Free The Far Arena by Richard Ben Sapir Page B

smile.
    Why did I like Publius? In most things, he was nothing I admired. In an age when it was said people had almost forgotten how to speak for fear of Domitian's spies, Publius' mind was at his tongue. He had only to think something to feel free to express it.
    He believed in everything. No god came to Rome without Publius' worship or rejection first. At one time he even said there were no gods. If it was new, Publius had done it, worn it, or eaten it. He was even celibate for an afternoon and attempted to get everyone to join him, until he had a cup of wine and saw an attractive breast bob. By morning he had written four scrolls proving with finality that long-term celibacy caused lunacy and was a danger to the empire.
    He had been an officer of the Third Cyrene legion fighting in Judea. Others saw blood, baking heat, and fanatics' daggers, living with the fear of fighting those who do not value their lives. Publius discovered a new wine.
    He was on the tribune's staff but begged to bloody his sword instead of his stylus. It was said, but Publius denied it as a vicious rumour, that, unauthorized, he had led a wedged formation against an empty cave. Insulted by the tribune, Publius left Judea and returned to Rome without permission - a breach of discipline that normally would bring death. His family, far relatives of the Flavia who ruled Rome, interceded. It cost them half their estates to save his life. He stopped talking to his father because of the complaints over the size of the enormous bribe.
    He married into a fortune, slept one night with his wife, who conceived, and found domestic life did not suit him. After a week he compared it to endless slavery and wrote an ode likening it to eternally rolling a rock up a hill. This, after he had written an ode to the married life as the strongest stone in the empire's walls.
    Why did I like Publius?
    Perhaps he could live with a freedom I could not survive. Perhaps it was his innocence of the hardness of the world. Perhaps it was his enthusiasm for everything. Sometimes, even after his life brought me ruin, I still smiled when I thought of him.
    We were quiet in the cubicle, not because at this point the mob could hear us in its own screams, but because men waiting to fight for life do not have much to say. Except Publius.
    'Better to wait,' he said.
    'Of course, none of us could get out now,' said Varro.
    'I mean later for the feast. Everyone in my family, all my friends are coming, except my cheap father. I didn't invite him.'
    A body suddenly blocked the slit to the arena. I ordered the lamps put out, for now the cubicle would become stuffy if they remained lit. We stood in darkness.
    'They will be so disappointed that you are late for the feast,' said Publius. He was talking to me.
    'Shhh, Publius,' I whispered. "There is a riot. If any of your guests are foolish enough to attend, I am not one of them.'
    'That is the lunacy of the mob. They do not realize how important your feast is,' said Publius.
    It was dark, and the dark made the quiet seem more necessary, as though all ears became stronger when the eyes were not in use.
    'Eugeni ...' said Publius.
    'Shhh. I want to go home, Publius. To my wife. To my son. I want to protect them. Shhh.' 'Now, Eugeni,' he whispered. 'Everyone knows mobs always attack only what is immediately in front of them. And we know they always veer towards the Capitoline. Everyone knows that. This is not a time to lose our heads, correct ?' ‘ Correct, Publius. Shhh.'
    'No. Just a moment for reason to overcome mindless panic. Now you, above all, have a house designed for protection against mobs. The streets leading to it are narrow, your walls well fortified and manned by slaves trained by you personally. Personally by you. There is no better training in the world. Correct ?'
    'Shhh. Yes.'
    'The safest place in Rome is your house, yes ?' ‘ Yes. Shhh.'
    'Then gracious Miriamne and bright and sturdy Petronius are safer than any of us, yes?'