According to another custom, however, he must disband it before he could offer himself as a candidate for the consulship.

But he asked permission to set aside this custom, and to become a candidate while he was in the province in command of the army.
The law requiring a candidate to give up his command had been suspended several times before this; so that Caesar's request was reasonable.

His enemies in the city were numerous and powerful, and he felt that, if he returned as a private citizen, his personal safety would be in danger; whereas, if he were a magistrate, his person would be considered sacred.
The Senate, on the other hand, felt that, if he carried his point, the days of their influence were numbered.

Their first step, therefore, was to weaken Caesar, and to provide their champion, Pompey, with a force in Italy, They voted that Caesar should return to Pompey a legion which had been loaned him, and also should send another legion back to Italy.

The vote was taken on the ostensible plea that the troops were needed in Asia Minor against the Parthians; but when they reached Italy they were placed under Pompey's command in Campania.