Note 98 — TRANSLATION

Mention of Licinius as being the first to present to Caesar the diadem enclosed within a wreath is unique with Nicolaus. Appian 2, 109; Dio 44, 11; Livy, Epit., 116; Velleius 2, 56, 4; Plutarch, Caes., 60; Ant. 12, and Cicero, Phil., 2, 84-85; 3, 12, all concur in that they make Antony solely responsible for having offered the crown to Caesar. Duttlinger, Untersuchungen über den historischen Wert des βίος Καίσαρος, Heidelberg 1911, endeavoring to align the account of Nicolaus with Cicero’s words: ‘Unde diadema? non enim abjectum sustuleras, sed attuleras domo meditatum et cogitatum scelus’ (Cic., Phil., 2, 85) makes the following assertion: ‘Diese Worte zeigen mit unumstösslicher Sicherheit, dass Caesar schon einmal, bevor Antonius kam, das Diadem von sich gewiesen hatte.’ A saner view is expressed in the translation of the phrase by Halm-Laubmann, Ciceros Ausgewählte Reden, vol. 6, p. 110: ‘du konntest es nicht von der Strasse aufgehoben, auf der Strasse gefunden haben;’ thus no suggestion of a former attempt by Licinius is to be read into Cicero’s words. Cicero’s immediate purpose, of course, was to bring discredit upon Antony for his actions on that day of the Lupercalia, and hence any mention of Licinius on his part would have been irrelevant to his case. Cicero’s Philippics therefore afford no check upon the accuracy of Nicolaus’ account, which rests here upon its merits of priority in comparison with the versions of the other historians.