`Was Silius good?' asked Helena.
`Convincing. Eventually his time ran out, so Paccius stood up. Paccius had been looking as if he had eaten something indigestible himself.'
`He's a misery. I take it he made the apothecary look small?' I still remembered how scathing Paccius had been about me at the first trial.
`He didn't bother with the expected personal attacks.' Decimus had our whole attention now. He was clearly working up a good tale. `From the fold in his toga, Paccius produced a sardonyx box. While you were speaking to my colleague over there, I sent someone to the Metellus house. Is this the box the pills were in? Rhoemetalces looked startled but agreed it looked like the same one. Paccius told us it was the one found in Metellus' room when he died; Calpurnia Cara nodded. Paccius asked if Silius wanted to quibble. Silius looked black but said that if the apothecary recognised the box and none of the family objected, he would accept this. Paccius spun around to the apothecary again. How many pills were in the box? Six, said Rhoemetalces. How many people would that kill? Well, none in my opinion, Rhoemetalces insisted; the gold coating should mean the pills would pass safely through the patient… There were six when you sold it and – With a grand gesture, Paccius pulled off the lid – there are five now!'
The senator paused. He felt the need to ask for more wine in his goblet. We all smiled and pretended not to know he was just doing this for dramatic effect. Helena grabbed a jug, poured, added water, thrust the goblet at her father.
`It was nothing new – we all knew Metellus had taken a pill – but we were leaning forward on the edges of our benches, of course. One ancient ex-consul craned so far forward he fell off and had to be pulled to safety by his toga.' Decimus tilted the goblet to Helena in thanks, then took a sip. All senators learn basic oratory. He had mastered suspense. Mind you, this was no worse than trying to get a sensible story out of my own mischievous father, whose irritable habits were entirely self-taught. `Everyone could tell Paccius planned some theatrical device. These five pills are the same as the one that Metellus swallowed. And you say, the gold-coated pills are harmless? Yes, said the apothecary. He was under pressure and probably puzzled where the questioning was leading, so he added he would stake his life on it.'
I saw Helena Justina draw a sharp breath.
Her father did not pause. 'If you are wrong, one of these pills would kill within the hour, but you are the expert and you maintain that they are quite harmless. Thank you! exclaimed Paccius, suddenly lowering his voice. The whole court hushed. Then take one now yourself – and show us, please!'
XIII
'JUNO! THAT'S disgraceful – it was never allowed?' cried Helena.
`Well, everyone was on their feet. There was uproar. It gave Rhoemetalces a moment to think, I dare say.'
`He had no choice!' I was shocked. `If he refused to co-operate, his entire defence would fall -'
`Exactly! Silius jumped up and tried a few ploys – he maintained that if the accused were to die, he would lose his rights as prosecutor. He knew damn well that if the man took a pill and lived, we would all go home, case ended. His protests sounded feeble. Paccius just sat down on the bench, waiting.'
`I bet he looked smug.'
`You could choke on the condescension he exuded. But the consul stopped the racket. He said it would be inhumane to argue over technicalities for long. He gave the apothecary a straight choice: would he do it, here and now, or not? Rhoemetalces asked for the box to be brought over to him, took a pill and gulped it down straight away.
`I am ashamed!' wailed Helena.
`It was his decision, love -'
`No choice! He had no choice, you said so, Marcus.'
`Well, he did it.' I noticed her father was as brisk as me. We had both wasted too many hours while woolly arguments were waffled and decisions were avoided; this was pleasingly clear-cut. `The consul asked for a new waterclock to be set -'
`And you all waited? You just waited in the Curia for the next hour to pass?' Helena was still outraged. I patted her arm, trying not to look as if I wished I had thought of the test.
'Rhoemetalces was allowed to sit – he had been standing as he gave evidence of course,' said her father. `So he stayed on a bench, back very straight, with his arms folded. Nobody dared go near him. Except Paccius sometimes.'
`To reassure his client?' Helena scoffed. `The client who might be dying in front of him? At his suggestion?' Decimus inclined his head, acknowledging the filthy ethics. `This is not about the defendants at all, is it? This is purely a battle between Silius and Paccius,' Helena scoffed. `They don't care a quadrans what happens to anybody else.'
The senator spoke levelly. `They have a long-standing feud, yes. Not personal enmity, but a legal tussle for supremacy. While the man sat there, hoping, they even joked together. You could say they respect each other's professional qualities – or you could say it stinks!' He knew Helena's version. I think we all knew his. `The rest of us milled about, people rushed to and from the Forum, the news spread, more crowds gathered outside, everyone muttered in small groups and stared over at the apothecary.'
`And what happened to him?' I was busting to know.
`Nothing happened.'
`He was right about the pills: he lived?'
`So far.'
`He may have a slow digestion,' Julia Justa commented, as if some child in her household was being watched after swallowing a denarius.
`Yes. The consul had him taken under guard to his own house, where he will stay, under surveillance, through tonight. He will be allowed neither food nor drink, lest he take an antidote. If he is alive tomorrow morning -' The senator paused. I did not begrudge him. The story was sensational.
`What do we think will happen?' I asked.
`We think – since he lasted an hour in court and still looked nervously confident – we think Rhoemetalces will survive the night.'
`That's all he needs to do.'
`It is indeed, Marcus. Then the case is over.'
That was how it turned out too. It must have been the easiest defence Paccius Africanus ever came up with. Well, easy for him. For Rhoemetalces, and even for Juliana, it would have been nerve-racking.
The defendants were freed by the consul next morning. Juliana was taken home in procession by her husband and family, amidst what many thought were unseemly signs of triumph. The apothecary, who was unmarried, returned alone to his medicine booth, where for a very short time he attracted a large queue of customers. Notoriety cast its usual sordid spells. He made a fortune that afternoon. Soon, however, people started to remember how he had owned up that he had made money from selling expensive pills which would not work.
This was no more cynical than most lying lozenge-pushers, but when he thought it mattered, Rhoemetalces had been honest. We cannot have that. Rome is a complex, sophisticated society. Truth is distrusted as much as Greek philosophy. So the customers began to stay away.
His trade diminished until Rhoemetalces could no longer earn a living. The Senate had awarded him the most meagre compensation for the court case, because of his low rank. The struggle became too hard. Eventually he took opium poppy sap and killed himself. Few people heard about it. Why should they? He was just the little man who was dragged into the troubles of the great. I seemed to be the only person who commented on the irony of his suicide.
The Metellus troubles, which were deemed so much more exciting, still continued to bubble like an unwatched pot that will thicken and splutter and slowly increase in volume until it boils over. There was bound to be more yet. The praetor had ruled that on the evidence, he could not say the death of Metellus was murder – nor could he decide that it had been an accident. Silius Italicus, an unforgiving informer, still wanted to be paid for the corruption case he won. Now he had been punched in the purse again – having to pay compensation at a senatorial level to Rubiria Juliana for the failed prosecution. Paccius Africanus would benefit from this, but even he wanted to screw yet more fame and money out of the events.