During the first century B.C., the Roman Republic
was thrown into political and social chaos as rival
generals and politicians fought one another for supremacy.
Despite this anarchy, however, many Romans
continued to make important intellectual
and literary contributions. One of these men was
Aulus Hirtius.
Hirtius was a military and political ally of Julius
CAESAR who served as a general in numerous military
campaigns, as well as an administrator in various
political posts. Caesar apparently trusted him
enough to nominate him to become a consul,
which was the most important office in the Roman
Republic. After Caesar’s assassination, Hirtius became
an ally of Mark Anthony but was persuaded
by the orator CICERO to switch sides. During an attack
on Anthony at the Battle of Mutina, in which
Anthony was defeated, Hirtius was killed.
Hirtius’s literary reputation comes from his important
historical contributions to Caesar’s Commentaries.
It is thought that he authored the eighth
book of Caesar’s Commentaries, including De Bello
Gallico (The Gallic Wars) and Bellum Alexandrinum
(The Alexandrian War). It is for these contributions,
as well as his written records of Caesar’s
African and Spanish campaigns, that Hirtius is remembered.
English Versions of Works by Aulus Hirtius
Caesar, Julius. Caesar’s Gallic War. Translated by W. A.
McDevite and W. S. Bohn.Harper’s New Classical
Library. New York: Harper & Brothers, 1869.
Gallic War: Seven Commentaries on the Gallic War
with an Eighth Commentary by Aulus Hirtius.
Translated by Carolyn Hammond. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1998.