QUINTUS CAECILIUS METELLUS PIUS belonged to the illustrious family of
the Scipios by birth, and to that of the Metelli by adoption. He was
one of the most unjust and dishonest of the Senators that opposed
Caesar. He was the father-in-law of Pompey, by whom he was made a
pliant tool against the great conqueror.




CHAPTER XXXIV.

MURDER OF CAESAR.


Upon his return from Spain, Caesar granted pardon to all who had
fought against him, the most prominent of whom were GAIUS CASSIUS,
MARCUS BRUTUS, and CICERO. He increased the number of the Senate to
nine hundred. He cut off the corn grants, which nursed the city mob in
idleness. He sent out impoverished men to colonize old cities. He
rebuilt Corinth, and settled eighty thousand Italians on the site of
Carthage. As a censor of morals he was very rigid. His own habits were
marked by frugality. The rich young patricians were forbidden to be
carried about in litters, as had been the custom. Libraries were
formed. Eminent physicians and scientists were encouraged to settle in
Rome. The harbor of Ostia was improved, and a road constructed from
the Adriatic to the Tyrrhenian Sea, over the Apennines. A temple to
Mars was built, and an immense amphitheatre was erected at the foot of
the Tarpeian Rock.