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242 Cicero, who gave certain pledges on his brother's account to the triumvirs, and Cæsar now expressed his approval of the measures which Pompey wished to adopt (see below p. 266).

The proceedings of Clodius in the last months of his tribuneship were like the tricks of a mischievous monkey. His quarrel with Pompey implied a breach in his alliance with Gabinius; accordingly he set his gangs upon him, wounded his attendants, and broke up his consular fasces. Then he put up an altar of incense and, standing before it with veiled head, consecrated all the goods of the consul to the temple of Ceres; as at a solemn sacrifice, a flute-player piped the accompaniment to the traditional words of banning. One of his colleagues mimicked the ceremony and consecrated Clodius' goods under the same form. Clodius next turned upon Cæsar. He convened an assembly in the Forum and summoned Bibulus and the college of augurs to attend. He put the question to Bibulus, whether he had not observed lightning on each occasion when Cæsar carried his laws? He elicited a response from the augurs that such an observation invalidated the proceedings. "In that case," summed up this impartial judge, "it appears that Cæsar's official acts, including my adoption, are null and void. Let them all be set aside by a decree of the Senate. Cicero is the preserver of Rome, and I will bring him home again on my own shoulders."

The first act of Lentulus Spinther as consul was to bring the question of Cicero's recall again before