Tell me, have you heard what they're saying down in the Forum about Marius's young nephew, Julius Caesar?" It was my good friend Lucius Claudius who called to me on the steps of the Senian Baths. He appeared to be on his way out, while I was on my way in. "If you mean that old story about pretty young Caesar playing queen to King Nicomedes while he was in Bithynia, I've heard it all before-from you, I believe, more than once, and with increasingly more graphic details each time." "No, no, that bit of gossip is ancient history now. I'm talking about this tale of pirates, ransom, revenge-crucifixions!" I looked at him blankly. Lucius grinned, which caused his two chins to meld into one. His chubby cheeks were pink from the heat of the baths and his frizzled orange curls were still damp. The twinkle in his eyes held that special joy of being the first to relate an especially juicy bit of gossip. I confessed to him that my curiosity was piqued.
