I’ve never been quite clear on the plan to stick Caesar with a non-consular province such as the forests and paths of Italy. It certainly seems to have been extra-legal. Obviously the goal was to bankrupt Caesar. Somewhere or other I had a list of the 13 consular provinces, which I seem to have lost; but suffice it to say not a one of them lacked the potential for lining your pockets and/or covering yourself in glory.

On the face of it, the forests and paths looks like it would have been a disaster for Caesar. Still, I think he would have found a way to make something of it. Indeed, it could have proved to be a disaster for his opponents. Consider, Caesar would have had justification for spending a great deal of time both in Rome and wandering back and forth between the other regions. That gives him the chance to make lots of contacts and alliances from the Po to Calabria. Tolls would have been a possibility for drumming up some ready cash; I’m sure he could have found a justification for it. He could also have easily found or manufactured a bandit problem. But the real biggie would be an opportunity to clear forests to create new land for the plebes, a long standing plank of the popular platform and the thing that the boni seem to have been most opposed to.

If I were a highly suspicious member of the boni like Cato, who believed that Caesar was looking for a way to grab power in Rome and make himself more powerful than his opponents, the forests and paths of Italy would be the last place I would want Caesar running loose.