Colleen McCullough - 1. First Man in Rome

When Glaucia killed himself with his sword and Marius extended the amnesty to Gaius Claudius and his followers, Rome breathed more easily; the Forum strife might be presumed to be over. But that was not so. The young Brothers Luculli brought Gaius Servilius Augur to trial in the treason court, and violence broke out afresh. Senatorial feelings ran high because the case split the Good Men; Catulus Caesar and Scaurus Princeps Senatus and their followers were firmly aligned with the Luculli, whereas Ahenobarbus Pontifex Maximus and Crassus Orator were committed by ties of patronage and friendship to Servilius the Augur. The unprecedented crowds which had filled the Forum Romanum during the troubles with Saturninus had disappeared, but the habitual Forum frequenters turned out in force to witness this trial, attracted by the youth and pathos of the two Luculli who were fully aware of this, and determined to use it in every way they could. Varro Lucullus, the younger brother, had donned his toga of manhood only days before the trial began; neither he nor the eighteen-year-old Lucius Lucullus yet needed to shave. Their agents, cunningly placed among the crowd, whispered that these two poor lads had just received the news that their exiled father was dead and that the long-ennobled family Licinius Lucullus now had only these two poor lads to defend its honor, its dignitas. Composed of knights, the jury had decided ahead of time that it was going to side with Servilius the Augur, who was a knight elevated to the Senate by his patron Ahenobarbus Pontifex Maximus. Even when this jury was being chosen, violence had played its part; the hired ex-gladiators of Servilius the Augur tried to prevent the trial's going on. But the handy little band of young nobles run by Caepio Junior and Metellus Pius Piglet had driven the bully-boys from the scene, killing one as it did so. The jury understood this message, and resigned itself to listening to the Brothers Luculli with more sympathy than it had originally intended. "They'll convict the Augur," said Marius to Sulla as they stood off to one side, watching and listening keenly. "They will indeed," said Sulla, who was fascinated by Lucius Lucullus, the older boy. "Brilliant!" he exclaimed when young Lucullus finished his speech. “I like him, Gaius Marius!" But Marius was unimpressed. "He's as haughty and pokered up as his father was." "You're known to support the Augur," said Sulla stiffly. That shaft went wide; Marius just grinned. "I would support a Tingitanian ape if it made life difficult for the Good Men around our absent Piggle-wiggle, Lucius Cornelius." "Servilius the Augur is a Tingitanian ape," said Sulla. "I'm inclined to agree. He's going to lose." A prediction borne out when the jury (eyeing Caepio Junior's band of young nobles) returned a unanimous verdict of DAMNO, even after being moved to tears by the impassioned defense speeches of Crassus Orator and Mucius Scaevola. Not surprisingly, the trial ended in a brawl which Marius and Sulla viewed from a suitably aloof distance, and with huge enjoyment from the moment when Ahenobarbus Pontifex Maximus punched an intolerably jubilant Catulus Caesar on the mouth. "Pollux and Lynceus!" said Marius, delighted when the pair settled down to engage in serious fisticuffs. "Oh, go it, Quintus Lutatius Pollux!" he roared. "Not a bad classical allusion, given that the Ahenobarbi all swear it was Pollux put the red in their inky beards," said Sulla when a punch properly directed by Catulus Caesar smeared Ahenobarbus's whole face with blood. "And hopefully," said Marius, turning away as soon as the brawl ended in defeat for Ahenobarbus, "that brings events in the Forum to an end for this hideous year." "Oh, I don't know, Gaius Marius. We've still to endure the consular elections." "They're not held in the Forum, one mercy."

Two days later Marcus Antonius held his triumph, and two days after that he was elected senior consul for the coming year; his colleague in the consulship was to be none other than Aulus Postumius Albinus, whose invasion of Numidia had, ten years ago, precipitated the war against Jugurtha. "The electors are complete asses!" said Marius to Sulla with some passion. "They've just elected as junior consul one of the best examples I know of ambition allied to no talent of any kind! Tchah! Their memories are as short as their turds!" "Well, they say constipation causes mental dullness," said Sulla, grinning despite the emergence of a new fear. He was hoping to run for praetor in the next year's elections, but had today sensed a mood in the electors of the Centuriate Assembly that boded ill for Marian candidates in future. Yet how do I dissociate myself from this man who has been so good to me? he asked himself unhappily. "Luckily, I predict it's going to be a mentally dull year, and Aulus Albinus won't be given a chance to ruin things," Marius went on, unaware of Sulla's thoughts. "For the first time in a long time, Rome has no enemies worth a mention. We can rest. And Rome can rest." Sulla made an effort, swung his mind away from a praetorship he knew was going to prove elusive. "What about the prophecy?" he asked abruptly. "Martha distinctly said you'd be consul of Rome seven times." "I will be consul seven times, Lucius Cornelius." "You believe that." "I do." Sulla sighed. "I'd be happy to reach praetor." A facial hemiparesis enabled its sufferer to blow the most wonderfully derisive noises; Marius blew one now. "Rubbish!" he said vigorously. "You are consul material, Lucius Cornelius. In fact, one day you'll be the First Man in Rome." "I thank you for your faith in me, Gaius Marius." Sulla turned a smile upon Marius almost as twisted as Marius's were these days. "Still, considering the difference in our ages, I won't be vying with you for the title," he said. Marius laughed. "What a battle of the Titans that would be! No danger of it," he said with absolute certainty. “With your retiring from the curule chair and not planning to attend the House, you'll no longer be the First Man in Rome yourself, Gaius Marius." "True, true. But oh, Lucius Cornelius, I've had a good run! And as soon as this awful affliction of mine goes away, I'll be back." "In the meantime, who will be the First Man in Rome?" asked Sulla. "Scaurus? Catulus?" "Nemo!" bellowed Gaius Marius, and laughed uproariously. "Nobody! That's the best joke of all! There's not one of them can fill my shoes!" Joining in the laughter, Sulla put his right arm across Marius's togate back, gave it a squeeze of pure affection, and set their feet upon the road home from the saepta. In front of them reared the Capitoline Mount; a broad finger of chilly sun alighted upon the gilding of Victory's four-horse chariot atop Jupiter Optimus Maximus's temple pediment, and turned the city of Rome to dazzling gold. "It hurts my eyes!" cried Sulla in real pain. But could not look away.

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