He knew he had nothing to fear, for he had
established 100,000 of his soldiers in Italy.
=Pompey and Caesar.=--The Senate had recovered its power because Sulla
saw fit to give it this, but it had not the strength to retain it if a
general wished again to seize it. The government of the Senate
endured, however, in appearance for more than thirty years; this was
because there were several generals and each prevented a rival from
gaining all power.
At the death of Sulla four armies took the field: two obeyed the
generals who were partisans of the Senate, Crassus and Pompey; two
followed generals who were adversaries of the Senate, Lepidus in
Italy, and Sertorius in Spain. It is very remarkable that no one of
these armies was regular, no one of the generals was a magistrate and
therefore had the right to command troops; down to this time the
generals had been consuls, but now they were individuals--private
persons; their soldiers came to them not to serve the interests of the
state, but to profit at the expense of the inhabitants.
The armies of the enemies of the Senate were destroyed, and Crassus
and Pompey, left alone, joined issues to control affairs.
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