ship which he had held for years, was conferred on him for life. He made preparations for a Parthian war, and formed other great designs which he never lived to carry out. For though he treated the vanquished with real kindness of heart, his carelessness in not rising one day when the senate waited upon him, and his evident desire to be made a king, gave such deep offence, that a conspiracy was formed against his life. Cassius, who, after the death of Crassus, had sided with Pompey, and had been forgiven, and even promoted to a prætorship, was the prime mover; having been vexed at the préference given by Cæsar to M. Junius Brutus, a better man than himself, whom he also drew into the plot. On the ides of March, B.c. 44, Cæsar was surrounded in the senate-house by the conspirators; and he fell at the foot of Pompey's statue, pierced with twenty-three wounds from their daggers. Thus in the name of liberty,-in reality, to restore the power of a corrupt and turbulent mob at Rome, which was wielded by a few nobles for their own benefit, and to the ruin of Italy and the provinces,-was murdered the only man who at that time was able and fit to govern. Not only as a warrior, but also as an orator and statesman, Cæsar is to be admired for his matchless genius; and if he had many faults, it should be remembered that he lived in an infidel and degenerate age. At the feast of the Lupercalia, M. Antony offered Cæsar the diadem, who, seeing that the people gave no approval, rejected it with rather an ill grace. 5 He was descended from the Brutus who had taken the lead in the expulsion of Tarquin the Proud. SECTION IX. FROM THE DEATH OF CESAR TO THE FALL OF THE COMMONWEALTH. B.C. 44. Brutus and Cassius leave Rome. Rivalry of Antony and Octavian. Antony attacks D. Brutus. 43. Hirtius and Pansa slain at Mutina. The Second Triumvirate. The Proscriptions; Cicero murdered. 42. Battles of Philippi; Cassius and Brutus die. 41. L. Antonius and Fulvia attack Octavian. 40. Perusia surrenders. Peace of Brundusium. Parthian War. 39. Peace with Sex. Pompey at Misēnum. 38. War between Sex. Pompey and Octavian renewed. 32. Antony divorces Octavia. 31. Battle of Actium. 30. Death of Antony and Cleopatra. Egypt conquered. The murder of Cæsar revived the drooping attachment of the people, and the conspirators took refuge in the Capitol. All parties, however, were soon reconciled; and at the motion of Cicero, an amnesty was agreed to. A great error was made in allowing Cæsar, in whose will were munificent legacies to the citizens, to have a public funeral. The consul, Mark Antony, being a kinsman of the deceased, pronounced the oration over his body when it was about to be carried to the Campus Martius for burning, and so excited the people that they made a pile in the forum, and burnt it there. They next attacked the houses of the conspirators, who were obliged to leave Rome. He was the son of Julia, a sister of Cæsar. Antony got possession of Cæsar's property and of his papers, the execution of his acts having been committed to the consuls. He now paid his own debts; gained over supporters, particularly among the soldiers; and made Cæsar's secretary forge deeds and grants which served his own purposes. On the other hand, to disarm opposition, he consented to a decree which abolished the dictatorship for ever. Cæsar had bequeathed most of his property to his grand-nephew, C. Octavius', a youth of nineteen, then studying at Apollonia, whom he also adopted by will. Octavian, as Octavius was now called (his name after his adoption being C. Julius Cæsar Octavianus), went to Rome and claimed his inheritance. Antony tried hard not to give up what remained of it; but Octavian stood firm, and carried his point. Octavian had early made Cicero his friend, and he became the hope of the aristocratical party, between whom and Antony the breach daily widened. The latter at length set himself at the head of some legions which had declared for him, and attempted to seize upon Cisalpine Gaul, the province of D. Brutus, whom he actually besieged in Mutina. For this, he was indignantly denounced by Cicero, and after some negotiation treated as a public enemy. Three armies, under the consuls A. Hirtius and C. Vibius Pansa, and Octavian, who had been made proprætor, marched to the relief of D. Brutus; the siege was raised, B.c. 43, and Antony forced to flee with a small remnant of his army into Transalpine Gaul. There he was joined by L. Æmilius Lepidus, an adherent of Cæsar, who with an army was on his way to Spain, which was his province. 7 Cæsar's sister Julia married M. Atius Balbus. Her daughter Atia married C. Octavius, and was mother of young Octavius. 8 He had succeeded him as chief pontiff. In the engagements which had taken place at Mutina, Hirtius and Pansa had fallen; and there was now a change in the policy of Octavian, who resolved to unite himself with Antony and Lepidus. He began by demanding the His next step, when consulship at the head of his army. consul, was the law proposed by his kinsman and colleague Q. Pedius, by which all who were concerned in Cæsar's murder were impeached and outlawed. He then met Antony and Lepidus in a small river-island near Bononia, where it was agreed that they should form a triumvirate for five years, and that war should be waged against Brutus and Cassius. Long proscription lists were made out, in which many names were inserted merely from motives of rapacity. Octavian disgraced himself by sacrificing Cicero to the vengeance of Antony, by whom the head and hands of this great orator were placed on the rostra1. Antony and Octavian afterwards crossed over with an army into Greece, which, as well as Asia, was in the possession of the republicans. When they reached Macedonia, they found themselves opposed by Brutus and Cassius, who had just returned from the east. Two battles were fought near Philippi, B. c. 42, in one of which, the wing commanded by Cassius having been defeated, he bade a slave put an end to his life; and in the other, Brutus, when after a desperate struggle all was lost, followed his friend's example. After this victory, Antony passed over into Asia Minor, where he levied immense contributions from the unfortunate inhabitants. At Tarsus in Cilicia, Cleopatra, whom he had summoned thither, to give account of her conduct, 9 Triumviri rei publicæ constituendæ. Lepidus was to have Spain and Narbonese Gaul; Antony, the rest of Gaul, Cisalpine and Transalpine; Octavian, Sicily, Sardinia, and Africa. The pulpit in the forum from which orators addressed the people. enslaved him with her charms; and he had the weakness to follow her into Egypt. Meanwhile, great misery was caused in Italy by the confiscation of whole districts, for the purpose of rewarding the legions of the triumvirs, and by the lawlessness of the soldiers themselves, whom Octavian was unable to keep within bounds. Fulvia', Antony's wife, anxious to recall her husband from Cleopatra, instigated L. Antonius, his brother, who at the time was consul, to declare himself the protector of the oppressed, and to take up arms against Octavian. Though joined by the remains of the republican party, they were soon shut up in Perusia, where, after a desperate resistance, famine made them surrender, в.c. 40. L. Antonius and Fulvia were pardoned; but the cruel, cunning, and cowardly Octavian was as unrelenting as ever towards the unfortunate republicans. They were never able to make another effort. Mark Antony was now on his return. He met Fulvia in Greece, whom he loaded with reproaches and left on her death-bed at Sicyon; and proceeding to Italy, made his appearance before Brundusium with a large fleet and army. Through the intervention of C. Cilnius Maecenas, and other friends, peace was agreed upon, which was to be cemented by the union of Antony with the amiable Octavia, Octavian's half sister. Octavian was to have the western provinces; Antony, Greece, and the east; and Lepidus, Africa. The next year, the two rivals also made peace at Misēnum with Sextus Pompey, who after Cæsar's death had collected a large pirate fleet, and by capturing the corn ships had made food scarce at Rome. He obtained Sicily, Sardinia, and other islands, and restitution of rights for himself and his adherents. The proscription was also to cease. 2 This abandoned woman was Clodius' widow. 3 When he entertained the triumvirs on board his ship, one of his pirate captains proposed to cut the cables, and carry them off. But he refused. |