The Roman Army: A Social and Institutional History - Karatunov.net

G r e at S o l d i e r s a n d B at t l e s 281
ing year in Further Spain. As he was about to depart, his aunt Julia, the wife of
Ma riu s , d i ed . So did his wi fe Corn el i a , l e aving him a wi dower with a small
daughter, Julia, his only acknowledged child. At his aunt’s funeral, Caesar made
deliberate reference to his relationship to Marius, contravening the Sullan legislation
forbidding the display of images of his former adversary. Then he left for
Spain, where next to nothing is known of his activities. One of his principal duties
was to pronounce judgment in the courts, providing him with an opportunity
to make friends and influence people, or to acquire some financial gain. In
68 bc he returned to Rome and married a lady called Pompeia, no close relative
of Pompey the Great, but a granddaughter of Quintus Pompeius Rufus and of
Sulla.
The real power in the Roman world was sti ll in the hands of Pom pey the
Gre a t , and Caesar spo ke from the very first in favor of the proposal of Au lu s
Gabinius that Pompey should be given the command against the pirates. While
Pompey was absent, Caesar rose slowly to political independence. He was aedile
in 65 bc, responsible for upkeep of public buildings, and policing the streets. In
63 bc , the all eged revo luti on a ry Lu c ius Ser gius Catalina was bro u ght to tri a l
and con dem n ed by the con sul Ma rcus Tu ll ius Ci cero. Caesar was margi n a lly
implicated in the attempted coup but was not prosecuted; he spoke against exec
uti on of the ri n gl e aders , advoc a ting their banishment to different It a l i a n
towns, where they should be held under house arrest. This was to no avail, as
Cicero had them all killed.
Since Catiline himself had evaded capture, there was still a potential danger,
so one of Pompey’s adherents proposed that Pompey should be recalled from
the east to save the state. As praetor Caesar spoke in favor of the suggestion and
came up against staunch opposition from his lifelong adversary, Marcus Porcius
Cato. For a short time, Caesar was forbidden to exercise his functions as praetor,
but locked himself in his house and waited for popular agitation to restore him
to power. As his office came to an end, he was allocated a province and became
governor of Further Spain where he had already served as quaestor. It was said
that he was in a hurry to leave for Spain because he was in so much debt. His
outstanding bills were all paid for him by Marcus Licinius Crassus.
As Pompey returned from the east, Caesar traveled to Spain, but before he
dep a rted he divorced his wi fe Pom peia because du ring the cel ebra ti ons in
honor of the Bona Dea, a religious festival for women only, held at his house,
the notorious ra ke Pu bl ius Cl od ius had been discovered dre s s ed in wom en’s
clothing. This was sacrilege of the highest order, since no male was supposed to
witness the proceedings. It was also suspected that Caesar’s wife was having an
affair with Clodius. “Caesar’s wife should be above suspicion” is a phrase that
has served in the same political capacity through the ages ever since.
In Spain, Caesar took over ten co h orts and ra i s edmore from Spanish allies in
order to campaign against the lawless bandits of Lu s i t a n i a . He ro u n dedthem up,