Tiberius (11 page)

Young Drusus as a mere stripling had managed to quell the rebellious legions in Pannonia, with the moon's help. It was probably the most successful act of his life; he was good for nothing much after that. He married a beautiful girl named Livilla—that is, Little Livia—and she gave him twin sons. She was of excellent family; in fact, she was the sister of the Germanicus whom Piso had poisoned. She was
a
warm-hearted, loving woman, but not to Drusus Junior. She had a lover.

Adultery was a terrible crime—for women-—under the Roman law; a matron who went that far would go even farther. Livilla's lover was the commander of
Tiberius' Pre
torian Guard, Sejanus, rapidly becoming the second most powerful man in the Empire. He knew Livilla, and knew that if she admitted him to her bed she would help him in a still more serious enterprise he had in mind.

Tiberius
did not have too much love for h
is son, but the boy
was
the logical successor to the Empire. It was
disturbing to Tiberius when youn
g Drusus fell sick. It was a terrible shock when he died. Tiberius retreated farther still; more and more of his Empire he handed over to the only man he trusted, Sejanus.

This was what Sejanus had intended. Although he had managed to conceal the evidence well enough, the death of D
rusus was no accident; Sejanus h
ad murdered him. He could not have done it alone. His accomplice was Drusus' wife.

XII

Sejanus was a calculator, a maneuverer. He set his sights high early in life and never swerved from the path of ambition. He had no family. He had no friends. It was necessary to make them.

Tacitus describes him for us: "He had a body which could endure hardships, and
a
daring spirit. He was one who screened himself, while attacking others; he was
as
cringing
as
he was imperious; before the world he affected humility; in his heart he lusted after supremacy." He could spend gold like water to impress one man; he could be thrifty and thoughtful to impress another. His whole life was
a
sequence of calculated acts. Even his seduction of Livilla.

Sejanus created useful allies by attaching lrimself to powerful men. He could find ways to make himself indispensable to them. Nothing was too small for him to do, nothing too low. There was Apicius, very rich, very fond of pleasure. (The dish he invented for his own table has come down to us as
pate de foie gras.)
Apicius liked young men he could help on their way; he also liked young men who let him make love to them; this was the sort of price Sej
anus easily paid. Apicius ran th
rough all his fortune and committed suicide, but Sejanus was already on his way. Apicius had introduced him to Gaius, Augustus' favourite. Unfortunately, Gaius died. Sejanus wasted no time; he attached himself to" Tiberius.

What Tiberius wanted more than anything was a delegate to whom he could entrust power, to whom he could assign any job that needed doing. Sejanus made himself that man. He commanded the Pretorian Guard. He scouted likely prospects for office and presented them to Tiberius. He always gave advice, knowing what advice Tiberius wanted. He never failed to keep Tiberius informed of plots and rumors. He made Tiberius trust him, and even like him—that broody, dour man could relax with Sejanus; when they dined
together, which was often, th
ere was laughter. Tiberius was ripe for a friendship. Sejanus became his friend.

Having won the confidence of the Emperor, Sejanus now had to create a family. This was not difficult. His relatives were nobodies, but with Tiberius' ear Sejanus could find them important posts, so that his whole family suddenly blossomed into a show of consulships and prefectures and other high offices. It was a new family, but it had suddenly become almost the mightiest in Rome.

It was not enough.

Sejanus and Drusus Junior did not get along at all. The son of Tiberius was no intellectual but he was intelligent enough to dislike his father's favorite—and brainless enough to -show Ills dislike in the way his intellect suggested, by hitting Sejanus in the face. Tactitus thinks that that blow turned Sejanus' mind to murder. Probably not. Surely Seianus could see that Drusus Junior was in his way, with or without a fist-fight.

As it was necessary to remove the obstacle, Sejanus sought new allies, and found what he needed in the person of Livilla.

We know that Livilla was one of the most beautiful women
in Rome
. But she had been an ugly littl
e girl, slow to mature.
Her brother was Germanic
us, who might have been Emperor
with a little more ambition and a lit
tle more time. Her
marriage to Drusus Junior wa
s arranged, and perhaps she did
not want it; at any rate, she
was ripe prey for Sejanus. The
deep-rooted certainty, from h
er unattractive childhood, that
she could not be loved; the suspicion of Tiberius that
sprang
from the murder of her b
rother—these were emotions upon
which a skillful man might p
lay, and Sejanus had an unfail
ingly persuasive tongue. She c
ould not resist Sejanus. No one
else ever had.

Once seduced, she belonged to him entirely. Step by step he presented her with his proposition. You are the mother of Drusus' twins; they are Tiberius' own grandchildren, and surely they will in time climb the throne. As Drusus is bloodthirsty and not overly bright he should not be Emperor; but in order to insure the thrones for your sons he must be put out of the way. Poison him. Then marry me. And when old Tiberius dies, why, I will be Emperor Regent and you will be the Emperor Regent's wife!

It is not a suggestion that would appeal to a loyal wife, but it appealed to Livia. What made it appeal was the personality of Sejanus, who knew when to threaten and when to flatter. Sejanus' power grew and grew. Tiberius suspected nothing. When no one else could see the Emperor, Sejanus was with him. It became evident that Sejanus was the only way to Tiberius; soon it went beyond tiiat. No one needed to see Tiberius at all any more. Sejanus had the authority to act for him. Tiberius merely ratified the decisions of his friend—when the friend bothered to trouble the Emperor with them at all.

As commander of the Pretorian Guard, Sejanus was the man in charge of the only real force of soldiers within hundreds of miles of Rome. They were picked men, paid three times the wages of the Legions, chosen for loyalty as well as for strength and skill.

Soon the whole machinery of the Empire was in Sejanus' hands. His men worked the palace and staffed the administrative machine. His delegates controlled provinces from Gaul to Asia Minor. Often he chose his own Pretorian officers to govern colonies. There was an opening, for e
xample, as procurator of Jude
a, and to fill it Sejanus made an appointment better remembered in history than most. He sent a Pretorian much like himself in character, humorous, guileful, ambitious; the man's name was Pontius Pilate.

While Tiberius occupied himself with public ceremonies, Sejanus strengthened his power and made his plans.

Then, in 23
a.d.,
Drusus Junior was poisoned. To kill an Emperor's son was not easy, even when his wife was the mistress of the murderer. It took planning and it required accomplices. How busy Sejanus must have been in those months! He had to make his contacts—very carefully; he had to make an ally of Livilla's doctor, Eudemus; he had to subvert Lygdus, Drusus' eunuch, who was to feed the poison to Drusus Junior. He had to find a poison that would work slowly enough, and obscurely enough, so that the death would be taken for sickness (and he succeeded, because it took eight years, and a leak from witiiin the conspiracy, to prove the fact of murder). And most of all he had to keep his mistress happy. With the help of the doctor, Sejanus and Livilla were able to see much of each other—she could always pretend she was ill and needed the doctor's ministrations, and then Sejanus would do the ministering. But she was, for some reason or other, jealous. Sejanus was married and Livilla didn't like that. To satisfy her, Sejanus divorced his wife Apicata. The entente of the conspirators was now complete. Drusus Junior died on schedule; no one suspected—at least out loud; and the last obstacle was out of Sejanus' path. Only Tiberius remained, and he was not a problem. For with the death of Drusus Junior, Tiberius went to pieces.

Was it grief? It is hard to believe—though surely Tiberius had loved the boy once. But there is no doubt that from the time of the death of Drusus Junior, Tiberius was not the man he had been. He had been sour of disposition and mysterious of speech; but he had been a worker and an Emperor who gave serious thought to the needs of Rome. After the death of Junior, Sejanus ruled unhindered.

With Drusus Junior dead and Apicata divorced (though not dead, and not resigned) the next step for Sejanus was clear. Marry Livilla. Attach himself clearly to the imperial house.

For this he needed the permission of Tiberius and, as was the fashion, he set down on paper a long letter of self-deprecation and humble devotion. Clearly Livilla needed a husband, and that husband should be the loyalest of the Emperor's subjects. The inference was clear.

But Tiberius was not yet so far gone that he was willing to comply. Why? History does not tell us. It was not suspicion of Sejanus surely, for Sejanus was having everything else his own way, then and for years to come. It was not lack of precedent, for already Augustus had furnished the example of a ruling Emperor betrothing his daughter to someone no greater by birth than Sejanus himself. And surely it was not dislike for Sejanus, unless Tiberius was a greater dissembler than the master-dissembler himself. I cannot do it, gravely wrote Tiberius in return, much though I love thee, Sejanus; I will in my own way at my time show how great that love is; but for now, no, you can't marry Livilla.

It was a soft answer that turned away no wrath. It worried Sejanus. Was the old man going to develop a mind of his own
now?
So he thought the matter over and came to a conclusion. Long ago Tiberius had visited the Isle of Rhodes and been happy there. Let him be happy again. Away from Rome. On an island—not Rhodes, no; Tiberius would never go for that.

But there happened to be a perfectly fine island available and one which belonged, moreover, to the Emperor.

The island of Capri, visited by Augustus in the previous reign, was beautiful. It was a place fit for an Emperor to live. Sejanus knew that Tiberius thought highly of Capri. The island was not only beautiful but comfortably cool in summer, not only comfortable but safe. There is only one point on the shores of Capri where a vessel can land. Tiberius was always very careful to locate himself where he had a strong defensive position, not out of any particular fear but from a general instinct for caution.

It remained only for Sejanus to get Tiberius to go there.

The first step was to set him on a tour outside Rome. There were temples to be dedicated in Campania; let the Emperor go to dedicate them. So Tiberius left Rome with his retinue; and astrologers cast their reckonings and said, marveling, look, with such planet here and such sign there, it is perfectly clear, Tiberius will never return to Rome! Even a broken clock is right twice a day. He never did.

Two terrible things happened. First was an accident to Tiberius himself. He and Sejanus and a court of others were dining in a country house called "The Cave," located in a natural grotto. The cave collapsed; rocks fell in on the illustrious company; Sejanus, brave or merely farseeing, leaped to defend his Emperor and, with his own body, shielded him from the falling boulders. A good days work for Sejanus. The Emperor no longer had any doubt that his friend was his loyal slave.

The second thing was a remarkable catastrophe.

There was a town called Fidena, not far from Rome. A freed slave named Atilius, the P. T. Barnum of his day, observed that the Romans loved gladiatorial displays and that Tiberius was too cheap to give them what they wanted— more, discouraged anyone else from giving them, so as not to make the throne look penurious by contrast. But outside of Rome the restrictions were less severe, and there was money to be made out of the shows, especially if one did not waste too much money on construction. So Atilius built an arena— a large one even for Rome, as it seated fifty thousand persons—and built it on a ramshackle foundation with slim and unreliable pillars. This arena was very popular with Romans, being handy; and when it collapsed, as it was bound to, it killed or maimed all fifty thousand spectators. It was a gory spectacle—for days the wounded were screaming, sobbing, and dying in the ruins, while the rubble was being excavated for bodies and survivors—and a few years later it attracted the envy of a Caligula. Curse my fate, he was heard to cry, Tiberius had all the luck; why
ca
n
't something exciting like that happen to
me?