Pompey had added nothing to his past
distinctions, and the glory pales which does not grow in lustre. No man
who had once been the single object of admiration, who had tasted the
delight of being the first in the eyes of his countrymen, could find
himself compelled to share their applause with a younger rival without
experiencing a pang. So far Pompey had borne the trial well. He was on the
whole, notwithstanding the Egyptian scandal, honorable and
constitutionally disinterested. He was immeasurably superior to the
fanatic Cato, to the shifty Cicero, or the proud and worthless leaders of
the senatorial oligarchy. Had the circumstances remained unchanged, the
severity of the situation might have been overcome. But two misfortunes
coming near upon one another broke the ties of family connection, and by
destroying the balance of parties laid Pompey open to the temptation of
patrician intrigue. In the year 54 Caesar's great mother Aurelia, and his
sister Julia, Pompey's wife, both died. A child which Julia had borne to
Pompey died also, and the powerful if silent influence of two remarkable
women, and the joint interest in an infant, who would have been Caesar's
heir as well as Pompey's, were swept away together.
The political link was broken immediately after by a public disaster
unequalled since the last consular army was overthrown by the Gauls on the
Rhone; and the capitalists, left without a leader, drifted away to their
natural allies in the Senate.
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