Masters of Rome Boxset: First Man in Rome, the Grass Crown, Fortune's Favourites, Caesar's Women, Caesar

by Colleen McCullough

  “He’s not tempted to espouse Philippus’s life style?”

  “I saw no evidence of it. What I did see was huge ambition and considerable shrewdness.”

  “That branch of the Octavii have never had a consul.”

  “They will in my great-nephew,” said Caesar positively.

  *

  Caesar arrived to reinforce Gaius Fabius toward the end of June, bringing the strength of his forces up to six legions; the Narbonese militia were thanked and sent home.

  “Lucius Caesar told you that Pompeius has borrowed this army’s savings?” asked Gaius Fabius.

  “He did. Which means they have to win, doesn’t it?”

  “So they think. Afranius and Petreius were bitten too.”

  “Then we’d better reduce them to penury.”

  But it seemed that Caesar’s fabled luck was out. The winter dissipated early in continuous downpours which extended into the high Pyrenees and brought a spate down the Sicoris which knocked out every bridge across it. A problem for Caesar, who had to bring his supplies over those bridges. A narrow but fast-flowing stream even when not in flood, the Sicoris continued to defy the new arrivals; when finally its level dropped, the presence of Afranius and Petreius on its far side prevented rebuilding of the bridges. The rain persisted, camp was a misery, food was low.

  “All right, boys,” said Caesar at assembly, “we’re going to have to do it the hard way.”

  The hard way was to slog with two legions twenty miles upstream, mired to the ankles in mud, and there throw up a bridge without the knowledge of the Pompeians. Once this was done, food flowed in again— even if camp was no drier.

  “And that,” said Caesar to Fabius, “is what Caesar’s luck really consists of—hard work. Now we sit through the rains and wait for fine weather.”

  Of course the couriers galloped between Rome and Caesar’s camp, between Massilia and Caesar’s camp; Caesar never liked to be more than two nundinae behind events. Among the many letters from Rome came one from Mark Antony, carried very swiftly.

  The word in Rome is that you’re stuck, Caesar. All the Sicoris bridges out, and no food. When certain senators heard, they staged a joyful celebration outside Afranius’s house on the Aventine. Lepidus and I thought it might be amusing to watch, so we went along— no, I didn’t need to cross the pomerium! They had singers, dancers, tumblers, a couple of rather horrible freaks, and plenty of shrimps and oysters from Baiae. Between ourselves, Lepidus and I thought it a bit premature. By now, we think, you will have solved your supply problems and be dealing with the Pompeians.

  One further effect of this news that you were in serious trouble concerns the Senate; the celebration concluded, all the waverers— about forty, all told—departed for Pompeius in eastern Macedonia. I believe that when they get there, these anxious-to-be-on-the-right-side senators will not suffer any deprivations in the field. Pompeius has taken up residence in the governor’s palace at Thessalonica, and they’re all living mighty high.

  Neither Lepidus nor I prevented this mass exodus, in which I hope we did right. Our assumption was that you’re better off without these creatures in Italia—let Pompeius have the joy of them. By the way, I let Cicero leave too. His noises of opposition didn’t diminish, and he didn’t care much for my style of governing. I’ve got this terrific chariot drawn by four lions, and made a show of driving it whenever I was in Cicero’s neighborhood. Truth to tell, Caesar, it’s a pain in the podex. I had male lions with black manes—huge and very imposing animals. But they refused to work. Lazy! Every two paces they’d flop down and go to sleep. I had to substitute females. Even so, lions do not make good chariot pullers. Which makes me skeptical about Dionysos and his car drawn by leopards.

  Cicero left from Caieta about the Nones of June, but not with brother Quintus. As you well know, Quintus’s son is minded to side with you. Been listening to tata, I suspect. Both brother Quintus and nephew Quintus elected to stay in Italia, though for how long remains a mystery. Cicero is playing on family feelings. Full of moans right up to his departure. His eyes were in a shocking mess when I saw him at the beginning of May. I know you wanted him to stay here, but he’s better gone. He’s too incompetent to make any difference to Pompeius’s chances of success (which I rate very low), and he’ll never come round to your way of thinking. A voice like his is better removed to someplace it can’t be heard. His boy, Marcus, went too.

  Tullia, by the way, gave birth to a seven-months child in May—a boy. But it died on the same day in June that old Perperna died. Fancy that! The senior senator and senior consular. Still, if I live to be ninety-eight, I’ll be happy.

  A letter which both pleased and displeased Caesar. Was there anything could make a sensible man out of Antonius? Lions! He and Lepidus were right about the senatorial exodus—better without such men, they’d only make it difficult for Lepidus to pass much needed legislation. Cicero was another matter. He should not have been let leave the country.

  The news from Massilia was cheering. Decimus Brutus and his inexplicable gift for doing well on water had paid dividends. The blockade of Massilia’s harbor he instituted had begun to hurt the city so badly that Ahenobarbus led the Massiliote fleet out to do battle. With the result that Ahenobarbus went down, sustaining very heavy losses. Decimus Brutus’s blockade was still firmly in place, and Massilia was eating less well. Also, it would seem, developing a dislike of Ahenobarbus.

  “That,” said Fabius, “is not surprising.”

  “Massilia picked the wrong side,” said Caesar. He compressed his lips. “I don’t know why these places deem me incapable of winning when I can’t lose.”

  “Pompeius has a much longer record of success, Caesar. But they’ll learn.”

  “As Afranius and Petreius are about to learn.”

  *

  By the middle of Quinctilis, Afranius and Petreius were worried men. Though there had been no major engagement between the two armies, Caesar’s three thousand Gallic cavalry were hitting the Pompeians hard along their supply lines. Very short of horse troopers themselves, Pompey’s two old retainers decided to pull out and move south of the great river Iberus, into country Caesar didn’t know. Country which was absolutely loyal to Pompey, which would not supply Caesar with food. To compound the Pompeian woes, some of the bigger Spanish towns north of the Iberus were starting to think Caesar’s chances were better. Led by Sertorius’s old capital, Osca, they declared for Caesar, who was related to Gaius Marius, who was related to Sertorius.

  South of the Iberus that kind of defection wouldn’t occur; definitely time to withdraw. Marcus Petreius went ahead with the corps of engineers and some laborers to build a bridge of boats across the river, while Afranius kept up appearances opposite Caesar. Unfortunately for the Pompeians, Caesar’s network of informers was excellent. He knew exactly what was going on. In the same moment as Afranius was surreptitiously pulling out, Caesar was surreptitiously leading his army upstream.

  The ground had dried out, the terrain was reasonable; Caesar marched with all his customary speed, and caught up with Afranius’s rear guard by midafternoon. And kept on marching, right into Afranius’s ranks. The rougher country ahead of Afranius’s column contained a defile for which the Pompeian army had been heading, but, still five miles short of it, Caesar’s remorseless harrying forced Afranius to halt and build a strongly fortified camp. Minus the moral support of Petreius, he spent a long and miserable night, dying to sneak away, yet unable to do so because he knew Caesar liked to attack at night. His main worry was the spirit among his troops; in civil war disaffection was always possible, and there had been muttering. What he overlooked was his own mood.

  It had been many years since Afranius had campaigned as strenuously—if he ever had. At dawn Caesar struck camp much faster and reached the defile first; Afranius had no choice other than to pitch camp at the mouth of the ravine. Petreius, returning from the Iberus, found him lackluster and depressed, unable to think what must be done; he hadn
’t even ensured his water supply. Angry, Petreius set about building a fortified line to the river.

  But while Petreius, the engineers and some of the men busied themselves with this, most of the Pompeian soldiers were idle. Caesar’s camp was so close to theirs that his sentries were within speaking distance; Pompeians began to talk with Caesareans, who urged them to surrender.

  “You can’t beat Caesar” was the constantly repeated refrain. “Give in now, while you’re still alive. Caesar doesn’t want to fight fellow Romans, but most of us are dying for a good battle—and pressing Caesar to give us one! Best surrender while you can.”

  A Pompeian deputation of senior centurions and military tribunes went to Caesar. Among them was Afranius’s son, who begged Caesar to pardon his father. In fact, discipline had relaxed so much that while the Pompeian deputation parleyed with Caesar, some of Caesar’s soldiers strolled into the Pompeian camp. When Afranius and Petreius discovered them, they were appalled to learn that their senior officers—together with Afranius’s own son!—were conferring with the enemy. Afranius wanted to send the Caesarean soldiers home; Petreius refused to hear of it and had his Spanish bodyguard kill them on the spot. Retaliation was typical of this new, clement Caesar. He sent the Pompeians back to their camp with courteous words and an offer of service in his own legions. The contrast between his behavior and Petreius’s did not go unnoticed; while Afranius and Petreius were deciding to head for Illerda rather than cross the Iberus, disaffection in the Pompeian ranks was spreading rapidly.

  The retreat toward Illerda was a frantic scramble, with Caesar’s cavalry harassing the rear guard all day. That night when the Pompeians went into camp, Caesar threw up some quick fortifications and deprived them of water.

  Afranius and Petreius sued for peace.

  “Fine by me,” said Caesar, “provided that negotiations are conducted in a full assembly of both armies.”

  Caesar’s terms were reasonable and acceptable. The Pompeian troops—and Afranius and Petreius—were pardoned. Any men who fancied joining Caesar’s ranks were admitted if they swore an oath of allegiance to Caesar, but none were coerced; men enlisted against their will would form the first nucleus of disaffection. Pompeians who lived in Spain might return to their homes after giving up their arms; Roman Pompeians would be marched back to the river Varus, which was the boundary between the Province and Liguria, and there discharged.

  The war in Spain was over, and again had been virtually a bloodless one. Quintus Cassius and two legions marched for the southern Spanish province, wherein Marcus Terentius Varro had done little to prepare for war save decide to shut himself up in Gades. But before he could do so, the entire populace and both legions of Further Spain went over to Caesar without a fight. Varro met Quintus Cassius at Corduba and surrendered.

  In only one aspect did Caesar make a mistake, and that was to place Quintus Cassius in the governorship of Further Spain. Those aurally and argently sensitized nostrils flared like a hound’s as they sniffed the gold and silver which the further province still produced in abundance; Quintus Cassius waved a cheerful goodbye to Caesar and settled down to plunder his new charge ruthlessly.

  By mid-September, Caesar was back in Massilia. Just in time to receive that city’s surrender. The chastened and disillusioned Council of Fifteen was forced to admit that Ahenobarbus had sailed away, leaving them without the strength to resist Decimus Brutus’s blockade. Leaving them to starve. Caesar permitted Massilia to retain its independent status, but without any troops or warships to defend itself—and with its hinterland pared back almost to nothing. Just to make sure, Caesar left two legions of ex-Pompeian troops behind to garrison it. Pleasant duty in a pleasant land; the ex-Pompeians would stay loyal. The Fourteenth Legion was sent back to Gaul of the Long-hairs under the command of Decimus Brutus, who would govern that new province in Caesar’s absence. Trebonius, Fabius, Sulpicius and the others were to march with him for Rome and Italia, where most of them would remain to serve as praetors.

  2

  Rome had settled down fairly well. When Curio sent the news that he had secured Sicily at the end of June, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. With Orca holding Sardinia and Curio holding Sicily, enough grain would flow in good harvest years. Africa was insurance against famine should Curio manage to take it.

  At the moment it was firmly in the hands of the Pompeians; the capable legate Quintus Attius Varus had gone from Corfinium to Sicily and from there to Africa Province, where he wrested control from Aelius Tubero, ejected him, and formed an alliance with King Juba of Numidia. Africa’s single legion was now augmented by troops levied from among Roman veterans settled in Africa, their sons, and Juba’s large army of infantry. Juba had, besides, his famous Numidian cavalry, men who rode bareback, wore no armor and fought as lancers rather than at cut-and-thrust close quarters.

  Matters were much easier for Lepidus after the second exodus of senators from Rome. He had his instructions from Caesar and now began to implement them. The first thing he did was to reduce the number of senators necessary to form a quorum; the decree was easily obtained from a Senate now consisting of Caesar’s men and a few neutrals, and the Popular Assembly saw no reason why it shouldn’t pass the law. Henceforth sixty senators would constitute a quorum.

  Lepidus did nothing further save keep in constant touch with Mark Antony, who was proving a popular governor of Italia. Between the litterloads of mistresses, the entourages of dwarves, dancers, acrobats and musicians, and that famous lion-drawn chariot, the rural people and the townsfolk of Italia thought him marvelous. Always jolly, always affable, always approachable, always ready to quaff a bucket or two of unwatered wine, he yet managed to get his duties done—and did not make the mistake of appearing in ridiculous guise when he visited his troops or port garrisons. Life was a bower of the exquisite roses which rambled all over Campania (his favorite destination), a heady mixture of frolic and authority. Antony was enjoying himself hugely.

  News from Africa continued to be good. Curio had established himself in Utica without difficulty, and had dealt skillfully with Attius Varius and Juba in a number of skirmishes.

  Then in Sextilis events in Illyricum and Africa soured. Mark Antony’s middle brother, Gaius, had set himself down with fifteen cohorts of troops on the island of Curicta at the head of the Adriatic; there he was surprised by the Pompeian admirals Marcus Octavius and Lucius Libo, who attacked. Despite the valor of some of his men, Gaius Antonius knew himself in desperate trouble; he sent for help to Caesar’s admiral in the Adriatic, Dolabella. Leading forty slow and under-armed ships, Dolabella responded. A sea battle developed and Dolabella was forced out of the water; his fleet was lost—and so was Gaius Antonius. Together with his troops, Gaius Antonius was captured. Falsely emboldened by his success, Marcus Octavius went on to attack the Dalmatian coast at Salona, which shut its gates and defied him. In the end he was forced to break off operations and return to Epirus, bearing as his captives Gaius Antonius and those fifteen cohorts. Dolabella got away.

  Not happy news for Mark Antony, who cursed his brother’s stupidity heartily, then settled down to work out how he could engineer Gaius Antonius’s escape. The brunt of his disapproval, however, fell on Dolabella’s head—what had Dolabella been about, to lose not only a battle but all of his ships? Nor was he prepared to listen when more detached people explained to him that the Pompeian ships were infinitely superior to the tubs poor Dolabella had under his command.

  *

  Fulvia had adjusted to life without Curio. Not happily, but adequately. Her three children by Publius Clodius were some years older than baby Curio: Publius Junior was now sixteen and would become a man at the festival of Juventas in December; Clodia was fourteen and had a head filled with dreams of husbands; and little Clodilla was eight, delightfully obsessed with baby Curio, who was now approaching a year in age and was walking and talking.

  She still kept up with Clodius’s own two sisters, Clodia the widow of Metellus Celer,
and Clodilla the divorced widow of Lucius Lucullus. Those two ladies had declined to marry again, preferring the freedom they enjoyed because they were wealthy and not in any man’s custody. But to some extent Fulvia’s interests became ever more divergent from Clodius’s sisters’; she liked her children and she liked being married. Nor was she tempted to have affairs.

  Her best friend was not a woman.

  “At least,” she grinned, “not in the anatomical sense.”

  “I don’t know why I put up with you, Fulvia,” said Titus Pomponius Atticus, grinning back. “I’m a happily married man, and I have a delightful little daughter.”

  “You needed an heir to all that money, Atticus.”

  “Perhaps so.” He sighed. “Bother these warring generals! I can’t travel to Epirus with the freedom I used to have, nor do I dare show my nose in Athens, which is full of Pompeians of high birth strutting about obnoxiously.”

  “But you maintain good relations with both sides.”

  “True. However, lovely lady, it’s more prudent for a rich man to rub noses with Caesar’s adherents rather than Pompeius’s. Pompeius is ravenous for money—he asks anyone he thinks has any for a loan. And, candidly, I think Caesar’s going to win. Therefore to be inveigled into lending Pompeius or his adherents money is tantamount to throwing it into the sea. Thus—no Athens.”

  “And no delicious boys.”

  “I can live without them.”

  “I know. I’m just sorry you have to.”

  “So are they,” said Atticus dryly. “I’m a generous lover.”

  “Speaking of lovers,” she said, “I miss Curio dreadfully.”

  “Odd, that.”

  “Odd, what?”

  “Men and women usually fall in love with the same kind of person every time. But you didn’t. Publius Clodius and Curio are very different, in nature as well as looks.”

  “Well, Atticus, that makes marriage an adventure. I missed being married very much after Clodius died, and Curio was always there. I never used to notice him as a man. But the more I looked, the more the differences between him and Clodius became interesting. The freckles, the homeliness. That awful mop of disobedient hair. The missing tooth. The thought of having a red-haired baby.”