haracter, and in action. So hostile were these two great
officers to each other that the one attempted to undo whatever the other
did. Bibulus was elected by bribery, on behalf of the Senate, in order
that he might be a counterpoise to Caesar. But Caesar now was not only
Caesar: he was Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus united, with all their
dependents, all their clients, all their greedy hangers-on. To give this
compact something of the strength of family union, Pompey, who was now
nearly fifty years of age, took in marriage Caesar's daughter Julia, who
was a quarter of a century his junior. But Pompey was a man who could
endear himself to women, and the opinion seems to be general that had
not Julia died in childbirth the friendship between the men would have
been more lasting. But for Caesar's purposes the duration of this year
and the next was enough. Bibulus was a laughing-stock, the mere shadow
of a Consul, when opposed to such an enemy. He tried to use all the old
forms of the Republic with the object of stopping Caesar in his career;
but Caesar only ridiculed him; and Pompey, though we can imagine that he
did not laugh much, did as Caesar would have him. Bibulus was an augur,
and observed the heavens when political man[oe]uvres were going on which
he wished to stop. This was the old Roman system for using religion as a
drag upon progressive movements. No work of state could be carried on if
the heavens were declared to be unpropitious; and an augur could always
say that the heavens were unpropitious if he pleased. This was the
recognized constitutional mode of obstruction, and was quite in accord
with the feelings of the people. Pompey alone, or Crassus with him,
would certainly have submitted to an augur; but Caesar was above augurs.
Whatever he chose to have carried he carried, with what approach he
could to constitutional usage, but with whatever departure from
constitutional usage he found to be necessary.

What was the condition of the people of Rome at the time it is difficult
to learn from the conflicting statements of historians. That Cicero had
till lately been popular we know. We are told that Bibulus was popular
when he opposed Caesar. Of personal popularity up to this time I doubt
whether Caesar had achieved much. Yet we learn that, when Bibulus with
Cato and Lucullus endeavored to carry out their constitutional threats,
they were dragged and knocked about, and one of them nearly killed. Of
the illegality o