The Sacrilege

As for Caesar, then as now he was an enigma. He was a man of immense capability who had done nothing. He was an aristocrat of one of the oldest patrician families who posed as a man of the people. He was an old Marian in a Rome that had belonged to the supporters of Sulla for twenty years. We Metellans had been his supporters, as had the Claudians, the Cornelians naturally enough, and most of the other great families, such as the Crassi. Even some Julians had backed him, but Caius Julius had always stressed his marriage co

With the smell of incense clinging to my hair, I left the temple and made my way to Milo's house. It was not an hour usually considered proper for calling on a citizen, but Milo was not an ordinary citizen. He never seemed to sleep, and it was a point of criminal/political principle with him to be available to citizens at all hours. When it came to giving the citizens individual attention, Caesar was an amateur compared to Milo. But then, Milo was not distracted by armies and provinces and rival generals. Milo did not want to conquer the world. Milo just wanted to control the city of Rome. To that end he had assembled an immense clientele, and by no means were all of them drawn from the criminal classes. His gang of brutes remained the hard core of his strength, naturally enough, but he had expanded his relationships to include many of the highest personages of Roman society, as witness his recent invitation to lunch with Lucullus.

Milo had accomplished his astonishing rise from street thug to political contender through driving energy, immense charm and a ruthlessness that was breathtaking even in that age of men without compunction. His aims, I suppose, were no different from those of Clodius, but they were different men. Clodius began with wealth, high birth and social position. An easy mobility in the highest circles was his birthright. Milo began with nothing. Milo had, I will not call it honor, but rather a consistent and punctilious regard to his loyalties and obligations. Milo had friends whereas Clodius had toadies.

Admittedly, I may have been prejudiced in his favor because I detested Clodius so heartily, but then, Clodius was a detestable man. I have never considered myself to be unfair or arbitrary in these matters.

Milo greeted me warmly when I arrived. I was lucky enough to find him alone, by which I mean that he had no other visitors of consequence, although he had a somewhat understrength century of thugs lounging about the house. He conducted me to a side room where we relaxed on couches.

"You look tired, Decius. Have some wine." He poured two cups and handed me one. It was a good Falernian, mixed with no more water than what was necessary to avoid charges of incivility. I drank gratefully.

"I should be tired. I started the day at the house of Celer, went from there to the Forum, thence to the house of Caesar, from there to the house of Crassus and then to the Egyptian embassy. After lunch with Lisas I went to the Capitol to see if Jupiter could sort things out for me, a favor he declined. Now I've come to talk with you. I should have stayed in Spain. The legions are less strenuous."

"If you are going to get ahead, you must expect to exert yourself." Milo had scant sympathy for those whose energies were less formidable than his own. "Still the matter of the sacrilege?"

"Yes, and now the murder of Capito has taken a new turn." I described to him the peculiar wounds as interpreted by Askledpiodes, and he listened with great attentiveness. The arts of mayhem were always of deep interest to Milo.

"So the hammer blow came after the fellow was dead?" Milo mused. "That sounds-I can't say-it sounds more like ritual than ordinary murder. I've been inquiring among the sicarii, looking for someone who uses that two-blow technique, but I've been assuming that the hammer blow was to set the man up for the kill. This changes things. If it's ritual, it isn't Roman ritual. You may have to look into the foreign community."

"Wonderful. Rome is full of foreigners and their loathsome religions. I ca

"You can eliminate most of them easily enough," Milo said with his usual perspicacity. "It will have to be someone who had doings with Capito. Surely he wasn't involved with Nubian tribesmen or Arabian camel-herders. Find out what Capito was involved in and you will probably find which foreigner had cause to kill him."

"That makes sense," I admitted. "Will you aid me in this as well?"

"Certainly," he said. "Favor for favor?"

"Whatever you wish," I said, "but what can a political nobody like me do for you?" I was never under the misapprehension that Milo's favors were the result of purest generosity and that someday he would require favors of me, but I had assumed that this would happen after I had achieved eminence and influence.

"It is not your political importance that I need just now, but your social prominence. I want you to help me court the lady Fausta."

I should have seen it coming. "You aim high, my friend." The moment I said it I knew how stupid it was. Why would a man who pla

"I don't think the lady herself will see it that way," Milo said. "She is a Cornelian, but her father came of the poorest branch of the family. Sulla was a patrician beggar who rose high. And she realizes it. Fausta knows that the day of the patrician is past and the future of Rome belongs to men like me." This was characteristically blunt and perfectly true. Milo was clear-sighted in a way that even Cicero, with his preconceptions and ideals, could never match.

"I shall, of course, be happy to help in any way I can. What would you have me do?"

"As yet I lack the prominence to call upon Lucullus casually. You can do that. Fausta seems to have complete freedom of the house. You should have little difficulty in finding ways to speak with her. Press my suit and see how she reacts."

"Ahh, Milo, my friend, it is usually customary to approach a woman's parent or guardian in these matters. In accordance with Sulla's will, Lucullus has that authority."

Milo waved a hand, peremptorily dismissing all custom. "As I have said, certain aristocratic practices are of diminishing importance. They are of no concern to me, and I doubt that the lady in question has any use for them either."