Valerius nodded slowly. This was the true reason for his presence and now the moment was here his throat felt as if it was filled with sand. Twenty thousand lives depended on his next words. ‘I plead for Caesar’s indulgence.’ He saw Nero’s eyes harden but he kept his voice steady. ‘The man called Petrus, known as the Rock of Christus, is in my custody in Rome, to be presented in chains at the Emperor’s convenience.’
This was the great gamble. If he delivered Petrus to Nero at the same moment Poppaea announced that Rodan had turned traitor and Torquatus had died, the Emperor would undoubtedly link the events. Yet, by not doing so, he risked Nero’s insisting that his deadline had not been met and ordering the massacre of the Judaeans in any case.
Nero’s cold eyes studied him intently and Valerius felt sweat break out on his brow as he saw the calculations going through the other man’s mind. He would never realize his good fortune. From the moment the Emperor had announced his decision to a trusted group of officials he had been bombarded by concerns about the inconvenience and the expense of the massacre. Rome’s Judaeans formed a small but crucial element of the city’s economy, and their loss would have a significant negative effect on imperial finances at a time when the financial forecasts were already poor. Twenty thousand executions would necessarily require to be carried out by a full legion, so the victims must be gathered and marched to the circus, with all the organizational and security implications that entailed. And did he understand the effort required to dispose of twenty thousand bodies?
‘I am inclined to be merciful.’ Valerius felt the room spin. ‘The Judaeans will be spared. You will deliver this man to me on the nones of June …’ It was only when the Emperor’s voice rose that Valerius realized he hadn’t heard a word of the rest of the speech. He looked from Poppaea to the man on the throne.
‘I said Gaius Valerius Verrens, Hero of Rome, has the Emperor’s thanks and is free to return to Rome.’ Valerius rose shakily to his feet and bowed. He walked towards the sunshine and freedom and a day he had thought would never come. ‘And Verrens?’ He froze. ‘Perhaps it would be wise if you took up the offer from my friend Vitellius. A spell in the provinces might be beneficial to your health.’
Nero turned away, and Valerius found he could breathe again.
‘Come, my dear.’ The Emperor led his wife towards the scale model of Rome which had accompanied them to Neapolis. ‘I will show you my plans for our new home.’
Poppaea smiled sweetly. She immediately noticed a change in the landscape between the two hills of the Palatine and the Esquiline. In the valley, the land currently occupied by ten thousand Romans was buried beneath the largest palace the world had ever seen.
Nero saw her startled look. ‘Do not worry, my love,’ he said cheerfully. ‘The gods will provide.’
XLVII
FOURTEEN MONTHS LATER, on a hot August morning with the scent of old smoke still heavy in the air, Valerius stood beside a sombre, dark-haired woman, close to the place where Cornelius Sulla had died. They were on the far edge of a large crowd who had gathered to witness another execution.
He had last seen Petrus on the day he delivered him up to Nero. Now he watched as a team of executioners erected an inverted cross in the soil of the Vatican fields and placed the elderly Christian against the rough wood. Valerius flinched when he heard the old man’s shrill cry as the first of the iron nails pierced the flesh and fragile bones of his feet. There was a moment of consternation as the executioner realized a single nail would never hold his victim in this unheard-of position. The crowd hooted as further nails were added, before Petrus’s hands were fixed likewise to the arm of the cross so that he hung upside down with the blood running down his bony white legs.
‘It is cruel,’ Olivia whispered. ‘He was a good man. He does not deserve this.’
Valerius looked at his sister. She was still pale, still thin, but she had insisted on riding from the estate to Rome and showed no sign of fatigue. The house on the Clivus Scauri had been burned along with thousands of others in the great blaze in July which had consumed seven whole districts of the city and incinerated thousands of men, women and children. Fires were a common enough occurrence in Rome, but Nero and his officials quickly found evidence that the Christians had been to blame for this one. Petrus’s execution was only the beginning.
‘He asked for it to be this way.’ Valerius placed an arm round her. ‘He said he was not worthy of dying in the same manner as his Lord. He is an old man. It won’t take long.’ He knew that the head-down position in which Petrus was hanging meant his inner organs would slump down and crush his lungs and heart. No man of his age could live for more than a few minutes in such agony. But he had underestimated Petrus’s resilience. It was forty minutes before the fisherman who had watched his Lord walk on water died with the name of Christus on his lips.
Valerius thought he heard a whisper in the air, and for a moment he had a vision of the tall man beside Poppaea’s waterfall. He realized that if he did not have faith, at least he had hope.
Historical Note
The story of the early Christian church is a very murky one indeed. If history is written by the victors, the earliest history of Christianity has almost certainly been moulded and sanitized by those with a vested interest. The church was torn by disputes over its future direction and a number of different sects developed which were only reconciled at the First Council of Nicaea in ad 325. One of the earliest arguments was over the conversion of Gentiles and was between St Paul (Saul) and St Peter (Petrus). Both are said to have been in Rome in the early 60s and Saul is recorded as meeting the philosopher Seneca’s brother. They undoubtedly lived an underground existence in a time of fear, persecution and betrayal. Single-minded individuals with hugely different characters, Paul, a Roman citizen and former soldier, was a pragmatist who had initially persecuted the Christians before joining them, while Peter, a simple fisherman, was driven by his absolute faith in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Could Paul have betrayed Peter? Defender of Rome is a work of fiction and it is a novelist’s privilege to bring out the worst in his characters, but there is some evidence, admittedly circumstantial, to suggest the possibility. Apart from their dispute, in ad 80 Bishop Clemens (later St Clement) wrote: Through envy and jealousy, the greatest and most righteous pillars [of the church] have been persecuted and put to death … Peter through unjust envy. Envy and jealousy are emotions which develop within a structure, not without. It would not be the first time one leadership rival took advantage of an opportunity to get rid of another.
Galilean, Judaean or Jew? Jesus and Petrus had their origins in Galilee, and would have been brought up in the Judaic or Jewish religion, so all three are applicable. But in Rome, Petrus would have been bracketed with the city’s Judaeans, so I have used Judaean as the generic term to avoid confusion.
Nero was the first Roman Emperor to take the threat of Christianity seriously and his response was typically brutal and imaginative, even before the Great Fire of Rome. There is no historical evidence that his wife Poppaea, who died either in childbirth or from Nero’s abuse while she was pregnant, depending on which source you choose to believe, was linked to the Christians, but the true story of Lucina Pomponia Graecina suggests that Christian influence did reach the highest levels of Roman society even at that early stage in its development.
Valerius meets many interesting historical characters on his travels. Seneca was the most influential man of his time before he fell out of favour and was eventually forced to commit suicide. Aulus Vitellius, who may or may not have been commander of the Seventh legion, was flattered into accepting the imperial purple during the Year of the Four Emperors and paid the inevitable price. Nero’s Praetorian prefect, Offonius Tigellinus, survived his reign so I have taken the liberty of replacing him with a fictional character, Torquatus, so that he could meet a suitably satisfying end.
The cities of the Bay of Naples were struck by earthquakes several times before they were buried i
n the Vesuvian eruption of ad 79, including one during Nero’s visit to Neapolis. You can still see the effects today in the shops and bars of Herculaneum, and at the Villa Oplontis, which is well worth a visit for a glimpse of true Roman luxury.
Acknowledgements
Thanks once again to my editor Simon Thorogood and his wonderful team at Transworld, my agent Stan at the Jenny Brown Agency, and most of all to my wife Alison and my children, Kara, Nikki and Gregor, for the unfailing support which sees me through the toughest times. Special thanks to Lorna Sherman and Ross Leitch for giving me an insight into how an earthquake happens. Philip Parker’s brilliant The Empire Stops Here was an impeccable source for Valerius’s venture into Dalmatia, Moesia and Dacia, and Martin Goodman’s Rome & Jerusalem was one of many excellent books which helped me navigate the choppy waters of early Christian Rome.
About the Author
Douglas Jackson is rapidly developing a reputation as one of the best historical novelists writing today. He turned a lifelong fascination for Rome and the Romans into his first two novels, Caligula and Claudius. Defender of Rome is the second title in his series featuring Gaius Valerius Verrens; the first, Hero of Rome, is available now.
Douglas Jackson was born in Jedburgh, in the Scottish Borders and now lives in Bridge of Allan.
Also by Douglas Jackson
CALIGULA
CLAUDIUS
HERO OF ROME
For more information on Douglas Jackson and his books, see his website at www.douglas-jackson.net
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Copyright © Douglas Jackson 2011
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Table of Contents
Cover
About the Book
Title Page
Dedication
Map
Chapter I
Chapter II
Chapter III
Chapter IV
Chapter V
Chapter VI
Chapter VII
Chapter VIII
Chapter IX
Chapter X
Chapter XI
Chapter XII
Chapter XIII
Chapter XIV
Chapter XV
Chapter XVI
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVIII
Chapter XIX
Chapter XX
Chapter XXI
Chapter XXII
Chapter XXIII
Chapter XXIV
Chapter XXV
Chapter XXVI
Chapter XXVII
Chapter XXVIII
Chapter XXIX
Chapter XXX
Chapter XXXI
Chapter XXXII
Chapter XXXIII
Chapter XXXIV
Chapter XXXV
Chapter XXXVI
Chapter XXXVII
Chapter XXXVIII
Chapter XXXIX
Chapter XL
Chapter XLI
Chapter XLII
Chapter XLIII
Chapter XLIV
Chapter XLV
Chapter XLVI
Chapter XLVII
Historical Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Also by Douglas Jackson
Copyright
Defender of Rome Page 33