Author’s Note
1 Noted British historian Sir Ronald Syme once said that if history is to be written at all, it must be written with the violent and complex reality of serious fiction. Cited by R. S. O. Tomlin in Wilkes, Documenting the Roman Army, “Documenting the Roman Army at Carlisle,” Note 1.
Introduction
1 Seneca, Letters, CIV.
2 Ibid.
3 Parenti, The Assassination of Julius Caesar, 9: “The Assassination.”
4 Seneca, Letters, CVIII.
5 Suetonius, Lives of the Caesars, I, 76.
6 Appian, The Civil Wars, II, 138.
I. January 26, 44 B.C.: Seven Weeks before the Assassination
1 Suetonius, I, 45; Cassius Dio, Roman History, XLIV, 49.2.
2 Suetonius, I, 45.
3 Ibid.
4 Dio, XLV, 30.
5 Suetonius, I, 79.
6 Suetonius, I, 76.
7 Plutarch, Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans, Caesar, XXIV.
8 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, V.
9 Dio, XLIV, 9.
10 Ibid.
11 Appian, II, 108.
12 Dio, XLIV, 10.
13 Appian, II, 122.
14 Suetonius, I, 79.
15 Velleius Paterculus, Compendium of Roman History, II, LXVIII, 4.
16 Suetonius, I, 79.
17 Appian, II, 108.
18 Plutarch, Caesar, XXIV.
19 Plutarch, Antony, V.
20 Appian II, 109.
21 Suetonius, I, 79.
II. February 15, 44 B.C.: The Lupercalia
1 Suetonius, I, 76.
2 Dio, XLIV, 5.
3 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXIV.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Dio, XLIV, 1. Appian and Velleius say that Antony actually put the crown on Caesar’s head, but other accounts contradict them, saying that Caesar avoided the crown each time Antony offered it.
7 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXIV.
8 Appian, II, 109.
9 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, V.
10 Dio, XLIV, 11.
11 Velleius Paterculus, II, LVI, 4.
12 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, V.
13 Dio, XLIV, 11.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Appian, II, 110.
17 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, XI.
III. February 22, 44 B.C.: The Caristia Reconciliation
1 Plutarch, Marcus Brutus, V.
2 Dio, XLIV, 12. This blood connection is questioned by Dio, who wrote that the original Brutus had killed his own children and therefore had no descendants.
3 Suetonius, I, 80.
4 Suetonius, I, 76.
5 Dio, XLIV, 7.
6 Suetonius, I, 52.
7 Dio, XLIII, 27.
8 Suetonius, I, 52.
9 Dio, XLIII, 52.
10 Dio writes that Cleopatra settled in Caesar’s Janiculum house in 46 B.C., but makes no reference to when she departed. Some historians believe that she had returned to Egypt by the time of Caesar’s death, but there is no proof either way.
11 Dio, XLIII, 52.
12 Ibid.
13 Suetonius, I, 78-79.
14 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXIV.
15 Ibid.
16 Dio, XLIV, 8.
17 Suetonius, I, 79.
18 Dio, XLIV, 15.
19 Appian, II, 112.
20 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, III.
21 Ibid.
22 While it is known that the pair reconciled during this period, the exact date is not recorded. The nature of the Caristia holiday makes it highly likely the reconciliation took place on that day.
23 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, IV.
24 Ibid.
25 Cicero, Letters to His Friends (Ep. Ad. Fam.), XV, 19.
26 Seneca, Letters, CIV.
27 Valerius Maximus, Memorable Deeds and Sayings, II, 10, 8.
28 Appian, II, 113.
29 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, V.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Ibid.
33 Plutarch, Lives, Cicero, XIX.
34 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, V.
35 Ibid.
36 Appian, II, 113.
IV. February 24, 44 B.C.: Pressuring Brutus
1 Appian, II, 112-113.
2 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, V.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
V. March 1, 44 B.C., The Kalends of March: Dictator for Life
1 Suetonius, I, 76.
2 Suetonius, I, 80.
3 Ibid.
4 Appian, II, 107.
5 Suetonius, I, 86.
6 Plutarch, Caesar, XXV.
7 Suetonius, I, 46.
8 Some modern authors question whether Caesar actually slept at the Regia. Suetonius, at I, 46, is quite clear that “as pontifex maximus he used the official residence on the Sacred Way. ” Seven of the eight kings of Rome had lived at the Regia. Classical sources indicate that Caesar departed from the Regia as he left for the Theater of Pompey on the Ides of March, having previously not left the “house” since rising, despite having taken the auspices at the Regia before dawn. This, and the claim that Caesar had been awoken, in part, by the rattling of the spears of Mars, which were in the Regia’s shrine to Mars, all point to Caesar making the Regia his home. Octavian, once he became emperor of Rome, built a palace, the Palatium, on the Palatine Hill, after which the Regia was used solely as a shrine and religious archive.
9 Suetonius, I, 13.
10 Suetonius, I, 74.
11 Cicero to Atticus, Cicero, Letters to Atticus, December 25-26, 50 B.C.
12 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, IV.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Julius Caesar to Cicero, reprinted by Cicero in a letter to Atticus of March 26, 49 B.C.
17 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, IV.
18 Ibid.
19 Ibid.
20 Suetonius, I, 71-72.
21 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, IV.
22 Ibid.
23 Ibid. Plutarch felt that Caesar was referring to both Brutus and Cassius, but Caesar’s later reaction to Brutus suggests he never suspected him, right up to the assassination.
24 Classical sources record that the pair met to discuss the plot during this period, but do not give the precise day. The Matronalia offered the perfect excuse for just such an extended meeting, while the outcomes of the March 1 sitting of the Senate would have made such a meeting that evening almost mandatory.
25 Dio, XLIV, 5.
26 Ibid.
VI. March 2, 44 B.C.: Recruiting Fellow Assassins
1 Pliny the Younger, Letters, XXXVI, 121.
2 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, V.
3 Ibid.
4 Suetonius, I, 78.
5 Suetonius, I, 77.
6 Suetonius, I, 9.
VII. March 7, 44 B.C.: A Visit from One of Caesar’s Generals
1 Appian, II, 111.
2 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, IV.
3 Ibid. The precise date of the meeting between Brutus and Albinus is not recorded.
4 Ibid.
5 Suetonius, I, 80.
6 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VI.
7 Julius Caesar, Commentaries: The Civil War, III, 20.
8 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VI.
9 Ibid.
VIII. March 9, 44 B.C.: Porcia’s Secret
1 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VI.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, V.
6 Ibid.
IX. March 14, 44 B.C., Afternoon: Cleopatra and the Equirria
1 Suetonius, I, 52.
2 Ibid.
3 Dio, XLIII, 27.
4 Suetonius, I, 79.
5 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, XI.
6 Ibid.
7 Suetonius put the number of legions in Egypt at that time at three, but all other classical sources, including Cassius Longinus, in his correspondence, say it was four.
8 Suetonius, I, 76.
X. March 14, 44 B.C., Evening: The Best Sort of Death
1 Cicero to Atticus, December 19, 45 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
2 Velleius, II, LVII, 1.
3 Appian, II, 109.
4 Velleius, II, LVII, 1.
5 Appian, II, 110.
6 Suetonius, I, 86.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Velleius, II, LXXX, 1.
10 Suetonius, I, 53.
11 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XX.
12 Suetonius, I, 48.
13 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XX.
14 Cicero to Atticus, December 19, 45 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
15 Ibid, Cicero to Atticus, April 7, 44 B.C.
16 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XII, 1.
17 Cicero to Atticus, April 22, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
18 Velleius, II, LIX, 4.
19 Appian, III, 9.
20 Suetonius, I, 53.
21 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXV.
XI. March 15, 44 B.C., The Ides of March: Caesar Awakens
1 Polybius, The Histories, VI, 35-37.
2 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXV.
3 Dio, XLIV, 18.
4 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXV.
5 Suetonius, I, 50.
6 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, III.
7 Suetonius, I, 50.
8 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXV.
XII. March 15, 44 B.C., The Ides of March: In the Dark before Dawn
1 Suetonius, I, 80; Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII, mentions Cassius’s Liberalia party on this day.
2 Appian II, 113.
3 Ibid.
4 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
5 Pompey’s Theater was a half-round drama theater, as distinct from the circular and oval Roman amphitheaters where gladiatorial fights and beast hunts were staged. Although Pompey’s Theater no longer stands, buildings on the site trace its shape, and some walls and cellars from the original structure remain, incorporated into later buildings.
6 Seneca, XC.
7 Seneca, CVIII.
8 Dio, XLIV, 16.
9 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
10 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXV.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Suetonius, I, 45.
14 Suetonius, I, 82.
15 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., IX, 24.
16 Suetonius, I, 81.
17 Suetonius, I, 59.
18 Dio, XLIV, 18; Suetonius, I, 81.
19 Ibid.
20 Appian, II, 116.
21 Ibid.
22 Ibid.
XIII. March 15, 44 B.C., The Ides of March: Caesar Must Suffer Caesar’s Fate
1 Dio, XLIV, 16.
2 Appian, II, 115.
3 Dio, XLIV, 17.
4 Dio, XLIV, 18.
5 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVI.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Appian, II, 116.
12 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Appian, II, 115; Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
17 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
18 Appian, II, 115; Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
19 Ibid.
20 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
21 Ibid.
22 Dio, XLIV, 18.
23 Suetonius, I, 81.
24 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
25 Appian, II, 118.
26 Suetonius, I, 44. Caesar’s theater was never built.
27 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVI.
28 Appian, II, 116.
29 Ibid.
30 Ibid.
31 Ibid.
32 Dio, XLIV, 19; Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII; Appian, II, 117.
33 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
34 Ibid.
35 Appian, II, 116.
36 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
XIV. March 15, 44 B.C., The Ides of March: The Crime
1 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
2 Ibid.
3 Appian, II, 117.
4 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VII.
5 Appian, II, 117.
6 Suetonius, I, 82.
7 Ibid.
8 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVI.
9 Suetonius, I, 82.
10 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVI.
11 Ibid.
12 Appian, II, 117.
13 Suetonius, I, 82; Dio, XLIV, 19.
14 Appian, II, 117.
15 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VIII.
16 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVI.
17 Dio, XLIV, 20.
18 Appian, II, 118.
19 Ibid.
20 Appian, III, 34.
21 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, V.
22 Appian, II, 118.
23 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVI; Appian, II, 119.
24 Appian, II, 119.
25 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VIII.
26 Ibid.
27 Ibid.
28 Appian, II, 116.
29 Dio, XLIV, 52.
30 Suetonius, I, 82; Appian, II, 118.
XV. March 15, 44 B.C.: The Gathering Storm
1 Appian, II, 118.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVII.
7 Dio, XLIV, 22.
8 Suetonius, I, 82.
9 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVII.
10 Appian, II, 118.
11 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VIII.
12 Appian, II, 120.
13 Ibid.
14 Appian, II, 119.
15 Appian, II, 133.
16 Appian, II, 119. The timing of this meeting is disputed by some modern authors who believe it took place the following day. Yet Plutarch, Appian, and Dio all say that Brutus and his associates addressed a public meeting on the day of Caesar’s murder. The logical course of events would have been for them to address the Roman people as soon after the murder as possible. Brutus had, after all, originally planned to address the Senate immediately after the murder. There was no reason for them to wait until the next day, and every reason to act swiftly.
17 Cicero to Atticus, May 18, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
18 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VIII.
19 Ibid.
20 Appian, II, 122.
21 Appian, II, 121.
22 Ibid.
23 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, VIII.
24 Dio, XLIV, 52. Dio wrote that the thunderstorm followed Caesar ’s murder on the Ides of March, without indicating a time. Other classical authors make no mention of the storm. If it did indeed take place, it must have been during the late afternoon lull in action.
25 Ibid.
26 Dio, XLIV, 21.
XVI. March 16, 44 B.C.: Pleading for the Republic
1 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, V.
2 Appian, II, 123.
3 Appian, II, 124.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Appian, II, 125.
XVII. March 17, 44 B.C.: The Jostle for Control
1 Appian, II, 126.
2 Appian, II, 127.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Appian, II, 128.
6 Ibid.
7 Appian, II, 122.
8 Velleius, II, LVIII, 3.
9 Appian, II, 129.
10 Appian, II, 130.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
13 Appian, II, 131.
14 Ibid.
15 Appian, II, 131-132.
16 Appian, II, 132.
17 Ibid.
18 Appian, III, 34.
19 Appian, II, 133-134.
20 Ibid.
21 Appian, III, 34.
22 Appian, II, 136.
23 Appian, II, 141.
24 Ibid.
XVIII. March 18, 44 B.C.: The Liberators Gain the Advantage
1 Cicero to Atticus, April 22, 44 B.C, Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
2 Dio, XLIV, 32.
3 Ibid.
4 Appian, II, 142.
5 Cicero to Atticus, December 25-26, 50 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
6 Dio, XLIV, 34.
7 Dio, XLIV, 51.
XIX. March 19, 44 B.C.: Caesar’s Will
1 Suetonius, I, 83.
2 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, IX.
3 Ibid.
4 Appian, II, 143.
5 Ibid.
6 Suetonius, I, 83.
7 Appian, II, 143.
8 Ibid.
9 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, IX.
XX. March 20, 44 B.C.: Caesar’s Funeral
1 Suetonius, I, 84.
2 Appian, II, 143.
3 Suetonius, I, 84.
4 Appian, II, 144.
5 Appian, II, 145.
6 Appian, II, 146.
7 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, VI.
8 Appian claimed that a wax effigy of Caesar also was raised, showing all twenty-three stab wounds, but no other classical author confirms this.
9 Suetonius, I, 84.
10 Plutarch, Lives, Caesar, XXVII.
11 Suetonius, I, 85.
12 Trebonius arrived in Athens on May 22 on his way to Asia: Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XI, 15.
13 Dio, XLIV, 52.
XXI. March 21, 44 B.C.: Antony Consolidates His Grip
1 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, VI; Appian, III, 17. The exact date of Antony’s meeting with Calpurnia and demand for Caesar ’s valuables is not recorded. Appian said it took place “immediately after the murder.” Antony would have wasted no time in taking control of Caesar’s estate, and the day following the funeral, with the Liberators on the run, would seem the appropriate time.
2 Velleius, II, LX, 4.
3 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XI, 1. Several dates have been attributed to this letter, including March 17, prior to Caesar’s funeral. But one of Cicero’s translators, Professor Shackleton Bailey, has placed it on March 22, after the funeral and after the change in public mood sponsored by Antony’s funeral oration. The letter’s content makes a March 22 dating the more likely.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
XXII. March 24, 44 B.C.: Enter Octavius
1 Appian, III, 9.
2 Velleius, II, LIX, 5.
3 Appian, III, 9.
4 Ibid.
5 The precise date of Octavius ’s departure from Apollonia for Italy is not recorded.
XXIII. March 27, 44 B.C.: The Name of Caesar
1 Appian, III, 10. The precise date when Octavius landed back in Italy is not recorded, but it would have been March 27 or thereabouts.
2 Appian, III, 11.
3 Ibid.
4 Velleius II, LX, 2.
5 Appian, III, 11.
6 Appian, III, 12.
7 Ibid.
XXIV. April 7, 44 B.C.: Wise Oppius
1 Cicero to Atticus, April 7, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
XXV. April 10, 44 B.C.: Caesar’s Heir
1 Josephus, The Jewish Antiquities, 14, 10, 9-10.
2 It is recorded that Octavian met with Mark Antony the day after Octavian’s arrival at Rome; Antony left the city by the middle of April, meaning he would not have been in the city on April 20.
3 Velleius, II, LIX, 6.
4 Velleius, II, LX, 1.
5 Appian, III, 14.
6 Ibid.
XXVI. April 11, 44 B.C.: Octavian Meets with Antony
1 Velleius, II, LX, 3; Appian, III, 14.
2 Velleius, II, LX, 4; Appian, III, 5 and 12; Dio, XLIV, 53.
3 Dio, XLIV, 53. There is no record of the marriage going ahead.
4 Ibid.
5 Dio, XLIV, 5.
6 Appian, III, 20.
7 Appian, III, 21.
XXVII. April 14, 44 B.C.: The Aedile’s Refusal
1 Appian, III, 28.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
XXVIII. April 22, 44 B.C.: Octavian Seeks Cicero’s Support
1 Keppie, Colonisation and Veteran Settlement in Italy, 3, I.
2 Ibid.
3 Cicero to Atticus, April 22, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
XXIX. May 11, 44 B.C.: I Don’t Trust Him a Yard
1 Cicero to Atticus, c. May 11, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
XXX. May 18, 44 B.C.: Undermining Antony
1 Cicero to Atticus, May 18, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
XXXI. May 31, 44 B.C.: Reforming the Praetorian Cohorts
1 Appian, III, 28.
2 Ibid.
3 Appian, III, 29.
4 Appian, III, 30. The exact date of this meeting is unrecorded, but it had to take place prior to June 2.
XXXII. June 2, 44 B.C.: Antony Outsmarts the Senate
1 Dio, XLV, 10.
XXXIII. June 7, 44 B.C.: No Plan, No Thought, No Method
1 Appian, III, 6.
2 Cicero to Atticus, June 7, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
3 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, XII.
4 Cicero to Atticus, June 7, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid., for the entire conversation.
8 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, XII.
9 Ibid.
10 Cicero to Atticus, June 7, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
11 Appian, III, 6.
12 Cicero to Atticus, June 7, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
13 Ibid.
14 Ibid.
15 Ibid.
16 Velleius, II, LXI, 1.
17 Cicero to Atticus, June 7, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
XXXIV. July 13, 44 B.C.: The Last Day of Brutus’s Games
1 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, X.
2 Appian, III, 24.
3 Appian, III, 23.
4 Appian, III, 24.
5 Ibid.
6 While some modern-day authors dispute Gaius Antonius ’s trip for lack of other evidence, Appian is quite clear that Gaius made the trip. The Macedonian legions certainly received Antony’s orders and were soon on the move.
7 Appian, III, 37.
XXXV. July 20, 44 B.C.: The Liberators’ Manifesto
1 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, X.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid. Plutarch said that this episode came from a firsthand account from Brutus’s stepson Bibulus, in a book written by Bibulus titled Brutus.
4 Ibid.
5 Suetonius, II, 10.
6 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XI, 28.
7 Velleius, II, LXII, 3.
XXXVI. July 28, 44 B.C.: Cicero’s Departure
1 Suetonius, I, 88.
2 Dio, XLV, 7.
3 Cicero to Atticus, July 25, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus. Atticus was a native of Athens.
XXXVII. August 16, 44 B.C.: Like Hector the Hero
1 Plutarch, Lives, Cicero, XVIII.
2 Ibid.
3 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XI, 3.
XXXVIII. August 30, 44 B.C.: Cicero Returns to Rome
1 Plutarch, Lives, Cicero, XVIII.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
XXXIX. September 15, 44 B.C.: The Liberators Reach Greece
1 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, XI.
2 Ibid.
XL. September 23, 44 B.C.: Octavian’s Nineteenth Birthday
1 Appian, III, 31.
2 Appian, III, 38.
3 Appian, III. 39.
4 Plutarch, in Lives, Antony, VI, says that the murder plot that came to light in late September and ended the new alliance between the pair was just “some few days after” the meeting on the Capitol. It is likely that the Praetorian tribunes deliberately arranged the meeting for Octavian’s birthday, to give the occasion special significance. The new alliance was undone by the end of September.
5 Plutarch, Lives, Antony, VI.
XLI. September 28, 44 B.C.: The Plot to Assassinate Antony
1 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XII, 23.
2 Suetonius, II, 9.
3 Appian, III, 39.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
XLII. October 9, 44 B.C.: A Dreadful State of Affairs
1 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XII, 3.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Dio, XLV, 13.
6 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XII, 3.
XLIII. October 18, 44 B.C.: Antony Joins His Legions
1 Appian, III, 43.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Dio, XLV, 13.
6 Appian, III, 43.
7 Appian, III, 45.
8 The precise dates of these October 44 B.C. assemblies held by Antony in Brundisium are not recorded.
9 Appian, III, 44.
XLIV. November 4, 44 B.C.: Octavian Recruits an Army
1 Cicero to Atticus, November 4, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
2 Keppie, Colonisation and Veteran Settlement, 3, I.
3 Cicero to Atticus, November 4, 44 B.C., Cicero, Letters to Atticus.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
XLV. November 18, 44 B.C.: The Road to War
1 Appian, III, 40.
2 Ibid.
3 Appian, III, 41.
4 The precise date of Octavian’s entry into the city is not recorded, but it is likely to have been after the Ludi Plebeian ended on November 17.
5 Appian, III, 41.
6 Appian, III, 46.
7 Appian, III, 41.
8 Appian, III, 42.
9 Ibid.
10 Ibid.
11 Ibid.
12 Ibid.
XLVI. November 27-30, 44 B.C.: Anthony’s Legions Rebel
1 Some modern-day authors refer to this unit as the 5th Alaudae Legion, in error. The Alaudae Legion and the 5th Legion were in 44-43 B.C. two separate units, both under Antony’s command. After the 43 B.C. Mutina battles, Antony combined the remnants of the two units to create the 5th Alaudae Legion.
2 Appian, III, 45.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XI, 7.
6 Keppie, Colonisation and Veteran Settlement, III, 1.
7 Appian, III, 46.
8 Ibid.
9 The two remaining units were the 2nd Legion and the 35th Legion.
XLVII. Early December 44 B.C.: The Rise of the Liberators
1 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, and Appian, III, 63. Plutarch called this man Antistius. But Appian identifies him as Marcus Apuleius, who was indeed a quaestor in 45-44 B.C.
2 Velleius, II, LXII, 2.
3 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, XI.
4 Appian, III, 63.
5 Plutarch, Lives, Marcus Brutus, XI.
6 Ibid.
7 Ibid.
8 Ibid.
9 Ibid.
XLVIII. Second Half of December 44 B.C.: Antony Makes His Move
1 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XI, 7.
2 Ibid.
3 Appian, III, 47.
4 Appian, III, 48.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
XLIX. January 1-4, 43 B.C.: Debating Antony’s Fate
1 Appian, III, 50. This account follows Appian’s chronology, which had the Senate sitting over four days. Some historians believe it only sat over three days.
2 Appian, III, 51.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
5 Cicero, Ep. Ad Brutum, XXIV, I, 15; Appian, III, 51.
6 Appian, III, 51.
7 Cicero, 6 Philippic; Appian, III, 61.
8 Ibid.
L. Late December 44 B.C.-Early January 43 B.C.: The First Assassin to Fall
1 Appian, III, 26.
2 Ibid.
3 Ibid.
4 Ibid.
LI. February 4, 43 B.C.: State of Emergency
1 Appian, III, 62.
2 Appian, III, 63.
3 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XII, 4.
4 Ibid.
5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
LII. April 14-26, 43 B.C.: The Mutina Battles
1 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., X, 30.
2 Ibid.
LIV. May 30, 43 B.C.: Lepidus’s Betrayal
1 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., X, 31.
2 Ibid., XL, 9, 13.
3 Ibid., 9.
4 Ibid., 8.
5 Velleius, II, LXIV, 1-2.
LV. August 19, 43 B.C.: Octavian Charges Caesar’s Murderers
1 Appian, III, 94.
2 Velleius, II, LXIX, 6.
LVI. Early November 43 B.C.: The Triumvirate and the Proscription
1 Appian, IV, 2.
2 Ibid., 3.
3 Plutarch, Lives, Cicero, XIX.
LVII. December 7, 43 B.C.: Killing Cicero
1 Josephus, The Jewish Antiquities, 14, 11, and 2.
2 Appian, IV, 20.
3 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., IX, 24.
4 Velleius, II, LXVI, 2.
LVIII. October 1-21, 42 B.C.: The Battles of Philippi
1 Velleius, II, LXXX, 5; Appian, IV, 131.
2 Appian, IV, 131.
3 Plutarch, Lives, Brutus and Dion Compared, I.
4 Velleius, II, LXII, 1.
5 Ibid., LXXXVII, 3.
6 Tacitus, The Annals, III, 76.
LIX. Judging the Assassins and the Victim
1 Suetonius, I, 76.
2 Suetonius, I, 30.
3 Plutarch, Antony and Demetrius Compared, I.
4 Appian, II, 111.
5 Seneca, CIV.
6 Pliny the Younger, I, 17.
7 Dio, XLIII, 42.
8 Velleius, II, LI, 1.
9 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XL, 28.
10 Ibid.
11 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., X, 31.
12 Tacitus, Annals, I, 8.
13 Ibid.
14 Cicero, Ep. Ad. Fam., XII, 1.