Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

Cornelius Nepos, ‘‘Atticus,’’ and the Roman Revolution 

so,totheextentthattheywereavailable;buthehimselfwouldenter

intonojointdiscussions,orplans,onthismatterwithanyone.

Onceagainprivateserviceshadtobeobserved,butpublicactionavoided.
Theprincipleispresented,asitisconsistentlythroughoutthebiography,as
somethingpraiseworthy.Butofcoursethepricepaidforitwasratherhigh.
BrutusandCassiuswerethelasttofightinthenameofliberty.
The following paragraphs (–) give a devastating impression of the
swingsoffortunewhichconfrontedRomansocietyinthelatersandthe
s..Inthefirstpartof..therewasthecampaignofMutina;Antonius
wasdeclaredapublicenemy(hostis),soeveryoneattackedhiswife,Fulvia,his
children,andhisfriends.Atticus,however,gaveFulviafinancialsupportat
crucialmoments().Thencamethereversalof(‘‘fortunesuddenlyturned’’
[conversa subito fortuna est], , ), the arrival in Rome of theimperatores
(Antonius,Lepidus,andOctavian),theTriumvirate,andtheproscriptions.
Atticuswentintohiding.ButAntoniusrememberedAtticus’officium(i.e.his
conducttoFulvia)andwrotealetterwithhisownhandtoofferhimpro-
tection(,).Nowinfavour,Atticuscouldhaveusedtheoccasionofthe
proscriptionstoincreasehisownproperty.Butinsteadheusedhisinfluence
solelytoseekreliefforfriendsfacingdangerorloss—‘‘indeprecandisamico-
rumautpericulisautincommodis’’(,).Butheretoo,ofcourse,wecansee
aforeshadowingoftheEmpire.AsinCicero’sProMarcello,orinthepetitions
addressedtoLepidusandOctavianbythebravewifepraisedintheLaudatio
Turiae,powerwasnowheldbynon-responsiblerulerstowhomtheappro-
priateformofaddresswasadeprecatio,a‘‘begging-off,’’asamatteroffavour,
orclemency,onbehalfofthoseindangerordisfavour.
WiththatwehavealreadycrossedtheborderbetweenwhatAtticusab-
stainedfromdoingandwhathedidinfactdo,inthepublic,orsemi-public
arena.Obviouslyenough,thisboundary,forsomeoneofAtticus’wealthand
socialposition,couldneverbesecurelymaintained.Thus,ifwegobackover
Nepos’biographyof him,thoughhewouldneverjoinanyfactionorcon-
spiracy, he did in fact deploy his wealth repeatedly to assist individuals in
public lifewho needed it: he gave money to help theyounger Marius, in
flightin/(,),andalsogave,sestercestoCicero,inexilein/
(,).In,thoughhestayedinRomehimself,hegavemoneytoothersset-
tingofftojoinPompey(,);andin,thoughhewouldnotjoinanorgani-
zationtohelpBrutusandCassius,henonethelesssentBrutussuccessivegifts
of , and then , sesterces (, –)—just as he soon afterwards
helpedthefamilyandfriendsofAntonius(,),andthen(bycontrast)those
oftheoppositeparty,inflightfromtheproscriptionsandfromPhilippi().