So, what did he tell Timothy? That he could do nothing about slavery? That was rather pathetic. That when he got to be a governor, he would abolish slavery? That would be a clear lie. That he would be very interested to hear what Timothy could suggest what he could do, practically, to solve the problem. That might be a little better, if for no other reason than it would force Timothy into dialogue. Very reluctantly, he had to acknowledge that this was a situation for which there was no correct answer.
* * *
"So?" Timothy asked when Gaius appeared early the following morning. Gaius noted that he seemed rather agitated, as if he were not really in control of the situation.
"I will grant you that slavery is inherently wrong," Gaius said slowly, "but I cannot see how I can do much about it. If I were enslaved, I would hope I could plan some way out of it, but I can see that this does require courage that I might not have. If you ever have any ideas about how to end slavery, I'll listen, but frankly, I can't see it happening."
"A typically clever Roman answer," Timothy scowled. "Why you wish to learn from me when you've already mastered duplicity beats me."
"Timothy," Gaius said coldly, "it's not my fault Tiberius sent me on what is increasingly becoming a ridiculous task. If the Princeps thinks I can learn something from you, I'm going to obey the Princeps. All I'm asking is that either you teach me, or if you don't wish to earn some money, then just let me follow you around."
"Earn money?" asked a now perplexed Timothy.
"I never assumed you'd do this for nothing, but I was leaving it to you to name your price."
"Why do you feel you have to pay?"
"To get you to do something, not that I feel I owe you much so far," Gaius responded in a caustic tone.
"What do you know about me?" Timothy asked, a touch of concern now on his face.
"Nothing," Gaius replied, "except the Princeps seems to think you're worth learning from."
"Oh."
"And what, exactly, does 'Oh' mean?" Gaius paused, noted Timothy's discomfort, and pointed a finger at him. "Believe me, I shall find out."
"Tiberius owned me," Timothy replied in a flat tone.
"Oh," Gaius replied, then he gave a little laugh and added, "I see what 'Oh' means now."
"I'm not that sure you do," Timothy replied.
"Look, I can see that you don't feel all that wonderful about being a slave, particularly since it seems your master left you to your own devices for years and now I turn up, but I assure you, there's absolutely nothing I can do about this. I must follow Tiberius' instructions. And, as an aside, it makes no difference to the fact that I'll pay for your services. Of course you should hand the money over to your master when he turns up, but for what it's worth, I doubt he'll ever leave Capreae again."
"You don't know," Timothy said in a tone of near despair.
"I don't know what?"
"Tiberius gifted me to you." Timothy said in a dull tone.
"What?" Gaius said in a surprised tone. He stared at Timothy's increasingly fearful face, then suddenly he laughed, "You know, I could have you flogged for insolence."
"Yes, master."
"And as one of us noted," Gaius added, "I'd learn a lot from that." He stared at Timothy, then finally seemed to come to a decision. "Timothy, I could set you free, but if I did that, you'd be free to leave and I couldn't carry out the Princeps' orders, which would leave me in deep trouble of my own making."
"So you're going to go back on your fine words and. ."
"I'm going to order you to stay here," Gaius said, "and nothing more. You can behave as if you're partly free, which means, of course, buying your own food."
"With?"
"There's always the money I'll pay for the lessons," Gaius shrugged. "When we're finished, I'll set you free, and give you enough money you can afford to live."
"So you wish to really learn? Learn what?"
"If I have to spell out to you what to teach me, I would already know it, which is pointless and self-defeating."
"Logical," Timothy said. "I suppose logic is something we can work on." He paused, then said, "You Romans have such a low view of us Greeks. Why learn from a Greek, and don't say the Princeps ordered you to. What is the most interesting Greek achievement that you know? Quickly!"
"Geometry," Gaius replied quickly, as he struggled to think.
"Really? And what do you know about that?"
"I've had to study Euclid."
"And no doubt you enjoyed every moment," Timothy added in a tart tone. "Forget architecture, forget surveying, and forget counting the area or volume of your loot, what's the most interesting thing you know that's come out of geometry?"
"I know the Earth is a ball of circumference about 37, 000 kilometers. Also, Aristarchus measured the distance of the Sun as twenty times the distance of the Moon, and he believed the planets go around the sun, and the stars are even further away than the sun."
"You believe that?" Timothy asked curiously.
"I believe the distance is highly likely to be in error," Gaius replied.
"You do, do you?" The tone was a mixture of disappointment and challenge.
"I think the sun could be further away," Gaius shrugged, "not that what I think matters. I also note that you Greeks discredited Aristarchus on ground of impiety."
"Which is probably why you think he's right," Timothy laughed. "If the Greeks disown him, it doesn't matter so much that he was a Greek."
"That may well be true, but you said it."
"Suppose I give you a logic problem," Timothy said. "If you tell me truthfully how you solve it, and if you solemnly promise not to go to a library or into town, I shall teach you."
"And if I do not solve it?"
"You set me free," Timothy replied. "Have you got what it takes to accept the challenge?"
"I accept," Gaius said. He could always order Timothy to teach him, but he had the feeling that if he did that, he would learn very little of use.
"Then here is the problem," Timothy said. "There was a Greek prince who was devoted to logic, so much so that when he took captives he would take them, one at a time, to a courtyard to which there were two gates, each gate having a guard. He would tell the prisoner that he would be permitted to ask one question to either guard. One door led to freedom, one to death, one guard always told the truth, one guard always lied, and he had one day to decide, for if he was still there that evening, he would be killed. Suppose you are the prisoner, how do you get what in your case are further lessons? You have until dinner."
"But. ." It occurred to him he had fallen into a trap. This was clearly a well-known but difficult problem, and he had not heard of it.
"You accepted the challenge," Timothy interrupted. "I look forward to seeing your reply." With that, he turned and walked away.
Gaius realized he was in a bind. In principle, he could do what he liked with this Greek, but that would solve nothing, particularly when the reports of whatever he did got back to Tiberius. But there was more to it; it would be dishonourable to take advantage of whatever position he thought he had.
Suddenly, he burst out laughing. The Greek was probably playing with him. He, Gaius, was to think the Greek was a slave. The minute he tried to take advantage of that, that would be the minute he was sent packing back to Tiberius. Yes, Tiberius had chosen well. This Greek was clever. Unfortunately, too clever. He had set a problem that, by the look of things, was not going to be solved. The one thing he was not going to do, however, was let Timothy watch what he did. He may or may not solve it, but all Timothy would get out of this was the final answer, or lack thereof.