Steven Saylor - A Mist of Prophecies

"Ha! And he was the one telling me to keep quiet," said Caelius. "But that's our Milo. He's never known his own strength, whether cracking two heads together or shouting at me to keep my voice down."

I shook my head. "I don't understand. What are you doing here?"

Caelius raised an eyebrow. "Plotting a revolution, of course."

"No, I mean-here, in Rome. Everyone thinks you're long gone."

"So I was. So I shall be again. I come and go like a puff of smoke! But just now I happen to be back in Rome. Plotting a revolution is complicated business, Gordianus. Tedious, as well-and you know I've never liked hard work. You wouldn't believe the logistics it entails. I have to be everywhere at once, encouraging my partisans, whispering comfort in the ears of the doubtful, holding the hands of the fearful, pressing coins in the palms of the greedy. And not least, approaching old friends and acquaintances to ask for their support." He fixed me with a penetrating gaze.

"And you, Milo?" I said. "I can't believe you've dared to set foot in Rome. Caesar showed mercy when he let you keep your head and stay in Massilia. He'll never forgive this. Does your wife know you're here?"

"Leave Fausta out of this!" snapped Milo.

I shook my head. "You're both mad, meeting like this in the Subura. You're bound to be recognized or overheard. If Isauricus and Trebonius find you-"

"They won't," said Caelius. "They haven't so far. I come and go as I please in the city. I have many, many supporters, Gordianus. More than you realize, I imagine."

"Enough to stage a successful uprising, here and now?"

His smile wavered. "Not quite. The tender shoots still require cultivation. Milo and I have determined that our best course is to raise an armed force in the countryside in order to take the city by force."

"Raise an army? How? From where? Every available fighting man is already enlisted to serve either Caesar or Pompey."

"But not all those men are happy. There are soldiers garrisoned all over Italy who were forced into Caesar's service. They're bored and discontented and ripe for sedition. They're jealous of their comrades who crossed the water with Caesar and Antony, because those are the soldiers who'll share in the spoils of victory, not the ones left behind; all they get to do is bully a few cowering townspeople and plant babies in the local girls."

"But you'll promise them something better? An attack on Rome itself-complete with plunder for the victors? Will you let them sack the city, Caelius? Is this your revenge on Rome, Milo?"

Caelius shook his head. "There'll be plenty of plunder to reward the soldiers, but it won't be taken from ordinary citizens like you, Gordianus. It will come from the greedy landlords and moneylenders who've made themselves rich as Croesus in the last year. The wealth they've stolen and hoarded will be reclaimed and redistributed, beginning with the soldiers loyal to the revolution."

"Loyal to you, you mean."

Caelius shrugged. "Someone has to lead the fight."

"You're deluding yourself, Caelius. If you take Rome by force, you won't be able to control what happens next. You say you'll only plunder the landlords and moneylenders, but you can't guarantee that. Even Caesar's men have slipped out of his control from time to time over the years, looting and burning when he gave them express orders not to-and you're not Caesar, Caelius."

"Rome is sick, Gordianus. She requires a drastic cure."

"Even if it kills her?"

"Perhaps, to be reborn, Rome first must die. A better city will rise from the ashes, like the phoenix."

I shook my head. "This whole argument proceeds from a fallacy. You're presuming you can subvert enough of Caesar's garrisons to storm the city. I simply don't believe it. A few soldiers are that unhappy, perhaps-but the rest will remain loyal to Caesar. They'll band together and destroy you before you ever reach Rome."

"You underestimate the discontent throughout Italy, Gordianus. I've seen it. Antony did Caesar no favors when he crisscrossed Italy before leaving for Greece. He alienated one city after another with his arrogant blustering-traveling like an Eastern potentate with a retinue of sycophants, lounging in his gilded litter with that whore of his, Cytheris. The soldiers liked what they saw no better than the city fathers. To Caesar they might have remained loyal, but not if he intends to leave the likes of Antony in charge when he's absent."

Milo spoke up. "And we needn't rely just on the garrisons. There are plenty of other trained fighters to call on." Caelius raised his hand and gave him a withering look, but Milo blustered on. "I'm talking about the gladiator training camps down south! The biggest, strongest, most vicious slaves in all of Italy end up in those camps, and they're trained to kill without mercy. When it comes to killing, one gladiator is worth a century of common soldiers. The slaves in those camps are desperate-they're all headed for an early, painful death, and neither Pompey nor Caesar offers them any hope for the future. After we set them free, they'll be loyal to us alone!"

For years, Milo had been attended by his own private army of gladiators; he had left Rome with them, they had protected him in Massilia and had helped to defend the city against Caesar's siege, and now they had returned with Milo to Italy. He had grown so used to the company of his gladiators that he didn't realize how shocking it was to suggest that such men be recruited to overthrow the Senate and the magistrates of Rome. To be sure, Caesar himself had set the precedent of freeing gladiators whom he owned and turning them into soldiers, but he had been careful to disperse them among different legions and to use them outside Italy. But Milo was hinting at something very different-setting free whole bands of gladiators and letting them lay siege to Rome itself. Such men were the lowest of the low-desperate, mistreated slaves trained only to kill, lacking any soldierly discipline, without families or any vested interest in Rome's future or her institutions. If soldiers could not be trusted to refrain from looting and burning, what would happen if Rome were overrun with gladiators?

"Do you see yourself as a second Spartacus, Milo? Is that the legacy you intend to leave behind? Milo, who made his reputation as watchdog for the Best People, then ended by setting bloodthirsty slaves loose on Rome? The Fates have led you on a strange path, Milo."

"Milo speaks prematurely," said Caelius, wincing. "We'll use gladiators only as a last resort."

"A cure certain to kill the patient! Gladiators are trained to kill, not to take orders. You're playing Pandora if you set them loose."

Neither Caelius nor Milo answered. They stared at me for a long moment, then exchanged a glance-Milo looking vindicated, Caelius disappointed. I had reacted just as Milo expected, but Caelius had hoped for a different reaction.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

Caelius sighed. "Merely for you to act in your own best interests, Gordianus. You've poisoned your relationship with Pompey. I don't know exactly what happened between you, but I do know he tried to strangle you with his bare hands when he was fleeing by ship from Brundisium. You barely escaped alive! What will you do if Pompey returns to Rome in triumph? And your relationship with Caesar seems hardly better. Your adopted son Meto is still close to Caesar-but you've disowned Meto and offended Caesar in the process. Where will you stand if Caesar wins and makes himself king of Rome? I was as loyal to Caesar as any man-I fled Rome with Curio to join him at the Rubicon; I fought beside him in Spain-and you see how he rewarded me, with crumbs! What reward can you expect from Caesar?

"But forget Pompey, forget Caesar and the darkness that will fall over this city if either of them triumphs. I should think, Gordianus, that my recent speeches in the Forum would have touched a nerve with you. I happen to know a bit about your finances. You're up to your ears in debt to that cannibal Volumnius. He never forgives a debt. He's insatiable! He shall suck the life from you as a man sucks marrow from a bone. Your family will be reduced to beggars, perhaps even slaves. Pompey will do nothing to stop him. Neither will Caesar; it's Caesar's fault that men like Volumnius are having their day, growing fat off of other men's misery. Only I can save you from Volumnius, Gordianus. Only I can promise you justice. Cast your lot with me. It's your only choice."