In the intense passion of the occasion I willingly swore to do as he asked. And I certainly will, if Thais agrees," Lysias explained while Thais kept her eyes lowered. "Yet at that time I had no idea what was to occur through the following hours."
Suetonius probed further.
"Did you, Lysias of Bithynia, during moments of your ardor, also inflict lesions upon his features?"
"Lesions?!"
"Love bites, hickeys, bruises from kisses?"
"Um, yes, I guess so."
"And what of a wound to his wrist? His left wrist. Did you inflict such a wound?"
"What wound? There was no wound." Lysias was quite certain.
Clarus broke the stillness.
"What is it," Clarus asked vaguely rhetorically, "this dead young man possessed which inspires such ardor among admirers?" The pause survived only briefly.
"As I said earlier, sir, it is beauty, my lord," Thais volunteered. "A beauty of character, a beauty of spirit, a beauty of humanity. Beauty, too, of form and shape, but this was not the primary beauty. It would pass soon into time. Antinous was a beguiling personality whose openness communicated sincerity, security, and wholeheartedness. His spirit was alive to life and love!"
She fell silent after her outburst, embarrassed by her own emotion. Lysias was moved enough to take up her theme.
"Truly, sirs, he possessed such a personable appeal. This charisma was coupled with an extraordinary magnificence of body, and visage as a living creature. Antinous was Apollo Incarnate, he was Apollo alive in this world, here, now, with us to see and touch today. He was not distant, out of reach, silent.
Old philosophers tell we Greeks how human beauty is a reflection of the divine among us. Yet unlike remote Apollo or the fearful deities of the Levant, Antinous possessed an emotional warmth no god displays to devotees. For Antinous, love must be tangible and active. In him, it was, generously."
The group was silenced by these quaint sentiments. Clarus emitted a nervous burst of laughter.
"You are talking of a mere Favorite, a decorative appendage to the Caesar of all the Romans," Clarus provoked. "A ruler's toy or plaything, his catamite, a mere bugger-boy. Something to screw at night."
Lysias suppressed his rising anger.
"Sirs, I see in Antinous what I myself would like to be, but am not. Antinous accepted to be Hadrian's eromenos not in childlike subservience or in willing submission to a power fuck, but because of his respect and affection for the man Hadrian. Does age really matter if you love someone? Yes, it's true his relationship with Caesar placed him at the heart of the universe, at the heart of our times. But it survived because the man Hadrian had matching needs and character.
Yes, by becoming companion to Caesar he entered into his own legend, his own Homeric saga. He could echo Odysseus, Hector, Achilles, and Alexander rolled into one, but alive now, today, in our times, not just in dusty scrolls. Antinous brought delight into the hearts of all who knew him."
"This is nonsense," Clarus probed sarcastically. "What has he done with his life? What has he achieved? He was a Homeric hero who enacted no heroism."
"You may think so, sir. Yet he existed alive before our eyes to show us how what matters in life is not who or what one loves, it is the very fact of being able to love, the act of loving and being loved. Sex is a stepping stone to that realization. This revelation is enough for those who were captivated by him. I happily was such a one, and I believe too Great Caesar is."
"Do you, Greek, love him too?"
"Yes, sir, I do."
"Tell me, Lysias of Bithynia, is there anyone centered in your life other than Thais, or do you impose on your slaves or engage in other diversions for bodily satisfaction?" the biographer continued.
"No, Gaius Suetonius Tranquillus, there are neither slaves nor 'diversions' in my life," Lysias replied. "I offer my four-year relationship as eromenos to my erastes Lucius Vibullius Tiberius Claudius Herodes Atticus of Athens as evidence of my honorable morals. Our lengthy liaison was concluded only last year at Rome.
I ceased being his eromenos just prior to Herodes' announcement of his marriage to Annia Regilla of the Annii, a worthy and noble patrician family of Rome," Lysias regaled his inquisitors.
"I see you are indeed a man of passion? You agree then, Bithynian, you may have inflicted lesions of passion upon your school chum's neck on the day of his death?" Suetonius probed unhesitatingly. "At the front?"
Lysias blushed beneath his soldierly, suntanned features. "It's possible. Very possible."
"Well that satisfies that issue," Clarus muttered to his colleagues with a nod to Surisca for her earlier perceptiveness, "we've accounted for two sets on the cadaver's neck at last."
"Why do you suppose Antinous would grace both you and the Cyrene with his favors, as you call it, on the day of his drowning?" Suetonius searched. "Did he know he was about to die?"
"I do not know," Lysias replied. "But in looking back at his urgency as well as the promise he extracted from me, he must have had some premonition of his fate.
Whatever it was, I wish he had shared his fears with those who love him, and not face it alone, whatever it may have been."
"Foreknowledge tells us it was no accident," Suetonius declared. "I don't accept he had foreknowledge from soothsayers or diviners. Foreknowledge means either he was an intentional suicide or had reason to expect to be killed. So who are those who wished Antinous to be dead? Or did Antinous wish himself to be dead? This is the basic question of our enquiry now. Also, who benefits from it?"
Salvius Julianus interjected.
"To that you then have to add why unknown renegades would seek the death of his associates afterwards, including even those engaged upon his death's investigation. This apparently includes even me. Overall, there are hidden forces at work in each supposition. Hidden forces suggests to me miscreants at work, not suicide. "
"Which indicates it was murder," Suetonius added. "At least that much seems unarguable. Yet what is the motive? And who is the perpetrator?"
Salvius Julianus spoke.
"Do realize you have less than nine hours until your appointment with Caesar?"
"It's true," Clarus agreed, "our time allowance is passing swiftly. And we're no closer to a solution to our investigation than we were a day ago."
"Yet, friends," Suetonius murmured, "I see an outline appearing in the midst of the murk. I don't know its importance or accuracy, but several notions are taking shape in my mind.
Perhaps next on our list of interviewees should be that Egyptian priest whose name recurs so interminably in our enquiries?"
"Pachrates of Memphis?" Clarus trumpeted. "Let's pay him a visit, despite the late hour!"
"Let's do so," the biographer declared. "But first, Julianus, I have a very big favor to ask of you. In case we are delayed by our interviews before tomorrow's dawn, I wish to seek your assistance in a legal acquisition on our behalf with your lictors. This is my request. Keep it concealed, it's important. So I'll tell you, just between us, in a moment.
I also ask your Companions and grooms to secure the safety of Lysias and Thais until dawn and escort them to Caesar's ceremony. I want them to meet no further harm."
"It will be done, Tranquillus, it will be done."
"Good then, here's my chore for you — "
Clarus, Surisca, and the others watched as the Special Inspector drew Julianus to one side to murmur privately into his ear.
CHAPTER 28