S. Turney - Sons of Taranis

‘So how is this carcer run?’ asked Cavarinos, peering at the small ceramic honey pot that represented Rome’s infamous prison.

Fronto nodded to Balbus. ‘You’re more informed on city matters than me these days, Quintus?’

The old man leaned back and coughed. ‘Well, now. For a start there is no permanent guard staff on the place. What you need to remember is that the carcer is only a temporary measure. It is a place where important criminals or captured enemies are kept until their fate is decided, not a punishment in itself. As such there are occasions when the place is completely empty for protracted periods, though in times of war and civil strife it can be quite busy. As such it becomes the responsibility of the consuls in office at the time. Often control of the carcer is delegated by those consuls to one of their clients. When Pompey was in office, his man Afranius was responsible and the place was full of Pompey’s enemies, so Afranius brought a sizeable force of loyal men to run the place.’

‘And now?’ prompted Aurelius.

‘The current consuls are Claudius Marcellus the younger and Sulpicius Rufus. If Pompey still had control of the carcer, there would be little chance of our gaining access to it after Fronto’s disagreement with the man. But even Pompey might have been easier than these two. Marcellus is an outspoken enemy of Caesar, a true hater of the proconsul, and he is the man with current control. It might be possible to circumvent him by going to Rufus, but although Rufus has never officially stood against Caesar, he has often spoken out against him and I think would be no friend to us. Besides, playing off one consul against another usually has bad repercussions. Anyway, Marcellus was a tribune in Pompey’s army early in his career and he’s put one of his former officers in charge of the carcer along with, I understand, five former legionaries. I think we can assume they are experienced veterans and incorruptible. Marcellus ran his campaign for consul on the ticket of stamping out corruption, so he would have to be careful about his employees.’

‘If they are so incorruptible, can we not just go to this Marcellus or his officer and tell them about the Sons of Taranis?’ mused Cavarinos. ‘Surely they would put the security of Rome’s most important prisoner above petty rivalries?’

Fronto snorted. ‘If you think your tribes are prone to infighting, you’ve a thing to learn yet about Rome. Most of the powerful men in the city hate most of the other powerful men, and no small amount of them would burn down half the city to embarrass their opposite numbers. We used to have a bit of balance when Crassus was still in the picture, as there were three camps and something of a stalemate. But now it’s polarised and everyone is either for Pompey or for Caesar. You say the wrong name to the wrong people and you’ll be wandering the street looking for your teeth.’

Balbus sighed and turned to Cavarinos. ‘What our friend is trying so eloquently to say is that divisions run so deep in Roman politics these days that Marcellus might well free Vercingetorix himself just to embarrass Caesar if he thought he could get away with it. He certainly wouldn’t listen to us and take action to stop the Sons of Taranis. In fact, he’d probably welcome their intervention. If Gauls from a land that Caesar claims to have conquered manage to free their king and get him out of Rome, Caesar would suddenly find himself extremely unpopular in all circles.’

Cavarinos shook his head. ‘How your people ever conquer lands is beyond me.’

‘So,’ Fronto murmured, tapping the honey pot with a finger, ‘six men inside who will have nothing to do with us, and no way to readily gain access. That puts us more or less on the same footing as the enemy. The difference is that they have to find a way in. We just have to stop them doing so. That’s our main advantage.’

‘Wish we knew where they were,’ muttered Biorix. ‘That would make things a great deal easier.’

‘True, but we don’t. And barring the disfigured Molacos, who will have to be extremely cautious and is probably not going outside at all, we have no idea what they look like. We will have to be truly alert and perceptive. No one is to get too drunk while we’re in the city, and everyone is expected to get a good night’s sleep every night. If the worst comes to the worst, there are people we can call on in the city: Caesar’s niece and family, Brutus, old friends from the army. But we can’t drag them into this unless we need them. The more people involved the more likely something will go wrong.’

‘The Sons of Taranis will have to examine the carcer and learn what they can,’ Cavarinos said. ‘They do not have the advantage of being able to pass for city folk like you. Most of them might not speak Latin or at least will speak it with a thick accent, so they will be limited in terms of who can do their research. Moreover, they will not have the level of knowledge of Balbus here. There is every chance that we are already way ahead of them in finding out everything we need to know. That means that they will likely still be watching the carcer.’

‘Good point,’ Fronto nodded. ‘And if they are, we may be able to spot them . So our first goal is to put a watch on the carcer ourselves. We’ll have pairs of men watching the place from the Huntsman’s Head. Most of you are more than capable of blending in at a city tavern. Stay on the alert side, but try to look like you’re relaxing on your day off. While two men observe there, the rest can stay here out of sight and rest. We’ll rotate the duties so that a pair is never repeated. Sadly myself, Balbus and Cavarinos are off the list. We are far too well known to the enemy, though we might stay nearby to be on-hand at times. With Fortuna’s grace, the Gauls will slip up and we’ll catch them watching the place. If we can get a lead on them before they make any real move, then we’re in with a chance. We might be able to mob them early.’

‘What if we get involved in a fight?’ Dyrakhes mused. ‘You say we’re not allowed weapons in the city and I understand you not wanting to break the law, but you can bet that these Gauls aren’t bothered. If they’ve come this far they won’t baulk at concealed weapons. I fought in the pits in Tergeste, but I don’t relish the idea of facing well-armed men with only my fists if I can avoid it.’

The others nodded and Fronto sighed. ‘It’s not simply a matter of not wanting to break the rules, Dyrakhes. It’s a sacred law as old as the city. When you cross the pomerium – the sacred boundary of the original city – there are rules as old as the gods. Carrying a weapon of war in public is a terrible violation. It doesn’t apply in your own homes, of course, and it doesn’t apply to tools and eating knives and all that. And there’s some bending of the boundaries, to be honest. When I was young, before Sulla extended it thirty years ago, the pomerium barely covered the centre and stopped just this side of the circus. My great grandfather built this house before the Aventine became the domain of the plebs largely because this hill was outside the pomerium then and he felt safe from flaunting sacred law. Caesar officially broke the law by crossing it and coming to this house a few years ago, since he should have laid down his governorship to do so, but no one would dare cross the general at the time, and many would argue that the recent extension to the pomerium wasn’t legal anyway and that Caesar hadn’t crossed the true one. Even some magistrates probably only consider the original ancient pomerium a proper legal boundary.’ He frowned as he realised that he’d drifted off into an almost tutorial explanation, and smiled at himself. Age, perhaps? His grandfather had done that a lot.