"I'm sorry about the wars. That shouldn't happen while you're here - we don’t tolerate even visionaries just doing things here - Rome is a republic with procedures and laws. Even the visionaries have to follow them. We've been around for hundreds of years and we've about surrounded the Mediterranean and the last time some visionary with a cause tried to put himself above the law he was killed by a mob." That would be the recent land reform scandal.

"Of course. Could you summarize the law? I expect the core is not injuring anyone or interfering with their property, but different societies have different ideas of what else is important."

"The Twelve Tables are on display at the forum and I can recite them for you."

They're not identical to the Twelve Tables she could conceivably have read before coming here. Less sexist, with a reference to "sacred" rather than "Vestal" virgins, and the procedures for suing people are more considerate of executive dysfunction as a reason people might have trouble interacting with the system.