 Section 29, The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 2. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Rita Butros. The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 2. Edited by Charles F. Horn, Rossiter Johnson, and John Roode. The Roman Invasion and Conquest of Britain. BC 55 to AD 79 by Oliver Goldsmith. When Julius Caesar received the province of Gaul as his government, BC 58, it was only a small portion of the territory inhabited by the Gauls or Celts, being almost determinous with the medieval Provence. It was also at peace, and there seemed no excuse for making an extension of Roman territory among the three tribes or races between which northern and western Gaul were divided. But the Helvetii, who occupied that part of the Alps known today as Switzerland, meditated an emigration into the plains of Gaul, and as their shortest route lay across the Roman provinces, they asked Leave of Caesar to pass 360,000 souls in all, counting women and children through the imperial territory. The Roman commander, after giving them an evasive answer, met them in the territory of the Sikwani and Aduai, and defeated them, driving them back to their mountains. He next went to the aid of the Aduai, ancient allies of Rome against the Arverni and Sikwani, who had invaded the Aduan territory under a German chieftain, Ariovistus. The result was that Ariovistus was defeated and driven eastward across the Rhine. He then defeated the Belgue, who, in BC 57, took up arms against the garrisons which he had left in the country of the Sikwani, dwellers on the Seine. He continued his conquest of the Belgic territory and subjected the three nations who occupied it, finally entering the country of the war-like Nervii, whom he only conquered after a stubborn and bloody battle. As soon as he had subjugated the whole of Gaul, he crossed the Rhine for the purpose of intimidating the Germans and teaching them to keep within their own boundaries. He pursued the same policy with regard to the Britons, who, according to information received by him, sent aid to the Gauls in their struggle with Rome. His ships were brought round from the Loire to that part of the French coast, now known as Boulogne, and he set out for Britain, where he landed and eventually received the submission of the British chieftains. The Britons, in their rude and barbarous state, seemed to stand in need of more polished instructors and, indeed, whatever evils may attend the conquest of heroes, their success has generally produced one good effect in disseminating the arts of refinement and humanity. It ever happens when a barbarous nation is conquered by another more advanced in the arts of peace, that it gains in elegance a recompense for what it loses in liberty. The Britons had long remained in this rude but independent state when Caesar, having overrun Gaul with his victories and willing still further to extend his fame, determined upon the conquest of a country that seemed to promise an easy triumph. He was a lord neither by the riches nor by the renown of the inhabitants, but, being ambitious rather of splendid than of useful conquest, he was willing to carry the Roman arms into a country the remote situation of which would add seeming difficulty to the enterprise and consequently produce an increase of reputation. His pretense was to punish these islanders for having sent suckers to the Gauls while he waged war against that nation as well as for granting an asylum to such of the enemy as had sought protection from his resentment. The natives informed of his intention were sensible of the unequal contest and endeavored to appease him by submission. He received their ambassadors with great complacency and, having exhorted them to continue steadfast in the same sentiments, in the meantime made preparations for the execution of his design. When the troops designed for the expedition were embarked, he set sail for Britain about midnight and the next morning arrived on the coast near Dover where he saw the rocks and cliffs covered with armed men to oppose his landing. Finding it impracticable to gain the shore where he first intended from the agitation of the sea and the impending mountains, he resolved to choose a landing place of greater security. The place he chose was about eight miles farther on, some suppose at Deal, where an inclining shore and a level country invited his attempts. The poor naked, ill-armed Britons, we may well suppose, were but an unequal match for the disciplined Romans who had before conquered Gaul and afterward became the conquerors of the world. However, they made a brave opposition against the veteran army. The conflicts between them were fierce, the losses mutual, and the success various. The Britons had chosen Casablanas for their commander in chief, but the petty princes under his command, either desiring his station or suspecting his fidelity, threw off their allegiance. Some of them fled with their forces into the internal parts of the kingdom. Others submitted to Caesar. Till at length, Casablanas himself, weakened by so many desertions, resolved upon making what terms he was able, while yet he had power to keep the field. The conditions offered by Caesar and accepted by him were that he should send to the continent double the number of hostages at first demanded and that he should acknowledge subjection to the Romans. The Romans were pleased with the name of this new and remote conquest, and the Senate decreed a supplication of twenty days in consequence of their general success. Having therefore in this manner rather discovered than subdued the southern parts of the island, Caesar returned into Gaul with his forces and left the Britons to enjoy their customs, religion, and laws. But the inhabitants thus relieved from the terror of his arms, neglected the performance of their stipulations, and only two of their states sent over hostages according to the treaty. Caesar, it is likely, was not much displeased at the omission as it furnished him with a pretext for visiting the island once more and completing a conquest which he had only begun. Accordingly, the ensuing spring, he set sail for Britain with eight hundred ships and, arriving at the place of his descent, he landed without opposition. The islanders, being apprised of his invasion, had assembled an army and marched down to the seaside to oppose him. But seeing the number of his forces and the whole sea as it were covered with his shipping, they were struck with consternation and retired to their places of security. The Romans, however, pursued them to their retreats until at last common danger induced these poor barbarians to forget their former dissensions and to unite their whole strength for the mutual defense of their liberty and possessions. Casabalones was chosen to conduct the common cause and for some time he harassed the Romans in their march and revived the desponding hopes of his countrymen. But no opposition that undisciplined strength could make was able to repress the vigor and intrepidity of Caesar. He discomfited the Britons in every action. He advanced into the country, passed the Thames in the face of the enemy, took and burned the capital city of Casabalones, established his ally, Mandu Bratius, a sovereign of the Trinobantes, and, having obliged the inhabitants to make new submissions, he again returned with his army into Gaul, having made himself rather the nominal than the real possessor of the island. Whatever the stipulated tribute might have been, it is more than probable, as there was no authority left to exact it, that it was but indifferently paid. Upon the accession of Augustus that emperor had formed a design of visiting Britain but was diverted from it by an unexpected revolt of the Panonians. Some years after he resumed his design, but being met in his way by the British ambassadors who promised the accustomed tribute and made the usual submissions, he desisted from his intention. The year following, finding them remiss in their supplies and untrue to their former professions, he once more prepared for the invasion of the country. But a well-timed embassy again averted his indignation and the submissions he received seemed to satisfy his resentment. Upon his deathbed he appeared sensible of the overgrown extent of the Roman Empire and recommended it to his successors never to enlarge their territories. Tiberius followed the maxims of Augustus and wisely judging the empire already too extensive made no attempt upon Britain. Some Roman soldiers having been wrecked on the British coast, the inhabitants not only assisted them with the greatest humanity but sent them in safety back to their general. In consequence of these friendly dispositions, a constant intercourse of good offices subsisted between the two nations. The principal British nobility resorted to Rome and many received their education there. From that time the Britons began to improve in all the arts which contribute to the advancement of human nature. The first art which a savage people is generally taught by polite neighbors is that of war. The Britons thence forward, though not wholly addicted to the Roman method of fighting, nevertheless adopted several of their improvements as well in their arms as in their arrangement in the field. Their ferocity to strangers for which they had always been remarkable was mitigated and they began to permit an intercourse of commerce even in the internal parts of the country. They still however continued to live as herdsmen and hunters, a manifest proof that the country was yet but thinly inhabited. A nation of hunters can never be populous as their subsistence is necessarily diffused over a large tract of country while the husband men converts every part of nature to human use and flourishes most by the vicinity of those whom he is to support. The wild extravagances of Caligula, by which he threatened Britain with an invasion, served rather to expose him to ridicule than the island to danger. The Britons therefore for almost a century enjoyed their liberty unmolested till at length the Romans and the reign of Claudius began to think seriously of reducing them under their dominion. The expedition for this purpose was conducted in the beginning by Plotius and other commanders with that success which usually attended the Roman arms. Claudius himself finding affairs sufficiently prepared for his reception made a journey thither and received the submission of such states as living by commerce were willing to purchase tranquility at the expense of freedom. It is true that many of the inland provinces preferred their native simplicity to imported elegance and rather than bow their necks to the Roman yoke offered their bosoms to the sword, but the southern coast with all the adjacent inland country was seized by the conquerors who secured the possession by fortifying camps, building fortresses, and planting colonies. The other parts of the country either thought themselves a no danger or continued patient spectators of the approaching devastation. Caracticus was the first who seemed willing by a vigorous effort to rescue his country and repel its insulting and rapacious conquerors. The venality and corruption of the Roman praetors and officers who were appointed to levy the contributions in Britain served to excite the indignation of the natives and give spirit to his attempts. His rude soldier, though with inferior forces, continued for about the space of nine years to oppose and harass the Romans, so that at length a storious scapula was sent over to command their armies. He was more successful than his predecessors. He advanced the Roman conquest over Britain, pierced the country of the Salurs, a war-like nation along the banks of the Severn, and at length came up with Caracticus who had taken possession of a very advantageous post upon an almost inaccessible mountain washed by a deep and rapid stream. The unfortunate British general, when he saw the enemy approaching, drew up his army, composed of different tribes, and, going from rank to rank, exhorted them to strike the last blow for liberty, safety, and life. To these exhortations his soldiers replied with shouts of determined valor. But what could undisciplined bravery avail against the attack of an army skilled in all the arts of war and inspired by a long train of conquest? The Britons were, after an obstinate resistance, totally routed, and a few days after, Caracticus himself was delivered up to the conquerors by Cartus Mandua, Queen of the Brigantes, with whom he had taken refuge. The capture of this general was received with such joy at Rome that Claudius commanded that he should be brought from Britain in order to be exhibited as a spectacle to the Roman people. Accordingly, on the day appointed for that purpose, the emperor ascending his throne ordered the captives and Caracticus among the number to be brought into his presence. The vassals of the British king, with the spoils taken in war, were first brought forward. These were followed by his family, who, with abject lamentations, were seen to implore for mercy. Last of all came Caracticus with an undaunted air and a dignified aspect. He appeared no way dejected at the amazing concourse of spectators that were gathered upon this occasion, but, casting his eyes on the splendor that surrounded him, a last cry he, how is it possible that a people possessed of such magnificence at home could envy me and humble cottage in Britain? When brought into the emperor's presence, he is said to have addressed him in the following manner. Had my moderation been equal to my birth and fortune, I had arrived in this city not as a captive, but as a friend. But my present misfortunes redound as much to your honour as to my disgrace, and the obstinacy of my opposition serves to increase the splendor of your victory. Had I surrendered myself in the beginning of the contest, neither my disgrace nor your glory would have attracted the attention of the world, and my fate would have been buried in general oblivion. I am now at your mercy, but if my life be spared, I shall remain an eternal monument of your clemency and moderation. The emperor was affected with the British hero's misfortunes and won by his address. He ordered him to be unchained upon the spot with the rest of the captives, and the first use they made of their liberty was to go and prostrate themselves before the empress Agrippina, who, as some suppose, had been an intercessor for their freedom. Notwithstanding these misfortunes, the Britons were not subdued, and this island was regarded by the ambitious Romans as a field in which military honour might still be acquired. The Britons made one expiring effort to recover their liberty in the time of Nero, taking advantage of the absence of Polinus, the Roman general, who was employed in subduing the Isle of Anglesey. That small island, separated from Britain by a narrow channel, still continued the chief seat of the druidical superstition and constantly afforded a retreat to their defeated forces. It was thought necessary, therefore, to subdue that place in order to extirpate a religion that disdained submission to foreign laws or leaders, and Polinus, the greatest general of his age, undertook the task. The Britons endeavoured to obstruct his landing on that last retreat of their superstitions and liberties, both by the force of their arms and the terrors of their religion. The priests and islanders were drawn up in order of battle upon the shore to oppose his landing. The women, dressed like furies with disheveled hair and torches in their hands, poured forth the most terrible execrations. Such a sight at first confounded the Romans and fixed them motionless on the spot so that they received the first assault without opposition. But Polinus, exhorting his troops to despise the menaces of an absurd superstition, impelled them to the attack, drove the Britons off the field, burned the druids in the same fires they had prepared for their captive enemies and destroyed all their consecrated groves and altars. In the meantime, the Britons, taking advantage of his absence, resolved by a general insurrection to free themselves from that state of servitude to which they were reduced by the Romans. They had many motives to aggravate their resentment, the greatness of their taxes which were levied with unremitting severity, the cruel insolence of their conquerors who reproached that very poverty which they had caused, but particularly the barbarous treatment of Bodysia, queen of the Isenai, drove them at last into open rebellion. Prasitagus, king of the Isenai, at his death had bequeathed one half of his dominions to the Romans and the other to his daughters, thus hoping by the sacrifice of a part to secure the rest in his family. But it had a different effect. For the Roman procurator immediately took possession of the whole and when Bodysia, the widow of the deceased, attempted to remonstrate, he ordered her to be scourged like a slave and violated the chastity of her daughters. These outrages were sufficient to produce a revolt through the whole island. The Isenai, being the most deeply interested in the quarrel, were the first to take arms. All the other states soon followed the example and Bodysia, a woman of great beauty and masculine spirit, was appointed to head the common forces which amounted to 230,000 fighting men. These, exasperated by their wrongs, attacked several of the Roman settlements and colonies with success. Paulinus hastened to relieve London which was already a flourishing colony but found on his arrival that it would be requisite for the general safety to abandon that place to the merciless fury of the enemy. London was therefore soon reduced to ashes such of the inhabitants as remained in it were massacred and the Romans with all other strangers to the number of 70,000 were cruelly put to the sword. Flushed with these successes, the Britons no longer sought to avoid the enemy but boldly came to the place where Paulinus awaited their arrival posted in a very advantageous manner with a body of 10,000 men. The battle was obstinate and bloody. Bodysia herself appeared in a chariot with her two daughters and harangued her army with masculine firmness but the irregular and undisciplined bravery of her troops was unable to resist the cool intrepidity of the Romans. They were routed with great slaughter. 80,000 perished in the field and an infinite number were made prisoners while Bodysia herself, fearing to fall into the hands of the enraged victor, put an end to her life by poison. Nero soon after recalled Paulinus from a government where by suffering and inflicting so many severities he was judged improper to compose the angry and alarmed minds of the natives. After an interval, Serialus received the command from Vespasian and by his bravery propagated the terror of the Roman arms. Julius Frontinas succeeded Serialus both in authority and reputation. The general who finally established the dominion of the Romans in this island was Julius Agricola who governed it during the reigns of Vespasian, Titus and Domitian and distinguished himself as well by his courage as humanity. Agricola, who was considered as one of the greatest characters in history, formed a regular plan for subduing and civilizing the island and thus rendering the acquisition useful to the conquerors. As the northern part of the country was least tractable, he carried his victorious arms thither and defeated the undisciplined enemy in every encounter. He pierced into the formerly inaccessible forests and mountains of Caledonia. He drove onward all those fierce and intractable spirits who preferred famine to slavery and who, rather than submit, chose to remain in perpetual hostility. Nor was it without opposition that he thus made his way into a country rude and impervious by nature. He was opposed by Galgacus at the head of a numerous army whom he defeated in a decisive action in which considerable numbers were slain. Being thus successful, he did not think proper to pursue the enemy into their retreats, but, embarking a body of troops on board his fleet, he ordered the commander to surround the whole coast of Britain, which had not been discovered to be an island till the preceding year. This armament, pursuant to his orders, steered to the northward and there subdued the Orkneys. Then, making the tour of the whole island, it arrived in the port of Sandwich without having met with the least disaster. During these military enterprises, Agricola was ever attentive to the arts of peace. He attempted to humanize the fierceness of those who acknowledged his power by introducing the Roman laws, habits, manners, and learning. He taught them to desire and raise all the conveniences of life, instructed them in the arts of agriculture, and, in order to protect them in their peaceable possessions, he drew a rampart and fixed a train of garrisons between them and their northern neighbors, thus cutting off the rudder and more barren parts of the island and securing the Roman province from the invasion of a fierce and necessitous enemy. In this manner, the Britons, being almost totally subdued, now began to throw off all hopes of recovering their former liberty and, having often experienced the superiority of the Romans, consented to submit and were content with safety. From that time, the Romans seemed more desirous of securing what they possessed than of making new conquests and were employed rather in repressing than punishing their restless northern invaders. End of Section 29 Section 30 of the Great Events by Famous Historians Volume 2 This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Rita Butros. The Great Events by Famous Historians Volume 2 Edited by Charles F. Horn Cleopatra's Conquest of Caesar and Antony B.C. 51-30 by John P. Mahafee Several Egyptian princesses of the line of the Ptolemies bore the name of Cleopatra, but history, romance, and tragedy are all illumined with the story of one, Cleopatra, the daughter of Ptolemy Oleties. Born at Alexandria B.C. 69, she ruled jointly with her brother Ptolemy from 51 to 48. Being then expelled by her colleague, she entered upon the performance of her part in Roman history when her cause was espoused by Julius Caesar, whom she had captivated by her charms. Her reinstatement by the help of Caesar, as well as all that followed in her relations with Roman rulers, was due primarily to personal considerations rather than political or military causes. And among women whose lives have vitally influenced the conduct of great historic leaders and thereby affected the course of events, Cleopatra holds a place at once the most conspicuous and most unique. Like Caesar, Mark Antony at his first interview with Cleopatra succumbed to the fascinations of the rare Egyptian and he never after ceased to be her slave. Not long after Caesar's death, Antony had married Fulvia, whom he deserted for the enchanting queen. From this point to its culmination in overwhelming disaster and the tragic death of this celebrated pair of lovers, the romantic drama of Cleopatra's conquests becomes even more important in literature than in history. This extraordinary voluptuary, whose beauty and witcheries have interested mankind for almost 20 centuries, has been the subject of some 30 tragedies in various languages. And in Antony and Cleopatra, one of his greatest plays, Shakespeare closely following the narratives of Plutarch and other classical writers, has invested her with a potency of charm unparalleled among literary creations. She matches Antony in qualities of intellect while she dazzles him with her coquettish arts. A queen, a siren, says Thomas Campbell, a Shakespeare's Cleopatra alone could have entangled Shakespeare's Antony. And Shakespeare alone, as declared by Mrs. Jameson, has dared to exhibit the Egyptian queen with all her greatness and all her littleness, all her paltry arts and dissolute passions, yet awakened our pity for a fallen grandeur without once beguiling us into sympathy with guilt. Yet the plain history of this sorceress of the Nile with her infinite variety, as told by Plutarch and the other ancients, and retold with whatever advantages gained from critical research by the modern masters, makes the same impression of moral contrast and inscrutability as that imparted by the greatest poet who has dramatized the character of Cleopatra. Now at last Egypt, coming into close connection with the world's masters, becomes the stage for some of the most striking scenes in ancient history. They seem to most readers something new and strange, the pageants and passions of the fratricide Cleopatra as something unparalleled. And yet she was one of a race in which almost every reigning princess for the last two hundred years had been swayed by like-storms of passion, or had been guilty of like-daring violations of common humanity. What Arsinoe, what Cleopatra from the first to the last had hesitated to murder a brother or a husband to assume the throne, to raise and command armies, to discard or adopt a partner of her throne from Caprice in policy, or policy in Caprice. But hitherto this desperate gambling with life had been carried on in Egypt and Syria. The play had been with Hellenistic pawns, Egyptian or Syrian princes. The last Cleopatra came to play with Roman pieces, easier apparently to move than the others. But implying higher stakes, greater glory in the victory, greater disaster in the defeat. Therefore is it that this last Cleopatra, probably no more than an average specimen of the beauty, talent, daring, and cruelty of her ancestors, has taken a unique place among them in the imagination of the world and holds her own even now and forever as a familiar name throughout the world. Ptolemy Oleti's, when dying, had taken great care not to bequeath his mortgaged kingdom to his Roman creditors. In his will he had named as his heirs the elder of his two sons and his daughter, who was the eldest of the family. He had the thought of claiming Egypt for a heritage of the Roman Republic when the whole world was the prize proposed in the civil conflict. For though the war of Caesar and Pompey had not actually broken out, the political sky was lowering with blackness and the coming tempest was muttering its thunder through the sultry air. Now about sixteen or seventeen years of age and her much younger brother, about ten, assumed the throne as was traditional without any tumult or controversy. The opening discords came from within the royal family. The tutors and advisors of the young king among whom Pothenos, a eunuch, brought up with him as his playmate, according to the custom of the court, was the ablest and most influential, persuaded him to assume sole direction of affairs and to depose his eldest sister. Cleopatra was not able to maintain herself in Alexandria but went to Syria as an exile where she promptly collected an army as was the want of these Egyptian princesses who seemed to have resources always under their control and returned within a few months, says Caesar, by way of Colosseum, to reconquer her lawful share in the throne. This happened in the fourth year of their so-called joint reign, B.C. 48, at the very time that Pompey and Caesar were engaged in their conflict for a far greater kingdom. Caesar expressed his opinion that the quarrel of the sovereigns in Egypt concerned the Roman people and himself as consul. The more so as it was in his previous consulate that the recognition of and alliance with their father had taken place. So he signified his decision that Ptolemy and Cleopatra should dismiss their armies and should discuss their claims before him by argument and not by arms. All our authorities except Dio Cassius state that he sent for Cleopatra that she might personally urge her claims, but Dio tells us with far more detail and I think greater probability that at first the quarrel with her brother was argued for her by friends till she, learning the amorous character of Caesar, sent him word that her case was being mismanaged by her advocates and she desired to plead it herself. She was then in the flower of her age about twenty and celebrated for her beauty. Moreover she had the sweetest of voices and every charm of conversation so that she was likely to ensnare even the most obdurate and elderly man. These gifts she regarded as her claims upon Caesar. She prayed therefore for an interview and adorned herself in a garb most becoming, but likely to arouse his pity and so came secretly by night to visit him. If she indeed arrived secretly and was carried into the palace by one faithful follower as a bale of carpet, it was from fear of assassination by the party of Pothinos. She knew that as soon as she had reached Caesar's sentries she was safe. As the event proved she was more than safe for in the brief interval of peace and perhaps even of apparent jollity while the royal dispute was under discussion she gained an influence over Caesar which she retained till his death. Caesar adjudicated the throne according to the will of Oletes. He even restored Cyprus to Egypt and proposed to send the younger brother and his sister Arsinoe to govern it. But he also insisted on a repayment in part at least of the enormous outstanding debt of Oletes to him and his party. A few months after Caesar's departure from Egypt Cleopatra gave birth to a son she alleged without any immediate contradiction to be the dictators. The Alexandrians called him Caesarean and she never swerved from asserting for him royal privileges. We hear of no other lover though it is impossible to imagine Cleopatra arriving at the age of twenty without providing herself with this luxury. She was however afraid to let Caesar live far from her influence and sometime before his assassination that is to say sometime between B.C. forty-eight and forty-four. She came with the young king her brother to Rome where she was received in Caesar's palace beyond the Tiber causing by her residence there considerable scandal among the stricter Romans. Cicero confesses that he went to see her but protests that his reasons for doing so were absolutely non-political. Cicero found her haughty. He does not say she was beautiful and fascinating. We do not hear of any political activity on her part though Cicero evidently suspects it. It is well nigh impossible that she can have preferred her very doubtful position at Rome to her brilliant life in the east. She was suspected of urging Caesar to move eastward the capital of his new empire to desert Rome and choose either Ilium, the imaginary cradle of his race or Alexandria as his residence. She is likely to have encouraged at all events his expedition against the Parthians which would bring him to Syria whence she hoped to gain new territory for her son. The whole situation is eloquently, perhaps too eloquently, described by Meravelle for he weaves in many conjectures of his own as if they were ascertained facts. The colors of this imitation of a hateful original, the Oriental despot were heightened by the demeanor of Cleopatra who followed her lover to Rome at his invitation. She came with the younger Ptolemaeus who now shared her throne and her ostensible object was to negotiate a treaty between her kingdom and the Commonwealth. While the Egyptian nation was formally admitted to the friendship and alliance of Rome, its sovereign was lodged in Caesar's villa on the other side of the Tiber and the statue of the most fascinating of women was erected in the temple of the goddess of love and beauty. The connection which subsisted between her and the dictator was unblushingly avowed. Public opinion demanded no concessions to its delicacy. The feelings of the injured Calpurnia had been blunted by repeated outrage and Cleopatra was encouraged to proclaim openly that her child Caesarean was the son of her Roman admirer. A tribune named Helveus Sinna ventured, it is said, to assert among his friends that he was prepared to propose a law with a dictator's sanction to enable him to marry more wives than one for the sake of progeny and to disregard in his choice the legitimate qualification of Roman descent. The Romans, however, were spared this last insult to their prejudices. The Queen of Egypt felt bitterly the scorn with which she was popularly regarded as the representative of an effeminate and licentious people. It is not improbable that she employed her fatal influence to withdraw her lover from the Roman capital and urged him to schemes of oriental conquest to bring him more completely within her toils. In the meanwhile, the haughtiness of her demeanor corresponded with the splendid anticipations in which she indulged. She held a court in the suburbs of the city at which the adherents of the dictator's policy were not the only attendants. Even his opponents and concealed enemies were glad to bask in the sunshine of her smiles. When Caesar was assassinated, she was still at Rome and had some wild hopes of having her son recognized by the Caesareans. But failing in this, she escaped secretly and sailed to Egypt not without causing satisfaction to cautious men like Cicero that she was gone. The passage in which he seems to allude to a rumor that she was about to have another child, another misfortune to the state, does not bear that interpretation. As he says, not a word concerning the young king Ptolemy, we may assume that the youth was already dead and that he died at Rome. The common belief was that Cleopatra poisoned him as soon as his increasing years made him troublesome to her. In her reign, four years are assigned to a joint rule with her elder brother, four more to that with her younger, so that this latter must have died in the same year as Caesar. Cleopatra, watching from Egypt the great civil war which ensued, summoned and commanded by the various leaders to send aid in ships and money, threatened with plunder and confiscation by those who are now exhausting Asia Minor and the islands with monstrous exactions, had ample occupation for her talents in steering safely among these constant dangers. Appian says she pleaded famine and pestilence in her country in declining the demands of Cassius for subsidies. The latter was on the point of invading Egypt at the moment denuded of defending forces and wasted with famine when he was summoned to Philippi by Brutus. It was not till BC 41 after the decisive battle of Philippi that the victorious Antony turning to subdue the east to the Caesarean cause held his joyous entrée into Ephesus and then proceeded to drain all Asia Minor of money for the satisfaction of his greedy legionaries and his own still more greedy vices. Reaching Cilicia, he sent an order to the Queen of Egypt to come before him and explain her conduct during the late war for she was reported to have sent aid to Cassius. The sequel may be told in Plutarch's famous narrative. Delius, who was sent on this message, had no sooner seen her face and remarked her adroitness and subtlety in speech than he felt convinced that Antony would not so much as think of giving any molestation to a woman like this. On the contrary, she would be the first in favour with him. So he set himself at once to pay his court to the Egyptian and gave her his advice to go in the Homeric style to Cilicia in her best attire and bade her fear nothing from Antony, the gentlest and kindest of soldiers. She had some faith in the words of Delius but more in her own attractions, which, having formally recommended her to Caesar and the young Seneas Pompey, she did not doubt might yet prove more successful with Antony. Their acquaintance was with her when a girl young and ignorant of the world, but she was to meet Antony in the time of life when women's beauty is most splendid and their intellects are in full maturity. She made great preparation for her journey of money, gifts, and ornaments of value such as so wealthy a kingdom might afford, but she brought with her her surest hopes in her own magic arts and charms. She received several letters, both from Antony and from his friends, to summon her, but she took no account of these orders and at last, as if in mockery of them, she came sailing up the river Sidnes in a barge with gilded stern and outspread sails of purple, while oars of silver beat time to the music of flutes and fives and harps. She herself lay all along under a canopy of cloth of gold dressed as Venus in her picture as beautiful young boys like painted cupids stood on each side to fan her. Her maids were dressed like sea nymphs and graces, some steering at the rudder, some working at the ropes. The perfumes diffused themselves from the vessel to the shore, which was covered with multitudes, part following the galley up the river on either bank, part running out of the city to see the sight. The marketplace was quite emptied and Antony at last was left alone sitting upon the tribunal while the word went through all the multitude that Venus was come to feast with Bacchus for the common good of Asia. On her arrival, Antony sent to invite her to supper. She thought it fit her, he should come to her so willing to show his good humor and courtesy, he complied and went. He found the preparations to receive him magnificent beyond expression, but nothing so admirable as the great number of lights for on a sudden there was let down altogether so great a number of branches with lights in them so ingeniously disposed, some in squares and some in circles that the whole thing was a spectacle that has seldom been equaled for beauty. The next day Antony invited her to supper and was very desirous to outdo her as well in magnificence as contrivance, but he found he was altogether beaten in both and was so well convinced of it that he was himself the first to jest and mock at his poverty of wit and his rustic awkwardness. She, perceiving that his railery was broad and gross and savored more of the soldier than the courtier, rejoined in the same taste and fell into it at once without any sort of reluctance or reserve for her actual beauty it is said was not in itself so remarkable that none could be compared with her or that no one could see her without being struck by it but the contact of her presence if you lived with her was irresistible. The attraction of her person joining with the charm of her conversation and the character that attended all she said or did was something bewitching. It was a pleasure merely to hear the sound of her voice with which like an instrument of many strings she could pass from one language to another so that there were few of the barbarian nations that she answered by an interpreter. To most of them she spoke herself as to the Ethiopians, Troglodites, Hebrews, Arabians, Syrians, Mades, Parthians and many others whose language she had learned which was all the more surprising because most of the kings, her predecessors scarcely gave themselves the trouble to acquire the Egyptian tongue and several of them quite abandoned the Macedonian. Antony was so captivated by her that while Fulvia his wife maintained his quarrels in Rome against Caesar by actual force of arms and the Parthian troops commanded by Labinas the king's generals having made him commander in chief were assembled in Mesopotamia and ready to enter Syria he could yet suffer himself to be carried away by her to Alexandria there to keep holiday like a boy in play and diversion squandering and fooling away in enjoyments that most costly as Antiphon says of all valuables time. They had a sort of company to which they gave a particular name calling it that of the inimitable livers. The members entertained one another daily in turn with an extravagance of expenditure beyond measure or belief. Philotas a physician of Amphisa who was at that time a student of medicine in Alexandria used to tell my grandfather Lamprius that having some acquaintance with one of the royal cooks he was invited by him being a young man to come and see the sumptuous preparations for dinner. So he was taken into the kitchen where he admired the prodigious variety of all things but particularly seeing eight wild boars roasting whole says he surely you have a great number of guests. The cook laughed at his simplicity and told him there were not above twelve to dine but that every dish was to be served up just roasted to a turn and if anything was but one minute ill timed it was spoiled and said he maybe Antony will dine just now maybe not this hour maybe he will call for wine or begin to talk and will put it off. So that he continued it is not one but many dinners must be had in readiness as it is impossible to guess at his hour. Plato admits four sorts of flattery but Cleopatra had a thousand were Antony serious or disposed to mirth she had any moment some new delight or charm to meet his wishes at every turn she was upon him let him escape her neither by day nor by night she played at dice with him drank with him hunted with him and when he exercised in arms she was there to see at night she would go rambling with him to joke with people at their doors and windows dressed like a servant woman for Antony also went in servants disguise and from these expeditions he always came home very scurvally answered and sometimes even beaten severely though most people guessed who it was however the Alexandrians in general liked it all well enough and joined good humoredly and kindly in his frolic and play saying they were much obliged to Antony for acting his tragic parts at Rome and keeping his comedy for them it would be trifling without end to be particular in relating his follies but his fishing must not be forgotten he went out one day to angle with Cleopatra and being so unfortunate as to catch nothing in the presence of his mistress he gave secret orders to the fishermen to dive underwater and put fishes that had been already taken upon his hooks and there he drew in so fast that the Egyptian perceived it but feigning great admiration she told everybody how dexterous Antony was and invited them next day to come and see him again so when a number of them had come on board the fishing boats as soon as he had let down his hook one of her servants was beforehand with his divers and fixed upon his hook assaulted fish from Pontus Antony, feeling his line taut drew up the prey and when as may be imagined a great laughter ensued leave said Cleopatra the fishing rod autocrat to us poor sovereigns of pharaohs and canopas your game is cities, kingdoms and continents Plutarch does not mention the most tragic and the most characteristic proof of Cleopatra's complete conquest of Antony among his other crimes of obedience he sent by her orders and put to death the princess Arsinoe who knowing well her danger had taken refuge as a suppliant in the temple of Artemis Lucofrini at Miletus End of section 30 section 31 of the great events by famous historians volume 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org recording by Rita Boutros the great events by famous historians volume 2 by Charles F. Horne Rossiter Johnson and John Rudd Cleopatra's conquest of Caesar and Antony bc 51 to 30 by John P. Maffey it is not our duty to follow the various complications of war and diplomacy accompanied by the marriage with the serious and gentle Octavia whereby the brilliant but disillute Antony was weaned as it were from his follies and persuaded to live a life of public activity whether the wily Octavian did not foresee the result whether he did not even sacrifice his sister to accumulate odium against his dangerous rival is not for us to determine but when it was arranged in bc 36 that Antony should lead an expedition against the Parthians any man of ordinary sense must have known that he would come within the reach of the Eastern Siren and was sure to be again attracted by her fatal voice it is hard to account for her strange patience during these four years she had born twins to Antony probably after the meeting in Cilicia though she still maintained the claims of her eldest son Caesarean to be the divine Julius's only direct heir we do not hear of her sending requests to Antony to support him or that any agents were working in her interests at Rome she was too subtle a woman to solicit his return to Alexandria there are mistaken insinuations that she thought the chances of Sextus Pompeii with his naval supremacy better than those of Antony but these stories refer to her brother Seneas who visited Egypt before Pharsalia it is probably to this pause in her life as we know it that we may refer her activity in repairing and enlarging the national temples the splendid edifice at Dendera at present among the most perfect of Egyptian temples bears no older names than those of Cleopatra and her son Caesarean and their portraits represent the latter as a growing lad his mother as an essentially Egyptian figure conventionally drawn according to the rules which had determined the figures of gods and kings for 1500 years under these circumstances it is idle to speak of this well-known relief picture as a portrait of the queen it is no more so than the granite statues in the Vatican are portraits of Philadelphus and Arsenae the artist had probably never seen the queen and if he had it would not have produced the slightest alteration in his drawing Plutarch expressly says that it was not in peerless beauty that her fascination lay but in the combination of more than average beauty with many other personal attractions the Egyptian portrait is likely to confirm in the spectator's mind the impression derived from Shakespeare's play that Cleopatra was a swarthy Egyptian in strong contrast to the fair Roman ladies and suggesting a wide difference of race she was no more an Egyptian than she was an Indian but a pure Macedonian of a race akin to and perhaps fairer than the Greeks no sooner had Antony reached Syria than the fell influence of the Egyptian queen revived in the words of Plutarch but the mischief that thus long had lain still the passion for Cleopatra which better thoughts had seemed to have lulled and charmed into oblivion upon his approach to Syria gathered strength again and broke out into a flame and in fine like Plato's restive and rebellious horse of the human soul flinging off all good and wholesome counsel and breaking fairly loose he sent Fontaeus Capito to bring Cleopatra into Syria to whom at her arrival he made no small or trifling present Venetia called Syria Cyprus great part of Cilicia that side of Judea which produces balm that part of Arabia where the Nabataeans extend to the outer sea profuse gifts which much displeased the Romans for although he had invested several private persons with great governments and kingdoms and bereaved many kings of theirs as Antigonus of Judea whose head he caused to be struck off the first example of that punishment being inflicted on a king nothing stung the Romans like the shame of these honors paid to Cleopatra their dissatisfaction was augmented also by his acknowledging as his own the twin children he had by her giving them the names of Alexander and Cleopatra and adding as their surnames the titles of sun and moon after much dallying the triumvir really started for the wild east whether it is not our business to follow him Cleopatra he sent home to Egypt to await his victorious return and it was on this occasion that she came in state to Jerusalem to visit Herod the Great probably the most brilliant scene of the kind which had taken place since the queen of Sheba came to learn the wisdom of Solomon but it was a very different wisdom that Herod professed and in which he was verily a high authority nor was the subtle daughter of the Ptolemies a docile pupil but a practiced expert in the same arts of cruelty and cunning where with both pursued their several courses of ambition and sought to weedle from their Roman masters cities and provinces the reunion of Antony and Cleopatra must have greatly alarmed Herod whose plans were directly thwarted by the freaks of Antony and he must have been preparing at the time to make his case with Octavian and seek from his favor protection against the new caprices of the then lord of the east the scene at Herod's palace must have been inimitable the display of counter-fascinations between these two tigers their voluptuous natures mutually attracted their hatred giving to each that deep interest in the other which so often turns to mutual passion while it incites to conquest the grace and finish of their manners concealing a ruthless ferocity the splendor of their appointments what more dramatic picture can we imagine in history we hear that she actually attempted to seduce Herod but failed owing to his deep devotion to his wife Mariamne the prosaic Josephus adds that Herod consulted his council whether he should not put her to death for this attempt upon his virtue he was dissuaded by them on the ground and Antony would listen to no arguments not even from the most persuasive of the world's princes and would take awful vengeance when he heard of her death so she was escorted with great gifts and politenesses back to Egypt such then was the character of this notorious queen but her violation of temples and even of ancient tombs for the sake of treasure must have been a far more public and odious exhibition of that want of respect for the sentiment of others which is the essence of bad manners as is well known the first campaign of Antony against Armenians and Parthians was a signal failure and it was only with great difficulty that he escaped the fate of Crassus but Cleopatra was ready to meet him in Syria with provisions and clothes for his distressed and ragged battalions and he returned with her to spend the winter B.C. 36-35 at Alexandria she thus snatched him again from his noble wife Octavia who had come from Rome to Athens with suckers even greater than Cleopatra had brought this at least is the word of the historians who write in the interests of the Romans and regard the queen of Egypt with horror and with fear the new campaign of Antony B.C. 34 was apparently more prosperous but it was only carried far enough to warrant his holding a Roman triumph at Alexandria perhaps the only novelty in Pomp which the triumphor could exhibit at Alexandria and Populus while it gave the most poignant offence at Rome it was apparently now that he made that formal distribution of provinces which Octavian used as his chief Casus Belli nor was the division he made among his sons at Alexandria less unpopular it seemed a theatrical piece of insolence and contempt of his country for assembling the people in the exercise ground and causing two golden thrones to be placed on a platform of silver the one for him and the other for Cleopatra and at their feet lower thrones for their children he proclaimed Cleopatra Queen of Egypt Cyprus, Libya and Koli, Syria and with her conjointly Caesarean the reputed son of the former Caesar his own sons by Cleopatra were to have the style of King of Kings to Alexandria he gave Armenia and Medea with Parthia so soon as it should be overcome to Ptolemy, Phoenicia Syria and Cilicia Alexander was brought out before the people in median costume Tiara and upright peak and Ptolemy in boots and mantle and Macedonian cap done about with the diadem for this was the habit of the successors of Alexander as the other was of the Medes and Armenians and as soon as they had saluted their parents the one was received by a guard of Macedonians the other by one of Armenians Cleopatra was then as at other times when she appeared in public dressed in the habit of the goddess Isis and gave audience to the people under the name of the new Isis this over he gave Prienne to his players for a habitation and set sail for Athens where fresh sports and play acting employed him Cleopatra, jealous of the honors Octavia had received at Athens for Octavia was much beloved by the Athenians courted the favor of the people with all sorts of attentions the Athenians in requital having decreed her public honors deputed several of the citizens to wait upon her at her house among whom went Antony as one he being an Athenian citizen and he it was that made the speech the speed and extent of Antony's preparations alarmed Caesar who feared he might be forced to fight the decisive battle that summer for he wanted many necessaries and the people grudged very much to pay the taxes Freeman being called upon to pay a fourth part of their incomes and freed slaves an eighth of their property so that there were loud outcries against him and disturbances throughout all Italy and this is looked upon as one of the greatest of Antony's oversights that he did not then press the war for he allowed time at once for Caesar to make his preparations and for the commotions to pass over for while people were having their money called for they were mutinous and violent but having paid it they held their peace Titius and Plancas men of consular dignity and friends to Antony having been ill-used by Cleopatra whom they had most resisted in her design of being present in the war came over to Caesar and gave information of the contents of Antony's will with which they were acquainted it was deposited in the hands of the Vestal Virgins who refused to deliver it up and sent Caesar word if he pleased he should come and seize it himself which he did and reading it over to himself he noted those places that were most for his purpose and having summoned the senate read them publicly many were scandalized at the proceeding thinking it out of reason and equity to call a man to account for what was not to be until after his death Caesar specially pressed what Antony said in his will about his burial for he had ordered that even if he died in the city of Rome his body after being carried in state through the forum should be sent to Cleopatra at Alexandria Calvissius a dependent of Caesars urged other charges in connection with Cleopatra against Antony that he had given her the library of Pergamos containing 200,000 distinct volumes that at a great banquet in the presence of many guests he had risen up and rubbed her feet to fulfill some wager or promise that he had suffered the Ephesians to salute her as their queen that he had frequently at the public audience of kings and princes received amorous messages written in tablets made of onyx and crystal and read them openly on the tribunal that when Furnius a man of great authority and eloquence among the Romans was pleading Cleopatra happening to pass by in her litter Antony started up and left them in the middle of their cause to follow at her side and attend her home when war was declared Antony sought to gain the support of the east in the conflict he made alliance with a median king who betrothed his daughter to Cleopatra's infant son Alexander but he made the fatal mistake of allowing Cleopatra to accompany him to Samos where he gathered his army and even to Actium where she led the way in flying from the fight and so persuading the infatuated Antony to leave his army and join in her disgraceful escape historians have regarded this act of Cleopatra as the mere cowardice of a woman who feared to look upon an armed conflict and join in the din of battle but she was surely made of sterner stuff she had probably computed with the utmost care the chances of the rivals and had made up her mind that in spite of Antony's gallantry his cause was lost if she fought out the battle with her strong contingent of ships she would probably fall into Octavian's hands as a prisoner and would have no choice between suicide or death in the Roman prison after being exhibited to the mob in Octavian's triumph there was no chance whatever that she would have been spared as was her sister Arsinoe after Julius Caesar's triumph nor would such clemency be less hateful than death but there was still a chance if Antony were killed or taken prisoner that she might negotiate with the victor as queen of Egypt with her fleet, army and treasures intact and who could tell what effect her charms though now full-ripe might have upon the conqueror two great Romans had yielded to her why not the third who seemed a smaller man this view implies that she was already false to Antony and it may well be asked how such a charge is compatible with the affecting scenes which followed at Alexandria where her policy seemed defeated by her passion and she felt her old love too strong even for her heartless ambition I will say an answer that there is no more frequent anomaly in the psychology of female love than a strong passion coexisting with selfish ambition so that each takes the lead in turn nay even the consciousness of treachery may so intensify the passion as to make a woman embrace with keener transports the lover whom she has betrayed than one whom she has no thought of surrendering there are moreover in these tragedies unexpected accidents which so affect even the hardest nature that calculations are cast aside and the old loyalty resumes a temporary sway nor must we fail to insist again upon the traditions wherein this last Cleopatra was born and bred she came from a stock whose women played with love and with life as if they were mere counters to hesitate whether such a scion of such a house would have delayed to discard Antony and to assume another passion is to show small appreciation of the effects of heredity and of example Dionne tells us that she arrived in Alexandria before the news of her defeat and pretended a victory and took the occasion of committing many murders in order to get rid of secret opponents and also to gather wealth by confiscation of their goods for both she and Antony who came along the coast of Libya seems still to have thought of defending the inaccessible Egypt and making terms for themselves but Antony's efforts completely failed no one would rally to his standard and meanwhile the false queen had begun to send presents to Caesar and encourage him to treat with her but when he bluntly proposed to her to murder Antony as the price of her reconciliation with himself and when he even declared by proxy that he was in love with her he clearly made a rash move in this game of diplomacy though Dionne says he persuaded her of his love and that accordingly she betrayed to him the fortress of Pelusium the key of the country Dionne also differs from Plutarch in repeatedly ascribing to Octavian great anxiety to secure the treasures which Cleopatra had with her and which she was likely to destroy by fire if driven to despair the historian may well leave to the biographer nay to the poet the affecting details of the closing scenes of Cleopatra's life in the fourth and fifth acts of Antony and Cleopatra Shakespeare has reproduced every detail of Plutarch's narrative which was drawn from that of her physician Olympos her fascinations were not dead for they swayed Dallabella to play false to his master so far as to warn her of his intentions and leave her time for her dignified and royal end but if these Hellenistic queens knew how to die they knew not how to live even the penultimate scene of the tragedy when she presents an inventory of her treasures to Octavian and is charged by her steward with dishonesty shows her in uncivilized violence striking the man in the face and bursting into indecent fury such as an Athenian still less a Roman matron would have been ashamed to exhibit nor is there any reason to doubt the genuineness of this scene though we must not be weary of cautioning ourselves against the hostile witnesses who have reported to us her life they praise nothing in her but her bewitching presence and her majestic death after her repast Cleopatra sent to Caesar a letter which she had written and sealed and putting everybody out of the monument but her two women she shut the doors Caesar opening her letter and finding pathetic prayers and entreaties that she might be buried in the same tomb with Antony soon guessed what was doing at first he was going himself in all haste but changing his mind he sent others to see the thing had been quickly done the messengers came at full speed and found the guards apprehensive of nothing but on opening the doors they saw her stone dead lying upon a bed of gold set out in all her royal ornaments Eras one of her women lay dying at her feet and Charmian just ready to fall scarce able to hold up her head was adjusting her mistresses diadem when one that came in said angrily was this well done of your lady Charmian perfectly well she answered and as became the daughter of so many kings and as she said this she fell down dead by the bedside even the hostile accounts cannot conceal from us that both in physique and in intellect she was a very remarkable figure exceptional in her own exceptional had she been born in any other age she is a speaking instance of the falsehood of a prevailing belief that the intermarriage of near relations invariably produces a decadence in the human race the whole dynasty of the Ptolemies contradicts this current theory and exhibits in the last of the series the most signal exception Cleopatra the sixth was descended from many generations of breeding in of which four exhibit marriages of full brother and sister and yet she was deficient in no quality physical or intellectual which goes to make up a well bred and well developed human being her morals were indeed those of her ancestors and as bad as could be but I am not aware that it is degeneration in this direction which is assumed by the theory in question except as a consequence of physical decay physically however Cleopatra was perfect she was not only beautiful but prolific and retained her vigor and apparently her beauty to the time of her death when she was nearly 40 years old End of section 31 section 32 of the great events by famous historians volume 2 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org the great events by famous historians volume 2 edited by Charles F. Horn Roseter Johnson and John Rudd assassination of Caesar BC 44 by Bartolt Georg Niebuhr Caesar's assassination forms the groundwork of one of Shakespeare's most notable tragedies the itching palm of Cassius Brutus's rectitude and honesty of purpose and Mark Antony's oration will ever live while the English language endures when the great Caesar was struck down the civil war was over and he was master of the world the month of the year BC 100 in which he was born Quinctilus was afterward called in his honor July Caius Julius Caesar was one of the greatest figures in history and early took a prominent part in the affairs of Rome he was a rival of Cicero in forensic eloquence and highly esteemed as a writer his commentaries being universally admired ransomed from pirates who had captured him on his way to study philosophy at Rhodes he attacked them in turn took them to Pergamos and crucified them after various successful engagements Caesar marched against Pharnaces now established in the kingdom of the Bosphorus gaining at Zela in Pontus the decisive victory which he announced in the famous dispatch Veni Vidi Vici I came, I saw, I conquered his unbounded affability his liveliness and cordiality his unaffected kindness to his friends had made him popular with the high as well as the low his ambition began to show itself during the wrangles over the election of Afrinius as consul Caesar returned from his brilliant successes in Spain the troops saluted him as Imperator and the senate voted a thanksgiving in his honor he was now strong enough to take his place as the leader of the popular party he was elected consul in spite of the hostility of the senate a coalition was formed between Caesar and Pompeii Caesar's agrarian law added to his popularity with the people and he gained the influence of the equities by relief of one third of the farmed taxes of Asia he now became proconsul of Illyricum and Gaul for five years this suited his ambition at this time Pompeii was the absolute master of Rome and now arose his duel for power with Caesar for a time he opposed the latter's election as consul but later yielded Caesar had achieved his brilliant success beyond the Alps he had won victories in Gaul and Britain but in the meantime his enemies had been active at Rome still believing that the senate would permit his quiet election to the consulship he refused to strike any blow at their authority but the senate had determined to humble Caesar both Pompeii and Caesar were removed from leadership but the consul Marcellus refused to execute the decree Caesar was directed by the senate to disband his army by a fixed day on pain of being considered a public enemy Pompeii sided with the senate this meant civil war Antony and Cassius fled to the camp of Caesar who was enthusiastically supported by his soldiers and crossed the Rubicon having become master of all Italy in three months without a battle Caesar re-entered Rome Pompeii had fled and at the battle of Farsalia was utterly rooted and took refuge in Egypt he was murdered a few days before the arrival of Caesar upon receipt of the news of Pompeii's death Caesar was named dictator for one year the government was now placed without disguise in his hands he was invested with the tribunition powerful life he was also again elected consul and named dictator Caesar had now become a demigod and was named dictator for ten years being awarded a four fold triumph and a thanksgiving being decreed for forty days he was also made censor this was in BC 46 after defeating the remnant of the Pompeians he returned to Rome in September BC 45 and was named imperator and appointed consul for ten years and dictator for life being hailed as parent's patrie all these triumphs had caused jealousies it was thought that he aspired to become king and this led to his fall Niebuhr it is one of the inestimable advantages of a hereditary government commonly called the legitimate whatever its forms may be that it may be formally inactive in regard to the state and the population that it may reserve its interference until it is absolutely necessary and apparently leave things to take their own course if we look around us and observe the various constitutions we shall scarcely perceive the interference of the government the greater part of the time passes away without those who have the reins in their hands being obliged to pay any particular attention to what they are doing the very large amount of individual liberty may be enjoyed but if the government is what we call a usurpation the ruler is not only to take care to maintain his power but in all that he undertakes he has to consider by what means and in what ways he can establish his right to govern and his own personal qualifications for it men who are in such a position are urged on to act by a very sad necessity from which they cannot escape and such was the position of Caesar at Rome in our European states men have wide and extensive spheres in which they can act and move the much-decried system of centralization has indeed many disadvantages but it has this advantage for the ruler that he can exert an activity which shows its influence far and wide but what could Caesar do in the center of nearly the whole of the known world he could not hope to effect any material improvements either in Italy or in the provinces he had been accustomed from his youth and more especially during the last 15 years to an enormous activity and idleness was intolerable to him at the close of the Civil War he would have had little or nothing to do unless he had turned his attention to some foreign enterprise he was obliged to venture upon something that would occupy his whole soul for he could not rest his thoughts were therefore again directed to war and that in a quarter where the most brilliant triumphs awaited him where the bones of the legions of Crassus lay one avenged to a war against the Parthians about this time the GT also had spread in Thrace and he intended to check their progress likewise but his main problem was to destroy the Parthian empire and to extend the Roman dominion as far as India a plan in which he would certainly have been successful and he himself felt so sure of this that he was already thinking of what he should undertake afterward it is by no means incredible that, as we are told he intended on his return to march through the passes of the Caucasus and through ancient Scythia into the country of the GT and thence through Germany and Gaul into Italy besides this expedition he entertained other plans of no less gigantic dimensions the port of Astia was bad and in reality little better than a mere roadstead so that great ships could not come up from the river accordingly it is said that Caesar intended to dig a canal for seaships from the Tiber, above or below Rome through the Pontein marshes as far as Teresina he further contemplated to cut through the Isthmus of Corinth it is not easy to see in what manner he would have accomplished this considering the state of hydraulic architecture in those times the Roman canals were mere façade and canals with sluices though not unknown to the Romans were not constructed by them footnote, the first canals with sluices were executed by the Dutch in the 15th century end footnote the fact of Caesar forming such enormous plans is not very surprising but we can scarcely comprehend how it was possible for him to accomplish so much of what he undertook in the short time of five months preceding his death following the unfortunate system of Sula Caesar founded throughout Italy a number of colonies of veterans the old Sulanian colonists were treated with great severity and many of them and their children were expelled from their lands and were thus punished for the cruelty which they or their fathers had committed against the inhabitants of the Municipia in like manner colonies were established in southern Gaul Italy, Africa and other parts I may mention in particular the colonies founded at Carthage and Corinth the latter however was a colonia libretinorum and never rose to any importance I do not know the details of its foundation but one would imagine that Caesar would have preferred restoring the place as a purely Greek town this however he did not do its population was and remained a mixed one and Corinth never rose to a state of real prosperity Caesar made various new arrangements in the state and among others he restored the full franchise or the just honorum to the sons of those who had been prescribed in the time of Sula he had obtained for himself the title of Emperor and the dictatorship for life and the consulship for ten years half of the offices of the Republic to which persons had before been elected by the centuries were in his gift and for the other half he usually recommended candidates so that the elections were merely nominal the tribes seem to have retained their rights of election uncurtailed and the last tribunes must have been elected by the people but although Caesar did not himself confer the consulship yet the whole Republic was reduced to a mere form and appearance Caesar made various new laws and regulations for example to lighten the burdens of debtors and the like but the changes he introduced in the form of the constitution were of little importance he increased the number of praetors which Sula had raised to eight successively to ten, twelve, fourteen and sixteen and the number of quaestors was increased to forty hence the number of persons from whom the senate was to be filled up became greater than that of the vacancies and Caesar accordingly increased the number of senators though it is uncertain what number he fixed upon and raised a great many of his friends to the dignity of senators in this as in many other cases he acted very arbitrarily for he elected into the senate whosoever he pleased and conferred the franchise in a manner equally arbitrary these things did not fail to create much discontent it is a remarkable fact that notwithstanding his mode of filling up the senate not even the majority of senators were attached to his cause after his death if we consider the changes and regulations which Caesar introduced it must strike us as a singular circumstance that among all his measures there is no trace of any indicating that he thought of modifying the constitution for the purpose of putting an end to the anarchy for all his changes are in reality not essential or of great importance Sula felt the necessity of remodeling the constitution but he did not attain his end and the manner too in which he said about it was that of a short-sighted man but he was at least intelligent enough to see that the constitution as it then was could not continue to exist in the regulations of Caesar we see no trace of such a conviction and I think that he despaired of the possibility of effecting any real good by constitutional reforms hence among all his laws there is not one that had any relation to the constitution the fact of his increasing the number of patrician families had no reference to the constitution so far in fact were the patricians from having any advantages over the plebeians that the office of the two Adilis Sirialis which Caesar instituted was confined to the plebeians a regulation which was opposed to the very nature of the patrician his raising persons to the rank of patricians was neither more nor less than the modern practice of raising a family to the rank of nobility he picked out an individual and gave him the rank of patrician for himself and his descendants but did not elevate a whole gens the distinction itself was merely a nominal one and conferred no privilege upon a person except that of holding certain priestly offices which could be filled by none but patricians and for which their number was scarcely sufficient if Caesar had died quietly the republic would have been in the same, nay, in a much worse state of dissolution than if he had not existed at all I consider it a proof of the wisdom and good sense of Caesar that he did not, like Sulla think an improvement in the state of public affairs so near at hand or a matter of so little difficulty the cure of the disease lay yet at a very great distance and the first condition on which it could be undertaken was the sovereignty of Caesar the condition which would have been quite unbearable even to many of his followers who as rebels did not scruple to go along with him the Rome could no longer exist as a republic it is curious to see in Cicero's work, the Republica, the consciousness running through it that Rome, as it then stood, required the strong hand of a king Cicero had surely often owned this to himself but he saw no one who would have entered into such an idea the title of king had a great fascination for Caesar as it had for Cromwell, a surprising phenomenon in a practical mind like that of Caesar everyone knows the fact that while Caesar was sitting on the suggestum during the celebration of the Lupercalia, Antony presented to him the diadem to try how the people would take it Caesar saw the great alarm which the act created and declined the diadem for the sake of appearance but had the people been silent Caesar would unquestionably have accepted it his refusal was accompanied by loud shouts of acclamation which for the present rendered all further attempts impossible Antony then had a statue of Caesar adorned with the diadem but two tribunes of the people, Alcacetius, Flavius, and Epidius Marullus took it away and here Caesar showed the real state of his feelings for he treated the conduct of the tribunes as a personal insult toward himself he had lost his self-possession and his fate carried him irresistibly onward he wished to have the tribunes imprisoned but was prevailed upon to be satisfied with their being stripped of their office and sent into exile this created a great sensation at Rome Caesar had also been guilty of an act of thoughtlessness or perhaps merely of distraction this might happen very easily to a man in his circumstances when the senate had made its last decrees conferring upon Caesar unlimited powers the senators, consuls, and praetors or the whole senate infestal attire presented the decrees to him and Caesar at the moment forgot to show his respect for the senators he did not rise from his cellicurulus but received the decrees in an unceremonious manner this want of politeness was never forgiven by the persons who had not scrupled to make him their master for it had been expected that he would at least behave politely and be grateful for such decrees Caesar himself had no design in the act which was merely the consequence of distraction or thoughtlessness but it made the senate his irreconcilable enemies the affair with the tribunes moreover had made a deep impression upon the people we must however remember that the people under such circumstances are most sensible to anything affecting their honor as we have seen at the beginning of the French Revolution in the year of Caesar's death Brutus and Cassius were praetors both had been generals under Pompeii Brutus' mother, Servilia, was a half-sister of Cato for after the death of her first husband Cato's mother had married Servilia's Capio she was a remarkable woman but very immoral and unworthy of her son not even the honor of her own daughter was sacred to her the family of Brutus derived its origin from El Unius Brutus and from the time of its first appearance among the plebeians it had few men of importance to boast of during the period subsequent to the passing of the Lysinian laws we meet with some Uni in the Fasty but not one of them acquired any great reputation the family had become reduced and almost contemptible one Mr. Brutus in particular disgraced his family by syncophancy in the time of Sulla and was afterward killed in Gaul by Pompeii although no Roman family belonged to a more illustrious gen yet Brutus was not by any means one of those men who are raised by fortunate circumstances the education however which he received had a great influence upon him his uncle Cato whose daughter Portia he married whether in Cato's lifetime or afterward is doubtful had initiated him from his early youth in the stoic philosophy and had instilled into his mind a veneration for it as though it had been a religion Brutus had qualities which Cato did not possess the latter had something of an aesthetic nature and was if I may say so a scrupulously pious character but Brutus had no such scrupulous timidity his mind was more flexible and lovable Cato spoke well but could not be reckoned among the eloquent men of his time Brutus's great talents had been developed with the utmost care and if he had lived longer and in peace he would have become a classical writer of the highest order he had been known to Cicero from his early age and Cicero felt a fatherly attachment to him he saw in him a young man who he hoped would exert a beneficial influence upon the next generation Caesar too had known and loved him from his childhood but the stories which are related to account for this attachment must be rejected as foolish inventions of idle persons where nothing is more natural than that Caesar should look with great fondness upon a young man of such extraordinary and amiable qualities the absence of envy was one of the distinguishing features in the character of Caesar as it was in that of Cicero in the battle of Farsalis Brutus served in the army of Pompeii and after the battle he wrote a letter to Caesar who had inquired after him and when Caesar heard of his safety he was delighted and invited him to his camp Caesar afterward gave him the administration of Cisopene Gaul where Brutus distinguished himself in a very extraordinary manner by his love of justice Cassius was related to Brutus and had likewise belonged to the Pompeian party but he was very unlike Brutus he was much older and a distinguished military officer after the death of Crassus he had maintained himself as questor in Syria against the Parthians and he enjoyed a very great reputation in the army but he was after all no better than an ordinary officer of Caesar after the battle of Farsalis Caesar did not at first know whether Pompeii was gone Cassius was at the time stationed with some galleys in the helispond not withstanding which Caesar with his usual boldness took a boat to sail across that straight and on meeting Cassius called upon him to embrace his party Cassius readily complied and Caesar forgave him as he forgave all his adversaries even Marcellus who had mortally offended him was pardoned at the request of Cicero Caesar thus endeavored to efface all recollections of the Civil War Caesar had appointed both Brutus and Cassius praetors for that year with the exception of the office of Praetor Urbanus which was honourable and lucrative the praetorship was a burdensome office and conferred little distinction since the other praetors were only the presidents of the courts formerly they had been elected by lot but the office was now altogether in the gifts of Caesar both Brutus and Cassius had wished for the praetor Urbana and when Caesar gave that office to Brutus Cassius was not only indignant at Caesar but began quarreling with Brutus also while Cassius was in this state of exasperation a meeting of the senate was announced for the 15th of March on which day, as the report went a proposal was to be made to offer Caesar the crown this was a welcome opportunity for Cassius who resolved to take vengeance for he had even before entertained a personal hatred of Caesar and was now disappointed at not having obtained the city praetorship he first sounded to Brutus and finding that he was safe made direct overtures to him during the night someone wrote on the tribunal and the house of Brutus the words remember that thou art Brutus Brutus became reconciled to Cassius offered his assistance and gained over several other persons to join the conspiracy all party differences seem to have vanished all at once two of the conspirators were old generals of Caesar C. Trebonius and Decimus Brutus both of whom had fought with him in Gaul and against Messilia and had been raised to high honors by their chief there were among the conspirators persons of all parties men who had fought against one another at Forsalis now went hand in hand and entrusted their lives to one another no proposals were made to Cicero the reasons usually assigned for which are of the most galliumniatory kind it is generally said that the conspirators had no confidence in Cicero an opinion which is perfectly contemptible Cicero would not have betrayed them for any consideration but what they feared were his objections Brutus had as noble a soul as anyone but he was passionate Cicero on the other hand who was at an advanced age had many sad experiences and his feelings were so exceedingly delicate that he could not have consented to take away the life of him to whom he himself owed his own who had always behaved most nobly toward him and had intentionally drawn him before the world as his friend Caesar's conduct toward those who had fought in the ranks of Pompey and afterward returned to him was extremely noble and he regarded the reconciliation of those men as a personal favor conferred upon himself all who knew Cicero must have been convinced that he would not have given his consent to the plan of the conspirators and if they ever did give the matter a serious thought they must have owned to themselves that every wise man would have dissuaded them from it for it was in fact the most complete absurdity to fancy that the Republic could be restored by Caesar's death Goethe says somewhere that the murder of Caesar was the most senseless act that the Romans ever committed and a truer word was never spoken the result of it could not possibly be any other than that which did follow the deed Caesar was cautioned by Hersheus and Panza both wise men of noble character especially the former who saw that the Republic must become consolidated and not thrown into fresh convulsions they advised Caesar to be careful not to take a bodyguard but he replied that he would rather not live at all than be in constant fear of losing his life Caesar once expressed to some of his friends his conviction that Brutus was capable of hovering a murderous design but he added that as he, Caesar, could not live much longer Brutus would wait and not be guilty of such a crime Caesar's health was at the time weak but his moral opinion was that he intended to surrender his power to Brutus as the most worthy while the conspirators were making their preparations Portia, the wife of Brutus inferred from the excitement and restlessness of her husband that some fearful secret was pressing on his mind but as he did not show her any confidence she seriously wounded herself with a knife and was seized with a violent wound fever no one knew the cause of her illness and it was not till after many entreaties of her husband that at length she revealed it to him saying that as she had been able to conceal the cause of her illness so she could also keep any secret that might be entrusted to her her entreaties induced Brutus to communicate to her the plan of the conspirators Caesar was also cautioned by the Harrah species by a dream of his wife and by his own forebodings which we have no reason for doubting but on the morning of the 15th of March the day fixed upon for assassinating Caesar Decimus Brutus treacherously enticed him to go with him to the Curia as it was impossible to delay the deed any longer the conspirators were at first seized with fear lest their plan should be betrayed but on Caesar's entrance into the Senate House C. Tillius, not Tullius, Kimber made his way up to him and insulted him with his importunities and Koska gave the first stroke Caesar fell covered with 23 wounds he was either in his 56th year or had completed it I am not quite certain on this point though if we judge by the time of his first consulship he must have been 56 years old his birthday, which is not generally known was the 11th of Quintillus which month was afterward called Julius and his death took place on the 15th of March between 11 and 12 o'clock End of section 32