Book 5
1.2
Cassius, surnamed Parmesius,This man is called Cassius Parmensis (i.e. Cassius of Parma) by Suetonius (Aug. 4). He was one of the assassins of Caesar, and, according to Velleius (ii. 87), the last one to be punished. There is a letter to Cicero (Ad Fam. xii. 13) from Cassius, Quaestor, dated at the promontory of Crommyon, Cyprus, June, 710, describing the naval operations of himself and others in those waters. That this letter was written by Cassius Parmensis and not by Lucius Cassius, the brother of Gaius, is made probable by the fact that he was then, as he informs Cicero, cruising in conjunction with Turulius (mentioned below), and that they joined their fleets and sailed to the Adriatic about the time that Lucius Cassius was making his peace with Antony in Asia, as described in Sec. 7. Cassius of Parma was a poet of distinction. See Horace (Epistles, i. 4. 3). had been left by Cassius and Brutus in Asia with a fleet and an army to collect money. After the death of Cassius, not anticipating the like fate of Brutus, he selected thirty ships belonging to the Rhodians, which he intended to man, and burned the rest, except the sacred one, so that they might not be able to revolt. Having done this he took his departure with his own ships and the thirty. Clodius, who had been sent by Brutus to Rhodes with thirteen ships, found the Rhodians in revolt (for Brutus also was now dead). Clodius took away the garrison, consisting of 3000 soldiers, and joined Parmesius. They were joined by Turulius, who had a numerous fleet and a large sum of money which he had previously extorted from Rhodes.This Turulius is twice mentioned in the letter to Cicero (Ad Fam. xii. 13) as the quaestor of Tillius Cimber and as the commander of a fleet in the Mediterranean operating against Dolabella. According to Valerius Maximus (i. 1. 19) his death was due to an act of impiety in cutting down for ship-building purposes a grove of trees sacred to Aesculapius. To this fleet, which was now quite powerful, flocked those who were rendering service in various parts of Asia, and they manned the ships with soldiers as well as they could, and with slaves, prisoners, and inhabitants of the islands where they touched, as rowers. The son of Cicero joined them, and others of the nobility who had escaped from Thasos. Thus in a short time there was a considerable gathering and organization of officers, soldiers, and ships. Having received additional forces under Lepidus,It is not known whether this Lepidus was a relative of the triumvir or not. who had brought Crete under subjection to Brutus, they made sail to the Adriatic and united with Murcus and Domitius Ahenobarbus, who had a large force under their command. Some of these sailed with Murcus to Sicily to join Sextus Pompeius. The rest remained with Ahenobarbus and formed a faction by themselves. Such was the first reassembling of what remained of the war preparations of Cassius and Brutus.
