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44 B.C.]

the Capitol, where they were joined later in the day by Cicero and by Dolabella, who took up the consulship which had been decreed to him in succession to Cæsar. Antony, the other consul, seized on Cæsar's treasury at the temple of Ops, and Cæsar's State papers were also committed to him by Calpurnia, the widow of the Dictator. Lepidus, the Master of the Horse, who had under his command a legion encamped on the island of the Tiber, transferred his troops to the left bank of the river, and occupied the Campus Martius. Next day negotiations took place between the several parties which resulted in a meeting of the Senate in the temple of Earth on the 17th, two days after the assassination.

At this meeting Cicero proposed that, as at Athens after the tyranny of the Thirty, a general Act of Oblivipn should be passed. The assassins of Cæsar were relieved from all pains and penalties for their deed, but on the other hand all the Acts of Cæsar were confirmed. This confirmation led to much awkwardness and many confusions, but the thing was absolutely necessary. Lepidus' veteran legion was there in arms, and the soldiers could only be kept quiet by a guaranty that the scheme under which Cæsar had provided lands for them should not be disturbed. A public funeral was also granted for Cæsar's body.

This compromise, put forward as a basis of reconciliation, was really only the beginning of a fresh