Chapter 9, The Drift to Civil War, 52-50 B.C. Summary and Analysis

Pompey and Caesar continued their alliance into 52 B.C. Caesar was slated to return to Rome in 48 B.C., when he could expect to become Consul. At that time, the statute of limitations would run out on any purported illegal conduct for breaching the law during his Consulship in 59 B.C. Pompey still had control of military forces as Consul, however. Conflict was brewing. Pompey began to make preparations to block Caesar's ascent to power with a few subtle moves and reforms. Plutarch maintains that at this time both Caesar and Pompey had decided to try to get rid of the other. While personal conflict was part of the struggle, much of it was a tension over whether to modernize the Republic's governing institutions. In...