6. The October Horse: A Novel of Caesar and Cleopatra

by Colleen McCullough

  "I think Caesar will be going to Spain as soon as his present legislation is done with," said Calpurnia to Marcia and Porcia. Porcia's eyes lit into a blaze, her face suffused with hope. "This time it will be different!" she cried, smacking her right fist into her left palm jubilantly. "Every day that passes sees Caesar's legions more disaffected, and since the time of Quintus Sertorius, the Spanish have produced legionaries every bit as good as those Italy produces. You wait and see, Spain will be the end of Caesar. I pray for it!" "Come, Porcia," Marcia said, her eyes meeting Calpurnia's ruefully, "remember our company." "Oh, really!" Porcia snapped, her hand going out to clench Calpurnia's. "Why should poor Calpurnia care? Caesar spends all his time across the Tiber with That Woman!" Very true, thought Calpurnia. The only nights he occupies his Domus Publica bed are those before a meeting of the Senate at dawn. Otherwise, he's there with her. I'm jealous and I hate feeling jealous. I hate her too, but I still love Caesar. "I believe," she said with composure, "that the Queen is extremely knowledgeable about government, and that very little of his time with her is devoted to love. From what he says, they talk of his laws. And political matters." "You mean he has the gall to mention her name to his wife?" Porcia demanded incredulously. "Yes, often. That's why I don't worry very much about her. Caesar doesn't act one scrap differently toward me than he ever has. I am his wife. At best, she's his mistress. Though," said Calpurnia wistfully, "I would love to see the little boy." "My father says he's a beautiful child," Marcia offered, then frowned. "The interesting thing is that Atia's boy, Octavius, detests the Queen and refuses to believe that the child is Caesar's. Though my father says the child undoubtedly is Caesar's, he's very like him. Octavius calls her the Queen of Beasts because of her gods, which apparently have the heads of beasts." "Octavius is jealous of her," said Porcia. Calpurnia's eyes widened. "Jealous? But why?" "I don't know, but my Lucius knows him from the drills on the Campus Martius, and says he makes no secret of it." "I didn't know Octavius and Lucius Bibulus were friends," said Marcia. "They're the same age, seventeen, and Lucius is one of the few who doesn't sneer at Octavius when he goes to the drills." "Why should anyone sneer?" asked Calpurnia, puzzled. "Because he wheezes. My father," Porcia went on, transfigured at the mere mention of Cato, "would say that Octavius ought not to be punished for an infliction of the gods. My Lucius agrees." "Poor lad. I didn't know," said Calpurnia. "Living in that house, I do," Marcia said grimly. "There are times when Atia despairs for his life." "I still don't understand why he should be jealous of Queen Cleopatra," Calpurnia said. "Because she's stolen Caesar," Marcia contributed. "Caesar was spending considerable time with Octavius until the Queen came to Rome. Now, he's forgotten Octavius exists." "My father," Porcia brayed, "condemns jealousy. He says that it destroys inner peace." "I don't think we're terribly jealous, yet none of us enjoys inner peace," said Marcia. Calpurnia picked up a kitten wandering around the floor and kissed its sleek, domed little skull. "I have a feeling," she said, cheek against its fat tummy, "that Queen Cleopatra is not at peace either."

  A shrewd guess; having learned that Caesar was going to Spain to deal with the Republican rebellion there, Cleopatra was filled with a rather royal dismay. "But I can't live in Rome without you!" she said. "I refuse to let you leave me here alone!" "I'd say, go home, except that autumnal and winter seas are perilous between here and Alexandria," Caesar said, keeping his temper. "Stick it out, my love. The campaign won't be long." "I heard that the Republicans have thirteen legions." "I imagine at least that many." "And you've discharged all but two of your veteran legions." "The Fifth Alauda and the Tenth. But Rabirius Postumus, who has consented to act as my praefectus fabrum again, is recruiting in Italian Gaul, and a lot of the discharged veterans there are bored enough to re-enlist. I'll have eight legions, sufficient to beat Labienus," Caesar said, and leaned to kiss her with lingering enjoyment. She's still miffed. Change the subject. "Have you looked at the census data?" he asked. "I have, and they're brilliant," she said warmly, diverted. "When I return to Egypt, I shall institute a similar kind of census. What fascinates me is how you managed to school thousands of men to take it door-to-door." "Oh, men love to ask nosy questions. The training lies more in teaching them how to deal with people who resent nosy questions." "Your genius staggers me, Caesar. You do everything so efficiently, yet so swiftly. The rest of us toil in your wake." "Keep paying me compliments, and my head won't fit through your door," he said lightly, then scowled. "At least yours smack of sincerity! Do you know what those idiots put on that wretched gold quadriga they erected in Jupiter Optimus Maximus's porticus?" She did know. While she approved of it and agreed with it, she knew Caesar well enough by now to understand why it had so angered him. The Senate and the Eighteen had commissioned a gold sculpture of Caesar in a four-horse chariot atop a globe of the world, another of the honors they heaped upon him against his will. "I am on the horns of a dilemma about these honors," he had said to her some time ago. "When I refuse them, I'm apostrophized as churlish and ungrateful, yet when I accept them, I'm apostrophized as regal and arrogant. I told them I refused to condone this awful construction, but they've gone ahead with it anyway." He hadn't seen the "awful construction" until this morning, when it was unveiled. The sculptor, Arcesilaus, had done well; his four horses were superb. Pleasantly surprised, Caesar had toured around it with equanimity until he noticed the plaque affixed to the front wall of the chariot. It said, in Greek, exactly what the statue of him in the Ephesus agora said GOD MADE MANIFEST and all the rest. "Take that abomination off!" he snapped. No one moved to obey. One of the senators was wearing a dagger on his belt; Caesar snatched it and used it to dig into the chased gold surface until the plaque came off. "Never, never say such things about me!" he said, and walked out, so furious that the plaque, thrown away, was crushed and crumpled into a ball of metal. So now Cleopatra said pacifically, "Yes, I know about it. And I am sorry it offended you." "I do not want to be the King of Rome, and I do not want to be a god! "he snarled. "You are a God," she said simply. "No, I am not! I am a mortal man, and I will suffer the fate of all mortal men, Cleopatra! I will die! Hear that? Die! Gods don't die. If I were to be made a god after my death, that would be different I'd be sleeping the eternal sleep, and not know I was a god. But while I am mortal, I cannot be a god. And why," he demanded, "do I need to be King of Rome? As Dictator, I can do whatever has to be done."

  "He's like a bull being tormented by a crowd of little boys safely on the other side of the stall railings," said Servilia to Gaius Cassius with great satisfaction. "Oh, I am enjoying it! So is Pontius Aquila." "How is your devoted lover?" Cassius asked sweetly. "Working for me against Caesar, but very subtly. Of course Caesar doesn't like him, but fair-mindedness is one of Caesar's weaknesses, so if a man shows promise, he's advanced, even if he is a pardoned Republican and Servilia's lover," she purred. "You're such a bitch." "And I always was a bitch. I had to be, to survive Uncle Drusus's household. You know Drusus confined me to the nursery and forbade me to leave the premises until I married Brutus's tata, don't you?" she asked. "No, I didn't. Why would a Livius Drusus do that?" "Because I spied for my father, who was Drusus's enemy." "At what age?" "Nine, ten, eleven." "But why were you living with your mother's brother instead of your own father?" Cassius asked. "My mother committed adultery with Cato's father," she said, her face twisting hideously even at so old a memory, "and my father chose to deem all his own children by her as someone else's." "That would do it," said Cassius clinically. "Yet you spied for him?" "He was a patrician Servilius Caepio," she said, as if that explained it all. Knowing her, Cassius supposed it did. "What happened with Vatia in Africa Province?" she asked. "He wouldn't let me collect my or Brutus's debts." "Oh, I see." "How is Brutus?" Her black brows rose, she looked indifferent. "How would I know? He doesn't write to me any more than he writes to you. He and Cicero dribble words to each other. Well, why not? Both of them are old women." Cassius grinned. "I saw Cicero in Tusculum on my way, stayed with him overnight. He's very
busy writing a paean to Cato, if you like that idea. No, I thought you wouldn't. However, the war looming in the Spains had him twittering and fluttering, which surprised me, given his detestation for Caesar. I asked him why, and he said that if the Pompeius boys beat Caesar, he thought they would be far worse masters for Rome than Caesar is." "And what did you reply to that, Cassius dear?" "That, like him, I'd settle for the easygoing old master I know. The Pompeii hail from Picenum, and I've never known a Picentine who wasn't cruel to the marrow. Scratch a Picentine, and you reveal a barbarian." "That's why Picentines make such wonderful tribunes of the plebs. They love to strike when the back is turned, and they're never happier than when they can make mischief. Pah!" Servilia spat. "At least Caesar is a Roman of the Romans." "So much so that he has the blood to be King of Rome." "Just like Sulla," she agreed. "However and also like Sulla! he doesn't want to be the King of Rome." "If you can say that so positively, then why are you and certain others trying very hard to make it seem as if Caesar itches to tie on the diadem?" "It passes the time," Servilia said. "Besides, I must have a tiny bit of Picentine in me. I adore making mischief." "Have you met her majesty?" Cassius asked, feeling his own Romanness expand. Oh, it was good to be home! Tertulla might be half Caesar's, but the other half was pure Servilia, and both halves made for a fascinatingly seductive wife. "My dear, her majesty and I are bosom friends," Servilia cooed. "What fools Roman women can be! Would you believe that most of my female peers have decided to label the Queen of Egypt infra dignitatem? Silly of them, isn't it?" "Why don't you find her beneath your dignity?" "It's more interesting to stand on good terms with her. As soon as Caesar leaves for Spain, I shall bring her into fashion." Cassius frowned. "I'm sure your motives aren't admirable, Mama-in-law, but whatever they are, they elude me. You know so little about her. She might be a wilier snake than you." Servilia lifted her arms above her head and stretched. "Oh, but there you're quite wrong, Cassius. I know a great deal about Cleopatra. You see, her younger sister spent almost two years here in Rome Caesar exhibited her as his captive in his Egyptian triumph. She was put to live with old Caecilia, and as Caecilia is a good friend of mine, I came to know Princess Arsino well. We chatted for hours about Cleopatra." "That triumph's almost three months into the past. Where's Princess Arsino now?" Cassius peered about theatrically. "I'm surprised she isn't living here with you." "She would be, had I had half a chance. Unfortunately Caesar put her on a ship bound for Ephesus the day after his triumph. I hear she's to serve Artemis in the temple there. The moment she escapes, she can be killed for a nice reward. Apparently he gave Cleopatra his word that he'd clip Arsinos wings. Such a pity! I was so looking forward to reuniting the two sisters." He shivered. "There are times, Servilia, when I am profoundly glad that you like me." In answer, she changed the subject. "Do you really prefer Caesar as your master, Cassius?" His face darkened. "I would prefer to have no master. To acknowledge a master is an offense against Quirinus," he snarled.

  VII

  The Cracks Appear

  From INTERCALARIS of 46 B.C. until SEPTEMBER of 45 B.C.

  Caesar's nephew Quintus Pedius and Quintus Fabius Maximus had marched four "new" legions from Placentia in western Italian Gaul during November, and arrived in Further Spain a month later. By the seasons it was late summer, very hot; to their delight, they found the province not entirely at the beck and call of the three Republican generals, so were able to make a good camp on the upper Baetis River and buy the harvest of the region. Caesar's orders were to wait for him and use the time laying in supplies, even though he didn't expect a long campaign. Better to be safe than sorry was always Caesar's motto when it came to logistics. Then at the beginning of the sixty-seven days of Intercalaris which followed the end of December, this comfortable situation changed; Labienus appeared with two legions of well-trained Roman men and four legions of raw local troops, and proceeded to besiege the camp. In a pitched battle Caesar's legates Pedius and Fabius Maximus would have fared well, but in a siege situation Labienus could use his superior strength to best advantage, and did. Safe was definitely preferable to sorry; besieged or no, Caesar's troops could still eat. Unsure of the water from the stream that ran through the camp, the four penned-up legions dug wells for groundwater and settled down to wait for Caesar and rescue. With the Tenth, the Fifth Alauda and two fresh legions largely made up of bored veterans, Caesar set out from Placentia at the same moment as his two legates in Further Spain came under siege. The distance to Corduba on the Via Domitia was one thousand miles, and it was a typically Caesarean march: it took twenty-seven days at an average of thirty-seven miles a day, assisted by the fact that it was no longer necessary to build a camp each night. Gaul of the Via Domitia was so pacified that even Caesar could see no need for a camp with walls, ditches and palisades. That changed when they came down through the pass from Laminium in Nearer Spain to Oretum in Further Spain, but by then there were only a hundred and fifty miles to go. The moment Caesar appeared, Labienus vanished.

  Sextus Pompey was holding the heavily fortified capital of Corduba while older brother Gnaeus took the bulk of the army and went to besiege the town of Ulia, defiantly anti-Republican. But the moment Labienus sent word that Caesar was already marching to take Corduba before Sextus could bring up reinforcements, Gnaeus Pompey packed up his siege to return to Corduba. Just in time! "We have thirteen legions, Caesar eight," said Gnaeus Pompey to Labienus, Attius Varus and Sextus Pompey. "I say we face him now and beat him for once and for all!" "Yes!" cried Sextus. "Yes," said Attius Varus, though less eagerly. "Absolutely not," said Labienus. "Why?" asked Gnaeus Pompey. "Let's finish it, please!" "At the moment Caesar can eat, but winter's on the way, and according to the locals, it's going to be a hard one," Labienus said, tones reasonable. "Leave Caesar to face that winter. Harry him, prevent his foraging, make him use up his supplies." "We outnumber him by five legions," Gnaeus said, unconvinced. "Four of our thirteen are veteran Roman troops, another five are almost as good, which leaves four only of recruits, and they're not all that bad I've heard you say so yourself, Labienus." "What you don't know and I do, Gnaeus Pompeius, is that Caesar also has eight thousand Gallic cavalry. They were some days behind him through the pass, but they're here now. The year's been dry, the grazing isn't wonderful, and if the upper Baetis gets snow this winter, Caesar will lose them. You know Gallic cavalry " He stopped, grunted, looked wry. "No, of course you don't. Well, I do. I worked with them for eight years. Why do you think that Caesar came to prefer Germans? When their precious horses start to suffer, Gallic cavalry ride home. Therefore we leave Caesar alone until spring. Once the horses begin starving, it's goodbye to Caesar's cavalry." The news broke on the two Pompeys as a bitter disappointment, but they were their father's sons; Pompey the Great had never fought unless his forces heavily outnumbered the enemy's. Eight thousand horse meant Caesar outnumbered them. Gnaeus Pompey sighed, banged a frustrated fist on the table. "All right, Labienus, I see your point. We spend the winter denying Caesar any chance to work down out of the Baetis foothills to find snowless grazing."

  "Labienus is learning," Caesar remarked to his legates, now augmented by Dolabella, Calvinus, Messala Rufus, Pollio, and his admiral, Gaius Didius. Inevitably, he also had Tiberius Claudius Nero, whose only value was his name; Caesar needed all the old patricians he could find to dignify his cause. "It's going to be hard finding sufficient fodder for the horses. They're such a wretched nuisance on any campaign, but with Labienus in the field, we're going to need them. His Spanish cavalry are excellent, and he has several thousand at least. He can also get more." "What do you intend to do, Caesar?" Quintus Pedius asked. "Sit tight here in the upper Baetis for the moment. Once winter really cracks down, I have a few ideas. First, we have to convince Labienus that his tactics are working." Caesar looked at Quintus Fabius Maximus. "Quintus, I want your junior legates to fill in their idle moments by finding trustworthy men among my centurions, and use them to monitor feelings in my legions. I've sensed no mutinous rumbles, b
ut the days when I believed in my troops are over. Most of the men Ventidius enlisted in Placentia are veterans, and he sifted them thoroughly for malcontents, I know. Be that as it may, everyone keep his ear to the ground." An uncomfortable silence fell. How terrible to realize that Caesar, the soldier's general, thought that way these days! Yet he was right to think that way. Mutiny was insidious. Once the men who manipulated the ranks learned that it was possible, it became a way to control the general. Things military had been in a state of flux since Gaius Marius admitted the propertyless Head Count to the legions, and mutiny was just a new symptom of that state of flux. Caesar would find a solution.

  At the beginning of January, calendar and seasons now in perfect step, Caesar implemented one of his ideas when he moved to besiege the town of Ategua, a day's march south of Corduba on the river Salsum. Right into the lion's jaws. Ategua contained a huge amount of food, but more important, it held Labienus's winter fodder for his horses. The weather was bitter, Caesar's march as secret as unexpected; by the time that Gnaeus Pompey found out and moved his troops from Corduba to prevent Ategua's capture, Caesar had circumvallated the town in the style of Alesia: a double ring of fortifications, the inner one surrounding the town, the outer one keeping Gnaeus Pompey's relief force at bay. Caesar's eight legions sat within the ring, while his eight thousand Gallic cavalry harassed Gnaeus Pompey continuously. Titus Labienus, who had been absent on a mission, arrived and looked dourly at Caesar's circumvallation. "You can't assist Ategua or break into the ring, Gnaeus," Labienus said. "All you're doing is losing men to Caesar's cavalry. Withdraw to Corduba. Ategua's a lost cause." When the town fell despite heroic resistance, it was a blow to the Republicans in more ways than one. Not only did Caesar feed his horses, but Labienus now had to move closer to the coast to graze his, and the Spanish locals began to lose faith. Desertions in the Spanish levies increased dramatically.