appointment as praefectus annonae, a temporary position set up for such occasions. This allowed Pompey to display his administrative abilities, and the rapid resolution of the issue won him immense popularity. With the alliance showing signs of strain, the triumvirs met at the Luca Conference in 56 BC to discuss future strategy. Although Pompey and Crassus generally viewed each other with mutual mistrust, there are also indications Pompey felt his popularity and status as the foremost soldier of the Republic was threatened by Caesar's success in Gaul. Pompey set aside his differences with Crassus to promote their joint candidature as consuls for 55 BC, supported by Caesar. This succeeded, after prolonged periods of the violence which had become a feature of Roman elections. Once in office, they ensured passage of a law giving Crassus the province of Syria and command of a punitive expedition against Parthia, providing him opportunities for both military glory and loot. Meanwhile, Pompey was assigned the restive provinces of Hispania, along with Africa, while Caesar's governorships in Gaul were extended. All three men were given these positions for a period of five years, as well as the right to levy troops and "make peace and war with whomsoever they pleased." From confrontation to civil war In 54 BC, Caesar continued his conquest of Gaul, Crassus opened his campaign against the Parthians, and Pompey remained in Rome, where his wife Julia died in child birth in September. Contemporary sources suggest that combined with the death of Crassus at Carrhae in May 53 BC, her death removed any obstacle to direct confrontation between Caesar and Pompey. The consular elections in 52 BC had to be suspended due to widespread violence. In a sign of shifting allegiances, the optimate Bibulus now proposed Pompey be elected sole consul, an unprecedented act backed by Cato and supported by the tribunate. Having restored order, Pompey married Cornelia, a daughter of Metellus Scipio Nasica, whom he appointed as his colleague for the last five months of the year. As consul, Pompey helped enact legislation which some historians view as crucial to understanding the drift to war in 49 BC. Accused of using violence during his consulship in 59 BC, Caesar had previously been shielded by his proconsular immunity. With private support from Pompey, new laws made such prosecutions retrospective, which meant Caesar would probably be put on trial the moment he left Gaul