Plutarch's Lives Volume III Part 30

[Footnote 511: M. Claudius Marcellus, consul B.C. 51, with S.

Sulpicius Rufus.]

[Footnote 512: Novum Comum or Novocomum; north of the Padus, had been settled as a Colonia Latina by Caesar. (Appia.n.u.s, _Civil Wars_, ii.

26.)

The government of the colonia was formed on a Roman model: there was a body of Decuriones or Senators.]

[Footnote 513: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 58; Appia.n.u.s, _Civil Wars_, ii, 26; Dion Ca.s.sius, 40. c. 59.]

[Footnote 514: L. Domitius Ahen.o.barbus, whom Caesar took in Corfinium, c. 34.]

[Footnote 515: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 52.]

[Footnote 516: Caesar (_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.

Caesar, 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 Caesar. Plutarch might have confounded this with another matter. (_Civil War_, i. 3.)]

[Footnote 517: Caesar was at Ravenna when the tribunes fled from Rome, and he first saw them at Ariminum, Rimini, which was not within the limits of Caesar's province. (_Civil War_, i. 6; Dion Ca.s.sius, 41. c.

3.)]

[Footnote 518: Q. Hortensius Hortalus, a son of the orator Hortensius.

He was an unprincipled fellow.]

[Footnote 519: Caesar says nothing of the pa.s.sage of the Rubico, but his silence does not disprove the truth of the story as told by Plutarch. The pa.s.sage of the Rubico was a common topic (locus communis) for rhetoricians. Luca.n.u.s (_Pharsalia,_ i. 213) has embellished it:--

"Fonte cadit modico parvisque impellitur undis Puniceus Rubicon, c.u.m fervida canduit aestas-- Tunc vires praebebat hiems."

This small stream does not appear to be identified with certainty.

Some writers make it the Fiumicino.

Ariminum was not in Caesar's province, and Plutarch must have known that, as appears from his narrative. Kaltwa.s.ser thinks that he may mean that it was originally a Gallic town, which was true.]

[Footnote 520: In Plutarch's time the system of naming the Romans was greatly confused, and he extended the confusion to earlier times. C.

Asinius Pollio, who was with Caesar at the Rubico and at the battle of Pharsalia, wrote a history of the Civil Wars. He was also a poet.

(Horatius, _Od._ ii. 1.) His work, as we may collect from c. 46, furnished materials for anecdotes about Caesar.]

[Footnote 521: This dream according to Suetonius (_Caesar_, c. 7) and Dion Ca.s.sius (41. c. 24) he had at Cades (Cadiz) in Spain during his quaestors.h.i.+p. The time of the dream is not unimportant, if the interpretation of it was that he was destined to have the dominion of the world. Caesar has not recorded his dream. Sulla recorded his dreams. He was superst.i.tious and cruel. Caesar was not cruel, and there is no proof that he was superst.i.tious.]

[Footnote 522: Pompeius went to Capua, where he thought of making a stand, but he soon moved on to Brundisium. On the confusion in the city see Dion Ca.s.sius (41. c. 5-9).]

[Footnote 523: The author of the Eighth book of the Gallic War (c. 52) speaks of Labienus being solicited by Caesar's enemies. Caesar had put him over Gaul south of the Alps. In the Civil War, Book 1, he is merely mentioned as having fortified Cingulum at his own cost. Cicero (_Ad Attic._ vii. 7) says that he was indebted to Caesar for his wealth. His defection is mentioned by Cicero several times, and it gave a temporary encouragement to the party of Pompeius. (_Ad Attic._ vi. 12, 13.) Labienus joined Pompeius and the Consuls at Teanum in Campania on the 23rd of January.]

[Footnote 524: Corfinium three miles from the river Aternus. Caesar (_Civil War_, i. 16-23) describes the siege of Corfinium. L. Domitius Ahen.o.barbus was treated kindly by Caesar. He afterwards went to Ma.s.salia and defended it against Caesar. This most excellent citizen, as Cicero calls him, met the death he so well deserved at the battle of Pharsalia, and as Cicero says (_Phillipp._ ii. 29), at the hand of M. Antonius.]

[Footnote 525: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 62.]

[Footnote 526: From this it appears that the Life of Pompeius was written after the Life of Caesar.]

[Footnote 527: Caesar (_Civil War_, i, 32) has reported his own speech.]

[Footnote 528: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 62.]

[Footnote 529: This was the "sanctius aerarium" (Caesar, _Civil War_, i.

13), which Lentulus had left open; in such alarm had he left the city.

This money, which was kept in the temple of Saturn, was never touched except in cases of great emergency. Vossius remarks that to save his own character, Caesar says that he found this treasury open. But Caesar does not say that he found it open. He says that Lentulus left it open. There was time enough for Metellus to lock the door after Lentulus ran away. Caesar would have been a fool not to take the money; and if he wanted it, he would of course break the door open, if he found it shut. But whether the door was open or shut was unimportant; the wrongful act, if there was any, consisted in taking the money, and he would not have been excused for taking it simply because the door was unlocked. I believe Caesar broke it open (Cicero _Ad Attic._ x. 4; Dion Ca.s.sius, 41. c. 17; and the authorities quoted by Reimarus). I also believe Caesar when he says that Lentulus left the door unlocked.

The Senate had supplied Pompeius with money for the war out of the ordinary treasury. When Caesar took Corfinium, he gave to Domitius all the money that he found there, which was to a large amount, though this was public money and had been given to Domitius by Pompeius to pay his soldiers with. (Appia.n.u.s, ii. 28; Caesar, _Civil War_, i. 23.) When "that man of greatest purity and integrity," as Cicero calls him, M. Terentius Varro, commanded for Pompeius in Spain (B.C. 48), he carried off the treasure from the temple of Hercules at Cadiz. That man, on whom Cicero vents every term of abuse that his fear and hatred could supply, restored the stolen money to the G.o.d. (Caesar, _Civil War_, ii. 18, 21.)]

[Footnote 530: The Spanish campaign against Afranius is contained in the _Civil War_, 34, &c. The legati of Pompeius in Spain were L.

Afranius, consul B.C. 60, M. Petreius, and M. Terentius Varro, better known for his learning and his numerous works than for his military talents. After the surrender of Afranius and Petreius, Caesar marched to the south of Spain, for Varro, who was in Lusitania, was making preparations for war. Varro, after some feeble efforts, surrendered to the conqueror at Cordova. Varro was treated kindly like all the rest who fell into Caesar's hands, and he had the opportunity of placing himself against Caesar at Dyrrachium.

On his return from the successful close of his Spanish campaign, Ma.s.salia surrendered to Caesar after an obstinate resistance. (Caesar, _Civil War_, ii. 22.)

It was on his return to Ma.s.salia from the south of Spain that Caesar heard of his appointment as Dictator (_Civil War_, ii. 21).]

[Footnote 531: (Caesar, _Civil War_, iii. 1; Dion Ca.s.sius, 41. c. 37.) Caesar does not speak of those who had suffered in Sulla's time; nor does Dion.]

[Footnote 532: Caesar and P. Servilius Isauricus (son of the consul Isauricus, B.C. 79) were elected Consuls for B.C. 48. See the Life of Pompeius, c. 54, notes; and of Caesar, c. 57, _Dictator_.

When Caesar had left Rome, the boys formed themselves into two parties, Pompeians and Caesarians, and had a battle without arms, in which the Caesarians were victorious. (Dion Ca.s.sius, 41, c. 39.)

As to Caesar's forces, see _Civil War_, iii. 2.]

[Footnote 533: Dion Ca.s.sius (41. c. 45) tells this story of the boat adventure; and (Appia.n.u.s, _Civil Wars_, ii. 57) Caesar was uneasy at the delay of M. Antonius and his legions, and he feared that Antonius might desert him. Caesar says nothing of this attempt to cross the sea.

He very seldom mentions his personal risks. He left this to the anecdote collectors.]

[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 Caesar's attempted voyage. This is the river which Strabo calls aeas, and Hekataeus 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 535: Caesar calls the root Chara (_Civil War_, iii. 48. Comp.

Plinius, _N.H._ 19, c. 8). These facts are mentioned in Caesar. The events in the neighbourhood of Dyrrachium and Apollonia must be studied in Caesar, Dion Ca.s.sius, Book 41, and Appia.n.u.s, Book ii.]

[Footnote 536: Caesar mentions the capture of Gomphi (_Civil War_, iii.

80), but he says nothing of the wine. Caesar let his men plunder Gomphi. The town had offered him all its means and prayed him for a garrison, but on hearing of his loss at Dyrrachinm the people shut their gates against him and sent to Pompeius for aid. The town was stormed on the first day that it was attacked.]

[Footnote 537: As Kaltwa.s.ser observes, there was no bad omen in the dream, as it is here reported. We must look to the Life of Pompeius, c. 68, for the complete dream. Perhaps something has dropped out of the text here. Dacier, as Kaltwa.s.ser says, has inserted the whole pa.s.sage out of the Life of Pompeius.]

[Footnote 538: This is an error. The name is Q. Cornificus. See the note of Sintenis. He was a quaestor of Caesar. Calenus is Fulvus Calenus, who had been sent by Caesar into Achaia, and had received the submission of Delphi, Thebae, and Orchomenus, and was then engaged in taking other cities and trying to gain over other cities. (Caesar, _Civil War_, iii. 55.)]

[Footnote 539: See the Life of Pompeius, c. 71.]

[Footnote 540: I have omitted the unmeaning words [Greek: e dia theias hettes tethambemenos] ? d?? ?e?a? ?tt?? te?a?????. See the note of Sintenis.]

[Footnote 541: These words of Caesar are also reported by Suetonius (_Caesar_, 30), on the authority of Pollio. They are: Hoc voluerunt: tantis rebus gestis C. Caesar condemnatus essem, nisi ab exercitu auxilium petissem. These words are more emphatic with the omission of 'they brought me into such a critical position,' and Casaubon proposes to erase them in Plutarch's text, that is, to alter and improve the text.]

[Footnote 542: A rich town of Lydia in Asia Minor on the north side of the Maeander. This miracle at Tralles and others are enumerated by Caesar (_Civil War_, iii. 105; Dion Ca.s.sius, 41. c. 61). The book of Livius, in which this affair of Patavium (Padua) was mentioned (the 111th), is lost. See the Supplement of Freinsheim, c. 72.]