Marching With Caesar - Civil War (48 page)

Finally, I just shrugged. “Well, now we know where each other stands. But I’m still seeing Caesar tomorrow about your brother. If you want to try stopping me, by all means go ahead, and I’ll gut you and put you on a spit.” I pointed to the door. “Now that’s settled, get out of my office.”

He was shaking with rage as he stood up, but he turned to walk out the door. As he exited, he said savagely, “This isn’t over, Pullus. I swear that it’s not.”

“As you say,” I replied then pretended to read a report on my desk.

~ ~ ~ ~

The next morning came without incident; nobody came to my quarters to try anything, and once I disposed of my morning business, I made my way to headquarters for the morning briefing. Once we were through, I caught Appolonius to tell him that I needed to see Caesar on an important matter. Normally, it was not an easy thing to secure an audience with Caesar, but there were two factors working in my favor. The first was that of all the people who wanted Caesar’s time, he gave the highest priority to his Centurions, even over his generals. The second was that I very rarely requested an audience with Caesar, so Appolonius knew that it had to be important. Moments after the briefing was over, I was ushered into Caesar’s office, where he was dictating to several scribes, each occupied with a different subject. As I came to
intente
, Caesar looked up at me. One glance at my face must have told him something, because he immediately dismissed the scribes from the room.

After they left, he looked at me gravely, and said, “I don't know why you’re here, Pullus, but from the look on your face, it can’t be good news.”

“No, sir. It’s not.”

He sighed, then gave a rueful laugh. “Well, I was hoping anyway. So, what is it?”

As briefly as I could, I described the events that led to the death of Plautus, my investigation and my conclusion that the version of events that I was given by Verres and his witnesses was not what had happened. I went on to say that while Plautus certainly held some culpability, he had not done anything that warranted being killed for, at least in my view. I did not expand on what had actually been said, holding out a very faint hope that Caesar would not ask, since this would be the thread that would unravel everything. A hope that lasted all of a heartbeat.

“So what exactly was it that Plautus said that caused all this to happen?”

I took a deep breath then relayed the exchange that led to the killing. Caesar’s mouth twitched a little at the colorful terms Plautus used, but it only lasted for a moment. After I finished, he stayed silent for a moment, his brow furrowed as he thought about what I had told him.

Finally, he said, “It seems very straightforward. While I appreciate you keeping me informed, this appears to be a routine matter, which I'm sure you'll handle in the proper way.” His expression changed, and he eyed me with that shrewd look that made me feel like he was staring right through me. “But I suspect that there's a bit more to this situation than meets the eye, or you wouldn't be standing here looking like you would rather be facing the Egyptians naked.”

“Yes, sir. There is. The problem isn't between Verres and Plautus. There’s been a long-running feud between my men and the 28th that Cartufenus and I have been trying to keep a lid on for months now; the business with the water just made things worse. What happened with the 37th on the Heptastadion apparently gave the 28th the idea that their
cac
doesn’t stink, pardon the expression, sir, but it’s not the 37th that the 28th hates, it’s my boys. And,” I admitted ruefully, “it’s not without cause. The 6th has been giving the 28th the business pretty good, especially after they tried to mutiny. What Plautus said about the 37th was just an excuse for Verres to strike a blow in this feud.”

While I was speaking, Caesar did not interrupt, instead just sat on the edge of his desk, giving me a look that I could not interpret, only serving to increase my own tension.

When I finished, his only reaction at first was to purse his lips as he thought. “And why am I just now being informed of these problems between your men and the 28th?”

There it was; the question that I had been dreading was now in the open. My career and all that I had achieved and hoped to achieve flashed before me, yet I knew that evading the question or trying to tell Caesar what I thought he wanted to hear would make things worse. So I plunged in and opened my mouth to tell the truth, but before I could get started he interrupted.

“Before you say anything, let me take a stab at what's been happening.”

I was not likely to argue, so I merely nodded for him to continue, as if he needed my consent.

“You and Cartufenus, perhaps with the agreement from the other Centurions, decided that it was best, given our situation here and all that you see me dealing with, to try and keep this…feud as you call it, contained to a level that it didn't come to my attention, or that of my generals. Do I have that part right?” I said that he did, and he continued, “But things haven't calmed down, they're getting steadily worse and now you're faced with a situation where, depending on my decision, I may be facing a full-scale riot between my troops.”

His tone was calm, but I could clearly hear the icy anger underlying it. Despite myself, I felt my legs start to tremble.

Trying to keep my voice calm and steady as I answered him, I hated the fact that there was really only one answer. “Yes, sir.”

“Pullus, did it ever occur to you that if you had come to me sooner, at the first signs of trouble, that this could have been nipped in the bud?” He turned to rummage around on his desk, then found what he was looking for and waved a scroll in front of me. “As with any situation like this, the best way to contain it is to stop it early, and there are always a few key players, the malcontents whose words and actions fire up the rest of the men to do things that they wouldn't normally have the inclination, the energy, or the brains to do on their own. If you had come to me earlier, I could have arranged it so that the few men listed on this scroll could have been removed over the period of a few days. The crisis would have been averted, with only the loss of a few men who weren’t very good Gregarii anyway, which would have helped the 28th in the long run. It would be a case of addition by subtraction, if you will. But now, tensions are too high; the men are too much on edge, and this murder has everyone paying attention, waiting for what happens next. If these men were to disappear now, it would guarantee the thing that you're rightly afraid of will happen.”

As Caesar explained the full extent of my error, I was assailed by a number of thoughts, some of them conflicting. What I remember most vividly is the shock at Caesar’s matter of fact tone as he basically admitted to using murder for his own purposes, although I do not know why I felt that way. I had been marching with Caesar for a long time, and I remember other times when men, singly or in very small groups, just disappeared from around the fires. When that happened, we all shot sidelong glances at each other, touching the side of our noses and winking, since the men who disappeared had always been involved in some unrest at the time of their disappearance. However, suspecting a thing and having the architect of such events openly discuss it are two different things. Now, here he was calmly telling me that our suspicions about these men who disappeared were correct, and that he was behind them. Still, his logic could not be faulted, and I knew that he was right. I had made a grave error in judgment. The only thing that remained to be seen was whether my career would suffer irreparable damage because of it.

“Now my options are limited, Pullus. If I accept your judgment, and I must say that I think you're right, and I punish Verres in the manner called for, both by regulation and by custom, I alienate the 6th, not to mention putting you in extremely difficult circumstances. And, because you were my choice as Primus Pilus for the 6th, it would be a blow to my own
dignitas
.”

Now he seemed to be heading in the direction that I had hoped for when I came to see him, and I waited for him to make the decision to suspend punishment of Verres, but that was not where he was headed. “But, if I do what I think you want me to do, and not punish Verres, then I have a problem with not just the 28th, but the 37th, because the story of what this Plautus said has undoubtedly spread throughout the army.” He shook his head, clearly frustrated. “The only way that I might be able to retrieve something from this disaster rests on a question, but I'm afraid I already know the answer. Pullus,” he stared at me closely, “who did you tell that you were coming to me on this matter?” My face gave him the answer that he needed, and he gave a bitter laugh. “Of course, you told everyone involved, didn’t you? In fact, you probably threw it in their face, as a challenge. The great Titus Pullus couldn’t appear to be afraid, could he?” The sarcasm in his tone lacerated my soul, made worse by the truth of his words. “There’s also the matter of Verres’ brother and the fact that he's undoubtedly bribed Verres’ tent mates,” my look of astonishment finally evoked a smile from Caesar, albeit a sour one. “Pullus, I'm surprised at you. Surely you know by now that I'm intimately familiar with every Centurion in my army and their backgrounds. I know a great deal about Verres Rufus.” He looked directly into my eyes, conveying to me in that moment that he was aware of what Rufus had done on the causeway. “And I know that while punishing Verres might be the right thing to do, it will undoubtedly make Verres Rufus very angry, and in his position he can cause a great deal of harm. But, neither am I willing to let Verres Rufus think that I'm acting in a way because of whatever threat he may pose to the stability of the army. Here's what I'm going to do.” He turned away from me so I could not read his expression. “After hearing your report, I'm sentencing Legionary Verres to be executed.”

I experienced a shiver of dread, even though this was exactly what I was hoping for, but as Caesar spoke, I had been thinking. Was I pushing for Verres to be executed because I honestly believed that he was guilty of murdering Plautus? Or was I just reacting to the pressure and threats from Verres Rufus by showing that I did not fear him or any man? A few years before, I would never even have considered the question, but I had gotten to an age where I was able to view myself in a more critical light. Now that Caesar had confirmed the sentence that I expected, I was awash in doubt. Still, there was a second part to my plan, and I waited for Caesar to make further comment.

After a moment, I realized that he was finished, and he said as much. “Was there anything else, Pullus?”

I swallowed, feeling a huge lump in my throat, knowing that I should speak but was unable to do so. Instead, I dumbly shook my head, then saluted. I turned about, marching to the door.

Just as I was reaching for the latch, he called to me. “Are you so anxious to die, Pullus?”

That caught me by surprise, I can tell you.

I turned to look at him, curious and disturbed at the same time. “No, Caesar, I'm not anxious to die. Why do you ask such a question?”

“Surely you have to know that as soon as Verres is put to death, your men are going to feel that you betrayed them. We have some hard fighting yet to do, and it's highly likely that someone in your Cohorts will see an opportunity to take their vengeance. Not to mention you'll have earned the undying hatred of Verres Rufus.”

I wondered if he ever got tired of being right, but I did not say anything that would betray my thoughts.

“It had occurred to me,” I spoke carefully, but said nothing more.

“And what was your plan to stay alive?”

Caesar being sardonic was not a dish I cared for much.

“To be honest, I hadn’t given it much thought.”

“Perhaps an offering to Nemesis to stay the hand of your assassin might be a good idea.” His tone was so neutral I could not tell if he was being sarcastic. After all, he had once been
flamen dialis,
so perhaps he was being serious.

“I prefer to rely on this.” I tapped the hilt of my sword.

Caesar gave a great sigh, then replied, “Even you can be bested, Pullus. You don’t have eyes in the back of your head, and you don't have the same bond with these men that you did with the men of the 10th. Is there anyone you trust sufficiently to stand at your back among the men of the 6th?”

I considered, then shook my head. Despite developing a friendship with Felix, I was not confident that it was strong enough that I would trust my life to him, at least in these circumstances. In the face of the enemy, without a doubt I would trust him, but against his own comrades, men he had marched with for many years longer than we had known each other, I could not be so sure.

“As difficult a circumstance as you've put me in, I can't afford to lose you, Pullus. I need you where you are, especially now. For that reason, I'm going to do nothing about Verres, and neither are you.”