A Point of Law Read Online Free PDF Page A

slaves were already setting the table for us. I flopped onto a couch and somebody took my sandals.
    “Eat,” Julia commanded. “You’re going to have a long night of plotting ahead of you at your father’s house.”
    “You already know about that?” I reached for the wine, and she slapped my hand. I grabbed a roll instead.
    “How should I not?” She mixed the wine with water. Far too much water. “They’ll want to organize a legal defense for you. Tell them they are wasting their time.”
    “Why should I do that? Even perjured testimony has to be answered and countered. I don’t see how the man can hope to make his charges stick.”
    Julia rolled her eyes. “Isn’t it obvious? He has no intention of bringing in a conviction! He just wants to keep you out of the election!”
    “But why? He can’t hope to make his reputation on an abortive trial resulting in an acquittal.”
    “That’s the question we have to answer.” She shoved a cup of the weak mixture into my hand. I dipped my bread into balsam-steeped oil and chewed.
    “If he doesn’t benefit directly from my exclusion from office, then who does? That’s always Cicero’s question, isn’t it? ‘Who benefits?’ ”
    “There is another question to ask: Are you the real target of this attack?”
    “What do you mean?” I downed a couple of oysters and went after a roast chicken.
    “His words, as reported to me, were that he would bring down ‘the great Caecilius Metellus.’
You
are not the most distinguished of your family. He may be attacking the family through you.”
    “If we were known Pompeians or Caesarians that would make sense, but we aren’t. The family supported Sulla and has gone its own way since his death.”
    “There are those who may find that intolerable,” Julia said obscurely.
    “How well do you know Fulvia? He’s her brother.”
    “I’ve scarcely seen her these past few years, except when we both attended noblewomen’s ceremonies the Bona Dea festival and the ritesof Ceres and so forth. When she was married to Clodius, she was tight with that circle, naturally. Now it looks as if she’ll marry Marcus Antonius, and Antonius has thrown in his lot with Caesar. So I can’t imagine that she’s put her brother up to this, evil bitch though she may be.”
    “Do you think she’s all that bad?”
    “Clodia’s a Vestal by comparison.” The notorious Clodia had retired to virtual seclusion since her brother’s death, thus robbing Rome of its favorite focus for scandal. As always, I grew uneasy when my wife mentioned Clodia. I had a checkered and somewhat unsavory past with that woman.
    “Then who? The major factions should be trying to court the Metelli, not to alienate them.” I attacked an unoffending but delicious rabbit, tore off its leg and dipped it in
garum
.
    Julia thought about it for a while, then she seemed to get off the subject. “Who do you think your family will support? They can’t stay neutral forever. Sooner or later they’ll have to declare for Caesar or Pompey.”
    “Not necessarily,” I said. “For one thing, a year from now, Caesar or Pompey or both could be dead. Gaul is not a healthy place, as I can attest from experience. One stray arrow, one determined assassin, an unexpected German offensive—any number of things could spell an abrupt end for Caesar. For that matter, an ague or a disgruntled officer could do it. Recall if you will that half the Senate cooperated to send him to Gaul in hopes that he’d die there.
    “As for Pompey, he’s at the age when men drop dead suddenly of natural causes. He’s put on weight and doesn’t get around like he used to.”
    “You aren’t answering me.” Julia was as relentless as any lawyer.
    “It depends on who frightens them the most. They’ve spent decades scared of Pompey and his soldiers, and they’ve opposed him most of the time. Now they’re getting apprehensive of Caesar. He has an unprecedentedly large and happy army, and for