C. Julius Caesar, Commentaries on the Civil War
William Duncan, Ed.

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These affairs despatched, Caesar that his troops might enjoy some repose, cantoned them in the nearest towns, and set out himself for Rome. There he assembled the senate, and after complaining of the injuries of his enemies, told them, "That he had never affected extraordinary honours, but waited patiently the time prescribed by the laws, to solicit for a second consulship, to which every Roman citizen had a right to aspire: that the people, with the concurrence of their tribunes, (in spite of the attempts of his enemies, and the vigorous opposition of Cato, who endeavoured, according to custom, to spin out the time in speaking,) had permitted him to stand candidate though absent, and that even in the consulship of Pompey; who, if he disapproved of the decree, why did he let it pass? But if he allowed it, why now oppose the execution ? He set before them his moderation, in voluntarily proposing that both parties should lay down their arms, by which he must have been himself divested of his government and command. He displayed the malice of his enemies, who sought to impose terms on him, to which they would not submit themselves; and chose rather to involve the state in a civil war than part with their armies and provinces. He enlarged upon the injury they had done him, in taking away two of his legions, and their cruelty and insolence, in violating the authority of the tribunes. He spoke of his many offers of peace, his frequent desire of an interview, and the continual refusals he had received. For all these reasons, he requested and conjured them to undertake the administration of the republic, jointly with him. But if they declined it through fear, he had no intention to force so great a burden upon them, and would take the whole charge alone. That in the mean time it would be proper to send a deputation to Pompey, to treat of an accommodation: nor was he frighted at the difficulty Pompey had started some time before in the senate; that to send deputies was to acknowledge the superiority of him to whom they were sent, and a sign of timidity in the sender. That this was a little low way of thinking; and that, in the same manner as he had endeavoured at a superiority in action, he would also strive to be superior in justice and equity."