His most intimate companions were the
younger Marius, the adopted son of his uncle; and, singularly enough, the
two Ciceros, Marcus and his brother Quintus, who had been sent by their
father to be educated at Rome. The connection of Marius with Arpinum was
perhaps the origin of the intimacy. The great man may have heard of his
fellow-townsman's children being in the city, and have taken notice of
them. Certain, at any rate, it is that these boys grew up together on
terms of close familiarity.[2]
Marius had observed his nephew, and had marked him for promotion. During
the brief fortnight of his seventh consulship he gave him an appointment
which reminds us of the boy-bishops of the middle ages. He made him
_flamen dialis_, or priest of Jupiter, and a member of the Sacred
College, with a handsome income, when he was no more than fourteen. Two
years later, during the rule of Cinna, his father arranged a marriage for
him with a lady of fortune named Cossutia. But the young Caesar had more
ambitious views for himself. His father died suddenly at Pisa, in B.C. 84;
he used his freedom to break off his engagement, and instead of Cossutia
he married Cornelia, the daughter of no less a person than the all-
powerful Cinna himself. If the date commonly received for Caesar's birth
is correct, he was still only in his seventeenth year.
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