[70] ‘The name’ assumed by Octavius was not C. Julius Caesar Octavianus as one would expect but C. Julius C. f. Caesar (App. 3, 11; Dio 45, 3). Only his immediate following, however, called him Caesar; Cicero at this time called him Octavianus (Cic., Att. 14, 12, 2; 15, 12, 2; Fam. 16, 24, 2). In the decrees of the senate reported in Cicero’s Philippics during the next year he is referred to as C. Caesar C.f. pontifex (Cic., Phil., 5, 17); this was after he had had his adoption legally ratified by a ‘lex curiata’ (App. 3, 94). He had been striving toward this end for some time, but had continually been prevented in his attempts by Antony, who had, of course, always acted under the cover of a subordinate official (Dio 45, 5, 3; 46, 47, 4).
[71] For the ‘money and means’ to which Octavian had access see App. 3, 11; Dio 45, 3, who refer rather briefly to the matter.
[72] By ‘public property’ is meant the provincial tribute which apparently went into the Aerarium Saturni. Caesar treated military funds that accrued from booty as ‘his own’, and Octavian apparently appropriated a part of this.
[73] Octavian proceeded into Campania, where many of Caesar’s veterans had settled between 59 and 49 B.C. (M. Cary, Jour. Phil. 70, p. 174 ff.), in order to discover what their probable disposition toward himself would be (App. 3, 12). This was as early as April, 44 B.C., for on the 18th, Cicero, at Cumae, met one who had on the same day encountered Octavian at Naples (Cic., Att., 14, 10, 3). As Nicolaus remarks below, the opportunity for levying an army did not seem to be at hand; nevertheless Octavian felt that preliminary investigations along these lines would not be out of place.
[74] A slight lacuna in the text exists at this point; the context is not seriously affected, however. The rendering of Müller has been reproduced here; Piccolos and Dindorf attempt no restoration.
[75] See the latter part of note [70], above.
[76] Octavian approached Rome before April 10. His advent excited the interest of Cicero, who inquired of Atticus how great a following he was gathering and what new moves he was contemplating (Cic., Att. 14, 5, 3). The reply of Atticus may have been of a disparaging nature toward Octavian; at any rate, Cicero again wrote on April 12, disdainfully dismissing Octavian from his thoughts ‘nam de Octavio, susque deque.’ Even this early, however, there were rumors in Rome that the legions in Macedonia were returning at Octavian’s call: ‘Odiosa illa enim fuerant, legiones venire!’ (Cic., Att., 14, 6, 1). See also App. 3, 11; Dio 45, 3. On April 20, Cicero saw Octavian at Puteoli, for Octavian had, after his canvass of Campania, proceeded to his step-father’s villa at Puteoli, adjoining the property of Cicero (Cic., Att., 14, 11, 2). Shortly afterward, Octavian again went to Rome, stopping on the way at Tarracina (App. 3, 12; Gardthausen, Augustus, p. 53).
19.[77] According to Plutarch, Brut. 10, the conspiracy was well under way before March 1, 44 B.C.
[78] Suetonius, Caes. 80, gives the number of conspirators as 60; Eutropius, Brev. 6, 25, speaks of ‘60 or more.’ Of the total number, some 20 can be definitely identified by name; seven additional names have been erroneously included among the number by various authors. The 20 fall into three divisions: Caesarians, 6; Pompeians, 10; and those of uncertain partisanship, 4 (see Klotz, P. W. [Real-Encycl]. 10, p. 255).
[79] Nicolaus’ contradiction is self-evident. Just after saying that D. Brutus was a particular friend of Caesar, he includes him with Cassius and M. Brutus as a former member of the Pompeian faction. D. Brutus had, in fact, been associated with Caesar at least since 56 B.C.: ‘D. Brutum adulescentem classi Gallicisque navibus ... [Caesar] praeficit’ (Caes., B. G., 3, 11, 5). Again, in 52 B.C. Caesar placed him in charge of some of his land forces during his engagement with Vercingetorix: ‘Brutum adulescentem his copiis praeficit;’ ‘mittit primum Brutum adulescentem cum cohortibus’ (Caes., B. G., 7, 9, 1; 7, 87, 1; B. C., 1; 36, 56, 58; 2, 3-7). When Caesar’s will was read, it was found that D. Brutus had been conditionally adopted by Caesar, subject to the death of Octavian (App. 2, 143).