Caesar And Pompey

There were three leaders in Rome, Pompey, whom Sulla had named the

Great, Crassus, the rich, and Caesar, the shrewd and wise. Two of these

had reached their utmost height. For Pompey there was to be no more

greatness, for Crassus no more riches. But Caesar was the coming man of

Rome. After a youth given to profligate pleasures, in which he spent

money as fast as Crassus collected it, and accumulated debt more rapidly

t an Pompey accumulated fame, the innate powers of the man began to

declare themselves. He studied oratory and made his mark in the Roman

Forum; he studied the political situation, and step by step made himself

a power among men. He was shrewd enough to cultivate Pompey, then the

Roman favorite, and brought himself into closer relations with him by

marrying his relative. Steadily he grew into public favor and respect,

and laid his hands on the reins of control.



There was a fourth man of prominence, Cicero, the great scholar,

philosopher, and orator. He prosecuted Verres, who, as governor of

Sicily, had committed frightful excesses, and drove him from Rome. He

prosecuted Catiline, who had made a conspiracy to seize the government,

and even to burn Rome. The conspirators were foiled and Catiline killed.

But Cicero, earnest and eloquent as he was, lacked manliness and

courage, and was driven into exile by his enemies.



There remained the three leaders, Pompey, Caesar, and Crassus, and these

three made a secret compact to control the government, forming what

became known as a triumvirate, or three man power. Pompey married

Julia, the young and beautiful daughter of Caesar, and the two seemed

very closely united.



Caesar was elected consul, and in this position won public favor by

proposing some highly popular laws. After his year as consul he was made

governor of Gaul, and now began an extraordinary career. The man who had

by turns shown himself a dissolute spendthrift, an orator, and a

political leader, suddenly developed a new power, and proved himself one

of the greatest soldiers the world has ever known.



Gaul, as then known, had two divisions,--Cisalpine Gaul, or the Gaulish

settlements in Northern Italy; and Transalpine Gaul, or Gaul beyond the

Alps, including the present countries of France and Switzerland. In the

latter country Rome possessed only a narrow strip of land, then known as

the Province, since then known as the country of Provence.



From this centre Caesar, with the small army under his command,

consisting of three legions, entered upon a career of conquest which

astonished Rome and drew upon him the eyes of the civilized world. He

had hardly been appointed when he received word that the Helvetian

tribes of Switzerland were advancing on Geneva, the northern outpost of

the Province, with a view of invading the West. He hastened thither, met

and defeated them, killed a vast multitude, and drove the remnant back

to their own country. Then, invited by some northern tribes, he attacked

a great German band which had invaded Northern Gaul, and defeated them

so utterly that few escaped across the Rhine. From that point he made

his way into and conquered Belgium. In a year's time he had vastly

extended the Roman dominion in the West.



For nine years this career of conquest continued. The barbarian Gauls

proved fierce and valiant soldiers, but at the end of that time they had

been completely subdued and made passive subjects of Rome. Caesar even

crossed the sea into Britain, and look the first step towards the

conquest of that island, of which Rome had barely heard before.



During this career of conquest many hundreds of thousands of men were

slain. But, then, Caesar was victorious and Rome triumphant, and what

mattered it if a million or two of barbarians were sacrificed to the

demon of conquest? It mattered little to Rome, in which great city

barbarian life was scarcely worth a second thought. It mattered little

to Caesar, who, like all great conquerors, was quite willing to mount to

power on a ladder of human lives.



Meanwhile what were Caesar's partners in the Triumvirate doing? When

Caesar was given the province of Gaul, Pompey was made governor of

Spain, and Crassus of Syria. Crassus, who had gained some military fame

by overcoming Spartacus the gladiator, wished to gain more, and sailed

for Asia, where he stirred up a war with distant Parthia. That was the

end of Crassus. He marched into the desert of Mesopotamia, and left his

body on the sands. His head was sent to Orodes, the Parthian king, who

ordered molten gold to be poured into his mouth,--a ghastly commentary

on his thirst for wealth.



Pompey left Spain to take care of itself, and remained in Rome, where he

sought to add to his popularity by building a great stone theatre, large

enough to hold forty thousand people, where for many days he amused the

people with plays and games. Here, for the first time, a rhinoceros was

shown. Eighteen elephants were killed by Libyan hunters, and five

hundred lions were slain, while hosts of gladiators fought for life and

honor.



While thus seeking popular favor, Pompey was secretly working against

the interests of Caesar, of whose fame he had grown jealous. His wife

Julia died, and he joined his strength with that of the aristocrats;

while Caesar, a nephew of old Marius, was looked upon as a leader of the

party of the people.



Pompey's power and influence over the senate increased until he was

virtually dictator in Rome. Caesar's ten years' governorship in Gaul

would expire on the 1st of January, 49 B.C., and it was resolved by

Pompey and the senate to deprive him of the command of the army. But

Caesar was not the man to be dealt with in this summary manner. His

career of conquest ended, he entered his province of Cisalpine Gaul, or

Northern Italy, where he was received as a great hero and conqueror.

From here he sent secret agents to Rome, bribed with large sums a number

of important persons, and took other steps to guard his interests.



Meanwhile the senate tried to disarm Caesar by unfair means. They had the

power to shorten or lengthen the year as they pleased, and announced

that that year would end on November 12, and that Caesar must resign his

authority on the 13th. Curio, a tribune of Rome and Caesar's agent, said

that it was only fair that Pompey also should give up the command of the

army which he had near Rome. This he refused to do, and Curio publicly

declared that he was trying to make himself a tyrant.



Finally the senate decreed that each general should give up one legion,

to be used in a war with the Parthians. There was no such war, but it

was pretended that there soon would be. Pompey agreed, but he called

upon Caesar to send him back a legion which he had lent him three years

before. Caesar did not hesitate to do so: he sent Pompey's legion and his

own; but he took care to win the soldiers by giving each a valuable

present as he went away. These legions were not sent to Asia, but to

Capua. The senate wanted them for use nearer than Parthia.



Caesar was then at Ravenna, a sea-side city on the southern limit of his

province. South of it flowed a little stream called the Rubicon, which

formed his border-line. Here he took a bold step. He sent a letter to

the senate, offering to give up his command if Pompey would do the same.

A violent debate followed in the senate, and a decree was passed that

unless Caesar laid down his command by a certain day he should be

declared an outlaw and enemy of Rome. At the same time the two consuls

were made dictators, and the two tribunes who favored Caesar--one of them

the afterwards famous Marc Antony--fled for safety from Rome.



The decree of the senate was equivalent to a declaration of war. On the

one side was Pompey, proud, over-confident, and unprepared. On the other

was Caesar, knowing his strength, satisfied in the power of the money he

had so freely distributed, and sure of his men. He called his soldiers

together and asked if they would support him. They answered that they

would follow wherever he led. At once he marched for the Rubicon, the

limit of his province, to cross which stream meant an invasion of Italy

and civil war.



Plutarch tells us that he halted here and deeply meditated, troubled by

the thought that to cross that stream meant the death of thousands of

his countrymen. After a period of such meditation, he cried aloud, "The

die is cast; let us go where the gods and the injustice of our foes

direct!" and, spurring his horse forward, he plunged into the stream.



This story, which has been effectively used by a great epic poet of

Rome, probably relates what never happened. From all we know of Caesar,

the question of bloodshed in attaining the aims of his ambition did not

greatly trouble his mind. Yet the story has taken hold, and "to cross

the Rubicon" has become a proverb, signifying the taking of a step of

momentous importance.



Caesar, after the legions sent the senate, had but a single legion left

with him. He sent orders to others to join him with all haste, but they

were distant. As for Pompey, knowing and despising the weakness of his

rival, he had made no preparations. He had Caesar's two legions at Capua

and one of his own at Rome, while thousands of Sulla's veterans were

settled in the country round. "I have but to stamp my foot," he said,

"and armed men will start from the soil of Italy."



He did not stamp, or, if he did, the armed men did not start. Caesar

marched southward with his accustomed rapidity. Town after town opened

its gates to him. Labienus, one of his principal officers, deserted to

Pompey. Caesar showed his contempt by sending his baggage after him. Two

legions from Gaul having reached him, he pushed more boldly still to the

south. The cities taken were treated as friends; there was no pillage,

no violence. Everywhere Caesar won golden opinions by his humanity.



Meanwhile Pompey's armed men came not; his rival was rapidly

approaching; he and his party of the senate fled from Rome. They reached

Brundusium, where Caesar with six legions quickly appeared. The town was

strong, and Pompey took his time to embark his men and sail from Italy.

Disappointed of his prey, Caesar turned back, and entered Rome on April

1, now full lord and master of Italy and its capital city. In the

treasury of that city was a sacred hoard of money, which had been set

aside since the invasion of the Gauls, centuries before. The people

voted this money for his use. There was no more danger from the Gauls,

it was said, for they had all become subjects of Rome. Yet the keeper of

the treasury refused to produce the keys, and when Caesar ordered the

doors to be broken open, tried to bar his passage into the sacred

chamber.



"Stand aside, young man," said Caesar, with stern dignity; "it is easier

for me to do than to say."



Caesar was not the man to rest while an enemy was at large. Pompey had

gone to the East. There was no fleet with which to follow him; and in

Spain Pompey had an army of veterans, who might enter Italy as soon as

he left it. These must first be dealt with.



This did not delay him long. Before the year closed all Spain was his.

Most of the soldiers of Pompey joined his army. Those who did not were

dismissed unharmed. Everywhere he showed the greatest leniency, and

everywhere won friends. On his return to Rome he gained new friends by

passing laws relieving debtors and restoring their civil rights to the

children of Sulla's victims.



He remained in Rome only eleven days, and then sailed for Greece, where

Pompey had gathered a large army. It was January 4, 48 B.C., when he

sailed. On June 6 of the same year was fought, at Pharsalia, in

Thessaly, a great battle which decided the fate of the Roman world.



Pompey's army consisted of about forty-four thousand men. Caesar had but

half as many. But his men were all veterans; many of those of Pompey

were new levies, collected in Asia and Macedonia. The battle was fierce

and desperate. During its course the cavalry of Pompey attacked Caesar's

weak troops and drove them back. The infantry advanced to their support,

and struck straight at the faces of the foe. Plutarch tells us that this

cavalry was made up of young Romans, of the aristocratic class and proud

of their beauty, and that the order was given to Caesar's soldiers to

spoil their beauty for them. But this story, like many told by Plutarch,

lacks proof.



Whatever was the cause, the cavalry were broken and fled in disorder.

Caesar's reserve force now attacked Pompey's worn troops, who gave way

everywhere. Caesar ordered that all Romans should be spared, and only the

Asiatics pursued. The legions, hearing of this, ceased to resist. The

foreign soldiers fled, after great slaughter. Pompey rode hastily from

the field.



The camp was taken. The booty captured was immense. But Caesar would not

let his soldiers rest or plunder till they had completed their work.

This proved easy; all the Romans submitted; the Asiatics fled. Pompey

put to sea, where he had still a powerful fleet. Africa was his, and he

determined to take refuge in Egypt. It proved that he had enemies there.

A small boat was sent off to bring him ashore. Among those on board was

an officer named Septimius, who had served under Pompey in the war with

the pirates.



Pompey recognized his old officer, and entered the boat alone, his wife

and friends watching from the vessel as he was rowed ashore. On the

beach a number of persons were collected, as if to receive him with

honor. The boat stopped. Pompey took the hand of the person next him to

assist him to rise. As he did so Septimius, who stood behind, struck him

with his sword. Pompey, finding that he was among enemies, made no

resistance, and the next blow laid him low in death. His assassins cut

off his head and left his body on the beach. Here one of his freedmen

and an old soldier of his army broke up a fishing-boat and made him a

rude funeral pile. Such were the obsequies of the one-time master of the

world.



The battle of Pharsalia practically ended the struggle that made Caesar

lord of Rome. Some more fighting was necessary. Africa was still in

arms. But a few short campaigns sufficed to bring it to terms, while a

campaign against a son of Mithridates ended in five days, Caesar's

victory being announced to the senate in three short words, "Veni, vidi,

vici" (I came, I saw, I conquered). Then he returned to Rome, where he

shed not a drop of the blood of his enemies, though that of gladiators

and wild animals was freely spilled in the gorgeous games and festivals

with which he amused the sovereign people.