Imperium

But the really bad news came just after the senatorial recess in the late spring. Atticus sent a message that he needed to see the Cicero brothers urgently, so when the courts had closed for the day all three of us made our way up to his house. This was a perfect bachelor setup, built on a promontory next to the Temple of Salus-not large, but with the most wonderful views across the city, especially from the library, which Atticus had made the centerpiece of the house. There were busts of the great philosophers around the walls, and many little cushioned benches to sit on, for Atticus’s rule was that while he would never lend a book, any of his friends were free whenever they liked to come up and read or even make their own copies. And it was here, beneath a head of Aristotle, that we found Atticus reclining that afternoon, dressed in the loose white tunic of a Greek, and reading, if I remember rightly, a volume of Kyriai doxai, the principal doctrines of Epicurus.

He came straight to the point. “I was at di

“By heavens,” said Cicero with a smile, “the company you keep!”

“Did you know that Lentulus is trying to make a comeback, by standing for a praetorship this summer?”

“Is he really?” Cicero frowned and rubbed his forehead. “He is of course a great friend of Catilina. I suppose they must be in alliance. See how the gang of rascals grows?”

“Oh yes, it is quite a political movement-him, and Catilina and Hybrida, and I got the impression there were others, but he would not give me their names. At one point, he produced a piece of paper with the prediction of some oracle written upon it, that he would be the third of the Corneli to rule as dictator in Rome.”

“Old Sleepyhead? Dictator? I trust you laughed in his face.”

“No, I did not,” replied Atticus. “I took him very seriously. You ought to try it sometime, Cicero, instead of just delivering one of your crushing witticisms which simply shuts everybody up. No, I encouraged him to ramble on, and he drank more of Celer’s excellent wine, and I listened more, and he drank more, and eventually he swore me to secrecy and he told me his great secret.”

“Which is?” said Cicero, leaning forward in his seat, for he knew that Atticus would not have summoned us for nothing.

“They are being backed by Crassus.”

There was a silence.

“Crassus is voting for them?” asked Cicero, which I think was the first time I had ever heard him say something seriously stupid: I ascribe it to the shock.

“No,” said Atticus irritably. “He is backing them. You know what I mean. Financing them. Buying them the whole election, according to Lentulus.”

Cicero seemed temporarily deprived of the power of speech. After another long pause it was Quintus who spoke up. “I do not believe it. Lentulus must have been well in his cups to make such a ridiculous boast. What possible reason would Crassus have for wanting to see such men in power?”

“To spite me,” said Cicero, recovering his voice.

“Nonsense!” exclaimed Quintus angrily. (Why was he so angry? I suppose because he was frightened that the story was true, in which case he would look a fool, especially in the light of all the assurances he had given his brother that the campaign was in the bag.) “Absolute nonsense!” he repeated, although with slightly less certainty. “We already know that Crassus is investing heavily in Caesar’s future. How much would it cost him in addition to buy two consulships and a praetorship? You are talking not just about a million, but four million, five million. He hates you, Marcus, everyone knows it. But does he hate you so much more than he loves his money? I doubt it.”

“No,” said Cicero firmly, “I am afraid you are wrong, Quintus. This story has the ring of truth, and I blame myself for not recognizing the danger earlier.” He was on his feet now and pacing around, as he always did when he was thinking hard. “It started with those Games of Apollo given by Hybrida-Crassus must have paid for those. The games were what brought Hybrida back from the political dead. And could Catilina really have raised the funds to bribe his jury, simply by selling a few statues and pictures? Of course not. And even if he did, who is paying his campaign expenses now? Because I have been inside his house and I can tell you: that man is bankrupt.” He wheeled around, his gaze darting right and left, bright and unseeing. “I have always known in my bones that there was something wrong about this election. I have sensed some invisible force against me from the very outset. Hybrida and Catilina! These creatures should never even have been candidates in any normal canvass, let alone the front-ru

“So we are fighting Crassus?” said Quintus, sounding resigned to it at last.

“Crassus, yes. Or is it really Caesar, using Crassus’s money? Every time I look around, I seem to see a flash of Caesar’s cloak just disappearing out of view. He thinks he is cleverer than anyone, and perhaps he is. But not on this occasion. Atticus-” Cicero stopped in front of him and took his hands in both of his “-my old friend. I ca

“For what? I merely listened to a bore, and then plied him with a little drink. It was hardly anything.”

“On the contrary, the ability to listen to bores requires stamina, and such stamina is the essence of politics. It is from the bores that you really find things out.” Cicero squeezed his hands warmly, then swung around to his brother. “We need to find some evidence, Quintus. Ranunculus and Filum are the men who can sniff it out-not much moves at election time in this city that those two are not aware of.”

Quintus agreed, and in this way, the shadowboxing of the consular election finally ended, and the real fight began.