Book 8

arg. The following are contained in the forty-third book of Dio's Roman History: 1. How Caesar conquered Scipio and Juba. 2. How the Romans gained Numidia. 3. How Cato killed himself. 4. How Caesar returned to Rome and sent his triumphs and ordered the other matters. 5. How the Forum of Caesar and the temple of Aphrodite were dedicated. 6. How Caesar set the year in order after the present manner. 7. How Caesar conquered Gnaeus Pompey, the son of Pompey, in Spain. 8. How for the first time consuls were appointed for not the whole year. 9. How Carthage and Corinth were colonized. 10. How the Cerealian aediles were instituted. Span of time: three years, in which the magistrates here numbered were: Gaius Julius Caesar, son of Gaius, dictator for the third time, with Aemilius Lepidus as master of the horse, and consul for the third time with Aemilius Lepidus; Gaius Julius Caesar, dictator for the fourth time with Aemilius Lepidus as master of the horse, and consul for the fourth time alone; Gaius Julius Caesar, dictator for the fifth time with Aemilius Lepidus as master of the horse, and consul for the fifth time with Marcus Antonius.

1.1. At that time he did these things; but in the following year he was both dictator and consul, each for the third time, Lepidus serving with him in both offices. For after he had first been named dictator by him, he straightway sent him, on the completion of his praetorship, into the nearer Spain,

1.2. and on his return honoured him with a triumph, although he had conquered no one and had not even fought a battle with anyone, on the pretext that he had been present at the deeds done by Longinus and by

1.3. Marcellus. Accordingly he carried nothing in it that was true, except the money he had plundered from the allies. With these things, then, he adorned him, and after this he chose him besides as his colleague in both offices.

2.1. And while they were now in office, those at Rome were disturbed by portents; for a wolf was seen in the city, and a pig was born like an elephant except in the feet; and in Africa Petreius and Labienus, watching for Caesar when he had gone out to

2.2. the villages after grain, drove his cavalry, which was not yet well recovered from the sea, in upon the infantry with the Numidians, and, when the line was thrown into confusion at this, killed many of them at close quarters, and would have cut down all the rest too, hemmed in upon some high

2.3. ground, had they not been severely wounded. Even so, however, by this event they greatly struck Caesar with dismay. For, reckoning that he had stumbled before few men, but expecting that Scipio and Juba would at once arrive with all their forces, as was reported, he was at a loss

2.4. and did not know what to do; for, being not yet well able to carry the war through, and seeing that to remain in the same place was hard, even if the enemy should keep away from them, on account of the lack of food, and that to break camp was impossible, since the enemy pressed upon him both from the land and from the sea, he was disheartened.

3.1. While he was in these straits, a certain Publius Sittius—if indeed one ought to credit him and not the divine power—gave him at once both safety and the mastery. For this man had been driven out of Italy, and, taking up some fellow-exiles and crossing over to

3.2. Mauretania, he gathered a force, and, serving as general under Bocchus, undertook—having had from Caesar no previous benefit nor being otherwise known to him—to take part in the war and to help bring the present matters to a conclusion.

3.3. And from this he did not indeed aid that man directly; for he heard that he was far off, and thought he would be of little help by himself (for he had not yet great strength); but, watching Juba as he set out on his expedition,

3.4. he invaded Numidia, and ravaged it and Gaetulia, which was part of his realm, so that the king both let go of the matters in hand and turned back from the middle of his road with the greater part of his army; for he sent only a portion of it to

3.5. Scipio. From which it became most clear that, if that man too had come, Caesar would never have held out against them. He did not, then, even venture to engage with Scipio alone straightway; for he terribly feared, among other things, the elephants—partly indeed for the battle, but more because they threw his

4.1. cavalry into confusion. Keeping his camp, then, under guard so far as he could, Caesar sent for soldiers and elephants from Italy—not as though he would do anything fit to fight with by means of them (for they were not many), but in order that his horses might, by practice, fear nothing of the enemy's, neither at the sight nor at the voice of them.

4.2. And meanwhile the Gaetulians came over to him, and certain others of the neighbouring peoples, partly on account of those men, since they heard that they had been greatly honoured, and partly through the memory of Marius, because

4.3. he was connected with him. And when these things had happened, and those from Italy, having crossed over slowly and dangerously both because of the winter and because of the enemy, nonetheless at last arrived, he no longer kept quiet, but on the contrary hastened to battle, in order that, before Juba should come up,

4.4. he might forestall Scipio by overcoming him first. And, advancing against him to the city of Uzitta, on a certain hill, which lay above both that city and their camp at once, he established himself, having first driven off those holding it, and after this, when Scipio fell upon him, drove him off from the height and, charging down upon his cavalry,

4.5. did them harm. This ground, then, he held and fortified, and he took another on the other side of the city, mastering Labienus upon it; and from this he walled off the whole city. For Scipio, fearing lest he be spent beforehand,

4.6. no longer came to battle with him, but sent for Juba, and to him, since he would not obey him, promised to give all the things in Africa that belonged to the Romans. And he from this set others against Sittius, while he himself set out again against Caesar.

5.1. While these things were going on, Caesar attempted in every way to draw Scipio into an engagement, but, being unable, he sent friendly proposals among his soldiers and scattered abroad short

5.2. writings, promising through them to the native to keep his property unharmed and to set him free, and to the Roman safety and the rewards which he owed to those serving with him; and from this he won over a considerable number.

5.3. Scipio too attempted on his side to cast both writings and proposals among his opponents, as though he would win some over, yet he could not make them change—not that none of them would have taken his side, if indeed

5.4. he had promised anything like the same; but because he held out to them no prize, and merely exhorted them otherwise to free the people of the Romans and the senate. And so, while he chose rather the more specious things in word than the more useful for the present, he won over none of them.

6.1. So long, then, as Scipio was alone in the camp, these things went on thus; but when Juba too came up, the situation was altered. For they both challenged their opponents to battle, and harassed them when they would not

6.2. engage, and with their cavalry severely injured those of them who scattered abroad; but Caesar neither came to grips with them of his own will, and held back from the circumvallation, and gladly snatched his food, and sent for other forces

6.3. from home. And these, having come late and with difficulty (for they were not in a body but were collected little by little, and there was a lack of ships for them to cross at once)—having come at last, then—he took them up and recovered his courage again, and, leading out his men,

6.4. arrayed them before the entrenchment. Seeing this, his opponents arrayed themselves against him, yet did not engage with them. And this happened for several days; for, save that they engaged briefly with their cavalry and then withdrew, neither side hazarded anything great.

7.1. Caesar, then, considering that he could not compel them against their will, by reason of the ground, to come to grips, set out for Thapsus, in order that either, when they came to the city's aid, he might engage with them,

7.2. or, if they disregarded it, he might take it. Now Thapsus lies, in a manner, on a peninsula, with the sea passing along on one side and a lake on the other, and it has the isthmus through the middle so narrow and so marshy that one can pass along beside the very surf on both sides, in two places but each very

7.3. narrow, on either side of the marsh. Against this city, then, Caesar, advancing inside the narrows, dug a ditch and planted a palisade. And those in the city gave him no trouble (for they were not a match for him), but Scipio and Juba attempted to wall off in opposition the mouth of the isthmus, where it ends toward the mainland, dividing it in two with palisades and trenches

8.1. by way of a counter-wall. While they were at work and accomplishing much each day (for, in order that they might more quickly wall it across, they set the elephants where it had not yet been trenched but there was an easy approach for the enemy, and all worked at the rest),

8.2. Caesar suddenly attacked the others, those about Scipio, and, having from afar thrown the elephants into confusion with slings and arrows, he followed them as they withdrew, and, falling unexpectedly upon those at work, routed them too, and, bursting in along with them as they fled into

8.3. the rampart, took it at the first shout. Seeing this, Juba was so dismayed and afraid that he neither submitted to come to grips with anyone nor

8.4. put his camp under guard. He, then, fleeing and hastening home—then, since no one received him, especially as Sittius had already conquered those set against him—despaired of safety, and fought a single combat with Petreius, who likewise had no hope of pardon,

9.1. and died with him. Caesar took the palisade straightway after his flight, and made very great slaughter of all who fell in their way; for he did not even spare those who had come over. And from this he won over the other cities,

9.2. no one resisting, and, taking the Numidians, brought them into subjection and entrusted them to Sallust to rule in word but in deed to harry and plunder. Indeed, he took many bribes and plundered much, so that he was both accused

9.3. and incurred the basest disgrace, because, having composed such writings and said many bitter things about those who exploited people, he did not in deed imitate his words. Whence, even if he was wholly acquitted by Caesar, yet he himself by his composition very thoroughly branded himself.

9.4. This, then, happened thus, and these peoples in Libya—the one about Carthage, which we also call Africa, the old one, because it had long since been subdued, and that of the Numidians the new, because it had

9.5. recently been taken—were so named. Scipio fled from the battle, and, lighting upon a boat, set off for Spain to Pompey, but, being driven ashore in Mauretania and fearing Sittius, made away with himself.

10.1. And Cato at first, when many had taken refuge with him, was preparing both to take up affairs and in a manner to defend himself against Caesar; but when the people of Utica,

10.2. since they had not even in the time before been hostile to Caesar and now saw him victorious, would not obey him, and those of the senate and of the knights who were present feared lest they be seized by them and planned flight, he resolved neither to make war himself (for he was not able) nor again

10.3. to go over to Caesar—not that he feared anything (for he well knew that Caesar would even very eagerly spare him, for the sake of his reputation for clemency), but because he was strongly enamoured of freedom, and would be worsted by no one in anything, and held the pity of Caesar to be far more grievous than death.

10.4. Calling together the citizens who were present, and asking each of them whither he was minded to set out, he sent those men off with provisions, and bade his son go to Caesar. And when the young man asked, "Why, then, do you not also do this yourself?"

10.5. he answered him: "I, having been reared in freedom and frankness, cannot, by a change in my old age, learn slavery anew; but for you, who were both born and reared in such a state, it befits to serve the divinity allotted to you."

11.1. Having done these things, then, and rendered to the people of Utica his account of the administration, and given back the rest of the money and the other things of theirs that he had, he wished to be rid of life before Caesar's arrival.

11.2. And by day he did not attempt to do this; for his son and the others about him kept guard over him; but when evening came, he secretly placed a small sword under his pillow, and asked for the book of Plato that is written about the soul,

11.3. either being eager to draw those present far from the suspicion of his planning any such thing, that he might be as little watched as possible, or desiring to take from the reading of it some consolation against death. And when he had

11.4. read it through, and the night was at its middle, he drew out the dagger, and, striking himself in the belly, would straightway have died, having become bloodless, had he not, falling from the couch, made a noise and roused those keeping watch before. And thus his son and certain others, bursting in, stuffed his entrails back into his belly and applied

11.5. treatment to him. And they took away the small sword and shut the doors, that he might obtain sleep (for indeed they did not expect that he would otherwise die); but he thrust his hands into the wound and, tearing apart its stitches, breathed his last.

11.6. Cato, then, having been both the most democratic and the most strong-willed of all the men of his time, won great fame even from his very death, so that he gained the surname Uticensis, both because he so died at Utica and

12.1. because he was publicly buried by them; and Caesar said that he was angry with that man because he had begrudged him the glory of saving him, but the son and the greater part of the others he released, as was his custom; for some came over at once, and others later, in order that, when he had grown blunter by time, they might approach him,

12.2. as volunteers. And these were saved, but Afranius and Faustus came to him not of their own will (for they well knew they would perish), and, fleeing into Mauretania, were seized by Sittius. And them Caesar slew

12.3. untried, as though they were captives; but Lucius Caesar, although he was of his own family and had supplicated him of his own accord, yet, since he had made war on him throughout, he first ordered to make his defence, so that he might seem to have been condemned in some trial, and then, shrinking from putting him to death with his own voice, for the time deferred it,

13.1. but afterward killed him secretly. For of those serving with him he both lost the unsuitable ones, not unwillingly, at the hands of his opponents, and caused others to perish by treachery in the very battles, through their own men;

13.2. for indeed he did not openly proceed against all who had distressed him in anything, as I have said, but those whom he could not pursue on any sufficient charge he removed in a certain unseen manner—although at that time he burned, before reading them, all the documents that were found in the secret caskets of Scipio,

13.3. and saved many of those who had made war on him, both for their own sakes and for the sake of their friends; for to each of his fellow-combatants and comrades he permitted, as has been said, to beg off one man.

13.4. Indeed, he would have saved Cato too; for he so admired him that, when Cicero afterward wrote a eulogy of him, he was not at all indignant, although that man too had made war on him, but wrote a book which he entitled the Anti-Cato.

14.1. Caesar, then, having done these things, and having straightway, even before crossing over into Italy, dismissed the older of the soldiers, lest they fall into sedition again, and having

14.2. set in order, as best he could in a short time, the other affairs in Africa, sailed as far as Sardinia with all his fleet, and from there sent those men into Spain against Pompey with Gaius Didius, while he himself was conveyed to Rome, being elated chiefly by the splendour of his deeds, but now also by what had been voted to him by the

14.3. senate. For they resolved to sacrifice for forty days over his victory, and they granted him to celebrate the triumph that had been decreed beforehand, upon white horses and with lictors—both those then with him and others, as many as he had used in his first dictatorship, and others again, as many as he had had in his

14.4. second. And they chose him overseer of everyone's morals (for it was so named, as though the title of censor were not worthy of him) for three years, and dictator

14.5. for ten in succession. And moreover they voted that he should sit upon a curule chair with the consuls of the year in the senate, and always declare his opinion first, and give the signal in all the horse-races, and appoint the magistrates and the other things which the people formerly assigned to certain men.

14.6. And they ordered that a chariot of his be set up on the Capitol facing Jupiter, and that he be mounted upon a bronze image of the inhabited world, with an inscription that he was a demigod, and that his name be inscribed upon the Capitol in place of Catulus's, on the ground that he had completed the temple, on whose construction he had attempted to call that man to account.

14.7. These alone I have recounted, not because these alone were voted (for vast numbers were brought forward and it is clear that they were also ratified), but because he passed over the rest and accepted these.

15.1. When these things had now been resolved, he came to Rome, and, seeing that men feared his power and suspected his spirit, and from this expected to suffer many dreadful things, such as had happened before, and on this account had voted him excessive honours by flattery

15.2. and not by goodwill, he consoled them and gave them hope, speaking in the senate as follows: "Let no one of you, Fathers, expect that I will either say anything harsh or do anything, because I have conquered and am able both to say without account whatever I wish, and to do with authority whatever I

15.3. purpose. Nor yet, because Marius and Cinna and Sulla, and all the others, so to say, who ever mastered their opponents in sedition, in the attempts upon affairs both said and did many humane things,

15.4. from which, not least, winning over certain men, they used them, most of all as allies, or if not, at least not as adversaries—but, when they had conquered and become masters of what they desired, did far the opposite of those things both in word and in deed—let anyone suppose that I will do this same thing.

15.5. For neither, being otherwise so disposed by nature, did I then in the former time consort with you in pretence, and now, because it is permitted, am I safely bold; nor again have I been led on and puffed up by my great success so as to desire even to play the tyrant over you (for these things, both of them, or at least one

15.6. of them, those men seem to me to have suffered); but I am by nature such as you have always found me (for why need I, going through each detail, become odious, as one praising himself?), and I would not insult my fortune, but the more I have found her good, the more moderately in all things will I

15.7. use her. For neither for any other end did I strive to be so strong and to grow so great, namely that I might punish all who had made war and admonish all who had been in sedition, than that I might be able both to play the man in safety and to be fortunate in honour.

16.1. For neither is it otherwise honourable or just that one be convicted of doing those very things which he charged against those who differed with him; nor would I, for my part, ever think fit, having become like them in the emulation of their deeds, to make atonement by the report of utter victory

16.2. alone. For who is bound to do good to more and greater men than he who is most able? Who to err less than he who is strongest? Who to use more wisely the things given by the divine power than he who has received the greatest from it? Who to handle more rightly the present goods than he who both has the most and most

16.3. fears lest he be destroyed concerning them? For prosperity, taking on temperance, endures, and authority, becoming moderate, preserves all that has been gained; and what is greatest, and what least of all belongs to those borne along well apart from virtue, it grants both to be loved guilelessly in life and truly

16.4. praised in death. But he who unrestrainedly abuses his power simply for everything finds neither true goodwill nor exact safety, but in the open is fawned upon falsely . . . ; for the man who is not master of his own power both all the rest and those who most use him both suspect and fear.

17.1. These things I have philosophized not idly, but in order that you may know that not for display, nor as having now fallen upon them by chance, but from the beginning, judging them both to befit and to be expedient for me, do I both think and speak them, so that you may not only take courage for the present but also be of good hope for the future, considering that, if I were feigning any of them, I would not have delayed but would even today and now

17.2. have made it plain. But neither was I formerly minded otherwise—as indeed the very deeds testify—nor will I now far more eagerly strive, with all fairness, not, by Zeus, to be your master but your champion, not to be your tyrant but your leader, being toward all the other things which one must do on your behalf both consul and dictator, but toward

17.3. doing anyone harm a private man. For this alone I hold it is not even honourable to be spoken. For how could I kill any of you who have done me no wrong, I who destroyed none of those who did not array themselves against me—even if they very eagerly aided certain men in other ways against me—but pitied all who had once set themselves against me, and saved many even of those who fought against me a

17.4. second time? How could I bear a grudge against anyone, I who, the documents that were found secret both with Pompey and with Scipio, neither read nor copied out but straightway burned? So that confidently, Fathers, let us become friends, forgetting all that has happened

17.5. as having come about by some divine necessity, and beginning without suspicion to love one another as though we were some new citizens, in order that you may bear yourselves toward me as toward a father, reaping the forethought and care from me, but fearing none of the more grievous things, and that I

17.6. may care for you as for children, praying that all the fairest things may ever be done by you, but bearing of necessity the things of mankind, and adorning the good with the fitting honours, while correcting the rest so far as is possible.

18.1. Nor yet fear the soldiers, nor think them anything else than guardians of my rule and of yours at once; for it is necessary that they be maintained for many reasons, but they will be maintained not against you but on your behalf, being content with what is given and loving those who give it.

18.2. For on this account the money has been exacted beyond the customary amount, in order that the seditious element might at the same time be brought to its senses, and the victorious, receiving sufficient maintenance, might not be in sedition. For I have not gained anything of it for myself privately, who have spent on you all that I had, and much

18.3. that I borrowed besides; but you see that some of it has been spent on the wars, and some too has been kept for you, from which the city will be adorned and the rest administered. So that I myself have taken on the odium of the exaction, but of the benefit you will all enjoy in common,

18.4. both in other things and in the campaigns; for we always have need of arms, since it is not possible, dwelling in so great a city and holding so great an empire, to live in safety without them, and the abundance of money strongly aids those

18.5. too. Nor let any of you suspect that I will either distress any of the rich or institute any new taxes; for I will be content with what is present, and I will be more eager to help you to abundance than to wrong anyone for the sake of money."

18.6. Caesar, having spoken such things both in the senate and after this in the popular assembly too, somewhat lightened their fear, yet was not able to persuade them to take courage altogether, before he had confirmed his promises also by deeds.

19.1. After this he did the other things splendidly, as was natural over so many and so great victories at once, and celebrated the triumphs over the Gauls and over Egypt and over Pharnaces and over Juba, fourfold, separately, on four days.

19.2. And the rest in a way gladdened the spectators, but Arsinoe the Egyptian (for he led her too among the captives) and the multitude of the lictors and the funeral images of the citizens who had perished in Africa grievously

19.3. distressed them. For the number of the lictors furnished them an oppressive throng, since they had never before seen so many at once; and Arsinoe, being a woman and once reckoned a queen, seen in chains, which had never before happened at Rome at least,

19.4. cast great pity upon them, and from this, on this pretext, they bewailed their own sufferings besides. She, however, was released on account of her brother and sister, but others, and Vercingetorix, were put to death.

20.1. Although, then, on account of these things I have mentioned they were grievously disposed, they nonetheless held them to be very small in comparison with the multitude of those captured and the greatness of what had been accomplished. For these reasons, then, they both exceedingly admired him, and because he bore the frankness of the army most mildly. For those of them who had been enrolled by him into the senate

20.2. they jeered at, and they mocked all the other things he was disparaged for, and most of all his love for Cleopatra and his stay with Nicomedes, who had reigned over Bithynia—because as a stripling he had once been with him—so that they even said that Caesar had enslaved the Gauls, but Nicomedes Caesar.

20.3. And at last, over all this, they cried out in a body, saying that, if you do well, you will be punished, but if ill, you will be king. And this they meant to signify to him, that, if he should give back to the people its autonomy, which they thought just, he would be both judged for what he had done outside the laws and would undergo punishment, but if he should remain in his dominion, which

20.4. was the act of a wrongdoer, he would be sole ruler. Yet that man was not vexed at their saying these things, but even very much rejoiced that they used such frankness toward him, in the confidence that he would never be angered over it—except in so far as they slandered his association with Nicomedes; for over this he was very much annoyed and was plainly grieved, and attempted to defend himself and swore oaths, and from this incurred ridicule besides.

21.1. On the first of the triumphal days, then, a portent occurred for him that was not good; for the axle of the triumphal chariot broke beside the very temple of Fortune built by Lucullus, so that he

21.2. completed the rest upon another. And then he even climbed the steps on the Capitol on his knees, taking no account either of the chariot set up for him facing Jupiter, or of the image of the inhabited world lying beneath his feet, or of the inscription upon it; but afterward he erased the name of demigod from it.

21.3. Thus, then, he held his triumphs, and over them he feasted the people splendidly and gave them besides grain beyond what was appointed, and oil. And to the grain-receiving multitude he distributed the seventy-five drachmas which he had promised beforehand and another twenty-five besides, and to the soldiers

21.4. five thousand whole. Yet he was not simply lavish, but was exact in other matters, and, the multitude of those receiving grain having been increased to the utmost—not according to right but as is wont to happen in seditions—he made an examination, and struck off beforehand about half of them.

22.1. The other days of the triumphs, then, he passed as was customary; but on the last, when they had finished their dinner, he entered his own Forum, shod in slippers and crowned with flowers of every kind, and from there was conveyed home, with almost the whole people, so to say, escorting him, and many elephants bearing torches.

22.2. For he had built the Forum called after him; and it is fairer than the Roman one, yet he augmented the dignity of the latter, so that it is called Great. This, then, and the temple of Aphrodite, as being foundress of his line,

22.3. he made and dedicated straightway then; and he established over them many and varied contests, having framed a kind of hunting-theatre out of timber, which was also called an amphitheatre because it had seats all round on every side without a stage. And over this and over his daughter he held both slaughters of beasts and combats of

22.4. armed men, whose number, if anyone should wish to write it, would perhaps furnish to his composition a mass that is not even true; for all such things are always reported toward the greater. This, then, I will leave aside also in the case of the other like things that came afterward, except if anything should seem to me quite necessary

23.1. to mention; but about the one called the camelopard I will speak, because then for the first time it was brought into Rome by him and displayed to all. For this animal is in other respects a camel, except in so far as it does not have its limbs equal.

23.2. For its hinder parts are lower; and, beginning from the haunches, it rises little by little, so as to resemble one going up somewhere, and, lifted up to a great height, it props the rest of its body upon its forelegs, but stretches up its neck again to a height of its own. Its colour is spotted like a leopard's, and on this account it bears the

23.3. name common to both. Such, then, is this animal; and the men he matched, one with one, in the Forum, as was customary, and matched also in the hippodrome several at once, both horsemen with horsemen and footmen with footmen, and others mixed together in equal numbers. And some fought even from forty

23.4. elephants. And at last he held a sea-battle, not on the sea nor on any lake, but on dry land; for, hollowing out a certain place in the Campus Martius, he let water into it and brought in ships. And in all the contests there fought both the captives and those condemned to death;

23.5. and some too of the knights, not only of the others but even the son of a man who had been praetor, fought in single combat. And a certain senator, Fulvius Sepinus, wished to fight in armour, but was prevented; for that, Caesar prayed might never come to pass, but he allowed the knights to fight.

23.6. And the patrician boys performed the horsemanship called Troy according to the ancient custom; and the young men of equal rank with them contended on chariots.

24.1. He incurred blame, then, both over the multitude of those slain, because he himself had not become sated with slaughters and was displaying to the people images of their own private woes, but far more because he spent untold sums on all those things, so as to be cried out against on both counts—both that he had unjustly collected the greater part of them, and that he had so

24.2. abused them. For, by mentioning one item of the extravagance that then occurred, I shall signify all the rest through it. For, in order that the sun might distress none of the spectators, he stretched over them awnings of silk, as some say. And this fabric is a work of barbarian luxury, and from those peoples it has made its way even to us for the superfluous luxury of the very

24.3. great ladies. Over these things, then, the rest kept quiet even of necessity, but the soldiers made an uproar—not because they cared for what was being spent at random, but because they had not themselves taken even their share. Nor did they cease their disturbance before Caesar suddenly came upon them and, seizing one with his own hand, gave him over to

24.4. punishment. This man, then, was on this account put to death, and two other men were slain in a kind of sacrifice. And the cause I cannot say (for neither did the Sibyl give an oracle, nor did any other such utterance occur), but they were sacrificed in the Campus Martius by the pontiffs and by the priest of Mars, and their heads were set up by the royal hall.

25.1. These things were being done at the same time, and many laws were enacted, of which I shall pass over the rest, but mention those most worth recounting. The law-courts he entrusted to the senators and the knights alone, in order that the purest element

25.2. might as far as possible always judge; for formerly certain men of the commons too had judged along with them. And the expenditures of those who had any property, which had been carried to the utmost through prodigality, he not only moderated by law but also in deed strongly kept under watch. And since there was a dreadful scarcity of men, on account of the multitude of those who had perished—as was proved both from the census-lists (for those too, like a censor, he made) and from the very appearance of the city—he set up prizes

25.3. for having many children. And since he himself, ruling many years in succession over the Gauls, had from it been led on the more toward the desire of dominion and had been augmented toward the preparation of strength, he enacted by law that those who had been praetors should rule for one year, and those who had been consuls for two years in succession, and that to no one at all should it be permitted to hold any command for a longer time.

26.1. These things he enacted, and the days of the years, which did not altogether agree with them (for they still even then reckoned the months according to the courses of the moon), he set in order after the present manner, intercalating sixty-seven days, as many as were carried over toward the

26.2. full reckoning. For already some have said that even more were intercalated, but the truth is thus. And this he took from his stay in Alexandria, except in so far as they reckon the months at thirty days, and then add the five days at the end of the whole year, whereas Caesar fitted these and the other

26.3. two, which he took away from one month, into seven months. The one day, however, which is made up of the quarters, he himself too introduced every fifth year, so that the seasons should no longer vary from them except by the least amount; for in one thousand four hundred and sixty-one years they need one other intercalary day.

27.1. And these things, moreover, and all the other matters which he deliberated on behalf of the commonwealth, he did neither following his own private judgement nor his own private counsel, but communicated everything in every way to the foremost of the senate, and sometimes even to all of it. And on this account not least, although he enacted some rather harsh law, he nonetheless pleased them.

27.2. And over these things he received praise; but because he restored many of those fleeing from the law-courts through certain tribunes, and because he permitted those convicted of bribery in the appointment to office to dwell in Italy, and moreover enrolled into the senate again certain men not worthy of it,

27.3. many and varied murmurings arose. But the greatest blame of all he had from everyone over his love for Cleopatra—not that in Egypt any longer (for that was heard of), but that in Rome itself. For she came to the city with her husband, and lodged in Caesar's own house, so that he too was ill spoken of on both their accounts. Yet he cared nothing for it, but even enrolled them among the friends and allies of the Romans.

28.1. And meanwhile he was learning everything in detail that Pompey was doing in Spain; yet, not thinking him hard to conquer, he first sent the fleet against him from Sardinia, and afterward sent also the armies from the levy, as though he would fight the war out through others.

28.2. But when he perceived that the man was advancing to a great pitch and that those sent were not sufficient to make war against him, then indeed he himself too set out on campaign, entrusting the city to Lepidus and to eight city prefects, as some think, or six, as is more generally believed.

29.1. For when, under Longinus and under Marcellus, the legions in Spain had been stirred and some of the cities too had revolted, for some days, when Longinus had departed and Trebonius had received his succession,

29.2. they kept quiet; then, from fear of punishment from Caesar, they sent secret envoys to Scipio, wishing to go over; and he sent them, among others, Gnaeus Pompey. And he, putting in at the Gymnesian islands, brought over the rest without a battle, but Ebusus with toil, and there, falling ill, he tarried with his

29.3. soldiers. While he lingered, then, the soldiers in Spain, learning that Scipio had perished and that Didius was sailing against them, and fearing lest they be destroyed before Pompey should come, did not wait for him, but, setting Titus Quintius Scapula and Quintus Aponius, men of the equestrian order, at their head, both expelled Trebonius and made the whole Baetican province revolt with them.

30.1. When they had done these things, Pompey, having recovered, crossed over to the mainland opposite, and at once won over certain other cities of their own accord (for, vexed at the commands of those set over them, and hoping no little from him through the memory of his father, they readily received him), but Carthage, which would not

30.2. agree to come to terms, he besieged. Learning this, then, those about Scapula came thither, and, choosing him general with full power, attended upon him most of all and were most strongly eager, making his gains their own and his misfortunes their own, so that on both counts—the one that they might get them, the other that they might not

30.3. suffer them—they were resolute. For Pompey, as all are wont to do in such disorders and circumstances, and especially since certain of the Allobroges, whom Juba, having taken them prisoner in the war against Curio, had given to him, had deserted, did everything whatever, both in word and in deed, to gratify the

30.4. rest. These men, then, on this account became much more eager for him, and many of his opponents, especially all who had once served with Afranius, came over; and from Africa came to him, among others, his brother Sextus and Varus and Labienus with the

30.5. fleet. And from this, elated both by the multitude of his army and by their eagerness, he traversed the country without fear, and added cities, some willing, some unwilling, and seemed

31.1. to be even stronger than his father. For there were in Spain Caesar's generals too, Quintus Fabius Maximus and Quintus Pedius, yet, not thinking themselves a match for him, they themselves kept quiet and sent for him in haste.

31.2. For a while, then, these things went on; but when some of those sent ahead arrived from Rome and Caesar too was expected to come, Pompey, taking fright, and thinking himself not sufficient to hold all Spain, did not wait, having stumbled, to change his mind, but at once, before making trial of his

31.3. opponents, withdrew into Baetica. And the sea was straightway estranged from him, and Varus was overcome at sea by Didius near Carteia, and, had he not, fleeing first to land, cast anchors one after another into the mouth of the harbour, and had not the foremost of those pursuing them stumbled upon these as upon a reef, he would have lost his whole

31.4. fleet. But the whole mainland there fought as his ally except the city of Ulia; for this, since it would not come over to him, he besieged.

32.1. And meanwhile Caesar too, with a few men, suddenly came upon those who were not expecting it—not only Pompey's men but even his own soldiers; for he used such speed of march that he was seen by his own people and the enemy at the same time, before it was even heard that he had come into Spain at all.

32.2. And he hoped that from this very thing—from his presence alone—he would both dismay Pompey in other respects and draw him off from the siege; for the greater part of his army had been left behind on the road. But that man, thinking that one man does not differ much from another, and very confident in his own strength, was not dismayed at his arrival, but both continued to besiege the city and made his

32.3. assaults as before. Caesar, then, left there a few soldiers of those who had arrived beforehand, and himself set out against Corduba, partly hoping to take it by betrayal, but most of all expecting to draw Pompey away from Ulia by his fear

32.4. for it. And so it was; for first he left part of the army in its place and came to Corduba, and, having secured it, since Caesar did not wait for them, entrusted it to his brother

32.5. Sextus; then, since he accomplished nothing at Ulia—but a certain tower, and that not shaken down by them but broken by the multitude of those defending upon it, having fallen, some entered, yet did not come off

32.6. well, and Caesar, drawing near them, both secretly sent aid to them by night and himself marched again against Corduba and set it in opposition to a siege—then indeed Pompey wholly withdrew from Ulia and hastened thither with his whole army not in vain. For Caesar, learning this beforehand,

32.7. withdrew; for he chanced to be ill. After this, having recovered, and taking up the armies that had followed him, he was compelled to make war even in the winter; for, encamping in poor little tents, they were ill off and were in want of

33.1. food. He was dictator at that time, and was appointed consul late, at the close of the year, Lepidus, while master of the horse, having assembled the people for this; for he was master of the horse then too, having named himself master of the horse during his consulship, contrary to ancestral usage.

33.2. Caesar, then, being compelled, as I said, to make war even in the winter, did not assault Corduba (for it was strongly guarded), but, learning that there was much grain in the city of Ategua, turned against it, although it was strong, hoping by the multitude of his army and by his sudden appearance to frighten them into surrender; and in a short time he both palisaded

33.3. and trenched it about. For Pompey, confident in the nature of the place, and thinking that Caesar would not, on account of the winter, besiege it long, and unwilling to harm his own soldiers in the cold, disregarded it and did not

33.4. defend them at the first; for afterward, when the town had been walled off and Caesar was sitting before it, he, taking fright, came to their aid, and, suddenly on a misty night joining the outposts, destroyed a number. And since those within were without a commander, he sent in to them Munatius

34.1. Flaccus. For that man was able to get inside in the following way. By night he alone asked some of the guards, as though sent by Caesar on a round of inspection, for the watchword, and, learning it (for he was not recognized, and alone he would never have been suspected of doing this unless he were friendly to them), those men

34.2. he let pass, but, going round to another part of the circumvallation, he fell in with certain other guards, and, telling them the watchword and pretending to be there for the betrayal of the city, through them, willing

34.3. and even escorting him, he entered. Yet he did not save it. For among many other things, once, having thrown fire into the engines and palisades of the Romans, they did them no notable harm, but themselves, a violent wind in this falling upon them from the opposite quarter,

34.4. fared ill; for the buildings were burned, and a number of men, by the stones and the missiles, being unable even to see anything through the smoke, perished. When, then, this had befallen them, and the land was being ravaged, and some of the wall was falling from mines,

34.5. they fell into sedition, and first Flaccus treated with Caesar for safety for himself and those with him, and then he (for he would not surrender his arms) failed of it, but the other natives after this both sent envoys and came to terms on the conditions ordered.

35.1. When that city had been taken, the rest no longer kept quiet, but many, sending envoys themselves, went over to Caesar, and many, as he came on, received both

35.2. his lieutenants, so that Pompey, at a loss what to do, at first wandered about, removing now to one part of the country, now to another, and then, fearing lest from this very thing the rest too should abandon him, was willing to hazard all, although the divine power had most clearly signified his defeat beforehand.

35.3. For the sweatings of the statues and the noises of armies, and the animals that were born in great numbers contrary to their nature, and the torches that darted from east to west (for all these occurred together then in Spain) made nothing clear, to which of the two sides they appeared;

35.4. but the eagles of his legions, shaking their wings and casting off the golden thunderbolts which some of them bore in their feet, plainly cast the evil upon him, and themselves flew off toward Caesar. But the divine power led him on, and he made light of it, and came to the city of Munda for battle.

36.1. Both sides had, besides the other forces, both citizen and foreign, many of the natives and many Moors; for Bocchus sent his sons to Pompey, and Bogudes himself served with Caesar; and the contest was not as of others but as of the Romans

36.2. themselves. For the Caesarian soldiers, confident in their numbers and their experience and above all in his very presence, were eager at last to be rid of the war and of the evils in it, and the Pompeians, inferior to these but strong in their despair of safety

36.3. if they should not prevail, were eager; for, as the greater part of them had with Afranius and Varro been both captured and saved, and afterward delivered to Longinus and then revolted from him, they had no hope of pardon if defeated, and from this were brought to desperation, as men needing either to conquer then or wholly

36.4. to perish. Joining battle, then, they fought; for they had no longer any shame even of one another, having so often made war against one another, and

37.1. on this account needed no exhortation. And meanwhile the allied troops on both sides were quickly routed and fled, but those men themselves, beating one another back at close quarters, contended a very long time. For none of them gave way, but, remaining in their place, they slew and died, as though each one himself would be to all the rest the cause either of the victory or of the

37.2. defeat. And on this account they did not even care to see how their allies were fighting, but, as though endangered alone, they were eager. And none of them sang the paean or groaned, but, both crying only this much, "Strike, kill," by their deeds they far outran their

37.3. tongues. Seeing this, then, from their horses and from certain high places, Caesar and Pompey knew neither how to hope nor how to despair, but, becoming uncertain in their judgements alike by

37.4. fear and by confidence, were ill at ease. For, the battle being even, they were terribly distressed in their eyes, desiring to see some advantage and shrinking to see some loss, and in their souls, both praying and praying against at once, and being strengthened and afraid. Accordingly they could not endure long, but, leaping down

37.5. from their horses, took part in it themselves. So, it seems, did each of them choose to be with the toil and danger of the body rather than with the strain of the soul, hoping by sharing in the battle to lend some weight to his own soldiers; or, if they should fail of that, they wished at least to die together with them.

38.1. And they too fought; but to the legions no advantage arose from this for either side, but far greater—when they saw those men sharing the danger with them—both a contempt of their own death and a desire for the destruction of their opponents fell upon both alike.

38.2. And on this account neither side then fled, but, being equal in their resolves, they became equal also in their bodies; and all would have died, or have been parted by night still evenly matched, had not Bogudes, being somewhere outside the engaged forces, set out against Pompey's camp, and Labienus, when he saw this, abandoned his post and turned toward him.

38.3. For the Pompeians, thinking that he was in flight, were disheartened. And they learned the truth, indeed, afterward, yet could no longer recover themselves, but some, fleeing into the city, others into the entrenchment, these vigorously fought off those who came up to them, and did not fall before they were taken in flank,

38.4. and those others saved the wall a long time, so that it was not taken before they all perished in their sallies. So great, then, on the whole was the suffering of the Romans on both sides, that, being at a loss how to wall off the city, lest some break out even by night, they heaped about it the very bodies of the dead.

39.1. Having thus prevailed, Caesar straightway took Corduba too; for Sextus withdrew from it before him, and the natives, although the slaves resisted them since they had been freed,

39.2. came over to him. And he slew those who were under arms, but the rest he sold for money. And this same thing he did also to those who held Hispalis, who at first, as though willingly, received a garrison from him, then, having destroyed those who had come, made war.

39.3. He marched against them, then, and, sitting before it ostensibly somewhat carelessly, gave them hope that they would be able to escape. And from this, allowing those who came out of the wall, he ambushed and destroyed them, and thus

39.4. took the city, which had little by little been emptied of men. And after this he took both Munda and the rest—some unwilling with much slaughter, some willing—and levied money, so as not to spare even the dedications of Heracles set up at Gades, and cut off the lands of some, and to others increased the tribute.

39.5. These things he did to those who had made war on him, but to those who had shown any goodwill toward him he gave both lands and exemption from taxes, and to some citizenship, and to others to be reckoned colonists of the Romans; yet he did not bestow these things free.

40.1. Caesar, then, was doing these things; but Pompey, having somehow escaped in the rout, came to the sea, intending to use the fleet that was anchored at Carteia, but, finding them inclining toward the victor, embarked on a certain boat,

40.2. expecting to get away on it; but, being wounded in this and dispirited, he put in to land again, and there, taking up some who had gathered, set out for the interior. And he himself, falling in with Caesennius Lento, was defeated, and, fleeing into a certain wood, was destroyed; and Didius, not knowing this, and wandering about as though to join him somewhere, fell in with certain others and perished.

41.1. And Caesar too would have chosen to fall there somewhere at the hands of those still resisting and in the glory of war, rather than what he suffered not long after—to be slain in his country and in the senate-house at the hands of his

41.2. dearest friends. For this war he accomplished last and this victory he won as his final one, although he had hoped to accomplish everything else of the greatest sort, both for other reasons and not least because a shoot grew straightway, upon his victory, from a palm that was in the place of the

41.3. battle. And I do not say that this bore no meaning, but it bore it not for him any longer, but for his sister's grandson Octavius; for he was serving with him, and was destined to shine forth out of his toils and dangers. Not knowing this, then, and still hoping many and great things for himself, he did nothing moderate, but, as though

42.1. immortal, he was overweening. For the triumphs—although he had conquered no foreign foe but had destroyed so great a multitude of citizens—he not only himself celebrated, feasting all the people in them again as though over some common goods, but he permitted also Fabius Quintus and Quintus Pedius, although they had served under him as lieutenants and had accomplished nothing privately,

42.2. to hold a festival. And there was, in a way, ridicule over this, and because they used wooden and not ivory images of certain deeds and other such triumphal apparatus; yet most conspicuously triple triumphs and triple processions of the Romans were held over those very men, and moreover sacred holidays were kept for fifty

42.3. days. And the Parilia were honoured with a perpetual horse-race—not indeed on account of the city, because it had been founded on them, but on account of Caesar's victory, because the report of it had arrived on the day before, toward evening.

43.1. This, then, he gave to Rome; but he himself wore the triumphal robe at all the festivals by decree, and was always and everywhere alike adorned with the laurel crown. And he made as his pretext for this that he was bald in front, but he furnished from that very thing some ground for talk, and because then, although past his prime, he still practised toward beauty;

43.2. for he gloried in all things in rather loose-fitting clothing, and in his footwear—and after this sometimes even in high and red-coloured footwear, after the manner of the kings who had once reigned in Alba, as being connected

43.3. with them through Iulus, he indulged. And on the whole he was wholly devoted to Aphrodite, and wished to persuade all that he had some flower of beauty from her; and on this account he both wore an engraved image of her in arms, and made her his watchword in most and the greatest

43.4. dangers. The looseness of his girdle, at any rate, Sulla suspected, so that he even wished to kill him, and said to those who begged him off, "I will grant you this man, but do you very much beware of this ill-girt fellow"; but Cicero did not understand it,

43.5. but, mistaking it, said, "I would never have expected that this ill-girt fellow would master Pompey." This, then, I have written by way of digression from my narrative, that no one may be ignorant of any of the things said about

44.1. Caesar; but over the victory the senate resolved all that I have said, and moreover they both called him Liberator and inscribed it in the records, and voted a temple of Liberty at public cost.

44.2. And the title of Imperator they bestowed on him then, first and for the first time, as a kind of proper name—not still merely according to the ancient usage, as others and he himself had often been so styled from their wars, nor as those were named who had received some independent command or other authority, but absolutely this very title which is now always given to those who hold the supreme power,

44.3. as it were a proper name. And they used such an excess of flattery that they even voted that his children and grandchildren be so called, though he had no child and was already an old man. Whence indeed this appellation came to all the emperors after him, as though it were a thing peculiar to their office, just as

44.4. Caesar's also. Yet the ancient usage was not abolished by this, but each exists; and on this account it is applied to them a second time, whenever they win some such victory. For the emperors use this very title once, as their first, like the others;

44.5. but those who accomplish through wars something worthy of it take on also the ancient one, and from this one is named Imperator a second and a third time and more often, as often as occasion offers.

44.6. These things, then, they gave Caesar at that time, and a house to dwell in at public expense, and a special sacred holiday whenever any victory should occur and sacrifices be made over it, even though he should neither have served in the campaign nor at all taken part in what was accomplished.

45.1. Yet these things, even if they seemed to some excessive and beyond what was established, were nonetheless not undemocratic; but they voted others of the following kind, through which they openly declared him monarch. For they assigned to him the offices, even those of the plebs, and chose him consul for ten years, as before dictator;

45.2. and they ordered that he alone should have soldiers and alone administer the public moneys, so that it was permitted to no one else, in neither of these, whom he had not authorized, to use them. And then they resolved that an ivory statue of him, and afterward a whole chariot, be carried in the horse-races among the images of the

45.3. gods. And another image they dedicated in the temple of Quirinus with the inscription "To the Unconquered God," and another on the Capitol beside those who had once reigned in

45.4. Rome. And it occurs to me to marvel at the coincidence; for, eight of them being together (seven of those, and an eighth of Brutus, who overthrew the Tarquins), they set up his beside this image of Caesar's, and indeed from this especially Brutus Marcus, being moved, plotted against him.

46.1. These things over the victory (I mean not all, but as many as seemed to me worth recounting) were ratified not on one day, but as it chanced, one here, another there; and of them Caesar began to use some and was about to use others, even if he passed over some of

46.2. them. The consular office, at any rate, he took up at once, even before entering the city, yet did not hold it to the end, but, having come to Rome, laid it down and entrusted it to Fabius Quintus and Trebonius Gaius. And since Fabius died on the last day of the consulship, he straightway chose in his place another for the remaining hours, Gaius

46.3. Caninius Rebilus. Then for the first time this occurred contrary to established custom, that the same man did not hold that office for the year, neither for the whole nor for all the remaining time of it, but that one living and not compelled to retire from it either by ancestral usage or by any accusation,

46.4. and another be set up in his place. And second, that Caninius was at the same time appointed consul and was consul and ceased to be; which Cicero too, mocking, said that the consul had used such manliness and care in his office that in it he never

46.5. slept for even the briefest while. From that time, then, the same men no longer held the consulship through the whole year, except a few of old, but as it chanced, some for more and some for fewer, some for months, some for days; since now, indeed, no one rules either for a year or for more than two months, for the most part, with some other

46.6. colleague. And in other respects we differ in nothing from one another, but the numbering of the years those reap who are consul at the beginning of them. And I therefore, of the rest, will name those necessary to the affairs, but, toward the marking of the things always being done, those who first held office, even if they furnish no deed toward them.

47.1. Concerning the consuls, then, these things happened thus; but the other magistrates were appointed in word by the plebs and by the people according to ancestral usage (for Caesar did not accept their appointment), but in deed by him, and were sent out into

47.2. the provinces without lot. And in number the rest were as many as before, but fourteen praetors and forty quaestors were appointed. For, having promised much to many, he had no other way to requite them, and on this account he did

47.3. these things. And moreover he enrolled vast numbers into the senate, making no distinction whether anyone was a soldier or whether anyone was a freedman's son, so that the total of them became even nine hundred, and many also into the patricians and among those who had been consuls or had held some

47.4. other office. And some who were under examination for bribes and were even convicted he acquitted, so as to incur a charge of taking bribes himself. For there contributed to this report also the fact that he set out all the public lands—not only the profane but even the sacred—for sale, and put up the greater part to auction.

47.5. Nonetheless, however, he granted much money to certain men in connexion with the sale of the lands; and to a certain Lucius Basilus he gave no command of a province, although he was praetor, but bestowed instead vast sums of money, so that he became notorious both in this, and because, having been insulted in his praetorship by Caesar, he persisted in resentment.

47.6. All these things, then, were pleasing to those who received anything or expected to receive it, valuing nothing of the common good in comparison with their own perpetual increase through them; but all the rest bore them grievously, and made up much talk with one another, those at least who had any safety speaking freely, and putting forth anonymous writings.

48.1. In that year, then, these things were done, and the administration came into the hands of two of the city prefects, since no quaestor had been elected beforehand. For, as once before, so then too, during Caesar's absence abroad the city prefects had all the affairs in the city together with Lepidus the

48.2. master of the horse; and, being accused because they used lictors and the magisterial dress and chair, as the master of the horse did, they were acquitted, putting forward a certain law by which it was granted to all who had received any office from a dictator

48.3. to use them. The administration, then, having from that time been diverted for the reasons I have said, was no longer always entrusted to the quaestors, but at last was assigned to those who had been praetors. The public treasuries, then, two of the city prefects administered at that time, and the Apollonian games one of them celebrated with Caesar's apparatus.

48.4. And the aediles of the plebs held the Megalesian games by decree. And a certain city prefect, set up during the festal recess, himself chose another for the next day, and that one another; which neither before nor afterward ever happened.

49.1. These things were done at that time; but in the following year, in which Caesar was dictator for the fifth time, taking Lepidus as master of the horse, and consul for the fifth time, choosing Antonius as his colleague, sixteen praetors held office (and this for many years . . . ), and the rostra, which had formerly been somewhere in the middle of the Forum, was moved back to its present place, and the image of Sulla and of

49.2. Pompey was restored to it. And over this Caesar gained good fame, both for this and because he yielded to Antonius the glory of the deed and the inscription upon it. And, wishing to build a theatre in honour of Pompey, he laid the foundations beforehand, but did not complete it. But this Augustus afterward finished and named it after Marcus

49.3. Marcellus his nephew; and the houses and the temples that were in that place Caesar incurred blame for pulling down, both because he burned the images, which were wooden except a few, and because, finding many treasures of money, he appropriated them all.

50.1. These things he did, and introduced laws, and extended the pomerium farther. And in these, among certain other things, he seemed to act like Sulla; but in that to the survivors of those who had made war on him he both remitted the charges and gave

50.2. safety on the same and equal terms, and advanced their offices, and gave back to the wives of the dead their dowries, and bestowed on their children portions of their estates, he greatly reproved Sulla's bloodthirstiness, and himself was strongly approved not only for manliness but also for goodness, although it is hard for the same man for the most part to be distinguished both in war and in

50.3. peace. Both in these things, then, he took pride, and because he restored Carthage and Corinth. For many other cities both in Italy and abroad he both rebuilt and

50.4. set up anew; but this had been done by certain others too, whereas Corinth and Carthage—ancient, splendid, distinguished cities that had perished—the one, since he reckoned it a colony of the Romans, he colonized, the other, since he honoured it with the ancient

50.5. names, he restored to the memory of those who had once dwelt in them, bearing no grudge, on account of their hatred, against the places which had done them no wrong. And these, as they had formerly been destroyed together, so then too together came back to life and were destined again

51.1. to flourish; but while he was doing these things a desire fell upon all the Romans alike to take vengeance for Crassus and those who had perished with him, and there was hope then, if ever, of subduing the Parthians. So they voted the war to Caesar with one accord, and made great

51.2. preparation for it. And, among other things, in order both that he might have more officials to use and that the city might neither be without magistrates in his absence nor again, choosing some for itself, fall into sedition, they intended even to appoint them beforehand for three years (for they thought he would need that much time for the campaign), yet

51.3. did not appoint them all beforehand. And Caesar chose in word the half, making this a kind of law, but in deed all. And for the first year forty quaestors were elected beforehand, as before, and aediles then for the first time, two from the patricians, and four from the plebs, of whom two bear the appellation from Demeter, which indeed has from that time

51.4. down to the present remained established. And sixteen praetors were appointed; but I do not write this (for they had existed before), but that Publius Ventidius too was chosen among them. For this man was originally from Picenum, as I have said, and, having made war on the Romans when

51.5. the allies were set at war with them, was captured by Pompey Strabo and walked in his triumph in chains, and after this, being released, was in time enrolled into the senate and then appointed praetor by Caesar, and advanced so far that he even conquered the Parthians and celebrated a triumph over

51.6. them. Those, then, who were to hold office the first year after that were all appointed beforehand, but for the second only the consuls and the tribunes; so far were they from appointing any

51.7. even for the third. And he himself too was to rule as dictator in both of those years, and he chose as future masters of the horse, among others, Octavius, although he was still even then a stripling.

51.8. And for the present, in which these things were happening, he set up Dolabella as consul in his own place, although Antonius was to rule the whole year; and, assigning to Lepidus the Gaul about Narbo and the neighbouring Spain, he made two others in his place, each separately, masters of the horse.

51.9. For, owing benefits to many, he repaid them both through such things and through priesthoods, appointing one more to the Fifteen and three others to the so-called Seven.