Suddenly, there was a loud crack as the shaft, subjected to tremendous stress, snapped where it had been weakened. Horses, driver, and chariot went down in a tangle of flailing limbs and splintering wood, which somersaulted twice before slamming against the spina. While attendants rushed out to clear up the naufragium, the ‘shipwreck’, Valentinian sent the editor of the Races, who was beside him in the imperial box, to find out how Statarius had fared. ‘Dead, Serenity,’ announced the man on his return. ‘Killed outright — a broken neck.’
‘Thank God,’ breathed Valentinian, feeling himself go limp with relief.
‘Serenity?’ said the other in shocked amazement.
‘I’m glad he did not suffer.’
The man’s face cleared. ‘I see, Serenity. Rome is indeed fortunate to have an Emperor who cares for the least of his subjects — even a mere slave and charioteer.’
FIFTY-THREE
You have acted like a man who cuts off his right hand with his left
Never have I seen Aetius so confident and positive [wrote Titus in his journal, at the Palace of Commodus in Rome] as in the days before he left for Rome to meet Valentinian. This was to promote the plans — already well advanced — for the marriage of his son Gaudentius with the Emperor’s daughter Eudocia, thus uniting the house of Aetius with the royal line of Theodosius.
He was, despite everything, saddened, I suspect, to hear of the untimely death last year of Attila, his greatest friend turned bitterest foe. If so, he does not show it. Nor does he openly express concern regarding a serious consequence of Attila’s removal from the stage of history. For, while solving an immediate problem, the King’s death has created another, possibly even a greater. It was the terror Attila inspired that enabled Aetius to unite the federates and Romans in common cause. That threat has now passed. But with an overstretched Roman army (its numbers much reduced in consequence of the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains) to deal with the federates should they again cause trouble, can even a leader as inspired as Aetius maintain control? Only time will tell.
Meanwhile, I made ready to journey from Aetius’ base at Lugdunum to Rome, ahead of the Patrician and his retinue, to prepare lodgings and give notice to the palace of his coming.
‘Here’s your pass to use the cursus velox,’ Aetius told Titus, handing him a scroll. ‘Head down the Rhodanus to Arelate, then along the coast via the Julia Augusta to its junction with the Via Aurelia in Italy. After that follow the Aurelia to Rome — with relays of fast horses you should do it in a week. Make an appointment to see the Master of Offices and warn him of my coming; as the Emperor’s in Rome, the court and Consistory will have moved there from Ravenna. Also get him to arrange an interview with the Praetorian prefect, who’ll clear it with you to secure the use of Commodus’ Palace for myself and my entourage.’
‘Valentinian won’t like it, sir,’ observed Titus dubiously. ‘Aren’t the imperial palaces his personal property?’
Aetius shrugged. ‘He may not like it, but that’s immaterial. He knows he can’t refuse a request from the Master of Soldiers. Anyway, Prefect Boethius is a friend of mine. He’ll smooth things over if Valentinian proves difficult.’ He glanced at a water-clock on a stand. ‘Barely past the second hour.’ He grinned and clapped Titus on the shoulder. ‘With hard riding, you’ll be in Arelate by sunset.’
In a chamber in the central, private, block of the Domus Augustana, Domitian’s immense brick-faced concrete palace on Rome’s Palatine Hill, Valentinian was ensconced with his amicus principis, his favourite, the eunuch Heraclius.
‘Commandeering our Palace of Commodus,’ fumed the emperor. ‘The man’s presumption knows no bounds! And, to add insult to injury, he dispenses with a formal request but sends instead a lackey, this agent Titus, to inform us he intends to requisition our property. Perhaps he thinks himself above his sovereign?’
‘I would hesitate to say that he does not, Serenity,’ replied Heraclius. ‘I would advise you have a care for the safety of your person. Today the Palace of Commodus, tomorrow. . the Palace of Domitian?’ Smiling and plump, he spread his hands. ‘Is Heraclius being too fanciful? I do not wish to cause Your Serenity undue alarm, but it would be wise, perhaps, not to dismiss such considerations lightly. Remember what happened to Gratian, and to the second emperor to bear your name — done away with by ambitious generals. It is no secret that Aetius intends to press the suit of his son Gaudentius for the hand of your daughter, the Princess Eudocia. One cannot but wonder: why is this of such importance to him? Should the union come to pass, and a male child be born. .’ He left the sentence hanging in the air.
‘Don’t fence with me, Heraclius,’ snapped Valentinian. ‘What is it you’re suggesting?’
‘Why, nothing, Serenity,’ the eunuch replied smoothly. ‘Merely observing that, as such a child would be of royal blood, Aetius might be tempted.’
‘Tempted!’ exclaimed Valentinian, turning pale. ‘Tempted to usurp our throne in the name of his son or grandson? Is that what you’re saying?’
‘I’m saying Your Serenity should be careful,’ said Heraclius in his soft, whispering voice. ‘Just in case. Aetius, as we know, is no respecter of persons. He destroyed Boniface, he humiliated your mother, he rides roughshod over your decrees. Who knows what such a man might venture, to advance himself? I advise you, when you meet him, not to be alone or unarmed.’
‘Thank you, Heraclius,’ said the emperor. ‘You are a loyal friend. If only all our ministers were as concerned for our welfare. You may leave us now. We shall ponder what you have said.’
The eunuch bowed and backed out of the chamber, a spiteful smile playing round his lips. Like his master, he had felt the lash of Aetius’ scorn in the past. Perhaps the score could now be evened.
Handing his sword-belt to the duty centenarius, Aetius dimissed his bodyguard, a company of tough young Germans, hand-picked for their fighting skills, and all of proven loyalty and courage. Unarmed and alone, he advanced towards the gates of Domitian’s Palace. As they swung open, he reflected that his agent Titus and others had cautioned him against seeing Valentinian without taking precautions for his own security. The Emperor was in an angry, suspicious, and unstable mood, they had said, and he had not concealed his resentment of the Patrician’s presence in Rome. But Aetius had brushed the warnings aside. What could Valentinian possibly do to harm him? Shout? Threaten? If the Emperor attempted to arrest him, his bodyguard, as soon as they got wind, would make short work of Valentinian’s — who were scorned as toy soldiers, for all their splendid uniforms.
Aetius strode to the entrance of the left-hand, official, block of the three that constituted the palace, whence he was conducted by a silentiary, one of the aristocrats who served as palace ushers, through the triclinium and peristyle into the audience chamber. This was a vast hall, ablaze with vari-coloured marble and lined with enormous statues. At the far end was Valentinian, enthroned. To Aetius’ surprise, he was flanked by numerous courtiers and eunuchs, among the latter, the well-fleshed form of Heraclius.