I was being deliberately naive. I knew the answer even before Pallas replied.
He kicked the stool back and leapt to his feet, his podgy hands flailing the air. ‘Parmenon, Parmenon. You survived Tiberius, Caligula and Claudius: you know this is only the beginning. Seneca has yet to sink his teeth deeper into the bone. Now tell me, what has been Agrippina’s greatest achievement?’
‘You know that,’ I replied. ‘She managed to ensure that Nero became Emperor and Britannicus was disinherited. And, before you repeat yourself, Pallas, I know Seneca is now mocking us.’
‘But have you asked yourself why?’
‘Of course. He’s trying to drive a wedge between Agrippina and her son.’
‘Good, and what else?’
‘He’s trying to disassociate his pupil, our golden Nero, from the murder of the pathetic man who appointed him his heir.’
‘Good!’ Pallas agreed like a teacher.
‘At the same time,’ I added, ‘Seneca is quietly reminding Nero that he owes the throne to his mother and if one Emperor can be murdered. .’
‘Exactly!’ Pallas agreed, sipping from his goblet. ‘They are,’ he searched for words, ‘they are trying to separate son from mother. Nero is the new Emperor, the golden boy of prophecy.’ He waved his hands. ‘Agrippina belongs to the past. She’s achieved her task, and should now retire. The next step will be to provoke Nero, who is an adolescent boy after all — Emperor or not — into full-scale rebellion against his overbearing mother. I’ll tell you a story: two days ago Agrippina brought Nero here, into the Chamber of Silver. Apparently he had given a generous sum of money to a friend. Agrippina, to make him realise its value, made me place the same amount in front of him on this table. Nero lolled in my chair as the slaves emptied out the bags of gold, examined it carefully, and then scoffed, “If I had known it was so little I would have doubled it.” He got to his feet and walked out, leaving Agrippina bemused.’
‘The impetuosity of youth,’ I commented. ‘More important are Seneca’s reasons for this attack.’
‘Your guess is as good as mine,’ Pallas replied. ‘Seneca is sarcastic and bitter.’ He held up a hand. ‘He’s been exiled twice now by the imperial family. He loathed Corsica and its inhabitants, and despised their customs, their food and their drink. He regularly wrote begging letters to Caligula asking to have the exile lifted.’
‘And now he blames Agrippina for that?’
‘Yes, I think he hates the Augusta, and holds both her and her family responsible for his misery, so he’s going to settle his grudge once and for all. Seneca also likes wealth and power, and Agrippina has opened the door to both for him. Seneca, the former exile and philosopher, now has the chance to control both an Emperor and an empire, and he wants to do it by himself. He’d love to kiss Agrippina goodbye. So whilst Nero acts the angry, young man, Seneca will continue to plot. What do you think his next step will be, Parmenon?’
I recalled Agrippina and her young son sitting in the gardens at Antium or her estates in Tusculum.
‘Nero is Agrippina’s Achilles heel,’ I replied. ‘She will make the same mistake that all mothers do. A mother’s love is limitless and unconditional, her loyalty is undying; like all mothers, she expects her son to reciprocate.’ I paused. ‘Seneca has demonstrated that Agrippina can be criticised with impunity. He’s depicted her as a greater fool even than Claudius, whilst also reminding Nero that she cleared his path to the throne. The next step Seneca will take is to start asking Nero if it is truly he that rules, or his mother? It will be easy to turn that young man’s head.’
‘And then what?’ Pallas demanded.
‘Seneca will go for the throat. He’s studied his young student very closely, and really it’s a matter of logic, isn’t it, Pallas? If Nero can be dominated by one woman, his mother, then why not another. .?’
‘Acte?’
‘Acte,’ I agreed. ‘She’s wealthy, civilised, courteous, extremely beautiful and alluring. She bears more than a passing resemblance to a young Agrippina. Seneca has chosen well. What do you know of her?’
‘Some say she’s a courtesan,’ Pallas replied. ‘Others claim she lives a chaste life, which will appeal to our Emperor. Apparently Seneca brought her into Rome and persuaded his friend Serenus to set her up in a house in a fashionable district. The young woman has been paraded before Nero like a prize mare. If rumour is to be believed, Nero’s interest in her is growing by the day.’
‘But all Emperors have favourites,’ I replied. ‘Nero is only seventeen, it will just be a passing infatuation.’
‘Oh, it will pass all right,’ Pallas agreed. ‘But Nero’s youth is his very weakness: he’s determined to show his mother that she’s no longer the most important woman in his life; that he loves Acte, or someone else, more than he does Agrippina.’
I could see where Pallas was leading. Agrippina was truly vulnerable. She adored her son and, for the first time ever, would experience the pangs of jealousy.
‘Now we come to the purpose of this meeting.’ Pallas picked up a stack of coins and tossed them from hand to hand. ‘If Agrippina can be persuaded to keep her temper, to ignore Seneca’s provocation, to maintain a still tongue. .’
‘All will be well,’ I finished.
‘All will be well. If Agrippina attacks, however. .’ He threw the coins on the table. ‘Then the game is lost.’
I left the treasury with Pallas’s warnings ringing in my ears. On that same day I begged for an interview with Agrippina and warned her exactly what Seneca was plotting. She laughed at my worries but promised to heed my advice, although I could see it was already too late. When I mentioned Acte, red spots of anger appeared high in her cheeks and her eyes narrowed. The damage was already done.
‘You could try and remove Seneca?’ I suggested.
‘Impossible.’ She shook her head. ‘If I have made one mistake in life, Parmenon-’ She smiled. ‘What am I saying? I’ve made many — Seneca must rank as my greatest. I’ll heed what you say.’
She brought the interview to an end and was already at the door when she called my name.
‘Tell me, Parmenon, do you think Narcissus was mocking me with those games, that banquet?’
‘I don’t think so, Domina, I know. He may be a wounded animal but Narcissus is still dangerous.’
Agrippina kept her head down. ‘Wounded you say? Thank you, Parmenon.’
A few days later Narcissus was taken ill on a journey. He had barely left the city when the slaves heard moans and thrashing coming from the litter. They pulled back the curtain, to discover Narcissus hardly breathing, his skin clammy and cold, complaining of pains throughout his body. They hurried him back to Rome but it was too late, and Narcissus died, strangely enough close to Messalina’s tomb. Seneca sent Praetorians to his house, to search for papers and certain letters, but to his fury all they found were charred fragments: Narcissus, or someone else, had taken great pains to destroy any incriminating documents.
Narcissus’s funeral rites were barely over when Nero despatched a letter to Pallas thanking him for his hard work at the treasury, and pointing out that, as the burdens of state must be affecting Pallas’s health, it was time he retired. Pallas had no choice but to agree. He left in style with an escort of German guards, the personal retinue of Agrippina, walking before him, as he sat enthroned in a litter. Eight Abyssinians carried it shoulder high whilst his servants and friends, slaves and household retainers trooped behind in a solemn procession. Nero watched him go, standing on the top step of the treasury. He waved goodbye, waggling his fingers as if Pallas was a fellow pupil leaving a school.
‘Take care!’ the Emperor cooed.
In one quick stroke Seneca had removed Agrippina’s most powerful and loyal ally. He returned to the attack. Acte appeared more and more in the Emperor’s retinue, and Nero singled her out for pleasant, private conversations, and quiet supper parties — just the two of them — followed by night walks in the gardens. He showered her with costly gifts, and granted her a suite of apartments in the imperial palace. Nero stopped visiting his mother as often as she wished, and even worse, when Nero wanted to be alone with Acte, Agrippina was shown the door.