Dictator

‘Of course, although Calenus has already asked me if he might say something.’

‘Calenus! What business is it of his?’

Cornutus stopped and turned to Cicero. He looked surprised. ‘Well, because Pansa was his son-in-law …’

‘What are you talking about? You’ve got it the wrong way round. Pansa isn’t dead; it’s Hirtius who has died.’

‘No, no. It’s Pansa, I assure you. I received a message from Decimus last night. Look.’ And he gave the dispatch to Cicero. ‘He says that once the siege was lifted, he set off directly for Bononia to consult with Pansa on how they should best pursue Antony, only to discover that he had succumbed to the wounds he received in the first battle.’

Cicero refused to believe it. Only when he read Decimus’s letter did he have to concede there was no doubt. ‘But Hirtius is dead as well – killed while storming Antony’s camp. I have a letter here from young Caesar confirming that he has taken custody of the body.’

‘Both consuls are dead?’

‘It’s unimaginable.’ Cicero appeared so dazed by the news, I thought he might topple backwards down the steps. ‘In the entire existence of the republic, only eight consuls have died during their year in office. Eight – in nearly five hundred years! And now we lose two in the same week!’

Some of the passing senators had stopped to look at them. Conscious that they were being overheard, Cicero drew Cornutus to one side and spoke to him in a quiet, urgent voice. ‘This is a dark moment, but we must live through it. Nothing can be allowed to impede our pursuit and destruction of Antony. That is the alpha and omega of our policy. There are plenty of our colleagues who will try to exploit this tragedy to create mischief.’

‘Yes, but who will command our forces in the absence of the consuls?’

Cicero made a sound that was something between a groan and a sigh and put his hand to his brow. What a mess this made of all his careful planning, of all his delicate balancing of power! ‘Well, I suppose there’s no alternative. It will have to be Decimus. He’s the senior in age and experience, and he’s the governor of Nearer Gaul.’

‘What about Octavian?’

‘Leave Octavian to me. But we will need to vote him the most extraordinary thanks and honours if we’re to keep him in our camp.’

‘Is it wise to make him up to be so mighty? One day he’ll turn on us, I’m sure of it.’

‘Perhaps he will. But we can deal with him later. He can be raised, praised and erased.’

It was the sort of cynical remark Cicero often made for effect: a play on words; a knowing joke, nothing more. Cornutus said, ‘Very good, I must remember that – raised, praised, erased.’ Then the two discussed how best to break the news to the Senate, what motions should be proposed and how the votes should be taken, and after that they proceeded into the temple.

‘The nation has sustained a triumph and a tragedy in the same breath,’ Cicero told the silent Senate. ‘A mortal danger has been lifted but only at a mortal price. The news has just been received that we have won a second and decisive victory at Mutina. Antony is in flight with his few remaining followers, to where we do not know – to the north, to the mountains, to the gates of hell itself for all we care!’ (My notes record cheers at this point.) ‘But gentlemen, I have to tell you: Hirtius is dead. Pansa is dead.’ (Gasps, cries, protests.) ‘The gods demanded a sacrifice in expiation for our weakness and our folly over recent months and years, and our two gallant consuls have paid it in full measure. In due course their earthly remains will be returned to the city. We will lay them to rest with solemn honours. We will build a great monument to their valour that men will gaze upon for a thousand years. But we will honour them best by finishing the task they so nearly completed and extirpating Antony once and for all. (Applause.)

‘I propose that in the light of the loss of our consuls at Mutina, and mindful of the need to prosecute the war to its end, Decimus Junius Albinus be appointed commander-in-chief of the Senate’s armies in the field and that Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus should be his deputy in all matters; and that in recognition of their brilliant generalship, heroism and success, the name of Decimus Junius Albinus should be added to the Roman calendar to mark his birthday for eternity, and that Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus should be awarded the honour of an ovation as soon as it is convenient for him to come to Rome to receive it.’