Sejanus

Gaul. Spain. The two major western provinces. The only parts of the empire barring Africa that Agrippina didn't already have her claws into. Or at least at the time I hadn't thought she had. And although Sejanus's uncle Junius Blaesus had held Africa he'd been kept too busy with the rebel Tacfarinas even to scratch himself…

The prosecutions all dated to four years after Germanicus's death. Four years after the Julian plot was officially dead and buried. And the year before that…

Bull’s-eye! I reached out a trembling hand, refilled my empty wine cup and drank the Setinian down.

Sacrovir!

8

Next morning I went down to Watch headquarters again to see Lippillus. He'd had a late-night mugging and was taking the morning off, but the squaddie I'd caught him bawling out gave me directions to his new flat. I hoped I'd find it. Lippillus was right; the guy was thick as two short planks. Three short planks. Jupiter knew how he'd made it through puberty, let alone been accepted for the Watch.

On the way I turned over in my mind what I already knew about the Sacrovir revolt in Gaul. It wasn't much; I'd been in Athens at the time, and for Athenians Roman politics is a topic of conversation that ranks on a par with bedbugs and the finer points of sewage disposal. For all the Greeks cared, the Germans could've swum the Rhine, taken out all six of our legions and been giving lieder recitals on the Palatine with the Wart singing bass.

It had happened not long after I left Rome. I wasn't sure of the reasons, but they probably involved complaints about taxes. Revolts usually do, when you come right down to it, although you can substitute tribute or reparations or whatever the appropriate term might be, depending on the status of the areas concerned and what their precise relationship with us is; at least the relationship as we see it. Keeping an empire running doesn't come cheap, and the guys who run it are mostly ordinary human beings with families to feed and expensive tastes to pander to, ready and willing to turn an honest penny when opportunity presents itself. Or even a dishonest penny if they can get away with it. For all Augustus and the Wart's attempted reforms you still get the old Republican spiraclass="underline" high taxes leading to debt leading to profiteering by private loan sharks leading to deeper poverty and discontent. When that gets bad enough — and it happens more quickly in the poorer provinces where cash-money isn't too plentiful and a tax demand means bad news for the goats — there's always trouble. Usually the local rep keeps it in check by knocking heads together, but sometimes things get out of hand and the governor has to send in the heavies.

Which was what had happened in Gaul. The trouble part, anyway. There'd been two revolts, one in the east towards the German border and one in the centre. The eastern rebellion, led by a local chief named Florus, had been put down pretty smartly. The other, which was Sacrovir's, was a tougher proposition altogether. Sure, we broke them, but it took the German governor Silius and a major slice of both Rhine armies to do it; the same Silius, if you remember, who was later prosecuted for helping the rebels…

Interesting as far as it went, but not a lot to go on as far as nitty-gritty details were concerned. Which was why I needed to talk to Lippillus again.

I was lucky. Maybe the squaddie had concrete filling between his ears but there was nothing wrong with his directions. I found the tenement without much trouble. It was upmarket for a city island; which meant the graffiti on the stair walls was correctly spelled and passing dogs or local residents who couldn't be bothered to make the trip to the public toilet didn't use the entrance lobby as a latrine. Marcina Paullina answered the door. She was wearing a loose red tunic that made a fantastic threesome with her glossy black hair and olive skin

'Corvinus!' she said. 'How lovely to see you! Do come in. Decimus is having breakfast.'

'Hi, Marcina.’ I tried not to look down as I eased past her in the narrow lobby: tenement flats aren't exactly spacious. Jupiter! Stepmothers like that shouldn't be allowed! And if she'd put on weight then she'd done it in all the right places. 'I'm sorry to disturb you this early.'

'Oh, that's all right. Anyway, it's not early. I was just going shopping, in fact.' As I always did, I wondered about Marcina's accent. She was African, sure, but she spoke the kind of pure Roman Latin you don't expect to hear in a city tenement, and I couldn't imagine her haggling for beans in the market.

'Corvinus!' Lippillus was sitting at the small folding table which was one of the few bits of furniture in the room, working his way through a plate of bread and cheese. 'Pull up a stool. You eaten yet?'

'Yeah.' I sat down. 'Some of that cheese would be good, though.'

'Help yourself.'

Marcina brought a flask of wine and two cups. Sensitive as well as beautiful.

'So how was the mugging?' I said.

'The usual.' He pushed the plate of cheese towards me. 'Smartass Esquiline kid with more money than sense slumming it in Cattlemarket Square. Luckily he had a hard skull. He'll be okay in a month or two, if he lives. So. How's your own investigation going?'

Marcina had taken a red headscarf and a cloak down from a hook behind the door and put them on. 'I'll see you later, Decimus,' she said. 'Sprats for dinner?'

'Fine.' Lippillus grinned at her. 'If I'm back in time. Don't wait up.'

'Do I ever?' She gave me a smile and left. Ah, well. Maybe it was for the best. With Marcina around I'd've found it difficult to keep my mind on business. I turned back to Lippillus.

'What do you know about the Gallic revolt?' I said.

Lippillus poured wine into the two cups. 'Florus and Sacrovir? No more than anyone else.' Yeah. I'd expected that, and I ignored it. The guy was a walking encyclopaedia. 'You think there's a connection with your stuff?'

I told him about the treason trials, the Asian scam, and what Torquata had said. When I'd finished, he nodded slowly.

'It sounds possible. Just. But if you think it was meant to pave the way for a Julian coup in Rome then you're fantasising.'

'Is that right?' I took a sip of the wine. Rough country stuff, but it went well with the goat's cheese.

'That's right. Florus and Sacrovir were amateurs. They caused a stir at the time, but nothing really serious, and nothing long term. Certainly not major enough to threaten the security of the empire.'

Yeah. That was true. If Agrippina had expected the west to rise as one man to the Julian cause she'd been disappointed. 'So you think I'm wrong?'

'No. Not necessarily.' Lippillus cut himself a slice of cheese. 'But you are looking at things from the wrong angle.'

'Okay, Aristotle. Tell me.'

He didn't smile. 'It's obvious. Like I said, Florus and Sacrovir were lightweights, in Roman terms at least. Sure, they had a lot of local support but once the legions were called in they didn't have a chance. The revolt never spread much beyond their own two tribes, let alone to Germany or the Spanish provinces. And if like you claim Silius and the Spanish governor were Julian supporters then that's significant, because if they intervened publicly at all it was on the Wart's side.'

True. All of it. Shit.

'So what was going on?' I said.

'You want an educated guess?'

'Yes, I want an educated guess!' Gods! Getting this clever midget to commit himself was like taking a bone from a seriously disgruntled wolverine.

'All right.' He sipped his wine. 'Let's say the purpose of the rebellion wasn't military at all. It was political; at least as far as the Julians were concerned. Wouldn't that make more sense?'