And as if he had given him but
small occupations with the affairs of Cyprus and Ptolemaeus, Clodius
commissioned him also to restore the Byzantine fugitives, his wish
being that Cato should be as long as possible from Rome during his
tribuneship.
XXXV. Being under such compulsion, Cato advised Cicero, who was
pressed by his enemies, not to raise any commotion nor to involve the
city in a contest and bloodshed, but by yielding to the times to be
again the saviour of his country; and sending forward to Cyprus
Canidius,[707] one of his friends, he prevailed on Ptolemaeus[708] to
yield without a struggle, assuring him that he should want neither
money nor respect, for that the people would give him the priesthood
of the goddess at Paphos.[709] Cato himself stayed in Rhodes making
preparation and waiting for the answers. In the meantime
Ptolemaeus,[710] King of Egypt, left Alexandria in anger after
quarrelling with the citizens, and set sail for Rome in the hope that
Caesar and Pompeius would restore him with a military force; and as he
wished to see Cato he sent a message, expecting that Cato would come
to him. Cato happened to be then undergoing a purging,[711] and he
answered that Ptolemaeus must come, if he wished to see him; and when
the king did come, Cato neither advanced to meet him nor rose, but
saluted him as one of his ordinary visitors and bade him be seated;
and by this behaviour the king was at first disturbed, and was amazed
at the contrast between Cato's haughty behaviour and rough manners,
and the meanness and simplicity of the man's attire.
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