Free Time to Depart by Lindsey Davis Page B

poor old buffer's had to rush to his bedroom for a quiet lie-down!'
    'Forget it,' I assured Petro. 'Vespasian's famously tight, but he won't faint at the mere mention. If he hates our suggestion he'll say no.'
    'Your suggestion,' Petro inserted. I ignored it.
    We were silent for a while, mulling over events past and recent. 'What in Hades have you got me into here?' Petro grumbled. -
    'At some point later, when we want to be having our dinner, we'll find ourselves advising a committee on the fine points of managing crime.'
    'I just want to get back to my case.'
    'This could be the most promising assignment of your life.' 
    'Stuff it,' Petro growled.
    It was in fact lunch time when things started to happen. First the white tunic came and collected us. He wanted to pick our brains. We allowed it, but made sure we shared his lunch.
    He introduced himself as Tiberius Claudius Laeta. Evidently a Palace freedman of great status, he had possession of a room that was twice as big as my whole apartment. There, when Vespasian didn't need a minion to push around, the good Laeta could sit and pick his nose. There, too, persons of lesser status brought him trayloads of sustenance.
    'Nice!' we said.
    'It's a living,' he replied. There was only one winecup but Petro quickly found a couple of dusty extras hidden behind some scroll boxes. The clerk tried to look impressed with our initiative as, smiling like happy new cronies, we poured his flagon for him. Since the wine was free, it proved good enough even for Petro. Laeta raised his cup to us, looking pleased to have company. Being top clerk, which he obviously was, can be a lonely life. 'So! I gather you're Falco, one of Anacrites' men?'
    'I'm Falco,' I answered patiently. 'I'm my own man.' 
    'Sorry. I understood you worked for the bureau that we don't talk about.'
    'I have worked for the Emperor. I found the rewards unrealistic, and I don't plan any more.'
    'Ah!' The good Laeta managed to say this with an air of discretion, while implying that whatever bureau he served was scheming to put the Chief Spy on the rim of a live volcano and give him a big shove. 'Maybe you would find it more rewarding working for us.'
    'Maybe,' I said, fairly peacefully. If it upset Anacrites, I would consider anything.
    Claudius Laeta gave me a considered stare, then turned to Petronius. Petro had been stolidly putting away a platter of cold artichoke hearts. As his attention was demanded by our host, I myself started on Laeta's dish of anchovies. 'And you are Petronius Longus, of the Aventine Watch?' Petro nodded, still chewing. 'Do set me straight about the vigiles. I confuse them with the Urban Cohorts...'
    'Easily done.' Petronius filled him in politely. Replete, he leant back on a stool and gave Laeta his lecture for new recruits: 'This is how law and order works in Rome. Top of the heap you have the Praetorian Guard; Cohorts One to Nine, commanded by the Praetorian Prefect, barracked at the Praetorian Camp. Fully armed. Duties: one, guarding the Emperor: two, ceremonial swank. They are a hand-picked elite, and full of themselves. Next in line and tacked on to them are Cohorts Ten to Twelve, known as the Urbans. Commanded by the Urban Prefect - a senator - who is basically the city manager. Routinely armed with sword and knife. Their unofficial job description is to repress the mob. Duties officially: to keep the peace, keep their ears open, and keep the Urban Prefect informed of absolutely everything.'
    'Spying?' Laeta queried dryly. 'I thought Anacrites did that?'
    'He spies on them while they're spying on us,' I suggested.
    'And at the bottom,' Petro continued, 'doing all the real work, you have the vigiles, commanded by the Prefect of the Vigiles. Unarmed, but run on military lines. Seven cohorts, each led by a tribune who is an ex-chief centurion; each with seven centuries who do the foot patrols. Rome has fourteen administrative regions. Each cohort looks after two. Duties: everything those flash