Lucretius had been spending the day at the brothel, most of it alone in his private office, a small room with a desk, a simple bed, and little else.  While it was not unheard of for him to sleep there, he rarely made a habit of it.  However, there were times, like now, when he was in no hurry to see his elder brother, or anyone else who was neither customer nor girl, and he strongly suspected today was one of those occasions.  Besides, before he left the office today and risked being spotted by family or a senator or any priests, he would need to have his ledgers updated.<br/><br/>He hadn't known of his brother's recent interactions within the senate, though he did know that the delays on the temple were becoming a bit too noticeable of late, and that murmurings about those delays were becoming quite loud.  When a major project ran behind, the Senate looked for money to speed it up (or, if it were really behind, to distract the population).  When the senate needed money, House Aurelia was approached.  When that happened, whether coin was spent or not, the finances needed to be accounted for.  And with his brothel being the largest single source of both income and expenses (not counting his brother's acts of "kindness"), having the books of his business pristine was of particular importance.<br/><br/>Personally, Lucretius thought the use of family coin for the Temple of Mars was a waste.  Soldiers would likely spend more coin on earthly delights if they felt they had lost the favor of the gods, so he stood to make plenty of money by the temple remaining incomplete.  Of course, with it complete, soldiers might want to celebrate.  Either way, the coin was there, so why throw it away?<br/><br/>Such thoughts, he figured, were why Lucius was better-suited to be the head of the family.  Favors were a fuzzy thing, too arbitrary.  He preferred hard coin.  Still, he had work to do.  He walked outside and caught the attention of one of the many guards.  "Have Camilla and a bottle of wine brought in.  It will be a long day."