"No, of that too I am not aware. Yet such coincidences do happen, gentlemen. Someone had to find the body eventually. Urbicus's assignment to you will be quite legitimate. He's an effective officer, and his command of the local customs and tongues is probably useful to you, yes?" Titianus rationalized.
"Indeed. Prior to his assignment to us yesterday, what would Centurion Urbicus and his troops have been doing in the vicinity of the drowned youth by the riverside at earliest dawn?" the Special Inspector raised speculatively. At last Titianus appeared to be showing greater interest in the group's enquiries.
"I have absolutely no idea, Suetonius. You should be asking Urbicus, not me. The previous night I attended a formal banquet at Hadrian's apartments celebrating The Isia. Caesar has reason to honor the festival this year. There were many at the banquet, including new guests to Caesar's tour, but it didn't include the youth Antinous as I recall," the governor reminisced. "Hadrian's candidate for possible adoption as his son, Senator Lucius Ceionius Commodus, was the guest of honor. It seems the adoption will be proceeding sometime soon, despite great resistance to it in some quarters. It puts Lucius on the path to nailing the succession, they say, should Caesar pass away suddenly, perish the thought.
Also, I'm told there's bad blood between him and Antinous, so perhaps the Bithynian lad diplomatically stayed away? But by dawn I was still fast asleep on my banquet couch. Too much roast pork and Falernian, I'd say, plus other amusements."
"Did the Lady Anna Perenna celebrate with you too?" Suetonius probed.
"No, it was a men-only affair of course," Titianus explained. "Besides My Lady has her own rites to address. The three days of the death and resurrection of Osiris are sacred to her cult too. The influence of Isis is ubiquitous across the Empire these days. The two cults are very similar, I'm told.
My companion, the priestess, has enclosed herself for the first three days of The Isia. I doubt I shall see her until the official mourning period is over and the feasting begins."
"My lord, what did you mean Caesar has reason to honor the occasion?" the biographer continued his queries.
Titianus moved forward in his throne as though to share a confidence. He spoke low.
"I suppose, gentlemen, you are sufficiently senior to receive the following news, if you promise me absolute confidentiality. Caesar and I have spent months preparing our announcement of the foundation of a new metropolis in Middle Egypt. It's been a secret, if such elaborate plans can ever be kept secret.
At last I've persuaded Hadrian how central Egypt needs an influx of Roman and Greek settlers to act as a barrier against future incursions by rebels, invaders, or a local uprising. The old cities of Memphis, Hermopolis, and Thebes are stocked mainly with indigenous Egyptians because the previous Ptolemy regime allowed the Hellene population to be nominal outside Alexandria.
But these Egyptians are not a fighting people, as we rudely learned fifteen years ago when the Jewish community rose across Africa against Trajan under their pretender-messiah king, Lucuas. These rebels destroyed many of our temples and killed huge numbers until Turbo finally put them down.
So now we need sturdy, discharged legionnaires to colonize the area and repopulate it with families of new blood. Roman and Greek blood, that is, in a new city. They are to be a buffer here so insurrection will not succeed again. We will allocate substantial gifts of land, seed, and money at this place to make it happen, despite so many others across the Empire making claims to Rome's priorities.
The new city will require a huge investment of manpower and moneys. Caesar will persuade the Senate to appropriate the necessary wealth and arms, and Rome's leading financiers will support its construction. But at the end of the day it will require the new settlers to be cohesively unified for the plan to provide its defensive bulwark. Cohesion is essential."
"What will the city be called?" Clarus asked.
"In Caesar's honor and to encourage cohesion, I have recommended Hadrianopolis," the governor declared. "This might be why Caesar is so engrossed. It will carry his name into history."
Suetonius was prompted to remember a detail which troubled him the previous evening at the priest Kenamun's riverside embalming pavilion.
"My lord, last night we met a citizen of Greek blood from the Fayum Oasis who is a painter of portraits for funerals. He is a sculptor too. His name is Cronon, and he told us he'd been invited to this encampment many weeks ago," Suetonius posed, "well prior to the Bithynian's drowning. Would such a tradesman be summoned to attend your announcement?"
"Indeed," the governor affirmed, "my staff has assembled many, many artisans for Caesar's announcement, to discuss the planning of the new city. They've been sheltered at a camp site outside the nearby village and told not to talk of it."
"Then it's plausible after all that Cronon could have been invited to this camp by the Priest of Amun, Pachrates from Memphis, well prior to The Isia and Antinous's death?"
"Yes, that's possible," the Governor acknowledged.
Suetonius and Clarus now had reason to accept Kenamun's protestations on the previous evening. Titianus continued.
"But the priest Pachrates is an ambitious fellow, my friends. His like are very cunning. And he's found favor in Hadrian's eyes.
Pachrates understands the peculiarities of the Roman, Greek, and the Egyptian views of life, and so offers advice on how to implement our plans among each community. I'm told the dead youth was especially impressed by Pachrates' magical arts," Titianus confirmed. "So the wizard's input and contacts have been welcomed by Caesar. But for my money that priest is too clever by half. He's not a man to trust."
"We've been told Pachrates is known to commit murder for his magic," Suetonius proposed daringly.
The Governor fell silent for some moments. He drew himself back into his chair.
"He's been authorized by my office on rare occasions to utilize condemned criminals destined for a fate in the arena in his magical performances. But I'm not aware of any claim of the murder of innocents. The man is devious, but so are most in the East. It's in the air here," Titianus offered.
"Was Antinous out of favor with Caesar, my lord?" Suetonius asked, shifting tack. Titianus was cautious for a few moments. The four sensed the question had entered sensitive territory.
"There appears to have been some form of fallout some weeks ago at Alexandria when the Western Favorite joined the tour. As you know, Commodus was popular with Caesar some years ago. But I've not discerned a dispute between Hadrian and Antinous about the matter. Yet the lad had his own issues to contend with," the governor submitted.
"What are those, my lord Governor?"
"Well, to start with, after five years attachment to Hadrian he's now no longer a meirakion young man anymore. He's too old now for a role as Caesar's consort. It's too open to scandal, even here in the East where such things are widely tolerated," the governor speculated. "Note I separate the man Hadrian from the role of Caesar. The man is entitled; an emperor is not.
I was with them both at the time when Caesar expressed this view pointedly to the lad. It was at The Soma in Alexandria only a month or so ago."
"What was this occasion, my lord?" Suetonius enquired as all ears pricked up.
"Hadrian and several of his retinue, including Antinous, visited The Soma on two or three occasions. The Soma, Alexander the Great's tomb, is a pivotal institution at Alexandria. It's the city's raison d'etre, from a spiritual point of view. Not only do tourists from across the Empire visit and pay homage to the ancient hero, his tomb unifies the contending communities of the city into a single ethos, otherwise they'd be at each other's throats interminably.