86
PLIGHT OF THE ASSASSINS.
whose mother, Julia, was Caesar’s sister, and he accordingly
delivered the funeral oration. He produced a fearful eflect
upon the minds of the people ; for he not only dwelt upon the
great exploits of Caesar amid roars of applause, but after he
had excited their minds in the highest degree by his recital,
he lifted up the bloody toga, and shewed the people the
wounds of the great deceased. The multitude were seized
with such indignation and rage, that instead of allowing the
body to be carried to the Campus Martius, they immediately
raised in the Forum a pile of benches, and any wood that
could be got, and burnt the corpse there. One person, whom
they thought to be one of the murderers, though he was quite
innocent, was literally torn to pieces. The people then dis-
persed in troops; they broke into the houses of the conspira-
tors, and destroyed them. It was not till after receiving a
formal promise upon oath from Antony and Lepidus, that
Brutus and Cassius ventured to come down from the Capitol;
but as, after the events of that day, they saw no safety at
Rome, they went to Antium. The other conspirators dis-
persed themselves over the provinces. Decimus Brutus went
to Cisalpine Gaul, which had been promised him as his pro-
vince by Caesar, and administered to the legions the oath of
allegiance to himself. Brutus had been promised the pro-
vince of Macedonia, and Cassius that of Syria.
The events of the year of Caesar’s death are so manifold and
complicated, that it is impossible for me to mention them all
in their succession. If you will read Fabricius’ Life of Cicero,
you will find a detailed account of the history of the last two
years of his life. I cannot give you a strictly chronological
account, but am obliged to place the events before you in a
somewhat different order. An accurate knowledge of the
chronological succession of the occurrences during those two
years, is necessary, however, to enable one to understand Cicero’s
Philippics.
Caesar in his will had appointed C. Octavius, the grandson
of his sister Julia, heir ex dodrante, that is, of three-fourths of
his property, after the deduction of all legacies, and his other
relatives were to have the remaining fourth. Antony, how-
ever, and L. Piso were not among his heirs. Caesar’s aunt
Julia, the sister of his father, had been married to Marius, and
his sister Julia to M. Atius Balbus. Atia, the daughter of
C. OCTAVIUS.
87
this latter Julia, was married to C. Octavius, a worthy man,
whose father, C. Octavius, a person of distinction, had died
too early to obtain the consulship. Whether this family of the
Octavii was connected with those Octavii who had acted a
prominent part in the earlier periods of Eoman history, and
especially with the colleague of Tib. Gracchus, is not clear,
though I am inclined to deny it, since the family is spoken of
as only of equestrian rank.1 Young C. Octavius was in his
nineteenth year when Caesar was murdered, having been born
on the 23rd of September, 689. Caesar had taken an interest
in him ever since his return from Spain; whereas, before that
time, he does not appear to have taken any particular notice of
him. Cacsar had intended to take him with him in his expe-
dition against the Parthians, to complete his military education ;
but, some time previously to his death, he had sent him to
Apollonia in Illyricum to acquire a Greek culture, which was
then so prevalent among the Bomans, that Cicero and his
friends wrote Greek letters to one another, and often spoke
Greek, as we sðe from the history of Brutus, Cassius, and Mcs-
sala2, who conversed in Greek with one another.3 C. Octavius
was to stay at Apollonia, until his uncle should set out for
Asia. When he received the sad intelligence of Caesar’s death,
ho went to Eomc, and claimed from Antony the inheritance of
his uncle. This was a highly disagreeable thing for Antony,
who had the most urgent reasons for not letting the property
go out of his hands, as he was responsible for it, and had to take
care that no mistake should be made, and that it should be
most faithfully administered. But in reality he looked upon
that property as the French looked upon the live millions
which Napoleon had deposited at Paris, and was unwilling to
give it up. C. Octavius had been adopted by Caesar, which
is the first instance of an adoption by will that I know in
Eoman history; afterwards, such adoptions are very frequent.
' Veil. Patorc. ii. 59; Sueton. Any. 2.
2 It was then at Rome with Greek as it was with French in Germany at tlɪo
the time when I was a young man. I used then to speak with older friends more
French than German, anti it was not looked upon as affectation when French
words or phrases were occasionally introduced into German conversation. So,
at Rome, every man of education was obliged to speak and write Greek ; though
their Greek, as, for example, the specimens in Cicero’s letters often had some-
thing peculiar; as was the case with the French spoken in Germany during the
last century. It would be interesting to examine this point minutely.—N.
ɜ PJ utarch, B> ut. 40