Short Story: The Nubian Woman
March 44 BC. Secret agent Artemidorus is tasked by Mark Antony with finding sufficient evidence to convince Caesar that there is a lethal plot against him. By Peter Tonkin.
Marcus Junius Brutus, his ostiarius doorkeeper and ianitor major-domo were gathered in the drizzly chill of the kalends first day of March immediately outside Brutus’ Roman villa. As their breath clouded, the three men discussed the litter of parchment, papyrus sheets and stones lying at their feet. All of which bore variations in wording and writing but all carried one single message. Brutus, Rome needs you now as it needed Brutus your forefather four centuries ago; only you can save us from a king like the King Tarquin your ancestor rid us of – a king called Julius Caesar.
Messages had been arriving every night since Caesar’s magister equitum Mark Antony offered him a crown at the Lupercal festival two weeks earlier. A crown which Caesar refused three times – though there were few who believed he did so willingly. The arrival of yet more appeals for leadership against the overweening ambition of the Dictator for Life would not normally have caused the servants to disturb their master, especially as he was currently sharing his bed with a Nubian slave who was unique within his household because of the beauty of her form and the rich, dark hue of her skin.
This morning was different because several of the rousing messages had been written on large rocks. These had been hurled high with such force that they landed on the roof before tumbling back down into the street, accompanied by shattered tiles, opening a considerable section of an upper room to the elements. ‘The dampness will spread, dominus my lord,’ the major-domo was saying. ‘Unless we close the gap, the damage will get worse...’
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