Julius Caesar by Ernle Bradford Page A

were determined he should not keep.
    But all this was in the future and Caesar, after first taking the measure of his man, had now set off for Spain. The journey from Rome to Corduba took him three weeks, the standard time for that day, but Caesar was never the man to relax on this or other similar rounds of travel. On one journey which took twenty-seven days from Rome to southern Spain he composed a long poem called “The Journey,” while during a crossing of the Alps he wrote, or dictated, a two-volume work On Analogy. The elder Pliny recorded that he had heard how “Caesar was accustomed to write or dictate and read at the same time, simultaneously dictating to his secretaries four letters on the most important subjects or, if he had nothing else to do, as many as seven.” On this occasion Plutarch provides the somewhat unconvincing tale that, as they were passing through a squalid Alpine village, and the conversation turned jokingly to the question of what political offices were competed for there, Caesar remarked seriously: “For my part I would rather be first among these wretches than second in Rome.”
    His province at once engaged his attention and he clearly showed which part of it was of most concern to him, for, not content with the twenty cohorts at his disposal (about 10,000 men), he at once set about enlisting a further ten. It was clear that he intended action against the mountain tribes, who were constantly harassing the peaceful inhabitants in the south. As he was to do many times afterward, he issued an ultimatum (which he knew would be ignored) telling them to leave their homes in the Herminius range and settle peacefully in the plain. Dio Cassius remarks that Caesar was perfectly well aware that they would refuse, but he now had his casus belli; the occasion for a war which he hoped would make him both rich and famous.
    Compared with the campaigns which Pompey had been conducting in the East these military operations against mountain tribes were small indeed, but they nevertheless enabled Caesar and his soldiers to loot and despoil a number of cities—sometimes, so his critics maintained, ones which had offered no resistance or had previously submitted. This mattered little to Caesar and less to his troops, while as far as the distant senate in Rome was concerned he was taming and bringing within Roman control new areas of land and, therefore, new sources of wealth. He was careful also to see that the appropriate amount of money was sent back to Rome—and to the right people—so that any critics would be silenced. His dispatches (which we do not have) were almost certainly couched in the same exhilarating style as his famous later ones from Gaul. He had early discovered in himself a talent for soldiering, but now he showed that he was born to generalship. As an administrator he also displayed all his notable powers and he managed to secure for himself many grateful clients and followers among the peaceful inhabitants of Spain. His troops hailed him as Imperator, Victorious Commander, while by canceling a major part of outstanding debts he secured many supporters who would be useful in the future. But all the time he had his eye on Rome.
    In the elections of 60 Caesar was entitled to stand for the consulship of 59. He was entitled to a triumph and, with this in mind, returned to Rome before the expiry of his office. However, all hinged on a legal technicality which forced him to choose between standing as a candidate for the consulship or being accorded a triumph. If the senate had been well-disposed toward him, and if Cato had not ensured that the law remained unchanged, he might have enjoyed both. As it was, and it shows as always Caesar’s choice of options when it came to military or political matters, he forwent the triumph and chose to stand for the consulship. In this he was wise, for many triumphs would fall his way in later years. It was a gamble, but at this moment he needed a consulship