"I assume she's a master poisoner too?" Clarus added. "In what way does the Egyptian magician or this Roman priestess reflect upon the death of the Bithynian, Dacian?"
Geta thought carefully before responding.
"It's to do with Caesar's condition. Many are worried at it. It's his cough."
"His cough? We have been told it is not improving?"
"Worse, it grows. I have seen days when Caesar coughs up light sprays of blood. He complains his chest is on fire. His features become ruddy and inflamed. He lies down for long periods to alleviate its severity. The physicians are reluctant to treat him. They sense the matter is serious and do not wish to be attached to so exalted a medical failure. We are not to discuss it in public. It impinges on issues of the State, and that's forbidden," Geta murmured as the group subsided into thoughtfulness..
"How do this priest or the priestess fit into this matter?" Suetonius asked.
"Well, if Pachrates and his like can bring beheaded criminals back to life and rejoin them into a single piece again, perhaps this priest of Amun can cure an emperor's cough?"
"Oh," the biographer returned, "you mean Priest Pachrates should perform his magic upon Caesar? Cure his coughing sickness?"
"Of course. At least that's what some people have been asking," Geta surmised, "especially Antinous some weeks ago at Memphis. However I've observed how Pachrates can talk up many things, but he carefully talks down his skill with cures. He always seemed to have a good reason for avoiding the subject in Caesar's and Antinous's company — even when the boy put it plainly to him recently.
Antinous wears an Abrasax jewel on his finger. It was a special gift from Hadrian. Abrasax is a deity of infinity and eternal life, they say, capable of great magic. Antinous wanted Pachrates to use the ring, which was said to belong to Basileus Alexandros long ago, to restore Hadrian to full health.
Pachrates claimed he only knew the magic of Amun, not of other gods. He doesn't know the magic of Abrasax. So he slipped out from under again."
Suetonius filed the matter of the Abrasax ring to his mental notes. Where was the ring? It was not seen upon the cadaver in Caesar's sleeping quarters, and nor was it upon the corpse on the embalmer's table. Where was the blue jewel? Had it been stolen?
"So why should we explore this avenue of investigation, Geta?" Suetonius asked.
"Because Pachrates knows something he's not telling us. I don't know what it is, but I wouldn't be surprised if it didn't have something to do with Antinous's death. That's all," the Dacian rounded off. "But I must leave you now and rejoin Caesar."
He finalized his interview with the authority of someone with far more important issues to address.
"No, Dacian, you may not!" Clarus intoned with his magistrate's authority. "We have other matters to discuss with you. You claim the Western Favorite is an enemy of the dead youth?"
"Yes," Geta murmured quietly, "but you must tread with care on the matter."
"Why? What has transpired between them which makes them enemies? Speak plainly to us. We want to know."
The Dacian rested impatiently back onto the table's edge and glanced furtively between Surisca and his interrogators. He was not happy at this turn of events.
"It is a nettlesome story, gentlemen. It occurred four years ago when the Household was passing through Athens. It was after a long tour of the Empire. Antinous had been introduced to Caesar briefly at Bithynia, where they found each other's company highly agreeable. Antinous and his chum Lysias, accompanied by their Latin instructor Thais of Cyrene, traveled to Achaea to complete their education at Athens.
As usual I was travelling with Caesar's Household, so I was a witness to the events which transpired, or heard of them from others. Later I heard greater detail from Antinous or Lysias themselves over shared wine. I also garnered some private details from slaves who report to me. I follow such things closely on Caesar's behalf.
Athens was Caesar's priority destination for that tour. He had been appointed President of the spring festival of the Great Dionysia, events which bring Hadrian great satisfaction. Their arrival at Athens was to be a pleasure to both Caesar and the Bithynian, so the sojourn was highly anticipated by all, including me. It proved to be an important, if unexpected, conjunction of personalities.
Antinous and his party had sailed from Nicomedia accompanying a shipload of his family's commercial cargo. They travelled on Senator Arrian's huge sea-freighter The Bithynian. The seven day journey of island-hopping across the Aegean Sea had tested the youths' sea-worthiness. They later told me so over many jugs of wine. "
"Fine, but tell us how it involves the Western Favorite…" Suetonius interjected. "Is there something we should know for our investigation?"
CHAPTER 16
"As it was told to me by the two lads, on that sea journey's seventh day Arrian's freighter roiled past the temple-topped promontory of Cape Sunium south of Athens and slew across the Bay of Salamis towards the city. Antinous's party was sailing to Piraeus, Athens' major harbor. This approach reveals the distant metropolis as a strip of structures glistening brightly in the sunlight.
From the deck of their ship plowing through the Aegean chop it seemed to Antinous, Lysias, and Thais how their destination was the knobby line of white buildings lining the coastline. As The Bithynian drew closer, this mere sliver transformed into a spectacle of high-pillared temples and shrines in stone and marble, lofty castellated defensive towers, or meandering walls and courtyards, warehouses, private villas, and tenements. Our two provincials had never seen such a panoply of urban structures before. Athens is far larger than Nicomedia.
Equally impressive were the number of vessels and fishing craft thronging the city's two harbors. An occasional sturdy Roman war trireme braced the sea too, with their rows of oars sweeping in rhythmic unison attacking the waves. A hundred other vessels were anchored at the shore's moorings. All this was very new to them.
However, as The Bithynian's captain pointed out, the buildings they had been viewing were merely Athens' waterfront suburb of Piraeus. The metropolis itself was several miles inland from the port. Later, this then proved to be an even more spectacular vision. After a lifetime's ambition they were at last to arrive at the very heart of their Hellene world, the city of Athens.
Once berthed, they transferred their personal baggage to an oxen wagon and trundled inland to the great city awaiting them. It was the most exciting event of their lives, they said.
As they drew closer to its walls and gates, the city's presence proclaimed itself by impacting on their nostrils. As any large city is prone, the comforting odors of potter's kilns, baker's ovens, and a multitude of family hearths melded contrastingly with the fetid sweetness of sewer residues, tanner's or fuller's soaks, public latrines, plus the fragrance of the conical pines of Achaea. All joined to proclaim the city's human, animal, and industrial immensity. Perhaps a quarter of a million people live in this legendary city, they realized. Athens was truly a large metropolis.
To strangers, this ripeness of atmosphere is matched by a similarly earthy visual display. Garish effigies of the randy god Priapus adorn cottages and villas. His prodigiously erect phallus protects against the Evil Eye and threatens a likely rude fate for unwanted trespassers. Wittily obscene graffiti, crude insults, and lewd limericks litter all vacant wall spaces with droll texts, comic scenes, and bawdy pictures. Their jovial vulgarity offers few concessions to a polite sensibility. Athens conveys the impression, they realized, of being a city happily ruled by rampant sex in its many differing varieties or configurations. Each was more comical than the last, aiming to ward off malign spiritual influences while providing pleasing gaiety to the heart.