pey's support, ordered him to lay down his arms on pain of outlawry. Cæsar replied to this challenge of the Senate by leading his troops across the Rubicon, the little stream that separated Cisalpine Gaul from Italy. As he plunged into the river, he exclaimed, "The die is cast." 1 He had now declared war on the republic. West Cæsar's bold movement caught the senatorial party unawares. Pompey could not gather his legions before his audacious foe reached Rome. Finding it impossible to Cæsar masmake a stand in Italy, Pompey, with the consuls ter of the and many senators, withdrew to Greece. Cæsar did not follow him at once. He hurried to Spain and, after a brilliant campaign only six weeks in length, broke down the republican resistance in that peninsula. Having now secured Italy and Spain, Cæsar was free to turn his forces against Pompey in the East. Pharsalus, 48 B.C. The final battle took place on the plain of Pharsalus in Thessaly. Pompey's troops, though nearly twice as numerous as Cæsar's, were defeated after a severe struggle. Battle of Their great leader then fled to Egypt, only to be foully murdered. Pompey's head was sent to Cæsar, but he turned from it with horror. Such was the end of an able general and an honest man, one who should have lived two hundred years earlier, when Rome was still a free state. After Pharsalus there still remained several years of fighting before Cæsar's victory was complete. He made Cleopatra, the beautiful queen of Egypt, secure in the possession of the throne and brought that country into dependence on Rome. He passed through Asia Minor and in one swift campaign crushed a revolt headed by the son of Mithradates. The conqueror sent tidings of his victory in a laconic dispatch: "I came, I saw, I conquered." After subduing the remnants of the senatorial party in Africa, Cæsar returned home to crown his exploits by a series of splendid triumphs and to enjoy less than two years of untrammeled power. 1 Suetonius, Julius Cæsar, 32. 2 Veni, vidi, vici (Suetonius, Julius Cæsar, 37). Cæsar in B.C. 63. The Work of Cæsar The new government which Cæsar brought into being was a monarchy in all except name. He became dictator for life and held other republican offices, such as the consulship and censorship. He refused the title of king, but accepted as a civil magistrate the name of imperator,1 with which the soldiers had been wont to salute a Authority and position of Cæsar tribunes, his pliant tools. The laurel wreath, the triumphal dress, the conqueror's scepter - all proclaimed the autocrat. Cæsar used his power wisely and well. No massacres or confiscations sullied his victory. He treated his former foes with Character of clemency and even with kindness. No sooner was domestic tranquillity assured than, with restless energy, he entered on a series of far-reaching reforms. Cæsar's rule Reforms at Cæsar's measures sought to remove the economic evils which a century of discord had made so manifest. By restricting the monthly distribution of grain to those actually in Rome and in need, he tried to discourage the public charity Italy which was making the capital city a paradise for the idle and the shiftless. By planning great colonies beyond the sea, notably at Corinth and Carthage, he sought to provide farms for the landless citizens of Italy. His active mind even found time for such matters as the codification of Roman law, the construction of great public works, and the improvement of the coinage and the calendar.2 1 Hence our word "emperor." 2 Before Cæsar's reform (46 B.C.) the Roman year consisted of 12 months and 355 days. As this lunar year, like that of the Greeks, was shorter than the solar Cæsar's reforms in the provinces had an epoch-making character. He reduced taxes, lessened the burden of their collection, and took into his own hands the appointment of Reformation provincial magistrates. Henceforth oppressive of the provincial system governors and swindling publicans had to expect swift, stern punishment from one whose interests included the welfare of both citizens and subjects. By granting Roman citizenship to communities in Gaul and Sicily, he indicated his purpose, as rapidly as possible, to convert the provincials into Romans. It was Cæsar's aim to break down the barriers between Rome and her provinces, to wipe out the distinction between the conquerors and the conquered. 44 B.C. Cæsar did not live to complete his task. Like that other colossal figure, Alexander the Great, he perished before his work as a statesman had hardly more than begun. AssassinaOn the Ides of March, 44 B.C., he was struck down tion of Cæsar, in the Senate-house by the daggers of a group of envious and irreconcilable nobles, headed by Cassius and Brutus. He fell at the foot of Pompey's statue, pierced with no less than twenty-three wounds. His body was burnt on a pyre in the Forum, and his friend, Antony, pronounced the funeral eulogy. In the light of all the possibilities of beneficent government which Cæsar was revealing, his cowardly murder becomes one of the most stupendous follies recorded in history. Consequences Cæsar's death could not restore the republic. It of Cæsar's served only to prolong disorder and strife within the Roman state. As Cicero himself said, hearing the news, "The tyrant is dead; the tyranny still lives." death year, it had been necessary to intercalate an additional month, of varying length, in every alternate year. Cæsar adopted the more accurate Egyptian calendar of 365 days and instituted the system of leap years. His rearrangement made the year II minutes, 14 seconds too long. By 1582 A.D. this difference had amounted to nearly 10 days. Pope Gregory XIII modified the "Julian Calendar" by calling Oct. 5, 1582, Oct. 15, and continuing the count 10 days in advance. This "Gregorian Calendar" was adopted by Great Britain in 1752 A.D. and subsequently by other Protestant countries. It has not won acceptance in Russia and Greece. The difference between the two systems - the Old Style and the New Style - is now about 13 days. 64. Antony and Octavian The murderers of Cæsar called themselves the "liberators" of the republic. They thought that all Rome would applaud their deed, but the contrary was true. The senatorial Antony becomes Cæsar's order remained lukewarm. The people, instead of successor flocking to their support, mourned the loss of a friend and benefactor. Soon the conspirators found themselves in great peril. Cæsar's friend and lieutenant, Antony, who became sole consul after Cæsar's death, quickly made himself master of the situation. Brutus and Cassius were forced to withdraw to the provinces which had been previously assigned to them by Cæsar, leaving Antony to rule Rome as his successor. Antony's hope of reigning supreme was soon disturbed by the appearance of a new rival. Cæsar, in his will, had made A rival in the his grandnephew, Octavian,1 his heir. He now came to Rome to claim the inheritance. In that sickly, studious youth people did not at first recognize the masterful personality he was soon to exhibit. They rather reëchoed Cicero's sentiment that "the young man was to be praised, complimented, and got rid of." But Octavian easily made himself a power, winning the populace by paying Cæsar's legacies to them and conciliating the senatorial party by siding with it against Antony. Men now began to talk of Octavian as the destined restorer of the republic. Octavian, however, entertained other designs. He had never been sincere in his support of the Senate, and the distrustful young Octavian The Second Triumvirate, 43 B.C. 2 policy of that body soon converted him into an active foe. From fighting Antony, Octavian turned to alliance with him. The two antagonists made up their differences, and with Lepidus, one of Cæsar's lieutenants, as a third ally, marched on Rome at the head of their legions. The city fell again under military rule. The three men then united in the Second Triumvirate with full authority to govern and reorganize the state. The advent of this new 1 His name was Octavius, but after his adoption by Cæsar he called himself Gaius Julius Cæsar Octavianus. 2 Cicero, Letters, xix, 20. tyranny was signalized by a butchery almost as bloody as Sulla's. Cicero, who had incurred the hatred of Antony by his fiery speeches against him, was the most illustrious victim. More than two thousand persons, mainly men of high rank, were slain. The triumvirs by this massacre firmly established their rule at Rome and in the West. In the East, where Brutus and Cassius had gathered a formidable force, the triumvirs were not to win without a struggle. It took place on the plain of Philippi in Macedonia. Battles of The two battles fought there ended in the suicide Philippi, of the republican leaders and the dispersal of their troops. This was the last attempt to restore the republic by force of arms. 42 B.C. Though the republic had been overthrown, it remained to be seen who would be master of the new empire, Antony or Octavian. The triumvirate lasted for more than ten Division of years, but during this period the incompetent the Roman Lepidus was set aside by his stronger colleagues. The two remaining members then divided between them the Roman world. Octavian took Italy and the West; Antony took the East, with Alexandria as his capital. world In the western half of the empire Octavian ruled quietly and with success. Men were already congratulating themselves on the return of peace under a second Cæsar. In Octavian in a few years Octavian, from an obscure boy of the West eighteen, had grown to be one of the most powerful personalities of his age. Antony in the East In the eastern half of the empire things did not go so well. Antony was clever, but fond of luxury and vice. He had married a sister of Octavian, but he soon grew tired of her and put her away for the fascinating Cleopatra.1 The Roman world was startled by tidings that she had been proclaimed "queen of kings," and that to her and her sons had been given the richest provinces in the East. It was even rumored that Cleopatra, having enslaved Antony with her charms, planned to be enthroned as queen at Rome. . See page 185. |