Page:Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology (1870) - Volume 1.djvu/559

Rh CAESAR. this is probably a sheer invention of his enemies in later times, as Caesar had already, through his fa- vour with the people and his connexion with Pom- pey, every prospect of obtaining the highest offices in the state. He had been already elected to the curule aedileship, and entered upon the office in the following year (b. c. G5), with M. Bibulus as his colleague. It was usual for those magistrates who wished to win the affections of the people, to spend large sums of money in their aedileship upon the public games and buildings ; but the aedileship of Caesar and Bibulus surpassed in magnificence all that had preceded it. Caesar was obliged to borrow large sums of money again ; he had long since spent his private fortune, and, according to Plutarch, was 1 300 talents in debt before he held any public office. Bibulus contributed to the ex- penses, but Caesar got almost all the credit, and his popularity became unbounded. Anxious to revive the recollection of the people in favour of the Marian party, he caused the statues of Marius and the representations of his victories in the Ju- gurthine and Cimbrian wars, which had been all destroyed by Sulla, to be privately restored, and placed at night in the Capitol. In the morning the city was in the highest state of excitement: the veterans and other friends of Marius cried with joy at the sight of his countenance again, and greeted Caesar with shouts of applause : the senate assembled, and Q. Catulus accused Caesar of a breach of a positive law ; but the popular excite- ment was so great, that the senate dared not take any measures against him. He now attempted to obtain by a plebiscitum an extraordinary mission to Aegypt, with the view probably of obtaining money to pay off his debts, but was defeated in his object by the aristocracy, who got some of the tribunes to put their veto upon the measure. In B. c. 64 he was appointed to preside, in place of the praetor, as judex quaestionis, in trials for murder, and in that cap<icity held persons guilty of murder who had put any one to death in the proscriptions of Sulla, although they had been specially exempted from punishment by one of Sulla's laws. This he probably did in order to pave the way for the trial of C. Rabirius in the following year. He also took an active part in supporting the agrarian law of the tribune P. Ser- vilius Rullus, which was brought forward at the close of B. c. 64, immediately after the tribunes entered upon their office. The provisions of this law were of such an extensive kind, and conferred such large and extraordinary powers upon the commissioners for distributing the lands, that Cae- sar could hardly have expected it to be carried ; and he probably did not wish another person to obtain the popularity which would result from such a measure, although his position com- pelled him to support it. It was of course resisted by the aristocracy ; and Cicero, who had now at- tached himself to the aristocratical party, spoke against it on the first day that he entered upon his consulship, the 1st of January, b. c. 63. The law was shortly afterwards dropped by Rullus himself. The next measure of the popular party was adopted at the instigation of Caesar. Thirty-six years before, in B.C. 100, L. Appuleius Satuniinus, the tribune of the plebs, had been declared an ene- my by the senate, besieged in the Capitol, and put to death when he was obliged to surrender through want of water. Caesar now induced the tribune CAESAR. an T. Alius Labienus to accuse C. Rabirius, an aged senator, of this crime. It was doubtless through no desire of taking away the old m.an's life that Caesar set this accusation afoot, but he wanted to frighten the senate from resorting to arms in future against the popular party, and to otrengthen still further the power of the tribunes. Rabirius was accused of the crime of perduellio or treason against the state, a species of accusation which had almost gone out of use, and been supplanted by that of majestas. He was brought to trial before the duumviri perduellionis, who were usually appointed for this purpose by the comitia centuriata, but on the present occasion were nominated by the praetor. Caesar himself and his relative L. Caesar were the two judges ; they forthwith condemned Rabirius, who according to the old law would have been hanged or hurled down from the Tarpeian rock. Rabirius, however, availed himself of his right of appealing to the people ; Cicero spoke on his behalf; the people seemed inclined to ratify the deci- sion of the duumvirs, when the meeting was broken up by the praetor Q. Metellus Celer removing the military flag which floated on the Janiculura. This was in accordance with an old law, which was intended to protect the comitia centuriata in the Campus Martius from being surprised by the enemy, wjien the territory of Rome scarcely ex- tended beyond the boundaries of the city, and which was still maintained as a useful engine in the hands of the magistrates. Rabirius therefore escaped, and Caesar did not think it necessary to renew the prosecution, as the object for which it had been instituted had been already in great measure attained. Caesar next set on foot in the same year (b. c. 63) an accusation against C. Piso, who had been consul in B. c. 67, and afterwards had the govern- ment of the province of Gallia Narbonensis. Piso was acquitted, and became from this time one of Caesar's deadliest enemies. About the same time the office of pontifex maximus became vacant by the death of Q. Metellus Pius. The candidates for it were Q. Lutatius Catulus, Q. Servilius Isauricus, and Caesar. Catulus and Servilius had both been consuls, and were two of the most illustrious men in Rome, and of the greatest influence in the senate : but so great was Caesar's popularity, that Catulus became appre- hensive as to his success, and fearing to be defeated by one so much his inferior in rank, station, and age, privately offered him large sums to liquidate his debts, if he would withdraw from the contest. Caesar, however, replied, that he would borrow still more to carry his election. He was elected on the sixth of March, and obtained more votes even in the tribes of his competitors than they had themselves. Shortly after this he was elected praetor for the following year. Then came ^ the detection of Catiline's conspiracy. The aristocracy thought this a favourable opportunity to get rid of their restless opponent ; and C. Piso and Q. Catulus used every means of persuasion, and even bribery, to induce Cicero to include him among the con- spirators. That Caesar should both at the time and afterwards have been charged by the aris- tocracy with participation in this conspiracy, as he was in the former one of Catiline in B. c. 66, is nothing surprising; but there is no satisfactory evidence of his guilt, and we think it unlikely that he would have embarked in such a rash scheme^