Book 14

arg. The following are contained in the forty-ninth book of Dio's Roman History: How Caesar conquered Sextus and put down Lepidus. How Ventidius, conquering Pacorus, killed him and drove the Parthians beyond the Euphrates. How Antony was defeated by the Parthians. How Caesar subdued the Pannonians. How Antony, deceiving Artavasdes the king of the Armenians, captured him. How the Portico of Paulus was dedicated. How the Mauretania about Caesarea became Roman. The length of time is four years, in which the magistrates here numbered held office: Lucius Gellius Poplicola, son of Lucius, and Marcus Cocceius Nerva, son of [Marcus], consuls; Lucius Cornuficius, son of Lucius, and Sextus Pompey, son of Sextus, consuls; Marcus Antonius, son of Marcus, for the second time, and Lucius Scribonius Libo, son of Lucius, consuls; Caesar, for the second time, and Lucius Volcacius Tullus, son of Lucius, consuls.

1.1. In the winter, then, in which Lucius Gellius and Cocceius Nerva were consuls, these things were so done; and Caesar, when the fleet had been made ready and spring set in, set out from Baiae and was conveyed along Italy, having no small hope of encompassing Sicily on every side. For he himself sailed with many ships, and Antony’s were already present at the strait; and Lepidus, though unwillingly,

1.2. had at any rate promised to come to his aid. And he was most confident in the height of his vessels and the thickness of their timbers; for they had been built exceedingly thick and exceedingly large, so as to carry the greatest possible number of marines (for they bore towers too, that they might fight as from a wall from a height) and themselves to withstand the rammings of the enemy, and to turn aside their rams, inasmuch as they made the collision the more violent.

1.3. With such reckonings Caesar hastened to Sicily. And as he was rounding the promontory called Palinurus, a great storm fell upon him; and this both destroyed many ships, and Menas, coming upon the rest while they were in confusion,

1.4. burned some and took others in tow. And had he not again gone over—both for immunity and for certain other hopes—and, receiving triremes that were feigned deserters, betrayed the whole fleet he commanded, the descent would even then have proved vain for Caesar. And he did this because Sextus had not permitted him to make war on Lepidus and he was suspected in

1.5. everything else. Caesar received him then too most gladly, yet trusted him no longer in anything. When, then, he had repaired the damaged ships, and freed the slaves who were rowers, and assigned the supernumeraries (for many, when the vessels were destroyed in the shipwreck, had swum away) to Antony’s fleet, which was short of men,

1.6. he came to Lipara, and there, leaving Agrippa and the ships, was conveyed to the mainland, that he might also ferry the infantry across into Sicily when occasion should arise.

2.1. Learning this, Sextus himself lay in wait at Messana, watching for Caesar’s crossing, and bade Demochares lie at anchor over against Agrippa at Mylae.

2.2. These men, then, spent the greater part of the time making trial of one another as opportunity offered, yet not daring to hazard their whole fleet; for neither knew the other’s forces, and everything on both sides about the others was reported in the greater and more fearful

2.3. direction. At last Agrippa, understanding that it did not profit him to delay (for Sextus’ men, since they lay at anchor in their own land, had no need to hasten), took the best of his ships and set out for Mylae to reconnoitre the numbers of the enemy. And when he could neither see all of them nor would any of them put out, he despised them, and, returning, made ready as though to sail upon Mylae the next day with all his ships.

2.4. And this same thing happened to Demochares too; for, suspecting that those that had come were the only ships, and seeing them sailing very slowly by reason of their size, he sent for Sextus in the night and made ready as though to engage Lipara itself. Day broke, and both sailed at once as though against an enemy fewer than themselves.

3.1. But when they had come near, and each, against their expectation, saw the enemy far more numerous than they had supposed, at first both alike were thrown into confusion, and some even backed water; afterwards, fearing flight more than battle, and hoping that in the latter they might even prevail, but expecting that in the former they would utterly perish, they put out in answer and, joining, fought.

3.2. And the one party were superior in the number of ships, the others in the experience of their crews; and the one were aided by the height of their vessels and the thickness of their catheads and the towers, while the others were aided by their breakings-through, and against the strength of Caesar’s marines their daring held out; for the greater part of them, being deserters from

3.3. Italy, used great desperation. And thereupon, both having the advantage of one another and being inferior in the ways I have mentioned, they had equal strength from the counterbalance of their resources; and on this account they fought for a long time and very evenly.

3.4. For the men of Sextus dismayed their adversaries with the wash of their oars, and wounded some ships, falling upon them with a rush and breaking up their oar-banks, but, being struck from the towers in the encounter and grappled with iron hands,

3.5. they suffered no less than they inflicted; and Caesar’s men, when they came to close quarters with them and crossed over into their ships, proved superior, but, when the others leaped into the sea whenever they were being sunk and easily boarded other vessels, both from swimming well and from being lightly equipped,

3.6. they were brought to a counterbalancing disadvantage. And in this both the swiftness of the navigation of the one became evenly matched against the steadiness of the enemy, and the heaviness of these against the lightness of those.

4.1. Late at last, and now toward night, Caesar’s men prevailed, yet did not pursue any—as it seems to me, and probability concurs, because they could neither overtake them and feared to run aground on the land, which had shoals of which they were inexperienced; but, as some say, Agrippa, inasmuch as he was fighting for Caesar and not for himself, considered it sufficient for him to rout

4.2. his adversaries. For he was wont to say to his closest friends that the greater part of those in power are unwilling for anyone to be superior to them, but do the most of the things which have a ready victory themselves through themselves, while the worse and stranger they

4.3. assign to others. And if ever they are compelled to entrust any of the better matters to these, they are burdened and vexed at their good repute; for they do not pray that they themselves be defeated and fare ill, yet do not choose that the others should take the

4.4. glory after having accomplished anything outright. He counselled, therefore, that a man who would be safe should free them from the difficulty of affairs but reserve the success of them for those men. And that this is so by nature, and that Agrippa took care of them, I know; but I do not write that this was the cause of his not pursuing at the time then present; for not even if he had very much wished it was he able to follow after them.

5.1. While the sea-battle was going on, Caesar, as soon as he perceived that Sextus had gone off from Messana and that the strait was empty of guard, did not let slip the novelty of the war, but at once, embarking on Antony’s ships, crossed over to Tauromenium, yet did not use

5.2. fortune well. For no one prevented him while sailing or disembarking, but quite at his leisure he made both his other dispositions and his camp; but when the sea-battle took place, and Sextus came in haste to Messana, and, learning that he was present, quickly put fresh men into the ships in turn

5.3. and engaged him at once both with these and with the heavy infantry by land, against these latter he did not even sally out, but, putting out to sea in contempt both of the fewness of the enemy’s ships and of their having been defeated before, he both lost the greater part of his fleet and was himself nearly destroyed besides.

5.4. So he could not even escape to his own men who were in Sicily, but was barely saved to the mainland. And he himself was in safety, but, seeing his army cut off on the island,

5.5. he was terribly distressed. And he did not take heart before a certain fish, leaping up of its own accord from the sea, fell at his feet; for from this, trusting the seers, who told him that he would subdue it, he was strengthened.

6.1. And he sent in haste for Agrippa to their aid, while they were being besieged. And when their provisions began to fail them and no aid yet appeared, Cornuficius (for he commanded them), fearing lest, remaining where he was, he be reduced in time by

6.2. famine, and reckoning that, while he tarried there, none of the enemy would come to blows with him, inasmuch as he was superior in heavy infantry, but that, if he advanced somewhere, one of two things would happen—either, if they engaged him, he would prevail, or, if they were unwilling to do this, he would withdraw to safety and have plenty of provisions and get some aid from Caesar or

6.3. Agrippa—burned all the vessels that were left from the sea-battle and had been cast out at the entrenchment, and himself, setting out, marched as toward Mylae. And both horsemen and light troops, attacking him from afar (for they did not dare to come to close quarters), brought him into terrible

6.4. straits. For they themselves both came on whenever there was opportunity, and turned back in a short space; while his men, being heavy infantry, could not otherwise pursue them by reason of their weight, and were protecting the unarmed men saved from the fleet. And thereupon they suffered much and dreadfully, but could do nothing in return; for if anywhere they charged any of them, they routed them, but, being unable to pursue farther, found them more troublesome in the turning about, inasmuch as they were left isolated by their

6.5. sallies. Both, then, in the rest of the march and especially in the crossings of the rivers they were exceedingly distressed; for the enemy, surrounding them in small bands, as is the way in such cases, struck them as they advanced in haste and in disorder and bared themselves at vital points, and pelted them as they fell somewhere into the muddy and flooded places and were caught or carried away.

7.1. And this they did for three whole days, and on the last they utterly crippled them, especially as Sextus had joined them with his heavy infantry, so that they no longer made any account of those who perished, but reckoned it even a gain that they suffered no longer, and they themselves wished, out of hopelessness, to be among those already

7.2. dead. And the wounded, being many and more than the dying (for, being struck from afar with stones and javelins, and enduring no hand-to-hand blow, they were wounded in many places and not all at vital spots), both themselves were terribly

7.3. distressed and afforded the survivors far more toil than the enemy did; for if they were carried, they destroyed besides those who supported them, and if they were left behind, they cast the whole army into despondency by their lamentations. And it would have been utterly destroyed, had not the enemy, even against their will,

7.4. kept away from them. For Agrippa, at that time, having won the sea-battle, sailed back to Lipara, but, learning that Sextus had fled to Messana and that Demochares had gone off elsewhere, crossed over into Sicily and, seizing Mylae and Tyndaris, sent both grain and

7.5. soldiers to them; and Sextus, thinking that he too would come, was afraid and withdrew beforehand in haste, so as even to leave behind in the fortification certain stores and provisions, from which the men of Cornuficius, having abundant food, were saved to

7.6. Agrippa. And Caesar recovered them with both praises and gifts, although he had treated them most disdainfully because of Agrippa’s naval victory, as though the war had been finished. For Cornuficius prided himself so highly on the preservation of the soldiers that even at Rome, as often as he dined outside his house, he had himself conveyed back on an elephant.

8.1. When, then, Caesar after this came into Sicily, Sextus encamped against him near Artemisium; and at first they fought no great battle, but made certain brief cavalry skirmishes. And as they lay over against one another, Tisienus Gallus joined Sextus, and Lepidus joined Caesar

8.2. with their forces. For Lepidus, having fallen in with the storm which I mentioned and with Demochares, lost many ships, and did not at once come to Caesar, but—whether on account of his mishap, or that Caesar might toil by himself, or wishing to draw Sextus off from him—assaulted Lilybaeum; and Gallus, sent there by Sextus, made war upon him.

8.3. And so both from there, since they accomplished nothing, came to Artemisium. And Gallus strengthened Sextus, but Lepidus came at variance with Caesar (for he claimed to administer everything on equal terms with him, as a colleague, while Caesar used him in all things as a lieutenant), and thereupon inclined toward Sextus

8.4. and held secret communication with him. Suspecting this, then, Caesar—neither daring to disclose it, lest he make him openly his enemy, nor again able safely to conceal it (for he thought it suspicious if he did not take counsel of him in anything, but dangerous if he communicated everything)—resolved to hazard all as quickly as possible, before any innovation should be made, although

8.5. as far as the rest was concerned he was least hurried; for Sextus had neither grain nor money, from which he hoped without a fight to overcome him not long after. When, then, he had decided this, he himself led out the army by land and arrayed it before the camp, and Agrippa at the same time, sailing up, lay off; for Sextus, being much inferior in their forces,

8.6. came out against neither. And this happened for several days. At last, fearing lest, being on this account despised, he be abandoned by his allies, he ordered the ships at some point to put out in answer; for he had more hope in these.

9.1. When, then, the signal was raised and the trumpet gave the sign, all those ships closed near the land, and the infantry of both alike was arrayed upon the very beach, so that the spectacle became most

9.2. remarkable. For all the sea there was filled with the ships (for, being many, they covered a very great extent), and the land—the part near it by the armed men, and the rest adjoining by the remaining crowd of both sides—was occupied. Whence the contest seemed to be of the sea-fighters alone, but in truth it was of the others too;

9.3. for those on the ships strove more eagerly for the display before those who watched them, and the others, though they kept as far as possible from one another, yet, with a view to the sight of what was being done, themselves too in a manner contended. For, the battle being for a long time evenly matched (for they fought most similarly to before), they too were held in an evenly balanced

9.4. tension of mind. For they hoped most of all that the whole war would be ended in it; but if not, the one party, even if they should then prevail, expected to toil at nothing great thereafter, and the others, if they should then conquer, expected to be no longer

9.5. defeated, and so were of good heart. And on this account they used both silence—that they themselves might look upon what was happening and might not distract those in the action—and a small cry, calling upon the sea-fighters and invoking the gods, and praising those of their own who prevailed

9.6. and reviling those who were defeated, and much exhorting those men in return and much shouting in answer to one another, both that their own men might more easily hear what was said and that the enemy might less hear their own.

10.1. For a while, then, they were evenly matched, and these things took place alike on both sides, and they made certain signs with their bodies, as though they could both see and understand them; but when the men of Sextus were routed, then at last all together and from a single impulse the one party

10.2. raised the paean and the others lamented. And these, as though themselves too conquered along with them, at once withdrew to Messana; while Caesar both received those of the defeated who were cast out onto the land, and, wading into the very sea, burned all the vessels that ran aground in the shallows,

10.3. so that there was safety neither for those still sailing (for they were cut to pieces by Agrippa) nor for those that put in anywhere (for they were destroyed by Caesar), save a few who fled for refuge into Messana beforehand. And in this struggle Demochares,

10.4. being taken, slew himself, while Apollophanes, having his ship unbroken and being able to flee, went over to Caesar. And this same thing others did too—Gallus and all the horsemen with him, and after these certain infantry

11.1. as well. Whence not least Sextus, despairing of his present circumstances, planned to flee, and, taking his daughter and others, and putting his money and the rest of his most valuable possessions into the best-sailing of the ships that had been saved, set out by night. And no one pursued him; for he sailed out secretly, and Caesar was at once in great

11.2. confusion. For Lepidus fell upon Messana, and, being received into it, both burned some things and plundered others; and when Caesar, perceiving this, came upon him quickly and stood in his way, he withdrew from the city out of fear, but, encamping upon a certain strong hill, made charges, recounting all that he thought he was being deprived of,

11.3. and demanded both all else that had been given him by their first conspiracy, and laid claim to Sicily as having helped subdue it. And he, sending certain men, made these charges against Caesar,

11.4. and challenged him to trial (for he had the forces he had brought from Libya, and all who had been left in Messana, since he had been the first to enter it and had cast some hope of innovation under them);

12.1. but Caesar made no answer to these things, and, thinking that all justice lay both with himself and with his arms, inasmuch as he was stronger than Lepidus, at once set out against him with a few men, as though both to dismay him by the suddenness, since he had nothing effective, and to win over

12.2. his soldiers. And he entered the camp, having seemed to them, by reason of the fewness of those accompanying him, to be about to do something peaceful; but when he said nothing to their mind, they were provoked and set upon him, and even killed some of his men; for he was saved by aid

12.3. that came quickly. And after this he came upon them again with all his army, and, shutting them up within the entrenchment, besieged them. Fearing capture, then, they made no innovation in common, out of respect for Lepidus, but privately, in small bands, each set abandoned him and went over; and so he too was compelled, of his own will, forsooth, in

12.4. mean dress to become his suppliant. And thereupon he was deprived of all power, and lived in Italy not without guard; while of those who had favoured Sextus’ cause the knights and senators were punished, save a few, but of the rank and file the free part was enrolled into Caesar’s legions, and the part that had been slaves was given back to their masters for

12.5. punishment; and if for any no master was found, he was crucified. And of the cities, those that of their own will went over to him obtained pardon, but those that resisted were chastised.

13.1. While he was doing these things, the soldiers rose in faction; for, being not a few, they grew bold at the sight of their multitude, and, reckoning up their dangers and their hopes therefrom, were insatiable for rewards, and, gathering among themselves, each demanded what he longed for.

13.2. And when they noised it abroad in vain (for Caesar, since no enemy any longer was present to him, held them in light regard), they raised an uproar; and, both bringing forward all that they had endured and putting forward whatever he had promised them, they threatened much, and thought they would enslave him even against his will.

13.3. But when they accomplished nothing, they at least demanded to be discharged from the campaign as worn out, using anger and an immense outcry—not that they wished to be freed of it (for the greater part of them were in their prime), but because they suspected the coming war against Antony and on this account set a high price on themselves; for what they did not obtain by demanding it, this they expected to get by threatening to abandon

13.4. him. Yet not even this succeeded for them; for Caesar, although he knew very well that the war would surely come and clearly understood their wishes, did not even so yield to them, thinking that the commander ought to do nothing against his judgement by the violence of the soldiers, as though they would thereby wish to gain some other advantage over

14.1. him again. Pretending, then, that they made reasonable demands and asked for things human, he first discharged those who had served with him against Antony at Mutina, and then, as the others pressed, all of those who had ten years of service. And, that he might restrain the rest, he announced besides that he would use none of them any longer, not even if any should most

14.2. wish it. Hearing this, they uttered nothing more, but even began to attend to him very closely, because to those discharged—not all, save the former, but the most deserving—he both promised to give all else he had promised and to distribute land, and gave to them all five hundred drachmas, and to those who had won the sea-fight a crown of olive besides.

14.3. And thereupon he raised the hopes of the rest, each with much, and of the centurions, as though he would enroll them into the senates in their own native cities. And to the lieutenants he gave various gifts, and to Agrippa a golden crown adorned with rams—which neither before nor afterwards befell anyone

14.4. else. And, that always, as often as those who sent triumphs wore the laurel crown, he should use this naval one, was afterwards confirmed by decree. Thus, then, he settled the soldiers at that time; and the money he gave them at once, but the land not long

14.5. after. For since that which was still then in the public domain did not suffice, he bought besides both other land and much from the Campanians dwelling in Capua (for the city needed many colonists), and gave them in return both the water called Julian, in which above all they glory before all others, and the Cnossian territory, which they still even now enjoy.

14.6. These things, then, happened later; but at that time he both administered affairs in Sicily, and won over both the Libyas without a fight through Statilius Taurus, and sent back to Antony an equal number of ships in place of those that had been

15.1. lost. And in this the matters of the Tyrrhenians, which had risen in faction, were settled as soon as his victory was learned, and those in the city voted him with one accord both praises and images and a front seat and a trophy-bearing arch, and the right to enter the city on horseback and ever to use the laurel crown, and on the day on which he had conquered—it being a perpetual festival—to feast in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus with his wife

15.2. and his children. These things were resolved for them at once after the victory; and it was announced first by a certain soldier of those then in the city, who was possessed on that very day by some god, and both said and did many other things, and at last, running up to the Capitol, set his sword at the feet of Jupiter as though there were no longer need of it; and afterwards by the others both present at it and sent to Rome by

15.3. Caesar. And when he himself arrived, and, gathering them outside the pomerium according to ancestral custom, gave account of his deeds and passed over certain of the things voted, he remitted both the tribute from the censuses, and whatever else was still owed to the treasury for the time before the civil war, and abolished certain taxes, and did not take Lepidus’ priesthood when it was offered to him (for it was not lawful to take it from one living), and many other things were

15.4. voted to him. Now some indeed noised it abroad that it was for the slandering of Antony and of Lepidus, and in order to thrust the blame for the former injustices upon those men alone, that he thus then bore himself so magnanimously; while others said that, since he could in no way recover what was owed, he made the others’ inability a costless favour of his

15.5. own. But these things were idly bruited about; at that time it was resolved that a house be given him at public expense; for the place which he had bought on the Palatine, that someone might build, he made public and consecrated to Apollo, since a thunderbolt fell upon it. The house, then, was voted to him, and that he be insulted neither in deed nor in word;

15.6. and if not, that one who did any such thing be liable to the same penalties as had been ordained for the case of the tribune. For he received the right to sit with them on the same benches.

16.1. To Caesar, then, these things were given by the senate; and he himself both inscribed Messala Valerius, whom he had before put to death in the proscriptions, into the augurs over the number, and made the Uticenses citizens, and ordered that no one else save the senators in office should wear the purple dress; for already certain of the common sort were using it.

16.2. And in this same year no aedile was appointed, through lack of those who would be chosen, but the praetors and the tribunes did what belonged to them, nor was a city prefect appointed for the festival, but certain of the praetors carried out what fell to him. And all other affairs in the city and the rest of Italy a certain Gaius Maecenas, a knight, administered both then and afterwards for a long time.

17.1. Sextus, having put out from Messana and fearing pursuit, and suspecting that some treachery would arise from those accompanying him, announced to them that he would make the voyage through the open sea,

17.2. but, putting out the light which on night voyages the flagships display, that the rest may follow at their heels, sailed along Italy, and, crossing over to Corcyra, came thence to Cephallenia; and there the others too, cast out by chance by a storm, joined him again.

17.3. Calling them together, then, he put off the array of a general, and, saying among other things that, being all together, they would neither furnish one another any sufficient aid nor escape notice, but, scattered, would more easily make their escape, he counselled them each privately and by himself to look to his own safety.

17.4. And thereupon, the greater part being persuaded by him, and others withdrawing to different places, he himself crossed over into Asia with the rest, intending to set off at once to Antony. But, being in Lesbos, and learning that Antony had marched against the Medes and that Caesar and Lepidus had been at war, he intended to winter where he

17.5. was; but, when the Lesbians most eagerly both received and detained him, on account of the memory of his father, since he learned that Antony had fared ill in Media and that Gaius Furnius, who was then governor of Asia, treated him not kindly,

17.6. he did not remain, but, hoping to succeed to Antony’s rule, because many came to him from Sicily and because others too had gathered—some on account of his father’s repute, others through need of a living—took up the array of a general, and made ready as though to seize the

18.1. country beyond. And in this, when Antony was saved into friendship and learned what was being done by him, and promised to give him both immunity and goodwill if he should lay down his arms, Sextus wrote in answer as though he would obey him, yet did not do this, but, both from Antony’s misfortunes and because he set off at once for Egypt, despised them, held to his present designs and sent heralds to the Parthians.

18.2. Learning this, Antony did not turn back, but sent against him both the fleet and Marcus Titius, who had before gone over to him from Sextus and was then with him. And Sextus, perceiving this beforehand and being afraid (for he was not yet sufficiently prepared), put out to sea,

18.3. and, advancing where he thought he would most escape, came to Nicomedia, and there, being overtaken, he sent heralds to Titius, having hope of him from the benefaction with which he had benefited him; but when Titius said he would not make terms with him unless he first took over both his ships and the rest of his force, he despaired of safety by sea, and, putting the heavier baggage into the ships, both burned

18.4. these and set out for the interior. And Titius and Furnius, pursuing him, overtook him at Midaeum in Phrygia, and, surrounding him, took him alive. Learning this, Antony at once, out of anger, wrote to them that he be put to death, but again, not long after, repenting, that he be

18.5. saved; but, the first letter-bearer outstripping the second, Titius, receiving afterwards the letters about his death, and thinking them really the second, or knowing the truth yet unwilling to trust it, attended to the order of their delivery rather than to the intention.

18.6. And so Sextus died in the consulship of Lucius Cornuficius and of a certain Sextus Pompey, and on this account Caesar both held a horse-race and set up for Antony a chariot before the Rostra and images in the temple of Concord, and gave him the right to feast there with his wife and children,

18.7. as had once been voted to himself; for he still feigned to be his friend, and consoled him, forsooth, for his misfortunes at the hands of the Parthians, and removed the envy of himself toward the victory and the things voted for it.

19.1. And he was doing these things; but the affairs of Antony and the barbarians stood thus. Publius Ventidius, learning that Pacorus was gathering an army and invading Syria, was afraid, since neither were the cities yet settled and the legions were still scattered in their winter-quarters, and devised the following both for the delay of Pacorus and for the slowness

19.2. of the army. Knowing that a certain prince Channaeus, who was well known to him too, favoured rather the Parthians’ side, he both honoured him in other ways as one most trustworthy to him and made him in certain matters his counsellor, from which he himself was destined to suffer no harm, while to Pacorus it would furnish proof that Channaeus, forsooth, was privy to his most secret designs.

19.3. And when Channaeus was there, Ventidius feigned to fear lest the barbarians, leaving aside the crossing of the Euphrates that was customary to them, near which the city Zeugma is, should use some other road lower down the river (for he said that on the one route there were plains suitable to the enemy, on the other hill-country fitting for the Romans

19.4. themselves), and both persuaded Channaeus to believe this, and through him deceived Pacorus too besides; for the plain into which Ventidius pretended he did not wish Pacorus to come, being longer than the other, Pacorus took, and so afforded him an opportunity to gather his

20.1. forces. And so, when Pacorus had come into Cyrrhestican Syria, Ventidius engaged and conquered him. For, since he neither prevented them from crossing the river nor, when they had crossed, at once set upon them, they condemned the Romans for a certain softness and weakness, and thereupon advanced against their fortification, although it was on a height, as though to take them

20.2. by storm. And, a sudden sally taking place, they were not without difficulty thrust back down the slope, inasmuch as they were horsemen, and there, defending themselves manfully (for the greater part of them were mail-clad), but thrown into confusion both by the unexpectedness and among one another, they were defeated chiefly by the heavy infantry and the slingers; for, reaching them from afar with their violent casts, these proved most

20.3. troublesome to them. And in this struggle Pacorus too, falling, harmed them most of all; for, as soon as they perceived that their commander had perished, a few fought eagerly about his body, but, when these too were destroyed, all the rest gave way. And of them, those who wished to escape home through the bridge could not, but, being cut off beforehand, perished, while others fled for refuge to

20.4. Antiochus in Commagene. Ventidius easily settled the rest of the affairs in Syria, which were in suspense as to the outcome of the war (for they loved Pacorus exceedingly, like the very best of those who had ever reigned, both for his justice and for his mildness), by sending his head about among the cities;

20.5. and himself marched against Antiochus, on the pretext that he had not given up the suppliants, but in truth for the sake of the money which he had in very great abundance.

21.1. When he was now here, Antony, coming up suddenly, was not only not pleased but even envious, because Ventidius seemed to have achieved some valorous deed by himself; and on this account he both deposed him from his command and used him for nothing more, neither then nor afterwards, although he received through him religious festivals for both

21.2. deeds and triumphal honours. The Romans in the city voted these things to Antony both on account of his preeminence and from the law, because the command was his; but they voted them to Ventidius as well, thinking that he had most sufficiently repaid the Parthians, through Pacorus, for the disaster that had befallen them in Crassus’ time, and most of all because on the same day of each year both things had befallen them.

21.3. And it came to pass that Ventidius alone celebrated the triumph, just as alone he had conquered (for Antony had perished before him), and gained a glory greater both from this and from the unexpectedness of fortune at the same time; for, having once marched in the triumph of Pompey Strabo among the other captives, he himself was the first of the Romans to lead a triumph over the Parthians.

22.1. These things happened later; but at that time Antony assaulted Antiochus, and, shutting him up in Samosata, besieged him; but when he accomplished nothing, but the time was wasted in vain and he suspected that the soldiers were ill-disposed toward him on account of the dishonour of Ventidius, he sent heralds to him secretly, and made feigned agreements with him, that he might decently withdraw.

22.2. Indeed he himself received neither hostages, save two and these not distinguished, nor the money he asked, but granted to Antiochus the death of a certain Alexander, who had before deserted from him to the Romans. And he,

22.3. having done these things, set off for Italy, while Gaius Sossius, receiving from him the command of Syria and Cilicia, both reduced the Aradians, who had been besieged until then and afflicted by famine and disease, and conquered in battle Antigonus, who had killed the Roman garrisons that were with him, and, when he fled for refuge to Jerusalem, subdued him by siege.

22.4. Many and dreadful things, indeed, the Jews too did to the Romans (for their race, when angered, is most bitter), yet far more did they suffer themselves. For first those defending the precinct of their god were taken, and then the others on the day named after Cronus,

22.5. even at that time. And so great was their religious scruple that those first taken about the temple, when the day of Cronus came round again, asked leave of Sossius, and, going up to it, performed with the rest all the customary

22.6. rites. These men, then, Antony entrusted to a certain Herod to govern, but Antigonus he scourged, having bound him to a cross—which no other king had ever suffered at the hands of the Romans—and after this slew him besides.

23.1. In the consulship of Claudius and Norbanus, then, this was so done; but in the following year the Romans accomplished nothing worthy of mention in Syria; for Antony spent the whole year coming into Italy and going back there again,

23.2. while Sossius, inasmuch as he was increasing Antony’s affairs and not his own, and on this account feared his envy and anger, continued to consider not how, by gaining some further success, he might become hateful to him, but how, by keeping quiet, he might gratify him. And the affairs of the Parthians by themselves

23.3. underwent an innovation from a cause of this sort. Orodes, their king, since he was failing both with age and with grief for Pacorus, while still living put the kingdom into the hands of Phraates, the eldest of his remaining sons; and he, taking it over, became the most impious of men.

23.4. For he treacherously killed his brothers born of the daughter of Antiochus, because they were better than he both in virtue and in lineage on the mother’s side, and killed besides his father himself, who was vexed at this, and after this

23.5. destroyed besides the noblest of the rest, and did many other dreadful things, so that many of the foremost men, abandoning him, withdrew, some elsewhere and some to Antony, among whom was Monaeses. This happened in the consulship of Agrippa and

24.1. Gallus; and in the rest of the winter, while Gellius and Nerva were in office, Publius Canidius Crassus, marching against the Iberians there, both conquered in battle their king Pharnabazus and brought him into alliance, and, invading with him the neighbouring Albania, and overcoming both them and their king Zober, likewise won them over.

24.2. Elated by these things, then, and besides much encouraged regarding Monaeses (for he had promised both to lead the campaign and to win over the greater part of Parthia without effort), Antony took the war against them in hand, and gave Monaeses, among other things, three Roman cities to enjoy until he should finish the war, and besides promised him the kingdom of the

24.3. Parthians. While they were doing these things, Phraates, being afraid—especially as the Parthians took the flight of Monaeses hard—sent heralds to him promising everything, and persuaded him to return.

24.4. Learning this, then, Antony made anger, as was natural, yet did not kill Monaeses, although he was still in his domain; for he neither expected to win over any other of the barbarians, if he should do any such thing, and was preparing a certain deceit

24.5. against them. He let him go, then, as one who would win over the affairs of the Parthians for him, and sent envoys with him to Phraates. And in word he treated for peace on condition of recovering both the standards and the captives taken in Crassus’ disaster, in order to catch the king unprepared through hope of the agreement, but in deed he was preparing everything for war.

25.1. And he came as far as the Euphrates, thinking it empty of guard; but when he found all things there under strict watch, he turned away from there, and, persuaded to march against Artavasdes, the king of the Medes, by the king of Greater Armenia, who was of the same name and his enemy, advanced at once toward Armenia just as he

25.2. was, and, learning there that the Mede had set off far from his own country in alliance with the Parthian, he left the baggage and part of the army behind with Oppius Statianus, bidding them follow, while he himself, taking the cavalry and the strongest part of the infantry, hastened on as though to take all the enemy’s possessions by storm,

25.3. and, falling upon Praaspa, their royal seat, raised mounds and made assaults. Learning this, the Parthian and the Mede let him toil in vain (for the walls were strong and many defended themselves from them),

25.4. but fell upon Statianus, who was unexpectant on the march and worn out, and slew all save Polemon, who reigned in Pontus and was then serving with him; for him alone they took alive and released on receiving money.

25.5. And they were able to do these things because the Armenian was not present at the battle, but, though able, as some say, to aid the Romans, neither did this nor came to Antony,

26.1. but withdrew to his own country; and Antony hastened, at the first message sent him by Statianus, as though to come to his aid, but was too late; for, save the dead, he found no one. And on this account he was afraid; but, because he fell in with none of the barbarians, he suspected that they had withdrawn somewhere out of fear, and took heart.

26.2. And thereupon, engaging them not long after, he made a rout of them; for the slingers, being many and casting farther than the bows, terribly harmed all even the mail-clad; yet he destroyed no considerable number, for the barbarians rode off quickly.

26.3. He engaged Praaspa again, then, and besieged it, harming the enemy in nothing great (for those within stoutly beat him off, and those without did not easily come to blows with him), but losing many of his own men in the seeking and bringing in of provisions,

26.4. and punishing many besides himself. For at first, while they still received food from somewhere thereabouts, they sufficed for both purposes, so as to make both the siege and the gathering of it secure; but when all that was near was consumed and the soldiers were compelled to advance somewhere far,

26.5. it came about that, if few were sent anywhere, they not only brought back nothing but perished besides, and if more, they left the wall empty of besiegers, and lost many men in this and many engines too, the barbarians sallying out against

27.1. them. And on this account Antony both gave them all barley instead of grain and decimated some, and on the whole, seeming to besiege, suffered the lot of the

27.2. besieged; for those on the wall accurately watched the moments for their sallies, and those without pressed terribly upon his men who remained in place whenever they were divided, both riding up suddenly and turning back in a short space, and did not trouble the grain-carriers when they went off to the villages, but fell upon them, unexpected, when they were scattered and bringing the grain

27.3. back. As he still beleaguered the city, then, Phraates, fearing lest in time he do it some harm—either by himself in some way or by getting some alliance from somewhere—persuaded him, sending certain men secretly, to send heralds to him, as though he would most easily obtain the truce.

27.4. And thereupon he gave audience to those sent by Antony, sitting upon a golden chair and twanging the bowstring, and, after running them down much, at last promised to grant peace if they would at once break up their camp.

27.5. Hearing this, then, Antony, both fearing his arrogance and believing that, if he should move somewhere, Phraates would make terms, withdrew, destroying nothing of what had been prepared for the siege, as though he were in a friendly country.

28.1. When he had done this and was awaiting the truce, the Medes both burned the engines and scattered the mounds, and the Parthians sent him no word about peace, but, falling on him suddenly, wrought much

28.2. harm. When, then, he learned that he had been deceived, he no longer dared to send envoys (for he neither expected to make terms on any moderate conditions, and was unwilling to cast the soldiers into despondency by the failure of the truce), but resolved to hasten, since once he had set out, into

28.3. Armenia. And, going by some other road (for they thought that the one by which they had come was wholly closed to them), they suffered many strange things. For, falling into unknown country, they were tripped up, and besides the barbarians, seizing their narrow passes beforehand, dug some away and palisaded others, and made watering everywhere difficult and wore down the

28.4. pastures; and if anywhere by chance they were going to advance through some more suitable places, they turned them away from these by false reports, as though they had been seized beforehand, and made them go by other roads beset with ambushes, so that many perished in this

29.1. way and many also by famine. And from this a certain desertion arose. And all would have gone over, had not the barbarians shot down before the eyes of the rest those who dared to do

29.2. it. They restrained this, then, and gained besides something of the following sort from fortune. Falling once into an ambush and pelted with thick missiles, they suddenly locked their shields and made the tortoise-formation, and set their left

29.3. knees to the ground. The barbarians, then, thinking (for they had not yet seen any such thing) that they had fallen down from their wounds and were good for a single cut, threw away their bows and leaped down from their horses, and, drawing their daggers, came near to them as though to slay them

29.4. outright. And in this the Romans, springing up, all together at the word unfolded the whole phalanx, and, falling upon those near them face to face, each set, in great numbers—armed men upon, as it were, unarmed, men prepared upon unexpectant, heavy infantry upon archers, Romans upon barbarians—cut them down, so that all the rest at once withdrew and no one any longer followed them.

30.1. This tortoise is of the following kind and is made in this fashion. The baggage and the light troops and the horsemen are stationed in the middle of the army; and of the heavy infantry, those who use the long, hollow, channelled shields are arranged about the outermost parts as though in a square, and, looking outward and holding their arms before them, enclose the rest;

30.2. while the others, who have the flat shields, both gather in the middle and raise these over both themselves and all the others, so that nothing but shields is seen alike throughout the whole phalanx, and all of them, by the closeness of the array, come to be in shelter from the

30.3. missiles. For it is so terribly strong that men even walk upon it, and besides horses and chariots are driven over it, whenever they are in some hollow and narrow place. Such, then, is the figure of this formation, and on this account it has taken the appellation of the tortoise, both from its strength and from its

30.4. good shelter. And they use it in two ways: either, approaching some fortress, they advance, and often even bring up men to the very wall, or, being sometimes surrounded by archers, they all crouch down together (for the horses too are trained to kneel and lie down), and in this, giving the impression that they are worn out, they suddenly spring up when the enemy draw near, and throw them into consternation.

31.1. This tortoise, then, is of such a kind; but Antony suffered no more harm from the enemy, yet was terribly distressed by the cold; for it was now winter, and Armenia in the mountains, through which alone he could barely make his way, is always frozen. And the wounds, which they had in great numbers, then most of all

31.2. afflicted them. Whence, many perishing and many becoming unfit for battle, he could not bear to hear of each one of them, but forbade anyone to announce any such thing to him. And the Armenian—although he held him in anger because he had abandoned them and desired to take vengeance—he both courted and flattered, that he might get from him both

31.3. provisions and money; and at last, since the soldiers could not hold out for a longer march, especially in winter, and would at the same time be toiling in vain (for he intended to return into Armenia before long), he both flattered him much and promised him much, that he might allow them to winter where they were, saying that in the spring he would march again against

31.4. the Parthians. And money came to him from Cleopatra too, so that a hundred drachmas were given to the heavy infantry and a fitting sum to the rest. And since what was sent did not suffice for them, he gave the rest besides from his own means, making the expenditure his own but the credit for the favour Cleopatra’s; for he both levied much from his friends and exacted much money from the allies.

32.1. And he, having done these things, set off for Egypt; while the Romans at home were ignorant of none of what had happened—not because Antony wrote them the truth (for he concealed all the difficulties, and some of them he even wrote in the most opposite sense, as though he were faring well),

32.2. but because rumour announced the truth, and Caesar and the others with him both busied themselves accurately about it and noised it abroad, yet did not refute it in public, but offered sacrifices and held festivals; for, as Caesar was even then still failing against Sextus, the refutation of these things could not be made either decently or in

32.3. season. Antony, then, having done these things thus, both gave Amyntas the principality of Galatia, although he had been a secretary of Deiotarus, adding to it some part of Lycaonia and Pamphylia, and gave Archelaus that of Cappadocia, casting out Ariarathes. And this Archelaus was, on the father’s side, of those Archelai who had made war against the Romans, and was born of a

32.4. courtesan mother, Glaphyra. Yet for these things Antony was somewhat less ill spoken of among the citizens (for in others’ matters he showed his magnanimity); but on account of Cleopatra he was greatly slandered, because he both took up the children he had by her—the elder, Alexander and Cleopatra (for they were born twins), and the younger Ptolemy,

32.5. surnamed Philadelphus—and because he bestowed on them much of Arabia, both that of Malchus and that of the Ituraeans (for he killed Lysanias, whom he had himself made their king, on the ground that he had favoured Pacorus), and much of Phoenicia and Palestine, and some part of Crete and Cyrene and Cyprus.

33.1. At that time he did these things; but in the following year, in which Pompey and Cornuficius were consuls, he undertook to march against the Armenian, having no small hope of the Mede, because the latter, vexed with Phraates that he had received from him neither much of the spoils nor any other honour, and wishing to take vengeance on the Armenian for his bringing on of the Romans, sent Polemon to him

33.2. asking both friendship and alliance. For he was so exceedingly delighted at the thing that he both made terms with the Mede and afterwards gave Polemon Lesser Armenia as the reward of his embassy. The Armenian, then, he first summoned into Egypt as a friend, that there he might surround and overcome him without effort; but when, suspecting this, the Armenian did not obey, he plotted to deceive him in some other

33.3. way. For he was not openly angry with him, lest he be made his enemy; but, as though he would march against the Parthians again at that time too, that he might catch him unprepared, he set out from Egypt, but, learning on the way that Octavia was coming from Rome, he advanced no farther,

33.4. but was conveyed back, although he both at once bade her return home and afterwards took the gifts sent by her, both the rest and the soldiers which he had asked from her brother for this very purpose. And he was still more

34.1. enslaved to the love and the sorcery of Cleopatra. Caesar in this time, since Sextus had perished and affairs in Libya needed settling, came to Sicily as though to sail there too, but, lingering there by reason of the winter, no longer crossed over.

34.2. For the Salassi and the Taurisci and the Liburnians and the Iapydes did nothing moderate toward the Romans even from before, but both left off paying their tribute and, invading sometimes the regions bordering them, did harm; and then they openly rose in revolt at his absence.

34.3. On this account, then, turning back, he both made his other preparations against them, and, since certain of those who had been discharged when they made faction and had received nothing wished to serve again, enrolled them into one camp, that, being apart and by themselves, they might neither corrupt any others besides, and, if indeed they should wish to make any innovation,

34.4. they might at once become manifest. But when they were not at all the more brought to their senses, he sent a few of them, the oldest, into Gaul to be settled, thinking that thereby he would both raise the hopes of the rest and settle them. But when even so they grew bold, he gave some of them to justice; and, when the rest were provoked at this, he called them together as though for some other purpose, and, surrounding them with the army, took away their arms and discharged them from

34.5. service. And so, learning at once both their own weakness and Caesar’s spirit, they truly changed, and, after much entreaty of him, took up the campaign again. For Caesar, both needing soldiers and fearing lest Antony win them over, said that he pardoned them, and found them most useful for everything.

35.1. This happened later; but at that time he ordered others to subdue the rest, while he himself marched against the Iapydes. And those dwelling within the mountains, not very far from the sea, he won over more easily, but those on the heights and on the farther side of them he subdued not

35.2. without toil. For Metulum, their greatest city, they made strong, and beat off many assaults of the Romans, and burned many engines, and laid low Caesar himself as he tried to mount the wall from a certain wooden

35.3. tower. And at last, since he did not withdraw any the more but even sent for further forces, they pretended to wish to come to terms, and, receiving a garrison into the citadel, both destroyed all of them in the

35.4. night and set fire to the houses, and some killed themselves and others their wives and children besides, so that nothing at all of them survived for Caesar. For not only those men, but even those taken alive of them, perished of their own will not long after.

36.1. When, then, these had perished and the others had been subdued without doing anything worthy of mention, he marched against the Pannonians, bringing no charge against them (for he had not been wronged at all by them), but in order that he might at once exercise the soldiers and feed them from others’ property, making everything that pleases the stronger in arms just toward the

36.2. weaker. The Pannonians dwell near Dalmatia, beside the very Ister, from Noricum as far as European Moesia, and are the worst-living of men (for they are well off in neither land nor climate; they grow no olive, no wine, save very little and that very bad, since they live for the most part in a most bitter winter, but eat and drink alike both barley and millet);

36.3. yet they are accounted the bravest of all men we know; for they are most spirited and most murderous, as having nothing worthy of a good

36.4. life. And these things I know not by hearing or by reading alone, but by learning them in deed, as having governed them; for after my command in Africa I was assigned both to Dalmatia, which my father too once governed for a time, and to so-called Upper Pannonia, whence I write all that concerns them with exact knowledge.

36.5. They are named thus because, cutting their sleeved tunics out of certain garments into strips—which they call ‘panni’ in their own tongue—they sew them together. The men, then, whether for this reason or for some other, are so named;

36.6. but some of the Greeks, ignorant of the truth, called them Paeonians, this appellation being ancient indeed, yet not belonging there, but in Rhodope and beside Macedonia itself as it now is, down to the sea. Wherefore I too shall call the former Paeonians, but these Pannonians, as they themselves and the Romans call them.

37.1. Marching against these, then, Caesar at first neither ravaged nor plundered anything, although they had abandoned their villages in the plains; for he hoped to win them over of their own will; but when, as he advanced toward Siscia, they harassed him, he was angered and both burned

37.2. their country and made booty of all he could. When he drew near the city, the natives, at once persuaded by their powerful men, both came to terms with him and gave hostages, but after this closed the gates and stood a siege. For they had both strong walls and, in the whole, took confidence in two navigable

37.3. rivers. For the one called the Colops, flowing past the very circuit, falls into the Save, which is a little distant from it, and now encircles the whole city, Tiberius having brought it to this by a great ditch, through which it returns again to its ancient channel.

37.4. And at that time, the Colops passing by along the very walls and the Save flowing a little way off, a certain gap had been left, which had been fortified both with palisades and

37.5. with trenches. Caesar, then, taking boats made by the allies there, and bringing them through the Ister into the Save and through it into the Colops, assaulted them at once both with the infantry and with the ships, and made certain sea-battles in it.

37.6. For the barbarians too, building dug-out boats in answer, ran risks, and in the river both killed many others and Menas, the freedman of Sextus, and on the land defended themselves stoutly against him, until they learned that some of their allies had been ambushed and destroyed; for then, in despondency, they gave way. And so, when these had been taken, he won over the rest of Pannonia also by agreement.

38.1. And after this he left there Fufius Geminus with some force, and himself was conveyed back to Rome, and put off the triumph voted to him, but gave to Octavia and Livia both images and the right to administer their own affairs without any guardian, and to enjoy security and freedom from insult on a par

38.2. with the tribunes. And when he had set out to march even into Britain too, in emulation of his father, and had already advanced into Gaul after the winter in which Antony for the second time and Lucius Libo were consuls, certain of the newly conquered, and the Dalmatians

38.3. with them, revolted. And the Pannonians Geminus, though driven out of Siscia, nevertheless recovered by battles, and the Salassi and the others who had made innovation with them Messala Valerius subdued; but against the Dalmatians first Agrippa, and afterwards

38.4. Caesar too, marched. And the greater part of them they subdued, having themselves suffered many dreadful things, so that Caesar was even wounded, and barley was given to some of the soldiers instead of grain, and others who had left their post were decimated; and the rest Statilius Taurus made war upon.

39.1. Antony in this time withdrew from his office on the very same day, substituting Lucius Sempronius Atratinus; whence there are some who name this man and not Antony in the

39.2. enumeration of the consuls. And, working that he might avenge himself on the Armenian as effortlessly as possible, he asked for his daughter as though to wed her to his son Alexander, sending a certain Quintus Dellius, who had once been a favourite of his,

39.3. and promised to give him many things. And at last he came suddenly to Pompey’s Nicopolis at the very beginning of spring, and there sent for him as though to counsel with him and join in some action against the Parthians. But when he did not come, suspecting the plot, he both sent Dellius to him again to confer, and himself none the less

39.4. in haste marched to Artaxata. And so at last, late, partly persuading him through his friends and partly dismaying him through the soldiers, and simply both writing and doing everything as toward a friend,

39.5. he induced him to come into the camp. And there, seizing him, at first he held him unbound, and led him about among the fortresses in which the treasures were, in the hope of taking them without a fight, pretending that he had seized him for no other reason than to levy tribute on the Armenians both for his safety and for his

39.6. kingdom. But when neither the keepers of the gold heeded him and those who held the arms chose Artaxes, the eldest of his children, as king, he bound him with silver chains; for it was shameful, it seems, that one who had been a king should be bound with

40.1. iron. And thereupon, receiving the fortresses, some willingly and some by force, he held all Armenia; for Artaxes, when he was worsted in an engagement,

40.2. withdrew to the Parthian. Having done these things, and having betrothed to his son the daughter of the Mede, that he might still more attach him to himself, he left the legions in Armenia and was conveyed back to Egypt, bringing both much other booty and the Armenian with his wife

40.3. and children. And, having sent them forward with the other captives in a kind of triumph to Alexandria, he himself entered on a chariot, and both bestowed all else on Cleopatra and led the Armenian with his household before her in golden chains. And she sat in front in the midst of the crowd upon a silver-plated platform and

40.4. a gilded chair. The barbarians, however, neither supplicated her nor did obeisance to her, although much both compelled and much persuaded by hopes, but, addressing her by name, gained a reputation for spirit, though on this account they were held in much hardship.

41.1. After this Antony feasted the Alexandrians, and seated Cleopatra and her children beside him in an assembly, and, having harangued, ordered her to be called Queen of Kings and Ptolemy, whom they surnamed Caesarion, King of

41.2. Kings. And to them he gave Egypt and Cyprus, making a fresh distribution; for he said that she had truly been the wife and that he was truly the son of the former Caesar, and pretended to do these things for his sake, in order thereby to slander Octavianus Caesar, because he was an adopted and not a genuine son of his.

41.3. To these, then, he assigned these things; but to his own children born of Cleopatra he promised to give—to Ptolemy, Syria and all within the Euphrates as far as the Hellespont, to Cleopatra, the Libya about Cyrene, and to their brother Alexander, Armenia and the rest beyond the Euphrates as far as the Indians; for he bestowed these too as though

41.4. already holding them. And these things he said not only in Alexandria, but wrote also to Rome, that he might receive ratification from them too. Yet none of it was read in public; for Domitius and Sossius, who were consuls already then and most devoted to him, were unwilling, although Caesar

41.5. pressed them, to disclose it to all. But when these prevailed in this, Caesar prevailed in turn that nothing of what was written about the Armenian be published; for he both pitied him, inasmuch as he had secretly communicated with him against Antony,

41.6. and grudged Antony the triumph. Antony, then, doing such things, dared to write to the senate that he wished to lay down his office and put all affairs in the hands of the senate and the people—not that he was going to do any of it, but in order that by his hopes he might either compel Caesar, inasmuch as he was present, to withdraw from his arms beforehand, or, if he disobeyed, hate him.

42.1. At that time, then, these things happened, and the consuls held the festival celebrated for Venus Genetrix; and at the festival the city prefects chosen by Caesar, beardless boys, sprung from the knights and not from the senators, held office.

42.2. And Aemilius Lepidus Paulus built at his own expense the portico called the Portico of Paulus, and dedicated it in his consulship; for he was consul for part of this year. And Agrippa, when the water named the Marcian failed through the decay of the conduits, both restored it at his own cost and conducted it over much of the

42.3. city. These men, then, although they showed ambition out of their own funds, both kept within bounds and were moderate; but others, holding even some very small office, contrived to have triumphs voted them—some through Antony, some through Caesar—and on this pretext exacted much gold from the peoples for their crowns.

43.1. In the following year Agrippa became aedile of his own will, and repaired all the public buildings and all the roads, taking nothing from the treasury, and cleaned out the sewers, and

43.2. sailed through them down to the Tiber. And in the circus, seeing men err about the count of the laps, he set up both the dolphins and the egg-shaped devices, that through them the circuits of the courses might be displayed. And besides he distributed oil and salt to all,

43.3. and provided that the baths be used free for a year both by men and by women; and he hired the barbers at the festivals, which he held in great number and of all kinds, so that even the sons of the senators rode the Troy game,

43.4. that no one might spend anything on them. And at last he both threw certain tokens into the theatre from above—one bearing money, another clothing, another something else—and, setting out a great many wares in the midst,

43.5. allowed them to plunder them. Agrippa, then, both did these things, and drove the astrologers and the sorcerers out of the city; and about the same days a decree was made that none of those belonging to the senate should be tried for brigandage, and so both those then under such a charge were released, and for the future immunity was given to certain men to do

43.6. mischief. Caesar, then, both resigned his consulship (for he was consul for the second time with Lucius Tullus) on the very first day, after the manner of Antony, and brought into the order of the patricians certain men from the commons, the senate having voted it.

43.7. And when a certain Lucius Asellius, who was praetor, wished to give up the office through long sickness, he appointed his son in his stead; and when another praetor died on the last day, he chose another for the remaining hours. And when Bocchus died, he gave his kingdom to no one, but inscribed it among the provinces of the Romans.

43.8. And since the Dalmatians had been wholly subdued, he built both the porticoes from their spoils and the libraries called Octavian, after his sister.

44.1. Antony in this time advanced as far as the Araxes as though to march against the Parthians, but was content with his agreement with the Mede; for they agreed to be allies of one another, the one against the Parthians,

44.2. the other against Caesar, and on this they gave each other certain soldiers, and the one received some part of the newly acquired Armenia, while the other received the Mede’s daughter Iotape, as though to wed her to Alexander, and the military standards taken in the battle of Statianus.

44.3. And thereupon Antony, both having bestowed Lesser Armenia on Polemon, as I have said, and having both made Lucius Flavius consul and deposed him (for he was with him), set off into Ionia and Greece for the war against

44.4. Caesar; and the Mede, at first using the Romans as allies, conquered the Parthians and Artaxes when they came upon him, but, when Antony recalled his own soldiers and besides held back those of the Mede, was defeated in turn and taken, and so Armenia along with Media was lost.