Plutarch's Lives, Volume 3 · Plutarch
LIFE OF C. CÆSAR.
The assembling of the Gallic nations was a last great effort to throw off the yoke. Dion Cassius (40. c. 41) says Vercingetorix was put in chains. Seven years after he appeared in Cæsar's triumph, after which he was put to death. Cæsar passed the winter of B.C. 51 at Nemetocenna, Arras, in Belgium. The final pacification of Gaul is mentioned (viii. 48). Cæsar left Gaul for North Italy in the early part of B.C. 50, and having visited all the cities in his province on the Italian side of the Alps, he again returned to Nemetocenna in Belgium, and after finally settling affairs in those parts, he returned to North Italy, where he learned that the two legions, which had been taken from him for the Parthian war, had been given by the consul C. Marcellus to Pompeius, and were kept in Italy. In nine years Cæsar completed the subjugation of all that part of Gaul which is bounded by the Saltus Pyrenæus, the Alps and the Cevennes, the Rhine and the Rhone; and it was reduced to the form of a province. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 25.) With the capture of Alesia the Seventh book of the Gallic War ends. The Eighth book is not by Cæsar.] [Footnote 512: Novum Comum or Novocomum; north of the Padus, had been settled as a Colonia Latina by Cæsar. (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 26.)
The government of the colonia was formed on a Roman model: there was a body of Decuriones or Senators.] [Footnote 516: Cæsar (_Civil War_, i. 1) mentions this letter; but it was read in the Senate after great opposition. The consuls of the year B.C. 49 were L. Cornelius Lentulus and C. Claudius Marcellus. Cæsar, in the first few chapters of the Civil War, has clearly stated all the matters that are referred to in c. 30 and 31. The "letters" mentioned in c. 31 as coming before Curio and Antonius left Rome, are not mentioned by Cæsar. Plutarch might have confounded this with another matter. (_Civil War_, i. 3.)] [Footnote 519: Cæsar says nothing of the passage of the Rubico, but his silence does not disprove the truth of the story as told by Plutarch. The passage of the Rubico was a common topic (locus communis) for rhetoricians. Lucanus (_Pharsalia,_ i. 213) has embellished it:-- "Fonte cadit modico parvisque impellitur undis Puniceus Rubicon, cum fervida canduit æstas-- Tunc vires præbebat hiems." This small stream does not appear to be identified with certainty. Some writers make it the Fiumicino. Ariminum was not in Cæsar's province, and Plutarch must have known that, as appears from his narrative. Kaltwasser thinks that he may mean that it was originally a Gallic town, which was true.]
As to Cæsar's forces, see _Civil War_, iii. 2.] [Footnote 534: The river appears to be the Anas of Dion (41. c. 45) which is near Apollonia, though he does not mention the river in his account of Cæsar's attempted voyage. This is the river which Strabo calls Æas, and Hekatæus calls Aous (Strabo, p. 316). For the events in these three chapters see the Life of Pompeius, c. 65, &c., and the references in the notes.] [Footnote 540: I have omitted the unmeaning words [Greek: ê dia theias hêttês tethambêmenos] ἢ διὰ θείας ἥττης τεθαμβημένος. See the note of Sintenis.] [Footnote 545: Of Knidus. The same who is mentioned by Cicero (_Ad Attic._ xiii. 7) as a friend of Cæsar, and by Strabo, p. 48, &c. Asia is the Roman province of Asia.] [Footnote 547: Cæsar had the head of Pompeius burnt with due honours, and he built a temple to Nemesis over the ashes. The temple was pulled down by the Jews in their rising in Egypt during the time of Trajanus. (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 90.) As to the seal ring see the Life of Pompeius, c. 80, and Dion Cassias (42. c. 18).] [Footnote 553: The Pharos is a small island in the bay of Alexandria, which was connected with the mainland by a mole, and so divided the harbour into two parts. The story of the battle of the Pharos is told by Dion Cassius (42. c. 40), with the particulars about Cæsar's escape. See the notes of Reimarus.
The modern city of Alexandria is chiefly built on the mole which joined the old city to the mainland. (Article _Alexandria_, 'Penny Cyclopædia,' by the author of this note.)] [Footnote 555: Cæsar did not add Egypt to the Roman Empire. He married Kleopatra to her younger brother, who was a boy. Dion says that he still continued his commerce with Kleopatra. Cæsar was nine months in Egypt, from October 48 to July 47 of the unreformed Kalendar. Cæsarion, a Greek form from the word Cæsar, may have been Cæsar's son, for there is no doubt that Cæsar cohabited with Kleopatra in Egypt. There is more about this Cæsarion in Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 52, where the reading is doubtful; _Cæsar Octavian_. c. 17. When Cæsar Octavianus took Egypt he put Cæsarion to death.] [Footnote 556: He had been acknowledged by Pompeius as king of the Bosporus after the death of his father. He was now in Asia Minor, where he had taken Amisus and had castrated all the male children. Cæsar after hearing of the defeat of Domitius Calvinus, his legatus, by Pharnakos, advanced against him and routed his army. Zela is eight hours south of Amasia, the birthplace of Strabo, and about 40° 15' N. lat. Pharnakes was afterwards murdered by Asander, one of his generals. (Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 91; Dion Cassius, 42, 46; _Bell. Alexandria_, c. 72.)
The modern town of Zilleh, which contains 2000 houses, stands on the site of Zela. A hill rises abruptly above the plain near the centre of the present town, and occupies a commanding position. The appearance of the place corresponds very well with Strabo's description (p. 561), in whose time it was the capital of Zelitis. (Hamilton's _Asia Minor_, i. 361.)] [Footnote 557: This is the best MS. reading, not Amintius; the true name is probably C. Matius. He was an intimate friend of Cæsar, and he is well spoken of by Cicero. He remained faithful to the cause of Cæsar after his death, and he attached himself to Octavianus. There is a letter of Cicero to Matius, with the answer of Matius (Cicero, _Ad Diversos_, xi. 27, 28) written after Cæsar's death, which shows him to have been a man of honour and courage, and worthy of the name of Cæsar's friend. This letter of Cæsar's is probably a forgery of the anecdote-makers. Davis (note to Oudendorp's Cæsar, ii. 992) has indicated the probable source of this supposed letter. (Suetonius, _Cæsar_, c. 37.) The battle was a smart affair of several hours, and was not won without some loss.] [Footnote 561: Cato was not in the battle of Pharsalus. After the battle Cato, Scipio, Afranius, and Labienus went to Corcyra, whence they sailed to Africa to join Juba. (Life of Cato, c. 55; Dion Cassius, 42. c. 10; Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 95, &c.)
The history of the African War is contained in one book, and is printed in the editions with the Gallic War of Cæsar. Cæsar landed at Hadrumetum, because Utica was strongly guarded. (Dion Cassius, 42. c. 58.)] [Footnote 565: Petreius, Cæsar's former opponent in Spain, fled with Juba to Zama, where Juba had his family and his treasures. But the people would not receive Juba into the place. On which, after rambling about for some time with Petreius, in despair they determined to fight with one another that they might die like soldiers. Juba, who was strong, easily killed Petreius, and then with the help of a slave he killed himself. (_African War_, 94; Dion Cassius, 43, c. 8.) Scipio attempted to escape to Spain on ship-board. Near Hippo Regius (Bona) he was in danger of falling into the hands of P. Silius, on which he stabbed himself. Afranius and Faustus Sulla, the son of the dictator, were taken prisoners and murdered by the soldiers in Cæsar's camp.] [Footnote 568: Cæsar made the kingdom of Juba a Roman province, of which he appointed C. Sallustius, the historian, proconsul. He laid heavy impositions on the towns of Thapsus and Hadrumetum. He imposed on the people of Leptis an annual tax of 3,000,000 pounds weight of oil (pondo olei), which Plutarch translates by the Greek word litræ. On his voyage to Rome he stayed at Carales (Cagliari) in Sardinia. He reached Rome at the end of July, B.C. 46. (_African War_, 97, &c.)
Dion Cassius (43. c. 15, &c.) gives us a speech of Cæsar before the Senate on his return to Rome.] [Footnote 571: Plutarch has the word [Greek: triklinos] τρίκλινος. The Latin form is triclinium, a couch which would accomodate three persons at table. The word is of Greek origin, and simply means a place which will allow three persons to recline upon it. As triclinia were placed in eating-rooms, such a room is sometimes called triclinium. It is sometimes incorrectly stated that triclinium means three couches, and that a dining-room had the name of triclinium because it contained three couches; which is absurd. Vitruvius describes œci(dining-rooms) square and large enough to contain four triclinia, and leave room also for the servants (vi. 10). It may be true that three couches was a common number in a room.] [Footnote 574: Munda was in Bætica, west of Malaca (Malaga). The battle was fought on the day of the Liberalia, the feast of Liber or Bacchus, the 17th of March. Pompeius, B.C. 49, left Brundisium on the Ides of March, the 15th. The Spanish campaign is contained in a book entitled "De Bello Hispaniensi," which is printed with the "Commentaries of Cæsar:" thirty thousand men fell on the side of Pompeius, and three thousand equites (c. 31). See also Dion Cassius, 43, c. 36; and Appianus, _Civil Wars_, ii. 104.]
Jokes Atticus on the new neighbour that he was going to have: Atticus lived on the Quirinal Hill, where the temple of Quirinus stood. The Senate also decreed that Cæsar should use the word Imperator as a title prefixed to his name--Imperator Caius Julius Cæsar. The old practice was to put it after the name, as M. Tullius Cicero Imperator. The title Imperator prefixed to the name does not occur on the medals of Cæsar. But this decree of the Senate was the origin of the term Imperator being used as a title by the Roman Emperors. (Dion Cassius, 43. c. 44.)] [Footnote 586: Pometia is the common Roman form, from which comes the name of the Pometinæ, or Pomptinæ Paludes, now the Pontine Paludi; the site of Pometia is uncertain. That Cæsar intended to accomplish the drainage of this tract is mentioned by Dion Cassius and Suetonius. Setia (Sezza), noted for its wine, is on the Volscian hills (the Monti Lepini), and on the eastern margin of the marshes. The physical condition of this tract is described by Prony, in his "Description Hydrographique et Historique des Marais Pontins," 4to. Paris, 1822; the work is accompanied by a volume of plans and sections and a map of the district. A sketch of the physical character of this district, and of the various attempts to drain it, is also given in the 'Penny Cyclopædia,'--art. _Pomptine Marshes_. See also Westphal's two valuable maps of the Campagna di Roma, and his accompanying Memoir, Berlin and Stettin, 1829.]
A curious mistake was soon made at Rome by the Pontifices who had the regulation of the Kalendar. The rule was to intercalate a day in every fourth year (quarto quoque anno). Now such expressions are ambiguous in Latin, as is shown by numerous examples. (Savigny, _System des heut. Röm. Rechts_, iv. 329.) The expression might mean that both the year one and the year four were to be included in the interpretation of this rule; and the Pontifices interpreted it accordingly. Thus, after intercalating in year one, they intercalated again in year four, instead of in year five. In the time of Augustus, B.C. 8. the error was corrected, and the civil year was set right by dropping the three intercalary days which came next after that year, three being the number of days in excess that had been intercalated. For the future the rule of Cæsar was correctly interpreted. Dion Cassius in expressing the rule as to intercalation uses the phrase, [Greek: dia pente etôn] διὰ πέντε ἐτῶν. The subject of Cæsar's reformation is explained in the notes to Dion Cassius (43. c. 26), ed. Reimarus, and in the article Calendar (Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities) by Professor Key.] [Footnote 592: The Lupercalia are described in the Life of Romulus, c. 21. The festival was celebrated on the 15th of February. It was apparently an old shepherd celebration; and the name of the deity Lupercus appears to be connected with the name Lupus (wolf), the nurturer of the twins Romulus and Remus. Shakspere, who has literally transferred into his play of Julius Cæsar many passages from North's Plutarch, makes Cæsar say to the consul Antonius-- Forget not, in your speed, Antonius, To touch Calphurnia; for our elders say, The barren, touched in this holy chase, Shake off their sterile curse.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.