361

using barbarian dress? Thus, then, things turned out for both Caesar and Antony; and they prepared for war, each having enlisted many allies. And many things were rumored among men, and many portents also occurred. For an ape, entering the temple of Demeter during some sacred rite, threw everything inside into confusion, and in Rome many boys, gathering together without anyone's command, joined battle with one another, some fighting as Caesar's men, and others as Antony's, and those bearing Antony's name were defeated; and a stone statue of him sent forth blood, and fire destroyed both the temple of Demeter and another temple of Hope,2.424 and other such things happened. But none of these things frightened them, but Antony set out with the intention of making war on them unexpectedly in Italy, but coming to Corcyra and from there sailing up to the Peloponnese, he himself wintered in Patrae, and sent his soldiers in all directions; Caesar, however, set sail from Brundisium, but encountering a storm and being hard-pressed, he withdrew. When spring began, Antony did not move at all; for his trireme crews, being a mixed group from many nations and wintering far from him, were neither being trained and were being diminished by disease and desertions, and Agrippa, having seized Methone by assault and watching the sailings of the merchant ships and making landings at different times in different parts of Greece, greatly troubled him; Caesar, however, gathered all the soldiers, and all the influential men among the senators and knights, at Brundisium, some so that they might assist him in some way, and others so that, being left alone, they might not start a revolution, and in order to show that he possessed the good-will of the largest and most powerful part of the Romans. And with them he crossed the Ionian, and having taken Corcyra, which had been abandoned by its garrison, he put in at the harbor called Glycys, and it is so called because it is sweetened by the river that flows into it, and from there he sailed to Actium. But when no one either sailed against him or came to terms with him, either for battle or for a conference,2.425 when he challenged his opponents, he occupied this place where Nicopolis now is, and from there he lay in wait for Actium by both land and sea. Antony's men had pre-occupied Actium and fortified it with towers on both sides. When Antony learned of Caesar's arrival, he hurried with those around him to Actium; yet he did not fight immediately, although Caesar was trying in every way to bring him into a contest, but engaged in skirmishes for several days, until he gathered his troops. And Caesar sent an army into Greece and Macedonia, in order to divert Antony toward those regions, even against his will. And Agrippa, sailing suddenly against Leucas and the ships there, gained control of them, and he took Patrae and won over Corinth. And Marcus Titius and Statilius Taurus, making a sally with all their force, checked Antony's cavalry and won over Philadelphus, the king of Paphlagonia; and Gnaeus Domitius and others went over to Caesar. Antony therefore, fearing that those who had been sent by him to Macedonia and Thrace would join Caesar, set out against them. And meanwhile a certain naval battle took place, and in the first attack Antony's men routed Caesar's, who were few in number, but when Agrippa, to whom Caesar's entire fleet had been entrusted, happened to arrive on the scene, not only did Antony's men gain nothing from their victory, but they were even destroyed. And for this reason Antony, upon his return, was defeated in a cavalry skirmish against Caesar's advance guard. And since 2.426 provisions also began to fail him, he held a council as to whether they should remain where they were and risk a decisive battle or move elsewhere and prolong the war. And some advised one thing and others another, but Cleopatra's advice prevailed: that the most strategic places should be handed over to garrisons and that the rest should sail away with them to Egypt. For this

361

κεχρημένους ἐσθῆτι βαρβαρικῇ; Ουτω μὲν ουν τῷ τε Καίσαρι καὶ τῷ ̓Αντωνίῳ συνηνέχθη τὰ πράγματα· οἱ δὲ παρεσκευάζοντο πρὸς τὸν πόλεμον, εκαστος πολλοὺς συμμάχους προσειληφώς. καὶ πολλὰ παρὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων ἐθρυλεῖτο, πολλὰ δὲ καὶ σημεῖα γεγόνασι. πίθηκός τε γὰρ ἐς τὸ ∆ημήτριον ἐν ἱερουργίᾳ τινὶ εἰσελθὼν πάντα τὰ ενδον συνέχεε, καὶ παῖδες ἐν τῇ ̔Ρώμῃ πολλοὶ ἀθροισθέντες κελεύσαντος μηδενὸς συνέμιξαν ἀλλήλοις, οἱ μὲν ὡς Καισάρειοι, οἱ δὲ ὡς τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου μαχόμενοι, καὶ ἡττήθησαν οἱ τὸ τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου ονομα φέροντες· εἰκών τε αὐτοῦ λιθίνη αιμα ἀνῆκε, καὶ πῦρ τό τε ∆ημήτριον καὶ ναὸν ετερον ̓Ελπίδος διέ2.424 φθειρε, καὶ αλλα τοιαῦτα συμβέβηκεν. οὐδὲν δὲ τούτων αὐτοὺς ἐφόβησεν, ἀλλ' ὁ μὲν ̓Αντώνιος ωρμησεν ὡς ἐν τῇ ̓Ιταλίᾳ ἀδοκήτως αὐτοῖς τὸν πόλεμον ποιησόμενος, ἐλθὼν δὲ εἰς Κέρκυραν κἀκεῖθεν εἰς τὴν Πελοπόννησον ἀναπλεύσας αὐτὸς μὲν ἐν Πάτραις παρεχείμασε, τοὺς δὲ στρατιώτας πανταχόσε διέπεμψεν· ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ ἀνήχθη μὲν ἐκ τοῦ Βρεντεσίου, χειμῶνι δὲ περιπεσὼν καὶ πονηθεὶς ἀνεχώρησεν. ̓Ηργμένου δὲ εαρος ὁ μὲν ̓Αντώνιος οὐδαμῇ ἐκινήθη· σύμμικτοι γὰρ ἐκ πολλῶν ἐθνῶν οντες οἱ τριηρῖται αὐτοῦ καὶ πόρρω χειμάζοντες ἀπ' αὐτοῦ ουτ' ἐγυμνάζοντο καὶ νόσῳ καὶ αὐτομολίαις ἠλάττωντο, καὶ ὁ ̓Αγρίππας τὴν Μεθώνην ἐξ ἐφόδου κατασχὼν καὶ τὰς κατάρσεις τῶν ὁλκάδων ἐπιτηρῶν καὶ ἀποβάσεις αλλοτε αλλῃ τῆς ̔Ελλάδος ποιούμενος ἰσχυρῶς αὐτὸν ἐθορύβει· ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ πάντας μὲν τοὺς στρατιώτας, πάντας δὲ τοὺς δυναμένους τι τῶν βουλευτῶν καὶ ἱππέων εἰς τὸ Βρεντέσιον συνήγαγε, τοὺς μὲν οπως αὐτῷ τι συμπράξωσι, τοὺς δ' οπως μὴ μονωθέντες τι νεοχμώσωσι, καὶ ιν' ἐνδείξηται οτι τὸ πλεῖστον καὶ κρατιστεῦον τῶν ̔Ρωμαίων ὁμόγνωμον κέκτηται. καὶ σὺν αὐτοῖς τὸν ̓Ιόνιον διαβέβηκε, καὶ τὴν Κέρκυραν ἐκλειφθεῖσαν ὑπὸ τῶν φρουρούντων λαβὼν εἰς τὸν λιμένα τὸν Γλυκὺν κατῆρε, καλεῖται δὲ ουτως οτι ἐκ τοῦ ποταμοῦ τοῦ εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμβάλλοντος γλυκαίνεται, κἀκεῖθεν εἰς τὸ Ακτιον επλει. ὡς δ' οὐδεὶς ουτε ἀντέπλει ουτε ἐς λόγους ῃει αὐτῷ η πρὸς μάχην η πρὸς ὁμολογίαν 2.425 ἐκκαλουμένῳ τοὺς ἐναντίους, κατέλαβε τὸ χωρίον τοῦτο ἐν ῳ νῦν ἐστιν ἡ Νικόπολις, κἀκ τούτου ἐφήδρευε τῷ ̓Ακτίῳ κατὰ γῆν τε καὶ θάλασσαν. τὸ δὲ Ακτιον οἱ τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου προκατελάβοντο καὶ πύργοις ὠχύρωσαν ἑκατέρωθεν. ̓Επεὶ δὲ τὴν τοῦ Καίσαρος αφιξιν ἐπύθετο ὁ ̓Αντώνιος, ἠπείχθη μετὰ τῶν περὶ αὐτὸν εἰς τὸ Ακτιον· οὐκ εὐθὺς μέντοι καὶ ἠγωνίσατο, καίτοι τοῦ Καίσαρος παντὶ τρόπῳ εἰς ἀγῶνα τοῦτον ἐνάγοντος, ἀκροβολισμοῖς δ' ἐπὶ πλείους ἡμέρας ἐχρήσατο, μέχρι συνήθροισε τὰ στρατεύματα. ὁ δὲ Καῖσαρ εἰς τὴν ̔Ελλάδα τήν τε Μακεδονίαν επεμψε στρατιάν, οπως πρὸς ἐκεῖνα μετενέγκῃ καὶ ακοντα τὸν ̓Αντώνιον. καὶ ὁ ̓Αγρίππας τῆς τε Λευκάδος καὶ τῶν ἐν ταύτῃ σκαφῶν αἰφνιδίως ἐπιπλεύσας ἐκράτησε, καὶ Πάτρας ειλε καὶ τὴν Κόρινθον παρεστήσατο. καὶ ὁ Τίτιος ὁ Μάρκος Ταῦρός τε ὁ Στατίλιος τὸ ἱππικὸν τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου ἀθρόον ἐκδραμόντες συνέσχον καὶ Φιλάδελφον βασιλέα Παφλαγονίας προσεποιήσαντο· καὶ ὁ ∆ομίτιος ὁ Γναῖος καὶ αλλοι τῷ Καίσαρι προσεχώρησαν. φοβηθεὶς ουν ὁ ̓Αντώνιος μὴ οσοι ἐς τὴν Μακεδονίαν καὶ τὴν Θρᾴκην ἐπέμφθησαν παρ' αὐτοῦ τῷ Καίσαρι πρόσθωνται, ωρμησε πρὸς αὐτούς. Κἀν τούτῳ ναυμαχία τις συνέστη, καὶ παρὰ μὲν τῇ πρώτῃ προσβολῇ ἐτρέψαντο οἱ τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου τοὺς τοῦ Καίσαρος ὀλίγους οντας, τοῦ δὲ ̓Αγρίππου, ῳ πᾶν ἀνεῖτο τὸ τοῦ Καίσαρος ναυτικόν, κατὰ τύχην ἐπιδημήσαντος, οὐ μόνον οὐδὲν τῆς νίκης οἱ τοῦ ̓Αντωνίου ἀπώναντο, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἀπώλοντο. καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἐπανελθὼν ὁ ̓Αντώνιος ἱππομαχίᾳ τινὶ πρὸς τὴν τοῦ Καίσαρος προφυλακὴν ἡττήθη. καὶ ἐπειδὴ καὶ 2.426 τὰ ἐπιτήδεια αὐτὸν ηρξαντο ἐπιλείπειν, βουλὴν ἐποιήσατο πότερον κατὰ χώραν μείναντες διακινδυνεύσουσιν η μεταστάντες χρόνῳ τὸν πόλεμον διενέγκωσι. καὶ αλλοι μὲν αλλα συνεβούλευσαν, ἡ δέ γε Κλεοπάτρα τὰ ἐπικαιρότατα τῶν χωρίων φρουραῖς παραδοθῆναι καὶ τοὺς λοιποὺς συναπᾶραι αὐτοῖς εἰς τὴν Αιγυπτον συμβουλεύσασα ἐνίκησε. εἰς δὲ ταύτην