by those who were desirous of ridding themselves of the presence of
Cicero.

This Clodius, a young man of noble family and of debauched manners, as
was usual with young men of noble families, dressed himself up as a
woman, and made his way in among the ladies as they were performing
certain religious rites in honor of the Bona Dea, or Goddess Cybele, a
matron goddess so chaste in her manners that no male was admitted into
her presence. It was specially understood that nothing appertaining to a
man was to be seen on the occasion, not even the portrait of one; and it
may possibly have been the case that Clodius effected his entrance among
the worshipping matrons on this occasion simply because his doing so was
an outrage, and therefore exciting. Another reason was alleged. The
rites in question were annually held, now in the house of this matron
and then of that, and during the occasion the very master of the house
was excluded from his own premises. They were now being performed under
the auspices of Pompeia, the wife of Julius Caesar, the daughter of one
Quintus Pompeius, and it was alleged that Clodius came among the women
worshippers for the sake of carrying on an intrigue with Caesar's wife.
This was highly improbable, as Mr. Forsyth has pointed out to us, and
the idea was possibly used simply as an excuse to Caesar for divorcing a
wife of whom he was weary. At any rate, when the scandal got abroad, he
did divorce Pompeia, alleging that it did not suit Caesar to have his
wife suspected.

[Sidenote: B.C. 61, aetat. 46.]

The story became known through the city, and early in January Cicero
wrote to Atticus, telling him the facts: "You have probably heard that
Publius Clodius, the son of Appius, has been taken dressed in a woman's
clothes in the house of Caius Caesar, where sacrifice was being made for
the people, and that he escaped by the aid of a female slave. You will
be sorry to hear that it has given rise to a great scandal."[222] A few
days afterward Cicero speaks of it again to Atticus at greater length,
and we learn that the matter had been taken up by the magistrates with
the view of punishing Clodius. Cicero writes without any strong feeling
of his own, explaining to his friend that he had been at first a very
Lycurgus in the affair, but that he is now tamed down.[223] Then there
is a third letter in which Cicero is indignant because certain men of
whom he disapproves, the Consul Piso among the number[224]