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CHAPTER VII.

THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE.

60-59 B.C. ÆSAR had well employed the time of his absence in Spain, as Cicero said, "with a marvellous fair wind in his sails." In the first place he had freed himself from the most pressing of his money difficulties; he "had wanted," so he said, "a million sterling to be worth nothing," and now he was able to look his creditors in the face. Notwithstanding his great gains, he brought back the reputation of a good provincial governor. Above all he had served with success his apprenticeship as a general. To himself the secret, that he had a genius for the art of war, was no doubt already revealed, and the consciousness of this power determined the path which he marked out. Even in the eyes of the world his victories over revolted Spanish tribes were such as

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