Now three glinting spear points were hovering menacingly within inches of the senator's face. The smirking bravado had vanished.
Herodes raised the sword from the flagstones and waved it languidly in the direction of the Roman.
'We are done here, Senator Lucius Ceionius Commodus. You have exhausted your credit in this city,' the Athenian declared as the patrician stumbled painfully to his feet.
'You insult Rome, Greek!' Commodus declaimed as he gathered his toga around him. 'You will hear more of this! Make way for your betters, foreigners!' He prepared to flounce out of the shrine.
Herodes stretched his arm in the Senator's path across the door portal. Commodus was halted in mid-flight, the sword's point now waving close to his face, not Antinous's.
Herodes spoke quietly.
'This event tonight will be duly recorded by a magistrate of the City Watch, Senator, and its recording documents witnessed by those present. As a councilor of this city I will ensure the deposition remains secured in perpetuity. I will not take you into custody on this occasion; its embarrassments would disturb the tranquility of Caesar's pleasures at our Dionysia.
But be rest assured, Commodus, the charges will remain alive on file. I doubt you or your pleasant companions will be welcome to Athens at any future time because my father, the Prefect of the Free Ports of the East, will object to such troublemakers receiving passage. We are law abiding in this city. You are not welcome here. I suggest you depart Athens promptly and return to Italy, or else these charges will be enacted upon you within twenty-four hours. They will be to your eternal dishonor in the eyes of all Athenians, especially including Great Caesar.'
Commodus smirked thinly and swept grandly away with a pained stumble as he clutched at his back. He sneered at Antinous as he passed through the door into the night beyond.
Lysias was attending to Antinous's wound while the injured youth fumbled with adjusting his attire. Herodes closely inspected the sliver of red flesh across his cheek.
'The wound is superficial but it needs proper attention, Antinous,' Herodes observed. 'It pains me this should happen to you in such an exalted place. We will withdraw immediately to my villa nearby where my own physician can attend to the lesion. I will send a message to Caesar that you have been indisposed, and where to locate you later if he should desire.'
Antinous took his two friends by the forearms and looked into their eyes.
'Why has this happened, Herodes? What have I done to deserve such an attack? I don't even know this man Commodus!' Antinous implored. Herodes responded immediately.
'Welcome to imperial politics, Antinous of Bithynia. Your journey into its shadows has just begun.'
"So, Geta, you say Senator Commodus is a candidate for being a serious enemy to Antinous? You say he might even be involved in the death of the youth by some nefarious means?"
Clarus as usual was blunt.
Geta looked blankly to the four faces facing him as the river raced in a continuous rush in the background and morning insects buzzed around. The day's warmth expanded rapidly.
"At least, gentlemen, I can identify someone who might have reason to do Antinous harm. Have you achieved such yourselves?" Geta queried. Suetonius ignored the query.
"So, what transpired after the Bithynian had been assaulted?" he asked. "How did Hadrian respond?"
Geta was specific in his recollections.
"I will try to recall the events as I believe they occurred, gentlemen. I myself witnessed much of the action. It was a challenging situation. We who were close to Hadrian protected him from the reality of his former paramour's waspish nature. Antinous too had resolved to avoid blame or retribution, which tells us something about the lad's nature and generosity of spirit."
Geta sipped his wine thoughtfully and returned to his testimony.
"Who did this thing, Antinous?' Caesar asked with concern. 'Did Herodes kill him where he stood?'
Hadrian had lifted the dressing attached to the Bithynian's cheek and peered at the wound beneath.
'No. They were merely drunken ruffians,' Antinous said. 'They were in high-spirits at the festival, I suppose,' he explained.
'How many were they?' Caesar continued.
'There were three of them, my lord, masked for the festival.'
'Where? In my enclosure, or in a public space? Did these assailants offend my hospitality?' the emperor garbed in the Tyrian purple tunic asked threateningly. He was still crowned with a corona of woven grape vines. He fumbled at the fibula on his shoulder to release the cloak and drop it to the floor, and tossed the corona like a child's quoit onto a chair's upright.
One of the two Horse Guards accompanying him performed the unmilitary duty of collecting the fallen robe and laid it over a chair while a household servant scurried to offer assistance.
'It was public space. I was scouting the Acropolis plateau by myself. I've never seen such a beautiful space before in my life. It is remarkable, Caesar. I'd been making my obeisance to Athena Parthenos in her cella of the Parthenon. I then spied the Temple of Rome and Augustus a little further on. The three attacked me within the Temple's sanctuary,' Antinous explained.
'At a temple to all things Roman, including my own ancestors! So Herodes had been wisely following behind you, had he? I'd obliged him earlier to watch over you two neophytes. The Dionysia has been known to get out of hand in this city. So, did he arrest the hooligans?'
'No, sir.'
'Herodes has the authority of the City Watch at his command, he can prosecute uncivil behavior and inflict immediate punishment by his own judgment,' Caesar continued. 'For their insult to someone under my protection I'll demand the ultimate penalty. But how did the ruffians manage to damage you as they have? Was this an intentional mutilation?'
'My lord, it was foolish of me to wander unaccompanied on such an occasion,' the young man tried to remonstrate. 'I'll know better in future. I'm lucky they didn't do me greater damage, really.'
Antinous had been resting upon a couch after the revel in Herodes' villa's andron. Herodes had delivered the two Bithynians to his villa a few blocks from their own house at Melite, and a similar distance from the palatial villa of the Imperial Household of Caesar himself.
Herodes had summoned his family's personal physician, a highly regarded Judaean trained at Pergamum, who had carefully cleansed and anointed Antinous's wound with special unguents, and applied a clean dressing adhered with purified mastic. He said the wound was not deep enough to require stitches, much to everyone's relief. In addition to the risk of corruption, which even simple wounds can induce, stitches would have left a permanent scar across his face.
After ensuring Antinous was comfortable, and after sharing wine, Herodes had asked Antinous if he objected to Lysias staying overnight with him at the villa. Lysias would sleep in the men's quarters with Herodes, and Antinous could bunk down on a couch in the andron, the villa's meeting chamber.
Antinous had no problem with the arrangement, especially as Lysias was obviously agog with his unexpected opportunity. Herodes had thought of everything.
'I've sent a messenger to Hadrian's chamberlain and the Dacian, Geta, telling them where you can be found. I mentioned your misadventure, though I haven't mentioned who the offender was. I think tonight you should sleep here and not risk the drunkards or desperates of Athens,' Herodes counseled. 'I'm sure Caesar will send for you when your presence is required. Meanwhile, Lysias and I will retire to our own pleasures, hopefully with his friend's blessing?'
Lysias looked towards Antinous in a faintly pained, querulous way, as eager hounds do when seeking a favor. The carnal intentions of the couple were obvious, yet Lysias seemed compelled to seek some tacit acknowledgement from his friend that this was acceptable behavior. Antinous simply nodded with an amused smile. He thought maybe, at last, Lysias would be properly deflowered or achieve whatever else was his body's desire.