Sylla having made peace with Mithridates, [27]returned into Italy, and [28]made an end of the civil war in two years time, by the [29]defeat of Carbo, Norbanus, young Marius, and others; and being [30]declared [31]dictator, [32]took off a great many of Marius’s party by means of a [33]proscription. Q. Sertorius [34]retired into Farther Spain, where he [35]held out for some years very [36]valiantly.
Sylla having in the year 675 [37]laid down the [38]dictatorship, died the year following of the [39]lousy [40]disease, in the sixtieth year of his [41]age. After his death, Lepidus the consul, [42]endeavouring to [43]annul the [44]acts of Sylla, was [45]forced out of the city by his [46]colleague Catulus. And the year following [47]advancing up to the city with an [48]army, he was defeated by the same Catulus and Cn. Pompey, and [49]fled into [50]Sardinia, where he [51]fell ill and died. The same Pompey being [52]sent into Spain against Sertorius, [53]performed no important things; but the latter being [54]treacherously [55]slain by his own people, he [56]easily [57]recovered that province in the year 681.
In the mean time the war with Mithridates [58]broke out again, while Sylla was yet living; and after Sylla’s death, Mithridates having [59]entered into an [60]alliance with Sertorius, [61]seized by force of arms upon Bithynia, which Nicomedes at his death in 679, had [62]left to the Roman people. L. Lucullus consul, in 680, [63]went against him, and being very [64]successful both by [65]sea and [66]land, he [67]obliged him to fly, first into [68]Pontus, and soon after to [69]Tigranes in Armenia. Lucullus [70]conquered Pontus, and defeated both the kings who [71]engaged him with an army of two hundred thousand [72]foot and sixty thousand [73]horse, in the year of the city 685. After this, Tigranocerta, the capital of Armenia, and [74]Nisibis, two very great cities, were [75]taken. But this excellent general being [76]forsaken by his men, was [77]obliged to [78]leave the [79]fruit of his [80]toil and [81]victories to Cn. Pompey, in the year 688. He having [82]forced Tigranes to [83]surrender, obliged him to be [84]satisfied with Armenia; and whilst he [85]pursued Mithridates, he [86]added the [87]Iberians and [88]Albanians to the Roman empire, in the year 689. [89]Finally, Mithridates, in the year 691, being [90]every where [91]beaten, [92]thought of [93]flying into [94]Gaul, but being [95]discouraged by the [96]revolt of his son [97]Pharnaces and the army, he [98]slew himself.
Whilst the war with Mithridates was [99]warmly [100]carried on, there [101]broke out another with the [102]slaves, in the year of the city 681. One [103]Spartacus Ænomanus, and [104]Crixus, [105]gladiators, having [106]broken up a [107]school of gladiators at Capua, [108]belonging to Lentulus, and [109]assembled an army of [110]desperadoes, [111]routed the Roman armies several times, but at last were [112]vanquished by Crassus the prætor, and Pompey, in the year 685.
Pompey [113]likewise [114]subdued the [115]pirates, who, at the [116]instigation of Mithridates, [117]infested the seas, having an [118]extraordinary [119]commission [120]for that purpose by the [121]Gabinian law. Whilst Pompey was [122]enlarging the Roman empire [123]abroad, the [124]head of the empire was in no small [125]danger from a [126]conspiracy which [127]Cataline, [128]Lentulus the prætor, [129]Cethegus, and other senators, had [130]entered into, to [131]murder the consul [132]Cicero, and to [133]burn and [134]plunder the city. But their [135]designs were [136]prevented by the [137]vigilance of the consul. Catiline being [138]forced out of the city, [139]repaired to the army, which some of his [140]accomplices had [141]collected. Lentulus, and the rest of the [142]ringleaders of the [143]plot were put to death. This [144]happened in the year 691, and the following year Cataline was [145]defeated by [146]Petreius [147]Antony the proconsul’s [148]lieutenant, and [149]slain in the [150]fight.
The whole [151]world being now almost [152]subdued, the Roman empire was [153]arrived to that [154]grandeur, that it could [155]hardly [156]extend itself farther. No [157]outward [158]force was [159]sufficient to [160]ruin it; it [161]fell by its own [162]power, which was [163]occasioned by the [164]ambition of the [165]leading men, and the civil [166]contests that [167]arose from thence.
C. Cæsar, after the time of his [168]prætorship in the city was [169]expired, [170]obtained the province of Lusitania; and by the great feats he [171]performed there, [172]deserved well the honor of a [173]triumph; but [174]postponed the [175]hopes of that to the [176]consular [177]dignity; for which, [178]while he made all [179]possible [180]interest, Pompey [181]united with Cæsar and Crassus, while Lucullus and some others of the [182]grandees, [183]opposing his [184]acts, which he [185]desired might be [186]ratified by the senate. Thus Cæsar [187]gained the [188]consulship in the year 695, in which he [189]established the acts of Pompey by the senate, and [190]divided the [191]public [192]lands in Campania amongst the [193]citizens. He [194]married his daughter Julia to Pompey, and [195]took Calphurnia, the daughter of [196]Piso [197]as a wife. Having by these [198]arts, and a [199]boundless [200]generosity, [201]gained the [202]favor of all [203]ranks and [204]degrees of men, he [205]procured the province of Gaul, which he [206]governed for nine years; during which time he [207]reduced all Gaul, that is [208]comprehended within the [209]Pyrenean mountains, the [210]Alps, the Rhone, and the [211]Rhine, in the [212]form of a province, and [213]imposed a [214]yearly [215]tribute upon it. He was the first of all the Romans that [216]attacked the [217]Germans [218]beyond the Rhine. He likewise [219]visited the [220]Britons, where [221]none before him had ever [222]come. In this [223]interval, in the year 698, he [224]entered into an [225]association with Pompey and Crassus; by [226]virtue of which he was to have Gaul [227]continued to him. Pompey was to have [228]Spain, and Crassus Syria, in order to a war against the [229]Parthians; to which he [230]accordingly [231]went in the year 699, and the third year after, [232]perished most [233]miserably, with the greater [234]part of his army; after which the Parthians made an [235]irruption into Syria, but were [236]bravely [237]repulsed by Cassius.
After the death of Crassus, Pompey not being able to [238]endure an [239]equal, nor Cæsar a [240]superior, the civil war broke out. Pompey’s [241]party [242]endeavouring to [243]take away from Cæsar both his army and province, as soon as the time of his [244]government should [245]expire; whilst Cæsar’s on the other [246]hand were for [247]treating Pompey [248]in like manner. At last in the year 705, in the [249]consulship of C. Claudius Marcellus, and L. Cornelius Lentulus, the senate, by a [250]vote, obliged Cæsar to [251]disband his army by a certain day. Antonius and Cassius, tribunes of the people, [252]interposing their [253]authority in vain, [254]left the town, and [255]repaired to Cæsar, who [256]advancing his army towards the city, [257]struck such a [258]consternation into Pompey and the rest, that [259]leaving the city [260]without much ado, and [261]shortly after Italy, they [262]passed over into [263]Greece. Cæsar went to Spain, where he [264]vanquished Petreius and Afranius, and [265]forced their armies to [266]surrender [267]prisoners of war. In his [268]return he [269]took [270]Marseilles, and after that was made dictator, to which [271]office he was [272]chosen four times, and at last had it [273]given him for [274]life.
In the year 706, Pompey being [275]defeated by Cæsar in the [276]fields of [277]Pharsalia, went to [278]Egypt, where he was slain by the [279]order of [280]Ptolemy, in the 59th year of his [281]age. Hither Cæsar [282]likewise [283]came the following year, and after a very [284]dangerous [285]rencounter, which he [286]happily [287]accomplished, [288]delivered the [289]kingdom of Egypt to Cleopatra and her brother. In the year following he vanquished Scipio and Cato, with king Juba, in Africa. Cato [290]laid violent hands upon himself at Utica. The year that [291]followed was [292]remarkable for the [293]correction of the [294]calendar and the year. The same year likewise he [295]conquered Pompey’s sons; and the year after was [296]stabbed in the [297]senate house, by a [298]conspiracy of Brutus and Cassius, and some others, in the 56th year of his age.
Besides these [299]convulsions, with which the whole [300]world was [301]shattered, there were some less [302]disturbances [303]happened a little before. [304]Clodius Pulcher being [305]made tribune of the people, [306]banished Cicero, for having [307]condemned the [308]associates of Cataline to death without a [309]trial; which [310]calamity he [311]bore too [312]meanly, and [313]by no means [314]agreeable to the [315]dignity of his past life. But he was [316]recalled the year after by the [317]interposition of Pompey, and Lentulus the consul, and [318]received with the greatest [319]honor. The same Clodius [320]declared [321]Cyprus to [322]belong to the Roman people, and Cato being [323]sent to [324]take possession of it, Ptolemy, king of the [325]island, after first [326]throwing all his [327]money into the sea, [328]prevented his [329]disgrace by a [330]voluntary death. The senate [331]bestowed the [332]prætorship upon Cato at his [333]return, by a [334]vote of the house, without any [335]election; which honor he [336]refused, being [337]desirous to [338]obtain it rather by the [339]free [340]votes of the people. But he was [341]disappointed in his [342]hopes, and Vatinius was [343]preferred to him.