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were handed over, and he conducted many other affairs contrary to the ancestral customs, and he called himself the new Dionysus and wished to be named so by others. And when the Athenians on this account betrothed Athena to him, he said that he accepted the marriage and exacted from them a dowry of a hundred myriads. While he was occupied with these things, he sent Publius Ventidius ahead to Asia. who, encountering Labienus drawn up for battle with the Romans around him and the Parthians, routed them; and many of the Parthians were slaughtered by the enemy, but more were destroyed by 2.406 each other, being trampled in the flight, and those who were left fled into Cilicia. But Labienus was preparing to come to grips with him again. But the soldiers, being disheartened by the flight of the barbarians, attempted to run away by night. And Ventidius, having learned this beforehand from a deserter, ambushed and killed many in their withdrawal, and won over the rest to himself. He himself escaped at that time, but was later captured by Demetrius, who, being a freedman of the former Caesar, had then been sent by Antony to Cyprus. Ventidius recovered Cilicia and sent Silo ahead with cavalry to the Amanus, this is a mountain situated on the borders of Cilicia and Syria, having an extremely narrow pass; where he would have been in danger from those appointed by Pacorus to guard it, if Ventidius had not by chance come up and assisted him as he was fighting. And thus he took possession of Syria, except for the Aradii, and then also occupied Palestine. When Appius Claudius and Gaius Norbanus were consuls, the populace, burdened by the exactions, rioted against the tax-collectors, and they came to blows with them and their attendants and the soldiers who were helping them collect the money. And Caesar married Livia. She was the daughter of Livius Drusus, who had killed himself after the defeat in Macedonia, and the wife of Nero, and was six months pregnant by him. And when Caesar hesitated on this account to marry her while she was with child, the pontifical priests, being asked if this was not impious, said that if the conception was in doubt, the marriage 2.407 ought to be postponed, but since it was acknowledged, nothing prevented it from taking place, perhaps having found this to be so in the ancestral customs, or if they did not find it, saying so on account of Caesar. Her husband himself gave her away, as if he were her father. And the woman, now living with Caesar, gave birth to Claudius Drusus Nero, and Caesar sent him to his father; who, dying much later, left Caesar himself as guardian for him and for Tiberius. Meanwhile, Caesar and Sextus went to war; for having made the agreement not willingly, but under compulsion, they did not abide by it. For they were going to fight, even if no pretext had arisen for them. For the time being, however, certain causes also gave them pretexts for the battle. For Menas, being a freedman of Sextus and happening to be on the island of Sardinia, was suspected for other reasons and because he had communicated with Caesar, and having been summoned by Sextus as if to give an account of his administration, he killed the messengers, and handed over the island to Caesar, along with the navy and the rest of the army and himself. And he honored him greatly; for he adorned him with gold rings and enrolled him among the knights. The matter of the rings is as follows. To none of the ancient Romans, not only of the freedmen, but not even of the freeborn, except for the senators and knights, was it permitted to use gold rings, unless the one holding power allowed this. Therefore when Sextus asked that this man be handed over to him, Caesar did not give him up, bringing a counter-charge against Sextus for receiving deserters and for building triremes contrary to the agreements, and some other things. And so Sextus, blaming Caesar on account of 2.408 Menas and for other reasons, sent men and plundered many parts of Campania. And Caesar, learning this, sent for both Lepidus and Antony. And Lepidus did not obey immediately, Antony

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παραδοθῶσι, καὶ αλλα δὲ πολλὰ ἐξεδιῃτήθη παρὰ τὰ πάτρια, καὶ ∆ιόνυσον νέον ἑαυτὸν ἐκάλει καὶ παρὰ τῶν αλλων ὀνομάζεσθαι ηθελε. καὶ τῶν ̓Αθηναίων διὰ ταῦτα τὴν ̓Αθηνᾶν αὐτῷ κατεγγυωμένων, δέχεσθαί τε τὸν γάμον εφη καὶ προῖκα μυριάδας ἑκατὸν ἐπράξατο παρ' αὐτῶν. Κἀκεῖνος μὲν περὶ ταῦτα ειχε, τὸν δὲ Βεντίδιον τὸν Πούπλιον εἰς τὴν ̓Ασίαν προέπεμψεν. ος τῷ Λαβιηνῷ συμμίξας μετά τε τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν ̔Ρωμαίων καὶ τῶν Πάρθων παραταξαμένῳ τρέπεται τούτους· καὶ πολλοὶ μὲν τῶν Πάρθων παρὰ τῶν πολεμίων ἐσφάγησαν, πλείους δὲ ὑπ' 2.406 ἀλλήλων ἐφθάρησαν ἐν τῇ φυγῇ συμπατούμενοι, οι τε περιλειφθέντες εἰς Κιλικίαν εφυγον. ὁ Λαβιηνὸς δὲ αυθις ἡτοιμάζετο ηξειν ἐς χεῖρας αὐτῷ. οἱ δὲ στρατιῶται ἀθυμοῦντες διὰ τὴν τῶν βαρβάρων φυγήν, ἀποδρᾶναι νυκτὸς ἐπεχείρησαν. καὶ τοῦτο ἐξ αὐτομόλου προγνοὺς ὁ Βεντίδιος, πολλοὺς μὲν ἐν τῇ ἀποχωρήσει λοχήσας ἀπέκτεινε, τοὺς δὲ λοιποὺς εἰς ἑαυτὸν ἐπεσπάσατο. ἐκεῖνος δὲ τότε μὲν διέφυγεν, υστερον δὲ ὑπὸ ∆ημητρίου ἑάλω, ος τοῦ προτέρου Καίσαρος ἐξελεύθερος ων, τότε παρὰ τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου εἰς Κύπρον ἀπέσταλτο. Βεντίδιος δὲ τὴν Κιλικίαν ἐκομίσατο καὶ Σίλωνα μεθ' ἱππέων εἰς τὸν ̓Αμανὸν προέπεμψεν, ορος δὲ τοῦτό ἐστιν ἐν μεθορίοις Κιλικίας καὶ Συρίας κείμενον, κομιδῇ στενὴν εχον τὴν δίοδον· ενθα καὶ ἐκινδύνευσεν αν ὑπὸ τῶν παρὰ τοῦ Πακόρου τεταγμένων φυλάττειν αὐτό, εἰ μὴ κατὰ τύχην ὁ Βεντίδιος μαχομένῳ αὐτῷ ἐπιστὰς ἐβοήθησε. καὶ ουτω τήν τε Συρίαν, πλὴν τῶν ̓Αραδίων, παρέλαβεν, ειτα καὶ τὴν Παλαιστίνην κατέσχεν. ̓Αππίου δὲ Κλαυδίου καὶ Γαΐου Νωρβανοῦ ὑπατευόντων τὸ πλῆθος πρὸς τοὺς τελώνας βαρυνόμενον ταῖς εἰσπράξεσιν ἐστασίασε, κἀκείνοις καὶ τοῖς ὑπηρέταις τοῖς τε στρατιώταις τοῖς συνεισπράττουσι σφίσι τὰ χρήματα ἐς χεῖρας ῃεσαν. ̔Ο δὲ Καῖσαρ τὴν Λιβίαν εγημεν. ην δὲ θυγάτηρ μὲν Λιβίου ∆ρούσου, ος ἑαυτὸν μετὰ τὴν ἐν Μακεδονίᾳ ητταν διεχειρίσατο, γυνὴ δὲ τοῦ Νέρωνος, καὶ εγκυος ην ἐξ ἐκείνου μῆνα εκτον. διστάζοντος δὲ διὰ τοῦτο τοῦ Καίσαρος ἀγαγέσθαι αὐτὴν ἐν γαστρὶ εχουσαν, οἱ ἱερεῖς οἱ ποντίφικες, εἰ μὴ ἀνόσιον ειη τοῦτο, ἐρωτηθέντες ειπον ὡς εἰ μὲν ἐν ἀμφιβόλῳ τὸ κύημα ην, ὑπερτεθῆναι τὸν γάμον 2.407 ἐχρῆν, ὁμολογουμένου δὲ αὐτοῦ οὐδὲν κωλύει αὐτὸν γενέσθαι, τάχα μὲν ουτως καὶ ἐν τοῖς πατρίοις τοῦτο εὑρόντες, εἰ δὲ καὶ μὴ ευρον, ουτως αὐτὸ εἰπόντες διὰ τὸν Καίσαρα. ἐξέδωκε δὲ αὐτὴν αὐτὸς ὁ ἀνὴρ ωσπερ τις πατήρ. συνοικοῦσα δὲ ηδη ἡ γυνὴ τῷ Καίσαρι τίκτει Κλαύδιον ∆ροῦσον Νέρωνα, καὶ αὐτὸν ὁ Καῖσαρ τῷ πατρὶ επεμψεν· ος τελευτῶν πολλῷ υστερον τούτῳ τε καὶ τῷ Τιβερίῳ ἐπίτροπον αὐτὸν τὸν Καίσαρα καταλέλοιπεν. ̓Εν δὲ τούτῳ ὁ Καῖσάρ τε καὶ ὁ Σέξτος ἐπολέμησαν· οὐ γὰρ ἐθελονταί, ἀλλ' ἀναγκαστοὶ τὴν ὁμολογίαν πεποιημένοι οὐδ' ἐνέμειναν ταύτῃ. εμελλον μὲν γάρ, εἰ καὶ μὴ σκῆψις αὐτοῖς ἐγένετο, μαχέσασθαι. τέως δ' ουν καί τινες αὐτοῖς αἰτίαι λαβὰς τῆς μάχης δεδώκασι. Μηνᾶς γὰρ ἐξελεύθερος ων τοῦ Σέξτου καὶ ἐν τῇ Σαρδοῖ τῇ νήσῳ τυγχάνων ὑπωπτεύθη δι' αλλα τε καὶ οτι τῷ Καίσαρι ἐκεκοινολόγητο, καὶ μεταπεμφθεὶς ὑπὸ Σέξτου ὡς λόγους δώσων περὶ ων διῳκήκει, τοὺς μὲν πεμφθέντας ἀπέκτεινε, τὴν δὲ νῆσον τῷ Καίσαρι καὶ τὸ ναυτικὸν καὶ τὸ λοιπὸν στράτευμα καὶ ἑαυτὸν παραδέδωκεν. ὁ δὲ αὐτὸν μεγάλως τετίμηκε· δακτυλίοις τε γὰρ χρυσοῖς ἐκόσμησε καὶ τοῖς ἱππεῦσι συγκατηρίθμησε. τὸ δὲ τῶν δακτυλίων τοιοῦτόν ἐστιν. οὐδενὶ τῶν πάλαι ̔Ρωμαίων, οὐχ οτι τῶν ἀπελευθέρων, ἀλλ' οὐδὲ τῶν ἐλευθέρων, πλὴν τῶν βουλευτῶν καὶ ἱππέων, δακτυλίοις χρυσοῖς κεχρῆσθαι ἐξῆν, εἰ μὴ ὁ τὸ κράτος εχων τοῦτο ἐπέτρεψε. τοῦτον ουν τοῦ Σέξτου ἐκδοθῆναί οἱ αἰτήσαντος ὁ Καῖσαρ οὐκ ἐξέδωκεν, ἀντεγκαλῶν τῷ Σέξτῳ τὸ τοὺς αὐτομόλους τε ὑποδέχεσθαι τριήρεις τε ναυπηγεῖν παρὰ τὰ συγκείμενα καὶ ετερ' αττα. ὁ δὲ δὴ Σέξτος διά τε 2.408 τὸν Μηνᾶν καὶ δι' αλλα τὸν Καίσαρα αἰτιώμενος, πέμψας πολλὰ τῆς Καμπανίας ἐπόρθησε. καὶ ὁ Καῖσαρ τοῦτο μαθὼν τόν τε Λέπιδον καὶ τὸν ̓Αντώνιον μετεπέμψατο. καὶ ὁ μὲν Λέπιδος οὐκ εὐθὺς ὑπήκουσεν, ̓Αντώνιος