They left the Circus and went outside to their carriage.where their “slaves” were waiting for them.
“Can we take a look at Cleopatra’s house asked Lucas.
“Certainly.” said Travers. “It’s not very far from mine.”
The streets were practically deserted as they drove backtoward the Tiber.
“What did you make of Caesar’s Egyptian guard?” asked Andellas he drove their carriage.
“We couldn’t get a very good look at them,” Delaney said. “Icounted a dozen.”
Andell nodded. “They go everywhere with him. Quite impressive,aren’t they?”
“They looked very fit and capable.” said Lucas.
“What do you think?” asked Travers.
Lucas shook his head. 1 don’t know. I wish we had more to goon. Do they stay with him in the palace?”
“Yes,” said Travers. They have rooms in the same wing ashis:
“They’re going to present a problem.” Lucas said. “regardlessof whether they’re S.O.G. troops or actually what they seem to be. In eithercase, they’re an anomaly and we’re going to have to get rid of them somehow.The question is, how?”
“You’re close to Caesar,” said Delaney. “Couldn’t you convincehim that it’s bad P.R. to have them around?”
“It is, in fact,” said Travers. “There’s been talk aboutthem ever since Caesar took them on. He knows it and he doesn’t like it. Heused to have a bodyguard of Spaniards. a tough and surly-looking bunch, but hedismissed them for the sake of appearances. And those Egyptians haven’t exactlyimproved matters. He knows it makes him look as if he’s being protected by hismistress. I’m not really sure if he’s going along with it just to pleaseCleopatra or because he’s getting nervous now that the Ides is approaching. Ifhe is. he’ll never admit it. He’s far too proud.”
“Could you work on him without making your position difficult?”asked Delaney.
“I could try,” Travers replied. “We’ve gone through a greatdeal together. I could probably get away with more than most people could whenit comes to Caesar. But you can only press him so far. Plus I’d undoubtedlyalienate Cleopatra and she has a lot of influence with him.”
“More than a comrade in arms from the wars?” asked Andre.
Travers snorted. “You haven’t seen her.”
“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 him,” 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.”