“Oh, you’ll drive me mad with this, Timotheus! O-verbs, mi-verbs, contracted verbs! And the aorist tense—what is it for? And the middle voice and the optative mood? We don’t have them in Latin. Your grammar makes my head spin. Why must it be so difficult? Latin is so simple.”
“Adequate, no doubt, for expressing simple thoughts, lady. Now, if you will please attend to me—”
There was a knock at the door and Pliny poked his head in. “Thought I’d find you two here. Sorry to interrupt. How are you getting on with your lessons, my dear?” His gaze met hers; she looked away. “Yes, well, I’ve got a new pupil for you, Timotheus. A young man who’s our guest temporarily. Hasn’t had much schooling, I’m afraid. I thought he could sit in on Calpurnia’s lesson. You won’t mind will you?” He opened the door wider and propelled the boy inside, with a hand on his thin shoulder. He was visibly trembling. Calpurnia knew instantly who he was. The tutor started to protest but she silenced him with a look.
“Thank you, Gaius,” she said. “I’m delighted to have a fellow pupil. Come, Aulus, sit here beside me.” She spoke to him in rapid Latin while Timotheus sat stony-faced. “Don’t mind him, he isn’t as fierce as he looks. Do you know any Greek at all? Well, I’m still very much a beginner myself. You can’t imagine how glad I am to have a companion. We’ll make a game of it. I’ll bet you’re a quick learner too.”
Aulus sat carefully on the edge of his chair. His shoulders relaxed a little. He shot Calpurnia a look of almost painful gratitude.
Chapter Thirty-six
The 7th day before the Kalends of December
Pliny had expected that three days of confinement would unnerve Didymus. He realized as soon as the man was brought into his office that he had miscalculated; waiting seemed to have had the opposite effect. Gone was the fawning, anxious-to-please demeanor. In its place, was an expression of stubborn defiance.
“Sit him down.” A stool was placed in the center of the room. The lictor who had brought him in forced Didymus onto it.
Pliny sat behind his desk, on which he had placed a thick folder of papers. All but two of the sheets had nothing to do with the case at all but made the folder impressively thick. Didymus couldn’t take his eyes off it. Pliny opened it and began slowly to turn the pages. The only other persons in the room were Suetonius and a shorthand writer, both seated to one side, beyond Didymus’ line of sight. Outside, the night was pitch black and only the uncertain, sickly light of oil lamps, one on the desk, the other hanging from a stand above Didymus’ head, illumined the scene.
“How much longer do you think you can keep me here?” The banker’s voice was truculent. “I have influential friends, you know. They won’t stand for Roman bullying.”
“Indeed,” said Pliny mildly, “I’ve had a look at your books, I’m impressed by your clientele. Now this needn’t take long at all if you’ll cooperate with me.” He drew a sheet from the folder and held it to the lamp. “This is a letter from the Sun-Runner to the Lion. It was found among Balbus’ papers. The Lion, it appears, had complained that another member of the cult, someone known as the Persian, owed him money and was refusing to repay. The Lion wanted him punished by expulsion. The Sun-Runner is unwilling to do this. ‘You are both too important to our enterprise,’ he says. And the letter is dated only a few days before Balbus was found dead.”
He slipped the page back into the folder and fixed his eyes on the banker. “Vibius Balbus was the ‘Lion’ in this illicit cult to which you belong. You are the ‘Persian’ he refers to. You and he quarreled over a large sum of money, he complained about you, perhaps he threatened you physically, we know Balbus was a violent man, quick to use his fists. I sympathize with you, Didymus. You were frightened, anyone would be. Finally, you saw no way out except to kill him. You recruited Glaucon to help you. These facts are not in dispute. I’m giving you a chance to tell your side of the story. It can only help you. Fill in the details for me. Who is this Sun-Runner? Who are the other initiates? Where is the cave where you worship Mithras?