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The Statuette Of Rhodes s-5

Page 3

by John Maddox Roberts


  'Cleomenes,' Dionysus shouted, white-faced, 'you are under arrest pending investigation of the Senator's charges.' The guilty man opened his mouth to speak, but a traitor's death was already upon his face and no sound emerged.

  As the crowd broke up in disappointment and confusion I congratulated myself. Personally, I didn't care who controlled Rhodes, but our warmongering generals had already come near to destroying the Republic, and in those days I considered Pompey the most dangerous of the lot. I was pleased to have done him a bad turn.

  'Shall we go ahead and burn him?' asked a torch-bearing slave, nodding toward the heap of oily wood. At the president's nod he tossed his torch into the pile which began to crackle merrily.

  'It seems, Senator,' said Dionysus as if the words left a foul taste in his mouth, 'that Rhodes owes you thanks. Not that Pompey or any other general would have found us so easy to take, with or without our harbor chain. How may we express our gratitude?' He was used to Roman envoys, a greedy lot back then.

  'I care only for justice,' I told him. Then I draped an arm over his shoulders. 'My father, however, is a great fancier of Greek sculpture. Down in the Sculptor's Market there is a statue of Helios that would be perfect for his country estate:'

  These things happened in Rhodes in the year 692 of the City of Rome, the consulship of Metellus Celer and Lucius Afranius.

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  Document creation date: 16.03.2010

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