Marcellus, one of the Consuls in B.C. 51, a determined opponent of Cæsar, brought matters to a climax by denouncing Cæsar in the Senate as a brigand and asking that he should be called a public enemy unless he gave up his province by a fixed date. These motions were made as a result of the debate whether a successor to Cæsar should be appointed; they were carried by an imposing majority. An equal majority rejected the motion that Pompeius should be required to resign. Curio, who had as Tribune interposed his veto on the first motion, then offered a resolution by which both commanders should be required to resign. This was carried by 322 to 320, but no effect was given to it; probably it was vetoed by a Pompeian Tribune. Through private channels, efforts were being made to prevent a break between the two rivals; on account of Pompeius’ well-known indecision of temper, the senatorial clique resolved by a bold stroke to prevent further negotiations. Marcellus, on the 9th of December, using as a pretext the rumor that Cæsar was on his way to Rome with his army, tried in vain to get the Senate to declare Cæsar a public enemy and to authorize Pompeius to take command of the troops in Italy and protect the state. Indignant at the timidity of the senators, he took matters in his own hands, virtually declaring war on his own responsibility, for he handed over the two Italian legions to Pompeius, with the command to march against Cæsar. Pompeius, though this action of the Consul was unconstitutional, accepted the commission; at the end of the month he was still confident that Cæsar would drop his claim to the consulship and that so peace would be restored. Cæsar acted cautiously; he sent for additional troops from Gaul and also despatched a message to the Senate offering to resign all his provinces and his army, provided Pompeius would do the same. In case of refusal, he said he would be compelled to take measures for asserting his own rights and the freedom of the Roman people. Curio was sent with this ultimatum to Rome; it was only with difficulty that the letter was read. A motion was passed that at a fixed date Cæsar should give up his army and that his non-compliance would be treated as an act of war. There was, of course, the usual obstruction from Marcus Antonius, a Cæsarian Tribune; the final decree by which martial law was introduced and the magistrates called upon to see “that the commonwealth took no harm,” was not passed till the seventh of January. (49 B.C.) Lentulus, the Consul, in the meantime had advised the obstructing tribunes to leave the city if they valued their personal safety. It was this verbal threat which put in Cæsar’s hands the very useful plea that he was acting as the defender of the freedom of the Roman people.