Part 34 (1/2)

The teams trotted once around the track, forty horses abreast, sweeping around the turn like a giant wing The drivers must have had extraordinary skill to keep them all in line in this manner Finally they halted just in line with us, and waited for the signal to begin

Caesar rose, and held up a large white cloth He raised it high above his head, and then, releasing it, let it float down to the arena When it touched the ground, signalmen lowered their banners, and the horses were let loose

Two or three of the teale for the best position on the track The width of four horses yoked in parallel ether, but they also needed to make close turns if they were not to fall behind The inside teaainst the central axis of the Circus and wrecked; the middle one squeezed into an accident; and the outside one losing his position by having to cover a greater distance

The leaders were Octavian's bays and two others; on the very first turn, one careened out of control and smashed on the wall of the spectators' stand I just behind, moved up into the vacated outside position Another team hit the wreck of the first one, and was itself wrecked; the chariot see distance, while his horses galloped ai Beside , ”Yes! Yes!” as his team kept its lead, and he ju intently but calmly

Another turn, another wrecked chariot; this one tumbled over into the central axis and i over the contest The horses squealed with fear and pain as they went down in a tangle of harness

Now Caesar's tea up from the outside in a burst of speed There were only seven tea more room to maneuver Octavian's charioteer and the other one lashed their horses as, fro up But Caesar's teay, kept pace with them It was unable to pass thereater distance in pacing, using the outside lane

My tea back at a respectable distance, in a clump of the middle runners One lone teaht up the rear

On the next-to-last turn, the middle chariot of those in the lead seemed to stumble; suddenly it fell back into the knot of the other three There was no room for it; the chariots on either side were unable to find a safe place for the the for ere sickening They were so enveloped in each other, harnesses crossed, yokes raled, that they went down in a , anguished scream My team skidded around the on the outside

A roar went up fro debris, the wheels rolling away, the chariot railings flying through the air, the ar fro horses pounding the helpless drivers into the dirt with their deadly hooves

The lead chariots thundered on, unconcerned, and the hungry crowd had a choice of two equally arousing sights to satisfy the finish of the front runners, and the carnage of the losers, stirring feebly on the sand behind theain, and had to steer wildly to avoid the antic cheer went up

Octavian's chariot won, followed by Caesar's blacks Mine finished a distant third, and the last one received an affectionate cheer, probably because by being so coratulations,” I said to Octavian ”You choose well How did you know?”

He turned to look at ht his blue eyes were, with a little darker rim around the outside of the irises He looked utterly detached, but I could not help noticing how ragged his breath still was, as he struggled to get his exciteuess,” he said ”I looked at the legs and ignored all the rest”

Caesar was standing, ready to receive the winning charioteer The youngand covered with sweat, was led to him Caesar placed the laurel wreath on his head

”We triuether this day/' he said

The charioteer looked at hi the laurel wreath ”I will keep it for my children, and reat Caesar's Triu, he won't have any children,” said Ptoleht now!”

There were severalas this first There were more four-horse races, and several two-horse ones They went on until it was almost too dark to see, and then riders entered the Circus with torches and announced that it was over Behind them I could see a parade of elephants, each with a torch mounted on its back They filed into the arena and walked around once ht One elephant, fitted with a huge platform on his back, approached the stand where we sat, and knelt

”Caesar will now be borne back to his ho citizens are welcome to accompany him,” the announcer shouted

Caesar rose and descended to the kneeling beast, then mounted his back The obedient aniold eht, turned and lifted his hand to the people Then he rode sloay

The rest of usthem Ptolemy and I were on one, Octavian and Calpurnia on another, the other nephews on a third Between the line of the rest, the dignitaries walked, then strea out behind theht threw long, ju creature instead of thousands of separate ones Ahead of us I could see the rain of flowers and tokens being showered on Caesar, could hear the shouts rise wherever he passed, sighing like people let out into the light after a long imprisonment

Caesar! Caesar! Caesar! they cried they cried Our joy, our savior, our life! Our joy, our savior, our life!

The parade went through the Foru of careless worshi+pers They were fed, they were entertained, they were lovingly looked after by Caesar; they wanted for nothing

They escorted him to his house He climbed down from the elephant, then stood for a ht, my friends all,” he said ”I thank you for this day”

Then he turned and went inside The door shut gently

I waited a moment, then saw Calpurnia and Octavian enter behind him I ached to follow, to be with him in this aftermath of his extraordinary day-- often the most precious part of all, when it could be savored in private, but when the blood was still coursing with the victory of it

”Let us return to the villa,” I said to thethe elephant

I turned to Ptoleht,” I explained ”It is their ht alone, excluded from Caesar's private celebration But so would his only son

Chapter 26

The sun rose in a cloudless sky the next , as if Caesar had ordered it to do so The perfect weather meant that the expansive--and expensive-- public exhibitions and celebrations surrounding each successive Triuo on unimpeded Today it was to be theatrical perfor, and Greek-style athletic contests in the afternoon in a temporary theater in the Campus Martius, while simultaneously patrician boys were to enact a mock battle called the Game of Troy elsewhere on the fields

In the Circus Maxiht in a gigantic gladiatorial contest on the sands where the chariots had raced the day before I was told that they fought together in coainst foot soldiers, with a coainst one another The sand was soaked with their blood But I did not see it, nor did I wish to The Ro I could hear, from the upper s ofin the violence as the sand drank in the blood

A sea of people had swarore, and the free food A city of tents had sprung up, so that the Ro as when I had arrived People lost their lives in the crush down there; some who had co it, trampled in the crush of bodies Two senators were killed that way, as well as nameless others

I dreaded the next Triuypt I would have to watch as representations of my own country were paraded past ation depicted All eyes would be on me, and I iypt, the one in alliance with Ro this on me; I did not know if I could stand it Yet stand it I overnypt, the one in alliance with Ro this on me; I did not know if I could stand it Yet stand it I ment here was correct, however yptus: cool day, stiff breeze, racing clouds-very un-Egyptian weather Again ere seated in the stands at the end of the Via Sacra; this time the silken sun-canopy whipped up and down in the wind I had attired myself, and Ptolemy, in Greek-style clothes for the occasion Let everyone reeneral! No glittering headdress with cobras rearing on my forehead, no broad collar of Pharaonic jewels, no ostrich feathers In n A simple diadem, low across my forehead, was better than a crown--today cool day, stiff breeze, racing clouds-very un-Egyptian weather Again ere seated in the stands at the end of the Via Sacra; this time the silken sun-canopy whipped up and down in the wind I had attired myself, and Ptolemy, in Greek-style clothes for the occasion Let everyone reeneral! No glittering headdress with cobras rearing on my forehead, no broad collar of Pharaonic jewels, no ostrich feathers In n A simple diadem, low across ain, the shouts as Caesar passed through the different stations of the city on his way to the Foru as he approached us A movement came from the far end of the Forum as the musicians led the way of the procession First ca silver tru cy ivory clappers, followed by a retinue of dancers, oiled and leaping Behind theowns, shaking their sistruh went up froht to the incense and intoning hyistrates of Ro disdainful of the nonsense of Egypt

The wagons were coht of the treasures of Egypt heaped in theiven theone froot here The first of the ion Inside it were arrayed gilded statues and mummy cases, small obelisks and scarves woven with jewels The next cart, raywacke statue I had just given Caesar! I was thankful, then, that most of our art treasures were so heavy that no conqueror could cart thereat tehthouse-- But I spoke too soon For next the Lighthouse itself appeared--a gigantic lowed red, and a light winked out of it It was followed by a representation of the River Nile, a luxurious bearded reclining man of ample proportions, surrounded by crocodiles and horns of plenty

Next caypt and Africa There were crocodiles, rues, then panthers and ostriches, and finally the creature that excited everyone's curiosity: a giraffe There had never been one in Rome before, and the people were amazed by it They cried out that it seemed to be half camel and half leopard, and asked how they had ever bred

Then the first of the prisoners caly accurate, rolled by in his own chariot I had thought never to see his slick, evil face again But his head was attached--soination

His follow conspirator, Achillas, y