Flavius Eutropius “Summary of Roman History”, Book 6

Chapter 1

During the consulship of Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus and Quintus
Catulus, as Sylla had reorganised
The Republican state, new armed conflicts blazed:
One in Spain, one in Pamphylia and Cilicia,
A third one in Macedonia, in Dalmatia
The fourth one. For Sertorius, who had been
On Marius’ side, not to endanger his skin
Like the others, stirred up the provinces of Spain
To war. Against him two generals were sent: Cecilius
Metellus, son of him who’d managed to enchain
Jugurtha, along with Praetor Lucius Domitius.
Domitius was killed by Hirtuleius, Sertorius’
Captain. Metellus was off and on ‘in the vein’
While fighting Sertorius. Later on, as Metellus
Was deemed not to be altogether qualified
For the combat, Gnaeus Pompey was dispatched to Spain.
Despite having to fight two generals allied
Against himself, Sertorius led a campaign
With mixed success, and at last in the eighth year he
Was killed by his own troops. The war was ended by
Quintus Metellus Pius and Gnaeus Pompey
The Young. The two generals spread out the sway
Of the Roman People’s authority
Over most of the Spanish territory.

M. Aemilio Lepido Q. Catulo consulibus, cum Sulla rem publicam conposuisset, bella nova exarserunt, unum in Hispania, aliud in Pamphylia et Cilicia, tertium in Macedonia, quartum in Dalmatia. Nam Sertorius, qui partium Marianarum fuerat, timens fortunam ceterorum, qui interempti erant, ad bellum commovit Hispanias. Missi sunt contra eum duces Q. Caecilius Metellus, filius eius, qui Iugurtham regem vicit, et L. Domitius praetor. A Sertorii duce Hirtuleio Domitius occisus est. Metellus vario successu contra Sertorium dimicavit. Postea, cum inpar pugnae solus Metellus putaretur, Cn. Pompeius ad Hispanias missus est. Ita duobus ducibus adversis Sertorius fortuna varia saepe pugnavit. Octavo demum anno per suos occisus est, et finis ei bello datus per Cn. Pompeium adulescentem et Q. Metellum Pium atque omnes prope Hispaniae in dicionem populi Romani redactae.

Chapter 2

After his Consulship Appius Claudius was sent
To Macedonia where he clashed with those who
Lived in the Rodopa Provincial settlement,
And there he died of disease; so
His successor, after the Consulship, too,
Was Caius Scribonius Curio
Who, after his term, overcame the Dardanians and went
As far as the Danube, which earned him a triumphal event,
And within three years the hostilities were through.

Ad Macedoniam missus est Ap. Claudius post consulatum. Levia proelia habuit contra varias gentes, quae Rhodopam provinciam incolebant, atque ibi morbo mortuus est. Missus ei successor C. Scribonius Curio post consulatum. Is Dardanos vicit et usque ad Danubium penetravit triumphumque meruit et intra triennium bello finem dedit.

Chapter 3

To Cilicia and Pamphylia was sent,
At the end of his term, a confident
Ex consul, Publius Servilius who managed to subdue
Cilicia, and then assailed and took these
Noble cities of Lycia: Phaselis,
Olympus, Corycus. He vanquished the Isauri, too,
And brought them under his sway. He wound
Up the war in three years. He was bound
For Mount Taurus, first of all Romans. Back home Servilius
Obtained a triumph and deserved to be named Isauricus.

Ad Ciliciam et Pamphyliam missus est P. Servilius ex consule, vir strenuus. Is Ciliciam subegit, Lyciae urbes clarissimas oppugnavit et cepit, in his Phaselida, Olympum, Corycum Ciliciae. Isauros quoque adgressus in dicionem redegit atque intra triennium bello finem dedit. Primus omnium Romanorum in Tauro iter fecit. Revertens triumphum accepit et nomen Isaurici meruit.

Chapter 4

Gnaeus Cosconius was sent as proconsul to
Ilyricum where he managed to subdue
Most of Dalmatia. He took Salonae too.
After two years he returned to Rome for
He had duly terminated the war.

Ad Illyricum missus est C. Cosconius pro consule. Multam partem Dalmatiae subegit, Salonas cepit et conposito bello Romam post biennium rediit.

Chapter 5

In those very days Marcus Aemilius
Lepidus, a colleague of Catulus
Wanted to stir up a civil war but
In one Summer the rebellion was cut
Down. There followed the simultaneous
Celebrations of triumphs: Metellus’
Over Spain, Pompey’s over Spain
Again, Curio’s over Macedonia,
And then Servilius’ over Isauria.

Isdem temporibus consul M. Aemilius Lepidus, Catuli collega, bellum civile voluit commovere, intra unam tamen aestatem motus eius oppressus est. Ita uno tempore multi simul triumphi fuerunt, Metelli ex Hispania, Pompeii secundus ex Hispania, Curionis ex Macedonia, Servilii ex Isauria.

Chapter 6

In the six hundred and seventieth year since the founding
Of the City of Rome, Lucius Licinius Lucullus being
Consul with Marcus Aurelius Cotta, King Nicomedes
Of Bithynia passed away appointing as heir
The Roman People, by testament. Then Mithridates,
Breaking the peace, wanted to invade again
Bithynia and Asia. Both Consuls brought to bear
Their forces against him with mixed success; thus
Cotta was beaten by him in battle, then
Forced into a fortified camp and besieged there.
But after Mithridates had moved to Cyzicus
To occupy that city intending to throw
His armies into Asia, Lucullus, the other
Consul, took him on (while Mithridates was tarrying
At the siege of Cizicus) in order to corner
And encircle him to starve him into surrender.
He also won many battles and at last
Made him fly to Byzantium, as in the past
Constantinople was known. Lucullus also,
In many sea battles, his admirals laid low.
In one Summer and one Winter Lucullus then
Slew about one hundred thousand of the King’s men.

Anno urbis conditae sexcentesimo septuagesimo sexto, L. Licinio Lucullo et M. Aurelio Cotta consulibus mortuus est Nicomedes, rex Bithyniae, et per testamentum populum Romanum fecit heredem. Mithridates pace rupta Bithyniam et Asiam rursus voluit invadere. Adversus eum ambo consules missi variam habuere fortunam. Cotta apud Chalcedonem victus ab eo acie, etiam intra oppidum coactus est et obsessus. Sed cum se inde Mithridates Cyzicum transtulisset, ut Cyzico capta totam Asiam invaderet, Lucullus ei, alter consul, occurrit. Ac dum Mithridates in obsidione Cyzici commoratur, ipse eum a tergo obsedit fameque consumpsit et multis proeliis vicit, postremo Byzantium, quae nunc Constantinopolis est, fugavit. Navali quoque proelio duces eius Lucullus oppressit. Ita una hieme et aestate a Lucullo ad centum fere milia regis extincta sunt.

Chapter 7

Marcus Licinius Lucullus, Lucullus’
Cousin, who had made war on Mithridates, was
Entrusted with the Macedonian Province.
In the year six hundred and seventy-eighth since
The founding of the City. Suddenly
A new conflict broke out in Italy.
And indeed seventy-four gladiators led
By Spartacus, Crixus and Oenomaus, fled
The gym of Capua they had pulled down and,
Roaming in Italy, the war they fanned
Was almost as unrelenting as that
Waged by Hannibal. For after beating many
Generals and two Roman Consuls at
Once, they managed to mobilize an army
Of sixty thousand armed men. In a combat
In Apulia they were defeated by
Proconsul Lucius Licinius Crassus. That’s why
The triennial war’s end in Italy
Also ended a great calamity.

Anno urbis Romae sexcentesimo septuagesimo octavo Macedoniam provinciam M. Licinius Lucullus accepit, consobrinus Luculli, qui contra Mithridatem bellum gerebat. Et in Italia novum bellum subito commotum est. Septuaginta enim et quattuor gladiatores ducibus Spartaco, Crixo et Oenomao effracto Capuae ludo fugerunt. Et per Italiam vagantes paene non levius bellum in ea, quam Hannibal moverat, paraverunt. Nam multis ducibus et duobus simul Romanorum consulibus victis sexaginta fere milium armatorum exercitum congregaverunt, victique sunt in Apulia a M. Licinio Crasso pro consule, et post multas calamitates Italiae tertio anno bello huic est finis inpositus.

Chapter 8

In the year six hundred and eighty-one
Since the founding of the City, when Publius
Cornelius Lentulus and Gnaeus Aufidius
Orestes were Consuls, two wars had begun,
Grim wars indeed, in the Mithridatic and
In the Macedonian under the command
Of the two Luculli: Lucius Lucullus
And Marcus Lucullus. Therefore Lucius
Lucullus following the Cyzicus
Engagement (in which he had beaten
Mithridates, and the naval melee
Where he vanquished his admirals) then
Chased him and also wrested away
Paphlagonia and Bithynia and broke into
His Kingdom capturing the two
Excellent Cities of Amiso and Sinope;
There followed a second engagement, too,
Near the City of Cabira, where an assembly
Of myriads of men had been gathered by King
Mithridates whose thirty thousand strong picked soldiery
Were given a devastating mortal licking
By five thousand Roman soldiers. Later on
Mithridates was chased off; his garrison
Was plundered; the Armenia Minor plateau,
Which he possessed, was taken from him also.
Yet Mithridates, after his getaway,
Was received by Tigranes, King of Armenia
Then in his glorious imperial heyday.
The Persians he had oft overpowered though.
Syria, Phoenicia and Mesopotamia
He had then currently under his sway.

Sexcentesimo octogesimo primo anno urbis conditae, P. Cornelio Lentulo et Cn. Aufidio Oreste consulibus duo tantum gravia bella in imperio Romano erant, Mithridaticum et Macedonicum. Haec duo Luculli agebant, L. Lucullus et M. Lucullus. L. ergo Lucullus post pugnam Cyzicenam, qua vicerat Mithridatem, et navalem, qua duces eius oppresserat, persecutus est eum et recepta Paphlagonia atque Bithynia etiam regnum eius invasit, Sinopen et Amison, civitates Ponti nobilissimas, cepit. Secundo proelio apud Caberam civitatem, quo ingentes copias ex omni regno adduxerat Mithridates, cum XXX milia lectissima regis a quinque milibus Romanorum vastata essent, Mithridates fugatus est, castra eius direpta. Armenia quoque minor, quam tenuerat, eidem sublata est. Susceptus tamen est Mithridates post fugam a Tigrane, Armeniae rege, qui tum ingenti gloria imperabat, Persas saepe vicerat, Mesopotamiam occupaverat et Syriam et Phoenices partem.

Chapter 9

Therefore Lucullus, falling anew
Upon the enemy he had chased away
Found himself also breaking into
The dominion of King Tigranes who
Occupied Tigranocerta, in
Arzanena, a city akin
To the noblest in the Armenian region; and
With an eighteen thousand infantrymen’s band
Defeated the King who had at his command
Seven thousand five hundred toughened
Armoured cavalry and a hundred thousand
Between archers and heavily
Armed men; thus destroying nearly
All the Armenians. From there he went on
The King’s brother; but the soldiers of the garrison
Lucullus had left behind in Pontus to defend
That land already under the Romans’ dominion,
Acting negligently and covetously
Gave Mithridates the opportunity
To break into Pontus and start a war.
To Lucullus, who had just taken Nisibis and
Was about to step onto the Persians’ land,
Was dispatched, by all means, a successor.

Ergo Lucullus repetens hostem fugatum etiam regnum Tigranis qui Armeniis imperabat ingressus est. Tigranocertam, civitatem Arzanenae, nobilissimam regni Armeniaci, cepit, ipsum regem cum septem milibus quingentis clibanariis et centum milibus sagittariorum et armatorum venientem decem et octo milia militum habens ita vicit, ut magnam partem Armeniorum deleverit. Inde Nisibin profectus eam quoque civitatem cum regis fratre cepit. Sed hi, quos in Ponto Lucullus reliquerat cum exercitus parte, ut regiones victas et iam Romanorum tuerentur, neglegenter se et avare agentes occasionem iterum Mithridati in Pontum inrumpendi dederunt, atque ita bellum renovatum est. Lucullo paranti capta Nisibi contra Persas expeditionem successor est missus.

Chapter 10

The ruler of Macedonia who
First among the Romans made war to
The Bessi and vanquished them on Mount Haemus
In a big battle, was the other Lucullus.
He launched an assault on the Bessi and did away
With them in their native Uscudama in just one day,
Seized Cabyle and penetrated into
The Danube’s zone, then pounced upon
Many of the cities lying on
The north side of the Pontus’ coastline, too.
There he destroyed Apollonia city,
Took Callati, Parthenopolis, Tomi
Histros, Burzaione and, the war being through,
Returned to Rome. Both had a triumph. For all that
Catullus rode along with greater glory
Having vanquished Mithridates in combat;
Like a conqueror hallowed by history.

Alter autem Lucullus, qui Macedoniam administrabat, Bessis primus Romanorum intulit bellum atque eos ingenti proelio in Haemo monte superavit. Oppidum Uscudamam, quod Bessi habitabant, eodem die, quo adgressus est, vicit, Cabylen cepit, usque ad Danubium penetravit. Inde multas supra Pontum positas civitates adgressus est. Illic Apolloniam evertit, Callatim, Parthenopolim, Tomos, Histrum, Burziaonem cepit belloque confecto Romam rediit. Ambo triumphaverunt, tamen Lucullus, qui contra Mithridatem pugnaverat, maiore gloria, cum tantorum regnorum victor redisset.

Chapter 11

The Cretan war started after the Macedonic
Conflict had ended; meanwhile in the Mithridatic
The operations were still going on, for the King
Went to war, thanks to Lucullus’ retreat, after collecting
Reinforcements. Quintus Caecilius Metellus,
Having been sent against him, conquered again,
With huge engagements and a three-year campaign,
The entire province, was called Creticus,
And could an insular triumph attain.
Berenice, Cyrene and Ptolemais
By testament of King Appion, their sire,
Simultaneously became cities
In the lands of the Roman Empire.

Confecto bello Macedonico, manente Mithridatico, quod recedente Lucullo rex collectis auxiliis reparaverat, bellum Creticum ortum est. Ad id missus Q. Caecilius Metellus ingentibus proeliis intra triennium omnem provinciam cepit appellatusque est Creticus atque ex insula triumphavit. Quo tempore Libya quoque Romano imperio per testamentum Appionis, qui rex eius fuerat, accessit, in qua inclutae urbes erant Berenice, Ptolomais, Cyrene.

Chapter 12

While these operations were going on
The Romans, with their absolute mastery
Of the whole world, found navigation
On all the pirate-infested seas unfree
And unsafe. To Gnaeus Pompey, consequently,
Was assigned that war whose completion
Was achieved with the utmost celerity
And success in a few months. His next assignment
Was then the war against Mithridates and Tigranes.
After starting it, in a nocturnal engagement
In Armenia Minor, he defeated Mithridates,
Sacked his camp, killed forty thousand of his
Soldiers, lost only a score of his own regiment
And two centurions. Mithridates got away
With his own wife and two companions; and not much
Later, having treated his relatives in such
A cruel way, was forced to die, the poison’s prey,
After a soldiers’ mutiny egged on,
By Pharnaces in person, his own son.
This was Mithridates’ end. He died near
The Bosphorus. He was a man of clear
Judgment and diligence. His reign lasted for
Full sixty of his seventy-two year
Life span, forty of which spent in the Roman war.

Dum haec geruntur, piratae omnia maria infestabant ita, ut Romanis toto orbe victoribus sola navigatio tuta non esset. Quare id bellum Cn. Pompeio decretum est. Quod intra paucos menses ingenti et felicitate et celeritate confecit. Mox ei delatum etiam bellum contra regem Mithridatem et Tigranem. Quo suscepto Mithridatem in Armenia minore nocturno proelio vicit, castra diripuit, quadraginta milia eius occidit, viginti tantum de exercitu suo perdidit et duos centuriones. Mithridates cum uxore fugit et duobus comitibus. Neque multo post, cum in suos saeviret, Pharnacis, filii sui, apud milites seditione ad mortem coactus venenum hausit. Hunc finem habuit Mithridates. Periit autem apud Bosphorum, vir ingentis industriae consiliique. Regnavit annis sexaginta, vixit septuaginta duobus, contra Romanos bellum habuit annis quadraginta.

Chapter 13

Then Pompey made war on Tigranes who
Surrendered to him, went to his camp some
Sixteen miles from Artaxata and threw
Himself at his feet, putting his solemn
Diadem in his hands; Which Pompey
Replaced on his head, treating him honourably
But dividing up his realm considerably
And fining him in a big way:
Syria, Phoenicia and Sophene were
Taken from him; then he had to transfer
A huge six thousand talents of silver
Tribute to the Roman people for
Having without reason declared war.

Tigrani deinde Pompeius bellum intulit. Ille se ei dedidit et in castra Pompeii sexto decimo miliario ab Artaxata venit ac diadema suum, cum procubuisset ad genua Pompeii, in manibus ipsius conlocavit. Quod ei Pompeius reposuit honorificeque eum habitum regni tamen parte multavit et grandi pecunia. Adempta est ei Syria, Phoenice, Sophanene; sex milia praeterea talentorum argenti indicta, quae populo Romano daret, quia bellum sine causa Romanis commovisset.

Chapter 14

Pompey then made war on the Albani and
Three times overcame Orodes their king.
Being swayed by letters and an offering
Of presents he at last granted his demand
For peace. Artaces, the Hiberian king,
He also beat in battle accepting
His surrender. Armenia Minor he gave to
Deiotarus King of the Galatians for
Being his ally in the Mithridatic war;
He actually handed Paphlagonia back to
Pylamenes. In Colchis was to reign,
By his will, King Aristarchus again.
Presently he beat the Itureans
And after them the Arabians.
Having arrived in Syria he set free
Seleucia, next to Antioch, a city
Which had refused to receive King
Tigranes. The Antiochians got back their
Hostages. To all those living
In Daphne he gave a certain quantity
Of fields to make ample and fair
The Sacred Grove, praising the amenity
Of the place and its plentiful running
Waters. To Judaea anon proceeded he,
Taking Jerusalem the Nations’ head in three
Months, turning against the Jews, annihilating
Twelve thousand but protecting the rest.
After these feats he returned to Asia ending
A war numbered among the oldest.

Pompeius mox etiam Albanis bellum intulit et eorum regem Oroden ter vicit, postremo per epistulas ac munera rogatus veniam ei ac pacem dedit. Hiberiae quoque regem Artacen vicit acie et in deditionem accepit. Armeniam minorem Deiotaro, Galatiae regi, donavit, quia socius belli Mithridatici fuerat. Attalo et Pylaemeni Paphlagoniam reddidit. Aristarchum Colchis regem imposuit. Mox Ituraeos et Arabas vicit. Et cum venisset in Syriam, Seleuciam, vicinam Antiochiae civitatem, libertate donavit, quod regem Tigranen non recepisset. Antiochensibus obsides reddidit. Aliquantum agrorum Daphnensibus dedit, quo lucus ibi spatiosior fieret, delectatus loci amoenitate et aquarum abundantia. Inde ad Iudaeam transgressus est, Hierosolyma, caput gentis, tertio mense cepit XII milibus Iudaeorum occisis, ceteris in fidem acceptis. His gestis in Asiam se recepit et finem antiquissimo bello dedit.

Chapter 15

Orator Marcus Tullius Cicero and Caius
Antonius being Consuls, in the year six hundred and
Eighty-nine since the founding of the City, Lucius
Sergius Catiline, a man of anoble and grand
Family but with an innate base quality,
Was behind a devastating conspiracy
Of some bright but reckless men, against his Fatherland.
Cicero banished him from Rome. Thus shackled
Were all his comrades and in prison strangled.
Antonius, the other Consul, outmatched
In battle Catiline who was then dispatched.

M. Tullio Cicerone oratore et C. Antonio consulibus, anno ab urbe condita sexcentesimo octogesimo nono, L. Sergius Catilina, nobilissimi generis vir, sed ingenii pravissimi, ad delendam patriam coniuravit cum quibusdam claris quidem, sed audacibus viris. A Cicerone urbe expulsus est. Socii eius deprehensi in carcere strangulati sunt. Ab Antonio, altero consule, Catilina ipse victus proelio est et interfectus.

Chapter 16

In the year six hundred and ninety
Since the foundation of the City,
Decimus Junius Silanus and Lucius
Murena being Consuls, it was Metellus
Who celebrated a triumph over Crete while
Pompey had his for both the piratic
Operations and the Mithridatic
Campaign. The Triumph’s pomp was peerless,
Before his chariot a sovereigns’ progress:
Mithridates, Tigranis his son, in twos,
And then Aristobulus king of the Jews.
Much money, silver and gold galore
Were also carried along before
The chariot. At that time there was no news
In the entire world of a major war.

Sexcentesimo nonagesimo anno urbis conditae D. Iunio Silano et L. Murena consulibus Metellus de Creta triumphavit, Pompeius de bello piratico et Mithridatico. Nulla umquam pompa triumphi similis fuit. Ducti sunt ante eius currum filii Mithridatis, filius Tigranis et Aristobulus, rex Iudaeorum; praelata est ingens pecunia et auri atque argenti infinitum. Hoc tempore nullum per orbem terrarum grave bellum erat.

Chapter 17

In the year six hundred and ninety-three
Since the establishment of the City,
Caius Julius Caesar, who presently
Became supreme ruler, was appointed
Consul with Lucius Bibulus. Assigned
To him was Gaul and Illyricum with ten
Legions. He first routed the Sequani, then
Known as Helvetii, and successively
Harshly fought his way to Britain’s ocean.
In nine years, though, he managed to
Subdue almost all the Gaul lying between
The Alps, the river Rhone, the Rhine and
The ocean, forming a horseshoe
Of three million two hundred thousand
Paces. At that moment he made war to
The Britons, who till then had never even
Heard the Romans mentioned by name.
They were vanquished and without more ado
Gave Rome hostages and became
Tributaries. Gaul was forced to give forty million
Sesterces, instead, as an annual contribution.
Then he crossed the river Rhine, on the offense
Against the Germans whom he crushed in immense
Battles. Among so many successes he then
Weakly fought three times the Arvernian tribesmen:
Once in his presence and twice in his absence
In Germany. His two legates, attacked
After having been ambushed, were hacked
To pieces: one was Titurius,
The other Auruculeius.

Anno urbis conditae sexcentesimo nonagesimo tertio C. Iulius Caesar, qui postea imperavit, cum L. Bibulo consul est factus. Decreta est ei Gallia et Illyricum cum legionibus decem. Is primus vicit Helvetios, qui nunc Sequani appellantur, deinde vincendo per bella gravissima usque ad Oceanum Britannicum processit. Domuit autem annis novem fere omnem Galliam, quae inter Alpes, flumen Rhodanum, Rhenum et Oceanum est et circuitu patet ad bis et tricies centena milia passuum. Britannis mox bellum intulit, quibus ante eum ne nomen quidem Romanorum cognitum erat, eosque victos obsidibus acceptis stipendiarios fecit. Galliae autem tributi nomine annuum imperavit stipendium quadringenties, Germanosque trans Rhenum adgressus inmanissimis proeliis vicit. Inter tot successus ter male pugnavit, apud Arvernos semel praesens et absens in Germania bis. Nam legati eius duo, Titurius et Aurunculeius, per insidias caesi sunt.

Chapter 18

At About the same time, six hundred and ninety-
Seven years since the foundation of the City,
Marcus Licinius Crassus,
The colleague of Consul Gnaeus
Pompey in his second consulship, was sent
Against the Parthians and near Carrae, despite
Auspices and omens, engaging in a fight
He was slain, with his glorious and eminent
Son, by Surena, King Orodes’ general, at last.
Quaestor Caius Cassius saved the remnants of the harassed
Army and regained what had been lost with plenty of pluck.
On his way back across the Euphrates he engaged and struck
The Persians who were frequently surpassed.

Circa eadem tempora anno urbis conditae sexcentesimo nonagesimo septimo, M. Licinius Crassus, collega Cn. Pompeii Magni in consulatu secundo, contra Parthos missus est et cum circa Carras contra omen et auspicia dimicasset, a Surena, Orodis regis duce, victus ad postremum interfectus est cum filio, clarissimo et praestantissimo iuvene. Reliquiae exercitus per C. Cassium quaestorem servatae sunt, qui singulari animo perditas res tanta virtute restituit, ut Persas rediens trans Euphraten crebris proeliis vinceret.

Chapter 19

There followed a war lachrymable and accursed
Which, not counting the combats’ calamities,
Also changed the Roman people’s destinies.
On his way back from Gaul, Victor Caesar at first
Asked for another Consulship to
Be given to him without hesitation,
But the request raised the opposition
Of Consul Marcellus and his retinue:
Pompey, Bilbulus and Cato.
He was ordered to leave the army
And get back by all means to the City.
Before such an outrage Caesar, though,
Gathered all the soldiers in Rimini and
Marched with his army against the Fatherland.
The Consuls, the Senators with Pompey,
The men of quality all got away
And went over to Greece. In Achaia,
In Epirus and in Macedonia.
There the Senate and Pompey set in motion
Against Caesar a warlike operation.

Hinc iam bellum civile successit exsecrandum et lacrimabile, quo praeter calamitates, quae in proeliis acciderunt, etiam populi Romani fortuna mutata est. Caesar enim rediens ex Gallia victor coepit poscere alterum consulatum atque ita ut sine dubietate aliqua ei deferretur. Contradictum est a Marcello consule, a Bibulo, a Pompeio, a Catone, iussusque dimissis exercitibus ad urbem redire. Propter quam iniuriam ab Arimino, ubi milites congregatos habebat, adversum patriam cum exercitu venit. Consules cum Pompeio senatusque omnis atque universa nobilitas ex urbe fugit et in Graeciam transiit. Apud Epirum, Macedoniam, Achaiam Pompeio duce senatus contra Caesarem bellum paravit.

Chapter 20

Caesar entered an empty City and made
Himself dictator; then he went to Spain
Where he vanquished Pompey’s strong army arrayed
By three generals: Lucius Afranius,
Marcus Varro and Marcus Petreius.
Later he proceeded to Greece again,
Fought Pompey but was at first beaten
And put to flight. He saved himself, for all that,
As Pompey, at nightfall, was unwilling to
Go after him and Caesar would then
Say Pompey didn’t know how to win and that
He’d had the opportunity to outdo
Him on that day only. Next, in Thessalia near
Each, they had a major military engagement.
Pompey’s army had a forty thousand strong tier
Of foot soldiers, six hundred horsemen on the left wing,
Five hundred on the right. All the Orient was helping
Him out, besides all the nobility,
Countless Senators, praetorians, former Praetors, Consuls
Who in war had achieved a victory.
Caesar’s army had one thousand mounted individuals
And just about thirty thousand infantry.

Caesar vacuam urbem ingressus dictatorem se fecit. Inde Hispanias petiit. Ibi Pompeii exercitus validissimos et fortissimos cum tribus ducibus, L. Afranio, M. Petreio, M. Varrone, superavit. Inde regressus in Graeciam transiit, adversum Pompeium dimicavit. Primo proelio victus est et fugatus, evasit tamen, quia nocte interveniente Pompeius sequi noluit, dixitque Caesar nec Pompeium scire vincere et illo tantum die se potuisse superari. Deinde in Thessalia apud Palaeopharsalum productis utrimque ingentibus copiis dimicaverunt. Pompei acies habuit XL milia peditum, equites in sinistro cornu sexcentos, in dextro quingentos, praeterea totius Orientis auxilia, totam nobilitatem, innumeros senatores, praetorios, consulares et qui magnorum iam bellorum victores fuissent. Caesar in acie sua habuit peditum non integra XXX milia, equites mille.

Chapter 21

Never before had stronger or better led
Roman forces been assembled that might
Have easily subjugated the world, instead,
If they had been brought to bear in the fight
Against barbarians. Extremely violent
Were the battles but in the end Pompey
Was overpowered and his encampment
Was plundered. Having been put to flight he
Reached Alexandria to seek help from the King
Of Egypt, who happened to be just a sapling,
And whose tutor he had been by the decree
Of the Senate. The king, instead, by murdering
Pompey valued fortune more than amity,
And then sent Caesar his ring and head;
In front of which Caesar, it was said,
Burst into tears at the sight of the head of so
Eminent a man who had been his son-in-law.

Numquam adhuc Romanae copiae in unum neque maiores neque melioribus ducibus convenerant, totum terrarum orbem facile subacturae, si contra barbaros ducerentur. Pugnatum tamen est ingenti contentione victusque ad postremum Pompeius et castra eius direpta sunt. Ipse fugatus Alexandriam petiit, ut a rege Aegypti, cui tutor a senatu datus fuerat propter iuvenilem eius aetatem, acciperet auxilia. Qui fortunam magis quam amicitiam secutus occidit Pompeium, caput eius et anulum Caesari misit. Quo conspecto Caesar etiam lacrimas fudisse dicitur, tanti viri intuens caput et generi quondam sui.

Chapter 22

Then Caesar went to Alexandria where
Ptolemy also wanted to ensnare
Him but provoked a case of war, though.
He was crushed by the Nile and met his fate.
His body was later found below
The waters attired in a gold breastplate.
Caesar took possession of Alexandria
And entrusted the kingdom to Cleopatra,
Ptolemy’s sister. He’d had an affair
With her. Caesar, on his way back from there,
Vanquished Pharnaces in battle and forced him to
Kill himself. He was Mithridates the Great’s son who
In Thessaly had been very helpful to Pompey,
In Pontus had stirred up a rebellion, too,
And many Roman provinces were under his sway.

Mox Caesar Alexandriam venit. Ipsi quoque Ptolomaeus parare voluit insidias, qua causa bellum regi inlatum est. Victus in Nilo periit inventumque est corpus eius cum lorica aurea. Caesar Alexandria potitus regnum Cleopatrae dedit, Ptolomaei sorori, cum qua consuetudinem stupri habuerat. Rediens inde Caesar Pharnacen, Mithridatis Magni filium, qui Pompeio in auxilium apud Thessaliam fuerat, rebellantem in Ponto et multas populi Romani provincias occupantem vicit acie, postea ad mortem coegit.

Chapter 23

From there Caesar returned to Rome and made
Himself Consul for the third time with Marcus
Aemilius Lepidus, when dictator, his Horse Master;
Then he went back to Africa where a brigade
Of noblemen joined forces with King Iuba and thus
Called up to arms all the Mauritanians.
Indeed the generals of the Romans
Were, all told, Publius Cornelius Scipio,
A member of Scipio Africanus’
Ancient descent, and once father-in-law
Of Pompey the Great, Marcus Petreius
Quintus Varus, Marcus Porcius Cato
And also Lucius Cornelius Faustus,
Dictator Sylla’s son. Against the regiments
Of all these Caesar had many engagements
And was victor. Cato, Scipio, Petreius, Iuba
Killed themselves; Caesar killed Faustus, son of Sylla
And Pompey’s son-in-law, without compliments.

Inde Romam regressus tertio se consulem fecit cum M. Aemilio Lepido, qui ei magister equitum dictatori ante annum fuerat. Inde in Africam profectus est, ubi infinita nobilitas cum Iuba, Mauretaniae rege, bellum reparaverat. Duces autem Romani erant P. Cornelius Scipio ex genere antiquissimo Scipionis Africani (hic etiam socer Pompeii Magni fuerat), M. Petreius, Q. Varus, M. Porcius Cato, L. Cornelius Faustus, Sullae dictatoris filius. Contra hos commisso proelio, post multas dimicationes victor fuit Caesar. Cato, Scipio, Petreius, Iuba ipsi se occiderunt. Faustus, Sullae quondam dictatoris filius, Pompeii gener, a Caesare interfectus est.

Chapter 24

Back in Rome after a year Caesar would fain
Make himself Senator for the fourth time and
Without hesitation departed for Spain
Where Gnaeus Pompeius, Pompey’s eldest son,
And Sextus Pompeius had prepared a grand
War. Many battles were fought, the last one
Near the city of Munda where Caesar had to scrape
For victory. He actually had a near escape
And wanted to kill himself afraid to be taken hostage,
After all his glorious military might,
Of a band of adolescents at sixty-five years of age.
Having patched up his troops he won the day
At last. Of the two children of Pompey,
The elder was killed, the younger put to flight.

Post annum Caesar Romam regressus quarto se consulem fecit et statim ad Hispanias est profectus, ubi Pompeii filii, Cn. Pompeius et Sex. Pompeius, ingens bellum praeparaverant. Multa proelia fuerunt, ultimum apud Mundam civitatem, in quo adeo Caesar paene victus est, ut fugientibus suis se voluerit occidere, ne post tantam rei militaris gloriam in potestatem adulescentium, natus annos sex et quinquaginta, veniret. Denique reparatis suis vicit. Ex Pompeii filiis maior occisus est, minor fugit.

Chapter 25

Then Caesar, having quelled all wars worldwide
Returned to Rome. He began to act insolently,
Contrary to the Roman habits of liberty.
By his own will he wanted to decide
The conferment of honours, once within the pale
Of the people only. For when the Senate came
To him he never rose and started to avail
Himself of a kingly almost tyrannical stance
A conspiracy was carried out to frame
Him by sixty or more Senators and Roman
Cavaliers. Among them of paramount importance
Were the two Bruti whose lineage was the same
As Brutus’ (Rome’s first Consul and the man
Who had banished the kings), Caius Cassius and
Servilius Casca. On the day he’d planned,
Among others, to meet the Curial Band
Caesar was (in the crime of crimes),
Attacked and stabbed twenty-three times.

Inde Caesar bellis civilibus toto orbe conpositis Romam rediit. Agere insolentius coepit et contra consuetudinem Romanae libertatis. Cum ergo et honores ex sua voluntate praestaret, qui a populo antea deferebantur, nec senatui ad se venienti adsurgeret aliaque regia et paene tyrannica faceret, coniuratum est in eum a sexaginta vel amplius senatoribus equitibusque Romanis. Praecipui fuerunt inter coniuratos duo Bruti ex eo genere Bruti, qui primus Romae consul fuerat et reges expulerat, et C. Cassius et Servilius Casca. Ergo Caesar, cum senatus die inter ceteros venisset ad curiam, tribus et viginti vulneribus confossus est.