Part 26 (1/2)

I spoke with Mardian first, and listened patiently to his recital of the aggravations of working with Epaphroditus: his arrogance, his insistence on his ownto his other business I attempted to soothe him Epaphroditus was there to ease his burden, to free hiher matters of state

”Free me!” Mardian had snorted ”How can he free me when he ihed I kneould take some time before Ephaphroditus eaned away from his other concerns, and if Mardianat the palace would never be very appealing ”Give him time,” I said ”He is a stubborn man”

”I can say he is! I don't knohy your heart is so set on him!”

”It is for both our sakes,” I insisted ”You should not have to expend more than a quarter of your time on the financial ,” I said ”I am most impressed Soon the ill be erased”

”Not completely,” he said ”There is always Caesarion to remind us that it happened”

Caesarion I had returned to findAt the end of the month he would be a year old

I nodded ” ”Yes I know that, although so several scrolls ”You have news News of Caesar” I held out my hands for the letters and reports Whatever was in them, I could face

”He won, my lady,” said Mardian ”He won”

The story was all in the scrolls, and I read and reread theenuity and resourcefulness to the utmost, for one of his best lieutenants of the Gallic Wars, Labienus, ith the rebels It was he who directed their strategy and tactics; it was he who kne his forht, and could anticipate his moves It was he, Labienus, who knew that Caesar liked to strike fast and fight pitched battles For four months he thwarted Caesar's atte any of the parties to battle, and in the meanti last, through his own cleverness, Caesar ed to trick the enemy near the city of Thapsus The city was located on an isthmus, and Caesar proceeded there with his entire aret for the eneht they had captured him Actually it was he who had captured the to bottle Caesar up On his western side, Scipio and his legions and elephants dug in; on the eastern, Juba and Afranius Like a nugget between theether in one body The enemy was on narrow terrain, where the deployment of forces was difficult and cavalry was particularly hampered It did not seem to occur to theround unsuited for their strengths Instead they gloated over having fenced Caesar in on a narrow neck of land

While Scipio was entrenching, and drawing up his lines, Caesar left two legions to guard the city of Thapsus (whose inhabitants were cowering inside the walls) and his rear, with Juba and Afranius, and took the rest to fight Scipio Against the tings of elephants he deployed his four best legions, backed up by the Fifth, specially trained in terrorizing elephants and turning theions had been trained not to flinch in an elephant attack

The troops were eveninactivity and hindrance had made them almost mad It was all Caesar could do to restrain theive the battle-cry Felicitas! and lead the charge The Fifth Legion, along with the slingers and archers, broke the left wing of elephants, and the animals stampeded back into their own lines; the rest of the ar, Juba and Afranius likewise fled Caesar's angry troops pursued theed for e The Fifth Legion, along with the slingers and archers, broke the left wing of elephants, and the animals stampeded back into their own lines; the rest of the ar, Juba and Afranius likewise fled Caesar's angry troops pursued theed for mercy, they slew them to a man

Too many of the enehting against him earlier His soldiers were finished with clemency, even if their commander was not

Immediately after the battle, Caesar rushed to Utica, where Cato and his supporters were This was the gathering place of the wealthy senators and property owners who supported Poenerals would flee there; Caesar hoped to catch them, and also to capture Cato, his most relentless foe

But Cato robbed him of the opportunity to de to be indebted to the tyrant for his illegal actions,” he said ”He is acting contrary to the lahen he pardons nty over theory suicide After a dinner with friends, and a private reading of Plato's dialogue of the soul, he sht, stabbed himself His horrified family and physician discovered him before he could bleed to death The wound was sutured Then, before their eyes, he ripped it open with his own hands so his entrails spilled out, and he died on his couch

The end of the others was equally showy Juba planned to imiant funeral pyre in his capital city; the citizens did not wish to render their city for the service, so they refused him entrance Juba and his ally, Petreius, instead held a death banquet in which they dined suht a duel Juba killed Petreius and then had himself killed by his slave Scipio fled by sea and, when captured, stabbed himself on the deck of the shi+p Mortally wounded, when his captors asked where the Imperator was, he told theeneral is well enough, thank you”--and then he died

Labienus, Varus, and both Pompey's sons, Gnaeus and sextus, escaped to Spain--doubtless to fight again But with the death of Cato, the Republic had expired

In three weeks--three weeks that were long-sought and long in co-- all of North Africa had fallen into Caesar's hands He proceeded to turn Juba's kingdom into the Roman province of New Africa, and doled out bits and pieces to reward the Mauretanian kings for their support

Only Egypt remained free All the rest was now Ronettes of Caesar's behavior One reported how, in an earlier attack, when all was confusion and Caesar was al standard-bearers, took him by the shoulders, turned him around, and said firmly, ”That is the direction of the ene told of Cato's suicide, he had said, ”Cato, I edyour life” I myself rejoiced at Cato's death, as he had caused my uncle'sdeath; suicide giving rise to suicide Now, surely, it must end

There was also a report that Caesar had loaded Eunoe, wife of the Moorish King Bogud, with presents, and rewarded her husband lavishly for allowing his wife to be hish my heart was heavy I had hoped to find no mention of it, so that I could dismiss it as an earlier rumor and slander put out by Scipio, with no foundation

In order to hearten his soldiers, he did not belittle the eneerated it When his troops were in a panic over King Juba's advance, he addressed their fears thus: ”Youwill be here within a few days, at the head of ten infantry legions, thirty thousand cavalry, a hundred thousand lightly ar the case, you iven you the facts, hich I a the odds, as if they were of no real import to such soldiers as his

He was liberal about his soldiers' predictable ht just as hen they are stinking of perfu desertion or mutiny--soldierly dishonor

He always addressed his soldiers as ”coold and silver inlays, for example But this was clever of him, for it made them more determined not to be disarmed in battle He loved his men dearly, and they loved him He won the devotion of his army, and their devotion to him made them extraordinarily brave Private soldiers offered to serve under hihout all the civil wars there were al this one

It was his custom to spare all enemy soldiers captured the first time; only if they were taken a second time did he order their execution

Other letters concerned the state of affairs in Rome, and Caesar's expected return there in Quintilis Only it was no longer to be known as Quintilis, but to be renamed July July in his honor in his honor July July, the month when Gaius Julius Caesar had been born

But for all those letters, reports, dispatches, and scrolls about Caesar, there was no word froypt

More news trickled in The shattered forces of the followers of Po in Spain Spain see and discontent after another Caesar would have to go there and end it once and for all But not yet

At last it came: a letter from Caesar;, and it came from Utica, not Rome He was still on our coasts I took it and withdrew onto theti, and noas hesitant to end the suspense But finally I did break the seal and read it

To the Most Divine and Mighty Queen of Egypt, Cleopatra, Greetings :

The war is finished, and I have been victorious It was a difficult can I cannot say veni, vidi, vici-- veni, vidi, vici--I came, I saw, I conquered-- this time I would have to say, I came, I saaited, I planned, I overcame--the opposite of succinct, both the statement and the war But it is the final outcoypt was always to the east gave e I knew that I had an utterly reliable ally nearby, a precious thing that ave e I knew that I had an utterly reliable ally nearby, a precious thing

And now I return to Roht to hold four Triumphs in succession: one to celebrate ypt, the next Pontus, and the last Africa They will be held in Septe like it I invite you to come and share my celebration It is especially iypt Triumph, to show that it was your your enemies I overthrew, and that you are a staunch supporter of Rome Your sister Arsinoe will be led as a captive enemies I overthrew, and that you are a staunch supporter of Rome Your sister Arsinoe will be led as a captive

Please bring as large a retinue as you wish I will house you all in ardens I think you will find the accoreatly look forward to seeing you again, and to seeing your most royal son

Your assured friend and ally, Gaius Julius Caesar, I the letter, fall to my side It said so much; it said so little Every phrase could be interpreted in different ways ”I knew that I had an utterly reliable ally nearby, a precious thingWas it the knowing that was precious, or the ally? ”I think you will find the acco me to stay indefinitely? Why? And as for the clever way he both asked to see our son and avoided legitio! He could not order !

And yet that is what you are, a vassal, a client monarch who holds her throne only because Rome albws her to You are no different from Bocchus ofMauretania or A or Ariobarzanes of Cappadocia The proud kingdom of Ptolemy has been reduced to that But at least it has not been reduced to a Roman province--New Africa at least it has not been reduced to a Roman province--New Africa

There was a threat in his words, and not veiled, either Be there to show you are not Ro, I may not be able to control what they they do So be there do So be there

He had proht it would be like this--to do obeisance to his conquests

My anger had passed I knew I had to go Never mind what he had meant when he wrote the letter What ot there

I would have to learn Latin, thatspoken all around e I had never learned it because it was not a very ie, and besides, all educated Romans spoke Greek But in Ro Latin

I asked Mardian to find ood Latin tutor, and also infor for Roovernment--with the help of Epaphroditus, of course He looked uneasy

”It is no different from when I went to Nubia,” I assured him ”That did not worry you”

”It is is different,” he said, his broad brow all wrinkled up ”You may stay in Rome indefinitely!” different,” he said, his broad brow all wrinkled up ”You may stay in Rome indefinitely!”

”That's ridiculous What would I do there? The Triumphs will last a feeeks, that is all”