problems of the Republic was the existence of statesmen or a statesman of their calibre who could serve
as a model of conduct to others. He had never entertained such hopes of Pompey and Caesar, though he
had once offered to play Laelius to Pompey's Scipio and was to offer advice to Caesar as dictator.
The Dictatorship
Caesar's victory destroyed the system within which he had wanted primacy. There is little sign that he
enjoyed the task of reconstruction. Perhaps the thing that rings most true in Cicero's fawning speech Pro
Marcello, delivered in 46, is his picture of the arbiter of men's destinies as weary of life. Until the spring
of 45 Caesar could turn his attention to Rome's problems only in the intervals of fighting the civil war all
over the Mediterranean. By March of 44, when he was killed, he was planning to leave Rome to fight
the Parthians. Cicero was baffled. What of the programme he had outlined for him: the reorganization of
the courts, the restoration of financial credit, the passing of moral legislation, the reform of political life?
Caesar had in fact taken steps to ease the burden of debt. He had legislated against luxury and in favour
of increasing the birth-rate. But Cicero could not grasp the difficulty of reforming Roman politics any
more than he could appreciate Caesar's concern for Italy and the provinces.
In the short time he had, Caesar achieved enough to show how widely his mind ranged. The settlement
of his veterans was to contribute to the restoration of Italian agriculture and manpower, for they were to
be scattered up and down the peninsula, not planted like garrisons in the Sullan mode. Some of the
administrative anomalies neglected since Italian towns became Roman municipia after the Social War
were sorted out. The number of magistrates was increased to allow for the expanding number of
provinces, and the unsatisfactory system of tax-collection by publicani based in Rome was discontinued,
at least in Asia. Most important of all was the enfranchisement of Cisalpine Gaul and the settlement of
veterans and poor citizens in colonies abroad. The immediate effect of the colonies would be to cut
down the urban population and, with it, public disorder and the cost of the corn dole. But in the long run
the colonial policy, combined with Caesar's generosity in granting citizenship to individuals and
communities, was to rejuvenate both the Roman legions and the Roman governing class. Caesar, who
included some provincial aristocrats in his enlarged Senate, was perfectly aware of what he was doing.