장음표시 사용
111쪽
CAESAR AUGUSTUS. 97lius Cicero and Antony, upon the ninth of the kalenda of October, a litile before sun-rise, in the ward of the Palati urn, at the sigia of the OX-Heads, where now statidsa chapel dedicated to hina, and bulli a litile after his death. For, as it is recorded in the transactions of the Senate, When C. Lectorius, a young man os a Patrician fami-H, in deprecating the judgment of the Senators, upon hisbeing convicted os adultery, ali edged, besides his youth and quali ty, that he was the possessor, and as it mere the war-den of the ground that Augustus firsi touched upon his Coming into the worid ; and enti eated that he might findfavor, for the salie of that God, who was in a peculiarmanner his ; an adt of the Senate mas passed, for the Consecration of that part of his house in whicli Augustus
and much like a parati y. An opinion prevatis in the neigh- bourhood, that he was boria there too. Into this placeno person presumes to enter, urales s upon necesii ty, and with great devotion, Dom a belles, for a long time prevalent, that lacti as rasely enter it are seiZed with great horror and consternation, whicli a mort while since was confirmed by a remarhable incident. For when a persen,
mere chance, or to try the truth of the repori, taken uphis lodging in that apariment, he was a few hours aster thro a out by a sudden violence, he linew not how, and was found in a state of stupefaction, with his bed, besere the do or of the chamber. VII. While he was yet an infant, the surnam e of Thurinus was gi ven him, in memory of the origin of his
112쪽
family ; or because, seon aster his birili, his semer Octavius had been successsul against the fugitive flaves, in thecountry near Thurii. That he was surnamed Thurinus, Ι can assii in Upon good foundation, Ι myself, whilst aboy, having had a litile old braZen image of him, with
os C. Caesar, and then of Augustus ; the former in Compliance with the will of his great-uncte, and the lalterupon a motion os Munatius Plancus in the Senate : whenso me proposing to confer upon him the name Os Romulus, heing as it were a seconii solander of the city, it was carried that he s)ould rather be called Augustus, a namenot only new, but os more dignity ; because places devot-ed to religion, and those in Which any thing is consecrat-ed by Augury, are denominated August, ei ther froin theword auctus, signisting augmentation, or ab abrum gesta, gusuNe, stom the motion and seeding of birds ; as appears stom this line of Ennius:
Augusto augurio postquam inclyta condita Roma est. When Rome by august augury Was bulli.
VIII. He lost his faler when he was only seur years of age; and, in his twelfth year, pronounced a funerat oration in pratse of his grand-mother Julia. Four years after, having assumed the manly habit, he was honored with severat military presenis stom Caesar in his Africantriumpla, though men tuo young for 1uch service. Upon
113쪽
Uncle, who soon conceived an encreasing affection forhim, on account of the indications os genius. Aliter thereduction of Spain, while Caesar was meditating an expedition against the Dacians and Parthians, he was sent
besore laim to Apollonia, Where he applied himself tollis studies, tantii receiving intelligeiace that his uncte Wasmurdered, and himself lest his heir, he was for so me time in doubt whether he siould request the assistance of the legions which were nearest that place ; but at last aban
doned the design as rasti and uias ea nable. He returnedhowe ver to Rome, and entered upon the estate, though his mollier was apprehensive that such a meatare might be
attended with danger, and his step- ther, M. Philippus, a man Os Consular rank, very earnes j dissuaded him frontit. From this time, collecting together a strong militarysorce, be iii si held the go vertament in conjunction with M. Antony and M. Lepidus, then milli Antony alone sorulmost twelve years, and at last by himself during a periodos four and forty.
IX. Having thus exhibited a very mori summary os his lise, I 1liali prosecute the severat paris of it, not inorder of time, hut arranging them into distinet classes, for the sake of perspicui ty. He was engaged in sive civil Vars, viZ. that of Modena, Ρhilippi, Petussia, Sicily, and Aetium : the fir9 and last of which were against Antony, and the second against Brutus and Cassius: the third against L. Antony, brother to the Triumvir, and the
114쪽
ed in re vcnging the murder of his uncte, and maintaining his est absistiments. Immediately upon his return Do m Apollonia, he formed the design of mahing an attach upon
Brutus and Cassius by surpuise ; but they having foresten and avo ided the danger, he resolved to proceed against
them by an appeal to the laws, and prosecute them formurder in their absence. In the mean time, those whose province it Was to prepare the public diversions, intendedfor the celebration os Caesar's succest in the civit war, notdaring to eXert themselves upon the occasion, he took thecharge of the whole upon himself And that he might execute his other purposes with greater vigor, he declared himself a candidate in the ro om of a Tribune of the commons who di ed at that time, though he was of a Patrician family, and had not yet been in the Senate. Butthe Consul M. Antony, front whom he had expected thegreatest assistance, opposing him in his suit, and even refusing to do him se much as common justice, uiatesse gratified with a large bribe, he went over to the party of thenobility, to whom he perceived hi in to be odious, chiesy
been gi ven him by Caesar, and confirmed to him by the
Senate. At the instigation os persons about him, he engag- cd me russians to murder his antagonist. But the plot be-ing discovered, and dreading a similar attempt upon himself, he, by distributing money among Caesar's Veteransoldiers, persuaded them to tahe the part of him and the Senate, against Antony. Being now commissioned by
115쪽
CA SAR AUGUSTUS.IO Ithe Senate to command the arm y which he had collected, in the quality of a Praetor, and to carry assislance, in conjunction with Hirtius and Pansa, who h ad accepted the Consulsiaip, to Brutus, he put an end to the war in three monilis, and by two batiles. Antony writes, that in theformer of these he ran away, without even his genera scloah and horse, and for two days after was not sten. In the lalter, however, it is certain that he performed the part not only of a generat, but a soldier: and in the heatos the batile, when the standard-bearer of his legion was Wounded, took the eagle upon his own moulders, and carried it a long time.
XI. In this war, Hirtius being stain in batile, and Pan
culated that they both were hilled by his means ; that, ii pon the deseat of Antony, the Republic being destituteos Consuis, he might have the victorious armies enti relyto himself. The dea th of Pansa was much suspectedio have been caused by undiae means, that Glyco his sur
sti mption that he had put polson into his wound . And tothis Aquilius Niger ad is, that he killed Hirtius the other Consul, in the huri y of the batile, tb his o n haniis XII. But upon intelligence that Antony, after ii s de- feat, had been received by M. Lepidus, and that the rest
116쪽
legions. And the more to testi* his regi et for his sormer attachment, he fined the Nursini in a large sum os money, Whicli they were unable to pay, and then expelled themout of the city, for having inscribed Upon a monument,
ny and Lepidus, he finis hed the war os Philippi in two
with some dissiculty made his escape to the wing of the army commanded by Antony. Intoxicated with success, he sent the head os Brutus to be thrown at the pedestat os Caesar's statue, and trealed the most illustrious of the pri- soners not only with crueity, hut abusive language : in much that he is laid to have answered one of them whorequested the favor os buriat, That will be in the power of the birds.' ' Two others, fallier and son, who beg-ged for their lives, he ordei ed to cast lots whicli of themshould live, or determine it betwixi them by the sword, and looked on to see them both die: for the fallier offering his life to fave his son, and being accordingly sain, theson hilled himself likewise upon the spol. On this acCount,
me rest of the prisoners, and amongsst them M. Favonius, the imitator of Cato, being brought in his chains, after they had pald their res peius in a hanilso me manner to the commander Antony, reviled Octavius in the Dialest langu age. Aster this victory, dividing bet Neen them thepublic service, Antony undertook to compose the Eas , and Caesar to conduci the veteran soldiers bach to Italy, and setile them, as was intended, in the lan Is belonging to severat great towns in Italy. But he had the mis fortune
117쪽
to pleiae ne ither the soldiers nor the owners of the lands ;one party complaining of the injustice done them, in be-ing violently forced froin their possessions, and the other, that they were not re arded according to their merit. XIV. At this time he obliged L. Antony, who, presuming upon his own authoi ity as Consul, and his brother's power, Was rai sing a ne war, to sty to Perusia, and forced hi in at last by famine to a surrender; thoughnot without great harai ds to himself, both besore the warand during iis continuance. For a common soldier hav-ing got into the seats of the Equestri an order in the theatre, to see the public diversiolas, Caesar ordei ed him to be removed by an officer who attended him ; and a rumor be-ing thetice spread by his en emies, that he had put the manto death by torture, lach an uproar was excited amongst the soldiers, that he narrowly escaped with his lisse. Theonly thing that laved him, Was the appearance of the mans se and und, no violence having been offered hi m. Andwhils he was sacrificing abolit the walis of Perusia, he
had nearly been made prisoner by a body os gladiators,
endeavored to excuse them selves, with telling them only, You must die. V Some authors write, that three hundred genti emen of the Equestri an and Senatorian Order, selected from the rest, were saughtered, like victims, be fore an altar raised to Julius Caesar, upon the Ides of March. Nay there are sonae who relate, that he entered Upon this War with no other view, than that his secret enem ies, and those whom sear more than affection hept quiet, might be
118쪽
by the deseat of them, and the confiscation of their estates, he might be enabled to discliarge his promises to the vet*ran soldiers. XVI. . He engaged in the war of Sicily at an early period, but, by various intermissions, protracted it during a long time : one While upon account of repatring his fleets, which he lost twice by storin, and that in the summer; another while by patching up a peace, to which he was forced by the clamor of the people, on account of a famine occasioned by Ρompey's interrupting a supply of provisions from foretgn paris. But at last baving bulli a new feet, and obtained twenty thousand manumised saves, Whowei e given him for the oar, he formed the Julian harbourat Baiae, by letting the sea into the Lucrine andoverniantakes : in whicli aster he had exercised his forces ali winter, he destatea Pompey bet wiYt Mylae and Naulochus;
Circensitan games, he would not suffer the statue of that God to be carried in procession, as usual upon that occasion. Indeed he se arcely cver ran more or greater Ii UeS
119쪽
them to be his own, he went down to the shore, and had very near been made prisoner. On this occasion, as hewas mahing his es cape by me bye-ways, a flave belong- ing to YEmilius Paulus, who accompani ed hina, o inghim a grudge for the proscription of his sather, and thinh-ing he had now an opportunity to reverage it, attemptedio hill him. Aster the deseat os Pompey, one of his col. leagues, M. Lepidus, whom he had sent for out of Africa to his assistance, ame,ning great superiority, hecause hewas at the head of twenty legi oras, and claiming for himself, in a threaten ing manner, the principat maria gementos a Tairs, he divested hi in of his army, and , upon his submisission, granted him his life, but' banis ted him for
120쪽
two violent storms, the fit st belween the promontortes OfPeloponnesus and AEtolia, and the other ahout the Cer Unian mountains ; in both whicli a part of his Liburnians hips were sunk, the rigging of his own mip torn away, and the helm brohen. He remained at Brundisium onlytwenty-seven days, uniit he had setiled assati s respectingine demands os the soldiers, and then went by the way of Asia and Syria, sor Egypi, where laying siege to Alexandria, whither Antony had fled with Cleopatra, hemade himself master of it in a mort time. He forcedΑntony, who used every emort to obtain conditions ofpeace, to kill himself, and took a vie w of him after hemas dead. Cleopatra he anxiousy wimed to save sorhis triumph ; and hecause sme was supposed to have been bit by an asp, he ordered the Psylli φ to lach out the pot-
serpents, with whicli that country anciently abounded. Theypretended to be endowed with an antidote, which renderediheir bodies insensibie to the virulence of that species of pOison ; and the ignorance of thola times gave credit to the physical immunit3 whicli they arrogated. But Celsus, Whono urisited abcut fisty years after the period we speah os, baa ν exploded