his ancestral village and leveled it with the ground!'
'Yes, well, the world was younger and simpler then. My problems are very complicated. I thank you for your services, but leave the statecraft to me.' Then he turned to Creticus. 'Excellency, we must go inside and discuss important matters. I must have Roman protection from my domestic enemies. I will pay full reparations for damage suffered by Romans in Alexandria.' The two went inside and the rest of the embassy staff went with them. I was left alone at the top of the steps, above the crowd of Roman refugees. Achillas finished giving his orders and he came up the steps, grinning at me. I itched to draw my sword and kill him, but I was so tired, he would have taken it away from me and skewered me with it. Then he stood a foot from me, wearing a strange expression of hatred, puzzlement and grim respect.
'Why did you do it, Roman?' he asked.
That was simple. 'You should not have committed murder within the sacred precincts of the Temple of the Muses,' I told him. 'That sort of behavior angers the gods.' He regarded me for a moment as if I were truly insane; then he whirled and went back down the steps. Weary to my bones, I turned and staggered back within the embassy. They attacked me as soon as I was inside.
Laughing and whooping, the embassy staff bore me to the floor and tied my hands behind me; then they bound my feet at the ankles.
'You still think you can get out of paying me!' I gasped, too weak to do anything else.
'Don't forget to gag him,' Creticus said. A rag was stuffed in my mouth and tied securely behind my head. Creticus came over and nudged me in the ribs with his toe.
'Decius, in case you were wondering where those marines came from, the war galleys Neptune, Swan and Triton are in the harbor. I've sent orders for the Swan to come to the royal harbor, and that's where you are going right now. The marines from the Neptune are going out on a little mission of arson on Lord Achillas's nearby estate; then the flotilla sails for Rhodes. That is as far as they take you.'
'Beautiful place, Rhodes,' Ptolemy said. 'A bit dull, though. No army, no politics. In fact, nothing there except schools.'
'Maybe you can attend a few lectures, Decius,' Creticus said gleefully, nudging me with his toe again. 'Learn a little philosophy, eh?' Then the two of them laughed until the tears ran down their degenerate old faces.
I was carried down to the harbor and thrown aboard the ship. Julia accompanied me tearfully, holding my bound hands, which were already growing numb. She said she would follow me to Rhodes as soon as possible. Probably just wanted to meet all those scholars, I guessed. Hermes carried my weapons and a jug of wine, muttering and cursing, already missing the soft life in Alexandria.
As the ship backed away, Creticus came down to the dock and yelled across the water, 'If we hear that Rhodes has sunk beneath the sea, I'll know who was responsible. Captain, don't untie him until you're out past Pharos!'
By the time we rounded the lighthouse, another column of smoke rose to the east of the city, a short way inland. I knew that much wood should make a fine fire. I was glad we were too far away to smell the stench from those human-hair ropes.
Before long, Alexandria was out of sight. I would not see it again for twelve years, but when I returned, it was with Caesar, and Cleopatra was queen and events made my little adventures of my first sojourn there seem dull and uneventful, and I finally got to settle matters with Achillas.
These things happened in Alexandria in the year 692 of the City of Rome, the Consulship of Metellus Celer and Lucius Afranius.
GLOSSARY
(Definitions apply to the last century of the Republic.)
Acta: Streets wide enough for one-way wheeled traffic.
Aedile: Elected officials in charge of upkeep of the city and the grain dole, regulation of public morals, management of the markets and the public Games. There were two types: the plebeian aediles, who had no insignia of office, and the curule aediles, who wore the toga praetexta and sat in the sella curulis. The curule aediles could sit in judgment on civil cases involving markets and currency, while the plebeian aediles could only levy fines. Otherwise, their duties were the same. Since the magnificence of the Games one exhibited as aedile often determined election to higher office, it was an important stepping-stone in a political career. The office of aedile did not carry the imperium.
Ancile: (pl. ancilia) A small, oval sacred shield which fell from heaven in the reign of King Numa. Since there was a prophecy that it was tied to the stability of Rome, Numa had eleven exact copies made so nobody would know which one to steal. Their care was entrusted to a college of priests, the Salii (q.v.), and figured in a number of ceremonies each year.
Atrium: Once a word for house, in Republican times it was the entry hall of a house, opening off the street and used as a general reception area.
Atrium Vestae: The Palace of the Vestal and one of the most splendid buildings in Rome.
Augur: An official who observed omens for state purposes. He could forbid business and assemblies if he saw unfavorable omens.
Basilica: A building where courts met in inclement weather.
Caestus: The Classical boxing glove, made of leather straps and reinforced by bands, plates or spikes of bronze.
Caliga: The Roman military boot. Actually, a heavy sandal with hobnailed sole.
Campus Martius: A field outside the old city wall, formerly the assembly area and drill field for the army. It was where the popular assemblies met. By late Republican times, buildings were encroaching on the field.
Censor: Magistrates elected usually every fifth year to oversee the census of the citizens and purge the roll of Senators of unworthy members. They could forbid certain religious practices or luxuries deemed bad for public morals or generally 'un-Roman.' There were two Censors, and each could overrule the other. They wore the toga praetexta and sat in the sella curulis, but since they had no executive powers they were not accompanied by lictors. The office did not carry the imperium. Censors were usually elected from among the ex-Consuls, and the censorship was regarded as the capstone of a political career.
Centuriate Assembly: (comitia centuriata) Originally, the annual military assembly of the citizens where they joined their army units ('centuries'). There were one hundred ninety-three centuries divided into five classes by property qualification. They elected the highest magistrates: Censors, Consuls and Praetors. By the middle Republic, the centuriate assembly was strictly a voting body, having lost all military character.
Centurion: 'Commander of 100'; i.e., a century, which, in practice, numbered around sixty men. Centurions were promoted from the ranks and were the backbone of the professional army.
Circus: The Roman racecourse and the stadium which enclosed it. The original, and always the largest, was the Circus Maximus, which lay between the Palatine and Aventine hills. A later, smaller circus, the Circus Flaminius, lay outside the walls on the Campus Martius.
Client: One attached in a subordinate relationship to a patron, whom he was bound to support in war and in the courts. Freedmen became clients of their former masters. The relationship was hereditary.
Coemptio: Marriage by symbolic sale. Before five witnesses and a libripens who held a balance, the bridegroom struck the balance with a bronze coin and handed it to the father or guardian of the bride. Unlike conferreatio, coemptio was easily dissolved by divorce.
Cognomen: The family name, denoting any of the stirpes of a gens; i.e., Caius Julius Caesar. Caius of the stirps Caesar of gens Julia. Some plebeian families never adopted a cognomen, notably the Marii and the Antonii.
Coitio: A political alliance between two men, uniting their voting blocs. Usually it was an agreement between politicians who were otherwise antagonists, in order to edge out mutual rivals.
Colonia: Towns which had been conquered by Rome, where Roman citizens were settled. Later, settlements founded by discharged veterans of the legions. After 89 B.C. all Italian coloniae had full rights of citizenship. Those in the provinces had limited citizenship.
