For they deprived of the citizenship the inhabitants
of Novum Comum[512] a colony lately settled by Caesar in Gaul; and
Marcellus, who was consul, punished with stripes one of the Senators
of Novum Comum who had come to Rome, and added too this insult, "That
he put these marks upon him to show that he was not a Roman," and he
told him to go and show them to Caesar. After the consulship of
Marcellus, when Caesar had now profusely poured forth his Gallic wealth
for all those engaged in public life to draw from, and had released
Curio[513] the tribune from many debts, and given to Paulus the consul
fifteen hundred talents, out of which he decorated the Forum with the
Basilica, a famous monument which he built in place of the old one
called Fulvia;--under these circumstances, Pompeius, fearing cabal,
both openly himself and by means of his friends exerted himself to
have a successor[514] appointed to Caesar in his government, and he
sent and demanded back of him the soldiers[515] which he had lent to
Caesar for the Gallic wars. Caesar sent the men back after giving each
of them a present of two hundred and fifty drachmae. The officers who
led these troops to Pompeius, spread abroad among the people reports
about Caesar which were neither decent nor honest; and they misled
Pompeius by ill-founded hopes, telling him that the army of Caesar
longed to see him, and that while he with difficulty directed affairs
at Rome owing to the odium produced by secret intrigues, the force
with Caesar was all ready for him, and that if Caesar's soldiers should
only cross over to Italy, they would forthwith be on his side: so
hateful, they said, had Caesar become to them on account of his
numerous campaigns, and so suspected owing to their fear of monarchy.
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