‘And that does not convince you?’
I shook my head. ‘Someone contrived to steal his ring, or make a counterfeit.’
Another uncomfortable silence fell.
I felt I had to fill it. ‘If the thieves had been content to simply steal the goods, or even sell the servants in the slave-market, I might have been persuaded that my patron ordered it — though I would have expected to have heard something of his plans myself, from Julia, at least. But murdering the household? And contriving to have the land-slaves quartered somewhere else meanwhile, then keeping them busy collecting useless wood? Why go to all that trouble, if not to ensure there were no witnesses?’
He nodded. ‘You are quite right, of course. Marcus would never have countenanced the slaughter of his slaves. He was very proud of how well they’d all been trained and how valuable they had become as a result.’ There was not a vestige of irony in his words. ‘He wouldn’t have ordered their destruction, he’d have had them sold. So I fear that your suspicions are correct. But I’m afraid I cannot help you very much.’ He went back to his desk and sat down on the stool, making a little pyramid of his fingertips. ‘Citizen Libertus, I will not mince words with you. I was prepared to see you because I thought that you might know where Marcus was by now, and whether he was staying somewhere with a trusted friend — in which case I would have sent a courier with your message willingly. I wanted to send him a warning letter of my own.’
‘A warning, commandant? You mean you knew some trouble was afoot? Perhaps you know who did this — or could make a guess? All the more reason, surely, to send a messenger — even if it only reaches him in Rome.’
He shook his head all the more emphatically. ‘What happened at the villa is no part of it. I can see that it has disturbed you very much, and another day, perhaps, I would have felt the same. But frankly, citizen, I have no time to deal with such minor incidents today.’
‘Minor?’ The protest escaped me before I could resist.
‘Forgive me, Citizen Libertus.’ He ran his hand through his thinning hair again. ‘Minor in comparison — that is all I meant.’ He raised one eyebrow at me. ‘I know that you are greatly in your patron’s confidence. I imagine that he told you why he went to Rome?’
I shrugged. ‘He thought the Emperor needed his advice. Said Pertinax was far too honest to succeed. That he would cut out the excesses of the previous Emperor and he wouldn’t try to bribe the Praetorian Guard.’
‘That is exactly what he said to me. And it turns out he was right. So if you have any care for him at all, you will not repeat what you’ve just told me, outside of this room. Marcus will have enemies enough under the new regime. It must not be thought that he was party to the plot.’
‘Plot!’ I cried out in astonishment. ‘The new regime?’ The Roman must have seen the dawning horror on my face. ‘Something has happened to the Emperor Pertinax?’
‘Pertinax is no longer Emperor. We received a messenger from Rome first thing today — there have been horsemen riding day and night across the Empire with the news.’ Suddenly the neutral tone had disappeared. There was a bitter anger in his voice and I almost thought it trembled as he spoke.
‘He’s been deposed? Imprisoned? Exiled?’
‘He’s been assassinated — by that same Praetorian Guard, and for the very reasons that your patron had foreseen. They were his personal protection and they turned on him. It’s the story of Galba all over again — only worse, if anything.’
I had only the vaguest notion of Roman history from a century before, but I knew what they said of Galba — ‘one of the finest Emperors of Rome, if he had never ruled’. And I knew about his fate. ‘You mean that both Galba and Pertinax were assassinated for the same thing: refusing to pay the guard the excessive bonus that their predecessors had done?’
A nod. ‘Apparently Pertinax attempted to reason with the men. Insisted on going to face them and trying to explain that he really could not pay because there was not enough money in the treasury. Commodus had spent it all on luxury, he said. Typical of him to take a brave and rational approach. But reason did not help him, in the end. It almost did. He was beginning to persuade them, so our informant said. But not all the guards were swayed by argument. One man lost patience and threw a spear at him. Then all Dis broke loose. Pertinax fell wounded to the ground and, at that, all the other guards surged up and stabbed at him as well. And these are the chosen men who take an oath that they’ll defend the Emperor until their dying breath! What has become of the old Roman values, citizen? Duty, bravery, honour and rational debate?’
I shook my head. ‘I can’t believe it.’ I couldn’t. It was scarcely three moons since Pertinax was hailed as Emperor by all the populace around the Roman world. More than hailed — joyfully acclaimed. Celebrations everywhere had lasted half a moon, and there were grateful sacrifices to the gods because we had an honest Emperor at last, and the corrupt and cruel Commodus had been overturned. ‘The entire Empire had such hopes of him!’ I said. ‘And now …?’
‘So swiftly passes the glory of the world — as the old adage says.’ The commander spread his hands in a gesture of despair. ‘I could not believe it, either. In fact when the first intelligence arrived, I refused to send on the messenger to the Iscan settlements till the news was confirmed by someone I could personally trust. But now it has been — several times — and more disturbing details are emerging all the time. The last courier reports that when he left the Imperial capital, the soldiers had cut off Pertinax’s head and were carrying it in triumph around the city on a pole.’
I could hardly take it in. ‘So, who has been acclaimed as Emperor in his place? His son will not be old enough to take the purple yet. And I suppose they wouldn’t want his family anyway.’
‘That, citizen, is almost the worst news of all. It almost happened that his influence went on. Pertinax’s father-in-law looked likely to succeed — he was prepared to offer the praetorians what they were asking for — and that would at least have kept a semblance of propriety. He was the Chief Prefect, promoted to the post by Pertinax himself, and would have been the obvious successor. But while he was in the palace making his offer to the guard, another candidate announced himself outside the gates — shouting that he would pay a higher sum. The two of them began to make promises of gold — bigger and bigger promises — to the praetorians.’
‘All this in public — so that anyone could hear!’ I don’t know Rome, but Marcus has described the Imperial court to me and I could visualise the scene — even though I could scarcely credit it.
‘All this in public, citizen, as you rightly say. It seems that our rulers have no shame or dignity at all. In the end Didius Julianus made a bid that his rival could not match, and his succession has been ratified.’ He looked at me and for the first time I could see that he was close to tears. ‘They auctioned the Empire, citizen — and we who supported Pertinax have lost.’
FOURTEEN
The enormity of this was almost too dreadful to take in. The praetorians — the select Imperial Guard — openly selling the Empire to whoever agreed to pay them most! I found myself staring, speechless, at the commandant, as if Jove had struck me with one of his famous thunderbolts and I’d been turned to stone. I was so shocked that I could hardly think at all, but one clear realisation surfaced in my brain: I could abandon hope of getting help in dealing with Marcus’s affairs. Nothing else would matter to the commandant now.