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Thank you, Nora!
Here's more...

After a short nap, the guys left their room and went over to what they thought was the main area of the house. When they got to the foyer, they saw a long line of men waiting to enter another room off to the side. The men were of all shapes and sizes, some carrying scrolls and boxes, others just simply waiting in line. Calpurnia walked over to them.
"Who are those men?" Peter asked.
"They are mostly clients of my husband's." Calpurnia replied, "They owe him favors or are here to make requests."
"Caesar sure has a lot of clients." Micky remarked.
"When you are Dictator for Life, I suppose everyone wants to see you." Calpurnia said with a frown. She sighed then looked at the Monkees.
"Since Caesar is busy, perhaps you can tell me some of what happened while he was away."
"We'll be glad to tell you." Davy said.
Calpurnia led them over to another room where they reclined on couches. A servant brought them drinks and then the Monkees told Caesar's wife where they came from, what had happened in Lugdunum and their trip back to Rome.
"That's an interesting story. Before he came here I suppose he went to see her first, correct?" Calpurnia asked.
"See who, madam?" Mike asked, trying to play innocent.
"His Egyptian lover Cleopatra, that's who." Calpurnia snapped, "Her and their son."
"Yes, he did." Mike said, looking down at the floor.
"Being Dictator of Rome and the Pater Familias of this house means he can do what he wants." Calpurnia said bitterly. "I am sorry," She said after a pause, "I should not burden you with my troubles. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"If it's alright with you, can we go explore the city?" Peter asked.
"That's fine, Caesar won't know you're gone." Calpurnia said, "But be back soon. We will be having the evening meal in a little while."
"We'll be back soon, ma'am." Mike said, "Thank you for your hospitality.'
The Monkees bowed to Calpurnia and left to explore Rome. They walked down Palatine Hill and saw the Forum and the temples erected to the many Gods the Romans worshipped.
"Wow, I wish I had a camera." Micky said in awe.
"Look at the birds." Davy whispered as he pointed at several young women in matching gowns going into a temple.
"I wouldn't go there if I were you, Davy." Peter said, stopping his friend from following them.
"Why not?" Davy asked.
"That might be the temple of the Vestal Virgins." Peter replied, "My sister told me that they take a strict vow of chastity. If they break it, both the girl and the guy are buried alive."
Davy cleared his throat and said, "Let's go this way." He turned and walked in the opposite direction.
The other three Monkees laughed to themselves and followed Davy to another part of town.
After going a short way, Mike stopped the group and pointed down the street.
"Hey, isn't that Brutus?" He asked.
"Yeah, that is." Micky replied, "He sure looks nervous about something."
"Let's follow him." Peter said.
So the Monkees followed Brutus as he walked along the street. He finally stopped at another house, and after looking around knocked on the door and went inside. Brutus wasn't inside long and soon he was quickly walking down the street again.
"He sure is in a hurry." Mike said, as he and his friends followed Brutus.
Brutus then stopped to talk to another man about the same age as him. After several seconds, they parted and Brutus walked into a marketplace where the guys lost him.
"We better get back, Calpurnia said it was time to eat soon." Micky said.
"Yeah, I'm hungry too." Davy said.
The others agreed and went back to Caesar's house, still wondering what Brutus was up to.

Back at Caesar's house, a servant let them back inside and informed them it was time to eat. They were led to another room, this one with a long table with low couches which the Monkees reclined. Calpurnia was already there and after a few minutes Caesar showed up, followed by one of his secretaries.
Without a word to anyone at the table, Caesar began to eat and give orders to his secretary at the same time.
"Caesar please, can you take a break and eat with us?" Calpurnia asked.
"Very well." Caesar replied, and dismissed the secretary with a wave of his hand. "There is so much to catch up with. The senate is always in an uproar about something and now I find out the Parthians are causing trouble on our Eastern borders."
"You need to delegate some of your responsibility." Calpurnia replied. "Not only are you Dictator, but also Pontifex Maximus, head of the state religion."
"Rome needs me to rule, Calpurnia." Caesar replied, "There would be civil war without me." He got up from his couch. "I must make plans to got to Parthia. Tomorrow is the Ides of March. I want to leave before the end of the month to take advantage of the weather." He then left the room, with Calpurnia looking sadly at her food. Mike whispered to Peter.
"The Ides of March. That's sound familiar."


To Be Concluded...(maybe)

Okay...here it is. The end. A big thanks to Laura and Sally for their help!

Peter began to cry as the Monkees walked over to Caesar's body. The Roman did not move or make a sound.
"Caesar, can you hear me?" Mike asked.
There was no answer. Mike pulled aside the toga covering Caesar's head, then quickly put it back in place. He looked at his friends and shook his head. Caesar was dead. A later autopsy would reveal Caesar had been stabbed 23 times, but only one of the wounds to his chest was the fatal blow.
Suddenly the Forum was filled with noise once again as Marc Antony and several soldiers ran inside. He had heard of the assassination plot at the last second and had run over to the Forum, but was too late. Antony looked at the horrible scene and saw the Monkees standing over Caesar's body. He instantly thought the Monkees had done Caesar in.
"I knew you four were no good!" He shouted angrily at them, "You should've been crucified with the others back in Lugdunum! Now you've killed the best thing that had ever happened to Rome!"
"It wasn't us!" Micky shouted back, "It was Brutus and the other senators!"
But Antony wasn't listening. "Seize them!" He told the soldiers, "I want them taken alive so I can personally crucify them myself!"
The Monkees turned and ran toward the back of the Forum, the soldiers right behind them. They came to a back door, but found it locked. The soldiers grabbed the Monkees and threw them to the ground. There was a fight as the Monkees flailed their arms, trying to fight off the soldiers who were bending over them.
"Hey, calm down, take it easy!" Voices told them, "We're trying to help you."
The Monkees opened their eyes to find not Roman soldiers but paramedics bending over them! They stopped fighting and slowly sat up.
"What happened?" Mike asked. He and the other Monkees found themselves sitting on the floor of ballroom where they were about to perform.
"Yeah, we had just come out of our dressing room and then we found ourselves in an ancient Roman times." Davy said.
"What happened is that one of the statues of Julius Caesar toppled from its base just as you four were walking past and it fell on you." A paramedic answered him. "You four were knocked unconscious. Luckily that statue wasn't made of real stone or we'd be taking you fellows to the morgue right now."
"So it was all a dream." Micky said, "We really weren't accused of murdering Caesar."
The paramedics looked at each other.
"I think you boys need to go to the hospital for a checkup." Another paramedic said, "Sounds like you're all a little confused."
"No, we're okay." Peter said. He tried to get up, but got dizzy and fell back down.
Without a word, the paramedics loaded the guys onto stretchers and took them out to an ambulance. The manager, Mr. Lapidos, walked out with them.
"I'm so sorry this happened, gentlemen." He said, wringing his hands, "I hope you won't do anything hasty, it was an accident."
"Will you pay our hospital bill?" Mike asked.
"Will you upgrade our room?" Micky asked too.
"Yes and yes." Mr. Lapidos replied, "And I'll pay you four double your salary for your performances."
"It's a deal." Mike said as the ambulance doors closed.

The guys were taken to the UNLV Medical Center and checked over. Peter had a concussion and had to stay overnight, while the other three Monkees were released. The Caesar's Palace manager was true to his word. The guys' medical bills were paid and their room was upgraded to a suite overlooking the strip. When the Monkees played at the ballroom a few nights later, it was a huge success and they got rave reviews from the guests.
At the end of their engagement, flush with cash, the Monkees left Las Vegas for Malibu. Mike stopped the car as they came to a large statue of Julius Caesar.
"Hail, Caesar." The Monkees said and then continued down the strip toward home.

THE END


If anyone's wondering where I got the info on Caesar and Rome, mostly it was from wikipedia.com. Other sources was from a series of novels about that era written by author Colleen McCallum (sp?) She wrote such books as 'The First Man in Rome' and 'The October Horse' among others. She was supposed to end that series with the death of Caesar, but apparantly she was persuaded by her fans to continue on and right now she has a new book in hardcover that covers the Antony and Cleopatra saga. ( I don't remember the name of the book, sorry)