One of the first acts of Clodius, after entering upon office, was to propose a bill interdicting from fire and water any one who should be found to have put a Roman citizen to death untried. Cicero changed his attire, and, assuming the garb of one accused, went round the Forum soliciting the compassion of all whom he met. For a brief period public sympathy was awakened. A large number of the Senate and the Equites appeared also in mourning, and the better portion of the citizens seemed resolved to espouse his cause. But all demonstrations of such feelings were promptly repressed by Piso and Gabinius. Caesar had previously made overtures to Cicero, which the orator, overrating his influence and relying upon the support of Pompey, had rejected. The Triumvirs now left him to his fate, and Cicero, giving way to despair, quitted Rome at the beginning of April (B.C. 68), and reached Brundusium about the middle of the month. From thence he crossed over to Greece. The instant that the departure of Cicero became known, a law was passed pronouncing his banishment, forbidding any one to entertain or harbor him, and denouncing as a public enemy whosoever should take any steps toward procuring his recall. His mansion on the Palatine, and his villas at Tusculum and Formiae, were at the same time given over to plunder and destruction. Clodius, having thus gratified his hatred, did not care to consult any longer the views of the Triumvirs. He restored Tigranes to liberty, whom Pompey had kept in confinement, ridiculed the great Imperator before the people, and was accused of making an attempt upon his life. Pompey, in revenge, resolved to procure the recall of Cicero from banishment, and was thus brought again into some friendly connections with the aristocratical party. The new Consuls (B.C. 57) were favorable to Cicero; but, though Clodius was no longer in office, he had several partisans among the Tribunes who offered the most vehement opposition to the restoration of his great enemy. One of the chief supporters of Cicero was the Tribune T. Annius Milo, a man as unprincipled and violent as Clodius himself. He opposed force to force, and at the head of a band of gladiators attacked the hired ruffians of Clodius. The streets of Rome were the scenes of almost daily conflicts between the leaders of these assassins. At length the Senate, with the full approbation of Pompey, determined to invite the voters from the different parts of Italy to repair to Rome and assist in carrying a law for the recall of Cicero. Accordingly, on the 4th of August, the bill was passed by an overwhelming majority. On the same day Cicero quitted Dyrrhachium, and crossed over to Brundusium. He received deputations and congratulatory addresses from all the towns on the line of the Appian Way; and having arrived at Rome on the 4th of September, a vast multitude poured forth to meet him, while the crowd rent the air with