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2.398 when it was already dark, with a few leaders around him, looking up to heaven he exclaimed, 'Zeus, let not the one who is the cause of these evils escape you.' Plutarch records that he spoke this line; but Dio relates that Brutus then said, 'O wretched Virtue, you were then but a word, and I practiced you as a reality, but you were a slave to Fortune.' And when someone said that he must flee, 'Yes, indeed,' he said, 'we must flee, but through our hands, not through our feet.' And having said this and fallen upon his naked sword, he died. And Antony, finding his body, wrapped it in the most costly of his own purple cloaks. And Porcia, the wife of Brutus and daughter of Cato, being watched and not permitted to kill herself, snatched coals from the fire, swallowed them, and died. Concerning whom Plutarch wrote that before the murder of the first Caesar, seeing her husband thoughtful and full of unusual agitation, and perceiving that he was nursing in his mind some difficult plan, she did not ask him about his secrets before she had made a trial of herself. For taking a little knife, he says, she secretly inflicted a deep cut on her thigh, so that after a short time intense pains ensued and terrible fevers were kindled from the wound. And while Brutus was in anguish, she, being at the height of her pain, said to him, 'I, Brutus, was not given to you to share your bed and board only, like a concubine, but to be a partner in your good things and your troubles. Your part in our marriage is entirely blameless, but what proof or favor is there from my side if 2.399 I neither bear with you a secret suffering nor a care that requires trust? I know that a woman's nature is thought too weak to bear a secret; but a good upbringing and worthy companionship have a certain strength for character. And for me, there is the fact that I am Cato's daughter and Brutus's wife. In these things I previously had less confidence, but now I know myself to be unconquered even by pain.' Having said these things, she shows him the wound and explains the test. And he, astonished, prayed that the gods might grant that in succeeding in his undertaking he might prove himself a husband worthy of Porcia. Brutus, then, lost his life in the manner described, and of the distinguished men who had been with him, the greater number either killed themselves at once or were destroyed after being captured, while the rest who escaped to the sea at that time afterwards attached themselves to Sextus. And so Brutus and Cassius perished, slain by the same swords with which they had dispatched Caesar, and Caesar and Antony immediately divided the rule; and to the one were allotted both Iberia and Numidia, and to Antony both Gaul and Africa, with the agreement that if Lepidus should be displeased at this, they would yield Africa to him. They divided only these, because Sextus held Sardinia and Sicily, and the regions outside of Italy were still in turmoil. And thereupon Antony departed for Asia, to settle the affairs of those who had fought against them and to collect money; while Caesar set out for Italy, to restrain Lepidus, if he should make any trouble, and to oppose Sextus. Being ill and for this reason proceeding more slowly, he arrived in Rome, and after performing the customary rites for 2.400 his victory, he turned to the administration of affairs. For Lepidus remained quiet out of fear and sluggishness, but Antony's wife Fulvia and Lucius Antonius the consul took charge of affairs and were at odds with Caesar, so that Caesar sent Fulvia's daughter back to her, dissolving the kinship from the marriage. Therefore, both on account of these things and on account of the famine, which was then oppressing the Romans, Caesar was at a loss. For the sea around Sicily was controlled by Sextus, and the Ionian Gulf by Gnaeus Domitius, who was one of Caesar's assassins, and having escaped from the battle at Philippi, had assembled a fleet, and for a time he both controlled the gulf and destroyed the property of his enemies. Therefore, on account of this famine and for other reasons, both the people and the soldiery rose up in sedition against one another, and the sedition developed into battles, so that they were even wounded and killed

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2.398 ηδη σκότους οντος, ὀλίγων περὶ αὐτὸν ἡγεμόνων οντων, εἰς τὸν οὐρανὸν ἀναβλέψας ἀνεφθέγξατο Ζεῦ, μὴ λάθῃ σε τῶνδ' ος αιτιος κακῶν. τοῦτον τὸν στίχον εἰπεῖν αὐτὸν ὁ Πλούταρχος ἀναγράφει· ὁ δέ γε ∆ίων ταῦθ' ἱστορεῖ τότε τὸν Βροῦτον εἰπεῖν "ω τλᾶμον ἀρετά, αλλως αρ' ησθα λόγος, ἐγὼ δέ σε ὡς εργον ησκουν, σὺ δ' αυ ἐδούλευες τύχῃ." εἰπόντος δέ τινος ὡς δεῖ φεύγειν, "πάνυ μὲν ουν" εφη "φευκτέον, ἀλλὰ διὰ τῶν χειρῶν, οὐ διὰ τῶν ποδῶν." καὶ τοῦτο εἰπὼν καὶ τῷ ξίφει γυμνῷ ἐπιπεσὼν ἐτελεύτησε. τὸν δὲ τούτου νεκρὸν ̓Αντώνιος ἀνευρὼν τῇ πολυτελεστάτῃ τῶν ἑαυτοῦ φοινικίδων περιέβαλε. Πορκία δὲ ἡ τοῦ Βρούτου γυνή, Κάτωνος δὲ θυγάτηρ, φυλαττομένη καὶ μὴ ἐωμένη ἑαυτὴν ἀνελεῖν, ανθρακας ἐκ τοῦ πυρὸς ἁρπάσασα καὶ καταπιοῦσα ἀπέθανε. περὶ ης ὁ Πλούταρχος εγραψεν ὡς πρὸ τῆς τοῦ Καίσαρος τοῦ προτέρου σφαγῆς ὁρῶσα τὸν ανδρα σύννουν καὶ μεστὸν ταραχῆς ἀήθους, καί τι βούλευμα κατανοήσασα παρ' ἑαυτῷ θάλποντα δυσεξέλικτον, οὐ πρότερον αὐτὸν περὶ τῶν ἀπορρήτων ἀνήρετο πρὶν η λαβεῖν διάπειραν ἑαυτῆς. λαβοῦσα γάρ, φησί, μαχαίριον, τομὴν βαθεῖαν λάθρᾳ ἐπήνεγκε τῷ μηρῷ, ὡς μετὰ μικρὸν ὀδύνας ἐπιγενέσθαι νεανικὰς καὶ φρικώδεις ἀναφθῆναι πυρετοὺς ἐκ τοῦ τραύματος. ἀγωνιῶντος δὲ τοῦ Βρούτου ἐν ἀκμῇ τῆς ἀλγηδόνος ουσα εφη αὐτῷ "ἐγώ, Βροῦτε, οὐχ ὡς αἱ παλλακευόμεναι κοίτης μεθέξουσα καὶ τραπέζης μόνον ἐδόθην σοι, ἀλλὰ κοινωνὸς ειναι καὶ ἀγαθῶν καὶ ἀνιαρῶν. τὰ μὲν ουν σὰ πάντα περὶ τὸν γάμον αμεμπτα, τῶν δὲ παρ' ἐμοῦ τίς ἀπόδειξις η χάρις εἰ 2.399 μήτε πάθος ἀπόρρητον συνδιοίσω σοι μήτε φροντίδα πίστεως δεομένην; οιδ' οτι γυναικεία φύσις ἀσθενὴς δοκεῖ λόγον ἐνεγκεῖν ἀπόρρητον· ἀλλ' εστι τις καὶ τροφῆς ἀγαθῆς καὶ ὁμιλίας χρηστῆς εἰς ηθος ἰσχύς. ἐμοὶ δὲ τὸ Κάτωνος ειναι θυγατέρα καὶ τὸ Βρούτου γυναῖκα πρόσεστιν. οις πρότερον μὲν ηττον ἐπεποίθειν, νῦν δ' ἐμαυτὴν εγνωκα καὶ πρὸς πόνον ἀήττητον ειναι." ταῦτ' εἰποῦσα δείκνυσιν αὐτῷ τὸ τραῦμα καὶ διηγεῖται τὴν πεῖραν. ὁ δ' ἐκπλαγεὶς ἐπηύξατο δοῦναι τοὺς θεοὺς κατορθοῦντα τὴν πρᾶξιν ανδρα Πορκίας αξιον φανῆναι. Τῷ μὲν ουν Βρούτῳ ον ειρηται τρόπον ἐπέλιπε τὸ βιώσιμον, τῶν δὲ μετ' αὐτοῦ γενομένων ἐπισήμων ἀνδρῶν οἱ μὲν πλείους ἑαυτοὺς αὐτίκα ἀπέκτειναν η ἁλόντες ἐφθάρησαν, οἱ δὲ λοιποὶ τότε διαφυγόντες ἐπὶ τὴν θάλασσαν μετὰ τοῦτο τῷ Σέξτῳ προσέθεντο. Καὶ ὁ μὲν Βροῦτος καὶ ὁ Κάσσιος ουτως ἀπώλοντο τοῖς ξίφεσι σφαγέντες οις τὸν Καίσαρα διεχρήσαντο, Καῖσαρ δὲ καὶ ̓Αντώνιος αὐτίκα τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀνεδάσαντο· καὶ τῷ μὲν η τε ̓Ιβηρία καὶ ἡ Νουμιδία προσεκεκλήρωτο, ̓Αντωνίῳ δὲ ἡ Γαλατία τε καὶ ἡ ̓Αφρική, συνθεμένοις, εἰ ἐπὶ τούτοις ἀγανακτοίη ὁ Λέπιδος, ἐκστῆναί οἱ τῆς ̓Αφρικῆς. ταῦτα δὲ μόνα ἐδάσαντο, οτι Σαρδὼ μὲν καὶ Σικελίαν Σέξτος κατεῖχε, τὰ δ' εξω τῆς ̓Ιταλίας ἐν ταραχῇ ετι ην. καὶ ἐπὶ τούτοις ̓Αντώνιος μὲν εἰς τὴν ̓Ασίαν, καταστήσων τοὺς αὐτοῖς ἀντιπολεμήσαντας καὶ ἀργυρολογήσων, ἀπῄει· Καῖσαρ δ' εἰς τὴν ̓Ιταλίαν ὡρμήθη, τὸν Λέπιδον κωλύσων, αν τι παρακινῇ, καὶ τῷ Σέξτῳ ἀντιταξόμενος. νοσῶν δὲ καὶ διὰ τοῦτο βραδύτερον ἰὼν εἰς τὴν ̔Ρώμην ἀφίκετο, καὶ τὰ νενομισμένα ἐπὶ 2.400 τῇ νίκῃ τελέσας πρὸς τὴν τῶν πραγμάτων ἐτράπη διοίκησιν. ὁ γὰρ Λέπιδος φόβῳ καὶ νωθείᾳ ἡσύχασεν, ἡ δὲ τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου γυνὴ Φουλβία καὶ ὁ Λούκιος ̓Αντώνιος ὑπατεύων τῶν πραγμάτων ἀντελαμβάνοντο καὶ τῷ Καίσαρι διηνέχθησαν, ωστε τὸν Καίσαρα τὴν τῆς Φουλβίας θυγατέρα πέμψαι αὐτῇ, τὴν ἐκ τῆς ἐπιγαμίας συγγένειαν λύσαντα. Καὶ διὰ ταῦτα ουν καὶ διὰ τὸν λιμόν, ος τότε τοὺς ̔Ρωμαίους ἐπίεζεν, ὁ Καῖσαρ ἐν ἀμηχανίᾳ ἐγένετο. ἡ μὲν γὰρ κατὰ Σικελίαν θάλασσα ὑπὸ τοῦ Σέξτου κατείχετο, ὁ δ' ̓Ιόνιος κόλπος ὑπὸ ∆ομιτίου Γναίου, ος τῶν μὲν σφαγέων τοῦ Καίσαρος ην, ἐκ δὲ τῆς ἐν Φιλίπποις μάχης διαφυγὼν ναυτικὸν συνεκρότησε, καὶ τοῦ τε κόλπου χρόνον τινὰ ἐκράτησε καὶ τὰ τῶν ἐναντίων εφθειρε. διὰ γοῦν τὸν λιμὸν τοῦτον καὶ δι' αἰτίας ἑτέρας καὶ ἐστασίασαν πρὸς ἀλλήλους ο τε δῆμος καὶ τὸ στρατιωτικόν, καὶ εἰς μάχας ἡ στάσις περιέστη, ωστε καὶ τιτρώσκεσθαι καὶ θνήσκειν