Lustrum

House
. 'I see him as plainly as I see you, Cicero. Arabble-rousing tribune of the very worst kind. He murdered our candidate for consul and the senate declared him a public enemy. After that, even the plebs deserted him. But before we could lay our hands on him, he and some of his gang barricaded themselves up on the Capitol. So we blocked the water pipes! That was your idea, Vatia.'
    'It was.' The old general's eyes gleamed at the memory. 'I knew how to conduct a siege, even then.'
    'Of course they surrendered after a couple of days, and were lodged in the senate house till their trial. But we didn't trust them not to escape again, so we got up on the roof and tore off the tiles and pelted them. There was no hiding place. They ran to and fro squealing like rats in a ditch. By the time Saturninus stopped twitching, you could barely tell who he was.'
    'And Rabirius was with you both on the roof ?' asked Cicero. Glancing up from my notes at the old man – his expression vacant, his head trembling slightly – it was impossible to imagine him involved in such an action.
    'Oh yes, he was there,' confirmed Isauricus. 'There must have been about thirty of us. Those were the days,' he added, bunching his fingers into a gnarled fist, 'when we still had some juice in us!'
    'The crucial point,' said Hortensius wearily – he was younger than his companions and obviously bored of hearing the same old story – 'is not whether Rabirius was there or not. It's the crime with which he is being charged.'
    'Which is what? Murder?'
    '
Perduellio
.'
    I must confess I had never even heard of it, and Cicero had to spell it out for me. '
Perduellio
,' he explained, 'is what the ancients called treason.' He turned to Hortensius. 'Why use suchan obsolete law? Why not just prosecute him with treason, pure and simple, and have done with it?'
    'Because the sentence for treason is exile, whereas for
perduellio
it's death – and not by hanging, either.' Hortensius leaned forward to emphasise his words. 'If they find him guilty, Rabirius will be crucified.'
    'What is this place?' demanded Rabirius, getting to his feet. 'Where am I?'
    Catulus gently pressed him down into his seat. 'Calm yourself, Gaius. We're your friends.'
    'But no jury is going to find
him
guilty,' objected Cicero quietly. 'The poor fellow's clearly lost his brains.'
    '
Perduellio
isn't heard before a jury. That's what's so cunning. It's heard before two judges, specially appointed for the purpose.'
    'Appointed by whom?'
    'Our new urban praetor, Lentulus Sura.'
    Cicero grimaced at the name. Sura was a former consul, a man of great ambition and boundless stupidity, two qualities which in politics often go together.
    'And whom has Old Sleepy-Head chosen as judges? Do we know?'
    'Caesar is one. And Caesar is the other.'
    '
What
?'
    'Gaius Julius Caesar and his cousin Lucius are to be selected to hear the case.'
    '
Caesar
is behind this?'
    'Naturally the verdict is a foregone conclusion.'
    'But there must be a right of appeal,' insisted Cicero, now thoroughly alarmed. 'A Roman citizen cannot be executed without a proper trial.'
    'Oh yes,' said Hortensius bitterly. 'If Rabirius is found guilty,of course he has the right of appeal. But here's the catch. Not to a court – only to the entire people, drawn up in full assembly, on the Field of Mars.'
    'And what a spectacle that will be!' broke in Catulus. 'Can you imagine it? A Roman senator on trial for his life in front of the mob? They'll never vote to acquit him – it would rob them of their entertainment.'
    'It will mean civil war,' said Isauricus flatly, 'because we won't stand for it, Cicero. D'you hear us?'
    'I hear you,' he replied, his eyes rapidly scanning the writ. 'Which of the tribunes has laid the charge?' He found the name at the foot of the document. 'Labienus? He's one of Pompey's men. He's not normally a troublemaker. What's he playing at?'
    'Apparently his uncle was killed alongside Saturninus,' said Hortensius with great contempt, 'and his family honour demands vengeance. It's nonsense. The whole thing is just a pretext for Caesar and his gang to attack the senate.'
    'So what do you propose to do?' said Catulus. 'We voted for you, remember? Against the better judgement of some of us.'
    'What do you want me to do?'
    'What do you think? Fight for Rabirius's life! Denounce this wickedness in public, then join Hortensius as his defence counsel when the case comes before the people.'
    'Well, that would be a novelty,'