abuses of governors of provinces. It required all governors to make a
double return of their accounts, one to be left in the province open
for inspection, the other to be kept at Rome.

When Caesar's term of office was nearly ended, he obtained from the
reluctant Senate his appointment as Proconsul of Gaul for five years.
He must leave the city, however, in safe hands, otherwise all his work
would be undone. He managed the consular elections for the next year
(58) so adroitly, that Piso and Gabinius, on whose friendship he could
rely, were elected.

There were in Rome, however, two men whom it would be dangerous for
Caesar to leave behind. Cato, the ultra aristocrat, hated him
bitterly. Cicero, whose ambition was to lead the Senate, a body only
too willing to crush Caesar, might do him great harm. It was Caesar's
good fortune, or, as some believe, the result of his own scheming,
that both these men were put temporarily out of the way.

CLODIUS PULCHER was a young aristocrat, notorious for his wildness. At
one time, by assuming the dress of a woman, he had gained admittance
to the festival of _Bona Dea_, which was celebrated only by
women. He was discovered and brought to trial before the Senate, but
acquitted by means of open bribery. Cicero had been instrumental in
bringing him to trial, and Clodius never forgot it. He got adopted
into a plebeian family in order to be a candidate for the tribuneship,
and was successful. He then proposed to the Assembly that any person
who had put to death a Roman citizen without allowing him to appeal to
the people be considered a violator of the constitution. The proposal
was carried. All knew that Cicero was meant, and he fled at once to
Macedonia. His property was confiscated, his houses were destroyed,