▁May ▁festival , ▁and ▁claims ▁the ▁god dess ' ▁cult ▁as ▁an ▁arist ocr atic ▁privile ge ▁from ▁the ▁first ; ▁the ▁im pe cc ably ▁pat ric ian ▁Cl od ius , ▁Cic ero ' s ▁social ▁superior ▁by ▁birth , ▁is ▁presented ▁as ▁an ▁inn ately ▁im pi ous , ▁low - class ▁o af , ▁and ▁his ▁popular ist ▁policies ▁as ▁thre ats ▁to ▁Rome ' s ▁moral ▁and ▁religious ▁security . ▁After ▁two ▁years ▁of ▁legal ▁wr ang ling , ▁Cl od ius ▁was ▁acqu itted ▁– ▁which ▁Cic ero ▁put ▁down ▁to ▁j ury - fix ing ▁and ▁other ▁back room ▁deal ings ▁– ▁but ▁his ▁reputation ▁was ▁dam aged . ▁The ▁sc and alous ▁revel ations ▁at ▁the ▁trial ▁also ▁und erm ined ▁the ▁sacred ▁dign ity ▁and ▁authority ▁of ▁the ▁V est als , ▁the ▁festival , ▁the ▁god dess , ▁office ▁of ▁the ▁pont if ex ▁maxim us ▁and , ▁by ▁association , ▁Ca esar ▁and ▁Rome ▁itself . ▁Some ▁fifty ▁years ▁later , ▁Ca esar ' s ▁he ir ▁Oct av ian , ▁later ▁the ▁prince ps ▁August us , ▁had ▁to ▁deal ▁with ▁its ▁re per cuss ions . ▁ ▁Imperial ▁Era ▁Oct av ian ▁presented ▁himself ▁as ▁rest orer ▁of ▁Rome ' s ▁traditional ▁religion ▁and ▁social ▁values , ▁and ▁as ▁pe ac em aker ▁between ▁its ▁h ither to ▁war ring ▁fa ctions . ▁In ▁ 1 2 ▁BC ▁he ▁became ▁pont if ex ▁maxim us , ▁which ▁gave ▁him ▁authority