Select Observations of Roman Emperors, Life 1
Iulius Caesar.
THe Iulii were so called (saith Alex. ab Alex.) à prima barbae lanugine, Gen. dier lib. 1. c. 9. foreign in Gr. (saith he) signifieth Primam in mento lanuginem.from the first wooll or down of the beard. Others think the name of the Iulii came from Iulus Ascanius, the Son of Aeneas.
At puer Ascanius, cui nunc cognomen Iulo. Virg. lib. 2. Aeneid.He reformed the Kalendar which was then confused,Annum ad cursum Solis accommodavit. and framed the whole year just unto the course of the Sun, that it should contain 365 daies, and appointed that every fourth year a whole day should be inserted.Sueton. Therefore we call our year Annum Iulianum, and the Kalendar which we use Calendarium Iulianum; and that Month which was by them called Quintilis, He was born in that month Macrob. Saturn. cap. 12.because it was the fifth Month, is now called Iuly in honour of him.
For his other name Caesar, there are different opinions of the original of it. Some derive it à caesiis oculis, from his grey eies. But Suetonius *Sueton. describes him to have been, Nigris vegetisque oculis micantibus, of a black quick sparkling eie.refutes that, and saith he had black eies. Others say he was so called à Caesarie, from a bush of hair with which he was born. Some say he was *Primus Caesar, à Caeso Matris utero dictus.cut out of his Mothers womb: although Festus Pompeius thinks such are rather to be called Caesones, and Casaubon *Animadvers. in Sueton. Alex. ab Alex. Gen. dier. l. 1. c. 9. Beckman de Orig. Ling. Latin. vide Christiani Matth. Theatr. Histor. Theor. Pract. in Iul. Caes. cap. 1. Et Commentar. Schild. in Suetonium.rejecteth that Etymologie. Postellus in his introduction, in Chaldaic. Ling. &c. saith the first Caesar could not be denominated, à Caeso matris utero, cum id nomen ante illum Caesarem, qui secta matre in lucem prodiit; pro Rege jam diu usurpatum sit. Caesonis nomine insignes plures extiterunt, é quibus Caeso Fabius, Caeso Quintius. Dictos autem Caesones à Caeso matris utero, qui necatis matribus nati sunt, tradunt. Plin. Hist. Nat. l. 7. c. 9. Et Valer. Prob. Vnde et Caesaris nomen ortum sumpsisse sunt qui opinentur, ut Ael. Spartian in Ael. Vero et Serv. in Aen. 10. aliis tamen in alia euntibus. Gatak. Annotat. in Lib. 4. Marci Antonini Imperatoris. Others derive it à Caeso Elephanto, from his Grand-fathers killing an Elephant, which in the Carthaginian tongue is called Caesar. Sigonius speaks much of it, but so that it should seem to be ambiguae fidei, and therefore I shall leave it undetermined.
He was tall (a)Forma omnium civium excellentissimus, vigore animi acerrimus, munificentiae effusissimus. Paterculus.of stature, white and clear of complexion, somewhat full-faced, his limbs were well trussed, & in good plight, his eies black, lively, and quick. He was also very healthful, saving that in his latter daies he was given to faint, and swoon suddenly.Seu inter res gerendas. i. e. cum aciem ordinaret. Plutarch. Comitiali quoque morbo bis inter res agendas correptus est, saith Suetonius, twice in the midst of his Martial affairs, he was surprized with the falling sickness, which he stileth Morbum comitialem, Whiles he was setting his Army in battel aray. Fuchs. Instit. Medic. l. 3. Sect. 1. c. 11. Plato morbum divinum appellat, quia occupat in nobis divinae particulam aurae. Alii morbum sacrum, vel quia detestandus est, vel quia divinitus immittitur. Dicitur etiam Herculeus, quia Hercules eo laboravit; item vulgo caducus. Lipsius.either because it chiefly invadeth, and seizeth on men in Comitiis, in popular Assemblies; or because their Comitia, their Parliaments or Assemblies were dissolved, and broke up by occasion thereof, if any chanced to fall sick of that disease, they reputing such an accident to be a sinister presage.
Est Morbi species subiti cui nomen ab illo est,
Quod fieri nobis suffragia justa recusant.
Saepe etenim membris acri languore caducis,
Concilium populi labes horrenda diremit.
In Eloquence and warlike feats together,See Plinies Natural Hist. l. 7. c. 25. he either equalled, or excelled the glory of the very best.
Eloquentia attigit summorum gloriam: re militari excessit. Lipsius.
Caesar qui ne scait moins bien faire, Imperatoriam Majestatem non solum armis decoratam, sed etiam legibus oportet esse armatam, ut utrumque tempus & bellorum, & pacis recte possit gubernari. Justinian. Prooem. Institut.que bien dire.
Caesar who knows as well to write, as fight.
He held a Sword in one hand, and a Book in the other, with this Motto, Ex utroque Caesar, Emperor by both.
He was counted the second man for Eloquence in his time, and gave place to the first;Summis Oratoribus aemulus. Tacit. He was Cicero's rival in Eloquence. because he would be the first and chiefest man of war, and Authority. Iulius Caesar, Scaliger writeth thus of him: Duae sunt aquilae solae in natura rerum, altera bellicae laudis, altera literariae; illa potentiae, haec sapientiae; Caesar & Aristoteles. Exercit. 94. Sect. 2.
Paterculus reckoning up the famous wits of those times, saith, Et proximum Ciceroni Caesarem. Nay Cicero himself in his Catalogue of Orators to Brutus, *Illum omnium fere Oratorum latinè loqui elegantissimè, saith Atticus there of him. Caesar quotidiano sermoni egregiè utilissimus, cui Cicero laudem tribuit puri & incorrupti sermonis Latini. Ludov. Viv. l. 3. de tradend. Discipl.saith, He cannot see any to whom Caesar might give place, and he highly commends him in his Oration pro Marcello. Est ejus viri pura oratio, sine fuco ac calamistris ornata, vel Romanis, vel Atticis Musis dignissima. Lipsius. Aulus Gellius scribit Caesarem sermonis fuisse praeter alios suae aetatis castissimi.
He left Commentaries of his own Acts, touching the Gaul war, and the Civil war between Pompey and him. Commentaries (saith B. De Vigenere in his annotations on Caesars Comment. of the Gaul war) are little particular memories which one makes either for himself, or for another, containing only the principal heads of the deeds and acts, of which he will after write a History at his better leisure: Caesars Commentaries, (Sr. Francis Bacon *Advance of Learn. foreign. l. 2. Commentarios quosdam scripsit rerum suarum valde quidem probandos; nudi enim sunt, recti, & venusti: sanos quidem homines à scribendo de-terruit. Cicero de Clar. Orat.saith) is the best History of the world. King Iames exhorting his Son to the study of History, above all prophane Writers, commendeth this Book of Caesars to his reading, both for the sweet flowing of the stile, and the worthiness of the matter it self. Qui non minor rerum suarum praeco fuerit quàm earundem actor; saith Grotius in his Epistle to the Prince of Condee, prefixed to Martianus Capella. He saith there also that he wrote excellent Tragedies, and most large commendations of Hercules, of Grammar, and his own journies most elegantly, and highly commends his Anticatones.
He was a famous Mathematician, and diligent in that study, as Lucan writes of him.
— Media inter proelta semper
Stellarum, coelique plagis superisque vacavi.Scribere & legere simul, dictare, & audire accepimus: Epistolas vero tantarum rerum quaternas pariter librariis dictare, aut, si nihil aliud ageret, septenas. Pliny's Natural Hist. l. 7. c. 25.
He could at one time read and write, hear and indite, and if he did nothing else, he could dictate to 7 Actuaries or Penmen at once.
We ought to admire two things in him, which he had to perfection, and which render a Commander excellent; viz. that he forecast and provided for all things which might either further or hinder his design before he undertook it; and that in the very execution he failed not to take his advantage when occasion presented it, or to remedy upon the instant such unexpected accidents as befel; wherein he hath been inimitable. The Duke of Rohan's Observ. upon Caesars Comment. L. 6.
Anthony De Bandole hath parallel'd Caesar and Henry the fourth King of France. Both had (saith he) very high conceptions, a solid judgment, resolute execution; both were valiant, provident, firm to their designs, undertaking with confidence, guiding it with dexterity, overcoming all with valour. See more there.
In his Enterprizes he was both valiant and fortunate, and therefore singled out for an Idea or pattern of an absolute General, especially for four military properties very resplendent in him. First, laboriousness in his affairs. Secondly, courage in his dangers.Speed Chron. Thirdly, industrious contriving of what he undertook. Fourthly, quick dispatch in accomplishing what he had once begun.
— Nam Caesar in omnia praeceps,
Nil actum credens, si quid superesset agendum.
Quintus Curtius speaking of Alexander the Great,Lucan. saith, Nullam virtutem Regis istius magis quàm celeritatem laud a verim. I can commend no vertue more in this King than speed.
In eleven daies he marched with his army six hundred miles.
Suetonius affirmeth, that Caesar did ever march formost before his troops, and most commonly bare-headed, and on foot, whether the Sun shined, or it rained. Tully reports of him, that he was never heard to say to his Soldiers, Ite illuc, go forth thither, as they should go forth upon service, and he tarry behind in his Tent; but *As you see me do, so do ye. Iudg. 7.17. One saith the like of Trajan, that in all hazards and perils he never said unto his Captains Go, but let us go: Do, but let us do.Venite huc, Come ye hither.
—Ignave, venireLucan. l. 5. v. 487.
Te Caesar, non ire jubet.
Pertinax was wont to say to his Soldiers Militemus; and Severus Septimius, The two principal men of the world, Alexander and Caesar, have slain each of them (as Pliny reporteth) more than a million of men.Laboremus: Livy bringeth in Valerius Corvinus thus speaking; Facta mea, non dicta vos milites sequi volo, nec disciplinam modo, sed exemplum etiam à me petere.
Under his conduct were slain eleven hundred fourscore and two thousand enemies. He fought in pitched field two and fifty times, saith Solinus, fifty saith Pliny, Signis collatis quinquagies dimicavit.and never was so much as in any hazard save only twice.
He conquered all France, Germany, Plin. Natural. Hist. lib. 7. c. 25. He took 1000 Towns, conquered 300 Nations.discovered us Britains, and made us Tributary; and triumphed five times in Rome with unspeakable admiration.
It is observable, that in all his wars he hath alwaies been inferiour to his enemies in number, for which cause he hath alwaies helped himself by fortifications, more than ever any other hath done; which he made much the better, when he found himself not sufficiently strong to give battel, as he was a long time in Africa: insomuch that Scipio wondred at his coldness; nevertheless he alwaies continued his Soldiers in exercise, and himself exercised new levyed men, and entred them by small skirmishes, wherein by his industry for the most part he had the best, and alwaies attempted something upon his enemy. The Duke of Rohan's Observ. on Caesars Comm. L. 5.
Suetonius. Nec vana de se praedicatio est Caesaris, ante victum hostem esse quam visum. L. Flor.Tam celer in agendo & consulta exequendo, ut persaepe nuntios de se praevenerit. He is renowned for his celerity in doing, and preventing the very report of his coming.
Caesar hath made himself as much redoubted and admired by the great works which he caused his Soldiers to make, as by his great Battels. The Duke of Rohan's treatise of Modern War. c. 4.
Having overcome King Pharnaces, and being desirous to advertise one of his friends of his quick expedition in dispatching that war, he only wrote three words unto Anitius at Rome, Veni, vidi, vici, I came, I saw, I overcame.
Charles the fift Emperor of Germany said, Veni, vidi, Deus vicit. Surius in bello Germanico.
He never put enemy to flight but he discamped him,Suetonius. and drave him out of the field: By this means he gave them whom he had once discomfited no time to bethink themselves.
In any doubtful and dangerous service,Suotonius. So William the Conqueror at his arrival into England, burnt the ships which transported his Army. his manner was to send away the Horses, and his own with the first, to the end that when all means of flight were gone, they might of necessity be forced the rather to stand to it, and abide to the last.
Lucan seemeth to have alluded to this:
Bellorum o socii, qui mille pericula mortis.
He called not his Soldiers *Augustus did much reprove this humour in his Uncle, saying, Dum affectat carior fieri, auctoritatem Principis emolliverat. Aurel. Vict.Milites, but Commilitones: not plain Soldiers, but by a more pleasing name, Fellow-soldiers. He maintained them so trim and brave, that he stuck not to set them out in polished Armour, damasked with silver and gold, as well for goodly shew, as because they should in *Suetonius.Battel keep the same more surely for fear of damage and loss.
He loved them so affectionately, that when he heard of Tiberius his overthrow,It is reported of Alexander, that he infused such courage into his Souldiers. Vt illo praesente, nullius hostium arma vel inermes timuerint. Justin. l. 12. c. ult. Caesars eye made his Souldiers prodigal of their blood. Plutarchs Lives. and the Legions with him: he suffered the hair of his head and beard to grow long, and would not cut the same before he had revenged their death. By which means he both had his Soldiers most devoted unto him, and also made them truly valiant.
He was so entirely beloved of his Soldiers, that to do him service (whereas otherwise they were but like other men in any other private quarrel) if Caesars honour were touched, they were invincible, and would so desperately, and with such fury venture themselves, that no man was able to abide them.
A private Soldier of his fought so valiantly in Britain, that by his means he saved the Captains, which otherwise were in great danger to have been cast away (being driven into a Bogg;) then marching with great pain through the mire and dirt, half swimming, and half a foot, in the end he got to the other side, but left his shield behind him:Plutarch. Caesar wondering at his noble courage, ran to him with joy to embrace him: but the poor Soldier hanging down his head, the water standing in his eyes, fell down at Caesars feet, and besought him to pardon him for leaving his Target behind him.
Petronius being taken by Scipio, he said he would give him his life; but he answered him again, that Caesars Soldiers did not use to have their lives given them, but to give others their lives; and with these words he drew his sword and thrust himself through.
Caesar at Alexandria being busie about the assault and winning of a Bridge, was driven by a sudden sally of the enemies to take a Boat, and many besides making hast to get into the same,Plutarchs Lives. he leapt into the sea, and by swimming almost a quarter of a mile recovered the next ship, bearing up his left hand all the while, for fear the writings he held therein should take wet,Paludamentum mordicus trahens, ne spolio potiretur hostis. Sueton. Milites erant sagati, Imperatores paludati. and drawing his rich coat-armour after him by the teeth, because the enemy should not have it as a spoil.
Beholding advisedly the Image or portraicture of Alexander the Great in the Temple of Hercules at Cales, at the sight thereof he fetched a deep sigh,Plutarch and Suetonius in C. Iulio. c. 7. i. e. 33. as being ashamed that he had yet performed no memorable act at those years, wherein Alexander had conquered the whole world.Saepe audivi Q. Maximum, P. Scipionem, praeterea civitatis nostrae praeclaros viros solitos ita dicere, cum majorum imagines intuerentur, vehementissimè sibi animum ad virtutem accendi; scilicet non ceram illam, neque figuram, tantam vim in sese habere; sed memoria rerum gestarum eam flammam egregiis viris in pectore crescere, neque prius sedari, quàm virtus eorum famam atque gloriam adaequaverit. Salust. in Bello Iugurthino.
He was very much disquieted and dismayed with a dream the very night before, (for he imagined in his sleep that he had carnal company with his Mother:) the Diviners and Wizards incited him to the hopes of most glorious achievements,Suetonius ubi supra. making this exposition of his dream,Ita visum interpretari vanissimae artis auctoribus vanissimis. that thereby was portended unto him the soveraignty of the whole World; for his Mother whom he saw under him, betokened the subjection of the Earth,Casaubon. Animadvers. which is counted the mother of all things.
There were two Factions in Rome at that time, Sylla was the chief of the one, and Marius of the other; Marius stood for the people, and Sylla defended the Nobles. Marius and all his Confederates were proclaimed Traitors, and enemies to the Common-wealth. Sylla determining to kill Caesar, Plutarch. Suetonius.some of his friends told him, that it was to no purpose to put so young a Boy as he was so death: but Sylla answered again, Caesari multos Marios inesse, that there were many Marii in that one Boy; implying, that he would be a great enemy unto their State. When the day of Election for summus Pontifex came, he told his Mother (kissing him) that that day she should see her Son chief Bishop of Rome, or banished from Rome.
He said, he had rather be the chiefest man in a poor Village, than the second person in Rome.
Lucan.Nec quenquam jam ferre potest Caesarve priorem,
Pompejusve parem. —
He did extreamly affect the name of King, and some were set on, as he passed by, in popular acclamation to salute him King; whereupon finding the cry weak and poor, he put it off thus in a kinde of jest, as if they had mistaken his sur-name, Non Rex sum, sed Caesar.
He often used these verses of Euripides, which he himself thus translated.
Nam si violandum est jus, Imperii causa
Violandum est, aliis rebus pietatem colas.
He alone managed all the affairs of State: his Collegue or Fellow-Consul did nothing, in so much as divers Citizens pleasantly conceited, whensoever they signed, subscribed, or dated any writings to stand upon records, would merrily put it down thus; Such a thing was done not when Caesar and Bibulus, but when Iulius and Caesar were Consuls; setting down one & the same man twice by his name and surname; yea, and soon after these verses were commonly currant.
Non Bibulo quidquam nuper, sed Caesare factum est:
Nam Bibulo fieri Consule nil memini.
Caesar of late did many things, but Bibulus not one:
For nought by Consul Bibulus can I remember done.
He was such an excellent Rider of a Horse from his youth,Equitandi usus Caesari a pueritia facilis adeo extitit ut reflexis in tergum manibus, equum velocissimis concitare cursibus saepe consueverit. Plutarch. Solinus. Suetonius. that holding his hands behind him, he would gallop his Horse upon the spur. The Horse he used to ride upon was strangely marked, with feet resembling very near a mans, and the hoofs cloven like toes. *Like to Alexanders Bucephalus. Plutarch.The Beast would abide no man else to ride him, and he himself was the first that backed him.
When one brought him his Horse to get upon, which he used in Battel, he said unto him;Solinus. When I have overcome mine enemies I will get upon him to follow the chase, but now let us give them charge.He gloried in nothing so much (saith Aust. 5. Ep.) as in pardoning his enemies, and gratifying his friends.
Benignitate adeo praeditus, ut quos armis subegerat, clementia magis vicerit. He was of so good a nature, that such as he subdued by Battel, he more overcame with gentleness.
He held neuters for his friends, contrary to Pompey, who held them for enemies. Aurel. Vict.He said the greatest pleasure he took of his victories was, that he daily saved the lives of some of his country-men that bare arms against him.
Caesar dando, sublevando, ignoscendo, gloriam adeptus est. Salust. in bel. Catilin.
When Pompey's head was presented to him, Vberrimas lachrymas profudit, he wept bitterly, and caused him to be honourably buried,Idem dixit, non mihi placet vindicta, sed victoria. saying; Ego Pompeii casum deploro, & meam fortunam metuo: I lament Pompey's fall, and fear mine own fortune.
When he found many Letters in Pompey's coffers,Dion. King Cotis having received for a Present many beautiful and rich Vessels, yet frail and easie to be broken, brake them all; that he might not be stirred to choler when they should happen to be broken.wherein divers testified their good will unto Pompey, and their hatred towards him, he neither read them, nor copied them out; but presently burnt them, lest being exasperated by them, he should have been forced to have committed some greater evil.
When Pompey's Images had been thrown down, he caused them to be set up again, and *Plutarch in Tullies life. Pompeii statas erigendo suas confirmavit.Cicero thereupon used this speech, that Caesar in setting up Pompey's Images again, made his own to stand surer.
He accounted his conquest of the two Pompeys (Sons to Pompey the great) in Andaluzia in Spain, the most glorious of all his victories; for he would often say afterwards, that at other times he fought for Fame and Victory, but that day he fought for his life, which he had never fought for before.
When some of his friends did counsel him to have a Guard for the safety of his Person,Mori satius est semel, quàm timore semper torqueri. and some also did offer themselves to serve him, he would never consent unto it; but said, It was better to dye once, than alwaies to be afraid of death.Plutarch.
He said also, Mori se quam timeri malle, Sueton.saith Paterculus, when some advised him to keep by Armes what he had got by Armes.
When he was hindered by one of the Tribunes from taking some of the common Treasure out of Saturns Temple, and told that it was against the Law, Tush,Silent leges inter Arma. said he, Time of Warre and Law are two things.
That speech of his was compounded both of terrour and clemency, to Metellus the Tribune; for Caesar entring into the inner Treasury of Rome to take the money there kept, Metellus forbad him; whereto Caesar said, That if he did not desist, he would lay him dead in the place;Adolescent difficilius est mihi hoc dicere, quàm facere. and presently taking himself up, he added, young man, it is harder for me to speak it, than do it.
*Magno illi Alexandro, sed sobrio, neque iracundo simillimus; qui semper & somno & cibo in vitam, non in voluptatem uteretur. Paterculus. Plut. Sueton.He was a spare drinker of Wine, as his very enemies confessed, whence arose that Apophthegm of Cato, That of all that ever were, Caesar alone came sober to the overthrow of the State.
He was the first that devised the way for friends to talk together by writing Cyphers in letters, when he had no leisure to speak with them for his urgent business, and for the great distance from Rome.
He said, Caesars wife ought not only to be without fault, but also without all suspition of fault.
Plutarch. in Apophtheg.Being certified that Cato had slain himself with his own hands, he seemed to be very sorry for it,Dixit invidere se Catoni mortem, quando sibi salutem invidisset. and said, O Cato, I envy thy death, because thou didst envy my glory to save thy life.
Cicero wrote a book in commendation of Cato, Plutar. in the life of Cato.to justifie that action, which Caesar answered with another, which he called Anti-Cato, both which are lost. Schildius out of Beroaldus saith, Cicero wrote a book intituled Cato, in commendation of him, which vexed Caesar, because he conceived the commendation of the other tended to his dispraise, and therefore he wrote two books against Cato, discovering his crimes, called Anti-Catones.
Being in a Pinnace or small Boat in a great storm, he said to the Master of it: Fellow, be of good cheer, for thou hast Caesar and his fortune with thee.Caesarem vehis, & fortunam ejus.
So Charles the fifth taking his Horse to rush into the main battel, was requested to forbear; but he answered, An Emperor was never shot through with a bullet.
So William the second of England, coming to imbark at Portsmouth, the Master told him the weather was rough, and there was no passing without imminent danger, Tush, said he, set forward, I never yet heard of a King that was drowned. Dan. Hist.
Yet I may say of him as our Chronicler doth of one of our English Kings, Inerant illi confuso quodam temperamento, Cambd. in Annal. De Henrico 8. Iulian the Emperour in his Satyr upon the Roman Emperours Taxeth his ambition.virtutes magnae & vitia non minora.
Suetonius and others, speak of his unnatural uncleannesse and prodigious prodigality. He stole out of the Capitol 108000 pounds (reduced to our money) in gold at once, gave to Servilia a Jewel which cost him 46875 pounds, owed 1953125 pounds more than he was worth by his own confession.Plin. Lib. 7. c. 25. His shews and publick Donations in costlinesse are almost in valuable.
About the trimming of his body he was over curious,Circa corporis curam morosior, ut non solum tonderetur diligenter, ac raderetur sed velleretur etiam Suetonius. so as he would not only be shaven very precisely, but also have his hair plucked.
The chiefest cause that made him mortally hated, was his excessive desire of honour, and his slighting the Senators.
When his friends complained unto him of Antonius and Dolabella, that they intended some mischief towards him, he answered them again, As for these fat men, and smooth-combed-heads, quoth he, I never reckon of them, but those pale-visaged, Odi pallidos & macilentos.& carrion lean people, I fear them most; meaning Brutus and Cassius.
He never refused to fight but in his latter daies being then of this opinion, that the oftner he had gotten victory, the lesse he was to venture, and make trial of fortune: also that a victory could gain him nothing so much as some disastrous calamity might take from him.
There conspired against him more than threescore, the heads of which conspiracy were Cassius and Brutus. He had fair warning of his death before it came, by many evident prodigies; Fires were seen in the Element, & spirits running up and down in the night, and solitary Birds at noonday sitting in the great Market-place; as the Bird Regaliolus did flye with a little branch of Lawrel into the Court of Pompeius, Or Regaviolus quasi Rex avium. Casaub. Animadvers.a sort of other Birds of divers kinds from out of the Grove hard by pursued after, and there pulled it in pieces.
Nec centum victimis perlitare poterat. Florus, l. 4. Hist. Rom. c. 2.Caesar sacrificing to the gods, found that one of the Beasts which was sacrificed, had no heart, and that was a strange thing in Nature, how a Beast could live without a heart.
Eo ipso die dum ad senatumiret, libelli conjurationem & conjuratorum nomina indicantes, inmanus ipsi traditi.There was a certain South-sayer that had given Caesar warning long before, to take heed of the day of the Ides of March (which is the fifteenth of the Month,) for on that day he should be in a great danger. That day being come, Caesar going unto the Senate-house, and speaking merrily to the South-sayer, told him, The Ides of March were come: So they be, softly answered the South-sayer, but yet they are not past.
[Christianus Matthias Theat. Histor. Theoret. Pract. in Iul. Cap. 3. hath an elegant and memorable parallel history.Plutarch.Suetonius.
Henry the 4. King of France was disswaded from going abroad that day he was slain, by some, as a day mark't out by Astrologers to portend danger to his person: yet he, a second Caesar as well in the course of his life as of his death, was little sway'd therewith, but like a King, and a Christian replyed; that it was an offence to God to give credit to these Prognostiques, & that having God to his guard, he feared no man. The Life and death of Henry the 4.]
The night before this Discourse had with the South-sayer, all the windows and doors of his chamber did flye open, and his Wife Calphurnia dreamed that Caesar was slain, & that she had him in her arms.
He was stabbed with 23 wounds; he onelyonly gave one groan at the first thrust,Sueton. He was slain in Pompes Court. Tribus & viginti vulneribus ad terram datus est; sic ille qui terrarum orbem civili sanguine impleverat, tandem ipse sanguine suo curiam implevit. Luc. Flo. l. 4. Hist. Rom. c. 2. without uttering any words. Some say, That as M. Brutus came running upon him, he said, foreign; And thou my Son?
All men are of opinion, that such a death befel unto him as he desired; for when he had read in Xenophon how Cyrus being at the point of death, gave order for his Funeral, he seting light by so slow & lingering a kind of death, wished to dye quickly and of a sudden.
The very day before he was killed, in a certain discourse moved at super in Marcus Lepidus his house, upon that point, which was the best end of a mans life? He perferred that which was sudden and unlooked for.In the 8. Septenarie. Plutarch. Sueton. Deum honor principi non ante habetur quam agere inter homines desierat.
He dyed in the 56. year of his age; Et in Deorum numerum relatus est, he was made a god after death (which could not defend himself from death, from cruel murther) and that N…n *Sueton. Of this Ceremony of the Apotheosis or deifying their Emperors, see Dr. Hackwels Apology of Gods providence. l. 4. Sect. 2.ore modo decernentium, sed & persuasione vulgi, Not only by their voyce which decreed such honour unto him,Tacit. but also by perswasion of the common people.
A Comet shined then for seven dayes together, arising about the eleventh hour of the day, and it was believed by those blind Heathen to be Caesars soul, who had been a Comet of combustion to the world.
—Micat inter omnes
Iulium sidus, velutinter ignes
Luna minores.
Horace lib. 1. Ode 12. Percussorum autem fere neque triennio quisquam amplius supervix. it, neque sua morte defunctus est. Sueton. Bellares est (Inquit Seneca) mori sua morte.Also upon his Image there is a Star set to the very crown of his head.
Of these Murtherers there was not one that either survived him above three years, or dyed a natural death.
All stood condemned, and by one mishap or other perished;A notable judgement of God upon the unnatural murderers of their Soveraign. some by shipwrack, others by battel, and some again shortned their own dayes with the very same dagger wherewith they had wounded Caesar: Cassius as Plutarch reporteth, and Brutus according to Dion.