De Vita XII Caesarum:
Divus Julius

from The Lives of the First Twelve Caesars, translated from the Latin of C. Suetonius Tranquillus: with Annotations, and a Review of the Government and Literature of the Different Periods

Caius Suetonius Tranquillus

Translated by Alexander Thomson, M.D. (London: G. G. and J. Robinson, 1796)

Liber 1. 31-32.

Book 1, 31-32.

31

31
{16} Cum ergo sublatam tribunorum intercessionem ipsosque urbe cessisse nuntiatum esset, pramissis confestim clam cohortibus, ne qua suspicio moueretur, et spectaculo publico per dissimulationem interfuit et formam, qua ludum gladiatorium erat aedificaturus, considerauit et ex consuetudine conuiuio se frequenti dedit. dein post solis occasum mulis e proximo pistrino ad uehiculum iunctis occultissimum iter modico comitatu ingressus est; et cum luminibus extinctis decessisset uia, diu errabundus tandem ad lucem duce reperto per angustissimos tramites pedibus euasit. consecutusque cohortis ad Rubiconem flumen, qui prouinciae eius finis erat, paulum constitit, ac reputans quantum moliretur, conuersus ad proximos: etiam nunc, inquit, regredi possumus; quod si ponticulum transierimus, omnia armis agenda erunt. {26} When advice therefore was brought, that the interposition of the Tribunes in his favor had been utterly rejected, and that they themselves had fled from the city, he forthwith privately dispatched before him some battalions, and to prevent any suspicion of his design, he attended at a public shew, examined the model of a fencing school which he proposed to build, and, as usual, sat {27} down to table with a numerous party of his friends. But after sun-set, having put to his chaise mules from a neighbouring bake-house, he set out on his journey with all possible privacy, and a small retinue. But his lights going out, he lost his way, and wandered about a long time, until by the help of a guide, whom he found towards day-break, he proceeded on foot through some narrow paths, and again reached the road. Coming up with his troops on the banks of the Rubicon, which was the boundary of his province, he made a stop; when revolving in his mind for some time the greatness of his attempts, he turned to those about him: "We may still retreat," said he, "but if we pass this little bridge, we must make our way by force of arms."

32

32
cunctanti ostentum tale factum est. quidam eximia magnitudine et forma in proximo sedens repente apparuit harundine canens; ad quem audiendum cum praeter pastores plurimi etiam ex stationibus milites concurrissent interque eos et aeneatores, rapta ab uno tuba prosiluit ad flumen et ingenti spiritu classicum exorsus pertendit ad alteram ripam. tunc Caesar: eatur, inquit, quo deorum ostenta et inimicorum iniquitas uocat. iacta alea est, inquit. While he was thinking on what he should resolve, there happened the following incident. On a sudden, a person of a graceful size and figure appeared hard by, sitting and playing upon a pipe. Whilst a great many not only shepherds but soldiers too upon duty, and amongst them some trumpeters, flocked to hear him, he snatched a trumpet from one of them, ran to the river with it, and sounding an alarm with a prodigious blast, advanced to the other side. Upon this, Caesar cried out, "Let us march whither divine prodigies, and the perverseness of our enemies call us. The die is now cast."