of modern western Turkey) because they failed to account for the devastation of the Third Mithridatic War. His clients demanded a reduction in the taxes they were contractually obliged to deliver to the treasury, a goal also stymied by Cato and Celer in December 61 BC. While senators such as Cicero personally believed "it was ridiculous for [the tax farmers] to seek to have their contracts renegotiated or cancelled simply because they had overestimated their potential profits", the senate had been on the verge of approving the legislation before Celer's intervention. Crassus, a personal enemy of Pompey, also opposed Pompey's settlements and land bills in 60 BC, successfully mobilising his support among the lower-ranked senators to defeat Pompey's proposals. His opposition to Pompey may have been in attempt to win over the senators blocking his own goals, but this was evidently unsuccessful. Passing renegotiation of these tax contracts was vital for Crassus: "his reputation and influence depended on his ability to act as a champion for the powerful equestrian order". Caesar Caesar in 60 BC was a recently returning governor of Spain. At this point, he was the least powerful of the three, although he had, in an upset, won election as pontifex maximus in 63 BC. An energetic politician who had "espoused Pompeian causes for nearly a decade", he was also indebted to Crassus, who was a guarantor of Caesar's debts. Upon his early return from Hispania Ulterior in June 60 BC, he was forced to choose between entering the city to declare candidacy for the consulship, which would dissolve his military command and make him ineligible for a triumph, or staying outside of the city in an attempt to work a triumph from the senate. While the senate had regularly given permission for candidacies in absentia, Cato filibustered Caesar's request; Caesar, shockingly, gave up his eligibility for Rome's highest military honour to declare his candidacy. Caesar was the known favourite for the consulship; to hobble him, Cato and his allies took two actions. They sought to assign the then-yet-to-be-elected consuls of 59 BC to "the woodlands and paths of Italy" and sought the election of an uncooperative consular colleague. In both respects, they were successful, the consuls of 59 would receive a command with no opportunities for glory or profit – incompatible with Caesar's need to repay his huge debts – and Cato secured election of his son-in-law