Page:Roman Constitutional History, 753-44 B.C..djvu/267

Rh passed. He thus abandoned a strategic position of great importance.

Immediate Causes of the Attacks on Caesar. — The tribunician law was only a temporary concession. Caesar's isolation through the death of Crassus and his critical position in Gaul invited attack. Furthermore, Pompeius was consul and proconsul, enjoyed the support of the oligarchy, and had a preponderating influence in Rome and Italy. He could not expect to have again so favorable an opportunity to smite his rival, and he was not inclined to neglect it. He was influenced also by personal reasons. Perhaps he never willingly recognized Caesar as an equal, and he was jealous of the fresh laurels and the power of his rival. It may be, he admitted instinctively Caesar's intellectual superiority, and he began to distrust him and was afraid of being outwitted in the contest.

Methods of Attacking Caesar. — Pompeius feared that in a second consulship Caesar would prove more than a match for his opponents, and the oligarchy apprehended that this old enemy would, once for all, overthrow the republic. The best method seemed to be to prosecute him on some charge or other, and convict him. His guilt could no doubt be established, and in any case justice was a minor matter in Roman political trials. In this way he might be banished and prevented from attaining a second consulship. But he could not be prosecuted while proconsul; hence it was necessary either to give him a successor some time before January 1, 48, or to prohibit him from becoming a candidate in his absence. He would then become a private individual and be amenable to the laws.

The Filling of Provincial Governorships. — In 53 the senate had decreed that consuls and praetors should become provincial governors only when five years or more had elapsed