‘Again, another very good reason for you not to be there,’ Caenis pointed out.
‘Yes; and I can see that when the history of this is written Antonius could be made out to be the villain; him and Vitellius. How did Vitellius die?’
‘He was dragged from his hiding place; he had taken over the Golden House, which had caused a lot of resentment, but they found him in there and he was hauled down the Sacred Way and on into the Forum. Some of his Germanic Bodyguards tried to free him but they were cut down. He was brought to the rostra where Galba had been murdered and then forced to watch his statues being thrown over.’
Vespasian gave a dark chuckle. ‘That would have hurt his dignitas if he had any left to hurt.’
‘I think he did, master, as just before the kill was made he said: “and yet I was once your Emperor.” He was hacked to death; I saw it and it wasn’t pleasant. His head was paraded through the city and his body exposed in the exact place that Sabinus’ had been. But no one claimed it as they had claimed Sabinus’ for burial and it was dragged on hooks and thrown into the Tiber.’
‘And good riddance to useless blubber.’
‘You will have to show more magnanimity than that about your predecessor when you return,’ Caenis reminded him.
‘Don’t worry, my love; I shall be statesmanlike. I believe his daughter is still alive and will be of marriageable age soon; to emphasise the difference between Vitellius and me I shall provide her with a dowry. Will that be magnanimous enough?’
Caenis smiled. ‘Perfect.’
Vespasian closed his eyes and sighed as he remembered the question he had yet to ask. ‘And what did Domitian do in all this?’
‘He appeared once all the fighting had died down, dressed in full uniform, and allowed himself to be hailed as Caesar and was then escorted by Antonius’ troops to your house.’
‘Hailed as Caesar?’
‘Yes, master; the title has also been conferred on Titus.’
‘Well, he perhaps deserves it. What’s Domitian done since?’
‘He presided over the Senate until Mucianus arrived and began the process of choosing a senatorial delegation to present the Senate’s oath of loyalty to you, master.’
Vespasian shook his head, his expression one of disbelief, and looked out over the harbour. ‘I’ll wager he’s puffed himself up with his own self-importance and is loving telling everyone what to do and making subtle threats, or not so subtle ones, as to what he will do to people who thwart him now that he has power – or at least he thinks he has power. I can see that I’m going to have to bring that boy down; right down, if only for his own good.’ Vespasian looked at Caenis and wagged a finger at her. ‘And don’t you start saying things like be kind to him or don’t be too harsh.’
‘When it comes to Domitian, Vespasian, I hesitate to give any advice, and if I were to, it would certainly not be the sort that you just mentioned.’
Vespasian grunted and then turned back to Hormus. ‘A senatorial delegation, you say?’
‘Yes, master.’
‘When was it due to leave?’
‘I don’t know, master; there was a lot of disagreement as to its composition but I believe that it was almost agreed as I left, so they should be only a few days behind me.’
CHAPTER XVI
‘ALL I’M SAYING is that you should watch him,’ Magnus said to Vespasian as they descended the last few steps of the echoing, marble stairway that thrust through the heart of the palace. ‘He’s come here because he knows that he overstepped the mark back in Rome and Mucianus would have had him executed. He’s desperate and you know how unpredictable desperate men can be.’
‘I do indeed.’ Preceded by twelve lictors, Vespasian, in a purple toga and wearing a laurel wreath, turned left into a wide hallway with the busts of previous prefects of Egypt set on plinths alternating with flaming sconces on tripods in recesses on either side. ‘But Antonius also did much for my cause, albeit often against my orders. Yes, he is an opportunist and would probably have done the same for Vitellius or Otho, had he seen how it could benefit him, but I can’t be seen to punish him without displaying an astonishing lack of gratitude that would be a cause for concern for everyone else who backed me.’
Magnus drew a wheezy breath as he struggled to keep up with what was no more than a dignified pace marked by the steady clack of the lictors’ hobnails on white marble. ‘I understand that, sir, and I ain’t saying that you should execute him, far from it. I just reckon that a man like Antonius should be closely monitored and kept from talking to anyone he may think can be more use to him than you are at present; and I would say that amongst the fifty senators here from Rome, there could well be one or two candidates. I for one would want to know exactly why Antonius turns up so soon after them; was it to see you or a member of the delegation, if you take my meaning?’
‘I do indeed, Magnus; and I shall take your advice and give orders for Antonius not to be allowed to mingle with the delegation once I have received it.’
Turning right at the end of the hallway, by a grand window overlooking the private palace harbour, they came to a corridor that was dominated by a series of statues of both male and female subjects of the line of the Ptolemys, all bewigged and painted in lifelike colours and clothed in real garments. Vespasian stopped at the first one, the founder of the dynasty, Alexander’s general, Ptolemy Soter, and examined the breastplate attached to it and then grinned. ‘It’s still the duplicate one that we had made when I stole the original to use to replicate Alexander’s. That seems like a lifetime ago.’
‘Thirty years and I’m feeling every one of them.’
Vespasian admired the statues as they progressed down the corridor until they came to that of Cleopatra, the seventh of that name, and Vespasian again paused to admire her as the lictors turned left into the formal reception room of the palace. ‘It was here that Flavia caught me gawping at Cleopatra’s face the evening we met again after our first brief meeting in Cyrene three years before; she spoke to me from the room behind me and I turned to see someone far more beautiful than Cleopatra.’ He took a few moments to remember his wife and the mother of his children who had been so brutally nailed up on a cross, by outlaws, four years before; Vespasian closed his eyes and shook his head as he remembered putting her out of her misery with a sword thrust to her heart. ‘She was a good woman,’ he muttered before entering the room.
Magnus kept his counsel as he watched Vespasian walk into where the senatorial delegation awaited him.
‘Hail Caesar!’ was the unanimous shout that greeted Vespasian as he faced the fifty-man delegation all draped in their senatorial togas and wearing military crowns or Triumphal Ornaments, if eligible, to add to the dignity of the occasion.
Vespasian glanced around the faces and found that he recognised each one. ‘Conscript Fathers, you do me honour in making such a journey from Rome at this time of year; the weather has been far from clement.’ He walked through the crowd to a curule chair behind which sat both Hormus and Caenis ready to record the minutes of the meeting.
‘Princeps,’ Gnaeus Julius Agricola, the leader of the delegation, said once Vespasian had indicated that he was comfortable and the meeting could begin. ‘We offer the loyalty and support of the Senate and people of Rome.’
‘And I am pleased to accept it,’ Vespasian replied, keeping his expression neutral; now was not a time to show the relief that he was feeling. ‘Brief me as to the situation in Rome and the West.’
‘The civil war in Italia is at an end although it continues in other theatres. Three of the defeated Vitellian legions have been sent to Moesia to repel the latest Dacian and Sarmatian incursions from across the Danuvius; these started when Antonius Primus took his legion into Italia without consulting Mucianus, thus leaving Moesia vulnerable to attack. Mucianus had asked us to emphasise that Antonius’ rash move caused the main body of your army to delay whilst the first wave of incursions was repelled, thus seriously imperilling your c
ause.’ Agricola paused to let the implication of that sink in.
Vespasian did not react; he now knew just why Antonius had come running to him. He was going to enjoy his interview with the impetuous, self-seeking general later. ‘So Moesia is holding; good. And the small rebellion in Pontus is being subdued by one of my auxiliary prefects; so what of matters further west?’
‘There were rumours of a revolt by Venutius of the Brigantes in northern Britannia, just before we left Rome, Princeps; but the details were scarce. However the elements of the four legions in the province who had come south in support of Vitellius have been sent back so we hope that Marcus Vettius Bolanus, the Governor, can cope as we currently have no spare legions on the Rhenus to send to his aid.’
Vespasian understood the problem immediately. ‘The Batavian revolt?’
‘Yes, Princeps; the revolt by the Batavi, originally nominally in support of your cause, has been exposed for what it really is: a rebellion against Rome. In the belief that our legions are busy fighting each other as well as repelling the Dacians and Sarmatians, the rebellion has spread to other Germanic and Gallic tribes. The latest news that we have from there is that Civilis has declared a Gallic/Germanic empire in the two Germanies, Gallia Belgica and Gallia Lugdunensis. We have despatched three legions, the Eighth Augusta, the Ninth Claudia and the Thirteenth Gemina, to reinforce the ones that the usurper, Vitellius, had sent north.’
Vespasian smiled inwardly at this reference to his predecessor as he knew that most here had supported him in some degree. ‘And who has been placed in charge and who made that decision?’
‘Your son-in-law, Quintus Petillius Cerialis, along with your son, Titus Flavius Caesar Domitianus, sharing the command. Cerialis was nominated by your deputy, Mucianus; and Domitian by Marcus Cocceius Nerva.’ Agricola indicated to Nerva, standing next to him, who inclined his head a fraction. ‘The decision was then voted on by the Senate.’
So that’s what Mucianus has styled himself, Vespasian thought, as he returned Nerva’s acknowledgement. Still, he kept his face neutral as he digested the news that the worst choice of generals had been appointed to subdue the nation with arguably the best auxiliaries in the Empire and a growing number of allies: Cerialis had, through inexperience and incaution, lost the best part of his legion, the VIIII Hispana, in the early stages of Boudicca’s rebellion in Britannia; Vespasian had witnessed the debacle at first hand. As for Domitian who had absolutely no military experience whatsoever, that was just plain stupid, but he refrained from saying so. ‘These appointments seem to have more to do with pleasing me than with the urgency of tackling the situation efficiently.’
There was an awkward silence as Agricola looked around his colleagues for support.
Nerva stepped forward. ‘As you will recall, Princeps, you had asked me to look out for your younger son whilst you were away. I have merely done what you asked me to do. He is, after all, Caesar; and, as he has no military experience, it is time he should acquire some. Besides, he hasn’t gone with the main army and will only go with the second wave once they’ve mustered.’
‘Yes, but he’ll still be nominally in joint command when he arrives; he’ll be trying to make decisions.’
‘The legates of the three legions are all men of great experience and Cerialis won’t let him make a fool of himself; I’ve emphasised that to him on your behalf.’
‘We apologise if this displeases you, Princeps,’ Agricola said, his voice betraying a hint of nervousness.
Again Vespasian smiled inwardly as he now had the delegation exactly where he wanted them. ‘From now on all such appointments must be referred to me.’
‘But you were here in Egypt, Princeps.’
‘And so I shall remain for a few more months overseeing the harvest and the delivery of much-needed grain to Rome. But all military decisions that involve imperial provinces as opposed to senatorial ones will be referred to me as only I have the power to make them. And speaking of power: I thank the Senate for the Lex de Imperio Vespasiani but I don’t feel that it goes far enough. I want you to amend it and vote me a package of measures that shall detail my areas of influence as your Emperor, where I can act alone and where I need the backing of the Senate, so that in future there can be no argument as to where the power lies. I will not be returning to the days of Nero when it seemed that the Emperor could do as he pleased because everything was his possession. That will not be happening in my principate. I will draw up some recommendations that I think should be considered by you before you leave.’
Agricola inclined his head, looking pleased. ‘We will do that with pleasure, Princeps.’
‘Good, because we will have a lot of work to do. I believe, from my calculations, that to bring the Empire back to how it was before Nero and civil war bankrupted it will take something in the region of four thousand million sesterces.’
There was a collective sharp intake of breath.
‘Which will have to be found; and we will all start looking for it as from now. I have already raised taxes here in Egypt but a lot of that money is going towards the war in Judaea, which will eventually pay for itself with the plunder from Jerusalem and the huge amount of slaves that we will capture, but until then Egypt’s taxes go to that war. So, Conscript Fathers, the rest of the Empire is going to have to pay more.’ He studied the gathering, every man there for what he could get from their new Emperor, and now he planned to ensnare them. ‘I intend to replace many of my predecessors’ appointments as governors with placements of my own.’ He just controlled a flicker of amusement as the innate greed of the assembled senators displayed itself in the form of intense, wide-eyed interest. ‘These men will naturally be people who have showed their loyalty to me over the past year and will be responsible for raising the maximum amount of tax from the province without sending it into revolt. Four thousand million, Conscript Fathers; let us get to work.’
Vespasian rose to his feet and strode from the room, leaving a sense of purpose and profit in his wake.
‘What I did, I did only for you.’ Antonius Primus was adamant.
And so was Vespasian. ‘Bollocks!’
Antonius looked down at Vespasian, seated behind a large desk in the imperial study, surprised at his vehemence; through the window, the trireme that had brought him from Rome that morning rocked at its mooring in the palace harbour. ‘But I did, Princeps. Time was crucial; it had to be a quick attack otherwise Vitellius would have been able to consolidate his legions.’
‘Which he managed to do, Antonius; and Mucianus did not, because you had gone rushing ahead in order to snatch the glory. And in your haste you forgot that your legion’s main function was meant to be guarding the Danuvius.’ Vespasian looked up at the man standing before him in the uniform of a military peacock; handsome in a refined, slim-featured way, with calculating, dark eyes and tanned, smooth skin which looked to be in receipt of far too many oils and balms for Vespasian’s taste. ‘Or did you, Antonius? Did you forget? Because it seems to me that it was quite convenient that there should be an incursion across the Danuvius just as Mucianus was coming across the Hellespont; it meant that he had to send a substantial part of his force north into Pannonia to deal with it whilst he himself was obliged to remain close in Dalmatia until he was sure that his rear was secure before he moved on towards Italia.’
‘But he was going to do what I did and take the Moesian legions with him, seeing as they had declared their support for you.’
‘Don’t make yourself look stupid as well as treacherous, Antonius. Vexillations of the legions; not the entire body, but four or five cohorts from each one so that they remain in position keeping that northern border secure. You left nothing to keep your section of the river defended; not one century. Now that, Antonius, could be construed as treachery and I could quite legitimately have you executed for that.’
‘But I won you the Purple!’
‘And thereby lies my problem; although, for the record, you did not win it for m
e single-handed, it was a combined effort. But I’m well aware that if I were to have you executed, it would look very shabby on my behalf; but if you think I’m going to reward you in the way that Mucianus will be rewarded, you can think again.’ Vespasian paused and scrutinised the miscreant with a steady eye.
But Antonius was not to be intimidated. ‘It was my troops that won the Battle of Bedriacum!’
‘No, it was my troops! And it was my troops that you shamefully let sack Cremona; troops fighting for me, raping the wives and daughters of fellow citizens; it was as if I was humping each one myself, such is my reputation amongst the survivors. Why did you let it happen?’
A sly look inveigled its way across Antonius’ face. ‘Oh, so you haven’t been told, have you? Didn’t Hormus mention his part in the sacking of Cremona?’
‘Hormus had a part in that disgrace?’
‘The biggest, I would say; he ordered it.’
Vespasian was dumbstruck for a few moments. ‘I don’t believe you.’
‘Then you had better ask him, Princeps; because I will swear that he came to me after the battle and ordered me in your name to sack the city to encourage other Vitellian strongholds to surrender rather than hold out.’
Vespasian could see the logic, but the action had gone right against the spirit in which he had wanted the war conducted. ‘Very well, I will ask him, but that won’t excuse your actions. I had explicitly ordered that there would be no invasion of Italia until negotiations had broken down. My brother was leading the talks for me and your pre-emptive action can be seen as being the catalyst for the violence that ended up costing Sabinus his life.’ Vespasian put up his hand as Antonius went to rebut this statement. ‘No! You will listen to me, Antonius, or by my guardian god, Mars, I’ll have your head and fuck what everyone thinks. You have done nothing to deserve my favour despite professing to have nought but my wellbeing in the forefront of your mind. So I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, Antonius: obviously you can never be trusted with a military command again but I don’t want to be seen as not rewarding you.’
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