[
17]
In the meantime Cæsar, who had performed the
many
brilliant exploits in Gaul and Britain which have been described in my
Celtic history, had returned with vast riches to Cisalpine Gaul on the river
Po to give his army a short respite from continuous fighting. From this
place he sent large sums of money to many persons in Rome, to those who were
holding the yearly offices and to persons otherwise distinguished as
governors and generals, and they went thither by turns to meet him.
1 So many of them came that 120
lictors could be seen around him at one time, and more than 200 senators,
some returning thanks for what they had already received, others asking for
money or seeking some other advantage for themselves from the same quarter.
All things were now possible to Cæsar by reason of his large army,
his great riches, and his readiness to oblige everybody. Pompey and Crassus,
his partners in the triumvirate, came also. In their conference it was
decided that Pompey and Crassus should be elected consuls again and that
Cæsar's governorship over his provinces should be extended for
five years more. Thereupon they separated and Domitius Ahenobarbus offered
himself as a candidate for the consulship against Pompey. When the appointed
day came, both went down to the Campus Martius before daylight to attend the
comitia. Their followers got into an altercation and came to blows, and
finally somebody assaulted the torchbearer of Domitius with a sword. There
was a scattering straightway, and Domitius escaped with difficulty to his
own house. Even Pompey's clothing was carried home stained with blood, so
great was the danger incurred by both candidates.
