Cicero's Public Life and Contemporary Politics.

Cicero and the Liberatores
(Aet. 63-64. B.C. 44-43. Epist. LXXXV.-C.)

36. Soon after the murder of Caesar, the assassins, or the liberatores, as they were termed by Cicero, distrusting the temper of the people, withdrew to the Capitol,¹³⁸ which was guarded by the gladiators of D. Brutus. Here they were visited in the evening by a number of prominent men, among them being Cicero. He himself had had no part in the formation of the plot which led to Caesar's assassination or in its execution,¹³⁹ but his satisfaction at the removal of Caesar is plainly shown in a jubilant letter¹⁴⁰ written to L. Basilus, one of the conspirators, probably on the day of the assassination.

37. M. Antonius, who was Caesar's colleague in the consulship, gained possession of all his private treasure and political papers,¹⁴¹ but thought it wise to leave the adjustment of affairs to the senate.¹⁴² The senate met Mar. 17, and adopted Cicero's proposal to ratify Caesar's acts and to grant amnesty to the conspirators.¹⁴³ At the same time arrangements were made for the burial of Caesar at the public expense and for the publication of his will. The funeral took place between Mar. 20 and 23,¹⁴⁴ and the people, whose sympathy for Caesar was increased on hearing his generous bequests to them, were inflamed to such a degree [p. xxxviii] by the funeral oration of Antony¹⁴⁵ that the conspirators were obliged to withdraw from the city.

38. With the help of Caesar's confidential secretary Faberius, Antony proceeded to strengthen himself by altering Caesar's papers and even by forging new documents.¹⁴⁶ To all this the senate could offer no resistance, but the further development of Antony's plans was interrupted by the arrival in April of C. Octavius,¹⁴⁷ Caesar's adopted son and heir. The position of this young man, as Caesar's adopted son, and his manly spirit won him a hearty welcome from the Gallic veterans, and by his generous and tactful treatment of them he succeeded in drawing large numbers from Antony's support to his own side. At the same time his deference to Cicero,¹⁴⁸ and his apparently unselfish desire to serve the state, excited for a time the liveliest hopes in the breasts of the republicans.

39. Cicero took little part in politics for some time after the important meeting of the senate, Mar.17. He feared that by the death of Caesar Rome had merely exchanged one tyrant for another,¹⁴⁹ and as early as May he writes prophetically to Atticus, mihi autem non est dubium quin res spectet ad castra.¹⁵⁰ His discouragement was almost converted into despair when, on meeting M. Brutus and C. Cassius at Antium, June 8, he found that they were absolutely without purpose or plan. Prorsus dissolutum offendi navigium ¹⁵¹ vel potius dissilatum; nihil consilio, nihil ratione, nihil ordine.¹⁵² He decided to leave Italy for a time and was actually at Leucopetra on his way to Greece when he heard that a reconciliation between Antony and the liberatores was probable.¹⁵³ On hearing this news, he returned [p. xxxix] to Rome to take part in the meeting of the senate which was called for Sept. 1.

40. He found matters however in a far less favorable condition than he had hoped to find them, and absented himself from the meeting of the senate, Sept. 1, on the plea of illness. Antony was angry at Cicero's absence and threatened to tear his house down.¹⁵⁴ On the following day Cicero appeared in the senate and delivered his first Philippic.¹⁵⁵ It was an outspoken criticism of Antony's action, but was free from personality. On Sept.19 Antony made a violent reply to Cicero's criticism.¹⁵⁶

The province of Macedonia had at first been assigned to Antony for the year 43,¹⁵⁷ but in June, in spite of the opposition of the senate, he secured the passage of a bill in the comitia assigning to him Gallia Cisalpina, with Gallia Transalpina perhaps, in place of Macedonia.¹⁵⁸ He doubtless preferred Gallia Cisalpina, as it would enable him to remain nearer Rome and because it was the key to Italy.¹⁵⁹ He left the city Nov. 28, hastening toward the north with three legions and his body-guard to dispossess D. Brutus,¹⁶⁰ to whom Gallia Cisalpina had fallen under the arrangements of Caesar.

41. At this point Cicero's active participation in the struggle with Antony begins. He saw the weak and the strong points of the senatorial cause. His judgment was unerring and his courage unfaltering. He saw that Octavius must be attached to the senatorial party, and Octavius was invested with the imperium and authorized, in codperation with the consuls of 43 B.C., to conduct the war against Antony.¹⁶¹ He appreciated that at all hazards [p. xl] D. Brutus must make a determined stand in Gallia Cisalpina, and that the governors of the neighboring provinces must be induced to rally to his support. He wrote therefore urgent letters to D. Brutus, to Plancus in northern Gaul, to Lepidus in southern Gaul, and to Poiho in Spain.¹⁶² Brutus and Cassius in the East were apprised of the course of events in Italy,¹⁶³ and the senate was urged to take bold action.

42. His efforts were at the outset crowned with success, for on Dec.20, 44 B.C.,¹⁶⁴ the senate repealed the law which assigned Gallia Cisalpina and Transalpina to Antony, lengthened the terms of office of D. Brutus and Plancus, and directed the other provincial governors to remain at their posts until the senate should send out their successors. Octavius and Hirtius, one of the consuls, left Rome in the early part of 43 B.C. to relieve D. Brutus,¹⁶⁵ who was besieged by Antony in Mutina, and Pansa, the other consul, followed in March with four more legions of recruits.¹⁶⁶ After some preliminary skirmishing in which Antony gained the advantage,¹⁶⁷ a decisive battle was fought near Mutina, Apr.21,¹⁶⁸ in which his army was completely defeated. But the victory was dearly bought. Hirtius fell upon the field of battle, and Pansa was mortally wounded¹⁶⁹ and died two days later. The command of the forces acting against Antony was assigned to D. Brutus. Octavius, who had good reason to feel aggrieved at this slight,¹⁷⁰ withdrew from further participation in the struggle, and marched to Rome at the head of eight legions, demanding the consulship. There was no means at hand to withstand him, and Aug.19 he was elected consul, although but nineteen years of age. [p. xli]

Meanwhile, in the north, Antony was strengthened by the accession of Lepidus,¹⁷¹ Plancus, and Pollio.¹⁷² D. Brutus was deserted by his troops, and while seeking to escape was murdered at Aquileia.¹⁷³

43. In the East the cause of the liberatores had been more successful. In the early part of 43 B.C. M. Brutus reached the province of Macedonia, which had been assigned to him by Caesar, and was recognized as the legal governor by his predecessor Q. Hortensius.¹⁷⁴ Cassius also took possession of his province, Syria. Both of them succeeded in levying large bodies of troops and in defeating C. Antonius,¹⁷⁵ the brother of Marcus, and Dolabella,¹⁷⁶ who had come out to take possession of Macedonia and Syria respectively, by virtue of measures whose passage Antony had secured. The senatorial party was in the meantime urging Brutus and Cassius to return and protect Italy from the troops of Antony.¹⁷⁷ Cicero also wrote to both leaders, asking them to adopt this course,¹⁷⁸ but their entreaties were without effect.

44. In Italy matters were rapidly advancing to a crisis. Octavius, soon after his elevation to the consulship, marched northward, met Antony near Bononia in Oct., 43 B.C., and with M. Lepidus formed a compact for the adjustment of affairs in Italy and for the prosecution of the war in the East against the liberatores¹⁷⁹ ; and in November, by a vote of the comitia, Antony, Lepidus, and Octavius were appointed commissioners 'for the reorganization of the state' for a period of five years.¹⁸⁰ [p. xlii]

The first step of the triumvirs was to remove their enemies at Rome, and Cicero's name was included in the list of the proscribed, notwithstanding the protest of Octavius. Cicero at first thought of seeking refuge in the East, and actually set sail from Astura for that purpose, but the unfavorable weather and his own unwillingness to leave his native land held him back, and the emissaries of Antony found him still in his Formian villa when they reached that place, Dec. 7. His faithful slaves attempted to save him even at the last moment by hurrying him on board a ship which lay in the harbor, but he was overtaken by his pursuers, and, forbidding his followers to make resistance, gave himself up to death at the hands of his assassins.¹⁸¹