Corpus of Electronic Texts Edition
In Cath Catharda: The Civil War of the Romans (Author: [unknown])

chapter 4

A Description of Caesar here

Caesar, now, (was) a man angry, valourous, fair, bulky, madly-bold, high-spirited, very difficult, haughty, dour and grievous, vehement-natured, firm, strong, contemptuous, self-willed, unsimple, severe, keen, unloved, famous, wrathful, cunning (?), eloquent (?), unashamed, indefatigable, venomous, hostile.

A king in kingship and a soldier in deeds of valour and bravery, a battle-tower in courage, a soldier in activity. In the floodtide of his grace and his age was he then. He used to fawn on no one. No empty fame was his celebrity, but force of his hand and hardness of his heart. Never befell him aught that he deemed a shame, save the non-defeat of his enemies in battle. He spared neither friend nor foe; but when his wrath would arise he would day by day greaten and increase his deeds of valour and bravery.

No strong one used to rise up against him whom he did not overcome.

Thus it was his pleasure to wend every way that he would go, through rout of armies and pouring of blood: so that this was his semblance, a bright fiery thunderbolt coming from the upper region of the air towards the earth, with the crashing of a mighty noise through the centre of the pure-cold wind, and an exceeding light aerial cloud through which it comes, obscuring the splendour of the full-bright day, to the terrified peoples who are in its neighbourhood, so that no one opposes it strong enough to check it, wherefore it slaughters men as it falls down, and again as it returns upwards, after collecting and gathering its fires scattered by the thunderbolt.

Thus then was it with Caesar, for a bright thunderbolt of fire in lustre and beauty and size was afflicting (?) everyone. The coming of the thunderbolt from above towards earth, that is, Caesar coming out of the rooftree and the upper part of


p.31

the world, that is, out of Rome into the lands of Gaul. The darkening of daylight by the thunderbolt, that is, Caesar surpassing Pompey the Great in fame and distinction. The great slaughters (caused) by the thunderbolt in coming and turning were the great slaughters (committed) by Caesar on the people of Gaul when he came from Rome, the great slaughters on the people of Italy when he turned on the plain of Thessaly. Its strown fires collected by the thunderbolt were his armies and his fiery soldiers collected by Caesar out of Rome and the lands of Gaul and the island of Britain, towards the Civil War.

So far the causes and reasons of the Civil War. The story itself is now related hereinafter.