Augustus | Page 4

the senate to command the troops he had gathered, with the rank of
praetor, and in conjunction with Hirtius and Pansa, who had accepted
the consulship, to carry assistance to Decius Brutus, he put an end to
the war by two battles in three months. Antony writes, that in the
former of these he ran away, and two days afterwards made his
appearance (77) without his general's cloak and his horse. In the last
battle, however, it is certain that he performed the part not only of a
general, but a soldier; for, in the heat of the battle; when the
standard-bearer of his legion was severely wounded, he took the eagle
upon his shoulders, and carried it a long time.
XI. In this war [115], Hirtius being slain in battle, and Pansa dying a
short time afterwards of a wound, a report was circulated that they both
were killed through his means, in order that, when Antony fled, the
republic having lost its consuls, he might have the victorious armies
entirely at his own command. The death of Pansa was so fully believed
to have been caused by undue means, that Glyco, his surgeon, was
placed in custody, on a suspicion of having poisoned his wound. And to
this, Aquilius Niger adds, that he killed Hirtius, the other consul, in the
confusion of the battle, with his own hands.
XII. But upon intelligence that Antony, after his defeat, had been
received by Marcus Lepidus, and that the rest of the generals and
armies had all declared for the senate, he, without any hesitation,

deserted from the party of the nobles; alleging as an excuse for his
conduct, the actions and sayings of several amongst them; for some
said, "he was a mere boy," and others threw out, "that he ought to be
promoted to honours, and cut off," to avoid the making any suitable
acknowledgment either to him or the veteran legions. And the more to
testify his regret for having before attached himself to the other faction,
he fined the Nursini in a large sum of money, which they were unable
to pay, and then expelled them from the town, for having inscribed
upon a monument, erected at the public charge to their countrymen
who were slain in the battle of Modena, "That they fell in the cause of
liberty."
XIII. Having entered into a confederacy with Antony and Lepidus, he
brought the war at Philippi to an end in two battles, although he was at
that time weak, and suffering from sickness [116]. In the first battle he
was driven from his camp, (78) and with some difficulty made his
escape to the wing of the army commanded by Antony. And now,
intoxicated with success, he sent the head of Brutus [117] to be cast at
the foot of Caesar's statue, and treated the most illustrious of the
prisoners not only with cruelty, but with abusive language; insomuch
that he is said to have answered one of them who humbly intreated that
at least he might not remain unburied, "That will be in the power of the
birds." Two others, father and son, who begged for their lives, he
ordered to cast lots which of them should live, or settle it between
themselves by the sword; and was a spectator of both their deaths: for
the father offering his life to save his son, and being accordingly
executed, the son likewise killed himself upon the spot. On this account,
the rest of the prisoners, and amongst them Marcus Favonius, Cato's
rival, being led up in fetters, after they had saluted Antony, the general,
with much respect, reviled Octavius in the foulest language. After this
victory, dividing between them the offices of the state, Mark Antony
[118] undertook to restore order in the east, while Caesar conducted the
veteran soldiers back to Italy, and settled them in colonies on the lands
belonging to the municipalities. But he had the misfortune to please
neither the soldiers nor the owners of the lands; one party complaining
of the injustice done them, in being violently ejected from their
possessions, and the other, that they were not rewarded according to
their merit. [119]

XIV. At this time he obliged Lucius Antony, who, presuming upon his
own authority as consul, and his brother's power, was raising new
commotions, to fly to Perugia, and forced him, by famine, to surrender
at last, although not without having been exposed to great hazards, both
before the war and during its continuance. For a common soldier
having got into the seats of the equestrian order in the theatre, at the
public spectacles, Caesar ordered him to be removed by an officer; and
a rumour being thence spread by his enemies, that he had (79) put the
man to death