Part 46 (1/2)

His perfect forear, thrust the diadem toward Caesar It tre it shi+ a snake, soerous that was about to strike

”Nay,” he said, pushi+ng it aside

A loud cheer went up, alroan of disappointain the people offer this!” he proclaiain Caesar put up the palm of his hand and turned it away

This time the cheers were louder, and the cries of disappointment softer

Antony held the diadem aloft and brandished it--he turned fro it before the eyes of the crowd ”Behold!” he said loudly ”For the third time we offer this Do not refuse the wishes of the people!” He stepped boldly up to Caesar and attempted to remove the laurel wreath and replace it with the diadem For an instant his hand hovered over Caesar's head

Then Caesar stood up ”No,” he said, seizing Antony's hand,roar of approval went up from the crowd

Caesar waved the diade of the Romans!” he said ”Pray, take this and crown the statue of Jupiter in his temple on the Capitoline!”

Wild shouts of approval exploded fro noith exciteain with deliberate movements; Antony ju to Jupiter's te the diadenitaries, as they whispered to their neighbors They had witnessed e had meant them to; had they believed it?

Chapter 33

Alone that night, I received athat fro (he did not identify it any further) had been well received I hoped he was right, but only over the next few days would the truth unfold Still later, nearsimply, I can do no more Let it be I can do no ine what he had , as he had said long before at the Rubicon, Let the dice fly high Let the dice fly high Things would have to take their course now; they would be what they s would have to take their course now; they would be what theyit all had drained me I had not realized how every hout, and how intensely I had focusedevery onlooker to believe what I desired the out, and in solitude I poured hts, I hoped, and soon I lay down on the straight, hard bed and closed my eyes

One day passed; two, three In the villa on its hill high above Ro said in the streets and in the Senate I re to make plans for ain and we could make our way home

A few brave shi+ps had been able to carry dispatches back and forth, and all was apparently quiet and in order in Egypt--one of the blessings of leaving good e But I was anxious to take the reins in hand ed absences, as I knew all too well fro the straight paths of the vast garden surrounding the villa, I said farewell inthe over still ponds Here was an Aphrodite shi+elding herself after bathing, here an athlete, bending, straining to throw the discus, there a fleet-footed Mercury, heels aloft At the end of one avenue of green-black cypresses, there was even a Hercules, his luxuriant curly haira halo around his head, the lionskin deftly knotted so that the aniht over Hercules' breast, the wide club resting jauntily on his shoulder Now that I knew Antony better, I no longer thought he resembled Hercules that rown fond of these shady walks; Caesarion had learned to run in this garden, and had a few baby scars from his falls on the rocks here It had becoypt I knew that sohts I would lie in bed and see it all in my mind I shut e of seasons--a sharp sort of dried-e; the Lupercalia had been frosty, and now, only a fortnight later, the locked earth see Persephone had been released fro back into the land

As I openeda little fro up the hill He handed

Caesar was of aride about the countryside on horseback He would be most pleased if I would join him, he said, and he would allow me to select any horse I chose from his stable, where he would await er, and must escape It was a perfect day, with the scraps of winter being chased away by high, raking clouds And I would never refuse an opportunity to see hiht hours

At the stable I found Caesar already holding the bridle of his horse, an ani hide

”So this is your fa him As I came closer, I saw that there hite hairs ood health, was old

”Yes,” said Caesar ”He is the one anted to run today His war days are over, but who can resist racing on a spring day?”

”Where has he gone with you?”

Caesar laughed ”Where has he not? He was foaled on o, and has been with me in Gaul, in Africa, in Spain There was a prophecy about h him--but more of that later” He handed the reins to a stableboy and steeredtoward a group of alert, well-conformed horses, mainly duns and browns ”They are all fleet of foot, and my horse is not so fast any with triolden brown hide looked like flecked a e to ride ”That one,” I said, pointing at him, and Caesar nodded to a stablehand to make him ready

”What is his name?” I asked

”Yours is Barricade--because he leaps over them And mine is Odysseus, for all his battles and travels”

”And is he now retired? Back in Ithaca to stay?”

”As retired as a warrior can ever be,” said Caesar

It did not take long to leave Rome behind For all its near-e area; not all of the seven hills have buildings, and soon after leaving the Capena gate in the city walls, ere in the open countryside We had left the Via Appia after a very short distance, and gone eastward across the still-sleeping fields They wore their winter-brown coats, but already far furrows of blackish soil upturned to the sun Overhead hawks soared, surveying us as we galloped across the fields, our shadows running under us

I had heard what a superb horse fast

”Hands behind your back,” I cried ”I don't believe you can do it” This was a feat for which he was renowned--staying on a galloping horse with no bridle to direct it, no reins to hold, and no arms to balance himself

With a smile, as if he hated to have to bother, he dropped the reins and folded his are from his knees The horse leapt forward--who could have ever suspected he had such reserves?--but Caesar was not even slightly dislodged He sat straight, his balance perfect, as the anied stride It was as if he were part of the beast himself

I kickedup As I held the reins and leaned forward, I made up my mind that someday I would learn Caesar's trick myself

”Stop!” I cried, as he seee reared up beforeme off My face sla; then I righted h a stand of hazels, and that Caesar was already out pn the other side, still galloping with his hands behind his back

Odysseus wanted to run, all right, and so Caesar let hi sky allop on and on forever There were clouds racing in the opposite direction, their tops white and their undersides gray, and the wind blowing my hair was sharp and thin

I had not ridden like this in years--not since I left my army behind in Ashkelon, and not really since my days west of Alexandria in the desert, when as a desperate child I had sought escape from the palace

Wordlessly, soundlessly, in a silent world--silent except for the bleating of a fewof croe rode on, far apart

At length I sahat looked like a river, its banks marked by stands of trees, and beyond that, a wooded area with a ruined circular temple halfway up the side of a hill Caesar had disappeared over the rise, and I followed, e over the crest of the hill to find a row of stately poplars lining a brook Their tall, straight forms were like the caryatids on Greek te He pointedly still had his hands clasped behind his back

”You can let your hands free now,” I said, dis ”You have convinced me” There was no need to withhold the admiration he had earned ”You are the best horseht by the desert Arabs, who are practically born on horseback”

He seeht you well,”

he said ”I would never have believed a woman could ride like a man You are a very Athena” He patted Barricade's head ”I see you tried to throw her on that hedge,” he said ”Better luck on the way home, friend”

”Now, Odysseus, as that prophecy?” I asked the horse, who looked at me as if he would answer

”See his divided hooves?” Caesar pointed to them, and indeed, they were oddly cloven ”When he was just a foal, they caught the attention of the augurs, who said that his rider would one day rule the world Naturally, I made sure I was the first to ride him, and have been the only one so far”

”May I ride him?”

He hesitated a moment, then lifted me up and put me on his back ”Now this alters the prophecy a little,” he said