[Illustration: Julius Caesar] CAESAR _A SKETCH_ BY JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, M. A. FORMERLY FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD _"Pardon, gentles all The flat unraised spirit that hath dared On this unworthy scaffold to bring forth So great an object. "_ --SHAKESPEARE, Henry V. PREFACE. I have called this work a "sketch" because the materials do not exist fora portrait which shall be at once authentic and complete. The originalauthorities which are now extant for the life of Caesar are his ownwritings, the speeches and letters of Cicero, the eighth book of the"Commentaries" on the wars in Gaul and the history of the Alexandrian war, by Aulus Hirtius, the accounts of the African war and of the war in Spain, composed by persons who were unquestionably present in those twocampaigns. To these must be added the "Leges Juliae" which are preservedin the Corpus Juris Civilis. Sallust contributes a speech, and Catullus apoem. A few hints can be gathered from the Epitome of Livy and thefragments of Varro; and here the contemporary sources which can beentirely depended upon are brought to an end. The secondary group of authorities from which the popular histories of thetime have been chiefly taken are Appian, Plutarch, Suetonius, and DionCassius. Of these the first three were divided from the period which theydescribe by nearly a century and a half, Dion Cassius by more than twocenturies. They had means of knowledge which no longer exist--thewritings, for instance, of Asinius Pollio, who was one of Caesar'sofficers. But Asinius Pollio's accounts of Caesar's actions, as reportedby Appian, cannot always be reconciled with the Commentaries; and allthese four writers relate incidents as facts which are sometimesdemonstrably false. Suetonius is apparently the most trustworthy. Hisnarrative, like those of his contemporaries, was colored by tradition. Hisbiographies of the earlier Caesars betray the same spirit of animosityagainst them which taints the credibility of Tacitus, and prevailed for somany years in aristocratic Roman society. But Suetonius shows neverthelessan effort at veracity, an antiquarian curiosity and diligence, and aserious anxiety to tell his story impartially. Suetonius, in the absenceof evidence direct or presumptive to the contrary, I have felt myself ableto follow. The other three writers I have trusted only when I have foundthem partially confirmed by evidence which is better to be relied upon. The picture which I have drawn will thus be found deficient in manydetails which have passed into general acceptance, and I have been unableto claim for it a higher title than that of an outline drawing. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. Free Constitutions and Imperial Tendencies. --Instructiveness of RomanHistory. --Character of Historical Epochs. --The Age of Caesar. --SpiritualState of Rome. --Contrasts between Ancient and Modern Civilization. CHAPTER II. The Roman Constitution. --Moral Character of the Romans. --Roman Religion. --Morality and Intellect. --Expansion of Roman Power. --The Senate. --RomanSlavery. --Effects of Intercourse with Greece. --Patrician Degeneracy. --TheRoman Noble. --Influence of Wealth. --Beginnings of Discontent. CHAPTER III. Tiberius Gracchus. --Decay of the Italian Yeomanry. --Agrarian Law. --Successand Murder of Gracchus. --Land Commission. --Caius Gracchus. --Transfer ofJudicial Functions from the Senate to the Equites. --Sempronian Laws. --FreeGrants of Corn. --Plans for Extension of the Franchise. --New Colonies. --Reaction. --Murder of Caius Gracchus CHAPTER IV. Victory of the Optimates. --The Moors. --History of Jugurtha. --The Senatecorrupted. --Jugurthine War. --Defeat of the Romans. --Jugurtha comes toRome. --Popular Agitation. --The War renewed. --Roman Defeats in Africa andGaul. --Caecilius Metellus and Caius Marius. --Marriage of Marius. --TheCaesars. --Marius Consul. --First Notice of Sylla. --Capture and Death ofJugurtha CHAPTER V. Birth of Cicero. --The Cimbri and Teutons. --German Immigration into Gaul. --Great Defeat of the Romans on the Rhone. --Wanderings of the Cimbri. --Attempted Invasion of Italy. --Battle of Aix. --Destruction of theTeutons. --Defeat of the Cimbri on the Po. --Reform in the Roman Army. --Popular Disturbances in Rome. --Murder of Memmius. --Murder of Saturninusand Glaucia CHAPTER VI. Birth and Childhood of Julius Caesar. --Italian Franchise. --Discontent ofthe Italians. --Action of the Land Laws. --The Social War. --PartialConcessions. --Sylla and Marius. --Mithridates of Pontus. --First Mission ofSylla into Asia. CHAPTER VII. War with Mithridates. --Massacre of Italians in Asia. --Invasion ofGreece. --Impotence and Corruption of the Senate. --End of the Social War. --Sylla appointed to the Asiatic Command. --The Assembly transfer the Commandto Marius. --Sylla marches on Rome. --Flight of Marius. --Change of theConstitution. --Sylla sails for the East. --Four Years' Absence. --Defeat ofMithridates. --Contemporary Incidents at Rome. --Counter Revolution. --Consulship of Cinna. --Return of Marius. --Capitulation of Rome. --Massacreof Patricians and Equites. --Triumph of Democracy. CHAPTER VIII. The Young Caesar. --Connection with Marius. --Intimacy with the Ciceros. --Marriage of Caesar with the Daughter of Cinna. --Sertorius. --Death ofCinna. --Consulships of Norbanus and Scipio. --Sylla's Return. --FirstAppearance of Pompey. --Civil War. --Victory of Sylla. --The Dictatorship andthe Proscription. --Destruction of the Popular Party and Murder of thePopular Leaders. --General Character of Aristocratic Revolutions. --TheConstitution remodelled. --Concentration of Power in the Senate. --Sylla'sGeneral Policy. --The Army. --Flight of Sertorius to Spain. --Pompey andSylla. --Caesar refuses to divorce his Wife at Sylla's Order. --Danger ofCaesar. --His Pardon. --Growing Consequence of Cicero. --Defence ofRoscius. --Sylla's Abdication and Death CHAPTER IX. Sertorius in Spain. --Warning of Cicero to the Patricians. --LeadingAristocrats. --Caesar with the Army in the East. --Nicomedes of Bithynia. --The Bithynian Scandal. --Conspiracy of Lepidus. --Caesar returns to Rome. --Defeat of Lepidus. --Prosecution of Dolabella. --Caesar taken by Pirates. --Senatorial Corruption. --Universal Disorder. --Civil War in Spain. --Growthof Mediterranean Piracy. --Connivance of the Senate. --ProvincialAdministration. --Verres in Sicily. --Prosecuted by Cicero. --Second Warwith Mithridates. --First Success of Lucullus. --Failure of Lucullus, andthe Cause of it. --Avarice of Roman Commanders. --The Gladiators. --TheServile War. --Results of the Change in the Constitution introduced bySylla CHAPTER X. Caesar Military Tribune. --Becomes known as a Speaker. --Is made Quaestor. --Speech at his Aunt's Funeral. --Consulship of Pompey and Crassus. --Caesarmarries Pompey's Cousin. --Mission to Spain. --Restoration of the Powers ofthe Tribunes. --The Equites and the Senate. --The Pirates. --Food Suppliescut off from Rome. --The Gabinian Law. --Resistance of the Patricians. --Suppression of the Pirates by Pompey. --The Manilian Law. --Speech ofCicero. --Recall of Lucullus. --Pompey sent to command in Asia. --Defeat andDeath of Mithridates. --Conquest of Asia by Pompey CHAPTER XI. History of Catiline. --A Candidate for the Consulship. --Catiline andCicero. --Cicero chosen Consul. --Attaches Himself to the SenatorialParty. --Caesar elected Aedile. --Conducts an Inquiry into the SyllanProscriptions. --Prosecution of Rabirius. --Caesar becomes PontifexMaximus--and Praetor. --Cicero's Conduct as Consul. --Proposed AgrarianLaw. --Resisted by Cicero. --Catiline again stands for the Consulship. --Violent Language in the Senate. --Threatened Revolution. --Catiline againdefeated. --The Conspiracy. --Warnings sent to Cicero. --Meeting atCatiline's House. --Speech of Cicero in the Senate. --Cataline joins an Armyof Insurrection in Etruria. --His Fellow-conspirators. --Correspondence withthe Allobroges. --Letters read in the Senate. --The Conspirators seized. --Debate upon their Fate. --Speech of Caesar. --Caesar on a Future State. --Speech of Cato--and of Cicero. --The Conspirators executed untried. --Deathof Catiline. CHAPTER XII. Preparations for the Return of Pompey. --Scene in the Forum. --Cato andMetellus. --Caesar suspended from the Praetorship. --Caesar supportsPompey. --Scandals against Caesar's Private Life. --General Character ofthem. --Festival of the Bona Dea. --Publius Clodius enters Caesar's Housedressed as a Woman. --Prosecution and Trial of Clodius. --His Acquittal, andthe Reason of it. --Successes of Caesar as Propraetor in Spain. --Conquestof Lusitania. --Return of Pompey to Italy. --First Speech in the Senate. --Precarious Position of Cicero. --Cato and the Equites. --Caesar electedConsul. --Revival of the Democratic Party. --Anticipated Agrarian Law. --Uneasiness of Cicero. CHAPTER XIII. The Consulship of Caesar. --Character of his Intended Legislation. --TheLand Act first proposed in the Senate. --Violent Opposition. --Caesarappeals to the Assembly. --Interference of the Second Consul Bibulus. --TheLand Act submitted to the People. --Pompey and Crassus support it. --Bibulusinterposes, but without Success. --The Act carried--and other Laws. --TheSenate no longer being Consulted. --General Purpose of the Leges Juliae. --Caesar appointed to Command in Gaul for Five Years. --His Object inaccepting that Province. --Condition of Gaul, and the Dangers to beapprehended from it. --Alliance of Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. --TheDynasts. --Indignation of the Aristocracy. --Threats to repeal Caesar'sLaws. --Necessity of Controlling Cicero and Cato. --Clodius is madeTribune. --Prosecution of Cicero for Illegal Acts when Consul. --Cicero'sFriends forsake him. --He flies, and is banished. CHAPTER XIV. Caesar's Military Narrative. --Divisions of Gaul. --Distribution ofPopulation. --The Celts. --Degree of Civilization. --Tribal System. --TheDruids. --The AEdui and the Sequani. --Roman and German Parties. --IntendedMigration of the Helvetii. --Composition of Caesar's Army. --He goes toGaul. --Checks the Helvetii. --Returns to Italy for Larger Forces. --TheHelvetii on the Saône. --Defeated, and sent back to Switzerland. --Invasionof Gaul by Ariovistus. --Caesar invites him to a Conference. --He refuses. --Alarm in the Roman Army. --Caesar marches against Ariovistus. --Interviewbetween them. --Treachery of the Roman Senate. --Great Battle at Colmar. --Defeat and Annihilation of the Germans. --End of the First Campaign. --Confederacy among the Belgae. --Battle on the Aisne. --War with theNervii. --Battle of Maubeuge. --Capture of Namur. --The Belgae conquered. --Submission of Brittany. --End of the Second Campaign. CHAPTER XV. Cicero and Clodius. --Position and Character of Clodius. --Cato sent toCyprus. --Attempted Recall of Cicero defeated by Clodius. --Fight in theForum. --Pardon and Return of Cicero. --Moderate Speech to the People. --Violence in the Senate. --Abuse of Piso and Gabinius. --Coldness of theSenate toward Cicero. --Restoration of Cicero's House. --Interfered with byClodius. --Factions of Clodius and Milo. --Ptolemy Auletes expelled by hisSubjects. --Appeals to Rome for Help. --Alexandrian Envoys assassinated. --Clodius elected aedile. --Fight in the Forum. --Parties in Rome. --Situationof Cicero. --Rally of the Aristocracy. --Attempt to repeal the LegesJuliae. --Conference at Lucca. --Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus. --Cicerodeserts the Senate. --Explains his Motives. --Confirmation of the Ordinancesof Lucca. --Pompey and Crassus Consuls. --Caesar's Command prolonged forFive Additional Years. --Rejoicings in Rome. --Spectacle in theAmphitheater. CHAPTER XVI. Revolt of the Veneti. --Fleet prepared in the Loire. --Sea-fight atQuiberon. --Reduction of Normandy and of Aquitaine. --Complete Conquest ofGaul. --Fresh Arrival of Germans over the Lower Rhine. --Caesar orders themto retire, and promises them Lands elsewhere. --They refuse to go--and aredestroyed. --Bridge over the Rhine. --Caesar invades Germany. --Returns aftera Short Inroad. --First Expedition into Britain. --Caesar lands at Deal, orWalmer. --Storm and Injury to the Fleet. --Approach of the Equinox. --Further Prosecution of the Enterprise postponed till the following Year. --Caesar goes to Italy for the Winter. --Large Naval Preparations. --Return ofSpring. --Alarm on the Moselle. --Fleet collects at Boulogne. --Caesar sailsfor Britain a Second Time. --Lands at Deal. --Second and more DestructiveStorm. --Ships repaired, and placed out of Danger. --Caesar marches throughKent. --Crosses the Thames, and reaches St. Albans. --Goes no further, andreturns to Gaul. --Object of the Invasion of Britain. --Description of theCountry and People. CHAPTER XVII. Distribution of the Legions after the Return from Britain. --Conspiracyamong the Gallic Chiefs. --Rising of the Eburones. --Destruction of Sabinus, and a Division of the Roman Army. --Danger of Quintus Cicero. --Relieved byCaesar in Person. --General Disturbance. --Labienus attacked atLavacherie. --Defeats and kills Induciomarus. --Second Conquest of theBelgae. --Caesar again crosses the Rhine. --Quintus Cicero in Danger aSecond Time. --Courage of a Roman Officer. --Punishment of the RevoltedChiefs. --Execution of Acco. CHAPTER XVIII. Correspondence of Cicero with Caesar. --Intimacy with Pompey and Crassus. --Attacks on Piso and Gabinius. ---Cicero compelled to defend Gabinius--andVatinius. --Dissatisfaction with his Position. --Corruption at the ConsularElections. --Public Scandal. --Caesar and Pompey. --Deaths of Aurelia andJulia. --Catastrophe in the East. --Overthrow and Death of Crassus. --Intrigue to detach Pompey from Caesar. ---Milo a Candidate for theConsulship. --Murder of Clodius. --Burning of the Senate-house. --Trial andExile of Milo. --Fresh Engagements with Caesar. --Promise of the Consulshipat the End of his Term in Gaul. CHAPTER XIX. Last Revolt of Gaul. --Massacre of Romans at Gien. --Vercingetorix. --Effecton the Celts of the Disturbances at Rome. --Caesar crosses the Cevennes. --Defeats the Arverni. --Joins his Army on the Seine. --Takes Gien, Nevers, and Bourges. --Fails at Gergovia. --Rapid March to Sens. --Labienus atParis. --Battle of the Vingeanne. --Siege of Alesia. --Caesar's DoubleLines. --Arrival of the Relieving Army of Gauls. --First Battle on thePlain. --Second Battle. --Great Defeat of the Gauls. --Surrender ofAlesia. --Campaign against the Carnutes and the Bellovaci. --Rising on theDordogne. --Capture of Uxellodunum. --Caesar at Arras. --Completion of theConquest. CHAPTER XX. Bibulus in Syria. --Approaching Term of Caesar's Government. --Threats ofImpeachment. --Caesar to be Consul or not to be Consul?--Caesar's PoliticalAmbition. --Hatred felt toward him by the Aristocracy. --Two Legions takenfrom him on Pretense of Service against the Parthians. --Caesar to berecalled before the Expiration of his Government. --Senatorial Intrigues. --Curio deserts the Senate. --Labienus deserts Caesar. --Cicero in Cilicia. --Returns to Rome. --Pompey determined on War. --Cicero's Uncertainties. --Resolution of the Senate and Consuls. --Caesar recalled. --Alarm in Rome. --Alternative Schemes. --Letters of Cicero. --Caesar's Crime in the Eyes ofthe Optimates. CHAPTER XXI. Caesar appeals to his Army. --The Tribunes join him at Rimini. --Panic andFlight of the Senate. --Incapacity of Pompey. --Fresh Negotiations. --Advance of Caesar. --The Country Districts refuse to arm against him. --Capture of Corfinium. --Release of the Prisoners. --Offers of Caesar. --Continued Hesitation of Cicero. --Advises Pompey to make Peace. --Pompey, with the Senate and Consuls, flies to Greece. --Cicero's Reflections. --Pompey to be another Sylla. --Caesar Mortal, and may die by more Means thanone. CHAPTER XXII. Pompey's Army in Spain. --Caesar at Rome. --Departure for Spain. --Marseillesrefuses to receive him. --Siege of Marseilles. --Defeat of Pompey'sLieutenants at Lerida. --The whole Army made Prisoners. --Surrender ofVarro. --Marseilles taken. --Defeat of Curio by King Juba in Africa. --Caesar named Dictator. --Confusion in Rome. --Caesar at Brindisi. --Crossesto Greece in Midwinter. --Again offers Peace. --Pompey's Fleet in theAdriatic. --Death of Bibulus. --Failure of Negotiations. --Caelius and Milokilled. --Arrival of Antony in Greece with the Second Division of Caesar'sArmy. --Siege of Durazzo. --Defeat and Retreat of Caesar. --The Senate andPompey. --Pursuit of Caesar. --Battle of Pharsalia. --Flight of Pompey. --TheCamp taken. --Complete Overthrow of the Senatorial Faction. --Cicero on theSituation once more. CHAPTER XXIII. Pompey flies to Egypt. --State of Parties in Egypt. --Murder of Pompey. --HisCharacter. --Caesar follows him to Alexandria. --Rising in the City. --Caesar besieged in the Palace. --Desperate Fighting. --Arrival ofMithridates of Pergamus. --Battle near Cairo, and Death of the YoungPtolemy. --Cleopatra. --The Detention of Caesar enables the Optimates torally. --Ill Conduct of Caesar's Officers in Spain. --War with Pharnaces. --Battle of Zela, and Settlement of Asia Minor. CHAPTER XXIV. The Aristocracy raise an Army in Africa. --Supported by Juba. --Pharsalianot to end the War. --Caesar again in Rome. --Restores Order. --Mutiny inCaesar's Army. --The Mutineers submit. --Caesar lands in Africa. --Difficulties of the Campaign. --Battle of Thapsus. --No more Pardons. --Afranius and Faustus Sylla put to Death. --Cato kills himself at Utica. --Scipio killed. --Juba and Petreius die on each other's Swords. --A Scene inCaesar's Camp. CHAPTER XXV. Rejoicings in Rome. --Caesar Dictator for the Year. --Reforms theConstitution. --Reforms the Calendar--and the Criminal Law. --Dissatisfaction of Cicero. --Last Efforts in Spain of Labienus and theYoung Pompeys. --Caesar goes thither in Person, accompanied by Octavius. --Caesar's Last Battle at Munda. --Death of Labienus. --Capture of Cordova. --Close of the Civil War. --General Reflections. CHAPTER XXVI. Caesar once more in Rome. --General Amnesty. --The Surviving Optimatespretend to submit. --Increase in the Number of Senators. --Introduction ofForeigners. --New Colonies. --Carthage. --Corinth. --Sumptuary Regulations. --Digest of the Law. --Intended Parthian War. --Honors heaped on Caesar. --TheObject of them. --Caesar's Indifference. --Some Consolations. --Hears ofConspiracies, but disregards them. --Speculations of Cicero in the LastStage of the War. --Speech in the Senate. --A Contrast, and the Meaning ofit. --The Kingship. --Antony offers Caesar the Crown, which Caesarrefuses. --The Assassins. --Who they were. --Brutus and Cassius. --TwoOfficers of Caesar's among them. --Warnings. --Meeting of theConspirators. --Caesar's Last Evening. --The Ides of March. --TheSenate-house. --Caesar killed. CHAPTER XXVII. Consternation in Rome. --The Conspirators in the Capitol. --UnforeseenDifficulties. --Speech of Cicero. --Caesar's Funeral. --Speech of Antony. --Fury of the People. --The Funeral Pile in the Forum. --The King is dead, butthe Monarchy survives. --Fruitlessness of the Murder. --Octavius andAntony. --Union of Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus. --Proscription of theAssassins. --Philippi, and the end of Brutus and Cassius. --Death ofCicero. --His Character. CHAPTER XXVIII. General Remarks on Caesar. --Mythological Tendencies. --Supposed Profligacyof Caesar. --Nature of the Evidence. --Servilia. --Cleopatra. --PersonalAppearance of Caesar. --His Manners in Private Life. --Considerations uponhim as a Politician, a Soldier, and a Man of Letters. --Practical Justicehis Chief Aim as a Politician. --Universality of Military Genius. --Devotionof his Army to him, how deserved. --Art of reconciling ConqueredPeoples. --General Scrupulousness and Leniency. --Oratorical and LiteraryStyle. --Cicero's Description of it. --His Lost Works. --Cato's Judgment onthe Civil War. --How Caesar should be estimated. --Legend of Charles V. --Spiritual Condition of the Age in which Caesar lived. --His Work on Earthto establish Order and Good Government, to make possible the Introductionof Christianity. --A Parallel. CAESAR: A SKETCH CHAPTER I. To the student of political history, and to the English student above allothers, the conversion of the Roman Republic into a military empirecommands a peculiar interest. Notwithstanding many differences, theEnglish and the Romans essentially resemble one another. The early Romanspossessed the faculty of self-government beyond any people of whom we havehistorical knowledge, with the one exception of ourselves. In virtue oftheir temporal freedom, they became the most powerful nation in the knownworld; and their liberties perished only when Rome became the mistress ofconquered races, to whom she was unable or unwilling to extend herprivileges. If England was similarly supreme, if all rival powers wereeclipsed by her or laid under her feet, the Imperial tendencies, which areas strongly marked in us as our love of liberty, might lead us over thesame course to the same end. If there be one lesson which history clearlyteaches, it is this, that free nations cannot govern subject provinces. Ifthey are unable or unwilling to admit their dependencies to share theirown constitution, the constitution itself will fall in pieces from mereincompetence for its duties. We talk often foolishly of the necessities of things, and we blamecircumstances for the consequences of our own follies and vices; but thereare faults which are not faults of will, but faults of mere inadequacy tosome unforeseen position. Human nature is equal to much, but not toeverything. It can rise to altitudes where it is alike unable to sustainitself or to retire from them to a safer elevation. Yet when the field isopen it pushes forward, and moderation in the pursuit of greatness isnever learnt and never will be learnt. Men of genius are governed by theirinstinct; they follow where instinct leads them; and the public life of anation is but the life of successive generations of statesmen, whosehorizon is bounded, and who act from day to day as immediate interestssuggest. The popular leader of the hour sees some present difficulty orpresent opportunity of distinction. He deals with each question as itarises, leaving future consequences to those who are to come after him. The situation changes from period to period, and tendencies are generatedwith an accelerating force, which, when once established, can never bereversed. When the control of reason is once removed, the catastrophe isno longer distant, and then nations, like all organized creations, allforms of life, from the meanest flower to the highest human institution, pass through the inevitably recurring stages of growth and transformationand decay. A commonwealth, says Cicero, ought to be immortal, and for everto renew its youth. Yet commonwealths have proved as unenduring as anyother natural object: Everything that grows Holds in perfection but a little moment, And this huge state presenteth nought but shows, Whereon the stars in silent influence comment. Nevertheless, "as the heavens are high above the earth, so is wisdom abovefolly. " Goethe compares life to a game at whist, where the cards are dealtout by destiny, and the rules of the game are fixed: subject to theseconditions, the players are left to win or lose, according to their skillor want of skill. The life of a nation, like the life of a man, may beprolonged in honor into the fulness of its time, or it may perishprematurely, for want of guidance, by violence or internal disorders. Andthus the history of national revolutions is to statesmanship what thepathology of disease is to the art of medicine. The physician cannotarrest the coming on of age. Where disease has laid hold upon theconstitution he cannot expel it. But he may check the progress of the evilif he can recognize the symptoms in time. He can save life at the cost ofan unsound limb. He can tell us how to preserve our health when we haveit; he can warn us of the conditions under which particular disorders willhave us at disadvantage. And so with nations: amidst the endless varietyof circumstances there are constant phenomena which give notice ofapproaching danger; there are courses of action which have uniformlyproduced the same results; and the wise politicians are those who havelearnt from experience the real tendencies of things, unmisled bysuperficial differences, who can shun the rocks where others have beenwrecked, or from foresight of what is coming can be cool when the peril isupon them. For these reasons, the fall of the Roman Republic is exceptionallyinstructive to us. A constitutional government the most enduring and themost powerful that ever existed was put on its trial, and found wanting. We see it in its growth; we see the causes which undermined its strength. We see attempts to check the growing mischief fail, and we see why theyfailed. And we see, finally, when nothing seemed so likely as completedissolution, the whole system changed by a violent operation, and thedying patient's life protracted for further centuries of power andusefulness. Again, irrespective of the direct teaching which we may gather from them, particular epochs in history have the charm for us which dramas have--periods when the great actors on the stage of life stand before us withthe distinctness with which they appear in the creations of a poet. Therehave not been many such periods; for to see the past, it is not enough forus to be able to look at it through the eyes of contemporaries; thesecontemporaries themselves must have been parties to the scenes which theydescribe. They must have had full opportunities of knowledge. They musthave had eyes which could see things in their true proportions. They musthave had, in addition, the rare literary powers which can convey to othersthrough the medium of language an exact picture of their own minds; andsuch happy combinations occur but occasionally in thousands of years. Generation after generation passes by, and is crumbled into sand as rocksare crumbled by the sea. Each brought with it its heroes and its villains, its triumphs and its sorrows; but the history is formless legend, incredible and unintelligible; the figures of the actors are indistinct asthe rude ballad or ruder inscription, which may be the only authenticrecord of them. We do not see the men and women, we see only the outlinesof them which have been woven into tradition as they appeared to the lovesor hatreds of passionate admirers or enemies. Of such times we knownothing, save the broad results as they are measured from century tocentury, with here and there some indestructible pebble, some law, somefragment of remarkable poetry which has resisted decomposition. Theseperiods are the proper subject of the philosophic historian, and to him weleave them. But there are others, a few, at which intellectual activitywas as great as it is now, with its written records surviving, in whichthe passions, the opinions, the ambitions of the age are all before us, where the actors in the great drama speak their own thoughts in their ownwords, where we hear their enemies denounce them and their friends praisethem; where we are ourselves plunged amidst the hopes and fears of thehour, to feel the conflicting emotions and to sympathize in the struggleswhich again seem to live: and here philosophy is at fault. Philosophy, when we are face to face with real men, is as powerless as over the Iliador King Lear. The overmastering human interest transcends explanation. Wedo not sit in judgment on the right or the wrong; we do not seek outcauses to account for what takes place, feeling too conscious of theinadequacy of our analysis. We see human beings possessed by differentimpulses, and working out a pre-ordained result, as the subtle forcesdrive each along the path marked out for him; and history becomes the moreimpressive to us where it least immediately instructs. With such vividness, with such transparent clearness, the age standsbefore us of Cato and Pompey, of Cicero and Julius Caesar; the moredistinctly because it was an age in so many ways the counterpart of ourown, the blossoming period of the old civilization, when the intellect wastrained to the highest point which it could reach, and on the greatsubjects of human interest, on morals and politics, on poetry and art, even on religion itself and the speculative problems of life, men thoughtas we think, doubted where we doubt, argued as we argue, aspired andstruggled after the same objects. It was an age of material progress andmaterial civilization; an age of civil liberty and intellectual culture;an age of pamphlets and epigrams, of salons and of dinner-parties, ofsenatorial majorities and electoral corruption. The highest offices ofstate were open in theory to the meanest citizen; they were confined, infact, to those who had the longest purses, or the most ready use of thetongue on popular platforms. Distinctions of birth had been exchanged fordistinctions of wealth. The struggles between plebeians and patricians forequality of privilege were over, and a new division had been formedbetween the party of property and a party who desired a change in thestructure of society. The free cultivators were disappearing from thesoil. Italy was being absorbed into vast estates, held by a few favoredfamilies and cultivated by slaves, while the old agricultural populationwas driven off the land, and was crowded into towns. The rich wereextravagant, for life had ceased to have practical interest, except forits material pleasures; the occupation of the higher classes was to obtainmoney without labor, and to spend it in idle enjoyment. Patriotismsurvived on the lips, but patriotism meant the ascendency of the partywhich would maintain the existing order of things, or would overthrow itfor a more equal distribution of the good things which alone were valued. Religion, once the foundation of the laws and rule of personal conduct, had subsided into opinion. The educated, in their hearts, disbelieved it. Temples were still built with increasing splendor; the established formswere scrupulously observed. Public men spoke conventionally of Providence, that they might throw on their opponents the odium of impiety; but ofgenuine belief that life had any serious meaning, there was none remainingbeyond the circle of the silent, patient, ignorant multitude. The wholespiritual atmosphere was saturated with cant--cant moral, cant political, cant religious; an affectation of high principle which had ceased to touchthe conduct, and flowed on in an increasing volume of insincere and unrealspeech. The truest thinkers were those who, like Lucretius, spoke franklyout their real convictions, declared that Providence was a dream, and thatman and the world he lived in were material phenomena, generated bynatural forces out of cosmic atoms, and into atoms to be again resolved. Tendencies now in operation may a few generations hence land modernsociety in similar conclusions, unless other convictions revive meanwhileand get the mastery of them; of which possibility no more need be saidthan this, that unless there be such a revival in some shape or other, theforces, whatever they be, which control the forms in which human thingsadjust themselves, will make an end again, as they made an end before, ofwhat are called free institutions. Popular forms of government arepossible only when individual men can govern their own lives on moralprinciples, and when duty is of more importance than pleasure, and justicethan material expediency. Rome at any rate had grown ripe for judgment. The shape which the judgment assumed was due perhaps, in a measure, to acondition which has no longer a parallel among us. The men and women bywhom the hard work of the world was done were chiefly slaves, and thosewho constitute the driving force of revolutions in modern Europe lay thenoutside society, unable and perhaps uncaring to affect its fate. No changethen possible would much influence the prospects of the unhappy bondsmen. The triumph of the party of the constitution would bring no liberty tothem. That their masters should fall like themselves under the authorityof a higher master could not much distress them. Their sympathies, if theyhad any, would go with those nearest their own rank, the emancipatedslaves and the sons of those who were emancipated; and they, and the poorfree citizens everywhere, were to a man on the side which was consideredand was called the side of "the people, " and was, in fact, the side ofdespotism. CHAPTER II. The Roman Constitution had grown out of the character of the Roman nation. It was popular in form beyond all constitutions of which there is anyrecord in history. The citizens assembled in the Comitia were thesovereign authority in the State, and they exercised their powerimmediately and not by representatives. The executive magistrates werechosen annually. The assembly was the supreme Court of Appeal; and withoutits sanction no freeman could be lawfully put to death. In the assemblyalso was the supreme power of legislation. Any consul, any praetor, anytribune, might propose a law from the Rostra to the people. The people ifit pleased them might accept such law, and senators and public officersmight be sworn to obey it under pains of treason. As a check onprecipitate resolutions, a single consul or a single tribune mightinterpose his veto. But the veto was binding only so long as the year ofoffice continued. If the people were in earnest, submission to theirwishes could be made a condition at the next election, and thus noconstitutional means existed of resisting them when these wishes showedthemselves. In normal times the Senate was allowed the privilege of preconsideringintended acts of legislation, and refusing to recommend them ifinexpedient, but the privilege was only converted into a right afterviolent convulsions, and was never able to maintain itself. That undersuch a system the functions of government could have been carried on atall was due entirely to the habits of self-restraint which the Romans hadengraved into their nature. They were called a nation of kings, kings overtheir own appetites, passions, and inclinations. They were notimaginative, they were not intellectual; they had little national poetry, little art, little philosophy. They were moral and practical. In these twodirections the force that was in them entirely ran. They were freepolitically, because freedom meant to them not freedom to do as theypleased, but freedom to do what was right; and every citizen, before hearrived at his civil privileges, had been schooled in the discipline ofobedience. Each head of a household was absolute master of it, master overhis children and servants, even to the extent of life and death. What thefather was to the family, the gods were to the whole people, the awfullords and rulers at whose pleasure they lived and breathed. Unlike theGreeks, the reverential Romans invented no idle legends about thesupernatural world. The gods to them were the guardians of the State, whose will in all things they were bound to seek and to obey. The forms inwhich they endeavored to learn what that will might be were childish orchildlike. They looked to signs in the sky, to thunder-storms and cometsand shooting stars. Birds, winged messengers, as they thought them, between earth and heaven, were celestial indicators of the gods' commands. But omens and auguries were but the outward symbols, and the Romans, likeall serious peoples, went to their own hearts for their real guidance. They had a unique religious peculiarity, to which no race of men hasproduced anything like. They did not embody the elemental forces inpersonal forms; they did not fashion a theology out of the movements ofthe sun and stars or the changes of the seasons. Traces may be found amongthem of cosmic traditions and superstitions, which were common to all theworld; but they added of their own this especial feature: that they builttemples and offered sacrifices to the highest human excellences, to"Valor, " to "Truth, " to "Good Faith, " to "Modesty, " to "Charity, " to"Concord. " In these qualities lay all that raised man above the animalswith which he had so much in common. In them, therefore, were to be foundthe link which connected him with the divine nature, and moral qualitieswere regarded as divine influences which gave his life its meaning and itsworth. The "Virtues" were elevated into beings to whom disobedience couldbe punished as a crime, and the superstitious fears which run so ofteninto mischievous idolatries were enlisted with conscience in the directservice of right action. On the same principle the Romans chose the heroes and heroines of theirnational history. The Manlii and Valerii were patterns of courage, theLucretias and Virginias of purity, the Decii and Curtii of patrioticdevotion, the Reguli and Fabricii of stainless truthfulness. On the sameprinciple, too, they had a public officer whose functions resembled thoseof the Church courts in mediaeval Europe, a Censor Morum, an inquisitorwho might examine into the habits of private families, rebukeextravagance, check luxury, punish vice and self-indulgence, nay, whocould remove from the Senate, the great council of elders, persons whosemoral conduct was a reproach to a body on whose reputation no shadow couldbe allowed to rest. Such the Romans were in the day when their dominion had not extendedbeyond the limits of Italy; and because they were such they were able toprosper under a constitution which to modern experience would promise onlythe most hopeless confusion. Morality thus engrained in the national character and grooved into habitsof action creates strength, as nothing else creates it. The difficulty ofconduct does not lie in knowing what it is right to do, but in doing itwhen known. Intellectual culture does not touch the conscience. Itprovides no motives to overcome the weakness of the will, and with widerknowledge it brings also new temptations. The sense of duty is present ineach detail of life; the obligatory "must" which binds the will to thecourse which right principle has marked out for it produces a fibre likethe fibre of the oak. The educated Greeks knew little of it. They hadcourage and genius and enthusiasm, but they had no horror of immorality assuch. The Stoics saw what was wanting, and tried to supply it; but thoughthey could provide a theory of action, they could not make the theory intoa reality, and it is noticeable that Stoicism as a rule of life becameimportant only when adopted by the Romans. The Catholic Church effectedsomething in its better days when it had its courts which treated sins ascrimes. Calvinism, while it was believed, produced characters nobler andgrander than any which Republican Rome produced. But the Catholic Churchturned its penances into money payments. Calvinism made demands on faithbeyond what truth would bear; and when doubt had once entered, the spellof Calvinism was broken. The veracity of the Romans, and perhaps the happyaccident that they had no inherited religious traditions, saved them forcenturies from similar trials. They had hold of real truth unalloyed withbaser metal; and truth had made them free and kept them so. When all elsehas passed away, when theologies have yielded up their real meaning, andcreeds and symbols have become transparent, and man is again in contactwith the hard facts of nature, it will be found that the "Virtues" whichthe Romans made into gods contain in them the essence of true religion, that in them lies the special characteristic which distinguishes humanbeings from the rest of animated things. Every other creature exists foritself, and cares for its own preservation. Nothing larger or better isexpected from it or possible to it. To man it is said, you do not live foryourself. If you live for yourself you shall come to nothing. Be brave, bejust, be pure, be true in word and deed; care not for your enjoyment, carenot for your life; care only for what is right. So, and not otherwise, itshall be well with you. So the Maker of you has ordered, whom you willdisobey at your peril. Thus and thus only are nations formed which are destined to endure; and ashabits based on such convictions are slow in growing, so when grown tomaturity they survive extraordinary trials. But nations are made up ofmany persons in circumstances of endless variety. In country districts, where the routine of life continues simple, the type of character remainsunaffected; generation follows on generation exposed to the sameinfluences and treading in the same steps. But the morality of habit, though the most important element in human conduct, is still but a part ofit. Moral habits grow under given conditions. They correspond to a givendegree of temptation. When men are removed into situations where the useand wont of their fathers no longer meets their necessities; where newopportunities are offered to them; where their opinions are broken in uponby new ideas; where pleasures tempt them on every side, and they have butto stretch out their hand to take them--moral habits yield under thestrain, and they have no other resource to fall back upon. Intellectualcultivation brings with it rational interests. Knowledge, which looksbefore and after, acts as a restraining power, to help conscience when itflags. The sober and wholesome manners of life among the early Romans hadgiven them vigorous minds in vigorous bodies. The animal nature had grownas strongly as the moral nature, and along with it the animal appetites;and when appetites burst their traditionary restraints, and man in himselfhas no other notion of enjoyment beyond bodily pleasure, he may pass by aneasy transition into a mere powerful brute. And thus it happened with thehigher classes at Rome after the destruction of Carthage. Italy had fallento them by natural and wholesome expansion; but from being sovereigns ofItaly, they became a race of imperial conquerors. Suddenly, and incomparatively a few years after the one power was gone which could resistthem, they became the actual or virtual rulers of the entire circuit ofthe Mediterranean. The south-east of Spain, the coast of France from thePyrenees to Nice, the north of Italy, Illyria and Greece, Sardinia, Sicily, and the Greek Islands, the southern and western shores of AsiaMinor, were Roman provinces, governed directly under Roman magistrates. Onthe African side Mauritania (Morocco) was still free. Numidia (the modernAlgeria) retained its native dynasty, but was a Roman dependency. TheCarthaginian dominions, Tunis and Tripoli, had been annexed to the Empire. The interior of Asia Minor up to the Euphrates, with Syria and Egypt, wereunder sovereigns called Allies, but, like the native princes in India, subject to a Roman protectorate. Over this enormous territory, rich withthe accumulated treasures of centuries, and inhabited by thriving, industrious races, the energetic Roman men of business had spread andsettled themselves, gathering into their hands the trade, the financialadministration, the entire commercial control of the Mediterranean basin. They had been trained in thrift and economy, in abhorrence of debt, instrictest habits of close and careful management. Their frugal education, their early lessons in the value of money, good and excellent as thoselessons were, led them, as a matter of course, to turn to account theirextraordinary opportunities. Governors with their staffs, permanentofficials, contractors for the revenue, negotiators, bill-brokers, bankers, merchants, were scattered everywhere in thousands. Money pouredin upon them in rolling streams of gold. The largest share of the spoilsfell to the Senate and the senatorial families. The Senate was thepermanent Council of State, and was the real administrator of the Empire. The Senate had the control of the treasury, conducted the public policy, appointed from its own ranks the governors of the provinces. It waspatrician in sentiment, but not necessarily patrician in composition. Themembers of it had virtually been elected for life by the people, and werealmost entirely those who had been quaestors, aediles, praetors, orconsuls; and these offices had been long open to the plebeians. It was anaristocracy, in theory a real one, but tending to become, as civilizationwent forward, an aristocracy of the rich. How the senatorial privilegesaffected the management of the provinces will be seen more particularly aswe go on. It is enough at present to say that the nobles and greatcommoners of Rome rapidly found themselves in possession of revenues whichtheir fathers could not have imagined in their dreams, and money in thestage of progress at which Rome had arrived was convertible into power. The opportunities opened for men to advance their fortunes in other partsof the world drained Italy of many of its most enterprising citizens. Thegrandsons of the yeomen who had held at bay Pyrrhus and Hannibal soldtheir farms and went away. The small holdings merged rapidly into largeestates bought up by the Roman capitalists. At the final settlement ofItaly, some millions of acres had been reserved to the State as publicproperty. The "public land, " as the reserved portion was called, had beenleased on easy terms to families with political influence, and by lapse oftime, by connivance and right of occupation, these families were beginningto regard their tenures as their private property, and to treat them aslords of manors in England have treated the "commons. " Thus everywhere thesmall farmers were disappearing, and the soil of Italy was fast passinginto the hands of a few territorial magnates, who, unfortunately (for ittended to aggravate the mischief), were enabled by another cause to turntheir vast possessions to advantage. The conquest of the world had turnedthe flower of the defeated nations into slaves. The prisoners taken eitherafter a battle or when cities surrendered unconditionally were bought upsteadily by contractors who followed in the rear of the Roman armies. Theywere not ignorant like the negroes, but trained, useful, and ofteneducated men, Asiatics, Greeks, Thracians, Gauls, and Spaniards, able atonce to turn their hands to some form of skilled labor, either as clerks, mechanics, or farm-servants. The great landowners might have paused intheir purchases had the alternative lain before them of letting theirlands lie idle or of having freemen to cultivate them. It was otherwisewhen a resource so convenient and so abundant was opened at their feet. The wealthy Romans bought slaves by thousands. Some they employed in theirworkshops in the capital. Some they spread over their plantations, covering the country, it might be, with olive gardens and vineyards, swelling further the plethoric figures of their owners' incomes. It wasconvenient for the few, but less convenient for the Commonwealth. Thestrength of Rome was in her free citizens. Where a family of slaves wassettled down, a village of freemen had disappeared; the material for thelegions diminished; the dregs of the free population which remained behindcrowded into Rome, without occupation except in politics, and with noproperty save in their votes, of course to become the clients of themillionaires, and to sell themselves to the highest bidders. With all hiswealth there were but two things which the Roman noble could buy, political power and luxury; and in these directions his whole resourceswere expended. The elections, once pure, became matters of annual bargainbetween himself and his supporters. The once hardy, abstemious mode ofliving degenerated into grossness and sensuality. And his character was assailed simultaneously on another side with equallymischievous effect. The conquest of Greece brought to Rome a taste forknowledge and culture; but the culture seldom passed below the surface, and knowledge bore but the old fruit which it had borne in Eden. The elderCato used to say that the Romans were like their slaves--the less Greekthey knew the better they were. They had believed in the gods with pioussimplicity. The Greeks introduced them to an Olympus of divinities whomthe practical Roman found that he must either abhor or deny to exist. The"Virtues" which he had been taught to reverence had no place among thegraces of the new theology. Reverence Jupiter he could not, and it waseasy to persuade him that Jupiter was an illusion; that all religions werebut the creations of fancy, his own among them. Gods there might be, airybeings in the deeps of space, engaged like men with their own enjoyments;but to suppose that these high spirits fretted themselves with the affairsof the puny beings that crawled upon the earth was a delusion of vanity. Thus, while morality was assailed on one side by extraordinarytemptations, the religious sanction of it was undermined on the other. The, Romans ceased to believe, and in losing their faith they became assteel becomes when it is demagnetized; the spiritual quality was gone outof them, and the high society of Rome itself became a society of powerfulanimals with an enormous appetite for pleasure. Wealth poured in more andmore, and luxury grew more unbounded. Palaces sprang up in the city, castles in the country, villas at pleasant places by the sea, and parks, and fish-ponds, and game-preserves, and gardens, and vast retinues ofservants. When natural pleasures had been indulged in to satiety, pleasures which were against nature were imported from the East tostimulate the exhausted appetite. To make money--money by any means, lawful or unlawful--became the universal passion. Even the most cultivatedpatricians were coarse alike in their habits and their amusements. Theycared for art as dilettanti, but no schools either of sculpture orpainting were formed among themselves. They decorated their porticos andtheir saloons with the plunder of the East. The stage was never more thanan artificial taste with them; their delight was the delight ofbarbarians, in spectacles, in athletic exercises, in horse-races andchariot-races, in the combats of wild animals in the circus, combats ofmen with beasts on choice occasions, and, as a rare excitement, in fightsbetween men and men, when select slaves trained as gladiators were matchedin pairs to kill each other. Moral habits are all-sufficient while theylast; but with rude strong natures they are but chains which hold thepassions prisoners. Let the chain break, and the released brute is but themore powerful for evil from the force which his constitution hasinherited. Money! the cry was still money!--money was the one thought fromthe highest senator to the poorest wretch who sold his vote in theComitia. For money judges gave unjust decrees and juries gave corruptverdicts. Governors held their provinces for one, two, or three years;they went out bankrupt from extravagance, they returned with millions forfresh riot. To obtain a province was the first ambition of a Roman noble. The road to it lay through the praetorship and the consulship; theseoffices, therefore, became the prizes of the State; and being in the giftof the people, they were sought after by means which demoralized alike thegivers and the receivers. The elections were managed by clubs andcoteries; and, except on occasions of national danger or politicalexcitement, those who spent most freely were most certain of success. Under these conditions the chief powers in the Commonwealth necessarilycentred in the rich. There was no longer an aristocracy of birth, stillless of virtue. The patrician families had the start in the race. Greatnames and great possessions came to them by inheritance. But the door ofpromotion was open to all who had the golden key. The great commonersbought their way into the magistracies. From the magistracies they passedinto the Senate; and the Roman senator, though in Rome itself and in freedebate among his colleagues he was handled as an ordinary man, when hetravelled had the honors of a sovereign. The three hundred senators ofRome were three hundred princes. They moved about in other countries withthe rights of legates, at the expense of the province, with their trainsof slaves and horses. The proud privilege of Roman citizenship was stilljealously reserved to Rome itself and to a few favored towns and colonies;and a mere subject could maintain no rights against a member of thehaughty oligarchy which controlled the civilized world. Such generally theRoman Republic had become, or was tending to become, in the years whichfollowed the fall of Carthage, B. C. 146. Public spirit in the masses wasdead or sleeping; the Commonwealth was a plutocracy. The free forms of theconstitution were themselves the instruments of corruption. The rich werehappy in the possession of all that they could desire. The multitude waskept quiet by the morsels of meat which were flung to it when itthreatened to be troublesome. The seven thousand in Israel, the few who inall states and in all times remained pure in the midst of evil, looked onwith disgust, fearing that any remedy which they might try might be worsethan the disease. All orders in a society may be wise and virtuous, butall cannot be rich. Wealth which is used only for idle luxury is alwaysenvied, and envy soon curdles into hate. It is easy to persuade the massesthat the good things of this world are unjustly divided, especially whenit happens to be the exact truth. It is not easy to set limits to anagitation once set on foot, however justly it may have been provoked, whenthe cry for change is at once stimulated by interest and can disguise itsreal character under the passionate language of patriotism. But it was notto be expected that men of noble natures, young men especially whoseenthusiasm had not been cooled by experience, would sit calmly by whiletheir country was going thus headlong to perdition. Redemption, ifredemption was to be hoped for, could come only from free citizens in thecountry districts whose manners and whoso minds were still uncontaminated, in whom the ancient habits of life still survived, who still believed inthe gods, who were contented to follow the wholesome round of honestlabor. The numbers of such citizens were fast dwindling away before theomnivorous appetite of the rich for territorial aggrandizement. To rescuethe land from the monopolists, to renovate the old independent yeomanry, to prevent the free population of Italy, out of which the legions had beenformed which had built up the Empire, from being pushed out of theirplaces and supplanted by foreign slaves, this, if it could be done, wouldrestore the purity of the constituency, snatch the elections from thecontrol of corruption, and rear up fresh generations of peasant soldiersto preserve the liberties and the glories which their fathers had won. CHAPTER III. Tiberius Gracchus was born about the year 164 B. C. He was one of twelvechildren, nine of whom died in infancy, himself, his brother Caius, andhis sister Cornelia being the only survivors. His family was plebeian, butof high antiquity, his ancestors for several generations having held thehighest offices in the Republic. On the mother's side he was the grandsonof Scipio Africanus. His father, after a distinguished career as a soldierin Spain and Sardinia, had attempted reforms at Rome. He had been censor, and in this capacity he had ejected disreputable senators from the Curia;he had degraded offending equites; he had rearranged and tried to purifythe Comitia. But his connections were aristocratic. His wife was thedaughter of the most illustrious of the Scipios. His own daughter wasmarried to the second most famous of them, Scipio Africanus the Younger. He had been himself in antagonism with the tribunes, and had taken no partat any time in popular agitations. The father died when Tiberius was still a boy, and the two brothers grewup under the care of their mother, a noble and gifted lady. They displayedearly remarkable talents. Tiberius, when old enough, went into the army, and served under his brother-in-law in the last Carthaginian campaign. Hewas first on the walls of the city in the final storm. Ten years later hewent to Spain as Quaestor, where he carried on his father's popularity, and by taking the people's side in some questions fell into disagreementwith his brother-in-law. His political views had perhaps already inclinedto change. He was still of an age when indignation at oppression calls outa practical desire to resist it. On his journey home from Spain hewitnessed scenes which confirmed his conviction and determined him tothrow all his energies into the popular cause. His road lay throughTuscany, where he saw the large-estate system in full operation--thefields cultivated by the slave gangs, the free citizens of the Republicthrust away into the towns, aliens and outcasts in their own country, without a foot of soil which they could call their own. In Tuscany, too, the vast domains of the landlords had not even been fairly purchased. Theywere parcels of the _ager publicus_, land belonging to the State, which, in spite of a law forbidding it, the great lords and commoners hadappropriated and divided among themselves. Five hundred acres of Stateland was the most which by statute any one lessee might be allowed tooccupy. But the law was obsolete or sleeping, and avarice and vanity wereawake and active. Young Gracchus, in indignant pity, resolved to rescuethe people's patrimony. He was chosen tribune in the year 133. His bravemother and a few patricians of the old type encouraged him, and the battleof the revolution began. The Senate, as has been said, though withoutdirect legislative authority, had been allowed the right of reviewing anynew schemes which were to be submitted to the assembly. The constitutionalmeans of preventing tribunes from carrying unwise or unwelcome measureslay in a consul's veto, or in the help of the College of Augurs, who coulddeclare the auspices unfavorable, and so close all public business. Theseresources were so awkward that it had been found convenient to securebeforehand the Senate's approbation, and the encroachment, being longsubmitted to, was passing by custom into a rule. But the Senate, eager asit was, had not yet succeeded in engrafting the practice into theconstitution. On the land question the leaders of the aristocracy were theprincipal offenders. Disregarding usage, and conscious that the best menof all ranks were with him, Tiberius Gracchus appealed directly to thepeople to revive the agrarian law. His proposals were not extravagant. That they should have been deemed extravagant was a proof of how much somemeasure of the kind was needed. Where lands had been enclosed and moneylaid out on them he was willing that the occupants should havecompensation. But they had no right to the lands themselves. Gracchuspersisted that the _ager publicus_ belonged to the people, and thatthe race of yeomen, for whose protection the law had been originallypassed, must be re-established on their farms. No form of property givesto its owners so much consequence as land, and there is no point on whichin every country an aristocracy is more sensitive. The large ownersprotested that they had purchased their interests on the faith that thelaw was obsolete. They had planted and built and watered with the sanctionof the government, and to call their titles in question was to shake thefoundations of society. The popular party pointed to the statute. Themonopolists were entitled in justice to less than was offered them. Theyhad no right to a compensation at all. Political passion awoke again afterthe sleep of a century. The oligarchy had doubtless connived at theaccumulations. The suppression of the small holdings favored theirsupremacy, and placed the elections more completely in their control. Their military successes had given them so long a tenure of power thatthey had believed it to be theirs in perpetuity; and the new sedition, asthey called it, threatened at once their privileges and their fortunes. The quarrel assumed the familiar form of a struggle between the rich andthe poor, and at such times the mob of voters becomes less easy tocorrupt. They go with their order, as the prospect of larger gain makesthem indifferent to immediate bribes. It became clear that the majority ofthe citizens would support Tiberius Gracchus, but the constitutional formsof opposition might still be resorted to. Octavius Caecina, another of thetribunes, had himself large interests in the land question. He was thepeople's magistrate, one of the body appointed especially to defend theirrights, but he went over to the Senate, and, using a power whichundoubtedly belonged to him, he forbade the vote to be taken. There was no precedent for the removal of either consul, praetor, ortribune, except under circumstances very different from any which could asyet be said to have arisen. The magistrates held office for a year only, and the power of veto had been allowed them expressly to secure time fordeliberation and to prevent passionate legislation. But Gracchus was youngand enthusiastic. Precedent or no precedent, the citizens were omnipotent. He invited them to declare his colleague deposed. They had warmed to thefight, and complied. A more experienced statesman would have known thatestablished constitutional bulwarks cannot be swept away by a momentaryvote. He obtained his agrarian law. Three commissioners were appointed, himself, his younger brother, and his father-in-law, Appius Claudius, tocarry it into effect; but the very names showed that he had alienated hisfew supporters in the higher circles, and that a single family was nowcontending against the united wealth and distinction of Rome. The issuewas only too certain. Popular enthusiasm is but a fire of straw. In a yearTiberius Gracchus would be out of office. Other tribunes would be chosenmore amenable to influence, and his work could then be undone. Heevidently knew that those who would succeed him could not be relied on tocarry on his policy. He had taken one revolutionary step already; he wasdriven on to another, and he offered himself illegally to the Comitia forre-election. It was to invite them to abolish the constitution and to makehim virtual sovereign; and that a young man of thirty should havecontemplated such a position for himself as possible is of itself a proofof his unfitness for it. The election-day came. The noble lords andgentlemen appeared in the Campus Martius with their retinues of armedservants and clients; hot-blooded aristocrats, full of disdain fordemagogues, and meaning to read a lesson to sedition which it would noteasily forget. Votes were given for Gracchus. Had the hustings been leftto decide the matter, he would have been chosen; but as it began to appearhow the polling would go, sticks were used and swords; a riot rose, theunarmed citizens were driven off, Tiberius Gracchus himself and threehundred of his friends were killed and their bodies were flung into theTiber. Thus the first sparks of the coming revolution were trampled out. Butthough quenched and to be again quenched with fiercer struggles, it was tosmoulder and smoke and burst out time after time, till its work was done. Revolution could not restore the ancient character of the Roman nation, but it could check the progress of decay by burning away the morecorrupted parts of it. It could destroy the aristocracy and theconstitution which they had depraved, and under other forms present for afew more centuries the Roman dominion. Scipio Africanus, when he heard inSpain of the end of his brother-in-law, exclaimed, "May all who act as hedid perish like him!" There were to be victims enough and to spare beforethe bloody drama was played out. Quiet lasted for ten years, and then, precisely when he had reached his brother's age, Caius Gracchus cameforward to avenge him, and carry the movement through another stage. YoungCaius had been left one of the commissioners of the land law; and it isparticularly noticeable that though the author of it had been killed, thelaw had survived him being too clearly right and politic in itself to beopenly set aside. For two years the commissioners had continued to work, and in that time forty thousand families were settled on various parts ofthe _ager publicus_, which the patricians had been compelled toresign. This was all which they could do. The displacement of one set ofinhabitants and the introduction of another could not be accomplishedwithout quarrels, complaints, and perhaps some injustice. Those who wereejected were always exasperated. Those who entered on possession were notalways satisfied. The commissioners became unpopular. When the criesagainst them became loud enough, they were suspended, and the law was thenquietly repealed. The Senate had regained its hold over the assembly, andhad a further opportunity of showing its recovered ascendency when, twoyears after the murder of Tiberius Gracchus, one of his friends introduceda bill to make the tribunes legally re-eligible. Caius Gracchus activelysupported the change, but it had no success; and, waiting till times hadaltered, and till he had arrived himself at an age when he could carryweight, the young brother retired from politics, and spent the next fewyears with the army in Africa and Sardinia. He served with distinction; hemade a name for himself both as a soldier and an administrator. Had theSenate left him alone, he might have been satisfied with a regular career, and have risen by the ordinary steps to the consulship. But the Senate sawin him the possibilities of a second Tiberius; the higher his reputation, the more formidable he became to them. They vexed him with pettyprosecutions, charged him with crimes which had no existence, and atlength by suspicion and injustice drove him into open war with them. CaiusGracchus had a broader intellect than his brother, and a characterconsiderably less noble. The land question he perceived was but one ofmany questions. The true source of the disorders of the Commonwealth wasthe Senate itself. The administration of the Empire was in the hands ofmen totally unfit to be trusted with it, and there he thought the reformmust commence. He threw himself on the people. He was chosen tribune in123, ten years exactly after Tiberius. He had studied the disposition ofparties. He had seen his brother fall because the equites and thesenators, the great commoners and the nobles, were combined against him. He revived the agrarian law as a matter of course, but he disarmed theopposition to it by throwing an apple of discord between the two superiororders. The high judicial functions in the Commonwealth had been hithertoa senatorial monopoly. All cases of importance, civil or criminal, camebefore courts of sixty or seventy jurymen, who, as the law stood, must benecessarily senators. The privilege had been extremely lucrative. Thecorruption of justice was already notorious, though it had not yet reachedthe level of infamy which it attained in another generation. It was nosecret that in ordinary causes jurymen had sold their verdicts; and, farshort of taking bribes in the direct sense of the word, there were manyways in which they could let themselves be approached and their favorpurchased. A monopoly of privileges is always invidious. A monopoly in thesale of justice is alike hateful to those who abhor iniquity on principleand to those who would like to share the profits of it. But this was notthe worst. The governors of the provinces, being chosen from those who hadbeen consuls or praetors, were necessarily members of the Senate. Peculation and extortion in these high functions were offences in theoryof the gravest kind; but the offender could only be tried before a limitednumber of his peers, and a governor who had plundered a subject state, sold justice, pillaged temples, and stolen all that he could lay hands on, was safe from punishment if he returned to Rome a millionaire and wouldadmit others to a share in his spoils. The provincials might senddeputations to complain, but these complaints came before men who hadthemselves governed provinces or else aspired to govern them. It had beenproved in too many instances that the law which professed to protect themwas a mere mockery. Caius Gracchus secured the affections of the knights to himself, and someslightly increased chance of an improvement in the provincialadministration, by carrying a law in the assembly disabling the senatorsfrom sitting on juries of any kind from that day forward, and transferringthe judicial functions to the equites. How bitterly must such a measurehave been resented by the Senate, which at once robbed them of theirprotective and profitable privileges, handed them over to be tried bytheir rivals for their pleasant irregularities, and stamped them at thesame time with the brand of dishonesty! How certainly must such a measurehave been deserved when neither consul nor tribune could be found tointerpose his veto! Supported by the grateful knights, Caius Gracchus wasfor the moment all-powerful. It was not enough to restore the agrarianlaw. He passed another, aimed at his brother's murderers, which was tobear fruit in later years, that no Roman citizen might be put to death byany person, however high in authority, without legal trial, and withoutappeal, if he chose to make it, to the sovereign people. A blow was thusstruck against another right claimed by the Senate, of declaring theRepublic in danger, and the temporary suspension of the constitution. These measures might be excused, and perhaps commended; but the youngerGracchus connected his name with another change less commendable, whichwas destined also to survive and bear fruit. He brought forward andcarried through, with enthusiastic clapping of every pair of hands in Romethat were hardened with labor, a proposal that there should be publicgranaries in the city, maintained and filled at the cost of the State, andthat corn should be sold at a rate artificially cheap to the poor freecitizens. Such a law was purely socialistic. The privilege was confined toRome, because in Rome the elections were held, and the Roman constituencywas the one depositary of power. The effect was to gather into the city amob of needy, unemployed voters, living on the charity of the State, tocrowd the circus and to clamor at the elections, available no doubtimmediately to strengthen the hands of the popular tribune, but certain inthe long-run to sell themselves to those who could bid highest for theirvoices. Excuses could be found, no doubt, for this miserable expedient inthe state of parties, in the unscrupulous violence of the aristocracy, inthe general impoverishment of the peasantry through the land monopoly, andin the intrusion upon Italy of a gigantic system of slave labor. But nonethe less it was the deadliest blow which had yet been dealt to theconstitution. Party government turns on the majorities at thepolling-places, and it was difficult afterward to recall a privilege whichonce conceded appeared to be a right. The utmost that could be ventured inlater times with any prospect of success was to limit an intolerable evil;and if one side was ever strong enough to make the attempt, their rivalshad a bribe ready in their hands to buy back the popular support. CaiusGracchus, however, had his way, and carried all before him. He escaped therock on which his brother had been wrecked. He was elected tribune asecond time. He might have had a third term if he had been contented to bea mere demagogue. But he, too, like Tiberius, had honorable aims. Thepowers which he had played into the hands of the mob to obtain he desiredto use for high purposes of statesmanship, and his instrument broke in hishands. He was too wise to suppose that a Roman mob, fed by bounties fromthe treasury, could permanently govern the world. He had schemes forscattering Roman colonies, with the Roman franchise, at various points ofthe Empire. Carthage was to be one of them. He thought of abolishing thedistinction between Romans and Italians, and enfranchising the entirepeninsula. These measures were good in themselves--essential, indeed, ifthe Roman conquests were to form a compact and permanent dominion. But theobject was not attainable on the road on which Gracchus had entered. Thevagabond part of the constituency was well contented with what it hadobtained--a life in the city, supported at the public expense, withpolitics and games for its amusements. It had not the least inclination tobe drafted off into settlements in Spain or Africa, where there would bework instead of pleasant idleness. Carthage was still a name of terror. Torestore Carthage was no better than treason. Still less had the Romancitizens an inclination to share their privileges with Samnites andEtruscans, and see the value of their votes watered down. Political stormsare always cyclones. The gale from the east to-day is a gale from the westto-morrow. Who and what were the Gracchi, then?--the sweet voices began toask--ambitious intriguers, aiming at dictatorship or perhaps the crown. The aristocracy were right after all; a few things had gone wrong, butthese had been amended. The Scipios and Metelli had conquered the world:the Scipios and Metelli were alone fit to govern it. Thus when theelection time came round, the party of reform was reduced to a minority ofirreconcilable radicals who were easily disposed of. Again, as ten yearsbefore, the noble lords armed their followers. Riots broke out andextended day after day. Caius Gracchus was at last killed, as his brotherhad been, and under cover of the disturbance three thousand of his friendswere killed along with him. The power being again securely in their hands, the Senate proceeded at their leisure, and the surviving patriots who werein any way notorious or dangerous were hunted down in legal manner and putto death or banished. CHAPTER IV. Caius Gracchus was killed at the close of the year 122. The storm wasover. The Senate was once more master of the situation, and the optimates, "the best party in the State, " as they were pleased to call themselves, smoothed their ruffled plumes and settled again into their places. Therewas no more talk of reform. Of the Gracchi there remained nothing but theforty thousand peasant-proprietors settled on the public lands; the jurylaw, which could not be at once repealed for fear of the equites; the corngrants, and the mob attracted by the bounty, which could be managed byimproved manipulation; and the law protecting the lives of Roman citizens, which survived in the statute-book, although the Senate still claimed theright to set it aside when they held the State to be in danger. With theseexceptions, the administration fell back into its old condition. Thetribunes ceased to agitate. The consulships and the praetorships fell tothe candidates whom the Senate supported. Whether the oligarchy had learntany lessons of caution from the brief political earthquake which hadshaken but not overthrown them remained to be seen. Six years after themurder of Caius Gracchus an opportunity was afforded to this distinguishedbody of showing on a conspicuous scale the material of which they were nowcomposed. Along the south shore of the Mediterranean, west of the Roman province, extended the two kingdoms of the Numidians and the Moors. To what racethese people belonged is not precisely known. They were not negroes. Thenegro tribes have never extended north of the Sahara. Nor were theyCarthaginians or allied to the Carthaginians. The Carthaginian colonyfound them in possession on its arrival. Sallust says that they werePersians left behind by Hercules after his invasion of Spain. Sallust'sevidence proves no more than that their appearance was Asiatic, and thattradition assigned them an Asiatic origin. They may be called genericallyArabs, who at a very ancient time had spread along the coast from Egypt toMorocco. The Numidians at this period were civilized according to themanners of the age. They had walled towns; they had considerable wealth;their lands were extensively watered and cultivated; their great men hadcountry houses and villas, the surest sign of a settled state of society. Among the equipments of their army they had numerous elephants (it may bepresumed of the African breed), which they and the Carthaginians hadcertainly succeeded in domesticating. Masinissa, the king of this people, had been the ally of Rome in the last Carthaginian war; he had beenafterward received as "a friend of the Republic, " and was one of theprotected sovereigns. He was succeeded by his son Micipsa, who in turn hadtwo legitimate children, Hiempsal and Adherbal, and an illegitimate nephewJugurtha, considerably older than his own boys, a young man of strikingtalent and promise. Micipsa, who was advanced in years, was afraid that ifhe died this brilliant youth might be a dangerous rival to his sons. Hetherefore sent him to serve under Scipio in Spain, with the hope, so hisfriends asserted, that he might there perhaps be killed. The Roman armywas then engaged in the siege of Numantia. The camp was the lounging-placeof the young patricians who were tired of Rome and wished for excitement. Discipline had fallen loose; the officers' quarters were the scene ofextravagance and amusement. Jugurtha recommended himself on the one sideto Scipio by activity and good service, while on the other he madeacquaintances among the high-bred gentlemen in the mess-rooms. He foundthem in themselves dissolute and unscrupulous. He discovered, throughcommunications which he was able with their assistance to open with theirfathers and relatives at Rome, that a man with money might do what hepleased. Micipsa's treasury was well supplied, and Jugurtha hinted amonghis comrades that if he could be secure of countenance in seizing thekingdom, he would be in a position to show his gratitude in a substantialmanner. Some of these conversations reached the ears of Scipio, who sentfor Jugurtha and gave him a friendly warning. He dismissed him, however, with honor at the end of the campaign. The young prince returned to Africaloaded with distinctions, and the king, being now afraid to pass him over, named him as joint-heir with his children to a third part of Numidia. TheNumidians perhaps objected to being partitioned. Micipsa died soon after. Jugurtha at once murdered Hiempsal, claimed the sovereignty, and attackedhis other cousin. Adherbal, closely besieged in the town of Cirta, whichremained faithful to him, appealed to Rome; but Jugurtha had alreadyprepared his ground, and knew that he had nothing to fear. The Senate sentout commissioners. The commissioners received the bribes which theyexpected. They gave Jugurtha general instructions to leave his cousin inpeace; but they did not wait to see their orders obeyed, and went quietlyhome. The natural results immediately followed. Jugurtha pressed the siegemore resolutely. The town surrendered; Adherbal was taken, and was put todeath after being savagely tortured; and there being no longer anycompetitor alive in whose behalf the Senate could be called on tointerfere, he thought himself safe from further interference. Unfortunately in the capture of Citra a number of Romans who resided therehad been killed after the surrender, and after a promise that their livesshould be spared. An outcry was raised in Rome, and became so loud thatthe Senate was forced to promise investigation; but it went to worklanguidly, with reluctance so evident as to rouse suspicion. Notwithstanding the fate of the Gracchi and their friends, Memmius, atribune, was found bold enough to tell the people that there were men inthe Senate who had taken bribes. The Senate, conscious of its guilt, was now obliged to exert itself. Warwas declared against Jugurtha, and a consul was sent to Africa with anarmy. But the consul, too, had his fortune to make, and Micipsa'streasures were still unexpended. The consul took with him a staff of youngpatricians, whose families might be counted on to shield him in return fora share of the plunder. Jugurtha was as liberal as avarice could desire, and peace was granted to him on the easy conditions of a nominal fine, andthe surrender of some elephants, which the consul privately restored. Public opinion was singularly patient. The massacre six years before hadkilled out the liberal leaders, and there was no desire on any side as yetto renew the struggle with the Senate. But it was possible to presume toofar on popular acquiescence. Memmius came forward again, and in apassionate speech in the Forum exposed and denounced the scandaloustransaction. The political sky began to blacken again. The Senate couldnot face another storm with so bad a cause, and Jugurtha was sent for toRome. He came, with contemptuous confidence, loaded with gold. He couldnot corrupt Memmius, but he bought easily the rest of the tribunes. Theleaders in the Curia could not quarrel with a client of such delightfulliberality. He had an answer to every complaint, and a fee to silence thecomplainer. He would have gone back in triumph, had he not presumed alittle too far. He had another cousin in the city who he feared might oneday give him trouble, so he employed one of his suite to poison him. Themurder was accomplished successfully; and for this too he might no doubthave secured his pardon by paying for it; but the price demanded was toohigh, and perhaps Jugurtha, villain as he was, came at last to disdain thewretches whom he might consider fairly to be worse than himself. He hadcome over under a safe-conduct, and he was not detained. The Senateordered him to leave Italy; and he departed with the scornful phrase onhis lips which has passed into history: "Venal city, and soon to perish ifonly it can find a purchaser. " [1] A second army was sent across, to end the scandal. This time the Senatewas in earnest, but the work was less easy than was expected. Armymanagement had fallen into disorder. In earlier times each Roman citizenhad provided his own equipments at his own expense. To be a soldier waspart of the business of his life, and military training was an essentialfeature of his education. The old system had broken down; the peasantry, from whom the rank and file of the legions had been recruited, were nolonger able to furnish their own arms. Caius Gracchus had intended thatarms should be furnished by the government, that a special departmentshould be constituted to take charge of the arsenals and to see to thedistribution. But Gracchus was dead, and his project had died with him. When the legions were enrolled, the men were ill armed, undrilled, andunprovided--a mere mob, gathered hastily together and ignorant of thefirst elements of their duty. With the officers it was still worse. Thesubordinate commands fell to young patricians, carpet knights who went oncampaigns with their families of slaves. The generals, when a movement wasto be made, looked for instruction to their staff. It sometimes happenedthat a consul waited for his election to open for the first time a book ofmilitary history or a Greek manual of the art of war. [2] [Sidenote: B. C 109. ]An army so composed and so led was not likely to prosper. The Numidianswere not very formidable enemies, but, after a month or two ofmanoeuvring, half the Romans were destroyed and the remainder were obligedto surrender. About the same time, and from similar causes, two Romanarmies were cut to pieces on the Rhone. While the great men at Rome werebuilding palaces, inventing new dishes, and hiring cooks at unheard-ofsalaries, the barbarians were at the gates of Italy. The passes of theAlps were open, and if a few tribes of Gauls had cared to pour throughthem, the Empire was at their mercy. Stung with these accumulatingdisgraces, and now really alarmed, the Senate sent Caecilius Metellus, thebest man that they had and the consul for the year following to Africa. Metellus was an aristocrat, and he was advanced in years; but he was a manof honor and integrity. He understood the danger of further failure; andhe looked about for the ablest soldier that he could find to go with him, irrespective of his political opinions. Caius Marius was at this time forty-eight years old. Two thirds of hislife were over, and a name which was to sound throughout the world and beremembered through all ages had as yet been scarcely heard of beyond thearmy and the political clubs in Rome. He was born at Arpinum, a Latintownship, seventy miles from the capital, in the year 157. His father wasa small farmer, and he was himself bred to the plough. He joined the armyearly, and soon attracted notice by his punctual discharge of his duties. In a time of growing looseness, Marius was strict himself in keepingdiscipline and in enforcing it as he rose in the service. He was in Spainwhen Jugurtha was there, and made himself especially useful to Scipio; heforced his way steadily upward, by his mere soldierlike qualities, to therank of military tribune. Rome, too, had learned to know him, for he waschosen tribune of the people the year after the murder of Caius Gracchus. Being a self-made man, he belonged naturally to the popular party. Whilein office he gave offence in some way to the men in power, and was calledbefore the Senate to answer for himself. But he had the right on his side, it is likely, for they found him stubborn and impertinent, and they couldmake nothing of their charges against him. He was not bidding at thistime, however, for the support of the mob. He had the integrity and senseto oppose the largesses of corn; and he forfeited his popularity by tryingto close the public granaries before the practice had passed into asystem. He seemed as if made of a block of hard Roman oak, gnarled andknotted, but sound in all its fibres. His professional merit continued torecommend him. At the age of forty he became praetor, and was sent toSpain, where he left a mark again by the successful severity by which hecleared the province of banditti. He was a man neither given himself totalking nor much talked about in the world; but he was sought for whereverwork was to be done, and he had made himself respected and valued in highcircles, for after his return from the peninsula he had married into oneof the most distinguished of the patrician families. The Caesars were a branch of the Gens Julia, which claimed descent fromIulus the son of Aeneas, and thus from the gods. Roman etymologists couldarrive at no conclusion as to the origin of the name. Some derived it froman exploit on an elephant-hunt in Africa--Caesar meaning elephant inMoorish; some to the entrance into the world of the first eminent Caesarby the aid of a surgeon's knife;[3]some from the color of the eyesprevailing in the family. Be the explanation what it might, eightgenerations of Caesars had held prominent positions in the Commonwealth. They had been consuls, censors, praetors, aediles, and military tribunes, and in politics, as might be expected from their position, they had beenmoderate aristocrats. Like other families they had been subdivided, andthe links connecting them cannot always be traced. The pedigree of theDictator goes no further than to his grandfather, Caius Julius. In themiddle of the second century before Christ, this Caius Julius, beingotherwise unknown to history, married a lady named Marcia, supposed to bedescended from Ancus Marcius, the fourth king of Rome. By her he had threechildren, Caius Julius, Sextus Julius, and a daughter named Julia. CaiusJulius married Aurelia, perhaps a member of the consular family of theCottas, and was the father of the Great Caesar. Julia became the wife ofCaius Marius, a _mésalliance_ which implied the beginning of apolitical split in the Caesar family. The elder branches, like theCromwells of Hinchinbrook, remained by their order. The younger attacheditself for good or ill to the party of the people. Marius by this marriage became a person of social consideration. Hisfather had been a client of the Metelli; and Caecilius Metellus, who musthave known Marius by reputation and probably in person, invited him to goas second in command in the African campaign. He was moderatelysuccessful. Towns were taken; battles were won: Metellus wasincorruptible, and the Numidians sued for peace. But Jugurtha wantedterms, and the consul demanded unconditional surrender. Jugurtha withdrewinto the desert; the war dragged on; and Marius, perhaps ambitious, perhaps impatient at the general's want of vigor, began to think that hecould make quicker work of it. The popular party were stirring again inRome, the Senate having so notoriously disgraced itself. There was justirritation that a petty African prince could defy the whole power of Romefor so many years; and though a democratic consul had been unheard of fora century, the name of Marius began to be spoken of as a possiblecandidate. Marius consented to stand. The law required that he must bepresent in person at the election, and he applied to his commander forleave of absence. Metellus laughed at his pretensions, and bade him waitanother twenty years. Marius, however, persisted, and was allowed to go. The patricians strained their resources to defeat him, but he was chosenwith enthusiasm. Metellus was recalled, and the conduct of the Numidianwar was assigned to the new hero of the "populares. " A shudder of alarm ran, no doubt, through the senate-house when thedetermination of the people was known. A successful general could not bedisposed of so easily as oratorical tribunes. Fortunately Marius was not apolitician. He had no belief in democracy. He was a soldier, and had asoldier's way of thinking on government and the methods of it. His firststep was a reformation in the army. Hitherto the Roman legions had been nomore than the citizens in arms, called for the moment from their variousoccupations, to return to them when the occasion for their services waspast. Marius had perceived that fewer men, better trained and disciplined, could he made more effective and be more easily handled. He had studiedwar as a science. He had perceived that the present weakness need be nomore than an accident, and that there was a latent force in the RomanState which needed only organization to resume its ascendency. "Heenlisted, " it was said, "the worst of the citizens, " men, that is to say, who had no occupation and who became soldiers by profession; and aspersons without property could not have furnished themselves at their owncost, he must have carried out the scheme proposed by Gracchus, andequipped them at the expense of the State. His discipline was of thesternest. The experiment was new; and men of rank who had a taste for warin earnest, and did not wish that the popular party should have the wholebenefit and credit of the improvements, were willing to go with him; amongthem a dissipated young patrician called Lucius Sylla, whose name also wasdestined to be memorable. By these methods and out of these materials an army was formed such as noRoman general had hitherto led. It performed extraordinary marches, carried its water-supplies with it in skins, and followed the enemy acrosssandy deserts hitherto found impassable. In less than two years the warwas over. The Moors to whom Jugurtha had fled surrendered him to Sylla, and he was brought in chains to Rome, where he finished his life in adungeon. So ended a curious episode in Roman history, where it holds a place beyondits intrinsic importance, from the light which it throws on the characterof the Senate and on the practical working of the institutions which theGracchi had perished in unsuccessfully attempting to reform. [1] "Urbem venalem, et mature perituram, si emptorem invenenit. "--Sallust, _De Bello Jugurthino_, c. 35. Livy's account of the business, however, differs from Sallust's, and the expression is perhaps not authentic. [2] "At ego scio, Quirites, qui, postquam consules facti sunt, acta majorum, et Graecorum militaria praecepta legere coeperint. Homines praeposteri!"--Speech of Marius, Sallust, _Jugurtha_, 85. [3] "Caesus ab utero matris. " CHAPTER V. The Jugurthine war ended in the year 106 B. C. At the same Arpinum whichhad produced Marius another actor in the approaching drama was in thatyear ushered into the world, Marcus Tullius Cicero. The Ciceros had madetheir names, and perhaps their fortunes, by their skill in raising_cicer_, or vetches. The present representative of the family was acountry gentleman in good circumstances given to literature, residinghabitually at his estate on the Liris and paying occasional visits toRome. In that household was born Rome's most eloquent master of the art ofusing words, who was to carry that art as far, and to do as much with it, as any man who has ever appeared on the world's stage. Rome, however, was for the present in the face of enemies who had to beencountered with more material weapons. Marius had formed an army barelyin time to save Italy from being totally overwhelmed. A vast migratorywave of population had been set in motion behind the Rhine and the Danube. The German forests were uncultivated. The hunting and pasture grounds weretoo strait for the numbers crowded into them, and two enormous hordes wererolling westward and southward in search of some new abiding-place. TheTeutons came from the Baltic down across the Rhine into Luxemburg. TheCimbri crossed the Danube near its sources into Illyria. Both Teutons andCimbri were Germans, and both were making for Gaul by different routes. The Celts of Gaul had had their day. In past generations they had held theGerman invaders at bay, and had even followed them into their ownterritories. But they had split among themselves. They no longer offered acommon front to the enemy. They were ceasing to be able to maintain theirown independence, and the question of the future was whether Gaul was tobe the prey of Germany or to be a province of Rome. Events appeared already to have decided. The invasion of the Teutons andthe Cimbri was like the pouring in of two great rivers. Each divisionconsisted of hundreds of thousands. They travelled with their wives andchildren, their wagons, as with the ancient Scythians and with the modernSouth African Dutch, being at once their conveyance and their home. Gray-haired priestesses tramped along among them, barefooted, in white linendresses, the knife at their girdle; northern Iphigenias, sacrificingprisoners as they were taken to the gods of Valhalla. On they swept, eating up the country, and the people flying before them. In 113 B. C. Theskirts of the Cimbri had encountered a small Roman force near Trieste, anddestroyed it. Four years later another attempt was made to stop them, butthe Roman army was beaten and its camp taken. The Cimbrian host did not, however, turn at that time upon Italy. Their aim was the south of France. They made their way through the Alps into Switzerland, where the Helvetiijoined them, and the united mass rolled over the Jura and down the bank ofthe Rhone. Roused at last into exertion, the Senate sent into Gaul thelargest force which the Romans had ever brought into the field. They metthe Cimbri at Orange, and were simply annihilated. Eighty thousand Romansand forty thousand camp-followers were said to have fallen. The numbers insuch cases are generally exaggerated, but the extravagance of the reportis a witness to the greatness of the overthrow. The Romans had received aworse blow than at Cannae. They were brave enough, but they were commandedby persons whose recommendations for command were birth or fortune;"preposterous men, " as Marius termed them, who had waited for theirappointment to open the military manuals. Had the Cimbri chosen at this moment to recross the Alps into Italy, theyhad only to go and take possession, and Alaric would have been antedatedby five centuries. In great danger it was the Senate's business to suspendthe constitution. The constitution was set aside now, but it was set asideby the people themselves, not by the Senate. One man only could save thecountry, and that man was Marius. His consulship was over, and customforbade his re-election. The Senate might have appointed him dictator, butwould not. The people, custom or no custom, chose him consul a secondtime--a significant acknowledgment that the Empire, which had been won bythe sword, must be held by the sword, and that the sword itself must beheld by the hand that was best fitted to use it. Marius first triumphedfor his African victory, and, as an intimation to the Senate that thepower for the moment was his and not theirs, he entered the Curia in histriumphal dress. He then prepared for the barbarians who, to the alarmedimagination of the city, were already knocking at its gates. Time was theimportant element in the matter. Had the Cimbri come at once after theirvictory at Orange, Italy had been theirs. But they did not come. With theunguided movements of some wild force of nature they swerved away throughAquitaine to the Pyrenees. They swept across the mountains into Spain. Thence, turning north, they passed up the Atlantic coast and round to theSeine, the Gauls flying before them; thence on to the Rhine, where thevast body of the Teutons joined them and fresh detachments of theHelvetii. It was as if some vast tide-wave had surged over the country androlled through it, searching out the easiest passages. At length, in twodivisions, the invaders moved definitely toward Italy, the Cimbrifollowing their old tracks by the eastern Alps toward Aquileia and theAdriatic, the Teutons passing down through Provence and making for theroad along the Mediterranean. Two years had been consumed in thesewanderings, and Marius was by this time ready for them. The Senate haddropped the reins, and no longer governed or misgoverned; the popularparty, represented by the army, was supreme. Marius was continued inoffice, and was a fourth time consul. He had completed his militaryreforms, and the army was now a professional service, with regular pay. Trained corps of engineers were attached to each legion. The campaigns ofthe Romans were thenceforward to be conducted with spade and pickaxe asmuch as with sword and javelin, and the soldiers learnt the use of toolsas well as arms. Moral discipline was not forgotten. The foulest of humanvices was growing fashionable in high society in the capital. It was notallowed to make its way into the army. An officer in one of the legions, anear relative of Marius, made filthy overtures to one of his men. The manreplied with a thrust of his sword, and Marius publicly thanked anddecorated him. The effect of the change was like enchantment. The delay of the Germansmade it unnecessary to wait for them in Italy. Leaving Catulus, hiscolleague in the consulship, to check the Cimbri in Venetia, Marius wenthimself, taking Sylla with him, into the south of France. As the barbarianhost came on, he occupied a fortified camp near Aix. He allowed theenormous procession to roll past him in their wagons toward the Alps. Then, following cautiously, he watched his opportunity to fall on them. The Teutons were brave, but they had no longer mere legionaries to fightwith, but a powerful machine, and the entire mass of them, men, women, andchildren, in numbers which however uncertain were rather those of a nationthan an army, were swept out of existence. The Teutons were destroyed on the 20th of July, 102. In the year followingthe same fate overtook their comrades. The Cimbri had forced the passesthrough the mountains. They had beaten the unscientific patrician Catulus, and had driven him back on the Po. But Marius came to his rescue. TheCimbri were cut to pieces near Mantua, in the summer of 101, and Italy wassaved. The victories of Marius mark a new epoch in Roman history. The legionswere no longer the levy of the citizens in arms, who were themselves theState for which they fought. The legionaries were citizens still. They hadvotes, and they used them; but they were professional soldiers with themodes of thought which belong to soldiers, and beside the power of thehustings was now the power of the sword. The constitution remained toappearance intact, and means were devised sufficient to encounter, itmight be supposed, the new danger. Standing armies were prohibited inItaly. Victorious generals returning from campaigns abroad were requiredto disband their legions on entering the sacred soil. But the materials ofthese legions remained a distinct order from the rest of the population, capable of instant combination, and in combination irresistible save byopposing combinations of the same kind. The Senate might continue todebate, the Comitia might elect the annual magistrates. The establishedinstitutions preserved the form and something of the reality of power in apeople governed so much by habit as the Romans. There is a long twilightbetween the time when a god is first suspected to be an idol and his finaloverthrow. But the aristocracy had made the first inroad on theconstitution by interfering at the elections with their armed followersand killing their antagonists. The example once set could not fail to berepeated, and the rule of an organized force was becoming the onlypossible protection against the rule of mobs, patrician or plebeian. The danger from the Germans was no sooner gone than political anarchybroke loose again. Marius, the man of the people, was the saviour of hiscountry. He was made consul a fifth time and a sixth. The party which hadgiven him his command shared, of course, in his pre-eminence. Theelections could be no longer interfered with or the voters intimidated. The public offices were filled with the most violent agitators, whobelieved that the time had come to revenge the Gracchi and carry out thedemocratic revolution, to establish the ideal Republic and the direct ruleof the citizen assembly. This, too, was a chimera. If the Roman Senatecould not govern, far less could the Roman mob govern. Marius stood asideand let the voices rage. He could not be expected to support a systemwhich had brought the country so near to ruin. He had no belief in thevisions of the demagogues, but the time was not ripe to make an end of itall. Had he tried, the army would not have gone with him, so he sat stilltill faction had done its work. The popular heroes of the hour were thetribune Saturninus and the praetor Glaucia. They carried corn laws andland laws--whatever laws they pleased to propose. The administrationremaining with the Senate, they carried a vote that every senator shouldtake an oath to execute their laws under penalty of fine and expulsion. Marius did not like it, and even opposed it, but let it pass at last. Thesenators, cowed and humiliated, consented to take the oath, all but one, Marius's old friend and commander in Africa, Caecilius Metellus. No stainhad ever rested on the name of Metellus. He had accepted no bribes. He hadhalf beaten Jugurtha, for Marius to finish; and Marius himself stood in asemi-feudal relation to him. It was unlucky for the democrats that theyhad found so honorable an opponent. Metellus persisted in refusal. Saturninus sent a guard to the senate-house, dragged him out, and expelledhim from the city. Aristocrats and their partisans were hustled and killedin the street. The patricians had spilt the first blood in the massacre in121: now it was the turn of the mob. Marius was an indifferent politician. He perceived as well as any one thatviolence must not go on, but he hesitated to put it down. He knew that thearistocracy feared and hated him. Between them and the people's consul noalliance was possible. He did not care to alienate his friends, and theremay have been other difficulties which we do not know in his way. The armyitself was perhaps divided. On the popular side there were two parties: amoderate one, represented by Memmius, who, as tribune, had impeached thesenators for the Jugurthine infamies; the other, the advanced radicals, led by Glaucia and Saturninus. Memmius and Glaucia were both candidatesfor the consulship; and as Memmius was likely to succeed, he was murdered. Revolutions proceed like the acts of a drama, and each act is divided intoscenes which follow one another with singular uniformity. Ruling powersmake themselves hated by tyranny and incapacity. An opposition is formedagainst them, composed of all sorts, lovers of order and lovers ofdisorder, reasonable men and fanatics, business-like men and men oftheory. The opposition succeeds; the government is overthrown; the victorsdivide into a moderate party and an advanced party. The advanced party goto the front, till they discredit themselves with crime or folly. Thewheel has then gone round, and the reaction sets in. The murder of Memmiusalienated fatally the respectable citizens. Saturninus and Glaucia weredeclared public enemies. They seized the Capitol, and blockaded it. Patrician Rome turned out and besieged them, and Marius had to interfere. The demagogues and their friends surrendered, and were confined in theCuria Hostilia till they could be tried. The noble lords could not allowsuch detested enemies the chance of an acquittal. To them a radical was afoe of mankind, to be hunted down like a wolf, when a chance was offeredto destroy him. By the law of Caius Gracchus no citizen could be put todeath without a trial. The persons of Saturninus and Glaucia were doublysacred, for one was tribune and the other praetor. But the patricians weresatisfied that they deserved to be executed, and in such a frame of mindit seemed but virtue to execute them. They tore off the roof of the senatehouse, and pelted the miserable wretches to death with stones and tiles. CHAPTER VI. Not far from the scene of the murder of Glaucia and Saturninus there waslying at this time in his cradle, or carried about in his nurse's arms, achild who, in his manhood, was to hold an inquiry into this business, andto bring one of the perpetrators to answer for himself. On the 12th of thepreceding July, B. C. 100, [1] was born into the world Caius Julius Caesar, the only son of Caius Julius and Aurelia, and nephew of the then ConsulMarius. His father had been praetor, but had held no higher office. Aurelia was a strict stately lady of the old school, uninfected by thelately imported fashions. She, or her husband, or both of them, were rich;but the habits of the household were simple and severe, and the connectionwith Marius indicates the political opinions which prevailed in thefamily. No anecdotes are preserved, of Caesar's childhood. He was taught Greek byAntonius Gnipho, an educated Gaul from the north of Italy. He wrote a poemwhen a boy in honor of Hercules. He composed a tragedy on the story ofOedipus. His passionate attachment to Aurelia in after-years shows thatbetween mother and child the relations had been affectionate and happy. But there is nothing to indicate that there was any early precocity oftalent; and leaving Caesar to his grammar and his exercises, we willproceed with the occurrences which he must have heard talked of in hisfather's house, or seen with his eyes when he began to open them. Thesociety there was probably composed of his uncle's friends; soldiers andstatesmen who had no sympathy with mobs, but detested the selfish anddangerous system on which the Senate had carried on the government, anddreaded its consequences. Above the tumults of the factions in the Capitola cry rising into shrillness began to be heard from Italy. Caius Gracchushad wished to extend the Roman franchise to the Italian States, and thesuggestion had cost him his popularity and his life. The Italian provinceshad furnished their share of the armies which had beaten Jugurtha, and haddestroyed the German invaders. They now demanded that they should have theposition which Gracchus designed for them: that they should be allowed tolegislate for themselves, and no longer lie at the mercy of others, whoneither understood their necessities nor cared for their interests. Theyhad no friends in the city, save a few far-sighted statesmen. Senate andmob had at least one point of agreement, that the spoils of the Empireshould be fought for among themselves; and at the first mention of theinvasion of their monopoly a law was passed making the very agitation ofthe subject punishable by death. Political convulsions work in a groove, the direction of which varieslittle in any age or country. Institutions once sufficient and salutarybecome unadapted to a change of circumstances. The traditionary holders ofpower see their interests threatened. They are jealous of innovations. They look on agitators for reform as felonious persons desiring toappropriate what does not belong to them. The complaining parties areconscious of suffering and rush blindly on the superficial causes of theirimmediate distress. The existing authority is their enemy; and their oneremedy is a change in the system of government. They imagine that they seewhat the change should be, that they comprehend what they are doing, andknow where they intend to arrive. They do not perceive that the visibledisorders are no more than symptoms which no measures, repressive orrevolutionary, can do more than palliate. The wave advances and the waverecedes. Neither party in the struggle can lift itself far enough abovethe passions of the moment to study the drift of the general current. Eachis violent, each is one-sided, and each makes the most and the worst ofthe sins of its opponents. The one idea of the aggressors is to grasp allthat they can reach. The one idea of the conservatives is to part withnothing, pretending that the stability of the State depends on adherenceto the principles which have placed them in the position which they hold;and as various interests are threatened, and as various necessities arise, those who are one day enemies are frightened the next into unnaturalcoalitions, and the next after into more embittered dissensions. To an indifferent spectator, armed especially with the politicalexperiences of twenty additional centuries, it seems difficult tounderstand how Italy could govern the world. That the world and Italybesides should continue subject to the population of a single city, of itslimited Latin environs, and of a handful of townships exceptionallyfavored, might even then be seen to be plainly impossible. The Italianswere Romans in every point, except in the possession of the franchise. They spoke the same language; they were subjects of the same dominion. They were as well educated, they were as wealthy, they were as capable asthe inhabitants of the dominant State. They paid taxes, they fought in thearmies; they were strong; they were less corrupt, politically and morally, as having fewer temptations and fewer opportunities of evil; and in theirsimple country life they approached incomparably nearer to the old Romantype than the patrician fops in the circus or the Forum, or the city mobwhich was fed in idleness on free grants of corn. When Samnium and Tuscanywere conquered, a third of the lands had been confiscated to the RomanState, under the name of _Ager Publicus_. Samnite and Etruscangentlemen had recovered part of it under lease, much as the descendants ofthe Irish chiefs held their ancestral domains as tenants of theCromwellians. The land law of the Gracchi was well intended, but it borehard on many of the leading provincials, who had seen their estatesparcelled out, and their own property, as they deemed it, taken from themunder the land commission. If they were to be governed by Roman laws, theynaturally demanded to be consulted when the laws were made. They mighthave been content under a despotism to which Roman and Italian weresubject alike. To be governed under the forms of a free constitution bymen no better than themselves was naturally intolerable. [Sidenote: B. C. 95. ][Sidenote: B. C. 91. ]The movement from without united the Romans for the instant in defence oftheir privileges. The aristocracy resisted change from instinct; the mob, loudly as they clamored for their own rights, cared nothing for the rightsof others, and the answer to the petition of the Italians, five yearsafter the defeat of the Cimbri, was a fierce refusal to permit thediscussion of it. Livius Drusus, one of those unfortunately gifted men whocan see that in a quarrel there is sometimes justice on both sides, made avain attempt to secure the provincials a hearing, but he was murdered inhis own house. To be murdered was the usual end of exceptionallydistinguished Romans, in a State where the lives of citizens weretheoretically sacred. His death was the signal for an insurrection, whichbegan in the mountains of the Abruzzi and spread over the whole peninsula. The contrast of character between the two classes of population became atonce uncomfortably evident. The provincials had been the right arm of theEmpire. Rome, a city of rich men with families of slaves, and of a crowdof impoverished freemen without employment to keep them in health andstrength, could no longer bring into the field a force which could holdits ground against the gentry and peasants of Samnium. The Senate enlistedGreeks, Numidians, any one whose services they could purchase. They had toencounter soldiers who had been trained and disciplined by Marius, andthey were taught by defeat upon defeat that they had a worse enemy beforethem than the Germans. Marius himself had almost withdrawn from publiclife. He had no heart for the quarrel, and did not care greatly to exerthimself. At the bottom, perhaps, he thought that the Italians were in theright. The Senate discovered that they were helpless, and must come toterms if they would escape destruction. They abandoned the original pointof difference, and they offered to open the franchise to every Italianstate south of the Po which had not taken arms or which returnedimmediately to its allegiance. The war had broken out for a definitecause. When the cause was removed no reason remained for its continuance. The Italians were closely connected with Rome. Italians were spread overthe Roman world in active business. They had no wish to overthrow theEmpire if they were allowed to share in its management. The greater partof them accepted the Senate's terms; and only those remained in the fieldwho had gone to war in the hope of recovering the lost independence whichtheir ancestors had so long heroically defended. The panting Senate was thus able to breathe again. The war continued, butunder better auspices. Sound material could now be collected again for thearmy. Marius being in the background, the chosen knight of thearistocracy, Lucius Sylla, whose fame in the Cimbrian war had been onlysecond to that of his commander's, came at once to the front. Sylla, or Sulla, as we are now taught to call him, was born in the year138 B. C. He was a patrician of the purest blood, had inherited a moderatefortune, and had spent it like other young men of rank, lounging intheatres and amusing himself with dinner-parties. He was a poet, anartist, and a wit, but each and everything with the languor of an amateur. His favorite associates were actresses, and he had neither obtained noraspired to any higher reputation than that of a cultivated man of fashion. His distinguished birth was not apparent in his person. He had red hair, hard blue eyes, and a complexion white and purple, with the colors so ill-mixed that his face was compared to a mulberry sprinkled with flour. Ambition he appeared to have none; and when he exerted himself to beappointed quaestor to Marius on the African expedition, Marius wasdisinclined to take him as having no recommendation beyond qualificationswhich the consul of the plebeians disdained and disliked. Marius, however, soon discovered his mistake. Beneath his constitutionalindolence Sylla was by nature a soldier, a statesman, a diplomatist. Hehad been too contemptuous of the common objects of politicians to concernhimself with the intrigues of the Forum, but he had only to exert himselfto rise with easy ascendency to the command of every situation in which hemight be placed. He had entered with military instinct into Marius'sreform of the army, and became the most active and useful of his officers. He endeared himself to the legionaries by a tolerance of vices which didnot interfere with discipline; and to Sylla's combined adroitness andcourage Marius owed the final capture of Jugurtha. Whether Marius became jealous of Sylla on this occasion must be decided bythose who, while they have no better information than others as to theactions of men, possess, or claim to possess, the most intimateacquaintance with their motives. They again served together, however, against the Northern invaders, and Sylla a second time lent efficient helpto give Marius a victory. Like Marius, he had no turn for platform oratoryand little interest in election contests and intrigues. For eight years hekept aloof from politics, and his name and that of his rival were alikefor all that time almost unheard of. He emerged into special notice onlywhen he was praetor in the year 93 B. C. , and when he characteristicallydistinguished his term of office by exhibiting a hundred lions in thearena matched against Numidian archers. There was no such road topopularity with the Roman multitude. It is possible that the littleCaesar, then a child of seven, may have been among the spectators, makinghis small reflections on it all. [Sidenote: B. C. 120. ]In 92 Sylla went as propraetor to Asia, where the incapacity of theSenate's administration was creating another enemy likely to betroublesome. Mithridates, "child of the sun, " pretending to a descent fromDarius Hystaspes, was king of Pontus, one of the semi-independentmonarchies which had been allowed to stand in Asia Minor. The coast-lineof Pontus extended from Sinope to Trebizond, and reached inland to theline of mountains where the rivers divide which flow into the Black Seaand the Mediterranean. The father of Mithridates was murdered when he wasa child, and for some years he led a wandering life, meeting adventureswhich were as wild and perhaps as imaginary as those of Ulysses. In laterlife he became the idol of Eastern imagination, and legend made free withhis history; but he was certainly an extraordinary man. He spoke theunnumbered dialects of the Asiatic tribes among whom he had travelled. Hespoke Greek with ease and freedom. Placed, as he was, on the margin wherethe civilizations of the East and the West were brought in contact, he wasat once a barbarian potentate and an ambitious European politician. He waswell informed of the state of Rome, and saw reason, perhaps, as well hemight, to doubt the durability of its power. At any rate, he was no soonerfixed on his own throne than he began to annex the territories of theadjoining princes. He advanced his sea frontier through Armenia to Batoum, and thence along the coast of Circassia. He occupied the Greek settlementson the Sea of Azof. He took Kertch and the Crimea, and with the help ofpirates from the Mediterranean he formed a fleet which gave him completecommand of the Black Sea. In Asia Minor no power but the Roman couldventure to quarrel with him. The Romans ought in prudence to haveinterfered before Mithridates had grown to so large a bulk, but moneyjudiciously distributed among the leading politicians had secured theSenate's connivance; and they opened their eyes at last only whenMithridates thought it unnecessary to subsidize them further, and directedhis proceedings against Cappadocia, which was immediately under Romanprotection. He invaded the country, killed the prince whom Rome hadrecognized, and placed on the throne a child of his own, with the evidentintention of taking Cappadocia for himself. This was to go too far. Like Jugurtha, he had purchased many friends inthe Senate, who, grateful for past favors and hoping for more, preventedthe adoption of violent measures against him; but they sent a message tohim that he must not have Cappadocia, and Mithridates, waiting for abetter opportunity, thought proper to comply. Of this message the bearerwas Lucius Sylla. He had time to study on the spot the problem of how todeal with Asia Minor. He accomplished his mission with his usualadroitness and apparent success, and he returned to Rome with new honorsto finish the Social war. It was no easy work. The Samnites were tough and determined. For two yearsthey continued to struggle, and the contest was not yet over when newscame from the East appalling as the threatened Cimbrian invasion, whichbrought both parties to consent to suspend their differences by mutualconcessions. [1] I follow the ordinary date, which has been fixed by the positive statement that Caesar was fifty-six when he was killed, the date of his death being March, B. C. 44. Mommsen, however, argues plausibly for adding another two years to the beginning of Caesar's life, and brings him into the world at the time of the battle at Aix. CHAPTER VII. Barbarian kings, who found Roman senators ready to take bribes from them, believed, not unnaturally, that the days of Roman dominion were numbered. When the news of the Social war reached Mithridates, he thought itneedless to temporize longer, and he stretched out his hand to seize theprize of the dominion of the East. The Armenians, who were at hisdisposition, broke into Cappadocia and again overthrew the government, which was in dependence upon Rome. Mithridates himself invaded Bithynia, and replied to the remonstrances of the Roman authorities by a declarationof open war. He called under arms the whole force of which he coulddispose; frightened rumor spoke of it as amounting to three hundredthousand men. His corsair fleets poured down through the Dardanelles intothe archipelago; and so detested had the Roman governors made themselvesby their extortion and injustice that not only all the islands, but theprovinces on the continent, Ionia, Lydia, and Caria, rose in revolt. Therebellion was preconcerted and simultaneous. The Roman residents, merchants, bankers, farmers of the taxes, they and all their families, were set upon and murdered; a hundred and fifty thousand men, women, andchildren were said to have been destroyed in a single day. If we divide byten, as it is generally safe to do with historical round numbers, stillbeyond doubt the signal had been given in an appalling massacre to abolishout of Asia the Roman name and power. Swift as a thunderbolt Mithridateshimself crossed the Bosphorus, and the next news that reached Rome wasthat northern Greece had risen also and was throwing itself into the armsof its deliverers. The defeat at Cannae had been received with dignified calm. Patricians andplebeians forgot their quarrels and thought only how to meet their commonfoe. The massacre in Asia and the invasion of Mithridates let loose atempest of political frenzy. Never was indignation more deserved. TheSenate had made no preparation. Such resources as they could command hadbeen wasted in the wars with the Italians. They had no fleet, they had noarmies available; nor, while the civil war was raging, could they raise anarmy. The garrisons in Greece were scattered or shut in within their linesand unable to move. The treasury was empty. Individuals were enormouslyrich and the State was bankrupt. Thousands of families had lost brothers, cousins, or friends in the massacre, and the manifest cause of thedisaster was the inefficiency and worthlessness of the ruling classes. InAfrica, in Gaul, in Italy, and now in Asia it had been the same story. Theinterests of the Commonwealth had been sacrificed to fill the purses ofthe few. Dominion, wealth, honors, all that had been won by the hardyvirtues of earlier generations, seemed about to be engulfed forever. In their panic the Senate turned to Sylla, whom they had made consul. Animperfect peace was patched up with the Italians. Sylla was bidden to savethe Republic and to prepare in haste for Greece. But Sylla was a bitteraristocrat, the very incarnation of the oligarchy, who were responsiblefor every disaster which had happened. The Senate had taken bribes fromJugurtha. The Senate had chosen the commanders whose blunders had thrownopen the Alps to the Germans; and it was only because the people hadsnatched the power out of their hands and had trusted it to one ofthemselves that Italy had not been in flames. Again the oligarchy hadrecovered the administration, and again by following the old courses theyhad brought on this new catastrophe. They might have checked Mithridateswhile there was time. They had preferred to accept his money and look on. The people naturally thought that no successes could be looked for undersuch guidance, and that even were Sylla to be victorious, nothing was tobe expected but the continuance of the same accursed system. Marius wasthe man. Marius after his sixth consulship had travelled in the East, andunderstood it as well as Sylla. Not Sylla but Marius must now go againstMithridates. Too late the democratic leaders repented of their folly inencouraging the Senate to refuse the franchise to the Italians. TheItalians, they began to perceive, would be their surest political allies. Caius Gracchus had been right after all. The Roman democracy must makehaste to offer the Italians more than all which the Senate was ready toconcede to them. Together they could make an end of misrule and placeMarius once more at their head. Much of this was perhaps the scheming passion of revolution; much of itwas legitimate indignation, penitent for its errors and anxious to atonefor them. Marius had his personal grievances. The aristocrats werestealing from him even his military reputation, and claiming for Sylla thecapture of Jugurtha. He was willing, perhaps anxious, to take the Easterncommand. Sulpicius Rufus, once a champion of the Senate and the mostbrilliant orator in Rome, went over to the people in the excitement. Rufuswas chosen tribune, and at once proposed to enfranchise the remainder ofItaly. He denounced the oligarchy. He insisted that the Senate must bepurged of its corrupt members and better men be introduced, that thepeople must depose Sylla, and that Marius must take his place. The Empirewas tottering, and the mob and its leaders were choosing an ill moment fora revolution. The tribune carried the assembly along with him. There werefights again in the Forum, the young nobles with their gangs once morebreaking up the Comitia and driving the people from the voting-places. Thevoting, notwithstanding, was got through as Sulpicius Rufus recommended, and Sylla, so far as the assembly could do it, was superseded. But Syllawas not so easily got rid of. It was no time for nice considerations. Hehad formed an army in Campania out of the legions which had served againstthe Italians. He had made his soldiers devoted to him. They were ready togo anywhere and do anything which Sylla bade them. After so many murdersand so many commotions, the constitution had lost its sacred character; apopular assembly was, of all conceivable bodies, the least fit to governan empire; and in Sylla's eyes the Senate, whatever its deficiencies, wasthe only possible sovereign of Rome. The people were a rabble, and theirvoices the clamor of fools, who must be taught to know their masters. Hisreply to Sulpicius and to the vote for his recall was to march on thecity. He led his troops within the circle which no legionary in arms wasallowed to enter, and he lighted his watch-fires in the Forum itself. Thepeople resisted; Sulpicius was killed; Marius, the saviour of his country, had to fly for his life, pursued by assassins, with a price set upon hishead. Twelve of the prominent popular leaders were immediately executedwithout trial, and in hot haste swift decisive measures were taken whichpermanently, as Sylla hoped, or if not permanently at least for themoment, would lame the limbs of the democracy. The Senate, being below itsnumbers, was hastily filled up from the patrician families. Thearrangements of the Comitia were readjusted to restore to wealth adecisive preponderance in the election of the magistrates. The tribunes ofthe people were stripped of half their power. Their veto was left to them, but the right of initiation was taken away, and no law or measure of anykind was thenceforth to be submitted to the popular assembly till it hadbeen considered in the Curia and had received the Senate's sanction. Thus the snake was scotched, and it might be hoped would die of itswounds. Sulpicius and his brother demagogues were dead. Marius was exiled. Time pressed, and Sylla could not wait to see his reforms in operation. Signs became visible before he went that the crisis would not pass off soeasily. Fresh consuls had to be elected. The changes in the method ofvoting were intended to secure the return of the Senate's candidates, andone of the consuls chosen, Cnaeus Octavius, was a man on whom Sylla couldrely. His colleague, Lucius Cinna, though elected under the pressure ofthe legions, was of more doubtful temper. But Cinna was a patrician, though given to popular sentiments. Sylla was impatient to be gone; moreimportant work was waiting for him than composing factions in Rome. Hecontented himself with obliging the new consuls to take an oath tomaintain the constitution in the shape in which he left it, and he sailedfrom Brindisi in the winter of B. C. 88. The campaign of Sylla in the East does not fall to be described in thisplace. He was a second Coriolanus, a proud, imperious aristocrat, contemptuous, above all men living, of popular rights; but he was thefirst soldier of his age; he was himself, though he did not know it, animpersonation of the change which was passing over the Roman character. Hetook with him at most 30, 000 men. He had no fleet. Had the corsairsquadrons of Mithridates been on the alert, they might have destroyed himon his passage. Events at Rome left him almost immediately without supportfrom Italy. He was impeached; he was summoned back. His troops wereforbidden to obey him, and a democratic commander was sent out tosupersede him. The army stood by their favorite commander. Sylladisregarded his orders from home. He found men and money as he could. Hesupported himself out of the countries which he occupied, withoutresources save in his own skill and in the fidelity and excellence of hislegions. He defeated Mithridates, he drove him back out of Greece andpursued him into Asia. The interests of his party demanded his presence atRome; the interests of the State required that he should not leave hiswork in the East unfinished, and he stood to it through four hard yearstill he brought Mithridates to sue for peace upon his knees. He had notthe means to complete the conquest or completely to avenge the massacrewith which the Prince of Pontus had commenced the war. He left Mithridatesstill in possession of his hereditary kingdom, but he left him bound, sofar as treaties could bind so ambitious a spirit, to remain thenceforwardwithin his own frontiers. He recovered Greece and the islands, and theRoman provinces in Asia Minor. He extorted an indemnity of five millions, and executed many of the wretches who had been active in the murders. Heraised a fleet in Egypt, with which he drove the pirates out of thearchipelago back into their own waters. He restored the shattered prestigeof Roman authority, and he won for himself a reputation which his latercruelties might stain but could not efface. The merit of Sylla shows in more striking colors when we look to what waspassing, during these four years of his absence, in the heart of theEmpire. He was no sooner out of Italy than the democratic party rose, withCinna at their head, to demand the restoration of the old constitution. Cinna had been sworn to maintain Sylla's reforms, but no oath could beheld binding which was extorted at the sword's point. A fresh Sulpiciuswas found in Carbo, a popular tribune. A more valuable supporter was foundin Quintus Sertorius, a soldier of fortune, but a man of real gifts, andeven of genius. Disregarding the new obligation to obtain the previousconsent of the Senate, Cinna called the assembly together to repeal theacts which Sylla had forced on them. Sylla, it is to be remembered, had asyet won no victories, nor was expected to win victories. He was thefavorite of the Senate, and the Senate had become a byword for incapacityand failure. Again, as so many times before, the supremacy of thearistocrats had been accompanied with dishonor abroad and the lawlessmurder of political adversaries at home. No true lover of his countrycould be expected, in Cinna's opinion, to sit quiet under a tyranny whichhad robbed the people of their hereditary liberties. The patricians took up the challenge. Octavius, the other consul, camewith an armed force into the Forum, and ordered the assembly to disperse. The crowd was unusually great. The country voters had come in largenumbers to stand up for their rights. They did not obey, They were notcalled on to obey. But because they refused to disperse they were set uponwith deliberate fury, and were hewn down in heaps where they stood. Noaccurate register was, of course, taken of the numbers killed; but theintention of the patricians was to make a bloody example, and such a sceneof slaughter had never been witnessed in Rome since the first stone of thecity was laid. It was an act of savage, ruthless ferocity, certain to befollowed with a retribution as sharp and as indiscriminating. Men are notpermitted to deal with their fellow-creatures in these methods. Cinna andthe tribunes fled, but fled only to be received with open arms by theItalians. The wounds of the Social war were scarcely cicatrized, and thepeace had left the allies imperfectly satisfied. Their dispersed armiesgathered again about Cinna and Sertorius. Old Marius, who had been huntedthrough marsh and forest, and had been hiding with difficulty in Africa, came back at the news that Italy had risen again; and six thousand of hisveterans flocked to him at the sound of his name. The Senate issuedproclamations. The limitations on the Italian franchise left by Sylla wereabandoned. Every privilege which had been asked for was conceded. It wastoo late. Concessions made in fear might be withdrawn on the return ofsafety. Marius and Cinna joined their forces. The few troops in the pay ofthe Senate deserted to them. They appeared together at the gate's of thecity, and Rome capitulated. There was a bloody score to be wiped out. There would have been neithercruelty nor injustice in the most severe inquiry into the massacre in theForum, and the most exemplary punishment of Octavius and his companions. But the blood of the people was up, and they had suffered too deeply towait for the tardy processes of law. They had not been the aggressors. They had assembled lawfully, to assert their constitutional rights; theyhad been cut in pieces as if they had been insurgent slaves, and theassassins were not individuals, but a political party in the State. Marius bears the chief blame for the scenes which followed. Undoubtedly hewas in no pleasant humor. A price had been set on his head, his house hadbeen destroyed, his property had been confiscated, he himself had beenchased like a wild beast, and he had not deserved such treatment. He hadsaved Italy when but for him it would have been wasted by the swords ofthe Germans. His power had afterward been absolute, but he had not abusedit for party purposes. The Senate had no reason to complain of him. He hadtouched none of their privileges, incapable and dishonest as he knew themto be. His crime in their eyes had been his eminence. They had now shownthemselves as cruel as they were worthless; and if public justice wasdisposed to make an end of them, he saw no cause for interference. Thus the familiar story repeated itself; wrong was punished by wrong, andanother item was entered on the bloody account which was being scored upyear after year. The noble lords and their friends had killed the peoplein the Forum. They were killed in turn by the soldiers of Marius. Fiftysenators perished; not those who were specially guilty, but those who weremost politically marked as patrician leaders. With them fell a thousandequites, commoners of fortune, who had thrown in their lot with thearistocracy. From retaliatory political revenge the transition was easy topillage and wholesale murder, and for many days the wretched city was madea prey to robbers and cutthroats. So ended the year 87, the darkest and bloodiest which the guilty city hadyet experienced. Marius and Cinna were chosen consuls for the yearensuing, and a witch's prophecy was fulfilled that Marius should have aseventh consulate. But the glory had departed from him. His sun wasalready setting, redly, among crimson clouds. He lived but a fortnightafter his inauguration, and he died in his bed on the 13th of January, atthe age of seventy-one. "The mother of the Gracchi, " said Mirabeau, "cast the dust of her murderedsons into the air, and out of it sprang Caius Marius. " The Gracchi wereperhaps not forgotten in the retribution; but the crime which had beenrevenged by Marius was the massacre in the Forum by Octavius and hisfriends. The aristocracy found no mercy, because they had shown no mercy. They had been guilty of the most wantonly wicked cruelty which the Romanannals had yet recorded. They were not defending their country against anational danger. They were engaged in what has been called in later years"saving society;" that is to say, in saving their own privileges, theiropportunities for plunder, their palaces, their estates, and theirgame-preserves. They had treated the people as if they were so many cattlegrown troublesome to their masters, and the cattle were human beings withrights as real as their own. The democratic party were now masters of the situation, and so continuedfor almost four years. Cinna succeeded to the consulship term after term, nominating himself and his colleagues. The franchise was given to theItalians without reserve or qualification. Northern Italy was stillexcluded, being not called Italy, but Cisalpine Gaul. South of the Podistinctions of citizenship ceased to exist. The constitution became arehearsal of the Empire, a democracy controlled and guided by a populardictator. The aristocrats who had escaped massacre fled to Sylla in Asia, and for a brief interval Rome drew its breath in peace. CHAPTER VIII. Revolutionary periods are painted in history in colors so dark that thereader wonders how, amidst such scenes, peaceful human beings couldcontinue to exist. He forgets that the historian describes only theabnormal incidents which broke the current of ordinary life, and thatbetween the spasms of violence there were long quiet intervals when theordinary occupations of men went on as usual. Cinna's continuousconsulship was uncomfortable to the upper classes, but the daily businessof a great city pursued its beaten way. Tradesmen and merchants mademoney, and lawyers pleaded, and priests prayed in the temples, and"celebrated" on festival and holy day. And now for the first time we catcha personal view of young Julius Caesar. He was growing up, in his father'shouse, a tall, slight, handsome youth, with dark piercing eyes, [1] asallow complexion, large nose, lips full, features refined andintellectual, neck sinewy and thick beyond what might have been expectedfrom the generally slender figure. He was particular about his appearance, used the bath frequently, and attended carefully to his hair. His dresswas arranged with studied negligence, and he had a loose mode of fasteninghis girdle so peculiar as to catch the eye. It may be supposed that he had witnessed Sylla's coming to Rome, the camp-fires in the Forum, the Octavian massacre, the return of his uncle andCinna, and the bloody triumph of the party to which his father belonged. He was just at the age when such scenes make an indelible impression; andthe connection of his family with Marius suggests easily the persons whomhe must have most often seen, and the conversation to which he must havelistened at his father's table. His most intimate companions were theyounger Marius, the adopted son of his uncle; and, singularly enough, thetwo Ciceros, Marcus and his brother Quintus, who had been sent by theirfather to be educated at Rome. The connection of Marius with Arpinum wasperhaps the origin of the intimacy. The great man may have heard of hisfellow-townsman's children being in the city, and have taken notice ofthem. Certain, at any rate, it is that these boys grew up together onterms of close familiarity. [2] Marius had observed his nephew, and had marked him for promotion. Duringthe brief fortnight of his seventh consulship he gave him an appointmentwhich reminds us of the boy-bishops of the middle ages. He made him_flamen dialis_, or priest of Jupiter, and a member of the SacredCollege, with a handsome income, when he was no more than fourteen. Twoyears later, during the rule of Cinna, his father arranged a marriage forhim with a lady of fortune named Cossutia. But the young Caesar had moreambitious views for himself. His father died suddenly at Pisa, in B. C. 84;he used his freedom to break off his engagement, and instead of Cossutiahe married Cornelia, the daughter of no less a person than the all-powerful Cinna himself. If the date commonly received for Caesar's birthis correct, he was still only in his seventeenth year. Such connectionswere rarely formed at an age so premature; and the doubt is increased bythe birth of his daughter, Julia, in the year following. Be this as itmay, a marriage into Cinna's family connected Caesar more closely thanever with the popular party. Thus early and thus definitively he committedhimself to the politics of his uncle and his father-in-law; and thecomparative quiet which Rome and Italy enjoyed under Cinna'sadministration may have left a permanent impression upon him. The quiet was not destined to be of long endurance. The time was come whenSylla was to demand a reckoning for all which had been done in hisabsence. No Roman general had deserved better of his country than Sylla. He had driven Mithridates out of Greece, and had restored Roman authorityin Asia under conditions peculiarly difficult. He had clung resolutely tohis work, while his friends at home were being trampled upon by thepopulace whom he despised. He perhaps knew that in subduing the enemies ofthe State by his own individual energy he was taking the surest road toregain his ascendency. His task was finished. Mithridates was once more apetty Asiatic prince existing upon sufferance, and Sylla announced hisapproaching return to Italy. By his victories he had restored confidenceto the aristocracy, and had won the respect of millions of his countrymen. But the party in power knew well that if he gained a footing in Italytheir day was over, and the danger to be expected from him was aggravatedby his transcendent services. The Italians feared naturally that theywould lose the liberties which they had won. The popular faction at Romewas combined and strong, and was led by men of weight and practicalability. No reconciliation was possible between Cinna and Sylla. They werethe respective chiefs of heaven and hell, and which of the two representedthe higher power and which the lower could be determined only when thesword had decided between them. In Cinna lay the presumed lawfulauthority. He represented the people as organized in the Comitia, and hiscolleague in the consulship when the crisis came was the popular tribuneCarbo. Italy was ready with armies; and as leaders there were youngMarius, already with a promise of greatness in him, and Sertorius, gifted, brilliant, unstained by crime, adored by his troops as passionately asSylla himself, and destined to win a place for himself elsewhere in thePantheon of Rome's most distinguished men. Sylla had measured the difficulty of the task which lay before him. But hehad an army behind him accustomed to victory, and recruited by thousandsof exiles who had fled from the rule of the democracy. He had now a fleetto cover his passage; and he was watching the movements of his enemiesbefore deciding upon his own, when accident came suddenly to his help. Cinna had gone down to Brindisi, intending himself to carry his army intoGreece, and to spare Italy the miseries of another civil war, by fightingit out elsewhere. The expedition was unpopular with the soldiers, andCinna was killed in a mutiny. The democracy was thus left without a head, and the moderate party in the city who desired peace and compromise usedthe opportunity to elect two neutral consuls, Scipio and Norbanus. Sylla, perhaps supposing the change of feeling to be more complete than it reallywas, at once opened communications with them. But his terms were such ashe might have dictated if the popular party were already under his feet. He intended to re-enter Rome with the glory of his conquests about him, for revenge and a counter-revolution. The consuls replied with refusing totreat with a rebel in arms, and with a command to disband his troops. Sylla had lingered at Athens, collecting paintings and statues andmanuscripts, the rarest treasures on which he could lay his hands, todecorate his Roman palace. On receiving the consuls' answer, he sailed forBrindisi in the spring of 83, with forty thousand legionaries and a largefleet. The south of Italy made no resistance, and he secured a standing-ground where his friends could rally to him. They came in rapidly, somefor the cause which he represented, some for private hopes or animosities, some as aspiring military adventurers, seeking the patronage of thegreatest soldier of the age. Among these last came Cnaeus Pompey, afterward Pompey the Great, son of Pompey, surnamed Strabo, or the squint-eyed, either from some personal deformity or because he had trimmedbetween the two factions and was distrusted and hated by them both. Cnaeus Pompey had been born in the same year with Cicero, and was nowtwenty-three. He was a high--spirited ornamental youth, with soft meltingeyes, as good as he was beautiful, and so delightful to women that it wassaid they all longed to bite him. The Pompeys had been hardly treated byCinna. The father had been charged with embezzlement. The family house inRome had been confiscated; the old Strabo had been killed; the son hadretired to his family estate in Picenum, [3] where he was living when Syllalanded. To the young Roman chivalry Sylla was a hero of romance. Pompeyraised a legion out of his friends and tenants, scattered the fewcompanies that tried to stop him, and rushed to the side of the deliverer. Others came, like Sergius Catiline or Oppianicus of Larino, [4] men steepedin crime, stained with murder, incest, adultery, forgery, and meaning tosecure the fruits of their villanies by well-timed service. They were allwelcome, and Sylla was not particular. His progress was less rapid than itpromised to be at the outset. He easily defeated Norbanus; and Scipio'stroops, having an aristocratic leaven in them, deserted to him. But theItalians, especially the Samnites, fought most desperately. The war lastedfor more than a year, Sylla slowly advancing. The Roman mob becamefurious. They believed their cause betrayed, and were savage from fear anddisappointment. Suspected patricians were murdered: among them fell thePontifex Maximus, the venerable Scaevola. At length the contest ended in adesperate fight under the walls of Rome itself on the 1st of November, B. C. 82. The battle began at four in the afternoon, and lasted through thenight to the dawn of the following day. The popular army was at last cutto pieces; a few thousand prisoners were taken, but they were murderedafterward in cold blood. Young Marius killed himself, Sertorius fled toSpain, and Sylla and the aristocracy were masters of Rome and Italy. Suchprovincial towns as continued to resist were stormed and given up topillage, every male inhabitant being put to the sword. At Norba, inLatium, the desperate citizens fired their own houses and perished by eachother's hands. Sylla was under no illusions. He understood the problem which he had inhand. He knew that the aristocracy were detested by nine tenths of thepeople; he knew that they deserved to be detested; but they were at leastgentlemen by birth and breeding. The democrats, on the other hand, wereinsolent upstarts, who, instead of being grateful for being allowed tolive and work and pay taxes and serve in the army, had dared to claim ashare in the government, had turned against their masters, and had settheir feet upon their necks. The miserable multitude were least to blame. They were ignorant, and without leaders could be controlled easily. Theguilt and the danger lay with the men of wealth and intellect, the countrygentlemen, the minority of knights and patricians like Cinna, who hadtaken the popular side and had deserted their own order. Their motivesmattered not; some might have acted from foolish enthusiasm, some frompersonal ambition; but such traitors, from the Gracchi onward, had causedall the mischief which had happened to the State. They were determined, they were persevering. No concessions had satisfied them, and one demandhad been a prelude to another. There was no hope for an end of agitationtill every one of these men had been rooted out, their estates taken fromthem, and their families destroyed. To this remarkable work Sylla addressed himself, unconscious that he wasattempting an impossibility, that opinion could not be controlled by thesword, and that for every enemy to the oligarchy that he killed he wouldcreate twenty by his cruelty. Like Marius after the Octavian massacre, hedid not attempt to distinguish between degrees of culpability. Guilt wasnot the question with him. His object was less to punish the past than toprevent a recurrence of it, and moderate opposition was as objectionableas fanaticism and frenzy. He had no intention of keeping power in his ownhands. Personal supremacy might end with himself, and he intended tocreate institutions which would endure, in the form of a close senatorialmonopoly. But for his purpose it would be necessary to remove out of theway every single person either in Rome or in the provinces who was in aposition to offer active resistance, and therefore for the moment herequired complete freedom of action. The Senate at his direction appointedhim dictator, and in this capacity he became absolute master of the lifeand property of every man and woman in Italy. He might be impeachedafterward and his policy reversed, but while his office lasted he could dowhat he pleased. He at once outlawed every magistrate, every public servant of any kind, civil or municipal, who had held office under the rule of Cinna. Listswere drawn for him of the persons of wealth and consequence all over Italywho belonged to the liberal party. He selected agents whom he could trust, or supposed he could trust, to enter the names for each district. Heselected, for instance, Oppianicus of Larino, who inscribed individualswhom he had already murdered, and their relations whose prosecution hefeared. It mattered little to Sylla who were included, if none escaped whowere really dangerous to him; and an order was issued for the slaughter ofthe entire number, the confiscation of their property, and the division ofit between the informers and Sylla's friends and soldiers. Privateinterest was thus called in to assist political animosity, and tostimulate the zeal for assassination a reward of £500 was offered for thehead of any person whose name was in the schedule. It was one of those deliberate acts, carried out with method and order, which are possible only in countries in an advanced stage of civilization, and which show how thin is the film spread over human ferocity by what iscalled progress and culture. We read in every page of history of invasionsof hostile armies, of towns and villages destroyed and countries wastedand populations perishing of misery; the simplest war brings a train ofhorrors behind it; but we bear them with comparative equanimity. Personalhatreds are not called out on such occasions. The actors in them areneither necessarily nor generally fiends. The grass grows again on thetrampled fields. Peace returns, and we forget and forgive. The coldlyordered massacres of selected victims in political and spiritual strugglesrise in a different order of feelings, and are remembered through all ageswith indignation and shame. The victims perish as the champions ofprinciples which survive through the changes of time. They are marked forthe sacrifice on account of their advocacy of a cause which to halfmankind is the cause of humanity. They are the martyrs of history, and therecord of atrocity rises again in immortal witness against the opinionsout of which it rose. Patricians and plebeians, aristocrats and democrats, have alike stainedtheir hands with blood in the working out of the problem of politics. Butimpartial history declares also that the crimes of the popular party havein all ages been the lighter in degree, while in themselves they have moreto excuse them; and if the violent acts of revolutionists have been heldup more conspicuously for condemnation, it has been only because the fateof noblemen and gentlemen has been more impressive to the imagination thanthe fate of the peasant or the artisan. But the endurance of theinequalities of life by the poor is the marvel of human society. When thepeople complain, said Mirabeau, the people are always right. The popularcause has been the cause of the laborer struggling for a right to live andbreathe and think as a man. Aristocracies fight for wealth and power, wealth which they waste upon luxury, and power which they abuse fortheir own interests. Yet the cruelties of Marius were as far exceeded bythe cruelties of Sylla as the insurrection of the beggars of Holland wasexceeded by the bloody tribunal of the Duke of Alva, or as "the horrors ofthe French Revolution" were exceeded by the massacre of the Huguenots twohundred years before, for which the Revolution was the expiatoryatonement. Four thousand seven hundred persons fell in the proscription of Sylla, allmen of education and fortune. The real crime of many of them was thepossession of an estate or a wife which a relative or a neighbor coveted. The crime alleged against all was the opinion that the people of Rome andItaly had rights which deserved consideration as well as the senators andnobles. The liberal party were extinguished in their own blood. Theirestates were partitioned into a hundred and twenty thousand allotments, which were distributed among Sylla's friends, or soldiers, or freedmen. The land reform of the Gracchi was mockingly adopted to create a permanentaristocratic garrison. There were no trials, there were no pardons. Commonreport or private information was at once indictment and evidence, andaccusation was in itself condemnation. The ground being thus cleared, the Dictator took up again his measures ofpolitical reform. He did not attempt a second time to take the franchisefrom the Italians. Romans and Italians he was ready to leave on the samelevel, but it was to be a level of impotence. Rome was to be ruled by theSenate, and as a first step, and to protect the Senate's dignity, heenfranchised ten thousand slaves who had belonged to the proscribedgentlemen, and formed them into a senatorial guard. Before departing forthe East he had doubled the Senate's numbers out of the patrician order. Under Cinna the new members had not claimed their privilege, and hadprobably been absent from Italy. They were now installed in their places, and the power of the censors to revise the list and remove those who hadproved unworthy was taken away. The senators were thus peers for life, peers in a single chamber which Sylla meant to make omnipotent. Vacancieswere to be supplied as before from the retiring consuls, praetors, aediles, and quaestors. The form of a popular constitution would remain, since the road into the council of State lay through the popularelections. But to guard against popular favorites finding access to theconsulship, a provision was made that no person who had been a tribune ofthe people could be chosen afterward to any other office. The Senate's power depended on the withdrawal from the assembly ofcitizens of the right of original legislation. So long as the citizenscould act immediately at the invitation of either consul or tribune, theycould repeal at their pleasure any arrangement which Sylla mightprescribe. As a matter of course, therefore, he re-enacted the conditionwhich restricted the initiation of laws to the Senate. The tribunes stillretained their veto, but a penalty was attached to the abuse of the veto, the Senate being the judge in its own cause, and possessing a right todepose a tribune. In the Senate so reconstituted was thus centred a complete restrictivecontrol over the legislation and the administration. And this was not all. The senators had been so corrupt in the use of their judicial functionsthat Gracchus had disabled them from sitting in the law courts, and hadprovided that the judges should be chosen in future from the equites. Theknights had been exceptionally pure in their office. Cicero challenged hisopponents on the trial of Verres[5] to find a single instance in which anequestrian court could be found to have given a corrupt verdict during theforty years for which their privilege survived. But their purity did notsave them, nor, alas! those who were to suffer by a reversion to the oldorder. The equestrian courts were abolished: the senatorial courts werereinstated. It might be hoped that the senators had profited by theirlesson, and for the future would be careful of their reputation. Changes were made also in the modes of election to office. The College ofPriests had been originally a close corporation, which filled up its ownnumbers. Democracy had thrown it open to competition, and given the choiceto the people. Sylla reverted to the old rule. Consuls like Marius andCinna, who had the confidence of the people, had been re-elected yearafter year, and had been virtual kings. Sylla provided that ten years mustelapse between a first consulship and a second. Nor was any one to be aconsul who was not forty-three years old and had not passed alreadythrough the lower senatorial offices of praetor or quaestor. The assembly of the people had been shorn of its legislative powers. Therewas no longer, therefore, any excuse for its meeting, save on specialoccasions. To leave the tribunes power to call the citizens to the Forumwas to leave them the means of creating inconvenient agitation. It wasordered, therefore, that the assembly should only come together at theSenate's invitation. The free grants of corn, which filled the city withidle vagrants, were abolished. Sylla never courted popularity, and nevershrank from fear of clamor. The Senate was thus made omnipotent and irresponsible. It had theappointment of all the governors of the provinces. It was surrounded byits own body-guard. It had the administration completely in hand. Themembers could be tried only by their peers, and were themselves judges ofevery other order. No legal force was left anywhere to interfere with whatit might please them to command. A senator was not necessarily apatrician, nor a patrician a senator. The Senate was, [6] or was to be astime wore on, a body composed of men of any order who had secured thesuffrages of the people. But as the value of the prize became so vast, theway to the possession of it was open practically to those only who hadwealth or interest. The elections came to be worked by organizedcommittees, and except in extraordinary circumstances no candidate couldexpect success who had not the Senate's support, or who had not bought theservices of the managers, at a cost within the reach only of the recklessspendthrift or the speculating millionaire. What human foresight could do to prevent democracy from regaining theascendency, Sylla had thus accomplished. He had destroyed the opposition;he had reorganized the constitution on the most strictly conservativelines. He had built the fortress, as he said; it was now the Senate's partto provide a garrison; and here it was, as Caesar said afterward, thatSylla had made his great mistake. His arrangements were ingenious, andmany of them excellent; but the narrower the body to whose care thegovernment was entrusted, the more important became the question of thecomposition of this body. The theory of election implied that they wouldbe the best that the Republic possessed; but Sylla must have been himselfconscious that fact and theory might be very far from corresponding. The key of the situation was the army. As before, no troops were to bemaintained in Italy; but beyond the frontiers the provinces were held bymilitary force, and the only power which could rule the Empire was thepower which the army would obey. It was not for the Senate's sake thatSylla's troops had followed him from Greece. It was from their personaldevotion to himself. What charm was there in this new constructedaristocratic oligarchy, that distant legions should defer to it--more thanSylla's legions had deferred to orders from Cinna and Carbo? Symptoms ofthe danger from this quarter were already growing even under theDictator's own eyes, and at the height of his authority. Sertorius hadescaped the proscription. After wandering in Africa he made his way intoSpain, where, by his genius as a statesman and a soldier, he rose into aposition to defy the Senate and assert his independence. He organized thepeninsula after the Roman model; he raised armies, and defeated commanderafter commander who was sent to reduce him. He revived in the Spaniards anational enthusiasm for freedom. The Roman legionaries had their ownopinions, and those whose friends Sylla had murdered preferred Sertoriusand liberty to Rome and an aristocratic Senate. Unconquerable by honorablemeans, Sertorius was poisoned at last. But his singular history suggests adoubt whether, if the Syllan constitution had survived, other Sertoriusesmight not have sprung up in every province, and the Empire of Rome havegone to pieces like the Macedonian. The one condition of the continuanceof the Roman dominion was the existence of a central authority which thearmy as a profession could respect, and the traditionary reverence whichattached to the Roman Senate would scarcely have secured theirdisinterested attachment to five hundred elderly rich men who had boughttheir way into pre-eminence. Sylla did not live to see the significance of the Sertorian revolt. Heexperienced, however, himself, in a milder form, an explosion of militarysauciness. Young Pompey had been sent, after the occupation of Rome, tosettle Sicily and Africa. He did his work well and rapidly, and when itwas over he received orders from the Senate to dismiss his troops. Anorder from Sylla Pompey would have obeyed; but what was the Senate, thatan ambitious brilliant youth with arms in his hands should send away anarmy devoted to him and step back into common life? Sylla himself had tosmooth the ruffled plumes of his aspiring follower. He liked Pompey, hewas under obligations to him, and Pompey had not acted after all in amanner so very unlike his own. He summoned him home, but he gave him atriumph for his African conquests, and allowed him to call himself by thetitle of "_Magnus_, " or "_The Great_. " Pompey was a promisingsoldier, without political ambition, and was worth an effort to secure. Toprevent the risk of a second act of insubordination, Sylla made personalarrangements to attach Pompey directly to himself. He had a step-daughter, named Aemilia. She was already married, and was pregnant. Pompey too wasmarried to Antistia, a lady of good family; but domestic ties were notallowed to stand in the way of higher objects. Nor did it matter thatAntistia's father had been murdered by the Roman populace for takingSylla's side, or that her mother had gone mad and destroyed herself, onher husband's horrible death. Late Republican Rome was not troubled withsentiment. Sylla invited Pompey to divorce Antistia and marry Aemilia. Pompey complied. Antistia was sent away. Aemilia was divorced from herhusband, and was brought into Pompey's house, where she immediately died. In another young man of high rank, whom Sylla attempted to attach tohimself by similar means, he found less complaisance. Caesar was noweighteen, his daughter Julia having been lately born. He had seen hisparty ruined, his father-in-law and young Marius killed, and his nearestfriends dispersed or murdered. He had himself for a time escapedproscription; but the Dictator had his eye on him, and Sylla had seensomething in "the youth with the loose girdle" which struck him asremarkable. Closely connected though Caesar was both with Cinna andMarius, Sylla did not wish to kill him if he could help it. There was acool calculation in his cruelties. The existing generation of democratswas incurable, but he knew that the stability of the new constitution mustdepend on his being able to conciliate the intellect and energy of thenext. Making a favor perhaps of his clemency, he proposed to Caesar tobreak with his liberal associates, divorce Cinna's daughter, and take sucha wife as he would himself provide. If Pompey had complied, who had made aposition of his own, much more might it be expected that Caesar wouldcomply. Yet Caesar answered with a distinct and unhesitating refusal. Theterrible Sylla, in the fulness of his strength, after desolating half thehomes in Italy, after revolutionizing all Roman society, from thepeasant's cottage in the Apennines to the senate-house itself, was defiedby a mere boy! Throughout his career Caesar displayed always a singularindifference to life. He had no sentimental passion about him, no Byronicmock-heroics. He had not much belief either in God or the gods. On allsuch questions he observed from first to last a profound silence. But oneconviction he had. He intended, if he was to live at all, to live masterof himself in matters which belonged to himself. Sylla might kill him ifhe so pleased. It was better to die than to put away a wife who was themother of his child, and to marry some other woman at a dictator'sbidding. Life on such terms was not worth keeping. So proud a bearing may have commanded Sylla's admiration, but it taughthim, also, that a young man capable of assuming an attitude so bold mightbe dangerous to the rickety institutions which he had constructed socarefully. He tried coercion. He deprived Caesar of his priesthood. Hetook his wife's dowry from him, and confiscated the estate which he hadinherited from his father. When this produced no effect, the rebelliousyouth was made over to the assassins, and a price was set upon his head. He fled into concealment. He was discovered once, and escaped only bybribing Sylla's satellites. His fate would soon have overtaken him, but hehad powerful relations, whom Sylla did not care to offend. Aurelius Cotta, who was perhaps his mother's brother, Mamercus Aemilius, a distinguishedpatrician, and singularly also the College of the Vestal Virgins, interceded for his pardon. The Dictator consented at last, but withprophetic reluctance. "Take him, " he said at length, "since you will haveit so--but I would have you know that the youth for whom you are soearnest will one day overthrow the aristocracy, for whom you and I havefought so hardly; in this young Caesar there are many Mariuses. " [7]Caesar, not trusting too much to Sylla's forbearance, at once left Italy, and joined the army in Asia. The little party of young men who had grownup together now separated, to meet in the future on altered terms. Caesarheld to his inherited convictions, remaining constant through good andevil to the cause of his uncle Marius. His companion Cicero, now ripeninginto manhood, chose the other side. With his talents for his inheritance, and confident in the consciousness of power, but with weak health and aneck as thin as a woman's, Cicero felt that he had a future before him, but that his successes must be won by other weapons than arms. He chosethe bar for his profession; he resolved to make his way into popularity asa pleader before the Senate courts and in the Forum. He looked to theSenate itself as the ultimate object of his ambition. There alone he couldhope to be distinguished, if distinguished he was to be. Cicero, however, was no more inclined than Caesar to be subservient toSylla, as he took an early opportunity of showing. It was to the cause ofthe constitution, and not to the person of the Dictator, that Cicero hadattached himself, and he, too, ventured to give free expression to histhoughts when free speech was still dangerous. Sylla's career was drawing to its close, and the end was not the leastremarkable feature of it. On him had fallen the odium of the proscriptionand the stain of the massacres. The sooner the senators could be detachedfrom the soldier who had saved them from destruction, the better chancethey would have of conciliating quiet people on whose support they musteventually rely. Sylla himself felt the position; and having completedwhat he had undertaken, with a half-pitying, half-contemptuous self-abandonment he executed what from the first he had intended--he resignedthe dictatorship, and became a private citizen again, amusing the leisureof his age, as he had abused the leisure of his youth, with theatres andactresses and dinner-parties. He too, like so many of the great Romans, was indifferent to life; of power for the sake of power he was entirelycareless; and if his retirement had been more dangerous to him than itreally was, he probably would not have postponed it. He was a person ofsingular character, and not without many qualities which were reallyadmirable. He was free from any touch of charlatanry. He was true, simple, and unaffected, and even without ambition in the mean and personal sense. His fault, which he would have denied to be a fault, was that he had apatrician disdain of mobs and suffrages and the cant of popular liberty. The type repeats itself era after era. Sylla was but Graham of Claverhousein a Roman dress and with an ampler stage. His courage in laying down hisauthority has been often commented on, but the risk which he incurred wasinsignificant. There was in Rome neither soldier nor statesman who couldfor a moment be placed in competition with Sylla, and he was sopassionately loved by the army, he was so sure of the support of hiscomrades, whom he had quartered on the proscribed lands, and who, fortheir own interest's sake, would resist attempts at counter-revolution, that he knew that if an emergency arose he had but to lift his finger toreinstate himself in command. Of assassination he was in no greater dangerthan when dictator, while the temptation to assassinate him was less. Hisinfluence was practically undiminished, and as long as he lived heremained, and could not but remain, the first person in the Republic. Some license of speech he was, of course, prepared for, but it required nosmall courage to make a public attack either on himself or his dependants, and it was therefore most creditable to Cicero that his first speech ofimportance was directed against the Dictator's immediate friends, and wasan exposure of the iniquities of the proscription. Cicero no doubt knewthat there would be no surer road to favor with the Roman multitude thanby denouncing Sylla's followers, and that, young and unknown as he was, his insignificance might protect him, however far he ventured. But he hadtaken the Senate's side. From first to last he had approved of thereactionary constitution, and had only condemned the ruthless methods bywhich it had been established. He never sought the popularity of ademagogue, or appealed to popular passions, or attempted to create aprejudice against the aristocracy, into whose ranks he intended to makehis way. He expressed the opinions of the respectable middle classes, whohad no sympathy with revolutionists, but who dreaded soldiers and militaryrule and confiscations of property. The occasion on which Cicero came forward was characteristic of the time. Sextus Roscius was a country gentleman of good position, residing nearAmeria, in Umbria. He had been assassinated when on a visit to Rome by twoof his relations, who wished to get possession of his estate. Theproscription was over, and the list had been closed; but Roscius's namewas surreptitiously entered upon it, with the help of Sylla's favoritefreedman, Chrysogonus. The assassins obtained an acknowledgment of theirclaims, and they and Chrysogonus divided the spoils. Sextus Roscius wasentirely innocent. He had taken no part in politics at all. He had left ason who was his natural heir, and the township of Ameria sent up apetition to Sylla remonstrating against so iniquitous a robbery. Theconspirators, finding themselves in danger of losing the reward of theircrime, shifted their ground. They denied that they had themselves killedSextus Roscius. They said that the son had done it, and they charged himwith parricide. Witnesses were easily provided. No influential pleader, itwas justly supposed, would venture into antagonism with Sylla's favoriteand appear for the defence. Cicero heard of the case, however, and usedthe opportunity to bring himself into notice. He advocated young Roscius'scause with skill and courage. He told the whole story in court withoutdisguise. He did not blame Sylla. He compared Sylla to Jupiter OptimusMaximus, who was sovereign of the universe, and on the whole a goodsovereign, but with so much business on his hands that he had not time tolook into details. But Cicero denounced Chrysogonus as an accomplice in anact of atrocious villainy. The court took the same view, and the risingorator had the honor of clearing the reputation of the injured youth, andof recovering his property for him. Sylla showed no resentment, and probably felt none. He lived for a yearafter his retirement, and died 78 B. C. , being occupied at the moment inwriting his memoirs, which have been unfortunately lost. He was buriedgorgeously in the Campus Martius, among the old kings of Rome. Thearistocrats breathed freely when delivered from his overpowering presence, and the constitution which he had set upon its feet was now to be tried. [1] "Nigris vegetisque oculis. "--Suetonius. [2] "Ac primum illud tempus familiaritatis et consuetudinis, quae mihi cum illo, quae fratri meo, quae Caio Varroni, consobrino nostro, ab omnium nostrum adolescentiâ fuit, praetermitto. "--Cicero, _De Provinciis Consularibus_, 17. Cicero was certainly speaking of a time which preceded Sylla's dictatorship, for Caesar left Rome immediately after it, and when he came back he attached himself to the political party to which Cicero was most opposed. [3] On the Adriatic, between Anconia and Pescara. [4] See, for the story of Oppianicus, the remarkable speech of Cicero, _Pro Cluentio_. [5] Appian, on the other hand, says that the courts of the equites had been more corrupt than the senatorial courts. --_De Bello Civili, i_. 22. Cicero was perhaps prejudiced in favor of his own order, but a contemporary statement thus publicly made is far more likely to be trustworthy. [6] Sylla had himself nominated a large number of senators. [7] So says Suetonius, reporting the traditions of the following century; but the authority is doubtful, and the story, like so many others, is perhaps apocryphal. CHAPTER IX. The able men of the democracy had fallen in the proscription. Sertorius, the only eminent surviving soldier belonging to them, was away, makinghimself independent in Spain. The rest were all killed. But the Senate, too, had lost in Sylla the single statesman that they possessed. They werea body of mediocrities, left with absolute power in their hands, secure asthey supposed from further interference, and able to return to thosepleasant occupations which for a time had been so rudely interrupted. Sertorius was an awkward problem with which Pompey might perhaps beentrusted to deal. No one knew as yet what stuff might be in Pompey. Hewas for the present sunning himself in his military splendors; too youngto come forward as a politician, and destitute, so far as appeared, ofpolitical ambition. If Pompey promised to be docile, he might be turned touse at a proper time; but the aristocracy had seen too much of successfulmilitary commanders, and were in no hurry to give opportunities ofdistinction to a youth who had so saucily defied them. Sertorius was faroff, and could be dealt with at leisure. In his defence of Roscius, Cicero had given an admonition to the noblelords that unless they mended their ways they could not look for any longcontinuance. [1] They regarded Cicero perhaps, if they heard what hesaid of them, as an inexperienced young man, who would understand betterby and by of what materials the world was made. There had been excitementand anxiety enough. Conservatism was in power again. Fine gentlemen couldonce more lounge in their clubs, amuse themselves with their fish-pondsand horses and mistresses, devise new and ever new means of getting moneyand spending it, and leave the Roman Empire for the present to governitself. The leading public men belonging to the party in power had all served insome capacity or other with Sylla or under him. Of those whose namesdeserve particular mention there were at most five. Licinius Lucullus had been a special favorite of Sylla. The Dictator lefthim his executor, with the charge of his manuscripts. Lucullus was acommoner, but of consular family, and a thorough-bred aristocrat. He hadendeared himself to Sylla by a languid talent which could rouse itselfwhen necessary into brilliant activity, by the easy culture of a polishedman of rank, and by a genius for luxury which his admirers followed at adistance, imitating their master but hopeless of overtaking him. Caecilius Metellus, son of the Metellus whom Marius had superseded inAfrica, had been consul with Sylla in 80 B. C. He was now serving in Spainagainst Sertorius, and was being gradually driven out of the peninsula. Lutatius Catulus was a proud but honest patrician, with the conceit of hisorder, but without their vices. His father, who had been Marius'scolleague, and had been defeated by the Cimbri, had killed himself duringthe Marian revolution. The son had escaped, and was one of the consuls atthe time of Sylla's death. More noticeable than either of these was Marcus Crassus, a figuresingularly representative, of plebeian family, but a family long adoptedinto the closest circle of the aristocracy, the leader and impersonationof the great moneyed classes in Rome. Wealth had for several generationsbeen the characteristic of the Crassi. They had the instinct and thetemperament which in civilized ages take to money-making as a naturaloccupation. In politics they aimed at being on the successful side; butliving as they did in an era of revolutions, they were surprisedoccasionally in unpleasant situations. Crassus the rich, father of Marcus, had committed himself against Marius, and had been allowed the privilegeof being his own executioner. Marcus himself, who was a little older thanCicero, took refuge in Sylla's camp. He made himself useful to theDictator by his genius for finance, and in return he was enabled to amassan enormous fortune for himself out of the proscriptions. His eye forbusiness reached over the whole Roman Empire. He was banker, speculator, contractor, merchant. He lent money to the spendthrift young lords, butwith sound securities and at usurious interest. He had an army of slaves, but these slaves were not ignorant field-hands; they were skilled workmenin all arts and trades, whose labors he turned to profit in buildingstreets and palaces. Thus all that he touched turned to gold. He was thewealthiest single individual in the whole Empire, the acknowledged head ofthe business world of Rome. The last person who need be noted was Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, the fatherof the future colleague of Augustus and Antony. Lepidus, too, had been anofficer of Sylla's. He had been rewarded for his services by thegovernment of Sicily, and when Sylla died was the second consul withCatulus. It was said against him that, like so many other governors, hehad enriched himself by tyrannizing over his Sicilian subjects. Hisextortions had been notorious; he was threatened with prosecution as soonas his consulship should expire; and the adventure to which he was aboutto commit himself was undertaken, so the aristocrats afterward maintained, in despair of an acquittal. Lepidus's side of the story was never told, but another side it certainly had. Though one of Sylla's generals, he hadmarried the daughter of the tribune Saturninus. He had been elected consulby a very large majority against the wishes of the Senate, and wassuspected of holding popular opinions. It may be that the prosecution wasan after-thought of revenge, and that Lepidus was to have been triedbefore a senatorial jury already determined to find him guilty. Among these men lay the fortunes of Rome when the departure of their chiefleft the aristocrats masters of their own destiny. During this time Caesar had been serving his apprenticeship as a soldier. The motley forces which Mithridates had commanded had not all submitted onthe king's surrender to Sylla. Squadrons of pirates hung yet about thesmaller islands in the Aegean. Lesbos was occupied by adventurers who werefighting for their own hand, and the praetor Minucius Thermus had beensent to clear the seas and extirpate these nests of brigands. To ThermusCaesar had attached himself. The praetor, finding that his fleet was notstrong enough for the work, found it necessary to apply to Nicomedes, theallied sovereign of the adjoining kingdom of Bithynia, to supply him witha few additional vessels; and Caesar, soon after his arrival, wasdespatched on this commission to the Bithynian court. Long afterward, when Roman cultivated society had come to hate Caesar, andany scandal was welcome to them which would make him odious, it wasreported that on this occasion he entered into certain relations withNicomedes of a kind indisputably common at the time in the highestpatrician circles. The value of such a charge in political controversy wasconsiderable, for whether true or false it was certain to be believed; andsimilar accusations were flung indiscriminately, so Cicero says, at thereputation of every eminent person whom it was desirable to stain, if hispersonal appearance gave the story any air of probability. [2] The disposition to believe evil of men who have risen a few degrees abovetheir contemporaries is a feature of human nature as common as it is base;and when to envy there are added fear and hatred, malicious anecdotesspring like mushrooms in a forcing-pit. But gossip is not evidence, nordoes it become evidence because it is in Latin and has been repeatedthrough many generations. The strength of a chain is no greater than thestrength of its first link, and the adhesive character of calumny provesonly that the inclination of average men to believe the worst of great menis the same in all ages. This particular accusation against Caesar gains, perhaps, a certain credibility from the admission that it was the onlyoccasion on which anything of the kind could be alleged against him. Onthe other hand, it was unheard of for near a quarter of a century. It wasproduced in Rome in the midst of a furious political contest. No witnesseswere forthcoming; no one who had been at Bithynia at the time; no one whoever pretended to have original knowledge of the truth of the story. Caesar himself passed it by with disdain, or alluded to it, if forced uponhis notice, with contemptuous disgust. The Bithynian mission was otherwise successful. He brought the ships toThermus. He distinguished himself personally in the storming of Mitylene, and won the oak-wreath, the Victoria Cross of the Roman army. Stillpursuing the same career, Caesar next accompanied Servilius Isauricus in acampaign against the horde of pirates, afterwards so famous, that wasforming itself among the creeks and river-mouths of Cilicia. Theadvantages which Servilius obtained over them were considerable enough todeserve a triumph, but were barren of result. The news that Sylla was deadreached the army while still in the field; and the danger of appearing inRome being over, Caesar at once left Cilicia and went back to his family. Other causes are said to have contributed to hasten his return. A plot hadbeen formed, with the consul Lepidus at its head, to undo Sylla's laws andrestore the constitution of the Gracchi. Caesar had been urged by letterto take part in the movement, and he may have hurried home either toexamine the prospects of success or perhaps to prevent an attempt which, under the circumstances, he might think criminal and useless. Lepidus wasnot a wise man, though he may have been an honest one. The aristocracy hadnot yet proved that they were incapable of reform. It might be that theywould digest their lesson after all, and that for a generation to come nomore revolutions would be necessary. [Sidenote: B. C. 77. Caesar aet. 23. ]Caesar at all events declined to connect himself with this new adventure. He came to Rome, looked at what was going on, and refused to have anythingto do with it. The experiment was tried without him. Young Cinna, hisbrother-in-law, joined Lepidus. Together they raised a force in Etruria, and marched on Rome. They made their way into the city, but were met inthe Campus Martius by Pompey and other consul, Catulus, at the head ofsome of Sylla's old troops; and an abortive enterprise, which, if it hadsucceeded, would probably have been mischievous, was ended almost as soonas it began. The two leaders escaped. Cinna joined Sertorius in Spain. Lepidus made his way to Sardinia, where in the next year he died, leavinga son to play the game of democracy under more brilliant auspices. [Sidenote: Caesar aet. 24. ]Caesar meanwhile felt his way, as Cicero was doing in the law-courts, attacking the practical abuses which the Roman administration wasgenerating everywhere. Cornelius Dolabella had been placed by Sylla incommand of Macedonia. His father had been a friend of Saturninus, and hadfallen at his side. The son had gone over to the aristocracy, and for thisreason was perhaps an object of aversion to the younger liberals. TheMacedonians pursued him, when his government had expired, with a list ofgrievances of the usual kind. Young Caesar took up their cause, andprosecuted him. Dolabella was a favorite of the Senate; he had beenallowed a triumph for his services, and the aristocracy adopted his causeas their own. The unpractised orator was opposed at the trial by hiskinsman Aurelius Cotta and the most celebrated pleaders in Rome. To havecrossed swords with such opponents was a dangerous honor for him; successagainst them was not to be expected, and Caesar was not yet master of hisart. Dolabella was acquitted. Party feeling had perhaps entered into theaccusation. Caesar found it prudent to retire again from the scene. Therewere but two roads to eminence in Rome--oratory and service in the army. He had no prospect of public employment from the present administration, and the platform alone was open to him. Plain words with a plain meaningin them no longer carried weight with a people who expected an orator todelight as well as instruct them. The use of the tongue had become aspecial branch of a statesman's education, and Caesar, feeling hisdeficiency, used his leisure to put himself in training and to go toschool at Rhodes with the then celebrated Apollonius Molo. He hadrecovered his property and his priesthood, and was evidently in no want ofmoney. He travelled with the retinue of a man of rank, and on his way toRhodes he fell in with an adventure which may be something more thanlegend. When he was crossing the Aegean his vessel is said to have beentaken by pirates. They carried him to Pharmacusa, [3] an island off theCarian coast, which was then in their possession, and there he wasdetained for six weeks with three of his attendants, while the rest of hisservants were sent to the nearest Roman station to raise his ransom. Thepirates treated him with politeness. He joined in their sports, playedgames with them, looked into their habits, and amused himself with them aswell as he could, frankly telling them at the same time that they wouldall be hanged. The ransom, a very large one, about £10, 000, was brought and paid. Caesarwas set upon the mainland near Miletus, where, without a moment's delay, he collected some armed vessels, returned to the island, seized the wholecrew while they were dividing their plunder, and took them away toPergamus, the seat of government in the Asiatic province, where they wereconvicted and crucified. Clemency was not a Roman characteristic. It wastherefore noted with some surprise that Caesar interceded to mitigate theseverity of the punishment. The poor wretches were strangled before theywere stretched on their crosses, and were spared the prolongation of theirtorture. The pirate business being disposed of, he resumed his journey toRhodes, and there he continued for two years practising gesture andexpression under the tuition of the great master. [Sidenote: B. C. 78-72]During this time the government of Rome was making progress in againdemonstrating its unfitness for the duties which were laid upon it, andsowing the seeds which in a few years were to ripen into a harvest soremarkable. Two alternatives only lay before the Roman dominion--eitherdisruption or the abolition of the constitution. If the aristocracy couldnot govern, still less could the mob govern. The Latin race was scatteredover the basin of the Mediterranean, no longer bound by any special tiesto Rome or Italy, each man of it individually vigorous and energetic, andbent before all things on making his own fortune. If no tolerableadministration was provided from home, their obvious course could only beto identify themselves with local interests and nationalities and makethemselves severally independent, as Sertorius was doing in Spain. Sertorius was at last disposed of, but by methods promising ill for thefuture. He beat Metellus till Metellus could do no more against him. Theall-victorious Pompey was sent at last to win victories and gain nothingby them. Six campaigns led to no result and the difficulty was onlyremoved at last by treachery and assassination. A more extraordinary and more disgraceful phenomenon was the growth ofpiracy, with the skirts of which Caesar had come in contact at Pharmacusa. The Romans had become masters of the world, only that the sea from one endof their dominions to the other should be patrolled by organized rovers. For many years, as Roman commerce extended, the Mediterranean had become aprofitable field of enterprise for those gentry. From every country whichthey had overrun or occupied the conquests of the Romans had let looseswarms of restless patriots who, if they could not save the liberties oftheir own countries, could prey upon the oppressor. Illyrians from theAdriatic, Greeks from the islands and the Asiatic ports, Syrians, Egyptians, Africans, Spaniards, Gauls, and disaffected Italians, trainedmany of them to the sea from their childhood, took to the water in theirlight galleys with all the world before them. Under most circumstancessociety is protected against thieves by their inability to combine. Butthe pirates of the Mediterranean had learnt from the Romans the advantageof union, and had drifted into a vast confederation. Cilicia was theirhead-quarters. Servilius had checked them for a time, but the Roman Senatewas too eager for a revenue, and the Roman governors and farmers of thetaxes were too bent upon filling their private purses, to allow fleets tobe maintained in the provincial harbors adequate to keep the peace. WhenServilius retired, the pirates reoccupied their old haunts. The Cilicianforests furnished them with ship timber. The mountain gorges providedinaccessible storehouses for plunder. Crete was completely in their handsalso, and they had secret friends along the entire Mediterranean shores. They grew at last into a thousand sail, divided into squadrons underseparate commanders. They were admirably armed. They roved over the watersat their pleasure, attacking islands or commercial ports, plunderingtemples and warehouses, arresting every trading vessel they encountered, till at last no Roman could go abroad on business save during the winterstorms, when the sea was comparatively clear. They flaunted their sails infront of Ostia itself; they landed in their boats at the villas on theItalian coast, carrying off lords and ladies, and holding them to ransom. They levied black-mail at their pleasure. The wretched provincials hadpaid their taxes to Rome in exchange for promised defence, and no defencewas provided. [4] The revenue which ought to have been spent on theprotection of the Empire a few patricians were dividing among themselves. The pirates had even marts in different islands, where their prisonerswere sold to the slave-dealers; and for fifteen years nothing was done oreven attempted to put an end to so preposterous an enormity. The ease withwhich these buccaneers of the old world were eventually suppressed provedconclusively that they existed by connivance. It was discovered at lastthat large sums had been sent regularly from Crete to some of the mostdistinguished members of the aristocracy. The Senate was again the samebody which it was found by Jugurtha, and the present generation werehappier than their fathers in that larger and richer fields were now opento their operation. While the pirates were at work on the extremities, the senators in theprovinces were working systematically, squeezing the people as one mightsqueeze a sponge of all the wealth that could be drained out of them. After the failure of Lepidus the elections in Rome were wholely in theSenate's hands. Such independence as had not been crushed was corrupted. The aristocracy divided the consulships, praetorships, and quaestorshipsamong themselves, and after the year of office the provincial prizes werethen distributed. Of the nature of their government a picture has beenleft by Cicero, himself one of the senatorial party, and certainly not tobe suspected of having represented it as worse than it was in the famousprosecution of Verres. There is nothing to show that Verres was worse thanthe rest of his order. Piso, Gabinius, and many others equalled or perhapsexcelled him in villainy. But historical fate required a victim, and theunfortunate wretch has been selected out of the crowd individually toillustrate his class. By family he was connected with Sylla. His father was noted as an electionmanager at the Comitia. The son had been attached to Carbo when thedemocrats were in power, but he had deserted them on Sylla's return. Hehad made himself useful in the proscriptions, and had scraped together aconsiderable fortune. He was employed afterward in Greece and Asia, wherehe distinguished himself by fresh rapacity and by the gross brutality withwhich he abused an innocent lady. With the wealth which he had extorted orstolen he bought his way into the praetorship, probably with his father'shelp; he then became a senator, and was sent to govern Sicily--a placewhich had already suffered, so the Senate said, from the malpractices ofLepidus, and needing, therefore, to be generously dealt with. Verres held his province for three years. He was supreme judge in allcivil and criminal cases. He negotiated with the parties to every suitwhich was brought before him, and then sold his decisions. He confiscatedestates on fictitious accusations. The island was rich in works of art. Verres had a taste for such things, and seized without scruple the finestproductions of Praxiteles or Zeuxis. If those who were wronged dared tocomplain, they were sent to forced labor at the quarries, or, as dead mentell no tales, were put out of the world. He had an understanding with thepirates, which throws light upon the secret of their impunity. A shipfulof them were brought into Messina as prisoners, and were sentenced to beexecuted. A handsome bribe was paid to Verres, and a number of Sicilianswhom he wished out of the way were brought out, veiled and gagged thatthey might not be recognized, and were hanged as the pirates' substitutes. By these methods Verres was accused of having gathered out of Sicily threequarters of a million of our money. Two thirds he calculated on having tospend in corrupting the consuls and the court before which he might beprosecuted. The rest he would be able to save, and with the help of it tofollow his career of greatness through the highest offices of state. Thushe had gone on upon his way, secure, as he supposed, of impunity. One ofthe consuls for the year and the consuls for the year which was to comenext were pledged to support him. The judges would be exclusivelysenators, each of whom might require assistance in a similar situation. The chance of justice on these occasions was so desperate that theprovincials preferred usually to bear their wrongs in silence rather thanexpose themselves to expense and danger for almost certain failure. But, as Cicero said, the whole world inside the ocean was ringing with theinfamy of the Roman senatorial tribunals. Cicero, whose honest wish was to save the Senate from itself, determinedto make use of Verres's conduct to shame the courts into honesty. Everydifficulty was thrown in his way. He went in person to Sicily to procureevidence. He was browbeaten and threatened with violence. The witnesseswere intimidated, and in some instances were murdered. The technicalingenuities of Roman law were exhausted to shield the culprit. Theaccident that the second consul had a conscience alone enabled Cicero toforce the criminal to the bar. But the picture which Cicero drew and laidbefore the people, proved as it was to every detail, and admitting of noanswer save that other governors had been equally iniquitous and hadescaped unpunished, created a storm which the Senate dared not encounter. Verres dropped his defence and fled, and part of his spoils was recovered. There was no shame in the aristocracy to prevent them from committingcrimes: there was enough to make them abandon a comrade who was sounfortunate as to be detected and brought to justice. This was the state of the Roman dominion under the constitution asreformed by Sylla: the Spanish Peninsula recovered by murder to temporarysubmission; the sea abandoned to buccaneers; decent industrious people inthe provinces given over to have their fortunes stolen from them, theirdaughters dishonored, and themselves beaten or killed if they complained, by a set of wolves calling themselves Roman senators--and these scenes notlocalized to any one unhappy district, but extending through the entirecivilized part of mankind. There was no hope for these unhappy people, forthey were under the tyranny of a dead hand. A bad king is like a badseason. The next may bring improvement, or if his rule is whollyintolerable he can be deposed. Under a bad constitution no such change ispossible. It can be ended only by a revolution. Republican Rome had becomean Imperial State--she had taken upon herself the guardianship of everycountry in the world where the human race was industrious and prosperous, and she was discharging her great trust by sacrificing them to the luxuryand ambition of a few hundred scandalous politicians. [Sidenote: B. C. 74. ]The nature of man is so constructed that a constitution so administeredmust collapse. It generates faction within, it invites enemies fromwithout. While Sertorius was defying the Senate in Spain and the pirateswere buying its connivance in the Mediterranean, Mithridates started intolife again in Pontus. Sylla had beaten him into submission; but Sylla wasgone, and no one was left to take Sylla's place. The watchful barbarianhad his correspondents in Rome, and knew everything that was passingthere. He saw that he had little to fear by trying the issue with theRomans once more. He made himself master of Armenia. In the corsair fleethe had an ally ready made. The Roman province in Asia Minor, driven todespair by the villainy of its governors, was ripe for revolt. Mithridatesrose, and but for the young Caesar would a second time have driven theRomans out of Asia. Caesar, in the midst of his rhetorical studies atRhodes, heard the mutterings of the coming storm. Deserting Apollonius'slecture-room, he crossed over to the continent, raised a corps ofvolunteers, and held Caria to its allegiance; but Mithridates possessedhimself easily of the interior kingdoms and of the whole valley of theEuphrates to the Persian Gulf. The Black Sea was again covered with hisships. He defeated Cotta in a naval battle, drove him through theBosphorus, and destroyed the Roman squadron. The Senate exerted itself atlast. Lucullus, Sylla's friend, the only moderately able man that thearistocracy had among them, was sent to encounter him. Lucullus had beentrained in a good school, and the superiority of the drilled Roman legionswhen tolerably led again easily asserted itself. Mithridates was forcedback into the Armenian hills. The Black Sea was swept clear, and eightthousand of the buccaneers were killed at Sinope. Lucullus pursued theretreating prince across the Euphrates, won victories, took cities andpillaged them. He reached Lake Van, he marched round Mount Ararat andadvanced to Artaxata. But Asia was a scene of dangerous temptation for aRoman commander. Cicero, though he did not name Lucullus, wastransparently alluding to him when he told the assembly in the Forum thatRome had made herself abhorred throughout the world by the violence andavarice of her generals. No temple had been so sacred, no city sovenerable, no houses so well protected, as to be secure from theirvoracity. Occasions of war had been caught at with rich communities whereplunder was the only object. The proconsuls could win battles, but theycould not keep their hands from off the treasures of their allies andsubjects. [5] Lucullus was splendid in his rapacity, and amidst his victories he hadamassed the largest fortune which had yet belonged to patrician orcommoner, except Crassus. Nothing came amiss to him. He had sold thecommissions in his army. He had taken money out of the treasury for theexpenses of the campaign. Part he had spent in bribing the administrationto prolong his command beyond the usual time; the rest he had left in thecity to accumulate for himself at interest. [6] He lived on the plunderof friend and foe, and the defeat of Mithridates was never more than asecond object to him. The one steady purpose in which he never varied wasto pile up gold and jewels. An army so organized and so employed soon loses efficiency and coherence. The legions, perhaps considering that they were not allowed a fair shareof the spoil, mutinied. The disaffection was headed by young PubliusClodius, whose sister Lucullus had married. The campaign which had openedbrilliantly ended ignominiously. The Romans had to fall back behindPontus, closely pursued by Mithridates. Lucullus stood on the defensivetill he was recalled, and he then returned to Rome to lounge away theremainder of his days in voluptuous magnificence. While Lucullus was making his fortune in the East, a spurt ofinsurrectionary fire had broken out in Italy. The agrarian laws andSylla's proscriptions and confiscations had restored the numbers of thesmall proprietors, but the statesmen who had been so eager for theirreinstatement were fighting against tendencies too strong for them. Lifeon the farm, like life in the city, was growing yearly more extravagant. [7] The small peasants fell into debt. Sylla's soldiers were expensive, and became embarrassed. Thus the small properties artificiallyre-established were falling rapidly again into the market. The greatlandowners bought them up, and Italy was once more lapsing to territorialmagnates cultivating their estates by slaves. Vast gangs of slave laborers were thus still dispersed over the peninsula, while others in large numbers were purchased and trained for the amusementof the metropolis. Society in Rome, enervated as it was by viciouspleasures, craved continually for new excitements. Sensuality is a nearrelation of cruelty; and the more savage the entertainments, the moredelightful they were to the curled and scented patricians who had lost thetaste for finer enjoyments. Combats of wild beasts were at firstsufficient for them, but to see men kill each other gave a keener delight;and out of the thousands of youths who were sent over annually by theprovincial governors, or were purchased from the pirates by theslave-dealers, the most promising were selected for the arena. Each greatnoble had his training establishment of gladiators, and was as vain oftheir prowess as of his race-horses. The schools of Capua were the mostcelebrated; and nothing so recommended a candidate for the consulship tothe electors as the production of a few pairs of Capuan swords-men in thecircus. [Sidenote: B. C. 72-70. ]These young men had hitherto performed their duties with moresubmissiveness than might have been expected, and had slaughtered oneanother in the most approved methods. But the horse knows by the hand onhis rein whether he has a fool for his rider. The gladiators in theschools and the slaves on the plantations could not be kept whollyignorant of the character of their rulers. They were aware that the seaswere held by their friends the pirates, and that their masters were againbeing beaten out of Asia, from which many of themselves had been carriedoff. They began to ask themselves why men who could use their swordsshould be slaves when their comrades and kindred were up and fighting forfreedom. They found a leader in a young Thracian robber chief, namedSpartacus, who was destined for the amphitheatre, and who preferredmeeting his masters in the field to killing his friends to make a Romanholiday. Spartacus, with two hundred of his companions, burst out from theCapuan "stable, " seized their arms, and made their way into the crater ofVesuvius, which was then, after the long sleep of the volcano, a densejungle of wild vines. The slaves from the adjoining plantations desertedand joined them. The fire spread, Spartacus proclaimed universalemancipation, and in a few weeks was at the head of an army with which heoverran Italy to the foot of the Alps, defeated consuls and praetors, captured the eagles of the legions, wasted the farms of the noble lords, and for two years held his ground against all that Rome could do. Of all the illustrations of the Senate's incapacity, the slaveinsurrection was perhaps the worst. It was put down at last afterdesperate exertions by Crassus and Pompey. Spartacus was killed, and sixthousand of his followers were impaled at various points on the sides ofthe high-roads, that the slaves might have before their eyes examples ofthe effect of disobedience. The immediate peril was over; but anothersymptom had appeared of the social disease which would soon end in deathunless some remedy could be found. The nation was still strong. There waspower and worth in the undegenerate Italian race, which needed only to beorganized and ruled. But what remedy was possible? The practical choice ofpoliticians lay between the Senate and the democracy. Both were alikebloody and unscrupulous; and the rule of the Senate meant corruption andimbecility, and the rule of the democracy meant anarchy. [1] "Unum hoc dico: nostri isti nobiles, nisi vigilantes et boni et fortes et misericordes erunt, iis hominibus in quibus haec erunt, ornamenta sua concedant necesse est. "--_Pro Roscio Amerino_, sec. 48. [2] "Sunt enim ista maledicta pervulgata in omnes, quorum in adolescentiâ forma et species fuit liberalis. "--_Oratio pro Marca Caelio_. [3] Now Fermaco. [4] "Videbat enim populum Romanum non locupletari quotannis pecuniâ publicâ praeter paucos: neque eos quidquam aliud assequi classium nomine, nisi ut, detrimentis accipiendis majore affici turpitudine videremur. "--Cicero, _Pro Lege Maniliâ_, 23. [5] "Difficile est dictu, Quirites, quanto in odio simus apud exteras nationes, propter eorum, quos ad eas per hos annos cum imperio misimus, injurias ac libidines. Quod enim fanum putatis in illis terris nostris magistratibus religiosum, quam civitatem sanctam, quam domum satis clausam ac munitam fuisse? Urbes jam locupletes ac copiosae requiruntur, quibus causa belli propter diripiendi cupiditatem inferatur. .. . Quare etiamsi quem habetis, qui collatis signis exercitus regios superare posse videatur, tamen, nisi erit idem, qui se a pecuniis sociorum, qui ab eorum conjugibus ac liberis, qui ab ornamentis fanorum atque oppidorum, qui ab auro gazâque regiâ manus, oculos, animum cohibere possit, non erit idoneus, qui ad bellum Asiaticum regiumque mittatur. "--_Pro Lege Maniliâ_, 22, 23. [6] "Quem possumus imperatorem aliquo in numero putare, cujus in exercitu veneant centuriatus atque venierint? Quid hunc hominem magnum aut amplum de republicâ cogitare, qui pecuniam ex aerario depromtam ad bellum administrandum, aut propter cupiditatem provinciae magistratibus diviserit aut propter avaritiam Romae in quaestu reliquerit? Vestra admurmuratio facit, Quirites, ut agnoscere videamini qui haec fecerint: ego autem neminem nomino. "--_Pro Lege Maniliâ_, 13. [7] Varro mentions curious instances of the change in country manners. He makes an old man say that when he was a boy, a farmer's wife used to be content with a jaunt in a cart once or twice a year, the farmer not taking out the covered wagon (the more luxurious vehicle) at all unless he pleased. The farmer used to shave only once a week, etc. --_M. Ter. Varronis Reliquiae_, ed. Alexander Riese, pp. 139, 140. CHAPTER X. Caesar, having done his small piece of independent service in Caria, andhaving finished his course with Apollonius, now came again to Rome andre-entered practical life. He lived with his wife and his mother Aureliain a modest house, attracting no particular notice. But his defiance ofSylla, his prosecution of Dolabella, and his known political sympathiesmade him early a favorite with the people. The growing disorders at homeand abroad, with the exposures on the trial of Verres, were weakeningdaily the influence of the Senate. Caesar was elected military tribune asa reward for his services in Asia, and he assisted in recovering part ofthe privileges so dear to the citizens which Sylla had taken from thetribunes of the people. They were again enabled to call the assemblytogether, and though they were still unable to propose laws without theSenate's sanction, yet they regained the privilege of consulting directlywith the nation on public affairs. Caesar now spoke well enough to commandthe admiration of even Cicero--without ornament, but directly to thepurpose. Among the first uses to which he addressed his influence was toobtain the pardon of his brother-in-law, the younger Cinna, who had beenexiled since the failure of the attempt of Lepidus. In B. C. 68, being thenthirty-two, he gained his first step on the ladder of high office. He wasmade quaestor, which gave him a place in the Senate. Soon after his election, his aunt Julia, the widow of Marius, died. It wasusual on the death of eminent persons for a near relation to make anoration at the funeral. Caesar spoke on this occasion. It was observedthat he dwelt with some pride on the lady's ancestry, descending on oneside from the gods, on another from the kings of Rome. More noticeably heintroduced into the burial procession the insignia and images of Mariushimself, whose name for some years it had been unsafe to mention. [1] Pompey, after Sertorius's death, had pacified Spain. He had assistedCrassus in extinguishing Spartacus. The Senate had employed him, but hadnever liked him or trusted him. The Senate, however, was no longeromnipotent, and in the year 70 he and Crassus had been consuls. Pompey wasno politician, but he was honorable and straightforward. Like every trueRoman, he was awake to the dangers and disgrace of the existingmal-administration, and he and Caesar began to know each other, and tofind their interest in working together. Pompey was the elder of the twoby six years. He was already a great man, covered with distinctions, andperhaps he supposed that he was finding in Caesar a useful subordinate. Caesar naturally liked Pompey, as a really distinguished soldier and anupright disinterested man. They became connected by marriage. Corneliadying, Caesar took for his second wife Pompey's cousin, Pompeia; and, nodoubt at Pompey's instance, he was sent into Spain to complete Pompey'swork and settle the finances of that distracted country. His reputation asbelonging to the party of Marius and Sertorius secured him the confidenceof Sertorius's friends. He accomplished his mission completely and easily. On his way back he passed through northern Italy, and took occasion to saythere that he considered the time to have come for the franchise, whichnow stopped at the Po, to be extended to the foot of the Alps. The consulship of Pompey and Crassus had brought many changes with it, alltending in the same direction. The tribunes were restored to their oldfunctions, the censorship was re-established, and the Senate was at onceweeded of many of its disreputable members. Cicero, conservative as hewas, had looked upon these measures if not approvingly yet without activeopposition. To another change he had himself contributed by his speecheson the Verres prosecution. The exclusive judicial powers which the Senatehad abused so scandalously were again taken from them. The courts of theequites were remembered in contrast, and a law was passed that for thefuture the courts were to be composed two thirds of knights and one thirdonly of senators. Cicero's hope of resisting democracy lay in the fusionof the great commoners with the Senate. It was no longer possible for thearistocracy to rule alone. The few equites who, since Sylla's time, hadmade their way into the Senate had yielded to patrician ascendency. Ciceroaimed at a reunion of the orders; and the consulship of Crassus, little asCicero liked Crassus personally, was a sign of a growing tendency in thisdirection. At all costs the knights must be prevented from identifyingthemselves with the democrats, and therefore all possible compliments andall possible concessions to their interests were made to them. They recovered their position in the law-courts; and, which was of moreimportance to them, the system of farming the taxes, in which so many ofthem had made their fortunes, and which Sylla had abolished, was onceagain reverted to. It was not a good system, but it was better than astate of things in which little of the revenue had reached the publictreasury at all, but had been intercepted and parcelled out among theoligarchy. [Sidenote: B. C. 67. ]With recovered vitality a keener apprehension began to be felt of thepirate scandal. The buccaneers, encouraged by the Senate's connivance, were more daring than ever. They had become a sea community, led byhigh-born adventurers, who maintained out of their plunder a show of wildmagnificence. The oars of the galleys of their commanders were plated withsilver; their cabins were hung with gorgeous tapestry. They had bands ofmusic to play at their triumphs. They had a religion of their own, anoriental medley called the Mysteries of Mithras. They had captured andpillaged four hundred considerable towns, and had spoiled the temples ofthe Grecian gods. They had maintained and extended their depots where theydisposed of their prisoners to the slave-dealers. Roman citizens who couldnot ransom themselves, and could not conveniently be sold, were informedthat they might go where they pleased; they were led to a plank projectingover some vessel's side, and were bidden depart--into the sea. Notcontented with insulting Ostia by their presence outside, they hadventured into the harbor itself, and had burnt the ships there. They heldcomplete possession of the Italian waters. Rome, depending on Sicily andSardinia and Africa for her supplies of corn, was starving for want offood, and the foreign trade on which so many of the middle classes wereengaged was totally destroyed. The return of the commoners to power was asignal for an active movement to put an end to the disgrace. No onequestioned that it could be done if there was a will to do it. But thework could be accomplished only by persons who would be proof againstcorruption. There was but one man in high position who could be trusted, and that was Pompey. The general to be selected must have unrestricted andtherefore unconstitutional authority. But Pompey was at once capable andhonest. Pompey could not be bribed by the pirates, and Pompey could bedepended on not to abuse his opportunities to the prejudice of theCommonwealth. [Sidenote: B. C. 67. ]The natural course, therefore, would have been to declare Pompey dictator;but Sylla had made the name unpopular; the right to appoint a dictator laywith the Senate, with whom Pompey had never been a favorite, and thearistocracy had disliked and feared him more than ever since hisconsulship. From that quarter no help was to be looked for, and a methodwas devised to give him the reality of power without the title. Unity ofcommand was the one essential--command untrammelled by orders fromcommittees of weak and treacherous noblemen, who cared only for theinterest of their class. The established forms were scrupulously observed, and the plan designed was brought forward first, according to rule, in theSenate. A tribune, Aulus Gabinius, introduced a proposition there that oneperson of consular rank should have absolute jurisdiction during threeyears over the whole Mediterranean, and over all Roman territory for fiftymiles inland from the coast; that the money in the treasury should beat his disposition; that he should have power to raise 500 ships of warand to collect and organize 130, 000 men. No such command for such a timehad ever been committed to any one man since the abolition of themonarchy. It was equivalent to a suspension of the Senate itself, and ofall constitutional government. The proposal was received with a burst offury. Every one knew that the person intended was Pompey. The decorum ofthe old days was forgotten. The noble lords started from their seats, flewat Gabinius, and almost strangled him: but he had friends outside thehouse ready to defend their champion; the country people had flocked infor the occasion; the city was thronged with multitudes such as had notbeen seen there since the days of the Gracchi. The tribune freed himselffrom the hands that were at his throat; he rushed out into the Forum, closely pursued by the consul Piso, who would have been torn in pieces inturn had not Gabinius interposed to save him. Senate or no Senate, it wasdecided that Gabinius's proposition should be submitted to the assembly, and the aristocrats were driven to their old remedy of bribing othermembers of the college of tribunes to interfere. Two renegades were thussecured, and when the voting-day came, Trebellius, who was one of them, put in a veto; the other, Roscius, said that the power intended for Pompeywas too considerable to be trusted to a single person, and proposed twocommanders instead of one. The mob was packed so thick that the house-topswere covered. A yell rose from tens of thousands of throats so piercingthat it was said a crow flying over the Forum dropped dead at the sound ofit. The old patrician Catulus tried to speak, but the people would nothear him. The vote passed by acclamation, and Pompey was for three yearssovereign of the Roman world. It now appeared how strong the Romans were when a fair chance was allowedthem. Pompey had no extraordinary talents, but not in three years, but inthree months, the pirates were extinguished. He divided the Mediterraneaninto thirteen districts, and allotted a squadron to each, under officerson whom he could thoroughly rely. Ships and seamen were found in abundancelying idle from the suspension of trade. In forty days he had cleared theseas between Gibraltar and Italy. He had captured entire corsair fleets, and had sent the rest flying into the Cilician creeks. There, in defenceof their plunder and their families, they fought one desperate engagement, and when defeated, they surrendered without a further blow. Of realstrength they had possessed none from the first. They had subsisted onlythrough the guilty complicity of the Roman authorities, and they fell atthe first stroke which was aimed at them in earnest. Thirteen hundredpirate ships were burnt. Their docks and arsenals were destroyed, andtheir fortresses were razed. Twenty-two thousand prisoners fell into thehands of Pompey. To the astonishment of mankind, Pompey neither impaledthem, as the Senate had impaled the followers of Spartacus, nor even soldthem for slaves. He was contented to scatter them among inland colonies, where they could no longer be dangerous. The suppression of the buccaneers was really a brilliant piece of work, and the ease with which it was accomplished brought fresh disgrace on theSenate and fresh glory on the hero of the hour. Cicero, with his thoughtsfixed on saving the constitution, considered that Pompey might be the manto save it; or, at all events, that it would be unsafe to leave him to thedemocrats who had given him power and were triumphing in his success. Onpolitical grounds Cicero thought that Pompey ought to be recognized by themoderate party which he intended to form; and a person like himself whohoped to rise by the popular votes could not otherwise afford to seem coldamidst the universal enthusiasm. The pirates were abolished. Mithridateswas still undisposed of. Lucullus, the hope of the aristocracy, was lyinghelpless within the Roman frontier, with a disorganized and mutinous army. His victories were forgotten. He was regarded as the impersonation ofevery fault which had made the rule of the Senate so hateful. Pompey, thepeople's general, after a splendid success, had come home with cleanhands; Lucullus had sacrificed his country to his avarice. The contrastset off his failures in colors perhaps darker than really belonged tothem, and the cry naturally rose that Lucullus must be called back, andthe all-victorious Pompey must be sent for the reconquest of Asia. Anothertribune, Manilius, brought the question forward, this time directly beforethe assembly, the Senate's consent not being any more asked for. Caesaragain brought his influence to bear on Pompey's side; but Caesar foundsupport in a quarter where it might not have been looked for. The Senatewas furious as before, but by far the most gifted person in theconservative party now openly turned against them. Cicero was praetor thisyear, and was thus himself a senator. A seat in the Senate had been thesupreme object of his ambition. He was vain of the honor which he had won, and delighted with the high company into which he had been received; buthe was too shrewd to go along with them upon a road which could lead onlyto their overthrow; and for their own sake, and for the sake of theinstitution itself of which he meant to be an illustrious ornament, he notonly supported the Manilian proposition, but supported it in a speech moreeffective than the wildest outpourings of democratic rhetoric. Asia Minor, he said, was of all the Roman provinces the most important, because it was the most wealthy. [2] So rich it was and fertile that, forthe productiveness of its soil, the variety of its fruits, the extent ofits pastures, and the multitude of its exports, there was no country inthe world to be compared with it; yet Asia was in danger of being utterlylost through the worthlessnesss of the governors and military commanderscharged with the care of it. "Who does not know, " Cicero asked, "that theavarice of our generals has been the cause of the misfortunes of ourarmies? You can see for yourselves how they act here at home in Italy; andwhat will they not venture far away in distant countries? Officers whocannot restrain their own appetites can never maintain discipline in theirtroops. Pompey has been victorious because he does not loiter about thetowns for plunder or pleasure, or making collections of statues andpictures. Asia is a land of temptations. Send no one thither who cannotresist gold and jewels and shrines and pretty women. Pompey is upright andpure-sighted. Pompey knows that the State has been impoverished becausethe revenue flows into the coffers of a few individuals. Our fleets andarmies have availed only to bring the more disgrace upon us through ourdefeats and losses. " [3] After passing a deserved panegyric on the suppression of the pirates, Cicero urged with all the power of his oratory that Manilius's measuresshould be adopted, and that the same general who had done so well alreadyshould be sent against Mithridates. This was perhaps the only occasion on which Cicero ever addressed theassembly in favor of the proposals of a popular tribune. Well would ithave been for him and well for Rome if he could have held on upon a courseinto which he had been led by real patriotism. He was now in his properplace, where his better mind must have told him that he ought to havecontinued, working by the side of Caesar and Pompey. It was observed thatmore than once in his speech he mentioned with high honor the name ofMarius. He appeared to have seen clearly that the Senate was bringing theState to perdition; and that unless the Republic was to end indissolution, or in mob rule and despotism, the wise course was torecognize the legitimate tendencies of popular sentiment, and to lend theconstant weight of his authority to those who were acting in harmony withit. But Cicero could never wholly forget his own consequence, or bringhimself to persist in any policy where he could play but a secondary part. [Sidenote: B. C. 66-63. ]The Manilian law was carried. In addition to his present extraordinarycommand, Pompey was entrusted with the conduct of the war in Asia, and hewas left unfettered to act at his own discretion. He crossed the Bosphoruswith fifty thousand men; he invaded Pontus; he inflicted a decisive defeaton Mithridates, and broke up his army; he drove the Armenians back intotheir own mountains, and extorted out of them a heavy war indemnity. Thebarbarian king who had so long defied the Roman power was beaten down atlast, and fled across the Black Sea to Kertch, where his sons turnedagainst him. He was sixty-eight years old, and could not wait till thewheel should make another turn. Broken down at last, he took leave of aworld in which for him there was no longer a place. His women poisonedthemselves successfully. He, too fortified by antidotes to end as theyended, sought a surer death, and fell like Saul by the sword of a slave. Rome had put out her real strength, and at once, as before, all oppositionwent down before her. Asia was completely conquered up to the line of theEuphrates. The Black Sea was held securely by a Roman fleet. Pompey passeddown into Syria. Antioch surrendered without resistance. Tyre and Damascusfollowed. Jerusalem was taken by storm, and the Roman general entered theHoly of Holies. Of all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean Egyptonly was left independent, and of all the islands only Cyprus. A triumphalinscription in Rome declared that Pompey, the people's general, had inthree years captured fifteen hundred cities, and had slain, taken, orreduced to submission twelve million human beings. He justified whatCicero had foretold of his moral uprightness. In the midst ofopportunities such as had fallen to no commander since Alexander, heoutraged no woman's honor, and he kept his hands clean from "the accursedthing. " When he returned to Rome, he returned, as he went, personallypoor, but he filled the treasury to overflowing. His campaign was not amarauding raid, like the march of Lucullus on Artaxata. His conquests werepermanent. The East, which was then thickly inhabited by an industriouscivilized Graeco-Oriental race, became incorporated in the Roman dominion, and the annual revenue of the State rose to twice what it had been. Pompey's success had been dazzlingly rapid. Envy and hatred, as he wellknew, were waiting for him at home, and he was in no haste to presenthimself there. He lingered in Asia, organizing the administration andconsolidating his work, while at Rome the constitution was rushing on uponits old courses among the broken waters, with the roar of the not distantcataract growing every moment louder. [1] The name of Marius, it is to be observed, remained so popular in Rome that Cicero after this always spoke of him with respect. [2] "Asia vero tam opima est et fertilis, ut et ubertate agrorum et varietate fructuum et magnitudine pastionis, et multitudine earum rerum, quae exportentur, facile omnibus terris antecellat. "--_Pro Lege Maniliâ_. Cicero's expressions are worth notice at a time when Asia Minor has become of importance to England. [3] _Pro Lege Maniliâ_. Abridged. CHAPTER XI. [Sidenote: B. C. 64. ]Among the patricians who were rising through the lower magistracies andwere aspiring to the consulship was Lucius Sergius Catiline. Catiline, nowin middle life, had when young been a fervent admirer of Sylla, and, ashas been already said, had been an active agent in the proscription. Hehad murdered his brother-in-law, and perhaps his brother, under politicalpretences. In an age when licentiousness of the grossest kind was toocommon to attract attention, Catiline had achieved a notoriety for infamy. Ho had intrigued with a Vestal virgin, the sister of Cicero's wife, Terentia. If Cicero is to be believed, he had made away with his own wife, that he might marry Aurelia Orestilla, a woman as wicked as she wasbeautiful, and he had killed his child also because Aurelia had objectedto be encumbered with a step-son. But this, too, was common in highsociety in those days. Adultery and incest had become familiarexcitements. Boys of ten years old had learnt the art of poisoning theirfathers, [1] and the story of Aurelia Orestilla and Catiline had beenrehearsed a few years before by Sassia and Oppianicus at Larino. [2]Other enormities Catiline had been guilty of which Cicero declined tomention, lest he should show too openly what crimes might go unpunishedunder the senatorial administration. But villainy, however notorious, didnot interfere with advancement in the public service. Catiline was adroit, bold, and even captivating. He made his way into high office along theusual gradations. He was praetor in B. C. 68. He went as governor to Africain the year following, and he returned with money enough, as he reasonablyhoped, to purchase the last step to the consulship. He was impeached whenhe came back for extortion and oppression, under one of the many lawswhich were made to be laughed at. Till his trial was over he wasdisqualified from presenting himself as a candidate, and the election forthe year 65 was carried by Autronius Paetus and Cornelius Sylla. Two otherpatricians, Aurelius Cotta and Manlius Torquatus, had stood against them. The successful competitors were unseated for bribery; Cotta and Torquatustook their places, and, apparently as a natural resource in the existingcontempt into which the constitution had fallen, the disappointedcandidates formed a plot to kill their rivals and their rivals' friends inthe Senate, and to make a revolution. Cneius Piso, a young nobleman of thebluest blood, joined in the conspiracy. Catiline threw himself into it ashis natural element, and aristocratic tradition said in later years thatCaesar and Crassus were implicated also. Some desperate scheme therecertainly was, but the accounts of it are confused: one authority saysthat it failed because Catiline gave the signal prematurely; others thatCaesar was to have given the signal, and did not do it; others thatCrassus's heart failed him; others that the consuls had secret noticegiven to them and took precautions. Cicero, who was in Rome at the time, declares that he never heard of the conspiracy. [3] When evidence isinconclusive, probability becomes argument. Nothing can be less likelythan that a cautious capitalist of vast wealth like Crassus should haveconnected himself with a party of dissolute adventurers. Had Caesarcommitted himself, jealously watched as he was by the aristocrats, someproofs of his complicity would have been forthcoming. The aristocracyunder the empire revenged themselves for their ruin by charging Caesarwith a share in every combination that had been formed against them, fromSylla's time downwards. Be the truth what it may, nothing came of thisproject. Piso went to Spain, where he was killed. The prosecution ofCatiline for his African misgovernment was continued, and, strange to say, Cicero undertook his defence. He was under no uncertainty as to Catiline'sgeneral character, or his particular guilt in the charge brought againsthim. It was plain as the sun at midday. [4] But Cicero was about to standhimself for the consulship, the object of his most passionate desire. Hehad several competitors; and as he thought well of Catiline's prospects, he intended to coalesce with him. [5] Catiline was acquitted, apparentlythrough a special selection of the judges, with the connivance of theprosecutor. The canvass was violent, and the corruption flagrant. [6]Cicero did not bribe himself, but if Catiline's voters would give hima help, he was not so scrupulous as to be above taking advantage of it. Catiline's humor or the circumstances of the time provided him with a morehonorable support. He required a more manageable colleague than he couldhave found in Cicero. Among the candidates was one of Sylla's officers, Caius Antonius, the uncle of Marc Antony, the triumvir. This Antonius hadbeen prosecuted by Caesar for ill-usage of the Macedonians. He had beenexpelled by the censors from the Senate for general worthlessness; butpublic disgrace seems to have had no effect whatever on the chances of acandidate for the consulship in this singular age. Antonius was weak andvicious, and Catiline could mould him as he pleased. He had made himselfpopular by his profusion when aedile in providing shows for the mob. Thefeeling against the Senate was so bitter that the aristocracy had nochance of carrying a candidate of their own, and the competition wasreduced at last to Catiline, Antonius and Cicero. Antonius was certain ofhis election, and the contest lay between Catiline and Cicero. Each ofthem tried to gain the support of Antonius and his friends. Catilinepromised Antonius a revolution, in which they were to share the worldbetween them. Cicero promised his influence to obtain some lucrativeprovince for Antonius to misgovern. Catiline would probably havesucceeded, when the aristocracy, knowing what to expect if so scandalous apair came into office, threw their weight on Cicero's side and turned thescale. Cicero was liked among the people for his prosecution of Verres, for his support of the Manilian law, and for the boldness with which hehad exposed patrician delinquencies. With the Senate for him also, he wasreturned at the head of the poll. The proud Roman nobility had selected aself-made lawyer as their representative. Cicero was consul, and Antoniuswith him. Catiline had failed. It was the turning-point of Cicero's life. Before his consulship he had not irrevocably taken a side. No publicspeaker had more eloquently shown the necessity for reform; no one haddenounced with keener sarcasm the infamies and follies of senatorialfavorites. Conscience and patriotism should have alike held him to thereforming party; and political instinct, if vanity had left him the use ofhis perception, would have led him in the same direction. Possibly beforehe received the votes of the patricians and their clients he had boundhimself with certain engagements to them. Possibly he held the Senate'sintellect cheap, and saw the position which he could arrive at among thearistocracy if he offered them his services. The strongest intellect waswith the reformers, and first on that side he could never be. First amongthe Conservatives[7] he could easily be; and he might prefer being atthe head of a party which at heart he despised, to working at the side ofpersons who must stand inevitably above him. We may regret that gifted menshould be influenced by personal considerations, but under partygovernment it is a fact that they are so influenced, and will be as longas it continues. Caesar and Pompey were soldiers. The army was democratic, and the triumph of the democracy meant the rule of a popular general. Cicero was a civilian, and a man of speech. In the forum and in the Curiahe knew that he could reign supreme. Cicero had thus reached the highest step in the scale of promotion bytrimming between the rival factions. Caesar was rising simultaneouslybehind him on lines of his own. In the year B. C. 65 he had been aedile, having for his colleague Bibulus, his future companion on the successivegrades of ascent. Bibulus was a rich plebeian, whose delight in office wasthe introduction which it gave him into the society of the great; and inhis politics he outdid his aristocratic patrons. The aediles had charge ofthe public buildings and the games and exhibitions in the capital. Theaedileship was a magistracy through which it was ordinarily necessary topass in order to reach the consulship; and as the aediles were expected tobear their own expenses, the consulship was thus restricted to those whocould afford an extravagant outlay. They were expected to decorate thecity with new ornaments, and to entertain the people with magnificentspectacles. If they fell short of public expectation, they need look nofurther for the suffrages of their many-headed master. Cicero had slippedthrough the aedileship, without ruin to himself. He was a self-raised man, known to be dependent upon his own exertions, and liked from thewillingness with which he gave his help to accused persons on theirtrials. Thus no great demands had been made upon him. Caesar, either moreambitious or less confident in his services, raised a new and costly rowof columns in front of the Capitol. He built a temple to the Dioscuri, andhe charmed the populace with a show of gladiators unusually extensive. Personally he cared nothing for these sanguinary exhibitions, and hedisplayed his indifference ostentatiously by reading or writing while thebutchery was going forward. [8] But he required the favor of themultitude, and then, as always, took the road which led most directly tohis end. The noble lords watched him suspiciously, and their uneasinesswas not diminished when, not content with having produced the insignia ofMarius at his aunt's funeral, he restored the trophies for the victoriesover the Cimbri and Teutons, which had been removed by Sylla. The name ofMarius was growing every day more dear to the popular party. They forgave, if they had ever resented, his credulities. His veterans who had foughtwith him through his campaigns came forward in tears to salute the honoredrelics of their once glorious commander. As he felt the ground stronger under his feet, Caesar now began to assumean attitude more peremptorily marked. He had won a reputation in theForum; he had spoken in the Senate; he had warmly advocated theappointment of Pompey to his high commands; and he was regarded as aprominent democratic leader. But he had not aspired to the tribunate; hehad not thrown himself into politics with any absorbing passion. Hisexertions had been intermittent, and he was chiefly known as a brilliantmember of fashionable society, a peculiar favorite with women, andremarkable for his abstinence from the coarse debauchery which disgracedhis patrician contemporaries. He was now playing for a higher stake, andthe oligarchy had occasion to be reminded of Sylla's prophecy. In carryingout the proscription, Sylla had employed professional assassins, andpayments had been made out of the treasury to wretches who came to himwith bloody trophies in their hands to demand the promised fees. The timehad come when these doings were to be looked into; hundreds of men hadbeen murdered, their estates confiscated, and their families ruined, whohad not been even ostensibly guilty of any public crime. At Caesar'sinstance an inquiry was ordered. He himself was appointed JudexQuaestionis, or chairman of a committee of investigation; and Catiline, among others, was called to answer for himself--a curious commentary onCaesar's supposed connection with him. [Sidenote: B. C. 63. ]Nor did the inquisition stop with Sylla. Titus Labienus, afterward sofamous and so infamous, was then tribune of the people. His father hadbeen killed at the side of Saturninus and Glaucia thirty-seven yearsbefore, when the young lords of Rome had unroofed the senate-house, andhad pelted them and their companions to death with tiles. One of theactors in the scene, Caius Rabirius, now a very old man, was still alive. Labienus prosecuted him before Caesar. Rabirius was condemned, andappealed to the people; and Cicero, who had just been made consul, spokein his defence. On this occasion Cicero for the first time came activelyin collision with Caesar. His language contrasted remarkably with the toneof his speeches against Verres and for the Manilian law. It was adroit, for he charged Marius with having shared the guilt, if guilt there hadbeen, in the death of those men; but the burden of what he said was todefend enthusiastically the conservative aristocracy, and to censure withall his bitterness the democratic reformers. Rabirius was acquitted, perhaps justly. It was a hard thing to revive the memory of a politicalcrime which had been shared by the whole patrician order after so long aninterval. But Cicero had shown his new colors; no help, it was evident, was thenceforward to be expected from him in the direction of reform. Thepopular party replied in a singular manner. The office of Pontifex Maximuswas the most coveted of all the honors to which a Roman citizen couldaspire. It was held for life, it was splendidly endowed, and there stillhung about the pontificate the traditionary dignity attaching to the chiefof the once sincerely believed Roman religion. Like other objects ofambition, the nomination had fallen, with the growth of democracy, to thepeople, but the position had always been held by some member of the oldaristocracy; and Sylla, to secure them in the possession of it, hadreverted to the ancient constitution, and had restored to the SacredCollege the privilege of choosing their head. Under the impulse which thepopular party had received from Pompey's successes, Labienus carried avote in the assembly, by which the people resumed the nomination to thepontificate themselves. In the same year it fell vacant by the death ofthe aged Metullus Pius. Two patricians, Quintus Catulus and Caesar's oldgeneral Servilius Isauricus, were the Senate's candidates, and vast sumswere subscribed and spent to secure the success of one or other of thetwo. Caesar came forward to oppose them. Caesar aspired to be PontifexMaximus--Pope of Rome--he who of all men living was the least given toillusion; he who was the most frank in his confession of entire disbeliefin the legends which, though few credited them any more, yet almost allthought it decent to pretend to credit. Among the phenomena of the timethis was surely the most singular. Yet Caesar had been a priest from hisboyhood, and why should he not be Pope? He offered himself to the Comitia. Committed as he was to a contest with the richest men in Rome, he spentmoney freely. He was in debt already for his expenses as aedile. Heengaged his credit still deeper for this new competition. The story ranthat when his mother kissed him as he was leaving his home for the Forumon the morning of the election, he told her that he would return aspontiff, or she would never see him more. He was chosen by an overwhelmingmajority, the votes given for him being larger than the collective numbersof the votes entered for his opponents. [Sidenote: B. C. 63. ]The election for the pontificate was on the 6th of March, and soon afterCaesar received a further evidence of popular favor on being chosenpraetor for the next year. As the liberal party was growing in courage anddefiniteness, Cicero showed himself more decidedly on the other side. Nowwas the time for him, highly placed as he was, to prevent a repetition ofthe scandals which he had so eloquently denounced, to pass laws which nofuture Verres or Lucullus could dare to defy. Now was his opportunity totake the wind out of the reformers' sails, and to grapple himself with thethousand forms of patrician villainy which he well knew to be destroyingthe Commonwealth. Not one such measure, save an ineffectual attempt tocheck election bribery, distinguished the consulship of Cicero. His entireefforts were directed to the combination in a solid phalanx of theequestrian and patrician orders. The danger to society, he had come tothink, was an approaching war against property, and his hope was to unitethe rich of both classes in defence against the landless and moneylessmultitudes. [9] The land question had become again as pressing as in thetime of the Gracchi. The peasant proprietors were melting away as fast asever, and Rome was becoming choked with impoverished citizens, who oughtto have been farmers and fathers of families, but were degenerating into arabble fed upon the corn grants, and occupied with nothing but spectaclesand politics. The agrarian laws in the past had been violent, and mightreasonably be complained of; but a remedy could now be found for thisfast-increasing mischief without injury to anyone. Pompey's victories hadfilled the public treasury. Vast territories abroad had lapsed to thepossession of the State; and Rullus, one of the tribunes, proposed thatpart of these territories should be sold, and that out of the proceeds, and out of the money which Pompey had sent home, farms should be purchasedin Italy and poor citizens settled upon them. Rullus's scheme might havebeen crude, and the details of it objectionable; but to attempt theproblem was better than to sit still and let the evil go unchecked. If thebill was impracticable in its existing form, it might have been amended;and so far as the immediate effect of such a law was concerned, it wasagainst the interests of the democrats. The popular vote depended for itsstrength on the masses of poor who were crowded into Rome; and the tribunewas proposing to weaken his own army. But the very name of an agrarian lawset patrician households in a flutter, and Cicero stooped to be theiradvocate. He attacked Rullus with brutal sarcasm. He insulted hisappearance; he ridiculed his dress, his hair, and his beard. He mocked athis bad enunciation and bad grammar. No one more despised the mob thanCicero; but because Rullus had said that the city rabble was dangerouslypowerful, and ought to be "drawn off" to some wholesome employment, theeloquent consul condescended to quote the words, to score a point againsthis opponent; and he told the crowd that their tribune had described anumber of excellent citizens to the Senate as no better than the contentsof a cesspool. [10] By these methods Cicero caught the people's voices. The plan came tonothing, and his consulship would have waned away, undistinguished by anyact which his country would have cared to remember, but for an accidentwhich raised him for a moment into a position of real consequence, andimpressed on his own mind a conviction that he was a second Romulus. Revolutionary conspiracies are only formidable when the government againstwhich they are directed is already despised and detested. As long as anadministration is endurable the majority of citizens prefer to bear withit, and will assist in repressing violent attempts at its overthrow. Theirpatience, however, may be exhausted, and the disgust may rise to a pointwhen any change may seem an improvement. Authority is no longer shieldedby the majesty with which it ought to be surrounded. It has made publicits own degradation; and the most worthless adventurer knows that he hasno moral indignation to fear if he tries to snatch the reins out of handswhich are at least no more pure than his own. If he can dress hisendeavors in the livery of patriotism, if he can put himself forward asthe champion of an injured people, he can cover the scandals of his owncharacter and appear as a hero and a liberator. Catiline had missed theconsulship, and was a ruined man. He had calculated on succeeding to aprovince where he might gather a golden harvest and come home to live insplendor, like Lucullus. He had failed, defeated by a mere plebeian whomhis brother-patricians had stooped to prefer to him. Were the secrethistory known of the contest for the consulship, much might be discoveredthere to explain Cicero's and Catiline's hatred of each other. Cicero hadonce thought of coalescing with Catiline, notwithstanding his knowledge ofhis previous crimes: Catiline had perhaps hoped to dupe Cicero, and hadbeen himself outwitted. He intended to stand again for the year 62, butevidently on a different footing from that on which he had presentedhimself before. That such a man should have been able to offer himself atall, and that such a person as Cicero should have entered into any kind ofamicable relations with him, was a sign by itself that the Commonwealthwas already sickening for death. Catiline was surrounded by men of high birth, whose fortunes weredesperate as his own. There was Lentulus, who had been consul a few yearsbefore, and had been expelled from the Senate by the censors. There wasCethegus, staggering under a mountain of debts. There was Autronius, whohad been unseated for bribery when chosen consul in 65. There was Manlius, once a distinguished officer in Sylla's army, and now a beggar. Besidesthese were a number of senators, knights, gentlemen, and dissolute youngpatricians, whose theory of the world was that it had been created forthem to take their pleasure in, and who found their pleasures shortened byemptiness of purse. To them, as to their betters, the Empire was but alarge dish out of which they considered that they had a right to feedthemselves. They were defrauded of their proper share, and Catiline wasthe person who would help them to it. Etruria was full of Sylla's disbanded soldiers, who had squandered theirallotments, and were hanging about, unoccupied and starving. Catiline sentdown Manlius, their old officer, to collect as many as he could of themwithout attracting notice. He himself, as the election day approached, andCicero's year of office was drawing to an end, took up the character of anaristocratic demagogue, and asked for the suffrages of the people as thechampion of the poor against the rich, as the friend of the wretched andoppressed; and those who thought themselves wretched and oppressed in Romewere so large a body, and so bitterly hostile were they all to theprosperous classes, that his election was anticipated as a certainty. Inthe Senate the consulship of Catiline was regarded as no less than animpending national calamity. Marcus Cato, great-grandson of the censor, then growing into fame by his acrid tongue and narrow republicanfanaticism, who had sneered at Pompey's victories as triumphs over women, and had not spared even Cicero himself, threatened Catiline in the Curia. Catiline answered, in a fully attended house, that if any agitation waskindled against him he would put it out, not with water, but withrevolution. His language became so audacious that, on the eve of theelection day, Cicero moved for a postponement, that the Senate might takehis language into consideration. Catiline's conduct was brought on fordebate, and the consul called on him to explain himself. There was noconcealment in Catiline. Then and always Cicero admits he was perfectlyfrank. He made no excuses. He admitted the truth of what had been reportedof him. The State, he said, had two bodies, one weak (the aristocracy), with a weak leader (Cicero); the other, the great mass of the citizens--strong in themselves, but without a head, and he himself intended to bethat head. [11] A groan was heard in the house, but less loud than inCicero's opinion it ought to have been; and Catiline sailed out intriumph, leaving the noble lords looking in each other's faces. [Sidenote: October, B. C. 63. ]Both Cicero and the Senate were evidently in the greatest alarm thatCatiline would succeed constitutionally in being chosen consul, and theystrained every sinew to prevent so terrible a catastrophe. When theComitia came on, Cicero admits that he occupied the voting place in theCampus Martius with a guard of men who could be depended on. He wasviolating the law, which forbade the presence of an armed force on thoseoccasions. He excused himself by pretending that Catiline's party intendedviolence, and he appeared ostentatiously in a breastplate as if his ownlife was aimed at. The result was that Catiline failed once more, and wasrejected by a small majority. Cicero attributes his defeat to the moraleffect produced by the breastplate. But from the time of the Gracchidownwards the aristocracy had not hesitated to lay pressure on theelections when they could safely do it; and the story must be taken withreservation, in the absence of a more impartial account than we possess ofthe purpose to which Cicero's guard was applied. Undoubtedly it wasdesirable to strain the usual rules to keep a wretch like Catiline fromthe consulship; but as certainly, both before the election and after it, Catiline had the sympathies of a very large part of the residentinhabitants of the city, and these sympathies must be taken into accountif we are to understand the long train of incidents of which this occasionwas the beginning. Two strict aristocrats, Decimus Silanus and Lucius Murena, [12] weredeclared elected. Pompey was on his way home, but had not yet reachedItaly. There were no regular troops in the whole peninsula, and thenearest approach to an army was the body of Syllans, whom Manlius hadquietly collected at Fiesole. Cicero's colleague Antonius was secretly incommunication with Catiline, evidently thinking it likely that he wouldsucceed. Catiline determined to wait no longer, and to raise aninsurrection in the capital, with slave emancipation and a cancelling ofdebt for a cry. Manlius was to march on Rome, and the Senate, it wasexpected, would fall without a blow. Caesar and Crassus sent a warning toCicero to be on his guard. Caesar had called Catiline to account for hisdoings at the time of the proscription, and knew his nature too well toexpect benefit to the people from a revolution conducted under theauspices of bankrupt patrician adventurers. No citizen had more to losethan Crassus from a crusade of the poor against the rich. But they hadboth been suspected two years before, and in the excited temper of men'sminds they took precautions for their own reputation's sake, as well asfor the safety of the State. Quintus Curius, a senator, who was one of theconspirators, was meanwhile betraying his accomplices, and gave dailynotice to the consuls of each step which was contemplated. But so weak wasauthority and so dangerous the temper of the people that the difficultywas to know what to do. Secret information was scarcely needed. Catiline, as Cicero said, was "_apertissimus_, " most frank in the declarationof his intentions. Manlius's army at Fiesole was an open fact, and any daymight bring news that he was on the march to Rome. The Senate, as usual inextreme emergencies, declared the State in danger, and gave the consulsunlimited powers to provide for public security. So scornfully confidentwas Catiline that he offered to place himself under surveillance at thehouse of any senator whom Cicero might name, or to reside with Cicerohimself, if the consul preferred to keep a personal eye upon him. Ciceroanswered that he dared not trust himself with so perilous a guest. [Sidenote: November, B. C. 63. ]So for a few days matters hung in suspense, Manlius expecting an order toadvance, Catiline waiting apparently for a spontaneous insurrection in thecity before he gave the word. Intended attempts at various points had beenbaffled by Cicero's precautions. At last, finding that the people remainedquiet, Catiline called a meeting of his friends one stormy night at thebeginning of November, and it was agreed that two of the party should gothe next morning at dawn to Cicero's house, demand to see him on importantbusiness, and kill him in his bed. Curius, who was present, immediatelyfurnished Cicero with an account of what had passed. When his morningvisitors arrived they were told that they could not be admitted; and asummons was sent round to the senators to assemble immediately at theTemple of Jupiter Stator, one of the strongest positions in the city. [13]The audacious Catiline attended, and took his usual seat; every one shrankfrom him, and he was left alone on the bench. Then Cicero rose. In theSenate, where to speak was the first duty of man, he was in his properelement, and had abundant courage. He addressed himself personally to theprincipal conspirator. He exposed, if exposure be the fitting word whenhalf the persons present knew as much as he could tell them, the historyof Catiline's proceedings. He described in detail the meeting of the pastevening, looking round perhaps in the faces of the senators who he wasaware had been present at it. He spoke of the visit designed to himself inthe morning, which had been baffled by his precautions. He went back overthe history of the preceding half-century. Fresh from the defence ofRabirius, he showed how dangerous citizens, the Gracchi, Saturninus, Glaucia, had been satisfactorily killed when they were meditatingmischief. He did not see that a constitution was already doomed when theruling powers were driven to assassinate their opponents, because a trialwith the forms of law would have ended in their acquittal. He toldCatiline that under the powers which the Senate had conferred on him hemight order his instant execution. He detailed Catiline's past enormities, which he had forgotten when he sought his friendship, and he ended inbidding him leave the city, go and join Manlius and his army. Never had Cicero been greater, and never did oratory end in a more absurdconclusion. He dared not arrest Catiline. He confessed that he dared not. There was not a doubt that Catiline was meditating a revolution--but arevolution was precisely what half the world was wishing for. Rightlyread, those sounding paragraphs, those moral denunciations, those appealsto history and patriotic sentiment, were the funeral knell of the RomanCommonwealth. Let Catiline go into open war, Cicero said, and then there would no longerbe a doubt. Then all the world would admit his treason. Catiline went; andwhat was to follow next? Antonius, the second consul, was notoriously notto be relied on. The other conspirators, senators who sat listening whileCicero poured out his eloquent indignation, remained still in the citywith the threads of insurrection in their hands, and were encouraged topersevere by the evident helplessness of the government. The imperfectrecord of history retains for us only the actions of a few individualswhom special talent or special circumstances distinguished, and suchinformation is only fragmentary. We lose sight of the unnamed seethingmultitudes by whose desires and by whose hatreds the stream of events wastruly guided. The party of revolution was as various as it was wide. Powerful wealthy men belonged to it, who were politically dissatisfied;ambitious men of rank, whose money embarrassments weighted them in therace against their competitors; old officers and soldiers of Sylla, whohad spent the fortunes which they had won by violence, and were now tryingto bring him back from the dead to renew their lease of plunder; ruinedwretches without number, broken down with fines and proscriptions, anddebts and the accumulation of usurious interest. Add to these "thedangerous classes, " the natural enemies of all governments--parricides, adulterers, thieves, forgers, escaped slaves, brigands, and pirates whohad lost their occupation; and, finally, Catiline's own chosen comrades, the smooth-faced patrician youths with curled hair and redolent withperfumes, as yet beardless or with the first down upon their chins, wearing scarves and veils and sleeved tunics reaching to their ankles, industrious but only with the dice-box, night-watchers but in the supper-rooms, in the small hours before dawn, immodest, dissolute boys, whoseeducation had been in learning to love and to be loved, to sing and todance naked at the midnight orgies, and along with it to handle poniardsand mix poisoned bowls. [14] [Sidenote: November, B. C. 64. ]Well might Cicero be alarmed at such a combination; well might he say thatif a generation of such youths lived to manhood there would be acommonwealth of Catilines. But what was to be thought of the prospects ofa society in which such phenomena were developing themselves? Cicero badethem all go--follow their chief into the war, and perish in the snow ofthe Apennines. But how if they would not go? How if from the soil of Rome, under the rule of his friends the Senate, fresh crops of such youths wouldrise perennially? The Commonwealth needed more drastic medicine thaneloquent exhortations, however true the picture might be. [Sidenote: November, B. C. 63. ]None of the promising young gentlemen took Cicero's advice. Catiline wentalone and joined Manlius, and had he come on at once he might perhaps havetaken Rome. The army was to support an insurrection, and the insurrectionwas to support the army. Catiline waited for a signal from his friends inthe city, and Lentulus, Cethegus, Autronius, and the rest of the leaderswaited for Catiline to arrive. Conspirators never think that they havetaken precautions enough or have gained allies enough; and in endeavoringto secure fresh support they made a fatal mistake. An embassy ofAllobroges was in the city, a frontier tribe on the borders of the Romanprovince in Gaul, who were allies of Rome, though not as yet subjects. TheGauls were the one foreign nation whom the Romans really feared. Thepasses of the Alps alone protected Italy from the hordes of German orGallic barbarians, whose numbers being unknown were supposed to beexhaustless. Middle-aged men could still remember the panic at theinvasion of the Cimbri and Teutons, and it was the chief pride of thedemocrats that the State had then been saved by their own Marius. At thecritical moment it was discovered that the conspirators had entered into acorrespondence with these Allobroges, and had actually proposed to them tomake a fresh inroad over the Alps. The suspicion of such an intention atonce alienated from Catiline the respectable part of the democratic party. The fact of the communication was betrayed to Cicero. He intercepted theletters; he produced them in the Senate with the seals unbroken, that nosuspicion might rest upon himself. Lentulus and Cethegus were sent for, and could not deny their hands. The letters were then opened and read, andno shadow of uncertainty any longer remained that they had really designedto bring in an army of Gauls. Such of the conspirators as were known andwere still within reach were instantly seized. [Sidenote: December 5, B. C. 63. ]Cicero, with a pardonable laudation of himself and of the DivineProvidence of which he professed to regard himself as the minister, congratulated his country on its escape from so genuine a danger; and hethen invited the Senate to say what was to be done with these apostatesfrom their order, whose treason was now demonstrated. A plot for a merechange of government, for the deposition of the aristocrats and the returnto power of the popular party, it might be impolitic, perhaps impossible, severely to punish; but Catiline and his friends had planned the betrayalof the State to the barbarians; and with persons who had committedthemselves to national treason there was no occasion to hesitate. Ciceroproduced the list of those whom he considered guilty, and there were someamong his friends who thought the opportunity might be used to get rid ofdangerous enemies, after the fashion of Sylla, especially of Crassus andCaesar. The name of Crassus was first mentioned, some said by secretfriends of Catiline, who hoped to alarm the Senate into inaction byshowing with whom they would have to deal. Crassus, it is possible, knewmore than he had told the consul. Catiline's success had, at one moment, seemed assured; and great capitalists are apt to insure againstcontingencies. But Cicero moved and carried a resolution that the chargeagainst him was a wicked invention. The attempt against Caesar was moredetermined. Old Catulus, whom Caesar had defeated in the contest for thepontificate, and Caius Calpurnius Piso, [15] a bitter aristocrat, whomCaesar had prosecuted for misgovernment in Gaul, urged Cicero to includehis name. But Cicero was too honorable to lend himself to an accusationwhich he knew to be false. Some of the young lords in their disappointmentthreatened Caesar at the senate-house door with their swords; but theattack missed its mark, and served only to show how dreaded Caesar alreadywas, and how eager a desire there was to make an end of him. The list submitted for judgment contained the names of none but those whowere indisputably guilty. The Senate voted at once that they were traitorsto the State. The next question was of the nature of their punishment. Inthe first place the persons of public officers were sacred, and Lentuluswas at the time a praetor. And next the Sempronian law forbade distinctlythat any Roman citizen should be put to death without a trial, and withoutthe right of appeal to the assembly. [16] It did not mean simply thatRoman citizens were not to be murdered, or that at any time it had beensupposed that they might. The object was to restrain the extraordinarypower claimed by the Senate of setting the laws aside on exceptionaloccasions. Silanus, the consul-elect for the following year, was, according to usage, asked to give his opinion first. He voted forimmediate death. One after the other the voices were the same, till theturn came of Tiberius Nero, the great-grandfather of Nero the Emperor. Tiberius was against haste. He advised that the prisoners should be keptin confinement till Catiline was taken or killed, and that the wholeaffair should then be carefully investigated. Investigation was perhapswhat many senators were most anxious to avoid. When Tiberius had done, Caesar rose. The speech which Sallust places in his mouth was not animaginary sketch of what Sallust supposed him likely to have said, but theversion generally received of what he actually did say, and the mostimportant passages of it are certainly authentic. For the first time wesee through the surface of Caesar's outward actions into his real mind. During the three quarters of a century which had passed since the death ofthe elder Gracchus one political murder had followed upon another. Everyconspicuous democrat had been killed by the aristocrats in some convenientdisturbance. No constitution could survive when the law was habitually setaside by violence; and disdaining the suspicion with which he knew thathis words would be regarded, Caesar warned the Senate against another actof precipitate anger which would be unlawful in itself, unworthy of theirdignity, and likely in the future to throw a doubt upon the guilt of themen upon whose fate they were deliberating. He did not extenuate, herather emphasized, the criminality of Catiline and his confederates; butfor that reason and because for the present no reasonable person felt theslightest uncertainty about it, he advised them to keep within the lineswhich the law had marked out for them. He spoke with respect of Silanus. He did not suppose him to be influenced by feelings of party animosity. Silanus had recommended the execution of the prisoners, either because hethought their lives incompatible with the safety of the State, or becauseno milder punishment seemed adequate to the enormity of their conduct. Butthe safety of the State, he said, with a compliment to Cicero, had beensufficiently provided for by the diligence of the consul. As topunishment, none could be too severe; but with that remarkable adherenceto _fact_, which always distinguished Caesar, that repudiation ofillusion and sincere utterance of his real belief, whatever that might be, he contended that death was not a punishment at all. Death was the end ofhuman suffering. In the grave there was neither joy nor sorrow. When a manwas dead he ceased to be. [17]He became as he had been before he was born. Probably almost every one in the Senate thought like Caesar on thissubject. Cicero certainly did. The only difference was that plausiblestatesmen affected a respect for the popular superstition, and pretendedto believe what they did not believe. Caesar spoke his convictions out. There was no longer any solemnity in an execution. It was merely theremoval out of the way of troublesome persons; and convenient as such amethod might be, it was of graver consequence that the Senate of Rome, theguardians of the law, should not set an example of violating the law. Illegality, Caesar told them, would be followed by greater illegalities. He reminded them how they had applauded Sylla, how they had rejoiced whenthey saw their political enemies summarily despatched; and yet theproscription, as they well knew, had been perverted to the license ofavarice and private revenge. They might feel sure that no such consequenceneed be feared under their present consul: but times might change. Theworst crimes which had been committed in Rome in the past century hadrisen out of the imitation of precedents, which at the moment seemeddefensible. The laws had prescribed a definite punishment for treason. Those laws had been gravely considered; they had been enacted by the greatmen who had built up the Roman dominion, and were not to be set aside inimpatient haste. Caesar therefore recommended that the estates of theconspirators should be confiscated, that they themselves should be kept instrict and solitary confinement dispersed in various places, and that aresolution should be passed forbidding an application for their pardoneither to Senate or people. The speech was weighty in substance and weightily delivered, and itproduced its effect. [18] Silanus withdrew his opinion. Quintus Cicero, the consul's brother, followed, and a clear majority of the Senate wentwith them, till it came to the turn of a young man who in that year hadtaken his place in the house for the first time, who was destined to makea reputation which could be set in competition with that of the godsthemselves, and whose moral opinion could be held superior to that of thegods. [19] Marcus Porcius Cato was born in the year 95, and was thus five yearsyounger than Caesar and eleven years younger than Cicero. He was thegreat-grandson, as was said above, of the stern rugged censor who hatedGreek, preferred the teaching of the plough-tail and the Twelve Tables tothe philosophy of Aristotle, disbelieved in progress, and held by themaxims of his father--the last, he of the Romans of the old type. Theyoung Marcus affected to take his ancestor for a pattern. He resembled himas nearly as a modern Anglican monk resembles St. Francis or St. Bernard. He could reproduce the form, but it was the form with the life gone out ofit. He was immeasurably superior to the men around him. He was virtuous, if it be virtue to abstain from sin. He never lied. No one ever suspectedhim of dishonesty or corruption. But his excellences were not of theretiring sort. He carried them written upon him in letters for all toread, as a testimony to a wicked generation. His opinions were as pedanticas his life was abstemious, and no one was permitted to differ from himwithout being held guilty rather of a crime than of a mistake. He was anaristocratic pedant, to whom the living forces of humanity seemed butirrational impulses of which he and such as he were the appointed school-masters. To such a temperament a man of genius is instinctively hateful. Cato had spoken often in the Senate, though so young a member of it, denouncing the immoral habits of the age. He now rose to match himselfagainst Caesar; and with passionate vehemence he insisted that thewretches who had plotted the overthrow of the State should be immediatelykilled. He noticed Caesar's objections only to irritate the suspicion inwhich he probably shared, that Caesar himself was one of Catiline'saccomplices. That Caesar had urged as a reason for moderation the absenceof immediate danger, was in Cato's opinion an argument the more foranxiety. Naturally, too, he did not miss the opportunity of striking atthe scepticism which questioned future retribution. Whether Cato believedhimself in a future life mattered little, if Caesar's frank avowal couldbe turned to his prejudice. Cato spoke to an audience well disposed to go with him. Silanus went roundto his first view, and the mass of senators followed him. Caesar attemptedto reply; but so fierce were the passions that had been roused, that againhe was in danger of violence. The young knights who were present as asenatorial guard rushed at him with their drawn swords. A few friendsprotected him with their cloaks, and he left the Curia not to enter itagain for the rest of the year. When Caesar was gone, Cicero rose tofinish the debate. He too glanced at Caesar's infidelity, and as Caesarhad spoken of the wisdom of past generations, he observed that in the samegenerations there had been a pious belief that the grave was not the endof human existence. With an ironical compliment to the prudence ofCaesar's advice, he said that his own interest would lead him to followit; he would have the less to fear from the irritation of the people. TheSenate, he observed, must have heard with pleasure that Caesar condemnedthe conspiracy. Caesar was the leader of the popular party, and from himat least they now knew that they had nothing to fear. The punishment whichCaesar recommended was, in fact, Cicero admitted, more severe than death. He trusted, therefore, that if the conspirators were executed, and he hadto answer to the people for the sentence to be passed upon them, Caesarhimself would defend him against the charge of cruelty. Meanwhile he saidthat he had the ineffable satisfaction of knowing that he had saved theState. The Senate might adopt such resolutions as might seem good to themwithout alarm for the consequences. The conspiracy was disarmed. He hadmade enemies among the bad citizens; but he had deserved and he had wonthe gratitude of the good, and he stood secure behind the impregnablebulwark of his country's love. So Cicero, in the first effusion of self-admiration with which he neverceased to regard his conduct on this occasion. No doubt he had actedbravely, and he had shown as much adroitness as courage. But the wholetruth was never told. The Senate's anxiety to execute the prisoners arosefrom a fear that the people would be against them if an appeal to theassembly was allowed. The Senate was contending for the privilege ofsuspending the laws by its own independent will; and the privilege, if itwas ever constitutional, had become so odious by the abuse of it, that toa large section of Roman citizens a conspiracy against the oligarchy hadceased to be looked on as treason at all. Cicero and Cato had their way. Lentulus, Cethegus, Autronius and their companions were strangled in theircells, on the afternoon of the debate upon their fate. A few weeks laterCatiline's army was cut to pieces, and he himself was killed. Sodesperately his haggard bands had fought that they fell in their rankswhere they stood, and never Roman commander gained a victory that cost himmore dear. So furious a resistance implied a motive and a purpose beyondany which Cicero or Sallust records, and the commission of inquirysuggested by Tiberius Nero in the Senate might have led to curiousrevelations. The Senate perhaps had its own reasons for fearing suchrevelations, and for wishing the voices closed which could have made them. [1] "Nunc quis patrem decem annorum natus non modo aufert sed tollit nisi veneno?"--_Varronis Fragmenta_, ed. Alexander Riese, p. 216. [2] See the story in Cicero, _Pro Cluentio_. [3] _Pro P. Sullâ_, 4. [4] "Catilina, si judicatum erit, meridie non lucere, certus erit competitor. "--_Epist. Ad Atticum_, i. 1. [5] "Hoc tempore Catilinam, competitorem nostrum, defendere cogitamus. Judices habemus, quos volumus, summa accusatoris voluntate. Spero, si absolutus erit, conjunctiorem illum nobis fore in ratione petitionis. "--_Ib_. , i. 2. [6] "Scito nihil tam exercitum nunc esse Romae quam candidatos omnibus iniquitatibus. "--_Ib_. , i. 11. [7] I use a word apparently modern, but Cicero himself gave the name of Conservatores Reipublicae to the party to which he belonged. [8] Suetonius, speaking of Augustus, says: "Quoties adesset, nihil praeterea agebat, seu vitandi rumoris causâ, quo patrem Caesarem vulgo reprehensum commemorabat, quod inter spectandum epistolis libellisque legendis aut rescribendis vacaret; seu studio spectandi et voluptate, " etc. --_Vita Octavii_, 45. [9] Writing three years later to Atticus, he says: "Confirmabam omnium privatorum possessiones, is enim est noster exercitus, ut tute scis locupletium. "--_To Atticus_, i. 19. Pomponius Atticus, Cicero's most intimate correspondent, was a Roman knight, who inheriting a large estate from his father, increased it by contracts, banking, money-lending, and slave-dealing, in which he was deeply engaged. He was an accomplished, cultivated man, a shrewd observer of the times, and careful of committing himself on any side. His acquaintance with Cicero rested on similarity of temperament, with a solid financial basis at the bottom of it. They were mutually useful to each other. [10] "Et nimium istud est, quod ab hoc tribuno plebis dictum est in senatu: urbanam plebem nimium in republicâ posse: exhauriendam esse: hoc enim verbo est usus; quasi de aliquâ sentinâ, ac non de optimorum civium genere loqueretur. "--_Contra Rullum_, ii. 26. [11] Cicero, _Pro Murenâ_, 25. [12] Murena was afterward prosecuted for bribery at this election. Cicero defended him; but even Cato, aristocrat as he was, affected to be shocked at the virtuous consul's undertaking so bad a case. It is observable that in his speech for Murena, Cicero found as many virtues in Lucullus as in his speech on the Manilian law he had found vices. It was another symptom of his change of attitude. [13] "In loco munitissimo. " [14] This description of the young Roman aristocracy is given by Cicero in his most powerful vein: "Postremum autem genus est, non solum numero, verum etiam genere ipso atque vita, quod proprium est Catilinae, de ejus delectu, immo vero de complexu ejus ac sinu: quos pexo capillo, nitidos, aut imberbes, aut bene barbatos, videtis, manicatis et talaribus tunicis; velis amictos, non togis: quorum omnis industria vitae et vigilandi labor in antelucanis coenis expromitur. In his gregibus omnes aleatores, omnes adulteri, omnes impuri impudicique versantur. Hi pueri tam lepidi ac delicati non solum amare et amari neque cantare et saltare, sed etiam sicas vibrare et spargere venena didicerunt. .. . Nudi in conviviis saltare didicerunt. "--_In Catilinam_, ii. 10. Compare _In Pisonem_, 10. The Romans shaved their beards at full maturity, and therefore "benebarbatos" does not mean grown men, but youths on the edge of manhood. [15] Not to be confounded with Lucius Calpurnius Piso, who was Caesar's father-in-law. [16] "Injussu populi. " [17] The real opinion of educated Romans on this subject was expressed in the well-known lines of Lucretius, which were probably written near this very time: "Nil igitur mors est, ad nos neque pertinet hilum, Quandoquidem natura animi mortalis habetur: Et, velut ante acto nil tempore sensimus aegri, Ad confligendum venientibus undique Poenis; Omnia cum belli trepido concussa tumultu, Horrida, contremuere sub altis aetheris auris; In dubioque fuit sub utrorum regna cadendum Omnibus humanis esset, terrâque, marique: Sic, ubi non erimus, cum corporis atque animai Discidium fuerit, quibus e sumus uniter apti, Scilicet haud nobis quicquam, qui non erimus tum, Accidere omnino poterit, sensumque movere: Non, si terra mari miscebitur, et mare coelo. " LUCRETIUS, lib. Iii. 11. 842-854. [18] In the following century when Caesar's life had become mythic, a story was current that when Caesar was speaking on this occasion a note was brought in to him, and Cato, suspecting that it referred to the conspiracy, insisted that it should be read. Caesar handed it to Cato, and it proved to be a love letter from Cato's sister, Servilia, the mother of Brutus. More will be said of the supposed liaison between Caesar and Servilia hereafter. For the present it is enough to say that there is no contemporary evidence for the story at all; and that if it be true that a note of some kind from Servilia was given to Caesar, it is more consistent with probability and the other circumstances of the case, that it was an innocent note of business. Ladies do not send in compromising letters to their lovers when they are on their feet in Parliament; nor, if such an accident should happen, do the lovers pass them over to be read by the ladies' brothers. [19] "Victrix causa Deis placuit, sed victa Catoni. "--LUCAN. CHAPTER XII. [Sidenote: B. C. 62. ]The execution of Lentulus and Cethegus was received in Rome with thefeeling which Caesar had anticipated. There was no active sympathy withthe conspiracy, but the conspiracy was forgotten in indignation at thelawless action of the consul and the Senate. It was still violence--alwaysviolence. Was law, men asked, never to resume its authority?--was theSenate to deal at its pleasure with the lives and properties ofcitizens?--criminals though they might be, what right had Cicero tostrangle citizens in dungeons without trial? If this was to be allowed, the constitution was at an end; Rome was no longer a republic, but anarbitrary oligarchy. Pompey's name was on every tongue. When would Pompeycome? Pompey, the friend of the people, the terror of the aristocracy!Pompey, who had cleared the sea of pirates, and doubled the area of theRoman dominions! Let Pompey return and bring his army with him, and giveto Rome the same peace and order which he had already given to the world. A Roman commander, on landing in Italy after foreign service, was expectedto disband his legions, and relapse into the position of a private person. A popular and successful general was an object of instinctive fear to thepoliticians who held the reins of government. The Senate was never pleasedto see any individual too much an object of popular idolatry; and in thecase of Pompey their suspicion was the greater on account of the greatnessof his achievements, and because his command had been forced upon them bythe people, against their will. In the absence of a garrison, the city wasat the mercy of the patricians and their clients. That the noble lordswere unscrupulous in removing persons whom they disliked they had shown ina hundred instances, and Pompey naturally enough hesitated to trusthimself among them without security. He required the protection of office, and he had sent forward one of his most distinguished officers, MetellusNepos, to prepare the way and demand the consulship for him. Metellus, tostrengthen his hands, had stood for the tribuneship; and, in spite of theutmost efforts of the aristocracy, had been elected. It fell to Metellusto be the first to give expression to the general indignation in a waypeculiarly wounding to the illustrious consul. Cicero imagined that theworld looked upon him as its saviour. In his own eyes he was anotherRomulus, a second founder of Rome. The world, unfortunately, had formed anentirely different estimate of him. The prisoners had been killed on the5th of December. On the last day of the year it was usual for the outgoingconsuls to review the events of their term of office before the Senate;and Cicero had prepared a speech in which he had gilded his ownperformances with all his eloquence. Metellus commenced his tribunate withforbidding Cicero to deliver his oration, and forbidding him on thespecial ground that a man who had put Roman citizens to death withoutallowing them a hearing did not himself deserve to be heard. In the midstof the confusion and uproar which followed, Cicero could only shriek thathe had saved his country: a declaration which could have been dispensedwith, since he had so often insisted upon it already without producing theassent which he desired. Notwithstanding his many fine qualities, Cicero was wanting in dignity. His vanity was wounded in its tenderest point, and he attacked Metellus aday or two after, in one of those violently abusive outpourings of whichso many specimens of his own survive, and which happily so few otherstatesmen attempted to imitate. Metellus retorted with a threat ofimpeaching Cicero, and the grave Roman Curia became no better than akennel of mad dogs. For days the storm raged on with no symptom ofabatement. At last Metellus turned to the people and proposed in theassembly that Pompey should be recalled with his army to restore law andorder. Caesar, who was now praetor, warmly supported Metellus. To him, if to noone else, it was clear as the sun at noonday, that unless some bettergovernment could be provided than could be furnished by five hundred suchgentlemen as the Roman senators, the State was drifting on to destruction. Resolutions to be submitted to the people were generally first drawn inwriting, and were read from the Rostra. When Metellus produced hisproposal, Cato, who was a tribune also, sprang to his side, ordered him tobe silent, and snatched the scroll out of his hands. Metellus went on, speaking from memory Cato's friends shut his mouth by force. Thepatricians present drew their swords and cleared the Forum; and theSenate, in the exercise of another right to which they pretended, declaredCaesar and Metullus degraded from their offices. Metullus, probably atCaesar's advice, withdrew and went off to Asia, to describe what hadpassed to Pompey. Caesar remained, and, quietly disregarding the Senate'ssentence, continued to sit and hear cases as praetor. His court wasforcibly closed. He yielded to violence and retired under protest, beingescorted to the door of his house by an enormous multitude. There hedismissed his lictors and laid aside his official dress, that he mightfurnish no excuse for a charge against him of resisting the establishedauthorities. The mob refused to be comforted. They gathered day after day. They clustered about the pontifical palace. They cried to Caesar to placehimself at their head, that they might tear down the senate-house, andturn the caitiffs into the street. Caesar neither then nor ever lenthimself to popular excesses. He reminded the citizens that if others brokethe law, they must themselves set an example of obeying it, and he badethem return to their homes. Terrified at the state of the city, and penitent for their injustice toCaesar, the Senate hurriedly revoked their decree of deposition, sent adeputation to him to apologize, and invited him to resume his place amongthem. The extreme patrician section remained irreconcilable. Caesarcomplied, but only to find himself denounced again with passionatepertinacity as having been an accomplice of Catiline. Witnesses wereproduced, who swore to having seen his signature to a treasonable bond. Curius, Cicero's spy, declared that Catiline himself had told him thatCaesar was one of the conspirators. Caesar treated the charge withindignant disdain. He appealed to Cicero's conscience, and Cicero wasobliged to say that he had derived his earliest and most importantinformation from Caesar himself. The most violent of his accusers wereplaced under arrest. The informers, after a near escape from beingmassacred by the crowd, were thrown into prison, and for the moment thefurious heats were able to cool. All eyes were now turned to Pompey. The war in Asia was over. Pompey, itwas clear, must now return to receive the thanks of his countrymen; and ashe had triumphed in spite of the aristocracy, and as his victories couldneither be denied nor undone, the best hope of the Senate was to win himover from the people, and to prevent a union between him and Caesar. Through all the recent dissensions Caesar had thrown his weight onPompey's side. He, with Cicero, had urged Pompey's appointment to hissuccessive commands. When Cicero went over to the patricians, Caesar hadstood by Pompey's officers against the fury of the Senate. Caesar had thepeople behind him, and Pompey the army. Unless in some way an apple ofdiscord could be thrown between them, the two favorites would overshadowthe State, and the Senate's authority would be gone. Nothing could be donefor the moment politically. Pompey owed his position to the democracy, andhe was too great as yet to fear Caesar as a rival in the Commonwealth. Onthe personal side there was better hope. Caesar was as much admired in theworld of fashion as he was detested in the Curia. He had no taste for thebrutal entertainments and more brutal vices of male patrician society. Hepreferred the companionship of cultivated women, and the noble lords hadthe fresh provocation of finding their hated antagonist an object ofadoration to their wives and daughters. Here, at any rate, scandal had thefield to itself. Caesar was accused of criminal intimacy with many ladiesof the highest rank, and Pompey was privately informed that his friend hadtaken advantage of his absence to seduce his wife, Mucia. Pompey wasAgamemnon; Caesar had been Aegisthus; and Pompey was so far persuaded thatMucia had been unfaithful to him, that he divorced her before his return. Charges of this kind have the peculiar advantage that even when disprovedor shown to be manifestly absurd, they leave a stain behind them. Carelessequally of probability and decency, the leaders of the Senate sacrificedwithout scruple the reputation of their own relatives if only they couldmake Caesar odious. The name of Servilia has been mentioned already. Servilia was the sister of Marcus Cato and the mother of Marcus Brutus. She was a woman of remarkable ability and character, and between her andCaesar there was undoubtedly a close acquaintance and a strong mutualaffection. The world discovered that she was Caesar's mistress, and thatBrutus was his son. It might be enough to say that when Brutus was bornCaesar was scarcely fifteen years old, and that, if a later intimacyexisted between them, Brutus knew nothing of it or cared nothing for it. When he stabbed Caesar at last it was not as a Hamlet or an Orestes, butas a patriot sacrificing his dearest friend to his country. The same doubtextends to the other supposed victims of Caesar's seductiveness. Nameswere mentioned in the following century, but no particulars were given. For the most part his alleged mistresses were the wives of men whoremained closely attached to him notwithstanding. The report of hisintrigue with Mucia answered its immediate purpose, in producing atemporary coldness on Pompey's part toward Caesar; but Pompey must eitherhave discovered the story to be false or else have condoned it, for soonafterward he married Caesar's daughter. Two points may be remarked aboutthese legends: first, that on no single occasion does Caesar appear tohave been involved in any trouble or quarrel on account of his loveaffairs; and secondly, that, with the exception of Brutus and ofCleopatra's Caesarion, whose claims to be Caesar's son were denied anddisproved, there is no record of any illegitimate children as the resultof these amours--a strange thing if Caesar was as liberal of his favors aspopular scandal pretended. It would be idle to affect a belief that Caesarwas particularly virtuous. He was a man of the world, living in an age ascorrupt as has been ever known. It would be equally idle to assume thatall the ink blots thrown upon him were certainly deserved, because we findthem in books which we call classical. Proof deserving to be called proofthere is none; and the only real evidence is the town talk of a societywhich feared and hated Caesar, and was glad of every pretext to injure himwhen alive, or to discredit him after his death. Similar stories have beenspread, are spread, and will be spread of every man who raises himself afew inches above the level of his fellows. We know how it is with ourcontemporaries. A single seed of fact will produce in a season or two aharvest of calumnies, and sensible men pass such things by, and pay noattention to them. With history we are less careful or less charitable. Anaccusation of immorality is accepted without examination when broughtagainst eminent persons who can no longer defend themselves, and to raisea doubt of its truth passes as a sign of a weak understanding. So let itbe. It is certain that Caesar's contemporaries spread rumors of a varietyof intrigues, in which they said that he was concerned. It is probablethat some were well founded. It is possible that all were well founded. But it is no less indubitable that they rest on evidence which is notevidence at all, and that the most innocent intimacies would not haveescaped misrepresentation from the venomous tongues of Roman society. Caesar comes into court with a fairer character than those whose virtuesare thought to overshadow him. Marriage, which under the ancient Romanswas the most sacred of ties, had become the lightest and the loosest. Cicero divorced Tereutia when she was old and ill-tempered, and married ayoung woman. Cato made over his Marcia, the mother of his children, to hisfriend Hortensius, and took her back as a wealthy widow when Hortensiusdied. Pompey put away his first wife at Sylla's bidding, and took a secondwho was already the wife of another man. Caesar, when little more than aboy, dared the Dictator's displeasure rather than condescend to a similarcompliance. His worst enemies admitted that from the gluttony, thedrunkenness, and the viler forms of sensuality, which were then so common, he was totally free. For the rest, it is certain that no friend everpermanently quarrelled with him on any question of domestic injury; andeither there was a general indifference on such subjects, which lightensthe character of the sin, or popular scandals in old Rome were of nosounder material than we find them composed of in other countries and inother times. Turning from scandal to reality, we come now to a curious incident, whichoccasioned a fresh political convulsion, where Caesar appears, not as anactor in an affair of gallantry, but as a sufferer. Pompey was still absent. Caesar had resumed his duties as praetor, and wasliving in the official house of the Pontifex Maximus, with his motherAurelia and his wife Pompeia. The age was fertile of new religions. Theworship of the Bona Dea, a foreign goddess of unknown origin, had recentlybeen introduced into Rome, and an annual festival was held in her honor inthe house of one or other of the principal magistrates. The Vestal virginsofficiated at the ceremonies, and women only were permitted to be present. This year the pontifical palace was selected for the occasion, andCaesar's wife Pompeia was to preside. The reader may remember a certain youth named Clodius, who had been withLucullus in Asia, and had been a chief instigator of the mutiny in hisarmy. He was Lucullus's brother-in-law, a member of the Claudian family, apatrician of the patricians, and connected by blood and marriage with theproudest members of the Senate. If Cicero is to be believed, he hadgraduated even while a boy in every form of vice, natural and unnatural. He was bold, clever, unprincipled, and unscrupulous, with a slenderdiminutive figure and a delicate woman's face. His name was ClodiusPulcher. Cicero played upon it and called him Pulchellus Puer, "the prettyboy. " Between this promising young man and Caesar's wife Pompeia there hadsprung up an acquaintance, which Clodius was anxious to press to furtherextremes. Pompeia was difficult of access, her mother-in-law Aureliakeeping a strict watch over her; and Clodius, who was afraid of nothing, took advantage of the Bona Dea festival to make his way into Caesar'shouse dressed as a woman. Unfortunately for him, his disguise wasdetected. The insulted Vestals and the other ladies who were present flewupon him like the dogs of Actaeon, tore his borrowed garments from him, and drove him into the street naked and wounded. The adventure becameknown. It was mentioned in the Senate, and the College of Priests wasordered to hold an inquiry. The college found that Clodius had committedsacrilege, and the regular course in such cases was to send the offenderto trial. There was general unwillingness, however, to treat this matterseriously. Clodius had many friends in the house, and even Cicero, who wasinclined at first to be severe, took on reflection a more lenient view. Clodius had a sister, a light lady who, weary of her conquests over herfashionable admirers, had tried her fascinations on the great orator. Hehad escaped complete subjugation, but he had been flattered by theattention of the seductive beauty, and was ready to help her brother outof his difficulty. Clodius was not yet the dangerous desperado which heafterward became; and immorality, though seasoned with impiety, mighteasily, it was thought, be made too much of. Caesar himself did not pressfor punishment. As president of the college, he had acquiesced in theirdecision, and he divorced the unfortunate Pompeia; but he expressed noopinion as to the extent of her criminality, and he gave as his reason forseparating from her, not that she was guilty, but that Caesar's wife mustbe above suspicion. Cato, however, insisted on a prosecution. Messala, one of the consuls, wasequally peremptory. The hesitation was regarded by the stricter senatorsas a scandal to the order; and in spite of the efforts of the secondconsul Piso, who was a friend of Clodius, it was decided that a bill forhis indictment should be submitted to the assembly in the Forum. Clodius, it seems, was generally popular. No political question was raised by theproceedings against him; for the present his offence was merely a personalone; the wreck of Catiline's companions, the dissolute young aristocrats, the loose members of all ranks and classes, took up the cause, andgathered to support their favorite, with young Curio, whom Cicero calledin mockery _Filiola_, at their head. The approaches to the Forum wereoccupied by them. Piso, by whom the bill was introduced, himself advisedthe people to reject it. Cato flew to the Rostra and railed at the consul. Hortensius, the orator, and many others spoke on the same side. Itappeared at last that the people were divided, and would consent to thebill being passed, if it was recommended to them by both the consuls. Again, therefore, the matter was referred to the Senate. One of thetribunes introduced Clodius, that he might speak for himself. Cicero hadnow altered his mind, and was in favor of the prosecution. [Sidenote: February, B. C. 61. ]The "pretty youth" was alternately humble and violent, begging pardon, andthen bursting into abuse of his brother-in-law, Lucullus, and moreparticularly of Cicero, whom he suspected of being the chief promoter ofthe proceedings against him. When it came to a division, the Senate votedby a majority of four hundred to fifteen that the consuls must recommendthe bill. Piso gave way, and the tribune also who had been in Clodius'sfavor. The people were satisfied, and a court of fifty-six judges wasappointed, before whom the trial was to take place. It seemed that aconviction must necessarily follow, for there was no question about thefacts, which were all admitted. There was some manoeuvring, however, inthe constitution of the court, which raised Cicero's suspicions. Thejudges, instead of being selected by the praetor, were chosen by lot, andthe prisoner was allowed to challenge as many names as he pleased. Theresult was that in Cicero's opinion a more scandalous set of persons thanthose who were finally sworn were never collected round a gaming table--"disgraced senators, bankrupt knights, disreputable tribunes of thetreasury, the few honest men that were left appearing to be ashamed oftheir company"--and Cicero considered that it would have been better ifHortensius, who was prosecuting, had withdrawn, and had left Clodius to becondemned by the general sense of respectable people, rather than risk thecredit of Roman justice before so scandalous a tribunal. [1] Still thecase as it proceeded appeared so clear as to leave no hope of anacquittal. Clodius's friends were in despair, and were meditating anappeal to the mob. The judges, on the evening of the first day of thetrial, as if they had already decided on a verdict of guilty, applied fora guard to protect them while they delivered it. The Senate complimentedthem in giving their consent. With a firm expectation present in all men'sminds the second morning dawned. Even in Rome, accustomed as it was tomockeries of justice, public opinion was shocked when the confidentanticipation was disappointed. According to Cicero, Marcus Crassus, forreasons known to himself, had been interested in Clodius. During the nighthe sent for the judges one by one. He gave them money. What else he eithergave or promised them, must continue veiled in Cicero's Latin. [2] Beforethese influences the resolution of the judges melted away, and when thetime came, thirty-one out of fifty-six high-born Roman peers and gentlemendeclared Clodius innocent. The original cause was nothing. That a profligate young man should escapepunishment for a licentious frolic was comparatively of no consequence;but the trial acquired a notoriety of infamy which shook once more thealready tottering constitution. "Why did you ask for a guard?" old Catulus growled to the judges: "was itthat the money you have received might not be taken from you?" "Such is the history of this affair, " Cicero wrote to his friend Atticus. "We thought that the foundation of the Commonwealth had been surely re-established in my consulship, all orders of good men being happily united. You gave the praise to me and I to the gods; and now unless some god looksfavorably on us, all is lost in this single judgment. Thirty Romans havebeen found to trample justice under foot for a bribe, and to declare anact not to have been committed, about which not only not a man, but not abeast of the field, can entertain the smallest doubt. " Cato threatened the judges with impeachment; Cicero stormed in the Senate, rebuked the consul Piso, and lectured Clodius in a speech which he himselfadmired exceedingly. The "pretty boy" in reply taunted Cicero with wishingto make himself a king. Cicero rejoined with asking Clodius about a mannamed "King, " whose estates he had appropriated, and reminded him of amisadventure among the pirates, from which he had come off with namelessignominy. Neither antagonist very honorably distinguished himself in thisencounter of wit. The Senate voted at last for an inquiry into the judges'conduct; but an inquiry only added to Cicero's vexation, for his specialtriumph had been, as he conceived, the union of the Senate with theequites; and the equites took the resolution as directed againstthemselves, and refused to be consoled. [3] Caesar had been absent during these scenes. His term of office havingexpired, he had been despatched as propraetor to Spain, where the ashes ofthe Sertorian rebellion were still smouldering; and he had started for hisprovince while the question of Clodius's trial was still pending. Portugaland Gallicia were still unsubdued. Bands of robbers lay everywhere in thefastnesses of the mountain ranges. Caesar was already favorably known inSpain for his service as quaestor. He now completed the conquest of thepeninsula. He put down the banditti. He reorganized the administrationwith the rapid skill which always so remarkably distinguished him. He senthome large sums of money to the treasury. His work was done quickly, butit was done completely. He nowhere left an unsound spot unprobed. He nevercontented himself with the superficial healing of a wound which wouldbreak out again when he was gone. What he began he finished, and left itin need of no further surgery. As his reward, he looked for a triumph, andthe consulship, one or both; and the consulship he knew could not well berefused to him, unwelcome as it would be to the Senate. Pompey meanwhile was at last coming back. All lesser luminaries shonefaint before the sun of Pompey, the subduer of the pirates, the conquerorof Asia, the glory of the Roman name. Even Cicero had feared that the fameof the saviour of his country might pale before the lustre of the greatPompey. "I used to be in alarm, " he confessed with naïve simplicity, "thatsix hundred years hence the merits of Sampsiceramus[4] might seem tohave been more than mine. " [5] But how would Pompey appear? Would he comeat the head of his army, like Sylla, the armed soldier of the democracy, to avenge the affront upon his officers, to reform the State, to punishthe Senate for the murder of the Catiline conspirators? Pompey had no suchviews, and no capacity for such ambitious operations. The ground had beenprepared beforehand. The Mucia story had perhaps done its work, and theSenate and the great commander were willing to meet each other, at leastwith outward friendliness. His successes had been brilliant; but they were due rather to his honestythan to his military genius. He had encountered no real resistance, andCato had sneered at his exploits as victories over women. He had put downthe buccaneers, because he had refused to be bribed by them. He hadoverthrown Mithridates and had annexed Asia Minor and Syria to the Romandominions. Lucullus could have done it as easily as his successor, if hecould have turned his back upon temptations to increase his own fortune orgratify his own passions. The wealth of the East had lain at Pompey'sfeet, and he had not touched it. He had brought millions into thetreasury. He returned, as he had gone out, himself moderately providedfor, and had added nothing to his private income. He understood, andpractised strictly, the common rules of morality. He detested dishonestyand injustice. But he had no political insight; and if he was ambitious, it was with the innocent vanity which desires, and is content with, admiration. In the time of the Scipios he would have lived in anatmosphere of universal applause, and would have died in honor with anunblemished name. In the age of Clodius and Catiline he was the easy dupeof men of stronger intellect than his own, who played upon hisunsuspicious integrity. His delay in coming back had arisen chiefly fromanxiety for his personal safety. He was eager to be reconciled to theSenate, yet without deserting the people. While in Asia, he had reassuredCicero that nothing was to be feared from him. [6] His hope was to findfriends on all sides and in all parties, and he thought that he haddeserved their friendship. [Sidenote: December, B. C. 62. ]Thus when Pompey landed at Brindisi his dreaded legions were disbanded, and he proceeded to the Capitol, with a train of captive princes, as thesymbols of his victories, and wagons loaded with treasure as an offeringto his country. He was received as he advanced with the shouts ofapplauding multitudes. He entered Rome in a galaxy of glory. A splendidcolumn commemorated the cities which he had taken, the twelve millionhuman beings whom he had slain or subjected. His triumph was the mostmagnificent which the Roman citizens had ever witnessed, and by specialvote he was permitted to wear his triumphal robe in the Senate as oftenand as long as might please him. The fireworks over, and with the aureoleof glory about his brow, the great Pompey, like another Samson shorn ofhis locks, dropped into impotence and insignificance. In February, 61, during the debate on the Clodius affair, he made his first speech in theSenate. Cicero, listening with malicious satisfaction, reported that"Pompey gave no pleasure to the wretched; to the bad he seemed withoutbackbone; he was not agreeable to the well-to-do; the wise and good foundhim wanting in substance;" [7] in short, the speech was a failure. Pompeyapplied for a second consulship. He was reminded that he had been consuleight years previously, and that the ten years' interval prescribed bySylla, between the first and the second term, had not expired. He askedfor lands for his soldiers, and for the ratification of his acts in Asia. Cato opposed the first request, as likely to lead to another agrarian law. Lucullus, who was jealous of him, raised difficulties about the second, and thwarted him with continual delays. [Sidenote: February 1, B. C. 60. ]Pompey, being a poor speaker, thus found himself entirely helpless in thenew field. Cicero, being relieved of fear from him as a rival, was wiseenough to see that the collapse might not continue, and that his realqualities might again bring him to the front. The Clodius business hadbeen a frightful scandal, and, smooth as the surface might seem, uglycracks were opening all round the constitution. The disbanded legions wereimpatient for their farms. The knights, who were already offended with theSenate for having thrown the disgrace of the Clodius trial upon them, hada fresh and more substantial grievance. The leaders of the order hadcontracted to farm the revenues in Asia. They found that the terms whichthey had offered were too high, and they claimed an abatement, which theSenate refused to allow. The Catiline conspiracy should have taught thenecessity of a vigorous administration. Caecilius Metellus and LuciusAfranius, who had been chosen consuls for the year 60, were mere nothings. Metellus was a vacant aristocrat, [8] to be depended on for resistingpopular demands, but without insight otherwise; the second, Afranius, wasa person "on whom only a philosopher could look without a groan;" [9] andone year more might witness the consulship of Caesar. "I have not afriend, " Cicero wrote, "to whom I can express my real thoughts. Thingscannot long stand as they are. I have been vehement: I have put out all mystrength in the hope of mending matters and healing our disorders, but wewill not endure the necessary medicine. The seat of justice has beenpublicly debauched. Resolutions are introduced against corruption, but nolaw can be carried. The knights are alienated. The Senate has lost itsauthority. The concord of the orders is gone, and the pillars of theCommonwealth which I set up are overthrown. We have not a statesman, orthe shadow of one. My friend Pompey, who might have done something, sitssilent, admiring his fine clothes. [10] Crassus will say nothing to makehimself unpopular, and the rest are such idiots as to hope that althoughthe constitution fall they will save their own fish-ponds. [11] Cato, thebest man that we have, is more honest than wise. For these three months hehas been worrying the revenue farmers, and will not let the Senate satisfythem. " [12] It was time for Cicero to look about him. The Catiline affair was notforgotten. He might still be called to answer for the executions, and hefelt that he required some stronger support than an aristocracy, who wouldlearn nothing and seemed to be bent on destroying themselves. In letterafter letter he pours out his contempt for his friends "of the fish-ponds, " as he called them, who would neither mend their ways nor letothers mend them. He would not desert them altogether, but he provided forcontingencies. The tribunes had taken up the cause of Pompey'slegionaries. Agrarian laws were threatened, and Pompey himself was mosteager to see his soldiers satisfied. Cicero, who had hitherto opposed anagrarian law with all his violence, discovered now that something might besaid in favor of draining "the sink of the city" [13] and repeoplingItaly. Besides the public advantage, he felt that he would please themortified but still popular Pompey; and he lent his help in the Senate toimproving a bill introduced by the tribunes, and endeavoring, thoughunsuccessfully, to push it through. [Sidenote: July, B. C. 60. ]So grateful was Pompey for Cicero's support that he called him, in theSenate, "the saviour of the world. " [14]Cicero was delighted with thephrase, and began to look to Pompey as a convenient ally. He thought thathe could control and guide him and use his popularity for moderatemeasures. Nay, even in his despair of the aristocracy, he began to regardas not impossible a coalition with Caesar. "You caution me about Pompey, "he wrote to Atticus in the following July. "Do not suppose that I amattaching myself to him for my own protection; but the state of things issuch, that if we two disagree the worst misfortunes may be feared. I makeno concessions to him, I seek to make him better, and to cure him of hispopular levity; and now he speaks more highly by far of my actions than ofhis own. He has merely done well, he says, while I have saved the State. However this may affect me, it is certainly good for the Commonwealth. What if I can make Caesar better also, who is now coming on with wind andtide? Will that be so bad a thing? Even if I had no enemies, if I wassupported as universally as I ought to be, still a medicine which willcure the diseased parts of the State is better than the surgery whichwould amputate them. The knights have fallen off from the Senate. Thenoble lords think they are in heaven when they have barbel in their pondsthat will eat out of their hands, and they leave the rest to fate. Youcannot love Cato more than I love him, but he does harm with the bestintentions. He speaks as if he was in Plato's Republic, instead of beingin the dregs of that of Romulus. Most true that corrupt judges ought to bepunished! Cato proposed it, the Senate agreed; but the knights havedeclared war upon the Senate. Most insolent of the revenue farmers tothrow up their contract! Cato resisted them, and carried his point; butnow when seditions break out, the knights will not lift a finger torepress them. Are we to hire mercenaries? Are we to depend on our slavesand freedmen?. .. . But enough. "[15] [Sidenote: October, B. C. 60. ][Sidenote: November, B. C. 60. ]Cicero might well despair of a Senate who had taken Cato to lead them. Pompey had come home in the best of dispositions. The Senate had offendedPompey, and, more than that, had offended his legionaries. They hadquarrelled with the knights. They had quarrelled with the moneyedinterests. They now added an entirely gratuitous affront to Caesar. HisSpanish administration was admitted by every one to have been admirable. He was coming to stand for the consulship, which could not be refused; buthe asked for a triumph also, and as the rule stood there was a difficulty, for if he was to have a triumph, he must remain outside the walls till theday fixed for it, and if he was a candidate for office, he must be presentin person on the day of the election. The custom, though convenientin itself, had been more than once set aside. Caesar applied to the Senatefor a dispensation, which would enable him to be a candidate in hisabsence; and Cato, either from mere dislike of Caesar or from a hope thathe might prefer vanity to ambition, and that the dreaded consulship mightbe escaped, persuaded the Senate to refuse. If this was the expectation, it was disappointed. Caesar dropped his triumph, came home, and wentthrough the usual forms, and it at once appeared that his election wascertain, and that every powerful influence in the State was combined inhis favor. From Pompey he met the warmest reception. The Mucia bubble hadburst. Pompey saw in Caesar only the friend who had stood by him in everystep of his later career, and had braved the fury of the Senate at theside of his officer Metellus Nepos. Equally certain it was that Caesar, asa soldier, would interest himself for Pompey's legionaries, and that theycould be mutually useful to each other. Caesar had the people at his back, and Pompey had the army. The third great power in Rome was that of thecapitalists, and about the attitude of these there was at first someuncertainty. Crassus, who was the impersonation of them, was a friend ofCaesar, but had been on bad terms with Pompey. Caesar, however, contrivedto reconcile them; and thus all parties outside the patrician circle werecombined for a common purpose. Could Cicero have taken his place franklyat their side, as his better knowledge told him to do, the inevitablerevolution might have been accomplished without bloodshed, and the courseof history have been different. Caesar wished it. But it was not so to be. Cicero perhaps found that he would have to be content with a humblerposition than he had anticipated, that in such a combination he would haveto follow rather than to lead. He was tempted. He saw a promise of peace, safety, influence, if not absolute, yet considerable. But he could notbring himself to sacrifice the proud position which he had won for himselfin his consulship, as leader of the Conservatives; and he still hoped toreign in the Senate, while using the protection of the popular chiefs as ashelter in time of storms. Caesar was chosen consul without opposition. His party was so powerful that it seemed at one time as if he could namehis colleague, but the Senate succeeded with desperate efforts in securingthe second place. They subscribed money profusely, the immaculate Catoprominent among them. The machinery of corruption was well in order. Thegreat nobles commanded the votes of their _clientèle_, and theysucceeded in giving Caesar the same companion who had accompanied himthrough the aedileship and the praetorship, Marcus Bibulus, a dull, obstinate fool, who could be relied on, if for nothing else, yet fordogged resistance to every step which the Senate disapproved. For themoment they appeared to have thought that with Bibulus's help they mightdefy Caesar and reduce his office to a nullity. Immediately on theelection of the consuls, it was usual to determine the provinces to whichthey were to be appointed when their consulate should expire. Theregulation lay with the Senate, and, either in mere spleen or to preventCaesar from having the command of an army, they allotted him thedepartment of the "Woods and Forests. " [16] A very few weeks hadto pass before they discovered that they had to do with a man who was notto be turned aside so slightingly. Hitherto Caesar had been feared and hated, but his powers were rathersuspected than understood. As the nephew of Marius and the son-in-law ofCinna, he was the natural chief of the party which had once governed Romeand had been trampled under the hoof of Sylla. He had shown on manyoccasions that he had inherited his uncle's principles, and could bedaring and skilful in asserting them. But he had held carefully within theconstitutional lines; he had kept himself clear of conspiracies; he hadnever, like the Gracchi, put himself forward as a tribune or attempted thepart of a popular agitator. When he had exerted himself in the politicalworld of Rome, it had been to maintain the law against violence, to resistand punish encroachments of arbitrary power, or to rescue the Empire frombeing gambled away by incapable or profligate aristocrats. Thus he hadgathered for himself the animosity of the fashionable upper classes andthe confidence of the body of the people. But what he would do in power, or what it was in him to do, was as yet merely conjectural. [Sidenote: B. C. 50. ]At all events, after an interval of a generation there was again a popularconsul, and on every side there was a harvest of iniquities ready for thesickle. Sixty years had passed since the death of the younger Gracchus;revolution after revolution had swept over the Commonwealth, and Italy wasstill as Tiberius Gracchus had found it. The Gracchan colonists haddisappeared. The Syllan military proprietors had disappeared--one by onethey had fallen to beggary, and had sold their holdings, and again thecountry was parcelled into enormous estates cultivated by slave-gangs. TheItalians had been emancipated, but the process had gone no further. Thelibertini, the sons of the freedmen, still waited for equality of rights. The rich and prosperous provinces beyond the Po remained unenfranchised, while the value of the franchise itself was daily diminishing as theSenate resumed its control over the initiative of legislation. Each yearthe elections became more corrupt. The Clodius judgment had been the mostfrightful instance which had yet occurred of the depravity of the lawcourts; while, by Cicero's own admission, not a single measure could passbeyond discussion into act which threatened the interests of theoligarchy. The consulship of Caesar was looked to with hope from therespectable part of the citizens, with alarm from the high-borndelinquents as a period of genuine reform. The new consuls were to enteroffice on the 1st of January. In December it was known that an agrarianlaw would be at once proposed under plea of providing for Pompey's troops;and Cicero had to decide whether he would act in earnest in the spiritwhich he had begun to show when the tribunes' bill was under discussion, or would fall back upon resistance with the rest of his party, or evadethe difficult dilemma by going on foreign service, or else would simplyabsent himself from Rome while the struggle was going on. "I may eitherresist, " he said, "and there will be an honorable fight; or I may donothing, and withdraw into the country, which will be honorable also; or Imay give active help, which I am told Caesar expects of me. His friend, Cornelius Balbus, who was with me lately, affirms that Caesar will beguided in everything by my advice and Pompey's, and will use his endeavorto bring Pompey and Crassus together. Such a course has its advantages; itwill draw me closely to Pompey and, if I please, to Caesar. I shall haveno more to fear from my enemies. I shall be at peace with the people. Ican look to quiet in my old age. But the lines still move me whichconclude the third book (of my Poem on my consulship): 'Hold to the trackon which thou enteredst in thy early youth, which thou pursuedst as consulso valorously and bravely. Increase thy fame, and seek the praise of thegood. '" [17] It had been proposed to send Cicero on a mission to Egypt. "I should likewell, and I have long wished, " he said, "to see Alexandria and the rest ofthat country. They have had enough of me here at present, and they maywish for me when I am away. But to go now, and to go on a commission fromCaesar and Pompey! I should blush To face the men and long-robed dames of Troy. [18] What will our optimates say, if we have any optimates left? Polydamas willthrow in my teeth that I have been bribed by the opposition--I mean Cato, who is one out of a hundred thousand to me. What will history say of mesix hundred years hence? I am more afraid of that than of the chatter ofmy contemporaries. "[19] So Cicero meditated, thinking as usual of himself first and of his dutyafterward--the fatalest of all courses then and always. [1] "Si causam quaeris absolutionis, egestas judicum fuit et turpitudo. .. . Non vidit (Hortensius) satius esse illum in infamiâ relinqui ac sordibus quam infirmo judicio committi. "--_To Atticus_, i. 16. [2] "Jam vero, oh Dii Boni! rem perditam! etiam noctes certarum mulierum, atque _adolescentulorum nobilium_ introductiones nonnullis judicibus pro mercedis cumulo fuerunt. "--_Ad Atticum_, i. 16. [3] "Nos hic in republicâ infirmâ, miserâ commutabilique versamur. Credo enim te audisse, nostros equites paene a senatu esse disjunctos; qui primum illud valde graviter tulerund, promulgatum ex senatus consulto fuisse, ut de iis, qui ob judicaudum pecuniam accepissent queareretur. Quâ in re decernendâ cum ego casu non affuissem, sensissemque id equestrem ordinem ferre moleste, neque aperte dicere: objurgavi senatum, ut mihi visus sum, summâ cum auctoritate, et in causâ non verecundâ admodum gravis et copiosus fui. "--_To Atticus_, i. 17. [4] A nickname under which Cicero often speaks of Pompey. [5] "Solebat enim me pungere, ne Sampsicerami merita in patriam ad annos DC majora viderentur, quam nostra. "--_To Atticus_, ii. 17. [6] "Pompeius nobis amicissimus esse constat. "--_To Atticus_, i. 13. [7] "Non jucunda miseris, inanis improbis, beatis non grata, bonis non gravis. Itaque frigebat. "--_To Atticus_, i. 14. [8] "Metellus non homo, sed litus atque aer, et solitudo mera. "--_To Atticus_, i. 18. [9] "Consul est impositus is nobis, quem nemo, praeter nos philosophos, aspicere sine suspiratu potest. "--_Ib_. I. 18. [10] "Pompeius togulam illam pictam silentio tuetur suam. "--_Ib_. The "picta togula" means the triumphal robe which Pompey was allowed to wear. [11] "Ceteros jam nosti; qui ita sunt stulti, ut amissâ republicâ piscinas suas fore salvas sperare videantur. "--_Ib_. [12] _Ib_. , abridged. [13] "Sentinam urbis, " a worse word than he had blamed in Rullus three years before. --_To Atticus_, i. 19. [14] "Pompeium adduxi in eam voluntatem, ut in Senatu non semel, sed saepe, multisque verbis, hujus mihi salutem imperii atque orbis terrarum adjudicarit. "--_ib_. [15] _To Atticus_, ii. 1, abridged. [16] _Silvae Callesque_--to which "woods and forests" is a near equivalent. [17] "Interea cursus, quos primâ a parte juventae, Quosque ideo consul virtute animoque petisti, Hos retine atquae auge famam laudesque bonorum. " _To Atticus_, ii. 3. [18] Iliad, vi. 442. Lord Derby's translation. [19] _To Atticus_, ii. 5. CHAPTER XIII. The consulship of Caesar was the last chance for the Roman aristocracy. Hewas not a revolutionist. Revolutions are the last desperate remedy whenall else has failed. They may create as many evils as they cure, and wisemen always hate them. But if revolution was to be escaped, reform wasinevitable, and it was for the Senate to choose between the alternatives. Could the noble lords have known then, in that their day, the things thatbelonged to their peace--could they have forgotten their fish-ponds andtheir game-preserves, and have remembered that, as the rulers of thecivilized world, they had duties which the eternal order of nature wouldexact at their hands--the shaken constitution might again have regainedits stability, and the forms and even the reality of the Republic mighthave continued for another century. It was not to be. Had the Senate beencapable of using the opportunity, they would long before have undertaken areformation for themselves. Even had their eyes been opened, there weredisintegrating forces at work which the highest political wisdom could dono more than arrest; and little good is really effected by prolongingartificially the lives of either constitutions or individuals beyond theirnatural period. From the time when Rome became an empire, mistress ofprovinces to which she was unable to extend her own liberties, the days ofher self-government were numbered. A homogeneous and vigorous people maymanage their own affairs under a popular constitution so long as theirpersonal characters remain undegenerate. Parliaments and Senates mayrepresent the general will of the community, and may pass laws andadminister them as public sentiment approves. But such bodies can presidesuccessfully only among subjects who are directly represented in them. They are too ignorant, too selfish, too divided, to govern others; andimperial aspirations draw after them, by obvious necessity, an imperialrule. Caesar may have known this in his heart, yet the most far-seeingstatesman will not so trust his own misgivings as to refuse to hope forthe regeneration of the institutions into which he is born. He willdetermine that justice shall be done. Justice is the essence ofgovernment, and without justice all forms, democratic or monarchic, aretyrannies alike. But he will work with the existing methods till theinadequacy of them has been proved beyond dispute. Constitutions are neveroverthrown till they have pronounced sentence on themselves. Caesar accordingly commenced office by an endeavor to conciliate. The armyand the moneyed interests, represented by Pompey and Crassus, were alreadywith him; and he used his endeavors, as has been seen, to gain Cicero, whomight bring with him such part of the landed aristocracy as were nothopelessly incorrigible. With Cicero he but partially succeeded. The greatorator solved the problem of the situation by going away into the countryand remaining there for the greater part of the year, and Caesar had to dowithout an assistance which, in the speaking department, would have beeninvaluable to him. His first step was to order the publication of the"Acta Diurna, " a daily journal of the doings of the Senate. The light ofday being thrown in upon that august body might prevent honorable membersfrom laying hands on each other as they had lately done, and might enablethe people to know what was going on among them--on a better authoritythan rumor. He then introduced his agrarian law, the rough draft of whichhad been already discussed, and had been supported by Cicero in thepreceding year. Had he meant to be defiant, like the Gracchi, he mighthave offered it at once to the people. Instead of doing so, he laid itbefore the Senate, inviting them to amend his suggestions, and promisingany reasonable concessions if they would co-operate. No wrong was to bedone to any existing occupiers. No right of property was to be violatedwhich was any real right at all. Large tracts in Campania which belongedto the State were now held on the usual easy terms by great landedpatricians. These Caesar proposed to buy out, and to settle on the groundtwenty thousand of Pompey's veterans. There was money enough and to sparein the treasury, which they had themselves brought home. Out of the largefunds which would still remain land might be purchased in other parts ofItaly for the rest, and for a few thousand of the unemployed populationwhich was crowded into Rome. The measure in itself was admitted to be amoderate one. Every pains had been taken to spare the interests and toavoid hurting the susceptibilities of the aristocrats. But, as Cicerosaid, the very name of an agrarian law was intolerable to them. It meantin the end spoliation and division of property, and the first step wouldbring others after it. The public lands they had shared conveniently amongthemselves from immemorial time. The public treasure was their treasure, to be laid out as they might think proper. Cato headed the opposition. Hestormed for an entire day, and was so violent that Caesar threatened himwith arrest. The Senate groaned and foamed; no progress was made or waslikely to be made; and Caesar, as much in earnest as they were, had totell them that if they would not help him he must appeal to the assembly. "I invited you to revise the law, " he said; "I was willing that if anyclause displeased you it should be expunged. You will not touch it. Well, then, the people must decide. " The Senate had made up their minds to fight the battle. If Caesar went tothe assembly, Bibulus, their second consul, might stop the proceedings. Ifthis seemed too extreme a step, custom provided other impediments to whichrecourse might be had. Bibulus might survey the heavens, watch the birds, or the clouds, or the direction of the wind, and declare the aspectsunfavorable; or he might proclaim day after day to be holy, and on holydays no legislation was permitted. Should these religious cobwebs bebrushed away, the Senate had provided a further resource in three of thetribunes whom they had bribed. Thus they held themselves secure, and daredCaesar to do his worst. Caesar on his side was equally determined. Theassembly was convoked. The Forum was choked to overflowing. Caesar andPompey stood on the steps of the Temple of Castor, and Bibulus and histribunes were at hand ready with their interpellations. Such passions hadnot been roused in Rome since the days of Cinna and Octavius, and many ayoung lord was doubtless hoping that the day would not close withoutanother lesson to ambitious demagogues and howling mobs. In their eyes theone reform which Rome needed was another Sylla. Caesar read his law from the tablet on which it was inscribed; and, stillcourteous to his antagonist, he turned to Bibulus and asked him if he hadany fault to find. Bibulus said sullenly that he wanted no revolutions, and that while he was consul there should be none. The people hissed; andhe then added in a rage, "You shall not have your law this year thoughevery man of you demand it. " Caesar answered nothing, but Pompey andCrassus stood forward. They were not officials, but they were real forces. Pompey was the idol of every soldier in the State, and at Caesar'sinvitation he addressed the assembly. He spoke for his veterans. He spokefor the poor citizens. He said that he approved the law to the last letterof it. "Will you then, " asked Caesar, "support the law if it be illegallyopposed?" "Since, " replied Pompey, "you consul, and you my fellow-citizens, ask aid of me, a poor individual without office and withoutauthority, who nevertheless has done some service to the State, I say thatI will bear the shield if others draw the sword. " Applause rang out from ahundred thousand throats. Crassus followed to the same purpose, and wasreceived with the same wild delight. A few senators, who retained theirsenses, saw the uselessness of the opposition, and retired. Bibulus was ofduller and tougher metal. As the vote was about to be taken, he and histribunes rushed to the rostra. The tribunes pronounced their veto. Bibulussaid that he had consulted the sky; the gods forbade further action beingtaken that day, and he declared the assembly dissolved. Nay, as if a manlike Caesar could be stopped by a shadow, he proposed to sanctify thewhole remainder of the year, that no further business might be transactedin it. Yells drowned his voice. The mob rushed upon the steps; Bibulus wasthrown down, and the rods of the lictors were broken; the tribunes who hadbetrayed their order were beaten. Cato held his ground, and stormed atCaesar till he was led off by the police, raving and gesticulating. Thelaw was then passed, and a resolution besides that every senator shouldtake an oath to obey it. So in ignominy the Senate's resistance collapsed: the Caesar whom they hadthought to put off with their "woods and forests" had proved stronger thanthe whole of them; and, prostrate at the first round of the battle, theydid not attempt another. They met the following morning. Bibulus told hisstory and appealed for support. Had the Senate complied, they wouldprobably have ceased to exist. The oath was unpalatable, but they made thebest of it. Metellus Celer, Cato, and Favonius, a senator whom men calledCato's ape, struggled against their fate, but, "swearing they would ne'erconsent, consented. " The unwelcome formula was swallowed by the whole ofthem; and Bibulus, who had done his part and had been beaten and kickedand trampled upon, and now found his employers afraid to stand by him, went off sulkily to his house, shut himself up there, and refused to actas consul further during the remainder of the year. There was no further active opposition. A commission was appointed byCaesar to carry out the land act, composed of twenty of the best men thatcould be found, one of them being Atius Balbus, the husband of Caesar'sonly sister, and grandfather of a little child now three years old, whowas known afterward to the world as Augustus. Cicero was offered a place, but declined. The land question having been disposed of, Caesar thenproceeded with the remaining measures by which his consulship wasimmortalized. He had redeemed his promise to Pompey by providing for hissoldiers. He gratified Crassus by giving the desired relief to the farmersof the taxes. He confirmed Pompey's arrangements for the government ofAsia, which the Senate had left in suspense. The Senate was now itselfsuspended. The consul acted directly with the assembly, withoutobstruction and without remonstrance, Bibulus only from time to timesending out monotonous admonitions from within doors that the season wasconsecrated, and that Caesar's acts had no validity. Still moreremarkably, and as the distinguishing feature of his term of office, Caesar carried, with the help of the people, the body of admirable lawswhich are known to jurists as the "Leges Juliae, " and mark an epoch inRoman history. They were laws as unwelcome to the aristocracy as they wereessential to the continued existence of the Roman State, laws which hadbeen talked of in the Senate, but which could never pass through thepreliminary stage of resolutions, and were now enacted over the Senate'shead by the will of Caesar and the sovereign power of the nation. A mereoutline can alone be attempted here. There was a law declaring theinviolability of the persons of magistrates during their term ofauthority, reflecting back on the murder of Saturninus, and touching byimplication the killing of Lentulus and his companions. There was a lawfor the punishment of adultery, most disinterestedly singular if thepopular accounts of Caesar's habits had any grain of truth in them. Therewere laws for the protection of the subject from violence, public orprivate; and laws disabling persons who had laid hands illegally on Romancitizens from holding office in the Commonwealth. There was a law, intended at last to be effective, to deal with judges who allowedthemselves to be bribed. There were laws against defrauders of therevenue; laws against debasing the coin; laws against sacrilege; lawsagainst corrupt State contracts; laws against bribery at elections. Finally, there was a law, carefully framed, _De repetundis_, to exactretribution from proconsuls or propraetors of the type of Verres who hadplundered the provinces. All governors were required, on relinquishingoffice, to make a double return of their accounts, one to remain forinspection among the archives of the province, and one to be sent to Rome;and where peculation or injustice could be proved, the offender's estatewas made answerable to the last sesterce. [1] Such laws were words only without the will to execute them; but theyaffirmed the principles on which Roman or any other society could alonecontinue. It was for the officials of the constitution to adopt them, andsave themselves and the Republic, or to ignore them as they had ignoredthe laws which already existed, and see it perish as it deserved. All thatman could do for the preservation of his country from revolution Caesarhad accomplished. Sylla had re-established the rule of the aristocracy, and it had failed grossly and disgracefully. Cinna and Marius had trieddemocracy, and that had failed. Caesar was trying what law would do, andthe result remained to be seen. Bibulus, as each measure was passed, croaked that it was null and void. The leaders of the Senate threatenedbetween their teeth that all should be undone when Caesar's term was over. Cato, when he mentioned the "Leges Juliae, " spoke of them as enactments, but refused them their author's name. But the excellence of these laws wasso clearly recognized that they survived the irregularity of theirintroduction; and the "Lex de Repetundis" especially remained a terror toevil-doers, with a promise of better days to the miserable and pillagedsubjects of the Roman Empire. So the year of Caesar's consulship passed away. What was to happen when ithad expired? The Senate had provided "the woods and forests" for him. Butthe Senate's provision in such a matter could not be expected to hold. Heasked for nothing, but he was known to desire an opportunity ofdistinguished service. Caesar was now forty-three. His life was ebbingaway, and, with the exception of his two years in Spain, it had been spentin struggling with the base elements of Roman faction. Great men will bearsuch sordid work when it is laid on them, but they loathe itnotwithstanding, and for the present there was nothing more to be done. Anew point of departure had been taken. Principles had been laid down forthe Senate and people to act on, if they could and would. Caesar couldonly wish for a long absence in some new sphere of usefulness, where hecould achieve something really great which his country would remember. And on one side only was such a sphere open to him. The East was Roman tothe Euphrates. No second Mithridates could loosen the grasp with which thelegions now held the civilized parts of Asia. Parthians might disturb thefrontier, but could not seriously threaten the Eastern dominions; and noadvantage was promised by following on the steps of Alexander and annexingcountries too poor to bear the cost of their maintenance. To the west itwas different. Beyond the Alps there was still a territory of unknownextent, stretching away to the undefined ocean, a territory peopled withwarlike races, some of whom in ages long past had swept over Italy andtaken Rome, and had left their descendants and their name in the northernprovince, which was now called Cisalpine Gaul. With these races the Romanshad as yet no clear relations, and from them alone could any seriousdanger threaten the State. The Gauls had for some centuries ceased theirwanderings, had settled down in fixed localities. They had built towns andbridges; they had cultivated the soil, and had become wealthy and partlycivilized. With the tribes adjoining Provence the Romans had alliancesmore or less precarious, and had established a kind of protectorate overthem. But even here the inhabitants were uneasy for their independence, and troubles were continually arising with them; while into thesedistricts and into the rest of Gaul a fresh and stormy element was nowbeing introduced. In earlier times the Gauls had been stronger than theGermans, and not only could they protect their own frontier, but they hadformed settlements beyond the Rhine. These relations were being changed. The Gauls, as they grew in wealth, declined in vigor. The Germans, stillroving and migratory, were throwing covetous eyes out of their forests onthe fields and vineyards of their neighbors, and enormous numbers of themwere crossing the Rhine and Danube, looking for new homes. How feeble abarrier either the Alps or the Gauls themselves might prove against suchinvaders had been but too recently experienced. Men who were of middle ageat the time of Caesar's consulship could still remember the terrors whichhad been caused by the invasion of the Cimbri and Teutons. Marius hadsaved Italy then from destruction, as it were, by the hair of its head. The annihilation of those hordes had given Rome a passing respite. Butfresh generations had grown up. Fresh multitudes were streaming out ofthe North. Germans in hundreds of thousands were again passing the UpperRhine, rooting themselves in Burgundy, and coming in collision with tribeswhich Rome protected. There were uneasy movements among the Gaulsthemselves, whole nations of them breaking up from their homes and againadrift upon the world. Gaul and Germany were like a volcano giving signsof approaching eruption; and at any moment, and hardly with warning, another lava-stream might be pouring down into Venetia and Lombardy. To deal with this danger was the work marked out for Caesar. It is thefashion to say that he sought a military command that he might have anarmy behind him to overthrow the constitution. If this was his object, ambition never chose a more dangerous or less promising route for itself. Men of genius who accomplish great things in this world do not troublethemselves with remote and visionary aims. They encounter emergencies asthey rise, and leave the future to shape itself as it may. It would seemthat at first the defence of Italy was all that was thought of. "The woodsand forests" were set aside, and Caesar, by a vote of the people, wasgiven the command of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyria for five years; but eitherhe himself desired, or especial circumstances which were taking placebeyond the mountains recommended, that a wider scope should be allowedhim. The Senate, finding that the people would act without them if theyhesitated, gave him in addition Gallia Comata, the land of the Gauls withthe long hair, the governorship of the Roman province beyond the Alps, with untrammelled liberty to act as he might think good throughout thecountry which is now known as France and Switzerland and the Rhineprovinces of Germany. He was to start early in the approaching year. It was necessary before hewent to make some provision for the quiet government of the capital. Thealliance with Pompey and Crassus gave temporary security. Pompey had lessstability of character than could have been wished, but he became attachedto Caesar's daughter Julia; and a fresh link of marriage was formed tohold them together. Caesar himself married Calpurnia, the daughter ofCalpurnius Piso. The Senate having temporarily abdicated, he was able toguide the elections; and Piso and Pompey's friend Gabinius, who hadobtained the command of the pirate war for him, were chosen consuls forthe year 58. Neither of them, if we can believe a tithe of Cicero'sinvective, was good for much; but they were stanch partisans, and were tobe relied on to resist any efforts which might be made to repeal the"Leges Juliae. " These matters being arranged, and his own term havingexpired, Caesar withdrew, according to custom, to the suburbs beyond thewalls to collect troops and prepare for his departure. Strange things, however, had yet to happen before he was gone. [Sidenote: B. C. 58. ]It is easy to conceive how the Senate felt at these transactions, how illthey bore to find themselves superseded and the State managed over theirheads. Fashionable society was equally furious, and the three allies wentby the name of Dynasts, or "Reges Superbi. " After resistance had beenabandoned, Cicero came back to Rome to make cynical remarks from which allparties suffered equally. His special grievance was the want ofconsideration which he conceived to have been shown for himself. He mockedat the Senate; he mocked at Bibulus, whom he particularly abominated; hemocked at Pompey and the agrarian law. Mockery turned to indignation whenhe thought of the ingratitude of the Senate, and his chief consolation intheir discomfiture was that it had fallen on them through the neglect oftheir most distinguished member. "I could have saved them if they wouldhave let me, " he said. "I could save them still if I were to try; but Iwill go study philosophy in my own family. " [2] "Freedom is gone, " hewrote to Atticus; "and if we are to be worse enslaved, we shall bear it. Our lives and properties are more to us than liberty. We sigh, and we donot even remonstrate. " [3] Cato, in the desperation of passion, called Pompey a dictator in theassembly, and barely escaped being killed for his pains. [4] Thepatricians revenged themselves in private by savage speeches and plots andpurposes. Fashionable society gathered in the theatres and hissed thepopular leaders. Lines were introduced into the plays reflecting onPompey, and were encored a thousand times. Bibulus from his closetcontinued to issue venomous placards, reporting scandals about Caesar'slife, and now for the first time bringing up the story of Nicomedes. Thestreets were impassable where these papers were pasted up, from the crowdsof loungers which were gathered to read them, and Bibulus for the momentwas the hero of patrician saloons. Some malicious comfort Cicero gatheredout of these manifestations of feeling. He had no belief in the noblelords, and small expectations from them. Bibulus was, on the whole, a fitrepresentative for the gentry of the fish-ponds. But the Dynasts were atleast heartily detested in quarters which had once been powerful, andmight be powerful again; and he flattered himself, though he affected toregret it, that the animosity against them was spreading. To all partiesthere is attached a draggled trail of disreputables, who hold themselvesentitled to benefits when their side is in power, and are angry when theyare passed over. "The State, " Cicero wrote in the autumn of 59 to Atticus, "is in a worsecondition than when you left us; then we thought that we had fallen undera power which pleased the people, and which, though abhorrent to the good, yet was not totally destructive to them. Now all hate it equally, and weare in terror as to where the exasperation may break out. We hadexperienced the ill-temper and irritation of those who in their anger withCato had brought ruin on us; but the poison worked so slowly that itseemed we might die without pain. I hoped, as I often told you, that thewheel of the constitution was so turning that we should scarcely hear asound or see any visible track; and so it would have been could men havewaited for the tempest to pass over them. But the secret sighs turned togroans, and the groans to universal clamor; and thus our friend Pompey, who so lately swam in glory and never heard an evil word of himself, isbroken-hearted and knows not whither to turn. A precipice is before him, and to retreat is dangerous. The good are against him; the bad are not hisfriends. I could scarce help weeping the other day when I heard himcomplaining in the Forum of the publication of Bibulus. He who but a shorttime since bore himself so proudly there, with the people in raptures withhim, and with the world on his side, was now so humble and abject as todisgust even himself, not to say his hearers. Crassus enjoyed the scene, but no one else. Pompey had fallen down out of the stars--not by a gradualdescent, but in a single plunge; and as Apelles if he had seen his Venus, or Protogenes his Ialysus, all daubed with mud, would have been vexed andannoyed, so was I grieved to the very heart to see one whom I had paintedout in the choicest colors of art thus suddenly defaced. [5] Pompey issick with irritation at the placards of Bibulus. I am sorry about them. They give such excessive annoyance to a man whom I have always liked; andPompey is so prompt with his sword, and so unaccustomed to insult, that Ifear what he may do. What the future may have in store for Bibulus I knownot. At present he is the admired of all. " [6] "Sampsiceramus, " Cicero wrote a few days later, "is greatly penitent. Hewould gladly be restored to the eminence from which he has fallen. Sometimes he imparts his griefs to me, and asks me what he should do, which I cannot tell him. " [7] Unfortunate Cicero, who knew what was right, but was too proud to do it!Unfortunate Pompey, who still did what was right, but was too sensitive tobear the reproach of it, who would so gladly not leave his dutyunperformed, and yet keep the "sweet voices" whose applause had grown sodelicious to him! Bibulus was in no danger. Pompey was too good-natured tohurt him; and Caesar let fools say what they pleased, as long as they werefools without teeth, who would bark but could not bite. The risk was toCicero himself, little as he seemed to be aware of it. Caesar was to belong absent from Rome, and he knew that as soon as he was engaged in Gaulthe extreme oligarchic faction would make an effort to set aside his landcommission and undo his legislation. When he had a clear purpose in view, and was satisfied that it was a good purpose, he was never scrupulousabout his instruments. It was said of him that when he wanted any workdone he chose the persons best able to do it, let their general characterbe what it might. The rank and file of the patricians, proud, idle, vicious, and self-indulgent, might be left to their mistresses and theirgaming-tables. They could do no mischief unless they had leaders at theirhead who could use their resources more effectively than they could dothemselves. There were two men only in Rome with whose help they could bereally dangerous--Cato, because he was a fanatic, impregnable to argument, and not to be influenced by temptation of advantage to himself; Cicero, onaccount of his extreme ability, his personal ambition, and his total wantof political principle. Cato he knew to be impracticable. Cicero he hadtried to gain; but Cicero, who had played a first part as consul, couldnot bring himself to play a second, and, if the chance offered, had bothpower and will to be troublesome. Some means had to be found to get rid ofthese two, or at least to tie their hands and to keep them in order. Therewould be Pompey and Crassus still at hand. But Pompey was weak, andCrassus understood nothing beyond the art of manipulating money. Gabiniusand Piso, the next consuls, had an indifferent reputation and narrowabilities, and at best they would have but their one year of authority. Politics, like love, makes strange bedfellows. In this difficulty accidentthrew in Cesar's way a convenient but most unexpected ally. Young Clodius, after his escape from prosecution by the marvellous methodswhich Crassus had provided for him, was more popular than ever. He hadbeen the occasion of a scandal which had brought infamy on the detestedSenate. His offence in itself seemed slight in so loose an age, and was asnothing compared with the enormity of his judges. He had come out of histrial with a determination to be revenged on the persons from whosetongues he had suffered most severely in the senatorial debates. Of theseCato had been the most savage; but Cicero had been the most exasperating, from his sarcasms, his airs of patronage, and perhaps his intimacy withhis sister. The noble youth had exhausted the common forms of pleasure. Hewanted a new excitement, and politics and vengeance might be combined. Hewas as clever as he was dissolute, and, as clever men are fortunately rarein the licentious part, of society, they are always idolized, because theymake vice respectable by connecting it with intellect. Clodius was asecond, an abler Catiline, equally unprincipled and far more dexterous andprudent. In times of revolution there is always a disreputable wing to theradical party, composed of men who are the natural enemies of establishedauthority, and these all rallied about their new leader with devoutenthusiasm. Clodius was not without political experience. His first publicappearance had been as leader of a mutiny. He was already quaestor, and soa senator; but he was too young to aspire to the higher magistracies whichwere open to him as a patrician. He declared his intention of renouncinghis order, becoming a plebeian, and standing for the tribuneship of thepeople. There were precedents for such a step, but they were rare. Theabdicating noble had to be adopted into a plebeian family, and the consentwas required of the consuls and of the Pontifical College. With thegrowth of political equality the aristocracy had become more insistentupon the privilege of birth, which could not be taken from them; and for aClaudius to descend among the canaille was as if a Howard were to seekadoption from a shopkeeper in the Strand. At first there was universal amazement. Cicero had used the intrigue withPompeia as a text for a sermon on the immoralities of the age. Theaspirations of Clodius to be a tribune he ridiculed as an illustration ofits follies, and after scourging him in the Senate, he laughed at him andjested with him in private. [8] Cicero did not understand with howvenomous a snake he was playing. He even thought Clodius likely to turnagainst the Dynasts, and to become a serviceable member of theconservative party. Gradually he was forced to open his eyes. Speecheswere reported to him as coming from Clodius or his allies threatening aninquiry into the death of the Catilinarians. At first he pushed his alarmsaside, as unworthy of him. What had so great a man as he to fear from ayoung reprobate like "the pretty boy"? The "pretty boy, " however, foundfavor where it was least looked for. Pompey supported his adventure forthe tribuneship. Caesar, though it was Caesar's house which he hadviolated, did not oppose. Bibulus refused consent, but Bibulus hadvirtually abdicated and went for nothing. The legal forms were compliedwith. Clodius found a commoner younger than himself who was willing toadopt him, and who, the day after the ceremony, released him from the newpaternal authority. He was now a plebeian, and free. He remained a senatorin virtue of his quaestorship, and he was chosen tribune of the people forthe year 58. Cicero was at last startled out of his security. So long as the consuls, or one of them, could be depended on, a tribune's power was insignificant. When the consuls were of his own way of thinking, a tribune was a veryimportant personage indeed. Atticus was alarmed for his friend, andcautioned him to look to himself. Warnings came from all quarters thatmischief was in the wind. Still it was impossible to believe the peril tobe a real one. Cicero, to whom Rome owed its existence, to be struck at bya Clodius! It could not be. As little could a wasp hurt an elephant. There can be little doubt that Caesar knew what Clodius had in his mind;or that, if the design was not his own, he had purposely allowed it to goforward. Caesar did not wish to hurt Cicero. He wished well to him, andadmired him; but he did not mean to leave him free in Rome to lead asenatorial reaction. A prosecution for the execution of the prisoners wasnow distinctly announced. Cicero as consul had put to death Roman citizenswithout a trial. Cicero was to be called to answer for the illegalitybefore the sovereign people. The danger was unmistakable; and Caesar, whowas still in the suburbs making his preparations, invited Cicero to avoidit, by accompanying him as second in command into Gaul. The offer was madein unquestionable sincerity. Caesar may himself have created the situationto lay Cicero under a pressure, but he desired nothing so much as to takehim as his companion, and to attach him to himself. Cicero felt thecompliment and hesitated to refuse, but his pride again came in his way. Pompey assured him that not a hair of his head should be touched. WhyPompey gave him this encouragement Cicero could never afterwardsunderstand. The scenes in the theatres had also combined to mislead him, and he misread the disposition of the great body of citizens. He imaginedthat they would all start up in his defence, Senate, aristocracy, knights, commoners, and tradesmen. The world, he thought, looked back upon hisconsulship with as much admiration as he did himself, and was alwayscontrasting him with his successors. Never was mistake more profound. TheSenate, who had envied his talents and resented his assumption, nowdespised him as a trimmer. His sarcasms had made him enemies among thosewho acted with him politically. He had held aloof at the crisis ofCaesar's election and in the debates which followed, and therefore allsides distrusted him; while throughout the body of the people there was, as Caesar had foretold, a real and sustained resentment at the conduct ofthe Catiline affair. The final opinion of Rome was that the prisonersought to have been tried; and that they were not tried was attributed notunnaturally to a desire, on the part of the Senate, to silence an inquirywhich might have proved inconvenient. Thus suddenly out of a clear sky the thunder-clouds gathered over Cicero'shead. "Clodius, " says Dion Cassius, "had discovered that among thesenators Cicero was more feared than loved. There were few of them who hadnot been hit by his irony, or irritated by his presumption. " Those whomost agreed in what he had done were not ashamed to shuffle off upon himtheir responsibilities. Clodius, now omnipotent with the assembly at hisback, cleared the way by a really useful step; he carried a law abolishingthe impious form of declaring the heavens unfavorable when an inconvenientmeasure was to be stopped or delayed. Probably it formed a part of hisengagement with Caesar. The law may have been meant to actretrospectively, to prevent a question being raised on the interpellationsof Bibulus. This done, and without paying the Senate the respect of firstconsulting it, he gave notice that he would propose a vote to theassembly, to the effect that any person who had put to death a Romancitizen without trial, and without allowing him an appeal to the people, had violated the constitution of the State. Cicero was not named directly;every senator who had voted for the execution of Cethegus and Lentulus andtheir companions was as guilty as he; but it was known immediately thatCicero was the mark that was being aimed at; and Caesar at once renewedthe offer, which he made before, to take Cicero with him. Cicero, nowfrightened in earnest, still could not bring himself to owe his escape toCaesar. The Senate, ungrateful as they had been, put on mourning with anaffectation of dismay. The knights petitioned the consuls to interfere forCicero's protection. The consuls declined to receive their request. Caesaroutside the city gave no further sign. A meeting of the citizens was heldin the camp. Caesar's opinion was invited. He said that he had not changedhis sentiments. He had remonstrated at the time against the execution. Hedisapproved of it still, but he did not directly advise legislation uponacts that were past. Yet, though he did not encourage Clodius, he did notinterfere. He left the matter to the consuls, and one of them was his ownfather-in-law, and the other was Gabinius, once Pompey's favorite officer. Gabinius, Cicero thought, would respect Pompey's promise to him. To Pisohe made a personal appeal. He found him, he said afterwards, [9] ateleven in the morning, in his slippers, at a low tavern. Piso came out, reeking with wine, and excused himself by saying that his health requireda morning draught. Cicero attempted to receive his apology, and he stoodfor a while at the tavern door, till he could no longer bear the smell andthe foul language and expectorations of the consul. Hope in that quarterthere was none. Two days later the assembly was called to considerClodius's proposal. Piso was asked to say what he thought of the treatmentof the conspirators; he answered gravely, and, as Cicero described him, with one eye in his forehead, that he disapproved of cruelty. NeitherPompey nor his friends came to help. What was Cicero to do? Resist byforce? The young knights rallied about him eager for a fight, if he wouldbut give the word. Sometimes as he looked back in after-years he blamedhimself for declining their services, sometimes he took credit to himselffor refusing to be the occasion of bloodshed. [10] "I was too timid, " he said once; "I had the country with me, and I shouldhave stood firm. I had to do with a band of villains only, with twomonsters of consuls, and with the male harlot of rich buffoons, theseducer of his sister, the high-priest of adultery, a poisoner, a forger, an assassin, a thief. The best and bravest citizens implored me to standup to him. But I reflected that this Fury asserted that he was supportedby Pompey and Crassus and Caesar. Caesar had an army at the gates. Theother two could raise another army when they pleased; and when they knewthat their names were thus made use of, they remained silent. They werealarmed perhaps, because the laws which they had carried in the precedingyear were challenged by the new praetors, and were held by the Senate tobe invalid; and they were unwilling to alienate a popular tribune. "[11] And again elsewhere: "When I saw that the faction of Catiline was inpower, that the party which I had led, some from envy of myself, some fromfear for their own lives, had betrayed and deserted me; when the twoconsuls had been purchased by promises of provinces, and had gone over tomy enemies, and the condition of the bargain was that I was to bedelivered over, tied and bound, to my enemies; when the Senate and knightswere in mourning, but were not allowed to bring my cause before thepeople; when my blood had been made the seal of the arrangement underwhich the State had been disposed of; when I saw all this, although 'thegood' were ready to fight for me, and were willing to die for me, I wouldnot consent, because I saw that victory or defeat would alike bring ruinto the Commonwealth. The Senate was powerless. The Forum was ruled byviolence. In such a city there was no place for me. " [12] So Cicero, as he looked back afterwards, described the struggle in his ownmind. His friends had then rallied; Caesar was far away; and he could tellhis own story, and could pile his invectives on those who had injured him. His matchless literary power has given him exclusive command over thehistory of his time. His enemies' characters have been accepted from hispen as correct portraits. If we allow his description of Clodius and thetwo consuls to be true to the facts, what harder condemnation can bepronounced against a political condition in which such men as these couldbe raised to the first position in the State?[13] Dion says that Cicero'sresolution to yield did not wholly proceed from his own prudence, but wasassisted by advice from Cato and Hortensius the orator. Anyway, the blowfell, and he went down before the stroke. His immortal consulship, inpraise of which he had written a poem, brought after it the swiftretribution which Caesar had foretold. When the vote proposed by Clodiuswas carried, he fled to Sicily, with a tacit confession that he dared notabide his trial, which would immediately have followed. Sentence waspronounced upon him in his absence. His property was confiscated. Hishouses in town and country were razed. The site of his palace in Rome wasdedicated to the Goddess of Liberty, and he himself was exiled. He wasforbidden to reside within four hundred miles of Rome, with a threat ofdeath if he returned; and he retired to Macedonia, to pour out his sorrowsand his resentments in lamentations unworthy of a woman. [1] See a list of the Leges Juliae in the 48th Book of the Corpus Juris Civilis. [2] _To Atticus_, ii. 16. [3] "Tenemur undique, neque jam, quo minus serviamus, recusamus, sed mortem et ejectionem quasi majora timemus, quae multo sunt minora. Atque hic status, qui una voce omnium gemitur neque verbo cujusdam sublevatur. "--_To Atticus_, ii. 18. [4] "In concionem ascendit et Pompeium privatus dictatorem appellavit. Propius nihil est factum quam ut occideretur. "--Cicero, _Ad Quintum Fratrem_, i. 2. [5] _To Athens_, ii, 21. In this comparison Cicero betrays his naïve conviction that Pompey was indebted to him and to his praises for his reputation. Here, as always, Cicero was himself the centre round which all else revolved or ought to revolve. [6] _Ib_. [7] To Atticus, ii. 22. [8] "Jam familiariter cum illo etiam cavillor ac jocor. "--_To Atticus_, ii. 1. [9] _Oratio in L. Pisonem_. [10] He seems to have even thought of suicide. --_To Atticus_, iii. 9. [11] Abridged from the _Oratio pro P. Sextio_. [12] _Oratio post reditum ad Quirites_. [13] In a letter to his brother Quintus, written at a time when he did not know the real feelings of Caesar and Pompey, and had supposed that he had only to deal with Clodius, Cicero announced a distinct intention of resisting by force. He expected that the whole of Italy would be at his side. He said: "Si diem nobis Clodius dixerit, tota Italia concurret, ut multiplicatâ gloriâ discedamus. Sin autem vi agere conabitur, spero fore, studiis non solum amicorum, sedetiam alienorum, ut vi resistamus. Omnes et se et suos liberos, amicos, clientes, libertos, servos, pecunias denique suas pollicentur. Nostra antiqua manus bonorum ardet studio nostri atque amore. Si qui antea aut alieniores fuerant, ant languidiores, nunc horum regum odio se cum bonis conjungunt. Pompeius omnia pollicetur et Caesar, do quibus ita credo, ut nihil de meâ comparatione deminuam. "--_Ad Quintum Fratrem_, i. 2. CHAPTER XIV. From the fermentation of Roman politics, the passions of the Forum andSenate, the corrupt tribunals, the poisoned centre of the Empire, thestory passes beyond the frontier of Italy. We no longer depend for ouraccount of Caesar on the caricatures of rival statesmen. He now becomeshimself our guide. We see him in his actions and in the picture of hispersonal character which he has unconsciously drawn. Like all real greatmen, he rarely speaks of himself. He tells us little or nothing of, hisown feelings or his own purposes. Cicero never forgets his individuality. In every line that he wrote Cicero was attitudinizing for posterity, orreflecting on the effect of his conduct upon his interests or hisreputation. Caesar is lost in his work; his personality is scarcely morevisible than Shakespeare's. He was now forty-three years old. Hisabstemious habits had left his health unshaken. He was in the fullestvigor of mind and body, and it was well for him that his strength had notbeen undermined. He was going on an expedition which would makeextraordinary demands upon his energies. That he had not contemplatedoperations so extended as those which were forced upon him is evident fromthe nature of his preparations. His command in Further Gaul had been anafterthought, occasioned probably by news which had been received ofmovements in progress there during his consulship. Of the four legionswhich were allowed to him, one only was beyond the Alps; three were atAquileia. It was late in life for him to begin the trade of a soldier; andas yet, with the exception of his early service in Asia and a brief andlimited campaign in Spain when propraetor, he had no military experienceat all. His ambition hitherto had not pointed in that direction; nor is itlikely that a person of so strong an understanding would have contemplatedbeforehand the deliberate undertaking of the gigantic war into whichcircumstances immediately forced him. Yet he must have known that he hadto deal with a problem of growing difficulty. The danger to Italy frominroads across the Alps was perpetually before the minds of thoughtfulRoman statesmen. Events were at that moment taking place among the Gallictribes which gave point to the general uneasiness. And unwilling as theRomans were to extend their frontiers and their responsibilities in adirection so unknown and so unpromising, yet some interference either byarms or by authority beyond those existing limits was being pressed uponthem in self-defence. The Transalpine Gaul of Caesar was the country included between the Rhine, the ocean, the Pyrenees, the Mediterranean, and the Alps. Within theselimits, including Switzerland, there was at this time a population vaguelyestimated at six or seven millions. The Roman Province stretched along thecoast to the Spanish border; it was bounded on the north by the Cevennesmountains, and for some generations by the Isère; but it had been foundnecessary lately[1] to annex the territory of the Allobroges (Dauphineand Savoy), and the proconsular authority was now extended to within a fewmiles of Geneva. The rest was divided into three sections, inhabited byraces which, if allied, were distinctly different in language, laws, andinstitutions. The Aquitani, who were connected with the Spaniards orperhaps the Basques, held the country between the Pyrenees and theGaronne. The Belgae, whom Caesar believed to have been originally Germans, extended from the mouth of the Seine to the mouth of the Rhine, and inlandto the Marne and Moselle. The people whom the Romans meant especially whenthey spoke of Gauls occupied all the remainder. At one time the Celts hadprobably been masters of the whole of France, but had gradually yielded toencroachment. According to the Druids, they came out of darkness, _abDite Patre_; they called themselves Children of Night, counting time bynights instead of days, as we say fortnight and sennight. Comparison oflanguage has taught us that they were a branch of the great Aryan race, one of the first which rolled westward into Europe, before Greeks orLatins had been heard of. This once magnificent people was now in a state of change anddecomposition. On Aquitaine and Belgium Roman civilization had as yetproduced no effect. The severe habits of earlier generations remainedunchanged. The Gauls proper had yielded to contact with the Province andto intercourse with Italian traders. They had built towns and villages. They had covered the land with farms and homesteads. They had made roads. They had bridged their rivers, even such rivers as the Rhone and theLoire. They had amassed wealth, and had adopted habits of comparativeluxury, which, if it had not abated their disposition to fight, haddiminished their capacity for fighting. Their political and perhaps theirspiritual system was passing through analogous transformations. Theancient forms remained, but an altered spirit was working under them. Fromthe earliest antiquity they had been divided into tribes and sub-tribes:each tribe and sub-tribe being practically independent, or united only bycommon objects and a common sentiment of race. The rule was the rule ofthe strong, under the rudest forms of tribal organization. The chief waseither hereditary or elected, or won his command by the sword. The mass ofthe people were serfs. The best fighters were self-made nobles, under thechief's authority. Every man in the tribe was the chief's absolutesubject; the chief, in turn, was bound to protect the meanest of themagainst injury from without. War, on a large scale or a small, had beenthe occupation of their lives. The son was not admitted into his father'spresence till he was old enough to be a soldier. When the call to armswent out, every man of the required age was expected at the muster, andthe last comer was tortured to death in the presence of his comrades as alesson against backwardness. As the secular side of things bore a rude resemblance to feudalism, so onthe religious there was a similar anticipation of the mediaeval CatholicChurch. The Druids were not a special family, like the Levites, or in anyway born into the priesthood. They were an order composed of personsselected, when young, out of the higher ranks of the community, either forspeciality of intellect, or from disposition, or by the will of theirparents, or from a desire to avoid military service, from which the Druidswere exempt. There were no tribal distinctions among them. Their head-quarters were in Britain, to which those who aspired to initiation in themore profound mysteries repaired for instruction; but they were spreaduniversally over Gaul and the British Islands. They were the ministers ofpublic worship, the depositaries of knowledge, and the guardians of publicmorality. Young men repaired to the Druids for education. They taughttheology; they taught the movements of the stars. They presided in thecivil courts and determined questions of disputed inheritance. They heardcriminal cases and delivered judgment; and, as with the Church, theirheaviest and most dreaded punishment was excommunication. Theexcommunicated person lost his civil rights. He became an outlaw fromsociety, and he was excluded from participation in the sacrifices. In thereligious services the victims most acceptable to the gods were humanbeings--criminals, if such could be had; if not, then innocent persons, who were burnt to death in huge towers of wicker. In the Quemadero atSeville, as in our own Smithfield, the prisoners of the Church werefastened to stakes, and the sticks with which they were consumed were tiedinto fagots, instead of being plaited into basket-work. So slight adifference does not materially affect the likeness. The tribal chieftainship and the religious organization of the Druids wereboth of them inherited from antiquity. They were institutions descendingfrom the time when the Gauls had been a great people; but both hadoutlived the age to which they were adapted, and one at least wasapproaching its end. To Caesar's eye, coming new upon them, the Druidswere an established fact, presenting no sign of decay; but in Gaul, infected with Roman manners, they existed merely by habit, exercising noinfluence any longer over the hearts of the people. In the great strugglewhich was approaching we find no Druids among the national leaders, nospirit of religion inspiring and consecrating the efforts of patriotism. So far as can be seen, the Druids were on the Roman side, or the Romanshad the skill to conciliate them. In half a century they were suppressedby Augustus, and they and their excommunications, and their flamingwicker-works, had to be sought for in distant Britain or in the still moredistant Ireland. The active and secular leadership could not disappear soeasily. Leaders of some kind were still required and inevitably found, butthe method of selection in the times which had arrived was silentlychanging. While the Gallic nation retained, or desired to retain, a kindof unity, some one of the many tribes had always been allowed a hegemony. The first place had rested generally with the aedui, a considerable peoplewho occupied the central parts of France, between the Upper Loire and theSaône. The Romans, anxious naturally to extend their influence in thecountry without direct interference, had taken the aedui under theirprotectorate. The aedui again had their clients in the inferior tribes;and a Romano-aeduan authority of a shadowy kind had thus penetratedthrough the whole nation. But the aeduans had rivals and competitors in the Sequani, anotherpowerful body in Burgundy and Franche-Comté. If the Romans feared, theGauls, the Gauls in turn feared the Romans; and a national party hadformed itself everywhere, especially among the younger men, who were proudof their independence, impatient of foreign control, and determined tomaintain the liberties which had descended to them. To these the Sequanioffered themselves as champions. Among the aedui too there were fieryspirits who cherished the old traditions, and saw in the Roman alliance aprelude to annexation. And thus it was that when Caesar was appointed toGaul, in every tribe and every sub-tribe, in every village and everyfamily, there were two factions, [2] each under its own captain, eachstruggling for supremacy, each conspiring and fighting among themselves, and each seeking or leaning upon external support. In many, if not in all, of the tribes there was a senate, or counsel of elders, and these appearalmost everywhere to have been aeduan and Roman in their sympathies. TheSequani, as the representatives of nationalism, knowing that they couldnot stand alone, had looked for friends elsewhere. The Germans had long turned covetous eyes upon the rich cornfields andpastures from which the Rhine divided them. The Cimbri and Teutons hadbeen but the vanguard of a multitude who were eager to follow. The fate ofthese invaders had checked the impulse for half a century, but the lessonwas now forgotten. Ariovistus, a Bavarian prince, who spoke Gaelic like anative, and had probably long meditated conquest, came over into Franche-Comté at the invitation of the Sequani, bringing his people with him. Thefew thousand families which were first introduced had been followed byfresh detachments; they had attacked and beaten the aedui, out of whoseterritories they intended to carve a settlement for themselves. They hadtaken hostages from them, and had broken down their authority, and thefaction of the Sequani was now everywhere in the ascendant. The aedui, three years before Caesar came, had appealed to Rome for assistance, andthe Senate had promised that the Governor of Gaul should support them. TheRomans, hoping to temporize with the danger, had endeavored to conciliateAriovistus, and in the year of Caesar's consulship had declared him afriend of the Roman people. Ariovistus, in turn, had pressed the aeduistill harder, and had forced them to renounce the Roman alliance. Amongthe aedui, and throughout the country, the patriots were in the ascendant, and Ariovistus and his Germans were welcomed as friends and deliverers. Thoughtful persons in Rome had heard of these doings with uneasiness; anold aeduan chief had gone in person thither, to awaken the Senate to thegrowing peril; but the Senate had been too much occupied with its fears ofCaesar, and agrarian laws, and dangers to the fish-ponds, to attend; andnow another great movement had begun, equally alarming and still closer tothe Roman border. The Helvetii were old enemies. They were a branch of the Celtic race, whooccupied modern Switzerland, hardy, bold mountaineers, and seasoned inconstant war with their German neighbors. On them, too, the tide ofmigration from the north had pressed continuously. They had hithertodefended themselves successfully, but they were growing weary of theseconstant efforts. Their numbers were increasing, and their narrow valleyswere too strait for them. They also had heard of fertile, scantily peopledlands in other parts, of which they could possess themselves by force ortreaty, and they had already shown signs of restlessness. Many thousandsof them had broken out at the time of the Cimbrian invasion. They haddefeated Cassius Longinus, who was then consul, near their own border, andhad annihilated his army. They had carried fire and sword down the leftbank of the Rhone. They had united themselves with the Teutons, and hadintended to accompany them into Italy. Their first enterprise failed. Theyperished in the great battle at Aix, and the parent tribe had remainedquiet for forty years till a new generation had grown to manhood. Oncemore their ambition had revived. Like the Germans, they had formedfriendships among the Gallic factions. Their reputation as warriors madethem welcome to the patriots. In a fight for independence they would forma valuable addition to the forces of their countrymen. They had alliesamong the Sequani; they had allies in the anti-Roman party which had risenamong the Aedui; and a plan had been formed in concert with their friendsfor a migration to the shores of the Bay of Biscay between the mouths ofthe Garonne and the Loire. The Cimbri and Teutons had passed away, but theease with which the Cimbri had made the circuit of these districts hadshown how slight resistance could be expected from the inhabitants. Perhaps their coming had been anticipated and prepared for. The older menamong the Helvetii had discouraged the project when it was first mooted, but they had yielded to eagerness and enthusiasm, and it had taken at lasta practical form. Double harvests had been raised; provision had been madeof food and transport for a long march; and a complete exodus of theentire tribe with their wives and families had been finally resolved on. If the Helvetii deserted Switzerland, the cantons would be immediatelyoccupied by Germans, and a road would be opened into the province for theenemy whom the Romans had most reason to dread. The distinction betweenGermans and Gauls was not accurately known at Rome. They were confoundedunder the common name of Celts[3] or Barbarians. But they formedtogether an ominous cloud charged with forces of uncertain magnitude, butof the reality of which Italy had already terrible experience. Divitiacus, chief of the Aedui, who had carried to Rome the news of the inroads ofAriovistus, brought again in person thither the account of this freshperil. Every large movement of population suggested the possibility of afresh rush across the Alps. Little energy was to be expected from theSenate. But the body of the citizens were still sound at heart. Theirlives and properties were at stake, and they could feel for the dignity ofthe Empire. The people had sent Pompey to crush the pirates and conquerMithridates. The people now looked to Caesar, and instead of the "woodsand forests" which the Senate designed for him, they had given him a fiveyears' command on their western frontier. The details of the problem before him Caesar had yet to learn, but withits general nature he must have intimately acquainted himself. Of coursehe had seen and spoken with Divitiacus. He was consul when Ariovistus wasmade "a friend of the Roman people. " He must have been aware, therefore, of the introduction of the Germans over the Rhine. He could not tell whathe might have first to do. There were other unpleasant symptoms on theside of Illyria and the Danube. From either quarter the storm might breakupon him. No Roman general was ever sent upon an enterprise so fraughtwith complicated possibilities, and few with less experience of therealities of war. The points in his favor were these. He was the ablest Roman then living, and he had the power of attracting and attaching the ablest men to hisservice. He had five years in which to look about him and to act atleisure--as much time as had been given to Pompey for the East. LikePompey, too, he was left perfectly free. No senatorial officials couldencumber him with orders from home. The people had given him his command, and to the people alone he was responsible. Lastly, and beyond everything, he could rely with certainty on the material with which he had to work. The Roman legionaries were no longer yeomen taken from the plough orshopkeepers from the street. They were men more completely trained inevery variety of accomplishment than have perhaps ever followed a generalinto the field before or since. It was not enough that they could usesword and lance. The campaign on which Caesar was about to enter wasfought with spade and pick and axe and hatchet. Corps of engineers he mayhave had; but if the engineers designed the work, the execution lay withthe army. No limited department would have been equal to the tasks whichevery day demanded. On each evening after a march, a fortified camp was tobe formed, with mound and trench, capable of resisting surprises, anddemanding the labor of every single hand. Bridges had to be thrown overrivers. Ships and barges had to be built or repaired, capable of serviceagainst an enemy, on a scale equal to the requirements of an army, and ina haste which permitted no delay. A transport service there must have beenorganized to perfection; but there were no stores sent from Italy tosupply the daily waste of material. The men had to mend and perhaps maketheir own clothes and shoes, and repair their own arms. Skill in the useof tools was not enough without the tools themselves. Had the spades andmattocks been supplied by contract, had the axes been of soft iron, fairto the eye and failing to the stroke, not a man in Caesar's army wouldhave returned to Rome to tell the tale of its destruction. How thelegionaries acquired these various arts, whether the Italian peasantrywere generally educated in such occupations, or whether on this occasionthere was a special selection of the best, of this we have no information. Certain only it was that men and instruments were as excellent in theirkind as honesty and skill could make them; and, however degenerate thepatricians and corrupt the legislature, there was sound stuff somewhere inthe Roman constitution. No exertion, no forethought on the part of acommander could have extemporized such a variety of qualities. Universalpractical accomplishments must have formed part of the training of thefree Roman citizens. Admirable workmanship was still to be had in eachdepartment of manufacture, and every article with which Caesar wasprovided must have been the best of its kind. The first quarter of the year 58 was consumed in preparations. Caesar'santagonists in the Senate were still raving against the acts of hisconsulship, threatening him with impeachment for neglecting Bibulus'sinterpellations, charging him with impiety for disregarding the weather, and clamoring for the suppression of his command. But Cicero's banishmentdamped the ardor of these gentlemen; after a few vicious efforts, theysubsided into sullenness, and trusted to Ariovistus or the Helvetii torelieve them of their detested enemy. Caesar himself selected hisofficers. Cicero having declined to go as his lieutenant, he had chosenLabienus, who had acted with him, when tribune, in the prosecution ofRabirius, and had procured him the pontificate by giving the election tothe people. Young men of rank in large numbers had forgotten partyfeeling, and had attached themselves to the expedition as volunteers tolearn military experience. His own equipments were of the simplest. Nocommon soldier was more careless of hardships than Caesar. His chiefluxury was a favorite horse, which would allow no one but Caesar to mounthim; a horse which had been bred in his own stables, and, from thepeculiarity of a divided hoof, had led the augurs to foretell wonders forthe rider of it. His arrangements were barely completed when news came inthe middle of March that the Helvetii were burning their towns andvillages, gathering their families into their wagons, and were upon thepoint of commencing their emigration. Their numbers, according to aregister which was found afterward, were 368, 000, of whom 92, 000 werefighting men. They were bound for the West; and there were two roads, byone or other of which alone they could leave their country. One was on theright bank of the Rhone by the Pas de l'Ecluse, a pass between the Juramountains and the river, so narrow that but two carts could go abreastalong it; the other, and easier, was through Savoy, which was now Roman. Under any aspect the transit of so vast a body through Roman territorycould not but be dangerous. Savoy was the very ground on which Longinushad been destroyed. Yet it was in this direction that the Helvetii werepreparing to pass, and would pass unless they were prevented; while in thewhole Transalpine province there was but a single legion to oppose them. Caesar started on the instant. He reached Marseilles in a few days, joinedhis legion, collected a few levies in the Province, and hurried to Geneva. Where the river leaves the lake there was a bridge which the Helvetii hadneglected to occupy. Caesar broke it, and thus secured a breathing time. The Helvetii, who were already on the move and were assembling in force afew miles off, sent to demand a passage. If it was refused, there was morethan one spot between the lake and the Pas de l'Ecluse where the rivercould be forded. The Roman force was small, and Caesar postponed hisreply. It was the 1st of April; he promised an answer on the 15th. In theinterval he threw up forts, dug trenches, and raised walls at every pointwhere a passage could be attempted; and when the time was expired, hedeclined to permit them to enter the Province. They tried to ford; theytried boats; but at every point they were driven back. It remained forthem to go by the Pas de l'Ecluse. For this route they required theconsent of the Sequani; and, however willing the Sequani might be to seethem in their neighbors' territories, they might object to the presence intheir own of such a flight of devouring locusts. Evidently, however, therewas some general scheme, of which the entry of the Helvetii into Gaul wasthe essential part; and through the mediation of Dumnorix, an Aeduan andan ardent patriot, the Sequani were induced to agree. The Province had been saved, but the exodus of the enormous multitudecould no longer be prevented. If such waves of population were allowed towander at pleasure, it was inevitable that sooner or later they wouldoverflow the borders of the Empire. Caesar determined to show, at once andperemptorily, that these movements would not be permitted without theRomans' consent. Leaving Labienus to guard the forts on the Rhone, hehurried back to Italy, gathered up his three legions at Aquileia, raisedtwo more at Turin with extreme rapidity, and returned with them by theshortest route over the Mont Genèvre. The mountain tribes attacked him, but could not even delay his march. In seven days he had surmounted thepasses, and was again with Labienus. The Helvetii, meanwhile, had gone through the Pas de l'Ecluse, and werenow among the Aedui, laying waste the country. It was early in the summer. The corn was green, the hay was still uncut, and the crops were beingeaten off the ground. The Aedui threw themselves on the promisedprotection of Rome. Caesar crossed the Rhone above Lyons, and came up withthe marauding hosts as they were leisurely passing in boats over theSaône. They had been twenty days upon the river, transporting their wagonsand their families. Three quarters of them were on the other side. TheTigurini from Zurich, the most warlike of their tribes, were still on theleft bank. The Tigurini had destroyed the army of Longinus, and on themthe first retribution fell. Caesar cut them to pieces. A single daysufficed to throw a bridge over the Saône, and the Helvetii, who hadlooked for nothing less than to be pursued by six Roman legions, beggedfor peace. They were willing, they said, to go to any part of the countrywhich Caesar would assign to them; and they reminded him that they mightbe dangerous if pushed to extremities. Caesar knew that they weredangerous. He had followed them because he knew it. He said that they mustreturn the way that they had come. They must pay for the injuries whichthey had inflicted on the Aedui, and they must give him hostages for theirobedience. The fierce mountaineers replied that they had been more used todemand hostages than to give them; and confident in their numbers, and intheir secret allies among the Gauls, they marched on through the Aeduanterritories up the level banks of the Saône, thence striking west towardAutun. Caesar had no cavalry; but every Gaul could ride, and he raised a fewthousand horse among his supposed allies. These he meant to employ toharass the Helvetian march; but they were secret traitors, under theinfluence of Dumnorix, and they fled at the first encounter. The Helvetiihad thus the country at their mercy, and they laid it waste as they went, a day's march in advance of the Romans. So long as they kept by the river, Caesar's stores accompanied him in barges. He did not choose to let theHelvetii out of his sight, and when they left the Saône, and when he wasobliged to follow, his provisions ran short. He applied to the Aeduanchiefs, who promised to furnish him, but they failed to do it. Ten dayspassed, and no supplies came in. He ascertained at last that there wastreachery. Dumnorix and other Aeduan leaders were in correspondence withthe enemy. The cavalry defeat and the other failures were thus explained. Caesar, who trusted much to gentleness and to personal influence, wasunwilling to add the Aeduii to his open enemies. Dumnorix was the brotherof Divitiacus, the reigning chief, whom Caesar had known in Rome. Divitiacus was sent for, confessed with tears his brother's misdeeds, andbegged that he might be forgiven. Dumnorix was brought in. Caesar showedthat he was aware of his conduct; but spoke kindly to him, and cautionedhim for the future. The corn-carts, however, did not appear; suppliescould not be dispensed with; and the Romans, leaving the Helvetii, struckoff to Bibracte, on Mont Beauvray, the principal Aeduan town in thehighlands of Nivernais. Unfortunately for themselves, the Helvetii thoughtthe Romans were flying, and became in turn the pursuers. They gave Caesaran opportunity, and a single battle ended them and their migrations. Theengagement lasted from noon till night. The Helvetii fought gallantly, andin numbers were enormously superior; but the contest was between skill andcourage, sturdy discipline and wild valor; and it concluded as suchcontests always must. In these hand-to-hand engagements there were nowounded. Half the fighting men of the Swiss were killed; their camp wasstormed; the survivors, with the remnant of the women and children, orsuch of them as were capable of moving (for thousands had perished, andlittle more than a third remained of those who had left Switzerland), straggled on to Langres, where they surrendered. Caesar treated the poorcreatures with kindness and care. A few were settled in Gaul, where theyafterward did valuable service. The rest were sent back to their owncantons, lest the Germans should take possession of their lands; and lestthey should starve in the homes which they had desolated before theirdeparture, they were provided with food out of the Province till theirnext crops were grown. A victory so complete and so unexpected astonished the whole country. Thepeace party recovered the ascendency. Envoys came from all the Gaulishtribes to congratulate, and a diet of chiefs was held under Caesar'spresidency, where Gaul and Roman seemed to promise one another eternalfriendship. As yet, however, half the mischief only had been dealt with, and that the lighter part. The Helvetii were disposed of, but the Germansremained; and till Ariovistus was back across the Rhone, no permanentpeace was possible. Hitherto Caesar had only received vague informationabout Ariovistus. When the diet was over, such of the chiefs as weresincere in their professions came to him privately and explained what theGermans were about. A hundred and twenty thousand of them were now settlednear Belfort, and between the Vosges and the Rhine, with the connivance ofthe Sequani. More were coming, and in a short time Gaul would be full ofthem. They had made war on the Aedui; they were in correspondence with theanti-Roman factions; their object was the permanent occupation of thecountry. Two months still remained of summer. Caesar was now conveniently near tothe German positions. His army was in high spirits from its victory, andhe himself was prompt in forming resolutions and swift in executing them. An injury to the Aedui could be treated as an injury to the Romans, whichit would be dishonor to pass over. If the Germans were allowed to overrunGaul, they might soon be seen again in Italy. Ariovistus was a "friend of Rome. " Caesar had been himself a party to theconferring this distinction upon him. As a friend, therefore, he was inthe first instance to be approached. Caesar sent to invite him to aconference. Ariovistus, it seemed, set small value upon his honors. Hereplied that if he needed anything from Caesar, he would go to Caesar andask for it. If Caesar required anything from him, Caesar might do thesame. Meanwhile Caesar was approaching a part of Gaul which belonged tohimself by right of conquest, and he wished to know the meaning of thepresence of a Roman army there. After such an answer, politeness ceased to be necessary. Caesar rejoinedthat since Ariovistus estimated so lightly his friendship with the Romansas to refuse an amicable meeting, he would inform him briefly of hisdemands upon him. The influx of Germans on the Rhine must cease: no moremust come in. He must restore the hostages which he had taken from theAedui, and do them no further hurt. If Ariovistus complied, the Romanswould continue on good terms with him. If not, he said that by a decree ofthe Senate the Governor of Gaul was ordered to protect the Aedui, and heintended to do it. Ariovistus answered that he had not interfered with the Romans; and theRomans had no right to interfere with him. Conquerors treated theirsubjects as they pleased. The Aedui had begun the quarrel with him. Theyhad been defeated, and were now his vassals. If Caesar chose to comebetween him and his subjects, he would have an opportunity of seeing howGermans could fight who had not for fourteen years slept under a roof. It was reported that a large body of Suevi were coming over the Rhine toswell Ariovistus's force, and that Ariovistus was on the point ofadvancing to seize Besançon. Besançon was a position naturally strong, being surrounded on three sides by the Doubs. It was full of militarystores, and was otherwise important for the control of the Sequani. Caesaradvanced swiftly and took possession of the place, and announced that hemeant to go and look for Ariovistus. The army so far had gained brilliant successes, but the men were not yetfully acquainted with the nature of their commander. They had never yetlooked Germans in the face, and imagination magnifies the unknown. Romanmerchants and the Gauls of the neighborhood brought stories of thegigantic size and strength of these northern warriors. The glare of theireyes was reported to be so fierce that it could not be borne. They werewild, wonderful, and dreadful. Young officers, patricians and knights, whohad followed Caesar for a little mild experience, began to dislike thenotion of these new enemies. Some applied for leave of absence; others, though ashamed to ask to be allowed to leave the army, cowered in theirtents with sinking hearts, made their wills, and composed last messagesfor their friends. The centurions caught the alarm from their superiors, and the legionaries from the centurions. To conceal their fear of theGermans, the men discovered that, if they advanced farther, it would bethrough regions where provisions could not follow them, and that theywould be starved in the forests. At length, Caesar was informed that if hegave the order to march, the army would refuse to move. Confident in himself, Caesar had the power, so indispensable for asoldier, of inspiring confidence in others as soon as they came to knowwhat he was. He called his officers together. He summoned the centurions, and rebuked them sharply for questioning his purposes. The German king, hesaid, had been received at his own request into alliance with the Romans, and there was no reason to suppose that he meant to break with them. Mostlikely he would do what was required of him. If not, was it to beconceived that they were afraid? Marius had beaten these same Germans. Even the Swiss had beaten them. They were no more formidable than otherbarbarians. They might trust their commander for the commissariat. Theharvest was ripe, and the difficulties were nothing. As to the refusal tomarch, he did not believe in it. Romans never mutinied, save through therapacity or incompetence of their general. His life was a witness that hewas not rapacious, and his victory over the Helvetii that as yet he hadmade no mistake. He should order the advance on the next evening, and itwould then be seen whether sense of duty or cowardice was the stronger. Ifothers declined, Caesar said that he should go forward alone with thelegion which he knew would follow him, the 10th, which was already hisfavorite. The speech was received with enthusiasm. The 10th thanked Caesar for hiscompliment to them. The rest, officers and men, declared their willingnessto follow wherever he might lead them. He started with Divitiacus for aguide; and, passing Belfort, came in seven days to Cernay or to some pointnear it. Ariovistus was now but four-and-twenty miles from him. SinceCaesar had come so far, Ariovistus said that he was willing to meet him. Day and place were named, the conditions being that the armies shouldremain in their ranks, and that Caesar and he might each bring a guard ofhorse to the interview. He expected that Caesar would be contented with anescort of the Aeduan cavalry. Caesar, knowing better than to trust himselfwith Gauls, mounted his 10th legion, and with them proceeded to the spotwhich Ariovistus had chosen. It was a tumulus, in the centre of a largeplain equidistant from the two camps. The guard on either side remainedtwo hundred paces in the rear. The German prince and the Roman general meton horseback at the mound, each accompanied by ten of his followers. Caesar spoke first and fairly. He reminded Ariovistus of his obligationsto the Romans. The Aedui, he said, had from immemorial time been theleading tribe in Gaul. The Romans had an alliance with them of oldstanding, and never deserted their friends. He required Ariovistas todesist from attacking them, and to return their hostages. He consentedthat the Germans already across the Rhine might remain in Gaul, but hedemanded a promise that no more should be brought over. Ariovistus haughtily answered that he was a great king; that he had comeinto Gaul by the invitation of the Gauls themselves; that the territorywhich he occupied was a gift from them; and that the hostages of whichCaesar spoke had remained with him with their free consent. The Aedui, hesaid, had begun the war, and, being defeated, were made justly to payforfeit. He had sought the friendship of the Romans, expecting to profitby it. If friendship meant the taking away his subjects from him, hedesired no more of such friendship. The Romans had their Province. It wasenough for them, and they might remain there unmolested. But Caesar'spresence so far beyond his own borders was a menace to his ownindependence, and his independence he intended to maintain. Caesar must goaway out of those parts, or he and his Germans would know how to deal withhim. Then, speaking perhaps more privately, he told Caesar that he knewsomething of Rome and of the Roman Senate, and had learnt how the greatpeople there stood affected toward the Governor of Gaul. Certain membersof the Roman aristocracy had sent him messages to say that if he killedCaesar they would hold it a good service done, [4] and wouldhold him their friend forever. He did not wish, he said, to bind himselfto these noble persons. He would prefer Caesar rather; and would fightCaesar's battles for him anywhere in the world if Caesar would but retireand leave him. Ariovistus was misled, not unnaturally, by these strangecommunications from the sovereign rulers of the Empire. He did not know, he could not know, that the genius of Rome and the true chief of Rome werenot in the treacherous Senate, but were before him there on the field inthe persons of Caesar and his legions. More might have passed between them; but Ariovistus thought to end theconference by a stroke of treachery. His German guard had stolen round towhere the Romans stood, and, supposing that they had Gauls to deal with, were trying to surround and disarm them. The men of the 10th legion stoodfirm; Caesar fell back and joined them, and, contenting themselves withsimply driving off the enemy, they rode back to the camp. [Sidenote: B. C. 57. ]The army was now passionate for an engagement. Ariovistus affected adesire for further communication, and two officers were despatched to hearwhat he had to say; but they were immediately seized and put in chains, and the Germans advanced to within a few miles of the Roman outposts. TheRomans lay entrenched near Cernay. The Germans were at Colmar. Caesaroffered battle, which Ariovistus declined. Cavalry fights happened dailywhich led to nothing. Caesar then formed a second camp, smaller butstrongly fortified, within sight of the enemy, and threw two legions intoit. Ariovistus attacked them, but he was beaten back with loss. The "wisewomen" advised him to try no more till the new moon. But Caesar would notwait for the moon, and forced an engagement. The wives and daughters ofthe Germans rushed about their camp, with streaming hair, adjuring theircountrymen to save them from slavery. The Germans fought like heroes; butthey could not stand against the short sword and hand-to-hand grapple ofthe legionaries. Better arms and better discipline again asserted thesuperiority; and in a few hours the invaders were flying wildly to theRhine. Young Publius Crassus, the son of the millionaire, pursued withthe cavalry. A few swam the river; a few, Ariovistus among them, escapedin boats; all the rest, men and women alike, were cut down and killed. TheSuevi, who were already on the Rhine, preparing to cross, turned back intotheir forests; and the two immediate perils which threatened the peace ofGaul had been encountered and trampled out in a single summer. The firstcampaign was thus ended. The legions were distributed in winter quartersamong the Sequani, the contrivers of the mischief; and Labienus was leftin charge of them. Caesar went back over the Alps to the Cisalpinedivision of the Province to look into the administration and tocommunicate with his friends in Rome. In Gaul there was outward quiet; but the news of the Roman victoriespenetrated the farthest tribes and agitated the most distant households onthe shores of the North Sea. The wintering of the legions beyond theprovince was taken to indicate an intention of permanent conquest. TheGauls proper were divided and overawed; but the Belgians of the north werenot prepared to part so easily with their liberty. The Belgians consideredthat they too were menaced, and that now or never was the time to strikefor their independence. They had not been infected with Roman manners. They had kept the merchants from their borders with their foreignluxuries. The Nervii, the fiercest of them, as the abstemious Caesar markswith approbation, were water-drinkers, and forbade wine to be broughtamong them, as injurious to their sinews and their courage. Caesar learntwhile in Italy from Labienus that the Belgae were mustering and combining. A second vast horde of Germans were in Flanders and Artois; men of thesame race with the Belgae and in active confederacy with them. They mighthave been left in peace, far off as they were, had they sat still; but thenotes of their preparations were sounding through the country and feedingthe restless spirit which was stunned but not subdued. Caesar, on his own responsibility, raised two more legions and sent themacross the Alps in the spring. When the grass began to grow he followedhimself. Suddenly, before any one looked for him, he was on the Marne withhis army. The Remi (people of Rheims), startled by his unexpectedappearance, sent envoys with their submission and offers of hostages. Theother Belgian tribes, they said, were determined upon war, and werecalling all their warriors under arms. Their united forces were reportedto amount to 300, 000. The Bellovaci from the mouth of the Seine had sent60, 000; the Suessiones from Soissons 50, 000; the Nervii, between theSambre and the Scheldt, 50, 000; Arras and Amiens, 25, 000; the coasttribes, 36, 000; and the tribes between the Ardennes and the Rhine, calledcollectively Germani, 40, 000 more. This irregular host was gathered in theforests between Laon and Soissons. Caesar did not wait for them to move. He advanced at once to Rheims, wherehe called the Senate together and encouraged them to be constant to theRoman alliance. He sent a party of Aedui down the Seine to harass theterritory of the Bellovaci and recall them to their own defence; and hewent on himself to the Aisne, which he crossed by a bridge alreadyexisting at Berry-au-Bac. There, with the bridge and river at his back, heformed an entrenched camp of extraordinary strength, with a wall 12 feethigh and a fosse 22 feet deep. Against an attack with modern artillerysuch defences would, of course, be idle. As the art of war then stood, they were impregnable. In this position Caesar waited, leaving six cohortson the left bank to guard the other end of the bridge. The Belgae cameforward and encamped in his front. Their watch-fires at night were seenstretching along a line eight miles wide. Caesar, after feeling his waywith his cavalry, found a rounded ridge projecting like a promontory intothe plain where the Belgian host was lying. On this he advanced hislegions, protecting his flanks with continuous trenches and earthworks, onwhich were placed heavy cross-bows, the ancient predecessors of cannon. Between these lines, if he attacked the enemy and failed, he had a secureretreat. A marsh lay between the armies; and each waited for the other tocross. The Belgians, impatient of delay, flung themselves suddenly on oneside and began to pour across the river, intending to destroy the cohortson the other bank, to cut the bridge, and burn and plunder among the Remi. Caesar calmly sent back his cavalry and his archers and slingers. Theycaught the enemy in the water or struggling out of it in confusion; allwho had got over were killed; multitudes were slaughtered in the river;others, trying to cross on the bodies of their comrades, were driven back. The confederates, shattered at a single defeat, broke up like an explodedshell. Their provisions had run short. They melted away and dispersed totheir homes, Labienus pursuing and cutting down all that he couldovertake. The Roman loss was insignificant in this battle. The most remarkablefeature in Caesar's campaigns, and that which indicates most clearly hisgreatness as a commander, was the smallness of the number of men that heever lost, either by the sword or by wear and tear. No general was ever socareful of his soldiers' lives. Soissons, a fortified Belgian town, surrendered the next day. FromSoissons Caesar marched on Breteuil and thence on Amiens, whichsurrendered also. The Bellovaci sent in their submission, the leaders ofthe war party having fled to Britain. Caesar treated them all withscrupulous forbearance, demanding nothing but hostages for their futuregood behavior. His intention at this time was apparently not to annex anyof these tribes to Rome, but to settle the country in a quasi-independenceunder an Aeduan hegemony. But the strongest member of the confederacy was still unsubdued. Thehardy, brave, and water-drinking Nervii remained defiant. The Nervii wouldsend no envoys; they would listen to no terms of peace. [5] Caesarlearnt that they were expecting to be joined by the Aduatuci, a tribe ofpure Germans, who had been left behind near Liége at the time of theinvasion of the Teutons. Preferring to engage them separately, he marchedfrom Amiens through Cambray, and sent forward some officers and pioneersto choose a spot for a camp on the Sambre. Certain Gauls, who had observedhis habits on march, deserted to the Nervii, and informed them thatusually a single legion went in advance, the baggage-wagons followed, andthe rest of the army came in the rear. By a sudden attack in front theycould overwhelm the advanced troops, plunder the carts, and escape beforethey could be overtaken. It happened that on this occasion the order wasreversed. The country was enclosed with thick fences, which required to becut through. Six legions marched in front, clearing a road; the carts camenext, and two legions behind. The site selected by the officers was on theleft bank of the Sambre at Maubeuge, fifty miles above Namur. The groundsloped easily down to the river, which was there about a yard in depth. There was a corresponding rise on the other side, which was denselycovered with wood. In this wood the whole force of the Nervii layconcealed, a few only showing themselves on the water side. Caesar's lighthorse which had gone forward, seeing a mere handful of stragglers, rodethrough the stream and skirmished with them; but the enemy retired undercover; the horse did not pursue; the six legions came up, and, notdreaming of the nearness of the enemy, laid aside their arms and went towork intrenching with spade and mattock. The baggage-wagons beganpresently to appear at the crest of the hill, the signal for which theNervii had waited; and in a moment all along the river sixty thousand ofthem rushed out of the forest, sent the cavalry flying, and came on soimpetuously that, as Caesar said, they seemed to be in the wood, in thewater, and up the opposite bank at sword's point with the legions at thesame moment. The surprise was complete: the Roman army was in confusion. Many of the soldiers were scattered at a distance, cutting turf. None werein their ranks, and none were armed. Never in all his campaigns was Caesarin greater danger. He could himself give no general orders which there wastime to observe. Two points only, he said, were in his favor. The menthemselves were intelligent and experienced, and knew what they had to do;and the officers were all present, because he had directed that none ofthem should leave their companies till the camp was completed. The troopswere spread loosely in their legions along the brow of the ridge. Caesarjoined the 10th on his right wing, and had but time to tell the men to becool and not to agitate themselves, when the enemy were upon them. Sosudden was the onslaught that they could neither put their helmets on, norstrip the coverings from their shields, nor find their places in theranks. They fought where they stood among thick hedges which obstructedthe sight of what was passing elsewhere. Though the Aduatuci had not comeup, the Nervii had allies with them from Arras and the Somme. The alliesencountered the 8th, 9th, 10th, and 11th legions, and were driven rapidlyback down the hill through the river. The Romans, led by Labienus, crossedin pursuit, followed them into the forest, and took their camp. The Nerviimeanwhile flung themselves with all their force on the two legions on theleft, the 12th and 7th, enveloped them with their numbers, penetratedbehind them, and fell upon the baggage-wagons. The light troops and thecamp-followers fled in all directions. The legionaries, crowded togetherin confusion, were fighting at disadvantage, and were falling thick andfast. A party of horse from Trèves, who had come to treat with Caesar, thought that all was lost, and rode off to tell their countrymen that theRomans were destroyed. Caesar, who was in the other wing, learning late what was going on, hurried to the scene. He found the standards huddled together, the menpacked so close that they could not use their swords, almost all theofficers killed or wounded, and one of the best of them, Sextius Baculus(Caesar always paused in his narrative to note any one who speciallydistinguished himself), scarce able to stand. Caesar had come up unarmed. He snatched a shield from a soldier, and, bareheaded, flew to the front. He was known; he addressed the centurions by their names. He bade themopen their ranks and give the men room to strike. His presence and hiscalmness gave them back their confidence. In the worst extremities heobserves that soldiers will fight well under their commander's eye. Thecohorts formed into order. The enemy was checked. The two legions from therear, who had learnt the danger from the flying camp-followers, came up. Labienus, from the opposite hill, saw what had happened, and sent the 10thlegion back. All was now changed. The fugitives, ashamed of theircowardice, rallied, and were eager to atone for it. The Nervii fought witha courage which filled Caesar with admiration--men of greater spirit hesaid that he had never seen. As their first ranks fell, they piled thebodies of their comrades into heaps, and from the top of them hurled backthe Roman javelins. They would not fly; they dropped where they stood; andthe battle ended only with their extermination. Out of 600 senators theresurvived but three; out of 60, 000 men able to bear arms, only 500. Theaged of the tribe, and the women and children, who had been left in themorasses for security, sent in their surrender, their warriors being alldead. They professed to fear lest they might be destroyed by neighboringclans who were on bad terms with them. Caesar received them and protectedthem, and gave severe injunctions that they should suffer no injury. By the victory over the Nervii the Belgian confederacy was almostextinguished. The German Aduatuci remained only to be brought tosubmission. They had been on their way to join their countrymen; they weretoo late for the battle, and returned and shut themselves up in Namur, thestrongest position in the Low Countries. Caesar, after a short rest, pushed on and came under their walls. The Aduatuci were a race of giants, and were at first defiant. When they saw the Romans' siege-towers inpreparation, they could not believe that men so small could move such vastmachines. When the towers began to approach, they lost heart and sued forterms. Caesar promised to spare their lives and properties if theysurrendered immediately, but he refused to grant conditions. They hadprayed to be allowed to keep their arms; affecting to believe, like theNervii, that they would be in danger from the Gauls if they were unable todefend themselves. Caesar undertook that they should have no hurt, but heinsisted that their arms must be given up. They affected obedience. Theyflung their swords and lances over the walls till the ditch was filledwith them. They opened their gates; the Romans occupied them, but wereforbidden to enter, that there might be no plundering. It seems that therewas a desperate faction among the Aduatuci who had been for fighting toextremity. A third part of the arms had been secretly reserved, and aftermidnight the tribe sallied with all their force, hoping to catch theRomans sleeping. Caesar was not to be surprised a second time. Expectingthat some such attempt might be made, he had prepared piles of fagots inconvenient places. These bonfires were set blazing in an instant. By theirred light the legions formed; and, after a desperate but unequal combat, the Germans were driven into the town again, leaving 4, 000 dead. In themorning the gates were broken down, and Namur was taken without moreresistance. Caesar's usual practice was gentleness. He honored brave men, and never punished bold and open opposition. Of treachery he made a severeexample. Namur was condemned. The Aduatuci within its walls were sold intoslavery, and the contractors who followed the army returned the number ofprisoners whom they had purchased at 53, 000. Such captives were the mostvaluable form of spoil. The Belgae were thus crushed as completely as the Gauls had been crushedin the previous year. Publius Crassus had meanwhile made a circuit ofBrittany, and had received the surrender of the maritime tribes. So greatwas the impression made by these two campaigns, that the Germans beyondthe Rhine sent envoys with offers of submission. The second season wasover. Caesar left the legions in quarters about Chartres, Orleans, andBlois. He himself returned to Italy again, where his presence wasimperatively required. The Senate, on the news of his successes, had beencompelled, by public sentiment, to order an extraordinary thanksgiving;but there were men who were anxious to prevent Caesar from achieving anyfurther victories since Ariovistus had failed to destroy him. [1] Perhaps in consequence of the Catiline conspiracy. [2] "In Galliâ non solum in omnibus civitatibus atque in omnibus pagis partibusque sed paene etiam in singulis domibus factiones sunt, earumque factionum principes sunt qui summam auctoritatem eorum judicio habere existimantur. .. . Haec est ratio in summâ totius Galliae, namque omnes civitates in partes divisae sunt duas. Cum Caesar in Galliam venit, alterius factionis principes erant Haedui, alterius Sequani. "--_De Bello Gallico_, lib. Vi. Capp. 11, 12. [3] Even Dion Cassius speaks of the Germans as _Keltoi_. [4] "Id se ab ipsis per eorum nuntios compertum habere, quorum omnium gratiam atque amicitiam ejus morte redimere posset. "--_De Bell. Gall_. , i. 44. [5] Caesar thus records his admiration of the Nervian character: "Quorum de naturâ moribusque Caesar cum quaereret sic reperiebat, nullum aditum esse ad eos mercatoribus; nihil pati vini reliquarumque rerum ad luxuriam pertinentium inferri, quod iis rebus relanguescere animos eorum et remitti virtutem existimarent: esse homines feros magnaeque virtutis; increpitare atque incusare reliquos Belgas qui se populo Romano dedidissent patriamque virtutem projecissent; confirmare sese neque legatos missuros neque ullam conditionem pacis accepturos. "--_De Bell. Gall_. , ii. 15. CHAPTER XV. [Sidenote B. C. 58]Before his own catastrophe, and before he could believe that he was indanger, Cicero had discerned clearly the perils which threatened theState. The Empire was growing more extensive. The "Tritons of the fish-ponds" still held the reins; and believed their own supreme duty was todivide the spoils among themselves. The pyramid was standing on its point. The mass which rested on it was becoming more portentous and unwieldy. TheSenate was the official power; the armies were the real power; and theimagination of the Senate was that after each conquest the soldiers wouldbe dismissed back into humble life unrewarded, while the noble lords tookpossession of the new acquisitions, and added new millions to theirfortunes. All this Cicero knew, and yet he had persuaded himself that itcould continue without bringing on a catastrophe. He saw his fellow-senators openly bribed; he saw the elections become a mere matter ofmoney. He saw adventurers pushing themselves into office by steepingthemselves in debt, and paying their debts by robbing the provincials. Hesaw these high-born scoundrels coming home loaded with treasure, buyinglands and building palaces, and, when brought to trial, purchasing theconsciences of their judges. Yet he had considered such phenomena as thetemporary accidents of a constitution which was still the best that couldbe conceived, and every one that doubted the excellence of it he had cometo regard as an enemy of mankind. So long as there was free speech inSenate and platform for orators like himself, all would soon be wellagain. Had not he, a mere country gentleman's son, risen under it towealth and consideration? and was not his own rise a sufficient evidencethat there was no real injustice? Party struggles were over, or had noexcuse for continuance. Sylla's constitution had been too narrowlyaristocratic. But Sylla's invidious laws had been softened by compromise. The tribunes had recovered their old privileges. The highest offices ofState were open to the meanest citizen who was qualified for them. Individuals of merit might have been kept back for a time by jealousy; theSenate had too long objected to the promotion of Pompey; but theiropposition had been overcome by purely constitutional means. The greatgeneral had obtained his command by land and sea; he, Cicero, having byeloquent speech proved to the people that he ought to be nominated. Whatcould any one wish for more? And yet Senate and Forum were still filledwith faction, quarrel, and discontent! One interpretation only Cicero hadbeen able to place on such a phenomenon. In Rome, as in all greatcommunities, there were multitudes of dissolute, ruined wretches, thenatural enemies of property and order. Bankrupt members of the aristocracyhad lent themselves to these people as their leaders, and had been thecause of all the trouble of the past years. If such renegades to theirorder could be properly discouraged or extinguished, Cicero had thoughtthat there would be nothing more to desire. Catiline he had himself madean end of to his own immortal glory, but now Catiline had revived inClodius; and Clodius, so far from being discouraged, was petted andencouraged by responsible statesmen who ought to have known better. Caesarhad employed him; Crassus had employed him; even Pompey had stooped toconnect himself with the scandalous young incendiary, and had threatenedto call in the army if the Senate attempted to repeal Caesar's iniquitouslaws. [1] Still more inexplicable was the ingratitude of the aristocracyand their friends, the "boni" or good--the "Conservatives of the State, "[2] as Cicero still continued to call Caesar's opponents. He respectedthem; he loved them; he had done more for their cause than any single manin the Empire; and yet they had never recognized his services by word ordeed. He had felt tempted to throw up public life in disgust, and retireto privacy and philosophy. So Cicero had construed the situation before his exile, and he hadconstrued it ill. If he had wished to retire he could not. He had beencalled to account for the part of his conduct for which he most admiredhimself. The ungracious Senate, as guilty as he, if guilt there had been, had left him to bear the blame of it, and he saw himself driven intobanishment by an insolent reprobate, a patrician turned Radical anddemagogue, Publius Clodius. Indignity could be carried no farther. Clodius is the most extraordinary figure in this extraordinary period. Hehad no character. He had no distinguished talent save for speech; he hadno policy; he was ready to adopt any cause or person which for the momentwas convenient to him; and yet for five years this man was the omnipotentleader of the Roman mob. He could defy justice, insult the consuls, beatthe tribunes, parade the streets with a gang of armed slaves, killingpersons disagreeable to him; and in the Senate itself he had his highfriends and connections who threw a shield over him when his audacity hadgone beyond endurance. We know Clodius only from Cicero; and a picture ofhim from a second hand might have made his position more intelligible, ifnot more reputable. Even in Rome it is scarcely credible that the Clodiusof Cicero could have played such a part, or that the death of such a manshould have been regarded as a national calamity. Cicero says that Clodiusrevived Catiline's faction; but what was Catiline's faction? or how cameCatiline to have a faction which survived him? Be this as it may, Clodius had banished Cicero, and had driven him awayover the seas to Greece, there, for sixteen months, to weary Heaven andhis friends with his lamentations. Cicero had refused Caesar's offeredfriendship; Caesar had not cared to leave so powerful a person free tosupport the intended attacks on his legislation, and had permitted, perhaps had encouraged, the prosecution. Cicero out of the way, the secondperson whose presence in Rome Caesar thought might be inconvenient, MarcusCato, had been got rid of by a process still more ingenious. Thearistocracy pretended that the acts of Caesar's consulship had beeninvalid through disregard of the interdictions of Bibulus; and one ofthose acts had been the reduction of Clodius to the order of plebeians. Ifnone of them were valid, Clodius was not legally tribune, and nocommission which Clodius might confer through the people would havevalidity. A service was discovered by which Cato was tempted, and which hewas induced to accept at Clodius's hands. Thus he was at once removed fromthe city, and it was no longer open to him to deny that Caesar's laws hadbeen properly passed. The work on which he was sent deserves a few words. The kingdom of Cyprus had long been attached to the crown of Egypt. Ptolemy Alexander, dying in the year 80, had bequeathed both Egypt andCyprus to Rome; but the Senate had delayed to enter on their bequest, preferring to share the fines which Ptolemy's natural heirs were requiredto pay for being spared. One of these heirs, Ptolemy Auletes, or "thePiper, " father of the famous Cleopatra, was now reigning in Egypt, and wason the point of being expelled by his subjects. He had been driven toextortion to raise a subsidy for the senators, and he had made himselfuniversally abhorred. Ptolemy of Cyprus had been a better sovereign, but aless prudent client. He had not overtaxed his people; he had kept hismoney. Clodius, if Cicero's story is true, had a private grudge againsthim. Clodius had fallen among Cyprian pirates. Ptolemy had not exertedhimself for his release, and he had suffered unmentionable indignities. Atall events, the unfortunate king was rich, and was unwilling to give whatwas expected of him. Clodius, on the plea that the King of Cyprusprotected pirates, persuaded the Assembly to vote the annexation of theisland; and Cato, of all men, was prevailed on by the mocking tribune tocarry out the resolution. He was well pleased with his mission, though hewished it to appear to be forced upon him. Ptolemy poisoned himself; Catoearned the glory of adding a new province to the Empire, and did notreturn for two years, when he brought 7, 000 talents--a million and a halfof English money--to the Roman treasury. Cicero and Cato being thus put out of the way--Caesar being absent inGaul, and Pompey looking on without interfering--Clodius had amusedhimself with legislation. He gratified his corrupt friends in the Senateby again abolishing the censor's power to expel them. He restored cheapcorn establishments in the city--the most demoralizing of all the measureswhich the democracy had introduced to swell their numbers. He re-established the political clubs, which were hot-beds of distinctiveradicalism. He took away the right of separate magistrates to lay theirvetoes on the votes of the sovereign people, and he took from the Senatesuch power as they still possessed of regulating the government of theprovinces, and passed it over to the Assembly. These resolutions, whichreduced the administration to a chaos, he induced the people to decree byirresistible majorities. One measure only he passed which deservedcommendation, though Clodius deserved none for introducing it. He put anend to the impious pretence of "observing the heavens, " of whichconservative officials had availed themselves to obstruct unwelcomemotions. Some means were, no doubt, necessary to check the precipitatepassions of the mob; but not means which turned into mockery the slightsurviving remnants of ancient Roman reverence. In general politics the young tribune had no definite predilections. Hehad threatened at one time to repeal Caesar's laws himself. He attackedalternately the chiefs of the army and of the Senate, and the people lethim do what he pleased without withdrawing their confidence from him. Hewent everywhere spreading terror with his body-guard of slaves. Hequarrelled with the consuls, beat their lictors, and wounded Gabiniushimself. Pompey professed to be in alarm for his life, and to be unable toappear in the streets. The state of Rome at this time has been welldescribed by a modern historian as a "Walpurgis dance of politicalwitches. " [3] Clodius was a licensed libertine; but license has its limits. He had beenuseful so far; but a rein was wanted for him, and Pompey decided at lastthat Cicero might now be recalled. Clodius's term of office ran out. Thetribunes for the new year were well disposed to Cicero. The new consulswere Lentulus, a moderate aristocrat, and Cicero's personal friend, andMetellus Nepos, who would do what Pompey told him. Caesar had beenconsulted by letter and had given his assent. Cicero, it might be thought, had learnt his lesson, and there was no desire of protracting his penance. There were still difficulties, however. Cicero, smarting from wrath andmortification, was more angry with the aristocrats, who had deserted him, than with his open enemies. His most intimate companions, he bitterlysaid, had been false to him. He was looking regretfully on Caesar'soffers, [4] and cursing his folly for having rejected them. The people, too, would not sacrifice their convictions at the first bidding for theconvenience of their leaders; and had neither forgotten nor forgiven thekilling of the Catiline conspirators; while Cicero, aware of the effortswhich were being made, had looked for new allies in an imprudent quarter. His chosen friend on the conservative side was now Annius Milo, one of thenew tribunes, a man as disreputable as Clodius himself; deep in debt andlooking for a province to indemnify himself--famous hitherto in theschools of gladiators, in whose arts he was a proficient, and whoseservices were at his disposal for any lawless purpose. [Sidenote: B. C. 57. ]A decree of banishment could only be recalled by the people who hadpronounced it. Clodius, though no longer in office, was still the idol ofthe mob; and two of the tribunes, who were at first well inclined toCicero, had been gained over by him. As early as possible, on the firstday of the new year, Lentulus Spinther brought Cicero's case before theSenate. A tribune reminded him of a clause, attached to the sentence ofexile, that no citizen should in future move for its repeal. The Senatehesitated, perhaps catching at the excuse; but at length, after repeatedadjournments, they voted that the question should be proposed to theAssembly. The day fixed was the 25th of January. In anticipation of a riotthe temples on the Forum were occupied with guards. The Forum itself andthe senate-house were in possession of Clodius and his gang. Clodiusmaintained that the proposal to be submitted to the people was itselfillegal, and ought to be resisted by force. Fabricius, one of thetribunes, had been selected to introduce it. When Fabricius presentedhimself on the Rostra, there was a general rush to throw him down. TheForum was in theory still a sacred spot, where the carrying of arms wasforbidden; but the new age had forgotten such obsolete superstitions. Theguards issued out of the temples with drawn swords. The people weredesperate and determined. Hundreds were killed on both sides; QuintusCicero, who was present for his brother, narrowly escaping with life. TheTiber, Cicero says--perhaps with some exaggeration--was covered withfloating bodies; the sewers were choked; the bloody area of the Forum hadto be washed with sponges. Such a day had not been seen in Rome since thefight between Cinna and Octavius. [5] The mob remained masters of thefield, and Cicero's cause had to wait for better times. Milo had beenactive in the combat, and Clodius led his victorious bands to Milo's houseto destroy it. Milo brought an action against him for violence; butClodius was charmed even against forms of law. There was no censor as yetchosen, and without a censor the praetors pretended that they could notentertain the prosecution. Finding law powerless, Milo imitated hisantagonist. He, too, had his band of gladiators about him; and the streetsof the Capital were entertained daily by fights between the factions ofClodius and Milo. The Commonwealth of the Scipios, the laws andinstitutions of the mistress of the civilized world, had become thefootball of ruffians. Time and reflection brought some repentance at last. Toward the summer "the cause of order" rallied. The consuls and Pompeyexerted themselves to reconcile the more respectable citizens to Cicero'sreturn; and, with the ground better prepared, the attempt was renewed withmore success. In July the recall was again proposed in the Senate, andClodius was alone in opposing it. When it was laid before the Assembly, Clodius made another effort; but voters had been brought up from otherparts of Italy who outnumbered the city rabble; Milo and his gladiatorswere in force to prevent another burst of violence; and the great oratorand statesman was given back to his country. Sixteen months he had beenlamenting himself in Greece, bewailing his personal ill-treatment. He wasthe single object of his own reflections. In his own most sincereconvictions he was the centre on which the destinies of Rome revolved. Helanded at Brindisi on the 5th of August. His pardon had not yet beendecreed, though he knew that it was coming. The happy news arrived in aday or two, and he set out in triumph for Rome. The citizens of Brindisipaid him their compliments; deputations came to congratulate from allparts of Italy. Outside the city every man of note of all the orders, savea few of his declared enemies, were waiting to receive him. The roofs andsteps of the temples were thronged with spectators. Crowds attended him tothe Capitol, where he went to pour out his gratitude to the gods, andwelcomed him home with shouts of applause. Had he been wise he would have seen that the rejoicing was from the lipsoutward; that fine words were not gold; that Rome and its factions werejust where he had left them, or had descended one step lower. But Cicerowas credulous of flattery when it echoed his own opinions about himself. The citizens, he persuaded himself, were penitent for their ingratitude tothe most illustrious of their countrymen. The acclamations filled him withthe delighted belief that he was to resume his place at the head of theState; and, as he could not forgive his disgrace, his first object in themidst of his triumph was to revenge himself on those who had caused it. Speeches of acknowledgment he had naturally to make both to the Senate andthe Assembly. In addressing the people he was moderately prudent; heglanced at the treachery of his friends, but he did not make too much ofit. He praised his own good qualities, but not extravagantly. He describedPompey as "the wisest, best, and greatest of all men that had been, were, or ever would be. " Himself he compared to Marius returning also fromundeserved exile, and he delicately spoke in honor of a name most dear tothe Roman plebs, But he, he said, unlike Marius, had no enemies but theenemies of his country. He had no retaliation to demand for his ownwrongs. If he punished bad citizens, it would be by doing well himself; ifhe punished false friends, it would be by never again trusting them. Hisfirst and his last object would be to show his gratitude to his fellow-citizens. [6] Such language was rational and moderate. He understood his audience, andhe kept his tongue under a bridle. But his heart was burning in him; andwhat he could not say in the Forum he thought he might venture on withimpunity in the Senate, which might be called his own dunghill. His chiefwrath was at the late consuls. They were both powerful men. Gabinius wasPompey's chief supporter. Calpurnius Piso was Caesar's father-in-law. Bothhad been named to the government of important provinces; and, if authoritywas not to be brought into contempt, they deserved at least a show ofoutward respect. Cicero lived to desire their friendship, to affect avalue for them, and to regret his violence; but they had consented to hisexile; and careless of decency, and oblivious of the chances of thefuture, he used his opportunity to burst out upon them in language inwhich the foulest ruffian in the streets would have scarcely spoken of thefirst magistrates of the Republic. Piso and Gabinius, he said, werethieves, not consuls. They had been friends of Catiline, and had beenenemies to himself, because he had baffled the conspiracy. Piso could notpardon the death of Cethegus. Gabinius regretted in Catiline himself theloss of his lover. [7] Gabinius, he said, had been licentious in hisyouth; he had ruined his fortune; he had supplied his extravagance bypimping; and had escaped his creditors only by becoming tribune. "Beholdhim, " Cicero said, "as he appeared when consul at a meeting called by thearch-thief Clodius, full of wine, and sleep, and fornication, his hairmoist, his eyes heavy, his cheeks flaccid, and declaring, with a voicethick with drink, that he disapproved of putting citizens to death withouttrial. " [8] As to Piso, his best recommendation was a cunning gravity ofdemeanor, concealing mere vacuity. Piso knew nothing--neither law, norrhetoric, nor war, nor his fellow-men. "His face was the face of somehalf-human brute. " "He was like a negro, a thing [_negotium_] withoutsense or savor, a Cappadocian picked out of a drove in theslave-market. " [9] Cicero was not taking the best means to regain his influence in the Senateby stooping to vulgar brutality. He cannot be excused by the manners ofthe age; his violence was the violence of a fluent orator whose temper ranaway with him, and who never resisted the temptation to insult anopponent. It did not answer with him; he thought he was to be chief of theSenate, and the most honored person in the State again; he found that hehad been allowed to return only to be surrounded by mosquitoes whosedelight was to sting him, while the Senate listened with indifference orsecret amusement. He had been promised the restoration of his property;but he had a suit to prosecute before he could get it. Clodius had thoughtto make sure of his Roman palace by dedicating it to "Liberty. " Cicerochallenged the consecration. It was referred to the College of Priests, and the College returned a judgment in Cicero's favor. The Senate votedfor the restoration. They voted sums for the rebuilding both of the palaceon the Palatine Hill and of the other villas, at the public expense. Butthe grant in Cicero's opinion was a stingy one. He saw too painfully thatthose "who had clipped his wings did not mean them to grow again. " [10]Milo and his gladiators were not sufficient support, and if he meant torecover his old power he found that he must look for stronger allies. Pompey had not used him well; Pompey had promised to defend him fromClodius, and Pompey had left him to his fate. But by going with Pompey hecould at least gall the Senate. An opportunity offered, and he caught atit. There was a corn famine in Rome. Clodius had promised the people cheapbread, but there was no bread to be had. The hungry mob howled about thesenate-house, threatening fire and massacre. The great capitalists andcontractors were believed to be at their old work. There was a cry, as inthe "pirate" days, for some strong man to see to them and their misdoings. Pompey was needed again. He had been too much forgotten, and with Cicero'shelp a decree was carried which gave Pompey control over the whole corntrade of the Empire for five years. This was something, and Pompey was gratified; but without an army Pompeycould do little against the roughs in the streets, and Cicero's housebecame the next battle-ground. The Senate had voted it to its owner again, and the masons and carpenters were set to work; but the sovereign peoplehad not been consulted. Clodius was now but a private citizen; but privatecitizens might resist sacrilege if the magistrates forgot their duty. Hemarched to the Palatine with his gang. He drove out the workmen, brokedown the walls, and wrecked the adjoining house, which belonged toCicero's brother Quintus. The next day he set on Cicero himself in the ViaSacra, and nearly murdered him, and he afterward tried to burn the houseof Milo. Consuls and tribunes did not interfere. They were, perhaps, frightened. The Senate professed regret, and it was proposed to prosecuteClodius; but his friends were too strong, and it could not be done. CouldCicero have wrung his neck, as he had wrung the necks of Lentulus andCethegus, Rome and he would have had a good deliverance. Failing this, hemight wisely have waited for the law, which in time must have helped him. But he let himself down to Clodius's level. He railed at him in the Curiaas he had railed at Gabinius and Piso. He ran over his history; he tauntedhim with incest with his sister, and with filthy relations with vulgarmillionaires. He accused him of having sold himself to Catiline, ofhaving forged wills, murdered the heirs of estates and stolen theirproperty, of having murdered officers of the treasury and seized thepublic money, of having outraged gods and men, decency, equity, and law;of having suffered every abomination and committed every crime of whichhuman nature was capable. So Cicero spoke in Clodius's own hearing and inthe hearing of his friends. It never occurred to him that if half thesecrimes could be proved, a commonwealth in which such a monster could riseto consequence was not a commonwealth at all, but a frightful mockerywhich he and every honest man were called on to abhor. Instead of scoldingand flinging impotent filth, he should have withdrawn out of public lifewhen he could only remain in it among such companions, or should haveattached himself with all his soul to those who had will and power to mendit. Clodius was at this moment the popular candidate for the aedileship, thesecond step on the road to the consulship. He was the favorite of the mob. He was supported by his brother Appius Claudius, the praetor, and the_clientèle_ of the great Claudian family; and Cicero's denunciationsof him had not affected in the least his chances of success. If Clodiuswas to be defeated, other means were needed than a statement in the Senatethat the aspirant to public honors was a wretch unfit to live. Theelection was fixed for the 18th of November, and was to be held in theCampus Martius. Milo and his gladiators took possession of the polling-place in the night, and the votes could not be taken. The Assembly met thenext day in the Forum, but was broken up by violence, and Clodius hadstill to wait. The political witch-dance was at its height and Cicero wasin his glory. "The elections, " he wrote to Atticus, "will not, I think, beheld; and Clodius will be prosecuted by Milo unless he is first killed. Milo will kill him if he falls in with him. He is not afraid to do it, andhe says openly that he will do it. He is not frightened at the misfortunewhich fell on me. He is not the man to listen to traitorous friends or totrust indolent patricians. " [11] With recovered spirits the Senate began again to attack the laws of Caesarand Clodius as irregular; but they were met with the difficulty whichClodius had provided. Cato had come back from Cyprus, delighted with hisexploit and with himself, and bringing a ship-load of money with him forthe public treasury. If the laws were invalidated by the disregard ofBibulus and the signs of the sky, then the Cyprus mission had been invalidalso, and Cato's fine performance void. Caesar's grand victories, the newsof which was now coming in, made it inopportune to press the matterfarther; and just then another subject rose, on which the optimates ranoff like hounds upon a fresh scent. Ptolemy of Cyprus had been disposed of. Ptolemy Auletes had been preservedon the throne of Egypt by subsidies to the chiefs of the Senate. But hissubjects had been hardly taxed to raise the money. The Cyprus affair hadfurther exasperated them, and when Ptolemy laid on fresh impositions theAlexandrians mutinied and drove him out. His misfortunes being due to hisfriends at Rome, he came thither to beg the Romans to replace him. TheSenate agreed unanimously that he must be restored to his throne. But thenthe question rose, who should be the happy person who was to be theinstrument of his reinstatement? Alexandria was rich. An enormous finecould be exacted for the rebellion, besides what might be demanded fromPtolemy's gratitude. No prize so splendid had yet been offered to Romanavarice, and the patricians quarrelled over it like jackals over a bone. Lentulus Spinther, the late consul, was now Governor of Cilicia; Gabiniuswas Governor of Syria; and each of these had their advocates. Cicero andthe respectable conservatives were for Spinther; Pompey was for Gabinius. Others wished Pompey himself to go; others wished for Crassus. [Sidenote: B. C. 56. ]Meanwhile, the poor Egyptians themselves claimed a right to be heard inprotest against the reimposition upon them of a sovereign who had madehimself abhorred. Why was Ptolemy to be forced on them? A hundred of theprincipal Alexandrians came to Italy with a remonstrance; and had theybrought money with them they might have had a respectful hearing. But theyhad brought none or not enough, and Ptolemy, secure of his patrons'support, hired a party of banditti, who set on the deputation when itlanded, and killed the greater part of its members. Dion, the leader ofthe embassy, escaped for a time. There was still a small party among thearistocracy (Cato and Cato's followers) who had a conscience in suchthings; and Favonius, one of them, took up Dion's cause. Envoys and alliedsovereigns or provinces, he said, were continually being murdered. Noblelords received hush-money, and there had been no inquiry. Such thingshappened too often, and ought to be stopped. The Senate voted decently tosend for Dion and examine him. But Favonius was privately laughed at as"Cato's ape;" the unfortunate Dion was made away with, and Pompey tookPtolemy into his own house and openly entertained him there. Pompey wouldhimself perhaps have undertaken the restoration, but the Senate wasjealous. His own future was growing uncertain; and eventually, withoutasking for a consent which the Senate would have refused to give, he senthis guest to Syria with a charge to his friend Gabinius to take him backon his own responsibility. [12] The killing of envoys and the taking of hush-money by senators were, asFavonius had said, too common to attract much notice; but the affair ofPtolemy, like that of Jugurtha, had obtained an infamous notoriety. TheSenate was execrated. Pompey himself fell in public esteem. Hisoverseership of the granaries had as yet brought in no corn. He had beentoo busy over the Egyptian matter to attend to it. Clearly enough therewould now have been a revolution in Rome, but for the physical force ofthe upper classes with their bands of slaves and clients. The year of Milo's tribunate being over, Clodius was chosen aedile withoutfurther trouble; and, instead of being the victim of a prosecution, he atonce impeached Milo for the interruption of the Comitia on the 18th ofNovember. Milo appeared to answer on the 2d of February; but there wasanother riot, and the meeting was broken up. On the 6th the court wasagain held. The crowd was enormous. Cicero happily has left a minuteaccount of the scene. The people were starving, the corn question waspressing. Milo presented himself, and Pompey came forward on the Rostra tospeak. He was received with howls and curses from Clodius's hiredruffians, and his voice could not be heard for the noise. Pompey held onundaunted, and commanded occasional silence by the weight of his presence. Clodius rose when Pompey had done, and rival yells went up from theMilonians. Yells were not enough; filthy verses were sung in chorus aboutClodius and Clodia, ribald bestiality, delightful to the ears of "Tully. "Clodius, pale with anger, called out, "Who is murdering the people withfamine?" A thousand throats answered, "Pompey!" "Who wants to go toAlexandria?" "Pompey!" they shouted again. "And whom do you want to go?""Crassus!" they cried. Passion had risen too high for words. The Clodiansbegan to spit on the Milonians. The Milonians drew swords and cut theheads of the Clodians. The working men, being unarmed, got the worst ofthe conflict; and Clodius was flung from the Rostra. The Senate wassummoned to call Pompey to account. Cicero went off home, wishing todefend Pompey, but wishing also not to offend the "good" party, who wereclamorous against him. That evening nothing could be done. Two days afterthe Senate met again; Cato abused Pompey, and praised Cicero much againstCicero's will, who was anxious to stand well with Pompey. Pompey accusedCato and Crassus of a conspiracy to murder him. In fact, as Cicero said, Pompey had just then no friend in any party. The mob was estranged fromhim, the noble lords hated him, the Senate did not like him, the patricianyouth insulted him, and he was driven to bring up friends from the countryto protect his life. All sides were mustering their forces in view of animpending fight. [13] It would be wasted labor to trace minutely the particulars of so miserablea scene, or the motives of the principal actors in it--Pompey, bound toCaesar by engagement and conviction, yet jealous of his growing fame, without political conviction of his own, and only conscious that hisweight in the State no longer corresponded to his own estimate of hismerits--Clodius at the head of the starving mob, representing mereanarchy, and nourishing an implacable hate against Cicero--Cicero, anxiousfor his own safety, knowing now that he had made enemies of half theSenate, watching how the balance of factions would go, and dimly consciousthat the sword would have to decide it, clinging, therefore, to Pompey, whose military abilities his civilian ignorance considered supereminent--Cato, a virtuous fanatic, narrow, passionate, with a vein of vanity, regarding all ways as wrong but his own, and thinking all men who wouldnot walk as he prescribed wicked as well as mistaken--the rest of thearistocracy scuffling for the plunder of Egypt, or engaged in otherenterprises not more creditable--the streets given over to the factions--the elections the alternate prize of bribery or violence, and consulatesand praetorships falling to men more than half of whom, if Cicero can bebut moderately believed, deserved to be crucified. Cicero's main affectionwas for Titus Annius Milo, to whom he clung as a woman will cling to a manwhose strength she hopes will support her weakness. Milo, at least, wouldrevenge his wrongs upon Clodius. Clodius, Cicero said even in the Senate, was Milo's predestined victim. [14] Titus Annius knew how an armed citizenwho burnt temples and honest men's houses ought to be dealt with. TitusAnnius was born to extinguish that pest of the Commonwealth. [15] Still smarting over his exile, Cicero went one day with Milo and hisgladiators to the Capitol when Clodius was absent, and carried off thebrass tablet on which the decree of his exile had been engraved. It wassome solace to his poor vanity to destroy the record of his misfortune. But it was in vain. All was going wrong. Caesar's growing glories camethick to trouble his peace. He, after all, then, was not to be thegreatest man in Rome. How would these splendid successes affect parties?How would they affect Pompey? How would, they affect the Senate? Whatshould he do himself? The Senate distrusted him; the people distrusted him. In his perplexity hetried to rouse the aristocracy to a sense of their danger, and hinted thathis was the name which yet might save them. Sextius, who had been a tribune with Milo in the past year, was underprosecution for one of the innumerable acts of violence which haddisgraced the city. Cicero defended him, and spoke at length on the stateof affairs as he wished the world to believe that he regarded it. "In the Commonwealth, " he said, "there have always been two parties--thepopulares and the optimates. The populares say and do what will please themob. The optimates say and do what will please the best men. And who arethe best men? They are of all ranks and infinite in number--senators, municipals, farmers, men of business, even libertini. The type isdistinct. They are the well-to-do, the sound, the honest, who do no wrongto any man. The object at which they aim is quiet with honor. [16] They are the conservatives of the State. Religion and goodgovernment, the Senate's authority, the laws and customs of our ancestors, public faith, integrity, sound administration--these are the principles onwhich they rest, and these they will maintain with their lives. Their pathis perilous. The foes of the State are stronger than its defenders; theyare bold and desperate, and go with a will to the work of destruction;while the good, I know not why, are languid, and will not rouse themselvesunless compelled. They would have quiet without honor, and so lose bothquiet and honor. Some are triflers, some are timid, only a few stand firm. But it is not now as it was in the days of the Gracchi. There have beengreat reforms. The people are conservative at heart; the demagogues cannotrouse them, and are forced to pack the Assembly with hired gangs. Takeaway these gangs, stop corruption at the elections, and we shall be all ofone mind. The people will be on our side. The citizens of Rome are notpopulares. They hate the populares, and prefer honorable men. How did theyweep in the theatres where they heard the news that I was exiled! How didthey cheer my name! 'Tully, the preserver of our liberties!' was repeateda thousand times. Attend to me, " he said, turning paternally to the high-born youths who were listening to him, "attend to me when I bid you walkin the ways of your forefathers. Would you have praise and honor, wouldyou have the esteem of the wise and good, value the constitution underwhich you live. Our ancestors, impatient of kings, appointed annualmagistrates, and for the administration they nominated a Senate chosenfrom the whole people into which the road is open for the poorestcitizen. " [17] So Cicero, trying to persuade others, and perhaps half persuading himself, that all might yet be well, and that the Roman Constitution would roll onupon its old lines in the face of the scandal of Ptolemy and the greaterscandals of Clodius and Milo. Cicero might make speeches; but events followed their inexorable course. The patricians had forgotten nothing and had learnt nothing. The Senatehad voted thanksgivings for Caesar's victories; but in their hearts theyhated him more for them, because they feared him more. Milo and hisgladiators gave them courage. The bitterest of the aristocrats, DomitiusAhenobarbus, Cato's brother-in-law and praetor for the year, was acandidate for the consulship. His enormous wealth made his success almostcertain, and he announced in the Senate that he meant to recall Caesar andrepeal his laws. In April a motion was introduced in the Senate to reviseCaesar's land act. Suspicions had gone abroad that Cicero believedCaesar's star to be in the ascendant, and that he was again wavering. Toclear himself he spoke as passionately as Domitius could himself havewished, and declared that he honored more the resistance of Bibulus thanall the triumphs in the world. It was time to come to an end with thesegentlemen. Pompey was deeply committed to Caesar's agrarian law, for ithad been passed primarily to provide for his own disbanded soldiers. Hewas the only man in Rome who retained any real authority; and touched, asfor a moment he might have been, with jealousy, he felt that honor, duty, every principle of prudence or patriotism, required him at so perilous acrisis to give Caesar his firm support. Clodius was made in some way tounderstand that, if he intended to retain his influence, he must conformto the wishes of the army. His brother, Appius, crossed the Alps to seeCaesar himself; and Caesar, after the troops were in their winterquarters, came over to the north of Italy. Here an interview was arrangedbetween the chiefs of the popular party. The place of meeting was Lucca, on the frontier of Caesar's province. Pompey, who had gone upon a touralong the coast and through the Mediterranean islands on his cornbusiness, attended without concealment or mystery. Crassus was present, and more than a hundred senators. The talking power of the State was inRome. The practical and real power was in the Lucca conference. Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus were irresistible when heartily united, and a completescheme was arranged between them for the government of the Empire. Therewas to be no Domitius Ahenobarbus for a consul, or aristocratic _coupsd'état_. Pompey and Crassus were to be consuls for the ensuing year. The consulship over, Pompey was to have Spain for a province for fiveyears, with an adequate army. Crassus, who was ambitious also of militarydistinction, was to have Syria. Caesar's command in Gaul was to beextended for five years further in addition to his present term. Theconsent of the Assembly was to be secured, if difficulty arose, by thevotes of the army. The elections being in the winter, Caesar's soldierswere to be allowed to go to Rome on furlough. In a personal interview Caesar easily asserted his ascendency. Pompeyallowed himself to be guided, and the arrangement was probably dictated byCaesar's own prudence. He did not mean to leave Gaul half conquered, tosee his work undone, and himself made into a plaything by men who hadincited Ariovistus to destroy him. The senators who were present at Luccaimplied by their co-operation that they too were weary of anarchy, andwould sustain the army in a remodelling of the State if milder measuresfailed. Thus, for the moment, Domitius and Cato were baffled. Domitius was not tobe consul. Caesar was not to be recalled, or his laws repealed. There wasno hope for them or for the reaction, till Pompey and Caesar could bedivided; and their alliance was closer now than ever. The aristocraticparty could but chafe in impotent rage. The effect on Cicero was curious. He had expected that the conservative movement would succeed, and he hadhumiliated himself before the Senate, in the idle hope of winning backtheir favor. The conference at Lucca opened his eyes. For a time at leasthe perceived that Caesar's was the winning side, and he excused himselffor going over to it by laying the blame on the Senate's folly andingratitude to himself. Some private correspondence preceded his change ofsides. He consulted Atticus, and had received characteristic and cautiousadvice from him. He described in reply his internal struggles, theresolution at which he had arrived, and the conclusion which he had formedupon his own past conduct. "I am chewing what I have to swallow, " he said. "Recantation does not seemvery creditable; but adieu to straightforward, honest counsels. You wouldnot believe the perfidy of these chiefs; as they wish to be, and what theymight be if they had any faith in them. I had felt, I had known, that Iwas being led on by them, and then deserted and cast off; and yet Ithought of making common cause with them. They were the same which theyhad always been. You made me see the truth at last. You will say youwarned me. You advised what I should do, and you told me not to write toCaesar. By Hercules! I wished to put myself in a position where I shouldbe obliged to enter into this new coalition, and where it would not bepossible for me, even if I desired it, to go with those who ought to pityme, and, instead of pity, give me grudging and envy. I have been moderatein what I have written. I shall be more full if Caesar meets megraciously; and then those gentlemen who are so jealous that I should havea decent house to live in will make a wry face. .. . Enough of this. Sincethose who have no power will not be my friends, I must endeavor to makefriends with those who have. You will say you wished this long ago. I knowthat you wished it, and that I have been a mere ass;[18] but it is timefor me to be loved by myself, since I can get no love from them. " [19] Pompey, after leaving Lucca, sent Cicero a message, through his brother, complaining of his speech on the land act, but assuring him of his own andCaesar's friendship if he would now be true to them. In an apologeticletter to Lentulus Spinther, Cicero explained and justified what he meantto do. "Pompey, " he said, "did not let me know that he was offended. He went offto Sardinia, and on his way saw Caesar at Lucca. Caesar was angry with me;he had seen Crassus, and Crassus had prejudiced him. Pompey, too, washimself displeased. He met my brother a few days after, and told him touse his influence with me. He reminded him of his exertions in my behalf;he swore that those exertions had been made with Caesar's consent, and hebegged particularly that, if I could not support Caesar, I would not goagainst him. I reflected. I debated the matter as if with theCommonwealth. I had suffered much and done much for the Commonwealth. Ihad now to think of myself. I had been a good citizen; I must now be agood man. Expressions came round to me that had been used by certainpersons whom even you do not like. They were delighted to think that I hadoffended Pompey, and had made Caesar my mortal enemy. This was annoyingenough. But the same persons embraced and kissed even in my presence myworst foe--the foe of law, order, peace, country, and every good man[20]. .. . They meant to irritate me, but I had not spirit to be angry. Isurveyed my situation. I cast up my accounts; and I came to a conclusion, which was briefly this. If the State was in the hands of bad men, as in mytime I have known it to be, I would not join them though they loaded mewith favors; but when the first person in the Commonwealth was Pompey, whose services had been so eminent, whose advancement I had myselffurthered, and who stood by me in my difficulties, I was not inconsistentif I modified some of my opinions, and conformed to the wishes of one whohas deserved so well of me. If I went with Pompey, I must go with Caesartoo; and here the old friendship came to bear between Caesar, my brother, and myself, as well as Caesar's kindness to me, of which I had seenevidence in word and deed. .. . Public interest, too, moved me. A quarrelwith these men would be most inexpedient, especially after what Caesar hasdone. .. . If the persons who assisted in bringing me back had been myfriends afterward, they would have recovered their power when they had meto help them. The 'good' had gained heart when you were consul. Pompey wasthen won to the 'good' cause. Even Caesar, after being decorated by theSenate for his victories, might have been brought to a better judgment, and wicked citizens would have had no opening to make disturbances. Butwhat happened? These very men protected Clodius, who cared no more for theBona Dea than for the Three Sisters. They allowed my monument to beengraved with a hostile record. .. . [21] The good party are not as you leftthem. Those who ought to have been staunch have fallen away. You see it intheir faces. You see it in the words and votes of those whom we called'optimates;' so that wise citizens, one of whom I wish to be and to bethought, must change their course. 'Persuade your countrymen, if you can, 'said Plato; 'but use no violence. ' Plato found that he could no longerpersuade the Athenians, and therefore he withdrew from public life. Advicecould not move them, and he held force to be unlawful. My case wasdifferent. I was not called on to undertake public responsibilities. I wascontent to further my own interests, and to defend honest men's causes. Caesar's goodness to me and to my brother would have bound me to himwhatever had been his fortunes. Now after so much glory and victory Ishould speak nobly of him though I owed him nothing. " [22] Happy it would have been for Cicero, and happy for Rome, had he perseveredin the course which he now seemed really to have chosen. Cicero and Caesarunited might have restored the authority of the laws, punished corruptionand misgovernment, made their country the mother as well as the mistressof the world; and the Republic, modified to suit the change of times, might have survived for many generations. But under such a modification, Cicero would have no longer been the first person in the Commonwealth. Thetalkers would have ceased to rule, and Cicero was a talker only. He couldnot bear to be subordinate. He was persuaded that he, and not Caesar, wasthe world's real great man; and so he held on, leaning now to one factionand now to another, waiting for the chance which was to put him at last inhis true place. For the moment, however, he saved himself from thedegradation into which the Senate precipitated itself. The arrangements atLucca were the work of the army. The conservative majority refused to letthe army dictate to them. Domitius intended still to be consul, let thearmy say what it pleased. Pompey and Crassus returned to Rome for theelections; the consuls for the year, Marcellinus and Philip, declined totake their names. The consuls and the Senate appealed to the Assembly, theSenate marching into the Forum in state, as if calling on the genius ofthe nation to defend the outraged constitution. In vain. The people wouldnot listen. The consuls were groaned down. No genius of Rome presided inthose meetings, but the genius of revolution in the person of Clodius. Thesenators were driven back into the Curia, and Clodius followed them there. The officers forbade his entrance. Furious young aristocrats flew uponhim, seized him, and would have murdered him in their rage. Clodiusshrieked for help. His rascal followers rushed in with lighted torches, swearing to burn house and Senate if a hair of Clodius's head were hurt. They bore their idol off in triumph; and the wretched senators sat gazingat each other, or storming at Pompey, and inquiring scornfully if he andCrassus intended to appoint themselves consuls. Pompey answered that theyhad no desire for office, but anarchy must be brought to an end. Still the consuls of the year stubbornly refused to take the names of theLucca nominees. The year ran out, and no election had been held. In such adifficulty, the constitution had provided for the appointment of an_Interrex_ till fresh consuls could be chosen. Pompey and Crassuswere then nominated, with a foregone conclusion. Domitius still persistedin standing; and, had it been safe to try the usual methods, thepatricians would have occupied the voting-places as before with theirretinues, and returned him by force. But young Publius Crassus was in Romewith thousands of Caesar's soldiers, who had come up to vote from thenorth of Italy. With these it was not safe to venture on a conflict, andthe consulships fell as the Lucca conference had ordered. [Sidenote: B. C. 55. ]The consent of the Assembly to the other arrangements remained to beobtained. Caesar was to have five additional years in Gaul; Pompey andCrassus were to have Spain and Syria, also for five years each, as soon astheir year of office should be over. The defenders of the constitutionfought to the last. Cato foamed on the Rostra. When the two hours allowedhim to speak were expired, he refused to sit down, and was removed by aguard. The meeting was adjourned to the next day. Publius Gallus, anotherirreconcilable, passed the night in the senate-house, that he might be inhis place at dawn. Cato and Favonius were again at their posts. Thefamiliar cry was raised that the signs of the sky were unfavorable. Theexcuse had ceased to be legal. The tribunes ordered the voting to goforward. The last resource was then tried. A riot began, but to nopurpose. The aristocrats and their clients were beaten back, and theseveral commands were ratified. As the people were dispersing, theiropponents rallied back, filled the Forum, and were voting Caesar's recall, when Pompey came on them and swept them out. Gallus was carried offcovered with blood; and, to prevent further question, the vote for Caesarwas taken a second time. The immediate future was thus assured. Time had been obtained for thecompletion of the work in Gaul. Pompey dedicated a new theatre, anddelighted the mob with games and races. Five hundred lions were consumedin five days of combat. As a special novelty eighteen elephants were madeto fight with soldiers; and, as a yet more extraordinary phenomenon, thesanguinary Roman spectators showed signs of compunction at theirsufferings. The poor beasts were quiet and harmless. When wounded with thelances, they turned away, threw up their trunks, and trotted round thecircus, crying, as if in protest against wanton cruelty. The story wentthat they were half human; that they had been seduced on board the Africantransports by a promise that they should not be ill-used, and they weresupposed to be appealing to the gods. [23]Cicero alludes to the scene ina letter to one of his friends. Mentioning Pompey's exhibitions withevident contempt, he adds: "There remained the hunts, which lasted fivedays. All say that they were very fine. But what pleasure can a sensibleperson find in seeing a clumsy performer torn by a wild beast, or a nobleanimal pierced with a hunting-spear? The last day was given to theelephants; not interesting to me, however delightful to the rabble. Acertain pity was felt for them, as if the elephants had some affinity withman. " [24] [1] _ To Atticus_, ii. 16. [2] "Conservatores Reipublicae. "--_Pro Sextio_. [3] Mommsen. [4] "Omnia sunt meâ culpâ commissa, qui ab his me amari putabam qui invidebant: eos non sequebar qui petebant. "--_Ad Familiares_, xiv. 1. "Nullum est meum peccatum nisi quod iis credidi a quibus nefas putabam esse me decipi. .. . Intimus proximus familiarissimus quisque aut sibi pertimuit aut mihi invidit. "--_Ad Quintum Fratrem_, i. 4. [5] "Meministis tum, judices, corporibus civium Tiberim compleri, cloacas referciri, e foro spongiis effingi sanguinem. .. . Caedem tantam, tantos acervos corporum extruetos, nisi forte illo Cinnano atque Octaviano die, quis unquam in foro vidit?"--_Oratio prov P. Sextio_, xxxv. 36. [6] _Ad Quirites post Reditum_. [7] "Ejus vir Catilina. " [8] "Cum in Circo Flaminio non a tribuno plebis consul in concionem sed a latrone archipirata productus esset, primum processit quâ auctoritate vir. Vini, somni, stupri plenus, madenti comâ, gravibus oculis, fluentibus buccis, pressa voce et temulenta, quod in cives indemnatos esset animadversum, id sibi dixit gravis auctor vehementissime displicere. "--_Post Reditum in Senatu_, 6. [9] Cicero could never leave Gabinius and Piso alone. Again and again he returned upon them railing like a fishwife. In his oration for Sextius he scoffed at Gabinius's pomatum and curled hair, and taunted him with unmentionable sins; but he specially entertained himself with his description of Piso: "For Piso!" he said: "O gods, how unwashed, how stern he looked--a pillar of antiquity, like one of the old bearded consuls; his dress plain plebeian purple, his hair tangled, his brow a very pledge for the Commonwealth! Such solemnity in his eye, such wrinkling of his forehead, that you would have said the State was resting on his head like the sky on Atlas. Here we thought we had a refuge. Here was the man to oppose the filth of Gabinius; his very face would be enough. People congratulated us on having one friend to save us from the tribune. Alas! I was deceived, " etc. Etc. Piso afterward called Cicero to account in the Senate, and brought out a still more choice explosion of invectives. Beast, filth, polluted monster, and such like, were the lightest of the names which Cicero hurled back at one of the oldest members of the Roman aristocracy. A single specimen may serve to illustrate the cataract of nastiness which he poured alike on Piso and Clodius and Gabinius: "When all the good were hiding themselves in tears, " he said to Piso, "when the temples were groaning and the very houses in the city were mourning (over my exile), you, heartless madman that you are, took up the cause of that pernicious animal, that clotted mass of incests and civil blood, of villanies intended and impurity of crimes committed[he was alluding to Clodius, who was in the Senate probably listening to him]. Need I speak of your feasting, your laughter, and handshakings--your drunken orgies with the filthy companions of your potations? Who in those days saw you ever sober, or doing anything that a citizen need not be ashamed of? While your colleague's house was sounding with songs and cymbals, and he himself was dancing naked at a supper-party ["cumque ipse nudus in convivio saltaret, "] you, you coarse glutton, with less taste for music, were lying in a stew of Greek boys and wine in a feast of the Centaurs and Lapithae, where one cannot say whether you drank most, or vomited most, or spilt most. "--_In L. Pisonem_, 10. The manners of the times do not excuse language of this kind, for there was probably not another member of the Senate who indulged in it. If Cicero was disliked and despised, he had his own tongue to thank for it. [10] _To Atticus_, iv. 2. [11] _To Atticus_, iv. 3. [12] For the details of this story see Dion Cassius, lib. Xxxix. Capp. 12-16. Compare _Cicero ad Familiares_, lib. I. Epist. 1-2. Curious subterranean influences seem to have been at work to save the Senate from the infamy of restoring Ptolemy. Verses were discovered in the Sibylline Books directing that if an Egyptian king came to Rome as a suppliant, he was to be entertained hospitably, but was to have no active help. Perhaps Cicero was concerned in this. [13] _Ad Quintum Fratrem_, ii. 3. [14] "Tito Annio devota et constituta hostia esse videtur. "--_De Haruspicum responsis_. [15] Ibid. [16] "Otium cum dignitate. " [17] Abridged from the _Oratio pro Sextio_. [18] "Me germanum asinum fuisse. " Perhaps "own brother to an ass" would be a more proper rendering. [19] _To Atticus_, iv. 5. [20] Clodius. [21] Here follows much about himself and his own merits. [22] To Lentulus Spinther, _Ad Familiares_, i. 9. The length of this remarkable letter obliges me to give but an imperfect summary of it. The letter itself should be studied carefully by those who would understand Cicero's conduct. [23] Dion Cassius. [24] _Ad Familiares_, vii. 1. CHAPTER XVI. [Sidenote: B. C. 56. ]While Caesar was struggling with the Senate for leave to complete theconquest of Gaul, fresh work was preparing for him there. Young PubliusCrassus, before he went to Italy, had wintered with the seventh legion inBrittany. The Breton tribes had nominally made their submission, andCrassus had desired them to supply his commissariat. They had givenhostages for their good behavior, and most of them were ready to obey. TheVeneti, the most important of the coast clans, refused. They induced therest to join them. They seized the Roman officers whom Crassus had sentamong them, and they then offered to exchange their prisoners for theircountrymen whom the Romans held in pledge. The legions might beirresistible on land; but the Veneti believed that their position wasimpregnable to an attack on the land side. Their homes were on the Bay ofQuiberon and on the creeks and estuaries between the mouth of the Loireand Brest. Their villages were built on promontories, cut off at high tidefrom the mainland, approachable only by water, and not by water except inshallow vessels of small draught which could be grounded safely on themud. The population were sailors and fishermen. They were ingenious andindustrious, and they carried on a considerable trade in the Bay of Biscayand in the British Channel. They had ships capable of facing the heavyseas which rolled in from the Atlantic, flat-bottomed, with high bow andstern, built solidly of oak, with timbers a foot thick, fastened withlarge iron nails. They had iron chains for cables. Their sails--eitherbecause sailcloth was scarce, or because they thought canvas too weak forthe strain of the winter storms--were manufactured out of leather. Suchvessels were unwieldy, but had been found available for voyages even toBritain. Their crews were accustomed to handle them, and knew all therocks and shoals and currents of the intricate and difficult harbors. Theylooked on the Romans as mere landsmen, and naturally enough they supposedthat they had as little to fear from an attack by water as from the shore. At the worst they could take to their ships and find a refuge in theislands. Crassus, when he went to Rome, carried the report to Caesar of the revoltof the Veneti, and Caesar felt that unless they were promptly punished, all Gaul might be again in flame. They had broken faith. They hadimprisoned Roman officers who had gone on a peaceful mission among them. It was necessary to teach a people so restless, so hardly conquered, andso impatient of foreign dominion, that there was no situation which theRoman arm was unable to reach. While the Lucca conference was going on, a fleet of Roman galleys wasbuilt by his order in the Loire. Rowers, seamen, and pilots were broughtacross from Marseilles. When the season was sufficiently advanced foractive operations, Caesar came himself and rejoined his army. TitusLabienus was sent with three legions to Trèves to check the Germans on theRhine, and prevent disturbances among the Belgae. Titurius Sabinus, withthree more, was stationed in Normandy. To Brittany Caesar went in personto reduce the rebellious Veneti. The weather was too unsettled for hisfleet to be able as yet to join him. Without its help he found the problemas difficult as the Veneti expected. Each village required a siege; whenit was reduced, the inhabitants took to their boats, and defied him againin a new position. Many weeks were thus fruitlessly wasted. The fineweather at length set in. The galleys from the Loire came out, accompaniedby others from Rochelle and the mouth of the Garonne. The command at seawas given to Decimus Brutus, a cousin of the afterward famous Marcus, aclever, able, and so far loyal officer. The Veneti had collected every ship that they or their allies possessed todefend themselves. They had 220 sail in all--a force, considering itscharacter, extremely formidable. Their vessels were too strong to be rundown. The galleys carried turrets; but the bows and sterns of the Venetiwere still too lofty to be reached effectively by the Roman javelins. TheRomans had the advantage in speed; but that was all. They too, however, had their ingenuities. They had studied the construction of the Bretonships. They had provided sickles with long handles, with which theyproposed to catch the halyards which held the weight of the heavy leathersails. It was not difficult to do, if, as is probable, the halyards weremade fast, not to the mast, but to the gunwale. Sweeping rapidly alongsidethey could easily cut them; the sails would fall, and the vessels would beunmanageable. A sea battle of this singular kind was thus fought off the easternpromontory of the Bay of Quiberon, Caesar and his army looking on from theshore. The sickles answered well; ship after ship was disabled; thegalleys closed with them, and they were taken by boarding. The Veneti thentried to retreat; but a calm came on, and they could not move. The fightlasted from ten in the morning till sunset, when the entire Breton fleetwas taken or sunk. After this defeat the Veneti gave up the struggle. Their ships were allgone. Their best men were on board, and had been killed. They had no powerof resistance left. Caesar was constitutionally lenient, and admiredrather than resented a valiant fight for freedom. But the Veneti had beentreacherous. They had laid hands on the sacred persons of Romanambassadors, and he considered it expedient on this one occasion to useseverity. The council who had contrived the insurrection were put todeath. The rest of the tribe were treated as the Aduatuci had been, andwere sold into slavery. Sabinus, meanwhile, had been in difficulties in Normandy. The people therehad risen and killed their chiefs, who tried to keep them quiet; vagabondsfrom other parts had joined them, and Sabinus, who wanted enterprise, allowed the disturbances to become dangerous. He ended them at last, however, successfully, and Caesar would not allow his caution to beblamed. During the same months, Publius Crassus had made a brilliantcampaign in Aquitaine. The Aquitani had not long before overthrown twoRoman armies. Determined not to submit to Caesar, they had alliedthemselves with the Spaniards of the Pyrenees, and had officers among themwho had been trained by Sertorius. Crassus stormed their camp with a skilland courage which called out Caesar's highest approbation, and completelysubdued the whole country. In all France there now remained only a few unimportant tribes on thecoast between Calais and the Scheldt which had not formally submitted. Thesummer being nearly over, Caesar contented himself with a hasty survey oftheir frontier. The weather broke up earlier than usual, and the troopswere redistributed in their quarters. Again there had been a year ofunbroken success. The Romans were masters of Gaul, and the admirable careof their commander had preserved the numbers in his legions almostundiminished. The smallness of the loss with which all these wonders wereaccomplished is perhaps the most extraordinary feature of the story. Nottill a year later is there any notice of fresh recruits being brought fromItaly. The winter which followed brought with it another of the dangerous wavesof German immigration. The powerful Suevi, a nation of warriors whocultivated no lands, who wore no clothes but a deer or sheep skin, wholived by hunting and pasture, despised the restraints of stationary life, and roved at pleasure into their neighbors' territories, were pressing onthe weaker tribes and forcing them down into the Low Countries. TheBelgians, hoping for their help against the Romans, had invited thesetribes over the Rhine; and, untaught by the fate of Ariovistus, they werecrossing over and collecting in enormous numbers above the junction of theRhine and the Meuse. Into a half-peopled country, large portions of whichare lying waste, it might be barbarous to forbid an immigration ofharmless and persecuted strangers; but if these Germans were persecuted, they were certainly not harmless; they had come at the instance of theparty in Gaul which was determined to resist the Roman conquest, andunless the conquest was to be abandoned, necessity required that theimmigration must be prohibited. When the advance of spring allowed thetroops to move, Caesar called a council of Gallic chiefs. He said nothingof the information which had reached him respecting their correspondencewith these new invaders, but with his usual swiftness of decision he madeup his mind to act without waiting for disaffection to show itself. Headvanced at once to the Ardennes, where he was met by envoys from theGerman camp. They said that they had been expelled from their country, andhad come to Gaul in search of a home; they did not wish to quarrel withthe Romans; if Caesar would protect them and give them lands, theypromised to be useful to him; if he refused their alliance, they declaredthat they would defend themselves. They had fled before the Sueves, forthe Sueves were the first nation in the world; the immortal gods were nota match for the Sueves; but they were afraid of no one else, and Caesarmight choose whether he would have them for friends or foes. Caesar replied that they must not stay in Gaul. There were no unoccupiedlands in Gaul which could receive so vast a multitude. The Ubii[1] ontheir own side of the Rhine were allies of the Romans; the Ubii, he waswilling to undertake, would provide for them; meanwhile they must go back;he would listen to no other conditions. The envoys departed with theiranswer, begging Caesar to advance no farther till he had again heard fromthem. This could not be granted. The interval would be employed incommunicating with the Gauls. Caesar pushed on, crossed the Meuse atMaestricht, and descended the river to Venloo, where he was but twelvemiles distant from the German head-quarters. Again messengers came, askingfor time--time, at least, till they could learn whether the Ubii wouldreceive them. If the Ubii were favorable, they said that they were readyto go; but they could not decide without a knowledge of what was to becomeof them. They asked for a respite, if only for three days. Three days meant only leisure to collect their scattered detachments, thatthey might make a better fight. Caesar gave them twenty-four hours. The two armies were so near that their front lines were in sight of eachother. Caesar had given orders to his officers not to meddle with theGermans. But the Germans, being undisciplined and hot-blooded, were lesseasy to be restrained. A large body of them flung themselves on the Romanadvanced guard, and drove it in with considerable loss; seventy-four Romanknights fell, and two Aquitanian noblemen, brothers, serving under Caesar, were killed in defending each other. Caesar was not sorry for an excuse to refuse further parley. The Germanswere now scattered. In a day or two they would be united again. He knewthe effect which would be produced on the restless minds of the Gauls bythe news of a reverse however slight; and if he delayed longer, he fearedthat the country might be on fire in his rear. On the morning whichfollowed the first action, the principal German chiefs appeared toapologize and to ask for a truce. They had come in of their own accord. They had not applied for a safe conduct, and war had been begun by theirown people. They were detained as prisoners; and, marching rapidly overthe short space which divided the camps, Caesar flung himself on theunfortunate people when they were entirely unprepared for the attack. Their chiefs were gone. They were lying about in confusion beside theirwagons, women and children dispersed among the men; hundreds of thousandsof human creatures, ignorant where to turn for orders, and uncertainwhether to fight or fly. In this condition the legions burst in on them, furious at what they called the treachery of the previous day, andmerciless in their vengeance. The poor Germans stood bravely defendingthemselves as they could; but the sight of their women flying in shriekingcrowds, pursued by the Roman horse, was too much for them, and the wholehost were soon rushing in despairing wreck down the narrowing isthmusbetween the Meuse and the Rhine. They came to the junction at last, andthen they could go no further. Multitudes were slaughtered; multitudesthrew themselves into the water and were drowned. Caesar, who was notgiven to exaggeration, says that their original number was 430, 000. Theonly survivors, of whom any clear record remains, were the detachments whowere absent from the battle, and the few chiefs who had come into Caesar'scamp and continued with him at their own request from fear of beingmurdered by the Gauls. This affair was much spoken of at the time, as well it might be. Questionswere raised upon it in the Senate. Cato insisted that Caesar had massacreda defenceless people in a time of truce, that he had broken the law ofnations, and that he ought to be given up to the Germans. The sweeping offthe earth in such a manner of a quarter of a million human creatures, evenin those unscrupulous times, could not be heard of without a shudder. Theirritation in the Senate can hardly be taken as disinterested. Men who hadintrigued with Ariovistus for Caesar's destruction, needed not to becredited with feelings of pure humanity when they made the most of theopportunity. But an opportunity had undoubtedly been offered them. Therights of war have their limits. No living man in ordinary circumstancesrecognized those limits more than Caesar did. No commander was morehabitually merciful in victory. In this case the limits had beenruthlessly exceeded. The Germans were not indeed defending their owncountry; they were the invaders of another; but they were a fine braverace, overtaken by fate when doing no more than their forefathers had donefor unknown generations. The excuse for their extermination was simplythis: that Caesar had undertaken the conquest of Gaul for the defence ofItaly. A powerful party among the Gauls themselves were content to beannexed to the Roman Empire. The patriots looked to the Germans to helpthem in driving out the Romans. The Germanizing of Gaul would lead withcertainty to fresh invasions of Italy; and it seemed permissible, and evennecessary, to put a stop to these immigrations once for all, and to showGauls and Germans equally that they were not to be. It was not enough to have driven the Germans out of Gaul. Caesar respectedtheir character. He admired their abstinence from wine, their courage, their frugal habits, and their pure morality. But their virtues made themonly more dangerous; and he desired to show them that the Roman arm waslong and could reach them even in their own homes. Parties of the lateinvaders had returned over the Rhine, and were protected by the Sigambriin Westphalia. Caesar had demanded their surrender, and the Sigambri hadanswered that Roman authority did not reach across the river; if Caesarforbade Germans to cross into Gaul, the Germans would not allow the Romansto dictate to them in their own country. The Ubii were growing anxious. They were threatened by the Sueves for deserting the national cause. Theybegged Caesar to show himself among them, though his stay might be butshort, as a proof that he had power and will to protect them; and theyoffered him boats and barges to carry his army over. Caesar decided to go, but to go with more ostentation. The object was to impress the Germanimagination; and boats and barges which might not always be obtainablewould, if they seemed essential, diminish the effect. The legions wereskilled workmen, able to turn their hand to anything. He determined tomake a bridge, and he chose Bonn for the site of it. The river was broad, deep, and rapid. The materials were still standing in the forest; yet inten days from the first stroke that was delivered by an axe, a bridge hadbeen made standing firmly on rows of piles with a road over it forty feetwide. A strong guard was left at each end. Caesar marched across with thelegions, and from all sides deputations from the astonished people pouredin to beg for peace. The Sigambri had fled to their woods. The Suevi fellback into the Thuringian forests. He burnt the villages of the Sigambri, to leave the print of his presence. He paid the Ubii a long visit; andafter remaining eighteen days beyond the river, he considered that hispurpose had been gained, and he returned to Gaul, destroying the bridgebehind him. It was now about the beginning of August. A few weeks only of possiblefine weather remained. Gaul was quiet, not a tribe was stirring. Thepeople were stunned by Caesar's extraordinary performances. West of thechannel which washed the shores of the Belgae lay an island where theenemies of Rome had found shelter, and from which help had been sent tothe rebellious Bretons. Caesar, the most skilful and prudent of generals, was yet adventurous as a knight-errant. There was still time for a shortexpedition into Britain. As yet nothing was known of that country, savethe white cliffs which could be seen from Calais; Roman merchantsoccasionally touched there, but they had never ventured into the interior;they could give no information as to the size of the island, the qualitiesof the harbors, the character or habits of the inhabitants. Completeignorance of such near neighbors was undesirable and inconvenient; andCaesar wished to look at them with his own eyes. The fleet which had beenused in the war with the Veneti was sent round into the channel. Hedirected Caius Volusenus, an officer whom he could trust, to take a galleyand make a survey of the opposite coast, and he himself followed toBoulogne, where his vessels were waiting for him. The gathering of theflotilla and its object had been reported to Britain, and envoys fromvarious tribes were waiting there with offers of hostages and humbleprotestations. Caesar received them graciously, and sent back with them aGaul, named Commius, whom he had made chief of the Atrebates, to tell thepeople that he was coming over as a friend, and that they had nothing tofear. Volusenus returned after five days' absence, having been unable to gatheranything of importance. The ships which had come in were able only to takeacross two legions, probably at less than their full complement--or atmost ten thousand men; but for Caesar's present purpose these weresufficient. Leaving Sabinus and Cotta in charge of the rest of the army, he sailed on a calm evening, and was off Dover in the morning. The cliffswere lined with painted warriors, and hung so close over the water that ifhe attempted to land there stones and lances could reach the boats fromthe edge of the precipice. He called his officers about him while hisfleet collected, and said a few encouraging words to them; he then movedup the coast with the tide, apparently as far as Walmer or Deal. Here thebeach was open and the water deep near the land. The Britons had followedby the brow of the cliff, scrambling along with their cars and horses. Theshore was covered with them, and they evidently meant to fight. Thetransports anchored where the water was still up to the men's shoulders. They were encumbered with their arms, and did not like the look of whatwas before them. Seeing them hesitate, Caesar sent his armed galleysfilled with archers and crossbow-men to clear the approach; and as thelegionaries still hesitated, an officer who carried the eagle of the 10thleapt into the sea and bade his comrades follow if they wished to savetheir standard. They sprang overboard with a general cheer. The Britonsrode their horses into the waves to meet them; and for a few minutes theRomans could make no progress. Boats came to their help, which kept backthe most active of their opponents, and once on land they were in theirown element. The Britons galloped off, and Caesar had no cavalry. A camp was then formed. Some of the ships were left at anchor, others werebrought on shore, and were hauled up to the usual high-water mark. Commiuscame in with deputations, and peace was satisfactorily arranged. All wentwell till the fourth day, when the full moon brought the spring tide, ofwhich the Romans had no experience and had not provided for it. Heavyweather came up along with it. The galleys on the beach were floated off;the transports at anchor parted their cables; some were driven on shore, some out into the channel. Caesar was in real anxiety. He had no means ofprocuring a second fleet. He had made no preparations for wintering inBritain. The legions had come light, without tents or baggage, as he meantto stay no longer than he had done in Germany, two or three weeks at most. Skill and energy repaired the damage. The vessels which had gone astraywere recovered. Those which were least injured were repaired with thematerials of the rest. Twelve only were lost, the others were madeseaworthy. The Britons, as Caesar expected, had taken heart at the disaster. Theybroke their agreement, and fell upon his outposts. Seeing the small numberof Romans, they collected in force, in the hope that if they could destroythe first comers no more such unwelcome visitors would ever arrive totrouble them. A sharp action taught them their mistake; and after many ofthe poor creatures had been killed, they brought in hostages, and againbegged for peace. The equinox was now coming on. The weather was againthreatening. Postponing, therefore, further inquiries into the nature ofthe British and their country, Caesar used the first favorableopportunity, and returned, without further adventure, to Boulogne. Thelegions were distributed among the Belgae; and Caesar himself, who couldhave no rest, hastened over the Alps, to deal with other disturbanceswhich had broken out in Illyria. [Sidenote: B. C. 54. ]The bridge over the Rhine and the invasion of a country so remote that itwas scarcely believed to exist, roused the enthusiasm at Rome beyond thepoint which it had hitherto reached. The Roman populace was accustomed tovictories, but these were portents like the achievements of the olddemigods. The humbled Senate voted twenty days of thanksgiving; andfaction, controlled by Pompey, was obliged to be silent. The Illyrian troubles were composed without fighting, and the interval ofwinter was spent in preparations for a renewal of the expedition intoBritain on a larger scale. Orders had been left with the officers incommand to prepare as many transports as the time would allow, broader andlower in the side for greater convenience in loading and unloading. InApril, Caesar returned. He visited the different stations, and he foundthat his expert legionaries, working incessantly, had built six hundredtransports and twenty-eight armed galleys. All these were finished andready to be launched. He directed that they should collect at Boulogne asbefore; and in the interval he paid a visit to the north of Gaul, wherethere were rumors of fresh correspondence with the Germans. Danger, ifdanger there was, was threatened by the Treveri, a powerful tribe stillunbroken on the Moselle. Caesar, however, had contrived to attach theleading chiefs to the Roman interest. He found nothing to alarm him, andonce more went down to the sea. In his first venture he had beenembarrassed by want of cavalry. He was by this time personally acquaintedwith the most influential of the Gallic nobles. He had requested them toattend him into Britain with their mounted retinues, both for service inthe field, and that he might keep these restless chiefs under his eye. Among the rest he had not overlooked the Aeduan prince, Dumnorix, whoseintrigues had brought the Helvetii out of Switzerland, and whose treacheryhad created difficulty and nearly disaster in the first campaign. Dumnorixhad not forgotten his ambition. He had affected penitence, and he had beentreated with kindness. He had availed himself of the favor which had beenshown to him to pretend to his countrymen that Caesar had promised him thechieftainship. He had petitioned earnestly to be excused from accompanyingthe expedition, and, Caesar having for this reason probably the moreinsisted upon it, he had persuaded the other chiefs that Caesar meant todestroy them, and that if they went to Britain they would never return. These whisperings were reported to Caesar. Dumnorix had come to Boulognewith the rest, and he ordered him to be watched. A long westerly wind hadprevented Caesar from embarking as soon as he had wished. The weatherchanged at last, and the troops were ordered on board. Dumnorix slippedaway in the confusion with a party of Aeduan horse, and it was now certainthat he had sinister intentions. The embarkation was suspended. Adetachment of cavalry was sent in pursuit, with directions to bringDumnorix back dead or alive. Dumnorix resisted, and was killed. No disturbance followed on his death. The remaining chiefs were loyal, orwished to appear loyal, and further delay was unnecessary. Labienus, whomCaesar thoroughly trusted, remained behind with three legions and twothousand horse to watch over Gaul; and on a fine summer evening, with alight air from the south, Caesar sailed at sunset on the 20th of July. Hehad five legions with him. He had as many cavalry as he had left withLabienus. His flotilla, swollen by volunteers, amounted to eight hundredvessels, small and great. At sunrise they were in midchannel, lying in adead calm, with the cliffs of Britain plainly visible on their left hand. The tide was flowing. Oars were out; the legionaries worked with suchenthusiasm that the transports kept abreast of the war-galleys. At noonthey had reached the beach at Deal, where this time they found no enemy tooppose their landing; the Britons had been terrified at the multitude ofships and boats in which the power of Rome was descending on them, and hadfled into the interior. The water was smooth, the disembarkation easy. Acamp was drawn out and intrenched, and six thousand men, with a fewhundred horse, were told off to guard it. The fleet was left ridingquietly at anchor, the pilots ignorant of the meaning of the treacheroussouthern air which had been so welcome to them; and Caesar advanced inlandas far as the Stour. The Britons, after an unsuccessful stand to preventthe Romans from crossing the river, retired into the woods, where they hadmade themselves a fortress with felled trees. The weak defence was easilystormed; the Britons were flying; the Romans were preparing to follow;when an express came from Deal to tell Caesar that a gale had risen againand the fleet was lying wrecked upon the shore. A second accident of thesame kind might have seemed an omen of evil, but Caesar did not believe inomens. The even temperament of his mind was never discomposed, and at eachmoment he was able always to decide, and to do, what the moment required. The army was halted. He rode back himself to the camp, to find that fortyof his vessels only were entirely ruined. The rest were injured, but notirreparably. They were hauled up within the lines of the camp. He selectedthe best mechanics out of the legions; he sent across to Labienus formore, and directed him to build fresh transports in the yards at Boulogne. The men worked night and day, and in little more than a week Caesar wasable to rejoin his troops and renew his march. The object of the invasion had been rather to secure the quiet of Gaulthan the annexation of new subjects and further territory. But it couldnot be obtained till the Romans had measured themselves against theBritons, and had asserted their military superiority. The Britons hadalready shown themselves a fearless race, who could not be despised. Theyfought bravely from their cars and horses, retreated rapidly whenovermatched, and were found dangerous when pursued. Encouraged by thereport of the disaster to the fleet, Cassibelaunus, chief of the Cassi, whose head-quarters were at St. Albans, had collected a considerable armyfrom both sides of the Thames, and was found in strength in Caesar's frontwhen he again began to move. They attacked his foraging parties. They seton his flanking detachments. They left their cars, and fought on foot whenthey could catch an advantage; and remounted and were swiftly out of thereach of the heavily armed Roman infantry. The Gaulish horse pursued, butdid not know the country, and suffered more harm than they inflicted. Thusthe British gave Caesar considerable trouble, which he recorded to theircredit. Not a word can be found in his Commentaries to the disparagementof brave and open adversaries. At length he forced them into a battle, where their best warriors were killed. The confederacy of tribes dissolvedand never rallied again, and he pursued his march thenceforward withlittle molestation. He crossed the Medway, and reached the Thamesseemingly at Sunbury. There was a ford there, but the river was stilldeep, the ground was staked, and Cassibelaunus with his own people was onthe other side. The legions, however, paid small attention toCassibelaunus; they plunged through with the water at their necks. TheBritons dispersed, driving off their cattle, and watching his march from adistance. The tribes from the eastern counties made their submission, andat Caesar's orders supplied him with corn. Caesar marched on to St. Albansitself, then lying in the midst of forests and marshes, where the cattle, the Cassi's only wealth, had been collected for security. St. Albans andthe cattle were taken; Cassibelaunus sued for peace; the days were drawingin; and Caesar, having no intention of wintering in Britain, considered hehad done enough and need go no farther. He returned as he had come. TheKentish men had attacked the camp in his absence, but had been beaten offwith heavy loss. The Romans had sallied out upon them, killed as many asthey could catch, and taken one of their chiefs. Thenceforward they hadbeen left in quiet. A nominal tribute, which was never paid, was assignedto the tribes who had submitted. The fleet was in order, and all was readyfor departure. The only, but unhappily too valuable, booty which they hadcarried off consisted of some thousands of prisoners. These, when landedin Gaul, were disposed of to contractors, to be carried to Italy and soldas slaves. Two trips were required to transport the increased numbers; butthe passage was accomplished without accident, and the whole army wasagain at Boulogne. Thus ended the expedition into Britain. It had been undertaken rather foreffect than for material advantage; and everything which had been aimed athad been gained. The Gauls looked no more across the Channel for supportof insurrections; the Romans talked with admiration for a century of thefar land to which Caesar had borne the eagles; and no exploit gave himmore fame with his contemporaries. Nor was it without use to have solved ageographical problem, and to have discovered with certainty what thecountry was, the white cliffs of which were visible from the shores whichwere now Roman territory. Caesar during his stay in Britain had acquired afairly accurate notion of it. He knew that it was an island, and he knewits dimensions and shape. He knew that Ireland lay to the west of it, andIreland, he had been told, was about half its size. He had heard of theIsle of Man, and how it was situated. To the extreme north above Britainhe had ascertained that there were other islands, where in winter the sunscarcely rose above the horizon; and he had observed through accuratemeasurement by water-clocks that the midsummer nights in Britain wereshorter than in the south of France and Italy. He had inquired into thenatural products of the country. There were tin mines, he found, in partsof the island, and iron in small quantities; but copper was imported fromthe Continent. The vegetation resembled that of France, save that he sawno beech and no spruce pine. Of more consequence were the people and thedistribution of them. The Britons of the interior he conceived to beindigenous. The coast was chiefly occupied by immigrants from Belgium, ascould be traced in the nomenclature of places. The country seemed thicklyinhabited. The flocks and herds were large; and farm buildings werefrequent, resembling those in Gaul. In Kent especially, civilization wasas far advanced as on the opposite continent. The Britons proper from theinterior showed fewer signs of progress. They did not break the ground forcorn; they had no manufactures; they lived on meat and milk, and weredressed in leather. They dyed their skins blue that they might look moreterrible. They wore their hair long, and had long mustaches. In theirhabits they had not risen out of the lowest order of savagery. They hadwives in common, and brothers and sisters, parents and children, livedtogether with promiscuous unrestraint. From such a country not much was tobe gained in the way of spoil; nor had much been expected. Since Cicero'sconversion, his brother Quintus had joined Caesar, and was now attendinghim as one of his lieutenant-generals. The brothers were in intimatecorrespondence. Cicero, though he watched the British expedition withinterest, anticipated that Quintus would bring nothing of value back withhim but slaves; and he warned his friend Atticus, who dealt extensively insuch commodities, that the slaves from Britain would not be found ofsuperior quality. [2] [1] Nassau and Darmstadt. [2] "Britannici belli exitus exspectatur. Constat enim, aditus insulae esse munitos mirificis molibus. Etiam illud jam cognitum est, neque argenti scrupulum esse ullum in illâ insulâ, neque ullam spem praedae, nisi ex mancipiis: ex quibus nullos puto te litteris aut musicis eruditos exspectare. "--_Ad Atticum_, iv. 16. It does not appear what Cicero meant by the "mirificae moles" which guarded the approaches to Britain, whether Dover Cliff or the masses of sand under water at the Goodwins. CHAPTER XVII. The summer had passed off gloriously for the Roman arms. The expedition toBritain had produced all the effects which Caesar expected from it, andGaul was outwardly calm. Below the smooth appearance the elements ofdisquiet were silently working, and the winter was about to produce themost serious disaster and the sharpest trials which Caesar had yetexperienced. On his return from Britain he held a council at Amiens. Theharvest had been bad, and it was found expedient, for their betterprovision, to disperse the troops over a broader area than usual. Therewere in all eight legions, with part of another to be disposed of, andthey were distributed in the following order. Lucius Roscius was placed atSéex, in Normandy; Quintus Cicero at Charleroy, not far from the scene ofthe battle with the Nervii. Cicero had chosen this position for himself aspeculiarly advantageous; and his brother speaks of Caesar's acquiescencein the arrangement as a special mark of favor to himself. Labienus was atLavacherie, on the Ourthe, about seventy miles to the south-east ofCicero; and Sabinus and Cotta were at Tongres, among the Aduatuci, not farfrom Liége, an equal distance from him to the north-east. Caius Fabius hada legion at St. Pol, between Calais and Arras; Trebonius one at Amiens;Marcus Crassus one at Montdidier; Munatius Plancus one across the Oise, near Compiègne. Roscius was far off, but in a comparatively quiet country. The other camps lay within a circle, two hundred miles in diameter, ofwhich Bavay was the centre. Amiens was at one point on the circumference. Tongres, on the opposite side of it, to the north-east. Sabinus, being themost exposed, had, in addition to his legion, a few cohorts lately raisedin Italy. Caesar, having no particular business to take him over the Alps, remained, with Trebonius attending to general business. His dispositionshad been carefully watched by the Gauls. Caesar, they supposed, would goaway as usual; they even believed that he had gone; and a conspiracy wasformed in the north to destroy the legions in detail. The instigator of the movement was Induciomarus, the leader of the patriotparty among the Treveri, whose intrigues had taken Caesar to the Mosellebefore the first visit to Britain. At that time Induciomarus had been ableto do nothing; but a fairer opportunity had arrived. The overthrow of thegreat German horde had affected powerfully the semi-Teutonic populationson the left bank of the Rhine. The Eburones, a large tribe of German raceoccupying the country between Liége and Cologne, had given in theirsubmission; but their strength was still undiminished, and Induciomarusprevailed on their two chiefs, Ambiorix and Catavoleus, to attack Sabinusand Cotta. It was midwinter. The camp at Tongres was isolated. The nearestsupport was seventy miles distant. If one Roman camp was taken, Induciomarus calculated that the country would rise; the others could beseparately surrounded, and Gaul would be free. The plot was well laid. Anentrenched camp being difficult to storm, the confederates decided tobegin by treachery. Ambiorix was personally known to many of the Romanofficers. He sent to Sabiuus to say that he wished to communicate with himon a matter of the greatest consequence. An interview being granted, hestated that a general conspiracy had been formed through the whole of Gaulto surprise and destroy the legions. Each station was to be attacked onthe same day, that they might be unable to support each other. Hepretended himself to have remonstrated; but his tribe, he said, had beencarried away by the general enthusiasm for liberty, and he could not keepthem back. Vast bodies of Germans had crossed the Rhine to join in thewar. In two days at the furthest they would arrive. He was under privateobligations to Caesar, who had rescued his son and nephew in the fightwith the Aduatuci, and out of gratitude he wished to save Sabinus fromdestruction, which was otherwise inevitable. He urged him to escape whilethere was still time, and to join either Labienus or Cicero, giving asolemn promise that he should not be molested on the road. A council of officers was held on the receipt of this unwelcomeinformation. It was thought unlikely that the Eburones would rise bythemselves. It was probable enough, therefore, that the conspiracy wasmore extensive. Cotta, who was second in command, was of opinion that itwould be rash and wrong to leave the camp without Caesar's orders. Theyhad abundant provisions. They could hold their own lines against any forcewhich the Germans could bring upon them, and help would not be long inreaching them. It would be preposterous to take so grave a step on theadvice of an enemy. Sabinus unfortunately thought differently. He had beenover-cautious in Brittany, though he had afterward redeemed his fault. Caesar, he persuaded himself, had left the country; each commandertherefore must act on his own responsibility. The story told by Ambiorixwas likely in itself. The Germans were known to be furious at the passageof the Rhine, the destruction of Ariovistus, and their other defeats. Gaulresented the loss of its independence. Ambiorix was acting like a truefriend, and it would be madness to refuse his offer. Two days' march wouldbring them to their friends. If the alarm was false, they could return. Ifthere was to be a general insurrection, the legions could not be toospeedily brought together. If they waited, as Cotta advised, they would besurrounded, and in the end would be starved into surrender. Cotta was not convinced, and the majority of officers supported him. Thefirst duty of a Roman army, he said, was obedience to orders. Theirbusiness was to hold the post which had been committed to them, till theywere otherwise directed. The officers were consulting in the midst of thecamp, surrounded by the legionaries. "Have it as you wish, " Sabinusexclaimed, in a tone which the men could hear; "I am not afraid of beingkilled. If things go amiss, the troops will understand where to lay theblame. If you allowed it, they might in forty-eight hours be at the nextquarters, facing the chances of war with their comrades, instead ofperishing here alone by sword or hunger. " Neither party would give way. The troops joined in the discussion. Theywere willing either to go or to stay, if their commanders would agree; butthey said that it must be one thing or the other; disputes would becertain ruin. The discussion lasted till midnight. Sabinus was obstinate, Cotta at last withdrew his opposition, and the fatal resolution was formedto march at dawn. The remaining hours of the night were passed by the menin collecting such valuables as they wished to take with them. Everythingseemed ingeniously done to increase the difficulty of remaining, and toadd to the perils of the march by the exhaustion of the troops. The Meuselay between them and Labienus, so they had selected to go to Cicero atCharleroy. Their course lay up the left bank of the little river_Geer_. Trusting to the promises of Ambiorix, they started in looseorder, followed by a long train of carts and wagons. The Eburones lay, waiting for them, in a large valley, two miles from the camp. When most ofthe cohorts were entangled in the middle of the hollow, the enemy appearedsuddenly, some in front, some on both sides of the valley, some behindthreatening the baggage. Wise men, as Caesar says, anticipate possibledifficulties, and decide beforehand what they will do if occasions arise. Sabinus had foreseen nothing and arranged nothing. Cotta, who had expectedwhat might happen, was better prepared, and did the best that waspossible. The men had scattered among the wagons, each to save or protectwhat he could. Cotta ordered them back, bade them leave the carts to theirfate, and form together in a ring. He did right, Caesar thought; but theeffect was unfortunate. The troops lost heart, and the enemy wasencouraged, knowing that the baggage would only be abandoned when theposition was desperate. The Eburones were under good command. They didnot, as might have been expected, fly upon the plunder. They stood totheir work, well aware that the carts would not escape them. They were notin great numbers. Caesar specially says that the Romans were as numerousas they. But everything else was against the Romans. Sabinus could give nodirections. They were in a narrow meadow, with wooded hills on each sideof them filled with enemies whom they could not reach. When they charged, the light-footed barbarians ran back; when they retired, they closed inupon them again, and not a dart, an arrow, or a stone missed its markamong the crowded cohorts. Bravely as the Romans fought, they were in atrap where their courage was useless to them. The battle lasted from dawntill the afternoon, and though they were falling fast, there was noflinching and no cowardice. Caesar, who inquired particularly into theminutest circumstances of the disaster, records by name the officers whodistinguished themselves; he mentions one whose courage he had markedbefore, who was struck down with a lance through his thighs, and anotherwho was killed in rescuing his son. The brave Cotta was hit in the mouthby a stone as he was cheering on his men. The end came at last. Sabinus, helpless and distracted, caught sight of Ambiorix in the confusion, andsent an interpreter to implore him to spare the remainder of the army. Ambiorix answered that Sabinus might come to him, if he pleased; he hopedhe might persuade his tribe to be merciful; he promised that Sabinushimself should suffer no injury. Sabinus asked Cotta to accompany him. Cotta said he would never surrender to an armed enemy; and, wounded as hewas, he stayed with the legion. Sabinus, followed by the rest of thesurviving officers whom he ordered to attend him, proceeded to the spotwhere the chief was standing. They were commanded to lay down their arms. They obeyed, and were immediately killed; and with one wild yell thebarbarians then rushed in a mass on the deserted cohorts. Cotta fell, andmost of the others with him. The survivors, with the eagle of the legion, which they had still faithfully guarded, struggled back in the dusk totheir deserted camp. The standard-bearer, surrounded by enemies, reachedthe fosse, flung the eagle over the rampart, and fell with the lasteffort. Those that were left fought on till night, and then, seeing thathope was gone, died like Romans on each other's swords--a signalillustration of the Roman greatness of mind, which had died out among thedegenerate patricians, but was living in all its force in Caesar'slegions. A few stragglers, who had been cut off during the battle fromtheir comrades, escaped in the night through the woods, and carried thenews to Labienus. Cicero, at Charleroy, was left in ignorance. The roadswere beset, and no messenger could reach him. Induciomarus understood his countrymen. The conspiracy with which he hadfrightened Sabinus had not as yet extended beyond a few northern chiefs, hut the success of Ambiorix produced the effect which he desired. As soonas it was known that two Roman generals had been cut off, the remnants ofthe Aduatuci and the Nervii were in arms for their own revenge. Thesmaller tribes along the Meuse and Sambre rose with them; and Cicero, taken by surprise, found himself surrounded before he had a thought ofdanger. The Gauls, knowing that their chances depended on the capture ofthe second camp before assistance could arrive, flung themselves sodesperately on the entrenchments that the legionaries were barely able torepel the first assault. The assailants were driven back at last, andCicero despatched messengers to Caesar to Amiens, to give him notice ofthe rising; but not a man was able to penetrate through the multitude ofenemies which now swarmed in the woods. The troops worked gallantly, strengthening the weak points of their fortifications. In one night theyraised a hundred and twenty towers on their walls. Again the Gauls tried astorm, and, though they failed a second time, they left the garrison norest either by day or night. There was no leisure for sleep; not a handcould be spared from the lines to care for the sick or wounded. Cicero wasin bad health, but he clung to his work till the men carried him by forceto his tent and obliged him to lie down. The first surprise not havingsucceeded, the Nervian chiefs, who knew Cicero, desired a parley. Theytold the same story which Ambiorix had told, that the Germans had crossedthe Rhine, and that all Gaul was in arms. They informed him of thedestruction of Sabinus; they warned him that the same fate was hangingover himself, and that his only hope was in surrender. They did not wish, they said, to hurt either him or the Roman people; he and his troops wouldbe free to go where they pleased, but they were determined to prevent thelegions from quartering themselves permanently in their country. There was but one Sabinus in the Roman army. Cicero answered, with aspirit worthy of his country, that Romans accepted no conditions fromenemies in arms. The Gauls might, if they pleased, send a deputation toCaesar, and hear what he would say to them. For himself, he had noauthority to listen to them. Force and treachery being alike unavailing, they resolved to starve Cicero out. They had watched the Roman strategy. They had seen and felt the value of the entrenchments. They made a bankand ditch all round the camp, and, though they had no tools but theirswords with which to dig turf and cut trees, so many there were of themthat the work was completed in three hours. [1] Having thus pinned theRomans in, they slung red-hot balls and flung darts carrying lighted strawover the ramparts of the camp on the thatched roofs of the soldiers' huts. The wind was high, the fire spread, and amidst the smoke and the blaze theGauls again rushed on from all sides to the assault. Roman discipline wasnever more severely tried, and never showed its excellence more signally. The houses and stores of the soldiers were in flames behind them. Theenemy were pressing on the walls in front, covered by a storm of javelinsand stones and arrows, but not a man left his post to save his property orto extinguish the fire. They fought as they stood, striking down rankafter rank of the Gauls, who still crowded on, trampling on the bodies oftheir companions, as the foremost lines fell dead into the ditch. Such asreached the wall never left it alive, for they were driven forward by thethrong behind on the swords of the legionaries. Thousands of them hadfallen, before, in desperation, they drew back at last. But Cicero's situation was almost desperate too. The huts were destroyed. The majority of the men were wounded, and those able to bear arms weredaily growing weaker in number. Caesar was 120 miles distant, and no wordhad reached him of the danger. Messengers were again sent off, but theywere caught one after another, and were tortured to death in front of theramparts, and the boldest men shrank from risking their lives on sohopeless an enterprise. At length a Nervian slave was found to makeanother adventure. He was a Gaul, and could easily disguise himself. Aletter to Caesar was enclosed in the shaft of his javelin. He glided outof the camp in the dark, passed undetected among the enemies as one ofthemselves, and, escaping from their lines, made his way to Amiens. Swiftness of movement was Caesar's distinguishing excellence. The legionswere kept ready to march at an hour's notice. He sent an order to Crassusto join him instantly from Montdidier. He sent to Fabius at St. Pol tomeet him at Arras. He wrote to Labienus, telling him the situation, andleaving him to his discretion to advance or to remain on his guard atLavacherie, as might seem most prudent. Not caring to wait for the rest ofhis army, and leaving Crassus to take care of Amiens, he started himself, the morning after the information reached him, with Trebonius's legion toCicero's relief. Fabius joined him, as he had been directed, at Arras. Hehad hoped for Labienus's presence also; but Labienus sent to say that hewas surrounded by the Treveri, and dared not stir. Caesar approved hishesitation, and with but two legions, amounting in all to only 7, 000 men, he hurried forward to the Nervian border. Learning that Cicero was stillholding out, he wrote a letter to him in Greek, that it might beunintelligible if intercepted, to tell him that help was near. A Gaulcarried the letter, and fastened it by a line to his javelin, which heflung over Cicero's rampart. The javelin stuck in the side of one of thetowers and was unobserved for several days. The besiegers were betterinformed. They learnt that Caesar was at hand, that he had but a handfulof men with him. By that time their own numbers had risen to 60, 000, and, leaving Cicero to be dealt with at leisure, they moved off to envelop anddestroy their great enemy. Caesar was well served by spies. He knew thatCicero was no longer in immediate danger, and there was thus no occasionfor him to risk a battle at a disadvantage to relieve him. When he foundthe Gauls near him, he encamped, drawing his lines as narrowly as hecould, that from the small show which he made they might imagine histroops to be even fewer than they were. He invited attack by anostentation of timidity, and having tempted the Gauls to become theassailants, he flung open his gates, rushed out upon them with his wholeforce, and all but annihilated them. The patriot army was broken topieces, and the unfortunate Nervii and Aduatuci never rallied from thissecond blow. Caesar could then go at his leisure to Cicero and hiscomrades, who had fought so nobly against such desperate odds. In everyten men he found that there was but one unwounded. He inquired with minutecuriosity into every detail of the siege. In a general address he thankedCicero and the whole legion. He thanked the officers man by man for theirgallantry and fidelity. Now for the first time (and that he could haveremained ignorant of it so long speaks for the passionate unanimity withwhich the Gauls had risen) he learnt from prisoners the fate of Sabinus. He did not underrate the greatness of the catastrophe. The soldiers in thearmy he treated always as friends and comrades in arms, and the loss of somany of them was as personally grievous to him as the effects of it mightbe politically mischievous. He made it the subject of a second speech tohis own and to Cicero's troops, but he spoke to encourage and to console. A serious misfortune had happened, he said, through the fault of one ofhis generals, but it must be borne with equanimity, and had already beenheroically expiated. The meeting with Cicero must have been an interestingone. He and the two Ciceros had been friends and companions in youth. Itwould have been well if Marcus Tullius could have remembered in the comingyears the personal exertion with which Caesar had rescued a brother towhom he was so warmly attached. Communications among the Gauls were feverishly rapid. While the Nerviiwere attacking Cicero, Induciomarus and the Treveri had surroundedLabienus at Lavacherie. Caesar had entered Cicero's camp at three o'clockin the afternoon. The news reached Induciomarus before midnight, and hehad disappeared by the morning. Caesar returned to Amiens, but the wholecountry was now in a state of excitement. He had intended to go to Italy, but he abandoned all thoughts of departure. Rumors came of messengershurrying to and fro, of meetings at night in lonely places, ofconfederacies among the patriots. Even Brittany was growing uneasy; aforce had been collected to attack Roscius, though it had dispersed afterthe relief of Cicero. Caesar again summoned the chiefs to come to him, andbetween threats and encouragements succeeded in preventing a generalrising. But the tribes on the upper Seine broke into disturbance. TheAedui and the Remi alone remained really loyal; and it was evident thatonly a leader was wanted to raise the whole of Gaul. Caesar himselfadmitted that nothing could be more natural. The more high-spirited of theGauls were miserable to see that their countrymen had so lost conceit ofthemselves as to submit willingly to the Roman rule. Induciomarus was busy all the winter soliciting help from the Germans, andpromising money and lands. The Germans had had enough of fighting theRomans, and, as long as their own independence was not threatened, weredisinclined to move; but Induciomarus, nothing daunted, gatheredvolunteers on all sides. His camp became a rallying point fordisaffection. Envoys came privately to him from distant tribes. He, too, held his rival council, and a fresh attack on the camp of Labienus was tobe the first step in a general war. Labienus, well informed of what wasgoing on, watched him quietly from his entrenchments. When the Gaulsapproached, he affected fear, as Caesar had done, and he secretly formed abody of cavalry, of whose existence they had no suspicion. Induciomarusbecame careless. Day after day he rode round the entrenchments, insultingthe Romans as cowards, and his men flinging their javelins over the walls. Labienus remained passive, till one evening, when, after one of thesedisplays, the loose bands of the Gauls had scattered, he sent his horseout suddenly with orders to fight neither with small nor great, save withInduciomarus only, and promising a reward for his head. Fortune favoredhim. Induciomarus was overtaken and killed in a ford of the Ourthe, andfor the moment the agitation was cooled down. But the impression which hadbeen excited by the destruction of Sabinus was still telling through thecountry. Caesar expected fresh trouble in the coming summer, and spent therest of the winter and spring in preparing for a new struggle. Futurepeace depended on convincing the Gauls of the inexhaustible resources ofItaly; on showing them that any loss which might be inflicted could beimmediately repaired, and that the army could and would be maintained inwhatever strength might be necessary to coerce them. He raised two freshlegions in his own province. Pompey had formed a legion in the north ofItaly, within Caesar's boundaries, for service in Spain. Caesar requestedPompey to lend him this legion for immediate purposes; and Pompey, who wasstill on good terms with Caesar, recognized the importance of theoccasion, and consented without difficulty. [Sidenote: B. C. 53. ]Thus amply reinforced, Caesar, before the grass had begun to grow, tookthe field against the tribes which were openly disaffected. The firstbusiness was to punish the Belgians, who had attacked Cicero. He fellsuddenly on the Nervii with four legions, seized their cattle, wastedtheir country, and carried off thousands of them to be sold into slavery. Returning to Amiens, he again called the chiefs about him, and, the Seinetribes refusing to put in an appearance, he transferred the council toParis, and, advancing by rapid marches, he brought the Senones andCarnutes to pray for pardon. [2] He then turned on the Treveri and theirallies, who, under Ambiorix, had destroyed Sabinus. Leaving Labienus withthe additional legions to check the Treveri, he went himself intoFlanders, where Ambiorix was hiding among the rivers and marshes. He threwbridges over the dikes, burnt the villages, and carried off an enormousspoil, of cattle and, alas! of men. To favor and enrich the tribes thatsubmitted after a first defeat, to depopulate the determinately rebelliousby seizing and selling as slaves those who had forfeited a right to hisprotection, was his uniform and, as the event proved, entirely successfulpolicy. The persuasions of the Treveri had failed with the nearer Germantribes; but some of the Suevi, who had never seen the Romans, were temptedto adventure over and try their fortunes; and the Treveri were waiting forthem, to set on Labienus, in Caesar's absence. Labienus went in search ofthe Treveri, tempted them into an engagement by a feigned flight, killedmany of them, and filled his camp with prisoners. Their German alliesretreated again across the river, and the patriot chiefs, who had gonewith Induciomarus, concealed themselves in the forests of Westphalia. Caesar thought it desirable to renew the admonition which he had given theGermans two years before, and again threw a bridge over the Rhine at thesame place where he had made the first, but a little higher up the stream. Experience made the construction more easy. The bridge was begun andfinished in a few days, but this time the labor was thrown away. Theoperation itself lost its impressiveness by repetition, and the barrennessof practical results was more evident than before. The Sueves, who hadgone home, were far away in the interior. To lead the heavily armedlegions in pursuit of wild light-footed marauders, who had not a townwhich could be burned, or a field of corn which could be cut for food, wasto waste their strength to no purpose, and to prove still more plainlythat in their own forests they were beyond the reach of vengeance. Caesardrew back again, after a brief visit to his allies the Ubii, cut twohundred feet of the bridge on the German side, and leaving the reststanding with a guard to defend it, he went in search of Ambiorix, who hadas yet eluded him, in the Ardennes. Ambiorix had added treachery toinsurrection, and as long as he was free and unpunished the massacredlegion had not been fully avenged. Caesar was particularly anxious tocatch him, and once had found the nest warm which Ambiorix had left but afew moments before. In the pursuit he came again to Tongres, to the fatal camp which Sabinushad deserted and in which the last of the legionaries had killed eachother, rather than degrade the Roman name by allowing themselves to becaptured. The spot was fated, and narrowly escaped being the scene of asecond catastrophe as frightful as the first. The entrenchments werestanding as they were left, ready to be occupied. Caesar, finding himselfencumbered by his heavy baggage in the pursuit of Ambiorix, decided toleave it there with Quintus Cicero and the 14th legion. He was goinghimself to scour Brabant and East Flanders as far as the Scheldt. In sevendays he promised to return, and meanwhile he gave Cicero strict directionsto keep the legion within the lines, and not to allow any of the men tostray. It happened that after Caesar recrossed the Rhine two thousandGerman horse had followed in bravado, and were then plundering betweenTongres and the river. Hearing that there was a rich booty in the camp, that Caesar was away, and only a small party had been left to guard it, they decided to try to take the place by a sudden stroke. Cicero, seeingno sign of an enemy, had permitted his men to disperse in foragingparties. The Germans were on them before they could recover theirentrenchments, and they had to form at a distance and defend themselves asthey could. The gates of the camp were open, and the enemy were actuallyinside before the few maniples who were left there were able to collectand resist them. Fortunately Sextius Bacillus, the same officer who had sobrilliantly distinguished himself in the battle with the Nervii, and hadsince been badly wounded, was lying sick in his tent, where he had beenfor five days, unable to touch food. Hearing the disturbance, Bacillussprang out, snatched a sword, rallied such men as he could find, andchecked the attack for a few minutes. Other officers rushed to his help, and the legionaries having their centurions with them recovered theirsteadiness. Sextius Bacillus was again severely hurt, and fainted, but hewas carried off in safety. Some of the cohorts who were outside, and hadbeen for a time cut off, made their way into the camp to join thedefenders, and the Germans, who had come without any fixed purpose, merelyfor plunder, gave way and galloped off again. They left the Romans, however, still in the utmost consternation. The scene and the associationsof it suggested the most gloomy anticipations. They thought that Germancavalry could never be so far from the Rhine, unless their countrymen wereinvading in force behind them. Caesar, it was supposed, must have beensurprised and destroyed, and they and every Roman in Gaul would soon sharethe same fate. Brave as they were, the Roman soldiers seem to have beencuriously liable to panics of this kind. The faith with which they reliedupon their general avenged itself through the completeness with which theywere accustomed to depend upon him. He returned on the day which he hadfixed, and not unnaturally was displeased at the disregard of his orders. He did not, or does not in his Commentaries, professedly blame Cicero. Butthe Ciceros perhaps resented the loss of confidence which one of them hadbrought upon himself. Quintus Cicero cooled in his zeal, and afterwardamused the leisure of his winter quarters with composing worthless dramas. Ambiorix had again escaped, and was never taken. The punishment fell onhis tribe. The Eburones were completely rooted out. The turn of theCarnutes and Senones came next. The people themselves were spared; buttheir leader, a chief named Acco, who was found to have instigated therevolt, was arrested and executed. Again the whole of Gaul settled intoseeming quiet; and Caesar went to Italy, where the political frenzy wasnow boiling over. [1] Caesar says their trenches were fifteen miles long. This is, perhaps, a mistake of the transcriber. A Roman camp did not usually cover more than a few acres. [2] People about Sens, Melun, and Chartres. CHAPTER XVIII. [Sidenote: B. C. 55. ]The conference at Lucca and the Senate's indifference had determinedCicero to throw in his lot with the trimmers. He had remonstrated withPompey on the imprudence of prolonging Caesar's command. Pompey, hethought, would find out in time that he had made Caesar too strong forhim; but Pompey had refused to listen, and Cicero had concluded that hemust consider his own interests. His brother Quintus joined the army inGaul to take part in the invasion of Britain, and to share the dangers andthe honors of the winter which followed it. Cicero himself began a warmcorrespondence with Caesar, and through Quintus sent continued messages tohim. Literature was a neutral ground on which he could approach hispolitical enemy without too open discredit, and he courted eagerly theapproval of a critic whose literary genius he esteemed as highly as hisown. Men of genuine ability are rarely vain of what they can do reallywell. Cicero admired himself as a statesman with the most unboundedenthusiasm. He was proud of his verses, which were hopelessly commonplace. In the art in which he was without a rival he was modest and diffident. Hesent his various writings for Caesar's judgment. "Like the traveller whohas overslept himself, " he said, "yet by extraordinary exertions reacheshis goal sooner than if he had been earlier on the road, I will followyour advice and court this man. I have been asleep too long. I willcorrect my slowness with my speed; and as you say he approves my verses, Ishall travel not with a common carriage, but with a four-in-hand ofpoetry. " [1] "What does Caesar say of my poems?" he wrote again. "He tells me in one ofhis letters that he has never read better Greek. At one place he writes[Greek: rathumotera] [somewhat careless]. This is his word. Tell me thetruth, Was it the matter which did not please him, or the style?" "Do notbe afraid, " he added with candid simplicity; "I shall not think a hair theworse of myself. " [2] His affairs were still in disorder. Caesar had now large sums at hisdisposition. Cicero gave the highest proof of the sincerity of hisconversion by accepting money from him. "You say, " he observed in anotherletter, "that Caesar shows every day more marks of his affection for you. It gives me infinite pleasure. I can have no second thoughts in Caesar'saffairs. I act on conviction, and am doing but my duty; but I am inflamedwith love for him. " [3] With Pompey and Crassus Cicero seemed equally familiar. When theirconsulship was over, their provinces were assigned as had been determined. Pompey had Spain, with six legions. He remained himself at Rome, sendinglieutenants in charge of them. Crassus aspired to equal the glory of hiscolleagues in the open field. He had gained some successes in the war withthe slaves which persuaded him that he too could be a conqueror; andknowing as much of foreign campaigning as the clerks in his factories, heintended to use Syria as a base of operations against the Parthians, andto extend the frontier to the Indus. The Senate had murmured, but Cicerohad passionately defended Crassus;[4] and as if to show publicly howentirely he had now devoted himself to the cause of the "Dynasts, " heinvited Crassus to dine with him the day before his departure for theEast. The position was not wholly pleasant to Cicero. "Self-respect in speech, liberty in choosing the course which we will pursue, is all gone, " hewrote to Lentulus Spinther--"gone not more from me than from us all. Wemust assent, as a matter of course, to what a few men say, or we mustdiffer from them to no purpose. --The relations of the Senate, of thecourts of justice, nay, of the whole Commonwealth are changed. --Theconsular dignity of a firm and courageous statesman can no longer bethought of. It has been lost by the folly of those who estranged from theSenate the compact order of the equites and a very distinguished man[Caesar]. " [5] And again: "We must go with the times. Those who haveplayed a great part in public life have never been able to adhere to thesame views on all occasions. The art of navigation lies in trimming to thestorm. When you can reach your harbor by altering your course, it is afolly to persevere in struggling against the wind. Were I entirely free Ishould still act as I am doing; and when I am invited to my presentattitude by the kindness of one set of men, and am driven to it by theinjurious conduct of the other, I am content to do what I conceive willconduce at once to my own advantage and the welfare of the State. --Caesar's influence is enormous. His wealth is vast. I have the use ofboth, as if they were my own. Nor could I have crushed the conspiracy of aset of villains to ruin me, unless, in addition to the defences which Ialways possessed, I had secured the goodwill of the men in power. " [6] [Sidenote: B. C. 54. ]Cicero's conscience could not have been easy when he was driven to suchlaborious apologies. He spoke often of intending to withdraw into hisfamily, and devoting his time entirely to literature; but he could notbring himself to leave the political ferment; and he was possessed besideswith a passionate desire to revenge himself on those who had injured him. An opportunity seemed to present itself. The persons whom he hated most, after Clodius, were the two consuls Gabinius and Piso, who had permittedhis exile. They had both conducted themselves abominably in the provinces, which they had bought, he said, at the price of his blood. Piso had beensent to Macedonia, where he had allowed his army to perish by disease andneglect. The frontiers had been overrun with brigands, and the outcries ofhis subjects had been audible even in Rome against his tyranny andincapacity. Gabinius, in Syria, had been more ambitious, and had exposedhimself to an indignation more violent because more interested. At a hintfrom Pompey, he had restored Ptolemy to Egypt on his own authority andwithout waiting for the Senate's sanction, and he had snatched for himselfthe prize for which the chiefs of the Senate had been contending. He hadbroken the law by leading his legions over the frontier. He had defeatedthe feeble Alexandrians, and the gratified Ptolemy had rewarded him withthe prodigious sum of ten thousand talents--a million and a half ofEnglish money. While he thus enriched himself he had irritated theknights, who might otherwise have supported him, by quarrelling with theSyrian revenue farmers, and, according to popular scandal, he hadplundered the province worse than it had been plundered even by thepirates. When so fair a chance was thrown in his way, Cicero would have been morethan human if he had not availed himself of it. He moved in the Senate forthe recall of the two offenders, and in the finest of his speeches he laidbare their reputed iniquities. His position was a delicate one, becausethe senatorial party, could they have had their way, would have recalledCaesar also. Gabinius was Pompey's favorite, and Piso was Caesar's father-in-law. Cicero had no intention of quarrelling with Caesar; between hisinvectives, therefore, he was careful to interweave the most elaboratecompliments to the conqueror of Gaul. He dwelt with extraordinaryclearness on the value of Caesar's achievements. The conquest of Gaul, hesaid, was not the annexation of a province. It was the dispersion of acloud which had threatened Italy from the days of Brennus. To recallCaesar would be madness. He wished to remain only to complete his work;the more honor to him that he was willing to let the laurels fade whichwere waiting for him at Rome, before he returned to wear them. There werepersons who would bring him back, because they did not love him. Theywould bring him back only to enjoy a triumph. Gaul had been the singledanger to the Empire. Nature had fortified Italy by the Alps. Themountain-barrier alone had allowed Rome to grow to its present greatness, but the Alps might now sink into the earth, Italy had no more tofear. [7] The orator perhaps hoped that so splendid a vindication of Caesar in themidst of his worst enemies might have purchased pardon for his onslaughton the baser members of the "Dynastic" faction. He found himself mistaken. His eagerness to revenge his personal wrongs compelled him to drink thebitterest cup of humiliation which had yet been offered to him. He gainedhis immediate purpose. The two governors were recalled in disgrace, andGabinius was impeached under the new Julian law for having restoredPtolemy without orders, and for the corrupt administration of hisprovince. Cicero would naturally have conducted the prosecution; butpressure of some kind was laid on, which compelled him to stand aside. Theresult of the trial on the first of the two indictments was another ofthose mockeries of justice which made the Roman law-courts the jest ofmankind. Pompey threw his shield over his instrument. He used hisinfluence freely. The Egyptian spoils furnished a fund to corrupt thejudges. The speech for the prosecution was so weak as to invite a failure, and Gabinius was acquitted by a majority of purchased votes. "You ask mehow I endure such things, " Cicero bitterly wrote, in telling the story toAtticus; "well enough, by Hercules, and I am entirely pleased with myself. We have lost, my friend, not only the juice and blood, but even the colorand shape, of a commonwealth. No decent constitution exists in which I cantake a part. How can you put up with such a state of things? you will say. Excellently well. I recollect how public affairs went awhile ago, when Iwas myself in office, and how grateful people were to me. I am notdistressed now, that the power is with a single man. Those are miserablewho could not bear to see me successful. I find much to console me. " [8]"Gabinius is acquitted, " he wrote to his brother. --"The verdict is soinfamous that it is thought he will be convicted on the other charge; but, as you perceive, the constitution, the Senate, the courts, are all nought. There is no honor in any one of us. --Some persons, Sallust among them, saythat I ought to have prosecuted him. I to risk my credit with such a jury!what if I had acted, and he had escaped then! but other motives influencedme. Pompey would have made a personal quarrel of it with me. He would havecome into the city. [9]--He would have taken up with Clodius again. Iknow that I was wise, and I hope that you agree with me. I owe Pompeynothing, and he owes much to me; but in public matters (not to put it morestrongly) he has not allowed me to oppose him; and when I was flourishingand he was less powerful than he is now, he let me see what he could do. Now when I am not even ambitious of power, and the constitution is brokendown, and Pompey is omnipotent, why should I contend with him? Then, saysSallust, I ought to have pleased Pompey by defending Gabinius, as he wasanxious that I should. A nice friend Sallust, who would have me pushmyself into dangerous quarrels, or cover myself with eternal infamy!" [10] Unhappy Cicero, wishing to act honorably, but without manliness to facethe consequences! He knew that it would be infamous for him to defendGabinius, yet at the second trial Cicero, who had led the attack on him inthe Senate, and had heaped invectives on him, the most bitter which heever uttered against man, nevertheless actually did defend Gabinius. Perhaps he consoled himself with the certainty that his eloquence would bein vain, and that his extraordinary client this time could not escapeconviction. Any way, he appeared at the bar as Gabinius's counsel. TheSyrian revenue farmers were present, open-mouthed with their accusations. Gabinius was condemned, stripped of his spoils, and sent into banishment. Cicero was left with his shame. Nor was this the worst. There were stillsome dregs in the cup, which he was forced to drain. Publius Vatinius wasa prominent leader of the military democratic party, and had often come incollision with Cicero. He had been tribune when Caesar was consul, and hadstood by him against the Senate and Bibulus. He had served in Gaul inCaesar's first campaigns, and had returned to Rome, at Caesar's instance, to enter for higher office. He had carried the praetorship against Cato;and Cicero in one of his speeches had painted him as another Clodius orCatiline. When the praetorship was expired, he was prosecuted forcorruption; and Cicero was once more compelled to appear on the otherside, and defend him, as he had done Gabinius. Caesar and Pompey, wishingperhaps to break completely into harness the brilliant but still halfunmanageable orator, had so ordered, and Cicero had complied. He wasashamed, but he had still his points of satisfaction. It was a matter ofcourse that, as an advocate, he must praise the man whom, a year before, he had spattered with ignominy; but he had the pleasure of feeling that hewas revenging himself on his conservative allies, who led the prosecution. "Why I praised Vatinius, " he wrote to Lentulus, "I must beg you not to askeither in the case of this or of any other criminal. I put it to thejudges that since certain noble lords, my good friends, were too fond ofmy adversary [Clodius], and in the Senate would go apart with him under myown eyes, and would treat him with warmest affection, they must allow meto have my Publius [Vatinius], since they had theirs [Clodius], and givethem a gentle stab in return for their cuts at me. " [11] Vatinius wasacquitted. Cicero was very miserable. "Gods and men approved, " he said;but his own conscience condemned him, and at this time his oneconsolation, real or pretended, was the friendship of Caesar. "Caesar'saffectionate letters, " he told his brother, "are my only pleasure; Iattach little consequence to his promises; I do not thirst for honors, orregret my past glory. I value more the continuance of his good-will thanthe prospect of anything which he may do for me. I am withdrawing frompublic affairs, and giving myself to literature. But I am broken-hearted, my dear brother;--I am broken-hearted that the constitution is gone, thatthe courts of law are naught; and that now at my time of life, when Iought to be leading with authority in the Senate, I must be either busy inthe Forum pleading, or occupying myself with my books at home. Theambition of my boyhood-- Aye to be first, and chief among my peers-- is all departed. Of my enemies, I have left some unassailed, and some Ieven defend. Not only I may not think as I like, but I may not hate as Ilike, [12] and Caesar is the only person who loves me as I should wish tobe loved, or, as some think, who desires to love me. " [13] [Sidenote: B. C. 53. ]The position was the more piteous, because Cicero could not tell howevents would fall out after all. Crassus was in the East, with uncertainprospects there. Caesar was in the midst of a dangerous war, and might bekilled or might die. Pompey was but a weak vessel; a distinguishedsoldier, perhaps, but without the intellect or the resolution to control aproud, resentful, and supremely unscrupulous aristocracy. In spite ofCaesar's victories, his most envenomed enemy, Domitius Ahenobarbus, hadsucceeded after all in carrying one of the consulships for the year 54. The popular party had secured the other, indeed; but they had returnedAppius Claudius, Clodius's brother, and this was but a poor consolation. In the year that was to follow, the conservatives had bribed to an extentwhich astonished the most cynical observers. Each season the electionswere growing more corrupt; but the proceedings on both sides in the fallof 54 were the most audacious that had ever been known, the two reigningconsuls taking part, and encouraging and assisting in scandalous bargains. "All the candidates have bribed, " wrote Cicero; "but they will be allacquitted, and no one will ever be found guilty again. The two consuls arebranded with infamy. " Memmius, the popular competitor, at Pompey'sinstance, exposed in the Senate an arrangement which the consuls hadentered into to secure the returns. The names and signatures wereproduced. The scandal was monstrous, and could not be denied. The betterkind of men began to speak of a dictatorship as the only remedy; andalthough the two conservative candidates were declared elected for 53, andwere allowed to enter on their offices, there was a general feeling that acrisis had arrived, and that a great catastrophe could not be very faroff. The form which it might assume was the problem of the hour. Cicero, speaking two years before on the broad conditions of his time, hadused these remarkable words: "No issue can be anticipated from discordsamong the leading men, except either universal ruin, or the rule of aconqueror, or a monarchy. There exists at present an unconcealed hatredimplanted and fastened into the minds of our leading politicians. They areat issue among themselves. Opportunities are caught for mutual injury. Those who are in the second rank watch for the chances of the time. Thosewho might do better are afraid of the words and designs of theirenemies. " [14] The discord had been suspended, and the intrigues temporarily checked, bythe combination of Caesar and Pompey with Crassus, the chief of themoneyed commoners. Two men of equal military reputation, and one of themfrom his greater age and older services expecting and claiming precedency, do not easily work together. For Pompey to witness the rising glory ofCaesar, and to feel in his own person the superior ascendency of Caesar'scharacter, without an emotion of jealousy, would have demanded a degree ofvirtue which few men have ever possessed. They had been united so far byidentity of conviction, by a military detestation of anarchy, by a commoninterest in wringing justice from the Senate for the army and people, by apride in the greatness of their country, which they were determined touphold. These motives, however, might not long have borne the strain butfor other ties, which had cemented their union. Pompey had marriedCaesar's daughter, to whom he was passionately attached; and the personalcompetition between them was neutralized by the third element of thecapitalist party represented by Crassus, which if they quarrelled wouldsecure the supremacy of the faction to which Crassus attached himself. There was no jealousy on Caesar's part. There was no occasion for it. Caesar's fame was rising. Pompey had added nothing to his pastdistinctions, and the glory pales which does not grow in lustre. No manwho had once been the single object of admiration, who had tasted thedelight of being the first in the eyes of his countrymen, could findhimself compelled to share their applause with a younger rival withoutexperiencing a pang. So far Pompey had borne the trial well. He was on thewhole, notwithstanding the Egyptian scandal, honorable andconstitutionally disinterested. He was immeasurably superior to thefanatic Cato, to the shifty Cicero, or the proud and worthless leaders ofthe senatorial oligarchy. Had the circumstances remained unchanged, theseverity of the situation might have been overcome. But two misfortunescoming near upon one another broke the ties of family connection, and bydestroying the balance of parties laid Pompey open to the temptation ofpatrician intrigue. In the year 54 Caesar's great mother Aurelia, and hissister Julia, Pompey's wife, both died. A child which Julia had borne toPompey died also, and the powerful if silent influence of two remarkablewomen, and the joint interest in an infant, who would have been Caesar'sheir as well as Pompey's, were swept away together. The political link was broken immediately after by a public disasterunequalled since the last consular army was overthrown by the Gauls on theRhone; and the capitalists, left without a leader, drifted away to theirnatural allies in the Senate. Crassus had taken the field in the East, with a wild ambition of becoming in his turn a great conqueror. At firstall had gone well with him. He had raised a vast treasure. He hadplundered the wealthy temples in Phoenicia and Palestine to fill hismilitary chest. He had able officers with him; not the least among themhis son Publius Crassus, who had served with such distinction underCaesar. He crossed the Euphrates at the head of a magnificent army, expecting to carry all before him with the ease of an Alexander. Relyingon his own idle judgment, he was tempted in the midst of a burning summerinto the waterless plains of Mesopotamia; and on the 15th of June thegreat Roman millionaire met his miserable end, the whole force, with theexception of a few scattered cohorts, being totally annihilated. The catastrophe in itself was terrible. The Parthians had not provoked thewar. The East was left defenceless; and the natural expectation was that, in their just revenge, they might carry fire and sword through Asia Minorand Syria. It is not the least remarkable sign of the times that thedanger failed to touch the patriotism of the wretched factions in Rome. The one thought of the leaders of the Senate was to turn the opportunityto advantage, wrest the constitution free from military dictation, shakeoff the detested laws of Caesar, and revenge themselves on the author ofthem. Their hope was in Pompey. If Pompey could be won over from Caesar, the army would be divided. Pompey, they well knew, unless he had astronger head than his own to guide him, could be used till the victorywas won, and then be thrust aside. It was but too easy to persuade himthat he was the greatest man in the Empire; and that as the chief of aconstitutional government, and with the Senate at his side, he wouldinscribe his name in the annals of his country as the restorer of Romanliberty. The intrigue could not be matured immediately. The aristocracy had firstto overcome their own animosities against Pompey, and Pompey himself wasgenerous, and did not yield to the first efforts of seduction. The smallerpassions were still at work among the baser senatorial chiefs, and theappetite for provinces and pillage. The Senate, even while Crassus wasalive, had carried the consulships for 53 by the most infamous corruption. They meant now to attack Caesar in earnest, and their energies wereaddressed to controlling the elections for the next year. Milo was one ofthe candidates; and Cicero, who was watching the political current, reverted to his old friendship for him, and became active in the canvass. Milo was not a creditable ally. He already owed half a million of money, and Cicero, who was anxious for his reputation, endeavored to keep himwithin the bounds of decency. But Milo's mind was fastened on the provincewhich was to redeem his fortunes, and he flung into bribery what was leftof his wrecked credit with the desperation of a gambler. He had not beenpraetor, and thus was not legally eligible for the consulate. This, however, was forgiven. He had been aedile in 54, and as aedile he hadalready been magnificent in prodigality. But to secure the larger prize, he gave as a private citizen the most gorgeous entertainment which even inthat monstrous age the city had yet wondered at. "Doubly, trebly foolishof him, " thought Cicero, "for he was not called on to go to such expense, and he has not the means. " "Milo makes me very anxious, " he wrote to hisbrother. "I hope all will be made right by his consulship. I shall exertmyself for him as much as I did for myself;[15] but he is quite mad, "Cicero added; "he has spent £30, 000 on his games. " Mad, but still, inCicero's opinion, well fitted for the consulship, and likely to get it. All the "good, " in common with himself, were most anxious for Milo'ssuccess. The people would vote for him as a reward for the spectacles, andthe young and influential for his efforts to secure their favor. [16] The reappearance of the "Boni, " the "Good, " in Cicero's letters marks theturn of the tide again in his own mind. The "Good, " or the senatorialparty, were once more the objects of his admiration. The affection forCaesar was passing off. [Sidenote: B. C. 52. ]A more objectionable candidate than Milo could hardly have been found. Hewas no better than a patrician gladiator, and the choice of such a man wasa sufficient indication of the Senate's intentions. The popular party ledby the tribunes made a sturdy resistance. There were storms in the Curia, tribunes imprisoning senators, and the Senate tribunes. Army officerssuggested the election of military tribunes (lieutenant-generals), insteadof consuls; and when they failed, they invited Pompey to declare himselfDictator. The Senate put on mourning, as a sign of approaching calamity. Pompey calmed their fears by declining so ambitious a position. But as itwas obvious that Milo's chief object was a province which he mightmisgovern, Pompey forced the Senate to pass a resolution that consuls andpraetors must wait five years from their term of office before a provincewas to be allotted to them. The temptation to corruption might thus insome degree be diminished. But senatorial resolutions did not pass formuch, and what a vote had enacted a vote could repeal. The agitationcontinued. The tribunes, when the time came, forbade the elections. Theyear expired. The old magistrates went out of office, and Rome was leftagain without legitimate functionaries to carry on the government. All theoffices fell vacant together. Now once more Clodius was reappearing on the scene. He had been silent fortwo years, content or constrained to leave the control of the democracy tothe three chiefs. One of them was now gone. The more advanced section ofthe party was beginning to distrust Pompey. Clodius, their favoriterepresentative, had been put forward for the praetorship, while Milo wasaspiring to be made consul, and Clodius had prepared a fresh batch of lawsto be submitted to the sovereign people; one of which (if Cicero did notmisrepresent it to inflame the aristocracy) was a measure of some kind forthe enfranchisement of the slaves, or perhaps of the sons of slaves. [17]He was as popular as ever. He claimed to be acting for Caesar, and washeld certain of success; if he was actually praetor, such was hisextraordinary influence, and such was the condition of things in the city, that if Milo was out of the way he could secure consuls of his own way ofthinking, and thus have the whole constitutional power in his hands. [18] Thus both sides had reason for fearing and postponing the elections. Authority, which had been weak before, was now extinct. Rome was in astate of formal anarchy, and the factions of Milo and Clodius foughtdaily, as before, in the streets, with no one to interfere with them. Violent humors come naturally to a violent end. Milo had long beforethreatened to kill Clodius. Cicero had openly boasted of his friend'sintention to do it, and had spoken of Clodius in the Senate itself asMilo's predestined victim. On the evening of the 13th January, while theuncertainty about the elections was at its height, Clodius was returningfrom his country house, which was a few miles from Rome on "the AppianWay. " Milo happened to be travelling accidentally down the same road, onhis way to Lanuvium (Civita Indovina), and the two rivals and theirescorts met. Milo's party was the largest. The leaders passed one another, evidently not intending a collision, but their followers, who werecontinually at sword's point, came naturally to blows. Clodius rode backto see what was going on; he was attacked and wounded, and took refuge ina house on the roadside. The temptation to make an end of his enemy wastoo strong for Milo to resist. To have hurt Clodius would, he thought, beas dangerous as to have made an end of him. His blood was up. The"predestined victim, " who had thwarted him for so many years, was withinhis reach. The house was forced open. Clodius was dragged out bleeding, and was despatched, and the body was left lying where he fell, where asenator, named Sextus Tedius, who was passing an hour or two after, foundit, and carried it the same night to Rome. The little which is known ofClodius comes only through Cicero's denunciations, which formed or coloredlater Roman traditions; and it is thus difficult to comprehend theaffection which the people felt for him; but of the fact there can be nodoubt at all; he was the representative of their political opinions, theembodiment, next to Caesar, of their practical hopes; and his murder wasaccepted as a declaration of an aristocratic war upon them, and the firstblow in another massacre. On the following day, in the winter morning, thetribunes brought the body into the Forum. A vast crowd had collected tosee it, and it was easy to lash them into fury. They dashed in the doorsof the adjoining senate-house, they carried in the bier, made a pile ofchairs and benches and tables, and burnt all that remained of Clodius inthe ashes of the senate-house itself. The adjoining temples were consumedin the conflagration. The Senate collected elsewhere. They put on a boldfront, they talked of naming an interrex--which they ought to have donebefore--and of holding the elections instantly, now that Clodius was gone. Milo still hoped, and the aristocracy still hoped for Milo. But the stormwas too furious. Pompey came in with a body of troops, restored order, andtook command of the city. The preparations for the election were quashed. Pompey still declined the dictatorship, but he was named, or he namedhimself, sole consul, and at once appointed a commission to inquire intothe circumstances of Milo's canvass, and the corruption which had gonealong with it. Milo himself was arrested and put on his trial for themurder. Judges were chosen who could be trusted, and to preventintimidation the court was occupied by soldiers. Cicero undertook hisfriend's defence, but was unnerved by the stern, grim faces with which hewas surrounded. The eloquent tongue forgot its office. He stammered, blundered, and sat down. [19] The consul expectant was found guilty andbanished, to return a few years after like a hungry wolf in the civil war, and to perish as he deserved. Pompey's justice was even-handed. Hepunished Milo, but the senate-house and temples were not to be destroyedwithout retribution equally severe. The tribunes who had led on the mobwere deposed, and suffered various penalties. Pompey acted with asoldier's abhorrence of disorder, and, so far, he did what Caesar approvedand would himself have done in Pompey's place. But there followed symptoms which showed that there were secret influencesat work with Pompey, and that he was not the man which he had been. He hadtaken the consulate alone; but a single consul was an anomaly; as soon asorder was restored it was understood that he meant to choose a colleague;and Senate and people were watching to see whom he would select as anindication of his future attitude. Half the world expected that he wouldname Caesar, but half the world was disappointed. He took Metellus Scipio, who had been the Senate's second candidate by the side of Milo, and hadbeen as deeply concerned in bribery as Milo himself; shortly after, andwith still more significance, he replaced Julia by Metellus Scipio'sdaughter, the widow of young Publius Crassus, who had fallen with hisfather. Pompey, however, did not break with Caesar, and did not appear to intendto break with him. Communications passed between them on the matter of theconsulship. The tribunes had pressed him as Pompey's colleague. Caesarhimself, being then in the north of Italy, had desired, on beingconsulted, that the demand might not be insisted on. He had work stillbefore him in Gaul which he could not leave unfinished; but he made arequest himself that must be noticed, since the civil war formally grewout of it, and Pompey gave a definite pledge, which was afterwards broken. One of the engagements at Lucca had been that, when Caesar's commandshould have expired, he was to be again consul. His term had still threeyears to run; but many things might happen in three years. A party in theSenate were bent on his recall. They might succeed in persuading thepeople to consent to it. And Caesar felt, as Pompey had felt before him, that, in the unscrupulous humor of his enemies at Rome he might beimpeached or killed on his return, as Clodius had been, if he came back aprivate citizen unprotected by office to sue for his election. Thereforehe had stipulated at Lucca that his name might be taken and that votesmight be given for him while he was still with his army. On Pompey'staking the power into his hands, Caesar, while abandoning any presentclaim to share it, reminded him of this understanding, and required at thesame time that it should be renewed in some authoritative form. TheSenate, glad to escape on any terms from the present conjunction of themen whom they hoped to divide, appeared to consent. Cicero himself made ajourney to Ravenna to see Caesar about it and make a positive arrangementwith him. Pompey submitted the condition to the assembly of the people, bywhom it was solemnly ratified. Every precaution was observed which wouldgive the promise, that Caesar might be elected consul in his absence, thecharacter of a binding engagement. [20] It was observed with some surprise that Pompey, not long after, proposedand carried a law forbidding elections of this irregular kind, andinsisting freshly on the presence of the candidates in person. Caesar'scase was not reserved as an exception or in any way alluded to. And when aquestion was asked on the subject, the excuse given was that it had beenoverlooked by accident. Such accidents require to be interpreted by theuse which is made of them. [1] _Ad Quintum Fratrem_, ii. 15. [2] "Ego enim ne pilo quidem minus me amabo. "--_Ibid_. , ii. 16. Other editions read "te. " [3] "Videor id judicio facere: jam enim debeo: sed amore sum incensus. "--_Ad Quintum Fratrem_, iii. 1. [4] Ad Crassum. _Ad Familiares_, v. 8. [5] Ad Lentulum. _Ad Fam_. , i. 8. [6] _Ibid_. , i. 9. [7] _De Provinciis Consularibus_. [8] _To Atticus_, iv. 16. [9] Pompey, as proconsul with a province, was residing outside the walls. [10] _Ad Quintum fratrem_, iii. 4. [11] _Ad Familiares_, i. 9. [12] "Meum non modo animum, sed ne odium quidem esse liberum. "--_Ad Quintum Fratrem_, iii. 5. [13] See the story in a letter to Atticus, lib. Iv. 16-17. [14] _De Haruspicum Responsis_. [15] "Angit unus Milo. Sed velim finem afferat consulatus: in quo enitar non minus, quam sum enisus in nostro. "--_Ad Quintum Fratrem_, iii. 9. [16] _Ad Familiares_, ii. 6. [17] "Incidebantur jam domi leges quae nos nostris servis addicerent. .. . Oppressisset omnia, possideret, teneret lege novâ, quae est inventa apud eum cum reliquis legibus Clodianis. Servos nostros libertos suos fecisset. "--_Pro Milone_, 32, 33. These strong expressions can hardly refer to a proposed enfranchisement of the libertini, or sons of freedmen, like Horace's father. [18] "Caesaris potentiam suam esse dicebat. .. . An consules in praetore coercendo fortes fuissent? Primum, Milone occiso habuisset suos consules. "--_Pro Milone_, 33. [19] The _Oratio pro Milone_, published afterwards by Cicero, was the speech which he intended to deliver and did not. [20] Suetonius, _De Vitâ Julii Caesaris_. Cicero again and again acknowledges in his letters to Atticus that the engagement had really been made. Writing to Atticus (vii. 1), Cicero says: "Non est locus ad tergiversandum. Contra Caesarem? Ubi illae sunt densae dexterae? Nam ut illi hoc liceret adjuvi rogatus ab ipso Ravennae de Caelio tribuno plebis. Ab ipso autem? Etiam a Cnaeo nostro in illo divino tertio consulatu. Aliter sensero?" CHAPTER XIX. The conquest of Gaul had been an exploit of extraordinary militarydifficulty. The intricacy of the problem had been enhanced by the venom ofa domestic faction, to which the victories of a democratic general weremore unwelcome than national disgrace. The discomfiture of Crassus hadbeen more pleasant news to the Senate than the defeat of Ariovistus, andthe passionate hope of the aristocracy had been for some opportunity whichwould enable them to check Caesar in his career of conquest and bring himhome to dishonor and perhaps impeachment. They had failed. The efforts ofthe Gauls to maintain or recover their independence had been successivelybeaten down, and at the close of the summer of 53 Caesar had returned tothe north of Italy, believing that the organization of the province whichhe had added to the Empire was all that remained to be accomplished. ButRoman civilians had followed in the van of the armies. Roman traders hadpenetrated into the towns on the Seine and the Loire, and the curiousCelts had learnt from them the distractions of their new rulers. Caesar'ssituation was as well understood among the Aedui and the Sequani as in theclubs and coteries of the capital of the Empire, and the turn of eventswas watched with equal anxiety. The victory over Sabinus, sharply avengedas it had been, kept alive the hope that their independence might yet berecovered. The disaffection of the preceding summer had been trampled out, but the ashes of it were still smouldering; and when it became known thatClodius, who was regarded as Caesar's tribune, had been killed, that theSenate was in power again, and that Italy was threatened with civilconvulsions, their passionate patriotism kindled once more into flame. Sudden in their resolutions, they did not pause to watch how the balancewould incline. Caesar was across the Alps. Either he would be deposed, orcivil war would detain him in Italy. His legions were scattered betweenTrèves, Auxerre, and Sens, far from the Roman frontier. A simultaneousrising would cut them off from support, and they could be starved out oroverwhelmed in detail, as Sabinus had been at Tongres and Cicero hadalmost been at Charleroy. Intelligence was swiftly exchanged. The chiefsof all the tribes established communications with each other. They hadbeen deeply affected by the execution of Acco, the patriotic leader of theCarnutes. The death of Acco was an intimation that they were Romansubjects, and were to be punished as traitors if they disobeyed a Romancommand. They buried their own dissensions. Except among the Aedui therewas no longer a Roman faction and a patriot faction. The whole nation wasinspired by a simultaneous impulse to snatch the opportunity, and unite ina single effort to assert their freedom. The understanding was complete. Aday was fixed for a universal rising. The Carnutes began by a massacrewhich would cut off possibility of retreat, and, in revenge for Acco, slaughtered a party of Roman civilians who were engaged in business at_Gien_. [1] A system of signals had been quietly arranged. Themassacre at Gien was known in a few hours in the south, and the Auvergnecountry, which had hitherto been entirely peaceful, rose in reply, under ayoung high-born chief named Vercingetorix. Gergovia, the principal town ofthe Arverni, was for the moment undecided. [2] The elder men there, whohad known the Romans long, were against immediate action; butVercingetorix carried the people away with him. His name had not appearedin the earlier campaigns, but his father had been a man of note beyond theboundaries of Auvergne; and he must himself have had a wide reputationamong the Gauls, for everywhere, from the Seine to the Garonne, he wasaccepted as chief of the national confederacy. Vercingetorix had highability and real organizing powers. He laid out a plan for the generalcampaign. He fixed a contingent of men and arms which each tribe was tosupply, and failure brought instantaneous punishment. Mild offences werevisited with the loss of eyes or ears; neglect of a more serious sort withdeath by fire in the wicker tower. Between enthusiasm and terror he hadsoon an army at his command, which he could increase indefinitely at hisneed. Part he left to watch the Roman province and prevent Caesar, if heshould arrive, from passing through. With part he went himself to watchthe Aedui, the great central race, where Roman authority had hithertoprevailed unshaken, but among whom, as he well knew, he had the mass ofthe people on his side. The Aedui were hesitating. They called theirlevies under arms, as if to oppose him, but they withdrew them again; andto waver at such a moment was to yield to the stream. The Gauls had not calculated without reason on Caesar's embarrassments. The death of Clodius had been followed by the burning of the senate-houseand by many weeks of anarchy. To leave Italy at such a moment might be toleave it a prey to faction or civil war. His anxiety was relieved at lastby hearing that Pompey had acted, and that order was restored; and seeingno occasion for his own interference, and postponing the agitation for hissecond consulship, he hurried back to encounter the final and convulsiveeffort of the Celtic race to preserve their liberties. The legions were asyet in no danger. They were dispersed in the north of France, far from thescene of the present rising, and the northern tribes had suffered toodesperately in the past years to be in a condition to stir withoutassistance. But how was Caesar to join them? The garrisons in the provincecould not be moved. If he sent for the army to come across to him, Vercingetorix would attack them on the march, and he could not feelconfident of the result; while the line of the old frontier of theprovince was in the hands of the insurgents, or of tribes who could not betrusted to resist the temptation, if he passed through himself withoutmore force than the province could supply. But Caesar had a resource whichnever failed him in the daring swiftness of his own movements. He sent forthe troops which were left beyond the Alps. He had a few levies with himto fill the gaps in the old legions, and after a rapid survey of thestations on the provincial frontier he threw himself upon the passes ofthe Cevennes. It was still winter. The snow lay six feet thick on themountains, and the roads at that season were considered impracticable evenfor single travellers. The Auvergne rebels dreamt of nothing so little asof Caesar's coming upon them at such a time and from such a quarter. Heforced his way. He fell on them while they were lying in imaginedsecurity, Vercingetorix and his army being absent watching the Aedui, and, letting loose his cavalry, he laid their country waste. But Vercingetorix, he knew, would fly back at the news of his arrival; and he had alreadymade his further plans. He formed a strong entrenched camp, where he leftDecimus Brutus in charge, telling him that he would return as quickly aspossible; and, unknown to any one, lest the troops should lose courage atparting with him, he flew across through an enemy's country with a handfulof attendants to Vienne, on the Rhone, where some cavalry from theprovince had been sent to wait for him. Vercingetorix, supposing him stillto be in the Auvergne, thought only of the camp of Brutus; and Caesar, riding day and night through the doubtful territories of the Aedui, reached the two legions which were quartered near Auxerre. Thence he sentfor the rest to join him, and he was at the head of his army beforeVercingetorix knew that only Brutus was in front of him. The Aedui, hetrusted, would now remain faithful. But the problem before him was stillmost intricate. The grass had not begun to grow. Rapid movement wasessential to prevent the rebel confederacy from consolidating itself; butrapid movements with a large force required supplies; and whence were thesupplies to come? Some risks had to be run, but to delay was the mostdangerous of all. On the defeat of the Helvetii, Caesar had planted acolony of them at Gorgobines, near Nevers, on the Loire. These colonists, called Boii, had refused to take part in the rising; and Vercingetorix, turning in contempt from Brutus, had gone off to punish them. Caesarordered the Aedui to furnish his commissariat, sent word to the Boii thathe was coming to their relief, swept through the Senones, that he mightleave no enemy in his rear, and then advanced on Gien, where the Romantraders had been murdered, and which the Carnutes still occupied in force. There was a bridge there over the Loire, by which they tried to escape inthe night. Caesar had beset the passage. He took the whole of themprisoners, plundered and burnt the town, gave the spoil to his troops, andthen crossed the river and went up to help the Boii. He took Nevers. Vercingetorix, who was hastening to its relief, ventured his first battlewith him; but the cavalry, on which the Gauls most depended, werescattered by Caesar's German horse. He was entirely beaten, and Caesarturned next to Avaricum (Bourges), a rich and strongly fortified town ofthe Bituriges. From past experience Caesar had gathered that the Gaulswere easily excited and as easily discouraged. If he could reduce Bourges, he hoped that this part of the country would return to its allegiance. Perhaps he thought that Vercingetorix himself would give up the struggle. But he had to deal with a spirit and with a man different from any whichhe had hitherto encountered. Disappointed in his political expectations, baffled in strategy, and now defeated in open fight, the young chief ofthe Arverni had only learnt that he had taken a wrong mode of carrying onthe war, and that he was wasting his real advantages. Battles in the fieldhe saw that he would lose. But the Roman numbers were limited, and hiswere infinite. Tens of thousands of gallant young men, with their light, active horses, were eager for any work on which he might set them. Theycould scour the country far and wide. They could cut off Caesar'ssupplies. They could turn the fields into a blackened wilderness beforehim on whichever side he might turn. The hearts of the people were withhim. They consented to a universal sacrifice. They burnt their farmsteads. They burnt their villages. Twenty towns (so called) of the Bituriges wereconsumed in a single day. The tribes adjoining caught the enthusiasm. Thehorizon at night was a ring of blazing fires. Vercingetorix was forburning Bourges also; but it was the sacred home of the Bituriges, the onespot which they implored to be allowed to save, the most beautiful city inall Gaul. Rivers defended it on three sides, and on the fourth there wereswamps and marshes which could be passed only by a narrow ridge. Withinthe walls the people had placed the best of their property, andVercingetorix, against his judgment, consented, in pity for theirentreaties, that Avaricum should be defended. A strong garrison was leftinside. Vercingetorix entrenched himself in the forests sixteen milesdistant, keeping watch over Caesar's communications. The place could onlybe taken by regular approaches, during which the army had to be fed. TheAedui were growing negligent. The feeble Boii, grateful, it seemed, forCaesar's treatment of them, exerted themselves to the utmost, but theirsmall resources were soon exhausted. For many days the legions werewithout bread. The cattle had been driven into the woods. It came at lastto actual famine. [3] "But not one word was heard from them, " saysCaesar, "unworthy of the majesty of the Roman people or their own earliervictories. " He told them that if the distress became unbearable he wouldraise the siege. With one voice they entreated him to persevere. They hadserved many years with him, they said, and had never abandoned anyenterprise which they had undertaken. They were ready to endure any degreeof hardship before they would leave unavenged their countrymen who hadbeen murdered at Gien. Vercingetorix, knowing that the Romans were in difficulties, venturednearer. Caesar surveyed his position. It had been well chosen behind adeep morass. The legions clamored to be allowed to advance and attack him, but a victory, he saw, would be dearly purchased. No condemnation could betoo severe for him, he said, if he did not hold the lives of his soldiersdearer than his own interest, [4] and he led them back without indulgingtheir eagerness. The siege work was unexpectedly difficult. The inhabitants of the Loirecountry were skilled artisans, trained in mines and iron works. The walls, built of alternate layers of stone and timber, were forty feet inthickness, and could neither be burnt nor driven in with the ram. The towncould be taken only with the help of an agger--a bank of turf and fagotsraised against the wall of sufficient height to overtop thefortifications. The weather was cold and wet, but the legions worked withsuch a will that in twenty-five days they had raised their bank at last, ahundred yards in width and eighty feet high. As the work drew near its endCaesar himself lay out all night among the men, encouraging them. Onemorning at daybreak he observed that the agger was smoking. The ingeniousGauls had undermined it and set it on fire. At the same moment theyappeared along the walls with pitch-balls, torches, fagots, which theyhurled in to feed the flames. There was an instant of confusion, butCaesar uniformly had two legions under arms while the rest were working. The Gauls fought with a courage which called out his warm admiration. Hewatched them at the points of greatest danger falling under the shots fromthe scorpions, and others stepping undaunted into their places to fall inthe same way. Their valor was unavailing. They were driven in, and theflames were extinguished; the agger was level with the walls, and defencewas no longer possible. The garrison intended to slip away at nightthrough the ruins to join their friends outside. The wailing of the womenwas heard in the Roman camp, and escape was made impossible. The morningafter, in a tempest of rain and wind, the place was stormed. Thelegionaries, excited by the remembrance of Gien and the long resistance, slew every human being that they found, men, women, and children allalike. Out of forty thousand who were within the walls, eight hundredonly, that had fled at the first sound of the attack, made their way tothe camp of Vercingetorix. Undismayed by the calamity, Vercingetorix made use of it to sustain thedetermination of his followers. He pointed out to them that he had himselfopposed the defence. The Romans had defeated them, not by superiorcourage, but by superior science. The heart of the whole nation was unitedto force the Romans out of Gaul, and they had only to persevere in acourse of action where science would be useless, to be sure of success inthe end. He fell back upon his own country, taking special care of thepoor creatures who had escaped from the carnage; and the effect of thestorming of Bourges was to make the national enthusiasm hotter and fiercerthan before. The Romans found in the town large magazines of corn and other provisions, which had been laid in for the siege, and Caesar remained there some daysto refresh his troops. The winter was now over. The Aedui were giving himanxiety, and as soon as he could he moved to Decize, a frontier townbelonging to them on the Loire, almost in the very centre of France. Theanti-Roman faction were growing in influence. He called a council of theprincipal persons, and, to secure the fidelity of so important a tribe, hedeposed the reigning chief and appointed another who had been nominated bythe Druids. [5] He lectured the Aedui on their duty, bade them furnishhim with ten thousand men, who were to take charge of the commissariat, and then divided his army. Labienus, with four legions, was sent tocompose the country between Sens and Paris. He himself, with the remainingsix legions, ascended the right bank of the Allier towards Gergovia insearch of Vercingetorix. The bridges on the Allier were broken, but Caesarseized and repaired one of them and carried his army over. The town of Gergovia stood on a high plateau, where the rivers rise whichrun into the Loire on one side and into the Dordogne on the other. Thesides of the hill are steep, and only accessible at a very few places, andthe surrounding neighborhood is broken with rocky valleys. Vercingetorixlay in force outside, but in a situation where he could not be attackedexcept at disadvantage, and with his communication with the fortresssecured. He was departing again from his general plan for the campaign inallowing Gergovia to be defended; but it was the central home of his owntribe, and the result showed that he was right in believing it to beimpregnable. Caesar saw that it was too strong to be stormed, and that itcould only be taken after long operations. After a few skirmishes heseized a spur of the plateau which cut off the garrison from theirreadiest water-supply, and he formed an entrenched camp upon it. He wasstudying the rest of the problem when bad news came that the Aedui wereunsteady again. The ten thousand men had been raised as he had ordered, but on their way to join him they had murdered the Roman officers incharge of them, and were preparing to go over to Vercingetorix. Leavingtwo legions to guard his works, he intercepted the Aeduan contingent, tookthem prisoners, and protected their lives. In his absence Vercingetorixhad attacked the camp with determined fury. The fighting had beendesperate, and Caesar only returned in time to save it. The reports fromthe Aedui were worse and worse. The patriotic faction had the upper hand, and with the same passionate determination to commit themselvesirrevocably, which had been shown before at Gien, they had massacred everyRoman in their territory. It was no time for delaying over a tedioussiege: Caesar was on the point of raising it, when accident brought on abattle under the walls. An opportunity seemed to offer itself of capturingthe place by escalade, which part of the army attempted contrary toorders. They fought with more than their usual gallantry. The whole scenewas visible from the adjoining hills, the Celtic women, with longstreaming hair, wildly gesticulating on the walls. The Romans were drivenback with worse loss than they had yet met with in Gaul. Forty-sixofficers and seven hundred men had been killed. Caesar was never more calm than under a reverse. He addressed the legionsthe next day. He complimented their courage, but he said it was for thegeneral and not for them to judge when assaults should be tried. He sawthe facts of the situation exactly as they were. His army was divided. Labienus was far away with a separate command. The whole of Gaul was inflames. To persevere at Gergovia would only be obstinacy, and he acceptedthe single military failure which he met with when present in personthrough the whole of his Gallic campaign. Difficulties of all kinds were now thickening. Caesar had placed magazinesin Nevers, and had trusted them to an Aeduan garrison. The Aeduans burntthe town and carried the stores over the Loire to their own strongestfortress, Bibracte (Mont Beauvray). The river had risen from the meltingof the snows, and could not be crossed without danger; and to feed thearmy in its present position was no longer possible. To retreat upon theprovince would be a confession of defeat. The passes of the Cevennes wouldbe swarming with enemies, and Labienus with his four legions in the westmight be cut off. With swift decision he marched day and night to theLoire. He found a ford where the troops could cross with the water attheir armpits. He sent his horse over and cleared the banks. The armypassed safely. Food enough and in plenty was found in the Aeduans'country, and without waiting he pressed on toward Sens to reunite hisforces. He understood the Gauls, and foresaw what must have happened. Labienus, when sent on his separate command, had made Sens his head-quarters. All down the Seine the country was in insurrection. Leaving thenew Italian levies at the station, he went with his experienced troopsdown the left bank of the river till he came to the Essonne. He found theGauls entrenched on the other side, and, without attempting to force thepassage, he marched back to Melun, where he repaired a bridge which theGauls had broken, crossed over, and descended without interruption toParis. The town had been burnt, and the enemy were watching him from thefurther bank. At this moment he heard of the retreat from Gergovia, and ofthe rebellion of the Aedui. Such news, he understood at once, would befollowed by a rising in Belgium. Report had said that Caesar was fallingback on the province. He did not believe it. Caesar, he knew, would notdesert him. His own duty, therefore, was to make his way back to Sens. Butto leave the army of Gauls to accompany his retreat across the Seine, withthe tribes rising on all sides, was to expose himself to the certainty ofbeing intercepted. "In these sudden difficulties, " says Caesar, "he tookcounsel from the valor of his mind. " [6] He had brought a fleet ofbarges with him from Melun. These he sent down unperceived to a point atthe bend of the river four miles below Paris, and directed them to waitfor him there. When night fell he detached a few cohorts with orders to goup the river with boats as if they were retreating, splashing their oars, and making as much noise as possible. He himself with three legions stolesilently in the darkness to his barges, and passed over without beingobserved. The Gauls, supposing the whole army to be in flight for Sens, were breaking up their camp to follow in boisterous confusion. Labienusfell upon them, telling the Romans to fight as if Caesar was present inperson; and the courage with which the Gauls fought in their surprise onlymade the overthrow more complete. The insurrection in the north-west wasfor the moment paralysed, and Labienus, secured by his ingenious andbrilliant victory, returned to his quarters without further accident. There Caesar came to him as he expected, and the army was once moretogether. Meanwhile the failure at Gergovia had kindled the enthusiasm of thecentral districts into white-heat. The Aedui, the most powerful of all thetribes, were now at one with their countrymen, and Bibracte became thefocus of the national army. The young Vercingetorix was elected solecommander, and his plan, as before, was to starve the Romans out. Flyingbodies harassed the borders of the province, so that no reinforcementscould reach them from the south. Caesar, however, amidst his conquests hadthe art of making staunch friends. What the province could not supply heobtained from his allies across the Rhine, and he furnished himself withbodies of German cavalry, which when mounted on Roman horses provedinvaluable. In the new form which the insurrection had assumed the Aeduiwere the first to be attended to. Caesar advanced leisurely upon them, through the high country at the rise of the Seine and the Marne, towardAlesia, or Alice St. Reine. Vercingetorix watched him at ten miles'distance. He supposed him to be making for the province, and his intentionwas that Caesar should never reach it. The Celts at all times have beenfond of emphatic protestations. The young heroes swore a solemn oath thatthey would not see wife or children or parents more till they had riddentwice through the Roman army. In this mood they encountered Caesar in thevalley of the Vingeanne, a river which falls into the Saône, and they metthe fate which necessarily befell them when their ungovernable multitudesengaged the legions in the open field. They were defeated with enormousloss: not they riding through the Roman army, but themselves ridden overand hewn down by the German horsemen and sent flying for fifty miles overthe hills into Alice St. Reine. Caesar followed close behind, drivingVercingetorix under the lines of the fortress; and the siege of Alesia, one of the most remarkable exploits in all military history, was at onceundertaken. Alesia, like Gergovia, is on a hill sloping off all round, with steep and, in places, precipitous sides. It lies between two small rivers, the Oseand the Oserain, both of which fall into the Brenne, and thence into theSeine. Into this peninsula, with the rivers on each side of him, Vercingetorix had thrown himself with eighty thousand men. Alesia as aposition was impregnable except to famine. The water-supply was secure. The position was of extraordinary strength. The rivers formed naturaltrenches. Below the town to the east they ran parallel for three milesthrough an open alluvial plain before they reached Brenne. In every otherdirection rose rocky hills of equal height with the central plateau, originally perhaps one wide table-land, through which the water hadploughed out the valleys. To attack Vercingetorix where he had placedhimself was out of the question; but to blockade him there, to capture theleader of the insurrection and his whole army, and so in one blow make anend with it, on a survey of the situation seemed not impossible. The Gaulshad thought of nothing less than of being besieged. The provisions laid incould not be considerable, and so enormous a multitude could not hold outmany days. At once the legions were set to work cutting trenches or building walls asthe form of the ground allowed. Camps were formed at different spots, andtwenty-three strong block-houses at the points which were leastdefensible. The lines where the circuit was completed were eleven mileslong. The part most exposed was the broad level meadow which spread out tothe west toward the Brenne river. Vercingetorix had looked on for a time, not understanding what was happening to him. When he did understand it, hemade desperate efforts on his side to break the net before it closed abouthim. But he could do nothing. The Gauls could not be brought to face theRoman entrenchments. Their cavalry were cut to pieces by the German horse. The only hope was in help from without, and before the lines were entirelyfinished horsemen were sent out with orders to ride for their lives intoevery district in Gaul and raise the entire nation. The crisis had come. If the countrymen of Vercingetorix were worthy of their fathers, if theenthusiasm with which they had risen for freedom was not a mere emotion, but the expression of a real purpose, their young leader called on them tocome now, every man of them, and seize Caesar in the trap into which hehad betrayed himself. If, on the other hand, they were careless, if theyallowed him and his eighty thousand men to perish without an effort tosave them, the independence which they had ceased to deserve would be lostforever. He had food, he bade the messengers say, for thirty days; bythrifty management it might be made to last a few days longer. In thirtydays he should look for relief. The horsemen sped away like the bearers of the fiery cross. Caesar learntfrom deserters that they had gone out, and understood the message whichthey carried. Already he was besieging an army far outnumbering his own. If he persevered, he knew that he might count with certainty on beingattacked by a second army immeasurably larger. But the time allowed forthe collection of so many men might serve also to prepare for theirreception. Vercingetorix said rightly that the Romans won their victories, not by superior courage, but by superior science. The same power ofmeasuring the exact facts of the situation which determined Caesar toraise the siege of Gergovia decided him to hold on at Alesia. He knewexactly, to begin with, how long Vercingetorix could hold out. It was easyfor him to collect provisions within his lines which would feed his ownarmy a few days longer. Fortifications the same in kind as those whichprevented the besieged from breaking out would serve equally to keep theassailants off. His plan was to make a second line of works--an exteriorline as well as an interior line; and as the extent to be defended wouldthus be doubled, he made them of a peculiar construction, to enable oneman to do the work of two. There is no occasion to describe the rows ofditches, dry and wet; the staked pitfalls; the cervi, pronged instrumentslike the branching horns of a stag; the stimuli, barbed spikestreacherously concealed to impale the unwary and hold him fast whencaught, with which the ground was sown in irregular rows; the vallus andthe lorica, and all the varied contrivances of Roman engineering genius. Military students will read the particulars for themselves in Caesar's ownlanguage. Enough that the work was done within the time, with the legionsin perfect good humor, and giving jesting names to the new instruments oftorture as Caesar invented them. Vercingetorix now and then burst out onthe working parties, but produced no effect. They knew what they were toexpect when the thirty days were out; but they knew their commander, andhad absolute confidence in his judgment. Meanwhile, on all sides, the Gauls were responding to the call. From everyquarter, even from far-off parts of Belgium, horse and foot were streamingalong the roads. Commius of Arras, Caesar's old friend, who had gone withhim to Britain, was caught with the same frenzy, and was hastening amongthe rest to help to end him. At last two hundred and fifty thousand of thebest fighting men that Gaul could produce had collected at the appointedrendezvous, and advanced with the easy conviction that the mere impulse ofso mighty a force would sweep Caesar off the earth. They were late inarriving. The thirty days had passed, and there were no signs of thecoming deliverers. Eager eyes were straining from the heights of theplateau; but nothing was seen save the tents of the legions or the busyunits of men at work on the walls and trenches. Anxious debates were heldamong the beleaguered chiefs. The faint-hearted wished to surrender beforethey were starved. Others were in favor of a desperate effort to cut theirway through or die. One speech Caesar preserves for its remarkable andfrightful ferocity. A prince of Auvergne said that the Romans conquered toenslave and beat down the laws and liberties of free nations under thelictors' axes, and he proposed that sooner than yield they should kill andeat those who were useless for fighting. Vercingetorix was of noble nature. To prevent the adoption of so horriblean expedient, he ordered the peaceful inhabitants, with their wives andchildren, to leave the town. Caesar forbade them to pass his lines. Cruel--but war is cruel; and where a garrison is to be reduced by faminethe laws of it are inexorable. But the day of expected deliverance dawned at last. Five miles beyond theBrenne the dust-clouds of the approaching host were seen, and then theglitter of their lances and their waving pennons. They swam the river. They filled the plain below the town. From the heights of Alesia the wholescene lay spread under the feet of the besieged. Vercingetorix came downon the slope to the edge of the first trench, prepared to cross when theturn of battle should give him a chance to strike. Caesar sent out hisGerman horse, and stood himself watching from the spur of an adjoininghill. The Gauls had brought innumerable archers with them. The horseflinched slightly under the showers of arrows, and shouts of triumph rosefrom the lines of the town; but the Germans rallied again, sent thecavalry of the Gauls flying, and hewed down the unprotected archers. Vercingetorix fell back sadly to his camp on the hill, and then for a daythere was a pause. The relieving army had little food with them, and, ifthey acted at all, must act quickly. They spread over the countrycollecting faggots to fill the trenches, and making ladders to storm thewalls. At midnight they began their assault on the lines in the plain; andVercingetorix, hearing by the cries that the work had begun, gave his ownsignal for a general sally. The Roman arrangements had been completed longbefore. Every man knew his post. The slings, the crossbows, the scorpionswere all at hand and in order. Mark Antony and Caius Trebonius had each aflying division under them to carry help where the pressure was mostsevere. The Gauls were caught on the cervi, impaled on the stimuli, andfell in heaps under the bolts and balls which were poured from the walls. They could make no impression, and fell back at daybreak beaten anddispirited. Vercingetorix had been unable even to pass the moats andtrenches, and did not come into action till his friends had abandoned theattack. The Gauls had not yet taken advantage of their enormous numbers. Defeatedon the level ground, they next tried the heights. The Romans weredistributed in a ring now fourteen miles in extent. On the north side, beyond the Ose, the works were incomplete, owing to the nature of theground, and their lines lay on the slope of the hills descending towardsthe river. Sixty thousand picked men left the Gauls' camp before dawn;they stole round by a distant route, and were allowed to rest concealed ina valley till the middle of the day. At noon they came over the ridge atthe Romans' back; and they had the best of the position, being able toattack from above. Their appearance was the signal for a general assaulton all sides, and for a determined sally by Vercingetorix from within. Thus before, behind, and everywhere, the legions were assailed at the samemoment; and Caesar observes that the cries of battle in the rear arealways more trying to men than the fiercest onset upon them in front;because what they cannot see they imagine more formidable than it is, andthey depend for their own safety on the courage of others. Caesar had taken his stand where he could command the whole action. Therewas no smoke in those engagements, and the scene was transparentlyvisible. Both sides felt that the deciding trial had come. In the plainthe Gauls made no more impression than on the preceding day. At the weakpoint on the north the Romans were forced back down the slope, and couldnot hold their positions. Caesar saw it, and sent Labienus with sixcohorts to their help. Vercingetorix had seen it also, and attacked theinterior lines at the same spot. Decimus Brutus was then despatched also, and then Caius Fabius. Finally, when the fighting grew desperate, he lefthis own station; he called up the reserves which had not yet been engaged, and he rode across the field, conspicuous in his scarlet dress and withhis bare head, cheering on the men as he passed each point where they wereengaged, and hastening to the scene where the chief danger lay. He sentround a few squadrons of horse to the back of the hills which the Gaulshad crossed in the morning. He himself joined Labienus. Wherever he wenthe carried enthusiasm along with him. The legionaries flung away theirdarts and rushed upon the enemy sword in hand. The cavalry appeared aboveon the heights. The Gauls wavered, broke, and scattered. The German horsewere among them, hewing down the brave but now helpless patriots who hadcome with such high hopes and had fought so gallantly. Out of the sixtythousand that had sallied forth in the morning, all but a draggled remnantlay dead on the hill-sides. Seventy-four standards were brought in toCaesar. The besieged retired into Alice again in despair. The vast hoststhat were to have set them free melted away. In the morning they werestreaming over the country, making back for their homes, with Caesar'scavalry behind them, cutting them down and capturing them in thousands. The work was done. The most daring feat in the military annals of mankindhad been successfully accomplished. A Roman army which could not at theutmost have amounted to fifty thousand men had held blockaded an army ofeighty thousand--not weak Asiatics, but European soldiers, as strong andas brave individually as the Italians were; and they had defeated, beaten, and annihilated another army which had come expecting to overwhelm them, five times as large as their own. Seeing that all was over, Vercingetorix called the chiefs about him. Hehad gone into the war, he said, for no object of his own, but for theliberty of his country. Fortune had gone against him; and he advised themto make their peace, either by killing him and sending his head to theconqueror or by delivering him up alive. A humble message of submissionwas despatched to Caesar. He demanded an unconditional surrender, and theGauls, starving and hopeless, obeyed. The Roman general sat amidst theworks in front of the camp while the chiefs one by one were producedbefore him. The brave Vercingetorix, as noble in his calamity as Caesarhimself in his success, was reserved to be shown in triumph to thepopulace of Rome. The whole of his army were prisoners of war. The Aeduiand Arverni among them were set aside, and were dismissed after a shortdetention for political reasons. The remainder were sold to thecontractors, and the proceeds were distributed as prize-money among thelegions. Caesar passed the winter at Bibracte, receiving the submission ofthe chiefs of the Aedui and of the Auvergne. Wounds received in war soonheal if gentle measures follow a victory. If tried by the manners of hisage, Caesar was the most merciful of conquerors. His high aim was, not toenslave the Gauls, but to incorporate them in the Empire; to extend theprivileges of Roman citizens among them and among all the undegenerateraces of the European provinces. He punished no one. He was gracious andconsiderate to all, and he so impressed the central tribes by his judgmentand his moderation that they served him faithfully in all his comingtroubles, and never more, even in the severest temptation, made an effortto recover their independence. [Sidenote B. C. 51. ]Much, however, remained to be done. The insurrection had shaken the wholeof Gaul. The distant tribes had all joined in it, either actively or bysympathy; and the patriots who had seized the control, despairing ofpardon, thought their only hope was in keeping rebellion alive. Duringwinter they believed themselves secure. The Carnutes of the Eure andLoire, under a new chief named Gutruatus, [7] and the Bituriges, untaught by or savage at the fate of Bourges, were still defiant. When thewinter was at its deepest, Caesar suddenly appeared across the Loire. Hecaught the country people unprepared, and captured them in their farms. The swiftness of his marches baffled alike flight and resistance; hecrushed the whole district down, and he was again at his quarters in fortydays. As a reward to the men who had followed him so cheerfully in thecold January campaign, he gave each private legionary 200 sesterces andeach centurion 2, 000. Eighteen days' rest was all that he allowed himself, and with fresh troops, and in storm and frost, he started for theCarnutes. The rebels were to have no rest till they submitted. TheBellovaci were now out also. The Remi alone of all the Gauls had continuedfaithful in the rising of Vercingetorix. The Bellovaci, led by Commius ofArras, were preparing to burn the territory of the Remi as a punishment. Commius was not as guilty, perhaps, as he seemed. Labienus had suspectedhim of intending mischief when he was on the Seine in the past summer, andhad tried to entrap and kill him. Anyway Caesar's first object was to showthe Gauls that no friends of Rome would be allowed to suffer. He invadedNormandy; he swept the country. He drove the Bellovaci and the Carnutes tocollect in another great army to defend themselves; he set upon them withhis usual skill; and destroyed them. Commius escaped over the Rhine toGermany. Gutruatus was taken. Caesar would have pardoned him; but thelegions were growing savage at these repeated and useless commotions, andinsisted on his execution. The poor wretch was flogged till he wasinsensible, and his head was cut off by the lictor's axe. All Gaul was now submissive, its spirit broken, and, as the event proved, broken finally, except in the southwest. Eight years out of the ten ofCaesar's government had expired. In one corner of the country only thedream still survived that, if the patriots could hold out till Caesar wasgone, Celtic liberty might yet have a chance of recovering itself. Asingle tribe on the Dordogne, relying on the strength of a fortress in asituation resembling that of Gergovia, persisted in resistance to theRoman authority. The spirit of national independence is like a fire: solong as a spark remains a conflagration can again be kindled, and Caesarfelt that he must trample out the last ember that was alive. Uxellodunum--so the place was named--stood on an inaccessible rock, and was amplyprovisioned. It could be taken only as Edinburgh Castle was once taken, bycutting off its water; and the ingenious tunnel may still be seen by whichthe Roman engineers tapped the spring supplied the garrison. They, too, had then to yield, and the war in Gaul was over. [Sidenote B. C. 50. ]The following winter Caesar spent at Arras. He wished to hand over hisconquests to his successor not only subdued, but reconciled, tosubjection. He invited the chiefs of all the tribes to come to him. Hespoke to them of the future which lay open to them as members of asplendid Imperial State. He gave them magnificent presents. He laid noimpositions either on the leaders or their people, and they went to theirhomes personally devoted to their conqueror, contented with theircondition, and resolved to maintain the peace which was now established--aunique experience in political history. The Norman Conquest of Englandalone in the least resembles it. In the spring of 50 Caesar went to Italy. Strange things had happened meanwhile in Rome. So long as there was a hopethat Caesar would be destroyed by the insurrection, the ill-minded Senatehad waited to let the Gauls do the work for him. The chance was gone. Hehad risen above his perils more brilliant than ever, and nothing now wasleft to them but to defy and trample on him. Servius Galba, who wasfavorable to Caesar, had stood for the consulship for 49, and had receiveda majority of votes. The election was set aside. Two patricians, Lentulusand Caius Marcellus, were declared chosen, and their avowed purpose was tostrip the conqueror of Gaul of his honors and rewards. [8] The people ofhis own Cisalpine Province desired to show that they at least had nosympathy with such envenomed animosities. In the colonies in Lombardy andVenetia Caesar was received with the most passionate demonstrations ofaffection. The towns were dressed out with flags and flowers. Theinhabitants crowded into the streets with their wives and children to lookat him as he passed. The altars smoked with offerings; the temples werethronged with worshippers praying the immortal gods to bless the greatestof the Romans. He had yet one more year to govern. After a brief stay herejoined his army. He spent the summer in organizing the administration ofthe different districts and assigning his officers their various commands. That he did not at this time contemplate any violent interference with theConstitution may be proved by the distribution of his legions, whichremained stationed far away in Belgium and on the Loire. [1] Above Orleans, on the Loire. [2] Four miles from Clermont, on the Allier, in the Puy-de-Dôme. [3] "Extrema fames. "--_De Bell. Gall_. , vii. 17. [4] "Summâ se iniquitatis condemnari debere nisi eorum vitam suâ salute habeat cariorem. " [5] _De Bell. Gall_. , vii. 33. [6] "Tantis subito difficultatibus objectis ab animi virtute consilium petebat. " [7] Gudrund? The word has a German sound. [8] "Insolenter adversarii sui gloriabantur L. Lentulum et C. Marcellum consules creatos, qui omnem honorem et dignitatem Caesaris exspoliarent. Ereptum Servio Galbae consulatum cum is multo plus gratiâ, suffragiisque valuisset, quod sibi conjunctus et familiaritate et necessitudine legationis esset. "--_Auli Hirtii De Bell. Gall_. Viii. 50. CHAPTER XX. [Sidenote: B. C. 51. ]Crassus had been destroyed by the Parthians. The nomination of hissuccessor lay with the Senate, and the Senate gave a notable evidence oftheir incapacity for selecting competent governors for the provinces byappointing in his place Caesar's old colleague, Bibulus. In their wholenumber there was no such fool as Bibulus. When he arrived in Syria he shuthimself into a fortified town, leaving the Parthians to plunder and burnat their pleasure. Cicero mocked at him. The Senate thanked him for hisdistinguished services. The few serious men in Rome thought that Caesar orPompey should be sent out;[1] or, if they could not be spared, at leastone of the consuls of the year--Sulpicius Rufus or Marcus Marcellus. Butthe consuls were busy with home politics and did not wish to go, nor didthey wish that others should go and gather laurels instead of them. Therefore nothing was done at all, [2] and Syria was left to fate andBibulus. The consuls and the aristocracy had, in fact, more seriousmatters to attend to. Caesar's time was running out, and when it was overhe had been promised the consulship. That consulship the faction of theconservatives had sworn that he should never hold. Cato was threateninghim with impeachment, blustering that he should be tried under a guard, asMilo had been. [3] Marcellus was saying openly that he would call himhome in disgrace before his term was over. Como, one of the most thrivingtowns in the north of Italy, had been enfranchised by Caesar. An eminentcitizen from Como happening to be at Rome, Marcellus publicly flogged him, and bade him go back and tell his fellow-townsmen the value of Caesar'sgift to them, Cicero saw the folly of such actions;[4] but thearistocracy were mad--mad with pride and conscious guilt and fear. The tenyears of Caesar's government would expire at the end of 49. The engagementhad been entered into that he was to see his term out with his army and toreturn to Rome for 48--as consul. They remembered his first consulship andwhat he had done with it, and the laws which he had passed--laws whichthey could not repeal; yet how had they observed them? If he had been toostrong for them all when he was but one of themselves, scarcely knownbeyond the Forum and senate-house, what would he do now, when he wasrecognized as the greatest soldier which Rome had produced, the army, thepeople, Italy, the provinces all adoring his name? Consul again he couldnot, must not be. Yet how could it be prevented? It was useless now tobribe the Comitia, to work with clubs and wire-pullers. The enfranchisedcitizens would come to vote for Caesar from every country town. Thelegionaries to a man would vote for him; and even in the venal city he wasthe idol of the hour. No fault could be found with his administration. Hiswars had paid their own expenses. He had doubled the pay of his troops, but his military chest was still full, and his own wealth seemedboundless. He was adorning the Forum with new and costly buildings. Senators, knights, young men of rank who had been extravagant, had beenrelieved by his generosity and were his pensioners. Gaul might have beenimpatient at its loss of liberty, but no word of complaint was heardagainst Caesar for oppressive government. The more genius he had shown themore formidable he was. Let him be consul, and he would be the master ofthem all. Caesar had been credited with far-reaching designs. It has been assumedthat in early life he had designed the overthrow of the Constitution; thathe pursued his purpose steadily through every stage in his career, andthat he sought the command of Gaul only to obtain an army devoted to himwhich would execute his will. It has not seemed incredible that a man ofmiddle age undertook the conquest of a country of which nothing is knownsave that it was inhabited by warlike races, who more than once hadthreatened to overrun Italy and destroy Rome; that he went through tenyears of desperate fighting exposed to a thousand dangers from the sword, from exposure and hardship; that for ten years he had banished himselffrom Rome, uncertain whether he would ever see it again; and that he hadventured upon all this with no other object than that of eventuallycontrolling domestic politics. A lunatic might have entertained such ascheme, but not a Caesar. The Senate knew him. They knew what he had done. They knew what he would now do, and for this reason they feared and hatedhim. Caesar was a reformer. He had long seen that the Roman Constitutionwas too narrow for the functions which had fallen to it, and that it wasdegenerating into an instrument of tyranny and injustice. The courts oflaw were corrupt; the elections wore corrupt. The administration of theprovinces was a scandal and a curse. The soil of Italy had become amonopoly of capitalists, and the inhabitants of it a population of slaves. He had exerted himself to stay the mischief at its fountain, to punishbribery, to punish the rapacity of proconsuls and propraetors, to purifythe courts, to maintain respect for the law. He had endeavored to extendthe franchise, to raise the position of the liberated slaves, to replaceupon the land a free race of Roman citizens. The old Roman sentiment, theconsciousness of the greatness of the country and of its mighty destinies, was chiefly now to be found in the armies. In the families of veteranlegionaries, spread in farms over Italy and the provinces, the nationalspirit might revive; and, with a due share of political power conceded tothem, an enlarged and purified constituency might control the votes of thevenal populace of the city. These were Caesar's designs, so far as couldhave been gathered from his earlier actions; but the manipulation ofelections, the miserable contests with disaffected colleagues and ahostile Senate, were dreary occupations for such a man as he was. He wasconscious of powers which in so poor a sphere could find no expression. Hehad ambition doubtless--plenty of it--ambition not to pass away withoutleaving his mark on the history of his country. As a statesman he had donethe most which could be done when he was consul the first time, and he hadafterward sought a free field for his adventurous genius in a new country, and in rounding off into security the frontiers of the 'Empire on the sidewhere danger was most threatening. The proudest self-confidence could nothave allowed him at his time of life to calculate on returning to Rome totake up again the work of reformation. But Cesar had conquered. He had made a name for himself as a soldierbefore which the Scipios and the Luculluses, the Syllas and Pompeys paledtheir glory. He was coming back to lay at his country's feet a provincelarger than Spain--not subdued only, but reconciled to subjugation; anation of warriors, as much devoted to him as his own legions. Thearistocracy had watched his progress with the bitterest malignity. When hewas struggling with the last spasms of Gallic liberty, they had talked indelighted whispers of his reported ruin. [5] But his genius had risenabove his difficulties and shone out more glorious than before. When thewar was over the Senate had been forced to vote twenty days ofthanksgiving. Twenty days were not enough for Roman, enthusiasm. Thepeople made them into sixty. If Caesar came to Rome as consul, the Senate knew too well what it mightexpect. What he had been before he would be again, but more severe as hispower was greater. Their own guilty hearts perhaps made them fear anotherMarian proscription. Unless his command could be brought to an end in somefar different form, their days of power were numbered, and the days ofinquiry and punishment would begin. [Sidenote: B. C. 50. ]Cicero had for some time seen what was coming. He had preferredcharacteristically to be out of the way at the moment when he expectedthat the storm would break, and had accepted the government of Cilicia andCyprus. He was thus absent while the active plot was in preparation. Onegreat step had been gained--the Senate had secured Pompey. Caesar'sgreatness was too much for him. He could never again hope to be the firston the popular side, and he preferred being the saviour of theConstitution to playing second to a person whom he had patronized. Pompeyought long since to have been in Spain with his troops; but he had stayedat Rome to keep order, and he had lingered on with the same pretext. Thefirst step was to weaken Caesar and to provide Pompey with a force inItaly. The Senate discovered suddenly that Asia Minor was in danger from, the Parthians. They voted that Caesar and Pompey must each spare a legionfor the East. Pompey gave as his part the legion which he had lent toCaesar for the last campaign. Caesar was invited to restore it and tofurnish another of his own. Caesar was then in Belgium. He saw the objectof the demand perfectly clearly; but he sent the two legions without aword, contenting himself with making handsome presents to the officers andmen on their leaving him. When they reached Italy the Senate found thatthey were wanted for home service, and they were placed under Pompey'scommand in Campania. The consuls chosen for the year 49 were LuciusCornelius Lentulus and Caius Marcellus, both of them Caesar's openenemies. Caesar himself had been promised the consulship (there could beno doubt of his election, if his name was accepted in his absence) for theyear 48. He was to remain with his troops till his term had run out, andto be allowed to stand while still in command. This was the distinctengagement which the assembly had ratified. After the consular electionhad been secured in the autumn of 50 to the conservative candidates, itwas proposed that by a displacement of dates Caesar's government shouldexpire, not at the close of the tenth year, but in the spring, on the 1stof March. Convenient constitutional excuses were found for the change. Onthe 1st of March he was to cease to be governor of Gaul. A successor wasto be named to take over his army. He would then have to return to Rome, and would lie at the mercy of his enemies. Six months would intervenebefore the next elections, during which he might be impeached, incapacitated, or otherwise disposed of; while Pompey and his two legionscould effectually prevent any popular disturbance in his favor. The Senatehesitated before decisively voting the recall. An intimation was conveyedto Caesar that he had been mistaken about his term, which would end soonerthan he had supposed; and the world was waiting to see how he would takeit. Atticus thought that he would give way. His having parted so easilywith two legions did not look like resistance. Marcus Caelius, acorrespondent of Cicero, who had been elected praetor for 49, and kept hisfriend informed how things were going on, wrote in the autumn: "All is at a standstill about the Gallic government. The subject has beenraised, and is again postponed. Pompey's view is plain that Caesar mustleave his province after the 1st of March . .. But he does not think thatbefore that time the Senate can properly pass a resolution about it. Afterthe 1st of March he will have no hesitation. When he was asked what hewould do if a tribune interposed, he said it made no difference whetherCaesar himself disobeyed the Senate or provided some one else to interferewith the Senate. Suppose, said one, Caesar wishes to be consul and to keephis army. Pompey answered, 'What if my son wishes to lay a stick on myback'. .. . It appears that Caesar will accept one or other of twoconditions: either to remain in his province, and postpone his claim forthe consulship; or, if he can be named for the consulship, then to retire. Curio is all against him. What he can accomplish, I know not; but Iperceive this, that if Caesar means well, he will not beoverthrown. " [6] The object of the Senate was either to ruin Caesar, if he complied withthis order, or to put him in the wrong by provoking him to disobedience. The scheme was ingenious; but if the Senate could mine, Caesar couldcountermine. Caelius said that Curio was violent against him: and so Curiohad been. Curio was a young man of high birth, dissolute, extravagant, andclever. His father, who had been consul five-and-twenty years before, wasa strong aristocrat and a close friend of Cicero's. The son had taken thesame line; but, among other loose companions, he had made theacquaintance, to his father's regret, of Mark Antony, and though they hadhitherto been of opposite politics, the intimacy had continued. TheSenate's influence had made Curio tribune for the year 49. Antony had beenchosen tribune also. To the astonishment of everybody but Cicero, itappeared that these two, who were expected to neutralize each other, wereabout to work together, and to veto every resolution which seemed anunfair return for Caesar's services. Scandal said that young Curio was inmoney difficulties, and that Caesar had paid his debts for him. It wasperhaps a lie invented by political malignity; but if Curio waspurchasable, Caesar would not have hesitated to buy him. His habit was totake facts as they were, and, when satisfied that his object was just, togo the readiest way to it. The desertion of their own tribune was a serious blow to the Senate. Caelius, who was to be praetor, was inclining to think that Caesar wouldwin, and therefore might take his side also. The constitutional oppositionwould then be extremely strong; and even Pompey, fiercely as he hadspoken, doubted what to do. The question was raised in the Senate, whetherthe tribunes' vetoes were to be regarded. Marcellus, who had flogged thecitizen of Como, voted for defying them, but the rest were timid. Pompeydid not know his own mind. [7] Caelius's account of his own feelings inthe matter represented probably those of many besides himself. "In civil quarrels, " he wrote to Cicero, "we ought to go with the mosthonest party, as long as the contest lies within constitutional limits. When it is an affair of camps and battles, we must go with the strongest. Pompey will have the Senate and the men of consideration with him. All thediscontented will go with Caesar. I must calculate the forces on bothsides, before I decide on my own part. " [8] When the question next came on in the Senate, Curio, being of courseinstructed in Caesar's wishes, professed to share the anxiety lest thereshould be a military Dictatorship; but he said that the danger was asgreat from Pompey as from Caesar. He did not object to the recall ofCaesar, but Pompey, he thought, should resign his province also, and theConstitution would then be out of peril. Pompey professed to be willing, if the Senate desired it; but he insisted that Caesar must take the firststep. Curio's proposal was so fair, that it gained favor both in Forum andSenate. The populace, who hated Pompey, threw flowers upon the tribune ashe passed. Marcellus, the consul, a few days later, put the question inthe Senate: Was Caesar to be recalled? A majority answered Yes. Was Pompeyto be deprived of his province? The same majority said No. Curio thenproposed that both Pompey and Caesar should dismiss their armies. Out ofthree hundred and ninety-two senators present, three hundred and seventyagreed. Marcellus told them bitterly that they had voted themselvesCaesar's slaves. But they were not all insane with envy and hatred, and inthe midst of their terrors they retained some prudence, perhaps someconscience and sense of justice. By this time, however, the messengers whohad been sent to communicate the Senate's views to Caesar had returned. They brought no positive answer from himself; but they reported thatCaesar's troops were worn out and discontented, and certainly would refuseto support him in any violent action. How false their account of the armywas, the Senate had soon reason to know; but it was true that one, and hethe most trusted officer that Caesar had, Labienus, who had fought throughso many battles with him in the Forum as well as in the field, whose hightalents and character his Commentaries could never praise sufficiently--itwas true that Labienus had listened to the offers made to him. Labienushad made a vast fortune in the war. He perhaps thought, as otherdistinguished officers have done, that he was the person that had won thevictories; that without him Caesar, who was being so much praised andglorified, would have been nothing; and that he at least was entitled toan equal share of the honors and rewards that might be coming; while ifCaesar was to be disgraced, he might have the whole recompense forhimself. Caesar heard of these overtures; but he had refused to believethat Labienus could be untrue to him. He showed his confidence, and heshowed at the same time the integrity of his own intentions, by appointingthe officer who was suspected of betraying him Lieutenant-General of theCisalpine Province. None the less it was true that Labienus had been wonover. Labienus had undertaken for his comrades; and the belief that Caesarcould not depend on his troops renewed Pompey's courage and gave heart tothe faction which wished to precipitate extremities. The aspect of thingswas now altered. What before seemed rash and dangerous might be safelyventured. Caesar had himself followed the messengers to Ravenna. To raisethe passions of men to the desired heat, a report was spread that he hadbrought his troops across and was marching on Rome. Curio hastened off tohim, to bring back under his own hand a distinct declaration of his views. It was at this crisis, in the middle of the winter 50-49, that Ciceroreturned to Rome. He had held his government but for two years, andinstead of escaping the catastrophe, he found himself plunged into theheart of it. He had managed his province well. No one ever suspectedCicero of being corrupt or unjust. He had gained some respectablesuccesses in putting down the Cilician banditti. He had been namedimperator by his soldiers in the field after an action in which he hadcommanded; he had been flattering himself with the prospect of a triumph, and had laid up money to meet the cost of it. The quarrel between the twogreat men whom he had so long feared and flattered, and the necessitywhich might be thrown on him of declaring publicly on one side or theother, agitated him terribly. In October, as he was on his way home, heexpressed his anxieties with his usual frankness to Atticus. "Consider the problem for me, " he said, "as it affects myself: you advisedme to keep on terms both with Pompey and Caesar. You bade me adhere to onebecause he had been good to me, and to the other because he was strong. Ihave done so. I so ordered matters that no one could be dearer to eitherof them than I was. I reflected thus: while I stand by Pompey, I cannothurt the Commonwealth; if I agree with Caesar, I need not quarrel withPompey; so closely they appeared to be connected. But now they are at asharp issue. Each regards me as his friend, unless Caesar dissembles;while Pompey is right in thinking that what he proposes I shall approve. Iheard from both at the time at which I heard from you. Their letters weremost polite. What am I to do? I don't mean in extremities. If it comes tofighting, it will be better to be defeated with one than to conquer withthe other. But when I arrive at Rome, I shall be required to say if Caesaris to be proposed for the consulship in his absence, or if he is todismiss his army. What must I answer? Wait till I have consulted Atticus?That will not do. Shall I go against Caesar? Where are Pompey's resources?I myself took Caesar's part about it. He spoke to me on the subject atRavenna. I recommended his request to the tribunes as a reasonable one. Pompey talked with me also to the same purpose. Am I to change my mind? Iam ashamed to oppose him now. Will you have a fool's opinion? I will applyfor a triumph, and so I shall have an excuse for not entering the city. You will laugh. But oh, I wish I had remained in my province. Could I buthave guessed what was impending! Think for me. How shall I avoiddispleasing Caesar? He writes most kindly about a 'Thanksgiving' for mysuccess. " [9] Caesar had touched the right point in congratulating Cicero on hismilitary exploits. His friends in the Senate had been less delicate. Bibulus had. Been thanked for hiding from the Parthians. When Cicero hadhinted his expectations, the Senate had passed to the order of the day. "Cato, " he wrote, "treats me scurvily. He gives me praise for justice, clemency, and integrity, which I did not want. What I did want he will notlet me have. Caesar promises me everything. --Cato has given a twenty days'thanksgiving to Bibulus. Pardon me, if this is more than I can bear. --ButI am relieved from my worst fear. The Parthians have left Bibulus halfalive. " [10] The shame wore off as Cicero drew near to Rome. He blamed the tribunes forinsisting on what he had himself declared to be just. "Any way, " he said, "I stick to Pompey. When they say to me, Marcus Tullius, what do youthink? I shall answer, I go with Pompey; but privately I shall advisePompey to come to terms. --We have to do with a man full of audacity andcompletely prepared. Every felon, every citizen who is in disgrace orought to be in disgrace, almost all the young, the city mob, the tribunes, debtors, who are more numerous than I could have believed, all these arewith Caesar. He wants nothing but a good cause, and war is alwaysuncertain. " [11] Pompey had been unwell at the beginning of December, and had gone for afew days into the country. Cicero met him on the 10th. "We were two hourstogether, " he said. "Pompey was delighted at my arrival. He spoke of mytriumph, and promised to do his part. He advised me to keep away from theSenate, till it was arranged, lest I should offend the tribunes. He spokeof war as certain. Not a word did he utter pointing to a chance ofcompromise. --My comfort is that Caesar, to whom even his enemies hadallowed a second consulship, and to whom fortune had given so much power, will not be so mad as to throw all this away. " [12] Cicero had soon tolearn that the second consulship was not so certain. On the 29th he hadanother long conversation with Pompey. "Is there hope of peace?" he wrote, in reporting what had passed. "So faras I can gather from his very full expressions to me, he does not desireit. For he thinks thus: If Caesar be made consul, even after he has partedfrom his army, the constitution will be at an end. He thinks also thatwhen Caesar hears of the preparations against him, he will drop theconsulship for this year, to keep his province and his troops. Should hebe so insane as to try extremities, Pompey holds him in utter contempt. Ithought, when he was speaking, of the uncertainties of war; but I wasrelieved to hear a man of courage and experience talk like a statesman ofthe dangers of an insincere settlement. --Not only he does not seek forpeace, but he seems to fear it. --My own vexation is, that I must payCaesar my debt, and spend thus what I had set apart for my triumph. It isindecent to owe money to a political antagonist. " [13] Events were hurrying on. Cicero entered Rome the first week in January, tofind that the Senate had begun work in earnest. Curio had returned fromRavenna with a letter from Caesar. He had offered three alternatives. First, that the agreement already made might stand, and that he might benominated, in his absence, for the consulship; or that when he left hisarmy, Pompey should disband his Italian legions; or, lastly, that heshould hand over Transalpine Gaul to his successor, with eight of his tenlegions, himself keeping the north of Italy and Illyria with two, untilhis election. It was the first of January. The new consuls, Lentulus andCaius Marcellus, with the other magistrates, had entered on their offices, and were in their places in the Senate. Pompey was present, and the letterwas introduced. The consuls objected to it being read, but they wereoverruled by the remonstrances of the tribunes. The reading over, theconsuls forbade a debate upon it, and moved that the condition of theCommonwealth should be taken into consideration. Lentulus, the moreimpassioned of them, said that if the Senate would be firm, he would dohis duty; if they hesitated and tried conciliation, he should take care ofhimself, and go over to Caesar's side. Metellus Scipio, Pompey's father-in-law, spoke to the same purpose. Pompey, he said, was ready to supportthe constitution, if the Senate were resolute. If they wavered, they wouldlook in vain for future help from him. Marcus Marcellus, the consul of thepreceding year, less wild than he had been when he flogged the Comocitizen, advised delay, at least till Pompey was better prepared. Calidius, another senator, moved that Pompey should go to his province. Caesar's resentment at the detention of the two legions from the Parthianwar he thought, was natural and justifiable. Marcus Rufus agreed withCalidius. But moderation was borne down by the violence of Lentulus; andthe Senate, in spite of themselves, [14] voted, at Scipio's dictation, that Caesar must dismiss his army before a day which was to be fixed, or, in default, would be declared an enemy to the State. Two tribunes, MarkAntony and Cassius Longinus, interposed. The tribunes' veto was as old astheir institution. It had been left standing even by Sylla. But thearistocracy were declaring war against the people. They knew that the vetowas coming, and they had resolved to disregard it. The more passionate thespeakers, the more they were cheered by Caesar's enemies. The sittingended in the evening without a final conclusion; but at a meetingafterwards, at his house, Pompey quieted alarms by assuring the senatorsthat there was nothing to fear. Caesar's army he knew to be disaffected. He introduced the officers of the two legions that had been taken fromCaesar, who vouched for their fidelity to the constitution. Some ofPompey's veterans were present, called up from their farms; they wereenthusiastic for their old commander. Piso, Caesar's father-in-law, andRoscius, a praetor, begged for a week's delay, that they might go toCaesar, and explain the Senate's pleasure. Others proposed to send adeputation to soften the harshness of his removal. But Lentulus, backed byCato, would listen to nothing. Cato detested Caesar as the representativeof everything which he most abhorred. Lentulus, bankrupt and loaded withdebts, was looking for provinces to ruin, and allied sovereigns to laypresents at his feet. He boasted that he would be a second Sylla. [15]When the Senate met again in their places, the tribunes' veto wasdisallowed. They ordered a general levy through Italy. The consuls gavePompey the command-in-chief, with the keys of the treasury. The Senateredistributed the provinces; giving Syria to Scipio, and in Caesar's placeappointing Domitius Ahenobarbus, the most inveterate and envenomed of hisenemies. Their authority over the provinces had been taken from them bylaw, but law was set aside. Finally, they voted the State in danger, suspended the constitution, and gave the consuls absolute power. The final votes were taken on the 7th of January. A single week hadsufficed for a discussion of the resolutions on which the fate of Romedepended. The Senate pretended to be defending the constitution. They hadthemselves destroyed the constitution, and established on the ruins of ita senatorial oligarchy. The tribunes fled at once to Caesar. Pompey leftthe city for Campania, to join his two legions and superintend the levies. The unanimity which had appeared in the Senate's final determination wason the surface only. Cicero, though present in Rome, had taken no part, and looked on in despair. The "good" were shocked at Pompey'sprecipitation. They saw that a civil war could end only in a despotism. [16] "I have not met one man, " Cicero said, "who does not think it wouldbe better to make concessions to Caesar than to fight him. --Why fight now?Things are no worse than when we gave him his additional five years, oragreed to let him be chosen consul in his absence. You wish for myopinion. I think we ought to use every means to escape war. But I must saywhat Pompey says. I cannot differ from Pompey. " [17] A day later, before the final vote had been taken, he thought still thatthe Senate was willing to let Caesar keep his province, if he woulddissolve his army. The moneyed interests, the peasant landholders, wereall on Caesar's side; they cared not even if monarchy came so that theymight have peace. "We could have resisted Caesar easily when he was weak, "he wrote. "Now he has eleven legions and as many cavalry as he chooseswith him, the Cisalpine provincials, the Roman populace, the tribunes, andthe hosts of dissolute young men. Yet we are to fight with him, or takeaccount of him unconstitutionally. Fight, you say, rather than be a slave. Fight for what? To be proscribed, if you are beaten; to be a slave still, if you win. What will you do then? you ask. As the sheep follows the flockand the ox the herd, so will I follow the 'good, ' or those who are calledgood, but I see plainly what will come out of this sick state of ours. Noone knows what the fate of war may be. But if the 'good' are beaten, thismuch is certain, that Caesar will be as bloody as Cinna, and as greedy ofother men's properties as Sylla. " [18] Once more, and still in the midst of uncertainty: "The position is this: We must either let Caesar stand for the consulship, he keeping his army with the Senate's consent, or supported by thetribunes; or we must persuade him to resign his province and his army, andso to be consul; or if he refuses, the elections can be held without him, he keeping his province; or if he forbids the election through thetribunes, we can hang on and come to an interrex; or, lastly, if he bringshis army on us, we can fight. Should this be his choice, he will eitherbegin at once, before we are ready, or he will wait till his election, when his friends will put in his name and it will not be received. Hisplea may then be the ill-treatment of himself, or it may be complicatedfurther should a tribune interpose and be deprived of office, and so takerefuge with him. .. . You will say persuade Caesar, then, to give up hisarmy, and be consul. Surely, if he will agree, no objection can be raised;and if he is not allowed to stand while he keeps his army, I wonder thathe does not let it go. But a certain person (Pompey) thinks that nothingis so much to be feared as that Caesar should be consul. Better thus, youwill say, than with an army. No doubt. But a certain person holds that hisconsulship would be an irremediable misfortune. We must yield if Caesarwill have it so. He will be consul again, the same man that he was before;then, weak as he was, he proved stronger than the whole of us. What, thinkyou, will he be now? Pompey, for one thing, will surely be sent to Spain. Miserable every way; and the worst is, that Caesar cannot be refused, andby consenting will be taken into supreme favor by all the 'good. ' Theysay, however, that he cannot be brought to this. Well, then, which is theworst of the remaining alternatives? Submit to what Pompey calls animpudent demand? Caesar has held his province for ten years. The Senatedid not give it him. He took it himself by faction and violence. Supposehe had it lawfully, the time is up. His successor is named. He disobeys. He says that he ought to be considered. Let him consider us. Will he keephis army beyond the time for which the people gave it to him, in despiteof the Senate? We must fight him then, and, as Pompey says, we shallconquer or die free men. If fight we must, time will show when or how. Butif you have any advice to give, let me know it, for I am tormented day andnight. " [19] These letters give a vivid picture of the uncertainties which distractedpublic opinion during the fatal first week of January. Caesar, it seems, might possibly have been consul had he been willing to retire at once intothe condition of a private citizen, even though Pompey was stillundisarmed. Whether in that position he would have lived to see theelection-day is another question. Cicero himself, it will be seen, hadbeen reflecting already that there were means less perilous than civil warby which dangerous persons might be got rid of. And there were weak pointsin his arguments which his impatience passed over. Caesar held a positiveengagement about his consulship, which the people had ratified. Of the tenyears which the people had allowed him, one was unexpired, and the Senatehad no power to vote his recall without the tribunes' and the people'sconsent. He might well hesitate to put himself in the power of a factionso little scrupulous. It is evident, however, that Pompey and the twoconsuls were afraid that, if such overtures were made to him by adeputation from the Senate, he might perhaps agree to them; and by theirrapid and violent vote they put an end to the possibility of anarrangement. Caesar, for no other crime than that as a brilliantdemocratic general he was supposed dangerous to the oligarchy, had beenrecalled from his command in the face of the prohibition of the tribunes, and was declared an enemy of his country unless he instantly submitted. After the experience of Marius and Sylla, the Senate could have paid nohigher compliment to Caesar's character than in believing that he wouldhesitate over his answer. [1] "Caelius ad Ciceronem, " _Ad Fam_. Viii. 10. [2] _Ibid_. [3] Suetonius, _De Vitâ Julii Caesaris_. [4] "Marcellus foede do Comensi. Etsi ille magistratum non gesserat, erat tamen Transpadanus. Ita mihi videtur non minus stomachi nostro ac Caesari fecisse. "--_To Atticus_, v. 11. [5] "Quod ad Caesarem crebri et non belli de eo rumores. Sed susurratores dumtaxat veniunt. .. . Neque adhuc certi quidquam est, neque haec incerta tamen vulgo jactantur. Sed inter paucos, quos tu nosti, palam secreto narrantur. At Domitius cum manus ad os apposuit!"--Caelius to Cicero, _Ad Fam_. Viii. 1. [6] Caelius to Cicero, _Ad Fam_. Viii. 8. [7] _Ibid_. , viii. 13. [8] Caelius to Cicero, _Ad Fam_. Viii. 14. [9] _To Atticus_, vii. 1, abridged. [10] _Ibid. _, vii. 2. [11] _Ibid. _, vii. 3. [12] _To Atticus_, vii. 4. [13] "Mihi autem illud molestissimum est, quod solvendi sunt nummi Caesari, et instrumentum triumphi eo conferendum. Est [Greek: amorphon hantipoliteuomenou chreopheiletaen] esse. "--_Ibid_. , vii. 8. [14] "Inviti et coacti" is Caesar's expression. He wished, perhaps, to soften the Senate's action. (_De Bello Civili_, i. 2. ) [15] "Seque alterum fore Sullam inter suos gloriatur. "--_De Bello Civili_, i. 4. [16] "Tum certe tyrannus existet. "--_To Atticus_, vii. 5. [17] _To Atticus_, vii. 6. [18] _Ibid_. , vii. 7, abridged. [19] _To Atticus_, vii. 9, abridged. CHAPTER XXI. Caesar, when the report of the Senate's action reached him, addressed hissoldiers. He had but one legion with him, the 13th. But one legion wouldrepresent the rest. He told them what the Senate had done, and why theyhad done it. "For nine years he and his army had served their countryloyally and with some success. They had driven the Germans over the Rhine;they had made Gaul a Roman province; and the Senate for answer had brokenthe constitution, and had set aside the tribunes because they spoke in hisdefence. They had voted the State in danger, and had called Italy to armswhen no single act had been done by himself to justify them. " The soldierswhom--Pompey supposed disaffected declared with enthusiasm that they wouldsupport their commander and the tribunes. They offered to serve withoutpay. Officers and men volunteered contributions for the expenses of thewar. In all the army one officer alone proved false. Labienus kept hisword to Pompey and stole away to Capua. He left his effects behind, andCaesar sent them after him untouched. Finding that all the rest could be depended on, he sent back over the Alpsfor two more legions to follow him. He crossed the little river Rubicon, which bounded his province, and advanced to Rimini, where he met thetribunes, Antony, Cassius Longinus, and Curio, who were coming to him fromRome. [1] At Rimini the troops were again assembled. Curio toldthem what had passed. Caesar added a few more words. The legionaries, officers and privates, were perfectly satisfied; and Caesar, who, aresolution once taken, struck as swiftly as his own eagles, was preparingto go forward. He had but 5, 000 men with him, but he understood the stateof Italy, and knew that he had nothing to fear. At this moment LuciusCaesar, a distant kinsman, and the praetor Roscius arrived, as they said, with a private message from Pompey. The message was nothing. The objectwas no more than to gain time. But Caesar had no wish for war, and wouldnot throw away a chance of avoiding it. He bade his kinsman tell Pompeythat it was for him to compose the difficulties which had arisen without acollision. He had been himself misrepresented to his countrymen. He hadbeen recalled from his command before his time; the promise given to himabout his consulship had been broken. He had endured these injuries. Hehad proposed to the Senate that the forces on both sides should bedisbanded. The Senate had refused. A levy had been ordered through Italy, and the legions designed for Parthia had been retained. Such an attitudecould have but one meaning. Yet he was still ready to make peace. LetPompey depart to Spain. His own troops should then be dismissed. Theelections could be held freely, and Senate and people would be restored totheir joint authority. If this was not enough, they two might meet andrelieve each other's alarms and suspicions in a personal interview. With this answer the envoys went, and Caesar paused at Rimini. Meanwhilethe report reached Rome that Caesar had crossed the Rubicon. Thearistocracy had nursed the pleasant belief that his heart would fail him, or that his army would desert him. His heart had not failed, his army hadnot deserted; and, in their terror, they saw him already in their midstlike an avenging Marius. He was coming. His horse had been seen on theApennines. Flight, instant flight, was the only safety. Up they rose, consuls, praetors, senators, leaving wives and children and property totheir fate, not halting even to take the money out of the treasury, butcontenting themselves with leaving it locked. On foot, on horseback, inlitters, in carriages, they fled for their lives to find safety underPompey's wing in Capua. In this forlorn company went Cicero, filled withcontempt for what was round him. "You ask what Pompey means to do, " he wrote to Atticus. "I do not think heknows himself. Certainly none of us know. --It is all panic and blunder. Weare uncertain whether he will make a stand, or leave Italy. If he stays, Ifear his army is too unreliable. If not, where will he go, and how andwhat are his plans? Like you, I am afraid that Caesar will be a Phalaris, and that we may expect the very worst. The flight of the Senate, thedeparture of the magistrates, the closing of the treasury, will not stophim. --I am broken-hearted; so ill-advisedly, so against all my counsels, the whole business has been conducted. Shall I turn my coat, and join thevictors? I am ashamed. Duty forbids me; but I am miserable at the thoughtof my children. " [2] A gleam of hope came with the arrival of Labienus, but it soon clouded. "Labienus is a hero, " Cicero said. "Never was act more splendid. Ifnothing else comes of it, he has at least made Caesar smart. --We have acivil war on us, not because we have quarrelled among ourselves, butthrough one abandoned citizen. But this citizen has a strong army, and alarge party attached to him. --What he will do I cannot say; he cannot evenpretend to do anything constitutionally; but what is to become of us, witha general that cannot lead?--To say nothing of ten years of blundering, what could have been worse than this flight from Rome? His next purpose Iknow not. I ask, and can have no answer. All is cowardice and confusion. He was kept at home to protect us, and protection there is none. The onehope is in two legions invidiously detained and almost not belonging tous. As to the levies, the men enlist unwillingly, and hate the notion of awar. " [3] In this condition of things Lucius Caesar arrived with the answer fromRimini. A council of war was held at Teano to consider it; and the flameswhich had burnt so hotly at the beginning of the month were found to havesomewhat cooled. Cato's friend Favonius was still defiant; but the rest, even Cato himself, had grown more modest. Pompey, it was plain, had noarmy, and could not raise an army. Caesar spoke fairly. It might be onlytreachery; but the Senate had left their families and their property inRome. The public money was in Rome. They were willing to consent thatCaesar should be consul, since so it must be. Unluckily for themselves, they left Pompey to draw up their reply. Pompey intrusted the duty to anincapable person named Sestius, and the answer was ill-written, awkward, and wanting on the only point which would have proved his sincerity. Pompey declined the proposed interview. Caesar must evacuate Rimini, andreturn to his province; afterwards, at some time unnamed, Pompey would goto Spain, and other matters should be arranged to Caesar's satisfaction. Caesar must give securities that he would abide by his promise to dismisshis troops; and meanwhile the consular levies would be continued. [4] To Cicero these terms seemed to mean a capitulation clumsily disguised. Caesar interpreted them differently. To him it appeared that he wasrequired to part with his own army, while Pompey was forming another. Notime was fixed for the departure to Spain. He might be himself namedconsul, yet Pompey might be in Italy to the end of the year with an armyindependent of him. Evidently there was distrust on both sides, yet onCaesar's part a distrust not undeserved. Pompey would not see him. He hadadmitted to Cicero that he desired a war to prevent Caesar from beingconsul, and at this very moment was full of hopes and schemes for carryingit on successfully. "Pompey writes, " reported Cicero on the 28th ofJanuary, "that in a few days he will have a force on which he can rely. Hewill occupy Picenum, [5] and we are then to return to Rome. Labienusassures him that Caesar is utterly weak. Thus he is in better spirits. "[6] [Sidenote: February, B. C. 49. ]A second legion had by this time arrived at Rimini. Caesar considered thatif the Senate really desired peace, their disposition would be quickenedby further pressure. He sent Antony across the mountains to Arezzo, on thestraight road to Rome; and he pushed on himself toward Ancona, beforePompey had time to throw himself in the way. The towns on the way openedtheir gates to him. The municipal magistrates told the commandants thatthey could not refuse to entertain Caius Caesar, who had done such greatthings for the Republic. The officers fled. The garrisons joined Caesar'slegions. Even a colony planted by Labienus sent a deputation with offersof service. Steadily and swiftly in gathering volume the army of the northcame on. At Capua all was consternation. "The consuls are helpless, "Cicero said. "There has been no levy. The commissioners do not even try toexcuse their failure. With Caesar pressing forward and our general doingnothing, men will not give in their names. The will is not wanting, butthey are without hope. Pompey, miserable and incredible though it be, isprostrate. He has no courage, no purpose, no force, no energy. .. . CaiusCassius came on the 7th to Capua, with an order from Pompey to the consulsto go to Rome and bring away the money from the treasury. How are they togo without an escort, or how return? The consuls say he must go himselffirst to Picenum. But Picenum is lost. --Caesar will soon be in Apulia, andPompey on board ship. What shall I do? I should not doubt had there notbeen such shameful mis-management, and had I been myself consulted. Caesarinvites me to peace, but his letter was written before his advance. " [7] Desperate at the lethargy of their commander, the aristocracy tried toforce him into movement by acting on their own account. Domitius, who hadbeen appointed Caesar's successor, was most interested in his defeat. Hegathered a party of young lords and knights and a few thousand men, andflung himself into Corfinium, a strong position in the Apennines, directlyin Caesar's path. Pompey had still his two legions, and Domitius sent anexpress to tell him that Caesar's force was still small, and that with aslight effort he might enclose him in the mountains. Meanwhile Domitiushimself tried to break the bridge over the Pescara. He was too late. Caesar had by this time nearly 30, 000 men. The Cisalpine territories inmere enthusiasm had raised twenty-two cohorts for him. He reached thePescara while the bridge was still standing. He surrounded Corfinium withthe impregnable lines which had served him so well in Gaul, and themessenger sent to Capua came back with cold comfort. Pompey had simplyordered Domitius to retreat from a position which he ought not to haveoccupied, and to join him in Apulia. It was easy to say Retreat! Noretreat was possible. Domitius and his companions proposed to steal awayin the night. They were discovered. Their own troops arrested them, andcarried them as prisoners to Caesar. Fortune had placed in his hands atthe outset of the campaign the man who beyond others had been the occasionof it. Domitius would have killed Caesar like a bandit if he had caughthim. He probably expected a similar fate for himself. Caesar received hiscaptives calmly and coldly. He told them that they had made an ungratefulreturn to him for his services to his country; and then dismissed themall, restoring even Domitius's well-filled military chest, and too proudto require a promise from him that he would abstain personally fromfurther hostility. His army, such as it was, followed the general example, and declared for Caesar. The capture of Corfinium and the desertion of the garrison made an end ofhesitation. Pompey and the consuls thought only of instant flight, andhurried to Brindisi, where ships were waiting for them; and Caesar, hopingthat the evident feeling of Italy would have its effect with thereasonable part of the Senate, sent Cornelius Balbus, who was on intimateterms with many of them, to assure them of his eagerness for peace, and totell Cicero especially that he would be well contented to live underPompey's rule if he could have a guarantee for his personal safety. [8] [Sidenote: March B. C. 49. ]Cicero's trials had been great, and were not diminishing. The accountgiven by Balbus was simply incredible to him. If Caesar was really as welldisposed as Balbus represented, then the senatorial party, himselfincluded, had acted like a set of madmen. It might be assumed, therefore, that Caesar was as meanly ambitious, as selfish, as revolutionary as theirfears had represented him, and that his mildness was merely affectation. But what then? Cicero wished for himself to be on the right side, but alsoto be on the safe side. Pompey's was the right side, the side, that is, which, for his own sake, he would prefer to see victorious. But wasPompey's the safe side? or rather, would it be safe to go against him? Thenecessity for decision was drawing closer. If Pompey and the consuls wentabroad, all loyal senators would be expected to follow them, and to staybehind would be held treason. Italy was with Caesar; but the East, withits treasures, its fleets, its millions of men, this was Pompey's, heartand soul. The sea was Pompey's. Caesar might win for the moment, butPompey might win in the long run. The situation was most perplexing. Before the fall of Corfinium, Cicero had poured himself out upon it to hisfriend. "My connections, personal and political, " he said, "attach me toPompey. If I stay behind, I desert my noble and admirable companions, andI fall into the power of a man whom I know not how far I can trust. Heshows in many ways that he wishes me well. I saw the tempest impending, and I long ago took care to secure his good-will. But suppose him to be myfriend indeed, is it becoming in a good and valiant citizen, who has heldthe highest offices and done such distinguished things, to be in the powerof any man? Ought I to expose myself to the danger, and perhaps disgrace, which would lie before me, should Pompey recover his position? This on oneside; but now look at the other. Pompey has shown neither conduct norcourage, and he has acted throughout against my advice and judgment. Ipass over his old errors: how he himself armed this man against theconstitution; how he supported his laws by violence in the face of theauspices; how he gave him Further Gaul, married his daughter, supportedClodius, helped me back from exile indeed, but neglected me afterward; howhe prolonged Caesar's command, and backed him up in everything; how in histhird consulship, when he had begun to defend the constitution, he yetmoved the tribunes to curry a resolution for taking Caesar's name in hisabsence, and himself sanctioned it by a law of his own; how he resistedMarcus Marcellus, who would have ended Caesar's government on the 1st ofMarch. Let us forget all this: but what was ever more disgraceful than theflight from Rome? What conditions would not have been preferable? He willrestore the constitution, you say, but when? by what means? Is not Picenumlost? Is not the road open to the city? Is not our money, public andprivate, all the enemy's? There is no cause, no rallying point for thefriends of the constitution. .. . The rabble are all for Caesar, and manywish for revolution. .. . I saw from the first that Pompey only thought offlight: if I now follow him, whither are we to go? Caesar will seize mybrother's property and mine, ours perhaps sooner than others', as anassault on us would be popular. If I stay, I shall do no more than manygood men did in Cinna's time. --Caesar may be my friend, not certainly, butperhaps; and he may offer me a triumph which it would be dangerous torefuse, and invidious with the "good" to accept. Oh, most perplexingposition!--while I write, word comes that Caesar is at Corfinium. Domitiusis inside, with a strong force and eager to fight. I cannot think Pompeywill desert him. " [9] [Sidenote: February, B. C. 49. ]Pompey did desert Domitius, as has been seen. The surrender of Corfinium, and the circumstances of it, gave Cicero the excuse which he evidentlydesired to find for keeping clear of a vessel that appeared to him to begoing straight to shipwreck. He pleased himself with inventing evilpurposes for Pompey, to justify his leaving him. He thought it possiblethat Domitius and his friends might have been purposely left to fall intoCaesar's hands, in the hope that Caesar would kill them and make himselfunpopular. Pompey, he was satisfied, meant as much to be a despot asCaesar. Pompey might have defended Rome, if he had pleased; but hispurpose was to go away and raise a great fleet and a great Asiatic army, and come back and ruin Italy, and be a new "Sylla. " [10] In his distressCicero wrote both to Caesar and to Pompey, who was now at Brindisi. ToCaesar he said that, if he wished for peace, he might command hisservices. He had always considered that Caesar had been wronged in thecourse which had been pursued toward him. Envy and ill-nature had tried torob him of the honors which had been conferred on him by the Roman people. He protested that he had himself supported Caesar's claims, and hadadvised others to do the same. But he felt for Pompey also, he said, andwould gladly be of service to him. [11] To Pompey he wrote: [Sidenote: March, B. C. 49. ]"My advice was always for peace, even on hard terms. I wished you toremain in Rome. You never hinted that you thought of leaving Italy. Iaccepted your opinion, not for the constitution's sake, for I despaired ofsaving it. The constitution is gone, and cannot be restored without adestructive war; but I wished to be with you, and if I can join you now, Iwill. I know well that my conduct has not pleased those who desired tofight. I urged peace; not because I did not fear what they feared, butbecause I thought peace a less evil than war. When the war had begun andovertures were made to you, you responded so amply and so honorably that Ihoped I had prevailed. .. . I was never more friendly with Caesar than theywere; nor were they more true to the State than I. The difference betweenus is this, that while they and I are alike good citizens, I preferred anarrangement, and you, I thought, agreed with me. They chose to fight, andas their counsels have been taken, I can but do my duty as a member of theCommonwealth, and as a friend to you. " [12] * * * * * In this last sentence Cicero gives his clear opinion that the aristocracyhad determined upon war, and that for this reason and no other theattempted negotiations had failed. Caesar, hoping that a better feelingmight arise after his dismissal of Domitius, had waited a few days atCorfinium. Finding that Pompey had gone to Brindisi, he then followed, trusting to overtake him before he could leave Italy, and again bymessengers pressed him earnestly for an interview. By desertions, and bythe accession of volunteers, Caesar had now six legions with him. IfPompey escaped, he knew that the war would be long and dangerous. If hecould capture him, or persuade him to an agreement, peace could easily bepreserved. When he arrived outside the town, the consuls with half thearmy had already gone. Pompey was still in Brindisi, with 12, 000 men, waiting till the transports could return to carry him after them. Pompeyagain refused to see Caesar, and, in the absence of the consuls, declinedfurther discussion. Caesar tried to blockade him, but for want of shipswas unable to close the harbor. The transports came back, and Pompeysailed for Durazzo. [13] A few extracts and abridgments of letters will complete the picture ofthis most interesting time. _Cicero to Atticus_. [14] "Observe the man into whose hands we have fallen. How keen he is, howalert, how well prepared! By Jove, if he does not kill any one, and sparesthe property of those who are so terrified, he will be in high favor. Italk with the tradesmen and farmers. They care for nothing but theirlands, and houses, and money. They have gone right round. They fear theman they trusted, and love the man they feared; and all this through ourown blunders. I am sick to think of it. " _Balbus to Cicero_. [15] "Pompey and Caesar have been divided by perfidious villains. I beseechyou, Cicero, use your influence to bring them together again. Believe me, Caesar will not only do all you wish, but will hold you to have done himessential service. Would that I could say as much of Pompey, who I ratherwish than hope may be brought to terms! You have pleased Caesar by beggingLentulus to stay in Italy, and you have more than pleased me. If he willlisten to you, will trust to what I tell him of Caesar, and will go backto Rome, between you and him and the Senate, Caesar and Pompey may bereconciled. If I can see this, I shall have lived long enough. I know youwill approve of Caesar's conduct at Corfinium. " _Cicero to Atticus_. [16] "My preparations are complete. I wait till I can go by the upper sea; Icannot go by the lower at this season. I must start soon, lest I bedetained. I do not go for Pompey's sake. I have long known him to be theworst of politicians, and I know him now for the worst of generals. I gobecause I am sneered at by the optimates. Precious optimates! What arethey about now? Selling themselves to Caesar? The towns receive Caesar asa god. When this Pisistratus does them no harm, they are as grateful tohim as if he had protected them from others. What receptions will they notgive him? What honors will they not heap upon him? They are afraid, arethey? By Hercules, it is Pompey that they are afraid of. Caesar'streacherous clemency enchants them. Who are these optimates, that insistthat I must leave Italy, while they remain? Let them be who they may, I amashamed to stay, though I know what to expect. I shall join a man whomeans not to conquer Italy, but to lay it waste. " _Cicero to Atticus_. [17] "Ought a man to remain in his country after it has fallen under a tyranny?Ought a man to use any means to overthrow a tyranny, though he may ruinhis country in doing it? Ought he not rather to try to mend matters byargument as opportunity offers? Is it right to make war on one's countryfor the sake of liberty? Should a man adhere at all risks to one party, though he considers them on the whole to have been a set of fools? Is aperson who has been his country's greatest benefactor, and has beenrewarded by envy and ill usage, to volunteer into danger for such a party?May he not retire, and live quietly with his family, and leave publicaffairs to their fate? "I amused myself as times passes with these speculations. " _Cicero to Atticus_. [18] "Pompey has sailed. I am pleased to find that you approve of my remaining. My efforts now are to persuade Caesar to allow me to be absent from theSenate, which is soon to meet. I fear he will refuse. I have been deceivedin two points. I expected an arrangement; and now I perceive that Pompeyhas resolved upon a cruel and deadly war. By Heaven, he would have shownhimself a better citizen, and a better man, had he borne anything soonerthan have taken in hand such a purpose. " _Cicero to Atticus_. [19] "Pompey is aiming at a monarchy after the type of Sylla. I know what Isay. Never did he show his hand more plainly. Has he not a good cause? Thevery best. But mark me, it will be carried out most foully. He means tostrangle Rome and Italy with famine, and then waste and burn the country, and seize the property of all who have any. Caesar may do as ill; but theprospect is frightful. The fleets from Alexandria, Colchis, Sidon, Cyprus, Pamphylia, Lycia, Rhodes, Chios, Byzantium, will be employed to cut offour supplies, and then Pompey himself will come in his wrath. " _Cicero to Atticus_. [20] "I think I have been mad from the beginning of this business. Why did notI follow Pompey when things were at their worst? I found him (at Capua)full of fears. I knew then what he would do, and I did not like it. Hemade blunder on blunder. He never wrote to me, and only thought of flight. It was disgraceful. But now my love for him revives. Books and philosophyplease me no more. Like the sad bird, I gaze night and day over the sea, and long to fly away. [21] Were flight the worst, it would be nothing, but I dread this terrible war, the like of which has never been seen. Theword will be, 'Sylla could do thus and thus; and why should not I?' Sylla, Marius, Cinna, had each a constitutional cause, yet how cruel was theirvictory! I shrank from war because I saw that something still more cruelwas now intended. I, whom some have called the saviour and parent of mycountry! I to bring Getes, and Armenians, and Colchians upon Italy! I tofamish my fellow-citizens and waste their lands! Caesar, I reflected, wasin the first place but mortal; and then there were many ways in which hemight be got rid of. [22] But, as you say, the sun has fallen out of thesky. The sick man thinks that while there is life there is hope. Icontinued to hope as long as Pompey was in Italy. Now your letters are myonly consolation. " * * * * * "Caesar was but mortal!" The rapture with which Cicero hailed Caesar'seventual murder explains too clearly the direction in which his thoughtswere already running. If the life of Caesar alone stood between hiscountry and the resurrection of the constitution, Cicero might well think, as others have done, that it was better that one man should die ratherthan the whole nation perish. We read the words with sorrow, and yet withpity. That Cicero, after his past flatteries of Caesar, after the praiseswhich he was yet to heap on him, should yet have looked on hisassassination as a thing to be desired, throws a saddening light upon hisinner nature. But the age was sick with a moral plague, and neither strongnor weak, wise nor unwise, bore any antidote against infection. [1] The vision on the Rubicon, with the celebrated saying that "the die is cast, " is unauthenticated, and not at all consistent with Caesar's character. [2] _Ibid_. , vii. 12. [3] "Delectus . .. Invitorum est et pugnando ab horrentium. "--_To Atticus_, vii. 13. [4] Compare Caesar's account of these conditions, _De Bello Civili_, i. 10, with _Cicero to Atticus_, vii. 17. [5] Between the Apennines and the Adriatic, about Ancona; in the line of Caesar's march should he advance from Kimini. [6] _To Atticus_, vii. 16. [7] _Ibid_. , vii. 21. [8] "Balbus quidem major ad me scribit, nihil malle Caesarem, quam principe Pompeio sine metu vivere. Tu puto haec credis. "--_To Atticus_, viii. 9. [9] _To Atticus_, viii. 3. [10] _To Atticus_, viii. 11. [11] "Judicavique te bello violari, contra cujus honorem, populi Romani beneficio concessum, inimici atque invidi niterentur. Sed ut eo tempore non modo ipse fautor dignitatis tuae fui, verum etiam caeteris auctor ad te adjuvandum, sic me nunc Pompeii dignitas vehementer movet, " etc. --_Cicero to Caesar, enclosed in a letter to Atticus_, ix. 11. [12] Enclosed to Atticus, viii. 11. [13] Pompey had for _two years_ meditated on the course which he was now taking. Atticus had spoken of the intended flight from Italy as base. Cicero answers: "Hoc turpe Cnaeus noster biennio ante cogitavit: ita Sullaturit animus ejus, et diu proscripturit;" "so he apes Sylla and longs for a proscription. "--_To Atticus_, ix. 10. [14] _To Atticus_, viii. 13. [15] Enclosed to Atticus, viii. 15. [16] _To Atticus_, viii. 16. [17] _To Atticus_, ix. 4. [18] _Ibid_. , ix. 6. [19] _To Atticus_, ix. 7 and 9. [20] _Ibid_. [21] "Ita dies et noctes tanquam avis illa mare prospecto, evolare cupio. " [22] "Hunc primum mortalem esse, deinde etiam multis modis extingui posse cogitabam. "--_To Atticus_, ix. 10. CHAPTER XXII. [Sidenote: April B. C. 49. ]Pompey was gone, gone to cover the Mediterranean with fleets which were tostarve Italy, and to raise an army which was to bring him back to playSylla's game once more. The consuls had gone with him, more than halfthe Senate, and the young patricians, the descendants of the Metelli andthe Scipios, with the noble nature melted out of them, and only the prideremaining. Caesar would have chased them at once, and have allowed them notime to organize, but ships were wanting, and he could not wait to form afleet. Pompey's lieutenants, Afranius and Petreius and Varro, were inSpain, with six legions and the levies of the Province. These had to bepromptly dealt with, and Sicily and Sardinia, on which Rome depended forits corn, had to be cleared of enemies, and placed in trustworthy hands. He sent Curio to Sicily and Valerius to Sardinia. Both islands surrenderedwithout resistance, Cato, who was in command in Messina, complainingopenly that he had been betrayed. Caesar went himself to Rome, which hehad not seen for ten years. He met Cicero by appointment on the road, andpressed him to attend the Senate. Cicero's example, he said, would governthe rest. If his account of the interview be true, Cicero showed morecourage than might have been expected from his letters to Atticus. Heinquired whether, if he went, he might speak as he pleased; he could notconsent to blame Pompey, and he should say that he disapproved of attacksupon him, either in Greece or Spain. Caesar said that he could not permitlanguage of this kind. Cicero answered that he thought as much, andtherefore preferred to stay away. [1]Caesar let him take his own course, and went on by himself. The consuls being absent, the Senate was convenedby the tribunes, Mark Antony and Cassius Longinus, both officers inCaesar's army. The house was thin, but those present were cold andhostile. They knew by this time that they need fear no violence. Theyinterpreted Caesar's gentleness into timidity, but they were satisfiedthat, let them do what they pleased, he would not injure them. Headdressed the Senate with his usual clearness and simplicity. He hadasked, he said, for no extraordinary honors. He had waited the legalperiod of ten years for a second consulship. A promise had been given thathis name should be submitted, and that promise had been withdrawn. Hedwelt on his forbearance, on the concessions which he had offered, andagain on his unjust recall, and the violent suppression of the legalauthority of the tribunes. He had proposed terms of peace, he said; he hadasked for interviews, but all in vain. If the Senate feared to committhemselves by assisting him, he declared his willingness to carry on thegovernment in his own name; but he invited them to send deputies toPompey, to treat for an arrangement. The Senate approved of sending a deputation; but Pompey had sworn, onleaving, that he would hold all who had not joined him as his enemies; noone, therefore, could be found willing to go. Three days were spent inunmeaning discussion, and Caesar's situation did not allow of trifling. With such people nothing could be done, and peace could be won only by thesword. By an edict of his own he restored the children of the victims ofSylla's proscription to their civil rights and their estates, the usurpersbeing mostly in Pompey's camp. The assembly of the people voted him themoney in the treasury. Metellus, a tribune in Pompey's interest, forbadethe opening of the doors, but he was pushed out of the way. Cesar tooksuch money as he needed, and went with his best speed to join his troopsin Gaul. His singular gentleness had encouraged the opposition to him in Rome. InGaul he encountered another result of his forbearance more practicallytrying. The Gauls themselves, though so lately conquered in so desperate astruggle, remained quiet. Then, if ever, they had an opportunity ofreasserting their independence. They not only did not take advantage ofit, but, as if they disdained the unworthy treatment of their great enemy, each tribe sent him, at his request, a body of horse, led by the bravestof their chiefs. His difficulty came from a more tainted source. Marseilles, the most important port in the western Mediterranean, the gatethrough which the trade of the Province passed in and out, had revolted toPompey. Domitius Ahenobarbus, who had been dismissed at Corfinium, hadbeen despatched to encourage and assist the townspeople with a squadron ofPompey's fleet. When Caesar arrived, Marseilles closed its gates, andrefused to receive him. He could not afford to leave behind him an opendoor into the Province, and he could ill spare troops for a siege. Afranius and Petreius were already over the Ebro with 30, 000 legionariesand with nearly twice as many Spanish auxiliaries. Yet Marseilles must beshut in, and quickly. Fabius was sent forward to hold the passes of thePyrenees. Caesar's soldiers were set to work in the forest. Trees were cutdown and sawn into planks. In thirty days twelve stout vessels, able tohold their own against Domitius, were built and launched and manned. Thefleet thus extemporized was trusted to Decimus Brutus. Three legions wereleft to make approaches, and, if possible, to take the town on the landside; and, leaving Marseilles blockaded by sea and land, Caesar hurried onto the Spanish frontier. The problem before him was worthy of his genius. A protracted war in the peninsula would be fatal. Pompey would return toItaly, and there would be no one to oppose him there. The Spanish army hadto be destroyed or captured, and that immediately; and it was strongerthan Caesar's own, and was backed by all the resources of the province. The details of a Roman campaign are no longer interesting. The results, with an outline of the means by which they were brought about, aloneconcern the modern reader. Pompey's lieutenant, having failed to securethe passes, was lying at Lerida, in Catalonia, at the junction of theSegre and the Naguera, with the Ebro behind them, and with a mountainrange, the Sierra de Llena, on their right flank. Their position wasimpregnable to direct attack. From their rear they drew inexhaustiblesupplies. The country in front had been laid waste to the Pyrenees, andeverything which Caesar required had to be brought to him from Gaul. Inforty days from the time at which the armies came in sight of each otherAfranius and Petreius, with all their legions, were prisoners. Varro, inthe south, was begging for peace, and all Spain lay at Caesar's feet. Atone moment he was almost lost. The melting of the snows in the mountainsbrought a flood down the Segre. The bridges were carried away, the fordswere impassable, and his convoys were at the mercy of the enemy. News flewto Rome that all was over, that Caesar's army was starving, that he wascut off between the rivers, and in a few days must surrender. Marseillesstill held out. Pompey's, it seemed, was to be the winning side, andCicero and many others, who had hung back to watch how events would turn, made haste to join their friends in Greece before their going had lostshow of credit. [2] The situation was indeed most critical. Even Caesar's own soldiers becameunsteady. He remarks that in civil wars generally men show less composurethan in ordinary campaigns. But resource in difficulties is thedistinction of great generals. He had observed in Britain that the coastfishermen used boats made out of frames of wicker covered with skins. Theriver banks were fringed with willows. There were hides in abundance onthe carcasses of the animals in the camp. Swiftly in these vessels theswollen waters of the Segre were crossed; the convoys were rescued. Thebroken bridges were repaired. The communications of the Pompeians werethreatened in turn, and they tried to fall back over the Ebro; but theyleft their position only to be intercepted, and after a few feeblestruggles laid down their arms. Among the prisoners were found several ofthe young nobles who had been released at Corfinium. It appeared that theyregarded Caesar as an outlaw with whom obligations were not binding. ThePompeian generals had ordered any of Caesar's soldiers who fell into theirhands to be murdered. He was not provoked into retaliation. He againdismissed the whole of the captive force, officers and men, contentinghimself with this time exacting a promise from them that they would notserve against him again. They gave their word and broke it. The generalsand military tribunes made their way to Greece to Pompey. Of the rest, some enlisted in Caesar's legions; others scattered to combine again whenopportunity allowed. Varro, who commanded a legion in the south, behaved more honorably. Hesent in his submission, entered into the same engagement, and kept it. Hewas an old friend of Caesar's, and better understood him. Caesar, afterthe victory at Lerida, went down to Cordova, and summoned the leadingSpaniards and Romans to meet him there. All came and promised obedience. Varro gave in his accounts, with his ships, and stores, and money. Caesarthen embarked at Cadiz, and went round to Tarragona, where his own legionswere waiting for him. From Tarragona he marched back by the Pyrenees, andcame in time to receive in person the surrender of Marseilles. The siege had been a difficult one, with severe engagements both by landand sea. Domitius and his galleys had attacked the ungainly but usefulvessels which Caesar had extemporized. He had been driven back with theloss of half his fleet. Pompey had sent a second squadron to help him, andthis had fared no better. It had fled after a single battle and neverreappeared. The land works had been assailed with ingenuity and courage. The agger had been burnt and the siege towers destroyed. But they had beenrepaired instantly by the industry of the legions, and Marseilles was atthe last extremity when Caesar arrived. He had wished to spare thetownspeople, and had sent orders that the place was not to be stormed. Onhis appearance the keys of the gates were brought to him withoutconditions. Again he pardoned every one; more, he said, for the reputationof the colony than for the merits of its inhabitants. Domitius had fled ina gale of wind, and once more escaped. A third time he was not to be sofortunate. [Sidenote: B. C. 48]Two legions were left in charge of Marseilles; others returned to theirquarters in Gaul. Well as the tribes had behaved, it was unsafe to presumetoo much on their fidelity, and Caesar was not a partisan chief, but theguardian of the Roman Empire. With the rest of his army he returned toRome at the beginning of the winter. All had been quiet since the news ofthe capitulation at Lerida. The aristocracy had gone to Pompey. Thedisaffection among the people of which Cicero spoke had existed only inhis wishes, or had not extended beyond the classes who had expected fromCaesar a general partition of property, and had been disappointed. His ownsuccesses had been brilliant. Spain, Gaul, and Italy, Sicily and Sardinia, were entirely his own. Elsewhere and away from his own eye things had goneless well for him. An attempt to make a naval force in the Adriatic hadfailed; and young Curio, who had done Caesar such good service as tribune, had met with a still graver disaster. After recovering Sicily, Curio hadbeen directed to cross to Africa and expel Pompey's garrisons from theProvince. His troops were inferior, consisting chiefly of the garrisonwhich had surrendered at Corfinium. Through military inexperience he hadfallen into a trap laid for him by Juba, King of Mauritania, and had beenkilled. Caesar regretted Curio personally. The African misfortune was notconsiderable in itself, but it encouraged hopes and involved consequenceswhich he probably foresaw. There was no present leisure, however, toattend to Juba. On arriving at the city he was named Dictator. As Dictatorhe held the consular elections, and, with Servilius Isauricus for acolleague, he was chosen consul for the year which had been promised tohim, though under circumstances so strangely changed. With curiouspunctiliousness he observed that the legal interval had expired since hewas last in office, and that therefore there was no formal objection tohis appointment. Civil affairs were in the wildest confusion. The Senate had fled; theadministration had been left to Antony, whose knowledge of business wasnot of a high order; and over the whole of Italy hung the terror ofPompey's fleet and of an Asiatic invasion. Public credit was shaken. Debtshad not been paid since the civil war began. Moneylenders had chargedusurious interest for default, and debtors were crying for _novaetabulae_, and hoped to clear themselves by bankruptcy. Caesar had butsmall leisure for such matters. Pompey had been allowed too long arespite, and unless he sought Pompey in Greece, Pompey would be seekinghim at home, and the horrid scenes of Sylla's wars would be enacted overagain. He did what he could, risking the loss of the favor of the mob bydisappointing dishonest expectations. Estimates were drawn of all debts asthey stood twelve months before. The principal was declared to be stilldue. The interest for the interval was cancelled. Many persons complainedof injustice which they had met with in the courts of law during the timethat Pompey was in power. Caesar refused to revise the sentences himself, lest he should seem to be encroaching on functions not belonging to him;but he directed that such causes should be heard again. Eleven days were all he could afford to Rome. So swift was Caesar that hisgreatest exploits were measured by days. He had to settle accounts withPompey while it was still winter, and while Pompey's preparations for theinvasion of Italy were still incomplete; and he and his veterans, scarcelyallowing themselves a breathing-time, went down to Brindisi. It was now the beginning of January by the unreformed calendar (by theseasons the middle of October)--a year within a few days since Caesar hadcrossed the Rubicon. He had nominally twelve legions under him. But longmarches had thinned the ranks of his old and best-tried troops. The changefrom the dry climate of Gaul and Spain to the south of Italy in a wetautumn had affected the health of the rest, and there were many invalids. The force available for field service was small for the work which wasbefore it: in all not more than 30, 000 men. Pompey's army lay immediatelyopposite Brindisi, at Durazzo. It was described afterward as inharmoniousand ill-disciplined, but so far as report went at the time Caesar hadnever encountered so formidable an enemy. There were nine legions of Romancitizens with their complements full. Two more were coming up with Scipiofrom Syria. Besides these there were auxiliaries from the allied princesin the East; corps from Greece and Asia Minor, slingers and archers fromCrete and the islands. Of money, of stores of all kinds, there wasabundance, for the Eastern revenue had been all paid for the last year toPompey, and he had levied impositions at his pleasure. Such was the Senate's land army, and before Caesar could cross swords withit a worse danger lay in his path. It was not for nothing that Cicero saidthat Pompey had been careful of his fleet. A hundred and thirty ships, thebest which were to be had, were disposed in squadrons along the east shoreof the Adriatic; the head-quarters were at Corfu; and the one purpose wasto watch the passage and prevent Caesar from crossing over. [Sidenote: January, B. C. 48. ]Transports run down by vessels of war were inevitably sunk. Twelvefighting triremes, the remains of his attempted Adriatic fleet, were allthat Caesar could collect for a convoy. The weather was wild. Even oftransports he had but enough to carry half his army in a single trip. Withsuch a prospect and with the knowledge that if he reached Greece at all hewould have to land in the immediate neighborhood of Pompey's enormoushost, surprise has been expressed that Caesar did not prefer to go roundthrough Illyria, keeping his legions together. But Caesar had won manyvictories by appearing where he was least expected. He liked well todescend like a bolt out of the blue sky; and, for the very reason that noordinary person would under such circumstances have thought of attemptingthe passage, he determined to try it. Long marches exhausted the troops. In bad weather the enemy's fleet preferred the harbors to the open sea;and perhaps he had a further and special ground of confidence in knowingthat the officer in charge at Corfu was his old acquaintance, Bibulus--Bibulus, the fool of the aristocracy, the butt of Cicero, who had failedin everything which he had undertaken, and had been thanked by Cato forhis ill successes. Caesar knew the men with whom he had to deal. He knewPompey's incapacity; he knew Bibulus's incapacity. He knew that publicfeeling among the people was as much on his side in Greece as in Italy. Above all, he knew his own troops, and felt that he could rely on them, however heavy the odds might be. He was resolved to save Italy at allhazards from becoming the theatre of war, and therefore the best road forhim was that which would lead most swiftly to his end. On the 4th January, then, by unreformed time, Caesar sailed with 15, 000men and 500 horses from Brindisi. The passage was rough but swift, and helanded without adventure at Acroceraunia, now Cape Linguetta, on theeastern shore of the Straits of Otranto. Bibulus saw him pass from theheights of Corfu, and put to sea, too late to intercept him--in time, however, unfortunately, to fall in with the returning transports. Caesarhad started them immediately after disembarking, and had they made use ofthe darkness they might have gone over unperceived; they lingered and wereovertaken; Bibulus captured thirty of them, and, in rage at his ownblunder, killed every one that he found on board. Ignorant of this misfortune, and expecting that Antony would follow him ina day or two with the remainder of the army, Caesar advanced at oncetoward Durazzo, occupied Apollonia, and entrenched himself on the leftbank of the river Apsus. The country, as he anticipated, was well-disposedand furnished him amply with supplies. He still hoped to persuade Pompeyto come to terms with him. He trusted, perhaps not unreasonably, that thegenerosity with which he had treated Marseilles and the Spanish legionsmight have produced an effect; and he appealed once more to Pompey's wiserjudgment. Vibullius Rufus, who had been taken at Corfinium, and a secondtime on the Lerida, had since remained with Caesar. Rufus, beingpersonally known as an ardent member of the Pompeian party, was sentforward to Durazzo with a message of peace. "Enough had been done, " Caesar said, "and Fortune ought not to be temptedfurther. Pompey had lost Italy, the two Spains, Sicily, and Sardinia, anda hundred and thirty cohorts of his soldiers had been captured. Caesar hadlost Curio and the army of Africa. They were thus on an equality, andmight spare their country the consequences of further rivalry. If eitherhe or Pompey gained a decisive advantage, the victor would be compelled toinsist on harder terms. If they could not agree, Caesar was willing toleave the question between them to the Senate and people of Rome, and forthemselves, he proposed that they should each take an oath to disbandtheir troops in three days. " Pompey, not expecting Caesar, was absent in Macedonia when he heard of hisarrival, and was hurrying back to Durazzo. Caesar's landing had produced apanic in his camp. Men and officers were looking anxiously in each other'sfaces. So great was the alarm, so general the distrust, that Labienus hadsworn in the presence of the army that he would stand faithfully byPompey. Generals, tribunes, and centurions had sworn after him. They hadthen moved up to the Apsus and encamped on the opposite side of the river, waiting for Pompey to come up. There was now a pause on both sides. Antony was unable to leave Brindisi, Bibulus being on the watch day and night. A single vessel attempted thepassage. It was taken, and every one on board was massacred. The weatherwas still wild, and both sides suffered. If Caesar's transports could notput to sea, Bibulus's crews could not land either for fuel or wateranywhere south of Apollonia. Bibulus held on obstinately till he died ofexposure to wet and cold, so ending his useless life; but his death didnot affect the situation favorably for Caesar; his command fell into ablerhands. [Sidenote: February, B. C. 48. ]At length Pompey arrived. Vibullius Rufus delivered his message. Pompeywould not hear him to the end. "What care I, " he said, "for life orcountry if I am to hold both by the favor of Caesar? All men will thinkthus of me if I make peace now. .. . I left Italy. Men will say that Caesarhas brought me back. " In the legions the opinion was different. The two armies were divided onlyby a narrow river. Friends met and talked. They asked each other for whatpurpose so desperate a war had been undertaken. The regular troops allidolized Caesar. Deputations from both sides were chosen to converse andconsult, with Caesar's warmest approval. Some arrangement might havefollowed. But Labienus interposed. He appeared at the meeting as if tojoin in the conference; he was talking in apparent friendliness toCicero's acquaintance, Publius Vatinius, who was serving with Caesar. Suddenly a shower of darts were hurled at Vatinius. His men flungthemselves in front of him and covered his body; but most of them werewounded, and the assembly broke up in confusion, Labienus shouting, "Leaveyour talk of composition; there can be no peace till you bring us Caesar'shead. " [Sidenote: April, B. C. 48. ]Cool thinkers were beginning to believe that Caesar was in a scrape fromwhich his good fortune would this time fail to save him. Italy was on thewhole steady, but the slippery politicians in the capital were on thewatch. They had been disappointed on finding that Caesar would give nosanction to confiscation of property, and a spark of fire burst out whichshowed that the elements of mischief were active as ever. Cicero'scorrespondent, Marcus Caelius, had thrown himself eagerly on Caesar's sideat the beginning of the war. He had been left as praetor at Rome whenCaesar went to Greece. He in his wisdom conceived that the wind waschanging, and that it was time for him to earn his pardon from Pompey. Hetold the mob that Caesar would do nothing for them, that Caesar cared onlyfor his capitalists. He wrote privately to Cicero that he was bringingthem over to Pompey, [3] and he was doing it in the way in whichpretended revolutionists so often play into the hands of reactionaries. Heproposed a law in the Assembly in the spirit of Jack Cade, that no debtsshould be paid in Rome for six years, and that every tenant should occupyhis house for two years free of rent. The administrators of the governmenttreated him as a madman, and deposed him from office. He left the citypretending that he was going to Caesar. The once notorious Milo, who hadbeen in exile since his trial for the murder of Clodius, privately joinedhim; and together they raised a band of gladiators in Campania, professingto have a commission from Pompey. Milo was killed. Caelius fled to Thurii, where he tried to seduce Caesar's garrison, and was put to death for histreachery. The familiar actors in the drama were beginning to drop. Bibulus was gone, and now Caelius and Milo. Fools and knaves are usuallythe first to fall in civil distractions, as they and their works are theactive causes of them. Meantime months passed away. The winter wore through in forced inaction, and Caesar watched in vain for the sails of his coming transports. ThePompeians had for some weeks blockaded Brindisi. Antony drove them offwith armed boats; but still he did not start, and Caesar thought thatopportunities had been missed. [4] He wrote to Antony sharply. Thelegions, true as steel, were ready for any risks sooner than leave theircommander in danger. A south wind came at last, and they sailed. They wereseen in mid-channel, and closely pursued. Night fell, and in the darknessthey were swept past Durazzo, to which Pompey had again withdrawn, withthe Pompeian squadron in full chase behind them. They ran into the harborof Nymphaea, three miles north of Lissa, and were fortunate in entering itsafely. Sixteen of the pursuers ran upon the rocks, and the crews owedtheir lives to Caesar's troops, who saved them. So Caesar mentionsbriefly, in silent contrast to the unvarying ferocity of the Pompeianleaders. Two only of the transports which had left Brindisi were missingin the morning. They had gone by mistake into Lissa, and were surroundedby the boats of the enemy, who promised that no one should be injured ifthey surrendered. "Here, " says Caesar, in a characteristic sentence, "maybe observed the value of firmness of mind. " One of the vessels had twohundred and twenty young soldiers on board, the other two hundredveterans. The recruits were sea-sick and frightened. They trusted theenemy's fair words, and were immediately murdered. The others forced theirpilot to run the ship ashore. They cut their way through a band ofPompey's cavalry, and joined their comrades without the loss of a man. Antony's position was most dangerous, for Pompey's whole army lay betweenhim and Caesar; but Caesar marched rapidly round Durazzo, and had joinedhis friend before Pompey knew that he had moved. [Sidenote: May, B. C. 48. ]Though still far outnumbered, Caesar was now in a condition to meet Pompeyin the field, and desired nothing so much as a decisive action. Pompeywould not give him the opportunity, and kept within his lines. To show theworld, therefore, how matters stood between them, Caesar drew a line ofstrongly fortified posts round Pompey's camp and shut him in. Force him tosurrender he could not, for the sea was open, and Pompey's fleet hadentire command of it. But the moral effect on Italy of the news thatPompey was besieged might, it was hoped, force him out from hisentrenchments. If Pompey could not venture to engage Caesar on his ownchosen ground, and surrounded by his Eastern friends, his cause at homewould be abandoned as lost. Nor was the active injury which Caesar wasable to inflict inconsiderable. He turned the streams on which Pompey'scamp depended for water. The horses and cattle died. Fever set in withother inconveniences. The labor of the siege was, of course, severe. Thelines were many miles in length, and the difficulty of sending assistanceto a point threatened by a sally was extremely great. The corn in thefields was still green, and supplies grew scanty. Meat Caesar's army had, but of wheat little or none; they were used to hardship, however, and boreit with admirable humor. They made cakes out of roots, ground into pasteand mixed with milk; and thus, in spite of privation and severe work, theyremained in good health, and deserters daily came into them. So the siege of Durazzo wore on, diversified with occasional encounters, which Caesar details with the minuteness of a scientific general writingfor his profession, and with those admiring mentions of each individualact of courage which so intensely endeared him to his troops. Once anaccidental opportunity offered itself for a successful storm, but Caesarwas not on the spot. The officer in command shrank from responsibility;and, notwithstanding the seriousness of the consequences, Caesar said thatthe officer was right. [Sidenote: June, B. C. 48. ]Pompey's army was not yet complete. Metellus Scipio had not arrived withthe Syrian legions. Scipio had come leisurely through Asia Minor, plundering cities and temples and flaying the people with requisitions. Hehad now reached Macedonia, and Domitius Calvinus had been sent with aseparate command to watch him. Caesar's own force, already too small forthe business on hand, was thus further reduced, and at this moment therefell out one of those accidents which overtake at times the ablestcommanders, and gave occasion for Caesar's observation, that Pompey knewnot how to conquer. There were two young Gauls with Caesar whom he had promoted to importantpositions. They were reported to have committed various peculations. Caesar spoke to them privately. They took offence and deserted. There wasa weak spot in Caesar's lines at a point the furthest removed from thebody of the army. The Gauls gave Pompey notice of it, and on this pointPompey flung himself with his whole strength. The attack was a surprise. The engagement which followed was desperate and unequal, for the reliefswere distant and came up one by one. For once Caesar's soldiers wereseized with panic, lost their order, and forgot their discipline. On thenews of danger he flew himself to the scene, threw himself into thethickest of the fight, and snatched the standards from the flying bearers. But on this single occasion he failed in restoring confidence. The defeatwas complete; and, had Pompey understood his business, Caesar's whole armymight have been overthrown. Nearly a thousand men were killed, with manyfield officers and many centurions. Thirty-two standards were lost, andsome hundreds of legionaries were taken. Labienus begged the prisoners ofPompey. He called them mockingly old comrades. He asked them how veteranscame to fly. They were led into the midst of the camp and were all killed. Caesar's legions had believed themselves invincible. The effect of thismisfortune was to mortify and infuriate them. They were eager to flingthemselves again upon the enemy and win back their laurels; but Caesar sawthat they were excited and unsteady, and that they required time tocollect themselves. He spoke to them with his usual calm cheerfulness. Hepraised their courage. He reminded them of their many victories, and badethem not be cast down at a misadventure which they would soon repair; buthe foresaw that the disaster would affect the temper of Greece and makehis commissariat more difficult than it was already. He perceived that hemust adopt some new plan of campaign, and with instant decision he fellback upon Apollonia. [Sidenote: July, B. C 48. ]The gleam of victory was the cause of Pompey's ruin. It was unlooked for, and the importance of it exaggerated. Caesar was supposed to be flyingwith the wreck of an army completely disorganized and disheartened. Sosure were the Pompeians that it could never rally again that they regardedthe war as over; they made no efforts to follow up a success which, ifimproved, might have been really decisive; and they gave Caesar the onething which he needed, time to recover from its effects. After he hadplaced his sick and wounded in security at Apollonia, his first object wasto rejoin Calvinus, who had been sent to watch Scipio, and might now becut off. Fortune was here favorable. Calvinus, by mere accident, learnthis danger, divined where Caesar would be, and came to meet him. The nextthing was to see what Pompey would do. He might embark for Italy. In thiscase Caesar would have to follow him by Illyria and the head of theAdriatic. Cisalpine Gaul was true to him, and could be relied on to refillhis ranks. Or Pompey might pursue him in the hope to make an end of thewar in Greece, and an opportunity might offer itself for an engagementunder fairer terms. On the whole he considered the second alternative themore likely one, and with this expectation he led his troops into the richplains of Thessaly for the better feeding which they so much needed. Thenews of his defeat preceded him. Gomphi, an important Thessalian town, shut its gates upon him; and, that the example might not be followed, Gomphi was instantly stormed and given up to plunder. One such lesson wasenough. No more opposition was ventured by the Greek cities. [Sidenote: August 9, B. C. 48. ]Pompey meanwhile had broken up from Durazzo, and after being joined byScipio was following leisurely. There were not wanting persons who warnedhim that Caesar's legions might still be dangerous. Both Cicero and Catohad advised him to avoid a battle, to allow Caesar to wander about Greecetill his supplies failed and his army was worn out by marches. Pompeyhimself was inclined to the same opinion. But Pompey was no longer able toact on his own judgment. The senators who were with him in the campconsidered that in Greece, as in Rome, they were the supreme rulers of theRoman Empire. All along they had held their sessions and their debates, and they had voted resolutions which they expected to see complied with. They had never liked Pompey. If Cicero was right in supposing that Pompeymeant to be another Sylla, the senators had no intention of allowing it. They had gradually wrested his authority out of his hands, and reduced himto the condition of an officer of the Senatorial Directory. Thesegentlemen, more especially the two late consuls, Scipio and Lentulus, werepersuaded that a single blow would now make an end of Caesar. His army wasbut half the size of theirs, without counting the Asiatic auxiliaries. Themen, they were persuaded, were dispirited by defeat and worn out. So surewere they of victory that they were impatient of every day which delayedtheir return to Italy. They accused Pompey of protracting the warunnecessarily, that he might have the honor of commanding suchdistinguished persons as themselves. They had arranged everything that wasto be done. Caesar and his band of cutthroats were in imagination alreadydespatched. They had butchered hitherto every one of them who had falleninto their hands, and the same fate was designed for their politicalallies. They proposed to establish a senatorial court after their returnto Italy, in which citizens of all kinds who had not actually fought onthe Senate's side were to be brought up for trial. Those who should beproved to have been active for Caesar were to be at once killed, and theirestates confiscated. Neutrals were to fare almost as badly, Not to haveassisted the lawful rulers of the State was scarcely better than to haverebelled against them. They, too, were liable to death or forfeiture, orboth. A third class of offenders was composed of those who had been withinPompey's lines, but had borne no part in the fighting. These cold-heartedfriends were to be tried and punished according to the degree of theircriminality. Cicero was the person pointed at in the last division. Cicero's clear judgment had shown him too clearly what was likely to bethe result of a campaign conducted as he found it on his arrival, and hehad spoken his thoughts with sarcastic freedom. The noble lords came nextto a quarrel among themselves as to how the spoils of Caesar were to bedivided. Domitius Ahenobarbus, Lentulus Spinther, and Scipio were unableto determine which of them was to succeed Caesar as Pontifex Maximus, andwhich was to have his palace and gardens in Rome. The Roman oligarchy weretrue to their character to the eve of their ruin. It was they, with theiridle luxury, their hunger for lands and office and preferment, who hadbrought all this misery upon their country; and standing, as it were, atthe very bar of judgment, with the sentence of destruction about to bepronounced upon them, their thoughts were still bent upon how to securethe largest share of plunder for themselves. The battle of Pharsalia was not the most severe, still less was it thelast, action of the war. But it acquired a special place in history, because it was a battle fought by the Roman aristocracy in their ownpersons in defence of their own supremacy. Senators and the sons ofsenators; the heirs of the names and fortunes of the ancient Romanfamilies; the leaders of society in Roman saloons, and the chiefs of thepolitical party of the optimates in the Curia and Forum, were here presenton the field; representatives in person and in principle of the traditionsof Sylla, brought face to face with the representative of Marius. Herewere the men who had pursued Caesar through so many years with a hate soinveterate. Here were the haughty Patrician Guard, who had drawn theirswords on him in the senate-house, young lords whose theory of life was tolounge through it in patrician _insouciance_. The other great actionswere fought by the ignoble multitude whose deaths were of lesssignificance. The plains of Pharsalia were watered by the precious bloodof the elect of the earth. The battle there marked an epoch like no otherin the history of the world. For some days the two armies had watched each other's movements. Caesar, to give his men confidence, had again offered Pompey an opportunity offighting. But Pompey had kept to positions where he could not be attacked. To draw him into more open ground, Caesar had shifted his campcontinually. Pompey had followed cautiously, still remaining on his guard. His political advisers were impatient of these dilatory movements. Theytaunted him with cowardice. They insisted that he should set his foot onthis insignificant adversary promptly and at once; and Pompey, gatheringcourage from their confidence, and trusting to his splendid cavalry, agreed at last to use the first occasion that presented itself. One morning, on the Enipeus, near Larissa, the 9th of August, old style, or toward the end of May by real time, Caesar had broken up his camp andwas preparing for his usual leisurely march, when he perceived a movementin Pompey's lines which told him that the moment which he had so longexpected was come. Labienus, the evil genius of the Senate, who hadtempted them into the war by telling them that his comrades were asdisaffected as himself, and had fired Caesar's soldiers into intensifiedfierceness by his barbarities at Durazzo, had spoken the deciding word:"Believe not, " Labienus had said, "that this is the army which defeatedthe Gauls and the Germans. I was in those battles, and what I say I know. That army has disappeared. Part fell in action; part perished of fever inthe autumn in Italy. Many went home. Many were left behind unable to move. The men you see before you are levies newly drawn from the colonies beyondthe Po. Of the veterans that were left, the best were killed at Durazzo. " A council of war had been held at dawn. There had been a solemn taking ofoaths again. Labienus swore that he would not return to the camp except asa conqueror; so swore Pompey; so swore Lentulus, Scipio, Domitius; soswore all the rest. They had reason for their high spirits. Pompey hadforty-seven thousand Roman infantry, not including his allies, and seventhousand cavalry. Caesar had but twenty-two thousand, and of horse only athousand. Pompey's position was carefully chosen. His right wing wascovered by the Enipeus, the opposite bank of which was steep and wooded. His left spread out into the open plain of Pharsalia. His plan of battlewas to send forward his cavalry outside over the open ground, with cloudsof archers and slingers, to scatter Caesar's horse, and then to wheelround and envelop his legions. Thus he had thought they would lose heartand scatter at the first shock. Caesar had foreseen what Pompey wouldattempt to do. His own scanty cavalry, mostly Gauls and Germans, would, hewell knew, be unequal to the weight which would be thrown on them. He hadtrained an equal number of picked active men to fight in their ranks, andhad thus doubled their strength. Fearing that this might be not enough, hehad taken another precaution. The usual Roman formation in battle was intriple line. Caesar had formed a fourth line of cohorts specially selectedto engage the cavalry; and on them, he said, in giving them theirinstructions, the result of the action would probably depend. Pompey commanded on his own left with the two legions which he had takenfrom Caesar; outside him on the plain were his flying companies of Greeksand islanders, with the cavalry covering them. Caesar, with his favorite10th, was opposite Pompey. His two faithful tribunes, Mark Antony andCassius Longinus, led the left and centre. Servilia's son, Marcus Brutus, was in Pompey's army. Caesar had given special directions that Brutus, ifrecognized, should not be injured. Before the action began he spoke a fewgeneral words to such of his troops as could hear him. They all knew, hesaid, how earnestly he had sought for peace, how careful he had alwaysbeen of his soldiers' lives, how unwilling to deprive the State of theservices of any of her citizens, to whichever party they might belong. Crastinus, a centurion, of the 10th legion, already known to Caesar forhis gallantry, called out, "Follow me, my comrades, and strike, and strikehome, for your general. This one battle remains to be fought, and he willhave his rights and we our liberty. General, " he said, looking to Caesar, "I shall earn your thanks this day, dead or alive. " Pompey had ordered his first line to stand still to receive Caesar'scharge. [5] They would thus be fresh, while the enemy would reach themexhausted--a mistake on Pompey's part, as Caesar thought; "for a fire andalacrity, " he observes, "is kindled in all men when they meet in battle, and a wise general should rather encourage than repress their fervor. " The signal was given. Caesar's front rank advanced running. Seeing thePompeians did not move, they halted, recovered breath, then rushed on, flung their darts, and closed sword in hand. At once Pompey's horse boredown, outflanking Caesar's right wing, with the archers behind and betweenthem raining showers of arrows. Caesar's cavalry gave way before theshock, and the outer squadrons came wheeling round to the rear, expectingthat there would be no one to encounter them. The fourth line, the pickand flower of the legions, rose suddenly in their way. Surprised andshaken by the fierceness of the attack on them, the Pompeians turned, theybroke, they galloped wildly off. The best cavalry in those Roman battleswere never a match for infantry when in close formation, and Pompey'sbrilliant squadrons were carpet-knights from the saloon and the circus. They never rallied, or tried to rally; they made off for the nearesthills. The archers were cut to pieces; and the chosen corps, havingfinished so easily the service for which they had been told off, threwthemselves on the now exposed flank of Pompey's left wing. It wascomposed, as has been said, of the legions which had once been Caesar's, which had fought under him at the Vingeanne and at Alesia. They ill liked, perhaps, the change of masters, and were in no humor to stand the chargeof their old comrades coming on with the familiar rush of victory. Caesarordered up his third line, which had not yet been engaged; and at once onall sides Pompey's great army gave way, and fled. Pompey himself, theshadow of his old name, long harasssd out of self-respect by hissenatorial directors, a commander only in appearance, had left the fieldin the beginning of the action. He had lost heart on the defeat of thecavalry, and had retired to his tent to wait the issue of the day. The stream of fugitives pouring in told him too surely what the issue hadbeen. He sprang upon his horse and rode off in despair. His legions wererushing back in confusion. Caesar, swift always at the right moment, gavethe enemy no leisure to re-form, and fell at once upon the camp. It wasnoon, and the morning had been sultry; but heat and weariness wereforgotten in the enthusiasm of a triumph which all then believed mustconclude the war. A few companies of Thracians, who had been left onguard, made a brief resistance, but they were soon borne down. The beatenarmy, which a few hours before were sharing in imagination the lands andoffices of their conquerors, fled out through the opposite gates, throwingaway their arms, flinging down their standards, and racing, officers andmen, for the rocky hills which at a mile's distance promised them shelter. The camp itself was a singular picture. Houses of turf had been built forthe luxurious patricians, with ivy trained over the entrances to shadetheir delicate faces from the summer sun; couches had been laid out forthem to repose on after their expected victory; tables were spread withplate and wines, and the daintiest preparations of Roman cookery. Caesarcommented on the scene with mournful irony. "And these men, " he said, "accused my patient, suffering army, which had not even commonnecessaries, of dissoluteness and profligacy!" Two hundred only of Caesar's men had fallen. The officers had sufferedmost. The gallant Crastinus, who had nobly fulfilled his promise, had beenkilled, among many others, in opening a way for his comrades. ThePompeians, after the first shock, had been cut down unresisting. Fifteenthousand of them lay scattered dead about the ground. There were fewwounded in these battles. The short sword of the Romans seldom left itswork unfinished. "They would have it so, " Caesar is reported to have said, as he lookedsadly over the littered bodies in the familiar patrician dress. [6]"After all that I had done for my country, I, Caius Caesar, should havebeen condemned by them as a criminal if I had not appealed to my army. " [Sidenote: B. C. 48. ]But Caesar did not wait to indulge in reflections. His object was to stampthe fire out on the spot, that it might never kindle again. More than halfthe Pompeians had reached the hills and were making for Larissa. Leavingpart of his legions in the camp to rest, Caesar took the freshest the sameevening, and by a rapid march cut off their line of retreat. The hillswere waterless, the weather suffocating. A few of the guiltiest of thePompeian leaders, Labienus, Lentulus, Afranius, Petreius, and MetellusScipio (Cicero and Cato had been left at Durazzo), contrived to escape inthe night. The rest, twenty-four thousand of them, surrendered atdaylight. They came down praying for mercy, which they had never shown, sobbing out their entreaties on their knees that the measure which theyhad dealt to others might not be meted out to them. Then and always Caesarhated unnecessary cruelty, and never, if he could help it, allowedexecutions in cold blood. He bade them rise, said a few gentle words torelieve their fears, and sent them back to the camp. Domitius Ahenobarbus, believing that for him at least there could be no forgiveness, tried toescape, and was killed. The rest were pardoned. So ended the battle of Pharsalia. A hundred and eighty standards weretaken and all the eagles of Pompey's legions. In Pompey's own tent wasfound his secret correspondence, implicating persons, perhaps, whom Caesarhad never suspected, revealing the mysteries of the past three years. Curiosity and even prudence might have tempted him to look into it. Hisonly wish was that the past should be forgotten: he burnt the whole massof papers unread. Would the war now end? That was the question. Caesar thought that it wouldnot end as long as Pompey was at large. The feelings of others may begathered out of abridgments from Cicero's letters: _Cicero to Plancius_. [7] "Victory on one side meant massacre, on the other slavery. It consoles meto remember that I foresaw these things, and as much feared the success ofour cause as the defeat of it. I attached myself to Pompey's party more inhope of peace than from desire of war; but I saw, if we had the better, how cruel would be the triumph of an exasperated, avaricious, and insolentset of men; if we were defeated, how many of our wealthiest and noblestcitizens must fall. Yet when I argued thus and offered my advice I wastaunted for being a coward. " _Cicero to Caius Cassius_. [8] "We were both opposed to a continuance of the war [after Pharsalia]. I, perhaps, more than you; but we agreed that one battle should be acceptedas decisive, if not of the whole cause, yet of our own judgment upon it. Nor were there any who differed from us save those who thought it betterthat the Constitution should be destroyed altogether than be preservedwith diminished prerogatives. For myself I could hope nothing from theoverthrow of it, and much if a remnant could be saved. .. . And I thought itlikely that, after that decisive battle, the victors would consider thewelfare of the public, and that the vanquished would consider their own. " _To Varro_. [9] "You were absent [at the critical moment]. I for myself perceived that ourfriends wanted war, and that Caesar did not want it, but was not afraid ofit. Thus much of human purpose was in the matter. The rest camenecessarily; for one side or the other would, of course, conquer. You andI both grieved to see how the State would suffer from the loss of eitherarmy and its generals; we knew that victory in a civil war was itself amost miserable disaster. I dreaded the success of those to whom I hadattached myself. They threatened most cruelly those who had stayed quietlyat home. Your sentiments and my speeches were alike hateful to them. Ifour side had won, they would have shown no forbearance. " _To Marcus Marius_. [10] "When you met me on the 13th of May (49), you were anxious about the partwhich I was to take. If I stayed in Italy, you feared that I should bewanting in duty. To go to the war you thought dangerous for me. I wasmyself so disturbed that I could not tell what it was best for me to do. Iconsulted my reputation, however, more than my safety; and if I afterwardsrepented of my decision it was not for the peril to myself, but on accountof the state of things which I found on my arrival at Pompey's camp. Hisforces were not very considerable, nor good of their kind. For the chiefs, if I except the general and a few others, they were rapacious in theirconduct of the war, and so savage in their language that I dreaded to seethem victorious. The most considerable among them were overwhelmed withdebt. There was nothing good about them but their cause. I despaired ofsuccess and recommended peace. When Pompey would not hear of it, I advisedhim to protract the war. This for the time he approved, and he might havecontinued firm but for the confidence which he gathered from the battle atDurazzo. From that day the great man ceased to be a general. With a rawand inexperienced army he engaged legions in perfect discipline. On thedefeat he basely deserted his camp and fled by himself. For me this wasthe end: I retired from a war in which the only alternatives before mewere either to be killed in action or be taken prisoner, or fly to Juba inAfrica, or hide in exile, or destroy myself. " _To Caecina_. [11] "I would tell you my prophecies but that you would think I had made themafter the event. But many persons can bear me witness that I first warnedPompey against attaching himself to Caesar, and then against quarrellingwith him. Their union (I said) had broken the power of the Senate; theirdiscord would cause a civil war. I was intimate with Caesar; I was mostattached to Pompey; but my advice was for the good of them both. .. . Ithought that Pompey ought to go to Spain. Had he done so, the war wouldnot have been. I did not so much insist that Caesar could legally standfor the consulship as that his name should be accepted, because the peoplehad so ordered at Pompey's own instance. I advised, I entreated. Ipreferred the most unfair peace to the most righteous war. I wasoverborne, not so much by Pompey (for on him I produced an effect) as bymen who relied on Pompey's leadership to win them a victory, which wouldbe convenient for their personal interests and private ambitions. Nomisfortune has happened in the war which I did not predict. " [1] _To Atticus_, ix. 18. [2] "Tullia bids me wait till I see how things go in Spain, and she says you are of the same opinion. The advice would be good, if I could adapt my conduct to the issue of events there. But one of three alternatives must happen. Either Caesar will be driven back, which would please me best, or the war will be protracted, or he will be completely victorious. If he is defeated, Pompey will thank me little for joining him. Curio himself will then go over to him. If the war hangs on, how long am I to wait? If Caesar conquers, it is thought we may then have peace. But I consider, on the other hand, that it would be more decent to forsake Caesar in success than when beaten and in difficulties. The victory of Caesar means massacre, confiscation, recall of exiles, a clean sweep of debts, every worst man raised to honor, and a rule which not only a Roman citizen but a Persian could not endure. .. . Pompey will not lay down his arms for the loss of Spain; he holds with Themistocles that those who are masters at sea will be the victors in the end. He has neglected Spain. He has given all his care to his ships. When the time comes he will return to Italy with an overwhelming fleet. And what will he say to me if he finds me still sitting here?--Let alone duty, I must think of the danger. .. . Every course has its perils; but I should surely avoid a course which is both ignominious and perilous also. "I did not accompany Pompey when he went himself? I could not. I had not time. And yet, to confess the truth, I made a mistake which, perhaps, I should not have made. I thought there would be peace, and I would not have Caesar angry with me after he and Pompey had become friends again. Thus I hesitated; but I can overtake my fault if I lose no more time, and I am lost if I delay. --I see that Caesar cannot stand long. He will fall of himself if we do nothing. When his affairs were most flourishing, he became unpopular with the hungry rabble of the city in six or seven days. He could not keep up the mask. His harshness to Metellus destroyed his credit for clemency, and his taking money from the treasury destroyed his reputation for riches. "As to his followers, how can men govern provinces who cannot manage their own affairs for two months together? Such a monarchy could not last half a year. The wisest men have miscalculated. .. . If that is my case, I must bear the reproach . .. But I am sure it will be as I say. Caesar will fall, either by his enemies or by himself, who is his worst enemy. .. . I hope I may live to see it, though you and I should be thinking more of the other life than of this transitory one: but so it come, no matter whether I see it or foresee it. "--_To Atticus_, x. 8. [3] "Nam hic nunc praeter foeneratores paucos nec homo nec ordo quisquam est nisi Pompeianus. Equidem jam effeci ut maxime plebs et qui antea noster fuit populus vester esset. "--Caelius to Cicero, _Ad Fam_. , viii. 71. [4] Caesar says nothing of his putting to sea in a boat, meaning to go over in person, and being driven back by the weather. The story is probably no more than one of the picturesque additions to reality made by men who find truth too tame for them. [5] I follow Caesar's own account of the action. Appian is minutely circumstantial, and professes to describe from the narratives of eye- witnesses. But his story varies so far from Caesar's as to be irreconcilable with it, and Caesar's own authority is incomparably the best. [6] Suetonius, quoting from Asinius Pollio, who was present at the battle. [7] _Ad Familiares_, iv. 14. [8] _Ibid_. , xv. 15. [9] _Ad Fam_. , ix. 6. [10] _Ibid_. , vii. 3. [11] _Ad Fam_. , vi. 6. CHAPTER XXIII. The strength of the senatorial party lay in Pompey's popularity in theEast. A halo was still supposed to hang about him as the creator of theEastern Empire, and so long as he was alive and at liberty there wasalways a possibility that he might collect a new army. To overtake him, toreason with him, and, if reason failed, to prevent him by force frominvolving himself and the State in fresh difficulties, was Caesar's firstobject. Pompey, it was found, had ridden from the battlefield direct tothe sea, attended by a handful of horse. He had gone on board a grainvessel, which carried him to Amphipolis. At Amphipolis he had stayed but asingle night, and had sailed for Mitylene, where he had left his wife andhis sons. The last accounts which the poor lady had heard of him had beensuch as reached Lesbos after the affair at Durazzo. Young patricians hadbrought her word that her husband had gained a glorious victory, that hehad joined her father, Metellus Scipio, and that together they werepursuing Caesar with the certainty of overwhelming him. Rumor, cruel asusual, Had brought smooth comforts false, worse than true wrongs. Rumor had told Cornelia that Caesar had "stooped his head" before Pompey's"rage. " Pompey came in person to inform her of the miserable reality. AtMitylene Pompey's family were no longer welcome guests. They joined him onboard his ship to share his fortunes, but what those fortunes were to bewas all uncertain. Asia had seemed devoted to him. To what part of itshould he go? To Cilicia? to Syria? to Armenia? To Parthia? For evenParthia was thought of. Unhappily the report of Pharsalia had flown beforehim, and the vane of sentiment had everywhere veered round. The Aegeanislands begged him politely not to compromise them by his presence. Hetouched at Rhodes. Lentulus, flying from the battlefield, had tried Rhodesbefore him, and had been requested to pass on upon his way. Lentulus wassaid to be gone to Egypt. Polite to Pompey the Rhodians were, but perhapshe was generously unwilling to involve them in trouble in his behalf. Hewent on to Cilicia, the scene of his old glory in the pirate wars. Therehe had meant to land and take refuge either with the Parthians or with oneof the allied princes. But in Cilicia he heard that Antioch had declaredfor Caesar. Allies and subjects, as far as he could learn, were all forCaesar. Egypt, whither Lentulus had gone, appeared the only place where hecould surely calculate on being welcome. Ptolemy the Piper, the occasionof so much scandal, was no longer living, but he owed the recovery of histhrone to Pompey. Gabinius had left a few thousand of Pompey's oldsoldiers at Alexandria to protect him against his subjects. These men hadmarried Egyptian wives and had adopted Egyptian habits, but they could nothave forgotten their old general. They were acting as guards at present toPtolemy's four children, two girls, Cleopatra and Arsinoe, and two boys, each called Ptolemy. The father had bequeathed the crown to the two elderones, Cleopatra, who was turned sixteen, and a brother two years younger. Here at least, among these young princes and their guardians, who had beentheir father's friends, their father's greatest benefactor might countwith confidence on finding hospitality. For Egypt, therefore, Pompey sailed, taking his family along with him. Hehad collected a few ships and 2, 000 miscellaneous followers, and with themhe arrived off Pelusium, the modern Damietta. His forlorn condition was apunishment sufficiently terrible for the vanity which had flung hiscountry into war. But that it had been his own doing the letters of Ciceroprove with painful clearness; and though he had partially seen his errorat Capua, and would then have possibly drawn back, the passions and hopeswhich he had excited had become too strong for him to contend against. From the day of his flight from Italy he had been as a leaf whirled upon awinter torrent. Plain enough it had long been to him that he would not beable to govern the wild forces of a reaction which, if it had prevailed, would have brought back a more cruel tyranny than Sylla's. He was nowflung as a waif on the shore of a foreign land; and if Providence on eachoccasion proportioned the penalties of misdoing to the magnitude of thefault, it might have been considered that adequate retribution had beeninflicted on him. But the consequences of the actions of men live when theactions are themselves forgotten, and come to light without regard to thefitness of the moment. The senators of Rome were responsible for theexactions which Ptolemy Auletes had been compelled to wring out of hissubjects. Pompey himself had entertained and supported him in Rome when hewas driven from his throne, and had connived at the murder of theAlexandrians who had been sent to remonstrate against his restoration. Itwas by Pompey that he had been forced again upon his miserable subjects, and had been compelled to grind them with fresh extortions. It was notunnatural under these circumstances that the Egyptians were eager to freethemselves from a subjection which bore more heavily on them thanannexation to the Empire. A national party had been formed on Ptolemy'sdeath to take advantage of the minority of his children. Cleopatra hadbeen expelled. The Alexandrian citizens kept her brother in their hands, and were now ruling in his name; the demoralized Roman garrison had beenseduced into supporting them, and they had an army lying at the time atPelusium, to guard against Cleopatra and her friends. Of all this Pompey knew nothing. When he arrived off the port he learntthat the young king with a body of troops was in the neighborhood, and hesent on shore to ask permission to land. The Egyptians had already heardof Pharsalia. Civil war among the Romans was an opportunity for them toassert their independence, or to secure their liberties by taking the sidewhich seemed most likely to be successful. Lentulus had already arrived, and had been imprisoned--a not unnatural return for the murder of Dion andhis fellow-citizens. Pompey, whose name more than that of any other Romanwas identified with their sufferings, was now placing himselfspontaneously in their hands. Why, by sparing him, should they neglect theopportunity of avenging their own wrongs, and of earning, as they mightsuppose that they would, the lasting gratitude of Caesar? The Romangarrison had no feeling for their once glorious commander. "In calamity, "Caesar observes, "friends easily become foes. " The guardians of the youngking sent a smooth answer, bidding Pompey welcome. The water beingshallow, they despatched Achillas, a prefect in the king's army, andSeptimius, a Roman officer, whom Pompey personally knew, with a boat toconduct him on shore. His wife and friends distrusted the tone of thereception, and begged him to wait till he could land with his own guard. The presence of Septimius gave Pompey confidence. Weak men, when indifficulties, fall into a kind of despairing fatalism, as if tired ofcontending longer with adverse fortune. Pompey stepped into the boat, andwhen out of arrow-shot from the ship was murdered under his wife's eyes. His head was cut off and carried away. His body was left lying on thesands. A man who had been once his slave, and had been set free by him, gathered a few sticks and burnt it there; and thus the last rites werebestowed upon one whom, a few months before, Caesar himself would havebeen content to acknowledge as his superior. So ended Pompey the Great. History has dealt tenderly with him on accountof his misfortunes, and has not refused him deserved admiration forqualities as rare in his age as they were truly excellent. His capacitiesas a soldier were not extraordinary. He had risen to distinction by hishonesty. The pirates who had swept the Mediterranean had bought theirimpunity by a tribute paid to senators and governors. They were suppressedinstantly when a commander was sent against them whom they were unable tobribe. The conquest of Asia was no less easy to a man who could resisttemptations to enrich himself. The worst enemy of Pompey never charged himwith corruption or rapacity. So far as he was himself concerned, therestoration of Ptolemy was gratuitous, for he received nothing for it. Hisprivate fortune, when he had the world at his feet, was never more thanmoderate; nor as a politician did his faults extend beyond weakness andincompetence. Unfortunately he had acquired a position by his negativevirtues which was above his natural level, and misled him into overratinghis capabilities. So long as he stood by Caesar he had maintained hishonor and his authority. He allowed men more cunning than himself to playupon his vanity, and Pompey fell--fell amidst the ruins of a Constitutionwhich had been undermined by the villanies of its representatives. His endwas piteous, but scarcely tragic, for the cause to which he was sacrificedwas too slightly removed from being ignominious. He was no Phoebus Apollosinking into the ocean, surrounded with glory. He was not even a brilliantmeteor. He was a weak, good man, whom accident had thrust into a place towhich he was unequal; and ignorant of himself, and unwilling to part withhis imaginary greatness, he was flung down with careless cruelty by theforces which were dividing the world. His friend Lentulus shared his fate, and was killed a few days later, while Pompey's ashes were still smoking. Two of Bibulus's sons, who had accompanied him, were murdered as well. Caesar meanwhile had followed along Pompey's track, hoping to overtakehim. In Cilicia he heard where he was gone; and learning something moreaccurately there of the state of Egypt, he took two legions with him, oneof which had attended him from Pharsalia, and another which he had sentfor from Achaia. With these he sailed for Alexandria. Together, so muchhad they been thinned by hard service, these legions mustered between themlittle over 3, 000 men. The force was small, but Caesar considered that, after Pharsalia, there could be no danger for him anywhere in theMediterranean. He landed without opposition, and was presented on hisarrival, as a supposed welcome offering, with the head of his rival. Politically it would have been better far for him to have returned to Romewith Pompey as a friend. Nor, if it had been certain that Pompey wouldhave refused to be reconciled, were services such as this a road toCaesar's favor. The Alexandrians speedily found that they were not to berewarded with the desired independence. The consular fasces, the emblem ofthe hated Roman authority, were carried openly before Caesar when heappeared in the streets; and it was not long before mobs began to assemblewith cries that Egypt was a free country, and that the people would notallow their king to be insulted. Evidently there was business to be donein Egypt before Caesar could leave it. Delay was specially inconvenient. Aprolonged absence from Italy would allow faction time to rally again. ButCaesar did not look on himself as the leader of a party, but as theguardian of Roman interests, and it was not his habit to leave anynecessary work uncompleted. The etesian winds, too, had set in, which madeit difficult for his heavy vessels to work out of the harbor. Seeing thattroubles might rise, he sent a message to Mithridates of Pergamus, [1]to bring him reinforcements from Syria, while he himself at once took thegovernment of Egypt into his hands. He forbade the Alexandrians to setaside Ptolemy's will, and insisted that the sovereignty must be vestedjointly in Cleopatra and her brother as their father had ordered. [2]hecries of discontent grew bolder. Alexandria was a large, populous city, the common receptacle of vagabonds from all parts of the Mediterranean. Pirates, thieves, political exiles, and outlaws had taken refuge there, and had been received into the king's service. With the addition of thedissolute legionaries left by Gabinius, they made up 20, 000 as dangerousruffians as had ever been gathered into a single city. The morerespectable citizens had no reason to love the Romans. The fate of Cyprusseemed a foreshadowing of their own. They too, unless they looked tothemselves, would be absorbed in the devouring Empire. They had made anend of Pompey, and Caesar had shown no gratitude. Caesar himself was nowin their hands. Till the wind changed they thought that he could notescape, and they were tempted, naturally enough, to use the chance whichfate had given them. Pothinus, a palace eunuch and one of young Ptolemy's guardians, sentsecretly for the troops at Pelusium, and gave the command of them toAchillas, the officer who had murdered Pompey. The city rose when theycame in, and Caesar found himself blockaded in the palace and the part ofthe city which joined the outer harbor. The situation was irritating fromits absurdity, but more or less it was really dangerous. The Egyptianfleet which had been sent to Greece in aid of Pompey had come back, andwas in the inner basin. It outnumbered Caesar's, and the Alexandrians werethe best seamen in the Mediterranean. If they came out, they might cut hiscommunications. Without hesitation he set fire to the docks; burnt ordisabled the great part of the ships; seized the Pharos and the mole whichconnected it with the town; fortified the palace and the line of housesoccupied by his troops; and in this position he remained for severalweeks, defending himself against the whole power of Egypt. Of the time inwhich legend describes him as abandoned to his love for Cleopatra, therewas hardly an hour of either day or night in which he was not fighting forhis very life. The Alexandrians were ingenious and indefatigable. Theypumped the sea into the conduits which supplied his quarters with water, for a moment it seemed with fatal effect. Fresh water was happily found bysinking wells. They made a new fleet; old vessels on the stocks werelaunched, others were brought down from the canals on the river. They madeoars and spars out of the benches and tables of the professors' lecturerooms. With these they made desperate attempts to retake the mole. Oncewith a sudden rush they carried a ship, in which Caesar was present inperson, and he was obliged to swim for his life. [3] Still, he held on, keeping up his men's spirits, and knowing that relief must arrive in time. He was never greater than in unlooked-for difficulties. He never rested. He was always inventing some new contrivance. He could have retired fromthe place with no serious loss. He could have taken to his ships andforced his way to sea in spite of the winds and the Alexandrians. But hefelt that to fly from such an enemy would dishonor the Roman name, and hewould not entertain the thought of it. [Sidenote: B. C. 47. ]The Egyptians made desperate efforts to close the harbor. Finding thatthey could neither capture the Pharos nor make an impression on Caesar'slines, they affected to desire peace. Caesar had kept young Ptolemy withhim as a security. They petitioned that he should be given up to them, promising on compliance to discontinue their assaults. Caesar did notbelieve them. But the boy was of no use to him; the army wished him gone, for they thought him treacherous; and his presence would not strengthenthe enemy. Caesar, says Hirtius, considered that it would be morerespectable to be fighting with a king than with a gang of ruffians. YoungPtolemy was released, and joined his countrymen, and the war went on morefiercely than before. Pompey's murderers were brought to justice in thecourse of it. Pothinus fell into Caesar's hands, and was executed. Ganymede, another eunuch, assassinated Achillas, and took his place ascommander-in-chief. Reinforcements began to come in. Mithridates had notyet been heard of; but Domitius Calvinus, who had been left in charge ofAsia Minor, and to whom Caesar had also sent, had despatched two legionsto him. One arrived by sea at Alexandria, and was brought in with somedifficulty. The other was sent by land, and did not arrive in time to beof service. There was a singular irony in Caesar being left to strugglefor months with a set of miscreants, but the trial came to an end at last. Mithridates, skilful, active, and faithful, had raised a force withextraordinary rapidity in Cilicia and on the Euphrates. He had marchedswiftly through Syria; and in the beginning of the new year Caesar heardthe welcome news that he had reached Pelusium, and had taken it by storm. Not delaying for a day, Mithridates had gone up the bank of the Nile toCairo. A division of the Egyptian army lay opposite to him, in the face ofwhom he did not think it prudent to attempt to cross, and from thence hesent word of his position to Caesar. The news reached Caesar and theAlexandrians at the same moment. The Alexandrians had the easiest accessto the scene. They had merely to ascend the river in their boats. Caesarwas obliged to go round by sea to Pelusium, and to follow the course whichMithridates had taken himself. Rapidity of movement made up thedifference. Taking with him such cohorts as could be spared from hislines, Caesar had joined Mithridates before the Alexandrians had arrived. Together they forced the passage; and Ptolemy came only for his camp to bestormed, his army to be cut to pieces, and himself to be drowned in theNile, and so end his brief and miserable life. Alexandria immediately capitulated. Arsinoe, the youngest sister, was sentto Rome. Cleopatra and her surviving brother were made joint sovereigns;and Roman rumor, glad to represent Caesar's actions in monstrouscharacters, insisted in after years that they were married. The absence ofcontemporary authority for the story precludes also the possibility ofdenying it. Two legions were left in Egypt to protect them if they werefaithful, or to coerce them if they misconducted themselves. TheAlexandrian episode was over, and Caesar sailed for Syria. His longdetention over a complication so insignificant had been unfortunate inmany ways. Scipio and Cato, with the other fugitives from Pharsalia, hadrallied in Africa, under the protection of Juba. Italy was in confusion. The popular party, now absolutely in the ascendant, were disposed to treatthe aristocracy as the aristocracy would have treated them had they beenvictorious. The controlling hand was absent; the rich, long hated andenvied, were in the power of the multitude, and wild measures wereadvocated, communistic, socialistic, such as are always heard of inrevolutions, meaning in one form or another the equalization of wealth, the division of property, the poor taking their turn on the upper crest offortune and the rich at the bottom. The tribunes were outbidding oneanother in extravagant proposals, while Caesar's legions, sent home fromGreece to rest after their long service, were enjoying their victory inthe license which is miscalled liberty. They demanded the lands, orrewards in money, which had been promised them at the end of the war. Discipline was relaxed or abandoned. Their officers wore unable, perhapsunwilling, to control them. They, too, regarded the Commonwealth as aspoil which their swords had won, and which they were entitled todistribute among themselves. In Spain, too, a bad feeling had revived. After Caesar's departure hisgenerals had oppressed the people, and had quarrelled with one another. The country was disorganized and disaffected. In Spain, as in Egypt, therewas a national party still dreaming of independence. The smoulderingtraditions of Sertorius were blown into flame by the continuance of thecivil war. The proud motley race of Spaniards, Italians, Gauls, indigenousmountaineers, Moors from Africa, the remnants of the Carthaginiancolonies, however they might hate one another, yet united in resenting anuncertain servitude under the alternate ascendency of Roman factions. Spain was ripe for revolt. Gaul alone, Caesar's own province, rewarded himfor the use which he had made of his victory, by unswerving loyalty andobedience. On his landing in Syria, Caesar found letters pressing for his instantreturn to Rome. Important persons were waiting to give him fullerinformation than could be safely committed to writing. He would havehastened home at once, but restless spirits had been let loose everywhereby the conflict of the Roman leaders. Disorder had broken out near athand. The still recent defeat of Crassus had stirred the ambition of theAsiatic princes; and to leave the Eastern frontier disturbed was to risk agreater danger to the Empire than was to be feared from the impatientpolitics of the Roman mob, or the dying convulsions of the aristocracy. Pharnaces, a legitimate son of Mithridates the Great, had been leftsovereign of Upper Armenia. He had watched the collision between Pompeyand Caesar with a neutrality which was to plead for him with theconqueror, and he had intended to make his own advantage out of thequarrels between his father's enemies. Deiotarus, tributary king of LowerArmenia and Colchis, had given some help to Pompey, and had sent him menand money; and on Pompey's defeat, Pharnaces had supposed that he mightseize on Deiotarus's territories without fear of Caesar's resentment. Deiotarus had applied to Domitius Calvinus for assistance; which Calvinus, weakened as he was by the despatch of two of his legions to Egypt, hadbeen imperfectly able to give. Pharnaces had advanced into Cappadocia. When Calvinus ordered him to retire, he had replied by sending presents, which had hitherto proved so effective with Roman proconsuls, and by anequivocating profession of readiness to abide by Caesar's decision. Pharnaces came of a dangerous race. Caesar's lieutenant was afraid that, if he hesitated, the son of Mithridates might become as troublesome as hisfather had been. He refused the presents. Disregarding his weakness, hesent a peremptory command to Pharnaces to fall back within his ownfrontiers, and advanced to compel him if he refused. In times ofexcitement the minds of men are electric, and news travels withtelegraphic rapidity if not with telegraphic accuracy. Pharnaces heardthat Caesar was shut up in Alexandria and was in a position of extremedanger, that he had sent for all his Asiatic legions, and that Calvinushad himself been summoned to his assistance. Thus he thought that he mightsafely postpone compliance till the Roman army was gone, and he had thecountry to himself. The reports from Egypt were so unfavorable that, although as yet he had received no positive orders, Calvinus was in dailyexpectation that he would be obliged to go. It would be unsafe, hethought, to leave an insolent barbarian unchastised. He had learnt inCaesar's school to strike quickly. He had not learnt the comparisonbetween means and ends, without which celerity is imprudence. He had butone legion left; but he had a respectable number of Asiatic auxiliaries, and with them he ventured to attack Pharnaces in an intricate position. His Asiatics deserted. The legion behaved admirably; but in the face ofoverwhelming numbers, it could do no more than cut its way to security. Pharnaces at once reclaimed his father's kingdom, and overran Pontus, killing, mutilating, or imprisoning every Roman that he encountered; andin this condition Caesar found Asia Minor on his coming to Syria. It was not in Caesar's character to leave a Roman Province behind him inthe hands of an invader, for his own political interests. He saw that hemust punish Pharnaces before he returned to Rome, and he immediatelyaddressed himself to the work. He made a hasty progress through the Syriantowns, hearing complaints and distributing rewards and promotions. Theallied chiefs came to him from the borders of the Province to pay theirrespects. He received them graciously, and dismissed them pleased andsatisfied. After a few days spent thus, he sailed for Cilicia, held acouncil at Tarsus, and then crossed the Taurus, and went by forced marchesthrough Cappadocia to Pontus. He received a legion from Deiotarus whichhad been organized in Roman fashion. He sent to Calvinus to meet him withthe survivors of his lost battle; and when they arrived, he reviewed theforce which was at his disposition. It was not satisfactory. He hadbrought a veteran legion with him from Egypt, but it was reduced to athousand strong. He had another which he had taken up in Syria; but eventhis did not raise his army to a point which could assure him of success. But time pressed, and skill might compensate for defective numbers. Pharnaces, hearing that Caesar was at hand, promised submission. He sentCaesar a golden crown, in anticipation perhaps that he was about to makehimself king. He pleaded his desertion of Pompey as a set-off against hisfaults. Caesar answered that he would accept the submission, if it weresincere; but Pharnaces must not suppose that good offices to himself couldatone for injuries to the Empire. [4] The provinces which he had invadedmust be instantly evacuated; his Roman prisoners must be released, andtheir property must be restored to them. Pharnaces was a politician, and knew enough of Caesar's circumstances tomislead him. The state of Rome required Caesar's presence. A campaign inAsia would occupy more time than he could afford, and Pharnaces calculatedthat he must be gone in a few days or weeks. The victory over Calvinus hadstrengthened his ambition of emulating his father. He delayed his answer, shifted from place to place, and tried to protract the correspondence tillCaesar's impatience to be gone should bring him to agree to a compromise. Caesar cut short negotiations. Pharnaces was at Zela, a town in the midstof mountains behind Trebizond, and the scene of a great victory which hadbeen won by Mithridates over the Romans. Caesar defied auguries. He seizeda position at night on the brow of a hill directly opposite to theArmenian camp, and divided from it by a narrow valley. As soon as daybroke the legions were busy intrenching with their spades and pickaxes. Pharnaces, with the rashness which if it fails is madness, and if itsucceeds is the intuition of genius, decided to fall on them at a momentwhen no sane person could rationally expect an attack; and Caesar couldnot restrain his astonishment when he saw the enemy pouring down the steepside of the ravine, and breasting the ascent on which he stood. It waslike the battle of Maubeuge over again, with the difference that he hadhere to deal with Asiatics, and not with the Nervii. There was someconfusion while the legions were exchanging their digging tools for theirarms. When the exchange had been made, there was no longer a battle, but arout. The Armenians were hurled back down the hill, and slaughtered inmasses at the bottom of it. The camp was taken. Pharnaces escaped for themoment, and made his way into his own country; but he was killedimmediately after, and Asia Minor was again at peace. Caesar, calm as usual, but well satisfied to have ended a second awkwardbusiness so easily, passed quickly down to the Hellespont, and had landedin Italy before it was known that he had left Pontus. [1] Supposed to have been a natural son of Mithridates the Great. The reason for the special confidence which Caesar placed in him does not appear. The danger at Alexandria, perhaps, did not appear at the moment particularly serious. [2] Roman scandal discovered afterward that Caesar had been fascinated by the charms of Cleopatra, and allowed his politics to be influenced by a love affair. Roman fashionable society hated Caesar, and any carrion was welcome to them which would taint his reputation. Cleopatra herself favored the story, and afterward produced a child, whom she named Caesarion. Oppius, Caesar's most intimate friend, proved that the child could not have been his--of course, therefore, that the intrigue was a fable; and the boy was afterward put to death by Augustus as an impostor. No one claims immaculate virtue for Caesar. An amour with Cleopatra may have been an accident of his presence in Alexandria. But to suppose that such a person as Caesar, with the concerns of the world upon his hands, would have allowed his public action to be governed by a connection with a loose girl of sixteen is to make too large a demand upon human credulity; nor is it likely that, in a situation of so much danger and difficulty as that in which he found himself, he would have added to his embarrassments by indulging in an intrigue. The report proves nothing, for whether true or false it was alike certain to arise. The _salons_ of Rome, like the _salons_ of London and Paris, took their revenge on greatness by soiling it with filth; and happily Suetonius, the chief authority for the scandal, couples it with a story which is demonstrably false. He says that Caesar made a long expedition with Cleopatra in a barge upon the Nile; that he was so fascinated with her that he wished to extend his voyage to Aethiopia, and was prevented only by the refusal of his army to follow him. The details of Caesar's stay at Alexandria, so minutely given by Hirtius, show that there was not a moment when such an expedition could have been contemplated. During the greater part of the time he was blockaded in the palace. Immediately after the insurrection was put down, he was obliged to hurry off on matters of instant and urgent moment. Of the story of Cleopatra's presence in Rome at the time of his murder, more will be said hereafter. [3] Legend is more absurd than usual over this incident. It pretends that he swam with one hand, and carried his Commentaries, holding them above water, with the other. As if a general would take his MSS. With him into a hot action! [4] "Neque provinciarum injurias condonari iis posse qui fuissent in se officiosi. "--_De Bello Alexandrino_, 70. CHAPTER XXIV. Cicero considered that the Civil War ought to have ended with Pharsalia;and in this opinion most reasonable men among the conservatives wereagreed. They had fought one battle; and it had gone against them. Tocontinue the struggle might tear the Empire to pieces, but could notretrieve a lost cause; and prudence and patriotism alike recommendedsubmission to the verdict of fortune. It is probable that this would havebeen the result, could Caesar have returned to Italy immediately after hisvictory. Cicero himself refused to participate in further resistance. Catooffered him a command at Corcyra, but he declined it with a shudder, andwent back to Brindisi; and all but those whose consciences forbade them tohope for pardon, or who were too proud to ask for it, at first followedhis example. Scipio, Cato, Labienus, Afranius, Petreius, were resolute tofight on to the last; but even they had no clear outlook, and theywandered about the Mediterranean, uncertain what to do, or whither toturn. Time went on, however, and Caesar did not appear. Rumor said at onetime that he was destroyed at Alexandria. The defeat of Calvinus byPharnaces was an ascertained fact. Spain was in confusion. The legions inItaly were disorganized, and society, or the wealthy part of society, threatened by the enemies of property, began to call for some one to saveit. All was not lost. Pompey's best generals were still living. His sons, Sextus and Cnaeus, were brave and able. The fleet was devoted to them andto their father's cause, and Caesar's officers had failed, in his absence, to raise a naval force which could show upon the sea. Africa was aconvenient rallying point. Since Curio's defeat, King Juba had found noone to dispute his supremacy, and between Juba and the aristocracy whowere bent on persisting in the war, an alliance was easily formed. WhileCaesar was perilling his own interest to remain in Asia to crushPharnaces, Metellus Scipio was offering a barbarian chief the whole ofRoman Africa, as the price of his assistance, in a last effort to reversethe fortune of Pharsalia. Under these scandalous conditions, Scipio, Labienus, Cato, Afranius, Petreius, Faustus Sylla, the son of theDictator, Lucius Caesar, and the rest of the irreconcilables, made Africatheir new centre of operations. Here they gathered to themselves theinheritors of the Syllan traditions, and made raids on the Italian coastsand into Sicily and Sardinia. Seizing Caesar's officers when they couldfind them, they put them invariably to death without remorse. Ciceroprotested honorably against the employment of treacherous savages, evenfor so sacred a cause as the defence of the constitution;[1] but Cicerowas denounced as a traitor seeking favor with the conqueror, and thedesperate work went on. Caesar's long detention in the East gave theconfederates time. The young Pompeys were strong at sea. From Italy therewas an easy passage for adventurous disaffection. The shadow of a PompeianSenate sat once more, passing resolutions, at Utica; while Cato was busyorganizing an army, and had collected as many as thirteen legions out ofthe miscellaneous elements which drifted in to him. Caesar had sent ordersto Cassius Longinus to pass into Africa from Spain, and break up thesecombinations; but Longinus had been at war with his own provincials. Hehad been driven out of the Peninsula, and had lost his own life in leavingit. Caesar, like Cicero, had believed that the war had ended at Pharsalia. He found that the heads of the Hydra had sprouted again, and were vomitingthe old fire and fury. Little interest could it give Caesar to match hiswaning years against the blinded hatred of his countrymen. Ended thestrife must be, however, before order could be restored in Italy, andwretched men take up again the quiet round of industry. Heavy work had tobe done in Rome. Caesar was consul now--annual consul, with no ten years'interval any longer possible. Consul, dictator, whatever name the peoplegave him, he alone held the reins; he alone was able to hold them. Credithad to be restored; debtors had to be brought to recognize theirliabilities. Property had fallen in value since the Civil Wars, andsecurities had to be freshly estimated. The Senate required reformation;men of fidelity and ability were wanted for the public offices. Pompey andPompey's friends would have drowned Italy in blood. Caesar disappointedexpectation by refusing to punish any one of his political opponents. Hekilled no one. He deprived no one of his property. He even protected themoney-lenders, and made the Jews his constant friends. Debts he insistedmust be paid, bonds fulfilled, the rights of property respected, no matterwhat wild hopes imagination might have indulged in. Something only heremitted of the severity of interest, and the poor in the city wereallowed their lodgings rent free for a year. He restored quiet, and gave as much satisfaction as circumstancespermitted. His real difficulty was with the legions, who had come backfrom Greece. They had deserved admirably well, but they were unfortunatelyover-conscious of their merits. Ill-intentioned officers had taught themto look for extravagant rewards. Their expectations had not beenfulfilled; and when they supposed that their labors were over, theyreceived orders to prepare for a campaign in Africa. Sallust, thehistorian, was in command of their quarters in Campania. They mutinied, and almost killed him. He fled to Rome. The soldiers of the favored 10thlegion pursued him to the gates, and demanded speech with Caesar. He badethem come to him, and with his usual fearlessness told them to bring theirswords. The army was Caesar's life. In the army lay the future of Rome, if Romewas to have a future. There, if anywhere, the national spirit survived. Itwas a trying moment; but there was a calmness in Caesar, a rising from aprofound indifference to what man or fortune could give or take from him, which no extremity could shake. The legionaries entered the city, and Caesar directed them to state theircomplaints. They spoke of their services and their sufferings. They saidthat they had been promised rewards, but their rewards so far had beenwords, and they asked for their discharge. They did not really wish forit. They did not expect it. But they supposed that Caesar could notdispense with them, and that they might dictate their own terms. During the wars in Gaul, Caesar had been most munificent to his soldiers. He had doubled their ordinary pay. He had shared the spoils of hisconquests with them. Time and leisure had alone been wanting to him torecompense their splendid fidelity in the campaigns in Spain and Greece. He had treated them as his children; no commander had ever been morecareful of his soldiers' lives; when addressing the army he had calledthem always "commilitones, " "comrades, " "brothers-in-arms. " The familiar word was now no longer heard from him. "You say well, quirites, " [2] he answered; "you have labored hard, and you havesuffered much; you desire your discharge--you have it. I discharge you whoare present. I discharge all who have served their time. You shall haveyour recompense. It shall never be said of me that I made use of you whenI was in danger, and was ungrateful to you when the peril was past. " "Quirites" he had called them; no longer Roman legionaries, proud of theirachievements, and glorying in their great commander, but "quirites"--plaincitizens. The sight of Caesar, the familiar form and voice, the words, every sentence of which they knew that he meant, cut them to the heart. They were humbled, they begged to be forgiven. They said they would gowith him to Africa, or to the world's end. He did not at once accept theirpenitence. He told them that lands had been allotted to every soldier outof the _ager publicus_, or out of his own personal estates. Suetoniussays that the sections had been carefully taken so as not to disturbexisting occupants; and thus it appeared that he had been thinking of themand providing for them when they supposed themselves forgotten. Money, too, he had ready for each, part in hand, part in bonds bearing interest, to be redeemed when the war should be over. Again, passionately, theyimplored to be allowed to continue with him. He relented, but notentirely. "Let all go who wish to go, " he said; "I will have none serve with me whoserve unwillingly. " "All, all!" they cried; "not one of us will leave you"--and not one went. The mutiny was the greatest peril, perhaps, to which Caesar had ever beenexposed. No more was said; but Caesar took silent notice of the officerswho had encouraged the discontented spirit. In common things, Dion Cassiussays, he was the kindest and most considerate of commanders. He passedlightly over small offences; but military rebellion in those who werereally responsible he never forgave. [Sidenote: B. C. 46. ]The African business could now be attended to. It was again midwinter. Winter campaigns were trying, but Caesar had hitherto found them answer tohim; the enemy had suffered more than himself; while, as long as anopposition Senate was sitting across the Mediterranean, intrigue andconspiracy made security impossible at home. Many a false spirit nowfawning at home on Caesar was longing for his destruction. The army withwhich he would have to deal was less respectable than that which Pompeyhad commanded at Durazzo, but it was numerically as strong or stronger. Cato, assisted by Labienus, had formed into legions sixty thousandItalians. They had a hundred and twenty elephants, and African cavalry inuncounted multitudes. Caesar perhaps despised an enemy too much whom hehad so often beaten. He sailed from Lilybaeum on the 19th of December, with a mere handful of men, leaving the rest of his troops to follow asthey could. No rendezvous had been positively fixed, for between theweather and the enemy it was uncertain where the troops would be able toland, and the generals of the different divisions were left to theirdiscretion. Caesar on arriving seized and fortified a defensible spot atRuspinum. [3] The other legions dropped in slowly, and before a third ofthem had arrived the enemy were swarming about the camp, while the Pompeyswere alert on the water to seize stray transports or provision ships. There was skirmishing every day in front of Caesar's lines. The Numidianhorse surrounded his thin cohorts like swarms of hornets. Labienus himselfrode up on one occasion to a battalion which was standing still under ashower of arrows, and asked in mockery who they were. A soldier of the10th legion lifted his cap that his face might be recognized, hurled hisjavelin for answer, and brought Labienus's horse to the ground. Butcourage was of no avail in the face of overwhelming numbers. Scipio's armycollected faster than Caesar's, and Caesar's young soldiers showed someuneasiness in a position so unexpected. Caesar, however, was confident andin high spirits. [4] Roman residents in the African province came graduallyin to him, and some African tribes, out of respect, it was said, for thememory of Marius. A few towns declared against the Senate in indignationat Scipio's promise that the province was to be abandoned to Juba. Scipioreplied with burning the Roman country houses and wasting the lands, andstill killing steadily every friend of Caesar that he could lay hands on. Caesar's steady clemency had made no difference. The senatorial factionwent on as they had begun till at length their ferocity was repaid uponthem. The reports from the interior became unbearable. Caesar sent an impatientmessage to Sicily that, storm or calm, the remaining legions must come tohim, or not a house would be left standing in the province. The officerswere no longer what they had been. The men came, but bringing only theirarms and tools, without change of clothes and without tents, though it wasthe rainy season. Good will and good hearts, however, made up for othershortcomings. Deserters dropped in thick from the Senate's army. KingJuba, it appeared, had joined them, and Roman pride had been outraged, when Juba had been seen taking precedence in the council of war, andMetellus Scipio exchanging his imperial purple in the royal presence for aplain dress of white. [Sidenote: April 6, B. C. 46. ]The time of clemency was past. Publius Ligarius was taken in a skirmish. He had been one of the captives at Lerida who had given his word to serveno further in the war. He was tried for breaking his engagement, and wasput to death. Still, Scipio's army kept the field in full strength, theloss by desertions being made up by fresh recruits sent from Utica byCato. Caesar's men flinched from facing the elephants, and time was lostwhile other elephants were fetched from Italy, that they might handle themand grow familiar with them. Scipio had been taught caution by the fate ofPompey, and avoided a battle, and thus three months wore away before adecisive impression had been made. But the clear dark eyes of theconqueror of Pharsalia had taken the measure of the situation andcomprehended the features of it. By this time he had an effective squadronof ships, which had swept off Pompey's cruisers; and if Scipio shrank froman engagement it was possible to force him into it. A division of Scipio'stroops were in the peninsula of Thapsus. [5] If Thapsus was blockaded atsea and besieged by land, Scipio would be driven to come to its relief, and would have to fight in the open country. Caesar occupied the neck ofthe peninsula, and the result was what he knew it must be. Scipio and Jubacame down out of the hills with their united armies. Their legions werebeginning to form intrenchments, and Caesar was leisurely watching theiroperations, when at the sight of the enemy an irresistible enthusiasm ranthrough his lines. The cry rose for instant attack; and Caesar, yieldingwillingly to the universal impulse, sprang on his horse and led the chargein person. There was no real fighting. The elephants which Scipio hadplaced in front wheeled about and plunged back into the camp, trumpetingand roaring. The vallum was carried at a rush, and afterward there wasless a battle than a massacre. Officers and men fled for their lives likefrightened antelopes, or flung themselves on their knees for mercy. Thistime no mercy was shown. The deliberate cruelty with which the war hadbeen carried on had done its work at last. The troops were savage, andkilled every man that they overtook. Caesar tried to check the carnage, but his efforts were unavailing. The leaders escaped for the time by thespeed of their horses. They scattered with a general purpose of making forSpain. Labienus reached it, but few besides him. Afranius and FaustusSylla with a party of cavalry galloped to Utica, which they expected tohold till one of the Pompeys could bring vessels to take them off. TheUtican towns-people had from the first shown an inclination for Caesar. Neither they nor any other Romans in Africa liked the prospect of beingpassed over to the barbarians. [Sidenote: B. C. 46. ]Cowards smarting under defeat are always cruel. The fugitives from Thapsusfound that Utica would not be available for their purpose, and in revengethey began to massacre the citizens. Cato was still in the town. Cato wasone of those better natured men whom revolution yokes so often with basecompanionship. He was shocked at the needless cruelty, and bribed themurderous gang to depart. They were taken soon afterward by Caesar'scavalry. Afranius and Sylla were brought into the camp as prisoners. Therewas a discussion in the camp as to what was to be done with them. Caesarwished to be lenient, but the feeling in the legions was too strong. Thesystem of pardons could not be continued in the face of hatred soenvenomed. The two commanders were executed; Caesar contenting himselfwith securing Sylla's property for his wife, Pompeia, the great Pompey'sdaughter. Cato Caesar was most anxious to save; but Cato's enmity was soungovernable that he grudged Caesar the honor of forgiving him. Hisanimosity had been originally the natural antipathy which a man of narrowunderstanding instinctively feels for a man of genius. It had beenconverted by perpetual disappointment into a monomania, and Caesar hadbecome to him the incarnation of every quality and every principle whichhe most abhorred. Cato was upright, unselfish, incorruptibly pure in deedand word; but he was a fanatic whom no experience could teach, and headhered to his convictions with the more tenacity, because fortune or thedisposition of events so steadily declared them to be mistaken. He wouldhave surrendered Caesar to the Germans as a reward for having driven themback over the Rhine. He was one of those who were most eager to impeachhim for the acts of his consulship, though the acts themselves were suchas, if they had been done by another, he would himself have most warmlyapproved; and he was tempted by personal dislike to attach himself to menwhose object was to reimpose upon his country a new tyranny of Sylla. Hischaracter had given respectability to a cause which, if left to its properdefenders, would have appeared in its natural baseness, and thus on himrested the responsibility for the color of justice in which it wasdisguised. That after all which had passed he should be compelled toaccept his pardon at Caesar's hands was an indignity to which he could notsubmit, and before the conqueror could reach Utica he fell upon his swordand died. _Ultimus Romanorum_ has been the epitaph which posterityhas written on the tomb of Cato. Nobler Romans than he lived after him;and a genuine son of the old Republic would never have consented tosurrender an imperial province to a barbarian prince. But at least he wasan open enemy. He would not, like his nephew Brutus, have pretended to beCaesar's friend, that he might the more conveniently drive a dagger intohis side. The rest of the party was broken up. Scipio sailed for Spain, but wasdriven back by foul weather into Hippo, where he was taken and killed. Hiscorrespondence was found and taken to Caesar, who burnt it unread, as hehad burnt Pompey's. The end of Juba and Petreius had a wild splendor aboutit. They had fled together from Thapsus to Zama, Juba's own principalcity, and they were refused admission. Disdaining to be taken prisoners, as they knew they inevitably would be, they went to a country house in theneighborhood belonging to the king. There, after a last sumptuous banquet, they agreed to die like warriors by each other's hand. Juba killedPetreius, and then ran upon his own sword. So the actors in the drama were passing away. Domitius, Pompey, Lentulus, Ligarius, Metellus Scipio, Afranius, Cato, Petreius, had sunk into bloodygraves. Labienus had escaped clear from the battle; and knowing that ifCaesar himself would pardon him Caesar's army never would, he made his wayto Spain, where one last desperate hope remained. The mutinous legions ofCassius Longinus had declared for the Senate. Some remnants of Pompey'stroops who had been dismissed after Lerida had been collected again andjoined them; and these, knowing, as Labienus knew, that they had sinnedbeyond forgiveness, were prepared to fight to the last and die at bay. One memorable scene in the African campaign must not be forgotten. WhileCaesar was in difficulty at Ruspinum, and was impatiently waiting for hislegions from Sicily, there arrived a general officer of the 10th, namedCaius Avienus, who had occupied the whole of one of the transports withhis personal servants, horses, and other conveniences, and had not broughtwith him a single soldier. Avienus had been already privately noted byCaesar as having been connected with the mutiny in Campania. His ownhabits in the field were simple in the extreme, and he hated to see hisofficers self-indulgent. He used the opportunity to make an example of himand of one or two others at the same time. He called his tribunes and centurions together. "I could wish, " he said, "that certain persons would have remembered for themselves parts of theirpast conduct which, though I overlooked them, were known to me; I couldwish they would have atoned for these faults by special attention to theirduties. As they have not chosen to do this, I must make an example of themas a warning to others. "You, Caius Avienus, instigated soldiers in the service of the State tomutiny against their commanders. You oppressed towns which were under yourcharge. Forgetting your duty to the army and to me, you filled a vesselwith your own establishment which was intended for the transport oftroops; and at a difficult moment we were thus left, through your means, without the men whom we needed. For these causes, and as a mark ofdisgrace, I dismiss you from the service, and I order you to leave Africaby the first ship which sails. "You, Aulus Fonteius [another tribune], have been a seditious and a badofficer. I dismiss you also. "You, Titus Salienus, Marcus Tiro, Caius Clusinas, centurions, obtainedyour commissions by favor, not by merit. You have shown want of courage inthe field; your conduct otherwise has been uniformly bad; you haveencouraged a mutinous spirit in your companies. You are unworthy to serveunder my command. You are dismissed, and will return to Italy. " The five offenders were sent under guard on board ship, each noticeablybeing allowed a single slave to wait upon him, and so were expelled fromthe country. This remarkable picture of Caesar's method of enforcing discipline isdescribed by a person who was evidently present;[6] and it may be takenas a correction to the vague stories of his severity to these officerswhich are told by Dion Cassius. [1] _To Atticus_, xi. 7. [2] Citizens. [3] Where the African coast turns south from Cape Bon. [4] "Animum enim altum et erectum prae se gerebat. "--_De Bello Africano_. [5] Between Carthage and Utica. [6] _De Bella Africano_, c. 54. This remarkably interesting narrative is attached to Caesar's _Commentaries_. The author is unknown. CHAPTER XXV. [Sidenote: B. C. 45. ]The drift of disaffection into Spain was held at first to be of littlemoment. The battle of Thapsus, the final breaking up of the senatorialparty, and the deaths of its leaders, were supposed to have brought an endat last to the divisions which had so long convulsed the Empire. Rome puton its best dress. The people had been on Caesar's side from the first. Those who still nursed in their hearts the old animosity were afraid toshow it, and the nation appeared once more united in enthusiasm for theconqueror. There were triumphal processions which lasted for four days. There were sham fights on artificial lakes, bloody gladiator shows, whichthe Roman populace looked for as their special delight. The rejoicingsbeing over, business began. Caesar was, of course, supreme. He was madeinspector of public morals, the censorship being deemed inadequate to curbthe inordinate extravagance. He was named Dictator for ten years, with aright of nominating the person whom the people were to choose for theirconsuls and praetors. The clubs and caucuses, the bribery of the tribes, the intimidation, the organized bands of voters formed out of the clientsof the aristocracy, were all at an end. The courts of law were purified. No more judges were to be bought with money or by fouler temptations. TheLeges Julias became a practical reality. One remarkable and darable reformwas undertaken and carried through amidst the jests of Cicero and theother wits of the time--the revision of the Roman calendar. Thedistribution of the year had been governed hitherto by the motions of themoon. The twelve annual moons had fixed at twelve the number of themonths, and the number of days required to bring the lunar year intocorrespondence with the solar had been supplied by irregularintercalations, at the direction of the Sacred College. But the SacredCollege during the last distracted century had neglected their office. Thelunar year was now sixty-five days in advance of the sun. The so-calledwinter was really the autumn, the spring the winter. The summer solsticefell at the beginning of the legal September. On Caesar as PontifexMaximus devolved the duty of bringing confusion into order, and thecompleteness with which the work was accomplished at the first moment ofhis leisure shows that he had found time in the midst of his campaigns tothink of other things than war or politics. Sosigenes, an Alexandrianastronomer, was called in to superintend the reform. It is not unlikelythat he had made acquaintance with Sosigenes in Egypt, and had discussedthe problem with him in the hours during which he is supposed to haveamused himself "in the arms of Cleopatra. " Sosigenes, leaving the moonaltogether, took the sun for the basis of the new system. The Alexandrianobservers had discovered that the annual course of the sun was completedin 365 days and six hours. The lunar twelve was allowed to remain to fixthe number of the months. The numbers of days in each month were adjustedto absorb 365 days. The superfluous hours were allowed to accumulate, andevery fourth year an additional day was to be intercalated. An arbitrarystep was required to repair the negligence of the past. Sixty-five dayshad still to be made good. The new system, depending wholly on the sun, would naturally have commenced with the winter solstice. But Caesar so fardeferred to usage as to choose to begin, not with the solstice itself, butwith the first new moon which followed. It so happened in that year thatthe new moon was eighty days after the solstice; and thus the next yearstarted, as it continues to start, from the 1st of January. The eight dayswere added to the sixty-five, and the current year was lengthened bynearly three months. It pleased Cicero to mock, as if Caesar, notcontented with the earth, was making himself the master of the heavens. "Lyra, " he said, "was to set according to the edict;" but the unwise manwas not Caesar in this instance. [1] While Sosigenes was at work with the calendar, Caesar personally againrevised the Senate. He expelled every member who had been guilty ofextortion or corruption; he supplied the vacancies with officers of merit, with distinguished colonists, with foreigners, with meritorious citizens, even including Gauls, from all parts of the Empire. Time, unfortunately, had to pass before these new men could take their places, but meanwhile hetreated the existing body with all forms of respect, and took no step onany question of public moment till the Senate had deliberated on it. As afitting close to the war he proclaimed an amnesty to all who had bornearms against him. The past was to be forgotten, and all his efforts weredirected to the regeneration of Roman society. Cicero paints the habits offashionable life in colors which were possibly exaggerated; but enoughremains of authentic fact to justify the general truth of the picture. Women had forgotten their honor, children their respect for parents. Husbands had murdered wives, and wives husbands. Parricide and incestformed common incidents of domestic Italian history; and, as justice hadbeen ordered in the last years of the Republic, the most abandoned villainwho came into court with a handful of gold was assured of impunity. Richmen, says Suetonius, were never deterred from crime by a fear offorfeiting their estates; they had but to leave Italy, and their propertywas secured to them. It was held an extraordinary step toward improvementwhen Caesar abolished the monstrous privilege, and ordered that parricidesshould not only be exiled, but should forfeit everything that belonged tothem, and that minor felons should forfeit half their estates. Cicero had prophesied so positively that Caesar would throw off the maskof clemency when the need for it was gone, that he was disappointed tofind him persevere in the same gentleness, and was impatient for revengeto begin. So bitter Cicero was that he once told Atticus he could almostwish himself to be the object of some cruel prosecution, that the tyrantmight have the disgrace of it. [2] He could not deny that "the tyrant" was doing what, if Rome was tocontinue an ordered commonwealth, it was essential must be done. Caesar'sacts were unconstitutional! Yes; but constitutions are made for men, notmen for constitutions, and Cicero had long seen that the Constitution wasat an end. It had died of its own iniquities. He had perceived in hisbetter moments that Caesar and Caesar only could preserve such degrees offreedom as could be retained without universal destruction. But he refusedto be comforted. He considered it a disgrace to them all that Caesar wasalive. [3] Why did not somebody kill him? Kill him? And what then? Onthat side too the outlook was not promising. News had come that Labienusand young Cnaeus Pompey had united their forces in Spain. The wholePeninsula was in revolt, and the counter-revolution was not impossibleafter all. He reflected with terror on the sarcasms which he had flung onyoung Pompey. He knew him to be a fool and a savage. "Hang me, " he said, "if I do not prefer an old and kind master to trying experiments with anew and cruel one. The laugh will be on the other side then. " [4] Far had Cicero fallen from his dream of being the greatest man in Rome!Condemned to immortality by his genius, yet condemned also to survive inthe portrait of himself which he has so unconsciously and so innocentlydrawn. The accounts from Spain were indeed most serious. It is the misfortune ofmen of superior military ability that their subordinates are generallyfailures when trusted with independent commands. Accustomed to obeyimplicitly the instructions of their chief, they have done what they havebeen told to do, and their virtue has been in never thinking forthemselves. They succeed, and they forget why they succeed, and in partattribute their fortune to their own skill. With Alexander's generals, with Caesar's, with Cromwell's, even with some of Napoleon's, the storyhas been the same. They have been self-confident, yet when thrown upontheir own resources they have driven back upon a judgment which has beeninadequately trained. The mind which guided them is absent. The instrumentis called on to become self-acting, and necessarily acts unwisely. Caesar's lieutenants while under his own eye had executed his orders withthe precision of a machine. When left to their own responsibility theywere invariably found wanting. Among all his officers there was not a manof real eminence. Labienus, the ablest of them, had but to desert Caesar, to commit blunder upon blunder, and to ruin the cause to which he attachedhimself. Antony, Lepidus, Trebonius, Calvinus, Cassius Longinus, QuintusCicero, Sabinus, Decimus Brutus, Vatinius, were trusted with independentauthority, only to show themselves unfit to use it. Cicero had guessedshrewdly that Caesar's greatest difficulties would begin with his victory. He had not a man who was able to govern under him away from his immediateeye. Cassius Longinus, Trebonius, and Marcus Lepidus had been sent to Spainafter the battle of Pharsalia. They had quarrelled among themselves. Theyhad driven the legions into mutiny. The authority of Rome had broken downas entirely as when Sertorius was defying the Senate; and Spain had becomethe receptacle of all the active disaffection which remained in theEmpire. Thither had drifted the wreck of Scipio's African army. Thitherhad gathered the outlaws, pirates, and banditti of Italy and the Islands. Thither too had come flights of Numidians and Moors in hopes of plunder;and Pompey's sons and Labienus had collected an army as numerous as thatwhich had been defeated at Thapsus, and composed of materials far moredangerous and desperate. There were thirteen legions of them in all, regularly formed, with eagles and standards; two which had deserted fromTrebonius; one made out of Roman Spanish settlers, or old soldiers ofPompey's who had been dismissed at Lerida; four out of the remnants of thecampaign in Africa; the rest a miscellaneous combination of the mutinouslegions of Longinus and outlawed adventurers who knew that there was noforgiveness for them, and were ready to fight while they could stand. Itwas the last cast of the dice for the old party of the aristocracy. Appearances were thrown off. There were no more Catos, no more phantomSenates to lend to rebellion the pretended dignity of a national cause. The true barbarian was there in his natural colors. Very reluctantly Caesar found that he must himself grapple with this lastconvulsion. The sanguinary obstinacy which no longer proposed any objectto itself save defiance and revenge, was converting a war which at firstwore an aspect of a legitimate constitutional struggle, into a conflictwith brigands. Clemency had ceased to be possible, and Caesar would havegladly left to others the execution in person of the sharp surgery whichwas now necessary. He was growing old: fifty-five this summer. His healthwas giving way. For fourteen years he had known no rest. That he couldhave endured so long such a strain on mind and body was due only to hisextraordinary abstinence, to the simplicity of his habits, and thecalmness of temperament which in the most anxious moments refused to beagitated. But the work was telling at last on his constitution, and hedeparted on his last campaign with confessed unwillingness. The future wasclouded with uncertainty. A few more years of life might enable him tointroduce into the shattered frame of the Commonwealth some durableelements. His death in the existing confusion might be as fatal asAlexander's. That some one person not liable to removal under the annualwave of electoral agitation must preside over the army and theadministration, had been evident in lucid moments even to Cicero. To leavethe prize to be contended for among the military chiefs was to bequeath alegacy of civil wars and probable disruption; to compound with theembittered remnants of the aristocracy who were still in the field wouldintensify the danger; yet time and peace alone could give opportunity forthe conditions of a permanent settlement to shape themselves. The name ofCaesar had become identified with the stability of the Empire. He no doubtforesaw that the only possible chief would be found in his own family. Being himself childless, he had adopted his sister's grandson, Octavius, afterward Augustus, a fatherless boy of seventeen; and had trained himunder his own eye. He had discerned qualities doubtless in his nephewwhich, if his own life was extended for a few years longer, might enablethe boy to become the representative of his house and perhaps the heir ofhis power. In the unrecorded intercourse between the uncle and his niece'schild lies the explanation of the rapidity with which the untried Octaviusseized the reins when all was again chaos, and directed the Commonwealthupon the lines which it was to follow during the remaining centuries ofRoman power. Octavius accompanied Caesar into Spain. They travelled in a carriage, having as a third with them the general whom Caesar most trusted andliked, and whom he had named in his will as one of Octavius's guardians, Decimus Brutus--the same officer who had commanded his fleet for him atQuiberon and at Marseilles, and had now been selected as the futuregovernor of Cisalpine Gaul. Once more it was midwinter when they leftRome. They travelled swiftly; and Caesar, as usual, himself brought thenews that he was coming. But the winter season did not bring to him itsusual advantages, for the whole Peninsula had revolted, and Pompey andLabienus were able to shelter their troops in the towns, while Caesar wasobliged to keep the field. Attempts here and there to capture detachedpositions led to no results. On both sides now the war was carried on uponthe principles which the Senate had adopted from the first. Prisoners fromthe revolted legions were instantly executed, and Cnaeus Pompey murderedthe provincials whom he suspected of an inclination for Caesar. Attagonawas at last taken. Caesar moved on Cordova; and Pompey, fearing that theimportant cities might seek their own security by coming separately toterms, found it necessary to risk a battle. [Sidenote: March 17, B. C. 45. ][Sidenote: B. C. 45. ]The scene of the conflict which ended the civil war was the plain ofMunda. The day was the 17th of March, B. C. 45. Spanish tradition placesMunda on the Mediterranean, near Gibraltar. The real Munda was on theGuadalquiver, so near to Cordova that the remains of the beaten army foundshelter within its walls after the battle. Caesar had been so invariablyvictorious in his engagements in the open field that the result might havebeen thought a foregone conclusion. Legendary history reported in the nextgeneration that the elements had been pregnant with auguries. Images hadsweated; the sky had blazed with meteors; celestial armies, the spirits ofthe past and future, had battled among the constellations. The signs hadbeen unfavorable to the Pompeians; the eagles of their legions had droppedthe golden thunderbolts from their talons, spread their wings, and hadflown away to Caesar. In reality, the eagles had remained in their placestill the standards fell from the hands of their dead defenders; and thebattle was one of the most desperate in which Caesar had ever beenengaged. The numbers were nearly equal--the material on both sides equallygood. Pompey's army was composed of revolted Roman soldiers. In arms, indiscipline, in stubborn fierceness, there was no difference. The Pompeianshad the advantage of situation, the village of Munda, with the hill onwhich it stood, being in the centre of their lines. The Moorish andSpanish auxiliaries, of whom there were large bodies on either side, stoodapart when the legions closed; they having no further interest in thematter than in siding with the conqueror, when fortune had decided who theconqueror was to be. There were no manoeuvres; no scientific evolutions. The Pompeians knew that there was no hope for them if they were defeated. Caesar's men, weary and savage at the protraction of the war, weredetermined to make a last end of it; and the two armies fought hand tohand with their short swords, with set teeth and pressed lips, opened onlywith a sharp cry as an enemy fell dead. So equal was the struggle, sodoubtful at one moment the issue of it, that Caesar himself sprang fromhis horse, seized a standard, and rallied a wavering legion. It seemed asif the men meant all to stand and kill or be killed as long as daylightlasted. The ill fate of Labienus decided the victory. He had seen, as hesupposed, some movement which alarmed him among Caesar's Moorishauxiliaries, and had galloped conspicuously across the field to lead adivision to check them. A shout rose, "He flies--he flies!" A panic ranalong the Pompeian lines. They gave way, and Caesar's legions forced aroad between their ranks. One wing broke off and made for Cordova; therest plunged wildly within the ditch and walls of Munda, the avengingsword smiting behind into the huddled mass of fugitives. Scarcely aprisoner was taken. Thirty thousand fell on the field, among them threethousand Roman knights, the last remains of the haughty youths who hadthreatened Caesar with their swords in the senate-house, and had hackedClodius's mob in the Forum. Among them was slain Labienus--his desertionof his general, his insults and his cruelties to his comrades, expiated atlast in his own blood. Attius Varus was killed also, who had been withJuba when he destroyed Curio. The tragedy was being knitted up in thedeaths of the last actors in it. The eagles of the thirteen legions wereall taken. The two Pompeys escaped on their horses, Sextus disappearing inthe mountains of Grenada or the Sierra Morena; Cnaeus flying forGibraltar, where he hoped to find a friendly squadron. Munda was at once blockaded, the enclosing wall--savage evidence of thetemper of the conquerors--being built of dead bodies pinned together withlances, and on the top of it a fringe of heads on swords' points with thefaces turned toward the town. A sally was attempted at midnight, andfailed. The desperate wretches then fought among themselves, till atlength the place was surrendered, and fourteen thousand of those who stillsurvived were taken, and spared. Their comrades, who had made their wayinto Cordova, were less fortunate. When the result of the battle wasknown, the leading citizen, who had headed the revolt against Caesar, gathered all that belonged to him into a heap, poured turpentine over it, and, after a last feast with his family, burnt himself, his house, hischildren, and servants. In the midst of the tumult the walls were stormed. Cordova was given up to plunder and massacre, and twenty-two thousandmiserable people--most of them, it may be hoped, the fugitives fromMunda--were killed. The example sufficed. Every town opened its gates, andSpain was once more submissive. Sextus Pompey successfully concealedhimself. Cnaeus reached Gibraltar, but to find that most of the shipswhich he looked for had been taken by Caesar's fleet. He tried to cross tothe African coast, but was driven back by bad weather, and search partieswere instantly on his track. He had been wounded; he had sprained hisankle in his flight. Strength and hope were gone. He was carried on alitter to a cave on a mountain side, where his pursuers found him, cut offhis head, and spared Cicero from further anxiety. Thus bloodily ended the Civil War, which the Senate of Rome had undertakenagainst Caesar, to escape the reforms which were threatened by his secondconsulship. They had involuntarily rendered their country the best servicewhich they were capable of conferring upon it, for the attempts whichCaesar would have made to amend a system too decayed to benefit by theprocess had been rendered forever impossible by their persistence. Thefree constitution of the Republic had issued at last in elections whichwere a mockery of representation, in courts of law which were an insult tojustice, and in the conversion of the Provinces of the Empire into thefeeding-grounds of a gluttonous aristocracy. In the army alone the Romancharacter and the Roman honor survived. In the Imperator, therefore, aschief of the army, the care of the Provinces, the direction of publicpolicy, the sovereign authority in the last appeal, could alonethenceforward reside. The Senate might remain as a Council of State; themagistrates might bear their old names, and administer their oldfunctions. But the authority of the executive government lay in theloyalty, the morality, and the patriotism of the legions to whom the powerhad been transferred. Fortunately for Rome, the change came before decayhad eaten into the bone, and the genius of the Empire had still a refugefrom platform oratory and senatorial wrangling in the hearts of hersoldiers. Caesar did not immediately return to Italy. Affairs in Rome were no longerpressing, and, after the carelessness and blunders of his lieutenants, theadministration of the Peninsula required his personal inspection. Fromopen revolts in any part of the Roman dominions he had nothing more tofear. The last card had been played, and the game of open resistance waslost beyond recovery. There might be dangers of another kind: dangers fromambitious generals, who might hope to take Caesar's place on his death; ordangers from constitutional philosophers, like Cicero, who had thoughtfrom the first that the Civil War had been a mistake, "that Caesar was butmortal, and that there were many ways in which a man might die. " Areflection so frankly expressed, by so respectable a person, must haveoccurred to many others as well as to Cicero; Caesar could not but haveforeseen in what resources disappointed fanaticism or baffled selfishnessmight seek refuge. But of such possibilities he was prepared to take hischance; he did not fly from them, he did not seek them; he took his workas he found it, and remained in Spain through the summer, imposing finesand allotting rewards, readjusting the taxation, and extending thepolitical privileges of the Roman colonies. It was not till late in theautumn that he again turned his face toward Rome. [1] In connection with this subject it is worth while to mention another change in the division of time, not introduced by Caesar, but which came into general use about a century after. The week of seven days was unknown to the Greeks and to the Romans of the Commonwealth, the days of the month being counted by the phases of the moon. The seven-days division was supposed by the Romans to be Egyptian. We know it to have been Jewish, and it was probably introduced to the general world on the first spread of Christianity. It was universally adopted at any rate after Christianity had been planted in different parts of the Empire, but while the Government and the mass of the people were still unconverted to the new religion. The week was accepted for its convenience; but while accepted it was paganized; and the seven days were allotted to the five planets and the sun and moon in the order which still survives among the Latin nations, and here in England with a further introduction of Scandinavian mythology. The principle of the distribution was what is popularly called "the music of the spheres, " and turns on a law of Greek music, which is called by Don Cassius the [Greek: armonia dia teddaron]. Assuming the earth to be the centre of the universe, the celestial bodies which have a proper movement of their own among the stars were arranged in the order of their apparent periods of revolution--Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Venus, Mercury, the Moon. The Jewish Jehovah was identified by the Graeco-Romans with Saturn, the oldest of the heathen personal gods. The Sabbath was the day supposed to be specially devoted to him. The first day of the week was, therefore, given to Saturn. Passing over Jupiter and Mars, according to the laws of the [Greek: armonia], the next day was given to the Sun; again passing over two, the next to the Moon, and so on, going round again to the rest, till the still existing order came out. Dies Saturni, dies Solis, dies Lunae, dies Martis, dies Mercurri, dies Jovis, and dies Veneris. See Dion Cassius, _Historia Romana_, lib. Xxxvii. C. 18. Dion Cassius gives a second account of the distribution, depending on the twenty-four hours of the day. But the twenty-four hours being a division purely artificial, this explanation is of less interest. [2] _To Atticus_, x. 12. [3] "Cum vivere ipsum turpe sit nobis. "--_To Atticus_, xiii. 28. [4] "Peream nisi sollicitus sum, ac malo veterem et clementem dominum habere, quam novum et crudelem experiri. Scis, Cnaeus quam sit fatuus. Scis, quomodo crudelitatem virtutem putet. Scis, quam se semper a nobis derisum putet. Vereor, ne nos rustice gladio velit [Greek: antimuktaerisai]"--_To Caius Cassius, Ad Fam_. Xv. 19. CHAPTER XXVI. Caesar came back to Rome to resume the suspended work of practical reform. His first care was to remove the fears which the final spasm of rebellionhad again provoked. He had already granted an amnesty. But the optimateswere conscious that they had desired and hoped that the Pompeys might bevictorious in Spain. Caesar invited the surviving leaders of the party tosue for pardon on not unbecoming conditions. Hitherto they had kept nofaith with him, and on the first show of opportunity had relapsed intodefiance. His forbearance had been attributed to want of power rather thanof will to punish; when they saw him again triumphant, they assumed thatthe representative of the Marian principles would show at last the colorsof his uncle, and that Rome would again run with blood. He knew them all. He knew that they hated him, and would continue to hate him; but hesupposed that they had recognized the hopelessness and uselessness offarther conspiracy. By destroying him they would fall only under the rodof less scrupulous conquerors; and therefore he was content that theyshould ask to be forgiven. To show further that the past was really to beforgotten, he drew no distinction between his enemies and his friends, andhe recommended impartially for office those whose rank or services to theState entitled them to look for promotion. Thus he pardoned and advancedCaius Cassius, who would have killed him in Cilicia. [1] But Cassius hadsaved Syria from being overrun by the Parthians after the death ofCrassus; and the service to the State outweighed the injury to himself. Sohe pardoned and advanced Marcus Brutus, his friend Servilia's son, who hadfought against him at Pharsalia, and had been saved from death there byhis special orders. So he pardoned and protected Cicero; so MarcusMarcellus, who, as consul, had moved that he should be recalled from hisgovernment, and had flogged the citizen of Como, in scorn of theprivileges which Caesar had granted to the colony. So he pardoned alsoQuintus Ligarius, [2] who had betrayed his confidence in Africa; so ahundred others, who now submitted, accepted his favors, and boundthemselves to plot against him no more. To the widows and children ofthose who had fallen in the war he restored the estates and honors oftheir families. Finally, as some were still sullen, and refused to sue fora forgiveness which might imply an acknowledgment of guilt, he renewed thegeneral amnesty of the previous year; and, as a last evidence that hisvictory was not the triumph of democracy, but the consolidation of aunited Empire, he restored the statues of Sylla and Pompey, which had beenthrown down in the revolution, and again dedicated them with a publicceremonial. Having thus proved that, so far as he was concerned, he nourished noresentment against the persons of the optimates, or against theirprinciples, so far as they were consistent with the future welfare of theRoman State, Caesar set himself again to the reorganization of theadministration. Unfortunately, each step that he took was a fresh crime inthe eyes of men whose pleasant monopoly of power he had overthrown. Butthis was a necessity of the revolution. They had fought for theirsupremacy, and had lost the day. He increased the number of the Senate to nine hundred, filling its ranksfrom eminent provincials; introducing even barbarian Gauls, and, stillworse, libertini, the sons of liberated slaves, who had risen todistinction by their own merit. The new members came in slowly, and it isneedless to say were unwillingly received; a private handbill was sentround, recommending the coldest of greetings to them. [3] The inferior magistrates were now responsible to himself as Dictator. Headded to their numbers also, and to check the mischiefs of the annualelections, he ordered that they should be chosen for three years. He cutshort the corn grants, which nursed the city mob in idleness; and fromamong the impoverished citizens he furnished out masses of colonists torepair the decay of ancient cities. Corinth rose from its ashes underCaesar's care. Eighty thousand Italians were settled down on the site ofCarthage. As inspector of morals, Caesar inherited in an invigorated formthe power of the censors. Senators and officials who had discreditedthemselves by dishonesty were ruthlessly degraded. His own private habitsand the habits of his household were models of frugality. He made aneffort, in which Augustus afterward imitated him, to check the luxurywhich was eating into the Roman character. He forbade the idle youngpatricians to be carried about by slaves in litters. The markets of theworld had been ransacked to provide dainties for these gentlemen. Heappointed inspectors to survey the dealers' stalls, and occasionallyprohibited dishes were carried off from the dinner table under the eyes ofthe disappointed guests, [4] Enemies enough Caesar made by thesemeasures; but it could not be said of him that he allowed indulgences tohimself which he interdicted to others. His domestic economy was strictand simple, the accounts being kept to a sesterce. His frugality washospitable. He had two tables always, one for his civilian friends, another for his officers, who dined in uniform. The food was plain, butthe best of its kind; and he was not to be played with in such matters. Anunlucky baker who supplied his guests with bread of worse quality than hefurnished for himself was put in chains. Against moral offences he wasstill more severe. He, the supposed example of licentiousness with women, executed his favorite freedman for adultery with a Roman lady. A senatorhad married a woman two days after her divorce from her first husband;Caesar pronounced the marriage void. [Sidenote: B. C. 45-44. ]Law reforms went on. Caesar appointed a commission to examine the hugemass of precedents, reduce them to principles, and form a Digest. Hecalled in Marcus Varro's help to form libraries in the great towns. Heencouraged physicians and men of science to settle in Rome, by offeringthem the freedom of the city. To maintain the free population of Italy, herequired the planters and farmers to employ a fixed proportion of freelaborers on their estates. He put an end to the pleasant tours of senatorsat the expense of the provinces; their proper place was Italy, and heallowed them to go abroad only when they were in office or in the serviceof the governors. He formed large engineering plans, a plan to drain thePontine marches and the Fucine lake, a plan to form a new channel for theTiber, another to improve the roads, another to cut the Isthmus ofCorinth. These were his employments during the few months of life whichwere left to him after the close of the war. His health was growingvisibly weaker, but his superhuman energy remained unimpaired. He was evenmeditating and was making preparation for a last campaign. The authorityof Rome on the eastern frontier had not recovered from the effects of thedestruction of the army of Crassus. The Parthians were insolent andaggressive. Caesar had determined to go in person to bring them to theirsenses as soon as he could leave Rome. Partly, it was said that he felthis life would be safer with the troops; partly, he desired to leave theadministration free from his overpowering presence, that it might learn togo alone; partly and chiefly, he wished to spend such time as might remainto him where he could do most service to his country. But he was growingweary of the thankless burden. He was heard often to say that he had livedlong enough. Men of high nature do not find the task of governing theirfellow-creatures particularly delightful. The Senate meanwhile was occupied in showing the sincerity of theirconversion by inventing honors for their new master, and smothering himwith distinctions since they had failed to defeat him in the field. Fewrecruits had yet joined them, and they were still substantially the oldbody. They voted Caesar the name of Liberator. They struck medals for him, in which he was described as Pater Patriae, an epithet which Cicero hadonce with quickened pulse heard given to himself by Pompey. "Imperator"had been a title conferred hitherto by soldiers in the field on asuccessful general. It was now granted to Caesar in a special sense, andwas made hereditary in his family, with the command-in-chief of the armyfor his life. The Senate gave him also the charge of the treasury. Theymade him consul for ten years. Statues were to be erected to him in thetemples, on the Rostra, and in the Capitol, where he was to stand as aneighth among the seven Kings of Rome. In the excess of their adoration, they desired even to place his image in the Temple of Quirinus himself, with an inscription to him as [Greek: Theos animaetos], the invinciblegod. Golden chairs, gilt chariots, triumphal robes were piled one uponanother with laurelled fasces and laurelled wreaths. His birthday was madea perpetual holiday, and the month Quinctilis[5] was renamed, in honor ofhim, July. A temple to Concord was to be erected in commemoration of hisclemency. His person was declared sacred, and to injure him by word ordeed was to be counted sacrilege. The Fortune of Caesar was introducedinto the constitutional oath, and the Senate took a solemn pledge tomaintain his acts inviolate. Finally, they arrived at a conclusion that hewas not a man at all; no longer Caius Julius, but Divus Julius, a god orthe son of god. A temple was to be built to Caesar as another Quirinus, and Antony was to be his priest. Caesar knew the meaning of all this. He must accept their flattery andbecome ridiculous, or he must appear to treat with contumely the Senatewhich offered it. The sinister purpose started occasionally into sight. One obsequious senator proposed that every woman in Rome should be at hisdisposition, and filthy libels against him were set floating under thesurface. The object, he perfectly understood, "was to draw him into aposition more and more invidious, that he might the sooner perish. " [6]The praise and the slander of such men were alike indifferent to him. Sofar as he was concerned, they might call him what they pleased; god inpublic, and devil in their epigrams, if it so seemed good to them. It wasdifficult for him to know precisely how to act, but he declined his divinehonors; and he declined the ten years' consulship. Though he was soleconsul for the year, he took a colleague, and when his colleague died onthe last day of office, he named another, that the customary forms mightbe observed. Let him do what he would, malice still misconstrued him. Cicero, the most prominent now of his senatorial flatterers, was thesharpest with his satire behind the scenes. "Caesar, " he said, "had givenso active a consul that there was no sleeping under him. " [7] Caesar was more and more weary of it. He knew that the Senate hated him;he knew that they would kill him, if they could. All these men whose lipswere running over with adulation, were longing to drive their daggers intohim. He was willing to live, if they would let him live; but, for himself, he had ceased to care about it. He disdained to take precautions againstassassination. On his first return from Spain, he had been attended by aguard; but he dismissed it in spite of the remonstrances of his friends, and went daily into the senate-house alone and unarmed. He spoke often ofhis danger with entire openness; but he seemed to think that he had somesecurity in the certainty that, if he was murdered, the Civil War wouldbreak out again, as if personal hatred was ever checked by fear ofconsequences. It was something to feel that he had not lived in vain. TheGauls were settling into peaceful habits. The soil of Gaul was now as wellcultivated as Italy. Barges loaded with merchandise were passing freelyalong the Rhone and the Saône, the Loire, the Moselle, and the Rhine. [8] The best of the chiefs were made senators of Rome, and the peoplewere happy and contented. What he had done for Gaul he might, if he lived, do for Spain, and Africa, and the East. But it was the concern of othersmore than of himself. "Better, " he said, "to die at once than live inperpetual dread of treason. " [Sidenote: B. C. 44. ]But Caesar was aware that conspiracies were being formed against him; andthat he spoke freely of his danger, appears from a speech delivered in themiddle of the winter by Cicero in Caesar's presence. It has been seen thatCicero had lately spoken of Caesar's continuance in life as a disgrace tothe State. It has been seen also that he had long thought of assassinationas the readiest means of ending it. He asserted afterward that he had notbeen consulted when the murder was actually accomplished; but theperpetrators were assured of his approbation, and when Caesar was killedhe deliberately claimed for himself a share of the guilt, if guilt therecould be in what he regarded as the most glorious achievement in humanhistory, [9] It maybe assumed, therefore, that Cicero's views upon thesubject had remained unchanged since the beginning of the Civil War, andthat his sentiments were no secret among his intimate friends. Cicero is the second great figure in the history of the time. He hasobtained the immortality which he so much desired, and we are, therefore, entitled and obliged to scrutinize his conduct with a niceness which wouldbe ungracious and unnecessary in the case of a less distinguished man. After Pharsalia he had concluded that the continuance of the war would beunjustifiable. He had put himself in communication with Antony andCaesar's friend and secretary Oppius, and at their advice he went fromGreece to Brindisi, to remain there till Caesar's pleasure should beknown. He was very miserable. He had joined Pompey with confessedreluctance, and family quarrels had followed on Pompey's defeat. Hisbrother Quintus, whom he had drawn away from Caesar, regretted havingtaken his advice. His sons and nephews were equally querulous anddissatisfied; and for himself, he dared not appear in the streets ofBrindisi, lest Caesar's soldiers should insult or injure him. Antony, however, encouraged him to hope. He assured him that Caesar was welldisposed to him, and would not only pardon him, but would show him everypossible favor, [10] and with these expectations he contrived for a whileto comfort himself. He had regarded the struggle as over, and Caesar'sside as completely victorious. But gradually the scene seemed to change. Caesar was long in returning. The optimates rallied in Africa, and therewas again a chance that they might win after all. His first thought wasalways for himself. If the constitution survived under Caesar, as he wasinclined to think that in some shape it would, he had expected that aplace would be found in it for him. [11] But how if Caesar himself shouldnot survive? How if he should be killed in Alexandria? How if he should bedefeated by Metellus Scipio? He described himself as excruciated withanxiety. [12] Through the year which followed he wavered from day to dayas the prospect varied, now cursing his folly for having followed theSenate to Greece, now for having deserted them, blaming himself at onetime for his indecision, at another for having committed himself to eitherside. [13] Gradually his alarms subsided. The Senate's party was finally overthrown. Caesar wrote to him affectionately, and allowed him to retain his title asImperator. When it appeared that he had nothing personally to fear, herecovered his spirits, and he recovered along with them a hope that theconstitution might be restored, after all, by other means than war. "Caesar could not live forever, and there were many ways in which a manmight die. " Caesar had dined with him in the country, on his way home from Spain. Hehad been as kind as Cicero could wish, but had avoided politics. WhenCaesar went on to Rome, Cicero followed him, resumed his place in theSenate, which was then in the full fervor of its affected adulation, andtook an early opportunity of speaking. Marcus Marcellus had been in exilesince Pharsalia. The Senate had interceded for his pardon, and Caesar hadgranted it, and granted it with a completeness which exceeded expectation. Cicero rose to thank him in his presence, in terms which most certainlydid not express his real feelings, whatever may have been the purposewhich they concealed. * * * * * "He had long been silent, " he said, "not from fear, but from grief anddiffidence. The time for silence was past. Thenceforward he intended tospeak his thoughts freely in his ancient manner. Such kindness, suchunheard-of generosity, such moderation in power, such incredible andalmost godlike wisdom, he felt himself unable to pass over without givingexpression to his emotions. " [14] No flow of genius, no faculty of speechor writing, could adequately describe Caesar's actions, yet on that day hehad achieved a yet greater glory. Often had Cicero thought, and often hadsaid to others, that no king or general had ever performed such exploitsas Caesar. In war, however, officers, soldiers, allies, circumstances, fortune, claimed a share in the result; and there were victories greaterthan could be won on the battlefield, where the honor was undivided. "To have conquered yourself, " he said, addressing Caesar directly, "tohave restrained your resentment, not only to have restored a distinguishedopponent to his civil rights, but to have given him more than he had lost, is a deed which raises you above humanity, and makes you most like to God. Your wars will be spoken of to the end of time in all lands and tongues;but in tales of battles we are deafened by the shoutings and the blare oftrumpets. Justice, mercy, moderation, wisdom, we admire even in fiction, or in persons whom we have never seen; how much more must we admire themin you, who are present here before us, and in whose face we read apurpose to restore us to such remnants of our liberty as have survived thewar! How can we praise, how can we love you sufficiently? By the gods, thevery walls of this house are eloquent with gratitude. .. . No conqueror in acivil war was ever so mild as you have been. To-day you have surpassedyourself. You have overcome victory in giving back the spoils to theconquered. By the laws of war we were under your feet, to be destroyed, ifyou so willed. We live by your goodness. .. . Observe, conscript fathers, how comprehensive is Caesar's sentence. We were in arms against him, howimpelled I know not. He cannot acquit us of mistake, but he holds usinnocent of crime, for he has given us back Marcellus at your entreaty. Me, of his own free will, he has restored to myself and to my country. Hehas brought back the most illustrious survivors of the war. You see themgathered here in this full assembly. He has not regarded them as enemies. He has concluded that you entered into the conflict with him rather inignorance and unfounded fear than from any motives of ambition orhostility. "For me, I was always for peace. Caesar was for peace, so was Marcellus. There were violent men among you, whose success Marcellus dreaded. Eachparty had a cause. I will not compare them. I will compare rather thevictory of the one with the possible victory of the other. Caesar's warsended with the last battle. The sword is now sheathed. Those whom we havelost fell in the fury of the fight, not one by the resentment of theconqueror. Caesar, if he could, would bring back to life many who liedead. For the others, we all feared what they might do if the day had beentheirs. They not only threatened those who were in arms against them, butthose who sate quietly at home. " * * * * * Cicero then said that he had heard a fear of assassination expressed byCaesar. By whom, he asked, could such an attempt be made? Not by thosewhom he had forgiven, for none were more attached to him. Not by hiscomrades, for they could not be so mad as to conspire against the generalto whom they owed all that they possessed. Not by his enemies, for he hadno enemies. Those who had been his enemies were either dead through theirown obstinacy, or were alive through his generosity. It was possible, however, he admitted, that there might be some such danger. * * * * * "Be you, therefore, " he said, again speaking to Caesar, --"be you watchful, and let us be diligent. Who is so careless of his own and the commonwelfare as to be ignorant that on your preservation his own depends, andthat all our lives are bound up in yours? I, as in duty bound, think ofyou by night and day; I ponder over the accidents of humanity, theuncertainty of health, the frailty of our common nature, and I grieve tothink that the Commonwealth which ought to be immortal should hang on thebreath of a single man. If to these perils be added a nefariousconspiracy, to what god can we turn for help? War has laid prostrate ourinstitutions; you alone can restore them. The courts of justice need to bereconstituted, credit to be recovered, license to be repressed, thethinned ranks of the citizens to be repaired. The bonds of society arerelaxed. In such a war, and with such a temper in men's hearts, the Statemust have lost many of its greatest ornaments, be the event what it would. These wounds need healing, and you alone can heal them. With sorrow I haveheard you say that you have lived long enough. For nature it may be thatyou have, and perhaps for glory. But for your country you have not. Putaway, I beseech you, this contempt of death. Be not wise at our expense. You repeat often, I am told, that you do not wish for longer life. Ibelieve you mean it; nor should I blame you, if you had to think only ofyourself. But by your actions you have involved the welfare of eachcitizen and of the whole Commonwealth in your own. Your work isunfinished: the foundations are hardly laid, and is it for you to bemeasuring calmly your term of days by your own desires?. .. If, Caesar, theresult of your immortal deeds is to be no more than this, that, afterdefeating your enemies, you are to leave the State in the condition inwhich it now stands, your splendid qualities will be more admired thanhonored. It remains for you to rebuild the constitution. Live till this isdone. Live till you see your country tranquil, and at peace. Then, whenyour last debt is paid, when you have filled the measure of your existenceto overflowing, then say, if you will, that you have had enough of life. Your life is not the life which is bounded by the union of your soul andbody, your life is that which shall continue fresh in the memory of agesto come, which posterity will cherish, and eternity itself keep guardover. Much has been done which men will admire: much remains to be done, which they can praise. They will read with wonder of empires andprovinces, of the Rhine, the ocean, and the Nile, of battles withoutnumber, of amazing victories, of countless monuments and triumphs; butunless this Commonwealth be wisely re-established in institutions by youbestowed upon us, your name will travel widely over the world, but willhave no stable habitation; and those who come after us will dispute aboutyou as we have disputed. Some will extol you to the skies, others willfind something wanting and the most important element of all. Remember thetribunal before which you will hereafter stand. The ages that are to bewill try you, with minds, it may be, less prejudiced than ours, uninfluenced either by desire to please you or by envy of your greatness. "Our dissensions have been crushed by the arms, and extinguished by thelenity of the conqueror. Let all of us, not the wise only, but everycitizen who has ordinary sense, be guided by a single desire. Salvationthere can be none for us, Caesar, unless you are preserved. Therefore, weexhort you, we beseech you, to watch over your own safety. You believethat you are threatened by a secret peril. From my own heart I say, and Ispeak for others as well as myself, we will stand as sentries over yoursafety, and we will interpose our own bodies between you and any dangerwhich may menace you. " [15] * * * * * Such, in compressed form, for necessary brevity, but deserving to bestudied in its own brilliant language, was the speech delivered by Cicero, in the Senate in Caesar's presence, within a few weeks of his murder. Theauthenticity of it has been questioned, but without result beyond creatinga doubt whether it was edited and corrected, according to his usual habit, by Cicero himself. The external evidence of genuineness is as good as forany of his other orations, and the Senate possessed no other speaker knownto us, to whom, with any probability, so splendid an illustration of Romaneloquence could be assigned. Now, therefore, let us turn to the second Philippic delivered in thefollowing summer when the deed had been accomplished which Ciceroprofessed to hold in so much abhorrence. Then, fiercely challenging forhimself a share in the glory of tyrannicide, he exclaimed: * * * * * "What difference is there between advice beforehand and approbationafterward? What does it matter whether I wished it to be done, or rejoicedthat it was done? Is there a man, save Antony and those who were glad tohave Caesar reign over us, that did not wish him to be killed, or thatdisapproved when he was killed? All were in fault, for all the _Boni_joined in killing him, so far as lay in them. Some were not consulted, some wanted courage, some opportunity. All were willing, " [16] Expressions so vehemently opposite compel us to compare them. Was it thatCicero was so carried away by the stream of his oratory, that he spokelike an actor, under artificial emotion which the occasion called for? Wasit that he was deliberately trying to persuade Caesar that from the Senatehe had nothing to fear, and so to put him off his guard? If, as hedeclared, he himself and the _Boni_, who were listening to him, desired so unanimously to see Caesar killed, how else can his language beinterpreted? Cicero stands before the tribunal of posterity, to which hewas so fond of appealing. In him, too, while "there is much to admire, ""something may be found wanting. " Meanwhile the Senate went its way, still inventing fresh titles andconferring fresh powers. Caesar said that these vain distinctions neededlimitation, rather than increase; but the flattery had a purpose in it, and would not be checked. One day a deputation waited on him with the proffer of some "new marvel. "[17] He was sitting in front of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, and whenthe senators approached he neglected to rise to receive them. Some saidthat he was moving, but that Cornelius Balbus pulled him down. Others saidthat he was unwell. Pontius Aquila, a tribune, had shortly before refusedto rise to Caesar. The senators thought he meant to read them a lesson inreturn. He intended to be king, it seemed; the constitution was gone, another Tarquin was about to seize the throne of Republican Rome. Caesar was king in fact, and to recognize facts is more salutary than toignore them. An acknowledgment of Caesar as king might have made theproblem of reorganization easier than it proved. The army had thought ofit. He was on the point of starting for Parthia, and a prophecy had saidthat the Parthians could only be conquered by a king. --But the Romanpeople were sensitive about names. Though their liberties were restrictedfor the present, they liked to hope that one day the Forum might recoverits greatness. The Senate, meditating on the insult which they hadreceived, concluded that Caesar might be tempted, and that if they couldbring him to consent he would lose the people's hearts. They had alreadymade him Dictator for life; they voted next that he really should be King, and, not formally perhaps, but tentatively, they offered him the crown. Hewas sounded as to whether he would accept it. He understood the snare, andrefused. What was to be done next? He would soon be gone to the East. Romeand its hollow adulations would lie behind him, and their one opportunitywould be gone also. They employed some one to place a diadem on the headof his statue which stood upon the Rostra. [18] It was done publicly, inthe midst of a vast crowd, in Caesar's presence. Two eager tribunes torethe diadem down, and ordered the offender into custody. The treachery ofthe Senate was not the only danger. His friends in the army had the sameambition for him. A few days later, as he was riding through the streets, he was saluted as King by the mob. Caesar answered calmly that he was notKing but Caesar, and there the matter might have ended; but the tribunesrushed into the crowd to arrest the leaders; a riot followed, for whichCaesar blamed them; they complained noisily; he brought their conductbefore the Senate, and they were censured and suspended. But suspicion wasdoing its work, and honest republican hearts began to heat and kindle. The kingship assumed a more serious form on the 15th of February at theLupercalia--the ancient carnival. Caesar was in his chair, in his consularpurple, wearing a wreath of bay, wrought in gold. The honor of the wreathwas the only distinction which he had accepted from the Senate withpleasure. He retained a remnant of youthful vanity, and the twisted leavesconcealed his baldness. Antony, his colleague in the consulship, approached with a tiara, and placed it on Caesar's head, saying, "Thepeople give you this by my hand. " That Antony had no sinister purpose isobvious. He perhaps spoke for the army;[19] or it may be that Caesarhimself suggested Antony's action, that he might end the agitation of sodangerous a subject. He answered in a loud voice "that the Romans had noking but God, " and ordered that the tiara should be taken to the Capitol, and placed on the statue of Jupiter Olympius. The crowd burst into anenthusiastic cheer; and an inscription on a brass tablet recorded that theRoman people had offered Caesar the crown by the hands of the consul, andthat Caesar had refused it. The question of the kingship was over; but a vague alarm had been created, which answered the purpose of the optimates. Caesar was at their mercy anyday. They had sworn to maintain all his acts. They had sworn, afterCicero's speech, individually and collectively to defend his life. Caesar, whether he believed them sincere or not, had taken them at their word, andcame daily to the Senate unarmed and without a guard. He had a protectionin the people. If the optimates killed him without preparation, they knewthat they would be immediately massacred. But an atmosphere of suspicionand uncertainty had been successfully generated, of which they determinedto take immediate advantage. There were no troops in the city. Lepidus, Caesar's master of the horse, who had been appointed governor of Gaul, wasoutside the gates, with a few cohorts; but Lepidus was a person of feeblecharacter, and they trusted to be able to deal with him. Sixty senators, in all, were parties to the immediate conspiracy. Of thesenine-tenths were members of the old faction whom Caesar had pardoned, andwho, of all his acts, resented most that he had been able to pardon them. They were the men who had stayed at home, like Cicero, from the fields ofThapsus and Munda, and had pretended penitence and submission that theymight take an easier road to rid themselves of their enemy. Their motiveswere the ambition of their order and personal hatred of Caesar; but theypersuaded themselves that they were animated by patriotism, and as, intheir hands, the Republic had been a mockery of liberty, so they aimed atrestoring it by a mock tyrannicide. Their oaths and their professions werenothing to them. If they were entitled to kill Caesar, they were entitledequally to deceive him. No stronger evidence is needed of thedemoralization of the Roman Senate than the completeness with which theywere able to disguise from themselves the baseness of their treachery. Oneman only they were able to attract into co-operation who had a reputationfor honesty, and could be conceived, without absurdity, to be animated bya disinterested purpose. Marcus Brutus was the son of Cato's sister Servilia, the friend, and ascandal said the mistress, of Caesar. That he was Caesar's son was not tooabsurd for the credulity of Roman drawing-rooms. Brutus himself could nothave believed in the existence of such a relation, for he was deeplyattached to his mother; and although, under the influence of his uncleCato, he had taken the Senate's side in the war, he had accepted afterwardnot pardon only from Caesar, but favors of many kinds, for which he hadprofessed, and probably felt, some real gratitude. He had married Cato'sdaughter Portia, and on Cato's death had published a eulogy upon him. Caesar left him free to think and write what he pleased. He had made himpraetor; he had nominated him to the governorship of Macedonia. Brutus wasperhaps the only member of the senatorial party in whom Caesar feltgenuine confidence. His known integrity, and Caesar's acknowledged regardfor him, made his accession to the conspiracy an object of particularimportance. The name of Brutus would be a guarantee to the people ofrectitude of intention. Brutus, as the world went, was of more thanaverage honesty. He had sworn to be faithful to Caesar as the rest hadsworn, and an oath with him was not a thing to be emotionalized away; buthe was a fanatical republican, a man of gloomy habits, given to dreams andomens, and easily liable to be influenced by appeals to visionaryfeelings. Caius Cassius, his brother-in-law, was employed to work uponhim. Cassius, too, was praetor that year, having been also nominated tooffice by Caesar. He knew Brutus, he knew where and how to move him. Hereminded him of the great traditions of his name. A Brutus had deliveredRome from the Tarquins. The blood of a Brutus was consecrated to liberty. This, too, was mockery; Brutus, who expelled the Tarquins, put his sons todeath, and died childless; Marcus Brutus came of good plebeian family, with no glories of tyrannicide about them; but an imaginary genealogysuited well with the spurious heroics which veiled the motives of Caesar'smurderers. Brutus, once wrought upon, became with Cassius the most ardent in thecause which assumed the aspect to him of a sacred duty. Behind them werethe crowd of senators of the familiar faction, and others worse than they, who had not even the excuse of having been partisans of the beaten cause;men who had fought at Caesar's side till the war was over, and believed, like Labienus, that to them Caesar owed his fortune, and that he aloneought not to reap the harvest. One of these was Trebonius, who hadmisconducted himself in Spain, and was smarting under the recollection ofhis own failures. Trebonius had long before sounded Antony on thedesirableness of removing their chief. Antony, though he remained himselftrue, had unfortunately kept his friend's counsel. Trebonius had beennamed by Caesar for a future consulship, but a distant reward was toolittle for him. Another and a yet baser traitor was Decimus Brutus, whomCaesar valued and trusted beyond all his officers, whom he had selected asguardian for Augustus, and had noticed, as was seen afterward, withspecial affection in his will. The services of these men were invaluableto the conspirators on account of their influence with the army. DecimusBrutus, like Labienus, had enriched himself in Caesar's campaigns, and hadamassed near half a million of English money. [20] It may have been easyto persuade him and Trebonius that a grateful Republic would consider norecompense too large to men who would sacrifice their commander to theircountry. To Caesar they could be no more than satellites; the first prizesof the Empire would be offered to the choice of the saviours of theconstitution. So composed was this memorable band, to whom was to fall the baddistinction of completing the ruin of the senatorial rule. Caesar wouldhave spared something of it; enough, perhaps, to have thrown up shootsagain as soon as he had himself passed away in the common course ofnature. By combining in a focus the most hateful characteristics of theorder, by revolting the moral instincts of mankind by ingratitude andtreachery, they stripped their cause by their own hands of the falseglamour which they hoped to throw over it. The profligacy and avarice, thecynical disregard of obligation, which had marked the Senate's supremacyfor a century, had exhibited abundantly their unfitness for the highfunctions which had descended to them; but custom and natural tendernessfor a form of government, the past history of which had been so glorious, might have continued still to shield them from the penalty of theiriniquities. The murder of Caesar filled the measure of their crimes, andgave the last and necessary impulse to the closing act of the revolution. Thus the ides of March drew near. Caesar was to set out in a few days forParthia. Decimus Brutus was going, as governor, to the north of Italy, Lepidus to Gaul, Marcus Brutus to Macedonia, and Trebonius to Asia Minor. Antony, Caesar's colleague in the consulship, was to remain in Italy. Dolabella, Cicero's son-in-law, was to be consul with him as soon asCaesar should have left for the East. The foreign appointments were allmade for five years, and in another week the party would be scattered. Thetime for action had come, if action there was to be. Papers were droppedin Brutus's room, bidding him awake from his sleep. On the statue ofJunius Brutus some hot republican wrote "Would that thou wast alive!" Theassassination in itself was easy, for Caesar would take no precautions. Soportentous an intention could not be kept entirely secret; many friendswarned him to beware; but he disdained too heartily the worst that hisenemies could do to him to vex himself with thinking of them, and heforbade the subject to be mentioned any more in his presence. Portents, prophecies, soothsayings, frightful aspects in the sacrifices, naturalgrowths of alarm and excitement, were equally vain. "Am I to befrightened, " he said, in answer to some report of the haruspices, "because a sheep is without a heart?" [Sidenote: March 14, B. C. 44. ]An important meeting of the Senate had been called for the ides (the 15th)of the month. The Pontifices, it was whispered, intended to bring on againthe question of the kingship before Caesar's departure. The occasion wouldbe appropriate. The senate-house itself was a convenient scene ofoperations. The conspirators met at supper the evening before at Cassius'shouse. Cicero, to his regret, was not invited. The plan was simple, andwas rapidly arranged. Caesar would attend unarmed. The senators not in thesecret would be unarmed also. The party who intended to act were toprovide themselves with poniards, which could be easily concealed in theirpaper boxes. So far all was simple; but a question rose whether Caesaronly was to be killed, or whether Antony and Lepidus were to be despatchedalong with him. They decided that Caesar's death would be sufficient. Tospill blood without necessity would mar, it was thought, the sublimity oftheir exploit. Some of them liked Antony. None supposed that either he orLepidus would be dangerous when Caesar was gone. In this resolution Cicerothought that they made a fatal mistake;[21] fine emotions were good intheir place, in the perorations of speeches and such like; Antony, asCicero admitted, had been signally kind to him; but the killing Caesar wasa serious business, and his friends should have died along with him. Itwas determined otherwise. Antony and Lepidus were not to be touched. Forthe rest, the assassins had merely to be in their places in the Senate ingood time. When Caesar entered, Trebonius was to detain Antony inconversation at the door. The others were to gather about Caesar's chairon pretence of presenting a petition, and so could make an end. A gang ofgladiators were to be secreted in the adjoining theatre to be ready shouldany unforeseen difficulty present itself. The same evening, the 14th of March, Caesar was at a "Last Supper" at thehouse of Lepidus. The conversation turned on death, and on the kind ofdeath which was most to be desired. Caesar, who was signing papers whilethe rest wore talking, looked up and said, "A sudden one. " When great mendie, imagination insists that all nature shall have felt the shock. Strange stories were told in after years of the uneasy labors of theelements that night. A little ere the mightiest Julius fell, The graves did open, and the sheeted dead Did squeak and jibber in the Roman streets. The armor of Mars, which stood in the hall of the Pontifical Palace, crashed down upon the pavement. The door of Caesar's room flew open. Calpurnia dreamt her husband was murdered, and that she saw him ascendinginto heaven, and received by the hand of God. [22] In the morning thesacrifices were again unfavorable. Caesar was restless. Some naturaldisorder affected his spirits, and his spirits were reacting on his body. Contrary to his usual habit, he gave way to depression. He decided, at hiswife's entreaty, that he would not attend the Senate that day. [Sidenote: March 15, B. C. 44. ]The house was full. The conspirators were in their places with theirdaggers ready. Attendants came in to remove Caesar's chair. It wasannounced that he was not coming. Delay might be fatal. They conjecturedthat he already suspected something. A day's respite, and all might bediscovered. His familiar friend whom he trusted--the coincidence isstriking!--was employed to betray him. Decimus Brutus, whom it wasimpossible for him to distrust, went to entreat his attendance, givingreasons to which he knew that Caesar would listen, unless the plot hadbeen actually betrayed. It was now eleven in the forenoon. Caesar shookoff his uneasiness, and rose to go. As he crossed the hall, his statuefell, and shivered on the stones. Some servant, perhaps, had heardwhispers, and wished to warn him. As he still passed on, a stranger thrusta scroll into his hand, and begged him to read it on the spot. Itcontained a list of the conspirators, with a clear account of the plot. Hesupposed it to be a petition, and placed it carelessly among his otherpapers. The fate of the Empire hung upon a thread, but the thread was notbroken, As Caesar had lived to reconstruct the Roman world, so his deathwas necessary to finish the work. He went on to the Curia, and thesenators said to themselves that the augurs had foretold his fate, but hewould not listen; he was doomed for his "contempt of religion. " [23] Antony, who was in attendance, was detained, as had been arranged, byTrebonius. Caesar entered, and took his seat. His presence awed men, inspite of themselves, and the conspirators had determined to act at once, lest they should lose courage to act at all. He was familiar and easy ofaccess. They gathered round him. He knew them all. There was not one fromwhom he had not a right to expect some sort of gratitude, and the movementsuggested no suspicion. One had a story to tell him; another some favor toask. Tullius Cimber, whom he had just made governor of Bithynia, then cameclose to him, with some request which he was unwilling to grant. Cimbercaught his gown, as if in entreaty, and dragged it from his shoulders. Cassius, [24] who was standing behind, stabbed him in the throat. Hestarted up with a cry, and caught Cassius's arm. Another poniard enteredhis breast, giving a mortal wound. He looked round, and seeing not onefriendly face, but only a ring of daggers pointing at him, he drew hisgown over his head, gathered the folds about him that he might falldecently, and sank down without uttering another word, [25] Cicero waspresent. The feelings with which he watched the scene are unrecorded, butmay easily be imagined. Waving his dagger, dripping with Caesar's blood, Brutus shouted to Cicero by name, congratulating him that liberty wasrestored. [26] The Senate rose with shrieks and confusion, and rushedinto the Forum. The crowd outside caught the words that Caesar was dead, and scattered to their houses. Antony, guessing that those who had killedCaesar would not spare himself, hurried off into concealment. Themurderers, bleeding some of them from wounds which they had given oneanother in their eagerness, followed, crying that the tyrant was dead, andthat Rome was free; and the body of the great Caesar was left alone in thehouse where a few weeks before Cicero told him that he was so necessary tohis country that every senator would die before harm should reach him! [1] Apparently when Caesar touched there on his way to Egypt, after Pharsalia. Cicero says (_Philippic_ ii. 11): "Quid? C. Cassius . .. Qui etiam sine his clarissimis viris, hanc rem in Cilicia ad ostium fluminis Cydni confecisset, si ille ad eam ripam quam constituerat, non ad contrariam, navi appulisset. " [2] To be distinguished from Publius Ligarius, who had been put to death before Thapsus. [3] The Gauls were especially obnoxious, and epigrams were circulated to insult them:-- "Gallos Caesar in triumphum ducit, idem in Curiam. Galli braccas deposuerunt, latum clavum sumpserunt" SUETONIUS, _Vita Jullii Caesaris_, 80. [4] Suetonius. [5] The fifth, dating the beginning of the year, in the old style, from March. [6] Dion Cassius. [7] The second consul who had been put in held office but for a few hours. [8] Dion Cassius. [9] See the 2nd _Philippic_, passim. In a letter to Decimus Brutus, he says: "Quare hortatione tu quidem non egos, si ne illâ quidem in re, quae a te gesta est post hominum memoriam maximâ, hortatorem desiderâsti. " _Ad Fam_. Xi. 5. [10] _To Atticus_, xi. 5, 6. [11] _Ad Caelium, Ad Fam_. Ii. 16. [12] _To Atticus_, xi. 7. [13] See _To Atticus_, xi. 7-9; _To Terentia, Ad Fam_. Xiv. 12. [14] "Tantam enim mansuetudinem, tam inusitatam inauditamque clementiam, tantum in summâ potestate rerum omnium modum, tam denique incredibilem sapientiam ac paene divinam tacitus nullo modo praeterire possum. "--_Pro Marco Marcello_, 1. [15] _Pro Marco Marcello_, abridged. [16] "Non intelligis, si id quod me arguis voluisse interfici Caesarem crimen sit, etiam laetatum esse morte Caesaris crimen esse? Quid enim interest inter suasorem facti et approbatorem? Aut quid refert utrum voluerim fieri an gaudeam factum? Ecquis est igitur te excepto et iis qui illum regnare gaudebant, qui illud aut fieri noluerit, aut factum improbarit? Omnes enim in culpâ. Etenim omnes boni quantum in ipsis fuit Caesarem occiderunt. Aliis consilium, aliis animus, aliis occasio defuit. Voluntas nemini. "--_2nd Philippic_, 12. [17] Dion Cassius. [18] So Dion Cassius states, on what authority we know not. Suetonius says that as Caesar was returning from the Latin festival some one placed a laurel crown on the statue, tied with a white riband. [19] The fact is certain. Cicero taunted Antony with it in the Senate, in the Second Philippic. [20] "Cum ad rem publicam liberandam accessi, HS. Mihi fuit quadringenties amplius. "--_Decimus Brutus to Cicero, Ad Fam_. Xi. 10. [21] "Vellem Idibus Martiis me ad coenam invitâsses. Reliquiarum nihil fuisset. "--_Ad Cassium, Ad Fam_. Xii. 4. And again: "Quam vellem ad illas pulcherrimas epulas me Idibus Martiis invitâsses! Reliquiarum nihil haberemus. "--_Ad Trebonium, Ad Fam_. X. 28. [22] Dion Cassius, _C. Julius Caesar_, xliv. 17. [23] "Spretâ religione. "--Suetonius. [24] Not perhaps Caius Cassius, but another. Suetonius says "alter e Cassiis. " [25] So says Suetonius, the best extant authority, who refers to the famous words addressed to Brutus only as a legend: "Atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est, uno modo ad primum ictum gemitu sine voce edito. Etsi tradiderunt quidam Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse [Greek: kai su ei ekeinon kai su teknon]"--_Julius Caesar_, 82. [26] "Cruentum alte extollens Marcus Brutus pugionem, Ciceronem nominatim exclamavit atque ei recuperatam libertatem est gratulatus. "--_Philippic ii_. 12. CHAPTER XXVII. [Sidenote: March 16, B. C. 44. ]The tyrannicides, as the murderers of Caesar called themselves, hadexpected that the Roman mob would be caught by the cry of liberty, andwould hail them as the deliverers of their country. They found that thepeople did not respond as they had anticipated. The city was stunned. TheForum was empty. The gladiators, whom they had secreted in the Temple, broke out and plundered the unprotected booths. A dead and ominous silenceprevailed everywhere. At length a few citizens collected in knots. Brutusspoke, and Cassius spoke. They extolled their old constitution. They saidthat Caesar had overthrown it; that they had slain him, not from privatehatred or private interest, but to restore the liberties of Rome. Theaudience was dead and cold. No answering shouts came back to reassurethem. The citizens could not forget that these men who spoke so fairly hada few days before fawned on Caesar as the saviour of the Empire, and, asif human honors were too little, had voted a temple to him as a god. Thefire would not kindle. Lepidus came in with troops, and occupied theForum. The conspirators withdrew into the Capitol, where Cicero and othersjoined them, and the night was passed in earnest discussion what next wasto be done. They had intended to declare that Caesar had been a tyrant, tothrow his body into the Tiber, and to confiscate his property to theState. They discovered to their consternation that, if Caesar was atyrant, all his acts would be invalidated. The praetors and tribunes heldtheir offices, the governors their provinces, under Caesar's nomination. If Caesar's acts were set aside, Decimus Brutus was not governor of NorthItaly, nor Marcus Brutus of Macedonia; nor was Dolabella consul, as he hadinstantly claimed to be on Caesar's death. Their names, and the names ofmany more whom Caesar had promoted, would have to be laid before theComitia, and in the doubtful humor of the people they little liked therisk. That the dilemma should have been totally unforeseen wascharacteristic of the men and their capacity. Nor was this the worst. Lands had been allotted to Caesar's troops. Manythousands of colonists were waiting to depart for Carthage and Corinth andother places where settlements had been provided for them. Thesearrangements would equally fall through, and it was easy to know whatwould follow. Antony and Lepidus, too, had to be reckoned with. Antony, asthe surviving consul, was the supreme lawful authority in the city; andLepidus and his soldiers might have a word to say if the body of theirgreat commander was flung into the river as the corpse of a malefactor. Interest and fear suggested more moderate counsels. The conspiratorsdetermined that Caesar's appointments must stand; his acts, it seemed, must stand also; and his remains, therefore, must be treated with respect. Imagination took another flight. Caesar's death might be regarded as asacrifice, an expiatory offering for the sins of the nation; and thedivided parties might embrace in virtue of the atonement. They agreed tosend for Antony, and invite him to assist in saving society; and theyasked Cicero to be their messenger. Cicero, great and many as his faultsmight be, was not a fool. He declined to go on so absurd a mission. Heknew Antony too well to dream that he could be imposed on by fantasticillusions. Antony, he said, would promise anything, but if they trustedhim, they would have reason to repent. [1] Others, however, undertookthe office. Antony agreed to meet them, and the next morning the Senatewas assembled in the Temple of Terra. Antony presided as consul, and after a few words from him Cicero rose. Hedisapproved of the course which his friends were taking; he foresaw whatmust come of it; but he had been overruled, and he made the best of whathe could not help. He gave a sketch of Roman political history. He wentback to the secession to Mount Aventine. He spoke of the Gracchi, ofSaturninus and Glaucia, of Marius and Sylla, of Sertorius and Pompey, ofCaesar and the still unforgotten Clodius. He described the fate of Athensand of other Grecian states into which faction had penetrated. If Romecontinued divided, the conquerors would rule over its ruins; therefore heappealed to the two factions to forget their rivalries and to return topeace and concord. But they must decide at once, for the signs werealready visible of a fresh conflict. "Caesar is slain, " he said. "The Capitol is occupied by the optimates, theForum by soldiers, and the people are full of terror. Is violence to beagain answered by more violence? These many years we have lived less likemen than like wild beasts in cycles of recurring revenge. Let us forgetthe past. Let us draw a veil over all that has been done, not looking toocuriously into the acts of any man. Much may be said to show that Caesardeserved his death, and much against those who have killed him. But toraise the question will breed fresh quarrels; and if we are wise we shallregard the scene which we have witnessed as a convulsion of nature whichis now at an end. Let Caesar's ordinances, let Caesar's appointments bemaintained. None such must be heard of again. But what is done cannot beundone. " [2] Admirable advice, were it as easy to act on good counsel as to give it. The murder of such a man as Caesar was not to be so easily smoothed over. But the delusive vision seemed for a moment to please. The Senate passedan act of oblivion. The agitation in the army was quieted when the menheard that their lands were secure. But there were two other questionswhich required an answer, and an immediate one. Caesar's body, afterremaining till evening on the floor of the senate-house, had been carriedhome in the dusk in a litter by three of his servants, and was now lyingin his palace. If it was not to be thrown into the Tiber, what was to bedone with it? Caesar had left a will, which was safe with his other papersin the hands of Antony. Was the will to be read and recognized? ThoughCicero had advised in the Senate that the discussion whether Caesar haddeserved death should not be raised, yet it was plain to him and to everyone that, unless Caesar was held guilty of conspiring against theConstitution, the murder was and would be regarded as a most execrablecrime. He dreaded the effect of a public funeral. He feared that the willmight contain provisions which would rouse the passions of the people. Though Caesar was not for various reasons to be pronounced a tyrant, Cicero advised that he should be buried privately, as if his name wasunder a cloud, and that his property should be escheated to the nation. But the humor of conciliation and the theory of "the atoning sacrifice"had caught the Senate. Caesar had done great things for his country. Itwould please the army that he should have an honorable sepulture. [Sidenote: March, B. C. 44. ]If they had refused, the result would not have been greatly different. Sooner or later, when the stunning effects of the shock had passed off, the murder must have appeared to Rome and Italy in its true colors. Theoptimates talked of the Constitution. The Constitution in their hands hadbeen a parody of liberty. Caesar's political life had been spent inwresting from them the powers which they had abused. Caesar had punishedthe oppressors of the provinces. Caesar had forced the nobles to give thepeople a share of the public lands. Caesar had opened the doors ofcitizenship to the libertini, the distant colonists, and the provincials. It was for this that the Senate hated him. For this they had foughtagainst him; for this they murdered him. No Roman had ever served hiscountry better in peace or war, and thus he had been rewarded. Such thoughts were already working in tens of thousands of breasts. Afeeling of resentment was fast rising, with as yet no certain purposebefore it. In this mood the funeral could not fail to lead to some fierceexplosion. For this reason Antony had pressed for it, and the Senate hadgiven their consent. The body was brought down to the Forum and placed upon the Rostra. Thedress had not been changed; the gown, gashed with daggers and soaked inblood, was still wrapped about it. The will was read first. It remindedthe Romans that they had been always in Caesar's thoughts, for he had lefteach citizen seventy-five drachmas (nearly £3 of English money), and hehad left them his gardens on the Tiber as a perpetual recreation ground, apossession which Domitius Ahenobarbus had designed for himself beforePharsalia. He had made Octavius his general heir; among the second heirs, should Octavius fail, he had named Decimus Brutus, who had betrayed him. Adeep movement of emotion passed through the crowd when, besides theconsideration for themselves, they heard from this record, which could notlie, a proof of the confidence which had been so abused. Antony, afterwaiting for the passion to work, then came forward. Cicero had good reason for his fear of Antony. He was a loose soldier, careless in his life, ambitious, extravagant, little more scrupulousperhaps than any average Roman gentleman. But for Caesar his affection wasgenuine. The people were in intense expectation. He produced the body, allbloody as it had fallen, and he bade a herald first read the votes whichthe Senate had freshly passed, heaping those extravagant honors uponCaesar which he had not desired, and the oath which the senators had eachpersonally taken to defend him from violence. He then spoke--spoke withthe natural vehemence of a friend, yet saying nothing which was notliterally true. The services of Caesar neither needed nor permitted theexaggeration of eloquence. He began with the usual encomiums. He spoke of Caesar's family, his birth, his early history, his personal characteristics, his thrifty privatehabits, his public liberality; he described him as generous to hisfriends, forbearing with his enemies, without evil in himself, andreluctant to believe evil of others. "Power in most men, " he said, "has brought their faults to light. Power inCaesar brought into prominence his excellences. Prosperity did not makehim insolent for it gave him a sphere which corresponded to his nature. His first services in Spain a deserved triumph; of his laws I could speakforever. His campaigns in Gaul are known to you all. That land from whichthe Teutons and Cimbri poured over the Alps is now as well ordered asItaly. Caesar would have added Germany and Britain to your Empire, but hisenemies would not have it so. They regarded the Commonwealth as thepatrimony of themselves. They brought him home. They went on with theirusurpations till you yourselves required his help. He set you free. He setSpain free. He labored for peace with Pompey, but Pompey preferred to gointo Greece, to bring the powers of the East upon you, and he perished inhis obstinacy. "Caesar took no honor to himself for this victory. He abhorred thenecessity of it. He took no revenge. He praised those who had beenfaithful to Pompey, and he blamed Pharnaces for deserting him. He wassorry for Pompey's death, and he treated his murderers as they deserved. He settled Egypt and Armenia. He would have disposed of the Parthians hadnot fresh seditions recalled him to Italy. He quelled those seditions. Herestored peace in Africa and Spain, and again his one desire was to sparehis fellow-citizens. There was in him an 'inbred goodness. '[3] He wasalways the same--never carried away by anger, and never spoilt by success. He did not retaliate for the past; he never tried by severity to securehimself for the future. His effort throughout was to save all who wouldallow themselves to be saved. He repaired old acts of injustice. Herestored the families of those who had been proscribed by Sylla, but heburnt unread the correspondence of Pompey and Scipio, that those whom itcompromised might neither suffer injury nor fear injury. You honored himas your father; you loved him as your benefactor; you made him chief ofthe State, not being curious of titles, but regarding the most which youcould give as less than he had deserved at your hands. Toward the gods hewas High Priest. To you he was Consul; to the army he was Imperator; tothe enemies of his country, Dictator. In sum he was _Pater Patriae_. And this your father, your Pontifex, this hero, whose person was declaredinviolable, lies dead--dead, not by disease or age, not by war orvisitation of God, but here at home, by conspiracy within your own walls, slain in the Senate-house, the warrior unarmed, the peacemaker naked tohis foes, the righteous judge in the seat of judgment. He whom no foreignenemy could hurt has been killed by his fellow-countrymen--he, who had sooften shown mercy, by those whom he had spared. Where, Caesar, is yourlove for mankind? Where is the sacredness of your life? Where are yourlaws? Here you lie murdered--here in the Forum, through which so often youmarched in triumph wreathed with garlands; here upon the Rostra from whichyou were wont to address your people. Alas for your gray hairs dabbled inblood! alas for this lacerated robe in which you were dressed for thesacrifice!"[4] Antony's words, as he well knew, were a declaration of irreconcilable waragainst the murderers and their friends. As his impassioned language didits work the multitude rose into fury. They cursed the conspirators. Theycursed the Senate who had sate by while the deed was being done. They hadbeen moved to fury by the murder of Clodius. Ten thousand Clodiuses, hadhe been all which their imagination painted him, could not equal oneCaesar. They took on themselves the order of the funeral. They surroundedthe body, which was reverently raised by the officers of the Forum. Partproposed to carry it to the Temple of Jupiter, in the Capitol, and to burnit under the eyes of the assassins; part to take it into the Senate-houseand use the meeting-place of the Optimates a second time as the pyre ofthe people's friend. A few legionaries, perhaps to spare the city ageneral conflagration, advised that it should be consumed where it lay. The platform was torn up and the broken timbers piled into a heap. Chairsand benches were thrown on to it, the whole crowd rushing wildly to add achip or splinter. Actors flung in their dresses, musicians theirinstruments, soldiers their swords. Women added their necklaces andscarves. Mothers brought up their children to contribute toys andplaythings. On the pile so composed the body of Caesar was reduced toashes. The remains were collected with affectionate care and deposited inthe tomb of the Caesars, in the Campus Martius. The crowd, it wasobserved, was composed largely of libertini and of provincials whom Caesarhad enfranchised. The demonstrations of sorrow were most remarkable amongthe Jews, crowds of whom continued for many nights to collect and wail inthe Forum at the scene of the singular ceremony. When the people were in such a mood, Rome was no place for theconspirators. They scattered over the Empire; Decimus Brutus, MarcusBrutus, Cassius, Cimber, Trebonius retreated to the provinces which Caesarhad assigned them, the rest clinging to the shelter of their friends. Thelegions--a striking tribute to Roman discipline--remained by their eagles, faithful to their immediate duties, and obedient to their officers, tillit could be seen how events would turn. Lepidus joined the army in Gaul;Antony continued in Rome, holding the administration in his hands andwatching the action of the Senate. Caesar was dead. But Caesar stilllived. "It was not possible that the grave should hold him. " The peoplesaid that he was a god, and had gone back to heaven, where his star hadbeen seen ascending;[5] his spirit remained on earth, and the vainblows of the assassins had been but "malicious mockery. " "We have killedthe king, " exclaimed Cicero in the bitterness of his disenchantment, "butthe kingdom is with us still;" "we have taken away the tyrant: the tyrannysurvives. " Caesar had not overthrown the oligarchy; their own incapacity, their own selfishness, their own baseness had overthrown them. Caesar hadbeen but the reluctant instrument of the power which metes out to men theinevitable penalties of their own misdeeds. They had dreamt that theConstitution was a living force which would revive of itself as soon asits enemy was gone. They did not know that it was dead already, and thatthey had themselves destroyed it. The Constitution was but an agreement bywhich the Roman people had consented to abide for their common good. Ithad ceased to be for the common good. The experience of fifty miserableyears had proved that it meant the supremacy of the rich, maintained bythe bought votes of demoralized electors. The soil of Italy, the industryand happiness of tens of millions of mankind, from the Rhine to theEuphrates, had been the spoil of five hundred families and their relativesand dependents, of men whose occupation was luxury, and whose appetiteswere for monstrous pleasures. The self-respect of reasonable men could nolonger tolerate such a rule in Italy or out of it. In killing Caesar theoptimates had been as foolish as they were treacherous; for Caesar'sefforts had been to reform the Constitution, not to abolish it. The civilwar had risen from their dread of his second consulship, which they hadfeared would make an end of their corruptions; and that the Constitutionshould be purged of the poison in its veins was the sole condition onwhich its continuance was possible. The obstinacy, the ferocity, thetreachery of the aristocracy had compelled Caesar to crush them; and themore desperate their struggles the more absolute the necessity became. Buthe alone could have restored as much of popular liberty as was consistentwith the responsibilities of such a government as the Empire required. InCaesar alone were combined the intellect and the power necessary for sucha work; and they had killed him, and in doing so had passed final sentenceon themselves. Not as realities any more, but as harmless phantoms, theforms of the old Republic were henceforth to persist. In the army onlyremained the imperial consciousness of the honor and duty of Romancitizens, To the army, therefore, the rule was transferred. The Romannation had grown as the oak grows, self-developed in severe morality, eachcitizen a law to himself, and therefore capable of political freedom in anunexampled degree. All organizations destined to endure spring from forcesinherent in themselves, and must grow freely, or they will not grow atall. When the tree reaches maturity, decay sets in; if it be leftstanding, the disintegration of the fibre goes swiftly forward; if thestem is severed from the root, the destroying power is arrested, and thetimber will endure a thousand years. So it was with Rome. The Constitutionunder which the Empire had sprung up was poisoned, and was brought to aviolent end before it had affected materially for evil the masses of thepeople. The solid structure was preserved--not to grow any longer, not toproduce a new Camillus or a new Regulus, a new Scipio Africanus or a newTiberius Gracchus, but to form an endurable shelter for civilized mankind, until a fresh spiritual life was developed out of Palestine to remodel theconscience of humanity. A gleam of hope opened to Cicero in the summer. Octavius, who was inGreece at the time of the murder, came to Rome to claim his inheritance. He was but eighteen, too young for the burden which was thrown upon him;and being unknown, he had the confidence of the legions to win. The army, dispersed over the provinces, had as yet no collective purpose. Antony, itis possible, was jealous of him, and looked on himself as Caesar's truerepresentative and avenger. Octavius, finding Antony hostile, or at leastindifferent to his claims, played with the Senate with cool foresight tillhe felt the ground firm under his feet. Cicero boasted that he would useOctavius to ruin Antony, and would throw him over when he had served hispurpose. "Cicero will learn, " Octavius said, when the words were reportedto him, "that I shall not be played with so easily. " [Sidenote: B. C. 44-43. ][Sidenote: B. C. 43. ]For a year the confusion lasted; two of Caesar's officers, Hirtius andPausa, were chosen consuls by the senatorial party, to please the legions;and Antony contended dubiously with them and Decimus Brutus for somemonths in the North of Italy. But Antony joined Lepidus, and the Galliclegions with judicial fitness brought Cicero's dreams to the ground. Cicero's friend, Plancus, who commanded in Normandy and Belgium, attempteda faint resistance, but was made to yield to the resolution of his troops. Octavius and Antony came to an understanding; and Caesar's two generals, who were true to his memory, and Octavius, who was the heir of his name, crossed the Alps, at the head of the united army of Gaul, to punish themurder and restore peace to the world. No resistance was possible. Many ofthe senators, like Cicero, though they had borne no part in theassassination, had taken the guilt of it upon themselves by the enthusiasmof their approval. They were all men who had sworn fidelity to Caesar, andhad been ostentatious in their profession of devotion to him. It hadbecome too plain that from such persons no repentance was to be lookedfor. They were impelled by a malice or a fanaticism which clemency couldnot touch or reason influence. So long as they lived they would stillconspire; and any weapons, either of open war or secret treachery, wouldseem justifiable to them in the cause which they regarded as sacred. Caesar himself would, no doubt, have again pardoned them. Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus were men of more common mould. The murderers ofCaesar, and those who had either instigated them secretly or applaudedthem afterward, were included in a proscription list, drawn by retributivejustice on the model of Sylla's. Such of them as were in Italy wereimmediately killed. Those in the provinces, as if with the curse of Cainupon their heads, came one by one to miserable ends. Brutus and Cassiusfought hard and fell at Philippi. In three years the tyrannicides of theides of March, with their aiders and abettors, were all dead, some killedin battle, some in prison, some dying by their own hand--slain with thedaggers with which they had stabbed their master. Out of the whole party the fate of one only deserves special notice, a manwhose splendid talents have bought forgiveness for his faults, and havegiven him a place in the small circle of the really great whose memory isnot allowed to die. [Sidenote: Dec. 7, B. C. 43. ]After the dispersion of the conspirators which followed Caesar's funeral, Cicero had remained in Rome. His timidity seemed to have forsaken him, andhe had striven, with an energy which recalled his brightest days, to setthe Constitution again upon its feet. Antony charged him in the Senatewith having been the contriver of Caesar's death. He replied withinvectives fierce and scurrilous as those which he had heaped uponCatiline and Clodius. A time had been when he had affected to look onAntony as his preserver. Now there was no imaginable infamy in which hedid not steep his name. He spoke of the murder as the most splendidachievement recorded in history, and he regretted only that he had notbeen taken into counsel by the deliverers of their country. Antony wouldnot then have been alive to rekindle civil discord. When Antony left Rome, Cicero was for a few months again the head of the State. He ruled theSenate, controlled the Treasury, corresponded with the conspirators in theprovinces, and advised their movements. He continued sanguine himself, andhe poured spirit into others. No one can refuse admiration to the lastblaze of his expiring powers. But when he heard that Antony and Lepidusand Octavius had united, and were coming into Italy with the whole Westernarmy, he saw that all was over. He was now sixty-three--too old for hope. He could hardly have wished to live, and this time he was well assuredthat there would be no mercy for him. Caesar would have spared a man whomhe esteemed in spite of his infirmities. But there was no Caesar now, andfair speeches would serve his turn no longer. He retired from the citywith his brother Quintus, and had some half-formed purpose of flying toBrutus, who was still in arms in Macedonia. He even embarked, but withouta settled resolution, and he allowed himself to be driven back by a storm. Theatrical even in extremities, he thought of returning to Rome and ofkilling himself in Caesar's house, that he might bring the curse of hisblood upon Octavius. In these uncertainties he drifted into his own villaat Formiae, [6] saying in weariness, and with a sad note of his oldself-importance, that he would die in the country which he had so oftensaved. Here, on the 4th of December, B. C. 43, Popilius Loenas, an officerof Antony's, came to find him. Peasants from the neighborhood brought newsto the villa that the soldiers were approaching. His servants thrust himinto a litter and carried him down through the woods toward the sea. Loenas followed and overtook him. To his slaves he had been always thegentlest of masters. They would have given their lives in his defence ifhe would have allowed them; but he bade them set the litter down and savethemselves. He thrust out his head between the curtains, and it wasinstantly struck off. So ended Cicero, a tragic combination of magnificent talents, highaspirations, and true desire to do right, with an infirmity of purpose anda latent insincerity of character which neutralized and could almost makeus forget his nobler qualities. It cannot be said of Cicero that he wasblind to the faults of the party to which he attached himself. To him weowe our knowledge of what the Roman aristocrats really were, and of thehopelessness of expecting that they could have been trusted any longerwith the administration of the Empire, if the Empire itself was to endure. Cicero's natural place was at Caesar's side; but to Caesar alone of hiscontemporaries he was conscious of an inferiority which was intolerable tohim. In his own eyes he was always the first person. He had been madeunhappy by the thought that posterity might rate Pompey above himself. Closer acquaintance had reassured him about Pompey, but in Caesar he wasconscious of a higher presence, and he rebelled against the humiliatingacknowledgment. Supreme as an orator he could always be, and an order ofthings was, therefore, most desirable where oratory held the highestplace. Thus he chose his part with the "_boni_, " whom he despisedwhile he supported them, drifting on through vacillation into treachery, till "the ingredients of the poisoned chalice" were "commended to his ownlips. " In Cicero Nature half-made a great man and left him uncompleted. Ourcharacters are written in our forms, and the bust of Cicero is the key tohis history. The brow is broad and strong, the nose large, the lipstightly compressed, the features lean and keen from restless intellectualenergy. The loose bending figure, the neck, too weak for the weight of thehead, explain the infirmity of will, the passion, the cunning, the vanity, the absence of manliness and veracity. He was born into an age of violencewith which he was too feeble to contend. The gratitude of mankind for hisliterary excellence will forever preserve his memory from too harsh ajudgment. [1] _Philippic_ ii. 35. [2] Abridged from Dion Cassius, who probably gives no more than the traditionary version of Cicero's words. [3] [Greek: emphutos chraestotaes] are Dion Cassius's words. Antony's language was differently reported, and perhaps there was no literal record of it. Dion Cassius, however, can hardly have himself composed the version which he gives in his history, for he calls the speech as ill-timed as it was brilliant. [4] Abridged from Dion Cassius. Xliv. 36. [5] "In deorum numerum relatus est non ore modo decernentium sed et persuasione vulgi. "--_Suetonius_. [6] Near Gaeta. CHAPTER XXVIII. It remains to offer a few general remarks on the person whose life andactions I have endeavored to describe in the preceding pages. In all conditions of human society distinguished men are the subjects oflegend; but the character of the legend varies with the disposition of thetime. In ages which we call heroic the saint works miracles, the warriorperforms exploits beyond the strength of natural man. In ages lessvisionary which are given to ease and enjoyment the tendency is to bring agreat man down to the common level, and to discover or invent faults whichshall show that he is or was but a little man after all. Our vanity issoothed by evidence that those who have eclipsed us in the race of lifeare no better than ourselves, or in some respects are worse thanourselves; and if to these general impulses be added political or personalanimosity, accusations of depravity are circulated as surely about suchmen, and are credited as readily, as under other influences are themarvellous achievements of a Cid or a St. Francis. In the present day wereject miracles and prodigies; we are on our guard against the mythologyof hero worship, just as we disbelieve in the eminent superiority of anyone of our contemporaries to another. We look less curiously into themythology of scandal; we accept easily and willingly stories disparagingto illustrious persons in history, because similar stories are told andretold with so much confidence and fluency among the political adversariesof those who have the misfortune to be their successful rivals. Theabsurdity of a calumny may be as evident as the absurdity of a miracle;the ground for belief may be no more than a lightness of mind, and a lesspardonable wish that it may be true. But the idle tale floats in society, and by and by is written down in books and passes into the region ofestablished realities. The tendency to idolize great men and the tendency to depreciate themarises alike in emotion; but the slanders of disparagement are as trulylegends as the wonder-tales of saints and warriors; and anecdotes relatedof Caesar at patrician dinner-parties at Rome as little deserve attentionas the information so freely given upon the habits of modern statesmen inthe _salons_ of London and Paris. They are read now by us in classicLatin, but they were recorded by men who hated Caesar and hated all thathe had done; and that a poem has survived for two thousand years is noevidence that the author of it, even though he might be a Catullus, wasuninfluenced by the common passions of humanity. Caesar, it is allowed, had extraordinary talents, extraordinary energy, and some commendable qualities; but he was, as the elder Curio said, "omnium mulierum vir et omnium virorum mulier;" he had mistresses in everycountry which he visited, and he had _liaisons_ with half the ladiesin Rome. That Caesar's morality was altogether superior to that of theaverage of his contemporaries is in a high degree improbable. He was a manof the world, peculiarly attractive to women, and likely to have beenattracted by them. On the other hand, the undiscriminating loosenessattributed to him would have been peculiarly degrading in a man whosepassions were so eminently under control, whose calmness was never knownto be discomposed, and who, in everything which he did, acted always withdeliberate will. Still worse would it be if, by his example, he maderidiculous his own laws against adultery and indulged himself in viceswhich he punished in others. What, then, is the evidence? The story ofNicomedes may be passed over. All that is required on that subject hasbeen already said. It was never heard of before Caesar's consulship, andthe proofs are no more than the libels of Bibulus, the satire of Catullus, and certain letters of Cicero's which were never published, but werecirculated privately in Roman aristocratic society. [1] A story issuspicious which is first produced after twenty years in a moment ofpolitical excitement. Caesar spoke of it with stern disgust. He replied toCatullus with an invitation to dinner; otherwise he passed it over insilence--the only answer which an honorable man could give. Suetoniusquotes a loose song sung by Caesar's soldiers at his triumph. We know inwhat terms British sailors often speak of their favorite commanders. Affection, when it expresses itself most emphatically, borrows thelanguage of its opposites. Who would dream of introducing into a seriouslife of Nelson catches chanted in the forecastle of the "Victory"? Butwhich of the soldiers sang these verses? Does Suetonius mean that the armysang them in chorus as they marched in procession? The very notion ispreposterous. It is proved that during Caesar's lifetime scandal was busywith his name; and that it would be so busy, whether justified or not, iscertain from the nature of things. Cicero says that no public man in Romeescaped from such imputations. He himself flung them broadcast, and theywere equally returned upon himself. The surprise is rather that Caesar'sname should have suffered so little, and that he should have been admittedon reflection by Suetonius to have been comparatively free from theabominable form of vice which was then so common. As to his _liaisons_ with women, the handsome, brilliant Caesar, surrounded by a halo of military glory, must have been a Paladin ofromance to any woman who had a capacity of admiration in her. His owndistaste for gluttony and hard drinking, and for the savage amusements inwhich the male Romans so much delighted, may have made the society ofcultivated ladies more agreeable to him than that of men, and if he showedany such preference the coarsest interpretation would be inevitably placedupon it. These relations, perhaps, in so loose an age assumed occasionallya more intimate form; but it is to be observed that the first public actrecorded of Caesar was his refusal to divorce his wife at Sylla's bidding;that he was passionately attached to his sister; that his mother, Aurelia, lived with him till she died, and that this mother was a Roman matron ofthe strictest and severest type. Many names were mentioned in connectionwith him, yet there is no record of any natural child save Brutus, and oneother whose claims were denied and disproved. Two intrigues, it may be said, are beyond dispute. His connection with themother of Brutus was notorious. Cleopatra, in spite of Oppius, was livingwith him in his house at the time of his murder. That it was so believed ahundred years after his death is, of course, indisputable; but in boththese cases the story is entangled with legends which show how busilyimagination had been at work. Brutus was said to be Caesar's son, thoughCaesar was but fifteen when he was born; and Brutus, though he had thetemper of an Orestes, was devotedly attached to his mother in spite of thesupposed adultery, and professed to have loved Caesar when he offered himas a sacrifice to his country's liberty. Cleopatra is said to have joinedCaesar at Rome after his return from Spain, and to have resided openlywith him as his mistress. Supposing that she did come to Rome, it is stillcertain that Calpurnia was in Caesar's house when he was killed. Cleopatramust have been Calpurnia's guest as well as her husband's; and herpresence, however commented upon in society, could not possibly have bornethe avowed complexion which tradition assigned to it. On the other hand, it is quite intelligible that the young Queen of Egypt, who owed herposition to Caesar, might have come, as other princes came, on a visit ofcourtesy, and that Caesar after their acquaintance at Alexandria shouldhave invited her to stay with him. But was Cleopatra at Rome at all? Theonly real evidence for her presence there is to be found in a few words ofCicero: "Reginae fuga mihi non molesta. "--"I am not sorry to hear of theflight of the queen. " [2] There is nothing to show that the "queen" wasthe Egyptian queen. Granting that the word Egyptian is to be understood, Cicero may have referred to Arsinoë, who was called Queen as well as hersister, and had been sent to Rome to be shown at Caesar's triumph. But enough and too much on this miserable subject. Men will continue toform their opinions about it, not upon the evidence, but according totheir preconceived notions of what is probable or improbable. Ages ofprogress and equality are as credulous of evil as ages of faith arecredulous of good, and reason will not modify convictions which do notoriginate in reason. Let us pass on to surer ground. In person Caesar was tall and slight. His features were more refined thanwas usual in Roman faces; the forehead was wide and high, the nose largeand thin, the lips full, the eyes dark gray like an eagle's, the neckextremely thick and sinewy. His complexion was pale. His beard andmustache were kept carefully shaved. His hair was short and naturallyscanty, falling off toward the end of his life and leaving him partiallybald. His voice, especially when he spoke in public, was high and shrill. His health was uniformly strong until his last year, when he becamesubject to epileptic fits. He was a great bather, and scrupulously cleanin all his habits, abstemious in his food, and careless in what itconsisted, rarely or never touching wine, and noting sobriety as thehighest of qualities when describing any new people. He was an athlete inearly life, admirable in all manly exercises, and especially in riding. InGaul, as has been said already, he rode a remarkable horse, which he hadbred himself, and which would let no one but Caesar mount him. From hisboyhood it was observed of him that he was the truest of friends, that heavoided quarrels, and was most easily appeased when offended. In manner hewas quiet and gentlemanlike, with the natural courtesy of high-breeding. On an occasion when he was dining somewhere the other guests found the oiltoo rancid for them. Caesar took it without remark, to spare hisentertainer's feelings. When on a journey through a forest with his friendOppius, he came one night to a hut where there was a single bed. Oppiusbeing unwell, Caesar gave it up to him, and slept on the ground. In his public character he may be regarded under three aspects, as apolitician, a soldier, and a man of letters. Like Cicero, Caesar entered public life at the bar. He belonged by birthto the popular party, but he showed no disposition, like the Gracchi, toplunge into political agitation. His aims were practical. He made war onlyupon injustice and oppression; and when he commenced as a pleader he wasnoted for the energy with which he protected a client whom he believed tohave been wronged. At a later period, before he was praetor, he wasengaged in defending Masintha, a young Numidian prince, who had sufferedsome injury from Hiempsal, the father of Juba. Juba himself came to Romeon the occasion, bringing with him the means of influencing the judgeswhich Jugurtha had found so effective. Caesar in his indignation seizedJuba by the beard in the court; and when Masintha was sentenced to someunjust penalty Caesar carried him off, concealed him in his house, andtook him to Spain in his carriage. When he rose into the Senate, hispowers as a speaker became strikingly remarkable. Cicero, who often heardhim, and was not a favorable judge, said that there was a pregnancy in hissentences and a dignity in his manner which no orator in Rome couldapproach. But he never spoke to court popularity; his aim from first tolast was better government, the prevention of bribery and extortion, andthe distribution among deserving citizens of some portion of the publicland which the rich were stealing. The Julian laws, which excited theindignation of the aristocracy, had no other objects than these; and hadthey been observed they would have saved the Constitution. The obstinacyof faction and the civil war which grew out of it obliged him to extendhis horizon, to contemplate more radical reforms--a large extension of theprivileges of citizenship, with the introduction of the provincialnobility into the Senate, and the transfer of the administration from theSenate and annually elected magistrates to the permanent chief of thearmy. But his objects throughout were purely practical. The purpose ofgovernment he conceived to be the execution of justice; and aconstitutional liberty under which justice was made impossible did notappear to him to be liberty at all. The practicality which showed itself in his general aims appeared also inhis mode of working. Caesar, it was observed, when anything was to bedone, selected the man who was best able to do it, not caring particularlywho or what he might be in other respects. To this faculty of discerningand choosing fit persons to execute his orders may be ascribed theextraordinary success of his own provincial administration, the enthusiasmwhich was felt for him in the North of Italy, and the perfect quiet ofGaul after the completion of the conquest. Caesar did not crush the Gaulsunder the weight of Italy. He took the best of them into the Romanservice, promoted them, led them to associate the interests of the Empirewith their personal advancement and the prosperity of their own people. Noact of Caesar's showed more sagacity then the introduction of Gallicnobles into the Senate; none was more bitter to the Scipios and Metelli, who were compelled to share their august privileges with these despisedbarbarians. It was by accident that Caesar took up the profession of a soldier; yetperhaps no commander who ever lived showed greater military genius. Theconquest of Gaul was effected by a force numerically insignificant, whichwas worked with the precision of a machine. The variety of uses to whichit was capable of being turned implied, in the first place, extraordinaryforethought in the selection of materials. Men whose nominal duty wasmerely to fight were engineers, architects, mechanics of the highestorder. In a few hours they could extemporize an impregnable fortress on anopen hillside. They bridged the Rhine in a week. They built a fleet in amonth. The legions at Alesia held twice their number pinned within theirworks, while they kept at bay the whole force of insurgent Gaul, entirelyby scientific superiority. The machine, which was thus perfect, wascomposed of human beings who required supplies of tools, and arms, andclothes, and food, and shelter, and for all these it depended on theforethought of its commander. Maps there were none. Countries entirelyunknown had to be surveyed; routes had to be laid out; the depths andcourses of rivers, the character of mountain passes, had all to beascertained. Allies had to be found among tribes as yet unheard of. Countless contingent difficulties had to be provided for, many of whichmust necessarily arise, though the exact nature of them could not beanticipated. When room for accidents is left open, accidents do not failto be heard of. Yet Caesar was never defeated when personally present, save once at Gergovia, and once at Durazzo; and the failure at Gergoviawas caused by the revolt of the Aedui; and the manner in which the failureat Durazzo was retrieved showed Caesar's greatness more than the mostbrilliant of his victories. He was rash, but with a calculated rashness, which the event never failed to justify. His greatest successes were dueto the rapidity of his movements, which brought him on the enemy beforethey heard of his approach. He travelled sometimes a hundred miles a day, reading or writing in his carriage, though countries without roads, andcrossing rivers without bridges. No obstacles stopped him when he had adefinite end in view. In battle he sometimes rode; but he was more oftenon foot, bareheaded, and in a conspicuous dress, that he might be seen andrecognized. Again and again by his own efforts he recovered a day that washalf lost. He once seized a panic-stricken standard-bearer, turned himround, and told him that he had mistaken the direction of the enemy. Henever misled his army as to an enemy's strength, or if he mis-stated theirnumbers it was only to exaggerate. In Africa, before Thapsus, when hisofficers were nervous at the reported approach of Juba, he called themtogether and said briefly, "You will understand that within a day KingJuba will be here with the legions, thirty thousand horse, a hundredthousand skirmishers, and three hundred elephants. You are not to think orask questions. I tell you the truth, and you must prepare for it. If anyof you are alarmed, I shall send you home. " Yet he was singularly careful of his soldiers. He allowed his legionsrest, though he allowed none to himself. He rarely fought a battle at adisadvantage. He never exposed his men to unnecessary danger, and the lossby wear and tear in the campaigns in Gaul was exceptionally and evenastonishingly slight. When a gallant action was performed, he knew by whomit had been done, and every soldier, however humble, might feel assuredthat if he deserved praise he would have it. The army was Caesar's family. When Sabinus was cut off, he allowed his beard to grow, and he did notshave it till the disaster was avenged. If Quintus Cicero had been his ownchild, he could not have run greater personal risk to save him when shutup at Charleroy. In discipline he was lenient to ordinary faults, and notcareful to make curious inquiries into such things. He liked his men toenjoy themselves. Military mistakes in his officers too he alwaysendeavored to excuse, never blaming them for misfortunes, unless there hadbeen a defect of courage as well as judgment. Mutiny and desertion only henever overlooked. And thus no general was ever more loved by, or hadgreater power over, the army which served under him. He brought theinsurgent 10th legion into submission by a single word. When the civil warbegan and Labienus left him, he told all his officers who had served underPompey that they were free to follow if they wished. Not another manforsook him. Suetonius says that he was rapacious, that he plundered tribes in Spainwho were allies of Rome, that he pillaged shrines and temples in Gaul, anddestroyed cities merely for spoil. He adds a story which Cicero would nothave left untold and uncommented on if he had been so fortunate as to hearof it: that Caesar when first consul took three thousand pounds weight ofgold out of the Capitol and replaced it with gilded brass. A similar storyis told of the Cid and of other heroes of fiction. How came Cicero to beignorant of an act which, if done at all, was done under his own eyes?When praetor Caesar brought back money from Spain to the treasury; but hewas never charged at the time with peculation or oppression there. In Gaulthe war paid its own expenses; but what temples were there in Gaul whichwere worth spoiling? Of temples, he was, indeed, scrupulously careful. Varro had taken gold from the Temple of Hercules at Cadiz. Caesar replacedit. Metellus Scipio had threatened to plunder the Temple of Diana atEphesus. Caesar protected it. In Gaul the Druids were his best friends;therefore he certainly had not outraged religion there; and the quiet ofthe province during the civil war is a sufficient answer to the accusationof gratuitous oppression. The Gauls paid the expenses of their conquest in the prisoners taken inbattle, who were sold to the slave merchants; and this is the real blot onCaesar's career. But the blot was not personally upon Caesar, but upon theage in which he lived. The great Pomponius Atticus himself was a dealer inhuman chattels. That prisoners of war should be sold as slaves was the lawof the time, accepted alike by victors and vanquished; and the crowds oflibertini who assisted at Caesar's funeral proved that he was not regardedas the enemy of these unfortunates, but as their special friend. His leniency to the Pompeian faction has already been spoken ofsufficiently. It may have been politic, but it arose also from thedisposition of the man. Cruelty originates in fear, and Caesar was tooindifferent to death to fear anything. So far as his public action wasconcerned, he betrayed no passion save hatred of injustice; and he movedthrough life calm and irresistible, like a force of nature. Cicero has said of Caesar's oratory that he surpassed those who hadpractised no other art. His praise of him as a man of letters is yet moredelicately and gracefully emphatic. Most of his writings are lost; butthere remain seven books of commentaries on the wars in Gaul (the eighthwas added by another hand), and three books upon the civil war, containingan account of its causes and history. Of these it was that Cicero said, inan admirable image, that fools might think to improve on them, but that nowise man would try it; they were _nudi omni ornatu orationis, tanquamveste detractâ_--bare of ornament, the dress of style dispensed with, like an undraped human figure perfect in all its lines as nature made it. In his composition, as in his actions, Caesar is entirely simple. Heindulges in no images, no labored descriptions, no conventionalreflections. His art is unconscious, as the highest art always is. Theactual fact of things stands out as it really was, not as mechanicallyphotographed, but interpreted by the calmest intelligence, and describedwith unexaggerated feeling. No military narrative has approached theexcellence of the history of the war in Gaul. Nothing is written downwhich could be dispensed with; nothing important is left untold; while theincidents themselves are set off by delicate and just observations onhuman character. The story is rendered attractive by complimentaryanecdotes of persons; while details of the character and customs of anunknown and remarkable people show the attention which Caesar was alwaysat leisure to bestow on anything which was worthy of interest, even whenhe was surrounded with danger and difficulty. The books on the civil warhave the same simplicity and clearness, but a vein runs through them ofstrong if subdued emotion. They contain the history of a great revolutionrelated by the principal actor in it; but no effort can be traced to sethis own side in a favorable light, or to abuse or depreciate hisadversaries. The coarse invectives which Cicero poured so freely uponthose who differed from him are conspicuously absent. Caesar does notexult over his triumphs or parade the honesty of his motives. The factsare left to tell their own story; and the gallantry and endurance of hisown troops are not related with more feeling than the contrast between theconfident hopes of the patrician leaders at Pharsalia and the luxury oftheir camp with the overwhelming disaster which fell upon them. Abouthimself and his own exploits there is not one word of self-complacency orself-admiration. In his writings, as in his life, Caesar is always thesame--direct, straightforward, unmoved save by occasional tenderness, describing with unconscious simplicity how the work which had been forcedupon him was accomplished. He wrote with extreme rapidity in the intervalsof other labor; yet there is not a word misplaced, not a sign of hasteanywhere, save that the conclusion of the Gallic war was left to besupplied by a weaker hand. The Commentaries, as an historical narrative, are as far superior to any other Latin composition of the kind as theperson of Caesar himself stands out among the rest of his contemporaries. His other compositions have perished, in consequence, perhaps, of theunforgiving republican sentiment which revived among men of letters afterthe death of Augustus--which rose to a height in the "Pharsalia" ofLucan--and which leaves so visible a mark in the writings of Tacitus andSuetonius. There was a book "De Analogiâ, " written by Caesar after theconference at Lucca, during the passage of the Alps. There was a book onthe Auspices, which, coming from the head of the Roman religion, wouldhave thrown a light much to be desired on this curious subject. Inpractice Caesar treated the auguries with contempt. He carried his laws inopen disregard of them. He fought his battles careless whether the sacredchickens would eat or the calves' livers were of the proper color. His ownaccount of such things in his capacity of Pontifex would have had asingular interest. From the time of his boyhood he kept a common-place book, in which heentered down any valuable or witty sayings, inquiring carefully, as Cicerotakes pains to tell us, after any smart observation of his own. Niebuhrremarks that no pointed sentences of Caesar's can have come down to us. Perhaps he had no gift that way, and admired in others what he did notpossess. He left in verse "an account of the stars"--some practical almanac, probably, in a shape to be easily remembered; and there was a journal inverse also, written on the return from Munda. Of all the lost writings, however, the most to be regretted is the "Anti-Cato. " After Cato's deathCicero published a panegyric upon him. To praise Cato was to condemnCaesar; and Caesar replied with a sketch of the Martyr of Utica as he hadhimself known him. The pamphlet, had it survived, would have shown how farCaesar was able to extend the forbearance so conspicuous in his otherwritings to the most respectable and the most inveterate of his enemies. The verdict of fact and the verdict of literature on the great controversybetween them have been summed up in the memorable line of Lucan-- Victrix causa Deis placuit, sed victa Catoni. Was Cato right, or were the gods right? Perhaps both. There is a legendthat at the death of Charles V. The accusing angel appeared in heaven witha catalogue of deeds which no advocate could palliate--countries laiddesolate, cities sacked and burnt, lists of hundreds of thousands ofwidows and children brought to misery by the political ambition of asingle man. The evil spirit demanded the offender's soul, and it seemed asif mercy itself could not refuse him the award. But at the last moment theSupreme Judge interfered. The Emperor, He said, had been sent into theworld at a peculiar time, for a peculiar purpose, and was not to be triedby the ordinary rules. Titian has painted the scene: Charles kneelingbefore the Throne, with the consciousness, as became him, of humaninfirmities, written upon his countenance, yet neither afraid nor abject, relying in absolute faith that the Judge of all mankind would do right. Of Caesar, too, it may be said that he came into the world at a specialtime and for a special object. The old religions were dead, from thePillars of Hercules to the Euphrates and the Nile, and the principles onwhich human society had been constructed were dead also. There remained ofspiritual conviction only the common and human sense of justice andmorality; and out of this sense some ordered system of government had tobe constructed, under which quiet men could live and labor and eat thefruit of their industry. Under a rule of this material kind there can beno enthusiasm, no chivalry, no saintly aspirations, no patriotism of theheroic type. It was not to last forever. A new life was about to dawn formankind. Poetry, and faith, and devotion were to spring again out of theseeds which were sleeping in the heart of humanity. But the life which isto endure grows slowly; and as the soil must be prepared before the wheatcan be sown, so before the Kingdom of Heaven could throw up its shootsthere was needed a kingdom of this world where the nations were neithertorn in pieces by violence nor were rushing after false ideals andspurious ambitions. Such a kingdom was the Empire of the Caesars--akingdom where peaceful men could work, think, and speak as they pleased, and travel freely among provinces ruled for the most part by Gallios, whoprotected life and property, and forbade fanatics to tear each other inpieces for their religious opinions. "It is not lawful for us to put anyman to death, " was the complaint of the Jewish priests to the Romangovernor. Had Europe and Asia been covered with independent nations, eachwith a local religion represented in its ruling powers, Christianity musthave been stifled in its cradle. If St. Paul had escaped the Sanhedrim atJerusalem, he would have been torn to pieces by the silver-smiths atEphesus. The appeal to Caesar's judgment-seat was the shield of hismission, and alone made possible his success. And this spirit, which confined government to its simplest duties, whileit left opinion unfettered, was especially present in Julius Caesarhimself. From cant of all kinds he was totally free. He was a friend ofthe people, but he indulged in no enthusiasm for liberty. He never dilatedon the beauties of virtue, or complimented, as Cicero did, a Providence inwhich he did not believe. He was too sincere to stoop to unreality. Heheld to the facts of this life and to his own convictions; and as he foundno reason for supposing that there was a life beyond the grave he did notpretend to expect it. He respected the religion of the Roman State as aninstitution established by the laws. He encouraged or left unmolested thecreeds and practices of the uncounted sects or tribes who were gatheredunder the eagles. But his own writings contain nothing to indicate that hehimself had any religious belief at all. He saw no evidence that the godspractically interfered in human affairs. He never pretended that Jupiterwas on his side. He thanked his soldiers after a victory, but he did notorder _Te Deums _to be sung for it; and in the absence of theseconventionalisms he perhaps showed more real reverence than he could havedisplayed by the freest use of the formulas of pietism. He fought his battles to establish some tolerable degree of justice in thegovernment of this world; and he succeeded, though he was murdered fordoing it. Strange and startling resemblance between the fate of the founder of thekingdom of this world and of the Founder of the kingdom not of this world, for which the first was a preparation. Each was denounced for makinghimself a king. Each was maligned as the friend of publicans and sinners;each was betrayed by those whom he had loved and cared for; each was putto death; and Caesar also was believed to have risen again and ascendedinto heaven and become a divine being. [1] Suetonius, _Julius Caesar_, 49. [2] _To Atticus_, xiv. 8. [Illustration: GALLIA in the time of Caesar] Transcriber's note: A sidenote in chapter nine gives Caesar's age as 32in B. C. 77. I have corrected this evident misprint to 23.