Julius Caesar- Fame and Fate Part Three

Julius Caesar knew that he had to attain the consulship on the road to ultimate power. He also knew he could not do this without help. The First Triumvirate was formed with Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus-"Pompey" and Marcus Licinius Crassus-"Crassus" both of whom have already been mentioned. By the time Caesar became consul with his fellow triumvirs help in 59 BC, Pompey was thought to be the greatest man of his age. Pompey was not only a good general but had triumphed in a series of battles that were very important to Rome. Pirates had become such a threat that they were threatening the Republic's food supply. In 67 BC Pompey was given command of 120,000 soldiers and 500 ships. He divided the Meditteranean into twelve zones and within three months he had solved the pirate problem. The Lex Manilla gave him similar powers in the east. Rome's old foe Mithridates was still menacing her perceived interests. Pompey took over Rome's armies in the province of Asia, led them to a series of spectacular victories, with the end result being Mithridates committing suicide. Pompey then united the kingdom of Pontus with the province of Bithynia. He then marched as far east as the Caucasus, deposing or installing kings at will, making them client states of Rome and forming forty new cities.

Turning south, he deposed the last Seleucid king and annexed Syria. Pompey then continued into Judea and even entered the Temple, much to Jewish anguish. However, he confirmed the Macabee dynasty on the Judean throne as client kings. Pompey's eastern exploits were so well judged that they lasted 120 years and added 40 percent more revenue to the imperial treasury. He returned to Italy in 62 BC, laden with glory and plunder, with his victorious army behind him. Romans very much feared that Pompey would do what Sulla had done and march on Rome. Instead, he disbanded his armies and entered Rome as a civilian. He did expect a triumphal parade of suitable magnificence and, even more importantly land for his veterans. The Senate equivocated for a year on the former and flatly refused the latter. This turned out to be a big mistake on the Senate's part as it led him to join with Caesar. The deal was sealed with a kiss, so to speak, when Pompey married Caesar's daughter Julia to cement the alliance. Pompey was the feared "teenage butcher of Sulla's dictatorship.

The incredibly wealthy Crassus, who had defeated the slave revolt that Spartacus had led and once commented that a man could only count himself rich if he could afford to raise his own army, completed the troika of powerful men. It is modern historians who called the pact The First Triumvirate; at the time it was known by rather unfriendly nickname-"the three headed monster," because these three men together were the unofficial masters of Rome. They made all the laws they wanted, put their financial resources together to bribe the electorate, and by doing so winning the consulship for themselves and their friends. They also allowed themselves unusually long terms of governorships in the provinces fo five years. For example, even proconsuls would usually only serve one to three years. Caesar was so high handed that when he was consul he ignored the vetoes of his optimate colleagues! He also pushed through controversial legislation. The Senate never forgave this behavior and could only hope that infighting would erupt within the triumvirate. The leading conservative, traditional Roman values voice in the Senate at this time was Marcus Porcius Cato. He had very severe personal habits and trained himself to withstand extremes of heat and cold. Cato truly despised the decadence he saw in Rome-especially in the wild and licentious of some of its aristocratic youth. He very much considered Julius Caesar a proponent of this disrespectful lifestyle. Cato prided himself on never telling a lie and was an industrious worker. His reputation even inspired a proverb-"That cannot be true, even if Cato says it is." He would infuriate his friends as much as his enemies with his rustic and stern lifestyle. However, in an interesting quirk, whereas Caesar appears to have been an abstemious drinker, Cato was puritanical in all of his habits except for an enormous capacity for drink and a weakness for gambling. He had noted that "Caesar was the only sober man who tried to wreck the constitution."

The image is a painting by Jean Fouquet of Pompey and his troops entering the Temple at Jerusalem. I hope to have the next post here pretty soon as it is halfway written. Peace and be well to anyone stopping by!