196 PLINY'S NATURAL HISTORY. [Book VII. 



share of influence, he himself being entirely borne down by 

 the power of Antony ; his illness 7 at the battle of Philippi ; 

 his flight, and his having to remain three days concealed in a 

 marsh, 8 though suffering from sickness, and, according to the 

 account of Agrippa and Mecienas, labouring under a dropsy ; 

 his shipwreck 9 on the coast of Sicily, where he was again 

 under the necessity of concealing himself in a cave ; his des- 

 peration, which caused him even to beg Proculeius 10 to put 

 him to death, when he was hard-pressed by the enemy in a 

 naval engagement ; n his alarm about the rising at Perusia ; 12 

 his anxiety at the battle of Actium ; 13 the extreme danger he 

 was in from the falling of a tower during the Pannonian war ; 14 

 seditions so numerous among his soldiers ; so many attacks by 

 dangerous diseases; 15 the suspicions which he entertained 



7 Augustus was detained at Dyrrhachium for some time before the battle 

 of Philippi by illness, and had not recovered when the battle took place. 



8 In the first engagement at Philippi, Brutus defeated the army of Au- 

 gustus, while Cassius was defeated by Antony, Appian speaks also of his 

 concealment in a marsh to the south of Philippi. 



9 In his war against Sextus Pornpeius, his fleet was twice shattered by 

 shipwreck off the coast of Sicily, and he suffered several defeats by sea. 



10 C. Proculeius, a member of the equestrian order, and a familiar friend 

 of Augustus. It is of him that Horace speaks in the lines (II. Ode 2), 



" Vivet extento Proculeius sevo 



Notus in fratres animi paterni." 



He was one of the Romans to whom Augustus thought of giving his 

 daughter Julia in marriage. The mode of his death is mentioned in B. 

 xxxvi. c. 59. 



11 This circumstance is stated more fully by Suetonius in his Life of 

 Augustus ; he tells, that " in crossing from Sicily to Italy to rejoin his forces, 

 Augustus was unexpectedly attacked by Demochares and Apollophanes, 

 two of Pompey's captains, and only escaped in a small vessel with the 

 greatest difficulty." 



12 L. Antonius having raised an army at Prameste, took possession of 

 the town of Perusia, which was blockaded by Augustus, and Antonius was 

 at last obliged to surrender. During this siege Augustus encountered 

 several dangers, and was once nearly killed while sacrificing beneath the 

 walls, by a band of gladiators, who came upon him unawares. 



13 The victory was long doubtful, and it was only the sudden panic of 

 Cleopatra, that finally ensured it to Augustus. 



14 The exact nature of the accident here alluded to, is discussed by Har- 

 douin, Lemaire, vol. iii. p. 169 ; he concludes, from the account of Sue- 

 tonius and of Dion Cassius, that it was owing to the fall of a gallery, which 

 extended between two towers. B. 



15 These are fully described by Suetonius, in liis Life of Augustus, c. 80 

 and 81. 



