part ii

. ch. lxxxiv. note.

[490] The main street of Achradina is spoken of by Cicero as broad, straight and long; which was unusual in an ancient Greek city. See Grote. ad. loc.

[491] The citadel of Syracuse was built upon the island of Ortygia, and was therefore easily cut off by a ditch and palisade across the narrow isthmus by which it was connected with the mainland.

[492] "He offered them what in modern times would be called a constitution." Grote.

[493] On this passage Grote has the following note:--"Plutarch states that Herakleides brought only seven triremes. But the force stated by Diodorus (twenty triremes, three transports and 1500 soldiers) appears more probable. It is difficult otherwise to explain the number of ships which the Syracusans presently appear as possessing. Moreover, the great importance which Herakleides steps into, as opposed to Dion, is more easily accounted for."

[494] The Syracusan cavalry was celebrated, and "the knights" here and elsewhere no doubt means Syracusan citizens, though at first this passage looks as if strangers were meant. See ch. 44, where the knights and leading citizens are mentioned together.

[495] I conceive that the "atrium" or "cavædium" of the house, that is, the interior peristyle or court surrounded with columns, is meant, and that Dion, sitting on one side of this room, saw the apparition behind the columns on the other. An outside portico was a very unusual appendage to a Greek house, and Dion's house is said to have been especially simple and unpretending, whereas nearly all houses were built with an inner court or "patio," with its roof supported by columns, and into which the other rooms of the house opened.

[496] L. Junius Brutus, consul B.C. 509, was a Patrician, and his race was extinct in his two sons (Liv. ii. 1-4; Drumann, _Junii_, p. 1; Dion Cassius, xliv. 12; Dionys. Hal. _Antiq. Rom._ v. 18).

[497] Servilia, the wife of M. Junius Brutus, the father of this Brutus, was the daughter of Livia, who was the sister of M. Livius Drusus, tribunus plebis B.C. 91. Livia married for her first husband M. Cato, by whom she had M. Cato Uticensis; for her second husband she had Q. Servilius Cæpio, by whom she became the mother of Servilia. M. Junius Brutus, the father of this Brutus, was the first husband of Servilia, who had by her second husband, D. Junius Silanus, two daughters. Her son Brutus was born in the autumn of B.C. 85. He was adopted by his uncle Q. Servilius Cæpio, whence he is sometimes called Cæpio, and Q. Cæpio Brutus on coins, public monuments, and in decrees (Drumann, _Junii_).

[498] Ahala was Magister Equitum to L. Quinctius Cincinnatus. The story belongs to B.C. 439; and it is told by Livius, iv. 13, 14. The true name of Mallius Spurius is Spurius Mælius.

[499] This passage is obscure in the original. The parentage of M. Junius Brutus, the father of this Brutus, does not appear to be ascertained.

[500] See the Life of Lucullus, c. 42.

[501] See the Life of Cicero, c. 4. Cicero mentions Ariston, which is probably the true name, in his Tusculanæ Quæstiones, v. 8.

[502] Nothing more is known of him.

[503] The original is obscure. See Sintenis, note; and Schæfer, note. Kaltwasser follows the reading [Greek: pros tas exodous], which he translates "für den Kriegsdienst."

[504] See the Life of the Younger Cato, c. 35, &c.

[505] Coræs explains the original ([Greek: scholastês]) to mean "one who is engaged about learning and philosophy."

[506] The father of this Brutus was of the faction of Marius, and tribunus plebis B.C. 83. After Sulla's return he lost all power, and after Sulla's death Pompeius (B.C. 77) marched against Brutus, who shut himself up in Mutina (Modena). A mutiny among his troops compelled him to open the gates, and Pompeius ordered him to be put to death, contrary to the promise which he had given (Life of Pompeius, c. 16).

The allusion at the beginning of this chapter is to the outbreak between Pompeius and Cæsar, B.C. 49.

[507] P. Sextius was governor of Cilicia. In the text of Plutarch Sicilia stands erroneously in place of Cilicia: this is probably an error of the copyists, who often confound these names (see Life of Pompeius, c. 61; Cicero, _Ad Attic._ viii. 14; ix. 7).

[508] Brutus was a great reader and a busy writer. Drumann (_Junii_, p. 37) gives a sketch of his literary activity. Such a trifle as an epitome of Polybius was probably only intended as a mere occupation to pass the time. The loss of it is not a matter of regret, any further than so far as it might have supplied some deficiencies in the present text of Polybius. Bacon (Advancement of Learning) describes epitomes thus: "As for the corruptions and moths of history, which are epitomes, the use of them deserveth to be banished, as all men of sound judgment have confessed; as those that have fretted and corroded the sound bodies of many excellent histories, and wrought them into base and unprofitable dregs."

[509] The story of Cæsar receiving this note is told in the Life of Cato, c. 24. Cæsar was born on the 12th July, B.C. 100, which is a sufficient answer to the scandalous tale of his being the father of Brutus. That he may have had an adulterous commerce with Servilia in and before B.C. 63, the year of Catiline's conspiracy, is probable enough.

[510] This was C. Cassius Longinus, who accompanied Crassus in his Parthian campaign (Life of Crassus, c. 18, &c.). After Cato had retired to Africa, Cassius made his peace with Cæsar (Dion Cassius, xlii. 13).

[511] Kaltwasser has adopted the correction of Moses du Soul, and has translated the passage "in Nikaea für den König Deiotarus." The anecdote appears to refer clearly to king Deiotarus, as appears from Cicero's Letters to Atticus (xiv. 1). See Drumann's note, _Junii_, p. 25, note 83. Coræs would read [Greek: Galatôn] for [Greek: Libyôn].

[512] This was the north part of Italy. Cæsar set out for his African campaign in B.C. 47. Brutus held Gallia in the year B.C. 46. See Drumann, _Junii_, p. 26, note 91, on the administration of Gallia by Brutus.

[513] Plutarch here alludes to the office of Prætor Urbanus, who, during the year of his office, was the chief person for the administration of justice. The number of prætors at this time was ten (Dion Cassius, xlii. 51), to which number they were increased from eight by Cæsar in B.C. 47. The Prætor Urbanus still held the first rank. The motive of Cæsar may have been, as Dion Cassius says, to oblige his dependents by giving them office and rank. Brutus was Prætor Urbanus in B.C. 44, the year of Cæsar's assassination.

[514] This anecdote is told in Cæsar's Life, c. 62.

[515] Q. Fufius Calenus was sent by Cæsar before the battle of Pharsalus to Greece (Life of Cæsar, c. 43). Megara made strong resistance to Calenus, and was treated with severity. Dion Cassius (xlii. 14) says nothing about the lions.

[516] See the Life of Sulla, c. 34, and note to c. 37; and the Life of Cæsar, c. 53, note.

[517] See the Life of Cæsar, c. 61, and Dion Cassius, xliv. 3, &c.

[518] His name was Quintus. Ligarius fought against Cæsar at the battle of Thapsus B.C. 46. He was taken prisoner and banished. He was prosecuted by Q. Delius Tubero for his conduct in Africa, and defended by Cicero in an extant speech. Ligarius obtained a pardon from Cæsar, and he repaid the dictator, like many others, by aiding in his murder. It seems pretty certain that he lost his life in the proscriptions of the Triumviri (Appian, _Civil Wars_, iv, 22, 23).

[519] Compare the Life of the Younger Cato, c. 65, 73; and as to Favonius, the same life.

[520] Q. Antistius Labeo was one of the hearers of Servius Sulpicius (Dig. i. tit. 2, s. 2, § 44), and himself a jurist, and the father of a more distinguished jurist, Antistius Labeo, who lived under Augustus. He was at the battle of Philippi, and after the defeat he killed himself, and was buried in a grave in his tent, which he had dug for the purpose (Appian, _Civil Wars_, iv. 135).

[521] See the Life of Cæsar, c. 64, and the note.

The signs of Cæsar's death are mentioned in the Life of Cæsar, c. 63.

[522] Brutus was first married to Claudia, a daughter of Appius Claudius, consul B.C. 54. It was probably in B.C. 55, and after Cato's death, that he put away Claudia, for which he was blamed (Cic. _Ad Attic._ xiii. 9), and married Porcia, the daughter of Cato, and widow of M. Calpurnius Bibulus, the colleague of Cæsar in the consulship B.C. 59. As to the affair of the wound, compare Dion Cassius (xliv. 13 &c.).

[523] This was the great architectural work of Pompeius (Life of Pompeius, c. 40, note).

[524] The same story is told by Appian (_Civil Wars_, ii. 115).

[525] The circumstances of Cæsar's death are told in his Life, c. 66; where it is incorrectly said that Brutus Albinus engaged Antonius in conversation. To the authorities referred to in the note to c. 66 of the Life of Cæsar, add Cicero, _Philipp._ ii. 14, which is referred to by Kaltwasser.

[526] L. Munatius Plancus, who had received favours from Cæsar, and the province of Transalpine Gaul, with the exception of Narbonensis and Belgica B.C. 44.

As to the arrangement about the provinces after Cæsar's death, see the Life of Antonius, c. 14.

[527] Compare the Life of Cæsar, c. 68, and the note.

[528] The allusion is to P. Clodius, who fell in a brawl with T. Annius Milo B.C. 52. See the Life of Cicero, c. 52.

[529] Compare the Life of Cæsar, c. 68.

[530] Now Porto d'Anzo, on the coast of Latium, thirty miles from Rome. It is now a poor place, with numerous remains of former buildings (Westphal, _Die Römische Kampagne_, and his two maps).

[531] These were the Ludi Apollinares (Dion, xlvii. 20), which Brutus had to superintend as Prætor Urbanus. The day of celebration was the fourth of Quintilis or Julius. The games were superintended by L. Antonius, the brother of Marcus, and the colleague of Brutus.

[532] Compare the Life of Cicero, c. 43, and notes; and the Life of Antonius, c. 16.

[533] Complaints like these, of the conduct of Cicero, appear in the sixteenth and seventeenth letters of the book which is entitled 'M. Tullii Epistolarum ad Brutum Liber Singularis;' but the genuineness of these letters is very doubtful. Plutarch himself (_Brutus_, 53) did not fully believe in the genuineness of all the letters attributed to Brutus.

[534] Elea, the Romans called this place Velia. It was on the coast of Lucania, in the modern province of Basilicata in the kingdom of Naples; and the remains are near Castella a mare della Brucca. Velia is often mentioned by Cicero, who set sail from thence when he intended to go to Greece (Life of Cicero, c. 43).

[535] The passages in Homer are, _Iliad_, vi. 429 and 491, the parting of Hector and Andromache. The old stories of Greece furnished the painter with excellent subjects, and the simplicity with which they treated them may be inferred from Plutarch's description. The poet was here the real painter. The artist merely gave a sensuous form to the poet's conception. The parting of Hector and Andromache is the subject of one of Schiller's early poems.

[536] Dion Cassius (xlvii. 20) describes the reception of Brutus at Athens. The Athenians ordered bronze statues of Brutus and Cassius to be set up by the side of the statues of Harmodius and Aristogeiton, who had liberated Athens from the tyranny of the Peisistratidæ.

[537] See the Life of Pompeius, c. 75. Cicero's son Marcus was attending the lectures of Cratippus B.C. 44, and also, as it appears, up to the time when Brutus came to Athens. Horace, who was now at Athens, also joined the side of Brutus, and was present at the battle of Philippi.

[538] A town near the southern point of Euboea. The Roman commander who gave up the money, was the Quæstor M. Appuleius (Cicero, _Philipp._ x. 11). Plutarch in the next chapter calls him Antistius.

[539] These are the dying words of Patroclus (_Iliad_, xvi. 849). Apollo is Leto's son.

[540] See the Life of Cicero, c. 43, note; and Dion Cassius (xlvii. 29, &c.).

[541] A town in Thessalia.

[542] Q. Hortensius Hortalus, the son of the orator Hortensius, who held the province of Macedonia (B.C. 44), in which Brutus was to succeed him. He was put to death by M. Antonius after the battle of Philippi (c. 28).

[543] This may be an error of Plutarch's copyists. His name was P. Vatinius (Dion Cassius, xlvii. 21).

[544] The Greek soldiers suffered in this way in their retreat from Babylonia over the table-land of Armenia (Xenophon, _Anabasis_, iv. 5, 7). This bulimy is a different thing from that which modern writers call by that name, and which they describe as a "canine appetite, insatiable desire for food." The nature of the appetite is exemplified by the instance of a man eating in one day four pounds of raw cow's udder, ten pounds of raw beef, two pounds of candles, and drinking five bottles of porter (Penny Cyclopædia, art. Bulimia). The subject of Bulimia is discussed by Plutarch (_Symposiaca_, b. vi. Qu. 8).

[545] Now Butrinto, was on the main land in the north part of the channel which divides Corcyra (Corfu) from the continent. It was made a Colonia by the Romans after their occupation of Epirus. Atticus, the friend of Cicero, had land in the neighbourhood of Buthrotum.

As to the events mentioned at the end of this chapter, compare Dion Cassius, xlvii. 21-23.

[546] Compare Dion Cassius, xlvii. 22.

[547] This was Decimus Brutus Albinus, who fell into the hands of the soldiers of M. Antonius in North Italy, and was put to death by order of Antonius B.C. 43. Compare Dion Cassius (xlvi. 53), and the note of Reimarus.

[548] Brutus passed over into Asia probably about the middle of B.C. 43, while the proscriptions were going on at Rome. As to Cyzicus, see the Life of Lucullus, c. 9.

[549] Cassius was now in Syria, whence he designed to march to Egypt to punish Cleopatra for the assistance which she had given to Dolabella.

[550] The Mediterranean, for which the Romans had no name.

[551] Xanthus stood on a river of the same name, about ten miles from the mouth. The river is now called Etchen-Chai. Xanthus is first mentioned by Herodotus (i. 176), who describes its destruction by the Persian general Harpagus, to which Plutarch afterwards (c. 31) alludes. Numerous remains have been recently discovered there by Fellowes, and some of them are now in the British Museum (Penny Cyclop. art. Xanthian Marbles, and the references in that article).

The last sentence of this chapter is very confused in the original.

[552] Compare the Life of Pompeius, c. 77, 80.

[553] Brutus and Cassius met at Sardis in the early part of B.C. 42.

[554] The passage to which Plutarch refers is _Iliad_, i. 259. The character of Favonius is well known from the Lives of Pompeius and Cato the Younger.

[555] Kaltwasser has a note on the Roman practice of an invited guest taking his shadows (umbræ) with him. Horace alludes to the practice (i. Ep. 5, 28),

----"locus est et pluribus umbris."

Plutarch discusses the etiquette as to umbræ in his Symposiaca (