[
19]
About this time the daughter of Cæsar, who was married to Pompey,
died in childbirth, and fear fell upon all lest, with the termination of
this marriage connection, Cæsar and Pompey with their great armies
should come into conflict with each other, especially as the commonwealth
had been for a long time disorderly and unmanageable. The magistrates were
chosen by means of money, and faction fights, with dishonest zeal, with the
aid of stones and even swords. Bribery and corruption prevailed in the most
scandalous manner. The people themselves went to the elections to be bought.
A case was found where a deposit of 800 talents had been made to obtain the
consulship. The consuls holding office yearly
could not hope to lead armies or to command in war because they were shut
out by the power of the triumvirate. The baser ones strove for gain, instead
of military commands, at the expense of the public treasury or from the
election of their own successors. For these reasons good men abstained from
office altogether. The disorder was such that at one time the republic was
without consuls for eight months, Pompey conniving at the state of affairs
in order that there might be need of a dictator.
