Julius Caesar Civil War 1.2.1

This speech of Scipio, as the senate was held in the city, and Pompey resided in the suburbs, was considered as coming from Pompey’s own mouth. Some were for following milder counsels, of which number was M. Marcellus, who gave it as his opinion: That it was not proper to enter upon the present deliberation, till troops were raised over all Italy , and an army got ready, under whose protection the senate might proceed with freedom and safety in their debates. Callidius was for sending Pompey to his government, to take away all occasion of discord; because Caesar had reason to fear, as two of his legions had been taken from him, that Pompey retained them in the neighbourhood of Rome , with a view to employ them against him. M. Rufus nearly agreed with Callidius. But they were all severely reprimanded by the consul Lentulus, who expressly refused to put Callidius’s motion to the vote. Marcellus, awed by the consul’s reprimand, retracted what he had said. Thus the clamours of Lentulus, the dread of an army at the gates of Rome , and the menaces of Pompey’s friends, forced the greater part of the senate, though with the utmost reluctance and dislike, into a compliance with Scipio’s motion: That Caesar should be ordered to disband his army before a certain day then fixed; and that in case of disobedience, he should be declared an enemy to the republic. M. Antonius and Q. Cassius, tribunes of the people, opposed their negative to this decree. Immediately a debate arose, upon the validity of their interposition. Many severe speeches were made against them; and the more warm and passionate any one appeared, the more was he applauded by Caesar’s enemies.

This speech of Scipio appeared to come from the mouth of Pompeius himself, since the senate was meeting in the city and Pompeius was close at hand. Some had expressed less rigorous views, such as M. Marcellus, who at first embarked on a speech to the effect that the question ought not to be referred to the senate till levies had been held throughout Italy and armies enrolled under whose protection the senate might venture to make such decrees as it wished safely and freely; such, too, as M. Calidius, who expressed the opinion that Pompeius should go to his own provinces in order that there might be no motive for hostilities: Caesar, he said, was afraid lest it should be thought that Pompeius, having extorted two legions from him, was holding them back and retaining them near Rome with a view to imperilling him; such also as M. Rufus, who with a few modifications followed the opinion of Calidius. All these speakers were assailed with vehement invective by the consul L. Lentulus. He absolutely refused to put the motion of Calidius, and Marcellus, alarmed by the invectives, abandoned his proposal. Thus most of the senators, compelled by the language of the consul, intimidated by the presence of the army and by the threats of the friends of Pompeius, against their will and yielding to pressure, adopt the proposal of Scipio that Caesar should disband his army before a fixed date, and that, if he failed to do so, he should be considered to be meditating treason against the republic. The tribunes M. Antonius and Q. Cassius intervene. The question of their intervention is immediately brought before the senate. Opinions of weighty import are expressed, and the more harsh and cruel the speech the more it is applauded by the personal enemies of Caesar.