Lustrum

on the couch beside him. 'We don't need to beat all three,' he said quietly. 'Just one will do. You heard what Pompey said. If we can somehow take care of Caesar, I don't think he'll do much about it. All Pompey cares about is his own dignity.'
    'And what about Crassus?'
    'Once Caesar is off the scene, he and Pompey won't be allies for another hour – they can't abide one another. No: Caesar is the stone that holds this arch together. Remove him and the structure falls.'
    'So what do you propose we should do?'
    'Arrest him.'
    Celer gave Cicero a sharp look. 'But Caesar's person is inviolable, not once, but twice – first as chief priest, and then as consul.'
    'You really think he'd worry about the law if he were in our place? When his every act as consul has been illegal? We either stop him now, while there's time, or we leave it until he's picked us all off one by one and there's nobody left to oppose him.'
    I was amazed by what I was hearing. Until that afternoon I am sure that Cicero would never have entertained for a moment the thought of such a desperate action. It was a measure of the chasm he now saw opening up before him that he should actually have given voice to it.
    'How would this be done?' asked Celer.
    'You're the one with an army. How many men do you have?'
    'I have two cohorts camped outside the city, preparing to march with me to Gaul.'
    'How loyal are they?'
    'To me? Absolutely.'
    'Would they be willing to seize Caesar from his residence after dark and hold him somewhere?'
    'No question, if I gave the order. But surely it would be better just to kill him?'
    'No,' said Cicero. 'There would have to be a trial. On that I insist. I want no “accidents”. We would have to put through a bill to set up a special tribunal to try him for his illegal actions. I'd lead for the prosecution. Everything would have to be open and clear.'
    Celer looked dubious. 'As long as you agree there could only be one verdict.'
    'And Pompey would have to approve – don't imagine for a moment you could go back to your old habit of opposing him on everything he wants. We would have to guarantee that his men could keep their farms, confirm his Eastern settlements – maybe even give him a second consulship.'
    'That's a lot to swallow. Wouldn't we just be swapping one tyrant for another?'
    'No,' said Cicero with great force. 'Caesar is of a different category of man altogether. Pompey merely wants to rule the world. Caesar longs to smash it to pieces and remake it in his own image. And there's something else.' He paused, searched for the words.
    'What? He's cleverer than Pompey, I'll give him that.'
    'Oh yes, yes, of course, he's a hundred times cleverer. No, it's not that – it's more – I don't know – there's a kind of divine recklessness about him – a contempt, if you like, for the world itself – as if he thinks it's all a joke. Anyway, this – whatever it is: this quality – it makes him hard to stop.'
    'That's all very philosophical, but I'll tell you how we stophim. It's easy. We put a sword through his throat, and you'll find he'll die the same as any man. But we have to do it to him as he would do it to us – fast, and ruthlessly, and when he least expects it.'
    'When would you suggest?'
    'Tomorrow night.'
    'No, that's too soon,' said Cicero. 'We can't do this entirely alone. We shall have to bring in others.'
    'Then Caesar is bound to get to hear of it. You know how many informants he has.'
    'I'm only talking about half a dozen men, if that. All reliable.'
    'Who?'
    'Lucullus. Hortensius. Isauricus – he still carries a lot of weight, and he's never forgiven Caesar for becoming chief priest. Possibly Cato.'
    'Cato!' scoffed Celer. 'We'll still be discussing the ethics of the matter long after Caesar has died of old age!'
    'I'm not so sure. Cato was the loudest in his clamour for action against Catilina's gang. And the people respect him almost as much as they love Caesar.'
    A floorboard creaked and Celer put a warning finger to his lips. He called out, 'Who's there?' The door opened. It was Clodia. I wondered how long she had been listening and how much she might have heard. The same thought had obviously occurred to Celer. 'What are you doing?' he demanded.
    'I heard voices. I was on my way out.'
    'Out?' he said suspiciously. 'At this time? What are you going out for?'
    'Why do you think? To see my brother the plebeian. To celebrate!'
    Celer cursed and grabbed the wine jug and hurled it at her.But she had