The judgement of Caesar

CHAPTER XII

" 'When Alexander was fifteen, by chance he passed the place where the wild horse Bucephalus was caged. He heard a terrifying neigh and asked the attendants, "What is that bloodcurdling noise?" The young general Ptolemy replied, "Master, this is the horse Bucephalus that your father the king caged because the beast is a vicious man-eater. No one can tame him, let alone ride him. No man can even approach him safely." Alexander walked to the cage and spoke the name of the horse. Bucephalus, hearing Alexander's voice, neighed again, not in a terrifying way as on every previous occasion, but sweetly and clearly. When Alexander stepped closer, straightaway the horse extended its forefeet to Alexander and licked his hand, recognizing the master that the gods had decreed for him. Whereupon Alexander-' "

"What happens next?" asked Mopsus, sitting on the windowsill and gazing out at the harbor. Both of the boys seemed endlessly fascinated by the doings on Caesar's ships, the comings and goings of the merchant vessels, and the ever-changing play of shadows across the face of the lighthouse. From the abstracted tone of his voice, it was clear that Mopsus's question was not about the narrative I had been reading aloud.

In his lap, purring loudly, sat a gray cat with green eyes. Around his neck the beast sported a collar of solid silver hung with tiny beads of lapis, marking him as a sacred ward of the palace. The cat came and went as he pleased; Mopsus and Androcles had become quite attached to him, and kept scraps of food at hand to lure him to their laps when he deigned to visit us.

Several days had passed since Caesar's arrival. During that time, we had been allowed to move freely about the part of the palace that included our rooms. Our meals were served in a common area where a number of lesser courtiers ate; they kept to themselves and said little to me. Merianis looked in on us every so often, assuring me that the king had not forgotten me and letting me know, subtly but surely, that while I was officially a guest, not a prisoner, I was not to abandon my rooms at the palace. Nonetheless, I was allowed to leave the palace and go about the city as long as I returned by nightfall. But those excursions had grown increasingly problematic.

Alexandria was a city in tumult. Every day since Caesar's arrival, in some part of the city, there had been rioting. Some of the riots were small and easily dispersed by the King's Guards. Others were like whirlwinds that swept through entire quarters, bringing arson, looting, and death. In the bloodiest incident, a company of Roman soldiers on a friendly reconnaissance from the palace to the temple of Serapis had been ambushed and stoned to death, eradicated to the last man despite the fact that they wore armor and carried swords. The fury of an Alexandrian mob is a terrifying thing.

I myself, while out and about in the city, had not been caught in any dangerous situations, but I had seen plumes of smoke and come close enough to some of the disturbances to hear the din of soldiers clashing with rioters. My accent was distinctly Roman, and even the simplest request for directions from a stranger might elicit a hateful glare and a gob of spit at my feet. Rupa, who had lived in Alexandria for many years and still had friends in the city, fared better, but I found it awkward to depend on a mute in every encounter. The boys knew hardly any Greek and no Egyptian, and seemed likely to get themselves-and me-into trouble at any moment.

And so, in recent days, we had taken to staying mostly in our rooms, exchanging words with hardly anyone except Merianis and receiving no other visitors-except, of course, the gray cat that was now curled so contently on Mopsus's lap.

What happens next? Mopsus's query echoed in my head. I sat back against the cushions on my bed and put down the scroll from which I had been reading. Merianis, who had access to the famous Library adjacent to the palace complex, with its 400,000 volumes, had kept me well supplied with reading material. That morning she had brought me a copy of a book I had read as a boy but had never since been able to locate in Rome, The Wondrous Deeds of Alexander, by Kleitarchos. Reading aloud helped to pass the time, and I had hoped that the dashing tales of Alexander would prove especially diverting to Rupa and the boys, who badly needed diversion, for we were all growing restless. But even the grand achievements of the conqueror seemed to pale in comparison with the events taking place around us.

I put down the scroll and took a deep breath. We had discussed the uncertain situation in Alexandria many times during the last several days, but the boys seemed to find reassurance in repetition. "What happens next? Hard to say. Caesar's ships effectively control the harbor, and he probably has more ships on the way, so-"

"Is he going to sack Alexandria?" asked Androcles, whose eyes lit up at the prospect of mass destruction. He took a seat opposite his brother on the windowsill, removed the cat from Mopsus's lap, and placed it on his own. The beast emitted a halfhearted mew of complaint, then resumed purring more loudly than before.

"Some of the Alexandrians seem to think so," I said, "but I don't believe that's his intention. Caesar is here to play peacemaker, not warmonger. This conflict between King Ptolemy and Queen Cleopatra needs to be settled once and for all, for Rome's sake as well as Egypt's. The Piper had other children, as well-another daughter, called Arsinoe, who's younger than Cleopatra but older than Ptolemy, and another son, the youngest, who likewise bears his father's name; but those two were left out of the late king's will and seem not to figure much in the conflict. If the royal siblings are incapable of settling their familial dispute, Caesar will act as arbiter. His reward will be stability in Egypt, which will eventually allow for repayment of the debts owed to Rome by the previous king and the resumption of a reliable grain supply from Egypt to feed the hungry citizens back in Rome."

"So King Ptolemy wants him here?" said Mopsus.

"Whether he wants Caesar here or not, Ptolemy may not feel strong enough to expel him; and if he can win Caesar over to his side, that could help to secure the victory over Cleopatra that has so far eluded him. So he's given Caesar a royal welcome and handed over a whole precinct of the palace-"

"Where Caesar's taken up residence and placed his own guards at key points all around the perimeter," said Androcles. "Merianis says that the Egyptians are calling that part of the palace 'Little Rome,' and that the women are afraid to go there because they think the Roman soldiers will molest them. Why aren't we staying in Little Rome, Master, along with the other Romans?"

"Because almost certainly we would not be given a room with nearly as good a view of the harbor," I said, giving him a sardonic smile. In fact, since their arrival and installation in the palace, neither Caesar nor Meto had contacted me; nor had I attempted to contact them.

"My turn to hold Alexander!" Mopsus announced.

"Alexander?" I said.

"The cat. That's his new name. We couldn't pronounce his Egyptian name, so Merianis said we could give him a new one, and we decided to call him Alexander. And it's my turn to hold him!" Mopsus took the beast from his brother's lap and placed it in his own. "Do you think Caesar keeps Pompey's head on a nightstand next to his bed?"

I laughed out loud. "Really, Mopsus, I think that might give even Caesar bad dreams. But it does raise a question: Why did King Ptolemy give him the head in the first place?"

"Because he thought it would make Caesar happy," said Mopsus. "Isn't that why anyone gives anyone else a present?"

"Not necessarily," I said. "A gift can be a kind of warning. Fortune is fickle, and Caesar is no more immortal than Pompey was. I think Caesar knows, deep down, that it could just as easily have been his head in a wicker basket down on the landing that day, being lugged about and offered as a trophy. I think the king and his advisers wanted to remind Caesar of that fact, even as they pretended to flatter him by handing over the sad remains of his rival."

"Caesar is liable to lose his head if he so much as dares to step foot outside the palace," noted Androcles.

"Yes, the streets are unsafe, even for armed men." I noted. "Unsafe, perhaps, even for a god."

"Which supposedly is why you forbid us to go wandering about the city on our own," said Androcles, sulking. "You always allowed us to go out in Rome, even in the worst of times."

"That's not entirely true," I said. "Besides, you both know Rome like the back of your hands; if there's a riot in the Forum, you know all the places to duck and hide. But this is your first visit to Alexandria. You know nothing about the city or the people. You don't even know the language. You're likely to get lost, or kidnapped by some Bedouin slaver, or get into gods know what kind of trouble, and if that were to happen-"

I very nearly said, If that were to happen, Bethesda would never forgive me. Mopsus saw the shadow that crossed my face and gave his brother a glare as if to say, "Stop your childish sulking; see how you've upset the Master!" Rupa, meanwhile, watched the whole exchange in silence and without expression; but I was learning that he missed very little of an emotional nature that occurred around him, and to bring us all out of the moment, he gestured to the scroll in my lap and indicated that I should recommence reading aloud.

I cleared my throat, fiddled with the scroll, and searched for the place where I had left off. "Ah, here it is: 'Straightaway the horse extended its forefeet to Alexander and licked his hand, recognizing the master that the gods had decreed for him. Whereupon Alexander-' "

There was a rap at the door. Merianis had visited us already that morning, and I had no reason to expect her again; and the knock sounded different from hers, louder and more insistent. Alexander the cat sprang from Mopsus's lap onto the floor.

"Rupa, see who it is."

Cautiously, he opened the door, then stepped back to admit an armed Egyptian.

The guard was no common soldier, but dressed in the regalia of the royal retinue. The cat ran between the man's legs and out the door.

The guard gazed about the room, casting suspicious glances at Rupa and the boys, then stepped through the curtain into their room. A moment later he returned and uttered something in Egyptian to another guard in the hallway outside. That guard nodded, then stepped aside to allow Pothinus to enter the room.

The lord chamberlain studied each of us in turn, then walked to the window. Mopsus instinctively ceded his place at the sill. Pothinus gazed at the view for a moment, then turned to me.

"I told them to give you a decent room, but I had no idea you'd been installed in chambers with such a spectacular view of the harbor. I hope you appreciate that, Gordianus-called-Finder. There are visiting diplomats here in the palace who have quarters with views not nearly as impressive."

"I'm grateful for the king's largesse."

Pothinus nodded. "And your meals have been adequate?"

"More than adequate, Lord Chamberlain. Rupa and the boys shall grow fat if they continue to eat all the food made available to them, especially if they do nothing but sit in this room all day."

"But you must have taken some excursions. There's so much for a visitor to see in Alexandria: the Pharos lighthouse, the Library, the Museum, with its world-famous faculty of astronomers and mathematicians, the temple of Serapis, the Tomb of Alexander-"

"On the day we went to see the lighthouse, a disturbance closed the Heptastadion. When we went to see the temple of Serapis, a riot broke out on the Canopic Way. When we went to see the Tomb of Alexander, we were told it was closed to ordinary visitors on that day, for security purposes-"

"Yes, yes, I see your point. These are unsettled days in the city." He shrugged. "All part of the rich fabric of Alexandrian life. I'm sure you recall from the days when you yourself lived here that the Alexandrians are a passionate and highly demonstrative people."

"They appear to have very strong feelings indeed about Caesar's presence in the city."

"There is a certain element of the population who act out of fear and misunderstanding. They believe the rumors that Caesar has come to declare Egypt a Roman province, and that the king intends to allow such a thing. They don't understand that Caesar is a guest of the king."

I smiled. "A guest whose room has an even better view than mine?" "Perhaps you'd like to see for yourself," said Pothinus. "As a matter of fact, that's why I've called on you this morning. Caesar is aware of your presence in the palace. He's requested me to invite you to dine with him in his chambers this evening."

I stared at the scroll in my hands. I rolled it into a tight cylinder, and made no response.

"The invitation displeases you?" said Pothinus.

"Who else will be present at this dinner?"

"It's not a diplomatic function. No Egyptians will be present, only Romans. Beyond that, I know nothing, except that Caesar stressed the informality of the affair. I suppose it may be limited to his inner circle."

"His inner circle…" I repeated, dully.

Pothinus studied me closely. "It was your son who presented the golden belt to the king, wasn't it? And later, the same young officer collected the head of Pompey on Caesar's behalf."

"That young officer is named Meto. At one time he was my son. But no longer."

"Of course. Shall I relay to Caesar your desire that Meto should not be present if you're to dine with him?"

"I'm hardly in a position to dictate his choice of dinner companions to Gaius Julius Caesar! Besides, I have no desire to dine with Caesar under any circumstances."

"That seems rather… ungracious of you, Gordianus-called-Finder."

"Ungracious? How so? Caesar is not my host."

"Ah, yes, your host is King Ptolemy-and I can assure you that it would be most pleasing to your host if you did accept this invitation."

I felt a prickling across the back of my neck. From too many similar experiences in recent years, I sensed the drift of Pothinus's insinuation. When he might have had me killed, King Ptolemy had spared my life. He had done me the tremendous honor of allowing me to enter Alexandria on his royal barge. He had given me accommodations far above my station. In return, he had asked almost nothing of me-until now. Caesar wished to dine with me. The king would be pleased if I would accept that invitation. And what would the king expect afterwards? A report on Caesar's state of mind, a precis of the conversation, the names and ranks of those present at the dinner and any opinions they might have expressed?

"And if I decline the invitation?"

"Surely, Gordianus-called-Finder, you won't do that. Here you are, far from home, arriving in Egypt at a time of great uncertainly, even peril, with three young charges depending for their very survival upon your judgment, and by the most amazing happenstance, you find yourself under the protection of the king of Egypt himself! Now Caesar, as another of the king's guests, has asked a favor of His Majesty-that you should dine with Caesar-and the king, eager to demonstrate his beneficent hospitality, desires that you should do so. Short of some… terrible accident… or a sudden, grave illness threatening you, or one of your young charges… I cannot imagine any reason why you should refuse. Can you, Gordianus-called-Finder?" The eunuch's bland expression defied me to detect any threat whatsoever in his words.

I shook my head. "No, of course not. I have no reason to deny Caesar the pleasure of my company. What time shall I be ready?"