Caesar, Balbus, Oppius

Appreciation post for the men who governed the Republic alongside Julius Caesar: Lucius Cornelius Balbus and Gaius Oppius.

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Cornelius Balbus came from a wealthy family in Gades. He received Roman citizenship from Pompey in 72 BC and most likely met Caesar in 69 or 68 BC, when Caesar served as quaestor in Further Spain. From 62 BC, Balbus acted as Caesar's political agent.

As for Gaius Oppius, he is first mentioned in our sources in 54 BC and was already performing important functions for Caesar. We don't know when they met, but they must have known each other for a while for Oppius to enjoy Caesar's trust.

Both men were equestrians.

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1. Balbus was Caesar's praefectus fabrum in 62–60 BC.

2. In 60 BC, Caesar served as a pro-magistrate in Further Spain and rendered many important services to Balbus' hometown of Gades at his request.

An excerpt from Cicero's speech in defense of Balbus (more on this later):

"I say nothing about the great distinction with which C. Caesar, when he was praetor in Spain, treated this people: how he allayed strife; how he established their laws by their own permission; how he effaced a long-standing barbarism from the customs and institutions of the Gaditani; how, at the request of this man, he bestowed upon that state his keenest interest, the greatest favours in his power."

3. When Caesar was working out an alliance with Pompey and Crassus, he also sought Cicero's support and sent Balbus to negotiate with him. Although Balbus was unsuccessful in his efforts, this assignment shows that he had become Caesar's right-hand man.

"Cornelius paid me a visit—I mean Balbus, Caesar's great friend. He assured me that Caesar will take my own and Pompey's opinion on everything, and that he will make an effort to reconcile Pompey and Crassus. On this side of the sheet may be placed an intimate connection with Pompey and, if I like, with Caesar too, reconciliation with my enemies, peace with the populace, and ease in my old age." – Cicero to Atticus, December 60 BC

50s, Gaul:

 

 1. During Caesar's time in Gaul, Balbus and Oppius acted as his representatives in Rome. They also regularly traveled to Gaul to talk to him in person.

"In general, all correspondence and personal contact with Caesar went through Balbus. When Cicero wishes to recommend a young friend to the general, he does so after consultation with Balbus; when he writes to Caesar he encloses a letter for Balbus; and when he does not dare to bother Caesar, he puts his request before Balbus. The friendly reception which met Quintus Cicero on his arrival at Caesar's camp in the summer of 54 is ascribed largely to the influence of Balbus." – Matthias Gelzer

 

"Caesar's organization of his contacts at Rome through the loyal Balbus was remarkably efficient during his years of absence in Gaul. There was a steady stream of messengers between Rome and Gaul, and Caesar was informed of everything, omnia minima maxima. Balbus, later aided by the equally efficient Oppius, did wonders in upholding Caesar's influence and seeing to it that the men whom Caesar supported lived up to their obligations." – Lilly Rose Taylor

 

2. From 59 to circa 57 BC, Balbus was Caesar's praefectus fabrum again.

3. In 56 BC, Balbus was accused of illegally obtaining Roman citizenship. This was not an attack on him, but on the triumvirs. Caesar couldn't defend him in person, so Pompey, Crassus and Cicero did it. They won, of course.

"Caesar knew him when a young man; he, that most able man, thought highly of him, and though he had a most excessive multitude of friends, Balbus was accounted by him one of his most intimate friends of all. In his praetorship and in his consulship he appointed him prefect of the engineers; he thought highly of his prudence, he loved him for his integrity, he was grateful to him for his constant assistance and attention. He was at different times the partner of very many of his labours; he is perhaps even now the partaker of some of his benefits. . .  But since Caius Caesar is a great distance off, and is now in those places which, if we regard their situation, are the boundaries of the world, or, if we regard his exploits, of the Roman empire, do not, I entreat you, in the name of the immortal gods, O judges, do not allow such bitter news to be taken to him, as that his own prefect of engineers, the man of all others most dear to and most intimate with him, is crushed by your decision, not on account of any offence of his own, but because of his intimacy with him." – Cicero's speech in defense of Balbus

4. 54 BC is when Oppius first appears in our sources. He was in charge of delivering correspondence to and from Gaul.

An excerpt from Cicero's letter to brother Quintus who was serving in Caesar's army:

"I come now to your letters, which I received in several packets when I was at Arpinum. In fact, three were delivered to me in one day, and indeed apparently despatched by you at the same time, one of them of considerable length, in which the first thing you noticed was that my letter to you bore an earlier date than that to Caesar. That is what Oppius occasionally cannot help doing—I mean that, when he has decided to send letter-carriers and has received a letter from me, something unexpected occurs to hinder him, and he is unavoidably later than he intended in sending the carriers; while I, when once the letter has been handed to him, do not trouble about having the date altered. . . . Your fourth letter I received on September 13; you had posted it in Britain on August 10. There was nothing new in it except about your Erigona; if I get it from Oppius, I'll write and tell you what I think of it; but I have no doubt that I shall find it charming." – Cicero to Quintus, September 54 BC

5. Oppius also oversaw the construction of the Forum Iulium. Initially, Cicero was involved in this project, as he was seeking to establish friendly relations with Caesar during these years.

"It goes without saying that a monument like that will win for him more popularity and glory than anything. And so we friends of Caesar—myself and Oppius I mean, though you may explode with wrath at my confession—have thought nothing of spending 60,000,000 sesterces for that public work of which you used to speak so enthusiastically, the extension of the Forum and continuation of it as far as the Hall of Liberty." – Cicero to Atticus, July 1, 54 BC

60,000,000 sesterces were not Oppius' or Cicero's money, in case the wording makes it confusing. Caesar financed the project from the spoils of war.

6. Oppius was also in charge of Caesar's finances in Rome:

"As for Oppius you have done well to explain to him the matter of 800,000 sesterces [Caesar's loan to Cicero]. Please arrange the business since Philotimus is with you." – Cicero to Atticus, May 12, 51 BC

7. As Caesar's return from Gaul approached and the optimates increased their attacks on him, Balbus diligently did his job in Rome:

"Your friend Pompey makes no secret of demurring to Caesar's holding a province with an army and being consul at the same time. What he moved in the Senate, however, was that no decree should be passed at the present juncture; what Scipio [Pompey's father-in-law] moved was, that the matter of the Gallic provinces should be brought before the Senate on the 1st of March, but that no other matter should be combined with it—a motion which made Balbus Cornelius quite unhappy, and I know that he expostulated with Scipio." – Caelius Rufus to Cicero, September 2, 51 BC

8. Balbus also made sure that Caesar's allies stayed on track.

"Curio, who is extremely fond of you, finding that he was being robbed of his comitial days by every sort of device, declared that he could not possibly allow the supplicationes to be decreed, lest he should be thought to have lost through his own fault whatever advantage he had gained by the crazy conduct of Paullus, and be considered guilty of betraying the public interests by collusion with the opposition. So we had recourse to a compromise, and the consuls formally announced that they would not celebrate these supplicationes this year. It is obvious that you have reason to thank both consuls, but Paullus certainly most. For while Marcellus merely replied that he had no hope in the efficacy of your supplicationes, Paullus said that in no circumstances would he proclaim them this year. . . . I can also speak highly of Cornelius Balbus's assiduous efforts. For he had a heated interview with Curio, telling him that had he acted otherwise, he would have wronged Caesar; and it was then he threw suspicion on Curio's sincerity." – Caelius Rufus to Cicero, April 50 BC

The supplicationes in question were days of public thanksgiving that Cicero wanted for himself. No public business could be conducted on these days, hence Curio's objections. Curio was Caesar's ally at this point, but his stance on this particular issue was unwelcome, since Caesar wanted Cicero on his side.

40s, civil war and dictatorship:

1. In the months leading up to the civil war, Balbus and Oppius stayed in Rome to continue their activities on Caesar's behalf. They were not always successful. For example, Balbus was unable to persuade Cicero and Lentulus Crus to remain neutral in the war.

"I have not the slightest doubt that Caesar with his extraordinary kindness will agree, and that you will satisfy him abundantly, by taking no part against him in the war and not siding with his opponents. And this he will count sufficient not only in the case of so important a personage as yourself, but even to me of his own free will he has granted the same permission not to enter a camp which would be opposed to Lentulus and Pompey, to whom I am under great obligations: and he has said he is quite satisfied, if I should perform peaceful civic functions for him, which I am at liberty to perform for them too, if I wish. So I am acting now as Lentulus deputy at Rome and carrying out his business, fulfilling my duty and maintaining my honour and loyalty to them." – Balbus to Cicero, March 11 or 12, 49 BC

2. When the civil war broke out and Caesar decided to pursue a policy of clemency, he wrote the following to Oppius and Balbus:

"I am very glad to hear from your letters how strongly you approve of what happened at Corfinium. I shall follow your advice with pleasure—with all the more pleasure, because I had myself made up my mind to act with the greatest moderation, and to do my best to effect a reconciliation with Pompey. Let us see if by moderation we can win all hearts and secure a lasting victory, since by cruelty others have been unable to escape from hatred and to maintain their victory for any length of time except L. Sulla, whose example I do not intend to follow. This is a new way of conquering, to strengthen one's position by kindness and generosity."

3. After Caesar's victory at Pharsalus, Cicero continually wrote to Balbus and Oppius asking them to put in a good word for him with Caesar.

"I have written to Oppius and to Balbus, asking them to consider how I can move nearer to Rome. I think they will advise me to do so. For they promise that Caesar will be anxious not only to preserve my dignity, but even to increase it; and they bid me be of good cheer and entertain the highest of hopes. This they warrant and guarantee." – Cicero to Atticus, November 27, 48 BC

"Everything rests on the support of Balbus and Oppius, and on their confirming Caesar's good will to me by sending him frequent letters." – Cicero to Atticus, December 17, 48 BC

"You must use your utmost endeavour with those who are my supporters and have influence with him—Balbus and Oppius especially to make them write about me as strongly as possible." – Cicero to Atticus, December 18, 48 BC

4. After Caesar's victory at Thapsus, Cicero lobbied on behalf of other Pompeians to Balbus and Oppius. Here's one example:

"All that had happened having convinced me that whatever Balbus and Oppius had arranged in Caesar's absence was usually confirmed by him, I earnestly pleaded with them to grant me the favour of allowing you to remain in Sicily as long as we desired it. Now although it had always been their habit either readily to promise anything of such a nature as would not run counter to the feelings of their party, or else, even if they refused, to give a reason for their refusal, on this occasion they thought it best to give no immediate answer to my petition. However they came back to me on that same day and granted my request that you should remain in Sicily as long as you desired it, adding that they would guarantee your doing so would not in the slightest degree affect your interests." – Cicero to Aulus Caecina, December 46 BC

5. From 46 BC onwards, Oppius and Balbus were basically running things in Rome while Caesar was away on military campaigns.

"Gaius  Oppius and Cornelius Balbus were the first individuals who, supported by the might of Caesar, were able to take for their province the conditions of a peace or the determination of a war." – Tacitus

"You drop a hint that Balbus was satisfied with a miserably meagre table, meaning, I suppose that since kings are so abstemious, much more does it behove mere consulars to be so." – Cicero to Papirio Paeto, August 46 BC

"Do you really think that there will be fewer decrees of the Senate, if I am at Naples? Here am I at Rome and in constant attendance at the Forum, and all the while decrees of the Senate are being drafted at the house of my dear friend [Balbus] who dotes upon you. Indeed, whenever it occurs to him, my name is put down as a witness to the drafting, and I am informed that some decree of the Senate alleged to have been passed in accordance with my vote has found its way to Armenia and Syria, before the matter has ever been mentioned at all. And pray don't think that this is merely a joke on my part; I would have you know that I have ere now received letters from kings in the uttermost parts of the world, in which they thank me for having given them by my vote the title of king, I being in ignorance not only of their having been so entitled, but of their ever having been born." – Cicero to Papirio Paeto, October 46 BC

6. Caesar regularly wrote to them in cipher, which is really cool:

"There are volumes of letters of Gaius Caesar addressed to Gaius Oppius and Cornelius Balbus, who had charge of his affairs in his absence. In certain parts of these letters there are found individual characters which are not connected to form syllables, but apparently are written at random; for no word can be formed from those letters. But a secret agreement had been made between the correspondents about a change in the position of the letters, so that, in writing, one name and position was given to one letter and another to another, but in reading its own place and force was restored to each of them. But which letter was written for which was, as I have already said, agreed upon by those who devised this secret code. There is in fact a commentary of the grammarian Probus, On the Secret meaning of the Letters appearing in the Epistles of Gaius Caesar, which is a very careful piece of work." – Aulus Gellius

7. Caesar rewarded them generously.

"In the course of time he [Balbus] acquired vast property which as early as 56 certain people found unbecoming. It seems that his gains mainly arose from his connection with Caesar. . . . We may assume, and there are indications, that he shared in the booty of Gaul and perhaps profited from confiscated property. . . .  Balbus acquired many possessions. An estate at Tusculum and gardens, perhaps in Rome, are mentioned in 56. He had a house in Rome, and his building operations were a nuisance to Cicero in 46. He had villas at Lantivium, at Puteoli, Neapolis and at Curnae. His connections with Campania are also recorded in an inscription of Captia, where he is mentioned as a patron of this town." – Israel Shatzman

"Certain people found unbecoming" is referring to Cicero and others like him who looked down on Balbus for his origins behind his back.

8. It seems that Balbus' main responsibility was finance. For example, when Cicero divorced his wife Terentia, he had to repay her dowry. To enforce a quicker payment, Terentia made it over to Balbus. On March 16, 45 BC, Cicero wrote to Atticus: "To make over the debt to Balbus is a high-handed proceeding. Get it settled anyhow."

Another example is when Cluvius (banker) left his property to several co-heirs, Cicero and Caesar among them. Cicero really wanted Cluvius' gardens and was willing to buy out the shares of other inheritors. Balbus represented Caesar's interests and all negotiations went through him.

"I have met Balbus: for Lepta, being anxious about the contract for the shows, took me to him. Well, he was in the place at Lanuvium, which he made over to Lepidus: and the first thing he said to me was, 'I have just had a letter in which Caesar definitely asserts that he will be here before the Roman games' . . . I learned from him that the formal acceptance of Cluvius' legacy was an unconditional acceptance within sixty days before witnesses. How careless of Vestorius [banker] not to tell me! I was afraid I should have to send for him: but now I must commission him to accept at my orders. So this same Pollex can take the message. I discussed Cluvius' gardens with Balbus too, and he was most obliging. For he said he would write to Caesar at once, but that Cluvius had subtracted from Hordeonius' legacy some 50,000 sesterces for Terentia, the cost of his tomb and a lot of other things, but nothing from my share. Please remonstrate with Vestorius. It is surely most out of place for Plotius the perfumer to send his own special messengers with full particulars to Balbus so long in advance, while Vestorius does not send me news even by my messengers." – Cicero to Atticus, August 12, 45 BC

9. In May of 45, Cicero wrote a letter of advice to Caesar on how to govern the Republic. He showed it to Balbus and Oppius first, but they didn't approve of the letter, so Cicero never sent it.

"I see you think the letter ought to be sent to Caesar. . . But you know I thought your Caesarian friends ought to read it first: so you must see to that. But, unless you feel sure they approve of it, it must not be sent. You will know whether they really think so or are pretending. I shall count pretence as rejection. You must probe that point." – Cicero to Atticus, May 20, 45 BC

"As for the letter to Caesar, I was always ready to let your friends read it first. . . But they have acted frankly, and I am thankful to them for not concealing their feelings; but the best thing of all is that they want to make so many alterations that there is no sense in my writing it all over again. . . . In fact I am very sorry I wrote it, and nothing could suit my wishes better than that they do disapprove of my zeal." – Cicero to Atticus, May 25, 45 BC

10. And now this incident:

"But it was the following action in particular that roused deadly hatred against him. When the Senate approached him in a body with many highly honorary decrees, he received them before the temple of Venus Genetrix without rising. Some think that when he attempted to get up, he was held back by Cornelius Balbus; others, that he made no such move at all, but on the contrary frowned angrily on Gaius Trebatius when he suggested that he should rise." – Suetonius

"Moreover, after sundry extravagant honours had been voted him in the senate, it chanced that he was sitting above the rostra, and as the praetors and consuls drew near, with the whole senate following them, he did not rise to receive them, but as if he were dealing with mere private persons, replied that his honours needed curtailment rather than enlargement. This vexed not only the senate, but also the people, who felt that in the persons of the senators the state was insulted, and in a terrible dejection they went away at once, all who were not obliged to remain, so that Caesar too, when he was aware of his mistake, immediately turned to go home, and drawing back his toga from his neck, cried in loud tones to his friends that he was ready to offer his throat to any one who wished to kill him. But afterwards he made his disease an excuse for his behaviour, saying that the senses of those who are thus afflicted do not usually remain steady when they address a multitude standing, but are speedily shaken and whirled about, bringing on giddiness and insensibility. However, what he said was not true; on the contrary, he was very desirous of rising to receive the senate; but one of his friends, as they say, or rather one of his flatterers, Cornelius Balbus, restrained him, saying: 'Remember that thou art Caesar, and permit thyself to be courted as a superior.'" – Plutarch

"And either by some heaven-sent fatuity or even through excess of joy he received them sitting, which aroused so great indignation among them all, not only the senators but all the rest, that it afforded his slayers one of their chief excuses for their plot against him. Some who subsequently tried to defend him claimed, it is true, that owing to an attack of diarrhoea he could not control the movement of his bowels and so had remained where he was in order to avoid a flux. They were not able, however, to convince the majority, since not long afterwards he rose up and went home on foot; hence most men suspected him of being inflated with pride and hated him for his haughtiness, when it was they themselves who had made him disdainful by the exaggerated character of their honours." – Cassius Dio

As Caesar grew older, he experienced some health issues (sources mention epileptic fits, dizziness, fainting spells, and headaches). As I see it, it happened like this: Caesar began to rise, but felt dizzy and had to sit down. Balbus moved to support him, worried that Caesar would have a seizure in public. Whatever he whispered to him was probably something like, "Are you ok?" Unfortunately, this was a time when Caesar's every move was given the most hostile interpretation by the senators. Like… if he were to sneeze, they would say he spat on them. You know? And the stories grew with each retelling.

11. Not everything about Balbus and Oppius was favorable for Caesar's case. The senatorial families did not look kindly on the fact that mere equestrians held so much power.

"Hostility to the regime in principle may also explain why they hastened to kill Caesar when his presence was not going to be felt in Rome for some time. For the answer must be that in some ways Caesar's monarchy would become more disagreeable when he was absent than when he was present. Instructions would have arrived from the dictator – not necessarily sent to the magistrates but to Oppius, Balbus, and their kind – and these would have been put into effect, whether in a constitutionally proper fashion or not. As Cicero had remarked to Servius Sulpicius, the best thing about the Caesarian regime was Caesar himself." – Andrew Lintott

Post-Ides of March:

1. After Caesar's murder, the Caesarians held a council on what to do next.

"First of all they took council (having asked their friends to be present) how they ought to act toward the assassins. Lepidus proposed that they should fight them and avenge Caesar. Hirtius thought that they should discuss the matter with them and come to friendly terms. Someone else, supporting Lepidus, expressed the opposite opinion, saying that it would be sacrilegious to pass by the murder of Caesar unavenged, and furthermore, it would not be safe for all those who had been his friends; 'for even if the murderers are inactive now, yet as soon as they get more power, they will go still further.' Antonius favoured the proposal of Hirtius, and voted to save them. There were others who urged that they be dismissed from the city under truce." – Nicolaus of Damascus

This was the only English translation available online. In 1898, Eduard Schwartz suggested replacing ἄλλος (someone else) with Βάλβος. The correction is recognized and accepted by FGrH. I don't know why this English translation ignored it. Personally, I completely agree that it does say "Balbus."

2. Until the arrival of Octavian, Oppius and Balbus laid low. On April 7, Cicero wrote to Atticus about his visit to Gaius Matius (Caesar's close friend). Matius openly condemned the assassins, which pissed Cicero off, and he had this to say about Oppius:

"What a wise man Oppius is, who regrets Caesar quite as much, but yet says nothing that can offend any loyalist!"

This is significant because Matius' grief over Caesar was overwhelming. Oppius may have been more cautious and wasn't openly agonizing the assassins, but Cicero still admits that Oppius felt as strongly as Matius.

3. When Octavian arrived in Italy, Balbus immediately joined him. Oppius did, too.

"Octavius came to Naples on the 18th of April. There Balbus met him the next morning, and the same day he was with me at Cumae and said Octavius would accept that inheritance." – Cicero to Atticus, April 19, 44 BC

"Cabinet government already existed in the brief Dictatorship of Caesar. While the Senate held empty debate or none at all, and prominent dignitaries waited muttering on his threshold, the Dictator quietly worked out his plans in the company of his intimates. Octavianus inherited the policy and no little part of the personnel, for the names of Balbus, Oppius and Matius soon emerge in the entourage of the young adventurer." – Ronald Syme

4. In 40 BC, Balbus, as suffect consul, held celebrations in honor of the victory over Caesar's assassins.

"It was at this same time that the Aqua Iulia, as it was called, was brought into Rome and the festival that had been vowed for the completion of the war against the assassins of Caesar was celebrated by the consuls." – Cassius Dio

5. When Octavian and Antony were butting heads, Antony claimed that Caesar's friends could confirm that Caesarion was Caesar's son.

"Mark Antony declared to the senate that Caesar had really acknowledged the boy, and that Gaius Matius, Gaius Oppius, and other friends of Caesar knew this. Of these Gaius Oppius, as if admitting that the situation required apology and defence, published a book, to prove that the child whom Cleopatra fathered on Caesar was not his." – Suetonius

Preserving Caesar's legacy.

1. Caesar's Commentaries were left unfinished at his death. He wrote seven books covering the years 58–52 in Gaul, and three books on the first two years of the Civil War (plus the beginning of the Alexandrian conflict).

Thankfully, Balbus persuaded Aulus Hirtius to add an eighth book to the "Gallic War," covering the years 51–50. Here's an excerpt from Hirtius' preface:

"By your continual reproaches, Balbus, which seemed to regard my daily refusal not as a plea caused by difficulty, but as an evasion due to indolence, I have been constrained to undertake a most difficult task. I have tacked a supplement to the Commentaries of our great Caesar on the operations in Gaul, as his previous and his subsequent writings did not otherwise fit together; and his last work, which was left unfinished from the operations at Alexandria onwards, I have completed as far as the conclusion, not indeed of civil discord, of which we see no end, but of Caesar's life."

For whatever reason, we don't have Hirtius' accounts of Caesar's later campaigns. They were written by unknown authors (some historians suggest that "The Alexandrian War" was written by Hirtius, but I personally disagree). But we probably have Balbus to thank that other campaigns also received written accounts.

"Though recording the fact that Caesar treated the events of each year in a single "commentary," Hirtius in his interjected "commentary" covered the operations of two years; and he considered his narrative of events from the beginning of the Alexandrian war to the end of Caesar's life a completion of Caesar's unfinished "commentary." Whether the matter of this supplement was arranged in one or more books we do not know, nor can we explain why the interjected "commentary" has been preserved while the supplement, or at least the greater part of it, has been lost. Had the whole supplement come into the hands of Balbus with the other, we may suppose that it would have been published at the same time; if the final revision and the sending of the latter part of it to Balbus were prevented by the death of Hirtius (in April, 43 B. c.), we may conjecture that Balbus tried to make good the loss by persuading different persons who were eye-witnesses of the operations of the African and Spanish wars to write concerning them, and that this is the reason why we find so great a diversity of style and treatment in the last three books of the Caesarian corpus; the problem of the composition of the Alexandrian War is too complicated to be touched upon here." – Francis W. Kelsey

2. Balbus wrote a work called "Ephemerides". It hasn't survived, but we can assume that it was at least partially about Caesar.

"An ideal chance is yours in the near future of speaking in public on the most notable of subjects, the glory of that Julius Caesar in praise of whom you have already written. The theme is so great that even the most exuberant of orators might doubt his power of rising to the occasion. Even if we leave out of the account all that the historian of Padua has written on the fame of the invincible dictator, who could hope to challenge with the living word the work of Suetonius, or Juventius Martialis, or the Ephemerides of Balbus?" – Sidonius Apollinaris to Burgundio, 460 AD

This story in Suetonius' biography of Caesar most likely came from "Ephemerides":

"Now Caesar's approaching murder was foretold to him by unmistakable signs. A few months before, when the settlers assigned to the colony at Capua by the Julian Law were demolishing some tombs of great antiquity, to build country houses, and plied their work with the greater vigour because as they rummaged about they found a quantity of vases of ancient workmanship, there was discovered in a tomb, which was said to be that of Capys, the founder of Capua, a bronze tablet, inscribed with Greek words and characters to this purport: "Whenever the bones of Capys shall be moved, it will come to pass that a son of Ilium shall be slain at the hands of his kindred, and presently avenged at heavy cost to Italy." And let no one think this tale a myth or a lie, for it is vouched for by Cornelius Balbus, an intimate friend of Caesar."

Illium was another name for Troy. The Julian clan was said to have derived its name from Iulus (Ascanius). Iulus' father was Aeneas, who led the surviving Trojans to Italy. Aeneas' grandfather was a king of Dardania, Capys, who probably founded Capua. Capys' grandfather was Tros, the legendary founder of Troy.

3. Oppius wrote biographies of several people, including Caesar. Although it hasn't survived, we know a few stories from it thanks to other ancient historians. For example, this one:

"His friends he treated with invariable kindness and consideration. When Gaius Oppius was his companion on a journey through a wild, woody country and was suddenly taken ill, Caesar gave up to him the only shelter there was, while he himself slept on the ground out-of‑doors." – Suetonius

"Once, too, upon a journey, he and his followers were driven by a storm into a poor man's hut, and when he found that it consisted of one room only, and that one barely able to accommodate a single person, he said to his friends that honours must be yielded to the strongest, but necessities to the weakest, and bade Oppius lie down there, while he himself with the rest of his company slept in the porch." – Plutarch

There is also a possibility that Oppius' approach influenced the way Suetonius structured his "Twelve Caesars":

"Suetonius, however, appears to have found in Oppius the rudiments of a pattern which he was to take over and develop for the Julius and to employ as the main structural principle of all his Caesars: namely, the listing of the main qualities which made a character what he was and the illustration of each quality in turn by anecdotes, almost completely divorced from chronological sequence. There is nothing of this in Suetonius' earlier biographies, of the Grammarians and Rhetoricians and of the few surviving Poets; and only a few traces of the technique in Cornelius Nepos, manly in the Epaminondas, probably written well after Oppius' work on Caesar." – G.B. Townend

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Caesar's story is often associated with betrayal, but there were genuine relationships, too. The likes of Balbus and Oppius are testament to that.

"Caesar's friendships were sincere and durable, honest and above board. . . . With few exceptions his friends remained his friends." – Theodore Dodge