Marcus: I’m happy that we’re meeting. These discussions we have as a group of young senators always helps me.

Tiberius: You know what we’re talking about this time. All that anyone is talking about is this issue with the Scipios.

M: It’s hard to think about anything else. People are talking so much, and saying such different things, that I’m getting confused. Before the others come, would you tell me how you understand all this?

M: There is what they say it is about, and what it is really about.

T: Start with what they say it is about, the money

M: This is about the money that Lucius Scipio received from Antiochos in the agreement after the magnificent victory at Magnesia. They say that he kept 500 talents.

T: I know that’s a fortune, but I thought the treaty said many times that, 15,000 talents.

M: It did: 500 right away, 2500 when the terms were set, and then the rest over twelve years.

T: That adds up. What happened to the 2500 when things were set?

M: That went through Vulso and does not seem to be the issue, as far as I know. No one accused Lucius Scipio of taking all that.

T: So, this is about 500. All right, still a huge sum. And he is accused of what, exactly? Keeping it for himself? Giving it to his men?

M: Two tribunes, both named Petellius, demanded an account of the 500.

T: That’s when Africanus got involved?

M: Yes, because it was really against him, and he knew it.

T: I’m still confused, so please be patient. The attack was against Lucius, not Africanus.

M: Cato attacked Lucius because his brother was getting too powerful.

T: I’m getting it now. The tribunes are just the weapons of Cato. The tribunes did this because Cato wanted to tarnish the reputation and popularity of the Scipio brothers.

M: Africanus is a major figure of our time, who holds the honor of princeps right now, and he was not going to let this happen.

T: This part I saw myself. I thought that his response was one of the most dramatic moments ever. He tore up the books of accounts right in front of the whole Senate and told the tribune to rummage through the fragments if he really wanted to see the figures. He was superbly indignant. He told everyone that they were quibbling over 500 talents when Lucius was the one who brought home 15,000. And Africanus asked them how they had come to rule Africa, Spain, and Asia.

M: Quite a speech. Quite a moment. If you ask me, he’s right. In the history of Rome, the victories at Magnesia, at Zama and elsewhere, by the brothers outweighs everything else. I don’t have to like their arrogance. But it may be that bold confidence that enabled the brothers to win such great victories. Yes, I believe this: the same traits that brought Rome glory led them to the arrogance. Still, that dramatic gesture should have shut everyone’s mouths.

T: It was a great moment, but hardly the end of the matter. Let me take the other side. Africanus and Lucius have won victories and have received the greatest honors and glory Rome can give. Rome has paid them for their great service. Now take the matter of the 500 talents as a separate issue. If his brother were innocent, why did he tear up the books? He should have shoved them in the tribune’s face, and that could have been the end of it, because many other former governors are not keen on having their books checked either. So, he could have said: ‘All right here are the accounts’. But he did not say this.

M: So, what is going to happen now?

T: I don’t know. I really don’t. But here are the others now …

This is when Ben woke up, still without an answer …

Eventually, Ben resumed his sleep, and when the mist lifted around him, he was back on the Forum, under the Mediterranean sun. Someone spoke to him, raising his voice …

Brutus: Marcus – hello?! You are staring at me, but don’t return my greeting?

Marcus: O, salve, my dear Brutus. Sorry, I drifted away for a moment …

B: No worries, my friend. So, I’ve asked to have this meeting, just us, the youngest Senators, to decide, as a group, how to think about the accusations against Lucius Scipio. We’ve met before, because there are times when we do not know what we are seeing in the Senate. There are games and maneuvers and sometimes it all goes over our heads, or we do not get the jibes and references.

M: I was just saying to Tiberius that I, for one, welcome this discussion. I feel like I am watching a legend in the making with great titans involved, but I don’t know the origin stories.

B: You’re on the right road. This is an accusation, but there is a long history behind it.

M: Please, review it. I think we all know bits and pieces, but we need the whole story of what led to this.

B: It goes back to eighteen years ago. In his first consulship (205 BCE), Scipio convinced the Senate to let him move his forces from Sicily to Africa. A lot of people opposed this, including Fabius, and so he may have been involved in appointing Cato quaestor to watch Scipio. Since Scipio knew this, from the beginning, there was no love between them.

Claudius: Yes, and from the beginning, they were very different people. Cato, by his nature, always hated extravagance and expense. Scipio by his nature, wanted his troops to love him and so spent money and was lenient with them. When Cato complained about Scipio, all those years ago, Scipio said something like what he just said in the Senate; I will give an account of my victories, not what I do with money.

M: Just like now. What did he say the other day when he tore up the account books? Didn’t he remind the Senate of the day he defeated Hannibal?

B: Anyway, Cato went back to Rome and reported Scipio’s extravagance to the Senate. But when a commission was sent to Sicily, they decided that he had spent it all on arrangements for transporting the troops to Africa.

C: Wait. I heard a different story, that it wasn’t Cato who complained about Scipio at all, that the complaint was made by the people of a town that was oppressed by Scipio’s men, and that Cato was not even involved with Scipio yet.

B: You see: It is interesting that we have heard different things. This is not about an event that happened a hundred years ago. It makes me think that these stories may have nothing to do with the truth, but stories created by one side or the other. Imagine how the historians will be confused by all this.

C: Cato’s reputation about money and morality certainly is true. When he was in Sardinia, he was known for his personal frugality. He even did rituals inexpensively.

T: But wasn’t there a revolt there?

C: Perhaps he did not pander to anyone. Later, here in Rome, he didn’t want women to have jewelry!

M: He took on all of the women in Rome? Pretty dangerous, if you ask me. This guy is not scared of anyone.

C: But I think he survived even taking on the women because everyone saw him as a man of principles. When he campaigned in Hispania, he ate like a soldier, not a general, he planned carefully, he struck decisively, he showed no mercy, he destroyed more than a town a day, he played politics with the tribes. Bellum se ipsum alet (‘War feeds itself’). He got the mines working better and producing more revenue.

B: There was a lot of tension at that point, but I think it was Scipio being jealous of Cato. He tried to get the Senate to condemn Cato’s severe measures. Cato was not only eloquent as usual but, and this is very relevant, brought out detailed financial accounts to successfully defend against criticism of his consulship.

M: I remember his triumph, seven years ago. He brought back a fantastic amount of treasure. But I do remember him spreading all that to his soldiers.

T: But we haven’t even mentioned everything with Antiochos which, after all, is what this new controversy is about. Just four years ago, Cato was one of the generals in Greece.

C: He was also quite the diplomat. I am not sure whether it’s true, but I heard that he went to Athens and had a kind of debate with envoys of the Seleukid king and prevented the cities from siding with the enemy.

B: Most of all, he was at Thermopylae and led a brilliant attack that turned the day for Rome. He chased Antiochos and helped pacify Greece. He returned to Rome to report before Lucius Scipio.

M: Actually, I was so caught up in the moment that I was only thinking about what is going on. Thank you for making me take a step back and see it all in perspective. I now understand: For all this excitement and drama, this has all been coming for a long time. While no one could have predicted the timing or the details of what is happening now, one could have predicted that these leaders would engage in a climactic battle. We can now see that …

The alarm clock rang, and the clarity that Ben had just been sensing slowly evaporated, again. Why was he not yet decided? Have there been questions left open?

The sun was becoming hotter. Marcus was feeling dizzy and intuitively went up the first steps towards the portal of the Curia Hostilia, to catch up with the receding shade. Gradually, he was feeling better and could hear his friends, again. They were slowly following him towards the Senate building …

Brutus: The past is what created this present. And this present is to come back to this moment, quite rich in its different aspects.

Fabius: We are politicians. We are watching a school in the highest level of politics. And I am watching carefully for lessons.

B: I think I can teach the lesson. The Scipios are brilliant generals. But they have been outflanked on the battlefield of politics. Cato has won. I am willing to wager that Cato has no idea about the 500 talents and could not care less. I am thinking on two levels. As a Roman, I know that the future depends on making the right decisions about our leaders. This is not just about the Scipios, or even the Scipios and Cato. It is about what we owe our leaders …

Tiberius: … but also whether leaders are above the law. How shall we think about our greatest people? Should we excuse their faults, as you say, or shall we hold them accountable like everyone else and bring them down to human size, lest they, or their supporters, see them as above the law?

Marcus: All right, this is enough background. It brings us to now. Can we look at the case itself? I’m still confused about the details. Let’s say that Lucius did take the 500. I’m not sure I know what is right and what is allowed.

T: I’m confused, too. We’re talking about generals and spoils of war, booty. Couldn’t they dispense money with freedom during wartime? Aren’t we talking about praeda? We’re not talking about the usual state funds dispensed by quaestors. It is a different category, as far as I’m concerned.

B: But on the other hand, you could argue that once there was an armistice, it was no longer wartime, and the funds belonged to the State. And to place yourself above all accounting, to say that you do not need to render an account to anyone? Even if others back down, this does not win you friends.

F: It’s time to go to into the Curia.

M: But wait ... have we made up our minds?

B: I think we’ll see that for everything we’ve said, it will be dropped in the Senate, and we will be part of this. And then we’ll see what Cato does next. Let’s go.

O no — traffic noise from the street woke Ben up at dawn, just before the showdown …

Ben refused to get up, although this time it took him a long time to finally have one more nap. But the situation was confusing. He, now Marcus, was sitting on the stairs outside the Curia. And the noises were not coming from the Forum but from within the Senate building. He did not dare to step in, yet eventually the Fathers came out, some enraged, rushing off, others cheerful. There were Brutus and Fabius, coming his way.

Marcus: Sorry I missed it. What happened?

Fabius: Indeed we missed you. Everything alright with you? You look so pale. It seems you did not get much sleep last night … Anyways, Brutus was right. Cato was not done.

B: He found another tribune, Minucius, who demanded before the People that Lucius Scipio should present his accounts. Then Cato himself delivered a mighty speech in which he said that the 500 belonged to the State. Lucius was entrapped; he could not contradict what he had said before and say he had taken the money, and he could not prove that he had not because the books were destroyed. Lucius refused to pay respect to these proceedings. It did not look good. Minucius pounced and harshly threatened imprisonment if he did not pay a fine.

T: But he was not imprisoned. Did he pay the fine?

B: The point is that this is not about talents or fines. You’ll notice there was no vote by the People. Cato was too smart to allow one. He would have lost.

M: So, after all this, nothing happened?

B: Actually, quite a bit happened. The Scipios have been diminished. Rome has protected itself against those who might gain too much power.

T: Power is temporary and should be.

B: No one, whoever he is and whatever he has done, should be above the law. It doesn’t matter if it is 500 talents or five, everyone must be accountable. This is how Rome will stay strong.