Rather than compete for public honors, as a Roman nobleman was expected to do, he instead wheeled and dealed behind the scenes, bribing, cajoling, and scheming his way to the control of a vast bloc of senators’ votes. This was a political weapon that even the snootiest of aristocrats could respect. Any time an appointment needed fixing or a bill had to be finessed, the midnight visitors would start flitting to and from Cethegus’s doors. The idea that power might be separable from glory in this way was mystifying to most Romans; disturbing too.
