Livy: Periochae 126-133

Caesar cum esset annorum XXIII, obsessum in oppido Perusia L. Antonium conatumque aliquotiens erumpere et repulsum fame coegit in deditionem venire ipsique et omnibus militibus eius ignovit, Perusiam diruit, redactisque in potestatem suam omnibus diversae partis exercitibus bellum citra ullum sanguinem confecit.

[41] [Octavian] Caesar was only twenty-three when he laid siege to Lucius Antonius in the town of Perugia and prevented several break-outs, and when hunger forced him into surrender, [40] Caesar pardoned him and all his soldiers, but sacked Perugia. Without bloodshed, he brought the armies of both sides in this war under his command.

Parthi Labieno, qui Pompeianarum partium fuerat, duce in Syriam inruperunt victoque Decidio Saxa, M. Antoni legato, totam eam provinciam occupaverunt.

M. Antonius cum ad bellum adversus Caesarem gerendum [lacuna] uxore Fulvia [lacuna] ne concordiae ducum obstaret, pace facta cum Caesare, sororem eius Octaviam in matrimonium duxit. Q. Salvidenum consilia nefaria adversus Caesarem molitum indicio suo protraxit; isque damnatus mortem conscivit.

P. Ventidius, Antoni legatus, Parthos proelio victos Syria expulit Labieno, eorum duce, occiso.

Cum vicinus Italiae hostis, Sex. Pompeius, Siciliam teneret et commercium annonae impediret, expostulatam cum eo pacem Caesar et Antonius fecerunt ita ut Siciliam provinciam haberet.

Praeterea motus Africae et bella ibi gesta continet.

The Parthians, commanded by Labienus, who belonged to the faction of the Pompeians, invaded Syria and, having defeated Decidius Saxa, a deputy of Marc Antony, occupied the entire province.

When Marc Antony, in order to make war against [Octavian] Caesar [lacuna] his wife Fulvia [lacuna], so that there was no obstacle to an agreement between the leaders, made peace with [Octavian] Caesar and married his sister Octavia. He exposed by his own evidence how Quintus Salvidenus was making criminal plans against [Octavian] Caesar; he was condemned and committed suicide.

Publius Ventidius, a deputy of Antony, defeated the Parthians in battle and drove them out of Syria, after their commander Labienus had been killed.

[39] Because an enemy close to Italy, Sextus Pompeius, occupied Sicily and threatened the grain trade, [Octavian] Caesar and Antony concluded, at his demand, a peace treaty with him, so that he could rule Sicily as a province.

It [book 127] also contains an account of the troubles in Africa and the wars that were fought over there.

Cum Sex. Pompeius rursus latrociniis mare infestum redderet nec pacem quam acceperat praestaret, Caesar necessario adversus eum bello suscepto duobus navalibus proeliis cum dubio eventu pugnavit.

P. Ventidius, legatus M. Antoni, Parthos in Syria proelio vicit regemque eorum occidit.

Iudaei quoque a legatis Antoni subacti sunt.

Praeterea belli Siculi apparatum continet.

[38] When Sextus Pompeius through piracy made the sea dangerous again and did not maintain the peace he had agreed upon, [Octavian] Caesar accepted the necessary war against him, and fought two naval battles, with a dubious outcome.

Publius Ventidius, a deputy of Marc Antony, defeated the Parthians in Syria and killed their leader.

[37] The Jews were also defeated by a deputy of Marc Antony.

It [book 128] also contains an account of the preparations of the Sicilian war.

Adversus Sex. Pompeium vario eventu navalibus proeliis pugnatum est ita ut ex duabus Caesaris classibus altera, cui Agrippa praeerat, vinceret, altera, quam Caesar duxerat, deleta expositi in terram milites in magno periculo essent. Victus deinde Pompeius in Siciliam profugit.

M. Lepidus, qui ex Africa velut ad societatem belli contra Sex. Pompeium a Caesare gerendi traiecerat, cum bellum Caesari quoque inferret, relictus ab exercitu, abrogato triumviratus honore vitam impetravit.

M. Agrippa navali corona a Caesare donatus est, qui honos nulli ante eum habitus erat.

[36] Naval battles with varying outcomes were fought against Sextus Pompeius, in the following way: of the two navies of [Octavian] Caesar, the one, whose admiral was Agrippa, was victorious, but the other, commanded by Caesar, was destroyed and the soldiers that had been set ashore were exposed to grave danger. The defeated Pompeius fled to [the interior of] Sicily.

When Marcus Lepidus, who had arrived from Africa as if to support [Octavian] Caesar in his struggle against Sextus Pompeius, launched a war against Caesar, he was abandoned by his army, deprived of his triumviral powers, but successfully begged for his life.

Marcus Agrippa received a naval crown from [Octavian] Caesar, an honor that no one had received before.

M. Antonius dum cum Cleopatra luxuriatur, tarde Mediam ingressus bellum cum legionibus XVIII et XVI milia equitum Parthis intulit, et cum, duabus legionis amissis, nulla re prospere cedente retro rediret, insecutis subinde Parthis et ingenti trepidatione et magno totius exercitus periculo in Armeniam reversus est, XXI diebus CCC milia fuga emensus. Circa VIII milia hominum tempestatibus amisit. (Tempestates quoque infestas super tam infeliciter susceptum Parthicum bellum culpa sua passus est, quia hiemare in Armenia nolebat, dum ad Cleopatram festinat.)

Living a life of pleasure with Cleopatra, Marc Antony invaded Media rather late, and brought war to Parthia with eighteen legions and 16,000 horsemen; having lost two legions and failing to achieve success in any enterprise, he retreated, pursued by Parthians, and after immense confusion and great danger, reached Armenia, having covered in his flight 300 miles [450 kilometers] in 21 days. Because of tempests, he lost about 8,000 men. (Like the Parthian war that he had undertaken so unluckily, it was his own mistake that he encountered these tempests, because he refused to winter in Armenia but instead hurried to Cleopatra.)

Sex. Pompeius cum in fidem M. Antoni veniret, bellum adversus eum in Asia moliens oppressus a legatis eius occisus est.

Caesar seditionem veteranorum cum magna pernicie motam inhibuit, Iapydas et Dalmatas et Pannonios subegit.

Antonius Artavasden, Armeniae regem, fide data perductum in vincula conici iussit, regnumque Armeniae filio suo ex Cleopatra nato dedit, quam uxoris loco iam pridem captus amore eius habere coeperat.

[35] Although Sextus Pompeius had put himself under the protection of Marc Antony, he prepared for war against him in Asia, but was surprised and executed by his deputies.

After [Octavian] Caesar had overcome a very damaging insurrection of veterans, he defeated the Iapydes, Dalmatians and Pannonians.

[34] Antony ordered Artavasdes, the king of Armenia, whom he had given a free-conduct, to be thrown into chains, and gave the Armenian kingdom to his son, who was born of Cleopatra; he had been captivated by her for some time, but now began to treat her as his wife. 

Caesar in Illyrico Dalmatas domuit.

Cum M. Antonius ob amorem Cleopatrae, ex qua duos filios habebat (Philadelphum et Alexandrum) neque in urbem venire vellet neque finito IIIviratus tempore imperium deponere bellumque moliretur quod urbi et Italiae inferret, ingentibus tam navalibus quam terrestribus copiis ob hoc contractis remissoque Octaviae, sorori Caesaris, repudio, Caesar in Epirum cum exercitu traiecit. Pugnae deinde navales et proelia equestria secunda Caesaris referuntur.

[Octavian] Caesar subdued the Dalmatians in Illyricum.

[33] When Marc Antony, because of his love for Cleopatra, with whom he had two sons (Philadelphus and Alexander), did neither want to come to the city nor lay down his powers when term of the triumvirate had ended, but instead prepared for war against the city and Italy, and gathered for this purpose as many naval as land forces, [32] and sent a letter of divorce to Octavia, Caesar's sister, [31] [Octavian] Caesar crossed to Epirus with an army. After this, an account is given of the naval and equestrian battles, in which Caesar was victorious.

M. Antonius ad Actium classe victus Alexandriam profugit, obsessusque a Caesare, in ultima desperatione rerum, praecipue occisae Cleopatrae falso rumore inpulsus, se ipse interfecit.

Caesar Alexandria in potestatem redacta, Cleopatra, ne in arbitrium victoris veniret, voluntaria morte defuncta, in urbem reversus tres triumphos egit, unum ex Illyrico, alterum ex Actiaca victoria, tertium de Cleopatra, imposito fine civilibus bellis altero et vicesimo anno.

M. Lepidus (Lepidi qui triumvir fuerat filius) coniuratione adversus Caesarem facta bellum moliens oppressus et occisus est.

[30] Marc Antony, defeated in a naval battle near Actium, fled to Alexandria and, besieged by [Octavian] Caesar, in a desperate situation and above all misguided by a false rumor about the death of Cleopatra, killed himself.

After [Octavian] Caesar had reduced Alexandria, and Cleopatra, to avoid falling in the victor's hands, had died by her own hand, [29] he returned to the city to celebrate three triumphs: one over Illyricum, a second for the victory at Actium, and a third one over Cleopatra; this was the end of the civil wars, in their twenty-second year.

[28] Marcus Lepidus (the son of the Lepidus who had been triumvir) conspired against [Octavian] Caesar to make war, but it was suppressed and he was killed.