Antony to Hirtius and Octavius
“WHEN I heard of the death of Trebonius I was both glad and sorry. It
rejoiced me to know-that a wretch had paid the penalty due to the ashes and
bones of the most illustrious of men, and that the vengeance of the gods had
overtaken him within the term of the revolving year, and that punishment for
the parricidal act is either accomplished or impending. I mourn that
Dolabella was voted an enemy as soon as he had put the assassin to death,
and that the son of a buffoon should seem dearer to the Roman people than
Gaius Cæsar, the father of his country. Most grievous is it that
you, Aulus Hirtius, loaded as you are with Cæsar's benefactions,
and left by him in a condition that must be a surprise to yourself, and you,
O boy, who owe everything to his name, should so conduct yourselves that
Dolabella should be condemned by law, and this pest [Decimus Brutus]
delivered from siege, and Brutus and Cassius strengthened as much as
possible. You look upon the present state of things too much as you have
viewed the past. You call Pompey's camp the Senate. You have taken the
vanquished Cicero for a leader. You are strengthening Macedonia with armies.
You have placed Africa in charge of Varus, who was twice taken prisoner. You
have sent Cassius into Syria. You have allowed Casca to hold the
tribuneship. You have taken away the revenues of the Luperci assigned to
them by Cæsar. You have abolished the colonies of veterans
established by law and senatus consultum. You promise to
restore to the Massilians what was taken from them by the law of war. Do you
forget that under the law of Hirtius no Pompeian who lives can hold office?
You have supplied Brutus with the money of Apuleius. You applauded the
execution of Pætus and Menedemus, Cæsar's hosts, who had
been given the citizenship by him. You took no notice of Theopompus when he
was stripped and driven out by Trebonius and fled to Alexandria. You
tolerate Servius Galba in your camp girded with the same dagger [with which
he stabbed Cæsar]. You have enlisted my soldiers and the veterans
under pretence of exterminating those who killed Cæsar, and have
hurled them, in ignorance of what they were doing, against their
quæstor, their general, their comrades. In short, what have you
not approved of, what have you not done, that Pompey himself would do if he
could come to life, or his son if he were at home? Finally, you say that
peace is not possible unless I let Brutus go free or supply him with corn.
What? Is this the opinion of those veterans who can still choose their own
course? Since you have sold yourselves for adulation and poisoned gifts, . .
. But you say you are bringing aid to beleaguered soldiers. I will not
hinder them from escaping and going where they please if they will let that
man perish who has deserved to perish. You write me that mention has been
made of peace in the Senate, and of five ambassadors of consular rank. It is
hard to believe that those who drove me headlong when I offered the fairest
conditions, and was even thinking of abating some part of them, can
contemplate any moderate or humane act. It is hardly probable that those who
voted Dolabella an enemy for his most righteous deed could spare me, who
hold the same sentiments with him. Wherefore you ought rather to reflect
whether it is more fitting, and more useful to our party, to avenge the
death of Trebonius or that of Cæsar, and whether it is more
equitable for us to compete with each other in bringing to life the cause of
Pompey that has so often had its throat cut, or to combine, so that we be
not a laughing-stock to our enemies, who will be the gainers whichever of us
shall fall. Fortune itself has thus far shunned that spectacle, that it
might not behold two armies belonging to one body fighting each other, with
Cicero for trainer, who is a happy man in so far as he can deceive you with
the same compliments with which he boasted that he deceived Cæsar.
I am resolved to endure no affront either to myself or to my friends, nor to
desert the party that Pompey hated, nor to allow the veterans to be moved
from their settlements or be put to the torture one by one; nor shall I come
short of the faith I pledged to Dolabella, nor violate my alliance with
Lepidus, that most conscientious man, nor betray Plancus, the partner of my
counsels. If the immortal gods aid me, as I hope, in my righteous course, I
shall be glad to live; but if another fate awaits me I shall enjoy your
punishment in advance, for if the Pompeians are so insolent when vanquished,
what they will be when victorious you will learn by experience rather than
myself. Finally, the sum and substance of my decision is this, I can bear
the injuries that my friends have done me if they are willing to forget that
they have done them, or if they are ready to join me in avenging
Cæsar's death. I do not believe that ambassadors are coming to the
theatre of war. When they do come I shall know what they demand.”
Cicero, Phil. xiii
1
THE CIVIL WARS
