Marius' Mules XV by S.J.A. Turney

Author:S.J.A. Turney
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: history, ancient, rome, roman, caesar, ides
Publisher: S.J.A. Turney

Rome. Late Januarius.

‘You are being complacent,’ Cassius growled. ‘The time to move is now.’

Trebonius shook his head. ‘All things come in time, as the gods will, and what the gods will is Caesar’s death. We know that now.’

Casca nodded at that. ‘Spurinna confirmed it. The gods turn on the despot, clearly, for even the man he brought from Africa to prove his worthiness can prophesy only death. It will happen now. Perhaps we need not even bare a blade.’

‘I’d not taken either of you for fools. How blind of me’ Cassius said.

‘There is no need for insults,’ Trebonius snapped. ‘Caesar will die. We are free of obligation.’

‘No, we are not, you fools. Spurinna speaks for the gods, yes, and he tells us that Caesar will die by the Ides of Martius, but that does not mean we can sit back and cross our arms and wait. It means we must step up plans. There are only two sessions of the senate before he leaves for Parthia, and that will be too late. The second session is out, because it is on the Ides of Martius. Clearly that will be too late. But the session before that is in a matter of mere days, and though I cannot see how we can put everything in place in time, do that we must.’

‘Why? Why must we?’ insisted Casca.

‘Because it must be us, man. The blow must be struck by us. We play the tyrannicides, and we must do it openly, publicly, with pride and with clarity of action. It must be a blow struck for the people, in front of the people. That is why we decided upon a senate session, where everyone can witness the tyrant’s fall. If we simply wait and trust that the gods will act for us, yes Caesar will die by the Ides of Martius, but it may be from one of his fits that he pretends do not happen. Or it may be some gutter thief’s blade. Or an accident. A drowning in the Tiber, or a fall, perhaps. And any of those deaths are the deaths of a normal man. Such a death would take Caesar, but not his legacy. The ideals that he promotes, of one man rule, of an oriental monarchy like the Macedonians, of ultimate power, would not die with him. We could wait for him to die and suddenly find ourselves with a king in the form of Octavian, or Antonius, or even, gods help us, that half Aegyptian bastard. That is why it must be us. He must die by the common will of the republic and its senate, and be seen to do so.’

‘We are too few for such an enterprise. Caesar is no fool. He surrounds himself with men even while claiming to have dismissed his guard. Even without his lictors, there are noble men who cleave to him and who have veritable armies to prevent us coming close. Gods, but Decimus Brutus even has a stable of gladiators.

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