“How does Caesar’s wife react to his relationship with her’?”she asked.
“Calpurnia? She doesn’t say anything about it. And no onedares mention it in her presence. I don’t really know what she thinks about it.She doesn’t reveal her feelings much.”
“She can’t be very happy about it.”
“Maybe not, but this is ancient Rome. And Rome is very mucha man’s world. It is not uncommon for Roman men to keep mistresses. Most wivesaccept it, though it’s not as if they have a choice. And Caesar is no ordinaryRoman. Calpurnia seems very devoted to him, but then I’ve spent more time withCaesar than she has. If you’re thinking about using her to discourage Caesar inany way, I’d recommend that you forget about it. There’s only one woman whoever wielded any effective power in Rome and that was-or will be-Livia, thewife of Augustus. However, everything she did was done behind the scenes,through ruthless political manipulation and even murder. Compared to her,Caterina Sforza and Lucretia Borgia were Girl Scouts. Calpurnia is not the typeto go in for that sort of thing. She’s rather self-effacing and I doubt there’sa devious bone in her body.”
“Well, then perhaps we’d better consider people. Who are devious.”said Lucas.
“You mean the conspirators?” said Travers.
“yes? said Lucas. “If we’re going to make sure that Caesargets assassinated on schedule, it would behoove us to keep tabs on hisassassins. They might need some encouragement.”
“Not very much, I should think,” said Travers wryly.
“What can you tell us about them? Personally, I mean?”
“I’ve met most of the chief conspirators at one time oranother, since they’re all active in politics,” said Travers. “I can’t say itwas a very pleasurable experience, knowing what they’re going to do. Or perhapsI should say what we hope they’ll do.” He paused and shook his head. “Why do Ifeel like a traitor when I say that’?”
“Because you’re not a cold-blooded bastard, that’s why,”said Delaney. “We’ve all done things we wished we hadn’t had to do, things wehaven’t exactly been proud of. But they were things that had to be done,because so much depended on them being done.”
“In a sense, Travers, they were things that had already happened.”Lucas said. “I know it’s sometimes hard to realize it, especially for someonelike you, who’s spent so much of his life in Minus Time, but all of this hasalready happened. From our perspective, and yours too, it happened almost threethousand years ago. We’ve simply come back here to make sure that no one triesto change that.”
“I know,” said Travers. “Intellectually, I realize all that,of course, but emotionally, it’s still hard to accept. The man’s a friend ofmine. Perhaps the closest friend I’ve ever had. And he’s much more than that.He’s someone I spent much of my life studying and admiring. Meeting him waslike meeting a boyhood idol. After all the years we’ve spent together. foughttogether … hell, he’s even saved my life on several occasions …” His voicetrailed off.
“It must be very difficult for you,” said Andresympathetically.
“More than you could know,” Travers replied. “Until thatnight before we crossed the Rubicon together, Plus Time seemed almost like adream. Like another life, a life I’d left behind. Then I had to clock back andmake my report and reality was like a hard slap in the face. I’ve been speakingand even thinking like a Roman for so long that even now, English seems like aforeign language. Would you believe I’m a good ole boy from Dallas, Texas?Crazy, isn’t it?”
“No. it isn’t crazy,” Lucas said. “Believe me. I canunderstand exactly how you feel. But you were going to tell us about the conspirators.”
“Yes, I’m sorry, I got sidetracked for a minute there. Accordingto classical historians such as Suetonius and Plutarch, there were supposed tobe some sixty men involved in the conspiracy. but most of their names aren’tknown to history. Some were apparently soldiers who had fought with Pompey.Others were people who had private grievances against Caesar. still others,such as Brutus, were politically motivated, meaning that they believed theywere acting in the interests of the republic. The core group was composed ofGaius Cassius Longinus, known as Cassius: his brother-in-law, Marcus Brutus;Decimus Brutus Albinus, one of Caesar’s officers; Gaius Trebonius, a friend ofMarc Antony’s; Tillius Cimber: and the Casca brothers, Publius and Servilius.Cassius was the number one conspirator, the leader. Of them all, he is the mostdangerous. He’s shrewd and quick-witted, a calculating type. As Caesar himselfhas said, he has a ‘lean and hungry look.’ Not much gets past him and he’s akeen judge and observer of human nature. Trebonius seems much more shallow. Helikes to gamble a great deal and he’s useful to the conspiracy because he’sclose to Antony. I don’t know him very well, but he seems to be more of afollower than a leader. Albinus I know pretty well. He served with us in Gaul.”
Travers paused a moment, his jaw muscles tightening. “Ifound it difficult to get along with hi
m,” he continued, “knowing what he wouldeventually do. Caesar was always good to him, as he was to most of hisofficers. He gave him a provincial command and later made him a consul. I haveno idea what made him join the conspiracy. Perhaps he really believed, likeBrutus, that it was for the good of Rome, an end to autocratic rule. Which isironic, when you consider the men who followed Caesar. The days of the republicarc finished, though the conspirators don’t know it. I always found Albinusvery hard to read. He’s not someone you’d want to turn your back on. Cimber Idon’t know very well at all. he seems ambitious, but other than that, I can’ttell you much about him. As a close friend of Caesar’s, I’m hardly someone they’dadmit into their inner circle. As for the Casca brothers. Servilius I know onlysuperficially and I don’t think he’s as deeply involved as his brother.Publius. who is someone to watch out for. There’s a real hard edge to him. He’sviolent and he’s got a mean temper. Next to Cassius, he’s probably the mostsignificant. Brutus is also part of the inner circle, or soon will be, and heis the most interesting. Also the most likable, strangely enough.”
“Why do you say that?” asked Delaney.
“Just that it’s strange for me to find one of Caesar’sassassins likable. Supposedly, he’s the one who agonized the most about it.There have been rumors that he’s the illegitimate son of Caesar, but there’snothing to support that. Except that according to Suetonius. when Brutus wasabout to strike his blow, Caesar said to him. ‘You. too, my child?’ But there’sno way of knowing in what sense he meant that. Or even if it ‘s exactly what hesaid. So I suppose the rumors could be true. It’s a fascinating possibility.because Caesar did once have an affair with Brutus’ mother, Servilia. Caesarpardoned Brutus for allying himself with Pompey in the civil war, but then healso pardoned Lamius and many others. It’s one of the few things I’ve neverbeen able to find out for certain. Brutus is sensitive on the subject andflatly denies it. Caesar simply won’t discuss it. The one time I broached thesubject with him, he became angry at me for listening to rumors and idle gossip.”
“So you think that Brutus would be the most approachable?”asked Lucas.
“Yes, he’d probably be the easiest to get to know, but ifyou’re planning to infiltrate the conspiracy. Cassius and Casca are the onesyou’ll need to convince. That won’t be easy. They don’t know you. You’re only avisitor in Rome and your cover identity as my brother will practicallyguarantee that he won’t trust you. Of course, we could still pass you off assomeone else.”
“No. you’ve already told Caesar about me and it could complicatethings if we changed our story. Besides. I wasn’t thinking of myself.” saidLucas. “I was thinking of Delaney. True, we all supposedly grew up together,but he hasn’t seen you in years and people grow apart. We could easily stage apublic confrontation of some sort between you, an argument about Caesar’sautocracy or something.”
“Yes. I suppose that could work.” said Travers.
“If possible. I’d also like to figure out some way to getAndre next to Cleopatra,” Lucas said. “What do you think the chances of thatare?”
Travers pursed his lips thoughtfully. “Probably much betterthan your chances of infiltrating the conspiracy. Cleopatra hasn’t exactly beenembraced by Roman society. She acts as if she doesn’t seem to care, but I’m notsure if I buy that. It’s not that anyone would actively speak out against her,because of Caesar. but she’s been widely blamed for Caesar’s autocratictendencies. She’s a daughter of the pharaohs. after all, and as such, she doesn’tshare the republican sensibilities of most Romans. She’s a Ptolemy and she can’tunderstand or appreciate the freedoms most Romans enjoy. Nor has she made anysecret of her opinions on the subject.”
“What’s she like?” asked Andre.
“Well, the most obvious thing about her is her beauty,”Travers said. Then he corrected himself. “No, that isn’t really true. The mostobvious thing about her is her sex appeal She practically radiates sexuality.She knows the effect she has on men and she certainly uses it to her bestadvantage. She lives in relative isolation in the house that Caesar gave her,along with her son, whom she claims is Caesar’s. She was married to youngPtolemy XIII when they ruled together, then after his death, she married hisbrother Ptolemy XIV. Hardly what I’d call a loving family. They all hated oneanother. Ptolemy XIV was supposedly poisoned on her orders.”
“Nice lady,” said Delaney wryly.