Venus in Pearls(7)

Great skill was required to keep the furnaces at exactly the right temperature. Too cool and the solder would not flow. Too high and the gold would melt and all the labor would have to be repeated. The furnaces were under the supervision of a skinny old man dressed only in a linen loincloth who spent his days squatting in front of them, judging their heat by color alone. Beside him squatted a youth he was training to the same exacting skill. At the old man's subtle hand signals the bellows-men quickened or slowed their hauling on the ropes, and the firetenders threw in fresh charcoal or scooped out glowing cinders.

"Have you done other work connected with the new temple?" I asked. "For instance, the goddess's golden wig?"

"No, that would have been done on Cyprus under the supervision of the sculptor."

"I see."That meant only one more call to make.

The establishment of Thyrsites was on the river south of the Sublician Bridge. It was little more than a warehouse equipped with all the tackle necessary for lifting weighty sculpture and stout wagons for transporting them. When the slave at the door announced my arrival, Thyrsites hurried to greet me. Thus far that day I had dealt with a Roman-named Syrian and a Greek-named Egyptian. Thyrsites was a Greek-named Greek, even if he was from Egypt. He begged to know how he could be of assistance.

"I've come at Caesar's behest to inquire about the statue of Venus Genetrix," I informed him.

"Ah! A wonderful work, is it not? Have you seen it?"

"I have. Wonderful, indeed."

"I do hope no harm has come to it?" His concern seemed genuine.

"None that I know of. I just need some information."

"I am at your service."

"First off, how is the pediment made?"

He looked puzzled. "It is simply a solid block of granite porphyry, very highly polished but extremely plain in the Doric fashion as you must have seen. Caesar did not want attention to be distracted from contemplation of the goddess herself."

"Very good. And the statue?"

"The finest Corinthian bronze, hollow-cast, like all large bronze sculpture, using the lost wax process perfected centuries ago by Rhoecus and Theodoras. In this case the casting was simplified by the top of the head's being left unfinished, since the goddess was to wear a golden wig. Personally, I think this is why so many statues wear wigs or helmets. It makes the casting process less chancy."

"I've wondered about that," I told him. "And this wig, is it cast of solid gold?"

"It is pure gold, but it is all hammer work, no casting. It is quite thin and delicate and was packed in a separate crate. It is fastened to the cranium by pins passing through eyelets behind the ears, quite invisible to a viewer standing below."

"That is all I need to know," I told him, and turned to go.

"But, Senator," he stammered, mystified, "why do you—"

But I was already away. I didn't have to answer to anybody, and the fewer who knew what I knew the better.

My last call of the day was Caesar's house, his temporary home on the Campus Martius. It was getting late, but he greeted me without impatience. "Decius! We will be having dinner soon; perhaps you can join us. I take it you have learned something?'

"I have, Dictator."

"Then you can regale my guests with the tale of your accomplishments."

"That would be unwise, Caesar."

His face clouded. "How so?"

"I am afraid it concerns a woman of your household."

"Slave or freeborn?"

"Patrician. A pure Julian."

He closed his eyes. "Chloe." Then they snapped open again. "How is this possible? I have questioned her girls closely. She never had time to tamper with the aegis and is not strong enough to move it by herself"

"If you will accompany me to the tent where the goddess awaits, I will show you."

Caesar passed instructions to inform his guests that he would be late for dinner, and without so much as a single lictor for company, we went to the treasure camp.

Caesar ordered soldiers to bring torches and lamps for light, then told them to go outside and keep silent. When they had gone, he raised his hands and spoke a prayer in language so archaic that I could make out only a word or two.

I took one of the ladders and propped it against the wooden framework. "She and her temple have not yet been consecrated," I said. "Why do you observe these ceremonies?"

"It is the custom in my family," he said. That was the Caesars for you. They always overdid everything. "What are you doing?'

"I'm relieving the goddess of her wig." Behind her ears I found the split pins and drew them from the raised eyelets. Thus freed, the wig lifted easily. Large as it was, the thin-beaten gold weighed no more than two pounds. Very carefully I descended with it and laid it on the grassy turf. From brow to nape the top of the head of Venus was missing.