The name is absent

CAESAR RETURNS TO ROME AS DICTATOR.

hand, would hear nothing of it, and even inflicted severe
punishments upon those of his men who shewed any desire to
treat with Caesar. But his opposition was of no avail; and as
the legions would, in the end, have completely deserted him,
the legates capitulated for themselves and M. Varro, on con-
dition of their evacuating Spain. The soldiers who were
unwilling to serve in the army of the conqueror obtained a
free departure, but most of the men remained with Caesar,
who thus became at once master of all Spain.

Cato, who had been praetor of the province of Sicily, had
left the island; and after his withdrawal, C. Curio, who had
the command against him, went over to Africa, where he was
opposed by the Pompeian commander, Attius Varus, and the
Numidian king, Juba, who was a client of Pompey. This
expedition of Curio came to a deplorable end. He had taken
two legions to Africa ; but desertion among his troops, his own
unskilful management, and various misfortunes, brought about
his defeat and death in a battle against King Juba. Tlie
remainder of his troops dispersed, most of them were taken
prisoners, and only a few returned to Sicily.

On his return to Rome, Caesar was made dictator, but the
form in which the appointment was made is not the same in
all accounts.⁷ He did every thing with the utmost rapidity,
and within a very short time made the most necessary regula-
tions at Rome, enacted several welcome laws, some of which
were Veryreasonable; as, for instance, the one by which debts
were made to represent property, and which prevented money
retaining its original value, when the value of other property
had fallen. With this view he appointed a commission to
determine the value which landed property had had previously
to the Civil War, and ordained that creditors should accept
such lands as payment for their outstanding debts at the value
determined by the commissioners. I also believe the state-
ment⁸, that he deducted the interest already paid, to be cor-
rect, for it was a thing which had often been done before. A
number of other measures were likewise calculated to supply
real wants; and he introduced them because he felt that it was
his duty to do so. After his army had returned from Spain

⁷ Caesar, De Bell. Civil, ii. 21, iii. 1; Dion Cassius, xli. 36 ; Appian, De Bell.
Civil, ιi. 48; Plutaich, Caes. 37; Cicero, ad Attic, ix. 15.

^s Sueton. Caesar, 42.

CAESAR CROSSES OVER TO ILLYRICUM. 59

to Italy, and new legions had been formed out of those who
had deserted to him, Caesar marched towards Brundusium
to attack Pompey. It was now nearly a twelvemonth since
Pompey had quitted Rome. He had not only collected the
Romans from all parts of the empire and formed them into
camps, but had also an extraordinary number of auxilia, and
in addition to this, he had a large fleet by which he com-
manded the sea, and to which Caesar had nothing to oppose;
but unfortunately for Pompey, his generals shewed great
awkwardness in conducting the war.

LECTURE XCVIL

Pompey had spent the winter at Thessalonica, and his army
in Macedonia; but his main strength consisted in his fleet.
The Rhodians, as well as many other states and subject-towns
in Greece, still possessed their fleets, and all these, together
with that of Egypt, were at the disposal of Pompey. M.
Calpurnius Bibulus, who had been Caesar’s colleague in the
consulship, had the supreme command of the united fleet.
As Caesar had scarcely any ships, it was hoped that it would
be impossible for him to cross the Adriatic with an army, and
that, as some had been forced to do in former times, he would
be obliged to march through Dalmatia, where he would be
opposed by Pompey’s ablest general, M. Octavius. But here
again, Caesar endeavoured to act in an imposing manner, and
thereby to turn the balance in his own favour. Just as in the
first Punic war, the Romans had not been afraid to sail to
Sicily, although the Carthaginians were masters of the sea, so
now Caesar did not hesitate to avail himself of any ships that
could be got, however bad they were, and thus succeeded in
crossing over into Illyricum. Bibulus was an able man, and
deserves praise for his personal character, for he did his duty ;
but was not sufficiently active and watchful. Caesar’s whole
conduct was eminently characteristic of the man. Every
great general, like every great painter, has certain peculiarities
which characterise him, just as much as every man is charac-
terised by his own hand-writing. Caesar’s peculiarity was that,

<<   32   33   34   35   36   37   38   >>

More intriguing information