Tribune of the People: A Novel of Ancient Rome by Unknown

Author:Unknown
Language: eng
Format: epub

Chapter 20. East of Cosa

The morning rain had left a chill on the streets, causing Appius to shiver all the way from the baths to the Forum. The columns loomed darkly overhead, the statues of the gods and Roman heroes at their tops lost in the hazy mist of the low clouds. He squinted at the sky, wondering if the sun would break out on this dull, grey day, or would he have to suffer through its gloom all day long. The thought that this was only early fall, with the prospect of winter to come made him even glummer. Not a good place to be in times of crisis like this. Sure enough, two jackdaws flew above, interweaving as they screeched some god’s displeasure at the ministrations of the men below. But which men?

The army had returned, or what was left of it, from the debacle in Numantia. Hostilius Mancinus was under house arrest, Quintus Fabius was dead, along with an entire Roman legion, a loss the Republic could ill afford. It seemed that every speech in the Senate and throughout Rome raged against Mancinus, the Numantines, and Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus. Tiberius! His son-in-law blamed for the ignominious peace with the upstart Numantines! But what choice had he with the men starving and putrefying, their backs up against a raging river? And, where was he now?

“Your point is sound, Appius,” Mucius Scaevola said, “though it might not carry much weight in the court of calumny.” The sharp little lawyer had been leaning against the pedestal supporting a statue of Mercury at the southern edge of the Forum. He wore a mid-calf tunic that didn’t hide the bronze color of his skin bathed by the sun after summering in Herculaneum. Appius wondered how the slight man stayed warm in such dress, but the wind and rain didn’t seem to bother him at all. Appius pulled the fold of his toga closely around his shoulders.

“Don’t bait me, Scaevola,” he said impatiently, “just tell me the truth of the situation.”

Scaevola shrugged, straightening up at Appius’s side as he walked into the Forum.

“Nasica is in the Hostilia Curia readying the senators to condemn Mancinus and his officers. Rufus is on the Rostrum pleased to be charged with working up the crowd against the disgraced consul.”

Appius cringed, tightening his lips over his clenched teeth. “All right. We’ll go to Rufus first.”

“Gracchus! Gracchus!”

The name came out like a screech, an angry epithet spit by the small, round-faced man turned red by his fury, brandishing his fist like a cudgel in the air. “Where is Gracchus? Why is he not in custody to pay the price for his incompetence, his greed, his treason! He not only betrayed the Republic in Hispania and gladly consorted with our mortal enemies the Numantine barbarians, he also raped and pillaged his way through all of northern Italia! While raising an undisciplined mob of brigands, a virtual horde of future slaves and condemned murderers to fill his legion, he helped himself

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