Bedrock of Empire

by Thomas M D Brooke

  She took me through one of the long colonnades of the palace at an unhurried leisurely pace. She turned to check I was following her, giving me a smile of encouragement. ‘Don’t worry, it’s not far,’ she told me.

  I smiled back and inclined my head slightly but otherwise kept my own counsel. I was too nervous to converse and was in no mood for small talk as we passed several marble busts of the illustrious Augustus’ family, seemingly looking at me in disapproval.

  We reached two Praetorian Guards standing rigidly to attention outside a doorway, which they opened for us on our approach. I swallowed hard and walked through to a covered veranda overlooking a small garden and fountain, where Livia reclined on a divan. Germanicus stood behind her, dressed in an immaculate white and purple toga, a perplexed smile on his face.

  I met them both with a brisk military salute and straight back. ‘Greetings, Livia, and to you Germanicus. I am sorry to disturb you. Thank you for seeing me at such short notice.’

  They gave each other a blank look before Germanicus turned back to me. ‘We hardly expected to see you again so soon. You only left us last night.’

  Livia gave one of her ambiguous smiles. ‘Did you forget to mention something? Or did you just want to show off your new suit of clothes? It looks very becoming on you, but really, nothing we haven’t seen before …’’

  I gave her a smile. ‘Apologies for the military attire, my lady. What I come to speak to you about is of the highest importance to me, and I wanted to show you my earnest intent.’

  ‘Yes, yes’ – she waved me to one of the divans in her small covered veranda – ‘you’re not the first man to try and make an impression with a smart uniform. Sit down before you give me a crook in my neck. It’s clear you want something.’

  Germanicus chuckled, and I gave a rueful smile as I settled myself on the divan. Germanicus did likewise, before asking, ‘Seriously, Cassius, what brings you back to the palace?’

  I put the helmet down by my side on a small table. ‘I was hoping I could offer you something – my services in fact.’

  Livia interrupted, ‘Hold a moment.’ She asked the young slave who’d accompanied me, ‘Do be a dear, Aigneis, please fetch us some fruit juices, the melon juice’ – and then back to me – ‘unless you’d prefer wine?’

  I shook my head. ‘Some fruit juice sounds perfectly pleasant.’

  The pretty young slave, Aigneis, gave a small bow and left.

  Livia turned her attention back to me, her eyes narrowing slightly. ‘Go on, you were saying?’

  I ran a hand through my hair. ‘I have two missions in mind. The first concerns the matter you discussed with Augustus last night, Germanicus.’ I looked at him, and he turned his head in interest. ‘The princeps said you couldn’t be spared from Rome to adjudicate in the court case in Spain, concerning the gold mines. He asked you to send someone else in your stead, and I was wondering if I could go on your behalf?’

  His eyes widened slightly, and he blew out his cheeks whilst letting out a breath.

  I continued to put forward my case. ‘I may not have as much experience as some men you could send, but I studied general law at the same school as you and have been working in the courts of Rome these last few weeks gathering an understanding of its procedures and processes.’

  Livia, as forthright as ever, asked, ‘What’s in it for you? Why do you want to adjudicate in this case?’

  I needed to be careful, give her something she would understand – like naked ambition. ‘Augustus said last night that I couldn’t serve as a magistrate in the Centumviral Court as I hadn’t had the experience in judicial service. This I hope will satisfy that requirement, or at least go some way to fulfilling it.’

  Livia smiled archly. ‘I like a man who is honest about what he wants. What do you think, Germanicus?’

  Germanicus gave a slight shake of his head. ‘I like the idea, but I’m not sure this is the case for you, Cassius. It is complicated and difficult – that’s why I was prepared to travel so far to judge it myself. It concerns two brothers, both of whom served with me in Dacia. Their father owned and ran some of the largest gold mines in Spain. However, on his death, instead of naming one of his sons as his heir, as anyone else would, he instead stipulated that the two of them should run the business in a partnership. They are both capable men, and at first the gold yields increased markedly, but unsurprisingly the question of who has the final say in its running has destroyed the burgeoning business and they are both contesting the will, claiming the inheritance for themselves.’

  Livia asked, ‘Shouldn’t it just go to the eldest?’

  Germanicus shrugged. ‘Only if he is the most capable of the two. We receive a large portion of the gold extracted from the mines in the form of tribute. It goes a long way in ensuring the imperial treasury is always kept full. We must protect our revenue from these gold mines. We can’t afford anything to disrupt this. It’s too vital.’

  Livia’s tone lowered. ‘And you don’t trust Cassius to make this decision?’

  Germanicus looked at me squarely. ‘It’s not that I don’t trust him. I have a feeling that this case might be fiendishly difficult to resolve amicably. So I thought I needed to send someone with a lot of experience in what to expect.’

  I held up my hand. ‘But, Germanicus, I don’t intend to travel there alone.’

  Germanicus gave a cool smile. ‘You have given this a lot of thought.’

  I smiled back, trying to exude an air of confidence. ‘I plan to take my brother-in-law with me to act as my legal advisor. No one in Rome knows more of the law than him. He has worked in the law courts for years and knows every trick, every subterfuge a claimant might try to throw at him.’

  Germanicus looked at me sharply. ‘Your brother-in-law Aulus? I know of him, and he does indeed have the requisite experience. But it didn’t help him yesterday, did it?’

  I locked my eyes with Germanicus. ‘You know full well that case was unwinnable. He was set up by you.’

  Germanicus laughed. ‘Too true, but it shows you what you might be up against. Don’t expect the Paulus brothers to act any more fairly.’

  I took my opening. ‘So you’ll let me take the case?’

  Germanicus looked at his grandmother. ‘I don’t think we can stand in his way. I certainly can’t imagine anyone more determined coming forward.’

  She smiled and looked at me. ‘Yes, I like the brazenness of him. My husband would appreciate that too.’

  Germanicus’ frown furrowed slightly. ‘Hold on, surely Aulus would expect something into this bargain. What’s his price?’

  I hadn’t even had the chance to ask him yet, but I knew the one thing that would persuade him to leave Rome. ‘You will need to offer him a chance to serve as a jurist for the Centumviral Court. As praetor you have the power to grant that, and there is no one more qualified to serve than Aulus.’

  Germanicus looked at me shrewdly. ‘If you both come out with a satisfactory resolution to this case, that’s a small price to pay. But this will be a test, Cassius. If you fail, he fails too. Just make sure he realises that before you leave for Spain.’

  I gave as confident a smile as I could manage. ‘If I thought I was going to fail, I’d have never asked in the first place.’

  Germanicus clapped his hands. ‘Great! That’s settled then.’ He looked ready to stand up.

  Livia held up her hand. ‘Hold on, Germanicus. I have a feeling that Cassius hasn’t finished yet.’ She turned to me, and she must have seen how uneasy I looked. ‘He said there were two missions he had in mind. Let’s hear the second. I have a feeling this one might be the one closest to his heart, and I think it may concern a certain brother of Julius Arminius.’

  My eyes popped. Damn Livia, she didn’t miss anything. ‘Yes, you’re right. I do have another reason to go to Spain, and it does concern his brother, Flavus.’

  Livia’s smile didn’t slip. ‘I already told you, we can deal with him ourselves.’

>   Livia’s young slave Aigneis reappeared with an amphora of freshly squeezed fruit juice that she poured into three goblets, passing one to me. I took a sip. It was slightly tart but wonderfully refreshing. I took a gulp to give me time to compose myself. ‘I realise that one centurion in faraway Spain may seem a trivial matter, but after the conversation we had last night, I started to think on it. If, like his brother, Flavus has turned traitor, maybe he has already been sowing seeds of discontent in Spain, just as his brother did in Germany?’

  Livia looked at Germanicus, who gave a shrug. She turned back to me. ‘Do you really think that’s likely? There’s a big difference between the two. Julius Arminius was set up as a king, a position we foolishly gave him. But his brother is nothing, just a centurion—’

  This time it was me who interrupted. ‘Just a centurion with a powerful name.’

  Germanicus said, ‘You think that makes a difference?’

  I shrugged. ‘I think it does. If he were to contact any existing groups of malcontents there, I think they would at least listen to what he has to say. After all, if you wanted to instigate a rebellion in a province, wouldn’t you want to draw inspiration from other nations that had done it successfully? What better way than via the brother of the man who’d started it.’

  Livia ran her finger round her goblet. ‘You make a good point, but Spain has been at peace for over thirty years. My husband broke their final resistance himself. I think a rebellion there unlikely.’

  I looked at her. ‘Would it hurt to make sure? Let me check that Flavus hasn’t already started something there that could end in disaster. I’ve already seen the death and destruction caused by an uprising. I have no wish to hear of another in my lifetime.’

  Livia’s eyes narrowed. ‘If we send you, would you be prepared to cut off this Hydra’s head?’

  I knew what she meant – would I kill Flavus? ‘My Lady Livia, I saw the brutal torture of the survivors of the Teutoburg. Men mutilated and then strung up alive on trees and left to die. I saw Roman civilians raped and murdered, Roman towns burned and countless comrades dead.’ I ground my teeth. ‘If Flavus were guilty of trying to do the same elsewhere in the empire, killing him would be the easy part. Keeping him alive would be the challenge.’

  The slave Aigneis gasped at my words and dropped her amphorae of fruits. She started to stumble an apology, but Livia’s voice was like a crack of a whip. ‘Leave us,’ she told the slave, before asking me calmly, ‘Why would you keep him alive?’

  I looked into her calculating eyes. ‘Think of the advantages of bringing back Flavus for trial here in Rome.’

  She sat up straighter, and her tone now turned thoughtful. ‘My husband could oversee the trial himself. Show that even if Julius Arminius has evaded justice so far, his own brother hasn’t. We could parade him through the streets of Rome before a ritual execution.’

  Germanicus coughed. ‘Erm, aren’t we forgetting something? What if Flavus is innocent? What if he knew nothing of his brother’s actions? I haven’t always agreed with what members of my family have done. Is he likely to be any different?’

  I reached over and put a hand on Germanicus’ shoulder. ‘I truly hope that is the case, Germanicus, because if that is true, so much the better.’

  Livia was less sure, ‘How?’ she asked.

  I explained. ‘Because last night your husband said he needed somebody to split the German coalition of tribes. If Flavus has stayed loyal, who better to achieve this? Flavus has the same blood, the same birthright as Julius Arminius. If he were to stay loyal to Rome, it would have the potential to divide his tribe. Flavus is an even bigger threat to Julius than he is to us.’

  Germanicus saw the potential, and he held his chin in thought. ‘He’s right, Livia. This could be what Augustus has been looking for. Think how bad this will look for Arminius, his own Cherusci brother staying loyal to Rome?’

  Livia gave a snort of derision. ‘Innocent? Really? How likely do you think that really is? His brother plans the greatest rebellion in the empire’s history and he knows nothing about it? Do we know if Julius Arminius was conversing with his brother via letter?’

  I answered for Germanicus. ‘Yes, they were. I remember Julius mentioning it before the betrayal.’

  ‘And were the two brothers close?’

  I said uneasily, ‘From what I remember, Flavus used to idolise his elder brother. Julius in turn used to be very protective over his sibling.’

  Livia gave a scowl. ‘So he must have told him at least some of his plans, if only to warn him what was about to transpire. Even if Flavus knew of what his brother was planning, and said nothing, he is complicit and guilty of treason.’

  I couldn’t argue with her logic. The same thought had occurred to me. He must have known something of what his brother planned.

  Germanicus agreed, and he inclined his head. ‘Yes, I think you’re right, Livia.’

  Livia nodded in confirmation. ‘However, Cassius, at the very least you’ve made your case. You’ve demonstrated that bringing Flavus back to Rome has benefits we can exploit. He is too important to be dealt with quietly, which I must admit was my first thought.’

  So there it was – dealing with him quietly would mean ordering his death or sending an assassin to kill him. It sent a shiver down my spine. ‘So I can go to Spain with your full endorsement?’

  Livia stood up and walked to the edge of her garden and put her arm around one of the columns to the veranda. ‘I think we need to send you with more than an endorsement, don’t you think, Germanicus?’

  Germanicus nodded. ‘At the very least a title.’

  Livia said, ‘We’ll promote you to quaestor, so you can go in an official capacity.’

  My heart skipped a beat. ‘That would be a huge honour – one I didn’t expect.’ A quaestor was a low-ranking magistrate that could be used for a variety of purposes. They often oversaw military finances or worked as personal assistants to powerful men, such as governors, collecting taxes or recruiting soldiers – or whatever else the governor couldn’t be bothered to do himself. However, in this capacity I think Livia expected me to take up the role that the title originally intended: to be a man who could ask questions.

  Germanicus held up one hand. ‘Hold on, only the Senate can elect a new quaestor.’

  Livia smiled at her grandson. ‘I think I can persuade my husband to agree to this. If he asks the Senate, they will sanction it.’

  I took a deep breath. This wasn’t a small elevation she was offering me. After I served as a quaestor, an appointment to the Senate would be automatic. ‘I can’t believe you’d go to this much trouble for me,’ I told her truthfully.

  Livia gave me a condescending smile. ‘Titles and appearances are important, Cassius. You will need to get the permission of Governor Livianus to carry out your mission. He is the governor to Tarraconensis, the most powerful and strategically important of the Spanish provinces. As my husband pointed out last night, he is a difficult man with a thin skin who takes insult at any perceived slight to his position. Sending anyone below the rank of quaestor would surely infuriate him. We’ll need to appoint you your own lictor too, so you can travel in an official capacity representing the authority of Rome. Germanicus can appoint you one.’

  Germanicus nodded.

  Livia took her chin in her hand as she thought. ‘And you will need your own personal guard. A century will do, take them from the Praetorians – can you arrange this, Germanicus? I do so tire in getting involved with the military.’

  Germanicus gave a chuckle. ‘Yes, I’ll take care of it, don’t worry. It will do some of the Praetorians good to get out in the field. They have it too easy in Rome.’

  My own personal guard? This was much more than anything I’d planned with Numeria. But I guess Livia and Germanicus knew more than me what was appropriate for a man representing the imperial family; this was all new ground to me. ‘I’ve never had my own corps of guards before. This might take some getting used to.
’

  Livia gave me a cool look. ‘Their use will only be ceremonial, just for appearances, but they should keep you safe also.’

  A thought occurred to me. ‘If I’m to have my own guard, can I bring someone to lead them? It will give me one less thing to worry about?’

  Germanicus shrugged. ‘They’ll be your personal guard. You can appoint anyone you like to command them. Who do you have in mind?’

  I took a sip of my fruit juice. ‘A young man who served with me in Germany. He has been itching for an overseas appointment, so why not?’

  Germanicus smiled. ‘Why not indeed. He can help you escort the special gift back for me.’

  I was confused. ‘What special gift?’

  Germanicus gave a bark of a laugh. ‘The monoceros, of course. You didn’t think I’d let you go all the way to Spain without bringing back my prize bull, did you? You’ll need to convince Livianus to hand him over to you – that might prove to be a difficult task. So I’ll make sure to supply you with such a large quantity of gold that even Livianus can’t turn it down.’

  I was gobsmacked. ‘The monoceros?’

  Germanicus gave a nonchalant shrug and a smile. ‘Sorry, part of the deal, I’m afraid. Between you and your guard, you’ll manage it.’

  Livia gave a slight chuckle. ‘Honestly, Germanicus, do you never miss an opportunity?’

  He smiled. ‘You taught me well, grandmother.’

  She certainly had, but I couldn’t protest now. I’d already been given far more than I could have ever expected. ‘I’ll find a way to have it shipped to Rome, even if looking after wild animals isn’t exactly my area of expertise.’

  Germanicus gave my shoulder a slap. ‘That’s the spirit. You’ll figure it out.’

  Livia put her empty goblet down on a table. ‘So, it’s all decided then.’ Her tone turned very serious. ‘We are putting a lot of trust in you, Cassius. Don’t let us down.’

  I gulped down the last of the fruit juice and quailed at the prospect of the responsibility I’d voluntarily taken on from this family. ‘I will need to leave almost immediately. It will be a long march to Spain.’