Rolling drums replaced the sound of the water organ and the governor turned to his wife. ‘What do you think, shall I let him live?’
Abelia scoffed. ‘What for? He’s so ugly with that squat body, and he didn’t put up much of a fight.’
Livianus laughed. ‘No doubt you’d have let the Thracian live just for looks alone. Very well then …’
I couldn’t bear it. They were laughing and joking about this. ‘Please, my lord, let him live. He tried his best.’
Livianus looked at me in bafflement. ‘What’s this, Cassius? A soft heart? I thought you were made of sterner stuff.’
‘There’s no shame in being beaten by someone better. The Thracian was just too good,’ I pleaded.
Abelia gave a sniff of disdain, and the crowd screamed their own verdict, which appeared to be quite mixed. The governor gave me a thoughtful look. ‘Very well, I’ll let you have this one indulgence. But only because you’re my guest. Don’t think I’ll let you have another. The crowd will need to see their share of blood this day, whether you like it or not.’
I swallowed hard. ‘Thank you, my lord.’
Abelia crossed her arms. ‘You’re so boring!’
The governor raised his hand with his thumb pointing outwards, the symbol for the gladiator to live. Some in the crowd whistled with derision, and I knew that would be the last favour the governor would grant me. This day was too important to him to allow me to spoil it with my lenient nature. I watched the hoplomachus being dragged off, and Aulus whispered in my ear, ‘That was well done, Cassius.’
The next two fighters came out. One was a retiarius with net and trident, whilst the other was a murmillo dressed in armour decorated to look like a fish. My heart sunk when I saw the murmillo’s helmet – it only had two small eyeholes to obscure the wearer’s vision – no doubt to even the contest and also to entertain the crowd. I’d heard about this new fashion in Rome but didn’t think it had passed out this far in the Roman world. No doubt Livianus wanted to keep up with all the latest trends from the capital.
I decided I couldn’t watch this. ‘Would you mind if I checked on Marcus, my lord?’
Livianus looked at me in irritation. ‘What by the gods for?’
‘Just to check on security,’ I lied, looking at Marcus standing at the back of the box with an impassive face.
‘He’s seems capable enough. I’m sure he can manage,’ the governor protested.
Surprisingly, it was Abelia who came to my aid. ‘Oh, let him go, Ursus. He spoils all the fun anyway.’
The Governor relented. ‘Oh, very well. Go speak to your friend. But remember, he’s my guard on this day, not yours.’
The governor and his wife turned their attention back to the arena as the gladiators made their oaths. I got up and walked to the back, where Marcus greeted me. ‘Anything the matter, Cassius? Aren’t you enjoying the games?’
I grunted. ‘The chariot racing was alright, but in truth I’ve never been one for the games.’
Marcus smiled. ‘True, it’s only a pale reflection of real combat. I was telling the governor this morning that any gladiator would be hard pushed to put on the sort of show you and Aleixo managed on that hilltop. Many people would have paid to see that confrontation.’
I frowned. ‘I thought you were angry with me about that?’
Marcus grinned. ‘I was furious at the time, but proud as well. Aleixo was some warrior.’
I turned to look back at the circus sands, where the retiarius and the murmillo were now fully engaged. I reverted to Marcus. ‘He certainly was that. What do you make of the governor?’
Marcus shrugged. ‘He’s been very polite and accommodating. All the Praetorians are stationed around this box in plain view, but in truth I’m not expecting any trouble. The men are used to this type of work. It’s what they spend their lives doing in Rome.’
‘And the gold is safe?’ I hoped that Livianus’ request to borrow my Praetorians hadn’t been a convoluted plot to steal Germanicus’ gold. He’d tried before, so I knew he wasn’t above skulduggery, and it sat in our guards’ barracks protected only by Flavus and two guards.
‘It was there when I left them this morning. I’ve seen no sign that Livianus or his man Marianus wish to steal it, but I can’t know for sure.’
‘Well, if it comes down to it, I’ll just let him take it. My father can reimburse Germanicus if necessary.’
Marcus’ scoffed. ‘I think even your father might baulk at the cost of that. Even his deep reserves of gold would be tested by that amount.’
I nodded. ‘Yes, but he’d do it, if only to save face in front of the Senate.’
Marcus gave a rueful grin. ‘Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.’
There was a great cheer from the crowd, which I took to mean that either the retiarius or the murmillo had won, this time with a decisive strike rather than by submission. I sighed. ‘I’d better get back to the governor. He’ll think something is amiss if I hide back here throughout the show.’
Marcus nodded. ‘I’ll see you afterwards. Not long now.’
I walked back down the steps to the front of the box, and I saw the murmillo being dragged off the stadium sands by his ankles. Aulus was still watching with the governor and his wife, but his complexion now had a slightly green tinge.
‘Did I miss much?’ I asked the three of them.
Abelia clapped her hands. ‘The retiarius managed to stick his opponent with his trident!’
‘Oh, what fun,’ I said with as genuine a voice as I could muster. ‘It’s getting late in the day. Surely it’s time for the climax to the chariot racing?’
Aulus muttered, ‘I was thinking the very same thing.’
Livianus beamed a smile, basking in the applause of the crowd. ‘No, no. Just one last fight, then the chariots will return.’
I groaned inwardly but took my seat again, arranging my purple-striped toga on the comfortable cushioned seat. The next fight turned out to be two fist fighters, both wearing caestūs, the vicious boxing gloves with spikes on the knuckles. Both men were giants, with large rippling muscles and bodies covered in scars from previous bouts. The fight was brutal and bloody, but mercifully short. A blow to the temple ended the fight, and the loser’s right eye, before he too was dragged off the sands by his ankles.
I noticed that Aulus had kept his eyes closed throughout. The governor and his wife were so taken up in the contest that they hadn’t noticed. I smiled. Aulus really did have a gentle heart.
Abelia’s pretty face frowned. ‘Surely we have time for one more fight, Ursus?’
Livianus turned to his wife and stroked her angelic face. ‘I’m afraid not. It’s time for the quadrigae. You’ll enjoy this race. Plenty of thrills and spills in four-horse chariot racing.’
Aulus opened his eyes and rejoined us. ‘Ah, at last!’
I gave a wry smile. ‘I thought that might cheer you up.’
He nodded and clapped his hands. ‘Oh yes! I’m torn between whom to support. I have always been a lifelong White supporter, and Innocentius is from that racing house, not to mention a personal favourite of mine. But Skorpa is, well, Skorpa. The greatest of his generation. It would be something to see him win again.’
I was equally pleased the gladiatorial contests were over. ‘Well, I’m going to support one of the local riders. The one racing for the Blues. I’m sticking to my house colours.’
Livianus chuckled. ‘Skorpa will win it, you’ll see.’
The four chariots came out and made a parade lap around the stadium. Only the Reds weren’t represented, as Skorpa wasn’t racing under any colours at all.
Livianus raised the brightly coloured cloth, holding it there to raise the anticipation and excitement of the audience. The gladiatorial contests had whetted their appetites, but this was the real contest that most had come to see. When the cloth was dropped, a great shout went up from the crowd, and the chariots sped away around the circuit.
I may have only suppo
rted the Blue chariot out of habit from my affiliation to the team in Rome. But I was soon shouting along with the others, urging it to go faster. Skorpa and the Blue were racing behind Innocentius, who held a clear advantage, whilst the Green lagged behind. Skorpa and Blue whipped their horses closer to the champion Roman charioteer, and I thought my rider might win through. However, just as he pulled close, Innocentius steered his chariot across the path of the Blue. This forced the Blue’s horses to gallop too close to the central spina. The crowd erupted in cheers as one of my Blue chariot’s wheels hit a part of the marble central plinth. Instantly, the light chariot spun in the air, shattering into pieces, and its four horses tumbled to the earth in a jumble of legs and horses’ screams. I winced and turned from the carnage, but Aulus pointed and shouted, ‘Look! Skorpa is taking his chance!’
I turned back to the race and saw that Innocentius had raced wide to avoid the collision, and Skorpa had taken the lead. He spurred forward, wildly whipping his four horses to take advantage of his opponent’s mistake. Skorpa kept the lead until the sixth lap, but Innocentius hadn’t won the race at the festival of Consualia without learning a few tricks. He caught up with Skorpa but bided his time and waited until they were about to lap the now exhausted and slower Green quadriga. As Skorpa raced past on the outside, Innocentius darted inside, taking the faster – but also far more dangerous – racing line. Skorpa spotted it and whipped his horses faster, determined not to let Innocentius take the next bend first. They raced level along the strait, using their whips on one another as much as on their horses, who were galloping at full pelt. They turned around the bend together and Skorpa tried to push his opponent into the central plinth. Innocentius held his line and went into the final lap with a slight lead. At the final corner, Skorpa risked all with a suicidal line around the tight bend. At the Circus Maximus he might have made it, but the smaller stadium here gave less room around the bends. Innocentius drove his chariot close to the Roman legend and Skorpa’s chariot crashed into his opponent. They both careered out of control but their momentum took them both over the line in front of our imperial box, almost side by side, their horses screaming in protest.
‘Skorpa wins it just on the line!’ shouted Aulus in excitement, before we all gasped in shock.
Skorpa’s chariot might have raced past our box first, but he was completely out of control, and his quadrigae team slammed into the wall close to the crowd, shattering his chariot and sending part of it into the seating area. There were screams from those in the crowd hit by debris, and we saw Skorpa lying on the ground motionless.
I said with a hoarse voice. ‘Someone send help to him!’
Two slaves, the burly men who were used to drag off unconscious or dead gladiators, raced out to tend to the legendary chariot rider. They bent down by his side, before one turned to our box and shook his head. Skorpa was dead.
Aulus grabbed my wrist, face white with shock, and whispered, ‘No, please. Not Skorpa.’
Livianus asked Marcus to send one of the guards to confirm this, but even before he returned it was clear the great champion had left us. The crowd murmured in stunned disbelief at the death of the Roman legend, and Aulus openly wept. Abelia looked shocked, possibly realising for the first time that this wasn’t all a big game after all.
However, I saw a glint in the eye of the governor, as he chuckled to himself, ‘Who will be able to forget the games of Livianus now?’
I looked at him in disbelief, not believing he could be so callous, but I held my tongue, not daring to voice my thoughts.
Aulus couldn’t contain himself. He was beside himself with grief, and said to the governor, ‘Skorpa was an inspiration to men of all classes, both high and low. His fame carried throughout the Roman world. You do him a great disservice.’
Livianus turned to my brother-in-law angrily. ‘Death comes to us all. Did I cause his death? No, he brought it on himself, winning a race he had no right to win.’ He gave a sniff. ‘Besides, I don’t believe retirement suited him. I couldn’t have given him a greater send-off.’
I couldn’t fault the governor’s logic, but he needn’t have been quite so ruthless in applying it. I rubbed Aulus on the back as the last of the wreckage from the broken chariots was removed from the stadium and the body of Skorpa carried away. ‘The governor does have a point. He died doing what he loved most.’
Aulus looked too hurt and full of grief to respond.
I turned to the governor. ‘Would you mind if I took Aulus back to our rooms? The games must be all but over now the last race is run, and he looks very upset.’
Livianus looked taken aback, and gave a short laugh. ‘Oh no, you can’t leave now. You need to see the game’s finale. You wouldn’t want to miss that.’
I was surprised. ‘I thought the race of the quadrigae was the finale?’
Livianus smiled and looked down at his circus. ‘No, no, not at all. My final send-off was supposed to be the hunting of the monoceros. But alas, events transpired against me on that score.’
He wasn’t going to bring up that damn animal again? I forced a smile. ‘Such a shame. That would have been a truly fitting ending to such a great games.’
Livianus turned round to me and said. ‘Oh don’t worry, what I’ve come up with instead should be just as entertaining. I think you’ll like this one.’
The governor waved his hand, and the trumpets pealed once more. The crowd erupted in cheers as they realised that the show wasn’t yet at an end. Livianus stood and bowed his head in acknowledgement of the crowd, before sitting down as the gates to the stadium once again opened.
I was expecting some sort of animal to come running out, but instead, several slaves were forced out by Marianus’ palace guard at spear point. There were around eight of them, all young men wearing brown sacking. I looked at the governor, confused. ‘What game is this?’
The governor gave a wave of indifference. ‘Not a game, Cassius. The executions. Convicted criminals all. Let’s see if they can offer us any sport before they depart this life.’
I saw from a distance that the men filing out all carried a short falcata and a small round caetra shield. ‘But with no armour, and more importantly with no special training, what spectacle can you expect from them?’
Livianus gave me a calculating look. ‘I wouldn’t say no training at all. These men have been specifically chosen from the many who transgress our laws over the past year. Marianus thinks they’ll put up a decent fight. Besides, you’ll be surprised what desperate men can do.’
Aulus grabbed my wrist again and brought my attention back to the stadium. He said urgently, ‘Cassius, Flavus is amongst them.’
I stood in shock, leaning over the balustrade to confirm the truth of his words. My stomach lurched when I saw him. Huddled in the mass of young men was the brother of Julius Arminius, my former best friend and childhood companion. Alongside him were the two men we’d left guarding him, both sporting bruises and cuts as if they’d been in a struggle.
They came out to the centre of the circus, unsure of what they were doing there. I spun round at Livianus. ‘What treachery is this? Those are my men!’ I pointed at Flavus. ‘That man is under my protection!’
Livianus’ eyebrows rose. ‘Under your protection, is he? Is that why you left him skulking in your barracks?’
We’d left him with two guards in order to look after the gold. Is that what this was about? ‘Look, Livianus, if you want the coins that much, just take them. Take the damn gold. Just leave my men in peace.’
Livianus turned to me in anger. ‘If all I wanted was your gold, I would have taken it, don’t worry about that.’
Marcus came down the steps of the imperial box at a bound. ‘What’s going on? I can see my men in that group. Is this some kind of mistake?’
Livianus gave a slow smile. ‘Oh, it’s no mistake. They are just where I want them.’
I swallowed hard, anxiety replacing my anger. ‘What’s this all about, Livianus?’
Marianus stood up behind the governor and rested his hand on the hilt of his gladius. Abelia looked both surprised and terrified by the change in tone of her husband and scurried to hide behind the palace guardsman’s back.
Livianus continued, ‘Who could they be wanting to keep hidden from me, I thought? Clearly a soldier, but he must be someone of importance for you to come all the way from Rome to pick him up? Who could it be? I wracked my brain, but I couldn’t think why a quaestor would need to come all the way to Spain to pick up a man from the lower ranks.’
I blustered and tried to make an excuse. ‘It is just an internal disciplinary matter, nothing to concern—’
Livianus scowled. ‘Don’t take me for a fool, young Cassius. I know your game now.’ He folded his hands together on his lap. ‘I remembered a letter that was sent to me last spring. I only recalled it because it was such an unusual request. A soldier had written to me in person, requesting to join my palace guard.’ He looked up at the head of his guard. ‘Do you have it?’
Marianus handed him a wax tablet, and my heart sunk.
Livianus unfolded the tablet and said to me, ‘And do you know who it is signed by? It came as quite a shock when I read it again. It is signed by a man called Flavus Arminius.’
Chapter Thirty-eight
I stood there speechless. This had all been a charade, this whole day one long farce as this evil bastard played with us. I needed to put my hand on the balustrade to steady myself. ‘You’ve had this planned from the start?’
Livianus threw the wax tablet at me, which Aulus caught. The governor sneered. ‘Naturally. Did you really think you could deceive me, Cassius? The brother of Rome’s greatest enemy, here in my province, and you kept it secret from me?’
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