deposuerit: for the has not mastered the elements of a subject. tense see Introd. II. § 7. e. (4). 23. pro legibus habere quae dicat: this sounds like Ulpian's dictum, centuries later, quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem. 24. tristia et sine corde exta: Introd. II. § 5. t. 25. diceret: for the tense see Introd. II. § 7. g. 27. cor: punning on the other sense of the word, ‘brains', 'intelligence'. Chapter 78. Arrogance toward the Senate 29. Adeuntis se: cf. Plut., Caes. LX; Dio, XLIV. 8. Horace Page 39. 2. Gaium Trebatium: Cicero's friend and correspondent, officer of Caesar in Gaul, 54 B.C.; afterward a famous jurist. playfully addresses him in Sat. II. 1. minus familiari: unfriendly; a case of litotes. 4. subsellia quaestors, plebeian aediles and tribunes had not the right to use curule chairs. 5. Pontium Aquilam : he was afterward one of Caesar's assassins; Dio, XLVI. 38; App., B. C. II. 113; was killed at Mutina, 43 B.C.; Dio, XLVI. 38 and 40. Numerous references to him in Cicero's letters may be found by consulting the index to Tyrrell's Correspondence of Cicero. 6. indignatus sit: Introd. II. § 7. d. (3). 7. Repete... rem publicam: the idea is: 'snatch from me, what I hold as my own', i.e. 'claim the restoration of free government'. The word tribunus receives a sarcastic emphasis from its position. 9. sub exceptione: Introd. II. § 5. q. Chapter 79. Suspected of aiming at Royalty The first period is another example of Suetonius's long but perspicuous sentences. 12. in sacrificio: ablative of time. Latinarum: sc. feriarum : the immemorial common festival of Rome and Latium, celebrated annually on the Alban mountain, usually in April, under the presidency of the Roman chief magistrate - consul or dictator - together with the magistrates of the Latin towns. Warde Fowler, Roman Festivals, 95–97. 15. candida: the color probably suggested royalty. 16. Marullus . Flavus: tribunes in 44 B.C. detrahi: Introd. II. § 4. k. coronae 22. regem: probably a pun; page 3, line 19; Hor., Sat. I. 7. 35. 23. Lupercalibus: ablative of time; February 15; Warde Fowler, Roman Festivals, 310-321. Recall the scene in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, Act I, scene 2. Rex was a Roman family name; cf. responderit: Introd. II. § 7. d. (3). 29. Lucium Cottam: praetor in 70 B.C., when he carried the lex Aurelia iudiciaria; consul in 65 в.C., the year of the so-called first Catilinarian conspiracy; censor in 64 B.c.; a partisan of Caesar, of whose mother he was a relative; a friend of Cicero; he rarely attended the Senate after Caesar's murder. quindecimvirum: one of the keepers of the Sibylline books; they were originally 2 in number; from the time of the Licinian laws, 10; probably from Sulla's time, 15; their full title was quindecimviri sacris faciundis; cf. note to page 64, line 11; Plut., Caes. LX. 30. fatalibus: sc. Sibyllinis. Chapter 80. The Conspiracy against Caesar's Life Page 40. 6. detrectante § 10. h. flagitante chiasmus; Introd. II. 7. libellus: a lampoon; it was an ancient practice to post such skits in public places; later Romans had the habit of posting them on a certain statue of “Pasquino"; whence they came to be called “pasquinades ". 8. Bonum factum (sit): a common formula for the beginning of an edict, like God save the Commonwealth of Massachusetts', at the end of a proclamation; cf. page 80, line 22; Vit. 14. 4. 10. Gallos Caesar, etc.: the meter is trochaic tetrameter catalectic. Notice sumpserunt in line 13. 12. bracas: free Gaul was often called Gallia bracata in contrast to Gallia togata, the Roman province. latum clavum: the broad purple stripe on the tunic of a senator. 14. Quinto (Fabio) Maximo: the consul at the end of 45 B.C., who died on December 31, and was succeeded by Caninius Rebilus for a few hours; cf. page 38, lines 8-10, and note. 19. Luci Bruti: the Liberator', who drove out Tarquin and became one of the first pair of consuls; his statue stood with those of the seven kings; cf. page 37, line 28, and note. Caesar's own statue apparently was the 9th. 21. Brutus: the meter is the same as above. 25. Gaio Cassio: he hated Caesar and was the real originator of the plot against him. 26. Marcoque et Decimo Bruto: one would expect Brutis. 27. cunctati: notice the construction in the double indirect question. per comitia tribus: ever since 241 B.c. (if that date be correct) the people voted by tribes, even in the centuriate comitia, each tribe having ten centuries. per := during; Introd. II. § 5. n. (2). 28. partibus: in the same sense of the word we find primas partes, page 42, line 11. e ponte: this was the pons suffragiorum, a bridge of planks over which the voters passed one by one to cast their ballots; Cic., ad Att. I. 14. 5, operae Clodianae pontes occuparant; Ovid, Fasti, V. 634, pontibus infirmos praecipitasse senes; but see M. E. Deutsch, in California Publications in Classical Philology, XII, page 93. 30. postquam edictus est: Suetonius uses the perfect usually, sometimes the imperfect, but not the present or pluperfect after postquam, except in connection with ablative or accusative of time; Düpow, 4. Page 41. 1. Pompei curiam: the Senate was to meet in the exedra of the porticus attached to Pompey's theater; Platner, Ancient Rome 2, 375. Chapter 81. Fatal Omens 4. colonia Capua: a 'Roman' colony under the lex Iulia agraria of 59 B.C.; 20,000 colonists were settled in and near Capua. 7. vasculorum: a rare word; Introd. II. § 1. e. : 8. Capys this eponymous founder of Capua is mythical; the name of the founder and the date of foundation are unknown. Cf. Liv., IV. 37. 1. 10. quandoque ossa, etc.: see Düpow, page 18. 11. fore ut, etc.: for the future infinitive passive, as often in Suetonius. 14. ne quis, etc. sc. eam. 15. Cornelius Balbus: Caesar's well known confidential agent and business manager, from Gades, consul in 40 B.C. He wrote an Ephemeris (diary) telling of important events in his own and Caesar's life. 16. equorum greges: Caesar had consecrated and set free a number of horses when he crossed the Rubicon. This act is one of the manifestations of the trait in Caesar's character discussed by Warde Fowler in the article already cited, Class. Review, XXX, page 71. See page 1, line 2, and note. 18. ubertim: Introd. II. § 1. f. 19. Spurinna: the Etruscan name suits the profession of haruspex. 21. regaliolum: perhaps a wren; a rare word; Introd. II. § 1. e. 22. Pompeianae curiae: it was in the hall attached to Pompey's theater that Caesar was murdered. 23. ex proximo nemore: a grove of plane trees surrounded the porticus Pompei. 26. Calpurnia: as to her marriage to Caesar see page 10, lines 18, 19. 27. fastigium: originally the gable or pediment of a temple; one of the honors conferred upon Caesar was a fastigium in domo; Flor., IV. 2. 91 (II. 13. 91); Plut., Caes. LXIII. It may have been some kind of pinnacle. 30. cunctatus an: cf. page 50, line 2. 31. se contineret: should stay at home. 32. Decimo (Iunio) Bruto (Albino): he had been a prominent legatus of Caesar in Gaul, had defeated the Veneti and the Massilians in naval battles, was at this time praetor, and consul-designate for 42 B.C. His treachery to Caesar was peculiarly black. He was among Caesar's heirs in the second degree; see page 43, line 11. Page 42. 8. diceret : for the mood see Introd. II. § 8. g. Chapter 82. The Assassination, March 15, 44 B.C. 10. specie officii: on pretense of paying their respects; Introd. II. § 4. s. 11. Cimber Tillius: the name is reversed. Caesar had assigned to Cimber the province of Bithynia, yet some grudge or disappointment led him to join the conspirators. primas partes: cf. partibus divisis, page 40, line 28. Cf. Sen., de Ira. III. 30. 4. 5. 12. aliquid rogaturus: he asked for the restoration of his brother then in exile; Plut., Caes. LXVI. 14. adprehendit : pulling the toga on both shoulders would bend Caesar forward. 15. alter e Cascis: P. Servilius Casca, tribune of the plebeians; he fled from Rome, fought at Philippi, and died not long after. His brother Gaius was also in the plot. aversum: from behind or as he turned away. vulnerat: the historical present is seldom used by our author; Introd. II. § 7. b. 16. graphio with his stilus; he probably had no weapon upon him. 17. utque: and as soon as. 19. sinum: the skirt of his toga; the ancient Romans did not wear trousers. The sense of personal dignity was very highly developed in the Romans of the higher class and Caesar remembered it even in death. 22. sine voce: without any articulate words. 24. Kai σù TEKVOV: this is the original of the famous "et tu, Brute?" -very probably an invention intended to embroider the tale. The curious profess to find in the words evidence that Brutus was actually the son of Caesar, who had been the lover of his mother Servilia. Cf. Plut., Brut. 5. 25. donec ... rettulerunt: cf. page 14, line 8; donec . . . rettulit and note on donec, page 1, line 12. dependente brachio: this realistic detail bears the mark of truth. 26. servoli: the diminutive is rhetorical, not literal. It marks the contrast to his state an hour before: now the city is all quiet, the citizens frightened, the streets deserted, as the three slaves hurry stealthily with their burden. 27. ut Antistius. . . existimabat: notice the form of citation. 28. secundo loco: i.e. the second wound of those inflicted upon him. 29. Fuerat animus: cf. Vergil, Aen. IV. 639, Perficere est animus finemque imponere curis; Ovid, Metam. V. 149, 150, namque omnibus unum Opprimere est animus; but id., I. 1, In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas Corpora; Calig. 56. 1, non . . defuit animus adoriri; Oth. 6. 1, tulerat animus . occupare. Chapter 83. His Will 32. Lucio Pisone: cf. chap. 21. Page 43. 1. Idibus Septembribus: i.e. in 45 B. C. on Caesar's return from Spain before he entered Rome for his triumph. 2. Lavicano suo: at his villa near Labicum in the district of Tusculum. 3. Vestali maximae: it was a practice to deposit important documents in temples, and especially wills in the house of the Vestals; cf. page 107, line 12. Quintus Tubero: historian and jurist; he spoke before Caesar against Ligarius, who was defended by Cicero. See Quint., X. 1. 23; Liv., IV. 23. 2; X. 9. 10. It is not always easy to distinguish him from his son, who also wrote history. 4. solitum evidently Caesar made several wills. : 7. Gaium Octavium: afterward the emperor Augustus, grandson of Caesar's younger sister Iulia, who married Atius Balbus. |