Two tribunes, Mark
Antony and Cassius Longinus, interposed. The tribunes' veto was as old as
their institution. It had been left standing even by Sylla. But the
aristocracy were declaring war against the people. They knew that the veto
was coming, and they had resolved to disregard it. The more passionate the
speakers, the more they were cheered by Caesar's enemies. The sitting
ended in the evening without a final conclusion; but at a meeting
afterwards, at his house, Pompey quieted alarms by assuring the senators
that there was nothing to fear. Caesar's army he knew to be disaffected.
He introduced the officers of the two legions that had been taken from
Caesar, who vouched for their fidelity to the constitution. Some of
Pompey's veterans were present, called up from their farms; they were
enthusiastic for their old commander. Piso, Caesar's father-in-law, and
Roscius, a praetor, begged for a week's delay, that they might go to
Caesar, and explain the Senate's pleasure. Others proposed to send a
deputation to soften the harshness of his removal. But Lentulus, backed by
Cato, would listen to nothing. Cato detested Caesar as the representative
of everything which he most abhorred. Lentulus, bankrupt and loaded with
debts, was looking for provinces to ruin, and allied sovereigns to lay
presents at his feet.
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