[-13-] Caesar, then, was making preparations, and Fulvia and Lucius were gathering hoards of supplies and assembling forces. Meanwhile both sent embassies and despatched soldiers and officers in every direction, and each managed to seize some places beforehand and was repulsed from others. The most of these transactions, and those connected with no great or important occurrence, I shall pass over, and briefly relate the points which are of chief value.
Caesar made an expedition against Nursia, among the Sabini, and routed the garrison encamped before it but was repulsed from the city by Tisienus Gallus. Accordingly, he went over into Umbria and laid siege to Sentinum, but failed to capture it. Lucius had meanwhile been sending on one excuse and another soldiers to his friends in Rome, and then coming suddenly on the scene himself conquered the cavalry force that met him, hurled the infantry back to the wall, and after that took the city, since those that had been there for some days helped the defenders within by attacking the besiegers. Lepidus, to whom had been entrusted the guarding of the place, made no resistance by reason of his inherent slothfulness, nor did Servilius the consul, who was too easy-going. On ascertaining this Caesar left Quintus Salvidienus Rufus to look after the people of Sentinum, and himself set out for Rome. Hearing of this movement Lucius withdrew in advance, having had voted to him the privilege of going out on some war. Indeed, he delivered an address in soldier's costume, which no one else had done. Thus Caesar was received into the capital without striking a blow, and when he did not capture the other by pursuit, he returned and kept a more careful watch over the city. Meantime, as soon as Caesar had left Sentinum, Gaius Furnius the guarder of the fortifications had issued forth and pursued him a long distance, and Rufus unexpectedly attacked the citizens within, captured the town, plundered, and burned it. The inhabitants of Nursia came to terms—and suffered no ill treatment; when, however, after burying those that had fallen in the battle which had taken place between themselves and Caesar, they inscribed on their tombs that they had died contending for liberty, an enormous fine was imposed upon the people, so that they abandoned their city and entire country together.
[-14-] While they were so engaged, Lucius on setting out from Rome after his occupancy had proceeded toward Gaul: his road was blocked, however, and so he turned aside to Perusia, an Etruscan city. There he was cut off first by the lieutenants of Caesar and later by Caesar himself, and was besieged. The investing of the place proved a long operation: the situation is naturally a strong one and had been amply stocked with provisions; and horsemen sent out by him before he was entirely hemmed in harassed his antagonists greatly while many others, moreover, from various sections vigorously defended him. Many attempts were made upon the besieged individually and there was sharp fighting close to the walls, until the followers of Lucius in spite of being generally successful were nevertheless overcome by hunger. The leader and some others obtained pardon, but most of the senators and knights were put to death. And the story goes that they did not merely suffer death in a simple form, but were led to the altar consecrated to the former Caesar and there sacrificed,—three hundred[41] knights and many senators, among them Tiberius Cannutius who formerly during his tribuneship had assembled the populace for Caesar Octavianus. Of the people of Perusia and the rest there captured the majority lost their lives, and the city itself, except the temple of Vulcan and statue of Juno, was entirely destroyed by fire. This piece of sculpture was preserved by some chance and was brought to Rome in accordance with a vision that Caesar saw in a dream: there it accorded those who desired to undertake the task permission to settle the city again and place the deity on her original site,—only they did not acquire more than seven and one-half stadia of the territory.
[B.C. 40 (a. u. 714)]
[-15-] When that city had been captured during the consulship of Gnaeus Calvinus and Asinius Pollio,—the former holding office the second time,—other posts in Italy partly perforce and partly voluntarily capitulated to Caesar. For this reason Fulvia with her children made her escape to her husband, and many of the other foremost men made their way some to him and some to Sextus in Sicily. Julia, the mother of the Antonii, went there at first and was received by Sextus with extreme kindness; later she was sent by him to her son Marcus, carrying propositions of friendship and with envoys whom she was to conduct to his presence. In this company which at that time turned its steps away from Italy to Antony was also Tiberius Claudius Nero. He was holding a kind of fort in Campania, and when Caesar's party got the upper hand set out with his wife Livia Drusilla and with his son Tiberius Claudius Nero. This episode illustrated remarkably the whimsicality of fate. This Livia who then fled from Caesar later on was married to him, and this Tiberius who then escaped with his parents succeeded him in the office of emperor.
[-16-] All this was later. At that time the inhabitants of Rome resumed the garb of peace, which they had taken off without any decree, under compulsion from the people; they gave themselves up to merrymaking, conveyed Caesar in his triumphal robe into the city and honored him with a laurel crown, so that he enjoyed this decoration as often as the celebrators of triumphs were accustomed to use it. Caesar, when Italy had been subdued and the Ionian Gulf had been cleared,—for Domitius despairing of continuing to prevail any longer by himself had sailed away to Antony,—made preparations to proceed against Sextus. When, however, he ascertained his power and the fact that he had been in communication with Antony through the latter's mother and through envoys, he feared that he might get embroiled with both at once; therefore preferring Sextus as more trustworthy or else as stronger than Antony he sent him his mother Mucia and married the sister of his father-in-law, Lucius Scribonius Libo, in the hope that by the aid of his kindness and his kinship he might make him a friend.
[B.C. 44 (a. u. 710)]
[-17-] Sextus, after he had originally left Spain according to his compact with Lepidus and not much later had been appointed admiral, was removed from his office by Caesar. For all that he held on to his fleet and had the courage to sail to Italy; but Caesar's adherents were already securing control of the country and he learned that he had been numbered among the assassins of Caesar's father.
[B.C. 43 (a. u. 711)]
Therefore he kept away from the mainland but sailed about among the islands, maintaining a sharp watch on what was going on and supplying himself with food without resort to crimes. As he had not taken part in the murder he expected to be restored by Caesar himself. When, however, his name was exposed on the tablet and he knew that the edict of proscription was in force against him also, he despaired of getting back through Caesar and put himself in readiness for war. He had triremes built, received the deserters, made an alliance with the pirates, and took under his protection the exiles. By these means in a short time he became powerful and was master of the sea off Italy, so that he made descents upon the harbors, cut loose the boats, and engaged in pillage. As matters went well with him and his activity supplied him with soldiers and money, he sailed to Sicily, where he seized Mylae and Tyndaris without effort but was repulsed from Messana by Pompeius Bithynicus, then governor of Sicily. Instead of retiring altogether from the place, he overran the country, prevented the importation of provisions, gained the ascendancy over those who came to the rescue,—filling some with fear of suffering a similar hardship, and damaging others by some form of ambuscade,—won over the quaestor together with the funds, and finally obtained Messana and also Bithynicus, by an agreement that the latter should enjoy equal authority with him. The governor suffered no harm, at least for the time being: the others had their arms and money taken from them. His next step was to win over Syracuse and some other cities, from which he gathered more soldiers and collected a very strong fleet. Quintus Cornificius also sent him quite a force from Africa.