The Cleopatra Crisis

Начало книги

The house of Gaius Cassius Longinus was surrounded by awall, as were the homes of all wealthy Romans, for the city had been growing atan alarming rate. Every day. more and more refugees arrived from the provinces.It was no longer safe to travel alone at night. The streets were choked withthieves and cutthroats who wouldn’t hesitate to kill for a few measly denarii.The gatekeeper opened the heavy wooden door, admitting Marcus Brutus and hisslaves, whom he had brought along for protection. Each of them was armed with agladius, the Roman short sword, and Brutus himself wore a parazonium,the bottle-shaped, foot-long dagger that no Roman male went without these days.The times had grown perilous. He took off his cloak and handed it to thegatekeeper.

“See to it that my slaves are fed,” he told the gatekeeper. “Havethe others arrived yet?”

“They are dining in the peristylum, Master Brutus,” saidthe gatekeeper. “I was told to bid you join them as soon as you arrived.”

Читать дальше →