‘I’ll leave you gentlemen here while I attend my mistress,’ Pallas said. ‘I do believe that she is dealing with the one outstanding issue. Call if you need more wine.’ He walked off towards the black lacquered door to Antonia’s private room at the far end of the courtyard garden.
‘Herod Agrippa?’ Vespasian asked as he and Corbulo sat down.
‘Yes,’ Sabinus replied less than enthusiastically. ‘He arrived just before you did.’
‘Did Antonia agree to help you?’ Vespasian asked, pouring wine into two of the cups and passing one to Corbulo.
‘Yes, but she wasn’t pleased. It meant that she’d have to find some other way to deal with Herod; she can’t now threaten him with confiscation of his stockpile without him countering her by exposing me. He knows that I’m here, she deliberately let him see me as he came in.’
‘What have you done?’ Corbulo asked, taking a sip of wine.
‘Nothing that concerns you, Corbulo,’ Sabinus replied as two portly and bald, middle-aged equites were led into the garden by a slave. The colour drained out of Sabinus’ face; he stood up. ‘Primus and Tertius,’ he spluttered, walking towards the new arrivals proffering his arm. ‘What brings you here?’
‘An inconvenient but impossible-to-refuse summons from the Lady Antonia, Senator Sabinus,’ the slightly elder of the two replied, taking his forearm. ‘And, judging by the documents she asked us to bring, you shouldn’t be so surprised to see us.’ He placed a leather bag on the table and gave a curt business-like nod to Gaius and Corbulo. ‘Good day to you both, Senators Pollo and Corbulo.’
‘Primus; Tertius,’ they both replied, getting up as Sabinus greeted the younger man.
‘Gentlemen, this is my brother, Vespasian,’ Sabinus said as they all sat down again. ‘Primus and Tertius Cloelius of the banking firm in the Forum.’
The conversation was sporadic and stilted as they waited in the strengthening sun for the black lacquered door to open. All attempts at small-talk were rebuffed by the bankers who spent the time perusing accounts on scrolls and checking them with the help of an abacus retrieved from Primus’ bag. They had refused the offer of wine. Vespasian caught them a couple of times giving him surreptitious looks and wondered if Narcissus had mentioned his name to them when cancelling the bankers’ draft. The rapid clicking of wooden balls on the abacus began to irritate him.
The door eventually opened. Antonia walked towards them with Herod, looking very pleased, by her side, followed by Pallas. ‘Gentlemen, thank you for waiting. If you don’t mind we will conclude our business here,’ she said sitting and indicating that Herod should do likewise. ‘I’m in need of some fresh air. Primus and Tertius, it’s good of you to come. I hope that Secundus is well.’
‘He’s away on business, domina,’ Primus replied.
‘Good, he is well then. Did you bring everything that I asked for?’
Primus rummaged in his bag, brought out three scrolls and placed them on the table.
Antonia picked up a scroll and looked at it briefly. ‘Herod, this is a bankers’ draft for half a million denarii.’
Herod looked at it with relish.
‘And this,’ Antonia continued, picking up the second scroll and waving it at Herod to look at, ‘is the Cloelius brothers’ copy of the bill of sale for the grain that you bought off Sabinus as well as their copy of the certificate of ownership signed by you and Sabinus. The brothers are obviously anxious to hand them over to me knowing that it was highly illegal of them to take a percentage in a deal involving grain speculation.’
‘A lack of judgement on our part,’ Primus affirmed.
‘Which I’m very happy to correct for you.’ Putting the scroll back down on the table, Antonia turned to Sabinus. ‘Your copies please, Sabinus.’
Sabinus obliged and handed her the documents.
Antonia smiled pleasantly at Herod. ‘So, Herod, your copies are the last ones left that link this grain with Sabinus.’ She gave the bankers’ draft back to the Cloelius brothers, who each signed it; that done she offered it to Herod. ‘The grain is worth a lot less than this draft. I suggest that it would be in your interests to swap.’
Corbulo’s mouth dropped open in outrage; with a sharp motion of her left hand Antonia silenced him before he could express his opinion.
Herod took the bankers’ draft. ‘I will send over my freedman, Eutyches, with my copy of the bill of sale and the certificate of ownership as soon as I get home. The grain is now yours.’
‘As is your loyalty, Herod, if you still wish to see Judaea reinstated as a client kingdom with you as king. That is within my gift, not Macro’s.’
‘I can see that now. On my way here I passed through the Forum; it seems that Poppaeus is dead on the day that he was due to do a certain deal with your son.’ He looked around the table. ‘I don’t know how you did it but I assume that deal has not gone through and Macro is not in a position to offer me what I want.’
‘I did nothing, Herod; any unfounded suspicions that you may have that I had a hand in this you will keep to yourself.’ Antonia picked up the third scroll. ‘Macro is not in a position to cancel your debt to me, which, if I were to call it in, would send you fleeing back to the desert again; and believe me, this time you won’t return.’
‘As always, dear Lady, it’s a pleasure negotiating with you.’
‘It’s a pleasure taking my money, you mean.’
Herod inclined his head and smiled. ‘That I can’t deny.’
‘Now get out of my house.’
‘With pleasure.’ Herod got to his feet and bowed graciously. ‘Good day to you, gentlemen.’
Antonia brandished the debt marker at him as he turned to leave. ‘Never forget, Herod, I will always have this.’
‘Dear Lady, my lips are sealed,’ Herod said over his shoulder as he walked from the garden waving his bankers’ draft in the air.
Antonia turned to the two bankers. ‘Primus and Tertius, I know that I can rely on your discretion in this matter.’
‘We deal in figures not tittle-tattle, domina,’ Primus replied, rising while his brother collected up their scrolls and abacus.
‘Very wise; a far more trustworthy commodity, especially when the tittle-tattle could involve your names. Now, as to that other matter?’
Primus took another scroll, the fourth, from the fold of his toga and handed it to Antonia. ‘This is the final thing that you asked for, domina; our copy of the deceased gentleman’s certificate of ownership from the other deal that interested you. You must understand that this is very irregular.’
‘So is taking a ten per cent cut of an illegal grain deal, Primus, which, thanks to my discretion, shall now remain just between us.’
‘Our humble thanks, domina. In the circumstances we will not be sending a note of our fees.’
Antonia unrolled the scroll and glanced at its contents with a satisfied smile. ‘That would be appreciated, Primus, I know how adventurous you can be with arithmetic when it comes to calculating fees.’
‘We have no sense of adventure, domina, we are bankers.’
With curt nods of their heads the Cloelius brothers departed.
‘That was very expensive, thanks to you, Sabinus,’ Antonia said as their footsteps disappeared, ‘but by no means a disaster.’
Sabinus flushed and bowed his head in shame.
‘Dealing in grain while being the grain aedile!’ Corbulo finally exploded, his face puce with aristocratic ire. ‘I should report this.’
‘Of course you should but you won’t, will you, my dear Corbulo?’ Antonia said soothingly. ‘That won’t get us anywhere.’
‘But he’s trying get elected as a praetor; what he did goes against all the ancient principles that govern the behaviour of senators.’
‘And what you did this morning doesn’t?’ Antonia snapped. ‘Stop behaving as if you’re one of the founding fathers of the Republic. Sabinus made a costly mistake but I have rectified it in a way that will protect us and do Herod a lot of damage; I don’t trust him not to talk to Macro so I’m going to ensure that he can’t. Pallas, bring Eutyches to us as soon as he arrives.’