9
Argolicus slumped onto a bench in the peristylum in the town home. The garden grounds were dug to receive fresh plants, but the garden was bare. He gave in to exhaustion and extended his body the length of the bench. “I feel like an outsider. In Rome, where I was an outsider, gossip bubbles up by the next day. Here, I’ve learned nothing.”
“Master, you had an official capacity in Rome,” Nikolaos said. “Here, you are a recent arrival. Only the members of the curia who were at the town meeting know you pledged to investigate the grain shortage. It’s not general knowledge. You have no official capacity.”
Argolicus sighed. “You are right. So far, in the little time I’ve had, no one knows why the numbers are wrong. Everything seems straightforward, but grain is missing. There’s no denying t
