aul, and more than once during that
time his life seemed a failure in his own eyes, and he said scornfully
and sadly of himself that he had done nothing to be remembered at an age
when Alexander had already conquered the world.

Those twenty years which, to the thoughtful man, are by far the most
interesting of all, appear in history as a confused and shapeless medley
of political, military and forensic activity, strongly coloured by
social scandals, which rested upon a foundation of truth, and darkened
by accusations of worse kind, for which there is no sort of evidence,
and which may be safely attributed to the jealousy of unscrupulous
adversaries.

The first account of him, which we have in the seventeenth year of his
age, evokes a picture of youthful beauty. The boy who is to win the
world is appointed high priest of Jove in Rome,--by what strong
influence we know not,--and we fancy the splendid youth with his tall
figure, full of elastic endurance, the brilliant face, the piercing,
bold, black eyes; we see him with the small mitre set back upon the dark
and curling locks that grow low on the forehead, as hair often does that
is to fall early, clad in the purple robe of his high office, summoning
all his young dignity to lend importance to his youthful grace as he
moves up to Jove's high altar to perform his first solemn sacrifice with
his young consort; for the high priesthood of Jove was held jointly by
man and wife, and if the wife died the husband lost his office.

He was about twenty when he cast his lot with the people, and within the
year he fled from Sylla's persecution. The life of sudden changes and
contrasts had begun. Straight from the sacred office, with all its
pomp, and splendour, and solemnity, Caesar is a fugitive in the Sabine
hills, homeless, wifeless, fever-stricken, a price on his head. Such
quick chances of evil fell to many in the days of the great struggle
between Marius and Sylla, between the people and the nobles.

Then as Sylla yielded to the insistence of the young 'populist'
nobleman's many friends, the quick reverse is turned to us. Caesar has a
military command, sees some fighting and much idleness by the shores of
the Bosphorus, in Bithynia--then in a fit of sudden energy, the
soldier's spirit rises; he dashes to the attack on Mytilene, and shows
himself a man.

[Illustration: CAIUS JULIUS CAESAR

After a statue in the Palazzo dei Conservatori]

One or two unimportant campaign