Read Online The Wadjet Eye by Jill Rubalcaba - Free Book Online

Rome was not what either of them had expected. Damon longed for the gentleness of the Egyptian people—the peace of Alexandria. He studied the contorted faces of those in the crowd. Was his father like these men? A chill passed through him, and he hurried to catch up with Artemas.

EIGHTEEN
    It was as if the bust of Cicero that stood on a pedestal in the foyer of Damon's home, back in Alexandria, had come to life on the Forum steps. The beefy, balding man with prominent nose and deep creases along his cheek and jaw so resembled the bust Damon had passed hundreds of times that the real Cicero now seemed familiar to him—as if Damon were seeing an old friend.

    Cicero shrugged his cloak off one shoulder. He spoke to a man who Damon guessed was his servant, since he did not have on the toga worn by citizens of Rome. Cicero's waistband, Damon noticed, was purple, a color supposedly reserved for senators. When Cleopatra had dressed in purple to attend the theater, Cicero had criticized her at length. It seemed he paid no attention to his own words—or he thought himself worthy where Cleopatra was not.
    Cicero pointed out several in the crowd to his servant, then turned and climbed the Forum steps, taking two at a time. When he reached the top step, he shouted, "A good day's wage for those who are interested. See my man, Tiro."

    A crowd began to form around Tiro, who shouted, "No work required!"
    A man dressed in rags shouted back, "You think it's not work to listen to those long-winded jackasses?" The crowd laughed, but still more joined the group.
    "You, the one missing the foot. Yes, you." Tiro gestured to a lame man to come forward. "We're in need of your kind." Several beggars joined the group.
    A legless man used his arms to swing his torso up the steps. "Worked for Cicero before. Decent man," he hollered to the crowd.
    Tiro motioned to them all. "Follow me."
    They followed him to a chamber in the courthouse. The others seemed to leave space around Artemas, who stood a head taller, but Damon had to elbow and wedge himself through the flow of Romans, just as he had at the Circus Maximus.
    Damon wondered how they would all fit into this small room. Why did Tiro need so many? The room was packed. He seemed to have favored the blind, deaf, and crippled. Would he and Artemas get picked? If they weren't chosen, how would they get close enough to Cicero to learn anything useful to the Pharaoh? Damon found himself limping, then scolded himself for the deception. He'd never make a spy. He wished he hadn't agreed to this.

    Cicero entered through a side door and stood at a podium. "The case you are about to hear will be painful for many of you. Who in Rome has not suffered the landlord's greed?"
    Around the room men grumbled and nodded.
    "My client lived in the attic of a tenement near the cattle markets. One evening, while his family slept, the roof collapsed. The rubble caught fire from a brazier that had been lit to take off the night chill. My client had been working late. He rounded the corner to see his building in flames. His whole family burned to death. His and many others." Cicero swept back his cloak. "They were killed because the landlord had hired an architect known to cut costs by using inferior materials and insufficient supports. How long are the people of Rome going to stand for this shoddy construction that takes the lives of our people?"
    The grumbling grew louder. The man next to Damon thumped his crutch on the floor. Even Damon found himself swept up in the passion of Cicero's speech.
How dare the wealthy get richer at the cost of human life?
    "Will you join me in battle against them?"

    The group shouted agreement. Damon joined them, raising a fist and shouting, "We are with you." Artemas glared at him.
    "Good. I want the jury to see how high rents force ten into a space meant for two. 1 want them to understand that when a building crumbles, hundreds are injured and homeless. You will show them. You