§29Commotus his Caesar ac iudicans, quod saepe ex eo auditum ferunt, difficilius se principem ciuitatis a primo ordine in secundum quam ex secundo in nouissimum detrudi, summa ope restitit, partim per intercessores tribunos, partim per Seruium Sulpicium alterum consulem.
Caesar, disturbed by these things and judging (as they say was often heard from him) that it was more difficult for him, the first man of the state, to be thrust down from the first rank to the second than from the second to the lowest, resisted with all his might, partly through the tribunes who vetoed, and partly through Servius Sulpicius, the other consul.
insequenti quoque anno Gaio Marcello, qui fratri patrueli suo Marco in consulatu successerat, eadem temptante collegam eius Aemilium Paulum Gaiumque Curionem uiolentissimum tribunorum ingenti mercede defensores parauit.
In the following year also, when Gaius Marcellus, who had succeeded his cousin Marcus in the consulship, was attempting the same things, Caesar secured as defenders, with an immense bribe, Marcellus' colleague Aemilius Paulus and Gaius Curio, the most violent of the tribunes.
sed cum obstinatius omnia agi uideret et designatos etiam consules e parte diuersa, senatum litteris deprecatus est, ne sibi beneficium populi adimeretur, aut ut ceteri quoque imperatores ab exercitibus discederent; confisus, ut putant, facilius se, simul atque libuisset, ueteranos conuocaturum quam Pompeium nouos milites.
But when he saw that everything was being conducted more obstinately, and that even the consuls-elect were of the opposite party, he petitioned the senate by letter that his privilege granted by the people should not be taken away, or that the other commanders also should leave their armies; trusting, as they think, that he would more easily summon his veterans, as soon as he pleased, than Pompey would raise new soldiers.
cum aduersariis autem pepigit, ut dimissis octo legionibus Transalpinaque Gallia duae sibi legiones et Cisalpina prouincia uel etiam una legio cum Illyrico concederetur, quoad consul fieret.
Moreover, he bargained with his adversaries that, having dismissed eight legions and Transalpine Gaul, two legions and the Cisalpine province, or even one legion with Illyricum, should be granted to him until he should become consul.
§30uerum neque senatu interueniente et aduersariis negantibus ullam se de re publica facturos pactionem, transiit in citeriorem Galliam, conuentibusque peractis Rauennae substitit, bello uindicaturus si quid de tribunis plebis intercedentibus pro se grauius a senatu constitutum esset.
But since the senate did not intervene and his adversaries denied that they would make any pact concerning the state, he crossed into Citerior Gaul, and having completed the judicial assemblies, he stopped at Ravenna, intending to avenge by war if any harsher measure should be decreed by the senate against the tribunes of the plebs who were vetoing on his behalf.
Et praetextum quidem illi ciuilium armorum hoc fuit; causas autem alias fuisse opinantur.
And this indeed was his pretext for civil war; but it is thought that there were other causes.
Gnaeus Pompeius ita dictitabat, quod neque opera consummare, quae instituerat, neque populi expectationem, quam de aduentu suo fecerat, priuatis opibus explere posset, turbare omnia ac permiscere uoluisse.
Gnaeus Pompey used to say that because Caesar could neither complete the works which he had begun, nor satisfy the expectation of the people which he had excited concerning his return, with his private resources, he had wished to throw everything into confusion and disorder.
alii timuisse dicunt, ne eorum, quae primo consulatu aduersus auspicia legesque et intercessiones gessisset, rationem reddere cogeretur; cum M. Cato identidem nec sine iure iurando denuntiaret delaturum se nomen eius, simul ac primum exercitum dimisisset; cumque uulgo fore praedicarent, ut si priuatus redisset, Milonis exemplo circumpositis armatis causam apud iudices diceret.
Others say that he feared lest he should be forced to render an account of those things which he had done in his first consulship against the auspices, the laws, and the vetoes; since Marcus Cato repeatedly and not without an oath declared that he would indict him as soon as he had dismissed his army; and since it was commonly predicted that, if he returned as a private citizen, he would, after the example of Milo, plead his cause before the judges surrounded by armed men.
quod probabilius facit Asinius Pollio, Pharsalica acie caesos profligatosque aduersarios prospicientem haec eum ad uerbum dixisse referens: 'hoc uoluerunt; tantis rebus gestis Gaius Caesar condemnatus essem, nisi ab exercitu auxilium petissem. '
quidam putant captum imperii consuetudine pensitatisque suis et inimicorum uiribus usum occasione rapiendae dominationis, quam aetate prima concupisset.
This Asinius Pollio makes more probable, relating that when Caesar looked upon his adversaries slain and routed at the battle of Pharsalus, he said these very words: 'They wished this; I, Gaius Caesar, after having performed such great exploits, would have been condemned, had I not sought aid from my army.' Some think that, having been captivated by the habit of command and having weighed his own strength and that of his enemies, he took the opportunity of seizing the supreme power which he had coveted in his early youth.
quod existimasse uidebatur et Cicero scribens de Officiis tertio libro semper Caesarem in ore habuisse Euripidis uersus, quos sic ipse conuertit:
"
nam si uiolandum est ius, regnandi gratia
uiolandum est: aliis rebus pietatem colas. "
Cicero also seemed to have thought this when writing in the third book of "On Duties" that Caesar always had on his lips the verses of Euripides, which he himself translated thus: "For if justice must be violated, for the sake of reigning it must be violated; in other matters you may cultivate piety.
§31Cum ergo sublatam tribunorum intercessionem ipsosque urbe cessisse nuntiatum esset, praemissis confestim clam cohortibus, ne qua suspicio moueretur, et spectaculo publico per dissimulationem interfuit et formam, qua ludum gladiatorium erat aedificaturus, considerauit et ex consuetudine conuiuio se frequenti dedit.
"When, therefore, it was reported that the veto of the tribunes had been removed and that they themselves had left the city, having immediately sent forward some cohorts secretly, lest any suspicion should be raised, he both attended a public spectacle in disguise and considered the plan on which he was to build a gladiatorial school, and, according to his custom, gave himself up to a crowded banquet.
dein post solis occasum mulis e proximo pistrino ad uehiculum iunctis occultissimum iter modico comitatu ingressus est; et cum luminibus extinctis decessisset uia, diu errabundus tandem ad lucem duce reperto per angustissimos tramites pedibus euasit.
Then, after sunset, having yoked mules from a neighboring mill to a carriage, he entered upon a most secret journey with a moderate retinue; and when, the lights being extinguished, he had lost his way, after wandering for a long time, at last at daybreak, having found a guide, he escaped on foot through very narrow paths.
consecutusque cohortis ad Rubiconem flumen, qui prouinciae eius finis erat, paulum constitit, ac reputans quantum moliretur, conuersus ad proximos: 'etiam nunc,' inquit, 'regredi possumus; quod si ponticulum transierimus, omnia armis agenda erunt. ' §32cunctanti ostentum tale factum est.
Having overtaken his cohorts at the river Rubicon, which was the boundary of his province, he stood still for a little while, and reflecting on how great an enterprise he was undertaking, he turned to those nearest him: 'Even now,' he said, 'we can return; but if we cross the little bridge, everything must be done by arms.' As he hesitated, the following portent happened.
quidam eximia magnitudine et forma in proximo sedens repente apparuit harundine canens; ad quem audiendum cum praeter pastores plurimi etiam ex stationibus milites concurrissent interque eos et aeneatores, rapta ab uno tuba prosiliuit ad flumen et ingenti spiritu classicum exorsus pertendit ad alteram ripam.
A person of extraordinary size and beauty suddenly appeared sitting nearby, playing on a reed pipe; when, in order to hear him, not only shepherds but also very many soldiers from the outposts had run together, and among them also some trumpeters, having snatched a trumpet from one of them, he leaped forward to the river, and having begun a blast with a mighty breath, he proceeded to the other bank.
tunc Caesar: 'eatur,' inquit, 'quo deorum ostenta et inimicorum iniquitas uocat.
Then Caesar: 'Let us go,' he said, 'whither the portents of the gods and the injustice of our enemies call us.
iacta alea est,' inquit.
The die is cast,' he said.