The elections being in the winter, Caesar's soldiers
were to be allowed to go to Rome on furlough.
In a personal interview Caesar easily asserted his ascendency. Pompey
allowed himself to be guided, and the arrangement was probably dictated by
Caesar's own prudence. He did not mean to leave Gaul half conquered, to
see his work undone, and himself made into a plaything by men who had
incited Ariovistus to destroy him. The senators who were present at Lucca
implied by their co-operation that they too were weary of anarchy, and
would sustain the army in a remodelling of the State if milder measures
failed.
Thus, for the moment, Domitius and Cato were baffled. Domitius was not to
be consul. Caesar was not to be recalled, or his laws repealed. There was
no hope for them or for the reaction, till Pompey and Caesar could be
divided; and their alliance was closer now than ever. The aristocratic
party could but chafe in impotent rage. The effect on Cicero was curious.
He had expected that the conservative movement would succeed, and he had
humiliated himself before the Senate, in the idle hope of winning back
their favor. The conference at Lucca opened his eyes. For a time at least
he perceived that Caesar's was the winning side, and he excused himself
for going over to it by laying the blame on the Senate's folly and
ingratitude to himself.
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