Julius Caesar (Suetonius)

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	Julius Caesar Author: Suetonius	Translator: Alexander Thomson
16	ceterum Caecilio Metello tribuno plebis turbulentissimas leges aduersus collegarum intercessionem ferenti auctorem propugnatoremque se pertinacissime praestitit , donec ambo administratione rei publicae decreto patrum submouerentur . ac nihilo minus permanere in magistratu et ius dicere ausus , ut comperit paratos , qui ui ac per arma prohiberent , dimissis lictoribus abiectaque praetexta domum clam refugit pro condicione temporum quieturus . multitudinem quoque biduo post sponte et ultro confluentem operamque sibi in adserenda dignitate tumultuosius pollicentem conpescuit . quod cum praeter opinionem euenisset , senatus ob eundem coetum festinato coactus gratias ei per primores uiros egit accitumque in curiam et amplissimis uerbis conlaudatum in integrum restituit inducto priore decreto .	He afterwards approved himself a most resolute supporter of Caecilius Metellus, tribune of the people, who, in spite of all opposition from his colleagues, had proposed some laws of a violent tendency, until they were both dismissed from office by a vote of the senate. He ventured, notwithstanding, to retain his post and continue in the administration of justice; but finding that preparations were made to obstruct him by force of arms, he dismissed the lictors, threw off his gown, and betook himself privately to his own house, with the resolution of being quiet, in a time so unfavourable to his interests. He likewise pacified the mob, which two days afterwards flocked about him, and in a riotous manner made a voluntary tender of their assistance in the vindication of his honour. This happening contrary to expectation, the senate, who met in haste, on account of the tumult, gave him their thanks by some of the leading members of the house, and sending for him, after high commendation of his conduct, cancelled their former vote, and restored him to his office.
17	Recidit rursus in discrimen aliud inter socios Catilinae nominatus et apud Nouium Nigrum quaestorem a Lucio Vettio indice et in senatu a Quinto Curio , cui , quod primus consilia coniuratorum detexerat , constituta erant publice praemia . Curius e Catilina se cognouisse dicebat , Vettius etiam chirographum eius Catilinae datum pollicebatur . id uero Caesar nullo modo tolerandum existimans , cum inplorato Ciceronis testimonio quaedam se de coniuratione ultro ad eum detulisse docuisset , ne Curio praemia darentur effecit ; Vettium pignoribus captis et direpta supellectile male mulcatum ac pro rostris in contione paene discerptum coiecit in carcerem ; eodem Nouium quaestorem , quod compellari apud se maiorem potestatem passus esset .	But he soon got into fresh trouble, being named amongst the accomplices of Catiline, both before Novius Niger the quaestor, by Lucius Vettius the informer, and in the senate by Quintus Curius; to whom a reward had been voted, for having first discovered the designs of the conspirators. Curius affirmed that he had received his information from Catiline. Vettius even engaged to produce in evidence against him his own hand-writing, given to Catiline. Caesar, feeling that this treatment was not to be borne, appealed to Cicero himself, whether he had not voluntarily made a discovery to him of some particulars of the conspiracy; and so baulked Curius of his expected reward. He, therefore, obliged Vettius to give pledges for his behaviour, seized his goods, and after heavily fining him, and seeing him almost torn in pieces before the rostra, threw him into prison; to which he likewise sent Novius the quaestor, for having presumed to take an information against a magistrate of superior authority.
18	Ex praetura ulteriorem sortitus Hispaniam retinentes creditores interuentu sponsorum remouit ac neque more neque iure , ante quam prouinciae ornarentur , profectus est : incertum metune iudicii , quod priuato parabatur , an quo maturius sociis inplorantibus subueniret ; pacataque prouincia pari festinatione , non expectato successore ad triumphum simul consulatumque decessit . sed cum edictis iam comitis ratio eius haberi non posset nisi priuatus introisset urbem , et ambienti ut legibus solueretur multi contra dicerent , coactus est triumphum , ne consulatu excluderetur , dimittere .	At the expiration of his praetorship he obtained by lot the Farther- Spain, and pacified his creditors, who were for detaining him, by finding sureties for his debts. Contrary, however, to both law and custom, he took his departure before the usual equipage and outfit were prepared. It is uncertain whether this precipitancy arose from the apprehension of an impeachment, with which he was threatened on the expiration of his former office, or from his anxiety to lose no time in relieving the allies, who implored him to come to their aid. He had no sooner established tranquillity in the province, than, without waiting for the arrival of his successor, he returned to Rome, with equal haste, to sue for a triumph, and the consulship. The day of election, however, being already fixed by proclamation, he could not legally be admitted a candidate, unless he entered the city as a private person. On this emergency he solicited a suspension of the laws in his favour; but such an indulgence being strongly opposed, he found himself under the necessity of abandoning all thoughts of a triumph, lest he should be disappointed of the consulship.
19	e duobus consulatus competitoribus , Lucio Lucceio Marcoque Bibulo , Lucceium sibi adiunxit , pactus ut is , quoniam inferior gratia esset pecuniaque polleret , nummos de suo communi nomine per centurias pronuntiaret . qua cognita re optimates , quos metus ceperat nihil non ausurum eum in summo magistratu concordi et consentiente collega , auctores Bibulo fuerunt tantundem pollicendi , ac plerique pecunias contulerunt , ne Catone quidem abnuente eam largitionem e re publica fieri . Igitur cum Bibulo consul creatur . eandem ob causam opera ab optimatibus data est , ut prouinciae futuris consulibus minimi negotii , id est siluae callesque , decernerentur . qua maxime iniuria instinctus omnibus officiis Gnaeum Pompeium adsectatus est offensum patribus , quod Mithridate rege uicto cunctantius confirmarentur acta sua ; Pompeioque Marcum Crassum reconciliauit ueterem inimicum ex consulatu , quem summa discordia simul gesserant ; ac societatem cum utroque iniit , ne quid ageretur in re publica , quod displicuisset ulli e tribus .	Of the two other competitors for the consulship, Lucius Luceius and Marcus Bibulus, he joined with the former, upon condition that Luceius, being a man of less interest, but greater affluence, should promise money to the electors, in their joint names. Upon which the party of the nobles, dreading how far he might carry matters in that high office, with a colleague disposed to concur in and second his measures, advised Bibulus to promise the voters as much as the other; and most of them contributed towards the expense, Cato himself admitting that bribery, under such circumstances, was for the public good. He was accordingly elected consul jointly with Bibulus. Actuated still by the same motives, the prevailing party took care to assign provinces of small importance to the new consuls, such as the care of the woods and roads. Caesar, incensed at this indignity, endeavoured by the most assiduous and flattering attentions to gain to his side Cneius Pompey, at that time dissatisfied with the senate for the backwardness they showed to confirm his acts, after his victories over Mithridates. He likewise brought about a reconciliation between Pompey and Marcus Crassus, who had been at variance from the time of their joint consulship. in which office they were continually clashing; and he entered into an agreement with both, that nothing should be transacted in the government, which was displeasing to any of the three.
20	inito honore primus omnium instituit , ut tam senatus quam populi diurna acta confierent et publicarentur . antiquum etiam rettulit morem , ut quo mense fasces non haberet , accensus ante eum iret , lictores pone sequerentur . lege autem agraria promulgata obnuntiantem collegam armis foro expulit ac postero die in senatu conquestum nec quoquam reperto , qui super tali consternatione referre aut censere aliquid auderet , qualia multa saepe in leuioribus turbis decreta erant , in eam coegit desperationem , ut , quoad potestate abiret , domo abditus nihil aliud quam per edicta obnuntiaret . Vnus ex eo tempore omnia in re publica et ad arbitrium administrauit , ut nonnulli urbanorum , cum quid per iocum testandi gratia signarent , non Caesare et Bibulo , sed Iulio et Caesare consulibus actum scriberent bis eundem praeponentes nomine atque cognomine , utque uulgo mox ferrentur hi uersus : non Bibulo quiddam nuper sed Caesare factum est : nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini . campum Stellatem maioribus consecratum agrumque Campanum ad subsidia rei publicae uectigalem relictum diuisit extra sortem ad uiginti milibus ciuium , quibus terni pluresue liberi essent . publicanos remissionem petentis tertia mercedum parte releuauit ac , ne in locatione nouorum uectigalium inmoderatius licerentur , propalam monuit . cetera item , quae cuique libuissent , dilargitus est contra dicente nullo ac , si conaretur quis , absterrito . Marcum Catonem interpellantem extrahi curia per lictorem ducique in carcerem iussit . Lucio Lucullo liberius resistenti tantum calumniarum metum iniecit , ut ad genua ultro sibi accideret . Cicerone in iudicio quodam deplorante temporum statum Publium Clodium inimicum eius , frustra iam pridem a patribus ad plebem transire nitentem , eodem die horaque nona transduxit . postremo in uniuersos diuersae factionis indicem inductum praemiis , ut se de inferenda Pompeio nece sollicitatum a quibusdam profiteretur productusque pro rostris auctores ex conpacto nominaret ; sed uno atque altero frustra nec sine suspicione fraudis nominatis desperans tam praecipitis consilii euentum intercepisse ueneno indicem creditur .	Having entered upon his office, he introduced a new regulation, that the daily acts both of the senate and people should be committed to writing, and published. He also revived an old custom, that an officer should precede him, and his lictors follow him, on the alternate months when the fasces were not carried before him. Upon preferring a bill to the people for the division of some public lands, he was opposed by his colleague, whom he violently drove out of the forum. Next day the insulted consul made a complaint in the senate of this treatment; but such was the consternation, that no one having the courage to bring the matter forward or move a censure, which had been often done under outrages of less importance, he was so much dispirited, that until the expiration of his office he never stirred from home, and did nothing but issue edicts to obstruct his colleague's proceedings. From that time, therefore, Caesar had the sole management of public affairs; insomuch that some wags, when they signed any instrument as witnesses, did not add " in the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus," but, "of Julius and Caesar;" putting the same person down twice, under his name and surname. The following verses likewise were currently repeated on this occasion: Non Bibulo quidquam nuper, sed Caesare factum est; Nam Bibulo fieri consule nil memini. Nothing was done in Bibulus's year: No; Caesar only then was consul here. The land of Stellas, consecrated by our ancestors to the gods, with some other lands in Campania left subject to tribute, for the support of the expenses of the government, he divided, but not by lot, among upwards of twenty thousand freemen, who had each of them three or more children. He eased the publicans, upon their petition, of a third part of the sum which they had engaged to pay into the public treasury; and openly admonished them not to bid so extravagantly upon the next occasion. He made various profuse grants to meet the wishes of others, no one opposing him; or if any such attempt was made, it was soon suppressed. Marcus Cato, who interrupted him in his proceedings, he ordered to be dragged out of the senate-house by a lictor, and carried to prison. Lucius Lucullus, likewise, for opposing him with some warmth. he so terrified with the apprehension of being criminated, that to deprecate the consul's resentment, he fell on his knees. And upon Cicero's lamenting in some trial the miserable condition of the times, he the very same day, by nine o'clock, transferred his enemy, Publius Clodius, from a patrician to a plebeian family; a change which he had long solicited in vain. At last, effectually to intimidate all those of the opposite party, he by great rewards prevailed upon Vettius to declare, that he had been solicited by certain persons to assassinate Pompey; and when he was brought before the rostra to name those who had been concerted between them, after naming one or two to no purpose, not without great suspicion of subornation, Caesar, despairing of success in this rash stratagem, is supposed to have taken off his informer by poison.
21	Sub idem tempus Calpurniam L . Pisonis filiam successuri sibi in consulatu duxit uxorem suamque , Iuliam , Gnaeo Pompeio conlocauit repudiato priore sponso Seruilio Caepione , cuius uel praecipua opera paulo ante Bibulum inpugnauerat . ac post nouam adfinitatem Pompeium primum rogare sententiam coepit , cum Crassum soleret essetque consuetudo , ut quem ordinem interrogandi sententias consul Kal . Ianuariis instituisset , eum toto anno conseruaret .	About the same time he married Calpurnia, the daughter of Lucius Piso, who was to succeed him in the consulship, and gave his own daughter Julia to Cneius Pompey; rejecting Servilius Caepio, to whom she had been contracted, and by whose means chiefly he had but a little before baffled Bibulus. After this new alliance, he began, upon any debates in the senate, to ask Pompey's opinion first, whereas he used before to give that distinction to Marcus Crassus; and it was the usual practice for the consul to observe throughout the year the method of consulting the senate which he had adopted on the calends (the first) of January.
22	Socero igitur generoque suffragantibus ex omni prouinciarum copia Gallias potissimum elegit , † cuius emolumento et oportunitate idonea sit materia triumphorum . et initio quidem Galliam Cisalpinam Illyrico adiecto lege Vatinia accepit ; mox per senatum Comatam quoque , ueritis patribus ne , si ipsi negassent , populus et hanc daret . quo gaudio elatus non temperauit , quin paucos post dies frequenti curia iactaret , inuitis et gementibus aduersaris adeptum se quae concupisset , proinde ex eo insultaturum omnium capitibus ; ac negante quodam per contumeliam facile hoc ulli feminae fore , responderit quasi adludens : in Suria quoque regnasse Sameramin magnamque Asiae partem Amazonas tenuisse quondam .	Being, therefore, now supported by the interest of his father-in-law and son-in-law, of all the provinces he made choice of Gaul, as most likely to furnish him with matter and occasion for triumphs. At first indeed he received only Cisalpine- Gaul, with the addition of Illyricum, by a decree proposed by Vatinius to the people; but soon afterwards obtained from the senate Gallia-Comata also, the senators being apprehensive, that if they should refuse it to him, that province, also, would be granted him by the people. Elated now with his success, he could not refrain from boasting, a few days afterwards, in a full senate-house, that he had, in spite of his enemies, and to their great mortification, obtained all he desired, and that for the future he would make them, to their shame, submissive to his pleasure. One of the senators observing, sarcastically: "That will not be very easy for a woman to do," he jocosely replied, "Semiramis formerly reigned in Assyria, and the Amazons possessed great part of Asia."
23	Functus consulatu Gaio Memmio Lucioque Domitio praetoribus de superioris anni actis referentibus cognitionem senatui detulit ; nec illo suscipiente triduoque per inritas altercationes absumpto in prouinciam abiit . et statim quaestor eius in praeiudicium aliquot criminibus arreptus est . mox et ipse a Lucio Antistio tr . pl . postulatus appellato demum collegio optinuit , cum rei publicae causa abesset reus ne fieret . ad securitatem ergo posteri temporis in magno negotio habuit obligare semper annuos magistratus et e petitoribus non alios adiuuare aut ad honorem pati peruenire , quam qui sibi recepissent propugnaturos absentiam suam ; cuius pacti non dubitauit a quibusdam ius iurandum atque etiam syngrapham exigere .	When the term of his consulship had expired, upon a motion being made in the senate by Caius Memmius and Lucius Domitius, the praetors, respecting the transactions of the year past, he offered to refer himself to the house; but they declining the business, after three days spent in vain altercation, he set out for his province. Immediately, however, his quaestor was charged with several misdemeanors, for the purpose of implicating Caesar himself. Indeed, an accusation was soon after preferred against him by Lucius Antistius, tribune of the people; but by making an appeal to the tribune's colleagues, he succeeded in having the prosecution suspended during this absence in the service of the state. To secure himself, therefore, for the time to come, he was particularly careful to secure the good-will of the magistrates at the annual elections, assisting none of the candidates with his interest, nor suffering any persons to be advanced to any office, who would not positively undertake to defend him in his absence: for which purpose he made no scruple to require of some of them an oath, and even a written obligation.
24	sed cum Lucius Domitius consulatus candidatus palam minaretur consulem se effecturum quod praetor nequisset adempturumque ei exercitus , Crassum Pompeiumque in urbem prouinciae suae Lucam extractos conpulit , ut detrudendi Domitii causa consulatum alterum peterent , perfecitque † utrumque , ut in quinquennium sibi imperium prorogaretur . qua fiducia ad legiones , quas a re publica acceperat , alias priuato sumptu addidit , unam etiam ex Transalpinis conscriptam , uocabulo quoque Gallico — Alauda enim appellabatur —, quam disciplina cultuque Romano institutam et ornatam postea uniuersam ciuitate donauit . nec deinde ulla belli occasione , ne iniusti quidem ac periculosi abstinuit , tam foederatis quam infestis ac feris gentibus ultro lacessitis , adeo ut senatus quondam legatos ad explorandum statum Galliarum mittendos decreuerit ac nonnulli dedendum eum hostibus censuerint . sed prospere cedentibus rebus et saepius et plurium quam quisquam umquam dierum supplicationes impetrauit .	But when Lucius Domitius became a candidate for the consulship, and openly threatened that, upon his being elected consul, he would effect that which he could not accomplish when he was praetor, and divest him of the command of the armies, he sent for Crassus and Pompey to Lucca, a city in his province, and pressed them, for the purpose of disappointing Domitius, to sue again for the consulship, and to continue him in his command for five years longer: with both which requisitions they complied. Presumptuous now with his success, he added, at his own private charge, more legions to those which he had received from the republic; among the former of which was one levied in Transalpine Gaul, and called by a Gallic name, Alauda, which he trained and armed in the Roman fashion, and afterwards conferred on it the freedom of the city. From this period he declined no occasion of war, however unjust and dangerous; attacking, without any provocation, as well the allies of Rome as the barbarous nations which were its enemies: insomuch, that the senate passed a decree for sending commissioners to examine into the condition of Gaul; and some members even proposed that he should be delivered up to the enemy. But so great had been the success of his enterprises, that he had the honour of obtaining more days of supplication, and those more frequently, than had ever before been decreed to any commander.
25	gessit autem nouem annis , quibus in imperio fuit , haec fere . Omnem Galliam , quae saltu Pyrenaeo Alpibusque et monte Cebenna , fluminibus Rheno ac Rhodano continetur patetque circuitu ad bis et tricies centum milia passuum , praeter socias ac bene meritas ciuitates in prouinciae formam redegit , eique cccc in singulos annos stipendii nomine inposuit . Germanos , qui trans Rhenum incolunt , primus Romanorum ponte fabricato adgressus maximis adfecit cladibus ; adgressus est et Britannos ignotos antea superatisque pecunias et obsides imperauit ; per tot successus ter nec amplius aduersum casum expertus : in Britannia classe ui tempestatis prope absumpta et in Gallia ad Gergouiam legione fusa et in Germanorum finibus Titurio et Aurunculeio legatis per insidias caesis .	During nine years in which he held the government of the province, his achievements were as follows: he reduced all Gaul, bounded by the Pyrenean forest, the Alps, mount Gebenna, and the two rivers, the Rhine and the Rhone, and being about three thousand two hundred miles in compass, into the form of a province, excepting only the nations in alliance with the republic, and such as had merited his favour; imposing upon this new acquisition an annual tribute of forty millions of sesterces. He was the first of the Romans who, crossing the Rhine by a bridge, attacked the Germanic tribes inhabiting the country beyond that river, whom he defeated in several engagements. He also invaded the Britons, a people formerly unknown, and having vanquished them, exacted from them contributions and hostages. Amidst such a series of successes, he experienced thrice only any signal disaster; once in Britain, when his fleet was nearly wrecked in a storm; in Gaul, at Gergovia, where one of his legions was put to the rout; and in the territory of the Germans, his lieutenants Titurius and Aurunculeius were cut off by an ambuscade.
26	Eodem temporis spatio matrem primo , deinde filiam , nec multo post nepotem amisit . inter quae , consternata Publi Clodi caede re publica , cum senatus unum consulem nominatimque Gnaeum Pompeium fieri censuisset , egit cum tribunis plebis collegam se Pompeio destinantibus , id potius ad populum ferrent , ut absenti sibi , quandoque imperii tempus expleri coepisset , petitio secundi consulatus daretur , ne ea causa maturius et inperfecto adhuc bello decederet . quod ut adeptus est , altiora iam meditans et spei plenus nullum largitionis aut officiorum in quemquam genus publice priuatimque omisit . forum de manubiis incohauit , cuius area super sestertium milies constitit . munus populo epulumque pronuntiauit in filiae memoriam , quod ante eum nemo . quorum ut quam maxima expectatio esset , ea quae ad epulum pertinerent , quamuis macellaris ablocata , etiam domesticatim apparabat . gladiatores notos , sicubi infestis spectatoribus dimicarent , ui rapiendos reseruandosque mandabat . tirones neque in ludo neque per lanistas , sed in domibus per equites Romanos atque etiam per senatores armorum peritos erudiebat , precibus enitens , quod epistulis eius ostenditur , ut disciplinam singulorum susciperent ipsique dictata exercentibus darent . legionibus stipendium in perpetuum duplicauit . frumentum , quotiens copia esset , etiam sine modo mensuraque praebuit ac singula interdum mancipia e praeda uiritim dedit .	During this period he lost his mother, whose death was followed by that of his daughter, and, not long afterwards, of his granddaughter. Meanwhile, the republic being in consternation at the murder of Publius Clodius, and the senate passing a vote that only one consul, namely, Cneius Pompeius, should be chosen for the ensuing year, he prevailed with the tribunes of the people, who intended joining him in nomination with Pompey, to propose to the people a bill, enabling him, though absent, to become a candidate for his second consulship, when the term of his command should be near expiring, that he might not be obliged on that account to quit his province too soon, and before the conclusion of the war. Having attained this object, carrying his views still higher, and animated with the hopes of success, he omitted no opportunity of gaining universal favour, by acts of liberality and kindness to individuals, both in public and private. With money raised from the spoils of the war, he began to construct a new forum, the ground-plot of which cost him above a hundred millions of sesterces. He promised the people a public entertainment of gladiators, and a feast in memory of his daughter, such as no one before him had ever given. The more to raise their expectations on this occasion, although he had agreed with victuallers of all denominations for his feast, he made yet farther preparations in private houses. He issued an order, that the most celebrated gladiators, if at any time during the combat they incurred the displeasure of the public, should be immediately carried off by force, and reserved for some future occasion. Young gladiators he trained up, not in the school, and by the masters, of defence, but in the houses of Roman knights, and even senators, skilled in the use of arms, earnestly requesting them, as appears from his letters, to undertake the discipline of those novitiates, and to give them the word during their exercises. He doubled the pay of the legions in perpetuity; allowing them likewise corn, when it was in plenty, without any restriction; and sometimes distributing to every soldier in his army a slave, and a portion of land.
27	ad retinendam autem Pompei necessitudinem ac uoluntatem Octauiam sororis suae neptem , quae Gaio Marcello nupta erat , condicionem ei detulit sibique filiam eius in matrimonium petit Fausto Sullae destinatam . omnibus uero circa eum atque etiam parte magna senatus gratuito aut leui faenore obstrictis , ex reliquo quoque ordinum genere uel inuitatos uel sponte ad se commeantis uberrimo congiario prosequebatur , libertos insuper seruulosque cuiusque , prout domino patronoue gratus qui esset . tum reorum aut obaeratorum aut prodigae iuuentutis subsidium unicum ac promptissimum erat , nisi quos grauior criminum uel inopiae luxuriaeue uis urgeret , quam ut subueniri posset a se ; his plane palam bello ciuili opus esse dicebat .	To maintain his alliance, and good understanding with Pompey, he offered him in marriage his sister's grand-daughter Octavia, who had been married to Caius Marcellus; and requested for himself his daughter, lately contracted to Faustus Sylla. Every person about him, and a great part likewise of the senate, he secured by loans of money at low interest, or none at all; and to all others who came to wait upon him, either by invitation or of their own accord, he made liberal presents; not neglecting even the freedmen and slaves, who were favourites with their masters and patrons. He offered also singular and ready aid to all who were under prosecution, or in debt, and to prodigal youths; excluding from his bounty those only who were so deeply plunged in guilt, poverty, or luxury, that it was impossible effectually to relieve them. These, he openly declared, could derive no benefit from any other means than a civil war.
28	nec minore studio reges atque prouincias per terrarum orbem adliciebat , aliis captiuorum milia dono offerens , aliis citra senatus populique auctoritatem , quo uellent et quotiens uellent , auxilia submittens , superque Italiae Galliarumque et Hispaniarum , Asiae quoque et Graeciae potentissimas urbes praecipuis operibus exornans ; donec , attonitis iam omnibus et quorsum illa tenderent reputantibus , Marcus Claudius Marcellus consul edicto praefatus , de summa se re publica acturum , rettulit ad senatum , ut ei succederetur ante tempus , quoniam bello confecto pax esset ac dimitti deberet uictor exercitus ; et ne absentis ratio comitiis haberetur , quando nec plebi scito Pompeius postea abrogasset . acciderat autem , ut is legem de iure magistratuum ferens eo capite , quo petitione honorum absentis submouebat , ne Caesarem quidem exciperet per obliuionem , ac mox lege iam in aes incisa et in aerarium condita corrigeret errorem . nec contentus Marcellus prouincias Caesari et priuilegium eripere , rettulit etiam , ut colonis , quos rogatione Vatinia Nouum Comum deduxisset , ciuitas adimeretur , quod per ambitionem et ultra praescriptum data esset .	He endeavoured with equal assiduity to engage in his interest princes and provinces in every part of the world: presenting some with thousands of captives, and sending to others the assistance of troops, at whatever time and place they desired, without any authority from either the senate or people of Rome. He likewise embellished with magnificent public buildings the most powerful cities not only of Italy, Gaul, and Spain, but of Greece and Asia; until all people being now astonished, and speculating on the obvious tendency of these proceedings, Claudius Marcellus, the consul, declaring first by proclamation, that he intended to propose a measure of the utmost importance to the state, made a motion in the senate that some person should be appointed to succeed Caesar in his province, before the term of his command was expired; because the war being brought to a conclusion, peace was restored, and the victorious army ought to be disbanded. He further moved, that Caesar being absent, his claims to be a candidate at the next election of consuls, should not be admitted, as Pompey himself had afterwards abrogated that privilege by a decree of the people. The fact was, that Pompey, in his law relating to the choice of chief magistrates, had forgot to except Caesar, in the article in which he declared all such as were not present incapable of being candidates for any office; but soon afterwards, when the law was inscribed on brass, and deposited in the treasury, he corrected his mistake. Marcellus, not content with depriving Caesar of his provinces, and the privilege intended him by Pompey, likewise moved the senate, that the freedom of the city should be taken from those colonists whom, by the Vatinian law, he had settled at New Como; because it had been conferred upon them with ambitious views, and by a stretch of the laws.
29	Commotus his Caesar ac iudicans , quod saepe ex eo auditum ferunt , difficilius se principem ciuitatis a primo ordine in secundum quam ex secundo in nouissimum detrudi , summa ope restitit , partim per intercessores tribunos , partim per Seruium Sulpicium alterum consulem . insequenti quoque anno Gaio Marcello , qui fratri patrueli suo Marco in consulatu successerat , eadem temptante collegam eius Aemilium Paulum Gaiumque Curionem uiolentissimum tribunorum ingenti mercede defensores parauit . sed cum obstinatius omnia agi uideret et designatos etiam consules e parte diuersa , senatum litteris deprecatus est , ne sibi beneficium populi adimeretur , aut ut ceteri quoque imperatores ab exercitibus discederent ; confisus , ut putant , facilius se , simul atque libuisset , ueteranos conuocaturum quam Pompeium nouos milites . cum aduersariis autem pepigit , ut dimissis octo legionibus Transalpinaque Gallia duae sibi legiones et Cisalpina prouincia uel etiam una legio cum Illyrico concederetur , quoad consul fieret .	Roused by these proceedings, and thinking, as he was often heard to say, that it would be a more difficult enterprise to reduce him, now that he was the chief man in the state, from the first rank of citizens to the second, than from the second to the lowest of all, Caesar made a vigorous opposition to the measure, partly by means of the tribunes, who interposed in his behalf, and partly through Servius Sulpicius, the other consul. The following year likewise, when Caius Marcellus, who succeeded his cousin Marcus in the consulship, pursued the same course, Caesar, by means of an immense bribe, engaged in his defence AEmilius Paulus, the other consul, and Caius Curio, the most violent of the tribunes. But finding the opposition obstinately bent against him, and that the consuls-elect were also of that party, he wrote a letter to the senate, requesting that they would not deprive him of the privilege kindly granted him by the people; or else that the other generals should resign the command of their armies as well as himself; fully persuaded, as it is thought, that he could more easily collect his veteran soldiers, whenever he pleased, than Pompey could his new-raised troops. At the same time, he made his adversaries an offer to disband eight of his legions and give up Transalpine-Gaul, on condition that he might retain two legions, with the Cisalpine province, or but one legion with Illyricum, until he should be elected consul.
30	uerum neque senatu interueniente et aduersariis negantibus ullam se de re publica facturos pactionem , transiit in citeriorem Galliam , conuentibusque peractis Rauennae substitit , bello uindicaturus si quid de tribunis plebis intercedentibus pro se grauius a senatu constitutum esset . Et praetextum quidem illi ciuilium armorum hoc fuit ; causas autem alias fuisse opinantur . Gnaeus Pompeius ita dictitabat , quod neque opera consummare , quae instituerat , neque populi expectationem , quam de aduentu suo fecerat , priuatis opibus explere posset , turbare omnia ac permiscere uoluisse . alii timuisse dicunt , ne eorum , quae primo consulatu aduersus auspicia legesque et intercessiones gessisset , rationem reddere cogeretur ; cum M . Cato identidem nec sine iure iurando denuntiaret delaturum se nomen eius , simul ac primum exercitum dimisisset ; cumque uulgo fore praedicarent , ut si priuatus redisset , Milonis exemplo circumpositis armatis causam apud iudices diceret . quod probabilius facit Asinius Pollio , Pharsalica acie caesos profligatosque aduersarios prospicientem haec eum ad uerbum dixisse referens : ' hoc uoluerunt ; tantis rebus gestis Gaius Caesar condemnatus essem , nisi ab exercitu auxilium petissem .' quidam putant captum imperii consuetudine pensitatisque suis et inimicorum uiribus usum occasione rapiendae dominationis , quam aetate prima concupisset . quod existimasse uidebatur et Cicero scribens de Officiis tertio libro semper Caesarem in ore habuisse Euripidis uersus , quos sic ipse conuertit : nam si uiolandum est ius , regnandi gratia uiolandum est : aliis rebus pietatem colas .	But as the senate declined to interpose in the business, and his enemies declared that they would enter into no compromise where the safety of the republic was at stake, he advanced into Hither-Gaul, and, having gone to the circuit for the administration of justice, made a halt at Ravenna, resolved to have recourse to arms if the senate should proceed to extremity against the tribunes of the people who had espoused his cause. This was indeed his pretext for the civil war; but it is supposed that there were other motives for his conduct. Cneius Pompey used frequently to say, that he sought to throw every thing into confusion, because he was unable, with all his private wealth, to complete the works he had begun, and answer, at his return, the vast expectations which he had excited in the people. Others pretend that he was apprehensive of being called to account for what he had done in his protests of the tribunes; Marcus Cato having sometimes declared, and that, too, with an oath, that he would prefer an impeachment against him, as soon as he disbanded his ·army. A report likewise prevailed, that if he returned as a private person, he would, like Milo, have to plead his cause before the judges, surrounded by armed men. This conjecture is rendered highly probable by Asinius Pollio, who informs us that Caesar, upon viewing the vanquished and slaughtered enemy in the field of Pharsalia, expressed himself in these very words: " This was their intention: I, Caius Caesar, after all the great achievements I had performed, must have been condemned, had I not summoned the army to my aid !" Some think, that having contracted from long habit an extraordinary love of power, and having weighed his own and his enemies' strength, he embraced that occasion of usurping the supreme power; which indeed he had coveted from the time of his youth. This seems to have been the opinion entertained by Cicero, who tells us, in the third book of his Offices, that Caesar used to have frequently in his mouth two verses of Euripides, which he thus translates: Nam si violandum est jus, regnandi gratia Violandum est: aiis rebus pietatem colas. Be just, unless a kingdom tempts to break the laws, For sovereign power alone can justify the cause.