Thus far goes on the history to the tenth year of Cæsar’s proconsulship: he now stood for the consulship, and was thwarted in this by all sorts of sophisms and cabals. During the last years, Cicero had been forced against his will to accept the proconsulship of Cilicia. It was a very dangerous position: on the one hand, he was afraid of the country being overrun by the Parthians, who since the death of Crassus had been let loose; and on the other, he could not bear to live in an out-of-the-way corner, where even the rudiments of Greek learning were hardly to be met with, and the gentry themselves had only a short time before been captains of pirates. The overthrow of Crassus happened in the fifth year of Cæsar’s proconsulship. The peace between Pompey and Cæsar, which lasted during the absence of the latter, was made in a congress at Lucca between Cæsar, Pompey, and Crassus, all three of whom came thither with a strong body of followers, and settled about the fate of the commonwealth. If may be imagined what must have been the condition of a state in which such things could have happened. Pompey then married Cæsar’s daughter Julia, who, however, died not long afterwards in child-bed: her infant daughter soon followed her. This broke again the connexion: had it lasted, Cæsar would certainly not have undertaken any war. He was a man of so much heart, that he would no doubt have rather borne with anything, if by the war his daughter and grand-daughter were at all likely to be injured. THE GALLIC WARS.