d, crowned with glory,
from his Gallic campaign, in which he had displayed the most consummate
ability, was miserable enough. The constitution had been assailed by all
the leading chieftains, and even Cicero could only give vent to his
despair and indignation in impotent lamentations. The cause of liberty was
already lost. Caesar had obtained the province of Gaul for ten years,
against all former precedent, and Pompey had obtained the extension of his
imperium for five additional years. Both these generals thus had armies
and an independent command for a period which might be called
indefinite--that is, as long as they could maintain their authority in a
period of anarchy. Rome was disgraced by tumults and assassinations;
worthless people secured the highest offices, and were the tools of the
two great generals, who divided between them the empire of the world. All
family ties between these two generals were destroyed by the death of
Julia. The feud between Clodius and Milo, the one a candidate for the
praetorship, and the other for the consulship, was most disgraceful, in the
course of which Clodius was slain. Each wanted an office as the means of
defraying enormous debts. Pompey, called upon by the Senate to relieve the
State from anarchy, was made sole consul--another unprecedented thing. The
trial of Milo showed that Pompey was the absolute master at Rome, and it
was his study to maintain his position against Caesar.

(M1011) It was plain that the world could not have two absolute masters,
for both Pompey and Caesar aspired to universal sovereignty. One must
succumb to the other--be either anvil or hammer. Neither would have been
safe without their unities and their armed followers. And if both were
destroyed, the State would still be convulsed with factions. All true
constitutional liberty was at an end, for both generals and demagogues
could get such laws passed as they pleased, with sufficient money to bribe
those who controlled the elections. It was a time of universal corruption
and venality. Money was the mainspring of society. Public virtue had
passed away,--all elevated sentiment,--all patriotism,--all self-sacrifice.
The people cared but little who ruled, if they were supplied with corn and
wine at nominal prices. Patrician nobles had become demagogues, and
demagogues had power in proportion to their ability or inclination to
please the people. Cicero despaired of the State, and devoted himself to
literature