When, during his ædileship, Cæsar causes the trophies of Marius, glorious symbols of the war against the Cimbri and Teutones, to be replaced in the Capitol, the opposite party already cries out that he intends to overthrow the Republic; when he returns from Spain, after having led his victorious legions as far as Portugal, his passage across the Transpadane colonies inspires the Senate with so many fears, that two legions, destined for Asia, are retained in Italy; when he believes that he has a claim to a triumph and the consulate at the same time--a double favour accorded to many others--he is obliged to renounce the triumph. As consul he encounters, during the whole period of his magistracy, the most active and the most spiteful opposition. Hardly have his functions expired, when an accusation is sought to be brought against him, which he only escapes by the privilege attached to the _imperium_. In his interview, not far from the Rhine, with Ariovistus, he learns that the nobles of Rome have promised their friendship to the German king, if, by his death, he delivers them from their enemy. His victories, which transport the people with enthusiasm, excite jealousy and detraction among the Roman aristocracy. They seek to undervalue his expeditions beyond the sea, as well as beyond the Rhine. In 701 the news reached Rome of the defeat of the German tribes who again threatened Gaul with invasion. Cato, under the pretence that Cæsar had not observed the truce, proposed that they should deliver up to the barbarians the glorious chief of the legions of the Republic. During the last campaign against the people of the Beauvaisin, his adversaries rejoice in the false rumours which were spread abroad concerning his military operations; they relate in whispers, without concealing their satisfaction, that he is surrounded by the Gauls, that he has lost his cavalry, and that the 7th legion has been nearly annihilated.[786] In the Senate, Clodius, Rutilius Lupus, Cicero, Ahenobarbus, and the two Marcelli, move in their turns, either to revoke the acts of his consulship, or to supersede him as governor of Gaul, or, lastly, to reduce his command. Political parties never disarm, not even before the national glory. [Sidenote: Sulpicius Rufus and M. Claudius Marcellus, Consuls.]