[sect. 3]
theatro et spectaculis: abl. of time. Cf. gladiatoribus, Ep. V.11n. and Intr. 83d. Upon political demonstrations on such occasions, Bckel Cites pro Sestio, 115-126.
qua [gap in text] qua=et [gap in text] et: a usage not occurring in Cicero outside the letters, but found in comedy; cf. Plaut. Men. 666.
dominus: this seems from the connection to refer to Pompey. As Tyrrell remarks, to the Roman at this time the figure in the foreground was Pompey, not Caesar. Pompey attended the gladiatorial show which was given by Gabinius (Att. 2.24.3).
ludis Apollinaribus: given July 6-13, under the direction of the praetor urbanies.
istam: difficult to understand as referring to the subject of gemes; but perhaps we may understand, 'the time shall come when you (Pompey) shall bitterly repent of this very prowess of yours,' i.e. in carrying everything through with a high hand.
mortuo plausu, as the applause (for Caesar) died away. The contrast revealed Caesar's unpopularity. Allowance should be made for the fact that Cicero was sitting among the senators and knights, who favored Curio, and at a distance from the lower classes, who were in the rear of the theatre, and could not well compare the applause from the two sections, even if he were impartial.
Curio filius: the younger Curio continued to be Caesar's most active and dangerous opponent until 50 B.C.
, when Caesar purchased his support by the payment of a large sum of money. Cf. Fam. 2.1; 2.7; 8.10.3; 16.11.2, and Vell. Paterc. 2.48.3.
litterae [gap in text] erat susceptum: the tenses in this paragraph are probably epistolary. Cf. Intr. 84c.
equitibus qui, etc.: the hostility of the equites toward Caesar is hard to understand, as his legislation to relieve the publicani who had bid too high for the privilege of collecting the taxes (Att. 1.17.9; 2.16.2) was calculated to win their favor.
Capuam: Pompey was at Capua as a member of the commission appointed under Caesar's agrarian laws.
Rosciae legi: the lex Roscia, proposed by L. Roscius Otho in 67 B.C.
, set apart 14 rows of seats for the knights immediately behind the orchestra, where the senators sat. This law had been threatened in Cicero's consulship also; cf. Att. 2.1.3 and Mommsen, St. N. III. 520.
frumentariae: the lex Terentia et Cassia passed in 73 B.C.
fixed a low price for corn. Cf. Cic. Verr. 2.3.163, 174. The repeal of this law would be aimed at the poor people, as the repeal of the Roscian law would injure the equites.
quam prae sidio: i.e. than by power of resistance.
