Non aetas haec carpsit edax monimentaque rerum
Putria destituit: crimen civile videmus
Tot vacuas urbes. Generis quo turba redacta est
400Humani? Toto populi qui nascimur orbe
Nec muros implere viris nec possumus agros;
Urbs nos una capit. Vincto fossore coluntur
Hesperiae segetes, stat tectis putris avitis
In nullos ruitura domus, nulloque frequentem
405Cive suo Romam, sed mundi faece repletam
Cladis eo dedimus, ne tanto in tempore bellum
Iam posset civile geri. Pharsalia tanti
Causa mali. Cedant feralia nomina Cannae
Et damnata diu Romanis Allia fastis.
410Tempora signavit leviorum Roma malorum:
Hunc voluit nescire diem.
397-398 monimentaque . . . destituit = and has abandoned to decay the monuments of the past.—Haskins.
402 vincto fossore = by a chained digger (delver), in consequence of the dearth of free labour. Cf. Juv. xi. 80 squalidus in magna . . . compede fossor.
404 in nullos ruitura = ready to fall, but on the heads of none.—H.
405 faece = dregs. Cf. Juv. iii. 60, 61 Non possum ferre Quirites | Graecam urbem (a Greek Rome); quamvis (and yet) quota portio (how small a fraction) faecis Achaei?
406-407 ne tanto . . . geri = lit. so that during the long time since, it is impossible to wage civil war, i.e. from the dearth of genuine Roman soldiers.
409 Allia: 390 B.C. Cf. Vergil. Aeneid, vii. 717 quosque secans infaustum interluit Allia nomen.
411 nescire = to ignore.
B. The Battlefields of Pharsalus and Philippi.
Ergo inter sese paribus concurrere telis
490Romanas acies iterum videre Philippi;
Nec fuit indignum superis, bis sanguine nostro
Emathiam et latos Haemi pinguescere campos.
Scilicet et tempus veniet, cum finibus illis
Agricola, incurvo terram molitus aratro,
495Exesa inveniet scabra robigine pila,
Aut gravibus rastris galeas pulsabit inanes,
Grandiaque effossis mirabitur ossa sepulchris.
489 Ergo = therefore, in fulfilment of the terrible warnings at the death of Caesar.
490 iterum, i.e. at Philippi 42 B.C.; the first time at Pharsalus.
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (10)
How Pompeius died, 48 B.C.
Pompeius, deposito adeundae Syriae consilio, et aeris magno pondere ad militarem usum in naves imposito, duobusque milibus hominum armatis, Pelusium pervenit. Ibi casu rex erat Ptolemaeus, puer aetate, magnis copiis cum sorore Cleopatra 5 bellum gerens, quam paucis ante mensibus per suos propinquos atque amicos regno expulerat; castraque Cleopatrae non longo spatio ab eius castris distabant. Ad eum Pompeius misit, ut pro hospitio atque amicitia patris Alexandria reciperetur atque illius opibus in 10 calamitate tegeretur. Sed, qui ab eo missi erant, confecto legationis officio, liberius cum militibus regis colloqui coeperant eosque hortari, ut suum officium Pompeio praestarent, neve eius fortunam despicerent. His tunc cognitis rebus amici regis, 15 qui propter aetatem eius in procuratione erant regni, sive timore adducti, ne Pompeius Alexandriam Aegyptunique occuparet, sive despecta eius fortuna, iis, qui erant ab eo missi, palam liberaliter responderunt eumque ad regem venire iusserunt: ipsi, 20 clam consilio inito, Achillan, praefectum regium, singulari hominem audacia, et L. Septimium, tribunum militum, ad interficiendum Pompeium miserunt. Ab his liberaliter ipse appellatus naviculam parvulam conscendit cum paucis suis, et ibi 25 ab Achilla et Septimio interficitur.
Context. After the battle of Pharsalus, Pompeius, closely pursued by Caesar, had thoughts of going to Parthia and trying to form alliances there. While in Cyprus he heard that Antioch (in Syria) had declared for Caesar and that the route to the Parthians was no longer open. So he altered his plan and sailed to Egypt, where a number of his old soldiers served in the Egyptian army.
4 Pelusium, on the E. side of the easternmost mouth of the Nile.
5 cum sorore Cleopatra. By his father’s will, Ptolemy ruled jointly with his sister for three years, 51-48 B.C., when he expelled her. Cleopatra raised an army in Syria and invaded Egypt. The two armies were encamped opposite each other when Pompeius landed to seek the help of Ptolemy.
15 amici regis, e.g. Achillas, l. 21, and espec. Ptolemy’s guardian Pothinus, the de facto ruler of Egypt.
‘On the same day (28 Sept.) on which he had triumphed over Mithridates (61 B.C.) Pompeius died on the desert sands of the inhospitable Casian shore by the hands of one of his old soldiers (Septimius).’—M.
CN. POMPEIUS MAGNUS, 106-48 B.C. (11)
Cato’s Eulogy on Pompeius.
‘Civis obit,’ inquit, ‘multum maioribus impar
Nosse modum iuris sed in hoc tamen utilis aevo,
Cui non ulla fuit iusti reverentia; salva
Libertate potens, et solus plebe parata
Privatus servire sibi, rectorque senatus,
195Sed regnantis, erat. Nil belli iure poposcit,
Quaeque dari voluit, voluit sibi posse negari.
Immodicas possedit opes, sed plura retentis
Intulit: invasit ferrum, sed ponere norat;
Praetulit arma togae, sed pacem armatus amavit;
200Iuvit sumpta ducem, iuvit dimissa potestas.
Casta domus luxuque carens corruptaque numquam
Fortuna domini. Clarum et venerabile nomen
Gentibus, et multum nostrae quod proderat urbi.
.......
208O felix, cui summa dies fuit obvia victo,
Et cui quaerendos Pharium scelus obtulit enses!
Forsitan in soceri potuisses vivere regno.
211Scire mori sors prima viris sed proxima cogi.’
215Vocibus his maior, quam si Romana sonarent
Rostra ducis laudes, generosam venit ad umbram
Mortis honos.
190-191 multum . . . iuris = far inferior to our ancestors in recognising the due bounds of power.—Haskins.
193 solus (sc. ex proceribus) . . . servire sibi = alone (of the chief men of the State) acting the private citizen when the populace were ready to be his slaves, i.e. acting unlike Sulla or Caesar.—H.
195 sed regnantis. ‘Pompeius came forward as the duly installed general of the Senate against the Imperator of the street, once more to save his country.’—M.
198 Intulit, sc. in aerarium. Cf. Shaksp. Jul. C. III. ii. (Mark Antony of Caesar) ‘He hath brought many captives home to Rome | Whose ransoms did the general coffers fill.’ ‘Caesar devoted the proceeds of the confiscations (the property of defeated opponents) entirely to the benefit of the State.’—M.
208 cui summa dies . . . victo = whom the day of death met when he was vanquished, i.e. without his having to seek it himself.—H.
209 Pharium = Egyptian, lit. of Pharos (= Faro), an island near Alexandria, famous for its lighthouse.
211 One of Lucan’s famous sententiae (γνῶμαι, maxims).
Pompeius. ‘Even in his own age he would have had a clearly defined and respectable position, had he contented himself with being the general of the Senate, for which he was from the outset destined.’—M.
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (12)
The Grave of Pompeius.
His Roll of Fame.
Tunc ne levis aura retectos
790Auferret cineres, saxo compressit harenam:
Nautaque ne bustum religato fune moveret,
Inscripsit sacrum semiusto stipite nomen:
HIC SITUS EST MAGNUS. . . .
806Quod si tam sacro dignaris nomine saxum,
Adde actus tantos monimentaque maxima rerum,
Adde truces Lepidi motus Alpinaque bella
Armaque Sertori revocato consule victa,
810Et currus quos egit eques, commercia tuta
Gentibus et pavidos Cilicas maris: adde subactam
Barbariem gentesque vagas et quidquid in Euro
Regnorum Boreaque iacet. Die semper ab armis
Civilem repetisse togam, ter curribus actis
815Contentum patriae multos donasse triumphos.
Quis capit haec tumulus? Surgit miserabile bustum
Non ullis plenum titulis, non ordine tanto
Fastorum, solitumque legi super alta deorum
Culmina et exstructos spoliis hostilibus arcus
820Haud procul est ima Pompei nomen harena,
Depressum tumulo, quod non legat advena rectus,
Quod nisi monstratum Romanus transeat hospes.
Subject. Cordus, whom Lucan calls infaustus Magni comes (or according to Plutarch Philippus the faithful freedman of Pompeius), finds the cast-up body of Pompeius and gives it honourable burial.
793 HIC SITUS EST = ἔνθαδε κεῖται, the regular inscription on a tombstone.
808 truces Lepidi motus. Cf. page 178, last note on page.
809 revocato consule, i.e. Metellus. Cf. page 180, A., l. 12.
811 pavidos Cilicas maris = the Cilicians scared from the sea.—Jebb. Pompeius effecit ut piratae timerent maria quibus ipsi ante grassabantur (= they sailed at will).—Schol.
813-814 dic semper . . . togam, e.g. after his triumph over Spain 71 B.C., and over Mithridates and the East in 61 B.C.
814-815 ter curribus . . . triumphos = (tell how) content with thrice driving the (triumphal) car he made a present to his fatherland of many triumphs, i.e. he did not claim them when he might have done so.
817-818 Non ordine tanto Fastorum = storied with no majestic annals.—Jebb.
819 arcus = triumphal arches, orig. temporary structures of wood, but under the Empire built of marble, e.g. of Septimius Severus.
821 Depressum . . . rectus = sunk low upon a tomb, which the stranger cannot read without stooping (rectus).—Haskins.
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (13)
Atrox Animus Catonis, 46 B.C.
Complures interim ex fuga Uticam perveniunt. Quos omnes Cato convocatos una cum trecentis, qui pecuniam Scipioni ad bellum faciendum contulerant, hortatur, ut servitia manumitterent, oppidumque defenderent. Quorum cum partem assentire, partem 5 animum mentemque perterritam atque in fugam destinatam habere intellexisset, amplius de ea re agere destitit, navesque eis attribuit, ut in quas quisque partes vellet proficisceretur. Ipse, omnibus rebus diligentissime constitutis, liberis suis L. Caesari, 10 qui tum ei pro quaestore fuerat, commendatis et sine suspicione, vultu atque sermone, quo superiore tempore usus fuerat, cum dormitum isset, ferrum intro clam in cubiculum tulit, atque ita se traiecit. Qui cum anima nondum exspirata concidisset, et, 15 impetu facto in cubiculum ex suspicione, medicus familiaresque continere atque vulnus obligare coepissent, ipse suis manibus vulnus crudelissime divellit, atque animo praesenti se interemit.
Context. After Pharsalus and the flight of Pompeius, we finally part company with Caesar as an author. The Bellum Alexandrinum (Caesar’s perils in Egypt and his settlement of the East 48-47 B.C.), the B. Africum (Thapsus 46 B.C.), the B. Hispaniense (Munda 45 B.C.), are the work of eyewitnesses and officers of his army. After a delay of fifteen precious months Caesar landed in Africa (Jan. 46), and by investing Thapsus tempted Scipio (Pompeius’ father-in-law) to try to save the city by a battle. His troops were quickly arranged as at Pharsalus, and by a single impetuous charge won a complete victory. The slaughter was terrible: the survivors fled to Utica, where Cato in vain tried to organise a defence and to restore order, and then in despair died by his own sword.
1 Uticam: second in importance to Carthage.
19 animo praesenti = deliberately.
After Thapsus. ‘Caesar left Africa in June 46 B.C., and celebrated a magnificent triumph, not over Roman citizens, but over Gauls and Egyptians, Pharnaces and Juba. As Dictator he remained in Rome several months, in which more permanently valuable work was done than was ever achieved in the same space of time, unless it were by Cromwell in 1653-4. The senseless outbreak of the Pompeian party in Spain under Labienus and the two sons of Pompeius took him away from Rome: but the victory of Munda (45 B.C.) closed the civil strife. Caesar returned to Rome in September, and six months more of life was all that was left to him.’—W. F.
CIVIL WAR, 49-45 B.C. (14)
Cato Uticensis, 46 B.C.
A. Hic genitus proavo M. Catone, principe illo familiae Porciae, homo Virtuti simillimus et per omnia ingenio diis quam hominibus propior, qui nunquam recte fecit, ut facere videretur, sed quia aliter facere non potuerat, cuique id solum visum 5 est rationem habere, quod haberet iustitiae, omnibus humanis vitiis immunis semper fortunam in sua potestate habuit.
1 M. Catone, the famous Censor of 184 B.C.
principe = founder.
Ut primum tolli feralia viderat arma,
375Intonsos rigidam in frontem descendere canos
Passus erat maestamque genis increscere barbam:
Uni quippe vacat studiis odiisque carenti
Humanum lugere genus . . .
380Hi mores, haec duri immota Catonis
Secta fuit, servare modum finemque tenere
Naturamque sequi patriaeque impendere vitam
Nec sibi sed toti genitum se credere mundo.
Huic epulae, vicisse famem; magnique penates,
385Summovisse hiemem tecto; pretiosaque vestis,
Hirtam membra super Romani more Quiritis
Induxisse togam . . .
389Iustitiae cultor, rigidi servator honesti,
In commune bonus: nullosque Catonis in actus
Subrepsit partemque tulit sibi nata voluptas.
377 uni (sc. Catoni), as the only true representative of the wise man of the Stoics.—Haskins.
381 secta (sc. via, lit. a beaten way) here = disciplina = principles.
381-383 servare modum . . . mundo. These expressions are Stoic maxims. Lucan (the nephew of Seneca) depicts the Stoic idea of virtue in the character of Cato.
382-383 patriaeque . . . mundo. Cato’s aim is patriae impendere vitam. His devotion to the service of humanity is complete; it is his part toti genitum se credere mundo. But this humanity includes Rome in the first place, the rest of the world in a quite secondary sense.—H.
386-387 hirtam togam = a coarse (lit. hairy) toga.
389 honesti = τοῦ καλοῦ. Cicero defines honestum as aut ipsa virtus, aut res gesta virtute.
Cato Uticensis. ‘He was like Caesar alone in this, that he had clear political convictions and acted on them not only with consistency but with justice and humanity. It is “his vain faith and courage” that alone lights up the dark hours of the falling Commonwealth:—
’Victrix causa deis placuit, sed victa Catoni.’—W. F.
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR. (5)
Caesar dines with Cicero, Dec. 19, 45 B.C.
O hospitem mihi tam gravem ἀμεταμέλητον! fuit enim periucunde. Sed cum secundis Saturnalibus ad Philippum vesperi venisset, villa ita completa militibus est, ut vix triclinium, ubi cenaturus ipse Caesar esset, vacaret; quippe hominum ⅭⅠↃ ⅭⅠↃ. 5 Sane sum commotus, quid futurum esset postridie; at mihi Barba Cassius subvenit: custodes dedit. Castra in agro, villa defensa est. Ille tertiis Saturnalibus apud Philippum ad h. VII, nec quemquam admisit: rationes opinor cum Balbo. Inde ambulavit 10 in litore; post h. viii in balneum; unctus est, accubuit. Et edit et bibit ἀδεῶς et iucunde, opipare sane et apparate, nec id solum, sed
bene cocto,
15condito, sermone bono et, si quaeri’, libenter.
Praeterea tribus tricliniis accepti οἱ περὶ αὐτὸν valde copiose. Libertis minus lautis servisque nihil defuit: nam lautiores eleganter accepti. Quid multa? homines visi sumus. Hospes tamen non is, cui diceres: ‘amabo te, eodem ad me, cum revertere’: semel 20 satis est. Σπουδαῖον οὐδὲν in sermone, φιλόλογα multa. Quid quaeris? delectatus est et libenter fuit. Puteolis se aiebat unum diem fore, alterum ad Baias. Habes hospitium sive ἐπισταθμείαν, odiosam mihi, dixi, non molestam. 25
Subject. We here catch a glimpse of Caesar as he really was. He had spent a night near Puteoli (where Cicero also had a villa) with Philippus, the step-father of Octavianus. The Dictator proposed a visit, and Cicero in this memorable letter describes to Atticus what happened.
1 O hospitem . . . ἀμεταμέλητον! = Oh, what a formidable guest to have had, and yet I have had no reason to repent of it (ἀμεταμέλητον).
10 rationes (sc. conferebat) . . . Balbo = he was settling accounts with Balbus, I suppose. L. Cornelius Balbus, a native of Gades (Cadiz), was Caesar’s confidential secretary and faithful friend. He was the first enfranchised foreigner who attained to the highest magistracy (Consul 40 B.C.).
14-15
‘Though the cook was good,
’Twas Attic salt (sermone bono) that flavoured most the food.’—Jeans.
18-19 homines visi sumus = I showed myself a man of taste, i.e. as host.
21 Σπουδαῖον οὐδὲν = lit. nothing serious, i.e. nothing political. φιλόλογα = literary chat.
24-25 ἐπισταθμείαν = billeting, as Caesar’s offer to dine with Cicero was equivalent to a command.
odiosam . . . molestam = unwelcome, though not disagreeable.
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR. (6)
The Death of Caesar, 44 B.C.
Assidentem conspirati specie officii circumsteterunt; ilicoque Cimber Tillius, qui primas partes susceperat, quasi aliquid rogaturus propius accessit, renuentique et gestu in aliud tempus differenti ab utroque umero togam apprehendit; deinde clamantem: 5 Ista quidem vis est, alter e Cascis aversum vulnerat, paulum infra iugulum. Caesar Cascae brachium arreptum graphio traiecit, conatusque prosilire alio vulnere tardatus est; utque animadvertit undique se strictis pugionibus peti, toga caput 10 obvolvit, simul sinistra manu sinum ad ima crura deduxit, quo honestius caderet etiam inferiore corporis parte velata. Atque ita tribus et viginti plagis confossus est, uno modo ad primum ictum gemitu sine voce edito; etsi tradiderunt quidam 15 Marco Bruto irruenti dixisse: Καὶ σὺ τέκνον; Exanimis, diffugientibus cunctis, aliquamdiu iacuit, donec lecticae impositum, dependente brachio, tres servoli domum rettulerunt. Nec in tot vulneribus, ut Antistius medicus existimabat, letale ullum 20 repertum est, nisi quod secundo loco in pectore acceperat.
Context. After his return from Spain (Sept. 45 B.C.), Caesar was busy with the reconstruction of the Senate, the completion of his vast buildings in Rome, and with other far-reaching projects. But during these months the clouds of ill-will were gathering and threatening him on every side. A conspiracy was formed, of which C. Cassius, ‘a lean and hungry man,’ of a bitter and jealous disposition, seems to have been the real instigator. He persuaded Brutus, a student of life chiefly in books, that liberty could only be gained by murder, and at last it was resolved that the deed should be done on the Ides (15th) of March.
8 graphio (γραφίον = scriptorium) = a writing-style.
12 quo honestius caderet, cf. Ovid, Fasti ii. 833 (of Lucretia):
Tunc quoque iam moriens ne non procumbat honeste
Respicit, haec etiam cura cadentis erat.
16 Καὶ σὺ τέκνον; there seems to be no authority for attributing the words Et tu Brute? to Caesar. Shakespeare found them in an earlier play.
The Murder of Caesar. ‘It is the most brutal and the most pathetic scene that profane history has to record; it was, as Goethe has said, the most senseless deed that ever was done. It was wholly useless, for it did not and could not save Rome from monarchy. The deed was done by a handful of men, who, pursuing a phantom liberty and following the lead of a personal hatred, slew the one man who saw the truth of things.’—W. F.
GAIUS IULIUS CAESAR. (7)
‘There may be many Caesars
Ere such another Julius.’—Cymbeline.
A. Fuit in illo ingenium, ratio, memoria, litterae, cura, cogitatio, diligentia; res bello gesserat quamvis rei publicae calamitosas, at tamen magnas; multos annos regnare meditatus magno labore multis periculis quod cogitarat effecerat; muneribus, monumentis, 5 congiariis, epulis multitudinem imperitam delenierat: suos praemiis, adversarios clementiae specie devinxerat.
4 regnare meditatus. For Caesar monarchy meant the liberation of the Empire.
5-6 muneribus (sc. gladiatoriis) = gladiatorial shows.
monumentis = public buildings, e.g. his forum, amphitheatre, Temple of Venus Genetrix, and other public works begun (e.g. the Curia Iulia) and planned.
6 congiariis (sc. donis), orig. a gift of wine (a congius = about 6 pints), then = wine-money (Ger. Trinkgeld), and so of any largess.
7-8 clementiae specie. Cic. himself refutes this ungrateful taunt in his pro Marcello: Recte igitur unus invictus est, a quo etiam ipsius victoriae condicio visque devicta est.
Sed non in Caesare tantum
Nomen erat nec fama ducis, sed nescia virtus
145Stare loco, solusque pudor non vincere bello.
Acer et indomitus, quo spes quoque ira vocasset,
Ferre manum et numquam temerando parcere ferro.
Successus urguere suos, instare favori
Numinis, impellens quidquid sibi summa petenti
150Obstaret, gaudensque viam fecisse ruina.
143-144 tantum nomen = not a mere name alone, in contrast to Pompeius:—Stat magni nominis umbra.— Haskins.
147 temerando parcere ferro = shrink from dyeing his sword (in blood).—H.
Apotheosis of Caesar.
C. Periit sexto et quinquagesimo aetatis anno atque in deorum numerum relatus est, non ore modo decernentium sed et persuasione volgi. Si quidem ludis, quos primos consecrato ei heres Augustus edebat, 20 stella crinita per septem continuos dies fulsit, exoriens circa undecimam horam, creditumque est animam esse Caesaris in caelum recepti; et hac de causa simulacro eius in vertice additur stella.
21 stella crinita (= κομήτης); cf. Verg. Georg. iv. 466-8:
Ille (= the sun) etiam exstincto miseratus Caesare Romam
Cum caput obscura nitidum ferrugine (= gloom) texit,
Impiaque aeternam timuerunt saecula noctem.
‘FACTA DUCIS VIVENT, OPEROSAQUE GLORIA
RERUM.’—OVID.
‘THE HERO’S DEEDS AND HARD-WON FAME SHALL LIVE.’
Caesar was the sole creative genius produced by Rome, and the last produced by the ancient world, which accordingly moved on in the path that he marked out for it until its sun went down.
Whatever he undertook and achieved was pervaded and guided by the cool sobriety which constitutes the most marked peculiarity of his genius. To this he owed the power of living energetically in the present, undisturbed either by recollection or by expectation: to this he owed the capacity of acting at any moment with collected vigour, and of applying his whole genius even to the smallest and most incidental enterprise. Gifts such as these could not fail to produce a statesman.
Caesar as a statesman.—From early youth Caesar was a statesman in the deepest sense of the term, and his aim was the political, military, intellectual, and moral regeneration of his own deeply decayed nation, and of the still more deeply decayed Hellenic nation intimately akin to his own. According to his original plan, he had proposed to reach his object, like Pericles and Gaius Gracchus, without force of arms, until, reluctantly convinced of the necessity for a military support, he, when already forty years of age, put himself at the head of an army.
His talent for organisation was marvellous.—No statesman has ever compelled alliances, no general has ever collected an army out of unyielding and refractory elements with such decision, and kept them together with such firmness, as Caesar displayed in constraining and upholding his coalitions and his legions; never did regent judge his instruments and assign each to the place appropriate for him with so accurate an eye.
He was monarch; but he never played the king.—‘I am no king, but Caesar.’ Even when absolute lord of Rome, he retained the deportment of the party-leader; perfectly pliant and smooth, easy and charming in conversation, complaisant towards everyone, it seemed as if he wished io be nothing but the first among his peers.
Caesar ruled as king of Rome for five years and a half, not half as long as Alexander: in the intervals of seven great campaigns, which allowed him to stay not more than fifteen months altogether in the capital of his empire, he regulated the destinies of the world for the present and the future. The outlines were laid down, and thereby the new State was defined for all coming time: the boundless future alone could complete the structure. But precisely because the building was an endless one, the master so long as he lived restlessly added stone to stone, with always the same dexterity and always the same elasticity busy at work. Thus he worked and created as never did any man before or after him: and as a worker and creator he still, after well-nigh two thousand years, lives in the memory of the nations—the first and withal unique Imperator Caesar.
CICERO AND ANTONIUS.
A. Peroration of the Second Philippic, 44 B.C.
Respice, quaeso, aliquando rem publicam, M. Antoni: quibus ortus sis, non quibuscum vivas considera: mecum, uti voles: redi cum re publica in gratiam. Sed de te tu videris: ego de me ipso profitebor. Defendi rem publicam adulescens, non 5 deseram senex: contempsi Catilinae gladios, non pertimescam tuos. Quin etiam corpus libenter obtulerim, si repraesentari morte mea libertas civitatis potest: ut aliquando dolor populi Romani pariat, quod iam diu parturit. Etenim si abhinc 10 annos prope viginti hoc ipso in templo negavi posse mortem immaturam esse consulari, quanto verius nunc negabo seni? Mihi vero, patres conscripti, iam etiam optanda mors est, perfuncto rebus eis quas adeptus sum quasque gessi. Duo modo haec 15 opto: unum, ut moriens populum Romanum liberum relinquam—hoc mihi maius ab dis immortalibus dari nihil potest,—alterum, ut ita cuique eveniat ut de re publica quisque mereatur.
2 quibus ortus sis: espec. his grandfather M. Antonius, the famous orator, whom Cicero held in great esteem.
5 adulescens, i.e. in 63 B.C., when he was in his 44th year.
8 repraesentari = be realised, won now and here.—Jebb.
11 templo, i.e. Concordiae. Cic. refers to In Catil. iv.
The Peroration. ‘Such a passage speaks to us with a living impression of unity and directness which we acknowledge without question. We admire and ask for nothing more.’—Nettleship.
B. On the Murder of Cicero, by order of Antonius.
Par scelus admisit Phariis Antonius armis:
Abscidit voltus ensis uterque sacros.
Illud, laurigeros ageres cum laeta triumphos,
4Hoc tibi, Roma, caput, cum loquereris, erat.
Antoni tamen est peior quam causa Pothini:
Hic facinus domino praestitit, ille sibi.
1 Par Phariis armis = which matches (that committed by) the armed hand of an Egyptian, i.e. Pothinus (the guardian of the young king) who planned the murder of Pompeius, when he fled to Egypt 48 B.C.
sacros: consecrated to Rome from their public services.
3-4 Illud caput = Pompeius. hoc caput = Cicero. Cf. Epig. v. lxix: Quid gladium demens Romana stringis in ora?
6 domino, sc. Ptolemaeus, King of Egypt, jointly with Cleopatra.
CICERO.
A. Cicero as Orator and Poet.
Eloquium ac famam Demosthenis aut Ciceronis
115Incipit optare et totis Quinquatribus optat
Quisquis adhuc uno parcam colit asse Minervam,
Quem sequitur custos angustae vernula capsae.
Eloquio sed uterque perit orator, utrumque
Largus et exundans leto dedit ingenii fons.
120Ingenio manus est et cervix caesa, nec umquam
Sanguine causidici maduerunt rostra pusilli.
‘O fortunatam natam me consule Romam’:
Antoni gladios potuit contemnere, si sic
Omnia dixisset. Ridenda poemata malo
125Quam te, conspicuae divina Philippica famae,
Volveris a prima quae proxima.
114-118 Boys at school long to be a Demosthenes or a Cicero.
115 totis Quinquatribus, i.e. during all the five days of the Quinquatria, an annual feast of Minerva, March 19-23: it was always a holiday time at schools, and the school year began at the close of it.
116 parcam Minervam = a cheap kind of learning, and uno asse = an entrance fee of one as. But Duff says as here = stips, i.e. the boy’s contribution to the goddess of wisdom, who can make him wise, and parcam (= economical), transferred from asse to Minervam.
117 vernula = a little home-born slave, capsa a circular box of beech-wood, used for the transport of books.
121 causidici pusilli = of a petty pleader, as opposed to orator.
122 From Cicero’s poem de suo consulatu. Another line quoted in the 2nd Philippic is Cedant arma togae, concedat laurea laudi.
124 Ridenda poemata malo, i.e. they are better as being safer. Juvenal himself refutes this argument:
Summum crede nefas animam praeferre pudori
Et propter vitam vivendi perdere causas.
B. Cicero as Advocate.
Disertissime Romuli nepotum,
Quot sunt quotque fuere, Marce Tulli,
Quotque post aliis erunt in annis,
Gratias tibi maximas Catullus
5Agit pessimus omnium poeta,
Tanto pessimus omnium poeta
Quanto tu optimus omnium patronus.
2 Marce Tulli: the formal address suits the formal expression of thanks to a patronus (= advocate).
5 pessimus omnium poeta: the self-depreciation heightens the praise of the last line.—Merrill.
CICERO.
His Death, by order of Antonius, 43 B.C.
M. Cicero sub adventum triumvirorum urbe cesserat pro certo habens id quod erat, non magis se Antonio eripi quam Caesari Cassium et Brutum posse: primo in Tusculanum fugerat, inde transversis itineribus in Formianum ut ab Caieta navem 5 conscensurus proficiscitur. Unde aliquoties in altum provectum cum modo venti adversi retulissent, modo ipse iactationem navis caeco volvente fluctu pati non posset, taedium tandem eum et fugae et vitae cepit, regressusque ad superiorem villam, quae paulo 10 plus mille passibus a mari abest, ‘moriar,’ inquit, ‘in patria saepe servata.’ Satis constat servos fortiter fideliterque paratos fuisse ad dimicandum; ipsum deponi lecticam et quietos pati quod sors iniqua cogeret iussisse. Prominenti ex lectica praebentique 15 immotam cervicem caput praecisum est. Nec satis stolidae crudelitati militum fuit: manus quoque scripsisse aliquid in Antonium exprobrantes praeciderunt. Ita relatum caput ad Antonium iussuque eius inter duas manus in rostris positum, ubi 20 ille consul, ubi saepe consularis, ubi eo ipso anno adversus Antonium quanta nulla umquam humana vox cum admiratione eloquentiae auditus fuerat: vix attollentes prae lacrimis oculos homines intueri trucidati membra civis poterant. Vixit tres et sexaginta 25 annos, ut si vis afuisset, ne immatura quidem mors videri possit.
1 triumvirorum, sc. Antonius, Octavianus, and Lepidus. These three allies (about the end of Oct. 43 B.C.) held their famous meeting on an island in the R. Rhenus (a tributary of the Padus) near Bononia (Bologna), at which they constituted themselves a commission of three with absolute powers for five years. This was followed by a proscription of their principal opponents, of whom seventeen, including Cicero (sacrificed to Antonius), were at once put to death.
4 in Tusculanum, i.e. to his villa at Tusculum, richly adorned with pictures and statues.
5 in Formianum, i.e. to his villa at Formiae, on the Appian Way, in the innermost corner of the beautiful Gulf of Caieta (Gaëta). Near this villa Cicero was murdered.
The Death of Cicero. Cicero’s work was over, and the tragedy of his death was the natural outcome of his splendid failure. The restoration of the Commonwealth of the Scipios was but a dream; still it was a beautiful dream, and Cicero gave his life for it.—Tyrrell.
In Praise of Cicero.
A. Nihil tamen egisti, M. Antoni, nihil, inquam, egisti mercedem caelestissimi oris et clarissimi capitis abscisi numerando, auctoramentoque funebri ad conservatoris quondam rei publicae tantique consulis irritando necem. Rapuisti tum Ciceroni lucem 5 sollicitam et aetatem senilem et vitam miseriorem te principe quam sub te triumviro mortem, famam vero gloriamque factorum atque dictorum adeo non abstulisti, ut auxeris. Vivit vivetque per omnem saeculorum memoriam, dumque hoc vel forte vel 10 providentia vel utcumque constitutum rerum naturae corpus, quod ille paene solus Romanorum animo vidit, ingenio complexus est, eloquentia illuminavit, manebit incolume, comitem aevi sui laudem Ciceronis trahet omnisque posteritas illius in te scripta mirabitur, 15 tuum in eum factum exsecrabitur citiusque e mundo genus hominum quam Ciceronis memoria cedet.
3-4 auctoramentoque funebri irritando = lit. and by stimulating (provoking) by a fatal reward (auctoramento) the death. . . .
10-15 dumque . . . trahet, in reference to Cicero’s philosophical works, in which Cicero propounds no original scheme of philosophy, claiming only that he renders the conclusions of Greek thinkers accessible to his own countrymen.
B. Ingenium et operibus et praemiis operum felix; ipse fortunae diu prosperae et in longo tenore felicitatis 20 magnis interim ictus vulneribus, exilio, ruina partium pro quibus steterat, filiae exitu tam tristi tamque acerbo, omnium adversorum nihil ut viro dignum erat tulit praeter mortem, quae vere aestimanti minus indigna videri potuit, quod a victore 25 inimico nil crudelius passurus erat quam quod eiusdem fortunae compos victo fecisset. Si quis tamen virtutibus vitia pensaret, vir magnus ac memorabilis fuit, et in cuius laudes exsequendas Cicerone laudatore opus fuerit. 30