d be done in Rome; every point was guarded against
him. Late that same night he left the city, committing the management of
affairs to Cethegus and Lentulus, and promising to return before long
with an army at his back. Halting awhile on his road, he wrote letters
to some of the chief senators, in which he declared that for the sake of
the public peace he should give up the struggle with his enemies and
quietly retire to Marseilles. What he really did was to make his way to
the camp of Manlius, where he assumed the usual state of a regular
military command. The Senate, on hearing of these doings, declared him
to be an outlaw. The consuls were to raise an army; Antonius was to
march against the enemy, and Cicero to protect the city.

Meanwhile the conspirators left behind in Rome had been busy. One of
the tribes of Gaul had sent deputies to the Capitol to obtain redress
for injuries of which they complained. The men had effected little or
nothing. The Senate neglected them. The help of officials could only be
purchased by heavy bribes. They were now heavily in debt both on their
own account and on account of their state, and Lentulus conceived the
idea of taking advantage of their needs. One of his freedmen, who had
been a trader in Gaul, could speak the language, and knew several of the
deputies, opened negotiations with them by his patron's desire. They
told him the tale of their wrongs. They could see, they said, no way out
of their difficulties. "Behave like men," he answered, "and I will show
you a way." He then revealed to them the existence of the conspiracy,
explained its objects, and enlarged upon the hopes of success. While he
and his friends were busy at Rome, they were to return to Gaul and rouse
their fellow-tribesmen to revolt. There was something tempting in the
offer, and the deputies doubted long whether they should not accept it.
In the end prudence prevailed. To join the conspiracy and to rebel
would be to run a terrible risk for very doubtful advantages. On the
other hand they might make sure of a speedy reward by telling all they
knew to the authorities. This was the course on which they resolved, and
they went without loss of time to a Roman noble who was the hereditary
"patron" of their tribe. The patron in his turn communicated the
intelligence to Cicero. Cicero's instructions were that the deputies
should pretend to agree to the proposals which had been made to them,
and should ask for a written a