Lustrum

candles and said that we should go.
    The night was moonless, and as we reached the top of the steps we could see beneath us at least a dozen torches slowly ascending the hill. Someone in the distance let out a peculiar bird cry, and it was answered by a similar shriek from a spot very close behind us. I felt my heart begin to pound. 'They are on their way,' said Cicero softly. 'He does not mean to miss a moment.' We hurried down the steps, and at the foot of the Palatine turned left into a narrow alley. Keeping close to the walls, we made acareful loop past shuttered shops and slumbering houses until we came out into the main street just by the Capena Gate. The porter was bribed to open up the pedestrian door, and waited impatiently as we exchanged whispered farewells with our protectors. Then Cicero stepped through the narrow portal, followed by me and by three other young slaves, who carried his luggage.
    We did not speak or rest until we had walked for at least two hours and had got clear of the monumental tombs that line that stretch of road – in those days, notorious hiding places for robbers. Then Cicero decided it was safe to stop, and he sat down on a milestone and looked back at Rome. A faint red glow, too early for the dawn, crimson at its centre and dissolving into bands of pink, suffused the sky, outlining the low black humps of the city's hills. It was amazing to think that the burning of just one house could create such an immense celestial effect. Had I not known better, I would have said it was an omen. At the same time, faint on the still night air, came a curious sound, harsh and intermittent, pitched somewhere between a howl and a wail. I could not place it at first, but then Cicero said it must be trumpets on the Field of Mars, and that it was Caesar's army preparing to move off to Gaul. I could not make out his face in the darkness as he said this, which perhaps was just as well, but after a moment or two he stood and brushed the dust off his old tunic, and resumed his journey, in the opposite direction to Caesar's.

GLOSSARY
    aedile an elected official, four of whom were chosen annually to serve a one-year term, responsible for the running of the city of Rome: law and order, public buildings, business regulations, etc
    auspices supernatural signs, especially flights of birds and lightning-flashes, interpreted by the augurs ; if ruled unfavourable no public business could be transacted
    Carcer Rome's prison, situated on the boundary of the forum and the Capitol, between the Temple of Concord and the senate house
    carnifex the state executioner and torturer
    century the unit in which the Roman people cast their votes on the Field of Mars at election time for consul and praetor; the system was weighted to favour the wealthier classes of society
    chief priest see pontifex maximus
    consul the senior magistrate of the Roman republic, two of whom were elected annually, usually in July, to assume office in the following January, taking it in turns to preside over the senate each month
    comitium the circular area in the forum, approximately 300 feet across, bounded by the senate house and the rostra, traditionally the place where laws were voted on by the people, and where many of the courts had their tribunals
    curia in its original form, the main assembly of the Roman tribes (of which, prior to 387 BC , there were thirty), consisting of a senior member of each
    curule chair a backless chair with low arms, often made of ivory, possessed by a magistrate with imperium, particularly consuls and praetors
    dictator a magistrate given absolute power by the senate over civil and military affairs, usually in a time of national emergency
    equestrian order the second-most senior order in Roman society after the senate, the 'Order of Knights' had its own officials and privileges, and was entitled to one-third of the places on a jury; often its members were richer than members of the senate, but declined to pursue a public career
    Gaul divided into two provinces: Nearer Gaul , extending from the river Rubicon in northern Italy to the Alps, and Further Gaul , the lands beyond the Alps roughly corresponding to the modern French regions of Provence and Languedoc
    haruspices the religious officials who inspected the entrails after a sacrifice in order to determine whether the omens were good or bad
    imperator the title granted to a military commander on active service by his soldiers after a victory; it was necessary