“Yes, sir. There is. The problem isn't between Verres and Plautus. There’s been a long-running feud between my men and the 28th that Cartufenus and I have been trying to keep a lid on for months now; the business with the water just made things worse. What happened with the 37th on the Heptastadion apparently gave the 28th the idea that their cac doesn’t stink, pardon the expression, sir, but it’s not the 37th that the 28th hates, it’s my boys. And,” I admitted ruefully, “it’s not without cause. The 6th has been giving the 28th the business pretty good, especially after they tried to mutiny. What Plautus said about the 37th was just an excuse for Verres to strike a blow in this feud.”
While I was speaking, Caesar did not interrupt, instead just sat on the edge of his desk, giving me a look that I could not interpret, only serving to increase my own tension.
When I finished, his only reaction at first was to purse his lips as he thought. “And why am I just now being informed of these problems between your men and the 28th?”
There it was; the question that I had been dreading was now in the open. My career and all that I had achieved and hoped to achieve flashed before me, yet I knew that evading the question or trying to tell Caesar what I thought he wanted to hear would make things worse. So I plunged in and opened my mouth to tell the truth, but before I could get started he interrupted.
“Before you say anything, let me take a stab at what's been happening.”
I was not likely to argue, so I merely nodded for him to continue, as if he needed my consent.
“You and Cartufenus, perhaps with the agreement from the other Centurions, decided that it was best, given our situation here and all that you see me dealing with, to try and keep this…feud as you call it, contained to a level that it didn't come to my attention, or that of my generals. Do I have that part right?” I said that he did, and he continued, “But things haven't calmed down, they're getting steadily worse and now you're faced with a situation where, depending on my decision, I may be facing a full-scale riot between my troops.”
His tone was calm, but I could clearly hear the icy anger underlying it. Despite myself, I felt my legs start to tremble.
Trying to keep my voice calm and steady as I answered him, I hated the fact that there was really only one answer. “Yes, sir.”
“Pullus, did it ever occur to you that if you had come to me sooner, at the first signs of trouble, that this could have been nipped in the bud?” He turned to rummage around on his desk, then found what he was looking for and waved a scroll in front of me. “As with any situation like this, the best way to contain it is to stop it early, and there are always a few key players, the malcontents whose words and actions fire up the rest of the men to do things that they wouldn't normally have the inclination, the energy, or the brains to do on their own. If you had come to me earlier, I could have arranged it so that the few men listed on this scroll could have been removed over the period of a few days. The crisis would have been averted, with only the loss of a few men who weren’t very good Gregarii anyway, which would have helped the 28th in the long run. It would be a case of addition by subtraction, if you will. But now, tensions are too high; the men are too much on edge, and this murder has everyone paying attention, waiting for what happens next. If these men were to disappear now, it would guarantee the thing that you're rightly afraid of will happen.”
As Caesar explained the full extent of my error, I was assailed by a number of thoughts, some of them conflicting. What I remember most vividly is the shock at Caesar’s matter of fact tone as he basically admitted to using murder for his own purposes, although I do not know why I felt that way. I had been marching with Caesar for a long time, and I remember other times when men, singly or in very small groups, just disappeared from around the fires. When that happened, we all shot sidelong glances at each other, touching the side of our noses and winking, since the men who disappeared had always been involved in some unrest at the time of their disappearance. However, suspecting a thing and having the architect of such events openly discuss it are two different things. Now, here he was calmly telling me that our suspicions about these men who disappeared were correct, and that he was behind them. Still, his logic could not be faulted, and I knew that he was right. I had made a grave error in judgment. The only thing that remained to be seen was whether my career would suffer irreparable damage because of it.
“Now my options are limited, Pullus. If I accept your judgment, and I must say that I think you're right, and I punish Verres in the manner called for, both by regulation and by custom, I alienate the 6th, not to mention putting you in extremely difficult circumstances. And, because you were my choice as Primus Pilus for the 6th, it would be a blow to my own dignitas.”
Now he seemed to be heading in the direction that I had hoped for when I came to see him, and I waited for him to make the decision to suspend punishment of Verres, but that was not where he was headed. “But, if I do what I think you want me to do, and not punish Verres, then I have a problem with not just the 28th, but the 37th, because the story of what this Plautus said has undoubtedly spread throughout the army.” He shook his head, clearly frustrated. “The only way that I might be able to retrieve something from this disaster rests on a question, but I'm afraid I already know the answer. Pullus,” he stared at me closely, “who did you tell that you were coming to me on this matter?” My face gave him the answer that he needed, and he gave a bitter laugh. “Of course, you told everyone involved, didn’t you? In fact, you probably threw it in their face, as a challenge. The great Titus Pullus couldn’t appear to be afraid, could he?” The sarcasm in his tone lacerated my soul, made worse by the truth of his words. “There’s also the matter of Verres’ brother and the fact that he's undoubtedly bribed Verres’ tent mates,” my look of astonishment finally evoked a smile from Caesar, albeit a sour one. “Pullus, I'm surprised at you. Surely you know by now that I'm intimately familiar with every Centurion in my army and their backgrounds. I know a great deal about Verres Rufus.” He looked directly into my eyes, conveying to me in that moment that he was aware of what Rufus had done on the causeway. “And I know that while punishing Verres might be the right thing to do, it will undoubtedly make Verres Rufus very angry, and in his position he can cause a great deal of harm. But, neither am I willing to let Verres Rufus think that I'm acting in a way because of whatever threat he may pose to the stability of the army. Here's what I'm going to do.” He turned away from me so I could not read his expression. “After hearing your report, I'm sentencing Legionary Verres to be executed.”
I experienced a shiver of dread, even though this was exactly what I was hoping for, but as Caesar spoke, I had been thinking. Was I pushing for Verres to be executed because I honestly believed that he was guilty of murdering Plautus? Or was I just reacting to the pressure and threats from Verres Rufus by showing that I did not fear him or any man? A few years before, I would never even have considered the question, but I had gotten to an age where I was able to view myself in a more critical light. Now that Caesar had confirmed the sentence that I expected, I was awash in doubt. Still, there was a second part to my plan, and I waited for Caesar to make further comment.
After a moment, I realized that he was finished, and he said as much. “Was there anything else, Pullus?”
I swallowed, feeling a huge lump in my throat, knowing that I should speak but was unable to do so. Instead, I dumbly shook my head, then saluted. I turned about, marching to the door.