In 65 BC the Roman censor Marcus Licinius Crassus argued before the Roman Senate that Ptolemaic Egypt should be annexed (perhaps based on the previous will in exchange for loans), but his proposed bill was scuttled by Cicero's rhetoric.[57] This was followed by another failed proposal for annexation by tribune Servilius Rullus in 63 BC.[58] Ptolemy XII responded to the threatened Roman annexation of Egypt by offering lavish gifts to powerful Roman statesmen and military commanders, such as Pompey the Great (during his campaign against Mithridates VI of Pontus in the Third Mithridatic War) and Julius Caesar after the latter became consul in 59 BC.[59][60][56][note 11]