Isauricus, who had been Caesar’s former chief in Asia Minor, would secure the office. To the general astonishment of the senate Caesar put himself forward as a candidate.
He was only thirty-seven, he had no great record as a general or a statesman behind him and he was known to be massively in debt. But, apart from his influence with Pompey and Crassus, he was popular in plebeian circles. It was just here that the power now lay, and Caesar had long been aware of it. In the past the law had entitled the people to vote for this great office, but Sulla had repealed this and given the power back to the College of Pontiffs. If the election had depended on this small group Caesar knew that he would have no chance of success, so his aim for a long time had been to get the power of election restored to the people. Now one of Caesar’s collaborators in his many machinations at this time was the tribune Titus Labienus, who had served with Caesar in the East. Labienus and a fellow tribune had recently put forward a bill according new honors to Pompey for his outstanding services. This had been easily carried, and in its wake Labienus had proposed that the law regarding the election to the priesthoods (which included the pontifex maximus) should be restored. The senate, which clearly had not seen the potential dangers of the issue, agreed to this.
It was common knowledge that Caesar was in debt on a vast scale, so when he made his almost impudent bid for the office, Catulus himself approached Caesar and made him an offer on condition of his withdrawing his candidacy. This was a blunder, for he had now let Caesar know how much money he and his supporters had to spend, and Caesar’s answer was to borrow even more and continue his steady bribery of the electorate. On the day of the elections the story goes that, as his mother was seeing him out of the house, he said to her: “Today you will either see me as High Priest or an exile.” (There is no doubt that had he failed his creditors would have made sure that prison awaited him unless he had first of all managed to escape to some safe and distant land.) He carried the day—and to such an extent that even in the political wards of his two rivals he secured more votes than they did.
The office which he now held had, before the founding of the republic, been reserved for the kings of Rome and was now tenable for life by the elected candidate. It carried immense prestige and influence. Caesar had gained not only the base from which he could begin to restore his financial position but immeasurably expand it, the patronage that could be extended by the holder of this once-regal office being practically unlimited. By cunning use of the tribune Labienus and by the lavish expenditure of money (much of it, no doubt, from Crassus) Caesar had moved to a dominant position on the center of the board.
7
A State of Crisis
IT was with some surprise that people heard that an aged senator Gaius Rabirius, a staunch Optimate, was to be tried for high treason at the instigation of the same Labienus who had helped Caesar to his new position. The surprise arose principally because the murder of which he was accused had taken place thirty-seven years before, when a tribune of the people, Saturninus, a noted radical, had been killed. This had been done under an emergency decree of the senate, which could be invoked whenever the senate saw fit to say that the state was in danger. These vague but sweeping powers were naturally anathema to Caesar and those of his persuasion, for they could one day be used against them.
To prosecute Rabirius was in effect to attack the power of the senate and in particular of the Sullan oligarchy. Caesar managed to get himself nominated as one of the judges in the case and passionately sought the condemnation of the old man. The death sentence was actually pronounced and might even have been carried out but for the intervention of Cicero. He had
He was only thirty-seven, he had no great record as a general or a statesman behind him and he was known to be massively in debt. But, apart from his influence with Pompey and Crassus, he was popular in plebeian circles. It was just here that the power now lay, and Caesar had long been aware of it. In the past the law had entitled the people to vote for this great office, but Sulla had repealed this and given the power back to the College of Pontiffs. If the election had depended on this small group Caesar knew that he would have no chance of success, so his aim for a long time had been to get the power of election restored to the people. Now one of Caesar’s collaborators in his many machinations at this time was the tribune Titus Labienus, who had served with Caesar in the East. Labienus and a fellow tribune had recently put forward a bill according new honors to Pompey for his outstanding services. This had been easily carried, and in its wake Labienus had proposed that the law regarding the election to the priesthoods (which included the pontifex maximus) should be restored. The senate, which clearly had not seen the potential dangers of the issue, agreed to this.
It was common knowledge that Caesar was in debt on a vast scale, so when he made his almost impudent bid for the office, Catulus himself approached Caesar and made him an offer on condition of his withdrawing his candidacy. This was a blunder, for he had now let Caesar know how much money he and his supporters had to spend, and Caesar’s answer was to borrow even more and continue his steady bribery of the electorate. On the day of the elections the story goes that, as his mother was seeing him out of the house, he said to her: “Today you will either see me as High Priest or an exile.” (There is no doubt that had he failed his creditors would have made sure that prison awaited him unless he had first of all managed to escape to some safe and distant land.) He carried the day—and to such an extent that even in the political wards of his two rivals he secured more votes than they did.
The office which he now held had, before the founding of the republic, been reserved for the kings of Rome and was now tenable for life by the elected candidate. It carried immense prestige and influence. Caesar had gained not only the base from which he could begin to restore his financial position but immeasurably expand it, the patronage that could be extended by the holder of this once-regal office being practically unlimited. By cunning use of the tribune Labienus and by the lavish expenditure of money (much of it, no doubt, from Crassus) Caesar had moved to a dominant position on the center of the board.
7
A State of Crisis
IT was with some surprise that people heard that an aged senator Gaius Rabirius, a staunch Optimate, was to be tried for high treason at the instigation of the same Labienus who had helped Caesar to his new position. The surprise arose principally because the murder of which he was accused had taken place thirty-seven years before, when a tribune of the people, Saturninus, a noted radical, had been killed. This had been done under an emergency decree of the senate, which could be invoked whenever the senate saw fit to say that the state was in danger. These vague but sweeping powers were naturally anathema to Caesar and those of his persuasion, for they could one day be used against them.
To prosecute Rabirius was in effect to attack the power of the senate and in particular of the Sullan oligarchy. Caesar managed to get himself nominated as one of the judges in the case and passionately sought the condemnation of the old man. The death sentence was actually pronounced and might even have been carried out but for the intervention of Cicero. He had
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