A Point of Law(80)

“Time. A dictatorship is held for six months, and then the dictator must step down. Sulla’s dictatorship was unconstitutional. It was a military coup. There weren’t enough senators in Rome to pass a resolution of dictatorship. Once in power he doubled the size of the Senate to pack it with his flunkies, and then had them keep voting him back in as dictator. He held the office for three years and didn’t step down until he was too sick to go on. This sort of thing is why we so seldom appoint a dictator.”

“It would take great fear to make the Senate do it now,” Julia said.

“People are ripe for it,” I pointed out. “You’ve heard all the scare talk, seen all the line drawing that’s been going on. Agitation to cancel debts and perhaps massacre the bankers and money lenders would add fuel to the fire nicely.”

“But something happened,” Julia said.

“Yes, something caused Fulvius to swerve from the path that had been laid out for him and instead attack the Metelli through me.”

“Look at this one,” Callista said, handing me a translated page. “It is one of the last.”

You are to stop this foolishness. Your support is withdrawn. We have called back our men, and they will no longer aid you. Render an accounting for your actions at once or face the consequences.

“This does sound impatient,” I said.

“And this is the last one.” Callista handed me the page.

I am sending you more slaves for your household and more men for your protection and support. They are rough, but trustworthy. As long as you remember the terms of our bargain and adhere strictly to them, you will achieve your ambitions and will have nothing to fear from me. Do not try to contact me. I will send someone for you should we need to meet.

“This last message differed from the others,” Callista said. “It is written in a woman’s hand.”

“Are you sure?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. The differences are quite distinct.”

“Fulvia?” Julia said.

“Not Fulvia, though she is probably involved. This was written by Octavia.”

“Octavia?” Julia said.

I told them about the heavy hints Sallustius had dropped concerning the wife of Caius Claudius Marcellus and her little brother.

“When I met with her yesterday,” I paused. Could it have been just yesterday? “When I talked with her yesterday, she was a little too emphatic in proclaiming that she had cut her ties with the Julian family, that she thought Julius Caesar was a potential tyrant, that she had nothing to do with the Fulvians, that she had no knowledge of her husband’s affairs, that she hadn’t even seen her brother since he was an infant, and she didn’t follow City gossip. Is such a thing believable?”

“Not in our family,” Julia said. “I think Sallustius is right. He’s a weasel, but he knows his subject. Caius Marcellus does nothing without her knowledge. She knew all about this plot, and she even learned their code. She knows what futile bunglers her husband and his kinsmen are. She knows that Julius Caesar is destined to be the greatest man in Rome, and she wants to make her brother his heir.”

She said this with a bitterness that surprised me. Then I understood that she had hoped that a son of ours would be Caesar’s heir. It seemed that the gods had other plans.

“So Octavia subverted the plot?” Callista asked. “How could she do this? What lever did she apply to move Fulvius more to her liking?” Even in asking this she used an analogy from Archimedean mechanics.

“It’s unlikely that she was able to promise him greater rewards than he already expected,” I said. “So it must have been blackmail.”

“She couldn’t have accused him of political scheming,” Julia said. “Everybody does that anyway.”

“No, Octavia threatened to expose him for the murder of Aristobulus. The Marcelli wanted the Greek out of their way, and they wanted to bind Fulvius more tightly to themselves, so they sent him to do their dirty work.”

“What proof?” Julia asked.

“It must have been the ring. The Marcelli wanted the ring back. It was the only thing that connected them to Aristobulus. Fulvius killed Aristobulus and delivered the ring. Octavia got hold of it and showed it to Fulvius. She’ll have had some sort of written evidence connecting him to the crime, but she concealed the ring in the desk her husband lent to Fulvius. Anytime she wanted, Octavia could have some ambitious friend, Curio, for instance, accuse him and demand an investigation. The iudex appointed to investigate would get an opportune tip as to where to find the ring. Those men who caught Hermes and me going through Fulvius’s belongings, it was the ring they’d come for. The Marcelli weren’t concerned about the papers because they were in cipher. But Octavia wanted that ring back.”