Simon Hawke - The Cleopatra Crisis

“That would seem to be the obvious explanation,” Andre replied.

“That’s an incredibly serious offense,” said Travers. “Theycould all lose their lives for that. You’re absolutely sure’? There’s no chanceyou could be mistaken’?”

“If Andre says that’s the way it happened. Travers, you cantake it to the bank,” Delaney said.

“Find out who was the big winner at the track today and you’llprobably find your fixer,” Andre said.

“There’s only one man I can think of, short of the Emperorhimself, who could have gotten all the charioteers to work together in order tothrow the race: said Travers

“And that would be Marcian. But I simply can’t imagine himdoing something like that.”

“Who’s Marcian’?” asked Lucas.

“He’s the aedile who oversees the administration ofthe games.” said Travers. “He’s also an extremely wealthy merchant who providesmost of the horses and wild beasts for the shows in the Circus. he also stagesgladiatorial combats, sort of a private entertainment contractor. But he neverbets on any of the races. For a man in his position. It wouldn’t look good.”

“Maybe somebody got to him.” Delaney said.

“That’s hard to believe.” said Travers. “Marcian is one ofthe richest men in Rome. I can’t imagine what anyone could offer him to makehim take such a risk.”

“Political power?” Lucas asked.

“Possible. I suppose. but unlikely. His post carries anominal senatorial rank. yet Marcian has always steered clear of politics. Hehas the reputation of being a very prudent man.”

“In any case. it probably doesn’t concern us,” Andre said. “Notunless It might have anything to do with Caesar Is Marcian a friend of his?”

“No. not really. but he is a friend of Marc Antony’s, who isCaesar’s right-hand man.”

“Maybe we should meet him.” Lucas said.

“That wouldn’t be difficult to arrange,” said Travers. “Youthink he might he involved somehow?”

“I don’t know.” said Lucas. “Is he a native Roman?”

“No, as a matter of fact, he isn’t. He arrived in Rome aboutnine years ago. I think from Baiae, but I’m not sure. In any case, he wasalready quite wealthy when he got here. which helped him make connectionsquickly. The post of aedile is an elective office and word is he boughtenough votes to put himself over. He built a palatial villa on the banks of theTiber near the Aventine and he’s prospered considerably since.”

“Interesting,” said Delaney. “You know him well’?”

“We’ve met on several occasions. but I can’t say I reallyknow him well.”

“Can we arrange to meet him socially?”

“Yes, I suppose so. I could hold a dinner party in my homeand invite him, but since we’re not exactly friends, it would help if I had aparticular reason.”

“Why not invite him so he can bring along some of the charioteerswho raced today’?” asked Andre.

“Yes. that wouldn’t be unusual. Aristocrats enjoy rubbing elbowswith the charioteers. It makes them feel adventurous.”

“Good,” said Lucas. “Set it up as soon as possible. We haven’tgot much time. There’s only two weeks until the Ides of March.”

“Yes, I know,” said Travers grimly. He glanced down at thearena. “The gladiators are starting to come in. If it’s all the same with you.I’d rather not stay around to watch this. I’ve seen quite enough of death.”

They left the Circus and went outside to their carriage.where their “slaves” were waiting for them.

“Can we take a look at Cleopatra’s house asked Lucas.

“Certainly.” said Travers. “It’s not very far from mine.”

The streets were practically deserted as they drove backtoward the Tiber.

“What did you make of Caesar’s Egyptian guard?” asked Andellas he drove their carriage.

“We couldn’t get a very good look at them,” Delaney said. “Icounted a dozen.”

Andell nodded. “They go everywhere with him. Quite impressive,aren’t they?”

“They looked very fit and capable.” said Lucas.

“What do you think?” asked Travers.

Lucas shook his head. 1 don’t know. I wish we had more to goon. Do they stay with him in the palace?”

“Yes,” said Travers. They have rooms in the same wing ashis:

“They’re going to present a problem.” Lucas said. “regardlessof whether they’re S.O.G. troops or actually what they seem to be. In eithercase, they’re an anomaly and we’re going to have to get rid of them somehow.The question is, how?”

“You’re close to Caesar,” said Delaney. “Couldn’t you convincehim that it’s bad P.R. to have them around?”

“It is, in fact,” said Travers. “There’s been talk aboutthem ever since Caesar took them on. He knows it and he doesn’t like it. Heused to have a bodyguard of Spaniards. a tough and surly-looking bunch, but hedismissed them for the sake of appearances. And those Egyptians haven’t exactlyimproved matters. He knows it makes him look as if he’s being protected by hismistress. I’m not really sure if he’s going along with it just to pleaseCleopatra or because he’s getting nervous now that the Ides is approaching. Ifhe is. he’ll never admit it. He’s far too proud.”

“Could you work on him without making your position difficult?”asked Delaney.

“I could try,” Travers replied. “We’ve gone through a greatdeal together. I could probably get away with more than most people could whenit comes to Caesar. But you can only press him so far. Plus I’d undoubtedlyalienate Cleopatra and she has a lot of influence with him.”

“More than a comrade in arms from the wars?” asked Andre.

Travers snorted. “You haven’t seen her.”

“How does Caesar’s wife react to his relationship with her’?”she asked.

“Calpurnia? She doesn’t say anything about it. And no onedares mention it in her presence. I don’t really know what she thinks about it.She doesn’t reveal her feelings much.”

“She can’t be very happy about it.”

“Maybe not, but this is ancient Rome. And Rome is very mucha man’s world. It is not uncommon for Roman men to keep mistresses. Most wivesaccept it, though it’s not as if they have a choice. And Caesar is no ordinaryRoman. Calpurnia seems very devoted to him, but then I’ve spent more time withCaesar than she has. If you’re thinking about using her to discourage Caesar inany way, I’d recommend that you forget about it. There’s only one woman whoever wielded any effective power in Rome and that was-or will be-Livia, thewife of Augustus. However, everything she did was done behind the scenes,through ruthless political manipulation and even murder. Compared to her,Caterina Sforza and Lucretia Borgia were Girl Scouts. Calpurnia is not the typeto go in for that sort of thing. She’s rather self-effacing and I doubt there’sa devious bone in her body.”

“Well, then perhaps we’d better consider people. Who are devious.”said Lucas.

“You mean the conspirators?” said Travers.

“yes? said Lucas. “If we’re going to make sure that Caesargets assassinated on schedule, it would behoove us to keep tabs on hisassassins. They might need some encouragement.”

“Not very much, I should think,” said Travers wryly.

“What can you tell us about them? Personally, I mean?”

“I’ve met most of the chief conspirators at one time oranother, since they’re all active in politics,” said Travers. “I can’t say itwas a very pleasurable experience, knowing what they’re going to do. Or perhapsI should say what we hope they’ll do.” He paused and shook his head. “Why do Ifeel like a traitor when I say that’?”

“Because you’re not a cold-blooded bastard, that’s why,”said Delaney. “We’ve all done things we wished we hadn’t had to do, things wehaven’t exactly been proud of. But they were things that had to be done,because so much depended on them being done.”