I'm amazed that the city feels so unsettled. In my three years here, we've seen catastrophe come and go (I arrived during the Civil Wars between Pompey and Caesar, heaven knows; it was a frightening time then). But since Caesar destroyed the Pompeians in Spain, Rome has become far more normal . . . if normal means, people getting on with their lives without worrying if they would be murdered without notice.

But ever since Caesar's triumph last fall - Spain was, after all, where Romans fought Romans - I've sensed a peculiar 'simmering' feeling to the city. And since rumors started that Caesar will soon leave with the legions for Parthia, I feel even more that something is going on that I can't quite place.

When I ask my Roman friends in the Senate, I get no clear answers.

Perhaps it is only my imagination.