen, vocat ille propinquum,
Admonet hunc studiis consors puerilibus aetas;
Nec Romanus erat, qui non agnoverat hostem. 179
Pax erat, et miles castris permixtus utrisque 196
Errabat; duro concordes caespite mensas
Instituunt et permixto libamina Baccho;
Graminei luxere foci, iunctoque cubili
Extrahit insomnes bellorum fabula noctes, 200
Quo primum steterint campo, qua lancea dextrum
Exierit. Dum quae gesserunt fortia iactant,
Et dum multa negant, quod solum fata petebant,
Est miseris renovata fides, atque omne futurum
Crevit amore nefas. 205

LUCAN, iv. 167-179, 196-205.

+Context.+ On leaving Rome Caesar set out for Spain to encounter the veteran army of Pompeius under his legati Afranius and Petreius. If this were crushed, he felt he would be free to take the offensive against Pompeius in the East. Round Lerida (_Ilerda_) on the R. Segres (a tributary of the Ebro) he fought the most brilliant campaign of all his military life. After severe losses and hardships, Caesar outmanoeuvred the Pompeians, cut them off from their base on the Ebro, and forced a surrender on most generous terms.

[Linenotes:
167. +Dixit+, sc. Caesar.
+ad montes+, i.e. the rocky hills through which the retreating
Pompeians had to pass before they could reach the Ebro valley.
Caesar, by a wonderful march, outstrips (+praevenit+) them and
blocks the way.
169. +spatio+ (sc. _interposito_) +languentia nullo+ = _not failing_
(+languentia+) _owing to the distance_, i.e. they were so near they
could not fail to recognise one another. --Haskins.
173. +metu+, i.e. of their leaders.
175. +Rupit leges+ = _burst the bonds of discipline_. --H.
178. +Admonet ... aetas+ = _one is reminded of his friend by the time
passed together in boyhood's pursuits_. --H.
200. +Extrahit+ = _whiles away_.]

+Result of the Campaign.+ The whole of the western half of the Empire was now in Caesar's power, with the single exception of Massilia.

B53

CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (4)

_Siege of Massilia. A Treacherous Sortie, 49 B.C._

A.

Iam satis hoc Graiae memorandum contigit urbi
Aeternumque decus, quod non impulsa nec ipso
Strata metu tenuit flagrantis in omnia belli 390
Praecipitem cursum, raptisque a Caesare cunctis
Vincitur una mora. Quantum est quod fata tenentur,
Quodque virum toti properans imponere mundo
Hos perdit fortuna, dies!

LUCAN, iii. 388-394.

+Context.+ Caesar's appeal to the leading citizens to espouse his cause was at first successful, but the arrival of Domitius (whom he had treated so generously at Corfinium) with a fleet caused the Massiliots to change their mind. Unable to remain himself, Caesar entrusted the siege to Trebonius, supported by Dec. Brutus with the fleet. He has, however, left us a detailed account of their skill and energy, and of the heroic defence of the citizens, +marred by a treacherous sortie under a truce+. He returned to receive its final submission, and left the city unharmed, as a tribute 'rather to its ancient renown than to any claim it had on himself.'

[Linenotes:
389. +non impulsa+ = _not urged by others_, i.e. by Pompeius and his
adherents. But cf. Caesar, _de B. C._ i. 34.
391. +raptis+ = _speedily won_. --H.]

B. At hostes sine fide tempus atque occasionem fraudis ac doli quaerunt; interiectisque aliquot diebus, nostris languentibus atque animo remissis, {10} subito meridiano tempore, cum alius discessisset, alius ex diutino labore in ipsis operibus quieti se dedisset, arma vero omnia reposita contectaque essent, portis se foras erumpunt, secundo magnoque vento ignem operibus inferunt. Hunc sic distulit {15} ventus, uti uno tempore agger, plutei, testudo, turris, tormenta flammam conciperent, et prius haec omnia consumerentur, quam quem ad modum accidisset animadverti posset. Nostri repentina fortuna permoti arma, quae possunt, arripiunt; alii ex castris {20} sese incitant. Fit in hostes impetus eorum, sed muro sagittis tormentisque fugientes persequi prohibentur. Illi sub murum se recipiunt, ibique musculum turrimque latericiam libere incendunt. Ita multorum mensium labor hostium perfidia et vi {25} tempestatis puncto temporis interiit.

CAESAR, _de Bello Civili_, ii. 14.

[Linenotes:
13. +contecta:+ i.e. the shield kept in a leather casing.
16. +plutei+ = _screens_ or _mantlets_ of hurdles covered with raw
hides.
17. +tormenta+ (_torqu + mentum_) = _artillery_, engines for
throwing missiles by _twisted_ ropes; e.g. the _ballista_,
_catapulta_.
24. +musculum+ = _sapping-shed_.
+turrim latericiam+ = _brick tower_.
25. +multorum mensium+, i.e. from May to August 49 B.C.]

B54

CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (5)

'_Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it._'

Quid nunc rostra tibi prosunt turbata forumque
Unde tribunicia plebeius signifer arce 800
Arma dabas populis? Quid prodita iura senatus
Et gener atque socer bello concurrere iussi?
Ante iaces quam dira duces Pharsalia confert,
Spectandumque tibi bellum civile negatum est. 804
Libycas en nobile corpus 809
Pascit aves nullo contectus Curio busto. 810
At tibi nos, quando non proderit ista silere
A quibus omne aevi senium sua fama repellit,
Digna damus, iuvenis, meritae praeconia vitae.
Haud alium tanta civem tulit indole Roma,
Aut cui plus leges deberent recta sequenti. 815
Perdita nunc urbi nocuerunt saecula, postquam
Ambitus et luxus et opum metuenda facultas
Transverso mentem dubiam torrente tulerunt;
Momentumque fuit mutatus Curio rerum
Gallorum captus spoliis et Caesaris auro. 820
Ius licet in iugulos nostros sibi fecerit ense
Sulla potens Mariusque ferox et Cinna cruentus
Caesareaeque domus series; cui tanta potestas
Concessa est? Emere omnes, hic vendidit urbem.

LUCAN, _Pharsalia_, iv. 799-804, 809-end.