Mallius, Caepio, and aristocratic command rivalry

Mallius was a novus homo who nevertheless had to accumulate military and civil experience through Rome's sequence of offices before reaching the consulship. His lack of an old consular family did not make him an unqualified novice. Caepio came from an old family, had recently been consul, and used Mallius's background to disparage him despite the sitting consul's lawful seniority. Caepio had also restricted juries toward the senatorial class while in office, placing his command rivalry inside a wider struggle over aristocratic power. The missing Gold of Tolosa added another political incentive for him to seek a personal victory that could restore his standing and overwhelm suspicions about the vanished treasure.