Caesar: A Sketch

Caesar: A Sketch

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Title: Caesar: A Sketch
Author: James Anthony Froude
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[Illustration: Julius Caesar]
CAESAR
A SKETCH

BY
JAMES ANTHONY FROUDE, M.A.
FORMERLY FELLOW OF EXETER COLLEGE, OXFORD

_"Pardon, gentles all The flat unraised spirit that hath dared On this
unworthy scaffold to bring forth So great an object."_
--SHAKESPEARE, Henry V.

PREFACE.
I have called this work a "sketch" because the materials do not exist for
a portrait which shall be at once authentic and complete. The original
authorities which are now extant for the life of Caesar are his own
writings, the speeches and letters of Cicero, the eighth book of the
"Commentaries" on the wars in Gaul and the history of the Alexandrian
war, by Aulus Hirtius, the accounts of the African war and of the war in
Spain, composed by persons who were unquestionably present in those
two campaigns. To these must be added the "Leges Juliae" which are
preserved in the Corpus Juris Civilis. Sallust contributes a speech, and
Catullus a poem. A few hints can be gathered from the Epitome of Livy
and the fragments of Varro; and here the contemporary sources which
can be entirely depended upon are brought to an end.
The secondary group of authorities from which the popular histories of

the time have been chiefly taken are Appian, Plutarch, Suetonius, and
Dion Cassius. Of these the first three were divided from the period
which they describe by nearly a century and a half, Dion Cassius by
more than two centuries. They had means of knowledge which no
longer exist--the writings, for instance, of Asinius Pollio, who was one
of Caesar's officers. But Asinius Pollio's accounts of Caesar's actions,
as reported by Appian, cannot always be reconciled with the
Commentaries; and all these four writers relate incidents as facts which
are sometimes demonstrably false. Suetonius is apparently the most
trustworthy. His narrative, like those of his contemporaries, was
colored by tradition. His biographies of the earlier Caesars betray the
same spirit of animosity against them which taints the credibility of
Tacitus, and prevailed for so many years in aristocratic Roman society.
But Suetonius shows nevertheless an effort at veracity, an antiquarian
curiosity and diligence, and a serious anxiety to tell his story
impartially. Suetonius, in the absence of evidence direct or presumptive
to the contrary, I have felt myself able to follow. The other three writers
I have trusted only when I have found them partially confirmed by
evidence which is better to be relied upon.
The picture which I have drawn will thus be found deficient in many
details which have passed into general acceptance, and I have been
unable to claim for it a higher title than that of an outline drawing.

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I.
Free Constitutions and Imperial Tendencies.--Instructiveness of Roman
History.--Character of Historical Epochs.--The Age of
Caesar.--Spiritual State of Rome.--Contrasts between Ancient and
Modern Civilization.

CHAPTER II.
The Roman Constitution.--Moral Character of the Romans.--Roman

Religion.-- Morality and Intellect.--Expansion of Roman Power.--The
Senate.--Roman Slavery.--Effects of Intercourse with
Greece.--Patrician Degeneracy.--The Roman Noble.--Influence of
Wealth.--Beginnings of Discontent.

CHAPTER III.
Tiberius Gracchus.--Decay of the Italian Yeomanry.--Agrarian
Law.--Success and Murder of Gracchus.--Land Commission.--Caius
Gracchus.--Transfer of Judicial Functions from the Senate to the
Equites.--Sempronian Laws.--Free Grants of Corn.--Plans for
Extension of the Franchise.--New Colonies.-- Reaction.--Murder of
Caius Gracchus

CHAPTER IV.
Victory of the Optimates.--The Moors.--History of Jugurtha.--The
Senate corrupted.--Jugurthine War.--Defeat of the Romans.--Jugurtha
comes to Rome.--Popular Agitation.--The War renewed.--Roman
Defeats in Africa and Gaul.--Caecilius Metellus and Caius
Marius.--Marriage of Marius.--The Caesars.--Marius Consul.--First
Notice of