He was close to tears. He grabbed my arm. Rupa darted forward, but Arcesilaus meant me no harm. He pulled me toward the statue of Venus.
"Look at her!" he commanded. "She isn't even finished yet-a few places need polishing, and no color has yet been added. But look at her, and tell me what you see."
I appraised the statue for a long moment. "I see the goddess Venus. She stands with one arm bent back to touch her shoulder, and her other arm slightly extended-"
"The pose is exquisite, is it not?"
I nodded. "Yes. One of her breasts is bare-"
"Her naked breast captures the exact weight and texture of actual flesh, does it not? You can almost feel the supple, warm skin beneath your fingertips. You can almost see her bosom rise and fall, as if she breathes."
"Yes," I whispered.
"And her face?"
"Serene. Wise. Beautiful." I thought of Arsinoe's face, when Rupa kissed her toe.
"And the molding of her gown, the way the folds bend and drape?"
I shook my head in amazement. "They look as if the slightest breeze might stir them."
"Exactly! What you see is made of stone, and yet, the longer you look at her, the more she appears to be alive, breathing, watching-as if she might step down from her pedestal at any moment."
The effect was indeed uncanny. I truly felt as if the statue of Venus gazed back at me. Unnerved, I lowered my eyes. At the base of the statue, I noticed the finishing detail which Arcesilaus had been adding when we entered. It was the artist's famous hallmark, an image of a rampant satyr.
"Now, come over here." He gripped my arm and led me to the statue of Cleopatra. "What do you see?"
I frowned. "It seems a bit unfair to make a comparison. The statue is lying on its side, after all."
"And would it look any less stiff and lifeless if it stood upright?"
"It's a different sort of statue," I argued. "It depicts a living human being, for one thing, not a goddess."
"And yet it seems less alive, less present in the room than does the image of Venus!"
He was right. The workmanship of Cleopatra's statue was decidedly inferior. The gilded bronze, which had been so dazzling under the hot sun, was less impressive in the dim light of the sanctuary; in fact, it looked a bit tawdry. The statue was not without beauty, but compared to the Venus, it was only a lifeless piece of metal.
"It hurts my eyes even to look at it!" declared Arcesilaus. "Yet Caesar insists that it be placed here in the temple, where it will upset the whole balance."
"Perhaps it will only point out the superior nature of your Venus," I said.
"That's not how it works!" he snapped. "Bad art diminishes good art. The closer the proximity, the greater the damage."
"Have you pointed this out to Caesar?"
" 'You've been working on the Venus for a long time,' he told me. 'I realize you're exhausted, and here I am, posing you yet another challenge. But you'll rise to it, Arcesilaus! You'll find the ideal spot for the queen's image. You can do it!' As if this were just another part of my commission, an opportunity to create something harmonious and beautiful, for which I should be grateful-instead of an insult to everything I've achieved in a lifetime of making art!"
I drew a sharp breath. How harmless was Arcesilaus's rant? Had he ever before expressed such rancor against Caesar? And had Hieronymus been there to hear it? I couldn't remember encountering any mention of the sculptor's animosity against Caesar in Hieronymus's reports.
"Why do you think Caesar wants this statue in the temple?" I asked. "Can there be a religious purpose? Cleopatra is linked to the Egyptian goddess Isis-"
"So she is," said Arcesilaus. "But Isis is a manifestation of the Greek goddess Artemis, our goddess Diana-not Venus. No, the image of Cleopatra cannot possibly be construed as another image of Venus. Isn't it obvious why Caesar wants that statue in a temple that honors his ancestress? He means to honor the mother of his own child."
"I think you're wrong there," I said, remembering my recent conversation with Caesar, and the absence of Caesarion in the Egyptian Triumph. And yet, a man like Caesar liked to keep all his options open. He also liked to keep people guessing.
"Perhaps you know Caesar's mind better than I do," granted Arcesilaus. "Why did he send you here today, anyway? It wasn't about this other thing, was it?" He indicated another corner of the sanctuary, where a large placard made of cloth on a wooden frame was propped against a wall. I drew closer and examined it. It was an image of a calendar painted in the traditional style, with the abbreviated names of months across the top and columns of numerals beneath marking the days, with the Kalends, Ides, Nones, and various holidays indicated. It was very artistically rendered in many colors, with exquisitely wrought letters.
"A calendar?" I said.
"The calendar," said Arcesilaus. "Hardly a subject worthy of my talents, but since Caesar means to announce his new calendar at the same time that he dedicates the temple, he wanted an image to unveil, so I made this thing myself. What do you think?"
"It's a object of beauty. Very elegant."
"I don't suppose you've come to check the accuracy? Someone is supposed to do that before tomorrow."
"No."
He frowned. "Why did Caesar send you here?"
"Send me?"
"That's what you said, that Caesar sent you."
"No, I said I came on his behalf."
"What's the difference?" Arcesilaus scowled.
"I wanted to check that the route from the Forum to the temple was safe for Caesar to traverse-"
"Is that your job?"
I considered how to answer. "Well, as a matter of fact, it's the sort of thing my son Meto does on Caesar's behalf; but Meto is away from Rome. And as long as I was here, I thought I'd have a look inside the temple." Not one word of this was a lie.
Arcesilaus was indignant. "Do you mean I've been wasting my time standing here and talking to you, and for no good reason? Get out, all three of you, at once!"
I took Diana by the arm and turned toward the exit. Arcesilaus's demeanor was so threatening that Rupa lagged behind, as if to make sure the artist didn't follow us. But when I looked back, he had returned to the statue of Cleopatra and was glaring down at it. While I watched, he gave it a hard kick, then shouted a curse to Venus. While the dull, hollow ring of the metal resounded through the chamber, Arcesilaus hopped about and clutched his injured toe.
XIX
For the rest of the day, Diana and I sorted and read through Hieronymus's notes. She questioned me about the material I had already read, and I did the same with her. We divided the material that remained unexamined, determined to read every word before the day was done.
Whether against my will or not, Diana had insinuated herself into my work, so it seemed pointless not to bring her fully into the process, to take advantage of her interest and of her sometimes surprisingly keen insight. She spotted certain meanings within Hieronymus's puns that had eluded me, and, being more abreast of current gossip, caught certain allusions to personal relationships and such that I had overlooked. But none of her insights added materially to our knowledge of who had killed Hieronymus, or whether that person posed a threat to Caesar, or when or how the killer might strike again.
Despite all our combined efforts, and a great deal of discussion and speculation, I went to bed that night believing I was no closer to knowing the truth than before.
The next day, along with everyone else in Rome, my family set out to witness the African Triumph. Since we would later be attending the dedication of the Temple of Venus Genetrix, a sacred ritual, I wore my best toga.