History of Julius Caesar Vol. 1 of 2

1200

Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 12.

1201

Cicero, Letters to Quintus, I. 2.

1202

Suetonius, Cæsar, 23; Nero, 2.

1203

Suetonius, Cæsar, 23. – Valerius Maximus, III. 7, 9.

1204

“At the gates of Rome there was a general invested with authority for many years, and at the head of a great army (cum magno exercitu). Was he my enemy? I do not say he was; but I knew that when people said so, he was silent.” (Cicero, Oration after his return in the Senate, 13.) – “Oppressos, vos, inquit, tenebo exercitu Cæsaris.” (Cicero, Letters to Atticus, II. 16.) – “Clodius said he would invade the curia at the head of Cæsar’s army.” (Cicero, Oration on the Report of the Augurs, 22.) – “Cæsar had already gone out of Rome with his army.” (Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 17.)

1205

In several passages of Cicero’s letters, Cæsar is represented as being at the gates of Rome at the head of his army; and yet we know from his Commentaries that at the beginning of the war in Gaul he had only four legions, of which one was stationed on the banks of the Rhine, and the three others at Aquileia, in Illyria. It is, therefore, difficult to understand how he could have had troops at the gates of Rome, of which no further mention is made in the course of his campaign. The only way to reconcile the letters of Cicero with the Commentaries is to allow that Cæsar, independently of the legions which he found beyond the frontiers of Italy, summoned to his standard the volunteers and Roman veterans who were desirous of following him. Mustering at the gate of Rome, they joined him subsequently in Gaul, and were merged in the legions. This supposition is the more probable, as in 700, when the question of re-electing Pompey and Crassus to the consulship was brought forward, Cæsar sent to Rome a great number of soldiers to vote in the comitia. Hence, as all the legions had been recruited in Cisalpine Gaul, the inhabitants of which did not possess the right of Roman city, he must have had other Roman citizens in his army. Besides, if Cæsar appealed to the veterans, he only followed the example of nearly all the Roman generals, and among others of Scipio, Flamininus, and Marius. In fact, when Cornelius Scipio departed for the war against Antiochus, there were five thousand volunteers at the gates of Rome – citizens as well as allies – who had served in all the campaigns of his brother, Scipio Africanus. (Titus Livius, XXXVII. 4.) – “When Flamininus left to join the legions in Macedonia, he took with him three thousand veterans who had fought against Hannibal and Hasdrubal.” (Plutarch, Flamininus, III.) – “Marius, before leaving for the war against Jugurtha, appealed to all the bravest soldiers of Latium. He knew most of them for having served under his eyes, and the rest by reputation. By force of solicitation, he obliged even the veterans to go with him.” (Sallust, War of Jugurtha, LXXXIV.)

1206

“At the present moment he (Clodius) is agitating and raging; he knows not what he wants; he makes hostile demonstrations on this side and on that, and seems to intend to leave to chance where he shall strike. When he gives a thought to the unpopularity of the present state of things, you would say he was going to fly at the authors of it; but when he sees on which side are the means of action and the armed force, he turns round against us.” (Cicero, Letters to Atticus, II. 22.)

1207

These clubs (collegia compitalitia) had an organisation which was almost military, divided into districts, and composed exclusively of the proletaries. (See Mommsen, Roman History, III. 290.) – “The slaves enrolled under pretence of forming corporations.” (Cicero, Oration after his return in the Senate, 13.)

1208

An exception, however, was made in 690, in favour of the corporations of artisans. (Asconius, In Pisone, IV. p. 7; In Corneliana, p. 75, edit. Orelli.)

1209

Cicero, Oration against Piso, 4. – Asconius, On the Oration of Cicero against Piso, pp. 7, 8, edit. Orelli. – Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 13.

1210

Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 13.

1211

Dio Cassius, XXXVIII. 17.

1212

“I receive from Cæsar the most flattering invitations, asking me to join him as lieutenant.” (Cicero, Letters to Atticus, II. 17.) – “He has got my enemy (Clodius) transferred to the plebeian order: either because he was irritated to see that even his kindness could not persuade me to join his side, or because he yielded to the urgency of others. My refusal could not have been regarded as an insult, for subsequently to it he advised me, nay, even entreated me, to serve him as lieutenant. I did not accept this office, not because I thought it beneath me, but because I was far from suspecting that the State could possibly have, after Cæsar, any consuls so infamous as these (Piso and Gabinius).” (Cicero, Oration about the Consular Provinces, 17.)

1213

“Thanks to the pains I take, my popularity and my strength increase daily. I do not meddle with politics in any way – not the least. My house is crowded; my friends gather round me when I go abroad; my consulate seems to be beginning afresh. It rains protestations of attachment; and my confidence is such that at times I long for the strife, which I ought always to dread.” (Cicero, Letters to Atticus, II. 22.) – “Let Clodius bring his accusation. Italy will rise as one man.” (Cicero, Letters to Quintus, I. 2.)

1214

Cicero, Oration against Vatinius, 16.

1215

Plutarch, Pompey, 48.

1216

Plutarch, Cicero, 41.

1217

Velleius Paterculus, II. 45.

1218

Suetonius, XXIII.

1219

“The rumours which preceded Pompey had caused great consternation there, because it had been said that he meant to enter the city with his army.” (Plutarch, Pompey, 45.) – “However, every one dreaded Pompey in the greatest degree; no one knew whether he would disband his army or not.” (Dio Cassius, XXXVII. 44.)