Flaccus had then managed to reach an equally perfect understanding with Herod: if he stayed for the ceremony, he could leave for his kingdom straight afterwards and, if he played his part well, could even take half of his grain with him; the other half he would naturally donate to Rome in grateful thanks for his new crown.
It was through gritted teeth, therefore, that Herod had delivered his speech at the opening of the ceremony earlier that morning; firstly reading out Caligula’s mandate confirming Flaccus’ position and then following that with fulsome praise for the sagacity of the Emperor in making that decision. His tribute to Flaccus had not been as effusive as the delegations that followed him, but it was nevertheless adequate, in Vespasian’s opinion, for him to keep one half of his grain. The part where he had expressed his sorrow at having to leave for his kingdom after such a short stay with his good friend Flaccus had forced Vespasian to suppress a violent giggling fit.
Eventually the delegations from the surrounding cities and towns had all finished extolling the virtues of the man who had the power of life and death over them and it was the turn of the representatives of the turbulent city of Alexandria to speak. It fell to the Jews to speak first, leaving to the more numerous Greeks the honour of speaking just before the prefect gave his reply.
Alexander the Alabarch stood up from the midst of a group of old men who were sweating profusely in the ever strengthening sun, dressed in their mantles and long robes.
‘We the Jews of Alexandria,’ he declaimed in Greek, ‘also applaud our beloved Emperor for his wisdom in confirming our noble prefect in his position. We count ourselves fortunate that the Emperor Gaius has set such a man as Aulus Avilius Flaccus to rule over us as we know that we can count on his evenhandedness in dealing with the great injustices that are at the moment being dealt to our people by the non-Jewish part of the population of this city.’
Flaccus’ composure stiffened and there was a general stirring among the city delegations and the Alexandrian Greek mob in the audience behind them; this was not the sort of thing that custom and good manners decreed should form a part of a congratulatory speech.
‘Although the ravages against Jewish property still continue and the murder and rapine of our people escalate daily, we have no doubt that the prefect will bring to justice those responsible and order compensation to the victims. We are also confident that he will give his word on this to King Herod Agrippa, the personal friend of the Emperor and the most exalted of Jews in the Empire.’
Indignant mutterings from the Greek mob began to escalate; Herod shifted uncomfortably in his chair, evidently unwilling to become involved in his co-religionists’ struggle in this province.
‘We must also thank Prefect Flaccus for his endeavour to track down and arrest the blasphemous preacher, Gaius Julius Paulus, in order to put an end to his disgusting heresy. Although he has so far been unsuccessful in finding Paulus, we feel sure that the prefect will redouble his efforts and very soon apprehend this divisive and dangerous man.’
This brought incensed cries of outrage from the audience; it was unthinkable that anyone should mention publicly that the prefect was unsuccessful in anything. Flaccus, however, remained seated with a faint smile on his face, looking outwardly relaxed, swathed in his toga, leaning with his right elbow on the arm of the chair and resting the other hand on the knee of his left leg extended before him; it would be beneath his dignitas to shout down the Alabarch.
There was a stirring at the entrance to the arena closest to Vespasian as Alexander continued. ‘We would therefore promise to pledge our allegiance to him and will undertake to make sacrifices on his behalf to God once he has done these things.’
This was the final insult for the Greeks; Alexander had refused to recognise Flaccus’ authority until he had met their demands, which would entail, among other things, that the Greeks would be liable to pay for the damage that they had caused.
Alexander’s next words were drowned out by howls of protest that gradually turned into raucous laughter as the mob became aware of a strange procession making its way into the arena from the entrance nearest to Vespasian close to where Flavia and the other Roman women were seated. A filthy, toothless beggar was being carried, shoulder high, through the crowd wearing a purple cloak. On his head he wore a parody of a crown made of iron scraps attached to a leather headband and in his hand, in mimicry of a sceptre, he held a sponge fastened to the end of a stick, as used for personal hygiene in public latrines. The beggar cackled as his bodyguard of equally insalubrious vagrants pushed a path through the crowd crying, ‘Make way for the King, so recently a beggar!’
‘Hail the King!’ the crowd roared repeatedly through their mirth.
Vespasian glanced over at Herod whose eyes bulged in outrage as his jaw locked solid in recognition that this farce was directed at him, the king who until only recently had been as penniless as a beggar as he languished in gaol. The destitute wretch being paraded around for Herod’s humiliation had been plucked from the street and given royal attire and honours much as Caligula had plucked Herod from his confinement and made him a king almost overnight.
Herod got to his feet and, with as much dignity as he could summon, swept from the arena followed by the Alabarch and the Jewish elders to the mocking jeers of the Greek mob.
‘I see what you mean, Vespasian,’ Flaccus observed with a faint smile, indicating with his head to the entrance through which the travesty had come, ‘he does sow discord very well.’
Vespasian looked round and saw, in the shadows of the archway, a short figure with half an ear missing, smiling maliciously; for a moment they locked gazes before Paulus turned and walked away on his bow legs.
CHAPTER XX
‘I don’t understand why Flaccus ain’t doing a fucking thing about it,’ Magnus announced, looking with disgust at the bodies of two Jewish women who had evidently been savagely raped before having their throats slit. A dead infant had been placed under the head of one corpse in mocking imitation of a pillow.
‘Because at the moment the Greeks are doing his work for him by keeping the Jews confined to their quarter,’ Vespasian replied, studiously ignoring the bodies and giving Flavia, travelling in another chair next to him, a concerned look; she had gone very pale despite Ziri’s efforts with a large fan to keep her cool. She should not have too much trouble fainting in Alexander’s temple, he reflected with morbid irony, especially if they should come across more corpses on the way there.
News of Herod’s humiliation at the ceremony and his swift departure from Alexandria the previous day — forfeiting the other half of his grain — had spread through the city, and the Jews, taking this insult to be against everyone of their race, had rioted en masse and invaded the Greek Quarter. The Greeks had responded by driving their hated and outnumbered co-inhabitants back into their quarter and blockading it, thus confining the violence. They had, however, not been content with just bottling up the Jews and had pressed on into the quarter, pushing the Jews further and further back until almost their entire population was cramped into just a few streets along the coastal area to the east of the Royal Palace. And they were the lucky ones; those who had had the misfortune to be captured had been flayed, crucified and then burned alive on their crosses.