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27These portents, thus revealed by Heaven, disturbed them; and their fear was augmented by the very appearance of the city, which had become strange and unfamiliar at the beginning of the year and continued so for a long time. 2For there was as yet no consul or praetor, and while Antony, in so far as his costume went, which was the purple-bordered toga, and his lictors, of whom he had only the usual six, and his convening of the senate, furnished some semblance of the republic, yet the sword with which he was girded, and the throng of soldiers that accompanied him, and his very actions in particular indicated the existence of a monarchy. 3In fact many robberies, outrages, and murders took place. And not only was the existing situation most distressing to the Romans, but they suspected Caesar of intending far more and greater deeds of violence. For when the master of the horse never laid aside his sword even at the festivals, who would not have been suspicious of the dictator himself? Most of these festivals, by the way, Antony gave at Caesar’s expense, 4although the tribunes also gave a few. Even if any one stopped to think of Caesar’s goodness, which had led him to spare many enemies, even such as had opposed him in battle, nevertheless, seeing that men who have gained an office do not stick to the principles that guided them when striving for it, they expected that he, too, would change his course.
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