Thunderous cheers drowned Regulus out as Vespasian and Caenis made their way down the back steps of the temple.
‘He’s certainly getting them going,’ Vespasian observed as they headed towards Antonia’s house, just two hundred paces away.
‘He needs to,’ Caenis replied, struggling to keep up with him. ‘Sejanus has been very generous in sponsoring games. He’s not unloved by all the people, by any means; if Regulus doesn’t get them on his side they could well riot and try to free him.’
Vespasian shuddered at the thought but realised that Caenis’ assessment was absolutely right.
They arrived at Antonia’s door and knocked; a brief glance through the viewing slot was enough for the doorkeeper to let them in.
Antonia was waiting in the atrium with the first list in her hand. ‘Vespasian,’ she said disappointedly, ‘so the Emperor didn’t demand Sejanus’ death.’
‘No, domina, only his imprisonment.’
‘I had a hunch that he wouldn’t have the balls for it. He’s still worried that Sejanus’ supporters would resist a call for his execution and maybe even encourage him into open rebellion.’
‘They were all shouting abuse at him by the end, domina.’
‘Good, because I intend to use his supporters to encourage the Senate to do what Tiberius won’t. It was for this eventuality that I had these lists drawn up. Give me that, Caenis.’
Caenis handed Antonia the second list; she scanned it quickly and compared it to the first. ‘Ah, the ex-Consul Aulus Plautius is our man, last to show himself but then first out; he’ll not be wanting that to come to the attention of the Emperor. I’ll write to him immediately and in exchange for my silence on the subject I’m sure he’ll be only too pleased to request the Consuls to hold another meeting of the Senate this afternoon, at which he will lead the calls for Sejanus’ execution, supported by the others of that faction whom he can persuade to see sense.’
Vespasian shook his head in astonishment. ‘Of course, force Sejanus’ own supporters to call for his death; that is genius, domina,’ he said admiringly.
‘No, Vespasian, that’s politics. There will be no risk of a rebellion if he is condemned by the very people who had hoped to gain from him. Now go to the Forum and wait to see whether I’m successful or not; you may still have work to do before the day is done. Come, Caenis, we’re going to be busy, I also need to send a message to Macro.’
The Forum Romanum was heaving with people of every class, all thoughts of work or business having been put aside for the day as the citizens of Rome followed events and speculated as to what the final outcome would be. Rumour and counter-rumour circulated freely, from the reasonable (Sejanus would be banished or Sejanus would be released) to the outlandish (Tiberius was on the point of death or abdication and the Republic would be restored or Tiberius was returning to Rome to execute Sejanus himself), all of which held sway in different parts of the crowd.
Vespasian managed to push his way through to the Senate House where he found Paetus and a group of senators in conversation with the two Consuls on the steps.
‘I have left a guard of Vigiles around the Tullianum, Consul,’ Paetus was saying. ‘What are your orders?’
‘We will keep him there until we are better able to discern the Emperor’s wishes,’ Regulus replied with uncertainty in his voice.
‘We already know his wishes,’ his junior colleague Trio snapped. ‘The question is how long will the Praetorian Guard stand for it? If they come marching into the city to release him, I for one will not stand in their way; in fact I will lead them to the Tullianum and unlock the cell myself.’
‘Then you will be going against the Senate and People of Rome,’ Regulus shouted back.
‘The Senate and People of Rome be buggered; the power lies with the Praetorians and whoever commands their loyalty. I intend to be on their side rather than lying dead on the Gemonium Stairs,’ Trio replied, pointing at the steep steps that led from the Forum up to the summit of the Capitoline Hill.
‘But you were a part of the meeting that condemned him,’ Regulus said, shocked, ‘how can you in honour go back on that decision?’
‘I may have been a part of the meeting but I didn’t vote, only one man voted, Senior Consul, and you chose him because you, like every other senator, knew him to be a supporter of Sejanus’ greatest enemy, the Lady Antonia. That has left the rest of us free to keep our opinions to ourselves until such time as we see fit to express them.’
There was a murmur of agreement amongst some of the surrounding senators.
Regulus was outraged at being so outmanoeuvred. ‘But it was your idea, which I went along with in the spirit of reconciliation, so as not to force men into voting against someone whom they had previously supported.’
Trio smiled thinly and shrugged.
Vespasian could see that the concord of the morning was starting to fracture; people were reassessing their positions as it dawned on them that the matter was far from resolved and that Trio had indeed left them room for manoeuvre.
Gaius came puffing up the steps towards the group; his usually carefully tonged hair lay flat on his head, lank with sweat.
‘Consul Regulus,’ he said, trying to regain his breath, ‘may I have a word with you in private?’
‘Very well.’ Regulus stepped away from the group, with obvious relief, to join Gaius.
The senators split up into smaller clusters, muttering.
Paetus came over to Vespasian. ‘It’s all becoming a bit tricky, old chap. A bit of a mess, I should say,’ he observed, beaming as if he was quite enjoying the situation.
‘I think that the Lady Antonia has just forced the issue,’ Vespasian replied, noticing a large group of senators cutting their way through the crowd and heading towards the Senate House.
Regulus broke off his conversation with Gaius, nodding his agreement at whatever he had been told, as Aulus Plautius led thirty or so of Sejanus’ supporters to the bottom of the steps.
Plautius pulled back his broad, muscular shoulders and raised his head; the veins on his thick neck bulged blue. ‘Consuls Regulus and Trio,’ he called in his loudest voice so that the crowd of citizens all around him heard and quietened. The silence spread throughout the Forum as people became aware that the next move in the day’s events was under way. Plautius waited until the hush was complete. ‘I demand a full meeting of the Senate immediately, to address the unsatisfactory situation that we find ourselves in.’
‘And I second that,’ Trio immediately shouted triumphantly, ‘unless you would prefer to do so yourself, Senior Consul? The day has already been declared auspicious for senatorial business, so you can’t get out of it that way.’
Regulus looked to the sky and pointed at a skein of honking geese flying in a V formation, northwest, over the Temple of Concordia at the foot of the Capitoline Hill. ‘I declare that to be a sign from the gods,’ he shouted.
‘You can’t refuse a meeting because of a flight of birds,’ Trio responded angrily.
‘I could quite easily, there are many precedents for me to do so, but I take it as a positive sign: the saviours of Rome, who, whilst the dogs stayed sleeping, woke the defenders of the Capitoline Hill when the Gauls were scaling it at night, have shown us that the Senate should meet in the Temple of Concordia, the goddess of Harmony. Summon the Senate; there, in Concordia’s sacred precinct, we shall resolve this matter.’
The crowd roared their approval of this patriotic reading of bird flight and parted to make way for the twenty-four lictors, who preceded the two Consuls to the Temple of Concordia.