oison.[51] Then the Cypriots, without reluctance,
accepted Cato, expecting to be friends and allies of the Romans instead
of slaves. It was not, however, of this that Cato made his chief boast;
but because he had administered everything in the best possible manner,
had collected slaves and large amounts of money from the royal treasury,
yet had met with no reproach but had given account of everything
unchallenged,--it was for this that he laid claim to valor no less than
if he had conquered in some war. So many persons accepted bribes that he
thought it more unusual for a man to despise money than to conquer the
enemy.

[-23-] So at that time Cato for the reasons specified had some hope of a
proper triumph, and the consuls in the senate proposed that a praetorship
be given him, although by law it could not yet be his. He was not
appointed (for he spoke against the measure himself), but obtained even
greater renown from it. Clodius undertook to name the servants brought
from Cyprus Clodians, because he himself had sent Cato there, but failed
because the latter opposed it. So they received the title of Cyprians,
although some of them wanted to be called Porcians; but Cato prevented
this, too. Clodius took his opposition extremely ill and tried to pick
flaws in his administration: he demanded accounts for the transactions,
not because he could prove him guilty of any wrongdoing, but because
nearly all of the documents had been destroyed by shipwreck and he might
gain some prestige by following this line. Caesar, also, although not
present, was aiding Clodius at this time, and according to some sent him
in letters the accusations brought against Cato. One of their attacks
upon Cato consisted in the charge that he himself had persuaded the
consuls (so they affirmed) to propose a praetorship for him, and that he
had then voluntarily put it by, in order not to appear to have missed it
when he wanted it.

[B.C. 56 (_a.u._ 698)]

[-24-] So they kept up the conflict, and Pompey, too, encountered some
trouble in the distribution of the grain. Many slaves had been freed in
anticipation of the event, of whom he wished to take a census in order
that the grain delivery might take place with some decency and order.
This, to be sure, he managed fairly easily through his own wisdom and
because of the large supply of grain: but in seeking the consulship he
found annoyances which likewise entailed a measure of censure for him.
Clodius's