“Thank you, Valerius,” Theoginus replied. He hooked his thumbs in the folds of his robes, thus ensuring that the bandages on his right hand remained highly visible. “With all due respect to Senator Ulfius for his prodigious knowledge of Aleran history and Aleran law, his argument is specious and deserves to be laughed out of this amphitheater.”

Ulfius rose, making spluttering sounds, his bald, speckled pate turning bright red.

“Now, now, Ulf,” Theoginus said, giving the other Senator a broad, jowly smile. “I meant to go about that more gently, but Valerius says we’ve got no time to spare for your feelings. And you know just as well as I do that Parciar Gustus was a slobbering madman who murdered half a dozen young women, while Parcius Fidelar Martinus was the first serving Citizen to be named to the House of the Faithful after the Feverthorn Wars—and that was only after he twice declined Gaius Secondus’s invitation to join the House of the Valiant.”

Senator Theoginus snorted. “Trying to compare those two to Gaius Octavian and Gaius Aquitainus Attis strikes me as pure desperation—especially given that you have no evidence to prove that Octavian’s birth was illegitimate.”

Valerius rose to his feet, raising a hand. “A point of order, honored Theoginus. The burden of proof to establish legitimacy falls upon the parents, or if they are not living and able to do so, upon the child. Legitimacy, especially among the Citizenry, must be established.”

“Which it has been,” Theoginus said. “With the signet ring of Princeps Septimus, the eyewitness testimony of Araris Valerian, and by the signed hand of Princeps Septimus himself.” Theoginus paused as a low mutter ran through the amphitheater, among Senators and observers alike, then eyed Valerius, waiting.

“Gaius Sextus never formally presented Octavian to the Senate,” he replied smoothly. “By law, he has not been legally recognized.”

“As a Citizen in his own right,” Theoginus countered. “Which has no bearing whatsoever on Gaius’s choice of an heir—which is a clear matter of public record.”

“It is to be hoped,” Valerius replied, “that the First Lord of the Realm should have the grace to be a Citizen as well.”

“Semantics, Senator. We have all seen ample demonstration of Octavian’s evident skills with our own eyes. The proof was, after all, good enough for Gaius Sextus. Why should it not be good enough for the rest of us?”

“The testimony of Gaius Sextus’s personal physician has established that Sextus had been a victim of long-term poisoning by means of refined helatin,” Valerius said soberly. “Helatin damages the entire body, including the mind. It is entirely possible that Gaius Sextus was non compos mentis during the last year of his life—”