Editing First Triumvirate (section)

=== Backlash ===
The new consul Appius Claudius Pulcher seemed an ally, but as the political winds blew against the alliance, he quickly defected. Early in the year, he cooperated with them in securing the appointment of a Pompeian ally as one of Caesar's tribunes and obstructed Gabinius' prosecution (for the bribes received to induce his invasion of Egypt), but seeing Pompey's support for one [[Marcus Aemilius Scaurus (praetor 56 BC)|Marcus Aemilius Scaurus]] rather than his brother for the consulship of 53&nbsp;BC, he broke with Pompey and launched a prosecution against Scaurus.{{sfn|Gruen|1969|p=102}}

The alliance's opponents, led by Cato's coterie, also launched a broadside against their supporters in the courts:
* [[Gaius Porcius Cato (tribune of the plebs 56 BC)|Gaius Porcius Cato]], the tribune in 56 who had vetoed elections to delay them for Pompey and Crassus, was prosecuted but acquitted. He was then brought on new charges but again acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=190}}
* Another tribune, Marcus Nonius Sufenas, who had helped Gaius Cato, was also tried. He was acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=190–91}}
* Also prosecuted was a Pompeian tribune from 57&nbsp;BC, who was also acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=191}}
* In the case of Marcus Aemilius Scaurus, tried before Cato's extortion court for extorting the Sardinians during his propraetorship, six leading defence advocates (Cicero, Hortensius, and Clodius included) and nine former consuls – including Pompey and [[Quintus Caecilius Metellus Nepos (consul 57 BC)|Metellus Nepos]] – were enlisted in his defence. He too was acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=191}}
* [[Publius Vatinius]] was tried for giving bribes in his campaign for praetor. With Cicero's (begrudging) defence, he was acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=192}}
* [[Aulus Gabinius]], one of Pompey's allies and former legates, was tried after his return from Syria in September 54&nbsp;BC for receiving bribes to attack Egypt. He was tried first for treason but acquitted after Pompey bribed the jurors. In a second trial for extortion, Pompey's blatant bribes "had likely led to a surge of resentment" and Gabinius was sent into exile, the only major conviction of the year.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=195}} By this time, consul Pulcher had switched sides, joining in the attack on Gabinius.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=193}}
* When Gabinius was sent into exile, a prosecution was launched to recover portions of unpaid fines against one of Gabinius' financial agents who was an ally of Pompey and Caesar. With Cicero's help, he too was acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=195–96}}

At least three more supporters of the triumvirate were prosecuted; they too were all acquitted.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=192}} Cato and his coterie's judicial attacks were unsuccessful "in large part because the complex network of connections among senators meant that the litigants could not be reduced to stark choices between two political parties or ideologies".{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=192}}

This year also saw the death of Caesar's daughter, and Pompey's wife, Julia, in childbirth. Caesar offered in marriage his grand-niece [[Octavia the Younger|Octavia]], but was rebuffed. Pompey's refusal, however, did not indicate a break between the two allies.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|p=200}} At the time, there was "no demonstrable rupture"; Pompey and Caesar continued to support each other politically for several years.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=200–01}}

The elections for 53&nbsp;BC were hugely delayed due to political violence and bribery.{{sfn|Ramsey|2016|p=299}} Domitius and Appius Claudius engaged in bribery pact with two consular candidates. Thus, an anti-triumviral consul, a wavering ally, a supporter of the triumvirate ([[Gaius Memmius (poet)|Gaius Memmius]]), and an opponent ([[Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus]]) banded together.<ref>{{harvnb|Drogula|2019|pp=203–04|ps=. Note that Drogula references a "C. Domitius Calvinus", which is a typographical error; on the next page he mentions that the Calvinus implicated was the consul for 53&nbsp;BC, who was ''Gnaeus'' Domitius.}}</ref> The consuls, concerned that they would be precluded from holding military command due to the lack of a requisite ''lex curiata'', promised to throw their support behind the two candidates in exchange for choice provinces and their securing false testimony from three [[augur]]s to swear that the requisite ''lex'' had been passed.<ref>{{harvnb|Drogula|2019|p=203|ps=, adding, "the fluid nature of political alliance enabled this surprising [grouping] of ''optimates'' and supporters of the triumvirate, all – including Cato's brother in law – acting solely for their own interests and not for any political platform".}}</ref>

When Memmius exposed the conspiracy, likely to implicate Domitius, all four were indicted for bribery.{{sfn|Drogula|2019|pp=203–04}} The senate delayed elections to hold an inquiry, but the specific steps forward became quickly contested and various tribunes vetoed the elections. Coupled with raging street battles in the city between Milo and Clodius' armed gangs, elections were finally held after more than seven months without any magistrates, in July 53&nbsp;BC.{{sfnm|Drogula|2019|1p=207|Wiseman|1992|2p=405}} Dio attributed these delays to tribunician vetoes against elections of ''interreges'' designed to incite appointment of Pompey as dictator. Pompey was not in the city; his return in the summer and his declining of a dictatorship, however, may have stabilised the city sufficiently – both by his presence and by his starting a rapprochement with Cato's conservative faction – to allow for elections.{{sfnm|Drogula|2019|1p=208|Wiseman|1992|2p=405}} By July, the alliance's support for Scaurus, along with [[Gaius Memmius (poet)|Gaius Memmius]], had gone nowhere. The ''comitia'' instead returned candidates supported by a coalition of triumviral enemies: [[Marcus Valerius Messalla Rufus]] and [[Gnaeus Domitius Calvinus]].<ref>{{harvnb|Gruen|1995|p=149|ps=; see also n. 119, dismissing the notion that Calvinus was supported by Caesar.}}</ref> As a whole, these various elections showed the weakness of the triumviral coalition: Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus were unable to produce consistently favourable results except when their aims were entirely united; the joint consulship in 55&nbsp;BC was brought about by force and, "thereafter, their [the alliance's] stock with the voters rapidly depreciated".{{sfn|Gruen|1995|pp=149–50}}