The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - PREVIEW： Epochs #180

00:00:00.080 Hello and welcome to this episode of Epochs, where I shall again be continuing my story of the career of Pompey and Caesar in unison, going along parallel.

00:00:09.980 And so if you remember last time we left off that narrative, Pompey, Caesar and Crassus had basically just formed the first triumvirate.

00:00:18.460 And they went out on the steps of the Senate House or the Forum and declared it to the people that they were going to basically push through legislation,

00:00:27.320 essentially against the will of the oligarchical senatorial class.

00:00:33.080 So I'll pick up the story there and we shall use more than one source this week.

00:00:36.780 But I shall start with Plutarch, basically exactly where we left off for a bit of an attempt at continuity.

00:00:44.540 So Plutarch says, quote, Caesar went on to gain a still further hold over Pompey's power and influence.

00:00:49.800 He had a daughter, Julia, who was engaged to Servilius Capio, and he now engaged her to Pompey.

00:00:56.300 Apparently they were quite close to getting married.

00:00:58.940 They just sort of ripped her away from him.

00:01:01.080 And he's got no real say in it, this Servilius Capio.

00:01:04.280 Gives her to Pompey.

00:01:05.000 And Pompey's older than Caesar.

00:01:06.400 Pompey's like five, six years older than Caesar.

00:01:08.420 So he's way older than Julia.

00:01:11.720 You might have thought Julia might be a bit annoyed about it.

00:01:14.440 We don't really know for sure.

00:01:15.460 But essentially, she didn't seem to mind.

00:01:18.720 She seemed to get on quite well.

00:01:21.020 I guess she liked older men.

00:01:22.140 So, well, their relationship wasn't just a complete prison for her, put it that way.

00:01:29.500 And he now engaged her to Pompey, saying that he would arrange that Servilius could marry Pompey's daughter.

00:01:35.160 Though she too was engaged already, having been promised to Faustus, the son of Sulla.

00:01:40.380 And shortly afterwards, Caesar married Colpurnia, a daughter of Piso.

00:01:44.460 And got Piso elected as consul for the following year.

00:01:48.240 Quick word on the Piso family.

00:01:50.860 I haven't really mentioned them much, or maybe even at all.

00:01:53.120 But they're one of the really, really most important families.

00:01:55.760 I mean, they're up there with the Claudians.

00:01:59.360 In fact, and if you know about Roman history, different Pisos pop up all over the place, over hundreds of years.

00:02:05.640 They're really a very, very long, enduring family.

00:02:09.720 There's lots and lots of Pisos.

00:02:11.020 And obviously, they're not always the same guy.

00:02:14.100 In fact, the Piso family was one of the last families to finally get completely wiped out.

00:02:21.160 And that's in a few hundred years from now.

00:02:23.360 Most of the noble families are all gone within 150 years, certainly 200 years at this point.

00:02:31.800 Apart from the Pisos, the Pisos continue on for another 100, 150 odd years after that.

00:02:38.920 So they're a very important family.

00:02:41.280 So they will come up as and when I continue this narrative into the imperial period.

00:02:46.980 Plutarch continues.

00:02:47.960 At this, Cato violently protested and exclaimed that it was an intolerable state of affairs

00:02:52.940 to have the government prostituted by marriage alliances

00:02:55.820 and to see men pushing each other forward to higher positions

00:02:59.320 and the commands of provinces and armies.

00:03:01.800 By the means of women, end quote.

00:03:03.600 If you remember, Cato had refused a marriage proposal from Pompey

00:03:07.020 for exactly that reason.

00:03:09.580 Pompey had offered him his daughter or someone in his family.

00:03:14.800 And Cato said, no, no, I don't want you to be able to have any sort of sway or hold over me,

00:03:21.780 even if it's just through a woman.

00:03:24.800 I don't accept that.

00:03:26.220 I need to be completely my own man.

00:03:28.800 So when he sees everyone else doing it, forming all these family alliances,

00:03:34.060 Cato doesn't like it.

00:03:35.640 Plutarch goes on.

00:03:36.620 As for Caesar's colleague Bibulus, I mentioned last time or two epochs ago,

00:03:41.240 that this Bibulus was not on board with Caesar, Pompey and Crassus' plan for government.

00:03:49.080 He was Cato's creature.

00:03:52.300 So he's basically a thorn in Caesar's side because he can, as in the other consul,

00:03:57.220 he can veto all sorts of things and he can just be a fly in the ointment massively.

00:04:03.260 So, Plutarch says, as for his colleague Bibulus,

00:04:06.560 so far from having any success in his efforts to obstruct Caesar's legislation,

00:04:10.500 he, and Cato with him, was often in danger of being killed in the forum.

00:04:15.340 So he shut himself up in his house and stayed there for the rest of his term of office.

00:04:19.840 He was just intimidated into never turning up.

00:04:23.520 In Roman politics, that's a thing, before this time and after.

00:04:26.680 If you've got high office, you can just stay at home.

00:04:31.260 There is that.

00:04:31.680 It's almost a shorthand for being intimidated into doing absolutely nothing.

00:04:37.520 Such and such stayed home, stayed in his house.

00:04:41.200 And so Bibulus is a classic example of that.

00:04:45.220 Plutarch again.

00:04:45.720 And Pompey, directly after his marriage, filled the forum with armed men

00:04:50.060 and helped the people to pass Caesar's laws

00:04:52.600 and to give him, as his consular province to be, held for five years,

00:04:57.220 Gaul on both sides of the Alps,

00:04:59.600 together with Illyricum and an army of four legions.

00:05:03.520 Cato attempted to speak against these proposals,

00:05:06.180 but Caesar had him led off to prison.

00:05:08.800 He imagined that Cato would appeal to the tribunes,

00:05:11.780 but he walked on his way without saying a word,

00:05:14.320 and when Caesar saw that not only were the nobility displeased,

00:05:17.400 but the people too, out of respect for Cato's good qualities,

00:05:20.440 were following him in silence, and with downcast eyes,

00:05:24.040 he himself privately asked one of the tribunes to get him released.

00:05:27.980 So that's actually a fairly important little set of events there.

00:05:32.160 Okay, so Pompey's filled the forum with soldiers.

00:05:33.800 So, right, there's no real free, really free politics or debate anymore,

00:05:39.940 at least for a while.

00:05:41.220 You know, if you were going to be harsh, some might say harsh,

00:05:44.560 some might just say realistic, it's a police state then at that point.

00:05:48.460 I mean, Pompey doesn't keep soldiers in the forum every single day

00:05:52.060 going forward forever now, but still, at this point,

00:05:55.880 you know, it's like Charles I bringing soldiers into the House of Commons,

00:05:59.520 or Oliver Cromwell later bringing soldiers into the House of Commons.

00:06:03.100 You're going to do as the power of the day demands.

00:06:07.320 It's as simple as that.

00:06:08.380 But Cato, fearless Cato, the ultimately principled Cato,

00:06:11.900 still stands, still won't shut up and be cowed.

00:06:15.460 So Caesar has him arrested and led away.

00:06:17.920 Now, that's not the first time Cato has pulled that exact trick.

00:06:22.540 You know, before when he's tried to filibuster,

00:06:24.260 he's been taken away into prison, briefly, very briefly,

00:06:27.200 you know, not put on trial or anything,

00:06:28.440 but just stopped from doing whatever he's doing politically

00:06:31.840 in the Senate at that moment, just prevented from doing that.

00:06:35.820 It's not like he's under arrest forever or anything.

00:06:37.740 So Caesar, at this particular juncture, obviously feels he has to do that again.

00:06:43.400 But even he realises that it's really bad politically.

00:06:48.060 It's a really bad look.

00:06:49.040 Cato doesn't even bother.

00:06:50.460 Before, when this is done, Cato's hollered and shouted

00:06:53.340 all the way out of the forum, all the way down the road,

00:06:56.640 hollering and shouting to his people,

00:06:58.660 you know, what injustice is being done to me?

00:07:00.220 How dare they do this?

00:07:01.100 This time he's just quiet.

00:07:03.280 It's like if you've ever done something really bad

00:07:04.740 and your parents don't scream and shout at you,

00:07:07.520 they're just so disappointed, they don't really say anything.

00:07:10.100 You can see it on their ashen faces.

00:07:12.780 Cato sort of pulls that trick.

00:07:14.820 And it kind of works.

00:07:16.280 It seems like it works because, as I read there,

00:07:18.300 Plutarch says everyone, lots and lots of the people,

00:07:21.060 obviously feel solidarity with him and go along with him.

00:07:25.340 And Caesar can read the room.

00:07:26.440 That's one thing Caesar's great at, reading people,

00:07:28.840 reading a room, reading a situation, reading a battlefield.

00:07:32.000 He can see it.

00:07:33.060 He knows he's gone too far.

00:07:34.740 So he sort of reverses himself quite quickly on that.

00:07:38.400 Plutarch continues,

00:07:39.360 Out of the whole number of senators,

00:07:41.120 only a very few used to attend the meetings presided over by Caesar.

00:07:44.880 So most of the senatorial class are just boycotting politics from that point onwards.

00:07:51.220 The rest showed their hatred for his proceedings and stayed away.

00:07:55.300 There was a very old senator called Considius,

00:07:58.100 who told Caesar that his colleagues did not come to these meetings

00:08:01.200 because they were afraid of his armed soldiers.

00:08:04.260 Then why, said Caesar,

00:08:05.540 aren't you equally afraid?

00:08:07.160 And why don't you stay at home?

00:08:08.780 Because, said Considius,

00:08:10.760 old age has deprived me of fear.

00:08:13.440 I do not have to give much consideration

00:08:15.080 to the little amount of life that is still left to me.

00:08:18.660 Plutarch again.

00:08:19.800 But the most disgraceful political action of the time

00:08:22.660 was considered to be the election to the tribuneship

00:08:25.780 during Caesar's consulship of Clodius.

00:08:28.960 Remember, Clodius Pulcher.

00:08:30.960 The man who had attempted to seduce his wife

00:08:33.000 and who had broken in on the secret nocturnal ceremonies

00:08:37.000 and also the other main leading light in the Popularis faction.

00:08:42.000 Remember.

00:08:42.720 Clodius was elected in order that he might dispose of Cicero

00:08:45.700 and Caesar did not set out on his campaign

00:08:48.560 until, with the help of Clodius,

00:08:51.060 he had raised a party against Cicero

00:08:52.660 and driven him out of Italy.

00:08:54.700 I'd like now to move over to Appian

00:08:57.260 and read you basically the same bit of history,

00:09:01.160 but from Appian.

00:09:02.440 You can see where there's slightly different details

00:09:04.020 and gives us different things that happened.

00:09:07.440 And I always think it's great.

00:09:08.840 It really is great to compare and contrast different sources.

00:09:13.160 That way, maybe, hopefully,

00:09:15.420 you might be able to get a little bit closer

00:09:17.000 to what really might have happened.

00:09:20.280 So Appian says, quote,

00:09:22.440 In addition, Caesar made the people take an oath

00:09:24.620 to regard the laws as permanently binding

00:09:27.540 and ordered the Senate to do the same.

00:09:29.820 All the laws that he was passing at that time, basically.

00:09:31.960 Giving himself and Pompey and Crassus

00:09:34.400 various privileges and commands and things.

00:09:38.200 When Cato and many others resisted,

00:09:40.520 Caesar proposed a death penalty

00:09:41.760 for anyone who failed to swear

00:09:43.120 and the assembly confirmed this.

00:09:45.800 The tribunes and everyone else

00:09:47.000 were frightened into taking the oath forthwith.

00:09:49.700 A further opposition was pointless

00:09:51.280 when the law had been approved by the others.

00:09:54.440 One Vettius, an ordinary citizen,

00:09:56.640 suddenly appeared in public with a drawn sword

00:09:58.640 and maintained that he had been sent out

00:10:00.620 by Bibulus, Cicero and Cato

00:10:02.760 to murder Caesar and Pompey

00:10:04.600 and that he had been given his sword

00:10:06.500 by Posthumius, one of Bibulus's lictors.

00:10:09.760 From either side's viewpoint,

00:10:11.380 the business was suspicious

00:10:12.380 and Caesar inflamed the feelings of the mob

00:10:15.000 and they postponed questioning Vettius

00:10:16.940 until the next day.

00:10:18.280 He was put under guard in the prison

00:10:19.740 and was murdered in the night.

00:10:21.920 All kinds of speculation were rife,

00:10:23.920 but Caesar persisted in alleging

00:10:25.400 that this too had been done

00:10:26.600 by those who were afraid of him

00:10:27.940 until the people agreed with him

00:10:29.740 to protect those who had been

00:10:31.620 the intended victims of the plot.

00:10:33.880 Bibulus then abandoned everything

00:10:35.260 as though he were a private citizen

00:10:36.860 and did not emerge from his house

00:10:38.820 for the whole of the rest of his magistrate.

00:10:42.140 For his part, Caesar made no further investigations

00:10:44.680 into the Vettius affair

00:10:46.040 now that he was the sole holder of political power.

00:10:49.500 Apart from introducing laws

00:10:50.680 to win the favour of the mob,

00:10:52.340 he also confirmed all Pompey's acts

00:10:54.620 as he had promised him.

00:10:55.940 Pompey had wanted that

00:10:56.900 ever since he'd returned from the East.

00:10:58.600 If you remember,

00:10:59.260 Pompey had returned from the East

00:11:00.760 and immediately asked the Senate,

00:11:02.980 essentially under Cato,

00:11:04.460 to just rubber stamp everything he'd done

00:11:06.540 and was denied.

00:11:07.720 This is a while ago now.

00:11:09.380 Finally, as part of the pact

00:11:11.200 of the First Triumvirate,

00:11:12.100 finally he gets what he wants.

00:11:14.480 That's one of the major things

00:11:15.800 Pompey wanted out of this whole secret,

00:11:18.640 semi-secret First Triumvirate.

00:11:21.320 And Caesar does it for him,

00:11:22.800 does push it through,

00:11:23.940 happy and again.

00:11:24.420 The equestrian class,

00:11:26.520 whose status is intermediate

00:11:28.540 between that of the people

00:11:29.680 and that of the Senate,

00:11:31.100 were extremely influential

00:11:32.460 on every question

00:11:33.480 thanks to their wealth.

00:11:35.300 The contracts they leased

00:11:36.360 from the state

00:11:36.980 for the collection of imports

00:11:38.360 and taxes

00:11:39.020 due from the subject peoples

00:11:40.540 and the large number

00:11:41.740 of highly committed staff

00:11:42.900 that they employed

00:11:43.480 for this purpose.

00:11:45.100 They'd had for some time

00:11:46.040 been questioning the Senate

00:11:47.340 to remit part of the tax

00:11:49.100 that they had contracted for,

00:11:50.760 but the Senate kept postponing

00:11:52.460 its response.

00:11:53.980 Caesar,

00:11:54.540 who was by now

00:11:55.320 bringing no business

00:11:56.220 to the Senate

00:11:56.800 but dealing only

00:11:57.880 with the Assembly,

00:11:59.060 gave them a rebate

00:12:00.000 of a third.

00:12:01.200 Thus the equestrian class,

00:12:02.680 the extremely rich

00:12:04.280 and getting richer

00:12:05.100 business class,

00:12:06.540 loved Caesar for that,

00:12:08.100 basically.

00:12:09.020 Because they had received

00:12:10.020 a favour

00:12:10.460 which went far beyond

00:12:11.640 what they had expected,

00:12:13.420 they began to worship Caesar.

00:12:14.700 and so by this one act

00:12:16.640 of politics

00:12:17.280 he acquired the support

00:12:18.560 of another body of defenders

00:12:19.840 and one more powerful

00:12:21.300 than the people.

00:12:22.540 He also put on shows

00:12:23.580 of wild beast hunts

00:12:24.740 beyond his means,

00:12:26.420 borrowing money

00:12:27.160 for everything

00:12:28.020 and outdoing

00:12:28.860 all previous performances

00:12:30.080 in the lavishness

00:12:31.140 of his preparations

00:12:32.180 and the splendour

00:12:33.760 of his gifts,

00:12:34.900 in return for which

00:12:35.780 he was appointed

00:12:36.640 to govern

00:12:37.660 Cisalpine

00:12:38.360 and Transalpine Gaul

00:12:39.660 for a period of five years

00:12:41.140 and given four legions

00:12:42.400 to command.

00:12:44.200 So as you can tell

00:12:45.280 I'm working up to the point

00:12:46.300 where Caesar goes off

00:12:47.360 to Gaul.

00:12:48.960 Now,

00:12:49.900 anyone who doesn't know,

00:12:51.040 hopefully it's not too much

00:12:51.780 for spoiler alert,

00:12:53.280 even if you've seen

00:12:54.020 some of my previous epochs,

00:12:55.180 you'll know

00:12:55.520 that Caesar actually ends up

00:12:57.020 in Gaul,

00:12:57.880 fighting in Gaul

00:12:58.420 for ten years.

00:13:00.360 He's given himself

00:13:01.000 a command there

00:13:01.580 of five years

00:13:02.360 and when that's up

00:13:03.760 the First Triumvir

00:13:05.000 awarded him

00:13:06.240 basically another five years

00:13:07.680 so he's actually out there

00:13:09.260 for ten years

00:13:10.120 and there's all sorts

00:13:11.760 of adventures

00:13:12.340 as you can imagine

00:13:13.160 and in fact

00:13:13.860 we've even got

00:13:14.480 Caesar's account of it.

00:13:16.660 You can buy it

00:13:17.120 in Penguin Paperback,

00:13:18.680 Caesar's Conquest of Gaul.

00:13:20.640 Now,

00:13:20.900 what I plan to do

00:13:21.820 is maybe next episode

00:13:24.040 but certainly

00:13:24.620 no more than

00:13:25.860 two episodes time

00:13:27.300 I'm going to

00:13:28.320 take an episode out

00:13:29.620 and just talk

00:13:30.580 all about that

00:13:31.480 because it is

00:13:32.500 such a fantastic story

00:13:33.640 and there are

00:13:34.100 so many adventures

00:13:35.600 and daring do

00:13:37.040 and reverses

00:13:38.700 and battles

00:13:39.780 and all sorts

00:13:41.600 of heroics

00:13:42.300 go on

00:13:43.320 and crimes.

00:13:45.720 Some say it goes

00:13:46.320 even as far

00:13:46.860 as genocide.

00:13:47.800 So anyway,

00:13:48.680 lots and lots

00:13:49.140 of events.

00:13:49.960 Important

00:13:50.300 and interesting

00:13:51.620 and horrifying events.

00:13:52.820 It deserves

00:13:53.620 an epoch of its own

00:13:54.580 absolutely.

00:13:55.500 So I'm going to do that

00:13:56.140 but for this episode

00:13:57.180 I'm going to

00:13:58.680 move along

00:13:59.920 from that.

00:14:01.040 Basically

00:14:01.420 around this point

00:14:02.660 soon after this

00:14:03.880 Caesar

00:14:04.280 leaves the picture

00:14:06.180 of politics

00:14:07.480 in Rome

00:14:08.120 that the scene

00:14:09.460 of Rome itself

00:14:10.920 and so

00:14:11.840 because this series

00:14:13.800 is supposed to be

00:14:14.380 about Pompey and Caesar

00:14:15.220 Pompey is going to

00:14:16.300 take centre stage

00:14:17.200 quite a lot more.

00:14:18.840 Okay,

00:14:19.080 now let me read

00:14:19.740 to you from

00:14:20.300 Suetonius

00:14:21.400 another ancient

00:14:22.180 historian

00:14:22.660 Suetonius

00:14:23.360 quick word to say

00:14:24.460 on Suetonius

00:14:25.060 he's got quite a bad

00:14:25.940 rep

00:14:26.340 really

00:14:27.320 for being an

00:14:28.020 ancient historian

00:14:28.780 some people

00:14:30.080 actually think

00:14:32.160 he's bad

00:14:32.740 he's bad

00:14:33.320 he's an unreliable

00:14:35.040 source

00:14:35.920 I don't think

00:14:36.720 so at all

00:14:37.220 but he has got

00:14:38.340 a reputation

00:14:38.940 as being

00:14:40.760 how to say

00:14:41.320 sort of

00:14:42.680 scandalous

00:14:44.060 he likes scandal

00:14:45.000 he's much less

00:14:46.300 interested in

00:14:47.020 battles

00:14:48.000 and grand strategy

00:14:49.260 and he's interested

00:14:50.480 in gossip

00:14:51.540 and rumour

00:14:52.200 and scandalous

00:14:53.440 things

00:14:53.860 so some people

00:14:55.520 some very serious

00:14:56.360 scholars

00:14:56.840 look down on him

00:14:59.140 a bit

00:14:59.360 look down their nose

00:15:00.300 on Suetonius'

00:15:01.260 accounts

00:15:01.500 nonetheless

00:15:01.880 he is still

00:15:03.260 one of the

00:15:04.060 great sources

00:15:05.340 but I do need

00:15:06.820 to point out

00:15:07.540 because I know

00:15:08.100 there will be

00:15:08.520 some people

00:15:08.900 in the comments

00:15:09.420 certainly on YouTube

00:15:10.280 just saying

00:15:11.460 you can't trust

00:15:12.000 anything

00:15:12.320 that Suetonius says

00:15:13.380 Suetonius is a hack

00:15:14.860 he's like

00:15:16.120 a tabloid

00:15:19.200 journalist

00:15:19.680 version

00:15:20.220 of ancient history

00:15:22.160 nonetheless

00:15:22.920 I wouldn't go

00:15:23.440 quite that far

00:15:24.180 but you know

00:15:24.640 there is an element

00:15:25.280 of that

00:15:25.740 to Suetonius

00:15:26.620 in other words

00:15:27.700 he might be

00:15:28.540 exaggerating things

00:15:29.460 often

00:15:29.760 he probably is

00:15:30.960 exaggerating

00:15:31.660 all sorts of things

00:15:32.620 to make it

00:15:33.840 more scurrilous

00:15:34.680 to make the account

00:15:36.400 more interesting

00:15:37.220 really

00:15:37.600 because even

00:15:38.860 in his lifetime

00:15:39.540 he was trying

00:15:40.040 to sell books

00:15:41.000 like manuscripts

00:15:42.160 and one way

00:15:43.280 to do that

00:15:43.680 is to be

00:15:44.280 sensationalist

00:15:45.980 but okay

00:15:46.880 Suetonius tells us

00:15:48.200 this

00:15:48.460 quote

00:15:48.800 Caesar's first act

00:15:50.280 as consul

00:15:51.020 was to rule

00:15:51.840 that a daily record

00:15:52.640 of proceedings

00:15:53.240 in the senate

00:15:53.880 and before the people

00:15:55.440 should be taken

00:15:56.100 and published

00:15:56.660 he also revived

00:15:58.100 the obsolete

00:15:59.100 custom

00:15:59.600 of having

00:16:00.540 an orderly

00:16:01.620 walk before him

00:16:02.480 during the months

00:16:03.440 in which his colleagues

00:16:04.380 held the fasces

00:16:05.200 while the lictors

00:16:06.680 followed behind

00:16:07.400 next he introduced

00:16:08.900 an agrarian law

00:16:09.920 and when Bibulus

00:16:11.080 delayed its passage

00:16:12.160 by announcing

00:16:12.940 that the omens

00:16:13.620 were unfavourable

00:16:14.500 he drove him

00:16:15.420 from the forum

00:16:15.980 by force of arms

00:16:16.920 on the following day

00:16:18.260 Bibulus lodged

00:16:19.300 a complaint

00:16:19.780 in the senate

00:16:20.400 and when nobody

00:16:21.440 dared move

00:16:22.220 a vote of censure

00:16:23.620 or make any observation

00:16:24.920 on this scandalous event

00:16:26.740 no decrees

00:16:28.020 condemning

00:16:28.540 minor breaches

00:16:29.200 of the peace

00:16:29.900 had often been passed

00:16:30.820 he felt so frustrated

00:16:32.160 that from then on

00:16:33.360 he stayed at home

00:16:34.200 satisfying his resentment

00:16:35.940 with further edicts

00:16:37.260 about unfavourable omens

00:16:38.640 something Caesar

00:16:39.780 can completely ignore

00:16:40.840 Caesar was thus enabled

00:16:43.000 to govern alone

00:16:43.940 and do very much

00:16:45.240 as he pleased

00:16:45.940 it became a joke

00:16:47.540 to sign documents

00:16:48.500 in the consulship

00:16:50.060 of Julius and Caesar

00:16:51.420 rather than

00:16:53.260 Bibulus and Caesar

00:16:54.280 naming the same man twice

00:16:56.080 with no men

00:16:57.200 and cognomen

00:16:57.880 and the lampoon

00:16:59.260 went the rounds

00:17:00.140 the event occurred

00:17:01.620 as I recall

00:17:02.260 when Caesar governed

00:17:03.140 Rome

00:17:03.500 Caesar

00:17:04.120 not Marcus Bibulus

00:17:05.220 who kept his seat

00:17:06.160 at home

00:17:06.580 see that's a classic

00:17:07.960 bit of Suetonius

00:17:08.800 he gives you

00:17:09.400 just a slightly rude

00:17:11.120 baldy

00:17:11.880 jokey couplet

00:17:13.460 that went round

00:17:15.140 Rome at the time

00:17:16.080 you know

00:17:16.940 something like that

00:17:17.480 is a bit below

00:17:18.300 Appian

00:17:19.180 you know

00:17:19.800 Plutarch very very

00:17:20.900 rarely gives us

00:17:21.660 things like that

00:17:22.540 but Suetonius is

00:17:23.760 peppered with things

00:17:24.460 like that

00:17:24.800 anyway let's go on

00:17:25.600 Suetonius says

00:17:26.280 Caesar partitioned

00:17:27.980 two districts of

00:17:28.900 Campania

00:17:29.420 a plain called

00:17:30.520 Stellas

00:17:31.060 that our ancestors

00:17:32.400 had consecrated

00:17:33.740 and an agricultural

00:17:35.380 district

00:17:35.940 that was farmed

00:17:37.040 on behalf of the

00:17:37.720 commonwealth

00:17:38.200 among citizens

00:17:39.120 with three or more

00:17:40.280 children

00:17:40.660 selecting the candidates

00:17:41.980 through commissioners

00:17:42.860 rather than by lots

00:17:43.820 again this is the

00:17:45.220 agrarian land reforms

00:17:46.300 which the senate hated

00:17:47.780 and would do anything

00:17:48.760 rather than grant

00:17:49.840 when the publicans

00:17:51.100 asked for relief

00:17:51.960 he cancelled one third

00:17:53.420 of their obligations

00:17:54.280 but gave them

00:17:55.560 frank warning

00:17:56.240 not to bid too high

00:17:57.560 for their contracts

00:17:58.340 in future

00:17:58.880 that was the

00:18:00.060 the equites

00:18:00.980 getting a break

00:18:02.440 he freely granted

00:18:03.920 all other pleas

00:18:05.260 whatsoever

00:18:05.720 and either met

00:18:07.080 with no opposition

00:18:07.800 or intimidated anyone

00:18:09.320 who dared intervene

00:18:10.280 this is classic

00:18:11.180 popularist stuff

00:18:12.060 no wonder he was

00:18:13.180 the darling of the people

00:18:14.240 Marcus Cato

00:18:15.620 once tried to delay

00:18:17.260 proceedings

00:18:17.860 by talking out

00:18:19.280 the senate

00:18:19.720 but Caesar had him

00:18:21.100 forcibly ejected

00:18:22.380 by a lictor

00:18:23.280 and led off to prison

00:18:24.380 Lucius Lucullus

00:18:26.100 went a little too far

00:18:27.760 in opposing Caesar's policy

00:18:29.220 whereupon Caesar

00:18:30.740 so terrified him

00:18:31.700 by threats of legal

00:18:32.600 proceedings

00:18:33.100 that Lucullus

00:18:34.320 fell on his knees

00:18:35.220 and begged his pardon

00:18:36.380 er

00:18:37.100 good

00:18:37.620 patrician

00:18:38.500 Romans

00:18:39.340 shouldn't need to

00:18:40.480 fall to their knees

00:18:41.840 and beg for mercy

00:18:42.940 from another Roman

00:18:43.960 patrician

00:18:44.620 see that sort of thing

00:18:46.160 is where

00:18:46.600 some people

00:18:47.760 really hated Caesar

00:18:49.340 that he would

00:18:49.980 bring another man

00:18:51.240 of equal rank

00:18:51.980 or supposedly

00:18:52.600 on paper

00:18:53.640 essentially equal rank

00:18:55.140 would bring him

00:18:55.780 to something like that

00:18:56.680 that's the sort of thing

00:18:57.600 a Greek or Attic king

00:18:58.920 or tyrant

00:18:59.580 or Alexander the Great

00:19:00.440 might do

00:19:00.920 demand that someone

00:19:02.660 kneel or bow

00:19:03.820 or prostrate themselves

00:19:04.680 before you

00:19:05.280 Romans

00:19:05.740 shouldn't need to do that

00:19:07.160 to other Romans

00:19:07.760 but Caesar here

00:19:09.000 in his year

00:19:09.580 of consulship

00:19:10.200 is really wielding power

00:19:12.000 as something

00:19:13.020 very very close

00:19:13.780 to an autocrat

00:19:14.560 obviously he has to

00:19:15.680 answer to

00:19:16.440 the other members

00:19:17.340 of the triumvirate

00:19:18.600 Pompey and Crassus

00:19:19.400 but beyond that

00:19:20.220 he is really

00:19:21.120 dominating politics

00:19:22.540 absolutely dominating

00:19:23.520 politics

00:19:24.120 and of course

00:19:25.220 that causes resentment

00:19:26.060 in anyone

00:19:26.640 who it doesn't favour

00:19:27.480 so the equestrian class

00:19:28.980 and the people love him

00:19:29.760 but the optimates

00:19:31.000 and the senatorial order

00:19:32.860 loathe him

00:19:34.180 they already hated him

00:19:35.000 really already

00:19:35.620 and now

00:19:36.160 and now of course

00:19:37.560 he's absolutely

00:19:38.760 their implacable enemy

00:19:40.140 Suetonius continues

00:19:41.700 hearing that Cicero

00:19:42.740 had been making

00:19:43.380 a doleful speech

00:19:44.340 in court

00:19:45.060 about the evils

00:19:46.000 of his times

00:19:46.700 Caesar at once

00:19:47.840 granted the long-standing

00:19:49.000 request of Cicero's enemy

00:19:50.940 Publius Clodius

00:19:52.200 to be transferred

00:19:53.340 from Partrician

00:19:54.660 to Plebeian rank

00:19:55.680 rushing the measure

00:19:56.800 through

00:19:57.200 at the ninth hour

00:19:58.460 of the very same day

00:19:59.980 so we said already

00:20:01.560 didn't we

00:20:01.860 that Clodius

00:20:02.360 becomes a tribune

00:20:03.520 so that he can attack

00:20:05.640 Cicero

00:20:06.600 or you can only be

00:20:07.480 a tribune

00:20:08.040 if you're a Plebeian

00:20:09.380 i.e. not aristocratic

00:20:11.240 but Clodius

00:20:12.600 was aristocratic

00:20:13.660 not only was he aristocratic

00:20:14.800 he was

00:20:15.280 he was the scion

00:20:16.460 of the Claudian family

00:20:17.840 so he was

00:20:18.340 as aristocratic

00:20:19.360 as it can be

00:20:20.160 almost

00:20:20.660 but you can legally

00:20:22.040 formally

00:20:22.600 have yourself

00:20:23.320 reduced

00:20:24.240 from a patrician

00:20:25.880 to a Plebeian

00:20:26.900 we even had that

00:20:27.980 in Britain

00:20:29.260 it's possible

00:20:29.920 there's an old MP

00:20:31.300 he's passed away now

00:20:32.660 Tony Benn

00:20:33.640 who had a hereditary title

00:20:35.780 and he renounced it

00:20:37.360 so that he could be an MP

00:20:38.640 this was back in the 60s

00:20:40.760 I believe

00:20:41.140 if you had a hereditary title

00:20:43.200 you'd have to sit

00:20:43.900 in the House of Lords

00:20:44.620 but he really wanted

00:20:45.740 to sit in the Commons

00:20:46.360 so he sort of legally

00:20:47.580 renounced his title

00:20:49.740 anyway Clodius

00:20:51.060 has been asking for this

00:20:52.800 for a while

00:20:53.320 because he's ambitious

00:20:55.400 he realises that

00:20:56.820 one of if not probably

00:20:58.860 the best

00:20:59.540 most efficient

00:21:00.180 path to power for him

00:21:01.680 is through a tribuneship

00:21:03.420 to begin with

00:21:04.020 but he would have to

00:21:05.300 renounce his

00:21:05.940 his patrician

00:21:07.460 standing

00:21:08.420 and finally

00:21:09.760 Caesar

00:21:10.200 has got the power

00:21:11.360 of sole consul

00:21:12.160 to do that

00:21:12.940 and he does

00:21:13.360 okay

00:21:14.160 Suetonius continued

00:21:15.220 but he rushed the measure

00:21:16.800 through that very same day

00:21:17.780 finally

00:21:18.320 he began an attack

00:21:19.820 on the opposition faction

00:21:21.500 by bribing Vettius

00:21:22.880 to announce

00:21:23.480 that some of them

00:21:24.220 had tried to make him

00:21:25.240 assassinate Pompey

00:21:26.240 see

00:21:26.700 Suetonius just

00:21:27.860 flatly says

00:21:28.800 that Vettius

00:21:30.020 was bribed

00:21:30.640 he's prepared to go

00:21:31.840 with the slightly

00:21:32.880 more scandalous

00:21:34.400 version

00:21:35.040 as though it's just

00:21:36.380 simply a fact

00:21:37.200 where if you remember

00:21:38.280 a few moments ago

00:21:39.100 Appian said

00:21:40.060 nobody really knew

00:21:41.020 for sure

00:21:41.520 and if I'm being a

00:21:42.800 serious historian here

00:21:43.920 I don't know

00:21:44.900 so I'll have to say

00:21:45.720 that nobody really knows

00:21:46.720 whereas you know

00:21:48.000 again a classic sign

00:21:49.240 of what Suetonius is

00:21:51.200 what he's like

00:21:52.000 that he just says

00:21:53.420 no he was bribed

00:21:54.420 it was a bribe

00:21:55.120 he goes on

00:21:56.140 to watch the full video

00:21:57.640 please become a premium

00:21:58.700 member at

00:21:59.380 lotus eaters.com

The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters - October 13, 2024

PREVIEW： Epochs #180 ｜ Pompey and Caesar： Part V

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