So Cicero spoke in Clodius's own hearing and in
the hearing of his friends. It never occurred to him that if half these
crimes could be proved, a commonwealth in which such a monster could rise
to consequence was not a commonwealth at all, but a frightful mockery
which he and every honest man were called on to abhor. Instead of scolding
and flinging impotent filth, he should have withdrawn out of public life
when he could only remain in it among such companions, or should have
attached himself with all his soul to those who had will and power to mend
it.
Clodius was at this moment the popular candidate for the aedileship, the
second step on the road to the consulship. He was the favorite of the mob.
He was supported by his brother Appius Claudius, the praetor, and the
_clientele_ of the great Claudian family; and Cicero's denunciations
of him had not affected in the least his chances of success. If Clodius
was to be defeated, other means were needed than a statement in the Senate
that the aspirant to public honors was a wretch unfit to live. The
election was fixed for the 18th of November, and was to be held in the
Campus Martius. Milo and his gladiators took possession of the polling-
place in the night, and the votes could not be taken. The Assembly met the
next day in the Forum, but was broken up by violence, and Clodius had
still to wait.
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