S A R. 



201 



Cciar. diately retreating : Pompey pressed close upon his 

 ; but it was evidently the interest of the latter 

 to avoid a battle, and nut to give his enemy a chance 

 of retrieving the advantages he had lost : and had 

 Pompey hcen allowed to follow his own inclination, 

 this was tiie plan which he intended to adopt ; but his 

 troops, flushed with their late victory, were conti- 

 Dually demanding to be led against the enemy ; and 

 Cato alone, of all the officers and senators who ac- 

 companied him, seconded his plan for delay. Whilst 

 his army was in this disposition, he came up with his 

 enemy, who was encamped at Pharsalia. Cxsar did 

 every thing in his power to provoke an engagement ; 

 but despairing at last of accomplishing his purpose, 

 he was on the point of decamping, and had actually 



fiven the signal to march, when it was observed that 

 ompcy's army had advanced considerably farther 

 than usual. Cxsar exclaimed, " the time we have 

 so long wished for is come ; let us see how we are to 

 acquit ourselves ;" and immediately gave the signal 

 for battle. The result was the complete defeat of 

 Pompey's army, with the loss of 15,000 killed, and 

 24-,000 prisoners, most of whom enlisted in the army 

 of Caesar, (see PHARSAUA). Pompey fled almost 

 alone into Egypt, having some claim on the gratitude 

 of the Egyptian court. Cato, with the fleet and the 

 remains of the army, steered his course for the Ro- 

 man province of Africa, where, in consequence of the 

 assistance of Juba, king of Numidia, the affairs of 

 the republic still wore a flourishing aspect. Caesar, 

 in the mean time, instantly followed Pompey into 

 Egypt : but this formidable enemy was now no long- 

 er in a situation to'cause any disturbance, he had 

 been basely murdered ; and Caesar is said to have 

 wept, and to have turned away his face, when Pom- 

 pey's head was presented to him. 



In Egypt, he engaged in a very idle and dangerous 

 war, as is thought, chiefly at the instigation of Cleo- 

 patra, in whose society he forgot, for a considerable 

 time, the stake for which he was contending, and 

 the armies which were forming in Africa to dispute 

 with him that empire at which he aimed. After this 

 foolish interlude, he marched against Pharnaces, the 

 son of Mithridates, who had hoped to regain his fa- 

 ther's possessions, amidst the commotions which dis- 

 tracted the state. Caesar made great ostentation of 

 the facility with which he conquered this enemy ; 

 and to detract from the glory of Sylla and Pompey, 

 who had triumphed over this prince's father, he said, 

 " how cheap is fame, when obtained by fighting 

 against such an enemy!" The trophies gained in 

 this victory were distinguished in his triumph by la- 

 bels bearing this inscription, Veni, Vidi, Vici. Cae- 

 sar now hastened to Italy, where Antony had been 

 ruling in his absence, with the haughtiness and state 

 of a despot. He gave orders for the veteran legions 

 to embark for Africa, under the command of Sallusr 

 the historian, who had all along been devoted to his 

 party. The troops, however, refused to obey ; se- 

 veral of their officers were killed in a tumult, and 

 Sallust escaped with difficulty : they marched straight 

 to Rome, and Caesar, contrary to the advice of his 

 friends, presented himself to the mutinous soldiers. 

 They demanded immediate dismission, and the reward 

 of their past services. With his usual address, he 



VOL. V. PART I. 



confessed that their demand was highly reasonable, 

 and should be instantly complied with. He addrrt*. 

 cd them by the appellation of (iuintet, and said he 

 was sensible that they had already done too much, 

 and were unfit to contend with new dangers. We 

 do not exactly know what mystery there is in this 

 word ; but it appears not to have been familiar to 

 the ears of soldiers : for they immediately cried out, 

 that they were no Quirilf*, but soldiers, willing to 

 serve ; and from the height of mutiny and disobe- 

 dience, they proceeded, as is not unusual in such 

 cases, to the extremes of submission. After a very 

 difficult campaign in Africa, the forces of tl. 

 public were at last completely defeated ; and Cato, 

 the head and hope of the party, perceiving that all 

 was lost, killed himself in despair. " I must envy 

 this man," said Czsar, " the splendour of his death, 

 as he has refused me the honour of preserving hi* 

 life." 



He was now absolute master of the empire > 

 and except in quilling a rising in Spain under the 

 son of Pompey, was engaged in no other military 

 enterprise. The senate and people at Rome now 

 vied with each other in acts of servility, and in de- 

 creeing the most extravagant honours to the subverter 

 of their liberties. Caesar showed himself pleased with 

 these demonstrations of submission ; and, to make 

 the yoke sit as easy as possible upon them, his ad- 

 ministration was distinguished by the utmost liberali- 

 ty and magnificence. Instead of gladiators, he ex- 

 hibited engagements between considerable panics of 

 cavalry and infantry ; he showed the manner of fight- 

 ing with elephants, having forty of these animals 

 trained for the purpose. In these combats, the par- 

 ties being captives or malefactors condemned to die, 

 exhibited all the efforts which could be made in real 

 fight. He sprerd an awning of silk, a rare article 

 at that time, over the public theatres, that under 

 this delicate covering the spectators might enjoy the 

 sights of bloodshed and- horror, undisturbed by the 

 rays of the sun : and, to complete this expensive 

 magnificence, he entertained the people at a public 

 feast, at which twenty thousand couches were placed 

 for the guests. 



This affectation of regal pomp, gave great disgust 

 to the noble families at Rome ; and Cxsar had shown 

 himself to be fond not only of the state, but of the 

 title of a king, which had been odious to the Ro- 

 man people ever since the expulsion of the Tarquins. 

 One of his emissaries, to suggest the propriety of 

 bestowing this title, bound the head of one of hie 

 statues with a royal fillet. The tribunes affecting; 

 great zeal for the honour of Caesar, sent the author 

 of this act to prison. He was much displeased with 

 this officious interposition of the tribunes, and hear- 

 ing them called Bruius'*, as restorers of the public 

 liberty, he said, they were Brutes indeed, but took 

 no farther notice of the matter. 



A short time after this, some one in the assembly 

 of the people saluted him with the title of king ; 

 but instead of acclamations, there was a general 

 murmur of dislike : and he thought proper to dis- 

 counteifance this unseasonable flattery, by saying, that 

 his name was Ccesar, and not King. Nobody doubt- 

 ed, however, that he now aspired to this title j and 

 2c 



CMST. 



