LIII. For all this Pompeius got admiration and love; but on the other
hand he brought on himself no less odium by giving up the forces and
the provinces to legati who were his friends, while himself in the
places of amusement in Italy going about from one to another spent his
time with his wife, either because he loved her, or because he could
not bear to leave his wife who was attached to him; for this also is
said. And the love of the young woman for her husband was much talked
about, for her affection towards Pompeius was not what might have been
expected considering his age; but the reason appears to have been the
chaste conduct of her husband who knew only his married wife, and the
dignity of his manners which were not austere but agreeable and
particularly attractive to women, if we must not disbelieve the
testimony even of Flora the courtezan. It happened that at the
election of aediles some men came to blows and no small number were
killed near Pompeius, and as his garments were drenched with blood, he
changed them. There was great confusion and hurrying to the house of
the slaves who were carrying the vests; and it happened that
Julia,[327] who was with child, saw the bloody toga, upon which she
fainted and with difficulty recovered, and in consequence of that
alarm and the excitement, she miscarried. Even those who found most
fault with the alliance of Caesar and Pompeius, could not blame the
woman for her affection.
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