IlO
labienüs and the pabthians.
Sext. Pompeiusis said to Iiavebeen sermone barbarus3; he
was indeed a very rough person and a mere condottiere, who had
no thought except that of maintaining himself at the head of
his forces and in his dominion. If he could have effected this,
he would have been perfectly satisfied; for he never dreamt of
restoring the republic. It should however be remembered that he
was very young when he was obliged to leave his country. It is
remarkable to see how, at that time, men who did not receive
a thorough education neglected their language, and spoke a
corrupt form of it. Only those who were very well educated,
spoke pure Latin; the urbanity or perfection of the language,
easily degenerated, unless it was acquired by careful study.
Cicero4 speaks of the sermo urbanus in the time of Laelius,
and observes that the ladies of that age spoke with exquisite
beauty. But at the period now under consideration the refined
language had already sunk, as is, generally speaking, the case
everywhere in our days, even in England and France.
As peace was thus restored, Antony returned to the East.
After the battle of Philippi, T. Labienus, who had been in
the army of Brutus, had fled with some troops to the Parthians.
His misfortunes cannot excite our sympathy : he was a seditious
tribune in Cicero’s consulship, and allowed himself to be used
as a tool by Caesar in his usurpation. He belonged to a
seditious family ; his uncle had been killed in the Capitol with
Saturninus, in the sixth consulship of C. Marius. In his tri-
buneship, Labienus endeavoured to avenge the murder of his
uncle upon C. Rabirius, who was one of the few survivors of
those who had stormed the Capitol with Marius, thirty-seven
years before.5 Labienus, who was very rich, and a mutineer
from inclination, then threw himself into the arms of Caesar.
He served in Caesar’s Gallic wars, and distinguished himself,
for Caesar speaks of him with great praise; but afterwards
Labienus for some reason with which we are not acquainted,
joined the party of Pompey. He fought with Pompey in the
battle of Pharsalus, and afterwards went to Africa, and thence
to Spain. We next find him fighting in the army of Brutus;
on whose defeat he escaped to the Parthians, and soon after-
wards led a Parthian army into Syria. The Parthians, thus
commanded by one of Caesar’s generals, accomplished things
3 Veil. Paterc. ii. 73. 4 De Oral. ɪii. 12.
*, See Cicero’s υι*atιon. for C. Rabirius.
ANTONY AGAINST THE PARTHIANS.
Ill
in which they could not otherwise Jiave succeeded; but after
several victories, they were defeated by Ventidius. Labienus
joined the party of Caesar at first only in consequence of the
political views entertained by his family, as we often find in
the history of that time.6
After his departure from Italy, Antony again went to the
East, and lived for a time with Octavia, without any connexion
with Cleopatra; but after some months he obliged Octavia to
return V ith her children to Rome, while he himself henceforth
lived sometimes in Asia, and sometimes at Alexandria. In
Asia, he was tempted by the prospect of gaining laurels in a
war against the Parthians; for he, like all the Romans of the
period was stung to the quick when he thought of Crassus
and his legions which had been defeated by the Parthians.
Artavasdes, king of Armenia, held out to Antony hopes of
wiping off the disgrace. All Parthia consisted of separate
kingdoms; not satrapies, but feudal principalities, under the
Parthian king of kings, whose court was at Ctesiphon near
Seleucia. Antony traversed Armenia and Azerbidjan with
an enormous army, and advanced into Media, the real Irak
Adjemi. Very few places in those countries can be identified;
for although the ancient oriental names are known, those by
which the towns were called in the West are not. Antony
besieged Phraata, a town the site of which is altogether
unknown, but his plan was not good. In consequence of bad
roads he had left his artillery behind him, under the protection
of two legions and his legate Statianus. Phraates, the king
of kings, acted very skilfully, and took possession of the dépôt,
6 The fact of Asinius Pollio being so decidedly against Pompey, the senate,
Cicero, Bratus, and other men for whose personal character he must have had
great regard, was, according to my firm belief, the consequence of personal
circumstances; Pompciiis Strabo, the father of Pompey, had conquered, in the
Social war, the Picentincs and Marrucinians, to v hich people Asinius Pollio
belonged, and had put to death IIerius Asinius, his father or grandfather (pro-
bably the former, for Pollio called his own son Hcrius Asinius. Veil. Pateic.
ii. 16; Appian, De Bell. Civil, i. 40). Now as Caesar’s party had at that time
taken the same ground as that of Marius, and had, in fact, inherited its prin-
ciples, Asinius Pollio joined it. I do not mean to defend L. Munatius Plancus,
although he was a man of great talent ; but if we trace the connexion of events,
we cannot but perceive that he was influenced in his conduct by the fact of
his being a Tibuitine. The Tiburtines, Praenestines, and in short all the Latins
were sincerely attached to Cinna’s party; and as Caesar was Cinna’s son-in-law
they naturally supported his party. These things are not mere speculations;,
analogous cases constantly occur in the political history of England,—N.