Immagini della pagina
PDF
ePub

surgeon, was bribed to inject poison into Pansa's wound received at that time; cf. Tac., Ann. I. 10. 1. The second decisive engagement was that of April 27 before Antony's camp under the walls of Mutina. The forces of Hirtius and Pansa were again victorious, but Hirtius fell while fighting near the praetorium of the enemy's camp. Pansa died of his wounds at about the same time. Priore... sequenti: note the adversative asyndeton. See Introd. II. § 10. f. (4). Antonius... scribit: possibly in letters despatched to Rome from the scene of the conflict.

11. paludamento: the red military cloak assumed by the imperator before going out to take command of the army and, together with the axes in the fasces, a sign of full military imperium. It was highly prized as a trophy, so that Julius Caesar swam for his life at Alexandria paludamentum mordicus trahens ne spolio poteretur hostis; see note to page 32, line 12. It was regularly worn by the emperors on state occasions; cf. Claud. 21. 6, praeseditque paludatus. It was laid aside, on entering the city, by those careful in the observance of constitutional forms. demum apparuisse: finally put in an appearance.

14. umeris subisse: cf. Verg., Aen. II. 708, where Aeneas thus addresses Anchises: Ipse subibo umeris nec me labor iste gravabit.

Chapter 11. Deaths of Hirtius and Pansa

16. Hirtius... Pansa: see note to line 10, above.

17. perissent: note that the verb is in the plural number in spite of the asyndetic division of the subjects. opera eius: through his agency, or on his responsibility; cf. Tac., Ann. I. 10. 1: mox ubi decreto patrum fasces et ius praetoris invaserit, caesis Hirtio et Pansa, sive hostis illos, seu Pansam venenum vulneri adfusum, sui milites Hirtium et machinator doli Caesar abstulerat, utriusque copias occupavisse. See note to line 10, above.

19. victores: noun for adjective; cf. page 46, line 7, victor redit; Ov., Tr. IV. 2. 47, Hos super in curru, Caesar, victore veheris. See Introd. II. § 2. d. occuparet: might gain control of. In fact, the legio Martia and legio quarta, at least, refused to obey the senate's orders to join Decimus in pursuit of Antony and remained with Octavian. Cf. Cic., Phil. IV. 2. 6: Huius Martiae legionis legio quarta imitata virtutem, duce L. Egnatuleio, quem senatus merito paullo ante laudavit, C. Caesaris exercitum persecuta est.

20. Glyco: M. Brutus writes to Cicero (ad Brut. I. 6. 2): Tibi

Glycona, medicum Pansae, qui sororem Achilleos nostri in matrimonio habet, diligentissime commendo. Audimus eum venisse in suspicionem -Torquato de morte Pansae custodirique ut parricidam. Nihil minus credendum est; quis enim maiorem calamitatem morte Pansae accepit? Praeterea est modestus homo et frugi, quem ne utilitas quidem videatur impulsura fuisse ad facinus. Rogo te, et quidem valde rogo . . . eripias eum ex custodia conservesque. custoditus sit: by Pansa's quaestor. He was released through the efforts of Cicero at the instigation of M. Brutus; see preceding note. The tense of the verb does not here represent the momentary act: Glyco was kept under guard' as the result of suspicion until finally set free in the manner noted above. See Introd. II. § 7. e. (1). indidisset: on the charge of having applied poison to his wound. For this use of quasi see Introd. II. § 8. i. Cf. Furneaux, Annals of Tacitus, Vol. I, Introd. V. § 67.

quasi.

6

21. Adicit his: sc. calumniis. See Introd. II. § 10. f. (3). Aquilius Niger: not otherwise known. Teuffel-Schwabe (Hist. of Rom. Lit., Engl. Tr., § 255. 5) assigns Niger, Julius Saturninus (Aug. 27.2) and C. Drusus (Aug. 94. 6) to the Augustan or Tiberian period. His base slander may have originated in the fact that Hirtius was fighting near Octavian when he fell. But if Appian (B. C. III. 71. 294) is to be trusted, Octavian rushed to his side and bore him off the field. Dio (XLVI. 39. 1) also rejects such a report as without foundation in fact.

Chapter 12. Deserts the Cause of the Optimates

24. Antonium receptum: following the second engagement before Mutina, Antony hastened westward with his splendid cavalry forces towards Gallia Narbonensis. This province, together with Hispania Citerior, Caesar had allotted to M. Aemilius Lepidus, his magister equitum at the time of his assassination. The letters and despatches of this vacillating politician, while at first professing hostility towards Antony and loyalty to the Optimates, soon came to be characterized by Cicero (ad Fam. X. 16. 1) as frigidas sane et inconstantes. Under pretense of coercion by his soldiers, Lepidus finally joined Antony at Forum Julii, modern Fréjus, on the coast of Gallia Narbonensis, before the expiration of May, 43 B.C., and he and all his soldiers were declared hostes by the senate.

25. ceterosque duces: particularly, L. Munatius Plancus, governor of Gallia Transalpina, and C. Asinius Pollio, governor of Hispania Baetica. Decimus Brutus had succeeded in joining forces with Plancus in

July, but Pollio soon afterwards induced Plancus to abandon Brutus and unite with Antony. P. Ventidius Bassus, a trusted officer of Antony, had hastened north with newly levied troops, but had to be content to join Antony on his retreat from Mutina in May. Lepidus had four legions; Plancus, three; Pollio and Bassus, two each. See Merivale, Hist. of Rom., III.4 93, 122 ff. Cf. App., B. C. III. 66. 269 ff. sentire pro partibus: were reaching an agreement in the interests of the party (i.e. of the opposition); cf. Tac., Hist. II. 87, Dum haec . . . a Vespasiano ducibusque partium geruntur, where by partium the opposing party is meant. But these leaders had hardly been republicans at

heart.

con

26. ad praetextum, etc.: by way of pretext for his change of allegiance; see Introd. II. § 5. b. (6) for this use of ad. Praetextum as a noun in this sense is post-Augustan; cf. page 15, line 18, Et praetextum, etc.; Tac., Hist. II. 100, ipse Ravennam devertit praetexto classem adloquendi.

28. calumniatus: alleging; but with the connotation of pretense or misrepresentation: cf. page 65, line 20, calumniandi materiam, where it has the meaning, 'bring false charges', 'resort to blackmail'. quasi alii, etc. on the ground that some had pronounced him a mere boy, while others had proposed that he should be extolled and put out of the way. For the quasi-clause see Introd. II. § 8. i. Cicero, apparently, often spoke of the young Octavian as puer or adolescens in compliment; e.g. Phil. IV. 1. 3, clarissimi adolescentis vel pueri potius. Yet the epithet was so often applied to Octavian in a contemptuous sense, Servius (ad Verg. Eci. I. 42) states, that the senate decreed that no one should speak of him as puer in the future. What Octavian particularly had in mind was doubtless the familiar saying of Cicero (ad Fam. XI. 20. 1), laudandum adolescentem, ornandum, tollendum, where, as Velleius (II. 62. 6) points out, the word tollendum was intentionally used in a double sense, since tollere may mean make way with, destroy' as well as 'exalt, honor'. Some hold, however, that tollere could not have the meaning, raise to honor', without some additional word, as in Hor., Od. I. 1. 8, Certat tergeminis tollere honoribus; see Tyrrell and Purser, Corresp. of Cicero, VI, Introd., page liv, note. The lampoon directed at Nero may be compared in this connection (Ner. 39. 2) :

Quis negat Aeneae magna de stirpe Neronem?

Sustulit hic matrem, sustulit ille patrem.

29. par gratia: due acknowledgment.

30. quo magis, etc. the better to establish his regret at his former party affiliations; where sectae is used in a political sense. For the case of sectae see Introd. II. § 4. d.

31. Nursinos: the people of Nursia, modern Norcia, a fortified town in the Sabine foot-hills of the Apennines, the Monti Sibillini of to-day. Dio states (XLVIII. 13. 6) that the Nursians had closed their gates against Octavian in the Perusian War and were later punished by so excessive a fine because of the inscription placed over their dead that they abandoned their city and entire country. grandi pecunia et quam :

see note to page 47, line 5.

32. multatos . . egit: fined and banished from the city; oppido depends on extorres: cf. Liv. XXXII. 13. 14, Hoc sedibus suis extorre agmen. Note the prolepsis: Introd. II. § 10. m. Mutinensi acie: in the fight at Mutina; cf. page 15, line 31, Pharsalica acie; page 32, line 7, Post aciem Pharsalicam.

Page 52. 1. civium: i.e. of Nursia. tumulo: the dative thus follows ascribere in Ner. 45. 2 and Galb. 2. On page 87, line 16, we read: ad statuam eius ascriptum est. See Introd. II. § 4. j.

2. pro libertate, etc. they laid down their lives in freedom's cause.

Chapter 13. The Triumvirate and Philippi. Treatment of Captives. Division of Authority

3. Inita .. societate: an alliance known as the Second Triumvirate, but unlike the league between Caesar, Crassus and Pompey in that the latter was merely a private agreement, while Octavian, Antony and Lepidus were appointed tresviri rei publicae constituendae (cf. page 60, line 30) for a term of five years by a law of the tribune P. Titius in 43 B.C.; cf. App., B.C. IV. 7. 27; Dio, XLVI. 49. 1, XLVII. 2. 1. In its origin it was a political necessity, forced upon Octavian and made possible through the mediation of the negative Lepidus. The place of this notable meeting at the end of October, 43 B.C., has been identified as Crocetta del Treblo on an island in the Reno (Rhenus) about two miles west of Bologna (Bononia). Appian (B.C. IV. 2. 4) and Dio (XLVI. 55. 1) speak of it as an island in the Lavinius, a confluent of the Rhenus. Three days were required for the settlement of affairs pertaining to the first term of their extraordinary magistracy; cf. Plut., Cic. XLVI. 4. quamquam invalidus: see note to page 49, line 23.

invalidus :

on the ill health of Octavian in general see note to page 49, line 25. The

present attack came on him at Dyrrhachium, modern Durazzo, but did not deter him from hastening on with his troops towards Philippi in Macedonia. Only through his lucky removal from his camp the night before the first engagement was he saved from capture or death in the storming of the camp by Brutus after the fight. Warning of his danger in a dream is narrated by Appian (B. C. IV. 110. 463), whereas Dio (XLVII. 41. 3 f.) states that his physician had been warned in a similar way to lead him into line of battle in spite of his ill health. duplici proelio: as at Mutina; see note to page 51, line 10. The two engagements were fought between Amphipolis and Philippi in the autumn of 42 B.C., twenty days apart. In both battles Octavian commanded the left wing; Antony the right, nearest the sea. Brutus was victorious over the forces of Octavian in the first encounter, but the troops of Cassius fled before Antony and the suicide or assassination of Cassius followed. The last hopes of the republic perished with the defeat of Brutus in the second encounter and his subsequent suicide. Cf. Dio XLVII. 42-49.

5. castris exutus: despoiled of his camp, driven from his camp; cf. page 31, line 23, quin castris quoque exueret.

6. Nec. moderatus est: was not temperate in the use he made of the happy issue in victory; for the case of victoriae see Introd. II. § 4. f. Different is his own account in M. A. III. 1. 13 f.: Bella terra et mari civilia externaque toto in orbe terrarum suscepi victorque omnibus superstitibus civibus peperci. Indeed, there was slight reason for ill treatment by the triumvirs since most of the soldiers of Brutus and Cassius, according to Dio (XLVII. 49. 3), were ready to come to terms with the conquerors after Philippi. Among the few executions mentioned were those of Q. Hortensius, son of the orator, and Favonius.

7. moderatus est: moderari in the meaning of this passage regularly takes the dative case in classical Latin. The accusative is found again in Claud. 14; Dom. 7. 1; Tac., Ann. II. 75. 3, neque ipse gaudium moderans. capite Bruti, etc. according to Dio (XLVIII. 1. 1), both Brutus and Cassius died by the swords with which they had killed Caesar. He adds (XLVII. 49. 2) that the body of Brutus was buried, while the head was lost at sea in a storm off Dyrrhachium. Plutarch (Ant. XXII) and Appian (B. C. IV. 135. 568) state that Antony had the body of Brutus shrouded in finest purple before it was cremated. Appian adds that Antony sent the ashes to Servilia, the mother of Brutus.

9. non sine verborum contumelia: accompanied by insulting language. The litotes, non sine, is very frequent in Suetonius; see Introd. II. § 10. k. uni: where the more usual cuidam is debarred by quidem.

« IndietroContinua »