ncipate of Augustus; and the
assumption of the perpetual dictatorship would hardly by itself suffice to
account for the murder of Caesar. But there are signs that in the last six
months of his life he aspired not only to a monarchy in name as well as in
fact, but also to a divinity which Romans should acknowledge as well as
Greeks, Orientals and barbarians. His statue was set up beside those of the
seven kings of Rome, and he adopted the throne of gold, the sceptre of
ivory and the embroidered robe which tradition ascribed to them. He allowed
his supporters to suggest the offer of the regal title by putting in
circulation an oracle according to which it was destined for a king of Rome
to subdue the Parthians, and when at the Lupercalia (15th February 44 B.C.)
Antony set the diadem on his head he rejected the offer half-heartedly on
account of the groans of the people. His image was carried in the _pompa
circensis_ amongst those of the immortal gods, and his statue set up in the
temple of Quirinus with the inscription "To the Unconquerable God." A
college of Luperci, with the surname Juliani, was instituted in his honour
and _flamines_ were created as priests of his godhead. This was intolerable
to the aristocratic republicans, to whom it seemed becoming that victorious
commanders should accept divine honours at the hands of Greeks and
Asiatics, but unpardonable that Romans should offer the same worship to a
Roman.

Thus Caesar's work remained unfinished, and this must be borne in mind in
considering his record of legislative and [Sidenote: Legislative reforms.]
administrative reform. Some account of this is given elsewhere (see ROME:
_History, Ancient_), but it may be well to single out from the list of his
measures (some of which, such as the restoration of exiles and the children
of proscribed persons, were dictated by political expediency, while others,
such as his financial proposals for the relief of debtors, and the steps
which he took to restore Italian agriculture, were of the nature of
palliatives) those which have a permanent significance as indicating his
grasp of imperial problems. The Social War had brought to the inhabitants
of Italy as far as the Po the privileges of Roman citizenship; it remained
to extend this gift to the Transpadane Italians, to establish a uniform
system of local administration and to devise representative institutions by
which at least some voice in the government of Rome might be perm