SPQR II: The Catiline Conspiracy

by John Maddox Roberts

  When I arrived at the circus, it was bustling with activity. There would be races in just a few days, and those who were to participate in the preliminary procession were rehearsing. The slaves who bore the images of the gods practiced hoisting the platforms to their shoulders and marching in step to the music of horn, lyre and flute. Small, gilded chariots drawn by tiny ponies bore images such as thunderbolts, owls, peacocks and so forth, the attributes of the gods. These charming vehicles were driven by children who, for some reason, had to have both parents living. These white-robed little boys put their ponies through their paces with great seriousness. The musicians set up a great din and wild-haired women with tambourines danced like maenads in honor of Bacchus. A group of men in plumed helmets and scarlet tunics, bearing spear and shield, went through a slow, solemn war dance while behind them a pack of men dressed as satyrs, with goat tails attached to their rumps and huge, red phalluses to their loins, performed a bawdy parody of the same dance. All that was missing was the crowd in the stands.

  On the sand, horses were being exercised, allowing them to grow accustomed to the racecourse and its immense environs. I walked along the whole length of the course, beside the spina, which had not yet acquired the crowd of statues that graces it now. At each end were the spikes tipped with seven gilded eggs marking each of the seven laps of a race, one egg being removed to mark each lap. This was before the water-spitting dolphins were added to aid the spectators in keeping track of how fast they were losing their money.

  The sand, specially imported from Africa, was continually raked smooth after each batch of chariots rattled by. I was gladdened to see that the sand was its accustomed tan. When Caesar was aedile, he had spread green-tinted sand in the circuses, the color of his faction. He had achieved this remarkable effect by mixing pulverized copper ore with the sand. Past the spina, and careful not to be trampled by the practicing charioteers, I crossed the track and passed out through the open end of the great stadium where the starting gates stood open.

  Beyond these gates was the stable area, almost as large as the circus itself. Since White and Red were the oldest factions, their stables and headquarters were nearest the circus. Red headquarters was a six-story building the size of a tenement built directly above their brick stables. The stables themselves were three-storied; two above ground and one below, connected by ramps broad enough for a pair of four-horse chariots to pass. The timber and plaster building above was painted, naturally enough, red. Outside were statues of famous horses from the stables, and the facade was decorated with plaques bearing the names of hundreds of others, listing the victories of each. The smell of horses was overwhelming, but it was more agreeable than many scents the city had to offer.

  The office of the directors took up most of the second floor of the timber structure. It was spacious and rather luxuriously appointed, for a place of business. Entering this building was like stepping into another world. There were shrines to gods I had never seen before, and the walls bore enigmatic inscriptions and decorations, all having to do with the rites of the racing guild. Slave, freedmen and freemen, they all belonged to the guild and took part in its rituals. Within the guild, the various specialists had their own sub-guilds, shrines and even temples. That of the charioteers was especially fine and they got the most splendid, as well as the most frequent, funerals.

  As I entered the office, slaves were setting up a crudely carved statue of a woman seated sideways on a horse, holding a key. The man supervising the work wore the clothes of an eques and noticed my interest.

  “Epona,” he said. “A Gallic horse-goddess. Some of our breeders in transalpine Gaul sent her as a gift.”

  “What is the key for?” I asked.

  “It’s a stable key, 1 think.”He turned to me and introduced himself. “I am Helvidius Priscus, one of the directors of the Reds. How may I be of service to the Senate and People?”

  I have often noticed this quality in Romans; an ability to recognize a public official. As a mere quaestor I had no lictors and no insignia of office and I dressed like a private citizen, but this man knew that I was some sort of official. I did not flatter myself that he remembered my face from the election. In that great mob it would take a twenty-foot statue of Jupiter to register a memorable impression. I was elected because I had announced my name in candidacy and the clients of the Metelli outnumber any other voting bloc. The lower offices are our birthright. The higher ones we have to fight for like everyone else.

  “I am here to inquire into the murder of Decimus Flav-ius. I am Decius Metellus.”

  “The quaestor? Welcome, sir, you honor our establishment. I apologize for the clutter and rush, but we are getting ready for the next races, as well as picking the stallions to run in the festival of the October Horse. Please, come this way.”I followed him into a broad room, one wall of which was mostly open to a balcony overlooking the circus gates. In the wide esplanade between, grooms from every nation walked their horses, talking to them in languages the beasts understood.

  There was a broad table in the room, heaped with scrolls and sheets of papyrus. There were stacks of bronze plates upon which were inscribed the pedigrees of horses, some of them going back centuries. Around the table were seated several equites, a few freedmen secretaries, and a distinguished man who wore the strange, spindle-topped cap and other insignia of aflamen. This, as it turned out, was Lucius Cornelius Lentulus Niger, the Flamen Martialis. He was here in his capacity as high priest of Mars to oversee the choosing of the horses to run in the race of the October Horse. It was rare to encounter a flamen away from his home except when he was performing his sacerdotal functions because the flam-ines were so surrounded by ritual taboos that life was difficult for them. The highest priesthood of them all, Flamen Dialis, had been vacant for twenty-four years because nobody wanted it.

  “Decimus Flavius was a most energetic director of the company,” said one of the equites. “It came as a great shock to us all when he was so foully murdered.”‘

  “Under what circumstances was he found?” I asked.

  “A cleaner found him over there in the circus,” said Priscus. “He left here yesterday evening, just before dark. His home is just on the other side of the circus and he usually walked home that way.”

  “Would you be so good as to summon the cleaner?” I requested. A slave was dispatched to find the man. “Was the murder weapon left at the scene?”

  “Yes, it’s right here,” said one of the directors. He reached into a box and rummaged among scraps of papyrus, ribbons and broken wax seals, and withdrew a knife, handing it to me. It was an unusual weapon, with a blade about eight inches long, straight for most of its length, then curving abruptly near the tip, doubling back to form a hook. It was keen on both edges. Someone had wiped the blade clean. There was no cross guard and the grip was of plain horn.

  “This is a charioteer’s knife, is it not?” I asked. Since a charioteer’s reins are knotted around his waist, he has only a few seconds to cut himself loose after being thrown. Thus he may avoid being dragged to death or dashed against the arena wall or against the spina. If he succeeds in this, he need only fear being trampled by the other horses.

  “It is,” Priscus affirmed.

  “Might he have been killed by a charioteer, then?” I asked.

  “Charioteers only carry these knives when they are racing,” said a director. “A dresser tucks one in the driver’s body bindings just before he gets into his chariot.”

  “There are hundreds of them in our supply rooms,” Priscus said. “But there must be thousands out in the city.

  The race enthusiasts beg them from victorious drivers and carry them for luck. They bribe track attendants to get them knives that charioteers have successfully freed themselves with. You know how superstitious those people are.”This seemed to be another dead end as far as the murder weapon was concerned.

  “Do any of you know if Flavius was in the business of lending money at interest?”

&
nbsp; “I know that he was not,” Priscus said. “At least, not in recent years. He made his fortune breeding horses, and here at the circus. He lost heavily after Lucullus’s cutting the debt of the Asian cities, and swore he’d never lend money again.”Thus was my theory that moneylenders were being systematically eradicated further undercut.

  The cleaner arrived and, thanking the directors, I excused myself. I kept the knife and tucked it into my tunic belt. I was acquiring quite a collection of these sinister souvenirs. Its shape was highly specialized, which made it seem an odd choice for a murder weapon. A straight dagger or a sica made far more sense. Perhaps this murder had been unplanned.

  “It was over here, master.”The slave was a middle-aged man with a Bruttian accent. The Bruitians are worthless people, as all Romans know. Bruttium surrendered to Hannibal without a fight. They make adequate slaves, though. “I was taking some trash to this heap that’s going to be hauled away sometime around Saturnalia.”

  We were walking beneath the wooden arcades of the circus. The great structure above us creaked and groaned as the morning sun warmed it. Despite that, the gloom below stairs was deep. Some light came in through the arches, but the nearby buildings allowed little light to reach them. We turned from the main arcade into a short tunnel that ended at a great heap of trash of the sort that only a circus accumulates: broken spokes and other wreckage of the flimsy racing chariots, wax tablets recording bets flung down and smashed by enraged losers, polishing rags discarded by handlers, straw packing left by vendors and a multitude of other trash, probably a year’s worth of it.

  “He was right here,” the slave said, pointing to a large, dark stain at the foot of the trash heap. It seemed an odd place for a prosperous eques to die. The others seemed to have been murdered in places that made some sense. Might he have been killed outside, in the arcade, and dragged in here? But there was no trail of blood, as there surely would have been in such a case. He must have been killed right on that spot. Perhaps he had been waylaid outside and forced into this tunnel.

  “Who works in this area at night?” I asked the slave.

  “Nobody. When it’s not a race day, the circus is empty by late afternoon. We slaves must be in our barracks by dusk and there is no cause for freemen to be here. Maybe a few whores are here after dark.”

  I knew it would be worse than useless to canvass the area, asking if anyone had happened to notice a murder being committed. Few people are out of their homes after dark in the fall, and those who are seldom like to cooperate with the authorities.

  I dismissed the slave and stood there for a while, pondering. My perplexity only deepened. I turned and walked out of the short tunnel and all but collided with a pair of young men, both of whom were bearded.

  My hand slid beneath my toga and I gripped the handle of the charioteer’s dagger. They stared at me, as astonished as I was. Then a woman pushed in front of them. In the poor light I had not noticed her standing behind the two.

  “Is it Decius Metellus?” The light was poor but I knew the voice.

  “Aurelia?” I said. It was she. Even in her heavy wool stola and in dim light, her luxuriant form was unmistakable. She had drawn her palla over her head, and I could not make out her expression.

  “Decius, how odd to meet you here! Let me introduce my companions, Marcus Thorius and Quintus Valgius. They are friends of my stepfather. Gentlemen, this is Decius Cae-cilius Metellus the Younger, quaestor of the treasury.”There was a slight edge to her voice as she addressed the two, as if reminding them to be on their best behavior.

  “I am always happy to encounter you,” I assured her, “any time and under any circumstances. Gentlemen, good day to you.”They nodded rather churlishly. Both seemed to be about twenty years old. With their identical stubbled scalps and bushy beards they looked like a pair of Greek wrestling instructors.

  “What brings you to the circus on a dull morning, Decius?” she asked.

  “One of those murders that the city is so enthralled with,” I said. “I had to come down here to make some inquiries. The victim was a director of the Reds. I came here to see the murder site.”

  “Oh, was it here?” she said, peering past me into the dark tunnel.

  “There’s nothing to see,” I said. “Just a rather large but ordinary bloodstain. What brings you here?”

  “We came to see Silverwing exercise,” she said. “Paris will be racing him for the Whites in the next races. Quintus knows everything about the White stables.”

  “Silverwing has raced as inside trace horse for six years,” Valgius said. “He has won 237 races.”He recited this with a fanatical gleam in his eye. I knew the type. He would know the records and pedigrees of hundreds of horses. I have always loved the races, but there are limits. People like Valgius could be as boring as Cato.

  “Would you care to join us?” Aurelia asked. The two men looked sour-faced but I was a long way from caring what they thought.

  “Most certainly,” I said. I fell in beside her as we walked toward one of the galleries that gave access to the stands.

  “What do you think, Quaestor?” Thorius asked. “About the murder, I mean?”

  I shrugged. “Probably just another murder and robbery. I think he was knocked on the head when he walked home and was dragged back there and had his throat cut. That’s where all the blood is.”

  “Doesn’t it seem to you that a lot of equites are being murdered lately?” Aurelia asked.

  “Who has more money?” I replied. “There’s little gain to be had in robbing a poor man. Anyway, I’m not here to investigate the murder, just to clear up some questions about the man. Treasury business.”I told the lie on a sudden impulse, and it seemed to me that a little of the tension left the shoulders of the two hirsute youths.

  The gallery opened into the stands about twenty rows up, and directly above the loggia, where the giver of the games or the presiding magistrate in charge would sit on race days. A loose group of men stood there that morning, observing the horses and the charioteers as they practiced. It was a beautiful morning, and on the slopes of the Aventine above the Circus the beautiful Temple of Ceres gleamed as if carved from pure alabaster. Here and there were the shrines of other, even older deities. Now that we have all become imitation Greeks, we have forgotten that once our gods were purely Italian. They lingered here in the Valley of Murcia, once a myrtle-draped site of our harvest festivals, when the circus had been a mere dirt track. The sanctuaries of Seia, Segesla, Tutilina, and other half-forgotten goddesses of the harvest stood nearby. The goddess Murcia herself, for whom the valley was named, was already being confused with Venus, who was in turn being absorbed by the Greek Aphrodite. For a people in love with our religious ceremonies, we Romans are remarkably confused in our attitudes toward the gods.

  “What a glorious morning!” Aurelia exclaimed, rousing from her usual half-somnolent abstraction. We descended the steps to the loggia and she strode to the marble railing and stood beside the statue of Victory that crowned one of its corners. Below, the chariots roared by, the charioteers garbed in their tunics of red, white, blue or green, their heads encased in close-fitting leather helmets, some of them wearing padded leather leg-guards, their bodies harnessed in the complicated system of leather straps and thongs intended to protect them in case of a fall and relieve the tremendous strain of the four-horse reins.

  “Silverwing!” Valgius cried, pointing, his eyes gleaming like those of a man who has seen a vision.

  Silverwing was, indeed, a beautiful animal. All racehorses are beautiful, but Silverwing stood out like a god even among these. He belonged to that rare, ancient breed of striped horses, now all but bred out of existence. He was deep gray, with white stripes, brightest on his shoulders and withers and from these he was named. That morning he was not pulling a chariot, but was instead being ridden by one of the Numidian handlers. With only the slight, brown man for a burden, the beast truly seemed to fly.

  Near us two men argued in low but
heated voices. One had his back to us, and the other I did not recognize. The other people on the loggia stood well away from them, as men do when they do not wish to be noticed by someone who is both angry and important. Aurelia. it seemed, was not so overawed.

  “I need to talk to him,” she said, walking over to the two men. Not wishing to give up her company so easily, I followed. The one with his back to us turned at her approach and I wished that I had not been so eager to stay with Aurelia. It was Marcus Licinius Crassus.

  The anger swept from his face and he smiled. “Aurelia! You make the morning twice as beautiful.”‘ He bestowed a properly chaste kiss upon her cheek and looked at the rest of us. “Let me see, I know Decius Caecilius, of course, but I don’t believe I’ve met your other companions.”Aurelia introduced Thorius and Valgius. Crassuss blue eyes were as cold as always, but he displayed no particular hostility toward me. He introduced the man with whom he had been arguing, and who also had regained his composure.

  “This is Quintus Fabius Sanga, who is here to see his horses run.”I glanced at the man’s sandal and saw the small, ivory crescent fixed at the ankle, the mark of a patrician. I took his proffered hand.

  “My father has spoken of you,” 1 told him. “He says that your estates in Gaul produce the finest horses in the world.”

  Sanga smiled. “I did business with Cut-Nose when he was proconsul. He has a sharp eye for horseflesh. He insisted on personally inspecting every horse bought for the auxilia.”Farming and livestock raising are among the few businesses that patricians are allowed to practice, but nobody ever said you couldn’t get rich that way. “If it weren’t for the lupercalia, I’d be up in Gaul with my horses right now.”The Fabian and Quintilian gens had charge of that very strange and ancient festival.