Part 13 (1/2)

CHAPTER XXVIII. TROUBLES AT ROME.--CONSPIRACY OF CATILINE.

While Pompey was absent in the East, matters at Rome were daily becoming worse, and shaping themselves for the speedy overthrow of the Republic.

There were many who had suffered under Sulla, and who were anxious to regain what they had lost, and there were many who, enriched by the Dictator, had squandered their ill-gotten wealth, and now only waited a leader to renew the a.s.sault upon the state. The Senate was jealous of the power of the people, and the people distrusted the Senate.

Among the patricians who were aspiring to the consuls.h.i.+p was LUCIUS SERGIUS CATILiNA, a villain steeped in every crime, but adroit, bold, and withal captivating. In 68 he had been Praetor, the next year Governor in Africa, where by his extortions he had obtained enough money, as he hoped, to purchase his election to the consuls.h.i.+p. On his return home he was impeached for his misgovernment, but acquitted through Cicero's defence and the careful selection of a jury.

He then came forward as candidate for the consuls.h.i.+p of the next year (63). There were two other candidates, Antonius, the uncle of Mark Antony, and Cicero himself. Antony was sure of an election, so the struggle was really between Catiline and Cicero. The latter was elected, owing to the popularity he had acquired by his prosecution of Verres and his defence of the Manilian Law. Thus Cicero reached the goal for which he had been so long striving.

Caesar was rising at the same time. The year previous (65) he had been Curule Aedile, had built a row of costly columns in front of the Capitol, and erected a temple to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux). But what made him especially pleasing to the populace was his lavish display at the public games and exhibitions.

Caesar was now looked upon as a prominent democratic leader. In 63 the office of Pontifex Maximus, the head of the state religion, became vacant by the death of its occupant, Metellus Pius. Caesar became a candidate for the office, and was elected, receiving more votes than both the rival candidates combined. He also received further evidence of the popular favor by being chosen Praetor for the next year (62).

Cicero's consuls.h.i.+p would have closed without adding anything to his fame had it not been for Catiline. The latter's failure to be elected caused him to enter into a plot to seize and burn the city. He had many followers, men of n.o.ble families, among whom were the former Consul Lentulus, who had been recently expelled from the Senate by the Censors, and Cethegus, a bankrupt spendthrift, who was anxious to regain a fortune by a change in government. There were veterans of Sulla, starving peasants who had been dispossessed of their farms, and outlaws of every description. The conspirators were divided into two parties; those outside of the city, headed by Marcus Manlius, whose head-quarters were at Faesulae (Fiesole), where was gathered an army of trained soldiers; and those inside of the city, headed by Catiline. Here secret meetings were held, the purpose of which was to excite an uprising, kill the magistrates, seize the government, and then unite with the army in Etruria. Cicero was informed of these meetings by spies, and just before the plans for the uprising were matured, he disclosed them to the Senate.

Catiline fled from Rome; but his accomplices, of whom Lentulus and Cethegus were the most prominent, were arrested in the city. A serious difficulty now arose as to the disposition of the prisoners. Lentulus was at that time Praetor, and the persons of public officers were sacred. The Semp.r.o.nian Law of Gracchus forbade the executing of any Roman citizen without giving him a right of appeal to the a.s.sembly. Too many were implicated in the conspiracy for this to be safe.

In the debate in the Senate, the princ.i.p.al speakers were Caesar, Cato, and Cicero.

Cato and Cicero advocated immediate death; Caesar, imprisonment for life. The motives of the men are so characteristic that they form a complete key to their several public careers. Cicero, vain and selfish, weak in council, and distrustful of the temper of the people and of his own ability to rule their factions, feared that they would become dangerous enemies to himself; Cato, desiring the reformation of the state, would make an example and warning for the future. The one, forgetful of the state, was overcome by personal fears; the other, unmindful of self, would have purity at any cost.

Caesar, on the other hand, wished everything done in strict accordance with the laws; as a bold and wise statesman, he urged that nothing was more impolitic than lawless violence on the part of the rulers. Cicero was the timid magistrate; Cato, the injudicious reformer; but Caesar, with his keener knowledge and stronger hand, was the safer guide.

A sentence of death was voted; and Cicero, with unseemly haste, caused the conspirators to be strangled that same night (December 5, 63). The suppression of the conspiracy in the city was followed by the defeat of the army in Etruria. Thither Catiline had fled, and there he fell fighting with desperate courage at the head of his motley force of soldiers near Pistoria.

The name of ”Father of his Country” was given to Cicero for the vigilance shown in this affair.

The execution of Lentulus and Cethegus resulted as Caesar had expected.

It was a lawless act on the part of the Consul and the Senate, and it was felt that by it the const.i.tution was still more endangered. The people demanded that Pompey return. In him they thought to have a deliverer from internal strifes.

Cicero was wrapped up in his own conceit, imagining himself a second Romulus. On the last day of the year (63), as was the custom of the retiring Consuls, he arose in the Forum to deliver a speech, reviewing the acts of his year of consuls.h.i.+p. Metellus Nepos, a Tribune, forbade his speaking, on the ground that one who had put to death Roman citizens without a hearing did not deserve to be heard. Amid the uproar Cicero could only shout that he had saved his country. Metellus threatened to impeach him, and excitement in the city was at fever heat. The Tribune moved before the a.s.sembly that Pompey be recalled. The Senate feared his coming. Caesar, who was now Praetor (judge), favored it, and earnestly seconded the proposal of Metellus. Cato, who was also Tribune, ordered Metellus to stop speaking, and s.n.a.t.c.hed his ma.n.u.script from his hand. The aristocrats drew their swords, and broke up the meeting.

Const.i.tutional law was trampled under foot on all sides. The Senate was riding rough-shod over all opponents. Metellus and Caesar were declared deposed from their offices. The people, however, believed in Caesar. He was followed to his home by crowds, who begged him to be their leader, and make an example of the law-breakers in the Senate. But Caesar refused. He would have nothing to do with lawlessness; he let his opponents play that _role_, and awaited the results. The Senate soon saw its mistake, and requested him to resume his official duties.

The next year (61) Caesar was sent to Farther Spain as Propraetor. He had already left a favorable impression there as Quaestor. Portions of the country were still unsubdued. Many of the mountain pa.s.ses were held by robbers, whose depredations caused much trouble. He completed the subjugation of the peninsula, put down the brigands, reorganized the government, and sent large sums of money to the treasury at Rome. His administration was thorough and complete, and a just reward for it would, he hoped, be the consuls.h.i.+p.

Meanwhile Pompey had returned from the East. He landed at Brundisium in December, 62, and proceeded with a large band of captured princes and immense treasures to Rome, which he entered in triumph amidst the greatest enthusiasm. By a special vote of the Senate he was permitted to wear his triumphal robe in that body whenever he pleased.

Caesar returned from Spain in 60, with wealth and military fame. Though feared and detested by the Senate, he was the favorite of the people, and could depend upon their support. Pompey had the army behind him.

He received Caesar with pleasure, for he had been a friend in all his career.

Caesar felt that, with the people and the army through Pompey on his side, he only needed the capitalists to make his success sure. CRa.s.sUS was counted as the richest man at Rome. He was won over. These three then formed what is known as the FIRST TRIUMVIRATE,--”a union of shrewdness, renown, and riches,” by which Caesar expected to rise to great power, Pompey to retain his power, and Cra.s.sus to gain greater wealth.

CHAPTER XXIX. THE FIRST TRIUMVIRATE.

Pompey was ostensibly at the head of the first Triumvirate, and in return supported Caesar in his candidacy for the consuls.h.i.+p. Cra.s.sus was to contribute his wealth to influence the election. Caesar was elected without opposition (59); his colleague, the Senate's tool, was Marcus Bibulus.

Caesar had now reached the highest round in the ladder of political offices. He had shown himself in all his course to be careful in keeping within the bounds of the const.i.tution, never exerting himself in political quarrels except to defend the law against lawlessness. Now he was in a position to push his ideas of reform, and to show the aristocracy of what stuff he was made.