John Maddox Roberts - [SPQR Roman Mysteries 8.5] - An Academic Question Read Free Page B

Rhoecus' house I left Melanthus in conversation with Amyntas and went to my own home. I do not know why my friend has lied about the matter.' He looked at the boy with hurt surprise, which was reciprocated.
    'Clearly,' said the Archon, 'though it grieves me to say it, one of these two noble youths is culpable in this crime. Until we can decide which of them is guilty, both must be placed under arrest.'
    'It was Amyntas!' shouted someone in the crowd. 'We all know how jealous he was of godlike Melanthus!' A distressing faction of the crowd agreed, loudly.
    'My son is innocent!' Rhoecus cried. 'He was the friend of Melanthus!'
    'And Melanthus was my friend!' Isaeus shouted. His cheering section backed him up.
    'May I speak?' I said in my best Forum voice.
    'Senator?' said the Archon. 'What interest have you in this matter?'
    'Noble Athenians,' Serrius said, 'the Senator Decius Caecilius Metellus has a certain reputation in Rome for criminal investigations. He has often acted on behalf of our praetors and brought in many convictions.'
    'Then we would like to hear his observations,' said the Archon. Rhoecus said nothing but when he looked at me there was pleading in his eyes.
    I stepped into the centre of the studio. 'My Athenian friends, I am going to make some observations and demand some actions. I request that none of you ask questions until I am done. First: Isaeus, pick up that shield.' I pointed to the shield of Achilles.
    He shrugged, stooped and grasped the massive thing in both hands. Making a show of it, he raised the bronze disc over his head, his muscles flexing prettily. From the audience came murmurs of admiration, even shouts that this proved his innocence.
    There is an old Greek story that the sculptor Praxiteles, accused of impiety for sculpting the goddess Aphrodite nude for the first time in the history of Greek art, summoned in his defence the model for the statue, the famous courtesan Phryne. Whipping off her gown, he displayed her naked to the jury and demanded how anyone could find impiety in such beauty. Dazzled, the jury voted acquittal. This sort of jurisprudence would never sway a Roman jury, but it seemed to have its adherents in Athens.
    'Amyntas,' I said, 'pick it up.'
    The boy went to the shield, stooped, grasped and struggled to raise it, but could not get it higher than his knees. Defeated, he laid it back on the floor.
    'Amyntas is a promising young man,' I said, 'but unlike Isaeus, he has not yet achieved his full strength.'
    'Why do you go on about the shield?' Isaeus demanded. 'Anyone can see that Melanthus was killed with the helmet, Amyntas would have no trouble picking that up.'
    'Quite true,' I said, picking up the object in question. 'Like the shield it has been cast of thick bronze and designed to last for ages. It probably weighs forty pounds, ten times the weight of a battle helmet. The narrow edge of the arching crest was brought down upon the head of Melanthus from behind. Quite within the physical abilities of this youth.' Isaeus began to smile, but I sobered his face with my next statement: 'The shield, though, provided the motive for this murder.'
    'This will require some explanation, Senator,' said the Archon.
    'Easily provided. One of you —' I pointed to a counsellor, a man in the prime of life who kept himself in good condition - 'you, sir. If you please, pick up that shield and set it in its place.'
    Mystified, the man hoisted the shield without too much effort and carried it to the sculpture. With great care he tried to set it in its slot, but the figure's hand was set too low. Now truly puzzled, he stepped back. 'It doesn't fit!'
    'That,' I said, 'is because you, like the rest of Athens, like the models themselves, assumed that Isaeus was to be Achilles.' I turned and pointed theatrically to the beautiful young man. 'You just couldn't wait, could you, Isaeus? You and Melanthus had to come back down here and see how this superb sculpture would look in its full glory, with