Balbus

“ Hourly he awaits the news of Cæsar's death! The stars, whose symbolism never lies, inform me that Cæsar is already dead, and the news will reach Gades tonight! But if Balbus lives, he will blame others for the murdering of Cæsar. Therefore, Balbus shall die, too! ”

“ The rapid march of events that week had taken Drusus out of himself, and made him forgetful of personal consequences; but it sobered him when he heard Curio and Cælius, his associates, telling Balbus where their wills would be found deposited if anything calamitous were to befall them. After all, life was very sweet to the young Livian. He could not at heart desire to drift off into nothingness—to stop breathing, thinking, feeling. ”

“ Material sin may be about to be committed against human law. Sempronius sees Claudius and others eating meat on a day of abstinence, which they have forgotten. He also sees Father Balbus, who has forgotten to put on an alb or a chasuble, going to the altar to say Mass. There is no obligation to call the attention of Claudius to the day of abstinence, but for the sake of respect to divine worship the attention of Father Balbus should be directed to the missing vestments. ”

“ They were my men until Tros ran off with them, hah-hah! Very clever of you, Tros, but beware next time we meet! There was three months' pay at that time owing to each man. So I suggest it would be very handsome of you, Balbus, to give each man three months' full pay of a Roman soldier. It might encourage them not to loot the house! Then, will some one go for Simon and for the committee of nineteen? Balbus, I would like to introduce them to you and to recommend them personally to your generous consideration. By the way, Tros, where are those pearls? ”

“ From Rome Balbus has written that he thinks the consul Lentulus has now gone over, and that the younger Balbus has not met him, because the latter has just heard the news at Canusium and from that town has written to him. He adds that the six cohorts which were at Alba have gone to Curius by the Minucian road, that Caesar has written to tell him so and will shortly be in Rome. So I shall follow your advice. I shall not go and bury myself in Arpinum at the present time, though, since I had wished to celebrate my son's coming of age there, I thought of leaving that as an excuse to Caesar. ”

“ Just now I am going to Formiae; perhaps there too the Furies will follow me. However according to Balbus' conversation with you my idea of going to Malta does not win approval. Can you doubt then that Caesar regards me as an enemy? To be sure I have written to Balbus telling him that you had informed me of his kindness and his suspicion. I
[Pg 350]
suspicione. Egi gratias; de altero ei me purga. Ecquem tu hominem infeliciorem? Non loquor plura, ne te quoque excruciem. Ipse conficior venisse tempus, cum iam nec fortiter nec prudenter quicquam facere possim. ”

“ One day Titius asked Balbus, whom he knew very well to be a Catholic: “What is your religion?” Balbus retorted: “What is yours?” and left him. Caius is studying Christianity with a view to embracing it, and asks Sempronius’ opinion on miracles. Sempronius, fearing the ridicule of some others present if he admits belief in miracles, says that he knows nothing about that subject. Balbus had a right to deny an answer to his questioner; but Sempronius should have replied for the edification of Caius and the honor of God. ”

“ Balbus said that Caesar was most anxious to meet Pompey (I believe it) , and to get on good terms with him. This I do not believe and I fear all his kindness is only a preparation for cruelty like Cinna's. Balbus the elder writes to me that Caesar wants nothing better than to live in safety under Pompey. I expect you will believe that. But while I write this letter on the 25th of February, Pompey may have reached Brundisium. He set out without baggage, and before his legions, on the 19th from Luceria. But that bogy-man has terrible wariness, speed and energy. The future is a riddle to me. ”

“ Paetus seems to answer him with the same good-humoured badinage. Balbus, the governor of Africa, had been to see him, he says, and he had been content with such humble fare as he feared Cicero might despise. So much, at least, we may gather from Cicero's answer.
"Satirical as ever, I see. You say Balbus was content with very modest fare. You seem to insinuate that when grandees are so moderate, much more ought a poor ex-consul like myself so to be. ”

“ He also adduces manifold proofs of design and sovereign wisdom, from a consideration of plants, land animals, fishes, and the structure of the human body; a subject on which Cicero discovers more anatomical knowledge than one should have expected. Balbus also contends that the gods not only provide for mankind universally, but for individuals. “The frequent appearances of the gods,” he observes, “demonstrate their regard for cities and particular men. ”

“ This news he carried to the Senate, who immediately threw him into prison, for speaking inconsiderately on a state affair; but when it was confirmed by letters from Paullus, he was recompensed by the Senate with land and exemption. The voices of the Fauns have been often heard, and [pg 246] deities have appeared in forms so visible, that he who doubts must be hardened in stupidity or impiety.”
Balbus, after farther arguing for the existence of the gods, from events consequent on auguries and auspices, proceeds to what is more peculiarly the doctrine of the Stoics. ”

“ Thus, the condition that the good effect must not be secured through the evil effect is verified; for, if one intends the sin of the other party as a means to the good end, cooperation is formal. Hence, if Balbus helps Claudius to get sinfully drunk, so that Claudius may go to confession the sooner, the cooperation of Balbus in the drunkenness of Claudius is formal. ”

“ Of the sons, Faustus and Balbus married and had each two children; Balbus then died. Of the daughters, Terentia Minor married Marcus and became the mother of two children. Publius and Terentia were unmarried at the death of Gaius, who had emancipated none of his children. It will be noticed:
1. The living descendants of Gaius were ten (3, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16) , his son Balbus being dead.
2. Subject to his potestās were nine (3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 11, 12, 13, 14) . ”

“ Titus does not believe in a future life, and hence does not expect it. Claudius believes in a future life, but he is so weak in virtue that he has given up all expectation of its rewards for himself. Balbus, on the contrary, is living on stolen property and intends to continue to do so, but he hopes that somehow all will turn out well in the end. Sempronius, who is associated with Balbus, intends to make a deathbed repentance and restitution. ”

“ Balbus, in order to make a living, has to associate with persons of quarrelsome character, and as a result often hears shocking disputes. Titus, a military commander, orders an enemy fortification to be bombarded, although he knows that this will involve the destruction of other property and the unavoidable killing of some non-combatants or neutrals. Caius writes a book whose purpose and natural result is edification, but he foresees that evil-minded persons will misunderstand it and take scandal. ”

“ At daybreak the most distinguished young men came out on horseback to oppose him, but many of them fell, and among them Claudius Appius, [279] a man of noble rank and good character. This naturally caused confusion in the city, and there were women shrieking and people hurrying in all directions, in expectation that the city was going to be stormed, when Balbus appeared first, coming at full [Pg 370] speed from Sulla with seven hundred horsemen. ”

“ As to Balbus, who, as you say, promotes that state of things, he is the apple of my eye. I am indeed glad that you and my friend Trebonius like each other. As to what you say about the military tribuneship, I, indeed, asked for it definitely for Curtius, and Cæsar wrote back definitely to say that there was one at Curtius's service, and chided me for my modesty in making the request. If I have asked one for anyone else—as I told Oppius to write and tell Cæsar—I shall not be at all annoyed by a refusal, since those who pester me for letters are annoyed at a refusal from me. ”

“ When Balbus decorated his theatre, in the time of Augustus, with four small columns of this stone, it was noted as an unprecedented occurrence; but, in the reign of Claudius, Callistus, a freedman of that emperor, adorned his banquet hall with thirty large columns of alabastrites. The ancient quarries were reopened by Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, to obtain material to build his mausoleum at Cairo. The four magnificent pillars of this marble that support the baldacchino over the altar in the church of San Paolo fuori le Mura, in Rome, were presented by him. Each is a monolith forty feet long. ”

“ But, by Hercules, joking apart, be is a pretty fellow: I could have wished you had taken him with you! Let me know for certain what you are doing and whether you intend coming to Italy at all this winter. Balbus has assured me that you will be rich. ”

“ In his youth, a child would have run to his arms. Now it would shrink screaming from his gaze. That was what twenty-five years with the eagles had done for Theckla the Thracian peasant.
He was listening now—for he was a man of few words—to the chatter of his centurions. One of them, Balbus the Sicilian, had been to the main camp at Mainz, only four miles away, and had seen the Emperor Alexander arrive that very day from Rome. The rest were eager at the news, for it was a time of unrest, and the rumour of great changes was in the air. ”

“ The poem to Caesar, which I had begun, I have cut short. I will write what you ask me for, since your poetic springs are running dry, as soon as I have time.
Now for the third letter. It is very pleasant and welcome news to hear from you that Balbus is soon coming to Rome, and so well accompanied! [4] and will stay with me continuously till the 15th of May. As to your exhorting me in the same letter, as in many previous ones, to ambition and labour, I shall, of course, do as you say: but when am I to enjoy any real life? ”

“ The town has considerable manufactures of cottons and hosiery, "Balbriggan hose" being well known. The industry was founded by Baron Hamilton in 1761. There is some coast trade in grain, &c., and sea-fishery is prosecuted. Balbriggan is much frequented as a watering-place in summer.
BALBUS, literally "stammerer," the name of several Roman families. Of the Acilii Balbi, one Manius Acilius Balbus was consul in 150 B.C., another in 114. To another family belonged T. Ampius Balbus, a supporter of Pompey, but afterwards pardoned by Julius Caesar (cf. Cic. ad Fam. vi. 12 and xiii. 70) . ”

“ So you must get your news from him himself. I have met Balbus: for Lepta, being anxious about the contract for the shows, took me to him. Well, he was in the place at Lanuvium, which he made over to Lepidus: and the first thing he said to me was, "I have just had a letter in which Caesar definitely asserts that he will be here before the Roman games." I read the letter. It dilated on my Cato, and he said that by reading it frequently he had increased his flow of language, and, when he read Brutus' Cato, he began to think himself eloquent. ”

“ What people they are! So Balbus is building: little he recks. But, if you ask me, is not life over and done with, when a man begins to look for pleasure rather than duty? In the meantime you slumber on. Now is the time the problem must be solved, if you mean to do anything. If you ask me what I think, I think "Gather ye roses." [24] But what's the good of going on? I shall see you at once, and I hope you
21. Statius Murcus, an officer in Caesar's army. He is mentioned again later in Fam. XII. 11, 1.
22. i.e. soldiers of Pompey, Asinius Pollio being another adherent of Caesar. ”

“ But the name of the town seems certainly Blaundus, Βλαῦνδος, or Μλαῦνδος (Stephanus, Βλαῦδος) ; see Head, Hist. Num. p. 559: and Cicero, though generally punning on names, would hardly do so here, where he is making a grave excuse.
[287] Whom he called (Letter XXIX) "a madman and a knave."
[288] C. Vergilius Balbus, proprætor in Sicily (pro Planc. § 95; Letter XXIX) . C. Octavius (father of Augustus) , in Macedonia (see p. 78) . L. Marcius Philippus was proprætor of Syria B.C. 61-59. The governor of Cilicia in the same period is not known; probably some one left in charge by Pompey. ”

“ Mommsen [27] regards it as the παλινῳδία of ad Att. iv. 5, 1, and contrasts Cicero’s tone to Caesar in this speech with his attitude in the Pro Sestio, In Vatinium, and De Haruspicum Responsis.
24. The speech Pro Balbo deals with a case similar to that of Archias. L. Cornelius Balbus, a native of Gades, and the trusted friend of Caesar, had received the civitas from Pompey, and this speech is in defence of his right thereto (B.C. 56) .
25. In Pisonem, an attack on Cicero’s enemy (consul B.C. 58) , delivered in the Senate B.C. 55. ”

“ Balbinus demurred.
"No wars!" Proculus ejaculated. "Perhaps not. Do you remember how Opsitius Tanno used to get drunk?"
"Used to," said Balbinus. "He does yet only not near so often. He'll take a notion, you can't tell when, and from beginning with the rest of us like everybody else he'll make each bowl more wine to less water until he's pouring it down pure and unmixed and the strongest in his cellar. ”