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| The Death of Clodius |
Last time, we left off where Caesar has craftily gained the loyalty of
Clodius through his feigned ignorance of the Bona Dea scandal, and Cicero’s
plight at the prospect of making a formidable foe out of Clodius through his
tireless prosecution of the latter. Nor
was it helpful to Cicero that he now antagonised Caesar in another separate
trial of Gaius Antonius.
Antonius, at the intimation and support of Cicero, was given the
governorship of Macedonia. During his governorship, he inflicted many injuries
on the territory and extorted the inhabitants. For this, he was eventually
charged with extortion and incompetence to govern his province. Cicero, despite
his best defence of Antonius, was despondent when Antonius was convicted in
March 59 BC for his participation in the Cataline conspiracy (more about that
later). In his outrage, Cicero unwisely attacked Caesar, accusing him of
influencing the trial outcome. Caesar was enraged. He now sought to put Cicero
in his place, and what better way to do it than enlisting the help of his
lackey, Clodius, Cicero’s bitter enemy?
Clodius, ousted from the Senate by the prosecution Cicero brought
against him, was still nursing an undying hatred for the orator. He wanted to
become a Tribune, a very powerful post, so that he could take revenge directly
on Cicero. However, there is one obstacle – the law forbade a patrician like
Clodius from being elected a Tribune. Caesar, seeing the opportunity, enlisted
the help of his supporter, the Tribune Herennius, convincing him to adopt
Clodius into his family thereby making him a ‘pleb’ – a process known as “transition
ad plebem”. Despite Cicero’s tireless objection and savage criticism, the
Senate allowed the adoption after several months of deliberations. Having
discarded his patrician status, Clodius was free to become a Tribune and
unleash his anger on his nemesis. To add insult to the injury, Herennius was
much younger than Clodius, and Cicero bitterly commented that “the man who
has adopted [Clodius] as your father might…have been your son”. No matter
how much the lamentation and grievance Cicero might have felt, an undeniable
fact is that Clodius was now unstoppable.
To add to Cicero’s nightmare, Clodius was elected Tribune of the Plebs
in October 58 BC. This powerful post would give Clodius power to propose laws
and manage the closing of Senate sessions. Most importantly, Clodius was not
vested with the power to ‘veto’ the motions of other senators or other
Tribunes! Here was the tool both Caesar and Clodius would exploit against
Cicero. After all, the Duo desired the same thing: to see Cicero humiliated and
discredited. That a stubborn, wanton and spiteful man like Clodius was willing
to place himself at Caesar’s service demonstrated how much grievance and
animosity he had against Cicero. Indeed, as expounded by Dio, one of Cicero’s
greatest shortcomings was that he often “made for himself bitter enemies by
always striving to get the better of even the most powerful men and by
employing an unbridled and excessive frankness of speech toward all alike”.
Nothing could be truer!
With his departure to Gaul approaching, Clodius became ever more
crucial to Caesar’s plan. With his lackey left in the Senate to ensure his
affairs and interests were properly safeguarded, Caesar would be free to launch
a conquest of his life and attain a name and glory for himself. He also offered
Cicero a post under his command, an offer Cicero refused (obviously!).
Nonetheless, Caesar continued to keep Cicero under his watchful eyes while
dealing with him only at arm’s length. Meanwhile, Clodius has proven himself
ever more loyal and effective by enacting a series of laws designed to promote
the positive public image of Caesar in Rome. Cicero’s attempt to challenge the
law came to naught (yet again). Even more so, in a twist of fate, Clodius led
the Senate in the persecution of Cicero and succeeded in exiling the orator
from Rome. Cicero suddenly found himself losing everything he held dear – his
fame, glory, livelihood and possession. His villa was burnt down by angry mobs.
His family was scattered. Clodius the Pleb had finally got his sweet revenge!
Other leaders of the Senate soon found themselves in chaos caused by
Clodius’ mischief. Indeed, Caesar’s plan was to prevent the Optimates (Caesar’s
opposition in the Senate) from coming together in his absence. In his long
absence in Gaul, he never realised what kind of monster he had unleashed upon
Rome. Tired of being a tool of Caesar, Clodius set out to cause havoc on the
streets of Rome, ordering the confiscation and burning of several villas on the
consecrated ground of high-ranking senators. Even Pompey found himself under
attack by Clodius’ mob that on one occasion he was forced to barricade himself
inside his house! The incident was so serious that Julia, Pompey’s wife and
Caesar’s daughter, suffered a shock and miscarried as a result.
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| The Appian Way where Clodius was murdered |
With Cicero’s return to Rome in 57 BC under Pompey’s protection, the
two of them joined forces against Clodius. In this, they were joined by a new
ally, Milo, another enemy of Clodius and a street ruffian just like Clodius. The
two ruffians engaged in daily fighting and Rome was plunged into anarchy. Gang-warfare
plagued the streets of Rome, as good men and women feared even to come out in
the daylight. The sight of blood was common as Rome became a big “blood bath”. The
climax came in 52 BC when Milo and Clodius’ mobs engaged in yet another
gang-war, where Clodius was murdered. In response, Clodius’ followers burnt his
body in the Senate House, which was subsequently burnt down. This extreme
violence caused the Senate to elect Pompey as sole Consul and declare “martial
law”.
At this perilous juncture, the fate of the Republic is sealed. With
Caesar having completed his conquest of Gaul, it was too late for the Senators
in Rome to work together to stop him, long divided as they were by Clodius.
This combined with Caesar’s popularity among the people made the situation
worse. In 49 BC, Caesar crossed the Rubicon to declare himself master of Rome.
In the end, the end of the Republic can be attributed to one simple
incident - The Bona Dea Scandal of 62 BC. That a man could rise to power from
his act of sacrilege was indeed paradoxical. Nonetheless, Clodius’ rise to
power plunged the affairs of the Republic into chaos, and allowed Caesar to roam
free in Gaul and strengthened his power base. Without Clodius’ aid, Caesar’s
adversaries might have proven a sufficient check on Caesar’s power and might
have prevented that fateful crossing of the Rubicon.
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