My return to Rome meant that I had to start over. Sulla had my inheritance, Cornelia's dowry, and my position of priesthood taken away from me. I bought a house in Subrura. Compared to my previous living, the house in Subrura was fit for a peasant, not a patrician and not a descendent of Aeneas. I chose to begin legal advocacy, and I became versed in speech.
(According to Suetonius) I was on my way to the Aegean Sea. Pirates along my path kidnapped me and took me for ransom. This kidnapping did not faze me. I was above these criminals. The whole thing seemed like a waste of my time. These petty thieves asked a ransom of twenty talents for me! TWENTY TALENTS! Pathetic! I told the pirates that twenty talents was a waste, and that they should make it fifty talents. No matter the cost of my ransom, I would take my revenge on these low-life thieves, and I promised the pirates I would crucify them. The pirates laughed and must have thought that I was not a man of my word. After my ransom was paid, I raised a fleet to go after the pirates. My fleet caught up with the pirates, and I imprisoned them for the crimes they committed against me. I had each pirate crucified. People criticized me for taking authority, but wasn't it I who the pirates kidnapped? It should be I who puts an end to these pirates. Romans should not be disgusted with me. The pirates are not Romans. We are above these people. I returned to military service in the East after I had gotten my revenge.
When I returned to Rome, I was elected Quaestor (69 B.C.E.). However, I lost my aunt Julia, and shorty after, I lost my Cornelia. I delivered an oration at my aunt Julia's funeral where I spoke about Marius and Julia. Most Romans were surprised to hear my uncle's name after a time when he was defeated by Sulla.
After the funerals of my aunt and my Cornelia, I took the opportunity to serve my new office as Quaestor in Hispani. It was there that I became angry with myself. I had come upon a statue of Alexander the Great. All of my life, I had read the campaigns of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great had the world in his hand at the age of 33. I was so angry that I wept because I was disappointed in myself. I was 33, but I was no where near the prowess of Alexander.
When I returned to Rome, I married my second wife, Pompeia, who was a granddaughter of Sulla. I despised the marriage. I only did it to ease what tensions were left from Sulla. Later, I divorced her.
Sources Used:
Adrian Goldsworthy, Caesar: Life of a Colossus, Orion Publishing, April 18, 2013.
Plutarch, Lives: Demosthenes and Cicero, Alexander and Caesar, Harvard University Press, January 31, 1919. Print.
Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars, Penguin Classics Revised Edition, December 18, 2007. Print
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