Kitap 5
2.13
Octavius explained to the cities the necessity of the case, but he knew that it would not satisfy them; and it did not. The soldiers encroached upon their neighbors in an insolent manner, seizing more than had been given to them and choosing the best lands; nor did they cease when Octavius rebuked them and made them numerous other presents. They were contemptuous in the knowledge that their rulers needed them to confirm their power, for the five years’ term of the triumvirate was passing away, and army and rulers needed the services of each other for mutual security. The chiefs depended on the soldiers for the continuance of their government, while, for the control of what they had received, the soldiers depended on the permanence of the government of those who had given it. Believing that they could not keep a firm hold unless the givers had a strong government,ὡς γὰρ αὐτῶν οὐ βεβαίως ἄρχοιεν οἱ δόντες. Schweighäuser detected a lacuna after the word βεβαίως, which he was enabled to fill by comparing the passage with a similar one in Book I., Sec. 96 supra, viz.: As they [the soldiers] could not be secure in their own holdings unless all of Sulla’s affairs were on a firm foundation, they were his stoutest champions, etc. He accordingly filled the gap with the words ἐπικρατήσοντες εἰ μὴ βεβαίως. they fought for them with good-will, necessarily. Octavius made many other gifts to the indigent soldiers, borrowing from the temples for that purpose, for which reason the affections of the army were turned toward him. The greater thanks were bestowed upon him both as the giver of the land, the cities, the money, and the houses, and as the object of denunciation on the part of the despoiled, and as one who bore this contumely for the army’s sake.
