Publius Vatinius, a tribune who was prepared to take up the matter without consulting the senate. Now Caesar knew well that, with the East settled by Pompey, the major areas of the Roman world where there was plenty of money to be made, as well as fame and reputation, were to the north and west. The areas in which he was interested, he indicated to Vatinius, were Cisalpine Gaul (northern Italy) and Illyricum (the Adriatic coast of what is now Yugoslavia). The reasons for his choice of Cisalpine Gaul were relatively simple. He had long shown an interest in its people and had tried to secure Roman citizenship for them, while the region was rich and its large population would make a good recruiting ground. Caesar would need troops, for in troops lay power. Illyricum, on the other hand, was Romanized only along the coast and Caesar no doubt had plans for campaigns which would extend far inland: an opportunity to gain fame, extend the empire, and loot without fear of consequences. Vatinius secured both of these provinces for him, and something more. The governorship of the two areas was to be extended from the usual one or two years to five, starting from the expiry of his consulship on 1 January 58.
11
Proconsul
WHILE “Pompey was king, and Caesar was queen,” his fellow consul Bibulus had not entirely given up the battle. True, he had withdrawn to his: house, but from here he waged a propaganda war against Caesar that attracted the attention of Rome. Even the ordinary people of the city must have felt that there was something very curious about a year in which there appeared to be only one consul: “The event occurred, as I recall, when Caesar governed Rome…”
And as early as this in Caesar’s career Bibulus was able to circulate via gossip and graffiti the telling words: “Caesar was once in love with a king, but now he is in love with kingship.” There can be little doubt that in the latter part of the consulship this constant slanderous activity managed to damage him, even in the eyes of some of those who had been his supporters. Moreover, once a politician is in power he becomes a different man from the one who has previously held out promises. Caesar on his own had not only possessed grace and charm and oratorical skills, but had displayed all the popular traits of caring for the masses—and indeed doing something for them. He had shown this already in his consulship, but the people in general did not take to his associates: Crassus the millionaire without the human touch, and Pompey, respected as a soldier yet somehow unable to show much warmth or communicate with his fellows. Cicero, who had returned to Rome now that the most dangerous troubles seemed to be over, was happy to be able to report to his friend Atticus that Caesar had been ill-received at a new play, and that among the lines which had caused the audience to applaud was one where the principal actor turned toward Caesar’s seat and, pointing, said: “It is our misery which has made you so great…”
It was a year of great bitterness on account of numerous actions initiated by Caesar in the senate, but in which nevertheless he overcame his opponents. Even Pompey and Crassus must occasionally have felt a twinge of concern at the superlative ease with which their fellow triumvir rode the horse of power. Caesar, with his almost feline prescience, must have sensed this—and have known that, as the year drew to an end, it was fortunate that he had to go to his commands where he would be far from Rome, yet able to lay his hands on the source of power as Pompey had done in his military career in the East. At the instigation of Vatinius he had been voted three legions for the task and, with the view to campaigning in Illyricum, he stationed them at Aquileia, one of the strongest of all Roman fortresses, standing at the head of the Adriatic.
As the year of Caesar’s consulship drew to an end it was seen to have been, for those
11
Proconsul
WHILE “Pompey was king, and Caesar was queen,” his fellow consul Bibulus had not entirely given up the battle. True, he had withdrawn to his: house, but from here he waged a propaganda war against Caesar that attracted the attention of Rome. Even the ordinary people of the city must have felt that there was something very curious about a year in which there appeared to be only one consul: “The event occurred, as I recall, when Caesar governed Rome…”
And as early as this in Caesar’s career Bibulus was able to circulate via gossip and graffiti the telling words: “Caesar was once in love with a king, but now he is in love with kingship.” There can be little doubt that in the latter part of the consulship this constant slanderous activity managed to damage him, even in the eyes of some of those who had been his supporters. Moreover, once a politician is in power he becomes a different man from the one who has previously held out promises. Caesar on his own had not only possessed grace and charm and oratorical skills, but had displayed all the popular traits of caring for the masses—and indeed doing something for them. He had shown this already in his consulship, but the people in general did not take to his associates: Crassus the millionaire without the human touch, and Pompey, respected as a soldier yet somehow unable to show much warmth or communicate with his fellows. Cicero, who had returned to Rome now that the most dangerous troubles seemed to be over, was happy to be able to report to his friend Atticus that Caesar had been ill-received at a new play, and that among the lines which had caused the audience to applaud was one where the principal actor turned toward Caesar’s seat and, pointing, said: “It is our misery which has made you so great…”
It was a year of great bitterness on account of numerous actions initiated by Caesar in the senate, but in which nevertheless he overcame his opponents. Even Pompey and Crassus must occasionally have felt a twinge of concern at the superlative ease with which their fellow triumvir rode the horse of power. Caesar, with his almost feline prescience, must have sensed this—and have known that, as the year drew to an end, it was fortunate that he had to go to his commands where he would be far from Rome, yet able to lay his hands on the source of power as Pompey had done in his military career in the East. At the instigation of Vatinius he had been voted three legions for the task and, with the view to campaigning in Illyricum, he stationed them at Aquileia, one of the strongest of all Roman fortresses, standing at the head of the Adriatic.
As the year of Caesar’s consulship drew to an end it was seen to have been, for those
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