Steven Saylor - A murder on the Appian way

"When did you first realize that something was amiss on the Appian Way?"

"As we approached the shrine of the Good Goddess. My daughter is a pious woman; on the way to Rome she customarily makes an offering at the shrine. But we came upon a large entourage in great disarray, with agitated slaves and bodyguards shouting and running about. Clearly, there was something amiss, as you put it I first realized that Milo must be in the vicinity when I saw that wife of his, Fausta Cornelia. She was in a carriage by the side of the road with her cloak pulled tight about her. Her face was as white as the moon — not due to cosmetics, either-and a cadre of slaves was fussing over her, fanning her and cooing at her. While I was watching, she seemed suddenly to have had enough of them and began flailing at them. The simpering slaves scattered like pigeons." "And Milo?"

"I came upon him surrounded by some of his men, all standing about with drawn swords. Some of the swords had blood on them. I saw there were also a few bodies lying about. I told my daughter to sit back, draw the curtains on her side of the litter, and not to show herself Milo's men raised their swords as my party approached, but when I announced myself he called them to order."

"Are you a friend of Milo's?"

Senator Tedius made an expression between a wince and a sneer. "The man has his uses, I suppose. I would hardly call him a friend. What sort of man countenances such embarrassing conduct from his wife? I don't care if she is the dictator's daughter. And I don't care for fellows who give themselves names which are more heroic than they are — calling himself another Milo of Croton, indeed! I asked him what the trouble was. He said he had been set upon by bandits."

"Bandits?"

"I suppose he wasn't prepared to say what had really happened, and that was the first lie that popped into his head. Bandits had attacked him, he said, and some of his men had chased the brigands in the direction of Bovillae. He suggested that I turn back, for my own safety. 'How many bandits?' I asked. 'Oh, a great many, and all heavily armed,' he said. But I suspected he was exaggerating, and when he repeated his warning I told him not to be ridiculous,' that I had business in the city the next morning and I intended to press on. 'Then wait here with me,' he said, 'until my men return, and we're sure the danger's over.' That seemed reasonable; but then I saw Fausta Cornelia approaching, with her entourage of slaves all fluttering around her like pigeons. I did-not intend to spend even a moment in the company of that harlot I told Milo that I felt perfectly safe under the protection of my own bodyguards. I proceeded on my way."

"Down the hill towards Bovillae?"

"Yes. I remember, my daughter — "

"Yes?"

"The detail has nothing to do with the incident."

"Please, give me any detail that you remember."

Sextus Tedius tilted his head back and parted his lips. He studied me for a long moment through narrowed eyes. I could not read his expression at all. "Very well," he finally said. "My daughter suddenly realized that she had failed to make an offering to the Good Goddess.

Tedia is very pious, as I told you. It seemed to her a bad omen to begin our journey without stopping at the shrine, especially when we had been warned of danger. She wanted to turn back, but I was determined to press on. I was curious, I suppose; I could tell that Milo was lying about something. But Tedia was apprehensive. When we passed the House of the Vestals — their new residence — she pleaded with me to take refuge there until we were sure there was no danger. My daughter is as pious towards Vesta as she is towards the Good Goddess. I told her I had no intention of hiding myself among virgins, but that if she insisted I would leave her with the Vestals and return for her presently, once I saw that all was well in Bovillae. But Tedia refused to be left behind. She said that it was not her own safety which concerned her, but mine. Tedia is my only child; she is very loyal to me. Since I was determined to press on, she remained with me in the litter.

"As we came down into Bovillae, we passed a dead body lying by the road. The corpse was very bloody, with many wounds. I forbade Tedia to look at it, but still she became frightened and urged me to turn back. I paid no heed; I called to the litter bearers to hurry on. As we approached the inn, I saw that a battle had taken place. The front door and the window shutters were all broken and ajar, and there were more dead men lying about. I must admit that I began to feel a bit of trepidation, and I whispered a prayer to Mercury. Milo had spoken of bandits, and now it appeared that these bandits had come down to Bovillae, ransacked the inn and murdered the customers! Where were Milo's men, who supposedly had pursued these bandits? Had they all been killed, or had they fled into the woods? And where were the bandits? I told the bearers to stop. Tedia assisted me from the litter. We went among the fallen men, hoping to find one of them alive. And the first one we came to — was Publius Clodius!"

"You recognized him at once?" The senator had not been expecting to find Clodius, I reasoned, and the face of a dead man, its features robbed of animation, is not always easy to recognize.

"How could I not know him?" said Tedius. "If you had suffered through as many of the man's ranting speeches in the Senate as I have — " He shook his head. "Yet another fellow who gave himself a new name, changing his proud patrician Claudius to the plebeian Clodius just to curry favour with the masses! And actually enrolling himself among the plebeians, giving up his patrician status! His ancestors must have cursed him from Hades. How fitting that he should die on the road named for one of those whose name he mocked." The senator's jaw pulled into a frown. He turned his gaze to the window and seemed lost in thought.

"But you didn't leave him there, in the road," I prompted.

Tedius sighed. "Publius Clodius was a menace to the state. His death was a blessing to Rome, and an even greater blessing to this mountain, which he had done so much to despoil and defile. But he was a fellow senator, after all, a colleague. And a Claudian by blood, no matter what spelling or legal fiction he affected. And once a man is dead, what use is there in despising him? No, it would not do to leave him in the road, like a dead dog. I sent his body on to Rome in my litter, instructing the bearers to deliver it with the greatest respect into the care of his wife."

"But Clodius's Alban villa was nearby. Why did you not have his body taken there?"

"It seemed more fitting to send him to the city."

"And you and your daughter turned back?"

"I certainly had no intention of sitting in a litter beside a bloody corpse for three hours!" Tedius snapped. "Besides, Tedia was by that time quite distraught, and I had begun to fear for our safety. Don't you see, I believed that Clodius and his fellows had been attacked by the same bandits of whom Milo had spoken. It seems silly now, that I hadn't yet figured it out — that it was Milo and Clodius who'd had the battle. But there you have it I took Milo at his word that he'd encountered bandits on the Appian Way, and it appeared to me that the same bandits had also attacked Clodius and his men at the inn in Bovillae, either before meeting Milo or after. Clearly, the road was not safe for myself or my daughter. Tedia and I and my bodyguards returned home on foot"

"You walked all the way?"

"There were no horses to be had. The stable in Bovillae was locked, and all the stable slaves had fled. And me with my bad left leg! That day seems to have ruined it for good." He sighed and smoothed his hands over the blanket which covered his legs. "We made slow progress, as you might imagine. After a while we were overtaken by a troop of armed men coming up from the direction of Bovillae, led by Milo's famous gladiators, Eudamus and Birria. In the midst of them were five or six men with bound hands."