Nicolaus of Damascus

“ To their mind, the man who had previously enjoyed that power was out of the way, and Octavian was altogether too young and not likely to hold out against so great a tumult, with one man looking out for one thing, another for another, and all of them seizing what they could for their own gain. ”

“ Octavius received advice of various sorts from different people, as is always the case in times when a situation is obscure and unsettled, but he determined to postpone decision in the whole matter until he could see those of his friends who were preeminently mature and wise and secure the aid of their counsel also. He decided therefore to refrain from action, but to go to Rome, and having first arrived in Italy, to find out what had taken place after Caesar’s murder, and to take counsel with the people there concerning the entire affair. ”

“ In the fourth month of his stay, a freedman came from home, in excitement and dismay, sent by his mother and carrying a letter which said that Caesar had been killed in the senate by Cassius and Brutus and their accomplices. She asked her son to return to her as she did not know what the outcome of affairs would be. She said he must show himself a man now and consider what he ought to do and put his plans in action, according to fortune and opportunity. ”

“ Some were angry, thinking it an indication of power out of place in a democracy; others, thinking to court favor, approved; still others spread the report that Antonius had acted as he did not without Caesar’s connivance. There were many who were quite willing that Caesar be made king openly. All sorts of talk began to go through the crowd. When Antonius crowned Caesar a second time, the people shouted in chorus, ‘Hail, King;’ [101] but Caesar still refusing the crown, ordered it to be taken to the temple of Capitoline Jupiter, saying that it was more appropriate there. ”

“ Some said that the senate was being slaughtered by gladiators, others that Caesar had been murdered and that his army had started to pillage the city; some got one impression, others another. There was nothing clear to be heard, for there was a continuous tumult until the people saw the assassins and Marcus Brutus trying to stop the outcry and exhorting [119] the people to be of good courage, for that no evil had taken place. ”

“ The reputation which had long been attached to the Brutus family was very influential in causing the uprising, for Brutus’ ancestors had overthrown the kings who ruled from the time of Romulus, and they had first established republican government in Rome. [82] Moreover, men who had been friends of Caesar were no longer similarly well disposed toward him when they saw people who were previously his enemies saved by him and given honors equal to their own. ”

“ In point of fact, as we learn from Cicero’s letters, very few men at Rome concerned themselves at this time about Octavian because of his youth, Nicolaus is valuable here because he draws upon Octavian’s memoirs and reveals how early Octavian matured his plans to become Caesar’s successor in power as well as property. ”

“ Rome, called Lupercalia, [97] in which old and young men together take part in a procession, naked except for a girdle, and anointed, railing at those whom they meet and striking them with pieces of goat’s hide. When this festival came on Marcus Antonius was chosen director. He proceeded through the forum, as was the custom, and the rest of the throng followed him. Caesar was sitting in a golden chair on the Rostra, wearing a purple toga. At first Licinius [98] advanced toward him carrying a laurel wreath, though inside it a diadem was plainly visible. ”

“ There was profound silence then because of the unusual nature of the situation, for men’s minds were confused, everyone watching eagerly to see what bold move might first be made in such a crisis, and be the beginning of a revolution. ”

“ To obviate the confusion between the elder and the younger Caesar, which exists through the excerpt, it has been found expedient to refer to the later Augustus as Octavius uniformly until his arrival in Italy from Apollonia, when he became acquainted with the contents of Caesar’s will, and thereafter as Octavian. ”

“ Even their houses were besieged by the people, not under any leader, but the populace itself was enraged on account of the murder of Caesar, of whom they were fond, and especially when they had seen his bloody garment and newly slain body brought to burial when they had forced their way into the forum and had there interred it. ”

“ He had enjoined Atia, the youth’s mother, to take charge of his burial, but a great crowd had forced its way into the forum and had there cremated the body and interred the remains. They told Octavius that Brutus and Cassius and the other murderers had taken possession of the Capitol, and were obtaining, through the promise of freedom, the slaves as allies. On the first two days while Caesar’s friends were still panic stricken [62] many men came and joined the murderers ”

“ Philippus and Atia [159] his mother came also, at loss over the strange turn of affairs, and desiring to know what the report meant and what were Antonius’ intentions. They advised Octavian to withdraw from the city at once for a few days until the matter could be investigated and cleared up. He, unconscious of any guilt, thought that it would be a serious matter for him to conceal himself and in a way incriminate himself, for he would gain nothing toward his safety by withdrawing, while he might the more easily be destroyed in secret if he were away from home. ”

“ Avengers of Caesar were expected to appear from among those who in his lifetime had come upon good fortune at his hands or who had received from him power, riches, and valuable gifts, such as they had not hoped for even in dreams. ”

“ W. Sternkopf, Hermes 47, pp. 340-347, has shown that the versions of Appian and Florus, that Caesar had given Macedonia and Syria to Brutus and Cassius for the year 43, are incorrect. Perhaps his most cogent point is that Cicero nowhere condemns Antony and Dolabella for having diverted from Brutus and Cassius provinces originally ordained for them. In fact Cicero (Phil. 11, 27-30) endorses Brutus and Cassius for having appropriated provinces which belonged, according to written law (legibus scriptis) to others (Macedoniam alienam; Syriam, alienam provinciam) . ”

“ When the appointed day came the conspirators assembled, prepared in all respects. They met in the portico of Pompeius’ theatre, where they sometimes gathered. [Pg 38] Thus the divinity showed the vanity of man’s estate—how very unstable it is, and subject to the vagaries of fortune—for Caesar was brought to the house of his enemy, there to lie, a corpse, before the statue of one whom, now dead, he had defeated when he was alive. ”

“ Lepidus proposed that they should fight them and avenge Caesar. [133] Hirtius thought that they should discuss the matter with them and come to friendly terms. Someone else, [134] supporting Lepidus, expressed the opposite opinion, saying that it would be sacrilegious to pass by the murder of Caesar unavenged, [Pg 51] and furthermore, it would not be safe for all those who had been his friends; ‘for even if the murderers are inactive now, yet as soon as they get more power, they will go still further.’ Antonius favored the proposal of Hirtius, and voted to save them. ”

“ They declared that Caesar would give his murderers and their companions much trouble, even though he was dead, since here was a large force threatening them, with energetic men in charge of it.
Antonius and his associates before preparing for action sent a legation to parley with the forces on the Capitoline, but later, emboldened by the amount of their arms and the number of their men, they felt justified in taking full charge of the government, and ending the disturbance in the city. ”

“ While he was in the city, he was declared a patrician by the senate. [52] Octavius lived soberly and in moderation; and his friends knew of something else about him that was remarkable. For an entire year at the very age at which youths, particularly those of wealth, are most wanton, he abstained from sexual gratification out of regard for both his voice and his strength. (End of the history of Nicolaus Damascenus and of the life of the young Caesar. Concerning virtue and vice.) [53]
16.Octavius spent three months in Rome and then came and sojourned here. ”

“ Perhaps separate occasions are referred to by Nicolaus and the other writers. If a closer agreement is to be desired, ἐννέα could be altered to ἕνδεκα (Müller) . Suetonius identifies this occasion with the death of Octavius’ grandmother Julia, while Nicolaus does not expressly do so. His mention of Julia’s death in the following sentence, however, admits of the inference that the one occurrence suggested the other to his mind, and that there was therefore some connection between them.
[13] With a single exception the name Atia is written Antia throughout the excerpt. ”

“ Nicolaus is unique in stating that Octavian first approached the Seventh and Eighth Legions. Both of these were composed of veterans (Cic., Phil., 14, 27; [Pg 119] CIL 10, 4786) . Beside the fact that Octavian offered an inducement toward enlisting to the extent of 500 denarii ($80) to each man, the veterans were glad to aid him oppose Antony because of a new colony established by the latter near Casilinum (Cic., Phil., 2, 100-102) which served to make Antony unpopular with the Caesarian veterans who had a prior claim to the ground. ”

“ Then he invited them to his house and gave each of them five hundred drachmae; and the next day he called together the members of the curia and appealed to them not to be outdone in good will by the people, but to remember Caesar who had given them the colony and their position of honor. He promised that they would experience no less benefits at his own hands. [Pg 67] He showed that it was more fitting for him to enjoy their aid and to make use of their influence and arms than for Antonius to do so. ”

“ He mounted up, pushed up by his colleagues (for the place from which Caesar was accustomed to address the assembly was high) , and set the diadem down before Caesar’s feet. Amid the cheers of the crowd he placed it on Caesar’s head. Thereupon Caesar called Lepidus, the master of horse, to ward him off, but Lepidus hesitated. [99] In the meanwhile Cassius Longinus, one of the conspirators, pretending to be really well disposed toward Caesar so that he might the more readily escape suspicion, hurriedly removed the diadem and placed it in Caesar’s lap. ”

“ And so, every kind of man combined against him: great and small, friend and foe, military and political, every one of whom put forward his own particular pretext for the matter in hand, and as a result of his own complaints each lent a ready ear to the accusations of the others. ”

“ He opposed his nephew Antony in 44 and supported the senate, though he also tried to restrain the senate from declaring open war on Antony in 43. We are not told what his attitude toward Octavian was, but his opposition to Antony, his frequent support of Cicero, his desire for peace, and his friendship for [Pg 113] conservatives like L. Piso, P. Servilius Vatia, Servius Sulpicius, and Philippus make it probable that he favored Octavian’s opposition of Antony without supporting Octavian’s extreme ambitions. ”

“ He said he had been sent immediately after Caesar’s murder, and he had wasted no time on the way, so that hearing the news as quickly as possible, Octavius would be able to make his plans accordingly. He added that the relatives of the murdered man were in great danger, and it was necessary to consider first of all how this was to be avoided. The group of murderers was not small, and they would drive out and murder Caesar’s relatives. ”

“ Octavian proceeded into Campania, where many of Caesar’s veterans had settled between 59 and 49 B.C. [Pg 88] (M. Cary, Jour. Phil. 70, p. 174 ff.) , in order to discover what their probable disposition toward himself would be (App. 3, 12) . This was as early as April, 44 B.C., for on the 18th, Cicero, at Cumae, met one who had on the same day encountered Octavian at Naples (Cic., Att., 14, 10, 3) . As Nicolaus remarks below, the opportunity for levying an army did not seem to be at hand; nevertheless Octavian felt that preliminary investigations along these lines would not be out of place. ”

“ Even the city treasury, which his father had filled with funds, they had emptied within two months [141] after Caesar’s death, wasting money in large lots on any excuse that offered in the general confusion; and furthermore they were on good terms with the assassins. [142] So Octavian was the only one left to avenge his father, for Antonius let the whole matter pass, and was even in favor of an amnesty for the assassins. A number of men, [Pg 53] indeed, joined Octavian, but many joined Antonius and Dolabella also. ”