Masters of Rome (46 page)

Messalina had grown even more reckless: she was now whoring herself out to the people of Rome almost every night as well as sleeping with her many lovers amongst the aristocracy. Despite her hectic sexual schedule, however, she still found time to enjoy her more constant lovers, Silius and Flavia, although Flavia was becoming less keen on Messalina's favours as she spread them around so many of the insalubrious city folk.

But Vespasian had insisted that Flavia act as if nothing was wrong and she had borne the ordeal with reluctance and fortitude. The information that she had got from her pillow talk with Messalina had been of great value to Narcissus and Pallas: the names of new lovers, clandestine supporters in the Senate and, eventually, the final confirmation of her plan to marry Silius as a sitting consul; however, the date was never discussed.

Vespasian took a deep breath as he consoled himself that soon the wait would be over now that October was fast approaching.

He was pulled out of his reverie by the sound of Sabinus leading the cheering of his new son-in-law as he left the atrium to perform his marital duties whilst the guests drank and feasted, waiting for news of the coupling.

Vespasian raised his cup to Paetus and then took a long sip of wine, letting his eyes wander over the happy crowd. He was surprised to see Marius, looking rather out of place, walking towards him. ‘Are you looking for me?'

‘Yes, sir, you and your brother,' Marius replied. ‘Magnus has asked if you can both come to the tavern at the sixth hour. He says to be as discreet as possible as there's going to be someone there who wants to talk to you in private.'

*

Vespasian and Sabinus struggled through the crowds, up the Vicus Longus to its acute junction with the Alta Semita on the southern slope of the Quirinal Hill. Wearing tunics and cloaks rather than senatorial togas, there was nothing to signify their status so their progress towards the tavern at the apex of that junction was impeded by the citizens of Rome, male and female, free, freed and slave, all going about their business, which was, naturally, far more important and urgent than the next person's.

Traders shouted their wares, either edible or functional, from open-fronted shops on the ground floors of the three- or four-storey brick-built tenements lining the street, and haggled with customers. Goods were inspected and then chosen or rejected, arguments flared and were quickly settled, either by violence or reason, bargains were made, coinage changed hands and deals were concluded. Acquaintances met with exaggerated geniality and discussed business over cups of wine, standing at the bars of open taverns emitting wafts of pungent smoke from charcoal grills upon which sizzled cuts of pork and chicken. The aroma helped to sweeten the sour odour of human sweat and stale urine that hung in the air warmed by the midday sun and was stirred only by the passage of the multitude.

Keeping to the crowded pavements, so as not to soil their sandals in the squelching refuse that befouled the street, Vespasian and Sabinus wended their way uphill, through the heaving knots of humanity that made Rome the busiest city in the Empire.

‘I was afraid that you might have been too occupied,' Magnus said as they finally reached the tavern that acted as the headquarters of the South Quirinal Crossroads Brotherhood; a few of the brethren sat outside at wooden tables, playing dice.

‘I hope this is worth it on my daughter's wedding day, Magnus,' Sabinus growled. He had not been keen to come even though the marriage had been consummated and the ceremony was now over, but curiosity had got the better of him.

‘You can judge that for yourself, sir.' Magnus rattled a dice-shaker and rolled its contents onto the table; with a look of disgust he slammed the shaker down. ‘That's your fourth win in a row, Tigran; I ain't playing with your dice again.' He pushed his stake across the table to his eastern-looking opponent and got to his feet. ‘Were you followed?'

Vespasian shrugged. ‘I don't think so, but we told Marius to trail behind us and keep an eye on our backs.' He turned to see Marius making his way up the hill. ‘Here he is. Well, Marius?'

Marius wiped the sweat from his brow, looking puzzled. ‘No one followed you from Paetus' house back to Sabinus', but then when you left that to come here I kept on getting glimpses of two men in deep-hooded cloaks taking it in turns to keep about thirty paces behind you.'

‘Did you see their faces?'

‘No, all that was visible under the hoods were beards.'

‘Eastern?'

‘No, more like German beards.'

‘What else were they wearing?'

‘Normal stuff, tunics and sandals.'

‘What happened to them?'

‘That was strange as well. Having followed you half the way here they suddenly veered off and disappeared.'

Vespasian looked at Sabinus. ‘What do you make of that?'

‘Someone knows where I live but wasn't so interested in knowing where I was going?'

‘Or they were scared off by someone,' Magnus suggested. ‘Did you notice anyone else, Marius?'

‘No, brother; they was clean the rest of the way here.'

‘All right, then; you hang about out here and keep an eye out for anyone you might recognise.'

‘Right you are, Magnus.'

Magnus indicated with a jerk of the head to the brothers. ‘He's inside.'

They followed Magnus past the altar to the Crossroads' lares set into the wall of the building and on into the fuggy, raucous interior of the tavern. It was crowded with drinkers and a few
whores who all made way for Magnus as he steered a straight course for a door at the far end of the room, next to the amphora-lined bar. The noise dipped as Vespasian and Sabinus passed and then resumed as they followed Magnus through the door and then right, along a short corridor and on into another room, dimly lit by shuttered windows and with the cloying blend of lamp fumes, damp wood and stale wine in the air.

‘Thank you for coming, gentlemen,' a voice said as they stepped inside.

‘Pallas!' Vespasian exclaimed. ‘Why so mysterious? Why go to all these lengths to have a conversation that we could have anywhere?'

Pallas rose from his seat and grasped their forearms in turn. ‘Because I can no longer trust anywhere in the palace: there are too many spies about; so I came here taking care not to be followed as I wouldn't want to be seen going to either of your houses. My people have reported that Sabinus' house is being watched and we must assume that yours is too, Vespasian.'

‘By Messalina?'

‘I would think so but I don't know for sure; what I do know is that my people have reported undue interest in Sabinus in the last couple of days.'

‘That would explain the two bearded men, brother,' Sabinus said as they each took a seat.

Magnus poured cups of wine from a pitcher on a table in the corner. ‘I'll have my lads take a look at them, see if we can invite them here for a quiet drink and a hearth-side chat, if you take my meaning?'

Vespasian shook his head as he accepted his cup. ‘I think we'll find out more by following them and seeing whom they report to.'

‘Fair point; I'll go and get that organised.'

As Magnus left, Pallas turned his attention to Sabinus. ‘I need to call in the favour that you owe me for getting you cleared of all involvement in Caligula's death.'

Sabinus inclined his head a fraction. ‘I acknowledge that I am in your debt for that, Pallas.'

Pallas' semi-shadowed face betrayed no emotion. ‘I'm pleased that you accept the fact.' He paused and collected his thoughts. ‘I have it within my grasp to supplant Narcissus, get rid of Callistus and become the most powerful man in the Empire, which, I think you'll both agree, considering our past relationship, will benefit your family considerably. The key to it all is to set in train a series of events that move rapidly, so my opponents have no time to think how they are going to react. Firstly, I need to force Messalina's hand by providing an impetus for her to bring her wedding plans forward to the first day of Silius' consulship, rather than wait and react to her move. Vespasian, Flavia can do that for me and in return I'll make good Narcissus' undertaking to persuade Claudius to allow you to move her out of the palace. He won't be able to, seeing as he will not be in a position of favour.'

Vespasian attempted to match Pallas in the neutrality of his expression. ‘What do you want her to do?'

‘Tell Messalina that she overheard you and Sabinus talking about plans for Claudius to marry again. She must tell Messalina that, according to you, Callistus supports the idea of Claudius marrying Caligula's third wife, Lollia Paulina, while Narcissus and I want him to remarry his second wife, Aelia Paetina. You know, the one with whom he had a daughter before his mother forced him to divorce her because she was the half-sister of Sejanus.'

‘Thereby convincing her that a plot to remove her is far advanced?'

‘Precisely, and she'll believe it because when she thinks about it she will see that those positions make perfect sense for us in protecting our own interests: Callistus trying to get the wife of his former patron into power and Narcissus and I trying to ensure that power stays in the hands of a woman already known to us. And those
are
our positions at the moment – outwardly at least.

‘To panic Messalina into action, Flavia is to tell her that she heard you saying that the whole matter will be decided very quickly, as the most auspicious day for the wedding has been given as the Ides of October at the festival of the October Horse.'

‘That will concentrate her mind.'

‘That will indeed. It'll force her to declare her intentions publicly; she'll marry Silius as soon as he becomes consul.'

‘But then how do you remove him?'

‘I've a way to deal with that. I'll need to keep Claudius out of the city by delaying his return from the visit he's making to the building project at Ostia – he's leaving tomorrow. That'll mean he misses Silius' inauguration … but let me worry about those things. I need you to bring a couple of the wedding guests, using force if necessary, down to Ostia as quickly as possible after the ceremony so that they can confirm the marriage to Narcissus. But on no account must you keep your promise to Narcissus and warn him in advance of this.'

‘But Flavia—'

‘Flavia will be fine, I'll see to that. I must have Narcissus taken by surprise; it's my only chance to outmanoeuvre him. Once he hears the marriage has taken place without his knowledge the consequences will be inevitable and it will be just a matter of time and timing for me to achieve my aim. And this, Sabinus, is how you can repay your debt to me: I need to have a decree ratified in the House the morning following the wedding and then a law changed the moment Messalina crosses the Styx. With your consular status, your right to wear Triumphal Regalia won in Britannia and the fact that you go to Moesia as governor next year should give you the authority that you need to muster enough support to do that for me in the Senate.'

‘Which law?'

‘The law against incest between an uncle and his niece.'

The brothers simultaneously sucked their breath through their teeth.

Vespasian recovered first. ‘That's one of the oldest and most sacred laws there is, Pallas.'

‘Which makes it perfect for my purpose because no one will foresee the move.'

‘You intend for Claudius to marry Agrippina.'

Pallas twitched an eyebrow in appreciation of the insight. ‘It's the only thing that makes sense. Consider this: we rid ourselves of
Claudius' wife but his son must be allowed to live – for the time being, at least. Now, should he reach manhood and inherit the Purple one of his first duties
should
be to avenge his mother and I will be a dead man, as, indeed, will be Narcissus and you, Vespasian, despite your son's friendship with Britannicus, because your part in this cannot be kept secret. Narcissus believes that by promoting a marriage between Claudius and Aelia Paetina and then supporting Britannicus as Claudius' heir he can avert this, for he will have put the boy deep in his debt. Perhaps that would work, who knows? However, for once he has missed something. If I get Agrippina into Claudius' bed, she will never forgive Narcissus and Callistus for supporting different candidates even though she technically wasn't eligible at the time.' For once Pallas allowed himself a self-satisfied smile. ‘After the Asiaticus affair that would spell at least banishment for Callistus – but hopefully worse – and a massive loss of influence for Narcissus. It will also guarantee my safety from future vengeance by Britannicus – and yours incidentally, Vespasian – by providing a more suitable heir in Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, whom Claudius will adopt without too much persuasion because Agrippina will insist on it. And there we have it.'

Sabinus scratched the back of his head and cleared his throat. ‘But how am I meant to get that legislation through the Senate?'

‘The normal way: bribery with the money that I shall give you and appealing to everybody's common sense. This will finally unite the Julian and Claudian families in marriage and will provide an heir who, if he marries Claudius' daughter—'

‘But she'll be his adoptive sister!'

‘Yes, but that can be easily dealt with when the time comes. When Lucius marries Claudia Octavia and disposes of Britannicus he becomes irrefutably the heir to Julius Caesar and Germanicus and the people will love him. The other consideration is that Agrippina is already forty-two and unlikely to conceive again and cloud the succession issue even more. If the Senate wants stability then that's what they should have in their minds when they vote to make it legal for an uncle to marry his niece.'

Although Vespasian knew that Pallas had always thought Britannicus' chances of survival to be slim – they had discussed
the matter five years previously when Pallas had accompanied Claudius to Britannia – it was the clinical way that the freedman made the assessment that gave him a chill. He now saw the boy's death as inevitable; it was what he dreaded for personal reasons. ‘What about my Titus? What happens to him as Britannicus is culled in this scheme of yours?'