A forum which Caesar built out
of the products of his last campaign, by way of a present to the Roman
people, cost him--for the ground merely on which it stood--nearly eight
hundred thousand pounds. To the _citizens_ of Rome (perhaps 300,000
persons) he presented, in one _congiary_, about two guineas and a half a
head. To his army, in one _donation_, upon the termination of the civil
war, he gave a sum which allowed about two hundred pounds a man to the
infantry, and four hundred to the cavalry. It is true that the legionary
troops were then much reduced by the sword of the enemy, and by the
tremendous hardships of their last campaigns. In this, however, he did
perhaps no more than repay a debt. For it is an instance of military
attachment, beyond all that Wallenstein or any commander, the most beloved
amongst his troops, has ever experienced, that, on the breaking out of the
civil war, not only did the centurions of every legion severally maintain
a horse soldier, but even the privates volunteered to serve without pay--
and (what might seem impossible) without their daily rations. This was
accomplished by subscriptions amongst themselves, the more opulent
undertaking for the maintenance of the needy.
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