The New Consuls
I
It had come--the great crisis that by crooked ways or straight was to
set right all the follies and crimes of many a generation. On the
Calends of January Lentulus Crus and Caius Clodius Marcellus were
inaugurated consuls. In solemn procession with Senate, priesthoods,
and people, they had gone up to the Capitol and sacrificed chosen
white steers to Jupiter, "Best and Greatest,"[135] and invoked his
blessing upon the Roman State. And so began the last consulship of the
Free Republic.
[135] _Optimus maximus_.
Rome was in a ferment. All knew the intention of the consuls to move
the recall of Caesar from his government. All knew that Curio had
brought a letter from Ravenna, the contents whereof he carefully
guarded. That same afternoon the consuls convened the Senate in the
Temple of Capitoline Jove, and every man knew to what purpose. All
Rome swept in the direction of the Capitol. Drusus accompanied his
friend, the tribune Antonius, as the latter's viator, for there was
need of a trusty guard.
The excitement in the streets ran even higher than when Catilina's
great plot was exposed. The streets were jammed with crowds,--not of
the idle and base born, but of equites and noble ladies, and young
patricians not old enough to step into their fathers' places. They
were howling and cheering for Pompeius and Lentulus, and cursing the
absent proconsul. As Drusus passed along at the side of Antonius, he
could not fail to hear the execrations and vile epithets flung from
every side at him and his friend. He had always supposed the masses
were on Caesar's side, but now every man's hand seemed turned against
the conqueror of the Gauls. Was there to be but a repetition of the
same old tragedy of the Gracchi and of Marcus Drusus? A brave man
standing out for the people, and the people deserting him in his hour
of need?
They reached the Temple. The Senate was already nearly ready for
business; every toothless consular who had been in public service for
perquisites only, and who for years had been wasting his life enjoying
the pickings of an unfortunate province--all such were in their seats
on the front row of benches. Behind them were the _praetorii_ and the
_aedilicii,_[136] a full session of that great body which had matched
its tireless wisdom and tenacity against Pyrrhus, Hannibal, and
Antiochus the Great, and been victorious. Drusus ran his eye over the
seats. There they sat, even in the midst of the general excitement, a
body of calm, dignified elders, severe and immaculate in their long
white togas and purple-edged tunics. The multitudes without were
howling and jeering; within the temple, reigned silence--the silence
that gathered about the most august and powerful assembly the world
has ever seen.
[136] Ex-praetors and ex-aediles.
The Temple was built of cool, grey stone; the assembly hall was quite
apart from the shrine. The Senate had convened in a spacious
semicircular vaulted chamber, cut off from the vulgar world by a row
of close, low Doric columns. From the shade of these pillars one could
command a sweeping view of the Forum, packed with a turbulent
multitude. Drusus stood on the Temple steps and looked out and in.
Without, confusion; within, order; without, a leaderless mob; within,
an assembly almost every member of which had been invested with some
high command. For a moment the young man revived courage; after all,
the Roman Senate was left as a bulwark against passion and popular
wrath; and for the time being, as he looked on those motionless,
venerable faces, his confidence in this court of final appeal was
restored. Then he began to scan the features of the consulars, and his
heart sank. There was Lucius Calpurnius Piso, with the visage of a
philosopher, but within mere moral turpitude. There was Favonius;
there were the two sanguinary Marcelli, consuls respectively for the
two preceding years; there was Domitius; there was Cato, his hard face
illumined doubtless by the near realization of unholy hopes; there was
Faustus Sulla, another bitter oligarch. Drusus saw them all, and knew
that the Caesarian cause had been doomed without a hearing. Caius
Marcellus, the new consul, sat in his separate seat, in all the
splendid dignity of his embroidered toga. Around him stood his twelve
lictors. But Lentulus, at whose behest the Senate had been convened,
and who was to act as its president, had not come. Drusus followed
Antonius over to the farther side of the house, where on a long, low
bench[137] the other tribunes of the plebs were seated. Quintus
Cassius was already there. The other tribunes darted angry glances at
their newly arrived colleague. Drusus remained standing behind
Antonius, ready to act as a body-guard, as much as to serve in mere
official capacity. Even as they entered he had noticed a buzz and
rustle pass along the tiers of seats, and whisper pass on whisper,
"There come the Caesarians!" "What treason is in that letter!" "We must
have an end of their impudence!" And Drusus ran his eye over the whole
company, and sought for one friendly look; but he met with only stony
glances or dark frowns. There was justice neither in the people nor in
the Senate. Their hearts were drunk with a sense of revenge and
self-willed passion; and Justice literally weighed out her bounty with
blinded eyes.
[137] _Subsellium_.
There was another hum and rustle. And into the hall swept Lentulus
Crus, in robes of office, with Scipio, the father-in-law of Pompeius,
at his side. Before him strode his twelve lictors bearing their fasces
erect. Not a word was spoken while Lentulus Crus seated himself in the
ivory curule chair of office. No sign marked the extreme gravity of
the occasion.
"Let the sacred chickens be brought," said Lentulus.
Never a lip twitched or curled in all that august multitude while
several public attendants brought in a wooden cage containing three or
four rather skinny specimens of poultry. Not even Drusus saw anything
really ridiculous when Lentulus arose, took grain from an attendant,
and scattered a quantity of it before the coop. Close at his elbow
stood the augur, to interpret the omen,--a weazened, bald-headed old
senator, who wore a purple-striped tunic,[138] and carried in his hand
a long stick,[139] curved at its head into a spiral. Drusus knew
perfectly well that the fowls had been kept without food all that day;
but it would have seemed treason to all the traditions of his native
land to cry out against this pompous farce. The hungry chickens pecked
up the grain. The augur muttered formula after formula, and Lentulus
took pains to repeat the meaningless jargon after him. Presently the
augur ceased his chatter and nodded to the consul. Lentulus turned
toward the Senate.
[138] _Trabea_.
[139] _Lituus_.
"There is no evil sight or sound!"[140] was his announcement, meaning
that business could be transacted.
[140] _Silentium esse videtur_.
Whereupon up from his seat sprang Marcus Antonius, flourishing in his
hand a packet. Loudly Lentulus bade him hold his peace; loudly the
tribunes who sided with the Senate party forbade him to read. But a
rustle and stir of eager curiosity ran along all the benches, and
first one voice, then many, cried out that the letter must be made
public. With very ill grace the consul declared that Antonius should
be allowed to read the communication from Caesar.
Antonius read, and all were astonished at the moderation of the
much-maligned proconsul. Caesar made it clear that he would stand on
his rights as to the second consulship; but to withdraw possibilities
of seeming to issue a threat, he would disband his entire army if
Pompeius would only do the same, or, if preferred, he would retain
simply Cisalpine Gaul and Illyria with two legions, until the consular
elections were over. In either event it would be out of his power to
menace the constitution, and the public tranquillity would remain
quite undisturbed.
But before the murmur of approbation at this unexpected docility wore
away, Lentulus burst forth into a fiery invective. All knew why the
Senate had been convened, nor would he allow a few smooth promises to
bring the state into danger. The law provided that a proconsul should
leave his province at a certain time; and if Caesar thought that a
special law exempted him from this requirement, it were well he were
disabused of the notion. The Senate had been convened because the
presiding consul felt that the continuance of Caesar in his
governorship was a menace to the safety of the Republic. Let the
Conscript Fathers express themselves boldly, and he, Lentulus, would
not desert them; let them waver and try to court the favour of Caesar
as in former times, and the consul would have to look to his own
safety--and he could make his own terms with Caesar.
Lentulus had started out with studied moderation. His harangue ended
with a stinging menace. A low mutter, difficult to interpret, ran
through the Senate. Again Antonius leaped to his feet.
"Conscript Fathers, will you not consider the mild offers of Caesar? Do
not reject them without debate."
"I ask the opinion of the Senate on my own proposition," broke in
Lentulus. "Metellus Scipio, declare what is your judgment."
"I protest at this unseemly haste," cried Antonius; "let us consider
the letter first!"
"And I protest against this boisterous and unlawful interruption,"
retorted the consul, fiercely. "Rise, Metellus Scipio!"
Antonius flushed with rage, but sank into his seat. Drusus leaned over
his friend's shoulder and whispered "Veto." Antonius shook his head.
"They must speak. We should be foolish to shoot away our best arrow
before the battle had really begun."
Scipio arose. He was not the "chief senator,"[141] usually entitled to
speak first; but everybody knew that his words were the mere
expressions of his son-in-law, the mighty Pompeius. His oratory and
physical presence were wretched, but all the Senate hung upon his
words.
[141] _Princeps senatus_.
"Pompeius did not intend to abandon the Republic, if the Senate would
support him; but let them act with energy, for otherwise in the future
they might need his aid never so much, and yet implore it in vain."
"You want to destroy the Republic!" cried Quintus Cassius, half
leaping from his seat.
"We want to destroy _you_!" retorted Domitius, savagely.
But all men were not so blinded by fury, hate, and greed of power and
revenge. To the dismay of his party Caius Marcellus, the second
consul, counselled a certain kind of moderation. There was no love
lost by the noble "Optimates" upon Pompeius, and Marcellus hinted this
plainly when he said that all Italy must be put under arms, and with
such an army at the disposal of the Senate, it could act as it saw
fit,--to get rid of a troublesome protector, he implied, no less than
an open enemy. And close after him followed Marcus Calidius and Marcus
Rufus, two senators, who had at least the sagacity to perceive that it
would not free the Commonwealth to crush Caesar, by flinging themselves
into the arms of Pompeius. "Let Pompeius go off to his Spanish
province, to which he was accredited proconsul; it was but natural
Caesar should think himself ill treated, seeing that two legions had
been taken from him for Eastern service, and Pompeius was keeping
these very troops close to Rome."
For one moment it seemed to Drusus that wisdom and justice had not
deserted the Senate of his native state. The consuls were divided; two
influential men were counselling moderation. Surely the Senate would
not push to extremities. But he had not reckoned on the spell which
the malevolent spirit of Lentulus had cast over the assembly. In
bitter words the presiding consul refused to put Calidius's proposal
to a vote, and then, turning directly upon his colleague before the
face of the whole multitude, he poured out reproof and vituperation.
Marcellus turned red and then black in the face with rage. Drusus's
heart was beating rapidly with hope. So long as the consuls were at
enmity, little would be done! Suddenly Scipio started as if to leave
the assembly. "He's going to call in Pompeius's cohorts!" belched
Lentulus. Marcellus turned pale. Drusus saw Calidius's friends
whispering with him, evidently warning and remonstrating. Senators
cast uneasy glances toward the doorways, as if expecting to see a
century of legionaries march in to enforce the decrees of Pompeius's
spokesmen. Marcellus staggered to his feet. He was cowed, and
evidently felt himself in personal danger.
"Conscript Fathers," he stammered, "I--I withdraw my motion to delay
action for considering the recall of Caesar."
"You have done well!" shouted Lentulus, triumphing savagely. Scipio
ostentatiously settled back on his seat, while Cato called with
warning, yet exultation:--
"Take care what you do. Caesar is the only sober man among all those
engaged in the plot to overturn the government. Remember with whom you
must deal, and act!"
Then Scipio arose once more. Every one knew that his fiat was law.
"Conscript Fathers," he began, "Marcus Cato speaks well. Consider the
power of Caesar. He has trained up bands of gladiators whom his
friends, both senators and knights, are drilling for him. He is
doubling his soldiers' pay, giving them extra corn, slaves,
attendants, and land grants. A great part of the Senate,--yes, Cicero
even, they say,--owes him money, at low and favourable rates of
interest; he has actually made presents to freedmen and influential
slaves. All young prodigals in debt are in his pay. He has made
presents to win the favour of cities and princes, or been lending them
troops without vote of the Senate. In Italy, Gaul, and Spain,--yes, in
Greece, too, and Asia, he is winning the good-will of communities by
erecting splendid public buildings. So great is his present power!
What he will do in a second consulship I dare not say. I dare not
assign bounds to his ambition. Conscript Fathers, shall we vote
ourselves freemen or slaves? What more can I add to the words of the
consul? I vote to ratify the proposition of Lucius Lentulus, that
Caesar either disband his army on a fixed day, or be declared a public
enemy!"
"And what is your opinion, Lucius Domitius?" demanded Lentulus, while
never a voice was raised to oppose Scipio.
"Let the Senate remember," replied Domitius, "that Caesar will justify
the meaning of his name--the 'hard-hitter,' and let us strike the
first and telling blow."
A ripple of applause swept down the Senate. The anti-Caesarians had
completely recovered from their first discomfiture, and were carrying
all sentiment before them. Already there were cries of "A vote! a
vote! Divide the Senate! A vote!"
"Conscript Fathers," said Lentulus, "in days of great emergency like
this, when your minds seem so happily united in favour of doing that
which is for the manifest safety of the Republic, I will not ask for
the opinions of each senator in turn. Let the Senate divide; let all
who favour the recall of the proconsul of the Gauls pass to the right,
those against to the left. And so may it be well and prosperous for
the Commonwealth."
But Antonius was again on his feet; and at his side stood Quintus
Cassius.
"Lucius Lentulus," he thundered, "I forbid the division. _Veto!_"
"_Veto!_" shouted Cassius.
Domitius, too, had risen. "Conscript Fathers, let the consuls
remonstrate with the tribunes to withdraw their prohibition. And, if
they do not succeed, let them lay before the Senate that order which
is the safeguard of the Republic."
Everybody knew what Domitius meant. If Antonius would not give way,
martial law was to be declared. Hot and furious raged the debate. More
and more passionate the expressions of party hatred. More and more
menacing the gestures directed upon the two Caesarian tribunes. But
even the impetuous fierceness of Lentulus, Cato, Scipio, and Domitius
combined could not drive the browbeaten Senate to cast loose from its
last mooring that night. Domitius's measure went over. It was
late--the stars were shining outside. Lamps had been brought in, and
threw their ruddy glare over the long tiers of seats and their august
occupants. Finally the angry debate ended, because it was a physical
impossibility to continue longer. Senators went away with dark frowns
or care-knit foreheads. Out in the Forum bands of young "Optimates"
were shouting for Pompeius, and cursing Caesar and his followers.
Drusus, following Antonius, felt that he was the adherent of a lost
cause, the member of a routed army that was defending its last
stronghold, which overwhelming numbers must take, be the defence never
so valiant. And when very late he lay down on his bed that night, the
howls of the fashionable mob were still ringing in his ears.
II
That night the most old-fashioned and sober Roman went to bed at an
advanced hour. Men were gathered in little knots along the streets, in
the forums, in the porticos and basilicas, arguing, gesticulating,
wrangling. Military tribunes and centurions in armour of Pompeius's
legions were parading on the _comitium_.[142] Veterans of that leader
were jostling about in the crowd, clanking their newly furbished
armour and shouting for their old general. If a man spoke for Caesar, a
crowd of bystanders was ready to hoot him down. Staid householders
locked up their dwellings and stationed trusty slaves at the doors to
see that the crowds did not take to riot and pillage. The sailors from
the wharves had been drinking heavily in all the taverns, and now
roved up and down the crowded streets, seeking opportunity for brawls.
Thieves and cutpurses were plying their most successful work; but no
officials had time to direct the efforts of the harassed and slender
police corps. To Pompeius's palace, without the gates, every man whose
voice or vote seemed worth the winning had been summoned. All the
senators had streamed out thither; and there the Magnus had brought
them under the spell of his martial authority and made them as wax in
his hand. And all "that majesty that doth hedge about a king," or
about a victorious general, exerted its full influence. The senators
came into the palace of Pompeius as into the palace of their despot.
He stood before them in his largest hall, wearing the embroidered robe
of a triumphator, with the laurel crown of his victories upon his
head. At his right hand, as first vizir of his state, stood Lentulus
Crus; at his left Lucius Domitius. The senators came to him and bowed
low, and said their "_Aves_" and "_Salves_" as though cringing before
a Mithridates or Tigranes of the East; and Pompeius, by the cordiality
or coolness of his response, indicated which of his vassals had or had
not fallen under his disfavour.
[142] Assembly-place in the _Forum Romanum_.
Yes, despotism had come at last for Rome. The oligarchy had by its
corrupt incapacity made a tyranny inevitable. They could make choice
of masters, but a master they must have. Many were the proud Fabii,
Claudii, and Valerii present that night--men whose lines of curule
ancestors were as long as the duration of the Republic--who ground
their teeth with shame and inward rage the very moment they cried,
"_Salve, Magne!_" Yet the recipient of all this adulation was in no
enviable frame of mind. He looked harassed and weary, despite the
splendour of his dress and crown. And many were the whispered
conversations that passed between him and his ministers, or rather
custodians, Lentulus and Domitius.
"Ah! poor Julia," sighed Pompeius, whose mind ever reverted to his
dead wife, "what misery would have been yours if you had seen this
day. Poor Julia; how I loved her; and Caesar, her father, loved her
too; and now--"
"Be yourself, Magnus," expostulated the consul at his side; "remember
that for the good of the Republic every personal affection is to be
put away. Recall Brutus, who put his own sons to death because they
committed treason. Remember what Scipio AEmilianus said when he learned
that Tiberius Gracchus, his dear brother-in-law, had been put to death
for sedition. He quoted Homer's line:--
"'So perish all who do the like again!'"
"And must I trample down every tie, every affection?" complained
wretched Pompeius, who never ceased hoping against hope that something
would avert the catastrophe.
"There is no tie, no affection, Magnus," said Domitius, sternly, "that
binds you to Caesar. Cast his friendship from your breast as you would
a viper. Think only of being justly hailed with Romulus, Camillus, and
Marius as the fourth founder of Rome. Strike, and win immortal glory."
And so to the last hour these confederates wrought upon their supple
instrument, and bent him to their will; and their tool in turn had all
else at his mercy. Pompeius addressed the senators, and, well trained
by his guardians, spoke with brutal frankness to those who had dared
to advise moderation.
"You, Rufus," he said, pointing a menacing finger, before which that
senator cowered in dread, "have been advising the Republic to tolerate
the chief of its enemies. You bid me to disarm or withdraw from Italy,
as though the lives and property of any good men would be safe the
moment Caesar was left unopposed to pour his cohorts of barbarous Gauls
and Germans into the country. You, Calidius, have given the same
untimely advice. Beware lest you repent the hour when you counselled
that I should disarm or quit the neighbourhood of Rome." The two-edged
suggestion contained in this last warning was too marked for the
reproved men not to turn pale with dread, and slink away trembling
behind their associates.
"But," continued Pompeius, "I have praise as well as blame; Marcus
Cato has not deserted the Republic. He has advised, and advised well,
that the proconsul of the Gauls be stripped of his legions." It was
Cato's turn now to bite his lips with mortification, for in times past
he had foretold that through Pompeius great miseries would come to the
state, and in his praetorship had declared that Pompeius ought to go to
his province, and not stay at home to stir up tumults and anarchy from
which he could emerge as monarch. And such praise from the Magnus's
lips, under the present circumstances, was gall and wormwood to his
haughty soul.
"And," continued Pompeius, "I shall not forget to applaud the
energetic counsels of Domitius and Lentulus Crus. Let those who wish
to preserve life and property," he added, with a menacing
significance, "see to it that they do as these gentlemen advise."
And thereupon there was a great shout of applause from all the more
rabid senators, in which the rest thought it safer to join, with
simulated heartiness. But Pompeius did not stop here. He brought
before the senators tribunes from the two legions taken from Caesar,
and these tribunes loudly declaimed--having learned their lesson
well--that their troops were ill-affected toward their former
commander, and would follow Pompeius to the last. And the Magnus
produced veteran officers of his old campaigns, whom hope of reward
and promotion had induced to come and declare for their former
commander. Late, very late, the informal session of the Senate broke
up. The "Fathers of the Republic" went each man to his own dwelling;
but there was no longer any doubt as to what was to come of the doings
of the day.
Flaccus, the banker, had of course no access to the conference; but he
had waited outside the gate of the palace, to learn the issue from an
acquaintance in the Senate. His patience was at last rewarded.
"Tell me, friend," was his question, "what will be the outcome of
this; shall I risk any loans to-morrow?"
The friendly senator seemed doubtful.
"Caesar is a ruined man. Who imagines his legions will fight? We know
Labienus is with Pompeius."
"You are wrong," said Flaccus.
"Wrong? I?" replied the senator. "I know whereof I speak."
"_Phy!"_ cried the banker, "not Caesar, but you are ruined. The legions
will fight."
"Don't prophesy," sneered the acquaintance, "seeing that you brokers
always keep out of politics."
"You politicians are blind," retorted Flaccus.
* * * * *
The debate raged on. But by law the Senate could not convene on the
third and fourth of the month, and the question of setting aside the
tribunician veto went over until the fifth. It was the last lull
before the outbreak of the great tempest. The little group of
Caesarians put forth their final efforts. Drusus went in person to call
on Cicero, the great orator, and plead with him to come out from his
residence in the suburbs and argue for peace. The destroyer of
Catilina had declared that he would not forfeit his rights to a
triumph for his Cilician victories by appearing prematurely in the
Senate. Besides, he could never antagonize Pompeius. Curio smiled
grimly when his colleague reported his fruitless embassy.
"I think, my friends," said the politician, "we shall soon prove the
old saying, 'Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.'"