Steven Saylor - Catilina's riddle

'Good?' He frowned at me quizzically, then broke into a smile. 'It could not possibly have been better!'

Had the city not already been consumed with the immediate controversies swirling around Catilina and the elections, perhaps the prodigious omen that landed at Rufus's feet would have excited great comment. Had it occurred on a lazy summer day when nothing else of importance was happening in the Forum, the gossip would have spread through the squares and taverns — Jupiter's bird, an eagle, alighting at the Auguraculum for a boy's simple passage to manhood, and a boy who had once been a slave, at that! The superstitious would have found it either inspiring or fearsome, a sign of the gods' displeasure or their benediction. But in the general chaos of that day, the incident went unremarked except among those who were there.

On the path back down to the Forum, Marcus Mummius was greatly excited. 'An eagle, a military bird! It portends a great career in the army!' I noticed Meto smiling at such talk, and I wished that Mummius would be silent.

I turned to Rufus, who had changed from his augur's trabea back into his candidate's toga. 'Is that what it means, Rufus?'

'Not necessarily.' Meto overheard and his smile faded, for which I was glad. I wanted no thoughts of military glory going through his head. I had not rescued the boy from slavery to see him spill his blood for some ambitious general.

Rufus slowed his pace and let the others go ahead of us. He touched my arm to signal that I should stay back with him. His expression was uneasy. His initial ebullience at the eagle's landing had vanished, replaced by uncertainty. 'It's a powerful portent, Gordianus. Never has such a thing happened to me, and not to any other augur so far as I know.'

'But it's a good portent?' I said hopefully. 'You seemed to think so at the time it happened.'

'Yes, but what I felt was a kind of religious awe. That can blind a man, even an augur. All omens are awesome, because they come from the gods, but what they mean for mortal men does not always bring us happiness.'

'Rufus, what are you saying?'

'I almost wish the auspices had been less prodigious. A simple sighting of a vulture, a crow flying in an upward spiral—'

'But an eagle sent from Jupiter, surely that's good—'

'Such a powerful omen, appearing at such a modest occasion — it worries me. It seems out of place, out of balance. We live in a time when small men are drawn into great events — sometimes elevated to greatness themselves by those events, but more often crushed by them. Meto is so simple and good-natured, what can it mean that such a potent auspice should attend his coming of age? It worries me.'

'Oh, Rufus—' I almost forgot myself and would have scoffed in his face, but my respect for him was too great. Still, I felt myself in sympathy with disbelievers like Cicero, who in private shake their heads at the hand-wringing of the pious. Or was I only putting a good face on my own anxiety? 'Perhaps the omen was misdirected. Perhaps it has something to do with Catilina or Cicero. Perhaps it was meant tor the consuls and arrived an hour too late! The gods do make mistakes from time to time — all the poets say so.'

'You won't hear a priest or an augur say so,' said Rufus, unamused.

We proceeded down the path. The noise from the Forum rose to greet us. Ahead of us, Mummius had one arm around Meto's shoulders and was enthusiastically gesturing with the other. 'When Romans go into battle with flags waving, you'll always see an eagle atop the standards. Pompey wears a golden breastplate with an eagle embossed across the pectorals, its wings spread open — like a great bird come to snatch Mithridates' kingdom from him! Oh, and I remember, before the battle of the Colline Gate, back when I was a young lieutenant for Crassus and we fought for Sulla, the augurs saw three eagles circling over Rome.. Meto seemed completely captivated by such talk.

I was somewhat relieved, then, when we came to the foot of the Capitoline and Mummius took his leave of us, saying he wanted to catch the last of the debate in the Senate House. He did not tarry over farewells, but gave Meto and Eco each a crushing hug and departed at a quick marching pace, with Apollonius following him.

It seemed a good time for the whole retinue to disperse; I thanked the friends and well-wishers who had accompanied us and released them to go on about any business they might have in the Forum. It would be enough, I thought, for Meto to be accompanied by his father and brother as we crossed the Forum on our way back to the women.

But Rufus had another plan. 'Remember, earlier I said I might have a surprise for Meto.' He seemed to have put aside his misgivings and smiled slyly, or as slyly as his nature allowed. 'I am going to take you into the Senate House with me!'

'What?' My heart sank.

'To hear the senators debate?' said Meto, who seemed almost as interested in this news as he had been in Mummius's military talk.

"The idea came to me as soon as Eco asked me to preside as augur for you. Of course, in the normal course of things the Senate might not be convening at all on this day, but as it turns out, the occasion could hardly be better. The chamber will be full, and you may see quite a spectacle. We are running late, but still

'But, Rufus, only sons and grandsons of senators themselves are allowed to attend.'

'Not so. There are plenty of secretaries scurrying about.'

'But surely the likes of the Gordiani will not be allowed into the Senate House,'I said.

'Accompanied by me, you will.' He seemed completely certain. Patricians can be very sure of themselves, usually with good reason.

'Oh, Rufus, it is an honour, of course, but I think that we must decline,' I said.

Meto looked at me as if I had carelessly thrown one of his birthday presents into the Tiber. 'But, Papa, why not?' 'Yes, Papa, why not?' said Eco.

'Because — well, surely, Meto, you would feel self-conscious in such a place.'

Meto wrinkled his brow. Rufus answered for him. 'We shall hang back in the shadows. No one will even notice us.'

'But, Rufus, we shall only be in your way. We've already kept you from your business as a senator by accepting your services as augur.'

'And you're keeping me from my business now, by arguing to no purpose. Come, Gordianus, this is the day, the very hour in which Meto has become a full citizen of Rome. What better way to celebrate than to take him into the very heart of the Republic? How could you deny your son such an invaluable lesson in citizenship? I confess, I remained a little uncertain about doing this myself, up until the arrival of the eagle at the Auguraculum. Now I am convinced that it must be the right thing to do. Come, then, let's hurry, before the senators conclude their business and rush back into the Forum to beg for votes!'

He turned and pressed into the crowd. Meto looked at me with a mixture of boyish entreaty and manly impatience. Eco stared at me sympathetically, for he knew me well enough to know how deeply revolted I was by the idea of immersing myself and my family in a sea of politicians, and at the same time he knew that I had no reasonable excuse to refuse Rufus's generous and thoughtful offer, or to deny Meto the opportunity to see such a thing with his own eyes. I suppose I might have left my sons with Rufus and gone skulking back to the women — but then I would not have heard Catilina pose his riddle.

Abroad flight of steps leads up to the porch of the Senate House, where great columns flank the doorway. Loitering on the steps were various retainers of the senators within; among them I recognized some of the burly bodyguards who had accompanied Cicero in his retinue. Other guards, attached to the Senate House itself, flanked the tall doors, which by law remained open so as not to hide the proceedings within from the eyes of the gods. Again it struck me as unlikely that we would be allowed into such a place, even accompanied by Rufus, but that was because I thought the Senate House had only one entrance. Rums knew better.