Caelius

“ All was going well with him until Cicero went as governor to Cilicia in 51. Cicero seems to have felt complete confidence in him, and invited him to become his confidential political correspondent; fifteen out of his seventeen letters were written in this capacity. These letters show us the man as clearly as if we had his diary before us. Caelius is no idle scamp or lazy Epicurean; his mind is constantly active: nothing escapes his notice: the minutest and most sordid things delight him. He is bright, happy, witty, frivolous, and doubtless lovable. ”

“ Caelius had been acquitted in 56 BC, when Cicero defended him; this second trial appears to have in some way fallen through. The praetor Domitius is said to be Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus, son of Lucius, but he was much too young to have been praetor this year. The former trial of Caelius (56 BC) had been before Cn. Domitius Calvinus, hence a difficulty about this passage. For the praetor Domitius of this year is not known. ”

“ As for those, however, to whom he is not so well known because, owing to his advanced years, he has for a long time associated with us less, both in the forum and in private, they may be sure of this: whatever prestige can attach to a Roman knight - and that can certainly be very great - it has always been regarded as a strong feature in Marcus Caelius, and it is so regarded today, not only by those close to him but also by all those who for some reason have been able to come to know him. ”

“ At the time that Caelius died, that elegant youth of which he was the model, and which the verses of Catullus and the letters of Cicero have helped us to know, had already partly disappeared. There remained scarcely any of those young men who had shone in the fêtes of Baiae and who had been applauded in the Forum. Catullus died first, at the very moment when his talents were being ripened by age, and were becoming more serious and more elevated. ”

“ Caelius (or Coelius) Antipater, L., a jurist and historian contemporary with Gracchus, preferred by Hadrian to Sallust (Spart. Vit. Hadr. 16, § 6) , wrote verbis singulis, II. 48;? M. reads Caelius Rufus, M., an orator, defended by Cicero pro Caelio, II. 158; see also, possibly, I. 19
Caelius Optatus, letter of F. to, recommending Saturninus, II. 240
Caesar, a title of the Emperor designate (e.g. Marcus Caesar) but also used of the reigning emperor (e.g., I. 126) , II. 255 ”

“ Caelius also hesitated; but not altogether for the same reasons as Cicero and Sulpicius. While they anxiously asked themselves where the right lay, Caelius only sought where the superior force lay. He admitted this himself with singular candour: “In intestine quarrels,” he writes to Cicero, “as long as one struggles by legal means, and without having recourse to arms, one ought to attach oneself to the most honourable party; but when one comes to war it is necessary to turn towards the stronger, and regard the safest party as the best.” ”

“ The once notorious Milo, who had been in exile since his trial for the murder of Clodius, privately joined him; and together they raised a band of gladiators in Campania, professing to have a commission from Pompey. Milo was killed. Caelius fled to Thurii, where he tried to seduce Caesar’s garrison, and was put to death for his treachery. The familiar actors in the drama were beginning to drop. Bibulus was gone, and now Caelius and Milo. Fools and knaves are usually the first to fall in civil distractions, as they and their works are the active causes of them. ”

“ Caelius' father brought his son to Cicero, as soon as he had taken his toga virilis, to study law and oratory, and Cicero was evidently attracted by the bright and lively boy; he never deserted him, and the last letter of Caelius to his old preceptor was written only just before his own sad end. But Cicero was not the man to keep an unstable character out of mischief; he loved young men, especially clever ones, and was apt to take an optimistic view of them, as he did of his own son and nephew. Caelius, always attracted by novelty, left Cicero and attached himself to Catiline ”

“ But later in that year Metellus died, [page 429] suspected of being poisoned by his wife, who, on the ground of that suspicion, was named by Caelius Rufus, after his passion had merged in a hatred equal to that of Catullus, by the terrible oxymoron of 'Clytemnestra quadrantaria.' Her widowhood gained for her absolute license in the indulgence of her propensities, and the first use she made of her liberty was to receive Caelius Rufus into her house on the Palatine. ”

“ Some thirty-five other books of letters were known to antiquity, e.g. to Caesar, to Pompey, to Octavian and to his son Marcus.
The collection includes nearly one hundred letters written by other persons. Thus, the eighth Book ad Fam. consists entirely of letters from Caelius to Cicero when in Cilicia. When writing to Atticus Cicero frequently sent copies of letters which he had received. There is a great variety in the style not only of Cicero’s correspondents, but also of Cicero himself. Caelius writes in a breezy, school-boy style; the Latinity of Plancus is Ciceronian in character ”

“ The intrigue of Caelius Rufus with Lesbia began in 59 or 58 b.c. It was probably in the earlier stages of this liaison that the 68th poem was written, from which it appears that Catullus, at the time living at Verona, and grieving for the recent death of his brother in the Troad, had heard of Lesbia’s infidelity, and, in consideration of her previous faithlessness in his favour, was not inclined to resent it very warmly. ”

“ Illae semper amant coluntque rectum.
"There is a charming coincidence of sentiment between the fair votaries of Venus and my learned brethren: we profess law and justice; they dearly love the thing that is upright."
C. lviii. v. 1. Caeli. This is the same with Caelius Rufus, Catullus's rival in the affections of Lesbia, or Clodia, according to Achilles Statius; Plutarch calls her Quadrantaria; she was debauched by her own brother, Publius Clodius; afterwards she became the mistress of Catullus, and lastly the common strumpet of Rome. ”

“ Of course Caelius was violently angry at him for each of these acts, but since Servilius had a rather respectable body of troops in town he was afraid that he might suffer chastisement, and therefore decided to set out for Campania to join Milo, who was instituting a kind of rebellion. The latter, when it proved that he was the only one of the exiles not restored by Caesar, had come to Italy, where he gathered a number of men, some in want of a livelihood and others fearing some punishment, and ravaged the country, assailing Capua and other cities. ”

“ There is nothing which may not seem applicable to such a woman as that. The matter has been heard of, and has been the subject of universal conversation. You have long ago perceived, O judges, what I wish to say, or rather what I wish not to say. For even if such a crime was committed, it certainly was not committed by Caelius ”

“ Moreover, the brotherly friendship in which Catullus lived with Calvus, and his earlier intimate relations with Caelius and Gellius, who were all born in or about the year 82 B.C., seem to indicate that he was nearer to them in age than he would have been if born in 87 B.C. Between the age of twenty and thirty a difference of five years is not frequent among very intimate associates, who live together on a footing of perfect freedom. ”

“ The rival against whom the poet's anger is most fierce and bitter, is addressed by him as Rufus28,—the cognomen [page 424] of M. Caelius, who became the lover of Clodia in the latter part of the year 59, and was defended by Cicero in a prosecution instigated by her in the early part of 56 b.c. The speech of Cicero amply confirms the charges of Catullus as to the multiplicity of her later lovers. As, therefore, there seems no reason to doubt, and the strongest reason to accept the statement of Apuleius that the real name of Lesbia was Clodia ”

“ But, as Cicero tells us in his defence of Caelius, such charges were in those days regarded as a mere 'façon de parler,' which if made coarsely were regarded as 'rudeness' ('petulantia') , if done wittily, as 'polite banter' ('urbanitas') . Caesar must have looked upon the imputations of the 57th poem as a mere angry ebullition of boyish petulance: and he showed the same disregard for imputations made by Calvus, which, though as unfounded, were not so absolutely incredible and unmeaning. ”

“ Another legend, alluded to in a speech by the emperor Claudius (fragments of which were discovered on a bronze tablet dug up at Lyons in 1524) , represented him as an Etruscan soldier of fortune named Mastarna, who attached himself to Caeles Vibenna (Caelius Vivenna) , the founder of an Etruscan city on the Caelian Hill (see also Tacitus, Annals, iv. 65) . An important event of his reign was the conclusion of an alliance with the Latins, whereby Rome and the cities of Latium became members of one great league, whose common sanctuary was the temple of Diana on the Aventine. ”

“ This thoroughly explains the reputation that he enjoyed, and the important position he took among his contemporaries. This fiery debater, this pitiless wit, this vehement accuser would not have been altogether in his place in quiet times; but in the midst of a revolution he became a valuable auxiliary whom all parties contended for. Caelius was moreover a statesman as well as an orator, and it is for this that Cicero most frequently praises him. “I know no one, he told him, who is a better politician than you.” [199] He knew men thoroughly, he had a clear insight into situations ”

“ Cleanthes, Stoic philosopher, his wisdom, II. 63; earned his living by drawing water, II. 65
Cleopatra, H. 84; and Caesar, II. 11
Clitomachus, a Carthaginian philosopher, disciple of Carneades, second century B.C., called ancep8 by Fr., II. 48
Coelius (or Caelius) L., a little-known poet, rival of Ennius, uses chosen words, I. 5; extract from, sent (Caelius) , possibly the historian (q.v.) , I. 19; or (see Priebe, de Frontone etc.) , from the orator M. Caelius Rufu3 of Cicero's time
Commodus, succesor of M., as a baby, II. 119 f.; as a boy (apocryphal letter) , II. 317 ”

“ Caelius, 332, 338 Caelius, banker, 30 Caelius Caldus (C.) , 8 Caelius Rufus (M.) , 6, 24, 28, 76, 86, 314; letter from, 314 Caesar, see Iulius Caesar Caesius (C.) , 234, 248 Caieta, 112 Calenius (M.) , 156 Calenum, 112 Cales, 66, 72, 84, 140 Calpurnius Bibulus (M.) , 16, 18, 24, 220 Calpurnius Piso (L.) , friend of Antonius, 310 Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus (L.) , 60, 76 Camerinum, 154 Camillus, see Furius Camillus Campania, 56 Campani coloni, 68 ”

“ An emperor had but to open his veins, and in an hour he was a divinity. But the divinity which Caligula desired was not of that kind. He wished to be a god, not on Olympus alone, but on earth as well. He wished to be a palpable, tangible, living god; one that mortals could see, which was more, he knew, than could be said of the others. The mere wish was sufficient—Rome fell at his feet. The patent of divinity was in the genuflections of a nation. At once he had a temple, priests and flamens. Inexhaustible Greece was sacked again. ”

“ Caeltia was a Seraph, and Art was a Cherub. An Archangel is a Councillor and a Guardian; a Seraph is one who accumulates knowledge; a Cherub is one who accumulates love. In heaven these were their denominations.
Finaun was wise, childish, and kind, and [pg 80] between him and the little ass which drew their cart there was a singular and very pleasant resemblance.
Caeltia was dark and determined, and if he had cropped his beard with a scissors, the way Patsy Mac Cann did, he would have resembled Patsy Mac Cann as closely as one man can resemble another. ”

“ Caligula therefore remained alone at Rome to represent in the imperial palace the family which only ironically can be considered as the most fortunate in Rome. Of three generations, upon whom fate seemed to have showered all the gifts of life, there remained at his side only Claudius, the clownish old man, the plaything of slaves and freedmen, whom no one molested because all could make game of him. A madman and an imbecile,—or at least one who was reputed such by everybody,—this was all that remained of the family of Augustus seventy years after the battle of Actium. ”

“ Priests pretended to worship the gods; but what were the gods? Had not the Senate made her ancestor Augustus a god, and Tiberius, and her mad brother Caligula, and his little murdered baby, the child of Cæsonia, which had delighted its father by its propensity to scratch? If such beings were gods, to whom incense was burned and altars smoked, assuredly she need not greatly trouble herself about the inhabitants of Olympus. ”

“ A work that shows him in one of his most tragic moments, a mood he does not often exhibit, for this master of sunny nature prefers to paint sunny themes, is the Ave Caesar! Iò Saturnalia! The story of Caligula's tragic ending and the election of Claudius as Emperor seems to have had a curious attraction for the artist. He painted the theme three times, though with considerable variants, first as the Claudius, then as The Roman Emperor, and finally, and in its finest version, as the Ave Caesar! ”

“ And, not content with making gods of emperors, the Romans made goddesses of their royal women. Caligula had lived in incestuous intercourse with his sister Drusilla; nevertheless, he had her immortalized and worshiped as a divine being. This same Caligula who was a monster of depravity, insisted on being worshiped as a god in the flesh throughout the Roman empire, although the custom had been not to deify emperors until after they were dead. The cowardly and obsequious Roman senate decreed him a temple in Rome. ”