He forgets that the historian describes only the
abnormal incidents which broke the current of ordinary life, and that
between the spasms of violence there were long quiet intervals when the
ordinary occupations of men went on as usual. Cinna's continuous
consulship was uncomfortable to the upper classes, but the daily business
of a great city pursued its beaten way. Tradesmen and merchants made
money, and lawyers pleaded, and priests prayed in the temples, and
"celebrated" on festival and holy day. And now for the first time we catch
a personal view of young Julius Caesar. He was growing up, in his father's
house, a tall, slight, handsome youth, with dark piercing eyes,[1] a
sallow complexion, large nose, lips full, features refined and
intellectual, neck sinewy and thick beyond what might have been expected
from the generally slender figure. He was particular about his appearance,
used the bath frequently, and attended carefully to his hair. His dress
was arranged with studied negligence, and he had a loose mode of fastening
his girdle so peculiar as to catch the eye.
It may be supposed that he had witnessed Sylla's coming to Rome, the camp-
fires in the Forum, the Octavian massacre, the return of his uncle and
Cinna, and the bloody triumph of the party to which his father belonged.
He was just at the age when such scenes make an indelible impression; and
the connection of his family with Marius suggests easily the persons whom
he must have most often seen, and the conversation to which he must have
listened at his father's table.
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