τοιαῦτα ληροῦντα καὶ μειρακιευόμενον τὸν Ἀντώνιον ἀγγελίαι δύο καταλαμβάνουσιν, ἡ μὲν ἀπὸ Ῥώμης, Λεύκιον τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ καὶ Φουλβίαν τὴν γυναῖκα πρῶτον ἀλλήλοις στασιάσαντας, εἶτα Καίσαρι πολεμήσαντας, ἀποβεβληκέναι τὰ πράγματα καὶ φεύγειν ἐξ Ἰταλίας, ἑτέρα δὲ ταύτης οὐδὲν ἐπιεικεστέρα, Λαβιηνὸν ἐπάγοντα Πάρθους τὴν ἀπʼ Εὐφράτου καὶ Συρίας ἄχρι Λυδίας καὶ Ἰωνίας Ἀσίαν καταστρέφεσθαι.
While Antony was indulging in such trifles and youthful follies, he was surprised by reports from two quarters: one from Rome, that Lucius his brother and Fulvia his wife had first quarrelled with one another, and then had waged war with Octavius Caesar, but had lost their cause and were in flight from Italy; and another, not a whit more agreeable than this, that Labienus at the head of the Parthians was subduing Asia from the Euphrates and Syria as far as Lydia and Ionia.
μόλις οὖν ὥσπερ ἐξυπνισθεὶς καὶ ἀποκραιπαλήσας ὥρμησε μὲν Πάρθοις ἐνίστασθαι καὶ μέχρι Φοινίκης προῆλθε, Φουλβίας δὲ γράμματα θρήνων μεστὰ πεμπούσης ἐπέστρεψεν εἰς τὴν Ἰταλίαν, ἄγων ναῦς διακοσίας. ἀναλαβὼν δὲ κατὰ πλοῦν τῶν φίλων τοὺς πεφευγότας ἐπυνθάνετο τοῦ πολέμου τὴν Φουλβίαν αἰτίαν γεγονέναι, φύσει μὲν οὖσαν πολυπράγμονα καὶ θρασεῖαν, ἐλπίζουσαν δὲ τῆς Κλεοπάτρας ἀπάξειν τὸν Ἀντώνιον εἴ τι γένοιτο κίνημα περὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν.
At last, then, like a man roused from sleep after a deep debauch, he set out to oppose the Parthians, and advanced as far as Phoenicia; but on receiving from Fulvia a letter full of lamentations, he turned his course towards Italy, at the head of two hundred ships. On the voyage, however, he picked up his friends who were in flight from Italy, and learned from them that Fulvia had been to blame for the war, being naturally a meddlesome and headstrong woman, and hoping to draw Antony away from Cleopatra in case there should be a disturbance in Italy.
συμβαίνει δὲ ἀπὸ τύχης καὶ Φουλβίαν πλέουσαν πρὸς αὐτὸν ἐν Σικυῶνι νόσῳ τελευτῆσαι· διὸ καὶ μᾶλλον αἱ πρὸς Καίσαρα διαλλαγαὶ καιρὸν ἔσχον. ὡς γὰρ προσέμιξε τῇ Ἰταλίᾳ καὶ Καῖσαρ ἦν φανερὸς ἐκείνῳ μὲν οὐθὲν ἐγκαλῶν, αὐτὸς δʼ ὧν ἐνεκαλεῖτο τὰς αἰτίας τῇ Φουλβία προστριβόμενος, οὐκ εἴων ἐξελέγχειν οἱ φίλοι τὴν πρόφασιν,
It happened, too, that Fulvia, who was sailing to meet him, fell sick and died at Sicyon. Therefore there was even more opportunity for a reconciliation with Caesar. For when Antony reached Italy, and Caesar manifestly intended to make no charges against him, and Antony himself was ready to put upon Fulvia the blame for whatever was charged against himself,
ἀλλὰ διέλυον ἀμφοτέρους καὶ διῄρουν τὴν ἡγεμονίαν, ὅρον ποιούμενοι τὸν Ἰόνιον, καὶ τὰ μὲν ἑῷα νέμοντες Ἀντωνίῳ, τὰ δʼ ἑσπέρια Καίσαρι, Λέπιδον δὲ Λιβύην ἔχειν ἐῶντες, ὑπατεύειν δὲ τάξαντες, ὅτε μὴ δόξειεν αὐτοῖς, φίλους ἑκατέρων παρὰ μέρος.
the friends of the two men would not permit any examination of the proffered excuse, but reconciled them, and divided up the empire, making the Ionian sea a boundary, and assigning the East to Antony, and the West to Caesar; they also permitted Lepidus to have Africa, and arranged that, when they did not wish for the office themselves, the friends of each should have the consulship by turns.
ταῦτα ἔχειν καλῶς δοκοῦντα πίστεως ἐδεῖτο σφοδροτέρας, ἣν ἡ τύχη παρέσχεν. Ὀκταουία γὰρ ἦν ἀδελφὴ πρεσβυτέρα μέν, οὐχ ὁμομητρία δὲ Καίσαρι· ἐγεγόνει γὰρ ἐξ Ἀγχαρίας, ὁ δὲ ὕστερον ἐξ Ἀτίας. ἔστεργε δʼ ὑπερφυῶς τὴν ἀδελφήν, χρῆμα θαυμαστόν, ὡς λέγεται, γυναικὸς γενομένην.
These arrangements were thought to be fair, but they needed a stronger security, and this security Fortune offered. Octavia was a sister of Caesar, older than he, though not by the same mother; for she was the child of Ancharia, but he, by a later marriage, of Atia. Caesar was exceedingly fond of his sister, who was, as the saying is, a wonder of a woman.
αὕτη, Γαΐου Μαρκέλλου τοῦ γήμαντος αὐτὴν οὐ πάλαι τεθνηκότος, ἐχήρευεν. ἐδόκει δὲ καὶ Φουλβίας ἀποιχομένης χηρεύειν Ἀντώνιος, ἔχειν μὲν οὐκ ἀρνούμενος Κλεοπάτραν, γάμῳ δὲ οὐχ ὁμολογῶν, ἀλλʼ ἔτι τῷ λόγῳ περί γε τούτου πρὸς τὸν ἔρωτα τῆς Αἰγυπτίας μαχόμενος. τοῦτον ἅπαντες εἰσηγοῦντο τὸν γάμον, ἐλπίζοντες τὴν Ὀκταουίαν ἐπὶ κάλλει τοσούτῳ σεμνότητα καὶ νοῦν ἔχουσαν, εἰς ταὐτὸν τῷ Ἀντωνίῳ παραγενομένην καὶ στερχθεῖσαν, ὡς εἰκὸς τοιαύτην γυναῖκα, πάντων πραγμάτων αὐτοῖς σωτηρίαν ἔσεσθαι καὶ σύγκρασιν.
Her husband, Caius Marcellus, had died a short time before, and she was a widow. Antony, too, now that Fulvia was gone, was held to be a widower, although he did not deny his relations with Cleopatra; he would not admit, however, that she was his wife, and in this matter his reason was still battling with his love for the Egyptian. Everybody tried to bring about this marriage. For they hoped that Octavia, who, besides her great beauty, had intelligence and dignity, when united to Antony and beloved by him, as such a woman naturally must be, would restore harmony and be their complete salvation.
ὡς οὖν ἔδοξεν ἀμφοτέροις, ἀναβάντες εἰς Ῥώμην ἐπετέλουν τὸν Ὀκταουίας γάμον, οὐκ ἐῶντος μὲν νόμου πρὸ δέκα μηνῶν ἀνδρὸς τελευτήσαντος γαμεῖσθαι, τῆς δὲ συγκλήτου δόγματι τὸν χρόνον ἐκείνοις ἀνείσης.
Accordingly, when both men were agreed, they went up to Rome and celebrated Octavia’s marriage, although the law did not permit a woman to marry before her husband had been dead ten months. In this case, however, the senate passed a decree remitting the restriction in time.
Σέξτου δὲ Πομπηΐου Σικελίαν μὲν ἔχοντος, Ἰταλίαν δὲ πορθοῦντος, ληστρίσι δὲ ναυσὶ πολλαῖς, ὧν Μηνᾶς ὁ πειρατὴς καὶ Μενεκράτης ἦρχον, ἄπλουν τὴν θάλασσαν πεποιηκότος, Ἀντωνίῳ δὲ κεχρῆσθαι δοκοῦντος φιλανθρώπως ʽὑπεδέξατο γὰρ αὐτοῦ τὴν μητέρα τῇ Φουλβίᾳ συνεκπεσοῦσαν̓, ἔδοξε καὶ πρὸς τοῦτον διαλυθῆναι.
Now, Sextus Pompeius was holding Sicily, was ravaging Italy, and, with his numerous piratical ships under the command of Menas the corsair and Menecrates, had made the sea unsafe for sailors. But he was thought to be kindly disposed towards Antony, since he had given refuge to Antony’s mother when she fled from Rome with Fulvia, and so it was decided to make terms with him.
καὶ συνῆλθον εἰς ταὐτὸν κατὰ τὴν ἐν Μισηνοῖς ἄκραν καὶ τὸ χῶμα, Πομπηΐῳ μὲν τοῦ στόλου παρορμοῦντος, Ἀντωνίῳ δὲ καὶ Καίσαρι τῶν πεζῶν παρακεκριμένων. ἐπεὶ δὲ συνέθεντο Πομπήϊον ἔχοντα Σαρδόνα καὶ Σικελίαν καθαράν τε λῃστηρίων παρέχειν τὴν θάλατταν καὶ σίτου τι τεταγμένον ἀποστέλλειν εἰς Ῥώμην, ἐκάλουν ἐπὶ δεῖπνον ἀλλήλους.
The men met at the promontory and mole of Misenum, near which Pompey’s fleet lay at anchor and the forces of Antony and Caesar were drawn up. After it had been agreed that Pompey should have Sardinia and Sicily, should keep the sea clear of robbers, and should send up to Rome a stipulated amount of grain, they invited one another to supper.
κληρουμένων δὲ πρῶτος ἑστιᾶν αὐτοὺς ἔλαχε Πομπήϊος. ἐρομένου δὲ αὐτὸν Ἀντωνίου, ποῦ δειπνήσουσιν, ἐνταῦθα, ἔφη, δείξας τὴν στρατηγίδα ναῦν οὖσαν ἑξήρη πατρῷος γὰρ οἶκος αὕτη Πομπηΐῳ λέλειπται. ταῦτα δὲ εἰς τὸν Ἀντώνιον ὀνειδίζων ἔλεγεν, ἐπεὶ τὴν Πομπηΐου τοῦ πατρὸς γενομένην οἰκίαν ἐκεῖνος εἶχεν. ὁρμίσας δὲ τὴν ναῦν ἐπʼ ἀγκυρῶν καὶ διάβασίν τινα γεφυρώσας ἀπὸ τῆς ἄκρας ἀνελάμβανεν αὐτοὺς προθύμως.
Lots were cast, and it was the lot of Pompey to entertain the others first. And when Antony asked him where the supper would be held, There, said he, pointing to his admiral’s ship with its six banks of oars, for this is the ancestral house that is left to Pompey. This he said by way of reproach to Antony, who was now occupying the house which had belonged to the elder Pompey. So he brought his ship to anchor, made a sort of bridge on which to cross to it from the headland, and gave his guests a hearty welcome on board.
ἀκμαζούσης δὲ τῆς συνουσίας καὶ τῶν εἰς Κλεοπάτραν καὶ Ἀντώνιον ἀνθούντων σκωμμάτων, Μηνᾶς ὁ πειρατὴς τῷ Πομπηΐῳ προσελθὼν ὡς μὴ κατακούειν ἐκείνους, βούλει, φησί, τὰς ἀγκύρας τῆς νεὼς ὑποτέμω καὶ ποιήσω σε μὴ Σικελίας καὶ Σαρδόνος, ἀλλὰ τῆς Ῥωμαίων κύριον ἡγεμονίας;
When their good fellowship was at its height and the jokes about Antony and Cleopatra were in full career, Menas the pirate came up to Pompey and said, so that the others could not hear, Shall I cut the ship’s cables and make thee master, not of Sicily and Sardinia, but of the whole Roman empire?
ὁ δὲ Πομπήϊος ἀκούσας καὶ πρὸς αὑτῷ γενόμενος βραχὺν χρόνον, ἔδει σε, φησίν, ὦ Μηνᾶ, τοῦτο ἐμοὶ μὴ προειπόντα ποιῆσαι· νυνὶ δὲ τὰ παρόντα στέργωμεν· ἐπιορκεῖν γὰρ οὐκ ἐμόν. οὗτος μὲν οὖν πάλιν ἀνθεστιαθεὶς ὑπʼ ἀμφοτέρων εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν ἀπέπλευσεν.
Pompey, on hearing this, communed with himself a little while, and then said: Menas, you ought to have done this without speaking to me about it beforehand; but now let us be satisfied with things as they are; for perjury is not my way. Pompey, then, after being feasted in his turn by Antony and Caesar, sailed back to Sicily.
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