The Roman (48 page)

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she heard about the sad fate of Jucundus� mother, she burst into tears and swept him into her arms. �I can see from his mouth, nose and eyebrows and also from his eyes, that the boy is of noble birth,� she cried. �His parents must have possessed every merit except discrimination, since they�ve appointed a man like Minutus as his guardian. Believe me, I can tell gold from brass at a glance.� Jucundus patiently endured her caresses and kisses like a sacrificial lamb. Cephas� training was already bearing fruit. �The gods never allowed me children of my own,� Tullia went on sadly, �only miscarriages which I went to great trouble to arrange in my youth and during my two marriages. My third husband was sterile because of his great age, even if he was otherwise rich. And Marcus wasted his seed on a Greek pleasure- girl. But enough of that. I do not wish to offend the memory of your mother, my dear Minutus. This British boy I see as a good omen in our house. Marcus, you must save the handsome Jucundus from your feeble son�s guardianship. Who knows, otherwise Sabina might turn him into an animal trainer one day. Couldn�t we adopt him and bring him up as our own child?� I was paralyzed with surprise and at first my father did not know what to say either. Now that I think about it, I can only imagine that there must have been some supernatural power within my mother�s wooden goblet. In this way I was relieved of a heavy duty, for at that time I was not really fit to bring up anyone, no more then than now. This I have learned from you, Julius. For many reasons my reputation was not a good one, while my father was regarded as a good-natured fool. He had no ambitions and no one thought he would ever willingly become involved in political intrigues. As an expert in Eastern matters, he had filled the office of Praetor for two months for the sake of form. He had once, from sheer good will, been proposed as Consul. If Jucundus became his adoptive son, the boy would have incomparably better prospects than he would under my protection. And as a senator�s son he could be written into the rolls of knights as soon as he had shed his boy�s clothes. Shortly after I had solved this problem, I heard that the Praetorian

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Prefect Burrus had developed a boil in his throat and was dying. Nero hastily sent his own personal physician to attend him. When Burrus was informed of this, he drew up his will and sent it for safekeeping to the Vestal temple. Not until then did he allow the physician to paint his throat with an infallible remedy on a feather. The next night he was well and truly dead. Presumably he would have died in any case, for blood poisoning had set in and he had begun to be delirious with fever. Burrus was buried with great ceremony. Before the pyre was lit on Mars field, Nero proclaimed Tigellinus Praetorian Prefect. This former horse dealer did not have sufficient judicial experience, so Fenius Rufus, a man of Jewish descent, formerly very widely traveled in his capacity as State Inspector of the grain trade, was appointed to deal with external cases. I walked the whole length of the goldsmiths� street to find a sufficiently worthy gift. Finally I decided on a multi-stringed necklace of faultless pearls and with it I sent the following letter to Poppaea Sabina: Minutus Lausus Manilianus greets Poppaea Sabina: Venus was born from the foam of the waves. Pearls are a worthy gift to Venus, but the most faultless radiance of these humble Parthian pearls cannot compare with the shimmer of your complexion. I can never forget it. I hope these pearls will remind you of our friendship. Certain signs and omens show that the prophecy you were once pleased to reveal to me is about to be fulfilled. Obviously I was the first to interpret the omens so skillfully, for Poppaea sent for me at once, thanked me for the beautiful gift and tried to find out how I could have known that she was pregnant, when she herself had known only a few days before. I could only point out my Etruscan heritage, which sometimes helped me with unusual dreams. �After his mother�s death,� said Poppaea, �Nero was upset and tried to push me to one side. But now all is well again. He needs his real friends who will stand by him and support him in his policies.� This was indeed true, for after he had publicly reproached

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Octavia for barrenness and informed the Senate that he was thinking of separating from her, violent disturbances had broken out in the city. To test the feelings of the people, Nero had a statue of Poppaea erected in the forum near the Vestal Virgins� well. A crowd threw it down, garlanded the statues of Octavia and then made their way up to Palatine, so that the Praetorians had to take to their arms to persuade them to go away. I suspected that Seneca�s clever fingers were in this game, since the uprising and demonstration had been so spontaneous and apparently well planned. Nero, however, was badly frightened and at once recalled Octavia, who was on her way to Campania on his orders. Jubilant crowds followed her sedan and offers of thanksgiving were made in the temples of the Capitoline when she was back in Palatine. The following day, for the first time in two years, I received an urgent summons from Nero. One of Octavia�s servant girls had accused her of adultery with an Alexandrian flute player called Eucerus. The trial was held in secret and had been arranged by Tigellinus. Octavia herself was not present. I was heard as a witness, as I knew Eucerus. I could only say that flute music itself is inclined to give people frivolous thoughts. I had with my own eyes seen Octavia sighing, her melancholy gaze on Eucerus as he played at dinner. But, I added for the sake of justice, Octavia sighed on other occasions too, and was of a melancholy temperament, as everyone knew. Octavia�s slaves underwent interrogations that were so painful I began to feel slightly sick as I watched. Some of them were prepared to confess but could not explain when, where and how the adultery had taken place. Tigellinus intervened in the interrogation, which was not going as he had wished, and impatiently said to a pretty girl, �Wasn�t this adultery a subject of general conversation among the servants?� �If one believed everything people say,� the girl snapped back in reply, �then Octavia�s private parts are incomparably more chaste than your mouth, Tigellinus.� The laughter was so great that the interrogation had to be broken off. Tigellinus� vices were well known. He had now also revealed his legal ignorance by using leading questions to make the slaves admit something which was obviously not true. The

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judges� sympathies were with the slaves and they would not allow Tigellinus to cause them lasting harm against the injunctions of the law. The court adjourned until the following day. Then the only witness to appear was the Commander of the Fleet, my old friend Anicetus. With feigned embarrassment he related, carefully giving time and place, how Octavia, while in Baiae to bathe, had shown a surprising interest in the fleet and had personally wished to make the acquaintance of the captains and the centurions. Anicetus had misunderstood her intentions and had made approaches to her, which Octavia had nevertheless definitely rejected. Then Anicetus, blinded by criminal lust, had drugged her with a narcotic drink and used her, but later had bitterly regretted his deed. He could now only plead for the Emperor�s mercy, for his conscience had made him confess his crime. That Anicetus had a conscience at all was news to everyone, himself included, I should think. But the divorce was confirmed by the court, Octavia was exiled to the island of Pandataria, and the faithful Anicetus sent to the naval base in Sardinia. And Nero managed without Seneca�s help to compose an eloquent account of what had happened for the Senate of Rome and the people. In this he implied that Octavia, relying on Burrus, had thought that she had the Praetorian Guard on her side. To win the support of the navy, she had seduced the naval commander, Anicetus, but had become pregnant and, in the knowledge of her own depravity, had criminally caused an abortion. This statement bore an authentic ring to those who did not personally know Octavia. I myself read it in wonder, for I had been present at the secret trial. But I realized that a certain exaggeration was necessary, because of Octavia�s popularity among the people. To avoid demonstrations, Nero immediately had all the statues of Octavia destroyed. But the people withdrew indoors as if in mourning, and at the Senate there was not even a quorum, so many stayed away. There was no discussion on Nero�s statement, for it was not a bill but only a directive from the Emperor. Twelve days later Nero was married to Poppaea Sabina, but the wedding celebrations were not particularly gay. Nevertheless, the wedding presents filled an entire room in Palatine.

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As usual, Nero had a careful list of the gifts made and saw to it that every donor received an official letter of thanks. Rumor had it that he had also had a special list drawn up of those senators and knights who had not sent a gift or who on account of illness had not attended the wedding. So, simultaneously with gifts from the provinces, there poured in a number of late presents together with many explanations and apologies. The Jewish Council in Rome sent Poppaea goblets made of gold and decorated with grapes, worth half a million sesterces. Statues of Poppaea Sabina were erected all over Rome in place of those of Octavia. Tigellinus had the Praetorians guard them day and night so that some people who, in all innocence, wishing to garland them with wreaths received a jab in the face from a shield or a blow from the flat of a sword for their pains. One night someone pulled a sack over the head of the giant statue of Nero on the Capitoline. The news soon spread all over Rome and everyone realized what lay behind it. According to the laws of our forefathers, a patricide or a matricide shall be drowned in a sack together with a snake, a cat and a cockerel. As far as I know, this was the first time anyone had publicly implied that Nero had killed his mother. My father-in-law, Flavius Sabinus, was very worried by the oppressive atmosphere which lay over Rome. When he heard that a live adder had been found on one of the marble floors at Palatine, he ordered the police to keep their eyes skinned for every possible demonstration. This was how the wife of a rich senator came to be arrested for carrying her cat with her on her evening walk. A slave on his way to the temple of Aesculapius with a cockerel he was to sacrifice for his master�s health was flogged. This provoked general merriment, although my father-in-law was only acting in good faith, with no ill intentions. Nero, however, was so angry with him that he lost his office for a while. For all of us who could think reasonably, it was as clear as daylight that the rejection of Octavia was being used as an excuse for a general blackening of Nero�s name in every way. Poppaea Sabina was more beautiful and much cleverer than the fastidious Octavia, although this was her third marriage. But the older generation did everything they could to stir up trouble among the people. In fact I felt my throat many times during those days and

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wondered what it would be like to lose one�s head. A military coup was imminent, for the Praetorians did not like Tigellinus, who was of low descent and a former horse dealer, and who maintained discipline ruthlessly. He soon quarreled with his colleague in office, Fenius Rufus, so that they could no longer remain in the same room together. One, usually Rufus, always left. We who were Nero�s friends and honestly wished him well, gathered at Palatine in a solemn council. Tigellinus was the eldest and the one with the strongest will, so however much we disliked him, we still turned to him and he spoke seriously to Nero. �Here in the city,� he said, �I can guarantee order and your safety. But in Massilia there is the exiled Sulla who has Antonia�s support. He is poor and prematurely gray from his humiliations. I know from reliable sources that he has connections in noble circles in Gaul, people who admire Antonia because of her own great name and because she is Claudius� daughter. The legions in Germany are also so near that Sulla�s very presence in Massilia is a danger to the State and the common good.� Nero admitted this and said in despair, �I cannot imagine why no one loves Poppaea Sabina as I do. At the moment she is in a delicate condition and must not be exposed to the slightest excitement.� �Flautius is an even greater danger to you,� Tigellinus went on. �It was a great mistake to exile him to Asia, where it was unruly enough without him. His grandfather was a Drusus. Who can guarantee that Corbulo and his legions will remain loyal to you? His father-in-law, Senator Lucius Antistius, has sent one of his freedmen there to urge Plautius to make the most of the opportunity. This I have from trustworthy sources. In addition he is very wealthy, and with an ambitious man, that is just as dangerous as poverty.� �I know the situation in Asia quite well,� I put in. �I�ve heard that Plautius only keeps company with philosophers. The Etruscan Musonius, who is a good friend of the world-famous Apollonius from Tyana, voluntarily went into exile with him.� Tigellinus struck his hands together triumphantly. �You see, my lord!� he cried. �Philosophers are the worst advisers of all when they whisper their outrageous views on freedom and tyranny into young men�s ears.�

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�Who can even suggest that I am a tyrant?� said Nero indignantly. �I have given the people more freedom than any other ruler before me. And I meekly submit all my proposals to the Senate for their approval.� We hurriedly assured him that as far as the welfare of the nation was concerned, he was the mildest and most liberal ruler one could imagine. But now it was a matter of what was best for the State and there was nothing more terrible than civil war. At that moment, Poppaea Sabina came rushing in, scantily dressed, her hair hanging loose and tears pouring down her cheeks. She flung herself down in front of Nero, rubbed her breasts against his knees and pleaded with him. �I don�t mind for myself,� she said, �or my position, or even for our unborn son, but this is a matter of your life, dearest Nero. Trust Tigellinus. He knows what he is saying.� Poppaea�s physician had agitatedly followed her in. �There is a risk of a miscarriage if she does not have peace of mind,� he said, gently trying to disengage her from Nero. �How can I ever have peace of mind as long as that loathsome woman plots away on Pandataria?� wailed Poppaea. �She has insulted your marriage bed, she practices the worst kind of witchcraft and has several times tried to poison me. I�ve been sick several times today, just because I�m so frightened.� �He who has once chosen his way can no longer look back,� said Tigellinus with conviction. �I appeal to your magnanimity as our friend, if you won�t think of your own life, Nero. You are putting all our lives in danger with your indecisiveness. The first to be swept away in the coup will be those who wish you well and are not just pressing their own advantage, as Seneca is, for instance. Faced with the inevitable, the gods themselves must bow down.� Nero�s eyes filled with tears of sorrow. �Be my witnesses,� he declared, �you who can confirm that this is the most burdensome moment of my life, when my personal feelings must give way for the State and the common good. I comply with what is politically unavoidable.� Tigellinus� hard face lit up and he raised his arm in greeting. �Now you are a true ruler, Nero,� he said. �Trustworthy Praetorians are already on their way to Massilia. I have sent a whole maniple to Asia with the possibility of armed resistance in mind. I