ταῦτα μὲν οὖν ὕστερον· ἐπεὶ δὲ τὰ Ῥωμαίων πράγματα διέστη, τῶν μὲν ἀριστοκρατικῶν Πομπηΐῳ παρόντι προσθεμένων, τῶν δὲ δημοτικῶν Καίσαρα καλούντων ἐκ Γαλατίας ἐν τοῖς ὅπλοις ὄντα, Κουρίων ὁ Ἀντωνίου φίλος ἐκ μεταβολῆς θεραπεύων τὰ Καίσαρος Ἀντώνιον προσηγάγετο, καὶ μεγάλην μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ λέγειν ἐν τοῖς πολλοῖς ἔχων ἰσχύν, χρώμενος δὲ καὶ δαπάναις ἀφειδῶς ἀφʼ ὧν Καῖσαρ ἐχορήγει, δήμαρχον ἀπέδειξε τὸν Ἀντώνιον, εἶτα τῶν ἐπʼ οἰωνοῖς ἱερέων, οὓς Αὔγουρας καλοῦσιν.
This, however, was at a later time. But when matters at Rome came to a crisis, the aristocratic party attaching itself to Pompey, who was in the city, and the popular party summoning Caesar from Gaul, where he was in arms, then Curio, the friend of Antony, who had changed sides and was now favouring the cause of Caesar, brought Antony over to it. Curio had great influence with the multitude from his eloquence, and made lavish use of money supplied by Caesar, and so got Antony elected tribune of the people, and afterwards one of the priests, called augurs, who observe the flight of birds.
ὁ δὲ εὐθὺς εἰς τὴν ἀρχὴν παρελθὼν οὐ μικρὸν ἦν ὄφελος τοῖς πολιτευομένοις ὑπὲρ Καίσαρος. ἀλλὰ πρῶτον μὲν Μαρκέλλου τοῦ ὑπάτου Πομπηΐῳ τούς τε συνειλεγμένους ἤδη στρατιώτας παρεγγυῶντος καὶ καταλέγειν ἑτέρους διδόντος ἐμποδὼν ἔστη, διάταγμα γράψας ὅπως ἡ μὲν ἠθροισμένη δύναμις εἰς Συρίαν πλέῃ καὶ Βύβλῳ βοηθῇ πολεμοῦντι Πάρθοις, οὓς δὲ Πομπήϊος καταλέγει, μὴ προσέχωσιν αὐτῷ·
As soon as Antony entered upon his office he was of great assistance to those who were managing affairs in the interests of Caesar. In the first place, when Marcellus the consul proposed to put under Pompey’s control the soldiers already collected, and to give him power to levy others, Antony opposed him by introducing a decree that the forces already assembled should sail for Syria and give aid to Bibulus, who was carrying on war with the Parthians, and that the troops which Pompey was then levying should not belong to him.
δεύτερον δὲ τὰς Καίσαρος ἐπιστολὰς οὐ προσιεμένων οὐδὲ ἐώντων ἀναγινώσκεσθαι τῶν συγκλητικῶν, αὐτὸς ἰσχύων διὰ τὸ ἄρχειν ἀνέγνω, καὶ πολλοὺς μετέστησε τῇ γνώμῃ, δίκαια καὶ μέτρια Καίσαρος ἀξιοῦν ἀφʼ ὧν ἔγραψε δόξαντος.
In the second place, when the senate would not receive Caesar’s letters nor allow them to be read, Antony, whose office gave him power, read them himself, and thereby changed the opinion of many, who judged from Caesar’s letters that he was making only reasonable and just demands.
τέλος δὲ δυεῖν ἐρωτήσεων ἐν τῇ βουλῇ γενομένων, τῆς μὲν εἰ δοκεῖ Πομπήϊον ἀφεῖναι τὰ στρατεύματα, τῆς δὲ εἰ Καίσαρα, καὶ Πομπήϊον μὲν ὀλίγων τὰ ὅπλα καταθέσθαι, Καίσαρα δὲ πάντων παρʼ ὀλίγους κελευόντων, ἀναστὰς Ἀντώνιος ἠρώτησεν εἰ δοκεῖ καὶ Πομπήϊον ὁμοῦ καὶ Καίσαρα τὰ ὅπλα καταθέσθαι καὶ τὰς δυνάμεις ἀφεῖναι. ταύτην ἐδέξαντο λαμπρῶς τὴν γνώμην ἅπαντες, καὶ μετὰ βοῆς ἐπαινοῦντες τὸν Ἀντώνιον ἠξίουν ἐπιψηφίζεσθαι. μὴ βουλομένων δὲ τῶν ὑπάτων, αὖθις ἑτέρας οἱ Καίσαρος φίλοι προὔτειναν ἐπιεικεῖς εἶναι δοκούσας ἀξιώσεις, αἷς ὅ τε Κάτων ἀντέπιπτε καὶ Λέντλος ὑπατεύων ἐξέβαλε τῆς βουλῆς τὸν Ἀντώνιον. ὁ δὲ πολλὰ μὲν αὐτοῖς ἐξιὼν ἐπηράσατο, λαβὼν δὲ θεράποντος ἐσθῆτα καὶ μισθωσάμενος μετὰ Κασσίου Κοΐντου ζεῦγος, ἐξώρμησε πρὸς Καίσαρα· καὶ κατεβόων εὐθὺς ὀφθέντες ὡς οὐδένα κόσμον ἔτι τῶν ἐν Ῥώμῃ πραγμάτων ἐχόντων, ὅτε μηδὲ δημάρχοις παρρησίας μέτεστιν, ἀλλʼ ἐλαύνεται καὶ κινδυνεύει πᾶς ὁ φθεγξάμενος ὑπὲρ τῶν δικαίων.
And finally, when two questions were before the senate, one, whether Pompey should dismiss his forces, and the other, whether Caesar should do so, and only a few were for having Pompey lay down his arms, and all but a few were for having Caesar do so, then Antony rose and asked whether it was the opinion of the senate that Pompey and Caesar alike should lay down their arms and dismiss their forces. This proposal all accepted with alacrity, and with shouts of praise for Antony they demanded that the question be put to vote. But the consuls would not consent to this, and again the friends of Caesar put forward fresh demands which were thought to be reasonable. These Cato opposed, and Lentulus, in his capacity of consul, drove Antony from the senate. Antony went forth heaping many imprecations upon them, and putting on the dress of a slave, and hiring a car in company with Quintus Cassius, he set out to join Caesar. As soon as they came into Caesar’s presence they cried loudly that everything was now at loose ends in Rome, since even tribunes of the people had no freedom of speech, but everyone who raised his voice in behalf of justice was persecuted and ran risk of his life.
ἐκ τούτου λαβὼν τὴν στρατιὰν ὁ Καῖσαρ εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἐνέβαλε. διὸ καὶ Κικέρων ἐν τοῖς Φιλιππικοῖς ἔγραψε τοῦ μὲν Τρωϊκοῦ πολέμου τὴν Ἑλένην, τοῦ δʼ ἐμφυλίου τὸν Ἀντώνιον ἀρχὴν γενέσθαι, περιφανῶς ψευδόμενος.
Upon this, Caesar took his army and invaded Italy. Therefore Cicero, in his Philippics, wrote that as Helen was the cause of the Trojan war, so Antony was the cause of the civil war. But this is manifestly false.
οὐ γὰρ οὕτως εὐχερὴς ἦν οὐδὲ ῥᾴδιος ὑπʼ ὀργῆς ἐκπεσεῖν τῶν λογισμῶν Γάϊος Καῖσαρ ὥστε, εἰ μὴ ταῦτα πάλαι ἔγνωστο πράττειν, οὕτως ἂν ἐπὶ καιροῦ τὸν κατὰ τῆς πατρίδος ἐξενεγκεῖν πόλεμον, ὅτι φαύλως ἠμφιεσμένον εἶδεν Ἀντώνιον καὶ Κάσσιον ἐπὶ ζεύγους μισθίου πεφευγότας πρὸς αὐτόν,
For Caius Caesar was not a pliable man, nor easily led by anger to act on impulse. Therefore, had he not long ago determined upon his course, he would not thus, on the spur of the moment, have made war upon his country, just because he saw that Antony, meanly clad, with Cassius, on a hired car, had come in flight to him;
ἀλλὰ ταῦτα πάλαι δεομένῳ προφάσεως σχῆμα καὶ λόγον εὐπρεπῆ τοῦ πολέμου παρέσχεν. ἦγε δὲ αὐτὸν ἐπὶ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ἃ καὶ πρότερον Ἀλέξανδρον καὶ πάλαι Κῦρον, ἔρως ἀπαρηγόρητος ἀρχῆς καὶ περιμανὴς ἐπιθυμία τοῦ πρῶτον εἶναι καὶ μέγιστον· ὧν τυχεῖν οὐκ ἦν μὴ Πομπηΐου καταλυθέντος.
nay, this merely afforded a cloak and a specious reason for war to a man who had long wanted a pretext for it. And that which led him to war against all mankind, as it had led Alexander before him, and Cyrus of old, was an insatiable love of power and a mad desire to be first and greatest; this he could not achieve if Pompey were not put down.
ὡς δʼ οὖν ἐπελθὼν ἐκράτησε τῆς Ῥώμης καὶ Πομπήϊον ἐξήλασε τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ πρὸς τὰς ἐν Ἰβηρίᾳ Πομπηΐου δυνάμεις ἐπιστρέφειν ἔγνω πρότερον, εἶτα οὕτως παρασκευας άμενος στόλον ἐπὶ Πομπήϊον διαβαίνειν, Λεπίδῳ μὲν στρατηγοῦντι τὴν Ῥώμην, Ἀντωνίῳ δὲ δημαρχοῦντι τὰ στρατεύματα καὶ τὴν Ἰταλίαν ἐπέτρεψεν.
And so he came up against Rome and got it into his power, and drove Pompey out of Italy; and determining first to turn his efforts against the forces of Pompey which were in Spain, and afterwards, when he had got ready a fleet, to cross the sea against Pompey himself, he entrusted Rome to Lepidus, who was praetor, and Italy and the troops to Antony, who was tribune of the people.
ὁ δὲ τοῖς μὲν στρατιώταις εὐθὺς προσφιλὴς ἦν συγγυμναζόμενος καὶ συνδιαιτώμενος τὰ πολλὰ καὶ δωρούμενος ἐκ τῶν παρόντων, τοῖς δὲ ἄλλοις ἐπαχθής. καὶ γὰρ ἀδικουμένων ὑπὸ ῥᾳθυμίας ὠλιγώρει, καὶ πρὸς ὀργὴν ἠκροᾶτο τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων καὶ κακῶς ἐπὶ γυναιξὶν ἀλλοτρίαις ἤκουε.
Antony at once gained the favour of the soldiers by sharing their exercises, living with them for the most part, and making them presents as generously as he could; but to everybody else he was odious. For his easy disposition led him to neglect the wronged, he listened angrily to those who consulted him, and he was in ill repute for his relations with other men’s wives.
καὶ ὅλως τὴν Καίσαρος ἀρχήν, πάντα μᾶλλον ἢ τυραννίδα δι’ αὐτὸν ἐκεῖνον φανεῖσαν, οἱ φίλοι διέβαλλον, ὧν Ἀντώνιος ἀπʼ ἐξουσίας μεγίστης ἁμαρτάνειν μέγιστα δόξας τὴν πλείστην αἰτίαν ἔλαβεν.
In a word, Caesar’s power, which proved to be anything rather than a tyranny so far as his own course was concerned, was brought into odium by his friends; and of these Antony, who had the greatest power and was thought to be the greatest transgressor, incurred the most blame.
οὐ μὴν ἀλλʼ ε͂πανελθὼν ὁ Καῖσαρ ἐκ τῆς Ἰβηρίας τὰ μὲν ἐγκλήματα παρεῖδεν αὐτοῦ, πρὸς δὲ τὸν πόλεμον ὡς ἐνεργῷ καὶ ἀνδρείῳ καὶ ἡγεμονικῷ χρώμενος οὐδαμῆ διήμαρτεν. αὐτὸς μὲν οὖν μετʼ ὀλίγων ἀπὸ Βρεντεσίου διαπεράσας τὸν Ἰόνιον ἔπεμψεν ὀπίσω τὰ πλοῖα, Γαβινίῳ καὶ Ἀντωνίῳ τὰς δυνάμεις ἐμβιβάζειν καὶ περαιοῦν κατὰ τάχος εἰς Μακεδονίαν ἐπιστείλας.
However, when Caesar came back from Spain, he ignored the charges against Antony, and since in the war he found him energetic, brave, and a capable leader, he made no mistake. Caesar himself, then, after crossing the Ionian sea from Brundisium with a few soldiers, sent back his transports with orders to Gabinius and Antony to embark their forces and come with all speed into Macedonia.
Γαβινίου δὲ πρὸς τὸν πλοῦν χαλεπὸν ὄντα χειμῶνος ὥρᾳ καταδειλιάσαντος καὶ πεζῇ μακρὰν ὁδὸν περιάγοντος τὸν στρατόν, Ἀντώνιος ὑπὲρ Καίσαρος ἐν πολλοῖς ἀπειλημμένου πολεμίοις φοβηθεὶς Λίβωνα μὲν ἐφορμοῦντα τῷ στόματι τοῦ λιμένος ἀπεκρούσατο, πολλὰ τῶν λεπτῶν ἀκατίων ταῖς τριήρεσιν αὐτοῦ περιστήσας, ἐμβιβάσας δὲ ταὶς ναυσὶν ἱππεῖς ὀκτακοσίους καὶ δισμυρίους ὁπλίτας ἀνήχθη.
But Gabinius was afraid to make the voyage, which was difficult in the winter time, and started to lead his army a long way round by land. Antony, therefore, fearing for Caesar, who was hemmed in among numerous enemies, beat off Libo, who was blockading the harbour of Brundisium, by surrounding his galleys with a great number of small skiffs, and then, embarking eight hundred horsemen and twenty thousand legionaries, put to sea.
καὶ γενόμενος καταφανὴς τοῖς πολεμίοις καὶ διωκόμενος τὸν μὲν ἐκ τούτων κίνδυνον διέφυγε, λαμπροῦ νότου κῦμα μέγα καὶ κοίλην θάλατταν ταῖς τριήρεσιν αὐτῶν περιστήσαντος, ἐκφερόμενος δὲ ταῖς ναυσὶ πρὸς κρημνοὺς καὶ φάραγγας ἀγχιβαθεῖς οὐδεμίαν ἐλπίδα σωτηρίας εἶχεν.
Being discovered by the enemy and pursued, he escaped the danger from them, since a violent south wind brought a heavy swell and put their galleys in the trough of the sea; but he was carried with his own ships towards a precipitous and craggy shore, and had no hope of escape.
ἄφνω δὲ τοῦ κόλπου πολὺν ἐκπνεύσαντος λίβα, καὶ τοῦ κλύδωνος ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς εἰς τὸ πέλαγος διαχεομένου, μεταβαλόμενος ἀπὸ τῆς γῆς καὶ πλέων σοβαρῶς ὁρᾷ ναυαγίων περίπλεων τὸν αἰγιαλόν. ἐνταῦθα γὰρ ἐξέβαλε τὸ πνεῦμα τὰς διωκούσας αὐτὸν τριήρεις, καὶ διεφθάρησαν οὐκ ὀλίγαι· καὶ σωμάτων πολλῶν καὶ χρημάτων ἐκράτησεν Ἀντώνιος, καὶ Λίσσον εἷλε, καὶ μέγα Καίσαρι παρέσχε θάρσος ἐν καιρῷ μετὰ τηλικαύτης ἀφικόμενος δυνάμεως.
Suddenly, however, there blew from the bay a strong south-west wind, and the swell began to run from the land out to sea, so that he was able to reverse his course, and, as he sailed gallantly along, he saw the shore covered with wrecks. For there the wind had cast up the galleys which were in pursuit of him, and many of them had been destroyed. Antony took many prisoners and much booty, captured Lissus, and inspired Caesar with great confidence by arriving in the nick of time with so large a force.
πολλῶν δὲ γινομένων καὶ συνεχῶν ἀγώνων ἐν πᾶσι μὲν ἦν διαπρεπής, δὶς δὲ φεύγοντας προτροπάδην τοὺς Καίσαρος ἀπαντησας ἀνέστρεψε καὶ στῆναι καὶ συμβαλεῖν αὖθις τοῖς διώκουσιν ἀναγκάσας ἐνίκησεν. ἦν οὖν αὐτοῦ μετὰ Καίσαρα πλεῖστος ἐν τῷ στρατοπέδῳ λόγος·
The struggles which followed were many and continuous, and in all of them Antony distinguished himself. Twice, when Caesar’s men were in headlong flight, he met them, turned them back, forced them to stand and engage again their pursuers, and won the victory.
ἐδήλωσε δὲ Καῖσαρ ἣν ἔχοι περὶ αὐτοῦ δόξαν. ἐπεὶ γὰρ ἔμελλε τὴν τελευταίαν καὶ τὰ ὅλα κρίνασαν ἐν Φαρσάλῳ μάχην μάχεσθαι, τὸ μὲν δεξιὸν αὐτὸς εἶχε κέρας, τοῦ δʼ εὐωνύμου τὴν ἡγεμονίαν Ἀντωνίῳ παρέδωκεν, ὡς πολεμικωτάτῳ τῶν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῷ.
Accordingly, next to Caesar, he was the man most talked about in the camp. And Caesar showed plainly what opinion he had of him. For when he was about to fight the last and all-decisive battle at Pharsalus, he himself took the right wing, but he gave the command of the left to Antony, as the most capable officer under him.
μετὰ δὲ τὴν νίκην δικτάτωρ ἀναγορευθεὶς αὐτὸς μὲν ἐδίωκε Πομπήϊον, Ἀντώνιον δὲ ἵππαρχον ἑλόμενος εἰς Ῥώμην ἔπεμψεν. ἔστι δὲ ἡ ἀρχὴ δευτέρα τοῦ δικτάτορος παρόντος· ἂν δὲ μὴ παρῇ, πρώτη καὶ μόνη σχεδόν· ἡ γὰρ δημαρχία διαμένει, τὰς δὲ ἄλλας καταλύουσι πάσας δικτάτορος αἱρεθέντος.
And after the victory, when he had been proclaimed dictator, he himself pursued Pompey, but he chose Antony as his Master of Horse and sent him to Rome. This office is second in rank when the dictator is in the city; but when he is absent, it is the first and almost the only one. For only the tribuneship continues when a dictator has been chosen; all the other offices are abolished.
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