"Life of Caesar" Podcast: Episode 11

I can't believe they didn't mention lex Iulia de repetundis. It was Caesar's second most lasting reform that outlived the Roman Empire itself and it wasn't even mentioned.

Episode 11:

• 05:21 – Cam on the second agrarian reform: "We don't really know exactly why Caesar decided to extend the agrarian law. Maybe they didn't have enough land for all of the soldiers that they wanted to redistribute all of the– it wasn't just soldiers, also men with families. Maybe Caesar always knew that this was gonna be the case, that they're gonna run out of land. He just decided, 'We introduce the first phase and pass that, 'cause it will seem innocuous and there's nothing in it that people can argue. But once it's up and running, just before people go on holidays, boom, then we come in with the second part of the law.' Pretty cunning tactic."

This portrays Caesar as oh so smart, but I feel like it underestimates the weaknesses of his position. 

The agrarian laws were always a great struggle. The senators were fighting tooth and nail to block them. And two of the most recent land bills were defeated. There was no guarantee that Caesar would be able to pass the first bill, let alone the second one. Even if he did suspect that not enough land was going to be available, it's unlikely that he excluded the Campanian land with the expectation of adding it later. He probably did it as "better than nothing" compromise. Had the optimates agreed to the first law, chances are he wouldn't have tried to pass the second one, because it would be seen as a violation of the truce. But since the optimates opposed even that, he went "To hell with it," and pushed the second one to boot.

• 09:19 – Cam: "And again, as with the first law, remember the first law, when Caesar passed the agrarian law, the senators had to agree to an oath that they would never repeal the law. They had to do it this time as well. So he's locking in these laws, making sure that once his consulship is over the next guys can't come in and go, 'yeah . . . we're gonna repeal it.'"

This clause is not gonna help. They will try to repeal it.

• 10:03 – Ray on Caesar's five year command: "There is going to be some form of war, battle or conflict in the next five years. And he is going to use this to try to outshine Pompey. He's already a great lawyer, he's already a great politician, and now he wants to show the world AND Pompey, his son-in-law, that he is a better general than him. . . . He's gonna shine in these five years and that is part of the plan to be remembered as the greatest Roman that there ever was."

a) Where does Ray get this idea that Caesar wanted to stick it to Pompey? Since when was Caesar this petty?

Caesar wants military glory, preferably to conquer a new territory for Rome. But he is already in his 40s, and nobody knew how crazy his life would get from this point on. Pompey has been campaigning since his 20s. But Caesar intended to outshine him in just 5 years?

Ray's description fits Pompey's character more than it does Caesar's. Who was it who couldn't accept an equal and wouldn't let them return home as a victor? Not Caesar.

b) "that is part of the plan to be remembered as the greatest Roman that there ever was."

So he already knows that he will be conquering Gaul for the next 9 years, that he's gonna cross into Britain and Germany, that he will win the civil war, that he will be dramatically assassinated, that he will be posthumously deified, that his future adopted son will become Rome's first emperor, that his name will become a title? 'Cause, you know, all of those things combined made him the most famous Roman in history. That's one hell of a plan!

• 10:49 – Cam: "So Caesar also got Transalpine Gaul, because the current governor Quintus Paecilius Metellus Celer . . . he died on the way out there. . . He had been consul in 60 BCE, was the son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos. And he had previously been a legate, a praetor, propraetor of Cisalpine Gaul in 62, an augur. But we don't really know the circumstances of his death, but the story is that he might have been poisoned by his wife, Clodia. . . She was notoriously debauched, reputed incestuous lover of her brother Clodius. . . Possibly also the lover of the poet Catullus. . . The poet Catullus apparently identified her as the subject of his poem "Lesbia." So he wrote this big love poem called "Lesbia" and that was apparently about her. . . . She may have poisoned Metellus Celer, allowing, deliberately or not, Caesar to also get Transalpine Gaul."

a) Caecilius, not Paecilius.

b) "he died on the way out there"

Celer was at his house on Palatine, within the pomerium. Which means he laid down his imperium and the province even before he died.

Celer most likely gave up Transalpine Gaul because of Flavius' machinations that started during the whole "knock a hole in the prison's wall" absurdity.

"Metellus would not give his consent when the other tribunes wished to set him [Metellus] free. Nor would he yield even when Flavius later threatened that he would not allow him to go out to the province which he had drawn unless he would permit the law to be passed; on the contrary, he was very glad to remain in the city." – Cassius Dio

c) "was the son of Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos." 

It's not certain. T.P. Wiseman suggests that Celer's father was Quintus Caecilius Metellus Celer, tribune of 90 BC.

d) "propraetor of Cisalpine Gaul in 62." 

He was a proconsul. Cisalpine Gaul was originally allocated to Gaius Antonius, while Cicero received Macedonia. In return for Antonius' support against Rullus and Catiline, Cicero exchanged provinces with him. But Cicero had no desire to go to Cisalpine Gaul, so it went to Celer (praetor) instead, and that's why he was called a proconsul.

e) "he might have been poisoned by his wife, Clodia." 

Cicero is the source for this story. In two of his speeches, he claims that Clodia poisoned Metellus. There are no other rumors that Celer was poisoned. Romans could distinguish natural death from poisoning.

f) Catullus didn't write one big poem called "Lesbia." He wrote many pieces of poetry about Lesbia. But he never disclosed who she was. The Roman poet Apuleius, who lived in the 2nd century AD, said that "Lesbia" referred to Clodia. T.P. Wiseman suggests that Apuleius' source was Suetonius' partly lost work "De Poetis," who in turn was referencing the work of Gaius Julius Hyginus.

• 14:26 – Ray: "Caesar in this episode is going to twist Cicero into a pretzel. . . . It seems that Cicero's partner when he was consul, his consular colleague, Caius Antonius, he was the former governor of Macedonia. And, of course, like most Roman governors, he raped the land, he bribed, he extorted or whatever. And he's now being put on trial. And because Cicero was his colleague and his friend, Cicero feels the need to defend him. And Caesar is backing the prosecution. And probably Crassus as well, we're not sure on that. . . But because the man is just so blatantly freaking guilty, Antonius is found–"
Cam: "You didn't say of what."
Ray: "Of extortion. Being a really bad governor. Abusing the privileges of the governor with bribes and theft. He just really stole a lot of– he took a lot of stuff from people while he was governor. And he used his troops to do a lot of the dirty work."
Cam: "But he did what everybody did, right? That was the whole point of being governor."
Ray: "Yeah. But most of them were able to get off. He does not get off, because Caesar is backing the prosecution. . . During one of Cicero's long and I'm sure brilliant speeches defending his friend, who's guilty as hell, Cicero speaks up and he speaks ill, he speaks inappropriately of the First Triumvirate. . . So even though he loses the case, he thinks nothing of it, word gets back to Caesar that Cicero was trash talking him. And this is just brilliant, Caesar is such a, in some ways, such a dispassionate bastard. During the whole Bona Dea crisis, Clodius, who was the one who committed the sacrilege, he wanted to switch from a patrician to a plebeian, because he wanted to be a tribune of the plebs. . . And Caesar took that request and he was holding on to it. Clodius would ask him about it all the time and Caesar's like, 'No, not yet, not yet.' And finally now that Cicero was talking smack about Caesar, Caesar is going to grant Clodius the right to become a pleb, so he can run for the tribune of the plebs. Just because Cicero made an inappropriate remark about Clodius and supposedly incestuous relationship he had with his sister. Cicero said that 'incest is a game the entire family can play.' And that just pissed off Clodius to no end. So now Caesar's pissed. Caesar basically releases the hound, that is Clodius, on to Cicero. . . And I just love the way Caesar handled it. He didn't freak out, he didn't stop and scream, he just said, 'This is why I was holding this. And now I'm going to make you a pleb and now you can go after Cicero as a tribune of the pleb.' Which gives him a lot of power. . . But Caesar is not done with Cicero yet. One minute he's his enemy, next minute he’s his friend. I don't know what they did for headaches back then, but I'm sure Cicero during this summer had a massive headache and it was all Caesar's fault."

a) "And because Cicero was . . . his friend, Cicero feels the need to defend him."

A certain percentage of what Antonius took from the provincials went to Cicero. He also helped Cicero's buddy Atticus collect debt from the town of Sicyon. No shit he feels the need to defend him!

b) "But he did what everybody did, right?"

All governors were profiting one way or another. But there were limits if one wanted to avoid prosecution. For example, Plutarch claims that Marius made no profit at all while governing Spain. Of course, it's bullshit, but at the very least it shows that Marius kept within reasonable limits. There were others who played it safe. While some (like Antonius) were so unrestrained in their conduct that even their fellow corrupt Romans were appalled.

c) "he speaks inappropriately of the First Triumvirate."

Ray just had to use the word "inappropriately." Creates a certain kings-servants image, right? Do not underestimate the power of Cicero's word. Catiline can vouch how effective it was. Saying that he spoke "inappropriately" as though he was just being rude is very misleading.

e) "And Caesar took that request and he was holding on to it. Clodius would ask him about it all the time and Caesar's like, 'No, not yet, not yet.'"

Dude, Caesar wasn't even in town when Clodius got this bright idea.

f) "Cicero said that 'incest is a game the entire family can play.'"

That's gross. But Cicero never said it. This is Colleen McCullough.

g) "And that just pissed off Clodius to no end."

Clodius wanted to get back at Cicero because Cicero ruined his alibi during the Bona Dea affair. Clodius claimed that he wasn't in Rome on the day of the sacrilege, but Cicero testified that he saw Clodius on that day.

h) "Caesar basically releases the hound, that is Clodius, on to Cicero."

Ray left out Pompey. He took part in Clodius' adoption by plebeian as an augur.

"The whole thing was meant as a warning to Cicero; it was not done out of love for Clodius, who was too self-willed to be of use as a catspaw. For the time being the men in power kept him on as tight a rein as possible. He was to go off as ambassador to Tigranes of Armenia, was not elected to the commission for the distribution of land, and Pompey made it clear to him from the start that, if he became tribune, he was not to use his position against Cicero. As Cicero heard on April 19, this made Clodius fume with anger and threaten to cross over to the optimate camp as tribune." – Matthias Gelzer

i) "Caesar . . . is going to twist Cicero into a pretzel / I'm sure Cicero . . . had a massive headache and it was all Caesar's fault."

Where are Pompey and Crassus in all of this? Caesar is not running the show solo.

Cicero is not an innocent bystander. He is a politician and the best orator of his day, his word carries weight. And he is not the only one with a headache. Caesar is not having it easy either: the optimates are out for his blood, and Cicero's on their side.

"...the optimate nobility with its followers had given him notice of a fight to the death. He was sustained by his common interests with Pompey and Crassus, which only held good under quite special conditions. . . The performance of great deeds in Gaul was, therefore, not just a matter of ambition but a question of self-preservation. On the path on which he had entered inactivity meant ruin." – Matthias Gelzer

• 19:07 – Cam on Gaius Antonius being an uncle of Mark Antony: "So Mark Antony, Caesar's best friend, his uncle Caesar holds over the coals. Partly to sort of trash Cicero."

a) Mark Antony was never Caesar's best friend. A lot of the time, he was a pain in the ass. And Antony is not involved with Caesar at this stage. It's still years before he will join Caesar's staff.

b) "Partly to sort of trash Cicero." 

If Cicero hadn't volunteered to defend Antonius, this story wouldn't have touched him.

• 22:03 – Ray: "And then Caesar sends a letter to Cicero, who's hiding in his villa and he says, 'Hey, my time, half of the year is gone. I'm going out to bigger, better things when this is over. Why don't you come with me, Cicero? And you can be a legate. And we'll go and I know army is not your thing, but I'll take care of you, I'll protect you. And you can handle all my supplies and things like that. And you can be a legate. And you'll have something to do. You'll have...' What's the word... What is it? Pro– When you can't be prosecuted when you're in official position? . . . 'Why don't you come with me north for five years? And I'll protect you and you'll get a chance to work on the military side of your reputation.' And Cicero turns him down flat. . . . Imperium! Imperium! Hello, it’s imperium."

In this period, Caesar wasn't offering him to join his army. He offered him a place in the commission for the distribution of land.

"If he had accepted the offer, Cicero would have enjoyed immunity from prosecution and held a position of power from which to ward off Clodius's attack. Mindful of optimate objections to the land allotments, however, and relying on their promise of support, Cicero spurned the offer." – Richard A. Billows

Caesar will offer him the post in his army at the end of 59 BC or the beginning of 58 BC. But we don't know how the offer was worded. I really doubt that Cicero would've had to spend five years there. Probably less than a year, and then they would've negotiated something.

And yes, imperium protected you from prosecution. But Cicero wouldn't have his own imperium. The reason he would be free from prosecution is because lex Memmia protected anyone who was away in the service of the state (whether they had imperium or not).

• 23:02 – Cam on Cicero's refusal: "Cicero standing his ground."
Ray: "I do admire him for that. He's kind of not a hero of our story, but I do admire that he’s sticking to his guns throughout all of this and it's pretty impressive."

a) He thought he could afford to turn down Caesar's offers because he hoped that Pompey and the optimates would protect him. Pompey was assuring him that he would, but he didn't. The optimates dropped him as well. Cato looked the other way, even though he himself played a crucial part in the execution of the conspirators.

b) "sticking to his guns throughout all of this." 

He eagerly accepted the triumvirs' help to return from exile. Had he known that nobody was gonna protect him, he would've thought harder before turning down Caesar's offers.

"His initial confidence then began to waver, as he realised that he could not count on Pompey's support, nor on that of many leading senators whose loyalty he had expected. . . In the middle of March – roughly the same time that Caesar set out for Gaul – Cicero fled the city to go into voluntary exile, and soon passed into deep depression, blaming everyone else for his plight and lamenting his own momentary cowardice." – Adrian Goldsworthy

• 36:02 – Ray: "But there are those who are starting to fight back and actually say something publicly."

Bibulus had been slandering them from the start. But the public's enthusiasm for the agrarian reform was too overwhelming. Once it calmed down a bit, their opponents could go on the offensive. Caesar took the brunt of it 'cause he held formal power. Pompey slightly less, but he was very sensitive to it. Crassus got off easier because he was kinda in the background.

• 37:28 – Cam on Vettius: "He's been . . . complicit in the Catiline conspiracy. He was beaten up, he was thrown into prison. Now he comes back . . . and he goes, 'I've got another one!' . . . He says, 'Look, I'm friends with Curio. . . . And Curio told me that he plans to murder Pompey. Maybe Pompey and Caesar. Not quite sure.' Now, Curio tells his father and then the Senate summons Vettius in. Now he says, 'Well, actually, Bibulus is telling Curio that he has to murder Pompey. And Caesar, maybe. And there are other conspirators, including Servilia's son Brutus.' Now, Servilia, of course, sister, half-sister to Cato? . . . But lover, lifetime lover of Julie. Big Julie. . . All these versions of the story, but there is something here about the plot to kill Pompey and maybe Caesar."
Ray: "And not only that, but his story, even though he keeps changing it, it gets to the point where it's truly not believable when he brings in Brutus. Because everyone who knows Brutus at that time or they've seen him in the streets of Rome, he is this sickly, pale youth, all his does is read books. And he's just more of an intellectual, he's certainly not a soldier. And they're going, 'Wait a minute, there is a conspiracy to kill some of the most powerful men in Rome and HE'S on it? I don't think so.' So whatever credibility Vettius has, it's quickly falling apart as he adds names and the list of victims to his story. . . . So the Senate calls Curio and Vettius to the Senate. Curio... And this doesn't really have to mean a lot, but he is very poised and he handles the questions that the senators fire him and he handles it with dignity and aplomb. And so the Senate believes him just because he speaks well. And then Vettius gets back up there and he kind of trashes his own story. So they throw Vettius in jail. They're gonna put him on trial, don't know exactly what, but they're gonna put him on trial, but they find him, I don't know it's days later or weeks later, whatever, but they find him dead in jail. [...]"
Cam: "[...] Just to sum that all up, folks. Curio is making an attack on the triumvirs. Then Vettius comes along and says that Curio plans to assassinate, told him that he plans to assassinate Pompey and Caesar. . . When he gets questioned, his story starts to fall apart. And then he gets found dead. He's going to go on trial, kind of like, 'Tell us who told– who put you up to this.' Cicero thinking that Caesar that's putting up this to discredit Curio. But before he can talk, in classic mafia style he's found dead."

a) "He's been . . . complicit in the Catiline conspiracy."

If Vettius had been thought to be complicit in the Catilinarian conspiracy, he would've been executed! Vettius was Cicero's informant in the Catilinarian affair.

b) "And Curio told me that he plans to murder Pompey. Maybe Pompey and Caesar." 

Appian and Cassius Dio mention Caesar, but Cicero only mentions Pompey.

c) "But lover, lifetime lover of Julie." 

Obligatory comment that their relationship was first rumored when they were already in their late 30s.

d) "he is this sickly, pale youth, all his does is read books. And he's just more of an intellectual, he's certainly not a soldier."

This is Colleen McCullough's invention. The sources do not say that Brutus was sickly and pale. Nor was he harmless, as the people of Cyprus can vouch.

e) "there is a conspiracy to kill some of the most powerful men in Rome and HE'S on it? I don't think so."

On the contrary, Brutus' name would've given it credibility because Pompey executed his father. 

f) "as he adds names and the list of victims to his story."

He wasn't adding more victims to the story. 

g) "he is very poised and he handles the questions that the senators fire him and he handles it with dignity and aplomb."

The sources do not say that Curio was poised and dignified. The senators did believe him, but not because he was full of dignity.

h) "And then Vettius gets back up there and he kind of trashes his own story. So they throw Vettius in jail. They're gonna put him on trial, . . but they find him, I don't know it’s days later or weeks later, whatever, but they find him dead in jail."

There were two testimonies. The first one was in the Senate, where he accused Curio, Brutus, Bibulus, etc. Afterwards, the Senate put him in prison for carrying a weapon within the pomerium. The next day, Caesar brought Vettius to the contio in the Forum, where he gave a testimony that was different from the previous one. And a few days later, Vettius was found dead in prison.

i) "Curio is making an attack on the triumvirs. Then Vettius comes along and says that Curio plans to assassinate . . . Pompey and Caesar."

When Cam puts it like this, OF COURSE, it screams: "The triumvirs were behind it! They wanted to falsely accuse Curio!" But that's not how it went! Vettius didn't just come out of nowhere and started to point fingers. According to Cicero, young Curio told his father that Vettius wants to kill Pompey. Old Curio informed Pompey, Pompey alerted the Senate, and Vettius was arrested. He was brought before the Senate for interrogation. And that's when he in turn accused young Curio, Brutus, Bibulus, etc.

j) "Cicero thinking that Caesar that's putting up this to discredit Curio."

He wasn't sure, it was a suggestion he made to Atticus. Later, Cicero will accuse Vatinius of being behind it.

k) Now, Cam and Ray skipped over a couple of important details.

First, two days before Vettius' arrest, Bibulus warned Pompey about the plot. R.F. Rossi suggests that Bibulus was involved, but Cato learned of it and gave him an earful. And that Cato convinced Bibulus to tell Pompey, but without naming any names.

Second, when Caesar brought Vettius to the Forum, the latter took back all accusations against Brutus. It's pretty obvious that Caesar put pressure on Vettius to drop Brutus' name. Probably upon Servilia's plea. Such a change in testimony suggests that Vettius' first testimony was not coordinated with Caesar.

l) To me, the idea that Caesar was behind such a stupid and convoluted plot seems laughable.

"...it seems more likely that, although Caesar may well have stepped in at Servilia's behest, his interrogation of Vettius before the contio was his first involvement in the affair, and that his aim was primarily to pressure Vettius into leaving out Brutus. Who, if anyone, was really behind Vettius's approach to Curio and initial allegations cannot be known." – Richard A. Billows

As for who ordered Vettius to be killed... Could be anyone.

• 44:11 – Ray: "So there are people that accuse Caesar near the end of the year."

Ray didn't explain what these so-called accusations were.

It wasn't near the end of the year 'cause he was immune to prosecution as consul. After his consulship ended and before he left for his province, two praetors attacked the validity of his legislations. Caesar gave three speeches in defense of his actions. Unfortunately, they haven't survived.

• 45:16 – Ray: "And he [Caesar] says something that at first I found confusing and then it was kind of ominous, because it sounded a little bit like something Sulla would say."
Cam: "When you first asked me about this, I gave you my initial interpretation. And then I've re-read it a few times and I researched it, I still am not quite sure what's going on here. So, Caesar's got one foot out of the door, of the consulship. . . And he's feeling pretty pleased with himself as you would imagine. So he stands up in the Senate, it's like the last day, his bags are packed . . . and he says that 'he had gained his greatest desire to the great grief of his enemies and he would now mount on their heads.' Now, when I first read that . . . I thought it said 'mount their heads'. . . And I thought it meant like he would put their heads on spikes. But no, it actually translates as 'mount ON their heads.' Now, I think this is kind of a sexual double entendre. Like he's talking about climbing up and sticking his, you know, gallium. . . . So, one senator, we don't know who, apparently said . . . 'well, that's gonna be pretty hard for a woman to do.' Getting back to that old story about Caesar being a gay lover of Nicomedes. But Caesar retorts quickly, 'Semiramis had been queen of Syria and the Amazons in days of old had held sway over a great part of Asia.' So there you go. So he's basically saying women can be powerful. But how that is a retort to 'I'm gonna do to your face what I've been doing to your wives,' and you go, 'Well, you're gay,' and he go, 'Well, women are powerful'? I don't know, it doesn't make sense. The bottom line is, I think, here Caesar's parting words as he leaves the Senate, he just gives them a middle finger and says, 'I got everything I wanted and you hated it and you can just suck on it.' Basically. I gotta say, Ray. Like, I was kind of surprised at this, because we've seen lots of points in this process, where Caesar has been... he's very politically [can't make out the word], he's been very careful, all throughout his career to try and be popular, the agrarian law at least initially was very delicately handled. When he first became consul, let's remember that he passed a new law, saying, 'When it's my month off–' Of course, he didn't have any months off, 'cause Bibulus ran and cried in his bedroom for the rest of the year. But he said, you know, 'I'll have my lictors walk behind me.' You know, he seemed to maybe making concessions, very sort of careful not to upset anyone. Do you think this is a sign that now that he's got what he wanted, he just doesn't care anymore? It's like, 'Ha! I've been just pretending to be nice all along.' Or did his ego just get completely out of control over the course of this year?"

a) Gallium is a chemical element. If Cam meant Roman sword, then it's gladius.

b) First of all, it didn't happen at the end of the year, but after Transalpine Gaul was added to his other two provinces (probably early summer). Secondly, the original Latin phrase goes like this: insultaturum omnium capitibus. The literal translation is "I'm going to insult/scoff/taunt over their heads."

Insulto could be used as an euphemism for humiliating sexual act. And together with caput (head), it could mean a forced oral act. But such interpretation was not obvious because caput had other meanings that had nothing to do with "head." For example, Vergilius uses the phrase in "Aeneid," and the literal translation is "insulted my rights." So... Caesar said something rude like, "I'm going to walk all over you." But his opponents decided to turn the tables on him and made it sexual to insult him. 

Now, you may say: "How do you know that Caesar didn't mean it in a sexual way in the first place?" There are a couple of things... First, the rarity of using insulto in a sexual way. "Thesaurus Linguae Latinae" lists three such examples. All of them are very late (during the Christianity) and refer to the rape of women, but without caput or anything like that. Secondly, a poet like Vergilius would never use an obscene phrase in a dramatic context. This means that in order to interpret Caesar's phrase in a sexual way, you had to reach all the way to China. That smart-ass senator probably drew an analogy to illudo. Illudo was synonymous with insulto in that they both meant "insult/scoff/taunt," but, unlike insulto, illudo was fairly often used in a sexual way.

By the way, the authors of "Thesaurus Linguae Latinae" are saying this, too: "Caesar's phrase obscenely misinterpreted by an opponent." And J.N. Adams, the author of "The Latin Sexual Vocabulary," writes: "The anonymous senator who picked up Caesar's phrase 'insultaturum omnium capitibus' made it refer to irrumatio." Irrumatio was a forced oral act.

So... The chances that Caesar used insultaturum omnium capitibus as a sexual euphemism are practically nil. And that senator was probably very proud of himself that he managed to twist it like that in order to call Caesar "a woman." And Caesar's like, "Women can be badass."

c) "he passed a new law, saying, 'When it's my month off–'" 

It's not new. He just revived the old practice.

d) "Or did his ego just get completely out of control over the course of this year?" 

Oh jeez. God forbid a guy would have a moment of smugness after months of tension and being mercilessly lampooned by his opponents. It's not like he gave them a whole speech. It's a short exchange, a couple of lines long. If that's an "ego completely out of control," then damn.

***

So this was Caesar's first consulship. I wanted to add a few things that Cam and Ray haven't mentioned:

1. Lex Iulia de repetundis. A law against extortion by provincial governors. It's Caesar's second most lasting reform. It will remain in force for the entire existence of the Roman Empire. After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, this law will be inherited by the Byzantine Empire. That's impressive. I wish Cam and Ray would've mentioned it.

"Caesar's monumental lex Julia de repetundis—the Julian law of extortion—contained over one hundred chapters of incredibly detailed rules for administering provinces, prosecuting crooked governors, preventing bribes, and generally keeping the senatorial class in line when they were abroad running the empire. The full text of the legislation is lost, but Cicero called it justissima atque optima ("most just and best") and even Cato could find nothing to complain about. This infuriated Cato so much that in coming years whenever he referred to what everyone else praised as the Julian law, he could never bring himself to attach Caesar's name to it. This law was so carefully crafted and effective that it was used as the foundation of provincial governance throughout Roman history and even into the Byzantine era." – Philip Freeman

2. 40,000 veterans and 20,000 men with three or more children from the urban poor received land.

3. The town of Capua was severely punished back in 211 BC, during the Second Punic War. But now it has regained its autonomy as a colony of Roman citizens (the right to self-government, to have local regulations, a town council, and magistrates).

"The famous town of Capua . . . had been punished for its disloyalty in the war with Hannibal by the loss of its territory, and of its privilege of local self-government, and had ever since been ruled by an officer appointed yearly by the Roman Senate. Every attempt to make it a "colonia," i.e. to recognise its existence legally, and to give it municipal rights, had been a failure. Caesar now took up the plan, and carried it through successfully." – W. Warde Fowler

4. A few laws were passed through Caesar's allies. For example, lex Vatinia gave Caesar the right to strengthen the Latin colony of Comum. The swamp near the lake was drained and 5,000 new settlers were added to the town that was renamed Novum Comum. The town, along with all of Gallia Transpadana, will receive Roman citizenship during Caesar's dictatorship in 49 BC.

A couple of other measures dealt with judicial matters:

"One instituted certain changes in the procedure for challenging jurors, the other discouraged bribery of jurors by having the votes of the individual groups that sat on a case tabulated separately. The bills themselves were not of earthshaking consequence. But their very existence indicates that Caesar's consulship directed itself at more than short-term political advantage. That he and his confederates took the time to shape complex measures on social, judicial, and administrative reform reflects tellingly on the consul's long-range commitments." – Erich S. Gruen

5. At the end of 59 BC, Clodius was elected tribune of the plebs. But Cam and Ray will cover this in one of the later episodes, so I'll leave it until then.

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A quote from Matthias Gelzer to sum up Caesar's first consulship:

"Caesar's consular year would mark a milestone in Roman history, even if it had not created the indispensable conditions for his own rise to absolute power. For apart from Cinna's permanent consulship, remarkable more for its intention than for the success with which it was crowned, the old senior magistracy of the Roman state had long since been reduced to the post of chief executive for the senatorial government, while legislative initiative for constitutional changes was usually left to the tribunes. In particular the big attempts at reform of the last century had come from tribunes, in whose ranks, next to the big popular names of the Gracchi, Saturninus and Sulpicius, we also find the optimate Livius Drusus. After the restoration of the tribunate in 70, there were no more personalities of this calibre, but the popular decree again became the decisive means for settling the urgent political problems of the Empire through the granting of special commands. As a patrician Caesar was ineligible for the tribunate, but he showed what a resolute will could achieve with the consulship. Although he succeeded in carrying out the big schemes, which despite their urgency had stagnated previously, we have seen that he was forced to adopt popular or downright revolutionary means in the process by allowing the comitia to be prompted by shows of strength when it came for them to express their opinion. In fairness we must admit that the Roman constitution with its innumerable devices for obstruction left no alternative. Caesar himself had made it sufficiently clear that only the cause mattered for him and not the adoption of popular methods. It is the tragic fault of the optimates that they so stubbornly rejected this offer, and our judgment is only tempered by a realization of the overwhelming influence that old customs had on Roman minds, because they were thought to have served Rome well in the past. In the obstinacy with which the optimates now defended their supremacy, there remained after all something of the spirit of their ancestors of the time of the Hannibalic war. Caesar, himself a Roman to the core, was as sensible as any of them to the greatness of the past and to the special responsibility of the aristocracy for its preservation, but his genius spurred him on to deeds with which he intended to round off the construction of the empire, as yet only half achieved. His consulship shows us the first powerful steps in this direction, but at the same time also the enormous boldness of the undertaking. For the old world of the optimate principes rose united in opposition, and in fact Caesar faced it alone."

Episode 12