C JE S A R. 



197 



found that he had carried his audacity too far: for 

 "~v "^ the whole senate rose in a tumult, and prepared to 

 leave the house. *' Whether arc you going ?" said 

 Caesar to Petreius, who wnann.. n his side. 



" 1 go," said he, ' into continvrnent with Cato : a 

 prison with him is preK the senate 



with you." Caesar h.ul counted on their want of 

 division ; ami was disappointed \vL-n he- saw the 

 spirit which they manifested on this occasion. Cato 

 perceiving his embarrassment, resolved that he should 

 have the full odium of the measure ; and therefore 

 delivered himself without reluctance into the hands of 

 the lictor. Caesar soon recovered himself, and sent 

 a tribune of his own party, with secret instructions 

 to rescue the prisoner. 



But the most odious of all his acts, during his con- 

 sulship, was the purpose which he formed of ruining 

 Cicero, by seconding the views of Clodius. It was 

 no obstacle that this libertine had been accused of 

 dishonouring his bed ; he was anxious to destroy the 

 influence of Cicero, who had publicly lamented the 

 situation of the commonwealth, in being subjected to 

 a cabal, which governed by violence and in contempt 

 of law. Caesar was highly offended, and resolved to 

 get rid of a person who was so capable of counteract- 

 ing his views. Clodius had long been labouring to 

 accomplish the destruction of the same illustrious 

 person ; and was at that time endeavouring to get 

 himself adopted into a plebeian family, that so he 

 might be qualified to be elected tribune of the peo- 

 ple. He knew, that if he could accomplish this ob- 

 ject, he would be able to carry whatever measure he 

 pleased. There were, however, considerable obstacles 

 in the way, and Clodius could not obtain the ratifica 

 tion of his adoption in the assembly of the Curiae ; 

 but this act of ratification was passed on the very 

 day on which Caesar took offence at Cicero. The 

 issue is well known : this father of Roman eloquence, 

 and not long before the preserver of the state, was 

 sacrificed to the hatred and ambition of two unprinci- 

 pled individuals, and forced to retire, for a time, from 

 a country no longer worthy of his virtues. 



With these transactions, Cxnar's consulate drew 

 to a close. He ratified his treaty with Pompey, by 

 giving him his daughter Julia in marriage ; he grati- 

 fied the vanity and avarice of Crassus, by entrusting 

 him with a lucrative commission ; and in one way or 

 other he tied up the hands of every man who had 

 power to hurt him. He himself married the daugh- 

 ter of Piso, who was next year to succeed to the con- 

 sulship, and by this alliance secured him in his inte- 

 rest. On hearing of these political marriages, Cato 

 exclaimed, " Provinces and kingdoms are made the 

 dowries of women ; and the empire itself an appen- 

 dage of female prostitution." 



Though Caesar had advanced so far and so success- 

 fully, much yet remained to be done, before he could 

 openly seize the government of the state. The power 

 rxnd popularity of Pompey were still enormous ; and 

 Caesar saw that nothing could be effected without a 

 strong military force. Such a force, however, could 

 not be maintained within Italy ; for the senate, with' 

 a well-grounded jealousy, had prohibited any military 

 station wichin that country. Caesar therefore cast his 

 eye on Cisalpine Gaul, which he saw would answer 

 oil his purposes, from its vicinity to Rome. The 



tribune Vatinius, accordingly, who wal completely 

 I to the interest s of Caesar, upon a report that 

 the (idvitii were likely to cause some disturbance 

 on the fronti' rs of Gaul, moved the people, that, by 

 virtue of tht ir supn-mc power, they should nominate 

 Caesar a Proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul and Illyriciirn, 

 for five years, with an army of three legions. This 

 was contrary to all law ; the allotment of the provin- 

 ces had alway . ' with the senate, and no ap- 



pointment was made for more than one year ; unless 

 it was renewed at the end of that term, it virtually 

 expired. This, however, did not prevent the pwpfc 

 from granting thin illegal appointment to Caesar. The 

 senatorian party were greatly alarmed at this mea- 

 sure, and endeavoured to evade it by nominating Cae- 

 sar supcrintendant of the public forests of the em- 

 pire. Finding, however, that he was not to be dri- 

 ven from his purpose by such a weak artifice as this, 

 they took, different grounds, outstript the people 

 themselves in the liberality of their grants, and added 

 Transalpine Gaul to the province already decreed to 

 him by the people, with the addition of another legion. 

 It is not easy to say whether this measure proceeded 

 from fear or from policy : thry either saw that it was 

 in vain to oppose him, and therefore wished to make 

 a me rit with him for their concessions ; or they hoped 

 that the five years of hi government would be com- 

 pletely taken up with the wars which they expected 

 to arise beyond the Alps. 



As it is our design to follow the political rather 

 than the military career of this extraordinary adven- 

 turer, we shall not detain our readers with a detailed 

 account of his eight campaigns in Gaul, nor of his 

 two descents on Britain. He was not less ambitious 

 of military fame, than desirous of unrivalled pov. 

 and all his campaigns were conducted with an ability, 

 to which nothing but his own admirable Comment a- 

 ries can do sufficient justice. He contrived even to 

 give a colour of justice and humanity to his bloody 

 operations in Gaul, by stating himself as the protec- 

 tor of the native inhabitants, against the invasions of 

 the Helvetii and the Germans. His laurels were in- 

 deed deeply stained with blood ; for his wars in Gaul 

 cost not less than one million two hundred thousand 

 lives. But this goes for nothing in the estimation of 

 those who aspire to the title of conquerors. The 

 Romans, in particular, were regardless of the justice 

 of their wars, and the effusion of hostile blood ; and 

 we shall perhaps search in vain in their history for a 

 just war, except when they were engaged in the de- 

 fence of Italy. Caesar gained two very important 

 objects by his wars in Gaul; a high military reputa- 

 tion, and an army devoted to his interests. He in- 

 deed omitted no means which could secure the at- 

 tachment of his troops : he shared with them every 

 danger ; and they had such confidence in his skill, 

 that they enga^vd with alacrity in whatever enter- 

 prize he thought proper to recommend. In the mean- 

 time he did not neglect his interest at R..me. He 

 frequently spent the winter in Cisalpine Gaul, that 

 he might the more easily communicate with his 

 friends in Rome. Pompey and Crassus waited on 

 him at Lucca, a town within his province, where they 

 renewed their former association, and entered into an 

 agreement respecting the partition of the empire. 

 Pompey and Crassus were to stand for the consul- 



Caesar. 



