Scripta+7+latin+3

3/21

primus inter pares: first among equals; the most senior person of a group sharing the same rank or office

imperator: commander; one with imperium, the right to levy and command an army

primogeniture: first born, the right of the first born to inheritiance or succession, particularly of the first born son. imperial: having a commanding quality

So, Marius comes to clean up the mess left by Carbo.( the consul who went head to head with the Cimbri and embarassed himself and Rome by losing miserably). Marius and Sulla are still riding high after the Jugurthan War, and the difference in leadership could not be more striking. Marius and Sulla know what they are doing. First there was the Battle of Aquae Sextiae where Marius employed Hannibalistic tactics and won the battle and got an enormous haul of slaves. Then there was the Battle of Vercellae Marius waited until the middle of the summer in order to let the heat work its magic on the people of the North, and then he struck.

Much credit for this victory has been given to the actions of, Lucius Cornelius Sulla who led the Roman and allied Italian cavalry. The Cimbri were virtually wiped out, with the Romans claiming to have killed 140,000 and captured 60,000, including large numbers of women and children.

According to German historian Theodor Mommsen:

> The two armies met below Vercellae not far from the confluence of the Sesia with the Po,(25) just at the spot where Hannibal had fought his first battle on Italian soil. The Cimbri desired battle, and according to their custom sent to the Romans to settle the time and place for it; Marius gratified them and named the next day — it was the 30th July 653 (101 BC) — and the Raudine plain, a wide level space, which the superior Roman cavalry found advantageous for their movements. Here they fell upon the enemy expecting them and yet taken by surprise; for in the dense morning mist the Cimbrian cavalry found itself in hand-to-hand conflict with the stronger cavalry of the Romans before it anticipated attack, and was thereby thrown back upon the infantry which was just making its dispositions for battle. A complete victory was gained with slight loss, and the Cimbri were annihilated.[3]

Mommsen continues:

> Those might be deemed fortunate who met death in the battle, as most did, including the brave king Boiorix, the king of the Cimbri; more fortunate at least than those who afterwards in despair laid hands on themselves, or were obliged to seek in the slave-market of Rome the master who might retaliate on the individual Northman for the audacity of having coveted the beauteous south before it was time. The Tigorini, who had remained behind in the passes of the Alps with the view of subsequently following the Cimbri, ran off on the news of the defeat to their native land. The human avalanche, which for thirteen years had alarmed the nations from the Danube to the Ebro, from the Seine to the Po, rested beneath the sod or toiled under the yoke of slavery; the forlorn hope of the German migrations had performed its duty; the homeless people of the Cimbri and their comrades were no more."[3] > > > The victory of Vercellae, following close on the heels of Marius' destruction of the Teutons at the Battle of Aquae Sextiae the previous year, put an end to Germanic plans to invade Rome. The Cimbri were virtually wiped out, with the Romans claiming to have killed 140,000 and captured 60,000, including large numbers of women and children.Some of the surviving captives are reported to have been among the rebeling Gladiators in the Third Servile War.[1] > > Politically, this battle had great implications for Rome as well. It marked a continuation in the rivalry between Marius and Sulla, which would eventually lead to the first of Rome's great civil wars. As a reward for their gallant service, Marius granted Roman citizenship to his Italian allied soldiers, without consulting or asking permission from the Senate first. When some Senators questioned this action, he would claim that in the heat of battle he could not distinguish the voice of Roman from ally from the voice of the law. Henceforth all Italian legions would be Roman legions. This was also the first time a victorious general had openly defied the Senate and it would not be the last. > [] > > marius and the barbarians

3/25

ad captandum vulgus: for the purpose of capturing the crowd/mob; frequently used by politicians, an argument designed to please the crowd.

advocatus diaboli: the devil's advocate; Someone who, given a certain argument, takes a position he or she does not necessarily agree with, for the sake of argument.

vulgar; base; common in the sense of crude ( that of the mob)

diabolical: devilish

With Rome safe from northern invaders, Marius now sought to repay the debt to his army by establishing laws by which veterans should receive land after having served their time. For this he allied himself with the Tribune of the People ,Lucius Appuleius Saturninus. Saturninus was a ruthless figure not beyond using violence for political means. This political alliance managed to win Marius yet another consulship in 100 BC. In the same year Saturninus brought forward on Marius' behalf proposals by which soldiers should be allotted land on discharge form the army. Also part of the bill was the granting of Roman citizenship to Italian allies who had contributed ther fair share in the defeat of the barbarians. The proposals were eventually accepted, but not without determined opposition and the outbreak of violence in the streets of Rome.Many of the urban poor felt that their needs were being ignored while the needs of non citizens were being placed above theirs. Marius had to call his soldiers into to Rome to restore order. But of course the arrival of the troops was not merely a question of keeping the peace. It was an implied threat as to what might happen if veterans should be denied land. Once more Marius created a precedent of historic proportions. For it was the first time in which it emerged that no-one could rule Rome without the support of the army. Saturninus now however should finally stumble, when he organised the assassination of a political opponent. This was a step too far and the senate issued a senatus consultum ultimum, order of highest authority known to the Roman constitution, ordering Marius to take action against Saturninus. Marius had no choice but to oblige, arresting his chief political ally. But Saturninus was doomed. He and his supporters were locked in the Senate house, and a mob ripped off the roof and stoned them to death. Worse still for Marius, the senate now declared all of Saturninus' laws nill and void, on the basis that they had been achieved only by force. Marius was ruined. Once his consulship came to an end (and he became legally liable for his former deeds) he fled into exile. []

Marius' Poltical Fall 100-86 BCE

 * 1) Sixth consulship 100 BCE; Marius rode a wave of popularity because of his victories.
 * 2) Lacking a political agenda, he relied on a tribune, Satuninus, who used violence to achieve his aims.
 * 3) Saturninus' crimes forced Marius to invoke a senatus consultum ultimum to have Saturninus captured and executed.
 * 4) Shamed by association with Saturninus, Marius retired from Rome to Asia where he allegedly tried to instigate a war with Mithridates. []

Mithridates VI or Mithradates VI (Greek: Μιθραδάτης),[1] from Old Persian Mithradatha, "gift of Mithra"; 134–63 BC, also known as Mithradates the Great (Megas) and Eupator Dionysius, was king of Pontus and Armenia Minor in northern Anatolia (now Turkey) from about 120–63 BC. Mithridates is remembered as one of the Roman Republic’s most formidable and successful enemies, who engaged three of the prominent generals from the late Roman Republic in the Mithridatic Wars: Lucius Cornelius Sulla, Lucullus and Pompey. He was also the greatest ruler of the Kingdom of Pontus. That's a lot of territory. 3/27

cygnus inter anates: a swan among ducks damnatio memoriae: condemned from memory; a Roman term for completely disgraced people

damnation: everlasting punishment caused by disgace usually cygnet: a young swan

= The Social War: War with the Italian tribes, led by the Marsi and the Samnites for citizenship =

With the death of Saturninus and self exile by Marius in 99 BC, a period of relative calm slipped into Roman politics. The calm wouldn't last long, however, and a new Tribune in a mold similar to the Gracchi brothers, came to the forefront. Marcus Livius Drusus was actually the son of a political opponent of the Gracchi, but he took up the cause of the Italian people with a new zeal. Drusus, among several reforms, attempted to distribute land and citizenship for the Latin rights Italian allies.His objective was actually the preservation and strengthening of the Senate, but in practice it didn't appear as intended. He hoped that by including the Italian allies as voting citizens, he would bring in a new voting force loyal to the traditional Senatorial authority and not to the demagogue tribunes who used popular ideas to incite the Roman mobs. Unfortunately for him, and as a result of their own short sightedness the Senate saw things in a completely different light. After much political wrangling, as was common in the late Republic, Drusus' laws were eventually dismissed, but he persisted in trying to push them through. His actions and proposals, which were holding the angry Italian allies in check as they hoped for a political resolution to their complaints, led directly to his murder late in his term. Stabbed in the thigh by an unknown assailant, and certainly an affiliation of the elite, the death of Drusus fueled the flames of revolt. Led chiefly by the Marsi and the Samnites, several Italian tribes, who for 2 decades had been trying to gain citizenship through the political system, decided enough was enough. A new state, in the image of Rome, was set up with its capital in Corfinium. A Senate complete with Consuls and Praetors was organized mimicking Rome, only without Rome as a part. Back in Rome itself, armies were organized to oppose this new breakaway Republic and by 90 BC, the war was on. Sulla fared very well in the war, and gets a consulship out of it. []

I think we hear Sulla knocking, and I think he is coming in. 4/8 homo homini lupus: man is a wolf to man hostis humani generis: an enemy of the human race ( coined by Cicero about pirates) These quotes seem very approriate given our bloody lesson, as do our words of the day:.

hostile: inimical; enemy-like; anatgonistic degenerate: away from the race; a degenerate pill-popper and gambler; Having lost the physical, mental, or moral qualities considered normal and desirable; showing evidence of decline. An immoral or corrupt person. Decline or deteriorate physically, mentally, or morally [|http://www.google.com]

So, Sulla makes his move, and we have new players ( don;t hate the playah...hate the game):

In the year 91, which brought with it the imminent prospect of sweeping political change, with the enfranchisement of the Italian peoples, Sulla returned to Rome, and //**it was generally felt that he was the man to lead the conservative and aristocratic party.**// Meanwhile Mithradates and the East were forgotten in the crisis of the Social or Italic War, which broke out in 91 and threatened Rome's very existence. The services of both Marius and Sulla were given; but Sulla was the more successful, or, at any rate, the more fortunate. Of the Italian peoples Rome's old foes the Samnites were the most formidable; these Sulla vanquished, and took their chief town, Bovianum. In recognition of this and other brilliant services, he was elected consul in 88, and brought the revolt to an end by the capture of Nola in Campania. The question of the command of the army against Mithradates again came to the front. The senate had already chosen Sulla; but the tribune Publius Sulpicius Rufus moved that Marius should have the command. Rioting took place at Rome at the prompting of the popular leaders, Sulla narrowly escaping to his legions in Campania, from where he marched on Rome, being the first Roman who entered the city at the head of a Roman army. Sulpicius was put to death,his head displayed in the forum and Marius fled to Africa; and he and his party were crushed for the time.

Lucius Cornelius Cinna, (died 84 bc), leader of the Marian party in Rome who opposed Lucius Cornelius Sulla. After serving in the Social War (90–88), Cinna became consul in 87. When Sulla left Rome to fight Mithradates VI, king of Pontus, in the East, Cinna repealed Sulla’s laws and threatened him with prosecution. Cinna’s proposed revival of a bill of Publius Sulpicius Rufus (for the equal distribution of the newly enfranchised Italians among all the 35 tribes) caused riots and led to his expulsion from the city. He collected an army and, together with Marius, captured Rome. Executions of Sulla’s supporters followed. Marius seems to have become demented, seriously. []

More details: Lucius Cornelius Cinna took center stage in Roman politics, causing a fervor with his new Italian enfranchisement proposals. Attempting to organize the new countryside citizens into the city existing assemblies, Cinna was removed from his office and exiled from Rome. Much like Sulla, Cinna was not to be denied. Turning to the one man who could help implement his agenda Cinna organized a revolt with Marius and recruited heavily from among the Italians and marched on Rome himself. Marius landed in Italy shortly after with a force of cavalry and supplemented them with locals on his way to join Cinna. On the way, the Roman port of Ostia was sacked to finance the operations and 87 BC turned into a siege of Rome itself.

//**Thousands were killed by Cinna in his purge and his killing only stopped when the Senate surrendered and opened the gates to the city. Marius however, made no arrangements to enter peacefully and took his vengeance on the inside. 5 days of murder and mayhem ruled supreme in which Marius killed anyone with the slightest opposition to him or support of Sulla. Severed heads of his enemies were placed on spears all around the Forum as a show of Marian strength. But in Marius unstable mental condition and advanced age, neutral bystander and foe were often confused. Massacred enemies were equally mixed with the innocent, forever staining the streets and Marius' reputation.**// Clearly in command through brute force, Marius and Cinna next forced through their own elections as joint Consuls of 86 BC. Before additional plans could be put into action, however, the brief reign of terror ended just 17 days into Marius 7th consulship, when he died of a 'fever'. []

Cinna's daughter, Cornelia, married none other than Julius Caesar. 4/10

qui audet adipiscitur : he who dares wins

bis pueri senes: Old men are twice boys ( i.e. children) ( in re:Marius' murderous tantrum at the end of his life)

audacious: full of daring; bold senile: Having or showing the weaknesses or diseases of old age, esp. a loss of mental faculties. [|http://www.google.com/#hl=en&output=search&sclient=psy-ab&q=senile&rlz=1R2ADFA_en&oq=senile&gs_l=hp.3..0l9j0i10.913.2019.1.2492.6.6.0.0.0.0.162.736.0j6.6.0...0.0...1c.1.8.hp._zXZrn7DO_8&psj=1&bav=on.2,or.r_qf.&bvm=bv.44770516,d.b2I&fp=2344105b3aba25a7&biw=1369&bih=702]

So, Marius has died after the demented bloodletting of his old age. Sulla is off dealing with Mithridates ( and apparently allowing his soldiers free reign in the raping and pillaging department, blatantly ingratiating himself by indulging his soldiers). Cinna is sitting pretty in Rome. Marius' bloodletting has traumatized the people at large, and generally silenced any opposition. But, Cinna is not Marius, and he is unable to get and keep the loyalty that Marius inspired:

As the year 84 BC began, Cinna, still Consul in Rome, was faced with minor disturbances among Illyrian tribes. Perhaps in an attempt to gain experience for an army to act as a counter to Sulla's forces, or to show Sulla that the Senate also had some strength of its own, Cinna raised an army to deal with this Illyrian problem. Conveniently the source of the disturbance was located directly between Sulla and another march on Rome. Cinna pushed his men hard to move to position in Illyria(modern day Croatia, Serbia, Bosnia, Albania...the Balkan States) and forced marches through snow covered mountains did little to endear Cinna to his army. A short time after departing Rome, Cinna was stoned to death by his own men. Hearing of Cinna's death, and the ensuing power gap in Rome, Sulla gathered his forces and prepared for a second march on the capital. Sulla again sees opportunity where others see crisis. He gets ready to move. Sulla made it publicly known that that any man who continued to oppose him would suffer bitter consequences. With three quick victories, though, the situation began to rapidly turn in his favour. Many of those in a position of power, who had not yet taken a clear side, now chose to support Sulla. The first of these was Q. Caecilius Metellus Pius who governed Africa. The old enemy of Marius, and assuredly of Cinna as well, led an open revolt against the Marian forces in Africa. Additional help came from Picenum and Spain. Two of the three future triumvirs joined Sulla's cause in his bid to take control. Marcus Licinius Crassus ( he is the richest man in Rome) marched with an army from Spain, and would later play a pivotal role at the Colline Gates. The young son of Pompeius Strabo (the butcher of Asculum during the Social War), Pompey ( the Great, but not yet), raised an army of his own from among his father's veterans and threw his lot in with Sulla. At the age of 23, and never having held a senatorial office, Pompey forced himself into the political scene with an army at his back. The Marian faction in an attempt to rally support manages to get Marius' 26 year old son, Marius the Younger elected consul, and his presence encourages people who had supported his father to join the cause.

On November 1 of 82 BC, the two forces met at the battle of the Colline Gate, just outside of Rome. The battle was a huge and desperate final struggle with both sides certainly believing their own victory would save Rome. Sulla was pushed hard on his left flank with the situation so dangerous that he and his men were pushed right up against the city walls. Crassus' forces, fighting on Sulla's right however, managed to turn the opposition's flank and drive them back. The Samnites and the Marian forces were folded up and broke. In the end, over 50,000 combatants lost their lives and Sulla stood alone as the master of Rome. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucius_Cornelius_Sulla

And, he's vengeful, and looking to replenish his fortune...wars are expensive.

4/12

Inter arma silent leges - In time of war, laws are silent Iniuria non excusat iniuriam - One wrong does not justify another

penal: concerning punishment penance: an act of self-abasement, mortification, or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penance

So, Sulla names himself ( IS NOT ELECTED) dictator. A dictator was supposed to eb elected for 6 months to be the captain of the ship during a time of crisis. During these 6 months, the dictator was supposed to have absolute power, but it was supposed to be exercised by a judicious person. But not Sulla!media type="file" key="06 - Bad To The Bone.mp3" width="240" height="20" The new dictator introduced a judicial process called the proscription. Essentially this new concept was an open publication listing names of people he deemed to be undesirable. A reign of terror ensued with rewards offered for the death or capture of any name on the list. At first the proscriptions (including confiscation of property and not always involving physical harm) were mainly focused on Sulla's direct enemies and supporters, but eventually the death toll would reach epidemic proportions. In the first series alone, as many as 40 senators and 1,600 members of the equestrian class were murdered. Before long, in order to exact extreme control the list grew exponentially. There was simply no place to hide or run. People taking refuge in the temples were murdered; others were lynched by the Roman mob. An intricate network of spies kept Sulla informed and at his whim, tracked down anyone who might be considered an enemy of the state .sulla's proscriptions

Sulla then, after getting rid of those whom he felt were undesirable or inimical, set about restoring power to the Senate. It seems odd, as he had indeed murdered so many of them, but he was a very conservative person. The reform which he himself disregarded completely, but nevertheless supported for others, was to restore the cursus honorum. He returned the courts to the jurisdiction of the Senate, he stripped the Tribunes of their power,he doubled the number of members in the Senate and he made it so that the popular assemblies had to get senatorial approval to introduce legislation. But then Sulla seems to have grown tired of politics, or felt that he accomplished all that he could. In 79 BC he retired to a country villa with the intention of writing his memoirs. Before he left Rome however, Sulla confirmed long standing rumors about his own sexual behavior to a shocked audience. He announced that Metrobius, a famous actor, had been his lifetime lover. As he left Rome, he was accompanied by a large contingent of actors, dancers and prostitutes in a final act of disdain. WOWOWOWOWOWOW! WHAT A SENATE MEETING THAT MUST HAVE BEEN! He then died of either some kind of liver disease possibly cirrhosis, alcohol poisoning, a ruptured ulcer, or, my personal favorite...a raging infestation of pubic lice. I'm not kidding.

[] 4/16 culpae poenae par esto: Let the punishment fit the crime caput lupinum: The wolf's head (an outlaw or a renegade); for some reason this really seems to fit our Sulla...a wolf if there ever was one.

penal: concerning punishment

penance: an act of self-abasement, mortification, or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance for sin

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penance

So it is onto this political landscape the our beloved Caesar enters politics. Caesar was born on July 12 or 13, 100 BC. He is a member of the gens Iulia (Julia).

The gens Julia was one of the most ancient patrician families at Ancient Rome. Members of the gens attained the highest dignities of the state in the earliest times of the Republic. The first of the family to obtain the consulship was Gaius Julius Iulus in 489 BC. The gens is perhaps best known, however, for Gaius Julius Caesar, the dictator, and grand uncle of the emperor Augustus, through whom the name was passed to the so-called Julio-Claudian dynasty of the 1st century AD.

In ancient Rome, a gens plural gentes, referred to a family, consisting of all those individuals who shared the same nomen and claimed descent from a common ancestor. A branch of a gens was called a stirps (plural stirpes). The gens was an important social structure at Rome and throughout Italy during the period of the Roman Republic. Much of an individual's social standing depended on the gens to which he belonged. Certain gentes were considered patrician, others plebeian, while some had both patrician and plebeian branches .www.wikipedia.com

While he hailed from Roman aristocrats, his family was far from rich. When Caesar was 16 his father, Gaius Caesar, died. He remained close to his mother, Aurelia.

The Rome of Caesar's youth was unstable. An element of disorder ruled the Republic, which had discredited its nobility and seemed unable to handle its considerable size and influence.

At around the time of his father's death, Caesar made a concerted effort to side with the country's nobility. His marriage to Cornelia, the daughter of a noble, had drawn the ire of Rome's dictator, Sulla, who ordered the young Roman to divorce his wife or risk losing his property. Caesar refused and found escape in the military, serving first in the province of Asia and then in Cilicia. [] caesar enters the stage politcal violence takes hold

4/18 aut Caesar aut nihil; either Caesar or nothing ; all or nothing

Caesarem vehis, Caesaris fortunam: You carry Caesar, the fortune of Caesar; Caesar is said to have said this to the pirates who kidnapped him on his way home from Bithynia ( where he had fled due to Sulla's bloodletting). The pirates were asking for 20 gold talents for his release, Caesar advised them to ask for 50. They obliged. He had told them he would kill them for this kidnapping, but had said it so affably, they thought he was kidding. Joke was on them: when he was released, he gathered a posse and went to their lair, found them and crucified them, but first slit their throats in an act of mercy. You mess with the bull, you get the horns.

inveigh ( in +vehere): to protest strongly or attack vehemently with words; rail(usually followed by against ): to inveigh against isolationism. []

affable: friendly; easy to be around

So, while fleeing Sulla, Caesar begins his military career. Caesar left Rome and joined the army, where he won the Civic Crown for his part in an important siege.

The Civic Crown (Latin: corona civica) was a chaplet of common oak leaves woven to form a crown. During the Roman Republic and the subsequent Principate, it was regarded as the second highest military decoration to which a citizen could aspire (the Grass Crown being held in higher regard). It was reserved for Roman citizens who saved the lives of fellow citizens by slaying an enemy on a spot not further held by the enemy that same day. The citizen saved must admit it; no one else could be a witness.

After Sulla's constitutional reforms, any recipient of the Civic Crown was entitled entry into the Roman Senate. [Furthermore, the recipient was required by law to wear his crown at every public gathering, and was applauded even by men much senior to himself.

On a mission to Bithynia to secure the assistance of King Nicomedes's fleet, he spent so long at his court that rumors of an affair with the king arose, which Caesar would vehemently deny for the rest of his life. See as follows: Nicomedes IV was restored to his throne in Bithynia in 84 BC for having helped Sulla secure Bithynia against Mithradates. The years that followed were relatively peaceful, though Bithynia came more and more under the control of Rome. In 80 BC, young Gaius Julius Caesar was an ambassador to Nicomedes IV's court. Caesar was sent to raise a fleet using Bithynia's resources, but he dallied so long with the King that a rumor of a homosexual relationship surfaced, leading to the disparaging title, "the Queen of Bithynia", an allegation which was made much use of by Caesar's political enemies later in his life.

As one of his last acts as king of Bithynia, in 74 BC, Nicomedes IV bequeathed the entire kingdom of Bithynia to Rome. The Roman Senate quickly voted it as a new province. Rome's old enemy Mithridates VI had other plans for Bithynia, however, and Nicomedes IV's death and bequeathal led directly to the Third Mithridatic War.

4/22

Fere libenter homines id quod volunt credunt - Men readily believe what they want to believe. (Caesar)

Omnia mala exempla ex rebus bonis orta sunt “All bad precedents begin as justifiable measures” - Gaius Julius Caesar

malevolent: bad wishing ( that's two words in one derivative! 2 for 1! ) origin: something from which something else begins or arises

So, back to the life of Caesar: He has won the corona civica, escaped the pirates, and secured resources from King Nicomedes. His career continues to heat up.

69 BCE: He spoke at the funerals of both his aunt, Julia, and his wife, Cornelia. On both occasions, he emphasized his connections with Marius and the ancient nobility of his family, descended from the first kings on his mother's side and from the gods on hi s father' s(revealing a notable talent for self-dramatization and a conception that there was something exceptional about him).

68/67 BCE: Caesar was elected quaestor and a seat in the Senate ; he married Pompeia, a granddaughter of Sulla. Caesar supported Gnaeus Pompey and helped him get an extraordinary generalship against the Mediterranean pirates, later extended to command of the war against King Mithridates in Asia Minor.

65 BCE: He was elected curule aedile and spent lavishly on games to win popular favor; large loans from Crassus made these expenditures possible. There were rumors that Caesar was having an affair with Gnaeus Pompey's wife, Mucia, as well as with the wives of other prominent men.

63 BCE: Caesar spent heavily in a successful effort to get elected pontifex maximus (chief priest) ; in 62 he was elected praetor. He divorced Pompeia because of her involvement in a scandal with another man, although the man had been acquitted in the law courts; Caesar is reported to have said, “The wife of Caesar must be above suspicion,” suggesting that he was so exceptional that anyone associated with him had to be free of any hint of scandal. In 61 he was sent to the province of Further Spain as propraetor. [] 4/24 Vita Divi Juli: The Life of the Divine Julius; Suetonius ignis aurum probat: fire tests gold; A phrase referring to the refining of character through difficult circumstances auriferous: gold bearing; containing gold probative: for the purpose of testing or proving

60 BCE: He returned from Spain and joined with Pompey and Crassus in a loose coalition called by modern historians “The First Triumvirate” and by his enemies at the time “the three-headed monster.” In 62, Pompey had returned victorious from Asia, but had been unable to get the Senate to ratify his arrangements and to grant land to his veteran soldiers because he had disbanded his army on his return and Crassus was blocking his efforts. Caesar persuaded the two men to work together and promised to support their interests if they helped him get elected to the consulship. 59 BCE: Caesar was elected consul against heavy Optimate opposition led by Marcus Porcius Cato, a shrewd and extremely conservative politician. Caesar married his only daughter, Julia, to Pompey to consolidate their alliance; he himself married Calpurnia, the daughter of a leading member of the Popular faction. Caesar pushed Pompey's measures through, helped Crassus' proposals, and got for himself a five-year term as proconsul of Gaul after his consulship was over. However, he used some strong-arm methods in the Assembly and completely cowed his Optimate colleague in the consulship, Bibulus, so that jokers referred to the year as “the consulship of Julius and Caesar” (instead of “the consulship of Caesar and Bibulus”). Caesar was safe from prosecution for such actions as long as he held office, but once he became a private citizen again he could be prosecuted by his enemies in the Senate. []