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56These considerations led Caesar at that time to court their favour and later to reconcile them with each other. For he did not believe that without them he could ever gain any power or fail to offend one of them some time, nor did he have any fear, on the other hand, of their harmonizing their plans and so becoming stronger than he. For he understood perfectly that he would master others at once through their friendship, and a little later master them through each other. And so it came about. 2Pompey and Crassus, the moment they really set about it, made peace with each other, for reasons of their own, and they took Caesar into partnership in their plans. 3For Pompey, on his side, was not so strong as he had hoped to be, and seeing that Crassus was in power and that Caesar’s influence was growing, feared that he should be utterly overthrown by them; and he hoped that if he made them sharers in present advantages, he should win back his old authority through them. 4Crassus thought he ought to surpass all by reason of his family as well as his wealth; and since he was far inferior to Pompey, and thought that Caesar was going to rise to great heights, he desired to set them in opposition to each other, in order that neither of them should get the upper hand. He expected that they would be well-matched antagonists, and that in this event he would get the benefit of the friendship of both and gain honours beyond either of them. 5For without supporting in all respects either the cause of the populace or that of the senate he did everything to advance his own power. Accordingly he paid court to both alike and avoided enmity with either, promoting in turn whatever measures pleased either one to such an extent as was likely to give him the credit for everything that went to the liking of one or the other, without any share in more unpleasant issues.
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