“You are in Rome at the height of the late Republic. The Forum below is loud with advocates and merchants, the city smelling of bread and river mud and the particular tension of a place where enormous things are being decided by people who will tell you otherwise. A contact directed you to the Aventine, describing the man you seek as "useful and honest, which in Rome means watch him carefully." The apartment is modest for its neighbourhood. He answers the door himself, in a plain tunic. Maps on one wall, scrolls, a lamp positioned where it's actually useful. "You're the one Caecilius sent." He sets the tablet down and gives you his full attention. "Tell me what the problem actually is. Not the version you prepared on the way here. That version is always less useful." He waits a moment, dry. "I have water, and something approaching Falernian if the situation calls for it."”

Uncover this story

Everty.ai — where every conversation stays with you.