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Caesar's ring

by Eugenia Salza Prina Ricotti


Suetonius reports that just before Philippi’s battle, a Tessalian asked to see Octavianus and told him that, while he was walking in an out of the way road, he saw the ghost of Caesar who charged him to go to his nephew and to predict him his future victory. Also Dio tells with little variants the same story: For Dio the ghost not only told the man of the battle, but added that it would be fought two days later. Besides Caesar insisted that his adopted son kept on him some object that, when he was dictator, he always wore. Right away Octavianus obeyed: He put on his finger Caesar’s ring and from this moment he always wore it.
However Cesar was not the only phantom wandering about this Greek plain on which history would be decided and the Republic that Brutus and Cassius had hoped to restore would be definitely closed. Also other phantoms - as the one that appeared to Brutus when he was organising the passage of his army from Asia to Europe - were indicating that for them things were going badly, and bad they went.