Julius nodded, sipping at his wine. The thought of his latest wife weeping on his shoulder was not a pleasant one. “I could not have known this would happen when I married her,” he said, musing. “So much has changed since I set out for Greece.”

“Are we going home then, when the child is born?” Octavian said suddenly.

Julius looked at him, seeing a tension he did not understand. “We are. I will leave two legions here to keep the peace. I’ll write to Mark Antony and have him set up the galley routes for pay and orders. By the gods, it will be good to see him again. I’ve missed the old place. Just to speak about it here makes me long to see Rome.”

He seemed to collect himself as he looked around at their earnest faces.

“We will take Pompey’s remains back to be buried in the city, and I’ll raise a statue to him, perhaps in his own theater. Even now the manner of his death sits poorly with me. I have written to my daughter to tell her, and I will honor him in death, for her sake at least.”

He paused, staring off into space. It had been more than a year since Pharsalus, and the memory of crossing the Rubicon seemed impossibly distant. The hiatus in his life that had come on the slow Nile had changed him, he realized. The other men in the room still had the look of lean wolves, hardened by years of conflict. He did not feel quite in step with them.

“It will be a strange thing to have the Republic restored after so many years of conflict,” Octavian murmured, looking into his wine. “The city will welcome you back as a savior of the old ways.” It took an effort for him to look up into Julius’s eyes as his general regarded him thoughtfully.

“Perhaps they will,” Julius said. “I will have to see how things stand when I’m back.” He missed the glimmer of hope in Octavian’s eyes as he refilled his cup from a silver jug. “Things change, though,” he went on. “I’ve had time to think on that slow river. I have been granted the chance to raise Rome higher than any other city. I should not waste it.”

He felt Octavian’s stare and raised his cup in salute.

“Alexander’s dreams have fallen into my hands here. In this place, I can see further. We could bring the light of Rome to the world.” He smiled, oblivious to Octavian’s distress. “Like the Pharos lighthouse,” he said. “We could make an empire.”

“Does this come from the queen?” Octavian said softly.