village below. The laughter of girls rose towards us, and Artixes said, "What do you mean by the Constitution? This is a word I have heard Romans speak before and it always puzzles me."
"It puzzles us too," I said. "That is part of the problem. You must understand, Artixes, that years ago Rome was ruled, as your tribes are, by kings."
"Well," he said, "that's only natural. Everyone has kings, surely."
"Not exactly. Some states are what we call republics. No, don't ask me to explain, you will understand what a republic is when I have finished. But if I explain every word then we'll never get anywhere. Now the Romans were dissatisfied with their kings."
"Why?"
"Well, first, they were foreigners." "I call that feeble, to take foreigners for kings." "Perhaps it was, I don't know, it was a long time ago. Then the son of the King was a bad man." "What did he do?" "Raped a girl."
He looked at me with what I took to be dismay, lost again.
"But he was the King's son," he said. "Surely she should have been honoured to do his bidding."
"You might think so, but she wasn't, and her father and brothers were very angry. They rose up against the King and drove him out of the city."
"Yes," he said, "I understand that. So they made themselves kings."
"Not exactly. The Romans then decided kings were a bad idea. Don't ask me why. They just did. So they decided to have a new, different form of government. Instead of one man being king for life, they would divide the government between two men who would be equal to each other, and who would only hold power for a year. They weren't called kings, but consuls."
"Were they killed at the end of the year?"
"No."
"Then how did they persuade them to give up power?" "They just did. Those were the rules." "And this still happens?"
"We still have consuls. I should have been consul myself next year."
"And now you're not. You're here instead." "Yes. Only nowadays the consuls don't have much real power."
"I understand. This way of doing things doesn't work."
"It worked well for a long time. Very well. Too well perhaps. Rome became great and powerful. You know that, you have felt our power. We conquered other countries and tribes and extended our Empire."
"Yes, you kill people and call it peace."
"If you say so, but that's not how we see it. Anyway the Empire became so big that generals had to command armies and provinces for a long time, and in the end the generals became more powerful than the consuls."
"So the generals became kings."
"Not exactly."
Sometimes I wonder if Artixes is quite as ingenuous as he seems to be. He has after all lived in Rome, admittedly in a species of detention. He must know more about Roman politics than he pretends. But when he looks at me with his blue eyes wide open, and smiles in that frank admiring fashion, I can't think him other than innocent.
And yet ... I put my arm round his shoulder.
"Artixes, you know all this, I think."
He smiled again.
"Well, some of it," he said.
"So it's a game."
"It's interesting to hear how you explain it. And I do want to know about Caesar, and why you followed him until . . . And these women. I've heard of the Queen of Egypt. Men say she's ravishingly beautiful."
"Cleopatra? No, she's not that. She's more interesting than that."
"Tell me about her."
CHAPTER 3
M ost Romans loathe Egypt and the Egyptians. There is something about the place that disturbs us. It is, I think, on account of the ever-present consciousness of magic. Everything seems to come from the primeval slime of the Nile. The Egyptians worship animal gods, and one cult, I have been informed, expresses devotion for a dung-beetle. A stench of corruption pervades the country, and few Romans manage to get through a day without looking nervously over their shoulder or seeking reassurance that some witch has not cast a spell on them. It is foolishness, but it is infectious foolishness. Even Mark Antony was affected. He displayed a nervous anxiety which was
"It puzzles us too," I said. "That is part of the problem. You must understand, Artixes, that years ago Rome was ruled, as your tribes are, by kings."
"Well," he said, "that's only natural. Everyone has kings, surely."
"Not exactly. Some states are what we call republics. No, don't ask me to explain, you will understand what a republic is when I have finished. But if I explain every word then we'll never get anywhere. Now the Romans were dissatisfied with their kings."
"Why?"
"Well, first, they were foreigners." "I call that feeble, to take foreigners for kings." "Perhaps it was, I don't know, it was a long time ago. Then the son of the King was a bad man." "What did he do?" "Raped a girl."
He looked at me with what I took to be dismay, lost again.
"But he was the King's son," he said. "Surely she should have been honoured to do his bidding."
"You might think so, but she wasn't, and her father and brothers were very angry. They rose up against the King and drove him out of the city."
"Yes," he said, "I understand that. So they made themselves kings."
"Not exactly. The Romans then decided kings were a bad idea. Don't ask me why. They just did. So they decided to have a new, different form of government. Instead of one man being king for life, they would divide the government between two men who would be equal to each other, and who would only hold power for a year. They weren't called kings, but consuls."
"Were they killed at the end of the year?"
"No."
"Then how did they persuade them to give up power?" "They just did. Those were the rules." "And this still happens?"
"We still have consuls. I should have been consul myself next year."
"And now you're not. You're here instead." "Yes. Only nowadays the consuls don't have much real power."
"I understand. This way of doing things doesn't work."
"It worked well for a long time. Very well. Too well perhaps. Rome became great and powerful. You know that, you have felt our power. We conquered other countries and tribes and extended our Empire."
"Yes, you kill people and call it peace."
"If you say so, but that's not how we see it. Anyway the Empire became so big that generals had to command armies and provinces for a long time, and in the end the generals became more powerful than the consuls."
"So the generals became kings."
"Not exactly."
Sometimes I wonder if Artixes is quite as ingenuous as he seems to be. He has after all lived in Rome, admittedly in a species of detention. He must know more about Roman politics than he pretends. But when he looks at me with his blue eyes wide open, and smiles in that frank admiring fashion, I can't think him other than innocent.
And yet ... I put my arm round his shoulder.
"Artixes, you know all this, I think."
He smiled again.
"Well, some of it," he said.
"So it's a game."
"It's interesting to hear how you explain it. And I do want to know about Caesar, and why you followed him until . . . And these women. I've heard of the Queen of Egypt. Men say she's ravishingly beautiful."
"Cleopatra? No, she's not that. She's more interesting than that."
"Tell me about her."
CHAPTER 3
M ost Romans loathe Egypt and the Egyptians. There is something about the place that disturbs us. It is, I think, on account of the ever-present consciousness of magic. Everything seems to come from the primeval slime of the Nile. The Egyptians worship animal gods, and one cult, I have been informed, expresses devotion for a dung-beetle. A stench of corruption pervades the country, and few Romans manage to get through a day without looking nervously over their shoulder or seeking reassurance that some witch has not cast a spell on them. It is foolishness, but it is infectious foolishness. Even Mark Antony was affected. He displayed a nervous anxiety which was
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