§57Futurae caedis multa prodigia extiterunt.
Many prodigies of his future murder occurred.
Olympiae simulacrum Iouis, quod dissolui transferrique Romam placuerat, tantum cachinnum repente edidit, ut machinis labefactis opifices diffugerint; superuenitque ilico quidam Cassius nomine, iussum se somnio affirmans immolare taurum Ioui.
The statue of Jupiter at Olympia, which it had been decided to dismantle and transfer to Rome, suddenly uttered such a loud laugh that the scaffolding collapsed and the workmen fled; and immediately a certain man named Cassius came up, asserting that he had been ordered in a dream to sacrifice a bull to Jupiter.
Capitolium Capuae Id. Mart. de caelo tactum est, item Romae cella Palatini atriensis.
On the Ides of March, the Capitol at Capua was struck by lightning, as was also the room of the Palatine hall-keeper at Rome.
nec defuerunt qui coniectarent altero ostento periculum a custodibus domino portendi, altero caedem rursus insignem, qualis eodem die facta quondam fuisset.
Nor were there wanting those who conjectured that by one portent danger to the master was portended from his guards, and by the other another famous murder, such as had once been committed on that very day.
consulenti quoque de genitura sua Sulla mathematicus certissimam necem appropinquare affirmauit.
Also, when he consulted him about his horoscope, Sulla the astrologer declared that a most certain death was approaching.
monuerunt et Fortunae Antiatinae, ut a Cassio caueret; qua causa ille Cassium Longinum Asiae tum proconsulem occidendum delegauerat, inmemor Chaeream Cassium nominari.
The Fortunes of Antium also warned him to beware of Cassius; for which reason he had ordered the execution of Cassius Longinus, then proconsul of Asia, unmindful that Chaerea was named Cassius.
pridie quam periret, somniauit consistere se in caelo iuxta solium Iouis impulsumque ab eo dextri pedis pollice et in terras praecipitatum.
On the day before he perished, he dreamed that he was standing in heaven beside the throne of Jupiter, and that he was kicked by him with the big toe of his right foot and cast down to earth.
prodigiorum loco habita sunt etiam, quae forte illo ipso die paulo prius acciderant.
Also, things which by chance had happened a little earlier on that very day were regarded as portents.
sacrificans respersus est phoenicopteri sanguine; et pantomimus Mnester tragoediam saltauit, quam olim Neoptolemus tragoedus ludis, quibus rex Macedonum Philippus occisus est, egerat; et cum in Laureolo mimo, in quo actor proripiens se ruina sanguinem uomit, plures secundarum certatim experimentum artis darent, cruore scaena abundauit.
While sacrificing, he was bespattered with the blood of a flamingo; and Mnester the pantomime dancer danced the same tragedy which once Neoptolemus the tragic actor had performed at the games in which Philip, king of the Macedonians, was killed; and when in the mime "Laureolus," in which the actor in rushing out from a ruin vomits blood, several understudies competed to give proof of their art, the stage overflowed with blood.
parabatur et in noctem spectaculum, quo argumenta inferorum per Aegyptios et Aethiopas explicarentur.
A spectacle was also being prepared for the night, in which the mysteries of the underworld were to be represented by Egyptians and Ethiopians.
§58VIIII. Kal. Febr. hora fere septima cunctatus an ad prandium surgeret marcente adhuc stomacho pridiani cibi onere, tandem suadentibus amicis egressus est.
On the ninth day before the Kalends of February, at about the seventh hour, hesitating whether he should rise for luncheon, as his stomach was still squeamish from the load of the previous day's food, at last at the persuasion of his friends he went out.
cum in crypta, per quam transeundum erat, pueri nobiles ex Asia ad edendas in scaena operas euocati praepararentur, ut eos inspiceret hortareturque restitit, ac nisi princeps gregis algere se diceret, redire ac repraesentare spectaculum uoluit.
When, in the covered passage through which he had to pass, some noble boys summoned from Asia to perform on the stage were preparing themselves, he stopped to inspect and encourage them; and if the leader of the troupe had not said that he was cold, he would have wished to return and exhibit the performance at once.
duplex dehinc fama est: alii tradunt adloquenti pueros a tergo Chaeream ceruicem gladio caesim grauiter percussisse praemissa uoce: 'hoc age!' dehinc Cornelium Sabinum, alterum e coniuratis, tribunum ex aduerso traiecisse pectus;
From this point the story is twofold: some relate that, as he was speaking to the boys, Chaerea struck his neck heavily from behind with a cutting blow of his sword, having first cried out, "Do this!"; and then Cornelius Sabinus, another of the conspirators, a tribune, stabbed him in the breast from the front.
alii Sabinum summota per conscios centuriones turba signum more militiae petisse et Gaio 'Iouem' dante Chaeream exclamasse: 'accipe ratum!' respicientique maxillam ictu discidisse.
Others say that Sabinus, after the crowd had been cleared away by the centurions who were in the plot, asked for the watchword in the military fashion, and when Gaius gave him "Jupiter," Chaerea cried out, "Take him at his word!" and as Gaius looked back, split his jaw with a blow.
iacentem contractisque membris clamitantem se uiuere ceteri uulneribus triginta confecerunt; nam signum erat omnium: 'repete!' quidam etiam per obscaena ferrum adegerunt.
As he lay on the ground with his limbs drawn up, crying out that he was still alive, the rest finished him off with thirty wounds; for the word of them all was "Strike again!" Some even drove their iron weapons through his private parts.
ad primum tumultum lecticari cum asseribus in auxilium accucurrerunt, mox Germani corporis custodes, ac nonnullos ex percussoribus, quosdam etiam senatores innoxios interemerunt.
At the first noise, his litter-bearers ran to his aid with their poles, and soon his German bodyguards followed, and they killed some of the assassins, and also some innocent senators.
§59Vixit annis uiginti nouem, imperauit triennio et decem mensibus diebusque octo.
He lived twenty-nine years, and ruled three years, ten months, and eight days.
cadauer eius clam in hortos Lamianos asportatum et tumultuario rogo semiambustum leui caespite obrutum est, postea per sorores ab exilio reuersas erutum et crematum sepultumque.
His body was carried secretly to the Lamian Gardens, and having been half-burned on a hasty pyre, was covered with a light sod; afterwards, it was dug up by his sisters on their return from exile, cremated, and buried.
satis constat, prius quam id fieret, hortorum custodes umbris inquietatos; in ea quoque domo, in qua occubuerit, nullam noctem sine aliquo terrore transactam, donec ipsa domus incendio consumpta sit.
It is well established that, before this was done, the keepers of the gardens were disturbed by ghosts; and also in that house in which he died, no night passed without some terror, until the house itself was consumed by fire.
perit una et uxor Caesonia gladio a centurione confossa et filia parieti inlisa.
His wife Caesonia also perished with him, stabbed with a sword by a centurion, and his daughter, who was dashed against a wall.
§60Condicionem temporum illorum etiam per haec aestimare quiuis possit.
Anyone might estimate the condition of those times even by these facts.
nam neque caede uulgata statim creditum est, fuitque suspicio ab ipso Gaio famam caedis simulatam et emissam, ut eo pacto hominum erga se mentes deprehenderet; neque coniurati cuiquam imperium destinauerunt; et senatus in asserenda libertate adeo consensit, ut consules primo non in curiam, quia Iulia uocabatur, sed in Capitolium conuocarent, quidam uero sententiae loco abolendam Caesarum memoriam ac diruenda templa censuerint.
For when the murder was made known, it was not immediately believed, and there was a suspicion that the rumor of his death had been feigned and spread by Gaius himself, so that by this means he might detect the feelings of people toward him; nor did the conspirators designate the empire for anyone; and the senate was so united in asserting their freedom, that the consuls at first convened them not in the senate-house, because it was called "Julia," but in the Capitol, and some indeed, when it was their turn to speak, voted that the memory of the Caesars should be abolished and their temples destroyed.
obseruatum autem notatumque est in primis Caesares omnes, quibus Gai praenomen fuerit, ferro perisse, iam inde ab eo, qui Cinnanis temporibus sit occisus.
Moreover, it was especially observed and noted that all the Caesars who had the praenomen of Gaius perished by the sword, beginning with the one who was killed in the times of Cinna.