‘Did you give the command, Uncle, really?’
Claudius lifted his cup to his mouth as if by an automatic impulse, took a swig and then placed it back on the table. An instant later he repeated the movement as the wailing closed in.
‘I think that it’s time for us to leave,’ Vespasian suggested to Sabinus. ‘I doubt that our departure will be noticed.’
The brothers got to their feet as Claudius and Messalina’s two children burst into the room. Obviously in an advanced state of grief they set about their father with slaps and scratches whilst he did nothing to defend himself or even show that he knew that he was under attack.
As Vespasian left the room he caught Pallas smiling at Agrippina, who returned it with interest whilst Lucius Vitellius mouthed two words, inaudible over the commotion.
‘The vote to remove Messalina’s statues and name from all public places has been passed unanimously,’ the Father of the House announced in the absence of any consuls. ‘The order will be given to the Urban prefect to proceed without delay so that our beloved Emperor can begin the process of choosing a new wife without always being reminded of the old.’
Claudius sat in his chair, his eyes still vacant and his skin pallid as a rumbled chorus of agreement greeted this thought. He nodded absently and fluttered a shaky hand in acknowledgement of the Senate’s gesture but failed to make a verbal reply. In its absence Sabinus stood and caught the attention of the Father of the House.
‘Titus Flavius Sabinus has the floor.’
Sabinus walked to the centre of the House, stood still for a couple of moments and then began: ‘Conscript Fathers, who here does not have the Emperor’s welfare at the forefront of his mind? Who here does not consider the Emperor’s happiness to be of paramount importance to the wellbeing of the Empire? Who here would therefore deny the Emperor the right to marry the woman most suitable to him?’
*
The House sat in stunned silence as if each man had just been struck a blow on the forehead by the priest wielding the mallet before the sacrificial knife is applied. No one moved as Sabinus sat down after his short speech proposing the law of incest should be changed so that the Emperor could marry his niece. Claudius, too, was speechless but not as before: his eyes had lost their vacant stare and had become focused.
Vespasian got to his feet and was immediately called to speak since no one else had recovered from the shock at the idea of changing a tenet so old and enshrined in the ways of the ancestors.
‘Conscript Fathers,’ he began, feigning a look of awed surprise, ‘I did not know what my brother was going to propose when he stood to address you. But I, like you, have heard his words and have weighed them in my mind and have come to the conclusion that my brother has had an idea inspired by the gods; an idea so simple and obvious that no one here could see it until Titus Flavius Sabinus stood up and pointed us in its direction.
‘I have heard rumours of Lollia Paulina and Aelia Paetina being put about by various factions in the palace for their own personal gain; their own personal gain! How dare they play with our beloved Emperor’s wellbeing for their — own — personal — gain!’ Another rumble, this time of outrage, was emitted from the lines of seated senators. ‘But it took an intellect like my brother’s to see exactly where to look for a bride for our Emperor: as close to home as possible — closer even — so that finally the Julian and the Claudian lines in the imperial family are united by a doting uncle and his loving niece. Think, Conscript Fathers, think of the consequences of such a union.’
Vespasian sat, watching the faces of his colleagues as they contemplated the security that the final union of both sides of the Julio-Claudians would bring. Only Claudius seemed to be envisioning a different aspect to that union and he twitched with visible excitement.
‘I believe that we should beg Caesar to make this match!’ Galba roared in his harsh, parade-ground voice, startling his neighbours. ‘For the good of Rome. Although marrying a niece is not the way of our ancestors and consequently there is no precedent for a woman to be escorted to the house of her uncle, we should not consider it as incest, which surely can only be committed by siblings or parents with their children.’ He jutted out his jaw as if defying anyone to gainsay him. ‘And if it is not incest then the gods will view the union with pleasure.’
At the intervention of such a renowned conservative, the idea began to gain traction as Sabinus had predicted and one by one the senators began to implore Claudius to consent to the match if they changed the law to allow it.
‘That’s got them going,’ Gaius observed, as the senators vied with one another to be the most vociferous in support for Agrippina. ‘Even Vitellius looks as if he feels it safe to have an opinion.’
‘Which is one more than you’ve ever admitted to, Uncle,’ Vespasian quipped as the elder Vitellius got to his feet and dramatically held out his arms towards Claudius. ‘Still, his support will make the vote a formality.’
Vitellius waited dramatically for silence. ‘Princeps, will you answer us? Will you take Agrippina as your wife if the law allows you?’
Claudius made an attempt to look solemn but failed to conceal his eagerness for the proposal. ‘I am a citizen of R-R-Rome; I must accept the orders of the people and the authority of the Senate and cannot resist their united voice.’
‘Conscript Fathers, there we have the words of a true servant of the State. Our Emperor, upon whom such crushing labours are placed in the governance of the world, needs to be able to attend to the public good free from domestic worries. We, Conscript Fathers, can ensure that he is. I move that we vote to make it legal for an uncle to marry his niece.’
Vespasian felt a hand touch his shoulder as the House erupted in agreement. He turned to see one of the public slaves used as messengers from people waiting outside. ‘What is it?’
‘Master, there is a man by the name of Magnus waiting for you and your brother; he says that you must come at once.’
‘Did he say why?’
‘Only that it’s a matter of the utmost urgency.’
Vespasian leant close to Sabinus. ‘We’ve got to go, brother; Magnus needs us urgently.’
‘But the vote hasn’t happened yet.’
‘Look around, it’s a foregone conclusion now.’ Vespasian got to his feet.
‘In my experience,’ Gaius shouted over the uproar, ‘when Magnus says it’s urgent, it always is.’
‘But Pallas wants me to propose an auspicious day for the wedding.’
‘I thought that it was to be on the festival of the October Horse.’
‘No, that was just to goad Messalina into swift action.’
‘I’ll propose it for you, dear boy,’ Gaius offered. ‘What’s the date?’
‘The first of January.’
‘Why wait for two months?’
Sabinus handed Gaius a list. ‘Because Pallas wants time to have all these men prosecuted properly in the courts and condemned to death for conspiring with Messalina, so that they can be executed on or before the wedding day. Read out the list after you’ve proposed the date, and have the Senate order their arrest; they’ll do anything for Claudius at the moment.’
Gaius’ jowls wobbled. ‘But that’ll make me very …’
‘… conspicuous? Yes, but it will also gain you the favour of the man who has just become the most powerful person in Rome.’ Sabinus followed Vespasian from the chamber, leaving Gaius staring unhappily at the death-list.
‘We’ve got to hurry,’ Magnus told the brothers as they came through the Senate House door, ‘I’ve sent Marius and Sextus on to tell Clementina to get out of the house but I don’t suppose that she’ll listen to them.’
‘What do you mean: tell Clementina to get out?’ Sabinus asked, hurrying down the Senate House steps after Magnus.
‘I mean that I think she’s in danger.’