Caesar became a senator in 68 bc, finally asserting himself as a leader. From this point he formulated his own policies and commanded attention in ‘high’ politics. Throughout this ‘march’ — in which he and Crassus were often side by side — he never lost sight of Pompey, the real master of Roman politics in those years. In 67 bc he supported the Lex Gabinia, by which Pompey was granted command in the struggle against the pirates. In 66 bc, with Cicero, he supported the Lex Manilia, which gave Pompey command in the war against Mithridates. These were two astute and far-sighted decisions that would assume some importance when Caesar, having upset many people and disrupted traditional power-balances, made the most decisive move of his career and in the history of the republic by reaching a rapprochement and a political understanding with Pompey.
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