Germanicus

'Are you going straight back, have you decided?' she asked me. 'Or will you be stopping off on the way?'

Small talk's not my bag. 'If the Castor's a government boat, lady,' I said, 'we won't have that option.'

'Oh, but you will! Of course you will! You don't have to stay with the Castor. I mean, you could change ships at Rhodes. Such a nice place! And if you're not in any hurry you could see some of the Greek cities.' She turned to Perilla. 'Ephesus is so lovely. And I have friends there who would be delighted to put you up. Then my sister is married to a marble exporter in Corinth. Corinth has some simply marvellous statues, and as for the temples, of course…'

'I don't think so,' Perilla said gently. 'I imagine Marcus will be glad to get home. Won't you, Marcus?'

'Yeah.' Too right I would. Especially if the alternative was more temples and statues. I swallowed the wine in my cup at a gulp and lifted the jug that Critias had left in its cooler.

'Of course,' Acutia was saying, 'if you did leave the Castor in Rhodes you could cross over to Alexandria and sail up the Nile. I've always wanted to do that, but Publius being a senator it's impossible. At least without the emperor's permission. Such a silly rule, I always think, not to allow senators into Egypt. But naturally since you haven't held senatorial office yet, Corvinus, there's no reason why you can't…'

'Shit!'

'Marcus!'

I grabbed a napkin and mopped up the wine that had spilled all down my mantle, while Perilla glared at me and Acutia watched with her big, wide, beautiful brown eyes. I could've kissed her. I almost did.

'Sorry,' I said. 'The jug slipped.'

'That was no excuse for the language,' Perilla said primly. 'Acutia, I apologise. Marcus can be terribly crude.'

'Not at all.' Acutia took another cake. 'Publius is just as bad at times. But honestly, dear, do think about going to Alex and doing the Nile. They say that the sunset on the pyramids is absolutely fantastic. And as for the temples…'

But I'd stopped listening. I had other things to think about. And as I thought everything slid smoothly into place.

You see, I'd just realised why Germanicus had had to die.

33

'The guy was a traitor,' I said when I finally got Perilla alone.

'What?'

'Germanicus was engaged in active treason against the emperor.'

'Marcus, Germanicus was Tiberius's named successor! Why should he commit treason?'

I poured myself a fresh cup of Chian. 'Why I'm not absolutely certain about yet. But he was planning to knock the Wart off his perch sure as eggs is eggs.'

'All right.' Perilla sat back and folded her arms. 'Prove it.'

I leaned over and kissed her. 'Okay. Only I'll start at the end, because that's what set me off. Your little fluffy pal Acutia's point about Egypt. No one above the rank of knight's been allowed in Egypt without the emperor's permission since Augustus, right? Especially members of the imperial family.'

'Correct.'

'Why not?'

'Because Egypt supplies most of Rome's grain. Technically whoever holds Egypt, and Alexandria especially, could starve the city in a month.'

'Yeah. And by that time the city mob, who are no respecters of persons where the corn dole's threatened, would have the emperor strung up from the nearest architrave. So who's the blue eyed boy who goes swanning off to Egypt for a winter break after he's settled the hash of the Parthians?'

'Corvinus, he might've had permission!'

'Like hell he did.'

'But he went as a tourist! A cruise up the Nile isn't treason!'

'Sure. But there was a corn shortage in Alex that winter and Germanicus opened the granaries to the mob. Simple tourists don't have that sort of clout, or if they do they're politic enough not to use it in case it gets misconstrued. Added to which if you believe the stories the guy swapped his toga for the duration for a Greek mantle. No self-respecting Roman's done that since Africanus two hundred years back, and he was half Greek anyway.'

'Now stop it! You're twisting things!' Perilla was staring at me. 'If the emperor had been aware of the famine he'd have authorised opening the granaries himself. And Scipio Africanus wasn't even part Greek.'

I grinned. 'Okay, so forget the mantle. But it sure as hell made an impression on the locals. And you take my point about the corn.'

'No. I don't. Just because Germanicus acted humanely to relieve a food shortage — '

'Perilla, be realistic! We're talking basic economics here. Egyptian corn's Rome's life blood, and we don't give it away for the asking. Not to nobody. Right or wrong we've got our own priorities.'

She ignored me. 'If he had shown the least sign of improper conduct — real improper conduct — in Egypt I might be inclined to believe this theory of yours, but he didn't. He simply used his own initiative and if he erred he erred from the best motives. Now tell me what happened at your interview with the governor. That's far more important at present.'

'Uh-uh.' I shook my head. 'No it isn't. Maybe it doesn't even matter any more.'

'Marcus, you might not mind being given five days to leave a province before you're frog-marched to the boat but I do. Perhaps if I see the governor myself, or maybe Vibius Marsus, I can-'

'It wouldn't do any good. Believe me. You've met Lamia. You think he's the kind of guy to give way to a pair of batting eyelashes?'

No.' She sighed. 'Perhaps not. All right, then, let's go back to your theory. Suppose we forget the corn issue and you tell me why you think the simple fact of Germanicus's taking a holiday in a politically incorrect province should make him a traitor.'

'Okay.' I sat back and cradled my wine cup. 'Like I said that's just the end point in a series. Let's start with Germany six years back. You remember what happened then?'

'Of course. After Augustus died the northern legions mutinied. Or some of them did.'

'Right. There were two outbreaks, one in Pannonia, one in Germany itself. Drusus put down the first, Germanicus was responsible for dealing with the second.'

'You're not saying, I hope, that Germanicus engineered the mutinies?'

I shook my head. 'No, it isn't as simple as that. They were spontaneous, and I don't think at that point betraying the Wart had even occurred to the guy. In fact I doubt if left to himself he'd ever have really made the grade in the treachery stakes. Unless he was a lot more devious than I give him credit for.'

Perilla groaned. 'Corvinus, be sensible! One minute you're claiming that Germanicus was a traitor and then you say the man didn't have the capacity for treason. Don't you see any inconsistency there?'

'No, I don't. Left to himself, I said.'

'But-!'

'Just bear with me, okay? Gaius Secundus told me about the Rhine mutiny back at Rome. Drusus waded in and had the whole thing sewn up inside a month while Germanicus screwed around on the sidelines tut-tutting like a sixty year old virgin and appealing to the squaddies' better natures. Finally the senior officers had to take matters into their own hands. Now what does that tell you?'

'Nothing whatsoever.'

'Jupiter!' I closed my eyes. 'Perilla, it's obvious. The mutineers were on to a loser from the start, but far as the rank-and-file were concerned Germanicus came out smelling of roses. The real hard men were Drusus in Pannonia, the officers of the German army who did the dirty work, and the Wart himself. Especially the Wart. Roman squaddies may have the moral standards of Ostian brothel keepers, but they like to believe that they're sensitive souls and they don't forget their enemies. Or their friends. Germanicus was on their side, he was an okay guy saddled by the emperor with a dirty job not of his choosing. Am I making sense or do I have to draw you a picture?'