But now I will tell you the other news. Things are drifting towards an interregnum: and a dictatorship is in the air. There is a great deal of talk about it, which helped Gabinius with timid jurors. All the candidates for the consulship are accused of bribery. Gabinius is with them too. P. Sulla applied for the prosecution of him, suspecting that he would be too out of pocket to bribe a jury. Torquatus applied too
Torquato. Sed omnes absolventur, nec posthac quisquam damnabitur, nisi qui hominem Occident. Hoc tamen agitur severius, itaque indicia calent. M. Fulvius Nobilior condemnatus est; multi alii urbani ne respondent quidem.
xvi, 12
Quid aliud novi? Etiam. Absolute Gabinio stomachantes alii iudices hora post Antiochum Gabinium nescio quem e Sopolidis pictoribus libertum, accensum Gabini, lege Papia condemnarunt. Itaque dixit statim resp. lege maiestatis ΟΥΣΟΙΜΡΙΣΑΜΑΦΙΗΙ. Pomptinus vult a. d. IIII Non. Novembr. triumphare. Huic obviam Cato et Servilius praetores ad portam et Q. Mucius tribunus. Negant enim latum de imperio, et est latum hercule insulse. Sed erit cum Pomptino Appius consul. Cato tamen adfirmat se vivo illum non triumphaturum. Id ego puto ut multa eiusdem ad nihil recasurum. Appius sine lege suo sumptu in Ciliciam cogitat.
xvii, 3
A Quinto fratre et a Caesare accepi a. d. VIIII Kal. Nov. litteras datas a litoribus Britanniae proximis a. d. VI Kal. Octobr. Confecta Britannia, obsidibus acceptis, nulla praeda, imperata tamen pecunia exercitum ex Britannia reportabant. Q. Pilius erat iam ad Caesarem profectus. Tu, si aut amor in te est nostri ac tuorum aut ulla veritas, aut etiam si sapis ac frui
but did not obtain it. But they will all be acquitted, and in future no one will be condemned except for homicide. That charge is being severely dealt with and so informers are busy. M. Fulvius Nobilior has been condemned: and a number of others are polite enough not even to answer the charge.
Any other news? Yes. An hour after the acquittal of Gabinius another jury in indignation condemned some one called Antiochus Gabinius, out of Sopolis’ studio, a freedman and attendant of Gabinius, under the Papian law. He at once said “So the State will not acquit me of treason as it did you.”[[159]]
Pomptinus wants to celebrate his triumph on the 2nd of November. He is openly opposed by the praetors Cato and Servilius and the tribune Q. Mucius, who declare that no authority was ever given for a triumph: and it certainly was given in the most absurd manner. However Pomptinus will have the consul Appius on his side. Cato declares he shall never triumph as long as he lives. I fancy it will all come to nothing like most similar affairs. Appius is thinking of going to Cilicia without authority and at his own expense.
On the 24th of October I received a letter from my brother Quintus and from Caesar, dated from the nearest point on the coast of Britain on the 25th of September. Britain is settled, hostages taken, no booty, but a tribute imposed; and they are bringing back the army from the place. Q. Pilius was just on his way to Caesar. If you have any affection for me and your family, if any trust can be put in your word, nay, if you have any sense and want to enjoy your