Story of the Greek and the Roman People
- Автор: Tappan Eva March
- Год: 1910
- Язык: английский
- Год: Heritage History
- Жанр: История
Электронная книга - «Story of the Greek and the Roman People». Краткое содержание книги:
Story of the Greek People
Story of the Roman People
Caesar marched on through Italy. City after city yielded to him without the striking of a blow. When he reached Rome, he did not repeat the massacres of Marius and Sulla, but treated people kindly and justly, even those who ventured to oppose him. He had not ships enough to sail directly against Pompey, but he went to Spain, and there defeated Pompey's troops and added them to his own army. Sicily and Sardinia with their vast exports of wheat were soon in his hands. The following year, he started for Greece. He sailed from Brundusium across the Adriatic Sea to Macedonia. There was the camp of Pompey, well supplied with arms and food, and with twice as many soldiers as Caesar had. Nevertheless, Caesar made an attack. He was repulsed; then Pompey sounded a retreat. "This day victory would have declared for the enemy," said Caesar thoughtfully, "if they had had a general who knew how to conquer."
Caesar now withdrew into Thessaly, and Pompey pursued. On the plains of Pharsalus came the battle which decided who should rule the world. Caesar's friend Marcus Antonius commanded the left wing and Caesar himself the right, where stood his favorite Tenth Legion of tried and faithful soldiers. Pompey had placed his cavalry on his own left wing opposite Caesar's right. Caesar knew that the cavalry was made up of wealthy young men who were not used to wounds and valued their good looks. "Do not throw javelins, and do not strike at their legs and thighs," he had commanded his soldiers of the right wing, "but aim at their faces." He was correct in his judgment of the young cavaliers, for at the first charge, they turned their heads and even held their hands up before their faces. Then they ran away as fast as they could go. This ruined Pompey's plans and was the beginning of his total defeat.
Caesar used his victory mercifully. He pardoned many persons of rank, among them Marcus Brutus. The father of Brutus had been slain by Pompey, but Brutus believed that Pompey's cause was the better, and therefore he had joined the troops of the man whom he abhorred. Caesar thought so highly of Brutus that it is said he had ordered his men to let him escape if he would not surrender. Pompey had been so sure of success that he had crowned his tents with myrtle, strewn the beds with flowers, and even set bowls of wine upon the tables, that all things might be ready to celebrate his victory. Now he was a fugitive. He drank from a river and spent the night in a poor fisherman's cabin. He had once shown kindness to the father of the boy king of Egypt, and therefore he fled to that country. The king's councillors held a meeting. If they received him, Caesar would be angry; if they refused, he might some day become powerful enough to punish them, and, moreover, Caesar might be displeased that they had not delivered Pompey up to him. "The best plan is to invite him to come and then put him to death," urged one of the councillors. "Then you will have done Caesar a favor, and you will have nothing to fear from Pompey. Dead men do not bite." This advice was followed, and Pompey was slain as he was landing from a boat.
Caesar had followed Pompey to Egypt, and the bloody head of his enemy was brought to him at once; but the wily councillor had not read him aright. Caesar turned away in horror, then wept with profound grief and pity. He ordered funeral honors to be paid to the murdered general and afterward punished those who slew him.
In Egypt there was a contest between the boy king and his sister Cleopatra for the throne. Caesar decided in favor of Cleopatra and helped her to establish herself. He then went to Asia, for the son of Mithridates was arousing rebellion against Rome. Caesar met him at Zela and defeated him so promptly that the conqueror told the whole story in three words, "Veni, vidi, vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). His opponents had made a last stand at Thapsus in Africa. He overcame them in a sudden attack. Cato, the unflinching defender of the republic, was in Utica at the time of the battle. The cause was lost, and he would not live to be subject to Caesar. He fell upon his sword.
A ROMAN TRIUMPH.
Then Caesar returned to Rome. The Romans had thought Pompey's triumph a marvel, but Caesar's was far more magnificent. Besides the triumph, there were feasts and games and gladiatorial shows and combats of wild beasts. There were gifts to the soldiers and to the poor. There was pardon for those who had been Caesar's most bitter enemies. The senate named him as dictator for ten years and censor for three years. No Roman had ever held so much power. He was called away for a short time to suppress a revolt of the sons of Pompey in Spain. Then he returned to Rome. The senate could not plan honors enough for him. They made him dictator for life; they gave him the title of "Father of his Country; "they changed the name of the month in which he was born from Quintilis to Julius (July); they stamped their money with his image; they allowed him to wear a crown of laurel at all times, and at public festivals to robe himself in garments worn by conquerors at their triumphs; they carried his image with those of the gods; they even dedicated temples and altars to him.
In the midst of all this flattery, Caesar set to work to rule the world as wisely as possible. He made just laws for settling debts; he sent the poor of the cities to live on farms; he gave land to his veterans and settled them in colonies; he gave citizenship to people of conquered countries, not carelessly, but where he was sure it would be appreciated; he reformed the calendar, so that the festivals of the gods would come at the same season each year; he planned a vast collection of Greek and Latin books, magnificent public buildings, the draining of the Pontine Marshes, an enormous aqueduct for the city, a survey of the state land, the rebuilding of Corinth and Carthage, a digest or code of the Roman laws, a superb artificial harbor, a road along the Apennines, and a canal through the Isthmus of Corinth. Enormous wealth had come into his hands, and he spent it freely upon the state.
LAST MONTHS OF CAESAR.
But there were men in Rome who could not forget that, well as Caesar was ruling, he had lawfully no right to rule at all, and that the Roman state was no longer a republic. Many believed that he meant to assume the title of king, and the Romans hated the very sound of that word. A conspiracy was made against him. The leaders were Brutus and Brutus's friend Cassius; although to both these men, as, indeed, to almost all of those who joined in the plot, Caesar had done many favors. On the 15th of March, 44 B.C., the senate met. The conspirators gathered around him as if to offer some petition. At the signal agreed upon, they drew their swords. Caesar struggled to break through the ring. Then he saw among them Brutus, the friend whom he so admired and loved. He cried, "You, too, Brutus!" drew his robe over his face and fell.
Brutus tried to explain to the senators why this deed had been done, and to declare that the old days of the republic were now to return, but they would not hear him. On the following morning they tried to pacify both Caesar's friends and his murderers by granting to Caesar the honors due to a god, and also bestowing much power and authority upon Brutus and his followers, whom they made governors of provinces.
ANTONIUS DELIVERING THE FUNERAL ORATION OVER CAESAR.
Caesar's friend Marcus Antonius had secured Caesar's private papers, and now his will was read. His beautiful estate beyond the Tiber was given to the people. Every Roman in the city was to receive a sum equal to fourteen dollars, and generous legacies were left to some of those who murdered him. Marcus Antonius delivered the funeral oration. He showed the people Caesar's robe, pierced with the twenty-three sword thrusts, and they were wild with rage. They caught up firebrands and rushed through the city to find the murderers and burn their houses. Then they went back to the forum to make a funeral pyre. They piled up benches and sticks of wood, and threw upon the heap crowns and trophies and other treasures. All night they stood by the pyre. So it was that Caesar's body was burned. Meanwhile, Brutus and the other conspirators had escaped from Rome.