§26Eodem temporis spatio matrem primo, deinde filiam, nec multo post nepotem amisit.
In the same space of time, he lost first his mother, then his daughter, and not long after, his grandson.
inter quae, consternata Publi Clodi caede re publica, cum senatus unum consulem nominatimque Gnaeum Pompeium fieri censuisset, egit cum tribunis plebis collegam se Pompeio destinantibus, id potius ad populum ferrent, ut absenti sibi, quandoque imperii tempus expleri coepisset, petitio secundi consulatus daretur, ne ea causa maturius et inperfecto adhuc bello decederet.
Meanwhile, when the republic was thrown into consternation by the murder of Publius Clodius, and the senate had voted that a single consul, and namely Gnaeus Pompey, should be created, Caesar negotiated with the tribunes of the plebs, who were designing him as colleague to Pompey, that they should rather propose to the people that he be allowed, though absent, to stand for a second consulship whenever the term of his command should begin to expire, lest for that reason he should have to leave his province earlier and while the war was still unfinished.
quod ut adeptus est, altiora iam meditans et spei plenus nullum largitionis aut officiorum in quemquam genus publice priuatimque omisit.
Having obtained this, already meditating higher designs and full of hope, he omitted no kind of largess or services to anyone, both publicly and privately.
forum de manubiis incohauit, cuius area super sestertium milies constitit.
He began a forum with the spoils of war, the ground of which cost over a hundred million sesterces.
munus populo epulumque pronuntiauit in filiae memoriam, quod ante eum nemo.
He announced a gladiatorial show and a banquet to the people in memory of his daughter, which no one before him had done.
quorum ut quam maxima expectatio esset, ea quae ad epulum pertinerent, quamuis macellaris ablocata, etiam domesticatim apparabat.
In order that the expectation of these might be as great as possible, he prepared even in his own household the things which belonged to the banquet, although they had been contracted out to market-provisioners.
gladiatores notos, sicubi infestis spectatoribus dimicarent, ui rapiendos reseruandosque mandabat.
He gave orders that famous gladiators, if they should fight anywhere while the spectators were hostile, should be carried off by force and preserved.
tirones neque in ludo neque per lanistas, sed in domibus per equites Romanos atque etiam per senatores armorum peritos erudiebat, precibus enitens, quod epistulis eius ostenditur, ut disciplinam singulorum susciperent ipsique dictata exercentibus darent.
He trained recruits not in a school nor through training masters, but in private houses through Roman knights and even senators skilled in arms, striving with entreaties, as is shown by his letters, that they should undertake the training of individual men and themselves give instructions to them as they practiced.
legionibus stipendium in perpetuum duplicauit.
He doubled the pay of the legions forever.
frumentum, quotiens copia esset, etiam sine modo mensuraque praebuit ac singula interdum mancipia e praeda uiritim dedit.
He provided grain, whenever there was abundance, even without measure or limit, and sometimes gave out individual slaves from the spoil to each man.
§27ad retinendam autem Pompei necessitudinem ac uoluntatem Octauiam sororis suae neptem, quae Gaio Marcello nupta erat, condicionem ei detulit sibique filiam eius in matrimonium petit Fausto Sullae destinatam.
Moreover, to retain the relationship and good will of Pompey, he offered him Octavia, his sister's granddaughter, who was married to Gaius Marcellus, and asked for himself Pompey's daughter in marriage, who was betrothed to Faustus Sulla.
omnibus uero circa eum atque etiam parte magna senatus gratuito aut leui faenore obstrictis, ex reliquo quoque ordinum genere uel inuitatos uel sponte ad se commeantis uberrimo congiario prosequebatur, libertos insuper seruulosque cuiusque, prout domino patronoue gratus qui esset.
When indeed all those about him, and even a great part of the senate, had been bound by interest-free or light loans, he followed up with a most bountiful largess those from the rest of the orders who came to him, whether invited or of their own accord, and furthermore the freedmen and slaves of each, according as anyone was pleasing to his master or patron.
tum reorum aut obaeratorum aut prodigae iuuentutis subsidium unicum ac promptissimum erat, nisi quos grauior criminum uel inopiae luxuriaeue uis urgeret, quam ut subueniri posset a se; his plane palam bello ciuili opus esse dicebat.
Then he was the sole and most prompt refuge of defendants, or of those overwhelmed by debt, or of spendthrift youth, except those whom a heavier force of crimes or of poverty or luxury oppressed than could be assisted by him; to these he plainly and openly declared that there was need of a civil war.
§28nec minore studio reges atque prouincias per terrarum orbem adliciebat, aliis captiuorum milia dono offerens, aliis citra senatus populique auctoritatem, quo uellent et quotiens uellent, auxilia submittens, superque Italiae Galliarumque et Hispaniarum, Asiae quoque et Graeciae potentissimas urbes praecipuis operibus exornans; donec, attonitis iam omnibus et quorsum illa tenderent reputantibus, Marcus Claudius Marcellus consul edicto praefatus, de summa se re publica acturum, rettulit ad senatum, ut ei succederetur ante tempus, quoniam bello confecto pax esset ac dimitti deberet uictor exercitus; et ne absentis ratio comitiis haberetur, quando nec plebi scito Pompeius postea abrogasset.
With no less zeal did he win over kings and provinces throughout the world, offering to some thousands of captives as a gift, to others sending auxiliary troops without the authority of the senate and people, wherever they wished and as often as they wished, and moreover adorning the most powerful cities of Italy, the Gauls, the Spains, as well as Asia and Greece, with distinguished works; until, when everyone was now astonished and reflecting on what those things tended to, Marcus Claudius Marcellus the consul, having declared beforehand by an edict that he was going to act concerning the supreme state, made a motion to the senate that Caesar should be succeeded before his time, since the war was finished, there was peace, and the victorious army ought to be disbanded; and that no account of him should be taken in his absence at the comitia, since Pompey had not afterwards abrogated this privilege by a decree of the plebs.
acciderat autem, ut is legem de iure magistratuum ferens eo capite, quo petitione honorum absentis submouebat, ne Caesarem quidem exciperet per obliuionem, ac mox lege iam in aes incisa et in aerarium condita corrigeret errorem.
But it had happened that Pompey, when proposing the law concerning the right of magistrates, in that clause where he excluded the absent from seeking office, had not even excepted Caesar through forgetfulness, and shortly afterwards corrected the error when the law was already engraved on bronze and stored in the treasury.
nec contentus Marcellus prouincias Caesari et priuilegium eripere, rettulit etiam, ut colonis, quos rogatione Vatinia Nouum Comum deduxisset, ciuitas adimeretur, quod per ambitionem et ultra praescriptum data esset.
And Marcellus, not content with stripping Caesar of his provinces and his privilege, also moved that the citizenship should be taken away from the colonists whom Caesar had settled at Novum Comum by the Vatinian law, because it had been given through ambition and beyond the prescribed limit.