There were in Rome, and, in fact, in many other cities and countries of
the world in those days, a variety of prophetic books, called the
Sibylline Oracles, in which it was generally believed that future events
were foretold. Some of these volumes or rolls, which were very ancient
and of great authority, were preserved in the temples at Rome, under the
charge of a board of guardians, who were to keep them with the utmost
care, and to consult them on great occasions, in order to discover
beforehand what would be the result of public measures or great
enterprises which were in contemplation. It happened that at this time
the Romans were engaged in a war with the Parthians, a very wealthy and
powerful nation of Asia. Caesar was making preparations for an
expedition to the East to attempt to subdue this people. He gave orders
that the Sibylline Oracles should be consulted. The proper officers,
after consulting them with the usual solemn ceremonies, reported to the
Senate that they found it recorded in these sacred prophecies that the
Parthians could not be conquered except by a _king_, A senator proposed,
therefore, that, to meet the emergency, Caesar should be made king
during the war. There was at first no decisive action on this proposal.
It was dangerous to express any opinion. People were thoughtful,
serious, and silent, as on the eve of some great convulsion. No one knew
what others were meditating, and thus did not dare to express his own
wishes or designs. There soon, however, was a prevailing understanding
that Caesar's friends were determined on executing the design of
crowning him, and that the fifteenth of March, called, in their
phraseology, the _Ides of March_, was fixed upon as the coronation day.

[Sidenote: The conspiracy.]

In the mean time, Caesar's enemies, though to all outward appearance