tributed among the
veterans of Pompey. Caesar proposed to pay the holders a reasonable sum
for their loss, though legally they had no claim whatever on the land.
Although Bibulus interfered, Cato raved, and the Tribunes vetoed, still
the Assembly passed the law, and voted in addition that the Senate be
obliged to take an oath to observe it.

The LEGES JULIAE were a code of laws which Caesar drew up during his
year of office. They mark an era in Roman law, for they cover many
crimes the commission of which had been for a long time undermining the
state.

The most important of these was the LEX DE REPETUNDIS, aimed at the
abuses of governors of provinces. It required all governors to make a
double return of their accounts, one to be left in the province open for
inspection, the other to be kept at Rome.

When Caesar's term of office was nearly ended, he obtained from the
reluctant Senate his appointment as Proconsul of Gaul for five years.
He must leave the city, however, in safe hands, otherwise all his work
would be undone. He managed the consular elections for the next year
(58) so adroitly, that Piso and Gabinius, on whose friendship he could
rely, were elected.

There were in Rome, however, two men whom it would be dangerous for
Caesar to leave behind. Cato, the ultra aristocrat, hated him bitterly.
Cicero, whose ambition was to lead the Senate, a body only too willing
to crush Caesar, might do him great harm. It was Caesar's good fortune,
or, as some believe, the result of his own scheming, that both these men
were put temporarily out of the way.

CLODIUS PULCHER was a young aristocrat, notorious for his wildness. At
one time, by assuming the dress of a woman, he had gained admittance to
the festival of _Bona Dea_, which was celebrated only by women. He was
discovered and brought to trial before the Senate, but acquitted by
means of open bribery. Cicero had been instrumental in bringing him
to trial, and Clodius never forgot it. He got adopted into a plebeian
family in order to be a candidate for the tribuneship, and was
successful. He then proposed to the Assembly that any person who had put
to death a Roman citizen without allowing him to appeal to the people be
considered a violator of the constitution. The proposal was carried.
All knew that Cicero was meant, and he fled at once to Macedonia. His
property was confiscated, his houses were destroyed, and his palace in
the city was dedicated to the Goddess of