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Original Source: Plutarch - Lives - Caesar (view source)
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'''Digital Source Acknowledgement:''' The Perseus Digital Library is acknowledged as the digital source consulted for the Greek text. Its canonical Greek literature repository distributes digital materials under a [[Creative Commons]] Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 notice. That notice does not confer copyright over Plutarch's public-domain literary work, nor does the act of transcribing an existing public-domain text, by itself, create a new copyright in the underlying words. This edition uses the underlying Greek text rather than the repository's XML encoding or digital presentation. No claim is made that the public-domain source text is subject to the Perseus licence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit|title=Canonical Greek Literature: Repository and Licence Information|publisher=Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University}}</ref>
'''Digital Source Acknowledgement:''' The Perseus Digital Library is acknowledged as the digital source consulted for the Greek text. Its canonical Greek literature repository distributes digital materials under a [[Creative Commons]] Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 notice. That notice does not confer copyright over Plutarch's public-domain literary work, nor does the act of transcribing an existing public-domain text, by itself, create a new copyright in the underlying words. This edition uses the underlying Greek text rather than the repository's XML encoding or digital presentation. No claim is made that the public-domain source text is subject to the Perseus licence.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://github.com/PerseusDL/canonical-greekLit|title=Canonical Greek Literature: Repository and Licence Information|publisher=Perseus Digital Library, Tufts University}}</ref>
==E01 - Caesar and Sulla==
'''[1]''' The wife of [[Gaius Julius Caesar|Caesar]] was [[Cornelia (wife of Caesar)|Cornelia]], the daughter of [[Lucius Cornelius Cinna|Cinna]] who had once held the sole power at [[Rome]], and when [[Lucius Cornelius Sulla|Sulla]] became master of affairs, he could not, either by promises or threats, induce Caesar to put her away, and therefore confiscated her dowry. Now, the reason for Caesar’s hatred of Sulla was Caesar’s relationship to [[Gaius Marius|Marius]]. For [[Julia (wife of Gaius Marius)|Julia]], a sister of Caesar’s father, was the wife of Marius the Elder, and the mother of [[Gaius Marius the Younger|Marius the Younger]], who was therefore Caesar’s cousin.
'''[2]''' Moreover, Caesar was not satisfied to be overlooked at first by Sulla, who was busy with a multitude of [[proscription]]s, but he came before the people as candidate for a [[priesthood]], although he was not yet much more than a stripling. To this candidacy Sulla secretly opposed himself, and took measures to make Caesar fail in it, and when he was deliberating about putting him to death and some said there was no reason for killing a mere boy like him, he declared that they had no sense if they did not see in this boy many Mariuses.
'''[3]''' When this speech was reported to Caesar, he hid himself for some time, wandering about in the country of the [[Sabines]]. Then, as he was changing his abode by night on account of sickness, he fell in with soldiers of Sulla who were searching those regions and arresting the men in hiding there. Caesar gave their leader, Cornelius, two [[talent]]s to set him free, and at once went down to the sea and sailed to King [[Nicomedes IV of Bithynia|Nicomedes]] in [[Bithynia]].
'''[4]''' With him he tarried a short time, and then, on his voyage back, was captured, near the island [[Pharmacusa]], by [[pirates]], who already at that time controlled the sea with large armaments and countless small vessels.
==E02 - The Pirates==
'''[1]''' To begin with, then, when the pirates demanded twenty talents for his ransom, he laughed at them for not knowing who their captive was, and of his own accord agreed to give them fifty. In the next place, after he had sent various followers to various cities to procure the money and was left with one friend and two attendants among [[Cilician pirates|Cilicians]], most murderous of men, he held them in such disdain that whenever he lay down to sleep he would send and order them to stop talking.
'''[2]''' For eight and thirty days, as if the men were not his watchers, but his royal body-guard, he shared in their sports and exercises with great unconcern. He also wrote poems and sundry speeches which he read aloud to them, and those who did not admire these he would call to their faces illiterate [[Barbarians]], and often laughingly threatened to hang them all.
'''[3]''' The pirates were delighted at this, and attributed his boldness of speech to a certain simplicity and boyish mirth. But after his ransom had come from [[Miletus]] and he had paid it and was set free, he immediately manned vessels and put to sea from the harbour of Miletus against the robbers. He caught them, too, still lying at anchor off the island, and got most of them into his power. Their money he made his booty, but the men themselves he lodged in the prison at [[Pergamum]], and then went in person to [[Junius (governor of Asia)|Junius]], the governor of [[Asia (Roman province)|Asia]], on the ground that it belonged to him, as [[praetor]] of the province, to punish the captives.
'''[4]''' But since the praetor cast longing eyes on their money, which was no small sum, and kept saying that he would consider the case of the captives at his leisure, Caesar left him to his own devices, went to Pergamum, took the robbers out of prison, and crucified them all, just as he had often warned them on the island that he would do, when they thought he was joking.
==E03 - Rhodes and Oratory==
'''[1]''' After this, Sulla’s power being now on the wane, and Caesar’s friends at home inviting him to return, Caesar sailed to [[Rhodes]] to study under [[Apollonius Molon|Apollonius]] the son of Molon, an illustrious [[rhetorician]] with the reputation of a worthy character, of whom [[Cicero]] also was a pupil. It is said, too, that Caesar had the greatest natural talent for political [[oratory]], and cultivated his talent most ambitiously, so that he had an undisputed second rank; the first rank, however, he renounced, because he devoted his efforts to being first as a statesman and commander rather,
'''[2]''' and did not achieve that effectiveness in oratory to which his natural talent directed him, in consequence of his campaigns and of his political activities, by means of which he acquired the supremacy. And so it was that, at a later time, in his reply to Cicero’s ''Cato,'' he himself deprecated comparison between the diction of a soldier and the eloquence of an orator who was gifted by nature and had plenty of leisure to pursue his studies.
==E04 - Caesar the Advocate==
'''[1]''' After his return to Rome he impeached [[Gnaeus Cornelius Dolabella|Dolabella]] for maladministration of his province, and many of the cities of [[Greece]] supplied him with testimony. Dolabella, it is true, was acquitted, but Caesar, in return for the zealous efforts of the Greeks in his behalf, served as their advocate when they prosecuted [[Publius Antonius]] for corruption before [[Marcus Lucullus]], the praetor of [[Macedonia]].
'''[2]''' And he was so effective that Antonius appealed to the [[tribune of the plebs|tribunes]] at Rome, alleging that he could not have a fair trial in Greece against Greeks. At Rome, moreover, Caesar won a great and brilliant popularity by his eloquence as an advocate, and much good will from the common people for the friendliness of his manners in intercourse with them, since he was ingratiating beyond his years.
'''[3]''' He had also a large and gradually increasing political influence, in consequence of his lavish hospitality and the general splendour of his mode of life. At first his enemies thought this influence would quickly vanish when his expenditures ceased, and therefore suffered it to thrive among the common people; but later on when it had become great and hard to subvert, and aimed directly at a complete revolution in the state, they perceived that no beginnings should be considered too small to be quickly made great by continuance, after, contempt of them has left them unobstructed.
'''[4]''' At all events, the man who is thought to have been the first to see beneath the surface of Caesar’s public policy and to fear it, as one might fear the smiling surface of the sea, and who comprehended the powerful character hidden beneath his kindly and cheerful exterior, namely Cicero, said that in most of Caesar’s political plans and projects he saw a tyrannical purpose; “On the other hand,” said he, “when I look at his hair, which is arranged with so much nicety, and see him scratching his head with one finger, I cannot think that this man would ever conceive of so great a crime as the overthrow of the [[Roman constitution]].” This, it is true, belongs to a later period.
==E05 - Caesar’s Popularity==
'''[1]''' The first proof of the people’s good will towards him he received when he competed against [[Caius Popilius]] for a [[military tribune|military tribuneship]] and was elected over him; a second and more conspicuous proof he received when, as nephew of Julia the deceased wife of Marius, he pronounced a splendid [[funeral oration|encomium]] upon her in the [[Forum Romanum|forum]], and in her funeral procession ventured to display images of Marius, which were then seen for the first time since the administration of Sulla, because Marius and his friends had been pronounced public enemies.
'''[2]''' When, namely, some cried out against Caesar for this procedure, the people answered them with loud shouts, received Caesar with applause, and admired him for bringing back after so long a time, as it were from [[Hades]], the honours of Marius into the city. Now, in the case of elderly women, it was ancient Roman usage to pronounce funeral orations over them; but it was not customary in the case of young women, and Caesar was the first to do so when his own wife died. This also brought him much favour, and worked upon the sympathies of the multitude, so that they were fond of him, as a man who was gentle and full of feeling.
'''[3]''' After the funeral of his wife, he went out to Spain as [[quaestor]] under [[Vetus]], one of the praetors, whom he never ceased to hold in high esteem, and whose son, in turn, when he himself was praetor, he made his quaestor. After he had served in this office, he married for his third wife [[Pompeia (wife of Caesar)|Pompeia]], having already by Cornelia a daughter who was afterwards married to [[Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus|Pompey the Great]].
'''[4]''' He was unsparing in his outlays of money, and was thought to be purchasing a transient and short-lived fame at a great price, though in reality he was buying things of the highest value at a small price. We are told, accordingly, that before he entered upon any public office he was thirteen hundred talents in debt.
'''[5]''' Again, being appointed curator of the [[Appian Way]], he expended upon it vast sums of his own money; and again, during his [[aedileship]], he furnished three hundred and twenty pairs of [[gladiator]]s, and by lavish provision besides for theatrical performances, processions, and public banquets, he washed away all memory of the ambitious efforts of his predecessors in the office. By these means he put the people in such a humour that every man of them was seeking out new offices and new honours with which to requite him.
==E06 - Honours for Marius==
'''[1]''' There were two parties in the city, that of Sulla, which had been all powerful since his day, and that of Marius, which at that time was in an altogether lowly state, being cowed and scattered. This party Caesar wished to revive and attach to himself, and therefore, when the ambitious efforts of his aedileship were at their height, he had images of Marius secretly made, together with trophy-bearing [[Victoria (mythology)|Victories]], and these he ordered to be carried by night and set up on the [[Capitoline Hill|Capitol]].
'''[2]''' At day-break those who beheld all these objects glittering with gold and fashioned with the most exquisite art (and they bore inscriptions setting forth the [[Cimbri]]an successes of Marius) were amazed at the daring of the man who had set them up (for it was evident who had done it), and the report of it quickly spreading brought everybody together for the sight.
'''[3]''' But some cried out that Caesar was scheming to usurp sole power in the state when he thus revived honours which had been buried by laws and decrees, and that this proceeding was a test of the people, whose feelings towards him he had previously softened, to see whether they had been made docile by his ambitious displays and would permit him to amuse himself with such innovations. The partisans of Marius, however, encouraged one another and showed themselves on a sudden in amazing numbers, and filled the Capitol with their applause.
'''[4]''' Many, too, were moved to tears of joy when they beheld the features of Marius, and Caesar was highly extolled by them, and regarded as above all others worthy of his kinship with Marius. But when the [[Roman Senate|senate]] met to discuss these matters, [[Quintus Lutatius Catulus|Catulus Lutatius]], a man of the highest repute at that time in Rome, rose up and denounced Caesar, uttering the memorable words: “No longer, indeed, by sapping and mining, Caesar, but with engines of war art thou capturing the government.” Caesar, however, defended himself against this charge and convinced the senate, whereupon his admirers were still more elated and exhorted him not to lower his pretensions for any man, since the people would be glad to have him triumph over all opposition and be the first man in the state.
==E07 - The Pontificate and Catiline==
'''[1]''' At this time, too, [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius|Metellus]], the ''[[pontifex maximus]]'', or high priest, died, and though [[Publius Servilius Vatia Isauricus|Isauricus]] and Catulus were candidates for the priesthood, which was an object of great ambition, and though they were most illustrious men and of the greatest influence in the senate, Caesar would not give way to them, but presented himself to the people as a rival candidate.
'''[2]''' The favour of the electors appeared to be about equally divided, and therefore Catulus, who, as the worthier of Caesar’s competitors, dreaded more the uncertainty of the issue, sent and tried to induce Caesar to desist from his ambitious project, offering him large sums of money. But Caesar declared that he would carry the contest through even though he had to borrow still larger sums. The day for the election came, and as Caesar’s mother accompanied him to the door in tears, he kissed her and said: “Mother, today thou shalt see thy son either ''pontifex maximus'' or an exile.”
'''[3]''' The contest was sharp, but when the vote was taken Caesar prevailed, and thereby made the senate and nobles afraid that he would lead the people on to every extreme of recklessness. Therefore [[Lucius Calpurnius Piso Caesoninus|Piso]] and Catulus blamed Cicero for having spared Caesar when, in the affair of [[Catiline]], he gave his enemies a hold upon him.
'''[4]''' Catiline, namely, had purposed not only to subvert the constitution, but to destroy the whole government and throw everything into confusion. He himself, however, was expelled from the city, having been overwhelmed by proofs of lesser iniquities before his most far reaching plans were discovered; but he left [[Publius Cornelius Lentulus Sura|Lentulus]] and [[Gaius Cornelius Cethegus|Cethegus]] behind him in the city to promote the conspiracy in his place. Now, whether or not Caesar secretly gave these men any countenance and help, is uncertain; but after they had been overwhelmingly convicted in the senate, and Cicero the consul asked each senator to give his opinion on the manner of their punishment,
'''[5]''' the rest, down to Caesar, urged that they be put to death, but Caesar rose in his place and delivered a long and studied speech against this. He pleaded that to put to death without legal trial men of high rank and brilliant lineage was not, in his opinion, traditional or just, except under extremest necessity; but that if they should be bound and kept in custody, in such cities of Italy as Cicero himself might elect, until the war against Catiline had been brought to a successful end, the senate could afterwards, in a time of peace and at their leisure, vote upon the case of each one of them.
==E08 - The Conspirators==
'''[1]''' This opinion seemed so humane, and the speech in support of it was made with such power, that not only those who rose to speak after Caesar sided with him, but many also of those who had preceded him took back the opinions which they had expressed and went over to his, until the question came round to [[Cato the Younger|Cato]] and Catulus. These warmly opposed Caesar’s proposal, and Cato even helped to raise suspicion against Caesar by what he said. As a result, the men were handed over to the executioner,
'''[2]''' and many of the young men who at that time formed a body-guard for Cicero ran together with drawn swords and threatened Caesar as he was leaving the senate. But [[Gaius Scribonius Curio|Curio]], as we are told, threw his toga round Caesar and got him away, while Cicero himself, when the young men looked to him for a sign, shook his head, either through fear of the people, or because he thought the murder would be wholly contrary to law and justice.
'''[3]''' Now, if this is true, I do not see why Cicero did not mention it in the treatise on his consulship; however, he was afterwards blamed for not having improved that best of all opportunities for removing Caesar. Instead, he showed a cowardly fear of the people, who were extravagantly attached to Caesar; in fact, a few days afterward, when Caesar came into the senate and tried to defend himself in the matters wherein suspicion had been fixed upon him, and met with a tumult of disapproval, the people, seeing that the session of the senate was lasting a longer time than usual, came up with loud cries and surrounded the senate-house, demanding Caesar, and ordering the senate to let him go.
'''[4]''' It was for this reason, too, that Cato, fearing above all things a revolutionary movement set on foot by the poorer classes, who were setting the whole multitude on fire with the hopes which they fixed upon Caesar, persuaded the senate to assign them a monthly allowance of [[grain dole|grain]], in consequence of which an annual outlay of seven million five hundred thousand drachmas was added to the other expenditures of the state. However, the great fear which prevailed at the time was manifestly quenched by this measure, and the greatest part of Caesar’s power was broken down and dissipated in the nick of time, since he was praetor elect, and would be more formidable on account of his office.
==E09 - The Bona Dea==
'''[1]''' However, there were no disturbances in consequence of Caesar’s praetorship, but an unpleasant incident happened in his family. [[Publius Clodius Pulcher|Publius Clodius]] was a man of patrician birth, and conspicuous for wealth and eloquence, but in insolence and effrontery he surpassed all the notorious scoundrels of his time.
'''[2]''' This man was in love with Pompeia the wife of Caesar, and she was not unwilling. But close watch was kept upon the women’s apartments, and [[Aurelia (mother of Julius Caesar)|Aurelia]], Caesar’s mother, a woman of discretion, would never let the young wife out of her sight, and made it difficult and dangerous for the lovers to have an interview.
'''[3]''' Now, the Romans have a goddess whom they call [[Bona Dea]], corresponding to the Greek [[Gynaeceia]]. The [[Phrygians]] claim this goddess as their own, and say that she was the mother of King [[Midas]]; the Romans say she was a [[Dryad]] nymph and the wife of [[Faunus]]; the Greeks that she was the unnameable one among the mothers of [[Dionysus]]. And this is the reason why the women cover their booths with vine-branches when they celebrate her festival, and why a sacred serpent is enthroned beside the goddess in conformity with the myth. It is not lawful for a man to attend the sacred ceremonies, nor even to be in the house when they are celebrated; but the women, apart by themselves, are said to perform many rites during their sacred service which are [[Orphism|Orphic]] in their character.
'''[4]''' Accordingly, when the time for the festival is at hand, the consul or praetor at whose house it is to be held goes away, and every male with him, while his wife takes possession of the premises and puts them in due array. The most important rites are celebrated by night, when mirth attends the revels, and much music, too, is heard.
==E10 - Clodius and Pompeia==
'''[1]''' At the time of which I speak, Pompeia was celebrating this festival, and Clodius, who was still beardless and on this account thought to pass unnoticed, assumed the dress and implements of a lute-girl and went to the house, looking like a young woman. He found the door open, and was brought in safely by the maid-servant there, who was in the secret;
'''[2]''' but after she had run on ahead to tell Pompeia and some time had elapsed, Clodius had not the patience to wait where he had been left, and so, as he was wandering about in the house (a large one) and trying to avoid the lights, an attendant of Aurelia came upon him and asked him to play with her, as one woman would another, and when he refused, she dragged him forward and asked who he was and whence he came.
'''[3]''' Clodius answered that he was waiting for Pompeia’s [[Abra]] (this was the very name by which the maid was called), and his voice betrayed him. The attendant of Aurelia at once sprang away with a scream to the lights and the throng, crying out that she had caught a man. The women were panic-stricken, and Aurelia put a stop to the mystic rites of the goddess and covered up the emblems. Then she ordered the doors to be closed and went about the house with torches, searching for Clodius.
'''[4]''' He was found where he had taken refuge, in the chamber of the girl who had let him into the house; and when they saw who he was, the women drove him out of doors. Then at once, and in the night, they went off and told the matter to their husbands, and when day came a report spread through the city that Clodius had committed [[sacrilege]] and owed satisfaction, not only to those whom he had insulted, but also to the city and to the gods.
'''[5]''' Accordingly, one of the tribunes of the people indicted Clodius for sacrilege, and the most influential senators leagued themselves together and bore witness against him that, among other shocking abominations, he had committed adultery with his sister, who was the wife of [[Lucius Licinius Lucullus|Lucullus]]. But against the eager efforts of these men the people arrayed themselves in defence of Clodius, and were of great assistance to him with the jurors in the case, who were terror-stricken and afraid of the multitude.
'''[6]''' Caesar divorced Pompeia at once, but when he was summoned to testify at the trial, he said he knew nothing about the matters with which Clodius was charged. His statement appeared strange, and the prosecutor therefore asked, “Why, then, didst thou divorce thy wife?” “Because,” said Caesar, “I thought my wife ought not even to be under suspicion.” Some say that Caesar made this deposition honestly; but according to others it was made to gratify the people, who were determined to rescue Clodius.
'''[7]''' At any rate, Clodius was acquitted of the charge, the majority of the jurors giving their verdicts in illegible writing, in order that they might neither risk their lives with the populace by condemning him nor get a bad name among the nobility by acquitting him.
==E11 - Spain and Ambition==
'''[1]''' Immediately after his praetorship Caesar received [[Spain]] as his province, and since he found it hard to arrange matters with his creditors, who obstructed his departure and were clamorous, he had recourse to [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]], the richest of the Romans, who had need of Caesar’s vigour and fire for his political campaign against [[Pompey the Great|Pompey]]. And it was only after Crassus had met the demands of the most importunate and inexorable of these creditors and given surety for eight hundred and thirty talents, that Caesar could go out to his province.
'''[2]''' We are told that, as he was crossing the [[Alps]] and passing by a barbarian village which had very few inhabitants and was a sorry sight, his companions asked with mirth and laughter, “Can it be that here too there are ambitious strifes for office, struggles for primacy, and mutual jealousies of powerful men?” Whereupon Caesar said to them in all seriousness, “I would rather be first here than second at Rome.”
'''[3]''' In like manner we are told again that, in Spain, when he was at leisure and was reading from the history of [[Alexander the Great]], he was lost in thought for a long time, and then burst into tears. His friends were astonished, and asked the reason for his tears. “Do you not think,” said he, “it is matter for sorrow that while Alexander, at my age, was already king of so many peoples, I have as yet achieved no brilliant success?”
==E12 - Caesar in Spain==
'''[1]''' At any rate, as soon as he reached Spain he set himself to work, and in a few days raised ten [[cohort]]s in addition to the twenty which were there before. Then he led his army against the [[Callaici]] and [[Lusitani]], overpowered them, and marched on as far as the outer sea, subduing the tribes which before were not obedient to Rome. After bringing the war to a successful close, he was equally happy in adjusting the problems of peace, by establishing concord between the cities, and particularly by healing the dissensions between debtors and creditors.
'''[2]''' For he ordained that the creditor should annually take two thirds of his debtor’s income, and that the owner of the property should use the rest, and so on until the debt was cancelled. In high repute for this administration he retired from the province; he had become wealthy himself, had enriched his soldiers from their campaigns, and had been saluted by them as [[Imperator]].
==E13 - Pompey and Crassus==
'''[1]''' Now, since those who sued for the privilege of a [[Roman triumph|triumph]] must remain outside the city, while those who were candidates for the [[Roman consul|consulship]] must be present in the city, Caesar was in a great dilemma, and because he had reached home at the very time for the consular elections, he sent a request to the senate that he might be permitted to offer himself for the consulship ''in absentiâ'', through the agency of his friends. But since Cato began by insisting upon the law in opposition to Caesar’s request, and then, when he saw that many senators had been won over by Caesar’s attentions, staved the matter off by consuming the day in speaking, Caesar decided to give up the triumph and try for the consulship.
'''[2]''' So as soon as he entered the city he assumed a policy which deceived everyone except Cato. This policy was to reconcile Pompey and Crassus, the most influential men in the city. These men Caesar brought together in friendship after their quarrel, and by concentrating their united strength upon himself, succeeded, before men were aware of it, and by an act which could be called one of kindness, in changing the form of government.
'''[3]''' For it was not, as most men supposed, the quarrel between Caesar and Pompey that brought on the [[Caesar's civil war|civil wars]], but rather their friendship, since they worked together for the overthrow of the [[Roman aristocracy|aristocracy]] in the first place, and then, when this had been accomplished, they quarrelled with one another. And Cato, who often foretold what was to come of their alliance, got the reputation of a morose and troublesome fellow at the time, but afterwards that of a wise, though unfortunate, counsellor.
==E14 - Caesar’s Consulship==
'''[1]''' Caesar, however, encompassed and protected by the friendship of Crassus and Pompey, entered the canvass for the consulship; and as soon as he had been triumphantly elected, along with [[Marcus Calpurnius Bibulus|Calpurnius Bibulus]], and had entered upon his office, he proposed laws which were becoming, not for a consul, but for a most radical tribune of the people; for to gratify the multitude he introduced sundry allotments and distributions of land.
'''[2]''' In the senate the opposition of men of the better sort gave him the pretext which he had long desired, and crying with loud adjurations that he was driven forth into the popular assembly against his wishes, and was compelled to court its favour by the insolence and obstinacy of the senate, he hastened before it, and stationing Crassus on one side of him and Pompey on the other, he asked them if they approved his laws.
'''[3]''' They declared that they did approve them, whereupon he urged them to give him their aid against those who threatened to oppose him with swords. They promised him such aid, and Pompey actually added that he would come up against swords with sword and buckler too. At this impulsive and mad speech, unworthy of the high esteem in which Pompey stood and unbecoming to the respect which was due to the senate, the nobility were distressed but the populace were delighted.
'''[4]''' Moreover, Caesar tried to avail himself still more of the influence of Pompey. He had a daughter, [[Julia (daughter of Julius Caesar)|Julia]], who was betrothed to [[Servilius Caepio]]. This daughter he betrothed to Pompey, and said he would give Pompey’s daughter in marriage to Servilius, although she too was not unbetrothed, but had been promised to [[Faustus Cornelius Sulla|Faustus]], the son of Sulla.
'''[5]''' And a little while afterwards Caesar took [[Calpurnia (wife of Julius Caesar)|Calpurnia]] to wife, a daughter of Piso, and got Piso made consul for the coming year, although here too Cato vehemently protested, and cried out that it was intolerable to have the supreme power prostituted by marriage alliances and to see men helping one another to powers and armies and provinces by means of women.
'''[6]''' As for Caesar’s colleague, Bibulus, since he availed nothing by obstructing Caesar’s laws, but often ran the risk with Cato of being killed in the [[Roman Forum|forum]], he shut himself up at home for the remainder of his term of office. Pompey, however, immediately after his marriage, filled the forum with armed men and helped the people to enact Caesar’s laws and give him as his consular province [[Gaul]] on both sides of the Alps for five years, together with [[Illyricum]] and four [[Roman legion|legions]].
'''[7]''' Cato, of course, tried to speak against these measures, but Caesar had him led off to prison, supposing that he would appeal to the popular tribunes; but when Cato walked off without a word and Caesar saw not only that the most influential men were displeased, but also that the populace, out of respect for Cato’s virtue, were following him in silence and with downcast looks, he himself secretly asked one of the tribunes to take Cato out of arrest.
'''[8]''' Of the other senators, only a very few used to go with Caesar to the senate; the rest, in displeasure, stayed away. [[Considius]], a very aged senator, once told Caesar that his colleagues did not come together because they were afraid of the armed soldiers. “Why, then,” said Caesar, “dost thou too not stay at home out of the same fear?” To this Considius replied: “Because my old age makes me fearless; for the short span of life that is still left me does not require much anxious thought.”
'''[9]''' But the most disgraceful public measure of the time was thought to be the election to the tribuneship, during Caesar’s consulate, of the notorious Clodius, who had trespassed upon his rights as a husband, and upon the secret nocturnal vigils. He was elected, however, for the overthrow of Cicero; and Caesar did not go forth upon his campaign until, with the help of Clodius, he had raised a successful faction against Cicero and driven him out of [[Italy]].