Cæsar was defending there the
cause of Nysa, daughter of Nicomedes; he recalled the obligations which
he owed to this king.
cause of Nysa, daughter of Nicomedes; he recalled the obligations which
he owed to this king.
Napoleon - History of Julius Caesar - a
|
--Fulvia. | |
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+-------------+ +------------------------------+ |
| | | | | |
L. Jul. Cæsar, Julia. C. JUL. CÆSAR, Julia, maj. Julia, min. Sex. Jul. Cæsar,
Cos. , 690. --M. Antonius. Dictator. --L. Pinarius. M. A. Balbus. flam. Quirin.
| --P. Lentulus. --Cornelia. --+ --Q. Pedius. | |
| | | |
| | | |
L. Jul. Cæsar. Julia Atia Sex. Julius Cæsar.
--708. --Cn. Pomp. Mag. (moth. of Augustus). --708.
|
|
--Cn. Pompeius.
--Pompeia.
--Calpurnia.
The opinion most accredited with the ancients, on the origin of the name
of Cæsar, was that Julius slew an elephant in a fight. In the Punic
tongue _cæsar_ signifies “an elephant. ” The medals of Cæsar, as grand
pontiff, confirm this hypothesis; on the reverse is an elephant crushing
a serpent beneath its feet. (Cohen, _Consular Medals_, plate xx.
10. )--We know that some symbols on the Roman medals are a species of
canting heraldry. Pliny gives another etymology of the name of Cæsar:
“Primusque Cæsarum a cæso matris utero dictus, qua de causa et _Cæsones_
appellati. ” (_Natural History_, VII. 9. )--Festus (p. 57) thus expresses
himself: “_Cæsar_ a _cæsarie_ dictus est; qui scilicet cum cæsarie natus
est;” and page 45: “_Cæsariati_ (comati). ”--Finally, Spartianus (_Life
of Ælius Verus_, ii. ) sums up in these words the greater part of the
etymologies: “_Cæsorem_ vel ab elephante (qui lingua Mauroram _cæsar_
dicitur) in prœlio cæso, cum qui primus sic appellatus est, doctissimi
et eruditissimi viri putant dictum; vel quia mortua matre, ventre cæso
sit natus; vel quod cum magnis crinibus sit utero parentis effusus; vel
quod oculis cæsiis et ultra humanum morem viguerit. ” (See Isidore,
_Origines_, IX. iii. 12. --Servius, _Commentary on the Æneid_, I. 290,
and Constantine Manasses, p. 71. )
[745] Pliny, _Natural History_, VII. 53. --“Cæsar was in his sixteenth
year when he lost his father. ” (Suetonius, I. )
[746] “He sprang from the noble family of the _Julii_, and, according to
an opinion long believed in, he derived his origin from Venus and
Anchises. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 41. )
[747] In fact, the _gens_ Marcia, one of the most illustrious patrician
families in Rome, reckoned among its ancestors Numa Marcius, who married
Pompilia, the daughter of Numa Pompilius, by whom he had Ancus Marcius,
who was King of Rome after the death of Tullus Hostilius. (Plutarch,
_Coriolanus_, I; _Numa_, 26. )
[748] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, vi. This passage, as generally translated, is
unintelligible, because the translators render the words Martii Reges by
_the Kings Martius_, instead of the family of Marcius Rex.
[749] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 10.
[750] “So Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi; Aurelia, mother of Cæsar;
Atia, mother of Augustus, all presided over the education of their
children, we are told, and made them into great men. ” (Tacitus,
_Dialogue concerning Orators_, 28. )
[751] “Ingenii magni, memoriæ singularis, nec minus Græce quam Latine
doctus. ” (Suetonius, _On Illustrious Grammarians_, 7. )
[752] “A sermone Græco puerum incipere malo. ” (Quintilian, _Institution
of Oratory_, I. i. )
[753] Claudius, addressing a foreigner who spoke Greek and Latin, said,
“Since thou possessest our two languages. ” (Suetonius, _Claudius_, 42. )
[754] Καἱ σὑ, τἑκνον! (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 82. )
[755] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 56.
[756] “Still quite young, he seems to have attached himself to the kind
of eloquence adopted by Strabo Cæsar, and he has even given, in his
_Divination_, several passages, word for word, of the discourse of this
orator for the Sardinians. ” (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 55. )
[757] Aulus Gellius, IV. 16.
[758] “For Cæsar and Brutus have also made verses, and have placed them
in the public libraries. Poets as feeble as Cicero, but happier than he,
in that fewer people knew what they had done. ” (Tacitus, _Dialogue
concerning Orators_, 21. )
[759]
Tu quoque, tu in summis, o dimidiate Menander,
Poneris, et merito, puri sermonis amator.
Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis
Comica, ut æquato virtus polleret honore
Cum Græcis; neque in hac despectus parte jaceres!
Unum hoc maceror et doleo tibi deesse, Terenti.
(Suetonius, _Life of Terence_, 5. )
[760] “Liberal to prodigality, and of a courage above human nature and
even imagination. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 41. )
[761] “He held, undeniably, the second rank among the orators of Rome. ”
(Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 3. )
[762] “Nam cui Hortensio, Lucullove, _vel Cæsari_, tam parata unquam
adfuit recordatio, quam tibi sacra mens tua loco momentoque, quo
jusseris, reddit omne depositum? ” (Latinus Pacatus, _Panegyricus in
Theodosium_, XVIII. 3. )--(Pliny, _Natural History_, VII. 25. )
[763] “Quamvis moderate soleret irasci, maluit tamen non posse. ”
(Seneca, _De Ira_, II. 23. )
[764] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 4.
[765] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 19.
[766] “To the external advantages which distinguished him from all the
other citizens, Cæsar joined an impetuous and powerful soul. ” (Velleius
Paterculus, II. 41. )
[767] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 15.
[768] “By his voice, his gesture, the grand and noble air of his person,
he had a certain brilliant manner of speech, without the least
artifice. ” (Cicero, _Brutus_, 75; copied by Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 55. )
[769] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 18.
[770] “From his first youth he was much used to horseback, and had even
acquired the facility of riding with dropped reins and his hands joined
behind his back. ” (Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 18. )
[771] “He ate and slept without enjoying the pleasure of either, and
only to obey necessity. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 41. )
[772] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 53. --(Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 18 and 58. )
[773] “And when,” says Cicero, “I look at his hair, so artistically
arranged; and when I see him scratch his head with one finger, I cannot
believe that such a man could conceive so black a design as to overthrow
the Roman Republic. ” (Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 4. )
[774] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 45. --Cicero said likewise, “I suffered myself
to be caught by the fashion of his girdle,” alluding to his hanging
robe, which gave him an effeminate appearance. (Macrobius, _Saturnalia_,
II. 3. )
[775] Dio Cassius, XLIII. 43.
[776] Velleius Paterculus, II. 41.
[777] Suetonius (_Cæsar_, 1) says that Cæsar was _designated_
(_destinatus_) flamen. Velleius Paterculus (II. 43), that he was
_created_ flamen. In our opinion he was created, but not _inaugurated_,
flamen. Now, as long as this formality was not accomplished, he was only
the flamen designate. What proves that he had never been _inaugurated_
is, that Sylla could revoke it; and, on another hand, Tacitus says
(_Annales_, III. 53) that, after the death of Cornelius Merula, the
flamenship of Jupiter remained vacant for seventy-two years, without any
interruption to the special worship of this god. So that, evidently,
they did not count the flamenship of Cæsar as real, since he had never
entered on his office.
[778] “Dimissa Cossutia . . . quæ pretextato desponsata fuerat. ”
(Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1. )--This passage from Suetonius clearly indicates
that he was betrothed, and not married, to Cossutia; for Suetonius uses
the word _dimittere_, which means “to _free_,” and not the word
_repudiare_ in its true meaning; besides, _desponsata_ signifies
_betrothed_. --Plutarch says that Cornelia was the first wife of Cæsar,
though he pretends that he married Pompeia as his third. (Plutarch,
_Cæsar_, 5. )
[779] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5.
[780] Velleius Paterculus, II. 41.
[781] “What an infamy to introduce into his house a pregnant woman, with
her husband still living; and to thrust from it, ignominiously and
cruelly, Antistia, whose father had just perished for the husband who
repudiated her! ” (Plutarch, _Pompey_, 8. )
[782] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1.
[783] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 1. --Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 74.
[784] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 74.
[785] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1.
[786] The vestals enjoyed great privileges: if they met by chance a
criminal on his way to execution, he was set at liberty. (Plutarch,
_Numa_, 14. )--Valerius Maximus (V. iv. 6) reports the following fact:
“The vestal Claudia, seeing that a tribune of the people was about to
drag her father, Appius Claudius Pulcher, with violence from his
triumphal car, interfered between the tribune and him, by virtue of her
right to oppose violence. ”--Cicero (_Oration for Cœlius_, 14) likewise
alludes to this celebrated anecdote.
[787] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1.
[788] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 2.
[789] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 2. --Pliny, XVI. 4. --Aulus Gellius, V. 6.
[790] C. Cæsar, grand pontiff, in his discourse for the Bithynians, thus
expresses himself in his exordium:--“The hospitality which I have
received from King Nicomedes, and the bond of friendship which unites me
to those whose cause is under debate, do not permit me, Marcus Juncus,
to decline this office (_that of being the advocate of the Bithynians_);
for death ought not to efface from the memory of their kindred the
recollection of those who have lived, and we could not, without the last
degree of disgrace, abandon our clients, those to whom, after our
kindred, we owe our support. ” (Aulus Gellius, V. xiii. 1. )
[791] “Nothing damaged his reputation for chastity,” says Suetonius,
“except his sojourn with Nicomedes; but the opprobrium which resulted
from it was grave and lasting; it exposed him to the sneers of all. I
will say nothing of those well-known verses of Calvus Licinius--
. . . ‘Bithynia quidquid
Et pedicator Cæsaris unquam habuit. ’
I will be silent on the speeches of Dolabella and Curio the father, . . .
neither will I linger over the edicts in which Bibulus publicly exposed
his colleague by speaking of him as the _queen of Bithynia_. . . . M.
Brutus informs us that a certain Octavius, whose craziness allowed him
to say what he would, being one day in a numerous assembly, called
Pompey _king_, then saluted Cæsar by the name of _queen_. C. Memmius
also reproaches him for having mixed himself up with other debauchees to
present Nicomedes with cups and wine at table, and he quotes the names
of several Roman merchants who were among the guests. . . . Cicero
apostrophised him once in full Senate.
Cæsar was defending there the
cause of Nysa, daughter of Nicomedes; he recalled the obligations which
he owed to this king. ‘Let us pass by all that, I beg you,’ cried
Cicero: ‘we know only too well what he has given thee, and what he has
received from thee. ’ On his triumph over the Gauls, the soldiers, among
other satirical verses which it was their custom to sing as they
followed the car of the general, repeated these, which are well known:--
‘Gallias Cæsar subegit, Nicomedes Cæsarem.
Ecce Cæsar nunc triumphat, qui subegit Gallias;
Nicomedes non triumphat, qui subegit Cæsarem. ’”
(Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 40. )
[792] Cicero, _Letters to Atticus_, II. 19.
[793] These reports, like other calumnies, were propagated by Cæsar’s
enemies, such as Curio and Bibulus, and repeated in the ridiculous
annals of Tanusius Geminus (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 9), the authority of
which Seneca despised. “Thou knowest that not much account is made of
these annals of Tanusius, and how they are designated. ” (Seneca,
_Epistle_ 93. )--Catullus (xxxvi. 1) gives us that term of contempt to
which Seneca alludes (_cacata charta_).
[794] “Marius had in his army a nephew, called Caius Lucius, who,
overcome by a shameful passion for one of his subordinates, offered him
an act of violence. The man drew his sword and killed him. Cited before
the tribunal of Marius, instead of being punished he was loaded with
praises by the consul, who gave him one of the crowns which were the
usual reward of courage. ” (Plutarch, _Marius_, 15. )
[795] “Cæsar was not vexed at being accused of loving Cleopatra; but he
could not bear that they should say he had been loved by Nicomedes. _He
swore it was a calumny. _” (Xiphilinus, _Julius Cæsar_, p. 30, Paris
edition, 1678. )
[796] Orosius, V. 23.
[797] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 3.
[798] Florus, III. 23.
[799] Appian, I. 107.
[800] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 3.
[801] Sallust, _Fragments_, I. , p. 363.
[802] Florus, III. 23.
[803] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 3.
[804] “The Romans regarded as honourable accusations which had no
private enmity as their motive, and they liked to see young men attach
themselves to the pursuit of the guilty, as generous dogs attack wild
beasts. ” (Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 1. )
[805] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 4. --Asconius, _Discourse for Scaurus_, XVI. ii.
245, edit. Schütz.
[806] Valerius Maximus, VIII. ix. § 3. --“Cæsar was twenty-one years of
age when he attacked Dolabella, in a speech which we still read to-day
with admiration. ” (Tacitus, _Dialogue on the Orators_, 34. )--According
to the chronological order which we have adopted, Cæsar, instead of
twenty-one, would have been twenty-three years old; but as Tacitus, in
the same citation, also errs, by two years, in making Crassus, who had
accused Carbo, nineteen instead of twenty-one, we may suppose that he
has committed the same mistake with Cæsar. In fact, Crassus tells his
own age in Cicero (_On the Orators_, III. 20, § 74): “Quippe qui _omnium
maturrime_ ad publicas causas accesserim, annosque natus _unum et
viginti_ nobilissimum hominem in judicium vocarim. ”--Crassus, the
orator, was born in 614; he accused Carbo in 635, the date given by
Cicero.
[807] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 3. --Asconius, _Commentaries on the Oration, “In
Toga Candida,”_ pp. 84, 89, edit. Orelli.
[808] _Dialogue on the Orators_, 21.
[809] Cicero, _Oration for Cluentius_, 59. The manuscripts of Cicero
bear _Cn. Decitius_.
[810] This island, now called _Fermaco_, is at the entrance of the Gulf
of Assem-Kalessi. Pliny and Stephen of Byzantium are the only
geographers who mention it, and the last tells us further, that it was
here that Attalus, the famous lieutenant of Philip of Macedon, was slain
by Alexander’s order.
[811] Polyænus, _Stratagems_, VII. 23.
[812] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 4.
[813] Velleius Paterculus, II. 41.
[814] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 2.
[815] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 8.
[816] Suetonius mentions, as an act of humanity, that their corpses
alone were nailed to the cross, Cæsar having had them strangled
beforehand to shorten their agony. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 74. --Velleius
Paterculus, II. 42. )
[817] Suetonius, Cæsar, 4.
[818] Velleius Paterculus, II. 43. --Asconius, _On the Oration of Cicero
against Pisa_; edit. Orelli.
[819] Velleius Paterculus, II. 53.
[820] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 5. --Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5.
[821] The tribunes by the nomination of the general were usually called
_rufuli_, because they were established by the law of Rutilius Rufus;
the military tribunes elected by the people were called _comitati_; they
were held as veritable magistrates. (Pseudo-Asconius, _Commentary on the
First Speech of Cicero against Verres_, p. 142, edit. Orelli; and Festus
under _Rufuli_, p. 261, edit. Müller. )
[822] Plutarch, _Sertorius_, 15, 16.
[823] “The enemy was already master of the passes which lead to Italy;
from the foot of the Alps, he (Pompey) drove him back to Spain. ”
(Sallust, _Letter from Pompey to the Senate_. )
[824] Velleius Paterculus, II. 30. --100,000 according to Appian (_Civil
Wars_, I. 117).
[825] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 8.
[826] Sallust, _Fragments_, III. 258.
[827] Appian, _Civil Wars_, I. xiv. 121.
[828] “The Republic, wounded and sick, so to say, had need of repose, no
matter at what price. ” (Sallust, _Fragments_, I. 68. )
[829] “We see how far are carried the jealousy and animosity which the
virtue and activity of the new men light up in the heart of certain
nobles. If we turn away our eyes never so little, what snares do they
not lay for us! One would say that they were of another nature, another
kind, so much are their feelings and wishes opposed to ours. ” (Cicero,
_Second Prosecution of Verres_, v. 71. )--“The nobility transmitted from
hand to hand this supreme dignity (the consulship), of which they were
in exclusive possession. Every new man, whatever his renown and the
glory of his deeds, appeared unworthy of this honour; he was as if
sullied by the stain of his birth. ” (Sallust, _Jugurtha_, 63. )
[830] Sallust, _Catilina_, 52.
[831] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 9.
[832] Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 8, 9, 12; _Second
Prosecution_, i. 29. --Pseudo-Asconius, _On the first Prosecution of
Verres_, page 145, edit. Orelli. The orations of Cicero are full of
allusions to these agents for the purchase of votes and judges.
[833] “In these later years, the men who make a trade of intriguing in
elections have been enabled, by diligence and address, to obtain from
the citizens of their tribes all that they chose to demand. Endeavour,
by any means you will, to make these men serve you sincerely and with
the steadfast will to succeed. You would obtain it if men were as
grateful as they ought to be; and you will obtain it, I am afraid,
since, for two years, four societies of those most influential in
elections--those of Marcus Fundanius, Quintas Gallius, Gaius Cornelius,
and Gaius Orcivius--have engaged themselves for you. I was present when
the causes of these men were entrusted to you, and I know what was
promised to you, and what guarantees have been given to you by their
associates. ” (_On the Petition for the Consulship addressed to Cicero by
his brother Quintus_, 5. )
[834] Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 13.
[835] “Each city of the conquered peoples has a patron at Rome. ”
(Appian, _Civil Wars_, II. 4. )
[836] Cicero, _Second Prosecution of Verres_, III. 89. Cicero adds in a
letter, “We may judge, by the sufferings of our own fellow-citizens, of
what the inhabitants of the provinces have to endure from the public
farmers (_publicani_). When several tolls were suppressed in Italy,
remonstrances were made not so much against the principle of taxation as
against abuses in levying it, and the cries of the Romans on the soil of
the country tell only too plainly what must be the fate of the allies at
the extremity of the empire. ” (_Letters to Quintus_, I. 1, § 33. )
[837] Dio Cassius, 86; _Fragments_, CCCI. edit. Gros.
[838] Cicero, _On Duties_, II. 17; _Letters to Quintus_, II. 6, §
4. --Plutarch, _Brutus_, 14.
[839] Florus, III. 21.
[840] “The name of C. Marius--of that great man who we may justly call
the father of the country, the regenerator of our liberty, the saviour
of the Republic. ” (Cicero, _Speech for Rabirius_, 10. )--“I have, as your
guarantee, your indignation against Sylla. ” (Dio Cassius, XXXVI. 17,
_Oration of Catulus to the Senate_. )--“Where can we find a personage
(Marius) more serious, more firm, more distinguished by courage,
circumspection, conscience? ” (Cicero, _Speech for Balbus_, 25. )--“Not
only do we suffer his acts (Sylla’s), but to prevent worse disasters,
greater ills, we give them the sanction of public authority. ” (Cicero,
_Second Prosecution of Verres_, III. 35. )
[841] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 6.
[842] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 12.
[843] Pompey slew Carbo, Perpenna, and Brutus, the father of the
assassin of Cæsar, who had yielded themselves to him: the first had
protected his youth and saved his patrimony. (Valerius Maximus, V. iii.
v. )
[844] Count Franz de Champagny, _Les Cæsars_, I. p. 50.
[845] “It was in his character to show little regard for what he was
ambitious to obtain. ” (Dio Cassius, XXXVI. 7. )--“Pompey, with a heart as
depraved as his face was pure. ” (Sallust, _Fragments_, II. 176. )
[846] “At last, when Pompey, haranguing the people for the first time at
the gates of the city, in his capacity of consul-designate, came to
treat of the matter which seemed to have been most ardently expected,
and let it be understood that he would re-establish the power of the
tribunes, he was received with applause, and a slight murmur of assent;
but when he added that the provinces were devastated and oppressed, the
tribunals disgraced, the judges without shame, and that he wished to be
watchful of these abuses, and to restore good order, then it was not by
a simple murmur, but by unanimous acclamations, that the people
testified their desires. ” (Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 15. )
[847] Catulus, when asked his opinion on the re-establishment of the
tribunary power, began in these authoritative words:--“The conscript
fathers administer justice evilly and scandalously; and if, in the
tribunals, they had but answered the expectations of the Roman people,
the power of the tribunes would not have been so warmly regretted. ”
(Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 15. )
[848] “His enemies had nothing else to reproach him with than the
preference which he gave to the people over the Senate. ” (Plutarch,
_Pompey_, 20. )
[849] “He seconded with all his might those who wished to restore the
power of the tribunes. ” (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 5. )
[850] 7,100 talents. (Plutarch, _Crassus_, 1. )
[851] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 2. --Cicero, _On Duties_, I. 8.
[852] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 7.
[853] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 8.
[854] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 8.
[855] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 1, 16.
[856] “Cotta judicandi munus, quod C. Gracchus ereptum Senatui, ad
equites, Sylla ab illis ad Senatum transtulerat, æqualiter inter
utrumque ordinem partitus est. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 32. )
[857] “Equidem mihi videor pro nostra necessitate, non labore, non
opera, non industria defuisse. ” (Certainly, I believe I have displayed
all the zeal, all the endeavour, all the ability which our kinship
demands. ) Cæsar, quoted by Aulus Gellius, XIII. 3. --Nonius Marcellus,
“_On the different significations of words_,” under the word
_Necessitas_.
[858] Sallust, _Fragments_, I. 68.
[859] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 21.
[860] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5. --Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 6.
[861] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5.
[862] The images of Æneas, of Romulus, and of the Kings of Alba Longa
also figured in the funeral canopy of the Julia family. (Tacitus,
_Annales_, IV.
--Fulvia. | |
| | |
+-------------+ +------------------------------+ |
| | | | | |
L. Jul. Cæsar, Julia. C. JUL. CÆSAR, Julia, maj. Julia, min. Sex. Jul. Cæsar,
Cos. , 690. --M. Antonius. Dictator. --L. Pinarius. M. A. Balbus. flam. Quirin.
| --P. Lentulus. --Cornelia. --+ --Q. Pedius. | |
| | | |
| | | |
L. Jul. Cæsar. Julia Atia Sex. Julius Cæsar.
--708. --Cn. Pomp. Mag. (moth. of Augustus). --708.
|
|
--Cn. Pompeius.
--Pompeia.
--Calpurnia.
The opinion most accredited with the ancients, on the origin of the name
of Cæsar, was that Julius slew an elephant in a fight. In the Punic
tongue _cæsar_ signifies “an elephant. ” The medals of Cæsar, as grand
pontiff, confirm this hypothesis; on the reverse is an elephant crushing
a serpent beneath its feet. (Cohen, _Consular Medals_, plate xx.
10. )--We know that some symbols on the Roman medals are a species of
canting heraldry. Pliny gives another etymology of the name of Cæsar:
“Primusque Cæsarum a cæso matris utero dictus, qua de causa et _Cæsones_
appellati. ” (_Natural History_, VII. 9. )--Festus (p. 57) thus expresses
himself: “_Cæsar_ a _cæsarie_ dictus est; qui scilicet cum cæsarie natus
est;” and page 45: “_Cæsariati_ (comati). ”--Finally, Spartianus (_Life
of Ælius Verus_, ii. ) sums up in these words the greater part of the
etymologies: “_Cæsorem_ vel ab elephante (qui lingua Mauroram _cæsar_
dicitur) in prœlio cæso, cum qui primus sic appellatus est, doctissimi
et eruditissimi viri putant dictum; vel quia mortua matre, ventre cæso
sit natus; vel quod cum magnis crinibus sit utero parentis effusus; vel
quod oculis cæsiis et ultra humanum morem viguerit. ” (See Isidore,
_Origines_, IX. iii. 12. --Servius, _Commentary on the Æneid_, I. 290,
and Constantine Manasses, p. 71. )
[745] Pliny, _Natural History_, VII. 53. --“Cæsar was in his sixteenth
year when he lost his father. ” (Suetonius, I. )
[746] “He sprang from the noble family of the _Julii_, and, according to
an opinion long believed in, he derived his origin from Venus and
Anchises. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 41. )
[747] In fact, the _gens_ Marcia, one of the most illustrious patrician
families in Rome, reckoned among its ancestors Numa Marcius, who married
Pompilia, the daughter of Numa Pompilius, by whom he had Ancus Marcius,
who was King of Rome after the death of Tullus Hostilius. (Plutarch,
_Coriolanus_, I; _Numa_, 26. )
[748] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, vi. This passage, as generally translated, is
unintelligible, because the translators render the words Martii Reges by
_the Kings Martius_, instead of the family of Marcius Rex.
[749] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 10.
[750] “So Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi; Aurelia, mother of Cæsar;
Atia, mother of Augustus, all presided over the education of their
children, we are told, and made them into great men. ” (Tacitus,
_Dialogue concerning Orators_, 28. )
[751] “Ingenii magni, memoriæ singularis, nec minus Græce quam Latine
doctus. ” (Suetonius, _On Illustrious Grammarians_, 7. )
[752] “A sermone Græco puerum incipere malo. ” (Quintilian, _Institution
of Oratory_, I. i. )
[753] Claudius, addressing a foreigner who spoke Greek and Latin, said,
“Since thou possessest our two languages. ” (Suetonius, _Claudius_, 42. )
[754] Καἱ σὑ, τἑκνον! (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 82. )
[755] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 56.
[756] “Still quite young, he seems to have attached himself to the kind
of eloquence adopted by Strabo Cæsar, and he has even given, in his
_Divination_, several passages, word for word, of the discourse of this
orator for the Sardinians. ” (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 55. )
[757] Aulus Gellius, IV. 16.
[758] “For Cæsar and Brutus have also made verses, and have placed them
in the public libraries. Poets as feeble as Cicero, but happier than he,
in that fewer people knew what they had done. ” (Tacitus, _Dialogue
concerning Orators_, 21. )
[759]
Tu quoque, tu in summis, o dimidiate Menander,
Poneris, et merito, puri sermonis amator.
Lenibus atque utinam scriptis adjuncta foret vis
Comica, ut æquato virtus polleret honore
Cum Græcis; neque in hac despectus parte jaceres!
Unum hoc maceror et doleo tibi deesse, Terenti.
(Suetonius, _Life of Terence_, 5. )
[760] “Liberal to prodigality, and of a courage above human nature and
even imagination. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 41. )
[761] “He held, undeniably, the second rank among the orators of Rome. ”
(Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 3. )
[762] “Nam cui Hortensio, Lucullove, _vel Cæsari_, tam parata unquam
adfuit recordatio, quam tibi sacra mens tua loco momentoque, quo
jusseris, reddit omne depositum? ” (Latinus Pacatus, _Panegyricus in
Theodosium_, XVIII. 3. )--(Pliny, _Natural History_, VII. 25. )
[763] “Quamvis moderate soleret irasci, maluit tamen non posse. ”
(Seneca, _De Ira_, II. 23. )
[764] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 4.
[765] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 19.
[766] “To the external advantages which distinguished him from all the
other citizens, Cæsar joined an impetuous and powerful soul. ” (Velleius
Paterculus, II. 41. )
[767] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 15.
[768] “By his voice, his gesture, the grand and noble air of his person,
he had a certain brilliant manner of speech, without the least
artifice. ” (Cicero, _Brutus_, 75; copied by Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 55. )
[769] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 18.
[770] “From his first youth he was much used to horseback, and had even
acquired the facility of riding with dropped reins and his hands joined
behind his back. ” (Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 18. )
[771] “He ate and slept without enjoying the pleasure of either, and
only to obey necessity. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 41. )
[772] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 53. --(Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 18 and 58. )
[773] “And when,” says Cicero, “I look at his hair, so artistically
arranged; and when I see him scratch his head with one finger, I cannot
believe that such a man could conceive so black a design as to overthrow
the Roman Republic. ” (Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 4. )
[774] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 45. --Cicero said likewise, “I suffered myself
to be caught by the fashion of his girdle,” alluding to his hanging
robe, which gave him an effeminate appearance. (Macrobius, _Saturnalia_,
II. 3. )
[775] Dio Cassius, XLIII. 43.
[776] Velleius Paterculus, II. 41.
[777] Suetonius (_Cæsar_, 1) says that Cæsar was _designated_
(_destinatus_) flamen. Velleius Paterculus (II. 43), that he was
_created_ flamen. In our opinion he was created, but not _inaugurated_,
flamen. Now, as long as this formality was not accomplished, he was only
the flamen designate. What proves that he had never been _inaugurated_
is, that Sylla could revoke it; and, on another hand, Tacitus says
(_Annales_, III. 53) that, after the death of Cornelius Merula, the
flamenship of Jupiter remained vacant for seventy-two years, without any
interruption to the special worship of this god. So that, evidently,
they did not count the flamenship of Cæsar as real, since he had never
entered on his office.
[778] “Dimissa Cossutia . . . quæ pretextato desponsata fuerat. ”
(Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1. )--This passage from Suetonius clearly indicates
that he was betrothed, and not married, to Cossutia; for Suetonius uses
the word _dimittere_, which means “to _free_,” and not the word
_repudiare_ in its true meaning; besides, _desponsata_ signifies
_betrothed_. --Plutarch says that Cornelia was the first wife of Cæsar,
though he pretends that he married Pompeia as his third. (Plutarch,
_Cæsar_, 5. )
[779] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5.
[780] Velleius Paterculus, II. 41.
[781] “What an infamy to introduce into his house a pregnant woman, with
her husband still living; and to thrust from it, ignominiously and
cruelly, Antistia, whose father had just perished for the husband who
repudiated her! ” (Plutarch, _Pompey_, 8. )
[782] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1.
[783] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 1. --Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 74.
[784] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 74.
[785] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1.
[786] The vestals enjoyed great privileges: if they met by chance a
criminal on his way to execution, he was set at liberty. (Plutarch,
_Numa_, 14. )--Valerius Maximus (V. iv. 6) reports the following fact:
“The vestal Claudia, seeing that a tribune of the people was about to
drag her father, Appius Claudius Pulcher, with violence from his
triumphal car, interfered between the tribune and him, by virtue of her
right to oppose violence. ”--Cicero (_Oration for Cœlius_, 14) likewise
alludes to this celebrated anecdote.
[787] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 1.
[788] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 2.
[789] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 2. --Pliny, XVI. 4. --Aulus Gellius, V. 6.
[790] C. Cæsar, grand pontiff, in his discourse for the Bithynians, thus
expresses himself in his exordium:--“The hospitality which I have
received from King Nicomedes, and the bond of friendship which unites me
to those whose cause is under debate, do not permit me, Marcus Juncus,
to decline this office (_that of being the advocate of the Bithynians_);
for death ought not to efface from the memory of their kindred the
recollection of those who have lived, and we could not, without the last
degree of disgrace, abandon our clients, those to whom, after our
kindred, we owe our support. ” (Aulus Gellius, V. xiii. 1. )
[791] “Nothing damaged his reputation for chastity,” says Suetonius,
“except his sojourn with Nicomedes; but the opprobrium which resulted
from it was grave and lasting; it exposed him to the sneers of all. I
will say nothing of those well-known verses of Calvus Licinius--
. . . ‘Bithynia quidquid
Et pedicator Cæsaris unquam habuit. ’
I will be silent on the speeches of Dolabella and Curio the father, . . .
neither will I linger over the edicts in which Bibulus publicly exposed
his colleague by speaking of him as the _queen of Bithynia_. . . . M.
Brutus informs us that a certain Octavius, whose craziness allowed him
to say what he would, being one day in a numerous assembly, called
Pompey _king_, then saluted Cæsar by the name of _queen_. C. Memmius
also reproaches him for having mixed himself up with other debauchees to
present Nicomedes with cups and wine at table, and he quotes the names
of several Roman merchants who were among the guests. . . . Cicero
apostrophised him once in full Senate.
Cæsar was defending there the
cause of Nysa, daughter of Nicomedes; he recalled the obligations which
he owed to this king. ‘Let us pass by all that, I beg you,’ cried
Cicero: ‘we know only too well what he has given thee, and what he has
received from thee. ’ On his triumph over the Gauls, the soldiers, among
other satirical verses which it was their custom to sing as they
followed the car of the general, repeated these, which are well known:--
‘Gallias Cæsar subegit, Nicomedes Cæsarem.
Ecce Cæsar nunc triumphat, qui subegit Gallias;
Nicomedes non triumphat, qui subegit Cæsarem. ’”
(Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 40. )
[792] Cicero, _Letters to Atticus_, II. 19.
[793] These reports, like other calumnies, were propagated by Cæsar’s
enemies, such as Curio and Bibulus, and repeated in the ridiculous
annals of Tanusius Geminus (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 9), the authority of
which Seneca despised. “Thou knowest that not much account is made of
these annals of Tanusius, and how they are designated. ” (Seneca,
_Epistle_ 93. )--Catullus (xxxvi. 1) gives us that term of contempt to
which Seneca alludes (_cacata charta_).
[794] “Marius had in his army a nephew, called Caius Lucius, who,
overcome by a shameful passion for one of his subordinates, offered him
an act of violence. The man drew his sword and killed him. Cited before
the tribunal of Marius, instead of being punished he was loaded with
praises by the consul, who gave him one of the crowns which were the
usual reward of courage. ” (Plutarch, _Marius_, 15. )
[795] “Cæsar was not vexed at being accused of loving Cleopatra; but he
could not bear that they should say he had been loved by Nicomedes. _He
swore it was a calumny. _” (Xiphilinus, _Julius Cæsar_, p. 30, Paris
edition, 1678. )
[796] Orosius, V. 23.
[797] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 3.
[798] Florus, III. 23.
[799] Appian, I. 107.
[800] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 3.
[801] Sallust, _Fragments_, I. , p. 363.
[802] Florus, III. 23.
[803] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 3.
[804] “The Romans regarded as honourable accusations which had no
private enmity as their motive, and they liked to see young men attach
themselves to the pursuit of the guilty, as generous dogs attack wild
beasts. ” (Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 1. )
[805] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 4. --Asconius, _Discourse for Scaurus_, XVI. ii.
245, edit. Schütz.
[806] Valerius Maximus, VIII. ix. § 3. --“Cæsar was twenty-one years of
age when he attacked Dolabella, in a speech which we still read to-day
with admiration. ” (Tacitus, _Dialogue on the Orators_, 34. )--According
to the chronological order which we have adopted, Cæsar, instead of
twenty-one, would have been twenty-three years old; but as Tacitus, in
the same citation, also errs, by two years, in making Crassus, who had
accused Carbo, nineteen instead of twenty-one, we may suppose that he
has committed the same mistake with Cæsar. In fact, Crassus tells his
own age in Cicero (_On the Orators_, III. 20, § 74): “Quippe qui _omnium
maturrime_ ad publicas causas accesserim, annosque natus _unum et
viginti_ nobilissimum hominem in judicium vocarim. ”--Crassus, the
orator, was born in 614; he accused Carbo in 635, the date given by
Cicero.
[807] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 3. --Asconius, _Commentaries on the Oration, “In
Toga Candida,”_ pp. 84, 89, edit. Orelli.
[808] _Dialogue on the Orators_, 21.
[809] Cicero, _Oration for Cluentius_, 59. The manuscripts of Cicero
bear _Cn. Decitius_.
[810] This island, now called _Fermaco_, is at the entrance of the Gulf
of Assem-Kalessi. Pliny and Stephen of Byzantium are the only
geographers who mention it, and the last tells us further, that it was
here that Attalus, the famous lieutenant of Philip of Macedon, was slain
by Alexander’s order.
[811] Polyænus, _Stratagems_, VII. 23.
[812] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 4.
[813] Velleius Paterculus, II. 41.
[814] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 2.
[815] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 8.
[816] Suetonius mentions, as an act of humanity, that their corpses
alone were nailed to the cross, Cæsar having had them strangled
beforehand to shorten their agony. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 74. --Velleius
Paterculus, II. 42. )
[817] Suetonius, Cæsar, 4.
[818] Velleius Paterculus, II. 43. --Asconius, _On the Oration of Cicero
against Pisa_; edit. Orelli.
[819] Velleius Paterculus, II. 53.
[820] Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 5. --Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5.
[821] The tribunes by the nomination of the general were usually called
_rufuli_, because they were established by the law of Rutilius Rufus;
the military tribunes elected by the people were called _comitati_; they
were held as veritable magistrates. (Pseudo-Asconius, _Commentary on the
First Speech of Cicero against Verres_, p. 142, edit. Orelli; and Festus
under _Rufuli_, p. 261, edit. Müller. )
[822] Plutarch, _Sertorius_, 15, 16.
[823] “The enemy was already master of the passes which lead to Italy;
from the foot of the Alps, he (Pompey) drove him back to Spain. ”
(Sallust, _Letter from Pompey to the Senate_. )
[824] Velleius Paterculus, II. 30. --100,000 according to Appian (_Civil
Wars_, I. 117).
[825] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 8.
[826] Sallust, _Fragments_, III. 258.
[827] Appian, _Civil Wars_, I. xiv. 121.
[828] “The Republic, wounded and sick, so to say, had need of repose, no
matter at what price. ” (Sallust, _Fragments_, I. 68. )
[829] “We see how far are carried the jealousy and animosity which the
virtue and activity of the new men light up in the heart of certain
nobles. If we turn away our eyes never so little, what snares do they
not lay for us! One would say that they were of another nature, another
kind, so much are their feelings and wishes opposed to ours. ” (Cicero,
_Second Prosecution of Verres_, v. 71. )--“The nobility transmitted from
hand to hand this supreme dignity (the consulship), of which they were
in exclusive possession. Every new man, whatever his renown and the
glory of his deeds, appeared unworthy of this honour; he was as if
sullied by the stain of his birth. ” (Sallust, _Jugurtha_, 63. )
[830] Sallust, _Catilina_, 52.
[831] Plutarch, _Lucullus_, 9.
[832] Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 8, 9, 12; _Second
Prosecution_, i. 29. --Pseudo-Asconius, _On the first Prosecution of
Verres_, page 145, edit. Orelli. The orations of Cicero are full of
allusions to these agents for the purchase of votes and judges.
[833] “In these later years, the men who make a trade of intriguing in
elections have been enabled, by diligence and address, to obtain from
the citizens of their tribes all that they chose to demand. Endeavour,
by any means you will, to make these men serve you sincerely and with
the steadfast will to succeed. You would obtain it if men were as
grateful as they ought to be; and you will obtain it, I am afraid,
since, for two years, four societies of those most influential in
elections--those of Marcus Fundanius, Quintas Gallius, Gaius Cornelius,
and Gaius Orcivius--have engaged themselves for you. I was present when
the causes of these men were entrusted to you, and I know what was
promised to you, and what guarantees have been given to you by their
associates. ” (_On the Petition for the Consulship addressed to Cicero by
his brother Quintus_, 5. )
[834] Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 13.
[835] “Each city of the conquered peoples has a patron at Rome. ”
(Appian, _Civil Wars_, II. 4. )
[836] Cicero, _Second Prosecution of Verres_, III. 89. Cicero adds in a
letter, “We may judge, by the sufferings of our own fellow-citizens, of
what the inhabitants of the provinces have to endure from the public
farmers (_publicani_). When several tolls were suppressed in Italy,
remonstrances were made not so much against the principle of taxation as
against abuses in levying it, and the cries of the Romans on the soil of
the country tell only too plainly what must be the fate of the allies at
the extremity of the empire. ” (_Letters to Quintus_, I. 1, § 33. )
[837] Dio Cassius, 86; _Fragments_, CCCI. edit. Gros.
[838] Cicero, _On Duties_, II. 17; _Letters to Quintus_, II. 6, §
4. --Plutarch, _Brutus_, 14.
[839] Florus, III. 21.
[840] “The name of C. Marius--of that great man who we may justly call
the father of the country, the regenerator of our liberty, the saviour
of the Republic. ” (Cicero, _Speech for Rabirius_, 10. )--“I have, as your
guarantee, your indignation against Sylla. ” (Dio Cassius, XXXVI. 17,
_Oration of Catulus to the Senate_. )--“Where can we find a personage
(Marius) more serious, more firm, more distinguished by courage,
circumspection, conscience? ” (Cicero, _Speech for Balbus_, 25. )--“Not
only do we suffer his acts (Sylla’s), but to prevent worse disasters,
greater ills, we give them the sanction of public authority. ” (Cicero,
_Second Prosecution of Verres_, III. 35. )
[841] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 6.
[842] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 12.
[843] Pompey slew Carbo, Perpenna, and Brutus, the father of the
assassin of Cæsar, who had yielded themselves to him: the first had
protected his youth and saved his patrimony. (Valerius Maximus, V. iii.
v. )
[844] Count Franz de Champagny, _Les Cæsars_, I. p. 50.
[845] “It was in his character to show little regard for what he was
ambitious to obtain. ” (Dio Cassius, XXXVI. 7. )--“Pompey, with a heart as
depraved as his face was pure. ” (Sallust, _Fragments_, II. 176. )
[846] “At last, when Pompey, haranguing the people for the first time at
the gates of the city, in his capacity of consul-designate, came to
treat of the matter which seemed to have been most ardently expected,
and let it be understood that he would re-establish the power of the
tribunes, he was received with applause, and a slight murmur of assent;
but when he added that the provinces were devastated and oppressed, the
tribunals disgraced, the judges without shame, and that he wished to be
watchful of these abuses, and to restore good order, then it was not by
a simple murmur, but by unanimous acclamations, that the people
testified their desires. ” (Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 15. )
[847] Catulus, when asked his opinion on the re-establishment of the
tribunary power, began in these authoritative words:--“The conscript
fathers administer justice evilly and scandalously; and if, in the
tribunals, they had but answered the expectations of the Roman people,
the power of the tribunes would not have been so warmly regretted. ”
(Cicero, _First Prosecution of Verres_, 15. )
[848] “His enemies had nothing else to reproach him with than the
preference which he gave to the people over the Senate. ” (Plutarch,
_Pompey_, 20. )
[849] “He seconded with all his might those who wished to restore the
power of the tribunes. ” (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 5. )
[850] 7,100 talents. (Plutarch, _Crassus_, 1. )
[851] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 2. --Cicero, _On Duties_, I. 8.
[852] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 7.
[853] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 8.
[854] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 8.
[855] Plutarch, _Crassus_, 1, 16.
[856] “Cotta judicandi munus, quod C. Gracchus ereptum Senatui, ad
equites, Sylla ab illis ad Senatum transtulerat, æqualiter inter
utrumque ordinem partitus est. ” (Velleius Paterculus, II. 32. )
[857] “Equidem mihi videor pro nostra necessitate, non labore, non
opera, non industria defuisse. ” (Certainly, I believe I have displayed
all the zeal, all the endeavour, all the ability which our kinship
demands. ) Cæsar, quoted by Aulus Gellius, XIII. 3. --Nonius Marcellus,
“_On the different significations of words_,” under the word
_Necessitas_.
[858] Sallust, _Fragments_, I. 68.
[859] Plutarch, _Pompey_, 21.
[860] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5. --Suetonius, _Cæsar_, 6.
[861] Plutarch, _Cæsar_, 5.
[862] The images of Æneas, of Romulus, and of the Kings of Alba Longa
also figured in the funeral canopy of the Julia family. (Tacitus,
_Annales_, IV.
