Ovid

Her hand flashed down. The fly, startled, rose an instant too late and was a smear of blood on the desk top. Livia leaned towards me. For an instant, before she brought herself under control, I thought that she meant to attack me physically; but then she sat back again in her chair.

'Very well, Corvinus,' she said. Calmly, as if nothing had happened. 'Go on.'

'Thank you.' Again I wiped the sweat from my palms. 'Asprenas didn't wear the ring openly on his finger when he arrived at Paullus's house. I know that from the door slave. But once he was alone with the conspirators he slipped it on as a reminder to Paullus and Julia whose agent he was. Or rather whose agent they thought he was. In reality Augustus knew nothing about the conspiracy until he was told, and by that time the evidence was damning because it was genuine. Paullus was executed and Julia was exiled for adultery.'

'If what you say is correct then they could have exonerated themselves by explaining the true situation to the emperor.'

'Were they given the chance? And would Augustus have believed them if they had been?'

Livia's mouth set, and she didn't answer.

'It was all too probable, you see. And the facts were undeniable.'

'But why the adultery charge, if as you say my husband would not credit it?'

'The emperor's own granddaughter publicly charged with treason? You of all people, Excellency, should know how damaging that would be to the state.'

'Indeed.' Again the tight lips twisted into what was almost a smile. 'I take your point, Corvinus. In theory, at least.'

'Thank you, Excellency. Augustus, if nothing else, was fair. Knowing that the charge was false he let the "adulterer" Silanus off as lightly as he could. Besides, Silanus was the one who revealed the conspiracy. He deserved some reward.'

'Junius Silanus was exiled. And his political career was terminated. Hardly a negligible punishment for someone in his position.'

'Not true, Excellency. Silanus left Italy of his own accord and he was never interested in politics. The punishment was no punishment at all, and the emperor knew it.'

'So you say. Yet you claim he was rewarded.'

My left leg was beginning to twitch. Slowly, without taking my eyes from hers, I stretched it out and began massaging the thigh muscle. 'I've seen Silanus's estate, Excellency. Suburban villas that size don't come cheap.'

'Junius Silanus belongs to a very old and wealthy family.'

'True. Which is perhaps why a few months afterwards the emperor gave his own great-granddaughter in marriage to Silanus's brother. Or was that simply coincidence?'

Livia said nothing. She stared at me, unblinking.

'Which brings us, Excellency, to what happened to the fourth conspirator. Nonius Asprenas.'

Call it imagination if you like; but when I spoke the name I swear the room itself held its breath. Livia's eyes were dark pools of hate, staring into mine.

'Nothing,' she said, 'happened to Asprenas.'

'That's right. Would you like to tell me why?'

The silence lengthened. Finally she said:

'No. No, I would not.'

43

Yeah. Just that. A straight refusal, the last-ditch reply of someone who was guilty as hell. If I'd had any doubts about being right, that put the lid on them. I'd got the bitch and both of us knew it. The spasmed muscle in my leg suddenly quietened.

'Very well, Excellency,' I said. 'Then I'll tell you. The solution's simple. Asprenas wasn't punished for his part in the plot because Augustus didn't know he was involved. Silanus never mentioned him. He'd been instructed not to by you, because Asprenas was needed for something else. Or am I wrong?' I paused for an answer that didn't come; then said softly: 'Only unfortunately Silanus wasn't the only person who knew about Asprenas, was he? There was someone else whom you couldn't instruct. Not one of your own people. A neutral outsider, a personal friend of Julia's who knew Asprenas by sight and guessed what was going on.' Silence. Total, absolute silence. I felt as if I was walking on glass. 'How did Ovid find out, Excellency?'

I didn't think she would answer, but finally she did: drily, clinically, in a voice devoid of emotion.

'He called round by chance with a book Julia wanted and saw Asprenas and Paullus coming out of the study together. I don't know the details, but they were incriminating.'

'So after wrestling with his conscience, like a good citizen he decided to report what he'd seen. Only the report was never made because he talked to the wrong person.'

'He came to the palace shortly afterwards.' Livia's voice was matter- of-fact. 'The emperor was engaged and it was easy to have him brought to me. He didn't realise his mistake, of course. Not until much later.'

'So you had to get him out of Rome, fast. Permanently. You couldn't risk Asprenas's name being linked in the emperor's mind with the idea of conspiracy. And if Ovid had still been around when news of the German disaster broke he might've put two and two together and gone to the palace again. To Augustus himself this time.'

'Ovid was a fool.'

I shook my head. 'No, Excellency. He was only a poet mixed up in politics, doing his best as he saw it.'

'A well-intentioned bumbler can cause far greater harm than a conscious enemy. As, Corvinus,' she almost smiled, 'I'm sure you yourself appreciate.'

I ignored the barb. 'So you had a quiet word with Augustus. Jupiter knows what you told him — that Ovid had been screwing Julia himself while they recited pornographic poetry together; that he was secretly fifty different kinds of pervert and was better off dead. And the emperor, who disliked Ovid and his poetry at the best of times, believed you. Or maybe he didn't think it mattered.'

Livia's mouth twisted. 'Oh, he thought it mattered, young man! My oh-so-straitlaced husband was at heart a hypocritical, frustrated libertine who castigated the vices of others precisely because they were his own. The Ovid I showed Augustus was his secret self, performing the acts that he would have performed if he had had the courage. What could the poor fool do but exile him?'

A cold finger touched my spine. I'd been given a glimpse of Livia's real face; and I knew that the most dangerous thing I could do was let her know she'd shown me it.

'Let's talk about Germany, Excellency,' I said.

She didn't answer, but I felt her stiffen.

'Frontier provinces were Augustus's responsibility. He made the policy decisions and took the glory or the raps personally. You would agree?'

'Yes.'

Was it my imagination or was she beginning to show signs of nerves herself? 'So if someone wanted to create a major embarrassment for the emperor the frontiers were the place to do it.'

No answer again; but her expression was set hard under the thick makeup.

'Okay, so which frontier would they choose? Forget the southern provinces. Parthia's keeping her head down at present, so the east's out as well. The Danube's possible, but that's Tiberius's stamping ground, and the person I have in mind wouldn't want him involved, especially after the Illyrian revolt.' Still no response, but I could see a trace of moisture on the caked powder of her forehead. 'That leaves Germany. And Germany is perfect because Augustus is responsible for it all the way down the line. He makes the policy, he assigns the legions, he chooses the governor. And if anything does go wrong there your son Tiberius is close by to save the situation. Am I right?'

'Corvinus, I swear to you-'

I waited, but that was all she said. Her mouth had shut tight as a clam.

'You want to take over, Excellency?' I said.

'No.' The moisture on her forehead had gathered into a bead of sweat that was dragging a runnel through the powder. 'Go on.'

'Very well.' I shifted my weight, and the chair creaked like old bones rubbing together. 'So let's talk about Varus. His appointment to the German command was your suggestion, wasn't it, Excellency?'