2 Frederick Warren Sanford 



Italy {c. 50), in the course of which he received news of An- 

 tonius's election as augur (§3). Hirtius represents this journey 

 as undertaken for the purpose of inducing the voters of Cisalpine 

 Gaul to attend the augural election and to support Antonius. 

 Caesar's evident interest in Antonius's candidacy renders it all but 

 certain that he was informed of the result of the election as soon 

 as practicable. The close time relation between the election and 

 Caesar's journey is obvious. The attempt will first be made to 

 discover the date at which Antonius defeated L. Domitius for the 

 place in the college of augurs left vacant through the death of 

 Hortensius^ and, in inevitable connection therewith, the date of 

 Fain. VIII, 14. 



It will be profitable at the outset to summarize the argument 

 for what may be fairly termed the current view, which fixes the 

 election and the letter in the latter part of September. The fullest 

 elaboration of this view is due to H. Nissen- and W. Sternkopf.^ 

 Their argument is substantially as follows : 



In the opening sentence of B.G., VIII, 50, Hirtius writes : Ipse 

 hibernis peractis contra consuetudinem in Italiani quant maxiniis 

 itineribus est profcctiis, ut niunicipia ct colonias appeUaret, quibus 

 M. Antonii, quaestoris sui, conunendaverat sacerdotii petifionein. 

 The phrase hibernis peractis, by which Hirtius indicates the season 

 in which Caesar came to Italy, means, so Nissen asserts,* "after 

 inspection of the winter quarters "■ — in which Caesar's legions 

 spent the entire summer of 50 — not, as Drumann^ and Lange® 

 understood it, " at the end of winter." 



In Fain. VIII, 14, 4, Caelius suggests that civil war may be 

 averted by sending Caesar or Pompeius to fight the Parthians : 

 Si alter uter eoruni ad Parthicuni belJnni non eat, video magnas 

 impendere discordias,quas ferrum et vis iudicabit. Lange thought 



^ Bardt, Die Priester der vier grossen CoHegien aus roinisch-repub- 

 likanischer Zeit, p. 25. Berlin, 1871. 



" " Der Ausbruch des Biirgerkriegs 49 v. Chr.," II, Historische Zeitschrift, 

 46 (1881), pp. 48-105. This second part alone is referred to in this paper. 



^ Quaestiones Chronologicae. Diss., Marburg, 1884. 



* Ausbr., p. 67, 4; Quaest., p. 28. 



' Gesch. Roms, III, pp. 103, 391. 



"'i?om. ^/^., III-, p. 398. 



294 



