A History of Rome to 565 A. D Part 15

These arrangements were duly carried out. Since it was too late for Pompey and Cra.s.sus to be candidates at the regular elections in 56 B. C., they forcibly prevented any elections being held that year. The following January, after forcing the other candidates to withdraw, they secured their election. Thereupon a law of the tribune Gaius Trebonius made effective the a.s.signment of provinces agreed upon at Luca. Once more it was made plain that the coalition actually ruled the empire. Cicero, who was indebted to Pompey for his recall, was forced to support the triumvirate, and the Optimates found their boldest leader in Cato, who had returned to Rome early in 56 B. C.

*Caesar's crossing of the Rhine and invasion of Britain: 5554 B. C.*

During the winter following the subjugation of the Veneti, two Germanic tribes, the Usipetes and the Tencteri, crossed the lower Rhine into Gaul.

In the next summer, 55 B. C., Caesar attacked and annihilated their forces, only a few escaping across the river. As a warning against future invasion, Caesar bridged the Rhine and made a demonstration upon the right bank, destroying his bridge when he withdrew. Towards the close of the summer he crossed the Straits of Dover to Britain, to punish the Britons for aiding his enemies in Gaul. But owing to the lateness of the season and the smallness of his force he returned to Gaul after a brief reconnaissance.

In the following year, after gathering a larger fleet, he again landed on the island with a force of almost 30,000 men. This time he forced his way across the Thames and received the submission of Ca.s.sivellaunus, the chief who led the British tribes against the invaders. After taking hostages, and receiving promises of tribute, Caesar returned to Gaul. Britain was in no sense subdued, but the island had felt the power of Rome, and, besides enlarging the geographical knowledge of the time, Caesar had brought back numbers of captives. In Rome the exploit produced great excitement and enthusiasm.

*Revolts in Gaul: 5453 B. C.* Although the Gauls had submitted to Caesar, they were not yet reconciled to Roman rule, which put an end to their inter-tribal wars and to the feuds among the n.o.bility. Consequently, many of the tribes were restive and not inclined to surrender all hopes of freedom without another struggle. In the course of the winter 5453 B. C.

the Nervii, Treveri and Eburones in Belgian Gaul attacked the Roman detachments stationed in their territories. One of these was cut to pieces but the rest held their ground until relieved by Caesar, who stamped out the rebellion.

*Vercingetorix, 52 B. C.* A more serious movement started in 52 B. C.

among the peoples of central Gaul who found a national leader in Vercingetorix, a young n.o.ble of the Arverni. The revolt took Caesar by surprise when he was in Cisalpine Gaul and his troops still scattered in winter quarters. He recrossed the Alps with all haste, secured the Narbonese province and succeeded in uniting his forces. These he strengthened with German cavalry from across the Rhine. However, a temporary check in an attack upon the position of Vercingetorix at Gergovia caused the Aedui to desert the Roman cause, and the revolt spread to practically the whole of Gaul. Caesar was on the point of retiring to the province, but after repulsing an attack made upon him he was able to pen up Vercingetorix in the fortress of Alesia. A great effort made by the Gauls to relieve the siege failed to break Caesar's lines, and the defenders were starved into submission. The crisis was over, although another year was required before the revolting tribes were all reduced to submission and the Roman authority re-established (51 B. C.). Caesar used all possible mildness in his treatment of the conquered and the Gauls were not only pacified but won over. In the days to come they were among his most loyal supporters. The conquest of Gaul was an event of supreme importance for the future history of the Roman empire, and for the development of European civilization as well. For the time _Gallia comata_ was not formed into a province. Its peoples were made allies of Rome, under the supervision of the governor of Narbonese Gaul, under obligation to furnish troops and for the most part liable to a fixed tribute.

Caesar's campaign in Gaul had given him the opportunity to develop his unusual military talents and to create a veteran army devoted to himself.

His power had become so great that both Pompey and the Optimates desired his destruction and he was in a position to refuse to be eliminated without a struggle. The plots laid in Rome to deprive him of his power had made him hasten to quell the revolt of the Gauls with all speed. When this was accomplished he was free to turn his attention to Roman affairs.

*Cra.s.sus in Syria, 5553 B. C.* After the a.s.signment of the provinces by the Trebonian Law in 55 B. C., Cra.s.sus set out for Syria intending to win military power and prestige by a war against the Parthians, an Asiatic people who, once the subjects of the Persians and Seleucids, had established a kingdom which included the provinces of the Seleucid empire as far west as the Euphrates. Cra.s.sus had no real excuse for opening hostilities, but the Parthians were a potentially dangerous neighbor and a campaign against them gave promise of profit and glory. Accordingly, in 54 B. C., Cra.s.sus made a short incursion into Mesopotamia and then withdrew to Syria. The next year he again crossed the Euphrates, intending to penetrate deeply into the enemy's country. But he had underestimated the strength of the Parthians and the difficulties of desert warfare. In the Mesopotamian desert near Carrhae his troops were surrounded and cut to pieces by the Parthian hors.e.m.e.n; Cra.s.sus himself was enticed into a conference and treacherously slain, and only a small remnant of his force escaped (53 B. C.). But the Parthians were slow in following up their advantage and Cra.s.sus' quaestor, Ca.s.sius Longinus, was able to hold Syria.

Still Roman prestige in the East had received a severe blow and for the next three centuries the Romans found the Parthians dangerous neighbors.

The death of Cra.s.sus tended to hasten a crisis in Rome for it brought into sharp conflict the incompatible ambitions of Pompey and Caesar, whose estrangement had already begun with the death of Pompey's wife Julia in 54 B. C.

*Affairs in Rome, 5449 B. C.* At the end of his consuls.h.i.+p Pompey left Rome but remained in Italy, on the pretext of his curators.h.i.+p of the grain supply, and governed his province through his legates. In Rome disorder reigned; no consuls were elected in 54 B. C. nor before July of the following year; the partizans of Clodius and Milo kept everything in confusion. Pompey could have restored order but preferred to create a situation which would force the Senate to grant him new powers, so he backed Clodius, while Milo championed the Optimates. Owing to broils between the supporters of the candidates, no consuls or praetors could be elected for 52 B. C. In January of that year Clodius was slain by Milo's body-guard on the Appian Way, and the ensuing outburst of mob violence in the city forced the Senate to appeal to Pompey. He was made sole consul, until he should choose a colleague, and was entrusted with the task of restoring order. His troops brought quiet into the city; Milo was tried on a charge of public violence, convicted, and banished. Pompey had attained the height of his official career; he was sole consul, at the same time he had a province embracing the Spains, Libya, and the sphere a.s.signed to him with the grain curators.h.i.+p, he governed his provinces through _legati_, and his armies were maintained by the public treasury. In reality he was the chief power in the state, for without him the Senate was helpless, and he was justly regarded by contemporaries as the First Citizen or Princeps.

In many ways his position foreshadowed the Princ.i.p.ate of Augustus.

However, Pompey did not wish to overthrow the republican regime; his ambition was to be regarded as the indispensable and permanent mainstay of the government and to enjoy corresponding power and honor. In such a scheme there was no room for a rival, and therefore he determined upon Caesar's overthrow. This decision put him on the side of the extreme Optimates, who were alarmed by Caesar's wealth, influence and fame and feared him as a dangerous radical. They had no hesitation in choosing between Pompey and Caesar.

*Pompey's attack upon Caesar: 52 B. C.* The latter's immediate aim was to secure the consuls.h.i.+p for 48 B. C. and to retain his proconsular command until the end of December, 49. He knew that he had reached a position where his destruction was the desire of many, and that the moment he surrendered his _imperium_ he would be open to prosecution by those seeking to procure his ruin. But he had no intention of placing himself in the power of his enemies. The consuls.h.i.+p would not only save him from prosecution but would enable him to confirm his arrangements in Gaul, reward his army, and secure his own future by another proconsular appointment. However, to secure his election, he had to be exempted from presenting himself in person for his candidature in 49, and this permission was accorded him by a tribunician law early in 52 B. C. So far his position was strictly legal, but Pompey, whose own consuls.h.i.+p was unconst.i.tutional, now broke openly with Caesar by pa.s.sing legislation which would undermine the latter's position. One of Pompey's laws prohibited candidacies for office _in absentia_, and when Caesar's friends protested, he added to the text of the law after it had pa.s.sed a clause exempting Caesar from its operation; a procedure of more than dubious legality. A second law provided that in future provincial governors.h.i.+ps should not be filled by the city magistrates just completing their term of office but by those whose terms had expired five years previously. This latter law may have been intended to check the mad rivalry for provincial appointments, but its immediate significance lay in the fact that it permitted a successor to be appointed to take over Caesar's provinces on 1 March, 49 B. C. He would thus have to stand as a private citizen for the consuls.h.i.+p and would no longer enjoy immunity from legal attack. At the same time Pompey had his own command in Spain extended for another five years.

*Negotiations between Caesar, Pompey and the Senate, 5150 B. C.* The question of appointing a successor to Caesar's provinces filled the next two years and was the immediate cause of civil war. Caesar claimed that his position should not be affected by the Pompeian law, and pressed for permission to hold his command until the close of 49 B. C. The extreme conservatives sought to supersede him on March first of that year, but Caesar's friends and agents thwarted their efforts. Pompey was not willing to have Caesar's command to run beyond 13 November, 49. Cicero, who had distinguished himself by his uprightness as governor of Cilicia in 51, strove to effect a compromise, but in vain. Caesar offered to give up Transalpine Gaul and part of his army, if allowed to retain the Cisalpine province but the overture was rejected. Finally, in December, 50 B. C., he formally promised to resign his provinces and disband his troops, if Pompey would do the same, but the Senate insisted upon his absolute surrender. On 7 January, 49 B. C., the Senate pa.s.sed the "last decree"

calling upon the magistrates and proconsuls (i. e. Pompey) to protect the state, and declaring Caesar a public enemy. Caesar's friends left the city and fled to meet him in Cisalpine Gaul, where he and his army were in readiness for this emergency.

III. THE CIVIL WAR BETWEEN CAESAR AND THE SENATE: 4946 B. C.

*Caesar's conquest of Italy and Spain, 49 B. C.* The senatorial conservatives had forced the issue and for Caesar there remained the alternative of victory or destruction. He possessed the advantages of a loyal army ready for immediate action and the undisputed control over his own troops. On the other hand, his opponents had no veteran troops in Italy, and although Pompey acted as commander-in-chief of the senatorial forces, he was greatly hampered by having at times to defer to the judgment of the consuls and senators who were in his camp. It was obviously to Caesar's advantage to take the offensive and to force a decision before his enemies could concentrate against him the resources of the provinces. Hence he determined to act without delay, and, upon receiving news of the Senate's action on 7 January, he crossed the Rubicon, which divided Cisalpine Gaul and Italy, with a small force, ordering the legions beyond the Alps to join him with all speed. The Italian munic.i.p.alities opened their gates at his approach and the newly raised levies went over to his side. Everywhere his mildness to his opponents won him new adherents. Pompey decided to abandon Italy and withdraw to the East, intending later to concentrate upon the peninsula from all sides; a plan made feasible by his control of the sea. Caesar divined his intention and tried to cut off his retreat at Brundisium, but could not prevent his embarkation. With his army and the majority of the Senate Pompey crossed to Epirus. Owing to his lack of a fleet Caesar could not follow and returned to Rome. There some of the magistrates were still functioning, in conjunction with a remnant of the Senate. Being in dire need of money, he wished to obtain funds from the treasury, and when this was opposed by a tribune, Caesar ignored the latter's veto and forcibly seized the reserve treasure which the Pompeians had left behind in their hasty flight. In the meantime Caesar's lieutenants had seized Sardinia and Sicily, and crossed over into Africa. He himself determined to attack the well organized Pompeian forces in Spain and destroy them before Pompey was ready for an offensive from the East. On his way to Spain, Caesar began the siege of Ma.s.salia which closed its gates to him. Leaving the city under blockade he hastened to Spain, where after an initial defeat he forced the surrender of the Pompeian armies. Some of the prisoners joined his forces; the rest were dismissed to their homes. Caesar hastened back to Ma.s.salia. The city capitulated at his arrival, and was punished by requisitions, the loss of its territory and the temporary deprivation of its autonomy. From here Caesar pressed on to Rome, where he had been appointed dictator by virtue of a special law. After holding the elections in which he and an approved colleague were returned as consuls for 48, he resigned his dictators.h.i.+p and set out for Brundisium. There he had a.s.sembled his army and transports for the pa.s.sage to Epirus.

*Pharsalus, 48 B. C.* During Caesar's Spanish campaign Pompey had gathered a large force in Macedonia, nine Roman legions reinforced by contingents from the Roman allies. His fleet, recruited largely from the maritime cities in the East, commanded the Adriatic. Nevertheless, at the opening of winter (Nov. 49 B. C.) Caesar effected a landing on the coast of Epirus with part of his army and seized Apollonia. However, Pompey arrived from Macedonia in time to save Dyrrhachium. Throughout the winter the two armies remained inactive, but Pompey's fleet prevented Caesar from receiving reinforcements until the spring of 48 B. C., when Marcus Antonius effected a crossing with another detachment. As Caesar's troops began to suffer from shortage of supplies he was forced to take the offensive and tried to blockade Pompey's larger force in Dyrrhachium.

However, the attempt failed, his lines of investment were broken, and he withdrew to Thessaly. Thither he was followed by Pompey, who suffered himself to be influenced by the overconfident senators to risk a battle.

Near the town of Old Pharsalus he attacked Caesar but was defeated and his army dispersed. He himself sought refuge in Egypt and there he was put to death by order of the king whose father he had protected in the days of his power. Pompey's great weakness was that his resolution did not match his ambition. His ambition led him to seek a position incompatible with the const.i.tution; but his lack of resolution did not permit him to overthrow the const.i.tution. The Optimates had sided with him only because they held him less dangerous than Caesar and had he been victorious they would have sought to compa.s.s his downfall.

*Caesar in the East, 4847 B. C.* After Pharsalus Caesar had set out in pursuit of Pompey, but arrived in Egypt after the murder of his foe. His ever pressing need of money probably induced Caesar to intervene as arbiter in the name of Rome in the dynastic struggle then raging in Egypt between the twenty-year-old Cleopatra and her thirteen-year-old brother, Ptolemy XIV Dionysus, who was also, following the Egyptian custom, her husband. Caesar got the young king in his power and brought back Cleopatra, whom the people of Alexandria had driven out. Angered thereat, and resenting his exactions, the Alexandrians rose in arms and from October, 48, to March, 47 B. C., besieged Caesar in the royal quarter of the city. Having but few troops with him Caesar was in dire straits and was only able to maintain himself through his control of the sea which enabled him to eventually receive reinforcements. His relief was effected by a force raised by Mithradates of Pergamon who invaded Egypt from Syria.

In co-operation with him Caesar defeated the Egyptians in battle; Ptolemy Dionysus perished in flight; and Alexandria submitted. Cleopatra was married to a still younger brother and put in possession of the kingdom of Egypt. Caesar had succ.u.mbed to the charms of the Egyptian queen and tarried in her company for the rest of the winter. He was called away to face a new danger in Pharnaces, son of Mithradates Eupator, who had taken advantage of the civil war to recover Pontus and overrun Lesser Armenia, Cappadocia and Bithynia. Hastening through Syria Caesar entered Pontus and defeated Pharnaces at Zela. After settling affairs in Asia Minor he proceeded with all speed to the West, where his presence was urgently needed.

*Thapsus, 46 B. C.* Both the fleet and the army of Pompey had dispersed after Pharsalus, but Caesar's delay in the East had given the republicans an opportunity to rea.s.semble their forces. They gathered in Africa where Caesar's lieutenant Curio, who had invaded the province in 49 B. C., had been defeated and killed by the Pompeians through the aid of King Juba of Numidia. From Africa they were now preparing to attack Italy. In Rome, Caesar had been appointed dictator for 47 B. C. with Antony as his master of the horse. Here disorder reigned as a result of the distress arising from the financial stringency brought on by the war. Antony, who was in Rome, had proved unable to deal with the situation. Caesar reached Italy in September, 47 B. C., and soon restored order in the city. He was then called upon to face a serious mutiny of his troops who demanded the fulfillment of his promises of money and land and their release from service. By boldness and presence of mind Caesar won them back to their allegiance and set out for Africa in December, 47 B. C. He landed with only a portion of his troops and at first was defeated by the republicans under Scipio and Juba. But he was supported by King Bogud of Mauretania and a Catalinarian soldier of fortune, Publius Sittius, and after receiving reinforcements from Italy he besieged the seaport Thapsus.

Scipio came to the rescue but was completely defeated in a b.l.o.o.d.y battle near the town. The whole of the province fell into Caesar's hands. Cato, who was in command of Utica, did not force the citizens to resist but committed suicide; the other republican leaders, including Juba, either followed his example, or were taken and executed by the Caesarians. From Africa Caesar returned to Rome where he celebrated a costly triumph over Gaul, Egypt, Pharnaces and Juba. He was now undisputed master of the state and proceeded according to his own judgment to settle the problem of governing the Roman world.

IV. THE DICTATORs.h.i.+P OF JULIUS CAESAR: 4644 B. C.

*The problem of imperial government.* From 28 July, 46, to 15 March, 44 B. C., Caesar ruled the Roman Empire with despotic power, his position unchallenged except for a revolt of the Pompeian party in Spain which required his attention from the autumn of 46 to the spring of 45 B. C. His victory over Pompey and the republicans had placed upon him the obligation to provide the empire with a stable form of government and this responsibility he accepted. Sulla, when faced with the same problem, had been content to place the Senate once more at the head of the state, but from his own experience Caesar knew how futile this policy had been. Nor could the ideal of Pompey commend itself as a means of ending civil war and rebellion. Caesar was prepared to deal much more radically with the old regime, but death overtook him before he had completed his reorganization. What was the goal of his policy will best be understood from a consideration of his official position during the year and a half which followed the battle of Thapsus.

*Caesar's offices, powers and honors.* Caesar's autocratic position rested in the last instance upon the support of his veterans, of the a.s.sociates who owed their advancement to him, and of such small forces as he kept under arms, but his position was legalized by the acc.u.mulation in his hands of various offices, special powers and unusual honors. Foremost among his offices came the dictators.h.i.+p. We have seen that he had held this already for a short time in 49 and again in 47. In 46 B. C. he was appointed dictator for ten years, and in the following year for life. At the same time he was consul, an office which he held continuously from 48 B. C., in 45 as sole consul, but usually with a colleague. In addition to these offices he enjoyed the tribunician authority (_tribunicia potestas_), that is, the power of the tribunes without the name. This included the right to sit with the tribunes and the right of intercession, granted him as early as 48 B. C., and also personal inviolability (_sacrosanct.i.tas_) which he received in 45. He had been Chief Pontiff since 63, and in 48 B. C. was admitted to all the patrician priestly corporations. And in 46 B. C. he was given the powers of the censors.h.i.+p under the t.i.tle of "prefect of morals" (_praefectus morum_), at first for three years and later for life. In addition to these official positions of more or less established scope, Caesar received other powers not dependent upon any office. He was granted the right to appoint to both Roman and provincial magistracies, until in 44 B. C. he had the authority to nominate half the officials annually; and in reality appointed all. In 48 B. C. he received the power of making war and peace without consulting the Senate, in 46 the right of expressing his opinion first in the Senate (_ius primae sententiae_), and in 45 the sole right to command troops and to control the public moneys. In the next year ratification was given in advance to all his future arrangements, and magistrates entering upon office were required to swear to uphold his acts. The concentration of these powers in his person placed Caesar above the law, and reduced the holders of public offices to the position of his servants. Honors to match his extraordinary powers were heaped upon Caesar, partly by his own desire, partly by the servility and fulsome flattery of the Senate. He was granted a seat with the consuls in the Senate, if he should not be consul himself; he received the t.i.tle of parent or father of his country (_parens_ or _pater patriae_); his statue was placed among those of the kings of Rome, his image in the temple of Quirinus; the month Quinctilis, in which he was born, was renamed Julius (July) in his honor; a new college of priests, the Julian Luperci, was created; a temple was erected to himself and the G.o.ddess Clementia, and a priest (flamen) appointed for his wors.h.i.+p there; and he was authorized to build a house on the Palatine with a pediment like a temple. Most of these honors he received after his victory over the Pompeians in Spain in 45 B. C. However, the t.i.tle _imperator_ (Emperor), which was regularly the prerogative of a general who was ent.i.tled to a triumph and was surrendered along with his military _imperium_, was employed by Caesar continuously from 49 until after the battle of Thapsus in 46, when he celebrated his triumph over the Gauls and his other non-Roman enemies. He a.s.sumed it again after Munda in the following year.

*Caesar's aim-monarchy.* Taking into account the powers which Caesar wielded and his lifelong tenure of certain offices there can be no doubt that he not only had established monarchical government in Rome but also aimed to make his monarchy permanent. And this gives the explanation why he accepted honors which were more suited to a G.o.d than to a man, for since the time of Alexander the Great deification had been accepted in the Greek East as the legal and moral basis for the exercise of absolute power, and as distinguis.h.i.+ng a legitimate autocracy from a tyranny. To a polytheistic age, familiar with the idea of the deification of "heroes"

after death and permeated in its educated circles with the teaching of Euhemerus that the G.o.ds were but men who in their sojourn upon earth had been benefactors of the human race, the deification of a monarch in no way offended religious susceptibilities. The Romans were acquainted with monarchies of this type in Syria and in Egypt. Indeed this was the only type of monarchy familiar to the Romans of the first century B. C., if we exclude the Parthian and other despotisms, and it was bound to influence any form of monarchical government set up in Rome. The plebs actually hailed Caesar as "_rex_," and at the feast of the Lupercalia in February, 44 B. C., Antony publicly offered him a crown. It is possible that he would have a.s.sumed the t.i.tle if popular opinion had supported this step.

And there may well have been some truth in the rumor that he contemplated marriage with Cleopatra, who came to Rome in 46 B. C., for a queen would be a fit mate for a monarch and such a step would have effected the peaceful incorporation of Egypt into the Roman Empire.

*Caesar's reforms.* Upon returning to Rome after the battle of Thapsus Caesar began a series of reforms which affected practically every side of Roman life. One of the most useful was the reform of the Roman calendar.

Hitherto the Romans had employed a lunar year of three hundred and fifty-five days (the calendar year beginning on March first and the civil year, since 153 B. C., on January first) which was approximately corrected to the solar year by the addition of an intercalary month of twenty-two days in the second, and one of twenty-three days in the fourth year, of cycles of four years. For personal or political motives the pontiffs had trifled with the intercalation of these months until in 46 B. C. the Roman year was completely out of touch with the solar year. With the a.s.sistance of the Greek astronomer Sosigenes, Caesar introduced the Egyptian solar year of approximately 365 days, in such a way that three years of 365 days were followed by one of 366 days in which an extra day was added to February after the twenty-fourth of the month. The new Julian calendar went into effect on 1 January, 45 B. C. Another abuse was partially rectified by the reduction of the number who were ent.i.tled to receive cheap grain in Rome from about 320,000 to 150,000. The Roman plebeian colleges and guilds, which had become political clubs and had contributed to the recent disorders in the city, were dissolved with the exception of the ancient a.s.sociation of craftsmen. The _tribuni aerarii_ were removed from the jury courts and the penalties for criminal offences increased.

Plans were laid for a codification of the Roman law but this was not carried into effect. Munic.i.p.al administration in Rome and the Italian towns was regulated by the Julian Munic.i.p.al Law, which brought uniformity into the munic.i.p.al organization of Italy. The Roman magistracies were increased in number; the quaestors.h.i.+ps from twenty to forty, and the eight praetors.h.i.+ps finally to sixteen. At the same time the priesthoods were likewise enlarged. Administrative needs and the wish to reward a greater number of followers probably influenced these changes. A number of new patrician families were created to take the places of those which had died out. The members.h.i.+p of the Senate was increased to 900, and many new men, including ex-soldiers of Caesar and enfranchised Gauls, were enrolled in it. Caesar provided for his veterans by settling them in Italian munic.i.p.alities and in colonies in the provinces. The deserted sites of Carthage and Corinth were repeopled with Roman colonists and once more became flouris.h.i.+ng cities. In this way Caesar promoted the romanization of the provinces, a policy which he had begun with his conferment of the franchise upon the Transpadane Gauls in 49, and continued in the case of many Spanish communities. This romanization of the provinces and the admission of provincials to the Senate points to an imperial policy which would end the exploitation of the provinces in the interests of a governing caste and a city mob.

*Munda, 45 B. C.* Caesar proved himself a magnanimous conqueror. No Sullan proscriptions disgraced his victory. After Pharsalus he permitted all the republican leaders who submitted (among them Cicero), to return to Rome.

Even after Thapsus at the intercession of his friends he pardoned bitter foes like Marcus Marcellus, one of the consuls of 50 B. C. But there remained some irreconcilables led by his old lieutenant Labienus, Varus, and Gnaeus and s.e.xtus Pompey, sons of Pompey the Great, who after Pharsalus had betaken themselves with a small naval force to the western Mediterranean. In 46 B. C. they were joined by Labienus and Varus and landed in Spain where they rallied to their cause the old Pompeian soldiers who had entered Caesar's service but whose sympathies had been alienated by one of his _legati_, Quintus Ca.s.sius. The Caesarian commanders could make no headway against them and it became necessary for the dictator to take the field in person. In December 46 B. C. he set out for Spain. Throughout the winter he sought in vain to force the enemy to battle, but in March 45 the two armies met at Munda, where Caesar's eight defeated the thirteen Pompeian legions. The Caesarians gave no quarter and the Pompeian forces were annihilated; Labienus and Varus fell on the field, Gnaeus Pompey was later taken and put to death, but his brother s.e.xtus escaped. Caesar returned to Italy in September, 45 B. C., and celebrated a triumph for his success.

*The **a.s.sa.s.sination** of Julius Caesar, 15 March, 44 B. C.* His victory at Munda had strengthened Caesar's autocratic position, and was responsible for the granting of most of the exceptional honors which we have noted above. It was now clear at Rome that Caesar did not intend to restore the republic. In the conduct of the government he allowed no freedom of action to either Senate or a.s.sembly, and although in general mild and forgiving he was quick to resent any attempt to slight him or question his authority. The realization that Caesar contemplated the establishment of a monarchy aroused bitter animosity among certain representatives of the old governing oligarchy, who chafed under the restraints imposed upon them by his autocratic power and resented the degradation of the Senate to the position of a mere advisory council. It could hardly be expected that members of the Roman aristocracy with all their traditions of imperial government would tamely submit to being excluded from political life except as ministers of an autocrat who was until lately one of themselves. This att.i.tude was shared by many who had hitherto been active in Caesar's cause, as well as by republicans who had made their peace with him. And so among these disgruntled elements a conspiracy was formed against the dictator's life. The originator of the plot was the ex-Pompeian Caius Ca.s.sius, whom Caesar had made praetor for 44, and who won over to his design Marcus Junius Brutus, a member of the house descended from the Brutus who was reputed to have delivered Rome from the tyranny of the Tarquins. Brutus had gone over to Caesar after the battle of Pharsalus and was highly esteemed by him, but allowed himself to be persuaded that it was his duty to imitate his ancestor's conduct. Other conspirators of note were the Caesarians Gaius Trebonius and Decimus Junius Brutus. In all some sixty senators shared in the conspiracy. They set the Ides of March, 44, as the date for the execution of the plot.

Caesar was now busily engaged with preparations for a war against the Parthians, who had been a menace to Syria ever since the defeat of Cra.s.sus. This defeat Caesar aimed to avenge and, in addition, to definitely secure the eastern frontier of the empire. An army of sixteen legions and 10,000 cavalry was being a.s.sembled in Greece for this campaign, and Caesar was about to leave Rome to a.s.sume command. He is said to have been informed that a conspiracy against his life was on foot, but to have disregarded the warning. He had dismissed his body-guard of soldiers and refused one of senators and equestrians. On the fatal day he entered the Senate chamber, where the question of granting him the t.i.tle of king in the provinces was to be discussed. A group of the conspirators surrounded him, and, drawing concealed daggers, stabbed him to death. He fell at the foot of Pompey's statue.

*Estimate of Caesar's career.* By the Roman writers who preserved the republican tradition Brutus, Ca.s.sius, and their a.s.sociates were honored as tyrannicides who in the name of liberty had sought to save the republic.

Cato, who had died rather than witness the triumph of Caesar, became their hero. But this is an extremely narrow and partizan view. The republic which Caesar had overthrown was no system of popular government but one whereby a small group of Roman n.o.bles and capitalists exploited for their own personal ends and for the satisfaction of an idle city mob millions of subjects in the provinces. The republican organs of government had ceased to voice the opinion even of the whole Roman citizen body. The governing circles had proven themselves incapable of bringing about any improvement in the situation and had completely lost the power of preserving peace in the state. Radical reforms were imperative and could only be effective by virtue of superior force. In his resort to corruption and violence in furthering his own career and in his appeal to arms to decide the issue between himself and the Senate, Caesar must be judged according to the practices of his time. He was the child of his age and advanced himself by means which his predecessors and contemporaries employed. That he was ambitious and a lover of power is undeniable but hardly a cause for reproach; and who shall blame him, if when the Senate sought to destroy him by force, he used the same means to defend himself. His claim to greatness lies not in his ability to outwit his rivals in the political arena or outgeneral his enemies on the field of battle, but in his realization, when the fate of the civilized world was in his hands, that the old order was beyond remedy and in his courage in attempting to set up a new order which promised to give peace and security both to Roman citizens and to the provincials. Caesar fell before he had been able to give stability to his organization, but the republic could not be quickened into life. After Caesar some form of monarchical government was inevitable.

CHAPTER XV

THE Pa.s.sING OF THE REPUBLIC: 4427 B. C.

I. THE RISE OF OCTAVIAN

*The political situation after Caesar's death.* Caesar had made no arrangements for a successor, and his death produced the greatest consternation in Rome. The conspirators had made no plans to seize the reins of power, and instead of finding their act greeted with an outburst of popular approval, they were left face to face with the fact that although Caesar was dead the Caesarian party lived on in his veterans and the city populace, led by the consul Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Caesar's master of the horse. The Senate met on 17 March, and it was evident that a majority of its members supported the a.s.sa.s.sins, but they were afraid of the legion which Lepidus had under his orders and the Caesarian veterans in the city. Antony, who had obtained possession of Caesar's papers and money, took the lead of the Caesarian party and came to terms with their opponents. It was agreed that the conspirators should go unpunished, but that the acts of Caesar should be ratified, even those which had not yet been carried into effect, that his will should be approved, and that he should receive a public funeral.

The reading of Caesar's will revealed that he had left his gardens on the right bank of the Tiber as a public park, had bequeathed a donation of three hundred sesterces (about fifteen dollars) to each Roman citizen and had adopted his grand-nephew Caius Octavius as his son and heir to three-fourths of his fortune. By a speech delivered to the people on the day of Caesar's funeral Antony skilfully enflamed popular sentiment against Caesar's murderers. The mob seized the dictator's corpse, burned it in the forum and buried the ashes there. The chief conspirators did not dare to remain in the city; Decimus Brutus went to his province of Cisalpine Gaul, Marcus Brutus and Ca.s.sius lingered in the neighborhood of Rome. Antony was master of the situation in the capital and overawed opposition by his bodyguard of 6000 veterans. He held in check Lepidus and other Caesarians who called for vengeance upon the conspirators. Lepidus was won over by his election to the position of Pontifex Maximus to succeed Caesar and was induced to leave the city for his province of Hither Spain to check the progress of s.e.xtus Pompey, who had reappeared in Farther Spain and defeated the Caesarian governor. It was hoped that s.e.xtus would be satisfied with permission to return to Rome and compensation for his father's property. Caesar's arrangements for the provincial governors.h.i.+ps had a.s.signed Macedonia to Antony and Syria to Dolabella, who became Antony's colleague in the consulate at Caesar's death. This a.s.signment Antony altered by a law which granted him Cisalpine Gaul and the Transalpine district outside the Narbonese province for a term of six years in violation of a law of Caesar's, which limited proconsular commands to two years. Dolabella was to have Syria for a like period and Decimus Brutus was given Macedonia in exchange for Cisalpine Gaul. The consuls were to occupy their provinces at once. To Brutus and Ca.s.sius were a.s.signed for the next year the provinces of Crete and Cyrene; while for the present they were given a special commission to collect grain in Sicily and Asia. The two left Italy for the East with the intention of seizing the provinces there before the arrival of Dolabella.

They hoped to raise a force which would enable them to check Antony's career, for it was evident that Antony regarded himself as Caesar's political heir and was planning to follow the latter's path to absolute power.

*Caius Octavius.* But he found an unexpected rival in the person of Caesar's adopted son, Caius Octavius, a youth of eighteen years, who at the time of Caesar's death was at Apollonia in Illyric.u.m with the army that was being a.s.sembled for the Parthian War. Against the advice of his parents he returned to Rome and claimed his inheritance. His presence was unwelcome to Antony, who had expended Caesar's money, and refused to refund it. Thereupon Octavius raised funds by selling his own properties and borrowing, and began to pay off the legacies of Caesar. By this means he soon acquired popularity with the Caesarians. The formalities of his adoption were not completed until the following year, but from this time on he took the name of Caesar.(13)

Antony underestimated the capacities of this rather sickly youth and continued to refuse him recognition, but was soon made aware of his mistake. He himself was anxious to occupy his province of Cisalpine Gaul, and since Decimus Brutus refused to evacuate it, Antony determined to drive him out and obtained permission to recall for that purpose the four legions from Macedonia. Before their arrival Octavian raised a force among Caesar's veterans in Campania, and on the march from Brundisium to Rome two of the four Macedonian legions deserted to him. The Caesarians were now divided into two parties, and Octavian began to cooperate with the republicans in the Senate. The latter were thus encouraged to oppose Antony with whom reconciliation was impossible. Cicero, who had not been among the conspirators but who had subsequently approved Caesar's murder, was about to leave Italy to join Brutus when he heard of the changed situation in Rome and returned to a.s.sume the leaders.h.i.+p of the republican party. Antony left Rome for the Cisalpine province early in December, 44 B. C., and Cicero induced the Senate to enter into a coalition with Octavian against him. In his _Philippic Orations_ he gave full vent to his bitter hatred of Antony and so aroused the latter's undying enmity.

*The war at Mutina, December 44April 43 B. C.* In Cisalpine Gaul Decimus Brutus, relying upon the support of the Senate, refused to yield to Antony and was blockaded in Mutina. The Senate made preparations for his relief.

Antony was ordered to leave the province, and Hirtius and Pansa, who became consuls in January, 43, took the field against him. The aid of Octavian was indispensable and the Senate conferred upon him the propraetorian _imperium_ with consular rank in the Senate. The combined armies defeated Antony in two battles in the vicinity of Mutina, forcing him to give up the siege and flee towards Transalpine Gaul. But Pansa died of wounds received in the first engagement and Hirtius fell in the course of the second. Ignoring Octavian, the Senate entrusted Brutus with the command and the task of pursuing Antony. The power of the Senate seemed reestablished, for Marcus Brutus and Ca.s.sius had succeeded in their design of getting control of the eastern provinces, Dolabella having perished in the conflict, and were at the head of a considerable military and naval force. The Senate accordingly conferred upon them supreme military authority (_maius imperium_), and gave to s.e.xtus Pompey, then at Ma.s.salia, a naval command. At last Cicero could induce the senators to declare Antony a public enemy. He no longer felt the support of Octavian a necessity and expressed the att.i.tude of the republicans towards him in the saying "the young man is to be praised, to be honored, to be set aside."(14) But it was soon evident that the experienced orator had entirely misjudged this young man who, so far from being the tool of the Senate, had used that body for his own ends. Octavian refused to aid Decimus Brutus, and demanded from the Senate his own appointment as consul, a triumph, and rewards for his troops. His demands were rejected, whereupon he marched upon Rome with his army, and occupied the city. On 19 August, he had himself elected consul with Quintus Pedius as his colleague. The latter carried a bill which established a special court for the trial of Caesar's murderers, who were condemned and banished. The same penalty was p.r.o.nounced upon s.e.xtus Pompey. The Senate's decree against Antony was revoked.

*The Triumvirate, 43 B. C.* On his way to Transalpine Gaul Antony had met with Lepidus, whom the Senate had summoned from Spain to the a.s.sistance of Decimus Brutus. But Lepidus was a Caesarian and, alarmed by the success of Marcus Brutus and Ca.s.sius, allowed his troops to go over to Antony.

Decimus Brutus had taken up the pursuit of Antony and joined forces with Plancus, governor of Narbonese Gaul. However, upon news of the events in Rome, Plancus abandoned Brutus and joined Antony. Brutus was deserted by his troops and killed while a fugitive in Gaul.