Lustrum

by Robert Harris

  'I'm afraid my friends get nervous if I leave their sight.'

  'Are you suggesting we're assassins?'

  'No, but you keep company with assassins.'

  'Not any longer,' said Crassus with a thin smile, and patted his document case. 'That's why we're here.'

  Cicero hesitated. 'All right, in private, then.' Terentia started to protest. 'Don't alarm yourself, my dear. My guards will be right outside the door, and the strong arm of Tiro will be there to protect me.' (This was a joke.)

  He ordered some chairs to be taken to his study, and the six of us just about managed to squeeze into it. I could see that Cicero was nervous. There was something about Crassus that always made his flesh crawl. Still, he was polite enough. He asked his visitors if they would like some wine, but they declined. 'Very well,' he said. 'Sober is better than drunk. Out with it.'

  'There's trouble brewing in Etruria,' began Crassus.

  'I know the reports. But as you saw when I tried to raise the matter, the senate won't take it seriously.'

  'Well, they need to wake up quickly.'

  'You've certainly changed your tune!'

  'That's because I've come into possession of certain facts. Tell him, Arrius.'

  'Well,' said Arrius, looking shifty. He was a clever fellow, an old soldier, low-born, and Crassus's creature in all matters. He was much mocked behind his back for his silly way of speaking, adding an 'h' to some of his vowels, presumably because he thought it made him sound educated. 'I was in Hetruria up till yesterday. There are bands of fighters gathering right across the region. I hunderstand they're planning to hadvance on Rome.'

  'How do you know that?'

  'I served with several of the ringleaders in the legions. They tried to persuade me to join them, and I let them think I might – purely to gather hintelligence, you hunderstand,' he added quickly.

  'How many of these fighters are there?'

  'I should say five thousand, maybe ten.'

  'As many as that?'

  'If there aren't that many now, there will be soon enough.'

  'Are they armed?'

  'Some. Not all. They have a plan, though.'

  'And what is this plan?'

  'To surprise the garrison at Praeneste, seize the town, fortify it, and use it as a base to rally their forces.'

  'Praeneste is almost impregnable,' put in Crassus, 'and less than a day's march from Rome.'

  'Manlius has also sent supporters the length and breadth of Hitaly to stir up hunrest.'

  'My, my,' said Cicero, looking from one to the other, 'how well informed you are!'

  'You and I have had our disagreements, Consul,' said Crassus coldly, 'but I'm a loyal citizen, first and last. I don't want to see a civil war. That's why we're here.' He placed the document case on his lap, opened it and pulled out a bundle of letters. 'These messages were delivered to my house earlier this evening. One was addressed to me; two others were for my friends here, Marcellus and young Scipio, who happened to be dining with me. The rest are addressed to various other members of the senate. As you can see, the seals on those are still unbroken. Here you are. I want there to be no secrets between us. Read the one that came for me.'

  Cicero gave him a suspicious look, glanced through the letter quickly and then handed it to me. It was very short: The time for talking is over. The moment for action has arrived. Catilina has drawn up his plans. He wishes to warn you there will be bloodshed in Rome. Spare yourself and leave the city secretly. When it is safe to return, you will be contacted. There was no signature. The handwriting was neat and entirely without character: a child could have done it.

  'You see why I felt we had to come straight away,' said Crassus. 'I've always been a supporter of Catilina. But we want no part of this.'

  Cicero put his chin in his hand and said nothing for a while. He looked from Marcellus to Scipio. 'And the warnings to you both? Are they exactly the same?' The two young senators nodded. 'Anonymous?' More nods. 'And you've no idea who they're from?' They shook their heads. For two such arrogant young Roman noblemen, they were as docile as lambs.

  'The identity of the sender is a mystery,' declared Crassus. 'My doorkeeper brought the letters in to us when we'd finished dinner. He didn't see who delivered them – they were left on the step and whoever was the courier ran away. Naturally Marcellus and Scipio read theirs at the same time as I read mine.'

  'Naturally. May I see the other messages?'

  Crassus reached into his document case and gave him the unopened letters one at a time. Cicero examined each address in turn and showed it to me. I remember a Claudius, an Aemilius, a Valerius and others of that ilk, including Hybrida: about eight or nine in total; all patricians.

  'He seems to be warning his hunting companions,' said Cicero, 'for old times' sake. It's strange, is it not, that they should all be sent to you? Why is that, do you think?'

  'I have no idea.'

  'It's certainly an odd conspiracy that approaches a man who says he doesn't even belong to it and asks him to act as its messenger.'

  'I can't pretend to explain it.'

  'Perhaps it's a hoax.'

  'Perhaps. But when one considers the alarming developments in Etruria, and then remembers how close Catilina is to Manlius … No, I think one has to take it seriously. I fear I owe you an apology, Consul. It seems Catilina may be a menace to the republic after all.'

  'He's a menace to everyone.'

  'Anything I can do to help – you have only to ask.'

  'Well, for a start, I'll need those letters, all of them.'

  Crassus exchanged looks with his companions, but then he stuffed the letters into the document case and gave it to Cicero. 'You'll be producing them in the senate, I assume?'

  'I think I must, don't you? I'll also need Arrius to make a statement about what he's discovered in Etruria. Will you do that, Arrius?'

  Arrius looked to Crassus for guidance. Crassus gave a slight nod. 'Habsolutely,' he confirmed.

  Crassus said, 'And you'll be seeking the senate's authority to raise an army?'

  'Rome must be protected.'

  'May I just say that if you require a commander for such a force, you need look no further? Don't forget I was the one who put down the revolt of Spartacus. I can put down the revolt of Manlius just as well.'

  As Cicero afterwards observed, the brazenness of the man was astonishing. Having helped create the danger in the first place by supporting Catilina, he now hoped to claim the credit for destroying it! Cicero made a non-committal reply, to the effect that it was rather late at night to be imagining armies into being and appointing generals, and that he would like to sleep on matters before deciding how to respond.

  'But when you make your statement, you'll give me credit for my patriotism in coming forward, I hope?'

  'You may rely on it,' said Cicero, ushering him out of the study and into the atrium, where the guards were waiting.

  'If there's anything more I can do …' said Crassus.

  'Actually there is one matter I'd appreciate your help on,' said Cicero, who never missed an opportunity to press home an advantage. 'This prosecution of Murena, if it succeeds, would rob us of a consul at a very dangerous moment. Will you join Hortensius and me in defending him?'

  Of course this was the last thing Crassus wanted to do, but he made the best of it. 'It would be an honour.'

  The two men shook hands. 'I cannot tell you,' said Cicero, 'how pleased I am that any misunderstandings that may have existed between us in the past are now cleared up.'

  'I feel exactly the same, my dear Cicero. This has been a good night for both of us – and an ever better night for Rome.'

  And with many mutual protestations of friendship, trust and regard, Cicero conducted Crassus and his companions to the door, bowed to him, wished him a sound night's sleep, and promised to talk to him in the morning.

  'What a complete and utter lying shit that bastard is!' he exclaimed the moment the door had closed.

&nbs
p; 'You don't believe him?'

  'What? That Arrius just happened to be in Etruria and by chance fell into idle conversation with men who are taking up arms against the state and who then on a whim urged him to join them? No I don't. Do you?'

  'Those letters are very odd. Do you think he wrote them himself ?'

  'Why would he do that?'

  'I suppose so that he could come to you in the middle of the night and play the part of the loyal citizen. They do give him the perfect excuse to withdraw his support from Catilina.' Suddenly I became excited, for I thought I saw the truth. 'That's it! He must have sent Arrius out to take a look at what was happening in Etruria, and then when Arrius came back and told him what was going on, he took fright. He's decided Catilina's certain to lose, and wants publicly to distance himself.'

  Cicero nodded approvingly. 'That's clever.' He wandered back along the passage and into the atrium, his hands clasped behind his back, his head hunched forward, thinking. Suddenly he stopped. 'I wonder …' he began.

  'What?'

  'Well, look at it the other way round. Imagine that Catilina's plan works: that Manlius's ragamuffin army does indeed capture Praeneste and then advances on Rome, gathering support in every town and village through which it passes. There's panic and slaughter in the capital. The senate house is stormed. I am killed. Catilina effectively takes control of the republic. It's not impossible – the gods know, we have few enough here to defend us, while Catilina has many supporters living within our walls. Then what would happen?'

  'I don't know. It's a nightmare.'

  'I can tell you precisely what would happen. The surviving magistrates would have no option except to summon home the one man who could save the nation: Pompey the Great, at the head of his Eastern legions. With his military genius, and with forty thousand trained men under his command, he'd finish off Catilina in no time, and once he'd done that, nothing would stand between him and the dictatorship of the entire world. And which of his rivals does Crassus fear and hate more than any other?'

  'Pompey?'

  'Pompey. Exactly. That's it. The situation must be much more perilous even than I thought. Crassus came to see me tonight to betray Catilina not because he's worried he might fail but because he's frightened he'll succeed.'

  The next morning at first light we left the house accompanied by four knights including the Sextus brothers, who henceforth would seldom leave the consul's side. Cicero kept the hood of his cloak well up and his head well down, while I carried the case of letters. Every few paces I had to take an extra step to keep up with his long stride. When I asked him where we were going, he replied: 'We need to find ourselves a general.'

  It seems odd to relate, but overnight all Cicero's recent misery and despair had left him. Faced with this immense crisis he seemed – not happy: that would be absurd to say, but invigorated. He almost bounded up the steps to the Palatine, and when we turned into Victory Rise I realised our destination must be the house of Metellus Celer. We passed the portico of Catulus and drew into the doorway of the next house, which stood vacant, its windows and entrance boarded up. Determined not to be seen, Cicero said that he would wait here while I went next door and announced that the consul wished to see the praetor alone and in the strictest confidence. I did as he asked, and Celer's steward quickly reported back that his master would join us as soon as he could get away from his morning levee. When I returned to fetch Cicero, I found him talking to the watchman of the empty house. 'This place belongs to Crassus,' he told me as we walked away. 'Can you believe it? It's worth a fortune but he's leaving it empty so that he can get a better price next year. No wonder he doesn't want a civil war – it's bad for business!'

  Cicero was conducted by a servant down an alleyway between the two houses, through the rear door and directly into the family apartments. There, Celer's wife Clodia, alluring in a silken robe over her nightdress, and with the musky smell of the bedchamber still upon her, waited to greet him. 'When I heard you were coming clandestinely through the back door I hoped it was to see me,' she said reproachfully, fixing him with her sleepy eyes, 'but now I hear it's my husband you want, which really is too boring of you.'

  'I fear everyone is a bore,' said Cicero, bowing to kiss her hand, 'compared to she who reduces us all, however eloquent, to stammering wrecks.'

  It was a measure of Cicero's revived spirits that he had the energy to flirt, and the contact between his lips and her skin seemed to last far longer than was necessary. What a scene: the great and prudish orator bent over the hand of the most titled trollop in Rome! It actually flashed into my mind – a wild, fantastical notion – that Cicero might one day leave Terentia for this woman, and I was glad when Celer came bustling into the room in his usual hearty military manner and the intimate atmosphere was instantly dissolved.

  'Consul! Good morning! What can I do for you?'

  'You can raise an army and save your country.'

  'An army? That's a good one!' But then he saw that Cicero was serious. 'What are you talking about?'

  'The crisis I have for so long predicted is upon us at last. Tiro, show the praetor the letter addressed to Crassus.' I did so, and watched Celer's face grow rigid as he read the words.

  'This was sent to Crassus?'

  'So he says. And these others were also delivered to him last night for distribution across the city.' Cicero gestured to me and I handed Celer the bundle of letters. He read a couple and compared them. When he had finished, Clodia lifted them from his hands and studied them herself. He made no effort to stop her, and I made a note in my mind to remember that she was privy to all his secrets. 'And that's only the half of it,' continued Cicero. 'According to Quintus Arrius, Etruria is swarming with Catilina's men. Manlius is raising a rebel army equivalent to two legions. They plan to seize Praeneste, and Rome will be next. I want you to take command of our defences. You'll need to move swiftly if we're to stop them.'

  'What do you mean by swiftly?'

  'You'll leave the city today.'

  'But I have no authority—'

  'I'll get you the authority.'

  'Hold on, Consul. There are things I need to think about before I go off raising troops and rampaging through the countryside.'

  'Such as?'

  'Well, first I must certainly consult my brother Nepos. And then I have my other brother – my brother by marriage – Pompey the Great, to think about—'

  'We haven't the time for all that! If every man starts considering his family's interests ahead of his nation's, we'll never get anywhere. Listen, Celer,' Cicero said, softening his tone in that way I'd heard him do so often, 'your courage and firm action have already saved the republic once when Rabirius was in peril. Ever since then I've known that history has cast you to play the hero's part. There's glory as well as peril in this crisis. Remember Hector: “No sluggard's fate, ingloriously to die/But daring that which men to be shall learn.” Besides, if you don't do it, Crassus will.'

  'Crassus? He's no general! All he knows about is money.'

  'Maybe, but he's already sniffing round the chance for military glory. Give him a day or two and he'll have bought himself a majority in the senate.'

  'If there's military glory to be had, Pompey will want it, and my brother has come back to Rome expressly to ensure he gets it.' Celer gave me back the letters. 'No, Consul – I appreciate your faith in me, but I can't accept without their approval.'

  'I'll give you Nearer Gaul.'

  'What?'

  'Nearer Gaul – I'll give it you.'

  'But Nearer Gaul isn't yours to give.'

  'Yes it is. It's presently my allotted province, swapped with Hybrida for Macedonia, if you recall. It was always my intention to renounce it. You can have it.'

  'But it's not a basket of eggs! There'll have to be a fresh ballot among the praetors.'

  'Yes, which you will win.'

  'You'll rig the ballot?'

  'I shan't rig the ballot. That would be most improper. No, no, I'll le
ave that side of things to Hybrida. He may not have many talents, but rigging ballots I believe is one of them.'

  'What if he refuses?'

  'He won't. We have an understanding. Besides,' said Cicero, flourishing the anonymous letter addressed to Hybrida, 'I'm sure he'd prefer it if this wasn't made public.'

  'Nearer Gaul,' said Celer, rubbing his broad chin. 'It's better than Further Gaul.'

  'Darling,' said Clodia, putting her hand on her husband's arm, 'it really is a very good offer, and I'm sure Nepos and Pompey will understand.'

  Celer grunted, and rocked back and forth on his heels a few times. I could see the greed in his face. Eventually he said, 'How soon d'you think I could be given this province?'

  'Today,' said Cicero. 'This is a national emergency. I shall argue that there must be no uncertainty about commands anywhere in the empire, and that my place is in Rome, just as yours is in the field, putting down the rebel forces. We'll be partners in defence of the republic. What do you say?'

  Celer glanced at Clodia. 'It will put you ahead of all your contemporaries,' she said. 'Your consulship will be guaranteed.'

  He grunted again, and turned back to Cicero. 'Very well,' he replied, and extended his massive muscled arm towards the consul. 'For the sake of my country, I say yes.'

  From Celer's house, Cicero walked the few hundred paces to Hybrida's, roused the presiding consul from his habitual drunken stupor, sobered him up, told him about the rebel army gathering in Etruria, and gave him his lines for the day. Hybrida baulked at first when told he would have to rig the ballot for Nearer Gaul, but then Cicero showed him the letter from the conspirators with his name written on it. His glassy, red-veined eyes almost popped out of his head and he began to sweat and shake in alarm.

  'I swear to you, Cicero, I knew nothing about it!'

  'Yes, but unfortunately, my dear Hybrida, as you well know, this city is full of jealous and suspicious minds that might easily be persuaded to believe otherwise. If you really want to prove your loyalty beyond question, I suggest you oblige me in this matter of Nearer Gaul, and you may rely on my absolute support.'