Download Commentary - The Latin Library

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reparō (1) to retore, repair; revive, renew.
percussor, -ōris m striker, stabber; murderer, assassin. A dative with favēbat. faveo, -ēre, fāvi, fautum,
to be favorable, be well disposed towards, favor, promote. Antonius: following the assassination of
Caesar on March 15, 44 BC, Antony at first supported efforts at reconciliation with the anti-Caesarian
faction, but soon turned to confrontation. As consul, he had himself appointed the province of
Cisalpine Gaul (then held by Dec. Junius Brutus Albinus, one of the conspirators). Dec. Brutus refused
to surrender the province, and Antony set out in January 43 to take it by force. pars, partis f party,
faction, side, partisan.
turbō (1) to disturb, agitate, confuse, disorder. multa: read with scelera.
hostis, -is m enemy; public enemy.
Pansa et Hirtius: C. Vibius Pansa and Au. Hirtius, coss. 43 BC. The consuls set out, along with Octavian,
to assist Dec. Brutus in Cisalpine Gaul, besieged at Mutina by Antony. Octavianus: C. Julius Caesar
Octavianus (the later Augustus). He had returned from Macedonia after the death of his great-uncle
Caesar, who had adopted him by will as his son. He recruited troops in Campania in the spring of 44 BC
and won over two of Antonyʻs legions in November. The Senate inducted Octavian into its ranks on
January 1, 43 BC and granted him imperium and sent him along with Pansa and Hirtius to relieve the
siege of Mutina.
hēres, -ēdis m heir.
potior, -īrī, -ītus sum, to gain possession of. This verb regularly governs an ablative, but the genitive of
the republic or public affairs.
proficiscor, -ī, -fectus sum, to set out, depart. vicērunt: Antony was defeated at the battles of Forum
Gallorum and Mutina in April 43 BC and forced to retreat northward towards Transalpine Gaul.
ēveniō, -īre, ēvēnī, ēventum, to come to pass, happen.
morerentur: both consuls died of their wounds in battle (not without suspicions of poison). Octavians
was left as commander of all three armies. pareō, -ēre, -uī + dat to obey.
fugō (1) to put to flight, rout. magister equitum: “Master of the Horse” (second in command to a
dictator). M. Aemilius Lepidus (cos. 46) was one of Caesarʻs greatest supporters, and his chief deputy
when Caesar became dictator for life in February 44. In 43, Lepidus was in command of Transalpine
Gaul with substantial forces and received and supported Antony after the battles in Cisalpine Gaul.
grandis, -e, large, full, abundant. suscipiō, -ere, -cēpī, -ceptum, to hold up, sustain, support.
operam dāre: to give attention to, work at. Caesar pacem cum Antonio fecit: After the defeat of Antony
in Cisalpine Gaul and the deaths of the consuls Pansa and Hirtius, Octavian had marched on Rome and
extorted consulships for himself and his cousin Q. Pedius. Octavian then marched north with his army
to meet Lepidus and Antony, who had now crossed into Cisalpine Gaul. Meeting near Bononia
(Bologna) in October 43, Antony, Lepidus and Octavian formed the Second Triumvirate. quasi, as if.
vindicō (1) to claim (legally); avenge, punish.
extorqueō, -ēre, -torsī, -tortum, to wrench; obtain by force. consulatus daretur: misplaced by
Eutropius. Caesar marched on Rome in the summer of 43, before the formation of the Second
Triumvirate.
Cicero: the triumvirs drew up proscription lists of their enemies. Antony insisted on Cicero, who was
slain trying to flee Italy on December 6, 43. Many others escaped and were later restored.
Brutus et Cassius: they had remained in Rome only a short time, before leaving to take up command in
the East in the spring of 44.
Philippos: the Macedonian town Philippi. Antony and Octavian fought two battles there against
Brutus and Cassius, the first in early October, the second on October 23, 42 BC. After these battles, no
armies of the the Republic remained.
sic . . . ut: in such a way that.
L. Antonius: younger brother of Mark Antony, he raised a revolt with 8 legions against Octavian in
Italy in 41 bc (with support of Fulvia, Mark Antonyʻs wife). Octavian besieged L. Antonius in Perusia,
captured and destoryed the city, but spared the lives of Antonius and Fulvia. Antonius was sent to
govern a Spanish province and nothing more is heard of him. Fulvia died later in 40 BC.
28 Sex. Pompeius: son of Pompey the Great, he had fled to Sicily and became the focus of the remaning
resistance against the Second Triumvirate. Octavian and Antony campaigned against him in 40-39 BC,
without much success. Finally the triumvirs entered into a treaty with Pompeius in 40 BC (the Pact of
Misenum). Pompeius agreed to end his naval blockade of Italy and piracy, as well as provide grain to
Rome, in exchange for control over Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica and the Peloponnesus.
29 hīs: read with confluentibus (an ablative absolute). supersum, -esse, -fuī, to be remaining, survive.
32 Agrippa: the great general of Octavian, responsible for most of his victories. Governor of Gaul in 39-38
BC, he put down a rising of the Aquitanii and crossed the Rhine to defeat Germanic tribes. L. Ventidius:
a general of Caesar and then Antony, he defeated a Parthian invasion of Syria in 40 BC. Persae: Persians
(here, Parthians).
33 Pacorus: son of King Orodes (57-38 BC), he led the invasion of Syria aided by the Roman renegade Q.
Labienus.
34 Surena: general of Orodes who had defeated and slain Crassus as the battle of Carrhae in 53 BC.
35 iustissimum: “well-deserved.
36 navili proelio: Octavian campaigned against Pompeius in 37-35 BC, finally defeating him in the great
naval battle at Naulochus on September 3, 36 BC. Sextus was captured by Antony at Miletus in 35 and
executed without trial.
37 sorore: Octavia, the sister of Octavian, was wed to Antony in 40 BC to cement the triumviral alliance.
Antony divorced her in 32.
38 Cleopatra: queen of Egypt, the last of the Ptlomies. Antony became her consort (without yet divorcing
Octavia). Persas: Antony led a successful campagin in Armenia in 37-36 BC, returning it to Roman
control.
40 instō, -āre, -stitī, -stātum + dat to stand on; draw close; press upon, harass, threaten. prō victō: “as if
defeated”.
41 hic: Antony. commoveō, -ēre, -mōvī, -mōtum, to set in motion; stir up. cōgō, -ere, cōēgī, coactum, to
drive, force; urge, compel.
42 muliebris, -e, womanly, feminine. optō (1) to wish (for), desire.
43 navāli pugnā: the Battle of Actium (September 2, 31 BC), in which Agrippa defeated the combined fleets
of Antony and Cleopatra. Antony fled to Egypt and killed himself on August 1, 30 BC. Octavian
executed Caesarion, Cleopatraʻs son by Caesar, after which Cleopatra committed suicide.
45 interimō, -ere, -ēmī, -emptum, to destroy, slay. aspis, -idis f asp, viper. exstinguō, -ere, -inxī, -inctum,
to quench, extinguish, put out; kill destroy.
46 adiciō, -ere, -iēci, -iectum, to throw to; add to. Egypt was not brought into the provincial structure of
the res publica; instead, it was left as a private possession of Augustus (and his successors), governed by
a prefect. praepōnō, -ere, -posuī, -positum, to place first, set before; place in charge of + dat. C.
Cornelius Gallus: the first prefect of Egypt, also renowned as Romeʻs first elegiac poet. He subdued a
rebellion in Thebes and put up a commemorative monument to himself. Recalled by Augustus, he
committed suicide.
47 iudex, -icis m judge; decider.
48 conficiō, -ere, -fēcī, -fectum, to finish, accomplish, complete.
49 ex eō = ex eō tempore. obtineō, -ēre, -uī, -tentum, to hold, possess, maintain.
51 principātus, -ūs m pre-eminence, rule, dominion. obeo, -īre, -īi, to die, pass away.
52 morte commūnī: “a natural death”.
53 sepeliō, -īre, -īvī, -pultum, to bury. non immeritō: “deservedly”.
54 facile: readily, surely. eō: ablative of comparison.
55 quibus: ablative of time when.
56 cīvīlis, -e, of or pertaining to a citizen. Here “most like a citizen”. līberālis, -e, noble, honorable,
gracious, kind. ēvehō, -ere, -vexī, -vectum, to carry out or up; raise or lift up.
57 aequō (1) to equal + dat. fastigium, -ī n gable (of a house); top, height, summit; rank, dignity.