Other gossip says Caesar has gone into secret conference with the governor of Egypt, Flavius Titianus, and his most senior officers, on high matters of state. This is unusual considering Hadrian's delicate frame of mind only an evening ago, wouldn't you say? Something important is going on, and perhaps we shouldn't enquire too closely."
"Yet I have been precisely instructed by Caesar to explore closely," Suetonius stated.
The two courtiers fumbled for fresh tittle-tattle.
"There was another occasion which I think possesses interest. It occurred in Memphis only recently on our journey here," Phlegon offered wistfully. "We're supposed to keep it secret or confidential, but it's something you should add to your understanding, I think."
"Yes, what?"
"It's not very pretty, but it was certainly a wonder to behold. Hadrian and the Favorite have been impressed by the arts of the wizard Pachrates of Memphis, who holds to the Old Religion of this strange land.
After witnessing several sessions of his magic, healing, and trickery, we had been told he can bring a man back to life in certain circumstances, just as the ancient wonder-workers were reputed to do," the Carian recorder of marvels murmured in hushed tones. "So while the rest of the entourage were climbing the Pyramids or carving their names on the Sphinx and enjoying themselves, we were invited to attend a private ceremony at the huge Temple of Amun complex in the heart of the city of Memphis.
Unlike their small Temple here at Besa, the Memphis temple is a gigantic edifice. Caesar, Antinous, and a small party including the women Julia Balbilla with the priestess Anna Perenna, who both possess interest in things of mystery, with a detachment of Guards, attended a special demonstration of the priest's skills. It was a wonder to behold!
On a high scaffold platform dressed with layers of curtains in the courtyard, the priest Pachrates and his acolytes performed elegant liturgies and rites with much incense, burnt offerings, prayers, drumming, and chanting. It was all very impressive, if somewhat percussive, with flashes of igneous powders and clouds of colored smoke.
The attendants brought a nondescript fellow in ragged attire onto the stage who appeared to be entranced or drugged into abstraction. One of the temple guards read a pronouncement in Greek to we observers which said the fellow was a condemned criminal who had been made available by the authorities for this occasion.
The fellow seemed utterly untroubled by his involvement in the event, even when priestly attendants held him to his knees and forced his head to the sands on the scaffold floor. Another priest of beefy proportions wielding a razor-edged scimitar entered the stage while Pachrates made strange mystical gestures and chants of great profundity above the fellow. Pachrates waved to the sword-bearer and the priest flashed the scimitar to cleave the head from the victim in a single slice.
There was much blood flow and writhing amid shouts and cries of magical formulae. Cymbals crashed, drums beat, sistra rattled, and voices chorused noisily as the curtains of the stage were thrust together by the attendants. Pachrates stepped forward between the clouds of smoke to continue proclaiming his Egyptian incantations. Then after a few seconds when the drums and cymbals ceased their racket and Pachrates waved his priest's staff, the curtains were again dramatically drawn apart to reveal the beheaded fellow standing healthily upright and serenely intact. He was facing us with his eyes wide in surprise, almost as surprised as we the viewers.
Though his own gore was copiously evident on the sands beneath him, his body had been restored into a single piece and his tunic was miraculously clean of stains. He had tears in eyes, tears of joy I'm sure. Pachrates waved his priest's staff over the fellow and splashed holy waters to sanctify him in the elaborate Egyptian style.
Caesar, Antinous, Julia Balbilla, members of the Guard, but not the lady Anna Perenna I noticed, broke out into cheers of applause. Anna Perenna simply settled her eyes upon the Favorite to observe his reactions to the magic.
Pachrates was modest in accepting praise for this marvel. But he was visibly exhausted by his endeavors, as we could readily appreciate."
Suetonius turned to Clarus and Surisca in silent communication and raised one hairy eyebrow. All three plus Strabon remained meaningfully mute, while Surisca lowered her eyes demurely.
Phlegon and Aristobulus were mystified by this silent response.
"Assuredly, what I say is true," the astrologer declared.
CHAPTER 19
Senator Septicius Clarus, being self-evidently a member of the elite of Rome as proclaimed by his purple striped toga and elegantly dismissive manner, brushed aside the hesitant watch-guard and a vacillating steward with an imperious flick of the wrist. He led Suetonius, Strabon, and Surisca through the silken drapes of Arrian's capacious apartments situated away from the river's mosquitoes.
No amount of pleading, groveling, or bowing performed by Arrian's steward would dissuade Clarus from his unannounced sortie into the Bithynian noble's tented precincts.
After passing noisily through several well-appointed chambers loudly calling Senator Flavius Arrianus! the group burst into an inner apartment to witness the man himself, freshly leapt from his bed and garbed in a minimal sleeping tunic. He was hurriedly unsheathing a gladius short-sword from its scabbard in prompt response to the onslaught of the invaders.
As Clarus and Suetonius lunged through its entrance drapes the two inadvertently perceived a fully shrouded figure disappearing equally as speedily beyond drapes at the far side of the chamber. The heady bouquet of a rich perfume charged the air.
"What is this, fools?! You enter unannounced! Explain yourselves!" Arrian called sharply, his sword at the ready but with his hair akimbo and his grooming astray. His steward stumbled forward between the intruders in fearful apprehension.
"Forgive me, master, they forced their way in!" he proclaimed, afraid of retribution for his failed resistance. "They would not await your consent."
Arrian, recognizing his intruders were not bent on injury, tossed the blade onto the rumpled bed and gathered himself to be presentable in their presence.
"You catch me unawares, gentlemen. I have no recall of any appointment expecting your company? You almost even caught me in flagrante delicto, as you saw," Arrian joked politely, quietly seething with suppressed rage.
"If I had known you were to visit, I would have prepared myself suitably," Arrian offered with the barest degree of politesse. "But you must be wary of barging into private quarters unannounced, my friends. I'm told there are shady figures moving around the camp, and some people might react aggressively or even fatally to an uninvited incursion. Is it true there was a murder here last night by men unknown? Were you the culprits, perhaps?"
Clarus responded to the comments, now aware of the embarrassment his zeal had incurred.
"You must forgive us, colleague, we had not expected to intrude into your private affairs. We are simply eager to solicit your considered opinions and advice," the ageing senator tried to soothe a ruffled ego. "Suetonius Tranquillus and I seek your wise counsel on the Antinous incident. Of a murder last night, though, we know nothing of substance."
"Let's not be detained here, friends, let's retire into the cool air of my garden court," Arrian offered, perhaps to remove his intruders from his boudoir, "where my staff can provide refreshments as we talk."
Signaling to his steward for the appropriate services, Arrian led the group into an outdoor terrace. It was a charming area graced with planters and pots of well-watered greenery. Valuable ivory-inlaid ebony chairs edged with gilt trim and supporting comfortable cushions in Asian ethnic weaves were interspersed by individual trestle campaign tables. With the sun's direct rays screened by a thin overhead canopy, the diffused light bounced softly off white marble tiles and scattered Ionian rugs. Busts of notable philosophers and the likes of Alexander the Great fringed the gardened area.