Dio's Rome, Volume 3

[B.C. 32 (a. u. 722)]

Meanwhile they were collecting money avowedly for some different purpose and were making all other preparations for war as if against other persons, until the time that Gnaeus Domitius and Gaius Sosius, both belonging to Antony's party, became consuls. Then they made no further concealment, but admitted their alienation outright. It happened in the following way.

Domitius did not openly attempt any radical measures, since he had had the experience of many calamities. Sosius, however, had never experienced such evils, and so on the very first day of the month he spoke at length in praise of Antony and inveighed forcibly against Caesar. Indeed, he would have immediately introduced measures against the latter, had not Nonius Balbus, a tribune, prevented it. Caesar had suspected what he was going to do and wished neither to permit it to come to pass nor by offering opposition to appear to be commencing war; hence he did not enter the senate at this time nor even live in the city at all, but invented some excuse which took him out of town. He was not only influenced by the above considerations but desired to deliberate at leisure according to the reports brought to him and decide by mature reflection upon the proper course. Later he returned and convened the senate; he was surrounded by a guard of soldiers and friends who had daggers concealed, and sitting between the consuls upon his chair of state he spoke at length, and calmly, from where he sat regarding his own position, and brought many accusations against Sosius and Antony. When neither of the consuls themselves nor any one else ventured to utter a word, he bade them come together again on a specified day, giving them to understand that he would prove by certain documents that Antony was in the wrong. The consuls did not dare to reply to him and could not endure to be silent, and therefore secretly left the city before the time came for them to appear again; after that they took their way to Antony, followed by not a few of the senators who were left. Caesar on learning this declared, to prevent its appearing that he had been abandoned by them as a result of some injustice, that he had sent them out voluntarily and that he granted the rest who so wished permission to depart unarmed to Antony.

[-3-] This action of theirs just mentioned was counterbalanced by the arrival of others who had fled from Antony to Caesar—among them Titius and Plancus, though they were honored by Antony among the foremost and knew all his secrets. Their desertion was due to some friction between themselves and the Roman leader, or perhaps they were disgusted in the matter of Cleopatra: at any rate they left soon after the consuls had taken the final step and Caesar in the latter's absence had convened the senate and read and spoken all that he wished, upon hearing of which Antony assembled a kind of senate from the ranks of his followers, and after considerable talk on both sides of the question took up the war and renounced his connection with Octavia. Caesar was very glad to receive the pair and learned from them about Antony's condition, what he was doing, what he had in mind, what was written in his will, and the name of the man that had it; for they had taken part in sealing it. He became still more violently enraged from this cause and did not shrink from searching for the document, seizing it, and then carrying it into the senate and subsequently the assembly, and reading it. The clauses contained in it were of such a nature that his most lawless behavior brought upon him no reproach from the citizens. The writer had asseverated the fact that Caesarion was truly sprung from Caesar, had given some enormous presents to his children by the Egyptian queen, who were being reared by him, and had ordered that his body be buried in Alexandria and by her side.

[-4-] This made the Romans in their indignation believe that the other reports circulated were also true,—viz., that if Antony should prevail, he would bestow their city upon Cleopatra and transfer the seat of power to Egypt. And thereat they became so angry that all, not only such as disliked him or were indifferent to the two men, censured him, but even his most intimate friends did so severely. For in consternation at what was read and eager to relieve themselves of the suspicion felt toward them by Caesar, they said the same as the rest. They deprived him of the consulship, to which he had been previously elected, and of all his remaining authority. They did not declare him an enemy in so many words, because they feared its effect on his adherents, since it would be necessary that they also be held in the position of enemies in case they should not abandon him; but by action they showed their attitude as plainly as possible. For they voted to the men arrayed on his side pardon and praise if they would abandon him, and declared war outright upon Cleopatra, put on their military cloaks as though he were close at hand, and went to the temple of Bellona where they performed through Caesar as fetialis all the rites preliminary to war in the customary fashion. These were stated to refer to Cleopatra, but their real bearing was on Antony. [-5-] She had enslaved him so absolutely that she persuaded him to act as gymnasiarch58 to the Alexandrians; and she was saluted by him as "queen" and "mistress," had Roman soldiers in her body-guard, and all of these inscribed her name upon their shields. She used to frequent the market-place with him, joined him in the management of festivals, in the hearing of lawsuits, and in riding; and in the cities she was actually carried in a chair, while Antony accompanied her on foot along with the eunuchs. He also termed his head-quarters "the palace", sometimes wore an Oriental dagger at his belt, dressed in a manner not in accordance with the customs of his native land, and let himself be seen even in public upon a gilded couch and a chair of similar appearance. He joined her in sitting for paintings and statues, he representing Osiris and Dionysus, and she Selene and Isis. This more than all made him seem to have become crazed by her through some enchantment. She so charmed and enthralled not only him but all the rest who had any influence with him that she conceived the hope of ruling the Romans, and made her greatest vow, whenever she took any oath, that of dispensing justice on the Capitol.

[-6-] This was the reason that they voted for war against Cleopatra, but they made no such declaration against Antony, knowing well that he would be made hostile in any case, for he was certainly not going to betray her and espouse Caesar's cause. And they wished to have this additional reproach to heap upon him, that he had voluntarily taken up war in behalf of the Egyptian woman against his native country, though no ill treatment had been accorded him personally at home.

Now the men of fighting age were being rapidly assembled on both sides, money was being collected from all quarters, and all warlike equipment was being gathered with speed. The entire armament distinctly surpassed in size anything previous. All the following nations coöperated with one side or the other in this war. Caesar had Italy—he attached to his cause even all those who had been placed in colonies by Antony, partly by frightening them on account of their small numbers and partly by conferring benefits; among other things that he did was to settle again as an act of his own the men who inhabited Bononia, so that they might seem to be his colonists. His allies, then, were Italy, Gaul, Spain, Illyricum, the Libyans,—both those who had long since accepted Roman sway (except those about Cyrene), and those that had belonged to Bogud and Bocchus,—Sardinia, Sicily, and the rest of the islands adjacent to the aforementioned divisions of the mainland. On Antony's side were the regions obeying Rome in continental Asia, the regions of Thrace, Greece, Macedonia, the Egyptians, the Cyrenaeans together with the surrounding country, the islanders dwelling near them, and practically all the princes and potentates who were neighbors to that part of the Roman empire then under his control,—some taking the field themselves and others being represented by troops. And so enthusiastic were the outside contingents on both sides that they confirmed by oath their alliance with each man.

[-7-] Such was the strength of the contestants. Antony took an oath to his own soldiers that he would fight without quarter and further promised that within two months after his victory he would give up his entire power and commit it to the senate and the people: some of them with difficulty persuaded him to do so only when six months had elapsed, so that he might be able to settle matters leisurely. And he, however far he was from seriously contemplating such an act, yet made the offer to strengthen the belief that he was certainly and without fail going to conquer. He saw that his own force was much superior in numbers and hoped to weaken that of his opponent by bribes. He sent gold in every direction, most of all into Italy, and especially to Rome; and he tempted his opponents individually, trying to win followers. As a result Caesar kept the more vigilant watch and gave money to his soldiers.

[-8-] Such was the vigor and the equipment of the two; and meantime all sorts of stories were circulated by men, and from the gods also there were many plain indications. An ape entered the temple of Ceres during a certain service, and tumbled about everything in the building. An owl flew first upon the temple of Concord and then upon practically all the other holiest buildings, and finally after being driven away from every other spot settled upon the temple of the Genius Populi and was not caught, and did not depart until late in the day. The chariot of Jupiter was demolished in the Roman hippodrome, and for many days a flash would rise over the sea toward Greece and dart up into the firmament. Many unfortunate accidents also were caused by storm: a trophy standing upon the Aventine fell, a statue of Victory was dislodged from the back wall of the theatre, and the wooden bridge was broken down completely. Many objects were destroyed by fire, and moreover there was a fierce volcanic discharge from Aetna which damaged cities and fields. On seeing and hearing these things the Romans remembered also about the serpent, because he too had doubtless indicated something about the situation confronting them. A little before this a great two-headed serpent, eighty-five feet long, had suddenly appeared in Etruria and after doing much damage had been killed by lightning. This had a bearing upon all of them. The chief force engaged on both sides alike was made up of Romans, and many were destined at that juncture to perish in each army, and then all of the survivors to become the property of the victor. Antony was given omens of defeat beforehand by the children in Rome; without any one's having suggested it they formed two parties, of which one called itself the Antonians and the other the Caesarians, and they fought with each other for two days, when those that bore Antony's name were defeated. His death was portended by what happened to one of his images set up as an offering in the temple of Jupiter at Albanum; although it was stone it sent forth streams of blood.

[-9-] All alike were excited over these events, yet in that year nothing further took place. Caesar was busied settling matters in Italy, especially when he discovered the presence of money sent by Antony, and so could not go to the front before winter. His rival started out with the intention of carrying the war into Italy before they suspected his movements, but when he came to Corcyra and ascertained that the advance guard of ships sent to reconnoitre his position was hiding in the vicinity of the mountains of Ceraunia, he conceived the idea that Caesar himself with all his fleet had arrived; hence he would proceed no farther. Instead, he sailed back to the Peloponnesus, the season being already late autumn, and passed the winter at Patrae, distributing the soldiers in every direction to the end that they might keep guard over the various districts and secure more easily an abundance of provisions. Meanwhile volunteers from each party went over to both sides, senators as well as others, and Lucius Messius was caught as a spy by Caesar. He released the man in spite of his being one of those previously captured at Perusia, but first showed him all his power. To Antony Caesar sent a letter, bidding him either withdraw from the sea a day's journey on horseback, and grant him the free privilege of coming to him by boat on condition that they should meet within five days, or else to cross over to Italy himself on the same terms. Antony made a great deal of fun of him and said: "Who will be our arbitrator, if the compact is transgressed in any way?" And Caesar did not expect that his demands would receive compliance, but hoped to inspire his own soldiers with courage and his opponents with terror by this act.

[B.C. 31 (a. u. 723)]

[-10-] As consuls for the next year after this Caesar and Antony had been appointed at the time when they settled the offices for eight years at once59; and this was the last year of the period: and as Antony had been deposed,—a fact which I stated,60—Valerius Messala, who had once been proscribed by them,61 became consul with Caesar. About this time a madman rushed into the theatre at one of the festivals, seized the crown of the former Caesar and put it on, whereupon he was torn to pieces by the bystanders. A wolf that darted into the temple of Fortune was caught and killed, and at the hippodrome during the very contest of the horses a dog overpowered and devoured another dog. Fire also consumed a considerable portion of the hippodrome, the temple of Ceres, another shrine dedicated to Spes, besides a large number of other structures. The freedmen were thought to have caused this. All of them who were in Italy and possessed property worth five myriads62 or more had been ordered to contribute an eighth of it. The result was numerous riots, murders, and firing of buildings on their part, and they were not brought to order until they were subdued by armed force. After this the freedmen who held any land in Italy grew frightened and kept quiet: they had been ordered, too, to give a quarter of their annual income, and though they were on the point of rebelling against this extortion, they were not bold enough after the demonstration mentioned to show further insubordination, but reluctantly made their contribution without disputing the matter. Therefore it was believed that the fire was due to a plot originated by the freedmen: yet this did not prevent it from being recorded among the great portents, because of the number of buildings burned.

[-11-] Disregarding such omens as had appeared to them they neither felt fear nor displayed less hostility but spent the winter in employing spies and annoying each other. Caesar had set sail from Brundusium and proceeded as far as Corcyra, intending to attack the ships near Actium while off their guard, but he encountered rough weather and received damage which caused him to withdraw. When spring came, Antony made no move at any point: the crews that manned the triremes were made up of all kinds of nations, and as they had been wintering at a distance from him they had secured no practice and had been diminished in numbers by disease and desertions; Agrippa also had seized Methone by storm, had killed Bogud there, was watching for merchant vessels to come to land, and was making descents from time to time on various parts of Greece, which caused Antony extreme disturbance. Caesar in turn was encouraged by this and wished to employ as soon as possible the energy of the army, which was trained to a fine point, and to carry on the war in Greece near his rival's supporters rather than in Italy near Rome. Therefore he collected all his soldiers who were of any value, and all of the men of influence, both senators and knights, at Brundusium. He wished to have the first to coöperate with him and to keep the second from being alone and acting in any revolutionary way, but chiefly he wished to show mankind that the largest and strongest element among the Romans was in accord with him. Therefore he ordered all to bring with them a stated number of servants and that, except the soldiers, they should also carry food for themselves; after this with the entire array he crossed the Ionian Gulf. [-12-] He was leading them not to the Peloponnesus or against Antony, but to Actium, where the greater part of his rival's fleet was at anchor, to see if he could gain possession of it, willing or unwilling, in advance. Consequently he disembarked the cavalry under the shadow of the Ceraunian mountains and sent them to the point mentioned, while he himself with his ships seized Corcyra, deserted by the garrisons within it, and came to a stop in the so-called Sweet Harbor: it is so named because it is made sweet by the river emptying into it. There he established a naval station and from there he set out to sail to Actium. No one came out to meet him or would hold parley with him, though he urged them to do one of two things,—come to an agreement or come into battle. But the first alternative they would not accept through distrust, nor the second, through fear. He then occupied the site where Nicopolis now stands and took up a position on a high piece of ground there from which there is a view over all the outer sea near Paxa, over the inner Ambracian Gulf, and the intermediary water (on which are the harbors near Nicopolis) alike. This spot he strengthened and constructed walls from it down to Comarus, the outer harbor, so that he commanded Actium with his camp and his fleet, by land and sea. I have heard the report that he transferred triremes from the outer sea to the gulf through the fortifications, using newly flayed hides smeared with olive oil instead of hauling-engines. However, I can find no exploit recorded of these ships in the gulf and therefore I am unable to trust the tradition; for it was certainly no small task to draw triremes on hides over a long and uneven tract of land. Still, it is said to have been performed. Actium is a place sacred to Apollo and is located in front of the mouth of the narrows leading into the Ambracian Gulf opposite the harbors at Nicopolis. These narrows are of uniform breadth, though closely confined, for a long distance, and both they and all the waters outside the entrance are fit for ships to come to anchor in and lie in wait. This space the adherents of Antony had occupied in advance, had built towers on each side of the mouth, and had taken up the intervening space with ships so that they could both sail out and retreat with security. The men were bivouacked on the farther side of the narrows, along by the sanctuary, on an extensive level area quite suitable for either battle or encampment. The nature of the place made them far more subject to disease both in winter and in summer.

[-13-] As soon as Antony ascertained Caesar's arrival, he did not delay, but hastened to Actium with his followers. He reached there in a short time but did not at once risk an encounter, though Caesar was constantly marshaling his infantry in front of the camp, often making dashes at them with his ships and beaching their transports; for his object was to join battle with only such as were present, before Antony's entire command assembled. For this very reason the latter was unwilling to risk his all, and he had recourse for several days to trials and skirmishes until he had gathered his legions. With these, especially since Caesar no longer displayed an equal readiness to assail them, he crossed the narrows and encamped not far from him, after which he sent cavalry around the gulf and besieged him on both sides. Caesar himself remained quiet, and did not take any risks which he could avoid, but sent a detachment into Greece and Macedonia with the intention of drawing Antony off in that direction. While they were so engaged Agrippa sailed suddenly to Leucas and captured the vessels there, took Patrae by conquering Quintus Nasidius in a fight at sea, and later also reduced Corinth. Following upon these events Marcus Titius and Statilius Taurus made a sudden charge upon Antony's cavalry, which they defeated, and won over Philadelphus, king of Paphlagonia. Meantime, also, Gnaeus Domitius, having some grievance against Cleopatra, transferred his allegiance and proved, indeed, of no service to Caesar (for he fell sick and died not long after), but still created the impression that his desertion was due to despair of the success of the party on whose side he was ranged. Many others followed his example, so that Antony was no longer equally imbued with courage but was suspicious of everybody. It was after this that he tortured and put to death Iamblichus, king of some of the Arabians, and others, and delivered Quintus Postumius, a senator, to his servants to be placed on the rack. Finally he became afraid that Quintus Deillius and Amyntas the Gaul, who happened to have been sent into Macedonia and Thrace after mercenaries, would espouse Caesar's cause, and he started to overtake them, pretending that he wished to render them assistance in case any hostile force should attack. And meantime a battle at sea occurred. [-14-] Lucius Tarius,63 with a few ships was anchored opposite Sosius, and the latter hoped to achieve a notable success by attacking him before Agrippa, to whom the whole fleet had been entrusted, should arrive. Accordingly, after waiting for a thick mist, so that Tarius should not become aware of their numbers beforehand and flee, he set sail suddenly just before dawn and immediately at the first assault routed his opponent and pursued him, but failed to capture him; for Agrippa by chance met Sosius on the way, so that he not only gained nothing from the victory but perished64 together with Tarcondimotus and many others.

Antony, because of his conflict and because he himself on his return had been defeated in a cavalry battle by Caesar's advance guard, no longer thought it well to encamp in two different places, but during the night left the redoubt which was near his opponents and retired to the other side of the narrows, where the larger part of his army had bivouacked. When provisions also began to fail him because he was cut off from foraging, he held a council to deliberate whether they should remain in position and hazard an encounter or transfer their post somewhere else and make the war a long one. [-15-] After several had given opinions the advice of Cleopatra prevailed,—that the choicest sites be given in possession of garrisons and that the rest of the force weigh anchor with them for Egypt. She held this view as a result of being disturbed by omens. Swallows had built their nests about her tent and on the flagship on which she sailed, and milk and blood together had dripped from beeswax. Their images with the forms of gods which the Athenians had placed on their Acropolis were hurled down by thunderbolts into the Theatre. This and the consequent dejection and listlessness of the army began to alarm Cleopatra and she filled Antony with fears. They did not wish, however, to sail out either secretly or openly as fugitives, for fear they should strike terror to the hearts of their allies, but rather with preparations made for a naval battle, in order that they might equally well force their way through in case there should be any resistance. Therefore they chose out first the best of the vessels, since the sailors had become fewer by death and desertion, and burned the rest; next they secretly put all their most prized valuables aboard of them by night. When the boats were ready, Antony gathered his soldiers and spoke as follows:—

[-16-] "All provisions that I was required to make for the war have received due attention, fellow-soldiers, in advance. First, there is your immense throng, all the chosen flower of our dependents and allies; and to such a degree are you masters of every form of combat recognized among us that alone by yourselves you are formidable to adversaries. Then again, you yourselves can see how large and how fine a fleet we have and how many fine hoplites, cavalry, slingers, peltasts, archers, mounted archers. Most of these classes are not found at all on the other side, and so far as they are found they are much fewer and weaker than ours. The funds of the enemy are small, though obtained by forced contributions, and can not last long, while they have rendered the contributors better disposed toward us than toward the men who took them; hence the population is in no way favorable to the oppressors and is moreover on the point of open revolt. Our treasury, filled from abundant resources, has harmed no one and will aid all of us. [-17-] In addition to these considerations so numerous and of such great importance I am on general principles disinclined to make any bombastic statement about myself. Yet since this too is one of the factors contributing to supremacy in war and is believed among all men to be of greatest importance,—I mean that men who are to fight well must secure an excellent general—necessity itself has rendered quite indispensable some remarks about myself, their purpose being to enable you to realize still more the fact that not only are you such soldiers that you could conquer even without a good leader, but I am such a leader that I can win even with poor soldiers. I am at that age when persons attain their greatest perfection both of body and intellect and suffer deterioration neither through the rashness of youth nor the feebleness of old age, but are strongest because in a condition half-way between the two. Moreover I possess such a nature and such a training that I can with greatest ease discern what requires to be done and make it known. Experience, which causes even the ignorant and the uneducated to appear to be of some value, I have been acquiring through my whole political and whole military career. From boyhood till now I have been continually exercised in similar pursuits; I have been much ruled and done much ruling, from which I have learned on the one hand what kind of orders and of what magnitude must be issued, and on the other how far and in what way one must render obedience. I have been subject to terror, to confidence: as a result I have made it my custom neither to entertain any fear too readily nor to venture on any hazard too heedlessly. I have met with good fortune, I have met with failure: consequently I find it possible to avoid both despair and excess of pride.