Page:Plutarch's Lives (Clough, v.5, 1865).djvu/363

 MARCUS BRUTUS. 355 of Italy, and so entirely defeated them, that but very few of the men escaped being slain, and they too were forced by famine to feed upon the saUs and tackle of the ship. As soon as they heard this, they made what haste they could to come to the decision of a battle, before Brutus should have notice of his good success. For it had so happened that the fight both by sea and land was on the same day, but by some misfortune, rather than the fault of his commanders, Brutus knew not of his victory twenty days after. For had he been informed of this, he would not have been brought to a second battle, since he had sufficient provisions for his army for a long time, and was very advantageously posted, his camp being well sheltered from the cold weather, and almost inacces- sible to the enemy, and his being absolute master of the sea, and having at land overcome on that side wherein he himself was engaged, would have made him full of hope and confidence. But it seems, the state of Rome not endm'ing any longer to be governed by many, but neces- sarily requiring a monarchy, the divine power, that it might remove out of the way the only man that was able to resist him that could control the empire, cut off his good fortune from coming to the ears of Brutus ; though it came but a veiy little too late, for the veiy evening before the fight, Clodius, a deserter from the enemy, came and announced that Caesar had received advice of the loss of his fleet, and for that reason was in such haste to come to a battle. But his story met with no credit, nor was he so much as seen by Brutus, being simply set down as one that had had no good information, or in- vented Ues to biing himself into favor. The same night, they say, the vision appeared again to Brutus, in the same shape that it did before, but van- ished without speaking. But Publius Volumnius, a phi- losopher, and one that had from the beginning borne arms