Homer can never have seen Ilium’s Great Tower, the surrounding wall of Poseidon and Apollo, the Scaean Gate of the palace of King Priam, for all these monuments lay buried deep in heaps of rubbish, and he could have made no excavations to bring them to light.  He knew of these monuments only from hearsay and tradition, for the tragic fate of ancient Troy was then still in fresh remembrance, and had already been for centuries in the mouth of all minstrels.

* * * * *

JULIUS CAESAR

Commentaries on the Gallic War

Caius Julius Caesar was born on July 12, 100 B.C., of a noble Roman family.  His career was decided when he threw in his lot with the democratic section against the republican oligarchy.  Marrying Cornelia, daughter of Lucius Cinna, the chief opponent of the tyrant dictator Sulla, he incurred the implacable hatred of the latter, and was obliged to quit Rome.  For a season he studied rhetoric at Rhodes.  Settling in Rome after Sulla’s death, Caesar attached himself to the illustrious Pompey, whose policy was then democratic.  In B.C. 68 he obtained a quaestorship in Spain, and on returning next year reconciled the two most powerful men in Rome, Pompey and Crassus.  With them he formed what became known as the First Triumvirate.  Being appointed to govern Gaul for five years, Caesar there developed his genius for war; but his brilliant success excited the fears of the senate and the envy even of Pompey.  Civil war broke out.  The conflict ended in the fall of Pompey, who was defeated in the fateful battle of Pharsalia, and was afterwards murdered in Egypt.  Julius Caesar now possessed supreme power.  He lavished vast sums on games and public buildings, won splendid victories in Gaul, Egypt, Pontus, and Africa, and was the idol of the common people.  But the jealousy of many of the aristocrats led to the formation of a plot, and on March 15, 44 B.C., Caesar was assassinated in the Senate House.  This summary relates to the commentaries known to be by Caesar himself, certain other books having been added by other Latin writers.  It will be noticed that he writes in the third person.  This epitome is prepared from the Latin text.

I.—­Subduing Celtic Gaul

Gaul is divided into three parts, one of which the Belgae inhabit; the Aquitani another; those who in their own language are called Celts, in ours Gauls, the third.  All these differ from each other in language, customs, and laws.  Among the Gauls the Helvetii surpass the rest in valour, as they constantly contend in battle with the Germans.  When Messala and Piso were consuls, Orgetorix, the most distinguished of the Helvetii, formed a conspiracy among the nobility, persuading them that, since they excelled all in valour, it would be very easy to acquire the supremacy of the whole of Gaul.  They made great preparations for the expedition, but suddenly Orgetorix died, nor was suspicion lacking that he committed suicide.