"In civil quarrels," he wrote to Cicero, "we ought to go with the most
honest party, as long as the contest lies within constitutional limits.
When it is an affair of camps and battles, we must go with the strongest.
Pompey will have the Senate and the men of consideration with him. All the
discontented will go with Caesar. I must calculate the forces on both
sides, before I decide on my own part." [8]
When the question next came on in the Senate, Curio, being of course
instructed in Caesar's wishes, professed to share the anxiety lest there
should be a military Dictatorship; but he said that the danger was as
great from Pompey as from Caesar. He did not object to the recall of
Caesar, but Pompey, he thought, should resign his province also, and the
Constitution would then be out of peril. Pompey professed to be willing,
if the Senate desired it; but he insisted that Caesar must take the first
step. Curio's proposal was so fair, that it gained favor both in Forum and
Senate. The populace, who hated Pompey, threw flowers upon the tribune as
he passed. Marcellus, the consul, a few days later, put the question in
the Senate: Was Caesar to be recalled? A majority answered Yes. Was Pompey
to be deprived of his province? The same majority said No. Curio then
proposed that both Pompey and Caesar should dismiss their armies.
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