Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/246

 CHAPTER V.

THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE AND THE CONFERENCE AT LUCA, 62-52 B.C.

I. The First Triumvirate and the First Consulship of Caesar.

Political Position of Pompeius. — When the victorious progress of Pompeius in the East was reported at Rome, the democrats, by a law advocated by Caesar, conferred extraordinary honors on him, and the senate, under the leadership of Cicero, decreed in his honor a thanksgiving festival (supplicatio) of unprecedented length.

Pompeius had now, as in 71, a fair opportunity to make himself the lord of Rome. It was, or ought to have been, evident that the purely civil government of the senate was no longer able to keep in check the turbulent elements in Italy, especially the city rabble. A military ruler was likely, at any rate, to secure peace and safety; and freedom was merely a name when laws, elections, and lawsuits were so often decided by force, bribery, or intrigue. Pompeius had the treasures, the army, and the military renown which might be deemed requisite for the master of the Roman world, and he seemed ready to take the preparatory steps.

Mission of Metellus Nepos. — The tribune Q. Caecilius Metellus Nepos proposed that Pompeius should be permitted to become a candidate for the consulship, though absent, which was now contrary to law. But he met with no success. He failed also when he submitted a bill