Caesar was in his chair, in his consular
purple, wearing a wreath of bay, wrought in gold. The honor of the wreath
was the only distinction which he had accepted from the Senate with
pleasure. He retained a remnant of youthful vanity, and the twisted leaves
concealed his baldness. Antony, his colleague in the consulship,
approached with a tiara, and placed it on Caesar's head, saying, "The
people give you this by my hand." That Antony had no sinister purpose is
obvious. He perhaps spoke for the army;[19] or it may be that Caesar
himself suggested Antony's action, that he might end the agitation of so
dangerous a subject. He answered in a loud voice "that the Romans had no
king but God," and ordered that the tiara should be taken to the Capitol,
and placed on the statue of Jupiter Olympius. The crowd burst into an
enthusiastic cheer; and an inscription on a brass tablet recorded that the
Roman people had offered Caesar the crown by the hands of the consul, and
that Caesar had refused it.
The question of the kingship was over; but a vague alarm had been created,
which answered the purpose of the optimates. Caesar was at their mercy any
day. They had sworn to maintain all his acts. They had sworn, after
Cicero's speech, individually and collectively to defend his life. Caesar,
whether he believed them sincere or not, had taken them at their word, and
came daily to the Senate unarmed and without a guard.
Pages:
604
605
606
607
608
609
610
611
612
613
614
615
616
617
618
619
620
621
622
623
624
625
626
627
628