ced in the hands of
a strong man. Only a few months before, the town had almost fallen
into the hands of a good-for-nothing young aristocrat by the name of
Catiline, who had gambled away his money and hoped to reimburse himself
for his losses by a little plundering. Cicero, a public-spirited lawyer,
had discovered the plot, had warned the Senate, and had forced Catiline
to flee. But there were other young men with similar ambitions and it
was no time for idle talk.

Pompey organised a triumvirate which was to take charge of affairs. He
became the leader of this Vigilante Committee. Gaius Julius Caesar, who
had made a reputation for himself as governor of Spain, was the second
in command. The third was an indifferent sort of person by the name of
Crassus. He had been elected because he was incredibly rich, having been
a successful contractor of war supplies. He soon went upon an expedition
against the Parthians and was killed.

As for Caesar, who was by far the ablest of the three, he decided that
he needed a little more military glory to become a popular hero. He
crossed the Alps and conquered that part of the world which is now
called France. Then he hammered a solid wooden bridge across the Rhine
and invaded the land of the wild Teutons. Finally he took ship and
visited England. Heaven knows where he might have ended if he had not
been forced to return to Italy. Pompey, so he was informed, had been
appointed dictator for life. This of course meant that Caesar was to
be placed on the list of the "retired officers," and the idea did not
appeal to him. He remembered that he had begun life as a follower of
Marius. He decided to teach the Senators and their "dictator" another
lesson. He crossed the Rubicon River which separated the province of
Cis-alpine Gaul from Italy. Everywhere he was received as the "friend of
the people." Without difficulty Caesar entered Rome and Pompey fled to
Greece Caesar followed him and defeated his followers near Pharsalus.
Pompey sailed across the Mediterranean and escaped to Egypt. When he
landed he was murdered by order of young king Ptolemy. A few days later
Caesar arrived. He found himself caught in a trap. Both the Egyptians
and the Roman garrison which had remained faithful to Pompey, attacked
his camp.

Fortune was with Caesar. He succeeded in setting fire to the Egyptian
fleet. Incidentally the sparks of the burning vessels fell on the
roof of the famous library of Alexandria (whic