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Having gone through his rites of manhood in Rome, the ambitious young Julius Caesar — Gaius in the opera — is sent to Bithynia to collect ships from King Nicomedes.

Caesar later denied that he had an affair with Nicomedes, despite his long dalliance in Bithynia.

Thee with what joy, what rapture do I view, Returned from Thynia and Bithynia’s plain!

He turned north through Phrygia-Galatia, hoping to find a field in Bithynia, but was again disappointed.

Appointed Proconsul of Bithynia, and afterwards Consul, he displayed the energies and the abilities of a statesman.