At Rome he was hampered: abroad he might enjoy his conscious mastery of men and events, as before in Gaul. […] Yet he is surely the same person as C. […] If he lingered until the expiration of his consular year, he was lost. […] In Cato he admired yet deplored the rigid adherence to principle and denial of compromise; and he claimed that he had been abandoned by the allies of Cato. […] Returning from his province of Cilicia, he made what efforts he could to avert hostilities.