The Blood of Gods A Novel of Rome - By Conn Iggulden Page 0,109

three waiting for him.

‘Will you join me in the baths? I need to wash the sweat off.’

Cassius nodded, though Suetonius looked uncomfortable and wiped a hand across his hair. Gaius Trebonius was staring around him with unabashed interest. They followed Brutus to the training house baths and all four men stripped, handing their clothes to slaves to be brushed and steamed clean. Brutus ignored the others, knowing they would wait on him, whatever it was they wanted. He stood stoically as buckets of water were emptied over him, then headed into the hottest steam room to sweat out the dirt from his skin. Surrounded by strangers, Cassius could hardly discuss their plans and as a group the men sat in silence as the steam billowed around them, then followed Brutus through the cold plunge and finally onto the tables, where other slaves worked oil into their skins and scraped them clean with lengths of ivory, wiping black muck onto their waistcloths.

A good hour passed before they were left alone. Some men preferred to doze for a while afterwards, while many more wished to discuss their business in private. The slaves left discreetly, though they would be waiting at the outer door in the hope of a few extra coins when the customers went out to the street.

Suetonius was not aware that his hair had become thin snake tails in the steam and oil, doing nothing to hide his baldness. He lifted his head from the table where he lay and saw the others resting with their eyes closed.

‘As pleasant as it is to find a competent Roman house in Athens, there is much to discuss,’ he said.

Brutus made a sound close to a groan, but he sat up even so. The others did the same, though Suetonius rested his hands over his sagging paunch and wrinkled thighs. The baths stripped away dignity and he wished for his toga to be returned.

‘So what has brought you to me here?’ Brutus said. ‘I was hoping to catch the orator Thenes when he speaks in the agora.’

‘Is he worth hearing?’ Cassius asked.

Brutus shrugged, waving a hand.

‘You know the Greeks. They see only chaos in the world and offer no solutions. It’s all froth and wind, compared to Roman thinkers. At least we are practical. When we see chaos, we stamp on its head.’

‘They are an arrogant people, I’ve always found,’ Cassius replied. ‘I remember one of them telling me they had invented everything, from gods to sex. I pointed out that Romans took their ideas and improved on them. Ares became Mars, Zeus became Jupiter. And of course, although we could not improve on sex, we are the ones who thought of trying it with women.’

Brutus laughed, clapping him on the shoulder.

‘I don’t like to interrupt your discussion of philosophy,’ Suetonius said, breaking in. ‘But we do have more pressing concerns.’

Cassius and Brutus shared an amused glance that Suetonius noticed, his mouth becoming a thin line of disapproval. Gaius Trebonius just watched them all, not confident enough to join the conversation.

‘Tell me, then,’ Brutus said with a sigh. He was feeling wonderfully relaxed. ‘What or who has brought you out of Syria, Cassius?’

‘Who else but Caesar?’ Cassius replied. ‘You know he has formed a triumvirate?’

‘With Mark Antony and some Gaul general named Lepidus, yes. I am not so far from Rome that I don’t hear such things.’

‘He has taken the power of an emperor to himself!’ Suetonius snapped, tired of the mellow tone of the conversation. ‘He acts as a dictator, selling our properties and making a mockery of the law. You know about the proscriptions?’

Brutus smiled unpleasantly. ‘I’m on the list, I know that much. What of it? I’d do the same in his place.’

‘You are not so resigned to another Caesar rising above us all, no matter what you pretend,’ Suetonius said waspishly.

Brutus stared coldly at him until he was forced to look away.

‘Watch yourself, Suetonius, at least around me. I am governor of Athens, after all. I don’t know exactly … what you are.’

Suetonius gaped at him as Cassius grinned and turned away to hide it.

‘I am dispossessed! That’s what I am. I am one of the Liberatores! I saved Rome from an insane tyrant who made a mockery of the Republic, who destroyed centuries of civilisation by being too powerful to check or balance. That is who I am, Brutus. Who are you?’

Brutus treated the outburst like noise from a yapping dog, though his smile grew tight. Suetonius waited