GCSE Latin: Suetonius - The portents before the murder of Julius Caesar

sed Caesari futura caedes evidentibus prodigiis denuntiata est. proximis diebus equorum greges, quos in traiciendo Rubiconi flumini consecraverat ac vagos et sine custode dimiserat, comperit pertinacissime pabulo abstinere ubertimque flere.

But his imminent murder was indicated to Caesar by obvious portents. During the previous few days some herds of horses, which during his crossing he had dedicated to the river Rubicon and let loose without any keeper, he found were very stubbornly refusing to graze and were crying in floods

pertinacissime pabulo

“very stubbornly refusing”

The finality of the plosive (p sound) alliteration, coupled with the superlative, mirror the absolute obstinance of the animals.

flere

“crying”

Horses do not use tear ducts in the emotional sense, so this is dramatic as it is unusual behaviour

et immolantem haruspex Spurinna monuit ut caveret periculum, quod non ultra Martias Idus proferretur. pridie autem easdem Idus avem regaliolum cum laureo ramulo Pompeianae curiae se inferentem volucres varii generis ex proximo nemore persecutae ibidem discerpserunt.

And, when he \[Caesar\] was sacrificing, Spurinna the soothsayer warned him to beware of danger, which would not be delayed beyond the Ides of March. The day before those same Ides, when a king bird (= a wren) flew into the senate-house of Pompey with a laurel twig, some other birds of various kinds pursued it from a nearby wood and tore it to pieces on the spot.

volucres varii generis ex proximo nemore persecutae ibidem discerpserunt

“The day before those same Ides, when a king bird (= a wren) flew into the senate-house of Pompey with a laurel twig, some other birds of various kinds pursued it from a nearby wood and tore it to pieces on the spot.”

* The **volucres varii generis** are the senators from a variety of backgrounds and with a range of motives. The **avem regaliolum** is Caesar: his dictatorship had brought to mind monarchy for many Romans, something they were very much against.
* The **laureo ramulo** is a reference to the wearing of the laurel crown, a sign of power and leadership. Suetonius says that Caesar had been awarded the unusual honour of wearing this crown at all times.
* **discerpserunt** refers to the murder of Caesar which was brutal – 23 wounds delivered by a crowd of Senators - and took place in that very Senate House (**ibidem**).

ea vero nocte, cui inluxit dies caedis, et ipse sibi visus est per quietem interdum supra nubes volitare, alias cum Iove dextram iungere; et Calpurnia uxor imaginata est conlabi fastigium domus maritumque in gremio suo confodi; ac subito cubiculi fores sponte patuerunt

Actually during the night on which dawned the day of the murder, in the silence he seemed one time to be flying over the clouds, and the next minute to be holding hands with Jupiter; and his wife Calpurinia imagined that the gable of the house was collapsing and that her husband was stabbed in her lap, and suddenly the doors of the bedroom flew open of their own accord.

proximis diebus…pridie, ea vero nocte

“The previous few days, the night”

The use of time phrases in this section offers a kind of ‘count down’ to the assassination. At first, we are given brief summaries of the omens which occurred far in advance, then as we draw closer to the deed itself the detail, and the tension, increase.

nocte...quietem

“quiet of the night”

night is the time for magical happenings

supra nubes volitare cum Iove dextram iungere

“flying over the crowds”

A reference to Caesar’s subsequent deification. Following his death, a comet moving across the sky was interpreted by his heir, Octavian (the future emperor Augustus) as his soul ascending to the heavens and he was proclaimed a god.

fastigium

“gable”

The fastigium was the triangular gable end of a temple, but Caesar had been voted the extraordinary honour of fastigium in domo (a temple gable on the house). The collapse of it in Calpurnia’s dream links Caesar’s unparalleled power to his downfall.

ob haec simul et ob infirmam valitudinem diu cunctatus an se contineret et quae apud senatum proposuerat agere differret, tandem Decimo Bruto adhortante ne frequentes ac iamdudum opperientes destitueret, quinta fere hora progressus est

On account of these things and also his weak health he hesitated for some time whether he should stay at home and postpone the \[business\] he had planned to transact in the senate, but at last, when Decimus Brutus urged him not to disappoint the crowds of people who had been waiting for a long time, he set off at almost the fifth hour;

ob haec simul ob

“on account of these things and also”

* The parallel phrasing here shows how Caesar was giving equal weight to the omens and the ill health. Suetonius creates tension by showing him ‘delaying for a long time’ (**diu cunctatus**).
* Although the reader knows the final outcome of these events, by prolonging this and by emphasising Caesar’s many opportunities to avoid his fate Suetonius adds drama to a familiar episode

libellumque insidiarum indicem ab obvio quodam porrectum libellis ceteris, quos sinistra manu tenebat, quasi mox lecturus commiscuit. dein pluribus hostiis caesis, cum litare non posset, introiit curiam spreta religione Spurinnamque irridens et ut falsum arguens, quod sine ulla sua noxa Idus Martiae adessent: quamquam is venisse quidem eas diceret, sed non praeterisse.

a document giving information about the conspirators, \[which was\] handed to him by someone on the way, he put with some other documents which he was holding in his left hand, as though intending read them soon. Then, after more victims had been killed, since it wasn't possible to find a favourable omen, he entered the senate-house, scorning such superstition, mocking Spurinna and accusing him of being false because the Ides of March were here without any harm to him – though he responded that they had indeed come, but they had not gone.

sinistra manu

“left hand”

The left-hand side is considered ill-omened. Of course, although Caesar is **mox lecturus** (‘intending to read it soon’) he never will – a touch of dramatic irony.

spreta...irridens...arguens

“scorning…mocking…accusing”

A tricolon of ironic participles emphasises Caesar’s error as he enters the Senate House, with the verb **introiit** moved to the start of the clause to emphasise the moment his fate is sealed.

quamquam is venisse quidem eas diceret, sed non praeterisse.

“though he responded that they had indeed come, but they had not gone.”

Spurinna presumably would have been in attendance at the sacrifices, and therefore his ability to give a laden riposte needs no further explanation. The sibilance of these lines **(adessent...is venisse...eas...sed...praeterisse**), alongside the forceful brevity of the statement, adds to the sinister tone of this famous pronouncement