“Because others consider him to be eminent.”
“And what does he say?”
“He says everything with a smile, and that enables him to pass off his errors as international and common-places as subtile. He has all the advantage. People have allowed themselves to be duped.”
“All this is beyond me, and I don’t quite understand. Besides, the face of this Phrasilas is marked by hypocrisy.”
“This is Philodemos.”
“The strategist?”
“No. A Latin poet who writes in Greek.”
“My dear, he is an enemy. I am sorry to have seen him.”
At this point a flutter of excitement ran through the crowd and a murmur of voices pronounced the same name:
“Demetrios . . . Demetrios . . .”