§52dilexit et reginas, inter quas Eunoen Mauram Bogudis uxorem, cui maritoque eius plurima et immensa tribuit, ut Naso scripsit; sed maxime Cleopatram, cum qua et conuiuia in primam lucem saepe protraxit et eadem naue thalamego paene Aethiopia tenus Aegyptum penetrauit, nisi exercitus sequi recusasset, quam denique accitam in urbem non nisi maximis honoribus praemiisque auctam remisit filiumque natum appellare nomine suo passus est.
He loved queens as well, among whom was Eunoe, the Moor, wife of Bogud, upon whom and her husband he bestowed many immense gifts, as Naso has written; but most of all Cleopatra, with whom he often prolonged banquets until dawn, and in the same cabin-boat would have penetrated Egypt almost as far as Ethiopia, had not his army refused to follow. At last, having summoned her to the city, he sent her back loaded with the greatest honors and rewards, and permitted her to call the son born to her by his own name.
quem quidem nonnulli Graecorum similem quoque Caesari et forma et incessu tradiderunt.
Indeed, some Greek writers have recorded that this son was also like Caesar both in form and gait.
M. Antonius adgnitum etiam ab eo senatui adfirmauit, quae scire C. Matium et C. Oppium reliquosque Caesaris amicos; quorum Gaius Oppius, quasi plane defensione ac patrocinio res egeret, librum edidit, non esse Caesaris filium, quem Cleopatra dicat.
Mark Antony affirmed to the senate that he had actually been acknowledged by him, and that Gaius Matius, Gaius Oppius, and the rest of Caesar’s friends knew this; of whom Gaius Oppius, as if the matter clearly required defense and patronage, published a book to prove that he was not Caesar’s son, whom Cleopatra claimed.
Heluius Cinna tr. pl. plerisque confessus est habuisse se scriptam paratamque legem, quam Caesar ferre iussisset cum ipse abesset, uti uxores liberorum quaerendorum causa quas et quot uellet ducere liceret.
Helvius Cinna, tribune of the plebs, confessed to several people that he had a law written and ready, which Caesar had ordered him to propose when he himself was absent, to the effect that it should be lawful to marry whatever wives and as many as he wished for the sake of raising children.
at ne cui dubium omnino sit et impudicitiae et adulteriorum flagrasse infamia, Curio pater quadam eum oratione omnium mulierum uirum et omnium uirorum mulierem appellat. §53Vini parcissimum ne inimici quidem negauerunt.
But lest anyone should have any doubt at all that he was notorious for both unchastity and adulteries, the elder Curio in a certain speech calls him "every woman's husband and every man's wife." Even his enemies did not deny that he was extremely sparing of wine.
Marci Catonis est: unum ex omnibus Caesarem ad euertendam rem publicam sobrium accessisse. nam circa uictum Gaius Oppius adeo indifferentem docet, ut quondam ab hospite conditum oleum pro uiridi adpositum aspernantibus ceteris solum etiam largius appetisse scribat, ne hospitem aut neglegentiae aut rusticitatis uideretur arguere.
There is a saying of Marcus Cato: "Of all men, Caesar alone approached soberly to the overthrow of the state." For in regard to food, Gaius Oppius shows that he was so indifferent that on one occasion, when a host served rancid oil instead of fresh at a dinner, and the others rejected it, he alone even helped himself more copiously, lest he should seem to charge his host with either carelessness or rusticity.
§54abstinentiam neque in imperiis neque in magistratibus praestitit.
He showed no integrity either in commands or in magistracies.
ut enim quidam monumentis suis testati sunt, in Hispania pro consule et a sociis pecunias accepit emendicatas in auxilium aeris alieni et Lusitanorum quaedam oppida, quanquam nec imperata detrectarent et aduenienti portas patefacerent, diripuit hostiliter.
For as some have testified in their records, when proconsul in Spain, he accepted money begged from the allies to help pay his debts, and plundered several towns of the Lusitanians in a hostile manner, although they did not refuse his commands and opened their gates to him on his arrival.
in Gallia fana templaque deum donis referta expilauit, urbes diruit saepius ob praedam quam ob delictum; unde factum, ut auro abundaret ternisque milibus nummum in libras promercale per Italiam prouinciasque diuenderet.
In Gaul he plundered sanctuaries and temples of the gods filled with offerings, and demolished cities more often for the sake of booty than for any wrongdoing; whence it came about that he abounded in gold, and sold it throughout Italy and the provinces at three thousand sesterces a pound.
in primo consulatu tria milia pondo auri furatus e Capitolio tantundem inaurati aeris reposuit.
In his first consulship he stole three thousand pounds of gold from the Capitol and replaced it with the same weight of gilded bronze.
societates ac regna pretio dedit, ut qui uni Ptolemaeo prope sex milia talentorum suo Pompeique nomine abstulerit.
He sold alliances and kingdoms for money, being one who took from Ptolemy alone nearly six thousand talents in his own name and that of Pompey.
postea uero euidentissimis rapinis ac sacrilegis et onera bellorum ciuilium et triumphorum ac munerum sustinuit impendia.
Afterwards, indeed, by most obvious robberies and sacrileges, he supported both the burdens of the civil wars and the expenses of his triumphs and public shows.
§55Eloquentia militarique re aut aequauit praestantissimorum gloriam aut excessit.
In eloquence and military affairs, he either equaled or surpassed the glory of the most eminent.
post accusationem Dolabellae haud dubie principibus patronis adnumeratus est.
After his prosecution of Dolabella, he was undoubtedly numbered among the leading advocates.
certe Cicero ad Brutum oratores enumerans negat se uidere, cui debeat Caesar cedere, aitque eum elegantem, splendidam quoque atque etiam magnificam et generosam quodam modo rationem dicendi tenere; et ad Cornelium Nepotem de eodem ita scripsit:
'quid? oratorem quem huic antepones eorum, qui nihil aliud egerunt? quis sententiis aut acutior aut crebrior? quis uerbis aut ornatior aut elegantior?' genus eloquentiae dum taxat adulescens adhuc Strabonis Caesaris secutus uidetur, cuius etiam ex oratione, quae inscribitur 'pro Sardis,' ad uerbum nonnulla transtulit in diuinationem suam.
Certainly, Cicero, enumerating orators to Brutus, says he does not see to whom Caesar ought to yield, and says that he possesses an elegant, splendid, and even magnificent and noble style of speaking; and he wrote thus to Cornelius Nepos about him: "What? Which of those who have done nothing else would you place before this orator? Who is more acute or more frequent in thoughts? Who is more ornate or elegant in words?" He seems, at least while still a young man, to have followed the style of Caesar Strabo, from whose speech entitled "For the Sardinians" he even transferred some passages word for word into his own preliminary inquiry.
pronuntiasse autem dicitur uoce acuta, ardenti motu gestuque, non sine uenustate.
He is said to have delivered his speeches with a high-pitched voice, passionate movement and gesture, and not without grace.
orationes aliquas reliquit, inter quas temere quaedam feruntur.
He left behind some speeches, among which some are falsely attributed to him.
'pro Quinto Metello' non immerito Augustus existimat magis ab actuaris exceptam male subsequentibus uerba dicentis, quam ab ipso editam; nam in quibusdam exemplaribus inuenio ne inscriptam quidem 'pro Metello,' sed 'quam scripsit Metello,' cum ex persona Caesaris sermo sit Metellum seque aduersus communium obtrectatorum criminationes purgantis.
Augustus reasonably considers that "For Quintus Metellus" was rather taken down by shorthand writers who poorly followed the words of the speaker, than published by himself; for in some copies I find it is not even inscribed "For Metellus," but "Which he wrote for Metellus," since the speech is in the character of Caesar defending Metellus and himself against the charges of their common detractors.
'apud milites' quoque 'in Hispania' idem Augustus uix ipsius putat, quae tamen duplex fertur: una quasi priore habita proelio, altera posteriore, quo Asinius Pollio ne tempus quidem contionandi habuisse eum dicit subita hostium incursione.
The speech "To the Soldiers in Spain" is also scarcely thought by the same Augustus to be his, which nevertheless is circulated in two versions: one as if delivered before the first battle, the other before the second, in which Asinius Pollio says he did not even have time to make an address because of the sudden incursion of the enemy.