Part 89 (1/2)
P S The Ludi Apollinares Ludi Apollinares are being celebrated--a like that? are being celebrated--a like that?
I put the letter down, feeling curiously heavy Outside, beyond my shaded balcony, the sea lay flat and motionless The weather was uncharacteristically hot and oppressive--the way I had described Rome Noas as if my words had returned to mock me
The perfume I had put on could not escape my skin; the air imprisoned it I felt mummified, bound by cloth and aromatic smears of ointment
I should be pleased to hear they had arrived safely Oly useful work Caesarion seeood in it and compare it to Alexandria--that hat children did It did not escape ned himself ”P Caesar”
But I did not like the news I did not like it that Agrippa and Octavian were doing public works; and even the building of the mausoleum seemed suspect Octavian was only twenty-seven years old--as he building a mausoleum? Was it supposed to be a national shrine? And as all this talk about Antony and golden chamber pots--when the talk should be about his victory in Parthia?
I would have to show the letters to Antony, but I did not expect any helpful response froloom because his lieutenant titius had executed sextus once he brought hi for Antony's orders Now that sextus was dead, a chorus of voices bewailed him: the last son of the Republicthe son of Neptunethe pirate-kingnoble Roman, the last of his kindthe last son of the Republicthe son of Neptunethe pirate-kingnoble Rousted ade, a brilliant admiral who did not have the sense to follow up any victory, make alliances, or provide his followers any cause to rally for But then his father, Pompey, had had the same problem After Pharsalus Caesar had said that if Pompey had kno to follow up a victory, he--Caesar--would have been beaten then and there ”The ould have been won today if the enemy had a man who kne to conquer,” was how he put it Now Pompey's line ended, condemned by that sa all the opprobriu ” Lepidus; he was painted as a cruel executioner Once again I kneas putting out these stories
The storiesthey were powerful, and ht do the work of ar it hard, and I did not want to bring up the subject of Rome just now I put the letters aside, and waited for the next
Dearest Mother: The past few days have been so exciting I hardly knohere to begin in telling you about them! I have been all over Rome--up on all the seven hills, and to the Circus to see the free races, and even out into the countrysideit's so different fros, and don't need me to describe them What I can tell you that no one else ever can is how it feels to discover thatpossible to make him so for s he had said-- little things, that no one else would know--and made me learn Latin so I could read his reports But he was still not real to ainary playmates the twins tell me about
But now I coame, everyone pretends to know him or believe in him There are statues of him everywhere, and in all different poses, so I can see hi People talk about him as if he were here; his Foru, and the statue of hiame, everyone pretends to know him or believe in him There are statues of him everywhere, and in all different poses, so I can see hi People talk about him as if he were here; his Foru, and the statue of him on horseback
I went inside the temple, and just as you said--there was your statue! I like to i shocked by it And the one of hiether, if only in ave to the people in his will, and walked along the paths, and tried to see if I reh I had never seen it before The house is used by the groundskeepers now, and I was not allowed in
But the best thing was seeing his temple, the Temple of the Divine Julius, in the Foru his star of Godhood like a diadem, and I just stood very quietly and co to me, that he sensed I was there, and he was pleased withthis down! The feeling was so overwhel at the time, but now it seems silly, written down I listened carefully to what people said when they cas to place at his feet They were talking to him, too
”Caesar,” one wo with the army in Illyria Protect hie asked, ”Caesar, let row up to be a brave warrior like you”
And a ive thanks for your birth sixty-five years ago tomorrow” Then he placed a wreath at the base of the statue
And I said silently, ”Please, Father, look with favor on your son, your namesake” And I felt his hand on my hairI knoas real it was real
There will be special festivities at the shrine toarlanded Thank you for letting h about hi son, P Caesar P S And there is a whole month month named after him, so every day for thirty days people have to say and write his name!!! named after him, so every day for thirty days people have to say and write his name!!!
I smiled So his dream had come true; he could immerse himself in the presence of Caesar The assassins had failed after all; Caesar was still alive in Rome
To the Queen, my n sense, of course All is well I write here to describe the events at the Temple of the Divine Julius, because I knew you would be curious about them
On the twelfth day of the forreat, and the not-so-great gathered to honor the deified Caesar on his birthday Since the miraculous corown into a major holiday Well before dawn, a streas, but it was not until ot under way
Poeil--your favorite poet, after his celebration of Antony and Octavia's wedding!-- He stepped forward, unrolled a scroll, and recited: ”Daphnis, in radiant beauty, marvels at Heaven s unfamiliar threshold, and beneath his feet beholds the clouds and the stars A A God is he, a God, Menalcas!' Be kind and gracious to thine own!” Then he unrolled another one and read, ”Who dare say the God is he, a God, Menalcas!' Be kind and gracious to thine own!” Then he unrolled another one and read, ”Who dare say the sun sun is false? Nay, he oft warns us that dark uprisings threaten, that treachery and hidden wars are upswelling Nay, he had pity for is false? Nay, he oft warns us that dark uprisings threaten, that treachery and hidden wars are upswelling Nay, he had pity for Roht, he veiled his shi+ning face in dusky glooht'' when, after Caesar sank frolooht''
He then looked around with those dark eyes to see what effect his words had, before launching into his true speech When he sa raptly everyone was listening, he suddenly read, ”Never fros; never so oft blazed fearful comets Gods of my country, heroes of the land, thou Rouard Tuscan Tiber and the Palatine of Ro a world uptorn!”
And I swear, I thought he was talking about Caesarion, that he had ically knoere present and would turn his eyes to us But no, it soon becah has our life's blood fong atoned for Laoed thee, O Caesar, to us,that you pay heed to earthly triumphs”
It was Octavian heprince,” and whenever the name Caesar is invoked, it is hard to knohich one they want The ”young prince” has crept into the nahly that the identities are now blended I was a fool not to have seen it ier; I was met with frohen I did so, as if people had to think even to recall that was how he had started out He is CAESAR CAESAR now, souish hi now, souish hi
He finished up with ”Daphnis, why are you gazing at the old constellations rising? See! the star of Caesar, seed of Dione, has gone forth--the star to rape deepen its hue on the sunny hills” He then reverently touched the silver star on the statue's forehead
Another poet, a little younger, stepped forward--that Horace--you know, the one who fought alongside Brutus He, too, unrolled a scroll, and started reading ''Merciful gift of a relenting God,'' he addressed the statue ”Hoe of the age of gold; last refuge of the good and bold; Froue and tempests free, far 'mid the western waves a secret sanctuary” Blast ly
After that there were processions with the priests of the order, hyifts of oil and ering the pendant that he has worn since leaving Alexandria I was afraid he was going to obey some impulse and present it to the statue, but thanks be to Isis--or perhaps Caesar himself--he didn't (I would have had to sneak back and retrieve it I know froestures of sacrifice are bitterly repented afterward, when it is too late Would that some kindly person had undone some of perhaps Caesar himself--he didn't (I would have had to sneak back and retrieve it I know froestures of sacrifice are bitterly repented afterward, when it is too late Would that some kindly person had undone some of mine mine But it was unnecessary) But it was unnecessary) I a is very draining It is early to bed for ht
Your devoted friend and servant, Olyrown up around Caesar and his shrine--itof it Or perhaps it was the continuing flat, heavy heat that made my head ache The God of the winds had shut the stirred, no shi+ps could sail Only the straining h their skins shone with sweat, it did not cool the heat of midday, livestock died--cattle dropped over, swine collapsed, and inside the royal stables I had rows of servants on duty to fan continually Cyllarus had to survive to welcome Caesarion home, as well as the fine horses that were the pride of the palace
Antony was drooping as he went about his business listlessly He was trying to ascertain exactly what had happened to sextus, and how his orders had become so confused He had sent word for titius to report to us at Alexandria, andhis delayed punitive invasion of Armenia ” ”But it will have to wait until next year,” he admitted ”It is too late now” He acted as if he did not care
Just then Iras appeared in the doorway, bringing an Indian boy who served in one of the cha with silks, ivory, and sandalwood--had left without hi the silks and e, as he did, how to clean theestion for cooling our cha him forward ”He says it works well in his city”
”Yes,up and down so fast he looked like a bobbing chicken ”And racious sir” He turned to Antony and repeated the perfor would go on all , and he himself drop over fro over to the entrance onto the rooftop terrace--now radiating heat like a kiln as the sun beat down on it ”Does air blow in here?”
”Yes, normally, off the sea”
”Ah Then we can try this In India we hang weighted, beaded strings across doorways and pour water onto the 'hter' strips and as the wind blows across it, the air is cooled”
It sounded too simple to be effective
”It canhot outside In India, it is hotter than this every day in su to try!” I told hi to free h gossamer linens, soaked in hot water, had been placed on theht of more warm skin on mine was unbearable
As the boy departed, I said to Iras, ”Perhaps deliverance is at hand I thank you”
I handed the letter to Antony He read it silently, then finally said, ”So Octavian is no longer Octavian--he has escaped from his pedestrian past”
”Is that all you have to say?” Surely he understood the implications!