The Civil Wars by Appian

Author:Appian
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2010-10-21T21:00:00+00:00

BOOK IV

1. In this way two of Caesar’s murderers, Trebonius in Asia and Decimus in Gaul, met their deserts when they were attacked and defeated in their own provinces. This fourth book of the civil wars traces how retribution overtook Cassius and Brutus, who were chiefly responsible for the plot against Caesar, and were masters of all the territories from Syria to Macedonia and possessed a large fighting force of cavalry, sailors, and more than twenty legions of infantry, together with ships and money. At the same time there occurred the hunting and detection of the proscribed at Rome, whose harrowing experiences were of a severity unparalleled in men’s memories of what had happened either in the internal conflicts or foreign wars of the Greeks, or in the history of the Romans themselves – except only under Sulla, who had been the first to proscribe his personal enemies. Marius tracked down and punished those he could find; but Sulla proclaimed that anyone at all could do the killing, for large rewards, and there were corresponding penalties for persons who hid the proscribed. However, the events of the period of Marius and Sulla have already been described in the chapters devoted to them,1 and my story goes on as follows.

2. Octavian and Antonius met near Mutina, on a small low-lying island in the river Lavinius, to exchange enmity for friendship. Each had five legions, which they left drawn up facing each other while they each advanced with 300 men to the bridges over the river. Lepidus went ahead in person to search the island, and signalled with his cloak to each of them to come across. They then left their 300 men with their advisers at the bridges and went forward in full view into the space between, where the three of them sat down together, with Octavian in the centre presiding because of his office. They met for two days, from dawn until dusk, and their decisions were as follows: Octavian would resign the consulship to Ventidius for the remainder of the year, and a new office charged with the resolution of the civil wars would be created by law for Lepidus, Antonius, and Octavian. They would hold this office for five years, and it would have an authority equal to that of the consuls. This was the title they decided to use, instead of dictators, perhaps because of Antonius’ resolution abolishing the dictatorship.2 They were to appoint immediately the annual magistrates at Rome for five years ahead, and they distributed the provincial governorships in such a way that Antonius received the whole of Gaul except for the part adjoining the Pyrenees, which they call Old Gaul; this was to be held by Lepidus, along with Spain; and Octavian was to have Africa, Sardinia, Sicily, and any other islands in that area. 3. Thus the three distributed the Roman Empire among themselves. The only territories whose allocation they postponed were those to the east of the Adriatic, because these were still controlled by Brutus and Cassius, against whom Antonius and Octavian were to campaign.

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