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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/13481-0.txt b/13481-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..663b770 --- /dev/null +++ b/13481-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5012 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13481 *** + + Roman Life in the + Days of Cicero + By the + REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A. + +Author of "Stories from Homer" + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS + +New York + + + +TO OCTAVIUS OGLE, IN REMEMBRANCE OF A LONG FRIENDSHIP THIS BOOK IS +DEDICATED. + +CONTENTS. + +CHAP. + +I. A ROMAN BOY + +II. A ROMAN UNDERGRADUATE + +III. IN THE DAYS OF THE DICTATOR + +IV. A ROMAN MAGISTRATE + +V. A GREAT ROMAN CAUSE + +VI. COUNTRY LIFE + +VII. A GREAT CONSPIRACY + +VIII. CAESAR + +IX. POMPEY + +X. EXILE + +XI. A BRAWL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + +XII. CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA + +XIII. A GOVERNOR IN HIS PROVINCE + +XIV. ATTICUS + +XV. ANTONY AND AUGUSTUS + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book does not claim to be a life of Cicero or a history of the last +days of the Roman Republic. Still less does it pretend to come into +comparison with such a work as Bekker's _Gallus_, in which on a slender +thread of narrative is hung a vast amount of facts relating to the +social life of the Romans. I have tried to group round the central +figure of Cicero various sketches of men and manners, and so to give my +readers some idea of what life actually was in Rome, and the provinces +of Rome, during the first six decades--to speak roughly--of the first +century B.C. I speak of Cicero as the "central figure," not as judging +him to be the most important man of the time, but because it is from +him, from his speeches and letters, that we chiefly derive the +information of which I have here made use. Hence it follows that I give, +not indeed a life of the great orator, but a sketch of his personality +and career. I have been obliged also to trespass on the domain of +history: speaking of Cicero, I was obliged to speak also of Caesar and +of Pompey, of Cato and of Antony, and to give a narrative, which I have +striven to make as brief as possible, of their military achievements and +political action. I must apologize for seeming to speak dogmatically on +some questions which have been much disputed. It would have been +obviously inconsistent with the character of the book to give the +opposing arguments; and my only course was to state simply conclusions +which I had done my best to make correct. + +I have to acknowledge my obligations to Marquardt's _Privat-Leben der +Romer_, Mr. Capes' _University Life in Ancient Athens_, and Mr. Watson's +_Select Letters of Cicero_, I have also made frequent use of Mr. Anthony +Trollope's _Life of Cicero_, a work full of sound sense, though +curiously deficient in scholarship. + +The publishers and myself hope that the illustrations, giving as there +is good reason to believe they do the veritable likenesses of some of +the chief actors in the scenes described, will have a special interest. +It is not till we come down to comparatively recent times that we find +art again lending the same aid to the understanding of history. + +Some apology should perhaps be made for retaining the popular title of +one of the illustrations. The learned are, we believe, agreed that the +statue known as the "Dying Gladiator" does not represent a gladiator at +all. Yet it seemed pedantic, in view of Byron's famous description, to +let it appear under any other name. + +ALFRED CHURCH. + +HADLEY GREEN _October_ 8, 1883. + + + + ROMAN LIFE + IN THE DAYS OF CICERO. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A ROMAN BOY. + + +A Roman father's first duty to his boy, after lifting him up in his arms +in token that he was a true son of the house, was to furnish him with a +first name out of the scanty list (just seventeen) to which his choice +was limited. This naming was done on the eighth day after birth, and was +accompanied with some religious ceremonies, and with a feast to which +kinsfolk were invited. Thus named he was enrolled in some family or +state register. The next care was to protect him from the malignant +influence of the evil eye by hanging round his neck a gilded _bulla_, a +round plate of metal. (The _bulla_ was of leather if he was not of +gentle birth.) This he wore till he assumed the dress of manhood. Then +he laid it aside, possibly to assume it once more, if he attained the +crowning honor to which a Roman could aspire, and was drawn in triumph +up the slope of the Capitol. He was nursed by his mother, or, in any +case, by a free-born woman. It was his mother that had exclusive charge +of him for the first seven years of his life, and had much to say to the +ordering of his life afterwards. For Roman mothers were not shut up like +their sisters in Greece, but played no small part in affairs--witness +the histories or legends (for it matters not for this purpose whether +they are fact or fiction) of the Sabine wives, of Tullia, who stirred up +her husband to seize a throne, or Veturia, who turned her son Coriolanus +from his purpose of besieging Rome. At seven began the education which +was to make him a citizen and a soldier. Swimming, riding, throwing the +javelin developed his strength of body. He learned at the same time to +be frugal, temperate in eating and drinking, modest and seemly in +behavior, reverent to his elders, obedient to authority at home and +abroad, and above all, pious towards the gods. If it was the duty of +the father to act as priest in some temple of the State (for the +priests were not a class apart from their fellow-citizens), or to +conduct the worship in some chapel of the family, the lad would act as +_camillus_ or acolyte. When the clients, the dependents of the house, +trooped into the hall in the early morning hours to pay their respects +to their patron, or to ask his advice and assistance in their affairs, +the lad would stand by his father's chair and make acquaintance with his +humble friends. When the hall was thrown open, and high festival was +held, he would be present and hear the talk on public affairs or on past +times. He would listen to and sometimes take part in the songs which +celebrated great heroes. When the body of some famous soldier or +statesman was carried outside the walls to be buried or burned, he would +be taken to hear the oration pronounced over the bier. + +At one time it was the custom, if we may believe a quaint story which +one of the Roman writers tells us, for the senators to introduce their +young sons to the sittings of their assembly, very much in the same way +as the boys of Westminster School are admitted to hear the debates in +the Houses of Parliament. The story professes to show how it was that +one of the families of the race of Papirius came to bear the name of +_Praetextatus_, i.e., clad in the _praetexta_ (the garb of boyhood), and +it runs thus:--"It was the custom in the early days of the Roman State +that the senators should bring their young sons into the Senate to the +end that they might learn in their early days how great affairs of the +commonwealth were managed. And that no harm should ensue to the city, it +was strictly enjoined upon the lads that they should not say aught of +the things which they had heard within the House. It happened on a day +that the Senate, after long debate upon a certain matter, adjourned the +thing to the morrow. Hereupon the son of a certain senator, named +Papirius, was much importuned by his mother to tell the matter which had +been thus painfully debated. And when the lad, remembering the command +which had been laid upon him that he should be silent about such +matters, refused to tell it, the woman besought him to speak more +urgently, till at the last, being worn out by her importunities, he +contrived this thing. 'The Senate,' he said, 'debated whether something +might not be done whereby there should be more harmony in families than +is now seen to be; and whether, should it be judged expedient to make +any change, this should be to order that a husband should have many +wives, or a wife should have more husbands than one.' Then the woman, +being much disturbed by the thing which she had heard, hastened to all +the matrons of her acquaintance, and stirred them up not to suffer any +such thing. Thus it came to pass that the Senate, meeting the next day, +were astonished beyond measure to see a great multitude of women +gathered together at the doors, who besought them not to make any +change; or, if any, certainly not to permit that a man should have more +wives than one. Then the young Papirius told the story how his mother +had questioned him, and how he had devised this story to escape from her +importunity. Thereupon the Senate, judging that all boys might not have +the same constancy and wit, and that the State might suffer damage from +the revealing of things that had best be kept secret, made this law, +that no sons of a senator should thereafter come into the House, save +only this young Papirius, but that he should have the right to come so +long as he should wear the _praetexta_." + +While this general education was going on, the lad was receiving some +definite teaching. He learned of course to read, to write, and to +cypher. The elder Cato used to write in large characters for the benefit +of his sons portions of history, probably composed by himself or by his +contemporary Fabius, surnamed the "Painter" (the author of a chronicle +of Italy from the landing of Aeneas down to the end of the Second Punic +War). He was tempted to learn by playthings, which ingeniously combined +instruction and amusement. Ivory letters--probably in earlier times a +less costly material was used--were put into his hands, just as they are +put into the hands of children now-a-days, that he might learn how to +form words. As soon as reading was acquired, he began to learn by heart. +"When we were boys," Cicero represents himself as saying to his brother +Quintus, in one of his Dialogues, "we used to learn the 'Twelve +Tables.'" The "Twelve Tables" were the laws which Appius of evil fame +and his colleagues the decemvirs had arranged in a code. "No one," he +goes on to say, "learns them now." Books had become far more common in +the forty years which had passed between Cicero's boyhood and the time +at which he is supposed to be speaking; and the tedious lesson of his +early days had given place to something more varied and interesting. + +Writing the boy learned by following with the pen (a sharp-pointed +_stylus_ of metal), forms of letters which had been engraved on tablets +of wood. At first his hand was held and guided by the teacher. This was +judged by the experienced to be a better plan than allowing him to shape +letters for himself on the wax-covered tablet. Of course parchment and +paper were far too expensive materials to be used for exercises and +copies. As books were rare and costly, dictation became a matter of much +importance. The boy wrote, in part at least, his own schoolbooks. Horace +remembers with a shudder what he had himself written at the dictation of +his schoolmaster, who was accustomed to enforce good writing and +spelling with many blows. He never could reconcile himself to the early +poets whose verse had furnished the matter of these lessons. + +Our Roman boy must have found arithmetic a more troublesome thing than +the figures now in use (for which we cannot be too thankful to the Arabs +their inventors) have made it. It is difficult to imagine how any thing +like a long sum in multiplication or division could have been done with +the Roman numerals, so cumbrous were they. The number, for instance, +which we represent by the figures 89 would require for its expression no +less than _nine_ figures, LXXXVIIII. The boy was helped by using the +fingers, the left hand being used to signify numbers below a hundred, +and the right numbers above it. Sometimes his teacher would have a +counting-board, on which units, tens, and hundreds would be represented +by variously colored balls. The sums which he did were mostly of a +practical kind. Here is the sample that Horace gives of an arithmetic +lesson. "The Roman boys are taught to divide the penny by long +calculations. 'If from five ounces be subtracted one, what is the +remainder?' At once you can answer, 'A third of a penny.' 'Good, you +will be able to take care of your money. If an ounce be added what does +it make?' 'The half of a penny.'" + +While he was acquiring this knowledge he was also learning a language, +the one language besides his own which to a Roman was worth +knowing--Greek. Very possibly he had begun to pick it up in the nursery, +where a Greek slave girl was to be found, just as the French _bonne_ or +the German nursery-governess is among our own wealthier families. He +certainly began to acquire it when he reached the age at which his +regular education was commenced. Cato the Elder, though he made it a +practice to teach his own sons, had nevertheless a Greek slave who was +capable of undertaking the work, and who actually did teach, to the +profit of his very frugal master, the sons of other nobles. Aemilius, +the conqueror of Macedonia, who was a few years younger than Cato, had +as a tutor a Greek of some distinction. While preparing the procession +of his triumph he had sent to Athens for a scene-painter, as we should +call him, who might make pictures of conquered towns wherewith to +illustrate his victories. He added to the commission a stipulation that +the artist should also be qualified to take the place of tutor. By good +fortune the Athenians happened to have in stock, so to speak, exactly +the man he wanted, one Metrodorus. Cicero had a Greek teacher in his own +family, not for his son indeed, who was not born till later, but for his +own benefit. This was one Diodotus, a Stoic philosopher. Cicero had been +his pupil in his boyhood, and gave him a home till the day of his death, +"I learned many things from him, logic especially." In old age he lost +his sight. "Yet," says his pupil, "he devoted himself to study even more +diligently than before; he had books read to him night and day. These +were studies which he could pursue without his eyes; but he also, and +this seems almost incredible, taught geometry without them, instructing +his learners whence and whither the line was to be drawn, and of what +kind it was to be." It is interesting to know that when the old man died +he left his benefactor about nine thousand pounds. + +Of course only wealthy Romans could command for their sons the services +of such teachers as Diodotus; but any well-to-do-household contained a +slave who had more or less acquaintance with Greek. In Cicero's time a +century and more of conquests on the part of Rome over Greek and +Greek-speaking communities had brought into Italian families a vast +number of slaves who knew the Greek language, and something, often a +good deal, of Greek literature. One of these would probably be set apart +as the boy's attendant; from him he would learn to speak and read a +language, a knowledge of which was at least as common at Rome as is a +knowledge of French among English gentlemen. + +If the Roman boy of whom we are speaking belonged to a very wealthy and +distinguished family, he would probably receive his education at home. +Commonly he would go to school. There were schools, girls' schools as +well as boys' schools, at Rome in the days of the wicked Appius +Claudius. The schoolmaster appears among the Etruscans in the story of +Camillus, when the traitor, who offers to hand over to the Roman general +the sons of the chief citizen of Falerii, is at his command scourged +back into the town by his scholars. We find him again in the same story +in the Latin town of Tusculum, where it is mentioned as one of the signs +of a time of profound peace (Camillus had hurriedly marched against the +town on a false report of its having revolted), that the hum of scholars +at their lessons was heard in the market-place. At Rome, as time went +on, and the Forum became more and more busy and noisy, the schools were +removed to more suitable localities. Their appliances for teaching were +improved and increased. Possibly maps were added, certainly reading +books. Homer was read, and, as we have seen, the old Latin play-writers, +and, afterwards, Virgil. Horace threatens the book which willfully +insists on going out into the world with this fate, that old age will +find it in a far-off suburb teaching boys their letters. Some hundred +years afterwards the prophecy was fulfilled. Juvenal tells us how the +schoolboys stood each with a lamp in one hand and a well-thumbed Horace +or sooty Virgil in the other. Quintilian, writing about the same time, +goes into detail, as becomes an old schoolmaster. "It is an admirable +practice that the boy's reading should begin with Homer and Virgil. The +tragic writers also are useful; and there is much benefit to be got from +the lyric poets also. But here you must make a selection not of authors +only, but a part of authors." It is curious to find him banishing +altogether a book that is, or certainly was, more extensively used in +our schools than any other classic, the Heroides of Ovid. + +These, and such as these, then, are the books which our Roman boy would +have to read. Composition would not be forgotten. "Let him take," says +the author just quoted, "the fables of Aesop and tell them in simple +language, never rising above the ordinary level. Then let him pass on to +a style less plain; then, again, to bolder paraphrases, sometimes +shortening, sometimes amplifying the original, but always following his +sense." He also suggests the writing of themes and characters. One +example he gives is this, "Was Crates the philosopher right when, having +met an ignorant boy, he administered a beating to his teacher?" Many +subjects of these themes have been preserved. Hannibal was naturally +one often chosen. His passage of the Alps, and the question whether he +should have advanced on the city immediately after the battle of Cannae, +were frequently discussed. Cicero mentions a subject of the speculative +kind. "It is forbidden to a stranger to mount the wall. A. mounts the +wall, but only to help the citizens in repelling their enemies. Has A. +broken the law?" + +To make these studies more interesting to the Roman boy, his +schoolmaster called in the aid of emulation. "I feel sure," says +Quintilian, "that the practice which I remember to have been employed by +my own teachers was any thing but useless. They were accustomed to +divide the boys into classes, and they set us to speak in the order of +our powers; every one taking his turn according to his proficiency. Our +performances were duly estimated; and prodigious were the struggles +which we had for victory. To be the head of one's class was considered +the most glorious thing conceivable. But the decision was not made once +for all. The next month brought the vanquished an opportunity of +renewing the contest. He who had been victorious in the first encounter +was not led by success to relax his efforts, and a feeling of vexation +impelled the vanquished to do away with the disgrace of defeat. This +practice, I am sure, supplied a keener stimulus to learning than did all +the exhortations of our teachers, the care of our tutors, and the wishes +of our parents." Nor did the schoolmaster trust to emulation alone. The +third choice of the famous Winchester line, "Either learn, or go: there +is yet another choice--to be flogged," was liberally employed. Horace +celebrates his old schoolmaster as a "man of many blows," and another +distinguished pupil of this teacher, the Busby or Keate of antiquity, +has specified the weapons which he employed, the ferule and the thong. +The thong is the familiar "tawse" of schools north of the Border. The +ferule was a name given both to the bamboo and to the yellow cane, which +grew plentifully both in the islands of the Greek Archipelago and in +Southern Italy, as notably at Cannae in Apulia, where it gave a name to +the scene of the great battle. The _virga_ was also used, a rod +commonly of birch, a tree the educational use of which had been already +discovered. The walls of Pompeii indeed show that the practice of Eton +is truly classical down to its details. + +As to the advantage of the practice opinions were divided. One +enthusiastic advocate goes so far as to say that the Greek word for a +cane signifies by derivation, "the sharpener of the young" (_narthex, +nearous thegein_), but the best authorities were against it. Seneca is +indignant with the savage who will "butcher" a young learner because he +hesitates at a word--a venial fault indeed, one would think, when we +remember what must have been the aspect of a Roman book, written as it +was in capitals, almost without stops, and with little or no distinction +between the words. And Quintilian is equally decided, though he allows +that flogging was an "institution." + +As to holidays the practice of the Roman schools probably resembled that +which prevails in the Scotch Universities, though with a less +magnificent length of vacation. Every one had a holiday on the "days of +Saturn" (a festival beginning on the seventeenth of December), and the +schoolboys had one of their own on the "days of Minerva," which fell in +the latter half of March; but the "long vacation" was in the summer. +Horace speaks of lads carrying their fees to school on the fifteenth of +the month for eight months in the year (if this interpretation of a +doubtful passage is correct). Perhaps as this was a country school the +holidays were made longer than usual, to let the scholars take their +part in the harvest, which as including the vintage would not be over +till somewhat late in the autumn. We find Martial, however, imploring a +schoolmaster to remember that the heat of July was not favorable to +learning, and suggesting that he should abdicate his seat till the +fifteenth of October brought a season more convenient for study. Rome +indeed was probably deserted in the later summer and autumn by the +wealthier class, who were doubtless disposed to agree in the poet's +remark, a remark to which the idlest schoolboy will forgive its Latin +for the sake of its admirable sentiment: + + "Aestate pueri si valent satis discunt." "In summer boys learn + enough, if they keep their health." + +Something, perhaps, may be said of the teachers, into whose hands the +boys of Rome were committed. We have a little book, of not more than +twoscore pages in all, which gives us "lives of illustrious +schoolmasters;" and from which we may glean a few facts. The first +business of a schoolmaster was to teach grammar, and grammar Rome owed, +as she owed most of her knowledge, to a Greek, a certain Crates, who +coming as ambassador from one of the kings of Asia Minor, broke his leg +while walking in the ill-paved streets of Rome, and occupied his leisure +by giving lectures at his house. Most of the early teachers were Greeks. +Catulus bought a Greek slave for somewhat more than fifteen hundred +pounds, and giving him his freedom set him up as a schoolmaster; another +of the same nation received a salary of between three and four hundred +pounds, his patron taking and probably making a considerable profit out +of the pupils' fees. Orbilius, the man of blows, was probably of Greek +descent. He had been first a beadle, then a trumpeter, then a trooper in +his youth, and came to Rome in the year in which Cicero was consul. He +seems to have been as severe on the parents of his pupils as he was in +another way on the lads themselves, for he wrote a book in which he +exposed their meanness and ingratitude. His troubles, however, did not +prevent him living to the great age of one hundred and three. The author +of the little book about schoolmasters had seen his statue in his native +town. It was a marble figure, in a sitting posture, with two writing +desks beside it. The favorite authors of Orbilius, who was of the +old-fashioned school, were, as has been said, the early dramatists. +Caecilius, a younger man, to whom Atticus the friend and correspondent +of Cicero gave his freedom, lectured on Virgil, with whom, as he was +intimate with one of Virgil's associates, he probably had some +acquaintance. A certain Flaccus had the credit of having first invented +prizes. He used to pit lads of equal age against each other, supplying +not only a subject on which to write, but a prize for the victor. This +was commonly some handsome or rare old book. Augustus made him tutor to +his grandsons, giving him a salary of eight hundred pounds per annum. +Twenty years later, a fashionable schoolmaster is said to have made +between three and four thousands. + +These schoolmasters were also sometimes teachers of eloquence, lecturing +to men. One Gnipho, for instance, is mentioned among them, as having +held his classes in the house of Julius Caesar (Caesar was left an +orphan at fifteen); and afterwards, when his distinguished pupil was +grown up, in his own. But Cicero, when he was praetor, and at the very +height of his fame, is said to have attended his lectures. This was the +year in which he delivered the very finest of his non-political +speeches, his defence of Cluentius. He must have been a very clever +teacher from whom so great an orator hoped to learn something. + +These teachers of eloquence were what we may call the "Professors" of +Rome. A lad had commonly "finished his education" when he put on the +"man's gown;" but if he thought of political life, of becoming a +statesman, and taking office in the commonwealth, he had much yet to +learn. He had to make himself a lawyer and an orator. Law he learned by +attaching himself, by becoming the pupil, as we should say, of some +great man that was famed for his knowledge. Cicero relates to us his own +experience: "My father introduced me to the Augur Scaevola; and the +result was that, as far as possible and permissible, I never left the +old man's side. Thus I committed to memory many a learned argument of +his, many a terse and clever maxim, while I sought to add to my own +knowledge from his stores of special learning. When the Augur died I +betook myself to the Pontiff of the same name and family." Elsewhere we +have a picture of this second Scaevola and his pupils. "Though he did +not undertake to give instruction to any one, yet he practically taught +those who were anxious to listen to him by allowing them to hear his +answers to those who consulted him." These consultations took place +either in the Forum or at his own house. In the Forum the great lawyer +indicated that clients were at liberty to approach by walking across the +open space from corner to corner. The train of young Romans would then +follow his steps, just as the students follow the physician or the +surgeon through the wards of a hospital. When he gave audience at home +they would stand by his chair. It must be remembered that the great man +took no payment either from client or from pupil. + +But the young Roman had not only to learn law, he must also learn how to +speak-learn, as far as such a thing can be learned, how to be eloquent. +What we in this country call the career of the public man was there +called the career of the orator. With us it is much a matter of chance +whether a man can speak or not. We have had statesmen who wielded all +the power that one man ever can wield in this country who had no sort of +eloquence. We have had others who had this gift in the highest degree, +but never reached even one of the lower offices in the government. +Sometimes a young politician will go to a professional teacher to get +cured of some defect or trick of speech; but that such teaching is part +of the necessary training of a statesman is an idea quite strange to us. +A Roman received it as a matter of course. Of course, like other things +at Rome, it made its way but slowly. Just before the middle of the +second century b.c. the Senate resolved: "Seeing that mention has been +made of certain philosophers and rhetoricians, let Pomponius the praetor +see to it, as he shall hold it to be for the public good, and for his +own honor, that none such be found at Rome." Early in the first century +the censors issued an edict forbidding certain Latin rhetoricians to +teach. One of these censors was the great orator Crassus, greatest of +all the predecessors of Cicero. Cicero puts into his mouth an apology +for this proceeding: "I was not actuated by any hostility to learning or +culture. These Latin rhetoricians were mere ignorant pretenders, +inefficient imitators of their Greek rivals, from whom the Roman youth +were not likely to learn any thing but impudence." In spite of the +censors, however, and in spite of the fashionable belief in Rome that +what was Greek must be far better than what was of native growth, the +Latin teachers rose into favor. "I remember," says Cicero, "when we were +boys, one Lucius Plotinus, who was the first to teach eloquence in +Latin; how, when the studious youth of the capital crowded to hear him +it vexed me much, that I was not permitted to attend him. I was checked, +however, by the opinion of learned men, who held that in this matter the +abilities of the young were more profitably nourished by exercises in +Greek." We are reminded of our own Doctor Johnson, who declared that +he would not disgrace the walls of Westminster Abbey by an epitaph in +English. + +The chief part of the instruction which these teachers gave was to +propose imaginary cases involving some legal difficulty for their pupils +to discuss. One or two of these cases may be given. + +One day in summer a party of young men from Rome made an excursion to +Ostia, and coming down to the seashore found there some fishermen who +were about to draw in a net. With these they made a bargain that they +should have the draught for a certain sum. The money was paid. When the +net was drawn up no fish were found in it, but a hamper sewn with thread +of gold. The buyers allege this to be theirs as the draught of the net. +The fishermen claim it as not being fish. To whom did it belong? + +Certain slave-dealers, landing a cargo of slaves at Brundisium, and +having with them a very beautiful boy of great value, fearing lest the +custom-house officers should lay hands upon him, put upon him the +_bulla_ and the purple-edged robe that free-born lads were wont to wear. +The deceit was not discovered. But when they came to Rome, and the +matter was talked of, it was maintained that the boy was really free, +seeing that it was his master who of his own free will had given him the +token of freedom. + +I shall conclude this chapter with a very pretty picture, which a Roman +poet draws of the life which he led with his teacher in the days when he +was first entering upon manhood. "When first my timid steps lost the +guardianship of the purple stripe, and the _bulla_ of the boy was hung +up for offering to the quaint household gods; when flattering comrades +came about me, and I might cast my eyes without rebuke over the whole +busy street under the shelter of the yet unsullied gown; in the days +when the path is doubtful, and the wanderer knowing naught of life comes +with bewildered soul to the many-branching roads--then I made myself +your adopted child. You took at once into the bosom of another Socrates +my tender years; your rule, applied with skillful disguise, straightens +each perverse habit; nature is molded by reason, and struggles to be +subdued, and assumes under your hands its plastic lineaments. Ay, well I +mind how I would wear away long summer suns with you, and pluck with you +the bloom of night's first hours. One work we had, one certain time for +rest, and at one modest table unbent from sterner thoughts." + +It accords with this charming picture to be told that the pupil, dying +in youth, left his property to his old tutor, and that the latter handed +it over to the kinsfolk of the deceased, keeping for himself the books +only. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A ROMAN UNDERGRADUATE. + + +In the last chapter we had no particular "Roman Boy" in view; but our +"Roman Undergraduate" will be a real person, Cicero's son. It will be +interesting to trace the notices which we find of him in his father's +letters and books. "You will be glad to hear," he writes in one of his +earliest letters to Atticus, "that a little son has been born to me, and +that Terentia is doing well." From time to time we hear of him, and +always spoken of in terms of the tenderest affection. He is his +"honey-sweet Cicero," his "little philosopher." When the father is in +exile the son's name is put on the address of his letters along with +those of his mother and sister. His prospects are the subject of most +anxious thought. Terentia, who had a considerable fortune of her own, +proposes to sell an estate. "Pray think," he writes, "what will happen +to us. If the same ill fortune shall continue to pursue us, what will +happen to our unhappy boy? I cannot write any more. My tears fairly +overpower me; I should be sorry to make you as sad as myself. I will say +so much. If my friends do their duty by me, I shall not want for money; +if they do not, your means will not save me. I do implore you, by all +our troubles, do not ruin the poor lad. Indeed he is ruined enough +already. If he has only something to keep him from want, then modest +merit and moderate good fortune will give him all he wants." + +Appointed to the government of Cilicia, Cicero takes his son with him +into the province. When he starts on his campaign against the mountain +tribes, the boy and his cousin, young Quintus, are sent to the court of +Deiotarus, one of the native princes of Galatia. "The young Ciceros," he +writes to Atticus, "are with Deiotarus. If need be, they will be taken +to Rhodes." Atticus, it may be mentioned, was uncle to Quintus, and +might be anxious about him. The need was probably the case of the old +prince himself marching to Cicero's help. This he had promised to do, +but the campaign was finished without him. This was in the year 51 B.C., +and Marcus was nearly fourteen years old, his cousin being his senior by +about two years. "They are very fond of each other," writes Cicero; +"they learn, they amuse themselves together, but one wants the rein, the +other the spur." (Doubtless the latter is the writer's son.) "I am very +fond of Dionysius their teacher: the lads say that he is apt to get +furiously angry. But a more learned and more blameless man there does +not live." A year or so afterwards he seems to have thought less +favorably of him. "I let him go reluctantly when I thought of him as the +tutor of the two lads, but quite willingly as an ungrateful fellow." In +B.C. 49, when the lad was about half through his sixteenth year, Cicero +"gave him his _toga_." To take the _toga_, that is to exchange the gown +of the boy with its stripe of purple for the plain white gown of the +citizen, marked the beginning of independence (though indeed a Roman's +son was even in mature manhood under his father's control). The ceremony +took place at Arpinum, much to the delight of the inhabitants, who felt +of course the greatest pride and interest in their famous +fellow-townsman. But it was a sad time. "There and every where as I +journeyed I saw sorrow and dismay. The prospect of this vast trouble is +sad indeed." The "vast trouble" was the civil war between Caesar and +Pompey. This indeed had already broken out. While Cicero was +entertaining his kinsfolk and friends at Arpinum, Pompey was preparing +to fly from Italy. The war was probably not an unmixed evil to a lad who +was just beginning to think himself a man. He hastened across the +Adriatic to join his father's friend, and was appointed to the command +of a squadron of auxiliary cavalry. His maneuvers were probably assisted +by some veteran subordinate; but his I seat on horseback, his skill with +the javelin, and his general soldierly qualities were highly praised +both by his chief and by his comrades. After the defeat at Pharsalia he +waited with his father at Brundisium till a kind letter from Caesar +assured him of pardon. In B.C. 46 he was made aedile at Arpinum, his +cousin being appointed at the same time. The next year he would have +gladly resumed his military career. Fighting was going on in Spain, +where the sons of Pompey were holding out against the forces of Caesar; +and the young Cicero, who was probably not very particular on which side +he drew his sword, was ready to take service against the son of his old +general. Neither the cause nor the career pleased the father, and the +son's wish was overruled, just as an English lad has sometimes to give +up the unremunerative profession of arms, when there is a living in the +family, or an opening in a bank, or a promising connection with a firm +of solicitors. It was settled that he should take up his residence at +Athens, which was then the university of Rome, not indeed exactly in the +sense in which Oxford and Cambridge are the universities of England, but +still a place of liberal culture, where the sons of wealthy Roman +families were accustomed to complete their education. Four-and-twenty +years before the father had paid a long visit to the city, partly for +study's sake. "In those days," he writes, "I was emaciated and feeble to +a degree; my neck was long and thin; a habit of body and a figure that +are thought to indicate much danger to life, if aggravated by a +laborious profession and constant straining of the voice. My friends +thought the more of this, because in those days I was accustomed to +deliver all my speeches without any relaxation of effort, without any +variety, at the very top of my voice, and with most abundant +gesticulation. At first, when friends and physicians advised me to +abandon advocacy for a while, I felt that I would sooner run any risk +than relinquish the hope of oratorical distinction. Afterwards I +reflected that by learning to moderate and regulate my voice, and +changing my style of speaking, I might both avert the danger that +threatened my health and also acquire a more self-controlled manner. It +was a resolve to break through the habits I had formed that induced me +to travel to the East. I had practiced for two years, and my name had +become well known when I left Rome. Coming to Athens I spent six months +with Antiochus, the most distinguished and learned philosopher of the +Old Academy, than whom there was no wiser or more famous teacher. At the +same time I practiced myself diligently under the care of Demetrius +Syrus, an old and not undistinguished master of eloquence." To Athens, +then, Cicero always looked back with affection. He hears, for instance, +that Appius is going to build a portico at Eleusis. "Will you think me a +fool," he writes to Atticus, "if I do the same at the Academy? 'I think +so,' you will say. But I love Athens, the very place, much; and I shall +be glad to have some memorial of me there." + +The new undergraduate, as we should call him, was to have a liberal +allowance. "He shall have as much as Publilius, as much as Lentulus the +Flamen, allow their sons." It would be interesting to know the amount, +but unhappily this cannot be recovered. All that we know is that the +richest young men in Rome were not to have more. "I will guarantee," +writes this liberal father, "that none of the three young men [whom he +names] who, I hear, will be at Athens at the same time shall live at +more expense than he will be able to do on those rents." These "rents" +were the incomings from certain properties at Rome. "Only," he adds, "I +do not think he will want a horse." + +We know something of the university buildings, so to speak, which the +young Cicero found at Athens. "To seek for truth among the groves of +Academus" is the phrase by which a more famous contemporary, the poet +Horace, describes his studies at Athens. He probably uses it generally +to express philosophical pursuits; taken strictly it would mean that he +attached himself to the sage whose pride it was to be the successor of +Plato. Academus was a local hero, connected with the legend of Theseus +and Helen. Near his grove, or sacred inclosure, which adjoined the road +to Eleusis, Plato had bought a garden. It was but a small spot, +purchased for a sum which maybe represented by about three or four +hundred pounds of our money, but it had been enlarged by the liberality +of successive benefactors. This then was one famous lecture-room. +Another was the Lyceum. Here Aristotle had taught, and after Aristotle, +Theophrastus, and after him, a long succession of thinkers of the same +school. A third institution of the same kind was the garden in which +Epicurus had assembled his disciples, and which he bequeathed to +trustees for their benefit and the benefit of their successors for all +time. + +To a Roman of the nobler sort these gardens and buildings must have been +as holy places. It was with these rather than with the temples of gods +that he connected what there was of goodness and purity in his life. To +worship Jupiter or Romulus did not make him a better man, though it +might be his necessary duty as a citizen; his real religion, as we +understand it, was his reverence for Plato or Zeno. Athens to him was +not only what Athens, but what the Holy Land is to us. Cicero describes +something of this feeling in the following passage: "We had been +listening to Antiochus (a teacher of the Academics) in the school called +the Ptolemaeus, where he was wont to lecture. Marcus Piso was with me, +and my brother Quintus, and Atticus, and Lucius Cicero, by relationship +a cousin, in affection a brother. We agreed among ourselves to finish +our afternoon walk in the Academy, chiefly because that place was sure +not to be crowded at that hour. At the proper time we met at Piso's +house; thence, occupied with varied talk, we traversed the six furlongs +that lie between the Double Gate and the Academy; and entering the walls +which can give such good reason for their fame, found there the solitude +which we sought. 'Is it,' said Piso, 'by some natural instinct or +through some delusion that when we see the very spots where famous men +have lived we are far more touched than when we hear of the things that +they have done, or read something that they have written? It is thus +that I am affected at this moment. I think of Plato, who was, we are +told, the first who lectured in this place; his little garden which lies +there close at hand seems not only to remind me of him, but actually to +bring him up before my eyes. Here spake Speusippus, here Xenocrates, +here his disciple Polemo--to Polemo indeed belonged this seat which we +have before us.'" This was the Polemo who had been converted, as we +should say, when, bursting in after a night of revel upon a lecture in +which Xenocrates was discoursing of temperance, he listened to such +purpose that from that moment he became a changed man. Then Atticus +describes how he found the same charms of association in the garden +which had belonged to his own master, Epicurus; while Quintus Cicero +supplies what we should call the classical element by speaking of +Sophocles and the grove of Colonus, still musical, it seems, with the +same song of the nightingale which had charmed the ear of the poet more +than three centuries before. + +One or other, perhaps more than one, of these famous places the young +Cicero frequented. He probably witnessed, he possibly took part (for +strangers were admitted to membership) in, the celebrations with which +the college of Athenian youths (Ephebi) commemorated the glories of +their city, the procession to the tombs of those who died at Marathon, +and the boat-races in the Bay of Salamis. That he gave his father some +trouble is only too certain. His private tutor in rhetoric, as we should +call him, was a certain Gorgias, a man of ability, and a writer of some +note, but a worthless and profligate fellow. Cicero peremptorily ordered +his son to dismiss him; and the young man seems to have obeyed and +reformed. We may hope at least that the repentance which he expresses +for his misdoings in a letter to Tiro, his father's freedman, was +genuine. This is his picture of his life in the days of repentance and +soberness: "I am on terms of the closest intimacy with Cratippus, living +with him more as a son than as a pupil. Not only do I hear his lectures +with delight, but I am greatly taken with the geniality which is +peculiar to the man. I spend whole days with him, and often no small +part of the night; for I beg him to dine with me as often as he can. +This has become so habitual with him that he often looks in upon us at +dinner when we are not expecting him; he lays aside the sternness of the +philosopher and jokes with us in the pleasantest fashion. As for +Bruttius, he never leaves me; frugal and strict as is his life, he is +yet a most delightful companion. For we do not entirely banish mirth +from our daily studies in philology. I have hired a lodging for him +close by; and do my best to help his poverty out of my own narrow means. +I have begun to practice Greek declamation with Cassius, and wish to +have a Latin course with Bruttius. My friends and daily companions are +the pupils whom Cratippus brought with him from Mitylene, well-read men, +of whom he highly approves. I also see much of Epicrates, who is the +first man at Athens." After some pleasant words to Tiro, who had bought +a farm, and whom he expects to find turned into a farmer, bringing +stores, holding consultations with his bailiff, and putting by +fruit-seeds in his pocket from dessert, he says, "I should be glad if +you would send me as quickly as possible a copyist, a Greek by +preference. I have to spend much pains on writing out my notes." + +A short time before one of Cicero's friends had sent a satisfactory +report of the young man's behavior to his father. "I found your son +devoted to the most laudable studies and enjoying an excellent +reputation for steadiness. Don't fancy, my dear Cicero, that I say this +to please you; there is not in Athens a more lovable young man than your +son, nor one more devoted to those high pursuits in which you would have +him interested." + +Among the contemporaries of the young Cicero was, as has been said, the +poet Horace. His had been a more studious boyhood. He had not been taken +away from his books to serve as a cavalry officer under Pompey. In him +accordingly we see the regular course of the studies of a Roman lad. +"It was my lot," he says, "to be bred up at Rome, and to be taught how +much the wrath of Achilles harmed the Greeks. In other words, he had +read his Homer, just as an English boy reads him at Eton or Harrow. +"Kind Athens," he goes on, "added a little more learning, to the end +that I might be able to distinguish right from wrong, and to seek for +truth amongst the groves of Academus." And just in the same way the +English youth goes on to read philosophy at Oxford. + +The studies of the two young men were interrupted by the same cause, the +civil war which followed the death of Caesar. They took service with +Brutus, both having the same rank, that of military tribune, a command +answering more or less nearly to that of colonel in our own army. It +was, however, mainly an ornamental rank, being bestowed sometimes by +favor of the general in command, sometimes by a popular vote. The young +Cicero indeed had already served, and he now distinguished himself +greatly, winning some considerable successes in the command of the +cavalry which Brutus afterwards gave him. When the hopes of the party +were crushed at Phillippi, he joined the younger Pompey in Sicily; but +took an opportunity of an amnesty which was offered four years +afterwards to return to Rome. Here he must have found his old +fellow-student, who had also reconciled himself to the victorious party. +He was made one of the college of augurs, and also a commissioner of the +mint, and in B.C. 30 he had the honour of sharing the consulship with +Augustus himself. It was to him that the dispatch announcing the final +defeat and death of Antony was delivered; and it fell to him to execute +the decree which ordered the destruction of all the statues of the +fallen chief. "Then," says Plutarch, "by the ordering of heaven the +punishment of Antony was inflicted at last by the house of Cicero." His +time of office ended, he went as Governor to Asia, or, according to some +accounts, to Syria; and thus disappears from our view. + +Pliny the Elder tells us that he was a drunkard, sarcastically observing +that he sought to avenge himself on Antony by robbing him of the +reputation which he had before enjoyed of being the hardest drinker of +the time. As the story which he tells of the younger Cicero being able +to swallow twelve pints of wine at a draught is clearly incredible, +perhaps we may disbelieve the whole, and with it the other anecdote, +that he threw a cup at the head of Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to the +Emperor, and after him the greatest man in Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +IN THE DAYS OF THE DICTATOR. + + +In November 82 B.C., Cornelius Sulla became absolute master of Rome. It +is not part of my purpose to give a history of this man. He was a great +soldier who had won victories in Africa and Asia over the enemies of +Rome, and in Italy itself over the "allies," as they were called, that +is the Italian nations, who at various times had made treaties with +Rome, and who in the early part of the first century B.C. rebelled +against her, thinking that they were robbed of the rights and privileges +which belonged to them. And he was the leader of the party of the +nobles, just as Marius was the leader of the party of the people. Once +before he had made himself supreme in the capital; and then he had used +his power with moderation. But he was called away to carry on the war in +Asia against Mithridates, the great King of Pontus; and his enemies had +got the upper hand, and had used the opportunity most cruelly. A +terrible list of victims, called the "proscription," because it was +posted up in the forum, was prepared. Fifty senators and a thousand +knights (peers and gentlemen we should call them) were put to death, +almost all of them without any kind of trial. Sulla himself was +outlawed. But he had an army which he had led to victory and had +enriched with prize-money, and which was entirely devoted to him; and he +was not inclined to let his enemies triumph. He hastened back to Italy, +and landed in the spring of 83. In the November of the following year, +just outside the walls of Rome, was fought the final battle of the war. + +The opposing army was absolutely destroyed and Sulla had every thing at +his mercy. He waited for a few days outside the city till the Senate had +passed a decree giving him absolute power to change the laws, to fill +the offices of State, and to deal with the lives and properties of +citizens as it might please him. This done, he entered Rome. Then came +another proscription. The chief of his enemies, Marius. was gone. He had +died, tormented it was said by remorse, seventeen days after he had +reached the crowning glory, promised him in his youth by an oracle, and +had been made consul for the seventh time. The conqueror had to content +himself with the same vengeance that Charles II. in our own country +exacted from the remains of Cromwell. The ashes of Marius were taken out +of his tomb on the Flaminian Way, the great North Road of Rome, and were +thrown into the Anio. But many of his friends and partisans survived, +and these were slaughtered without mercy. Eighty names were put on the +fatal list on the first day, two hundred and twenty on the second, and +as many more on the third. With the deaths of many of these victims +politics had nothing to do. Sulla allowed his friends and favorites to +put into the list the names of men against whom they happened to bear a +grudge, or whose property they coveted. No one knew who might be the +next to fall. Even Sulla's own partisans were alarmed. A young senator, +Caius Metellus, one of a family which was strongly attached to Sulla and +with which he was connected by marriage, had the courage to ask him in +public when there would be an end to this terrible state of things. +"We do not beg you," he said, "to remit the punishment of those whom you +have made up your mind to remove; we do beg you to do away with the +anxiety of those whom you have resolved to spare." "I am not yet +certain," answered Sulla, "whom I shall spare." "Then at least," said +Metellus, "you can tell us whom you mean to punish." "That I will do," +replied the tyrant. It was indeed a terrible time that followed, +Plutarch thus describes it: "He denounced against any who might shelter +or save the life of a proscribed person the punishment of death for his +humanity. He made no exemption for mother, or son, or parent. The +murderers received a payment of two talents (about £470) for each +victim; it was paid to a slave who killed his master, to a son who +killed his father. The most monstrous thing of all, it was thought, was +that the sons and grandsons of the proscribed were declared to be +legally infamous and that their property was confiscated. Nor was it +only in Rome but in all the cities of Italy that the proscription was +carried out. There was not a single temple, not a house but was polluted +with blood. Husbands were slaughtered in the arms of their wives, and +sons in the arms of their mothers. And the number of those who fell +victims to anger and hatred was but small in comparison with the number +who were put out of the way for the sake of their property. The +murderers might well have said: 'His fine mansion has been the death of +this man; or his gardens, or his baths.' Quintus Aurelius, a peaceable +citizen, who had had only this share in the late civil troubles, that he +had felt for the misfortunes of others, coming into the forum, read the +list of the proscribed and found in it his own name. 'Unfortunate that I +am,' he said, 'it is my farm at Alba that has been my ruin;' and he had +not gone many steps before he was cut down by a man that was following +him. Lucius Catiline's conduct was especially wicked. He had murdered +his own brother. This was before the proscription began. He went to +Sulla and begged that the name might be put in the list as if the man +were still alive; and it was so put. His gratitude to Sulla was shown by +his killing one Marius, who belonged to the opposite faction, and +bringing his head to Sulla as he sat in the forum. (This Marius was a +kinsman of the great democratic leader, and was one of the most popular +men in Rome.) This done, he washed his hands in the holy water-basin of +the temple of Apollo." + +Forty senators and sixteen hundred knights, and more than as many men of +obscure station, are said to have perished. At last, on the first of +June, 81, the list was closed. Still the reign of terror was not yet at +an end, as the strange story which I shall now relate will amply prove. +To look into the details of a particular case makes us better able to +imagine what it really was to live at Rome in the days of the Dictator +than to read many pages of general description. The story is all the +more impressive because the events happened after order had been +restored and things were supposed to be proceeding in their regular +course. + +The proscription came to an end, as has been said, in the early summer +of 81. In the autumn of the same year a certain Sextus Roscius was +murdered in the streets of Rome as he was returning home from dinner. +Roscius was a native of Ameria, a little town of Etruria, between fifty +and sixty miles north of Rome. He was a wealthy man, possessed, it +would seem, of some taste and culture, and an intimate friend of some of +the noblest families at Rome. In politics he belonged to the party of +Sulla, to which indeed in its less prosperous days he had rendered good +service. Since its restoration to power he had lived much at Rome, +evidently considering himself, as indeed he had the right to do, to be +perfectly safe from any danger of proscription. But he was wealthy, and +he had among his own kinsfolk enemies who desired and who would profit +by his death. One of these, a certain Titus Roscius, surnamed Magnus, +was at the time of the murder residing at Rome; the other, who was known +as Capito, was at home at Ameria. The murder was committed about seven +o'clock in the evening. A messenger immediately left Rome with the news, +and made such haste to Ameria that he reached the place before dawn the +next day. Strangely enough he went to the house not of the murdered +man's son, who was living at Ameria in charge of his farms, but of the +hostile kinsman Capito. Three days afterwards Capito and Magnus made +their way to the camp of Sulla (he was besieging Volaterrae, another +Etrurian town). They had an interview with one Chrysogonus, a Greek +freedman of the Dictator, and explained to him how rich a prey they +could secure if he would only help them. The deceased, it seems, had +left a large sum of money and thirteen valuable farms, nearly all of +them running down to the Tiber. And the son, the lawful heir, could +easily be got out of the way. Roscius was a well-known and a popular +man, yet no outcry had followed his disappearance. With the son, a +simple farmer, ignorant of affairs, and wholly unknown to Rome, it would +be easy to deal. Ultimately the three entered into alliance. The +proscription was to be revived, so to speak, to take in this particular +case, and the name of Roscius was included in the list of the condemned. +All his wealth was treated as the property of the proscribed, and was +sold by auction. It was purchased by Chrysogonus. The real value was +between fifty and sixty thousand pounds. The price paid was something +less than eighteen pounds. Three of the finest farms were at once handed +over to Capito as his share of the spoil. Magnus acted as the agent of +Chrysogonus for the remainder. He took possession of the house in which +Roscius the younger was living, laid his hands on all its contents, +among which was a considerable sum of money, and drove out the +unfortunate young man in an absolutely penniless condition. + +These proceedings excited great indignation at Ameria. The local senate +passed a resolution to the effect that the committee of ten should +proceed to Sulla's camp and put him in possession of the facts, with the +object of removing the name of the father from the list of the +proscribed, and reinstating the son in his inheritance. The ten +proceeded accordingly to the camp, but Chrysogonus cajoled and +over-reached them. It was represented to them by persons of high +position that there was no need to trouble Sulla with the affair. The +name should be removed from the list; the property should be restored. +Capito, who was one of the ten, added his personal assurance to the same +effect, and the deputation, satisfied that their object had been +attained, returned to Ameria. There was of course no intention of +fulfilling the promises thus made. The first idea of the trio was to +deal with the son as they had dealt with the father. Some hint of this +purpose was conveyed to him, and he fled to Rome, where he was +hospitably entertained by Caecilia, a wealthy lady of the family of +Metellus, and therefore related to Sulla's wife, who indeed bore the +same name. As he was now safe from violence, it was resolved to take the +audacious step of accusing him of the murder of his father. Outrageous +as it seems, the plan held out some promise of success. The accused was +a man of singularly reserved character, rough and boorish in manner, and +with no thoughts beyond the rustic occupations to which his life was +devoted. His father, on the other hand, had been a man of genial temper, +who spent much of his time among the polished circles of the Capitol. If +there was no positive estrangement between them, there was a great +discrepancy of tastes, and probably very little intercourse. This it +would be easy to exaggerate into something like a plausible charge, +especially under the circumstances of the case. It was beyond doubt that +many murders closely resembling the murder of Roscius had been committed +during the past year, committed some of them by sons. This was the +first time that an alleged culprit was brought to trial, and it was +probable that the jury would be inclined to severity. In any case, and +whatever the evidence, it was hoped that the verdict would not be such +as to imply the guilt of a favorite of Sulla. He was the person who +would profit most by the condemnation of the accused, and it was hoped +that he would take the necessary means to secure it. + +The friends of the father were satisfied of the innocence of the son, +and they exerted themselves to secure for him an efficient defense. +Sulla was so much dreaded that none of the more conspicuous orators of +the time were willing to undertake the task. Cicero, however, had the +courage which they wanted; and his speech, probably little altered from +the form in which he delivered it, remains. + +It was a horrible crime of which his client was accused, and the +punishment the most awful known to the Roman law. The face of the guilty +man was covered with a wolf's skin, as being one who was not worthy to +see the light; shoes of wood were put upon his feet that they might not +touch the earth. He was then thrust into a sack of leather, and with him +four animals which were supposed to symbolize all that was most hideous +and depraved--the dog, a common object of contempt; the cock, proverbial +for its want of all filial affection; the poisonous viper; and the ape, +which was the base imitation of man. In this strange company he was +thrown into the nearest river or sea. + +Cicero begins by explaining why he had undertaken a case which his +elders and betters had declined. It was not because he was bolder, but +because he was more insignificant than they, and could speak with +impunity when they could not choose but be silent. He then gives the +facts in detail, the murder of Roscius, the seizure of his property, the +fruitless deputation to Sulla, the flight of the son to Rome, and the +audacious resolve of his enemies to indict him for parricide. They had +murdered his father, they had robbed him of his patrimony, and now they +accused him--of what crime? Surely of nothing else than the crime of +having escaped their attack. The thing reminded him of the story of +Fimbria and Scaevola. Fimbria, an absolute madman, as was allowed by all +who were not mad themselves, got some ruffian to stab Scaevola at the +funeral of Marius. He was stabbed but not killed. When Fimbria found +that he was likely to live, he indicted him. For what do you indict a +man so blameless? asked some one. For what? for not allowing himself to +be stabbed to the heart. This is exactly why the confederates have +indicted Roscius. His crime has been of escaping from their hands. +"Roscius killed his father," you say. "A young man, I suppose, led away +by worthless companions." Not so; he is more than forty years of age. +"Extravagance and debt drove him to it." No; you say yourself that he +never goes to an entertainment, and he certainly owes nothing. "Well," +you say, "his father disliked him." Why did he dislike him? "That," you +reply, "I cannot say; but he certainly kept one son with him, and left +this Roscius to look after his farms." Surely this is a strange +punishment, to give him the charge of so fine an estate. "But," you +repeat, "he kept his other with him." "Now listen to me," cries Cicero, +turning with savage sarcasm to the prosecutor, "Providence never allowed +you to know who your father was. Still you have read books. Do you +remember in Caecilius' play how the father had two sons, and kept one +with him and left the other in the country? and do you remember that the +one who lived with him was not really his son, the other was true-born, +and yet it was the true-born who lived in the country? And is it such a +disgrace to live in the country? It is well that you did not live in old +times when they took a Dictator from the plow; when the men who made +Rome what it is cultivated their own land, but did not covet the land of +others. 'Ah! but,' you say, 'the father intended to disinherit him.' +Why? 'I cannot say.' Did he disinherit him? 'No, he did not.' Who +stopped him? 'Well, he was thinking of it.' To whom did he say so? 'To +no one.' Surely," cries Cicero, "this is to abuse the laws and justice +and your dignity in the basest and most wanton way, to make charges +which he not only cannot but does not even attempt to establish." + +Shortly after comes a lively description of the prosecutor's demeanor. +"It was really worth while, if you observed, gentlemen, the man's utter +indifference as he was conducting his case. I take it that when he saw +who was sitting on these benches, he asked whether such an one or such +an one was engaged for the defense. Of me he never thought, for I had +never spoken before in a criminal case. When he found that none of the +usual speakers were concerned in it, he became so careless that when the +humor took him, he sat down, then walked about, sometimes called a +servant, to give him orders, I suppose, for dinner, and certainly +treated this court in which you are sitting as if it were an absolute +solitude. At last he brought his speech to an end. I rose to reply. He +could be seen to breathe again that it was I and no one else. I noticed, +gentlemen, that he continued to laugh and be inattentive till I +mentioned Chrysogonus. As soon as I got to him my friend roused himself +and was evidently astonished. I saw what had touched him, and repeated +the name a second time, and a third. From that time men have never +ceased to run briskly backwards and forwards, to tell Chrysogonus, I +suppose, that there was some one in the country who ventured to oppose +his pleasure, that the case was being pleaded otherwise than as he +imagined it would be; that the sham sale of goods was being exposed, the +confederacy grievously handled, his popularity and power disregarded, +that the people were giving their whole attention to the cause, and that +the common opinion was that the transaction generally was disgraceful. + +"Then," continued the speaker, "this charge of parricide, so monstrous +is the crime, must have the very strongest evidence to support it. There +was a case at Tarracina of a man being found murdered in the chamber +where he was sleeping, his two sons, both young men, being in the same +room. No one could be found, either slave or free man, who seemed likely +to have done the deed; and as the two sons, grown up as they were, +declared that they knew nothing about it, they were indicted for +parricide. What could be so suspicious? Suspicious, do I say? Nay, +worse. That neither knew any thing about it? That any one had ventured +into that chamber at the very time when there were in it two young men +who would certainly perceive and defeat the attempt? Yet, because it was +proved to the jury that the young men had been found fast asleep, with +the door wide open, they were acquitted. It was thought incredible that +men who had just committed so monstrous a crime could possibly sleep. +Why, Solon, the wisest of all legislators, drawing up his code of laws, +provided no punishment for this crime; and when he was asked the reason +replied that he believed that no one would ever commit it. To provide a +punishment would be to suggest rather than prevent. Our own ancestors +provided indeed a punishment, but it was of the strangest kind, showing +how strange, how monstrous they thought the crime. And what evidence do +you bring forward? The man was not at Rome. That is proved. There-fore +he must have done it, if he did it at all, by the hands of others. Who +were these others? Were they free men or slaves? If they were free men +where did they come from, where live? How did he hire them? Where is +the proof? You haven't a shred of evidence, and yet you accuse him of +parricide. And if they were slaves, where, again I ask, are they? There +_were_ two slaves who saw the deed; but they belonged to the confederate +not to the accused. Why do you not produce them? Purely because they +would prove your guilt. + +"It is there indeed that we find the real truth of the matter. It was +the maxim of a famous lawyer, Ask: _who profited by the deed_? I ask it +now. It was Magnus who profited. He was poor before, and now he is rich. +And then he was in Rome at the time of the murder; and he was familiar +with assassins. Remember too the strange speed with which he sent the +news to Ameria, and sent it, not to the son, as one might expect, but to +Capito his accomplice; for that he was an accomplice is evident enough. +What else could he be when he so cheated the deputation that went to +Sulla at Volaterrae?" + +Cicero then turned to Chrysogonus, and attacked him with a boldness +which is surprising, when we remember how high he stood in the favor of +the absolute master of Rome, "See how he comes down from his fine +mansion on the Palatine. Yes, and he has for his own enjoyment a +delightful retreat in the suburbs, and many an estate besides, and not +one of them but is both handsome and conveniently near. His house is +crowded with ware of Corinth and Delos, among them that famous +self-acting cooking apparatus, which he lately bought at a price so high +that the passers-by, when they heard the clerk call out the highest bid, +supposed that it must be a farm which was being sold. And what +quantities, think you, he has of embossed plate, and coverlets of +purple, and pictures, and statues, and colored marbles! Such quantities, +I tell you, as scarce could be piled together in one mansion in a time +of tumult and rapine from many wealthy establishments. And his +household--why should I describe how many it numbers, and how varied are +its accomplishments? I do not speak of ordinary domestics, the cook, the +baker, the litter-bearer. Why, for the mere enjoyment of his ears he has +such a multitude of men that the whole neighborhood echoes again with +the daily music of singers, and harp-players, and flute-players, and +with the uproar of his nightly banquets. What daily expenses, what +extravagance, as you well know, gentlemen, there must be in such a life +as this! how costly must be these banquets! Creditable banquets, indeed, +held in such a house--a house, do I say, and not a manufactory of +wickedness, a place of entertainment for every kind of crime? And as for +the man himself--you see, gentlemen, how he bustles every where about +the forum, with his hair fashionably arranged and dripping with +perfumes; what a crowd of citizens, yes, of citizens, follow him; you +see how he looks down upon every one, thinks no one can be compared to +himself, fancies himself the one rich and powerful man in Rome?" + +The jury seems to have caught the contagion of courage from the +advocate. They acquitted the accused. It is not known whether he ever +recovered his property. But as Sulla retired from power in the following +year, and died the year after, we may hope that the favorites and the +villains whom he had sheltered were compelled to disgorge some at least +of their gains. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A ROMAN MAGISTRATE. + + +Of all the base creatures who found a profit in the massacres and +plunderings which Sulla commanded or permitted, not one was baser than +Caius Verres. The crimes that he committed would be beyond our belief if +it were not for the fact that he never denied them. He betrayed his +friends, he perverted justice, he plundered a temple with as little +scruple as he plundered a private house, he murdered a citizen as boldly +as he murdered a foreigner; in fact, he was the most audacious, the most +cruel, the most shameless of men. And yet he rose to high office at home +and abroad, and had it not been for the courage, sagacity, and eloquence +of one man, he might have risen to the very highest. What Roman citizens +had sometimes, and Roman subjects, it is to be feared, very often to +endure may be seen from the picture which we are enabled to draw of a +_Roman magistrate_. + +Roman politicians began public life as quaestors. (A quaestor was an +official who managed money matters for higher magistrates. Every +governor of a province had one or more quaestors under him. They were +elected at Rome, and their posts were assigned to them by lot.) Verres +was quaestor in Gaul and embezzled the public money; he was quaestor in +Cilicia with Dolabella, a like-minded governor, and diligently used his +opportunity. This time it was not money only, but works of art, on which +he laid his hands; and in these the great cities, whether in Asia or in +Europe, were still rich. The most audacious, perhaps, of these robberies +was perpetrated in the island of Delos. Delos was known all over the +world as the island of Apollo. The legend was that it was the birthplace +of the god. None of his shrines was more frequented or more famous. +Verres was indifferent to such considerations. He stripped the temple of +its finest statues, and loaded a merchant ship which he had hired with +the booty. But this time he was not lucky enough to secure it. The +islanders, though they had discovered the theft, did not, indeed, +venture to complain. They thought it was the doing of the governor, and +a governor, though his proceedings might be impeached after his term of +office, was not a person with whom it was safe to remonstrate. But a +terrible storm suddenly burst upon the island. The governor's departure +was delayed. To set sail in such weather was out of the question. The +sea was indeed so high that the town became scarcely habitable. Then +Verres' ship was wrecked, and the statues were found cast upon the +shore. The governor ordered them to be replaced in the temple, and the +storm subsided as suddenly as it had arisen. + +On his return to Rome Dolabella was impeached for extortion. With +characteristic baseness Verres gave evidence against him, evidence so +convincing as to cause a verdict of guilty. But he thus secured his own +gains, and these he used so profusely in the purchase of votes that two +or three years afterwards he was elected praetor. The praetors performed +various functions which were assigned to them by lot. Chance, or it may +possibly have been contrivance, gave to Verres the most considerable of +them all. He was made "Praetor of the City;" that is, a judge before +whom a certain class of very important causes were tried. Of course he +showed himself scandalously unjust. One instance of his proceedings may +suffice. + +A certain Junius had made a contract for keeping the temple of Castor in +repair. When Verres came into office he had died, leaving a son under +age. There had been some neglect, due probably to the troubles of the +times, in seeing that the contracts had been duly executed, and the +Senate passed a resolution that Verres and one of his fellow-praetors +should see to the matter. The temple of Castor came under review like +the others, and Verres, knowing that the original contractor was dead, +inquired who was the responsible person. When he heard of the son under +age he recognized at once a golden opportunity. It was one of the maxims +which he had laid down for his own guidance, and which he had even been +wont to give out for the benefit of his friends, that much profit might +be made out of the property of wards. It had been arranged that the +guardian of the young Junius should take the contract into his own +hands, and, as the temple was in excellent repair, there was no +difficulty in the way. Verres summoned the guardian to appear before +him. "Is there any thing," he asked, "that your ward has not made good, +and which we ought to require of him?" "No," said he, "every thing is +quite right; all the statues and offerings are there, and the fabric is +in excellent repair." From the praetor's point of view this was not +satisfactory; and he determined on a personal visit. Accordingly he went +to the temple, and inspected it. The ceiling was excellent; the whole +building in the best repair. "What is to be done?" he asked of one of +his satellites. "Well," said the man, "there is nothing for you to +meddle with here, except possibly to require that the columns should be +restored to the perpendicular." "Restored to the perpendicular? what do +you mean?" said Verres, who knew nothing of architecture. It was +explained to him that it very seldom happened that a column was +absolutely true to the perpendicular. "Very good," said Verres; "we will +have the columns made perpendicular." Notice accordingly was sent to +the lad's guardians. Disturbed at the prospect of indefinite loss to +their ward's property, they sought an interview with Verres. One of the +noble family of Marcellus waited upon him, and remonstrated against the +iniquity of the proceeding. The remonstrance was in vain. The praetor +showed no signs of relenting. There yet remained one way, a way only too +well known to all who had to deal with him, of obtaining their object. +Application must be made to his mistress (a Greek freedwoman of the name +of Chelidon or "The Swallow"). If she could be induced to take an +interest in the case something might yet be done. Degrading as such a +course must have been to men of rank and honor, they resolved, in the +interest of their ward, to take it. They went to Chelidon's house. It +was thronged with people who were seeking favors from the praetor. Some +were begging for decisions in their favor; some for fresh trials of +their cases. "I want possession," cried one. "He must not take the +property from me," said another. "Don't let him pronounce judgment +against me," cried a third. "The property must be assigned to me," was +the demand of a fourth. Some were counting out money; others signing +bonds. The deputation, after waiting awhile, were admitted to the +presence. Their spokesman explained the case, begged for Chelidon's +assistance, and promised a substantial consideration. The lady was very +gracious. She would willingly do what she could, and would talk to the +praetor about it. The deputation must come again the next day and hear +how she had succeeded. They came again, but found that nothing could be +done. Verres felt sure that a large sum of money was to be got out of +the proceeding, and resolutely refused any compromise. + +They next made an offer of about two thousand pounds. This again was +rejected. Verres resolved that he would put up the contract to auction, +and did his best that the guardians should have no notice of it. Here, +however, he failed. They attended the auction and made a bid. Of course +the lowest bidder ought to have been accepted, so long as he gave +security for doing the work well. But Verres refused to accept it. He +knocked down the contract to himself at a price of more than five +thousand pounds, and this though there were persons willing to do it for +less than a sixth of that sum. As a matter of fact very little was +done. Four of the columns were pulled down and built up again with the +same stones. Others were whitewashed; some had the old cement taken out +and fresh put in.[1] The highest estimate for all that could possibly be +wanted was less than eight hundred pounds. + +[Footnote 1: "Pointed," I suppose.] + +His year of office ended, Verres was sent as governor to Sicily. By +rights he should have remained there twelve months only, but his +successor was detained by the Servile war in Italy, and his stay was +thus extended to nearly three years, three years into which he crowded +an incredible number of cruelties and robberies. Sicily was perhaps the +wealthiest of all the provinces. Its fertile wheat-fields yielded +harvests which, now that agriculture had begun to decay in Italy, +provided no small part of the daily bread of Rome. In its cities, +founded most of them several centuries before by colonists from Greece, +were accumulated the riches of many generations. On the whole it had +been lightly treated by its Roman conquerors. Some of its states had +early discerned which would be the winning side, and by making their +peace in time had secured their privileges and possessions. Others had +been allowed to surrender themselves on favorable terms. This wealth had +now been increasing without serious disturbance for more than a hundred +years. The houses of the richer class were full of the rich tapestries +of the East, of gold and silver plate cunningly chased or embossed, of +statues and pictures wrought by the hands of the most famous artists of +Greece. The temples were adorned with costly offerings and with images +that were known all over the civilized world. The Sicilians were +probably prepared to pay something for the privilege of being governed +by Rome. And indeed the privilege was not without its value. The days of +freedom indeed were over; but the turbulence, the incessant strife, the +bitter struggles between neighbors and parties were also at an end. Men +were left to accumulate wealth and to enjoy it without hindrance. Any +moderate demands they were willing enough to meet. They did not +complain, for instance, or at least did not complain aloud, that they +were compelled to supply their rulers with a fixed quantity of corn at +prices lower than could have been obtained in the open market. And they +would probably have been ready to secure the good will of a governor who +fancied himself a connoisseur in art with handsome presents from their +museums and picture galleries. But the exactions of Verres exceeded all +bounds both of custom and of endurance. The story of how he dealt with +the wheat-growers of the province is too tedious and complicated to be +told in this place. Let it suffice to say that he enriched himself and +his greedy troop of followers at the cost of absolute ruin both to the +cultivators of the soil and to the Roman capitalists who farmed this +part of the public revenue. As to the way in which he laid his hands on +the possessions of temples and of private citizens, his doings were +emphatically summed up by his prosecutor when he came, as we shall +afterwards see, to be put upon his trial. "I affirm that in the whole of +Sicily, wealthy and old-established province as it is, in all those +towns, in all those wealthy homes, there was not a single piece of +silver plate, a single article of Corinthian or Delian ware, a single +jewel or pearl, a single article of gold or ivory, a single picture, +whether on panel or on canvas, which he did not hunt up and examine, +and, if it pleased his fancy, abstract. This is a great thing to say, +you think. Well, mark how I say it. It is not for the sake of rhetorical +exaggeration that I make this sweeping assertion, that I declare that +this fellow did not leave a single article of the kind in the whole +province. I speak not in the language of the professional accuser but in +plain Latin. Nay, I will put it more clearly still: in no single private +house, in no town; in no place, profane or even sacred; in the hands of +no Sicilian, of no citizen of Rome, did he leave a single article, +public or private property, of things profane or things religious, which +came under his eyes or touched his fancy." + +Some of the more remarkable of these acts of spoliation it may be worth +while to relate. A certain Heius, who was at once the wealthiest and +most popular citizen of Messana, had a private chapel of great antiquity +in his house, and in it four statues of the very greatest value. There +was a Cupid by Praxiteles, a replica of a famous work which attracted +visitors to the uninteresting little town of Thespiae in Boeotia; a +Hercules from the chisel of Myro; and two bronze figures, +"Basket-bearers," as they were called, because represented as carrying +sacred vessels in baskets on their heads. These were the work of +Polyclitus. The Cupid had been brought to Rome to ornament the forum on +some great occasion, and had been carefully restored to its place. The +chapel and its contents was the great sight of the town. No one passed +through without inspecting it. It was naturally, therefore, one of the +first things that Verres saw, Messana being on his route to the capital +of his province. He did not actually take the statues, he bought them; +but the price that he paid was so ridiculously low that purchase was +only another name for robbery. Something near sixty pounds was given for +the four. If we recall the prices that would be paid now-a-days for a +couple of statues by Michael Angelo and two of the masterpieces of +Raphael and Correggio, we may imagine what a monstrous fiction this sale +must have been, all the more monstrous because the owner was a wealthy +man, who had no temptation to sell, and who was known to value his +possessions not only as works of art but as adding dignity to his +hereditary worship. + +A wealthy inhabitant of Tyndaris invited the governor to dinner. He was +a Roman citizen and imagined that he might venture on a display which a +provincial might have considered to be dangerous. Among the plate on the +table was a silver dish adorned with some very fine medallions. It +struck the fancy of the guest, who promptly had it removed, and who +considered himself to be a marvel of moderation when he sent it back +with the medallions abstracted. + +His secretary happened one day to receive a letter which bore a +noteworthy impression on the composition of chalk which the Greeks used +for sealing. It attracted the attention of Verres, who inquired from +what place it had come. Hearing that it had been sent from Agrigentum, +he communicated to his agents in that town his desire that the seal-ring +should be at once secured for him. And this was done. The unlucky +possessor, another Roman citizen, by the way, had his ring actually +drawn from his finger. + +A still more audacious proceeding was to rob, not this time a mere +Sicilian provincial or a simple Roman citizen, but one of the tributary +kings, the heir of the great house of Antiochus, which not many years +before had matched itself with the power of Rome. Two of the young +princes had visited Rome, intending to prosecute their claims to the +throne of Egypt, which, they contended, had come to them through their +mother. The times were not favorable to the suit, and they returned to +their country, one of them, Antiochus, probably the elder, choosing to +take Sicily on his way. He naturally visited Syracuse, where Verres was +residing, and Verres at once recognized a golden opportunity. The first +thing was to send the visitor a handsome supply of wine, olive-oil, and +wheat. The next was to invite him to dinner. The dining-room and table +were richly furnished, the silver plate being particularly splendid. +Antiochus was highly delighted with the entertainment, and lost no time +in returning the compliment. The dinner to which he invited the governor +was set out with a splendor to which Verres had nothing to compare. +There was silver plate in abundance, and there were also cups of gold, +these last adorned with magnificent gems. + +Conspicuous among the ornaments of the table was a drinking vessel, all +in one piece, probably of amethyst, and with a handle of gold. Verres +expressed himself delighted with what he saw. He handled every vessel +and was loud in its praises. The simple-minded King, on the other hand, +heard the compliment with pride. Next day came a message. Would the King +lend some of the more beautiful cups to his excellency? He wished to +show them to his own artists. A special request was made for the +amethyst cup. All was sent without a suspicion of danger. + +But the King had still in his possession something that especially +excited the Roman's cupidity. This was a candelabrum of gold richly +adorned with jewels. It had been intended for an offering to the +tutelary deity of Rome, Jupiter of the Capitol. But the temple, which +had been burned to the ground in the civil wars, had not yet been +rebuilt, and the princes, anxious that their gift should not be seen +before it was publicly presented, resolved to carry it back with them to +Syria. Verres, however, had got, no one knew how, some inkling of the +matter, and he begged Antiochus to let him have a sight of it. The young +prince, who, so far from being suspicious, was hardly sufficiently +cautious, had it carefully wrapped up, and sent it to the governor's +palace. When he had minutely inspected it, the messengers prepared to +carry it back. Verres, however, had not seen enough of it. It clearly +deserved more than one examination. Would they leave it with him for a +time? They left it, suspecting nothing. + +Antiochus, on his part, had no apprehensions. When some days had passed +and the candelabrum was not returned, he sent to ask for it. The +governor begged the messenger to come again the next day. It seemed a +strange request; still the man came again and was again unsuccessful. +The King himself then waited on the governor and begged him to return +it. Verres hinted, or rather said plainly, that he should very much like +it as a present. "This is impossible," replied the prince, "the honor +due to Jupiter and public opinion forbid it. All the world knows that +the offering is to be made, and I cannot go back from my word." Verres +perceived that soft words would be useless, and took at once another +line. The King, he said, must leave Sicily before nightfall. The public +safety demanded it. He had heard of a piratical expedition which was on +its way from Syria to the province, and that his departure was +necessary. Antiochus had no choice but to obey; but before he went he +publicly protested in the market-place of Syracuse against the wrong +that had been done. His other valuables, the gold and the jewels, he did +not so much regret; but it was monstrous that he should be robbed of the +gift that he destined for the altar of the tutelary god of Rome. + +The Sicilian cities were not better able to protect their possessions +than were private individuals. Segesta was a town that had early ranged +itself on the side of the Romans, with whom its people had a legendary +relationship. (The story was that Aeneas on his way to Italy had left +there some of his followers, who were unwilling any longer to endure the +hardships of the journey.) In early days it had been destroyed by the +Carthaginians, who had carried off all its most valuable possessions, +the most precious being a statue of Diana, a work of great beauty and +invested with a peculiar sacredness. When Carthage fell, Scipio its +conqueror restored the spoils which had been carried off from the cities +of Sicily. Among other things Agrigentum had recovered its famous bull +of brass, in which the tyrant Phalaris had burned, it was said, his +victims. Segesta was no less fortunate than its neighbors, and got back +its Diana. It was set on a pedestal on which was inscribed the name of +Scipio, and became one of the most notable sights of the island. It was +of a colossal size, but the sculptor had contrived to preserve the +semblance of maidenly grace and modesty. Verres saw and coveted it. He +demanded it of the authorities of the town and was met with a refusal. +It was easy for the governor to make them suffer for their obstinacy. +All their imposts were doubled and more than doubled. Heavy requisitions +for men and money and corn were made upon them. A still more hateful +burden, that of attending the court and progresses of the governor was +imposed on their principal citizens. This was a contest which they +could not hope to wage with success. Segesta resolved that the statue +should be given up. It was accordingly carried away from the town, all +the women of the town, married and unmarried, following it on its +journey, showering perfumes and flowers upon it, and burning incense +before it, till it had passed beyond the borders of their territory. + +If Segesta had its Diana, Tyndaris had its Mercury; and this also Verres +was resolved to add to his collection. He issued his orders to Sopater, +chief magistrate of the place, that the statue was to betaken to +Messana. (Messana being conveniently near to Italy was the place in +which he stored his plunder.) Sopater refusing was threatened with the +heaviest penalties if it was not done without delay, and judged it best +to bring the matter before the local senate. The proposition was +received with shouts of disapproval. Verres paid a second visit to the +town and at once inquired what had been done about the statue. He was +told that it was impossible. The senate had decreed the penalty of +death against any one that touched it. Apart from that, it would be an +act of the grossest impiety. "Impiety?" he burst out upon the unlucky +magistrates; "penalty of death! senate! what senate? As for you, +Sopater, you shall not escape. Give me up the statue or you shall be +flogged to death." Sopater again referred the matter to his townsmen and +implored them with tears to give way. The meeting separated in great +tumult without giving him any answer. Summoned again to the governor's +presence, he repeated that nothing could be done. But Verres had still +resources in store. He ordered the lictors to strip the man, the chief +magistrate, be it remembered, of an important town, and to set him, +naked as he was, astride on one of the equestrian statues that adorned +the market-place. It was winter; the weather was bitterly cold, with +heavy rain. The pain caused by the naked limbs being thus brought into +close contact with the bronze of the statue was intense. So frightful +was his suffering that his fellow-townsmen could not bear to see it. +They turned with loud cries upon the senate and compelled them to vote +that the coveted statue should be given up to the governor. So Verres +got his Mercury. + +We have a curious picture of the man as he made his progresses from town +to town in his search for treasures of art. "As soon as it was +spring--and he knew that it was spring not from the rising of any +constellation or the blowing of any wind, but simply because he saw the +roses--then indeed he bestirred himself. So enduring, so untiring was he +that no one ever saw him upon horseback. No--he was carried in a litter +with eight bearers. His cushion was of the finest linen of Malta, and it +was stuffed with roses. There was one wreath of roses upon his head, and +another round his neck, made of the finest thread, of the smallest mesh, +and this, too, was full of roses. He was carried in this litter straight +to his chamber; and there he gave his audiences." + +When spring had passed into summer even such exertions were too much for +him. He could not even endure to remain in his official residence, the +old palace of the kings of Syracuse. A number of tents were pitched for +him at the entrance of the harbor to catch the cool breezes from the +sea. There he spent his days and nights, surrounded by troops of the +vilest companions, and let the province take care of itself. + +Such a governor was not likely to keep his province free from the +pirates who, issuing from their fastnesses on the Cilician coast and +elsewhere, kept the seaboard cities of the Mediterranean in constant +terror. One success, and one only, he seems to have gained over them. +His fleet was lucky enough to come upon a pirate ship, which was so +overladen with spoil that it could neither escape nor defend itself. +News was at once carried to Verres, who roused himself from his feasting +to issue strict orders that no one was to meddle with the prize. It was +towed into Syracuse, and he hastened to examine his booty. The general +feeling was one of delight that a crew of merciless villains had been +captured and were about to pay the penalty of their crimes. Verres had +far more practical views. Justice might deal as she pleased with the old +and useless; the young and able bodied, and all who happened to be +handicraftsmen, were too valuable to be given up. His secretaries, his +retinue, his son had their share of the prize; six, who happened to be +singers, were sent as a present to a friend at Rome. As to the pirate +captain himself, no one knew what had become of him. It was a favorite +amusement in Sicily to watch the sufferings of a pirate, if the +government had had the luck but to catch one, while he was being slowly +tortured to death. The people of Syracuse, to whom the pirate captain +was only too well known, watched eagerly for the day when he was to be +brought out to suffer. They kept an account of those who were brought +out to execution, and reckoned them against the number of the crew, +which it had been easy to conjecture from the size of the ship. Verres +had to correct the deficiency as best he could. He had the audacity to +fill the places of the prisoners whom he had sold or given away with +Roman citizens, whom on various false pretenses he had thrown into +prison. The pirate captain himself was suffered to escape on the +payment, it was believed, of a very large sum of money. + +But Verres had not yet done with the pirates. It was necessary that some +show, at least, of coping with them should be made. There was a fleet, +and the fleet must put to sea. A citizen of Syracuse, who had no sort of +qualification for the task, but whom Verres was anxious to get out of +the way, was appointed to the command. The governor paid it the unwonted +attention of coming out of his tent to see it pass. His very dress, as +he stood upon the shore, was a scandal to all beholders. His sandals, +his purple cloak, his tunic, or under-garment, reaching to his ankles, +were thought wholly unsuitable to the dignity of a Roman magistrate. The +fleet, as might be expected, was scandalously ill equipped. Its men for +the most part existed, as the phrase is, only "on paper." There was the +proper complement of names, but of names only. The praetor drew from the +treasury the pay for these imaginary soldiers and marines, and diverted +it into his own pocket. And the ships were as ill provisioned as they +were ill manned. After they had been something less than five days at +sea they put into the harbor of Pachynus. The crews were driven to +satisfy their hunger on the roots of the dwarf palm, which grew, and +indeed still grows, in abundance on that spot. Cleomenes meanwhile was +following the example of his patron. He had his tent pitched on the +shore, and sat in it drinking from morning to night. While he was thus +employed tidings were brought that the pirate fleet was approaching. He +was ill prepared for an engagement. His hope had been to complete the +manning of his ships from the garrison of the fort. But Verres had dealt +with the fort as he had dealt with the fleet. The soldiers were as +imaginary as the sailors. Still a man of courage would have fought. His +own ship was fairly well manned, and was of a commanding size, quite +able to overpower the light vessels of the pirates; and such a crew as +there was was eager to fight. But Cleomenes was as cowardly as he was +incompetent. He ordered the mast of his ship to be hoisted, the sails to +be set, and the cable cut, and made off with all speed. The rest of his +fleet could do nothing but follow his example. The pirates gave chase, +and captured two of the ships as they fled. Cleomenes reached the port +of Helorus, stranded his ship, and left it to its fate. His colleagues +did the same. The pirate chief found them thus deserted and burned them. +He had then the audacity to sail into the inner harbor of Syracuse, a +place into which, we are told, only one hostile fleet, the ill-fated +Athenian expedition, three centuries and a half before, had ever +penetrated. The rage of the inhabitants at this spectacle exceeded all +bounds, and Verres felt that a victim must be sacrificed. He was, of +course, himself the chief culprit. Next in guilt to him was Cleomenes. +But Cleomenes was spared for the same scandalous reason which had caused +his appointment to the command. The other captains, who might indeed +have shown more courage, but who were comparatively blameless, were +ordered to execution. It seemed all the more necessary to remove them +because they could have given inconvenient testimony as to the +inefficient condition of the ships. + +The cruelty of Verres was indeed as conspicuous as his avarice. Of this, +as of his other vices, it would not suit the purpose of this book to +speak in detail. One conspicuous example will suffice. A certain Gavius +had given offense, how we know not, and had been confined in the +disused stone quarries which served for the public prison of Syracuse. +From these he contrived to escape, and made his way to Messana. +Unluckily for himself, he did not know that Messana was the one place in +Sicily where it would not be safe to speak against the governor. Just as +he was about to embark for Italy he was heard to complain of the +treatment which he had received, and was arrested and brought before the +chief magistrate of the town. Verres happened to come to the town the +same day, and heard what had happened. He ordered the man to be stripped +and flogged in the market-place. Gavius pleaded that he was a Roman +citizen and offered proof of his claim. Verres refused to listen, and +enraged by the repetition of the plea, actually ordered the man to be +crucified. "And set up," he said to his lictors, "set up the cross by +the straits. He is a Roman citizen, he says, and he will at least be +able to have a view of his native country." We know from the history of +St. Paul what a genuine privilege and protection this citizenship was. +And Cicero exactly expresses the feeling on the subject in his famous +words. "It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in irons; it is positive +wickedness to inflict stripes upon him; it is close upon parricide to +put him to death; as to crucifying him there is no word for it." And on +this crowning act of audacity Verres had the recklessness to venture. + +After holding office for three years Verres came back to Rome. The +people of Messana, his only friends in the islands, had built a +merchantman for him, and he loaded it with his spoils. He came back with +a light heart. He knew indeed that the Sicilians would impeach him. His +wrong-doings had been too gross, too insolent, for him to escape +altogether. But he was confident that he had the means in his hands for +securing an acquittal. The men that were to judge him were men of his +own order. The senators still retained the privilege which Sulla had +given them. They, and they alone, furnished the juries before whom such +causes were tried. Of these senators not a few had a fellow-feeling for +a provincial governor accused of extortion and wrong. Some had +plundered provinces in the past; others hoped to do so in the future. +Many insignificant men who could not hope to obtain such promotion were +notoriously open to bribes. And some who would have scorned to receive +money, or were too wealthy to be influenced by it, were not insensible +to the charms of other gifts--to a fine statue or a splendid picture +judiciously bestowed. A few, even more scrupulous, who would not accept +such presents for their own halls or gardens, were glad to have such +splendid ornaments for the games which they exhibited to the people. +Verres came back amply provided with these means of securing his safety. +He openly avowed--for indeed he was as frank as he was unscrupulous--that +he had trebled his extortions in order that, after leaving a sufficiency +for himself, he might have wherewith to win the favor of his judges. It +soon became evident to him that he would need these and all other help, +if he was to escape. The Sicilians engaged Cicero to plead their cause. +He had been quaestor in a division of the province for a year six years +before, and had won golden opinions by his moderation and integrity. And +Cicero was a power in the courts of the law, all the greater because he +had never yet prosecuted, but had kept himself to what was held the more +honorable task of defending persons accused.[2] Verres secured Hortensius. +He too was a great orator; Cicero had chosen him as the model which he +would imitate, and speaks of him as having been a splendid and energetic +speaker, full of life both in diction and action. At that time, perhaps, +his reputation stood higher than that of Cicero himself. It was something +to have retained so powerful an advocate; it would be still more if it +could be contrived that the prosecutor should be a less formidable person. +And there was a chance of contriving this. A certain Caecilius was induced +to come forward, and claim for himself, against Cicero, the duty of +prosecuting the late governor of Sicily. He too had been a quaestor in the +province, and he had quarreled, or he pretended that he had quarreled, with +Verres. The first thing there had to be argued before the court, which, +like our own, consisted of a presiding judge and a jury, was the +question, who was to prosecute, Cicero or Caecilius, or the two +together. Cicero made a great speech, in which he established his own +claim. He was the choice of the provincials; the honesty of his rival +was doubtful, while it was quite certain that he was incompetent. The +court decided in his favor, and he was allowed one hundred and ten days +to collect evidence. Verres had another device in store. This time a +member of the Senate came forward and claimed to prosecute Verres for +misdoings in the province of Achaia in Greece. He wanted one hundred and +eight days only for collecting evidence. If this claim should be +allowed, the second prosecution would be taken first; of course it was +not intended to be serious, and would end in an acquittal. Meanwhile all +the available time would have been spent, and the Sicilian affair would +have to be postponed till the next year. It was on postponement indeed +that Verres rested his hopes. In July Hortensius was elected consul for +the following year, and if the trial could only be put off till he had +entered upon office, nothing was to be feared. Verres was openly +congratulated in the streets of Rome on his good fortune. "I have good +news for you," cried a friend; "the election has taken place and you are +acquitted." Another friend had been chosen praetor, and would be the +new presiding judge. Consul and praetor between them would have the +appointment of the new jurors, and would take care that they should be +such as the accused desired. At the same time the new governor of Sicily +would be also a friend, and he would throw judicious obstacles in the +way of the attendance of witnesses. The sham prosecution came to +nothing. The prosecutor never left Italy. Cicero, on the other hand, +employed the greatest diligence. Accompanied by his cousin Lucius he +visited all the chief cities of Sicily, and collected from them an +enormous mass of evidence. In this work he only spent fifty out of the +hundred and ten days allotted to him, and was ready to begin long before +he was expected. + +[Footnote 2: So Horace compliments a friend on being "the illustrious +safeguard of the sad accused."] + +Verres had still one hope left; and this, strangely enough, sprang out +of the very number and enormity of his crimes. The mass of evidence was +so great that the trial might be expected to last for a long time. If it +could only be protracted into the next year, when his friends would be +in office, he might still hope to escape. And indeed there was but +little time left. The trial began on the fifth of August. In the middle +of the month Pompey was to exhibit some games. Then would come the games +called "The Games of Rome," and after this others again, filling up much +of the three months of September, October, and November. Cicero +anticipated this difficulty. He made a short speech (it could not have +lasted more than two hours in delivering), in which he stated the case +in outline. He made a strong appeal to the jury. They were themselves on +their trial. The eyes of all the world were on them. If they did not do +justice on so notorious a criminal they would never be trusted any more. +It would be seen that the senators were not fit to administer the law. +The law itself was on its trial. The provincials openly declared that if +Verres was acquitted, the law under which their governors were liable to +be accused had better be repealed. If no fear of a prosecution were +hanging over them, they would be content with as much plunder as would +satisfy their own wants. They would not need to extort as much more +wherewith to bribe their judges. Then he called his witnesses. A +marvelous array they were. "From the foot of Mount Taurus, from the +shores of the Black Sea, from many cities of the Grecian mainland, from +many islands of the Aegean, from every city and market-town of Sicily, +deputations thronged to Rome. In the porticoes, and on the steps of the +temples, in the area of the Forum, in the colonnade that surrounded it, +on the housetops and on the overlooking declivities, were stationed +dense and eager crowds of impoverished heirs and their guardians, +bankrupt tax-farmers and corn merchants, fathers bewailing their +children carried off to the praetor's harem, children mourning for their +parents dead in the praetor's dungeons, Greek nobles whose descent was +traced to Cecrops or Eurysthenes, or to the great Ionian and Minyan +houses, and Phoenicians, whose ancestors had been priests of the Tyrian +Melcarth, or claimed kindred with the Zidonian Jah."[3] Nine days were +spent in hearing this mass of evidence. Hortensius was utterly +overpowered by it. He had no opportunity for displaying his eloquence, +or making a pathetic appeal for a noble oppressed by the hatred of the +democracy. After a few feeble attempts at cross-examination, he +practically abandoned the case. The defendant himself perceived that his +position was hopeless. Before the nine days, with their terrible +impeachment, had come to an end he fled from Rome. + +[Footnote 3: Article in "Dictionary of Classical Biography and +Mythology," by William Bodham Donne.] + +The jury returned an unanimous verdict of guilty, and the prisoner was +condemned to banishment and to pay a fine. The place of banishment +(which he was apparently allowed to select outside certain limits) was +Marseilles. The amount of the fine we do not know. It certainly was not +enough to impoverish him. + +Much of the money, and many of the works of art which he had stolen were +left to him. These latter, by a singularly just retribution, proved his +ruin in the end. After the death of Cicero, Antony permitted the exiles +to return. Verres came with them, bringing back his treasures of art, +and was put to death because they excited the cupidity of the masters of +Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A GREAT ROMAN CAUSE. + + +There were various courts at Rome for persons accused of various +crimes. One judge, for instance, used to try charges of poisoning; +another, charges of murder; and, just as is the case among us, each +judge had a jury, who gave their verdict on the evidence which they had +heard. But this verdict was not, as with us, the verdict of the whole +jury, given only if all can be induced to agree, but of the majority. +Each juryman wrote his opinion on a little tablet of wood, putting A. +(_absolvo_, "I acquit") if he thought the accused innocent, K. +(_condemno_, "I condemn") if he thought him guilty, and N.L. (_non +liquet_, "It is not clear") if the case seemed suspicious, though there +was not enough evidence to convict. + +In the year 66 B.C. a very strange trial took place in the Court of +Poison Cases. A certain Cluentius was accused of having poisoned his +step-father, Oppianicus, and various other persons. Cicero, who was +praetor that year (the praetor was the magistrate next in rank to the +consul), defended Cluentius, and told his client's whole story. + +Cluentius and his step-father were both natives of Larinum, a town in +Apulia, where there was a famous temple of Mars. A dispute about the +property of this temple caused an open quarrel between the two men, who +had indeed been enemies for some years. Oppianicus took up the case of +some slaves, who were called _Servants of Mars_, declaring that they +were not slaves at all, but Roman citizens. This he did, it would seem, +because he desired to annoy his fellow-townsmen, with whom he was very +unpopular. The people of Larinum, who were very much interested in all +that concerned the splendor of their temple services, resisted the +claim, and asked Cluentius to plead their case. Cluentius consented. +While the cause was going on, it occurred to Oppianicus to get rid of +his opponent by poison. He employed an agent, and the agent put the +matter into the hands of his freedman, a certain Scamander. Scamander +tried to accomplish his object by bribing the slave of the physician who +was attending Cluentius. The physician was a needy Greek, and his slave +had probably hard and scanty fare; but he was an honest man, and as +clever as he was honest. He pretended to accept the offer, and arranged +for a meeting. This done, he told the whole matter to his master the +physician, and the physician told it again to his patient. Cluentius +arranged that certain friends should be present in concealment at the +interview between the slave and his tempter. The villain came, and was +seized with the poison and a packet of money, sealed with his master's +seal, upon him. + +Cluentius, who had put up with many provocations from his mother's +husband, now felt that his life was in danger, and determined to defend +himself. He indicted Scamander for an attempt to poison. The man was +found guilty. Scamander's patron (as they used to call a freedman's old +master) was next brought to trial, and with the same result. Last of all +Oppianicus, the chief criminal, was attacked. Scamander's trial had +warned him of his danger, and he had labored to bring about the man's +acquittal. One vote, and one only, he had contrived to secure. And to +the giver of this vote, a needy and unprincipled member of the Senate, +he now had recourse. He went, of course, with a large sum in his +hand--something about five thousand six hundred pounds of our money. +With this the senator--Staienus by name--was to bribe sixteen out of the +thirty-two jurymen. They were to have three hundred and fifty pounds +apiece for their votes, and Staienus was to have as much for his own +vote (which would give a majority), and something over for his trouble. +Staienus conceived the happy idea of appropriating the whole, and he +managed it in this way. He accosted a fellow-juror, whom he knew to be +as unprincipled as himself. "Bulbus," he said, "you will help me in +taking care that we sha'n't serve our country for nothing." "You may +count on me," said the man. Staienus went on, "The defendant has +promised three hundred and fifty pounds to every juror who will vote +'Not Guilty.' You know who will take the money. Secure them, and come +again to me." Nine days after, Bulbus came with beaming face to +Staienus. "I have got the sixteen in the matter you know of; and now, +where is the money?" "He has played me false," replied the other; "the +money is not forthcoming. As for myself, I shall certainly vote +'Guilty.'" + +The trial came to an end, and the verdict was to be given. The defendant +claimed that it should be given by word of mouth, being anxious to know +who had earned their money. Staienus and Bulbus were the first to vote. +To the surprise of all, they voted "Guilty." Rumors too of foul play had +spread about. The two circumstances caused some of the more respectable +jurors to hesitate. In the end _five_ voted for acquittal, _ten_ said +"Not Proven," and seventeen "Guilty." Oppianicus suffered nothing worse +than banishment, a banishment which did not prevent him from living in +Italy, and even in the neighborhood of Rome. The Romans, though they +shed blood like water in their civil strife, were singularly lenient in +their punishments. Not long afterwards he died. + +His widow saw in his death an opportunity of gratifying the unnatural +hatred which she had long felt for her son Cluentius. She would accuse +him of poisoning his step-father. Her first attempt failed completely. +She subjected three slaves to torture, one of them her own, another +belonged to the younger Oppianicus, a third the property of the +physician who had attended the deceased in his last illness. But the +cruelties and tortures extorted no confession from the men. At last the +friends whom she had summoned to be present at the inquiry compelled her +to desist. Three years afterwards she renewed the attempt. She had taken +one of the three tortured slaves into high favor, and had established +him as a physician at Larinum. The man committed an audacious robbery in +his mistress's house, breaking open a chest and abstracting from it a +quantity of silver coin and five pounds weight of gold. At the same time +he murdered two of his fellow-slaves, and threw their bodies into the +fish-pond. Suspicion fell upon the missing slaves. But when the chest +came to be closely examined, the opening was found to be of a very +curious kind. A friend remembered that he had lately seen among the +miscellaneous articles at an auction a circular saw which would have +made just such an opening. It was found that this saw had been bought by +the physician. He was now charged with the crime. Thereupon a young lad +who had been his accomplice came forward and told the story. The bodies +were found in the fish-pond. The guilty slave was tortured. He confessed +the deed, and he also confessed, his mistress declared, that he had +given poison to Oppianicus at the instance of Cluentius. No opportunity +was given for further inquiry. His confession made, the man was +immediately executed. Under strong compulsion from his step-mother, the +younger Oppianicus now took up the case, and indicted Cluentius for +murder. The evidence was very weak, little or nothing beyond the very +doubtful confession spoken of above; but then there was a very violent +prejudice against the accused. There had been a suspicion--perhaps more +than a suspicion--of foul play in the trial which had ended in the +condemnation of Oppianicus. The defendant, men said, might have +attempted to bribe the jury, but the plaintiff had certainly done so. It +would be a fine thing if he were to be punished even by finding him +guilty of a crime which he had not committed. + +In defending his client, Cicero relied as much upon the terrible list +of crimes which had been proved against the dead Oppianicus as upon any +thing else. Terrible indeed it was, as a few specimens from the +catalogue will prove. + +Among the wealthier inhabitants of Larinum was a certain Dinaea, a +childless widow. She had lost her eldest son in the Social War (the war +carried on between Rome and her Italian allies), and had seen two others +die of disease. Her only daughter, who had been married to Oppianicus, +was also dead. Now came the unexpected news that her eldest son was +still alive. He had been sold into slavery, and was still working among +a gang of laborers on a farm in Gaul. The poor woman called her kinsfolk +together and implored them to undertake the task of recovering him. At +the same time she made a will, leaving the bulk of her property to her +daughter's son, the younger Oppianicus, but providing for the missing +man a legacy of between three and four thousand pounds. The elder +Oppianicus was not disposed to see so large a sum go out of the family. +Dinaea fell ill, and he brought her his own physician. The patient +refused the man's services; they had been fatal, she said, to all her +kinsfolk. Oppianicus then contrived to introduce to her a traveling +quack from Ancona. He had bribed the man with about seventeen pounds of +our money to administer a deadly drug. The fee was large, and the fellow +was expected to take some pains with the business; but he was in a +hurry; he had many markets to visit; and he gave a single dose which +there was no need to repeat. + +Meanwhile Dinaea's kinsfolk had sent two agents to make inquiries for +the missing son. But Oppianicus had been beforehand with them. He had +bribed the man who had brought the first news, had learned where he was +to be found, and had caused him to be assassinated. The agents wrote to +their employers at Larinum, saying that the object of their search could +not be found, Oppianicus having undoubtedly tampered with the person +from whom information was to be obtained. This letter excited great +indignation at Larinum; and one of the family publicly declared in the +market-place that he should hold Oppianicus (who happened to be present) +responsible if any harm should be found to have happened to the missing +man. A few days afterwards the agents themselves returned. They had +found the man, but he was dead. Oppianicus dared not face the burst of +rage which this news excited, and fled from Larinum. But he was not at +the end of his resources. The Civil War between Sulla and the party of +Marius (for Marius himself was now dead) was raging, and Oppianicus fled +to the camp of Metellus Pius, one of Sulla's lieutenants. There he +represented himself as one who had suffered for the party. Metellus had +himself fought in the Social War, and fought against the side to which +the murdered prisoner belonged. It was therefore easy to persuade him +that the man had deserved his fate, and that his friends were unworthy +persons and dangerous to the commonwealth. Oppianicus returned to +Larinum with an armed force, deposed the magistrates whom the +towns-people had chosen, produced Sulla's mandate for the appointment of +himself and three of his creatures in their stead, as well as for the +execution of four persons particularly obnoxious to him. These four +were, the man who had publicly threatened him, two of his kinsfolk, and +one of the instruments of his own villainies, whom he now found it +convenient to get out of the way. + +The story of the crimes of Oppianicus, of which only a small part has +been given, having been finished, Cicero related the true circumstances +of his death. After his banishment he had wandered about for a while +shunned by all his acquaintances. Then he had taken up his quarters in a +farmhouse in the Falernian country. From these he was driven away by a +quarrel with the farmer, and removed to a small lodging which he had +hired outside the walls of Rome. Not long afterwards he fell from his +horse, and received a severe injury in his side. His health was already +weak, fever came on, he was carried into the city and died after a few +days' illness. + +Besides the charge of poisoning Oppianicus there were others that had to +be briefly dealt with. One only of these needs to be mentioned. +Cluentius, it was said, had put poison into a cup of honey wine, with +the intention of giving it to the younger Oppianicus. The occasion, it +was allowed, was the young man's wedding-breakfast, to which, as was +the custom at Larinum, a large company had been invited. The prosecutor +affirmed that one of the bridegroom's friends had intercepted the cup on +its way, drunk off its contents, and instantly expired. The answer to +this was complete. The young man had not instantly expired. On the +contrary, he had died after an illness of several days, and this illness +had had a different cause. He was already out of health when he came to +the breakfast, and he had made himself worse by eating and drinking too +freely, "as," says the orator, "young men will do." He then called a +witness to whom no one could object, the father of the deceased. "The +least suspicion of the guilt of Cluentius would have brought him as a +witness against him. Instead of doing this he gives him his support. +Read," said Cicero to the clerk, "read his evidence. And you, sir," +turning to the father, "stand up a while, if you please, and submit to +the pain of hearing what I am obliged to relate. I will say no more +about the case. Your conduct has been admirable; you would not allow +your own sorrow to involve an innocent man in the deplorable calamity of +a false accusation." + +Then came the story of the cruel and shameful plot which the mother had +contrived against her son. Nothing would content this wicked woman but +that she must herself journey to Rome to give all the help that she +could to the prosecution. "And what a journey this was!" cried Cicero. +"I live near some of the towns near which she passed, and I have heard +from many witnesses what happened. Vast crowds came to see her. Men, ay, +and women too, groaned aloud as she passed by. Groaned at what? Why, +that from the distant town of Larinum, from the very shore of the Upper +Sea, a woman was coming with a great retinue and heavy money-bags, +coming with the single object of bringing about the ruin of a son who +was being tried for his life. In all those crowds there was not a man +who did not think that every spot on which she set her foot needed to be +purified, that the very earth, which is the mother of us all, was +defiled by the presence of a mother so abominably wicked. There was not +a single town in which she was allowed to stay; there was not an inn of +all the many upon that road where the host did not shun the contagion +of her presence. And indeed she preferred to trust herself to solitude +and to darkness rather than to any city or hostelry. And now," said +Cicero, turning to the woman, who was probably sitting in court, "does +she think that we do not all know her schemes, her intrigues, her +purposes from day to day? Truly we know exactly to whom she has gone, to +whom she has promised money, whose integrity she has endeavored to +corrupt with her bribes. Nay, more: we have heard all about the things +which she supposes to be a secret, her nightly sacrifice, her wicked +prayers, her abominable vows." + +He then turned to the son, whom he would have the jury believe was as +admirable as the mother was vile. He had certainly brought together a +wonderful array of witnesses to, character. From Larinum every grown-up +man that had the strength to make the journey had come to Rome to +support their fellow-townsman. The town was left to the care of women +and children. With these witnesses had come, bringing a resolution of +the local senate full of the praises of the accused, a deputation of the +senators. Cicero turned to the deputation and begged them to stand up +while the resolution was being read. They stood up and burst into tears, +which indeed are much more common among the people of the south than +among us, and of which no one sees any reason to be ashamed. "You see +these tears, gentlemen," cried the orator to the jury. "You may be sure, +from seeing them, that every member of the senate was in tears also when +they passed this resolution." Nor was it only Larinum, but all the chief +Samnite towns that had sent their most respected citizens to give their +evidence for Cluentius. "Few," said Cicero, "I think, are loved by me as +much as he is loved by all these friends." + +Cluentius was acquitted. Cicero is said to have boasted afterwards that +he had blinded the eyes of the jury. Probably his client had bribed the +jury in the trial of his step-father. That was certainly the common +belief, which indeed went so far as to fix the precise sum which he +paid. "How many miles is your farm from Rome?" was asked of one of the +witnesses at a trial connected with the case. "Less than fifty-three," +he replied. "Exactly the sum," was the general cry from the spectators. +The point of the joke is in the fact that the same word stood in Latin +for the _thousand_ paces which made a mile and the _thousand_ coins by +which sums of money were commonly reckoned. Oppianicus had paid forty +thousand for an acquittal, and Cluentius outbid him with fifty thousand +("less than fifty-three") to secure a verdict of guilty. But whatever we +may think of the guilt or innocence of Cluentius, there can be no doubt +that the cause in which Cicero defended him was one of the most +interesting ever tried in Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +COUNTRY LIFE. + + +A Roman of even moderate wealth--for Cicero was far from being one of +the richest men of his time--commonly possessed more country-houses than +belong even to the wealthiest of English nobles. One such house at least +Cicero inherited from his father. It was about three miles from Arpinum, +a little town in that hill country of the Sabines which was the +proverbial seat of a temperate and frugal race, and which Cicero +describes in Homeric phrase as + + "Rough but a kindly nurse of men." + +In his grandfather's time it had been a plain farmhouse, of the kind +that had satisfied the simpler manners of former days--the days when +Consuls and Dictators were content, their time of office ended, to plow +their own fields and reap their own harvests. Cicero was born within its +walls, for the primitive fashion of family life still prevailed, and the +married son continued to live in his father's house. After the old man's +death, when the old-fashioned frugality gave way to a more sumptuous +manner of life, the house was greatly enlarged, one of the additions +being a library, a room of which the grandfather, who thought that his +contemporaries were like Syrian slaves, "the more Greek they knew the +greater knaves they were," had never felt the want; but in which his +son, especially in his later days, spent most of his time. The garden +and grounds were especially delightful, the most charming spot of all +being an island formed by the little stream Fibrenus. A description put +into the mouth of Quintus, the younger son of the house, thus depicts +it: "I have never seen a more pleasant spot. Fibrenus here divides his +stream into two of equal size, and so washes either side. Flowing +rapidly by he joins his waters again, having compassed just as much +ground as makes a convenient place for our literary discussions. This +done he hurries on, just as if the providing of such a spot had been his +only office and function, to fall into the Liris. Then, like one adopted +into a noble family, he loses his own obscurer name. The Liris indeed he +makes much colder. A colder stream than this indeed I never touched, +though I have seen many. I can scarce bear to dip my foot in it. You +remember how Plato makes Socrates dip his foot in Ilissus." Atticus too +is loud in his praises. "This, you know, is my first time of coming +here, and I feel that I cannot admire it enough. As to the splendid +villas which one often sees, with their marble pavements and gilded +ceilings, I despise them. And their water-courses, to which they give +the fine names of Nile or Euripus, who would not laugh at them when he +sees your streams? When we want rest and delight for the mind it is to +nature that we must come. Once I used to wonder--for I never thought +that there was any thing but rocks and hills in the place--that you took +such pleasure in the spot. But now I marvel that when you are away from +Rome you care to be any where but here." "Well," replied Cicero, "when I +get away from town for several days at a time, I do prefer this place; +but this I can seldom do. And indeed I love it, not only because it is +so pleasant, so healthy a resort, but also because it is my native land, +mine and my father's too, and because I live here among the associations +of those that have gone before me." + +Other homes he purchased at various times of his life, as his means +permitted. The situation of one of them, at Formiae near Cape Caista, +was particularly agreeable to him, for he loved the sea; it amused him +as it had amused, he tells us, the noble friends, Scipio and Laelius, +before him, to pick up pebbles on the shore. But this part of the coast +was a fashionable resort. Chance visitors were common; and there were +many neighbors, some of whom were far too liberal of their visits. He +writes to Atticus on one occasion from his Formian villa: "As to +composition, to which you are always urging me, it is absolutely +impossible. It is a public-hall that I have here, not a country-house, +such a crowd of people is there at Formiae. As to most of them nothing +need be said. After ten o'clock they cease to trouble me. But my nearest +neighbor is Arrius. The man absolutely lives with me, says that he has +given up the idea of going to Rome because he wants to talk philosophy +with me. And then, on the other side, there is Sebosus, Catulus' friend, +as you will remember. Now what am I to do? I would certainly be off to +Arpinum if I did not expect to see you here." In the next letter he +repeats the complaints: "Just as I am sitting down to write in comes our +friend Sebosus. I had not time to give an inward groan, when Arrius +says, 'Good morning.' And this is going away from Rome! I will +certainly be off to + + 'My native hills, the cradle of my race.'" + +Still, doubtless, there was a sweetness, the sweetness of being famous +and sought after, even in these annoyances. He never ceased to pay +occasional visits to Formiae. It was a favorite resort of his family; +and it was there that he spent the last days of his life. + +But the country-house which he loved best of all was his villa at +Tusculum, a Latin town lying on the slope of Mount Algidus, at such a +height above the sea[4] as would make a notable hill in England. Here +had lived in an earlier generation Crassus, the orator after whose model +the young Cicero had formed his own eloquence; and Catulus, who shared +with Marius the glory of saving Rome from the barbarians; and Caesar, an +elder kinsman of the Dictator. Cicero's own house had belonged to +Sulla, and its walls were adorned with frescoes of that great soldier's +victories. For neighbors he had the wealthy Lucullus, and the still more +wealthy Crassus, one of the three who ruled Rome when it could no longer +rule itself, and, for a time at least, Quintus, his brother. "This," he +writes to his friend Atticus, "is the one spot in which I can get some +rest from all my toils and troubles." + +[Footnote 4: 2200 feet.] + +Though Cicero often speaks of this house of his, he nowhere describes +its general arrangements. We shall probably be not far wrong if we +borrow our idea of this from the letter in which the younger Pliny tells +a friend about one of his own country seats. + +"The courtyard in front is plain without being mean. From this you pass +into a small but cheerful space inclosed by colonnades in the shape of +the letter D. Between these there is a passage into an inner covered +court, and out of this again into a handsome hall, which has on every +side folding doors or windows equally large. On the left hand of this +hall lies a large drawing-room, and beyond that a second of a smaller +size, which has one window to the rising and another to the setting sun. +Adjoining this is another room of a semicircular shape, the windows of +which are so arranged as to get the sun all through the day: in the +walls are bookcases containing a collection of authors who cannot be +read too often. Out of this is a bedroom which can be warmed with hot +air. The rest of this side of the house is appropriated to the use of +the slaves and freedmen; yet most of the rooms are good enough to put my +guests into. In the opposite wing is a most elegant bedroom, another +which can be used both as bedroom and sitting-room, and a third which +has an ante-room of its own, and is so high as to be cool in summer, and +with walls so thick that it is warm in winter. Then comes the bath with +its cooling room, its hot room, and its dressing chamber. And not far +from this again the tennis court, which gets the warmth of the afternoon +sun, and a tower which commands an extensive view of the country round. +Then there is a granary and a store-room." + +This was probably a larger villa than Cicero's, though it was itself +smaller than another which Pliny describes. We must make an allowance +for the increase in wealth and luxury which a century and a half had +brought. Still we may get some idea from it of Cicero's country-house, +one point of resemblance certainly being that there was but one floor. + +What Cicero says about his "Tusculanum" chiefly refers to its furnishing +and decoration, and is to be found for the most part in his letters to +Atticus. Atticus lived for many years in Athens and had therefore +opportunities of buying works of art and books which did not fall in the +way of the busy lawyer and statesman of Rome. But the room which in +Cicero's eyes was specially important was one which we may call the +lecture-room, and he is delighted when his friend was able to procure +some appropriate ornaments for it. "Your _Hermathena_" he writes (the +_Hermathena_ was a composite statue, or rather a double bust upon a +pedestal, with the heads of Hermes and Athene, the Roman Mercury and +Minerva) "pleases me greatly. It stands so prettily that the whole +lecture-room looks like a votive chapel of the deity. I am greatly +obliged to you." He returns to the subject in another letter. Atticus +had probably purchased for him another bust of the same kind. "What you +write about the _Hermathena_ pleases me greatly. It is a most +appropriate ornament for my own little 'seat of learning.' Hermes is +suitable every where, and Minerva is the special emblem of a +lecture-room. I should be glad if you would, as you suggest, find as +many more ornaments of the same kind for the place. As for the statues +that you sent me before, I have not seen them. They are at my house at +Formiae, whither I am just now thinking of going. I shall remove them +all to my place at Tusculum. If ever I shall find myself with more than +enough for this I shall begin to ornament the other. Pray keep your +books. Don't give up the hope that I may be able to make them mine. If I +can only do this I shall be richer than Crassus." And, again, "If you +can find any lecture-room ornaments do not neglect to secure them. My +Tusculum house is so delightful to me that it is only when I get there +that I seem to be satisfied with myself." In another letter we hear +something about the prices. He has paid about one hundred and eighty +pounds for some statues from Megara which his friend had purchased for +him. At the same time he thanks him by anticipation for some busts of +Hermes, in which the pedestals were of marble from Pentelicus, and the +heads of bronze. They had not come to hand when he next writes: "I am +looking for them," he says, "most anxiously;" and he again urges +diligence in looking for such things. "You may trust the length of my +purse. This is my special fancy." Shortly after Atticus has found +another kind of statue, double busts of Hermes and Hercules, the god of +strength; and Cicero is urgent to have them for his lecture-room. All +the same he does not forget the books, for which he is keeping his odds +and ends of income, his "little vintages," as he calls them--possibly +the money received from a small vineyard attached to his +pleasure-grounds. Of books, however, he had an ample supply close at +home, of which he could make as much use as he pleased, the splendid +library which Lucullus had collected. "When I was at my house in +Tusculum," he writes in one of his treatises, "happening to want to make +use of some books in the library of the young Lucullus, I went to his +villa, to take them out myself, as my custom was. Coming there I found +Cato (Cato was the lad's uncle and guardian), of whom, however, then I +knew nothing, sitting in the library absolutely surrounded with books of +the Stoic writers on philosophy." + +When Cicero was banished, the house at Tusculum shared the fate of the +rest of his property. The building was destroyed. The furniture, and +with it the books and works of art so diligently collected, were stolen +or sold. Cicero thought, and was probably right in thinking, that the +Senate dealt very meanly with him when they voted him something between +four and five thousand pounds as compensation for his loss in this +respect. For his house at Formiae they gave him half as much. We hear of +his rebuilding the house. He had advertised the contract, he tells us in +the same letter in which he complains of the insufficient compensation. +Some of his valuables he recovered, but we hear no more of collecting. +He had lost heart for it, as men will when such a disaster has happened +to them. He was growing older too, and the times were growing more and +more troublous. Possibly money was not so plentiful with him as it had +been in earlier days. But we have one noble monument of the man +connected with the second of his two Tusculum houses. He makes it the +scene of the "Discussions of Tusculum," one of the last of the treatises +in the writing of which he found consolation for private and public +sorrows. He describes himself as resorting in the afternoon to his +"Academy," and there discussing how the wise man may rise superior to +the fear of death, to pain and to sorrow, how he may rule his passions, +and find contentment in virtue alone. "If it seems," he says, summing up +the first of these discussions, "if it seems the clear bidding of God +that we should quit this life [he seems to be speaking of suicide, which +appeared to a Roman to be, under certain circumstances, a laudable act], +let us obey gladly and thankfully. Let us consider that we are being +loosed from prison, and released from chains, that we may either find +our way back to a home that is at once everlasting and manifestly our +own, or at least be quit forever of all sensation and trouble. If no +such bidding come to us, let us at least cherish such a temper that we +may look on that day so dreadful to others as full of blessing to us; +and let us look on nothing that is ordered for us either by the +everlasting gods or by nature, our common mother, as an evil. It is not +by some random chance that we have been created. There is beyond all +doubt some mighty Power which watches over the race of man, which does +not produce a creature whose doom it is, after having exhausted all +other woes, to fall at last into the unending woe of death. Rather let +us believe that we have in death a haven and refuge prepared for us. I +would that we might sail thither with widespread sails; if not, if +contrary winds shall blow us back, still we must needs reach, though it +may be somewhat late, the haven where we would be. And as for the fate +which is the fate of all, how can it be the unhappiness of one?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A GREAT CONSPIRACY. + + +Sergius Catiline belonged to an ancient family which had fallen into +poverty. In the evil days of Sulla, when the nobles recovered the power +which they had lost, and plundered and murdered their adversaries, he +had shown himself as cruel and as wicked as any of his fellows. Like +many others he had satisfied grudges of his own under pretense of +serving his party, and had actually killed his brother-in-law with his +own hand. These evil deeds and his private character, which was of the +very worst, did not hinder him from rising to high offices in the State. +He was made first aedile, then praetor, then governor of Africa, a +province covering the region which now bears the names of Tripoli and +Tunis. At the end of his year of government he returned to Rome, +intending to become a candidate for the consulship. In this he met with +a great disappointment. He was indicted for misgovernment in his +province, and as the law did not permit any one who had such a charge +hanging over him to stand for any public office, he was compelled to +retire. But he soon found, or fancied that he had found, an opportunity +of revenging himself. The two new consuls were found guilty of bribery, +and were compelled to resign. One of them, enraged at his disgrace, made +common cause with Catiline. A plot, in which not a few powerful citizens +were afterwards suspected with more or less reason of having joined, was +formed. It was arranged that the consuls should be assassinated on the +first day of the new year; the day, that is, on which they were to enter +on their office. But a rumor of some impending danger got about; on the +appointed day the new consuls appeared with a sufficient escort, and the +conspirators agreed to postpone the execution of their scheme till an +early day in February. This time the secret was better kept, but the +impatience of Catiline hindered the plot from being carried out. It had +been arranged that he should take his place in front of the +senate-house, and give to the hired band of assassins the signal to +begin. This signal he gave before the whole number was assembled. The +few that were present had not the courage to act, and the opportunity +was lost. + +The trial for misgovernment ended in an acquittal, purchased, it was +said, by large bribes given to the jurymen and even to the prosecutor, a +certain Clodius, of whom we shall hear again, and shall find to have +been not one whit better than Catiline himself. A second trial, this +time for misdeeds committed in the days of Sulla, ended in the same way. +Catiline now resolved on following another course of action. He would +take up the character of a friend of the people. He had the advantage of +being a noble, for men thought that he was honest when they saw him thus +turn against his own order, and, as it seemed, against his own +interests. And indeed there was much that he could say, and say with +perfect truth, against the nobles. They were corrupt and profligate +beyond all bearing. They sat on juries and gave false verdicts for +money. They went out to govern provinces, showed themselves horribly +cruel and greedy, and then came home to be acquitted by men who had done +or hoped to do the very same things themselves. People listened to +Catiline when he spoke against such doings, without remembering that he +was just as bad himself. He had too, just the reputation for strength +and courage that was likely to make him popular. He had never been a +soldier, but he was known to be very brave, and he had a remarkable +power of enduring cold and hunger and hardships of every kind. On the +strength of the favor which he thus gained, he stood again for the +consulship. In anticipation of being elected, he gathered a number of +men about him, unsuccessful and discontented like himself, and unfolded +his plans. All debts were to be wiped out, and wealthy citizens were to +be put to death and their property to be divided. It was hoped that the +consuls at home, and two at least of the armies in the provinces, would +support the movement. The first failure was that Catiline was not +elected consul, Cicero being chosen unanimously, with Antonius, who had +a small majority over Catiline, for his colleague. Enraged at his want +of success, the latter now proceeded to greater lengths than ever. He +actually raised troops in various parts of Italy, but especially in +Etruria, which one Manlius, an old officer in Sulla's army, commanded. +He then again became a candidate for the consulship, resolving first to +get rid of Cicero, who, he found, met and thwarted him at every turn. +Happily for Rome these designs were discovered through the weakness of +one of his associates. This man told the secret to a lady, with whom he +was in love, and the lady, dismayed at the boldness and wickedness of +the plan, communicated all she knew to Cicero. + +Not knowing that he was thus betrayed, Catiline set about ridding +himself of his great antagonist. Nor did the task seem difficult. The +hours both of business and of pleasure in Rome were what we should think +inconveniently early. Thus a Roman noble or statesman would receive in +the first hours of the morning the calls of ceremony or friendship which +it is our custom to pay in the afternoon. It would sometimes happen that +early visitors would find the great man not yet risen. In these cases he +would often receive them in bed. This was probably the habit of Cicero, +a courteous, kindly man, always anxious to be popular, and therefore +easy of access. On this habit the conspirators counted. Two of their +number, one of them a knight, the other a senator, presented themselves +at his door shortly after sunrise on the seventh of November. They +reckoned on finding him, not in the great hall of his mansion, +surrounded by friends and dependents, but in his bed-chamber. But the +consul had received warning of their coming, and they were refused +admittance. The next day he called a meeting of the Senate in the temple +of Jupiter the Stayer, which was supposed to be the safest place where +they could assemble. + +To this meeting Catiline, a member in right of having filled high +offices of state, himself ventured to come. A tall, stalwart man, +manifestly of great power of body and mind, but with a face pale and +wasted by excess, and his eyes haggard and bloodshot, he sat alone in +the midst of a crowded house. No man had greeted him when he entered, +and when he took his place on the benches allotted to senators who had +filled the office of consul, all shrank from him. Then Cicero rose in +his place. He turned directly and addressed his adversary. "How long, +Catiline," he cried, "will you abuse our patience?" How had he dared to +come to that meeting? Was it not enough for him to know how all the city +was on its guard against him; how his fellow-senators shrank from him as +men shrink from a pestilence? If he was still alive, he owed it to the +forbearance of those against whom he plotted; and this forbearance would +last so long, and so long only, as to allow every one to be convinced of +his guilt. For the present, he was suffered to live, but to live guarded +and watched and incapable of mischief. Then the speaker related every +detail of the conspiracy. He knew not only every thing that the +accomplices had intended to do, but the very days that had been fixed +for doing it. Overwhelmed by this knowledge of his plans, Catiline +scarcely attempted a defense. He said in a humble voice, "Do not think, +Fathers, that I, a noble of Rome, I who have done myself, whose +ancestors have done much good to this city, wish to see it in ruins, +while this consul, a mere lodger in the place, would save it." He would +have said more, but the whole assembly burst into cries of "Traitor! +Traitor!" and drowned his voice. "My enemies," he cried, "are driving +me to destruction. But look! if you set my house on fire, I will put it +out with a general ruin." And he rushed out of the Senate. + +Nothing, he saw, could be done in Rome; every point was guarded against +him. Late that same night he left the city, committing the management of +affairs to Cethegus and Lentulus, and promising to return before long +with an army at his back. Halting awhile on his road, he wrote letters +to some of the chief senators, in which he declared that for the sake of +the public peace he should give up the struggle with his enemies and +quietly retire to Marseilles. What he really did was to make his way to +the camp of Manlius, where he assumed the usual state of a regular +military command. The Senate, on hearing of these doings, declared him +to be an outlaw. The consuls were to raise an army; Antonius was to +march against the enemy, and Cicero to protect the city. + +Meanwhile the conspirators left behind in Rome had been busy. One of +the tribes of Gaul had sent deputies to the Capitol to obtain redress +for injuries of which they complained. The men had effected little or +nothing. The Senate neglected them. The help of officials could only be +purchased by heavy bribes. They were now heavily in debt both on their +own account and on account of their state, and Lentulus conceived the +idea of taking advantage of their needs. One of his freedmen, who had +been a trader in Gaul, could speak the language, and knew several of the +deputies, opened negotiations with them by his patron's desire. They +told him the tale of their wrongs. They could see, they said, no way out +of their difficulties. "Behave like men," he answered, "and I will show +you a way." He then revealed to them the existence of the conspiracy, +explained its objects, and enlarged upon the hopes of success. While he +and his friends were busy at Rome, they were to return to Gaul and rouse +their fellow-tribesmen to revolt. There was something tempting in the +offer, and the deputies doubted long whether they should not accept it. +In the end prudence prevailed. To join the conspiracy and to rebel +would be to run a terrible risk for very doubtful advantages. On the +other hand they might make sure of a speedy reward by telling all they +knew to the authorities. This was the course on which they resolved, and +they went without loss of time to a Roman noble who was the hereditary +"patron" of their tribe. The patron in his turn communicated the +intelligence to Cicero. Cicero's instructions were that the deputies +should pretend to agree to the proposals which had been made to them, +and should ask for a written agreement which they might show to their +countrymen at home. An agreement was drawn up, signed by Lentulus and +two of his fellow-conspirators, and handed over to the Gauls, who now +made preparations to return to their country. Cicero himself tells us in +the speech which he delivered next day in the Forum the story of what +followed. + +"I summoned to my presence two of the praetors on whose courage I knew I +could rely, put the whole matter before them, and unfolded my own plans. +As it grew dusk they made their way unobserved to the Mulvian Bridge, +and posted themselves with their attendants (they had some trusty +followers of their own, and I had sent a number of picked swordsmen from +my own body-guard), in two divisions in houses on either side of the +bridge. About two o'clock in the morning the Gauls and their train, +which was very numerous, began to cross the bridge. Our men charged +them; swords were drawn on both sides; but before any blood was shed the +praetors appeared on the scene, and all was quiet. The Gauls handed over +to them the letters which they had upon them with their seals unbroken. +These and the deputies themselves were brought to my house. The day was +now beginning to dawn. Immediately I sent for the four men whom I knew +to be the principal conspirators. They came suspecting nothing, +Lentulus, who had been up late the night before writing the letters, +being the last to present himself. Some distinguished persons who had +assembled at my house wished me to open the letters before laying them +before the Senate. If their contents were not what I suspected I should +be blamed for having given a great deal of trouble to no purpose. I +refused in so important a matter to act on my own responsibility. No +one, I was sure, would accuse me of being too careful when the safety of +Rome was at stake. I called a meeting of the Senate, and took care that +the attendance should be very large. Meanwhile, at the suggestion of the +Gauls, I sent a praetor to the house of Cethegus to seize all the +weapons that he could find. He brought away a great number of daggers +and swords. + +"The Senate being now assembled, I brought Vulturcius, one of the +conspirators, into the House, promised him a public pardon, and bade him +tell all he knew without fear. As soon as the man could speak, for he +was terribly frightened, he said, 'I was taking a letter and a message +from Lentulus to Catiline. Catiline was instructed to bring his forces +up to the walls of the city. They meanwhile would set it on fire in +various quarters, as had been arranged, and begin a general massacre. He +was to intercept the fugitives, and thus effect a junction with his +friends within the walls.' I next brought the Gauls into the House. +Their story was as follows. 'Lentulus and two of his companions gave us +letters to our nation. We were instructed to send our cavalry into Italy +with all speed. They would find a force of infantry. Lentulus told us +how he had learned from Sibylline books that he was that "third +Cornelius" who was the fated ruler of Rome. The two that had gone before +him were Cicero and Sulla. The year too was the one which was destined +to see the ruin of the city, for it was the tenth after the acquittal of +the Vestal Virgins, the twentieth after the burning of the Capitol. +After this Cethegus and the others had a dispute about the time for +setting the city on fire. Lentulus and others wished to have it done on +the feast of Saturn (December 17th). Cethegus thought that this was +putting it off too long.' I then had the letter brought in. First I +showed Cethegus his seal. He acknowledged it. I cut the string. I read +the letter. It was written in his own handwriting and was to this +effect: he assured the Senate and people of the Gauls that he would do +what he had promised to their deputies, and begged them on the other +hand to perform what their deputies had undertaken. Cethegus, who had +accounted for the weapons found in his house by declaring that he had +always been a connoisseur in such things, was overwhelmed by hearing his +letter read, and said nothing. + +"Manlius next acknowledged his seal and handwriting. A letter from him +much to the same effect was read. He confessed his guilt. I then showed +Lentulus his letter, and asked him, 'Do you acknowledge the seal?' 'I +do,' he answered. 'Yes,' said I, 'it is a well-known device, the +likeness of a great patriot, your grandfather. The mere sight of it +ought to have kept you from such a crime as this.' His letter was then +read. I then asked him whether he had any explanation to give. 'I have +nothing to say,' was his first answer. After a while he rose and put +some questions to the Gauls. They answered him without any hesitation, +and asked him in reply whether he had not spoken to them about the +Sibylline books. What followed was the strangest proof of the power of +conscience. He might have denied every thing, but he did what no one +expected, he confessed; all his abilities, all his power of speech +deserted him. Vulturcius then begged that the letter which he was +carrying from Lentulus to Catiline should be brought in and opened. +Lentulus was greatly agitated; still he acknowledged the seal and the +handwriting to be his. The letter, which was unsigned, was in these +words: _You will know who I am by the messenger whom I send to you. Bear +yourself as a man. Think of the position in which you now are, and +consider what you must now do. Collect all the help you can, even though +it be of the meanest kind._ In a word, the case was made out against +them all not only by the seals, the letters, the handwritings, but by +the faces of the men, their downcast look, their silence. Their +confusion, their stealthy looks at each other were enough, if there had +been no other proof, to convict them." + +Lentulus was compelled to resign his office of praetor. He and the other +conspirators were handed over to certain of the chief citizens, who were +bound to keep them in safe custody and to produce them when they were +called for. + +The lower orders of the capital, to whom Catiline and his companions +had made liberal promises, and who regarded his plans, or what were +supposed to be his plans, with considerable favor, were greatly moved by +Cicero's account of what had been discovered. No one could expect to +profit by conflagration and massacre; and they were disposed to take +sides with the party of order. Still there were elements of danger, as +there always are in great cities. It was known that a determined effort +would be made by the clients of Lentulus, whose family was one of the +noblest and wealthiest in Rome, to rescue him from custody. At the same +time several of the most powerful nobles were strongly suspected of +favoring the revolutionists. Crassus, in particular, the wealthiest man +in Rome, was openly charged with complicity. A certain Tarquinius was +brought before the Senate, having been, it was said, arrested when +actually on his way to Catiline. Charged to tell all he knew, he gave +the same account as had been given by other witnesses of the +preparations for fire and massacre, and added that he was the bearer of +a special message from Crassus to Catiline, to the effect that he was +not to be alarmed by the arrest of Lentulus and the others; only he must +march upon the city without delay, and so rescue the prisoners and +restore the courage of those who were still at large. The charge seemed +incredible to most of those who heard it. Crassus had too much at stake +to risk himself in such perilous ventures. Those who believed it were +afraid to press it against so powerful a citizen; and there were many +who were under too great obligations to the accused to allow it, +whatever its truth or falsehood, to be insisted upon. The Senate +resolved that the charge was false, and that its author should be kept +in custody till he disclosed at whose suggestion he had come forward. +Crassus himself believed that the consul had himself contrived the whole +business, with the object of making it impossible for him to take the +part of the accused. "He complained to me," says Sallust the historian, +"of the great insult which had thus been put upon him by Cicero.". + +Under these circumstances Cicero determined to act with vigor. On the +fifth of December he called a meeting of the Senate, and put it to the +House what should be done with the prisoners in custody. The consul +elect gave his opinion that they should be put to death. Caesar, when +his turn came to speak, rose and addressed the Senate. He did not seek +to defend the accused. They deserved any punishment. Because that was +so, let them be dealt with according to law. And the law was that no +Roman citizen could suffer death except by a general decree of the +people. If any other course should be taken, men would afterwards +remember not their crimes but the severity with which they had been +treated. Cato followed, giving his voice for the punishment of death; +and Cicero took the same side. The Senate, without dividing, voted that +the prisoners were traitors, and must pay the usual penalty. + +The consul still feared that a rescue might be attempted. He directed +the officials to make all necessary preparations, and himself conducted +Lentulus to prison, the other criminals being put into the charge of the +praetors. The prison itself was strongly guarded. In this building, +which was situated under the eastern side of the Capitoline Hill, was a +pit twelve feet deep, said to have been constructed by King Tullius. It +had stone walls and a vaulted stone roof; it was quite dark, and the +stench and filth of the place were hideous. Lentulus was hurried into +this noisome den, where the executioners strangled him. His accomplices +suffered the same fate. The consul was escorted to his house by an +enthusiastic crowd. When he was asked how it had fared with the +condemned, he answered with the significant words "THEY HAVE LIVED." + +The chief conspirator died in a less ignoble fashion. He had contrived +to collect about twelve thousand men; but only a fourth part of these +were regularly armed; the rest carried hunting spears, pikes, sharpened +stakes, any weapon that came to hand. At first he avoided an engagement, +hoping to hear news of something accomplished for his cause by the +friends whom he had left behind him in Rome. When the news of what had +happened on the fifth of December reached him, he saw that his position +was desperate. Many who had joined the ranks took the first opportunity +of deserting; with those that remained faithful he made a hurried march +to the north-west, hoping to make his way across the Apennines into +Hither Gaul. But he found a force ready to bar his way, while Antonius, +with the army from Rome, was pressing him from the south. Nothing +remained for him but to give battle. Early in the year 62 B.C. the +armies met. The rebel leader showed himself that day at his best. No +soldier could have been braver, no general more skillful. But the forces +arrayed against him were overpowering. When he saw that all was lost, he +rushed into the thickest of the fight, and fell pierced with wounds. He +was found afterwards far in advance of his men, still breathing and with +the same haughty expression on his face which had distinguished him in +life. And such was the contagious force of his example that not a single +free man of all his followers was taken alive either in the battle or in +the pursuit that followed it. Such was the end of a GREAT CONSPIRACY. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAESAR. + + +At eight-and-twenty, Caesar, who not thirty years later was to die +master of Rome, was chiefly known as a fop and a spendthrift. "In all +his schemes and all his policy," said Cicero, "I discern the temper of a +tyrant; but then when I see how carefully his hair is arranged, how +delicately with a single finger he scratches his head, I cannot conceive +him likely to entertain so monstrous a design as overthrowing the +liberties of Rome." As for his debts they were enormous. He had +contrived to spend his own fortune and the fortune of his wife; and he +was more than three hundred thousand pounds in debt. This was before he +had held any public office; and office, when he came to hold it, +certainly did not improve his position. He was appointed one of the +guardians of the Appian Way (the great road that led southward from +Rome, and was the route for travelers to Greece and the East). He spent +a great sum of money in repairs. His next office of aedile was still +more expensive. Expensive it always was, for the aedile, besides keeping +the temples and other public buildings in repair (the special business +signified by his name), had the management of the public games. An +allowance was made to him for his expenses from the treasury, but he was +expected, just as the Lord Mayor of London is expected, to spend a good +deal of his own money. Caesar far outdid all his predecessors. At one of +the shows which he exhibited, three hundred and twenty pairs of +gladiators fought in the arena; and a gladiator, with his armor and +weapons, and the long training which he had to undergo before he could +fight in public, was a very expensive slave. The six hundred and forty +would cost, first and last, not less than a hundred pounds apiece, and +many of them, perhaps a third of the whole number, would be killed in +the course of the day. Nor was he content with the expenses which were +more or less necessary. He exhibited a great show of wild beasts in +memory of his father, who had died nearly twenty years before. The whole +furniture of the theater, down to the very stage, was made on this +occasion of solid silver. + +For all this seeming folly, there were those who discerned thoughts and +designs of no common kind. Extravagant expenditure was of course an +usual way of winning popular favors. A Roman noble bought office after +office till he reached one that entitled him to be sent to govern a +province. In the plunder of the province he expected to find what would +repay him all that he had spent and leave a handsome sum remaining. +Caesar looked to this end, but he looked also to something more. He +would be the champion of the people, and the people would make him the +greatest man at Rome. This had been the part played by Marius before +him; and he determined to play it again. The name of Marius had been in +ill repute since the victory of his great rival, Sulla, and Caesar +determined to restore it to honor. He caused statues of this great man +to be secretly made, on which were inscribed the names of the victories +by which he had delivered Rome from the barbarians. On the morning of +the show these were seen, splendid with gilding, upon the height of the +Capitol. The first feeling was a general astonishment at the young +magistrate's audacity. Then the populace broke out into expressions of +enthusiastic delight; many even wept for joy to see again the likeness +of their old favorite; all declared that Caesar was his worthy +successor. The nobles were filled with anger and fear. Catulus, who was +their leader, accused Caesar in the Senate. "This man," he said, "is no +longer digging mines against his country, he is bringing battering-rams +against it." The Senate, however, was afraid or unwilling to act. As for +the people, it soon gave the young man a remarkable proof of its favor. +What may be called the High Priesthood became vacant. It was an honor +commonly given to some aged man who had won victories abroad and borne +high honors at home. Such competitors there were on this occasion, +Catulus being one of them. But Caesar, though far below the age at which +such offices were commonly held, determined to enter the lists. He +refused the heavy bribe by which Catulus sought to induce him to +withdraw from the contest, saying that he would raise a greater sum to +bring it to a successful end. Indeed, he staked all on the struggle. +When on the day of election he was leaving his house, his mother +followed him to the door with tears in her eyes. He turned and kissed +her, "Mother," he said, "to-day you will see your son either High Priest +or an exile." + +The fact was that Caesar had always shown signs of courage and ambition, +and had always been confident of his future greatness. Now that his +position in the country was assured men began to remember these stories +of his youth. In the days when Sulla was master of Rome, Caesar had been +one of the very few who had ventured to resist the great man's will. +Marius, the leader of the party, was his uncle, and he had himself +married the daughter of Cunia, another of the popular leaders. This wife +Sulla ordered him to divorce, but he flatly refused. For some time his +life was in danger; but Sulla was induced to spare it, remarking, +however, to friends who interceded for him, on the ground that he was +still but a boy, "You have not a grain of sense, if you do not see that +in this boy there is the material for many Mariuses." The young Caesar +found it safer to leave Italy for a time. While traveling in the +neighborhood of Asia Minor he fell into the hands of the pirates, who +were at that time the terror of all the Eastern Mediterranean. His first +proceeding was to ask them how much they wanted for his ransom. "Twenty +talents," (about five thousand pounds) was their answer. "What folly!" +he said, "you don't know whom you have got hold of. You shall have +fifty." Messengers were sent to fetch the money, and Caesar, who was +left with a friend and a couple of slaves, made the best of the +situation. If he wanted to go to sleep he would send a message +commanding his captors to be silent. He joined their sports, read poems +and speeches to them, and roundly abused them as ignorant barbarians if +they failed to applaud. But his most telling joke was threatening to +hang them. The men laughed at the free-spoken lad, but were not long in +finding that he was in most serious earnest. In about five weeks' time +the money arrived and Caesar was released. He immediately went to +Miletus, equipped a squadron, and returning to the scene of his +captivity, found and captured the greater part of the band. Leaving his +prisoners in safe custody at Pergamus, he made his way to the governor +of the province, who had in his hands the power of life and death. But +the governor, after the manner of his kind, had views of his own. The +pirates were rich and could afford to pay handsomely for their lives. He +would consider the case, he said. This was not at all to Caesar's mind. +He hastened back to Pergamus, and, taking the law into his own hands, +crucified all the prisoners. + +This was the cool and resolute man in whom the people saw their best +friend and the nobles their worst enemy. These last seemed to see a +chance of ruining him when the conspiracy of Catiline was discovered and +crushed. He was accused, especially by Cato, of having been an +accomplice; and when he left the Senate after the debate in which he had +argued against putting the arrested conspirators to death, he was mobbed +by the gentlemen who formed Cicero's body-guard, and was even in danger +of his life. But the formal charge was never pressed; indeed it was +manifestly false, for Caesar was too sure of the favor of the people to +have need of conspiring to win it. The next year he was made praetor, +and after his term of office was ended, governor of Further Spain. The +old trouble of debt still pressed upon him, and he could not leave Rome +till he had satisfied the most pressing of his creditors. This he did by +help of Crassus, the richest man in Rome, who stood security for nearly +two hundred thousand pounds. To this time belong two anecdotes which, +whether true or no, are curiously characteristic of his character. He +was passing, on the way to his province, a town that had a particularly +mean and poverty-stricken look. One of his companions remarked, "I dare +say there are struggles for office even here, and jealousies and +parties." "Yes," said Caesar; "and indeed, for myself, I would sooner be +the first man here than the second in Rome." Arrived at his journey's +end, he took the opportunity of a leisure hour to read the life of +Alexander. He sat awhile lost in thought, then burst into tears. His +friends inquired the cause. "The cause?" he replied. "Is it not cause +enough that at my age Alexander had conquered half the world, while I +have done nothing?" Something, however, he contrived to do in Spain. He +extended the dominion of Rome as far as the Atlantic, settled the +affairs of the provincials to their satisfaction, and contrived at the +same time to make money enough to pay his debts. Returning to Rome when +his year of command was ended, he found himself in a difficulty. He +wished to have the honor of a triumph (a triumph was a procession in +which a victorious general rode in a chariot to the Capitol, preceded +and followed by the spoils and prisoners taken in his campaigns), and he +also wished to become a candidate for the consulship. But a general who +desired a triumph had to wait outside the gates of the city till it was +voted to him, while a candidate for the consulship must lose no time in +beginning to canvass the people. Caesar, having to make his choice +between the two, preferred power to show. He stood for the consulship, +and was triumphantly elected. + +Once consul he made that famous Coalition which is commonly called the +First Triumvirate. Pompey was the most famous soldier of the day, and +Crassus, as has been said before, the richest man. These two had been +enemies, and Caesar reconciled them; and then the three together agreed +to divide power and the prizes of power between them. Caesar would have +willingly made Cicero a fourth, but he refused, not, perhaps, without +some hesitation. He did more; he ventured to say some things which were +not more agreeable because they were true of the new state of things. +This the three masters of Rome were not willing to endure, and they +determined that this troublesome orator should be put out of the way. +They had a ready means of doing it. A certain Clodius, of whom we shall +hear more hereafter, felt a very bitter hatred against Cicero, and by +way of putting himself in a position to injure him, and to attain other +objects of his own, sought to be made tribune. But there was a great +obstacle in the way. The tribunes were tribunes of the _plebs_, that is, +of the commons, whose interests they were supposed specially to protect; +while Clodius was a noble--indeed, a noble of nobles--belonging as he +did to that great Claudian House which was one of the oldest and +proudest of Roman families. The only thing to be done was to be adopted +by some plebeian. But here, again, there were difficulties. The law +provided that an adoption should be real, that the adopter should be +childless and old enough to be the father of his adopted son. The +consent of the priests was also necessary. This consent was never asked, +and indeed never could have been given, for the father was a married +man, had children of his own, and was not less than fifteen years, +younger than his new son. Indeed the bill for making the adoption legal +had been before the people for more than a year without making any +progress. The Three now took it up to punish Cicero for his presumption +in opposing them; and under its new promoters it was passed in a single +day, being proposed at noon made law by three o'clock in the afternoon +What mischief Clodius was thus enabled to work against Cicero we shall +hear in the next chapter but one. + +His consulship ended, Caesar received a substantial prize for his +services, the government of the province of Gaul for five years. Before +he left Italy to take up his command, he had the satisfaction of seeing +Cicero driven into banishment. That done, he crossed the Alps. The next +nine years (for his government was prolonged for another period when the +first came to an end) he was engaged in almost incessant war, though +still finding time to manage the politics of Rome. The campaigns which +ended in making Gaul from the Alps to the British Channel, and from the +Atlantic to the Rhine, a Roman possession, it is not within my purpose +to describe. Nevertheless, it may be interesting to say a few words +about his dealings with our own island. In his first expedition, in the +summer of 55 B.C., he did little more than effect a landing on the +coast, and this not without considerable loss. In the next, made early +in the following year, he employed a force of more than forty thousand +men, conveyed in a flotilla of eight hundred ships. This time the +Britons did not venture to oppose his landing; and when they met him in +the field, as he marched inward, they were invariably defeated. They +then changed their tactics and retired before him, laying waste the +country as they went. He crossed the Thames some little way to the +westward of where London now stands, received the submission of one +native tribe, and finally concluded a peace with the native leader +Cassivelaunus, who gave hostages and promised tribute. The general +result of ten years' fighting was to add a great province to the empire +at the cost of a horrible amount of bloodshed, of the lives, as some +say, of two millions of men, women, and children (for Caesar, though not +positively cruel, was absolutely careless of suffering), and to leave +the conqueror master of the Roman world. The coalition indeed was broken +up, for Crassus had perished in the East, carrying on a foolish and +unprovoked war with the Parthians, and Pompey had come to fear and hate +his remaining rival. But Caesar was now strong enough to do without +friends, and to crush enemies. The Senate vainly commanded him to +disperse his army by a certain day, on pain of being considered an enemy +of the country. He continued to advance till he came to the boundaries +of Italy, a little river, whose name, the Rubicon, was then made famous +forever, which separated Cisalpine Gaul from Umbria. To cross this was +practically to declare war, and even the resolute Caesar hesitated +awhile. He thought his course over by himself; he even consulted his +friends. He professed himself pained at the thought of the war of which +his act would be the beginning, and of how posterity would judge his +conduct. Then with the famous words, "The die is cast," he plunged into +the stream. Pompey fled from Rome and from Italy. Caesar did not waste +an hour in pursuing his success. First making Italy wholly his own, he +marched into Spain, which was Pompey's stronghold, and secured it. +Thence he returned to Rome, and from Rome again made his way into +Macedonia, where Pompey had collected his forces. The decisive battle +was fought at Pharsalia in Thessaly; for though the remnants of Pompey's +party held out, the issue of the war was never doubtful after that day. + +Returning to Rome (for of his proceedings in Egypt and elsewhere there +is no need to speak), he used his victory with as much mercy as he had +shown energy in winning it. To Cicero he showed not only nothing of +malice, but the greatest courtesy and kindness. He had written to him +from Egypt, telling him that he was to keep all his dignities and +honors; and he had gone out of his way to arrange an interview with him, +and he even condescended to enter into a friendly controversy. Cicero +had written a little treatise about his friend Cato; and as Cato had +been the consistent adversary of Caesar, and had killed himself rather +than fall into the hands of the master of Rome, it required no little +good nature in Caesar to take it in good part. He contented himself with +writing an answer, to which he gave the title of _Anti-Cato_, and in +which, while he showed how useless and unpractical the policy of Cato +had been, he paid the highest compliments to the genius and integrity of +the man. He even conferred upon Cicero the distinguished honor of a +visit; which the host thus describes in a letter to Atticus. "What a +formidable guest I have had! Still, I am not sorry; for all went off +very well. On December 8th he came to Philippus' house in the evening. +(Philippus was his brother-in-law.) The villa was so crammed with troops +that there was scarcely a chamber where the great man himself could +dine. I suppose there were two thousand men. I was really anxious what +might happen next day. But Barba Cassius came to my help, and gave me a +guard. The camp was pitched in the park; the house was strictly guarded. +On the 19th he was closeted with Philippus till one o'clock in the +afternoon. No one was admitted. He was going over accounts with Balbus, +I fancy. After this he took a stroll on the shore. Then came the bath. +He heard the epigram to Mamurra, (a most scurrilous epigram by +Catullus), and betrayed no annoyance. He dressed for dinner and sat +down. As he was under a course of medicine, he ate and drank without +apprehension and in the pleasantest humor. The entertainment was +sumptuous and elaborate; and not only this, but well cooked and seasoned +with good talk. The great man's attendants also were most abundantly +entertained in three other rooms. The inferior freedmen and the slaves +had nothing to complain of; the superior kind had an even elegant +reception. Not to say more, I showed myself a genial host. Still he was +not the kind of guest to whom we would say, 'My very dear sir, you will +come again, I hope, when you are this way next time.' There was nothing +of importance in our conversation, but much literary talk. What do you +want to know? He was gratified and seemed pleased to be with me. He told +me that he should be one day at Baiae, and another at Puteoli." + +Within three months this remarkable career came to a sudden and violent +end. There were some enemies whom all Caesar's clemency and kindness had +not conciliated. Some hated him for private reasons of their own, some +had a genuine belief that if he could be put out of the way, Rome might +yet again be a free country. The people too, who had been perfectly +ready to submit to the reality of power, grew suspicious of some of its +outward signs. The name of King had been hateful at Rome since the last +bearer of it, Tarquin the Proud, had been driven out nearly seven +centuries before. There were now injudicious friends, or, it may be, +judicious enemies, who were anxious that Caesar should assume it. The +prophecy was quoted from the books of the Sibyl, that Rome might conquer +the Parthians if she put herself under the command of a king; otherwise +she must fail. On the strength of this Caesar was saluted by the title +of King as he was returning one day from Alba to the Capitol. The +populace made their indignation manifest, and he replied, "I am no king, +only Caesar;" but it was observed that he passed on with a gloomy air. +He bore himself haughtily in the Senate, not rising to acknowledge the +compliments paid to him. At the festival of the Lupercalia, as he sat +looking on at the sports in a gilded chair and clad in a triumphal robe, +Antony offered him a crown wreathed with bay leaves. Some applause +followed; it was not general, however, but manifestly got up for the +occasion. Caesar put the crown away, and the shout that followed could +not be misunderstood. It was offered again, and a few applauded as +before, while a second rejection drew forth the same hearty approval. +His statues were found with crowns upon them. These two tribunes +removed, and at the same time ordered the imprisonment of the men who +had just saluted him as king. The people were delighted, but Caesar had +them degraded from their office. The general dissatisfaction thus caused +induced the conspirators to proceed. Warnings, some of which we may +suppose to have come from those who were in the secret, were not +wanting. By these he was wrought upon so much that he had resolved not +to stir from his house on the day which he understood was to be fatal to +him; but Decimus Brutus, who was in the plot, dissuaded him from his +purpose. The scene that followed may be told once again in the words in +which Plutarch describes it: "Artemidoros, of Cnidus, a teacher of +Greek, who had thus come to be intimate with some of the associates of +Brutus, had become acquainted to a great extent with what was in +progress, and had drawn up a statement of the information which he had +to give. Seeing that Caesar gave the papers presented to him to the +slaves with him, he came up close and said, 'Caesar, read this alone and +that quickly: it contains matters that nearly concern yourself.' Caesar +took it, and would have read it, but was hindered by the crowd of +persons that thronged to salute him. Keeping it in his hand, he passed +into the House. In the place to which the Senate had been summoned stood +a statue of Pompey. Cassius is said to have looked at it and silently +invoked the dead man's help, and this though he was inclined to the +skeptical tenets of Epicurus. Meanwhile Antony, who was firmly attached +to Caesar and a man of great strength, was purposely kept in +conversation outside the senate-house by Decimus Brutus. As Caesar +entered, the Senate rose to greet him. Some of the associates of Brutus +stood behind his chair; others approached him in front, seemingly +joining their entreaties to those which Cimber Tullius was addressing to +him on behalf of his brother. He sat down and rejected the petition with +a gesture of disapproval at their urgency. Tullius then seized his toga +with both hands and dragged it from his neck. This was the signal for +attack. Casca struck him first on the neck. The wound was not fatal, nor +even serious, so agitated was the striker at dealing the first blow in +so terrible a deed. Caesar turned upon him, seized the dagger, and held +it fast, crying at the same time in Latin, 'Casca, thou villain, what +art thou about?' while Casca cried in Greek to his brother, 'Brother, +help!' Those senators who were not privy to the plot were overcome with +horror. They could neither cry nor help: they dared not even speak. The +conspirators were standing round Caesar each with a drawn sword in his +hand; whithersoever he turned his eyes he saw a weapon ready to strike, +and he struggled like a wild beast among the hunters. They had agreed +that every one should take a part in the murder, and Brutus, friend as +he was, could not hold back. The rest, some say, he struggled with, +throwing himself hither and thither, and crying aloud; but as soon as he +saw Brutus with a drawn sword in his hand, he wrapped his head in his +toga and ceased to resist, falling, whether by chance or by compulsion +from the assassins, at the pedestal of Pompey's statue. He is said to +have received three-and-twenty wounds. Many of his assailants struck +each other as they aimed repeated blows at his body." His funeral was a +remarkable proof of his popularity. The pit in which the body was to be +burned was erected in the Field of Mars. In the Forum was erected a +gilded model of the temple of Mother Venus. (Caesar claimed descent +through Aeneas from this goddess.) Within this shrine was a couch of +ivory, with coverlets of gold and purple, and at its head a trophy with +the robe which he had worn when he was assassinated. High officers of +state, past and present, carried the couch into the Forum. Some had the +idea of burning it in the chapel of Jupiter in the Capitol, some in +Pompey's Hall (where he was killed). Of a sudden two men, wearing swords +at their side, and each carrying two javelins, came forward and set +light to it with waxen torches which they held in their hands. The crowd +of bystanders hastily piled up a heap of dry brush-wood, throwing on it +the hustings, the benches, and any thing that had been brought as a +present. The flute players and actors threw off the triumphal robes in +which they were clad, rent them, and threw them upon the flames, and the +veterans added the decorations with which they had come to attend the +funeral, while mothers threw in the ornaments of their children. + +The doors of the building in which the murder was perpetrated were +blocked up so that it never could be entered again. The day (the 15th of +March) was declared to be accursed. No public business was ever to be +done upon it. + +These proceedings probably represented the popular feeling about the +deed, for Caesar, in addition to the genius which every one must have +recognized, had just the qualities which make men popular. He had no +scruples, but then he had no meannesses. He incurred enormous debts with +but a faint chance of paying them--no chance, we may say, except by the +robbery of others. He laid his hands upon what he wanted, taking for +instance three thousand pounds weight of gold from the treasury of the +Capitol and leaving gilded brass in its stead; and he plundered the +unhappy Gauls without remorse. But then he was as free in giving as he +was unscrupulous in taking. He had the personal courage, too, which is +one of the most attractive of all qualities. Again and again in battle +he turned defeat into victory. He would lay hold of the fugitives as +they ran, seize them by the throat, and get them by main force face to +face with the foe. Crossing the Hellespont after the battle of Pharsalia +in a small boat, he met two of the enemy's ships. Without hesitation he +discovered himself, called upon them to surrender, and was obeyed. At +Alexandria he was surprised by a sudden sally of the besieged, and had +to leap into the harbor. He swam two hundred paces to the nearest ship, +lifting a manuscript in his left hand to keep it out of the water, and +holding his military cloak in his teeth, for he would not have the enemy +boast of securing any spoil from his person. + +He allowed nothing to stand in his way. If it suited his policy to +massacre a whole tribe, men, women, and children, he gave the order +without hesitation, just as he recorded it afterwards in his history +without a trace of remorse or regret. If a rival stood in his way he had +him removed, and was quite indifferent as to how the removal was +effected. But his object gained, or wherever there was no object in +question, he could be the kindest and gentlest of men. A friend with +whom he was traveling was seized with sudden illness. Caesar gave up at +once to him the only chamber in the little inn, and himself spent the +night in the open air. His enemies he pardoned with singular facility, +and would even make the first advances. Political rivals, once rendered +harmless, were admitted to his friendship, and even promoted to honor; +writers who had assailed him with the coarsest abuse he invited to his +table. + +Of the outward man this picture has reached us: "He is said to have been +remarkably tall, with a light complexion and well-shaped limbs. His face +was a little too full; his eyes black and brilliant. His health was +excellent, but towards the latter end of his life he was subject to +fainting fits and to frightful dreams at night. On two occasions also, +when some public business was being transacted, he had epileptic fits. +He was very careful of his personal appearance, had his hair and beard +scrupulously cut and shaven. He was excessively annoyed at the +disfigurement of baldness, which he found was made the subject of many +lampoons. It had become his habit, therefore, to bring up his scanty +locks over his head; and of all the honors decreed to him by the Senate +and people, none was more welcome to him than that which gave him the +right of continually wearing a garland of bay." + +He was wonderfully skillful in the use of arms, an excellent swimmer, +and extraordinarily hardy. On the march he would sometimes ride, but +more commonly walk, keeping his head uncovered both in rain and +sunshine. He traveled with marvelous expedition, traversing a hundred +miles in a day for several days together; if he came to a river he would +swim it, or sometimes cross it on bladders. Thus he would often +anticipate his own messengers. For all this he had a keen appreciation +of pleasure, and was costly and even luxurious in his personal habits. +He is said, for instance, to have carried with him a tesselated pavement +to be laid down in his tent throughout his campaign in Gaul. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +POMPEY. + + +At an age when Caesar was still idling away his time, Pompey had +achieved honors such as the veteran generals of Rome were accustomed to +regard as the highest to which they could aspire. He had only just left, +if indeed he had left, school, when his father took him to serve under +him in the war against the Italian allies of Rome. He was not more than +nineteen when he distinguished himself by behaving in circumstances of +great difficulty and danger with extraordinary prudence and courage. The +elder Pompey, Strabo "the squint-eyed," as his contemporaries called +him, after their strange fashion of giving nicknames from personal +defects, and as he was content to call himself, was an able general, but +hated for his cruelty and avarice. The leaders of the opposite faction +saw an opportunity of getting rid of a dangerous enemy and of bringing +over to their own side the forces which he commanded. Their plan was to +assassinate the son as he slept, to burn the father in his tent, and at +the same time to stir up a mutiny among the troops. The secret, however, +was not kept. A letter describing the plot was brought to the young +Pompey as he sat at dinner with the ringleader. The lad showed no sign +of disturbance, but drank more freely than usual, and pledged his false +friend with especial heartiness. He then rose, and after putting an +extra guard on his father's tent, composed himself to sleep, but not in +his bed. The assassins stabbed the coverlet with repeated blows, and +then ran to rouse the soldiers to revolt. The camp was immediately in an +uproar, and the elder Pompey, though he had been preserved by his son's +precautions, dared not attempt to quell it. The younger man was equal to +the occasion. Throwing himself on his face in front of the gate of the +camp, he declared that if his comrades were determined to desert to the +enemy, they must pass over his dead body. His entreaties prevailed, and +a reconciliation was effected between the general and his troops. + +Not many weeks after this incident the father died, struck, it was said, +by lightning, and Pompey became his own master. It was not long before +he found an opportunity of gaining still higher distinction. The civil +war still continued to rage, and few did better service to the party of +the aristocrats than Pompey. Others were content to seek their personal +safety in Sulla's camp; Pompey was resolved himself to do something for +the cause. He made his way to Picenum, where his family estates we e +situated and where his own influence was great, and raised three legions +(nearly twenty thousand men), with all their commissariat and transport +complete, and hurried to the assistance of Sulla. Three of the hostile +generals sought to intercept him. He fell with his whole force on one of +them, and crushed him, carrying off, besides his victory, the personal +distinction of having slain in single combat the champion of the +opposing force. The towns by which he passed eagerly hailed him as their +deliverer. A second commander who ventured to encounter him found +himself deserted by his army and was barely able to escape; a third was +totally routed. Sulla received his young partisan, who was not more than +twenty-three years of age, with distinguished honors, even rising from +his seat and uncovering at his approach. + +During the next two years his reputation continued to increase. He won +victories in Gaul, in Sicily, and in Africa. As he was returning to +Rome after the last of these campaigns, the great Dictator himself +headed the crowd that went forth to meet him, and saluted him as Pompey +the Great, a title which he continued to use as his family name[5]. But +there was a further honor which the young general was anxious to obtain, +but Sulla was unwilling to grant, the supreme glory of a triumph. "No +one," he said, "who was not or had not been consul, or at least praetor, +could triumph. The first of the Scipios, who had won Spain from the +Carthaginians, had not asked for this honor because he wanted this +qualification. Was it to be given to a beardless youth, too young even +to sit in the Senate?" But the beardless youth insisted. He even had the +audacity to hint that the future belonged not to Sulla but to himself. +"More men," he said, "worship the rising than the setting sun." Sulla +did not happen to catch the words, but he saw the emotion they aroused +in the assembly, and asked that they should be repeated to him. His +astonishment permitted him to say nothing more than "Let him triumph! +Let him triumph." And triumph he did, to the disgust of his older +rivals, whom he intended, but that the streets were not broad enough to +allow of the display, still further to affront by harnessing elephants +instead of horses to his chariot. + +[Footnote 5: _Pompeius_ was the name of his house (_gens). Strabo_ had +been the name of his family (_familia_). This he seems to have disused, +assuming _Magnus_ in its stead.] + +Two years afterwards he met an antagonist more formidable than any he +had yet encountered. Sertorius, the champion at once of the party of the +people and of the native tribes of Spain, was holding out against the +government of Rome. The veteran leader professed a great contempt for +his young adversary, "I should whip the boy," he said, "if I were not +afraid of the old woman" (meaning Pompey's colleague). But he took good +care not to underrate him in practice, and put forth all his skill in +dealing with him. Pompey's first campaign against him was disastrous; +the successes of the second were checkered by some serious defeats. For +five years the struggle continued, and seemed little likely to come to +an end, when Sertorius was assassinated by his second in command, +Perpenna. Perpenna was unable to wield the power which he had thus +acquired, and was defeated and taken prisoner by Pompey. He endeavored +to save his life by producing the correspondence of Sertorius. This +implicated some of the most distinguished men in Rome, who had held +secret communications with the rebel leader and had even invited him +over into Italy. With admirable wisdom Pompey, while he ordered the +instant execution of the traitor, burned the letters unread. + +Returning to Italy he was followed by his usual good fortune. That +country had been suffering cruelly from a revolt of the slaves, which +the Roman generals had been strangely slow in suppressing. Roused to +activity by the tidings of Pompey's approach, Crassus, who was in +supreme command, attacked and defeated the insurgent army. A +considerable body, however, contrived to escape, and it was this with +which Pompey happened to fall in, and which he completely destroyed. +"Crassus defeated the enemy," he was thus enabled to boast, "but I +pulled up the war by the roots." No honors were too great for a man at +once so skillful and so fortunate (for the Romans had always a great +belief in a general's good fortune). On the 31st of December, B.C. 71, +being still a simple gentleman--that is, having held no civil office in +the State--he triumphed for the second time, and on the following day, +being then some years below the legal age, and having held none of the +offices by which it was usual to mount to the highest dignity in the +commonwealth, he entered on his first consul ship, Crassus being his +colleague. + +Still he had not yet reached the height of his glory. During the years +that followed his consulship, the pirates who infested the Mediterranean +had become intolerable. Issuing, not as was the case in after times, +from the harbors of Northern Africa, but from fastnesses in the southern +coast of Asia Minor, they plundered the more civilized regions of the +West, and made it highly dangerous to traverse the seas either for +pleasure or for gain. It was impossible to transport the armies of Rome +to the provinces except in the winter, when the pirates had retired to +their strongholds. Even Italy itself was not safe. The harbor of Caieta +with its shipping, was burned under the very eye of the praetor. From +Misenum the pirates carried off the children of the admiral who had the +year before led an expedition against them. They even ventured not only +to blockade Ostia, the harbor of Rome, and almost within sight of the +city, but to capture the fleet that was stationed there. They were +especially insulting to Roman citizens. If a prisoner claimed to be +such--and the claim generally insured protection--they would pretend the +greatest penitence and alarm, falling on their knees before him, and +entreating his pardon. Then they would put shoes on his feet, and robe +him in a citizen's garb. Such a mistake, they would say, must not happen +again. The end of their jest was to make him "walk the plank," and with +the sarcastic permission to depart unharmed, they let down a ladder into +the sea, and compelled him to descend, under penalty of being still more +summarily thrown overboard. Men's eyes began to be turned on Pompey, as +the leader who had been prosperous in all his undertakings. In 67 B.C. a +law was proposed appointing a commander (who, however, was not named), +who should have absolute power for three years over the sea as far as +the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), and the coast for +fifty miles inland, and who should be furnished with two hundred ships, +as many soldiers and sailors as he wanted, and more than a million +pounds in money. The nobles were furious in their opposition, and +prepared to prevent by force the passing of this law. The proposer +narrowly escaped with his life, and Pompey himself was threatened. "If +you will be another Romulus, like Romulus you shall die" (one form of +the legend of Rome's first king represented him as having been torn to +pieces by the senators.) But all resistance was unavailing. The new +command was created, and of course bestowed upon Pompey. The price of +corn, which had risen to a famine height in Rome, fell immediately the +appointment was made. The result, indeed, amply justified the choice. +The new general made short work of the task that had been set him. Not +satisfied with the force put under his command, he collected five +hundred ships and one hundred and twenty thousand men. With these he +swept the pirates from the seas and stormed their strongholds, and all +in less than three months. Twenty thousand prisoners fell into his +hands. With unusual humanity he spared their lives, and thinking that +man was the creature of circumstances, determined to change their manner +of life. They were to be removed from the sea, should cease to be +sailors, and become farmers. It is possible that the old man of Corycus, +whose skill in gardening Virgil celebrates in one of his Georgics, was +one of the pirates whom the judicious mercy of Pompey changed into a +useful citizen. + +A still greater success remained to be won. For more than twenty years +war, occasionally intercepted by periods of doubtful peace, had been +carried on between Rome and Mithridates, king of Pontus. This prince, +though reduced more than once to the greatest extremities, had contrived +with extraordinary skill and courage to retrieve his fortunes, and now +in 67 B.C. was in possession of the greater part of his original +dominion. Lucullus, a general of the greatest ability, was in command of +the forces of Rome, but he had lost the confidence of his troops, and +affairs were at a standstill. Pompey's friends proposed that the +supreme command should be transferred to him, and the law, which Cicero +supported in what is perhaps the most perfect of his political +speeches[6], was passed. Pompey at once proceeded to the East. For four +years Mithridates held out, but with little hope of ultimate success or +even of escape. In 64, after vainly attempting to poison himself, such +was the power of the antidotes by which he had fortified himself against +domestic treachery (for so the story runs), he perished by the sword of +one of his mercenaries. For two years more Pompey was busied in settling +the affairs of the East. At last, in 61, he returned to Rome to enjoy a +third triumph, and that the most splendid which the city had ever +witnessed. It lasted for two days, but still the time was too short for +the display of the spoils of victory. The names of no less than fifteen +conquered nations were carried in procession. A thousand forts, nine +hundred cities, had been taken, and the chief of them were presented by +means of pictures to the eyes of the people. The revenue of the State +had been almost doubled by these conquests. Ninety thousand talents in +gold and silver coin were paid into the treasury, nor was this at the +expense of the soldiers, whose prize money was so large that the +smallest share amounted to fifty pounds. Never before was such a sight +seen in the world, and if Pompey had died when it was finished, he would +have been proclaimed the most fortunate of mankind. + +[Footnote 6: The Pro Lege Manilia. The law was proposed by one Manilius, +a tribune of the people.] + +Certainly he was never so great again as he was that day. When with +Caesar and Crassus he divided all the power of the State, he was only +the second, and by far the second, of the three. His influence, his +prestige, his popularity declined year by year. The good fortune which +had followed him without ceasing from his earliest years now seemed to +desert him. Even the shows, the most magnificent ever seen in the city, +with which he entertained the people at the dedication of his theater +(built at his own expense for the public benefit) were not wholly a +success. Here is a letter of Cicero about them to his friend Marius; +interesting as giving both a description of the scene and as an account +of the writer's own feelings about it. "If it was some bodily pain or +weakness of health that kept you from coming to the games, I must +attribute your absence to fortune rather than to a judicious choice. But +if you thought the things which most men admire contemptible, and so, +though health permitted, would not come, then I am doubly glad; glad +both that you were free from illness and that you were so vigorous in +mind as to despise the sights which others so unreasonably admire.... +Generally the shows were most splendid, but not to your taste, if I may +judge of yours by my own. First, the veteran actors who for their own +honor had retired from the stage, returned to it to do honor to Pompey. +Your favorite, my dear friend Aesopus, acquitted himself so poorly as to +make us all feel that he had best retire. When he came to the oath-- + + 'And if of purpose set I break my faith,' + +his voice failed him. What need to tell you more? You know all about the +other shows; they had not even the charm which moderate shows commonly +have. The ostentation with which they were furnished forth took away all +their gayety. What charm is there in having six hundred mules in the +_Clytemnestra_ or three thousand supernumeraries in the _Trojan Horse,_ +or cavalry and infantry in foreign equipment in some battle-piece. The +populace admired all this; but it would have given you no kind of +pleasure. After this came a sort of wild-beast fights, lasting for five +days. They were splendid: no man denies it. But what man of culture can +feel any pleasure when some poor fellow is torn in pieces by some +powerful animal, or when some noble animal is run through with a hunting +spear. If these things are worth seeing, you have seen them before. And +I, who was actually present, saw nothing new. The last day was given up +to the elephants. Great was the astonishment of the crowd at the sight; +but of pleasure there was nothing. Nay, there was some feeling of +compassion, some sense that this animal has a certain kinship with man." +The elder Pliny tells us that two hundred lions were killed on this +occasion, and that the pity felt for the elephants rose to the height of +absolute rage. So lamentable was the spectacle of their despair, so +pitifully did they implore the mercy of the audience, "that the whole +multitude rose in tears and called down upon Pompey the curses which +soon descended on him." + +And then Pompey's young wife, Julia, Caesar's daughter, died. She had +been a bond of union between the two men, and the hope of peace was +sensibly lessened by her loss. Perhaps the first rupture would have +come any how; when it did come it found Pompey quite unprepared for the +conflict. He seemed indeed to be a match for his rival, but his strength +collapsed almost at a touch. "I have but to stamp with my foot," he said +on one occasion, "and soldiers will spring up;" yet when Caesar declared +war by crossing the Rubicon, he fled without a struggle. In little more +than a year and a half all was over. The battle of Pharsalia was fought +on the 9th of August, and on September the 29th the man who had +triumphed over three continents lay a naked, headless corpse on the +shore of Egypt. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +EXILE. + + +The suppression of the "Great Conspiracy" was certainly the most +glorious achievement of Cicero's life. Honors such as had never before +been bestowed on a citizen of Rome were heaped upon him. Men of the +highest rank spoke of him both in the Senate and before the people as +the "Father of his fatherland." A public thanksgiving, such as was +ordered when great victories had been won, was offered in his name. +Italy was even more enthusiastic than the capital. The chief towns voted +him such honors as they could bestow; Capua in particular erected to him +a gilded statue, and gave him the title of Patron of the city. + +Still there were signs of trouble in the future. It was the duty of the +consul on quitting office to swear that he had discharged his duty with +fidelity, and it was usual for him at the same time to make a speech in +which he narrated the events of his consulship. Cicero was preparing to +speak when one of the new tribunes intervened. "A man," he cried, "who +has put citizens to death without hearing them in their defense is not +worthy to speak. He must do nothing more than take the oath." Cicero was +ready with his answer. Raising his voice he said, "I swear that I, and I +alone, have saved this commonwealth and this city." The assembly shouted +their approval; and when the ceremony was concluded the whole multitude +escorted the ex-consul to his house. The time was not come for his +enemies to attack him; but that he had enemies was manifest. + +With one dangerous man he had the misfortune to come into collision in +the year that followed his consulship. This was the Clodius of whom we +have heard something in the preceding chapter. The two men had hitherto +been on fairly good terms. Clodius, as we have seen, belonged to one of +the noblest families in Rome, was a man of some ability and wit, and +could make himself agreeable when he was pleased to do so. But events +for which Cicero was not in the least to blame brought about a life-long +enmity between them. Toward the close of the year Clodius had been +guilty of an act of scandalous impiety, intruding himself, disguised as +a woman, into some peculiarly sacred rites which the matrons of Rome +were accustomed to perform in honor of the "Good Goddess." He had +powerful friends, and an attempt was made to screen him, which Cicero, +who was genuinely indignant at the fellow's wickedness, seems to have +resisted. In the end he was put upon his trial, though it was before a +jury which had been specially packed for the occasion. His defense was +an _alibi_, an attempt, that is, to prove that he was elsewhere on the +night when he was alleged to have misconducted himself at Rome. He +brought forward witnesses who swore that they had seen him at the very +time at Interamna, a town in Umbria, and a place which was distant at +least two days' journey from Rome. To rebut this evidence Cicero was +brought forward by the prosecution. As he stepped forward the partisans +of the accused set up a howl of disapproval. But the jury paid him the +high compliment of rising from their seats, and the uproar ceased. He +deposed that Clodius had been at his house on the morning of the day in +question. + +Clodius was acquitted. If evidence had any thing to do with the result, +it was the conduct of Caesar that saved him. It was in his house that +the alleged intrusion had taken place, and he had satisfied himself by a +private examination of its inmates that the charge was true. But now he +professed to know nothing at all about the matter. Probably the really +potent influence in the case was the money which Crassus liberally +distributed among the jurors. The fact of the money was indeed +notorious. Some of the jury had pretended that they were in fear of +their lives, and had asked for a guard. "A guard!" said Catulus, to one +of them, "what did you want a guard for? that the money should not be +taken from you?" + +But Clodius, though he had escaped, never forgave the man whose evidence +had been given against him. Cicero too felt that there as war to the +knife between them. On the first meeting of the Senate after the +conclusion of the trial he made a pointed attack upon his old +acquaintance. "Lentulus," he said, "was twice acquitted, and Catiline +twice, and now this third malefactor has been let loose on the +commonwealth by his judges. But, Clodius, do not misunderstand what has +happened. It is for the prison, not for the city, that your judges have +kept you; not to keep you in the country, but to deprive you of the +privilege of exile was what they intended. Be of good cheer, then, +Fathers. No new evil has come upon us, but we have found out the evil +that exists. One villain has been put upon his trial, and the result has +taught us that there are more villains than one." + +Clodius attempted to banter his antagonist. "You are a fine gentleman," +he said; "you have been at Baiae" (Baiae was a fashionable +watering-place on the Campanian coast). "Well," said Cicero, "that is +better than to have been at the 'matrons' worship.'" And the attack and +repartee went on. "You have bought a fine house." (Cicero had spent a +large sum of money on a house on the Palatine, and was known to have +somewhat crippled his means by doing so.) "With you the buying has been +of jurymen." "They gave you no credit though you spoke on oath." "Yes; +five-and-twenty gave me credit" (five-and-twenty of the jury had voted +for a verdict of guilty; two-and-thirty for acquittal), "but your +thirty-two gave you none, for they would have their money down." The +Senate shouted applause, and Clodius sat down silent and confounded. + +How Clodius contrived to secure for himself the office of tribune, the +vantage ground from which he hoped to work his revenge, has been +already told in the sketch of Caesar. Caesar indeed was really +responsible for all that was done. It was he who made it possible for +Clodius to act; and he allowed him "to act when he could have stopped +him by the lifting of his finger. He was determined to prove to Cicero +that he was master. But he never showed himself after the first +interference in the matter of the adoption. He simply allowed Clodius to +work his will without hindrance. + +Clodius proceeded with considerable skill. He proposed various laws, +which were so popular that Cicero, though knowing that they would be +turned against himself, did not venture to oppose them. Then came a +proposal directly leveled at him. "Any man who shall have put to death a +Roman citizen uncondemned and without a trial is forbidden fire and +water." (This was the form of a sentence of exile. No one was allowed +under penalty of death to furnish the condemned with fire and water +within a certain distance of Rome.) Cicero at once assumed the squalid +dress with which it was the custom for accused persons to endeavor to +arouse the compassion of their fellow-citizens. Twenty thousand of the +upper classes supported him by their presence. The Senate itself, on the +motion of one of the tribunes, went into this strange kind of mourning +on his account. + +The consuls of the year were Gabinus and Piso. The first was notoriously +hostile, of the second Cicero hoped to make a friend, the more so as he +was a kinsman of his daughter's husband. He gives a lively picture of an +interview with him. "It was nearly eleven o'clock in the morning when we +went to him. He came out of a dirty hovel to meet us, with his slippers +on, and his head muffled up. His breath smelt most odiously of wine; but +he excused himself on the score of his health, which compelled him, he +said, to use medicines in which wine was employed." His answer to the +petition of his visitors (for Cicero was accompanied by his son-in-law) +was at least commendably frank. "My colleague Gabinius is in absolute +poverty, and does not know where to turn. Without a province he must be +ruined. A province he hopes to get by the help of Clodius, but it must +be by my acting with him. I must humor his wishes, just as you, Cicero, +humored your colleague when you were consul. But indeed there is no +reason why you should seek the consul's protection. Every one must look +out for himself." + +In default of the consuls there was still some hope that Pompey might be +induced to interfere, and Cicero sought an interview with him. Plutarch +says that he slipped out by a back door to avoid seeing him; but +Cicero's own account is that the interview was granted. "When I threw +myself at his feet" (he means I suppose, humiliated himself by asking +such a favor), "he could not lift me from the ground. He could do +nothing, he said, against the will of Caesar." + +Cicero had now to choose between two courses. He might stay and do his +best with the help of his friends, to resist the passing of the law. But +this would have ended, it was well known, in something like an open +battle in the streets of Rome. Clodius and his partisans were ready to +carry their proposal by force of arms, and would yield to nothing but +superior strength. It was possible, even probable, that in such a +conflict Cicero would be victorious. But he shrank from the trial, not +from cowardice, for he had courage enough when occasion demanded, not +even from unwillingness to risk the lives of his friends, though this +weighed somewhat with him, but chiefly because he hated to confess that +freedom was becoming impossible in Rome, and that the strong hand of a +master was wanted to give any kind of security to life and property. The +other course was to anticipate the sentence and to go into voluntary +exile. This was the course which his most powerful friends pressed upon +him, and this was the course which he chose. He left Rome, intending to +go to Sicily, where he knew that he should find the heartiest of +welcomes. + +Immediately on his departure Clodius formally proposed his banishment. +"Let it be enacted," so ran the proposition, "that, seeing that Marcus +Tullius Cicero has put Roman citizens to death without trial, forging +thereto the authority of the Senate, that he be forbidden fire and +water; that no one harbor or receive him on pain of death; and that +whosoever shall move, shall vote, or take any steps for the recalling of +him, be dealt with as a public enemy." The bill was passed, the distance +within which it was to operate being fixed at four hundred miles. The +houses of the banished man were razed to the ground, the site of the +mansion on the. Palatine, being dedicated to Liberty. His property was +partly plundered, partly sold by auction. + +Cicero meanwhile had hurried to the south of Italy. He found shelter for +a while at the farm of a friend near Vibo in Brutii (now the Abruzzi), +but found it necessary to leave this place because it was within the +prescribed limits. Sicily was forbidden to him by its governor, who, +though a personal friend, was unwilling to displease the party in power. +Athens, which for many reasons he would have liked to choose for his +place of exile, was unsafe. He had bitter enemies there, men who had +been mixed up in Catiline's conspiracy. The place, too, was within the +distance, and though this was not very strictly insisted upon--as a +matter of fact, he did spend the greater part of his banishment inside +the prescribed limit--it might at any moment be made a means of +annoyance. Atticus invited him to take up his residence at his seat at +Buthrotum in Epirus (now Albania). But the proposal did not commend +itself to his taste. It was out of the way, and would be very dreary +without the presence of its master, who was still at Rome, and +apparently intended to remain there. After staying for about a fortnight +at a friend's house near Dyrrachium--the town itself, where he was once +very popular, for fear of bringing some trouble upon it, he refused to +enter--he crossed over to Greece, and ultimately settled himself at +Thessalonica. + +Long afterward he tells us of a singular dream which seems to have given +him some little comfort at this time. "I had lain awake for the greater +part of the night, but fell into a heavy slumber toward morning. I was +at the point of starting, but my host would not allow me to be waked. At +seven o'clock, however, I rose, and then told my friend this dream. I +seemed to myself to be wandering disconsolately in some lonely place +when the great Marius met me. His lictors were with him, their _fasces_ +wreathed with bays. 'Why are you so sad?' he asked me. 'I have been +wrongly banished from my country,' I answered. He then took my hand, and +turning to the nearest lictor, bade him lead me to his own Memorial +Hall. 'There,' he said, 'you will be safe.'" His friend declared that +this dream portended a speedy and honorable return. Curiously enough it +was in the Hall of Marius that the decree repealing the sentence of +banishment was actually proposed and passed. + +For the most part he was miserably unhappy and depressed. In letter +after letter he poured out to Atticus his fears, his complaints, and his +wants. Why had he listened to the bad advice of his friends? He had +wished to stay at Rome and fight out the quarrel. Why had Hortensius +advised him to retire from the struggle? It must have been jealousy, +jealousy of one whom he knew to be a more successful advocate than +himself. Why had Atticus hindered his purposes when he thought of +putting an end to all his trouble by killing himself? Why were all his +friends, why was Atticus himself, so lukewarm in his cause? In one +letter he artfully reproaches himself for his neglect of his friends in +times past as the cause of their present indifference. But the reproach +is of course really leveled at them. + +"If ever," he writes in one letter, "fortune shall restore me to my +country and to you, I will certainly take care that of all my friends; +none shall be more rejoiced than you. All my duty to you, a duty which I +must own in time past was sadly wanting, shall be so faithfully +discharged that you will feel that I have been restored to you quite as +much as I shall have been restored to my brother and to my children. For +whatever I have wronged you, and indeed because I have wronged you, +pardon me; for I have wronged myself far worse. I do not write this as +not knowing that you feel the very greatest trouble on my account; but +if you were and had been under the obligation to love me, as much as you +actually do love me and have loved me, you never would have allowed me +to lack the wise advice which you have so abundantly at your command." +This is perhaps a little obscure, as it is certainly somewhat subtle; +but Cicero means that Atticus had not interested himself in his affairs +as much as he would have felt bound to do, if he (Cicero) had been less +remiss in the duties of friendship. + +To another correspondent, his wife Terentia, he poured out his heart yet +more freely. "Don't think," he writes in one of his letters to her, +"that I write longer letters to others than to you, except indeed I have +received some long communication which I feel I must answer. Indeed I +have nothing to write; and in these days I find it the most difficult of +duties. Writing to you and to my dearest Tullia I never can do without +floods of tears. I see you are utterly miserable, and I wanted you to be +completely happy. I might have made you so. I could have made you had I +been less timid.... My heart's delight, my deepest regret is to think +that you, to whom all used to look for help, should now be involved in +such sorrow, such distress! and that I should be to blame, I who saved +others only to ruin myself and mine!... As for expenditure, let others, +who can if they will, undertake it. And if you love me, don't distress +your health, which is already, I know, feeble. All night, all day I +think of you. I see that you are undertaking all imaginable labors on my +behalf; I only fear that you will not be able to endure them. I am aware +that all depends upon you. If we are to succeed in what you wish and are +now trying to compass, take care of your health." In another he writes: +"Unhappy that I am! to think that one so virtuous, so loyal, so honest, +so kind, should be so afflicted, and all on my account. And my dearest +Tullia, too, that she should be so unhappy about a father in whom she +once found so much happiness. And what shall I say about my dear little +Cicero? That he should feel the bitterest sorrow and trouble as soon as +he began to feel any thing! If all this was really, as you write, the +work of fate, I could endure it a little more easily; but it was all +brought about by my fault, thinking that I was loved by men who really +were jealous of me, and keeping aloof from others who were really on my +side." + +This is, perhaps, a good opportunity of saying something about the lady +herself. Who she was we do not certainly know. There was a family of the +name in Rome, the most notable of whom perhaps was the Terentius +Varro[7] whose rashness brought upon his country the terrible disaster +of the defeat of Cannae. She had a half-sister, probably older than +herself, of the name of Fabia, who was a vestal virgin. She brought her +husband, to whom she was married about 78 B.C., a fair dowry, about +three thousand five hundred pounds. We have seen how affectionately +Cicero writes to her during his exile. She is his darling, his only +hope; the mere thought of her makes his eyes overflow with tears. And +she seems to have deserved all his praise and affection, exerting +herself to the utmost to help him, and ready to impoverish herself to +find him the means that he needed. Four letters of this period have been +preserved. There are twenty others belonging to the years 50-47 B.C. The +earlier of these are sufficiently affectionate. When he is about to +return to Rome from his province (Cilicia), she is still the most +amiable, the dearest of women. Then we begin to see signs of coolness, +yet nothing that would strike us did we not know what was afterwards to +happen. He excuses the rarity of his letters. There is no one by whom to +send them. If there were, he was willing to write. The greetings became +formal, the superlatives "dearest," "fondest," "best," are dropped. "You +are glad," he writes after the battle of Pharsalia had dashed his hopes, +"that I have got back safe to Italy; I hope that you may continue to be +glad." "Don't think of coming," he goes on, "it is a long journey and +not very safe; and I don't see what good you would do if you should +come." In another letter he gives directions about getting ready his +house at Tusculum for the reception of guests. The letter is dated on +the first of October, and he and his friends would come probably to stay +several days, on the seventh. If there was not a tub in the bath-room, +one must be provided. The greeting is of the briefest and most formal. +Meanwhile we know from what he writes to Atticus that he was greatly +dissatisfied with the lady's conduct. Money matters were at the bottom +of their quarrel. She was careless, he thinks, and extravagant. Though +he was a rich man, yet he was often in need of ready money, and Terentia +could not be relied upon to help him. His vexation takes form in a +letter to Atticus. "As to Terentia--there are other things without +number of which I don't speak--what can be worse than this? You wrote to +her to send me bills for one hundred and eight pounds; for there was so +much money left in hand. She sent me just ninety pounds, and added a +note that this was all. If she was capable of abstracting such a trifle +from so small a sum, don't you see what she would have done in matters +of real importance?" The quarrel ended in a divorce, a thing far more +common than, happily, it is among ourselves, but still a painful and +discreditable end to an union which had lasted for more than +five-and-twenty years. Terentia long survived her husband, dying in +extreme old age (as much, it was said, as a hundred and three years), +far on in the reign of Augustus; and after a considerable experience of +matrimony, if it be true that she married three or even, according to +some accounts, four other husbands. + +[Footnote 7: Another of the same name was an eminent man of letters of +Cicero's own time.] + +Terentia's daughter, Tullia, had a short and unhappy life. She was born, +it would seem, about 79 B.C., and married when fifteen or sixteen to a +young Roman noble, Piso Frugi by name. "The best, the most loyal of +men," Cicero calls him. He died in 57 B.C., and Rome lost, if his +father-in-law's praises of him may be trusted, an orator of the very +highest promise. "I never knew any one who surpassed my son-in-law, +Piso, in zeal, in industry, and, I may fairly say, in ability." The next +year she married a certain Crassipes, a very shadowy person indeed. We +know nothing of what manner of man he was, or what became of him. But in +50 B.C. Tullia was free to marry again. Her third venture was of her own +or her mother's contriving. Her father was at his government in Cilicia, +and he hears of the affair with surprise. "Believe me," he writes to +Atticus, "nothing could have been less expected by me. Tiberius Nero had +made proposals to me, and I had sent friends to discuss the matter with +the ladies. But when they got to Rome the betrothal had taken place. +This, I hope, will be a better match. I fancy the ladies were very much +pleased with the young gentleman's complaisance and courtesy, but do not +look for the thorns." The "thorns," however, were there. A friend who +kept Cicero acquainted with the news of Rome, told him as much, though +he wraps up his meaning in the usual polite phrases. "I congratulate +you," he writes, "on your alliance with one who is, I really believe, a +worthy fellow. I do indeed think this of him. If there have been some +things in which he has not done justice to himself, these are now past +and gone; any traces that may be left will soon, I am sure, disappear, +thanks to your good influence and to his respect for Tullia. He is not +offensive in his errors, and does not seem slow to appreciate better +things." Tullia, however, was not more successful than other wives in +reforming her husband. Her marriage seems to have been unhappy almost +from the beginning. It was brought to an end by a divorce after about +three years. Shortly afterward Tullia, who could have been little more +than thirty, died, to the inconsolable grief of her father. "My grief," +he writes to Atticus, "passes all consolation. Yet I have done what +certainly no one ever did before, written a treatise for my own +consolation. (I will send you the book if the copyists have finished +it.) And indeed there is nothing like it. I write day after day, and all +day long; not that I can get any good from it, but it occupies me a +little, not much indeed; the violence of my grief is too much for me. +Still I am soothed, and do my best to compose, not my feelings, indeed, +but, if I can, my face." And again: "Next to your company nothing is +more agreeable to me than solitude. Then all my converse is with books; +yet this is interrupted by tears; these I resist as well as I can; but +at present I fail." At one time he thought of finding comfort in unusual +honors to the dead. He would build a shrine of which Tullia should be +the deity. "I am determined," he writes, "on building the shrine. From +this purpose I cannot be turned ... Unless the building be finished this +summer, I shall hold myself guilty." He fixes upon a design. He begs +Atticus, in one of his letters, to buy some columns of marble of Chios +for the building. He discusses the question of the site. Some gardens +near Rome strike him as a convenient place. It must be conveniently near +if it is to attract worshipers. "I would sooner sell or mortgage, or +live on little, than be disappointed." Then he thought that he would +build it on the grounds of his villa. In the end he did not build it at +all. Perhaps the best memorial of Tullia is the beautiful letter in +which one of Cicero's friends seeks to console him for his loss. "She +had lived," he says, "as long as life was worth living, as long as the +republic stood." One passage, though it has often been quoted before, I +must give. "I wish to tell you of something which brought me no small +consolation, hoping that it may also somewhat diminish your sorrow. On +my way back from Asia, as I was sailing from Aeigina to Megara, I began +to contemplate the places that lay around me. Behind me was Aegina, +before me Megara; on my right hand the Piraeus, on my left hand Corinth; +towns all of them that were once at the very height of prosperity, but +now lie ruined and desolate before our eyes. I began thus to reflect: +'Strange! do we, poor creatures of a day, bear it ill if one of us +perish of disease, or are slain with the sword, we whose life is bound +to be short, while the dead bodies of so many lie here inclosed within +so small a compass?" + +But I am anticipating. When Cicero was in exile the republic had yet +some years to live; and there were hopes that it might survive +altogether. The exile's prospects, too, began to brighten. Caesar had +reached for the present the height of his ambition, and was busy with +his province of Gaul. Pompey had quarreled with Clodius, whom he found +to be utterly unmanageable. And Cicero's friend, one Milo, of whom I +shall have to say more hereafter, being the most active of them all, +never ceased to agitate for his recall. It would be tedious to recall +all the vicissitudes of the struggle. As early as May the Senate passed +a resolution repealing the decree of banishment, the news of it having +caused an outburst of joy in the city. Accius' drama of "Telamon" was +being acted at the time, and the audience applauded each senator as he +entered the Senate, and rose from their places to greet the consul as he +came in. But the enthusiasm rose to its height when the actor who was +playing the part of Telamon (whose banishment from his country formed +part of the action of the drama) declaimed with significant emphasis the +following lines-- + + What! he--the man who still with steadfast heart + Strove for his country, who in perilous days + Spared neither life nor fortune, and bestowed + Most help when most she needed; who surpassed + In wit all other men. Father of Gods, + _His_ house--yea, _his_!--I saw devoured by fire; + And ye, ungrateful, foolish, without thought + Of all wherein he served you, could endure + To see him banished; yea, and to this hour + Suffer that he prolong an exile's day. + +Still obstacle after obstacle was interposed, and it was not till the +fourth of August that the decree passed through all its stages and +became finally law. Cicero, who had been waiting at the point of Greece +nearest to Italy, to take the earliest opportunity of returning, had +been informed by his friends that he might now safely embark. He sailed +accordingly on the very day when the decree was passed, and reached +Brundisium on the morrow. It happened to be the day on which the +foundation of the colony was celebrated, and also the birthday of +Tullia, who had come so far to meet her father. The coincidence was +observed by the towns-people with delight. On the eighth the welcome +news came from Rome, and Cicero set out for the capital. "All along my +road the cities of Italy kept the day of my arrival as a holiday; the +ways were crowded with the deputations which were sent from all parts to +congratulate me. When I approached the city, my coming was honored by +such a concourse of men, such a heartiness of congratulation as are past +believing. The way from the gates, the ascent of the Capitol, the return +to my home made such a spectacle that in the very height of my joy I +could not but be sorry that a people so grateful had yet been so +unhappy, so cruelly oppressed." "That day," he said emphatically, "that +day was as good as immortality to me." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A BRAWL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + + +Clodius, who had taken the lead in driving Cicero into exile, was of +course furious at his return, and continued to show him an unceasing +hostility. His first care was to hinder the restoration of his property. +He had contrived to involve part at least of this in a considerable +difficulty. Cicero's house on the Palatine Hill had been pulled down and +the area dedicated--so at least Clodius alleged--to the Goddess of +Liberty. If this was true, it was sacred forever; it could not be +restored. The question was, Was it true? This question was referred to +the Pontiffs as judges of such matters. Cicero argued the case before +them, and they pronounced in his favor. It was now for the Senate to +act. A motion was made that the site should be restored. Clodius opposed +it, talking for three hours, till the anger of his audience compelled +him to bring his speech to an end. One of the tribunes in his interest +put his veto on the motion, but was frightened into withdrawing it. But +Clodius was not at the end of his resources. A set of armed ruffians +under his command drove out the workmen who were rebuilding the house. A +few days afterwards he made an attack on Cicero himself. He was wounded +in the struggle which followed, and might, says Cicero, have been +killed, "but," he adds, "I am tired of surgery." + +Pompey was another object of his hatred, for he knew perfectly well that +without his consent his great enemy would not have been restored. Cicero +gives a lively picture of a scene in the Senate, in which this hatred +was vigorously expressed. "Pompey spoke, or rather wished to speak; for, +as soon as he rose, Clodius' hired ruffians shouted at him. All through +his speech it was the same; he was interrupted not only by shouts but by +abuse and curses. When he came to an end--and it must be allowed that he +showed courage; nothing frightened him: he said his say and sometimes +even obtained silence--then Clodius rose. He was met with such an uproar +from our side (for we had determined to give him back as good as he had +given) that he could not collect his thoughts, control his speech, or +command his countenance. This went on from three o'clock, when Pompey +had only just finished his speech, till five. Meanwhile every kind of +abuse, even to ribald verses, were shouted out against Clodius and his +sister. Pale with fury he turned to his followers, and in the midst of +the uproar asked them, 'Who is it that is killing the people with +hunger?' 'Pompey,' they answered. 'Who wants to go to Alexandria?' +'Pompey,' they answered again. 'And whom do _you_ want to go?' +'Crassus,' they said. About six o'clock the party of Clodius began, at +some given signal, it seemed, to spit at our side. Our rage now burst +out. They tried to drive us from our place, and we made a charge. The +partisans of Clodius fled. He was thrust down from the hustings. I then +made my escape, lest any thing worse should happen." + +A third enemy, and one whom Clodius was destined to find more dangerous +than either Cicero or Pompey, was Annius Milo. Milo was on the mother's +side of an old Latin family. The name by which he was commonly known was +probably a nickname given him, it may be, in joking allusion to the Milo +of Crotona, the famous wrestler, who carried an ox on his shoulders and +ate it in a single day. For Milo was a great fighting man, a well-born +gladiator, one who was for cutting all political knots with the sword. +He was ambitious, and aspired to the consulship; but the dignity was +scarcely within his reach. His family was not of the highest; he was +deeply in debt; he had neither eloquence nor ability. His best chance, +therefore, was to attach himself to some powerful friend whose gratitude +he might earn. Just such a friend he seemed to find in Cicero. He saw +the great orator's fortunes were very low, but they would probably rise +again, and he would be grateful to those who helped him in his +adversity. Hence Milo's exertions to bring him back from banishment and +hence the quarrel with Clodius. The two men had their bands of hired, or +rather purchased, ruffians about the city, and came into frequent +collisions. Each indicted the other for murderous assault. Each publicly +declared that he should take the earliest chance of putting his I enemy +to death. What was probably a chance collision brought matters to a +crisis. + +On the twentieth of January Milo left Rome to pay a visit to Lanuvium, a +Latin town on the Appian road, and about fifteen miles south of Rome. It +was a small town, much decayed from the old days when its revolt +against Rome was thought to be a thing worth recording; but it +contained one of the most famous temples of Italy, the dwelling of Juno +the Preserver, whose image, in its goat-skin robe, its quaint, turned-up +shoes, with spear in one hand and small shield in the other, had a +peculiar sacredness. Milo was a native of the place, and its dictator; +and it was his duty on this occasion to nominate the chief priest of the +temple. He had been at a meeting of the Senate in the morning, and had +remained till the close of the sitting. Returning home he had changed +his dress and shoes, waited a while, as men have to wait, says Cicero, +while his wife was getting ready, and then started. He traveled in a +carriage his wife and a friend. Several maid-servants and a troop of +singing boys belonging to his wife followed. Much was made of this great +retinue of women and boys, as proving that Milo had no intention when he +started of coming to blows with his great enemy. But he had also with +him a number of armed slaves and several gladiators, among whom were two +famous masters of their art. He had traveled about ten miles when he met +Clodius, who had been delivering an address to the town council of +Aricia, another Latin town, nearer to the capital than Lanuvium, and was +now returning to Rome. He was on horseback, contrary to his usual +custom, which was to use a carriage, and he had with him thirty slaves +armed with swords. No person of distinction thought of traveling without +such attendants. + +The two men passed each other, but Milo's gladiators fell out with the +slaves of Clodius. Clodius rode back and accosted the aggressors in a +threatening manner. One of the gladiators replied by wounding him in the +shoulder with his sword. A number of Milo's slaves hastened back to +assist their comrades. The party of Clodius was overpowered, and Clodius +himself, exhausted by his wound, took refuge in a roadside tavern, which +probably marked the first stage out of Rome. Milo, thinking that now he +had gone so far he might go a little further and rid himself of his +enemy forever, ordered his slaves to drag Clodius from his refuge and +finish him. This was promptly done. Cicero indeed declared that the +slaves did it without orders, and in the belief that their master had +been killed. But Rome believed the other story. The corpse of the dead +man lay for some time upon the road uncared for, for all his attendants +had either fallen in the struggle or had crept into hiding-places. Then +a Roman gentleman on his way to the city ordered it to be put into his +litter and taken to Rome, where it arrived just before nightfall. It was +laid out in state in the hall of his mansion, and his widow stood by +showing the wounds to the sympathizing crowd which thronged to see his +remains. Next day the excitement increased. Two of the tribunes +suggested that the body should be carried into the market-place, and +placed on the hustings from which the speaker commonly addressed the +people. Then it was resolved, at the suggestion of another Clodius, a +notary, and a client of the family, to do it a signal honor. "Thou shalt +not bury or burn a man within the city" was one of the oldest of Roman +laws. Clodius, the favorite of the people, should be an exception. His +body was carried into the Hall of Hostilius, the usual meeting-place of +the Senate. The benches, the tables, the platform from which the orators +spoke, the wooden tablets on which the clerks wrote their notes, were +collected to make a funeral pile on which the corpse was to be consumed. +The hall caught fire, and was burned to the ground; another large +building adjoining it, the Hall of Porcius, narrowly escaped the same +fate. The mob attacked several houses, that of Milo among them, and was +with difficulty repulsed. + +It had been expected that Milo would voluntarily go into exile; but the +burning of the senate-house caused a strong reaction of feeling of which +he took advantage. He returned to Rome, and provided to canvass for the +consulship, making a present in money (which may be reckoned at +five-and-twenty shillings) to every voter. The city was in a continual +uproar; though the time for the new consuls to enter on their office was +long past, they had not even been elected, nor was there any prospect, +such was the violence of the rival candidates, of their being so. At +last the Senate had recourse to the only man who seemed able to deal +with the situation, and appointed Pompey sole consul. Pompey proposed +to institute for the trial of Milo's case a special court with a +special form of procedure. The limits of the time which it was to occupy +were strictly laid down. Three days were to be given to the examination +of witnesses, one to the speeches of counsel, the prosecution being +allowed two hours only, the defense three. After a vain resistance on +the part of Milo's friends, the proposal was carried, Pompey threatening +to use force if necessary. Popular feeling now set very strongly against +the accused. Pompey proclaimed that he went in fear of his life from his +violence; refused to appear in the Senate lest he should be +assassinated, and even left his house to live in his gardens, which +could be more effectually guarded by soldiers. In the Senate Milo was +accused of having arms under his clothing, a charge which he had to +disprove by lifting up his under garment. Next a freedman came forward, +and declared that he and four others had actually seen the murder of +Clodius, and that having mentioned the fact, they had been seized and +shut up for two months in Milo's counting-house. Finally a sheriff's +officer, if we may so call him, deposed that another important witness, +one of Milo's slaves, had been forcibly taken out of his hands by the +partisans of the accused. + +On the eighth of April the trial was begun. The first witness called was +a friend who had been with Clodius on the day of his death. His evidence +made the case look very dark against Milo, and the counsel who was to +cross-examine him on behalf of the accused was received with such angry +cries that he had to take refuge on the bench with the presiding judge. +Milo was obliged to ask for the same protection. + +Pompey resolved that better order should be kept for the future, and +occupied all the approaches to the court with troops. The rest of the +witnesses were heard and cross-examined without interruption. April 11th +was the last day of the trial. Three speeches were delivered for the +prosecution; for the defense one only, and that by Cicero. It had been +suggested that he should take the bold line of arguing that Clodius was +a traitor, and that the citizen who slew him had deserved well of his +country. But he judged it better to follow another course, and to show +that Clodius had been the aggressor, having deliberately laid an ambush +for Milo, of whose meditated journey to Lanuvium he was of course aware. +Unfortunately for his client the case broke down. Milo had evidently +left Rome and the conflict had happened much earlier than was said, +because the body of the murdered man had reached the capital not later +than five o'clock in the afternoon. This disproved the assertion that +Clodius had loitered on his way back to Rome till the growing darkness +gave him an opportunity of attacking his adversaries. Then it came out +that Milo had had in his retinue, besides the women and boys, a number +of fighting men. Finally there was the damning fact, established, it +would seem, by competent witnesses, that Clodius had been dragged from +his hiding-place and put to death. Cicero too lost his presence of mind. +The sight of the city, in which all the shops were shut in expectation +of a riot, the presence of the soldiers in court, and the clamor of a +mob furiously hostile to the accused and his advocate, confounded him, +and he spoke feebly and hesitatingly. The admirable oration which has +come down to us, and professes to have been delivered on this occasion, +was really written afterwards. The jury, which was allowed by common +consent to have been one of the best ever assembled, gave a verdict of +guilty. Milo went into banishment at Marseilles--a punishment which he +seems to have borne very easily, if it is true that when Cicero excused +himself for the want of courage which had marred the effect of his +defense, he answered, "It was all for the best; if you had spoken +better I should never have tasted these admirable Marseilles mullets." + +Naturally he tired of the mullets before long. When Caesar had made +himself master of Rome, he hoped to be recalled from banishment. But +Caesar did not want him, and preferred to have him where he was. Enraged +at this treatment, he came over to Italy and attempted to raise an +insurrection in favor of Pompey. The troops whom he endeavored to +corrupt refused to follow him. He retreated with his few followers into +the extreme south of the peninsula, and was there killed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA. + + +"From his earliest years," so runs the character that has come down to +us of Cato, "he was resolute to obstinacy. Flattery met with a rough +repulse, and threats with resistance. He never laughed, and his smile +was of the slightest. Not easily provoked, his anger, once roused, was +implacable. He learned but slowly, but never forgot a thing once +acquired; he was obedient to his teachers, but wanted to know the reason +of every thing." The stories told of his boyhood bear out this +character. Here is one of them. His tutor took him to Sulla's house. It +was in the evil days of the Proscription, and there were signs of the +bloody work that was going on. "Why does no one kill this man?" he asked +his teacher. "Because, my son, they fear him more than they hate him," +was the answer. "Why then," was the rejoinder, "have you not given me a +sword that I may set my country free?" The tutor, as it may be supposed, +carried him off in haste. + +Like most young Romans he began life as a soldier, and won golden +opinions not only by his courage, which indeed was common enough in a +nation that conquered the world, but by his temperance and diligent +performance of duty. His time of service ended, he set out on his +travels, accepting an invitation from the tributary king of Galatia, +who happened to be an old friend of the family, to visit him. We get an +interesting little picture of a Roman of the upper class on a tour. "At +dawn he would send on a baker and a cook to the place which he intended +to visit. These would enter the town in a most unpretending fashion, and +if their master did not happen to have a friend or acquaintance in the +place, would betake themselves to an inn, and there prepare for their +master's accommodation without troubling any one. It was only when there +was no inn that they went to the magistrates and asked for +entertainment; and they were always content with what was assigned. +Often they met with but scanty welcome and attention, not enforcing +their demands with the customary threats, so that Cato on his arrival +found nothing prepared. Nor did their master create a more favorable +impression, sitting as he did quietly on his luggage, and seeming to +accept the situation. Sometimes, however, he would send for the town +authorities and say, "You had best give up these mean ways, my +inhospitable friends; you won't find that all your visitors are Catos." +Once at least he found himself, as he thought, magnificently received. +Approaching Antioch, he found the road lined on either side with troops +of spectators. The men stood in one company, the boys in another. Every +body was in holiday dress. Some--these were the magistrates and +priests--wore white robes and garlands of flowers. Cato, supposing that +all these preparations were intended for himself, was annoyed that his +servants had not prevented them. But he was soon undeceived. An old man +ran out from the crowd, and without so much as greeting the new comer, +cried, "Where did you leave Demetrius? When will he come?" Demetrius was +Pompey's freedman, and had some of his master's greatness reflected on +him. Cato could only turn away muttering, "Wretched place!" + +Returning to Rome he went through the usual course of honors, always +discharging his duties with the utmost zeal and integrity, and probably, +as long as he filled a subordinate place, with great success. It was +when statesmanship was wanted that he began to fail. + +In the affair of the conspiracy of Catiline Cato stood firmly by +Cicero, supporting the proposition to put the conspirators to death in a +powerful speech, the only speech of all that he made that was preserved. +This preservation was due to the forethought of Cicero, who put the +fastest writers whom he could find to relieve each other in taking down +the oration. This, it is interesting to be told, was the beginning of +shorthand. + +Cato, like Cicero, loved and believed in the republic; but he was much +more uncompromising, more honest perhaps we may say, but certainly less +discreet in putting his principles into action. He set himself to oppose +the accumulation of power in the hands of Pompey and Caesar; but he +lacked both dignity and prudence, and he accomplished nothing. When, for +instance, Caesar, returning from Spain, petitioned the Senate for +permission to become a candidate for the consulship without entering the +city--to enter the city would have been to abandon his hopes of a +triumph--Cato condescended to use the arts of obstruction in opposing +him. He spoke till sunset against the proposition, and it failed by +sheer lapse of time. Yet the opposition was fruitless. Caesar of course +abandoned the empty honor, and secured the reality, all the more +certainly because people felt that he had been hardly used. And so he +continued to act, always seeking to do right, but always choosing the +very worst way of doing it; anxious to serve his country, but always +contriving to injure it. Even in that which, we may say, best became him +in his life, in the leaving of it (if we accept for the moment the Roman +view of the morality of suicide), he was not doing his best for Rome. +Had he been willing to live (for Caesar was ready to spare him, as he +was always ready to spare enemies who could not harm him), there was yet +good for him to do; in his hasty impatience of what he disapproved, he +preferred to deprive his country of its most honest citizen. + +We must not omit a picture so characteristic of Roman life as the story +of his last hours. The last army of the republic had been destroyed at +Thapsus, and Caesar was undisputed master of the world. Cato vainly +endeavored to stir up the people of Utica, a town near Carthage, in +which he had taken up his quarters; when they refused, he resolved to +put an end to his life. A kinsman of Caesar, who was preparing to +intercede with the conqueror for the lives of the vanquished leaders, +begged Cato's help in revising his speech. "For you," he said, "I should +think it no shame to clasp his hands and fall at his knees." "Were I +willing to take my life at his hands," replied Cato, "I should go alone +to ask it. But I refuse to live by the favor of a tyrant. Still, as +there are three hundred others for whom you are to intercede, let us see +what can be done with the speech." This business finished, he took an +affectionate leave of his friend, commending to his good offices his son +and his friends. On his son he laid a strict injunction not to meddle +with public life. Such a part as was worthy of the name of Cato no man +could take again; to take any other would be shameful. Then followed the +bath, and after the bath, dinner, to which he had invited a number of +friends, magistrates of the town. He sat at the meal, instead of +reclining. This had been his custom ever since the fated day of +Pharsalia. After dinner, over the wine, there was much learned talk, +and this not other than cheerful in tone. But when the conversation +happened to turn on one of the favorite maxims of the Stoics, "Only the +good man is free; the bad are slaves," Cato expressed himself with an +energy and even a fierceness that made the company suspect some terrible +resolve. The melancholy silence that ensued warned the speaker that he +had betrayed himself, and he hastened to remove the suspicion by talking +on other topics. After dinner he took his customary walk, gave the +necessary orders to the officers on guard, and then sought his chamber. +Here he took up the Phaedo, the famous dialogue in which Socrates, on +the day when he is to drink the poison, discusses the immortality of the +soul. He had almost finished the book, when, chancing to turn his eyes +upwards, he perceived that his sword had been removed. His son had +removed it while he sat at dinner. He called a slave and asked, "Who has +taken my sword?" As the man said nothing, he resumed his book; but in +the course of a few minutes, finding that search was not being made, he +asked for the sword again. Another interval followed; and still it was +not forthcoming. His anger was now roused. He vehemently reproached the +slaves, and even struck one of them with his fist, which he injured by +the blow. "My son and my slaves," he said, "are betraying me to the +enemy." He would listen to no entreaties, "Am I a madman," he said, +"that I am stripped of my arms? Are you going to bind my hands and give +me up to Caesar? As for the sword I can do without it; I need but hold +my breath or dash my head against the wall. It is idle to think that you +can keep a man of my years alive against his will." It was felt to be +impossible to persist in the face of this determination, and a young +slave-boy brought back the sword. Cato felt the weapon, and finding that +the blade was straight and the edge perfect, said, "Now I am my own +master." He then read the Phaedo again from beginning to end, and +afterwards fell into so profound a sleep that persons standing outside +the chamber heard his breathing. About midnight he sent for his +physician and one of his freedmen. The freedman was commissioned to +inquire whether his friends had set sail. The physician he asked to bind +up his wounded hand, a request which his attendants heard with delight, +as it seemed to indicate a resolve to live. He again sent to inquire +about his friends and expressed his regret at the rough weather which +they seemed likely to have. The birds were now beginning to twitter at +the approach of dawn, and he fell into a short sleep. The freedman now +returned with news that the harbor was quiet. When he found himself +again alone, he stabbed himself with the sword, but the blow, dealt as +it was by the wounded hand, was not fatal. He fell fainting on the +couch, knocking down a counting board which stood near, and groaning. +His son with others rushed into the chamber, and the physician, finding +that the wound was not mortal, proceeded to bind it up. Cato, recovering +his consciousness, thrust the attendants aside, and tearing open the +wound, expired. + +If the end of Cato's life was its noblest part it is still more true +that the fame of Brutus rests on one memorable deed. He was known, +indeed, as a young man of promise, with whose education special pains +had been taken, and who had a genuine love for letters and learning. He +was free, it would seem, from some of the vices of his age, but he had +serious faults. Indeed the one transaction of his earlier life with +which we happen to be well acquainted is very little to his credit. And +this, again, is so characteristic of one side of Roman life that it +should be told in some detail. + +Brutus had married the daughter of a certain Appius Claudius, a kinsman +of the notorious Clodius, and had accompanied his father-in-law to his +province, Cilicia. He took the opportunity of increasing his means by +lending money to the provincials. Lending money, it must be remembered, +was not thought a discreditable occupation even for the very noblest. To +lend money upon interest was, indeed, the only way of making an +investment, besides the buying of land, that was available to the Roman +capitalist. But Brutus was more than a money-lender, he was an usurer; +that is, he sought to extract an extravagantly high rate of interest +from his debtors. And this greed brought him into collision with Cicero. + +A certain Scaptius had been agent for Brutus in lending money to the +town of Salamis in Cyprus. Under the government of Claudius, Scaptius +had had every thing his own way. He had been appointed to a command in +the town, had some cavalry at his disposal, and extorted from the +inhabitants what terms he pleased, shutting up, it is told us, the +Senate in their council-room till five of them perished of hunger. +Cicero heard of this monstrous deed as he was on his way to his +province; he peremptorily refused the request of Scaptius for a renewal +of his command, saying that he had resolved not to grant such posts to +any person engaged in trading or money-lending. Still, for Brutus' +sake--and it was not for some time that it came out that Brutus was the +principal--he would take care that the money should be paid. This the +town was ready to do; but then came in the question of interest. An +edict had been published that this should never exceed twelve per cent., +or one per cent, monthly, that being the customary way of payment. But +Scaptius pleaded his bond, which provided for four per cent, monthly, +and pleaded also a special edict that regulations restraining interest +were not to apply to Salamis. The town protested that they could not +pay if such terms were exacted--terms which would double the principal. +They could not, they said, have met even the smaller claim, if it had +not been for the liberality of the governor, who had declined the +customary presents. Brutus was much vexed. + +"Even when he asks me a favor," writes Cicero to Atticus, "there is +always something arrogant and churlish: still he moves laughter more +than anger." + +When the civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey, it was expected +that Brutus would attach himself to the former. Pompey, who had put his +father to death, he had no reason to love. But if he was unscrupulous in +some things, in politics he had principles which he would not abandon, +the strongest of these, perhaps, being that the side of which Cato +approved was the side of the right. Pompey received his new adherent +with astonishment and delight, rising from his chair to greet him. He +spent most of his time in camp in study, being ingrossed on the very eve +of the battle in making an epitome of Polybius, the Greek historian of +the Second Punic War. He passed through the disastrous day of Pharsalia +unhurt, Caesar having given special orders that his life was to be +spared. After the battle, the conqueror not only pardoned him but +treated him with the greatest kindness, a kindness for which, for a time +at least, he seems not to have been ungrateful. But there were +influences at work which he could not resist. There was his friendship +with Cassius, who had a passionate hatred against usurpers, the +remembrance of how Cato had died sooner than submit himself to Caesar, +and, not least, the association of his name, which he was not permitted +to forget. The statue of the old patriot who had driven out the Tarquins +was covered with such inscriptions as, "Brutus, would thou wert alive!" +and Brutus' own chair of office--he was praetor at the time--was found +covered with papers on which were scribbled, "Brutus, thou sleepest," +or, "A true Brutus art thou," and the like. How he slew Caesar I have +told already; how he killed himself in despair after the second battle +of Philippi may be read elsewhere. + +Porcia, the daughter of Cato, was left a widow in 48 B.C., and married +three years afterwards her cousin Brutus, who divorced his first wife +Claudia in order to marry her. She inherited both the literary tastes +and the opinions of her father, and she thought herself aggrieved when +her husband seemed unwilling to confide his plans to her. Plutarch thus +tells her story, his authority seeming to be a little biography which +one of her sons by her first husband afterwards wrote of his +step-father. "She wounded herself in the thigh with a knife such as +barbers use for cutting the nails. The wound was deep, the loss of blood +great, and the pain and fever that followed acute. Her husband was in +the greatest distress, when his wife thus addressed him: 'Brutus, it was +a daughter of Cato who became your wife, not merely to share your bed +and board, but to be the partner of your adversity and your prosperity. +_You_ give me no cause to complain, but what proof can I give you of my +affection if I may not bear with you your secret troubles. Women, I +know, are weak creatures, ill fitted to keep secrets. Yet a good +training and honest company may do much, and this, as Cato's daughter +and wife to Brutus, I have had.' She then showed him the wound, and told +him that she had inflicted it upon herself to prove her courage and +constancy." For all this resolution she had something of a woman's +weakness. When her husband had left the house on the day fixed for the +assassination, she could not conceal her agitation. She eagerly inquired +of all who entered how Brutus fared, and at last fainted in the hall of +her house. In the midst of the business of the senate-house Brutus heard +that his wife was dying. + +Porcia was not with her husband during the campaigns that ended at +Philippi, but remained in Rome. She is said to have killed herself by +swallowing the live coals from a brazier, when her friends kept from her +all the means of self-destruction. This story is scarcely credible; +possibly it means that she suffocated herself with the fumes of +charcoal. That she should commit suicide suited all the traditions of +her life. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A GOVERNOR IN HIS PROVINCE. + + +It was usual for a Roman statesman, after filling the office of praetor +or consul, to undertake for a year or more the government of one of the +provinces. These appointments were indeed the prizes of the profession +of politics. The new governor had a magnificent outfit from the +treasury. We hear of as much as one hundred and fifty thousand pounds +having been allowed for this purpose. Out of this something might easily +be economized. Indeed we hear of one governor who left the whole of his +allowance put out at interest in Rome. And in the province itself +splendid gains might be, and indeed commonly were, got. Even Cicero, +who, if we may trust his own account of his proceedings, was +exceptionally just, and not only just, but even generous in his dealings +with the provincials, made, as we have seen, the very handsome profit of +twenty thousand pounds out of a year of office. Verres, who, on the +other hand, was exceptionally rapacious, made three hundred and fifty +thousand pounds in three years, besides collecting works of art of +incalculable value. But the honors and profits to which most of his +contemporaries looked forward with eagerness did not attract Cicero. He +did not care to be absent from the center of political life, and felt +himself to be at once superior to and unfitted for the pettier affairs +of a provincial government. + +He had successfully avoided the appointment after his praetorship and +again after his consulship. But the time came when it was forced upon +him. Pompey in his third consulship had procured the passing of a law by +which it was provided that all senators who had filled the office of +praetor or consul should cast lots for the vacant provinces. Cicero had +to take his chance with the rest, and the ballot gave him Cilicia. This +was in B.C. 51, and Cicero was in his fifty-sixth year. + +Cilicia was a province of considerable extent, including, as it did, the +south-eastern portion of Asia Minor, together with the island of Cyprus. +The position of its governor was made more anxious by the neighborhood +of Rome's most formidable neighbors, the Parthians, who but two years +before had cut to pieces the army of Crassus. Two legions, numbering +twelve thousand troops besides auxiliaries, were stationed in the +province, having attached to them between two and three thousand +cavalry. + +Cicero started to take up his appointment on May 1st, accompanied by his +brother, who, having served with distinction under Caesar in Gaul, had +resigned his command to act as lieutenant in Cilicia. At Cumae he +received a levee of visitors--a "little Rome," he says. Hortensius was +among them, and this though in very feeble health (he died before +Cicero's return). "He asked me for my instructions. Every thing else I +left with him in general terms, but I begged him especially not to allow +as far as in him lay, the government of my province to be continued to +me into another year." On the 17th of the month he reached Tarentum, +where he spent three days with Pompey. He found him "ready to defend the +State from the dangers that we dread." The shadows of the civil war, +which was to break out in the year after Cicero's return, were already +gathering. At Brundisium, the port of embarkation for the East, he was +detained partly by indisposition, partly by having to wait for one of +his officials for nearly a fortnight. He reached Actium, in +north-western Greece, on the 15th of June. He would have liked to +proceed thence by land, being, as he tells us, a bad sailor, and having +in view the rounding of the formidable promontory Leucate; but there was +a difficulty about his retinue, without which he could not maintain the +state which became a governor _en route_ for his province. Eleven more +days brought him to Athens. "So far," he writes from this place, "no +expenditure of public or private money has been made on me or any of my +retinue. I have convinced all my people that they must do their best for +my character. So far all has gone admirably. The thing has been noticed, +and is greatly praised by the Greeks." "Athens," he writes again, +"delighted me much; the city with all its beauty, the great affection +felt for you" (he is writing, it will be remembered, to Atticus, an old +resident), "and the good feeling towards myself, much more, too, its +philosophical studies." He was able before he left to do the people a +service, rescuing from the hands of the builder the house of Epicurus, +which the council of Areopagus, with as little feeling for antiquity as +a modern town council, had doomed. Then he went on his way, grumbling at +the hardships of a sea voyage in July, at the violence of the winds, at +the smallness of the local vessels. He reached Ephesus on July 22nd, +without being sea-sick, as he is careful to tell us, and found a vast +number of persons who had come to pay their respects to him. All this +was pleasant enough, but he was peculiarly anxious to get back to Rome. +Rome indeed to the ordinary Roman was--a few singular lovers of the +country, as Virgil and Horace, excepted--as Paris is to the Parisian. +"Make it absolutely certain," he writes to Atticus, "that I am to be in +office for a year only; that there is not to be even an intercalated +month." From Ephesus he journeys, complaining of the hot and dusty +roads, to Tralles, and from Tralles, one of the cities of his province, +to Laodicea, which he reached July 31st, exactly three months after +starting[8]. The distance, directly measured, may be reckoned at +something less than a thousand miles. + +[Footnote 8: Forty-seven days was reckoned a very short time for +accomplishing the journey.] + +He seems to have found the province in a deplorable condition. "I +staid," he writes, "three days at Laodicea, three again at Apamca, and +as many at Synnas, and heard nothing except complaints that they could +not pay the poll-tax imposed upon them, that every one's property was +sold; heard, I say, nothing but complaints and groans, and monstrous +deeds which seemed to suit not a man but some horrid wild beast. Still +it is some alleviation to these unhappy towns that they are put to no +expense for me or for any of my followers. I will not receive the fodder +which is my legal due, nor even the wood. Sometimes I have accepted four +beds and a roof over my head; often not even this, preferring to lodge +in a tent. The consequence of all this is an incredible concourse of +people from town and country anxious to see me. Good heavens! my very +approach seems to make them revive, so completely do the justice, +moderation, and clemency of your friend surpass all expectation." It +must be allowed that Cicero was not unaccustomed to sound his own +praises. + +Usury was one of the chief causes of this widespread distress; and +usury, as we have seen, was practiced even by Romans of good repute. We +have seen an "honorable man," such as Brutus, exacting an interest of +nearly fifty per cent. Pompey was receiving, at what rate of interest we +do not know, the enormous sum of nearly one hundred thousand pounds per +annum from the tributary king of Cappadocia, and this was less than he +was entitled to. Other debtors of this impecunious king could get +nothing; every thing went into Pompey's purse, and the whole country was +drained of coin to the very uttermost. In the end, however, Cicero did +manage to get twenty thousand pounds for Brutus, who was also one of the +king's creditors. We cannot but wonder, if such things went on under a +governor who was really doing his best to be moderate and just, what was +the condition of the provincials under ordinary rulers. + +While Cicero was busy with the condition of his province; his attention +was distracted by what we may call a Parthian "scare." The whole army of +this people was said to have crossed the Euphrates under the command of +Pacorus, the king's son. The governor of Syria had not yet arrived. The +second in command had shut himself up with all his troops in Antioch. +Cicero marched into Cappadocia, which bordered the least defensible side +of Cilicia, and took up a position at the foot of Mount Taurus. Next +came news that Antioch was besieged. On hearing this he broke up his +camp, crossed the Taurus range by forced marches, and occupied the +passes into Syria. The Parthians raised the siege of Antioch, and +suffered considerably at the hands of Cassius during their retreat. + +Though Cicero never crossed swords with the Parthians, he found or +contrived an opportunity of distinguishing himself as a soldier. The +independent mountaineers of the border were attacked and defeated; +Cicero was saluted as "Imperator" on the field of battle by his +soldiers, and had the satisfaction of occupying for some days the +position which Alexander the Great had taken up before the battle of +Issus. "And he," says Cicero, who always relates his military +achievements with something like a smile on his face, "was a somewhat +better general than either you or I." He next turned his arms against +the Free Cilicians, investing in regular form with trenches, earthworks, +catapults, and all the regular machinery of a siege, their stronghold +Pindenissum. At the end of forty-seven days the place surrendered. +Cicero gave the plunder of the place to his host, reserving the horses +only for public purposes. A considerable sum was realized by the sale of +slaves. "Who in the world are these Pindenissi? who are they?" you will +say. "I never heard the name." "Well, what can I do? I can't make +Cilicia another Aetolia, or another Macedonia." The campaign was +concluded about the middle of December, and the governor, handing over +the army to his brother, made his way to Laodicea. From this place he +writes to Atticus in language that seems to us self-glorious and +boastful, but still has a ring of honesty about it. "I left Tarsus for +Asia (the Roman province so called) on June 5th, followed by such +admiration as I cannot express from the cities of Cilicia, and +especially from the people of Tarsus. When I had crossed the Taurus +there was a marvelous eagerness to see me in Asia as far as my +districts extended. During six months of my government they had not +received a single requisition from me, had not had a single person +quartered upon them. Year after year before my time this part of the +year had been turned to profit in this way. The wealthy cities used to +pay large sums of money not to have to find winter quarters for the +soldiers. Cyprus paid more than £48,000 on this account; and from this +island--I say it without exaggeration and in sober truth--not a single +coin was levied while I was in power. In return for these benefits, +benefits at which they are simply astonished. I will not allow any but +verbal honors to be voted to me. Statues, temples, chariots of bronze, I +forbid. In nothing do I make myself a trouble to the cities, though it +is possible I do so to you, while I thus proclaim my own praises. Bear +with me, if you love me. This is the rule which you would have had me +follow. My journey through Asia had such results that even the +famine--and than famine there is no more deplorable calamity--which then +prevailed in the country (there had been no harvest) was an event for me +to desire; for wherever I journeyed, without force, without the help of +law, without reproaches, but my simple influence and expostulations, I +prevailed upon the Greeks and Roman citizens, who had secreted the corn, +to engage to convey a large quantity to the various tribes." He writes +again: "I see that you are pleased with my moderation and +self-restraint. You would be much more pleased if you were here. At the +sessions which I held at Laodicea for all my districts, excepting +Cilicia, from February 15th to May 1st, I effected a really marvelous +work. Many cities were entirely freed from their debts, many greatly +relieved, and all of them enjoying their own laws and courts, and so +obtaining self-government received new life. There were two ways in +which I gave them the opportunity of either throwing off or greatly +lightening the burden of debt. First: they have been put to no expense +under my rule--I do not exaggerate; I positively say that they have not +to spend a farthing. Then again: the cities had been atrociously robbed +by their own Greek magistrates. I myself questioned the men who had +borne office during the last ten years. They confessed and, without +being publicly disgraced, made restitution. In other respects my +government, without being wanting in address, is marked by clemency and +courtesy. There is none of the difficulty, so usual in the provinces, of +approaching me; no introduction by a chamberlain. Before dawn I am on +foot in my house, as I used to be in old days when I was a candidate for +office. This is a great matter here and a popular, and to myself, from +my old practice in it, has not yet been troublesome." + +He had other less serious cares. One Caelius, who was good enough to +keep him informed of what was happening at Rome, and whom we find +filling his letters with an amusing mixture of politics, scandal, and +gossip, makes a modest request for some panthers, which the governor of +so wild a country would doubtless have no difficulty in procuring for +him. He was a candidate for the office of aedile, and wanted the beasts +for the show which he would have to exhibit. Cicero must not forget to +look after them as soon as he hears of the election. "In nearly all my +letters I have written to you about the panthers. It will be +discreditable to you, that Patiscus should have sent to Curio ten +panthers, and you not many times more. These ten Curio gave me, and ten +others from Africa. If you will only remember to send for hunters from +Cibyra, and also send letters to Pamphylia (for there, I understand, +more are taken than elsewhere), you will succeed. I do beseech you look +after this matter. You have only to give the orders. I have provided +people to keep and transport the animals when once taken." The governor +would not hear of imposing the charge of capturing the panthers on the +hunters of the province. Still he would do his best to oblige his +friend. "The matter of the panthers is being diligently attended to by +the persons who are accustomed to hunt them; but there is a strange +scarcity of them, and the few that there are complain grievously, saying +that they are the only creatures in my province that are persecuted." + +From Laodicea Cicero returned to Tarsus, the capital of his province, +wound up the affairs of his government, appointed an acting governor, +and started homewards early in August. On his way he paid a visit to +Rhodes, wishing to show to his son and nephew (they had accompanied him +to his government) the famous school of eloquence in which he had +himself studied. Here he heard with much regret of the death of +Hortensius. He had seen the great orator's son at Laodicea, where he was +amusing himself in the disreputable company of some gladiators, and had +asked him to dinner for his father's sake, he says. His stay at Rhodes +was probably of some duration, for he did not reach Ephesus till the +first of October. A tedious passage of fourteen days brought him to +Athens. On his journey westwards Tiro, his confidential servant, was +seized with illness, and had to be left behind at Patrae. Tiro was a +slave, though afterwards set free by his master; but he was a man of +great and varied accomplishments, and Cicero writes to him as he might +to the very dearest of his friends. There is nothing stranger in all +that we know of "Roman Life" than the presence in it of such men as +Tiro. Nor is there any thing, we might even venture to say, quite like +it elsewhere in the whole history of the world. Now and then, in the +days when slavery still existed in the Southern States of America, +mulatto and quadroon slaves might have been found who in point of +appearance and accomplishments were scarcely different from their +owners. But there was always a taint, or what was reckoned as a taint, +of negro blood in the men and women so situated. In Rome it must have +been common to see men, possibly better born (for Greek might even be +counted better than Roman descent), and probably better educated than +their masters, who had absolutely no rights as human beings, and could +be tortured or killed just as cruelty or caprice might suggest. To Tiro, +man of culture and acute intellect as he was, there must have been an +unspeakable bitterness in the thought of servitude, even under a master +so kindly and affectionate as Cicero. One shudders to think what the +feelings of such a man must have been when he was the chattel of a +Verres, a Clodius, or a Catiline. It is pleasant to turn away from the +thought, which is the very darkest perhaps in the repulsive subject of +Roman slavery, to observe the sympathy and tenderness which Cicero shows +to the sick man from whom he has been reluctantly compelled to part. The +letters to Tiro fill one of the sixteen books of "Letters to Friends." +They are twenty-seven in number, or rather twenty-six, as the sixteenth +of the series contains the congratulations and thanks which Quintus +Cicero addresses to his brother on receiving the news that Tiro has +received his freedom. "As to Tiro," he writes, "I protest, as I wish to +see you, my dear Marcus, and my own son, and yours, and my dear Tullia, +that you have done a thing that pleased me exceedingly in making a man +who certainly was far above his mean condition a friend rather than a +servant. Believe me, when I read your letters and his, I fairly leaped +for joy; I both thank and congratulate you. If the fidelity of my +Statius gives me so much pleasure[9], how valuable in Tiro must be this +same good quality with the additional and even superior advantages of +culture, wit, and politeness? I have many very good reasons for loving +you; and now there is this that you have told me, as indeed you were +bound to tell me, this excellent piece of news. I saw all your heart in +your letter." + +[Footnote 9: See page 277.] + +Cicero's letters to the invalid are at first very frequent. One is dated +on the third, another on the fifth, and a third on the seventh of +November; and on the eighth of the month there are no fewer than three, +the first of them apparently in answer to a letter from Tiro. "I am +variously affected by your letter--much troubled by the first page, a +little comforted by the second. The result is that I now say, without +hesitation, till you are quite strong, do not trust yourself to travel +either by land of sea. I shall see you as soon as I wish if I see you +quite restored." He goes on to criticise the doctor's prescriptions. +Soup was not the right thing to give to a dyspeptic patient. Tiro is not +to spare any expense. Another fee to the doctor might make him more +attentive. In another letter he regrets that the invalid had felt +himself compelled to accept an invitation to a concert, and tells him +that he had left a horse and mule for him at Brundisium. Then, after a +brief notice of public affairs, he returns to the question of the +voyage. "I must again ask you not to be rash in your traveling. Sailors, +I observe, make too much haste to increase their profits. Be cautious, +my dear Tiro. You have a wide and dangerous sea to traverse. If you can, +come with Mescinius. He is wont to be careful in his voyages. If not +with him, come with a person of distinction, who will have influence +with the captain." In another letter he tells Tiro that he must revive +his love of letters and learning. The physician thought that his mind +was ill at ease; for this the best remedy was occupation. In another he +writes: "I have received your letter with its shaky handwriting; no +wonder, indeed, seeing how serious has been your illness. I send you +Aegypta (probably a superior slave) to wait upon you, and a cook with +him." Cicero could not have shown more affectionate care of a sick son. + +Tiro is said to have written a life of his master. And we certainly owe +to his care the preservation of his correspondence. His weak health did +not prevent him from living to the age of a hundred and three. + +Cicero pursued his homeward journey by slow stages, and it was not till +November 25th that he reached Italy. His mind was distracted between +two anxieties--the danger of civil war, which he perceived to be daily +growing more imminent, and an anxious desire to have his military +successes over the Cilician mountaineers rewarded by the distinction of +a triumph. The honor of a public thanksgiving had already been voted to +him; Cato, who opposed it on principle, having given him offense by so +doing. A triumph was less easy to obtain, and indeed it seems to show a +certain weakness in Cicero that he should have sought to obtain it for +exploits of so very moderate a kind. However, he landed at Brundisium as +a formal claimant for the honor. His lictors had their fasces (bundles +of rods inclosing an ax) wreathed with bay leaves, as was the custom +with the victorious general who hoped to obtain this distinction. +Pompey, with whom he had a long interview, encouraged him to hope for +it, and promised his support. It was not till January 4th that he +reached the capital. The look of affairs was growing darker and darker, +but he still clung to the hopes of a triumph, and would not dismiss his +lictors with their ornaments, though he was heartily wearied of their +company. Things went so far that a proposition was actually made in the +Senate that the triumph should be granted; but the matter was postponed +at the suggestion of one of the consuls, anxious, Cicero thinks, to make +his own services more appreciated when the time should come. Before the +end of January he seems to have given up his hopes. In a few more days +he was fairly embarked on the tide of civil war. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ATTICUS. + + +The name of Atticus has been mentioned more than once in the preceding +chapters as a correspondent of Cicero. We have indeed more than five +hundred letters addressed to him, extending over a period of almost +five-and-twenty years. There are frequent intervals of silence--not a +single letter, for instance, belongs to the year of the consulship, the +reason being that both the correspondents were in Rome. Sometimes, +especially in the later years, they follow each other very closely. The +last was written about a year before Cicero's death. + +Atticus was one of those rare characters who contrive to live at peace +with all men. The times were troublous beyond all measure; he had wealth +and position; he kept up close friendship with men who were in the very +thickest of the fight; he was ever ready with his sympathy and help for +those who were vanquished; and yet he contrived to arouse no enmities; +and after a life-long peace, interrupted only by one or two temporary +alarms, died in a good old age. + +Atticus was of what we should call a gentleman's family, and belonged by +inheritance to the democratic party. But he early resolved to stand +aloof from politics, and took an effectual means of carrying out his +purpose by taking up his residence at Athens. With characteristic +prudence he transferred the greater part of his property to investments +in Greece. At Athens he became exceedingly popular. He lent money at +easy rates to the municipality, and made liberal distributions of corn, +giving as much as a bushel and a half to every needy citizen. He spoke +Greek and Latin with equal ease and eloquence; and had, we are told, an +unsurpassed gift for reciting poetry. Sulla, who, for all his savagery, +had a cultivated taste, was charmed with the young man, and would have +taken him in his train. "I beseech you," replied Atticus, "don't take me +to fight against those in whose company, but that I left Italy, I might +be fighting against you." After a residence of twenty-three years he +returned to Rome, in the very year of Cicero's consulship. At Rome he +stood as much aloof from the turmoil of civil strife as he had stood at +Athens. Office of every kind he steadily refused; he was under no +obligations to any man, and therefore was not thought ungrateful by any. +The partisans of Caesar and of Pompey were content to receive help from +his purse, and to see him resolutely neutral. He refused to join in a +project of presenting what we should call a testimonial to the murderers +of Caesar on behalf of the order of the knights; but he did not hesitate +to relieve the necessities of the most conspicuous of them with a +present of between three and four thousand pounds. When Antony was +outlawed he protected his family; and Antony in return secured his life +and property amidst the horrors of the second Proscription. + +His biographer, Cornelius Nepos, has much to say of his moderation and +temperate habits of life. He had no sumptuous country-house in the +suburbs or at the sea-coast, but two farm-houses. He possessed, however, +what seems to have been a very fine house (perhaps we should call it +"castle," for Cicero speaks of it as a place capable of defense) in +Epirus. It contained among other things a gallery of statues. A love of +letters was one of his chief characteristics. His guests were not +entertained with the performances of hired singers, but with readings +from authors of repute. He had collected, indeed, a very large library. +All his slaves, down to the very meanest, were well educated, and he +employed them to make copies. + +Atticus married somewhat late in life. His only daughter was the first +wife of Agrippa, the minister of Augustus, and his grand-daughter was +married to Tiberius. Both of these ladies were divorced to make room for +a consort of higher rank, who, curiously enough, was in both cases +Julia, the infamous daughter of Augustus. Both, we may well believe, +were regretted by their husbands. + +Atticus died at the age of seventy-seven. He was afflicted with a +disease which he believed to be incurable, and shortened his days by +voluntary starvation. + +It was to this correspondent, then, that Cicero confided for about a +quarter of a century his cares and his wants. The two had been +schoolfellows, and had probably renewed their acquaintance when Cicero +visited Greece in search of health. Afterwards there came to be a family +connection between them, Atticus' sister, Pomponia, marrying Cicero's +younger brother, Quintus, not much, we gather from the letters, to the +happiness of either of them. Cicero could not have had a better +confidant. He was full of sympathy, and ready with his help; and he was +at the same time sagacious and prudent in no common degree, an excellent +man of business, and, thanks to the admirable coolness which enabled him +to stand outside the turmoil of politics, an equally excellent adviser +in politics. + +One frequent subject of Cicero's letters to his friend is money. I may +perhaps express the relation between the two by saying that Atticus was +Cicero's banker, though the phrase must not be taken too literally. He +did not habitually receive and pay money on Cicero's account, but he did +so on occasions; and he was constantly in the habit of making advances, +though probably without interest, when temporary embarrassments, not +infrequent, as we may gather from the letters, called for them. Atticus +was himself a wealthy man. Like his contemporaries generally, he made an +income by money-lending, and possibly, for the point is not quite clear, +by letting out gladiators for hire. His biographer happens to give us +the precise figure of his property. His words do not indeed expressly +state whether the sum that he mentions means capital or income. I am +inclined to think that it is the latter. If this be so, he had in early +life an income of something less than eighteen thousand pounds, and +afterwards nearly ninety thousand pounds. + +I may take this occasion to say something about Cicero's property, a +matter which is, in its way, a rather perplexing question. In the case +of a famous advocate among ourselves there would be no difficulty in +understanding that he should have acquired a great fortune. But the +Roman law strictly forbade an advocate to receive any payment from his +clients. The practice of old times, when the great noble pleaded for the +life or property of his humbler defendants, and was repaid by their +attachment and support, still existed in theory. It exists indeed to +this day, and accounts for the fact that a barrister among ourselves has +no _legal_ means of recovering his fees. But a practice of paying +counsel had begun to grow up. Some of Cicero's contemporaries certainly +received a large remuneration for their services. Cicero himself always +claims to have kept his hands clean in this respect, and as his enemies +never brought any charge of this kind against him, his statement may +very well be accepted. We have, then, to look for other sources of +income. His patrimony was considerable. It included, as we have seen, an +estate at Arpinum and a house in Rome. And then he had numerous +legacies. This is a source of income which is almost strange to our +modern ways of acting and thinking. It seldom happens among us that a +man of property leaves any thing outside the circle of his family. +Sometimes an intimate friend will receive a legacy. But instances of +money bequeathed to a statesman in recognition of his services, or a +literary man in recognition of his eminence, are exceedingly rare. In +Rome they were very common. Cicero declares, giving it as a proof of the +way in which he had been appreciated by his fellow-citizens, that he had +received two hundred thousand pounds in legacies. This was in the last +year of his life. This does something to help us out of our difficulty. +Only we must remember that it could hardly have been till somewhat late +in his career that these recognitions of his services to the State and +to his friends began to fall in. He made about twenty thousand pounds +out of his year's government of his province, but it is probable that +this money was lost. Then, again, he was elected into the College of +Augurs (this was in his fifty-fourth year). These religious colleges +were very rich. Their banquets were proverbial for their splendor. +Whether the individual members derived any benefit from their revenues +we do not know. We often find him complaining of debt; but he always +speaks of it as a temporary inconvenience rather than as a permanent +burden. It does not oppress him; he can always find spirits enough to +laugh at it. When he buys his great town mansion on the Palatine Hill +(it had belonged to the wealthy Crassus), for thirty thousand pounds, he +says, "I now owe so much that I should be glad to conspire if any body +would accept me as an accomplice." But this is not the way in which a +man who did not see his way out of his difficulties would speak. + +Domestic affairs furnish a frequent topic. He gives accounts of the +health of his wife he announces the birth of his children. In after +years he sends the news when his daughter is betrothed and when she is +married, and tells of the doings and prospects of his son. He has also a +good deal to say about his brother's household, which, as I have said +before, was not very happy. Here is a scene of their domestic life. +"When I reached Arpinum, my brother came to me. First we had much talk +about you; afterwards we came to the subject which you and I had +discussed at Tusculum. I never saw any thing so gentle, so kind as my +brother was in speaking of your sister. If there had been any ground for +their disagreement, there was nothing to notice. So much for that day. +On the morrow we left for Arpinum. Quintus had to remain in the Retreat; +I was going to stay at Aquinum. Still we lunched at the Retreat (you +know the place). When we arrived Quintus said in the politest way, +'Pomponia, ask the ladies in; I will call the servants,' Nothing +could--so at least I thought--have been more pleasantly said, not only +as far as words go, but in tone and look. However, she answered before +us all, 'I am myself but a stranger here.' This, I fancy, was because +Statius had gone on in advance to see after the lunch. 'See,' said +Quintus, 'this is what I have to put up with every day.' Perhaps you +will say, 'What was there in this?' It was really serious, so serious as +to disturb me much, so unreasonably, so angrily did she speak and look. +I did not show it, but I was greatly vexed. We all sat down to table, +all, that is, but her. However, Quintus sent her something from the +table. She refused it Not to make a long story of it, no one could have +been more gentle than my brother, and no one more exasperating than your +sister--in my judgment at least, and I pass by many other things which +offended me more than they did Quintus. I went on to Aquinum." (The +lady's behavior was all the more blameworthy because her husband was on +his way to a remote province.) "Quintus remained at the Retreat. The +next day he joined me at Arpinum. Your sister, he told me, would have +nothing to do with him, and up to the moment of her departure was just +in the same mood in which I had seen her." + +Another specimen of letters touching on a more agreeable topic may +interest my readers. It is a hearty invitation. + +"To my delight, Cincius" (he was Atticus' agent)" came to me between +daylight on January 30th, with the news that you were in Italy. He was +sending, he said, messengers to you, I did not like them to go without a +letter from me, not that I had any thing to write to you, especially +when you were so close, but that I wished you to understand with what +delight I anticipate your coming ... The day you arrive come to my house +with all your party. You will find that Tyrannio" (a Greek man of +letters) "has arranged my books marvelously well. What remains of them +is much more satisfactory than I thought[10]. I should be glad if you +would send me two of your library clerks, for Tullius to employ as +binders and helpers in general; give some orders too to take some +parchment for indices. All this, however, if it suits your convenience. +Any how, come yourself and bring Pilia[11] with you. That is but right. +Tullia too wishes it." + +[Footnote 10: They had suffered with the rest of Cicero's property at the +time of his exile.] + +[Footnote 11: Pilia was the lady to whom Atticus was engaged] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ANTONY AND AUGUSTUS. + + +There were some things in which Mark Antony resembled Caesar. At the +time it seemed probable that he would play the same part, and even climb +to the same height of power. He failed in the end because he wanted the +power of managing others, and, still more, of controlling himself. He +came of a good stock. His grandfather had been one of the greatest +orators of his day, his father was a kindly, generous man, his mother a +kinswoman of Caesar, a matron of the best Roman type. But he seemed +little likely to do credit to his belongings. His riotous life became +conspicuous even in a city where extravagance and vice were only too +common, and his debts, though not so enormous as Caesar's, were greater, +says Plutarch, than became his youth, for they amounted to about fifty +thousand pounds. He was taken away from these dissipations by military +service in the East, and he rapidly acquired considerable reputation as +a soldier. Here is the picture that Plutarch draws of him: There was +something noble and dignified in his appearance. His handsome beard, his +broad forehead, his aquiline nose, gave him a manly look that resembled +the familiar statues and pictures of Hercules. There was indeed a legend +that the Antonii were descended from a son of Hercules; and this he was +anxious to support by his appearance and dress. Whenever he appeared in +public he had his tunic gired up to the hip, carried a great sword at +his side, and wore a rough cloak of Cilician hair. The habits too that +seemed vulgar to others--his boastfulness, his coarse humor, his +drinking bouts, the way he had of eating in public, taking his meals as +he stood from the soldiers' tables--had an astonishing effect in making +him popular with the soldiers. His bounty too, the help which he gave +with a liberal hand to comrades and friends, made his way to power easy. +On one occasion he directed that a present of three thousand pounds +should be given to a friend. His steward, aghast at the magnitude of the +sum, thought to bring it home to his master's mind by putting the actual +coin on a table. "What is this?" said Antony, as he happened to pass by. +"The money you bade me pay over," was the man's reply. "Why, I had +thought it would be ten times as much as this. This is but a trifle. Add +to it as much more." + +When the civil war broke out, Antony joined the party of Caesar, who, +knowing his popularity with the troops, made him his second in command. +He did good service at Pharsalia, and while his chief went on to Egypt, +returned to Rome as his representative. There were afterwards +differences between the two; Caesar was offended at the open scandal of +Antony's manners and found him a troublesome adherent; Antony conceived +himself to be insufficiently rewarded for his services, especially when +he was called upon to pay for Pompey's confiscated property, which he +had bought. Their close alliance, however, had been renewed before +Caesar's death. That event made him the first man in Rome. The chief +instrument of his power was a strange one; the Senate, seeing that the +people of Rome gloved and admired the dead man, passed a resolution that +all the wishes which Caesar had left in writing should have the force of +law--and Antony had the custody of his papers. People laughed, and +called the documents "Letters from the Styx." There was the gravest +suspicion that many of them were forged. But for a time they were a very +powerful machinery for effecting his purpose. + +Then came a check. Caesar's nephew and heir, Octavius, arrived at Rome. +Born in the year of Cicero's consulship, he was little more than +nineteen; but in prudence, statecraft, and knowledge of the world he was +fully grown. In his twelfth year he had delivered the funeral oration +over his grandmother Julia. After winning some distinction as a soldier +in Spain, he had returned at his uncle's bidding to Apollonia, a town of +the eastern coast of the Adriatic, where he studied letters and +philosophy under Greek teachers. Here he had received the title of +"Master of the Horse," an honor which gave him the rank next to the +Dictator himself. He came to Rome with the purpose, as he declared, of +claiming his inheritance and avenging his uncle's death. But he knew how +to abide his time. He kept on terms with Antony, who had usurped his +position and appropriated his inheritance, and he was friendly, if not +with the actual murderers of Caesar, yet certainly with Cicero, who made +no secret of having approved their deed. + +For Cicero also had now returned to public life. For some time past, +both before Caesar's death and after it, he had devoted himself to +literature.[12] Now there seemed to him a chance that something might yet +be done for the republic, and he returned to Rome, which he reached on +the last day of August. The next day there was a meeting of the Senate, +at which Antony was to propose certain honors to Caesar. Cicero, +wearied, or affecting to be wearied, by his journey, was absent, and was +fiercely attacked by Antony, who threatened to send workmen to dig him +out of his house. + +[Footnote 12: To the years 46-44 belong nearly all his treatises on +rhetoric and philosophy.] + +The next day Cicero was in his place, Antony being absent, and made a +dignified defense of his conduct, and criticised with some severity the +proceedings of his assailant. Still so far there was no irreconcilable +breach between the two men. "Change your course," says the orator, "I +beseech you: think of those who have gone before, and so steer the +course of the Commonwealth that your countrymen may rejoice that you +were born. Without this no man can be happy or famous." He still +believed, or professed to believe, that Antony was capable of +patriotism. If he had any hopes of peace, these were soon to be crushed. +After a fortnight or more spent in preparation, assisted, we are told, +by a professional teacher of eloquence, Antony came down to the Senate +and delivered a savage invective against Cicero. The object of his +attack was again absent. He had wished to attend the meeting, but his +friends hindered him, fearing, not without reason, actual violence from +the armed attendants whom Antony was accustomed to bring into the +senate-house. + +The attack was answered in the famous oration which is called the second +Philippic[13]. If I could transcribe this speech (which, for other +reasons besides its length, I cannot do) it would give us a strange +picture of "Roman Life." It is almost incredible that a man so shameless +and so vile should have been the greatest power in a state still +nominally free. I shall give one extract from it. Cicero has been +speaking of Antony's purchase of Pompey's confiscated property. "He was +wild with joy, like a character in a farce; a beggar one day, a +millionaire the next. But, as some writer says, 'Ill gotten, ill kept.' +It is beyond belief, it is an absolute miracle, how he squandered this +vast property--in a few months do I say?--no, in a few days. There was a +great cellar of wine, a very great quantity of excellent plate, costly +stuffs, plenty of elegant and even splendid furniture, just as one might +expect in a man who was affluent without being luxurious. And of all +this within a few days there was left nothing. Was there ever a +Charybdis so devouring? A Charybdis, do I say? no--if there ever was +such a thing, it was but a single animal. Good heavens! I can scarcely +believe that the whole ocean could have swallowed up so quickly +possessions so numerous, so scattered, and lying at places so distant. +Nothing was locked up, nothing sealed, nothing catalogued. Whole +store-rooms were made a present of to the vilest creatures. Actors and +actresses of burlesque were busy each with plunder of their own. The +mansion was full of dice players and drunkards. There was drinking from +morning to night, and that in many places. His losses at dice (for even +he is not always lucky) kept mounting up. In the chambers of slaves you +might see on the beds the purple coverlets which had belonged to the +great Pompey. No wonder that all this wealth was spent so quickly. +Reckless men so abandoned might well have speedily devoured, not only +the patrimony of a single citizen, however ample--and ample it was--but +whole cities and kingdoms." + +[Footnote 13: The orations against Antony--there are fourteen of +them--are called "Philippics," a name transferred to them from, the +great speeches in which Demosthenes attacked Philip of Macedon. The name +seems to have been in common use in Juvenal's time (_circa_ 110 A.D.)] + +The speech was never delivered but circulated in writing. Toward the end +of 44, Antony, who found the army deserting him for the young Octavius, +left Rome, and hastened into northern Italy, to attack Decimus Brutus. +Brutus was not strong enough to venture on a battle with him, and shut +himself up in Mutina. Cicero continued to take the leading part in +affairs at Rome, delivering the third and fourth Philippics in December, +44, and the ten others during the five months of the following year. The +fourteenth was spoken in the Senate, when the fortunes of the falling +republic seem to have revived. A great battle had been fought at Mutina, +in which Antony had been completely defeated; and Cicero proposed +thanks to the commanders and troops, and honors to those who had fallen. + +The joy with which these tidings had been received was but very brief. +Of the three generals named in the vote of thanks the two who had been +loyal to the republic were dead; the third, the young Octavius, had +found the opportunity for which he had been waiting of betraying it. The +soldiers were ready to do his bidding, and he resolved to seize by their +help the inheritance of power which his uncle had left him. Antony had +fled across the Alps, and had been received by Lepidus, who was in +command of a large army in that province, Lepidus resolved to play the +part which Crassus had played sixteen years before. He brought about a +reconciliation between Octavius and Antony, as Crassus had reconciled +Pompey and Caesar, and was himself admitted as a third into their +alliance. Thus was formed the Second Triumvirate. + +The three chiefs who had agreed to divide the Roman world between them +met on a little island near Bononia (the modern Bonogna) and discussed +their plans. Three days were given to their consultations, the chief +subject being the catalogue of enemies, public and private, who were to +be destroyed. Each had a list of his own; and on Antony's the first name +was Cicero. Lepidus assented, as he was ready to assent to all the +demands of his more resolute colleagues; but the young Octavius is said +to have long resisted, and to have given way only on the last day. A +list of between two and three thousand names of senators and knights was +drawn up. Seventeen were singled out for instant execution, and among +these seventeen was Cicero. He was staying at his home in Tusculum with +his brother Quintus when the news reached him. His first impulse was to +make for the sea-coast. If he could reach Macedonia, where Brutus had a +powerful army, he would, for a time at least, be safe. The two brothers +started. But Quintus had little or nothing with him, and was obliged to +go home to fetch some money. Cicero, who was himself but ill provided, +pursued his journey alone. Reaching the coast, he embarked. When it came +to the point of leaving Italy his resolution failed him. He had always +felt the greatest aversion for camp life. He had had an odious +experience of it when Pompey was struggling with Caesar for the mastery. +He would sooner die, he thought, than make trial of it again. He landed, +and traveled twelve miles towards Rome. Some afterwards said that he +still cherished hopes of being protected by Antony; others that it was +his purpose to make his way into the house of Octavius and kill himself +on his hearth, cursing him with his last breath, but that he was +deterred by the fear of being seized and tortured. Any how, he turned +back, and allowed his slaves to take him to Capua. The plan of taking +refuge with Brutus was probably urged upon him by his companions, who +felt that this gave the only chance of their own escape. Again he +embarked, and again he landed. Plutarch tells a strange story of a flock +of ravens that settled on the yardarms of his ship while he was on +board, and on the windows of the villa in which he passed the night. One +bird, he says, flew upon his couch and pecked at the cloak in which he +had wrapped himself. His slaves reproached themselves at allowing a +master, whom the very animals were thus seeking to help, to perish +before their eyes. Almost by main force they put him into his litter and +carried him toward the coast. Antony's soldiers now reached the villa, +the officer in command being an old client whom Cicero had successfully +defended on a charge of murder. They found the doors shut and burst them +open. The inmates denied all knowledge of their master's movements, till +a young Greek, one of his brother's freedmen, whom Cicero had taken a +pleasure in teaching, showed the officer the litter which was being +carried through the shrubbery of the villa to the sea. Taking with him +some of his men, he hastened to follow. Cicero, hearing their steps, +bade the bearers set the litter on the ground. He looked out, and +stroking his chin with his left hand, as his habit was, looked +steadfastly at the murderers. His face was pale and worn with care. The +officer struck him on the neck with his sword, some of the rough +soldiers turning away while the deed was done. The head and hands were +cut off by order of Antony, and nailed up in the Forum. + +Many years afterwards the Emperor Augustus (the Octavius of this +chapter), coming unexpectedly upon one of his grandsons, saw the lad +seek to hide in his robe a volume which he had been reading. He took it, +and found it to be one of the treatises of Cicero. He returned it with +words which I would here repeat; "He was a good man and a lover of his +country." + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman life in the days of Cicero +by Alfred J[ohn] Church + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 13481 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..9ce8d6d --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #13481 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/13481) diff --git a/old/13481-8.txt b/old/13481-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..7017317 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/13481-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5399 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Roman life in the days of Cicero, by Alfred J[ohn] Church + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman life in the days of Cicero + +Author: Alfred J[ohn] Church + +Release Date: September 16, 2004 [EBook #13481] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN LIFE IN THE DAYS OF CICERO *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + Roman Life in the + Days of Cicero + By the + REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A. + +Author of "Stories from Homer" + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS + +New York + + + +TO OCTAVIUS OGLE, IN REMEMBRANCE OF A LONG FRIENDSHIP THIS BOOK IS +DEDICATED. + +CONTENTS. + +CHAP. + +I. A ROMAN BOY + +II. A ROMAN UNDERGRADUATE + +III. IN THE DAYS OF THE DICTATOR + +IV. A ROMAN MAGISTRATE + +V. A GREAT ROMAN CAUSE + +VI. COUNTRY LIFE + +VII. A GREAT CONSPIRACY + +VIII. CAESAR + +IX. POMPEY + +X. EXILE + +XI. A BRAWL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + +XII. CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA + +XIII. A GOVERNOR IN HIS PROVINCE + +XIV. ATTICUS + +XV. ANTONY AND AUGUSTUS + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book does not claim to be a life of Cicero or a history of the last +days of the Roman Republic. Still less does it pretend to come into +comparison with such a work as Bekker's _Gallus_, in which on a slender +thread of narrative is hung a vast amount of facts relating to the +social life of the Romans. I have tried to group round the central +figure of Cicero various sketches of men and manners, and so to give my +readers some idea of what life actually was in Rome, and the provinces +of Rome, during the first six decades--to speak roughly--of the first +century B.C. I speak of Cicero as the "central figure," not as judging +him to be the most important man of the time, but because it is from +him, from his speeches and letters, that we chiefly derive the +information of which I have here made use. Hence it follows that I give, +not indeed a life of the great orator, but a sketch of his personality +and career. I have been obliged also to trespass on the domain of +history: speaking of Cicero, I was obliged to speak also of Caesar and +of Pompey, of Cato and of Antony, and to give a narrative, which I have +striven to make as brief as possible, of their military achievements and +political action. I must apologize for seeming to speak dogmatically on +some questions which have been much disputed. It would have been +obviously inconsistent with the character of the book to give the +opposing arguments; and my only course was to state simply conclusions +which I had done my best to make correct. + +I have to acknowledge my obligations to Marquardt's _Privat-Leben der +Romer_, Mr. Capes' _University Life in Ancient Athens_, and Mr. Watson's +_Select Letters of Cicero_, I have also made frequent use of Mr. Anthony +Trollope's _Life of Cicero_, a work full of sound sense, though +curiously deficient in scholarship. + +The publishers and myself hope that the illustrations, giving as there +is good reason to believe they do the veritable likenesses of some of +the chief actors in the scenes described, will have a special interest. +It is not till we come down to comparatively recent times that we find +art again lending the same aid to the understanding of history. + +Some apology should perhaps be made for retaining the popular title of +one of the illustrations. The learned are, we believe, agreed that the +statue known as the "Dying Gladiator" does not represent a gladiator at +all. Yet it seemed pedantic, in view of Byron's famous description, to +let it appear under any other name. + +ALFRED CHURCH. + +HADLEY GREEN _October_ 8, 1883. + + + + ROMAN LIFE + IN THE DAYS OF CICERO. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A ROMAN BOY. + + +A Roman father's first duty to his boy, after lifting him up in his arms +in token that he was a true son of the house, was to furnish him with a +first name out of the scanty list (just seventeen) to which his choice +was limited. This naming was done on the eighth day after birth, and was +accompanied with some religious ceremonies, and with a feast to which +kinsfolk were invited. Thus named he was enrolled in some family or +state register. The next care was to protect him from the malignant +influence of the evil eye by hanging round his neck a gilded _bulla_, a +round plate of metal. (The _bulla_ was of leather if he was not of +gentle birth.) This he wore till he assumed the dress of manhood. Then +he laid it aside, possibly to assume it once more, if he attained the +crowning honor to which a Roman could aspire, and was drawn in triumph +up the slope of the Capitol. He was nursed by his mother, or, in any +case, by a free-born woman. It was his mother that had exclusive charge +of him for the first seven years of his life, and had much to say to the +ordering of his life afterwards. For Roman mothers were not shut up like +their sisters in Greece, but played no small part in affairs--witness +the histories or legends (for it matters not for this purpose whether +they are fact or fiction) of the Sabine wives, of Tullia, who stirred up +her husband to seize a throne, or Veturia, who turned her son Coriolanus +from his purpose of besieging Rome. At seven began the education which +was to make him a citizen and a soldier. Swimming, riding, throwing the +javelin developed his strength of body. He learned at the same time to +be frugal, temperate in eating and drinking, modest and seemly in +behavior, reverent to his elders, obedient to authority at home and +abroad, and above all, pious towards the gods. If it was the duty of +the father to act as priest in some temple of the State (for the +priests were not a class apart from their fellow-citizens), or to +conduct the worship in some chapel of the family, the lad would act as +_camillus_ or acolyte. When the clients, the dependents of the house, +trooped into the hall in the early morning hours to pay their respects +to their patron, or to ask his advice and assistance in their affairs, +the lad would stand by his father's chair and make acquaintance with his +humble friends. When the hall was thrown open, and high festival was +held, he would be present and hear the talk on public affairs or on past +times. He would listen to and sometimes take part in the songs which +celebrated great heroes. When the body of some famous soldier or +statesman was carried outside the walls to be buried or burned, he would +be taken to hear the oration pronounced over the bier. + +At one time it was the custom, if we may believe a quaint story which +one of the Roman writers tells us, for the senators to introduce their +young sons to the sittings of their assembly, very much in the same way +as the boys of Westminster School are admitted to hear the debates in +the Houses of Parliament. The story professes to show how it was that +one of the families of the race of Papirius came to bear the name of +_Praetextatus_, i.e., clad in the _praetexta_ (the garb of boyhood), and +it runs thus:--"It was the custom in the early days of the Roman State +that the senators should bring their young sons into the Senate to the +end that they might learn in their early days how great affairs of the +commonwealth were managed. And that no harm should ensue to the city, it +was strictly enjoined upon the lads that they should not say aught of +the things which they had heard within the House. It happened on a day +that the Senate, after long debate upon a certain matter, adjourned the +thing to the morrow. Hereupon the son of a certain senator, named +Papirius, was much importuned by his mother to tell the matter which had +been thus painfully debated. And when the lad, remembering the command +which had been laid upon him that he should be silent about such +matters, refused to tell it, the woman besought him to speak more +urgently, till at the last, being worn out by her importunities, he +contrived this thing. 'The Senate,' he said, 'debated whether something +might not be done whereby there should be more harmony in families than +is now seen to be; and whether, should it be judged expedient to make +any change, this should be to order that a husband should have many +wives, or a wife should have more husbands than one.' Then the woman, +being much disturbed by the thing which she had heard, hastened to all +the matrons of her acquaintance, and stirred them up not to suffer any +such thing. Thus it came to pass that the Senate, meeting the next day, +were astonished beyond measure to see a great multitude of women +gathered together at the doors, who besought them not to make any +change; or, if any, certainly not to permit that a man should have more +wives than one. Then the young Papirius told the story how his mother +had questioned him, and how he had devised this story to escape from her +importunity. Thereupon the Senate, judging that all boys might not have +the same constancy and wit, and that the State might suffer damage from +the revealing of things that had best be kept secret, made this law, +that no sons of a senator should thereafter come into the House, save +only this young Papirius, but that he should have the right to come so +long as he should wear the _praetexta_." + +While this general education was going on, the lad was receiving some +definite teaching. He learned of course to read, to write, and to +cypher. The elder Cato used to write in large characters for the benefit +of his sons portions of history, probably composed by himself or by his +contemporary Fabius, surnamed the "Painter" (the author of a chronicle +of Italy from the landing of Aeneas down to the end of the Second Punic +War). He was tempted to learn by playthings, which ingeniously combined +instruction and amusement. Ivory letters--probably in earlier times a +less costly material was used--were put into his hands, just as they are +put into the hands of children now-a-days, that he might learn how to +form words. As soon as reading was acquired, he began to learn by heart. +"When we were boys," Cicero represents himself as saying to his brother +Quintus, in one of his Dialogues, "we used to learn the 'Twelve +Tables.'" The "Twelve Tables" were the laws which Appius of evil fame +and his colleagues the decemvirs had arranged in a code. "No one," he +goes on to say, "learns them now." Books had become far more common in +the forty years which had passed between Cicero's boyhood and the time +at which he is supposed to be speaking; and the tedious lesson of his +early days had given place to something more varied and interesting. + +Writing the boy learned by following with the pen (a sharp-pointed +_stylus_ of metal), forms of letters which had been engraved on tablets +of wood. At first his hand was held and guided by the teacher. This was +judged by the experienced to be a better plan than allowing him to shape +letters for himself on the wax-covered tablet. Of course parchment and +paper were far too expensive materials to be used for exercises and +copies. As books were rare and costly, dictation became a matter of much +importance. The boy wrote, in part at least, his own schoolbooks. Horace +remembers with a shudder what he had himself written at the dictation of +his schoolmaster, who was accustomed to enforce good writing and +spelling with many blows. He never could reconcile himself to the early +poets whose verse had furnished the matter of these lessons. + +Our Roman boy must have found arithmetic a more troublesome thing than +the figures now in use (for which we cannot be too thankful to the Arabs +their inventors) have made it. It is difficult to imagine how any thing +like a long sum in multiplication or division could have been done with +the Roman numerals, so cumbrous were they. The number, for instance, +which we represent by the figures 89 would require for its expression no +less than _nine_ figures, LXXXVIIII. The boy was helped by using the +fingers, the left hand being used to signify numbers below a hundred, +and the right numbers above it. Sometimes his teacher would have a +counting-board, on which units, tens, and hundreds would be represented +by variously colored balls. The sums which he did were mostly of a +practical kind. Here is the sample that Horace gives of an arithmetic +lesson. "The Roman boys are taught to divide the penny by long +calculations. 'If from five ounces be subtracted one, what is the +remainder?' At once you can answer, 'A third of a penny.' 'Good, you +will be able to take care of your money. If an ounce be added what does +it make?' 'The half of a penny.'" + +While he was acquiring this knowledge he was also learning a language, +the one language besides his own which to a Roman was worth +knowing--Greek. Very possibly he had begun to pick it up in the nursery, +where a Greek slave girl was to be found, just as the French _bonne_ or +the German nursery-governess is among our own wealthier families. He +certainly began to acquire it when he reached the age at which his +regular education was commenced. Cato the Elder, though he made it a +practice to teach his own sons, had nevertheless a Greek slave who was +capable of undertaking the work, and who actually did teach, to the +profit of his very frugal master, the sons of other nobles. Aemilius, +the conqueror of Macedonia, who was a few years younger than Cato, had +as a tutor a Greek of some distinction. While preparing the procession +of his triumph he had sent to Athens for a scene-painter, as we should +call him, who might make pictures of conquered towns wherewith to +illustrate his victories. He added to the commission a stipulation that +the artist should also be qualified to take the place of tutor. By good +fortune the Athenians happened to have in stock, so to speak, exactly +the man he wanted, one Metrodorus. Cicero had a Greek teacher in his own +family, not for his son indeed, who was not born till later, but for his +own benefit. This was one Diodotus, a Stoic philosopher. Cicero had been +his pupil in his boyhood, and gave him a home till the day of his death, +"I learned many things from him, logic especially." In old age he lost +his sight. "Yet," says his pupil, "he devoted himself to study even more +diligently than before; he had books read to him night and day. These +were studies which he could pursue without his eyes; but he also, and +this seems almost incredible, taught geometry without them, instructing +his learners whence and whither the line was to be drawn, and of what +kind it was to be." It is interesting to know that when the old man died +he left his benefactor about nine thousand pounds. + +Of course only wealthy Romans could command for their sons the services +of such teachers as Diodotus; but any well-to-do-household contained a +slave who had more or less acquaintance with Greek. In Cicero's time a +century and more of conquests on the part of Rome over Greek and +Greek-speaking communities had brought into Italian families a vast +number of slaves who knew the Greek language, and something, often a +good deal, of Greek literature. One of these would probably be set apart +as the boy's attendant; from him he would learn to speak and read a +language, a knowledge of which was at least as common at Rome as is a +knowledge of French among English gentlemen. + +If the Roman boy of whom we are speaking belonged to a very wealthy and +distinguished family, he would probably receive his education at home. +Commonly he would go to school. There were schools, girls' schools as +well as boys' schools, at Rome in the days of the wicked Appius +Claudius. The schoolmaster appears among the Etruscans in the story of +Camillus, when the traitor, who offers to hand over to the Roman general +the sons of the chief citizen of Falerii, is at his command scourged +back into the town by his scholars. We find him again in the same story +in the Latin town of Tusculum, where it is mentioned as one of the signs +of a time of profound peace (Camillus had hurriedly marched against the +town on a false report of its having revolted), that the hum of scholars +at their lessons was heard in the market-place. At Rome, as time went +on, and the Forum became more and more busy and noisy, the schools were +removed to more suitable localities. Their appliances for teaching were +improved and increased. Possibly maps were added, certainly reading +books. Homer was read, and, as we have seen, the old Latin play-writers, +and, afterwards, Virgil. Horace threatens the book which willfully +insists on going out into the world with this fate, that old age will +find it in a far-off suburb teaching boys their letters. Some hundred +years afterwards the prophecy was fulfilled. Juvenal tells us how the +schoolboys stood each with a lamp in one hand and a well-thumbed Horace +or sooty Virgil in the other. Quintilian, writing about the same time, +goes into detail, as becomes an old schoolmaster. "It is an admirable +practice that the boy's reading should begin with Homer and Virgil. The +tragic writers also are useful; and there is much benefit to be got from +the lyric poets also. But here you must make a selection not of authors +only, but a part of authors." It is curious to find him banishing +altogether a book that is, or certainly was, more extensively used in +our schools than any other classic, the Heroides of Ovid. + +These, and such as these, then, are the books which our Roman boy would +have to read. Composition would not be forgotten. "Let him take," says +the author just quoted, "the fables of Aesop and tell them in simple +language, never rising above the ordinary level. Then let him pass on to +a style less plain; then, again, to bolder paraphrases, sometimes +shortening, sometimes amplifying the original, but always following his +sense." He also suggests the writing of themes and characters. One +example he gives is this, "Was Crates the philosopher right when, having +met an ignorant boy, he administered a beating to his teacher?" Many +subjects of these themes have been preserved. Hannibal was naturally +one often chosen. His passage of the Alps, and the question whether he +should have advanced on the city immediately after the battle of Cannae, +were frequently discussed. Cicero mentions a subject of the speculative +kind. "It is forbidden to a stranger to mount the wall. A. mounts the +wall, but only to help the citizens in repelling their enemies. Has A. +broken the law?" + +To make these studies more interesting to the Roman boy, his +schoolmaster called in the aid of emulation. "I feel sure," says +Quintilian, "that the practice which I remember to have been employed by +my own teachers was any thing but useless. They were accustomed to +divide the boys into classes, and they set us to speak in the order of +our powers; every one taking his turn according to his proficiency. Our +performances were duly estimated; and prodigious were the struggles +which we had for victory. To be the head of one's class was considered +the most glorious thing conceivable. But the decision was not made once +for all. The next month brought the vanquished an opportunity of +renewing the contest. He who had been victorious in the first encounter +was not led by success to relax his efforts, and a feeling of vexation +impelled the vanquished to do away with the disgrace of defeat. This +practice, I am sure, supplied a keener stimulus to learning than did all +the exhortations of our teachers, the care of our tutors, and the wishes +of our parents." Nor did the schoolmaster trust to emulation alone. The +third choice of the famous Winchester line, "Either learn, or go: there +is yet another choice--to be flogged," was liberally employed. Horace +celebrates his old schoolmaster as a "man of many blows," and another +distinguished pupil of this teacher, the Busby or Keate of antiquity, +has specified the weapons which he employed, the ferule and the thong. +The thong is the familiar "tawse" of schools north of the Border. The +ferule was a name given both to the bamboo and to the yellow cane, which +grew plentifully both in the islands of the Greek Archipelago and in +Southern Italy, as notably at Cannae in Apulia, where it gave a name to +the scene of the great battle. The _virga_ was also used, a rod +commonly of birch, a tree the educational use of which had been already +discovered. The walls of Pompeii indeed show that the practice of Eton +is truly classical down to its details. + +As to the advantage of the practice opinions were divided. One +enthusiastic advocate goes so far as to say that the Greek word for a +cane signifies by derivation, "the sharpener of the young" (_narthex, +nearous thegein_), but the best authorities were against it. Seneca is +indignant with the savage who will "butcher" a young learner because he +hesitates at a word--a venial fault indeed, one would think, when we +remember what must have been the aspect of a Roman book, written as it +was in capitals, almost without stops, and with little or no distinction +between the words. And Quintilian is equally decided, though he allows +that flogging was an "institution." + +As to holidays the practice of the Roman schools probably resembled that +which prevails in the Scotch Universities, though with a less +magnificent length of vacation. Every one had a holiday on the "days of +Saturn" (a festival beginning on the seventeenth of December), and the +schoolboys had one of their own on the "days of Minerva," which fell in +the latter half of March; but the "long vacation" was in the summer. +Horace speaks of lads carrying their fees to school on the fifteenth of +the month for eight months in the year (if this interpretation of a +doubtful passage is correct). Perhaps as this was a country school the +holidays were made longer than usual, to let the scholars take their +part in the harvest, which as including the vintage would not be over +till somewhat late in the autumn. We find Martial, however, imploring a +schoolmaster to remember that the heat of July was not favorable to +learning, and suggesting that he should abdicate his seat till the +fifteenth of October brought a season more convenient for study. Rome +indeed was probably deserted in the later summer and autumn by the +wealthier class, who were doubtless disposed to agree in the poet's +remark, a remark to which the idlest schoolboy will forgive its Latin +for the sake of its admirable sentiment: + + "Aestate pueri si valent satis discunt." "In summer boys learn + enough, if they keep their health." + +Something, perhaps, may be said of the teachers, into whose hands the +boys of Rome were committed. We have a little book, of not more than +twoscore pages in all, which gives us "lives of illustrious +schoolmasters;" and from which we may glean a few facts. The first +business of a schoolmaster was to teach grammar, and grammar Rome owed, +as she owed most of her knowledge, to a Greek, a certain Crates, who +coming as ambassador from one of the kings of Asia Minor, broke his leg +while walking in the ill-paved streets of Rome, and occupied his leisure +by giving lectures at his house. Most of the early teachers were Greeks. +Catulus bought a Greek slave for somewhat more than fifteen hundred +pounds, and giving him his freedom set him up as a schoolmaster; another +of the same nation received a salary of between three and four hundred +pounds, his patron taking and probably making a considerable profit out +of the pupils' fees. Orbilius, the man of blows, was probably of Greek +descent. He had been first a beadle, then a trumpeter, then a trooper in +his youth, and came to Rome in the year in which Cicero was consul. He +seems to have been as severe on the parents of his pupils as he was in +another way on the lads themselves, for he wrote a book in which he +exposed their meanness and ingratitude. His troubles, however, did not +prevent him living to the great age of one hundred and three. The author +of the little book about schoolmasters had seen his statue in his native +town. It was a marble figure, in a sitting posture, with two writing +desks beside it. The favorite authors of Orbilius, who was of the +old-fashioned school, were, as has been said, the early dramatists. +Caecilius, a younger man, to whom Atticus the friend and correspondent +of Cicero gave his freedom, lectured on Virgil, with whom, as he was +intimate with one of Virgil's associates, he probably had some +acquaintance. A certain Flaccus had the credit of having first invented +prizes. He used to pit lads of equal age against each other, supplying +not only a subject on which to write, but a prize for the victor. This +was commonly some handsome or rare old book. Augustus made him tutor to +his grandsons, giving him a salary of eight hundred pounds per annum. +Twenty years later, a fashionable schoolmaster is said to have made +between three and four thousands. + +These schoolmasters were also sometimes teachers of eloquence, lecturing +to men. One Gnipho, for instance, is mentioned among them, as having +held his classes in the house of Julius Caesar (Caesar was left an +orphan at fifteen); and afterwards, when his distinguished pupil was +grown up, in his own. But Cicero, when he was praetor, and at the very +height of his fame, is said to have attended his lectures. This was the +year in which he delivered the very finest of his non-political +speeches, his defence of Cluentius. He must have been a very clever +teacher from whom so great an orator hoped to learn something. + +These teachers of eloquence were what we may call the "Professors" of +Rome. A lad had commonly "finished his education" when he put on the +"man's gown;" but if he thought of political life, of becoming a +statesman, and taking office in the commonwealth, he had much yet to +learn. He had to make himself a lawyer and an orator. Law he learned by +attaching himself, by becoming the pupil, as we should say, of some +great man that was famed for his knowledge. Cicero relates to us his own +experience: "My father introduced me to the Augur Scaevola; and the +result was that, as far as possible and permissible, I never left the +old man's side. Thus I committed to memory many a learned argument of +his, many a terse and clever maxim, while I sought to add to my own +knowledge from his stores of special learning. When the Augur died I +betook myself to the Pontiff of the same name and family." Elsewhere we +have a picture of this second Scaevola and his pupils. "Though he did +not undertake to give instruction to any one, yet he practically taught +those who were anxious to listen to him by allowing them to hear his +answers to those who consulted him." These consultations took place +either in the Forum or at his own house. In the Forum the great lawyer +indicated that clients were at liberty to approach by walking across the +open space from corner to corner. The train of young Romans would then +follow his steps, just as the students follow the physician or the +surgeon through the wards of a hospital. When he gave audience at home +they would stand by his chair. It must be remembered that the great man +took no payment either from client or from pupil. + +But the young Roman had not only to learn law, he must also learn how to +speak-learn, as far as such a thing can be learned, how to be eloquent. +What we in this country call the career of the public man was there +called the career of the orator. With us it is much a matter of chance +whether a man can speak or not. We have had statesmen who wielded all +the power that one man ever can wield in this country who had no sort of +eloquence. We have had others who had this gift in the highest degree, +but never reached even one of the lower offices in the government. +Sometimes a young politician will go to a professional teacher to get +cured of some defect or trick of speech; but that such teaching is part +of the necessary training of a statesman is an idea quite strange to us. +A Roman received it as a matter of course. Of course, like other things +at Rome, it made its way but slowly. Just before the middle of the +second century b.c. the Senate resolved: "Seeing that mention has been +made of certain philosophers and rhetoricians, let Pomponius the praetor +see to it, as he shall hold it to be for the public good, and for his +own honor, that none such be found at Rome." Early in the first century +the censors issued an edict forbidding certain Latin rhetoricians to +teach. One of these censors was the great orator Crassus, greatest of +all the predecessors of Cicero. Cicero puts into his mouth an apology +for this proceeding: "I was not actuated by any hostility to learning or +culture. These Latin rhetoricians were mere ignorant pretenders, +inefficient imitators of their Greek rivals, from whom the Roman youth +were not likely to learn any thing but impudence." In spite of the +censors, however, and in spite of the fashionable belief in Rome that +what was Greek must be far better than what was of native growth, the +Latin teachers rose into favor. "I remember," says Cicero, "when we were +boys, one Lucius Plotinus, who was the first to teach eloquence in +Latin; how, when the studious youth of the capital crowded to hear him +it vexed me much, that I was not permitted to attend him. I was checked, +however, by the opinion of learned men, who held that in this matter the +abilities of the young were more profitably nourished by exercises in +Greek." We are reminded of our own Doctor Johnson, who declared that +he would not disgrace the walls of Westminster Abbey by an epitaph in +English. + +The chief part of the instruction which these teachers gave was to +propose imaginary cases involving some legal difficulty for their pupils +to discuss. One or two of these cases may be given. + +One day in summer a party of young men from Rome made an excursion to +Ostia, and coming down to the seashore found there some fishermen who +were about to draw in a net. With these they made a bargain that they +should have the draught for a certain sum. The money was paid. When the +net was drawn up no fish were found in it, but a hamper sewn with thread +of gold. The buyers allege this to be theirs as the draught of the net. +The fishermen claim it as not being fish. To whom did it belong? + +Certain slave-dealers, landing a cargo of slaves at Brundisium, and +having with them a very beautiful boy of great value, fearing lest the +custom-house officers should lay hands upon him, put upon him the +_bulla_ and the purple-edged robe that free-born lads were wont to wear. +The deceit was not discovered. But when they came to Rome, and the +matter was talked of, it was maintained that the boy was really free, +seeing that it was his master who of his own free will had given him the +token of freedom. + +I shall conclude this chapter with a very pretty picture, which a Roman +poet draws of the life which he led with his teacher in the days when he +was first entering upon manhood. "When first my timid steps lost the +guardianship of the purple stripe, and the _bulla_ of the boy was hung +up for offering to the quaint household gods; when flattering comrades +came about me, and I might cast my eyes without rebuke over the whole +busy street under the shelter of the yet unsullied gown; in the days +when the path is doubtful, and the wanderer knowing naught of life comes +with bewildered soul to the many-branching roads--then I made myself +your adopted child. You took at once into the bosom of another Socrates +my tender years; your rule, applied with skillful disguise, straightens +each perverse habit; nature is molded by reason, and struggles to be +subdued, and assumes under your hands its plastic lineaments. Ay, well I +mind how I would wear away long summer suns with you, and pluck with you +the bloom of night's first hours. One work we had, one certain time for +rest, and at one modest table unbent from sterner thoughts." + +It accords with this charming picture to be told that the pupil, dying +in youth, left his property to his old tutor, and that the latter handed +it over to the kinsfolk of the deceased, keeping for himself the books +only. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A ROMAN UNDERGRADUATE. + + +In the last chapter we had no particular "Roman Boy" in view; but our +"Roman Undergraduate" will be a real person, Cicero's son. It will be +interesting to trace the notices which we find of him in his father's +letters and books. "You will be glad to hear," he writes in one of his +earliest letters to Atticus, "that a little son has been born to me, and +that Terentia is doing well." From time to time we hear of him, and +always spoken of in terms of the tenderest affection. He is his +"honey-sweet Cicero," his "little philosopher." When the father is in +exile the son's name is put on the address of his letters along with +those of his mother and sister. His prospects are the subject of most +anxious thought. Terentia, who had a considerable fortune of her own, +proposes to sell an estate. "Pray think," he writes, "what will happen +to us. If the same ill fortune shall continue to pursue us, what will +happen to our unhappy boy? I cannot write any more. My tears fairly +overpower me; I should be sorry to make you as sad as myself. I will say +so much. If my friends do their duty by me, I shall not want for money; +if they do not, your means will not save me. I do implore you, by all +our troubles, do not ruin the poor lad. Indeed he is ruined enough +already. If he has only something to keep him from want, then modest +merit and moderate good fortune will give him all he wants." + +Appointed to the government of Cilicia, Cicero takes his son with him +into the province. When he starts on his campaign against the mountain +tribes, the boy and his cousin, young Quintus, are sent to the court of +Deiotarus, one of the native princes of Galatia. "The young Ciceros," he +writes to Atticus, "are with Deiotarus. If need be, they will be taken +to Rhodes." Atticus, it may be mentioned, was uncle to Quintus, and +might be anxious about him. The need was probably the case of the old +prince himself marching to Cicero's help. This he had promised to do, +but the campaign was finished without him. This was in the year 51 B.C., +and Marcus was nearly fourteen years old, his cousin being his senior by +about two years. "They are very fond of each other," writes Cicero; +"they learn, they amuse themselves together, but one wants the rein, the +other the spur." (Doubtless the latter is the writer's son.) "I am very +fond of Dionysius their teacher: the lads say that he is apt to get +furiously angry. But a more learned and more blameless man there does +not live." A year or so afterwards he seems to have thought less +favorably of him. "I let him go reluctantly when I thought of him as the +tutor of the two lads, but quite willingly as an ungrateful fellow." In +B.C. 49, when the lad was about half through his sixteenth year, Cicero +"gave him his _toga_." To take the _toga_, that is to exchange the gown +of the boy with its stripe of purple for the plain white gown of the +citizen, marked the beginning of independence (though indeed a Roman's +son was even in mature manhood under his father's control). The ceremony +took place at Arpinum, much to the delight of the inhabitants, who felt +of course the greatest pride and interest in their famous +fellow-townsman. But it was a sad time. "There and every where as I +journeyed I saw sorrow and dismay. The prospect of this vast trouble is +sad indeed." The "vast trouble" was the civil war between Caesar and +Pompey. This indeed had already broken out. While Cicero was +entertaining his kinsfolk and friends at Arpinum, Pompey was preparing +to fly from Italy. The war was probably not an unmixed evil to a lad who +was just beginning to think himself a man. He hastened across the +Adriatic to join his father's friend, and was appointed to the command +of a squadron of auxiliary cavalry. His maneuvers were probably assisted +by some veteran subordinate; but his I seat on horseback, his skill with +the javelin, and his general soldierly qualities were highly praised +both by his chief and by his comrades. After the defeat at Pharsalia he +waited with his father at Brundisium till a kind letter from Caesar +assured him of pardon. In B.C. 46 he was made aedile at Arpinum, his +cousin being appointed at the same time. The next year he would have +gladly resumed his military career. Fighting was going on in Spain, +where the sons of Pompey were holding out against the forces of Caesar; +and the young Cicero, who was probably not very particular on which side +he drew his sword, was ready to take service against the son of his old +general. Neither the cause nor the career pleased the father, and the +son's wish was overruled, just as an English lad has sometimes to give +up the unremunerative profession of arms, when there is a living in the +family, or an opening in a bank, or a promising connection with a firm +of solicitors. It was settled that he should take up his residence at +Athens, which was then the university of Rome, not indeed exactly in the +sense in which Oxford and Cambridge are the universities of England, but +still a place of liberal culture, where the sons of wealthy Roman +families were accustomed to complete their education. Four-and-twenty +years before the father had paid a long visit to the city, partly for +study's sake. "In those days," he writes, "I was emaciated and feeble to +a degree; my neck was long and thin; a habit of body and a figure that +are thought to indicate much danger to life, if aggravated by a +laborious profession and constant straining of the voice. My friends +thought the more of this, because in those days I was accustomed to +deliver all my speeches without any relaxation of effort, without any +variety, at the very top of my voice, and with most abundant +gesticulation. At first, when friends and physicians advised me to +abandon advocacy for a while, I felt that I would sooner run any risk +than relinquish the hope of oratorical distinction. Afterwards I +reflected that by learning to moderate and regulate my voice, and +changing my style of speaking, I might both avert the danger that +threatened my health and also acquire a more self-controlled manner. It +was a resolve to break through the habits I had formed that induced me +to travel to the East. I had practiced for two years, and my name had +become well known when I left Rome. Coming to Athens I spent six months +with Antiochus, the most distinguished and learned philosopher of the +Old Academy, than whom there was no wiser or more famous teacher. At the +same time I practiced myself diligently under the care of Demetrius +Syrus, an old and not undistinguished master of eloquence." To Athens, +then, Cicero always looked back with affection. He hears, for instance, +that Appius is going to build a portico at Eleusis. "Will you think me a +fool," he writes to Atticus, "if I do the same at the Academy? 'I think +so,' you will say. But I love Athens, the very place, much; and I shall +be glad to have some memorial of me there." + +The new undergraduate, as we should call him, was to have a liberal +allowance. "He shall have as much as Publilius, as much as Lentulus the +Flamen, allow their sons." It would be interesting to know the amount, +but unhappily this cannot be recovered. All that we know is that the +richest young men in Rome were not to have more. "I will guarantee," +writes this liberal father, "that none of the three young men [whom he +names] who, I hear, will be at Athens at the same time shall live at +more expense than he will be able to do on those rents." These "rents" +were the incomings from certain properties at Rome. "Only," he adds, "I +do not think he will want a horse." + +We know something of the university buildings, so to speak, which the +young Cicero found at Athens. "To seek for truth among the groves of +Academus" is the phrase by which a more famous contemporary, the poet +Horace, describes his studies at Athens. He probably uses it generally +to express philosophical pursuits; taken strictly it would mean that he +attached himself to the sage whose pride it was to be the successor of +Plato. Academus was a local hero, connected with the legend of Theseus +and Helen. Near his grove, or sacred inclosure, which adjoined the road +to Eleusis, Plato had bought a garden. It was but a small spot, +purchased for a sum which maybe represented by about three or four +hundred pounds of our money, but it had been enlarged by the liberality +of successive benefactors. This then was one famous lecture-room. +Another was the Lyceum. Here Aristotle had taught, and after Aristotle, +Theophrastus, and after him, a long succession of thinkers of the same +school. A third institution of the same kind was the garden in which +Epicurus had assembled his disciples, and which he bequeathed to +trustees for their benefit and the benefit of their successors for all +time. + +To a Roman of the nobler sort these gardens and buildings must have been +as holy places. It was with these rather than with the temples of gods +that he connected what there was of goodness and purity in his life. To +worship Jupiter or Romulus did not make him a better man, though it +might be his necessary duty as a citizen; his real religion, as we +understand it, was his reverence for Plato or Zeno. Athens to him was +not only what Athens, but what the Holy Land is to us. Cicero describes +something of this feeling in the following passage: "We had been +listening to Antiochus (a teacher of the Academics) in the school called +the Ptolemaeus, where he was wont to lecture. Marcus Piso was with me, +and my brother Quintus, and Atticus, and Lucius Cicero, by relationship +a cousin, in affection a brother. We agreed among ourselves to finish +our afternoon walk in the Academy, chiefly because that place was sure +not to be crowded at that hour. At the proper time we met at Piso's +house; thence, occupied with varied talk, we traversed the six furlongs +that lie between the Double Gate and the Academy; and entering the walls +which can give such good reason for their fame, found there the solitude +which we sought. 'Is it,' said Piso, 'by some natural instinct or +through some delusion that when we see the very spots where famous men +have lived we are far more touched than when we hear of the things that +they have done, or read something that they have written? It is thus +that I am affected at this moment. I think of Plato, who was, we are +told, the first who lectured in this place; his little garden which lies +there close at hand seems not only to remind me of him, but actually to +bring him up before my eyes. Here spake Speusippus, here Xenocrates, +here his disciple Polemo--to Polemo indeed belonged this seat which we +have before us.'" This was the Polemo who had been converted, as we +should say, when, bursting in after a night of revel upon a lecture in +which Xenocrates was discoursing of temperance, he listened to such +purpose that from that moment he became a changed man. Then Atticus +describes how he found the same charms of association in the garden +which had belonged to his own master, Epicurus; while Quintus Cicero +supplies what we should call the classical element by speaking of +Sophocles and the grove of Colonus, still musical, it seems, with the +same song of the nightingale which had charmed the ear of the poet more +than three centuries before. + +One or other, perhaps more than one, of these famous places the young +Cicero frequented. He probably witnessed, he possibly took part (for +strangers were admitted to membership) in, the celebrations with which +the college of Athenian youths (Ephebi) commemorated the glories of +their city, the procession to the tombs of those who died at Marathon, +and the boat-races in the Bay of Salamis. That he gave his father some +trouble is only too certain. His private tutor in rhetoric, as we should +call him, was a certain Gorgias, a man of ability, and a writer of some +note, but a worthless and profligate fellow. Cicero peremptorily ordered +his son to dismiss him; and the young man seems to have obeyed and +reformed. We may hope at least that the repentance which he expresses +for his misdoings in a letter to Tiro, his father's freedman, was +genuine. This is his picture of his life in the days of repentance and +soberness: "I am on terms of the closest intimacy with Cratippus, living +with him more as a son than as a pupil. Not only do I hear his lectures +with delight, but I am greatly taken with the geniality which is +peculiar to the man. I spend whole days with him, and often no small +part of the night; for I beg him to dine with me as often as he can. +This has become so habitual with him that he often looks in upon us at +dinner when we are not expecting him; he lays aside the sternness of the +philosopher and jokes with us in the pleasantest fashion. As for +Bruttius, he never leaves me; frugal and strict as is his life, he is +yet a most delightful companion. For we do not entirely banish mirth +from our daily studies in philology. I have hired a lodging for him +close by; and do my best to help his poverty out of my own narrow means. +I have begun to practice Greek declamation with Cassius, and wish to +have a Latin course with Bruttius. My friends and daily companions are +the pupils whom Cratippus brought with him from Mitylene, well-read men, +of whom he highly approves. I also see much of Epicrates, who is the +first man at Athens." After some pleasant words to Tiro, who had bought +a farm, and whom he expects to find turned into a farmer, bringing +stores, holding consultations with his bailiff, and putting by +fruit-seeds in his pocket from dessert, he says, "I should be glad if +you would send me as quickly as possible a copyist, a Greek by +preference. I have to spend much pains on writing out my notes." + +A short time before one of Cicero's friends had sent a satisfactory +report of the young man's behavior to his father. "I found your son +devoted to the most laudable studies and enjoying an excellent +reputation for steadiness. Don't fancy, my dear Cicero, that I say this +to please you; there is not in Athens a more lovable young man than your +son, nor one more devoted to those high pursuits in which you would have +him interested." + +Among the contemporaries of the young Cicero was, as has been said, the +poet Horace. His had been a more studious boyhood. He had not been taken +away from his books to serve as a cavalry officer under Pompey. In him +accordingly we see the regular course of the studies of a Roman lad. +"It was my lot," he says, "to be bred up at Rome, and to be taught how +much the wrath of Achilles harmed the Greeks. In other words, he had +read his Homer, just as an English boy reads him at Eton or Harrow. +"Kind Athens," he goes on, "added a little more learning, to the end +that I might be able to distinguish right from wrong, and to seek for +truth amongst the groves of Academus." And just in the same way the +English youth goes on to read philosophy at Oxford. + +The studies of the two young men were interrupted by the same cause, the +civil war which followed the death of Caesar. They took service with +Brutus, both having the same rank, that of military tribune, a command +answering more or less nearly to that of colonel in our own army. It +was, however, mainly an ornamental rank, being bestowed sometimes by +favor of the general in command, sometimes by a popular vote. The young +Cicero indeed had already served, and he now distinguished himself +greatly, winning some considerable successes in the command of the +cavalry which Brutus afterwards gave him. When the hopes of the party +were crushed at Phillippi, he joined the younger Pompey in Sicily; but +took an opportunity of an amnesty which was offered four years +afterwards to return to Rome. Here he must have found his old +fellow-student, who had also reconciled himself to the victorious party. +He was made one of the college of augurs, and also a commissioner of the +mint, and in B.C. 30 he had the honour of sharing the consulship with +Augustus himself. It was to him that the dispatch announcing the final +defeat and death of Antony was delivered; and it fell to him to execute +the decree which ordered the destruction of all the statues of the +fallen chief. "Then," says Plutarch, "by the ordering of heaven the +punishment of Antony was inflicted at last by the house of Cicero." His +time of office ended, he went as Governor to Asia, or, according to some +accounts, to Syria; and thus disappears from our view. + +Pliny the Elder tells us that he was a drunkard, sarcastically observing +that he sought to avenge himself on Antony by robbing him of the +reputation which he had before enjoyed of being the hardest drinker of +the time. As the story which he tells of the younger Cicero being able +to swallow twelve pints of wine at a draught is clearly incredible, +perhaps we may disbelieve the whole, and with it the other anecdote, +that he threw a cup at the head of Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to the +Emperor, and after him the greatest man in Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +IN THE DAYS OF THE DICTATOR. + + +In November 82 B.C., Cornelius Sulla became absolute master of Rome. It +is not part of my purpose to give a history of this man. He was a great +soldier who had won victories in Africa and Asia over the enemies of +Rome, and in Italy itself over the "allies," as they were called, that +is the Italian nations, who at various times had made treaties with +Rome, and who in the early part of the first century B.C. rebelled +against her, thinking that they were robbed of the rights and privileges +which belonged to them. And he was the leader of the party of the +nobles, just as Marius was the leader of the party of the people. Once +before he had made himself supreme in the capital; and then he had used +his power with moderation. But he was called away to carry on the war in +Asia against Mithridates, the great King of Pontus; and his enemies had +got the upper hand, and had used the opportunity most cruelly. A +terrible list of victims, called the "proscription," because it was +posted up in the forum, was prepared. Fifty senators and a thousand +knights (peers and gentlemen we should call them) were put to death, +almost all of them without any kind of trial. Sulla himself was +outlawed. But he had an army which he had led to victory and had +enriched with prize-money, and which was entirely devoted to him; and he +was not inclined to let his enemies triumph. He hastened back to Italy, +and landed in the spring of 83. In the November of the following year, +just outside the walls of Rome, was fought the final battle of the war. + +The opposing army was absolutely destroyed and Sulla had every thing at +his mercy. He waited for a few days outside the city till the Senate had +passed a decree giving him absolute power to change the laws, to fill +the offices of State, and to deal with the lives and properties of +citizens as it might please him. This done, he entered Rome. Then came +another proscription. The chief of his enemies, Marius. was gone. He had +died, tormented it was said by remorse, seventeen days after he had +reached the crowning glory, promised him in his youth by an oracle, and +had been made consul for the seventh time. The conqueror had to content +himself with the same vengeance that Charles II. in our own country +exacted from the remains of Cromwell. The ashes of Marius were taken out +of his tomb on the Flaminian Way, the great North Road of Rome, and were +thrown into the Anio. But many of his friends and partisans survived, +and these were slaughtered without mercy. Eighty names were put on the +fatal list on the first day, two hundred and twenty on the second, and +as many more on the third. With the deaths of many of these victims +politics had nothing to do. Sulla allowed his friends and favorites to +put into the list the names of men against whom they happened to bear a +grudge, or whose property they coveted. No one knew who might be the +next to fall. Even Sulla's own partisans were alarmed. A young senator, +Caius Metellus, one of a family which was strongly attached to Sulla and +with which he was connected by marriage, had the courage to ask him in +public when there would be an end to this terrible state of things. +"We do not beg you," he said, "to remit the punishment of those whom you +have made up your mind to remove; we do beg you to do away with the +anxiety of those whom you have resolved to spare." "I am not yet +certain," answered Sulla, "whom I shall spare." "Then at least," said +Metellus, "you can tell us whom you mean to punish." "That I will do," +replied the tyrant. It was indeed a terrible time that followed, +Plutarch thus describes it: "He denounced against any who might shelter +or save the life of a proscribed person the punishment of death for his +humanity. He made no exemption for mother, or son, or parent. The +murderers received a payment of two talents (about £470) for each +victim; it was paid to a slave who killed his master, to a son who +killed his father. The most monstrous thing of all, it was thought, was +that the sons and grandsons of the proscribed were declared to be +legally infamous and that their property was confiscated. Nor was it +only in Rome but in all the cities of Italy that the proscription was +carried out. There was not a single temple, not a house but was polluted +with blood. Husbands were slaughtered in the arms of their wives, and +sons in the arms of their mothers. And the number of those who fell +victims to anger and hatred was but small in comparison with the number +who were put out of the way for the sake of their property. The +murderers might well have said: 'His fine mansion has been the death of +this man; or his gardens, or his baths.' Quintus Aurelius, a peaceable +citizen, who had had only this share in the late civil troubles, that he +had felt for the misfortunes of others, coming into the forum, read the +list of the proscribed and found in it his own name. 'Unfortunate that I +am,' he said, 'it is my farm at Alba that has been my ruin;' and he had +not gone many steps before he was cut down by a man that was following +him. Lucius Catiline's conduct was especially wicked. He had murdered +his own brother. This was before the proscription began. He went to +Sulla and begged that the name might be put in the list as if the man +were still alive; and it was so put. His gratitude to Sulla was shown by +his killing one Marius, who belonged to the opposite faction, and +bringing his head to Sulla as he sat in the forum. (This Marius was a +kinsman of the great democratic leader, and was one of the most popular +men in Rome.) This done, he washed his hands in the holy water-basin of +the temple of Apollo." + +Forty senators and sixteen hundred knights, and more than as many men of +obscure station, are said to have perished. At last, on the first of +June, 81, the list was closed. Still the reign of terror was not yet at +an end, as the strange story which I shall now relate will amply prove. +To look into the details of a particular case makes us better able to +imagine what it really was to live at Rome in the days of the Dictator +than to read many pages of general description. The story is all the +more impressive because the events happened after order had been +restored and things were supposed to be proceeding in their regular +course. + +The proscription came to an end, as has been said, in the early summer +of 81. In the autumn of the same year a certain Sextus Roscius was +murdered in the streets of Rome as he was returning home from dinner. +Roscius was a native of Ameria, a little town of Etruria, between fifty +and sixty miles north of Rome. He was a wealthy man, possessed, it +would seem, of some taste and culture, and an intimate friend of some of +the noblest families at Rome. In politics he belonged to the party of +Sulla, to which indeed in its less prosperous days he had rendered good +service. Since its restoration to power he had lived much at Rome, +evidently considering himself, as indeed he had the right to do, to be +perfectly safe from any danger of proscription. But he was wealthy, and +he had among his own kinsfolk enemies who desired and who would profit +by his death. One of these, a certain Titus Roscius, surnamed Magnus, +was at the time of the murder residing at Rome; the other, who was known +as Capito, was at home at Ameria. The murder was committed about seven +o'clock in the evening. A messenger immediately left Rome with the news, +and made such haste to Ameria that he reached the place before dawn the +next day. Strangely enough he went to the house not of the murdered +man's son, who was living at Ameria in charge of his farms, but of the +hostile kinsman Capito. Three days afterwards Capito and Magnus made +their way to the camp of Sulla (he was besieging Volaterrae, another +Etrurian town). They had an interview with one Chrysogonus, a Greek +freedman of the Dictator, and explained to him how rich a prey they +could secure if he would only help them. The deceased, it seems, had +left a large sum of money and thirteen valuable farms, nearly all of +them running down to the Tiber. And the son, the lawful heir, could +easily be got out of the way. Roscius was a well-known and a popular +man, yet no outcry had followed his disappearance. With the son, a +simple farmer, ignorant of affairs, and wholly unknown to Rome, it would +be easy to deal. Ultimately the three entered into alliance. The +proscription was to be revived, so to speak, to take in this particular +case, and the name of Roscius was included in the list of the condemned. +All his wealth was treated as the property of the proscribed, and was +sold by auction. It was purchased by Chrysogonus. The real value was +between fifty and sixty thousand pounds. The price paid was something +less than eighteen pounds. Three of the finest farms were at once handed +over to Capito as his share of the spoil. Magnus acted as the agent of +Chrysogonus for the remainder. He took possession of the house in which +Roscius the younger was living, laid his hands on all its contents, +among which was a considerable sum of money, and drove out the +unfortunate young man in an absolutely penniless condition. + +These proceedings excited great indignation at Ameria. The local senate +passed a resolution to the effect that the committee of ten should +proceed to Sulla's camp and put him in possession of the facts, with the +object of removing the name of the father from the list of the +proscribed, and reinstating the son in his inheritance. The ten +proceeded accordingly to the camp, but Chrysogonus cajoled and +over-reached them. It was represented to them by persons of high +position that there was no need to trouble Sulla with the affair. The +name should be removed from the list; the property should be restored. +Capito, who was one of the ten, added his personal assurance to the same +effect, and the deputation, satisfied that their object had been +attained, returned to Ameria. There was of course no intention of +fulfilling the promises thus made. The first idea of the trio was to +deal with the son as they had dealt with the father. Some hint of this +purpose was conveyed to him, and he fled to Rome, where he was +hospitably entertained by Caecilia, a wealthy lady of the family of +Metellus, and therefore related to Sulla's wife, who indeed bore the +same name. As he was now safe from violence, it was resolved to take the +audacious step of accusing him of the murder of his father. Outrageous +as it seems, the plan held out some promise of success. The accused was +a man of singularly reserved character, rough and boorish in manner, and +with no thoughts beyond the rustic occupations to which his life was +devoted. His father, on the other hand, had been a man of genial temper, +who spent much of his time among the polished circles of the Capitol. If +there was no positive estrangement between them, there was a great +discrepancy of tastes, and probably very little intercourse. This it +would be easy to exaggerate into something like a plausible charge, +especially under the circumstances of the case. It was beyond doubt that +many murders closely resembling the murder of Roscius had been committed +during the past year, committed some of them by sons. This was the +first time that an alleged culprit was brought to trial, and it was +probable that the jury would be inclined to severity. In any case, and +whatever the evidence, it was hoped that the verdict would not be such +as to imply the guilt of a favorite of Sulla. He was the person who +would profit most by the condemnation of the accused, and it was hoped +that he would take the necessary means to secure it. + +The friends of the father were satisfied of the innocence of the son, +and they exerted themselves to secure for him an efficient defense. +Sulla was so much dreaded that none of the more conspicuous orators of +the time were willing to undertake the task. Cicero, however, had the +courage which they wanted; and his speech, probably little altered from +the form in which he delivered it, remains. + +It was a horrible crime of which his client was accused, and the +punishment the most awful known to the Roman law. The face of the guilty +man was covered with a wolf's skin, as being one who was not worthy to +see the light; shoes of wood were put upon his feet that they might not +touch the earth. He was then thrust into a sack of leather, and with him +four animals which were supposed to symbolize all that was most hideous +and depraved--the dog, a common object of contempt; the cock, proverbial +for its want of all filial affection; the poisonous viper; and the ape, +which was the base imitation of man. In this strange company he was +thrown into the nearest river or sea. + +Cicero begins by explaining why he had undertaken a case which his +elders and betters had declined. It was not because he was bolder, but +because he was more insignificant than they, and could speak with +impunity when they could not choose but be silent. He then gives the +facts in detail, the murder of Roscius, the seizure of his property, the +fruitless deputation to Sulla, the flight of the son to Rome, and the +audacious resolve of his enemies to indict him for parricide. They had +murdered his father, they had robbed him of his patrimony, and now they +accused him--of what crime? Surely of nothing else than the crime of +having escaped their attack. The thing reminded him of the story of +Fimbria and Scaevola. Fimbria, an absolute madman, as was allowed by all +who were not mad themselves, got some ruffian to stab Scaevola at the +funeral of Marius. He was stabbed but not killed. When Fimbria found +that he was likely to live, he indicted him. For what do you indict a +man so blameless? asked some one. For what? for not allowing himself to +be stabbed to the heart. This is exactly why the confederates have +indicted Roscius. His crime has been of escaping from their hands. +"Roscius killed his father," you say. "A young man, I suppose, led away +by worthless companions." Not so; he is more than forty years of age. +"Extravagance and debt drove him to it." No; you say yourself that he +never goes to an entertainment, and he certainly owes nothing. "Well," +you say, "his father disliked him." Why did he dislike him? "That," you +reply, "I cannot say; but he certainly kept one son with him, and left +this Roscius to look after his farms." Surely this is a strange +punishment, to give him the charge of so fine an estate. "But," you +repeat, "he kept his other with him." "Now listen to me," cries Cicero, +turning with savage sarcasm to the prosecutor, "Providence never allowed +you to know who your father was. Still you have read books. Do you +remember in Caecilius' play how the father had two sons, and kept one +with him and left the other in the country? and do you remember that the +one who lived with him was not really his son, the other was true-born, +and yet it was the true-born who lived in the country? And is it such a +disgrace to live in the country? It is well that you did not live in old +times when they took a Dictator from the plow; when the men who made +Rome what it is cultivated their own land, but did not covet the land of +others. 'Ah! but,' you say, 'the father intended to disinherit him.' +Why? 'I cannot say.' Did he disinherit him? 'No, he did not.' Who +stopped him? 'Well, he was thinking of it.' To whom did he say so? 'To +no one.' Surely," cries Cicero, "this is to abuse the laws and justice +and your dignity in the basest and most wanton way, to make charges +which he not only cannot but does not even attempt to establish." + +Shortly after comes a lively description of the prosecutor's demeanor. +"It was really worth while, if you observed, gentlemen, the man's utter +indifference as he was conducting his case. I take it that when he saw +who was sitting on these benches, he asked whether such an one or such +an one was engaged for the defense. Of me he never thought, for I had +never spoken before in a criminal case. When he found that none of the +usual speakers were concerned in it, he became so careless that when the +humor took him, he sat down, then walked about, sometimes called a +servant, to give him orders, I suppose, for dinner, and certainly +treated this court in which you are sitting as if it were an absolute +solitude. At last he brought his speech to an end. I rose to reply. He +could be seen to breathe again that it was I and no one else. I noticed, +gentlemen, that he continued to laugh and be inattentive till I +mentioned Chrysogonus. As soon as I got to him my friend roused himself +and was evidently astonished. I saw what had touched him, and repeated +the name a second time, and a third. From that time men have never +ceased to run briskly backwards and forwards, to tell Chrysogonus, I +suppose, that there was some one in the country who ventured to oppose +his pleasure, that the case was being pleaded otherwise than as he +imagined it would be; that the sham sale of goods was being exposed, the +confederacy grievously handled, his popularity and power disregarded, +that the people were giving their whole attention to the cause, and that +the common opinion was that the transaction generally was disgraceful. + +"Then," continued the speaker, "this charge of parricide, so monstrous +is the crime, must have the very strongest evidence to support it. There +was a case at Tarracina of a man being found murdered in the chamber +where he was sleeping, his two sons, both young men, being in the same +room. No one could be found, either slave or free man, who seemed likely +to have done the deed; and as the two sons, grown up as they were, +declared that they knew nothing about it, they were indicted for +parricide. What could be so suspicious? Suspicious, do I say? Nay, +worse. That neither knew any thing about it? That any one had ventured +into that chamber at the very time when there were in it two young men +who would certainly perceive and defeat the attempt? Yet, because it was +proved to the jury that the young men had been found fast asleep, with +the door wide open, they were acquitted. It was thought incredible that +men who had just committed so monstrous a crime could possibly sleep. +Why, Solon, the wisest of all legislators, drawing up his code of laws, +provided no punishment for this crime; and when he was asked the reason +replied that he believed that no one would ever commit it. To provide a +punishment would be to suggest rather than prevent. Our own ancestors +provided indeed a punishment, but it was of the strangest kind, showing +how strange, how monstrous they thought the crime. And what evidence do +you bring forward? The man was not at Rome. That is proved. There-fore +he must have done it, if he did it at all, by the hands of others. Who +were these others? Were they free men or slaves? If they were free men +where did they come from, where live? How did he hire them? Where is +the proof? You haven't a shred of evidence, and yet you accuse him of +parricide. And if they were slaves, where, again I ask, are they? There +_were_ two slaves who saw the deed; but they belonged to the confederate +not to the accused. Why do you not produce them? Purely because they +would prove your guilt. + +"It is there indeed that we find the real truth of the matter. It was +the maxim of a famous lawyer, Ask: _who profited by the deed_? I ask it +now. It was Magnus who profited. He was poor before, and now he is rich. +And then he was in Rome at the time of the murder; and he was familiar +with assassins. Remember too the strange speed with which he sent the +news to Ameria, and sent it, not to the son, as one might expect, but to +Capito his accomplice; for that he was an accomplice is evident enough. +What else could he be when he so cheated the deputation that went to +Sulla at Volaterrae?" + +Cicero then turned to Chrysogonus, and attacked him with a boldness +which is surprising, when we remember how high he stood in the favor of +the absolute master of Rome, "See how he comes down from his fine +mansion on the Palatine. Yes, and he has for his own enjoyment a +delightful retreat in the suburbs, and many an estate besides, and not +one of them but is both handsome and conveniently near. His house is +crowded with ware of Corinth and Delos, among them that famous +self-acting cooking apparatus, which he lately bought at a price so high +that the passers-by, when they heard the clerk call out the highest bid, +supposed that it must be a farm which was being sold. And what +quantities, think you, he has of embossed plate, and coverlets of +purple, and pictures, and statues, and colored marbles! Such quantities, +I tell you, as scarce could be piled together in one mansion in a time +of tumult and rapine from many wealthy establishments. And his +household--why should I describe how many it numbers, and how varied are +its accomplishments? I do not speak of ordinary domestics, the cook, the +baker, the litter-bearer. Why, for the mere enjoyment of his ears he has +such a multitude of men that the whole neighborhood echoes again with +the daily music of singers, and harp-players, and flute-players, and +with the uproar of his nightly banquets. What daily expenses, what +extravagance, as you well know, gentlemen, there must be in such a life +as this! how costly must be these banquets! Creditable banquets, indeed, +held in such a house--a house, do I say, and not a manufactory of +wickedness, a place of entertainment for every kind of crime? And as for +the man himself--you see, gentlemen, how he bustles every where about +the forum, with his hair fashionably arranged and dripping with +perfumes; what a crowd of citizens, yes, of citizens, follow him; you +see how he looks down upon every one, thinks no one can be compared to +himself, fancies himself the one rich and powerful man in Rome?" + +The jury seems to have caught the contagion of courage from the +advocate. They acquitted the accused. It is not known whether he ever +recovered his property. But as Sulla retired from power in the following +year, and died the year after, we may hope that the favorites and the +villains whom he had sheltered were compelled to disgorge some at least +of their gains. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A ROMAN MAGISTRATE. + + +Of all the base creatures who found a profit in the massacres and +plunderings which Sulla commanded or permitted, not one was baser than +Caius Verres. The crimes that he committed would be beyond our belief if +it were not for the fact that he never denied them. He betrayed his +friends, he perverted justice, he plundered a temple with as little +scruple as he plundered a private house, he murdered a citizen as boldly +as he murdered a foreigner; in fact, he was the most audacious, the most +cruel, the most shameless of men. And yet he rose to high office at home +and abroad, and had it not been for the courage, sagacity, and eloquence +of one man, he might have risen to the very highest. What Roman citizens +had sometimes, and Roman subjects, it is to be feared, very often to +endure may be seen from the picture which we are enabled to draw of a +_Roman magistrate_. + +Roman politicians began public life as quaestors. (A quaestor was an +official who managed money matters for higher magistrates. Every +governor of a province had one or more quaestors under him. They were +elected at Rome, and their posts were assigned to them by lot.) Verres +was quaestor in Gaul and embezzled the public money; he was quaestor in +Cilicia with Dolabella, a like-minded governor, and diligently used his +opportunity. This time it was not money only, but works of art, on which +he laid his hands; and in these the great cities, whether in Asia or in +Europe, were still rich. The most audacious, perhaps, of these robberies +was perpetrated in the island of Delos. Delos was known all over the +world as the island of Apollo. The legend was that it was the birthplace +of the god. None of his shrines was more frequented or more famous. +Verres was indifferent to such considerations. He stripped the temple of +its finest statues, and loaded a merchant ship which he had hired with +the booty. But this time he was not lucky enough to secure it. The +islanders, though they had discovered the theft, did not, indeed, +venture to complain. They thought it was the doing of the governor, and +a governor, though his proceedings might be impeached after his term of +office, was not a person with whom it was safe to remonstrate. But a +terrible storm suddenly burst upon the island. The governor's departure +was delayed. To set sail in such weather was out of the question. The +sea was indeed so high that the town became scarcely habitable. Then +Verres' ship was wrecked, and the statues were found cast upon the +shore. The governor ordered them to be replaced in the temple, and the +storm subsided as suddenly as it had arisen. + +On his return to Rome Dolabella was impeached for extortion. With +characteristic baseness Verres gave evidence against him, evidence so +convincing as to cause a verdict of guilty. But he thus secured his own +gains, and these he used so profusely in the purchase of votes that two +or three years afterwards he was elected praetor. The praetors performed +various functions which were assigned to them by lot. Chance, or it may +possibly have been contrivance, gave to Verres the most considerable of +them all. He was made "Praetor of the City;" that is, a judge before +whom a certain class of very important causes were tried. Of course he +showed himself scandalously unjust. One instance of his proceedings may +suffice. + +A certain Junius had made a contract for keeping the temple of Castor in +repair. When Verres came into office he had died, leaving a son under +age. There had been some neglect, due probably to the troubles of the +times, in seeing that the contracts had been duly executed, and the +Senate passed a resolution that Verres and one of his fellow-praetors +should see to the matter. The temple of Castor came under review like +the others, and Verres, knowing that the original contractor was dead, +inquired who was the responsible person. When he heard of the son under +age he recognized at once a golden opportunity. It was one of the maxims +which he had laid down for his own guidance, and which he had even been +wont to give out for the benefit of his friends, that much profit might +be made out of the property of wards. It had been arranged that the +guardian of the young Junius should take the contract into his own +hands, and, as the temple was in excellent repair, there was no +difficulty in the way. Verres summoned the guardian to appear before +him. "Is there any thing," he asked, "that your ward has not made good, +and which we ought to require of him?" "No," said he, "every thing is +quite right; all the statues and offerings are there, and the fabric is +in excellent repair." From the praetor's point of view this was not +satisfactory; and he determined on a personal visit. Accordingly he went +to the temple, and inspected it. The ceiling was excellent; the whole +building in the best repair. "What is to be done?" he asked of one of +his satellites. "Well," said the man, "there is nothing for you to +meddle with here, except possibly to require that the columns should be +restored to the perpendicular." "Restored to the perpendicular? what do +you mean?" said Verres, who knew nothing of architecture. It was +explained to him that it very seldom happened that a column was +absolutely true to the perpendicular. "Very good," said Verres; "we will +have the columns made perpendicular." Notice accordingly was sent to +the lad's guardians. Disturbed at the prospect of indefinite loss to +their ward's property, they sought an interview with Verres. One of the +noble family of Marcellus waited upon him, and remonstrated against the +iniquity of the proceeding. The remonstrance was in vain. The praetor +showed no signs of relenting. There yet remained one way, a way only too +well known to all who had to deal with him, of obtaining their object. +Application must be made to his mistress (a Greek freedwoman of the name +of Chelidon or "The Swallow"). If she could be induced to take an +interest in the case something might yet be done. Degrading as such a +course must have been to men of rank and honor, they resolved, in the +interest of their ward, to take it. They went to Chelidon's house. It +was thronged with people who were seeking favors from the praetor. Some +were begging for decisions in their favor; some for fresh trials of +their cases. "I want possession," cried one. "He must not take the +property from me," said another. "Don't let him pronounce judgment +against me," cried a third. "The property must be assigned to me," was +the demand of a fourth. Some were counting out money; others signing +bonds. The deputation, after waiting awhile, were admitted to the +presence. Their spokesman explained the case, begged for Chelidon's +assistance, and promised a substantial consideration. The lady was very +gracious. She would willingly do what she could, and would talk to the +praetor about it. The deputation must come again the next day and hear +how she had succeeded. They came again, but found that nothing could be +done. Verres felt sure that a large sum of money was to be got out of +the proceeding, and resolutely refused any compromise. + +They next made an offer of about two thousand pounds. This again was +rejected. Verres resolved that he would put up the contract to auction, +and did his best that the guardians should have no notice of it. Here, +however, he failed. They attended the auction and made a bid. Of course +the lowest bidder ought to have been accepted, so long as he gave +security for doing the work well. But Verres refused to accept it. He +knocked down the contract to himself at a price of more than five +thousand pounds, and this though there were persons willing to do it for +less than a sixth of that sum. As a matter of fact very little was +done. Four of the columns were pulled down and built up again with the +same stones. Others were whitewashed; some had the old cement taken out +and fresh put in.[1] The highest estimate for all that could possibly be +wanted was less than eight hundred pounds. + +[Footnote 1: "Pointed," I suppose.] + +His year of office ended, Verres was sent as governor to Sicily. By +rights he should have remained there twelve months only, but his +successor was detained by the Servile war in Italy, and his stay was +thus extended to nearly three years, three years into which he crowded +an incredible number of cruelties and robberies. Sicily was perhaps the +wealthiest of all the provinces. Its fertile wheat-fields yielded +harvests which, now that agriculture had begun to decay in Italy, +provided no small part of the daily bread of Rome. In its cities, +founded most of them several centuries before by colonists from Greece, +were accumulated the riches of many generations. On the whole it had +been lightly treated by its Roman conquerors. Some of its states had +early discerned which would be the winning side, and by making their +peace in time had secured their privileges and possessions. Others had +been allowed to surrender themselves on favorable terms. This wealth had +now been increasing without serious disturbance for more than a hundred +years. The houses of the richer class were full of the rich tapestries +of the East, of gold and silver plate cunningly chased or embossed, of +statues and pictures wrought by the hands of the most famous artists of +Greece. The temples were adorned with costly offerings and with images +that were known all over the civilized world. The Sicilians were +probably prepared to pay something for the privilege of being governed +by Rome. And indeed the privilege was not without its value. The days of +freedom indeed were over; but the turbulence, the incessant strife, the +bitter struggles between neighbors and parties were also at an end. Men +were left to accumulate wealth and to enjoy it without hindrance. Any +moderate demands they were willing enough to meet. They did not +complain, for instance, or at least did not complain aloud, that they +were compelled to supply their rulers with a fixed quantity of corn at +prices lower than could have been obtained in the open market. And they +would probably have been ready to secure the good will of a governor who +fancied himself a connoisseur in art with handsome presents from their +museums and picture galleries. But the exactions of Verres exceeded all +bounds both of custom and of endurance. The story of how he dealt with +the wheat-growers of the province is too tedious and complicated to be +told in this place. Let it suffice to say that he enriched himself and +his greedy troop of followers at the cost of absolute ruin both to the +cultivators of the soil and to the Roman capitalists who farmed this +part of the public revenue. As to the way in which he laid his hands on +the possessions of temples and of private citizens, his doings were +emphatically summed up by his prosecutor when he came, as we shall +afterwards see, to be put upon his trial. "I affirm that in the whole of +Sicily, wealthy and old-established province as it is, in all those +towns, in all those wealthy homes, there was not a single piece of +silver plate, a single article of Corinthian or Delian ware, a single +jewel or pearl, a single article of gold or ivory, a single picture, +whether on panel or on canvas, which he did not hunt up and examine, +and, if it pleased his fancy, abstract. This is a great thing to say, +you think. Well, mark how I say it. It is not for the sake of rhetorical +exaggeration that I make this sweeping assertion, that I declare that +this fellow did not leave a single article of the kind in the whole +province. I speak not in the language of the professional accuser but in +plain Latin. Nay, I will put it more clearly still: in no single private +house, in no town; in no place, profane or even sacred; in the hands of +no Sicilian, of no citizen of Rome, did he leave a single article, +public or private property, of things profane or things religious, which +came under his eyes or touched his fancy." + +Some of the more remarkable of these acts of spoliation it may be worth +while to relate. A certain Heius, who was at once the wealthiest and +most popular citizen of Messana, had a private chapel of great antiquity +in his house, and in it four statues of the very greatest value. There +was a Cupid by Praxiteles, a replica of a famous work which attracted +visitors to the uninteresting little town of Thespiae in Boeotia; a +Hercules from the chisel of Myro; and two bronze figures, +"Basket-bearers," as they were called, because represented as carrying +sacred vessels in baskets on their heads. These were the work of +Polyclitus. The Cupid had been brought to Rome to ornament the forum on +some great occasion, and had been carefully restored to its place. The +chapel and its contents was the great sight of the town. No one passed +through without inspecting it. It was naturally, therefore, one of the +first things that Verres saw, Messana being on his route to the capital +of his province. He did not actually take the statues, he bought them; +but the price that he paid was so ridiculously low that purchase was +only another name for robbery. Something near sixty pounds was given for +the four. If we recall the prices that would be paid now-a-days for a +couple of statues by Michael Angelo and two of the masterpieces of +Raphael and Correggio, we may imagine what a monstrous fiction this sale +must have been, all the more monstrous because the owner was a wealthy +man, who had no temptation to sell, and who was known to value his +possessions not only as works of art but as adding dignity to his +hereditary worship. + +A wealthy inhabitant of Tyndaris invited the governor to dinner. He was +a Roman citizen and imagined that he might venture on a display which a +provincial might have considered to be dangerous. Among the plate on the +table was a silver dish adorned with some very fine medallions. It +struck the fancy of the guest, who promptly had it removed, and who +considered himself to be a marvel of moderation when he sent it back +with the medallions abstracted. + +His secretary happened one day to receive a letter which bore a +noteworthy impression on the composition of chalk which the Greeks used +for sealing. It attracted the attention of Verres, who inquired from +what place it had come. Hearing that it had been sent from Agrigentum, +he communicated to his agents in that town his desire that the seal-ring +should be at once secured for him. And this was done. The unlucky +possessor, another Roman citizen, by the way, had his ring actually +drawn from his finger. + +A still more audacious proceeding was to rob, not this time a mere +Sicilian provincial or a simple Roman citizen, but one of the tributary +kings, the heir of the great house of Antiochus, which not many years +before had matched itself with the power of Rome. Two of the young +princes had visited Rome, intending to prosecute their claims to the +throne of Egypt, which, they contended, had come to them through their +mother. The times were not favorable to the suit, and they returned to +their country, one of them, Antiochus, probably the elder, choosing to +take Sicily on his way. He naturally visited Syracuse, where Verres was +residing, and Verres at once recognized a golden opportunity. The first +thing was to send the visitor a handsome supply of wine, olive-oil, and +wheat. The next was to invite him to dinner. The dining-room and table +were richly furnished, the silver plate being particularly splendid. +Antiochus was highly delighted with the entertainment, and lost no time +in returning the compliment. The dinner to which he invited the governor +was set out with a splendor to which Verres had nothing to compare. +There was silver plate in abundance, and there were also cups of gold, +these last adorned with magnificent gems. + +Conspicuous among the ornaments of the table was a drinking vessel, all +in one piece, probably of amethyst, and with a handle of gold. Verres +expressed himself delighted with what he saw. He handled every vessel +and was loud in its praises. The simple-minded King, on the other hand, +heard the compliment with pride. Next day came a message. Would the King +lend some of the more beautiful cups to his excellency? He wished to +show them to his own artists. A special request was made for the +amethyst cup. All was sent without a suspicion of danger. + +But the King had still in his possession something that especially +excited the Roman's cupidity. This was a candelabrum of gold richly +adorned with jewels. It had been intended for an offering to the +tutelary deity of Rome, Jupiter of the Capitol. But the temple, which +had been burned to the ground in the civil wars, had not yet been +rebuilt, and the princes, anxious that their gift should not be seen +before it was publicly presented, resolved to carry it back with them to +Syria. Verres, however, had got, no one knew how, some inkling of the +matter, and he begged Antiochus to let him have a sight of it. The young +prince, who, so far from being suspicious, was hardly sufficiently +cautious, had it carefully wrapped up, and sent it to the governor's +palace. When he had minutely inspected it, the messengers prepared to +carry it back. Verres, however, had not seen enough of it. It clearly +deserved more than one examination. Would they leave it with him for a +time? They left it, suspecting nothing. + +Antiochus, on his part, had no apprehensions. When some days had passed +and the candelabrum was not returned, he sent to ask for it. The +governor begged the messenger to come again the next day. It seemed a +strange request; still the man came again and was again unsuccessful. +The King himself then waited on the governor and begged him to return +it. Verres hinted, or rather said plainly, that he should very much like +it as a present. "This is impossible," replied the prince, "the honor +due to Jupiter and public opinion forbid it. All the world knows that +the offering is to be made, and I cannot go back from my word." Verres +perceived that soft words would be useless, and took at once another +line. The King, he said, must leave Sicily before nightfall. The public +safety demanded it. He had heard of a piratical expedition which was on +its way from Syria to the province, and that his departure was +necessary. Antiochus had no choice but to obey; but before he went he +publicly protested in the market-place of Syracuse against the wrong +that had been done. His other valuables, the gold and the jewels, he did +not so much regret; but it was monstrous that he should be robbed of the +gift that he destined for the altar of the tutelary god of Rome. + +The Sicilian cities were not better able to protect their possessions +than were private individuals. Segesta was a town that had early ranged +itself on the side of the Romans, with whom its people had a legendary +relationship. (The story was that Aeneas on his way to Italy had left +there some of his followers, who were unwilling any longer to endure the +hardships of the journey.) In early days it had been destroyed by the +Carthaginians, who had carried off all its most valuable possessions, +the most precious being a statue of Diana, a work of great beauty and +invested with a peculiar sacredness. When Carthage fell, Scipio its +conqueror restored the spoils which had been carried off from the cities +of Sicily. Among other things Agrigentum had recovered its famous bull +of brass, in which the tyrant Phalaris had burned, it was said, his +victims. Segesta was no less fortunate than its neighbors, and got back +its Diana. It was set on a pedestal on which was inscribed the name of +Scipio, and became one of the most notable sights of the island. It was +of a colossal size, but the sculptor had contrived to preserve the +semblance of maidenly grace and modesty. Verres saw and coveted it. He +demanded it of the authorities of the town and was met with a refusal. +It was easy for the governor to make them suffer for their obstinacy. +All their imposts were doubled and more than doubled. Heavy requisitions +for men and money and corn were made upon them. A still more hateful +burden, that of attending the court and progresses of the governor was +imposed on their principal citizens. This was a contest which they +could not hope to wage with success. Segesta resolved that the statue +should be given up. It was accordingly carried away from the town, all +the women of the town, married and unmarried, following it on its +journey, showering perfumes and flowers upon it, and burning incense +before it, till it had passed beyond the borders of their territory. + +If Segesta had its Diana, Tyndaris had its Mercury; and this also Verres +was resolved to add to his collection. He issued his orders to Sopater, +chief magistrate of the place, that the statue was to betaken to +Messana. (Messana being conveniently near to Italy was the place in +which he stored his plunder.) Sopater refusing was threatened with the +heaviest penalties if it was not done without delay, and judged it best +to bring the matter before the local senate. The proposition was +received with shouts of disapproval. Verres paid a second visit to the +town and at once inquired what had been done about the statue. He was +told that it was impossible. The senate had decreed the penalty of +death against any one that touched it. Apart from that, it would be an +act of the grossest impiety. "Impiety?" he burst out upon the unlucky +magistrates; "penalty of death! senate! what senate? As for you, +Sopater, you shall not escape. Give me up the statue or you shall be +flogged to death." Sopater again referred the matter to his townsmen and +implored them with tears to give way. The meeting separated in great +tumult without giving him any answer. Summoned again to the governor's +presence, he repeated that nothing could be done. But Verres had still +resources in store. He ordered the lictors to strip the man, the chief +magistrate, be it remembered, of an important town, and to set him, +naked as he was, astride on one of the equestrian statues that adorned +the market-place. It was winter; the weather was bitterly cold, with +heavy rain. The pain caused by the naked limbs being thus brought into +close contact with the bronze of the statue was intense. So frightful +was his suffering that his fellow-townsmen could not bear to see it. +They turned with loud cries upon the senate and compelled them to vote +that the coveted statue should be given up to the governor. So Verres +got his Mercury. + +We have a curious picture of the man as he made his progresses from town +to town in his search for treasures of art. "As soon as it was +spring--and he knew that it was spring not from the rising of any +constellation or the blowing of any wind, but simply because he saw the +roses--then indeed he bestirred himself. So enduring, so untiring was he +that no one ever saw him upon horseback. No--he was carried in a litter +with eight bearers. His cushion was of the finest linen of Malta, and it +was stuffed with roses. There was one wreath of roses upon his head, and +another round his neck, made of the finest thread, of the smallest mesh, +and this, too, was full of roses. He was carried in this litter straight +to his chamber; and there he gave his audiences." + +When spring had passed into summer even such exertions were too much for +him. He could not even endure to remain in his official residence, the +old palace of the kings of Syracuse. A number of tents were pitched for +him at the entrance of the harbor to catch the cool breezes from the +sea. There he spent his days and nights, surrounded by troops of the +vilest companions, and let the province take care of itself. + +Such a governor was not likely to keep his province free from the +pirates who, issuing from their fastnesses on the Cilician coast and +elsewhere, kept the seaboard cities of the Mediterranean in constant +terror. One success, and one only, he seems to have gained over them. +His fleet was lucky enough to come upon a pirate ship, which was so +overladen with spoil that it could neither escape nor defend itself. +News was at once carried to Verres, who roused himself from his feasting +to issue strict orders that no one was to meddle with the prize. It was +towed into Syracuse, and he hastened to examine his booty. The general +feeling was one of delight that a crew of merciless villains had been +captured and were about to pay the penalty of their crimes. Verres had +far more practical views. Justice might deal as she pleased with the old +and useless; the young and able bodied, and all who happened to be +handicraftsmen, were too valuable to be given up. His secretaries, his +retinue, his son had their share of the prize; six, who happened to be +singers, were sent as a present to a friend at Rome. As to the pirate +captain himself, no one knew what had become of him. It was a favorite +amusement in Sicily to watch the sufferings of a pirate, if the +government had had the luck but to catch one, while he was being slowly +tortured to death. The people of Syracuse, to whom the pirate captain +was only too well known, watched eagerly for the day when he was to be +brought out to suffer. They kept an account of those who were brought +out to execution, and reckoned them against the number of the crew, +which it had been easy to conjecture from the size of the ship. Verres +had to correct the deficiency as best he could. He had the audacity to +fill the places of the prisoners whom he had sold or given away with +Roman citizens, whom on various false pretenses he had thrown into +prison. The pirate captain himself was suffered to escape on the +payment, it was believed, of a very large sum of money. + +But Verres had not yet done with the pirates. It was necessary that some +show, at least, of coping with them should be made. There was a fleet, +and the fleet must put to sea. A citizen of Syracuse, who had no sort of +qualification for the task, but whom Verres was anxious to get out of +the way, was appointed to the command. The governor paid it the unwonted +attention of coming out of his tent to see it pass. His very dress, as +he stood upon the shore, was a scandal to all beholders. His sandals, +his purple cloak, his tunic, or under-garment, reaching to his ankles, +were thought wholly unsuitable to the dignity of a Roman magistrate. The +fleet, as might be expected, was scandalously ill equipped. Its men for +the most part existed, as the phrase is, only "on paper." There was the +proper complement of names, but of names only. The praetor drew from the +treasury the pay for these imaginary soldiers and marines, and diverted +it into his own pocket. And the ships were as ill provisioned as they +were ill manned. After they had been something less than five days at +sea they put into the harbor of Pachynus. The crews were driven to +satisfy their hunger on the roots of the dwarf palm, which grew, and +indeed still grows, in abundance on that spot. Cleomenes meanwhile was +following the example of his patron. He had his tent pitched on the +shore, and sat in it drinking from morning to night. While he was thus +employed tidings were brought that the pirate fleet was approaching. He +was ill prepared for an engagement. His hope had been to complete the +manning of his ships from the garrison of the fort. But Verres had dealt +with the fort as he had dealt with the fleet. The soldiers were as +imaginary as the sailors. Still a man of courage would have fought. His +own ship was fairly well manned, and was of a commanding size, quite +able to overpower the light vessels of the pirates; and such a crew as +there was was eager to fight. But Cleomenes was as cowardly as he was +incompetent. He ordered the mast of his ship to be hoisted, the sails to +be set, and the cable cut, and made off with all speed. The rest of his +fleet could do nothing but follow his example. The pirates gave chase, +and captured two of the ships as they fled. Cleomenes reached the port +of Helorus, stranded his ship, and left it to its fate. His colleagues +did the same. The pirate chief found them thus deserted and burned them. +He had then the audacity to sail into the inner harbor of Syracuse, a +place into which, we are told, only one hostile fleet, the ill-fated +Athenian expedition, three centuries and a half before, had ever +penetrated. The rage of the inhabitants at this spectacle exceeded all +bounds, and Verres felt that a victim must be sacrificed. He was, of +course, himself the chief culprit. Next in guilt to him was Cleomenes. +But Cleomenes was spared for the same scandalous reason which had caused +his appointment to the command. The other captains, who might indeed +have shown more courage, but who were comparatively blameless, were +ordered to execution. It seemed all the more necessary to remove them +because they could have given inconvenient testimony as to the +inefficient condition of the ships. + +The cruelty of Verres was indeed as conspicuous as his avarice. Of this, +as of his other vices, it would not suit the purpose of this book to +speak in detail. One conspicuous example will suffice. A certain Gavius +had given offense, how we know not, and had been confined in the +disused stone quarries which served for the public prison of Syracuse. +From these he contrived to escape, and made his way to Messana. +Unluckily for himself, he did not know that Messana was the one place in +Sicily where it would not be safe to speak against the governor. Just as +he was about to embark for Italy he was heard to complain of the +treatment which he had received, and was arrested and brought before the +chief magistrate of the town. Verres happened to come to the town the +same day, and heard what had happened. He ordered the man to be stripped +and flogged in the market-place. Gavius pleaded that he was a Roman +citizen and offered proof of his claim. Verres refused to listen, and +enraged by the repetition of the plea, actually ordered the man to be +crucified. "And set up," he said to his lictors, "set up the cross by +the straits. He is a Roman citizen, he says, and he will at least be +able to have a view of his native country." We know from the history of +St. Paul what a genuine privilege and protection this citizenship was. +And Cicero exactly expresses the feeling on the subject in his famous +words. "It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in irons; it is positive +wickedness to inflict stripes upon him; it is close upon parricide to +put him to death; as to crucifying him there is no word for it." And on +this crowning act of audacity Verres had the recklessness to venture. + +After holding office for three years Verres came back to Rome. The +people of Messana, his only friends in the islands, had built a +merchantman for him, and he loaded it with his spoils. He came back with +a light heart. He knew indeed that the Sicilians would impeach him. His +wrong-doings had been too gross, too insolent, for him to escape +altogether. But he was confident that he had the means in his hands for +securing an acquittal. The men that were to judge him were men of his +own order. The senators still retained the privilege which Sulla had +given them. They, and they alone, furnished the juries before whom such +causes were tried. Of these senators not a few had a fellow-feeling for +a provincial governor accused of extortion and wrong. Some had +plundered provinces in the past; others hoped to do so in the future. +Many insignificant men who could not hope to obtain such promotion were +notoriously open to bribes. And some who would have scorned to receive +money, or were too wealthy to be influenced by it, were not insensible +to the charms of other gifts--to a fine statue or a splendid picture +judiciously bestowed. A few, even more scrupulous, who would not accept +such presents for their own halls or gardens, were glad to have such +splendid ornaments for the games which they exhibited to the people. +Verres came back amply provided with these means of securing his safety. +He openly avowed--for indeed he was as frank as he was unscrupulous--that +he had trebled his extortions in order that, after leaving a sufficiency +for himself, he might have wherewith to win the favor of his judges. It +soon became evident to him that he would need these and all other help, +if he was to escape. The Sicilians engaged Cicero to plead their cause. +He had been quaestor in a division of the province for a year six years +before, and had won golden opinions by his moderation and integrity. And +Cicero was a power in the courts of the law, all the greater because he +had never yet prosecuted, but had kept himself to what was held the more +honorable task of defending persons accused.[2] Verres secured Hortensius. +He too was a great orator; Cicero had chosen him as the model which he +would imitate, and speaks of him as having been a splendid and energetic +speaker, full of life both in diction and action. At that time, perhaps, +his reputation stood higher than that of Cicero himself. It was something +to have retained so powerful an advocate; it would be still more if it +could be contrived that the prosecutor should be a less formidable person. +And there was a chance of contriving this. A certain Caecilius was induced +to come forward, and claim for himself, against Cicero, the duty of +prosecuting the late governor of Sicily. He too had been a quaestor in the +province, and he had quarreled, or he pretended that he had quarreled, with +Verres. The first thing there had to be argued before the court, which, +like our own, consisted of a presiding judge and a jury, was the +question, who was to prosecute, Cicero or Caecilius, or the two +together. Cicero made a great speech, in which he established his own +claim. He was the choice of the provincials; the honesty of his rival +was doubtful, while it was quite certain that he was incompetent. The +court decided in his favor, and he was allowed one hundred and ten days +to collect evidence. Verres had another device in store. This time a +member of the Senate came forward and claimed to prosecute Verres for +misdoings in the province of Achaia in Greece. He wanted one hundred and +eight days only for collecting evidence. If this claim should be +allowed, the second prosecution would be taken first; of course it was +not intended to be serious, and would end in an acquittal. Meanwhile all +the available time would have been spent, and the Sicilian affair would +have to be postponed till the next year. It was on postponement indeed +that Verres rested his hopes. In July Hortensius was elected consul for +the following year, and if the trial could only be put off till he had +entered upon office, nothing was to be feared. Verres was openly +congratulated in the streets of Rome on his good fortune. "I have good +news for you," cried a friend; "the election has taken place and you are +acquitted." Another friend had been chosen praetor, and would be the +new presiding judge. Consul and praetor between them would have the +appointment of the new jurors, and would take care that they should be +such as the accused desired. At the same time the new governor of Sicily +would be also a friend, and he would throw judicious obstacles in the +way of the attendance of witnesses. The sham prosecution came to +nothing. The prosecutor never left Italy. Cicero, on the other hand, +employed the greatest diligence. Accompanied by his cousin Lucius he +visited all the chief cities of Sicily, and collected from them an +enormous mass of evidence. In this work he only spent fifty out of the +hundred and ten days allotted to him, and was ready to begin long before +he was expected. + +[Footnote 2: So Horace compliments a friend on being "the illustrious +safeguard of the sad accused."] + +Verres had still one hope left; and this, strangely enough, sprang out +of the very number and enormity of his crimes. The mass of evidence was +so great that the trial might be expected to last for a long time. If it +could only be protracted into the next year, when his friends would be +in office, he might still hope to escape. And indeed there was but +little time left. The trial began on the fifth of August. In the middle +of the month Pompey was to exhibit some games. Then would come the games +called "The Games of Rome," and after this others again, filling up much +of the three months of September, October, and November. Cicero +anticipated this difficulty. He made a short speech (it could not have +lasted more than two hours in delivering), in which he stated the case +in outline. He made a strong appeal to the jury. They were themselves on +their trial. The eyes of all the world were on them. If they did not do +justice on so notorious a criminal they would never be trusted any more. +It would be seen that the senators were not fit to administer the law. +The law itself was on its trial. The provincials openly declared that if +Verres was acquitted, the law under which their governors were liable to +be accused had better be repealed. If no fear of a prosecution were +hanging over them, they would be content with as much plunder as would +satisfy their own wants. They would not need to extort as much more +wherewith to bribe their judges. Then he called his witnesses. A +marvelous array they were. "From the foot of Mount Taurus, from the +shores of the Black Sea, from many cities of the Grecian mainland, from +many islands of the Aegean, from every city and market-town of Sicily, +deputations thronged to Rome. In the porticoes, and on the steps of the +temples, in the area of the Forum, in the colonnade that surrounded it, +on the housetops and on the overlooking declivities, were stationed +dense and eager crowds of impoverished heirs and their guardians, +bankrupt tax-farmers and corn merchants, fathers bewailing their +children carried off to the praetor's harem, children mourning for their +parents dead in the praetor's dungeons, Greek nobles whose descent was +traced to Cecrops or Eurysthenes, or to the great Ionian and Minyan +houses, and Phoenicians, whose ancestors had been priests of the Tyrian +Melcarth, or claimed kindred with the Zidonian Jah."[3] Nine days were +spent in hearing this mass of evidence. Hortensius was utterly +overpowered by it. He had no opportunity for displaying his eloquence, +or making a pathetic appeal for a noble oppressed by the hatred of the +democracy. After a few feeble attempts at cross-examination, he +practically abandoned the case. The defendant himself perceived that his +position was hopeless. Before the nine days, with their terrible +impeachment, had come to an end he fled from Rome. + +[Footnote 3: Article in "Dictionary of Classical Biography and +Mythology," by William Bodham Donne.] + +The jury returned an unanimous verdict of guilty, and the prisoner was +condemned to banishment and to pay a fine. The place of banishment +(which he was apparently allowed to select outside certain limits) was +Marseilles. The amount of the fine we do not know. It certainly was not +enough to impoverish him. + +Much of the money, and many of the works of art which he had stolen were +left to him. These latter, by a singularly just retribution, proved his +ruin in the end. After the death of Cicero, Antony permitted the exiles +to return. Verres came with them, bringing back his treasures of art, +and was put to death because they excited the cupidity of the masters of +Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A GREAT ROMAN CAUSE. + + +There were various courts at Rome for persons accused of various +crimes. One judge, for instance, used to try charges of poisoning; +another, charges of murder; and, just as is the case among us, each +judge had a jury, who gave their verdict on the evidence which they had +heard. But this verdict was not, as with us, the verdict of the whole +jury, given only if all can be induced to agree, but of the majority. +Each juryman wrote his opinion on a little tablet of wood, putting A. +(_absolvo_, "I acquit") if he thought the accused innocent, K. +(_condemno_, "I condemn") if he thought him guilty, and N.L. (_non +liquet_, "It is not clear") if the case seemed suspicious, though there +was not enough evidence to convict. + +In the year 66 B.C. a very strange trial took place in the Court of +Poison Cases. A certain Cluentius was accused of having poisoned his +step-father, Oppianicus, and various other persons. Cicero, who was +praetor that year (the praetor was the magistrate next in rank to the +consul), defended Cluentius, and told his client's whole story. + +Cluentius and his step-father were both natives of Larinum, a town in +Apulia, where there was a famous temple of Mars. A dispute about the +property of this temple caused an open quarrel between the two men, who +had indeed been enemies for some years. Oppianicus took up the case of +some slaves, who were called _Servants of Mars_, declaring that they +were not slaves at all, but Roman citizens. This he did, it would seem, +because he desired to annoy his fellow-townsmen, with whom he was very +unpopular. The people of Larinum, who were very much interested in all +that concerned the splendor of their temple services, resisted the +claim, and asked Cluentius to plead their case. Cluentius consented. +While the cause was going on, it occurred to Oppianicus to get rid of +his opponent by poison. He employed an agent, and the agent put the +matter into the hands of his freedman, a certain Scamander. Scamander +tried to accomplish his object by bribing the slave of the physician who +was attending Cluentius. The physician was a needy Greek, and his slave +had probably hard and scanty fare; but he was an honest man, and as +clever as he was honest. He pretended to accept the offer, and arranged +for a meeting. This done, he told the whole matter to his master the +physician, and the physician told it again to his patient. Cluentius +arranged that certain friends should be present in concealment at the +interview between the slave and his tempter. The villain came, and was +seized with the poison and a packet of money, sealed with his master's +seal, upon him. + +Cluentius, who had put up with many provocations from his mother's +husband, now felt that his life was in danger, and determined to defend +himself. He indicted Scamander for an attempt to poison. The man was +found guilty. Scamander's patron (as they used to call a freedman's old +master) was next brought to trial, and with the same result. Last of all +Oppianicus, the chief criminal, was attacked. Scamander's trial had +warned him of his danger, and he had labored to bring about the man's +acquittal. One vote, and one only, he had contrived to secure. And to +the giver of this vote, a needy and unprincipled member of the Senate, +he now had recourse. He went, of course, with a large sum in his +hand--something about five thousand six hundred pounds of our money. +With this the senator--Staienus by name--was to bribe sixteen out of the +thirty-two jurymen. They were to have three hundred and fifty pounds +apiece for their votes, and Staienus was to have as much for his own +vote (which would give a majority), and something over for his trouble. +Staienus conceived the happy idea of appropriating the whole, and he +managed it in this way. He accosted a fellow-juror, whom he knew to be +as unprincipled as himself. "Bulbus," he said, "you will help me in +taking care that we sha'n't serve our country for nothing." "You may +count on me," said the man. Staienus went on, "The defendant has +promised three hundred and fifty pounds to every juror who will vote +'Not Guilty.' You know who will take the money. Secure them, and come +again to me." Nine days after, Bulbus came with beaming face to +Staienus. "I have got the sixteen in the matter you know of; and now, +where is the money?" "He has played me false," replied the other; "the +money is not forthcoming. As for myself, I shall certainly vote +'Guilty.'" + +The trial came to an end, and the verdict was to be given. The defendant +claimed that it should be given by word of mouth, being anxious to know +who had earned their money. Staienus and Bulbus were the first to vote. +To the surprise of all, they voted "Guilty." Rumors too of foul play had +spread about. The two circumstances caused some of the more respectable +jurors to hesitate. In the end _five_ voted for acquittal, _ten_ said +"Not Proven," and seventeen "Guilty." Oppianicus suffered nothing worse +than banishment, a banishment which did not prevent him from living in +Italy, and even in the neighborhood of Rome. The Romans, though they +shed blood like water in their civil strife, were singularly lenient in +their punishments. Not long afterwards he died. + +His widow saw in his death an opportunity of gratifying the unnatural +hatred which she had long felt for her son Cluentius. She would accuse +him of poisoning his step-father. Her first attempt failed completely. +She subjected three slaves to torture, one of them her own, another +belonged to the younger Oppianicus, a third the property of the +physician who had attended the deceased in his last illness. But the +cruelties and tortures extorted no confession from the men. At last the +friends whom she had summoned to be present at the inquiry compelled her +to desist. Three years afterwards she renewed the attempt. She had taken +one of the three tortured slaves into high favor, and had established +him as a physician at Larinum. The man committed an audacious robbery in +his mistress's house, breaking open a chest and abstracting from it a +quantity of silver coin and five pounds weight of gold. At the same time +he murdered two of his fellow-slaves, and threw their bodies into the +fish-pond. Suspicion fell upon the missing slaves. But when the chest +came to be closely examined, the opening was found to be of a very +curious kind. A friend remembered that he had lately seen among the +miscellaneous articles at an auction a circular saw which would have +made just such an opening. It was found that this saw had been bought by +the physician. He was now charged with the crime. Thereupon a young lad +who had been his accomplice came forward and told the story. The bodies +were found in the fish-pond. The guilty slave was tortured. He confessed +the deed, and he also confessed, his mistress declared, that he had +given poison to Oppianicus at the instance of Cluentius. No opportunity +was given for further inquiry. His confession made, the man was +immediately executed. Under strong compulsion from his step-mother, the +younger Oppianicus now took up the case, and indicted Cluentius for +murder. The evidence was very weak, little or nothing beyond the very +doubtful confession spoken of above; but then there was a very violent +prejudice against the accused. There had been a suspicion--perhaps more +than a suspicion--of foul play in the trial which had ended in the +condemnation of Oppianicus. The defendant, men said, might have +attempted to bribe the jury, but the plaintiff had certainly done so. It +would be a fine thing if he were to be punished even by finding him +guilty of a crime which he had not committed. + +In defending his client, Cicero relied as much upon the terrible list +of crimes which had been proved against the dead Oppianicus as upon any +thing else. Terrible indeed it was, as a few specimens from the +catalogue will prove. + +Among the wealthier inhabitants of Larinum was a certain Dinaea, a +childless widow. She had lost her eldest son in the Social War (the war +carried on between Rome and her Italian allies), and had seen two others +die of disease. Her only daughter, who had been married to Oppianicus, +was also dead. Now came the unexpected news that her eldest son was +still alive. He had been sold into slavery, and was still working among +a gang of laborers on a farm in Gaul. The poor woman called her kinsfolk +together and implored them to undertake the task of recovering him. At +the same time she made a will, leaving the bulk of her property to her +daughter's son, the younger Oppianicus, but providing for the missing +man a legacy of between three and four thousand pounds. The elder +Oppianicus was not disposed to see so large a sum go out of the family. +Dinaea fell ill, and he brought her his own physician. The patient +refused the man's services; they had been fatal, she said, to all her +kinsfolk. Oppianicus then contrived to introduce to her a traveling +quack from Ancona. He had bribed the man with about seventeen pounds of +our money to administer a deadly drug. The fee was large, and the fellow +was expected to take some pains with the business; but he was in a +hurry; he had many markets to visit; and he gave a single dose which +there was no need to repeat. + +Meanwhile Dinaea's kinsfolk had sent two agents to make inquiries for +the missing son. But Oppianicus had been beforehand with them. He had +bribed the man who had brought the first news, had learned where he was +to be found, and had caused him to be assassinated. The agents wrote to +their employers at Larinum, saying that the object of their search could +not be found, Oppianicus having undoubtedly tampered with the person +from whom information was to be obtained. This letter excited great +indignation at Larinum; and one of the family publicly declared in the +market-place that he should hold Oppianicus (who happened to be present) +responsible if any harm should be found to have happened to the missing +man. A few days afterwards the agents themselves returned. They had +found the man, but he was dead. Oppianicus dared not face the burst of +rage which this news excited, and fled from Larinum. But he was not at +the end of his resources. The Civil War between Sulla and the party of +Marius (for Marius himself was now dead) was raging, and Oppianicus fled +to the camp of Metellus Pius, one of Sulla's lieutenants. There he +represented himself as one who had suffered for the party. Metellus had +himself fought in the Social War, and fought against the side to which +the murdered prisoner belonged. It was therefore easy to persuade him +that the man had deserved his fate, and that his friends were unworthy +persons and dangerous to the commonwealth. Oppianicus returned to +Larinum with an armed force, deposed the magistrates whom the +towns-people had chosen, produced Sulla's mandate for the appointment of +himself and three of his creatures in their stead, as well as for the +execution of four persons particularly obnoxious to him. These four +were, the man who had publicly threatened him, two of his kinsfolk, and +one of the instruments of his own villainies, whom he now found it +convenient to get out of the way. + +The story of the crimes of Oppianicus, of which only a small part has +been given, having been finished, Cicero related the true circumstances +of his death. After his banishment he had wandered about for a while +shunned by all his acquaintances. Then he had taken up his quarters in a +farmhouse in the Falernian country. From these he was driven away by a +quarrel with the farmer, and removed to a small lodging which he had +hired outside the walls of Rome. Not long afterwards he fell from his +horse, and received a severe injury in his side. His health was already +weak, fever came on, he was carried into the city and died after a few +days' illness. + +Besides the charge of poisoning Oppianicus there were others that had to +be briefly dealt with. One only of these needs to be mentioned. +Cluentius, it was said, had put poison into a cup of honey wine, with +the intention of giving it to the younger Oppianicus. The occasion, it +was allowed, was the young man's wedding-breakfast, to which, as was +the custom at Larinum, a large company had been invited. The prosecutor +affirmed that one of the bridegroom's friends had intercepted the cup on +its way, drunk off its contents, and instantly expired. The answer to +this was complete. The young man had not instantly expired. On the +contrary, he had died after an illness of several days, and this illness +had had a different cause. He was already out of health when he came to +the breakfast, and he had made himself worse by eating and drinking too +freely, "as," says the orator, "young men will do." He then called a +witness to whom no one could object, the father of the deceased. "The +least suspicion of the guilt of Cluentius would have brought him as a +witness against him. Instead of doing this he gives him his support. +Read," said Cicero to the clerk, "read his evidence. And you, sir," +turning to the father, "stand up a while, if you please, and submit to +the pain of hearing what I am obliged to relate. I will say no more +about the case. Your conduct has been admirable; you would not allow +your own sorrow to involve an innocent man in the deplorable calamity of +a false accusation." + +Then came the story of the cruel and shameful plot which the mother had +contrived against her son. Nothing would content this wicked woman but +that she must herself journey to Rome to give all the help that she +could to the prosecution. "And what a journey this was!" cried Cicero. +"I live near some of the towns near which she passed, and I have heard +from many witnesses what happened. Vast crowds came to see her. Men, ay, +and women too, groaned aloud as she passed by. Groaned at what? Why, +that from the distant town of Larinum, from the very shore of the Upper +Sea, a woman was coming with a great retinue and heavy money-bags, +coming with the single object of bringing about the ruin of a son who +was being tried for his life. In all those crowds there was not a man +who did not think that every spot on which she set her foot needed to be +purified, that the very earth, which is the mother of us all, was +defiled by the presence of a mother so abominably wicked. There was not +a single town in which she was allowed to stay; there was not an inn of +all the many upon that road where the host did not shun the contagion +of her presence. And indeed she preferred to trust herself to solitude +and to darkness rather than to any city or hostelry. And now," said +Cicero, turning to the woman, who was probably sitting in court, "does +she think that we do not all know her schemes, her intrigues, her +purposes from day to day? Truly we know exactly to whom she has gone, to +whom she has promised money, whose integrity she has endeavored to +corrupt with her bribes. Nay, more: we have heard all about the things +which she supposes to be a secret, her nightly sacrifice, her wicked +prayers, her abominable vows." + +He then turned to the son, whom he would have the jury believe was as +admirable as the mother was vile. He had certainly brought together a +wonderful array of witnesses to, character. From Larinum every grown-up +man that had the strength to make the journey had come to Rome to +support their fellow-townsman. The town was left to the care of women +and children. With these witnesses had come, bringing a resolution of +the local senate full of the praises of the accused, a deputation of the +senators. Cicero turned to the deputation and begged them to stand up +while the resolution was being read. They stood up and burst into tears, +which indeed are much more common among the people of the south than +among us, and of which no one sees any reason to be ashamed. "You see +these tears, gentlemen," cried the orator to the jury. "You may be sure, +from seeing them, that every member of the senate was in tears also when +they passed this resolution." Nor was it only Larinum, but all the chief +Samnite towns that had sent their most respected citizens to give their +evidence for Cluentius. "Few," said Cicero, "I think, are loved by me as +much as he is loved by all these friends." + +Cluentius was acquitted. Cicero is said to have boasted afterwards that +he had blinded the eyes of the jury. Probably his client had bribed the +jury in the trial of his step-father. That was certainly the common +belief, which indeed went so far as to fix the precise sum which he +paid. "How many miles is your farm from Rome?" was asked of one of the +witnesses at a trial connected with the case. "Less than fifty-three," +he replied. "Exactly the sum," was the general cry from the spectators. +The point of the joke is in the fact that the same word stood in Latin +for the _thousand_ paces which made a mile and the _thousand_ coins by +which sums of money were commonly reckoned. Oppianicus had paid forty +thousand for an acquittal, and Cluentius outbid him with fifty thousand +("less than fifty-three") to secure a verdict of guilty. But whatever we +may think of the guilt or innocence of Cluentius, there can be no doubt +that the cause in which Cicero defended him was one of the most +interesting ever tried in Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +COUNTRY LIFE. + + +A Roman of even moderate wealth--for Cicero was far from being one of +the richest men of his time--commonly possessed more country-houses than +belong even to the wealthiest of English nobles. One such house at least +Cicero inherited from his father. It was about three miles from Arpinum, +a little town in that hill country of the Sabines which was the +proverbial seat of a temperate and frugal race, and which Cicero +describes in Homeric phrase as + + "Rough but a kindly nurse of men." + +In his grandfather's time it had been a plain farmhouse, of the kind +that had satisfied the simpler manners of former days--the days when +Consuls and Dictators were content, their time of office ended, to plow +their own fields and reap their own harvests. Cicero was born within its +walls, for the primitive fashion of family life still prevailed, and the +married son continued to live in his father's house. After the old man's +death, when the old-fashioned frugality gave way to a more sumptuous +manner of life, the house was greatly enlarged, one of the additions +being a library, a room of which the grandfather, who thought that his +contemporaries were like Syrian slaves, "the more Greek they knew the +greater knaves they were," had never felt the want; but in which his +son, especially in his later days, spent most of his time. The garden +and grounds were especially delightful, the most charming spot of all +being an island formed by the little stream Fibrenus. A description put +into the mouth of Quintus, the younger son of the house, thus depicts +it: "I have never seen a more pleasant spot. Fibrenus here divides his +stream into two of equal size, and so washes either side. Flowing +rapidly by he joins his waters again, having compassed just as much +ground as makes a convenient place for our literary discussions. This +done he hurries on, just as if the providing of such a spot had been his +only office and function, to fall into the Liris. Then, like one adopted +into a noble family, he loses his own obscurer name. The Liris indeed he +makes much colder. A colder stream than this indeed I never touched, +though I have seen many. I can scarce bear to dip my foot in it. You +remember how Plato makes Socrates dip his foot in Ilissus." Atticus too +is loud in his praises. "This, you know, is my first time of coming +here, and I feel that I cannot admire it enough. As to the splendid +villas which one often sees, with their marble pavements and gilded +ceilings, I despise them. And their water-courses, to which they give +the fine names of Nile or Euripus, who would not laugh at them when he +sees your streams? When we want rest and delight for the mind it is to +nature that we must come. Once I used to wonder--for I never thought +that there was any thing but rocks and hills in the place--that you took +such pleasure in the spot. But now I marvel that when you are away from +Rome you care to be any where but here." "Well," replied Cicero, "when I +get away from town for several days at a time, I do prefer this place; +but this I can seldom do. And indeed I love it, not only because it is +so pleasant, so healthy a resort, but also because it is my native land, +mine and my father's too, and because I live here among the associations +of those that have gone before me." + +Other homes he purchased at various times of his life, as his means +permitted. The situation of one of them, at Formiae near Cape Caista, +was particularly agreeable to him, for he loved the sea; it amused him +as it had amused, he tells us, the noble friends, Scipio and Laelius, +before him, to pick up pebbles on the shore. But this part of the coast +was a fashionable resort. Chance visitors were common; and there were +many neighbors, some of whom were far too liberal of their visits. He +writes to Atticus on one occasion from his Formian villa: "As to +composition, to which you are always urging me, it is absolutely +impossible. It is a public-hall that I have here, not a country-house, +such a crowd of people is there at Formiae. As to most of them nothing +need be said. After ten o'clock they cease to trouble me. But my nearest +neighbor is Arrius. The man absolutely lives with me, says that he has +given up the idea of going to Rome because he wants to talk philosophy +with me. And then, on the other side, there is Sebosus, Catulus' friend, +as you will remember. Now what am I to do? I would certainly be off to +Arpinum if I did not expect to see you here." In the next letter he +repeats the complaints: "Just as I am sitting down to write in comes our +friend Sebosus. I had not time to give an inward groan, when Arrius +says, 'Good morning.' And this is going away from Rome! I will +certainly be off to + + 'My native hills, the cradle of my race.'" + +Still, doubtless, there was a sweetness, the sweetness of being famous +and sought after, even in these annoyances. He never ceased to pay +occasional visits to Formiae. It was a favorite resort of his family; +and it was there that he spent the last days of his life. + +But the country-house which he loved best of all was his villa at +Tusculum, a Latin town lying on the slope of Mount Algidus, at such a +height above the sea[4] as would make a notable hill in England. Here +had lived in an earlier generation Crassus, the orator after whose model +the young Cicero had formed his own eloquence; and Catulus, who shared +with Marius the glory of saving Rome from the barbarians; and Caesar, an +elder kinsman of the Dictator. Cicero's own house had belonged to +Sulla, and its walls were adorned with frescoes of that great soldier's +victories. For neighbors he had the wealthy Lucullus, and the still more +wealthy Crassus, one of the three who ruled Rome when it could no longer +rule itself, and, for a time at least, Quintus, his brother. "This," he +writes to his friend Atticus, "is the one spot in which I can get some +rest from all my toils and troubles." + +[Footnote 4: 2200 feet.] + +Though Cicero often speaks of this house of his, he nowhere describes +its general arrangements. We shall probably be not far wrong if we +borrow our idea of this from the letter in which the younger Pliny tells +a friend about one of his own country seats. + +"The courtyard in front is plain without being mean. From this you pass +into a small but cheerful space inclosed by colonnades in the shape of +the letter D. Between these there is a passage into an inner covered +court, and out of this again into a handsome hall, which has on every +side folding doors or windows equally large. On the left hand of this +hall lies a large drawing-room, and beyond that a second of a smaller +size, which has one window to the rising and another to the setting sun. +Adjoining this is another room of a semicircular shape, the windows of +which are so arranged as to get the sun all through the day: in the +walls are bookcases containing a collection of authors who cannot be +read too often. Out of this is a bedroom which can be warmed with hot +air. The rest of this side of the house is appropriated to the use of +the slaves and freedmen; yet most of the rooms are good enough to put my +guests into. In the opposite wing is a most elegant bedroom, another +which can be used both as bedroom and sitting-room, and a third which +has an ante-room of its own, and is so high as to be cool in summer, and +with walls so thick that it is warm in winter. Then comes the bath with +its cooling room, its hot room, and its dressing chamber. And not far +from this again the tennis court, which gets the warmth of the afternoon +sun, and a tower which commands an extensive view of the country round. +Then there is a granary and a store-room." + +This was probably a larger villa than Cicero's, though it was itself +smaller than another which Pliny describes. We must make an allowance +for the increase in wealth and luxury which a century and a half had +brought. Still we may get some idea from it of Cicero's country-house, +one point of resemblance certainly being that there was but one floor. + +What Cicero says about his "Tusculanum" chiefly refers to its furnishing +and decoration, and is to be found for the most part in his letters to +Atticus. Atticus lived for many years in Athens and had therefore +opportunities of buying works of art and books which did not fall in the +way of the busy lawyer and statesman of Rome. But the room which in +Cicero's eyes was specially important was one which we may call the +lecture-room, and he is delighted when his friend was able to procure +some appropriate ornaments for it. "Your _Hermathena_" he writes (the +_Hermathena_ was a composite statue, or rather a double bust upon a +pedestal, with the heads of Hermes and Athene, the Roman Mercury and +Minerva) "pleases me greatly. It stands so prettily that the whole +lecture-room looks like a votive chapel of the deity. I am greatly +obliged to you." He returns to the subject in another letter. Atticus +had probably purchased for him another bust of the same kind. "What you +write about the _Hermathena_ pleases me greatly. It is a most +appropriate ornament for my own little 'seat of learning.' Hermes is +suitable every where, and Minerva is the special emblem of a +lecture-room. I should be glad if you would, as you suggest, find as +many more ornaments of the same kind for the place. As for the statues +that you sent me before, I have not seen them. They are at my house at +Formiae, whither I am just now thinking of going. I shall remove them +all to my place at Tusculum. If ever I shall find myself with more than +enough for this I shall begin to ornament the other. Pray keep your +books. Don't give up the hope that I may be able to make them mine. If I +can only do this I shall be richer than Crassus." And, again, "If you +can find any lecture-room ornaments do not neglect to secure them. My +Tusculum house is so delightful to me that it is only when I get there +that I seem to be satisfied with myself." In another letter we hear +something about the prices. He has paid about one hundred and eighty +pounds for some statues from Megara which his friend had purchased for +him. At the same time he thanks him by anticipation for some busts of +Hermes, in which the pedestals were of marble from Pentelicus, and the +heads of bronze. They had not come to hand when he next writes: "I am +looking for them," he says, "most anxiously;" and he again urges +diligence in looking for such things. "You may trust the length of my +purse. This is my special fancy." Shortly after Atticus has found +another kind of statue, double busts of Hermes and Hercules, the god of +strength; and Cicero is urgent to have them for his lecture-room. All +the same he does not forget the books, for which he is keeping his odds +and ends of income, his "little vintages," as he calls them--possibly +the money received from a small vineyard attached to his +pleasure-grounds. Of books, however, he had an ample supply close at +home, of which he could make as much use as he pleased, the splendid +library which Lucullus had collected. "When I was at my house in +Tusculum," he writes in one of his treatises, "happening to want to make +use of some books in the library of the young Lucullus, I went to his +villa, to take them out myself, as my custom was. Coming there I found +Cato (Cato was the lad's uncle and guardian), of whom, however, then I +knew nothing, sitting in the library absolutely surrounded with books of +the Stoic writers on philosophy." + +When Cicero was banished, the house at Tusculum shared the fate of the +rest of his property. The building was destroyed. The furniture, and +with it the books and works of art so diligently collected, were stolen +or sold. Cicero thought, and was probably right in thinking, that the +Senate dealt very meanly with him when they voted him something between +four and five thousand pounds as compensation for his loss in this +respect. For his house at Formiae they gave him half as much. We hear of +his rebuilding the house. He had advertised the contract, he tells us in +the same letter in which he complains of the insufficient compensation. +Some of his valuables he recovered, but we hear no more of collecting. +He had lost heart for it, as men will when such a disaster has happened +to them. He was growing older too, and the times were growing more and +more troublous. Possibly money was not so plentiful with him as it had +been in earlier days. But we have one noble monument of the man +connected with the second of his two Tusculum houses. He makes it the +scene of the "Discussions of Tusculum," one of the last of the treatises +in the writing of which he found consolation for private and public +sorrows. He describes himself as resorting in the afternoon to his +"Academy," and there discussing how the wise man may rise superior to +the fear of death, to pain and to sorrow, how he may rule his passions, +and find contentment in virtue alone. "If it seems," he says, summing up +the first of these discussions, "if it seems the clear bidding of God +that we should quit this life [he seems to be speaking of suicide, which +appeared to a Roman to be, under certain circumstances, a laudable act], +let us obey gladly and thankfully. Let us consider that we are being +loosed from prison, and released from chains, that we may either find +our way back to a home that is at once everlasting and manifestly our +own, or at least be quit forever of all sensation and trouble. If no +such bidding come to us, let us at least cherish such a temper that we +may look on that day so dreadful to others as full of blessing to us; +and let us look on nothing that is ordered for us either by the +everlasting gods or by nature, our common mother, as an evil. It is not +by some random chance that we have been created. There is beyond all +doubt some mighty Power which watches over the race of man, which does +not produce a creature whose doom it is, after having exhausted all +other woes, to fall at last into the unending woe of death. Rather let +us believe that we have in death a haven and refuge prepared for us. I +would that we might sail thither with widespread sails; if not, if +contrary winds shall blow us back, still we must needs reach, though it +may be somewhat late, the haven where we would be. And as for the fate +which is the fate of all, how can it be the unhappiness of one?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A GREAT CONSPIRACY. + + +Sergius Catiline belonged to an ancient family which had fallen into +poverty. In the evil days of Sulla, when the nobles recovered the power +which they had lost, and plundered and murdered their adversaries, he +had shown himself as cruel and as wicked as any of his fellows. Like +many others he had satisfied grudges of his own under pretense of +serving his party, and had actually killed his brother-in-law with his +own hand. These evil deeds and his private character, which was of the +very worst, did not hinder him from rising to high offices in the State. +He was made first aedile, then praetor, then governor of Africa, a +province covering the region which now bears the names of Tripoli and +Tunis. At the end of his year of government he returned to Rome, +intending to become a candidate for the consulship. In this he met with +a great disappointment. He was indicted for misgovernment in his +province, and as the law did not permit any one who had such a charge +hanging over him to stand for any public office, he was compelled to +retire. But he soon found, or fancied that he had found, an opportunity +of revenging himself. The two new consuls were found guilty of bribery, +and were compelled to resign. One of them, enraged at his disgrace, made +common cause with Catiline. A plot, in which not a few powerful citizens +were afterwards suspected with more or less reason of having joined, was +formed. It was arranged that the consuls should be assassinated on the +first day of the new year; the day, that is, on which they were to enter +on their office. But a rumor of some impending danger got about; on the +appointed day the new consuls appeared with a sufficient escort, and the +conspirators agreed to postpone the execution of their scheme till an +early day in February. This time the secret was better kept, but the +impatience of Catiline hindered the plot from being carried out. It had +been arranged that he should take his place in front of the +senate-house, and give to the hired band of assassins the signal to +begin. This signal he gave before the whole number was assembled. The +few that were present had not the courage to act, and the opportunity +was lost. + +The trial for misgovernment ended in an acquittal, purchased, it was +said, by large bribes given to the jurymen and even to the prosecutor, a +certain Clodius, of whom we shall hear again, and shall find to have +been not one whit better than Catiline himself. A second trial, this +time for misdeeds committed in the days of Sulla, ended in the same way. +Catiline now resolved on following another course of action. He would +take up the character of a friend of the people. He had the advantage of +being a noble, for men thought that he was honest when they saw him thus +turn against his own order, and, as it seemed, against his own +interests. And indeed there was much that he could say, and say with +perfect truth, against the nobles. They were corrupt and profligate +beyond all bearing. They sat on juries and gave false verdicts for +money. They went out to govern provinces, showed themselves horribly +cruel and greedy, and then came home to be acquitted by men who had done +or hoped to do the very same things themselves. People listened to +Catiline when he spoke against such doings, without remembering that he +was just as bad himself. He had too, just the reputation for strength +and courage that was likely to make him popular. He had never been a +soldier, but he was known to be very brave, and he had a remarkable +power of enduring cold and hunger and hardships of every kind. On the +strength of the favor which he thus gained, he stood again for the +consulship. In anticipation of being elected, he gathered a number of +men about him, unsuccessful and discontented like himself, and unfolded +his plans. All debts were to be wiped out, and wealthy citizens were to +be put to death and their property to be divided. It was hoped that the +consuls at home, and two at least of the armies in the provinces, would +support the movement. The first failure was that Catiline was not +elected consul, Cicero being chosen unanimously, with Antonius, who had +a small majority over Catiline, for his colleague. Enraged at his want +of success, the latter now proceeded to greater lengths than ever. He +actually raised troops in various parts of Italy, but especially in +Etruria, which one Manlius, an old officer in Sulla's army, commanded. +He then again became a candidate for the consulship, resolving first to +get rid of Cicero, who, he found, met and thwarted him at every turn. +Happily for Rome these designs were discovered through the weakness of +one of his associates. This man told the secret to a lady, with whom he +was in love, and the lady, dismayed at the boldness and wickedness of +the plan, communicated all she knew to Cicero. + +Not knowing that he was thus betrayed, Catiline set about ridding +himself of his great antagonist. Nor did the task seem difficult. The +hours both of business and of pleasure in Rome were what we should think +inconveniently early. Thus a Roman noble or statesman would receive in +the first hours of the morning the calls of ceremony or friendship which +it is our custom to pay in the afternoon. It would sometimes happen that +early visitors would find the great man not yet risen. In these cases he +would often receive them in bed. This was probably the habit of Cicero, +a courteous, kindly man, always anxious to be popular, and therefore +easy of access. On this habit the conspirators counted. Two of their +number, one of them a knight, the other a senator, presented themselves +at his door shortly after sunrise on the seventh of November. They +reckoned on finding him, not in the great hall of his mansion, +surrounded by friends and dependents, but in his bed-chamber. But the +consul had received warning of their coming, and they were refused +admittance. The next day he called a meeting of the Senate in the temple +of Jupiter the Stayer, which was supposed to be the safest place where +they could assemble. + +To this meeting Catiline, a member in right of having filled high +offices of state, himself ventured to come. A tall, stalwart man, +manifestly of great power of body and mind, but with a face pale and +wasted by excess, and his eyes haggard and bloodshot, he sat alone in +the midst of a crowded house. No man had greeted him when he entered, +and when he took his place on the benches allotted to senators who had +filled the office of consul, all shrank from him. Then Cicero rose in +his place. He turned directly and addressed his adversary. "How long, +Catiline," he cried, "will you abuse our patience?" How had he dared to +come to that meeting? Was it not enough for him to know how all the city +was on its guard against him; how his fellow-senators shrank from him as +men shrink from a pestilence? If he was still alive, he owed it to the +forbearance of those against whom he plotted; and this forbearance would +last so long, and so long only, as to allow every one to be convinced of +his guilt. For the present, he was suffered to live, but to live guarded +and watched and incapable of mischief. Then the speaker related every +detail of the conspiracy. He knew not only every thing that the +accomplices had intended to do, but the very days that had been fixed +for doing it. Overwhelmed by this knowledge of his plans, Catiline +scarcely attempted a defense. He said in a humble voice, "Do not think, +Fathers, that I, a noble of Rome, I who have done myself, whose +ancestors have done much good to this city, wish to see it in ruins, +while this consul, a mere lodger in the place, would save it." He would +have said more, but the whole assembly burst into cries of "Traitor! +Traitor!" and drowned his voice. "My enemies," he cried, "are driving +me to destruction. But look! if you set my house on fire, I will put it +out with a general ruin." And he rushed out of the Senate. + +Nothing, he saw, could be done in Rome; every point was guarded against +him. Late that same night he left the city, committing the management of +affairs to Cethegus and Lentulus, and promising to return before long +with an army at his back. Halting awhile on his road, he wrote letters +to some of the chief senators, in which he declared that for the sake of +the public peace he should give up the struggle with his enemies and +quietly retire to Marseilles. What he really did was to make his way to +the camp of Manlius, where he assumed the usual state of a regular +military command. The Senate, on hearing of these doings, declared him +to be an outlaw. The consuls were to raise an army; Antonius was to +march against the enemy, and Cicero to protect the city. + +Meanwhile the conspirators left behind in Rome had been busy. One of +the tribes of Gaul had sent deputies to the Capitol to obtain redress +for injuries of which they complained. The men had effected little or +nothing. The Senate neglected them. The help of officials could only be +purchased by heavy bribes. They were now heavily in debt both on their +own account and on account of their state, and Lentulus conceived the +idea of taking advantage of their needs. One of his freedmen, who had +been a trader in Gaul, could speak the language, and knew several of the +deputies, opened negotiations with them by his patron's desire. They +told him the tale of their wrongs. They could see, they said, no way out +of their difficulties. "Behave like men," he answered, "and I will show +you a way." He then revealed to them the existence of the conspiracy, +explained its objects, and enlarged upon the hopes of success. While he +and his friends were busy at Rome, they were to return to Gaul and rouse +their fellow-tribesmen to revolt. There was something tempting in the +offer, and the deputies doubted long whether they should not accept it. +In the end prudence prevailed. To join the conspiracy and to rebel +would be to run a terrible risk for very doubtful advantages. On the +other hand they might make sure of a speedy reward by telling all they +knew to the authorities. This was the course on which they resolved, and +they went without loss of time to a Roman noble who was the hereditary +"patron" of their tribe. The patron in his turn communicated the +intelligence to Cicero. Cicero's instructions were that the deputies +should pretend to agree to the proposals which had been made to them, +and should ask for a written agreement which they might show to their +countrymen at home. An agreement was drawn up, signed by Lentulus and +two of his fellow-conspirators, and handed over to the Gauls, who now +made preparations to return to their country. Cicero himself tells us in +the speech which he delivered next day in the Forum the story of what +followed. + +"I summoned to my presence two of the praetors on whose courage I knew I +could rely, put the whole matter before them, and unfolded my own plans. +As it grew dusk they made their way unobserved to the Mulvian Bridge, +and posted themselves with their attendants (they had some trusty +followers of their own, and I had sent a number of picked swordsmen from +my own body-guard), in two divisions in houses on either side of the +bridge. About two o'clock in the morning the Gauls and their train, +which was very numerous, began to cross the bridge. Our men charged +them; swords were drawn on both sides; but before any blood was shed the +praetors appeared on the scene, and all was quiet. The Gauls handed over +to them the letters which they had upon them with their seals unbroken. +These and the deputies themselves were brought to my house. The day was +now beginning to dawn. Immediately I sent for the four men whom I knew +to be the principal conspirators. They came suspecting nothing, +Lentulus, who had been up late the night before writing the letters, +being the last to present himself. Some distinguished persons who had +assembled at my house wished me to open the letters before laying them +before the Senate. If their contents were not what I suspected I should +be blamed for having given a great deal of trouble to no purpose. I +refused in so important a matter to act on my own responsibility. No +one, I was sure, would accuse me of being too careful when the safety of +Rome was at stake. I called a meeting of the Senate, and took care that +the attendance should be very large. Meanwhile, at the suggestion of the +Gauls, I sent a praetor to the house of Cethegus to seize all the +weapons that he could find. He brought away a great number of daggers +and swords. + +"The Senate being now assembled, I brought Vulturcius, one of the +conspirators, into the House, promised him a public pardon, and bade him +tell all he knew without fear. As soon as the man could speak, for he +was terribly frightened, he said, 'I was taking a letter and a message +from Lentulus to Catiline. Catiline was instructed to bring his forces +up to the walls of the city. They meanwhile would set it on fire in +various quarters, as had been arranged, and begin a general massacre. He +was to intercept the fugitives, and thus effect a junction with his +friends within the walls.' I next brought the Gauls into the House. +Their story was as follows. 'Lentulus and two of his companions gave us +letters to our nation. We were instructed to send our cavalry into Italy +with all speed. They would find a force of infantry. Lentulus told us +how he had learned from Sibylline books that he was that "third +Cornelius" who was the fated ruler of Rome. The two that had gone before +him were Cicero and Sulla. The year too was the one which was destined +to see the ruin of the city, for it was the tenth after the acquittal of +the Vestal Virgins, the twentieth after the burning of the Capitol. +After this Cethegus and the others had a dispute about the time for +setting the city on fire. Lentulus and others wished to have it done on +the feast of Saturn (December 17th). Cethegus thought that this was +putting it off too long.' I then had the letter brought in. First I +showed Cethegus his seal. He acknowledged it. I cut the string. I read +the letter. It was written in his own handwriting and was to this +effect: he assured the Senate and people of the Gauls that he would do +what he had promised to their deputies, and begged them on the other +hand to perform what their deputies had undertaken. Cethegus, who had +accounted for the weapons found in his house by declaring that he had +always been a connoisseur in such things, was overwhelmed by hearing his +letter read, and said nothing. + +"Manlius next acknowledged his seal and handwriting. A letter from him +much to the same effect was read. He confessed his guilt. I then showed +Lentulus his letter, and asked him, 'Do you acknowledge the seal?' 'I +do,' he answered. 'Yes,' said I, 'it is a well-known device, the +likeness of a great patriot, your grandfather. The mere sight of it +ought to have kept you from such a crime as this.' His letter was then +read. I then asked him whether he had any explanation to give. 'I have +nothing to say,' was his first answer. After a while he rose and put +some questions to the Gauls. They answered him without any hesitation, +and asked him in reply whether he had not spoken to them about the +Sibylline books. What followed was the strangest proof of the power of +conscience. He might have denied every thing, but he did what no one +expected, he confessed; all his abilities, all his power of speech +deserted him. Vulturcius then begged that the letter which he was +carrying from Lentulus to Catiline should be brought in and opened. +Lentulus was greatly agitated; still he acknowledged the seal and the +handwriting to be his. The letter, which was unsigned, was in these +words: _You will know who I am by the messenger whom I send to you. Bear +yourself as a man. Think of the position in which you now are, and +consider what you must now do. Collect all the help you can, even though +it be of the meanest kind._ In a word, the case was made out against +them all not only by the seals, the letters, the handwritings, but by +the faces of the men, their downcast look, their silence. Their +confusion, their stealthy looks at each other were enough, if there had +been no other proof, to convict them." + +Lentulus was compelled to resign his office of praetor. He and the other +conspirators were handed over to certain of the chief citizens, who were +bound to keep them in safe custody and to produce them when they were +called for. + +The lower orders of the capital, to whom Catiline and his companions +had made liberal promises, and who regarded his plans, or what were +supposed to be his plans, with considerable favor, were greatly moved by +Cicero's account of what had been discovered. No one could expect to +profit by conflagration and massacre; and they were disposed to take +sides with the party of order. Still there were elements of danger, as +there always are in great cities. It was known that a determined effort +would be made by the clients of Lentulus, whose family was one of the +noblest and wealthiest in Rome, to rescue him from custody. At the same +time several of the most powerful nobles were strongly suspected of +favoring the revolutionists. Crassus, in particular, the wealthiest man +in Rome, was openly charged with complicity. A certain Tarquinius was +brought before the Senate, having been, it was said, arrested when +actually on his way to Catiline. Charged to tell all he knew, he gave +the same account as had been given by other witnesses of the +preparations for fire and massacre, and added that he was the bearer of +a special message from Crassus to Catiline, to the effect that he was +not to be alarmed by the arrest of Lentulus and the others; only he must +march upon the city without delay, and so rescue the prisoners and +restore the courage of those who were still at large. The charge seemed +incredible to most of those who heard it. Crassus had too much at stake +to risk himself in such perilous ventures. Those who believed it were +afraid to press it against so powerful a citizen; and there were many +who were under too great obligations to the accused to allow it, +whatever its truth or falsehood, to be insisted upon. The Senate +resolved that the charge was false, and that its author should be kept +in custody till he disclosed at whose suggestion he had come forward. +Crassus himself believed that the consul had himself contrived the whole +business, with the object of making it impossible for him to take the +part of the accused. "He complained to me," says Sallust the historian, +"of the great insult which had thus been put upon him by Cicero.". + +Under these circumstances Cicero determined to act with vigor. On the +fifth of December he called a meeting of the Senate, and put it to the +House what should be done with the prisoners in custody. The consul +elect gave his opinion that they should be put to death. Caesar, when +his turn came to speak, rose and addressed the Senate. He did not seek +to defend the accused. They deserved any punishment. Because that was +so, let them be dealt with according to law. And the law was that no +Roman citizen could suffer death except by a general decree of the +people. If any other course should be taken, men would afterwards +remember not their crimes but the severity with which they had been +treated. Cato followed, giving his voice for the punishment of death; +and Cicero took the same side. The Senate, without dividing, voted that +the prisoners were traitors, and must pay the usual penalty. + +The consul still feared that a rescue might be attempted. He directed +the officials to make all necessary preparations, and himself conducted +Lentulus to prison, the other criminals being put into the charge of the +praetors. The prison itself was strongly guarded. In this building, +which was situated under the eastern side of the Capitoline Hill, was a +pit twelve feet deep, said to have been constructed by King Tullius. It +had stone walls and a vaulted stone roof; it was quite dark, and the +stench and filth of the place were hideous. Lentulus was hurried into +this noisome den, where the executioners strangled him. His accomplices +suffered the same fate. The consul was escorted to his house by an +enthusiastic crowd. When he was asked how it had fared with the +condemned, he answered with the significant words "THEY HAVE LIVED." + +The chief conspirator died in a less ignoble fashion. He had contrived +to collect about twelve thousand men; but only a fourth part of these +were regularly armed; the rest carried hunting spears, pikes, sharpened +stakes, any weapon that came to hand. At first he avoided an engagement, +hoping to hear news of something accomplished for his cause by the +friends whom he had left behind him in Rome. When the news of what had +happened on the fifth of December reached him, he saw that his position +was desperate. Many who had joined the ranks took the first opportunity +of deserting; with those that remained faithful he made a hurried march +to the north-west, hoping to make his way across the Apennines into +Hither Gaul. But he found a force ready to bar his way, while Antonius, +with the army from Rome, was pressing him from the south. Nothing +remained for him but to give battle. Early in the year 62 B.C. the +armies met. The rebel leader showed himself that day at his best. No +soldier could have been braver, no general more skillful. But the forces +arrayed against him were overpowering. When he saw that all was lost, he +rushed into the thickest of the fight, and fell pierced with wounds. He +was found afterwards far in advance of his men, still breathing and with +the same haughty expression on his face which had distinguished him in +life. And such was the contagious force of his example that not a single +free man of all his followers was taken alive either in the battle or in +the pursuit that followed it. Such was the end of a GREAT CONSPIRACY. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAESAR. + + +At eight-and-twenty, Caesar, who not thirty years later was to die +master of Rome, was chiefly known as a fop and a spendthrift. "In all +his schemes and all his policy," said Cicero, "I discern the temper of a +tyrant; but then when I see how carefully his hair is arranged, how +delicately with a single finger he scratches his head, I cannot conceive +him likely to entertain so monstrous a design as overthrowing the +liberties of Rome." As for his debts they were enormous. He had +contrived to spend his own fortune and the fortune of his wife; and he +was more than three hundred thousand pounds in debt. This was before he +had held any public office; and office, when he came to hold it, +certainly did not improve his position. He was appointed one of the +guardians of the Appian Way (the great road that led southward from +Rome, and was the route for travelers to Greece and the East). He spent +a great sum of money in repairs. His next office of aedile was still +more expensive. Expensive it always was, for the aedile, besides keeping +the temples and other public buildings in repair (the special business +signified by his name), had the management of the public games. An +allowance was made to him for his expenses from the treasury, but he was +expected, just as the Lord Mayor of London is expected, to spend a good +deal of his own money. Caesar far outdid all his predecessors. At one of +the shows which he exhibited, three hundred and twenty pairs of +gladiators fought in the arena; and a gladiator, with his armor and +weapons, and the long training which he had to undergo before he could +fight in public, was a very expensive slave. The six hundred and forty +would cost, first and last, not less than a hundred pounds apiece, and +many of them, perhaps a third of the whole number, would be killed in +the course of the day. Nor was he content with the expenses which were +more or less necessary. He exhibited a great show of wild beasts in +memory of his father, who had died nearly twenty years before. The whole +furniture of the theater, down to the very stage, was made on this +occasion of solid silver. + +For all this seeming folly, there were those who discerned thoughts and +designs of no common kind. Extravagant expenditure was of course an +usual way of winning popular favors. A Roman noble bought office after +office till he reached one that entitled him to be sent to govern a +province. In the plunder of the province he expected to find what would +repay him all that he had spent and leave a handsome sum remaining. +Caesar looked to this end, but he looked also to something more. He +would be the champion of the people, and the people would make him the +greatest man at Rome. This had been the part played by Marius before +him; and he determined to play it again. The name of Marius had been in +ill repute since the victory of his great rival, Sulla, and Caesar +determined to restore it to honor. He caused statues of this great man +to be secretly made, on which were inscribed the names of the victories +by which he had delivered Rome from the barbarians. On the morning of +the show these were seen, splendid with gilding, upon the height of the +Capitol. The first feeling was a general astonishment at the young +magistrate's audacity. Then the populace broke out into expressions of +enthusiastic delight; many even wept for joy to see again the likeness +of their old favorite; all declared that Caesar was his worthy +successor. The nobles were filled with anger and fear. Catulus, who was +their leader, accused Caesar in the Senate. "This man," he said, "is no +longer digging mines against his country, he is bringing battering-rams +against it." The Senate, however, was afraid or unwilling to act. As for +the people, it soon gave the young man a remarkable proof of its favor. +What may be called the High Priesthood became vacant. It was an honor +commonly given to some aged man who had won victories abroad and borne +high honors at home. Such competitors there were on this occasion, +Catulus being one of them. But Caesar, though far below the age at which +such offices were commonly held, determined to enter the lists. He +refused the heavy bribe by which Catulus sought to induce him to +withdraw from the contest, saying that he would raise a greater sum to +bring it to a successful end. Indeed, he staked all on the struggle. +When on the day of election he was leaving his house, his mother +followed him to the door with tears in her eyes. He turned and kissed +her, "Mother," he said, "to-day you will see your son either High Priest +or an exile." + +The fact was that Caesar had always shown signs of courage and ambition, +and had always been confident of his future greatness. Now that his +position in the country was assured men began to remember these stories +of his youth. In the days when Sulla was master of Rome, Caesar had been +one of the very few who had ventured to resist the great man's will. +Marius, the leader of the party, was his uncle, and he had himself +married the daughter of Cunia, another of the popular leaders. This wife +Sulla ordered him to divorce, but he flatly refused. For some time his +life was in danger; but Sulla was induced to spare it, remarking, +however, to friends who interceded for him, on the ground that he was +still but a boy, "You have not a grain of sense, if you do not see that +in this boy there is the material for many Mariuses." The young Caesar +found it safer to leave Italy for a time. While traveling in the +neighborhood of Asia Minor he fell into the hands of the pirates, who +were at that time the terror of all the Eastern Mediterranean. His first +proceeding was to ask them how much they wanted for his ransom. "Twenty +talents," (about five thousand pounds) was their answer. "What folly!" +he said, "you don't know whom you have got hold of. You shall have +fifty." Messengers were sent to fetch the money, and Caesar, who was +left with a friend and a couple of slaves, made the best of the +situation. If he wanted to go to sleep he would send a message +commanding his captors to be silent. He joined their sports, read poems +and speeches to them, and roundly abused them as ignorant barbarians if +they failed to applaud. But his most telling joke was threatening to +hang them. The men laughed at the free-spoken lad, but were not long in +finding that he was in most serious earnest. In about five weeks' time +the money arrived and Caesar was released. He immediately went to +Miletus, equipped a squadron, and returning to the scene of his +captivity, found and captured the greater part of the band. Leaving his +prisoners in safe custody at Pergamus, he made his way to the governor +of the province, who had in his hands the power of life and death. But +the governor, after the manner of his kind, had views of his own. The +pirates were rich and could afford to pay handsomely for their lives. He +would consider the case, he said. This was not at all to Caesar's mind. +He hastened back to Pergamus, and, taking the law into his own hands, +crucified all the prisoners. + +This was the cool and resolute man in whom the people saw their best +friend and the nobles their worst enemy. These last seemed to see a +chance of ruining him when the conspiracy of Catiline was discovered and +crushed. He was accused, especially by Cato, of having been an +accomplice; and when he left the Senate after the debate in which he had +argued against putting the arrested conspirators to death, he was mobbed +by the gentlemen who formed Cicero's body-guard, and was even in danger +of his life. But the formal charge was never pressed; indeed it was +manifestly false, for Caesar was too sure of the favor of the people to +have need of conspiring to win it. The next year he was made praetor, +and after his term of office was ended, governor of Further Spain. The +old trouble of debt still pressed upon him, and he could not leave Rome +till he had satisfied the most pressing of his creditors. This he did by +help of Crassus, the richest man in Rome, who stood security for nearly +two hundred thousand pounds. To this time belong two anecdotes which, +whether true or no, are curiously characteristic of his character. He +was passing, on the way to his province, a town that had a particularly +mean and poverty-stricken look. One of his companions remarked, "I dare +say there are struggles for office even here, and jealousies and +parties." "Yes," said Caesar; "and indeed, for myself, I would sooner be +the first man here than the second in Rome." Arrived at his journey's +end, he took the opportunity of a leisure hour to read the life of +Alexander. He sat awhile lost in thought, then burst into tears. His +friends inquired the cause. "The cause?" he replied. "Is it not cause +enough that at my age Alexander had conquered half the world, while I +have done nothing?" Something, however, he contrived to do in Spain. He +extended the dominion of Rome as far as the Atlantic, settled the +affairs of the provincials to their satisfaction, and contrived at the +same time to make money enough to pay his debts. Returning to Rome when +his year of command was ended, he found himself in a difficulty. He +wished to have the honor of a triumph (a triumph was a procession in +which a victorious general rode in a chariot to the Capitol, preceded +and followed by the spoils and prisoners taken in his campaigns), and he +also wished to become a candidate for the consulship. But a general who +desired a triumph had to wait outside the gates of the city till it was +voted to him, while a candidate for the consulship must lose no time in +beginning to canvass the people. Caesar, having to make his choice +between the two, preferred power to show. He stood for the consulship, +and was triumphantly elected. + +Once consul he made that famous Coalition which is commonly called the +First Triumvirate. Pompey was the most famous soldier of the day, and +Crassus, as has been said before, the richest man. These two had been +enemies, and Caesar reconciled them; and then the three together agreed +to divide power and the prizes of power between them. Caesar would have +willingly made Cicero a fourth, but he refused, not, perhaps, without +some hesitation. He did more; he ventured to say some things which were +not more agreeable because they were true of the new state of things. +This the three masters of Rome were not willing to endure, and they +determined that this troublesome orator should be put out of the way. +They had a ready means of doing it. A certain Clodius, of whom we shall +hear more hereafter, felt a very bitter hatred against Cicero, and by +way of putting himself in a position to injure him, and to attain other +objects of his own, sought to be made tribune. But there was a great +obstacle in the way. The tribunes were tribunes of the _plebs_, that is, +of the commons, whose interests they were supposed specially to protect; +while Clodius was a noble--indeed, a noble of nobles--belonging as he +did to that great Claudian House which was one of the oldest and +proudest of Roman families. The only thing to be done was to be adopted +by some plebeian. But here, again, there were difficulties. The law +provided that an adoption should be real, that the adopter should be +childless and old enough to be the father of his adopted son. The +consent of the priests was also necessary. This consent was never asked, +and indeed never could have been given, for the father was a married +man, had children of his own, and was not less than fifteen years, +younger than his new son. Indeed the bill for making the adoption legal +had been before the people for more than a year without making any +progress. The Three now took it up to punish Cicero for his presumption +in opposing them; and under its new promoters it was passed in a single +day, being proposed at noon made law by three o'clock in the afternoon +What mischief Clodius was thus enabled to work against Cicero we shall +hear in the next chapter but one. + +His consulship ended, Caesar received a substantial prize for his +services, the government of the province of Gaul for five years. Before +he left Italy to take up his command, he had the satisfaction of seeing +Cicero driven into banishment. That done, he crossed the Alps. The next +nine years (for his government was prolonged for another period when the +first came to an end) he was engaged in almost incessant war, though +still finding time to manage the politics of Rome. The campaigns which +ended in making Gaul from the Alps to the British Channel, and from the +Atlantic to the Rhine, a Roman possession, it is not within my purpose +to describe. Nevertheless, it may be interesting to say a few words +about his dealings with our own island. In his first expedition, in the +summer of 55 B.C., he did little more than effect a landing on the +coast, and this not without considerable loss. In the next, made early +in the following year, he employed a force of more than forty thousand +men, conveyed in a flotilla of eight hundred ships. This time the +Britons did not venture to oppose his landing; and when they met him in +the field, as he marched inward, they were invariably defeated. They +then changed their tactics and retired before him, laying waste the +country as they went. He crossed the Thames some little way to the +westward of where London now stands, received the submission of one +native tribe, and finally concluded a peace with the native leader +Cassivelaunus, who gave hostages and promised tribute. The general +result of ten years' fighting was to add a great province to the empire +at the cost of a horrible amount of bloodshed, of the lives, as some +say, of two millions of men, women, and children (for Caesar, though not +positively cruel, was absolutely careless of suffering), and to leave +the conqueror master of the Roman world. The coalition indeed was broken +up, for Crassus had perished in the East, carrying on a foolish and +unprovoked war with the Parthians, and Pompey had come to fear and hate +his remaining rival. But Caesar was now strong enough to do without +friends, and to crush enemies. The Senate vainly commanded him to +disperse his army by a certain day, on pain of being considered an enemy +of the country. He continued to advance till he came to the boundaries +of Italy, a little river, whose name, the Rubicon, was then made famous +forever, which separated Cisalpine Gaul from Umbria. To cross this was +practically to declare war, and even the resolute Caesar hesitated +awhile. He thought his course over by himself; he even consulted his +friends. He professed himself pained at the thought of the war of which +his act would be the beginning, and of how posterity would judge his +conduct. Then with the famous words, "The die is cast," he plunged into +the stream. Pompey fled from Rome and from Italy. Caesar did not waste +an hour in pursuing his success. First making Italy wholly his own, he +marched into Spain, which was Pompey's stronghold, and secured it. +Thence he returned to Rome, and from Rome again made his way into +Macedonia, where Pompey had collected his forces. The decisive battle +was fought at Pharsalia in Thessaly; for though the remnants of Pompey's +party held out, the issue of the war was never doubtful after that day. + +Returning to Rome (for of his proceedings in Egypt and elsewhere there +is no need to speak), he used his victory with as much mercy as he had +shown energy in winning it. To Cicero he showed not only nothing of +malice, but the greatest courtesy and kindness. He had written to him +from Egypt, telling him that he was to keep all his dignities and +honors; and he had gone out of his way to arrange an interview with him, +and he even condescended to enter into a friendly controversy. Cicero +had written a little treatise about his friend Cato; and as Cato had +been the consistent adversary of Caesar, and had killed himself rather +than fall into the hands of the master of Rome, it required no little +good nature in Caesar to take it in good part. He contented himself with +writing an answer, to which he gave the title of _Anti-Cato_, and in +which, while he showed how useless and unpractical the policy of Cato +had been, he paid the highest compliments to the genius and integrity of +the man. He even conferred upon Cicero the distinguished honor of a +visit; which the host thus describes in a letter to Atticus. "What a +formidable guest I have had! Still, I am not sorry; for all went off +very well. On December 8th he came to Philippus' house in the evening. +(Philippus was his brother-in-law.) The villa was so crammed with troops +that there was scarcely a chamber where the great man himself could +dine. I suppose there were two thousand men. I was really anxious what +might happen next day. But Barba Cassius came to my help, and gave me a +guard. The camp was pitched in the park; the house was strictly guarded. +On the 19th he was closeted with Philippus till one o'clock in the +afternoon. No one was admitted. He was going over accounts with Balbus, +I fancy. After this he took a stroll on the shore. Then came the bath. +He heard the epigram to Mamurra, (a most scurrilous epigram by +Catullus), and betrayed no annoyance. He dressed for dinner and sat +down. As he was under a course of medicine, he ate and drank without +apprehension and in the pleasantest humor. The entertainment was +sumptuous and elaborate; and not only this, but well cooked and seasoned +with good talk. The great man's attendants also were most abundantly +entertained in three other rooms. The inferior freedmen and the slaves +had nothing to complain of; the superior kind had an even elegant +reception. Not to say more, I showed myself a genial host. Still he was +not the kind of guest to whom we would say, 'My very dear sir, you will +come again, I hope, when you are this way next time.' There was nothing +of importance in our conversation, but much literary talk. What do you +want to know? He was gratified and seemed pleased to be with me. He told +me that he should be one day at Baiae, and another at Puteoli." + +Within three months this remarkable career came to a sudden and violent +end. There were some enemies whom all Caesar's clemency and kindness had +not conciliated. Some hated him for private reasons of their own, some +had a genuine belief that if he could be put out of the way, Rome might +yet again be a free country. The people too, who had been perfectly +ready to submit to the reality of power, grew suspicious of some of its +outward signs. The name of King had been hateful at Rome since the last +bearer of it, Tarquin the Proud, had been driven out nearly seven +centuries before. There were now injudicious friends, or, it may be, +judicious enemies, who were anxious that Caesar should assume it. The +prophecy was quoted from the books of the Sibyl, that Rome might conquer +the Parthians if she put herself under the command of a king; otherwise +she must fail. On the strength of this Caesar was saluted by the title +of King as he was returning one day from Alba to the Capitol. The +populace made their indignation manifest, and he replied, "I am no king, +only Caesar;" but it was observed that he passed on with a gloomy air. +He bore himself haughtily in the Senate, not rising to acknowledge the +compliments paid to him. At the festival of the Lupercalia, as he sat +looking on at the sports in a gilded chair and clad in a triumphal robe, +Antony offered him a crown wreathed with bay leaves. Some applause +followed; it was not general, however, but manifestly got up for the +occasion. Caesar put the crown away, and the shout that followed could +not be misunderstood. It was offered again, and a few applauded as +before, while a second rejection drew forth the same hearty approval. +His statues were found with crowns upon them. These two tribunes +removed, and at the same time ordered the imprisonment of the men who +had just saluted him as king. The people were delighted, but Caesar had +them degraded from their office. The general dissatisfaction thus caused +induced the conspirators to proceed. Warnings, some of which we may +suppose to have come from those who were in the secret, were not +wanting. By these he was wrought upon so much that he had resolved not +to stir from his house on the day which he understood was to be fatal to +him; but Decimus Brutus, who was in the plot, dissuaded him from his +purpose. The scene that followed may be told once again in the words in +which Plutarch describes it: "Artemidoros, of Cnidus, a teacher of +Greek, who had thus come to be intimate with some of the associates of +Brutus, had become acquainted to a great extent with what was in +progress, and had drawn up a statement of the information which he had +to give. Seeing that Caesar gave the papers presented to him to the +slaves with him, he came up close and said, 'Caesar, read this alone and +that quickly: it contains matters that nearly concern yourself.' Caesar +took it, and would have read it, but was hindered by the crowd of +persons that thronged to salute him. Keeping it in his hand, he passed +into the House. In the place to which the Senate had been summoned stood +a statue of Pompey. Cassius is said to have looked at it and silently +invoked the dead man's help, and this though he was inclined to the +skeptical tenets of Epicurus. Meanwhile Antony, who was firmly attached +to Caesar and a man of great strength, was purposely kept in +conversation outside the senate-house by Decimus Brutus. As Caesar +entered, the Senate rose to greet him. Some of the associates of Brutus +stood behind his chair; others approached him in front, seemingly +joining their entreaties to those which Cimber Tullius was addressing to +him on behalf of his brother. He sat down and rejected the petition with +a gesture of disapproval at their urgency. Tullius then seized his toga +with both hands and dragged it from his neck. This was the signal for +attack. Casca struck him first on the neck. The wound was not fatal, nor +even serious, so agitated was the striker at dealing the first blow in +so terrible a deed. Caesar turned upon him, seized the dagger, and held +it fast, crying at the same time in Latin, 'Casca, thou villain, what +art thou about?' while Casca cried in Greek to his brother, 'Brother, +help!' Those senators who were not privy to the plot were overcome with +horror. They could neither cry nor help: they dared not even speak. The +conspirators were standing round Caesar each with a drawn sword in his +hand; whithersoever he turned his eyes he saw a weapon ready to strike, +and he struggled like a wild beast among the hunters. They had agreed +that every one should take a part in the murder, and Brutus, friend as +he was, could not hold back. The rest, some say, he struggled with, +throwing himself hither and thither, and crying aloud; but as soon as he +saw Brutus with a drawn sword in his hand, he wrapped his head in his +toga and ceased to resist, falling, whether by chance or by compulsion +from the assassins, at the pedestal of Pompey's statue. He is said to +have received three-and-twenty wounds. Many of his assailants struck +each other as they aimed repeated blows at his body." His funeral was a +remarkable proof of his popularity. The pit in which the body was to be +burned was erected in the Field of Mars. In the Forum was erected a +gilded model of the temple of Mother Venus. (Caesar claimed descent +through Aeneas from this goddess.) Within this shrine was a couch of +ivory, with coverlets of gold and purple, and at its head a trophy with +the robe which he had worn when he was assassinated. High officers of +state, past and present, carried the couch into the Forum. Some had the +idea of burning it in the chapel of Jupiter in the Capitol, some in +Pompey's Hall (where he was killed). Of a sudden two men, wearing swords +at their side, and each carrying two javelins, came forward and set +light to it with waxen torches which they held in their hands. The crowd +of bystanders hastily piled up a heap of dry brush-wood, throwing on it +the hustings, the benches, and any thing that had been brought as a +present. The flute players and actors threw off the triumphal robes in +which they were clad, rent them, and threw them upon the flames, and the +veterans added the decorations with which they had come to attend the +funeral, while mothers threw in the ornaments of their children. + +The doors of the building in which the murder was perpetrated were +blocked up so that it never could be entered again. The day (the 15th of +March) was declared to be accursed. No public business was ever to be +done upon it. + +These proceedings probably represented the popular feeling about the +deed, for Caesar, in addition to the genius which every one must have +recognized, had just the qualities which make men popular. He had no +scruples, but then he had no meannesses. He incurred enormous debts with +but a faint chance of paying them--no chance, we may say, except by the +robbery of others. He laid his hands upon what he wanted, taking for +instance three thousand pounds weight of gold from the treasury of the +Capitol and leaving gilded brass in its stead; and he plundered the +unhappy Gauls without remorse. But then he was as free in giving as he +was unscrupulous in taking. He had the personal courage, too, which is +one of the most attractive of all qualities. Again and again in battle +he turned defeat into victory. He would lay hold of the fugitives as +they ran, seize them by the throat, and get them by main force face to +face with the foe. Crossing the Hellespont after the battle of Pharsalia +in a small boat, he met two of the enemy's ships. Without hesitation he +discovered himself, called upon them to surrender, and was obeyed. At +Alexandria he was surprised by a sudden sally of the besieged, and had +to leap into the harbor. He swam two hundred paces to the nearest ship, +lifting a manuscript in his left hand to keep it out of the water, and +holding his military cloak in his teeth, for he would not have the enemy +boast of securing any spoil from his person. + +He allowed nothing to stand in his way. If it suited his policy to +massacre a whole tribe, men, women, and children, he gave the order +without hesitation, just as he recorded it afterwards in his history +without a trace of remorse or regret. If a rival stood in his way he had +him removed, and was quite indifferent as to how the removal was +effected. But his object gained, or wherever there was no object in +question, he could be the kindest and gentlest of men. A friend with +whom he was traveling was seized with sudden illness. Caesar gave up at +once to him the only chamber in the little inn, and himself spent the +night in the open air. His enemies he pardoned with singular facility, +and would even make the first advances. Political rivals, once rendered +harmless, were admitted to his friendship, and even promoted to honor; +writers who had assailed him with the coarsest abuse he invited to his +table. + +Of the outward man this picture has reached us: "He is said to have been +remarkably tall, with a light complexion and well-shaped limbs. His face +was a little too full; his eyes black and brilliant. His health was +excellent, but towards the latter end of his life he was subject to +fainting fits and to frightful dreams at night. On two occasions also, +when some public business was being transacted, he had epileptic fits. +He was very careful of his personal appearance, had his hair and beard +scrupulously cut and shaven. He was excessively annoyed at the +disfigurement of baldness, which he found was made the subject of many +lampoons. It had become his habit, therefore, to bring up his scanty +locks over his head; and of all the honors decreed to him by the Senate +and people, none was more welcome to him than that which gave him the +right of continually wearing a garland of bay." + +He was wonderfully skillful in the use of arms, an excellent swimmer, +and extraordinarily hardy. On the march he would sometimes ride, but +more commonly walk, keeping his head uncovered both in rain and +sunshine. He traveled with marvelous expedition, traversing a hundred +miles in a day for several days together; if he came to a river he would +swim it, or sometimes cross it on bladders. Thus he would often +anticipate his own messengers. For all this he had a keen appreciation +of pleasure, and was costly and even luxurious in his personal habits. +He is said, for instance, to have carried with him a tesselated pavement +to be laid down in his tent throughout his campaign in Gaul. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +POMPEY. + + +At an age when Caesar was still idling away his time, Pompey had +achieved honors such as the veteran generals of Rome were accustomed to +regard as the highest to which they could aspire. He had only just left, +if indeed he had left, school, when his father took him to serve under +him in the war against the Italian allies of Rome. He was not more than +nineteen when he distinguished himself by behaving in circumstances of +great difficulty and danger with extraordinary prudence and courage. The +elder Pompey, Strabo "the squint-eyed," as his contemporaries called +him, after their strange fashion of giving nicknames from personal +defects, and as he was content to call himself, was an able general, but +hated for his cruelty and avarice. The leaders of the opposite faction +saw an opportunity of getting rid of a dangerous enemy and of bringing +over to their own side the forces which he commanded. Their plan was to +assassinate the son as he slept, to burn the father in his tent, and at +the same time to stir up a mutiny among the troops. The secret, however, +was not kept. A letter describing the plot was brought to the young +Pompey as he sat at dinner with the ringleader. The lad showed no sign +of disturbance, but drank more freely than usual, and pledged his false +friend with especial heartiness. He then rose, and after putting an +extra guard on his father's tent, composed himself to sleep, but not in +his bed. The assassins stabbed the coverlet with repeated blows, and +then ran to rouse the soldiers to revolt. The camp was immediately in an +uproar, and the elder Pompey, though he had been preserved by his son's +precautions, dared not attempt to quell it. The younger man was equal to +the occasion. Throwing himself on his face in front of the gate of the +camp, he declared that if his comrades were determined to desert to the +enemy, they must pass over his dead body. His entreaties prevailed, and +a reconciliation was effected between the general and his troops. + +Not many weeks after this incident the father died, struck, it was said, +by lightning, and Pompey became his own master. It was not long before +he found an opportunity of gaining still higher distinction. The civil +war still continued to rage, and few did better service to the party of +the aristocrats than Pompey. Others were content to seek their personal +safety in Sulla's camp; Pompey was resolved himself to do something for +the cause. He made his way to Picenum, where his family estates we e +situated and where his own influence was great, and raised three legions +(nearly twenty thousand men), with all their commissariat and transport +complete, and hurried to the assistance of Sulla. Three of the hostile +generals sought to intercept him. He fell with his whole force on one of +them, and crushed him, carrying off, besides his victory, the personal +distinction of having slain in single combat the champion of the +opposing force. The towns by which he passed eagerly hailed him as their +deliverer. A second commander who ventured to encounter him found +himself deserted by his army and was barely able to escape; a third was +totally routed. Sulla received his young partisan, who was not more than +twenty-three years of age, with distinguished honors, even rising from +his seat and uncovering at his approach. + +During the next two years his reputation continued to increase. He won +victories in Gaul, in Sicily, and in Africa. As he was returning to +Rome after the last of these campaigns, the great Dictator himself +headed the crowd that went forth to meet him, and saluted him as Pompey +the Great, a title which he continued to use as his family name[5]. But +there was a further honor which the young general was anxious to obtain, +but Sulla was unwilling to grant, the supreme glory of a triumph. "No +one," he said, "who was not or had not been consul, or at least praetor, +could triumph. The first of the Scipios, who had won Spain from the +Carthaginians, had not asked for this honor because he wanted this +qualification. Was it to be given to a beardless youth, too young even +to sit in the Senate?" But the beardless youth insisted. He even had the +audacity to hint that the future belonged not to Sulla but to himself. +"More men," he said, "worship the rising than the setting sun." Sulla +did not happen to catch the words, but he saw the emotion they aroused +in the assembly, and asked that they should be repeated to him. His +astonishment permitted him to say nothing more than "Let him triumph! +Let him triumph." And triumph he did, to the disgust of his older +rivals, whom he intended, but that the streets were not broad enough to +allow of the display, still further to affront by harnessing elephants +instead of horses to his chariot. + +[Footnote 5: _Pompeius_ was the name of his house (_gens). Strabo_ had +been the name of his family (_familia_). This he seems to have disused, +assuming _Magnus_ in its stead.] + +Two years afterwards he met an antagonist more formidable than any he +had yet encountered. Sertorius, the champion at once of the party of the +people and of the native tribes of Spain, was holding out against the +government of Rome. The veteran leader professed a great contempt for +his young adversary, "I should whip the boy," he said, "if I were not +afraid of the old woman" (meaning Pompey's colleague). But he took good +care not to underrate him in practice, and put forth all his skill in +dealing with him. Pompey's first campaign against him was disastrous; +the successes of the second were checkered by some serious defeats. For +five years the struggle continued, and seemed little likely to come to +an end, when Sertorius was assassinated by his second in command, +Perpenna. Perpenna was unable to wield the power which he had thus +acquired, and was defeated and taken prisoner by Pompey. He endeavored +to save his life by producing the correspondence of Sertorius. This +implicated some of the most distinguished men in Rome, who had held +secret communications with the rebel leader and had even invited him +over into Italy. With admirable wisdom Pompey, while he ordered the +instant execution of the traitor, burned the letters unread. + +Returning to Italy he was followed by his usual good fortune. That +country had been suffering cruelly from a revolt of the slaves, which +the Roman generals had been strangely slow in suppressing. Roused to +activity by the tidings of Pompey's approach, Crassus, who was in +supreme command, attacked and defeated the insurgent army. A +considerable body, however, contrived to escape, and it was this with +which Pompey happened to fall in, and which he completely destroyed. +"Crassus defeated the enemy," he was thus enabled to boast, "but I +pulled up the war by the roots." No honors were too great for a man at +once so skillful and so fortunate (for the Romans had always a great +belief in a general's good fortune). On the 31st of December, B.C. 71, +being still a simple gentleman--that is, having held no civil office in +the State--he triumphed for the second time, and on the following day, +being then some years below the legal age, and having held none of the +offices by which it was usual to mount to the highest dignity in the +commonwealth, he entered on his first consul ship, Crassus being his +colleague. + +Still he had not yet reached the height of his glory. During the years +that followed his consulship, the pirates who infested the Mediterranean +had become intolerable. Issuing, not as was the case in after times, +from the harbors of Northern Africa, but from fastnesses in the southern +coast of Asia Minor, they plundered the more civilized regions of the +West, and made it highly dangerous to traverse the seas either for +pleasure or for gain. It was impossible to transport the armies of Rome +to the provinces except in the winter, when the pirates had retired to +their strongholds. Even Italy itself was not safe. The harbor of Caieta +with its shipping, was burned under the very eye of the praetor. From +Misenum the pirates carried off the children of the admiral who had the +year before led an expedition against them. They even ventured not only +to blockade Ostia, the harbor of Rome, and almost within sight of the +city, but to capture the fleet that was stationed there. They were +especially insulting to Roman citizens. If a prisoner claimed to be +such--and the claim generally insured protection--they would pretend the +greatest penitence and alarm, falling on their knees before him, and +entreating his pardon. Then they would put shoes on his feet, and robe +him in a citizen's garb. Such a mistake, they would say, must not happen +again. The end of their jest was to make him "walk the plank," and with +the sarcastic permission to depart unharmed, they let down a ladder into +the sea, and compelled him to descend, under penalty of being still more +summarily thrown overboard. Men's eyes began to be turned on Pompey, as +the leader who had been prosperous in all his undertakings. In 67 B.C. a +law was proposed appointing a commander (who, however, was not named), +who should have absolute power for three years over the sea as far as +the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), and the coast for +fifty miles inland, and who should be furnished with two hundred ships, +as many soldiers and sailors as he wanted, and more than a million +pounds in money. The nobles were furious in their opposition, and +prepared to prevent by force the passing of this law. The proposer +narrowly escaped with his life, and Pompey himself was threatened. "If +you will be another Romulus, like Romulus you shall die" (one form of +the legend of Rome's first king represented him as having been torn to +pieces by the senators.) But all resistance was unavailing. The new +command was created, and of course bestowed upon Pompey. The price of +corn, which had risen to a famine height in Rome, fell immediately the +appointment was made. The result, indeed, amply justified the choice. +The new general made short work of the task that had been set him. Not +satisfied with the force put under his command, he collected five +hundred ships and one hundred and twenty thousand men. With these he +swept the pirates from the seas and stormed their strongholds, and all +in less than three months. Twenty thousand prisoners fell into his +hands. With unusual humanity he spared their lives, and thinking that +man was the creature of circumstances, determined to change their manner +of life. They were to be removed from the sea, should cease to be +sailors, and become farmers. It is possible that the old man of Corycus, +whose skill in gardening Virgil celebrates in one of his Georgics, was +one of the pirates whom the judicious mercy of Pompey changed into a +useful citizen. + +A still greater success remained to be won. For more than twenty years +war, occasionally intercepted by periods of doubtful peace, had been +carried on between Rome and Mithridates, king of Pontus. This prince, +though reduced more than once to the greatest extremities, had contrived +with extraordinary skill and courage to retrieve his fortunes, and now +in 67 B.C. was in possession of the greater part of his original +dominion. Lucullus, a general of the greatest ability, was in command of +the forces of Rome, but he had lost the confidence of his troops, and +affairs were at a standstill. Pompey's friends proposed that the +supreme command should be transferred to him, and the law, which Cicero +supported in what is perhaps the most perfect of his political +speeches[6], was passed. Pompey at once proceeded to the East. For four +years Mithridates held out, but with little hope of ultimate success or +even of escape. In 64, after vainly attempting to poison himself, such +was the power of the antidotes by which he had fortified himself against +domestic treachery (for so the story runs), he perished by the sword of +one of his mercenaries. For two years more Pompey was busied in settling +the affairs of the East. At last, in 61, he returned to Rome to enjoy a +third triumph, and that the most splendid which the city had ever +witnessed. It lasted for two days, but still the time was too short for +the display of the spoils of victory. The names of no less than fifteen +conquered nations were carried in procession. A thousand forts, nine +hundred cities, had been taken, and the chief of them were presented by +means of pictures to the eyes of the people. The revenue of the State +had been almost doubled by these conquests. Ninety thousand talents in +gold and silver coin were paid into the treasury, nor was this at the +expense of the soldiers, whose prize money was so large that the +smallest share amounted to fifty pounds. Never before was such a sight +seen in the world, and if Pompey had died when it was finished, he would +have been proclaimed the most fortunate of mankind. + +[Footnote 6: The Pro Lege Manilia. The law was proposed by one Manilius, +a tribune of the people.] + +Certainly he was never so great again as he was that day. When with +Caesar and Crassus he divided all the power of the State, he was only +the second, and by far the second, of the three. His influence, his +prestige, his popularity declined year by year. The good fortune which +had followed him without ceasing from his earliest years now seemed to +desert him. Even the shows, the most magnificent ever seen in the city, +with which he entertained the people at the dedication of his theater +(built at his own expense for the public benefit) were not wholly a +success. Here is a letter of Cicero about them to his friend Marius; +interesting as giving both a description of the scene and as an account +of the writer's own feelings about it. "If it was some bodily pain or +weakness of health that kept you from coming to the games, I must +attribute your absence to fortune rather than to a judicious choice. But +if you thought the things which most men admire contemptible, and so, +though health permitted, would not come, then I am doubly glad; glad +both that you were free from illness and that you were so vigorous in +mind as to despise the sights which others so unreasonably admire.... +Generally the shows were most splendid, but not to your taste, if I may +judge of yours by my own. First, the veteran actors who for their own +honor had retired from the stage, returned to it to do honor to Pompey. +Your favorite, my dear friend Aesopus, acquitted himself so poorly as to +make us all feel that he had best retire. When he came to the oath-- + + 'And if of purpose set I break my faith,' + +his voice failed him. What need to tell you more? You know all about the +other shows; they had not even the charm which moderate shows commonly +have. The ostentation with which they were furnished forth took away all +their gayety. What charm is there in having six hundred mules in the +_Clytemnestra_ or three thousand supernumeraries in the _Trojan Horse,_ +or cavalry and infantry in foreign equipment in some battle-piece. The +populace admired all this; but it would have given you no kind of +pleasure. After this came a sort of wild-beast fights, lasting for five +days. They were splendid: no man denies it. But what man of culture can +feel any pleasure when some poor fellow is torn in pieces by some +powerful animal, or when some noble animal is run through with a hunting +spear. If these things are worth seeing, you have seen them before. And +I, who was actually present, saw nothing new. The last day was given up +to the elephants. Great was the astonishment of the crowd at the sight; +but of pleasure there was nothing. Nay, there was some feeling of +compassion, some sense that this animal has a certain kinship with man." +The elder Pliny tells us that two hundred lions were killed on this +occasion, and that the pity felt for the elephants rose to the height of +absolute rage. So lamentable was the spectacle of their despair, so +pitifully did they implore the mercy of the audience, "that the whole +multitude rose in tears and called down upon Pompey the curses which +soon descended on him." + +And then Pompey's young wife, Julia, Caesar's daughter, died. She had +been a bond of union between the two men, and the hope of peace was +sensibly lessened by her loss. Perhaps the first rupture would have +come any how; when it did come it found Pompey quite unprepared for the +conflict. He seemed indeed to be a match for his rival, but his strength +collapsed almost at a touch. "I have but to stamp with my foot," he said +on one occasion, "and soldiers will spring up;" yet when Caesar declared +war by crossing the Rubicon, he fled without a struggle. In little more +than a year and a half all was over. The battle of Pharsalia was fought +on the 9th of August, and on September the 29th the man who had +triumphed over three continents lay a naked, headless corpse on the +shore of Egypt. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +EXILE. + + +The suppression of the "Great Conspiracy" was certainly the most +glorious achievement of Cicero's life. Honors such as had never before +been bestowed on a citizen of Rome were heaped upon him. Men of the +highest rank spoke of him both in the Senate and before the people as +the "Father of his fatherland." A public thanksgiving, such as was +ordered when great victories had been won, was offered in his name. +Italy was even more enthusiastic than the capital. The chief towns voted +him such honors as they could bestow; Capua in particular erected to him +a gilded statue, and gave him the title of Patron of the city. + +Still there were signs of trouble in the future. It was the duty of the +consul on quitting office to swear that he had discharged his duty with +fidelity, and it was usual for him at the same time to make a speech in +which he narrated the events of his consulship. Cicero was preparing to +speak when one of the new tribunes intervened. "A man," he cried, "who +has put citizens to death without hearing them in their defense is not +worthy to speak. He must do nothing more than take the oath." Cicero was +ready with his answer. Raising his voice he said, "I swear that I, and I +alone, have saved this commonwealth and this city." The assembly shouted +their approval; and when the ceremony was concluded the whole multitude +escorted the ex-consul to his house. The time was not come for his +enemies to attack him; but that he had enemies was manifest. + +With one dangerous man he had the misfortune to come into collision in +the year that followed his consulship. This was the Clodius of whom we +have heard something in the preceding chapter. The two men had hitherto +been on fairly good terms. Clodius, as we have seen, belonged to one of +the noblest families in Rome, was a man of some ability and wit, and +could make himself agreeable when he was pleased to do so. But events +for which Cicero was not in the least to blame brought about a life-long +enmity between them. Toward the close of the year Clodius had been +guilty of an act of scandalous impiety, intruding himself, disguised as +a woman, into some peculiarly sacred rites which the matrons of Rome +were accustomed to perform in honor of the "Good Goddess." He had +powerful friends, and an attempt was made to screen him, which Cicero, +who was genuinely indignant at the fellow's wickedness, seems to have +resisted. In the end he was put upon his trial, though it was before a +jury which had been specially packed for the occasion. His defense was +an _alibi_, an attempt, that is, to prove that he was elsewhere on the +night when he was alleged to have misconducted himself at Rome. He +brought forward witnesses who swore that they had seen him at the very +time at Interamna, a town in Umbria, and a place which was distant at +least two days' journey from Rome. To rebut this evidence Cicero was +brought forward by the prosecution. As he stepped forward the partisans +of the accused set up a howl of disapproval. But the jury paid him the +high compliment of rising from their seats, and the uproar ceased. He +deposed that Clodius had been at his house on the morning of the day in +question. + +Clodius was acquitted. If evidence had any thing to do with the result, +it was the conduct of Caesar that saved him. It was in his house that +the alleged intrusion had taken place, and he had satisfied himself by a +private examination of its inmates that the charge was true. But now he +professed to know nothing at all about the matter. Probably the really +potent influence in the case was the money which Crassus liberally +distributed among the jurors. The fact of the money was indeed +notorious. Some of the jury had pretended that they were in fear of +their lives, and had asked for a guard. "A guard!" said Catulus, to one +of them, "what did you want a guard for? that the money should not be +taken from you?" + +But Clodius, though he had escaped, never forgave the man whose evidence +had been given against him. Cicero too felt that there as war to the +knife between them. On the first meeting of the Senate after the +conclusion of the trial he made a pointed attack upon his old +acquaintance. "Lentulus," he said, "was twice acquitted, and Catiline +twice, and now this third malefactor has been let loose on the +commonwealth by his judges. But, Clodius, do not misunderstand what has +happened. It is for the prison, not for the city, that your judges have +kept you; not to keep you in the country, but to deprive you of the +privilege of exile was what they intended. Be of good cheer, then, +Fathers. No new evil has come upon us, but we have found out the evil +that exists. One villain has been put upon his trial, and the result has +taught us that there are more villains than one." + +Clodius attempted to banter his antagonist. "You are a fine gentleman," +he said; "you have been at Baiae" (Baiae was a fashionable +watering-place on the Campanian coast). "Well," said Cicero, "that is +better than to have been at the 'matrons' worship.'" And the attack and +repartee went on. "You have bought a fine house." (Cicero had spent a +large sum of money on a house on the Palatine, and was known to have +somewhat crippled his means by doing so.) "With you the buying has been +of jurymen." "They gave you no credit though you spoke on oath." "Yes; +five-and-twenty gave me credit" (five-and-twenty of the jury had voted +for a verdict of guilty; two-and-thirty for acquittal), "but your +thirty-two gave you none, for they would have their money down." The +Senate shouted applause, and Clodius sat down silent and confounded. + +How Clodius contrived to secure for himself the office of tribune, the +vantage ground from which he hoped to work his revenge, has been +already told in the sketch of Caesar. Caesar indeed was really +responsible for all that was done. It was he who made it possible for +Clodius to act; and he allowed him "to act when he could have stopped +him by the lifting of his finger. He was determined to prove to Cicero +that he was master. But he never showed himself after the first +interference in the matter of the adoption. He simply allowed Clodius to +work his will without hindrance. + +Clodius proceeded with considerable skill. He proposed various laws, +which were so popular that Cicero, though knowing that they would be +turned against himself, did not venture to oppose them. Then came a +proposal directly leveled at him. "Any man who shall have put to death a +Roman citizen uncondemned and without a trial is forbidden fire and +water." (This was the form of a sentence of exile. No one was allowed +under penalty of death to furnish the condemned with fire and water +within a certain distance of Rome.) Cicero at once assumed the squalid +dress with which it was the custom for accused persons to endeavor to +arouse the compassion of their fellow-citizens. Twenty thousand of the +upper classes supported him by their presence. The Senate itself, on the +motion of one of the tribunes, went into this strange kind of mourning +on his account. + +The consuls of the year were Gabinus and Piso. The first was notoriously +hostile, of the second Cicero hoped to make a friend, the more so as he +was a kinsman of his daughter's husband. He gives a lively picture of an +interview with him. "It was nearly eleven o'clock in the morning when we +went to him. He came out of a dirty hovel to meet us, with his slippers +on, and his head muffled up. His breath smelt most odiously of wine; but +he excused himself on the score of his health, which compelled him, he +said, to use medicines in which wine was employed." His answer to the +petition of his visitors (for Cicero was accompanied by his son-in-law) +was at least commendably frank. "My colleague Gabinius is in absolute +poverty, and does not know where to turn. Without a province he must be +ruined. A province he hopes to get by the help of Clodius, but it must +be by my acting with him. I must humor his wishes, just as you, Cicero, +humored your colleague when you were consul. But indeed there is no +reason why you should seek the consul's protection. Every one must look +out for himself." + +In default of the consuls there was still some hope that Pompey might be +induced to interfere, and Cicero sought an interview with him. Plutarch +says that he slipped out by a back door to avoid seeing him; but +Cicero's own account is that the interview was granted. "When I threw +myself at his feet" (he means I suppose, humiliated himself by asking +such a favor), "he could not lift me from the ground. He could do +nothing, he said, against the will of Caesar." + +Cicero had now to choose between two courses. He might stay and do his +best with the help of his friends, to resist the passing of the law. But +this would have ended, it was well known, in something like an open +battle in the streets of Rome. Clodius and his partisans were ready to +carry their proposal by force of arms, and would yield to nothing but +superior strength. It was possible, even probable, that in such a +conflict Cicero would be victorious. But he shrank from the trial, not +from cowardice, for he had courage enough when occasion demanded, not +even from unwillingness to risk the lives of his friends, though this +weighed somewhat with him, but chiefly because he hated to confess that +freedom was becoming impossible in Rome, and that the strong hand of a +master was wanted to give any kind of security to life and property. The +other course was to anticipate the sentence and to go into voluntary +exile. This was the course which his most powerful friends pressed upon +him, and this was the course which he chose. He left Rome, intending to +go to Sicily, where he knew that he should find the heartiest of +welcomes. + +Immediately on his departure Clodius formally proposed his banishment. +"Let it be enacted," so ran the proposition, "that, seeing that Marcus +Tullius Cicero has put Roman citizens to death without trial, forging +thereto the authority of the Senate, that he be forbidden fire and +water; that no one harbor or receive him on pain of death; and that +whosoever shall move, shall vote, or take any steps for the recalling of +him, be dealt with as a public enemy." The bill was passed, the distance +within which it was to operate being fixed at four hundred miles. The +houses of the banished man were razed to the ground, the site of the +mansion on the. Palatine, being dedicated to Liberty. His property was +partly plundered, partly sold by auction. + +Cicero meanwhile had hurried to the south of Italy. He found shelter for +a while at the farm of a friend near Vibo in Brutii (now the Abruzzi), +but found it necessary to leave this place because it was within the +prescribed limits. Sicily was forbidden to him by its governor, who, +though a personal friend, was unwilling to displease the party in power. +Athens, which for many reasons he would have liked to choose for his +place of exile, was unsafe. He had bitter enemies there, men who had +been mixed up in Catiline's conspiracy. The place, too, was within the +distance, and though this was not very strictly insisted upon--as a +matter of fact, he did spend the greater part of his banishment inside +the prescribed limit--it might at any moment be made a means of +annoyance. Atticus invited him to take up his residence at his seat at +Buthrotum in Epirus (now Albania). But the proposal did not commend +itself to his taste. It was out of the way, and would be very dreary +without the presence of its master, who was still at Rome, and +apparently intended to remain there. After staying for about a fortnight +at a friend's house near Dyrrachium--the town itself, where he was once +very popular, for fear of bringing some trouble upon it, he refused to +enter--he crossed over to Greece, and ultimately settled himself at +Thessalonica. + +Long afterward he tells us of a singular dream which seems to have given +him some little comfort at this time. "I had lain awake for the greater +part of the night, but fell into a heavy slumber toward morning. I was +at the point of starting, but my host would not allow me to be waked. At +seven o'clock, however, I rose, and then told my friend this dream. I +seemed to myself to be wandering disconsolately in some lonely place +when the great Marius met me. His lictors were with him, their _fasces_ +wreathed with bays. 'Why are you so sad?' he asked me. 'I have been +wrongly banished from my country,' I answered. He then took my hand, and +turning to the nearest lictor, bade him lead me to his own Memorial +Hall. 'There,' he said, 'you will be safe.'" His friend declared that +this dream portended a speedy and honorable return. Curiously enough it +was in the Hall of Marius that the decree repealing the sentence of +banishment was actually proposed and passed. + +For the most part he was miserably unhappy and depressed. In letter +after letter he poured out to Atticus his fears, his complaints, and his +wants. Why had he listened to the bad advice of his friends? He had +wished to stay at Rome and fight out the quarrel. Why had Hortensius +advised him to retire from the struggle? It must have been jealousy, +jealousy of one whom he knew to be a more successful advocate than +himself. Why had Atticus hindered his purposes when he thought of +putting an end to all his trouble by killing himself? Why were all his +friends, why was Atticus himself, so lukewarm in his cause? In one +letter he artfully reproaches himself for his neglect of his friends in +times past as the cause of their present indifference. But the reproach +is of course really leveled at them. + +"If ever," he writes in one letter, "fortune shall restore me to my +country and to you, I will certainly take care that of all my friends; +none shall be more rejoiced than you. All my duty to you, a duty which I +must own in time past was sadly wanting, shall be so faithfully +discharged that you will feel that I have been restored to you quite as +much as I shall have been restored to my brother and to my children. For +whatever I have wronged you, and indeed because I have wronged you, +pardon me; for I have wronged myself far worse. I do not write this as +not knowing that you feel the very greatest trouble on my account; but +if you were and had been under the obligation to love me, as much as you +actually do love me and have loved me, you never would have allowed me +to lack the wise advice which you have so abundantly at your command." +This is perhaps a little obscure, as it is certainly somewhat subtle; +but Cicero means that Atticus had not interested himself in his affairs +as much as he would have felt bound to do, if he (Cicero) had been less +remiss in the duties of friendship. + +To another correspondent, his wife Terentia, he poured out his heart yet +more freely. "Don't think," he writes in one of his letters to her, +"that I write longer letters to others than to you, except indeed I have +received some long communication which I feel I must answer. Indeed I +have nothing to write; and in these days I find it the most difficult of +duties. Writing to you and to my dearest Tullia I never can do without +floods of tears. I see you are utterly miserable, and I wanted you to be +completely happy. I might have made you so. I could have made you had I +been less timid.... My heart's delight, my deepest regret is to think +that you, to whom all used to look for help, should now be involved in +such sorrow, such distress! and that I should be to blame, I who saved +others only to ruin myself and mine!... As for expenditure, let others, +who can if they will, undertake it. And if you love me, don't distress +your health, which is already, I know, feeble. All night, all day I +think of you. I see that you are undertaking all imaginable labors on my +behalf; I only fear that you will not be able to endure them. I am aware +that all depends upon you. If we are to succeed in what you wish and are +now trying to compass, take care of your health." In another he writes: +"Unhappy that I am! to think that one so virtuous, so loyal, so honest, +so kind, should be so afflicted, and all on my account. And my dearest +Tullia, too, that she should be so unhappy about a father in whom she +once found so much happiness. And what shall I say about my dear little +Cicero? That he should feel the bitterest sorrow and trouble as soon as +he began to feel any thing! If all this was really, as you write, the +work of fate, I could endure it a little more easily; but it was all +brought about by my fault, thinking that I was loved by men who really +were jealous of me, and keeping aloof from others who were really on my +side." + +This is, perhaps, a good opportunity of saying something about the lady +herself. Who she was we do not certainly know. There was a family of the +name in Rome, the most notable of whom perhaps was the Terentius +Varro[7] whose rashness brought upon his country the terrible disaster +of the defeat of Cannae. She had a half-sister, probably older than +herself, of the name of Fabia, who was a vestal virgin. She brought her +husband, to whom she was married about 78 B.C., a fair dowry, about +three thousand five hundred pounds. We have seen how affectionately +Cicero writes to her during his exile. She is his darling, his only +hope; the mere thought of her makes his eyes overflow with tears. And +she seems to have deserved all his praise and affection, exerting +herself to the utmost to help him, and ready to impoverish herself to +find him the means that he needed. Four letters of this period have been +preserved. There are twenty others belonging to the years 50-47 B.C. The +earlier of these are sufficiently affectionate. When he is about to +return to Rome from his province (Cilicia), she is still the most +amiable, the dearest of women. Then we begin to see signs of coolness, +yet nothing that would strike us did we not know what was afterwards to +happen. He excuses the rarity of his letters. There is no one by whom to +send them. If there were, he was willing to write. The greetings became +formal, the superlatives "dearest," "fondest," "best," are dropped. "You +are glad," he writes after the battle of Pharsalia had dashed his hopes, +"that I have got back safe to Italy; I hope that you may continue to be +glad." "Don't think of coming," he goes on, "it is a long journey and +not very safe; and I don't see what good you would do if you should +come." In another letter he gives directions about getting ready his +house at Tusculum for the reception of guests. The letter is dated on +the first of October, and he and his friends would come probably to stay +several days, on the seventh. If there was not a tub in the bath-room, +one must be provided. The greeting is of the briefest and most formal. +Meanwhile we know from what he writes to Atticus that he was greatly +dissatisfied with the lady's conduct. Money matters were at the bottom +of their quarrel. She was careless, he thinks, and extravagant. Though +he was a rich man, yet he was often in need of ready money, and Terentia +could not be relied upon to help him. His vexation takes form in a +letter to Atticus. "As to Terentia--there are other things without +number of which I don't speak--what can be worse than this? You wrote to +her to send me bills for one hundred and eight pounds; for there was so +much money left in hand. She sent me just ninety pounds, and added a +note that this was all. If she was capable of abstracting such a trifle +from so small a sum, don't you see what she would have done in matters +of real importance?" The quarrel ended in a divorce, a thing far more +common than, happily, it is among ourselves, but still a painful and +discreditable end to an union which had lasted for more than +five-and-twenty years. Terentia long survived her husband, dying in +extreme old age (as much, it was said, as a hundred and three years), +far on in the reign of Augustus; and after a considerable experience of +matrimony, if it be true that she married three or even, according to +some accounts, four other husbands. + +[Footnote 7: Another of the same name was an eminent man of letters of +Cicero's own time.] + +Terentia's daughter, Tullia, had a short and unhappy life. She was born, +it would seem, about 79 B.C., and married when fifteen or sixteen to a +young Roman noble, Piso Frugi by name. "The best, the most loyal of +men," Cicero calls him. He died in 57 B.C., and Rome lost, if his +father-in-law's praises of him may be trusted, an orator of the very +highest promise. "I never knew any one who surpassed my son-in-law, +Piso, in zeal, in industry, and, I may fairly say, in ability." The next +year she married a certain Crassipes, a very shadowy person indeed. We +know nothing of what manner of man he was, or what became of him. But in +50 B.C. Tullia was free to marry again. Her third venture was of her own +or her mother's contriving. Her father was at his government in Cilicia, +and he hears of the affair with surprise. "Believe me," he writes to +Atticus, "nothing could have been less expected by me. Tiberius Nero had +made proposals to me, and I had sent friends to discuss the matter with +the ladies. But when they got to Rome the betrothal had taken place. +This, I hope, will be a better match. I fancy the ladies were very much +pleased with the young gentleman's complaisance and courtesy, but do not +look for the thorns." The "thorns," however, were there. A friend who +kept Cicero acquainted with the news of Rome, told him as much, though +he wraps up his meaning in the usual polite phrases. "I congratulate +you," he writes, "on your alliance with one who is, I really believe, a +worthy fellow. I do indeed think this of him. If there have been some +things in which he has not done justice to himself, these are now past +and gone; any traces that may be left will soon, I am sure, disappear, +thanks to your good influence and to his respect for Tullia. He is not +offensive in his errors, and does not seem slow to appreciate better +things." Tullia, however, was not more successful than other wives in +reforming her husband. Her marriage seems to have been unhappy almost +from the beginning. It was brought to an end by a divorce after about +three years. Shortly afterward Tullia, who could have been little more +than thirty, died, to the inconsolable grief of her father. "My grief," +he writes to Atticus, "passes all consolation. Yet I have done what +certainly no one ever did before, written a treatise for my own +consolation. (I will send you the book if the copyists have finished +it.) And indeed there is nothing like it. I write day after day, and all +day long; not that I can get any good from it, but it occupies me a +little, not much indeed; the violence of my grief is too much for me. +Still I am soothed, and do my best to compose, not my feelings, indeed, +but, if I can, my face." And again: "Next to your company nothing is +more agreeable to me than solitude. Then all my converse is with books; +yet this is interrupted by tears; these I resist as well as I can; but +at present I fail." At one time he thought of finding comfort in unusual +honors to the dead. He would build a shrine of which Tullia should be +the deity. "I am determined," he writes, "on building the shrine. From +this purpose I cannot be turned ... Unless the building be finished this +summer, I shall hold myself guilty." He fixes upon a design. He begs +Atticus, in one of his letters, to buy some columns of marble of Chios +for the building. He discusses the question of the site. Some gardens +near Rome strike him as a convenient place. It must be conveniently near +if it is to attract worshipers. "I would sooner sell or mortgage, or +live on little, than be disappointed." Then he thought that he would +build it on the grounds of his villa. In the end he did not build it at +all. Perhaps the best memorial of Tullia is the beautiful letter in +which one of Cicero's friends seeks to console him for his loss. "She +had lived," he says, "as long as life was worth living, as long as the +republic stood." One passage, though it has often been quoted before, I +must give. "I wish to tell you of something which brought me no small +consolation, hoping that it may also somewhat diminish your sorrow. On +my way back from Asia, as I was sailing from Aeigina to Megara, I began +to contemplate the places that lay around me. Behind me was Aegina, +before me Megara; on my right hand the Piraeus, on my left hand Corinth; +towns all of them that were once at the very height of prosperity, but +now lie ruined and desolate before our eyes. I began thus to reflect: +'Strange! do we, poor creatures of a day, bear it ill if one of us +perish of disease, or are slain with the sword, we whose life is bound +to be short, while the dead bodies of so many lie here inclosed within +so small a compass?" + +But I am anticipating. When Cicero was in exile the republic had yet +some years to live; and there were hopes that it might survive +altogether. The exile's prospects, too, began to brighten. Caesar had +reached for the present the height of his ambition, and was busy with +his province of Gaul. Pompey had quarreled with Clodius, whom he found +to be utterly unmanageable. And Cicero's friend, one Milo, of whom I +shall have to say more hereafter, being the most active of them all, +never ceased to agitate for his recall. It would be tedious to recall +all the vicissitudes of the struggle. As early as May the Senate passed +a resolution repealing the decree of banishment, the news of it having +caused an outburst of joy in the city. Accius' drama of "Telamon" was +being acted at the time, and the audience applauded each senator as he +entered the Senate, and rose from their places to greet the consul as he +came in. But the enthusiasm rose to its height when the actor who was +playing the part of Telamon (whose banishment from his country formed +part of the action of the drama) declaimed with significant emphasis the +following lines-- + + What! he--the man who still with steadfast heart + Strove for his country, who in perilous days + Spared neither life nor fortune, and bestowed + Most help when most she needed; who surpassed + In wit all other men. Father of Gods, + _His_ house--yea, _his_!--I saw devoured by fire; + And ye, ungrateful, foolish, without thought + Of all wherein he served you, could endure + To see him banished; yea, and to this hour + Suffer that he prolong an exile's day. + +Still obstacle after obstacle was interposed, and it was not till the +fourth of August that the decree passed through all its stages and +became finally law. Cicero, who had been waiting at the point of Greece +nearest to Italy, to take the earliest opportunity of returning, had +been informed by his friends that he might now safely embark. He sailed +accordingly on the very day when the decree was passed, and reached +Brundisium on the morrow. It happened to be the day on which the +foundation of the colony was celebrated, and also the birthday of +Tullia, who had come so far to meet her father. The coincidence was +observed by the towns-people with delight. On the eighth the welcome +news came from Rome, and Cicero set out for the capital. "All along my +road the cities of Italy kept the day of my arrival as a holiday; the +ways were crowded with the deputations which were sent from all parts to +congratulate me. When I approached the city, my coming was honored by +such a concourse of men, such a heartiness of congratulation as are past +believing. The way from the gates, the ascent of the Capitol, the return +to my home made such a spectacle that in the very height of my joy I +could not but be sorry that a people so grateful had yet been so +unhappy, so cruelly oppressed." "That day," he said emphatically, "that +day was as good as immortality to me." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A BRAWL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + + +Clodius, who had taken the lead in driving Cicero into exile, was of +course furious at his return, and continued to show him an unceasing +hostility. His first care was to hinder the restoration of his property. +He had contrived to involve part at least of this in a considerable +difficulty. Cicero's house on the Palatine Hill had been pulled down and +the area dedicated--so at least Clodius alleged--to the Goddess of +Liberty. If this was true, it was sacred forever; it could not be +restored. The question was, Was it true? This question was referred to +the Pontiffs as judges of such matters. Cicero argued the case before +them, and they pronounced in his favor. It was now for the Senate to +act. A motion was made that the site should be restored. Clodius opposed +it, talking for three hours, till the anger of his audience compelled +him to bring his speech to an end. One of the tribunes in his interest +put his veto on the motion, but was frightened into withdrawing it. But +Clodius was not at the end of his resources. A set of armed ruffians +under his command drove out the workmen who were rebuilding the house. A +few days afterwards he made an attack on Cicero himself. He was wounded +in the struggle which followed, and might, says Cicero, have been +killed, "but," he adds, "I am tired of surgery." + +Pompey was another object of his hatred, for he knew perfectly well that +without his consent his great enemy would not have been restored. Cicero +gives a lively picture of a scene in the Senate, in which this hatred +was vigorously expressed. "Pompey spoke, or rather wished to speak; for, +as soon as he rose, Clodius' hired ruffians shouted at him. All through +his speech it was the same; he was interrupted not only by shouts but by +abuse and curses. When he came to an end--and it must be allowed that he +showed courage; nothing frightened him: he said his say and sometimes +even obtained silence--then Clodius rose. He was met with such an uproar +from our side (for we had determined to give him back as good as he had +given) that he could not collect his thoughts, control his speech, or +command his countenance. This went on from three o'clock, when Pompey +had only just finished his speech, till five. Meanwhile every kind of +abuse, even to ribald verses, were shouted out against Clodius and his +sister. Pale with fury he turned to his followers, and in the midst of +the uproar asked them, 'Who is it that is killing the people with +hunger?' 'Pompey,' they answered. 'Who wants to go to Alexandria?' +'Pompey,' they answered again. 'And whom do _you_ want to go?' +'Crassus,' they said. About six o'clock the party of Clodius began, at +some given signal, it seemed, to spit at our side. Our rage now burst +out. They tried to drive us from our place, and we made a charge. The +partisans of Clodius fled. He was thrust down from the hustings. I then +made my escape, lest any thing worse should happen." + +A third enemy, and one whom Clodius was destined to find more dangerous +than either Cicero or Pompey, was Annius Milo. Milo was on the mother's +side of an old Latin family. The name by which he was commonly known was +probably a nickname given him, it may be, in joking allusion to the Milo +of Crotona, the famous wrestler, who carried an ox on his shoulders and +ate it in a single day. For Milo was a great fighting man, a well-born +gladiator, one who was for cutting all political knots with the sword. +He was ambitious, and aspired to the consulship; but the dignity was +scarcely within his reach. His family was not of the highest; he was +deeply in debt; he had neither eloquence nor ability. His best chance, +therefore, was to attach himself to some powerful friend whose gratitude +he might earn. Just such a friend he seemed to find in Cicero. He saw +the great orator's fortunes were very low, but they would probably rise +again, and he would be grateful to those who helped him in his +adversity. Hence Milo's exertions to bring him back from banishment and +hence the quarrel with Clodius. The two men had their bands of hired, or +rather purchased, ruffians about the city, and came into frequent +collisions. Each indicted the other for murderous assault. Each publicly +declared that he should take the earliest chance of putting his I enemy +to death. What was probably a chance collision brought matters to a +crisis. + +On the twentieth of January Milo left Rome to pay a visit to Lanuvium, a +Latin town on the Appian road, and about fifteen miles south of Rome. It +was a small town, much decayed from the old days when its revolt +against Rome was thought to be a thing worth recording; but it +contained one of the most famous temples of Italy, the dwelling of Juno +the Preserver, whose image, in its goat-skin robe, its quaint, turned-up +shoes, with spear in one hand and small shield in the other, had a +peculiar sacredness. Milo was a native of the place, and its dictator; +and it was his duty on this occasion to nominate the chief priest of the +temple. He had been at a meeting of the Senate in the morning, and had +remained till the close of the sitting. Returning home he had changed +his dress and shoes, waited a while, as men have to wait, says Cicero, +while his wife was getting ready, and then started. He traveled in a +carriage his wife and a friend. Several maid-servants and a troop of +singing boys belonging to his wife followed. Much was made of this great +retinue of women and boys, as proving that Milo had no intention when he +started of coming to blows with his great enemy. But he had also with +him a number of armed slaves and several gladiators, among whom were two +famous masters of their art. He had traveled about ten miles when he met +Clodius, who had been delivering an address to the town council of +Aricia, another Latin town, nearer to the capital than Lanuvium, and was +now returning to Rome. He was on horseback, contrary to his usual +custom, which was to use a carriage, and he had with him thirty slaves +armed with swords. No person of distinction thought of traveling without +such attendants. + +The two men passed each other, but Milo's gladiators fell out with the +slaves of Clodius. Clodius rode back and accosted the aggressors in a +threatening manner. One of the gladiators replied by wounding him in the +shoulder with his sword. A number of Milo's slaves hastened back to +assist their comrades. The party of Clodius was overpowered, and Clodius +himself, exhausted by his wound, took refuge in a roadside tavern, which +probably marked the first stage out of Rome. Milo, thinking that now he +had gone so far he might go a little further and rid himself of his +enemy forever, ordered his slaves to drag Clodius from his refuge and +finish him. This was promptly done. Cicero indeed declared that the +slaves did it without orders, and in the belief that their master had +been killed. But Rome believed the other story. The corpse of the dead +man lay for some time upon the road uncared for, for all his attendants +had either fallen in the struggle or had crept into hiding-places. Then +a Roman gentleman on his way to the city ordered it to be put into his +litter and taken to Rome, where it arrived just before nightfall. It was +laid out in state in the hall of his mansion, and his widow stood by +showing the wounds to the sympathizing crowd which thronged to see his +remains. Next day the excitement increased. Two of the tribunes +suggested that the body should be carried into the market-place, and +placed on the hustings from which the speaker commonly addressed the +people. Then it was resolved, at the suggestion of another Clodius, a +notary, and a client of the family, to do it a signal honor. "Thou shalt +not bury or burn a man within the city" was one of the oldest of Roman +laws. Clodius, the favorite of the people, should be an exception. His +body was carried into the Hall of Hostilius, the usual meeting-place of +the Senate. The benches, the tables, the platform from which the orators +spoke, the wooden tablets on which the clerks wrote their notes, were +collected to make a funeral pile on which the corpse was to be consumed. +The hall caught fire, and was burned to the ground; another large +building adjoining it, the Hall of Porcius, narrowly escaped the same +fate. The mob attacked several houses, that of Milo among them, and was +with difficulty repulsed. + +It had been expected that Milo would voluntarily go into exile; but the +burning of the senate-house caused a strong reaction of feeling of which +he took advantage. He returned to Rome, and provided to canvass for the +consulship, making a present in money (which may be reckoned at +five-and-twenty shillings) to every voter. The city was in a continual +uproar; though the time for the new consuls to enter on their office was +long past, they had not even been elected, nor was there any prospect, +such was the violence of the rival candidates, of their being so. At +last the Senate had recourse to the only man who seemed able to deal +with the situation, and appointed Pompey sole consul. Pompey proposed +to institute for the trial of Milo's case a special court with a +special form of procedure. The limits of the time which it was to occupy +were strictly laid down. Three days were to be given to the examination +of witnesses, one to the speeches of counsel, the prosecution being +allowed two hours only, the defense three. After a vain resistance on +the part of Milo's friends, the proposal was carried, Pompey threatening +to use force if necessary. Popular feeling now set very strongly against +the accused. Pompey proclaimed that he went in fear of his life from his +violence; refused to appear in the Senate lest he should be +assassinated, and even left his house to live in his gardens, which +could be more effectually guarded by soldiers. In the Senate Milo was +accused of having arms under his clothing, a charge which he had to +disprove by lifting up his under garment. Next a freedman came forward, +and declared that he and four others had actually seen the murder of +Clodius, and that having mentioned the fact, they had been seized and +shut up for two months in Milo's counting-house. Finally a sheriff's +officer, if we may so call him, deposed that another important witness, +one of Milo's slaves, had been forcibly taken out of his hands by the +partisans of the accused. + +On the eighth of April the trial was begun. The first witness called was +a friend who had been with Clodius on the day of his death. His evidence +made the case look very dark against Milo, and the counsel who was to +cross-examine him on behalf of the accused was received with such angry +cries that he had to take refuge on the bench with the presiding judge. +Milo was obliged to ask for the same protection. + +Pompey resolved that better order should be kept for the future, and +occupied all the approaches to the court with troops. The rest of the +witnesses were heard and cross-examined without interruption. April 11th +was the last day of the trial. Three speeches were delivered for the +prosecution; for the defense one only, and that by Cicero. It had been +suggested that he should take the bold line of arguing that Clodius was +a traitor, and that the citizen who slew him had deserved well of his +country. But he judged it better to follow another course, and to show +that Clodius had been the aggressor, having deliberately laid an ambush +for Milo, of whose meditated journey to Lanuvium he was of course aware. +Unfortunately for his client the case broke down. Milo had evidently +left Rome and the conflict had happened much earlier than was said, +because the body of the murdered man had reached the capital not later +than five o'clock in the afternoon. This disproved the assertion that +Clodius had loitered on his way back to Rome till the growing darkness +gave him an opportunity of attacking his adversaries. Then it came out +that Milo had had in his retinue, besides the women and boys, a number +of fighting men. Finally there was the damning fact, established, it +would seem, by competent witnesses, that Clodius had been dragged from +his hiding-place and put to death. Cicero too lost his presence of mind. +The sight of the city, in which all the shops were shut in expectation +of a riot, the presence of the soldiers in court, and the clamor of a +mob furiously hostile to the accused and his advocate, confounded him, +and he spoke feebly and hesitatingly. The admirable oration which has +come down to us, and professes to have been delivered on this occasion, +was really written afterwards. The jury, which was allowed by common +consent to have been one of the best ever assembled, gave a verdict of +guilty. Milo went into banishment at Marseilles--a punishment which he +seems to have borne very easily, if it is true that when Cicero excused +himself for the want of courage which had marred the effect of his +defense, he answered, "It was all for the best; if you had spoken +better I should never have tasted these admirable Marseilles mullets." + +Naturally he tired of the mullets before long. When Caesar had made +himself master of Rome, he hoped to be recalled from banishment. But +Caesar did not want him, and preferred to have him where he was. Enraged +at this treatment, he came over to Italy and attempted to raise an +insurrection in favor of Pompey. The troops whom he endeavored to +corrupt refused to follow him. He retreated with his few followers into +the extreme south of the peninsula, and was there killed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA. + + +"From his earliest years," so runs the character that has come down to +us of Cato, "he was resolute to obstinacy. Flattery met with a rough +repulse, and threats with resistance. He never laughed, and his smile +was of the slightest. Not easily provoked, his anger, once roused, was +implacable. He learned but slowly, but never forgot a thing once +acquired; he was obedient to his teachers, but wanted to know the reason +of every thing." The stories told of his boyhood bear out this +character. Here is one of them. His tutor took him to Sulla's house. It +was in the evil days of the Proscription, and there were signs of the +bloody work that was going on. "Why does no one kill this man?" he asked +his teacher. "Because, my son, they fear him more than they hate him," +was the answer. "Why then," was the rejoinder, "have you not given me a +sword that I may set my country free?" The tutor, as it may be supposed, +carried him off in haste. + +Like most young Romans he began life as a soldier, and won golden +opinions not only by his courage, which indeed was common enough in a +nation that conquered the world, but by his temperance and diligent +performance of duty. His time of service ended, he set out on his +travels, accepting an invitation from the tributary king of Galatia, +who happened to be an old friend of the family, to visit him. We get an +interesting little picture of a Roman of the upper class on a tour. "At +dawn he would send on a baker and a cook to the place which he intended +to visit. These would enter the town in a most unpretending fashion, and +if their master did not happen to have a friend or acquaintance in the +place, would betake themselves to an inn, and there prepare for their +master's accommodation without troubling any one. It was only when there +was no inn that they went to the magistrates and asked for +entertainment; and they were always content with what was assigned. +Often they met with but scanty welcome and attention, not enforcing +their demands with the customary threats, so that Cato on his arrival +found nothing prepared. Nor did their master create a more favorable +impression, sitting as he did quietly on his luggage, and seeming to +accept the situation. Sometimes, however, he would send for the town +authorities and say, "You had best give up these mean ways, my +inhospitable friends; you won't find that all your visitors are Catos." +Once at least he found himself, as he thought, magnificently received. +Approaching Antioch, he found the road lined on either side with troops +of spectators. The men stood in one company, the boys in another. Every +body was in holiday dress. Some--these were the magistrates and +priests--wore white robes and garlands of flowers. Cato, supposing that +all these preparations were intended for himself, was annoyed that his +servants had not prevented them. But he was soon undeceived. An old man +ran out from the crowd, and without so much as greeting the new comer, +cried, "Where did you leave Demetrius? When will he come?" Demetrius was +Pompey's freedman, and had some of his master's greatness reflected on +him. Cato could only turn away muttering, "Wretched place!" + +Returning to Rome he went through the usual course of honors, always +discharging his duties with the utmost zeal and integrity, and probably, +as long as he filled a subordinate place, with great success. It was +when statesmanship was wanted that he began to fail. + +In the affair of the conspiracy of Catiline Cato stood firmly by +Cicero, supporting the proposition to put the conspirators to death in a +powerful speech, the only speech of all that he made that was preserved. +This preservation was due to the forethought of Cicero, who put the +fastest writers whom he could find to relieve each other in taking down +the oration. This, it is interesting to be told, was the beginning of +shorthand. + +Cato, like Cicero, loved and believed in the republic; but he was much +more uncompromising, more honest perhaps we may say, but certainly less +discreet in putting his principles into action. He set himself to oppose +the accumulation of power in the hands of Pompey and Caesar; but he +lacked both dignity and prudence, and he accomplished nothing. When, for +instance, Caesar, returning from Spain, petitioned the Senate for +permission to become a candidate for the consulship without entering the +city--to enter the city would have been to abandon his hopes of a +triumph--Cato condescended to use the arts of obstruction in opposing +him. He spoke till sunset against the proposition, and it failed by +sheer lapse of time. Yet the opposition was fruitless. Caesar of course +abandoned the empty honor, and secured the reality, all the more +certainly because people felt that he had been hardly used. And so he +continued to act, always seeking to do right, but always choosing the +very worst way of doing it; anxious to serve his country, but always +contriving to injure it. Even in that which, we may say, best became him +in his life, in the leaving of it (if we accept for the moment the Roman +view of the morality of suicide), he was not doing his best for Rome. +Had he been willing to live (for Caesar was ready to spare him, as he +was always ready to spare enemies who could not harm him), there was yet +good for him to do; in his hasty impatience of what he disapproved, he +preferred to deprive his country of its most honest citizen. + +We must not omit a picture so characteristic of Roman life as the story +of his last hours. The last army of the republic had been destroyed at +Thapsus, and Caesar was undisputed master of the world. Cato vainly +endeavored to stir up the people of Utica, a town near Carthage, in +which he had taken up his quarters; when they refused, he resolved to +put an end to his life. A kinsman of Caesar, who was preparing to +intercede with the conqueror for the lives of the vanquished leaders, +begged Cato's help in revising his speech. "For you," he said, "I should +think it no shame to clasp his hands and fall at his knees." "Were I +willing to take my life at his hands," replied Cato, "I should go alone +to ask it. But I refuse to live by the favor of a tyrant. Still, as +there are three hundred others for whom you are to intercede, let us see +what can be done with the speech." This business finished, he took an +affectionate leave of his friend, commending to his good offices his son +and his friends. On his son he laid a strict injunction not to meddle +with public life. Such a part as was worthy of the name of Cato no man +could take again; to take any other would be shameful. Then followed the +bath, and after the bath, dinner, to which he had invited a number of +friends, magistrates of the town. He sat at the meal, instead of +reclining. This had been his custom ever since the fated day of +Pharsalia. After dinner, over the wine, there was much learned talk, +and this not other than cheerful in tone. But when the conversation +happened to turn on one of the favorite maxims of the Stoics, "Only the +good man is free; the bad are slaves," Cato expressed himself with an +energy and even a fierceness that made the company suspect some terrible +resolve. The melancholy silence that ensued warned the speaker that he +had betrayed himself, and he hastened to remove the suspicion by talking +on other topics. After dinner he took his customary walk, gave the +necessary orders to the officers on guard, and then sought his chamber. +Here he took up the Phaedo, the famous dialogue in which Socrates, on +the day when he is to drink the poison, discusses the immortality of the +soul. He had almost finished the book, when, chancing to turn his eyes +upwards, he perceived that his sword had been removed. His son had +removed it while he sat at dinner. He called a slave and asked, "Who has +taken my sword?" As the man said nothing, he resumed his book; but in +the course of a few minutes, finding that search was not being made, he +asked for the sword again. Another interval followed; and still it was +not forthcoming. His anger was now roused. He vehemently reproached the +slaves, and even struck one of them with his fist, which he injured by +the blow. "My son and my slaves," he said, "are betraying me to the +enemy." He would listen to no entreaties, "Am I a madman," he said, +"that I am stripped of my arms? Are you going to bind my hands and give +me up to Caesar? As for the sword I can do without it; I need but hold +my breath or dash my head against the wall. It is idle to think that you +can keep a man of my years alive against his will." It was felt to be +impossible to persist in the face of this determination, and a young +slave-boy brought back the sword. Cato felt the weapon, and finding that +the blade was straight and the edge perfect, said, "Now I am my own +master." He then read the Phaedo again from beginning to end, and +afterwards fell into so profound a sleep that persons standing outside +the chamber heard his breathing. About midnight he sent for his +physician and one of his freedmen. The freedman was commissioned to +inquire whether his friends had set sail. The physician he asked to bind +up his wounded hand, a request which his attendants heard with delight, +as it seemed to indicate a resolve to live. He again sent to inquire +about his friends and expressed his regret at the rough weather which +they seemed likely to have. The birds were now beginning to twitter at +the approach of dawn, and he fell into a short sleep. The freedman now +returned with news that the harbor was quiet. When he found himself +again alone, he stabbed himself with the sword, but the blow, dealt as +it was by the wounded hand, was not fatal. He fell fainting on the +couch, knocking down a counting board which stood near, and groaning. +His son with others rushed into the chamber, and the physician, finding +that the wound was not mortal, proceeded to bind it up. Cato, recovering +his consciousness, thrust the attendants aside, and tearing open the +wound, expired. + +If the end of Cato's life was its noblest part it is still more true +that the fame of Brutus rests on one memorable deed. He was known, +indeed, as a young man of promise, with whose education special pains +had been taken, and who had a genuine love for letters and learning. He +was free, it would seem, from some of the vices of his age, but he had +serious faults. Indeed the one transaction of his earlier life with +which we happen to be well acquainted is very little to his credit. And +this, again, is so characteristic of one side of Roman life that it +should be told in some detail. + +Brutus had married the daughter of a certain Appius Claudius, a kinsman +of the notorious Clodius, and had accompanied his father-in-law to his +province, Cilicia. He took the opportunity of increasing his means by +lending money to the provincials. Lending money, it must be remembered, +was not thought a discreditable occupation even for the very noblest. To +lend money upon interest was, indeed, the only way of making an +investment, besides the buying of land, that was available to the Roman +capitalist. But Brutus was more than a money-lender, he was an usurer; +that is, he sought to extract an extravagantly high rate of interest +from his debtors. And this greed brought him into collision with Cicero. + +A certain Scaptius had been agent for Brutus in lending money to the +town of Salamis in Cyprus. Under the government of Claudius, Scaptius +had had every thing his own way. He had been appointed to a command in +the town, had some cavalry at his disposal, and extorted from the +inhabitants what terms he pleased, shutting up, it is told us, the +Senate in their council-room till five of them perished of hunger. +Cicero heard of this monstrous deed as he was on his way to his +province; he peremptorily refused the request of Scaptius for a renewal +of his command, saying that he had resolved not to grant such posts to +any person engaged in trading or money-lending. Still, for Brutus' +sake--and it was not for some time that it came out that Brutus was the +principal--he would take care that the money should be paid. This the +town was ready to do; but then came in the question of interest. An +edict had been published that this should never exceed twelve per cent., +or one per cent, monthly, that being the customary way of payment. But +Scaptius pleaded his bond, which provided for four per cent, monthly, +and pleaded also a special edict that regulations restraining interest +were not to apply to Salamis. The town protested that they could not +pay if such terms were exacted--terms which would double the principal. +They could not, they said, have met even the smaller claim, if it had +not been for the liberality of the governor, who had declined the +customary presents. Brutus was much vexed. + +"Even when he asks me a favor," writes Cicero to Atticus, "there is +always something arrogant and churlish: still he moves laughter more +than anger." + +When the civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey, it was expected +that Brutus would attach himself to the former. Pompey, who had put his +father to death, he had no reason to love. But if he was unscrupulous in +some things, in politics he had principles which he would not abandon, +the strongest of these, perhaps, being that the side of which Cato +approved was the side of the right. Pompey received his new adherent +with astonishment and delight, rising from his chair to greet him. He +spent most of his time in camp in study, being ingrossed on the very eve +of the battle in making an epitome of Polybius, the Greek historian of +the Second Punic War. He passed through the disastrous day of Pharsalia +unhurt, Caesar having given special orders that his life was to be +spared. After the battle, the conqueror not only pardoned him but +treated him with the greatest kindness, a kindness for which, for a time +at least, he seems not to have been ungrateful. But there were +influences at work which he could not resist. There was his friendship +with Cassius, who had a passionate hatred against usurpers, the +remembrance of how Cato had died sooner than submit himself to Caesar, +and, not least, the association of his name, which he was not permitted +to forget. The statue of the old patriot who had driven out the Tarquins +was covered with such inscriptions as, "Brutus, would thou wert alive!" +and Brutus' own chair of office--he was praetor at the time--was found +covered with papers on which were scribbled, "Brutus, thou sleepest," +or, "A true Brutus art thou," and the like. How he slew Caesar I have +told already; how he killed himself in despair after the second battle +of Philippi may be read elsewhere. + +Porcia, the daughter of Cato, was left a widow in 48 B.C., and married +three years afterwards her cousin Brutus, who divorced his first wife +Claudia in order to marry her. She inherited both the literary tastes +and the opinions of her father, and she thought herself aggrieved when +her husband seemed unwilling to confide his plans to her. Plutarch thus +tells her story, his authority seeming to be a little biography which +one of her sons by her first husband afterwards wrote of his +step-father. "She wounded herself in the thigh with a knife such as +barbers use for cutting the nails. The wound was deep, the loss of blood +great, and the pain and fever that followed acute. Her husband was in +the greatest distress, when his wife thus addressed him: 'Brutus, it was +a daughter of Cato who became your wife, not merely to share your bed +and board, but to be the partner of your adversity and your prosperity. +_You_ give me no cause to complain, but what proof can I give you of my +affection if I may not bear with you your secret troubles. Women, I +know, are weak creatures, ill fitted to keep secrets. Yet a good +training and honest company may do much, and this, as Cato's daughter +and wife to Brutus, I have had.' She then showed him the wound, and told +him that she had inflicted it upon herself to prove her courage and +constancy." For all this resolution she had something of a woman's +weakness. When her husband had left the house on the day fixed for the +assassination, she could not conceal her agitation. She eagerly inquired +of all who entered how Brutus fared, and at last fainted in the hall of +her house. In the midst of the business of the senate-house Brutus heard +that his wife was dying. + +Porcia was not with her husband during the campaigns that ended at +Philippi, but remained in Rome. She is said to have killed herself by +swallowing the live coals from a brazier, when her friends kept from her +all the means of self-destruction. This story is scarcely credible; +possibly it means that she suffocated herself with the fumes of +charcoal. That she should commit suicide suited all the traditions of +her life. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A GOVERNOR IN HIS PROVINCE. + + +It was usual for a Roman statesman, after filling the office of praetor +or consul, to undertake for a year or more the government of one of the +provinces. These appointments were indeed the prizes of the profession +of politics. The new governor had a magnificent outfit from the +treasury. We hear of as much as one hundred and fifty thousand pounds +having been allowed for this purpose. Out of this something might easily +be economized. Indeed we hear of one governor who left the whole of his +allowance put out at interest in Rome. And in the province itself +splendid gains might be, and indeed commonly were, got. Even Cicero, +who, if we may trust his own account of his proceedings, was +exceptionally just, and not only just, but even generous in his dealings +with the provincials, made, as we have seen, the very handsome profit of +twenty thousand pounds out of a year of office. Verres, who, on the +other hand, was exceptionally rapacious, made three hundred and fifty +thousand pounds in three years, besides collecting works of art of +incalculable value. But the honors and profits to which most of his +contemporaries looked forward with eagerness did not attract Cicero. He +did not care to be absent from the center of political life, and felt +himself to be at once superior to and unfitted for the pettier affairs +of a provincial government. + +He had successfully avoided the appointment after his praetorship and +again after his consulship. But the time came when it was forced upon +him. Pompey in his third consulship had procured the passing of a law by +which it was provided that all senators who had filled the office of +praetor or consul should cast lots for the vacant provinces. Cicero had +to take his chance with the rest, and the ballot gave him Cilicia. This +was in B.C. 51, and Cicero was in his fifty-sixth year. + +Cilicia was a province of considerable extent, including, as it did, the +south-eastern portion of Asia Minor, together with the island of Cyprus. +The position of its governor was made more anxious by the neighborhood +of Rome's most formidable neighbors, the Parthians, who but two years +before had cut to pieces the army of Crassus. Two legions, numbering +twelve thousand troops besides auxiliaries, were stationed in the +province, having attached to them between two and three thousand +cavalry. + +Cicero started to take up his appointment on May 1st, accompanied by his +brother, who, having served with distinction under Caesar in Gaul, had +resigned his command to act as lieutenant in Cilicia. At Cumae he +received a levee of visitors--a "little Rome," he says. Hortensius was +among them, and this though in very feeble health (he died before +Cicero's return). "He asked me for my instructions. Every thing else I +left with him in general terms, but I begged him especially not to allow +as far as in him lay, the government of my province to be continued to +me into another year." On the 17th of the month he reached Tarentum, +where he spent three days with Pompey. He found him "ready to defend the +State from the dangers that we dread." The shadows of the civil war, +which was to break out in the year after Cicero's return, were already +gathering. At Brundisium, the port of embarkation for the East, he was +detained partly by indisposition, partly by having to wait for one of +his officials for nearly a fortnight. He reached Actium, in +north-western Greece, on the 15th of June. He would have liked to +proceed thence by land, being, as he tells us, a bad sailor, and having +in view the rounding of the formidable promontory Leucate; but there was +a difficulty about his retinue, without which he could not maintain the +state which became a governor _en route_ for his province. Eleven more +days brought him to Athens. "So far," he writes from this place, "no +expenditure of public or private money has been made on me or any of my +retinue. I have convinced all my people that they must do their best for +my character. So far all has gone admirably. The thing has been noticed, +and is greatly praised by the Greeks." "Athens," he writes again, +"delighted me much; the city with all its beauty, the great affection +felt for you" (he is writing, it will be remembered, to Atticus, an old +resident), "and the good feeling towards myself, much more, too, its +philosophical studies." He was able before he left to do the people a +service, rescuing from the hands of the builder the house of Epicurus, +which the council of Areopagus, with as little feeling for antiquity as +a modern town council, had doomed. Then he went on his way, grumbling at +the hardships of a sea voyage in July, at the violence of the winds, at +the smallness of the local vessels. He reached Ephesus on July 22nd, +without being sea-sick, as he is careful to tell us, and found a vast +number of persons who had come to pay their respects to him. All this +was pleasant enough, but he was peculiarly anxious to get back to Rome. +Rome indeed to the ordinary Roman was--a few singular lovers of the +country, as Virgil and Horace, excepted--as Paris is to the Parisian. +"Make it absolutely certain," he writes to Atticus, "that I am to be in +office for a year only; that there is not to be even an intercalated +month." From Ephesus he journeys, complaining of the hot and dusty +roads, to Tralles, and from Tralles, one of the cities of his province, +to Laodicea, which he reached July 31st, exactly three months after +starting[8]. The distance, directly measured, may be reckoned at +something less than a thousand miles. + +[Footnote 8: Forty-seven days was reckoned a very short time for +accomplishing the journey.] + +He seems to have found the province in a deplorable condition. "I +staid," he writes, "three days at Laodicea, three again at Apamca, and +as many at Synnas, and heard nothing except complaints that they could +not pay the poll-tax imposed upon them, that every one's property was +sold; heard, I say, nothing but complaints and groans, and monstrous +deeds which seemed to suit not a man but some horrid wild beast. Still +it is some alleviation to these unhappy towns that they are put to no +expense for me or for any of my followers. I will not receive the fodder +which is my legal due, nor even the wood. Sometimes I have accepted four +beds and a roof over my head; often not even this, preferring to lodge +in a tent. The consequence of all this is an incredible concourse of +people from town and country anxious to see me. Good heavens! my very +approach seems to make them revive, so completely do the justice, +moderation, and clemency of your friend surpass all expectation." It +must be allowed that Cicero was not unaccustomed to sound his own +praises. + +Usury was one of the chief causes of this widespread distress; and +usury, as we have seen, was practiced even by Romans of good repute. We +have seen an "honorable man," such as Brutus, exacting an interest of +nearly fifty per cent. Pompey was receiving, at what rate of interest we +do not know, the enormous sum of nearly one hundred thousand pounds per +annum from the tributary king of Cappadocia, and this was less than he +was entitled to. Other debtors of this impecunious king could get +nothing; every thing went into Pompey's purse, and the whole country was +drained of coin to the very uttermost. In the end, however, Cicero did +manage to get twenty thousand pounds for Brutus, who was also one of the +king's creditors. We cannot but wonder, if such things went on under a +governor who was really doing his best to be moderate and just, what was +the condition of the provincials under ordinary rulers. + +While Cicero was busy with the condition of his province; his attention +was distracted by what we may call a Parthian "scare." The whole army of +this people was said to have crossed the Euphrates under the command of +Pacorus, the king's son. The governor of Syria had not yet arrived. The +second in command had shut himself up with all his troops in Antioch. +Cicero marched into Cappadocia, which bordered the least defensible side +of Cilicia, and took up a position at the foot of Mount Taurus. Next +came news that Antioch was besieged. On hearing this he broke up his +camp, crossed the Taurus range by forced marches, and occupied the +passes into Syria. The Parthians raised the siege of Antioch, and +suffered considerably at the hands of Cassius during their retreat. + +Though Cicero never crossed swords with the Parthians, he found or +contrived an opportunity of distinguishing himself as a soldier. The +independent mountaineers of the border were attacked and defeated; +Cicero was saluted as "Imperator" on the field of battle by his +soldiers, and had the satisfaction of occupying for some days the +position which Alexander the Great had taken up before the battle of +Issus. "And he," says Cicero, who always relates his military +achievements with something like a smile on his face, "was a somewhat +better general than either you or I." He next turned his arms against +the Free Cilicians, investing in regular form with trenches, earthworks, +catapults, and all the regular machinery of a siege, their stronghold +Pindenissum. At the end of forty-seven days the place surrendered. +Cicero gave the plunder of the place to his host, reserving the horses +only for public purposes. A considerable sum was realized by the sale of +slaves. "Who in the world are these Pindenissi? who are they?" you will +say. "I never heard the name." "Well, what can I do? I can't make +Cilicia another Aetolia, or another Macedonia." The campaign was +concluded about the middle of December, and the governor, handing over +the army to his brother, made his way to Laodicea. From this place he +writes to Atticus in language that seems to us self-glorious and +boastful, but still has a ring of honesty about it. "I left Tarsus for +Asia (the Roman province so called) on June 5th, followed by such +admiration as I cannot express from the cities of Cilicia, and +especially from the people of Tarsus. When I had crossed the Taurus +there was a marvelous eagerness to see me in Asia as far as my +districts extended. During six months of my government they had not +received a single requisition from me, had not had a single person +quartered upon them. Year after year before my time this part of the +year had been turned to profit in this way. The wealthy cities used to +pay large sums of money not to have to find winter quarters for the +soldiers. Cyprus paid more than £48,000 on this account; and from this +island--I say it without exaggeration and in sober truth--not a single +coin was levied while I was in power. In return for these benefits, +benefits at which they are simply astonished. I will not allow any but +verbal honors to be voted to me. Statues, temples, chariots of bronze, I +forbid. In nothing do I make myself a trouble to the cities, though it +is possible I do so to you, while I thus proclaim my own praises. Bear +with me, if you love me. This is the rule which you would have had me +follow. My journey through Asia had such results that even the +famine--and than famine there is no more deplorable calamity--which then +prevailed in the country (there had been no harvest) was an event for me +to desire; for wherever I journeyed, without force, without the help of +law, without reproaches, but my simple influence and expostulations, I +prevailed upon the Greeks and Roman citizens, who had secreted the corn, +to engage to convey a large quantity to the various tribes." He writes +again: "I see that you are pleased with my moderation and +self-restraint. You would be much more pleased if you were here. At the +sessions which I held at Laodicea for all my districts, excepting +Cilicia, from February 15th to May 1st, I effected a really marvelous +work. Many cities were entirely freed from their debts, many greatly +relieved, and all of them enjoying their own laws and courts, and so +obtaining self-government received new life. There were two ways in +which I gave them the opportunity of either throwing off or greatly +lightening the burden of debt. First: they have been put to no expense +under my rule--I do not exaggerate; I positively say that they have not +to spend a farthing. Then again: the cities had been atrociously robbed +by their own Greek magistrates. I myself questioned the men who had +borne office during the last ten years. They confessed and, without +being publicly disgraced, made restitution. In other respects my +government, without being wanting in address, is marked by clemency and +courtesy. There is none of the difficulty, so usual in the provinces, of +approaching me; no introduction by a chamberlain. Before dawn I am on +foot in my house, as I used to be in old days when I was a candidate for +office. This is a great matter here and a popular, and to myself, from +my old practice in it, has not yet been troublesome." + +He had other less serious cares. One Caelius, who was good enough to +keep him informed of what was happening at Rome, and whom we find +filling his letters with an amusing mixture of politics, scandal, and +gossip, makes a modest request for some panthers, which the governor of +so wild a country would doubtless have no difficulty in procuring for +him. He was a candidate for the office of aedile, and wanted the beasts +for the show which he would have to exhibit. Cicero must not forget to +look after them as soon as he hears of the election. "In nearly all my +letters I have written to you about the panthers. It will be +discreditable to you, that Patiscus should have sent to Curio ten +panthers, and you not many times more. These ten Curio gave me, and ten +others from Africa. If you will only remember to send for hunters from +Cibyra, and also send letters to Pamphylia (for there, I understand, +more are taken than elsewhere), you will succeed. I do beseech you look +after this matter. You have only to give the orders. I have provided +people to keep and transport the animals when once taken." The governor +would not hear of imposing the charge of capturing the panthers on the +hunters of the province. Still he would do his best to oblige his +friend. "The matter of the panthers is being diligently attended to by +the persons who are accustomed to hunt them; but there is a strange +scarcity of them, and the few that there are complain grievously, saying +that they are the only creatures in my province that are persecuted." + +From Laodicea Cicero returned to Tarsus, the capital of his province, +wound up the affairs of his government, appointed an acting governor, +and started homewards early in August. On his way he paid a visit to +Rhodes, wishing to show to his son and nephew (they had accompanied him +to his government) the famous school of eloquence in which he had +himself studied. Here he heard with much regret of the death of +Hortensius. He had seen the great orator's son at Laodicea, where he was +amusing himself in the disreputable company of some gladiators, and had +asked him to dinner for his father's sake, he says. His stay at Rhodes +was probably of some duration, for he did not reach Ephesus till the +first of October. A tedious passage of fourteen days brought him to +Athens. On his journey westwards Tiro, his confidential servant, was +seized with illness, and had to be left behind at Patrae. Tiro was a +slave, though afterwards set free by his master; but he was a man of +great and varied accomplishments, and Cicero writes to him as he might +to the very dearest of his friends. There is nothing stranger in all +that we know of "Roman Life" than the presence in it of such men as +Tiro. Nor is there any thing, we might even venture to say, quite like +it elsewhere in the whole history of the world. Now and then, in the +days when slavery still existed in the Southern States of America, +mulatto and quadroon slaves might have been found who in point of +appearance and accomplishments were scarcely different from their +owners. But there was always a taint, or what was reckoned as a taint, +of negro blood in the men and women so situated. In Rome it must have +been common to see men, possibly better born (for Greek might even be +counted better than Roman descent), and probably better educated than +their masters, who had absolutely no rights as human beings, and could +be tortured or killed just as cruelty or caprice might suggest. To Tiro, +man of culture and acute intellect as he was, there must have been an +unspeakable bitterness in the thought of servitude, even under a master +so kindly and affectionate as Cicero. One shudders to think what the +feelings of such a man must have been when he was the chattel of a +Verres, a Clodius, or a Catiline. It is pleasant to turn away from the +thought, which is the very darkest perhaps in the repulsive subject of +Roman slavery, to observe the sympathy and tenderness which Cicero shows +to the sick man from whom he has been reluctantly compelled to part. The +letters to Tiro fill one of the sixteen books of "Letters to Friends." +They are twenty-seven in number, or rather twenty-six, as the sixteenth +of the series contains the congratulations and thanks which Quintus +Cicero addresses to his brother on receiving the news that Tiro has +received his freedom. "As to Tiro," he writes, "I protest, as I wish to +see you, my dear Marcus, and my own son, and yours, and my dear Tullia, +that you have done a thing that pleased me exceedingly in making a man +who certainly was far above his mean condition a friend rather than a +servant. Believe me, when I read your letters and his, I fairly leaped +for joy; I both thank and congratulate you. If the fidelity of my +Statius gives me so much pleasure[9], how valuable in Tiro must be this +same good quality with the additional and even superior advantages of +culture, wit, and politeness? I have many very good reasons for loving +you; and now there is this that you have told me, as indeed you were +bound to tell me, this excellent piece of news. I saw all your heart in +your letter." + +[Footnote 9: See page 277.] + +Cicero's letters to the invalid are at first very frequent. One is dated +on the third, another on the fifth, and a third on the seventh of +November; and on the eighth of the month there are no fewer than three, +the first of them apparently in answer to a letter from Tiro. "I am +variously affected by your letter--much troubled by the first page, a +little comforted by the second. The result is that I now say, without +hesitation, till you are quite strong, do not trust yourself to travel +either by land of sea. I shall see you as soon as I wish if I see you +quite restored." He goes on to criticise the doctor's prescriptions. +Soup was not the right thing to give to a dyspeptic patient. Tiro is not +to spare any expense. Another fee to the doctor might make him more +attentive. In another letter he regrets that the invalid had felt +himself compelled to accept an invitation to a concert, and tells him +that he had left a horse and mule for him at Brundisium. Then, after a +brief notice of public affairs, he returns to the question of the +voyage. "I must again ask you not to be rash in your traveling. Sailors, +I observe, make too much haste to increase their profits. Be cautious, +my dear Tiro. You have a wide and dangerous sea to traverse. If you can, +come with Mescinius. He is wont to be careful in his voyages. If not +with him, come with a person of distinction, who will have influence +with the captain." In another letter he tells Tiro that he must revive +his love of letters and learning. The physician thought that his mind +was ill at ease; for this the best remedy was occupation. In another he +writes: "I have received your letter with its shaky handwriting; no +wonder, indeed, seeing how serious has been your illness. I send you +Aegypta (probably a superior slave) to wait upon you, and a cook with +him." Cicero could not have shown more affectionate care of a sick son. + +Tiro is said to have written a life of his master. And we certainly owe +to his care the preservation of his correspondence. His weak health did +not prevent him from living to the age of a hundred and three. + +Cicero pursued his homeward journey by slow stages, and it was not till +November 25th that he reached Italy. His mind was distracted between +two anxieties--the danger of civil war, which he perceived to be daily +growing more imminent, and an anxious desire to have his military +successes over the Cilician mountaineers rewarded by the distinction of +a triumph. The honor of a public thanksgiving had already been voted to +him; Cato, who opposed it on principle, having given him offense by so +doing. A triumph was less easy to obtain, and indeed it seems to show a +certain weakness in Cicero that he should have sought to obtain it for +exploits of so very moderate a kind. However, he landed at Brundisium as +a formal claimant for the honor. His lictors had their fasces (bundles +of rods inclosing an ax) wreathed with bay leaves, as was the custom +with the victorious general who hoped to obtain this distinction. +Pompey, with whom he had a long interview, encouraged him to hope for +it, and promised his support. It was not till January 4th that he +reached the capital. The look of affairs was growing darker and darker, +but he still clung to the hopes of a triumph, and would not dismiss his +lictors with their ornaments, though he was heartily wearied of their +company. Things went so far that a proposition was actually made in the +Senate that the triumph should be granted; but the matter was postponed +at the suggestion of one of the consuls, anxious, Cicero thinks, to make +his own services more appreciated when the time should come. Before the +end of January he seems to have given up his hopes. In a few more days +he was fairly embarked on the tide of civil war. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ATTICUS. + + +The name of Atticus has been mentioned more than once in the preceding +chapters as a correspondent of Cicero. We have indeed more than five +hundred letters addressed to him, extending over a period of almost +five-and-twenty years. There are frequent intervals of silence--not a +single letter, for instance, belongs to the year of the consulship, the +reason being that both the correspondents were in Rome. Sometimes, +especially in the later years, they follow each other very closely. The +last was written about a year before Cicero's death. + +Atticus was one of those rare characters who contrive to live at peace +with all men. The times were troublous beyond all measure; he had wealth +and position; he kept up close friendship with men who were in the very +thickest of the fight; he was ever ready with his sympathy and help for +those who were vanquished; and yet he contrived to arouse no enmities; +and after a life-long peace, interrupted only by one or two temporary +alarms, died in a good old age. + +Atticus was of what we should call a gentleman's family, and belonged by +inheritance to the democratic party. But he early resolved to stand +aloof from politics, and took an effectual means of carrying out his +purpose by taking up his residence at Athens. With characteristic +prudence he transferred the greater part of his property to investments +in Greece. At Athens he became exceedingly popular. He lent money at +easy rates to the municipality, and made liberal distributions of corn, +giving as much as a bushel and a half to every needy citizen. He spoke +Greek and Latin with equal ease and eloquence; and had, we are told, an +unsurpassed gift for reciting poetry. Sulla, who, for all his savagery, +had a cultivated taste, was charmed with the young man, and would have +taken him in his train. "I beseech you," replied Atticus, "don't take me +to fight against those in whose company, but that I left Italy, I might +be fighting against you." After a residence of twenty-three years he +returned to Rome, in the very year of Cicero's consulship. At Rome he +stood as much aloof from the turmoil of civil strife as he had stood at +Athens. Office of every kind he steadily refused; he was under no +obligations to any man, and therefore was not thought ungrateful by any. +The partisans of Caesar and of Pompey were content to receive help from +his purse, and to see him resolutely neutral. He refused to join in a +project of presenting what we should call a testimonial to the murderers +of Caesar on behalf of the order of the knights; but he did not hesitate +to relieve the necessities of the most conspicuous of them with a +present of between three and four thousand pounds. When Antony was +outlawed he protected his family; and Antony in return secured his life +and property amidst the horrors of the second Proscription. + +His biographer, Cornelius Nepos, has much to say of his moderation and +temperate habits of life. He had no sumptuous country-house in the +suburbs or at the sea-coast, but two farm-houses. He possessed, however, +what seems to have been a very fine house (perhaps we should call it +"castle," for Cicero speaks of it as a place capable of defense) in +Epirus. It contained among other things a gallery of statues. A love of +letters was one of his chief characteristics. His guests were not +entertained with the performances of hired singers, but with readings +from authors of repute. He had collected, indeed, a very large library. +All his slaves, down to the very meanest, were well educated, and he +employed them to make copies. + +Atticus married somewhat late in life. His only daughter was the first +wife of Agrippa, the minister of Augustus, and his grand-daughter was +married to Tiberius. Both of these ladies were divorced to make room for +a consort of higher rank, who, curiously enough, was in both cases +Julia, the infamous daughter of Augustus. Both, we may well believe, +were regretted by their husbands. + +Atticus died at the age of seventy-seven. He was afflicted with a +disease which he believed to be incurable, and shortened his days by +voluntary starvation. + +It was to this correspondent, then, that Cicero confided for about a +quarter of a century his cares and his wants. The two had been +schoolfellows, and had probably renewed their acquaintance when Cicero +visited Greece in search of health. Afterwards there came to be a family +connection between them, Atticus' sister, Pomponia, marrying Cicero's +younger brother, Quintus, not much, we gather from the letters, to the +happiness of either of them. Cicero could not have had a better +confidant. He was full of sympathy, and ready with his help; and he was +at the same time sagacious and prudent in no common degree, an excellent +man of business, and, thanks to the admirable coolness which enabled him +to stand outside the turmoil of politics, an equally excellent adviser +in politics. + +One frequent subject of Cicero's letters to his friend is money. I may +perhaps express the relation between the two by saying that Atticus was +Cicero's banker, though the phrase must not be taken too literally. He +did not habitually receive and pay money on Cicero's account, but he did +so on occasions; and he was constantly in the habit of making advances, +though probably without interest, when temporary embarrassments, not +infrequent, as we may gather from the letters, called for them. Atticus +was himself a wealthy man. Like his contemporaries generally, he made an +income by money-lending, and possibly, for the point is not quite clear, +by letting out gladiators for hire. His biographer happens to give us +the precise figure of his property. His words do not indeed expressly +state whether the sum that he mentions means capital or income. I am +inclined to think that it is the latter. If this be so, he had in early +life an income of something less than eighteen thousand pounds, and +afterwards nearly ninety thousand pounds. + +I may take this occasion to say something about Cicero's property, a +matter which is, in its way, a rather perplexing question. In the case +of a famous advocate among ourselves there would be no difficulty in +understanding that he should have acquired a great fortune. But the +Roman law strictly forbade an advocate to receive any payment from his +clients. The practice of old times, when the great noble pleaded for the +life or property of his humbler defendants, and was repaid by their +attachment and support, still existed in theory. It exists indeed to +this day, and accounts for the fact that a barrister among ourselves has +no _legal_ means of recovering his fees. But a practice of paying +counsel had begun to grow up. Some of Cicero's contemporaries certainly +received a large remuneration for their services. Cicero himself always +claims to have kept his hands clean in this respect, and as his enemies +never brought any charge of this kind against him, his statement may +very well be accepted. We have, then, to look for other sources of +income. His patrimony was considerable. It included, as we have seen, an +estate at Arpinum and a house in Rome. And then he had numerous +legacies. This is a source of income which is almost strange to our +modern ways of acting and thinking. It seldom happens among us that a +man of property leaves any thing outside the circle of his family. +Sometimes an intimate friend will receive a legacy. But instances of +money bequeathed to a statesman in recognition of his services, or a +literary man in recognition of his eminence, are exceedingly rare. In +Rome they were very common. Cicero declares, giving it as a proof of the +way in which he had been appreciated by his fellow-citizens, that he had +received two hundred thousand pounds in legacies. This was in the last +year of his life. This does something to help us out of our difficulty. +Only we must remember that it could hardly have been till somewhat late +in his career that these recognitions of his services to the State and +to his friends began to fall in. He made about twenty thousand pounds +out of his year's government of his province, but it is probable that +this money was lost. Then, again, he was elected into the College of +Augurs (this was in his fifty-fourth year). These religious colleges +were very rich. Their banquets were proverbial for their splendor. +Whether the individual members derived any benefit from their revenues +we do not know. We often find him complaining of debt; but he always +speaks of it as a temporary inconvenience rather than as a permanent +burden. It does not oppress him; he can always find spirits enough to +laugh at it. When he buys his great town mansion on the Palatine Hill +(it had belonged to the wealthy Crassus), for thirty thousand pounds, he +says, "I now owe so much that I should be glad to conspire if any body +would accept me as an accomplice." But this is not the way in which a +man who did not see his way out of his difficulties would speak. + +Domestic affairs furnish a frequent topic. He gives accounts of the +health of his wife he announces the birth of his children. In after +years he sends the news when his daughter is betrothed and when she is +married, and tells of the doings and prospects of his son. He has also a +good deal to say about his brother's household, which, as I have said +before, was not very happy. Here is a scene of their domestic life. +"When I reached Arpinum, my brother came to me. First we had much talk +about you; afterwards we came to the subject which you and I had +discussed at Tusculum. I never saw any thing so gentle, so kind as my +brother was in speaking of your sister. If there had been any ground for +their disagreement, there was nothing to notice. So much for that day. +On the morrow we left for Arpinum. Quintus had to remain in the Retreat; +I was going to stay at Aquinum. Still we lunched at the Retreat (you +know the place). When we arrived Quintus said in the politest way, +'Pomponia, ask the ladies in; I will call the servants,' Nothing +could--so at least I thought--have been more pleasantly said, not only +as far as words go, but in tone and look. However, she answered before +us all, 'I am myself but a stranger here.' This, I fancy, was because +Statius had gone on in advance to see after the lunch. 'See,' said +Quintus, 'this is what I have to put up with every day.' Perhaps you +will say, 'What was there in this?' It was really serious, so serious as +to disturb me much, so unreasonably, so angrily did she speak and look. +I did not show it, but I was greatly vexed. We all sat down to table, +all, that is, but her. However, Quintus sent her something from the +table. She refused it Not to make a long story of it, no one could have +been more gentle than my brother, and no one more exasperating than your +sister--in my judgment at least, and I pass by many other things which +offended me more than they did Quintus. I went on to Aquinum." (The +lady's behavior was all the more blameworthy because her husband was on +his way to a remote province.) "Quintus remained at the Retreat. The +next day he joined me at Arpinum. Your sister, he told me, would have +nothing to do with him, and up to the moment of her departure was just +in the same mood in which I had seen her." + +Another specimen of letters touching on a more agreeable topic may +interest my readers. It is a hearty invitation. + +"To my delight, Cincius" (he was Atticus' agent)" came to me between +daylight on January 30th, with the news that you were in Italy. He was +sending, he said, messengers to you, I did not like them to go without a +letter from me, not that I had any thing to write to you, especially +when you were so close, but that I wished you to understand with what +delight I anticipate your coming ... The day you arrive come to my house +with all your party. You will find that Tyrannio" (a Greek man of +letters) "has arranged my books marvelously well. What remains of them +is much more satisfactory than I thought[10]. I should be glad if you +would send me two of your library clerks, for Tullius to employ as +binders and helpers in general; give some orders too to take some +parchment for indices. All this, however, if it suits your convenience. +Any how, come yourself and bring Pilia[11] with you. That is but right. +Tullia too wishes it." + +[Footnote 10: They had suffered with the rest of Cicero's property at the +time of his exile.] + +[Footnote 11: Pilia was the lady to whom Atticus was engaged] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ANTONY AND AUGUSTUS. + + +There were some things in which Mark Antony resembled Caesar. At the +time it seemed probable that he would play the same part, and even climb +to the same height of power. He failed in the end because he wanted the +power of managing others, and, still more, of controlling himself. He +came of a good stock. His grandfather had been one of the greatest +orators of his day, his father was a kindly, generous man, his mother a +kinswoman of Caesar, a matron of the best Roman type. But he seemed +little likely to do credit to his belongings. His riotous life became +conspicuous even in a city where extravagance and vice were only too +common, and his debts, though not so enormous as Caesar's, were greater, +says Plutarch, than became his youth, for they amounted to about fifty +thousand pounds. He was taken away from these dissipations by military +service in the East, and he rapidly acquired considerable reputation as +a soldier. Here is the picture that Plutarch draws of him: There was +something noble and dignified in his appearance. His handsome beard, his +broad forehead, his aquiline nose, gave him a manly look that resembled +the familiar statues and pictures of Hercules. There was indeed a legend +that the Antonii were descended from a son of Hercules; and this he was +anxious to support by his appearance and dress. Whenever he appeared in +public he had his tunic gired up to the hip, carried a great sword at +his side, and wore a rough cloak of Cilician hair. The habits too that +seemed vulgar to others--his boastfulness, his coarse humor, his +drinking bouts, the way he had of eating in public, taking his meals as +he stood from the soldiers' tables--had an astonishing effect in making +him popular with the soldiers. His bounty too, the help which he gave +with a liberal hand to comrades and friends, made his way to power easy. +On one occasion he directed that a present of three thousand pounds +should be given to a friend. His steward, aghast at the magnitude of the +sum, thought to bring it home to his master's mind by putting the actual +coin on a table. "What is this?" said Antony, as he happened to pass by. +"The money you bade me pay over," was the man's reply. "Why, I had +thought it would be ten times as much as this. This is but a trifle. Add +to it as much more." + +When the civil war broke out, Antony joined the party of Caesar, who, +knowing his popularity with the troops, made him his second in command. +He did good service at Pharsalia, and while his chief went on to Egypt, +returned to Rome as his representative. There were afterwards +differences between the two; Caesar was offended at the open scandal of +Antony's manners and found him a troublesome adherent; Antony conceived +himself to be insufficiently rewarded for his services, especially when +he was called upon to pay for Pompey's confiscated property, which he +had bought. Their close alliance, however, had been renewed before +Caesar's death. That event made him the first man in Rome. The chief +instrument of his power was a strange one; the Senate, seeing that the +people of Rome gloved and admired the dead man, passed a resolution that +all the wishes which Caesar had left in writing should have the force of +law--and Antony had the custody of his papers. People laughed, and +called the documents "Letters from the Styx." There was the gravest +suspicion that many of them were forged. But for a time they were a very +powerful machinery for effecting his purpose. + +Then came a check. Caesar's nephew and heir, Octavius, arrived at Rome. +Born in the year of Cicero's consulship, he was little more than +nineteen; but in prudence, statecraft, and knowledge of the world he was +fully grown. In his twelfth year he had delivered the funeral oration +over his grandmother Julia. After winning some distinction as a soldier +in Spain, he had returned at his uncle's bidding to Apollonia, a town of +the eastern coast of the Adriatic, where he studied letters and +philosophy under Greek teachers. Here he had received the title of +"Master of the Horse," an honor which gave him the rank next to the +Dictator himself. He came to Rome with the purpose, as he declared, of +claiming his inheritance and avenging his uncle's death. But he knew how +to abide his time. He kept on terms with Antony, who had usurped his +position and appropriated his inheritance, and he was friendly, if not +with the actual murderers of Caesar, yet certainly with Cicero, who made +no secret of having approved their deed. + +For Cicero also had now returned to public life. For some time past, +both before Caesar's death and after it, he had devoted himself to +literature.[12] Now there seemed to him a chance that something might yet +be done for the republic, and he returned to Rome, which he reached on +the last day of August. The next day there was a meeting of the Senate, +at which Antony was to propose certain honors to Caesar. Cicero, +wearied, or affecting to be wearied, by his journey, was absent, and was +fiercely attacked by Antony, who threatened to send workmen to dig him +out of his house. + +[Footnote 12: To the years 46-44 belong nearly all his treatises on +rhetoric and philosophy.] + +The next day Cicero was in his place, Antony being absent, and made a +dignified defense of his conduct, and criticised with some severity the +proceedings of his assailant. Still so far there was no irreconcilable +breach between the two men. "Change your course," says the orator, "I +beseech you: think of those who have gone before, and so steer the +course of the Commonwealth that your countrymen may rejoice that you +were born. Without this no man can be happy or famous." He still +believed, or professed to believe, that Antony was capable of +patriotism. If he had any hopes of peace, these were soon to be crushed. +After a fortnight or more spent in preparation, assisted, we are told, +by a professional teacher of eloquence, Antony came down to the Senate +and delivered a savage invective against Cicero. The object of his +attack was again absent. He had wished to attend the meeting, but his +friends hindered him, fearing, not without reason, actual violence from +the armed attendants whom Antony was accustomed to bring into the +senate-house. + +The attack was answered in the famous oration which is called the second +Philippic[13]. If I could transcribe this speech (which, for other +reasons besides its length, I cannot do) it would give us a strange +picture of "Roman Life." It is almost incredible that a man so shameless +and so vile should have been the greatest power in a state still +nominally free. I shall give one extract from it. Cicero has been +speaking of Antony's purchase of Pompey's confiscated property. "He was +wild with joy, like a character in a farce; a beggar one day, a +millionaire the next. But, as some writer says, 'Ill gotten, ill kept.' +It is beyond belief, it is an absolute miracle, how he squandered this +vast property--in a few months do I say?--no, in a few days. There was a +great cellar of wine, a very great quantity of excellent plate, costly +stuffs, plenty of elegant and even splendid furniture, just as one might +expect in a man who was affluent without being luxurious. And of all +this within a few days there was left nothing. Was there ever a +Charybdis so devouring? A Charybdis, do I say? no--if there ever was +such a thing, it was but a single animal. Good heavens! I can scarcely +believe that the whole ocean could have swallowed up so quickly +possessions so numerous, so scattered, and lying at places so distant. +Nothing was locked up, nothing sealed, nothing catalogued. Whole +store-rooms were made a present of to the vilest creatures. Actors and +actresses of burlesque were busy each with plunder of their own. The +mansion was full of dice players and drunkards. There was drinking from +morning to night, and that in many places. His losses at dice (for even +he is not always lucky) kept mounting up. In the chambers of slaves you +might see on the beds the purple coverlets which had belonged to the +great Pompey. No wonder that all this wealth was spent so quickly. +Reckless men so abandoned might well have speedily devoured, not only +the patrimony of a single citizen, however ample--and ample it was--but +whole cities and kingdoms." + +[Footnote 13: The orations against Antony--there are fourteen of +them--are called "Philippics," a name transferred to them from, the +great speeches in which Demosthenes attacked Philip of Macedon. The name +seems to have been in common use in Juvenal's time (_circa_ 110 A.D.)] + +The speech was never delivered but circulated in writing. Toward the end +of 44, Antony, who found the army deserting him for the young Octavius, +left Rome, and hastened into northern Italy, to attack Decimus Brutus. +Brutus was not strong enough to venture on a battle with him, and shut +himself up in Mutina. Cicero continued to take the leading part in +affairs at Rome, delivering the third and fourth Philippics in December, +44, and the ten others during the five months of the following year. The +fourteenth was spoken in the Senate, when the fortunes of the falling +republic seem to have revived. A great battle had been fought at Mutina, +in which Antony had been completely defeated; and Cicero proposed +thanks to the commanders and troops, and honors to those who had fallen. + +The joy with which these tidings had been received was but very brief. +Of the three generals named in the vote of thanks the two who had been +loyal to the republic were dead; the third, the young Octavius, had +found the opportunity for which he had been waiting of betraying it. The +soldiers were ready to do his bidding, and he resolved to seize by their +help the inheritance of power which his uncle had left him. Antony had +fled across the Alps, and had been received by Lepidus, who was in +command of a large army in that province, Lepidus resolved to play the +part which Crassus had played sixteen years before. He brought about a +reconciliation between Octavius and Antony, as Crassus had reconciled +Pompey and Caesar, and was himself admitted as a third into their +alliance. Thus was formed the Second Triumvirate. + +The three chiefs who had agreed to divide the Roman world between them +met on a little island near Bononia (the modern Bonogna) and discussed +their plans. Three days were given to their consultations, the chief +subject being the catalogue of enemies, public and private, who were to +be destroyed. Each had a list of his own; and on Antony's the first name +was Cicero. Lepidus assented, as he was ready to assent to all the +demands of his more resolute colleagues; but the young Octavius is said +to have long resisted, and to have given way only on the last day. A +list of between two and three thousand names of senators and knights was +drawn up. Seventeen were singled out for instant execution, and among +these seventeen was Cicero. He was staying at his home in Tusculum with +his brother Quintus when the news reached him. His first impulse was to +make for the sea-coast. If he could reach Macedonia, where Brutus had a +powerful army, he would, for a time at least, be safe. The two brothers +started. But Quintus had little or nothing with him, and was obliged to +go home to fetch some money. Cicero, who was himself but ill provided, +pursued his journey alone. Reaching the coast, he embarked. When it came +to the point of leaving Italy his resolution failed him. He had always +felt the greatest aversion for camp life. He had had an odious +experience of it when Pompey was struggling with Caesar for the mastery. +He would sooner die, he thought, than make trial of it again. He landed, +and traveled twelve miles towards Rome. Some afterwards said that he +still cherished hopes of being protected by Antony; others that it was +his purpose to make his way into the house of Octavius and kill himself +on his hearth, cursing him with his last breath, but that he was +deterred by the fear of being seized and tortured. Any how, he turned +back, and allowed his slaves to take him to Capua. The plan of taking +refuge with Brutus was probably urged upon him by his companions, who +felt that this gave the only chance of their own escape. Again he +embarked, and again he landed. Plutarch tells a strange story of a flock +of ravens that settled on the yardarms of his ship while he was on +board, and on the windows of the villa in which he passed the night. One +bird, he says, flew upon his couch and pecked at the cloak in which he +had wrapped himself. His slaves reproached themselves at allowing a +master, whom the very animals were thus seeking to help, to perish +before their eyes. Almost by main force they put him into his litter and +carried him toward the coast. Antony's soldiers now reached the villa, +the officer in command being an old client whom Cicero had successfully +defended on a charge of murder. They found the doors shut and burst them +open. The inmates denied all knowledge of their master's movements, till +a young Greek, one of his brother's freedmen, whom Cicero had taken a +pleasure in teaching, showed the officer the litter which was being +carried through the shrubbery of the villa to the sea. Taking with him +some of his men, he hastened to follow. Cicero, hearing their steps, +bade the bearers set the litter on the ground. He looked out, and +stroking his chin with his left hand, as his habit was, looked +steadfastly at the murderers. His face was pale and worn with care. The +officer struck him on the neck with his sword, some of the rough +soldiers turning away while the deed was done. The head and hands were +cut off by order of Antony, and nailed up in the Forum. + +Many years afterwards the Emperor Augustus (the Octavius of this +chapter), coming unexpectedly upon one of his grandsons, saw the lad +seek to hide in his robe a volume which he had been reading. He took it, +and found it to be one of the treatises of Cicero. He returned it with +words which I would here repeat; "He was a good man and a lover of his +country." + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman life in the days of Cicero +by Alfred J[ohn] Church + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN LIFE IN THE DAYS OF CICERO *** + +***** This file should be named 13481-8.txt or 13481-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/8/13481/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Roman life in the days of Cicero + +Author: Alfred J[ohn] Church + +Release Date: September 16, 2004 [EBook #13481] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN LIFE IN THE DAYS OF CICERO *** + + + + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + + + + + + Roman Life in the + Days of Cicero + By the + REV. ALFRED J. CHURCH, M.A. + +Author of "Stories from Homer" + +WITH ILLUSTRATIONS + +New York + + + +TO OCTAVIUS OGLE, IN REMEMBRANCE OF A LONG FRIENDSHIP THIS BOOK IS +DEDICATED. + +CONTENTS. + +CHAP. + +I. A ROMAN BOY + +II. A ROMAN UNDERGRADUATE + +III. IN THE DAYS OF THE DICTATOR + +IV. A ROMAN MAGISTRATE + +V. A GREAT ROMAN CAUSE + +VI. COUNTRY LIFE + +VII. A GREAT CONSPIRACY + +VIII. CAESAR + +IX. POMPEY + +X. EXILE + +XI. A BRAWL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES + +XII. CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA + +XIII. A GOVERNOR IN HIS PROVINCE + +XIV. ATTICUS + +XV. ANTONY AND AUGUSTUS + + + + +PREFACE. + + +This book does not claim to be a life of Cicero or a history of the last +days of the Roman Republic. Still less does it pretend to come into +comparison with such a work as Bekker's _Gallus_, in which on a slender +thread of narrative is hung a vast amount of facts relating to the +social life of the Romans. I have tried to group round the central +figure of Cicero various sketches of men and manners, and so to give my +readers some idea of what life actually was in Rome, and the provinces +of Rome, during the first six decades--to speak roughly--of the first +century B.C. I speak of Cicero as the "central figure," not as judging +him to be the most important man of the time, but because it is from +him, from his speeches and letters, that we chiefly derive the +information of which I have here made use. Hence it follows that I give, +not indeed a life of the great orator, but a sketch of his personality +and career. I have been obliged also to trespass on the domain of +history: speaking of Cicero, I was obliged to speak also of Caesar and +of Pompey, of Cato and of Antony, and to give a narrative, which I have +striven to make as brief as possible, of their military achievements and +political action. I must apologize for seeming to speak dogmatically on +some questions which have been much disputed. It would have been +obviously inconsistent with the character of the book to give the +opposing arguments; and my only course was to state simply conclusions +which I had done my best to make correct. + +I have to acknowledge my obligations to Marquardt's _Privat-Leben der +Romer_, Mr. Capes' _University Life in Ancient Athens_, and Mr. Watson's +_Select Letters of Cicero_, I have also made frequent use of Mr. Anthony +Trollope's _Life of Cicero_, a work full of sound sense, though +curiously deficient in scholarship. + +The publishers and myself hope that the illustrations, giving as there +is good reason to believe they do the veritable likenesses of some of +the chief actors in the scenes described, will have a special interest. +It is not till we come down to comparatively recent times that we find +art again lending the same aid to the understanding of history. + +Some apology should perhaps be made for retaining the popular title of +one of the illustrations. The learned are, we believe, agreed that the +statue known as the "Dying Gladiator" does not represent a gladiator at +all. Yet it seemed pedantic, in view of Byron's famous description, to +let it appear under any other name. + +ALFRED CHURCH. + +HADLEY GREEN _October_ 8, 1883. + + + + ROMAN LIFE + IN THE DAYS OF CICERO. + + + +CHAPTER I. + +A ROMAN BOY. + + +A Roman father's first duty to his boy, after lifting him up in his arms +in token that he was a true son of the house, was to furnish him with a +first name out of the scanty list (just seventeen) to which his choice +was limited. This naming was done on the eighth day after birth, and was +accompanied with some religious ceremonies, and with a feast to which +kinsfolk were invited. Thus named he was enrolled in some family or +state register. The next care was to protect him from the malignant +influence of the evil eye by hanging round his neck a gilded _bulla_, a +round plate of metal. (The _bulla_ was of leather if he was not of +gentle birth.) This he wore till he assumed the dress of manhood. Then +he laid it aside, possibly to assume it once more, if he attained the +crowning honor to which a Roman could aspire, and was drawn in triumph +up the slope of the Capitol. He was nursed by his mother, or, in any +case, by a free-born woman. It was his mother that had exclusive charge +of him for the first seven years of his life, and had much to say to the +ordering of his life afterwards. For Roman mothers were not shut up like +their sisters in Greece, but played no small part in affairs--witness +the histories or legends (for it matters not for this purpose whether +they are fact or fiction) of the Sabine wives, of Tullia, who stirred up +her husband to seize a throne, or Veturia, who turned her son Coriolanus +from his purpose of besieging Rome. At seven began the education which +was to make him a citizen and a soldier. Swimming, riding, throwing the +javelin developed his strength of body. He learned at the same time to +be frugal, temperate in eating and drinking, modest and seemly in +behavior, reverent to his elders, obedient to authority at home and +abroad, and above all, pious towards the gods. If it was the duty of +the father to act as priest in some temple of the State (for the +priests were not a class apart from their fellow-citizens), or to +conduct the worship in some chapel of the family, the lad would act as +_camillus_ or acolyte. When the clients, the dependents of the house, +trooped into the hall in the early morning hours to pay their respects +to their patron, or to ask his advice and assistance in their affairs, +the lad would stand by his father's chair and make acquaintance with his +humble friends. When the hall was thrown open, and high festival was +held, he would be present and hear the talk on public affairs or on past +times. He would listen to and sometimes take part in the songs which +celebrated great heroes. When the body of some famous soldier or +statesman was carried outside the walls to be buried or burned, he would +be taken to hear the oration pronounced over the bier. + +At one time it was the custom, if we may believe a quaint story which +one of the Roman writers tells us, for the senators to introduce their +young sons to the sittings of their assembly, very much in the same way +as the boys of Westminster School are admitted to hear the debates in +the Houses of Parliament. The story professes to show how it was that +one of the families of the race of Papirius came to bear the name of +_Praetextatus_, i.e., clad in the _praetexta_ (the garb of boyhood), and +it runs thus:--"It was the custom in the early days of the Roman State +that the senators should bring their young sons into the Senate to the +end that they might learn in their early days how great affairs of the +commonwealth were managed. And that no harm should ensue to the city, it +was strictly enjoined upon the lads that they should not say aught of +the things which they had heard within the House. It happened on a day +that the Senate, after long debate upon a certain matter, adjourned the +thing to the morrow. Hereupon the son of a certain senator, named +Papirius, was much importuned by his mother to tell the matter which had +been thus painfully debated. And when the lad, remembering the command +which had been laid upon him that he should be silent about such +matters, refused to tell it, the woman besought him to speak more +urgently, till at the last, being worn out by her importunities, he +contrived this thing. 'The Senate,' he said, 'debated whether something +might not be done whereby there should be more harmony in families than +is now seen to be; and whether, should it be judged expedient to make +any change, this should be to order that a husband should have many +wives, or a wife should have more husbands than one.' Then the woman, +being much disturbed by the thing which she had heard, hastened to all +the matrons of her acquaintance, and stirred them up not to suffer any +such thing. Thus it came to pass that the Senate, meeting the next day, +were astonished beyond measure to see a great multitude of women +gathered together at the doors, who besought them not to make any +change; or, if any, certainly not to permit that a man should have more +wives than one. Then the young Papirius told the story how his mother +had questioned him, and how he had devised this story to escape from her +importunity. Thereupon the Senate, judging that all boys might not have +the same constancy and wit, and that the State might suffer damage from +the revealing of things that had best be kept secret, made this law, +that no sons of a senator should thereafter come into the House, save +only this young Papirius, but that he should have the right to come so +long as he should wear the _praetexta_." + +While this general education was going on, the lad was receiving some +definite teaching. He learned of course to read, to write, and to +cypher. The elder Cato used to write in large characters for the benefit +of his sons portions of history, probably composed by himself or by his +contemporary Fabius, surnamed the "Painter" (the author of a chronicle +of Italy from the landing of Aeneas down to the end of the Second Punic +War). He was tempted to learn by playthings, which ingeniously combined +instruction and amusement. Ivory letters--probably in earlier times a +less costly material was used--were put into his hands, just as they are +put into the hands of children now-a-days, that he might learn how to +form words. As soon as reading was acquired, he began to learn by heart. +"When we were boys," Cicero represents himself as saying to his brother +Quintus, in one of his Dialogues, "we used to learn the 'Twelve +Tables.'" The "Twelve Tables" were the laws which Appius of evil fame +and his colleagues the decemvirs had arranged in a code. "No one," he +goes on to say, "learns them now." Books had become far more common in +the forty years which had passed between Cicero's boyhood and the time +at which he is supposed to be speaking; and the tedious lesson of his +early days had given place to something more varied and interesting. + +Writing the boy learned by following with the pen (a sharp-pointed +_stylus_ of metal), forms of letters which had been engraved on tablets +of wood. At first his hand was held and guided by the teacher. This was +judged by the experienced to be a better plan than allowing him to shape +letters for himself on the wax-covered tablet. Of course parchment and +paper were far too expensive materials to be used for exercises and +copies. As books were rare and costly, dictation became a matter of much +importance. The boy wrote, in part at least, his own schoolbooks. Horace +remembers with a shudder what he had himself written at the dictation of +his schoolmaster, who was accustomed to enforce good writing and +spelling with many blows. He never could reconcile himself to the early +poets whose verse had furnished the matter of these lessons. + +Our Roman boy must have found arithmetic a more troublesome thing than +the figures now in use (for which we cannot be too thankful to the Arabs +their inventors) have made it. It is difficult to imagine how any thing +like a long sum in multiplication or division could have been done with +the Roman numerals, so cumbrous were they. The number, for instance, +which we represent by the figures 89 would require for its expression no +less than _nine_ figures, LXXXVIIII. The boy was helped by using the +fingers, the left hand being used to signify numbers below a hundred, +and the right numbers above it. Sometimes his teacher would have a +counting-board, on which units, tens, and hundreds would be represented +by variously colored balls. The sums which he did were mostly of a +practical kind. Here is the sample that Horace gives of an arithmetic +lesson. "The Roman boys are taught to divide the penny by long +calculations. 'If from five ounces be subtracted one, what is the +remainder?' At once you can answer, 'A third of a penny.' 'Good, you +will be able to take care of your money. If an ounce be added what does +it make?' 'The half of a penny.'" + +While he was acquiring this knowledge he was also learning a language, +the one language besides his own which to a Roman was worth +knowing--Greek. Very possibly he had begun to pick it up in the nursery, +where a Greek slave girl was to be found, just as the French _bonne_ or +the German nursery-governess is among our own wealthier families. He +certainly began to acquire it when he reached the age at which his +regular education was commenced. Cato the Elder, though he made it a +practice to teach his own sons, had nevertheless a Greek slave who was +capable of undertaking the work, and who actually did teach, to the +profit of his very frugal master, the sons of other nobles. Aemilius, +the conqueror of Macedonia, who was a few years younger than Cato, had +as a tutor a Greek of some distinction. While preparing the procession +of his triumph he had sent to Athens for a scene-painter, as we should +call him, who might make pictures of conquered towns wherewith to +illustrate his victories. He added to the commission a stipulation that +the artist should also be qualified to take the place of tutor. By good +fortune the Athenians happened to have in stock, so to speak, exactly +the man he wanted, one Metrodorus. Cicero had a Greek teacher in his own +family, not for his son indeed, who was not born till later, but for his +own benefit. This was one Diodotus, a Stoic philosopher. Cicero had been +his pupil in his boyhood, and gave him a home till the day of his death, +"I learned many things from him, logic especially." In old age he lost +his sight. "Yet," says his pupil, "he devoted himself to study even more +diligently than before; he had books read to him night and day. These +were studies which he could pursue without his eyes; but he also, and +this seems almost incredible, taught geometry without them, instructing +his learners whence and whither the line was to be drawn, and of what +kind it was to be." It is interesting to know that when the old man died +he left his benefactor about nine thousand pounds. + +Of course only wealthy Romans could command for their sons the services +of such teachers as Diodotus; but any well-to-do-household contained a +slave who had more or less acquaintance with Greek. In Cicero's time a +century and more of conquests on the part of Rome over Greek and +Greek-speaking communities had brought into Italian families a vast +number of slaves who knew the Greek language, and something, often a +good deal, of Greek literature. One of these would probably be set apart +as the boy's attendant; from him he would learn to speak and read a +language, a knowledge of which was at least as common at Rome as is a +knowledge of French among English gentlemen. + +If the Roman boy of whom we are speaking belonged to a very wealthy and +distinguished family, he would probably receive his education at home. +Commonly he would go to school. There were schools, girls' schools as +well as boys' schools, at Rome in the days of the wicked Appius +Claudius. The schoolmaster appears among the Etruscans in the story of +Camillus, when the traitor, who offers to hand over to the Roman general +the sons of the chief citizen of Falerii, is at his command scourged +back into the town by his scholars. We find him again in the same story +in the Latin town of Tusculum, where it is mentioned as one of the signs +of a time of profound peace (Camillus had hurriedly marched against the +town on a false report of its having revolted), that the hum of scholars +at their lessons was heard in the market-place. At Rome, as time went +on, and the Forum became more and more busy and noisy, the schools were +removed to more suitable localities. Their appliances for teaching were +improved and increased. Possibly maps were added, certainly reading +books. Homer was read, and, as we have seen, the old Latin play-writers, +and, afterwards, Virgil. Horace threatens the book which willfully +insists on going out into the world with this fate, that old age will +find it in a far-off suburb teaching boys their letters. Some hundred +years afterwards the prophecy was fulfilled. Juvenal tells us how the +schoolboys stood each with a lamp in one hand and a well-thumbed Horace +or sooty Virgil in the other. Quintilian, writing about the same time, +goes into detail, as becomes an old schoolmaster. "It is an admirable +practice that the boy's reading should begin with Homer and Virgil. The +tragic writers also are useful; and there is much benefit to be got from +the lyric poets also. But here you must make a selection not of authors +only, but a part of authors." It is curious to find him banishing +altogether a book that is, or certainly was, more extensively used in +our schools than any other classic, the Heroides of Ovid. + +These, and such as these, then, are the books which our Roman boy would +have to read. Composition would not be forgotten. "Let him take," says +the author just quoted, "the fables of Aesop and tell them in simple +language, never rising above the ordinary level. Then let him pass on to +a style less plain; then, again, to bolder paraphrases, sometimes +shortening, sometimes amplifying the original, but always following his +sense." He also suggests the writing of themes and characters. One +example he gives is this, "Was Crates the philosopher right when, having +met an ignorant boy, he administered a beating to his teacher?" Many +subjects of these themes have been preserved. Hannibal was naturally +one often chosen. His passage of the Alps, and the question whether he +should have advanced on the city immediately after the battle of Cannae, +were frequently discussed. Cicero mentions a subject of the speculative +kind. "It is forbidden to a stranger to mount the wall. A. mounts the +wall, but only to help the citizens in repelling their enemies. Has A. +broken the law?" + +To make these studies more interesting to the Roman boy, his +schoolmaster called in the aid of emulation. "I feel sure," says +Quintilian, "that the practice which I remember to have been employed by +my own teachers was any thing but useless. They were accustomed to +divide the boys into classes, and they set us to speak in the order of +our powers; every one taking his turn according to his proficiency. Our +performances were duly estimated; and prodigious were the struggles +which we had for victory. To be the head of one's class was considered +the most glorious thing conceivable. But the decision was not made once +for all. The next month brought the vanquished an opportunity of +renewing the contest. He who had been victorious in the first encounter +was not led by success to relax his efforts, and a feeling of vexation +impelled the vanquished to do away with the disgrace of defeat. This +practice, I am sure, supplied a keener stimulus to learning than did all +the exhortations of our teachers, the care of our tutors, and the wishes +of our parents." Nor did the schoolmaster trust to emulation alone. The +third choice of the famous Winchester line, "Either learn, or go: there +is yet another choice--to be flogged," was liberally employed. Horace +celebrates his old schoolmaster as a "man of many blows," and another +distinguished pupil of this teacher, the Busby or Keate of antiquity, +has specified the weapons which he employed, the ferule and the thong. +The thong is the familiar "tawse" of schools north of the Border. The +ferule was a name given both to the bamboo and to the yellow cane, which +grew plentifully both in the islands of the Greek Archipelago and in +Southern Italy, as notably at Cannae in Apulia, where it gave a name to +the scene of the great battle. The _virga_ was also used, a rod +commonly of birch, a tree the educational use of which had been already +discovered. The walls of Pompeii indeed show that the practice of Eton +is truly classical down to its details. + +As to the advantage of the practice opinions were divided. One +enthusiastic advocate goes so far as to say that the Greek word for a +cane signifies by derivation, "the sharpener of the young" (_narthex, +nearous thegein_), but the best authorities were against it. Seneca is +indignant with the savage who will "butcher" a young learner because he +hesitates at a word--a venial fault indeed, one would think, when we +remember what must have been the aspect of a Roman book, written as it +was in capitals, almost without stops, and with little or no distinction +between the words. And Quintilian is equally decided, though he allows +that flogging was an "institution." + +As to holidays the practice of the Roman schools probably resembled that +which prevails in the Scotch Universities, though with a less +magnificent length of vacation. Every one had a holiday on the "days of +Saturn" (a festival beginning on the seventeenth of December), and the +schoolboys had one of their own on the "days of Minerva," which fell in +the latter half of March; but the "long vacation" was in the summer. +Horace speaks of lads carrying their fees to school on the fifteenth of +the month for eight months in the year (if this interpretation of a +doubtful passage is correct). Perhaps as this was a country school the +holidays were made longer than usual, to let the scholars take their +part in the harvest, which as including the vintage would not be over +till somewhat late in the autumn. We find Martial, however, imploring a +schoolmaster to remember that the heat of July was not favorable to +learning, and suggesting that he should abdicate his seat till the +fifteenth of October brought a season more convenient for study. Rome +indeed was probably deserted in the later summer and autumn by the +wealthier class, who were doubtless disposed to agree in the poet's +remark, a remark to which the idlest schoolboy will forgive its Latin +for the sake of its admirable sentiment: + + "Aestate pueri si valent satis discunt." "In summer boys learn + enough, if they keep their health." + +Something, perhaps, may be said of the teachers, into whose hands the +boys of Rome were committed. We have a little book, of not more than +twoscore pages in all, which gives us "lives of illustrious +schoolmasters;" and from which we may glean a few facts. The first +business of a schoolmaster was to teach grammar, and grammar Rome owed, +as she owed most of her knowledge, to a Greek, a certain Crates, who +coming as ambassador from one of the kings of Asia Minor, broke his leg +while walking in the ill-paved streets of Rome, and occupied his leisure +by giving lectures at his house. Most of the early teachers were Greeks. +Catulus bought a Greek slave for somewhat more than fifteen hundred +pounds, and giving him his freedom set him up as a schoolmaster; another +of the same nation received a salary of between three and four hundred +pounds, his patron taking and probably making a considerable profit out +of the pupils' fees. Orbilius, the man of blows, was probably of Greek +descent. He had been first a beadle, then a trumpeter, then a trooper in +his youth, and came to Rome in the year in which Cicero was consul. He +seems to have been as severe on the parents of his pupils as he was in +another way on the lads themselves, for he wrote a book in which he +exposed their meanness and ingratitude. His troubles, however, did not +prevent him living to the great age of one hundred and three. The author +of the little book about schoolmasters had seen his statue in his native +town. It was a marble figure, in a sitting posture, with two writing +desks beside it. The favorite authors of Orbilius, who was of the +old-fashioned school, were, as has been said, the early dramatists. +Caecilius, a younger man, to whom Atticus the friend and correspondent +of Cicero gave his freedom, lectured on Virgil, with whom, as he was +intimate with one of Virgil's associates, he probably had some +acquaintance. A certain Flaccus had the credit of having first invented +prizes. He used to pit lads of equal age against each other, supplying +not only a subject on which to write, but a prize for the victor. This +was commonly some handsome or rare old book. Augustus made him tutor to +his grandsons, giving him a salary of eight hundred pounds per annum. +Twenty years later, a fashionable schoolmaster is said to have made +between three and four thousands. + +These schoolmasters were also sometimes teachers of eloquence, lecturing +to men. One Gnipho, for instance, is mentioned among them, as having +held his classes in the house of Julius Caesar (Caesar was left an +orphan at fifteen); and afterwards, when his distinguished pupil was +grown up, in his own. But Cicero, when he was praetor, and at the very +height of his fame, is said to have attended his lectures. This was the +year in which he delivered the very finest of his non-political +speeches, his defence of Cluentius. He must have been a very clever +teacher from whom so great an orator hoped to learn something. + +These teachers of eloquence were what we may call the "Professors" of +Rome. A lad had commonly "finished his education" when he put on the +"man's gown;" but if he thought of political life, of becoming a +statesman, and taking office in the commonwealth, he had much yet to +learn. He had to make himself a lawyer and an orator. Law he learned by +attaching himself, by becoming the pupil, as we should say, of some +great man that was famed for his knowledge. Cicero relates to us his own +experience: "My father introduced me to the Augur Scaevola; and the +result was that, as far as possible and permissible, I never left the +old man's side. Thus I committed to memory many a learned argument of +his, many a terse and clever maxim, while I sought to add to my own +knowledge from his stores of special learning. When the Augur died I +betook myself to the Pontiff of the same name and family." Elsewhere we +have a picture of this second Scaevola and his pupils. "Though he did +not undertake to give instruction to any one, yet he practically taught +those who were anxious to listen to him by allowing them to hear his +answers to those who consulted him." These consultations took place +either in the Forum or at his own house. In the Forum the great lawyer +indicated that clients were at liberty to approach by walking across the +open space from corner to corner. The train of young Romans would then +follow his steps, just as the students follow the physician or the +surgeon through the wards of a hospital. When he gave audience at home +they would stand by his chair. It must be remembered that the great man +took no payment either from client or from pupil. + +But the young Roman had not only to learn law, he must also learn how to +speak-learn, as far as such a thing can be learned, how to be eloquent. +What we in this country call the career of the public man was there +called the career of the orator. With us it is much a matter of chance +whether a man can speak or not. We have had statesmen who wielded all +the power that one man ever can wield in this country who had no sort of +eloquence. We have had others who had this gift in the highest degree, +but never reached even one of the lower offices in the government. +Sometimes a young politician will go to a professional teacher to get +cured of some defect or trick of speech; but that such teaching is part +of the necessary training of a statesman is an idea quite strange to us. +A Roman received it as a matter of course. Of course, like other things +at Rome, it made its way but slowly. Just before the middle of the +second century b.c. the Senate resolved: "Seeing that mention has been +made of certain philosophers and rhetoricians, let Pomponius the praetor +see to it, as he shall hold it to be for the public good, and for his +own honor, that none such be found at Rome." Early in the first century +the censors issued an edict forbidding certain Latin rhetoricians to +teach. One of these censors was the great orator Crassus, greatest of +all the predecessors of Cicero. Cicero puts into his mouth an apology +for this proceeding: "I was not actuated by any hostility to learning or +culture. These Latin rhetoricians were mere ignorant pretenders, +inefficient imitators of their Greek rivals, from whom the Roman youth +were not likely to learn any thing but impudence." In spite of the +censors, however, and in spite of the fashionable belief in Rome that +what was Greek must be far better than what was of native growth, the +Latin teachers rose into favor. "I remember," says Cicero, "when we were +boys, one Lucius Plotinus, who was the first to teach eloquence in +Latin; how, when the studious youth of the capital crowded to hear him +it vexed me much, that I was not permitted to attend him. I was checked, +however, by the opinion of learned men, who held that in this matter the +abilities of the young were more profitably nourished by exercises in +Greek." We are reminded of our own Doctor Johnson, who declared that +he would not disgrace the walls of Westminster Abbey by an epitaph in +English. + +The chief part of the instruction which these teachers gave was to +propose imaginary cases involving some legal difficulty for their pupils +to discuss. One or two of these cases may be given. + +One day in summer a party of young men from Rome made an excursion to +Ostia, and coming down to the seashore found there some fishermen who +were about to draw in a net. With these they made a bargain that they +should have the draught for a certain sum. The money was paid. When the +net was drawn up no fish were found in it, but a hamper sewn with thread +of gold. The buyers allege this to be theirs as the draught of the net. +The fishermen claim it as not being fish. To whom did it belong? + +Certain slave-dealers, landing a cargo of slaves at Brundisium, and +having with them a very beautiful boy of great value, fearing lest the +custom-house officers should lay hands upon him, put upon him the +_bulla_ and the purple-edged robe that free-born lads were wont to wear. +The deceit was not discovered. But when they came to Rome, and the +matter was talked of, it was maintained that the boy was really free, +seeing that it was his master who of his own free will had given him the +token of freedom. + +I shall conclude this chapter with a very pretty picture, which a Roman +poet draws of the life which he led with his teacher in the days when he +was first entering upon manhood. "When first my timid steps lost the +guardianship of the purple stripe, and the _bulla_ of the boy was hung +up for offering to the quaint household gods; when flattering comrades +came about me, and I might cast my eyes without rebuke over the whole +busy street under the shelter of the yet unsullied gown; in the days +when the path is doubtful, and the wanderer knowing naught of life comes +with bewildered soul to the many-branching roads--then I made myself +your adopted child. You took at once into the bosom of another Socrates +my tender years; your rule, applied with skillful disguise, straightens +each perverse habit; nature is molded by reason, and struggles to be +subdued, and assumes under your hands its plastic lineaments. Ay, well I +mind how I would wear away long summer suns with you, and pluck with you +the bloom of night's first hours. One work we had, one certain time for +rest, and at one modest table unbent from sterner thoughts." + +It accords with this charming picture to be told that the pupil, dying +in youth, left his property to his old tutor, and that the latter handed +it over to the kinsfolk of the deceased, keeping for himself the books +only. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +A ROMAN UNDERGRADUATE. + + +In the last chapter we had no particular "Roman Boy" in view; but our +"Roman Undergraduate" will be a real person, Cicero's son. It will be +interesting to trace the notices which we find of him in his father's +letters and books. "You will be glad to hear," he writes in one of his +earliest letters to Atticus, "that a little son has been born to me, and +that Terentia is doing well." From time to time we hear of him, and +always spoken of in terms of the tenderest affection. He is his +"honey-sweet Cicero," his "little philosopher." When the father is in +exile the son's name is put on the address of his letters along with +those of his mother and sister. His prospects are the subject of most +anxious thought. Terentia, who had a considerable fortune of her own, +proposes to sell an estate. "Pray think," he writes, "what will happen +to us. If the same ill fortune shall continue to pursue us, what will +happen to our unhappy boy? I cannot write any more. My tears fairly +overpower me; I should be sorry to make you as sad as myself. I will say +so much. If my friends do their duty by me, I shall not want for money; +if they do not, your means will not save me. I do implore you, by all +our troubles, do not ruin the poor lad. Indeed he is ruined enough +already. If he has only something to keep him from want, then modest +merit and moderate good fortune will give him all he wants." + +Appointed to the government of Cilicia, Cicero takes his son with him +into the province. When he starts on his campaign against the mountain +tribes, the boy and his cousin, young Quintus, are sent to the court of +Deiotarus, one of the native princes of Galatia. "The young Ciceros," he +writes to Atticus, "are with Deiotarus. If need be, they will be taken +to Rhodes." Atticus, it may be mentioned, was uncle to Quintus, and +might be anxious about him. The need was probably the case of the old +prince himself marching to Cicero's help. This he had promised to do, +but the campaign was finished without him. This was in the year 51 B.C., +and Marcus was nearly fourteen years old, his cousin being his senior by +about two years. "They are very fond of each other," writes Cicero; +"they learn, they amuse themselves together, but one wants the rein, the +other the spur." (Doubtless the latter is the writer's son.) "I am very +fond of Dionysius their teacher: the lads say that he is apt to get +furiously angry. But a more learned and more blameless man there does +not live." A year or so afterwards he seems to have thought less +favorably of him. "I let him go reluctantly when I thought of him as the +tutor of the two lads, but quite willingly as an ungrateful fellow." In +B.C. 49, when the lad was about half through his sixteenth year, Cicero +"gave him his _toga_." To take the _toga_, that is to exchange the gown +of the boy with its stripe of purple for the plain white gown of the +citizen, marked the beginning of independence (though indeed a Roman's +son was even in mature manhood under his father's control). The ceremony +took place at Arpinum, much to the delight of the inhabitants, who felt +of course the greatest pride and interest in their famous +fellow-townsman. But it was a sad time. "There and every where as I +journeyed I saw sorrow and dismay. The prospect of this vast trouble is +sad indeed." The "vast trouble" was the civil war between Caesar and +Pompey. This indeed had already broken out. While Cicero was +entertaining his kinsfolk and friends at Arpinum, Pompey was preparing +to fly from Italy. The war was probably not an unmixed evil to a lad who +was just beginning to think himself a man. He hastened across the +Adriatic to join his father's friend, and was appointed to the command +of a squadron of auxiliary cavalry. His maneuvers were probably assisted +by some veteran subordinate; but his I seat on horseback, his skill with +the javelin, and his general soldierly qualities were highly praised +both by his chief and by his comrades. After the defeat at Pharsalia he +waited with his father at Brundisium till a kind letter from Caesar +assured him of pardon. In B.C. 46 he was made aedile at Arpinum, his +cousin being appointed at the same time. The next year he would have +gladly resumed his military career. Fighting was going on in Spain, +where the sons of Pompey were holding out against the forces of Caesar; +and the young Cicero, who was probably not very particular on which side +he drew his sword, was ready to take service against the son of his old +general. Neither the cause nor the career pleased the father, and the +son's wish was overruled, just as an English lad has sometimes to give +up the unremunerative profession of arms, when there is a living in the +family, or an opening in a bank, or a promising connection with a firm +of solicitors. It was settled that he should take up his residence at +Athens, which was then the university of Rome, not indeed exactly in the +sense in which Oxford and Cambridge are the universities of England, but +still a place of liberal culture, where the sons of wealthy Roman +families were accustomed to complete their education. Four-and-twenty +years before the father had paid a long visit to the city, partly for +study's sake. "In those days," he writes, "I was emaciated and feeble to +a degree; my neck was long and thin; a habit of body and a figure that +are thought to indicate much danger to life, if aggravated by a +laborious profession and constant straining of the voice. My friends +thought the more of this, because in those days I was accustomed to +deliver all my speeches without any relaxation of effort, without any +variety, at the very top of my voice, and with most abundant +gesticulation. At first, when friends and physicians advised me to +abandon advocacy for a while, I felt that I would sooner run any risk +than relinquish the hope of oratorical distinction. Afterwards I +reflected that by learning to moderate and regulate my voice, and +changing my style of speaking, I might both avert the danger that +threatened my health and also acquire a more self-controlled manner. It +was a resolve to break through the habits I had formed that induced me +to travel to the East. I had practiced for two years, and my name had +become well known when I left Rome. Coming to Athens I spent six months +with Antiochus, the most distinguished and learned philosopher of the +Old Academy, than whom there was no wiser or more famous teacher. At the +same time I practiced myself diligently under the care of Demetrius +Syrus, an old and not undistinguished master of eloquence." To Athens, +then, Cicero always looked back with affection. He hears, for instance, +that Appius is going to build a portico at Eleusis. "Will you think me a +fool," he writes to Atticus, "if I do the same at the Academy? 'I think +so,' you will say. But I love Athens, the very place, much; and I shall +be glad to have some memorial of me there." + +The new undergraduate, as we should call him, was to have a liberal +allowance. "He shall have as much as Publilius, as much as Lentulus the +Flamen, allow their sons." It would be interesting to know the amount, +but unhappily this cannot be recovered. All that we know is that the +richest young men in Rome were not to have more. "I will guarantee," +writes this liberal father, "that none of the three young men [whom he +names] who, I hear, will be at Athens at the same time shall live at +more expense than he will be able to do on those rents." These "rents" +were the incomings from certain properties at Rome. "Only," he adds, "I +do not think he will want a horse." + +We know something of the university buildings, so to speak, which the +young Cicero found at Athens. "To seek for truth among the groves of +Academus" is the phrase by which a more famous contemporary, the poet +Horace, describes his studies at Athens. He probably uses it generally +to express philosophical pursuits; taken strictly it would mean that he +attached himself to the sage whose pride it was to be the successor of +Plato. Academus was a local hero, connected with the legend of Theseus +and Helen. Near his grove, or sacred inclosure, which adjoined the road +to Eleusis, Plato had bought a garden. It was but a small spot, +purchased for a sum which maybe represented by about three or four +hundred pounds of our money, but it had been enlarged by the liberality +of successive benefactors. This then was one famous lecture-room. +Another was the Lyceum. Here Aristotle had taught, and after Aristotle, +Theophrastus, and after him, a long succession of thinkers of the same +school. A third institution of the same kind was the garden in which +Epicurus had assembled his disciples, and which he bequeathed to +trustees for their benefit and the benefit of their successors for all +time. + +To a Roman of the nobler sort these gardens and buildings must have been +as holy places. It was with these rather than with the temples of gods +that he connected what there was of goodness and purity in his life. To +worship Jupiter or Romulus did not make him a better man, though it +might be his necessary duty as a citizen; his real religion, as we +understand it, was his reverence for Plato or Zeno. Athens to him was +not only what Athens, but what the Holy Land is to us. Cicero describes +something of this feeling in the following passage: "We had been +listening to Antiochus (a teacher of the Academics) in the school called +the Ptolemaeus, where he was wont to lecture. Marcus Piso was with me, +and my brother Quintus, and Atticus, and Lucius Cicero, by relationship +a cousin, in affection a brother. We agreed among ourselves to finish +our afternoon walk in the Academy, chiefly because that place was sure +not to be crowded at that hour. At the proper time we met at Piso's +house; thence, occupied with varied talk, we traversed the six furlongs +that lie between the Double Gate and the Academy; and entering the walls +which can give such good reason for their fame, found there the solitude +which we sought. 'Is it,' said Piso, 'by some natural instinct or +through some delusion that when we see the very spots where famous men +have lived we are far more touched than when we hear of the things that +they have done, or read something that they have written? It is thus +that I am affected at this moment. I think of Plato, who was, we are +told, the first who lectured in this place; his little garden which lies +there close at hand seems not only to remind me of him, but actually to +bring him up before my eyes. Here spake Speusippus, here Xenocrates, +here his disciple Polemo--to Polemo indeed belonged this seat which we +have before us.'" This was the Polemo who had been converted, as we +should say, when, bursting in after a night of revel upon a lecture in +which Xenocrates was discoursing of temperance, he listened to such +purpose that from that moment he became a changed man. Then Atticus +describes how he found the same charms of association in the garden +which had belonged to his own master, Epicurus; while Quintus Cicero +supplies what we should call the classical element by speaking of +Sophocles and the grove of Colonus, still musical, it seems, with the +same song of the nightingale which had charmed the ear of the poet more +than three centuries before. + +One or other, perhaps more than one, of these famous places the young +Cicero frequented. He probably witnessed, he possibly took part (for +strangers were admitted to membership) in, the celebrations with which +the college of Athenian youths (Ephebi) commemorated the glories of +their city, the procession to the tombs of those who died at Marathon, +and the boat-races in the Bay of Salamis. That he gave his father some +trouble is only too certain. His private tutor in rhetoric, as we should +call him, was a certain Gorgias, a man of ability, and a writer of some +note, but a worthless and profligate fellow. Cicero peremptorily ordered +his son to dismiss him; and the young man seems to have obeyed and +reformed. We may hope at least that the repentance which he expresses +for his misdoings in a letter to Tiro, his father's freedman, was +genuine. This is his picture of his life in the days of repentance and +soberness: "I am on terms of the closest intimacy with Cratippus, living +with him more as a son than as a pupil. Not only do I hear his lectures +with delight, but I am greatly taken with the geniality which is +peculiar to the man. I spend whole days with him, and often no small +part of the night; for I beg him to dine with me as often as he can. +This has become so habitual with him that he often looks in upon us at +dinner when we are not expecting him; he lays aside the sternness of the +philosopher and jokes with us in the pleasantest fashion. As for +Bruttius, he never leaves me; frugal and strict as is his life, he is +yet a most delightful companion. For we do not entirely banish mirth +from our daily studies in philology. I have hired a lodging for him +close by; and do my best to help his poverty out of my own narrow means. +I have begun to practice Greek declamation with Cassius, and wish to +have a Latin course with Bruttius. My friends and daily companions are +the pupils whom Cratippus brought with him from Mitylene, well-read men, +of whom he highly approves. I also see much of Epicrates, who is the +first man at Athens." After some pleasant words to Tiro, who had bought +a farm, and whom he expects to find turned into a farmer, bringing +stores, holding consultations with his bailiff, and putting by +fruit-seeds in his pocket from dessert, he says, "I should be glad if +you would send me as quickly as possible a copyist, a Greek by +preference. I have to spend much pains on writing out my notes." + +A short time before one of Cicero's friends had sent a satisfactory +report of the young man's behavior to his father. "I found your son +devoted to the most laudable studies and enjoying an excellent +reputation for steadiness. Don't fancy, my dear Cicero, that I say this +to please you; there is not in Athens a more lovable young man than your +son, nor one more devoted to those high pursuits in which you would have +him interested." + +Among the contemporaries of the young Cicero was, as has been said, the +poet Horace. His had been a more studious boyhood. He had not been taken +away from his books to serve as a cavalry officer under Pompey. In him +accordingly we see the regular course of the studies of a Roman lad. +"It was my lot," he says, "to be bred up at Rome, and to be taught how +much the wrath of Achilles harmed the Greeks. In other words, he had +read his Homer, just as an English boy reads him at Eton or Harrow. +"Kind Athens," he goes on, "added a little more learning, to the end +that I might be able to distinguish right from wrong, and to seek for +truth amongst the groves of Academus." And just in the same way the +English youth goes on to read philosophy at Oxford. + +The studies of the two young men were interrupted by the same cause, the +civil war which followed the death of Caesar. They took service with +Brutus, both having the same rank, that of military tribune, a command +answering more or less nearly to that of colonel in our own army. It +was, however, mainly an ornamental rank, being bestowed sometimes by +favor of the general in command, sometimes by a popular vote. The young +Cicero indeed had already served, and he now distinguished himself +greatly, winning some considerable successes in the command of the +cavalry which Brutus afterwards gave him. When the hopes of the party +were crushed at Phillippi, he joined the younger Pompey in Sicily; but +took an opportunity of an amnesty which was offered four years +afterwards to return to Rome. Here he must have found his old +fellow-student, who had also reconciled himself to the victorious party. +He was made one of the college of augurs, and also a commissioner of the +mint, and in B.C. 30 he had the honour of sharing the consulship with +Augustus himself. It was to him that the dispatch announcing the final +defeat and death of Antony was delivered; and it fell to him to execute +the decree which ordered the destruction of all the statues of the +fallen chief. "Then," says Plutarch, "by the ordering of heaven the +punishment of Antony was inflicted at last by the house of Cicero." His +time of office ended, he went as Governor to Asia, or, according to some +accounts, to Syria; and thus disappears from our view. + +Pliny the Elder tells us that he was a drunkard, sarcastically observing +that he sought to avenge himself on Antony by robbing him of the +reputation which he had before enjoyed of being the hardest drinker of +the time. As the story which he tells of the younger Cicero being able +to swallow twelve pints of wine at a draught is clearly incredible, +perhaps we may disbelieve the whole, and with it the other anecdote, +that he threw a cup at the head of Marcus Agrippa, son-in-law to the +Emperor, and after him the greatest man in Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +IN THE DAYS OF THE DICTATOR. + + +In November 82 B.C., Cornelius Sulla became absolute master of Rome. It +is not part of my purpose to give a history of this man. He was a great +soldier who had won victories in Africa and Asia over the enemies of +Rome, and in Italy itself over the "allies," as they were called, that +is the Italian nations, who at various times had made treaties with +Rome, and who in the early part of the first century B.C. rebelled +against her, thinking that they were robbed of the rights and privileges +which belonged to them. And he was the leader of the party of the +nobles, just as Marius was the leader of the party of the people. Once +before he had made himself supreme in the capital; and then he had used +his power with moderation. But he was called away to carry on the war in +Asia against Mithridates, the great King of Pontus; and his enemies had +got the upper hand, and had used the opportunity most cruelly. A +terrible list of victims, called the "proscription," because it was +posted up in the forum, was prepared. Fifty senators and a thousand +knights (peers and gentlemen we should call them) were put to death, +almost all of them without any kind of trial. Sulla himself was +outlawed. But he had an army which he had led to victory and had +enriched with prize-money, and which was entirely devoted to him; and he +was not inclined to let his enemies triumph. He hastened back to Italy, +and landed in the spring of 83. In the November of the following year, +just outside the walls of Rome, was fought the final battle of the war. + +The opposing army was absolutely destroyed and Sulla had every thing at +his mercy. He waited for a few days outside the city till the Senate had +passed a decree giving him absolute power to change the laws, to fill +the offices of State, and to deal with the lives and properties of +citizens as it might please him. This done, he entered Rome. Then came +another proscription. The chief of his enemies, Marius. was gone. He had +died, tormented it was said by remorse, seventeen days after he had +reached the crowning glory, promised him in his youth by an oracle, and +had been made consul for the seventh time. The conqueror had to content +himself with the same vengeance that Charles II. in our own country +exacted from the remains of Cromwell. The ashes of Marius were taken out +of his tomb on the Flaminian Way, the great North Road of Rome, and were +thrown into the Anio. But many of his friends and partisans survived, +and these were slaughtered without mercy. Eighty names were put on the +fatal list on the first day, two hundred and twenty on the second, and +as many more on the third. With the deaths of many of these victims +politics had nothing to do. Sulla allowed his friends and favorites to +put into the list the names of men against whom they happened to bear a +grudge, or whose property they coveted. No one knew who might be the +next to fall. Even Sulla's own partisans were alarmed. A young senator, +Caius Metellus, one of a family which was strongly attached to Sulla and +with which he was connected by marriage, had the courage to ask him in +public when there would be an end to this terrible state of things. +"We do not beg you," he said, "to remit the punishment of those whom you +have made up your mind to remove; we do beg you to do away with the +anxiety of those whom you have resolved to spare." "I am not yet +certain," answered Sulla, "whom I shall spare." "Then at least," said +Metellus, "you can tell us whom you mean to punish." "That I will do," +replied the tyrant. It was indeed a terrible time that followed, +Plutarch thus describes it: "He denounced against any who might shelter +or save the life of a proscribed person the punishment of death for his +humanity. He made no exemption for mother, or son, or parent. The +murderers received a payment of two talents (about L470) for each +victim; it was paid to a slave who killed his master, to a son who +killed his father. The most monstrous thing of all, it was thought, was +that the sons and grandsons of the proscribed were declared to be +legally infamous and that their property was confiscated. Nor was it +only in Rome but in all the cities of Italy that the proscription was +carried out. There was not a single temple, not a house but was polluted +with blood. Husbands were slaughtered in the arms of their wives, and +sons in the arms of their mothers. And the number of those who fell +victims to anger and hatred was but small in comparison with the number +who were put out of the way for the sake of their property. The +murderers might well have said: 'His fine mansion has been the death of +this man; or his gardens, or his baths.' Quintus Aurelius, a peaceable +citizen, who had had only this share in the late civil troubles, that he +had felt for the misfortunes of others, coming into the forum, read the +list of the proscribed and found in it his own name. 'Unfortunate that I +am,' he said, 'it is my farm at Alba that has been my ruin;' and he had +not gone many steps before he was cut down by a man that was following +him. Lucius Catiline's conduct was especially wicked. He had murdered +his own brother. This was before the proscription began. He went to +Sulla and begged that the name might be put in the list as if the man +were still alive; and it was so put. His gratitude to Sulla was shown by +his killing one Marius, who belonged to the opposite faction, and +bringing his head to Sulla as he sat in the forum. (This Marius was a +kinsman of the great democratic leader, and was one of the most popular +men in Rome.) This done, he washed his hands in the holy water-basin of +the temple of Apollo." + +Forty senators and sixteen hundred knights, and more than as many men of +obscure station, are said to have perished. At last, on the first of +June, 81, the list was closed. Still the reign of terror was not yet at +an end, as the strange story which I shall now relate will amply prove. +To look into the details of a particular case makes us better able to +imagine what it really was to live at Rome in the days of the Dictator +than to read many pages of general description. The story is all the +more impressive because the events happened after order had been +restored and things were supposed to be proceeding in their regular +course. + +The proscription came to an end, as has been said, in the early summer +of 81. In the autumn of the same year a certain Sextus Roscius was +murdered in the streets of Rome as he was returning home from dinner. +Roscius was a native of Ameria, a little town of Etruria, between fifty +and sixty miles north of Rome. He was a wealthy man, possessed, it +would seem, of some taste and culture, and an intimate friend of some of +the noblest families at Rome. In politics he belonged to the party of +Sulla, to which indeed in its less prosperous days he had rendered good +service. Since its restoration to power he had lived much at Rome, +evidently considering himself, as indeed he had the right to do, to be +perfectly safe from any danger of proscription. But he was wealthy, and +he had among his own kinsfolk enemies who desired and who would profit +by his death. One of these, a certain Titus Roscius, surnamed Magnus, +was at the time of the murder residing at Rome; the other, who was known +as Capito, was at home at Ameria. The murder was committed about seven +o'clock in the evening. A messenger immediately left Rome with the news, +and made such haste to Ameria that he reached the place before dawn the +next day. Strangely enough he went to the house not of the murdered +man's son, who was living at Ameria in charge of his farms, but of the +hostile kinsman Capito. Three days afterwards Capito and Magnus made +their way to the camp of Sulla (he was besieging Volaterrae, another +Etrurian town). They had an interview with one Chrysogonus, a Greek +freedman of the Dictator, and explained to him how rich a prey they +could secure if he would only help them. The deceased, it seems, had +left a large sum of money and thirteen valuable farms, nearly all of +them running down to the Tiber. And the son, the lawful heir, could +easily be got out of the way. Roscius was a well-known and a popular +man, yet no outcry had followed his disappearance. With the son, a +simple farmer, ignorant of affairs, and wholly unknown to Rome, it would +be easy to deal. Ultimately the three entered into alliance. The +proscription was to be revived, so to speak, to take in this particular +case, and the name of Roscius was included in the list of the condemned. +All his wealth was treated as the property of the proscribed, and was +sold by auction. It was purchased by Chrysogonus. The real value was +between fifty and sixty thousand pounds. The price paid was something +less than eighteen pounds. Three of the finest farms were at once handed +over to Capito as his share of the spoil. Magnus acted as the agent of +Chrysogonus for the remainder. He took possession of the house in which +Roscius the younger was living, laid his hands on all its contents, +among which was a considerable sum of money, and drove out the +unfortunate young man in an absolutely penniless condition. + +These proceedings excited great indignation at Ameria. The local senate +passed a resolution to the effect that the committee of ten should +proceed to Sulla's camp and put him in possession of the facts, with the +object of removing the name of the father from the list of the +proscribed, and reinstating the son in his inheritance. The ten +proceeded accordingly to the camp, but Chrysogonus cajoled and +over-reached them. It was represented to them by persons of high +position that there was no need to trouble Sulla with the affair. The +name should be removed from the list; the property should be restored. +Capito, who was one of the ten, added his personal assurance to the same +effect, and the deputation, satisfied that their object had been +attained, returned to Ameria. There was of course no intention of +fulfilling the promises thus made. The first idea of the trio was to +deal with the son as they had dealt with the father. Some hint of this +purpose was conveyed to him, and he fled to Rome, where he was +hospitably entertained by Caecilia, a wealthy lady of the family of +Metellus, and therefore related to Sulla's wife, who indeed bore the +same name. As he was now safe from violence, it was resolved to take the +audacious step of accusing him of the murder of his father. Outrageous +as it seems, the plan held out some promise of success. The accused was +a man of singularly reserved character, rough and boorish in manner, and +with no thoughts beyond the rustic occupations to which his life was +devoted. His father, on the other hand, had been a man of genial temper, +who spent much of his time among the polished circles of the Capitol. If +there was no positive estrangement between them, there was a great +discrepancy of tastes, and probably very little intercourse. This it +would be easy to exaggerate into something like a plausible charge, +especially under the circumstances of the case. It was beyond doubt that +many murders closely resembling the murder of Roscius had been committed +during the past year, committed some of them by sons. This was the +first time that an alleged culprit was brought to trial, and it was +probable that the jury would be inclined to severity. In any case, and +whatever the evidence, it was hoped that the verdict would not be such +as to imply the guilt of a favorite of Sulla. He was the person who +would profit most by the condemnation of the accused, and it was hoped +that he would take the necessary means to secure it. + +The friends of the father were satisfied of the innocence of the son, +and they exerted themselves to secure for him an efficient defense. +Sulla was so much dreaded that none of the more conspicuous orators of +the time were willing to undertake the task. Cicero, however, had the +courage which they wanted; and his speech, probably little altered from +the form in which he delivered it, remains. + +It was a horrible crime of which his client was accused, and the +punishment the most awful known to the Roman law. The face of the guilty +man was covered with a wolf's skin, as being one who was not worthy to +see the light; shoes of wood were put upon his feet that they might not +touch the earth. He was then thrust into a sack of leather, and with him +four animals which were supposed to symbolize all that was most hideous +and depraved--the dog, a common object of contempt; the cock, proverbial +for its want of all filial affection; the poisonous viper; and the ape, +which was the base imitation of man. In this strange company he was +thrown into the nearest river or sea. + +Cicero begins by explaining why he had undertaken a case which his +elders and betters had declined. It was not because he was bolder, but +because he was more insignificant than they, and could speak with +impunity when they could not choose but be silent. He then gives the +facts in detail, the murder of Roscius, the seizure of his property, the +fruitless deputation to Sulla, the flight of the son to Rome, and the +audacious resolve of his enemies to indict him for parricide. They had +murdered his father, they had robbed him of his patrimony, and now they +accused him--of what crime? Surely of nothing else than the crime of +having escaped their attack. The thing reminded him of the story of +Fimbria and Scaevola. Fimbria, an absolute madman, as was allowed by all +who were not mad themselves, got some ruffian to stab Scaevola at the +funeral of Marius. He was stabbed but not killed. When Fimbria found +that he was likely to live, he indicted him. For what do you indict a +man so blameless? asked some one. For what? for not allowing himself to +be stabbed to the heart. This is exactly why the confederates have +indicted Roscius. His crime has been of escaping from their hands. +"Roscius killed his father," you say. "A young man, I suppose, led away +by worthless companions." Not so; he is more than forty years of age. +"Extravagance and debt drove him to it." No; you say yourself that he +never goes to an entertainment, and he certainly owes nothing. "Well," +you say, "his father disliked him." Why did he dislike him? "That," you +reply, "I cannot say; but he certainly kept one son with him, and left +this Roscius to look after his farms." Surely this is a strange +punishment, to give him the charge of so fine an estate. "But," you +repeat, "he kept his other with him." "Now listen to me," cries Cicero, +turning with savage sarcasm to the prosecutor, "Providence never allowed +you to know who your father was. Still you have read books. Do you +remember in Caecilius' play how the father had two sons, and kept one +with him and left the other in the country? and do you remember that the +one who lived with him was not really his son, the other was true-born, +and yet it was the true-born who lived in the country? And is it such a +disgrace to live in the country? It is well that you did not live in old +times when they took a Dictator from the plow; when the men who made +Rome what it is cultivated their own land, but did not covet the land of +others. 'Ah! but,' you say, 'the father intended to disinherit him.' +Why? 'I cannot say.' Did he disinherit him? 'No, he did not.' Who +stopped him? 'Well, he was thinking of it.' To whom did he say so? 'To +no one.' Surely," cries Cicero, "this is to abuse the laws and justice +and your dignity in the basest and most wanton way, to make charges +which he not only cannot but does not even attempt to establish." + +Shortly after comes a lively description of the prosecutor's demeanor. +"It was really worth while, if you observed, gentlemen, the man's utter +indifference as he was conducting his case. I take it that when he saw +who was sitting on these benches, he asked whether such an one or such +an one was engaged for the defense. Of me he never thought, for I had +never spoken before in a criminal case. When he found that none of the +usual speakers were concerned in it, he became so careless that when the +humor took him, he sat down, then walked about, sometimes called a +servant, to give him orders, I suppose, for dinner, and certainly +treated this court in which you are sitting as if it were an absolute +solitude. At last he brought his speech to an end. I rose to reply. He +could be seen to breathe again that it was I and no one else. I noticed, +gentlemen, that he continued to laugh and be inattentive till I +mentioned Chrysogonus. As soon as I got to him my friend roused himself +and was evidently astonished. I saw what had touched him, and repeated +the name a second time, and a third. From that time men have never +ceased to run briskly backwards and forwards, to tell Chrysogonus, I +suppose, that there was some one in the country who ventured to oppose +his pleasure, that the case was being pleaded otherwise than as he +imagined it would be; that the sham sale of goods was being exposed, the +confederacy grievously handled, his popularity and power disregarded, +that the people were giving their whole attention to the cause, and that +the common opinion was that the transaction generally was disgraceful. + +"Then," continued the speaker, "this charge of parricide, so monstrous +is the crime, must have the very strongest evidence to support it. There +was a case at Tarracina of a man being found murdered in the chamber +where he was sleeping, his two sons, both young men, being in the same +room. No one could be found, either slave or free man, who seemed likely +to have done the deed; and as the two sons, grown up as they were, +declared that they knew nothing about it, they were indicted for +parricide. What could be so suspicious? Suspicious, do I say? Nay, +worse. That neither knew any thing about it? That any one had ventured +into that chamber at the very time when there were in it two young men +who would certainly perceive and defeat the attempt? Yet, because it was +proved to the jury that the young men had been found fast asleep, with +the door wide open, they were acquitted. It was thought incredible that +men who had just committed so monstrous a crime could possibly sleep. +Why, Solon, the wisest of all legislators, drawing up his code of laws, +provided no punishment for this crime; and when he was asked the reason +replied that he believed that no one would ever commit it. To provide a +punishment would be to suggest rather than prevent. Our own ancestors +provided indeed a punishment, but it was of the strangest kind, showing +how strange, how monstrous they thought the crime. And what evidence do +you bring forward? The man was not at Rome. That is proved. There-fore +he must have done it, if he did it at all, by the hands of others. Who +were these others? Were they free men or slaves? If they were free men +where did they come from, where live? How did he hire them? Where is +the proof? You haven't a shred of evidence, and yet you accuse him of +parricide. And if they were slaves, where, again I ask, are they? There +_were_ two slaves who saw the deed; but they belonged to the confederate +not to the accused. Why do you not produce them? Purely because they +would prove your guilt. + +"It is there indeed that we find the real truth of the matter. It was +the maxim of a famous lawyer, Ask: _who profited by the deed_? I ask it +now. It was Magnus who profited. He was poor before, and now he is rich. +And then he was in Rome at the time of the murder; and he was familiar +with assassins. Remember too the strange speed with which he sent the +news to Ameria, and sent it, not to the son, as one might expect, but to +Capito his accomplice; for that he was an accomplice is evident enough. +What else could he be when he so cheated the deputation that went to +Sulla at Volaterrae?" + +Cicero then turned to Chrysogonus, and attacked him with a boldness +which is surprising, when we remember how high he stood in the favor of +the absolute master of Rome, "See how he comes down from his fine +mansion on the Palatine. Yes, and he has for his own enjoyment a +delightful retreat in the suburbs, and many an estate besides, and not +one of them but is both handsome and conveniently near. His house is +crowded with ware of Corinth and Delos, among them that famous +self-acting cooking apparatus, which he lately bought at a price so high +that the passers-by, when they heard the clerk call out the highest bid, +supposed that it must be a farm which was being sold. And what +quantities, think you, he has of embossed plate, and coverlets of +purple, and pictures, and statues, and colored marbles! Such quantities, +I tell you, as scarce could be piled together in one mansion in a time +of tumult and rapine from many wealthy establishments. And his +household--why should I describe how many it numbers, and how varied are +its accomplishments? I do not speak of ordinary domestics, the cook, the +baker, the litter-bearer. Why, for the mere enjoyment of his ears he has +such a multitude of men that the whole neighborhood echoes again with +the daily music of singers, and harp-players, and flute-players, and +with the uproar of his nightly banquets. What daily expenses, what +extravagance, as you well know, gentlemen, there must be in such a life +as this! how costly must be these banquets! Creditable banquets, indeed, +held in such a house--a house, do I say, and not a manufactory of +wickedness, a place of entertainment for every kind of crime? And as for +the man himself--you see, gentlemen, how he bustles every where about +the forum, with his hair fashionably arranged and dripping with +perfumes; what a crowd of citizens, yes, of citizens, follow him; you +see how he looks down upon every one, thinks no one can be compared to +himself, fancies himself the one rich and powerful man in Rome?" + +The jury seems to have caught the contagion of courage from the +advocate. They acquitted the accused. It is not known whether he ever +recovered his property. But as Sulla retired from power in the following +year, and died the year after, we may hope that the favorites and the +villains whom he had sheltered were compelled to disgorge some at least +of their gains. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +A ROMAN MAGISTRATE. + + +Of all the base creatures who found a profit in the massacres and +plunderings which Sulla commanded or permitted, not one was baser than +Caius Verres. The crimes that he committed would be beyond our belief if +it were not for the fact that he never denied them. He betrayed his +friends, he perverted justice, he plundered a temple with as little +scruple as he plundered a private house, he murdered a citizen as boldly +as he murdered a foreigner; in fact, he was the most audacious, the most +cruel, the most shameless of men. And yet he rose to high office at home +and abroad, and had it not been for the courage, sagacity, and eloquence +of one man, he might have risen to the very highest. What Roman citizens +had sometimes, and Roman subjects, it is to be feared, very often to +endure may be seen from the picture which we are enabled to draw of a +_Roman magistrate_. + +Roman politicians began public life as quaestors. (A quaestor was an +official who managed money matters for higher magistrates. Every +governor of a province had one or more quaestors under him. They were +elected at Rome, and their posts were assigned to them by lot.) Verres +was quaestor in Gaul and embezzled the public money; he was quaestor in +Cilicia with Dolabella, a like-minded governor, and diligently used his +opportunity. This time it was not money only, but works of art, on which +he laid his hands; and in these the great cities, whether in Asia or in +Europe, were still rich. The most audacious, perhaps, of these robberies +was perpetrated in the island of Delos. Delos was known all over the +world as the island of Apollo. The legend was that it was the birthplace +of the god. None of his shrines was more frequented or more famous. +Verres was indifferent to such considerations. He stripped the temple of +its finest statues, and loaded a merchant ship which he had hired with +the booty. But this time he was not lucky enough to secure it. The +islanders, though they had discovered the theft, did not, indeed, +venture to complain. They thought it was the doing of the governor, and +a governor, though his proceedings might be impeached after his term of +office, was not a person with whom it was safe to remonstrate. But a +terrible storm suddenly burst upon the island. The governor's departure +was delayed. To set sail in such weather was out of the question. The +sea was indeed so high that the town became scarcely habitable. Then +Verres' ship was wrecked, and the statues were found cast upon the +shore. The governor ordered them to be replaced in the temple, and the +storm subsided as suddenly as it had arisen. + +On his return to Rome Dolabella was impeached for extortion. With +characteristic baseness Verres gave evidence against him, evidence so +convincing as to cause a verdict of guilty. But he thus secured his own +gains, and these he used so profusely in the purchase of votes that two +or three years afterwards he was elected praetor. The praetors performed +various functions which were assigned to them by lot. Chance, or it may +possibly have been contrivance, gave to Verres the most considerable of +them all. He was made "Praetor of the City;" that is, a judge before +whom a certain class of very important causes were tried. Of course he +showed himself scandalously unjust. One instance of his proceedings may +suffice. + +A certain Junius had made a contract for keeping the temple of Castor in +repair. When Verres came into office he had died, leaving a son under +age. There had been some neglect, due probably to the troubles of the +times, in seeing that the contracts had been duly executed, and the +Senate passed a resolution that Verres and one of his fellow-praetors +should see to the matter. The temple of Castor came under review like +the others, and Verres, knowing that the original contractor was dead, +inquired who was the responsible person. When he heard of the son under +age he recognized at once a golden opportunity. It was one of the maxims +which he had laid down for his own guidance, and which he had even been +wont to give out for the benefit of his friends, that much profit might +be made out of the property of wards. It had been arranged that the +guardian of the young Junius should take the contract into his own +hands, and, as the temple was in excellent repair, there was no +difficulty in the way. Verres summoned the guardian to appear before +him. "Is there any thing," he asked, "that your ward has not made good, +and which we ought to require of him?" "No," said he, "every thing is +quite right; all the statues and offerings are there, and the fabric is +in excellent repair." From the praetor's point of view this was not +satisfactory; and he determined on a personal visit. Accordingly he went +to the temple, and inspected it. The ceiling was excellent; the whole +building in the best repair. "What is to be done?" he asked of one of +his satellites. "Well," said the man, "there is nothing for you to +meddle with here, except possibly to require that the columns should be +restored to the perpendicular." "Restored to the perpendicular? what do +you mean?" said Verres, who knew nothing of architecture. It was +explained to him that it very seldom happened that a column was +absolutely true to the perpendicular. "Very good," said Verres; "we will +have the columns made perpendicular." Notice accordingly was sent to +the lad's guardians. Disturbed at the prospect of indefinite loss to +their ward's property, they sought an interview with Verres. One of the +noble family of Marcellus waited upon him, and remonstrated against the +iniquity of the proceeding. The remonstrance was in vain. The praetor +showed no signs of relenting. There yet remained one way, a way only too +well known to all who had to deal with him, of obtaining their object. +Application must be made to his mistress (a Greek freedwoman of the name +of Chelidon or "The Swallow"). If she could be induced to take an +interest in the case something might yet be done. Degrading as such a +course must have been to men of rank and honor, they resolved, in the +interest of their ward, to take it. They went to Chelidon's house. It +was thronged with people who were seeking favors from the praetor. Some +were begging for decisions in their favor; some for fresh trials of +their cases. "I want possession," cried one. "He must not take the +property from me," said another. "Don't let him pronounce judgment +against me," cried a third. "The property must be assigned to me," was +the demand of a fourth. Some were counting out money; others signing +bonds. The deputation, after waiting awhile, were admitted to the +presence. Their spokesman explained the case, begged for Chelidon's +assistance, and promised a substantial consideration. The lady was very +gracious. She would willingly do what she could, and would talk to the +praetor about it. The deputation must come again the next day and hear +how she had succeeded. They came again, but found that nothing could be +done. Verres felt sure that a large sum of money was to be got out of +the proceeding, and resolutely refused any compromise. + +They next made an offer of about two thousand pounds. This again was +rejected. Verres resolved that he would put up the contract to auction, +and did his best that the guardians should have no notice of it. Here, +however, he failed. They attended the auction and made a bid. Of course +the lowest bidder ought to have been accepted, so long as he gave +security for doing the work well. But Verres refused to accept it. He +knocked down the contract to himself at a price of more than five +thousand pounds, and this though there were persons willing to do it for +less than a sixth of that sum. As a matter of fact very little was +done. Four of the columns were pulled down and built up again with the +same stones. Others were whitewashed; some had the old cement taken out +and fresh put in.[1] The highest estimate for all that could possibly be +wanted was less than eight hundred pounds. + +[Footnote 1: "Pointed," I suppose.] + +His year of office ended, Verres was sent as governor to Sicily. By +rights he should have remained there twelve months only, but his +successor was detained by the Servile war in Italy, and his stay was +thus extended to nearly three years, three years into which he crowded +an incredible number of cruelties and robberies. Sicily was perhaps the +wealthiest of all the provinces. Its fertile wheat-fields yielded +harvests which, now that agriculture had begun to decay in Italy, +provided no small part of the daily bread of Rome. In its cities, +founded most of them several centuries before by colonists from Greece, +were accumulated the riches of many generations. On the whole it had +been lightly treated by its Roman conquerors. Some of its states had +early discerned which would be the winning side, and by making their +peace in time had secured their privileges and possessions. Others had +been allowed to surrender themselves on favorable terms. This wealth had +now been increasing without serious disturbance for more than a hundred +years. The houses of the richer class were full of the rich tapestries +of the East, of gold and silver plate cunningly chased or embossed, of +statues and pictures wrought by the hands of the most famous artists of +Greece. The temples were adorned with costly offerings and with images +that were known all over the civilized world. The Sicilians were +probably prepared to pay something for the privilege of being governed +by Rome. And indeed the privilege was not without its value. The days of +freedom indeed were over; but the turbulence, the incessant strife, the +bitter struggles between neighbors and parties were also at an end. Men +were left to accumulate wealth and to enjoy it without hindrance. Any +moderate demands they were willing enough to meet. They did not +complain, for instance, or at least did not complain aloud, that they +were compelled to supply their rulers with a fixed quantity of corn at +prices lower than could have been obtained in the open market. And they +would probably have been ready to secure the good will of a governor who +fancied himself a connoisseur in art with handsome presents from their +museums and picture galleries. But the exactions of Verres exceeded all +bounds both of custom and of endurance. The story of how he dealt with +the wheat-growers of the province is too tedious and complicated to be +told in this place. Let it suffice to say that he enriched himself and +his greedy troop of followers at the cost of absolute ruin both to the +cultivators of the soil and to the Roman capitalists who farmed this +part of the public revenue. As to the way in which he laid his hands on +the possessions of temples and of private citizens, his doings were +emphatically summed up by his prosecutor when he came, as we shall +afterwards see, to be put upon his trial. "I affirm that in the whole of +Sicily, wealthy and old-established province as it is, in all those +towns, in all those wealthy homes, there was not a single piece of +silver plate, a single article of Corinthian or Delian ware, a single +jewel or pearl, a single article of gold or ivory, a single picture, +whether on panel or on canvas, which he did not hunt up and examine, +and, if it pleased his fancy, abstract. This is a great thing to say, +you think. Well, mark how I say it. It is not for the sake of rhetorical +exaggeration that I make this sweeping assertion, that I declare that +this fellow did not leave a single article of the kind in the whole +province. I speak not in the language of the professional accuser but in +plain Latin. Nay, I will put it more clearly still: in no single private +house, in no town; in no place, profane or even sacred; in the hands of +no Sicilian, of no citizen of Rome, did he leave a single article, +public or private property, of things profane or things religious, which +came under his eyes or touched his fancy." + +Some of the more remarkable of these acts of spoliation it may be worth +while to relate. A certain Heius, who was at once the wealthiest and +most popular citizen of Messana, had a private chapel of great antiquity +in his house, and in it four statues of the very greatest value. There +was a Cupid by Praxiteles, a replica of a famous work which attracted +visitors to the uninteresting little town of Thespiae in Boeotia; a +Hercules from the chisel of Myro; and two bronze figures, +"Basket-bearers," as they were called, because represented as carrying +sacred vessels in baskets on their heads. These were the work of +Polyclitus. The Cupid had been brought to Rome to ornament the forum on +some great occasion, and had been carefully restored to its place. The +chapel and its contents was the great sight of the town. No one passed +through without inspecting it. It was naturally, therefore, one of the +first things that Verres saw, Messana being on his route to the capital +of his province. He did not actually take the statues, he bought them; +but the price that he paid was so ridiculously low that purchase was +only another name for robbery. Something near sixty pounds was given for +the four. If we recall the prices that would be paid now-a-days for a +couple of statues by Michael Angelo and two of the masterpieces of +Raphael and Correggio, we may imagine what a monstrous fiction this sale +must have been, all the more monstrous because the owner was a wealthy +man, who had no temptation to sell, and who was known to value his +possessions not only as works of art but as adding dignity to his +hereditary worship. + +A wealthy inhabitant of Tyndaris invited the governor to dinner. He was +a Roman citizen and imagined that he might venture on a display which a +provincial might have considered to be dangerous. Among the plate on the +table was a silver dish adorned with some very fine medallions. It +struck the fancy of the guest, who promptly had it removed, and who +considered himself to be a marvel of moderation when he sent it back +with the medallions abstracted. + +His secretary happened one day to receive a letter which bore a +noteworthy impression on the composition of chalk which the Greeks used +for sealing. It attracted the attention of Verres, who inquired from +what place it had come. Hearing that it had been sent from Agrigentum, +he communicated to his agents in that town his desire that the seal-ring +should be at once secured for him. And this was done. The unlucky +possessor, another Roman citizen, by the way, had his ring actually +drawn from his finger. + +A still more audacious proceeding was to rob, not this time a mere +Sicilian provincial or a simple Roman citizen, but one of the tributary +kings, the heir of the great house of Antiochus, which not many years +before had matched itself with the power of Rome. Two of the young +princes had visited Rome, intending to prosecute their claims to the +throne of Egypt, which, they contended, had come to them through their +mother. The times were not favorable to the suit, and they returned to +their country, one of them, Antiochus, probably the elder, choosing to +take Sicily on his way. He naturally visited Syracuse, where Verres was +residing, and Verres at once recognized a golden opportunity. The first +thing was to send the visitor a handsome supply of wine, olive-oil, and +wheat. The next was to invite him to dinner. The dining-room and table +were richly furnished, the silver plate being particularly splendid. +Antiochus was highly delighted with the entertainment, and lost no time +in returning the compliment. The dinner to which he invited the governor +was set out with a splendor to which Verres had nothing to compare. +There was silver plate in abundance, and there were also cups of gold, +these last adorned with magnificent gems. + +Conspicuous among the ornaments of the table was a drinking vessel, all +in one piece, probably of amethyst, and with a handle of gold. Verres +expressed himself delighted with what he saw. He handled every vessel +and was loud in its praises. The simple-minded King, on the other hand, +heard the compliment with pride. Next day came a message. Would the King +lend some of the more beautiful cups to his excellency? He wished to +show them to his own artists. A special request was made for the +amethyst cup. All was sent without a suspicion of danger. + +But the King had still in his possession something that especially +excited the Roman's cupidity. This was a candelabrum of gold richly +adorned with jewels. It had been intended for an offering to the +tutelary deity of Rome, Jupiter of the Capitol. But the temple, which +had been burned to the ground in the civil wars, had not yet been +rebuilt, and the princes, anxious that their gift should not be seen +before it was publicly presented, resolved to carry it back with them to +Syria. Verres, however, had got, no one knew how, some inkling of the +matter, and he begged Antiochus to let him have a sight of it. The young +prince, who, so far from being suspicious, was hardly sufficiently +cautious, had it carefully wrapped up, and sent it to the governor's +palace. When he had minutely inspected it, the messengers prepared to +carry it back. Verres, however, had not seen enough of it. It clearly +deserved more than one examination. Would they leave it with him for a +time? They left it, suspecting nothing. + +Antiochus, on his part, had no apprehensions. When some days had passed +and the candelabrum was not returned, he sent to ask for it. The +governor begged the messenger to come again the next day. It seemed a +strange request; still the man came again and was again unsuccessful. +The King himself then waited on the governor and begged him to return +it. Verres hinted, or rather said plainly, that he should very much like +it as a present. "This is impossible," replied the prince, "the honor +due to Jupiter and public opinion forbid it. All the world knows that +the offering is to be made, and I cannot go back from my word." Verres +perceived that soft words would be useless, and took at once another +line. The King, he said, must leave Sicily before nightfall. The public +safety demanded it. He had heard of a piratical expedition which was on +its way from Syria to the province, and that his departure was +necessary. Antiochus had no choice but to obey; but before he went he +publicly protested in the market-place of Syracuse against the wrong +that had been done. His other valuables, the gold and the jewels, he did +not so much regret; but it was monstrous that he should be robbed of the +gift that he destined for the altar of the tutelary god of Rome. + +The Sicilian cities were not better able to protect their possessions +than were private individuals. Segesta was a town that had early ranged +itself on the side of the Romans, with whom its people had a legendary +relationship. (The story was that Aeneas on his way to Italy had left +there some of his followers, who were unwilling any longer to endure the +hardships of the journey.) In early days it had been destroyed by the +Carthaginians, who had carried off all its most valuable possessions, +the most precious being a statue of Diana, a work of great beauty and +invested with a peculiar sacredness. When Carthage fell, Scipio its +conqueror restored the spoils which had been carried off from the cities +of Sicily. Among other things Agrigentum had recovered its famous bull +of brass, in which the tyrant Phalaris had burned, it was said, his +victims. Segesta was no less fortunate than its neighbors, and got back +its Diana. It was set on a pedestal on which was inscribed the name of +Scipio, and became one of the most notable sights of the island. It was +of a colossal size, but the sculptor had contrived to preserve the +semblance of maidenly grace and modesty. Verres saw and coveted it. He +demanded it of the authorities of the town and was met with a refusal. +It was easy for the governor to make them suffer for their obstinacy. +All their imposts were doubled and more than doubled. Heavy requisitions +for men and money and corn were made upon them. A still more hateful +burden, that of attending the court and progresses of the governor was +imposed on their principal citizens. This was a contest which they +could not hope to wage with success. Segesta resolved that the statue +should be given up. It was accordingly carried away from the town, all +the women of the town, married and unmarried, following it on its +journey, showering perfumes and flowers upon it, and burning incense +before it, till it had passed beyond the borders of their territory. + +If Segesta had its Diana, Tyndaris had its Mercury; and this also Verres +was resolved to add to his collection. He issued his orders to Sopater, +chief magistrate of the place, that the statue was to betaken to +Messana. (Messana being conveniently near to Italy was the place in +which he stored his plunder.) Sopater refusing was threatened with the +heaviest penalties if it was not done without delay, and judged it best +to bring the matter before the local senate. The proposition was +received with shouts of disapproval. Verres paid a second visit to the +town and at once inquired what had been done about the statue. He was +told that it was impossible. The senate had decreed the penalty of +death against any one that touched it. Apart from that, it would be an +act of the grossest impiety. "Impiety?" he burst out upon the unlucky +magistrates; "penalty of death! senate! what senate? As for you, +Sopater, you shall not escape. Give me up the statue or you shall be +flogged to death." Sopater again referred the matter to his townsmen and +implored them with tears to give way. The meeting separated in great +tumult without giving him any answer. Summoned again to the governor's +presence, he repeated that nothing could be done. But Verres had still +resources in store. He ordered the lictors to strip the man, the chief +magistrate, be it remembered, of an important town, and to set him, +naked as he was, astride on one of the equestrian statues that adorned +the market-place. It was winter; the weather was bitterly cold, with +heavy rain. The pain caused by the naked limbs being thus brought into +close contact with the bronze of the statue was intense. So frightful +was his suffering that his fellow-townsmen could not bear to see it. +They turned with loud cries upon the senate and compelled them to vote +that the coveted statue should be given up to the governor. So Verres +got his Mercury. + +We have a curious picture of the man as he made his progresses from town +to town in his search for treasures of art. "As soon as it was +spring--and he knew that it was spring not from the rising of any +constellation or the blowing of any wind, but simply because he saw the +roses--then indeed he bestirred himself. So enduring, so untiring was he +that no one ever saw him upon horseback. No--he was carried in a litter +with eight bearers. His cushion was of the finest linen of Malta, and it +was stuffed with roses. There was one wreath of roses upon his head, and +another round his neck, made of the finest thread, of the smallest mesh, +and this, too, was full of roses. He was carried in this litter straight +to his chamber; and there he gave his audiences." + +When spring had passed into summer even such exertions were too much for +him. He could not even endure to remain in his official residence, the +old palace of the kings of Syracuse. A number of tents were pitched for +him at the entrance of the harbor to catch the cool breezes from the +sea. There he spent his days and nights, surrounded by troops of the +vilest companions, and let the province take care of itself. + +Such a governor was not likely to keep his province free from the +pirates who, issuing from their fastnesses on the Cilician coast and +elsewhere, kept the seaboard cities of the Mediterranean in constant +terror. One success, and one only, he seems to have gained over them. +His fleet was lucky enough to come upon a pirate ship, which was so +overladen with spoil that it could neither escape nor defend itself. +News was at once carried to Verres, who roused himself from his feasting +to issue strict orders that no one was to meddle with the prize. It was +towed into Syracuse, and he hastened to examine his booty. The general +feeling was one of delight that a crew of merciless villains had been +captured and were about to pay the penalty of their crimes. Verres had +far more practical views. Justice might deal as she pleased with the old +and useless; the young and able bodied, and all who happened to be +handicraftsmen, were too valuable to be given up. His secretaries, his +retinue, his son had their share of the prize; six, who happened to be +singers, were sent as a present to a friend at Rome. As to the pirate +captain himself, no one knew what had become of him. It was a favorite +amusement in Sicily to watch the sufferings of a pirate, if the +government had had the luck but to catch one, while he was being slowly +tortured to death. The people of Syracuse, to whom the pirate captain +was only too well known, watched eagerly for the day when he was to be +brought out to suffer. They kept an account of those who were brought +out to execution, and reckoned them against the number of the crew, +which it had been easy to conjecture from the size of the ship. Verres +had to correct the deficiency as best he could. He had the audacity to +fill the places of the prisoners whom he had sold or given away with +Roman citizens, whom on various false pretenses he had thrown into +prison. The pirate captain himself was suffered to escape on the +payment, it was believed, of a very large sum of money. + +But Verres had not yet done with the pirates. It was necessary that some +show, at least, of coping with them should be made. There was a fleet, +and the fleet must put to sea. A citizen of Syracuse, who had no sort of +qualification for the task, but whom Verres was anxious to get out of +the way, was appointed to the command. The governor paid it the unwonted +attention of coming out of his tent to see it pass. His very dress, as +he stood upon the shore, was a scandal to all beholders. His sandals, +his purple cloak, his tunic, or under-garment, reaching to his ankles, +were thought wholly unsuitable to the dignity of a Roman magistrate. The +fleet, as might be expected, was scandalously ill equipped. Its men for +the most part existed, as the phrase is, only "on paper." There was the +proper complement of names, but of names only. The praetor drew from the +treasury the pay for these imaginary soldiers and marines, and diverted +it into his own pocket. And the ships were as ill provisioned as they +were ill manned. After they had been something less than five days at +sea they put into the harbor of Pachynus. The crews were driven to +satisfy their hunger on the roots of the dwarf palm, which grew, and +indeed still grows, in abundance on that spot. Cleomenes meanwhile was +following the example of his patron. He had his tent pitched on the +shore, and sat in it drinking from morning to night. While he was thus +employed tidings were brought that the pirate fleet was approaching. He +was ill prepared for an engagement. His hope had been to complete the +manning of his ships from the garrison of the fort. But Verres had dealt +with the fort as he had dealt with the fleet. The soldiers were as +imaginary as the sailors. Still a man of courage would have fought. His +own ship was fairly well manned, and was of a commanding size, quite +able to overpower the light vessels of the pirates; and such a crew as +there was was eager to fight. But Cleomenes was as cowardly as he was +incompetent. He ordered the mast of his ship to be hoisted, the sails to +be set, and the cable cut, and made off with all speed. The rest of his +fleet could do nothing but follow his example. The pirates gave chase, +and captured two of the ships as they fled. Cleomenes reached the port +of Helorus, stranded his ship, and left it to its fate. His colleagues +did the same. The pirate chief found them thus deserted and burned them. +He had then the audacity to sail into the inner harbor of Syracuse, a +place into which, we are told, only one hostile fleet, the ill-fated +Athenian expedition, three centuries and a half before, had ever +penetrated. The rage of the inhabitants at this spectacle exceeded all +bounds, and Verres felt that a victim must be sacrificed. He was, of +course, himself the chief culprit. Next in guilt to him was Cleomenes. +But Cleomenes was spared for the same scandalous reason which had caused +his appointment to the command. The other captains, who might indeed +have shown more courage, but who were comparatively blameless, were +ordered to execution. It seemed all the more necessary to remove them +because they could have given inconvenient testimony as to the +inefficient condition of the ships. + +The cruelty of Verres was indeed as conspicuous as his avarice. Of this, +as of his other vices, it would not suit the purpose of this book to +speak in detail. One conspicuous example will suffice. A certain Gavius +had given offense, how we know not, and had been confined in the +disused stone quarries which served for the public prison of Syracuse. +From these he contrived to escape, and made his way to Messana. +Unluckily for himself, he did not know that Messana was the one place in +Sicily where it would not be safe to speak against the governor. Just as +he was about to embark for Italy he was heard to complain of the +treatment which he had received, and was arrested and brought before the +chief magistrate of the town. Verres happened to come to the town the +same day, and heard what had happened. He ordered the man to be stripped +and flogged in the market-place. Gavius pleaded that he was a Roman +citizen and offered proof of his claim. Verres refused to listen, and +enraged by the repetition of the plea, actually ordered the man to be +crucified. "And set up," he said to his lictors, "set up the cross by +the straits. He is a Roman citizen, he says, and he will at least be +able to have a view of his native country." We know from the history of +St. Paul what a genuine privilege and protection this citizenship was. +And Cicero exactly expresses the feeling on the subject in his famous +words. "It is a crime to put a Roman citizen in irons; it is positive +wickedness to inflict stripes upon him; it is close upon parricide to +put him to death; as to crucifying him there is no word for it." And on +this crowning act of audacity Verres had the recklessness to venture. + +After holding office for three years Verres came back to Rome. The +people of Messana, his only friends in the islands, had built a +merchantman for him, and he loaded it with his spoils. He came back with +a light heart. He knew indeed that the Sicilians would impeach him. His +wrong-doings had been too gross, too insolent, for him to escape +altogether. But he was confident that he had the means in his hands for +securing an acquittal. The men that were to judge him were men of his +own order. The senators still retained the privilege which Sulla had +given them. They, and they alone, furnished the juries before whom such +causes were tried. Of these senators not a few had a fellow-feeling for +a provincial governor accused of extortion and wrong. Some had +plundered provinces in the past; others hoped to do so in the future. +Many insignificant men who could not hope to obtain such promotion were +notoriously open to bribes. And some who would have scorned to receive +money, or were too wealthy to be influenced by it, were not insensible +to the charms of other gifts--to a fine statue or a splendid picture +judiciously bestowed. A few, even more scrupulous, who would not accept +such presents for their own halls or gardens, were glad to have such +splendid ornaments for the games which they exhibited to the people. +Verres came back amply provided with these means of securing his safety. +He openly avowed--for indeed he was as frank as he was unscrupulous--that +he had trebled his extortions in order that, after leaving a sufficiency +for himself, he might have wherewith to win the favor of his judges. It +soon became evident to him that he would need these and all other help, +if he was to escape. The Sicilians engaged Cicero to plead their cause. +He had been quaestor in a division of the province for a year six years +before, and had won golden opinions by his moderation and integrity. And +Cicero was a power in the courts of the law, all the greater because he +had never yet prosecuted, but had kept himself to what was held the more +honorable task of defending persons accused.[2] Verres secured Hortensius. +He too was a great orator; Cicero had chosen him as the model which he +would imitate, and speaks of him as having been a splendid and energetic +speaker, full of life both in diction and action. At that time, perhaps, +his reputation stood higher than that of Cicero himself. It was something +to have retained so powerful an advocate; it would be still more if it +could be contrived that the prosecutor should be a less formidable person. +And there was a chance of contriving this. A certain Caecilius was induced +to come forward, and claim for himself, against Cicero, the duty of +prosecuting the late governor of Sicily. He too had been a quaestor in the +province, and he had quarreled, or he pretended that he had quarreled, with +Verres. The first thing there had to be argued before the court, which, +like our own, consisted of a presiding judge and a jury, was the +question, who was to prosecute, Cicero or Caecilius, or the two +together. Cicero made a great speech, in which he established his own +claim. He was the choice of the provincials; the honesty of his rival +was doubtful, while it was quite certain that he was incompetent. The +court decided in his favor, and he was allowed one hundred and ten days +to collect evidence. Verres had another device in store. This time a +member of the Senate came forward and claimed to prosecute Verres for +misdoings in the province of Achaia in Greece. He wanted one hundred and +eight days only for collecting evidence. If this claim should be +allowed, the second prosecution would be taken first; of course it was +not intended to be serious, and would end in an acquittal. Meanwhile all +the available time would have been spent, and the Sicilian affair would +have to be postponed till the next year. It was on postponement indeed +that Verres rested his hopes. In July Hortensius was elected consul for +the following year, and if the trial could only be put off till he had +entered upon office, nothing was to be feared. Verres was openly +congratulated in the streets of Rome on his good fortune. "I have good +news for you," cried a friend; "the election has taken place and you are +acquitted." Another friend had been chosen praetor, and would be the +new presiding judge. Consul and praetor between them would have the +appointment of the new jurors, and would take care that they should be +such as the accused desired. At the same time the new governor of Sicily +would be also a friend, and he would throw judicious obstacles in the +way of the attendance of witnesses. The sham prosecution came to +nothing. The prosecutor never left Italy. Cicero, on the other hand, +employed the greatest diligence. Accompanied by his cousin Lucius he +visited all the chief cities of Sicily, and collected from them an +enormous mass of evidence. In this work he only spent fifty out of the +hundred and ten days allotted to him, and was ready to begin long before +he was expected. + +[Footnote 2: So Horace compliments a friend on being "the illustrious +safeguard of the sad accused."] + +Verres had still one hope left; and this, strangely enough, sprang out +of the very number and enormity of his crimes. The mass of evidence was +so great that the trial might be expected to last for a long time. If it +could only be protracted into the next year, when his friends would be +in office, he might still hope to escape. And indeed there was but +little time left. The trial began on the fifth of August. In the middle +of the month Pompey was to exhibit some games. Then would come the games +called "The Games of Rome," and after this others again, filling up much +of the three months of September, October, and November. Cicero +anticipated this difficulty. He made a short speech (it could not have +lasted more than two hours in delivering), in which he stated the case +in outline. He made a strong appeal to the jury. They were themselves on +their trial. The eyes of all the world were on them. If they did not do +justice on so notorious a criminal they would never be trusted any more. +It would be seen that the senators were not fit to administer the law. +The law itself was on its trial. The provincials openly declared that if +Verres was acquitted, the law under which their governors were liable to +be accused had better be repealed. If no fear of a prosecution were +hanging over them, they would be content with as much plunder as would +satisfy their own wants. They would not need to extort as much more +wherewith to bribe their judges. Then he called his witnesses. A +marvelous array they were. "From the foot of Mount Taurus, from the +shores of the Black Sea, from many cities of the Grecian mainland, from +many islands of the Aegean, from every city and market-town of Sicily, +deputations thronged to Rome. In the porticoes, and on the steps of the +temples, in the area of the Forum, in the colonnade that surrounded it, +on the housetops and on the overlooking declivities, were stationed +dense and eager crowds of impoverished heirs and their guardians, +bankrupt tax-farmers and corn merchants, fathers bewailing their +children carried off to the praetor's harem, children mourning for their +parents dead in the praetor's dungeons, Greek nobles whose descent was +traced to Cecrops or Eurysthenes, or to the great Ionian and Minyan +houses, and Phoenicians, whose ancestors had been priests of the Tyrian +Melcarth, or claimed kindred with the Zidonian Jah."[3] Nine days were +spent in hearing this mass of evidence. Hortensius was utterly +overpowered by it. He had no opportunity for displaying his eloquence, +or making a pathetic appeal for a noble oppressed by the hatred of the +democracy. After a few feeble attempts at cross-examination, he +practically abandoned the case. The defendant himself perceived that his +position was hopeless. Before the nine days, with their terrible +impeachment, had come to an end he fled from Rome. + +[Footnote 3: Article in "Dictionary of Classical Biography and +Mythology," by William Bodham Donne.] + +The jury returned an unanimous verdict of guilty, and the prisoner was +condemned to banishment and to pay a fine. The place of banishment +(which he was apparently allowed to select outside certain limits) was +Marseilles. The amount of the fine we do not know. It certainly was not +enough to impoverish him. + +Much of the money, and many of the works of art which he had stolen were +left to him. These latter, by a singularly just retribution, proved his +ruin in the end. After the death of Cicero, Antony permitted the exiles +to return. Verres came with them, bringing back his treasures of art, +and was put to death because they excited the cupidity of the masters of +Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +A GREAT ROMAN CAUSE. + + +There were various courts at Rome for persons accused of various +crimes. One judge, for instance, used to try charges of poisoning; +another, charges of murder; and, just as is the case among us, each +judge had a jury, who gave their verdict on the evidence which they had +heard. But this verdict was not, as with us, the verdict of the whole +jury, given only if all can be induced to agree, but of the majority. +Each juryman wrote his opinion on a little tablet of wood, putting A. +(_absolvo_, "I acquit") if he thought the accused innocent, K. +(_condemno_, "I condemn") if he thought him guilty, and N.L. (_non +liquet_, "It is not clear") if the case seemed suspicious, though there +was not enough evidence to convict. + +In the year 66 B.C. a very strange trial took place in the Court of +Poison Cases. A certain Cluentius was accused of having poisoned his +step-father, Oppianicus, and various other persons. Cicero, who was +praetor that year (the praetor was the magistrate next in rank to the +consul), defended Cluentius, and told his client's whole story. + +Cluentius and his step-father were both natives of Larinum, a town in +Apulia, where there was a famous temple of Mars. A dispute about the +property of this temple caused an open quarrel between the two men, who +had indeed been enemies for some years. Oppianicus took up the case of +some slaves, who were called _Servants of Mars_, declaring that they +were not slaves at all, but Roman citizens. This he did, it would seem, +because he desired to annoy his fellow-townsmen, with whom he was very +unpopular. The people of Larinum, who were very much interested in all +that concerned the splendor of their temple services, resisted the +claim, and asked Cluentius to plead their case. Cluentius consented. +While the cause was going on, it occurred to Oppianicus to get rid of +his opponent by poison. He employed an agent, and the agent put the +matter into the hands of his freedman, a certain Scamander. Scamander +tried to accomplish his object by bribing the slave of the physician who +was attending Cluentius. The physician was a needy Greek, and his slave +had probably hard and scanty fare; but he was an honest man, and as +clever as he was honest. He pretended to accept the offer, and arranged +for a meeting. This done, he told the whole matter to his master the +physician, and the physician told it again to his patient. Cluentius +arranged that certain friends should be present in concealment at the +interview between the slave and his tempter. The villain came, and was +seized with the poison and a packet of money, sealed with his master's +seal, upon him. + +Cluentius, who had put up with many provocations from his mother's +husband, now felt that his life was in danger, and determined to defend +himself. He indicted Scamander for an attempt to poison. The man was +found guilty. Scamander's patron (as they used to call a freedman's old +master) was next brought to trial, and with the same result. Last of all +Oppianicus, the chief criminal, was attacked. Scamander's trial had +warned him of his danger, and he had labored to bring about the man's +acquittal. One vote, and one only, he had contrived to secure. And to +the giver of this vote, a needy and unprincipled member of the Senate, +he now had recourse. He went, of course, with a large sum in his +hand--something about five thousand six hundred pounds of our money. +With this the senator--Staienus by name--was to bribe sixteen out of the +thirty-two jurymen. They were to have three hundred and fifty pounds +apiece for their votes, and Staienus was to have as much for his own +vote (which would give a majority), and something over for his trouble. +Staienus conceived the happy idea of appropriating the whole, and he +managed it in this way. He accosted a fellow-juror, whom he knew to be +as unprincipled as himself. "Bulbus," he said, "you will help me in +taking care that we sha'n't serve our country for nothing." "You may +count on me," said the man. Staienus went on, "The defendant has +promised three hundred and fifty pounds to every juror who will vote +'Not Guilty.' You know who will take the money. Secure them, and come +again to me." Nine days after, Bulbus came with beaming face to +Staienus. "I have got the sixteen in the matter you know of; and now, +where is the money?" "He has played me false," replied the other; "the +money is not forthcoming. As for myself, I shall certainly vote +'Guilty.'" + +The trial came to an end, and the verdict was to be given. The defendant +claimed that it should be given by word of mouth, being anxious to know +who had earned their money. Staienus and Bulbus were the first to vote. +To the surprise of all, they voted "Guilty." Rumors too of foul play had +spread about. The two circumstances caused some of the more respectable +jurors to hesitate. In the end _five_ voted for acquittal, _ten_ said +"Not Proven," and seventeen "Guilty." Oppianicus suffered nothing worse +than banishment, a banishment which did not prevent him from living in +Italy, and even in the neighborhood of Rome. The Romans, though they +shed blood like water in their civil strife, were singularly lenient in +their punishments. Not long afterwards he died. + +His widow saw in his death an opportunity of gratifying the unnatural +hatred which she had long felt for her son Cluentius. She would accuse +him of poisoning his step-father. Her first attempt failed completely. +She subjected three slaves to torture, one of them her own, another +belonged to the younger Oppianicus, a third the property of the +physician who had attended the deceased in his last illness. But the +cruelties and tortures extorted no confession from the men. At last the +friends whom she had summoned to be present at the inquiry compelled her +to desist. Three years afterwards she renewed the attempt. She had taken +one of the three tortured slaves into high favor, and had established +him as a physician at Larinum. The man committed an audacious robbery in +his mistress's house, breaking open a chest and abstracting from it a +quantity of silver coin and five pounds weight of gold. At the same time +he murdered two of his fellow-slaves, and threw their bodies into the +fish-pond. Suspicion fell upon the missing slaves. But when the chest +came to be closely examined, the opening was found to be of a very +curious kind. A friend remembered that he had lately seen among the +miscellaneous articles at an auction a circular saw which would have +made just such an opening. It was found that this saw had been bought by +the physician. He was now charged with the crime. Thereupon a young lad +who had been his accomplice came forward and told the story. The bodies +were found in the fish-pond. The guilty slave was tortured. He confessed +the deed, and he also confessed, his mistress declared, that he had +given poison to Oppianicus at the instance of Cluentius. No opportunity +was given for further inquiry. His confession made, the man was +immediately executed. Under strong compulsion from his step-mother, the +younger Oppianicus now took up the case, and indicted Cluentius for +murder. The evidence was very weak, little or nothing beyond the very +doubtful confession spoken of above; but then there was a very violent +prejudice against the accused. There had been a suspicion--perhaps more +than a suspicion--of foul play in the trial which had ended in the +condemnation of Oppianicus. The defendant, men said, might have +attempted to bribe the jury, but the plaintiff had certainly done so. It +would be a fine thing if he were to be punished even by finding him +guilty of a crime which he had not committed. + +In defending his client, Cicero relied as much upon the terrible list +of crimes which had been proved against the dead Oppianicus as upon any +thing else. Terrible indeed it was, as a few specimens from the +catalogue will prove. + +Among the wealthier inhabitants of Larinum was a certain Dinaea, a +childless widow. She had lost her eldest son in the Social War (the war +carried on between Rome and her Italian allies), and had seen two others +die of disease. Her only daughter, who had been married to Oppianicus, +was also dead. Now came the unexpected news that her eldest son was +still alive. He had been sold into slavery, and was still working among +a gang of laborers on a farm in Gaul. The poor woman called her kinsfolk +together and implored them to undertake the task of recovering him. At +the same time she made a will, leaving the bulk of her property to her +daughter's son, the younger Oppianicus, but providing for the missing +man a legacy of between three and four thousand pounds. The elder +Oppianicus was not disposed to see so large a sum go out of the family. +Dinaea fell ill, and he brought her his own physician. The patient +refused the man's services; they had been fatal, she said, to all her +kinsfolk. Oppianicus then contrived to introduce to her a traveling +quack from Ancona. He had bribed the man with about seventeen pounds of +our money to administer a deadly drug. The fee was large, and the fellow +was expected to take some pains with the business; but he was in a +hurry; he had many markets to visit; and he gave a single dose which +there was no need to repeat. + +Meanwhile Dinaea's kinsfolk had sent two agents to make inquiries for +the missing son. But Oppianicus had been beforehand with them. He had +bribed the man who had brought the first news, had learned where he was +to be found, and had caused him to be assassinated. The agents wrote to +their employers at Larinum, saying that the object of their search could +not be found, Oppianicus having undoubtedly tampered with the person +from whom information was to be obtained. This letter excited great +indignation at Larinum; and one of the family publicly declared in the +market-place that he should hold Oppianicus (who happened to be present) +responsible if any harm should be found to have happened to the missing +man. A few days afterwards the agents themselves returned. They had +found the man, but he was dead. Oppianicus dared not face the burst of +rage which this news excited, and fled from Larinum. But he was not at +the end of his resources. The Civil War between Sulla and the party of +Marius (for Marius himself was now dead) was raging, and Oppianicus fled +to the camp of Metellus Pius, one of Sulla's lieutenants. There he +represented himself as one who had suffered for the party. Metellus had +himself fought in the Social War, and fought against the side to which +the murdered prisoner belonged. It was therefore easy to persuade him +that the man had deserved his fate, and that his friends were unworthy +persons and dangerous to the commonwealth. Oppianicus returned to +Larinum with an armed force, deposed the magistrates whom the +towns-people had chosen, produced Sulla's mandate for the appointment of +himself and three of his creatures in their stead, as well as for the +execution of four persons particularly obnoxious to him. These four +were, the man who had publicly threatened him, two of his kinsfolk, and +one of the instruments of his own villainies, whom he now found it +convenient to get out of the way. + +The story of the crimes of Oppianicus, of which only a small part has +been given, having been finished, Cicero related the true circumstances +of his death. After his banishment he had wandered about for a while +shunned by all his acquaintances. Then he had taken up his quarters in a +farmhouse in the Falernian country. From these he was driven away by a +quarrel with the farmer, and removed to a small lodging which he had +hired outside the walls of Rome. Not long afterwards he fell from his +horse, and received a severe injury in his side. His health was already +weak, fever came on, he was carried into the city and died after a few +days' illness. + +Besides the charge of poisoning Oppianicus there were others that had to +be briefly dealt with. One only of these needs to be mentioned. +Cluentius, it was said, had put poison into a cup of honey wine, with +the intention of giving it to the younger Oppianicus. The occasion, it +was allowed, was the young man's wedding-breakfast, to which, as was +the custom at Larinum, a large company had been invited. The prosecutor +affirmed that one of the bridegroom's friends had intercepted the cup on +its way, drunk off its contents, and instantly expired. The answer to +this was complete. The young man had not instantly expired. On the +contrary, he had died after an illness of several days, and this illness +had had a different cause. He was already out of health when he came to +the breakfast, and he had made himself worse by eating and drinking too +freely, "as," says the orator, "young men will do." He then called a +witness to whom no one could object, the father of the deceased. "The +least suspicion of the guilt of Cluentius would have brought him as a +witness against him. Instead of doing this he gives him his support. +Read," said Cicero to the clerk, "read his evidence. And you, sir," +turning to the father, "stand up a while, if you please, and submit to +the pain of hearing what I am obliged to relate. I will say no more +about the case. Your conduct has been admirable; you would not allow +your own sorrow to involve an innocent man in the deplorable calamity of +a false accusation." + +Then came the story of the cruel and shameful plot which the mother had +contrived against her son. Nothing would content this wicked woman but +that she must herself journey to Rome to give all the help that she +could to the prosecution. "And what a journey this was!" cried Cicero. +"I live near some of the towns near which she passed, and I have heard +from many witnesses what happened. Vast crowds came to see her. Men, ay, +and women too, groaned aloud as she passed by. Groaned at what? Why, +that from the distant town of Larinum, from the very shore of the Upper +Sea, a woman was coming with a great retinue and heavy money-bags, +coming with the single object of bringing about the ruin of a son who +was being tried for his life. In all those crowds there was not a man +who did not think that every spot on which she set her foot needed to be +purified, that the very earth, which is the mother of us all, was +defiled by the presence of a mother so abominably wicked. There was not +a single town in which she was allowed to stay; there was not an inn of +all the many upon that road where the host did not shun the contagion +of her presence. And indeed she preferred to trust herself to solitude +and to darkness rather than to any city or hostelry. And now," said +Cicero, turning to the woman, who was probably sitting in court, "does +she think that we do not all know her schemes, her intrigues, her +purposes from day to day? Truly we know exactly to whom she has gone, to +whom she has promised money, whose integrity she has endeavored to +corrupt with her bribes. Nay, more: we have heard all about the things +which she supposes to be a secret, her nightly sacrifice, her wicked +prayers, her abominable vows." + +He then turned to the son, whom he would have the jury believe was as +admirable as the mother was vile. He had certainly brought together a +wonderful array of witnesses to, character. From Larinum every grown-up +man that had the strength to make the journey had come to Rome to +support their fellow-townsman. The town was left to the care of women +and children. With these witnesses had come, bringing a resolution of +the local senate full of the praises of the accused, a deputation of the +senators. Cicero turned to the deputation and begged them to stand up +while the resolution was being read. They stood up and burst into tears, +which indeed are much more common among the people of the south than +among us, and of which no one sees any reason to be ashamed. "You see +these tears, gentlemen," cried the orator to the jury. "You may be sure, +from seeing them, that every member of the senate was in tears also when +they passed this resolution." Nor was it only Larinum, but all the chief +Samnite towns that had sent their most respected citizens to give their +evidence for Cluentius. "Few," said Cicero, "I think, are loved by me as +much as he is loved by all these friends." + +Cluentius was acquitted. Cicero is said to have boasted afterwards that +he had blinded the eyes of the jury. Probably his client had bribed the +jury in the trial of his step-father. That was certainly the common +belief, which indeed went so far as to fix the precise sum which he +paid. "How many miles is your farm from Rome?" was asked of one of the +witnesses at a trial connected with the case. "Less than fifty-three," +he replied. "Exactly the sum," was the general cry from the spectators. +The point of the joke is in the fact that the same word stood in Latin +for the _thousand_ paces which made a mile and the _thousand_ coins by +which sums of money were commonly reckoned. Oppianicus had paid forty +thousand for an acquittal, and Cluentius outbid him with fifty thousand +("less than fifty-three") to secure a verdict of guilty. But whatever we +may think of the guilt or innocence of Cluentius, there can be no doubt +that the cause in which Cicero defended him was one of the most +interesting ever tried in Rome. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +COUNTRY LIFE. + + +A Roman of even moderate wealth--for Cicero was far from being one of +the richest men of his time--commonly possessed more country-houses than +belong even to the wealthiest of English nobles. One such house at least +Cicero inherited from his father. It was about three miles from Arpinum, +a little town in that hill country of the Sabines which was the +proverbial seat of a temperate and frugal race, and which Cicero +describes in Homeric phrase as + + "Rough but a kindly nurse of men." + +In his grandfather's time it had been a plain farmhouse, of the kind +that had satisfied the simpler manners of former days--the days when +Consuls and Dictators were content, their time of office ended, to plow +their own fields and reap their own harvests. Cicero was born within its +walls, for the primitive fashion of family life still prevailed, and the +married son continued to live in his father's house. After the old man's +death, when the old-fashioned frugality gave way to a more sumptuous +manner of life, the house was greatly enlarged, one of the additions +being a library, a room of which the grandfather, who thought that his +contemporaries were like Syrian slaves, "the more Greek they knew the +greater knaves they were," had never felt the want; but in which his +son, especially in his later days, spent most of his time. The garden +and grounds were especially delightful, the most charming spot of all +being an island formed by the little stream Fibrenus. A description put +into the mouth of Quintus, the younger son of the house, thus depicts +it: "I have never seen a more pleasant spot. Fibrenus here divides his +stream into two of equal size, and so washes either side. Flowing +rapidly by he joins his waters again, having compassed just as much +ground as makes a convenient place for our literary discussions. This +done he hurries on, just as if the providing of such a spot had been his +only office and function, to fall into the Liris. Then, like one adopted +into a noble family, he loses his own obscurer name. The Liris indeed he +makes much colder. A colder stream than this indeed I never touched, +though I have seen many. I can scarce bear to dip my foot in it. You +remember how Plato makes Socrates dip his foot in Ilissus." Atticus too +is loud in his praises. "This, you know, is my first time of coming +here, and I feel that I cannot admire it enough. As to the splendid +villas which one often sees, with their marble pavements and gilded +ceilings, I despise them. And their water-courses, to which they give +the fine names of Nile or Euripus, who would not laugh at them when he +sees your streams? When we want rest and delight for the mind it is to +nature that we must come. Once I used to wonder--for I never thought +that there was any thing but rocks and hills in the place--that you took +such pleasure in the spot. But now I marvel that when you are away from +Rome you care to be any where but here." "Well," replied Cicero, "when I +get away from town for several days at a time, I do prefer this place; +but this I can seldom do. And indeed I love it, not only because it is +so pleasant, so healthy a resort, but also because it is my native land, +mine and my father's too, and because I live here among the associations +of those that have gone before me." + +Other homes he purchased at various times of his life, as his means +permitted. The situation of one of them, at Formiae near Cape Caista, +was particularly agreeable to him, for he loved the sea; it amused him +as it had amused, he tells us, the noble friends, Scipio and Laelius, +before him, to pick up pebbles on the shore. But this part of the coast +was a fashionable resort. Chance visitors were common; and there were +many neighbors, some of whom were far too liberal of their visits. He +writes to Atticus on one occasion from his Formian villa: "As to +composition, to which you are always urging me, it is absolutely +impossible. It is a public-hall that I have here, not a country-house, +such a crowd of people is there at Formiae. As to most of them nothing +need be said. After ten o'clock they cease to trouble me. But my nearest +neighbor is Arrius. The man absolutely lives with me, says that he has +given up the idea of going to Rome because he wants to talk philosophy +with me. And then, on the other side, there is Sebosus, Catulus' friend, +as you will remember. Now what am I to do? I would certainly be off to +Arpinum if I did not expect to see you here." In the next letter he +repeats the complaints: "Just as I am sitting down to write in comes our +friend Sebosus. I had not time to give an inward groan, when Arrius +says, 'Good morning.' And this is going away from Rome! I will +certainly be off to + + 'My native hills, the cradle of my race.'" + +Still, doubtless, there was a sweetness, the sweetness of being famous +and sought after, even in these annoyances. He never ceased to pay +occasional visits to Formiae. It was a favorite resort of his family; +and it was there that he spent the last days of his life. + +But the country-house which he loved best of all was his villa at +Tusculum, a Latin town lying on the slope of Mount Algidus, at such a +height above the sea[4] as would make a notable hill in England. Here +had lived in an earlier generation Crassus, the orator after whose model +the young Cicero had formed his own eloquence; and Catulus, who shared +with Marius the glory of saving Rome from the barbarians; and Caesar, an +elder kinsman of the Dictator. Cicero's own house had belonged to +Sulla, and its walls were adorned with frescoes of that great soldier's +victories. For neighbors he had the wealthy Lucullus, and the still more +wealthy Crassus, one of the three who ruled Rome when it could no longer +rule itself, and, for a time at least, Quintus, his brother. "This," he +writes to his friend Atticus, "is the one spot in which I can get some +rest from all my toils and troubles." + +[Footnote 4: 2200 feet.] + +Though Cicero often speaks of this house of his, he nowhere describes +its general arrangements. We shall probably be not far wrong if we +borrow our idea of this from the letter in which the younger Pliny tells +a friend about one of his own country seats. + +"The courtyard in front is plain without being mean. From this you pass +into a small but cheerful space inclosed by colonnades in the shape of +the letter D. Between these there is a passage into an inner covered +court, and out of this again into a handsome hall, which has on every +side folding doors or windows equally large. On the left hand of this +hall lies a large drawing-room, and beyond that a second of a smaller +size, which has one window to the rising and another to the setting sun. +Adjoining this is another room of a semicircular shape, the windows of +which are so arranged as to get the sun all through the day: in the +walls are bookcases containing a collection of authors who cannot be +read too often. Out of this is a bedroom which can be warmed with hot +air. The rest of this side of the house is appropriated to the use of +the slaves and freedmen; yet most of the rooms are good enough to put my +guests into. In the opposite wing is a most elegant bedroom, another +which can be used both as bedroom and sitting-room, and a third which +has an ante-room of its own, and is so high as to be cool in summer, and +with walls so thick that it is warm in winter. Then comes the bath with +its cooling room, its hot room, and its dressing chamber. And not far +from this again the tennis court, which gets the warmth of the afternoon +sun, and a tower which commands an extensive view of the country round. +Then there is a granary and a store-room." + +This was probably a larger villa than Cicero's, though it was itself +smaller than another which Pliny describes. We must make an allowance +for the increase in wealth and luxury which a century and a half had +brought. Still we may get some idea from it of Cicero's country-house, +one point of resemblance certainly being that there was but one floor. + +What Cicero says about his "Tusculanum" chiefly refers to its furnishing +and decoration, and is to be found for the most part in his letters to +Atticus. Atticus lived for many years in Athens and had therefore +opportunities of buying works of art and books which did not fall in the +way of the busy lawyer and statesman of Rome. But the room which in +Cicero's eyes was specially important was one which we may call the +lecture-room, and he is delighted when his friend was able to procure +some appropriate ornaments for it. "Your _Hermathena_" he writes (the +_Hermathena_ was a composite statue, or rather a double bust upon a +pedestal, with the heads of Hermes and Athene, the Roman Mercury and +Minerva) "pleases me greatly. It stands so prettily that the whole +lecture-room looks like a votive chapel of the deity. I am greatly +obliged to you." He returns to the subject in another letter. Atticus +had probably purchased for him another bust of the same kind. "What you +write about the _Hermathena_ pleases me greatly. It is a most +appropriate ornament for my own little 'seat of learning.' Hermes is +suitable every where, and Minerva is the special emblem of a +lecture-room. I should be glad if you would, as you suggest, find as +many more ornaments of the same kind for the place. As for the statues +that you sent me before, I have not seen them. They are at my house at +Formiae, whither I am just now thinking of going. I shall remove them +all to my place at Tusculum. If ever I shall find myself with more than +enough for this I shall begin to ornament the other. Pray keep your +books. Don't give up the hope that I may be able to make them mine. If I +can only do this I shall be richer than Crassus." And, again, "If you +can find any lecture-room ornaments do not neglect to secure them. My +Tusculum house is so delightful to me that it is only when I get there +that I seem to be satisfied with myself." In another letter we hear +something about the prices. He has paid about one hundred and eighty +pounds for some statues from Megara which his friend had purchased for +him. At the same time he thanks him by anticipation for some busts of +Hermes, in which the pedestals were of marble from Pentelicus, and the +heads of bronze. They had not come to hand when he next writes: "I am +looking for them," he says, "most anxiously;" and he again urges +diligence in looking for such things. "You may trust the length of my +purse. This is my special fancy." Shortly after Atticus has found +another kind of statue, double busts of Hermes and Hercules, the god of +strength; and Cicero is urgent to have them for his lecture-room. All +the same he does not forget the books, for which he is keeping his odds +and ends of income, his "little vintages," as he calls them--possibly +the money received from a small vineyard attached to his +pleasure-grounds. Of books, however, he had an ample supply close at +home, of which he could make as much use as he pleased, the splendid +library which Lucullus had collected. "When I was at my house in +Tusculum," he writes in one of his treatises, "happening to want to make +use of some books in the library of the young Lucullus, I went to his +villa, to take them out myself, as my custom was. Coming there I found +Cato (Cato was the lad's uncle and guardian), of whom, however, then I +knew nothing, sitting in the library absolutely surrounded with books of +the Stoic writers on philosophy." + +When Cicero was banished, the house at Tusculum shared the fate of the +rest of his property. The building was destroyed. The furniture, and +with it the books and works of art so diligently collected, were stolen +or sold. Cicero thought, and was probably right in thinking, that the +Senate dealt very meanly with him when they voted him something between +four and five thousand pounds as compensation for his loss in this +respect. For his house at Formiae they gave him half as much. We hear of +his rebuilding the house. He had advertised the contract, he tells us in +the same letter in which he complains of the insufficient compensation. +Some of his valuables he recovered, but we hear no more of collecting. +He had lost heart for it, as men will when such a disaster has happened +to them. He was growing older too, and the times were growing more and +more troublous. Possibly money was not so plentiful with him as it had +been in earlier days. But we have one noble monument of the man +connected with the second of his two Tusculum houses. He makes it the +scene of the "Discussions of Tusculum," one of the last of the treatises +in the writing of which he found consolation for private and public +sorrows. He describes himself as resorting in the afternoon to his +"Academy," and there discussing how the wise man may rise superior to +the fear of death, to pain and to sorrow, how he may rule his passions, +and find contentment in virtue alone. "If it seems," he says, summing up +the first of these discussions, "if it seems the clear bidding of God +that we should quit this life [he seems to be speaking of suicide, which +appeared to a Roman to be, under certain circumstances, a laudable act], +let us obey gladly and thankfully. Let us consider that we are being +loosed from prison, and released from chains, that we may either find +our way back to a home that is at once everlasting and manifestly our +own, or at least be quit forever of all sensation and trouble. If no +such bidding come to us, let us at least cherish such a temper that we +may look on that day so dreadful to others as full of blessing to us; +and let us look on nothing that is ordered for us either by the +everlasting gods or by nature, our common mother, as an evil. It is not +by some random chance that we have been created. There is beyond all +doubt some mighty Power which watches over the race of man, which does +not produce a creature whose doom it is, after having exhausted all +other woes, to fall at last into the unending woe of death. Rather let +us believe that we have in death a haven and refuge prepared for us. I +would that we might sail thither with widespread sails; if not, if +contrary winds shall blow us back, still we must needs reach, though it +may be somewhat late, the haven where we would be. And as for the fate +which is the fate of all, how can it be the unhappiness of one?" + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +A GREAT CONSPIRACY. + + +Sergius Catiline belonged to an ancient family which had fallen into +poverty. In the evil days of Sulla, when the nobles recovered the power +which they had lost, and plundered and murdered their adversaries, he +had shown himself as cruel and as wicked as any of his fellows. Like +many others he had satisfied grudges of his own under pretense of +serving his party, and had actually killed his brother-in-law with his +own hand. These evil deeds and his private character, which was of the +very worst, did not hinder him from rising to high offices in the State. +He was made first aedile, then praetor, then governor of Africa, a +province covering the region which now bears the names of Tripoli and +Tunis. At the end of his year of government he returned to Rome, +intending to become a candidate for the consulship. In this he met with +a great disappointment. He was indicted for misgovernment in his +province, and as the law did not permit any one who had such a charge +hanging over him to stand for any public office, he was compelled to +retire. But he soon found, or fancied that he had found, an opportunity +of revenging himself. The two new consuls were found guilty of bribery, +and were compelled to resign. One of them, enraged at his disgrace, made +common cause with Catiline. A plot, in which not a few powerful citizens +were afterwards suspected with more or less reason of having joined, was +formed. It was arranged that the consuls should be assassinated on the +first day of the new year; the day, that is, on which they were to enter +on their office. But a rumor of some impending danger got about; on the +appointed day the new consuls appeared with a sufficient escort, and the +conspirators agreed to postpone the execution of their scheme till an +early day in February. This time the secret was better kept, but the +impatience of Catiline hindered the plot from being carried out. It had +been arranged that he should take his place in front of the +senate-house, and give to the hired band of assassins the signal to +begin. This signal he gave before the whole number was assembled. The +few that were present had not the courage to act, and the opportunity +was lost. + +The trial for misgovernment ended in an acquittal, purchased, it was +said, by large bribes given to the jurymen and even to the prosecutor, a +certain Clodius, of whom we shall hear again, and shall find to have +been not one whit better than Catiline himself. A second trial, this +time for misdeeds committed in the days of Sulla, ended in the same way. +Catiline now resolved on following another course of action. He would +take up the character of a friend of the people. He had the advantage of +being a noble, for men thought that he was honest when they saw him thus +turn against his own order, and, as it seemed, against his own +interests. And indeed there was much that he could say, and say with +perfect truth, against the nobles. They were corrupt and profligate +beyond all bearing. They sat on juries and gave false verdicts for +money. They went out to govern provinces, showed themselves horribly +cruel and greedy, and then came home to be acquitted by men who had done +or hoped to do the very same things themselves. People listened to +Catiline when he spoke against such doings, without remembering that he +was just as bad himself. He had too, just the reputation for strength +and courage that was likely to make him popular. He had never been a +soldier, but he was known to be very brave, and he had a remarkable +power of enduring cold and hunger and hardships of every kind. On the +strength of the favor which he thus gained, he stood again for the +consulship. In anticipation of being elected, he gathered a number of +men about him, unsuccessful and discontented like himself, and unfolded +his plans. All debts were to be wiped out, and wealthy citizens were to +be put to death and their property to be divided. It was hoped that the +consuls at home, and two at least of the armies in the provinces, would +support the movement. The first failure was that Catiline was not +elected consul, Cicero being chosen unanimously, with Antonius, who had +a small majority over Catiline, for his colleague. Enraged at his want +of success, the latter now proceeded to greater lengths than ever. He +actually raised troops in various parts of Italy, but especially in +Etruria, which one Manlius, an old officer in Sulla's army, commanded. +He then again became a candidate for the consulship, resolving first to +get rid of Cicero, who, he found, met and thwarted him at every turn. +Happily for Rome these designs were discovered through the weakness of +one of his associates. This man told the secret to a lady, with whom he +was in love, and the lady, dismayed at the boldness and wickedness of +the plan, communicated all she knew to Cicero. + +Not knowing that he was thus betrayed, Catiline set about ridding +himself of his great antagonist. Nor did the task seem difficult. The +hours both of business and of pleasure in Rome were what we should think +inconveniently early. Thus a Roman noble or statesman would receive in +the first hours of the morning the calls of ceremony or friendship which +it is our custom to pay in the afternoon. It would sometimes happen that +early visitors would find the great man not yet risen. In these cases he +would often receive them in bed. This was probably the habit of Cicero, +a courteous, kindly man, always anxious to be popular, and therefore +easy of access. On this habit the conspirators counted. Two of their +number, one of them a knight, the other a senator, presented themselves +at his door shortly after sunrise on the seventh of November. They +reckoned on finding him, not in the great hall of his mansion, +surrounded by friends and dependents, but in his bed-chamber. But the +consul had received warning of their coming, and they were refused +admittance. The next day he called a meeting of the Senate in the temple +of Jupiter the Stayer, which was supposed to be the safest place where +they could assemble. + +To this meeting Catiline, a member in right of having filled high +offices of state, himself ventured to come. A tall, stalwart man, +manifestly of great power of body and mind, but with a face pale and +wasted by excess, and his eyes haggard and bloodshot, he sat alone in +the midst of a crowded house. No man had greeted him when he entered, +and when he took his place on the benches allotted to senators who had +filled the office of consul, all shrank from him. Then Cicero rose in +his place. He turned directly and addressed his adversary. "How long, +Catiline," he cried, "will you abuse our patience?" How had he dared to +come to that meeting? Was it not enough for him to know how all the city +was on its guard against him; how his fellow-senators shrank from him as +men shrink from a pestilence? If he was still alive, he owed it to the +forbearance of those against whom he plotted; and this forbearance would +last so long, and so long only, as to allow every one to be convinced of +his guilt. For the present, he was suffered to live, but to live guarded +and watched and incapable of mischief. Then the speaker related every +detail of the conspiracy. He knew not only every thing that the +accomplices had intended to do, but the very days that had been fixed +for doing it. Overwhelmed by this knowledge of his plans, Catiline +scarcely attempted a defense. He said in a humble voice, "Do not think, +Fathers, that I, a noble of Rome, I who have done myself, whose +ancestors have done much good to this city, wish to see it in ruins, +while this consul, a mere lodger in the place, would save it." He would +have said more, but the whole assembly burst into cries of "Traitor! +Traitor!" and drowned his voice. "My enemies," he cried, "are driving +me to destruction. But look! if you set my house on fire, I will put it +out with a general ruin." And he rushed out of the Senate. + +Nothing, he saw, could be done in Rome; every point was guarded against +him. Late that same night he left the city, committing the management of +affairs to Cethegus and Lentulus, and promising to return before long +with an army at his back. Halting awhile on his road, he wrote letters +to some of the chief senators, in which he declared that for the sake of +the public peace he should give up the struggle with his enemies and +quietly retire to Marseilles. What he really did was to make his way to +the camp of Manlius, where he assumed the usual state of a regular +military command. The Senate, on hearing of these doings, declared him +to be an outlaw. The consuls were to raise an army; Antonius was to +march against the enemy, and Cicero to protect the city. + +Meanwhile the conspirators left behind in Rome had been busy. One of +the tribes of Gaul had sent deputies to the Capitol to obtain redress +for injuries of which they complained. The men had effected little or +nothing. The Senate neglected them. The help of officials could only be +purchased by heavy bribes. They were now heavily in debt both on their +own account and on account of their state, and Lentulus conceived the +idea of taking advantage of their needs. One of his freedmen, who had +been a trader in Gaul, could speak the language, and knew several of the +deputies, opened negotiations with them by his patron's desire. They +told him the tale of their wrongs. They could see, they said, no way out +of their difficulties. "Behave like men," he answered, "and I will show +you a way." He then revealed to them the existence of the conspiracy, +explained its objects, and enlarged upon the hopes of success. While he +and his friends were busy at Rome, they were to return to Gaul and rouse +their fellow-tribesmen to revolt. There was something tempting in the +offer, and the deputies doubted long whether they should not accept it. +In the end prudence prevailed. To join the conspiracy and to rebel +would be to run a terrible risk for very doubtful advantages. On the +other hand they might make sure of a speedy reward by telling all they +knew to the authorities. This was the course on which they resolved, and +they went without loss of time to a Roman noble who was the hereditary +"patron" of their tribe. The patron in his turn communicated the +intelligence to Cicero. Cicero's instructions were that the deputies +should pretend to agree to the proposals which had been made to them, +and should ask for a written agreement which they might show to their +countrymen at home. An agreement was drawn up, signed by Lentulus and +two of his fellow-conspirators, and handed over to the Gauls, who now +made preparations to return to their country. Cicero himself tells us in +the speech which he delivered next day in the Forum the story of what +followed. + +"I summoned to my presence two of the praetors on whose courage I knew I +could rely, put the whole matter before them, and unfolded my own plans. +As it grew dusk they made their way unobserved to the Mulvian Bridge, +and posted themselves with their attendants (they had some trusty +followers of their own, and I had sent a number of picked swordsmen from +my own body-guard), in two divisions in houses on either side of the +bridge. About two o'clock in the morning the Gauls and their train, +which was very numerous, began to cross the bridge. Our men charged +them; swords were drawn on both sides; but before any blood was shed the +praetors appeared on the scene, and all was quiet. The Gauls handed over +to them the letters which they had upon them with their seals unbroken. +These and the deputies themselves were brought to my house. The day was +now beginning to dawn. Immediately I sent for the four men whom I knew +to be the principal conspirators. They came suspecting nothing, +Lentulus, who had been up late the night before writing the letters, +being the last to present himself. Some distinguished persons who had +assembled at my house wished me to open the letters before laying them +before the Senate. If their contents were not what I suspected I should +be blamed for having given a great deal of trouble to no purpose. I +refused in so important a matter to act on my own responsibility. No +one, I was sure, would accuse me of being too careful when the safety of +Rome was at stake. I called a meeting of the Senate, and took care that +the attendance should be very large. Meanwhile, at the suggestion of the +Gauls, I sent a praetor to the house of Cethegus to seize all the +weapons that he could find. He brought away a great number of daggers +and swords. + +"The Senate being now assembled, I brought Vulturcius, one of the +conspirators, into the House, promised him a public pardon, and bade him +tell all he knew without fear. As soon as the man could speak, for he +was terribly frightened, he said, 'I was taking a letter and a message +from Lentulus to Catiline. Catiline was instructed to bring his forces +up to the walls of the city. They meanwhile would set it on fire in +various quarters, as had been arranged, and begin a general massacre. He +was to intercept the fugitives, and thus effect a junction with his +friends within the walls.' I next brought the Gauls into the House. +Their story was as follows. 'Lentulus and two of his companions gave us +letters to our nation. We were instructed to send our cavalry into Italy +with all speed. They would find a force of infantry. Lentulus told us +how he had learned from Sibylline books that he was that "third +Cornelius" who was the fated ruler of Rome. The two that had gone before +him were Cicero and Sulla. The year too was the one which was destined +to see the ruin of the city, for it was the tenth after the acquittal of +the Vestal Virgins, the twentieth after the burning of the Capitol. +After this Cethegus and the others had a dispute about the time for +setting the city on fire. Lentulus and others wished to have it done on +the feast of Saturn (December 17th). Cethegus thought that this was +putting it off too long.' I then had the letter brought in. First I +showed Cethegus his seal. He acknowledged it. I cut the string. I read +the letter. It was written in his own handwriting and was to this +effect: he assured the Senate and people of the Gauls that he would do +what he had promised to their deputies, and begged them on the other +hand to perform what their deputies had undertaken. Cethegus, who had +accounted for the weapons found in his house by declaring that he had +always been a connoisseur in such things, was overwhelmed by hearing his +letter read, and said nothing. + +"Manlius next acknowledged his seal and handwriting. A letter from him +much to the same effect was read. He confessed his guilt. I then showed +Lentulus his letter, and asked him, 'Do you acknowledge the seal?' 'I +do,' he answered. 'Yes,' said I, 'it is a well-known device, the +likeness of a great patriot, your grandfather. The mere sight of it +ought to have kept you from such a crime as this.' His letter was then +read. I then asked him whether he had any explanation to give. 'I have +nothing to say,' was his first answer. After a while he rose and put +some questions to the Gauls. They answered him without any hesitation, +and asked him in reply whether he had not spoken to them about the +Sibylline books. What followed was the strangest proof of the power of +conscience. He might have denied every thing, but he did what no one +expected, he confessed; all his abilities, all his power of speech +deserted him. Vulturcius then begged that the letter which he was +carrying from Lentulus to Catiline should be brought in and opened. +Lentulus was greatly agitated; still he acknowledged the seal and the +handwriting to be his. The letter, which was unsigned, was in these +words: _You will know who I am by the messenger whom I send to you. Bear +yourself as a man. Think of the position in which you now are, and +consider what you must now do. Collect all the help you can, even though +it be of the meanest kind._ In a word, the case was made out against +them all not only by the seals, the letters, the handwritings, but by +the faces of the men, their downcast look, their silence. Their +confusion, their stealthy looks at each other were enough, if there had +been no other proof, to convict them." + +Lentulus was compelled to resign his office of praetor. He and the other +conspirators were handed over to certain of the chief citizens, who were +bound to keep them in safe custody and to produce them when they were +called for. + +The lower orders of the capital, to whom Catiline and his companions +had made liberal promises, and who regarded his plans, or what were +supposed to be his plans, with considerable favor, were greatly moved by +Cicero's account of what had been discovered. No one could expect to +profit by conflagration and massacre; and they were disposed to take +sides with the party of order. Still there were elements of danger, as +there always are in great cities. It was known that a determined effort +would be made by the clients of Lentulus, whose family was one of the +noblest and wealthiest in Rome, to rescue him from custody. At the same +time several of the most powerful nobles were strongly suspected of +favoring the revolutionists. Crassus, in particular, the wealthiest man +in Rome, was openly charged with complicity. A certain Tarquinius was +brought before the Senate, having been, it was said, arrested when +actually on his way to Catiline. Charged to tell all he knew, he gave +the same account as had been given by other witnesses of the +preparations for fire and massacre, and added that he was the bearer of +a special message from Crassus to Catiline, to the effect that he was +not to be alarmed by the arrest of Lentulus and the others; only he must +march upon the city without delay, and so rescue the prisoners and +restore the courage of those who were still at large. The charge seemed +incredible to most of those who heard it. Crassus had too much at stake +to risk himself in such perilous ventures. Those who believed it were +afraid to press it against so powerful a citizen; and there were many +who were under too great obligations to the accused to allow it, +whatever its truth or falsehood, to be insisted upon. The Senate +resolved that the charge was false, and that its author should be kept +in custody till he disclosed at whose suggestion he had come forward. +Crassus himself believed that the consul had himself contrived the whole +business, with the object of making it impossible for him to take the +part of the accused. "He complained to me," says Sallust the historian, +"of the great insult which had thus been put upon him by Cicero.". + +Under these circumstances Cicero determined to act with vigor. On the +fifth of December he called a meeting of the Senate, and put it to the +House what should be done with the prisoners in custody. The consul +elect gave his opinion that they should be put to death. Caesar, when +his turn came to speak, rose and addressed the Senate. He did not seek +to defend the accused. They deserved any punishment. Because that was +so, let them be dealt with according to law. And the law was that no +Roman citizen could suffer death except by a general decree of the +people. If any other course should be taken, men would afterwards +remember not their crimes but the severity with which they had been +treated. Cato followed, giving his voice for the punishment of death; +and Cicero took the same side. The Senate, without dividing, voted that +the prisoners were traitors, and must pay the usual penalty. + +The consul still feared that a rescue might be attempted. He directed +the officials to make all necessary preparations, and himself conducted +Lentulus to prison, the other criminals being put into the charge of the +praetors. The prison itself was strongly guarded. In this building, +which was situated under the eastern side of the Capitoline Hill, was a +pit twelve feet deep, said to have been constructed by King Tullius. It +had stone walls and a vaulted stone roof; it was quite dark, and the +stench and filth of the place were hideous. Lentulus was hurried into +this noisome den, where the executioners strangled him. His accomplices +suffered the same fate. The consul was escorted to his house by an +enthusiastic crowd. When he was asked how it had fared with the +condemned, he answered with the significant words "THEY HAVE LIVED." + +The chief conspirator died in a less ignoble fashion. He had contrived +to collect about twelve thousand men; but only a fourth part of these +were regularly armed; the rest carried hunting spears, pikes, sharpened +stakes, any weapon that came to hand. At first he avoided an engagement, +hoping to hear news of something accomplished for his cause by the +friends whom he had left behind him in Rome. When the news of what had +happened on the fifth of December reached him, he saw that his position +was desperate. Many who had joined the ranks took the first opportunity +of deserting; with those that remained faithful he made a hurried march +to the north-west, hoping to make his way across the Apennines into +Hither Gaul. But he found a force ready to bar his way, while Antonius, +with the army from Rome, was pressing him from the south. Nothing +remained for him but to give battle. Early in the year 62 B.C. the +armies met. The rebel leader showed himself that day at his best. No +soldier could have been braver, no general more skillful. But the forces +arrayed against him were overpowering. When he saw that all was lost, he +rushed into the thickest of the fight, and fell pierced with wounds. He +was found afterwards far in advance of his men, still breathing and with +the same haughty expression on his face which had distinguished him in +life. And such was the contagious force of his example that not a single +free man of all his followers was taken alive either in the battle or in +the pursuit that followed it. Such was the end of a GREAT CONSPIRACY. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. + +CAESAR. + + +At eight-and-twenty, Caesar, who not thirty years later was to die +master of Rome, was chiefly known as a fop and a spendthrift. "In all +his schemes and all his policy," said Cicero, "I discern the temper of a +tyrant; but then when I see how carefully his hair is arranged, how +delicately with a single finger he scratches his head, I cannot conceive +him likely to entertain so monstrous a design as overthrowing the +liberties of Rome." As for his debts they were enormous. He had +contrived to spend his own fortune and the fortune of his wife; and he +was more than three hundred thousand pounds in debt. This was before he +had held any public office; and office, when he came to hold it, +certainly did not improve his position. He was appointed one of the +guardians of the Appian Way (the great road that led southward from +Rome, and was the route for travelers to Greece and the East). He spent +a great sum of money in repairs. His next office of aedile was still +more expensive. Expensive it always was, for the aedile, besides keeping +the temples and other public buildings in repair (the special business +signified by his name), had the management of the public games. An +allowance was made to him for his expenses from the treasury, but he was +expected, just as the Lord Mayor of London is expected, to spend a good +deal of his own money. Caesar far outdid all his predecessors. At one of +the shows which he exhibited, three hundred and twenty pairs of +gladiators fought in the arena; and a gladiator, with his armor and +weapons, and the long training which he had to undergo before he could +fight in public, was a very expensive slave. The six hundred and forty +would cost, first and last, not less than a hundred pounds apiece, and +many of them, perhaps a third of the whole number, would be killed in +the course of the day. Nor was he content with the expenses which were +more or less necessary. He exhibited a great show of wild beasts in +memory of his father, who had died nearly twenty years before. The whole +furniture of the theater, down to the very stage, was made on this +occasion of solid silver. + +For all this seeming folly, there were those who discerned thoughts and +designs of no common kind. Extravagant expenditure was of course an +usual way of winning popular favors. A Roman noble bought office after +office till he reached one that entitled him to be sent to govern a +province. In the plunder of the province he expected to find what would +repay him all that he had spent and leave a handsome sum remaining. +Caesar looked to this end, but he looked also to something more. He +would be the champion of the people, and the people would make him the +greatest man at Rome. This had been the part played by Marius before +him; and he determined to play it again. The name of Marius had been in +ill repute since the victory of his great rival, Sulla, and Caesar +determined to restore it to honor. He caused statues of this great man +to be secretly made, on which were inscribed the names of the victories +by which he had delivered Rome from the barbarians. On the morning of +the show these were seen, splendid with gilding, upon the height of the +Capitol. The first feeling was a general astonishment at the young +magistrate's audacity. Then the populace broke out into expressions of +enthusiastic delight; many even wept for joy to see again the likeness +of their old favorite; all declared that Caesar was his worthy +successor. The nobles were filled with anger and fear. Catulus, who was +their leader, accused Caesar in the Senate. "This man," he said, "is no +longer digging mines against his country, he is bringing battering-rams +against it." The Senate, however, was afraid or unwilling to act. As for +the people, it soon gave the young man a remarkable proof of its favor. +What may be called the High Priesthood became vacant. It was an honor +commonly given to some aged man who had won victories abroad and borne +high honors at home. Such competitors there were on this occasion, +Catulus being one of them. But Caesar, though far below the age at which +such offices were commonly held, determined to enter the lists. He +refused the heavy bribe by which Catulus sought to induce him to +withdraw from the contest, saying that he would raise a greater sum to +bring it to a successful end. Indeed, he staked all on the struggle. +When on the day of election he was leaving his house, his mother +followed him to the door with tears in her eyes. He turned and kissed +her, "Mother," he said, "to-day you will see your son either High Priest +or an exile." + +The fact was that Caesar had always shown signs of courage and ambition, +and had always been confident of his future greatness. Now that his +position in the country was assured men began to remember these stories +of his youth. In the days when Sulla was master of Rome, Caesar had been +one of the very few who had ventured to resist the great man's will. +Marius, the leader of the party, was his uncle, and he had himself +married the daughter of Cunia, another of the popular leaders. This wife +Sulla ordered him to divorce, but he flatly refused. For some time his +life was in danger; but Sulla was induced to spare it, remarking, +however, to friends who interceded for him, on the ground that he was +still but a boy, "You have not a grain of sense, if you do not see that +in this boy there is the material for many Mariuses." The young Caesar +found it safer to leave Italy for a time. While traveling in the +neighborhood of Asia Minor he fell into the hands of the pirates, who +were at that time the terror of all the Eastern Mediterranean. His first +proceeding was to ask them how much they wanted for his ransom. "Twenty +talents," (about five thousand pounds) was their answer. "What folly!" +he said, "you don't know whom you have got hold of. You shall have +fifty." Messengers were sent to fetch the money, and Caesar, who was +left with a friend and a couple of slaves, made the best of the +situation. If he wanted to go to sleep he would send a message +commanding his captors to be silent. He joined their sports, read poems +and speeches to them, and roundly abused them as ignorant barbarians if +they failed to applaud. But his most telling joke was threatening to +hang them. The men laughed at the free-spoken lad, but were not long in +finding that he was in most serious earnest. In about five weeks' time +the money arrived and Caesar was released. He immediately went to +Miletus, equipped a squadron, and returning to the scene of his +captivity, found and captured the greater part of the band. Leaving his +prisoners in safe custody at Pergamus, he made his way to the governor +of the province, who had in his hands the power of life and death. But +the governor, after the manner of his kind, had views of his own. The +pirates were rich and could afford to pay handsomely for their lives. He +would consider the case, he said. This was not at all to Caesar's mind. +He hastened back to Pergamus, and, taking the law into his own hands, +crucified all the prisoners. + +This was the cool and resolute man in whom the people saw their best +friend and the nobles their worst enemy. These last seemed to see a +chance of ruining him when the conspiracy of Catiline was discovered and +crushed. He was accused, especially by Cato, of having been an +accomplice; and when he left the Senate after the debate in which he had +argued against putting the arrested conspirators to death, he was mobbed +by the gentlemen who formed Cicero's body-guard, and was even in danger +of his life. But the formal charge was never pressed; indeed it was +manifestly false, for Caesar was too sure of the favor of the people to +have need of conspiring to win it. The next year he was made praetor, +and after his term of office was ended, governor of Further Spain. The +old trouble of debt still pressed upon him, and he could not leave Rome +till he had satisfied the most pressing of his creditors. This he did by +help of Crassus, the richest man in Rome, who stood security for nearly +two hundred thousand pounds. To this time belong two anecdotes which, +whether true or no, are curiously characteristic of his character. He +was passing, on the way to his province, a town that had a particularly +mean and poverty-stricken look. One of his companions remarked, "I dare +say there are struggles for office even here, and jealousies and +parties." "Yes," said Caesar; "and indeed, for myself, I would sooner be +the first man here than the second in Rome." Arrived at his journey's +end, he took the opportunity of a leisure hour to read the life of +Alexander. He sat awhile lost in thought, then burst into tears. His +friends inquired the cause. "The cause?" he replied. "Is it not cause +enough that at my age Alexander had conquered half the world, while I +have done nothing?" Something, however, he contrived to do in Spain. He +extended the dominion of Rome as far as the Atlantic, settled the +affairs of the provincials to their satisfaction, and contrived at the +same time to make money enough to pay his debts. Returning to Rome when +his year of command was ended, he found himself in a difficulty. He +wished to have the honor of a triumph (a triumph was a procession in +which a victorious general rode in a chariot to the Capitol, preceded +and followed by the spoils and prisoners taken in his campaigns), and he +also wished to become a candidate for the consulship. But a general who +desired a triumph had to wait outside the gates of the city till it was +voted to him, while a candidate for the consulship must lose no time in +beginning to canvass the people. Caesar, having to make his choice +between the two, preferred power to show. He stood for the consulship, +and was triumphantly elected. + +Once consul he made that famous Coalition which is commonly called the +First Triumvirate. Pompey was the most famous soldier of the day, and +Crassus, as has been said before, the richest man. These two had been +enemies, and Caesar reconciled them; and then the three together agreed +to divide power and the prizes of power between them. Caesar would have +willingly made Cicero a fourth, but he refused, not, perhaps, without +some hesitation. He did more; he ventured to say some things which were +not more agreeable because they were true of the new state of things. +This the three masters of Rome were not willing to endure, and they +determined that this troublesome orator should be put out of the way. +They had a ready means of doing it. A certain Clodius, of whom we shall +hear more hereafter, felt a very bitter hatred against Cicero, and by +way of putting himself in a position to injure him, and to attain other +objects of his own, sought to be made tribune. But there was a great +obstacle in the way. The tribunes were tribunes of the _plebs_, that is, +of the commons, whose interests they were supposed specially to protect; +while Clodius was a noble--indeed, a noble of nobles--belonging as he +did to that great Claudian House which was one of the oldest and +proudest of Roman families. The only thing to be done was to be adopted +by some plebeian. But here, again, there were difficulties. The law +provided that an adoption should be real, that the adopter should be +childless and old enough to be the father of his adopted son. The +consent of the priests was also necessary. This consent was never asked, +and indeed never could have been given, for the father was a married +man, had children of his own, and was not less than fifteen years, +younger than his new son. Indeed the bill for making the adoption legal +had been before the people for more than a year without making any +progress. The Three now took it up to punish Cicero for his presumption +in opposing them; and under its new promoters it was passed in a single +day, being proposed at noon made law by three o'clock in the afternoon +What mischief Clodius was thus enabled to work against Cicero we shall +hear in the next chapter but one. + +His consulship ended, Caesar received a substantial prize for his +services, the government of the province of Gaul for five years. Before +he left Italy to take up his command, he had the satisfaction of seeing +Cicero driven into banishment. That done, he crossed the Alps. The next +nine years (for his government was prolonged for another period when the +first came to an end) he was engaged in almost incessant war, though +still finding time to manage the politics of Rome. The campaigns which +ended in making Gaul from the Alps to the British Channel, and from the +Atlantic to the Rhine, a Roman possession, it is not within my purpose +to describe. Nevertheless, it may be interesting to say a few words +about his dealings with our own island. In his first expedition, in the +summer of 55 B.C., he did little more than effect a landing on the +coast, and this not without considerable loss. In the next, made early +in the following year, he employed a force of more than forty thousand +men, conveyed in a flotilla of eight hundred ships. This time the +Britons did not venture to oppose his landing; and when they met him in +the field, as he marched inward, they were invariably defeated. They +then changed their tactics and retired before him, laying waste the +country as they went. He crossed the Thames some little way to the +westward of where London now stands, received the submission of one +native tribe, and finally concluded a peace with the native leader +Cassivelaunus, who gave hostages and promised tribute. The general +result of ten years' fighting was to add a great province to the empire +at the cost of a horrible amount of bloodshed, of the lives, as some +say, of two millions of men, women, and children (for Caesar, though not +positively cruel, was absolutely careless of suffering), and to leave +the conqueror master of the Roman world. The coalition indeed was broken +up, for Crassus had perished in the East, carrying on a foolish and +unprovoked war with the Parthians, and Pompey had come to fear and hate +his remaining rival. But Caesar was now strong enough to do without +friends, and to crush enemies. The Senate vainly commanded him to +disperse his army by a certain day, on pain of being considered an enemy +of the country. He continued to advance till he came to the boundaries +of Italy, a little river, whose name, the Rubicon, was then made famous +forever, which separated Cisalpine Gaul from Umbria. To cross this was +practically to declare war, and even the resolute Caesar hesitated +awhile. He thought his course over by himself; he even consulted his +friends. He professed himself pained at the thought of the war of which +his act would be the beginning, and of how posterity would judge his +conduct. Then with the famous words, "The die is cast," he plunged into +the stream. Pompey fled from Rome and from Italy. Caesar did not waste +an hour in pursuing his success. First making Italy wholly his own, he +marched into Spain, which was Pompey's stronghold, and secured it. +Thence he returned to Rome, and from Rome again made his way into +Macedonia, where Pompey had collected his forces. The decisive battle +was fought at Pharsalia in Thessaly; for though the remnants of Pompey's +party held out, the issue of the war was never doubtful after that day. + +Returning to Rome (for of his proceedings in Egypt and elsewhere there +is no need to speak), he used his victory with as much mercy as he had +shown energy in winning it. To Cicero he showed not only nothing of +malice, but the greatest courtesy and kindness. He had written to him +from Egypt, telling him that he was to keep all his dignities and +honors; and he had gone out of his way to arrange an interview with him, +and he even condescended to enter into a friendly controversy. Cicero +had written a little treatise about his friend Cato; and as Cato had +been the consistent adversary of Caesar, and had killed himself rather +than fall into the hands of the master of Rome, it required no little +good nature in Caesar to take it in good part. He contented himself with +writing an answer, to which he gave the title of _Anti-Cato_, and in +which, while he showed how useless and unpractical the policy of Cato +had been, he paid the highest compliments to the genius and integrity of +the man. He even conferred upon Cicero the distinguished honor of a +visit; which the host thus describes in a letter to Atticus. "What a +formidable guest I have had! Still, I am not sorry; for all went off +very well. On December 8th he came to Philippus' house in the evening. +(Philippus was his brother-in-law.) The villa was so crammed with troops +that there was scarcely a chamber where the great man himself could +dine. I suppose there were two thousand men. I was really anxious what +might happen next day. But Barba Cassius came to my help, and gave me a +guard. The camp was pitched in the park; the house was strictly guarded. +On the 19th he was closeted with Philippus till one o'clock in the +afternoon. No one was admitted. He was going over accounts with Balbus, +I fancy. After this he took a stroll on the shore. Then came the bath. +He heard the epigram to Mamurra, (a most scurrilous epigram by +Catullus), and betrayed no annoyance. He dressed for dinner and sat +down. As he was under a course of medicine, he ate and drank without +apprehension and in the pleasantest humor. The entertainment was +sumptuous and elaborate; and not only this, but well cooked and seasoned +with good talk. The great man's attendants also were most abundantly +entertained in three other rooms. The inferior freedmen and the slaves +had nothing to complain of; the superior kind had an even elegant +reception. Not to say more, I showed myself a genial host. Still he was +not the kind of guest to whom we would say, 'My very dear sir, you will +come again, I hope, when you are this way next time.' There was nothing +of importance in our conversation, but much literary talk. What do you +want to know? He was gratified and seemed pleased to be with me. He told +me that he should be one day at Baiae, and another at Puteoli." + +Within three months this remarkable career came to a sudden and violent +end. There were some enemies whom all Caesar's clemency and kindness had +not conciliated. Some hated him for private reasons of their own, some +had a genuine belief that if he could be put out of the way, Rome might +yet again be a free country. The people too, who had been perfectly +ready to submit to the reality of power, grew suspicious of some of its +outward signs. The name of King had been hateful at Rome since the last +bearer of it, Tarquin the Proud, had been driven out nearly seven +centuries before. There were now injudicious friends, or, it may be, +judicious enemies, who were anxious that Caesar should assume it. The +prophecy was quoted from the books of the Sibyl, that Rome might conquer +the Parthians if she put herself under the command of a king; otherwise +she must fail. On the strength of this Caesar was saluted by the title +of King as he was returning one day from Alba to the Capitol. The +populace made their indignation manifest, and he replied, "I am no king, +only Caesar;" but it was observed that he passed on with a gloomy air. +He bore himself haughtily in the Senate, not rising to acknowledge the +compliments paid to him. At the festival of the Lupercalia, as he sat +looking on at the sports in a gilded chair and clad in a triumphal robe, +Antony offered him a crown wreathed with bay leaves. Some applause +followed; it was not general, however, but manifestly got up for the +occasion. Caesar put the crown away, and the shout that followed could +not be misunderstood. It was offered again, and a few applauded as +before, while a second rejection drew forth the same hearty approval. +His statues were found with crowns upon them. These two tribunes +removed, and at the same time ordered the imprisonment of the men who +had just saluted him as king. The people were delighted, but Caesar had +them degraded from their office. The general dissatisfaction thus caused +induced the conspirators to proceed. Warnings, some of which we may +suppose to have come from those who were in the secret, were not +wanting. By these he was wrought upon so much that he had resolved not +to stir from his house on the day which he understood was to be fatal to +him; but Decimus Brutus, who was in the plot, dissuaded him from his +purpose. The scene that followed may be told once again in the words in +which Plutarch describes it: "Artemidoros, of Cnidus, a teacher of +Greek, who had thus come to be intimate with some of the associates of +Brutus, had become acquainted to a great extent with what was in +progress, and had drawn up a statement of the information which he had +to give. Seeing that Caesar gave the papers presented to him to the +slaves with him, he came up close and said, 'Caesar, read this alone and +that quickly: it contains matters that nearly concern yourself.' Caesar +took it, and would have read it, but was hindered by the crowd of +persons that thronged to salute him. Keeping it in his hand, he passed +into the House. In the place to which the Senate had been summoned stood +a statue of Pompey. Cassius is said to have looked at it and silently +invoked the dead man's help, and this though he was inclined to the +skeptical tenets of Epicurus. Meanwhile Antony, who was firmly attached +to Caesar and a man of great strength, was purposely kept in +conversation outside the senate-house by Decimus Brutus. As Caesar +entered, the Senate rose to greet him. Some of the associates of Brutus +stood behind his chair; others approached him in front, seemingly +joining their entreaties to those which Cimber Tullius was addressing to +him on behalf of his brother. He sat down and rejected the petition with +a gesture of disapproval at their urgency. Tullius then seized his toga +with both hands and dragged it from his neck. This was the signal for +attack. Casca struck him first on the neck. The wound was not fatal, nor +even serious, so agitated was the striker at dealing the first blow in +so terrible a deed. Caesar turned upon him, seized the dagger, and held +it fast, crying at the same time in Latin, 'Casca, thou villain, what +art thou about?' while Casca cried in Greek to his brother, 'Brother, +help!' Those senators who were not privy to the plot were overcome with +horror. They could neither cry nor help: they dared not even speak. The +conspirators were standing round Caesar each with a drawn sword in his +hand; whithersoever he turned his eyes he saw a weapon ready to strike, +and he struggled like a wild beast among the hunters. They had agreed +that every one should take a part in the murder, and Brutus, friend as +he was, could not hold back. The rest, some say, he struggled with, +throwing himself hither and thither, and crying aloud; but as soon as he +saw Brutus with a drawn sword in his hand, he wrapped his head in his +toga and ceased to resist, falling, whether by chance or by compulsion +from the assassins, at the pedestal of Pompey's statue. He is said to +have received three-and-twenty wounds. Many of his assailants struck +each other as they aimed repeated blows at his body." His funeral was a +remarkable proof of his popularity. The pit in which the body was to be +burned was erected in the Field of Mars. In the Forum was erected a +gilded model of the temple of Mother Venus. (Caesar claimed descent +through Aeneas from this goddess.) Within this shrine was a couch of +ivory, with coverlets of gold and purple, and at its head a trophy with +the robe which he had worn when he was assassinated. High officers of +state, past and present, carried the couch into the Forum. Some had the +idea of burning it in the chapel of Jupiter in the Capitol, some in +Pompey's Hall (where he was killed). Of a sudden two men, wearing swords +at their side, and each carrying two javelins, came forward and set +light to it with waxen torches which they held in their hands. The crowd +of bystanders hastily piled up a heap of dry brush-wood, throwing on it +the hustings, the benches, and any thing that had been brought as a +present. The flute players and actors threw off the triumphal robes in +which they were clad, rent them, and threw them upon the flames, and the +veterans added the decorations with which they had come to attend the +funeral, while mothers threw in the ornaments of their children. + +The doors of the building in which the murder was perpetrated were +blocked up so that it never could be entered again. The day (the 15th of +March) was declared to be accursed. No public business was ever to be +done upon it. + +These proceedings probably represented the popular feeling about the +deed, for Caesar, in addition to the genius which every one must have +recognized, had just the qualities which make men popular. He had no +scruples, but then he had no meannesses. He incurred enormous debts with +but a faint chance of paying them--no chance, we may say, except by the +robbery of others. He laid his hands upon what he wanted, taking for +instance three thousand pounds weight of gold from the treasury of the +Capitol and leaving gilded brass in its stead; and he plundered the +unhappy Gauls without remorse. But then he was as free in giving as he +was unscrupulous in taking. He had the personal courage, too, which is +one of the most attractive of all qualities. Again and again in battle +he turned defeat into victory. He would lay hold of the fugitives as +they ran, seize them by the throat, and get them by main force face to +face with the foe. Crossing the Hellespont after the battle of Pharsalia +in a small boat, he met two of the enemy's ships. Without hesitation he +discovered himself, called upon them to surrender, and was obeyed. At +Alexandria he was surprised by a sudden sally of the besieged, and had +to leap into the harbor. He swam two hundred paces to the nearest ship, +lifting a manuscript in his left hand to keep it out of the water, and +holding his military cloak in his teeth, for he would not have the enemy +boast of securing any spoil from his person. + +He allowed nothing to stand in his way. If it suited his policy to +massacre a whole tribe, men, women, and children, he gave the order +without hesitation, just as he recorded it afterwards in his history +without a trace of remorse or regret. If a rival stood in his way he had +him removed, and was quite indifferent as to how the removal was +effected. But his object gained, or wherever there was no object in +question, he could be the kindest and gentlest of men. A friend with +whom he was traveling was seized with sudden illness. Caesar gave up at +once to him the only chamber in the little inn, and himself spent the +night in the open air. His enemies he pardoned with singular facility, +and would even make the first advances. Political rivals, once rendered +harmless, were admitted to his friendship, and even promoted to honor; +writers who had assailed him with the coarsest abuse he invited to his +table. + +Of the outward man this picture has reached us: "He is said to have been +remarkably tall, with a light complexion and well-shaped limbs. His face +was a little too full; his eyes black and brilliant. His health was +excellent, but towards the latter end of his life he was subject to +fainting fits and to frightful dreams at night. On two occasions also, +when some public business was being transacted, he had epileptic fits. +He was very careful of his personal appearance, had his hair and beard +scrupulously cut and shaven. He was excessively annoyed at the +disfigurement of baldness, which he found was made the subject of many +lampoons. It had become his habit, therefore, to bring up his scanty +locks over his head; and of all the honors decreed to him by the Senate +and people, none was more welcome to him than that which gave him the +right of continually wearing a garland of bay." + +He was wonderfully skillful in the use of arms, an excellent swimmer, +and extraordinarily hardy. On the march he would sometimes ride, but +more commonly walk, keeping his head uncovered both in rain and +sunshine. He traveled with marvelous expedition, traversing a hundred +miles in a day for several days together; if he came to a river he would +swim it, or sometimes cross it on bladders. Thus he would often +anticipate his own messengers. For all this he had a keen appreciation +of pleasure, and was costly and even luxurious in his personal habits. +He is said, for instance, to have carried with him a tesselated pavement +to be laid down in his tent throughout his campaign in Gaul. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +POMPEY. + + +At an age when Caesar was still idling away his time, Pompey had +achieved honors such as the veteran generals of Rome were accustomed to +regard as the highest to which they could aspire. He had only just left, +if indeed he had left, school, when his father took him to serve under +him in the war against the Italian allies of Rome. He was not more than +nineteen when he distinguished himself by behaving in circumstances of +great difficulty and danger with extraordinary prudence and courage. The +elder Pompey, Strabo "the squint-eyed," as his contemporaries called +him, after their strange fashion of giving nicknames from personal +defects, and as he was content to call himself, was an able general, but +hated for his cruelty and avarice. The leaders of the opposite faction +saw an opportunity of getting rid of a dangerous enemy and of bringing +over to their own side the forces which he commanded. Their plan was to +assassinate the son as he slept, to burn the father in his tent, and at +the same time to stir up a mutiny among the troops. The secret, however, +was not kept. A letter describing the plot was brought to the young +Pompey as he sat at dinner with the ringleader. The lad showed no sign +of disturbance, but drank more freely than usual, and pledged his false +friend with especial heartiness. He then rose, and after putting an +extra guard on his father's tent, composed himself to sleep, but not in +his bed. The assassins stabbed the coverlet with repeated blows, and +then ran to rouse the soldiers to revolt. The camp was immediately in an +uproar, and the elder Pompey, though he had been preserved by his son's +precautions, dared not attempt to quell it. The younger man was equal to +the occasion. Throwing himself on his face in front of the gate of the +camp, he declared that if his comrades were determined to desert to the +enemy, they must pass over his dead body. His entreaties prevailed, and +a reconciliation was effected between the general and his troops. + +Not many weeks after this incident the father died, struck, it was said, +by lightning, and Pompey became his own master. It was not long before +he found an opportunity of gaining still higher distinction. The civil +war still continued to rage, and few did better service to the party of +the aristocrats than Pompey. Others were content to seek their personal +safety in Sulla's camp; Pompey was resolved himself to do something for +the cause. He made his way to Picenum, where his family estates we e +situated and where his own influence was great, and raised three legions +(nearly twenty thousand men), with all their commissariat and transport +complete, and hurried to the assistance of Sulla. Three of the hostile +generals sought to intercept him. He fell with his whole force on one of +them, and crushed him, carrying off, besides his victory, the personal +distinction of having slain in single combat the champion of the +opposing force. The towns by which he passed eagerly hailed him as their +deliverer. A second commander who ventured to encounter him found +himself deserted by his army and was barely able to escape; a third was +totally routed. Sulla received his young partisan, who was not more than +twenty-three years of age, with distinguished honors, even rising from +his seat and uncovering at his approach. + +During the next two years his reputation continued to increase. He won +victories in Gaul, in Sicily, and in Africa. As he was returning to +Rome after the last of these campaigns, the great Dictator himself +headed the crowd that went forth to meet him, and saluted him as Pompey +the Great, a title which he continued to use as his family name[5]. But +there was a further honor which the young general was anxious to obtain, +but Sulla was unwilling to grant, the supreme glory of a triumph. "No +one," he said, "who was not or had not been consul, or at least praetor, +could triumph. The first of the Scipios, who had won Spain from the +Carthaginians, had not asked for this honor because he wanted this +qualification. Was it to be given to a beardless youth, too young even +to sit in the Senate?" But the beardless youth insisted. He even had the +audacity to hint that the future belonged not to Sulla but to himself. +"More men," he said, "worship the rising than the setting sun." Sulla +did not happen to catch the words, but he saw the emotion they aroused +in the assembly, and asked that they should be repeated to him. His +astonishment permitted him to say nothing more than "Let him triumph! +Let him triumph." And triumph he did, to the disgust of his older +rivals, whom he intended, but that the streets were not broad enough to +allow of the display, still further to affront by harnessing elephants +instead of horses to his chariot. + +[Footnote 5: _Pompeius_ was the name of his house (_gens). Strabo_ had +been the name of his family (_familia_). This he seems to have disused, +assuming _Magnus_ in its stead.] + +Two years afterwards he met an antagonist more formidable than any he +had yet encountered. Sertorius, the champion at once of the party of the +people and of the native tribes of Spain, was holding out against the +government of Rome. The veteran leader professed a great contempt for +his young adversary, "I should whip the boy," he said, "if I were not +afraid of the old woman" (meaning Pompey's colleague). But he took good +care not to underrate him in practice, and put forth all his skill in +dealing with him. Pompey's first campaign against him was disastrous; +the successes of the second were checkered by some serious defeats. For +five years the struggle continued, and seemed little likely to come to +an end, when Sertorius was assassinated by his second in command, +Perpenna. Perpenna was unable to wield the power which he had thus +acquired, and was defeated and taken prisoner by Pompey. He endeavored +to save his life by producing the correspondence of Sertorius. This +implicated some of the most distinguished men in Rome, who had held +secret communications with the rebel leader and had even invited him +over into Italy. With admirable wisdom Pompey, while he ordered the +instant execution of the traitor, burned the letters unread. + +Returning to Italy he was followed by his usual good fortune. That +country had been suffering cruelly from a revolt of the slaves, which +the Roman generals had been strangely slow in suppressing. Roused to +activity by the tidings of Pompey's approach, Crassus, who was in +supreme command, attacked and defeated the insurgent army. A +considerable body, however, contrived to escape, and it was this with +which Pompey happened to fall in, and which he completely destroyed. +"Crassus defeated the enemy," he was thus enabled to boast, "but I +pulled up the war by the roots." No honors were too great for a man at +once so skillful and so fortunate (for the Romans had always a great +belief in a general's good fortune). On the 31st of December, B.C. 71, +being still a simple gentleman--that is, having held no civil office in +the State--he triumphed for the second time, and on the following day, +being then some years below the legal age, and having held none of the +offices by which it was usual to mount to the highest dignity in the +commonwealth, he entered on his first consul ship, Crassus being his +colleague. + +Still he had not yet reached the height of his glory. During the years +that followed his consulship, the pirates who infested the Mediterranean +had become intolerable. Issuing, not as was the case in after times, +from the harbors of Northern Africa, but from fastnesses in the southern +coast of Asia Minor, they plundered the more civilized regions of the +West, and made it highly dangerous to traverse the seas either for +pleasure or for gain. It was impossible to transport the armies of Rome +to the provinces except in the winter, when the pirates had retired to +their strongholds. Even Italy itself was not safe. The harbor of Caieta +with its shipping, was burned under the very eye of the praetor. From +Misenum the pirates carried off the children of the admiral who had the +year before led an expedition against them. They even ventured not only +to blockade Ostia, the harbor of Rome, and almost within sight of the +city, but to capture the fleet that was stationed there. They were +especially insulting to Roman citizens. If a prisoner claimed to be +such--and the claim generally insured protection--they would pretend the +greatest penitence and alarm, falling on their knees before him, and +entreating his pardon. Then they would put shoes on his feet, and robe +him in a citizen's garb. Such a mistake, they would say, must not happen +again. The end of their jest was to make him "walk the plank," and with +the sarcastic permission to depart unharmed, they let down a ladder into +the sea, and compelled him to descend, under penalty of being still more +summarily thrown overboard. Men's eyes began to be turned on Pompey, as +the leader who had been prosperous in all his undertakings. In 67 B.C. a +law was proposed appointing a commander (who, however, was not named), +who should have absolute power for three years over the sea as far as +the Pillars of Hercules (the Straits of Gibraltar), and the coast for +fifty miles inland, and who should be furnished with two hundred ships, +as many soldiers and sailors as he wanted, and more than a million +pounds in money. The nobles were furious in their opposition, and +prepared to prevent by force the passing of this law. The proposer +narrowly escaped with his life, and Pompey himself was threatened. "If +you will be another Romulus, like Romulus you shall die" (one form of +the legend of Rome's first king represented him as having been torn to +pieces by the senators.) But all resistance was unavailing. The new +command was created, and of course bestowed upon Pompey. The price of +corn, which had risen to a famine height in Rome, fell immediately the +appointment was made. The result, indeed, amply justified the choice. +The new general made short work of the task that had been set him. Not +satisfied with the force put under his command, he collected five +hundred ships and one hundred and twenty thousand men. With these he +swept the pirates from the seas and stormed their strongholds, and all +in less than three months. Twenty thousand prisoners fell into his +hands. With unusual humanity he spared their lives, and thinking that +man was the creature of circumstances, determined to change their manner +of life. They were to be removed from the sea, should cease to be +sailors, and become farmers. It is possible that the old man of Corycus, +whose skill in gardening Virgil celebrates in one of his Georgics, was +one of the pirates whom the judicious mercy of Pompey changed into a +useful citizen. + +A still greater success remained to be won. For more than twenty years +war, occasionally intercepted by periods of doubtful peace, had been +carried on between Rome and Mithridates, king of Pontus. This prince, +though reduced more than once to the greatest extremities, had contrived +with extraordinary skill and courage to retrieve his fortunes, and now +in 67 B.C. was in possession of the greater part of his original +dominion. Lucullus, a general of the greatest ability, was in command of +the forces of Rome, but he had lost the confidence of his troops, and +affairs were at a standstill. Pompey's friends proposed that the +supreme command should be transferred to him, and the law, which Cicero +supported in what is perhaps the most perfect of his political +speeches[6], was passed. Pompey at once proceeded to the East. For four +years Mithridates held out, but with little hope of ultimate success or +even of escape. In 64, after vainly attempting to poison himself, such +was the power of the antidotes by which he had fortified himself against +domestic treachery (for so the story runs), he perished by the sword of +one of his mercenaries. For two years more Pompey was busied in settling +the affairs of the East. At last, in 61, he returned to Rome to enjoy a +third triumph, and that the most splendid which the city had ever +witnessed. It lasted for two days, but still the time was too short for +the display of the spoils of victory. The names of no less than fifteen +conquered nations were carried in procession. A thousand forts, nine +hundred cities, had been taken, and the chief of them were presented by +means of pictures to the eyes of the people. The revenue of the State +had been almost doubled by these conquests. Ninety thousand talents in +gold and silver coin were paid into the treasury, nor was this at the +expense of the soldiers, whose prize money was so large that the +smallest share amounted to fifty pounds. Never before was such a sight +seen in the world, and if Pompey had died when it was finished, he would +have been proclaimed the most fortunate of mankind. + +[Footnote 6: The Pro Lege Manilia. The law was proposed by one Manilius, +a tribune of the people.] + +Certainly he was never so great again as he was that day. When with +Caesar and Crassus he divided all the power of the State, he was only +the second, and by far the second, of the three. His influence, his +prestige, his popularity declined year by year. The good fortune which +had followed him without ceasing from his earliest years now seemed to +desert him. Even the shows, the most magnificent ever seen in the city, +with which he entertained the people at the dedication of his theater +(built at his own expense for the public benefit) were not wholly a +success. Here is a letter of Cicero about them to his friend Marius; +interesting as giving both a description of the scene and as an account +of the writer's own feelings about it. "If it was some bodily pain or +weakness of health that kept you from coming to the games, I must +attribute your absence to fortune rather than to a judicious choice. But +if you thought the things which most men admire contemptible, and so, +though health permitted, would not come, then I am doubly glad; glad +both that you were free from illness and that you were so vigorous in +mind as to despise the sights which others so unreasonably admire.... +Generally the shows were most splendid, but not to your taste, if I may +judge of yours by my own. First, the veteran actors who for their own +honor had retired from the stage, returned to it to do honor to Pompey. +Your favorite, my dear friend Aesopus, acquitted himself so poorly as to +make us all feel that he had best retire. When he came to the oath-- + + 'And if of purpose set I break my faith,' + +his voice failed him. What need to tell you more? You know all about the +other shows; they had not even the charm which moderate shows commonly +have. The ostentation with which they were furnished forth took away all +their gayety. What charm is there in having six hundred mules in the +_Clytemnestra_ or three thousand supernumeraries in the _Trojan Horse,_ +or cavalry and infantry in foreign equipment in some battle-piece. The +populace admired all this; but it would have given you no kind of +pleasure. After this came a sort of wild-beast fights, lasting for five +days. They were splendid: no man denies it. But what man of culture can +feel any pleasure when some poor fellow is torn in pieces by some +powerful animal, or when some noble animal is run through with a hunting +spear. If these things are worth seeing, you have seen them before. And +I, who was actually present, saw nothing new. The last day was given up +to the elephants. Great was the astonishment of the crowd at the sight; +but of pleasure there was nothing. Nay, there was some feeling of +compassion, some sense that this animal has a certain kinship with man." +The elder Pliny tells us that two hundred lions were killed on this +occasion, and that the pity felt for the elephants rose to the height of +absolute rage. So lamentable was the spectacle of their despair, so +pitifully did they implore the mercy of the audience, "that the whole +multitude rose in tears and called down upon Pompey the curses which +soon descended on him." + +And then Pompey's young wife, Julia, Caesar's daughter, died. She had +been a bond of union between the two men, and the hope of peace was +sensibly lessened by her loss. Perhaps the first rupture would have +come any how; when it did come it found Pompey quite unprepared for the +conflict. He seemed indeed to be a match for his rival, but his strength +collapsed almost at a touch. "I have but to stamp with my foot," he said +on one occasion, "and soldiers will spring up;" yet when Caesar declared +war by crossing the Rubicon, he fled without a struggle. In little more +than a year and a half all was over. The battle of Pharsalia was fought +on the 9th of August, and on September the 29th the man who had +triumphed over three continents lay a naked, headless corpse on the +shore of Egypt. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +EXILE. + + +The suppression of the "Great Conspiracy" was certainly the most +glorious achievement of Cicero's life. Honors such as had never before +been bestowed on a citizen of Rome were heaped upon him. Men of the +highest rank spoke of him both in the Senate and before the people as +the "Father of his fatherland." A public thanksgiving, such as was +ordered when great victories had been won, was offered in his name. +Italy was even more enthusiastic than the capital. The chief towns voted +him such honors as they could bestow; Capua in particular erected to him +a gilded statue, and gave him the title of Patron of the city. + +Still there were signs of trouble in the future. It was the duty of the +consul on quitting office to swear that he had discharged his duty with +fidelity, and it was usual for him at the same time to make a speech in +which he narrated the events of his consulship. Cicero was preparing to +speak when one of the new tribunes intervened. "A man," he cried, "who +has put citizens to death without hearing them in their defense is not +worthy to speak. He must do nothing more than take the oath." Cicero was +ready with his answer. Raising his voice he said, "I swear that I, and I +alone, have saved this commonwealth and this city." The assembly shouted +their approval; and when the ceremony was concluded the whole multitude +escorted the ex-consul to his house. The time was not come for his +enemies to attack him; but that he had enemies was manifest. + +With one dangerous man he had the misfortune to come into collision in +the year that followed his consulship. This was the Clodius of whom we +have heard something in the preceding chapter. The two men had hitherto +been on fairly good terms. Clodius, as we have seen, belonged to one of +the noblest families in Rome, was a man of some ability and wit, and +could make himself agreeable when he was pleased to do so. But events +for which Cicero was not in the least to blame brought about a life-long +enmity between them. Toward the close of the year Clodius had been +guilty of an act of scandalous impiety, intruding himself, disguised as +a woman, into some peculiarly sacred rites which the matrons of Rome +were accustomed to perform in honor of the "Good Goddess." He had +powerful friends, and an attempt was made to screen him, which Cicero, +who was genuinely indignant at the fellow's wickedness, seems to have +resisted. In the end he was put upon his trial, though it was before a +jury which had been specially packed for the occasion. His defense was +an _alibi_, an attempt, that is, to prove that he was elsewhere on the +night when he was alleged to have misconducted himself at Rome. He +brought forward witnesses who swore that they had seen him at the very +time at Interamna, a town in Umbria, and a place which was distant at +least two days' journey from Rome. To rebut this evidence Cicero was +brought forward by the prosecution. As he stepped forward the partisans +of the accused set up a howl of disapproval. But the jury paid him the +high compliment of rising from their seats, and the uproar ceased. He +deposed that Clodius had been at his house on the morning of the day in +question. + +Clodius was acquitted. If evidence had any thing to do with the result, +it was the conduct of Caesar that saved him. It was in his house that +the alleged intrusion had taken place, and he had satisfied himself by a +private examination of its inmates that the charge was true. But now he +professed to know nothing at all about the matter. Probably the really +potent influence in the case was the money which Crassus liberally +distributed among the jurors. The fact of the money was indeed +notorious. Some of the jury had pretended that they were in fear of +their lives, and had asked for a guard. "A guard!" said Catulus, to one +of them, "what did you want a guard for? that the money should not be +taken from you?" + +But Clodius, though he had escaped, never forgave the man whose evidence +had been given against him. Cicero too felt that there as war to the +knife between them. On the first meeting of the Senate after the +conclusion of the trial he made a pointed attack upon his old +acquaintance. "Lentulus," he said, "was twice acquitted, and Catiline +twice, and now this third malefactor has been let loose on the +commonwealth by his judges. But, Clodius, do not misunderstand what has +happened. It is for the prison, not for the city, that your judges have +kept you; not to keep you in the country, but to deprive you of the +privilege of exile was what they intended. Be of good cheer, then, +Fathers. No new evil has come upon us, but we have found out the evil +that exists. One villain has been put upon his trial, and the result has +taught us that there are more villains than one." + +Clodius attempted to banter his antagonist. "You are a fine gentleman," +he said; "you have been at Baiae" (Baiae was a fashionable +watering-place on the Campanian coast). "Well," said Cicero, "that is +better than to have been at the 'matrons' worship.'" And the attack and +repartee went on. "You have bought a fine house." (Cicero had spent a +large sum of money on a house on the Palatine, and was known to have +somewhat crippled his means by doing so.) "With you the buying has been +of jurymen." "They gave you no credit though you spoke on oath." "Yes; +five-and-twenty gave me credit" (five-and-twenty of the jury had voted +for a verdict of guilty; two-and-thirty for acquittal), "but your +thirty-two gave you none, for they would have their money down." The +Senate shouted applause, and Clodius sat down silent and confounded. + +How Clodius contrived to secure for himself the office of tribune, the +vantage ground from which he hoped to work his revenge, has been +already told in the sketch of Caesar. Caesar indeed was really +responsible for all that was done. It was he who made it possible for +Clodius to act; and he allowed him "to act when he could have stopped +him by the lifting of his finger. He was determined to prove to Cicero +that he was master. But he never showed himself after the first +interference in the matter of the adoption. He simply allowed Clodius to +work his will without hindrance. + +Clodius proceeded with considerable skill. He proposed various laws, +which were so popular that Cicero, though knowing that they would be +turned against himself, did not venture to oppose them. Then came a +proposal directly leveled at him. "Any man who shall have put to death a +Roman citizen uncondemned and without a trial is forbidden fire and +water." (This was the form of a sentence of exile. No one was allowed +under penalty of death to furnish the condemned with fire and water +within a certain distance of Rome.) Cicero at once assumed the squalid +dress with which it was the custom for accused persons to endeavor to +arouse the compassion of their fellow-citizens. Twenty thousand of the +upper classes supported him by their presence. The Senate itself, on the +motion of one of the tribunes, went into this strange kind of mourning +on his account. + +The consuls of the year were Gabinus and Piso. The first was notoriously +hostile, of the second Cicero hoped to make a friend, the more so as he +was a kinsman of his daughter's husband. He gives a lively picture of an +interview with him. "It was nearly eleven o'clock in the morning when we +went to him. He came out of a dirty hovel to meet us, with his slippers +on, and his head muffled up. His breath smelt most odiously of wine; but +he excused himself on the score of his health, which compelled him, he +said, to use medicines in which wine was employed." His answer to the +petition of his visitors (for Cicero was accompanied by his son-in-law) +was at least commendably frank. "My colleague Gabinius is in absolute +poverty, and does not know where to turn. Without a province he must be +ruined. A province he hopes to get by the help of Clodius, but it must +be by my acting with him. I must humor his wishes, just as you, Cicero, +humored your colleague when you were consul. But indeed there is no +reason why you should seek the consul's protection. Every one must look +out for himself." + +In default of the consuls there was still some hope that Pompey might be +induced to interfere, and Cicero sought an interview with him. Plutarch +says that he slipped out by a back door to avoid seeing him; but +Cicero's own account is that the interview was granted. "When I threw +myself at his feet" (he means I suppose, humiliated himself by asking +such a favor), "he could not lift me from the ground. He could do +nothing, he said, against the will of Caesar." + +Cicero had now to choose between two courses. He might stay and do his +best with the help of his friends, to resist the passing of the law. But +this would have ended, it was well known, in something like an open +battle in the streets of Rome. Clodius and his partisans were ready to +carry their proposal by force of arms, and would yield to nothing but +superior strength. It was possible, even probable, that in such a +conflict Cicero would be victorious. But he shrank from the trial, not +from cowardice, for he had courage enough when occasion demanded, not +even from unwillingness to risk the lives of his friends, though this +weighed somewhat with him, but chiefly because he hated to confess that +freedom was becoming impossible in Rome, and that the strong hand of a +master was wanted to give any kind of security to life and property. The +other course was to anticipate the sentence and to go into voluntary +exile. This was the course which his most powerful friends pressed upon +him, and this was the course which he chose. He left Rome, intending to +go to Sicily, where he knew that he should find the heartiest of +welcomes. + +Immediately on his departure Clodius formally proposed his banishment. +"Let it be enacted," so ran the proposition, "that, seeing that Marcus +Tullius Cicero has put Roman citizens to death without trial, forging +thereto the authority of the Senate, that he be forbidden fire and +water; that no one harbor or receive him on pain of death; and that +whosoever shall move, shall vote, or take any steps for the recalling of +him, be dealt with as a public enemy." The bill was passed, the distance +within which it was to operate being fixed at four hundred miles. The +houses of the banished man were razed to the ground, the site of the +mansion on the. Palatine, being dedicated to Liberty. His property was +partly plundered, partly sold by auction. + +Cicero meanwhile had hurried to the south of Italy. He found shelter for +a while at the farm of a friend near Vibo in Brutii (now the Abruzzi), +but found it necessary to leave this place because it was within the +prescribed limits. Sicily was forbidden to him by its governor, who, +though a personal friend, was unwilling to displease the party in power. +Athens, which for many reasons he would have liked to choose for his +place of exile, was unsafe. He had bitter enemies there, men who had +been mixed up in Catiline's conspiracy. The place, too, was within the +distance, and though this was not very strictly insisted upon--as a +matter of fact, he did spend the greater part of his banishment inside +the prescribed limit--it might at any moment be made a means of +annoyance. Atticus invited him to take up his residence at his seat at +Buthrotum in Epirus (now Albania). But the proposal did not commend +itself to his taste. It was out of the way, and would be very dreary +without the presence of its master, who was still at Rome, and +apparently intended to remain there. After staying for about a fortnight +at a friend's house near Dyrrachium--the town itself, where he was once +very popular, for fear of bringing some trouble upon it, he refused to +enter--he crossed over to Greece, and ultimately settled himself at +Thessalonica. + +Long afterward he tells us of a singular dream which seems to have given +him some little comfort at this time. "I had lain awake for the greater +part of the night, but fell into a heavy slumber toward morning. I was +at the point of starting, but my host would not allow me to be waked. At +seven o'clock, however, I rose, and then told my friend this dream. I +seemed to myself to be wandering disconsolately in some lonely place +when the great Marius met me. His lictors were with him, their _fasces_ +wreathed with bays. 'Why are you so sad?' he asked me. 'I have been +wrongly banished from my country,' I answered. He then took my hand, and +turning to the nearest lictor, bade him lead me to his own Memorial +Hall. 'There,' he said, 'you will be safe.'" His friend declared that +this dream portended a speedy and honorable return. Curiously enough it +was in the Hall of Marius that the decree repealing the sentence of +banishment was actually proposed and passed. + +For the most part he was miserably unhappy and depressed. In letter +after letter he poured out to Atticus his fears, his complaints, and his +wants. Why had he listened to the bad advice of his friends? He had +wished to stay at Rome and fight out the quarrel. Why had Hortensius +advised him to retire from the struggle? It must have been jealousy, +jealousy of one whom he knew to be a more successful advocate than +himself. Why had Atticus hindered his purposes when he thought of +putting an end to all his trouble by killing himself? Why were all his +friends, why was Atticus himself, so lukewarm in his cause? In one +letter he artfully reproaches himself for his neglect of his friends in +times past as the cause of their present indifference. But the reproach +is of course really leveled at them. + +"If ever," he writes in one letter, "fortune shall restore me to my +country and to you, I will certainly take care that of all my friends; +none shall be more rejoiced than you. All my duty to you, a duty which I +must own in time past was sadly wanting, shall be so faithfully +discharged that you will feel that I have been restored to you quite as +much as I shall have been restored to my brother and to my children. For +whatever I have wronged you, and indeed because I have wronged you, +pardon me; for I have wronged myself far worse. I do not write this as +not knowing that you feel the very greatest trouble on my account; but +if you were and had been under the obligation to love me, as much as you +actually do love me and have loved me, you never would have allowed me +to lack the wise advice which you have so abundantly at your command." +This is perhaps a little obscure, as it is certainly somewhat subtle; +but Cicero means that Atticus had not interested himself in his affairs +as much as he would have felt bound to do, if he (Cicero) had been less +remiss in the duties of friendship. + +To another correspondent, his wife Terentia, he poured out his heart yet +more freely. "Don't think," he writes in one of his letters to her, +"that I write longer letters to others than to you, except indeed I have +received some long communication which I feel I must answer. Indeed I +have nothing to write; and in these days I find it the most difficult of +duties. Writing to you and to my dearest Tullia I never can do without +floods of tears. I see you are utterly miserable, and I wanted you to be +completely happy. I might have made you so. I could have made you had I +been less timid.... My heart's delight, my deepest regret is to think +that you, to whom all used to look for help, should now be involved in +such sorrow, such distress! and that I should be to blame, I who saved +others only to ruin myself and mine!... As for expenditure, let others, +who can if they will, undertake it. And if you love me, don't distress +your health, which is already, I know, feeble. All night, all day I +think of you. I see that you are undertaking all imaginable labors on my +behalf; I only fear that you will not be able to endure them. I am aware +that all depends upon you. If we are to succeed in what you wish and are +now trying to compass, take care of your health." In another he writes: +"Unhappy that I am! to think that one so virtuous, so loyal, so honest, +so kind, should be so afflicted, and all on my account. And my dearest +Tullia, too, that she should be so unhappy about a father in whom she +once found so much happiness. And what shall I say about my dear little +Cicero? That he should feel the bitterest sorrow and trouble as soon as +he began to feel any thing! If all this was really, as you write, the +work of fate, I could endure it a little more easily; but it was all +brought about by my fault, thinking that I was loved by men who really +were jealous of me, and keeping aloof from others who were really on my +side." + +This is, perhaps, a good opportunity of saying something about the lady +herself. Who she was we do not certainly know. There was a family of the +name in Rome, the most notable of whom perhaps was the Terentius +Varro[7] whose rashness brought upon his country the terrible disaster +of the defeat of Cannae. She had a half-sister, probably older than +herself, of the name of Fabia, who was a vestal virgin. She brought her +husband, to whom she was married about 78 B.C., a fair dowry, about +three thousand five hundred pounds. We have seen how affectionately +Cicero writes to her during his exile. She is his darling, his only +hope; the mere thought of her makes his eyes overflow with tears. And +she seems to have deserved all his praise and affection, exerting +herself to the utmost to help him, and ready to impoverish herself to +find him the means that he needed. Four letters of this period have been +preserved. There are twenty others belonging to the years 50-47 B.C. The +earlier of these are sufficiently affectionate. When he is about to +return to Rome from his province (Cilicia), she is still the most +amiable, the dearest of women. Then we begin to see signs of coolness, +yet nothing that would strike us did we not know what was afterwards to +happen. He excuses the rarity of his letters. There is no one by whom to +send them. If there were, he was willing to write. The greetings became +formal, the superlatives "dearest," "fondest," "best," are dropped. "You +are glad," he writes after the battle of Pharsalia had dashed his hopes, +"that I have got back safe to Italy; I hope that you may continue to be +glad." "Don't think of coming," he goes on, "it is a long journey and +not very safe; and I don't see what good you would do if you should +come." In another letter he gives directions about getting ready his +house at Tusculum for the reception of guests. The letter is dated on +the first of October, and he and his friends would come probably to stay +several days, on the seventh. If there was not a tub in the bath-room, +one must be provided. The greeting is of the briefest and most formal. +Meanwhile we know from what he writes to Atticus that he was greatly +dissatisfied with the lady's conduct. Money matters were at the bottom +of their quarrel. She was careless, he thinks, and extravagant. Though +he was a rich man, yet he was often in need of ready money, and Terentia +could not be relied upon to help him. His vexation takes form in a +letter to Atticus. "As to Terentia--there are other things without +number of which I don't speak--what can be worse than this? You wrote to +her to send me bills for one hundred and eight pounds; for there was so +much money left in hand. She sent me just ninety pounds, and added a +note that this was all. If she was capable of abstracting such a trifle +from so small a sum, don't you see what she would have done in matters +of real importance?" The quarrel ended in a divorce, a thing far more +common than, happily, it is among ourselves, but still a painful and +discreditable end to an union which had lasted for more than +five-and-twenty years. Terentia long survived her husband, dying in +extreme old age (as much, it was said, as a hundred and three years), +far on in the reign of Augustus; and after a considerable experience of +matrimony, if it be true that she married three or even, according to +some accounts, four other husbands. + +[Footnote 7: Another of the same name was an eminent man of letters of +Cicero's own time.] + +Terentia's daughter, Tullia, had a short and unhappy life. She was born, +it would seem, about 79 B.C., and married when fifteen or sixteen to a +young Roman noble, Piso Frugi by name. "The best, the most loyal of +men," Cicero calls him. He died in 57 B.C., and Rome lost, if his +father-in-law's praises of him may be trusted, an orator of the very +highest promise. "I never knew any one who surpassed my son-in-law, +Piso, in zeal, in industry, and, I may fairly say, in ability." The next +year she married a certain Crassipes, a very shadowy person indeed. We +know nothing of what manner of man he was, or what became of him. But in +50 B.C. Tullia was free to marry again. Her third venture was of her own +or her mother's contriving. Her father was at his government in Cilicia, +and he hears of the affair with surprise. "Believe me," he writes to +Atticus, "nothing could have been less expected by me. Tiberius Nero had +made proposals to me, and I had sent friends to discuss the matter with +the ladies. But when they got to Rome the betrothal had taken place. +This, I hope, will be a better match. I fancy the ladies were very much +pleased with the young gentleman's complaisance and courtesy, but do not +look for the thorns." The "thorns," however, were there. A friend who +kept Cicero acquainted with the news of Rome, told him as much, though +he wraps up his meaning in the usual polite phrases. "I congratulate +you," he writes, "on your alliance with one who is, I really believe, a +worthy fellow. I do indeed think this of him. If there have been some +things in which he has not done justice to himself, these are now past +and gone; any traces that may be left will soon, I am sure, disappear, +thanks to your good influence and to his respect for Tullia. He is not +offensive in his errors, and does not seem slow to appreciate better +things." Tullia, however, was not more successful than other wives in +reforming her husband. Her marriage seems to have been unhappy almost +from the beginning. It was brought to an end by a divorce after about +three years. Shortly afterward Tullia, who could have been little more +than thirty, died, to the inconsolable grief of her father. "My grief," +he writes to Atticus, "passes all consolation. Yet I have done what +certainly no one ever did before, written a treatise for my own +consolation. (I will send you the book if the copyists have finished +it.) And indeed there is nothing like it. I write day after day, and all +day long; not that I can get any good from it, but it occupies me a +little, not much indeed; the violence of my grief is too much for me. +Still I am soothed, and do my best to compose, not my feelings, indeed, +but, if I can, my face." And again: "Next to your company nothing is +more agreeable to me than solitude. Then all my converse is with books; +yet this is interrupted by tears; these I resist as well as I can; but +at present I fail." At one time he thought of finding comfort in unusual +honors to the dead. He would build a shrine of which Tullia should be +the deity. "I am determined," he writes, "on building the shrine. From +this purpose I cannot be turned ... Unless the building be finished this +summer, I shall hold myself guilty." He fixes upon a design. He begs +Atticus, in one of his letters, to buy some columns of marble of Chios +for the building. He discusses the question of the site. Some gardens +near Rome strike him as a convenient place. It must be conveniently near +if it is to attract worshipers. "I would sooner sell or mortgage, or +live on little, than be disappointed." Then he thought that he would +build it on the grounds of his villa. In the end he did not build it at +all. Perhaps the best memorial of Tullia is the beautiful letter in +which one of Cicero's friends seeks to console him for his loss. "She +had lived," he says, "as long as life was worth living, as long as the +republic stood." One passage, though it has often been quoted before, I +must give. "I wish to tell you of something which brought me no small +consolation, hoping that it may also somewhat diminish your sorrow. On +my way back from Asia, as I was sailing from Aeigina to Megara, I began +to contemplate the places that lay around me. Behind me was Aegina, +before me Megara; on my right hand the Piraeus, on my left hand Corinth; +towns all of them that were once at the very height of prosperity, but +now lie ruined and desolate before our eyes. I began thus to reflect: +'Strange! do we, poor creatures of a day, bear it ill if one of us +perish of disease, or are slain with the sword, we whose life is bound +to be short, while the dead bodies of so many lie here inclosed within +so small a compass?" + +But I am anticipating. When Cicero was in exile the republic had yet +some years to live; and there were hopes that it might survive +altogether. The exile's prospects, too, began to brighten. Caesar had +reached for the present the height of his ambition, and was busy with +his province of Gaul. Pompey had quarreled with Clodius, whom he found +to be utterly unmanageable. And Cicero's friend, one Milo, of whom I +shall have to say more hereafter, being the most active of them all, +never ceased to agitate for his recall. It would be tedious to recall +all the vicissitudes of the struggle. As early as May the Senate passed +a resolution repealing the decree of banishment, the news of it having +caused an outburst of joy in the city. Accius' drama of "Telamon" was +being acted at the time, and the audience applauded each senator as he +entered the Senate, and rose from their places to greet the consul as he +came in. But the enthusiasm rose to its height when the actor who was +playing the part of Telamon (whose banishment from his country formed +part of the action of the drama) declaimed with significant emphasis the +following lines-- + + What! he--the man who still with steadfast heart + Strove for his country, who in perilous days + Spared neither life nor fortune, and bestowed + Most help when most she needed; who surpassed + In wit all other men. Father of Gods, + _His_ house--yea, _his_!--I saw devoured by fire; + And ye, ungrateful, foolish, without thought + Of all wherein he served you, could endure + To see him banished; yea, and to this hour + Suffer that he prolong an exile's day. + +Still obstacle after obstacle was interposed, and it was not till the +fourth of August that the decree passed through all its stages and +became finally law. Cicero, who had been waiting at the point of Greece +nearest to Italy, to take the earliest opportunity of returning, had +been informed by his friends that he might now safely embark. He sailed +accordingly on the very day when the decree was passed, and reached +Brundisium on the morrow. It happened to be the day on which the +foundation of the colony was celebrated, and also the birthday of +Tullia, who had come so far to meet her father. The coincidence was +observed by the towns-people with delight. On the eighth the welcome +news came from Rome, and Cicero set out for the capital. "All along my +road the cities of Italy kept the day of my arrival as a holiday; the +ways were crowded with the deputations which were sent from all parts to +congratulate me. When I approached the city, my coming was honored by +such a concourse of men, such a heartiness of congratulation as are past +believing. The way from the gates, the ascent of the Capitol, the return +to my home made such a spectacle that in the very height of my joy I +could not but be sorry that a people so grateful had yet been so +unhappy, so cruelly oppressed." "That day," he said emphatically, "that +day was as good as immortality to me." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +A BRAWL AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. + + +Clodius, who had taken the lead in driving Cicero into exile, was of +course furious at his return, and continued to show him an unceasing +hostility. His first care was to hinder the restoration of his property. +He had contrived to involve part at least of this in a considerable +difficulty. Cicero's house on the Palatine Hill had been pulled down and +the area dedicated--so at least Clodius alleged--to the Goddess of +Liberty. If this was true, it was sacred forever; it could not be +restored. The question was, Was it true? This question was referred to +the Pontiffs as judges of such matters. Cicero argued the case before +them, and they pronounced in his favor. It was now for the Senate to +act. A motion was made that the site should be restored. Clodius opposed +it, talking for three hours, till the anger of his audience compelled +him to bring his speech to an end. One of the tribunes in his interest +put his veto on the motion, but was frightened into withdrawing it. But +Clodius was not at the end of his resources. A set of armed ruffians +under his command drove out the workmen who were rebuilding the house. A +few days afterwards he made an attack on Cicero himself. He was wounded +in the struggle which followed, and might, says Cicero, have been +killed, "but," he adds, "I am tired of surgery." + +Pompey was another object of his hatred, for he knew perfectly well that +without his consent his great enemy would not have been restored. Cicero +gives a lively picture of a scene in the Senate, in which this hatred +was vigorously expressed. "Pompey spoke, or rather wished to speak; for, +as soon as he rose, Clodius' hired ruffians shouted at him. All through +his speech it was the same; he was interrupted not only by shouts but by +abuse and curses. When he came to an end--and it must be allowed that he +showed courage; nothing frightened him: he said his say and sometimes +even obtained silence--then Clodius rose. He was met with such an uproar +from our side (for we had determined to give him back as good as he had +given) that he could not collect his thoughts, control his speech, or +command his countenance. This went on from three o'clock, when Pompey +had only just finished his speech, till five. Meanwhile every kind of +abuse, even to ribald verses, were shouted out against Clodius and his +sister. Pale with fury he turned to his followers, and in the midst of +the uproar asked them, 'Who is it that is killing the people with +hunger?' 'Pompey,' they answered. 'Who wants to go to Alexandria?' +'Pompey,' they answered again. 'And whom do _you_ want to go?' +'Crassus,' they said. About six o'clock the party of Clodius began, at +some given signal, it seemed, to spit at our side. Our rage now burst +out. They tried to drive us from our place, and we made a charge. The +partisans of Clodius fled. He was thrust down from the hustings. I then +made my escape, lest any thing worse should happen." + +A third enemy, and one whom Clodius was destined to find more dangerous +than either Cicero or Pompey, was Annius Milo. Milo was on the mother's +side of an old Latin family. The name by which he was commonly known was +probably a nickname given him, it may be, in joking allusion to the Milo +of Crotona, the famous wrestler, who carried an ox on his shoulders and +ate it in a single day. For Milo was a great fighting man, a well-born +gladiator, one who was for cutting all political knots with the sword. +He was ambitious, and aspired to the consulship; but the dignity was +scarcely within his reach. His family was not of the highest; he was +deeply in debt; he had neither eloquence nor ability. His best chance, +therefore, was to attach himself to some powerful friend whose gratitude +he might earn. Just such a friend he seemed to find in Cicero. He saw +the great orator's fortunes were very low, but they would probably rise +again, and he would be grateful to those who helped him in his +adversity. Hence Milo's exertions to bring him back from banishment and +hence the quarrel with Clodius. The two men had their bands of hired, or +rather purchased, ruffians about the city, and came into frequent +collisions. Each indicted the other for murderous assault. Each publicly +declared that he should take the earliest chance of putting his I enemy +to death. What was probably a chance collision brought matters to a +crisis. + +On the twentieth of January Milo left Rome to pay a visit to Lanuvium, a +Latin town on the Appian road, and about fifteen miles south of Rome. It +was a small town, much decayed from the old days when its revolt +against Rome was thought to be a thing worth recording; but it +contained one of the most famous temples of Italy, the dwelling of Juno +the Preserver, whose image, in its goat-skin robe, its quaint, turned-up +shoes, with spear in one hand and small shield in the other, had a +peculiar sacredness. Milo was a native of the place, and its dictator; +and it was his duty on this occasion to nominate the chief priest of the +temple. He had been at a meeting of the Senate in the morning, and had +remained till the close of the sitting. Returning home he had changed +his dress and shoes, waited a while, as men have to wait, says Cicero, +while his wife was getting ready, and then started. He traveled in a +carriage his wife and a friend. Several maid-servants and a troop of +singing boys belonging to his wife followed. Much was made of this great +retinue of women and boys, as proving that Milo had no intention when he +started of coming to blows with his great enemy. But he had also with +him a number of armed slaves and several gladiators, among whom were two +famous masters of their art. He had traveled about ten miles when he met +Clodius, who had been delivering an address to the town council of +Aricia, another Latin town, nearer to the capital than Lanuvium, and was +now returning to Rome. He was on horseback, contrary to his usual +custom, which was to use a carriage, and he had with him thirty slaves +armed with swords. No person of distinction thought of traveling without +such attendants. + +The two men passed each other, but Milo's gladiators fell out with the +slaves of Clodius. Clodius rode back and accosted the aggressors in a +threatening manner. One of the gladiators replied by wounding him in the +shoulder with his sword. A number of Milo's slaves hastened back to +assist their comrades. The party of Clodius was overpowered, and Clodius +himself, exhausted by his wound, took refuge in a roadside tavern, which +probably marked the first stage out of Rome. Milo, thinking that now he +had gone so far he might go a little further and rid himself of his +enemy forever, ordered his slaves to drag Clodius from his refuge and +finish him. This was promptly done. Cicero indeed declared that the +slaves did it without orders, and in the belief that their master had +been killed. But Rome believed the other story. The corpse of the dead +man lay for some time upon the road uncared for, for all his attendants +had either fallen in the struggle or had crept into hiding-places. Then +a Roman gentleman on his way to the city ordered it to be put into his +litter and taken to Rome, where it arrived just before nightfall. It was +laid out in state in the hall of his mansion, and his widow stood by +showing the wounds to the sympathizing crowd which thronged to see his +remains. Next day the excitement increased. Two of the tribunes +suggested that the body should be carried into the market-place, and +placed on the hustings from which the speaker commonly addressed the +people. Then it was resolved, at the suggestion of another Clodius, a +notary, and a client of the family, to do it a signal honor. "Thou shalt +not bury or burn a man within the city" was one of the oldest of Roman +laws. Clodius, the favorite of the people, should be an exception. His +body was carried into the Hall of Hostilius, the usual meeting-place of +the Senate. The benches, the tables, the platform from which the orators +spoke, the wooden tablets on which the clerks wrote their notes, were +collected to make a funeral pile on which the corpse was to be consumed. +The hall caught fire, and was burned to the ground; another large +building adjoining it, the Hall of Porcius, narrowly escaped the same +fate. The mob attacked several houses, that of Milo among them, and was +with difficulty repulsed. + +It had been expected that Milo would voluntarily go into exile; but the +burning of the senate-house caused a strong reaction of feeling of which +he took advantage. He returned to Rome, and provided to canvass for the +consulship, making a present in money (which may be reckoned at +five-and-twenty shillings) to every voter. The city was in a continual +uproar; though the time for the new consuls to enter on their office was +long past, they had not even been elected, nor was there any prospect, +such was the violence of the rival candidates, of their being so. At +last the Senate had recourse to the only man who seemed able to deal +with the situation, and appointed Pompey sole consul. Pompey proposed +to institute for the trial of Milo's case a special court with a +special form of procedure. The limits of the time which it was to occupy +were strictly laid down. Three days were to be given to the examination +of witnesses, one to the speeches of counsel, the prosecution being +allowed two hours only, the defense three. After a vain resistance on +the part of Milo's friends, the proposal was carried, Pompey threatening +to use force if necessary. Popular feeling now set very strongly against +the accused. Pompey proclaimed that he went in fear of his life from his +violence; refused to appear in the Senate lest he should be +assassinated, and even left his house to live in his gardens, which +could be more effectually guarded by soldiers. In the Senate Milo was +accused of having arms under his clothing, a charge which he had to +disprove by lifting up his under garment. Next a freedman came forward, +and declared that he and four others had actually seen the murder of +Clodius, and that having mentioned the fact, they had been seized and +shut up for two months in Milo's counting-house. Finally a sheriff's +officer, if we may so call him, deposed that another important witness, +one of Milo's slaves, had been forcibly taken out of his hands by the +partisans of the accused. + +On the eighth of April the trial was begun. The first witness called was +a friend who had been with Clodius on the day of his death. His evidence +made the case look very dark against Milo, and the counsel who was to +cross-examine him on behalf of the accused was received with such angry +cries that he had to take refuge on the bench with the presiding judge. +Milo was obliged to ask for the same protection. + +Pompey resolved that better order should be kept for the future, and +occupied all the approaches to the court with troops. The rest of the +witnesses were heard and cross-examined without interruption. April 11th +was the last day of the trial. Three speeches were delivered for the +prosecution; for the defense one only, and that by Cicero. It had been +suggested that he should take the bold line of arguing that Clodius was +a traitor, and that the citizen who slew him had deserved well of his +country. But he judged it better to follow another course, and to show +that Clodius had been the aggressor, having deliberately laid an ambush +for Milo, of whose meditated journey to Lanuvium he was of course aware. +Unfortunately for his client the case broke down. Milo had evidently +left Rome and the conflict had happened much earlier than was said, +because the body of the murdered man had reached the capital not later +than five o'clock in the afternoon. This disproved the assertion that +Clodius had loitered on his way back to Rome till the growing darkness +gave him an opportunity of attacking his adversaries. Then it came out +that Milo had had in his retinue, besides the women and boys, a number +of fighting men. Finally there was the damning fact, established, it +would seem, by competent witnesses, that Clodius had been dragged from +his hiding-place and put to death. Cicero too lost his presence of mind. +The sight of the city, in which all the shops were shut in expectation +of a riot, the presence of the soldiers in court, and the clamor of a +mob furiously hostile to the accused and his advocate, confounded him, +and he spoke feebly and hesitatingly. The admirable oration which has +come down to us, and professes to have been delivered on this occasion, +was really written afterwards. The jury, which was allowed by common +consent to have been one of the best ever assembled, gave a verdict of +guilty. Milo went into banishment at Marseilles--a punishment which he +seems to have borne very easily, if it is true that when Cicero excused +himself for the want of courage which had marred the effect of his +defense, he answered, "It was all for the best; if you had spoken +better I should never have tasted these admirable Marseilles mullets." + +Naturally he tired of the mullets before long. When Caesar had made +himself master of Rome, he hoped to be recalled from banishment. But +Caesar did not want him, and preferred to have him where he was. Enraged +at this treatment, he came over to Italy and attempted to raise an +insurrection in favor of Pompey. The troops whom he endeavored to +corrupt refused to follow him. He retreated with his few followers into +the extreme south of the peninsula, and was there killed. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +CATO, BRUTUS, AND PORCIA. + + +"From his earliest years," so runs the character that has come down to +us of Cato, "he was resolute to obstinacy. Flattery met with a rough +repulse, and threats with resistance. He never laughed, and his smile +was of the slightest. Not easily provoked, his anger, once roused, was +implacable. He learned but slowly, but never forgot a thing once +acquired; he was obedient to his teachers, but wanted to know the reason +of every thing." The stories told of his boyhood bear out this +character. Here is one of them. His tutor took him to Sulla's house. It +was in the evil days of the Proscription, and there were signs of the +bloody work that was going on. "Why does no one kill this man?" he asked +his teacher. "Because, my son, they fear him more than they hate him," +was the answer. "Why then," was the rejoinder, "have you not given me a +sword that I may set my country free?" The tutor, as it may be supposed, +carried him off in haste. + +Like most young Romans he began life as a soldier, and won golden +opinions not only by his courage, which indeed was common enough in a +nation that conquered the world, but by his temperance and diligent +performance of duty. His time of service ended, he set out on his +travels, accepting an invitation from the tributary king of Galatia, +who happened to be an old friend of the family, to visit him. We get an +interesting little picture of a Roman of the upper class on a tour. "At +dawn he would send on a baker and a cook to the place which he intended +to visit. These would enter the town in a most unpretending fashion, and +if their master did not happen to have a friend or acquaintance in the +place, would betake themselves to an inn, and there prepare for their +master's accommodation without troubling any one. It was only when there +was no inn that they went to the magistrates and asked for +entertainment; and they were always content with what was assigned. +Often they met with but scanty welcome and attention, not enforcing +their demands with the customary threats, so that Cato on his arrival +found nothing prepared. Nor did their master create a more favorable +impression, sitting as he did quietly on his luggage, and seeming to +accept the situation. Sometimes, however, he would send for the town +authorities and say, "You had best give up these mean ways, my +inhospitable friends; you won't find that all your visitors are Catos." +Once at least he found himself, as he thought, magnificently received. +Approaching Antioch, he found the road lined on either side with troops +of spectators. The men stood in one company, the boys in another. Every +body was in holiday dress. Some--these were the magistrates and +priests--wore white robes and garlands of flowers. Cato, supposing that +all these preparations were intended for himself, was annoyed that his +servants had not prevented them. But he was soon undeceived. An old man +ran out from the crowd, and without so much as greeting the new comer, +cried, "Where did you leave Demetrius? When will he come?" Demetrius was +Pompey's freedman, and had some of his master's greatness reflected on +him. Cato could only turn away muttering, "Wretched place!" + +Returning to Rome he went through the usual course of honors, always +discharging his duties with the utmost zeal and integrity, and probably, +as long as he filled a subordinate place, with great success. It was +when statesmanship was wanted that he began to fail. + +In the affair of the conspiracy of Catiline Cato stood firmly by +Cicero, supporting the proposition to put the conspirators to death in a +powerful speech, the only speech of all that he made that was preserved. +This preservation was due to the forethought of Cicero, who put the +fastest writers whom he could find to relieve each other in taking down +the oration. This, it is interesting to be told, was the beginning of +shorthand. + +Cato, like Cicero, loved and believed in the republic; but he was much +more uncompromising, more honest perhaps we may say, but certainly less +discreet in putting his principles into action. He set himself to oppose +the accumulation of power in the hands of Pompey and Caesar; but he +lacked both dignity and prudence, and he accomplished nothing. When, for +instance, Caesar, returning from Spain, petitioned the Senate for +permission to become a candidate for the consulship without entering the +city--to enter the city would have been to abandon his hopes of a +triumph--Cato condescended to use the arts of obstruction in opposing +him. He spoke till sunset against the proposition, and it failed by +sheer lapse of time. Yet the opposition was fruitless. Caesar of course +abandoned the empty honor, and secured the reality, all the more +certainly because people felt that he had been hardly used. And so he +continued to act, always seeking to do right, but always choosing the +very worst way of doing it; anxious to serve his country, but always +contriving to injure it. Even in that which, we may say, best became him +in his life, in the leaving of it (if we accept for the moment the Roman +view of the morality of suicide), he was not doing his best for Rome. +Had he been willing to live (for Caesar was ready to spare him, as he +was always ready to spare enemies who could not harm him), there was yet +good for him to do; in his hasty impatience of what he disapproved, he +preferred to deprive his country of its most honest citizen. + +We must not omit a picture so characteristic of Roman life as the story +of his last hours. The last army of the republic had been destroyed at +Thapsus, and Caesar was undisputed master of the world. Cato vainly +endeavored to stir up the people of Utica, a town near Carthage, in +which he had taken up his quarters; when they refused, he resolved to +put an end to his life. A kinsman of Caesar, who was preparing to +intercede with the conqueror for the lives of the vanquished leaders, +begged Cato's help in revising his speech. "For you," he said, "I should +think it no shame to clasp his hands and fall at his knees." "Were I +willing to take my life at his hands," replied Cato, "I should go alone +to ask it. But I refuse to live by the favor of a tyrant. Still, as +there are three hundred others for whom you are to intercede, let us see +what can be done with the speech." This business finished, he took an +affectionate leave of his friend, commending to his good offices his son +and his friends. On his son he laid a strict injunction not to meddle +with public life. Such a part as was worthy of the name of Cato no man +could take again; to take any other would be shameful. Then followed the +bath, and after the bath, dinner, to which he had invited a number of +friends, magistrates of the town. He sat at the meal, instead of +reclining. This had been his custom ever since the fated day of +Pharsalia. After dinner, over the wine, there was much learned talk, +and this not other than cheerful in tone. But when the conversation +happened to turn on one of the favorite maxims of the Stoics, "Only the +good man is free; the bad are slaves," Cato expressed himself with an +energy and even a fierceness that made the company suspect some terrible +resolve. The melancholy silence that ensued warned the speaker that he +had betrayed himself, and he hastened to remove the suspicion by talking +on other topics. After dinner he took his customary walk, gave the +necessary orders to the officers on guard, and then sought his chamber. +Here he took up the Phaedo, the famous dialogue in which Socrates, on +the day when he is to drink the poison, discusses the immortality of the +soul. He had almost finished the book, when, chancing to turn his eyes +upwards, he perceived that his sword had been removed. His son had +removed it while he sat at dinner. He called a slave and asked, "Who has +taken my sword?" As the man said nothing, he resumed his book; but in +the course of a few minutes, finding that search was not being made, he +asked for the sword again. Another interval followed; and still it was +not forthcoming. His anger was now roused. He vehemently reproached the +slaves, and even struck one of them with his fist, which he injured by +the blow. "My son and my slaves," he said, "are betraying me to the +enemy." He would listen to no entreaties, "Am I a madman," he said, +"that I am stripped of my arms? Are you going to bind my hands and give +me up to Caesar? As for the sword I can do without it; I need but hold +my breath or dash my head against the wall. It is idle to think that you +can keep a man of my years alive against his will." It was felt to be +impossible to persist in the face of this determination, and a young +slave-boy brought back the sword. Cato felt the weapon, and finding that +the blade was straight and the edge perfect, said, "Now I am my own +master." He then read the Phaedo again from beginning to end, and +afterwards fell into so profound a sleep that persons standing outside +the chamber heard his breathing. About midnight he sent for his +physician and one of his freedmen. The freedman was commissioned to +inquire whether his friends had set sail. The physician he asked to bind +up his wounded hand, a request which his attendants heard with delight, +as it seemed to indicate a resolve to live. He again sent to inquire +about his friends and expressed his regret at the rough weather which +they seemed likely to have. The birds were now beginning to twitter at +the approach of dawn, and he fell into a short sleep. The freedman now +returned with news that the harbor was quiet. When he found himself +again alone, he stabbed himself with the sword, but the blow, dealt as +it was by the wounded hand, was not fatal. He fell fainting on the +couch, knocking down a counting board which stood near, and groaning. +His son with others rushed into the chamber, and the physician, finding +that the wound was not mortal, proceeded to bind it up. Cato, recovering +his consciousness, thrust the attendants aside, and tearing open the +wound, expired. + +If the end of Cato's life was its noblest part it is still more true +that the fame of Brutus rests on one memorable deed. He was known, +indeed, as a young man of promise, with whose education special pains +had been taken, and who had a genuine love for letters and learning. He +was free, it would seem, from some of the vices of his age, but he had +serious faults. Indeed the one transaction of his earlier life with +which we happen to be well acquainted is very little to his credit. And +this, again, is so characteristic of one side of Roman life that it +should be told in some detail. + +Brutus had married the daughter of a certain Appius Claudius, a kinsman +of the notorious Clodius, and had accompanied his father-in-law to his +province, Cilicia. He took the opportunity of increasing his means by +lending money to the provincials. Lending money, it must be remembered, +was not thought a discreditable occupation even for the very noblest. To +lend money upon interest was, indeed, the only way of making an +investment, besides the buying of land, that was available to the Roman +capitalist. But Brutus was more than a money-lender, he was an usurer; +that is, he sought to extract an extravagantly high rate of interest +from his debtors. And this greed brought him into collision with Cicero. + +A certain Scaptius had been agent for Brutus in lending money to the +town of Salamis in Cyprus. Under the government of Claudius, Scaptius +had had every thing his own way. He had been appointed to a command in +the town, had some cavalry at his disposal, and extorted from the +inhabitants what terms he pleased, shutting up, it is told us, the +Senate in their council-room till five of them perished of hunger. +Cicero heard of this monstrous deed as he was on his way to his +province; he peremptorily refused the request of Scaptius for a renewal +of his command, saying that he had resolved not to grant such posts to +any person engaged in trading or money-lending. Still, for Brutus' +sake--and it was not for some time that it came out that Brutus was the +principal--he would take care that the money should be paid. This the +town was ready to do; but then came in the question of interest. An +edict had been published that this should never exceed twelve per cent., +or one per cent, monthly, that being the customary way of payment. But +Scaptius pleaded his bond, which provided for four per cent, monthly, +and pleaded also a special edict that regulations restraining interest +were not to apply to Salamis. The town protested that they could not +pay if such terms were exacted--terms which would double the principal. +They could not, they said, have met even the smaller claim, if it had +not been for the liberality of the governor, who had declined the +customary presents. Brutus was much vexed. + +"Even when he asks me a favor," writes Cicero to Atticus, "there is +always something arrogant and churlish: still he moves laughter more +than anger." + +When the civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey, it was expected +that Brutus would attach himself to the former. Pompey, who had put his +father to death, he had no reason to love. But if he was unscrupulous in +some things, in politics he had principles which he would not abandon, +the strongest of these, perhaps, being that the side of which Cato +approved was the side of the right. Pompey received his new adherent +with astonishment and delight, rising from his chair to greet him. He +spent most of his time in camp in study, being ingrossed on the very eve +of the battle in making an epitome of Polybius, the Greek historian of +the Second Punic War. He passed through the disastrous day of Pharsalia +unhurt, Caesar having given special orders that his life was to be +spared. After the battle, the conqueror not only pardoned him but +treated him with the greatest kindness, a kindness for which, for a time +at least, he seems not to have been ungrateful. But there were +influences at work which he could not resist. There was his friendship +with Cassius, who had a passionate hatred against usurpers, the +remembrance of how Cato had died sooner than submit himself to Caesar, +and, not least, the association of his name, which he was not permitted +to forget. The statue of the old patriot who had driven out the Tarquins +was covered with such inscriptions as, "Brutus, would thou wert alive!" +and Brutus' own chair of office--he was praetor at the time--was found +covered with papers on which were scribbled, "Brutus, thou sleepest," +or, "A true Brutus art thou," and the like. How he slew Caesar I have +told already; how he killed himself in despair after the second battle +of Philippi may be read elsewhere. + +Porcia, the daughter of Cato, was left a widow in 48 B.C., and married +three years afterwards her cousin Brutus, who divorced his first wife +Claudia in order to marry her. She inherited both the literary tastes +and the opinions of her father, and she thought herself aggrieved when +her husband seemed unwilling to confide his plans to her. Plutarch thus +tells her story, his authority seeming to be a little biography which +one of her sons by her first husband afterwards wrote of his +step-father. "She wounded herself in the thigh with a knife such as +barbers use for cutting the nails. The wound was deep, the loss of blood +great, and the pain and fever that followed acute. Her husband was in +the greatest distress, when his wife thus addressed him: 'Brutus, it was +a daughter of Cato who became your wife, not merely to share your bed +and board, but to be the partner of your adversity and your prosperity. +_You_ give me no cause to complain, but what proof can I give you of my +affection if I may not bear with you your secret troubles. Women, I +know, are weak creatures, ill fitted to keep secrets. Yet a good +training and honest company may do much, and this, as Cato's daughter +and wife to Brutus, I have had.' She then showed him the wound, and told +him that she had inflicted it upon herself to prove her courage and +constancy." For all this resolution she had something of a woman's +weakness. When her husband had left the house on the day fixed for the +assassination, she could not conceal her agitation. She eagerly inquired +of all who entered how Brutus fared, and at last fainted in the hall of +her house. In the midst of the business of the senate-house Brutus heard +that his wife was dying. + +Porcia was not with her husband during the campaigns that ended at +Philippi, but remained in Rome. She is said to have killed herself by +swallowing the live coals from a brazier, when her friends kept from her +all the means of self-destruction. This story is scarcely credible; +possibly it means that she suffocated herself with the fumes of +charcoal. That she should commit suicide suited all the traditions of +her life. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +A GOVERNOR IN HIS PROVINCE. + + +It was usual for a Roman statesman, after filling the office of praetor +or consul, to undertake for a year or more the government of one of the +provinces. These appointments were indeed the prizes of the profession +of politics. The new governor had a magnificent outfit from the +treasury. We hear of as much as one hundred and fifty thousand pounds +having been allowed for this purpose. Out of this something might easily +be economized. Indeed we hear of one governor who left the whole of his +allowance put out at interest in Rome. And in the province itself +splendid gains might be, and indeed commonly were, got. Even Cicero, +who, if we may trust his own account of his proceedings, was +exceptionally just, and not only just, but even generous in his dealings +with the provincials, made, as we have seen, the very handsome profit of +twenty thousand pounds out of a year of office. Verres, who, on the +other hand, was exceptionally rapacious, made three hundred and fifty +thousand pounds in three years, besides collecting works of art of +incalculable value. But the honors and profits to which most of his +contemporaries looked forward with eagerness did not attract Cicero. He +did not care to be absent from the center of political life, and felt +himself to be at once superior to and unfitted for the pettier affairs +of a provincial government. + +He had successfully avoided the appointment after his praetorship and +again after his consulship. But the time came when it was forced upon +him. Pompey in his third consulship had procured the passing of a law by +which it was provided that all senators who had filled the office of +praetor or consul should cast lots for the vacant provinces. Cicero had +to take his chance with the rest, and the ballot gave him Cilicia. This +was in B.C. 51, and Cicero was in his fifty-sixth year. + +Cilicia was a province of considerable extent, including, as it did, the +south-eastern portion of Asia Minor, together with the island of Cyprus. +The position of its governor was made more anxious by the neighborhood +of Rome's most formidable neighbors, the Parthians, who but two years +before had cut to pieces the army of Crassus. Two legions, numbering +twelve thousand troops besides auxiliaries, were stationed in the +province, having attached to them between two and three thousand +cavalry. + +Cicero started to take up his appointment on May 1st, accompanied by his +brother, who, having served with distinction under Caesar in Gaul, had +resigned his command to act as lieutenant in Cilicia. At Cumae he +received a levee of visitors--a "little Rome," he says. Hortensius was +among them, and this though in very feeble health (he died before +Cicero's return). "He asked me for my instructions. Every thing else I +left with him in general terms, but I begged him especially not to allow +as far as in him lay, the government of my province to be continued to +me into another year." On the 17th of the month he reached Tarentum, +where he spent three days with Pompey. He found him "ready to defend the +State from the dangers that we dread." The shadows of the civil war, +which was to break out in the year after Cicero's return, were already +gathering. At Brundisium, the port of embarkation for the East, he was +detained partly by indisposition, partly by having to wait for one of +his officials for nearly a fortnight. He reached Actium, in +north-western Greece, on the 15th of June. He would have liked to +proceed thence by land, being, as he tells us, a bad sailor, and having +in view the rounding of the formidable promontory Leucate; but there was +a difficulty about his retinue, without which he could not maintain the +state which became a governor _en route_ for his province. Eleven more +days brought him to Athens. "So far," he writes from this place, "no +expenditure of public or private money has been made on me or any of my +retinue. I have convinced all my people that they must do their best for +my character. So far all has gone admirably. The thing has been noticed, +and is greatly praised by the Greeks." "Athens," he writes again, +"delighted me much; the city with all its beauty, the great affection +felt for you" (he is writing, it will be remembered, to Atticus, an old +resident), "and the good feeling towards myself, much more, too, its +philosophical studies." He was able before he left to do the people a +service, rescuing from the hands of the builder the house of Epicurus, +which the council of Areopagus, with as little feeling for antiquity as +a modern town council, had doomed. Then he went on his way, grumbling at +the hardships of a sea voyage in July, at the violence of the winds, at +the smallness of the local vessels. He reached Ephesus on July 22nd, +without being sea-sick, as he is careful to tell us, and found a vast +number of persons who had come to pay their respects to him. All this +was pleasant enough, but he was peculiarly anxious to get back to Rome. +Rome indeed to the ordinary Roman was--a few singular lovers of the +country, as Virgil and Horace, excepted--as Paris is to the Parisian. +"Make it absolutely certain," he writes to Atticus, "that I am to be in +office for a year only; that there is not to be even an intercalated +month." From Ephesus he journeys, complaining of the hot and dusty +roads, to Tralles, and from Tralles, one of the cities of his province, +to Laodicea, which he reached July 31st, exactly three months after +starting[8]. The distance, directly measured, may be reckoned at +something less than a thousand miles. + +[Footnote 8: Forty-seven days was reckoned a very short time for +accomplishing the journey.] + +He seems to have found the province in a deplorable condition. "I +staid," he writes, "three days at Laodicea, three again at Apamca, and +as many at Synnas, and heard nothing except complaints that they could +not pay the poll-tax imposed upon them, that every one's property was +sold; heard, I say, nothing but complaints and groans, and monstrous +deeds which seemed to suit not a man but some horrid wild beast. Still +it is some alleviation to these unhappy towns that they are put to no +expense for me or for any of my followers. I will not receive the fodder +which is my legal due, nor even the wood. Sometimes I have accepted four +beds and a roof over my head; often not even this, preferring to lodge +in a tent. The consequence of all this is an incredible concourse of +people from town and country anxious to see me. Good heavens! my very +approach seems to make them revive, so completely do the justice, +moderation, and clemency of your friend surpass all expectation." It +must be allowed that Cicero was not unaccustomed to sound his own +praises. + +Usury was one of the chief causes of this widespread distress; and +usury, as we have seen, was practiced even by Romans of good repute. We +have seen an "honorable man," such as Brutus, exacting an interest of +nearly fifty per cent. Pompey was receiving, at what rate of interest we +do not know, the enormous sum of nearly one hundred thousand pounds per +annum from the tributary king of Cappadocia, and this was less than he +was entitled to. Other debtors of this impecunious king could get +nothing; every thing went into Pompey's purse, and the whole country was +drained of coin to the very uttermost. In the end, however, Cicero did +manage to get twenty thousand pounds for Brutus, who was also one of the +king's creditors. We cannot but wonder, if such things went on under a +governor who was really doing his best to be moderate and just, what was +the condition of the provincials under ordinary rulers. + +While Cicero was busy with the condition of his province; his attention +was distracted by what we may call a Parthian "scare." The whole army of +this people was said to have crossed the Euphrates under the command of +Pacorus, the king's son. The governor of Syria had not yet arrived. The +second in command had shut himself up with all his troops in Antioch. +Cicero marched into Cappadocia, which bordered the least defensible side +of Cilicia, and took up a position at the foot of Mount Taurus. Next +came news that Antioch was besieged. On hearing this he broke up his +camp, crossed the Taurus range by forced marches, and occupied the +passes into Syria. The Parthians raised the siege of Antioch, and +suffered considerably at the hands of Cassius during their retreat. + +Though Cicero never crossed swords with the Parthians, he found or +contrived an opportunity of distinguishing himself as a soldier. The +independent mountaineers of the border were attacked and defeated; +Cicero was saluted as "Imperator" on the field of battle by his +soldiers, and had the satisfaction of occupying for some days the +position which Alexander the Great had taken up before the battle of +Issus. "And he," says Cicero, who always relates his military +achievements with something like a smile on his face, "was a somewhat +better general than either you or I." He next turned his arms against +the Free Cilicians, investing in regular form with trenches, earthworks, +catapults, and all the regular machinery of a siege, their stronghold +Pindenissum. At the end of forty-seven days the place surrendered. +Cicero gave the plunder of the place to his host, reserving the horses +only for public purposes. A considerable sum was realized by the sale of +slaves. "Who in the world are these Pindenissi? who are they?" you will +say. "I never heard the name." "Well, what can I do? I can't make +Cilicia another Aetolia, or another Macedonia." The campaign was +concluded about the middle of December, and the governor, handing over +the army to his brother, made his way to Laodicea. From this place he +writes to Atticus in language that seems to us self-glorious and +boastful, but still has a ring of honesty about it. "I left Tarsus for +Asia (the Roman province so called) on June 5th, followed by such +admiration as I cannot express from the cities of Cilicia, and +especially from the people of Tarsus. When I had crossed the Taurus +there was a marvelous eagerness to see me in Asia as far as my +districts extended. During six months of my government they had not +received a single requisition from me, had not had a single person +quartered upon them. Year after year before my time this part of the +year had been turned to profit in this way. The wealthy cities used to +pay large sums of money not to have to find winter quarters for the +soldiers. Cyprus paid more than L48,000 on this account; and from this +island--I say it without exaggeration and in sober truth--not a single +coin was levied while I was in power. In return for these benefits, +benefits at which they are simply astonished. I will not allow any but +verbal honors to be voted to me. Statues, temples, chariots of bronze, I +forbid. In nothing do I make myself a trouble to the cities, though it +is possible I do so to you, while I thus proclaim my own praises. Bear +with me, if you love me. This is the rule which you would have had me +follow. My journey through Asia had such results that even the +famine--and than famine there is no more deplorable calamity--which then +prevailed in the country (there had been no harvest) was an event for me +to desire; for wherever I journeyed, without force, without the help of +law, without reproaches, but my simple influence and expostulations, I +prevailed upon the Greeks and Roman citizens, who had secreted the corn, +to engage to convey a large quantity to the various tribes." He writes +again: "I see that you are pleased with my moderation and +self-restraint. You would be much more pleased if you were here. At the +sessions which I held at Laodicea for all my districts, excepting +Cilicia, from February 15th to May 1st, I effected a really marvelous +work. Many cities were entirely freed from their debts, many greatly +relieved, and all of them enjoying their own laws and courts, and so +obtaining self-government received new life. There were two ways in +which I gave them the opportunity of either throwing off or greatly +lightening the burden of debt. First: they have been put to no expense +under my rule--I do not exaggerate; I positively say that they have not +to spend a farthing. Then again: the cities had been atrociously robbed +by their own Greek magistrates. I myself questioned the men who had +borne office during the last ten years. They confessed and, without +being publicly disgraced, made restitution. In other respects my +government, without being wanting in address, is marked by clemency and +courtesy. There is none of the difficulty, so usual in the provinces, of +approaching me; no introduction by a chamberlain. Before dawn I am on +foot in my house, as I used to be in old days when I was a candidate for +office. This is a great matter here and a popular, and to myself, from +my old practice in it, has not yet been troublesome." + +He had other less serious cares. One Caelius, who was good enough to +keep him informed of what was happening at Rome, and whom we find +filling his letters with an amusing mixture of politics, scandal, and +gossip, makes a modest request for some panthers, which the governor of +so wild a country would doubtless have no difficulty in procuring for +him. He was a candidate for the office of aedile, and wanted the beasts +for the show which he would have to exhibit. Cicero must not forget to +look after them as soon as he hears of the election. "In nearly all my +letters I have written to you about the panthers. It will be +discreditable to you, that Patiscus should have sent to Curio ten +panthers, and you not many times more. These ten Curio gave me, and ten +others from Africa. If you will only remember to send for hunters from +Cibyra, and also send letters to Pamphylia (for there, I understand, +more are taken than elsewhere), you will succeed. I do beseech you look +after this matter. You have only to give the orders. I have provided +people to keep and transport the animals when once taken." The governor +would not hear of imposing the charge of capturing the panthers on the +hunters of the province. Still he would do his best to oblige his +friend. "The matter of the panthers is being diligently attended to by +the persons who are accustomed to hunt them; but there is a strange +scarcity of them, and the few that there are complain grievously, saying +that they are the only creatures in my province that are persecuted." + +From Laodicea Cicero returned to Tarsus, the capital of his province, +wound up the affairs of his government, appointed an acting governor, +and started homewards early in August. On his way he paid a visit to +Rhodes, wishing to show to his son and nephew (they had accompanied him +to his government) the famous school of eloquence in which he had +himself studied. Here he heard with much regret of the death of +Hortensius. He had seen the great orator's son at Laodicea, where he was +amusing himself in the disreputable company of some gladiators, and had +asked him to dinner for his father's sake, he says. His stay at Rhodes +was probably of some duration, for he did not reach Ephesus till the +first of October. A tedious passage of fourteen days brought him to +Athens. On his journey westwards Tiro, his confidential servant, was +seized with illness, and had to be left behind at Patrae. Tiro was a +slave, though afterwards set free by his master; but he was a man of +great and varied accomplishments, and Cicero writes to him as he might +to the very dearest of his friends. There is nothing stranger in all +that we know of "Roman Life" than the presence in it of such men as +Tiro. Nor is there any thing, we might even venture to say, quite like +it elsewhere in the whole history of the world. Now and then, in the +days when slavery still existed in the Southern States of America, +mulatto and quadroon slaves might have been found who in point of +appearance and accomplishments were scarcely different from their +owners. But there was always a taint, or what was reckoned as a taint, +of negro blood in the men and women so situated. In Rome it must have +been common to see men, possibly better born (for Greek might even be +counted better than Roman descent), and probably better educated than +their masters, who had absolutely no rights as human beings, and could +be tortured or killed just as cruelty or caprice might suggest. To Tiro, +man of culture and acute intellect as he was, there must have been an +unspeakable bitterness in the thought of servitude, even under a master +so kindly and affectionate as Cicero. One shudders to think what the +feelings of such a man must have been when he was the chattel of a +Verres, a Clodius, or a Catiline. It is pleasant to turn away from the +thought, which is the very darkest perhaps in the repulsive subject of +Roman slavery, to observe the sympathy and tenderness which Cicero shows +to the sick man from whom he has been reluctantly compelled to part. The +letters to Tiro fill one of the sixteen books of "Letters to Friends." +They are twenty-seven in number, or rather twenty-six, as the sixteenth +of the series contains the congratulations and thanks which Quintus +Cicero addresses to his brother on receiving the news that Tiro has +received his freedom. "As to Tiro," he writes, "I protest, as I wish to +see you, my dear Marcus, and my own son, and yours, and my dear Tullia, +that you have done a thing that pleased me exceedingly in making a man +who certainly was far above his mean condition a friend rather than a +servant. Believe me, when I read your letters and his, I fairly leaped +for joy; I both thank and congratulate you. If the fidelity of my +Statius gives me so much pleasure[9], how valuable in Tiro must be this +same good quality with the additional and even superior advantages of +culture, wit, and politeness? I have many very good reasons for loving +you; and now there is this that you have told me, as indeed you were +bound to tell me, this excellent piece of news. I saw all your heart in +your letter." + +[Footnote 9: See page 277.] + +Cicero's letters to the invalid are at first very frequent. One is dated +on the third, another on the fifth, and a third on the seventh of +November; and on the eighth of the month there are no fewer than three, +the first of them apparently in answer to a letter from Tiro. "I am +variously affected by your letter--much troubled by the first page, a +little comforted by the second. The result is that I now say, without +hesitation, till you are quite strong, do not trust yourself to travel +either by land of sea. I shall see you as soon as I wish if I see you +quite restored." He goes on to criticise the doctor's prescriptions. +Soup was not the right thing to give to a dyspeptic patient. Tiro is not +to spare any expense. Another fee to the doctor might make him more +attentive. In another letter he regrets that the invalid had felt +himself compelled to accept an invitation to a concert, and tells him +that he had left a horse and mule for him at Brundisium. Then, after a +brief notice of public affairs, he returns to the question of the +voyage. "I must again ask you not to be rash in your traveling. Sailors, +I observe, make too much haste to increase their profits. Be cautious, +my dear Tiro. You have a wide and dangerous sea to traverse. If you can, +come with Mescinius. He is wont to be careful in his voyages. If not +with him, come with a person of distinction, who will have influence +with the captain." In another letter he tells Tiro that he must revive +his love of letters and learning. The physician thought that his mind +was ill at ease; for this the best remedy was occupation. In another he +writes: "I have received your letter with its shaky handwriting; no +wonder, indeed, seeing how serious has been your illness. I send you +Aegypta (probably a superior slave) to wait upon you, and a cook with +him." Cicero could not have shown more affectionate care of a sick son. + +Tiro is said to have written a life of his master. And we certainly owe +to his care the preservation of his correspondence. His weak health did +not prevent him from living to the age of a hundred and three. + +Cicero pursued his homeward journey by slow stages, and it was not till +November 25th that he reached Italy. His mind was distracted between +two anxieties--the danger of civil war, which he perceived to be daily +growing more imminent, and an anxious desire to have his military +successes over the Cilician mountaineers rewarded by the distinction of +a triumph. The honor of a public thanksgiving had already been voted to +him; Cato, who opposed it on principle, having given him offense by so +doing. A triumph was less easy to obtain, and indeed it seems to show a +certain weakness in Cicero that he should have sought to obtain it for +exploits of so very moderate a kind. However, he landed at Brundisium as +a formal claimant for the honor. His lictors had their fasces (bundles +of rods inclosing an ax) wreathed with bay leaves, as was the custom +with the victorious general who hoped to obtain this distinction. +Pompey, with whom he had a long interview, encouraged him to hope for +it, and promised his support. It was not till January 4th that he +reached the capital. The look of affairs was growing darker and darker, +but he still clung to the hopes of a triumph, and would not dismiss his +lictors with their ornaments, though he was heartily wearied of their +company. Things went so far that a proposition was actually made in the +Senate that the triumph should be granted; but the matter was postponed +at the suggestion of one of the consuls, anxious, Cicero thinks, to make +his own services more appreciated when the time should come. Before the +end of January he seems to have given up his hopes. In a few more days +he was fairly embarked on the tide of civil war. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +ATTICUS. + + +The name of Atticus has been mentioned more than once in the preceding +chapters as a correspondent of Cicero. We have indeed more than five +hundred letters addressed to him, extending over a period of almost +five-and-twenty years. There are frequent intervals of silence--not a +single letter, for instance, belongs to the year of the consulship, the +reason being that both the correspondents were in Rome. Sometimes, +especially in the later years, they follow each other very closely. The +last was written about a year before Cicero's death. + +Atticus was one of those rare characters who contrive to live at peace +with all men. The times were troublous beyond all measure; he had wealth +and position; he kept up close friendship with men who were in the very +thickest of the fight; he was ever ready with his sympathy and help for +those who were vanquished; and yet he contrived to arouse no enmities; +and after a life-long peace, interrupted only by one or two temporary +alarms, died in a good old age. + +Atticus was of what we should call a gentleman's family, and belonged by +inheritance to the democratic party. But he early resolved to stand +aloof from politics, and took an effectual means of carrying out his +purpose by taking up his residence at Athens. With characteristic +prudence he transferred the greater part of his property to investments +in Greece. At Athens he became exceedingly popular. He lent money at +easy rates to the municipality, and made liberal distributions of corn, +giving as much as a bushel and a half to every needy citizen. He spoke +Greek and Latin with equal ease and eloquence; and had, we are told, an +unsurpassed gift for reciting poetry. Sulla, who, for all his savagery, +had a cultivated taste, was charmed with the young man, and would have +taken him in his train. "I beseech you," replied Atticus, "don't take me +to fight against those in whose company, but that I left Italy, I might +be fighting against you." After a residence of twenty-three years he +returned to Rome, in the very year of Cicero's consulship. At Rome he +stood as much aloof from the turmoil of civil strife as he had stood at +Athens. Office of every kind he steadily refused; he was under no +obligations to any man, and therefore was not thought ungrateful by any. +The partisans of Caesar and of Pompey were content to receive help from +his purse, and to see him resolutely neutral. He refused to join in a +project of presenting what we should call a testimonial to the murderers +of Caesar on behalf of the order of the knights; but he did not hesitate +to relieve the necessities of the most conspicuous of them with a +present of between three and four thousand pounds. When Antony was +outlawed he protected his family; and Antony in return secured his life +and property amidst the horrors of the second Proscription. + +His biographer, Cornelius Nepos, has much to say of his moderation and +temperate habits of life. He had no sumptuous country-house in the +suburbs or at the sea-coast, but two farm-houses. He possessed, however, +what seems to have been a very fine house (perhaps we should call it +"castle," for Cicero speaks of it as a place capable of defense) in +Epirus. It contained among other things a gallery of statues. A love of +letters was one of his chief characteristics. His guests were not +entertained with the performances of hired singers, but with readings +from authors of repute. He had collected, indeed, a very large library. +All his slaves, down to the very meanest, were well educated, and he +employed them to make copies. + +Atticus married somewhat late in life. His only daughter was the first +wife of Agrippa, the minister of Augustus, and his grand-daughter was +married to Tiberius. Both of these ladies were divorced to make room for +a consort of higher rank, who, curiously enough, was in both cases +Julia, the infamous daughter of Augustus. Both, we may well believe, +were regretted by their husbands. + +Atticus died at the age of seventy-seven. He was afflicted with a +disease which he believed to be incurable, and shortened his days by +voluntary starvation. + +It was to this correspondent, then, that Cicero confided for about a +quarter of a century his cares and his wants. The two had been +schoolfellows, and had probably renewed their acquaintance when Cicero +visited Greece in search of health. Afterwards there came to be a family +connection between them, Atticus' sister, Pomponia, marrying Cicero's +younger brother, Quintus, not much, we gather from the letters, to the +happiness of either of them. Cicero could not have had a better +confidant. He was full of sympathy, and ready with his help; and he was +at the same time sagacious and prudent in no common degree, an excellent +man of business, and, thanks to the admirable coolness which enabled him +to stand outside the turmoil of politics, an equally excellent adviser +in politics. + +One frequent subject of Cicero's letters to his friend is money. I may +perhaps express the relation between the two by saying that Atticus was +Cicero's banker, though the phrase must not be taken too literally. He +did not habitually receive and pay money on Cicero's account, but he did +so on occasions; and he was constantly in the habit of making advances, +though probably without interest, when temporary embarrassments, not +infrequent, as we may gather from the letters, called for them. Atticus +was himself a wealthy man. Like his contemporaries generally, he made an +income by money-lending, and possibly, for the point is not quite clear, +by letting out gladiators for hire. His biographer happens to give us +the precise figure of his property. His words do not indeed expressly +state whether the sum that he mentions means capital or income. I am +inclined to think that it is the latter. If this be so, he had in early +life an income of something less than eighteen thousand pounds, and +afterwards nearly ninety thousand pounds. + +I may take this occasion to say something about Cicero's property, a +matter which is, in its way, a rather perplexing question. In the case +of a famous advocate among ourselves there would be no difficulty in +understanding that he should have acquired a great fortune. But the +Roman law strictly forbade an advocate to receive any payment from his +clients. The practice of old times, when the great noble pleaded for the +life or property of his humbler defendants, and was repaid by their +attachment and support, still existed in theory. It exists indeed to +this day, and accounts for the fact that a barrister among ourselves has +no _legal_ means of recovering his fees. But a practice of paying +counsel had begun to grow up. Some of Cicero's contemporaries certainly +received a large remuneration for their services. Cicero himself always +claims to have kept his hands clean in this respect, and as his enemies +never brought any charge of this kind against him, his statement may +very well be accepted. We have, then, to look for other sources of +income. His patrimony was considerable. It included, as we have seen, an +estate at Arpinum and a house in Rome. And then he had numerous +legacies. This is a source of income which is almost strange to our +modern ways of acting and thinking. It seldom happens among us that a +man of property leaves any thing outside the circle of his family. +Sometimes an intimate friend will receive a legacy. But instances of +money bequeathed to a statesman in recognition of his services, or a +literary man in recognition of his eminence, are exceedingly rare. In +Rome they were very common. Cicero declares, giving it as a proof of the +way in which he had been appreciated by his fellow-citizens, that he had +received two hundred thousand pounds in legacies. This was in the last +year of his life. This does something to help us out of our difficulty. +Only we must remember that it could hardly have been till somewhat late +in his career that these recognitions of his services to the State and +to his friends began to fall in. He made about twenty thousand pounds +out of his year's government of his province, but it is probable that +this money was lost. Then, again, he was elected into the College of +Augurs (this was in his fifty-fourth year). These religious colleges +were very rich. Their banquets were proverbial for their splendor. +Whether the individual members derived any benefit from their revenues +we do not know. We often find him complaining of debt; but he always +speaks of it as a temporary inconvenience rather than as a permanent +burden. It does not oppress him; he can always find spirits enough to +laugh at it. When he buys his great town mansion on the Palatine Hill +(it had belonged to the wealthy Crassus), for thirty thousand pounds, he +says, "I now owe so much that I should be glad to conspire if any body +would accept me as an accomplice." But this is not the way in which a +man who did not see his way out of his difficulties would speak. + +Domestic affairs furnish a frequent topic. He gives accounts of the +health of his wife he announces the birth of his children. In after +years he sends the news when his daughter is betrothed and when she is +married, and tells of the doings and prospects of his son. He has also a +good deal to say about his brother's household, which, as I have said +before, was not very happy. Here is a scene of their domestic life. +"When I reached Arpinum, my brother came to me. First we had much talk +about you; afterwards we came to the subject which you and I had +discussed at Tusculum. I never saw any thing so gentle, so kind as my +brother was in speaking of your sister. If there had been any ground for +their disagreement, there was nothing to notice. So much for that day. +On the morrow we left for Arpinum. Quintus had to remain in the Retreat; +I was going to stay at Aquinum. Still we lunched at the Retreat (you +know the place). When we arrived Quintus said in the politest way, +'Pomponia, ask the ladies in; I will call the servants,' Nothing +could--so at least I thought--have been more pleasantly said, not only +as far as words go, but in tone and look. However, she answered before +us all, 'I am myself but a stranger here.' This, I fancy, was because +Statius had gone on in advance to see after the lunch. 'See,' said +Quintus, 'this is what I have to put up with every day.' Perhaps you +will say, 'What was there in this?' It was really serious, so serious as +to disturb me much, so unreasonably, so angrily did she speak and look. +I did not show it, but I was greatly vexed. We all sat down to table, +all, that is, but her. However, Quintus sent her something from the +table. She refused it Not to make a long story of it, no one could have +been more gentle than my brother, and no one more exasperating than your +sister--in my judgment at least, and I pass by many other things which +offended me more than they did Quintus. I went on to Aquinum." (The +lady's behavior was all the more blameworthy because her husband was on +his way to a remote province.) "Quintus remained at the Retreat. The +next day he joined me at Arpinum. Your sister, he told me, would have +nothing to do with him, and up to the moment of her departure was just +in the same mood in which I had seen her." + +Another specimen of letters touching on a more agreeable topic may +interest my readers. It is a hearty invitation. + +"To my delight, Cincius" (he was Atticus' agent)" came to me between +daylight on January 30th, with the news that you were in Italy. He was +sending, he said, messengers to you, I did not like them to go without a +letter from me, not that I had any thing to write to you, especially +when you were so close, but that I wished you to understand with what +delight I anticipate your coming ... The day you arrive come to my house +with all your party. You will find that Tyrannio" (a Greek man of +letters) "has arranged my books marvelously well. What remains of them +is much more satisfactory than I thought[10]. I should be glad if you +would send me two of your library clerks, for Tullius to employ as +binders and helpers in general; give some orders too to take some +parchment for indices. All this, however, if it suits your convenience. +Any how, come yourself and bring Pilia[11] with you. That is but right. +Tullia too wishes it." + +[Footnote 10: They had suffered with the rest of Cicero's property at the +time of his exile.] + +[Footnote 11: Pilia was the lady to whom Atticus was engaged] + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +ANTONY AND AUGUSTUS. + + +There were some things in which Mark Antony resembled Caesar. At the +time it seemed probable that he would play the same part, and even climb +to the same height of power. He failed in the end because he wanted the +power of managing others, and, still more, of controlling himself. He +came of a good stock. His grandfather had been one of the greatest +orators of his day, his father was a kindly, generous man, his mother a +kinswoman of Caesar, a matron of the best Roman type. But he seemed +little likely to do credit to his belongings. His riotous life became +conspicuous even in a city where extravagance and vice were only too +common, and his debts, though not so enormous as Caesar's, were greater, +says Plutarch, than became his youth, for they amounted to about fifty +thousand pounds. He was taken away from these dissipations by military +service in the East, and he rapidly acquired considerable reputation as +a soldier. Here is the picture that Plutarch draws of him: There was +something noble and dignified in his appearance. His handsome beard, his +broad forehead, his aquiline nose, gave him a manly look that resembled +the familiar statues and pictures of Hercules. There was indeed a legend +that the Antonii were descended from a son of Hercules; and this he was +anxious to support by his appearance and dress. Whenever he appeared in +public he had his tunic gired up to the hip, carried a great sword at +his side, and wore a rough cloak of Cilician hair. The habits too that +seemed vulgar to others--his boastfulness, his coarse humor, his +drinking bouts, the way he had of eating in public, taking his meals as +he stood from the soldiers' tables--had an astonishing effect in making +him popular with the soldiers. His bounty too, the help which he gave +with a liberal hand to comrades and friends, made his way to power easy. +On one occasion he directed that a present of three thousand pounds +should be given to a friend. His steward, aghast at the magnitude of the +sum, thought to bring it home to his master's mind by putting the actual +coin on a table. "What is this?" said Antony, as he happened to pass by. +"The money you bade me pay over," was the man's reply. "Why, I had +thought it would be ten times as much as this. This is but a trifle. Add +to it as much more." + +When the civil war broke out, Antony joined the party of Caesar, who, +knowing his popularity with the troops, made him his second in command. +He did good service at Pharsalia, and while his chief went on to Egypt, +returned to Rome as his representative. There were afterwards +differences between the two; Caesar was offended at the open scandal of +Antony's manners and found him a troublesome adherent; Antony conceived +himself to be insufficiently rewarded for his services, especially when +he was called upon to pay for Pompey's confiscated property, which he +had bought. Their close alliance, however, had been renewed before +Caesar's death. That event made him the first man in Rome. The chief +instrument of his power was a strange one; the Senate, seeing that the +people of Rome gloved and admired the dead man, passed a resolution that +all the wishes which Caesar had left in writing should have the force of +law--and Antony had the custody of his papers. People laughed, and +called the documents "Letters from the Styx." There was the gravest +suspicion that many of them were forged. But for a time they were a very +powerful machinery for effecting his purpose. + +Then came a check. Caesar's nephew and heir, Octavius, arrived at Rome. +Born in the year of Cicero's consulship, he was little more than +nineteen; but in prudence, statecraft, and knowledge of the world he was +fully grown. In his twelfth year he had delivered the funeral oration +over his grandmother Julia. After winning some distinction as a soldier +in Spain, he had returned at his uncle's bidding to Apollonia, a town of +the eastern coast of the Adriatic, where he studied letters and +philosophy under Greek teachers. Here he had received the title of +"Master of the Horse," an honor which gave him the rank next to the +Dictator himself. He came to Rome with the purpose, as he declared, of +claiming his inheritance and avenging his uncle's death. But he knew how +to abide his time. He kept on terms with Antony, who had usurped his +position and appropriated his inheritance, and he was friendly, if not +with the actual murderers of Caesar, yet certainly with Cicero, who made +no secret of having approved their deed. + +For Cicero also had now returned to public life. For some time past, +both before Caesar's death and after it, he had devoted himself to +literature.[12] Now there seemed to him a chance that something might yet +be done for the republic, and he returned to Rome, which he reached on +the last day of August. The next day there was a meeting of the Senate, +at which Antony was to propose certain honors to Caesar. Cicero, +wearied, or affecting to be wearied, by his journey, was absent, and was +fiercely attacked by Antony, who threatened to send workmen to dig him +out of his house. + +[Footnote 12: To the years 46-44 belong nearly all his treatises on +rhetoric and philosophy.] + +The next day Cicero was in his place, Antony being absent, and made a +dignified defense of his conduct, and criticised with some severity the +proceedings of his assailant. Still so far there was no irreconcilable +breach between the two men. "Change your course," says the orator, "I +beseech you: think of those who have gone before, and so steer the +course of the Commonwealth that your countrymen may rejoice that you +were born. Without this no man can be happy or famous." He still +believed, or professed to believe, that Antony was capable of +patriotism. If he had any hopes of peace, these were soon to be crushed. +After a fortnight or more spent in preparation, assisted, we are told, +by a professional teacher of eloquence, Antony came down to the Senate +and delivered a savage invective against Cicero. The object of his +attack was again absent. He had wished to attend the meeting, but his +friends hindered him, fearing, not without reason, actual violence from +the armed attendants whom Antony was accustomed to bring into the +senate-house. + +The attack was answered in the famous oration which is called the second +Philippic[13]. If I could transcribe this speech (which, for other +reasons besides its length, I cannot do) it would give us a strange +picture of "Roman Life." It is almost incredible that a man so shameless +and so vile should have been the greatest power in a state still +nominally free. I shall give one extract from it. Cicero has been +speaking of Antony's purchase of Pompey's confiscated property. "He was +wild with joy, like a character in a farce; a beggar one day, a +millionaire the next. But, as some writer says, 'Ill gotten, ill kept.' +It is beyond belief, it is an absolute miracle, how he squandered this +vast property--in a few months do I say?--no, in a few days. There was a +great cellar of wine, a very great quantity of excellent plate, costly +stuffs, plenty of elegant and even splendid furniture, just as one might +expect in a man who was affluent without being luxurious. And of all +this within a few days there was left nothing. Was there ever a +Charybdis so devouring? A Charybdis, do I say? no--if there ever was +such a thing, it was but a single animal. Good heavens! I can scarcely +believe that the whole ocean could have swallowed up so quickly +possessions so numerous, so scattered, and lying at places so distant. +Nothing was locked up, nothing sealed, nothing catalogued. Whole +store-rooms were made a present of to the vilest creatures. Actors and +actresses of burlesque were busy each with plunder of their own. The +mansion was full of dice players and drunkards. There was drinking from +morning to night, and that in many places. His losses at dice (for even +he is not always lucky) kept mounting up. In the chambers of slaves you +might see on the beds the purple coverlets which had belonged to the +great Pompey. No wonder that all this wealth was spent so quickly. +Reckless men so abandoned might well have speedily devoured, not only +the patrimony of a single citizen, however ample--and ample it was--but +whole cities and kingdoms." + +[Footnote 13: The orations against Antony--there are fourteen of +them--are called "Philippics," a name transferred to them from, the +great speeches in which Demosthenes attacked Philip of Macedon. The name +seems to have been in common use in Juvenal's time (_circa_ 110 A.D.)] + +The speech was never delivered but circulated in writing. Toward the end +of 44, Antony, who found the army deserting him for the young Octavius, +left Rome, and hastened into northern Italy, to attack Decimus Brutus. +Brutus was not strong enough to venture on a battle with him, and shut +himself up in Mutina. Cicero continued to take the leading part in +affairs at Rome, delivering the third and fourth Philippics in December, +44, and the ten others during the five months of the following year. The +fourteenth was spoken in the Senate, when the fortunes of the falling +republic seem to have revived. A great battle had been fought at Mutina, +in which Antony had been completely defeated; and Cicero proposed +thanks to the commanders and troops, and honors to those who had fallen. + +The joy with which these tidings had been received was but very brief. +Of the three generals named in the vote of thanks the two who had been +loyal to the republic were dead; the third, the young Octavius, had +found the opportunity for which he had been waiting of betraying it. The +soldiers were ready to do his bidding, and he resolved to seize by their +help the inheritance of power which his uncle had left him. Antony had +fled across the Alps, and had been received by Lepidus, who was in +command of a large army in that province, Lepidus resolved to play the +part which Crassus had played sixteen years before. He brought about a +reconciliation between Octavius and Antony, as Crassus had reconciled +Pompey and Caesar, and was himself admitted as a third into their +alliance. Thus was formed the Second Triumvirate. + +The three chiefs who had agreed to divide the Roman world between them +met on a little island near Bononia (the modern Bonogna) and discussed +their plans. Three days were given to their consultations, the chief +subject being the catalogue of enemies, public and private, who were to +be destroyed. Each had a list of his own; and on Antony's the first name +was Cicero. Lepidus assented, as he was ready to assent to all the +demands of his more resolute colleagues; but the young Octavius is said +to have long resisted, and to have given way only on the last day. A +list of between two and three thousand names of senators and knights was +drawn up. Seventeen were singled out for instant execution, and among +these seventeen was Cicero. He was staying at his home in Tusculum with +his brother Quintus when the news reached him. His first impulse was to +make for the sea-coast. If he could reach Macedonia, where Brutus had a +powerful army, he would, for a time at least, be safe. The two brothers +started. But Quintus had little or nothing with him, and was obliged to +go home to fetch some money. Cicero, who was himself but ill provided, +pursued his journey alone. Reaching the coast, he embarked. When it came +to the point of leaving Italy his resolution failed him. He had always +felt the greatest aversion for camp life. He had had an odious +experience of it when Pompey was struggling with Caesar for the mastery. +He would sooner die, he thought, than make trial of it again. He landed, +and traveled twelve miles towards Rome. Some afterwards said that he +still cherished hopes of being protected by Antony; others that it was +his purpose to make his way into the house of Octavius and kill himself +on his hearth, cursing him with his last breath, but that he was +deterred by the fear of being seized and tortured. Any how, he turned +back, and allowed his slaves to take him to Capua. The plan of taking +refuge with Brutus was probably urged upon him by his companions, who +felt that this gave the only chance of their own escape. Again he +embarked, and again he landed. Plutarch tells a strange story of a flock +of ravens that settled on the yardarms of his ship while he was on +board, and on the windows of the villa in which he passed the night. One +bird, he says, flew upon his couch and pecked at the cloak in which he +had wrapped himself. His slaves reproached themselves at allowing a +master, whom the very animals were thus seeking to help, to perish +before their eyes. Almost by main force they put him into his litter and +carried him toward the coast. Antony's soldiers now reached the villa, +the officer in command being an old client whom Cicero had successfully +defended on a charge of murder. They found the doors shut and burst them +open. The inmates denied all knowledge of their master's movements, till +a young Greek, one of his brother's freedmen, whom Cicero had taken a +pleasure in teaching, showed the officer the litter which was being +carried through the shrubbery of the villa to the sea. Taking with him +some of his men, he hastened to follow. Cicero, hearing their steps, +bade the bearers set the litter on the ground. He looked out, and +stroking his chin with his left hand, as his habit was, looked +steadfastly at the murderers. His face was pale and worn with care. The +officer struck him on the neck with his sword, some of the rough +soldiers turning away while the deed was done. The head and hands were +cut off by order of Antony, and nailed up in the Forum. + +Many years afterwards the Emperor Augustus (the Octavius of this +chapter), coming unexpectedly upon one of his grandsons, saw the lad +seek to hide in his robe a volume which he had been reading. He took it, +and found it to be one of the treatises of Cicero. He returned it with +words which I would here repeat; "He was a good man and a lover of his +country." + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Roman life in the days of Cicero +by Alfred J[ohn] Church + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK ROMAN LIFE IN THE DAYS OF CICERO *** + +***** This file should be named 13481.txt or 13481.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/1/3/4/8/13481/ + +Produced by Ted Garvin, Graeme Mackreth and the Online Distributed +Proofreading Team. + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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