“You know I do, lad. I don’t know how Cabera can stand to wander as he does. A rootless life is beyond me, but then perhaps we have deeper roots than most, here.”

Julius let his gaze pass over the green-shadowed woods that held so many memories, and his resolve firmed. He would have back what had been taken.

Another thought struck him. “What of Marius’s house in the city?”

“It is lost,” Tubruk said without looking at him. “Sold at auction when Sulla was declared Dictator. A great deal of property changed hands by his order. Crassus bought some of it, but for the most part the bidding was a farce, with Sulla’s supporters taking the best.”

“Do you know who lives there now?” Julius asked, his voice tight with anger.

Tubruk shrugged. “It was given to Antonidus, Sulla’s general, or rather he paid a tiny amount of its worth. They called him Sulla’s dog for his loyalty, but he gained a great deal from his master.”

Julius clenched a fist slowly. “That is a problem I can settle today, after the Senate meeting. Does he have many soldiers at his command, this Antonidus?”

Tubruk frowned as he understood, then a smile tugged at his mouth. “A few house guards. He has a nominal rank, which no one has thought to take from him, but he is not linked to a particular legion. You have the men to turn him out if you do it quickly.”

“Then I shall do it quickly,” Julius replied, turning away from the fence and looking back toward the estate. “Will my mother be awake by now?”

“She usually is. She doesn’t sleep much these days,” Tubruk replied. “Her illness is the same, but you should know she grows weaker.”

Julius looked with affection on the old gladiator, whose emotions were always closer to the surface than he pretended. “She would be lost without you,” he said.