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62 B.C.] his own noble ambition to be the chief citizen of a free State. From such a crime Pompey shrank. If he had been a man of frank and generous disposition, he would have instantly rejected the very idea of such a treason with horror and indignation. But this was not in the nature of Pompey. He spent the greater part of the year 62 in loitering on the homeward road, brooding over the ruin of his hopes of the year before, watching for the chance of making his power felt in some less odious way, and all the while dallying with the temptation to turn his arms against his country. Throughout these months Pompey preserved a gloomy silence, and the Roman world waited in suspense for his decision.

At length towards the end of the year the dictates of honour and of conscience triumphed over those of ambition. Perhaps the prospect which Cicero's letter had held out to him may have influenced him in some degree for good; for Cicero, writing on the 1st of January, 61 B.C., says, "I have good evidence that Pompey is most friendly to me." A few days before this letter was written, Pompey had landed in Italy. His mind was now made up, and he resolved to give striking evidence of his loyalty, and to remove at once all apprehension of civil war. As soon as he landed at Brundisium he disbanded his troops and proceeded to Rome with a small escort. So far, Pompey's action was straightforward and decisive. He put away from himself all possibility of appealing to unlawful force, and threw himself unreservedly for support on the goodwill of his fellow-citizens, the only rightful basis of