The judgement of Caesar

CHAPTER XXV

"It was good of Caesar to allow us this final visit," said Meto. He sat on his cot, staring at the dank stones of the opposite wall. From the high, barred window came the sounds of a hot summer morning: the creaking of anchored ships, the cry of hungry gulls, the shouts of Caesar's sailors making sure that nothing was amiss. Achillas had nominal control over most of the city, including the island of Pharos with its lighthouse, as well as the smaller Eunostos Harbor south of the Pharos causeway, but Caesar's control of the great harbor remained unchallenged.

"Good of him?" I shook my head, which was full of cobwebs. I had spent a miserable, sleepless night, struggling in vain to think of some way to save my son. " 'It was good of Caesar to allow us this final visit.' Loyal Meto! Faithful to Caesar to the very last, even as Caesar prepares to put an end to you."

"What else can he do, Papa? Someone tried to poison him on Antirrhodus. Not me; but every bit of evidence points to me. He can't let such an act go unpunished."

"But what point is there in punishing an innocent man-and a man as unfailingly loyal as you? When I think of the sacrifices you've made for that man, the terrible risks you've taken-"

"All done of my own volition. I chose to serve Caesar. He allowed me the privilege. Don't forget that I began life as a slave, Papa. I never forget."

"When I adopted you, all that changed."

"No, Papa. The past never vanishes, not entirely. You made me your son, and a citizen; you changed the course of my life completely, and for that I'm more grateful than you can know. Caesar took me into his confidence, gave me a role to play in his grand scheme, and even gave me a kind of love-and for that, too, I'm grateful. My life has been richer than I could ever have dreamed when I was a boy-all the richer because I had no right and no reason to expect that such wonders awaited me. I never took them for granted! But you disowned me-"

"Meto, forgive me! It was the worst mistake I ever made. If I could undo that moment, I would."

He shrugged. "You did what you felt you had to do. And now Caesar will do what he must. Perhaps he truly believes I tried to poison him; either that, or the alternative is simply unacceptable to him-that the queen, for her own reasons, incriminated me. He must act; and if he must make a choice between Cleopatra and me, then he chooses Cleopatra; and who am I to object? I'm merely a slave who had the good fortune to rise beyond his station; she is the queen of Egypt and the heir of the Ptolemies and, if one believes the Egyptians, a goddess as well. Her destiny is written in the stars; in the great scheme of things, my fate matters not at all."

"No, Meto! I don't accept such a notion. Your life matters as much as anyone else's. I've spent my life stepping through the mess made by these so-called great men and women. They're no better than criminals and madmen, but because they perpetrate their crimes on such a grand scale, the rest of us are expected to bow before them in awe. 'The gods love me,' they say, to excuse their crimes and draw men to their cause; but if the gods so love them, then why do they die so horribly? Look at what happened to Pompey, gutted like a fish on the shores of Egypt. Look at the horrible ends that awaited Milo, Clodius, Marcus Caelius, Catilina, Domitius Ahenobarbus, Curio-the list goes on and on. Mark my words, the same fate will befall Cleopatra, and yes, even your beloved Caesar."

"Are you a soothsayer now, Papa?" Meto laughed without mirth. "This simply brings us back to the same old argument between us, the breach that led you to disown me. You think I give too much blind devotion to a man like Caesar, that I willfully contribute to the mess, as you call it, that he leaves behind in his wake. And perhaps you're right. I share your doubts. I share your resentment that the world should be as it is-so harsh and cruel and full of lies. But in the end, Papa, I've chosen to take part in that world, to embrace the way of the warrior and the spy; and for that I'll now pay the price, just as Caesar will sooner or later pay a price, if what you say is true." He lifted his eyes and scanned the wall. "But should you be giving voice to such seditious thoughts, Papa? It was you who warned me that we should speak discreetly, considering the porousness of these palace walls."

"What does it matter now? Caesar's made up his mind. He's the king of Rome, in fact if not in name, and we are all at his mercy."

"Do you suppose he'll allow me a choice of deaths? I should like to fall upon my sword, like an honorable Roman. Or will he force me to drink from the amphora, to pay for the crime of poisoning it? The way he forced Pothinus to drink, and die, in front of all those people."

I shuddered and fought back tears. "Caesar didn't force him to drink-that was what made his death so terrible! If you could have seen Caesar last night, Meto, lounging up on that dais, dispensing justice willy-nilly like the most decadent Asian potentate. He told me he learned lessons about being a ruler from King Nicomedes, and now he feels disposed to pass on those lessons to young Ptolemy. What sort of example did he set with his treatment of Pothinus? The eunuch was no better than the rest of them, another ruthless schemer with a penchant for murder, but he was no worse, either; he may or may not have deserved a traitor's death, but for Caesar to taunt him in that fashion, pressing him to gamble his own life on a whim to satisfy Caesar's curiosity-the capriciousness of it sickened me. And Caesar knew there was something un-seemly about Pothinus's death. You should have seen his face when the eunuch cursed him!"

"Caesar doesn't believe in curses."

"Not even a curse spoken by a dying man with his final breath?"

Meto shook his head. "Curse or no curse, once a man's dead, there's nothing left to fear from him. What was it Pothinus himself said to the king, when he was justifying their plot to murder Pompey? 'Dead men don't bite.' "

I nodded, then stiffened and let out a gasp as I felt a thrill run through me-exactly such a thrill of intuition as I had felt that day when I gazed at Apollodorus's carved piece of driftwood bobbing on the waves. But now, instead of fleeing before I could grasp it, the insight erupted in my consciousness full-blown, inescapable, undeniable.

I turned and banged my fist on the locked door. "Jailer! Come at once!"

Meto rose from the cot. "Papa, you can't leave now. Surely we have more to say-"

"And say it we shall, Meto, at some later date, because this is not our final meeting. Jailer! Let me out! I must be allowed to see Caesar at once!" I found Caesar dressed not as consul, in his toga, but in the military garb of imperator, with his famous red cape billowing slightly in the sea breeze that swept through the high room from the terrace that faced the lighthouse. The room had the tense, hurried atmosphere of a commander's tent on a field of battle; thus I remembered encountering Caesar in his camp outside Brundisium just before he drove Pompey from Italy, surrounded by his coterie of young lieutenants all buzzing with questions and reports and running this way and that.

At the sight of me, Caesar held up his hand to silence the officer who happened to have caught his attention a moment before. "Excuse me, officers, but I require a moment alone with this citizen."

Every man in the room knew who I was-the father of the condemned Meto-and from some I received reproving stares, from others looks of sympathy. As a body they collected themselves, rolling up documents and maps, and withdrew to the antechamber. Even after the doors were shut, I could still hear the low roar of their urgent conversations.

I looked at Caesar. "Is there a crisis, Consul? Or should I say, Imperator?"

"A crisis of sorts. Achillas has moved certain of his forces forward and withdrawn others to various parts of the city, in apparent preparation for an attack on our position. It may be that news of Pothinus's death has reached him, and this is his reaction; or perhaps an attack was planned all along. At any rate, we must be prepared for the worst."

"Will Achillas attack without a direct order from King Ptolemy?"

"That remains to be seen. Even as you arrived, we were debating various ways to make the king's will known to Achillas without endangering either the king or our own messengers. Achillas murdered a pair of envoys I dispatched to him earlier. The man's no better than a brigand! He reminds me of the pirates who kidnapped me when I was young."

"And we all know what happened to them." The crucifixion of the pirates was a seminal chapter in the legend of Caesar's career.

"Achillas murdered Pompey with his own sword. I should like nothing better than to see him meet the same fate as his accomplice, the late Pothinus."

"Pompey was killed with the king's consent," I said, "if not at his instigation. Will the king be punished, as well?"

"Don't be absurd, Gordianus. Once certain baleful influences are removed, the king will truly be able to come into his own; I have no doubt that he and his sister will be among Rome's strongest allies." Even as he said this, I saw that some other, contrary thought was at work in his mind; but we had strayed from the purpose of my visit. Caesar abruptly became impatient with our conversation.

"You can see that I'm very busy, Gordianus; I've permitted you an audience only because of the urgency of your request, and because of your assurance that this meeting will bear fruit. I've sent for those you asked me to summon; they should be here at any moment. You say you know conclusively what occurred on Antirrhodus, and that Meto is completely innocent. You'd better be able to prove it."

"Those you summoned know the truth, in bits and pieces. If they'll only admit to what they know, then Caesar shall see the truth in full."

The officer who was manning the door hurried to Caesar's side and spoke in his ear.

"The first of those you asked me to summon is here," said Caesar, then to the officer, "Show him in."

A moment later the doors opened to admit a small, wiry fellow. His hair and his beard were not as neatly trimmed as when I had first seen him on Pompey's ship. Captivity-first as the king's prisoner, now as Caesar's-did not agree with Pompey's freedman Philip. He had become haggard and disheveled, and had a fretful look in his eye that made me worry that his mind might have become a bit unbalanced.

When he saw me, he frowned. The look in his eyes became even wilder.

"Do you remember me, Philip?" I said. "We gathered driftwood together to build a funeral pyre for your old master."

"Of course I remember you. I remember everything about that accursed day. If only I could forget!" He lowered his eyes. "I see you've fallen into Caesar's clutches, too."

I recalled that he had assumed I was one of Pompey's veterans, so grief-stricken at seeing the Great One struck down that I had leaped overboard and swum ashore, and for that reason he had trusted me. I saw no need to disabuse him of the notion.

"We are all in Caesar's hands now," I said, looking sidelong at Caesar. "Philip, I desperately need your assistance. As I helped you that day on the beach to give the Great One proper rites, will you now help me in return?"

"What do you need from me?"

I drew a deep breath. On the previous night I had felt certain of the scenario I put forth to Caesar to discount Meto's role in the poisoning, and I had been proven utterly, woefully wrong. What if I were mistaken again? Perhaps intuition and judgment alike had deserted me. I saw the apprehensive expression on Caesar's face, and knew that I suddenly looked as wild-eyed as Philip. I fought back the sudden fear and uncertainty that swept over me.

"Philip, you were there with the Great One at Pharsalus, were you not?"

"Yes." He looked shiftily at Caesar, and I could sense the hatred and revulsion he felt for the man who had destroyed his beloved master.

Caesar interrupted. "I've already questioned this man about everything to do with Pharsalus, and with Pompey's murder, and with all that occurred between."

"Yes, Caesar, but I think there may be a matter that escaped your questioning. What was it you said about your interrogation of Philip, the night we dined together? That he was forthcoming about some things, reticent about others. I think I know one of the things he was reluctant to talk about."

Caesar looked at me sharply, then at Philip. "Go on, Gordianus."

"Philip, when Pompey's forces were defeated at Pharsalus, it came as a great shock to him, did it not?"

"Yes."

"But not a complete surprise, I think. He knew that Caesar was a formidable foe; Caesar had already driven him from Italy and crushed Pompey's allies in Spain. Pompey must have had in his mind some idea that he might eventually face defeat. Yes?"

Philip looked at me warily, but finally nodded.

"At Pharsalus," I said, "the battle began early in the day, with Caesar's javelins attacking Pompey's front line. The struggle was bloody and close-fought, but as the day wore on and the sun reached its zenith, Pompey's men panicked and broke the line. Pompey's infantry were encircled. His cavalry gave way and fled. Caesar's cavalry hunted them down and slaughtered a great many, scattering the rest, while the main body of Caesar's infantry converged on Pompey's camp. The rumor goes that the Great One, confident of victory, had retired at midday to his pavilion to eat a meal-a very sumptuous meal, with silver plates and the very finest wine, worthy of a victory banquet. That was the scene Caesar encountered when he entered the camp and strode into Pompey's pavilion, only to find that the Great One had fled moments before. So goes the tale as I heard it in Rome.

"But this is what I think: When Pompey retired to his pavilion, he had no illusions that he had won the battle. Quite the opposite; he stayed long enough to see the tide turn against him, then rode back to his camp knowing that all was lost. He retired to his pavilion to await the inevitable end. He gathered his closest associates-including you, Philip-and demanded that a lavish banquet be served at once. He ordered a very trusted subordinate-was it not you, Philip? — to fetch a very special amphora of Falernian wine that he had been saving for just that occasion, and that occasion alone.

"Do you remember what you said to me, Philip, as you wept for Pompey on the beach? I remember, though at the time I didn't fully understand. 'He should have died at Pharsalus,' you said. 'Not like this, but at a time and in the manner of his own choosing. When he knew that all was lost, he made up his mind to do so.' What were his exact words to you, Philip?"

Philip gazed vacantly, looking beyond me into his memory of that terrible day at Pharsalus. "The Great One said to me: 'Help me, Philip. Help me keep up my courage. I've lost the game. I have no stomach for the aftermath. Let this place be the end of me. Let the history books say, "The Great One died at Pharsalus." ' "

I nodded. "But at the last moment, he lost his nerve; isn't that what you told me, Philip? Pompey the Great quailed and fled, so quickly that you had to run after him to keep up." I shook my head. "I heard, but I misunderstood. I thought you meant he was in the midst of his premature victory banquet when he realized that all was lost, and he looked in vain for the courage to pick up his sword and die fighting, only to lose his nerve and ride off on a horse instead. But even before the banquet began, he knew that he was finished. Indeed, it was when the banquet was served that he asked you to help him find the courage to die as he had previously decided to die, should everything go against him. It wasn't a victory banquet; it was a farewell feast! That carefully sealed amphora of Falernian wine he had been carrying around with him, from battlefield to battlefield, to be opened only in the presence of Pompey himself-what was so very special about that wine, Philip?"

Philip shook his head, not wanting to answer, but Caesar was beginning to understand. "Pompey meant to die by his own choice," Caesar said. "Not by falling on a sword-but by poison?"

I nodded. "With his closet friends around him, surrounded by the trappings of wealth and luxury, and with a fine meal in his stomach. But then the ramparts were overrun, and you yourself came riding through the camp, Consul. Pompey faced a choice he could no longer postpone: capture and humiliation, or a quick, sure death by poison-the same poison his wife kept close at hand, in case she too should face such a choice. He had only to unseal the Falernian, drink a cup, and make his exit to oblivion. That had been his plan. But when the crisis came, he couldn't do it. Was it fear of death? Perhaps. But I think his will to live another day, even in misery and defeat, was simply too strong. He ran from the tent, mounted the first horse he found, and rode off, escaping in the very nick of time. And you rode after him, Philip, leaving the sealed amphora of Falernian behind."

Caesar looked at Philip. "Is this true?"

Philip lowered his eyes and gritted his teeth. His silence was answer enough.

Caesar shook his head. "And to think, had I been of Pompey's ilk, craving luxury and self-indulgence at every turn, instead of overseeing the last stages of the battle, I might have sat down to help myself to a plate of Pompey's venison and a flagon of his Falernian-a victory feast! — and I would have died then and there, of poison. Or indeed, I might have died any day since, on any occasion I chose to drink Pompey's Falernian!"

I nodded. "As the Great One himself was well aware. He said as much to me when he summoned me to his ship. 'Caesar may yet get his just deserts,' he told me, 'and when he least expects it. One moment he'll be alive, and the next-dead as King Numa!' I thought that he meant he had an assassin in your midst, or that he was simply raving-but he was talking about the Falernian, which he knew had fallen into your hands, and which, as he hoped, you might any day decide to open and drink."

"Which must have been the hope of this scheming freedman here, as well. Eh, Philip? You knew about the Falernian, yet you never warned me about it. Did you hope that I might yet drink it and die the death Pompey was too craven to claim for himself?"

"Yes!" cried Philip. "To his shame, the Great One discovered he was incapable of suicide, so he came to Egypt instead-which amounted to the same thing. I often wonder if he didn't come here knowing these monsters would do away with him, and thus relieve him of the burden of doing away with himself. But the acts of men live after them, and there was one hope left to me-that sooner or later messengers would come running through the palace, shouting the good news: 'Caesar is dead! No one knows how, no one knows why-he was simply drinking a cup of wine and suddenly dropped dead! Could it be poison? Oh, dear!' " The little man seethed with sarcasm and fury.

"And so it would have been," Caesar said coldly, "had I drunk the wine that day on Antirrhodus. I would have died, struck down by a dead man!"

" 'Dead men don't bite,' " I said. "That was what Pothinus said of Pompey. But he was wrong. Even dead, Pompey might have exacted a final revenge upon you, Caesar. As it happened, the Falernian killed the queen's taster, instead; and the confusion spawned by that event very nearly drove you to do away with Meto-who as you now must realize was innocent all along."

Caesar looked at me sidelong. "But what of the alabaster vial discovered on Meto's person-a vial that we know contained poison, and that was empty when we found it?"

With timing as perfect as that of a messenger in a play, the soldier guarding the door stepped forward to tell Caesar that the others he had summoned had arrived.

"Take this creature away," ordered Caesar, referring to Philip, "and show the others in."