Καῖσαρ δὲ τῷ Θετταλῶν ἔθνει τὴν ἐλευθερίαν ἀναθεὶς νικητήριον ἐδίωκε Πομπήϊον· ἁψάμενος δὲ τῆς · Ἀσίας Κνιδίους τε Θεοπόμπῳ τῷ συναγαγόντι τοὺς μύθους χαριζόμενος ἠλευθέρωσε, καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς τὴν Ἀσίαν κατοικοῦσι τὸ τρίτον τῶν φόρων ἀνῆκεν.
Caesar gave the Thessalians their freedom, to commemorate his victory, and then pursued Pompey; when he reached Asia he made the Cnidians also free, to please Theopompus the collector of fables, and for all the inhabitants of Asia remitted a third of their taxes.
εἴς δὲ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν ἐπὶ Πομπηΐῳ τεθνηκότι καταχθείς Θεόδοτον μὲν ἀπεστράφη τὴν Πομπηΐου κεφαλὴν προσφέροντα, τὴν δὲ σφραγῖδα δεξάμενος τοῦ ἀνδρὸς κατεδάκρυσεν ὅσοι δὲ τῶν ἑταίρων αὐτοῦ καὶ συνήθων πλανώμενοι κατὰ τὴν χώραν ἑαλώκεσαν ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως, πάντας εὐεργέτησε καὶ προσηγάγετο. τοῖς δὲ φίλοις εἴς Ῥώμην ἔγραφεν ὅτι τῆς νίκης ἀπολαύοι τοῦτο μέγιστον καὶ ἥδιστον, τὸ σῴζειν τινὰς ἀεὶ τῶν πεπολεμηκότων πολιτῶν αὐτῷ.
Arriving at Alexandria just after Pompey’s death, he turned away in horror from Theodotus as he presented the head of Pompey, but he accepted Pompey’s seal-ring, and shed tears over it. Moreover, all the companions and intimates of Pompey who had been captured by the king as they wandered over the country, he treated with kindness and attached them to himself. And to his friends in Rome he wrote that this was the greatest and sweetest pleasure that he derived from his victory, namely, from time to time to save the lives of fellow citizens who had fought against him.
τὸν δὲ αὐτόθι πόλεμον οἱ μὲν οὐκ ἀναγκαῖον. ἀλλʼ ἔρωτι Κλεοπάτρας ἄδοξον αὐτῷ καὶ κινδυνώδη γενέσθαι λέγουσιν, οἱ δὲ τοὺς βασιλικοὺς αἰτιῶνται, καὶ μάλιστα Τὸν εὐνοῦχον Ποθεινόν, ὃς πλεῖστον δυνάμενος καὶ Πομπήϊον μὲν ἀνῃρηκὼς ἔναγχος, ἐκβεβληκὼς δὲ Κλεοπάτραν, κρύφα μὲν ἐπεβούλευε τῷ Καίσαρι· καὶ διὰ τοῦτό φασιν αὐτὸν ἀρξάμενον ἔκτοτε διανυκτερεύειν ἐν τοῖς πότοις ἕνεκα φυλακῆς τοῦ σώματος· φανερῶς δὲ οὐκ ἦν ἀνεκτός ἐπίφθονα πολλὰ καὶ πρὸς ὕβριν εἴς Τὸν Καίσαρα λέγων καὶ πράττων.
As for the war in Egypt, some say that it was not necessary, but due to Caesar’s passion for Cleopatra, and that it was inglorious and full of peril for him. But others blame the king’s party for it, and especially the eunuch Potheinus, who had most influence at court, and had recently killed Pompey; he had also driven Cleopatra from the country, and was now secretly plotting against Caesar. On this account they say that from this time on Caesar passed whole nights at drinking parties in order to protect himself. But in his open acts also Potheinus was unbearable, since he said and did many things that were invidious and insulting to Caesar.
τοὺς μὲν γὰρ στρατιώτας Τὸν κάκιστον μετρουμένους καὶ παλαιότατον σῖτον ἐκέλευσεν ἀνέχεσθαι καὶ στέργειν, ἐσθίοντας τὰ ἀλλότρια, πρὸς δὲ τὰ δεῖπνα σκεύεσιν ἐχρῆτο ξυλίνοις καὶ κεραμεοῖς, ὡς τὰ χρυσᾶ καὶ ἀργυρᾶ πάντα Καίσαρος ἔχοντος εἴς τι χρέος, ὤφειλε γὰρ ὁ τοῦ βασιλεύοντος τότε πατὴρ Καίσαρι χιλίας ἑπτακοσίας πεντήκοντα μυριάδας, ὧν τὰς μὲν ἄλλας ἀνῆκε τοῖς παισὶν αὐτοῦ πρότερον ὁ Καῖσαρ, τὰς δὲ χιλίας ἠξίου τότε λαβὼν διαθρέψαι τὸ στράτευμα.
For instance, when the soldiers had the oldest and worst grain measured out to them, he bade them put up with it and be content, since they were eating what belonged to others; and at the state suppers he used wooden and earthen dishes, on the ground that Caesar had taken all the gold and silver ware in payment of a debt. For the father of the present king owed Caesar seventeen million five hundred thousand drachmas, of which Caesar had formerly remitted a part to his children, but now demanded payment of ten millions for the support of his army.
τοῦ δὲ Ποθεινοῦ νῦν μὲν αὐτὸν ἀπιέναι καὶ τῶν μεγάλων ἔχεσθαι πραγμάτων κελεύοντος, ὕστερον δὲ κομιεῖσθαι μετὰ χάριτος, εἰπὼν ὡς Αἰγυπτίων ἐλάχιστα δέοιτο συμβούλων, κρύφα τὴν Κλεοπάτραν ἀπὸ τῆς χώρας μετεπέμπετο.
When, however, Potheinus bade him go away now and attend to his great affairs, assuring him that later he would get his money with thanks, Caesar replied that he had no need whatever of Egyptians as advisers, and secretly sent for Cleopatra from the country.
κἀκείνη παραλαβοῦσα τῶν φίλων Ἀπολλόδωρον τὸν Σικελιώτην μόνον, εἰς ἀκάτιον μικρὸν ἐμβᾶσα τοῖς μὲν βασιλείοις προσέσχεν ἤδη συσκοτάζοντος· ἀπόρου δὲ τοῦ λαθεῖν ὄντος ἄλλως, ἡ μὲν εἰς στρωματόδεσμον ἐνδῦσα προτείνει μακρὰν ἑαυτήν, ὁ δὲ Ἀπολλόδωρος ἱμάντι συνδήσας τὸν στρωματόδεσμον εἰσκομίζει διὰ θυρῶν πρὸς τὸν Καίσαρα,
So Cleopatra, taking only Apollodorus the Sicilian from among her friends, embarked in a little skiff and landed at the palace when it was already getting dark; and as it was impossible to escape notice otherwise, she stretched herself at full length inside a bed-sack, while Apollodorus tied the bedsack up with a cord and carried it indoors to Caesar.
καὶ τούτῳ τε πρώτῳ λέγεται τῷ τεχνήματι τῆς Κλεοπάτρας ἁλῶναι, λαμυρᾶς φανείσης, καὶ τῆς ἄλλης ὁμιλίας καὶ χάριτος ἥττων γενόμενος διαλλάξαι πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὡς συμβασιλεύσουσαν. ἔπειτα δʼ ἐν ταῖς διαλλαγαῖς ἑστιωμένων ἁπάντων οἰκέτης Καίσαρος κουρεύς, διὰ δειλίαν, ᾗ πάντας ἀνθρώπους ὑπερέβαλεν, οὐδὲν ἐῶν ἀνεξέταστον, ἀλλʼ ὠτακουστῶν καὶ πολυπραγμονῶν, συνῆκεν ἐπιβουλὴν Καίσαρι πραττομένην ὑπʼ Ἀχιλλᾶ τοῦ στρατηγοῦ καὶ Ποθεινοῦ τοῦ εὐνούχου.
It was by this device of Cleopatra’s, it is said, that Caesar was first captivated, for she showed herself to be a bold coquette, and succumbing to the charm of further intercourse with her, he reconciled her to her brother on the basis of a joint share with him in the royal power. Then, as everybody was feasting to celebrate the reconciliation, a slave of Caesar’s, his barber, who left nothing unscrutinized, owing to a timidity in which he had no equal, but kept his ears open and was here, there, and everywhere, perceived that Achillas the general and Potheinus the eunuch were hatching a plot against Caesar.
φωράσας δὲ ὁ Καῖσαρ φρουρὰν μὲν περιέστησε τῷ ἀνδρῶνι , τὸν δὲ Ποθεινὸν ἀνεῖλεν ὁ δὲ Ἀχιλλᾶς φυγὼν εἰς τὸ στρατόπεδον περιΐστησιν αὐτῷ βαρὺν καὶ δυσμεταχείριστον πόλεμον, ὀλιγοστῷ τοσαύτην ἀμυνομένῳ πόλιν καὶ δύναμιν. ἐν ᾧ πρῶτον μὲν ἐκινδύνευσεν ὕδατος ἀποκλεισθείς· αἱ γὰρ διώρυχες ἀπῳκοδομήθησαν ὑπὸ τῶν πολεμίων δεύτερον δὲ περικοπτόμενος τὸν στόλον ἠναγκάσθη διὰ πυρὸς ἀπώσασθαι τὸν κίνδυνον, ὃ καὶ τὴν μεγάλην βιβλιοθήκην ἐκ τῶν νεωρίων ἐπινεμόμενον διέφθειρε·
After Caesar had found them out, he set a guard about the banqueting-hall, and put Potheinus to death; Achillas, however, escaped to his camp, and raised about Caesar a war grievous and difficult for one who was defending himself with so few followers against so large a city and army. In this war, to begin with, Caesar encountered the peril of being shut off from water, since the canals were dammed up by the enemy; in the second place, when the enemy tried to cut off his fleet, he was forced to repel the danger by using fire, and this spread from the dockyards and destroyed the great library;
τρίτον δὲ περὶ τῇ Φάρῳ μάχης συνεστώσης κατεπήδησε μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ χώματος εἰς ἀκάτιον καὶ παρεβοήθει τοῖς ἀγωνιζομένοις, ἐπιπλεόντων δὲ πολλαχόθεν αὐτῷ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ῥίψας ἑαυτὸν εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν ἀπενήξατο μόλις καὶ χαλεπῶς. ὅτε καὶ λέγεται βιβλίδια κρατῶν πολλὰ μὴ προέσθαι βαλλόμενος καὶ βαπτιζόμενος, ἀλλʼ ἀνέχων ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάσσης τὰ βιβλίδια τῇ ἑτέρᾳ χειρὶ νήχεσθαι τὸ δὲ ἀκάτιον εὐθὺς ἐβυθίσθη.
and thirdly, when a battle arose at Pharos, he sprang from the mole into a small boat and tried to go to the aid of his men in their struggle, but the Egyptians sailed up against him from every side, so that he threw himself into the sea and with great difficulty escaped by swimming. At this time, too, it is said that he was holding many papers in his hand and would not let them go, though missiles were flying at him and he was immersed in the sea, but held them above water with one hand and swam with the other; his little boat had been sunk at the outset.
τέλος δέ, τοῦ βασιλέως πρὸς τοὺς πολεμίους ἀποχωρήσαντος, ἐπελθὼν καὶ συνάψας μάχην ἐνίκησε, πολλῶν πεσόντων αὐτοῦ τε τοῦ βασιλέως ἀφανοῦς γενομένου, καταλιπὼν δὲ τὴν Κλεοπάτραν βασιλεύουσαν Αἰγύπτου καὶ μικρὸν ὕστερον ἐξ αὐτοῦ τεκοῦσαν υἱόν, ὃν Ἀλεξανδρεῖς Καισαρίωνα προσηγόρευον, ὥρμησεν ἐπὶ Συρίας.
But finally, after the king had gone away to the enemy, he marched against him and conquered him in a battle where many fell and the king himself disappeared. Then, leaving Cleopatra on the throne of Egypt (a little later she had a son by him whom the Alexandrians called Caesarion), he set out for Syria.
κἀκεῖθεν ἐπιὼν τὴν Ἀσίαν ἐπυνθάνετο Δομίτιον μὲν ὑπὸ Φαρνάκου τοῦ Μιθριδάτου παιδὸς ἡττημένον ἐκ Πόντου πεφευγέναι σὺν ὀλίγοις, Φαρνάκην δὲ τῇ νίκῃ χρώμενον ἀπλήστως καὶ Βιθυνίαν ἔχοντα καὶ Καππαδοκίαν Ἀρμενίας ἐφίεσθαι τῆς μικρᾶς καλουμένης, καὶ πάντας ἀνιστάναι τοὺς ταύτῃ βασιλεῖς καὶ τετράρχας.
On leaving that country and traversing Asia, he learned that Domitius had been defeated by Pharnaces the son of Mithridates and had fled from Pontus with a few followers; also that Pharnaces, using his victory without stint, and occupying Bithynia and Cappadocia, was aiming to secure the country called Lesser Armenia, and was rousing to revolt all the princes and tetrarchs there.
εὐθὺς οὖν ἐπὶ τὸν ἄνδρα τρισὶν ἤλαυνε τάγμασι, καὶ περὶ πόλιν Ζῆλαν μάχην μεγάλην συνάψας αὐτὸν μὲν ἐξέβαλε τοῦ Πόντου φεύγοντα, τὴν δὲ στρατιὰν ἄρδην ἀνεῖλε. καὶ τῆς μάχης ταύτης τὴν ὀξύτητα καὶ τὸ τάχος ἀναγγέλλων εἰς Ῥώμην πρός τινα τῶν φίλων Ἀμάντιον ἔγραψε τρεῖς λέξεις ἦλθον, εἶδον, ἐνίκησα. Ῥωμαϊστὶ δὲ αἱ λέξεις εἰς ὅμοιον ἀπολήγουσαι σχῆμα ῥήματος οὐκ ἀπίθανον τὴν βραχυλογίαν ἔχουσιν.
At once, therefore, Caesar marched against him with three legions, fought a great battle with him near the city of Zela, drove him in flight out of Pontus, and annihilated his army. In announcing the swiftness and fierceness of this battle to one of his friends at Rome, Amantius, Caesar wrote three words Came, saw, conquered. In Latin, however, the words have the same inflectional ending, and so a brevity which is most impressive.
ἐκ τούτου διαβαλὼν εἰς Ἰταλίαν ἀνέβαινεν εἰς Ῥώμην, τοῦ μὲν ἐνιαυτοῦ καταστρέφοντος εἰς ὃν ᾕρητο δικτάτωρ τὸ δεύτερον, οὐδέποτε τῆς ἀρχῆς ἐκείνης πρότερον ἐνιαυσίου γενομένης· εἰς δὲ τοὐπιὸν ὕπατος ἀπεδείχθη, καὶ κακῶς ἤκουσεν ὅτι τῶν στρατιωτῶν στασιασάντων καὶ δύο στρατηγικοὺς ἄνδρας ἀνελόντων, Κοσκώνιον καὶ Γάλβαν, ἐπετίμησε μὲν αὐτοῖς τοσοῦτον ὅσον ἀντὶ στρατιωτῶν πολίτας προσαγορεῦσαι, χιλίας δὲ διένειμεν ἑκάστῳ δραχμὰς καὶ χώραν τῆς Ἰταλίας ἀπεκλήρωσε πολλήν.
After this, he crossed to Italy and went up to Rome, at the close of the year for which he had a second time been chosen dictator, though that office had never before been for a whole year; then for the following year he was proclaimed consul. Men spoke ill of him because, after his soldiers had mutinied and killed two men of praetorian rank, Galba and Cosconius, he censured them only so far as to call them citizens when he addressed them, instead of soldiers, and then gave each man a thousand drachmas and much allotted land in Italy.
ἦν δὲ αὐτοῦ διαβολὴ καὶ ἡ Δολοβέλλα μανία καὶ ἡ Ἀμαντίου φιλαργυρία καὶ μεθύων Ἀντώνιος καὶ Κορφίνιος τὴν Πομπηΐου σκευωρούμενος οἰκίαν καὶ μετοικοδομῶν ὡς ἱκανὴν οὐκ οὖσαν. ἐπὶ τούτοις γὰρ ἐδυσφόρουν Ῥωμαῖοι. Καῖσαρ δὲ διὰ τὴν ὑπόθεσιν τῆς πολιτείας οὐκ ἀγνοῶν οὐδὲ βουλόμενος ἠναγκάζετο χρῆσθαι τοῖς ὑπουργοῦσι.
He was also calumniated for the madness of Dolabella, the greed of Amantius, the drunkenness of Antony, and for the fact that Corfinius built over and refurnished the house of Pompey on the ground that it was not good enough for him. For at all these things the Romans were displeased. But owing to the political situation, though Caesar was not ignorant of these things and did not like them, he was compelled to make use of such assistants.
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