‘Unfortunate? Pah!’ Antonia spat, and Vespasian blinked in shock. All afternoon she had been the perfect hostess: mild, calm and attentive, but in that moment he saw the fire in her that made her the most formidable woman of her generation and not to be crossed. ‘My son Germanicus was poisoned in Syria by the Governor Calpurnius Piso, on Sejanus’ orders and possibly with the connivance of Tiberius himself, although that part I cannot prove. However, Piso’s suicide before his defence had started proves to me his guilt. As for Drusus, his wife Livilla, that treacherous harpy of a daughter that I nursed at my own breast, poisoned him, I’m sure of it, though again I have no proof. She and Sejanus are lovers; he asked the Emperor’s permission to marry her this year. Tiberius refused and forbade them to see each other. However, she is still Sejanus’ mistress but they are too clever to let that come to Tiberius’ attention.’
‘That is news indeed, domina,’ Gaius said, digesting the implications of the revelation. ‘That would mean that he wouldn’t be afraid to make an attempt on the Emperor’s life.’
‘No, he’s too subtle for that,’ Antonia replied. ‘He knows that should he do so and try to take the purple for himself the Senate and half the legions would rise against him and we would be back into years of civil war.’
‘He’s been far more clever,’ Asinius said, smiling. ‘He’s managed to get rid of Tiberius without killing him.’
‘But he was at the Circus Maximus just yesterday,’ Vespasian blurted out, completely forgetting his place.
‘So he was, young man, so he was, but for the last time ever.’ Asinius took another sip of wine. ‘We have over the last couple of years seen a resurgence of treason trials, mostly on trumped-up charges, but nevertheless getting convictions. This has enabled Sejanus to persuade our Emperor to see conspiracies around every corner. He knows that he has never been popular; he’s been nervous ever since the legions along the Rhine rose up against him on his accession. He tried to ingratiate himself with the Senate, deferring to them in foreign and domestic policy decisions, accepting votes against his wishes and even giving way to the Consuls when he met them in the street. But he now feels that this policy has backfired and that the Senate saw his conciliatory behaviour as weakness and is now trying to remove him.’
‘And for Tiberius,’ Antonia added, ‘the proof of all this is in the successful treason trials.’
‘Set up by Sejanus?’ Gaius ventured, admiring the beauty of the strategy.
‘Indeed, and with the two obvious heirs gone Sejanus has managed to persuade him that the Senate will try to restore the Republic – something for which Tiberius denounced his own brother, Lady Antonia’s husband, to Augustus when he suggested it in a private letter many years ago. Sejanus has played him beautifully, he provided Tiberius with proof of his greatest fear whilst concealing the true source of the threat against him. He has persuaded him, for his own safety, to withdraw from Rome in the New Year, after the next Consuls are sworn in, and take up permanent residence on Capreae.’
‘But with the Emperor, the one person that protects him, gone, surely Sejanus will be left vulnerable to attack from the Senate?’ Gaius observed, thinking he’d seen a flaw in the plan.
‘In normal circumstances yes,’ Antonia said, her calm returned, ‘but somehow Sejanus has managed to persuade Tiberius to appoint Gnaeus Cornelius Gaetulicus and Gaius Calvisius Sabinus to the Consulship.’
‘Yes, I know. Neither of them is remarkable: Gaetulicus writes dirty poems and is popular with the army and Calvisius Sabinus is bit on the slow side.’
‘Slow?’ Antonia laughed. ‘He makes my son Claudius seem like a quick-witted defence lawyer.’
‘So who will be controlling the Senate next year, then?’ Asinius asked rhetorically. ‘An idiot, and a man who is popular amongst the troops, whose daughter is, coincidently, betrothed to Sejanus’ elder son.’
‘Ah!’ Gaius exclaimed.
‘Ah, indeed, my old friend,’ Antonia said, ‘and he’s done more.’
Vespasian and Sabinus looked at each other, both wondering what other depths Sejanus had sunk to and also why they, a couple of inexperienced country boys, were being privileged with the details.
‘What more does he need to do? Surely it’s perfect as it is?’ Gaius asked, genuinely puzzled. ‘Tiberius withdrawn to an island guarded by Praetorians, hearing only the news that Sejanus wants him to hear. Meanwhile the Senate is in the hands of a fool who’s too stupid to sponge clean his own arse without a diagram and someone who is practically family. It’s brilliant. What more does he need to worry about?’
‘The army,’ Vespasian said quietly.
‘Absolutely right, young man, the army,’ Asinius said, looking at Vespasian with new respect and then darting an approving glance in Antonia’s direction. ‘The army will be his problem, but he has already started to deal with it.’
‘How?’ Vespasian asked.
‘Who was behind Tacfarinas’ revolt last year, providing him with the tens of thousands of freshly minted denarii that were found in his treasury? Whose agents encouraged the rebellion in Thracia against our client king Rhoemetalces, which is still going on at this very moment? Why did the Parthian envoys sent to Rome this year have a secret meeting with Sejanus after they had concluded their business with the Emperor and the Senate? Trouble on the frontiers keeps the army busy. The more trouble there is the busier they’ll be; busy enough perhaps not to notice what’s going on in Rome. You can bet on a few incursions across the Rhine and the Danubius this year, maybe Parthia will start sniffing around Armenia again; and I wouldn’t be surprised if an invasion of Britain soon becomes the Emperor’s policy – that would keep at least four legions occupied whilst Sejanus tightens his grip on power. Then, when Tiberius dies, the all-powerful Sejanus will be in prime position to be regent for one of the young imperial grandsons who will probably succeed to the purple.’
‘And once he’s regent, with the Praetorians behind him, he’ll be able to get tribunician powers and become untouchable,’ Gaius said smiling grimly. ‘That is clever, very, very clever. You have to admire the man.’
‘Oh, I do,’ Asinius asserted, ‘and, more importantly, I respect him. This is a man who takes the long view. He has patience to match his cunning and subtlety to match his ruthlessness. He is a formidable adversary and, for the good of Rome, he must be destroyed. The problem is that we don’t yet have any hard evidence against him; we need time to collect it. This is where Antonia and I think that you could be of use.’
‘Without evidence Tiberius will not listen to me, he thinks that I am just pursuing a vendetta against Sejanus because I believe that he was responsible for my son’s death.’
Gaius tilted his head in acknowledgement. Asinius went to pour himself some more wine but found the mixing bowl empty. Antonia looked towards Pallas, standing quietly in the corner. ‘Pallas, some more wine, if you would.’
Pallas bowed his head and disappeared through the curtain. An instant later there was a shout and the smash of a jar breaking on the floor. Vespasian and Sabinus leapt to their feet immediately and rushed through to the serving room where they found Pallas, in the half-light, wrestling with a figure on the floor. Grabbing the man from behind, Sabinus tore him off the Greek and pushed him face down onto the floor. Putting his knee into the small of the man’s back, he quickly yanked his head back by his hair and slammed his face down on to the stone floor. The captive’s nose and jaw shattered on impact; he let out a brief cry and lay still.
‘Who is he?’ Antonia demanded as she arrived in the doorway.
‘I don’t know,’ Pallas gasped, winded, ‘it’s too dark.’
‘Bring him in here, then.’ She pulled the curtain back. Sabinus and Vespasian dragged the man by his feet, leaving behind a pool of blood peppered with broken teeth. Back in the lamplight of Antonia’s room they rolled him over.