Caesar, it is allowed, had extraordinary talents, extraordinary energy,
and some commendable qualities; but he was, as the elder Curio said,
"omnium mulierum vir et omnium virorum mulier;" he had mistresses in every
country which he visited, and he had _liaisons_ with half the ladies
in Rome. That Caesar's morality was altogether superior to that of the
average of his contemporaries is in a high degree improbable. He was a man
of the world, peculiarly attractive to women, and likely to have been
attracted by them. On the other hand, the undiscriminating looseness
attributed to him would have been peculiarly degrading in a man whose
passions were so eminently under control, whose calmness was never known
to be discomposed, and who, in everything which he did, acted always with
deliberate will. Still worse would it be if, by his example, he made
ridiculous his own laws against adultery and indulged himself in vices
which he punished in others. What, then, is the evidence? The story of
Nicomedes may be passed over. All that is required on that subject has
been already said. It was never heard of before Caesar's consulship, and
the proofs are no more than the libels of Bibulus, the satire of Catullus,
and certain letters of Cicero's which were never published, but were
circulated privately in Roman aristocratic society.
Pages:
640
641
642
643
644
645
646
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664