Note 459 — LIFE OF C. CÆSAR.

Q. Metellus Pius, Consul B.C. 80. Cæsar's competitors were P. Servilius Isauricus, consul B.C. 79, under whom Cæsar had fought against the pirates, and Q. Lutatius Catulus, consul B.C. 78, the son of the Catulus whom Marius put to death. Cæsar was already a Pontifex, but the acquisition of the post of Pontifex Maximus, which places him at the head of religion, was an object of ambition to him in his present position. The office was for life, it brought him an official residence in the Via Sacra, and increased political influence.