The Cleopatra Crisis tw-11 Read online

  It is now.”

  “Aren’t you taking a chance on telling us all this?” sheasked.

  “No, not really. Even if you turned me in, which I don’tthink you would, HQ wouldn’t really care. They’re kind of pressed for manpowerthese days. As long as my official record’s clean, they’re not going to careabout who or what I was before.”

  “But they’re not going to promote you. either,” saidDelaney.

  “No, that’s for sure. I’ll never make it past sergeant. Butthat’s okay. I never much liked officers, anyway.” He grinned. No offense.”

  “None taken,” said Delaney. “I know exactly how you feel.”

  “You’re talking to the man who actually holds the record forthe most reductions in grade in the entire Temporal Corps,” said Lucas,smiling.

  “Seriously?”

  “Seriously.”

  “And you still made captain?” Andell shook his head. “Youmust be a real hotshot. Sir,”

  “I just don’t understand it,” said Delaney. “I keep takingthe damn bars off and they keep slapping them back on

  Andell grinned. They were entering the outskirts of thecity. “So, you want the orientation lecture or you just going to let theprogramming kick in?”

  “No, go ahead” said Lucas. “We can always use the perspectiveof someone who’s been in the field for a while.”

  “Well, like I said, the city looks better from a distance.Once you actually get in the city itself, as you’ll notice in a littlewhile, there are still a lot of truly beautiful buildings, especially the templesand the villas of some of the aristocrats, but the streets are choked with whatare essentially your basic slum tenements. This time of year. it’s not too bad,but in the summer, you wouldn’t believe the stink. They just throw theirgarbage out into the streets. Lot of people die from fever in the summer.

  At this point, we’re actually entering the city,” hecontinued. “Passing through the gates of Rome has become sort of a misnomer.Rome has outgrown its walls and gates. The streets and houses are spread outwell beyond them

  The citizens of the republic are so secure these days thatthey feel they have no need of protective walls. Except around the betterhouses in the city, to keep the riffraff out.”

  “What road is this we’re on?” asked Lucas.

  “The Via Flaminia,” said Andell. “You’ll notice that it’spaved, but it’s got two dirt roads running along on either side, like shoulders.The Roman method of building roads is to first excavate a ditch with slopingwalls, then fill it with layers of gravel, stone, and mortar. After the ditchis built up in this fashion, the top layer of stones is laid and the road iscrowned slightly so water runs off to the sides. The dirt roads running alongeither side are for the unimportant traffic, your farm carts, peasants, andslaves. The legions have the right of way over everybody else.

  “The outlying areas of the city we just passed through areprimarily farms, olive orchards and vineyards, with several roadside inns alongthe way. Right now, we’re in the suburbs, which will get denser as we comecloser to the old city walls built in the 4th century B.C.

  “Here comes your basic geography lesson. Rome itself isbuilt on seven hills: the Capitoline. the Palatine, the Caelian, the Esquiline.the Viminal, and the Quirinal. which ring a small valley that was probably oncea swamp. The seventh hill, the Aventine, is slightly to our south. The RiverTiber flows along the western borders of the city and beyond its opposite bankis a range of hills called the Janiculum.

  “As for culture, the wars with Greece and the conquest ofSicily in the First Punic War brought Romans into contact with Greekarchitecture, which they’ve been copying ever since. The first statues in Romewere of Greek origin, brought to the city as spoils of war. Around the middleof the 2nd century B.C., the discovery of a new type of limestone calledtravertine allowed them to build larger and more solid buildings, as well astheir famous arches.”

  He turned back toward Lucas. “You probably won’t recognizethe city from when you were here before. There’s been lots more constructionand they’re always building or repairing something. They use a type oflime-mortar that sets up so hard, it can easily be mistaken for modernconcrete. Over there is the first aqueduct to bring water to the city, theMarcian, constructed in 144 B.C’. And the first stone bridge across the Tiberwas built about two years later.”

  “How do they build the arches?” Andre asked, consulting herprogrammed “submemory” and not coming up with an answer. ‘file missionprogramming was never totally complete. There were inevitable gaps.

  “They’re constructed on wooden scaffolding frames that functionas forms on which the stones are laid and mortared,” Andell explained. “Thenwhen the mortar has set, the forms and scaffolding are taken down. Simple, buteffective. The roads and paths in the city itself were originally gravel, butthey’ve been relaid with stone and volcanic lava from the Alban Hills. The so-called‘Golden Age’ of Rome won’t really begin until the time of the Nerva and Trajan.around 96 A.D., when there’s going to be a tremendous boom in some reallyimpressive construction. However. Caesar’s already started a lot of new projects.some of which won’t be completed until the time of Augustus. He’s bought up allthe land on the north side of the Forum, which we’ll be passing shortly, andpulled down all the houses to start construction of a new square and market,which will be called the Forum Augusti when it’s completed. To the southwest,you’ll probably be able to smell it in a few minutes, is the forum boarium, thecattle market. Right next to it is the forum holitorium, the main market foroil, fruit, and vegetables. So you can get your produce in an atmospherescented with manure.”

  “Is that the Forum?” asked Delaney, pointing.

  “That’s it,” Andell said. “The Forum Romano, the most famouscity square in all of history. That black stone building over there is the tombof Romulus. And there’s the Sanctuary of Venus the Purifier. Across from theBasilica over there is the Temple of Castor and Pollux, the twin gods. And overthere, the Temple of Saturn. You can’t see it from here, but right next to itis the Golden Milestone, from which all miles on roads leading to Rome are measured.And there’s the Rostra, where they conduct trials and, on occasion, the Senatemeets there, as well, when it’s warm enough. Otherwise, until they build thepermanent Senate House, the Curia Julia, they usually meet in the Temple ofJupiter, which is just to the east of here. On a nice day. you can stand in theForum and hear someone like Cicero speak. lithe wind is right, you can alsosmell the fish market. So much for historical glamour.”

  They passed the Forum and entered a residential area.

  “A lot of the buildings are more run-down than I expected,”Andre said. “It’s a bit like towns and cities in medieval times.”

  “Yeah. there’s a similarity.” said Andell. “Few Romansexcept wealthy aristocrats and merchants can afford to live in a townhouse or avilla. The majority of the city’s population lives in blocks of tenements likethis, no more than three or four stories high.”

  “The streets are narrower than I expected, too,” said Andre.

  “They won’t be widened until Nero’s time,” Andell replied. “Moststreets in the city, neighbors across the street from one another can reach outfrom their balconies and shake hands. When Augustus comes in, he’ll put aheight limit of seventy feet on houses because of the poor construction.Sometimes the tenements just collapse all of a sudden, so be careful when youwalk the streets. The average apartments are made up of small rooms overstreet-level shops, with shuttered windows looking out over the street or outinto an interior courtyard. Tenants can buy a room outright, so you’ve got youroriginal condos, but most people can’t afford it. so they rent. You can make agood income as a landlord. The rents in Rome are about four times higher thanin the country, anywhere from two thousand to thirty thousand sesterces. Forthat kind of money, you can buy a small house within sixty miles of Rome. Water’savailable from lead pipes coming from the aqueducts, but it’s a luxury only thewealthy can afford. They pay for it accor
ding to the size of their pipes. Mosttenants have no water pipes and they have to bring water from a public fountainor a bath. They also have to go to commercial bake and cook shops for theirfood, because most apartments don’t have kitchen facilities. So Romans tend toeat out a lot.”

  “I don’t see many carts or wagons,” Lucas said.

  “Just coaches and light carriages during the day.” Andellsaid. “That’s something new. By Caesar’s order, the heavy wheeled traffic isonly allowed in the city at night so nights in the city can get noisy, especiallyin the business districts. It’s like trying to get a good night’s sleep in NewYork, with sirens and shit going off all the time. Same thing. Carts and wagonsgoing by all night. drivers shouting, cracking whips, oxen bellowing … notthe best idea in the world. if you ask me, but it does cut down on trafficduring the day.”

  The buildings look like a real fire hazard,” Andre said.

  “That they are. Fires are real common, especially this timeof year. when people leave open braziers burning all night to keep warm. Theydon’t have anything like an organized fire department. at least they won’tuntil Augustus’ time, when he’ll form a sort of combination police and firebrigade called the Cohortes Vigilum. recruited from freedmen who’ll get fullcitizenship after six years’ service. But right now, a lot of people die infires. They usually just let the damn things burn, then knock down what’s leftand start all over. You get maps of the city in your programming?”

  “Yes,” said Lucas.

  “Good. You’ll need ’em. You’ll notice that there aren’t anystreet signs and the houses aren’t numbered. It can be hard to find your wayaround.”

  They swung down another street. heading back toward the Tiber.”Travershas himself a villa by the river,” Andell said, “so you won’t be staying in oneof those rattraps. Being buddies with the imperator has its perks. It’sstill early, but in a few hours, things’ll really start picking up. They’reholding chariot races in the Circus today. Maybe some gladiator combat, too.Eventually, that’ll all move to the Colisseum, but it won’t be built for yearsyet. If you want to get a good feel for what’s going on, the place to go is thebaths. You can meet everyone from senators down to the tinker, the baker, andthe candlestick maker. One quadrans gets you in for the whole day, butdon’t look for soap. And most of the baths are for men only. I’m afraid,” hesaid, glancing at Andre.

  “So I’ll stink,” she said.

  “I don’t think you’ll have to do that,” Andell said with agrin. “Travers has a small bath at his villa. That’s a big-time status symbolthese days. Just make sure you don’t bathe yourself. Have the slaves do it,even if you don’t like the idea. It’s expected.”

  “Male slaves or female slaves?” asked Andre.

  Andell shrugged. “That’s up to you. I guess.”

  She grinned. “This mission might not be so bad, after all.”

  “How long have you been on this tour, Andell?” asked Delaney.

  “About seven years now,” Andell replied.

  “All in Rome?”

  “First four in Rome, last three in Alexandria. We’re notliable to run into anyone who knows me or any of the others, if that’s what you’reconcerned about. Nobody pays much attention to slaves, for one thing, and we’veall kept a pretty low profile. Except for Travers, of course, but his case isdifferent. He moves in more interesting circles and he gets to live in a nicevilla, instead of the rattraps we’ve been living in.”

  “But then you didn’t have to go to the Gallic Wars, either,”Andre said.

  “I wouldn’t have minded that one bit. I reenlisted to be asoldier, not a damn Observer. I’m due for a transfer in another year and I’mlooking forward to it. I’m hoping I can pull a combat assignment. And I misswearing pants.”

  “Watch they transfer you to Scotland,” said Delaney.

  “If you spent three years in Alexandria, you know about Cleopatra,”Lucas said.

  “We didn’t exactly do dinner and dancing, you know,” Andellsaid.

  “L.T.O.’s are the ones who get to rub elbows with the richand famous. But I

  know about her, yeah.”

  “What do you think of Travers theory?”

  “I don’t know. I think it’s possible. The S.O.G. might’vepulled a switch while she was in exile. And she didn’t have a great deal ofcontact with her brother. Ptolemy, after she came back. If there was any changein her, her becoming a queen could easily explain it. People in Egypt aren’texactly in the habit of questioning their monarchs. In any case. she’s in Romenow, where nobody knew her from before. If it was me and I was going to pull asubstitution. I would’ve done it while she was in exile, just before she met upwith Caesar. There’s only one thing about it I can’t understand.”

  “What’s that?” asked Lucas.

  “Caesar’s Egyptian guard. I mean, like that’s a real obviousanomaly. It’s a documental fact that Caesar made a point of refusing to have abodyguard around him at this time. It stands to reason that the S.O.G. wouldfigure we’d have Observers back here and that’s like running up a flag. Again.if it was me. I wouldn’t give my play away like that. That thought’s occurredto Travers, too. It really bothers him. He just can’t figure it.”

  “Unless, in their universe. Caesar did have a bodyguard.”said Delaney.

  “You think so?”

  “It’s possible. We know their history is different from oursin some respects. That’s why the confluence phenomenon is so dangerous. Theyinfiltrated Archives Section and managed to learn a lot about our historythrough other means. but their knowledge could be spotty.”

  “Maybe,” Andell agreed. “But Rome is a reasonablywell-documented period. They could have infiltrated agents into any futuretemporal scenario and picked up the works of Suetonius or Plutarch or Tacitusor any number of the more modern classical historians. It would be standardmission preparation and not that hard to do. Stands to reason, doesn’t it?”

  “Yes, it does,” said Lucas, frowning. “It doesn’t seem tomake sense.”

  “Not unless they figure there’s nothing we can do about it,”Andell said. “And there really isn’t, when it comes to that. I mean, what areyou going to do, walk up to Caesar and say. ‘Excuse me, you know you’re notsupposed to have a bodyguard? Better get rid of them or you might not getkilled?’ Now that they’re there. the only ones who can get rid of them areCaesar and Cleopatra.”

  “It could also be a way of drawing attention to what they’redoing.” said Delaney.

  “Why would they want to do that?”

  “To smoke us out,” Delaney said.

  Andell nodded. “That’s an idea. If you try to do anythingabout the Egyptians, you’re liable to give yourself away. And if you don’t doanything about them and they’re still with Caesar on the Ides of March, theconspirators may not have a chance to kill him. What happens then?”

  “Then we may have to kill him.” Lucas said. “Even if itmeans getting killed ourselves.”

  They drove the rest of the way to Travers’ villa in silence.

  People had started arriving at the Circus Maximus beforedawn, so the tiered stands were almost completely filled by the time Steigerand Marshall arrived. However, unlike the plebeians. their places were assured.They sat in the front rows, which were reserved for senators, aristocrats, andVestal Virgins. Steiger decided that he didn’t quite fit into any of thosecategories.

  The sight of the Circus itself was awe-inspiring. Shapedlike a long rectangle rounded off at one end in a semicircle, the CircusMaximus was six hundred yards long and two hundred yards wide, built to hold aquarter of a million spectators. Caesar had rebuilt it. making it even granderthan it was before. He had surrounded the arena with a moat, the better toseparate the animals from the spectators during shows that involved wildbeasts. Marshall explained that Pompey had used an iron fence, but the bars hadbuckled under the weight of elephants that had been pitted against some haplessprisoners and the spectators had been somewhat upset when the pachydermsd
ecided that they wanted out.

  The spina. the built-up “spine” dividing the center of thearena between the turning posts (three on each end). had been adorned with giltbronze statues of the gods looking down upon the games. It also held the septemova, seven large wooden eggs that were moved to count the laps. Later,during the time of Augustus, seven bronze dolphins would be added to the eggsas lap counters. The triple-tiered stands facing each other across the arenawere monstrous. The lowest tiers were made of marble, the second tiers hadseats of wood, and the third offered standing room only. They were completelypacked and the crowd was still streaming in.

  Outside, beggars, wine merchants, pastry cooks, astrologers,and prostitutes vied for the attention of the crowd. The courts had all beenclosed. Marshall explained that no business would be transacted in the citywhile the games were on. Indeed, it seemed to Steiger as if all of Rome hadpacked itself into the Circus. The spectators were a sea of white togas. Asthey approached their seats. Marshall pointed out a handsome. dark-haired manwith a high forehead, an aquiline nose, and a full beard.

  “That’s Antony.” said Marshall.

  “What’s with the sword?” asked Steiger.

  “Antony always wears his sword whenever he appears in public,”Marshall replied. “It’s part of the image. His family claims to be descendedfrom Hercules. by his son. Anton. and Antony likes to play the part to thehilt. The big macho warrior. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

  “Ah. Martian!” Antony said boisterously as they approached. “Come!Sit with us! Who is your friend?”

  “Greetings. Marc Antony.” said Marshall. “Allow me topresent Creon Sabinus, who has come to visit me from Ilerda. I’ve bought manyfine strings of horses from him over the years.”

  “Indeed?” said Antony, turning to Steiger with interest. “Andwhat brings you to Rome from the provinces, Sabinus?”

  “A little business and a little pleasure,” Steiger replied. “Marcianhas decided that I’ve been charging him too dearly for the horses that he buysfrom me. so he proposes to purchase my entire farm, so that he can sell themmore cheaply to himself.”