SPQR XII: Oracle of the Dead

by John Maddox Roberts

  “Whatever their other austerities, the priests of Apollo are no less captivated by feminine beauty than are other men. To this end you acquired the girl Hypatia, a remarkable beauty, intelligent, and a good actress. You taught and coached her carefully, then you presented her to Eugaeon at an outrageously reasonable price. Smitten, he complied at once. Once in the temple, she commenced her true duties. I suspect that you already knew all about the other tunnel, that it had no ventilation and that the priests stayed down there only a short time. Hypatia told you the days and hours during which the priests descended to their crypt, and that they stayed only a short time, during which all other persons were barred from the temple. It was perfect. The girl would simply shut the trap behind them and they would suffocate quickly because they took numerous lamps or torches with them. A day was appointed on which to carry out the deed.” I stood back and paused. Everyone was eager to hear what I had to say next.

  “It would have worked, Iola, but two things happened that you could not have included in your calculations. First, a Roman praetor showed up and wanted to consult the Oracle. There was no way you could refuse. Second, when Eugaeon lost consciousness, he fell into the river and surfaced literally at our feet. Do you think it was the gods taking a hand in mortal matters to see that you suffer a horrible death in this world?”

  “I never sold that girl to Eugaeon,” Iola maintained. “There cannot be a single witness to say I did!”

  “Quite right,” I said to her. Then I pointed to Porcia. “You did.”

  “Liar,” she said succinctly.

  “One of the most gratifying things about criminal conspirators,” I said to the audience in the tones of a teacher, “is that they rarely think of the evidence they leave behind in the form of papers. The written word can condemn as efficiently as the spoken word. Witness the lapses of these murderers, who otherwise planned their actions so admirably. They killed the fence Elagabal, but did not think to take his papers. They did away with Manius Pedarius, but left his papers for his son, and consequently myself, to peruse at leisure. Here is another paper.” Again I held one aloft.

  “When I questioned the girl Hypatia after the discovery of the dead priests, she said that she was sold to the temple by Aulus Plantius, a traveling slave dealer familiar to many here. When my suspicions were aroused and I began to put together my own explanation of what happened, I consulted with the distinguished historian Lucius Cordus and he generously found for me the relevant document.” I gestured to where Cordus stood in the crowd and he basked in the attention.

  “This is a praetor’s office document for the sale of a slave girl named Hypatia to the Temple of Apollo. The seller is not identified as Aulus Plantius. The seller is named as Porcia, daughter of the freedman Sextus Porcius.” There were great sounds of outrage from the crowd. “Her father was indeed that same Sextus Porcius who had dealings with Elagabal. She followed her father into the business.”

  At last Porcia saw the trap closing around her. “You two are guilty, and many others with you,” I told the two women. “You might as well come clean. I remind you that you stand condemned to the complete satisfaction of these people here assembled. Only the presence of these soldiers keeps them from tearing you apart right now. I may decide to withdraw that protection. Talk, and you may live to bribe your way out of this. Decide now.”

  “She came to me with the proposition,” Iola said, while Porcia looked disgusted. “She showed me the tunnel from her mundus to the chamber of the shrine. She said she’d found it when she was a little girl playing in the fields.”

  “And together you plotted out your future, but recently things went sour, as they usually do when too many people get involved with a criminal enterprise. It was time to eliminate most of your accomplices. You got rid of Pedarius, who was superfluous anyway. You got rid of Elagabal. There were plenty of other fences, ones who didn’t know quite so much about you. Why was Sabinilla killed?”

  “Her husband,” Iola said, “the one we poisoned for her, was a partner of Sextus Porcius. She had overheard too many of his conversations with Porcius. She was stupidly extravagant and always in debt, always borrowing money from us. When you came here and she made such a point of cultivating you, we knew she would sell us out to you to escape prosecution for her involvement.”

  “I see. Well, now to a relatively minor matter: the attempt on my own life. Porcia, when you were arrested, my men searched your house and among other interesting things they found this.” I gestured and Hermes handed me a very fine bow, made of layered wood and ibex horn, the sort a professional hunter would use. “You know, I had quite forgotten that, on our trip to the mundus, you had said that you enjoyed hunting. You didn’t even have to hire an assassin, did you? You shot me yourself.”

  Finally, she gave up. “I hadn’t practiced in too long.”

  “How did you ambush me? It was quite well done.”

  “I knew you were in Pompeii. When you left the town, I was well ahead of you in a litter. My Gauls can keep pace with slow-pacing horses easily. When you stopped, I took them off the road and went back through the brush with my bow. Pity my aim was off.”

  “Pity, indeed. And no wonder we didn’t find you when you tried again and killed Sabinilla. My men were searching the countryside all around, but you arrived by way of your tunnel, where we had thoughtfully made you a door to the temple grounds, and you returned the same way. The dogs couldn’t track you because your scent was all over the place, so often did you visit.”

  Porcia shook her head. “That stupid bitch.” I knew she wasn’t referring to Iola.

  “Yes, I was about to ask about that. Why did poor Hypatia reveal to us where the bodies were hidden?”

  “The little slut went and got herself pregnant by one of the younger priests,” Porcia said. “It meant nothing to me. All the priests had to die. But she felt”—she searched, as if for an unfamiliar word—“she felt guilty or something. She thought if she showed you where the bodies were, she might get off if the whole story should come out. Another night, and we’d have gotten them disposed of, down the river. We never thought you’d set up your court right here and move in. It made things awkward.”

  “So you sent word to her to come join you in the stables, that you’d take her to safety. Then you stabbed her just as you stabbed Elagabal. I have to hand it to you, Porcia, you don’t delegate the dirty work.”

  “Like you said, Praetor, it’s not a good idea to have too many people in on an extralegal operation.”

  “So it is.” I drew myself up and faced the crowd. “For crimes of multiple murder too numerous to enumerate and, I might add, including poisoning which carries extra penalties, I condemn all these people to death. I’ll think up some really nasty way to do it.”

  The crowd was stunned by my abruptness. They had expected a summation, a great speech, something they could repeat in the bars, but some of the more legal-minded detected certain flaws in my actions.

  “Praetor,” said a duumvir of Cumae, “while there can be no doubt that these vile creatures deserve the worst of punishments, you are still not authorized to carry out summary executions. There has been no true trial by a jury, no arguments, only the results of your own investigation, which all here must agree has been superlative. We must observe the legalities.”

  “We must?” I said. “Well, I suppose you’re right. I’m done here. You can all go home.” I looked at the accused. “You’re dismissed. It looks like I can’t have you executed after all.”

  “Praetor!” Iola said, looking around with bugged-out eyes at the surrounding crowd. “They will rip us apart!”

  “Oh, I don’t think so,” I said. “What’s about to happen will be the most celebrated trial in Italy. Whoever prosecutes you will be famous. His legal reputation will be made. He can move to Rome and maybe win a seat in the Senate.” I pitched my words so that all could hear and already I could see the lawyers and politicians cutting deals.

  “People
of Campania,” I cried, “I have truly enjoyed my stay here and I hope to see you all again someday. Now, I’m off for Sicily!”

  Of course, everyone knows what happened in the next years. Caesar crossed the Rubicon and the war came. Pompey perished miserably in Egypt and Cato died nobly in Utica. I tried to keep my head down and attached to my shoulders. My Julia died many years ago. Every December I sacrifice to her shade, hoping it brings her some comfort. I will know soon enough.

  These things happened in Campania in the year 704 of the City of Rome, in the consulship of Lucius Aemilius Lepidus Paullus and Caius Claudius Marcellus. We did not know it then, but it was the last year of the true Republic.

  Glossary

  (Definitions apply to the year 704 of the Republic.)

  Aborigine, Aboriginal In Roman legend, the earliest inhabitants of Italy, before the arrival of Aeneas from Troy.

  arms Like everything else in Roman society, weapons were strictly regulated by class. The straight, double-edged sword and dagger of the legions were classed as “honorable.”

  The gladius was a short, broad, double-edged sword borne by Roman soldiers. It was designed primarily for stabbing. The pugio was a dagger also used by soldiers.

  The caestus was a boxing glove, made of leather straps and reinforced by bands, plates, or spikes of bronze. The curved, single-edged sword or knife called a sica was “infamous.” Sicas were used in the arena by Thracian gladiators and were carried by street thugs. One ancient writer says that its curved shape made it convenient to carry sheathed beneath the armpit, showing that gangsters and shoulder holsters go back a long way.

  Carrying of arms within the pomerium (the ancient city boundary marked out by Romulus) was forbidden, but the law was ignored in troubled times. Slaves were forbidden to carry weapons within the City, but those used as bodyguards could carry staves or clubs. When street fighting or assassinations were common, even senators went heavily armed, and even Cicero wore armor beneath his toga from time to time.

  Shields were not common except as gladiatorial equipment. The large shield (scutum) of the legions was unwieldy in narrow streets, but bodyguards might carry the small shield (parma) of the light-armed auxiliary troops. These came in handy when the opposition took to throwing rocks and roof tiles.

  augur An official who observed omens for state purposes. He could forbid business and assemblies if he saw unfavorable omens.

  autochthenoi Greek word meaning literally “sons of the earth,” i.e., being decended from natives who inhabited the land from time immemorial.

  auxilia See military terms.

  basilica A meeting place of merchants and for the administration of justice. Among them were the Basilica Aemilia (aka Basilica Fulvia and Basilica Julia), the Basilica Opimia, the Basilica Portia, and the Basilica Sempronia (the latter devoted solely to business purposes).

  bustuarii The earliest gladiators. The name comes from bustuum, a funeral pyre. These gladiators fought at the pyre or tomb site of the deceased dignitary to propitiate his shade.

  client, pl. clientele One attached in a subordinate relationship to a patron, whom he was bound to support in war and in the courts. Freedmen became clients of their former masters. The relationship was hereditary.

  colonia Roman colonies were originally established as military outposts. At this period of the Republic, colonia were lands given to veteran soldiers as a reward for service.

  crucifixions The Romans inherited the practice of crucifixion from the Carthaginians. In Rome, it was reserved for rebellious slaves and insurrectionists. Citizens could not be crucified.

  curule A curule office conferred magisterial dignity. Those holding it were privileged to sit in a curule chair—a folding camp chair that became a symbol of Roman officials sitting in judgment.

  duumvir, pl. duumviri A duumvirate was a board of two men. Many Italian towns were governed by duumviri. A duumvir was also a Roman admiral, probably dating from a time when the Roman navy was commanded by two senators.

  eagles The standard of a Roman legion was a gilded eagle. The eagle was the tutelary deity of the legion and came to embody the legion itself. Thus, a Roman on military service was “with the eagles.”

  eques, pl. equites These were originally “kinghts” who fought on horseback. At this time during the Republic, they were a social class below the patrician Senate and above the plebeians. See orders.

  families and names Roman citizens usually had three names. The given name (praenomen) was individual, but there were only about eighteen of them: Marcus, Lucius, etc. Certain praenomens were used only in a single family: Appius was used only by the Claudians, Mamercus only by the Aemilians, and so forth. Only males had praenomens. Daughters were given the feminine form of the father’s name: Aemilia for Aemilius, Julia for Julius, Valeria for Valerius, etc.

  Next came the nomen. This was the name of the clan (gens). All members of a gens traced their descent from a common ancestor, whose name they bore: Julius, Furius, Licinius, Junius, Tullius, to name a few. Patrician names always ended in ius. Plebeian names often had different endings. The name of the clan collectively was always in the feminine form, e.g., Aemilia.

  A subfamily of a gens is the stirps. Stirps is an anthropological term. It is similar to the Scottish clan system, where the family name “Ritchie” for instance, is a stirps of the Clan MacIntosh. The cognomen gave the name of the stirps, i.e., Caius Julius Caesar. Caius of the stirps Caesar of gens Julia.

  The name of the family branch (cognomen) was frequently anatomical: Naso (nose), Ahenobarbus (bronzebeard), Sulla (splotchy), Niger (dark), Rufus (red), Caesar (curly), and many others. Some families did not use cognomens. Mark Antony was just Marcus Antonius, no cognomen.

  Other names were honorifics conferred by the Senate for outstanding service or virtue: Germanicus (conqueror of the Germans), Africanus (conqueror of the Africans), or Pius (extraordinary filial piety).

  Freed slaves became citizens and took the family name of their master. Thus the vast majority of Romans named, for instance, Cornelius would not be patricians of that name, but the descendants of that family’s freed slaves. There was no stigma attached to slave ancestry.

  Adoption was frequent among noble families. An adopted son took the name of his adoptive father and added the genetive form of his former nomen. Thus when Caius Julius Caesar adopted his great-nephew Caius Octavius, the latter became Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

  All these names were used for formal purposes such as official documents and monuments. In practice, nearly every Roman went by a nickname, often descriptive and rarely complimentary. Usually it was the Latin equivalent of Gimpy, Humpy, Lefty, Squint-eye, Big Ears, Baldy, or something of the sort. Romans were merciless when it came to physical peculiarities.

  fasces A bundle of rods bound around with an ax projecting from the middle. They symbolized a Roman magistrate’s power of corporal and capital punishment and were carried by the lictors who accompanied the curule magistrates, the Flamen Dialis (see Priestheads), and the proconsuls and propraetors who governed provinces.

  First Citizen In Latin: Princeps. Originally the most prestigious senator, permitted to speak first on all important issues and set the order of debate. Augustus, the first emperor, usurped the title in perpetuity. Decius detests him so much that he will not use either his name (by the time of the writing it was Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus) or the honorific Augustus, voted by the toadying Senate. Instead he will refer to him only as the First Citizen. Princeps is the origin of the modern word “prince.”

  forum An open meeting and market area.

  freedman A manumitted slave. Formal emancipation conferred full rights of citizenship except for the right to hold office. Informal emancipation conferred freedom without voting rights. In the second or at least third generation, a freedman’s descendants became full citizens.

  games ludus, pl. ludi Public religious festivals put on by the state. There were a number of long-established ludi, the ear
liest being the Roman Games (ludi Romani) in honor of Jupiter Optimus Maximus and held in September. The ludi Megalenses were held in April, as were the ludi Cereri in honor of Ceres, the grain goddess, and the ludi Floriae in honor of Flora, the goddess of flowers. The ludi Apollinares were celebrated in July. In October the ludi Capitolini; the final games of the year were the Plebian Games (ludi Plebeii) in November. Games usually ran for several days except for the Capitoline games, which ran for a single day. Games featured theatrical performances, processions, sacrifices, public banquets, and chariot races. They did not feature gladiatorial combats. The gladiatorial games, called munera, were put on by individuals as funeral rites.

  genius loci The spirit of a particular place. An altar to the genius loci was typically a squat pillar with a serpent wrapped around it.

  gravitas The quality of seriousness.

  gymnasium, palaestra Greek and Roman exercise facilities. In Rome they were often an adjunct to the baths.

  imperium The ancient power of kings to summon and lead armies, to order and forbid, and to inflict corporal and capital punishment. Under the Republic, the imperium was divided among the consuls and praetors, but they were subject to appeal and intervention by the tribunes in their civil decisions and were answerable for their acts after leaving office. Only a dictator had unlimited imperium.