[98] Mention of Licinius as being the first to present to Caesar the diadem enclosed within a wreath is unique with Nicolaus. Appian 2, 109; Dio 44, 11; Livy, Epit., 116; Velleius 2, 56, 4; Plutarch, Caes., 60; Ant. 12, and Cicero, Phil., 2, 84-85; 3, 12, all concur in that they make Antony solely responsible for having offered the crown to Caesar. Duttlinger, Untersuchungen über den historischen Wert des βίος Καίσαρος, Heidelberg 1911, endeavoring to align the account of Nicolaus with Cicero’s words: ‘Unde diadema? _non enim abjectum sustuleras_, sed attuleras domo meditatum et cogitatum scelus’ (Cic., Phil., 2, 85) makes the following assertion: ‘Diese Worte zeigen mit unumstösslicher Sicherheit, dass Caesar schon einmal, bevor Antonius kam, das Diadem von sich gewiesen hatte.’ A saner view is expressed in the translation of the phrase by Halm-Laubmann, Ciceros Ausgewählte Reden, vol. 6, p. 110: ‘du konntest es nicht von der Strasse aufgehoben, auf der Strasse gefunden haben;’ thus no suggestion of a former attempt by Licinius is to be read into Cicero’s words. Cicero’s immediate purpose, of course, was to bring discredit upon Antony for his actions on that day of the Lupercalia, and hence any mention of Licinius on his part would have been irrelevant to his case. Cicero’s Philippics therefore afford no check upon the accuracy of Nicolaus’ account, which rests here upon its merits of priority in comparison with the versions of the other historians. [99] It seems that the behavior of Lepidus at this juncture was such as to attract attention; exactly what he did can not be ascertained, but the indications are that he kept himself strictly aloof. Cicero (Phil. 5, 38; 13, 17) wished to laud him, contrasting him with Antony. At the place of the former citation he says of him: ‘Semper ille populum Romanum liberum voluit maximumque signum illo die dedit voluntatis et iudicii sui, cum Antonio diadema Caesari imponente _se avertit_, gemituque et maestitia declaravit quantum haberet odium servitutis,’ etc. Cicero thus (though for a purpose) represents him as averse to autocracy, while Nicolaus suggests that he was in sympathy with Antony’s action. [100] As tribune (Dio 44, 32). [101] The report that Caesar was addressed directly by the crowd as king, ‘Χαῖρε βασιλεῦ’ = ‘salve rex,’ is given by Nicolaus alone. In this connection, however, see chap. 20, note 96, and especially Cic., Att., 13, 37, 2, where Cicero refers to Caesar as ‘rex’.