ground that it had not been proposed within the limit of days set by ancestral custom.  Thus he tried to make null and void the entire tribuneship of Clodius (in which also the decree regarding his house had been passed), saying that inasmuch as the transference of the latter to the common people had taken place unlawfully, it was not possible for any one of his acts while in office to be considered binding.  By this means he persuaded the pontifices to give back to him the foundation as properly his and unconsecrated.  So he obtained that and money for the construction of his house, and whatever else of his property had been damaged.

[-12-] After this there was further trouble on account of King Ptolemy.  He had spent much money upon some of the Romans, some of his own income and some borrowed, in order to strengthen his kingdom and receive the name of friend and ally.  He was collecting this sum forcibly from the Egyptians and was irritated at the difficulty he encountered as well as at their bidding him demand back Cyprus from the Romans or else renounce his friendship for the foreigners,—­neither of which demands suited his wishes.  Since he could neither persuade them to be quiet nor yet force them, as he had no foreign troops, he made his escape from Egypt, went to Rome, and accused them of having expelled him from his kingdom:  he obtained the right to be restored by Spinther, to whom Cilicia had been entrusted.

[-13-] While this was going on, the people of Alexandria, who for a while did not know that he had departed for Italy or supposed he was dead, placed Berenice his daughter on the throne in his place.  Then, learning the truth, they sent a hundred men to Rome to defend themselves against his complaints and to bring counter charges of all the wrongs they had suffered.  He heard of it in advance (he was still in Rome) and lay in wait for the envoys, by sending various men in different directions, before their arrival.  The majority of them perished on the road, and of the survivors he slew some in the city itself and others he either terrified by what had happened or by administering bribes persuaded them neither to touch upon the matters regarding which they had been sent, nor to make any mention at all of those who had been killed. [-14-] The affair, however, became so noised abroad that even the senate was mightily displeased, being urged on to action chiefly by Marcus Favonius, who assigned two causes for his indignation,—­first, that many envoys sent by allies had perished by violence, and second, that numerous Romans also on this occasion had taken bribes.  So they summoned Dio, the presiding officer of the envoys (for he had survived) in order to learn the truth from him.  But this time, too, Ptolemy gained such a victory by money that neither did Dio enter the assemblage, nor was any mention made of the murder of the dead men, so long as Ptolemy was on the ground.[49] Furthermore, when Dio was subsequently treacherously slain, he paid no penalty for that deed, either.  This was chiefly due to the fact that Pompey had entertained him in his house and continued to render him powerful assistance.  Of the other abuses that sprang from this source many were accused at a later time, but few convicted.  For bribery was rampant and each cooeperated with the other because of his own fear.