Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/237

Rh Sulla and Paetus consuls, and send Piso with an army to Spain. But the consuls received a guard, and the assassination was prevented. The conspirators then decided to massacre the consuls and a number of others on February 5. This time Catiline gave too early the signal agreed upon, and defeated the project.

According to Suetonius, the real authors and leaders of the conspiracy were Crassus and Caesar, who were to become respectively dictator and master of horse. While this statement is not sufficiently attested, it corresponds to their known actions, as they shielded and supported the leading conspirators, and were ready to use them as tools against the oligarchy and eventually against Pompeius.

Projects of Crassus and Caesar. — The democrats were, to be sure, indebted to Pompeius for their important victories, but could scarcely be satisfied with this lieutenant and henchman of Sulla as their chief, and probably viewed with anxiety the time of his return, when he would have an excellent opportunity to become the lord of Rome. The commander of the sea and the East, with his extraordinary powers, could be ousted only by another military command in Spain, Egypt, or elsewhere. To create such a rival power was probably the principal democratic aim under the leadership of Caesar and Crassus. Success in the ordinary way was precluded by the influence of the oligarchy on the consular elections. The conspiracy also had failed, and other expedients were necessary. Accordingly, Crassus seems to have induced the senate to send Piso, now a quaestor with praetorian powers (quaestor pro praetore), to hither Spain, where he might become a useful tool against Pompeius. As one of the censors of 65, moreover, Crassus attempted to enroll Egypt and Cyprus in the list of Roman domains. A plebiscite was prepared which decreed that Caesar, now a curule aedile, should next year make Egypt a Roman province.