Cæsarea Philippi

“ But the whole tone of the epistle suggests that Paul expected a speedy end to his case. Now at Caesarea this was out of the question. His appeal to Caesar involved a protracted process, and it is very difficult to put expressions like those e.g. of ii. 23 into such a situation. The critical outlook of Philippians does not correspond with the position of the apostle at Caesarea, nor can the latter town be said to have been a centre of vigorous Christian propaganda (i. 17) . ”

“ Six weeks later, in 36 B.C., Lepidus was accused again of plotting to slay Cæsar, and from that time he no longer belonged to the Triumvirate.
After the second battle of Philippi in 42 B.C., Cæsar took Spain and Numidia as his share of the empire, Antony Gaul and Africa. Italy was to belong to both, for it was the centre of the kingdom.
When this was settled, Antony went to Asia to put down rebellion in the different provinces, while Cæsar returned to Rome.
Now Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, had sent generals and troops to help Cassius in his war against Cæsar and Antony. ”

“ A multitude, in passion, marched to Cæsarea, where Pilate was lingering, and implored him to remove the detested images. Five days and nights they beset his palace gates; at last he appointed a meeting with them in the Circus. When they were assembled, he encircled them with soldiers; instead of resisting, they offered him their lives, and conquered. He recalled the images and ensigns to Cæsarea, where Gratus, with more consideration, had kept such abominations housed during the eleven years of his reign.
The worst of men do once in a while vary their wickednesses by good acts ”

“ Cæsarea is a city of Roman origin, since its Arabic name, Kysaréah, is evidently a corruption of its Latin one; whereas Jaffa, Sidon, and most of the others [235] along the coast, are corruptions of the Arabic or of languages anterior to the Arabic. The great mass of ruins, which was to be seen here at the beginning of the last century, exists no longer. The celebrated pasha, El Gezzàr, carried off whatever was removeable to beautify his favourite fortress of Acre. Many of the granite and marble columns that adorn the edifices which he built were taken from this place. ”

“ What he desires is sure to be granted. You will hear at once how studiously the Cæsar distinguishes him. I do not grudge it to the man; he interceded boldly for Barine; he is lauded as an able scholar, and he does not lack courage. In spite of Actium and the only disgraceful deed with which, to my knowledge, Mark Antony could be reproached—I mean the surrender of Turullius—Arius remained here, though the Imperator might have held the friend of Julius Cæsar’s nephew as a hostage as easily as he gave up the Emperor’s assassin. ”

“ After his murder a quarrel arose between rival candidates for the command of the troops—Cæsar's troops, as the assassins found to their sorrow. Antony, [11] his master of horse, finally took one half of them with him to the East, to finish Cæsar's projected campaign against the Parthians, to live in Alexandria at the feet of Cleopatra, Cæsar's royal mistress—who was not only an able and unscrupulous woman, but also the heir of a bad political tradition—to bring Egypt into the Roman Empire by annexing the Roman Empire to the Egyptian crown. ”

“ But there comes to his help a barbarian ally,—a certain Mithridates of Pergamus, a putative son of the great Mithridates of Pontus. Mithridates brings an army to Cæsar's rescue, and does rescue him. A great battle is fought on the Nile,—a battle which would have been impossible to Cæsar had not Mithridates come to his aid,—and the Egyptians are utterly dispersed. Young Ptolemy is drowned; Cleopatra is settled on her throne; and Egypt becomes subject to Cæsar. Then Cæsar hurries into Asia, finding it necessary to quell the arrogance of a barbarian who had dared to defeat a Roman general. ”

“ To the ancients, on the contrary, the amours of Antony and Cleopatra were but a dishonourable degeneration of the passion. They have no excuse for the man whom love for a woman impelled to desert in battle, to abandon soldiers, friends, relatives, to conspire against the greatness of Rome.
This very same difference of interpretation recurs in the history of the amours of Cæsar. Modern writers regard what the ancients tell us of the numerous loves—real or imaginary—of Cæsar, as almost a new laurel with which to decorate his figure. ”

“ But it fell amid the convulsions of a civil war which rent the empire of its conquerors to the foundation, and among the ruins of the Roman republic. Cleopatra, its last representative, bewitched not only the coarser Mark Antony but even the master mind of Julius Cæsar. Her charms were fatal to the life and reputation of the one; they nearly proved equally fatal to the life of the other. Besieged with her in the palace of the Ptolemies by the Alexandrine mob, Cæsar's life trembled for a while in the balance. But the Library of Alexandria was given in its stead ”

“ Cæsarius, the Saint’s younger brother, was born probably about a.d. 330. Educated in his early years at home, he studied later in the schools of Alexandria, where he attained great proficiency in mathematics, astronomy, and, especially, in medicine. On his return from Alexandria, he was offered by the Emperor Constantius, in response to a public petition, an honourable and lucrative post at Byzantium, but was prevailed upon by Gregory to return with him to Nazianzus. ”

“ Cæsar soon learned the contentions of Ptolemy and Cleopatra, the flight of the latter in consequence of the threats of the populace, and the battle about to take place between the two armies assembled at Pelusium. It had always been the Roman policy to intermeddle in the private dissensions of nations. This policy of intervention was still more in order for Cæsar with regard to Egypt, because during his first consulate Ptolemy Auletes had been declared the ally of Rome, and in his will had conjured the Roman people to have his last wishes executed. ”

“ CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR.—Cæsar was detained at Alexandria nine months in settling a dispute respecting the throne of Egypt. After a severe contest he overthrew the reigning Ptolemy, and secured the kingdom to the celebrated Cleopatra and a younger brother. Intelligence was now brought from Asia Minor that Pharnaces, son of Mithridates the Great, was inciting a revolt among the peoples of that region. Cæsar met the Pontic king at Zela, defeated him, and in five days put an end to the war. His laconic message to the Senate, announcing his victory, is famous. ”

“ Cæsar was too sensible of female charms to resist those of Cleopatra. She was then about twenty, and one of those perfect beauties, whose every feature has its particular charm, and was possessed of wit, a commanding address, and a voice singularly harmonious and insinuating. In short, Cæsar soon after sent for Ptolemy, and pressed him to receive his sister again upon her own terms. But, perceiving that, instead of her judge, he was her advocate, Ptolemy appealed to the people, and put the whole city in an uproar. ”

“ We may imagine with what longing the greedy Roman oligarchs viewed this kingdom, and how persistent was the agitation for its conquest.
Such an object Cæsar undoubtedly had in view when he sailed against Alexandria with the pretext of settling a dispute between Ptolemy and his sister Cleopatra. This fascinating woman convinced the Roman general of the justice of her cause, and was accordingly placed on the throne. Their mutual infatuation became the gossip of Rome when she afterward visited that city. Though not beautiful, the Egyptian queen was a charming woman. ”

“ Drusus shook his head.
"I believe that there are gods, who bring such creatures into the world. They are not chance accretions of atoms." And then Cæsar added, half dreamily: "You ought to be a very happy man. I was once—it was many years ago. Her name was Cornelia also."
Serious and more serious, grew the situation at Alexandria. King Ptolemæus and Pothinus came to the city from Pelusium. Cæsar had announced that he intended to examine the title of the young monarch to the undivided crown, and make him show cause why he had expelled Cleopatra. ”

“ But the crafty false-faced boy turns against Cæsar as soon as he is free to do so. Cæsar never was in greater danger; and as one reads one feels one’s self to be deprived of the right to say that no more insane thing was ever done than Cæsar did when he swaggered into Alexandria without an army at his back,—only by the remembrance that Cæsar was Cæsar. First, because he wanted some ready money, and secondly, because Cleopatra was pretty, Cæsar nearly lost the world in Egypt. ”

“ All Rome is disturbed. The account is Cæsar's account, but we imagine that Rome was disturbed. "Soldiers are recruited over all Italy; arms are demanded, taxes are levied on the municipalities, and money is taken from the sacred shrines; all laws divine and human are disregarded." Then Cæsar explains to his soldiers his wrongs, and the crimes of Pompey. He tells them how they, under his guidance, have been victorious, how under him they have "pacified" all Gaul and Germany, and he calls upon them to defend him who has enabled them to do such great things. ”

“ There was no response; a soldier stirred the prisoner to attention with the butt of his piece.
"Stand up," he said.
Wildresse, aroused, got to his great feet stupidly, looked around, caught sight of Philippa, and silently snarled—merely opened his mouth a little way till his upper lip curled back, emitting no sound whatever—then he caught sight of the green uniform of General Count Cassilis, and instantly the old glare blazed up in his eyes.
"By God, the Cossack!" he growled; and the heavy voice vibrated ominously through the room. ”

“ It was because of fear of one of these sons, Archelaus, who ruled in Judea, that Joseph and Mary, returning with the young child from Egypt, did not go to Bethlehem, but turned aside and went to Nazareth in Galilee. Sextus, the son of Pompey, who had commanded a piratical fleet on the Mediterranean, intercepting ships bound from Alexandria to Italy, was conquered by the forces of Octavian and was slain. The reputed son of Julius Cæsar and Cleopatra, Cæsarion by name, was also put to death. ”

“ But Cæsar says that here also Pompeius made a mistake, not knowing that the first onset, accompanied with running and impetuosity, gives force to the blows, and at the same time fires the courage, which is thus fanned in every way. As Cæsar was about to move his phalanx and was going into action, the first centurion that he spied was a man who was faithful to him and experienced in war, and was encouraging those under his command and urging them to vigorous exertion. Cæsar addressing him by name said, "What hopes have we Caius Crassinius, [539] and how are our men as to courage?" ”

“ One mark perhaps of the wide interval which, in Cæsar's age, had begun to separate the Roman nobility from the hungry and venal populace who were daily put up to sale, and bought by the highest bidder, manifested itself in the increasing disdain for the tastes and ruling sympathies of the lowest vulgar. No mob could be more abjectly servile than was that of Rome to the superstition of portents, prodigies, and omens. Thus far, in common with his order, and in this sense, Julius Cæsar was naturally a despiser of superstition. ”

“ In 712, Plancus took, with Lepidus, on the 1st of January, the consulship which Cæsar had destined for him. (Dio Cassius, XLVI. 53; LXVII. 16.) In the war of Perusia, he commanded the troops of Antony, who sent him, in 714, into Asia. In 719 he still governed Syria for that triumvir, and he has been accused of the death of Sextus Pompey. (Appian, Civil Wars, V. 144.) He proceeded to Egypt with Antony, to the court of Cleopatra. ”

“ He comes to meet Pompey and to share his command at the great battle that must soon be fought. We hear, too, how Cæsar sends his lieutenants into Thessaly and Ætolia and Macedonia, to try what friends he has there, to take cities, and to get food. He is now in a land which has seemed specially to belong to Pompey; but even here they have heard of Cæsar, and the Greeks are simply anxious to be friends with the strongest Roman of the day. They have to judge which will win, and to adhere to him. For the poor Greeks there is much difficulty in forming a judgment. ”

“ Lastly, if Cæsar, as will be seen afterwards, according to Plutarch, preferred being the first in a village in the Alps to being second in Rome, how could he have consented to be the second to Catiline?
The attitude of Cæsar in this matter presents nothing, then, which does not admit an easy explanation. Whilst blaming the conspiracy, he was unwilling that, to repress it, the eternal rules of justice should be set aside. He reminded men, blinded by passion and fear, that unnecessary rigour is always followed by fatal reactions. ”

“ Our only excuse for him is that he was a Roman, and that Romans were indifferent to blood. Suicide was with them the common mode of avoiding otherwise inevitable misfortune, and it was natural that men who made light of their own lives should also make light of the lives of others. Of all those with whose names the reader will become acquainted in the following pages, hardly one or two died in their beds. Cæsar and Pompey, the two great ones, were murdered. Dumnorix, the Æduan, was killed by Cæsar’s orders. ”

“ Cæsar, after the affair in Africa, goes to Rome; and the historian begins his chronicle by telling us that he is detained there "muneribus dandis,"—by the distribution of rewards,—keeping his promise, no doubt, to those veterans whom he won back to their military obedience by calling them "Quirites," or Roman citizens. [1] The sons of Pompey, Cnæus and Sextus, have collected together a great number of men to support their worn-out cause, and we are told that in the battle of Munda more than 30,000 men perished. ”