Milo spoke up. "And we needn't rely just on the garrisons. There are plenty of other trained fighters to call on." Caelius raised his hand and gave him a withering look, but Milo blustered on. "I'm talking about the gladiator training camps down south! The biggest, strongest, most vicious slaves in all of Italy end up in those camps, and they're trained to kill without mercy. When it comes to killing, one gladiator is worth a century of common soldiers. The slaves in those camps are desperate-they're all headed for an early, painful death, and neither Pompey nor Caesar offers them any hope for the future. After we set them free, they'll be loyal to us alone!"

For years, Milo had been attended by his own private army of gladiators; he had left Rome with them, they had protected him in Massilia and had helped to defend the city against Caesar's siege, and now they had returned with Milo to Italy. He had grown so used to the company of his gladiators that he didn't realize how shocking it was to suggest that such men be recruited to overthrow the Senate and the magistrates of Rome. To be sure, Caesar himself had set the precedent of freeing gladiators whom he owned and turning them into soldiers, but he had been careful to disperse them among different legions and to use them outside Italy. But Milo was hinting at something very different-setting free whole bands of gladiators and letting them lay siege to Rome itself. Such men were the lowest of the low-desperate, mistreated slaves trained only to kill, lacking any soldierly discipline, without families or any vested interest in Rome's future or her institutions. If soldiers could not be trusted to refrain from looting and burning, what would happen if Rome were overrun with gladiators?

"Do you see yourself as a second Spartacus, Milo? Is that the legacy you intend to leave behind? Milo, who made his reputation as watchdog for the Best People, then ended by setting bloodthirsty slaves loose on Rome? The Fates have led you on a strange path, Milo."

"Milo speaks prematurely," said Caelius, wincing. "We'll use gladiators only as a last resort."

"A cure certain to kill the patient! Gladiators are trained to kill, not to take orders. You're playing Pandora if you set them loose."

Neither Caelius nor Milo answered. They stared at me for a long moment, then exchanged a glance-Milo looking vindicated, Caelius disappointed. I had reacted just as Milo expected, but Caelius had hoped for a different reaction.

"What do you want from me?" I asked.

Caelius sighed. "Merely for you to act in your own best interests, Gordianus. You've poisoned your relationship with Pompey. I don't know exactly what happened between you, but I do know he tried to strangle you with his bare hands when he was fleeing by ship from Brundisium. You barely escaped alive! What will you do if Pompey returns to Rome in triumph? And your relationship with Caesar seems hardly better. Your adopted son Meto is still close to Caesar-but you've disowned Meto and offended Caesar in the process. Where will you stand if Caesar wins and makes himself king of Rome? I was as loyal to Caesar as any man-I fled Rome with Curio to join him at the Rubicon; I fought beside him in Spain-and you see how he rewarded me, with crumbs! What reward can you expect from Caesar?

"But forget Pompey, forget Caesar and the darkness that will fall over this city if either of them triumphs. I should think, Gordianus, that my recent speeches in the Forum would have touched a nerve with you. I happen to know a bit about your finances. You're up to your ears in debt to that cannibal Volumnius. He never forgives a debt. He's insatiable! He shall suck the life from you as a man sucks marrow from a bone. Your family will be reduced to beggars, perhaps even slaves. Pompey will do nothing to stop him. Neither will Caesar; it's Caesar's fault that men like Volumnius are having their day, growing fat off of other men's misery. Only I can save you from Volumnius, Gordianus. Only I can promise you justice. Cast your lot with me. It's your only choice."

"Why me, Caelius? I have no power. I have no money. I have no family connections. Why do you care whether I join your cause or not?"

"Ah, but you have something far more important to us than any of those things, Gordianus." Caelius tapped his skull. "You're clever! You see the world as it is. You know the ways of men. Great men and small men, you've moved among them all. Most importantly, you care about truth, and you long for justice. 'The last honest man in Rome,' as Cicero once called you. You're exactly the sort of man who will matter after everything has been turned upside down. Your day shall finally come; there's no limit to the heights to which you might aspire. You need us, Gordianus. But we need you, as well."

He spoke so earnestly-looking me in the eye, pitching his voice just so-that I felt compelled to listen. I recognized an orator's trick he had learned from Cicero-first incite fear (of Pompey, of Caesar, of Volumnius), then promise hope (freedom from debt, justice for all, my own virtues finally recognized and rewarded). He stared at me, waiting for an answer.

I took a deep breath. "We can't possibly be safe, meeting like this. At any moment, Isauricus might send men to storm this building. The two of you wouldn't stand a chance."

Milo emitted a harsh, barking noise that passed for a laugh. "Ha! Do you suppose we haven't taken precautions? This building is thoroughly guarded. You didn't notice the armed men outside and on the rooftop? Good. That means they're doing their job and staying out of sight. But I need merely to snap my fingers and in the blink of an eye you'd be twitching on the floor with your throat cut." A gleam lit his eyes.

"What about the tenants? If I overheard you, then others-"

"A friend of Caelius's owns this building. He's gradually cleared out every tenant who can't be trusted and replaced them with die-hard partisans."

"Every occupant of the building is a partisan of Caelius's?" I thought of Cassandra, trying to imagine how she fit into their scheme.

"Including the occupant standing in front of me, I hope." Caelius smiled. "What do you say, Gordianus? Are you with us? The way is hard, but the rewards will be great beyond imagining."

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing yet. But the time will come when I shall call on your craftiness, your cunning, your honesty and wisdom-and when I do, I want to be able to rely on your loyalty without question."

"You'd trust me to simply give you my word?"

"No." He went to the cupboard against the wall and returned with a piece of parchment. "I want you to sign this."

I held it at arm's length, for the letters were small, and read:

ON THIS DATE, ONE DAY BEFORE THE NONES OF SEXTILIS IN THE YEAR OF ROME DCCVI, I PLEDGE MY LIFE AND MY FORTUNE TO THE CAUSE OF MARCUS CAELIUS RUFUS AND TITUS ANNIUS MILO. I ACCEPT THEIR AUTHORITY AND I WILL OBEY THEIR ORDERS. I REJECT THE LEGITIMACY OF THE SENATE AND THE MAGISTRATES OF ROME ELECTED UNDER ORDERS OF GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR. LIKEWISE I REJECT THE LEGITIMACY OF THOSE SENATORS AND MAGISTRATES WHO FLED FROM ROME AND FIGHT UNDER THE BANNER OF GNAEUS POMPEY MAGNUS. ALL ARE IMPOSTORS WHO BY THEIR ACTIONS HAVE CEDED ANY CLAIM TO CONSTITUTE THE LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT OF ROME. UNDER GUIDANCE OF MARCUS CAELIUS RUFUS AND TITUS ANNIUS MILO, THE ROMAN STATE SHALL BE RECONSTITUTED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE WILL OF THE ROMAN PEOPLE. ONLY THE GOVERNMENT ESTABLISHED BY THEM, AND NO OTHER, SHALL HAVE LEGITIMACY TO CONDUCT THE AFFAIRS OF STATE. BY MY NAME BELOW, SIGNED BESIDE THOSE OF MARCUS CAELIUS RUFUS AND TITUS ANNIUS MILO, AND BY THE IMPRESSION OF THE DEVICE ON MY CITIZEN'S RING IN THE WAX SEAL ON THIS DOCUMENT, I FREELY PLEDGE MYSELF TO THIS CAUSE AND FORSAKE ALL OTHERS.

I looked up. "You must be joking. A contract to conspire against the state? I'm not Cicero, but even I know this isn't legally binding."