Narrative in Eighth Book of the "' Gallic War" 3 



that Caelius must have written these words in June or July, at a 

 time when the fact of the Parthians' withdrawal within their own 

 territories in the summer of 50 was as yet unknown in Rome.'^ 

 But the point was not well taken, Nissen observes, since Rome 

 might rightly be regarded as on a continuous war footing with 

 the Parthians, until the death of Crassus should be avenged.^ 



A debate on pay for Pompeius's troops occurred in the senate 

 in 51, July 22.^ When the same question came up in 50, a decree 

 was stopped by Curio's veto, the withdrawal of which is noticed 

 in Fam. VIII, 14, 4: Curio noster sapienter id, qtiod remisit de 

 stipendio Pompei, fecisse existimatiir. Nissen^° and Sternkopf,^^ 

 proceeding on the assumption that the debate in 50 occurred at 

 the same time, or nearly so, as in 51, argue that Fani. VIII, 14, 

 must then have been written later than June or the beginning of 

 July, the period within which Lange placed it. 



Lange^- fixed the election of Appius Claudius and L. Piso to 

 the censorship in 50 early in May, basing his conclusion on Cicero's 

 allusions to Appius's candidacy in Fam. Ill, 10, 3, 11; 11, i, 5; 

 13, 2. A more careful consideration of these passages, Stern- 

 kopf^^ thinks, together with the fact that no reference to the 

 election is made in Fam. Ill, 12 (written early in August and 

 before Fam. Ill, 13), leads to the conclusion that the election was 

 held in August; in that case Fain. VIII, 14, can not be dated in 

 June or July, as it was evidently written after Appius had entered 

 upon his censorial duties {cf. §4): Scis Appium censorem hie 

 ostenta facere, de signis et tahidis, de agri modo, de acre alieno 

 acerrime agere? 



According to Plutarch,^* Antonius was first elected tribune, 



' Rom. Alt., IIV, p. 396, 5- 



^ Ausbr., p. 69, 2; Quaest., pp. 27-28. 



" Fam. VIII, 4, 4- 



^'' Ausbr., p. 69, 2. 



" Quaest., p. 26. 



^^Rom. Alt., IIP, p. 397. 



" Quaest., pp. 25-26. Cf. de Boor, Fasti censorli, p. 94, cited by Sternkopf. 



"^nf. 5. 



295 



