"I suppose so," Messala admitted.
"So, what happened next?" Gaius asked. He was still quite puzzled how all this related to Vipsania, unless the father was being accused of being a conspirator.
"Well, somehow Caesar was told that Betilienus Bassus was a conspirator. ."
"Was he?" Gaius asked casually.
"Yes," Messala said, without thinking.
Interesting, Gaius thought to himself. Only a conspirator would know. He nodded and said, "Go on."
"Bassus, of course, was sentenced to death, and his father, Betilienus Capito was ordered to watch. Capito was horrified, and begged Caesar to let him close his eyes, so Caesar, in disgust, said that they would be closed forever, and ordered the two to be executed together."
"Was Capito a conspirator?" Gaius asked.
"There was no evidence against him," Messala shrugged evasively, "but he certainly went about arguing his innocence in a strange way. He then said he would name conspirators, and out gushed a number of names."
"Were they conspirators?"
"Not all of them," Messala laughed hollowly. "He spoiled it all at the end by naming Caesonia."
"Caesar's wife?" Gaius asked in disbelief. He also noted the 'not all of them', which implied that he knew who were and who were not. And if he, Gaius, could work that out in such a short conversation, the chances were that Caesar could too.
"The same. If he had any chance before, that was it."
"But that's not all, is it?" Gaius asked.
"Help no! Senators fell over themselves to betray conspirators. One of the worst was that despicable Anicius Cerialis. He even betrayed his own son, as well as a Sextus Papinius, and he happily watched their executions. I tell you, Caesar is out of control."
"I wouldn't be so sure," Gaius replied.
"You don't believe this?"
"Maybe I don't believe they're all so innocent," Gaius replied. "I've heard a little from Rome too."
"And what've you heard?"
"One ex-Consul, Pompeius Pennias, was arrested for treason, probably because of one of these wretched Senators making up conspiracies to cover their own miserable arses. Anyway, Caesar personally decided to get to the bottom of this, and one of Pennias' freed-women, by the name of Quintilia, was also arrested. Quintilia was tortured, but she refused to bear false witness against her old master."
"So?"
"Caesar was taking a personal interest in this, and he soon realized that Pompeius was in fact innocent. He immediately freed him and congratulated Quintilia for her devotion to the truth. As a reward he gave her 800,000 sesterces, a sum that ensured she could live in luxury for the rest of her life. Anyone who does that must have a sense of justice."
Messala seemed unsure what to say, so Gaius continued, "Caesar then said that he rather suspected that there would be a number of leeches, thieves, and others who might try to take this money from her. Even Senators, he said, who should know better. Caesar then promised that anyone who deprived Quintillia of her money would end up begging for a simple crucifixion. I gather everybody believed Caesar on this matter."
"They'd believe him on that," Messala said. He paused, then added in a tight voice, "Why are you interested? Where's this going?"
Gaius could not help noticing the tension. Yes, this man was either a conspirator, or was associated with conspirators, or he feared that he was going to be so associated. Whatever, here was one frightened man. "I wish to help Vipsania," Gaius said simply, "but so far, I have no idea why she is in such fear."
"One of the men Capito accused was Valerius Asiaticus," Messala explained.
"Yes, but I gather from what you've told me, Capito also accused Caesonia, so this can't be the worst type of accusation."
"Yes, but mud sticks."
"Was Asiaticus a conspirator?" Gaius asked.
"How would I know?" came the delayed and not particularly convincing response.
"So, the gens has been named, but I still don't see. ."
"As you know, I was in Rome," Messala explained, "and I was invited to dine with Caesar, alongside many others, including Asiaticus. When Caesar was about to retire for the night, he got up, thanked us for being there, then said something about there being conspiracies everywhere."
"A pledge of loyalty wouldn't go astray here," Gaius muttered.
"That's just what Asiaticus did. He got up and praised Caesar, and said all the accusations against him were nonsense."
"He would have been better off to leave that last bit out," Gaius said. "The pledge of loyalty would have been fine."
"You're certainly right there," Messala sighed. "That really got Caesar going. He turned to Asiaticus and said for all to hear that he understood that Asiaticus was having a difficult time, after all, he, Caesar, had been bedding his wife, and by the Gods she was useless in bed. Nothing more than a lump! Poor Asiaticus! Everybody was laughing at him. It was disgraceful!"
"And then?"
"As he was leaving the room, he turned and said something to the effect that a true member of the Valerian gens wouldn't be so useless. Then he pointed to me and said that the honour of the Valerian gens was at stake. I had a daughter. Send her to Rome to restore the honour of the Valeria."
"That sounds like one of Caesar's jokes," Gaius offered.
"You weren't there!"
"No, I wasn't, but look at it this way. There are no shortage of closer Valerias, in fact Caesar probably sees Valeria Messalina every day, and I have it on good authority," Gaius bluffed, "that they all enjoy exactly the same privileges and freedoms as all other Roman women, and because of their gens, more than most."
"Yes, but being here you wouldn't know, would you?"
"As it happens, I have very good contacts in Rome," Gaius said, and watched a momentary look of fear cross Messala's face. "Anyway, back to Caesar. When he asked for Vipsania to be sent to Rome, what did you say?"
"Nothing!" Messala shrugged. "What could I say. Vipsania must go to Rome, or Caesar will. ." He stopped, in mid-sentence.
"And I presume Caesar left the room right then?" Gaius said.
"Yes, so you see," Messala said, "there's nothing you or anybody else can do."
"That remains to be seen," Gaius said, and took his leave.
* * *
Gaius returned to his villa to think. He recalled the prophecy: when in difficulty, he must use logic. That would be what Timothy would advise also. So where did that take him?
With regard to Vipsania, the choices were simple. He could walk away from her, he could look after her after she went to Rome, or he could defend her. The second one was not an option, because Vipsania had said she would kill herself first, and he believed her. So, either he would defend her or he would not.
The next question was, why was she being sent? Either Little Boots had, for no good reason, demanded that she go, or her father had offered her. The first option was what her father claimed was the case, but was that the truth? Was it, as he suspected, one of Little Boots' jokes? He had received numerous accounts of Little Boots having made quite remarkable threats for no apparent good reason other than to terrify the subject of them, but as far as he was aware, and from what Claudius had told him, if it were a joke, the matter was never raised again. Little Boots clearly had a malicious streak in him, but he also seemed to have a sense of justice.
The second option would apply only if her father was trying to get himself off a hook. Why would that be? Because he was either part of a plot, or sufficiently close to one that he knew he could be identified.
So, on balance, Vipsania was safe, as long as she was out of her father's care. The problem there was, in Roman law, right now her father owned her. Nevertheless, that problem could be dealt with. The difficult problem was, what would happen if Caesar really was evil, and had really demanded Vipsania, for whatever reason?